The Fifth Guyver's chest, still hanging in shreds after he had punctured it with his Gravity Bullet, was healing with uncanny speed. While he had heard the late Commander Gyou's reports about the First Guyver and the way it had been able to regenerate from nothing more than the intact Control Medal, until this point he had not been completely willing to put his faith in them.
It was not that he disbelieved the reports from the former Chronos Japan's Scientific Division; it was merely that he knew Gyou would have been perfectly capable of falsifying such reports. And perfectly willing to do so, as well. With what he was seeing now, though… It was readily apparent that the capabilities of the Guyver had not been overstated.
He knew that this was not the boy he had been confronting when he had first seen the Fifth Guyver in the corridor. For one thing, the boy had been far more talkative when they had initially confronted one another. For another, he knew from the reports made about the Fifth Guyver that the boy's fighting style did not focus solely on brute power. The last, and most obvious, was the fact that the hole in the boy's chest had still not completely repaired itself.
He had learned, through close observation, that Sho Fukamachi was far more willing to do battle to protect others than to protect himself. Still, that did not mean that the boy was not a formidable opponent. He did have someone to protect—even if Ryan Crouger's Guyver unit was in the process of restoring him to life, the boy was still dead. And he was the one that had killed him. In that respect, he could truly understand – if not completely sympathize with – Sho Fukamachi's desire to see him dead.
-Luggnagg, where in blazes are you?-
-My apologies, Fried'rich. I had to find somewhere safe to hide Imakarum's son. You as well as I know how angry the man would be if he found that the boy had been injured while in our care.-
-I am certain that Imakarum will appreciate your concern for his son's welfare,- Fried'rich said, relieved that he no longer had to worry about just where young Kenji had gotten himself off to.
Now he only had to hold off these three Guyvers until Luggnagg arrived. He had long since transformed into his battleform, and the holes that the Fifth Guyver had so obligingly smashed in the floors and ceilings above him enabled him to use his full suite of – admittedly rather limited – abilities to defend himself. This building would likely never be fully repaired, not only from the damage his lightning strikes had done but from that inflicted by the Guyvers on their way inside, but it was not a pressing matter.
This facility, as important as it was for this area, would soon be overshadowed by the true Pillars of Heaven. They were to be built in Washington state, after X-Day had given Chronos control of the world. This place had merely been a testing ground for some of the technology – early versions, of course – that was going to be used to support the base planned for Washington.
Still, while this base may have been rather out of date and tottering on the very edge of being obsolete, it was still a Chronos base and was entitled to protection from the forces within it. And, at this moment, those forces included himself, and he was required to do his duty as any soldier of Chronos.
Still, facing these three Guyvers, one of whom was still dead and yet moving, was unnerving even for one such as him. Hitting the dead Guyver with another Gravity Bullet, meaning to delay the recovery of Ryan Crouger and his dangerous breed of sharp-edged intelligence, he was almost surprised to see Sho Fukamachi hurling himself directly into the path of the attack. Surely the boy knew that his compatriot would be well enough after he had been evacuated – after all of the Guyvers had been forced from this place – and left to heal.
XxXxX
When the Zoalord they were facing (Sho had forgotten his name in the heat of battle, and after he had been forced to watch Ryan die), fired that blast at Ryan, he had found himself almost instinctively throwing himself in front of the younger boy. He knew – better than most – that Ryan would be healed and restored to full health no matter what happened, but he still didn't like the idea of that being delayed. He wanted all of his friends to be alive and safe and would do whatever he had to do to make sure that happened no matter what it cost him in the end.
The blast sheared through the top of his left shoulder, and Sho made a soft noise of pain even as he rose back to his feet. He couldn't do this for much longer; even one Zoalord was enough to hold the three of them back, and he could sense that there were two more in the building with them. He needed more power to protect the others, power to make sure that Ryan and Agito would be able to escape this Chronos base safely.
He needed more power…
Sensing something, something on the edge of his perception that felt almost exactly like the Guyver, Sho tried to contact it. It felt… like some memory from a dream. Something like… the dream he had been having when he was in the cocoon. The dream that had been interrupted when he had sensed, through his Guyver somehow, Ryan's distress and the fact that he was in danger. There was something, just beyond the range of even the Guyver's perception, just waiting for him to contact it, just waiting for him to use it.
"Guyver!"
Something burst into being behind him. Sho was almost sure that he could see it for what it really was without even turning around. He knew that it was large, and that it was powerful, and he just hoped that it would be enough to help him get Ryan and Agito out of this trap that Chronos had set for them. This new armor, while it did feel a lot like the Guyver armor he was used to using, felt… more, somehow.
His body tingled in the wake of a sudden rush of energy, and it almost felt like he was being tickled. Now was far from the right time to laugh, Sho knew, so he focused instead on the Zoalord that was standing in front of them. The Zoalord that was even now staring at him – not at Ryan or Agito, but just at him – with a mixture of fear and awe. The Zoalord who looked… a fair amount smaller than he had before.
"What… what in God's name- what are you?"
Ignoring the Zoalord's demands for more information – he would have time to think about just what he had been doing once Ryan and Agito were both free and safe – he tried to sense just what it was this new armor, a new Guyver, was capable of. The Zoalord started firing at them again, and that was when Sho discovered the first thing his new Guyver armor could do.
The Gravity Bullets that had been fired at them—at him in particular—were deflected by the shield that he had just seen spring into being between himself, Agito, and Ryan and the Zoalord who was trying to hurt them. He could still see through the hole that had been blown through Ryan's body, so he knew the younger Guyver wouldn't be rejoining the battle as himself for some time, but he hoped Ryan would be okay when he did finally wake up. But that was silly: he knew from his own experience that Guyvers were always fine after they had been allowed to regenerate. This wouldn't be any different.
The Zoalord they were fighting (Sho couldn't remember his name at the moment), stared for a second or so longer and then tried to strike them with another lightning bolt. The barrier held, and it was at that moment that Sho decided that it was time for them all to leave. This armor he was wearing, while it felt so much more powerful than the Guyver, might have some limitations that he wasn't aware of yet. It was always best to learn everything you could about a thing before you decided to trust your life to it, something Ryan had taught him.
Maintaining the force-shield and backing away slowly, he wrapped his left arm around Ryan's waist and slowly pulled the other Guyver backward. Ryan's Guyver – he could tell that Ryan wasn't quite alive yet from the way the wound in his chest still gaped open – struggled for a second, but then his Control Medal started glowing. The glow was accompanied by the tingle in his forehead that let him know that his own Control Medal was glowing as well. The Guyver that was healing his friend, even as he watched, came along with them quietly after that.
+What the hell… Fukamachi, how the hell did you manage to gain power like that?!+
+I… I don't really know, Agito. I just— I felt something calling to me. Something almost like the Guyver, and yet not. It happened just as I decided I was going to get Ryan so we could leave.+
+Leave?+ Agito demanded, sounding more angry than Sho had ever heard him sound before. +What do you mean, leave? This is the best, and most likely the only, opportunity that we will have to destroy the Pillars of Heaven. With that new power of yours, even a Zoalord would be unable to defeat you, and you want us to leave?! What are you thinking, Fukamachi?!+
+Ryan hasn't revived yet. He's going to need some time before he can fight with us. I can also sense two more Zoalords in this building. I don't know why they haven't attacked yet, but-+
+What does that matter? This new armor of yours seems powerful enough to destroy any of Chronos' Zoalords.+
+Ryan needs to be taken someplace where he can be safe until he heals. And I don't really know very much about this armor I'm wearing. What if it fails?+
XxXxX
Seething, knowing that he would not be able to secure Fukamachi's cooperation until Crouger was brought to a secure location, Agito decided to forgo an argument he knew was futile. It was just like Fukamachi: he had received power that a normal human could never hope to attain, and all he could think of was escape. It was almost the exact same scenario that had played out when the boy had first come into possession of the Guyver itself.
+You know that Chronos will never allow us to live freely in this area,+ he pointed out, both for practical reasons and because he was rather annoyed with Fukamachi for being so weak-willed. +They will send tracker-Zoanoids after us; we will be forced to leave the safehouse and find a new place to stay.+
+I know, Agito, but Ryan needs this. You know what the Guyver is capable of, what it would do without Ryan to control it.+
As much as he hated to admit such a thing, Fukamachi's argument was a logical one. Without a host to exert mental control over the armor, the Guyver would classify any and every moving thing in the area as a potential threat and act accordingly. Crouger, as crude and childish as he could be, was still preferable to a rampant Guyver Unit who was unable to distinguish friend from foe.