I Will Not Bow

Now the dark begins to rise
Save your breath, it's far from over
Leave the lost and dead behind
Now's your chance to run for cover

He was always evil. As a child, when he pushed the other children down and laughed at their pathetic cries and bleeding knees, he had been evil. When he had grasped his first bey tightly in his hand and broken its will in order to more tightly dominate it, he had been evil. When he had shattered others' spirits, claimed their power for his own, maniacally laughing as he watched their dreams fade from their eyes, he had been evil. And when the dark abyss had risen up in his soul, taken his mind from him, he had been evil.

I don't wanna change the world
I just wanna leave it colder
Light the fuse and burn it up
Take the path that leads to nowhere

At first it had been his desire to rule the world, to force it into submission, that had fueled his control over L-Drago. The will to dominate the stronger bey had been solely his own, not borrowed from someone else. L-Drago was merely a means to an end. Until those whispered words began sounding in his ears, lacing an evil taint into his dreams. Domination was no longer his goal. Destruction was his goal, his only desire. To burn the cities, destroy the forests and rivers and oceans. To freeze everything in an infinite display of his power and to control a world where no one but Ryuuga was left standing. To be the only one capable of anything. To rule a dying world that had been completely obliterated by his gaze, by his hand, by his will.

All is lost again
But I'm not giving in

I will not bow
I will not break
I will shut the world away
I will not fall
I will not fade
I will take your breath away

But despite his evil, Ryuuga was a blader. A blader who above all wished for control. And he recognized he was no longer in control, that the dark power had consumed him, had turned him into a hideous monster. When green clashed with purple and he'd felt free and ready to take back his own spirit, to resurrect his pride and honor, he had been struck down and crushed. Just as he had crushed others, he was now shattered and trapped. Trapped within his own mind, screaming screaming, to be released, with no hope of escape from the madness that overtook his body. While he cowered, alone, in the darkest corners of his mind, he saved his strength until the time came for him to reclaim Ryuuga from the clutches of the Dragon.

Watch the end through dying eyes
Now the dark is taking over
Show me where forever dies
Take the fall and run to Heaven

He watched, as if through a haze, as the last shred of sanity was torn from him and the bloodthirsty dragon overtook his body, ripping and tearing his humanity from him. He clawed and screamed and raged and tried to escape. He swore and promised vengeance and beat against the chains restraining him in the abyss. He cried and sobbed and desperately wished for help, for release from the all consuming darkness eating away at his body, at himself. At his very essence. At his blader spirit; a spirit so crushed and oppressed and beat down that it was nothing more but a bruised, bloody heap in the recesses of his crazed mind.

And I'll survive, paranoid
I have lost the will to change
And I'm not proud, cold-blooded fake
I will shut the world away

When help arrived, through the pleading voice of his rival, trickling like grains of sand into his dark prison, he seized it like a drowning man clings to a lifeline. It took everything inside of him to pull himself out of the never ending abyss, to crawl out of the shaft of darkness confining him. But when he saw the sun, emerged from the shadows, into a world partly destroyed by his insane tyranny, he shied away from it in shame. He picked through rubble and debris left behind in the terrifying wake of his power struggle, only to pluck the very source of his troubles out of crushed stone. And instead of turning towards those who had saved him, Ryuuga ran away, out of reach of their judging eyes. He left behind the world he knew- or thought he knew- in search of something different. Of something better. Himself.

I will not bow
I will not break
I will shut the world away
I will not fall
I will not fade
I will take your breath away

A/N: I do not own the song I Will Not Bow by Breaking Benjamin. Though it is a fantastic song. And perfect for Ryuuga, I think. Tell me what you think of this? I love Ryuuga and inspiration just struck me when I heard this song. This chapter is best read while listening to it.

Thoughts? Opinions? Yea or Nay?

Chaos