Agito, Sho and Mizuki had made it into one of the middle levels of Mt. Minakami, and now they were all inside one of the elevators. They went four levels downward before the elevator stopped and Agito nodded to himself.

+This is far enough on this one, Fukamachi,+ Agito said. +Come with me.+

+Why? Where are we going?+

+Just follow me. I’ll explain it when we’re moving again,+ Agito said almost impatiently.

Sho, without saying a word out loud, followed Agito out of the elevator. Under his goggled helmet, Agito’s eyes swept from side to side. Taking in everything without seeming to be looking at anything in particular. The hallway was clear of Zoanoids for now, but there were some of Mt. Minakami’s unprocessed work crew – mostly janitorial staff – walking past. They showed the expected deference to a pair of busy Zoanoids, as Agito had expected, so there was no fear of discovery from them. Once the two of them had made it to another elevator Agito stepped inside.

+We were just on an elevator, Agito,+ Sho said, confused. +Why are we switching to a new one?+

+It is safer for us to proceed this way,+ Agito said calmly. +If we were to descend straight into Relics Point and then disappear, Dr. Balkus might become suspicious.+

+Oh, I see.+

The rest of the ride was in almost complete silence. Once the elevator they were on had stopped, this time after traveling only three levels, Sho and Agito again left the elevator to find another one. Sho was a little worried that all this moving around might attract unwanted attention, but then again Agito had been stationed inside this base up until two days ago, so he would probably know the best way to avoid being noticed.

As they were just about to step into the next elevator, Sho and Agito could almost feel the pair of eyes boring into the back of their skulls.

"'Excuse me, gentlemen," a very, very familiar – and unwelcome – voice said from behind them. "I believe that I take precedence."

Turning quickly without seeming to panic, Agito pushed Sho out of Gyou’s way with a firm arm across the other Guyver’s chest. Gyou nodded arrogantly to them as he passed, since as far as he was concerned they were beneath his notice. Agito watched as the elevator doors closed, firmly separating Gyou from the two of them. Agito was glad that Gyou hadn’t tried to give them any telepathic orders, as that would have ended up blowing their cover entirely.

Sho felt Agito take hold of his wrist and lead him away from the elevator that Gyou had just commandeered, and he followed without a word or a look back. Sho didn’t want to be any closer to Gyou than he had to be, in fact hiding under even this large a mountain with the Zoalord was enough to give Sho chills of a very unpleasant nature. Walking a little faster, Sho tried to put as much distance between himself and Gyou as he could without looking like he was trying to run away from the man.

Once he and Agito had made it safely into another elevator, Sho took several deep breaths and let them out slowly. He had heard somewhere that that was supposed to calm a person down, unless that person had literally come face-to-face with a Zoalord who had tried to kill him on more than one occasion – and had even succeeded once, though Sho didn’t like to think about that – then absolutely nothing would calm that person down.

+Stop hyperventilating Fukamachi,+ Agito ordered. +Gyou didn’t find us out, but if you start panicking now, the other Zoanoids are going to do just that.+

+I know that Agito,+ Sho said, shuddering. +But I… he was so close… and then…+

+Fukamachi!+ Agito shouted over the link. Damn! He’s going into shock.

Sho’s arms were crossed over his chest, both hands gripping the opposite shoulder. He was backed against the wall of the elevator, and had started sinking slowly to a sitting position on the floor. Agito was tempted to kick Sho, just to get him to give some form of reaction. Sho, however, was still mentally out in the hallway, staring into Gyou’s hateful purple-and-yellow eyes. What if he’d found them out already? What if Gyou was even now sending Zoanoid teams to ambush them when they left the relative safety of the elevator?

What if he’d already found out about Mr. Murakami and the others having survived his last attack? Sho didn’t think he could live with himself if he found out that he had been responsible for the deaths of more people that he cared about. Just then, Sho felt a sudden, sharp pain in his shin.

+Get up, Fukamachi,+ Agito demanded sternly. +We’re about to switch elevators again. If you’re still here like that when the doors open, you will end up getting all three of us killed.+

It was more the way Agito spoke that got Sho’s attention; as if he was merely telling information that he thought would be useful for Sho to have. It was just this matter-of-fact delivery that snapped Sho out of his trance. Sho slowly pushed himself back up to stand on his feet.

+Thanks, Agito,+ Sho said sheepishly. +I guess I needed that.+

Agito nodded silently, and Sho watched as the doors of the elevator slid open almost-silently. By the time the two of them had started walking again, Sho was almost completely over his earlier panic reaction. Gyou may have known a lot of things, but he wasn’t omniscient. He couldn’t have known that one of his worst enemies had been standing only a few steps in front of him. Agito had said that the others had managed to convince Gyou that he had killed them.

Gyou wouldn’t have been looking for people that he thought he had already killed.