Guyver III, pulling himself out of the mass of rubble that had once been the wall of a building, shook his head to clear out the remaining cobwebs. He had known on an intellectual level that Gyou was one of the elites of the Chronos Corporation, but Guyver III hadn’t really expected him to be able to punch that hard. Hearing Fukamachi’s screams, Guyver III turned his attention back to Gyou.

Somehow, Gyou had managed to wrap his arms around Guyver I’s midsection, and was now slowly but steadily attempting to crush the life out of him. Fukamachi’s arms were pinned to his sides, cutting off his ability to make use of the Vibration Blades or the Pressure Cannon. His legs and head were still free though, and for a moment Guyver III wondered why Guyver I didn’t think to use the Head Beam or the Sonic Buster.

He must be in too much pain to think coherently, Guyver III realized, as Guyver I’s screams became more pronounced. Standing up and charging the Pressure Cannon, Guyver III was surprised enough to almost lose his concentration when a car went crashing into Gyou’s back, causing him to let go of Guyver I. Looking back along the car’s trajectory, Guyver III caught sight of Murakami, just lifting another car to throw.

Impressive, Guyver III allowed. Murakami has the strength of a Guyver. Evidently, Gyou also saw that he had another problem to deal with, and he didn’t seem so impressed by Murakami’s strength.

"You are really starting to annoy me, Murakami," Gyou growled.

"Good, that’s what I was going for," Murakami said, throwing the car at Gyou’s head.

As Murakami’s thrown car impacted with Gyou, Guyver III fired the Pressure Cannon at the Twelfth Zoalord. In the midst of both blast and impact, Gyou’s form was momentarily obscured. Looking over at Murakami, Guyver III saw the man’s lips thin slightly, and he knew then that Gyou would still be standing when the shrapnel had settled. A slight glow in the air was all the warning Guyver III, Murakami and Guyver I had.

The very air seemed to rip itself apart, as a violent wave of pressure ripped into the surrounding area. Guyver III saw Guyver I throw himself to the ground to avoid the onslaught, and watched Murakami kneel down and cover his face even as he himself crouched and braced himself with all the strength he possessed. The waves of compressed air battered the three combatants like solid objects, nearly knocking him and Murakami sprawling despite their positions.

Finally though, it was over. Breathing deeply to try to regain his equilibrium, Guyver III rose to his feet again.

"So, you survived," Gyou sounded, if anything, mildly disappointed. "I suppose that being Guyvers confers certain advantages to you pitiful little maggots."

With that said, Gyou turned and fired some kind of high-energy blast straight at the car. The same one that all of the others were still inside. Guyver III could have predicted Fukamachi’s reactions to the letter: with a shouted denial, Guyver I threw himself forward to intercept Gyou’s blast. Taking the impact directly in his chest, Guyver I ended up laying flat on his back in the street, with his head half-in-half-out of the car. Idiot, Guyver III thought derisively.

When he had seen Gyou fire that blast, Sho hadn’t had time to think. He had just reacted. Tetsuro and Mizuki were both in that car, as well as all of the other people who had helped him and Agito to survive and to fight against Chronos. When Gyou’s blast had smashed into his chest, Sho had felt like his ribs would all shatter under the pressure, or that his armor would be torn off by the blast, or maybe both at once.

When the crushing force had finally abated, Sho had found himself staring up at Mizuki. As his vision cleared further, Sho had found himself also staring up at the ceiling of Onuma’s car.

"Sho! Are you all right?" Mizuki asked, looking into the strange, alien face of Guyver I that was staring up at her.

"You’d better get up, Sho," Tetsuro said, trying to be practical. "I don’t think Gyou’s going to keep ignoring you forever."

Pulling himself back to his feet, Sho looked back at the battlefield. Sure enough, if it hadn’t been for Agito and Mr. Murakami attacking him, Sho was sure that Gyou would be trying to finish what he had started. Taking one last look back at the car, Sho noticed that the door had been opened. Looking at where Sho’s gaze was fixed, Tetsuro had to chuckle.

"Well Sho, it was either open that door, or have you end up with your head stuck through it. I didn’t think you’d like that very much."

Hearing Tetsuro say that, Sho had to laugh, too. His mirth was short-lived however, when he saw Guyver III go sprawling, caught by one of Gyou’s punches.

+What are you waiting for, Fukamachi?!+ Agito demanded over their Guyver-link. +Get over here and help me!+

+I’ll be right there, Agito,+ Sho said.

Suiting actions to words, Sho ran back into the battle. Mr. Murakami was now engaged in a kind of wrestling match with Gyou, and Gyou seemed more amused than anything. Probably because Mr. Murakami was losing pretty badly.

-Kneel before your better, you worthless little guinea pig!- Gyou taunted telepathically.

-Never!- Masaki spat, gritting his teeth and trying to stay on his feet despite the crushing pressure on his hands and in his knees.

Masaki had jumped in and started grappling with Gyou just after Sho had taken Gyou’s Gravity Bullet directly in his chest. Masaki knew for a fact that Gyou would have taken advantage of Sho’s position if the old Zoalord hadn’t had something to occupy his attention. After Guyver III had been knocked away by just one of Gyou’s attacks, Masaki knew that that something would have to be him.

And now here he was, feeling like all the bones in his hands were about to give way under the enormous pressure that Gyou was applying to them. Gyou even had the nerve to be smirking at him as the grappled. Or at least he was, until Guyver III’s kick plowed into his head.

"You!" Gyou shouted, enraged.

Letting go of Masaki, Gyou tossed him aside like a rag doll. Shaking his head to try to regain at least some of his lost equilibrium, Masaki rose to his feet and attempted to push aside the lingering pain in his hands. Flexing his fingers to make sure that he hadn’t lost any mobility, Masaki drew and fired his weapon at a Zoanoid that had stupidly attempted to blindside him. Guyver III was now engaging Gyou, firing blasts from the Head Beam and Pressure Cannon at seemingly random intervals.

Masaki was glad of the reprieve.