August 2001:

Victoria was getting ready to start her freshman semester at one of the local colleges. Even though she graduated top of her class and had colleges lining up for her, she decided to stay local. Even when her parents and Buddy agreed that she should go to a college other than the local state or community college, she wouldn't hear it from either of them. All she said was she had her reasons for staying local, which to her was a half-truth, one that the three of them did need not know of. The truth was, Victoria was worried about him. They were walking along a path in which she squeezed his hand, gently stroking his thumb. He looked at her and smiled, his all to reassuring smile.

Soon, Bud entered his senior year of high school and was essentially alone in his final year of high school. The Vortek-Guyvers went their separate ways. One had graduated and joined the army before the events of September 11th, one disappeared off the face of the planet, and his brother-friend had claimed he was going to some Job Corps camp in Vermont. His sister, well, the one who treated him like a brother, still lived in Pennsylvania. And then there was June - she had just started dating a buddy of his, but she was not much for backup if he ever needed it. Unlike her sister, her abilities were still in the process of waking up.

But the main reason was that she wanted to go to college with Guyver. He was held back twice in his school career because he wasn't ready for a higher grade. There was also the time she nearly lost him, and their relationship was blasted open for everyone in their families to see. No matter how old the 2 of them get, she will never forget the day she got the news...

February 17th, 1996

There was an urgent knocking on a hard wooden door. When the door opened, a strawberry blond was standing there. Looking at her best friend, she had a distressed look on her face, and one of her older siblings in a family car was equally distressed. The strawberry blond stepped out onto the porch of her home.

Her friend demanded to know what she did to him, but the strawberry blond was clueless. The friend finally handed her a note which her boyfriend at the time who attended BCS, received from her cousin. The strawberry blond still had a dumb-founded look on her face and demanded to know what he had done, who he was dating now, if she was in on the sick break-up joke.

The friend she grew up with could see the pain on her face from the letter. But what her friend told her next was like a heavyweight boxer punched her in the gut. She fell to her knees, wanting to cry, wanting to puke, but nothing came out of her eyes or mouth. Everything after that was a blur.

She didn't remember getting in the car with her friend and her brother. The 12-minute drive typically took half an hour to get to Plattsburgh. Then, walking into a room with his distraught parents and one of his three sisters. Moments later, more of his family walked in; she couldn't keep track of who was who, just that she felt the odd one out.

Besides her friend and her siblings, no one knew her connection to him. And under better circumstances, she'd want them to know. His parents vaguely knew, but her friend covered for her with his sisters and other family members. So she sat in a fetal position for hours, rarely interacting with anyone but her friend.

Hours dragged on with no word on him, which started taking its toll on her. Finally, his third oldest sister saw her rocking back and forth and somehow coaxed her to go with her to the cafeteria to get some coffee. Her hesitation in leaving said it all to her as she kept looking back at the doors to the ER waiting room.

Surprisingly, the two girls had a heart to heart after the older girl told her she knew exactly who she was to her brother. Something that surprised the younger girl because the only thing she knew about his adopted sister was that she had the same name as one of his cousins.

As they returned to the waiting room, they found out he was moved to the ICU due to blood loss. The nurses were allowing limited visitors. Finally, his sister had talked his parents into letting her visit. When she saw him in the bed, she let out a sob.

He lay there almost lifeless, pale, connected to machines. What grabbed the young girl's attention most was the wrapped gauze wrapped around his wrists with crimson red stains on them. He had two iv lines connected to each arm, one for liquids the other blood. It was revealed to his parents that he was found in one of the boy's locker room stalls with deep cuts on his wrists wet to the bone by one of the janitors.

She walked over wanting to hold his hand but was afraid to do so, not just because of the fear of hurting him, but she wasn't sure how his parents were. How would they react to her? Would they accept or shun her? So she sat with them and cautiously opened up to them as they talked for a bit until visiting hours were over.

When she got home she was treated by her enraged parents, wanting to know where she had been. Still a ball of mixed emotion, she bitterly answered. When they tried to ground her she simply scoffed at them. They tried telling her to stay away from him, that he was taking her for granted she erupted in unadulterated rage. Her outburst caused furniture to flip even though she was nowhere near it and lashed out verbally towards her parents.

That nightmare was 5 years ago, but it always haunted them. But it had also made them stronger. Even though they had his parents' approval they still had to find ways around her parents' backs, back before he became a Guyver. Once that came to the open, there was nothing her parents could do about them.

Like every stereotypical high school couple, they had plans to graduate together, go to the same college, so they didn't have to sneak around their parents' backs. But because he had missed so much school, from nearly dying and rehabilitation, the school felt it was wise for him to repeat the grade so he would graduate in 2002. He had shown her no ill will for graduating high school before him, even encouraged her to go to a college out of town.

But she would never admit she wanted to wait for him to go. Being an art & history major, he had some of the best colleges interested in him. So she used the excuse I want to do a semester or two here to see if college is for me.

Mid-October:
Her time at the local SUNY school started without a hitch. She had moved into a dorm room and made new friends. She began as a full-time student excelling at all the classes she took. Mostly math and science classes. To help pay for college, she got a job working at the local theatre. Everything seemed to go well She was making new friends both at her college and at her job. With Buddy only living two miles away it was easier for them to see each other. But he insisted that he would only visit her Saturdays and Sundays. He had made it clear he didn't want to interfere with her learning. Whenever there was a party she would invite him as her plus-one, which annoyed the frat-boys. Especially when his Guyver-enhanced metabolism kept him sober during "Drink-Offs" in which he drank everyone under the table.

She had stopped paying attention to the news and TV in general. The country was still reeling from the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Some were depressed; others were still in shock at what happened, watching the events unfold on live TV like nearly everyone in the town had done that tragic day. But she was, for the lack of a better term, numb to the tragedy. She had seen senseless death when Chronos attacked Bud's school and saw a scene nearly similar to the destruction of the Chronos Burlington branch. She found it offensive and sick that no one on the news was comparing things to Burlington, but she guessed that's what happens people willingly put their heads in the sand and not pay attention to what's going on around them.

It was an early Monday morning approximately 6 am in her solo dorm room. Today was going to be a stressful day for her. She had a study session at noon, back-to-back mid-terms in her math classes starting at 3:30 and another study session at 8 pm for her science classes mid-terms the following day. She even made sure to go to bed early enough to meet up with her friends.

But she was groaning as if she were having a nightmare. She thrashed around her bed moaning, eyes fluttering under their lids. Finally, she curled into a fetal position, almost groaning in pain.

There was a steady heartbeat as something that looked like a tube started to appear. The heartbeat started getting louder and louder as more of the tunnel-like structure came into view. Globs floating throughout it all seem to bounce into one another down the tunnel as the vision clears.

Victoria, still in a fetal position, rolled over, facing the wall her bed had been positioned. Sweet started rolling down her freckled face as if she had a fever.

The globs bouncing into each other and all over turn out to be red and white blood cells in harmony with each other. There were even some platelets and something that looked like a circle with five encompassing tips around it. Something that wasn't attacking or fending off the white blood cells.

Victoria pulled a stuffed Gamera she stole from Buddy to her chest, hoping the toy kaiju would protect her from her dreams or at the very least comfort her. But try as the stuffed toy terrapin kaiju might he could do neither.

Further down the blood vessel-like tunnel, there is a brief flash of light and then a rush of blue foreign bodies flooding into the vessel. The white blood cells go on the attack as platelets try to seal the hole.

The war between the white blood cells and blue foreign substances waged on. But there are a few more spots in which these teal-blue blood cells continue to invade the tunnel highway.

There is a flash of bright light. An emotionally distraught Victoria hoists a bleeding black armored Guyver. Unaware of her own wounds, she is more concerned about him as he continues to bleed profusely.

As the few dozen blue cells turned into thousands, they began to overwhelm the white blood cells and mutate some of them, but the platelets and the star-ish-like blood cells to the point the four prior accepted the new type of blood cell. Soon the four blood cells multiplied and started altering the veins arteries and anything else in their path.

Since she and Buddy had sparred and forced her to unlock her abilities further, her telepathy started to ramp up. Before, she could always read the thoughts of or talk to her friends and family. Communicating with them was always accessible; she had relationships with them.

But since their time in summer, her telepathic abilities started to manifest more. She heard voices more often and had even started to twitch her head a little from her brain, completely rewiring itself for her abilities. Over two months, she went from just reading the thoughts of friends and family to slightly touching or bumping into someone and reading them to constantly hearing voices.

The voices were soft and few at first, then got louder and significant. Victoria heard the thoughts of people starting to wake up doing their morning routine for college & school. Some mundane thoughts, some thoughts that were lewd and unflattering, and thoughts that were in between.

It was during College Midterms they manifested due to stress levels. Every morning she woke up, it was like everyone was yelling at the top of their voices. She was struggling to keep them under control when she would wake up, holding her hands over her ears screaming to them to stop, which after nearly an hour, they would dissipate enough to be tolerable for her.

The morning of her Math exam started like every other day. She fought off the voices as usual and went to the bathroom. When she looked at the mirror, she saw an armored figure staring back at her. The head armor looked like his, but it was missing the eye lenses in which the most beautiful double irised eyes could be seen.

She didn't register it at first but screamed as she did, closing her eyes. When she looked back at the mirror, she saw her pale, freckled-covered face. She reached up, touching it to make sure it was her actual face she was seeing. Then, trembling, she walked back to her bed and crawled back into it. She grabbed her clunky Nokia phone and hit thirteen buttons before putting it down and curling into a fetal position again with Gamera when the voices started to manifest once more.

Buddy had just landed around the area where he and Zt-Tall fought at the Beekmantown Town Hall recreation park. He took a few leaps to get to the woods leading to BCS before retracting his armor. It had taken him two minutes before laying eyes on his school when he got a chime over his phone.

He pulled out the exact model she had and accessed the message prompt that reads "1 New Message." It was from Victoria, which prompted him to answer it immediately. He stopped just beyond the Student Parking Lot when he read "I-N-U dorm."

He tried calling her, but there was no answer. He rushed inside the school and put his book bag in his locker. Just as the first bell rang, he walked back out and ran to the woods. Before even reaching the woods, his armor started coming out of his neck and covering his body. He crouched down and jumped into the sky, heading in a Southern direction.

Plattsburgh NY

Approximately 07:52 am

SUNY Plattsburgh:

He landed in the woods behind the Clinton Dining Hall. He retracted his armor and rushed to her dorm complex. He typically needed her to buzz him in, but being so close to the Dining Hall, people were still exiting the building to get breakfast, so he was able to walk right in.

Sporting a new look, he received various types of gazes as he entered the building. Ranging from "who is this guy?" to attraction to "he's back... again" in various tones. However, what told everyone his identity was his jacket—wearing a black jean jacket with a Native American medicine wheel patch on the left shoulder. He also had two Irish Coat of Arms on his right shoulder.

Underneath the jacket sporting a forest green short sleeve button shirt tucked into black multi-pocketed jeans. On his feet were his typical black boots. Over his eyes were a pair of black-framed sunglasses with reddish-orange lenses. But the thing that kept getting double-takes was his hair.

His long hair, something he was highly prideful of, having been cut short and styled. He pushed his sunglasses up onto his head before entering the stairwell. He started climbing up the steps, taking every other step to get to her. When he got to her dorm room, he grabbed the doorknob with his left hand and not only got a mild shock but burned his hand; he hissed and exclaimed in some pain. With his right, he knocked on the door.

Buddy: Vicki? Babe?!

Inside the room, she continued to hear the voices. Some were upsetting her, hearing some of the co-eds talk about Buddy. How they never understood how a brainy girl got a stunner like him, how hot he was with his new looks. Some guys say that they could easily steal her from him.

As she listened more and more to the voices, her skin started to turn red from anger. As she rolled over clutching her hands over her ears, trying to block out the voices, her belongings began to float in the air, even Gamera! The room temperature went from 72 degrees Fahrenheit to 109 degrees, even turning the doorknob slightly red hot.

She started crying at the pain of her skin, feeling like it was boiling. The jerks of electricity were going through her head. She could hear the voices of nearly 6000 people just in her radius. She pressed her hands against her ears even harder, trying to fight them. Wanting to look presentable to her lover when he arrived; but she was failing that battle.

In her mind, she could see the outline of those near 6000. Some had read auras, some blue auras, and some a green aura. But there was someone who had a black one whose voice remained shrouded. Had it not been for the 6000 overlapping voices, she would try to figure out who the black one was.

He could hear her groaning and whimpering in pain. So he knocked on the door a couple of times. Now getting worried about her, he looked around to see if he was alone to transform, which he was not.

Bud: VICKI?

He knocked on the door a couple more times; there was no answer. He reached for the nob again but hesitated at first. Finally, he moved the cuff of his black jacket over his hand and grabbed the doorknob.

Even with his hand covered this time, he grimaced in pain as he turned the knob to open the door. As he opened the door, he got hit with a blast of heat that made him feel like he was in a sauna.

He saw her lying on her bed, trembling terribly. He rushed over to her, placing a hand on her hip. She didn't respond to his touch. He knelt, shaking her softly, calling to her again, which roused her out of her sleep. When she looked at him, she saw the armored face she saw in the mirror and screamed, trying to get away.

He looked at her puzzled and called out to her a little more urgently. She shook her head, hearing her name, and looked upon Bud's worried face. She quickly reached out to him, hugging him tightly sobbing. He placed his non-burned hand on her back and stroked it softly.

He started getting up to close her dorm room door, but she clung even tighter. She was acting like she was frightened by something. Finally, he was able to coax her to let him go to close the door, which he was able to do. He went to her bathroom to get her a drink of water when he noticed something broke her mirror. He looked closer at it and saw no blood.

When he returned with a glass of water, he sat on her bed in which she curled right up to him, still trembling. He gently asked her what happened, in which she told him everything she went through that morning. The voices, the nightmare of blood and screaming, and the armored being she saw. It was the same nightmare she had had for nearly three years now, but neither of them knew what it meant.

Bud: Do you still hear the voices?

Victoria: Yes.

Bud repositioned himself, so they both were lying on her bed looking into each other's eyes. He could still see the fear, the pain, the uncertainty of what's going on with her. It hurt him seeing her like this; she is too much of a civilian; she shouldn't be like this. He was a Guyver, a weapon... this is something he should be dealing with alone.

Bud softly: How about me?

Victoria looked at him hard, even closed her eyes and placed a hand on the side of his head, and tried looking into his thoughts. She smiled for the first time that morning, opening her eyes and tears flowing down the side of her face.

Victoria softly: All quiet.

Bud softly: Nothing at all?

She shook her head, starting to stroke the side of his face.

Victoria softly: It's like a massive wall of darkness I can't see or hear through.

Bud softly: That's weird because my thoughts are running rampant on what to do next.

She slowly opened her eyes, scooting up into his chest, drinking in his scent. Even with him laying next to her and the calming effect of his scent, she still trembled. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. She placed her head against his chest and listened to the sound of his heartbeat slowly falling back into a deep sleep.

He remembered something someone had told him years ago. That being a Guyver, telepaths were blocked out somehow from reading, let alone controlling them. He stroked her back, slowly falling asleep listening to her breath. She still whimpered in her sleep, which would cause him to wake up.

He tried comforting her, stroking her back, but they weren't whimpers of pain. Instead, they were afraid, something he could not help her with. All he could do is rest, hold her tight, and whisper comforts into her ear. He understood how she felt every time he went into battle, and he hated it. He was the fighter, and he shouldn't feel this helpless.

They both woke up when there was a knocking on her dorm room door. Victoria asked who it was in which the voice said it all. It was her study partner for Advanced-Math, Elisha Maxwell. Victoria had a puzzled look that went to fear. They were supposed to meet up and do some last-minute studying for the mid-term.

She started panicking after Elisha, an 18 years old brunette with freckles along her cheeks, entered her room. Elisha asked her if she was feeling alright based on appearance, in which there was a brief dialogue was exchanged about skipping the exam.

After Elisha left for the exam, Victoria grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers. Then, she gently pulled him towards her as she climbed back into bed. But he let go, and she gave him a puzzled look.

Bud: Vik, why are you skipping your exam?

Victoria: Buddy, look at me, I'm a wreck! I can't think straight when I am hearing everyone's voices!

Bud: Well, that will be one sure-fire way to get an A.

Victoria: BUDDY!

Bud innocently: What? Too extreme? You could convince your instructor to let you take it another day.

Victoria: I'm serious here. Being a Guyver, you, of all people, know it is a slippery slope to abuse what you have.

Bud: So was I, and yes, I do know. I am reminded of it every day. But what are you going to do? You told me this exam was half your grade.

Victoria: I don't know.

Bud: Well, if you won't use your telepathy, then I'll go with you.

Victoria: I doubt the instructor would allow you into the class any other day, let alone an exam day.

Bud: Who said I'd go inside? I'll sit outside the class, and if you sense a big black ball of nothingness, you can focus on it—after all, nothing up here besides a fat lazy gerbil and a rusty exercise wheel.

He knocked on his head, making a hollow sound.

Victoria: That could work. But what about you?

Bud: What about me?

Victoria: You'll miss most of the day. I don't want you to get in trouble for me, especially when you are so close to getting out of that... school.

Just by her tone, he could tell she hated that school as much as he did. He had sacrificed tears, sweat, and more than his fair share of blood before and after he became a Guyver. That place had turned him from a happy-go-lucky boy into a reclusive spiteful image of his former self. He gave her his usual disarming smirk, which always had its way with her.

Bud: Don't worry about me; one day isn't going to ruin my chances of getting out of that place. Besides you, my pasty white skinned /freckle-covered/red hair goddess is more important.

She smirked at him.

Victoria: You're a dork, you know that?

Bud: Yeah... but I'm your dork.

She smiled warmly at him, the first time that morning. She noticed he was dressed nicely in a nice button-down shirt, tie, favorite black jeans, and boots. But the glaring thing was his long hair was gone. Instead, it was cut very short and styled. She reached up and ran a hand through his short hair.

Victoria: Babe, you look sharp and all, but the fuck you do to your hair?

Bud: I got it cut for school pictures. Don't tell me they messed it up.

Victoria: No, but why? You looked fine with your long hair!

Bud: Well, you know for that inevitable time I go on a homicidal rager, my parents can use my best photo and say, "We don't know what happened. He was such a nice kind boy" during interviews.

She giggled, shaking her head.

Victoria: What am I going to do with you?

Bud: Nothing good, I hope.

Victoria: Help me pass this exam, you'll find out.

She went to her dresser, grabbing only a pair of jeans and a black and red flannel shirt of his. She walked to the bathroom, giving him a mischievous smirk to combat his puzzled look. She grabbed the door handle to close the door.

Bud: You aren't going to get dressed out here? Not like I haven't seen you, babe.

Victoria: Yeah, but I wouldn't want you risking spoiling your nice clothes.

She winked and turned her back to him.

Victoria: Besides, you haven't fulfilled your end of the deal.

She closed the door on him, causing him to give a "Really? That's how you're going to do me?" look. Seconds later, he heard the shower running; he sighed; sitting back against the wall, he saw something that made him smirk. He grabbed the stuffed Gamera that was on her bed.

Bud: I've been looking for you. What am I going to do with her?

He placed the stuffed turtle on his thigh as if he were a puppet. He moved the stuffie to look at him and looked at the bathroom door when he looked at it, and then they were looking at each other again. Finally, he made the plushie shrug its shoulders.

Bud: Yeah, me neither.

He sat there with the Gamera-plush, waiting for her to come back out. Fifteen minutes later, she appeared in her flannel shirt and jeans. Both he and the plushie watched her intensely as she moved about her dorm room. He gave the plushie a playful angry look, and he pushed the plushie's head down just as Victoria reached for his hand.

Victoria: Are my boys behaving?

Bud: Yes.

He nodded the turtle's head.

Victoria: Good cause it's time to go.

Bud: Right behind you.

Victoria left and he put the plushie down on her pillow. He was still giving it a playful angry look.

Bud: Remember, Mister-Turtle, she is my girl.

He heard a chuckle and the words "dork" and "Godzilla stop being mean to Gamera" behind him. So he turned around and followed her. They walked to her class whispering, the walk to 10 minutes, but it felt like time slowed down whenever they were with each other.

They entered the building his Grandfather used to teach in until he retired. They stopped in front of her class and wished her luck. He kissed her and watched her nervously take her seat. Then, he sat down against the opposite wall waiting for her. He sat there for nearly 4 hours, nodding off an hour into it. Bud woke up to a gentle touch to his shoulder, her scent making him smile as his eyes got accustomed to the lighting.

Victoria: I see you were adequately stimulated, okay.

Bud: Did I snore?

Victoria smirking: Oh yes, we could hear it for the entirety of the exam. I think it gave me an advantage.

Bud looked up at her. She shook her head softly.

Victoria softly: No, not that anyone noticed.

Bud jumped up.

Bud: Good. Now let's get some food in you.

Victoria: But what about our deal?

Bud: I can wait til this weekend. Besides, don't you have a study group or something you need to get to?

Victoria: I do.

Bud: Don't fret about it, I'll be with Gamera and you can do the same thing you did for your exam. When you return to your room, I'll go home.

Victoria: Only if you are nice to Gamera, he is a good boy.

Bud gave her a fake pout.

Bud: Okay, I'll be 'nice' to Mister-Turtle.

Victoria: Good boy. Now come on, lets go eat.

Bud: Yes mistress!

Bud started walking like he had a hunch back, causing her to laugh for the first time that day.