Guyver III, pulling himself out of the
mass of rubble that had once been the wall of a building, shook
his head to clear out the remaining cobwebs. He had known on an
intellectual level that Gyou was one of the elites of the
Chronos Corporation, but Guyver III hadn’t really expected him
to be able to punch that hard. Hearing Fukamachi’s screams,
Guyver III turned his attention back to Gyou.
Somehow, Gyou had managed to wrap his
arms around Guyver I’s midsection, and was now slowly but
steadily attempting to crush the life out of him. Fukamachi’s
arms were pinned to his sides, cutting off his ability to make
use of the Vibration Blades or the Pressure Cannon. His legs and
head were still free though, and for a moment Guyver III
wondered why Guyver I didn’t think to use the Head Beam or the
Sonic Buster.
He must be in too much pain to
think coherently, Guyver III
realized, as Guyver I’s screams became more pronounced. Standing
up and charging the Pressure Cannon, Guyver III was surprised
enough to almost lose his concentration when a car went crashing
into Gyou’s back, causing him to let go of Guyver I. Looking
back along the car’s trajectory, Guyver III caught sight of
Murakami, just lifting another car to throw.
Impressive,
Guyver III allowed.
Murakami has the strength of a Guyver.
Evidently, Gyou also saw that he had another problem to deal
with, and he didn’t seem so impressed by Murakami’s strength.
"You are really starting to annoy me,
Murakami," Gyou growled.
"Good, that’s what I was going for,"
Murakami said, throwing the car at Gyou’s head.
As Murakami’s thrown car impacted with
Gyou, Guyver III fired the Pressure Cannon at the Twelfth
Zoalord. In the midst of both blast and impact, Gyou’s form was
momentarily obscured. Looking over at Murakami, Guyver III saw
the man’s lips thin slightly, and he knew then that Gyou would
still be standing when the shrapnel had settled. A slight glow
in the air was all the warning Guyver III, Murakami and Guyver I
had.
The very air seemed to rip itself apart,
as a violent wave of pressure ripped into the surrounding area.
Guyver III saw Guyver I throw himself to the ground to avoid the
onslaught, and watched Murakami kneel down and cover his face
even as he himself crouched and braced himself with all the
strength he possessed. The waves of compressed air battered the
three combatants like solid objects, nearly knocking him and
Murakami sprawling despite their positions.
Finally though, it was over. Breathing
deeply to try to regain his equilibrium, Guyver III rose to his
feet again.
"So, you survived," Gyou sounded, if
anything, mildly disappointed. "I suppose that being Guyvers
confers certain advantages to you pitiful little maggots."
With that said, Gyou turned and
fired some kind of high-energy blast straight at the car. The
same one that all of the others were still inside. Guyver III
could have predicted Fukamachi’s reactions to the letter: with a
shouted denial, Guyver I threw himself forward to intercept
Gyou’s blast. Taking the impact directly in his chest, Guyver I
ended up laying flat on his back in the street, with his head
half-in-half-out of the car.
Idiot, Guyver III thought
derisively.
When he had seen Gyou fire that blast,
Sho hadn’t had time to think. He had just reacted. Tetsuro and
Mizuki were both in that car, as well as all of the other people
who had helped him and Agito to survive and to fight against
Chronos. When Gyou’s blast had smashed into his chest, Sho had
felt like his ribs would all shatter under the pressure, or that
his armor would be torn off by the blast, or maybe both at once.
When the crushing force had finally
abated, Sho had found himself staring up at Mizuki. As his
vision cleared further, Sho had found himself also staring up at
the ceiling of Onuma’s car.
"Sho! Are you all right?" Mizuki asked,
looking into the strange, alien face of Guyver I that was
staring up at her.
"You’d better get up, Sho," Tetsuro
said, trying to be practical. "I don’t think Gyou’s going to
keep ignoring you forever."
Pulling himself back to his feet, Sho
looked back at the battlefield. Sure enough, if it hadn’t been
for Agito and Mr. Murakami attacking him, Sho was sure that Gyou
would be trying to finish what he had started. Taking one last
look back at the car, Sho noticed that the door had been opened.
Looking at where Sho’s gaze was fixed, Tetsuro had to chuckle.
"Well Sho, it was either open that
door, or have you end up with your head stuck
through
it. I didn’t think you’d like that very much."
Hearing Tetsuro say that, Sho had to
laugh, too. His mirth was short-lived however, when he saw
Guyver III go sprawling, caught by one of Gyou’s punches.
+What are you waiting for,
Fukamachi?!+ Agito demanded
over their Guyver-link. +Get
over here and help me!+
+I’ll be right there, Agito,+
Sho said.
Suiting actions to words, Sho ran back
into the battle. Mr. Murakami was now engaged in a kind of
wrestling match with Gyou, and Gyou seemed more amused than
anything. Probably because Mr. Murakami was losing pretty badly.
-Kneel before your better, you
worthless little guinea pig!-
Gyou taunted telepathically.
-Never!-
Masaki spat, gritting his teeth and trying to stay on his feet
despite the crushing pressure on his hands and in his knees.
Masaki had jumped in and started
grappling with Gyou just after Sho had taken Gyou’s Gravity
Bullet directly in his chest. Masaki knew for a fact that Gyou
would have taken advantage of Sho’s position if the old Zoalord
hadn’t had something to occupy his attention. After Guyver III
had been knocked away by just
one of Gyou’s attacks, Masaki
knew that that something would have to be him.
And now here he was, feeling like all
the bones in his hands were about to give way under the enormous
pressure that Gyou was applying to them. Gyou even had the nerve
to be smirking at him as the grappled. Or at least he was, until
Guyver III’s kick plowed into his head.
"You!" Gyou shouted, enraged.
Letting go of Masaki, Gyou tossed him
aside like a rag doll. Shaking his head to try to regain at
least some of his lost equilibrium, Masaki rose to his feet and
attempted to push aside the lingering pain in his hands. Flexing
his fingers to make sure that he hadn’t lost any mobility,
Masaki drew and fired his weapon at a Zoanoid that had stupidly
attempted to blindside him. Guyver III was now engaging Gyou,
firing blasts from the Head Beam and Pressure Cannon at
seemingly random intervals.
Masaki was glad of the reprieve.