Duel of Powers

Panting, his leg muscles starting to burn, Toshiaki kept running. He knew there was someone following him; someone extremely dangerous if the craters left in the walls from the newcomer's beam weapon were anything to go by. Cornering with near-desperate speed, Toshiaki found himself facing the worst possible thing that he could have under his circumstances. Toshiaki saw that the alley that he'd ran into, hoping for a quick escape from his pursuer, dead-ended in a blank wall.

No, I can't die like this. I still haven't found Sho and the others; I still haven't found a way to make Chronos pay for what they did to Prof. Odagiri and my friends. I can't die! Leaping to the right to avoid a shot that would have taken his head off, Toshiaki turned to confront his tormentor.

"What do you want with me?!" he demanded, panting from his exertion.

"I want to know why you were following me," The man, obviously a Zoanoid given the way he'd been firing those energy beams, sneered. "Ever since those bastard Zoalords arrived, I've been hunting down dumb damn spies like you practically every day."

"I'm- I'm not a spy," Toshiaki said, stuttering slightly.

Something about this guy gave him the creeps; it wasn't just the dark glasses or the large facial scar, either. Something about him was just… wrong.

"Hmph. Do you know what I do to spies?" The scarred man grinned at him in a particularly unnerving way. "I eat them."

"Wait!" Toshiaki shouted, backing away from the now-obviously-insane Zoanoid. "I already told you I wasn't a spy! I just wanted to ask you a favor!"

All the while, his mind reeled from the implications of what the Zoanoid had just admitted himself to be. A cannibalistic Zoanoid? Was this one of Balkus' creations? Made for the express purpose of hunting and killing any Lost Units that escaped from Chronos' control maybe? But then, why would he have referred to the Zoalords as bastards?

"Oh, is that right?" The Zoanoid's right hand shot out, clamping itself firmly around Toshiaki's throat. "Then tell me, what's that favor you wanted?"

"Don't! I already told you that-" but, as Toshiaki started to feel his throat being peeled open, his words dissolved into a choked, gurgling scream.

He could feel himself involuntarily transforming into his Zoanoid form, and even as Bio Freezer, he was still helpless in the grip of Balkus' cannibal Zoanoid.

"And here's your true form!" The scarred Zoanoid cackled gleefully. "It's kind of pathetic, but it's really you!"

As Toshiaki's eyes started to roll back into his head, in what was probably his death throes, Toshiaki noticed that the expression on the scarred Zoanoid's face was changing from sadistically amused to slightly confused. And then he let go of Toshiaki's throat. Toshiaki fell to the ground, panting, sweating and even drooling from the painful ordeal he'd just been through.

"How the hell can you be a Lost Unit too?!"

"I made myself that way," Toshiaki said, gagging slightly from the blood still in his throat. "And I was following you because you were staying close to the people that I want to make contact with. Namely Sho Fukamachi and his friends. We worked with each other before X-Day, in Relics Point."

"All right, I'll bite," the scarred Lost Unit said, helping Toshiaki back to his feet. "Still, are you sure it's really Sho you want to talk to? Yukari's a lot cuter than him; and I hear she's available."

"What?! I would never think of Yukari like that! Wait…" Toshiaki shook his head, trying to reconcile two distinctly different mental images.

On the one hand, there was Sho Fukamachi; Guyver I. The first person he'd met with the power to take on Chronos and win on a long-term basis. Murakami had been a great person but he'd - she'd? - been limited by his - her? - flawed and incomplete processing. That had limited his - her? - effective fighting time to about twenty minutes. Twenty-five if he - she? - pushed himself - herself? - to the absolute limit. Wait, who am I thinking about?

"Getting kind of confused? Feeling like your head's about to explode? Maybe wanting to rip open your own brain?" the scarred Lost Unit grinned at him again.

"How did you know I was feeling that way?"

"I wasn't talking about you. What do I call you, anyway? Since we're on the subject of you."

"My name is Hayami Toshiaki, and yours?"

"Toshiaki, eh? And what do you suppose I call that battleform of yours?"

"That's Bio Freezer. And you still haven't told me your name yet."

"You can call me Aptom."

"Just Aptom?"

"Just Aptom. It's not like I have another name to give you. Well, let's go find those friends of yours."

"All right, let's go."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Far away from where the two Lost Units were heading off to meet their comrades, deep in the underground levels of Cloud Gate, two other Zoaforms were having a meeting of their own. Bathed in the pale, almost sickly-looking illumination from the row of processing-tanks in front of them, Hikari and Imakarum Mirabilis oversaw the creation of four very specific Zoanoids. They were all of the same breed; a very dangerous brood of Zoanoids indeed.

They were the next generation of Guyver-killer, and they were also possessed of another, hidden asset.

The only one who did not seem particularly pleased with the thought of these new Zoanoids – these enhanced Guyver-killers – was the newly arrived Fried'rich van Purg'stall.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Hikari purred, caressing the cool Plexiglas of the processing-tank. "They were a gift from Lord Hamilcal," Hikari flashed white teeth in a fierce grin.

"Indeed," Imakarum said, with the exact same amount of reverent fascination in his voice as Hikari. "He worked on them while he was also reprocessing Zektor into a creature capable of destroying Aptom. These four will make excellent hunting dogs."

"Yes," Hikari said, smiling again. "They will indeed."

"As you will, then," Fried'rich said calmly, though he was still inwardly leery of both iterations of Imakarum Mirabilis. If these creatures of yours are hunting dogs; then what do you think that that makes you? Vicious creatures.

Turning for a moment to watch as Lord Fried'rich left, Hikari pondered for a few seconds on her fellow Zoalord's demeanor. "I don't think that Lord Fried'rich quite approves of us, my Lord."

"He seems to approve of our results, if not the methods themselves, which seems to be his normal way of operating," Imakarum said, looking briefly in the direction that Lord Fried'rich van Purg'stall had retreated in before turning his full attention back to the Enzyme IIIs growing in the processing-tanks. "Anyway, it's not much of a concern to us, my Lady. We simply need to think about how we will use these new Enzymes of ours to kill Sho Fukamachi and the rest of his idiot cohorts."

"Yes," Hikari said, turning back to look at the four Enzyme IIIs resting in their amniotic baths. "And to bring my little Yukari-chan back here, where she belongs. Though I don't suppose these Guyver-killers of ours will be ready for quite some time, my Lord."

"Indeed. I would say they need at least forty-five more minutes before they would be ready to take flight and hunt down the Guyvers with us, my Lady."

"While we wait, would you find fault if I went up to the cafeteria? I find myself craving something sweet."

"Of course not," Imakarum said, coming up to stand beside Hikari. "I think I will even accompany you. I also find that I have a craving for sweets as well. I'll even treat you to a coffee, with three creams and two sugars, my Lady."

Smiling as Imakarum wrapped his right arm around her waist, Hikari leaned into his embrace. "Why thank you, my Lord."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Curled up in one of the window-seats, Yukari's head resting against the left side of his chest, Sho just leaned against the glass and watched the world go by. He knew that Tetsuro and Mizuki were talking about them, he could even make a good guess as to what the current topic of their conversation was from the tone of their voices. They were worried; worried about him and Yukari.

They had been worried about them ever since two weeks ago; that was when everything had really started to sink in for them. After all, there was only so much to do in this house - especially since they couldn't go outside for fear of alerting the Zoanoids to their whereabouts - and there was only so long that they could keep from thinking about things with nothing else to distract them. Sho knew that even Yukari's knitting lessons with Shizu, which were responsible for the colorful scarf that she was wearing, couldn't distract her from what had happened to Ms. Murakami anymore.

They'd tried to keep the others from noticing their state, if only to keep them from worrying about something they couldn't do anything about, but even that hadn't worked after the first week and a half. It was hard to hide something from people that spent every hour of the day with you. Even harder when they were your friends and had known you for almost all of your life.

Sho wasn't quite sure if Akane and Agito knew how they felt, but he really would have been surprised if they had. Those two were very observant, after all.

Tugging absently at Yukari's long scarf, Sho leaned his head against the glass again and tried not to think. It sounded like Tetsuro had just left.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

+This is going to provide some problems for us, Agito,+ Akane said, stretching out her legs as she reposed next to him. +I had thought that those two would manage to realize that there is nothing to be done for their former friends. I suppose I underestimated their thickheaded sentimentallity.+

+We both did,+ Agito concurred, as outside the open door Tetsuro walked by. +And, even though they were the ones who made their respective Gigantics in the first place, both of them have proved consistently unable to use the armor to its full capacity.+

+Yes. The Gigantics were created to have the power to overcome Zoalords, but all of that divine power is utterly worthless in the hands of those two. They couldn't even manage to kill one of our opponents when we all fought together. All they could think of was to escape.+

+That is usually the case with them,+ Agito said, chuckling humorlessly. +The Gigantics would be put to much better use if we possessed them.+

+Yes, so they would.+

As Shizu passed by the door, carrying a tray of coffee for Natsuki, herself, and Tetsuro, she looked into the room where Master Agito and Mistress Akane were staying. They seemed to be rather aggravated about something; worried, but not wanting to invade their privacy, Shizu left without a word.

When she arrived in the main entrance hall, Shizu set down the tray just as she heard two sharp knocks on the door.

"Ah, Natsuki's home!" Mizuki said happily, heading quickly over to the door so she could open it.

It was indeed Natsuki Taga, the one who had been doing their shopping ever since those Zoanoids had been spotted looking for Yukari in the city. But, when Mizuki greeted Natsuki at the door, she paused, and then she asked what was wrong.

Shizu also came forward, wondering if she could do anything to help. Natsuki had done so much for them; for her and Master Agito and Mistress Akane and the others, that Shizu would have felt remiss in her duty if she hadn't done all that she could to help. When Natsuki said that there was someone with her, Shizu wondered who it could be. She had known Natsuki well enough to know that the other would have screamed and called for help if she had been accosted by a Zoanoid so close to their safehouse. Master and Mistress would have been very quick to defend her if that was the case.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Standing next to the girl who had taken his prey in and was keeping them safe from the Zoanoids who had been hunting them, at least when those Zoanoids weren't being hunted down by him, Aptom just barely resisted the urge to make a smartass remark. He found that he usually looked scarier when he didn't say anything at all; so that was what he did. From the expressions on the faces of the two girls in the room, and the one on the fat guy that both of his would-be opponents liked to hang out with, he was doing a really good job of it.

When his prey came into the room, along with those two other Guyvers he didn't really care much about, Aptom decided that he should really start paying attention to what the girl who'd led him here was saying. Things would probably start happening again once they were introduced formally to his erstwhile companion.

"Won't you come in?" the fat kid – Tetsuro, Aptom remembered – offered shakily. "I don't think we should be leaving the door open like this."

"I'm not really the one who came here to see you," Aptom explained, just to see the looks of confusion on their faces. "I just tagged along. There's another guy who wanted to meet you; someone who told me he knows you."

"Okay, so you were right," Toshiaki said, as he stepped out from behind Aptom and got his first clear look at the people in the house.

"I usually am," Aptom said, grinning.

"Mr. Hayami? Is it really you?" one of the girls – Mizuki; Aptom's memory of her was even clearer than the one he had of Tetsuro – asked, looking completely shocked. "But- but it can't be!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Sitting on top of a nearby building, crouched down low so he'd present the absolute minimum shadow, a Rocies observed the goings on. So that's why none of us has been able to track down that little Guyver babe and drag her in. She's been hiding out in this out of the way place. Hmm; I might as well get a closer look.

Suiting actions to thoughts, Rocies leapt closer to the building where he now knew that little Yukari Fukamachi was staying. This might be a little more dangerous with Aptom in the picture, since he can sense when Zoanoids are near. But my vital signs are really close to human-standard. I should be able to slip by right under his radar.

Adjusting his eyes until he could see in through the windows, almost as if he himself was standing right outside, Rocies saw something that made the risk of the trip he'd taken to get close enough to spy in through the windows of the house well worth it. Score! Sho Fukamachi, Agito Makishima, and that bitchy counterpart of his, all in one place! Crouching until only his eyes and ears stuck out above the rim of the rooftop, Rocies concentrated on the presence he could still feel in the back of his mind.

Your Excellency, I found them!

-All of them?-

Yes, Excellency. All four of the Guyvers, all of their allies, and even that Lost Unit that you were hunting.

-So, even Aptom is with them. Good work, Rocies. You can expect an easier assignment when you return to Cloud Gate.-

Thank you, Excellency, Rocies said, keeping his eyes trained on the people in the house in front of him. Oh, and could you give a message to Her Ladyship for me?

-What message would that be?-

Tell her that I hope it goes well for her, and that she gets what she wants out of it.

-Consider that message delivered. Now, I want you to continue observing them.-

Yes, Excellency.

-Good.-

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Sitting back in the seat inside the Psycho Wave Amplifier, Imakarum Mirabilis smiled with sheer pleasure. It would be very easy to deal with all of Chronos' most dangerous enemies when they had gathered themselves together so nicely.

-Hikari; Rocies has found our prey for us. And he also wishes you all luck with your endeavor.-

-Perfect,- Hikari responded, obviously smiling. -Shall I call our lovely pets out of hiding?-

-Of course, my Lady. Call them; and we'll go out and bring Yukari home with us. And we shall kill every one of those who oppose our master's glorious cause!-

-Indeed we shall, my Lord.-

As he teleported into the basement of Cloud Gate, Imakarum wondered briefly what he would see when he arrived there. The Enzyme IIIs were feral creatures; something about the process that Balkus submitted them to destroyed the higher functioning of their minds, reducing them to little more than beasts. Still, Hikari was a Zoalord like him; she would be able to handle four mere Zoanoids. Even if they were Guyver-killers.

The four Zoanoids, all in their human forms, were gathered around Hikari. Their behavior toward her was indeed somewhat animalistic, since one of them was smelling her hair, two of them were rubbing their heads against her stomach, and the other one was apparently trying to take a bite out of her shoulder armor. Reaching out with his telepathic powers, and feeling Hikari do the same, Imakarum subdued the Enzyme IIIs and ordered them to form a line behind himself and Hikari.

They did, after a cursory amount of prodding from his and Hikari's telepathic powers. Once they had stopped trying to sniff at everything in the room, Imakarum gave them the order to transform. He and Hikari did that very same thing, and the six of them stood revealed for what they truly were.

-And now, my Lady, the hunt begins.-

-Indeed it does, my Lord. And it will be most enjoyable.-

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

They had been working, far beneath the sands of the Arizona desert, Dr. Balkus and his entire research staff. Working to create new and better Zoanoid models, and working on the mystery of where the doubles had come from and how they had appeared. And, just perhaps, how to find a way of sending the two Guyvers back while leaving the Zoalord who had come with them in this place.

However, for the moment Dr. Balkus himself had other things on his mind.

"So, both Imakarum and his female counterpart have left Cloud Gate?"

"Yes," Purg'stall said, his image on the screen flickering slightly. "Apparently, the Guyvers have gone to ground somewhere in the city and they have located them now. The two of them left with the Enzyme IIIs without a word."

"Good," Dr. Balkus said. "Do not interfere for any reason. If they have indeed left to hunt down the Guyvers, then they are acting on the express wishes of Lord Alkanphel. All of the actions that those two take are motivated by their concern for the greater good of Lord Alkanphel and Chronos as a whole."

"Of course," Purg'stall nodded. "I will keep that in mind."

Settle this; both of you, Dr. Balkus ordered silently, knowing even as he did so that neither version of Imakarum would need any further prodding to accomplish their assigned mission. Destroy the Guyvers, as our lord Alkanphel wishes. Fulfill your mission.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Back in the city of Tokyo, on the fringes of the Shinjuku district, the four Guyvers and their allies had just finished explaining the situation to their long-absent friend. Including, to the best of their knowledge, why there were now four Guyvers when there had originally been only two.

"Wow. I would have never imagined that something like this was even possible; but since the proof is standing right in front of me, I guess I really have to believe."

"That's pretty much what we feel, Mr. Hayami," Tetsuro said. "It's really good to see you again, though. With everything that's been going on lately, we've been worried."

"I could say the exact same thing about you," Toshiaki said. "I'm glad that you've managed to find reinforcements. Um, whichever 'you' did the finding, that is," Toshiaki said, the implications of the memories that he had in his own mind was starting to give him a headache; but it did help to keep his attention off of the things that he didn't want to think about. Things that he was going to have to tell his friends about very soon.

"Mr. Hayami?" Mizuki asked. "You looked so sad for a minute; what's wrong?"

Sooner than later, it seemed. "While it's good to see you all again, saying hello wasn't really the reason that I came," before he could lose his nerve, or anyone else could interrupt, Toshiaki pressed on. "Why I came here really isn't something that I like to think about for too long; but I suppose I should tell you my reasons. Especially after Torii and the others all died to give me the chance to escape."

"You mean that all of the other scientists we met are…" Sho stepped forward to wrap his arms around Yukari as she choked on a sob, unable to finish her intended sentence.

"Yes. I'm sorry, Yukari, but they are," Toshiaki said, feeling like he wanted to do something to ease Yukari's mind – and Sho's too, now that he thought about it – but knowing that he couldn't. "I'm sure you all know that all Chronos scientists are infected with a virus to keep them from escaping the company or rebelling outright." Well, if they didn't know already, they know now, Toshiaki mused. "The virus will consume and destroy the brain unless specifically modified antibodies are injected. It's almost like a form of brain cancer. The only way to permanently destroy the virus is to submit to processing, but that has its own set of very large drawbacks; as I'm sure you're all aware." Toshiaki paused, breathing deeply. "We found a way to get around that, though."

"What way is that?" Tetsuro asked.

Before Toshiaki could say anything, Aptom spoke up. "They all decided to try being Lost Numbers, like me." Crossing the room with a few long strides, Aptom roughly mused Toshiaki's hair. "I never imagined one of my little brothers would be a lab rat."

"Please don't do that again," Toshiaki said.

Shrugging with utmost unconcern, Aptom continued to speak. "We Lost Numbers are single-generation mutations; none of us really has to follow the instructions of the Zoalords we serve under, but most of us do because it's just easier that way. Less hassle, you know? I'm one of the ones who can ignore them completely now, thanks to that old bastard Balkus fiddling around with my genes so much. Still, ol' Freezer here might be able to do that too, since he designed himself to be that way."

"Freezer?" Mizuki asked, confused.

"Bio Freezer," Toshiaki corrected automatically then he elaborated. "That's the name of my Zoanoid form; the one I helped design," he sighed. "All the rest of us that had worked under Dr. Odagiri worked for a very long time, trying to find a way to cure the anti-rebellion virus that we'd been infected with. But the only viable way that we found was to intentionally become Lost Numbers. But the Zoaformation process was never intended to produce Lost Numbers at all; like Aptom said, they're a fluke," Toshiaki squeezed his eyes shut, remembering his friends. "None of the others survived the process. Torii; Fujiwara; Ijuin, they all died. As you can see, though, I survived."

"Most impressive," Akane allowed. "But, how did you survive?"

"By using the data that we gained from all of the failed attempts," Toshiaki admitted lowly.

Aptom, standing next to his "little brother", tensed. He could sense something, it was just on the edge of his perception, but there was no mistaking this feeling. There was a Zoanoid very, very close to their current location. Turning whip-fast, and ignoring Tetsuro's surprised yelp, Aptom fired his hand-beam directly into the Zoanoid's midsection.

Given the way it had nearly managed to evade his senses even when it was so close, the thing had probably been a Rocies.

"Was that a Zoanoid?"

Aptom rolled his eyes at Agito under the cover of his dark glasses. No, I just felt like randomly blasting a hole in the window of a house I don't even own.

"If that thing found us, then we're not safe here anymore," Tetsuro said, making the first intelligent statement that Aptom had heard since he fired his beam and eliminated the prowling Rocies.

Still, if there had been a Zoalord in communication with that oversized lizard… Aptom's senses screamed with the presence of Zoanoids. Four of them; strong ones, probably Hypers. Hearing Agito talking about how they all needed to get out of there, Aptom decided to tell them just how many problems there were with that plan as of the present moment.

"We're already surrounded," Aptom said. "But then, there are only four of them, which seems kind of stupid to-" Aptom paused, taking in the feeling that there were more Zoanoids than he had previously sensed. A lot more.

They were more familiar to him; Standard Zoanoids. Vamores. A whole lot of Vamores. Too many, in fact, for him to sense all of their locations.

"You, the Guyver twins! Transform and get these people out of here if you want them to live!"

A minute after he'd said that, the entire house went kablooie. The flying wood-shrapnel and burning debris wouldn't have even scratched his fully formed carapace, but that didn't matter since he was covered by the shield from two Gigantic Guyvers. Besides, the debris probably would have hurt his little brother 'Freezer. Both Gigantics were carrying two people, which left one person each that got carried by Guyver III. And left him without a passenger.

Not that he minded; at all.

"Well, I guess that's the end of Prof. Odagiri's mansion."

"Relax, Tetsuro," Toshiaki called over. "That was just the house he stayed in when he was working in the city."

"You mean he has another mansion?"

"Yeah. It's out in the country."

"Less talking, more escaping," Aptom cut in. "We can discus things like that when we're not in danger of being killed by Hyper Zoanoids."

"Sho he's right, look!" Yukari shouted.

"They can fly?" Sho gasped.

"Apparently so," Akane said. "And, has anyone noticed that these creatures bear a startling resemblance to those Enzyme IIs we all faced?"

"Chronos has designed a new type of Enzyme; one that possesses flight capabilities," Agito mused aloud.

I always love a good Enzyme, Aptom chuckled darkly to himself. They're so nice and spicy.

+What are we going to do, Sho? We can't fight off those Enzymes when we're trying to get the others to safety.+

+I think that all we can do for now is try to outrun them; and try to find a safe place where we can hide Tetsuro, Mizuki and the others.+

+You're right,+ Yukari said. +We just have to keep flying. Everything's going to be fine.+

A lesser person would have probably blamed Yukari for what happened next.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

-Here they come, my Lord.-

-Yes, my Lady. And right on time, as well.-

-I always enjoy having punctual victims.-

"Hello, children," Hikari said, baring her pointed canines in a dangerous smile. "Have you been waiting long?"

"It seems that everyone is here," Imakarum purred, chuckling deep in his throat. "Where do you lovely ones think you're going?"

"If I didn't know better, I'd think they were trying to escape from us, my Lord," Hikari said, with the air of someone talking about a thing of no particular consequence.

"They think they can escape?" Imakarum laughed maliciously. "Poor, deluded things. They have no hope. None at all."

Hikari and Imakarum fired, directly at the Gigantic that was carrying Tetsuro and Mizuki. Disoriented because he couldn't raise his shield in time to deflect the blasts and in a fair amount of pain from the beams, Sho inadvertently released his hold on his two friends.

"Tetsuro! Mizuki!"

Only the fact that she was carrying Natsuki and Hayami kept Yukari from diving to try and catch the falling forms of her and Sho's closest childhood friends. Sho was the one who dove to catch them, but Yukari opted to cover his back, just in case the two Zoalords who had attacked were thinking to attack again. Landing beside Sho when he'd gotten their friends safely, though not comfortably, back on the ground, Yukari raised her shield.

"How are they?" she asked, not daring to move any closer for fear of disrupting the Gigantic's forcefield.

"I think they'll be all right," Sho said, looking quickly from Tetsuro to Mizuki and then back again. "It looks like they both got a little stunned."

"Well now, that is a load off my mind," Hikari said, laughing wickedly. "After all, we wouldn't want any of our little pawns to miss the rest of the game, now would we?"

"I should say we wouldn't, my Lady," Imakarum laughed. "Still, I really can't believe how many of them survived. Look, it's Shizu and Mr. Onuma. And little Mizuki, of course. And her big brother Tetsuro. And some other girl I've never seen before. And even a former Chronos scientist."

"It's almost enough to make one nostalgic," Hikari leaned her cheek against her right hand, then sighed with false sentimentality. "A Mt. Minakami reunion."

"So, where have your fellow scientists gone, Hayami? I know they ran away with you aboard the Relic. So, why haven't they come here to support you in your rebellion?" Imakarum needled.

"Because they're dead! They died for the oath we all swore to Prof. Odagiri, you brutal sadist!"

"How very tragic," Hikari drawled, sounding as if she was on the verge of laughter.

"Murakami," Mizuki moaned, hating the way that her and Sho's – and her and Yukari's – old friend was acting. Things should never have turned out this way.

"And now 'old friends', let us begin THE DANCE OF DEATH! Let's get this party started!"

Laughing, Hikari ordered the Enzyme IIIs to close in around their prey.

"Tetsuro!" Sho shouted. "Hayami! Take the others and run!"

"I won't leave you to fight them alone, Sho!"

"He won't be alone, dimbulb," Aptom snorted, despite his lack of a nose. "He's got his counterpart with him; and me, of course. You'd just be in the way. You probably don't even know how to use that battleform of yours, so you'd be even more in the way. Just leave those Enzymes to me; you four, and focus on those Zoalords!"

It was proving to be quite difficult for Hikari to hold back her laughter, even as Aptom viciously attacked the four Enzymes that she and Imakarum had brought to this battle. Both she and Imakarum knew what was coming, after all. They knew how futile Aptom's show of force would prove to be.

When Sho shouted a warning to his Lost Number compatriot, just after said Lost Number had attempted to destroy one of their Guyver-killers with a barrage of imitation Gaster-type bio-missiles, Hikari found herself chuckling at his meager efforts. The true power of the third iteration of the Enzyme model was about to be revealed.

"What the hell?!"

Laughing at the Lost Number's confusion, Hikari decided to enlighten him. It would be amusing to see how he reacted to them; to knowing that he had been decisively beaten by Chronos at last. "You look so surprised, dear Aptom," she drawled. "You really shouldn't be; these Enzymes have been designed to be more formidable than any Zoanoid you have ever faced before. As you can see, they have the ability to resist your most powerful electrical currents; to absorb the impact of bio-missiles without detonating them; and to regenerate damage from high-intensity lasers in seconds. All of this was designed with you in mind, Aptom. Don't you feel special?" Hikari laughed, then quickly sobered. "There is a price for all that power: these Enzymes will only be able to live for two – maybe three – years from the day they are processed. However, two years is more than enough time to kill you here and now, Aptom!"

"What?!" This time it was Sho, and this time Hikari ignored the interruption.

"That's horrible!" Yukari shouted.

Aptom, meanwhile, seemed to be having some more difficulties. She knew - and Imakarum knew - why that was, but she wasn't particularly inclined to explain it. Let that worthless, Zoanoid-eating mistake figure things out for himself.

"As you might have noticed, Aptom, these Enzymes have also been equipped with the same virus and the same anti-bodies that Neo-Zektor himself had," Imakarum said, smirking at the Lost Number. "These Zoanoids will not be food for your hunger," Imakarum laughed. "Not only the Guyver's natural predator, but now yours as well, Aptom!"

"Damn it!" Aptom shouted impotently.

Tetsuro also looked horrified by that development, probably since the only people who could fight against Guyver-killers of this caliber were the ones who had been doing all in their power to avoid the battle in the first place.

-Just as planned is it not, my Lord?-

-Indeed it is, my Lady.-

"Well now, it looks like you two are the only ones who can save your little friends," Imakarum said, grinning like a death's head at the two Gigantics. "Are you two willing to take us on, or should we just start killing your weakling friends and then move on to you later?"

"I won't let you hurt my friends!" Sho shouted, clenching his left fist and raising it slightly. "Even if I do have to fight against the both of you to keep them safe."

There seemed to be a moment of non-verbal – most likely telepathic – communication between the two Gigantics standing before them.

"We'll fight you, but not here," Yukari said. "And you have to spare Tetsuro and the others."

"Oh, we'll spare who we can," Hikari said dismissively. "However, I hope you understand that if they attack our Enzymes they will in fact be forfeiting their lives. These Zoanoids of ours don't take attacks against themselves particularly well, you know."

"Follow us, then!"

"You want to fight us in the air?" Imakarum wondered, grinning. "Very well then!"

He and Hikari launched themselves skyward, calling on their gravity-manipulation abilities to propel themselves after the twin Gigantics who were their enemies. Gravity Bullets and energy blasts from the two Zoalords shattered the still air, but no attack from either of the Gigantics were fired in retaliation. Either they were trying to lead the two of them farther away from their pitiful friends… or they still hadn't accepted the fact that neither him nor Hikari would ever turn against Lord Alkanphel and betray Chronos' glorious cause merely for the sake of the friendship that had been shared by a dead man and a fool. Or a dead woman and a fool, in Lady Hikari's case.

Though Yukari could prove useful in the long run, after a few select… alterations, of course.

Imakarum laughed. "Is that the best you two can do? Do either of you really think that you can escape being like us simply by flying away?" Imakarum laughed harder. "This isn't a fight, this is a game of tag! One you're both going to lose, of course!"

One of Hikari's Gravity Bullets slammed into Sho's armored back, knocking the Gigantic off-balance. "You're still not focusing, Sho!" Hikari taunted.

"Stop it!" Yukari shouted.

"Why don't you try and make us?" Hikari taunted, laughing.

"That is, unless you've already resigned yourselves to defeat," Imakarum chuckled darkly. "In that case, Yukari, we'll take you back to Chronos with us. And I shall personally rip the Control Medal from the head of your idiotic counterpart!"

Diving forward as Hikari spiraled around to cut off Sho's escape from the rear, Imakarum found his hand stopped by Yukari's arm.

"Stay away from him!"

"And I suppose you're going to stop me, eh little girl?" Grabbing the offending appendage, Imakarum threw the second Gigantic aside like she was nothing. "I think not!"

While Sho was distracted, watching to make sure that Yukari would regain her equilibrium in the air, Imakarum rammed into him. He still managed to raise a defense, such as it was, by grabbing Imakarum's outstretched left hand as it sought out the large target that was the Gigantic Guyver's Control Medal.

"Are you trying to be funny, Sho?" Imakarum laughed. "We both know you're not going to have the will to actually fight me. Not with his voice and his face. You still see me as that fool Murakami, admit it, Sho!" Imakarum laughed; laughed at Guyver I's failure to respond to his words in anything resembling an effective manner, laughed at the pain that Sho must have been in from merely hearing him speak in such a way.

Hearing Hikari dealing with Yukari, Imakarum was just about to turn to watch his counterpart as she dealt with the Guyver that had opposed her Chronos' efforts, when he was distracted by the sensation of increased pressure on his hands and fingers. Could it be that Sho, weak-willed creature that he was, had actually developed the fortitude to challenge him?

When Imakarum found himself being pushed backward by Sho's surprisingly aggressive attack, he found that he had to make a rather quick reevaluation of the situation. It seemed that Sho had indeed decided to try and battle him on the terms he had set; time would tell if he would prove adept in the battle, or even willing to fight it long-term, but if Sho was going to attempt to challenge him, than the Gigantic Guyver was going to have to deal with the consequences. And there would be consequences, indeed.

-Our Enzyme troops have begun their attack, my Lord.-

-Good, my Lady. Keep me posted on their progress. How is your own battle with Yukari proceeding?-

-Define 'battle', my Lord. I seem to be playing a game of tag with her now.-

-Well, Sho seems to have gotten over his reluctance to fight me, at least for the moment. We will see how long that lasts.-

-Indeed. Aptom seems to have found a way to deal with our Enzyme troops.-

-Oh? That's going to be a bit problematic for us. How many of them did he manage to kill?-

-There is only one left, so three of them.-

-One Enzyme III against those three annoyances. Perfect.-

-Indeed. Would you like me to keep you posted still?-

-No; our Enzymes can deal with those annoying gnats. You just make sure that Yukari will not be able to provide any aid, pathetic as it very well may be, to Sho if he tries to call for her.-

-Of course, my Lord. I will make sure that there will be no inconveniences for you.-

-I know you will, my Lady. And I thank you.-

As Sho came back around, apparently trying to ram into him for some odd reason, Imakarum raised his shield and repelled the Gigantic Guyver. He did likewise when the Gigantic fired the Head Beam at him. Imakarum fired his Crystal Laser, but Sho managed to dodge the beam as it burned the air. Imakarum chuckled. You're pathetically weak, Sho. If you don't start using the full power of your Gigantic against me, than you're never going to be able to beat me. And as long as I stay below you, you won't use the Gigasmasher for fear of hitting your precious friends, and if you won't use the Gigasmasher, then there's nothing you can do that will save your life!

"Spiral Crusher!"

As the large, cyclone-like energy blast screamed towards Sho, Imakarum fully expected his attack to fatally damage the weakling Guyver. Or, at the very least, damage him enough that Imakarum would be able to finish him off without wasting so much more of his own energy reserves. He was not expecting Sho Fukamachi to be able to evade his attack by passing through the center of it, but that was just what the Gigantic Guyver facing him did.

-My Lord, you seem rather frustrated. Is there anything that I might do to help?-

-Not unless you have managed to subdue Yukari to the point where she wouldn't be able to provide any meaningful aid to Sho, my Lady,- Imakarum said, as he fired a barrage of Gravity Bullets at the oncoming Gigantic.

-I think I have that well in hand, my Lord.-

-Then I welcome your help, my Lady,- Imakarum said, as he fired off an Incision Wave at Sho.

When even that failed to stop his advance, Imakarum backed up and started to formulate a new strategy. Sho had apparently decided to engage him on equal terms, at least for the moment, and now he needed to deal with Sho on this level rather than treating him like the helpless boy that he had been acting like for most of this battle. When Sho's arm, with its large Vibration Blade fully extended, came scything toward his head, Imakarum froze up for just a moment.

Truly, he had not been expecting that Sho would prove to be so willing to dispatch him, even after he had done so much to goad him into the battle. Perhaps Sho was not so attached to his former incarnation as he had professed to be.

However, when Imakarum saw Sho begin to hesitate, even before Hikari grabbed his wrist and wrenched his arm away from his face then fired a Gravity Bullet directly into his gut, Imakarum laughed at Sho's idiotic sentimentality.

-You have the most impeccable timing, my Lady.-

-I thank you for your compliments, my Lord.-

"Were you having a change of heart, Sho?" Imakarum mocked. "You little fool!" he laughed. "Even if Lady Hikari had not come along when she had, you would have still wasted the perfect opportunity to kill me!"

-I think we have wasted enough time playing these childish games, my Lady. It is time we ended this battle decisively.-

-I agree with you completely, my Lord.-

Imakarum could sense it when Hikari started to gather her energy in preparation for unleashing a quick burst that would free her from the confines of her battle armor and jumpsuit, and he was quick to do the same. The burst of energy that ripped the confining armor and specifically engineered cloth off of them was almost perfectly synchronized, and appeared as a bright flash of strobelike light.

Taking advantage of the distraction caused by the light, Imakarum and Hikari dove in to attack. Linking with Hikari, Imakarum found that he could see through her eyes to a limited extent. And when she linked to his own mind in return, it was as if the two of them had become one being. Or, more precisely, a hybrid of their own separate minds.

It was a very useful skill; where one of them attacked, the other would be fully able to cover any blind spots or weak points in their defense. When one of them fired a volley, whether of Gravity Bullets or their varied energy attacks, the other was always there to shield them for the short time that they needed as they recovered. The two Gigantic Guyvers, with their more limited and straightforward telepathy, were completely unable to find a comparable advantage.

It was, therefore, not long before the two Gigantics began to show sighs of severe damage and fatigue. As the mind-linked Zoalords continued to press their advantage, the Gigantics began to fall back before their combined assault. They started trying to protect each other, one trying to take damage that was meant for the other, but once the Zoalords had caught on to that plan, the two of them started to work to drive the two Gigantics apart, or at least to keep them from being able to work together well enough to be able to shield the other.

And as the battle continued, the maneuvers of both Gigantics began to become more sluggish and uncoordinated, their defenses became even easier to predict and counter, and they both showed sighs of extremely serious damage. After only a few more minutes of brutal pounding, both Gigantics disengaged, leaving Yukari and Sho in their battered and exhausted normal Guyver forms. Disengaging their own mental link, Hikari and Imakarum each flew after one of the Guyvers and grabbed them around the neck.

-That was rather enjoyable, my Lord.-

-Yes, my Lady. It seems to be a rather useful technique that we have uncovered.-

-Indeed.-

As the two of them, with their captives still in hand, flew back toward the battleground where they had left the Enzyme IIIs Hikari began to try and lock onto the mind of the single Enzyme III that remained. When she was unable to do that the first time, Hikari tried once more, it was when that attempt failed as well that Hikari made up her mind to contact Imakarum. It was just as well that the two of them arrived at the battlefield just as she was about to ask Imakarum if he had also failed to contact their Zoanoid troops.

The scars from the fight were all very visible on the ground, and the fact that both the Guyvers and Aptom were still alive – though at least in Aptom's case he had suffered debilitating, and rather amusing, injuries – made it rather apparent that the last of their Enzyme IIIs was dead.

"You managed to defeat all of our Enzyme IIIs?" Imakarum wondered aloud. "I must admit, I'm impressed."

"Yes, and without any casualties," Hikari said, not quite sure whether she was more annoyed or impressed herself. "I would not have expected something like this to be the result of our attacks. Such a shame what happened to Aptom though, is it not?" Hikari laughed, genuinely amused.

"Oh yes," Imakarum drawled, laughing. "Tragic."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

As Yukari hung, battered and unable to move but still clinging to consciousness, her neck firmly in Ms. Murakami's ungentle grip, she wondered what was going to happen. Neither of them had really been able to fight against the people they'd been friends with; against the people who both of them had had to watch die because of their own failure. Would all of their friends have to pay the price for their failure now?

And how would either of them live with themselves if that was the case?

Mizuki looked worried, but since Yukari was using up almost all of her energy just fighting to stay awake, there was nothing she could say to reassure her friend that everything was going to be all right. When Yukari felt her own feet settling back to the ground, she also started hearing the laughter of the two Zoalords who had been attacking them. The two Zoalords who had once been their friends.

"I really didn't think that you would have been able to kill all four of our Enzyme troops without more than a few casualties," Mr. Murakami said, sounding like a large predator on the hunt. "Still, I rather doubt that any of you have the power left to defeat us."

"Yes," Ms. Murakami said, sounding like she was about to start laughing any second. "They all look like they've been put through a paper-shredder. And poor Aptom is missing all his limbs."

"Now; it would be very easy for us to kill every last one of you," Mr. Murakami said, in the tone of someone talking about the weather. "But, I don't think that either of us would really enjoy that," Mr. Murakami paused for a moment, Yukari didn't really know why. "No, neither of us would find that very amusing at all. So, I will tear Sho Fukamachi's Control Medal out right here and now," Mr. Murakami's head turned slightly, and for a moment Yukari got the very uncomfortable impression that he was looking right through her Guyver armor, and that he could tell that she was awake.

But he couldn't, could he?

"And if our little Yukari-chan isn't in the mood to shed her armor at the moment, then we will start killing you one-by-one until she makes up her mind to do so," Mr. Murakami sneered, giving credence to Yukari's fear.

Yukari shivered, not wanting to hand herself over to Chronos if she could help it, but not knowing what else she could do. Yukari didn't want anyone else to suffer because of her, but she, and Sho, and Akane, and Agito were the only ones who stood between Chronos and the rest of the world. There were other people who would be hurt, maybe even killed, if Chronos managed to get their hands on her and her Guyver. Yukari didn't know what to do.

+Yukari!+

+S-Sho?+

+Yeah. Listen; Agito wants us to call the chrysalises.+

+Why would he want us to do something like that?+

+I don't know for certain, but I think it might have something to do with the Gigantic armor. I think we should try it; it's not like we have much else to lose.+

+All right Sho, I'll try.+

Just as she was about to try and call up the chrysalis that allowed her to transform into her Gigantic armor, Yukari heard Sho start to scream. Yukari had been so absorbed in the conversation that she'd been having with him, that she hadn't even noticed that Mr. Murakami had been talking. When Yukari felt her feet leave the ground, not by her own doing, she turned to look around at what was happening. At least as much as she could, given her current weakened condition.

What Yukari saw was that Sho had managed to summon his own chrysalis. Yukari had only a moment to feel happy for Sho, and then to start to summon her own chrysalis, before she found herself thrown through the air and facing Ms. Murakami eye-to-eye.

"Oh no you don't!"

Ms. Murakami's hand lashed out fast as a striking snake, and the next thing Yukari knew was that she couldn't breathe. Clawing at her own throat as she fell, Yukari found herself shedding her Guyver armor. Almost falling out of it as she gasped for air that was all too slow in coming. Before she could get a good lungful, Yukari felt someone's large hand clamp down on her face; one of the fingers jabbing her in the left eye.

All she saw after that was a bright flash of light, and all she felt was a sharp rush of air. As if someone had just snapped a large and invisible rubberband all over her skin. Still feeling the pain from her eye, and being very disoriented besides, Yukari couldn't put up even a token struggle when the person who had grabbed her head – probably Ms. Murakami – threw her to the floor. She didn't hit her head, but only because someone else grabbed her around the shoulders before she could topple too far.

That same person pressed something sharp into her neck, and Yukari found her body growing even more heavy and sluggish than it had been even after the fight. As her mind grew more and more muddled, Yukari almost thought that she heard someone calling out to her over the link…


 
 
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