Twenty-Eight
Kyousuke had to resist the urge to spare a glance at the driver's controls; he knew that Honoo was breaking speed limits, and he didn't even want to know how fast they were going, should the answer shock him and give him a heart attack. He had already so much to worry about, and the anxiety had already been torturing him for the past three hours.
The night before he had a blast with his Chinese girlfriend, but he had been awakened by a seemingly non-existent gunshot, and, to his dread, he found that the picture frame bearing the photograph of him and his best friend had been shattered to pieces. Then, not even half a day later, he had received a message from his colleagues – and it was Code Garuda Phoenix. It wasn't good.
Not good at all.
Quick to respond to the call, he set out to their secret base, just in time as Honoo dropped by to take him along for the ride. And as the trip lingered on, the feeling of dread that had gripped his heart had gone terribly worse. He had attempted to figure out what was going on, and had even asked his comrades, but they offered him no answers. Even Honoo, who was his senior and one of those Gear Fighters who had been attempting to figure out what their secret organization was all about and who was running it, had nothing to say to him, except that there had to be a problem. The CGIA had yet to call for an emergency meeting.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Honoo commented, adding a whistle afterwards to make it appear as though it was but a passing statement. Usually calm and composed, and very much the joker, it was chilling to see him sport such a demeanor.
The Gear genius didn't even bother to look at him. "Yeah, tell me about it."
-x-
"Jin!"
The base of the CGIA was, not surprisingly, underground, and the darkness made it difficult for the young man, even if he was with a trusted companion. Despite the fact that whoever ran the organization had enough money to spend on technology and facilities, it seemed to have been decided that the path to the headquarters remain to look like a cave. It was safer that way, and it made the area look less suspicious.
Upon hearing his name, Kyousuke looked straight ahead, towards the light where there apparently was a doorway, and upon seeing the owner of the voice, his ebony orbs flew wide open in shock. He had not expected that the first person to meet him at their headquarters was, of all people, his former rival, the chess prodigy Kishin Ohkawa. And he was even more surprised when he saw the three other members of the Mighty Gears in the premises: Eddy Kobayashi, Taki Hiroomi, and Satoru Todoroki.
The captain of the Mighty Gears smiled as he came up to him – and rather fondly, at that. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Kyousuke extended his hand, and as Kishin shook it, he nodded in agreement. "Yes, I believe I have." He then raised an eyebrow quizzically as he pulled his hand away. "You haven't been a Gear Fighting team for so long. What's going on here?"
"I was going to ask you that, too. Nobody seems to know, except that, well, it has to be something bad," Kishin replied, and the smile on his face had completely disappeared. There was a hard, serious look in his eyes now, one the Gear Master hadn't seen in a long time. He then stepped aside, motioning the newcomers to enter. "But that's not your pressing concern at the moment. Somebody needs you."
And at the far corner of the room, or hall, or whatever it was called, where familiar faces, mostly those Gear Fighters who had risen to greatness at his time, were gathered, Kyousuke saw the Si Xing Hu Tuan members, all huddled together, and, without mistake, a sobbing Lan Fang was in their midst. She looked distinctly pale, and even from where she was, he could see a band of red on her wrists. His heart wrenching painfully at the sight of her, he quickly made his way toward her, calling out her name as he did so. And she was quick to respond to his call; in no time, she was in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
He felt himself grow even colder as he held her close and stroked her hair to calm her down. It was not like her at all to break down. She was emotional, yes, but in control. She would shed tears, but never in public. And yet…
"What happened." It was no question. He demanded an answer.
Wang Hu, Ma Liang and Li Chun looked at each other, hesitating. In between sobs, Lan Fang had managed to tell him what had transpired, and had consequently broken down afterwards, but could they bear to relate such dreadful news to the Gear Master? They weren't afraid to become the objects of his anger; what they feared was how Kyousuke would take in the developments. Everything had happened so fast, they weren't sure how the young man would even react.
"What happened, Kyousuke Jin, is that Ming Wu has declared war."
All eyes turned towards the owner of the heavily accented voice, and as soon as the speaker finished his declaration, the door to the headquarters was shut – locked, even. From the shadows of what seemed to be an inner office a familiar figure of a Gear Fighting champion stepped out, and as he did so, his blonde hair and green eyes now visible to the assembly, there was no mistaking who he was, and the fact that he was The Boss.
Murmurs broke out.
They couldn't believe who they were hearing.
They couldn't believe who they were seeing.
Harry Gamble.
He regarded each one in the room with critical eyes that burned with determination and courage, and when he resumed speaking, silence fell once more. "We are what remains of the GFA," he began fiercely. "We are the last of the those who believe in the true essence of Gear Fighting, the last of those who see the rainbow upon which it has been founded. For the past years we have allowed Ming Wu to do whatever he wished. When our friends began to fall prey to his corrupt ways, we only closed our eyes and allowed it to pass. Yet enough is enough. Today, he crossed the line. Today, he extinguished someone's dream, someone's heart, someone's life."
His gaze fell on Kyousuke, his eyes shining with sorrow. "Today, he murdered Kuroudo Marume."
Silence.
"Murdered?" Mitsuki Ohmori, like everyone else, could not believe it.
Eddy forced a laugh, rising from his seat. "Harry, you've got to be kidding."
"I wish I were," the German replied gravely. "But Lan Fang witnessed the murder herself."
And noise filled the room as one conversation after the other erupted. None of them could believe the news, didn't want to believe the news. For the past years, they had heard stories about how Ming Wu had corrupted great Gear Fighters, as he had David Cechetti and Takeshi Manganji; they had heard stories about how Ming Wu had broken great Gear Fighters, as he had Kouya Marino and Carlos Williams; they had heard stories about how Ming Wu had driven great Gear Fighters into madness, as he had Kaoru Hanano and Gallen Connellheim. But never, never before had they heard stories about how Ming Wu had murdered great Gear Fighters.
Until now.
And they feared it was only going to be the beginning.
As the symphony of chaos sang on, a lone figure stood in the middle of the vast expanse, unmoving, in a trance. For what was left of the GFA might have lost an asset, a fighter, a comrade, a friend, but he suffered the greatest loss of them all…
