SlippingSanity: I am so sorry for taking so long to update! I really just haven't been on the computer at all lately. To busy doing stuff and stuff… yeah… Once again I am sorry! Enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh GX, nor do I own any of its characters. I am only borrowing them for this plot, and make no money from this. Yugioh Gx belongs to Kazuki Takahashi and to the many others that contributed to the GX creation. I take no credit; I am simply borrowing the characters for the plotline. Also, I apologize in advance if this is so odd and crappy! I couldn't hold the attention span to reread my other chapters (I still probably won't -_-...). I think it came out great though. Alot of drama and some more character development.

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Chapter Eleven

Scarlet Rings: Drive

Drive: To make an effort to reach or achieve an objective; aim.

Jaden stared at the stars as he sat on the rooftop of his home, his dark brown hair blowing with the cool, crisp nighttime air. He could hear the sounds of birds and crickets and cars on the nearly empty streets as the wind rustled the shadowed green leaves of surrounding trees. The moon hung in the sky, its pale light lining a thick dark cloud which covered its entirety from those whom would enjoy her. Stars twinkled in the distance before they were swept behind incoming pillows of light moisture.

"It's going to rain," Jaden whispered to himself as he stretched out on the rooftop with a small smile.

He shook his head and began to wonder why it was that he smiled at the thought of the soon-to-fall raindrops. He never really was a huge fan of the wet weather. Sure, there were the many things that made the cold, wet weather great, like drinking hot chocolate and covering up with multiple thick blankets to stay warm as while listening to whomever was there talk about random things, but he couldn't say that those were his favorite things. To him, the rain meant that he had to stay inside whereas in the sunlight he was allowed to run and feel free. He could laugh and joke around on sunny days, where as wet weather tended to make people feel drowsy and not much up to going out.

Jaden exhaled deeply and raised a hand to the heavens above. He watched the clouds rolling in the sky between his fingertips that shadowed by the streetlamps from below and the shadows from above. His smile slowly fell from his face, taking the shape of a frown as his brown eyes continued to stare at what his hands could not reach.

"I hate it…" Jaden whispered to the cold, the smell of rain filling his senses as he inhaled after speaking. His body tensed slightly at the idea of someone hearing him because he didn't want anyone question him. He didn't want anyone to have to worry about him, or to worry for him, because, to him, others fretting about him hurt worse than…

He winced when a drop of rain fell close to his right eye, closing the eye completely as some collected drops of rain fell from his spread fingertips down to his face. He could feel the fabric of the thin cotton black shirt and his thin character-print pajama pants becoming cold with the rain and the increasing wind but didn't feel it at the same time. It was as if he had become numb and only recognized the feelings because they were programmed in his senses. With a night such as the one he was enjoying wind is cool breezes, and with the rain came water and Jaden dully wondered if he could have shut down his thoughts completely if he wouldn't feel anything.

Jaden grit his teeth and clenched his hand into a tight fist that slammed down hard on the rooftop. A small splash was echoed in his ears as the falling rains sliding down was disturbed, some droplets landing on him as he continued to stare at the sky. Two open eyes glared out into the sky, and he briefly cursed everything.

Sure, he may not have believed in fate but he would still hate it. It there really was such a thing then why was he dealt such a crappy one?!

"Why do I have to die?!" Jaden's body shook with anger more than it did from the outside weather. His fist rose and fell against the rooftop once again, his left leg bending and rising before stomping down.

He inhaled sharply and exhaled slowly as he relaxed his limbs. His legs lay outstretched below him and his arms and fingers lay outstretched lax at his sides. A white puff of visible air rose from his parted lips and blew away with the wind.

"I'm getting weaker by the day," Jaden spoke to himself between heavy breaths of air. He turned to lie on his side, his left arm below his head as a pillow and his right brought to his eyelevel. Around his wrist was a light blue ribbon that he had tied a long time ago, and instantly his mind was filled with thoughts of Syrus smiling, Syrus laughing, Syrus frowning as he told Jaden about how inappropriate his actions were.

"Sy…" Jaden whispered as he continued to look at the ribbon. He may be goofy, but he was no fool. He knew long ago, even before the odd being calling himself "Jaiyen" appeared to him through him that there was something unique about Syrus. The fact that he needed to take in a portion of another person's life, whether a conscious act or not, was in no far way "common" by human standards. Syrus was something else entirely, though he was not sure what. Even still…

"I wouldn't change my decision for the world," Jaden closed his eyes and hugged his wrist close to his chest.

The rain poured down heavily.


~~**~~**

It's raining. Chazz's thoughts whispered faintly. The wind was blowing rapidly and the sun had long been replaced by the shadowed moon. Even still, the moonlight peeked through the clouds and into his room and landed on Bastion's exposed, stained wrist.

It's raining. His mind seemed to remind him again, and it was then that he had to admit to himself that he was distancing himself from reality. He was fighting away from something that could possibly be one of the most important discoveries in his life, and he was aware of this fact. He knew that he didn't want to face what was going on, but he was also curious in a sort of tiptoe-on-the-waters-surface sort of way. He wanted to explore this new, shocking turn of events, but he wasn't in the need to swim in those possibly deep waters.

It's raining. He could hear the falling water drops as they sailed along the increasing winds and landed against his window. Rapidly did they land and slide down his window, and he was sure that if he had turned to face the window he would be able to see the thin lines of water slid down glass covered with a thin layer of pale frost. He was sure that he would not be able to spot the moon in the sky, no matter how impossible it seemed that the moon had found himself and Bastion. He could picture the dark clouds rolling in the night, some clouds pitch black and others a dark gray as they sailed slowly through the night.

It's raining. Chazz's thoughts echoed and he could not help it as those very words passed his lips.

"Excuse me?" Bastion squint his eyes in both anger and question at Chazz's reply to something so serious. "Are you talking about the weather? Now?"

Chazz didn't reply to Bastion, he heard what Chazz had said, and Chazz wasn't going to repeat himself; One part pride, though the most of it embarrassment at his own foolish reply. He didn't know what had caused him to say such a stupid thing at such a serious stricken moment, as it had never happened to him before. Sure, there were the times in his many failed attempt to convey his feelings for Alexis that he said stupid things and felt the moisture collect on his skin and the blood freeze in his veins and felt his stomach drop and his heartbeat increase so rapidly it was almost an impossibility that he wouldn't die from a heart attack, but that shouldn't have mattered now. This moment was serious in a horror movie sort of way, but confessing to Alexis was serious in a life altering way that could have brought upon many changes.

Why did he feel the same way now?

"Are you… afraid, Chazz?" Bastion whispered as he raised his wrist closer to Chazz's eyes, hoping to catch the glaze from the other teen's eyes and peel it away with his side of reality.

Afraid? Me? Of you? Chazz could not believe what he was hearing.

"Why…" Chazz grit between teeth clenched so tight they might break, "Why would I be afraid of you?" He hoped that his voice wasn't the one noticeably shaken.

"Are you afraid of this?" Bastion shook his wrist in Chazz's face before retracting his arm to his side.

Chazz's hand gripped his wrist before it could fall to his side. Bastion gasped at the rough contact. This was what Bastion believed he was afraid of. A simple thick red line curving into a never-ending circle around his left wrist. Something that, as far as he and possibly the entire population of Neo Domino, was around only one wrist and that wrist was his own.

"Afraid of this?" Chazz asked his voice high and sarcasm heavy. "I'm afraid of this? Not even!" Chazz raised his head and looked Bastion directly in the eyes. The nastiest glare Bastion had ever seen was now almost as near to his body as the clothing he wore, but only an inch or so apart as Chazz had yanked him closer.

"Listen Bastion," Chazz spat at him, his tongue carving hatred from its natural element. "I don't know what kind of crap you think you are pulling here, but I've had just about enough of it. You think I'm supposed to believe in some marker drawn fantasy or some mutilated wrist? Get real. I'm falling for this about as far as dirt is from the ground, so I'll tell you this in the nicest way I possibly can. Take your wrist and this fake ring around it and shove up you ass 'til it comes out of your mouth and choke on it!"

Even as he had spoken those words that he so definitely meant, something stirred in him. A twist. A feeling of both fear and regret. His skin bristled at both what he had said and how he felt, and for some reason he thought briefly of himself as a hypocrite.

"Chazz, this isn't a fake," Bastion replied bluntly, his eyes never leaving the glare Chazz continued to give him.

"Like hell it's real!" Chazz stood from the bed and stared at Bastion, his hands clenched into fists, his shoulders tense, the atmosphere around him daring Bastion to say another word.

"It's as real as the one you try hard to hide on your own left wrist!" Bastion's patience seemed to have run out with Chazz. His eyebrows furrowed and eyes blazed angrily with flickering flames.

Chazz stared at Bastion in silence. His anger- his only source of energy at the moment- seemed to have left him all at once, leaving him behind and replacing itself with a second of dizziness. Chazz moaned lowly but otherwise showed no sign of faintness or relent.

"The one on my wrist?" Chazz repeated, laughing.

He listened in on the sounds of his own laughter, drowning out the sounds of Bastion's voice. He couldn't understand whether or not his small action was unintentional or not, but it seemed like the right reaction. For some reason he felt as though he were laughing not at the words from Bastion's mouth nor from the scarlet ring around the other teen's wrist, but rather from the absolute insanity that started the entire mess.

"I don't want to be like I was with you…"

The waters he so wanted to avoid splashed around him. The waves rushed past him as he stood there. He was beginning to sink, so he was forced to swim.

"What do you mean you were with me?" Chazz's laughter ended in a manner so abrupt that it had startled Bastion. His tone was eerily soft and calm, almost unlike the Chazz that Bastion had come to know. "We've never known each other before this tutoring began, so how were you with me?"

Bastion inhaled, ready to begin his explanation. He licked his lips and inhaled softly.

"Chazz…" Bastion began, but was cut off by said teen.

"What do you mean by you don't want to be with me?" A voice similar to Chazz's own whispered, though the voice was deeper and sharper and sent chills down Bastion's spine.

Bastion took a small step backwards and looked into Chazz's eyes. Nothing had changed in their color, as they remained a deep shade of black, but the eyes seemed to have loss that competitive edge they gave him not even a minute ago. His eyes stared not at him, but at the floor beneath their feet with a sort of thought over expression.

"What do you mean?" Chazz repeated his voice soft like a whisper to a child.

Chazz was there, Bastion concluded, but he wasn't present enough to understand properly. Bastion could picture Chazz walking on a thin line of thread balancing between the real world and complete shadows, unable to decipher which was real from fake and which was his reality.

"Come to me. I'll make it all stop," Bastion spoke softly as he wrapped his arms around Chazz and pulled him close.

It was like lightning flashed and Chazz opened his eyes. He opened his mouth to protest, but found that no words would come from his lips. He continued to sit on his bed with Bastion's arms wrapped around him mute, surprised, rigid, and uncomfortable.

Seconds to minutes passed. Rain fell continuously and heavily and Bastion still had not released him.

"Chazz…" Bastion whispered, and the addressed teen found himself involuntarily relaxing in the hug. "Come to me."

"What?" Chazz rested his head on Bastion's shoulder. "What are you talking about?"

Bastion said nothing in reply, and within seconds the room became blanketed by an almost choking silence. Stuffy and hot as it was, Chazz could not help but notice that he was oddly comfortable. He was tired but relaxed, confused but at ease, angry yet happy, cold but oh so very, very warm.

He said nothing nor did anything other than let the time pass by. He wasn't even sure when it was that his own arms wrapped around Bastion, but he did not voice any complain. It was some sort of odd, horrible, striking comfort in the swirling waters, and his every being was relaxed on some strange land.

… And then it was hot.

Chazz's skin tingled and burned with a pain that repeatedly struck at every nerve in his skin. The room spun. His breathing all but stopped completely in his throat. He could hear his heart pounding rapidly, frighteningly, in his chest.

Ba-bump. The room spun around him and tilted on various levels.

Ba-bump. He mutely screamed as he could feel himself slipping away.

Ba-bump. There was darkness…

"Chazz…" Bastion whispered his name once again.

"No. Not Chazz," A deep voice laced with obvious intent whispered into Bastion's ear as their body lay almost boneless and limp against Bastion's chest.

Bastion inhaled a shuddering breath.

"Remember me?" Arms that had fallen to the bed now rose and snaked around Bastion's neck. The body once so close pulled away slightly to look Bastion in the face.

Crimson eyes glittered in the moonlight, a slight smile on the lips below them.

"It's Chaise…"

Bastion froze in both movement and speech. He could not explain his past actions nor the words that had left his mouth, and now his usually calm and calculated mind refused to even help his vision. Red eyes that stared up at him so happily, the rain pelted window, the cloudy dark sky and blades of lighting all lay upside down on the floor.

"I-I have you!" The face with crimson eyes smiled brightly before sinking into the waters of rage. "I have you…"

Words continued to fail Bastion as they raced around his head like frantic bees without a queen. He knew that he wanted to say something, but more than anything a voice within him cried out to him to remain silent.

"You are here… but even still you'd reject me…" Eyes like fire continued to burn into his own. "You called his name again. You called out to me, but even still you'd call me Chazz."

"Hold on," Bastion found his voice even as the voice begged to remain lost. "I didn't call out to you! I would never do such a thing-"

"So you'd hug him?" Chaise whispered as his eyes retreated behind his ink black bangs. "You'd hug Chazz and hold him. You even consoled him when he was confused and desperate and angry…"

Chaise sat on Bastion's chest with a shivering body. His breathing was ragged and heavy, roaring louder than the echoing thunder outside of the window. Arms that held Bastion tighter than a snake slowly retreated to wrap around his own bandaged torso. Legs that spread almost sensually around Bastion's legs now poked painfully into his ribs as they tried to come together like they would in a fetal position.

Bastion said nothing in response as he tilted his head away from the sad sight.

"Do you… like Chazz?" Chaise's voice was broken and strained as he spoke those four words.

He sounded like he was on the verge of tears and Bastion felt sympathy for him. He used his arms to push himself upright and watched as the smaller one shook in his lap helplessly whilst not knowing what to do. Logically he should try to comfort the teen but that may actually hurt more than help at this point. And especially the feelings of apparently Love…

"You won't answer me!" Chaise screamed his voice heavy with unshed tears and emotion. "Why won't you answer me?!"

Bastion stared through the night up at the face so torn in the shadows with nothing short of sympathy. The other- This person whom calls himself Chaise- was going crazy over something as simple as comfort for another.

Chaise, the being with glowing red eyes and malicious intent leaking from him in waves, was trembling with fear and anger. His fingers twitched as they repeatedly struggled to grasp for a loving touch that wasn't there anymore. His body shook from the cold, his mind going back to the days where, even on the coldest of dessert nights, he could always receive warmth from those strong arms that held him so tightly, so comfortingly, so lovingly…

"Why?" He repeated as his muscles seemed to clench together tight enough to send spasms through him.

The question echoed in Chazz's bedroom and clung in the cold night air so much it could almost have been inhaled. The rain continued to tap against the glass window and slide down silently as the lightning flashed overhead. Thunder roared louder than ever, as if to aide Chaise's tone which had lessened with his last weak demand.

Seconds easily became minutes before Bastion made any attempt at anything. Fabric rustled in the darkness as Bastion sat up, Chaise paralyzed in his lap.

"I understand, logically of course, the fact that you would want to be with me." Bastion's tone was soft, almost a faint whisper as he slowly raised a hand to cup Chaise's moist cheek. He removed it almost instantly when Chaise twitched, his eyes still unfocused and pained. "I can tell you exactly what you must feel. Lonely. Hurt. Scared of losing someone so close to you that it confuses you and makes you angry when you can do nothing but watch the distance between yourself and them grow wider and wider." Bastion stared into Chaise's wide red eyes, using his hand to raise the other's chin so that he looked into his eyes. "You are hurt and angry and you don't know what to do, do you?"

Chaise could feel it. That burning cool that ran through him in both body and bone. He could barely resist the urge to shiver as Bastion's stabbing, sweet words continued to process in his thoughts.

I don't know what to do? Chaise dropped his gaze from Bastion's waiting eyes to the chest so close but at a distance from him. Do I know what I want to do? Chaise questioned himself as he watched Bastion's chest rise and fall with each inhale and exhale of breath he'd taken. I'm not mad at him! I'm frustrated! Chaise rapidly tried to reason within himself the heated pricks that rose inside of him and threatened to spill over in the sounds of angry words and vile curses. I'm not mad or sad at all!

"I'm not mad…" Chaise growled as he shakily stood to his feet. "I don't care about anything that you just said! I'm not sad or mad or anything like that!" Chaise shook his head while he talked, reasoning with both Bastion and himself as he was.

He hoped that Bastion believed him far more than he believed himself.

"I know what I want, Bastion! I've been trying to get what I want since I got here!" Chaise screamed, his glare darkening in the nighttime's hidden moonlight. "Why would I be lonely?! I've only waited centuries for you to return to me! I've only endured the torture of countless lives on the many different continents with unparalleled hope that I could at least catch a glimpse of you that wasn't a dream before being captured, bound, and killed! I've only willing been able to repeat the cycle whenever anyone on this planet has at least a drop of compatible essence within them just because I would believe that maybe, just maybe, you were right there with open arms waiting just for me!"

Wild, wide eyes now held tears collected in the corners of his eyes, stinging them as he blinked and willed the water not to fall. Blood drew from a bitten bottom lip and slid down Chaise's trembling chin, jaw muscles twitching- moving with raw emotion and stopping with whatever pride he'd forced himself to retain after spilling what he had been so determined to hide. A single fist clenched to the point of drawing blood shook above Bastion's chest giving small red dots home where they landed on his body, the other fisting tightly at a lock of black hair to the right Chaise's head.

"Who cares…if I'm lonely?" Chaise released his hair, but the arm moved no further. "And I could be mad, but… …no, I am. But, don't I have a right?" Chaise questioned to the air, muttering and mumbling over and over before Bastion could reply. "No, I don't have it… …it's what I want. … What I really want is…"

Chaise stared down the tip of his nose to the teen on the floor beneath his stiff, oddly calm form. Arms that shook with unrestrained emotion now rest at his sides, shoulders even and back straight with a new found dedication to something…

Bastion silently swallowed heavily as a bead of cold sweat rolled down his cheek. The new attitude… The determined look… There was something Chaise decided on his own that would not bode to his liking, Bastion decided whilst clenching a fist.

"What do you want?" Bastion met the dazed crimson eyes with his orbs of barely concealed fear and confusion.

Chaise exhaled shakily, a moan passing heavily as he folded on top of Bastion. He continued to pant and moan as he fought against the struggling teen beneath him, relishing in the fact that his power was stronger than that of the present Bastion.

"What!?" Bastion panicked when he tried to raise his arms to shove Chaise away only to notice the illuminating red light surrounding his wrists and weighing him down. Panic began to fill him again as the same results accompanied his legs and ankles.

"B-Bastion?" Chaise panted as he grinded against Bastion, a thin veil of sweat beginning to cover him. "I…" He whispered a small smirk tugging one corner of his mouth. "I want you."