Out of Control: A Different Perspective

[Talon]

Prologue

It was another lazy Saturday night as I sat at the computer, madly smashing the keys in the attempt to make words, and, eventually, a story. Eventually, my hands fell from the keyboard as I gave a sigh of defeat, shaking my head.

“Ugh… writer’s block is a bitch…” I groaned.

Leaning back in my chair, I thought disdainfully,

Especially when it’s been going on for several months or so…

I grunted, then continued to try writing, until I noticed the screen had frozen. I scowled, mashing the button on my mouse, but to no avail as the Microsoft Works window closed on its own.

“Ah goddamnit!” I bellowed.

Fuming, I scoured through my folders before reaching the document I’d been working on… only to have it close as soon as it opened.

“What the hell?!” I growled.

Flaring my nostrils and jutting out my bottom jaw, I attempted to go through the process one more time, only to wield the same results.

“goddamnit… does this piece of crap have a virus?!”

“No, it doesn’t.” A voice stated flatly.

Eyes widening, I looked about the room frantically, trying to find the source of the voice. It wasn’t until I turned around that I saw the 7-½ foot figure standing across the room, shrouded in a shifting black cloak with frayed edges that acted as if they were fire, roiling and licking the air, shreds of them dissipating from the rest of the cloak, only to reform moments later. A faint red glow issued from the confines of the hood, but it was too dim to see the thing’s features. Eyes wide, I grabbed the nearest thing I could to throw at it, in this case, my cellphone. As I raised my shaking arm, scooting away from the thing as much as I could, it raised a cloaked arm, allowing a metallic, clawed hand to enter the light of the octagonal hallway, and jabbed a finger at me, rasping,

“…I scared ya, didn’t I?”

Almost dropping my phone, something clicked in my head. That voice… I’d heard it somewhere. I couldn’t put a finger on it, but my shaking subsided slightly as I stared at the claw. That seemed familiar too, but I still wasn’t sure how. It was then the metaphorical light bulb popped up over my head, and the phone fell to the floor with a crash.

“O… O’Malley?!” I wheezed, voice straining.

The hooded figure merely bobbed its head, then threw it back in a powerful laugh.

“Oh man… you should see your face right now… priceless!” The droid barked.

My fear shifted into irritation and confusion as I muttered,

“But… but you’re… here… how… why?!”

The droid stopped his laughing in an instant, yet he still had an air of humor about him. He twirled the extended hand at its wrist, almost sighing,

“Well… I’m here to make you an offer you shouldn’t want to refuse…”

He then slammed his hands on the table separating us, of which caused the wooden surface to crack and splinter as he did so. Scowling at the droid for that, he finished,

“I’m here to offer a trip.”

I blinked, chin falling in a look of deeper confusion.

“…a trip?” I muttered, cocking an eyebrow.

The shrouded bot nodded.

“Yes, a trip. A trip you’d enjoy, methinks. Something that will put your endurance, ingenuity, and overly-active imagination to the test, and let you have a good time as well. Should let you blow off some steam too, as I‘m sure you need to…”

He leaned forward a bit more, his eye’s light brightening and thinning as it narrowed. Said action reminded me of the mech he was inspired by, the Aayliah of Armored Core 4. I shuddered at that thought, but snapped back to the conversation as O’Malley went on,

“The chance to enter one of your favorite storylines and change it to your will… how does that sound?”

I blinked again, my facial expression most likely resembling the emoticon for ‘shocked’, (one eye being larger than the other). O’Malley obviously took note of it, and sighed,

“Perhaps I should show you what I mean…”

With a snap of his fingers, (which caused an audible ‘ping’ noise), my computer issued several consecutive beeps, and he gestured to the screen. I slowly turned around, and where my three windows had been open before, there was now but one, which appeared to be some sort of video player. My confusion only building into curiosity, I clicked the Play button, and the video suddenly broke into a familiar sight: Anime. This was a particular anime, in fact, it was my favorite! Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor. I narrowed my eyes and jutted my lower chin out as the scenes blurred together into the final few of the show, the rather disappointing fight between the Guyver Gigantic and Neo ZX-Tole.

Something was different, though… ZX-Tole raised a hand to stop the charging Gigantic as he barked,

“Whoa, wait a sec… I have a question…”

He glanced to the confused characters on the ground below, and growled,

“Why… why are we still doing this crap? We’ve been doing the same-goddamn scenes over and over for four years now! Don’t you think this shit’s getting annoying?!”

I stared on in shock as Sho muttered from within the 8-foot Guyver,

“Well… yeah, but… we kind of have to, ZX-Tole… we can‘t do anything else…”

On the ground, however, Aptom suddenly broke any silence that was about to start, yelling,

“And why can’t we?! Why should we have to take this crap?! This repetition’s killing me! I’m sick of watching Somlum and Dyme die every single time with nothing I can do! I’m sick of being tested on by that asshole Barcas! And I’m real sick of getting my ass handed to me by this prick!”

Tetsuro bit his lip, and joined into the rant, shouting,

“I agree! I’m sick of hiding for months on end, doing absolutely nothing! I don’t want to go through watching Murakami dying anymore!”

Eventually, they all started spouting off things they hated about the show, and I began to fear that an argument would soon break out... And one did.

“Shut the f*** up, all of you! I’ll change this piece of s*** as I see fit!” ZX-Tole roared.

“Whoa, who said you were running the show, you pompous bastard?! If anything, I should! The fan base says I’m their favorite Zoanoid!” Aptom snarled.

“And how would you know?! Outside information’s blocked here!” Mizuki snapped.

“I didn’t ask you!” Aptom snapped back.

“Shut up, Aptom! Even if we could change it, the producer’s would notice eventually, and they’d just re-write us back to the start! So drop it!” Sho bellowed.

They all fell silent, looking solemn. The silence was broken as ZX-Tole began to ascend higher into the air, muttering,

“Let’s… let’s just get this over with…”

I looked on at the scene in worry. I never thought they’d be like this… detesting every time they went through the story again… then again, I never really considered them sentient in the first place… that made me feel bad.

“You wanna help, don’t you?” O’Malley echoed behind me.

Staring at the scene, trying to work moisture back into my mouth, it all came together.

So… this is what you meant…? I thought.

I then whispered,

“I… yeah… I’d like to help.”

The moment I uttered those words, all characters on the screen abruptly stopped what they were doing and jerked their heads upwards… looking directly at me. I uttered a strangled grunt of surprise, and Tetsuro muttered,

“Wh… what? You wanna help?”

I blinked, leaning back, then hastily nodded. Several of the characters on the ground muttered and nodded, eyebrows cocked. Aptom scowled, and growled,

“Oh? How’s a fan, someone who’s repeatedly forced us through this show, gonna help? Why should we even take your help in the first place?!”

Makishima turned his armored head towards Aptom, and muttered,

“Because he’s willing to actually help…?”

Aptom grumbled as Mizuki added,

“Yeah! We actually have a fan who wants to help, and judging from the fact he’s talking to us, can help!”

I smiled slightly as Sho turned the Gigantic’s head towards me, and stated warmly,

“If you can help… and want to, then by all means, please do!”

“Practice what you preach, Guyver!” Aptom barked with a smirk.

Sho scratched his armored cheek, muttering,

“Hey, I never said I didn’t want change… I just said we couldn’t manage to do it ourselves…”

Nods and murmurs of approval went through the characters, and I nervously scratched my head.

“Well…. I said I’d like to help… I’m not sure how to do that…” I muttered.

Their shoulders sagged, and my spirits fell in turn. O’Malley’s metallic hand than clapped onto my shoulder as he leaned towards the screen, chiming,

“Ah don’t worry about how to do that… I’ve got it covered! I send him there, you take it from that point!”

He then swiveled his single optic towards me, and muttered one last time,

“So… you wanna take this trip?”

I glanced back at the screen, at all of those hopeful faces (aside from the two Guyvers and ZX-Tole… they couldn’t show any emotion), and something shot through my chest. A sort of pity, mixed with rising curiosity and excitement, washed over me. To actually be a part of the Guyver timeline… the thought alone made me even giddier. I took into account the danger I might be put through, and that tempered the burning in my chest for a moment… As the canon characters on-screen waited for an answer, O’Malley muttered,

“They need you… you need them… c’mon. Go for it, man!”

I was silent, intently staring at the screen, yet past the characters in my state of thought. What would happen if I were to go through with it? What would my role be? Guyver? Zoanoid or Zoalord? Or even a bystander? I furrowed my eyebrows, still not sure. Drumming my fingers, I absently chewed on my lip…

It was then I heard a guitar play.

“I’m lo-sing sight,
Don’t count-on-me~!
I chase the sun-
It cha-ses me…!”

My eyes slowly widened, and I glanced back at O’Malley, of whom was generating the sounds. The music… I knew that song… O’Malley knew this…

“You know my name,
you know my face-
you'd know my heart,
if you knew my place!
I'll walk straight down,
as far as I can go~!”

I slowly smirked at O’Malley. Playing my song at a time like this? Wow. He really wanted me to go. Then again, having created the droid, I knew he wasn’t all bad…

“Alright, I’ll do it.” I stated, grinning.

O’Malley nodded as the music hit its chorus, and most of the on-screen charries shouted in rejoice.

“I fo-llow you~,
You fo-llow me~!
(I don’t know why, you lie so clean!)
I’ll break right through~
The ir-on-y!”

O’Malley muttered as the song went on,

“Good choice… Boss.”

O’Malley then abruptly grabbed the back of my chair and spun me around to face him, whereupon his armor-like fist flew out and socked me square in the jaw, surely cracking bone. As I blacked out, blood dribbling down my face, I heard ZX-Tole laugh, and Makishima mutter,

“His methods are a bit… ‘uncouth’…”

The rest was a peaceful slip into oblivion… and a fall off of my chair.

[Talon]

Episode 1: Bio-Boost, Unit 04!

I abruptly snorted awake, screaming,

“NOT THE FACE!! NOT THE FACE!!”

I paused, blinking, then slowly looked around to take in my surroundings. I was in what appeared to be a classroom, but… not any American classroom I’d seen. It was too… organized. Windows lined all of one of the rectangular-room’s walls, and a large chalkboard filled the front-most wall. Oddly enough, it was mostly empty, except for four students, three of which were clustered together.

“Heh, looks like ya fell asleep again, dude!” One of the three laughed.

As they went back to discussing an accident that occurred the previous night, I glanced in their direction, noting that all three of them were wearing… a uniform. I blinked, wide-eyed, then glanced down at my own attire… which was the same. Restraining a cry of shock, I glanced around, and jumped at spotting the fourth, lone student, realizing it was none other than Sho Fukamachi... Guyver Unit 01. Jaw slightly agape, I stared for several seconds as the second-year student packed up his bag, then abruptly looked at me and blinked. I blinked back, and he asked,

“Uhh… Garrett? You okay?”

I snapped out of my daze and issued a loud cough, covering it with my closed fist as I glanced to the side.

“Err… yeah, I’m fine… I just, dazed for a second…” I muttered.

He laughed, replying,

“With all that sleeping you did today, it’s no wonder!”

I gave a bit of a laugh, rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment. It was then I began to process what had happened before I woke up, and realization hit… again. The conversation with O’Malley and the characters… that damned robot’s proposed ‘trip’… it all gave sense to the situation. I stared at the chalkboard for several minutes, thinking things out.

Well, if I wanna change the plotline to how I see fit… I’d best find out how to then… I thought with a smirk.

Glancing at the clock, I noted it was 2 pm, and school was just now getting out for my classmates, and myself as well, it seemed.

So… if the incident those three were talking about was the car crash and the proto-Zoanoid… then… Chronos’s troops will be looking for him soon! I gotta get me one of those Units! I wanna kick some Zoanoid ass too! I thought, shaking my fist.

“Uhh… Garrett… you’re doing it again.” Sho muttered, ‘sweat-dropping’.

I paused, realizing my fist was indeed shaking at the chalkboard, and I uttered a strangled grunt as I slowly lowered the appendage, two of the other teens laughing. I too, ‘sweat-dropped’, before the door to the class was thrown open and Mizuki stormed in, barking,

“Oh geez, I should’ve known!”

She grabbed Sho by the arm, glowering at him as she tugged him along, yelling,

“What’re you doing in here?! The meeting’s about to start!”

Sho blinked, then looked upwards and sighed, putting a hand to the back of his head,

“Oh, that’s right… I completely forgot…”

“Give me a break…!” Mizuki sighed irritably, dragging Sho toward the door.

She paused, then glanced at us onlookers and smiled, giving a short laugh. She then turned to me and blinked, then snapped her fingers and exclaimed,

“Oh! That reminds me! Garrett, Tetsuro’s looking for you. Says he needs help with the Sci-Fi club’s report.”

I nodded, replying with a slight smile,

“Ahh, okay. Thanks Mizuki!”

She smiled back and nodded, then proceeded to haul Sho along to the school board meeting. I leaned back and glanced at the other three students as one of them muttered,

“Come on! It’s so obvious Fukamachi’s trying to hook it up with Segawa!”

“Heh heh, yeah, but Segawa’s got the hots for Makishima! You know, the student council president?” The second asked.

“Haha, oh man, Sho’s gonna get burned.” The first concurred.

I laughed along, then hopped to my feet, packing up my school bag (which never took long; I only have what I need out at any given time). As I slung it over my shoulder, one of the teens asked,

“Hey, Garrett! We’re gonna go check out last night’s wreck, you wanna come?”

My back turned to the three, I let out a devilish smirk.

I‘ll be around there… soon enough… I thought.

I whirled around with a smile and replied,

“Ahh, I would, but I gotta go help out the Sci-Fi Club with its report… I’ll probably check it out later though.”

As my classmates all shrugged and went back to their discussion, I made my way out of the classroom, musing over what I had learned about my ‘new self’, making my way to the school entrances.

So… it seems I know Sho, Tetsuro, and Mizuki… I’m in the Sci-Fi Club with said Tetsuro…

It was then I heard pounding footsteps behind me, and whirled just in time to see the large teen himself skid to a halt.

“Wait… up…!” He panted, doubling over.

Seeing as how I’d already done so, I waited for the third-year student to catch his breath. While the hefty teen recovered, I noted I was already outside…

damn. I need to pay more attention to my surroundings. I thought irritably.

Tetsuro then swayed to his feet and grabbed me by the shoulders, asking,

“Gaah, you have your half of the Sci-Fi report, right?!”

I laughed, then nodded, slipping my backpack off and began digging through its confines. I then produced my half of the report for the Sci-Fi club, without even knowing what the packet of papers actually said. Handing the sheets to Tetsuro, I stuffed my hands in my pockets and barked,

“You’ve got your half, right?! Natsuki‘s been on our cases for weeks!”

The large Junior glanced off to the side and let out a small, nervous laugh, at which I smirked and cocked an eyebrow.

“I’ll take that as a no… well, there goes the club budget…”

Tetsuro glanced at the ground and nudged his fingers together, muttering,

“Well, ya see… I can‘t get a single idea of what to write about… mind if I look over yours, see if I can get any ‘inspiration’ from it?”

I narrowed my eyes at Tetsuro, then abruptly threw my head back and laughed, then slapped him on the back.

“Eh, I guess… as long as you don’t plagiarize off of me!” I barked.

He laughed, then slapped his hands together and bowed, exclaiming,

“Ahh, thanks a lot! And you should know me better than to say I plagiarize!”

I chuckled again, then went to walk off, but it seems Tetsuro had other plans…

“Hey Garrett… since it’s Saturday, you wanna come and hang out with Sho and I?”

I winced at Tetsuro, rubbing the back of my head as I turned to face him.

“Gaah… I would, but I’ve got some stuff I need to do at home. Sorry…!” I replied, turning around once more.

With that, I broke into a jog, just in time to hear Natsuki shout,

“Hey Garrett! Got that report?!”

I glanced back, seeing her having ambushed Tetsuro for the same reason. I smirked, then yelled back,

“Just gave it to Tetsuro!”

I caught her turning to Tetsuro, of whom regained his nervous look when she did so, and laughed. I turned back around, exiting the school grounds and onto the street. I looked around the area, then spotted the nearby mountain where the ‘incident’ was about to occur. I sighed, then started a dead sprint toward it, thinking to myself,

That’s a hell of a ways away, but if Sho and Tetsuro managed to get there in time by walking, then I should have no trouble with running…!

* * * * * * * *

Panting, I stumbled to a halt at a small ‘cliff’ on the edge of the mountain forest, near the river I’d seen Sho and Tetsuro at several times in the series. Of course, judging from the setting, I was nowhere near those two… probably upstream from them. I shrugged, checking the sky around my location for a smoke cloud. None. I bit my lip, knowing that no smoke meant the proto-Zoanoid’s grenade hadn’t gone off yet, and that meant the Guyver units hadn’t been scattered.

I sighed, leaning back against the little cliff as I folded my arms, staring at the river’s surface. I began pondering what all awaited me when that grenade went off. Would I reach a unit in time, or at all? Which unit would I get? What would happen if a Chronos soldier found me before I found one of the units? How badly would the storyline be affected while I was here? My spirits slowly fell with the mere thought of some of these things.

O’Malley said all I had to do was act like just another character… so… how should I act?

I was jarred from my thoughts as a loud ‘boom’ echoed through the area, and I bounced to my feet, eyes wide. The grenade just went off! That meant the Units were spread out now! I had to hurry! I ran up and around the small cliff, eyes darting about the area frantically as I looked for flying objects and helmeted men in blue jumpsuits at the same time. Using trees for cover, I dodged through the forest… and got about a dozen feet before my ears acknowledged a whistling noise. It seemed to be coming from above me…

A powerful ‘thud’ sounded from the direction I’d just come in, and I whirled around to see a cloud of dirt lingering near the center of the rock outcropping, a small crater formed underneath of it. I blinked, then my shoulders sagged.

“Wow… that’s… that‘s a lot… of dumb luck…” I muttered, astounded and wide-eyed.

I stood there for several seconds, dumbfounded, before ‘reality’ kicked back in, and I barreled back towards my original location. I attempted to wave the dirt cloud away upon reaching it, and fell to my knees when I got enough of it cleared. My hands shook with awe when I saw there, before me, a disk-shaped object composed of hundreds of fleshy ‘cords’ bound together by three narrow, metallic ‘clips’ and three metallic half-casings, a single metal hemisphere placed in the object’s center.

This… this is really… a… a Guyver unit… I thought.

I hefted the object up, which was much lighter than it appeared to be, and stared at it for several seconds. My face slowly split into a grin, and I added,

And this Guyver unit is… MINE…

I held it up, interposing the device between my face and the sun, staring at it with awe and curiosity as I tried to figure out how to work the damn thing. Five minutes passed, nothing happened. Scowling, I shook the thing in an attempt to recreate Sho and Tetsuro’s activation of the unit, but to no avail.

“Grah! Work, damn you!” I growled.

In my frustration, I slammed my fist on the unit’s surface, part of my fist impacting against the metallic sphere, AKA the control medal. A ring of white light began to glow around part of said medal, and I paused, swiping my hand away from the object, and a hopeful gasp escaped my lungs.

“Hooray! Smashing it made it work!” I exclaimed.

I let out a giggle of sorts as the organic cords within the device began writhing and spinning about on their own accord, and a cross between a scream of surprise and a joyous cackle shot forth from my voice box when the cords broke free of their confines.

“Come to your master!” I shouted with a grin.

The tentacle-ridden control medal then flew forth and adhered itself to my forehead, whereupon the cords of flesh began snaking around my neck, arms, legs, stomach, back, and eventually my whole body. My grin slowly disappeared as the unit did its work…

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUGH!!!!”

I could feel the unit literally burrowing into my skin, my muscles, my bones, and my brain, eventually ensnaring me completely, inside and out. Airless and in lots of pain, I began to panic, thrashing about until I felt the ground give out beneath me. I must’ve tumbled off of the cliff, for I heard a ‘splash’ and the temperature suddenly dropped several degrees… but it didn’t matter. This thing was air-tight at the moment, and that was what worried me right now. I could feel the tendrils hardening and binding together in various places on my exterior, forming what I knew was the bio-boosted armor. Eventually, due to my frantic state and lack of air, I began to black out, just in time to feel myself hit the bottom of the river…

* * * * * * * *

((A Cadan’s POV))

I stepped out into the clearing, looking around the area as I shouldered my rifle. Everything seemed okay by this section of the river…

“Funny… I could’ve sworn I heard something over here…” One of my comrades muttered.

“Probably just a bird or something. Get back to wor-”

“Sir! Over here!” Someone cut in.

Our group leader, a Vamore, walked over as the soldier who’d cut in was kneeling over what appeared to be a 5-foot crater. It wasn’t very deep, but it looked new to me, and it must’ve been the case with Vamore too.

“Looks like one of the Units must’ve landed here… but where the hell is it now?! Those things can’t just get up and walk off!” Vamore shouted, scratching his head under his helmet.

He glanced at the nearby river, and one of my teammates, a Razell, inquired,

“Maybe the unit bounced out of the crater and rolled into the river, sir?”

Vamore thought this over for several seconds, then turned to me and barked,

“Cadan! Go check it out!”

I nodded, then unclipped my helmet and tossed it off to the side, initiating my transformation process. My muscles rippled and expanded, my skin turning into rows of hard, pale-blue scales and hardened white hide. My maw grew large, triangular teeth as it shifted into a horizontal position, and my fingers and toes fused into several thick digits ending in suction cups. My head peaked, and fins sprouted over my body as the change finished, allowing me to stand another foot and a half taller than my comrades.

I began to head for the water, but stopped dead in my tracks as I noticed a hand grip the edge of the large rock-outcropping just ahead. The figure hauled itself up in a singe powerful lunge, flying into the air several feet and landing gracefully on its feet. The whole thing looked humanoid, but was mostly covered in a dusky red… well, chitin was the only word for it. Smooth, armor-like chitin. Its joints seemed to be composed of a bunch of fleshy cords, and a blade jutted out from each elbow, ‘guided’ by a smaller one behind it. The head was what caught me as the weirdest, though. A spike-like crest rose off of its forehead, at the base of which was a metal hemisphere. A pair of what looked like vents and two marble-sized metal spheres adorned its lower face. A burst of pressurized air shot out of each ‘vent’ as its glowing red eyes turned towards us.

“Who the hell are you?!” I growled, my voice distorted by the transformation.

It focused its stare at me, and I felt a chill run up my spine as it did so. That never happened before… that angered me! Intimidated by such a scrawny little runt! I then noticed it’d taken up a fighting stance, still facing me. I smirked, then charged forward, roaring,

“You want a fight?! You got it!”

I swiped my forearm at the thing, which, to my surprise, simply weaved its head out of the way and grabbed my arm with both hands. I grunted, trying to pull my arm back, only to realize I couldn’t. This thing was strong! I shrieked at the thing, hoping to scare it into letting go, but it didn’t. I then tried kicking at it, but it jumped over each one! To my horror, its last jump sent it sailing over my head, arm still in its hands as it landed behind me… never having let go of my appendage. I screamed in pain as the dislocated arm was released, hanging limply at my side before I whirled around.

“Y-YOU B*STARD!! I’LL KILL YOU FOR THAT!!” I screamed.

I released a spray of highly pressurized water from my maw at it, but again, it simply dodged to the side, then rushed forward. I panicked at this, and swiped at it with my other hand to keep it at bay, but… my last moments were composed of this thing ducking under my arm, the blade on its right arm extending, and cleaving through my torso in a single, clean swipe…

As I fell to the ground, vision fading, I saw the thing turn to my comrades as Vamore visibly panicked as well, shouting,

“R-retreat!!”

With that, my only hopes at survival left the area, and I eventually succumbed to the sweet darkness of oblivion…

* * * * * * * *

((My POV again))

I eventually came to, somehow back on solid ground. I looked around, then noted a dissolving mass of flesh off to my left a short bit. Something clicked, and I realized that was the dissolving mass of a Zoanoid. That ‘click’ triggered another click, and I glanced down at my hands as I brought them into view. A dusky red armor covered them, bound together by dark gray-red cords of flesh. I looked down at myself, same story.

“Heh.”

I walked over to the water’s edge and looked at myself. Yep. Was definitely a Guyver. Though, what caught me as odd was the fact I looked different than any of the other Guyvers… my helmet was similar in shape to Guyver 01’s, but several small, triangular ridges ran along either side of my head, between my gravity sensors (of which were positioned a bit lower) and my cranial horn. Larger, flatter ridges ran up on either shoulder-piece, and both of my elbow-blades were positioned a slight fraction higher up more forearms, and almost connected to the back of each blade itself was a smaller, fin-like ‘support’ piece, much like the front of Guyver 2’s blades, but thinner (and obviously located on the back of each blade). The difference about my helmet’s face was the fact my vents were a little lower and built like Guyver 03's, but the sonic emitters were arranged like Guver 01's.

This… there was no Guyver like this in the series… not even 0 looked like this… I thought numbly.

I stood there for quite some time, pondering this new Unit as I stared at its reflection. Eventually, I came to the conclusion:

If the story altered itself to accommodate me… then, perhaps… it made this alteration as well?

I smirked, flexing my fists, then pumped one into the air.

“Awesome! Hopefully the other 3 Guyvers are still around then!” I shouted joyously.

With that, I willed the armor off, letting it detach and hover in mid-air, the fading sunlight shining through the many gaps in the suit. I waved to it as it floated backwards, and a shimmer of air enveloped it, signaling the Guyver’s first trip to its pocket dimension. Jamming my hands into my pockets, I gave the air a playful kick before placidly walking back where I assumed home to be, humming the tune to ‘Follow’ as I did so.

Today had been good.

[Talon]

Episode 2: Akbar Says-!

A shrill screeching was brought to my attention, waking me from my blissful state of slumber. My bloodshot eyes cracked open, and I shot a tired glare at the alarm clock nearby.

“Wh… why is this thing set…?! It‘s Sunday…!” I growled sleepily.

I slowly sat up in my bed, still glaring at the alarm clock. Oh, how it mocked me with its high-pitched wail, its seemingly never-changing digits, its damned mechanical lack of care at my loss of sleep! How I despised that piece of wretched machinery! In a fit of sleepless rage, I wrapped my fingers around the device, and after tearing its cord out of the plug in the wall, I hurled it out of the open window directly across from my bed. With a satisfying smash, I smirked, nodded, and went to lay back down…

“Good morning!”

“Hi Mr. Fukamachi!”

I stopped in mid-move, all motion stopped. My bloodshot eyes twitched for a moment as I further listened to the familiar conversation taking place in the street outside.

“Aha..! Good morning, kids. I’m afraid Sho’s staying home from school today.”

“Huh? Is something wrong?” A familiar female voice inquired.

“He… just has a cold.” The huskier, masculine voice from before replied.

“I see… we’ll come check on him after school.” The younger masculine voice stated with some hesitance.

“That’s great! Thanks a lot!” The elder voice exclaimed happily.

I began to dim out of the conversation for a moment as I shifted back onto my hind again, sitting in the bed with a numb feeling. It was then I glanced around what seemed to be my room…

A tasteful, yet somewhat small, rectangular room was my sleeping quarter, with chalky-white walls and a door located at the foot of my queen-sized bed (I assumed it was because I couldn’t sleep in anything else without rolling off), and a pair of windows in the corner across from my bed, of which was pressed against a corner. A small nightstand sat by my bed, where the clock used to be, and a computer desk (along with computer) was in the final corner of my room, a closet located between the exit and said computer.

Oh, that’s right… I forgot I was here... The Guyver-verse… I thought with a mental face-palm.

I listened closely, but the only thing I could hear was the conversation between the Segawa siblings and Sho’s father outside in the street. Home alone, it seemed, as I gave a toothy smirk. Footsteps suddenly came to my attention outside, but paused just below my window (I was on the second floor, apparently).

“Looks like someone had another late night…” Mizuki mused aloud, probably looking indignant.

“Man… that’s the third one this month.” Tetsuro muttered.

A pounding on my door soon followed, and I sighed, stumbling over and reaching for the school uniform located on the back of my computer chair. Five minutes passed as I gathered my things for school, then barreled down the stairs, looking around in the small entrance-room before the door. Nope. Still nobody.

Awesome… my own place…! … is that legal here?! I thought, scratching my chin.

My hand paused, noting something was very, very wrong.

I barreled into the bathroom (surprising me, for I knew where it was), and was appalled at the sight in the mirror. A smooth, hairless chin glared back at me like an angry light bulb.

“NOOOOOO!!!!!” I bellowed aloud, collapsing to the floor.

In a state of numb shock and despair, I grabbed meaninglessly at the bathroom rug.

My beard was gone.

“Noo…” I cried, donning the teary-eyed anime face.

There was a further knocking on my door as I heard Mizuki bark,

“Come on! Don’t tell me you’ve got a cold too!”

I then swung the door open, head bowed yet giving the teenage female a slight glare from under my hairline. She backed up a bit, then smirked, replying,

“Well good morning, Mr. Garrett! Have a good sleep?”

As I locked the door behind me, hunched forward, I muttered,

“Yes… until the stupid alarm clock sounded off…”

“Yeah, we noticed…” Tetsuro replied meekly, glancing at the remains of the clock in the middle of the street.

I gave an irritated sigh, then followed the Segawa’s lead as they took off down the street for school.

School on a Sunday… ridiculous! I thought, gritting my hidden teeth.

* * * * * *

Along the way, we stopped at a cross walk as Mizuki informed me of why Sho wasn’t joining us today.

Gaah, I already know… I thought, yet wearing a placid half-smile.

“A cold… I see. Strange, Fukamachi’s not one for catching the cold. Seems it finally got to him, eh?” I replied, going full-smile.

Sirens were wailing, further reminding me of the horror of alarm clocks as a police car drove by, drawing both Segawa’s attention.

“Huh… I wonder what’s going on…” Mizuki pondered.

Tetsuro suddenly looked up for a moment with a small, silent gasp, then issued the lame excuse,

“Oh, I-I just remembered something; you two go on ahead without me, alright?”

I gave a toothy smirk and saluted him as he wheeled around and walked back down the sidewalk, and I barked,

“Aye-aye, cap’n! We shall not forget your brave sacrifice!”

Mizuki rolled her eyes and gave a slight giggle, replying with a shove to my shoulder,

“You dork…!”

I gave a short laugh as we walked down the crosswalk, glancing back. I knew Tetsuro would be speaking with the policeman known as Mr. Tanaka. My eyes narrowed, knowing that Tetsuro was inquiring about the happening on the mountain yesterday, hoping the police knew something. I gave a small scoff, turning back around and tilting my head upwards slightly.

He’ll understand eventually… hmph. Let him hold onto his little scrap of hope while he can. I thought.

“Hey Garrett…!” Mizuki winced aloud.

“What is-”

I slowly stepped away from the street pole I had just walked face-first into, clutching at a slightly-bloodied nose.

“…look out for the pole…” She muttered, pointing at the object.

* * * * * *

((Tetsuro’s POV))

I was sitting in front of one of the Sci-Fi Club room’s computers, skimming through reports of the ‘accident that happened up on the mountain yesterday. My search wasn’t coming up with any information whatsoever…

C’mon, this is ridiculous… there was a huge explosion… police blocked off the whole area... There’s no news coverage?! I bet they’re trying to cover this up! I thought, eyes widening.

My eyebrows slowly lowered, adding,

No… that’s taking it too far…

It was then Natsuki slid the door open, holding her backpack.

“Tetsuro! There you are!” She exclaimed, yet with little surprise on her face.

“Hey…” I replied half-heartedly, not bothering to look.

She set her backpack down, and pulled out a stack of papers.

“Ya got a sec? I have a question about your report…”

“Hmm? What is it…?” I lazily replied.

She then walked over, standing next to me as she looked over the papers.

“This part said the monster was accidentally created through gene splicing,” She stated in a sort of questioning tone.

“Yeah, so…?” I asked.

“Isn’t that idea kind of… outdated?”

“Oh I see… well, what if the military created it…? Like a bio-weapon?”

Natsuki smiled, exclaiming

“Yeah! That works!”

I then turned a horrified stare back to the screen, asking myself,

A bio-weapon…?

I could feel Natsuki give me a questioning look, and was about to ask something before a voice screamed into my other ear,

“A BIO-WEAPON?! … superb idea, my man!”

I fell off of my chair, giving a surprised yelp as I noted Garrett’s head poking out of the window by the computer, beaming at me. I gave him an annoyed, yet relieved look. I paused, looking at my classmate and fellow Sci-Fi fan. Before I could, Natsuki asked,

“Hey… wait… isn’t this room on the second floor?”

Garrett smirked, eyes closed as he replied,

“Yes, yes it is!”

It was then we noticed he was actually hanging off of the window ledge, and both gave a simultaneous sigh before I hauled him in.

* * * * * * *

((Sho’s POV))

That weird pod-thing… it kept… haunting me, even as my sleep. I let out a scream as I saw it break open, flying at me, its tentacles all flailing before it adhered to my forehead…

“Ahh!”

I blinked, looking around as I noted I was awake. Tetsuro recoiled onto the floor as I was panting heavily, doubled over from the sudden shock.

“Sh-Sho…”

I looked up at him, and noted Garrett was standing at the edge of my bed, giving me an inquiring smirk with his eyebrow cocked.

“T-Tetsuro… Garrett…?”

“Geez, don’t scare me like that…! Your dad said you were kinda sick, so we came by to check up on ya.” Tetsuro informed me.

Garrett crossed his arms and tilted his head away, giving a smirk as he added,

“It’s not like you to get sick, Sho… you’ve been as healthy as can be since I’ve known ya…!”

I sighed, smiling… but that soon disappeared when Garrett leaned forward, smirking a bit more, and added,

“Must’ve been something pretty bad to keep you from school…”

I gave a small laugh to hide my nervousness, and I replied,

“Heh… sorry, but I’m feeling a whole lot better now.”

“Well that’s a relief… glad it wasn’t anything serious, ya know...” Tetsuro added with a sigh.

Mizuki then pushed the door open, holding a tray with several bowls and utensils located atop it, exclaiming,

“Sorry I’m late! Hope you don’t mind rice porridge!”

“No, it’s fine; I really appreciate it!” I replied, taking the tray.

“Kinda hard living here with just you and your dad, huh? Moms and sisters really come in handy at times like these, huh?” Tetsuro inquired, smirking.

I clapped my hands together and gave a slight bow, replying,

“I appreciate the sentiment at least…!”

“Well, while I’m here, I might as well cook dinner for your dad too! He‘ll be home, won‘t he?” Mizuki exclaimed.

I nodded, replying,

“Yeah. Oh, and Mizuki-”

She blinked, stopping on the doorway.

“Thanks a lot.” I finished.

She seemed taken aback for a moment, but simply smiled before sticking her tongue out and leaving. I then turned to the guys, noting Garrett staring out the window with that smirk still, but his eyes seemed… well, blank.

“Must’ve been a 24-hour virus or something I guess… probably got it up at the mountain yesterday, eh?” He asked in a blank tone as well.

He slowly glanced down at me, and with a slightly darker look, asked, smirk growing,

“What were you doing up there yesterday anyway? D’you see the explosion?”

A cold chill ran down my spine. I couldn’t tell him about what really happened… he’d never believe me! Even for someone as crazy as him!

“We were just walking around up there when the explosion went off. We got a bit ruffled by it, so we went right home after it happened.” Tetsuro replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

I gave a mental sigh of relief at Tetsuro’s cover, then Garrett nodded. The third-year transfer student then shoved his hands in his pockets and sighed, droning,

“Alright, well I got stuff to do, I’ll catch you guys tomorrow.”

He turned around and walked out the door, barking,

“Oh, and good to know you got better! Ha-OOF!!”

Tetsuro and I both winced as a rapid ‘thump’ noise went off in the hallway outside, finished by a louder ‘thump’.

“Man he’s a klutz… a funny klutz, but still a klutz.” Tetsuro mused, shaking his head.

I laughed aloud as I heard Mizuki yell downstairs,

“Jesus! You’re gonna get yourself killed if you don’t look out more often!”

* * * * * * *

((My POV))

I groaned as Mizuki helped pull me to my feet, scowling at me with worry.

“Seriously, you gotta pay more attention… you’ll get yourself hurt a lot worse if you don’t…!” She sighed.

I brushed myself off as I got to my feet, and noted she was looking at me with actual worry this time.

“I’m fine, thanks.” I interjected, waving a hand.

I then turned around and headed for the door, thinking,

Hmm… Inspector Lisker should be arriving at the Japanese Branch soon… then Makishima’s already got his Guyver by now… excellent. Seems I can get to work soon then!

I gave the confused Mizuki a slight nod as I whirled out of the door, slowly closing it behind me. As I walked over to my house, of which was right next-door to Sho’s, my face scrunched into a dark smirk.

Let’s see… they should be kidnapped soon, and Sho should figure out the gist of the Guyver, along with two of the weapons… so how should I fit in? … do I stop them from taking them, or do I let them take ‘em, and show up to save both of their asses? I pondered.

As I opened the door to my abode, I snapped my fingers in realization and muttered aloud while closing the door,

“Yes…! I’ll follow Tetsuro after school tomorrow, then follow his captors… Sho’ll put on a better show in 3D, I’m sure!”

I kicked my shoes off while heading for the kitchen, muttering,

“And if he happens to need help… I’ll supply it…”

* * * * * * *

The bell sounded, and I skidded outside the school’s main entrance several minutes after, nearly taking out several other students in my way.

“Hey!”

“Watch where you’re going!”

“You jerk!”

I paid them no heed as I looked about frantically, scanning the area for my target. I finally spotted exiting the school grounds and heading straight down a sidewalk, and slammed my fist into my palm.

“Found ‘im…!” I hissed.

I let him get about half a block before I started the stalking process, It wasn’t before long when the two disguised Chronos soldiers started to stalk my target as well, and eventually caught up with him. As I hid in some nearby bushes about several dozen feet away (I’d been crawling through foliage the entire time, mind you) I could almost feel the dialogue being passed back and forth, and shook my head as Tetsuro smiled at the flashed fake ID. I further improved on my head-shaking with a face palm as Sho showed up, and was also forced to come along. As the car sped off, I slinked out of the bushes and watched the direction they went in. I slowly glanced around, knowing I wouldn’t be able to catch up with them on foot, so I slid into a nearby alley.

In there, I further looked about, seeing nothing but a frightened alley cat speed off, and a not a single open window. Smirking, I brought my arms up to the sides and muttered in tribute to the Kamen Riders,

“…Henshin!”

With that, the Guyver Unit 04 appeared behind me as the dimensional barrier simultaneously came into place, then the red, chitinous armor unfurled and wrapped around my levitated form, the tendrils all binding it together and snapping it in place. The change finally ended, and I landed in a crouch, slowly looking up as twin bursts of air were released from my faceplate. I looked up to see a young boy standing on the sidewalk just outside of the alley, an empty ice-cream cone in his had, the ice-cream scoop now on the ground as he looked at me in shock and awe.

“Whoa…” Was all the 10-yeard-old could say.

I gave him a two-fingered salute before bounding into the air, then I began my journey of hopping from rooftop to rooftop, humming “Chariots of Fire” as I did so. This went on for about a total of ten minutes, and I was sure that at least three people’d seen me, but I didn’t care… and besides, maybe Guyver sightings would mix things up a bit… After the ten minutes was up, we were now in a lightly forested area, in which an abandoned factory complex was seen nearby in a large clearing. As I lurked in the trees, I overheard Tetsuro yell as he was forced out of the car,

“Hey, what’s going on here?! This doesn’t look like a police station!”

“Now, who ever said we were with the police…?” The disguised Vamore hissed in that strangely Irish accent.

The two were then ushered into the factory as the large door was closed behind them, and using my gravity sensors, I could detect all 8 Zoanoids within. I chewed on my lip, wondering if my presence here might change this event somehow…

It was then my gravity sensors picked up 6 other presences not within the compound, but scattered about in the nearby tree-line. I scowled, looking about.

I don’t recall there being any other Zoanoids in this episode, other than the Ramotiths and the one Vamore… what’s going on here?

I narrowed my eyes in the direction of the closest presence, and gave a mental snarl when I did.

Guess I was right… more alterations. I thought, eyebrows lowered.

Within the trees, in an almost-perfect line, were six Razell’s, green insectoid Zoanoids used mostly for patrol and reconnaissance missions.

Well, that’s what they’re doing… I thought in a sigh of a tone.

I raised myself off of my haunches, brushing myself off (an unnecessary action, obviously), then popped my neck while muttering,

“Well! Seems I won’t be bored today after all!”

With that, I then extended my right elbow-blade and charged for the nearest one, sending a spray of chopped-off branches flying into the air as I did so. The Razell finally noted me as I was about 20 feet from it, and yelled,

“Another one?! The plan’s been compromised!”

Plan? Compromised? I mused, eyes narrowing.

As the first Razell issued his alert, all six of them leapt out of the trees and began to bound away… but I proved fast enough to catch up to one of them. As I did so, I grabbed it by the ankle and hurled it into the clearing, whereupon I promptly stomped/and/or/shoved my foot through its stomach, earning a cry of pain from the insectoid.

“What plan?!” I yelled, grabbed it by the throat.

The Razell merely issued a gurgling scream at me before yelling,

“PISS OFF, FREAK!!”

Suddenly, the other five landed down around their fallen comrade and myself, all glaring at me with their multifaceted eyes as they did so. I slowly released the downed Razell’s throat, leg still lodged in its torso as I held up my hands and muttered,

“Hey, I’m sure this guy was the screw-off of the team, and no one liked him anyway… then again, it’s kinda hard to tell you guys apart, so…”

I ducked under the second Razell’s high-kick, then brought my fist screaming upwards with enough force to actually smash the bug’s face in upon impact, then promptly opened my hand and grabbed it by the face. As the third and fourth Zoanoids charged, I whirled around and hurled their dead teammate at them, downing that wave before wrenching my foot out of the first Razell.

“damn… you guys break easily… no wonder you’re the scouts.” I chimed, fists on my hips.

The last two looked genuinely surprised at that statement, and I realized I’d said too much. Fortunately, I didn’t have to worry about it for long as they charged me, brandishing their puny claws as they did so. I shook my head, then abruptly ran forward as well, then ducked under both of them as they ran past me. Both skidded to a halt and whirled around to attack, only to grunt as both got a vibro-blade through the gut. Scowling, I shoved both blades in deeper before whirling around, said action causing the blades to carve through both Zoanoid’s carapaces like a hot knife through butter.

Their torsos collapsed to the ground, and I noted the third and fourth team members had gotten to their feet, wide-eyed at what I’d done.

“You bastard…!” One of them hissed.

I jabbed a finger at them and replied,

“Hey… tell me what the ‘plan’ is, and I’ll let you go. Kapeesh?”

They jut glared at me and hissed,

“Not on our lives…”

I gave a short laugh, muttering,

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to make honest monsters out of you, won’t we?”

They snarled and charged me before somersaulting over my head, running for the forest again. I gave an insulted gasp, then growled,

“Oh hell no you don’t…”

With that, I felt the orb on my waistline start to hum, and I smirked.

"Ranged combat, huh…? Let’s test my accuracy in this form…!” I muttered.

I whipped one of my hands upward at the retreating figures, of who’d already covered a good 120 feet in several seconds. damn, they really were fast!

“Speed won’t save you here…” I hissed.

With that, I felt the energy from my gravity control device surge upwards through my torso and into my wrist, forming a transparent, whirling sphere of energy in the palm of my hand. With a slightly crooked grin, I willed the sphere forward, watching it rocket off at an incredible speed, churning the air around it as I did so. The Razell on the left gave a horrid scream as the bolt ripped through his upper torso like it was nothing, exiting in a spray of gore as it went on its merry course, destroying several trees before dissipating. The Razell on the right had stopped due to shock, staring blankly at his fallen comrade. Too late did he realize that he was next, and whirled just in time to receive my sweep-kick, knocking it flat on its back, temporarily winding it. I placed my foot on its neck as I growled,

“Alright, you’re the last one. Now, are you sure you’d rather reconsider what you said earlier? If not, god, I hope you don’t have any kids at home…”

I could tell my captive was nervous, and gave a little smirk at that. Good, maybe this’d help. I extended my right vibro-blade again as I waved a finger, muttering,

“Tick-tock, tick-tock… hear that? That’s the time left on your life… and you’re just letting it slip away.”

The Razell screamed nervously, then yelled,

“I can’t! I’m not allow-ACK!”

My foot drove deeper into his neck as I growled,

“The Japanese branch isn’t run by any of the 13 right now… relax… they’re not watching you…”

The Razell fell dead-quiet as it asked in a hoarse whisper,

“H-how do you-”

My blade hovered inches from his face, and I could feel him attempt to swallow.

“Alright, alright, don’t kill me! We were supposed to keep track of what happened inside in case something went wrong! We’d head to base and report if something did happen! We wanted to make sure we knew what those two kids knew!”

I put my hand to my chin and pondered this, knowing the Zoanoid didn’t have enough physical strength to dislodge me.

“I see… is that all?”

The Razell, clutching at my leg, screamed,

“YES! For the love of the 13, that’s all! We’re just the scouts, as you said!”

I narrowed my eyes at him from behind the helmet’s façade, then shrugged, taking my foot off of his throat. I took several steps back, then waved a hand, muttering,

“Alright then. You’re free to go.”

The Razell stared at me in disbelief, then gave a strangled gasp of realization before hopping to his feet and bounding off for the trees again. I heard it mutter something as it did so with my improved hearing, and smirked as I raised my right hand at it, muttering in response,

“Free to go… not free to live…”

With that, the Pressure Cannon tore through the currently-airborne bug-man’s lower torso, sending his legs and chunks of flesh (and chitin) flying as he gave a strangled cry, falling back to Earth. He smashed into the top of a tree, rolling down it with the repeated snapping of branches. As he hit the ground, I’d paced over to his near-dead body, staring down at him with a cold (though obviously unseen) look. The small green sphere atop my forehead started to glow red as I gave a bark of a laugh, hissing,

“Like I said before, I hope you don’t have any kids…”

The Head Beam then burst forth, piercing the Razell’s forehead and frontal lobe, granting him a quick, relatively-painless death. I sighed, then turned just in time to see Sho’s Megasmasher blast take down almost all of one of the warehouse’s walls, and I put my hands on my hips as I stared at the devastation it’d caused. Broken windows, the decimated wall, and a smoking, 10-to-15 foot-wide trench in the ground that stretched for quite a ways. I gave a low whistle, muttering,

“Huh… wonder when I’ll be forced to use mine for the first time…”

I turned back around, walking off into the woods, heading home as I mused,

I’m sure it won’t be a fun fight…

As the darkness of twilight started to enclose the area, I found myself wondering when I’d show my Guyver-self to Sho and the others as well…

We’ll shoot for when the Lost Numbers show up. I finished with a yawn, disengaging the Guyver as I paced along.

[Talon]

Chapter 3: The Name’s 04!

I was sitting in the living room of my own little abode, what seemed to be a generic Playstation-esque or Xbox controller in my hands as I was doubled over on a couch, staring intently at my television screen. Sweat beaded on my brow as I drove some sort of humanoid mecha across barren wasteland below it, taking out tanks, planes, and other mecha as it went with an array of missiles and lasers. As I drove myself deeper and deeper into gameplay, I began to ponder what’d happened not several hours ago.

More Zoanoids… but yet there was hardly any chance of Sho encountering them in the first place… huh. I guess I should expect more surprises like this to happen.

I bit my lip, frowning.

Still… they do unnerve me, and something tells me they’ll just get bigger as I progress through the series. Hell, there might be entirely new Zoanoids! Or, even worse, new Zoalords! F*ck, I may have to fight a Zoalord! AUGH!

My frown deepened as I thought on that, then slowly shook my head and sighed.

Well, I suppose I’ll just have to make sure things go my way, so I can get ‘the Big Prize’ at the end…

My hands tightened on the controller as my wicked smirk came into view, and I gave a slight evil giggle.

With that, I’m sure I can take on whatever they throw at me… I came here to make sure this series didn’t go through the same damn repetition, and by the head of Arkanphel, I intend to stay to that guarantee! This series won’t end with that lame-ass fight between ZX-Tole and Sho!

At this point, I was standing on my couch, still blankly focused on the game as I continued with my mental rant,

No! I will take down one of those 13 b*stards before it’s all said and done, and goddamnit I’ll make it look f*cking AWESOME!!

With a pant, I sat back down on my sofa with a look of smug satisfaction.

But, for now, let’s focus on the current events… let’s see, we finished the 2nd episode, so… oh! Synevite and Lisker must be up next! Yes! I’ll show that self-righteous Guyver 2 just WHO THE HELL I AM!! … or will I? Should I wait ‘til the raid on the Japanese Branch HQ, and finish him there? What do I do in the next fight then?! … I can’t reveal myself to Sho and take on those lesser Zoanoids, along with Synevite, no… ugh…

I went back to scowling as I pondered this, then gave a sigh of resignation.

Maybe they’ll have some more lesser ones… I dunno. Maybe I can at least give Lisker a taste of what’s to come… hey, actually… well, he didn’t show up ‘til after Sho beat that damned octopus, so maybe I can get to him before he does! Yes! I am a tactical genius for once! Suck it, SRW OG2!!

I practically beamed at myself, actually proud of the plan I’d made. Knowing my plans were set, I went back to my game… and my face surely donned that overcast look, jaw hanging open as I saw the screen.

“Game Over!” The game announcer boomed.

My eye twitched as I stared at the smoking rubble that was once my mech.

“F*CK!!!” I boomed, unintentionally tossing the controller to the side.

“So much for focus…” I sobbed.

I sighed, then exited the room to go sit on my front step and get some fresh air. It was at that moment I saw Tetsuro hobble out of Sho’s window, located on the 2nd floor (he’d obviously gone up the roof, of which he was now climbing down). His solemn expression reminded me of what the argument that took place there was about.

“Ouch…” I muttered, wincing a little.

I sighed, not enjoying how quiet my fellow Sci-Fi Club member was as he paced across the street, face lowered at the ground with a slight scowl. I chewed on my lip a little again, then shouted,

“Oy! Tetsuro! What’s up? Ya look a little down…!”

He glanced over at me, hand on the doorknob of his home’s entrance, then shook his head.

“Nothing… don’t expect to see me at school tomorrow.” He muttered.

Putting up my innocent façade, I quirked an eyebrow and shouted back,

“Eh? Why not? Under the weather? …sh*t, you caught what Sho had, didn’t ya?! Get bed-rest and don’t come over until you’re sterilized!” I shouted, giving a slight laugh at the end.

To my disappointment, the Segawa only slammed the door shut behind him, and I sighed once more, leaning back. I glanced at Sho’s window and thought,

Those two do go a ways back… it’d be understandably hurtful for Sho to say something like that to him. Ah well, they’ll get over it.

I shrugged, leaning on my elbows, humming the tune to ‘Kryptonite’.

Tomorrow’s the school’s physical checkup, eh? Hmm. Guess I should go ‘til the physicals take place, then go home before they can get to me…

* * * * * * * *

((Sho’s POV))

It was about half an hour after lunch, and I’d been reading this stupid textbook for about that long. Hell, I wasn’t even really reading it, just… staring blankly at the pages. I still felt bad about what I’d said to Tetsuro last night.

“Hey, Fukamachi! You forget your gym clothes, dude?”

I looked up and over at my classmates, all of which were in their according gym attire. I must’ve had a blank look on my face as the first replied,

“We’re having physicals in 5th period today! Hey, you haven’t eaten lunch either…”

The trio stopped at my desk, and the portly guy of the three barked with a smirk,

“I had a ton to eat, so I’ll have plenty of energy for the strength test!”

“Yeah, but now you’ll be overweight!” The tall, gangly one interjected with a laugh.

“Aw shut up, man!”

“Anyway, you should at least take your shirt off Sho…” The ‘leader’ suggested.

Panic overtook me at that, and with a grunt, I shot out of my chair and over to the door, throwing it open as I barreled out.

“Hey! Where ya goin’?!” The lead yelped.

I barreled through the mostly-empty hallways, coming to a stop when I reached the steps of one of the exits. Panting, I sat down on said steps, then sighed.

I don’t think… they went away… gah… I hope they didn’t get bigger… I thought to myself.

It was then the door slid open, and I heard Makishima ask,

“Fukamachi?”

He looked over to see the 3rd-year student standing there with that same smirk he always wore.

“Sorry, am I disrupting your train of thought?”

“Um, no, I-”

“Huh? Sho?” Mizuki asked, popping out of the doorway next to Makishima.

I gave a nervous groan as she asked,

“Don’t you have a physical this afternoon?”

“M-Mizuki, um, shouldn’t you be in class or something?”

“Well, we were just discussing the next student council news column. It’s usually my job, but I asked Segawa to write it because I’ve been so busy lately. It’s nice to have reliable council members like her to help me. If you don’t mind, you can help write the report too.” Makishima replied, extending a hand at the end.

“What do you say, Sho?” He finished.

“That’s great, Sho! This is a really good opportunity!”

I stared at the ground, then muttered with a bow,

“I’m sorry, but I really gotta go home for the day.”

With that, I whirled around and entered the main office building, Mizuki yelling,

“Hey, Sho! What about your checkup?!”

I could hear her say as I glanced over my shoulder at them, still in the office‘s doorway,

“I’m sorry about that… he’s been acting really strangely lately…”

“It’s alright. But listen- let’s talk about that column!” Makishima stated, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Yeah! Sure thing!” She laughed.

I scowled, then slammed the door shut behind me. I could hear a muffled Mizuki yell,

“Geez, Sho~!”

After I’d ran down the hillside road that led up to the school, I stopped and doubled over for a breath or two. I stopped, then looked up at the mountain where it’d all started. I sighed, then shrugged, slowly making my way up to Mount Mirasawa, hoping it might clear my mind or something. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched… in fact, I swore I heard footsteps behind me. I whirled around, but I didn’t see anyone there, or anywhere, for that matter. I gave a nervous groan, then started running towards Mt. Mirasawa, for fear that someone was stalking me… and Chronos immediately came to mind.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

((My POV))

I sighed, waiting in the trees by the river on Mount Mirasawa. Already in the crimson suit of organic armor I called my own Guyver, I was leaning against one of said trees, watching Sho Fukamachi crouched down on the shoreline, tossing rocks into the water.

Little bastard is hard to catch… I mused.

I sighed, shaking my armored head as Tetsuro showed up as well, and the two began to exchange dialogue about their past experiences with this certain spot. I didn’t care. This didn’t concern me at the moment. All I gave a damn about was finding Lisker before he found Sho and Synevite.

“I’ll show that pompous bastard… I at least have some trained fighting experience, so I know I’ll do better than Sho did…”

My gravity sensors suddenly jerked back and forth as I heard a gruff voice bark,

“Target sighted! Securing him now, sir!”

My eyes widened, and I poked my head out just enough to see five Chronos soldiers standing between myself and the two teens I’d been, err… following.

“damnit! Those guys again!” They yelled.

I smirked as I watched the leader of the group explain how Sho’d been found out as the Guyver, then Sho change into the Guyver, landing only a dozen feet from me on the slope as he yelled,

“Come get me!”

The chase was on as the Zoanoids changed and Sho led them down the shoreline. I cracked my neck as I muttered,

“Show’s on…”

I went to follow them through the trees, but simply bumped into a large, scaly green surface, and staggered backwards.

“Unh?” I grunted, looking up.

A Gregole blinked back down at me, obviously as confused as I. I blinked back, then leaned to the side, observing the other four assorted Zoanoids behind it; two Ramotith, a Vamore, and a Malcult. They too blinked back at me, and I muttered aloud to the five,

“Something tells me neither of us were expecting to see the other here…”

“shit! It’s Guyver 3!” The Gregole barked, staggering backwards.

I scowled at that.

03...? Like hell I‘ll let that slide!

I coughed, then waved my hand dismissively, asking,

“Wait, wait… you think I’m Guyver 3? No, no, no. I’m Guyver 4. Guyver 3 is the black-colored Guyver.”

They all blinked again, and one of the Ramotith’s scratched its bat-like head. I shrugged, muttering,

“I… I’m Guyver 4... Not 3... Get it straight.”

They all looked at each other and shrugged, then the Gregole rumbled,

“Doesn’t matter what your number is, you’re coming with us!”

As the five started forward, I laughed, shaking a finger reprovingly a them.

“Oho… something tells me I’m not about to dissolve in a puddle of fleshy ooze. So, technically, I‘m not coming with you. Right? Right.”

They growled angrily, and the two Ramotiths rushed forward with the Malcult, claws flashing as they shouldered through the trees. I looked over my shoulder, noting Sho and Tetsuro were already downstream by now, probably fighting Synevite at this point. I smirked, nodding before turning back at the others…

Seemed the Malcult was faster than I thought.

With an ‘oof’ the bird-like Zoanoid tackled me down the hill and onto the beach, his comrades following closely. I growled, getting angry as I decked the bird in the face, cracking its beak instantly and drawing quite a bit of blood. It staggered backwards, and as it did so, I sweep-kicked its legs out from under it. I could feel a mad grin come over my face as I hopped to my feet in a flash while the Malcult fell, then abruptly raised my foot up high into the air, wincing as I felt my leg pop. I paid it no heed as I brought my leg crashing back down onto the bird-like Zoanoid’s midsection, earning a scream of pain and the cracking of about four ribs or so as it smashed into the sandy dirt. It gurgled before I brought my foot back and punted the mass-production Zoanoid into one of the oncoming Ramotiths, knocking the bulkier Zoanoid over as the impact knocked out the Malcult, then I finished them both off with a Pressure Cannon.

The other Ramotith was already on me as it brought its clawed hands downwards, and I grunted in surprise. I lashed my head upwards at it, killing the thing with two well-placed shots from my Head Beam; one through the head, and the other through the chest. As it dropped, I cracked my knuckles while the Gregole hurtled through the air after me, probably having jumped off of the top of the grassy slope to reach me faster. I smirked at that.

“FALCON…” I muttered, reeling my right fist back.

The reptilian behemoth snarled as he was about to slam into me, but gurgled as my fist rammed into his stomach with a surge of blood and several cracking sounds. It choked as I finished the punching motion, sending the Gregole flying into the hill as I finished,

“PUUUUUNCH!!!”

The Gregole then groaned with his last breath,

“GAAH!! Wh-who are you…?!”

I smirked, swiping a thumb under where my nose would be as I replied,

“The name’s Guyver 4! Remember it!”

He finally blacked out, dissolving as his life faded away. I looked around at the four piles of melting flesh, then muttered,

“There’s one missing…”

I yelped as two beams of searing hot energy streaked towards me from the hilltop, and I bounced away from them, panting. I glared up at the Vamore, its shoulder-pods open, the biolasers revealed as they started charging up for another shot.

“Impressed, Guyver?! These biolasers are powerful enough to cut through 30 centimeters of concrete in a single second!”

I smirked, folding my arms. Time to flex some of my Guyver know-how! … and to make Chronos a little paranoid.

“Yeah, but the problem is, they take a good four-to-five seconds to charge, and excessive firing will poison their user. They emit energy through the same principle that makes fireflies glow, don’t they?” I barked questioningly.

The Vamore staggered backwards, eyes wide as it howled,

“H-how do you know?!”

I tilted my head back, sighing.

“Let’s just say I know a thing or two about you Zoanoids and your organization…” I mused.

The Vamore growled, still visibly surprised by my statement, then shifted its feet as it charged up another shot.

“No matter! I’ll make sure myself that you won’t spout off any more of that!” It hissed.

I chuckled, shaking my head.

“Look, I’m sorry… you Zoanoids work hard and all, and I respect you for the fact you’re so willing to give up your lives for an ideal, but… you’re just wasting those lives by trying to bring us Guyvers down.”

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH YOU bastard!!” The Vamore howled, launching off another shot from its shoulder cannons.

I shook my head, then lashed my arms forward and fired off another Pressure Cannon, of which tore apart the pair of blasts on their way to the target. The Vamore screeched in surprise before the Pressure Cannon ripped through his skull, causing the corpse to stagger onto its knees, blood spurting out of the spot that was once its ‘neck’. I sighed, lowering my armored hands, then abruptly went rigid as I heard a masculine voice shout,

“You know, I was originally here for Guyver 1, but… you intrigue me a lot more, Guyver 3, so I let him go for now. Oh, wait, you said your name was Guyver 4, right…? Hmph. That worried about a number?”

I turned to see none other than Inspector Oswald A. Lisker himself standing at the top of the hill, smirking down at me. I laughed and replied,

“In a sense, yeah. I don‘t much like the number 3, and I’m sure there‘s another Guyver out there who could take it without minding!”

Lisker shook his head, smirking, before he stated,

“Ha, I suppose that’s true. What interests me, however, is that Guyver 1 had trouble with a single puny little Zoanoid, but you took on five all at once with almost no trouble! I must say, I’m impressed! I really do hope you’ll come with me back to headquarters… because I won’t be as easy to handle as them, should you choose to engage me… and we‘d prefer to bring you back in one piece.”

The man then brought his hands up and clenched them, eyes widening as he yelled,

“ADAPT!!”

A sphere of light exploded into existance around the man, and the yellow Guyver Unit 2 was seen wrapping itself around the Inspector’s frame. The sphere dissipated, and Lisker landed on a knee and his right knuckles, bursts of air issuing from both facial vents. He rose to his feet as he rumbled,

“Like you, I’m also… a Guyver.”

I folded my arms, putting on the façade I used somewhat-frequently in this world.

“Well… I certainly didn’t expect that. However, I’m afraid I can’t comply with your demand, mister… Uhh…”

“You can call me Lisker, if you like.” He replied with a hand-wave.

“Ahh, Lisker… as I said before, I’m afraid I can’t do that, sadly. Chronos kinda wants this Guyver, as I’m to understand, but I still require it quite badly. Not to mention, well… it’s kinda bonded to me on a genetic scale, and would be rather hard to remove with the armor engaged.” I finished, clapping my hands together.

“I see… well then, that’s a shame. Seems I’ll have to bring you back using force…” Lisker muttered, clenching his fists, each knuckle issuing a satisfying pop.

I shrugged, arching my back in an attempt to pop it.

“Well, sir, you can try… I suggest you don’t underestimate me either, though. I don’t wish to group you with all the Zoanoids I’ve killed, but doubting my abilities tends to bring mortality rates down among Chronos personnel.” I replied.

“Heh. You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that. But guts won’t be enough in this situation…!” He barked, charging forward.

“Then let’s see where your confidence comes from, Lisker!” I roared back, charging at my opponent.

Something told me this fight was going to be decidedly different than the ones that came before it… and to be honest, it made me a bit nervous…