Sho nodded wordlessly as they both stepped into the elevator and Agito pressed the button. The doors slid closed with the expected lack of noise, and Sho shifted from foot to foot to try and work off some of his restless energy. Agito seemed to be perfectly able to tolerate the long waits and the encounters with various Zoanoids that they had had to deal with. But then he’d probably been working for Chronos since before Sho had even met him.

Sho had only been inside Mt. Minakami once, during the mission to rescue his father that had ended in events that Sho still didn’t want to think about, and even then it hadn’t lasted anywhere near this long. This was like something out of a surreal dream; not quite a nightmare but something that Sho was sure that he never wanted to have to do again. Sho wasn’t even sure that they would ever be able to do something like this again.

Sooner or later, someone who worked for Chronos would have to notice that there were holes in their security. Holes big enough for… well for a Guyver to slip in and out of. Only in this case it wasn’t just one Guyver who was slipping in and out of the holes in Chronos’ security, it was two Guyvers, a Zoalord, and a small group of humans. They had to notice sometime that something was going on, but Sho knew that he would just have to hope that they all got out of this place alive again.

But nonetheless, this was probably the last time that he and Agito would be able to simply slip on a pair of Zoanoid disguises and go strolling merrily right into a Chronos stronghold. Feeling a slight jolt run through the elevator, Sho looked up just in time to see the doors opening. Taking his turn to push the case with Mizuki inside it, Sho followed Agito out into the main area of the basement level of Relics Point.

The first thing Sho noticed, aside from the sheer size of the place, was the huge purple lump in the center of the room. It looked just like a small hill made out of smooth purple rock. There were poles and wires sticking either in to or out of the "hill", as if they were trying to hold it in place for something. Sho couldn’t begin to guess just what the purple thing was or what it could be for.

But then whatever it was wasn’t all that important to Sho right now, compared with meeting up with all of the others who were hiding from Chronos down here. So Sho tried to put the thing he had just seen out of his mind. It wasn’t all that hard, considering where he was going and who he was meeting up with again. Suddenly remembering just what Mr. Murakami had been through in the past few days, Sho resolved to try to give him at least something that he could hold on to.

Even if it was only the hope of getting revenge on Chronos for all that they had done to him. As he and Agito headed for a doorway that was about as nondescript as possible, Sho saw that there was a plaque above this particular doorway. It read: Basement; Relic Research and Analysis Laboratory. Director: Sumio Odagiri. Sho shuddered slightly, but then he remembered what Agito had said about all of the scientists in the basement being their allies.

It was something of a comfort factor for Sho to know something like that, since without that knowledge he would have probably panicked and given them all away by now. Panicked like he had when Gyou had shown up so suddenly. Taking another couple of deep breaths to calm himself down, Sho continued walking. They passed four things that looked a little like recycling bins, and Sho briefly wondered just what they were for.

Then they were standing in front of the doorway, and there was no more time for Sho to think about things that didn’t really matter. The scientist who greeted Sho and Agito at the door when it slid open was about as nondescript as the door itself.

"Ah, good. You’ve brought the requested materials," he said, wearing a curious sort of halfsmile. "Come with me, I’ll show you where you can drop them off."

Agito nodded, and Sho wondered just what kind of double-speak he was missing. As the two of them, or three depending on just how much someone knew about their group, walked deeper into the laboratory Sho couldn’t help but notice that a lot of the scientists were either studiously ignoring them or taking brief looks and then going back to whatever it was that they were doing. It was kind of strange, Sho thought, to be walking around inside a Chronos laboratory in a pair of stolen uniforms and to be almost completely ignored. As he followed Agito deeper into the laboratory, Sho wondered just when they were going to get to meet this Sumio Odagiri.

As it turned out, Prof. Odagiri was in fact the next person in the laboratory to directly acknowledge their presence.

"Welcome to the basement of Relics Point," the man said, with the same kind of curious halfsmile as the first scientist who had first greeted them. "Sho Fukamachi and Agito Makashima. I expect you’ll want to remove those, I hear they can be quite uncomfortable."

Agito was the first to remove his helmet, followed quickly by Sho. Agito smiled graciously at the man in front of them, so Sho felt that it might be safe to let himself calm down at least a little.

"Hello again, Professor Odagiri," Agito said. "Sho, this is Professor Sumio Odagiri, he runs most of the laboratories on this level. He is also the one who’s been sheltering all of us from Chronos for the last three days."

Professor Odagiri was a fairly tall man, somewhere in his mid-to-late thirties with dark brown hair that had only started going gray. He had thick eyebrows, and he wore glasses that reminded Sho a lot of Tetsuro. As Professor Odagiri turned his attention to Sho, Sho tried not to show just how nervous he was about being here. Agito was calm about it, after all, so there was probably no real reason for Sho to be so apprehensive around this man.

"It’s very nice to meet you, Professor," Sho said, and despite his best efforts, his voice still quavered a little when he spoke.

"Um, could someone get me out of here? Please?" came a plaintive voice from inside the case itself.

"Oh!" Sho exclaimed, remembering. "I’m sorry about that, Mizuki."

Sho hurried over to the still closed case on the floor. Quickly undoing the latches that held it closed, Sho quickly moved back once Mizuki started getting out on her own.

"Thanks, Sho," Mizuki said quietly.

"Sho! Hey Sho!"

"Tetsuro!" Sho turned around quickly, just in time to see the smiling face of one of his best friends from before all of this had started.

"It’s so good to see you again," Tetsuro said, his smile widening into a grin. "Hi, Mizuki," he said, waving to his sister as she stood up for the first time in a long while.

"Tetsuro!" Mizuki cried, throwing herself into the arms of her brother. "Sho risked his life to protect me, just like last time. I probably would have gotten killed if it hadn’t been for Sho."

Tetsuro smiled softly. "I told you he loved you, Mizuki," he said, softly enough that Sho only caught the fact that he was speaking and not the actual words.

"I know that now, Tetsuro," Mizuki muttered softly, closing her eyes and nuzzling her head into her brother’s chest.

Sho had to smile himself when he saw the heartwarming picture that the two of them presented. He might not have known exactly what they were saying to each other, but it was clear for anyone to see that they were very happy to be reunited.

"I’d also like to thank you for taking such good care of my sister, Sho," Tetsuro said, turning his smile back on Sho. "You’re a great friend."

"Thank you, Tetsuro," Sho said, blushing slightly. "Have you seen Mr. Murakami lately, or has he been resting all this time?"

Tetsuro’s smile faltered, and this was the first indication Sho had that things weren’t quite as normal as he had at first thought. "Mr. Murakami… Sho, Mr. Murakami had to use up most of his energy when Commander Gyou attacked us."

"Yeah, Agito told me how he kept chasing you after we all split up from each other," Sho said. "What happened to him? I thought he would at least be awake by now."

"Sho," the calm voice of Prof. Odagiri intruded on Sho and Tetsuro’s discussion. "Would you mind stepping over here for a moment, please?"

"Not at all," Sho said, following Prof. Odagiri over to one of the closed doors toward the back of the laboratory.