The white heat of the ultrasmasher fills the air around them. It burns, it's intensity beyond anything they can shield or deflect. Even in the brilliance of the white light that consumes them, her mind is as black as darkness. She doesn't know if she has jumped with the others, or if one of them has pushed her off the dome roof top. In any event, her life is saved as the ultrasmasher consumes the dome in etherical energy of a god unleashed. Her mind drifts in a dreamless sleap, slowly falling from the Cloud Gate tower, oblivious to the heavenly destruction above her. Shizu falls helplessly to the distant concrete streets below.
"This is not the way back to Alaska", Aptom says. He catches her in his arms, and glides the heated currents of air with his great veined wings. This is the highest his wings have ever carried him, the last time used as Chaos Aptom, to hunt his allies. His stomach churns with the thought, repelled by the strain of the weight against his limbs.
He concentrates his decent. He glides between the skyscrapers; and the Ark teeters into building tops, sending chunks of rubble down around him. The tiny pebbles sting against his back. 'My god', he thinks, 'tell me the others have shelter from this'. And he holds the fragile human form of Shizu even closer. His feet yurn for the streets just dozens of feet beneath him now. Everywhere the people below him are scattering, frantikly searching for shelter. Some of those people cry out to the sky, begging for their gods to save them from falling brick and boulders. He holds Shizu tightly as his feet touch the ground near the alley entrance.
"Save Us!", a screaming man grabs his arm. Of the few that question the zoalords, there are hordes still as loyal, despite the deep gashes and wounds left in them. "Please zoanoid, do anything to save us!"
Aptom's face morphs into his human form, complete with the permanent scar that runs from temple to cheek. "How do I stop a guyver?", he says. The man's pleading face turns into a new kind of shock, the kind that sees the devil that is about to consume him. Aptom plays Chronos' propoganda campaign for all it's worth, "Tell me how to defeat the guyver, and just maybe I'll save you". The man runs off in another direction, leaving Aptom be in his human form. He glances back to the sky, to the dark alien flesh that hovers ever closer to the city,'The loyalty of these people is almost as blind as your love is to Agito, isn't it? He fired right at you, and you'll still love him.'
"Is she all right?", Mitsuki cries running up. Both the girls take Shizu from his arms. "She's alive, right?"
"Yes, of coarse she's alive", Natsuki says. "She's breathing, faintly, but breathing". The girls have Shizu on the ground, desparetly trying to wake her, trying to find some way to help her. A faint moan gives them hope.
"Stop worrying about her", Aptom says, "She was genetically engineered to be a zoalord, she can take it rough. Trust me".
"Can you be a little more sensative!", Natsuki yells at him. "Shizu is unconciouss and probebly in a lot of pain. She's just been to the top of Cloud Gate tower, facing who knows what. With the Ark overhead I'd say she's just gone up against at least a zoalord or two. And if that weren't enough, that other weird ship just appeared out of nowhere and fired some sort of light at them".
"Weird ship my ass", Aptom sneers. Natsuki's snarky tone fills him with it's own cold hate, colder with her 'sensative' word, "That was Agito Makishima. He's the one that fired, he's just attacked the Ark, and now I'd say he's moving his new bioship in for the kill".
" ...agito.. ", Mitsuki stares, "That's Agito?" Mitsuki holds Shizu's head in her arms, cradling her. Her eyes crack open, slowly waking to the voices around her. "But he can't fight like this, he'll kill millions of innocent people!"
"Agi.. ", Shizu rasps. Suddenly everyone's eyes are on her. "Agito", she tries again. Her voice is week, but twitching she still searches herself for the energy to try even further, raising a hand for help up.
"Shizu! Your all right!", Natsuki exclaims. The girls still cradle her between them. They were holding her for support before, but now they hold her even tighter, as if the warmth of their bodies can heal her even further. "We were so worried about you", she explains, "When we saw you falling from the tower we knew something was wrong. Aptom flew up and saved you. He really did".
A second rumbling begins, shaking the pebbles on the ground. Aptom looks up to the sky again, to Agito's ship. It is closer now, almost as close as the Ark itself. 'This battle will begin soon', he thinks, 'and hell will be paid with blood by the looks of it, and it doesn't matter whos'. From distant streets his ears can make out a faint flash, he turns his head to see the streaks of light as six zoalords fly into the mouth of the Ark. 'Yes, this battle is about the begin very soon', Aptom clenches his sweating fist.
Shizu can see the look on Aptom's face. With her own determination she pushes herself up from her friends arms. "No", Mitsuki tries to stop her, "you are hurt, you -need- rest".
Her knees tremble, and she almost falls before Aptom grabs her, leaning her against his shoulder. "I can't rest anymore", Shizu struggles. "Agito needs me, Now". Pulling away from Aptom she forces herself to stand on her own two feet. The flaps of her trench coat sway in the wind.
Natsuki grabs her by the shoulder, "Agito needs you in one piece. He has all the help he needs right now. He has Sho, Hayami, and even Aptom". The last name struggles over her tongue, as if it's such a difficult subject to bring up. Shizu's determination is as strong as she is week, Natsuki looks to him, and Mitsuki both, "We have to get her back to the mansion, it'll be safer there".
"No it won't", comes the tired voice from the dark tunnel of the alley. The young man looks exausted, sweat staining his arm pits and chest. Tetsuo looks as if he's run the entire way from the mansion, and the entire way through the network of alley ways to stay out of site. " ...no it won't. The mansion isn't safe anymore. Guyot showed up, he's alive. He showed up and now Sho is chasing after him". For some of them, wide eyes show panik and fear, for Shizu it shows betrayal even deeper than before. Tetsuo joins them with legs almost too tired to run anymore, and he staggeres with exaustion. The jagged scraps in her brother's hand are familiar to Mitsuki; the golden angular wires tangled between his fingers, and the smoke tarnished half of control metal that dangles from it. Slowly the sense of familiarity churns into realization... the unit remover! "Sho isn't a guyver anymore. Guyot has the unit, and Sho went after him!"
Their faces become the definition of white.
---------------------------
The skin is a shade of irredecant black and green, constantly shifting in the light. Steam still rises from the cracks of the hulking breast plates, and beneath the rear of each is a row of six spears, each cradling a shard of red crystal. The leather smooth wings sweap back to smooth points, each almost as thick as the main body itself. Thin yellow lines weave between each area of plating, like seams that wrap around even the long spike of tail that sweaps for miles behind. Under the base of the tail is a cluster of crystal orbs, six crimson, four violet, and one amber orb centered between them all. The alien bird, Agito Makishima's bioship.
A boom fills the air as a dozen metallic marbles vibrate violently between the breastplates, sending Agito's voice to all corners of the sky, "Your time is finished Chronos! Let humanity be prepared for the new world order that I bring!" If the ship were a stingaray, the four green crystals along the front edge would be eyes. They glow, and in a thin burning line they shoot hot beams into the distant Ark!
----------------------------
Alkanphel leads them, six of them that have made it to the inside of the Ark. A crack of thunder and everything shakes like an earthquake. The four discs carry them toward the command chamber of the Ark. Waferdonas, Jearvill, and Luggnagg are each served by their own organic disc; while Cablarl Khan shuns them, flying of his own free will. Imakarum stands on the thin saucer at Alkanphel's shoulder, as if following an older brother. The tunnel ends, and they open up to the great chamber of divine command.
The distant dark walls shimmer with the diamond slits of crystal, everything curving around the circle of eleven seats in the center of the room. Each seat is for a zoalord, meant to face him outward to the diamond slits, meant to channel his mental power up the smoothly carved tower to the one seat that is unique from them all. The command throne of Alkanphel himself. "Take your places", the golden haired man commands, "Let's finish this nuissance quickly". Imakarum feels the hatred in himself at being attacked like this, and with his own rage, Alkanphel himself looks amused. Amused!?
Boom! The entire room again shakes, the Ark hit with another blast.
In the great chamber there is only one seat not vacant. In it is a man with biowrap bandages around his chest. Sweat glistens from young cheaks so smooth anyone would question him barely attaining manhood. A few weeks ago he had been all but dead, and now he sits struggling to maintain the Ark, Rienzi, struggling to hold it still and stop it from teatering into the edges of more buildings.
Through the thick walls of flesh, the sounding reverberation makes its way from the sky. Again the voice of the guyver thunders for all to hear. "The creators made us to be weapons, you yourselves know this. And they left the day they bestoyed upon us the unit-g. They feared the power the unit gave us, the personification of the weapons we are". If a smile could be seen on Agito's face, it would be the deadly grin of a man whom enjoys a slaughter. "The Ark you created was nothing but a reconstruction of a creators relic; but for my bioship? Just as the guyver personifies a human, the Olympus personifies the guyver. Fear me Chronos! For now you face a true warship!"
The zoalords join Rienzi, taking their places in the tower. Relief floods across the wounded lord's face as even one of them sits into a chair. Alkanphel is in his high seat, and Imakarum beneath him, to the right. They all have their backs to eachother as they sit against the tower, but their minds all touch as they link to control their great ship. Again the Ark feels the sting of the Olympus' burning beam, but this time the Ark does not waver, this time their minds force the vessel to stand it's ground.
"I'm raising a shield against all further attacks", Luggnagg shouts.
Instantly they feel the bubble wraps around the Ark, like the sensation of any part of their own body humming. "No", Alkanphel orders, "I want energy conserved. We will need it when we ascend into space".
Imakarum looks up to his master, "But my Lord, we could be destroyed if we don't! It's time we change our plans and deal with the Guyver Now!"
"Change our plans?", Alkanphel playfully smiles. "I was planning on dealing with this -Olympus- in orbit. The guyver has simply brought himself to our knees. We will cut him down, and then leave the remains for the zoanoids to build a second Ark. I will have my twelve warships, the guyver himself has done much of the work for one already. Now conserve our energy". The humming sensation ceases. "Good", he smiles again. In a firm tone he says, "Bring us forward. Let us attack head on".
Over the forest of skyscrapers the Ark now steers smoothly, gliding towards it's new enemy, it's new target. Twelve glowing orbs are scattered in the hull of Alkanphel's vessel, an orb for each zoalord. The round crystal in the nose of the guppy shaped vessel strobes violently before it fires!
A slit of diamond crystal embedded in the wall shows the image of the beam stopping short of it's target. A shield around the Olympus pulses as the Ark's orb beam hits it. "Excellent", Alkanphel says. Imakarum looks up to his master confused. "The guyver wasted his energy with his new 'ultra smasher' weapon, and continues to expend even more on such things as shields. It won't be much longer before Agito Makishima leaves himself totally exausted before us".
Booom! The Olympus lands another blow, and the walls of flesh themselves shake as if the ship had been slapped! The diamond crystals show the nose of the guppy, show a gaping wound where the glowing orb once stood. Flesh oozes from the Ark onto the city below, thick juices falling so heavily that it dents cars, and sends people crashing to their knees as it pours over them. The glowing orbs are what keep the Ark hovering in the sky, and the zoalords force their minds even harder to compensate for the loss of one of them.
"Should we try this tactic again?", Luggnagg questions. "Should we fire another beam without a shield?" The dark skinned zoalord looks to his two compatriots knowingly, "If we delay our journey into the heavens, we can charge our fangs and shoot him with a weapon equivilant to his ultra-smasher!"
"No", Alkanphel frowns. His precious ship itself is wounded. "I want to tear him open. Move in even closer, and let us see how easily his skin can come apart". Alkanphel's hand points to the Olympus. "Waferdonas, prepare your mind. I do believe this weapon is your specialty".
At that moment, the air around the remaining glowing orbs of the Ark seems to warp. At that moment, the Ark proves to the world that a ship of it's size can definetly move. The Ark flashes forward with such speed it almost rams the Olympus! Just as the Ark is about the lunge past, it jerks violently, dragging the Olympus with it in a snare. There are two openings aside the nose of the Ark, and two amidst it's underside. From these thin slits the tendrils have emerged, roped around the Olympus like a net. Waferdonas, the zoalord whom's unique abilty is that of wire whips, controls the tendrils with concentration and skill that no other could. More sinewous threads emerge from the slits, firming the grip the Ark holds.
"Now is our moment!", Imakarum exclaims, "Maximum thrust!" The combined will of the divine lords thrusts the Ark forward again, but this time not to ram or net, this time it drags the Olympus with it! Hands gripping onto the crystal balls of each chair, the zoalord steer the Ark to it's side, and scrape the Olympus into the steal and concrete of buildings beneath them!
Red welts appear in the irredescant skin of Agito's ship, and Waferdonas grimly frowns. "Now I shall have my revenge for what you've done to me". Ten tendril whips, threads that are free from clutching the underside of the guyverian vessel spin themselves a razar edge. "I believe Alkanphel asked to see you opened up, didn't he?" The tendrils lash like striking cobras, aimed for the seams of the ultra-smasher plates! Blood streams itself from the seams of Agito's ship, and a roar of thunder can be heard that some might confuse as a scream of pain. The tendrils probe deeper and deeper into the Olympus. "Where are you in there", Waferdonas growls, "Where is your command room? I want to rip you from it myself".
The red crystals glow. None of them expected this. The red crystal shards cradled by the six spears of the Olympus glow hotter with Agito's pain. In a flash so blinding, the spears shoot into the Ark! Purple skin explodes everywhere around the red crystal, it's explosive thrust leaving a gash wider than a simple stab. The Ark shakes and rumbles under the hit, and Olympus' spears bend further. Like the swords of a guyver, and the whips of a gigantic, the edge of the spears humm to cut sharper than a simple blade. The spears bend, and cut loose the tendrils that hold the ship. A spear retracts, and begins glowing again.
"Move us away!", Alkanphel commands, "Give us distance before he scratches my Ark again!"
"That bastard", Imakarum breathes. "My Lord, I believe Luggnagg is correct, I believe we may just have to fight with everything we have".
The space between the Olympus and the Ark slowly grows greater, and Alkanphel watches his enemy in the diamond slit crystal, the taste in his mouth of bitter bile. They wait for him, for his next command, or for the next enemy strike. The Ark's tendrils slowly slither back into their slits as the ship drifts further away. Alkanphel stares at the diamond crystal image with consideration. Cold, and calculating.
"Rienzi", the young man's eyes point up the instant his name is summoned. "Do you have the energy for one spacial warp before our journey?", Alkanphel asks, "Can you withstand a single attack?"
Even wounded and drained, the young lord has a beautiful grace about him. The way the black hair covering only half his innocent face makes him attractive. His innocent face with uncareing stone eyes. "Barely", he replies. "I can control any spacial warp you wish of me, my lord. But to attack with one myself? My body is not yet healed sufficiently. I will need help".
"Very well", Alkanphel agrees. The power in his cat slit eyes is stern and commanding. "Jearvill, Khan, and Luggnagg, you three will escort Rienzi to the battle field. Each of you will help him project three points in space around the guyver's ship. Imakarum, I want you to gather the remaining zoalords to me. I have had enough of this. We will cut the Olympus in half, and cease any further delays to my plan".
Khan smiles obiediently. "Yes my lord", the three of them say.
Imakarum flies ahead, superior to them he doesn't even bother to wait. Rienzi struggles to even stand on a hover plate, but forces himself to show strength. This is his redemption, after failing against gigantic dark. Luggnagg and Jearvill share a single hover plate, with Khan joining them over there shoulders. They are away from the ears of the others.
"Do we really give up everything we've worked so hard for?", Jearvill asks. His face scowls, "So we simply abandon all of Earth when now we have every human willing to do our bidding? It's everything we've ever wanted".
"I woudn't worry yet", Khan grins. "We are still on Earth, and Rienzi still has yet to form the gate into the heavens. It would be unfortunate for our master's plans if anything were to happen to him during the battle". The three of them share the same evil smile.
--------------------------------
A crack like gunfire echoes through the trees between the mansions.
'Fireworks', he thinks. The smile is on his face as he hikes up the hill. This is the simple life. No zoanoids, no hiding from the police, noone risking death, or anything as horrible as that. With the strap of the back pack over his shoulder he smiles. 'Yeah, we're still fighting Chronos, in our own way'. He climbs his way through the trees, along the path to the pond. 'And once we find a cure of the mind control drug, the entire Earth will fight along our side. No amount of water contamination will be able to stop us'. The chubby young man basks in his idle thoughts. 'I wish Hayami would hurry up. The sooner we get to the pond, the sooner we can have a quick snack before we get to work'.
Suddenly the high pitch crack of thunder stops Tetsuo in his tracks. He turns back to see a flicker of white light coming from the mansion. His heart stops, missing three full beats before he can think again. 'this isn't anything serious, probebly just....', and then he hears the scream of pain. "Sho!" He bolts back down the trail as fast as his legs can carry him! Ducking branches, dodging between trees, and nearly tripping over knotted roots.
In the clearing of the mansion everything is quiet. No more flashing of light, only a smouldering pile of ash. His friends lay there, unmoving. "Sho!" In his rush a branch snags his pant leg and sends him crashing to the ground. He grabs fistfulls of dirt trying to get to his friends.
Sho lay unconciouss, but breathing heavily, however pained. His eyes suddenly dart to the scientist, to the half human and half beast form. To the pool of blood he lay in, and the streams of it lined from the gash in his chest. The gun shot he heard again echoes, but in his mind, realizing that it was no fire cracker. Hayami's chest is ripped open from the shot. The wound has successfully halted his life just as successfully as it has halted the transformation into his beast form. Hayami's lips begin to quiver, blue from the loss of blood. "Lay still Mr. Hayami", Tetsuo's mind races, frantically searching for a way to save the man, "I'll... I'll get you to the processing tube. Just lay still until I can get you down to the basement!" The man's eyes are fading. 'shock', he thinks, 'he'll need a blanket to keep him warm, that's what you do for people when they go into shock'.
"Tetsu.. ", Hayami gasps. His scientist friend is gasping for breath, fighting for every ounce of life force to remain within him. "Tetsuo, no", he pulls Tetsuo closer. "No time. Just let me do this one thing. Important". His fingers close, and he brings them to his forhead as if concentrating upon them. The lines of pain grow into his face, and black veins draw themselves along them. The frost nips at even the corners of his lips. Cool droplets of blood tingle over the edge of his hand; Hayami is concentrating his power, the last of his cold freezing power into the flesh of his hand itself! The skin shrinks and pulls into the hidden palm as Hayami focuses further. More and more, the last of his energy is focused into making a point of coldness. Realizing the life force Hayami is wasting, Tetsuo breaks from his hypnotized stare to stop Hayami. But it is finished. The cold drawing into Hayami's palm has ceased, and his fingers open to reveal a jewel, a small crystal of pure ice. "This is a gift, Tetsuo. My gift. The last of me", he holds the ice in his palm for the young man to see. The flesh of the palm, torn and frozen around the ice it turned into. "Tetsuo, I need you to give this to Aptom. It's important Tetsuo, important that he gets this". Hayami pushes the ice crystal into Tetsuo's hand, "Tell him that so long as he carries a part of us with him, he will never be truly alone. He will always have every lost number with him". The cold hand of the scientist folds Tetsuo's fingers over the ice, "Tell him Tetsuo... tell hi...", Hayami's gasps for breath fade.
Gentle tears run down Tetsuo's face as Hayami's body disolves into nothingness. The fate of all zoa that die. He looks at the ice crystal, and realizes it is the last part of Hayami in existance.
"He wanted you to have this Aptom", he places the melting crystal into his palm. They stand in the alley, the Ark and Olympus booming above them, shattering debris everywhere around. His story recounted, Aptom takes the crystal. They are not human eyes that fill the zoanoid's head, and anger does not begin to describe them. The pointed fangs in his -still- human face grind so tightly that they snap under their force before being reabsorbed. The last pieces of frozen flesh melt into his own. The battle of bioships is like an earthquake around them. Suddenly things are quiet. A resounding, disturbing, quiet. The bioships have stopped their appocyliptic battle, and rest in mid air, as if recharging before the next assault. The city is a tatter of rubble and ruin. The hordes of people stop the random panik, the calm of the storm laying out the carnage before them.
"My God!", Mitsuki cries, "This isn't right! They're killing people like crazy! Their monsters, inhumane monsters! How could they ever take it this far?"
Shizu looks into the tears of her friend, "We take it as far as we need to go Mitsuki. As far as it takes to win. Agito won't stop if it meens Chronos wins". She smiles, and brushes away a smudge of grime from Mitsuki's cheek. 'I'm waiting for you my love', she says to herself, 'I'm waiting for you to tell me how to help you'. Shizu is at the side of her friends, but she looks to the distant bioship of Agito. And as if to respond, the Olympus starts to rumble agian, and move toward them. Toward her.
"Not now, damn it!", Mitsuki screams. "Not now! don't start fighting again this soon! At least give people time to run for cover!"
"And where -can- they run for cover?", Tetsuo grimaces.
The air warbles as a swirling nebulous gateway opens before Shizu. It is calm and gentle, a hypergate waiting for anything to enter. Shizu reaches for it, gingerly unsure of herself. The metallic marbles on the underside of the Olympus then again resonate throughout the sky, "I'm waiting for you Shizu. I'm about to make my next move, and I want you by my side". Agito's voice fills her with warmth. In a single step she crosses the hypergate and disappears. The Olympus then begins to turn back, to continue it's battle.
In a whiff, the hypergate jumps forward, cracking the ground open that it crosses. The gate dissipates with nothing more than a puff of air. Natsuki glares, "So this is it? This is all we are worth to Agito? So easily cast aside like useless puppets". The nose Natsuki raises is for open disgust. "So much for friendship", she says.
Tetsuo leans down to the cracks in the ground the hypergate has made, running his fingertips along the blue salt-like crystals lacing each line of opened earth. The young man is deep in thought, trying hard to recall everything he can remember on the subject. "This could be bad", he mutters. Aptom suddenly turns away from the group with a clenched fist, and marches off into the hordes of people. "Aptom", Tetsuo calls out, "Aptom wait, where are you going".
"Enough wasting time", is all that Aptom calls back. What they don't hear are his mutterings of, " ...I've got unfinished buisiness".
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Shizu steps out of the hypergate, and onto the leather textured floor. The large room is dark, and the faint shimmers from the diamond slit crystals in the walls send shaddows flickering in the distance. With the intricate folds and curves of the walls into the floor, and the floor into the walls, the command room of the Olympus looks as intricate as an ornate throne room. She looks around, turning behind her before finding the man she seeks. Almost unrecognizable, two slanted posts support him upward by his hands. The two organic posts, bound by tendrils into the forarms of the gigantic armor, supporting Agito as if he were standing in mid-air. The glow from the four gravity orbs in the posts and in the ceiling fade, and the floating Olympus control metal glides back to it's cushion in the wall.
His eyes turn to her, "I was wondering when you'd finally arrive. I wasn't expecting you to not be with the Libertus. You can't imagine my dissapointment, to land in Alaska to take aboard the Zeus Thunderbolt, and not have you there with them. Now what kind of zoalord would not be with her army?" The tendrils from the posts unwrap from his forarms. "Especially an army that I gave you", he smiles. Smiling is impossible for him in this form, covered in armor, but Shizu rushes to him as his feet touch the floor, and with the welcoming of his warm voice she embraces him with all of her heart.
"Oh Agito! I missed you so much!", she closes her eyes and lets the emotion rush forth. "When the Arizona base exploded, I knew you'd survive, but I still worried -so- much! I've been praying for your return every day". She squeezes him tightly, her arms barely able to go around his giant form. The alien armor is not his true self, not the man she loves. She squeezes tighter, if only to be closer to the man underneath. Her eyelids shut, and she pictures her arms around his human form, around Murika... she breaks herself from the thought. A tear of guilt runs down her cheek. "I've missed you Agito. I'm sorry". Burn them, burn them all for violating her.
"Yes", his eyes tilt down upon her. "I've missed you too. But there is buisiness to take care of now", he gestures to the image in a crystal slit on the wall, "The Ark is about to make a counter attack". The image shows the five zoalords emerging from the Ark into separate directions, and the Ark itself then changes direction for the Olympus.
"Doctor Heckering", Agito says. The wrinkled old man steps from the corridor. "How long do you think until I'll be able to use the Ultrasmasher again?"
The old scientist has a small computer in his hands, and even in the midst of still making calculations, his face bares an expression of arrogance. "Perhaps another day or two", he scowls. "Your impetuous shot at the roof top severly drained the energy reserves".
"Impetuous?", Agito mocks, "It was an opportunity too good to pass on". His black armor shimmers as he walks, spikes seeming like teeth biting into the air. Agito takes his place at the base of the two posts, and floats into position, his forarms intertwining into the tendrils of the posts. "And besides, the power of this bioship is more than a match. Even without the ultrasmasher". The four gravity controllers in the wall glow in tune with the four gravity controllers of the posts and ceiling; the control metal ring of the Olympus floats through the air to hover before the forhead of Agito. The Gigantic Dark armor interfaces with the guyvarian warship. "Just watch me. I will prove the power I now have. I will prove it for every living thing on all of Earth". If Shizu could see beneath his mask, she would see the demonic grin.
---------------------------
The street is vacant, save for rubble and wounded. Another crack of thunder overhead sends another rain of stony pebbles atop him. Guyot grumbles. This would be so much easier in his zoalord form, to shield from the danger and travel straight to his precious hiding spot. But the risk of getting caught. Would he have enough time to merge with the unit? He lifts up the cover to the manhole, and stareing right at him is his prize. "I've waited far to long for this", Guyot says, "And finally you're mine. He reaches in and pulls out the unit-g with both hands. The unit control metal shines in the sunlight, and Richard Guyot smiles at his reflection in it. His one finger then raises over the center dome of the metal, "The power to rule it all. To be a supreme being... " His finger moves forward
Slam! Blackness blinds Guyot's vision, his head spinning in blurry confusion. Pain shoots from the back of his head, and as he stops his forward momentum with his hand, he realizes the unit-g has been thrown forward into the street! He struggles to regain himself, struggles to turn and see what hit him. His fingers fumble over the jagged pebbles in the street, but the pain subsides just enough to let him see the angst of the young man, the young man with the hunk of heavy metal raised over his head! Sho brings the twisted remains of the remover down into a swing straight at Guyot's face!
A hand stops it just shy a fingers distance. "You're too late, young Fukimachi. The guyver unit is mine. I am fully healed, and nothing you do can stop me from merging with it". He pulls the remains of the unit-remover from Sho's hands, and rises to a knee, "Now cease this annoyance at once". Guyot back hands Sho, the slap sending the young man flying backwards in the air. "You were spared back at the mansion, but I don't see anyone here to save you this time".
Sho fingers the trickle of blood from his lips. "You bastard", he says, "You killed Hayami in cold blood". Sho pulls a revolver from under his shirt. The same revolver that Guyot had used at the mansion. "You've done nothing but make life for everyone a living hell". On his back, Sho leans forward with the gun aimed at the zoalord. Fire burns in his eyes. Fire of pain and hatred.
"So you've grown a backbone, young Fukimachi", Guyot smiles, "I'm impressed". The zoalord stands tall to face whatever Sho has to throw at him. "But you know there's nothing you can do, don't you? I'm a fully healed zoalord. Just -try- to pull the trigger; the bullet won't make it three meters near me". Guyot's fingers tingle through the wiry tendrils and torn metal of the unit-remover that he had used to rip the guyver from Sho. He holds it in his hand thoughtfully, "I thought I destroyed this. Don't tell me you were going to try using this to remove the guyver from me, if necessary? You can't be serious boy". Guyot laughs heartily. "The remover control metal is torn in two, and you think a mere human has the strength of will to power it?"
"I would risk it", Sho grumbles. "I would risk anything to stop you, or anyone like you from hurting any more of my friends". Sho's thumb cocks the revolver. "I don't care if I have no chance. I can't stand by and let you continue to hurt everyone".
Guyot is amused. "You still have no idea how low you stand, do you? Do you want to know why I keep 'hurting' the ones that stand in my way? The ones you care so much about? It's because my will to succeed is stronger than all of you. That's right boy, the same force that controls the guyver is what lets me keep winning. The guyver was made for men like me; no, let me correct myself. The guyver was made for me! You have been toying with something that was rightfully mine from the start!"
Bang! Sho pulls the trigger, and the bullet stops, caught in the field of energy Guyot generates around him. "Evil has no right to that kind of power. You have no right to keep hurting people".
The bullet stops spinning and drops to the ground as the energy field fades. "Oh, so you think you can match will power against me? I'd like to see you try, Fukimachi. A young boy verses a divine zoalord". He gestures to the unit-g laying in the street, "Go ahead, try bonding with it". The barrel of Sho's gun lowers slightly, unsure of why Guyot is toying with him. "If it had to choose between two of us, which of us would it bond to? Even if in the chaos of forming an armor it picked you, -I- could still use the remains of the remover you so kindly brought me to steal it back before it even begins to looks like anything but random tentacles. Don't you see Fukimachi, there is no way you can win".
"And if I prove you wrong? What then", Sho asks. "Are my friends safe? Can Mitsuki go to sleep at night without waking up screaming from nightmares? Can Tetsuo and the others never have to worry about being hunted down again, and risk being guinee pigs for your inhuman experiments?" Sho lowers the gun even further, the pain from his heart being worn openly on his sleeve.
"Why don't you try, and find out", Guyot grins. "Go ahead, pick it up. Let's see what happens". Sho hesitates cautiously. It doesn't take long, only a few seconds before Richard Guyot's smile deepens.
Sho walks to the unit-g and holds it with both his hands. "The first time I did this, it was by accident", he says. "Back then, I thought it made me a monster, for the things you made me do. I wanted so badly to get rid of it". The unit is held in both of his hands, then one as his fingers slide to the control metal switch. "The first time I became the Guyver was an accident, this time it's by choice!" The switch clicks, and the unit unlocks it's writhing mass!
Sho screams as the tentacle tendrils wrap around and into him! The pain burns as they burrow through every vein. More and more tendrils seem to grow and branch from the slime that oozes between them, and more and more the tendrils spin around him like a spidery moth's cacoon. Guyot grins at the pain Sho is suffering, the futility of it all. He holds the remover in his hand, and questions whether or not -now- would be the dramatic moment to step in and take the armor for his own body. The control metal places itself over Sho's forhead, in position to link with his brain. The eyes are of the last parts of Sho that remain exposed, the tendrils just now digging into their edges. Guyot looks into them, into the eyes of Sho Fukimachi, and he sees something he did not expect. He looks into Sho's eyes and realizes that these aren't screams of pain or suffering. The boy is completely ignoring all torture the armor gives him. With Sho's burning eyes, these are screams of unadulterated rage! For the first time in his life, Richard Guyot knows true fear.