Aptom, whistling jauntily the way Zancrus always did when he wanted to annoy Zektor, hopped through the trees that surrounded Mt. Minakami. The remaining members of Team Five, all three of them, had either given up their search for him or had been recalled by that old coot Dr. Balkus; Aptom didn’t particularly care which. He had long since abandoned the fused form of Elegen and Zancrus that he had jokingly called Elecrus.

Team Five hadn’t found Aptom’s sense of humor particularly appealing, but Team Five could go do obscene things with Dr. Balkus for all he cared. Back in his humanoid form but without a stitch of clothing on, Aptom raced carelessly through the treetops. The wind felt nice on his skin, and his epidermal layers were tough enough that he didn’t even need to worry about mundane things like splinters or the like.

Zancrus and Elegen, when they had discovered that they both still existed in a sense, had started cursing at him and demanding to be set free. Or at least Elegen had. Zancrus however, had started panicking when he realized that he couldn’t really see or hear anything. His mind had pretty much folded after that; despite Elegen’s repeated attempts to bring him out of himself. Aptom thought it was hilarious; a member of the vaunted Hyper Zoanoid Team Five had had a paralyzing fear of enclosed spaces and old man Balkus hadn’t even noticed.

Looking down at the surrounding area, Aptom quickly spotted the group of Standard Zoanoids poking around. Looking down at them, Aptom noticed that they weren’t just randomly patrolling. There was too much purpose to their movements for them to be in this area just by coincidence, which Aptom wasn’t certain he really believed in anyway. No, there were really only two reasons for these Zoanoids to be out this far from Mt. Minakami: because they were searching for the Guyvers, or because they were searching for him.

Aptom grinned. Ahh, the late lunch special. What better way to conclude an afternoon of strenuous exercise? Aptom’s chuckle was low enough that even the enhanced hearing of a Zoalord would have had a hard time picking it up. Leaping out of the tree he’d been perched in, Aptom saw the looks on the Zoanoids’ faces go from surprise to sheer astonishment to fear in about a minute. Let’s see what they look like when I’m snacking on them.

Blasting one of them with a low-power shot from his hand beam, Aptom grabbed another around the neck. His helmet shattered under the punch Aptom hit it with, and the rest of his uniform was torn to shreds when he involuntarily transformed when Aptom started feeding. The other Zoanoids tried to run, but Aptom whipped out Elegen’s tentacles and stunned all of them with a few hundred volts. Giggling as his extra appendages wrapped around the bodies of his prey, Aptom happily began to gorge himself on their flesh.

Standard Zoanoids wouldn’t really provide him with any extra powers of course, not the way that Hyper Zoanoids could, and especially not this bunch of Gregole and Ramochis. But he was still hungry, and they were all there for the taking, and so he’d decided to have a quick meal. The screams of the Zoanoids as they became a part of him weren’t quite as fun to hear as those of Elegen and Zancrus had been, but the Standard Zoanoids fed his hunger just as well as the Hyper Zoanoids had.

And that was really the most important part, the screaming was really just a bonus. It was a fun bonus, Aptom wouldn’t deny that, but what mattered most was the sustenance to be gained when he fed. Or at least, that was what Aptom told himself.

XxXxX

As they headed deeper into the monorail tunnel that would take them into Mt. Minakami, and from there into Relics Point, Agito looked back at his companions. Fukamachi and Segawa were huddled together, seemingly trying not to so much as touch the walls surrounding them. Agito knew for a fact that neither of them was claustrophobic, since he would have found out about such a weakness a great deal sooner. It was more likely that they were simply unnerved by the fact that they would soon be walking into the heart of an enemy stronghold.

In fact, if Agito hadn’t been so well trained at concealing his own emotions, the group who he had first come into this place might have found out that the thought of walking right back into the largest Chronos laboratory that currently operated in Japan had been something of an unnerving experience for him as well.

"You’ve no need to worry," Agito repeated, trying to reassure the both of them. "As I said before, we will be quite safe once we get into Relics Point."

"Agito," Segawa paused, seeming to gather herself for what she was going to ask next. "Are my brother and our friends really safe down there?"

"Yes, they are," Agito said, and it took only a minute amount of his control to keep from being snappish. He had already told her this fact, of course. "The basement of Relics Point is quite safe for us, I assure you."

"All right," Segawa nodded, evidently deciding to take his word for it.

Agito was relieved that she didn’t seem to need any more convincing. Finally spotting the large case that had been left on the floor of the tunnel, shoved mostly out of sight behind a small pile of rubble, Agito nodded to himself.

"I just need to retrieve something before we can continue into Mt. Minakami," Agito said. "By the way, Fukamachi, it was considerate of you to retain possession of that Chronos uniform I gave you. It spared me the trouble of trying to steal another one."

"You’re welcome, I guess," Fukamachi seemed confused.

Crouching beside the case, Agito undid the catches that held it closed and then opened the case itself. Inside were two Chronos uniform helmets, one with a uniform jumpsuit rolled up inside it, another Chronos uniform jumpsuit, and two pairs of boots. The case itself was large enough to hold a person with varying degrees of comfort depending on their size. Mizuki would easily be able to fit inside.

"What do we do now, Agito?" Sho asked.

"First, Fukamachi, we get dressed in these," Agito stated calmly. "Remove your outer clothing first; you might recall that these uniforms are skintight."

"Right," Sho nodded, holding up the jumpsuit and stretching the fabric a bit. "Mizuki, could you…?"

"What? Oh, right," Mizuki blushed slightly as she turned away from Agito and Sho.