+I must admit, that was a rather unexpected turn of events,+ Agito said, even as he donned the armor of Gigantic Dark - and wasn't that a most satisfying name - and felt its power flow into him and through him.

Agito chuckled. +Perhaps.+

"One Gigantic against the two of us," Hikari Mirabilis said, obviously too arrogant to realize how outmatched she was. "It hardly seems fair. But then, we really never have cared about fairness, have we my Lord?"

"No, my Lady," Imakarum Mirabilis said, with that same arrogant tone. "We never have been overly concerned with such a foolish concept."

"Please, spare me the idiotic posturing," Akane drawled, getting to her feet and moving to stand beside him. "I may not be able to personally help Agito kill the both of you, but I will enjoy hearing him talk about the battle when he returns."

"What do you say to that, Imakarum and Hikari Mirabilis? I am your opponent now!"

"I say it's just one more Gigantic for us to play with," Hikari sneered.

"We will play this pointless game of yours, Agito Makishima," Imakarum said, remarkably calmly for someone in his situation. "But we will fight in a place of my choosing!"

"Very well then!" Agito said, as he launched himself into the air.

Satisfied that Shizu would not be focused so much on Yohei, who he still had not gotten his revenge for, Agito continued to follow the two Zoalords as they flew toward some destination known only to themselves. When Agito began to notice that they were flying over some of the more populated areas, he at first thought that the Zoalords were trying to disorient him and get him lost. It was a rather commonplace tactic; to throw your enemies off-track by leading them to as many different places as you were able.

When both versions of Imakarum Mirabilis stopped, hovering above the city with an air of both finality and satisfaction about them, Agito started to wonder just what it was that they thought they were doing. There was no advantage to facing him in this kind of terrain, nothing that could not be found on a more open battleground. In fact, with all of the structures in the way, it would make air-to-ground combat - or its inverse - a great deal more difficult.

"You two wish to engage me in this crowded, urban area?" Agito scoffed. "For what reason?"

"I suppose it may be a difficult concept for you to understand, Agito Makishima," Hikari sneered. "So please, let us elaborate!"

The next thing that Agito knew, he was forced to dodge the Incision Waves that both Zoalords had fired at him. The blasts that would have split him in half had they connected with his unprotected body instead unleashed their full force on the city that the three of them were hovering over.

"Do you understand now why we chose this place as our battlefield?" Imakarum demanded, laughing like the mad thing he was. "Even if our shots miss you, they won't go to waste here!"

So that's their plan... These fools don't realize who they're dealing with. Snapping open the covers of his enhanced sonic emitters, Agito fired at the nearest Zoalord. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to kill Imakarum Mirabilis; only to mildly disorient him and shear off two of the three black spikes that protruded from the right side of his head. Hikari seemed to be rather enraged by this, so maybe there was a way to deal with both of them; Hikari certainly gave the impression that attacking Imakarum was a good way to distract and anger her and throw her off her game.

Oddly enough, the same did not quite seem to hold true for Imakarum. Not to the same extent, anyway.

As the tower that had been blown apart by his sonic attack fell to the ground, Agito laughed at the expressions of obvious confusion on the faces of his Zoalord opponents. "You both made a grave mistake, assuming that I would react like Fukamachi," Agito scoffed. "I couldn't care less if our battle leveled this entire city!"

The two Zoalords shared a look, some wordless communication, and then they started attacking with oddly complementary movements. One of them always seemed to be covering for the other. When he blocked a volley of Gravity Bullets from Imakarum, Hikari was firing an Incision Wave at him. When he moved to attack one of them, the other would always launch an attack to drive him away. In fact, those two seemed to be working together a little too well; anticipating the other's moves a little too fluently.

When a thought dawned on him, Agito decided to take a calculated risk. Dodging and weaving in-between the energy and gravity blasts that were being aimed at him, Agito rammed his fully extended Vibration Blade deep into the left side of Imakarum Mirabilis' gut. The Zoalord screamed as the pain hit him, but what was more interesting - and gratifying - was that Hikari also screamed, holding the exact same spot on her own body and curling defensively around it as if she herself had been wounded.

Interesting; a two-way telepathic link that allows them to function effectively as a single entity. That explained why they were reacting to his attack in such a way; with that kind of a mental link, what hurt one would inevitably cause the other the same amount of pain. And in the same area, no less. That would be very useful knowledge.

Diving in on the attack again, Agito used his shields to deflect a volley of Gravity Bullets from both Zoalords and then rammed the foremost Vibration Blade on his left arm deep into Hikari Mirabilis' right shoulder. The screams of both Zoalords were a clear sign that both of them were still mentally linked; and as long as they remained so, any damage to one would affect the other to the exact same extent. Mentally anyway.

It was only after a crushing punch to Imakarum's gut sent both him and Hikari staggering backward through the air, holding their respective midsections, that the two Zoalords apparently decided to disengage their telepathic link and face him as separate entities. Agito, powering up the Gigantic's Pressure Cannon, fired it at Imakarum before the Zoalord could fully reorient himself into his own mind. Hikari, however, managed to draw up enough concentration to raise her own forcefield in front of her counterpart.

Not that it mattered very much what that Chronos bitch was trying to do, since hers was just another barrier for Agito to break down. And he would break it, with the power of the Gigantic at his disposal. "What's wrong, Sayuri?" Agito demanded, as he saw the female Zoalord begin to falter. "Is a mere barrier using up all of your energy?!"

When Imakarum moved to reinforce Hikari's shield, Agito hit both of them with the Gigantic's Pressure Cannon. He could see that even their combined barriers would only be able to stand up against a few more strikes, Agito felt a sense of cold satisfaction. Then he fired the Pressure Cannon until he saw that Imakarum was beginning to falter as well. Laughing at the futility of the two Zoalords' efforts to save themselves, Agito fired one last shot.

The shot that destabilized the barrier, collapsed it, and sent both Zoalords crashing through the wall of the bulding in front of which their battle had moved. As the two of them attempted to help each other back to their feet, Agito glided up the hole in the wall that their crash had left.

"Do you realize now how overmatched you both are?! The Gigantic armor was created to fight against Alkanphel! Neither of you stands a chance against that kind of strength!"

With a growled string of obscenities from Imakarum, and a few decorative metaphors from Hikari - as well as something unspoken that seemed to pass between them - Imakarum turned on him again.

"Don't underestimate us, Makishima!" the Zoalord screamed, as he fired his cyclone energy blast.

Calling up the Gigantic's forcefield again, Agito rode out the blast. "Idiots! Your feeble powers are as nothing compared to the strength of the armor I now control!"

When the air around him cleared, though, Agito found that he had been shouting at an empty building; the two Zoalords were nowhere to be found. Biting back a few choice words himself, Agito flew into the building after them; just as both Zoalords bashed their way out the opposite wall. Agito could sense their actions using the enhanced sensors of the Gigantic; he knew what they were doing. Firing the main Head Beam, Agito chuckled coldly when he sensed it connecting with one of his targets.

Then, sensing that something had changed - something in the air and in the energy-field surrounding one of his Zoalord opponents, Agito stopped. This change, whatever it was, had the potential to cause him problems if the Zoalord in question had effected it for a specific purpose. Scanning deeper, and flying towards the two Zoalords even as he did so, Agito saw a burst of strange light - balls of light, no less - come flying out at him. The orbs of red light swirled inward and coalesced into a single mass in front of him with a burst of bright light.

And that was when the battle started to get a great deal stranger.

Agito raised the Gigantic's forcefield. The mass of light in front of him started to turn black; not fading, but somehow becoming something that was fundamentally the opposite of light. The transformation was accompanied by an ever-rising wind. The transformation was also impossible. Something like this could not happen on Earth; could not happen in a place where there was insufficient mass to form this kind of a gravitational distortion.

Agito knew that he could not be seeing this; and yet he was.

"Do you still think you can defeat us, Makishima?!" Hikari demanded. "Do you think you can stand against a weapon such as this?!"

"This is the most potent of my techniques," oddly enough, Imakarum was missing all of the red orbs on his body. "My forbidden weapon: the Virtual Black Hole!"

Of course, Agito realized, reinforcing the Gigantic's forcefield even as he did so. Hikari is the only one with all of the red orbs still in place. I believe Murakami had a name for them, but things have been somewhat... fraught since we last met. Regardless, Imakarum's orbs must be the key to it. But, now that I know that, how do I destroy this thing?

Imakarum's virtual black hole seemed to be causing a great deal of damage to the surrounding area, but neither Agito nor either of his Zoalord opponents were particularly concerned about that fact.

"Do you comprehend the power of my Virtual Black Hole, Makishima?!" Imakarum demanded. "Do you even think you can?! Even with the all the might of the Gigantic at your command, you're going to die here and now!"

"You really should give up now, Makishima," Hikari said, in the tone of someone who was merely giving some much-needed advice. "Before my counterpart's Virtual Black Hole stops being Virtual and becomes an actual Black Hole."

Imakarum, despite looking rather strained and worn, chuckled. "Yes; if this Virtual Black Hole of mine were to exist beyond its intended duration, it would indeed become an actual Black Hole. And then, not even I would be able to destroy it."

Forcing more power into the Gigantic's forcefield as he felt the virtual black hole tugging at him more insistently, Agito made himself calm down. There has to be a way for me to destroy this. This virtual black hole was created by Imakarum, so maybe he would be the key to all of this. It does seem as if maintaining this gravitational distortion costs him a great deal of energy. That would make sense, I suppose.

Focusing on the distortion in space in front of him - Agito personally doubted that such a weapon as this would have any affect on the local time - Agito started to see past the virtual event horizon. What lay beneath, covered by the lack of visible light, were the same red orbs that he had seen in the sky, and on Hikari's body. They were orbiting each other in a particularly complex pattern.

It appears that the orbs Imakarum released simulate extreme gravity by interacting with each other. Their stable orbits, most likely maintained by an infusion of Imakarum's own energy, if the way he is acting now is any indication. So, if the interaction between these orbs were to be disrupted, or their motion stopped... yes, that might do it. Agito concentrated, bringing the Gigasmashers online and beginning the process of fully charging them.

It took about one and a half times longer than the Megasmasher to fully charge; but with the power that his Fukamachi had displayed when he had used the Gigasmasher, it was a shorter duration than Agito had truthfully been expecting. As the Gigasmasher reached full power, Agito fired it into the center of the disturbance. Nothing happened. Agito could hear the Zoalords behind him laughing, taunting him about the fact that his own gambit had failed.

Or... perhaps it hasn't, Agito mused. Perhaps I simply need to wait; the paths of the orbs seem to be destabilized now. Sure enough, after he had waited about half a minute, the virtual black hole exploded with the force of a bomb. Agito laughed; he laughed at the sheer terror in Imakarum Mirabilis' voice, laughed at the way Hikari was futilely trying to reassure him that the two of them would be able to defeat him somehow. As if two mere Zoalords, one of which had used up most of his energy, were a match for his Gigantic Dark.

"Well, I have to admit that I wasn't expecting such a powerful attack, Imakarum," Agito said, turning his attention back to the two Zoalords. "But that was the last of your trump cards; you played it and lost. And for your failure, both you and Hikari are going to die here and now!"

As he dove at Imakarum, right fist extended and charged with gravitational energy in preparation for delivering a Gravity Punch to the Zoalord's head, Agito saw Hikari throw herself in front of Imakarum. Shielding him with her own body, the female Zoalord grabbed his wrist in a futile attempt to prevent him from hitting either his current target or the one she had just given him. Agito laughed as he felt every bone in the idiotic woman's wrist shattering from the force that his blow imparted on it.

Agito laughed a great deal harder when he saw her Zoacrystal crack in several places and he heard her screaming in tormented agony.

"What a worthless sacrifice you made, Hikari Mirabilis!" Agito taunted. "It won't save your counterpart, and it leaves you helpless to even save yourself!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

As Hikari slammed bodily into him, writhing and screaming and clutching at her damaged Zoacrystal, Imakarum wrapped his arms around her waist and cradled her against his own body. There wasn't much more he could do, not with his own energy so depleted. When he heard Makishima laughing at them, and more than that moving in to kill them both while they were weakened this way, Imakarum dove out of the Dark Gigantic's way.

He had to protect himself; more than that, he had to protect Hikari. He did not know why she had done something so foolish as to take a blow meant for him; perhaps she had thought to use her barrier to repel or diffuse the force of the Dark Gigantic's blow. With her energy reserves in better condition than his own, there might have even been a chance for her to succeed.

But now, as much as he hated to give credence to Agito Makishima's taunting, Hikari was unable to aid him in this battle. She was nothing but a burden now.

A burden that he had to carry, for Hikari was also a Zoalord and very loyal to Lord Alkanphel. Her usefulness as a warrior and a source of information had not ended; and Lord Alkanphel seemed to be rather partial to her. Even as he was partial to Imakarum himself.

Besides, with three Guyvers and two Gigantics, Hikari's power would still be needed.

When he heard a distinct popping sound, Imakarum looked back up at the Dark Gigantic. He was greeted with a very welcome sight: the armor of the Dark Gigantic ripping itself from Makishima's Guyver and disappearing from all of his senses. It was not so much of a reprieve; with his energy reserves so low and without Hikari to aid him, he would not have an easy time defeating Guyver III.

Nonetheless, it was the best thing he could have hoped for. Now that he was no longer facing the overwhelming power of the Dark Gigantic, Imakarum had at least some hope of holding off Guyver III's assault - surviving it at the very least - until another Zoalord inevitably appeared. There would be no concealing this kind of a disaster from the rest of Chronos, and Lord Fried'rich would doubtless be coming to investigate the surge of energy released when his Virtual Black Hole had detonated.

In fact, Imakarum could sense his fellow Zoalord approaching presently. Even Guyver III was not so foolish as to think that he could best a Zoalord at the top of his game in that form. And he obviously could not call the Gigantic again. Agito left with only a single look at Imakarum.

Probably trying to intimidate him; Imakarum laughed to show the boy the futility of his efforts.

Watching as Lord Fried'rich came ever closer to their battleground, Imakarum heard him call out.

"Yes, I'm here!"

Lord Fried'rich was at his side in a moment.

"Lady Hikari, is she-"

"Badly injured," Imakarum said, assuaging Lord Fried'rich's worries before he could fully state them. "And for now, thankfully unconscious."

Hikari's eyes were still open, and her pupils had dilated to the point where her eyes looked completely black. Her mouth was still open, as if she was still crying out for aid. Imakarum saw Lord Fried'rich cupping Hikari's chin, and watched as the other Zoalord gently closed her mouth. Then Lord Fried'rich gently put his hand on her face and closed her eyes.

Hikari looked peaceful now, as if she was merely sleeping. The illusion was marred by the cracked Zoacrystal in the center of her forehead, and the fact that no Zoalord would have slept in their battleform. When Imakarum sensed the arrival of another Zoalord, a very powerful Zoalord, both he and Lord Fried'rich turned to look at the distortion in the air that signaled the Zoalord's arrival.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Alkanphel, hearing Sayuri's cry of pain even in the grip of his deep sleep, snapped his eyes open and stared at the ceiling of his temple for only a moment before he lunged out of his stone bed and stood up. That scream from his only female child had not been something that he could have ignored; something conjured up by his subconscious mind. Even ignoring the fact that he was not such a one to imagine his children in pain, Sayuri's scream had echoed in his own mind the way that only a telepathic communication from one of his Zoalords would have done.

And now he had arrived, and he could see Masaki and Fried'rich gathered around Sayuri's supine form. Masaki was supporting his only female child; holding her while Fried'rich had seemed to be fussing over her. Seemed to be, because Fried'rich was now turned toward him and bowing slightly.

"Lord Alkanphel," Fried'rich said, turning a look of reverence mixed with fear. "I am glad to see you, my Lord."

"Sayuri," he said, gliding over to where she rested, secure in Masaki's arms. "How is she?"

"She has been badly injured, Lord Alkanphel," Masaki said, still cradling Sayuri as she struggled to heal herself.

"Yes," Alkanphel said, as he reached out to touch Sayuri's damaged Zoacrystal. "Are you in any condition to fly, Masaki?"

"I think my energy reserves would hold out for a short time, Lord Alkanphel," Masaki said, bowing his head slightly. "What do you want me to do?"

"Give Sayuri to me," Alkanphel said, holding out his hands even as Masaki laid Sayuri in his arms and he cradled her. "I will take her to be healed. Masaki, you will return to Cloud Gate with Fried'rich so that you may recover from this battle."

"Yes, Lord Alkanphel."

Before either of his two loyal Zoalords could ask him where he was going, Alkanphel turned and flew away. There were many secrets that he still kept from even Fried'rich and Shin; Silha, the island where he intended to take Sayuri to recover from her wounds and energy-depletion, was still one of them for the time being. Perhaps he would tell them, since those two had long since proven their loyalty to him beyond question.

But now was not the time for such things; Sayuri needed his care far more urgently than Shin or Fried'rich needed his reassurances. And that was why he was flying at top speed for Silha, his barrier at full strength to deflect or repel anything that might impede his progress. He would see Sayuri restored to full health so that she could stand by his side during any battles that occurred in the future.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The girl gasping on the operating table as she struggled to fight off the drugs in her system, the ones designed to keep her asleep and hence harmless, looked about as far removed from the wicked-dangerous exterminator of Zoanoids that Razell had heard about as it was possible to imagine. Her clothes had been removed and replaced with a standard hospital gown some time ago, even that funny looking powder pink scarf she'd been wearing. Razell couldn't help but think that that thing had been knitted by one of her grandparents.

It'd go a long way towards explaining why she'd decided to actually wear a silly-looking thing like that.

As Razell peered more closely at the little Guyver girl's face, covered in a sheen of sweat as her body tried to purge itself of the drugs, Razell wondered again just what she'd been thinking when she'd decided to take up the fight against Chronos with her... brother. Gah, probably her twin, judging by how much they look like each other in those photos. I guess in this case, blood wins out over good sense.

It'd been like that for him, too. All of his family had worked for Chronos, in varying capacities, and now here he was; carrying on the tradition. He'd been processed about a week ago, and so he was still getting used to his new form and the way it moved and reacted. The new senses, most of which came in through his antennae, were also taking a fair amount of getting used to. That was why he hadn't been let out of the Arizona base, yet.

And now here he was, staring down at one of the most dangerous enemies that a Zoanoid like him could ever face, and Razell found that he was feeling sorry for her. She'd probably only gotten into this because her brother had decided to try and fight, and she had wanted to protect him.

At the sound of footfalls, lots of them, Razell looked up to see that a fairly large group of scientists were entering the room now.

"What are you doing in here, Tory?"

"I was just looking at her," Razell said, pointing to the brown-haired girl on the table. "She doesn't look nearly as bad from this angle."

"That's true," his older sister, Miss big-shot head scientist honcho, said with a nod and a smile. "She almost looks harmless like this, but you have to remember that she would most likely attack you without a second thought if she were conscious."

Razell nodded, though he personally doubted that that would have been the case.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

As soon as all of them had made it to Prof. Odagiri's mansion, and it really was a beautiful place, Shizu had locked herself in her room and gone to fetch her knitting needles. Yukari had started working on a knitted jacket for herself, wanting to work on something more complex than scarves but not really wanting to make socks. Shizu had warned her that a jacket was even more complicated than a sweater, and sweaters were very hard to make.

Yukari had welcomed the challenge with the air on someone who needed something to keep their mind from wandering. And so Shizu had taken it upon herself to teach Yukari how to knit something that she would be proud of. And that was why she was going to finish Yukari's jacket, so she would be able to present it to Yukari as a gift. Because Yukari was not - WAS NOT! WAS NOT! WAS NOT! - going to be missing forever.

Master Agito and Mistress Akane were going to rescue her, and then Shizu would be able to give Yukari the finished jacket as a coming home present. After all, Chronos could not - COULD NOT! COULD NOT! COULD NOT! - possibly do anything to harm a Guyver. And Yukari was a Guyver, so she was going to be perfectly safe.

That was why Shizu felt perfectly justified about finishing up the jacket Yukari had been working on; because Yukari was fine.

Yukari clutched at her throat, gasping for air with the Guyver's breathing tubes torn away

She was just fine.

Yukari fell out of the sky, her armor disappearing behind her

Master and Mistress were going to rescue her.

Hikari Mirabilis grabbed Yukari out of the air by her head, disappearing and then reappearing. But Yukari was gone

And then all of them could be a family again; so she really should get back to work on Yukari's jacket so she could give it to Yukari when she got back.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Sayuri had been recuperating in his life-pod for just over half an hour, when Masaki walked in.

"How's she doing, Lord Alkanphel?"

"Her body has mostly recovered from the energy drain," he said, looking at the spiderweb of cracks that stretched across Sayuri's Zoacrystal. "It will be some time before she is recovered enough to be awakened. Have there been any new developments at Chronos while I was away?"

"Lord Fried'rich called a meeting to discuss ways to deal with the threat of the Gigantic Guyvers," Masaki said, turning to face him after he had apparently finished his examination of Sayuri's healing form.

"I appreciate that; it is good to know that Fried'rich was showing some initiative. What was the final consensus?"

"There wasn't any, my Lord," Masaki said. "Balkus seemed more interested in waiting for your response than in formulating a strategy of our own."

Alkanphel sighed. "Hamilcal was always more interested in maintaining the status quo than in planning for contingencies. Masaki?"

"Yes, my Lord?"

"If I am unable to attend the next time my Council meets, tell them from me that they are to protect the interests of Chronos, even though they might be unable to communicate with me personally."

"I will make certain that they understand this, my Lord."

"Thank you, Masaki," Alkanphel said, turning back to watch Sayuri as she healed. "Is there anything else you have to report?"

"No, Lord Alkanphel."

"Very well. Return to Cloud Gate for now, I will call on you if I have need of you."

"Yes, my Lord," Masaki bowed low, and quickly departed.

Turning back to observe the healing form of his only daughter, Alkanphel hoped that Masaki would have something more substantial to report to him the next time they met. He already knew from Sayuri's memories that Yukari Fukamachi had been brought to Chronos. A Razell in that building had acted as his eyes and ears as the girl was contained and subdued in preparation for transport to the facility at Arizona.

It would soon be time for him to decide what to do with her. He had some ideas, yes, however there was still the matter of finalizing them. And the matter of her Guyver, as well.

"What would you have me do, Sayuri?" Alkanphel asked, speaking more for his own benefit than that of his daughter. "I know that this young girl was your friend, but she is also an enemy of Chronos and all that we stand for. Would it be possible for us to control her?"

-Tell me what you know, Sayuri.-

As he slipped into the consciousness of his daughter, Alkanphel began to see just what made Yukari Fukamachi, the female First Guyver, what she was. And why she had made the decision to stand against Chronos in the first place.

He saw Yukari as she sobbed in Sayuri's arms, after she realized that she had been responsible for the death of her father. It had been an accident, to be sure. One of Hamilcal's more amoral plans, no doubt. Still, even though she had been in a fugue-state while her Guyver unit cloned the necessary brain tissue to ensure her survival, Yukari had still taken the responsibility for her father's death upon herself.

The girl was almost like Fried'rich in that way; she would do anything to spare her friends and those she had claimed as family from suffering. Alkanphel could see this very clearly in Sayuri's memories from when she had fought by the side of that young woman. Yukari could possibly be reworked in the same way that Sayuri had been; reworked to serve Chronos in the same capacity.

Surely the fact that Sayuri could remember the way she had died in Yukari's arms would be useful information. The anguish that the girl had suffered during that time would make her receptive to the offer of rejoining the one who had meant so much to her. Such strong feelings would make her all the more malleable; easy to mold into his loyal servant.

Still, the fact that he was not at the top of his game - Alkanphel was not so optimistic as to think that this awakening of his was anything more than a temporary reprieve from his hibernation - meant that he would not be able to devote his full attention to Yukari's reconditioning, as would be prudent. Perhaps a temporary measure while he slept, then?

He would have to speak to Hamilcal about that.

Disengaging from Sayuri's mind, Alkanphel gently patted the life-pod where she slept. His daughter would awaken once she was fully healed. And, perhaps by then, Alkanphel would have adopted another foundling. He had a feeling that Sayuri would rather enjoy having a sister.