-sobbing in emo corner- I'M NOT SORRY! I HAVE BEEN PLANNING THIS FROM THE BEGINNING AND I'M NOT SORRY. Okaymaybejustalittlebitbutnotreally. FEEEEEELLLLLSSS. -maniacal giggling- You are welcome. Plot twists FTW!

Total foreshadowing count: 94. (Wow, not nearly the amount that it has been the last few chapters, that's only four new pieces, but I suppose that's because I was more focused on the plot twist in this chapter.)


"So… Madoka's… Dead… Tsubasa and Zero are off trying to find the others… And we're doing the same?" Benkei said, panting slightly as he jogged behind Gingka and next to Ryo, who had just explained what was going on to him.

"Yeah… Don't mention Madoka to Gingka. He's taken a hard hit as it is without someone bringing it up. I don't want to know what he might do if another one of us were to die." Ryo said softly.

Benkei nodded. "At least that explains the gloom surrounding him right now…"

The two looked back towards the redhead running a few steps ahead of them, blue flames flickering wildly and almost ominously around him, a slight tint of darkness to them that was not normally present, but that reflected the sorrow in the redhead's mind in frightening fashion. Benkei and Ryo glanced back at each other, concern in both of their eyes at the pain of their comrade.

"There's another Arrangement system here." Gingka said. "I think we're in the normal hallways too."

"What makes you think that?" Benkei asked, blinking.

Gingka sweatdropped and pointed to a sign that was just slightly ahead. "I don't know about you, but 'Arrangement Rooms 10-19' is a pretty good indicator. Ziggurat wouldn't just label it for us, but he would label it for his employees."

"Good thinking. You're probably right." Ryo said, smiling at his son, while Benkei looked embarrassed at having not noticed the sign.

"Let's all try one and see if we can find anyone." Gingka said, stepping through a doorway after using Pegasus to blow it open.

"How long has Pegasus been spinning, exactly?" Benkei asked, noting that Gingka hadn't launched or caught Pegasus up again.

"Since before he met up with me and Tsubasa earlier… Frankly, I'm surprised he hasn't gotten tired just from the exertion of controlling it all this time." Ryo sighed. "It has to have been at least an hour, although I can't say for sure."

Benkei frowned. "Even for a bey as strong as Pegasus… That's pretty unusual, for an attack type. Even a stamina type would have trouble going that long."

Ryo nodded. "Fireblaze can't even last more than twenty minutes and it's a fairly strong stamina type, although admittedly not the strongest. Either way, we'd best get this done and get Gingka out of here to rest. He's nearly collapsed a couple of times and I'm getting worried."

"I don't think you have much to worry about. You're always here to protect him." Benkei pointed out.

"Yeah, but… What if I'm ever not…?" Ryo asked softly.

"Let's not worry about that." Benkei said, slipping into another room to see if there was anyone in there, while Ryo sighed and went into a third.

Gingka, in the meantime, found that the room he had stepped into was rather dark. He hesitated for a moment, feeling uncomfortable in this darkness, but soon enough, he managed to use Pegasus's power to light it up brilliantly.

"You really think you can win this, Gingka?"

Gingka narrowed his eyes at the figure he saw just across the room. "Ziggurat." He growled, anger beginning to fill him again at the sight of the mastermind behind the nightmare of a day he was having.

"Oh please, is that any way to greet an old friend?"

"I wouldn't exactly call you a friend, especially not after what you've done here today."

"I'm not the one bloodstained here, Hagane." Ziggurat pointed out.

Gingka glanced down at his reddened clothing for an instant before looking back up and growling. "Even hands not literally stained with blood can be guilty of shedding it. And you are."

"Oh, please. I didn't kill her. You did." Ziggurat laughed.

"No. You tricked me. I would have never had killed her if I had known."

"But that's just it now, isn't it?" Ziggurat's voice took on a condescending tone. "You didn't know, and now you have killed one of your best friends, if not… Someone who could have been more than a friend. You were too weak, Hagane. Too blind. Too naive."

Gingka clenched one fist at his side, growling angrily. He was nearing the point of losing control, and would have, had Madoka's voice not entered his mind again, this time much clearer and louder than before.

"Gingka, stop! Calm down! Stop fighting!"

Gingka stumbled back as if he had been hit in the chest by some sort of invisible force. He fell hard to his knees, panting.

Ziggurat raised an eyebrow before stepping back into the shadows and disappearing, just as Ryo entered and ran to his son.

"Gingka, what's wrong?!" Ryo exclaimed worriedly, kneeling next to his son and putting his arms around him to steady his swaying.

Gingka only let out a silent whimper, squeezing his eyes shut, but this didn't help at all. He could hear yelling from many directions, voices he couldn't quite make out, as if they were muffled and shouting through something.

"Gingka?!" Ryo's frantic and worried voice snapped Gingka back to his senses, and he opened his eyes, panting slightly with a thin layer of sweat coating him as his headache and the voices left once again, hopefully never to return, but who knew?

"I… I'm okay…" He whispered, finding himself almost laying down, his head and shoulders supported only by Ryo's arms around him.

"No, son… No you're not." Ryo said firmly. "You haven't been okay this whole time and we are going to get you out of here, right now."

"But… The others…" Gingka said, trying to stand only to find himself feeling suddenly weak and barely able to even move.

"You don't have to do it all on your own, son. We're all here. Benkei and I found the Unbara brothers. I'm sure Tsubasa and Zero have found some of the others too, but you cannot stay here any longer." Ryo said firmly.

"But…" Gingka again tried to stand, but this time, Ryo pushed him back down firmly.

"Don't, Gingka. Please. Don't push yourself. I would rather die than see you do this to yourself any longer." Ryo said, sorrow in his eyes as he spoke.

Gingka hesitated, torn between wanting to keep fighting and wanting to listen to his father. He did have to admit that he was tired, but he had never given up before. He had always fought until the end no matter what it took, no matter what the matter what, he had to make sure the others were okay. With this thought in his mind, he firmly pushed away Ryo's hands and stood on his own, looking around for an instant before spotting Pegasus and calling the bey to his feet.

"Gingka…" Ryo muttered under his breath, wishing his son would listen. But Gingka did not, turning and striding out of the room to continue checking the other rooms in the building, original mission back on his mind and his encounter with Ziggurat already forgotten.

"We have to find them." Gingka muttered firmly under his breath, striding down the hallway. He heard the footsteps of Ryo and Benkei hurrying along behind him as he entered another Arrangement room, smirking as he spotted another figure laying inside the system.

"Ren!" Benkei exclaimed, as Gingka calmly smashed through the system with Pegasus, disabling it. Benkei went over and carefully lifted the unconscious girl, pulling electrodes off her forehead as he did so. Within seconds, Ren awoke with a faint groan, her eyes fluttering open and meeting Benkei's before she tried to sit up. Benkei helped her stand and steadied her until she had regained full consciousness.

"Where are we?!" Ren asked, looking frightened.

"On the Spiral Force. We were kidnapped by Ziggurat and brought here. We just got you out of an Arrangement." Benkei explained quickly.

"But… I thought we were all just sitting in the B-Pit watching Gingka and Zero play Twister." Ren said.

"Well I thought that I was competing to win a lifetime supply of burgers but both were just a dream." Benkei said.

"I wish this all was…" Gingka whispered.

Ryo and Benkei looked at the redhead sympathetically, while Ren paused and looked confused and slightly frightened at the sorrowful expression and blood on Gingka's face and body, respectively.

"What…?" She began to ask, but Benkei stopped her with a quick shake of his head.

"Don't ask." He said softly so that only she could hear him.

Ryo went over to steady Gingka, who looked as if he were about to fall to his knees again. The younger redhead had put a hand to his forehead and had his eyes closed, breathing deeply as his headache threatened to return again.

"Gingka, please. We need to get you out of here and find out what's wrong. You can't deny that something is." Ryo said softly, trying to nudge Gingka towards the door and what he assumed had to be an exit.

Gingka shook his head. "I can't. I can't rest until everyone is safe."

"But you don't have to make everyone safe, Gingka." Ryo said firmly, keeping one arm around his son's shoulders to steady them as they began to walk again, heading for the next room.

"I do...I failed one person already… I have to make the others safe..." Gingka said, clenching his teeth together as tears threatened to spill again.

Ryo quickly stepped in front of his son and put both arms tightly around him. Gingka grunted in surprise, having bumped into Ryo, his face buried slightly in the coat the older redhead was wearing. His hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"We need to keep going…" He said firmly, unable to focus on anything other than trying to stay active, stay moving, stay searching for the rest of his friends in an attempt to keep his mind off of the one he had lost.

"Gingka… Stop… Please." Ryo said, refusing to let go of his son.

"I can't…" Gingka whispered. "It hurts if I stop… So I can't…"

"I know, my son... But you have to. Please." Ryo said, tightening his hold on his boy.

Gingka shook his head and tried to push himself away from Ryo. "I can't." He repeated in a firmer tone.

"Madoka would want you to." Ryo said softly.

"Madoka would want me to not give up, to fight until the end." Gingka snapped. "I failed her. I can't fail the others too."

"Gingka…" Ryo said softly.

Gingka pulled himself out of Ryo's embrace. "You don't understand…" He whispered, beginning to continue down the hallway again. "I killed her…"

"Gingka…" Ryo chased after his son. "I lost your mother, remember?"

"No, actually, I don't, because you never told me anything." Gingka snapped again, hurt and anger shining in his young eyes as he glared at his father.

Ryo, surprised at this, paused in his steps for a moment. "I know I didn't. But I do know what it's like to lose someone who you loved like that."

"But you can't understand." Gingka continued, turning away and continuing to walk down the hall.

"Gingka, stop this." Ryo said, firmly, continuing to chase after his son, who had reached a door and gone through it, only to find himself outside, standing on some sort of landing platform that was on the underside of the Spiral Force.

"I can't." Gingka growled, looking around for some other sort of indicator as to where he should go next.

Ryo sighed and pulled out his phone, pressing a few buttons on it before putting it away. "Gingka, we need to go. Come on. Sit down here and rest a little bit. It's okay to cry."

Gingka shook his head, pressing one hand to it as a sharp pain pulsed into his head once more. "No…" He said faintly, closing his eyes as everything seemed to close in around him despite the fact that they were nearly in open air, a fresh breeze blowing through the area from the openings that allowed for helicopters to land and take off from the Spiral Force.

"Gingka. Please." Ryo said.

"Does what I want to do right now mean nothing?" Gingka asked through clenched teeth.

Ryo looked slightly taken aback by this. "That's not at all what I meant, son. But you are clearly not okay, and that's why we need to get you out of here."

"Of course I'm not okay. How could I be okay with this nightmare of a day?!" Gingka snapped angrily, Pegasus pulsating as if to punctuate his words.

"Gingka… Calm down." Ryo said, trying to approach his son, but the redhead only backed away, shaking his head.

"I'm not a child anymore, Dad… I can handle this."

"I know, Gingka. But you're my son. Please. Let me help you."

"I have to fight…" Gingka whispered, continuing to back away and dodge Ryo's attempts at reaching him.

"No, son. You don't." Ryo said, trying to catch his son. "Come on. Please. Come back to Koma, and we'll just hang out there together. You haven't been home in a long time. Please."

"We have to find the others." Gingka said firmly, continuing to back away.

"Tsubasa and Zero can do that. Benkei and Ren can help them. There are enough people to finish the job. You don't have to stay here." Ryo said.

Gingka shook his head, tears falling freely as he found himself unable to hinder them. "No… I have to stop this nightmare… I have to save them… That's my job… It's always been."

"Then let someone else do it for once, Gingka. You found Benkei and Ren. You got me and Tsubasa out of our trouble and you rescued Zero. Let the rest of us take it from here. You need to rest."

Gingka shook his head, trembling slightly.

"Gingka, please. I'm your father. Let me do my job. I won't be around forever. Let me do it while I can." Ryo pleaded, noting with slight worry that Gingka was just about to back off the edge of the platform.

"No…" Gingka whispered, hearing the sound of a helicopter approaching from the distance.

Ryo stopped walking forwards, realizing that Gingka had not yet noticed the ledge inches behind his feet. The redhead took one more step back, but his foot met only empty air. The younger redhead gasped sharply as he began to fall backwards.

In that instant, Ryo lunged forwards, all of his parental instincts taking hold at once. The wind picked up further from the helicopter that was approaching them from slightly below the platform. Ryo reached and managed to grab hold of the edge of Gingka's jacket, yanking the younger redhead back upwards and throwing him back atop the platform.

Gingka yelped, not really realizing what had happened before he found himself suddenly flung on his face, just inside the landing platform. He laid there for a moment, trembling and making sure that he really was on solid ground. The sound of the helicopter suddenly faltered before cutting out altogether. It grew deathly quiet, and Gingka slowly sat up, looking around and finding himself alone.

"...D-Dad?" He called, trembling violently and forgetting about his headache altogether as his mind became frantic. Where was Ryo? Gingka knew that his father should have been there, should have been right beside him- But he wasn't. A sickening feeling settled into Gingka's stomach, and he shakily crawled over to the edge of the platform, barely daring to look down, but look down he did- Just in time to see the helicopter that had been approaching plummet into the ocean, its blades badly damaged and not spinning, as Gingka was able to notice just before the machine hit the water and exploded with a dull, booming noise.

"No…" Gingka whispered, horrified. "No… Please no…" He stood, looking around frantically for any sign of his father, but he found none. There was no indication of where Ryo had gone except for the floating debris from the exploded helicopter below.

"Oh good, you're here too… Where's your dad?" Tsubasa's voice came from behind him, as the silver-haired man raced in with Zero and the others, Benkei and Ren included.

Gingka barely dared turn around, but he did, a look of utter shock and pain implanted on his face in a way that felt as if it would be permanent.

"H-he..." Gingka stammered, barely able to say what he had just realized to be true.

"He's dead…"


Ughh... Why why WHY do I do this to myself, anyway? I was literally shaking while writing that last part. It was sorta weird. Aaaaannnnyyyywwwwaaaaaaayyyyy, now that you all hate me... Again... Hehehe... Not sorry... Until next time, Galaxy out!