Lightning lanced into the ground where he had been standing, just as Ryan leaped out of the way.
)Well, this is another fine mess you've managed to get us into, kid,( Elegen grumped.
)Oh, yeah, like it's my fault Señor Nutjob here decided to jump out at us. You forgetting again that I don't have super senses when I don't have the Guyver?(
Another lightning bolt, one that forced Ryan to run out of the way and duck two more, kept him from concentrating on Elegen's reply, so he didn't know whether or not the Hyper Zoanoid had had anything else to say to him. More of Purg'stall's lightning crashed down around him, and Ryan had to practically cartwheel to get out of the way of most of it.
)I think it's time we changed tactics,( Elegen sent.
)You know, I think you're right.(
Ryan's eyes started to glow a fierce, electric yellow-green as Elegen joined him in the forefront of their shared mind. The next bolt of lightning that Purg'stall threw at them was channeled into Ryan's fingers, down his arms, into his body, and into the ground through his feet. Ryan felt a slight residual tingling as the electrical energy passed through him, but he had gotten used to it by now. Besides, it was better than the alternative.
Purg'stall threw another lightning bolt, and this time Elegen caught it and dosed it with his own electrical power. The ball of energy crackled in their hands, and Ryan launched it back at Purg'stall like Sammy Sosa pitching a fastball. It didn't do bupkus against the Zoalord, of course, but Elegen still like the fact that he could do this kind of thing to the people who had once been able to dictate his every move.
The fact that he could toss Freddy Purg'stall's – or, as the kid called him, Señor Nutjob's – own lightning right back at him made Elegen feel as if he could take on anyone. Another bolt of lightning seared the air, and Elegen threw it back at Purg'stall with Ryan's help.
XxXxX
Unknown to both Ryan and Elegen, Dr. Balkus had planned this fight down to the smallest possible detail. He had wanted for a long time to see what the exact mental effects of Guyver V's bonding with one of his Hyper Zoanoids would be. Normally, humans were not susceptible to a Zoalord's mental control, but since Guyver V was no longer purely human, there was a chance that he or one of the other Zoalords would be able to at least influence him.
The boy's own mind usually provided enough interference that even Dr. Balkus could not reach the Hyper Zoanoid within him, but now that both of them were present for the battle, Dr. Balkus concentrated his formidable telepathic powers on the Hyper Zoanoid within Guyver V's mind. Since both the boy and the Hyper Zoanoid were far more concerned with evading the bolts of electricity that Lord Purg'stall was using against them than keeping their guard up in case he or any of the other Zoalords tried to take advantage of their distraction, Dr. Balkus knew that he would have an easier time of this than usual.
Feeling his way along the connection that he possessed with all of his Zoanoids, whether they were of the Hyper-class or not, Dr. Balkus found himself half in and half out of the boy's mind. Apparently, the boy's mind was far more closely connected to that of his Hyper Zoanoid than any of the Zoalords had suspected. Dr. Balkus, using his connection to Elegen's mind, felt along the boy's nerves until he had located the ones that controlled the movement of the boy's leg.
Watching the battle between Lord Purg'stall and the boy playing out on the main screen, Dr. Balkus saw the boy's left leg jerk convulsively and kick out from under him. The boy managed to catch himself on his hands instead of falling face-first to the ground, but the recovery still cost him precious time—time that Lord Purg'stall used to used to wrap a hand around the boy's right ankle.
Dr. Balkus saw Lord Purg'stall drag the boy backwards by his leg and fling him over his head. The boy looked more winded this time, but he did still manage to keep himself from cracking his skull against the pavement. Crouger was extremely resilient, even he had to admit that, but it was still annoying on a professional level that a mere human boy was able to do this much damage to Chronos on his own.
Even if he was in possession of a Guyver, this one should have been easy prey for himself or any of the other Zoalords. Not only was the boy physically and mentally fused with a Hyper Zoanoid, which would give even young Ingriam a way to get inside his mind, but this one was also obstinate and reckless. It should have been simplicity itself for any of the Zoalords to force the boy to turn himself over to Chronos.
And yet he had continued to elude them. It was infuriating—simply infuriating—but now was not the time to think about that. Now was the time to focus on the boy's mind, to see if this time his telepathic power would be able to overwhelm the boy's formidable will. Lightning seared the air again, both from Lord Purg'stall and from the boy, and Dr. Balkus concentrated on Elegen's mind.
Easing himself back into the boy's mind that way, Dr. Balkus started to map the boy's nerves. Tracking the movement of electrical impulses along those minuscule fibers, he tried to find the source of the electrical powers that the Fifth Guyver wielded. As more electricity crackled down the boy's arms, Dr. Balkus tracked the path of the electrical pulses as they traveled through the boy's body. They seemed to originate from a point between his shoulder blades.
In fact, the origin of the electricity was a point exactly between and below the boost-stimulus tissue on his back. There were some very odd nerve clusters in that area, something that Dr. Balkus thought could not exist in a human body. They were almost identical to the nerve clusters that existed in the same area of the bodies of his Elegen-type Hyper Zoanoids.
It made a great deal of sense that the boy's body would have been altered in this way, since there was very little chance of an unaltered human ever being able to utilize Elegen's electrical powers this way. Still, there was a chance that the boy's body had not fully adjusted to his new abilities. It was perhaps a slim one, but Dr. Balkus knew that he would be remiss in his duty to Chronos if he did not explore all avenues of dealing with this anomalous boy.
It was then that Dr. Balkus realized that the boy's attention had fallen on him. Guyver V knew he was there.
)Well now, if it isn't the dime-store Santa Clause rip-off,( the boy sneered, showing more experience with telepathic contact than Dr. Balkus would have ever credited him with.
-You are aggravating me, child,- Dr. Balkus said.
)What, no "you'll live to regret this, you foolish boy?"( the child needled. Dr. Balkus ignored him. )I thought an overacting dork like you would welcome the chance to say something like that.(
-I will not waste my time trading barbs with you, Ryan Crouger, Fifth Guyver. I will, however, offer you one more chance to join up with our glorious organization.-
)And I will, of course, offer you one more chance to take your offers and shove them up your ass.( Now the child was openly mocking him.
Dr. Balkus fumed, but he truthfully had not expected anything better of the boy. The Fifth Guyver was heedless, impetuous, and very willful when it came to his own desires. It was one of the more annoying aspects of his youth, something that Dr. Balkus fervently hoped that the boy would outgrow quickly. Perhaps, though, there was another way to obtain the power of the Fifth Guyver.
-Lord Purg'stall.-
-Yes, Lord Hamilcal?-
-Distract the boy. Force him to rely entirely on the Hyper Zoanoid within him.-
-For what purpose, Lord Hamilcal?-
-I have a plan that will bring him over to our side, but for this I will require your aid,- Dr. Balkus said as he watched the boy dodge another of Lord Purg'stall's lightning bolts.
-Very well, Lord Hamilcal.-