The 14th Zoalord
Chapter Ten:
Attack on Cloud Gate
Ishi was nervous. There was something about Lord Mirabilis. Since Lord Czyvek had been so badly injured fighting Aptom, Lord Archanfel had appointed Mirabilis head of CHRONOS Japan, until he could return. Lord Mirabilis hadn't mistreated him, but there was something about him, something . . . inhuman. Ishi laughed to himself, of course Imakarum Mirabilis was not human, nor was Ishi, or, for that matter, the vast majority of the staff of Cloud Gate. But Imakarum was different, even for a Zoalord. He was cold, detached, and quiet . . . Slways thinking, always planning his next strategy. Ishi had no doubts of the man's loyalty, he was chosen by The Supreme Zoalord, Archanfel himself, but he also knew that Imakarum Mirabilis had once been another man, Murakami Masaki, and that man had vanished when Archanfel had "conditioned" him. Perhaps that was the fear, being so near a man who was no longer himself. The idea that a person could literally become another man at the whim of CHRONOS . . . "Ishi." Mirabilis said, quietly. " Place all combat Zoanoids on Maximum Alert. I have a feeling we'll be receiving visitors." Ishi's heart dropped, "The Guyver?" He rushed to alert the troops.
Zoalord Imakarum Mirabilis stood atop the central hub of Cloud Gate, miles above the streets below . . . Fukamachi Sho, Makishima Agito, Onuma Shizu, the Segawa children . . . The names, the faces came back to him. He had fought beside them against CHRONOS, protected them, he had been willing to die . . . That was the past, Murakami Masaki was dead, killed by Commander Richard Guyot and his own useless sentiments. Archanfel had resurrected him. He had been reborn, with a new vision, and a new name, Imakarum Mirabilis. Old friendships, old sympathies, had vanished with Murakami. So why . . . Why hadn't he tracked down and destroyed Fukamachi? He knew that Czyvek had the boy's location, and that he could easily have wrested it from his servants. He had nearly killed Sho before, but now, with another opportunity at his feet, he had ignored him . . . Why? He struggled with the thought, the time was not right, he reasoned, there were greater enemies to CHRONOS right now, Sho was too sentimental to pose a threat, he had to worry about Agito, Guyver III. Even as Murakami he had not trusted the young man, he was too ambitious, too cold . . . He was the greater threat. Fukamachi could live a while longer, there were more important things to do . . .
They were coming, he could feel it . . .
The Libertus attacked en masse at exactly midnight, and the loyal Zoanoid soldiers struggled against their terrorist counterparts. The Libertus were controlled by Griselda, the false "Zoalord" and Mirabilis could see her, a gleaming metallic figure, her hair transformed into slicing blades that chopped to pieces any Zoanoid attackers, and when she saw him, her pretty face contorted with rage. Imakarum smiled, he had led the attack which had killed her grandfather, Onuma Yohei, and that would be enough to draw her to him . . . Yohei, he had been a good man . . . NO! That was before, that was when he was still Murakami . . . Now he was Imakarum Mirabilis, he was a servant of CHRONOS, and any enemy of CHRONOS was to die . . .
Griselda sent a blast of energy straight toward his head, but Mirabilis evaded it with ease. Shizu was not a warrior, she was a love-sick child who had chosen the wrong man to love, a man who'd sacrificed her future for his own benefit. Speaking of Makishima . . . Mirabilis swept sideways, barely dodging a blast of Gigantic Dark's Mega-Smasher Cannon, though his cape was burned by the intense heat. Mirabilis cursed to himself, he had been distracted by Murakami's memories and nearly paid the price. A squadron of aerial Zoanoids moved in to protect their master, Brelimos, Devold, Gepatolls, Gernold, Valvatos, Vikkarr, all were too weak to serve any purpose other than cannon fodder, but they did give a momentary distraction . . . Mirabilis used it to the full, blasting the distracted Griselda mercilessly, if he could kill or stun her the Libertus attack would dissolve into chaos. Gigantic Dark struck back, charging his massive form towards Mirabilis, the sonic blades extended. Mirabilis took advantage of the Gigantic's size, moving in close and delivering a brutal succession of blows to the Bio-Warrior's face and body. Agito kicked him away, sending the Zoalord briefly spiraling earthward, but he quickly righted himself and pressed home the attack, using energy blasts and physical might. The two began to physically struggle, hand to hand in the air as an explosion rocked the lower levels of Cloud Gate . . . "You can't win, Agito, even if you destroy Cloud Gate and kill me you can never win!" Mirabilis taunted, "CHRONOS is the world now! You are just a nuisance before us." "I AM ZEUS!" Agito shouted, "As Zeus overthrew his father Chronos so I shall overthrow CHRONOS! I will have the power of the gods!" Mirabilis smiled, "Spare me the megalomaniacal ranting, kid. You've been calling yourself "Zeus" for years, and what has it got you? You're still a weak little fool . . . "
With tremendous effort, Mirabilis forced Gigantic Dark backwards, pushing him down, straining his arms to near breaking, "And now CHRONOS will devour you!" The chest plate on Gigantic Dark began to open, a bad sign, a blast from the Mega-Smasher Cannon hidden within the Guyver's chest could destroy a Zoalord at this range, Mirabilis tried to pull away, but Agito held him fast. "I AM ZEUS! EARTH WILL BE MY THRONE!" Agito raved, the light began to glow brighter, and then, suddenly, everything changed . . . The air became cold, the winds began to howl like Banshees, rain began to pour down in solid sheets as lightning split the sky. He was back, The Zoalord of Storms . . .
Five hyper-elongated fingers reached around Gigantic Dark's head, grasping at the Control Medallion, long claws digging around it, shredding bio-metal, trying to rip the Guyver's Control Center free and destroy him. Agito screamed in pain and surprise, dropping Mirabilis and turning to face Czyvek. In one swift move Gigantic Dark took off the Zoalord's fingers, as Czyvek screamed in agony. Agito felt pain as well . . . Acid! Czyvek's blood? Had Czyvek gone so far ? The Bio-Organic Sonic Blade on Agito's left arm began to melt like putty . . . The special acid used by the Enzyme Guyver Killers to destroy the Guyver armor began it's work, it was only a small amount, but still his left sonic blade was now out of action. Czyvek cauterized his wounded hand quickly, fighting through the pain, "You murderer!" Czyvek screamed, "how many of my people have you killed!" "Not enough." Agito responded coldly, then unleashed a blast in Czyvek's direction, Czyvek dodged quickly. "Go, all of you, leave this battle to us!" Czyvek commanded his Zoanoids. "Behind you!" A bat-like Vikkarr shouted in Czyvek's mind, as Griselda swung her head-blades towards Czyvek, who dodged, gaining a deep slash in his left side. Griselda screamed as a blast struck her from behind, Zoalord Hamilcar Barcus' blast sent her reeling. Agito caught her, then looked around; Barcus, Caerleon, Gelanos, they were all here, Amniculus was doubtless still defending the Pillars of Heaven, but the others had come to Cloud Gate. Caerleon caught Gigantic Dark in an impressive blast of energy, damaging his right arm... It was time for a strategic withdrawal.
Agito fled with the unconscious Griselda, leaving the Libertus to their fate. . .
The death toll was massive, almost 200 personnel dead, Mirabilis and Czyvek wounded. From his new regeneration tank Czyvek mentally searched for his friends, Ishi was alive, Dr. Nighthawk was safe as well, most of the dead were rank and file Zoanoids, soldiers. Rank didn't matter to Czyvek.
Their lives were all precious, they were still his people, whether scientists, soldiers, spies, musicians. . .all Zoanoids were his family. And he would avenge them all...
To be continued...