The bolt of electricity that Elegen had aimed at Aptom's head just missed as the Zoanoid-eater rolled out of the way.

)Damn bastard's faster than I remember,( Elegen growled mentally.

)Any ideas on how to slow him down?(

)Not yet, kid, but give me some time. I'm sure I'll think of something.(

Leaping out of the way of another one of Aptom's increasingly frequent charges, Ryan almost felt Elegen trying to think up a way to get them out of their present predicament. It was only when one of his sensor-orbs reacted to something that was definitely not Aptom attacking again that Ryan realized he wasn't alone in his fight anymore.

+Good to see you again, Sho. What brings you here, though?+

+You called me here, Ryan. Don't you remember?+

+Evidently not. Still, it's good to have you here.+

Sho, landing silently just out of Aptom's line of sight, began charging the Pressure Cannon. He didn't know exactly how Ryan had forgotten about calling him, or how he and Aptom had gotten into what Ryan would have probably referred to as a knock-down, drag-out battle, but at the moment, all Sho was interested in was helping his fellow Guyver deal with a mutual enemy. Seeing an opening in Aptom's defense, Sho rushed forward and fired the Pressure Cannon. Aptom, who had evidently been focusing all his attention on Ryan, ended up with a gaping hole in his flank and an expression of seething anger on his face.

"I don't have the time to deal with you, Sho!" Aptom snarled, sending a barrage of bio-missiles at Sho even as the First Guyver leapt out of the way. "Go away!"

+What did you do to make him so angry at you, Ryan?+

+I'm pretty sure that it's more the fact that I exist that's pissing him off.+

Beneath the Guyver's impassive mask, Sho fought the urge to roll his eyes in fond exasperation; he didn't have the muscles to do it, despite the fact that he was very tempted to. Trust Ryan to be making jokes at a time like this. Well, that was his way, and Sho had pretty much gotten used to it by now. As Sho moved to intercept a barrage of bio-missiles from Aptom, firing blasts from the Pressure Cannon to detonate the missiles before they could do any damage to the two defending Guyvers, Sho saw three Head Beam blasts crash into Aptom.

He was glad that Ryan was here, even if that was probably the reason that Aptom had attacked in the first place. Guyvers needed to support each other, since there were so few of them, especially against enemies like Aptom. Sho wasn't entirely sure why Aptom was still their enemy, since it was Chronos that had started the battle, and Aptom had made it clear that he wanted no part of Chronos anymore. He'd made that abundantly clear by eating any and all of the Zoanoids that attacked Sho when the two of them had happened to be in the same area. Sho had often hoped that Aptom would realize Chronos was their real enemy, that he didn't need to fight them anymore. But evidently today wasn't going to be the day that happened.

XxXxX

Aptom was livid. He didn't know how in the name of Balkus' ugly, wrinkled ass Elegen had managed to get out of his body. It wasn't like with that brat Zoalord, who'd called for help and had Aptom blasted into itsy-bitsy pieces by the guy that he'd only recently found out was the brat's dad. No, this was something that was completely unexplainable. Something that couldn't ever be allowed to happen again.

Now, if he actually knew how to prevent this kind of thing, Aptom would have been more than happy to do so. The fact that he didn't have the slightest fucking clue how that eel-faced little appetizer had managed to bond with the gray Guyver attacking him even now didn't make the annoyance at his escape any weaker. But, given what eel-face had said, the Guyver kid had survived intact, too. That just pissed Aptom off more. The fact that he hadn't gotten anything for his trouble, aside from a few blown-off limbs and some inane banter, was also pissing Aptom off in a rather personal way. Jumping out of the way of Guyver V's Pressure Cannon blasts, he decided that he'd had enough.

Extending a pair of Galma wings, Aptom flew off under the cover of another barrage of bio-missiles. He knew for a fact that that little bastard Sho wouldn't follow him, since he still seemed to hope that everything could be forgiven between them. The little murderer had actually had the gall to suggest that the two of them could fight on the same side. He seemed to actually think that Aptom would forget about Somlum and Dymu.

Maybe he would—after he, Sho, and Dr. Balkus finished ice-skating in Hell together. Aptom chuckled coldly as he set down: he was hungry again, and he'd just spotted one of the things that he'd wanted to eat for a long time now. Although why Imakarum would let his precious little kid go wandering alone, especially after what had happened the last time, Aptom wasn't sure, nor did he really care. Though it was kind of cute to see the kid all dressed up this time. Maybe he'd even keep the denim jacket that the little baby Zoalord was wearing. Well, that and the red bandanna. It would be fun to wear the kid's face to get in close enough to get his hands on Imakarum. After all, two Zoalords were always better than one. Trading his chimerical Zoaform in for a normal, everyday Galma, Aptom left the shelter of the scrubby forest he'd landed in.

The baby Zoalord was lounging in a clearing, leaning against an old dead log and just staring at the sky. Either that or he was taking a nap, but with the eyes covered by the sunglasses that he and Imakarum both wore, Aptom couldn't really tell which. He was hoping for the latter, though; that would make it so much easier to sneak up on the little Zoabrat.

As Aptom made his way closer he made sure to avoid stepping on any twigs or kicking up any dry leaves. Of course, trying to sneak around with Galma feet, what with their hard shell and pointed toes, wasn't the easiest thing Aptom could have tried to do. But if the Zoabrat wasn't asleep, using Chaltu or Alvix feet would have defeated the whole purpose of trying to be stealthy in the first place. Besides, this way he would at least be able to trick the little Zoabrat into going along with him. Walking up to him, Aptom saw him twitch. From the way that the little Zoabrat was moving around now, he probably had been sleeping. That was kind of annoying, in that now he'd have to deal with the kid when he was awake, but there was still the fact that the little Zoabrat was hopelessly stupid.

Walking up to the kid, Aptom stood over him and waited for him to wake up. This would be fun.

XxXxX

Kenji, yawning as he woke up, took a look around at the place where he'd fallen asleep. I guess I was more tired than I thought I was, Kenji giggled softly. Then he saw the Zoanoid standing over him and recognized it as a Galma, one of the most common models in the United Kingdom Section. Mr. Caerleon had showed him those.

"Hi," Kenji said, smiling.

"Hey, kid. Your dad sent me to come get you. Let me help you up." The Galma held out his hand for Kenji.

Kenji smiled again as he took the Galma's hand and let it tug him back to his feet. Zoanoids were really nice, once you got to know them. Swaying a little once he was back on his feet, Kenji felt the Galma helping to steady him.

"I guess you're still kinda tired, aren't ya? You wanna ride on my back?"

"That would be nice," Kenji said, blinking slowly as he let the Galma lift him up.

Hearing the crunch of leaves, Kenji opened his eyes slightly and watched the ground go by for a minute. Then, letting his eyes fall closed again, he cuddled up closer against the Galma's back. He wondered for a minute why his dad hadn't come out to get him. Of course, Dad was probably really busy back at Cloud Tower. That was probably why he didn't come.

The left side of his face started itching then, and Kenji lifted it off the Galma's head so he could scratch it. Or at least, that was what he tried to do, but something was still stuck to his cheek when he moved, and it wasn't itching anymore—it was burning. Before Kenji had a chance to wonder what was going on, something hot and dark wrapped itself around him. Whatever it was, it covered him from head to foot.

And it burned!

Kenji panted, trying to claw his way out of whatever was holding on to him, but it was like trying to fight his way out of mud. Hot mud; mud that stung and burned him as he tried to move. Mud that was forcing its way into his nose; into his mouth; down his throat; that was burning and eating its way through whatever it touched.

-Daddy! Help me!-

-Kenji? What happened? What's going on, my son?-

-It hurts!-