Shouichi’s confirmation that they were almost entirely out of luck was not a comfort, but also coincided with the slow elevator doors opening wide enough for them to pass through. Makoto bolted out, slamming shoulders with a man waiting outside, but only yelled “I’m sorry!” without looking back. He didn’t know what he could do in this case, but when had being under-prepared ever stopped him from trying to protect others?
He followed the traces of the earlier instinct to its source. Winding up grinding to a halt out in front of a large bank, he heard screaming coming from the decorative greenery between it and the street. A large figure walked slowly through it, human until what should have been their shoulders curved up into the hood and face of a cobra. They seemed to hold no interest in getting to the bank itself; instead, it was focused on a couple of children and the mother running back to their side.
Makoto felt the unusual push to fight again, but it didn’t tell him how. Taking the initiative on his own, he decided to try what Shouichi had failed at. He didn’t even need the instinct’s guide; he’d watched Shouichi—and, embarrassingly, tried it in the mirror a few times near the end of their fight against the Unknown—enough to perform the movements himself. He crossed his hands down to his left, threw his right hand back into a fist, and felt a new weight over his hips.
Properly carried away, Makoto yelled, “Transform!” and pressed his hands down on the Alter Ring’s switches. In a flash of light, Agito stood in his place.
Regal as he was at first, he disconnected with the focused mindset and looked down at his hands. Stumbling back, he raised them up closer. “Why?!”
Why now, why this, why me, and more.
[ Ω ]—— Surprise paints Shouichi’s features, or rather, those of the man who’s now transforming in front of him. He hoped, and even expected, that Hikawa would be able to become Agito with some effort, but nothing prepared him to witness those moves that mimic his own right to the last swing of hands and arms. Had Hikawa actually paid attention to him so much that he learned the moves by heart? It might be whatever is messing with their minds and bodies that instilled those informations in Hikawa’s head. But somehow, Shouichi wishes that’s not the case.
   Surely, it’s no time to ask him outright, as he’s about to face a monster wrecking havoc in their proximity. He shakes his head, clearing those thoughts and frowning as he’s now pretty useless with no G3-X armor to back his partner up. But somehow, he’s not panicking as much as he should. Is this what they call having a cool head like a detective’s?
    “Hikawa-san,” he speaks firmly as he grabs the now transformed Agito by his shoulders. “Please calm down. If you’re confused on how to bring Agito’s potential, I’ll guide you. We have to defeat that bad guy before they cause harm to those innoncents!”