When the armor had finished forming
around him, something that Ryan was almost certain he’d
experienced before – must’ve been something to do with Sho –
Ryan got his first real look at the virtual army of
monstered-out goons that was currently surrounding him. They all
looked like they wanted nothing more than to pound the living
crap out of him—at least, the ones who weren’t busy looking like
blown up roadkill did.
It
was
pretty freaky, the way all of the dead ones were rotting so
fast, and Ryan took a moment to be grateful that he couldn’t
smell them. That must have been one nasty smell; he’d heard
enough from his mom to know that the smell of rotting flesh
wasn’t one that any normal person would enjoy. Of course, none
of the things he was facing now could ever really be considered
normal. Ryan didn’t even think they qualified as people anymore,
not after what they had just
done.
+So, Sho, what’s the story with these
beast-man guys?+
+They’re called Zoanoids,+
Sho said, sounding like he had lost
something very important to him.
+You mean these are the things that were
chasing us?+
+Yes.+
+Good to know,+
Ryan said.
+Now, just how are we supposed to
beat them? And why do you sound like someone just ran over your
dog?+
+You- you can use the Guyver’s weapons
to kill them; the Control Medal will tell you what to do.+
+And what about the other thing, eh,
Sho?+
+What do you mean?+
+Why do you look like you’ve just lost
your best friend?+
+Maybe because I just have.+
If Sho had been speaking out loud,
Ryan might have been tempted to call what he was doing
whispering. It wasn’t like it was any "quieter" than normal –
and how far gone was he that he was starting to think about this
kind of stuff as normal?
– but there was certainly something about it that suggested Sho
was whispering. Maybe it was the tone, insofar as something that
could only be heard inside a person’s head could have a tone at
all.
Ducking under the arms of the Zoanoids
as they took a swipe at him and still wondering what Sho had
meant by what he had said earlier, Ryan suddenly got a very
strong visual impression of both his upper arms and the tops of
his wrists. When he looked at his right wrist, Ryan saw a
noticeable lump there—a pointy lump, like something was there
just waiting for him to notice it and use it.
With a thought, Ryan extended the
lump, watching as it elongated from a barely-there thing of
about an inch high to a blade that was six inches long and
shimmered softly in the light. Ryan even thought he could hear
it humming but decided that he was probably imagining that.
Whatever the case, this new weapon of his was pretty cool.
Looks like I’ve got a matched
set, though.
With a little mental urging, Ryan
managed to do the same with the blade on his left wrist. The
Zoanoids gave him a teensy bit more breathing room once he had
managed to figure out how to use his new wrist-blades, but the
guy in the center – Sho’s "old friend," though Ryan was really
starting to doubt his fellow Guyver’s sanity if he’d make
friends with someone like that
– seemed to be prodding them into attacking again.
It was getting pretty damned annoying.
+Sho, if you’re done agonizing over
things you’re not telling me about, do you think you could get
your butt in gear?!+
+I’m- I’m sorry, Ryan. It’s just…+
+Yeah, well, whatever it is, get over
it! I’m not sure how much longer I can hold these guys off!+
+I’m coming,+
Sho seemed to whisper again.
Ryan didn’t quite know what was
going on with Sho, though he was starting to suspect a few
things, but now really
wasn’t the time to be conducting any impromptu therapy sessions.
Not in the middle of the street, and sure as hell not when they
were being assaulted by an army of freakish monsters. There
would be time for Sho to get his head on straight later; for
now, it was more important that they didn’t get killed. Being
dead would be a real impediment to talking things over, after
all.
When another Guyver—a blue one with
twisty purple stuff between the plates of its armor—came
charging into the thick of the group of Zoanoids that was trying
to beat him down, Ryan was particularly grateful to have him
there.
+Well, I see you’ve gotten over
whatever it was that was bothering you,+
Ryan greeted cordially.
+Good to have you here.+
+Thanks, Ryan. But I really haven’t
gotten over it. You’re right; for now we need to focus on
getting out of this situation. I’ll worry about Mr. Murakami
later.+
+Good. You do that.+
Plunging his wrist-blade into a
bug-looking Zoanoid’s head, Ryan ripped it out and kicked the
next-closest Zoanoid in the chest.
+Yo, Sho?+
+What is it, Ryan?+
+Are there any other weapons on this
Guyver thing that I should know about? Like something that could
clear some more of these Zoanoids out of our way? Maybe a lot of
them at once?+
+Maybe the Mega-Smasher—no, that would
do too much damage to the city. I think you’d want to use the
Pressure Cannon here.+
+Great. What the heck is that, anyway?+
+Sorry. I guess I keep forgetting that
you’re new to all of this. You’ll want to focus on your Gravity
Controller—that’s part of the system that activates the Pressure
Cannon.+
+Thanks for the advice, Sho.+ Now, let’s
hope I listened well enough to keep my skin intact.+
Focusing on the Gravity Controller the
way Sho had told him to, Ryan felt something humming at his
waist. It was probably that Gravity Controller thing that Sho
had talked about, but the feeling of something buzzing between
his hands wasn’t exactly what Ryan had been expecting. That was
probably the Pressure Cannon; looking down at his hands, Ryan
saw something forming between them.
It was some weird kind of air distortion
that looked like a small black hole. Or at least what Ryan
thought a black hole would look from his astronomy studies. Once
the thing had fully formed, Ryan slammed it into the head of the
nearby lizardlike Zoanoid and watched gleefully as the thing’s
head exploded.
+That was pretty fun.+
+Just try to concentrate on what you’re
doing, Ryan.+
+Right. I’ll keep that in mind.+
Gathering up another mini black hole,
Ryan fired it at another Zoanoid. Then, extending his
wrist-blades again, Ryan dove into the midst of the attacking
Zoanoids.