Zeus Thunderbolt
The large bio-tube sat in the center of the cold room. Inside, the naked form of a man floated. His once long black hair had fallen out after being placed inside and was being removed by small set of claws and moving them out of the tank. His body was emaciated. Many of his bones were showing under his skin and his face had a calm deathly pallor.
Atkins walked up to the tube. ‘Already a slight improvement’, he thought to himself. He had been here at least six days with nearly no contact with the outside world. He had already contacted the ACTF on his discoveries. He had the Guyver Unit and was doing all he could to keep it secret so that the ACTF could get their hands on another potential useful addition. This being though, according to the scientists here, was an ancient zoalord. Care was being given to bring him back to proper health though he was being kept unconscious until the threat assessment was complete. His body would likely be dissected for study, a thought that Atkins didn’t really mind.
He sighed, and looked over to a few of the scientists that began separating the hair into separate strands and were conducting all sorts of tests on it. ‘Odd people, scientists. Yet without their help we would be as children amongst wolves’.
Female Guyver 3 was then seen across the room walking towards him. Agito had met with them earlier, and though he was busy he ordered Shizu to remain bio-boosted as much as possible to make sure that if anything bad happened she would be ready to stop it.
“Perhaps you would like to get something to eat, Mr. Atkins,” the guyver kindly said to him. Atkins smiled and shook his head.
“Thank you, but I am quite fine. I am more concerned with this at the moment. I heard that there has been some trouble in Australia?” he asked.
Female Guyver 3 nodded. “It’s true. Master Makashima is there now. He had only recently returned here as well. Still, you should rest sir.”
With those words, Atkins yawned. “Perhaps your right.”
“Um…Lady Shizu…” One of the scientists said.
Female Guyver 3 turned to see him and a few of the other scientists pointing up at the bio-tube. When Female Guyver 3 looked up she saw that the eyes of the zoalord were open. Two glowing orbs of gold were looking directly at her, and the glass of the bio-tube began to crack.
With that sight Shizu immediately yelled to the scientists, “Everyone move out now!”
But with the resounding pulse of thunder the glass around the white figure exploded with such force that the equipment surrounding him went sailing across the room and crushed against the walls. Shizu herself was thrown off balance, and Atkins himself was sent reeling into the wall.
Dust covered the room, and Atkins was nearly knocked cold. He had a few pieces of glass in him, one in particular had hit him in the calf. He looked up in the worst pain in his life to see Female Guyver 3 standing with her back to him over ten feet away with her vibrational blades extended. She had moved into a fighting stance. As more smoke and dust cleared he saw what she did.
The white figure was floating just before the bio-tube. Completely nude, his nearly albino like skin began to heal and form started showing to his face. His eyes were closed, and his ears began to repair themselves to a pointed form. As the body regained it’s health he noticed that he was covered in an odd scarification of runes and symbols. His eyes opened again to shine a bright gold color as Shizu moved her feet just slightly, preparing to leap in whatever direction she had to.
The figure began to emit a soft golden glow as a single crystal appeared peeling itself out of his forehead.
It was then that Atkins felt his own body leave his control. He wasn’t sure how it happened, or when it did, but he felt his body stand and he began to speak.
“So, then he succeeded I see. Guyver, where is your master!”
Shizu could not risk turning her back to the Master Zoalord in front of her. She could feel his mental powers even through her unit. It was incredible, purely fantastic. The mere energy coming off of him felt as warmth to her body. A soothing feeling, as though she wanted to embrace the being before her. She shook it off, and cocked her head only slightly to the side. Though her hypersenses kept track of the zoalord, she wasn’t about to expose herself out of shock.
“What are you talking about?”
The figure of the zoalord blinked, he had yet to change to battle form and she still felt the incredible amount of energy that stemmed from him.
Atkins felt himself speak again. “Reeve, the Guyver Zoalord. Where is he?”
“Dead,” she said shooting her glance back to the zoalord.
A slightly puzzled expression gripped the zoalords face before Atkins fell, the psionic grip on his mind being removed. His eyes then shot towards the east as his body began to slowly turn to light and fade away.
ACTF Headquarters
Zeugma dodged the varying bolts of fire behind a tank that melted as soon as the blast hit. She knew Crystallite outclassed her in power, but she had to keep it up. With Dreadnought gone and everyone else fighting for the relic she was alone. She had called for an evacuation of the base, many listened. Those that didn’t she couldn’t save.
Crystallite leaned over as she floated in the air. Her mind was alight with the meal ahead. The feast, the strength. She let out a roar that made Zeugma visibly twitch as she sensed a powerful psionic build up as the tank behind her lifted into the air. Zeugma leaped to her feet and hurled herself at Crystallite. Her many crystals began to glow as she summoned a powerful energy storm around her hands and tossed it at her opponent Crystallite.
Crystallite scowled and growled before moving quickly to the side and forcibly hit the ground with enough force to leave a massive crack in the paved road. Zeugma, surprised by the speed turned to fire a laser blast which was cut short as a shadow loomed over her and before Zeugma could react a massive tank slammed against her at high speed sending her and it reeling towards the ACTF building. She slammed into the barracks with the tank crushing her abdomen. She cried in pain as Crystallite landed before her and stabbed her in the chest. Already she could feel the draining power of Crystallite when they both sensed something else. Crystallite turned only to be hit in the face with a laser fire that did not even make her flinch.
Zeugma looked over to see Elera in her full zoalord form. Her hand was pointed to Crystallite as she fired another beam of energy. “GET AWAY FROM HER!”
Zeugma, wide-eyed, sent a telepathic message for Elera to run away. But Elera bravely and foolishly stood her ground as Crystallite pulled the vibrational blade from Zeugma and turned to move towards Elera. A few hand beams put great strain on Elera, but she kept them firing at Crystallite who merely stepped right into them seemingly unaffected. Each step raised Elera’s heartbeat until she could nearly feel it pounding against her ribcage.
Then something happened Zeugma did not expect, she watched in pain as time seemed to slow around her. Crystallite literally began to move at a crawling pace. Even the energy of an approaching hand beam slowed to the point she could see it flying towards Crystallite. Zeugma felt something warm touch her cheek on the side.
She turned her head to look and saw someone she hardly believed was there. Perched on the overturned tank that lay upon her crushing her under ower was a nude male zoalord she recognized.
<“Solufein,”> she said telepathically, finding speech too hard for her to do. <”Your alive!?”>
The man looked down to her face as he brushed a bit of her battle forms yellow hair from her cheek. <”Yes Zeugma, I am. Calm yourself, we do not have much time. This effect is temporary and I cannot hold it for much longer.”>
<”Solufein, so many questions… but you have to save Elera.”>
The man looks to the young zoalord with his eyes glowing a bright gold. <”The Zoalord child?>
Zeugma nods.
The white man looked back to Zeugma and touched the wound on her chest. His eyes and crystal began to glow a bright gold and slowly the red in the wound began to dissipate. <”It is difficult to remove, what is this guyver creature?”>
<”A friend gone mad, ugh”> she cried feeling the horrible pain as the red shards fought back against the zoalords own power.
<”You count a guyver amongst friends?”> The crystal on his head began to glow stronger as it seemed to change, forming the coloration of a golden eye in the center of his head. His hands also split open on the palm to reveal similar golden eyes, each moved about and peered down at the wound and began to glow.
Zeugma cried out in pain. <”Much has happened, much has…ugh….changed.”>
The man nodded. <”I am sorry, it is nearly over. I have never removed such things, it will take time.”>
Zeugma nodded. <”How much longer can you keep them slowed.”>
<”Another thirty seconds at best. My power is being slowly seeped by that beings presence. And this power cannot last long when I have one with me between time.”>
<”Can we use it to stop her.”>
Solufein shook his head. <”We are out of normal time, because of that we are unable to affect what is around us except one another.”>
Solufein shook his bald head.
<”What?”>
His eyes, still glowing, looked into hers. <”I cannot remove it. All I can do is stop it, but it will not last for long I believe. Hours at the most. I am sorry.”>
Zeugma smiled. It was good to see her old tribe member again. <”Do it. I will make due.”>
The white head nodded and the bright red crystal began to dull and become inert. Slowly Zeugma sat up and found that her body had become heavier. Or was it a feeling of powerlessness, she was not sure.
<”This creatures power is quite immense. Our Lord’s should hear about it. For now, I will enhance your own prowess, Clan Leader. I believe my own confrontation with the creature will spell only disaster.>
Zeugma looked on to Crystallite, once her friend, and nearly trembled. <”First, get Elera out of there.”>
Solufein stared at the two forms. <”I will do so, but the initial weapon discharge that the creature is firing will hit her. There is nothing I can do about that.”>
Zeugma nodded. <”Do what you can Solufein.”>
Solufein nodded and moved quickly to Elera side, bracing himself with foot as he swung himself to grab her. His eyes glowed at the moment just before the time distortion wore off and he telekinetically grabbed her and rushed forward. The pressure cannon blast from Crystallite still hit some mark and ripped across Elera’s chest sideways, tearing off the front of it.
Zeugma was slightly disorientated from the time shift, but quickly set in motion with a powerful double hand beam that surprised Crystallite and blasted her over three hundred feet as she slid across the tearing concrete and slammed through a flatbed truck.
Solufein stood with a screaming Elera, horribly disfigured by the chest wound. She looked up at her rescuer for the first time. His eyes were pure gold, like tiny suns beaming out at her. His skin was completely solid white like a powdered covering. Elera, shocked for a moment saw the form of Zeugma fly in the air and slam into crystallite with a huge blue aura surrounding her and send dust flying into the air.
<”Are you alright?”>
Elera looked at her zoalord rescuer as his words reached into her mind. <”No, my chest hurts so much I can hardly breathe!”>
Solufein placed his hand with it’s large crystal on her chest and his eyes began shining so bright that Elera had to look away, else be blinded by their brilliance. Suddenly her chest felt warm and she looked down to see it begin healing. Slowly, but surely. She also felt a slight rush of power in her mind.
<”I have healed you, and given you some of my own energy for now. It will not last, and this is no battle for one as young as you are.”>
Elera only nodded. Too in shock to do much else.
It was then that Solufein’s head twisted around to see Crystallite speeding towards him with a red flame surrounding her. Behind her Zeugma was close and trying to reach them first. Solufein lifted his hand and suddenly the feeling of space began to warp around Elera as she sensed a massive telekinetic buildup and he fired it. The waves of effect warped Elera’s own eyesight as the telekinetic burst seemed to pull space around them in a way that Elera both saw what was in front of her and behind her at the same time.
The blast was effective though. It shot through the air and slammed into Crystallite sending her soaring backward and into Zeugma’s waiting arms where she released a powerful bio-energy charge that sent Crystallite slamming into the ground.
<”Go now! And do not look back!”> Solufein said to her mentally as he stood to face the monster with his Clan Mother.
Day’s Later
Angel awoke inside of the ACTF/EDF base camp. Situated a couple of miles off of the clan ship crash site; it was a quick job to get it up and running. The military was fast with such things.
She sat up on the bed and cracked her neck. It felt as though she had been sleeping on a log. These things were built for portability, not for comfort. Her weariness was quickly subsided as she sniffed the air and was repulsed by the smell of her clothes. She hadn’t washed in nearly days she realized, as she had spent so much time fighting in this war that she had never even stopped to wash her hands not to mention the clothes themselves.
Hopefully they had a shower, she thought to herself.
But Angel was not lucky today. She found a small bucket with a rag and a standard issue small bar of soap laid out for her in the corner. She walked over to the tent flap and made sure it was locked. Angel sat down, removed her boots and stripped her leather pants off. It was a wonder she didn’t dehydrate in this heat, she thought. And with a bit of haste rubbed herself clean of the smell that had been left, then quickly threw the soapy water over her head and cleaned her hair, splashing the dirt floor.
It wasn’t the best job she knew, but it would do for now. Looking around she found a set of clothes laid out for her. A pair of camouflage pants, standard issue. And a gray tank top and jacket with the letters ACTF on the tank top. Wasn’t the best style, but it’d do. Besides, she left her jacket back at the bike in Norway where Guyver Powered Zerebubuse picked her up.
She scowled a bit at the memory and tossed the top and jacket on. She found a small comb and quickly brushed her hair before her eyes glanced over to a small steel mirror placed on a bag in the corner. Angel smiled, at least these guyvers were nice enough to leave her a care package.
Angel set the mirror aside and opened up the bag. Inside she found a few pairs of olive green socks, another pair of pants and shirt, a hair band, two MRE’s, a box of matches, a swiss army knife and a canteen. Not a bad package. She then notices a new pair of steel toe black boots under the bed. Not bad at all.
Angel looks over to her boots and notices the damage the war has done to them and decides to replace them. She pulls the socks from her bag and puts the shoes on. A little loose, but a dang close fit. Works for me, she thought.
She grabbed the hair band and pulled her hair back into a ponytail, when she noticed something odd. Confused, she touched her ear again to find that it had grown into a point! Shocked, Angel stumbled over and grabbed the mirror to look at her face. In it she saw that her ears had grown to a point! But ever more frightening, it seems to have occurred overnight!
That and Angel could hardly recognize the two slitted, green and blue eyes that stared back at her.
Her blood ran cold.
“What’s…happening to me…” she said in a very low tone. It was then she sensed something moving outside of her tent. It felt like a pull of energy between her and whatever was moving. Her hand started shaking as her thoughts started running marathons in her head.
What the hell are you? A spy for Chronos, the creators!
“Angel, are you up yet? We need to go over a few things,” came the voice of Stephen Cain through her tent. She could see his shadow glowing slightly on the green canvas.
“Angel?”
“Oh…sorry. Yeah I’m up,” she called out, still slightly in shock. “Um…just a minute!”
Stephen let out a sigh. “Alright, main command tent when you’re ready. Don’t keep the rest of us waiting.” She held her breath as he walked away from her tent.
She couldn’t go out there like this. They had all seen her face already. But they needed her help here, right now. Not to mention the prospect of having to face some of the more powerful members of The Coalition with her identity in question. Furthermore she could assume they would mistrust the EDF then, thinking they may be corrupted by Chronos giving disunity to the entire campaign.
She could go on forever like this. But Angel knew she didn’t have the time, and neither did they for that matter. She stood in the center of the tent and activated her guyver unit, willing it as much as she could in hopes that it wouldn’t blow the place up. And it did, emitting only the tiniest of an EPM making the light above her flicker and fade for but a moment.
Angel sighed, and walked out of the tent and towards the ACTF main command tent.
She noticed the odd looks that many people gave her. She was said to be as strong as Dreadnought. Some said better, others said, ‘No Way!’ The odd ‘Hero’ of the ACTF was moving in and out of the battle. Just now she knew he was not within at least a hundred miles so she knew he had traveled far away.
She hoped that her fears were founded. Maybe she should give them more credit than she was. Or was it just her own insecurities. What would come of Australia. Or was her paranoia justified. It felt curious being around them. Many were comfortable in their skin. She did not ask for the burden she was given with this unit. She didn’t even remember where she came from.
When she told Dreadnought, or Jason as it was, that she had no memory of her life his expression was at most cut short by his own concerns. Probably the one she liked the most was Stephen. Crass, and military, but not all that bad. Wish he’d grow some hair, she chuckled thinking to herself.
The battle had it’s ups and downs. But with Crystallite out of the way and Jason assisting she thought to herself that they would be fine.
What worried her was that monster called W’Kar. She had no knowledge of him, and that was odd for her. She realized long ago that it must be part of her unit, up to recently she could think about any subject and gain its content in knowledge… In W’Kar’s case she couldn’t recall any information from her unit; even the test units she knew about. But her own unit, she could think of nothing.
W’Kar was the same.
He had saved many lives with his actions. He had battled against both Guyver Powered Zerebubuse and Warrior Guyver Vamore at the same time. Each time one was about to target others, he managed to distract them and draw them back into the fray with him. Not only that but he managed to take out an entire squad of Bio-Titans by himself in the battle. He was obviously very skilled in a fight, and very used to fighting these kinds of beings. Stephen told her that he was from another universe and he personally didn’t like the man, but respected his choice in assisting and was grateful for the opportunity to distract two of the biggest weapons in Chronos. And remain alive at that. He even managed to vaporize Warrior Guyver Vamore twice, and the weapon he released towards the end of the battle made Chronos call a full retreat of their forces back from an all-out attack on our retreat. But the violence in which he fought, it was like pure rage tempered with the desire to protect.
Then there was Sedah. Just looking at him was enough to tell Angel that his unit was far too similar to be anything but a version of her own. W’Kar had attacked him hard, but the coward used the distraction from Warrior Guyver Vamore to escape the battle and attack a group of armored marines. A Bio-Titan in their midst is bad enough for them, but a guyver as powerful as him decimated them. Angel ran to them but by the time she had got there it was too late. Bodies strew the ground of at least six dozen good men and women. It was then she attacked, but the battle was cut short by a massive weapon fired by W’Kar that sent Guyver Powered Zerebubuse flying past them. Sedah had teleported away.
She opened the flap of the main command tent where she saw two of the commanders and Warrior Guyver 2 standing there, along with Sean Barker in the seat near them with his wife Cori, also known as the Battle Guyver. She was a test unit designed by the creator Solom and was his first successful implementation of the HSL energy system. A breakthrough artifact by any creators standards. Though it was more useful here than in some creators collection.
Also sitting in a chair was Tyrone Benin, a man she met working for the EDF. His codename was Crimson, obviously due to an under active imagination. His Hyper-Aceaer test unit had accidentally merged with a grakken unit. Her system told her that it was the cause of the change in the units capability. But she knew he was pretty tough for an Aceaer.
Tyrone, Sean and Cori were the first to look up at her in her guyver form. The couple looked at each other and Tyrone raised an eyebrow.
“You know, you can take that off for awhile you know,” one of the EDF commanders said to her.
Angel shook her head. “No, I have a longer range than what a warrior unit would have, I can catch any incoming attacks a lot sooner while I have it active.”
The Commanders nodded to each other, letting Angel have a quick sigh of relief. She began to power down her wing emissions, letting the two flaps of material shrink and lock into her back. The four shoulder spikes she had were almost always in the way though. And she had yet to figure out what they did exactly when she realized they too could be set away. So she concentrated and suddenly the six spikes began pulling into themselves and locking into six small columns that pulled into her back.
Warrior Guyver 2 tipped his head a bit. “Well, alright. Commanders, like I was saying. We should….”
Angel sat through the talks of plans and new tactics. It seemed Warrior Guyver 2 wanted to perform some hit and run guerilla warfare, but the ACTF commander disagreed and wanted to pursue a quick strategic attack against the main Chronos line using the Warrior Guyvers and any other guyver who could teleport. It went on and on from there. Though she paid close attention she felt in her heart the best method would be to go Stephens way. She couldn’t explain it to herself, but she began analyzing the various outcomes and strategies without even noticing that she was doing it.
“Are you okay?” she heard someone say.
Angel snapped out of her daze. “Huh?”
Cori looked at her. “Are you alright?”
Angel chuckled. “Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about the fight.”
Sean nodded. “It’s getting pretty intense out there.”
Angel nodded in turn. It was getting very intense out there. Death tolls were racking up on both sides. And with so many Bio-Titans and Gliddean running around, the armored marines had their hands more full than the guyvers.
Ten minutes had passed before the EDF commander got a call on his cell phone. His expression changed for just a moment before he hung up.
“Our Guyvers and Aceaers are being called back.”
“WHAT!,” yelled the ACTF commander. “But were about to perform a huge attack, we need them!”
The EDF commander put up his hand. “I understand,” he said looking to the shocked faces around him. “But orders are orders. The EDF plans to perform some attacks on some major Zoanoid development centers while the majority of Chronos dangerous forces are located here. I have been authorized to allow our ground troops to remain here under temporary ACTF command along with their armors.”
Captain Tyrone Benin stood up and saluted. “Yes sir!”
“Go give the orders, Captain.”
Tyrone left with a bit of slowness in his step. The captain did not want to leave this battlefield, but he understood that they would not get a chance like this again and did not want to squander it either.
Warrior Guyver 2 nodded to the commander. “We will compensate for the loss,” he said to them all.
“I am glad you understand. Angel?”
Angel looked down to the middle aged man. “Yes.”
“The EDF also requests your assistance. With you at out backs we should be able to make quicker work of the facilities and make it back here in time to further assist the effort here.”
I’m too tired. I only had three hours of sleep. I only came to help because I knew what would happen, why do you all keep dragging me into more and more fights.
“Yes… I will help,” she says. It was as though the words were ablaze as they left her mouth. It burned her throat just to say them. Her reluctant tone did not go unnoticed, but the Commander merely nodded as the two of them walked out of the tent.
San Francisco, California
The Home of FBI Investigator Marshall Thompson
Marshall Thompson was an FBI Investigator who lived in the United States. His life is good. His wife, Ellen, and he had two daughters and a much older son. His son had joined the military and now fell under the Anti-Chronos Task Force and is part of the armored marine division. His younger daughter, Shelly, had just made the Honor Roll for her fourth grade class. He had a chance to see her get the award. It was a blue ribbon that she proudly displayed in her room next to a Care Bear poster.
His older daughter Jennifer was part of the local 4-H club. She was doing well in High School but her unfortunate habit of being a tomboy was getting her father rather depressed. Especially when she dressed in a white collar suit for her own prom night, then painted a moustache on that resembled a bad impression of Groucho Marx. But he loved her regardless.
His wife, god bless her soul, was a state attorney. Her work kept her busy, but somehow she always found time to spend with her family.
Marshall wasn’t so lucky. His job kept him moving all the time. For now he was spending a lot of time moving back and forth gaining little bits of intelligence for the US government on local Chronos activities. In all, he’s spent rather little time with his family since his older daughter was in elementary school.
He was regretting that now.
It happened as he stepped inside the house from a day of work. He saw the door cracked open slightly with his dead bolt torn off of the wall. In fear, Marshall pulled his gun from his holster behind his blazer and crept in the door where he felt a light shock on the back of his neck and his thoughts drifted.
It seemed only a few moments later when his eyes finally saw fit to open themselves. The haze was still there. He heard crying from his side and turned to see his two daughters, Shelly and Jennifer were on the ground tied up and sitting on two chairs. His heart nearly stopped in fear at the sobbing eyes of his daughters. From his left he heard sounds in the kitchen, but could not turn his head far enough to look.
“I’m singin’ in the rain. Just singin’ in the rain. What a glorious feeling, I’m happy again,” was the sound coming from the back room as he heard his refrigerator open, a sigh, then shut.
“Mr. Thompson, surely you can do better than boxed wine. Some inexpensive Merlot perhaps, even Zinfandel? It seems not. A shame.”
The sound of that voice sent a shiver down his spine. He recognized it well enough. Sedah, the Killer of Man. He was the detective put on the case to track the murderer. It was later he discovered that the psychiatrist he was working with, Dr. Edward Hunter, was none other than Sedah himself. His confidence in him gave Sedah the information needed to continue his spree of killings well over five additional years. His evidence helped put Sedah in his lockbox in Australia. And now his family was in on this.
Marshall struggled valiantly, but to no avail as he heard the voice of the monster above and behind him. His daughter’s eyes looking to the fearful man let him know where he was.
“Slip-knots, Mr. Thompson. They only get tighter as you struggle.”
His murmurs under the gag were nearly inaudible.
Sedah stepped out in front of him, and he looked at him. To his surprise Sedah looked quite younger than he was, but wore the very same Versache suit. His eyes though, were different. As was his hair. His hair was long and worn into a pony tail. Mostly composed of the color purple, but it was finely laced with the occasional color green or red. His eyes were no longer both blue either. Instead his left eye had changed color to green, and had become slitted and cat-like.
He stood there wearing the outfit and sipping what appeared to be a bottle of crystal clear in a wine glass. It had a small umbrella in it, and he smiled as he sat.
“I must remark on how wonderful it is to see you again, Mr. Thompson, I must say, you have a lovely family,” he remarks as he sat on the couch just to the side of his nine year old daughter. He reached his latex gloved hand out and pulled a few strands of her blond hair away from her eyes.
“Especially your wife. Though I have a few concerns I would like to share with you,” he said taking his hand from the little girl’s face and smiling to Marshall. “You see Mr. Thompson, I found out some disturbing news regarding your family. Your wife seems to be having an affair with your partner, a Mr. Jenning.”
Marshall’s eyes went wide, but focused in on Sedah. He was lying, his wife would never betray him in such a manner. Sedah was a clever liar.
Sedah chuckled and took a sip of his water. “I know that face. No, I am not lying. Ask your daughter, after all she is also involved with said Mr. Jenning. I believe it has something to do with her lack of employment. She has to pay for her drugs some way, doesn’t she. Ecstasy, that’s what I believe it is called by street slang now. MDMA, EA-1475. The list goes on really.” He chuckled and pulled a rolled up napkin from his pocket and opened it on the table, revealing six small colored pills. “You both were part of OCDETF, were you not?”
He jumps in his chair in anger at Sedah.
“Anger will not help you. But I know what can. After all, the only innocent one in your entire family is little Shelly here,” he says and rubs the top of her head. “But, I will help you, Mr. Thompson.”
Sedah takes the pills and his glass of water, which has a little bit left in it and begins to crush the pills inside of it. As he does so, Marshall begins to dread what the monster will do. “Jennifer. It is not an easy thing to Overdose on MDMA you know. The average dosage of a single pill is well below the needed amount to cause an overdose. But, that is considering a nearly adult or adult body, like that you and your father possess. Shelly here though, well, she has at the most a third of the total body mass that you do.”
Jennifer begins to visually sob as her father struggles as hard as possible against his bonds. Vainly, his sheer ferocity causes his chair to slip and fall to the floor, him with it.
“Please young Mrs. Thompson, quiet. After all what is the difference? You risked the same when you took these pills. The same looks would have come from your father. You little sister would have lived a life of regret for not helping her older sister in time. Where she went from there, well, it is as good a chance she would be a sinner or a saint.” Sedah then smiled and tipped open the 9yr old Shelly’s mouth and forced the drugged water in her mouth, then covered her mouth and nose and forced her to swallow it all.
“Now, we will wait and see. Mr. Thompson, what is the access codes for your personal computer. I know the databank can hook up to the FBI mainframe. In the interest of our wonderful relationship, and the favor I have just done for your darling teenage daughter. I suggest you let me have them. I have been gone too long from the outside world and I wish to catch up quickly”
Jennifer cried and tried to look away at her younger sister who’s coughing started. Little Shelley’s eyes started to dilate.
“Oh no, my dear. You can’t look away.” Sedah said as he sat up and pulled her chair towards her younger sister. Two of his gloved fingers reached down and forcibly opened Jennifer’s eyelids and pointed her head towards her convulsing sister.
“Watch intently on what such things do. I would hate for my favor to your father to go unheeded.”
Jennifer watched her nine year old sister Shelly slowly die over a period of an hour, before Sedah cleaned the young girl’s vomit from her and undressed her and pulled the body to the kitchen where aside from the sound of a knife carving, the sound of water running in the sink, was the hum of Ludwig Von Beethoven’s 5th.
Chronos Zoanoid Processing Center
East Germany
Angel sat down unarmored on the ruined section of a wall that once belonged to the facility. Her strike was quick and devastating. First she threw herself up on the roof and let out a powerful EMP to disable as much as possible. Many dozens of zoanoids came quickly and went just as fast to some flare cannons and laser fire.
She did manage to catch her bike on the way up here.
She reached into her bag and pulled out a wrapped sandwich. Tuna and Tomato. Not her favorite course of dining, but beggars can’t be choosers in the EDF.
She had found a hat in the processing center that she took during her battle. It was an old black baseball cap with the word’s ‘Wayne’s World’ emblazoned on it. It made her laugh enough to take it from the guard room and she was wearing it now, and with her hair flowing over her ears and a good pair smoked lens sunglasses one could hardly tell of her physical changes.
It worried her still. She wasn’t quite sure what was happening to her. She tried to access the data stored in her memory bank, but nothing was coming up. It seemed to operate automatically when she faced a new situation, giving her anything it could discern about the new target. Unit specifications, history, strengths and weaknesses. It’s current status in the Creator Empire. All sorts of useful and useless information. Sometimes she could access this on a whim, sometimes she could not.
But she did feel better than she did before. Her occasional dizzy spells from exerting herself too much had gone away.
Angel reached into the bag and pulled out a thermos she opened to see water. Her hands again reached and rifled through her bag and she pulled out a couple of packets of salt that she generously poured into the water, stirred, and drank it, then poured the remainder on the sandwich.
That quick break was all that was needed before Angel strapped the bag on her back and took off again on the bike. The next facility was well over fifty miles away, which will take her no more than a half hour moving at top speed. The roads of back country Germany were long and winding, her kind of ride. It was calming after so much contest, so much battle, to just relax and let the road take her wherever it led.
She passed a house where she slowed down to take a closer look. In the yard was a young girl playing in an above ground pool. Even in this contested land, a child could still enjoy the simple pleasures of swimming in a pool.
It made her sigh and smile as later she pulled off into the ally of a small town. This town, she knew, was nearly 90% full of a zoanoid population and she wasn’t about to risk her motorcycle getting destroyed in a fight. So she maneuvered it over to the side of the alley and knocked the kick stand down. She looked around the alley real quick and found a discarded bed sheet that she threw over the bike to keep onlookers from getting too curious. She set her helmet under the bed cover and on the seat of the bike, pulled a pack of Bronco cigarettes from the bag, and zipped up her jacket to hide the ACTF logo on her sweatshirt.
She lit a cigarette and looked around the corner of the alley where she saw two men walking next to each other. Her senses told her they were both zoanoids, and both capable fighters. But she doubted the lowest ranks of Chronos were given all technical data about her and the other guyvers of this planet. So she took the risk and walked past them puffing a drag on her cigarette. They only glanced behind them at her as she walked past.
She grinned slightly. Cat-like or not, seems even she could rile up the zoanoid libido.
She shook off the teenage thought and passed the corner heading to the main processing branch. Better to scope out the place a little first before attacking. She couldn’t be certain whether someone capable stirred within.
As she rounded the corner she saw a small coffee shop holed in the alley between a clothing store and a Subway. She looked to it and noticed from it’s window she got a good view of the main gate of the Chronos facility. So, taking her chance, she stepped inside.
The aroma of brewed coffee struck her nostrils like flames, drawing her inside of the very posh atmosphere. A vintage poster on the wall showed a woman in a flowered hat sipping a cup of coffee against an all orange background. The counter was covered in small coffee cups while pots boiled behind it. An espresso machine sat in the corner next to a young lady who was just tossing out some coffee grounds.
“Oh,” the lady called out surprised to see her. “I didn’t hear you, please, come in and sit wherever you want.”
Angel smiled and sat down in front of the window, which was decorated in an amusing gold ruffled curtain with a few stuffed animals sitting in the sill. It was then that the rain started. It fell tapping against the window and washing away a bit of dirt on the outside. Angel watched the water mix with it and pour down the window to unknown fates below.
“What can I get for you?”
The girl’s voice startled Angel, and she turned to see her standing next to the table wearing a smile and holding a notepad and a ballpoint pen. Angel smiled at her.
“Cappuccino and a bagel please,” Angel said to her. The girl wrote quickly and nodded.
“It will only be a moment.”
New Cork, Texas
Solufein was weary from the battle still. He and Zeugma had faced the creature known as Crystallite with fervor, but ultimately lost the battle. Zeugma had said it was okay. Solufein was unsure as he sat between time in her tent in the land of Australia. He had witnessed a great many things as he sat there, contemplating his surroundings.
Kron was alive as well. The Warrior bred, the greatest hunter and warrior his tribe had ever known. Kron was not born of his tribe but had come from another. A smaller warrior tribe who had been decimated in battle with the Tribe of the Form. Kron’s tribe, the tribe of the Black Fang, had lost many of their warriors. Zeugma’s tribe, his tribe, the Tribe of the Great Snake had agreed to merge their families. Solufein was 12 years old then.
Zeugma, daughter of Numidan, son of Berago. She was to be Solufein’s wife.
It was agreed between the two families that the son of the shaman, Solufein, would wed the future Clan Mother Zeugma on their sixteenth year so that they would rule the tribe in the names of their gods and before the sun itself. But the Black Fang brought change, brought hate, brought anger into their homes.
No one is sure how Numidan, the Clan Father, had died. That was except for Solufein who witnessed Kron on one of the hunting parties slit the Clan Father’s throat with a obsidian cutting knife. It was one of Solufein’s first hunting expeditions to prove he could survive and prosper in the wild. The son of the Shaman was supposed to speak to the spirits of the world, and hear the voices of the gods, not hunt. But it was needed. Solufein was dressed in his normal attire. A pair of leather leg coverings made of doeskin, a knife, spear, and his necklace made of the finger bones of the deceased members of the tribe.
Solufein remembers the look in the old mans eyes as Kron slowly pulled the blade across his throat and said the words, the words Solufein will never manage to forget. “I will have this tribe. The strength of your daughter will be added to mine. She will bear my children, and I will lead this tribe to glory with the blood of my enemies.”
Solufein was appalled, but fear struck him harder than his desire to do right. Solufein, after all, was next as far as he could tell. Solufein had to die or be beaten in combat on his wedding day to be displaced as Clan Mother Zeugma’s husband.
That day came when Solufein turned sixteen, and Zeugma was already past that age by many moons. Kron challenged him to claim Zeugma.
Solufein was afraid. Kron was a far more powerful man. He stood nearly an entire foot taller than Solufein alone. But they did battle anyway.
The fight was intense between them. Solufein was vastly out powered by the brute with his axe made of rock and just his body itself. Solufein’s spear was broken in half by Kron, and he was kicked through a hut. Solufein recovered, but he knew bones in his chest had snapped under Kron’s strength.
Kron leaped through the shattered remains of the hut and hit Solufein in the face with his massive first, sending him hurling to the ground where Kron smashed him continuously in the face, chest, head, back and shoulder with his feet. It was only when Zeugma had intervened that Solufein’s life was changed.
She looked so beautiful then. Her hair was decorated with berries and flowers with her cool green eyes looking down on him. She was wrapped in a light brown skin made of rabbit fur and looked kindly into Solufein’s eyes. Then she said it.
“Kron, you have won. My hand is yours.”
And then the next sentence.
“Do not despair Solufein. Kron will bear strong children for this tribe, stronger than you would have. It is better this way,” she said with the most sincere smile he had ever seen on her face short of the times they had spent together as children. Though they knew they would always be wed, the two of them were friends before that time.
Solufein wanted to tell her what he had witnessed, the cruelty of Kron and the Black Fang tribe. The violence they brought into their homes. But he knew she would not listen. Even before this she would have turned his thoughts aside. Now she would think it a lie to keep her hand. So Solufein nodded. With a broken nose, ribs, and arm he watched Zeugma get married to Kron, and seek privacy for the bearing of the future Clan Father.
It was not long before Kron began showing his dominance. Though he dare never strike Zeugma, for her word could banish him from leadership at any moment as the daughter of the once Clan Father, his hands were all over the village. War came soon, and Kron brought his people to slaughter a tribe that they had been friends with for as long as Solufein could remember. His own father, the Tribe Shaman, was killed by Kron in front of everyone because he did not tell Kron of the enemies weakness soon enough, citing that the gods had forgotten my father.
I was Tribe Shaman for only two years before our gods came for us. They descended upon us in lights and sound and took our tribe away from our homes. I was delighted, for it meant that we would be saved from Clan Father Kron’s madness. But that was not the case.
Our wars had attracted our Gods. It was because of Kron they came for us. Kron and Zeugma were made to be the Clan Leaders of all peoples. They were turned first so that the rest of us could witness their ascent. Zeugma stood with golden skin and bright green eyes, and her husband stood beside her with darkened skin like hers, covered in orbs that shown like the stars. His skin was a coarse deep brown mixed with blue, and his mouth was full of sharp teeth.
It was then that Solufein and the other tribe members were pulled away and put inside of tubes made of invisible stone and drowned in liquid air. Many of them were too frightened and died somehow. Solufein did not know.
Many of the members became powerful beings. Creatures that could control the forces of nature itself. Lightning, fire, earth, air, water, even forces of nature that were new to Solufein called gravity, plasma and such. Some could throw light from their very finger tips that could burn mountains, some could lift objects of such weight that it took many hundred men to perform. It was incredible.
Solufein though, he was different. His body changed but his mind grew more. His skin lost color, while his hair turned as black as the night sky. His eyes shone like the great sun. The mark on his body that was once the scars he bore of his tribe now changed into a glowing liquid that swarmed over his body. His mind was alight. Thoughts of his tribe members would invade his own so much so that he sometimes thought he was a completely different person. The gods, they gave him a name. “The Lost One.”
Many times his gods saw fit to test him, to probe him, to make him battle against guyvers and his fellow tribe members, called Zoalords like him. He even battled against Kron himself. Solufein left Kron screaming and holding his head as his power overwhelmed his mind. His gods could not explain what had happened to Solufein so kept him locked up with his gods checking up on him, taking pieces of him, so on and so forth. Zeugma came to see him on occasion. Not often, but the two of the knew their gods were doing all they could to help Solufein. His body was weaker than most Zoalords, as was his strength. But Solufein could do things no other Zoalord had ever done before. He could force control of another Zoalord, force them to do as he wished. He could spend time between time itself, moving between the very fabric of time. He could harness raw energy, molding it and changing it to nearly anything he desired. He could turn fire into wood, wood into iron. He could even raise the dead themselves. His eyes held no bounds, and he could sit and watch the world over merely by thinking of it.
But then the Guyver Zoalord came. Reeve, a member of the Black Fang tribe. He was bonded with a Guyver unit, the newest experiment of the gods. His powerful overwhelmed, and he did as Solufein knew all true Black Fang do. He sought power. But this time it went too far. Reeve sought power over the gods themselves. His fury destroyed many members of his own Tribe of the Great Snake. Zeugma and Kron themselves went to try and save their gods. But some of the gods were not convinced that they could do it alone. Solufein was sent with one final mission. Zeugma and Kron had been sent to capture the Guyver Supreme and Guyver 0, and managed to do so with the Guyver Supreme. They were redirected to do the same with Reeve.
Solufein was to help.
He went, as fast as he could. But he was still too late. Reeve had killed both Kron and Zeugma.
Solufein wept and moved toward her. Using most of his power he restored her life, weakened as it was, and she looked up to him and smiled. She told him to recover the Guyver Supreme unit and the remover, and do what he could to save Kron.
Solufein did as he was told, he had no choice really. Again, with awesome power he breathed breath back into Kron and headed off after taking once lasting glance at Zeugma, so weakened she and Kron had passed out. He prayed to his gods that Zeugma would be saved and sped off to meet Reeve.
When he had arrived the scene was horrible to behold. All around him the members of both the Great Snake and Black Fang tribe were left in ruin. Bodies were everywhere rotting and dying. Solufein witnessed one of his last living clan members point to the mountain to the east before he died. Solufein went and found the Guyver 0 there, looking through debris and cursing in the tongue of another tribe. He initiated a powerful telekinetic wave and threw the guyver from the mountain before he even noticed his presence and he found the Guyver Supreme unit.
Solufein grabbed the unit and left, flying hurriedly north across the ice caps to reach the island of Solom, but by the time he got there the relic was already flying towards space, the Guyver Zoalord in pursuit. He witnessed as Reeve blasted a portion of the craft to pieces and sent it plummeting back down towards the white range of the snow. Solufein heard Solom’s call, and went to attack Reeve. During the battle he was blasted by a ray of power that sent his already weak body, brought on by resurrecting the two Clan Leaders, and the unit hurling through the sky and crashing through a chunk of into a snow mountain.
Solufein woke hours later, his body wreathed in pain. Somehow, his Psychometabolism helped him survive. He was broken completely. He could not move even his own neck as his spine was snapped from impact. Solufein did the only thing he could. He reached back into his mind and put himself into hibernation while his body began to absorb what little heat and energy was around to heal himself.
But Solufein knew he made one drastic error. His mind never woke up. He had placed himself into a dream state that was far too joyous to let go of. There he was happy, living amongst his tribe again. But the memory faded away of that place just as quickly, leaving Solufein to face the grim reality of the world.
So as Solufein stood in the room with Zeugma, the home of one Warrior Guyver, he could not help but silently weep to himself. His gods were gone, that he learned from the minds of the beings in Australia, those around the world really. Alkanphel had returned and decided to go to war with the human race so that he could raise an empire capable of destroying the gods. Alkanphel was no better than Reeve was.
Still, Solufein was slowly learning the truth. Thoughts and emotions poured from the members of Chronos of the creators and their attempt to destroy the world. A story he had never heard and nearly refused to believe. It was hard to accept, but slowly the ancient shaman was doing just that.
Out of time as he was he was there to witness the assault of the creature they called Eliminator. Solufein thought of assisting, but considering the danger involved of exposing his existence he decided not to. Already the minds around had shown that Dreadnought, the Warrior Guyver, had defeated the Guyver Zoalord for the gods. That sort of power was not to be taken lightly. Though he had for the most part avoided detection by this Dreadnought he was not about to push his own luck. He had to watch after Zeugma after all. So much has really drained her, and Solufein sang to her while she slept. A mental tune, composed of flowing thoughts and mental chimes that helped calm her mind and let her rest easy.
Existing outside of time was easy for the Zoalord. Time flowed so slowly for him it would take nearly five minutes for one to actually finish one sentence. It gave him a stealth no other being could dream of, and the ability to remain in thought in the middle of battle. Time displacement was not without it’s own deficiencies. Many of his own powers were greatly diminished while existing here. He could not look farther than his two eyes could see. He could not touch anything solid with any more force than a bird that had landed upon a branch. His own mental powers were nearly nulled, only by touching an individual could he hear their thoughts and even then they were chaotic.
Zeugma sat in a chair combing her hair. She had taken a bath earlier, and Solufein was polite enough to wait outside while she did so. Days had passed, and she returned to the room and slowly sat with the brush. Her face was covered in worry and fear as she looked into the mirror. Solufein sat on her bed and stared at her for what seemed like hours to him. She looked the same. Even dressed in the modern trappings of this world, she still looked the same to him.
He himself had found clothing. Though he did not understand the fashions of this world, and often he and his people would move about in the nude, it seemed now it was considered an untactful thing to do. So Solufein dressed in modern attire. He had found that he liked the robes of this world a lot. So he had taken one.
His concentration brought him back into normal time frame. All around him would not sense him but her, he knew. As his world began to fast forward back into normal time he watched as Zeugma raised an eyebrow and then turned to look at him as his form seemed to materialize out of nothing.
“Solufein, what are you doing here?” she asked, puzzled.
Solufein had begun to pick up the languages of this world. “I am………sorry Clan Mother, I did not……mean to scare you.”
Zeugma noticed his clothing then, and the expression on her face was a mix of amusement and surprise.
Solufein looked down at his clothing and then back up to her. “Is…something wrong?”
“You’re wearing a dress.”
“I am. It fits well, though I think it would not hold well in the forest,” he said pulling at the straps of the top of the dress.
Zeugma laughed. “No, no. I mean that is clothing for a female.”
Solufein looked at her puzzled. “Why is that making you laugh. It is caterpillar silk. Not the hardiest of materials but I would not think that so much a crime.”
Zeugma laughed even harder, her hair bouncing on her shoulders. “You know what, let me help you.”
Solufein watched her with puzzlement as she pulled a case out beneth the bed and unzipped it where she pulled out a black shirt and a pair of pants. “Put these on.”
Solufein looked at the pants and knew instantly they would not fit his body. So he reached out and touched them and Zeugma watched as the pants grew slightly to accomadate him and he pulled off the blue lace dress and slipped them on. It was then that Zeugma noticed the necklace around his neck. He still wore the dress of the Shaman.
“How……much have you learned in your absence?”
Solufein pulled on the shirt. “Much. I must ask you many questions. But someone needs you first.”
Zeugma looked to him confused when she heard a familiar voice call out.
“ZEUGMA!” a sound resonated outward. Fiona had called her.
“You should try and not read minds,” she said. “Many consider it rude.”
“I was not. I cannot read her mind, she is a warrior guyver. Were she not I could while the armor was not there. I merely felt her needing you, Clan Mother.”
Zeugma looked almost shameful at the words of her title, something Solufein did not expect. “Listen, can you do that thing where you stay hidden?”
Solufein nodded to her.
“Good, do it. It is best if Fiona did not know you were here right now.”
“I have been here a good number of days now.”
Zeugma looked almost shocked. Jason had been here on a number of occasions, as well as the Eliminator. Why had he not intervened?
“I could not intervene with the Eliminator while out of time. And I knew that if I had, it would have made me a quick target. And… there was the number of guyvers in the area. I was watching for their treachery against you,” he said looking at her.
“They have not, nor would they.”
Zeugma looked into his golden eyes. No matter if he was in his battle form or not, his eyes were still a golden orb. One of the oddest things about him.
“Still, do it before she get’s here.”
“Of course.”
And Solufein did just that as the door began to open with Fiona coming in. Their conversation was about a race of creatures known as the Grakken, and their war in the land of Australia. Millions were coming, and Dreadnought with Chronos and a creature called W’Kar were battling the entire horde of them.
Solufein waited and watched, studying the interaction between them for hours upon hours. They were friends. That made Solufein smile, no matter how heretical that felt. She deserved a friend. If anyone in the world deserved a friend, it was her.
So Solufein got up and stepped out of the room. Downstairs the young woman named Elera had opened the door. Healed completely, for that Solufein was glad. He slid behind her and out the door and whispered in her ear.
“You need not worry, young girl. The Tribe shall protect you.”
And with that, Solufein walked towards the rising sun.
An Hour Later
Angel finally set down at the meeting spot through teleportation. She had never liked such methods and quivered under the armor at the feeling of shifting through dimensions. She saw the unarmored form of Fiona O’Conner, Zeugma the Master Zoalord, and Elera who Zeugma had told her about.
“What’s wrong?” Angel asked, keeping her armor on. Armored she was still only a foot taller than most of them. Standing next to other beings of her relative power was almost daunting, as nearly all of them at least dwarfed her height by two feet.
Fiona was the first to speak up. “Australia is under siege by the Grakken.”
Angel cocked her head in slight confusion, and though the girls could not see it her eyes were wide in panic. “How large of a fleet?”
Zeugma was the first to show signs of curiosity at Angel knowing such things, things Angel was not present for yet knew. Already she had surprised Zeugma on many of an occasion. And her and Elera were both curious, speaking in their minds, as to why Angel had not deactivated the armor.
“Millions. Jason, Greg, and a large portion of the Chronos military is fighting them off but their losing fast. Strong as they are there are just too many!” Fiona says.
Angel sighs. She knew what the grakken would do should they gather the resources of that clan ship. The upgrades would set them above the creators, and their war would spill on earth. “I’ll…….do what I can.”
Worry was dripping off of Fiona’s face. Jason kept stopping her from showing up right now and any communication between them was dangerous for Jason as far as she knew. Angel could sense the anxiety in her.
Fiona nodded. “Please, help him.”
Angel nodded and glanced at Zeugma and Elera. Both she knew were getting very inquisitive towards her. Not something she appreciated, but not something she could do anything about.
Angel turned and teleported again.
It took a few seconds before the three girls walked off again.
A paltry six hundred feet away two cloaked figures stood waiting. Then out of the darkness came a small purple like guyver, one called the Primitive Guyver. He stood there looking at the two cloaked beings.
<”So, it was the woman warrior guyver?”>
One of the cloaked beings came out of his hiding. He was large and gray with two large spikes coming out of his back and under his arms. His finger tips were all vibrational blades. <”Yes, it was.”>
The other hidden guyver came forth, his red form had multiple blades placed in different positions. <”And the Zoalord. But someone else as well.”>
Primitive Guyver looked at the two of them. <”Whom?”>
<”A survivor. A young female from the zoalord family.”> the gray one said.
<”We were not as thorough with their execution as we had believed,”> said the one clad in red armor. <”Regardless, the relic we had in the buried city was compromised. We have securely moved it to our second base in South America.”>
Primitive Guyver nodded. <”Very well. Things are proceeding as planned. We will meet in one month in the second base to discuss what we shall do with the zoalord child.”>
The gray one speaks as well. <”Agreed. My unit is beginning to recess, I must feed quickly so I am leaving.”>
The two guyvers nod to him as teleports away.
<”How is the experiment going?”> the red guyver asks the Primitive Guyver before turning to leave.
<”Right now, it is jeopardy. But I feel as though it will be handled well.”>
The Red Guyver nods and walks off, his body cloaking and turning as invisible as air as Primitive Guyver stands overlooking the three females walking away.