DISCLAIMER: The Guyver and its entire universe along with all legal rights are owned by Yoshiki Takaya. This fiction is a homage to the great world he has created and should not be copied by anyone. All original characters and locations are property of myself and any artwork of these characters is owned by the respective artists. Any copying or use of these characters without express permission from either myself or the artists responsible will be greatly frowned upon however it never hurts to ask anyway. 

Maverick Guyver

DAWN OF A NIGHTMARE

By Jon Ludlow

Special thanks to : Remus, Drag-5, XT and Trulock
Not to mention Sully and the whole team of WarriorGuyver.com

The rain pattered against the shards of the shattered stained glass window as I looked out over the ledge of the abandoned fifth floor apartment that I currently dwelled. The sound of sirens could be heard in the distance as the night’s sky was lit up a deep shade of crimson.
The street below was deserted and scattered with debris as if a war had desecrated the area long ago. To think that it had only been a matter of hours since the chaos began.
The charred embers of human remains flickered against the moon lit street and crackled furiously as they began to die out. Of course I knew this didn't really begin a couple of hours ago, it began when I first found that device… That was the day my nightmares began… That was the day I stopped being John Loneham… The day my life was changed forever.

I thought back to that fateful day as the rain ran furiously like a stream down the contours of the armour that surrounded me.

It all started three days ago, I was due to pass my second grading at my kung-fu class. It was, for me at least, an overwhelmingly important day. I was finally going to receive my green sash and find out if my four years of dedication were to pay off so I could progress to some new training techniques.
I awoke late and jumped in the shower before making my way (fully clothed of course) to the gym for some last minute training.

The gym was its usual muddle of muscle heads and middle aged housewives. I ignored them all as usual and began to work on the bag. A couple of the muscle bound jerks peered over from the weight benches to my lithe body and sniggered amongst them selves... Huh as if they had any idea about me. They knew NOTHING.
I continued my training of bag work, meditation and floor work and then left for the kung-fu school. As I went through the door the same muscle heads that sniggered before barged past me and gave a look of disgust while swiftly removing my bag from my shoulder.

"Hey give it back man!”

I shouted as one of the gang dangled the bag mischievously in front of my face while the second gang member outstretched his hand towards me with a sadistic grin across his tattooed face.

"No way dude... You've been on our patch, using our gym for far too long. Now its time you paid us for it"

"What the...! You must be sick. You guys don't run the place".

I sneered as anger welled up inside me.

"Maybe not string bean, but how else ya gonna get the bag back?”

I smiled as the gang laughed lunaticly like hyenas before moving into a familiar kung-fu stance while the gang mocked arrogantly.

"Whoa! Hey guys I think the lanky lil shit knows some moves ha-ha ha ha"!

I lunged forward, taking advantage of the gang’s distraction and side kicked the one that held my bag in the head. He fell to the floor like a lead balloon, clutching his temple as he groaned angrily.

I should have been more concerned about my safety then I was since the second it took me to pick up my bag was obviously a second too long for the other two gang members who grabbed me by each arm and slammed me into the wall of the near by alley.

My head cracked against the back of the wall with a bone crunching smack and as I felt the blood begin to run down the back of my neck and soak into my T-shirt I knew it wasn't good news.

"You're gonna regret that kid... It'll take more than that to take out one of us"

Getting my wits about me, as the gang proceeded to lay into me with a series of lazily directed punches, I rolled between one of the gangs legs, ran back out to the road that now gleamed in the setting sun and began to run towards a tattered industrial estate that loomed into view.
I could hear yelling and paced foot steps behind me as the gang followed, if I could get into one of the warehouses then I could at least hide until my head stopped pounding.

In the far corner of the estate I saw a half open shutter. It was almost dark now and despite the flickering light emanating from the open warehouse I though it should be easy to hide in these surroundings.
I rolled under the shutter and stealthily slid across the adjacent wall to the cover of a pile of boxes before wiping the back of my bloodied head with my sleeve. Suddenly I gasped to hold my breath as I heard voices from the other side of the warehouse. Could the gang of muscle heads have found me already...
I timidly peered over the boxes that I used for cover to see three averagely built men wearing blue jump suits with white spherical helmets. One of them held a round metallic object that flickered in the dim light. What the... Was I hallucinating from the wound to my head, had I just jumped into a comic book or something? What the hell was going on?! I continued thinking to myself as I listened to the costumed trio.

"I don't understand Broiz. Why does the boss want this thing so badly?"

He handed the object to his associate with a confused, almost simple expression, on his stubbled face. Broiz snatched the object from his hand with a swift snap of his wrist before replying with a commanding arrogance to his voice.

"Ramotith you know this mission has been listed as strictly top secret... It’s amazing that we even managed to get this job considering the security around this device".

"Shh you two, you always talk too much. Don't forget we have a deadline to get this back… Do you guys feel like receiving our boss’s wrath for another failure?”

The third one hissed quietly as he frowned and shook his head predicatively.

"It wouldn't bother me Gregole... How could he possibly take on all of us that are fed up with all this secrect? I want to destroy something and he's got us doing retrieval. Huh, he probably isn't even a real Zoalord...”

Ramotith grinned insanely as he grabbed Gregole's forearm tightly in an obvious test of his colleague’s strength.

"DON'T BE A FOOL!"

Shouted Gregole as he whipped his arm back from Ramotith's intense grasp...

"No one has so much as harmed a Zoalord since before Chronos and the likes of us were even created and it'll stay like that for a..."
Gregole was cut short as Broiz took a few silent, stealthy steps towards the entrance of the warehouse and whispered.

"Shut up you two... I here voices".

As my mind raced I watched intensely while the gang from the gym stumbled into the warehouse.
What was going on? Zoalords? Chronos? What was this…? I held my head as I tried to stay focused and blinked the droplets of burning sweat away from my eyes as I starred in awe at the scene before me.

"Hey this isn’t Halloween ya know...? What are you guys suppose to be anyway?"

The gang member that I had kicked obviously hadn't lost his sense of humour despite his bloodied nose that dripped relentlessly as he smirked, he began to rotate a small blade between his fingers as he spoke and I suddenly became very conscious of the furious pace my heart was racing at.
From the looks of the second gang member he was on some kind of drugs as his heavy tattoos tried to cover his pasty face and blackened eyes.

"Hahahahah! Yeah you guys look like the sci-fi village people HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

"We don't have time for this... Ramotith, you have permission."

Broiz ordered his colleague authoratively while giving a single nod in the gang’s direction...

I gasped for air as I watched Ramotith tear through his uniform while a thick coat of brown fur covered his now bulging body and almost bat like features twisted his face.

"HaHAHAHA. I've been looking forward to having some fun… Well whose first boys".

"Whoa! Ok g...guys we'll just get outta h...here now o...k"

The first gang member stuttered as he turned to run for the entrance passing his friends, who had now stiffened in fright.

"Your not going anywhere you little shit

The creature grabbed the muscle head as he snarled and tossed him effortlessly behind him right into Broiz before grabbing the other two muscle heads in each hideously deformed claw and lifting them off the floor. Broiz fell to the floor as the object he was holding flew out of his hand and into a corner of the warehouse. Aggravated by the monsters badly planned attack Broiz rapidly scanned the area where he stood for the object.

"Ramotith you fool. Watch what you're doing... Gregole Find the unit".

"Sorry Broiz I'll be more careful with these two I promise ha hA HA HA".

The creature snarled indulgently as he began to stretch one of the gang member’s arms back until it popped from the socket with a stomach churning snap. I covered my mouth as a whimper of sound desperately tried to escape my lips and then sunk behind the cover of the boxes before closing my eyes tightly. The blood curdling screams of the gang rang in my ears as I realized I had to get outta here… Or I'd be next.
I turned to the side of the boxes and tentatively snuck to a near-by stack of crates and then looked around anxiously. The floor here was a wash with blood and the once deafening screams had been replaced with an ominous silence.

"ShiT!"
Gregole, the man that was sent to look for the object that Broiz had called a Unit was walking towards the crates I was using for cover. I made a dash for the entrance so as not to get caught and limply tripped with a hollow thud before slamming my head against something in front of me on the floor.

"Augh… Twice in one day".

I groaned as I rubbed my head looking towards the object on the floor. It was the Unit that the uniformed trio had, it's outer shell was mainly metallic with a circular crystal in its centre, but what was this strange tendril like stuff inside, and these luminescent veins around the metal and crystal of the object.
My eyes widened as I noticed the tendrils and veins begin to writhe inside the object as if alive. I looked up to see Gregole literally burst through his own skin and change before me into a huge, grotesque reptilian, beast as he slowly walked closer to were I knelt.

I spasmed back, screaming as the blue tendrils inside the device leapt out at me and engulfed my body. I felt a surging pain run through me as if each tendril had attached to every part of my nervous system and clasped my temple to try and focus out the excruciating pain...
But the creature had not attacked, he stood there confused, as if amazed by what was happening, while the pain slowly subsided and consciousness left my body.

I woke up with my heart pounding, for some reason I was stood upright. I looked around for any signs of a threat but the warehouse was empty and the blood that soaked the floor had now dried into the concrete. I felt the back of my head for dried blood but to my surprise there was nothing but soft, medium/short, brown hair. Could it be I dreamt the whole thing? I stumbled out of the entrance in a daze while looking around in vain for any remains of the gang. The sun was just peering over the roof of the warehouses as I squinted to focus my eyes to the blinding light and continued to stumble in a zombie like fashion back to my small south London apartment, my brain too tired to question the horrific events that unfolded the night before thought of only one thing... SLEEP!

I awoke with a start, my head aching as I looked around the dimly lit room, my mind still awash with questions I couldn't answer. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes I scanned the moonlit confines of my bedroom. Something seemed engagingly out of place though with my brain swirling around the sudden upturning of my life, I couldn't think what.
What were those monsters... and that thing that surrounded me? It felt like it was eating me alive before I passed out and what was it those beasts bickered about? A ‘Zod-a-lord’ and ‘Chranus’ or something like that. This was too much, how the hell did I get involved with all this.

I jumped out of bed, swifter than usual I thought to myself, and kicked the bed-side bin across the floor.

"DAMN IT! I need some air".

I walked out of my room and onto the cold wood flooring of the hallway. The moon cast a selection of threatening shadows across the floor as I crossed the hall towards the bathroom and I couldn't help but smile to myself as I wondered if the moon was purposely jesting at my current dilemma.
Once in the bathroom I splashed my face with cold water before studying it furiously in the mirror... Nothing seemed different my eyes remained hazel, hair still short and brown, I was still the six foot six, lanky, twenty two year old that I was familiar with, and yet something felt different. I studied my physique and limbs in various macho, and some not so macho, poses.
Everything remained the same, still trim and skinny. Nice definition in my legs and bac... MY BACK!!! I awkwardly tried to turn in a variety of positions to get a good view of my shoulder blades. I noticed two small, round lumps on each side with strange and yet familiar indentations on them and a series of blue veins shooting off and disappearing into my skin.

"ARGH... WHAT THE F**K!!!”

I began to scratch at what I now considered to be the plague itself setting in but then something stopped me. The fact that I currently lived with my girlfriend and the fact that the house had been empty since yesterday morning had escaped me before but I now began to question, with a deep fear, the whereabouts of Ana.

I sped back to the bedroom as quickly as I could... How could I have been so stupid? A whole day had gone by and I'd slept without a thought of her until now. I looked around to see if anything was out of place... Everything was as usual and yet I could almost smell something was seriously wrong.

I looked around anxiously as I heard a dull cracking and followed the noise.
Walking into the living room I looked up at the wall to see a small crack begin to run down from the ceiling to the ground and slowly feral off in random directions. I stood confused for a few seconds, unable to comprehend what the hell was going on, but then my eyes widened as I realised what was about to happen.

The wall erupted inwards towards me as if hit by a bomb and threw me back onto, and over, the sofa like a rag doll.

"So you are the one who took the enhanced unit... I can't say I'm impressed Guyver".

The voice crackled as I peered, quivering, from over the sofa that now luckily protected me from the wreckage to see an enormous monster looming in the cave that now was my living room. This one seemed even larger then the others that had disappeared from the warehouse and had thick, bumpy armour plating including a dinosauresque armoured mane. I garbled out my reply as best I could through my gasps of breath.

"G Guyver... I have n no i dea w...what your on a bout".

"Well you better find out boy if you want to see your sweet little girlfriend alive."

The creature sneered at me with a demented smile as if enjoying my complete lack of knowledge.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH A..."

"You’re in no position to annoy me Guyver"...

The creature interrupted me impatiently as he began to step back out through the opening.

"Just come to the warehouse where you killed Broiz and Ramotith and we'll let you see your woman".

"W wait I didn't kill any... WAIT!!"

My screams echoed into futility as the creature leapt above the desecrated apartment and vanished into the night. I sat under the up-turned sofa and wept for what felt like hours... The calm collective manner I'd kept throughout most of my life melted away as my entire world crumbled before me like the hole that replaced my living room wall.

The sorrowful feeling of impotence didn't last as I stood up and began to calmly make my way down the debris ridden stairs, ignoring the rubble that fell around me as I walked. My face remained emotionless as I continued out onto the street that lead to the industrial estate and began to run towards where I had first seen the trio of monsters.

I cautiously approached the warehouse and a sense of deja-vu crept into my mind as I took note of the same flickering light emanating from the now fully open entrance. Despite my knowledge of the fact that someone or something would be waiting for me I decided to sneak in and hide in the hope of finding out at least some answers to my questions, or better still maybe I could manage to get me and Ana out of there without being seen.
I once again peered over the same stack of boxes that had hidden me before in anticipation of some kind of conversation but nothing. The warehouse was completely silent and the blood that had covered the floor from my previous encounter with these beasts had completely vanished.
I cautiously walked to the opening and looked outside towards the street... Maybe I'd got here too early and...
My thoughts were cut short as I instinctively spun around to see the armoured creature that had destroyed my apartment. He stood at least twice my height and had arms almost as big as my entire body.

"Look I don't know what you are and I don't know what you want but I'm just a normal guy with no intention of getting involved with this, so let my girl go and we'll just forget what we've seen ok"?

I unconvincingly tried to hide the fear in my voice as I prayed for an easy way out of the situation.

"You are anything but normal Guyver. How else could you have murdered two Zoanoids with such ease...? I watched as you became the Guyver and tore Broiz and Ramotith apart like confetti, then I slaughtered Gregole for not killing you when he had the chance you shit."

Was this creature insane! I had no idea what he was talking about and I was beginning to get desperate. The whole time he watched with a murderous glint in his yellow demonic eyes as I proceeded to attempt to talk a way out.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!! I swear to you I haven't killed anyone... Zoanoids? You mean those creatures? How the hell could I take on one of those...? Let alone TWO"!!

The creature stopped eyeing my every move, almost stunned by my words before giving out a ferocious roar of sadistic laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHA I can't believe you don't even know what you really are, I should kill you right now and make it easy for myself... But since I was sent here with orders to retrieve a Guyver it seems only fair that you should give me the challenge I've been hungry for.

"Tell me what’s happened to me freak... I have to know".

I had suddenly become unbelievably calm as I waited for my adversaries reply and for some reason the huge creature didn't seem as scary to me as he had before.

"The Chronos Corporation has worked silently throughout companies all over the world for longer then you could possibly imagine in order to continue our creators legacy so that mankind can one day storm the gates of heaven and take revenge on the creators...

My heart raced as sweat ran down my brow and I realised what these Creators he mentioned were.

"Creators... You mean GOD!!!

"Huh you wouldn't call them that if you knew the truth... They are no more gods then we are creations of nature".

The creatures tone shallowed as he narrowed his eyes, appearing to show an even greater hate for these 'Creators' then he did for me.

"Don't you realise what we are all here for... WAR... Your simple 'normal' life as you call it means nothing. Inside that limp useless corpse you call a body lies a Zoanoid just like me waiting to erupt... Such is the calling of all humankind".

"THAT’S BULLSHIT... I'll never be like you, you bastard".

My head began to pound as a medley of different assumptions and thoughts flooded my mind and deep down somehow I knew that, as this creature... As this Zoanoid continued his explanation, he spoke the truth.

"Deny it all you want... It'll just make it easier for me to defeat you if I lose my patience before you manage to bio-boost".

"BIO-BOOST"!!!

The words struck a cord in my brain that I couldn't shake and I knew instantly what I had to ask to get the answers I sought.

"Is that something to do with this Guyver you've been talking about?"

"Ah the boy does learn quickly I see... The Guyver is the bond between the Creators bio-booster armour and a human host. This armour enhances the user’s capabilities and characteristics... If they know how to use it that is, Ha, you can't even call the Guyver and now you're out of time… SO DIE!"

The Zoanoid stampeded towards me at lightning speed and skewered me through the leg with his horn before continuing towards the wall at the other side of the estate. The wall dented like putty and shards of concrete cut into my back as blood poured relentlessly from my almost dismembered leg.

"Ha... Ready to die Guyver!"

The Zoanoid roared in victory as my now ghostly pale face slumped into my chest. I lay there still for a moment as my adversary continued to grind me further into the crumbled wall. crushing my bones like twigs as I began to accept my own death.

As I slipped in and out of consciousness from the loss of blood my attackers words wondered repeatedly around my head and suddenly I knew exactly what to do '…Call the Guyver'.
I struggled to lift my head to the Zoanoids direction and faintly smiled as I choked out a mixture of blood and whispers.

"Y...ou're d...dead...!... GUYVER!!!"

No sooner had I uttered the words then a sphere of blue energy surrounded my body in mid air and sent the Zoanoid flying to the floor a few feet away from me with an earth shattering crash.
The wall behind me was now a collection of pebbles scattered across the floor as I landed to my feet. The now numb leg, hanging by a thread of flesh and tendon, still appeared to hold my weight as the familiar tendrils bound my body once more... But this time I knew instinctively that I would remain conscious to fight... I would remain conscious to WIN!!!

I felt my body surge with power as a purple armour covered the tendrils that had now completely engulfed my body and took form around me. I looked up towards the Zoanoid as a small jet of air sprayed from two vents either side of my armoured face and took a step forward.

"Ahh! Y...You called the G G Guyver!"

The Zoanoid stumbled back while still on the floor. I couldn't believe it... Now this thing was actually scarred of ME!

I took a quick look at my body. A mix of living tendrils and durable metallic armour surrounded me but I wasn't scared of what I had become. The years of watching anime and reading comics had accustomed me to the fact that the coolest heroes always had the scariest costumes and I felt great... But how could this tiny body be a match for this hulk of a beast.
I looked down to my arms and noticed a shimmering blue blade by my elbow, I could sense a weapon of some kind on my forehead and my shoulders gave off a heavenly Glow and pulsated with pure energy. Even more inspiring to me was the fact that I could sense everything. A bird flying high above the warehouse roofs, the Zoanoids shocked and fearful breathing patterns, a cop car a few streets away. It was like every sense, every attribute, I owned as a person was magnified to beyond what I ever thought possible. I let my ego take in the power I'd gained as the Zoanoid rose to his feet and wiped the blood from his monstrous jaw.

"Now you son of a bitch... Now you're gonna tell me what you've done with Ana".

I continued to walk forward as I spoke. My fear now completely subsided while I raced to imagine the possibilities of the armour I possessed.

"Oh I didn't do anything to her, hah... She was taken to Chronos HQ before I even got to your apartment... I Gustav was sent here by Chronos' top scientific mind, Dr Hamical Balcus, to protect Chronos UK from the threat of you, Guyver. I am a hyper class Zoanoid and you will not defeat me as easily as the others.”
.
Before I had time to think what was meant by the term 'hyper Zoanoid' Gustav leapt towards me with his massive claws outstretched. I matched him move for move and we locked hands in a fierce test of strength. I tried to pull his arms downwards to gain a better leverage over the beast's size but he soon managed to turn my arms inwards and began to push them towards my face... As he manoeuvred both our pairs of arms towards me I noticed a red glow begin to charge within his arm plates.

"Hahaha... You’re no match for a hyper Zoanoid".

I used all my strength to push off the ground and kicked the Zoanoid in the chest with both feet before back flipping onto the ground. Gustav flew back into the warehouse, as his energy beam shot into the sky, and skidded across the concrete his rugged armour tearing up the ground as he landed.

"No match for a hyper Zoanoid huh... I think you've just been outdated big guy. Now tell me where she is"!

Even as I spoke the Zoanoid kept his horrifyingly evil smile.

"Ha you’re a fool if you think I am all Chronos has to offer you for a challenge... Huh you haven't even scratched the surface of what you've gotten yourself into... Not that you're going to live long enough to realise"!

The Zoanoid ran swiftly towards me but I'd seen this before and I wasn't gonna get caught twice.

I waited until Gustav was right in front of me before jumping above him and kicking him in the back of the head... The blow sent him stumbling forward, crashing through another piece of wall.
I turned around instantly and a bolt of green energy shot instinctively from my forehead.

"Whoa! What the hell was that"?

I still couldn't believe the awesome power this armour had given me as the beam passed the Zoanoid’s face, tearing into his armoured cheek and popping his eyeball to a bloody mush. it was as if the armour provided any attack I willed it to perform. I looked back to the shimmering blades on each of my elbows and smiled arrogantly as I glanced up to the heavily exhausted Gustav. I knew now, as I walked towards the villainous Zoanoid while extending the blades on my arms, all I had to do was want the armour to use an attack enough and it would oblige me.

Gustav swung at me with his claw desperately but I had seen it coming... With a single swipe quicker then the eye could see the attacking claw was laid limply on the floor surrounded by a growing puddle of blood… I grabbed the creature by the throat and mocked as he howled in pain from the removal of his limb.

"What do you think now Gustav...? Are you really qualified to defeat a Guyver"?

He gave his response in kind as I was flung back by a red blast from his other arm. I skidded back onto the floor, tearing up more concrete as I landed and instantly flipped back onto my feet clutching my stomach... A minor burn to the armour but nothing I could notice to worry about.

"Shit! The hell with this, I'm heading back to Chronos to take care of your girl".

The Zoanoid began to leap towards the on-looking street and up past my apartment, shooting random blasts at witnesses as they passed. I began to run after him screaming out while fury welled in my glowing yellow eyes.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!!!

I needed a weapon and this time it seemed the armour, oblivious to the innocent people currently on the streets and in the surrounding houses, picked for me as I sub-consciously reached for my chest plate and opened two compartments either side. They quickly became spheres of pure energy as matter from the surrounding area was pulled in.

"What the... Oh no n not the... MEGA S SMASHER!! ARRGGGHHHHHH!!!"

At first I was blinded by the light that erupted from my chest as the Megasmasher eradicated everything in its path... Pavement became wasteland, street lamps melted and vaporized, men, women and children alike screamed in the wake of the impending doom this weapon bought and then silence. Gustav was destroyed and Ana was safe, although trapped at Chronos, for as long as they wanted me they wouldn't dare risk hurting her.

I jumped from the ground, landing on one knee at the destroyed wall of my long abandoned fifth floor apartment, and walked through the rubble. The other side of the whole floor had been taken apart by the Megasmasher and I now loomed over the window that remained in shards around its frame. A cop car could be heard getting closer in the distance and the sky was lit up a dark crimson as the rain fell in sheets across my blood stained armour...
And here I stood remembering the events of the past few days while I pondered the terrible destruction I had caused and thought of what to do to help Ana.
Had the blessing of this armour been a curse in disguise? Blessing or not it was my only hope of saving Ana and in my heart I could feel that this had always been my fate.

I raised my arms as I looked up to the rain filled sky and shouted out my vow to the world.

"CHRONOS WILL FALL!!!"

I sunk back into the shadows of the apartment and willed the Guyver to deactivate as I fell limply on to the wood floor.

Had I not been so exhausted I could have seen a dark silhouette turn from the corner of the street and speed off into the distance as his elbow blades shimmered in the rising sun.

THE END... (for now)

Keep your eyes open for the next Chapter ‘The Spawn of Chronos UK’ only @ www.theguyver.net