I love how so many of the reviews I got on the last chapter said the same thing – effectively, the first line of this chapter.

Chapter 25 – Good Things

In which there are smiles and tears

"DIZZI!" Kenny cried. "Dizzi, you're back!"

"I never went away," Dizzi replied primly. "Now, apologise. I spent two whole years building up that score!"

"You WHAT?"

"You heard me, Chief. Two years of work!"

"Dizzi, I've been so... you've... I... I missed you!"

By now there was a crowd of people surrounding the little computer. "Is that Kenny's bit-beast?" Kenta asked, his eyes shining. "I didn't know they could talk."

"Most can't, not to humans anyway," Kai said, leaning in. "Dizzi, where have you been? Why didn't you contact us?"

"Oh!" said Dizzi, sounding delighted. "The sourpuss talks!" Kai's expression hardened and he reached towards the power button threateningly, and she quickly back-tracked. "But still has no sense of humour. Oh well. Some things never change."

"I'm serious, Dizzi," Kenny broke in. "You've got to tell me where you've been all this time. I've been looking for you ever since, and I really could have used your help with some things..."

"Where do you think I was?" Dizzi asked. "Playing Solitaire, of course. Oh, and Minesweeper – I've got really good at that. Besides, you didn't really need me. You're a smart young man – look at what you did with the Heavy Metal blades! They're gorgeous!"

Gingka's expression was switching rapidly between confusion and excitement. "You have a bit-beast that talks," he echoed Kenta.

"I remember we used to have a problem getting her to shut up," Kai muttered. An outraged squawk from the computer speakers told everyone what Dizzi thought of that statement.

Kenny sighed. "Yes, Dizzi talks, and yes, she's trapped in the computer. I can't get her out, no matter how hard I try."

"Dizzi, how on earth did you get back here?" Max asked, leaning in. "You've been gone for so long that we thought you'd never come back."

"Oh, that's easy," Dizzi answered. "You can probably guess if you think hard enough."

Max hesitated for a long while, but then shook his head. "You'll have to tell me."

If Dizzi had visible eyes, she probably would have been rolling them. "Don't say you've already forgotten about the stuff that happened a couple of days ago? That battle that Ryuga and Tyson had?"

There was a sudden intake of breath from all around. "You mean... when the bit-beasts rose together?" Ray asked.

"And the constellations with them?" Kyouya added.

"Exactly," Dizzi answered. "The bit-beasts and the constellations combined to create something this world has never seen before, a power that is... well, Tyson would probably call it pure Blader's Spirit. Kenny opened the file for the battle and tried to analyse the power output in that moment, and that was enough. The actual uprising was enough to wake me and call me back, but it was just that little bit of extra energy that I needed to get all the way back here. It could only have happened with a group who respect and honour each other enough to show the others the true depths of their spirit – and just bit-beasts or just constellations wouldn't have been enough. It had to be both, and let me tell you, there has never been a group that knew and trusted the other people enough to do that before, not ever. You've begun something new, boys."

The G-Revolutions exchanged glances. "Would that work with any of the other beasts?" Tyson asked, his voice tight. "Binding them together with the rest of them? It'd take a massive battle, but I'd be happy to do it if it meant..."

"Meant what?" Dizzi asked. So Kenny took it upon himself to explain the situation with the bit-beasts and their owners' nineteenth birthdays.

"I just wish that we'd known earlier," he said sadly. "I could have done loads of research on it and maybe found a way to keep them. But it doesn't look too hopeful now – Tala's already lost Wolborg, and the other older ones are losing them fast too – Garland's next, isn't he, Kai?" At Kai's nod he looked back down at Dizzi. "Why hadn't we heard anything about it before? It wasn't in any of my research."

Dizzi actually laughed. "Oh dear," she sighed. "You really have got yourselves in a mess, haven't you?"

"Dizzi!" Kenny sounded scandalised. "If this is true, then Kai's only got another month with Dranzer! I... I can't imagine what it'll be like to lose a bit-beast like that, even though I thought that I'd lost you. Can't you do anything to help us?"

The silence that followed was the worst that any of the G-Revolutions had ever heard. Then, in a quiet voice, Dizzi said "No. I can't do anything to help you get your bit-beasts back."

Tsubasa, who had been watching Kai very closely, was the only one who saw the flash of pain cross his face. The return of Dizzi had given him a moment's hope that his heart-of-hearts might still be able to stay, but now that hope had just resulted in more pain. Tsubasa had known for a long time that there was only one thing that his mentor truly loved in the whole of the world, and that was Dranzer – without the fire-bird, Tsubasa couldn't even begin to describe Kai. Inside his mind, Eagle ruffled his feathers and settled down with his head beneath one wing, comforting, comfortable. What on earth could it feel like, having that ripped away from you? What kind of heart could even survive losing the better half of yourself without being irreparably damaged?

Ray was more obvious in his grief, his hand drifting to the holder that Driger Metal Slash resided in as he took a deep breath in order to get himself under control, blinking fiercely as the reality of the situation crashed around him. No-one said anything; no-one could even move.

"Maybe I should be clearer," Dizzi spoke into the stillness. "I can't do anything... but you can."

It was at that moment that Tsubasa was glad he had not taken his eyes off of Kai. It was beyond rare to see the older Phoenix blader showing any form of deep emotion, but the light of joy that flamed into Kai's eyes was unmistakable.

"When you were children, they were your best friends and best protectors," Dizzi explained. "They chose you because you were right for them. When you turn nineteen, you don't need protecting in that sort of way any more. But that doesn't mean that they'll stop being your friends. They have to leave, because of the way they work, protecting you until you are old enough to stand beside them, as their friends, not their masters. Just reach out to them – they won't leave you completely unless they are forced to. Tell them that you've made your choice, ask them to come back, and they will."

"You're serious, Dizzi?" Kai asked, getting there just as Ray opened his mouth. "That's... it's that easy?"

"It takes a bit of effort on your part to call them back from where they'll disappear to, but yes. It's really that easy, Kai."

Gingka had the strange, uncomfortable feeling that he was intruding on some terribly private moment of joy, and took a step back to where Tsubasa and Kyouya stood watching the G-Revolution bladers cluster around the small silver laptop. Knowing what he was thinking, Tsubasa put one hand on his shoulder.

"Dragoon?" Tyson breathed, and the blue dragon hummed happily in his ear. "You're not leaving me? Because I really, really want you to stay, friend." The answering trill was loud enough and joyous enough to be audible, and Max laughed.

"Draciel agrees," he said.

"So does Driger," Ray laughed in relief. "Though that might get tricky when he needs to be passed on to the next bearer..."

"Worry about that when the time comes," Kai interrupted, his hand clasped very tightly around Dranzer Metal Spark. "Just be grateful that we've got them... that they're staying."

Tsubasa was still watching him, taking in the unusual and rather extraordinary spectacle of his mentor allowing himself to show his true emotions. There was a haunted look in Kai's eyes, as if he'd been drowning and pulled to safety at the last minute, but still wasn't certain he was free from the water that had tried to claim him. His fingers clenched and loosened around his bey - looking at him, Tsubasa wasn't certain Kai actually knew what he was doing.

Tyson was the first one to see past his own joy. "Wait, what about Tala and the others? The ones who have already lost theirs?"

Dizzi hummed happily. "They can do it too. I think I heard Tala say something about him being able to hear Wolborg still, so he must have done it but not quite got it right. If he just calls Wolborg properly, it'll be absolutely fine."

"We should call him, then, and all the others who might have lost their beasts," Max said, his expression serious. "Dizzi, can you scan to find out which beasts have already gone?"

"Of course!" the bit-beast chirruped. "Though it would be easier to just group the bladers by their ages..."

There was a momentary pause, and then the bit-beast's voice crackled back into life. "Let's see now... the bit-beasts who currently have no master are Gigars, Wolborg, Bison, Galzzy, Trihorn, Seaborg, Vortex Ape and Rapid Eagle."

"What's a Rapid Eagle when it's at home?" Tsubasa asked the world in general. He got no answer. Then again, he wasn't really expecting one, not right now.

"So that's Crusher, Tala, Rick, Gary, Steve, Spencer, Dunga and Claude," Ray said, leaning in to read the list and ticking them off on his fingers. "Maxie's right, we should call them and tell them."

"I'll get onto it," Max volunteered.

Tyson's expression tightened. "What must it have been like?" he breathed. "None of them said anything... do you think they thought that they'd done something wrong to make their beasts leave them?"

"Who knows?" Kai answered. "Wait a minute, Dizzi – what about Griffolyon?"

The computer hummed softly as Dizzi scanned the lists again. "He's with Robert," she said at last. "All of the Majestics have theirs."

Kai frowned. "That doesn't make sense," he muttered. "Robert's a year older than me at least, and I thought Johnny was older too."

"Maybe they just haven't reported it?" Max suggested, but Dizzi disagreed.

"I'm not looking at the databases," she informed him. "I'm linking up to the bit-beasts themselves and asking who they're with. Griffolyon is definitely still with Robert."

Tyson's eyes went wide. "Wait, you don't think he... no, that's impossible. He is older than nineteen, isn't he?"

"He's nearly twenty-one," Dizzi reported. "And Johnny's nineteenth birthday was three days ago, but he's still got Salamalyon."

"I hate mysteries," Kai suddenly interrupted, much to everyone's surprise. "Especially when it concerns him. Find out what happened."

"Yes," Kenny added. "And can you find out why we didn't hear anything about this earlier?"

The laptop's internal fan whirred as Dizzi worked away, silently communicating with the other bit-beasts. "Got it!" she exclaimed suddenly. "The answers are actually tied together!"

"What? How?" The questions came from Ray, Max and Tyson simultaneously.

"Okay, I'll start with Robert," Dizzi said. "You know that his family has had Griffolyon for centuries, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, that's just it. They already knew that the beasts would try to leave at nineteen, so they stopped them somehow."

"But why didn't Robert tell us that it happened?" Max asked, sounding a bit hurt.

Dizzi's voice was filled with smiles. "That's another easy one," she said. "He assumed that it was just the bit-beasts of his family and those of the other Majestics. You remember how they used to treat them? Would it be such a jump to think that the bit-beasts would get into the habit of leaving?"

Tyson wrinkled his nose. "Eh, guess not. Maybe they thought it was some kind of contract between the blader and the beast that was finished after nineteen years or something."

"Almost certainly," Dizzi responded after a few seconds. "I've checked the databases back as far as they go, and it seems that there's always been a male heir ready to take on Griffolyon when the older one turns nineteen, because it wasn't necessarily father to son. I can't find any information about the others, but I'd bet my hard drive that they're the same."

"So that's how it happened," Ray sighed. "Robert assumed it was just him. That... makes a lot of sense, knowing Robert. You'd think that someone might have said something, though."

But Dizzi disagreed. "No," she said. "You and your generation are incredibly unusual. The strength of your connection with your bit-beats for one... and your love of blading that is continuing into your adult years. From what I can see in the data, it was very unusual for anyone in previous generations to this one to keep their blade after their seventeenth birthday, even. So it's no surprise that no-one realised that the protection that the bit-beasts give fails after their blader turns nineteen. There simply wasn't anyone who kept their blade in the family and used it often enough to realise that the bit-beast was missing, except for the Majestics and their families."

"And they assumed they were special and superior," Kai cut in. "Like they always do."

"You got it!" Dizzi cheered. "So that's all there is to it."

The G-Revolutions stared at each other for a very long time in silence. "Hey," Tyson said at last. "Would any of you have guessed it was that easy?"

Ray shook his head. "No way," he said. "I'd have tried everything, but just asking? It just sounds too simple. If no-one had told me, I couldn't have done it."

Once again, Dizzi spoke up. "I've just asked Dragoon and the others about it, and you know what they said? They said that of all their previous owners, no-one has ever been close enough to them to be able to call them back after they've gone. It takes a truly phenomenal bond, but you've got it."

"Then we've all been worrying for nothing!" Max chirruped, his blue eyes sparkling with renewed hope. "They'll never have to leave us, never."

"How could they ever truly leave you anyway?" Dizzi asked, her metallic voice gentle. "You're the only people in the world who love blading as much as they do."

Quite how Kai was managing to hide the smile that Tsubasa could see in his eyes, the Eagle's owner did not know. Tyson, Max and Ray had no such emotional reservations, and turned to their guests, smiles as dazzling as the sun lighting up their faces. "You hear that, Gingka?" Tyson laughed. "Take as long as you like to find Pegasus – me and Dragoon will be here whenever you want a battle!"

"Same to you, Kyouya," Ray challenged. "Don't think that because we're older, we're getting creaky!"

"Why'd we think that?" Yuu asked, tilting his head to one side. "You guys are awesome! Maxie beat me, remember? Only really cool people get to do that."

"Hehe, thanks, Yuu!"

"Excuse me!" Dizzi broke in pointedly. "Why don't you introduce me to your lovely new friends?"

"Sure!" Tyson exclaimed. "Hey, guys! Come meet Dizzi!"

.

Much later that night, Gingka was lying on his mattress on the floor of Tyson's room, listening to his host toss and turn as he tried to sleep. Between Daichi's pleading, Kenta's persistence and Yuu's wide green eyes, they had managed to persuade Max's father to let the three younger bladers all stay over at the shop with Max, Ray and Benkei, so Tyson and Gingka were the only ones in the house apart from Grandpa.

But tonight was different for another reason. Most nights, Tyson would be asleep and snoring before Gingka was even settled under the covers. Tonight, though, he was restless, sighing every few minutes as sleep evaded him. After about ten minutes of this, Gingka decided that enough was enough.

"Hey, Tyson?" he called softly. "What's up?"

There was a muffled sound of surprise, and then Tyson's head popped over the edge of his bed. "Oh? You're still awake. Sorry."

"Whatever. Something bothering you?"

"It was just all that talk of you going," Tyson said sadly. "Me and Daichi are gonna miss you."

Gingka stretched out on his mattress. "Yeah, me too. I can't believe the time has gone so fast. It's been so long since Battle Bladers..."

"Not long 'til the World Championships, though," Tyson pointed out. "I can't wait, and I'm not even taking part! It'll be fun finding out what it's like working behind the scenes."

"Yeah," Gingka agreed. "If I can't find Pegasus in time, I'll come and join you!"

"Awesome!" Tyson laughed. "We'll be the best WBBA officials in the world!"

"Deal!"

For a minute or two, there was a silence between the two of them. It wasn't the awkward silence that had filled the room on the first nights, when neither of them had known what to say, where to find common ground, or even if the whole idea of having the bladers with the metal beys staying with the G-Revolutions was going to work at all. Nor was it the deliberate, loaded silence of two people who had decided that yes, they were going to try and sleep, and that they were not going to talk any more. It wasn't even the silence that comes in the gaps in conversation, the sort of silence that wants to be filled before the atmosphere becomes too heavy or strange.

This silence was comfortable, the silence between good friends who no longer need words to communicate with each other, and could leave a sentence half-finished without worrying as they fell into sleep.

The sound that eventually broke the silence was one which had been the only constant throughout every single night that Tyson, Daichi and Gingka had shared this room in Tyson's house, so far away and so very different to Gingka's home, and yet which had so quickly become a second home to him.

"Good night, Gingka."

"Good night, Tyson."

The last two chapters are finished! So, one in three days time, and the epilogue a little after that. Consider it me making up for all the times that I said I'd be done in a week and then took a month.