Nabeshima was restrained in the same laboratory that had been doing experiments on Sento, Ryuga and countless others. This was not the first time he had been there either. The Cobra motif Rider had brought him back 'home' for another round of nebula gas.
"AAARRRGGGHHH!"
Nabeshima broke free from his restraints. His eyes glowed with powerful energy as he snapped the bands on his wrists with easy. Several of the scientists were unlucky enough to get in his way. Two of them were thrown aside like nothing, while a third was kicked. All three were now laying, unmoving on the floor.
A plume of grey smoke rose from his transforming body and shrouded him for a few moments.
As the smoke receded, his new Smash form was revealed.
This time, his appearance had changed drastically. The Smash consisted of blue tubes, his right arm replaced by a sword, and his chest formed by a yellow cube-like structure. The upper torso was akin to a partially shattered yellow square, topped with a smaller square for the head.
Numerous test subjects were shackled to adjacent beds. As they writhed in fear, an armored figure strolled by. With a coarse gesture, he ran his hand across the face of a bound man, an almost taunting parody of a tender stroke.
It was the dark Kamen Rider, Night Rouge.
"Hhhmmm, It seems a second dose results in fundamentally different power."
Approaching the transformed Nabeshima, Night Rouge began to clap his hands, once again in an exaggeratedly mocking manner.
The Smash noticed him, and sprinted towards the Rider.
The creature threw a punch, but it failed to make contact. In the final moment, Night Rouge effortlessly raised his left arm, intercepting the blow. The monster's attack halted just an inch from Night Rouge's helmet.
Night Rouge cocked his head slightly and chuckled. Before the Smash could move again, its arm was twisted. It was hurled through the air towards the ground as if it weighed nothing.
As Night Rouge tossed the Smash, he sprang towards the laboratory's ceiling, alighting feet-first on the polished concrete. From his upside-down stance, he peered at the Smash below, drew his weapon, and fired at the Smash.
Bang Bang Bang!
Sparks flew everywhere as the ammunition fired deflected off the sturdy creatures armor like body.
It squealed in pain but wasn't too injured. Night Rouge pushed hard with his legs, launching himself through the air downwards toward his opponent.
He swiveled in the air last moment to orient himself so that he was no longer upside down, as he neared he aimed his weapon and unleased another torrent of gunfire.
Night Rouge closed in for melee combat, when he was right above the blue and yellow beast he deftly landed on its shoulders and then kicked away from the Smash with remarkable agility.
He sprang back towards the dazed creature and unleashed a surge of electricity upon its face, his fist at the epicenter of the assault.
Night Rouge leered overtop of the downed Smash, clearly the winner.
"One of our goals is creating the most powerful lifeform..."
He wagged his finger in the Smash's face as he talked to himself.
"...What would happen if a human exposed to Smash essence was given another dose...?"
He pounded on the chest of the Smash several times, as if the thumps were a weird form of punctuation.
"We most certainly are going to have to test that theory..."
...
Touto Institute of Advanced Matter Physics
A little while later, Sento had sought out his boss at work.
He found them in the lower atrium, where the Pandora's Box had been on display when Sento had first applied.
He held up a tablet with some footage from several years ago playing on the screen.
"This footage is of the Sky Wall Tragedy."
Gentoku and his assistant, Nariaki both looked surprised.
Nariaki reached out and grabbed onto Sento's device, glaring at him.
"All footage from that day was contained by the government. Where did you find this?!"
Gentoku waved his hand dismissively at the other two, "Come now, it's fine."
There were a couple receptionists and two guards standing nearby, Gentoku turned his head to look at them.
"Could you step aside for a moment?"
He motioned at the guards who were still standing perfectly still next. "The two of you, as well."
The four employees all nodded their heads. The guards escorted the receptionists towards a nearby set of stairs once they had risen from their seats.
Gentoku looked at Nariaki. "Go on, give it back."
"Right..." Nariaki just stared at Sento while holding his device in the air.
"Gimme!" Sento exclaimed, reclaiming his tablet from Nariaki with astonishing quickness. He exaggerated the motion, ensuring it was overly dramatic as he retrieved his possession.
Sento glared at Nariaki and then hurried to catch up with Gentoku while dragging his finger across the screen, finding what he wanted to show his boss. He held the tablet in front of Gentoku.
"First, take a look at this..."
Sento pressed play on the device and started explaining what he had done to the video.
"I applied a special filter to dampen the light from Pandora's Box."
The images flashed across the screen, Sento paused on the moment the he was looking for.
"As you can see, when the astronaut tried to open the box, the sides changed color...And now look here."
He played the video for a few more frames and paused again.
"Check this out! Two panels, here and here, came off the side of the box....But the box itself hasn't change shape."
Sento looked back and forth between Gentoku and Nariaki excitedly. "This proves that the box has multiple layers...It also means that there were two green panels on the surface of Pandora's Box originally."
Gentoku's smile grew at Sento's mounting excitement. However, his reply was not what Sento had anticipated. "And yet, there's no proof of that...Are we done?"
He clapped Sento on the shoulder with one hand as he started walking away.
Sento narrowed his eyes and ran back in front of Gentoku, getting in his face.
"That footage is 100% authentic. Those green panels are real!"
Nariaki lost his patience and rushed towards Sento, grabbing him by the shoulders and shoving him away from his boss. "That's enough!"
Nariaki glared at him and made sure to position himself between Sento and Gentoku.
"We are done here."
The two started walking away as Sento just stood there.
After a few moments had passed, Sento swiveled around and yelled after them.
"I think you know something about this chief!"
Sento's face changed to a look of seriousness. "Please...tell me."
Nariaki and Gentoku both stopped walking after hearing Sento's outburst.
After a few moments of no response, Sento continued asking. "Where are the green panels?"
Gentoku finally whipped around and snapped at Sento. "They never existed! Give it a rest-"
"Were they stolen?" Sento cut his boss off. He walked closer to Gentoku until he was in his face again. "Were they stolen...by Faust?" He raised his eyebrows, looking at his bosses face, hoping to see any change in his expression.
"You...!" Nariaki grabbed Sento by the arm and raised a hand to strike him.
"Utsumi!" Gentoku yelled at Nariaki, calling him by his last name. He gently peeled Nariaki's hand away from Sento's arm.
He started to circle around Sento, his voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper. "Where did you hear about them?... It's as you say. Pandora's Box had at least two layers."
Gentoku glanced over his shoulder, ensuring they were still alone, before his gaze darted back and forth between Sento and Nariaki. "But three years ago, the surface panels were stolen."
Sento's brow furrowed as he looked at Gentoku, confusion evident in his questioning eyes. "Why are you hiding all that?"
With a resigned expression, Gentoku raised both of his arms, palms open, to show his apparent helplessness. "It'd be a huge problem if anyone found out... Both Seito and Hokuto are after the energy source within the box."
A palpable tension hung in the air, thick with secrecy and the weight of what was at stake. Sento felt a knot tightening in his stomach—this was bigger than he'd initially thought. "Okay, fine, but how'd Faust get past all the security?" With Gentoku finally willing to talk, Sento seized the moment, determined to uncover every hidden detail.
Gentoku shrugged, the motion full of frustration. "Who knows?... At the time, there were rumors of them having an inside man. This is him."
With a deft flick of his finger, Gentoku advanced the video on Sento's device by a few seconds. The screen illuminated with a grainy image of a man, clad in a space program uniform, his ball cap pulled low, casting shadows over his eyes.
"An astronaut..." Sento murmured, the realization curling at the edges of his awareness.
Nariaki crossed his arms, his gaze locked onto Gentoku for a few seconds before he turned to glare at Sento again. "And what happens if we expose this? If both Seito and Hokuto are on the hunt, the fallout could be catastrophic."
Gentoku's eyes darted around nervously. "That's why it needs to be handled delicately. If word gets out, we'll have more than just political factions clashing; it could ignite a full-scale war. No one wants to claim that Faust belongs to them."