Aptom Joins the Fray
The Vale Police Station
Sho found himself in an interrogation room, sitting across from a police officer. After his battle with Lisker, the police surrounded him and brought him in for extensive property damage. Team RWBY tried to help him out, but the police wouldn't listen to them and brought Sho to the station.
"Sho Fukamachi, age seventeen…" the officer started listing off what little information he got of Sho. "Current residency is Beacon Academy, date of birth is also unknown, student of Beacon Academy," he continued before looking at Sho. "Not a whole got to go on," he commented. "You're lucky those girls are able to vouch your story about you fighting against someone else that caused all the damage," he told the boy.
Sho didn't reply as he was more focused on the fact that Lisker was not only alive but his control medal was completely repaired.
'How can Lisker still be alive?' Sho wondered while the police officer continued to watch him. 'Not only that, how was his control medal retrieved and repaired?' he continued thinking.
"Normally, we would start questioning you, but it looks like your headmaster managed to pull some strings, so you'll just have to wait for him to arrive," the police officer told Sho before getting up to leave.
Sho didn't say anything as he watched the officer leave.
"You really did a number on that street today," a male voice said from inside the interrogation room.
The voice was very familiar to Sho.
"Aptom," Sho said in surprise as he looked around for the Battle Creature.
"Don't worry, Fukamachi, I'm here," Aptom told Sho. "But I don't plan on revealing myself right now," he continued talking. "We'll talk later tonight back at the school," he explained.
Sho was about to say something but the door opened again to reveal Ozpin.
"This is the second time this month that I find myself here because of a student of mine," Ozpin said as he took a seat. "Of course, Miss Rose wasn't a student at the time," he added. "So, tell me Sho, who were you fighting in the streets of Vale today?" he asked.
"Someone who shouldn't be here," Sho answered bitterly.
"Someone that you know?" Ozpin inquired.
"Someone with the same powers as me," Sho answered raising his head to look at his headmaster.
Ozpin raised an eyebrow slightly when Sho told him that.
"Someone with a 'semblance' like yours?" Ozpin asked.
"How about we stop calling the Guyver my semblance?" Sho said to Ozpin. "It's just us in here," he added, keeping a straight face while knowing that he was lying.
Though he couldn't be seen, Aptom smirked at the tone in Sho's voice. It told him, that his young comrade will keep him a secret from this man, which worked well for him as Aptom preferred that nobody knew about him.
"I suppose referring to your armor as a semblance isn't necessary now," Ozpin agreed. "So, the person you engaged in battle with also has armor like yours?" he asked.
"Yes," Sho answered. "His name is Lisker, it's most likely his last name since he never told me his full name," he explained. "He is also known as Guyver 2," he added.
"Guyver 2?" Ozpin repeated the alias. "Am I to understand that there are more of these Guyvers?" he asked.
"Originally, there were three of us," Sho told Ozpin. "But at some point, another Guyver appeared, but she was different," he added.
"Different, how?" Ozpin asked
"Her Guyver unit wasn't a true Guyver," Sho answered. "I don't know all the details, but the unit she got a hold of was artificially created and has limits," he continued.
"I see," Ozpin replied becoming silent for a moment as he made a mental note about this fourth Guyver being an artificially created one. "Do you think it's possible for these other Guyvers to appear in Vale?" he asked.
"It is possible," Sho answered. "Though I would have sensed them if they were nearby," he added.
"You can sense others like you?" Ozpin inquired.
"Yes, every Guyver has a pair of bio-transmitters that allow us to sense one another when we are near each other," Sho told Ozpin.
'Sho's giving away too much information,' Aptom thought to himself. 'I thought he would have learned by now that you can't just trust someone so readily,' he continued thinking. 'Especially after that stunt Makashima pulled on him to get a hold of the Gigantic Guyver,' he added in his mind.
"Interesting," Ozpin said as he kept what Sho said in mind. "Well, for now, I believe we should return to campus," he told the boy before getting up to leave.
Sho nodded his head and followed Ozpin out of the interrogation room and out of the police station.
Once outside the police station, Sho noticed a car waiting for him and Ozpin. The headmaster of Beacon beckoned Sho to follow him into the car. Sho looked around him for a second, hoping that Aptom was nearby, but decided it was best that he waited for Aptom back in his dorm room. Once inside the car, it took off in the direction of Beacon.
'Did Guyver 2 get stronger since his resurrection?' Aptom thought to himself as he walked towards an alleyway that was deserted. 'Or did Sho simply hold back?' he continued thinking about that fight.
After checking to make sure there was no one in the alley, Aptom made himself visible. If anyone were to look, they would have seen a tall, blue bipedal insect like creature with a wide crest on the sides of its head. Triangular shoulders that pointed outwards and blue fin-like appendages on the side of its thighs just above the knees. The forearms had a blue hard shell that started at the elbows and covered the back of its hands with a spike at the end of them. On its chest, top of the forearms, and sides of its shins were hard black crystals that had a shine to them. The creature also had a pair of dull yellow curved spikes on the sides of the crest, below the chest, and the elbows. Its feet were two toed claws with a third claw for its heels.
This was Aptom in his most recent form, Omega Blast.
"If I'm going to be talking to Sho, I'm going to have to figure out a way to do so without attracting attention to myself," Aptom said to himself as he moved a dumpster to the side to reveal a leather jacket, a white T-shirt, a pair of jeans, sneakers, and a pair of sunglasses. "Good thing it was garbage day, or else these would smell a lot worse," he pointed out as he changed out of his Omega Blast form.
Once his transformation was complete, Aptom quickly put on the clothes he had hidden away and headed out of the alley. He looked at Beacon Academy before making his way there.
"A school designed for killing monsters, huh?" Aptom said to himself. "If only these people knew what real monsters were like," he continued bitterly as he remembered what the monsters of his past had done to him and his comrades. "Somlum…Dyme…" he whispered the names of his only friends, who died so long ago.
Beacon Academy
Now back in the school, Sho was pretty much exhausted and wanted to just to back to his room and sleep. However, as soon as he entered the school, Sho found himself surrounded by the three teams he associated with the most. However, he noticed that Blake was missing, but didn't have time to ask about where she was as he was suddenly bombarded with questions.
"Sho, you're okay!" Ruby cheered as she rushed towards him.
"We heard what happened from Ruby and the others," Pyrrha said as she and the rest of her team reached him.
"Dude, is it true that you had your leg cut off?" Russel asked, wondering if that was true.
"Did you beat the guy with your leg?" Nora asked excitedly.
"Nora, that's too disturbing," Ren chastised his partner. "Even for you," he added. "But, if you had no other choice…" he trailed off.
"Is it true that guy fired some sort of black hole out of his hand?" Sky asked as he tried to push his way towards Sho.
The questions were being fired so fast, Sho couldn't keep up with who was asking what questions, or why some of the voices suddenly sounded like they came out of the wrong mouths.
"Everyone quiet down," Sho told them in a firm tone while backing away from them. "I can't answer all those questions at once," he added.
Everyone started settling down and gave Sho some breathing room. They were all silent for a while before someone asked a different question.
"Come to think of it, why are you guys here anyway?" Yang asked team CRDL.
"We're Sho's friends too, in case you haven't noticed," Dove told Yang while crossing his arms and glaring at the blonde brawler.
"Yeah, friends that nobody like," Yang retorted while rolling her eyes.
"What was that?" Dove growled as he looked ready to start a fight.
"Enough!" Sho yelled. "Yang, that was totally uncalled for," he berated the blonde girl.
"What did I do?" Yang replied in shock that Sho would be upset with her.
Sho sighed while closing his eyes.
"Listen, whether you guys like it or not, I am friends with team CRDL," Sho told team RWBY and JNPR.
"Whoa…" Nora replied. "I did not see that coming," she added.
"Really Nora…" Ren said. "He's been around them enough times for us all to assume that he was friends with them," he told his partner.
"I'll explain everything later, but I would like to at least get something to eat," Sho told the three teams.
"Sure thing, man," Russel said as he and Cardin moved out of the way so Sho could head to the cafeteria. "The cafeteria should still be open right now," he told Sho.
"Thanks Russel," Sho replied as he left to get some food, leaving the three teams to stand where they were.
"Damn, it must have been a tough fight," Cardin said, breaking the silence.
"And against someone with the same semblance as him too," Jaune added. "You guys think Sho and that guy were related," he wondered.
"Well…we only saw him in his armor, but they do look a lot alike," Ruby said as she tried to think of any differences.
"I think I remember seeing the yellow one's face being asymmetrical," Weiss pointed out.
"Like a rectangle?" Ruby asked.
"That's symmetrical," Yang told her little sister.
"Oh…" Ruby replied, not really understanding but decided to act like she did. "Still, it was kind of awesome seeing Sho fight that other guy," she mentioned, trying to change the subject. "It was like he was going all out, because he was like all Waaa!" she pointed out before starting to make Kung Fu poses and noises.
"Wait…what do you mean going all out?" Yang asked Ruby causing the fifteen-year-old to stop posing.
"Well, he never fought like that whenever any of us were matched up against him in Goodwitch's class," Ruby pointed out.
"You're right," Weiss said as she remembered their match against Sho. "He usually fought defensively, almost like he was trying to avoid hurting us," she guessed.
"Wait a minute," Sky joined in the conversation. "If Sho was holding back during those matches, then just how strong is he?" he asked.
Everyone was silent once again, wondering just how much Sho had been holding back on them.
"Hey, where's Blake?" Nora asked, finally noticing the missing member of team RWBY.
The three girls looked at each other before Weiss turned away from them with her arms crossed. This was enough for the other two teams to come to the same conclusion.
"What did the Ice Bitch do this time?" Russel deadpanned his question.
"Hey!" Weiss yelled out, annoyed and shocked by what Russel called her.
"Watch your language!" Ruby yelled, not liking how Russel was talking.
Later that night
Sho was now in his room, laying on his bed trying to relax after his fight with Lisker.
"You know, you shouldn't have said so much to that Ozpin guy," a male voice said from outside his window.
Sho turned towards his window to see Aptom open it and entered the room. The younger male was surprised and confused as to how Aptom could enter his room when he was on the third floor with no nearby tree for Aptom to use to conceal himself while in human form.
"Don't worry, nobody saw me," Aptom assured Sho. "That headmaster seems far too lax when it comes to the security of his students," he added.
"Well this is a school for monster hunters," Sho pointed out. "They should be able to handle burglars," he added.
"These people wouldn't know a real monster if it walked right by them in the hallway," Aptom retorted. "You and I know what real monsters look like," he added.
Sho nodded his head, remembering Richard Guyot, the former commander in chief of Chronos, who had beaten and ripped off Murakami's arm, and Hamilcar Barcas, the head scientist who turned Sho's father into Enzyme 2 just to kill him and take his control medal. However, the worst of them was Cabraal Khan, the Zoalord who killed so many innocent people just to kill Sho and Aptom.
"You were also very sloppy during that fight with Lisker," Aptom told Sho, remembering the fight that took place earlier today.
Sho didn't say anything in his defense because he knew Aptom was right.
"You should have been able to defeat him easily in that fight," Aptom scolded Sho. "But you screwed up, fighting like an amateur," he continued berating Sho. "How is it that in the years after his death, Lisker was not only able to hold his own against you but humiliate you?" he questioned the young Guyver.
"…I…" Sho tried to say something but couldn't get a word out.
"It's because you've become complacent," Aptom said in annoyance. "Ever since you got into this school, you've been holding back because you never wanted to hurt the other students," he continued. "Even if Lisker were to somehow improve, he shouldn't have been able to catch up to you so quickly," he pointed out. "You were able to keep up with Makashima of all people, so defeating Lisker shouldn't have been so hard," he added.
"You're right," Sho agreed with Aptom. "I have become complacent," he added while thinking back to his fight with Lisker. "Even without the Gigantic, I should be able to defeat Lisker," he said.
"The you better shape up," Aptom told Sho.
The two were silent for a while, Sho thinking about how much he screwed up, and Aptom being disappointed with the boy in front of him.
"Regardless, I've been getting the feeling that Ozpin guy is hiding something," Aptom said, breaking Sho out of his thoughts.
"What do you mean?" Sho asked.
"He acts very cryptic, like he knows something but doesn't want anyone to know about it," Aptom answered. "Whatever he's hiding, it may cause more problems for everyone here the longer it stays a secret," he added.
Sho nodded his head, knowing from experience how keeping secrets did more harm in the long run.
"So, what have you found out about this place?" Sho asked the scarred man, wanting to change the subject.
"Not much regarding who sent us here," Aptom answered. "The history of this world is different, but I doubt it's the true story," he added.
"What do you mean?" Sho asked. "I thought we somehow found ourselves in some alternate dimension," he told Aptom. "I mean the Guyver can transport itself between dimensions," he added.
"A good theory, but it doesn't hold a lot of water after digging through some books at the library," Aptom said while taking a seat at Sho's desk. "I found some images that resembled the Creators' ships," he told Sho.
"The Creators!" Sho said loudly as he got up from his bed.
"Yeah, and after a while I'm starting to think that this world was another experiment of theirs," Aptom said. "Think about it for a minute, can you really call it a coincidence that there is another planet in the universe that also has human life as well as animals you would find on Earth?" he continued.
"Yeah, that is a good point," Sho agreed with what Aptom said.
"At first, I was thinking that this planet might Earth in some distant future, but even that doesn't hold much as the land masses don't match up, even with the possibility that the continents have changed over the course of time," Aptom continued on.
Sho was silent for a moment, thinking about what Aptom said.
"But how would the Creators be able to successfully duplicate the experiments they made on Earth, here?" Sho asked. "Logically, conducting the same experiment on a different planet with similar properties wouldn't end with the same results," he pointed out.
"Right," Aptom agreed. "For the results to be exact, this planet would have to be exactly the same as Earth," he continued. "But, it might be possible that the Creators had some humans and other creatures in their ships before leaving Earth," he suggested. "It would be a lot easier to keep a few live specimens to continue their experiments, rather than start over from scratch," he added.
"I guess so," Sho said as he thought about how the possibility of everyone on Remnant being long lost relatives of the people in his world.
As he continued thinking about it, Sho's scroll went off, breaking him out of his thoughts.
"You should probably answer that," Aptom told Sho as he got up from the chair he was on and made his way towards the window.
"Aptom," Sho called out as he picked up his scroll to see that it was a text from Ruby. "Do you think it's possible that Makashima or anyone else arrived on Remnant like us and Lisker?" he asked the man.
"I hope not, but life seems to enjoy screwing us over ever since we got involved with Chronos," Aptom answered, clenching his fist. "But right now, our focus should be on Lisker, how he's alive, and what he's doing here," he told Sho before jumping out the window and vanishing into the darkness.
Sho looked out his window, and thought about what Aptom said. He was about to read Ruby's text until he spotted Blake standing in front of the statue in front of the school building with the blonde guy from the docks.
"How did he get here?" Sho asked himself before looking at Ruby's text.
Blake's missing. Really worried.
Sho typed a reply to Ruby to calm the girl down.
Spotted her outside, just give her some space tonight.
Sho hit the send button before closing his window and went back to his bed to sleep.
The next day
It was around the middle of the day as Sho walked towards the area where he had fought Lisker. The damages that were done were mostly repaired aside from the ones caused by Lisker's pressure cannon and Mega Smasher. With him was team CRDL, as they wanted to see the spot where Sho had fought against the other Guyver. They all watched as a construction crew was currently filling up the long trench formed by the Mega Smasher.
"So, this is where you fought that other guy?" Sky asked Sho, still looking at the damages.
"Yeah," Sho answered quickly as he looked towards the docks.
"What kind of a weapon could you and that guy have that can do all of this?" Dove asked.
"A charge particle weapon called the Mega Smasher," Sho replied. "It's a powerful weapon that can wipe out an army in one blast," he explained.
"AN ARMY!" all of team CRDL shouted in shock at Sho's answer.
"What kind of Grimm did you face to have something like that as standard weaponry?" Sky asked, still shocked about what the Mega Smasher Sho mention could do.
"Wait…I thought you only used your armor semblance as a weapon," Russel said as he looked at the destroyed mailbox next to them. "Is it even a semblance?" he asked.
Sho remained silent, almost as if he was thinking about telling them the truth about the Guyver armor. However, he knew that now wasn't the time.
"I'll explain it to you guys and teams RWBY and JNPR later," Sho told the boys. "How about we grab something to eat?" he suggested, changing the subject. "I'm getting hungry," he added.
Team CRDL were silent for a moment as they considered what Sho had said about telling them later. They agreed and the five boys headed towards a nearby fast food joint to grab some food.
As Sho and team CRDL walked away from the area, on top of one of the roofs, Aptom watched them leave before turning his attention towards the docks.
"This was where Sho and Lisker started their fight," Aptom said to himself as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop. "Which means that Lisker was either scouting out the area or he has set that place up as his temporary base of operations," he theorized as he continued making his way there.
At a nearby burger joint
Sho and team CRDL were sitting at a table, eating their food and talking. For many students, it was hard to see team CRDL as anything other than a bunch of bullies. Sho on the other hand, felt that there was more to them than that. However, there was one thing he could never figure out about them, their reason for becoming huntsmen.
"Got something on your mind Sho?" Sky asked, before sipping his soda.
"Just thinking," Sho replied. "Just about everyone in Beacon wants to become hunters, but I don't know why," he said before looking at the four "friendly" bullies. "Why did you guys decide to become hunters?" he asked them.
Team CRDL looked at each other for a moment before one of them decided to answer.
"Honestly, it beats working at a place like this," Russel answered. "This is pretty much just a job," he added.
"A job?" Sho wondered.
"Yeah, a town gets attacked by a Grimm, they hire huntsmen to kill them, then they pay them," Russel said before taking a bit out of his burger.
"When you look at it that way, it seems like a sweet gig," Sky joined in. "I mean, you get to choose who you work for and you get paid how you want," he added.
"So, we're basically mercenaries," Sho said, starting to doubt the nobility that Ozpin tried to convince him when he first met the man.
"Well, that's one way of looking at it," Dove said. "But in the end, isn't that what it's about?" he continued. "Making money to get what you want," he added.
"I don't know," Sho said, thinking about it. "I guess when Ozpin talked to me before the ceremony, he made it sound like there was more to it," he told them.
"That's just what the old farts tell us," Russel said to Sho. "But if that was the case, then why would they let seasoned huntsmen choose who they would work for?" he pointed out. "When you get down to it, we're just a bunch of people trying to make a living," he added.
"Yeah, not everyone wants to be a hero," Cardin said as he started thinking about another student. "Besides heroes don't always get to see the end," he added.
"Yeah, the hero dies in the end," Sky agreed.
"Don't I know it," Sho whispered to himself. 'Then again, to me death is cheap, but painful as hell,' he mentally added.
Back with Aptom
Once Aptom reached the docks, he stayed on top of a building across from the docks and watched for any suspicious activity. It didn't take long for Aptom to see something going on as he spotted two teenagers entering the docks and positioned themselves above a crate. Deciding to take a closer look, Aptom jumped off the building he was on and onto the top of a warehouse.
"Not exactly the best place to keep an eye on these kids, but it's close enough for them not to see me change," Aptom said to himself as he changed into his Omega Blast form. "Now to make sure these two don't do anything stupid," he said before turning invisible.
Once invisible, Aptom made his way to where the two teenagers were hiding. The invisible Battle Creature noticed that one of the teens was a tan blonde male with a monkey tail while the other was a pale skinned female with dark hair. He noticed that the girl's bow twitched, which was strange to him. The girl turned around to look around the hiding spot she and the blonde had secured.
"What's up?" the male asked the female.
"Thought I heard something," the female said before turning her attention back to loading area of the dock.
'Better keep quiet for the time being,' Aptom thought to himself as he observed the two teens.
Several hours later
Through the hours, Aptom watched as the blonde boy tried to make small talk with the girl, but she barely said anything. There were a few moments when the monkey teen would leave the roof, only to return later with food for him and the girl. Said boy had just recently returned with a couple of apples in his hands.
"Did I miss anything?" the boy asked as he made his way towards the girl.
"Not really, they unloaded the crates from the ship, but now they're just sitting there," the girl told her comrade.
"Cool," the boy replied before laying right next to the girl. "I snagged us some food," he said before taking a bite out of one of the apples.
"Do you always break the law without a second thought?" the girl asked.
"Weren't you a part of some cult," the boy retorted in jest, the girl was not amused. "Okay, too soon," he said, gulping a bit.
'Seriously, how long have these two been dating?' Aptom wondered to himself while face palming himself silently.
Fortunately for Aptom, he didn't have to watch this little soap opera any longer as the sound of large turbine engines got their attention. Aptom looked up to see several dropships descend near the Dust crates. He and the two teens watched as a bunch of people in black and white outfits wear Grimm masks exit the dropships and headed towards the crates. Aptom noticed these people had animal parts sticking out of them as well as a red wolf emblem with claws marks on their backs.
'So, these are the White Fang I've been hearing about,' Aptom thought to himself.
"Oh no…" the girl softly groaned.
"Is that them?" the boy asked her.
"Yes, it's them," the girl confirmed it as they watched the White Fang began moving the crates into the dropship.
"You really didn't think they were behind it, huh?" the boy asked.
"No…" the girl replied, feeling horrible. "Deep down, I think I knew," she told him. "I just didn't want to be right," she added sadly.
'She seems to be connected to the White Fang somehow,' Aptom thought as he turned his attention to the White Fang and spotted someone else exit one of the dropships
"Come on!" the man in a white suit and a black bowler hat yelled to the White Fang members. "What's the hold up!?" he continued yelling. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous of thieves here, so how about you animals pick up the pace!" he told them.
"This isn't right," the girl said as she stood up and pulled out her weapon.
'A katana?' Aptom thought to himself, wishing he could roll his eyes in his Omega Blast form. 'Can this girl get any more cliché?' he mentally retorted.
"The White Fang would never work with a human, especially not a human like him," the girl said, preparing to jump down.
'She's not gonna…' Aptom thought in alarm at what this girl was about to do.
"Hey, what are you doing!?" the boy shouted, trying to stop the girl.
But he was too late, as the girl jumped off the building and made her way towards the man's back. The boy followed her, leaving Aptom on the roof alone for a moment.
"Damn it," Aptom muttered as he jumped to the ground as well.
Just as the girl reached the human, a laser beam came between her and the man in white.
"What the…?" the man started to say before turning around to see who was behind him.
The girl tried to go after him again, but was stopped when someone appeared before her and grabbed her by the throat. The girl gasped as she looked at the face of the bronze colored Guyver from the other day. The White Fang members drew their weapons when the girl was caught and a few of them pointed their weapons at the boy, who was coming towards them. However, they did not act when they saw the monkey tail, seeing him as a wayward brother.
"Cutting it a little close there Lisker," the man said to Guyver 2.
"Sorry about that Roman, but I needed to see if our uninvited guests were going to make their move," Lisker said as he tightened his grip.
"Blake!" the monkey boy shouted as he tried to help Blake.
"I wouldn't move if I were you monkey boy," Roman told the boy. "Take another step closer and Lisker here just might show us what's inside her," he added with a smile on his face.
Blake moved her free hand towards here bow and removed it to reveal her cat ears to the White Fang. Seeing this, Lisker loosened his grip to allow her to speak.
'This should be interesting,' Lisker thought to himself.
"B-brothers of the White Fang!" Blake called out to the White Fang. "Why are you aiding this scum?" she asked them, hoping to appeal to their drive to help a fellow faunus.
The White Fang members lowered their weapons in shame when Blake asked that question, but they didn't do anything to help her. Roman started chuckling as he approached Blake.
"Oh kid, didn't you get the memo?" Roman taunted Blake. "The White Fang and I are going in a business venture together," he told her.
"W-what?" Blake replied in shock.
"So, what will you do now Kitty?" Roman asked in a joking manner. "You can't fight, your little friend can't do anything to help you, and we'll be making it out of here with the Dust," he told her with a smug look on his face.
"These kids might not be able to do anything…" a new voice said, causing many to look around.
One of the White Fang members looked around frantically but stopped as soon as a spike burst out of his chest, blood spraying out in front of him. The other White Fang members back away in shock and fear while their comrade tried to reach out to them for help while the spike started vibrating. The spike moved to the left and cleaved the screaming faunus as more blood burst out of his body before he dropped to the ground dead.
"What the fuck was that!?" one of the White Fang members shouted.
Suddenly, a tall blue insect like creature appeared standing behind the corpse of the White Fang member. Blake's eyes widened in horror when she saw a member of the White Fang die right before her eyes. She had no idea what this creature was but she didn't like how it just killed someone in cold blood.
"But I have no problem slaughtering all of you," the blue insectoid said in a distorted male voice.
"A Zoanoid," Lisker said as he looked at the creature, confused at its presence. "Here?" he wondered before dropping the cat girl.
"Zoanoid?" the creature said before laughing. "No, I've long since evolved beyond being a simple Zoanoid," it said. "But I shouldn't be surprised you don't know about that Inspector Lisker," it continued.
Lisker tilted his head upwards to show his surprise that this creature knew his status when he was a member of Chronos.
"How do you know me?" Lisker asked the creature.
"There wasn't an agent of Chronos who didn't know about the man who became Guyver 2," the creature told Lisker.
"So, who are you?" Lisker asked.
"Former commander of the Lost Number Commandos, Aptom," the creature introduced itself.
"A Lost Number huh?" Lisker replied before chuckling. "I see, so you're the failed Zoanoid designed to alter his form into any Zoanoid to suit the combat mission," he said.
"Like I told you, I've evolved beyond that," Aptom said. "I've absorbed so many Zoanoids, that I have become far stronger than anything Chronos could ever make," he boasted. "I've even absorbed four of the Elite Hyper Zoanoid Five," he added.
"Well…that's just made this more interesting," Lisker said before dropping Blake and stepped in front of Roman. "Get that shipment of Dust onto the dropship, I'll deal with him," he told his employer.
"Right," Roman replied before turning around. "Well, what are you animals waiting for!?" yelled. "Get the Dust out of here!" he ordered them.
"I won't let you!" Blake yelled as she tried to rush Roman.
However, Lisker swiftly turned around and roundhouse kicked the cat faunus away from Roman several feet away. Blake was hit so fast that she didn't even have time to activate her semblance to avoid the kick.
"Blake!" the boy yelled as he jumped over two White Fang members and made his way to her.
Aptom rushed towards Lisker, which the bronze Guyver gladly did the same. Both combatants activated they vibration weapons and struck each other. The vibration blade and lancer collided, causing a vibration feedback to occur, resulting in everyone around them to cover their ears.
"Ah…he has the same weapon as Sho," Blake muttered as she tried to cover her four ears.
"What is that!?" Blake's comrade screamed as he tried to block out the sound.
"Sun, they have weapons that do this whenever they hit each other!" Blake yelled to him.
"Seriously!" Sun yelled out in disbelief. "How come they get the cool weapons!?" he complained.
Back to the fight, Aptom and Lisker jumped away from each other. Lisker fired a couple of shots from his head beam, but Aptom dodged the shots while opening the small covering on the center of his forehead to reveal a bio-laser lens. He fired his own laser beam at the enemy Guyver, but Lisker used his gravity controller to jump higher, avoiding the beam. He brought his palms together and fired a pressure cannon at Aptom. The gravity weapon pierced Aptom's stomach, leaving a hole that was quickly regenerated. Lisker was taken aback by this turn of events which Aptom found funny.
"I guess I forgot to mention that my regenerative abilities have reached a level that can rival the Guyver's own," Aptom told Lisker as he watched the Guyver land back on the dock.
"I see," Lisker replied. "So, you weren't just bragging about being beyond that of a normal Zoanoid," he said, keeping a cool head. "Still, it won't change anything," he told Aptom before the two continued their fight.
While the two of them fought, Blake and Sun found themselves surrounded by White Fang member. The two faunus teens drew their own weapons, Sun wielding a dark red and bo staff with gold trimmings with what appeared to be shotgun barrels at the ends. The two faunus teens held their own well as they managed to block and counter their opponents' attacks. Sun spotted Roman getting onto the dropship with the last of the Dust crates loaded onto it.
"He's getting away!" Sun shouted before jumping away from a White Fang member, then splitting his staff into a pair of nunchaku, and retaliating.
"I'm on it!" Blake yelled as she dashed past her foe and made a break for Roman.
However, Lisker's head sensors picked up on Blake heading for Roman. He quickly turned his attention to the faunus girl and prepared to fire a pressure cannon at her. Aptom saw this and tackled the bronze Guyver, knocking his aim off before Lisker fired. The resulting pressure cannon flew right past Blake, causing the girl to stop in her tracks.
"That could have killed me," Blake whispered as she turned to see Lisker kick Aptom off of him before continuing their fight. "That guy has the same powers as Sho, and he managed to beat Sho yesterday," Blake remembered that fight. "There is no way any of us could beat him," she realized just how outclassed she was.
Aptom and Lisker tried to strike at one another with their vibration weapons, but they kept dodging each other's attacks. Throughout the fight Lisker could not land a hit on Aptom after the pressure cannon. The Guyver 2 hated to admit it, but he was the weaker combatant between the two living weapons. Aptom charged at him with one of his vibration lancers aimed for the Guyver's control medal. Lisker dodged the attack, but he didn't expect the second lancer to pierce his stomach.
Lisker yelled out in pain before kicking Aptom away from him. The bronze colored Guyver clutched his wound, glaring at the Battle Creature, enraged that he stabbed him.
"You SON OF A BITCH!" Lisker shouted in fury as he charged at Aptom, vibration blades ready to slice his opponent in two.
Once he was near, Lisker swung his left arm towards Aptom, but the Battle Creature jumped out of the way. The vibration blade sliced through a crane, causing the thing to fall, crushing a member of the White Fang, who was unlucky to be in the way. Aptom in turn, rushed at Lisker to counterattack the Guyver.
"Lisker!" Roman called out to the Guyver. "We're leaving!" he told him as the dropship took off.
"Good," Lisker replied before grabbing a hold of Aptom's left arm, avoiding the vibration lancer, and flipping the former Lost Number away from him. "I love to stay and continue our little match, but my job is done here," he told Aptom as he activated his gravity controller to gain the higher 'ground' while Aptom fired another bio-laser at him.
"Hey!" a young female voice shouted.
Everyone turned their attention to see Ruby Rose with her scythe entering the combat zone.
"Ruby!" Blake called out in fear of her team leader's life.
"Why hello Red!" Roman called out. "Isn't it past your bedtime?" he asked before aiming his cane at the girl.
"Ruby, are these people your friends?" a girl with orange hair asked as she walked up to Ruby.
"Penny, get back!" Ruby told the girl.
However, that left Ruby open for Roman to fire at the girls. The resulting blast knocked Ruby to the ground, much to the shock of Penny causing her to glare at the man who hurt her friend.
"Penny, wait!" Ruby called out to her friend.
"Don't worry, Ruby," Penny assured her friend. "I am combat ready," she said as her backpack opened to reveal several blades floating out of it.
"What the…?" Aptom said as he watched this new girl jump down and effortless takes down the White Fang by herself.
Roman watched this from inside his dropship and signaled three of his dropships to take Penny out. The three ships opened fire on Penny, but the strange girl defended herself with her flying swords by using them as a spinning shield. Her backpack opened again to send out more swords. She sent her swords toward the wall behind her before she slingshot herself to the wall.
After she landed, she made the swords spinning in front of her, blades pointed forwards before shifting into gun-like weapons. A green glow was charging up before Penny fired the beam at Roman's dropship. Before the green beam could hit the ship, Lisker appeared in front of it, creating a pressure cannon to block the attack. The green beam was neutralized by the small black hole the bronze Guyver created, protecting Roman and his dropship, much to Penny's surprise. Once Penny's attack halted, Lisker grabbed a hold of the Bullhead with his left hand while his right hand was over his nearly healed wound.
"Oh dear," Penny said in surprise. "I didn't expect that," she added.
"You're starting to make this into a habit, aren't you?" Roman said to his henchman.
"I suppose I am," Lisker said, not even bothering to defend himself. He removed his right hand from his stomach, seeing that his wound has been healed. "Good," he said to himself, satisfied that his healing was complete.
"Well, we got what we came for," Roman pointed out. "Let's get out of here," he said.
"Just one minute," Lisker said to his boss. "I need to tie up some loose ends," he said as his head beam charged up for a second before firing multiple shots.
Aptom and the teens watched as several members of the White Fang were shot in their heads by the infra-red lasers. It happened so quickly, the White Fang members never knew what hit them. Each one of them dropped to the ground with holes in their heads with smoke and blood coming out of them. Blake looked on in horror as her former brethren were callously killed right before her eyes.
Several minutes later, police, ambulances, and Weiss and Yang arrived at the docks. Ruby had called Weiss and Yang to tell them that she found Blake. It was at that moment that Penny vanished from the area without her knowing. Blake and Sun on the other hand were keeping an eye on Aptom, who was about to leave. None of the police were willing to stop him as they were not equipped with anything that could handle a tall bipedal insectoid creature like him.
"Wait," Ruby called out to Aptom.
Aptom turned around to see the fifteen-year-old girl approach him.
"Ruby, stay away from him!" Blake said as she stood up.
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, turning around confused with Blake's sudden outburst.
"That 'thing' killed people," Blake said as she glared at Aptom. "He's a monster," she continued, not taking her eyes off him.
"Monster huh?" Aptom said evenly. "You kids have no idea what real monsters are," he told the faunus girl before turning his attention to Ruby. "Tell Fukamachi, that I'll be in touch," he told the younger girl before leaping towards the roof of a nearby building and vanishing from their sights.
"He knows Sho?" Ruby asked no one as she tried to spot Aptom.
Author's Note: Okay, Aptom appeared early than I had intended, but I'm fine with that because it's Aptom and he's a total badass. He's the most powerful non-Guyver/Zoalord character in the series. For those who don't know who he is, think the alien from John Carpenter's the Thing, only with anti-hero qualities. If none of you know about the Thing, then you are dead to me.
Also, I got to have some no named background characters killed.
Hooray!
As a response to the reviewer known as Guest's review about how Sho shouldn't have been so easily beaten by Lisker. I have to agree with you on it, and it is being addressed as the first two major arcs, volumes 1 and 2, of the story continue. To be honest, I must thank you for pointing that out. It was not a very well thought out scene in hindsight, but a lot of readers wanted to see Guyver vs Guyver action, so I gave them what they wanted.