When the electricity that Freddy Purg'stall had been throwing at them suddenly increased in intensity by about five times, Elegen knew that they weren't going to be able to risk calling the Guyver. To say nothing of the fact that he couldn't call the Guyver on his own, there was also the fact that if the kid tried to call the Guyver, they both would end up getting fried by old Purg'stall. They had learned through hard experience by now that to call the Guyver, the kid needed to be fully in charge of his body.
Elegen figured that it was because his brainwaves interfered when the kid was trying to call the Guyver. Anyone (well, at least the two of them) knew the kid couldn't just throw lightning bolts whenever he felt like it. It probably had something to do with the fact he wasn't an Elegen, and Elegen himself wasn't quite human. Sure, Elegen might have been able to look human at one point in time, but that wasn't really the same thing as still being human.
But if he thought about that kind of thing too much, he would get depressed—in this case blasted—so Elegen focused on the battle. The kid was really getting used to the whole "two minds in one body" thing, but then most people were pretty damned adaptable when they put their minds to it. Firing off another blast of electricity, Elegen felt the kid dodging out of the way of another bolt.
But when old Purg'stall started blasting them with a huge wall of electricity, the kid had to stand still to channel all of the electricity safely into the ground. It wasn't until he started feeling a mental intrusion that Elegen started to get worried. He didn't know just what old man Balkus and the kid had been talking about, but now the kid seemed to be distracted by something.
As the kid's focus slipped farther and farther from the battle, Elegen found himself having to take charge of more of the kid's basic functions. First the arms, as the kid's attention turned to something else. By the time he had to take over the working of the kid's legs, Elegen was wondering just what the hell could be so damned important that it would distract the kid this badly when he was being attacked by a lightning-throwing maniac.
Still, it wasn't as if the kid was in any real danger. They both knew by now that the mental commands of Zoalords meant pretty much nothing to them. It was a nice feeling for Elegen, to be able to all but spit in the eye of people who had treated him like cannon fodder. Particularly expensive cannon fodder, like all Hyper Zoanoids, but still cannon fodder. When he started to hear the kid screaming, Elegen dove out of the way of another barrage from Purg'stall, then focused his attention inward.
)Kid! What's wrong? Hey, kid? Ryan?(
Whatever was happening, it sounded like something really bad. Elegen turned and ran, wanting to get as far away from Purg'stall as was humanly possible so that he could find out what was wrong with the kid and help him. Feeling a strong mental force—one he had never expected to feel ever again—Elegen almost stopped in his tracks, but forced himself to start moving again. Ryan might have been a pain in the ass sometimes, but they were in this fight together now, as cheesy as that sounded. Besides, he'd come to think of the kid as a sort of honorary member of Team Five. He wasn't quite a replacement for any of his old friends, but the kid had helped him do things he'd never been able to do before. Escaping from Aptom had only been the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
The mental waves came again, stronger, and Elegen recognized them as both Freddy Purg'stall and old Balkus'.
-I would appreciate it, Elegen, if you would not refer to me in such a crude manner.-
)I'd appreciate it, Freddy, if you would shut the hell up!(
There wasn't an answer in any normal sense, but Elegen felt Purg'stall reaching out for him mentally again. This time, since he didn't have Ryan's mind to hide behind – not that he liked to think of it that way – he was pretty much helpless against the Zoalord's mental coercion. Elegen stopped in his tracks after a futile struggle that lasted only a minute, if even that.
Feeling Purg'stall's hands settling on his shoulders, Elegen made one last attempt to get away from the Zoalord. It did jack shit, of course, but it did somehow make Elegen feel better about himself. Then he heard a slight popping sound, just before he found himself standing in front of one of Chronos' holding cells. He didn't know just where he was anymore, since he knew that Zoalords could teleport to pretty much wherever the hell they felt like. He could still be somewhere in Japan, or he could be halfway around the world. Since all Chronos bases looked the same, especially the holding areas, he had no way of knowing. All he knew was that he had just been tossed into a Chronos holding cell, and there was very little chance of him ever getting out again, especially without Ryan to help him.
Falling onto the hard floor of the holding cell, Elegen turned barely fast enough to see Purg'stall teleport out. The fact that the Zoalord was out of his hair didn't mean much to Elegen. He was far more concerned with what had happened to Ryan when they had been fighting together. If something like that could happen again… well, the consequences didn't really bear thinking about.
)Ryan, you still with me?(
)Ow, ow, more ow, and just for argument's sake, ow.(
)Hurts?(
)Yeah, kinda. I don't know just what that ugly bastard did to me, but I am going to find a way to pay him back for it.(
)I'll help,( Elegen offered, thinking dark thoughts about one of his former bosses.
)I thought you would,( Ryan sent.
When they heard the footsteps—a lot of them—coming toward their cell, Ryan sighed and Elegen mentally rolled his eyes.
)How much you wanna bet that's the welcoming committee, kid?(
)I'm not going to bet on that one, Snake-head. It's a sure thing.(
)I guess you're right about that, kid.(
Sure enough, when their focus snapped back to the outside world, they found a small squad of Zoanoids standing just outside the bars.
"Come with us, kid, you're wanted."
"And don't try to make any trouble," another Zoanoid growled, trying to be threatening.
Considering how many Zoanoid kills Ryan and Elegen had claimed by now, this attempt fell rather flat.
"And what if I don't feel like it, huh, big and ugly? What if I'd rather stay here in this quaint little cell?" Ryan drawled, his voice practically oozing sarcasm.
"That wasn't a request, kid," another Zoanoid snarled as the door of the cell slammed open.
The Zoanoids, still in their human forms, walked in. They were obviously going for that "strength in numbers" deal. Just as Ryan was about to call his Guyver, all of the Zoanoids rushed him at once. Though Ryan did have an advantage in that he was smaller and faster than his Zoanoid captors were, their numbers did give them a distinct benefit. To his credit though, Ryan did put up a very good fight.
Even with Elegen helping him, blasting any Zoanoid that got too close with his electricity, Ryan was unable to concentrate long enough to be able to call his Guyver. And, after the swarming Zoanoids had transformed into their battle-forms, even Elegen's painful blasts of electricity weren't enough to deter them. Ryan stood his ground for as long as he could, but when one of the Zoanoids slammed his head into the back wall of the cell and the others rushed him, even Elegen's help couldn't keep the Zoanoids from overwhelming him.
)Ow.(
)Yeah. I wonder what they're going to do to us?( Elegen sent, thinking more dark thoughts about old man Balkus.
)Nothing pleasant, I'd wager.(
Elegen and Ryan both sighed, one physically and one only in the mental sense. As the Zoanoids picked Ryan up and carried him out of the cell, Elegen retreated to the back of Ryan's mind, determined not to give old man Balkus something else to use against them. As the Zoanoids continued to carry Ryan, he was absorbed in studying what he could of the layout of the place where he was being held.
You never really knew when an escape opportunity would present itself, after all, and Ryan wanted to be as prepared as he could for that to happen. Besides, his constant looking around seemed to annoy the Zoanoids for some reason, so that was a bonus. The group of them, with Ryan in the middle, made their way deeper into the building. Or at least that's what they seemed to be doing as far as Ryan knew. They sure as hell weren't taking him to the exit; that much he was sure of.
Once their group had made it to some huge room easily large enough to hold a three-story parking garage, the Zoanoids who had been standing in front of him moved beside him. The ones who had been standing beside him clamped their hands down tightly on Ryan's shoulders and arms, firmly restraining him while at the same time frog-marching him up to the fancy chair at the front of the room.
)Jeez, it's Mt. Minakami all over again,( Elegen groused. )Can't these guys ever think of something original?(
)Somehow, though, I don't think the room's quite big enough,( Ryan sent, seeming to laugh.
)What's that supposed to mean?( Elegen asked.
)I can feel his ego pressing down on me even as we speak.(
As Elegen started laughing, Ryan turned his attention back to the guy in the fancy chair. Once it started turning toward him, though, Ryan realized that what he was looking at was a fancy swivel chair. Dr. Balkus was sitting in it. The Zoanoids, obviously wanting to show some kind of respect to their boss, knelt before the chair where Dr. Balkus was sitting while at the same time forcing Ryan to his knees as well.
Ryan rolled his eyes, not even bothering to hide the action from the overdressed Santa Clause wannabe in from of him.
"Greetings, Fifth Guyver," Balkus said, managing somehow to sound infuriatingly superior and bored out of his freaking skull at the same time.
)No, kid, I think the whole bored out of the skull thing is just you.(
)You're probably right about that, Snake-head.(