)I know I'm right,( Elegen sent with self-mocking smugness. )I've had to take orders from that ugly bastard more times then I want to remember. I know more about him than anyone.(
)Now, I wouldn't go that far, Snake-head. I'm sure there are other Zoanoid stiffs that know Mr. Loser there just as well as you do.(
The sudden, sharp pain registered in Ryan's and Elegen's minds just then, and Ryan peeled himself up off the floor. The Zoanoids were all snickering at him, but at some undefined signal they all shut up.
"I will not tolerate such disrespect from you, Fifth Guyver," Balkus growled.
"Bite me, you wrinkled old bastard," Ryan hissed.
Balkus narrowed his eyes at Ryan, and only the fact that Ryan was being restrained by the Zoanoids again kept him from flipping said wrinkled old bastard the bird. The Zoanoids dug their claws into his arms and shoulders, probably trying to let him know that they meant business. Ryan could have given a crap, but since they were the ones currently in the position of power, Ryan knew that he would have to play along. At least for a while.
"I presume that you want to know why I have had you brought to me," Balkus said with his usual annoying solemnity.
"It's somewhere on the list, yeah," Ryan said, deliberately flippant.
"I do not find you amusing, human."
"And again I say to you: bite me."
One of the Zoanoids slapped Ryan in the back of the head; Ryan felt the thing's claws cutting into his scalp.
)How 'bout this, kid? I go back to my usual out-of-the-way spot, and you call the Guyver and kick Dr. Stupid's ass for both of us.(
)No objections on my end, Snake-head.(
Blinking as he shifted mental gears, Ryan made a concerted effort not to smirk as he felt Elegen retreating to his normal place at the back of their mind. Not bothering to pull away from the Zoanoids who would be inevitably be disintegrated by the shockwave that the Guyver always generated when it was called, Ryan took a deep breath… and was roughly tackled to the ground by the Zoanoids who had been crouched behind him.
)Goddamn it all!( Elegen snarled.
)Remind me to maim that guy when we get loose,( Ryan sent.
)I don't think I'm going to have to remind you about that, but if you want me to I'm sure I could remember it,( Elegen chuckled coldly, in the mental sense.
Even as Ryan was about to pick himself up off the floor, the Zoanoids grabbed hold of him again and held him up.
"You know, this is getting really old," Ryan drawled. "Up, down, up, down. Will you make up your freakin' mind already?"
The glare that Dr. Balkus shot him would have stripped paint off a wall, but the only response Ryan gave him in return was a loud, wet raspberry. That, of course, earned him a headfirst smack into the floor.
)You're a real glutton for punishment, aren't you, kid?(
)It's not my fault that the Great Bearded Jerk-Off there doesn't deal well with a little honest criticism.(
)Kid, if that was honest criticism, I'm a mongoose.(
Blinking, Ryan noticed that the Zoanoids were carrying him off somewhere. His first thought was that they were taking him back to the cell he'd been so unceremoniously shoved into when he'd first been taken. As it turned out, though, the Zoanoids holding him weren't heading back to the holding cells to toss him in again. Ryan knew this because Elegen knew the basic layout of most – if not all – of the larger Chronos bases.
This one hadn't been changed in any significant ways, at least not according to Elegen, so Ryan was reasonably sure that he wasn't being taken back to the holding cell. That didn't make him feel much better, since Elegen thought the Zoanoids were taking him to the processing labs. Neither of them actually believed that Dr. Balkus would take the time or the risk to process a Guyver. Not that Ryan was exactly reassured by the fact that he was being taken to a Chronos laboratory, since there were a lot of other very unpleasant things that Dr. Butt-kiss could do to him while he was there. Live dissection came to mind. As the Zoanoids continued to shove him forward relentlessly, Ryan continued to look for a possible avenue of escape. It just wasn't in his nature to give up without a struggle, even in spite of common sense, but nothing presented itself, and Ryan soon found himself inside the laboratory, roughly hustled toward a table. The fact that this particular table came fully equipped with restraints didn't make him feel any better about the fact that he was being shoved and marched straight toward it. Still, Dr. Dorkus hadn't left the room yet, so that meant that Elegen wouldn't be able to help him without inviting some seriously bad consequences. It also meant that the Zoanoids would have an easier time taking him down if he made any stupid moves.
)Don't tell me you're just going to give up like that, kid. Without even a fight?(
)You know I'm not the type to just lay down and die,( Ryan sent back. )I just have to find a way to make this work.(
The Zoanoids, leering at Ryan for his seemingly complete surrender, shoved him against the table. Slamming his gut into the cold steel of the operating table, the Zoanoids snickered at Ryan as he glared at them. There was no sense asking Elegen for help, though, since with Dr. Asshole still in the room Elegen would do more harm than good if he tried to assist.
)Okay, you've got a point there, kid. Still, I'm not going to just give up here.(
)Neither am I.(
As the Zoanoids yanked him up off of the floor and slammed him into the operating table with particularly brutal force, Ryan bit down on his tongue to keep from yelling. The Zoanoids wouldn't have listened to him anyway, and there no way Ryan was going to show any kind of weakness in front of Dr. Bastard. Said bastard was probably getting off on watching him dragged around like this.
When the last of the restraints had been fastened around his wrists, Ryan watched as Dr. Bastard came up to him. When he leaned in, either to start gloating or because he wanted a closer look, Ryan hocked the nastiest loogie he could manage, right into the Zoalord's face. The fact that it hit Dr. Bastard in the eye was a bonus as far as Ryan was concerned.
)Nice bulls-eye, kid.(
It was a fun bonus, though. Even the backhanding that Ryan got from one of the Gregole in payment for the loogie didn't make it any less satisfying to see Dr. Asshole with spit and mucous dripping down his face. Dr. Bastard turned to one of the Zoanoids, probably giving it orders since the next thing it did was to fetch something for him to wipe the spit off his face with.
Ryan couldn't keep himself from laughing at the expression on the old fart's face, even though it did earn him another slap from one of the Zoanoids that Dr. Asshole had gathered around him—a Ramochis this time. One of the Gregole who'd been glaring at him for spitting in Dr. Bastard's face came up, slammed his head against the table, and locked another restraint around Ryan's neck.
"All this for little old me?" Ryan taunted. "I'm flattered. I didn't even know you were into bondage."
Dr. Bastard just glared at him again. Then he left, probably to get whatever it was he needed.
)You planning to call the Guyver now?(
)You do notice how close those Zoanoids are standing, right Snake-head? They'd come down on me like a ton of cinderblocks before I could even open my mouth.(
)They probably wouldn't be quite that fast, kid. But I get ya. So, what are we going to do?(
)We're going to find a way out of this; just don't ask me how yet.(
Elegen seemed to sigh, but he didn't say anything else. That was when Ryan noticed that Dr. Bastard was back again, standing over him and holding a scalpel.
"Careful where you're pointing that thing, you mad scientist, it's kinda sharp."
)Could you try not to antagonize the guy who looks like he wants nothing more than to turn us into cold cuts? I don't know about you and your masochistic tendencies, kid, but I'm really not in the mood to be carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey.(
)And you think I am? Does the word "distraction" not mean anything to you, Snake-head?(
)You're trying to distract him?(
)That's what I said, isn't it?(
)I have told you today that you're completely nuts, right, kid?(
)No, I think you've skipped over today.(
)You're completely nuts, kid.(