Trust me, there's fighting in this part. Just let me get a bit of charactor development out of the way.

Sho weaves in and out through the crowds. Frantically he is searching. Frantically he glances at the faces of the people he worms his way through. One face is not Mr. Segawa. One face is not Natsuki. One face is not Miss Segawa. Panic starts to rise. He can not find anyone he wishes to save. To save everyone, yes; everyone must be saved. But the one's he loves... no face he pushes past is that of a loved one.

He is making his way to the edge of the crowd again. In and out he has been searching. As close to the tower he can get without being recognized, then back. The people screaming to be made into zoanoids have formed massive lineups. Camped like people for tickets to a rock concert. They stand in their chaotic mob crowded lines whenever the Chronos soldiers make their rounds. Chronos soldiers handing out food to the hungry. Chronos soldiers taking surveys of those to be processed. Chronos soldiers settling the mob when they have to turn away someone not qualified. The mob is both his freind and threat. It hides him from the Chronos soldiers while he searches, but at the same time, it only arises when a Chronos soldier is near.

Miss Segawa. Mitsuki would never forgive him if she couldn't be found. Natsuki. It isn't her face on the girl he passes, or the elderly man standing over her, or the injured man walking toward him... Hayami!

"Dr. Hayami!", Sho rushes to him, "Are you allright? Where's Natsuki?!"

"I'll be fine", the man says gasping. "We were on our way home from getting groceries when she froze. She was just standing there, then started screaming hysterically about going to Chronos". Hayami then clutches his chest, "I tried holding her back, tried bringing to girl to her senses, but she pulled her stun gun on me. Right under my ribs. Felt like I was sucker punched with a sledge hammer".

"It's allright doc", Sho says. "Aptom and I are looking for her. Do you know where she went?"

"The last I saw, we were both a few blocks away. My guess, she would still be near the back of any of these lines". The lines Hayami speaks of completely encircle the Cloud gate building. "You know, if we wouldn't get arrested, I could probebly form shift into bio freezer. These people are so fanatic about becoming a zoanoid, they'd probebly find her for me, if I asked them. Chronos has several walking around, just to keep the people happy".

--------------------------------------------------

"Hold still", he tells her. "Hold still and you won't be torn to shreds". He clutches her from behind, squeezing her arms tightly.

The both of them stand in the dead end of a narrow dark alley. The crowd can easily be seen in the broad daylight on the street just outside. Natsuki asks him, "How much longer are you going to keep me here?".

"Probebly until I show up", Aptom says. He enters the mouth of the alley, wearing his favorate black leather jacket and sunglasses.

The evil Aptom smiles with his monster shard teeth. "Your mistake", he says, "coming at me so slowly". Evil Aptom raises his hand, the ball of light in it flying towards the daylight! The leather and sunglasses lay in char and cinders. "No need for you now", his hand twists itself into thick blades, "now that the prey is dead".

"I really liked that jacked", says a Vamore from the streets. Shrugging the people off, he lets them move to another zoanoid as he himself returns to human form. "And the sunglasses really brought out my eyes. Did you have to destroy those too?", Aptom says.

Evil Aptom growls. "Just how many copies of yourself are walking around out there?"

"Enough", Aptom says simply. He walks as far into the alley as he can. The entire street outside is all but forgotten. He would run and tackle this monster if he could. He would walk any closer, if it wern't for the puddle of fleshy goo just a few steps away. The goo is a part of the evil, stretched as far as it can to reach him. Any part of him that touches Evil Aptom, becomes a part of Evil Aptom. He looks up from it, hideing his nerves at being so close, "You can kill me as many times as you like. I've had the chance to shake hands with a lot of zoanoid representatives today"; and smiles at that. Creating copies of himself by infecting regular zoanoids with his cells. "Too bad you can't do the same, anymore. Though I guess that ball in your head meens you never have". Aptom raises his hand, an orb of light glowing.

"You fire on me, and I kill the girl", Evil Aptom says. "Now, call out every copy of yourself. Or maybe I'll just absorb you back into me, and learn where every copy is hiding". The balance is set; Aptom can not touch the evil without being absorbed by it, yet can't shoot it without Natsuki getting killed. And Evil Aptom... has little holding him back.

"That would be great, If I weren't hiding at random", his hand is steady, threatening to shoot, "And just why should I care about the girl? It's you that I'm after. You're the one that poses a threat to me".

"Oh really?", Evil says. The slits of his eyes narrow, and his teeth grin, a sharp and cheshired devil grin. The breath from his grin blows down Natsuki's neck. His eye looks to her cheek aside his face. "She meens nothing to you? I should just let he go to Chronos?"

"Yes!", she shouts, "I've waited long enough! You said you'd bring me to the front of the line!", Natsuki says.

"If that's the way she feels, then rescueing her would be pointless", Aptom says. He is bluffing. Shizu is searching for Natsuki right now, too. Shizu can erase the brainwash of everyone in the crowded streets, but only one person at a time. "Why don't you let her go so you and I can finish this".

"You are lying to yourself", Evil says. His words almost spit with disgust. "I know every thought that went through your head. Every heart beat. I'm you, you idiot", Evil points in accusation. "I know every bit as much about the lonliness as you do, because I felt it too".

His human face frowns. His pain is being talked about as if anyone has a right to hear it. "You are talking about the death of Somlum and Dymu".

"Yes", he clenches. "The only brothers you have ever had. The only people on this whole fucking planet that would even talk to you without stareing at that scar on your face. How is it? Not even having a zoanoid to respect you? huh? To be the freak, of every group?"

"And you think I've replaced my brothers with her?", Aptom screams!

"I told you not to lie to me!", Evil pulls tighter on her, stretching her arms apart until she cries in pain. "Kiss me Natsuki, Kiss me and I'll take you to the front of the line right now". His grip loosens, and her pain stops. Evil still holds her as if her were the cross to crucify her, yet his face over her shoulder offers razor sharp teeth, and hideous blood red eyes.

"Alright", Natsuki says, "Anything to be like you". She reaches up, and presses her lips against his. It does not stop. Evil presses his lips against hers. Their lips move and embrace. Aptom from the street can only watch, with his arm raised. The Evil Aptom moves his lips with Natsuki's, and a blade slideing out from his jaw to her neck, threatening. Aptom from the street lowers his arm, and the glowing orb it held.

The kiss ends. "Don't lie to me Aptom. When Mitsuki was spying on her parents, you saved her and Natsuki from the zoanoid police. Tell me who it was you were following that day? When you found Natsuki's house, when Tetsuo and Shizu were hiding out. Who did you follow to find it? When you decided to finally reveal yourself to the guyvers, who did you ask to bring you home?"

"You think I am in love with Natsuki? You think I'm jealous that you kissed her?! Is that supposed to make me come running after you and get absorbed?!"

"Love her?", Evil Aptom Stretches her again to hear her give a single scream. "No, I don't think you love her. I think you are as lonely as I used to be. I think you fantasize about having someone to be with you".

"Where are you getting this crap?", Aptom says. "Nothing like this has ever crossed my mind. That ball in your head must be bouncing around too much".

"This orb in my head? You think I have no idea what it is like to be cold and alone? For the loneliness to make you feel so empty? This orb in my head is the first voice to talk to me in a long time. It's made me question things. Think about things. It cures the loneliness".

"It warps my mind, and twists me into something I'm not", Aptom sneers. "It infected me, and I broke off the first chance I got. Oh, and one more thing. I do have friends, not some little ball toy. That's why your ass is toast!"

"wha... ?"

From the rooftops of the alley the boosted figure falls! His frequency sword extended, Sho dives head first upon Evil Aptom! His battle cry is little more than a roar of fury, but his sword slices clean on Evil's neck.

"Nooo!", Natsuki cries in terror!

Sho pulls her from the confused mass of Evil Aptom's arms. "It's ok Natsuki", Sho says, "he can't hurt you now". The head that contains the ball writhes on the ground, the flesh surounding it writhing for any of the body that supported it. Aptom's hand holds an orb glowing stronger than ever before. "Aren't you going to destroy it?", Sho asks.

"No", he lowers his arm, "I think it's his turn". The confused body begins to twist a new limb into shape, a head forming from the center of the chest. "I've been free for a while now. He's probebly a lot more pissed at that ball than I am. I think I'll let him blast it".

The ball crawls to a sewer grate at the back of the alley. The writhing flesh slops around, uselessly trying to pull the oversized ball through the bars of the grate. It's former body still trying to relearn how to move on it's own. Natsuki bends down and picks up the ball in both hands... "Natsuki, No!", Both men scream! She simply hold it out to the severed neck. The neck grows, fingers sprouting from it's end as it twists itself into an arm. The new palm begins to form a glowing orb of it's own, ready to destroy it's former head. "Natsuki, get out of the way while it destroys that thing!", they tell her. She holds the ball out for it, then pushing it back onto the stump.

"Aaaauuuuuggghhh!!!", The malformed head screams! The ball touches the body again, and Evil Aptom thrusts a spike into Sho's chest, throwing the Guyver to the wall and pinning him! Evil turns his grinning eyes back upon free Aptom, "You see, with this ball in my head, I am truly not alone. I can have everything you don't even realize you desire. So what if I have to give up cloning myself. What's one mere cheap trick?"

"The ball cures loneliness? How about stupidity?", Evil Aptom is confused over Free Aptom's words. The warbling bricks don't answer anything either; not until they pick up Natsuki into mid air. "You forgot about the zoanoid that's responsible for the ball in your head. You absorb him, you absorb his abilities. Including invisibility!" Free Aptom thows every orb of light at evil he can, forcing the shadows of the alley to flicker and strobe!

Evil Aptom flicks Sho off his whip as he charges at Free Aptom with all his rage mustered! Every blast from Free Aptom make a hole in Evil's chest, in his neck, and clipping the devil horns of his ear; yet missing the ball inside itself. Evil turns his arms to spikes and throws them at Free Aptom like streaking missiles!

"Aptom! Ruuuun!", Sho screams. It is no use.

All Evil had to do was touch Free Aptom in order to gain control. Free Aptom fired with everything he had to destroy the ball, taking one one step back at a time. The Evil was over him like a wave, consuming him like acid. Pinned to the ground, Free Aptom turns to Sho, "Megasmash him you bastard", then melts away.

Sho stands, covering the wound in his chest. He begins to grab the megasmasher plate when Evil Aptom turns to him, "We still have unfinished buisiness, you and I". Evil rises, on two legs, with furls of bladed whips behind him like wings. The blades twist forward like hungry spears as Evil Aptom runs.

Sho quickly rises in the air! His gravity controller glows, and he warbles, but quickly he ascends along the walls towards the sky and rooftops. Beneath him Evil Aptom reaches the dead end of the alley, and screams in anger as he fades with invisibility. Sho fires his head beam beneath him, but it does not stop the chomping into brick. The angry roar of Evil follows him, tearing into brick, invisibly climbing after him.
------------------------------------------------ He breathes heavily, panting as he rushes. "You are one of the stupidest idiots ever", he says to her. Light beams in from the warehouse windows. The rest is shadow and dust. "He would have killed you along with all of us, and you give him back his head. Are you insane?!" "What else was I supposed to do?", Natsuki screams back at him, "You were just going to keep me from Chronos. Weren't you?! The rest of you still kill them every chance you get! Is that what you'll do to me? Kill me, once I become one?!", she almost struggle in his arms as he carries her. "I can't believe you would stop me from fullfilling me dreams". "You don't know what you're talking about", he says. The doors to the warehouse are all locked. He finds corner between crates and sits, with Natsuki still in his arms. "There's nobody here, it'll be safe until we can get you to Shizu". "Do you specialize in making everyone as lonly as you? Tearing them away from everything they hope and dream for?", her words are like acid for him. She doesn't even struggle, knowing that she can't win. "You have no idea what it's like. You have no idea what you're even asking for, to be a zoanoid. You're just a silly little girl who's lost control". Aptom says nothing more. He sits in silence with her acid still biteing him. She doesn't even have to look at him for it to burn. The hours pass. His hold on her is loose, both just waiting for the waiting to end. He can still feel her strongly though, pressed against his naked skin, her burning hatred. Another hour passes. She says nothing as if to punch him in the face. "Is it true?", she finally asks him. "What?" "Is it true that you were following me? "Maybe", he says. "The evil version of me said a lot of things. Most of it just to torture me". She seemed nice to him with those words. Simpathetic. Holding Natsuki just felt easier. He can thank her for that. He let's minutes pass, hoping it can turn to hours. Natsuki breaks the silence, "I would date you, ya know". "What?!" "You're really not that bad of a guy. In a way, the scar almost gives you a... distinguished look". Her eyes meet his. "If you would take me into Cloud gate, I promise to date you. I don't care that you're a lost number. None of that meens anything to me. Even if I become a lost number, I'd stay with you, just as long as I could be a zoanoid". He turns away. "You don't know what you're talking about", he says sadly. "Yes I do", she reaches forward for his cheek. Aptom pulls away, "Please don't". Her eyes begin to shimmer with sadness. Almost as if the same pain he feels is in her. "Look, if we get through this, I promise to take you to a zoalord. Okay?" "Really?!", Natsuki brightens with excitment. "Yes. Really", he says. He feels guilty as she curls up into his chest. She could be a kitten purring. Lost numbers are zoanoid rejects; kept only as mere scientific oddities. Locked in cages of glass or steel. What freind can a reject have but another reject? The only two, who ever truly understood how he felt were Somlum and Dymu. Sho killed them when Chronos ordered the attack. The kitten in his arms, offering compassion, and not shying away from him as the abomination that he is. If only... Thunder crashes! Once, twice, and the door to the warehouse splinters open as Sho is thrown through it! "Now you die!", Evil Aptom roars! The bruised and bloodied guyver struggles to get to his feet in time. Evil Aptom already has a whipping arm blade hurtling in Sho's direction. The guyver dodges by jumping over the wall of crates, running to buy enough time and distance to power a weapon. "Why don't you fight me, little Fukimachi? There's no more crowds of people to get in the way of your megasmasher. You can fire at me all you like", he taunts. Evil Aptom doesn't let up. His whips streak after Sho from one spot to the next, he lunges like a cat on a mouse just to stay close. The hiding place has been shattered. Free Aptom ducks, and whispers to Natsuki, "I want you to wait for me at the park". "But what about you?", she whispers. "He doesn't see me yet. This could be the perfect chance to kill him once and for all", he begins to rise, and glare at Evil Aptom. He looks back at her, "I said go!" Free Aptom shimmers in invisibility as Natsuki ducks away. He stand cloaked as the fight happens before him. Free Aptom raises his hand; a glowing orb of light appearing where a hand isn't seen. "Come on", he mutters, "Hold still for just a second. Just one clear shot is all I need". Suddenly Evil Aptom has Sho pinned, and is standing over him, just about to shread the bleading guyver to pieces. "Finally", Free Aptom grins, "Say goodnight". The orb streaks through the air, and misses Evil Aptom by a mere hair's breadth! Evil ducked, and says, "I don't think so. I'm not falling for the same tricks twice". Evil Aptom looks at the exact spot Free Aptom is standing. The exact spot the orb was firing from. "There is no trick good enough to kill me", he says, "So just give up". Evil Aptom posseses the same abilities has Free Aptom, and his body shimmers with invisibility just as easily. The last thing Free Aptom could see of him was the running in his direction! Free Aptom began shifting his hiding place, somewhere to wait for a sign of the Evil. The sign doesn't take long coming. Natsuki has broken into a full run for the shattered open door, only to slam against a wall of air. The Evil voice suddenly fills the air, "Guyver One couldn't fire on me surrounded by all those iccocent people. Let's see how you do". "No! Aptom, help!", Natsuki is picked up by the unseen force, and flys out of the warehouse. Sho is covered in his own blood. Scars are healing at the guyver rate, and slowly he rises already. "Natsuki!", Sho screams. Nothing is working. No strategy to kill Evil. No trick. Sho stumbles over his half broken leg, and Aptom leaves him. Evil didn't lie. The crowds outside suround him, too thick for someone invisible to sneak past. "Look familiar?", Evil shouts at him, "Remind you of anything in particular?". Natsuki is gripped from behind again. This time crying in pain. Evil's claw dig into her deeply. What is worse are the giant spider arms slowly traceing the underside of her breasts. The spider arms... the claws of Enzyme 2. "You rescue her from me, admit that I was right! Join with me!", Evil Aptom roars. "Let her go", is all Free Aptom says. The crowds surounding are indeed confused at two visable zoanoids stareing off. "You wish to free her? Come and get her, come and take her right out of my hands", Evil Aptom says. "I dare you. Do it personally". The Enzyme arm rises into the air, and it's claw comes slashing down! Natsuki let's out a shriek as her shirt is torn. The two Aptoms glare. "Come to me now, or the second slice just might cut deeper". "I won't say it again, Let her go. No more tricks". "And no more games", Evil growls back. His claw raises again, and in a single swing it falls from the sky, slashing a finger deep into Natsuki's breast! She screams as the blood runs down her belly! "You see", Evil says, "I have the guts to do what you never could". Free Aptom's eyes are red! His teeth are fangs, his fists are clenched. The twitching of his fury doesn't last long. Everything is poured into his speed. Evil's eyes widen with pleasure as Free Aptom runs right for him, and Natsuki is tossed to the side for Free to be embraced. Free Aptom rockets into the air! His jump sends him flying like an eagle over the crowd. Suddenly, evil's eyes widen. Free Aptom is falling with his fist first. Direct. No games. No tricks. The body of Evil is like liquid, splashing into two wings on either side as Free Aptom's fist lands! The force of his punch has been brought all the way to the ground, the ball resting on his knuckles. Free Aptom wraps his clawed hand around it. Black veins already start to run into his fingers. He can feel control begining to slip away already. Closer to it. He tightens his claws around the ball. He crushes it, crushes the ball that makes threatens to control him. He can hear the scream of his veins as they fade away to nothing. Evil Aptom, is dead. "It's ok", a lady consoles, "Chronos will make it all better. Just let them heal you, and they'll make you into a zoanoid, just like the rest of us". Aptom turns to find Natsuki on the ground, the lady wrapping her jacket around her. "Thankyou", Aptom says. "I'll take her from her". In both arms he holds her, carrying her across rootops until finally they find Shizu. It seems like hours. Shizu takes the weakened Natsuki, and with her zoalord form, lets the third eye crystal glow. "Will she be allright?", Aptom asks. "Her mind is free", Shizu says. "But she'll still need medical help. We'd better get her back to the mansion quickly. I can only heal zoanoid wounds". "Yes", he says. Shizu has already turned away. Natsuki is free. Aptom feels a pang of regret. ----------------------------------------------- Six Weeks Later Amniculus screams at them. "So give him one of the few control balls we have ever managed to make, something THAT valuable, then send him out into combat?! Are you out of your mind?! Do you have any idea what we've just lost?!" "Yes", Cablarl says calmly. "Very much I know how much we've lost. We've invested a great deal of time and energy into elimanating the threats against us". The withered old Chinease man floats there, as if sitting on a pillow five feet in mid-air, "And with every failure, we run the risk of defeat". "Lord Amniculus", a manager from the control console interupts", orbital sattelites are showing a large object descending upon Alaska sir" Sin Rubeo Amniculus turns his attention from the three zoalords to his own henchmen. "The Ark?", he asks. "It's loosing altitude?" All the zoalords focus on the manager. "No sir", the manager says, "All readings say the Ark is still on coarse. It should be reaching Washington on schedule. Wait sir, the object is rising again. It seems that whatever it was, it only touched down in Alaska for a few minutes". "Very well, keep monitoring", he says. Amniculus turns back to his three fellow zoalords. "In two hours we are to begin as scheduled. When Alkanphel learns what you have risked with Aptom, you will be lucky if what happened to Guyot doesn't happened to you!" Amniculus storms out of the control room. Cablarl Khan smiles, shared by Jearvil's glance out the skyscraper window. "Yes", Jearvil sneers, "Exactly like what happened to ZoaLord Guyot". ------------------------------------------ In the six weeks since their fight with Evil Aptom, Natsuki has been the only one of their freinds that they have rescued. Aptom walked into Cloud gate, and went through dozens of reports. The Segawa's, the parents of Tetsuo and Mitsuki were indeed listed for processing into zoanoids. They were found in the line ups, and taken ahead for special processing. Aptom never found any record of where they were taken. To another facility was all the reports said. Mitsuki cried as soon as she heard that. Tetsuo and Sho both tried to console her. Tetsuo shed his tears in private, when he thought no one was looking. "There are twelve major facilities all around the world", Tetsuo said, "They could have been taken to any one of them. Just so we couldn't rescue them". Shizu finally decided it was time to go back to Alaska. "My troops are waiting for me", she said. "I've already redirected Chronos zoanoids to save as many people from becoming zoanoids as I can, but people are being processed everywhere. I can do that in other places too. And do more damage with my troops". Shizu was going to leave later the next day. Sho sat at the window, looking out into the night. The world keeps changing. The odds against them keep getting worse. His freinds and loved ones keep dieing. How much more will he loose. Sho could feel the grip tightening around him. He could feel the eyes hungrily hunting him. ----------------------------------------- Guyot stand outside the mansion. He grins his demon grin. Only a few bandages remain, and the unit-remover is tightly in his hand. His purple eyes hunt hungrily for his prey

The Guyver Net