Chapter 12 - Now

The crowds roared with excitement, the rush of adrenaline from the soon-to-be battle running through everyone's veins in excitement.

"Welcome, Bladers, to the next battle in the BTF Tournament!" Blader Gai announced through the head-speaker, earning the cheers from the crowd that even the deaf may have been able to hear,
"This is the 4th match in the tournament, and in today's battle, we have Shinobu Hiryuin!" The cheers of Zyro and his friends could be heard among everyone else, the half of the crowd on the other side of the stadium being able to see his shadow until he stepped into the light.
"And Spike Bourne!" The other blader, in turn, marched out into the stadium, a small smirk on his face which was eternally marked with that x-shaped scar.
Madoka, Tsubasa, Maru, and Benkei all watched from up above in the special seats that they always had, watching as the 2 bladers were called.

Gingka - of course - hadn't shown up to watch with them, as he hadn't for the last few battles. Tsubasa glanced over in Madoka's direction out of concern, watching her out of the corner of his eye - he could see the grief and loneliness on her face, even if she refused to show it that much; she was still upset about what had happened yesterday with Gingka. He hadn't seen said redhead for the last few days, unlike Madoka had several times - he was sure that Zyro may have seen him lately, but even if he did he said nothing.
"Madoka..." He thought to himself, his gaze turning away from the brunette and back down towards the stadium.
Both Shinobu and Spike made their way into the Zero-G stadium, their platforms rising up to prepare them for battle.
"Come on, Shinobu!" Ren called out, cheering with the rest of her teammates.
"You got this, Shinobu, take him down!" Zyro cheered with her, surprisingly not as tired as he thought he would be since he had stayed up late last night stargazing. If Shinobu heard them or not, he didn't show any sign - all he did was ready his Ninja Salamander within his launcher as Spike readied his Thief Zirago.

"Bladers, ready!" Blader Gai called from the big screen.

"3!"

Shinobu narrowed his eyes, focusing on the countdown as he prepared his Bey to launch.

"2!"

Zyro and his friends were the ones who may have been the loudest of them all, rooting for Shinobu all the way.

"1!"

Everyone could only pray that things would not turn out as they had with Ren's battle - perhaps this time would be different than the last.

"Let it rip!"...

Unlike the rest of the times that he had been able to watch, Gingka had not showed up anywhere near the Bey Arena to watch Shinobu's battle - instead, he sat hidden in the shipyard where he and Zyro had met, the pain on the surface of his neck burning him with intensity like an inferno.
His breathing was shallow, almost drowned by the dizziness that made him nuisance in his daze, his vision blurring once more.
Oh, why did it always have to get worse in the day and yet soon calm down, only to get even worse as time progressed? Why couldn't this all just end?.. Maybe because it just wasn't meant to be over yet..
Or maybe 'he' just wanted to watch him suffer in agony for a little bit longer before he would make his world come crashing down onto him in one huge heap. Gingka wanted answers, just as much as any one of them would, like Zyro.
That had been the reason that Zyro had asked 'that' question last night, out of pure worry for him and a bond that had formed over time..

How he hated thinking about it - about how all of this would effect his friends, Madoka, and... Zyro...
They would never be given the right to forgive him, for he knew that they probably wouldn't be able too.. What did he want with him?
With all of them?
With Zyro?...
Maybe that was a stupid question to ask, as Zyro had accused himself of doing the night before; maybe it was just something that would end in vain.
The redhead pulled at the edges of his scarf, bringing it up and around his neck as best as he could to both hide and keep warm; he was still always cold whenever he shouldn't be.
With the dulling pain, Gingka slowly stood up from his sitting position and supported himself against one of the piled steel beams within the Shipyard, using that to hold himself up and maybe use less energy than he needed to.
Shakily did he walk, able to support himself with the help of many objects in the abandoned construction site.
He was becoming to weak to even walk without support, and then all at once his strength would come back and he would be fine for awhile - he just never really knew how long that strength would ever last.
It wouldn't stop, and a lot of time he was barely even capable of sleeping at night, plagued by nightmares that even sometimes comforted his tired soul.

Why couldn't he just end it now, stop this suffering that he had to endure - what was this all for exactly?
All Gingka did was slowly yet surely make his way through the area, somewhat able to walk on his own without any help, and left the shipyard - he would have to later apologize that he would not be able to watch Shinobu's battle as it happened...

He stood there silently, not saying a word as he watched them all through the screens, his eyes everywhere and yet in just one place at a time - how he saw that suffering face, and the other young faces that would soon be stained with the same expressions.
How it brought joy deeply to his soul, the suffering of others the only thing that was able to keep him sane..

Sane- no.

He had lost that sanity years ago when he buried that half of himself and left him crying in the corner, acting as nothing more than a part of his shadow. And that piece of him was the only thing that cared.
That child could care all he wanted, but he would never break through to the surface.
"Shinobu Hiryuin has begun his battle..." Said the hollow female voice from across the room, almost always standing there with those blank eyes that reflected dusk before dawn, "I am surprised you are not watching..."
A soft chuckle escaped the other, a soft smirk coming to his lips.
"There's no need too.." He said, "There only battle that I was truly interested in was Ren Kurenai's, but she lost, as you remember..."

"I do.."

"The rest of them mean nothing to me..." He continued, "And Zyro Kurogane on the other hand... Well, he's another story.. The thing is, he won't realize the truth until its already too late to do anything... If he figures it out, that is..."
For several moments, his 'pet' did not say anything, standing there and watching as he observed them all with those golden-brown eyes, gently hued by a crimson red.
"And what about his friends?" She asked, her voice a void of nothingness and lack of emotion,
"What do you have planned for them?.." She waited, and she did receive an answer right away. Instead, he turned towards her, the large platform he stood on making him look down upon her from across the room.
"They are all just game pieces.." He explained, "Nothing more than pawns on a chessboard that are meant to fall down to the king... They will suffer along with all of them, and they will powerless to stop it..."

How he spoke so passionately about those thoughts, the flames burning in his eyes and turning them crimson red, quite literally.
Pain was something that kept him sane, even though he had abandoned sanity close to 8 years ago - the suffering of others appeared to bring him joy, a pleasure that was sick and disgusting but also oh so captivating, something that he almost couldn't contain.
She would've felt intimidated, afraid, disturbed, if she had known any better than she did - but none of the those feelings surfaced as she lost herself in a trance of loyalty purely towards him. She was just his messenger raven, and he was more of a god compared to her.
Quite literally...

"Salamander!" Shinobu called to his Bey, the marking on top of the face bolt pulsating with an aura of red-orange.
The audience could feel the heat of Shinobu's flames, the burning of his Blader's Spirit raging from him.
"Phantom Fire Shot!" His voice rang like a thousand church bells, Salamander hearing his plea and obeying the orders of its Blader.
In an instant did the Bey begin spinning around the stadium at high speed, circling Theif Zirago as it created multiple clones of itself which were impossible to identify apart.
Spike narrowed his eyes, a displeased look in his eyes as he glared at Shinobu.
All Shinobu did in response was smirk, before ordering the charge upon Spike's Bey to end the battle.
"Strike them all down, Zirago!" The short brunette called out in fury.

"Not gonna happen!" Shinobu retorted, "Salamander!"
Every Bey that lay in Shinobu's possession charged towards Zirago, utterly confusing both Bey and Blader as to which one would be the one to attack.
All at once did the Beys come crashing together, yet both Bladers saw Zirago and the true Salamander clashing together, the Fire Bey having come from the side and the duplicates disappearing as an explosion of dust wracked the Zero-G Stadium.
Everyone held their breath, Zyro and the others almost on their tip-toes and over the railing to try and see the final outcome of the battle.
Only when the dust cleared were they able to see Ninja Salamander spinning in the center of the stadium, while Thief Zirago lay at Spike's feet.
All the brunette did in response was growl at the light-haired duelist as his Bey flew back into his hand.
"Well that's it, people!" Blader Gai announced, "The winner of this round of the Bridge To The Future Tournament, is Shinobu Hiryuin!"
The crowd roared with excitement at this news, flinging their arms in the air as Shinobu made his way from the Zero-G stadium.
Spike did the same with a bitter look on his face, holding his Bey tightly in his fist as he headed back for the hallway that lead to and from the arena.

Up above, Tsubasa smirked as he watched Shinobu being greeted by his friends and teammates, while Sakyo simply stood off to the side as he watched Takanosuke fuss over him.
"Well, looks like we have the upper hand as it stands." The Director noted, looking over at his companions.
"Zyro and the others have won 3 matches," Madoka said, "While the ex-DNA bladers have only won 1, against Ren. I guess it all depends on how things work out later."
Maru looked up towards her teacher, that cute, kitten-like look on her face.
"Too bad Gingka wasn't here to see this." She said, "He'd be excited to know that Shinobu won." Madoka warily smiled down to the little pinkette.

"Yeah..." She said, "But he's probably watching from somewhere.. How about you go down there with them." Maru simply nodded and saluted her.
"Thanks, Chief!" She exclaimed before gathering up her laptop and leaving the room to go down there with Zyro and the others. Tsubasa's smile faded from his face as he looked at the brunette, his golden-brown eyes filled with concern.
"You think he'd be watching?" Tsubasa asked, not saying anything as Madoka refused to look at him directly.
"I don't know..." She said, ".. Maybe he's changed.." Tsubasa and Benkei's breathing almost stopped when they heard her say those words.

No.

That was impossible.

Gingka Hagane never changed, they had seen that for themselves when they had finally reunited with him after all these years, and he hadn't changed a bit.
Even with the way that Gingka may have been acting lately - however he was acting - he was still the same energetic dork that they had all known and come to love through the years.
Even though they were shocked by Madoka's words, neither of them said a word; she was still upset about what had happened between her and Gingka the previous day, so they didn't wish to upset her even more than was actually needed too.

Maru, in the meanwhile, hurried up to Zyro and the others, who were currently congratulating Shinobu.
"You showed him who's boss, Shinobu!" Ren said gleefully, jumping up in the air like a fan-girl at a boy band concert.
"Way to go!" Maru said, joining in on the fun as they all walked down the hallway.
The friends talked and bickered with each other, continuously congratulating Shinobu on his victory which he became a bit flustered about.
Zyro was the one who mostly stood off to the side as the others fussed over him now, noting how Takanosuke and Sakyo had left them as Sakyo wasn't the social time - it was even more of a wonder why he himself wasn't saying anything now.
Maybe everything that was happening lately was just getting to him on a different level, like how he had been so uneasy to ask Gingka that question that had been burning him up from the inside, and receiving an indirect answer that at the same time comforted his worrying mind.
He just didn't understand any of this.

"Go to him..."

A voice, a soft one that whispered like the soft chirp of a robin rang in his head, slowly down his area of time to a near stand still.

"Please... Go to him..."

Zyro tried to move, but he found himself unable as everything seemed to be happening in between time itself, causing a numbness that left him only with the ability to think.
Just like those nightmares that left him awake in the middle of the night...

"Go to him... Don't abandon him... Find him..."

What was this voice trying to say?
Why was it even speaking to him in the first place?
Why did it sound so broken, with almost no identification of gender from how soft and weak they spoke, like words fading into the wind without a mind of their own.
Maybe he was thinking to deeply on that, but maybe not.

"Please... Don't Leave him alone..."

Leave who alone? What was this 'thing' talking about?
It was like the nightmares that viciously kept him at night, unable to see anything or move, with only the ability to think to himself and let his mouth supposedly hang open.

"Please... Do this for me..."

Who was 'me'... Or, who was this 'person', that spoke to him in such a soft voice that he almost had to strain to hear it if not for it echoing in his head.
What were they talking about, or who? He had an idea, but he didn't like what the results might be.

"Do this for us... Zyro..."

His name.

Right then, when he said his name, he felt something that he had never experienced in his life. A type of shock, a quiver, something that just felt so different and yet so nostalgic at the same time.
It had never been that way when anyone else said his name, having heard it dozens of times before from old and new people, but this - this, was different.
It wasn't something that would strike him as odd, but frighteningly familiar, like he new the voice that spoke to him in his head, and possibly had the power to speak to others at the same time.

But, that couldn't be possible... It just couldn't.

All in one swift moment did reality and time shift back to their normal pace, finding himself still walking with his friends before coming to an abrupt halt.
There was something that he needed to know, and that 'thing' was trying to tell him - maybe that's what all his dreams and his consciousness was trying to tell him.
Maybe it was sign that he needed to do something, and fast.. Something that deeply concerned...

"Zyro?" Ren asked out of concern, noticing her friend's halt and sudden trance like he was staring off into space. At her voice did the Fire Blader almost immediately snap out of it, causing him to look towards his friends who were now all looking at him out of concern.
"Are you okay?" Eight asked, looking up towards Zyro with his deep green eyes.

"Uh, yeah..." Zyro said awkwardly, averting his blue eyes for a moment before looking back to his friends, "I just... Remembered something that I have to do.."
The friends looked at each other for a moment before simply shrugging and nodding understanding - they knew it probably had something to do with Gingka, as they were just as worried about the Legendary Blader as Zyro was.
If anyone could find out what was happening with him, he could.
The friends simply said it was alright, and watched as Zyro raced down the hallway and away from them, out of sight in only a few moments with them in an awkward silence.
Maru narrowed her eyes after the ginger-ravenette, knowing very well that he would possibly being going after Gingka.
But as much as she wished and knew she should chase after him and gather as much information on the older blader as she could, she stayed where she was; Maru couldn't let them suspect anything...

The pain was gone, but he was still weak, almost limping through the alleyway as he nearly clung to the wall.
Gingka swallowed shallowly, making sure not to use any more energy than he needed to if he wanted to stay standing and not fall to his knees.
He felt dizzy, his vision out of focus as he carefully tried to make things out - but it wasn't easy. He stumbled and almost fell, but caught himself before he sunk down to his knees; he tried his best not to fall and use an unnecessary amount of his strength trying to get back up. It wouldn't be worth it.
None of this really was, fighting off the urge to collapse and just give into the nauseating ache that tortured his soul.
He wouldn't... He couldn't... He...

"Gingka?"

Gingka's eyes widened as he recognized that voice, calling out to him from somewhere nearby in the alleyways - Zyro.

No, no, no, no...

Why did he have to be looking for him at a time like this, why now of any time?
He couldn't hate the young blader for his worry and concern - he really did like Zyro, and he would hate to have to be this way in front of him.

"Gingka?" His voice was closer, and he could hear the faint sound of hurrying footsteps towards his direction - how did he ever know that he was here in the first place? Suddenly feeling the surge of panic sparking some sort of strength in him, the redhead pressed his back against the wall beside the large garbage bin, hearing and feeling Zyro's presence come even closer and closer.
Please... Don't look here...

"Gingka?.." Zyro's voice sounded from the center of a maze of alleyways which he had previously been headed towards, "Where are you?..."
His voice sounded worried, laced with a tone that almost killed him inside and tore at his heart, but he refused to let it show.
He could almost hear his breathing, the beat of his heart that pounded in his chest from supposedly running.
"Gingka, please..." Zyro spoke, "Where are you?"

Oh how badly did Gingka want to say something, to come out of his hiding spot and show the younger blader that it was okay, that he was fine and there was nothing to worry about - but that would all be a lie, just like all the lies that he had ceaselessly told for weeks and pained his already tortured soul.
He wanted nothing more to hug him, to comfort him and say that it was okay, something that he knew he shouldn't do.

"Gingka... I don't know what's wrong with you, but please..." Zyro looked around, as if trying to see the redhead in somewhere where he wasn't, for all he knew he and Gingka weren't even in the same part of the city.
He wouldn't even really know what to say if he actually found Gingka, but he just wanted to talk to him again, to see him again.
That 'voice' had said something about going to him, not leaving him alone like he wanted to be. He fully respected Gingka's wishes, but he just felt the need that right now he might have to disobey him.

"Gingka, I just wanna help you..."

Those woulds were the ones that broke Gingka's heart, melting him into a puddle of grief and regret that shadowed over his soul.

Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry...

Don't let him see you like this...

Don't...

Zyro's blue eyes looked down towards the ground, knowing that the Legendary Blader was probably far from where he was and that he couldn't hear anything of the words that he was saying - all he did was sigh.
Maybe Gingka was somewhere else, maybe his intuitions were wrong about being somewhere near where he currently was; maybe it was just entirely pointless. But he didn't let that get to him.
Instead, the Fire Blader looked around one last time in hopes of finding the Legendary Blader, before hurrying off through the alleyways once more back to the city streets where he would feel much less uncomfortable.
Yet Gingka still sat there, body frozen against the wall as those words of Zyro's rang in his head, fresh like a wound that had just recently been cut and bleeding into his spirit, infecting his mind.

The tears came to his eyes, the ones that he absolutely refused to let fall - he hated crying in front of people, and sometimes even when he was alone...
But he knew that even know, in a dark alley with no one else, that he wasn't alone...

Not with the eyes that stared into the back of his skull and head and watching his every move, never giving him a single moment of peace.
"I'll never beg for your forgiveness, Zyro..." Gingka thought to himself, his own inner voice empty in a void of nothingness, "Don't eventually turn out the same way I have... Don't let him..."

His thoughts were entirely cut off as a fit of coughing over took his being once more, raising his hand to his mouth to catch whatever could come flying out of his mouth.
Gingka was unable to prevent himself from falling to his knees as he coughed violently into his hand, his body being wracked with shivers at the feeling of something being caught down where his chest and his throat met each other.
Yet he remained there, trying to keep still as the fit of coughing continued, and went through it like he continuously did almost everyday.
Thank god Zyro was now far away from where he was, that his footsteps and his presence had long disappeared from where he was, that he could not longer feel it like he had been able to.
Slowly - agonizingly - did his coughing die down, shakily pulling his hand away from his mouth with visibly trembling irises.

Carefully did he put his other hand on the side of the garbage bin, leaning against it as he let his hand drop down to his side limply; even with the intense heat that gazed over the city in the early summer, he still kept his sleeves down instead of rolled up around his elbows.
The cold was almost comforting to him, in a way that he had never really thought that it would ever be, but he ignored that feeling.

All Gingka could really do was whimper as the pain returned, leaning weakly against the cold, cobalt-colored metal, and let the small red streams of liquid slowly drip from his fingertips...

She still stood there with him, standing in silence as he watched them all without a word, his similar eyes watching others with a malicious look.
The red hue in them still remained, laying just below the surface of a form and self that did not appear on the top.
She - of course - did not say anything about it, for she didn't have the conscious to. She simply heard, and obeyed his orders with body and soul dedicated to him and him only.
Yet all he did was watch, with great amusement and a small eye twitch that divided him between the lines of insanity and sane.
She knew he didn't care about her, nor did he really care about anyone else at all except 'him'.. But she didn't care either - after all, it wasn't her place to really even feel emotion now.

"They are suspecting his behavior..." She said in a silent monotone, "You do realize that means you won't be able to play at your game for too much longer, right?"
For many moments, she did receive an answer from him, both of them wallowing in silence except for the buzzing and small sounds that would come from the screens.
"Of course, I realize..." He said, a softer tone to his voice rather than his usual one, "But that just gets me all the more excited to see them... And watch them as they break..."

Silently did she hear his words, the ones that he often repeated over and over again from pure joy at the thought, something that she would never be able to fully understand yet did as he said anyway.
Sometimes she knew what he was thinking before he even said anything at all - maybe that was why she didn't care about anything around her anymore.
"Yet would you tell me one thing?..." She questioned softly, hearing his muttering come to a stop as he glanced back at her from over his shoulder. "How can you be sure that they won't stop you?.. How will you be sure that we will win?.."

There was a silence, a silence that could almost be considered as deafening even though there was no sound around that could do as such.
"Because..." He finally said, that malicious and slight demonic tone returning to his voice that came out like silk on a string, "I will have already taken whatever hope they have..."
Those words were the ones that rang throughout the room like thunder, words that were deprived of warmth or care or gentleness and even made her - through that emotionless and unfazed mask - shiver to the core.
Yet that was as she had come to know, that that was all she could ever be able to feel while she heeded his orders.
Nothing more and nothing less.

"They are helpless without him..." His voice went on, looking back towards the screens of which he spent so much time watching that it would probably be unhealthy for a regular person, of which he was not, "He is the only true shred of hope that they have ever had.. The last drop of faith that has ever collided with this world and made him into a hero... But we both know that he was none of that.. Not after what he did..."

A soft chuckle - a giggle, more like - escaped him with a demonic snicker from underneath, a part of him that rarely showed from the mask over top.
"In all honesty... He might not be any better than I am..." He said softly, words that she had come to understand from the things that he had explained to her, had shown her, had held her witness too - she had not come to care, "Of course, they don't know that... But it will be such a joy when they do... Especially that little Zyro Kurogane... How heartbroken he'll be when he finds out the truth about the man that he idolizes.. That he considers a friend.."
Golden-brown eyes looked towards the screens, a red color outlining them for a split moment before returning to the more peaceful state of them that they continuously held even though that part of him hardly existed anymore.
"You are the one who will blend in with them... Let suspect nothing yet as much distance as possible.." His words were towards her, which she listened to with great intent as she did not move on his orders.
A small giggle once more escaped him, becoming what was almost like a snicker and ringing out with an eerie vibe from it that did not faze her in the slightest bit.
It was something that could never frighten her even with how much her inner conscious told her to run.

"Be prepared, my pet..." He said with a voice that almost wasn't his, looking back at her with his 2 bangs covering part of his eyes, "For everything will start to begin.."
Her head shifted, her shadowed eyes looking towards him with a blank mind.

"When?" She asked, which was almost like a command and not a request.
But he did not say anything about it, as his eyes widened in the slightest bit and illuminated the room with a red glow that had not existed for years.
That look was all the answer that she needed.

"NOW..."