Me: (Asleep and snoring)

Hyoma: Er...what's wrong with her?

Hikaru: She's asleep.

Hyoma: Well I can see that genious. Is there a reason why.

Hikaru: She's didn't get to bed until like...midnight for the last two nights.

Hyoma: Again, why?

Tsubasa: The musical she signed up for has been showing every night since Sunday. She's practically dead on her feet.

Hyoma: Oh, okay. So, who's doing the disclaimer?

Hikaru: I'll do it. Sharkey52 doesn't own Metal Fight Beyblade, only Shouta and Pavo her OCs.

Tsubasa: So, hands up for escaping whilst she's asleep.

Hyoma and Hikaru: (Raise hands) Agreed!

Hyoma, Hikaru and Tsubasa: (Tiptoe away as fast as possible)

The Light and Darkness Chronicles

Chapter Eleven - Pride

The nightmare begins again. He's inside the cavern, lit only by candles and the blue-white glow of the ice behind him. He is smiling, feeling the power surge around him. The only speck of light inside him is the faint glow, soon to be extinguished, hiding at the back of his mind. All the rest was pure darkness. He felt glorious, powerful, feeling no remorse for the sadness he had brought or the lives he had saved.

All that was left were these three. He couldn't see their faces, but they were all about to launch beys. The three spinning tops, purple, red and blue, came speeding towards him. Their face bolts glowed and their spirits emerged. The one on the left was an eagle, purple and white in colour, king of the skies. On the right was just an enormous wave, powerful and surging with blue, ruler of the seas. In the middle though was a ram, a mixture of red and purple which made a deep clay colour; strong and proud, guardian of the earth. Earth, sea and sky were coming together, attempting to destroy him. Attempting to kill him.

'No' he thought in despair 'No! Why! Why did you?' This time he knew what was attacking him. A purple eagle: Earth Aquila. A blue wave: Storm Aquario. And now: a red ram.

"Aries?" he breathed "Why? Why are you doing this? What did I do wrong?" The ram bleated, and he despaired as he found he couldn't understand what his sibling-like friend was saying, only that it was a threat. His body shook and the light still plaguing him pulsed quickly in his mind in replacement of his missing heartbeat. What's this? Was he afraid? Afraid to die? He nods. Yes this time. This time he knew he was afraid.

"NO!" He screamed, clutching his head and covering his ears, his short hair also caught in the death grip. This time he really did fall to his knees. Before him, the three spirits joined together, forming a giant swirl of white light. He had barely enough time to brace himself before it made impact. The splitting pain inside his head was joined by a second one, this time from his stomach. Although this pain seemed better than the first, it was still excruciating enough to make him give out an agonised scream. He was flung backwards into something cold, but he didn't fall down again. He felt said cold article creeping over his wrists and ankles, binding him, forcing him to become part of the wall.

'Ice' he thought, screwing his eyes shut 'No! Not ice! Anything but ice!' But his arms and legs were already frozen. The ice spread across his stomach and chest, crawling towards his neck, pinning him to the ice wall.

"No! Aries! How could…!" his scream was cut off as the ice sealed his mouth shut. He had just enough time to register the numbness of his body and the feeling the light at the back of his mind had vanished before he lost consciousness.

"Hyoma! Hyoma stop it! Hyoma!" Hyoma jolted up, dampened with sweat and a terrified look in his eyes.

"Ow! Will you please stop doing that?" Hyoma didn't register the fallen Hokuto yelling at him on the floor.

"It's them!" he cried "They did this! How could they? WHY?"

"Hyoma please calm down!" Hokuto tried to calm him "Who are you talking about?"

"Them!" Hyoma cried, in a state of panic and anger "Tsubasa and Hikaru! Why though? What did I do to them?"

A bleat echoed through the room. Hyoma turned his head and saw Aries looking at him.

"YOU!" he screamed "How could you? What did I do to you? WHY?"

"HYOMA! ENOUGH!" Hokuto barked "Start from the beginning. Why are you so angry at Aries?" Hyoma gave a cry of fury before spinning onto his front and burying his head into a cushion. He was probably crying, but that was the least of his priorities now. Finally he raised his head, looking at nothing in particular.

"He attacked me" Hyoma answered "Aries. Along with Storm Aquario and Earth Aquila. Those are Tsubasa and Hikaru's beys. But…" He looked at Hokuto "Why would they attack me? I helped Tsubasa when he was in trouble. And Hikaru…" He stared into space again "Why?"

"Well, what do those two have in common?" Hokuto asked.

"I…don't know" Hyoma bit his lip "They've only known each other for a little while, they weren't even on the team together for Big Bang Bladers. So what could…" He broke off and his eyes widened "L-Drago!" Aries bleated.

"Yes, they both faced Ryuga whilst he bore Lightning L-Drago" Hyoma nodded "But…no it doesn't make sense. Aries was there, and I never faced L-Drago…" He sighed "Nothing makes sense. And still, it doesn't explain why they'd attack me like that."

"Are you sure they were attacking you?" Hokuto asked.

"I would know if someone was trying to kill me Hokuto" Hyoma frowned, kneeling up and folding his arms.

"No, but are you sure you were the one being attacked?" Hokuto asked "You said they were like memories. Are you sure they're supposed to be your memories." Hyoma cocked his head to the side in confusion "What if the memories were actually L-Drago's, then it's possible Aries, Aquario and Aquila attacked it at some point."

"Maybe" Hyoma groaned. He automatically realised there were at least three people who were more suited to dealing with a situation like this than him. First there was Ginga: he had faced L-Drago twice and ultimately stopped it's rampaging. Then there was Ryuga: need I say more? And finally there was Tsubasa: the one who'd destroyed the last fragment of the dark force with nothing but his own mind.

"Face it Hyoma" Hokuto barked "You need help." Hyoma sighed.

"…If it is L-Drago, you're right" he agreed "But who do I ask? Ginga always had Pegasus to battle L-Drago, and I can't exactly give Ryuga a phone call. And Tsubasa…" He faltered.

'Wait, why not Tsubasa?' he thought 'I mean, what do I hold against him? He might be the best suited to tackle nightmares. After all, he had them too.'

"Will Ginga have Tsubasa's phone number?" Hyoma looked at his companions. Aries bleated.

"E-mail Ginga to ask him?" Hyoma asked "But ask what? I can't exactly go up and ask 'Sorry Ginga old pal, but I've been having a few nightmares. Can you ask Tsubasa if he thinks the dark force is trying to take over the world again?'"

"Sarcasm won't write an e-mail" Hokuto sighed "Just ask Ginga to ask Tsubasa is he felt his nightmares were like memories. If they were, we know what we're dealing with and how to counter it."

"And if we're not?" Hyoma asked, then sighed "Alright, fine. I'll e-mail him." He groggily got up from the sofa and headed over to the old computer that Ryo had left behind last time he visited. He'd laughed something about Hyoma 'needing to learn to love technology'. But to Hyoma he found it a bit of a waste. I mean, what was so hard about opening an envelope? According to the Haganes, a lot.

"Do you really think Tsubasa will want to help?" Hyoma looked at Hokuto and Aries who were, as ever, staring at him to make sure he didn't change his mind.

"You won't know until you try" Hokuto sighed "Now come on. Put your pride aside and ask for help!" Aries bleated something that Hokuto agreed with "Yep, humans and their pride."

It was two days later Hyoma got a reply. He'd had one nightmare out of the two nights he'd waited and, since this was now a weekend, he'd decided against doing anything strenuous and taking a day off. So, the three of them had resorted to playing draughts. Aries and Hokuto were currently winning by one counter.

"You've got to make a move Hyoma" Hokuto sighed. Aries bleated and nodded.

"Alright, alright! Give me time to think!" Hyoma complained, lying on his front on the floor with his head in his hands. "It's not my fault you've bottlenecked my lead counter!" He looked across the board, considering his options.

"Come on!" Hokuto barked "Time's awastin'!"

"Alright! Keep your fur on!" Hyoma tried to calm the white dog down. Finally he slid a counter diagonally "There."

The phone rang. Hyoma looked up, startled. He didn't often receive phone calls. Only Shouta used the phone since the entire gang communicated by e-mail mostly. He quickly got up and picked up the phone.

"Hyoma speaking."

"Hyoma? It's me, Ginga. I got your e-mail." It was like receiving an electric shock. Hyoma was suddenly on high alert.

"Well? Did he?" He asked quickly.

"Are you all right? You sounded rather... urgent."

"Did he?" He asked again, a note of urgency in his voice.

"Why do you need to know? Are you in trouble?"

"Just answer me! Did Tsubasa feel those nightmares were like memories or not?" Ginga stayed silent for a few seconds, before finally replying:

"No. Not all of them. Only the ones he had when he was being provoked in battle." Hyoma sank down onto the sofa, breathing heavily. One more thing to worry about.

"Hyoma? You still there?"

"Yes" he breathed.

"Good, because I want to know why you are so worried."

"I'm not..."

"You honestly expect me to believe that? You're panicking. And you never panic." Hyoma admitted defeat and sighed. There was nothing he could keep from Ginga.

"It's just... it's nothing. Just something I was wondering about L-Drago's power."

"...What else?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're not one to panic easily. For you to get this worked up, there must be more." Hyoma wished Ginga was less astute at times. Sure he wasn't really any better but he didn't really want to drag Ginga into this. He deserved a break from all this 'Dark Force' stuff.

"Just... some weird stuff. Coincidences, but too much of them."

"Such as...?"

"Weird dreams. Pain. And hatred."

"What kind of hatred?" Hyoma kept silent at this question.

"What kind of hatred?" Ginga repeated.

"It's like I hate someone, only I don't, but it feels like it." Ginga stayed silent so Hyoma guessed he wanted more answers "I-I think it has something to do with L-Drago's power." He was surprised at how matter-of-factly the statement sounded.

Ginga stayed silent for a long while, something that worried Hyoma greatly. Ginga was never quiet.

"Anything else you're worried about?"

So Hyoma decided it might be better to tell the whole story. Ginga probably wouldn't stop asking anyway, and it felt rather refreshing to tell an outsider about the past few weeks.

"Dreams? Nightmares?" Ginga's replies were becoming shorter and shorter after the explanation.

"Two are more or less the same, I think. Fear and pain. But there's someone talking to me in the second one... It's probably nothing."

"I doubt that. You think L-Drago's darkness is taking over?"

"Yes."

"It doesn't sound like it." Hyoma did a double take.

"What else can it be?"

"I get into a lot of weird situations. And so do you, on my account."

"True..." he didn't really know what else to say.

"That person who's talking to you, what is he doing in your dreams?"

"Telling me to fight."

"To fight?"

"Yes..." Hyoma already knew where Ginga was going "Dream number three's different though. I'm being hurt again, but this time I have desire to protect someone."

"And yet you hate them later on. Why?"

"I don't know... There's pain in the last one too, but different. As if I'm burning from the inside out."

"... I think that you can be helped."

"How? Where?"

"I want you to stay where you are. I doubt that L-Drago's dark force is causing this, but if you get any more nightmares, contact me right away."

"But..." Hyoma began.

"Stay where you are" Ginga repeated "I think Hokuto and your friend Shouta are capable of taking care of you for the time being. Just stay there."

A dry click resounded. Hyoma stared at the phone incredulously for a second, not quite sure whether he should feel relieved or confused. He resignedly put the phone back down. Aries bleated.

"Good or bad news?" Hyoma repeated "I…I wish I knew Aries. I really do."