Author's Notes: This chapter was written really bad, so I apologize for that. I might re-do it later. Also, I have read all the recent mangas, so thankfully I will not be leaving anything out. So, if you haven't read yet, there are spoilers ahead.
Chapter One
An Unlikely Task for Some Very Unlikely People
By the time Shizu had reached the master control room of the hideout of the secret rebel force known as Zeus' Thunderbolt, she had almost completely forgotten about her dream. There was too much to be done than to be thinking about such trifle matters.
The underground movement had grown by leaps and bounds over the past few months in both manpower and technology. Many of the people who worked in such areas such as computer techniques and the research and development team predicted that in another year's time they would be almost caught up the Chronos. And although she agreed through silent nods of her head, Shizu knew that that was probably not as likely as they made it out to be. Zeus' Thunderbolts were still relatively new. Chronos had almost a three hundred year head start.
"Mornin', Boss-Lady." It was the usual greeting she received from Denver Hoplin, one of the chief surveillance monitors in the master control room. He was a little older than she was, around his mid to late twenties, but still acted like he was still in college. His dirty blonde hair was messed up, as it usually was, and his mischievous eyes always gave away his true serious nature for his job. Unlike most of the other men who worked under Agito Makashima, he was one of the few who had not undergone the process for the ability to become a Libertus, only because it was so difficult to find someone of equal skill to run his job. Hoplin was extremely dedicated to his work, even though they sometimes went weeks without a single alarm. Maybe it was because Chronos killed his wife and daughter nearly two years ago. Either way, he was not only a reliable person when you needed one, but also fun to be around to boot, despite the hardships of his life. It was he who gave Shizu the nickname "Boss-Lady", which caught on quickly among all the others only because it seemed appropriate that she was as good as Agito's second commander of the rebel army, so there was little objection. Actually, the nickname had grown on her. "Jesus, you look like hell." He said, finally twisting around in his chair to look at her.
"I feel like hell." Shizu said in English that which still has a slight Japanese accent, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes without much help. She was now working on only two hours of sleep a night. She gratefully took the cup of jet-black coffee that Hoplin handed her in a plain mug and drank half of it without bothering to add any sweeteners. It seemed that it would take a whole pot to wake her up anymore. "Anything new?"
"Not much." Hoplin leaned back in his chair and tapped a pen on his knee. Shizu shrugged. That figured. "Except…" That caught her attention. When dealing with Chronos, "except" was not usually a word she liked to hear when she asked for an update.
"Except what?"
Hoplin shook his head. "Not sure. I'm waiting for Makashima to get back so I can tell him. Probably won't be a good idea to act without his consent, you know how pissy he can get sometimes."
Shizu frowned. "Where is he, exactly?"
Hoplin shook his head. "Not sure. He should be here in about an hour."
Shizu nodded. "What do you have, anyway?"
"Check it." Hoplin typed in a complex computer code into his keyboard, and a moment later the computer screen before him blinked and a bright green blueprint of some sort of very large building appeared on the monitor. "These are the floor plans for the Miami Convention Center in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Miami, it's not too far from where we're staying now. And these…" He pushed another couple of keys, and the Convention Center became spangled with red dots. "Are all Zoanoids."
Shizu blinked; there must have been over five hundred of the little red spots, and more were appearing all the time. "There are so many of them. What's going on?"
Again, Hoplin shook his head. "I'm not sure. I checked around the newspapers and the Internet; it looks like just what the building's used for; a convention. The reporters called it the Miami Powers Convention, something for the big time-power companies within Miami, like PG&E and AT&T and corporations like that, going to discuss some sort of deal that can help lower electricity and phone bills for the common, hard-working American. That's a load of bull-shit. They're still a part of those companies, but they're completely under Chronos' control."
"I probably could not have put it into any better words myself." Came a deep voice from behind them. Shizu and Hoplin turned around to see none other than Agito Makashima, Guyver III, Zeus himself, walking up to Hoplin's computer. If Shizu had been more awake she would have been back on her feet, but she only continued to lean against the desk and said her good mornings. "Jesus, you loom like hell." He said when he saw her. Shizu shot back a hooded "tell-me-something-I-don't-know" look at him and drained the last of the coffee. Agito peered at the computer screen, watching the red dots as they continued to multiply.
"So what do you think we should do about this?" Shizu finally asked after a moment of silence.
"We're not going to let it go, that's for damn sure." Came the short response. Shizu grimaced inwardly. She was hoping not to go out today and fight or cause any more riots within a civilian area. Even though she never complained about it, it was not easy transforming into her Zoalord form and carrying out a full battle; it got tiring after a while. And with the lack of sleep, she was sure that she would not last for five minutes.
"What's the big deal?" Denver asked as he leaned back into his chair. "I mean, it's just a convention. Nothing much to worry about. I mean, why assemble the full team?"
"I didn't say I was going to do that. It is small, but we're not going to let it go unnoticed." Agito moved away from the screen, thinking.
"You know, this could be a set-up." Shizu said finally. "To lure us out."
Agito seemed to agree. "True. They may haven't have found us yet, but they know that we're out here. Sending anyone out is just the opportunity they need. There will be heavy security there. And chances are, news crews as well. Chronos is already stirring up a lot of trouble in Japan. As far as the public's concerned, we're the terrorists. It won't do us any good to have the government after up on both ends."
There was a period of silence. "What we need…" Shizu said slowly. "Is someone on the inside. Someone who cannot only get in unnoticed, but can also tear up the place from the inside. The Libertus may be strong, but they're not stealthy. They would not even get past the front doors without Chronos finding out what they are. And sure as hell they won't let you in either." She added quickly before Agito could say anything. "I mean, sure you could blast the place from afar, but it's a civilian area. Someone's bound to see you, and there goes the terrorism thing again."
"The Boss-Lady's got a point there, sir." Hoplin said.
"Well, unless either of you can think of anything, I don't see any other way." Shizu suppressed a scoff. Stubborn. She thought. As always, you hate to have others tell you what to do.
Hoplin was frowning, holding his chin in his hand. "You know what, I think I might have an idea. You got to give me a few hours though, before I call them. They get awfully cranky when they're woken up so early in the morning."
Both Shizu and Agito blinked at the Surveillance Captain. "Them?"
"I met them a few years back." Denver Hoplin was explaining a few hours later as they headed towards one of the bases' garages. "Right after Chronos killed my family. They were the ones who saved me actually and explained to me what all that was about."
"So what's so special about them?" Agito asked from the passenger side of the Ford Explorer. Even with being in America as long as he had, driving on the opposite side of the road was still a little unsettling.
"They were once test subjects of Chronos, about seven years ago. Failed experiments. As far as I know, Chronos was ashamed of them, which is probably why people on the inside rarely hear about them."
"Failed experiments?" Agito repeated. "And they're still alive?" Everyone who know anything about Chronos knew that prototypes and test subjects only lived for no longer than a week after their process was completed, even if it was successful. Even some of the most powerful Zoanoids such as Aptom and Ex-tole had prototypes.
Hoplin nodded and switched gears. "That's why Chronos hates them. They gave me a little on their background with I met them. If I remember right, there were six of them in the tests. You've probably noticed that all the Zoanoids are never under a certain age, say at about twenty or so? Probably because anyone under a certain age can't withstand the transformation into a Zoanoid, it would kill them; that's my theory, anyway. Well, being the sick fucks that they are, Chronos decided one day that they would try out the process on little kids. They ambushed those exact six, killing their entire families before their eyes, and took them back to their base in Arizona. They did the whole Zoanoid processing thing, but the make the process more 'mild', I guess is the best word to use, they added animal DNA somewhere along the lines. The result are 'half-zoanoids', as they were referred to. Don't call them that, though; it pisses them off big time. For a while, the scientists were proud that the experiment had worked, but there were some problems after they were released from the tanks.
"Since they were only half-zoanoids, they were free of the prototype time restraint, so they lived much longer than their expected time span. The pissed Balkas off fairly thoroughly. Then, to make matters worse, they were also free from any Zoalord telepathic powers. Then to top it all off, they turned out to be much, much stronger than any of the scientists could predict. A day after the process was complete, they completely wasted the labs and broke out of the Arizona base and scattered across the country, well out of the way of Chronos."
"Rogue failed experiments." Agito said, sounding thoughtful. "So what happened after? Did Chronos give up?"
"Hell no." Hoplin said as they took the off-ramp of the freeway, heading straight into downtown Miami. "I'd think out of anyone, Makashima, you would know that they don't let any of their mistakes live in case they would get exposed. But these guys are smart; they were able to stay out of Chronos hands for all these years, even with as big as they had grown. They also get into their fair share of trouble still, too. They like to bust up any Chronos dealing they happen to come across, even when they were working alone. That's how I met them. Sometimes they cause more damage than you do." Agito snorted. That was a lot of damage to cause. "So that's why I called them. I figured that busting up a convention would be small cookies for them."
"If they're all separated, then what's with the them?"
"Because two of them are twins, so naturally they'd want to stick together. I couldn't tell them exactly what they were to do, only that I would meet them and give them further details. Also thought it would probably be a good idea if you met them too. They seem to know a good deal about you and Fukamachi, as well. Somehow they've been able to get a hold of information from Chronos and have been keeping updates on everything that's going on. I will warn you though; sometimes they are temperamental, and are used to working alone. Even if they take the job, they said that it's they have a right to walk at anytime. The Boss-Lady told me that you're not used to taking orders from other people, Makashima, but I would take this advice; don't cross them. I've seen their powers at work, they're no pushovers. And there's something else about them, too. I still think that there was something else added into their processing tanks that did more to them than the animal DNA ever could. They call themselves the Six Dragons Circle. I almost don't want to know what that means."
Agito snorted again, obviously not impressed with Hoplin's warning. "You make it sound bad." He said. "But I still don't see how some failed experiments could be so dangerous."
"Oh, you'd be surprised." Hoplin said, turning into the vast parking lot of a huge mall. He turned the Explorer into a parking space and turned off the engine. "Well, we're here."
"The mall?" Agito inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"To keep the profile low." Hoplin said as he got out of the vehicle. "Besides, this is where they usually are anyway, apparently. Ever seen the movie Mallrats? I swear, they must base the whole of their existence off of those movies…"
The mall had been open for less than an hour, and because it was also a weekday it was almost practically empty. Most of the stores were still closed even, the medal grates shut tight. Very few people were walking from store to store, most there either for work or to avoid the early morning crowds. Nothing looked out of the ordinary; at least, no one who looked like they would be involved with Chronos. They kept walking for a while, Hoplin keeping a weary eye out. Then, "Ah. There they are."
Agito was surprised at what he saw. They were teenagers, perhaps no older than he was, no younger than twenty, leaning against the window to a clothing store. Both looked directly from Japanese decent, their hair silky black and their eyes dark and titled. Even though one was a girl and the other was a boy, he did not doubt that they were nonetheless twins. The girl had long hair that reached well past her waist, and the boy's was cut short in the back, the bangs on the left side of his face grown out so it hid that side of his face as well. Both were extremely attractive as well as very tall, perhaps bordering on six feet. There was definitely an air of rebellion about them; they were dressed in all black, their shirts shorting band logos and their long pants baggy, the toes of their ragged shoes exposed. The boy wore white thermals under his shirt despite the warm weather and the girl was wearing a long black coat that reached almost to her knees. Both wore strings of medal silver balls and linked chains around their necks and two long wallet chains dangled at their legs. They were talking about something that Agito could not hear, but suddenly the boy jumped away from the window and started to dance spontaneously in the aisle way of the mall, keeping a good beat to a non-existent song. Agito did not know about dancing, but he wasn't that bad.
"Hey Yosh!" Denver called to the boy once they were in hearing distance. The twins looked up at the sound of his voice and both smiled.
"Denny-man!" The boy greeted, catching the other man's hand in a high-five as he offered it. "How's it hangin', yo?" There was a slight Japanese accent to his English. Chances are they weren't born in America.
"Not to bad myself." Hoplin said before turning to the girl. "Kia, always a pleasure."
"Same here, Denny." The girl said, hugging him briefly. "So, who's your friend?"
"This is Agito Makashima. If you tell me that you don't know the name, then I think I'd have to hit you."
"Ah." The twins both nodded at once. "The infamous Dark Guyver. Charmed." Agito nodded in response.
"Makashima, may I introduce you to Yoshi and Kia Inaru. These two mofos are almost as big of a pain in the ass to Chronos as we are."
"If not bigger, and damn proud of it." Yoshi said, making a fist with his hand and knocking it together with his sisters. "Speaking of which, what's up? Don't tell me I had to miss my fucking cartoons for nothing."
"Hardly." Hoplin said. "There's a Chronos convention happening in the Miami Convention Center today. They covered it up by saying it's some sort of big-ass business meeting for power companies."
"Bull shit." Kia snorted.
"That's what I said. So, we have a bit of a problem. The Zeus' Thunderbolts can't get into it that easily, but I figured that if anyone can, it's the two people who can cause more trouble by themselves than the entire force put together."
"Shit man," Yoshi said, grabbing the back of Denver's head and placing their foreheads together. "We'll bust up that place like a fucking high school cagier. We'll go in there and take them out, X-men style." At that, both of the twins crossed their arms over their chests.
"You've been reading too many fucking comics, but that's what I like to hear."
"What is it that you do, exactly?" Agito asked, speaking for the first time since they met.
"If we weren't public, then we'd be more happy to tell." Kia said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cigarette, placed it in her lips but did not light it yet. "You should know, those dick-heads are everywhere. We even say one wrong thing and they'll be on us faster than a jock on some blond cheerleader. Let's just say that we have our ways of getting around. We've been a thorn in their fucking sides for that too, and we're not afraid to let them know that we're still pissed about what they did to us."
"What about the other four? Do you still have some contact with them?"
"Shit man, what have you been telling him?" Yoshi asked, punching Hoplin in the shoulder. "Yeah, we still got the hook-up. Why? You going to ask us to join your team or something?"
"Probably, yes. It would be helpful to have someone of your skills on our side. It will also give you a chance to get back at Chronos at a larger scale than any of you could do alone."
The twins exchanged inquisitive glances. Then they looked back at him. "We'll think about it. We've been working pretty much solo for a long time, and therefore have kinda gotten use to not answering to anyone." Kia said, removing the cigarette. "Keep that in mind if we do join. And sure, we'll give the others a ring. Maybe they'd be interested as well."
"And why do you call yourself the Six Dragon's Circle?" Agito asked.
Yoshi shushed suddenly as a group of people walked by, but none of them seemed to notice. "Not so loud, yo. Chronos has been after our asses for years, and we intend to keep it that way. And once again, all in good time. We really don't like to use our powers to that extent. It's a little awkward for us. I mean, if you think zoanoids are strange, it's nothing compared to what we can do."
"Tell you what." Kia said, moving away from the wall and leaning against her brother's back, one arm over his shoulder. "We'll take out this convention for you and give you the full details about what Chronos did to fuck us over like this, and you provide a place for us and the rest of us a place to crash. We've been sleeping with one eye open for the last seven fucking years. It would be nice to sleep in a place where we don't have to worry about being ambushed at night."
"Deal." Agito said, and they shook on it.
"All right then. We're on the job."
"Great." Hoplin said. "Keep your cell on you, I'll call and give you instructions on how to find us afterwards."
"Will do. Well then, we better get going. We got a party to crash. See ya, man." The twins began to walk away from them, Kia even taking a swipe at Denver Hoplin's rear-end as they passed.
"Interesting people." Agito said, looking after them. They certainly had a much cruder attitude towards Chronos than he had thought. That was good.
"Interesting?" Hoplin said with a dry laugh. "That was mild. You haven't seen anything yet."