Garo 3: CLOCK

There are demonic beasts known as "Horrors" lurking in the darkness of the world. This is the story of a Makai Knight who hunts the Horrors. Do not avert your eyes from it.

Episode 3: CLOCK

On a rooftop overlooking a bustling downtown intersection Kouga waits for a Horror to appear. Salva says it will be hard to spot amongst all the people. Kouga muses as to why they are all in such a hurry. Salva pinpoints the Horror, directing them to an alley below. Kouga jumps.

In a subway tube two buddies are walking along when one finds a watch on the ground. As the finder puts in on and admires it, saying how it looks just like the one his Dad had given him as a kid, the watch springs out spider-like legs that burrow into the man's arm. He writhes in pain until his body is vivisected, falling into pieces which turn to dust as they hit the ground. His horrified friend runs in terror as Kouga arrives on the scene. He gives chase, catching the poor slob quickly. Kouga holds up his lighter, the green flame revealing the guy is not the Horror.

Mitsuki is on one of her many jobs, this time as a bicycle messenger. She is in a hurry and thinks to herself about how there is never enough time for anything and how it is passing her by.

In the black chamber with the three glowing girls Kouga is antagonistically chided and admonished by them for letting the Horror get away. He explains that this is not a usual Horror and that it eats people from the inside. That the Horror possessed another object, then entered the human and ate it. The girls congratulate him on figuring this out, telling him the Horror's name is Morax. They wonder what item it could have possessed as Kouga says that time is up and he must hunt it now. They chide him about Mitsuki again, reminding him that she must die. He reminds them that she is bait for the hunt, but then confirms that he will kill her when the time comes.

At Kouga's castle he and his butler Gonza are pouring through arcane books looking for information on Morax. Gonza finds a reference to "A Horror created by the Shade of time". They realize it possesses clocks and how difficult this will be since most everyone carries a watch, so it could be on anyone. They read further seeing that Morax destroyed an entire town in one night.

Mitsuki is on a messenger run which leads her to a magnificent western-style castle. She wonders what kind of person would live in such a place. She is greeted at the door by Gonza, who says he has been waiting for her. As she marvels at the interior Kouga comes down the stairs and Mitsuki, exasperated, turns to leave saying she must have the wrong address. Kouga says it's the right place as he called for the errand.

He tells her to keep away from all watches and in fact takes hers. She complains that time is very important for her job. He ignores this and says that also she must stay close to him. "It's troublesome if you keep wandering about" he says. Mitsuki is taken aback by this, not really understanding what he means and tells him she won't marry him.

As they bicker back and forth Salva interrupts saying it will be dark soon and he can feel the Horror moving. Mitsuki is startled again, this time wondering where that voice came from. She meets Salva, Kouga's talking ring. Instead of being frightened she is more amused and interested. Salva tells her that he is capable of sensing the location of Horrors and that the ring Kouga gave her previously is a part of him, so they know her location at all times. As she talks to Salva, Kouga interrupts saying there is no time for this, as he has to hunt.

On a high school sports track two girls are running a race. One girl, Ayano, sprints far ahead at a remarkable speed. The timekeeper is astonished as Ayano sets a new all time record.

In the locker room she talks about finding the watch and how it is her good luck charm. It helped her win the race. But as she is getting dressed Ayano starts laughing maniacally, her voice deepening demonically. Her legs turn to dust and she looks desperately at her friends, then completely explodes into a cloud of dust.

Just then Kouga enters the room. He sees the remains on the ground and quickly cuts all the watches off of each frightened girl. Salva says it's none of the watches he cut. As Kouga looks around the room a girl's hand touches a stopwatch, which springs out its spidery arms and latches onto her. She is immediately possessed, jumping out of a window to get away from Kouga.

He pursues her in an energetic and action filled chase full of acrobatic leaps and bounds through darkened alleyways and walkways.

At Dr Ryuuzaki's place he gives Mitsuki a manuscript for his new book that much be delivered immediately.

Kouga has cornered the possessed girl on a bridge. They fight, the girl throwing a powerful, superhuman kick that smashes Kouga against a railing. It gives her time to leap away, but unfortunately she leaps straight in front of a truck, which slams into her. The horror tries to drag the broken body away, complaining about how fragile humans are.

She climbs on top of the bridge railing and threatens to throw the body over if Kouga comes any closer. It realizes Kouga's weak point is that he holds human life precious. It laughs and jumps off the bridge. But Kouga jumps after her, smacking the possessed watch away from the girls wrist. He lands her safely on a passageway below. But only just in time for another passerby to pick up the watch and quickly become possessed.

There is a quick struggle but Kouga pins the Horror and pulls his sword. The Horror says to go ahead and kill her, knowing that he won't. But suddenly the watch pops off, falling into the river below.

A lost Mitsuki looks at a map while trying to find her way to the publishing company. As she passes a sewer drain a spider-legged watch sneaks out of it and starts following her, trying to jump onto her bicycle.

Kouga is running as Salva tells him to hurry because Morax is closing in on Mitsuki. As he reaches a clock tower he looks around for her, seeing just her bike lying on the ground. He looks up at the giant clock as Salva tells him the Horror is in there.

Inside the clock tower Kouga sees Mitsuki tied to a chair, which he quickly goes to so he can release her. He is cut off by a massive clockwork tentacle with an axe-like blade at the end of it. Kouga jumps away, tracking where the tentacle came from. The clock itself has contorted and twisted into a mechanical demonic face. It tells Kouga he is the first Makai Knight in history to get caught up inside of a Horror. Morax says that Mitsuki will be the finest of meals and he will rip her apart while savoring her flavor.

Not able to take any more Kouga draws his sword and charges the clockwork monster. But more and more mechanical tentacles, each with a different weapon attached, attacks him. He is only barely able to stave off the attacks, getting cut up and thrown to the ground. The Horror senses that Mitsuki is tainted by Horror blood and says that she must die anyway, so why not let him eat her. As Kouga continues fighting off the vicious attacks of the tentacles he says that even with only a little time left, humans have the right to live it to the end, "I won't let you have her!"

Kouga swings his sword above his head, opening the dimensional gate allowing his GARO armor to transform him. He has 99.9 seconds in his armor before it "changes".

With the added energy of the golden armor, GARO takes to the air with a powerful leap forward, crashing through the clockwork appendages, destroying them as he closes in on the giant clock face. As he reaches it, his sword slams into its forehead, shooting out sparks like a welding torch. The Horror realizes it is finished and asks what Kouga sees in humans. He replies they are worthy of his protection and pushes the sword all the way through Morax's clock face. He pulls the true body of the Horror out of the clock with his sword. "I will stop your evil time!" Kouga growls as the demon tries to fly free, only to be cloven in half by the GARO blade.

Kouga frees Mitsuki just as the clock tower collapses into rubble. She wakes up in his arms and starts struggling so he lets her fall to the ground. He puts her watch back on her wrist and tells her "use your time preciously" and walks away. She starts after him but realizes she is going to be late delivering her package and runs off on her bike.

"I want to open a personal exhibition and become an accomplished artist as soon as possible. But, I am just beginning to realize that in front of me an even bigger wall is building up."