Ha, update in two weeks! Was worth a shot but not even close. Wasn't even within a month. Here I am hoping to start a new story when I can't even update every two weeks! What a joke I am. Well, at least you are all still getting a chapter. Let's be generous and call it an early Christmas present or something. That being said I'm honestly not too certain how many people are still reading at this point. Last chapter according to my analytics only had nine views, and the one before that had fifteen.

Oof.

There's definitely been a drop off, and I partially wonder what specifically caused this? Makes me wonder if extending the end of this arc was a bad idea after all. I suppose if people want to tell me anything with a review, now's your chance. Otherwise, there's nothing to do but forge on ahead really. Here's the conclusion to the cliffhanger from last chapter. Review as always with any thoughts or criticisms.


Chapter 57: I, Monster

"You don't have to do this alone, Ryo."

"I'm not. I trust Gingka. I know he'll pull through where I failed. I believe in him."

"I do not refer to your son. I'm referring to you and your mission. I'm referring to you keeping your actually being alive a secret. I'm referring to your decision to go about all this alone."

"I don't have any other choice, Hokuto."

"Are you certain of that?"

"…I…I can't go to Katsuro about this."

"He said you had one opportunity to contact him, did he not?"

"…He did. But…I want to save it."

"What could possibly be more important than this? What are you going to save it for? The Forbidden Bey has been taken, Ryo! Something has to be done and he can help us. Help you. Gingka does not need to face this trial. At the very least he does not need to be the one to lead such a dangerous endeavour."

"Gingka has Pegasus now, he can do it. We don't need Katsuro for this."

"You didn't answer my question. What are you waiting for? What must occur before you'll call him?"

"Why don't you call him if you're so insistent?"

"Don't give me that nonsense. We both know Katsuro hated me. He hated most of the people here, that's why you were one of his only friends. He'll only answer to you. You and you alone."

"He…he doesn't want to hear from me. You know how it was when he left."

"Yes. You departed on bad terms, but in the end he still gave you his number. He burned all his bridges when he left but he still left one tile for you to stand on. One last connector."

"So…?"

"He trusted you and you alone. Even when he left, he left only one connection to his home and that was you. If anyone can bring him back, it's you."

"I don't know…"

"Are you afraid to speak to him again?"

"No…it's not that…I've always wanted to go after him and patch things up. He was my first friend. My best friend really. I'd give anything to have him back."

"Then why do you wish to avoid calling him?"

"Because I can't let him be right. Not this time. Not on this particular issue. Everything I've worked for, everything I've built, it all wasn't for nothing. If I call him I'm conceding, I'm proving him right."

"…Be careful, Ryo. You have always been headfast and strong, those can certainly be virtues of strength. But like anything, they can also be tools that pave the way to ruin."

"I will not fail."

"You say will and yet I feel you mean cannot."

"Does it make a difference?"

"The intent matters. Your immovable belief that you cannot be wrong in this instance could very well destroy you. Heed my warning, Ryo. It may happen later rather than sooner but do not to be so narrow-minded as to let everything fall to ruin because of your pride."

"I won't."

"Pride can kill a man, Ryo. Do not let those words be the marker on your grave. For all our sakes."


The world suddenly caved in on itself. That's how he interpreted it in the moment anyway. Was hard to think straight when your body was hurtling through the air to be fair. Just as up and down became meaningless and interchangeable, so too did perception in general.

Or maybe he was overthinking things, who could really tell nowadays? Maybe everything was just one big lie…

It all happened so spontaneously that Ryo couldn't actually process it all at first. One minute everything was up right as per usual, the next there was a light exploding through the window like a grenade, and then everything seemed to shift 90 degrees on the horizontal axis. Or maybe it was the vertical axis? Again, hard to really determine. Either way, his seatbelt did a pretty good imitation of someone crying bloody murder as it jerked in place and strained against his body and the unforgiving pull of gravity. His body itself wasn't having much of a better time, it suddenly being bombarded with what he could only presume were numerous G-forces. Bile might have risen up his throat, but his stomach likely didn't even get the chance to realise it should have been upchucking to begin with. Or maybe the bile was forced back down via gravity by the time it came up and he simply didn't notice?

Who could tell really when you were in the midst of a car crash is the point essentially.

Ryo didn't scream, not because he wasn't scared, but rather because he was so taken off guard. The thought of screaming and flailing his arms as if he were on a roller-coaster never got a chance to even be considered. Instead he sat there dazed as his body jerked around and his mouth hung open in shock. What was probably a few seconds felt like millennia as he simply hung there, caught in one moment in time as glass, blood and smoke flickered across his vision. The fact this wasn't the first time something like this had happened should probably be pause for concern, but that thought was quickly snuffed out in the next few milliseconds. Reality seemed to finally right itself at last and time caught up, sending the vehicle crashing to the pavement with a wet crunch.

"AARGH!"

Ryo's body flopped down like a fish out of water, his seatbelt straining to keep him confined to his seat. The airbags hadn't gone off, so he was pretty sure the red leaking onto the car's ceiling was probably coming from a graze on his forehead and not paint or ink. He sputtered and gasped for breathe while trying to get his bearings, his vision swirling for a moment before clearing up. His brain similarly finally seemed to catch up along with his stomach, which did a pretty good impression of a whale bellowing as it tried to figure out if he should vomit now or not. He stomped the feeling down before it could go any further and instead swiftly moved on to testing his body for any broken bones.

"Shit…" he hissed as his pain receptors finally kicked in after a delay, informing him that he was indeed injured and in agony. The fact that he wasn't screaming like the seatbelt had earlier seemed to suggest he wasn't in a crucial condition of any sort. That was a relief…somewhat. Or maybe he was simply used to near death experiences at this point. Koma Village had been a close call after all…

The car had landed on its top and he was dangling awkwardly from his seat, the belt thankfully having held throughout the whole ordeal. Again, no airbags, but at least the seatbelt had worked and for that he was grateful. The cheap car had done enough ultimately. Had it all failed he likely would have broken his neck during the flip and wasn't that a gruesome thought? His mind drifted briefly to Gingka, wondering how he'd react to one day waking up and being told his father died in a mysterious car crash. Would the WBBA leave him in his world of ignorant bliss, or would they come for him too? So long as Ryo was alive he was a priority target, but once he was out of the picture would they take Gingka too just to be safe? Or was his son even now in danger? Would they threaten Gingka to keep him in line? Or perhaps even Tsubaba and Hikaru? The fact he hadn't considered such implications till now unnerved him. How could he have been so blind?

Or have I always been blind?

SNKT!

Ryo titled his head awkwardly, groaning as more blood no doubt rushed to his head like a bullet train. Straining his ears, he could make out sounds coming from outside beyond the wreckage, something like metal hissing through the air. That of course was when Ryo finally realised he was alone in the car. Twisting his head the other way revealed that the driver's seat was unoccupied and that Katsuro was nowhere to be found. The relief that he wasn't staring at a corpse was quickly washed away when the next train of thought hit him. It wasn't difficult to put the pieces together after all. He knew what a sword being swung sounded like and that could mean only one thing.

"Dammit…" Ryo grit out as he strained to move his arms. His sleeves were ripped and torn and his arms were now littered in cuts and bruises like he'd briefly stuck his arms in a wood chipper on a dare or something. On top of all that they felt unusually heavy, as if they were being weighed down with chains or weights. Biting his tongue and tasting iron, he finally managed to reach the release on his seatbelt, hesitating only for a moment to prepare himself and say his prayers.

"I am…the immortal…Phoenix…" he managed to grunt out with the faintest hint of his trademark cocky smile. His finger pressed the button and with a click, gravity reasserted its dominance over him. He was certain to angle his body so that his back hit the ceiling first, managing an awkward roll so as to not hit his head at all. It was still quite bad though; he wouldn't lie. Pain flared up his spine and his legs and arms groaned like a machine about to explode and combust as they collapsed. His chest was rising and falling, and he could feel a sharp pain in his right leg that he knew he'd have to deal with next.

And yet…he hesitated.

Waves of nausea and nerves were washing over him like waves, and like being caught in a rip he was at the point where he was exhausted and ready to simply let himself slide under forever. He was tired, that couldn't be denied. He hadn't slept well for the past few weeks and having already endured a beating by Katsuro earlier meant he was in no condition to do much of anything, let alone potentially fight of all things! Vertigo was hitting him bad, and blinking rapidly every few seconds or so was the only thing preventing him from passing out.

This simply wasn't like Koma Village.

This wasn't like when Ryuga and Doji and the Dark Nebula had tried to bury him alive. They hadn't been his fault, not directly at the very least, so his willpower had no problem carrying him to safety. His willpower had no issues with convincing him to fight on, to help guide Gingka to victory over the Forbidden Bey. There was a drive there, a drive to undo the evil Doji and Ryuga had committed. But everything happening with the WBBA and the academy…he simply didn't have the strength to push through. That was his fault, and the guilt was slowly sucking away all the strength and will he had like a leech. Why even bother at this point? What was the point of soldiering on? It was all his fault, why should he even be given the opportunity to fix any of it? Wouldn't things be better if he just died here?

"Ryo!"

His eyes flickered open with a groan.

"Ryo!"

Was that…?

"Ryo!"

It was Katsuro.

It was Kanai Katsuro.

His friend.

His best friend.

He was calling to him.

Calling to Ryo Hagane for help.

As ludicrous as it sounds it was the one thing he needed.

Katsuro calling to him awakened something, something small but something. He wasn't sure what it was but it would be enough. Enough of something to latch on to it with all he had to ignite the sparks in his very soul. They were just embers but it was enough to make him move, to make him think again. Katsuro was out there fighting, fighting not only for himself but for the both of them. How could he lie there and just give up when others were willing to fight? He had made a mess of things but he was always the optimist wasn't he? How could he even think for a second that conceding was the solution here? He had wanted to be a hero hadn't he? What was he going to achieve by lying there and letting exhaustion have its way with was he going to achieve by letting others fight his battles for him?

"I want to make a world where everyone can be happy."

"I'm not…going down…like this…"

Taking a deep breath, Ryo slowly pushed himself up, grabbing hold of the car seat to drag himself up into something resembling a sitting position. His body flared with pain with every minute movement but he pushed through even if he was certain he might have almost severed his tongue at one point with how hard he was biting down on it. His body shook as he shifted, fatigue and pain setting in further. Memories of being nearly buried alive in Koma Village flashed in his mind but be warded them off, thinking of more pleasant memories and times to deflect and distract himself.

Finally he managed to get into a more comfortable position, one that allowed him to take a good look at himself and his situation. It was not a very nice picture as it turns out. His body looked as bad as it felt unsurprisingly. But all the minor details paled in comparison to the one major thing of note. He'd figured out what the pain in his leg was.

There was shrapnel.

There was a piece of shrapnel to be precise.

There was a piece of metal sticking out of his leg.

Right out of his right leg.

There was a piece of shrapnel sticking out of his right leg.

There was a bit of metal impaling his leg and leaking blood all over the place.

There was a piece of shrapnel lodged in his leg, causing a wound that was secreting much of his red innards at an alarming rate.

There was a piece of shrapnel from the crash that was sticking out of his leg in such a way as to cause an egregious wound that would cause much pain as well as cause blood to leak from his body.

Metal

Leg

Shrapnel

Blood

Wound

Lodged

Sticking

Out

Leg

RIGHT.

SEEP

BLOOD

SHRAPNEL

IMPALE

LEG

METAL

METAL

METAL

METAL

METAL

METAL

METAL

METAL

METAL

METAL

METAL

M̴͚̀̂̄̊̒̚Ě̸͔̫̦̺͓̤͕̩̄͑͜T̶̪̞̼̱̲̟̲̣͍̊̈́͒A̶̱̜̻̭̓̀̂̾̈́͆̅̌̓L̵̢̮̳̞̻̒

THERE WAS A PIECE-

THERE WAS A PIECE OF METAL STICKING-

THERE WAS A PIECE OF METAL STICKING OUT OF HIS GODDAMN-

"RYO!"

Katsuro's voice was enough to snap him out of his spiralling panic attack. He hadn't even realised what had happened till it was over. How long had he been lying there while Katsuro fought for their lives? How long had Ryo's eyes rolled back into his skull as his brain was sent hurtling into overdrive? The smell of fumes, blood and smoke were filling his nostrils at an alarming rate and a part of him wondered if that was partially the reason for his little freak out. He'd been fine after Koma Village after all so why was this giving him such distress? He was fine, right? Totally fine. He wasn't the Immortal Phoenix for nothing after all.

Totally fine.

Totally.

Yeah, totally.

Totally…

Well…least this solves the mystery of the pain in my leg…good to know… he thought grimly, instinctively reaching forward.

It was difficult with his positioning in the wreckage but he somehow managed to get a grasp on the jagged piece of metal. It was surprisingly cool in his hand and he thanked whatever God was out there that he was able to get a good grip on it without slicing his hand open. In retrospective, grabbing it with a full hand immediately had been needlessly risky but there was little point focusing on that now. Instead he paused for a few seconds as if that was adequate time to prepare himself for what was about to happen. He wasn't some action hero as much as he liked to believe he was, he knew this next part was going to hurt badly. He just hoped he wouldn't go into shock again. He wasn't sure if Katsuro could keep bringing him back with his shouting.

"It's just a scraped knee, Ryo. Stop being such a baby. Get back on the bike already."

"But it really hurts, Kanai. I can't help it."

"You're the one who dragged me out here, remember? You're the one who decided he wanted to do it. In life, bad stuff happens sometimes or you screw up. And let me tell you, those things are going to be far worse than you scraping a knee."

"…So…?"

"So, get up on that bike or we're heading home. There's no middle ground here. Either you do it or we stop. You're letting one tiny roadblock get in your way. We don't live in a fantasy world with happy endings. Out there people will eat you alive the moment you give them the opportunity. So get up now or don't bother ever getting up at all."

Steeling himself, Ryo closed his eyes and whimpered right before tugging the shrapnel out of his leg with a quick flourish.

His attempt not to scream failed miserably.

Unsurprisingly.

"GAAAAAAAH!"

If anyone outside heard or noticed they gave no indication, or maybe Ryo simply couldn't hear them over his own anguished cries. The piece of metal stained his hands red as he held it for a moment, trapped in a perpetual state of pain before coming to his senses and using it to smash apart the remains of the windscreen. His vision swirled for a moment, vertigo setting in again but he grit his teeth and slammed his body against the car ceiling to keep himself steady and awake.

"I'm not…going…down…like this…" he panted, the fire in his chest wavering only for a moment.

He began an awkward crawl, desperately trying to elevate his right leg lest it become injured even further. This was all quite difficult of course when he was crawling over glass-covered pavement but beggars can't be choosers. Every movement seemed to hurt, either old wounds flaring up or new ones being formed as he unintentionally stabbed himself in some way. His body was barely responding to his commands, whining and protesting like a toddler denied its favourite toy. He couldn't blame it either, he wished he could just give up too. How easy would it be just to collapse right here and now? Only the fear of the unknown kept him conscious. If he fell here what would happen to Katsuro? To Tsubaba and Hikaru? To Gingka? To beyblade? To the world at large?

But it was also lingering guilt, guilt of leaving everyone else to clean up his mess that kept him motivated now. Before he thought he didn't deserve a shot at redemption, but now he was disgusted at the thought of leaving everyone else to find a solution to a problem he created.

It can't end…like this dammit…I have a job…to do...

He dragged his body over to the side of the upturned vehicle, muscles screaming and protesting with each agonising second. His fingers would probably be bloody by the end of this, them being forced to carry far more weight than usual. He caught sight of his briefcase off to the side, no doubt cast there through the window when the car was hit. The other vehicle was not too far away, a large four-wheel drive by the looks of it with the front mangled and damaged from the impact. The driver door was flung open, the car's occupant no doubt having leapt out as soon as possible.

"Ryo!"

He pulled himself towards his friend's voice, scraping closer and closer to the upright vehicle. Finally on the other side he sat himself up, letting out a gasp of breath he didn't know he needed. He'd clutch his chest if not for how tired his arms were, so instead he kept them down by his side. The rain was pelting him now; he'd almost forgotten about it with everything else happening, but now that he was still he could feel it wash over him. It was cooling, but it also made his various cuts sting and hiss with each raindrop. It was both a blessing and a curse in a sense, giving him some sort of comfort as well as some sort of pain at the same time.

Perhaps that was the most he deserved for his sins.

"Ryo!"

In a flash of lightning he saw them, the two exchanging blows in the rain not too far away. Katsuro had discarded his shirt and was bare-chested, sporting a few cuts and bruises like Ryo was but looking a little better than him overall. Despite having just been in a car crash he moved like a young man, his body weaving in and out of attacks with a speed any fighter would envy. His attacker meanwhile was a woman, bald and dressed in a dark red skintight combat outfit. It was too dark out to make out any other details, but he could see that she was wielding what appeared to be a rapier of some sort. A scabbard rest in her other hand, and she was proving just as capable of using that as a weapon, constantly striking out at Katsuro to prevent him from closing the distance when he avoided her bladed attacks. The rapier was largely a blur, a silver streak cutting through the night sky as it aimed to cut down its elusive foe.

Unarmed and with one injured companion, things were not look good for Katsuro in this fight.

"Fuck!" Ryo swore to himself as he made an attempt to stand that failed miserably. He slipped back down almost immediately, alarm bells in his head going off as his pain receptors started firing away again like a semi-automatic. Pain tore through his leg like a battering ram, every fibre of his being screaming in protest as he strained to move. If he didn't know any better, he'd assume someone had snuck up on him and pulled barbed wire through his leg as a part of some sort of sick prank. He couldn't help but wonder now if removing the shrapnel had been a good idea or not. He bit the inside of his cheek till it bled while he ripped a part of his shirt off to wrap it around his wound in a desperate attempt to staunch the continued blood flow. Now that he looked back the way he had came, he realised he'd left a bloody trail in his wake.

Well…that's certainly not a good sign.

Turning his attention back to the fight, he saw it was still in the same state as before. Despite being unarmed, Katsuro was somehow holding the attacker off, managing to weave and duck through the various attempts to stab or slash him. In the brief flashes of light thanks to the illumination of lightning, Ryo was even able to get glimpses of the emotion of the two fighters. Katsuro remained stone-faced, his mouth stuck in a perpetual thin line while the woman was scowling, seemingly annoyed with the scenario or perhaps her inability to close in for the kill.

Ryo was almost entranced by the fight as the two carefully engaged in their dance to the death over the soaked road. Katsuro fought with a grace only someone with years of experience and dedication to their craft could pull off, while the attacker struck like an animal with fast and ferocious sword movements that left her a blur half the time. He had to resist shouting out to his friend if only out of fear he'd distract him and get him killed. Katsuro was powerful but not perfect.

He grimaced when the woman suddenly used a streetlamp to run up, using the height to launch a deadly spinning kick through the air that Katsuro miraculously dodged. Ryo choked in shock though when he realised the move had caught Katsuro off-guard, his feet slipping as he stumbled back and barely bent back under a dangerous thrust of the rapier.

Suddenly the momentum shifted as if magic, the assassin had over-extended and was unprepared for Katsuro's foot striking the underside of her chin. Her head flicked back with a cry of a pain and Katsuro was upon her like a monster.

Ryo would have rubbed his eyes in astonishment at the display he'd just seen if his arms didn't hurt so badly still. Katsuro had purposefully pretended to be caught off guard to lure his foe into a false sense of security just so he could then exploit their sudden burst of overconfidence to turn the fight in his favour. It was a dangerous play, since he had to purposefully leave himself vulnerable to make it look convincing. One wrong move and he'd be dead. This was the type of stratagems only a master could pull off with such confidence, ease and proficiency.

He's a madman…always has been…Ryo thought, sombrely.

Katsuro's hand caught the woman's wrist as she desperately swung around on him, his palm catching her in the chest and knocking the air from her lungs. Moving in even more, his elbow struck her chin and was quickly followed by an upper kick hitting the same place for maximum damage. Still Katsuro showed no emotion even as he dodged a deadly counterattack, the blade of the rapier missing his head by what had to be an inch. Despite being forced into a kneeling position he took full advantage by resting his weight on his arms and kicking up with his legs, deflecting the sword coming back around with one foot and striking the woman's knee with the other all in the span of about two milliseconds.

The whole thing had been so fast that Ryo never even got a chance to visibly react, the momentum shifted so suddenly and unexpectedly every second that he didn't have the time to become concerned, worried or even happy at the outcome. Still, he had to wonder what he could do to help. Sitting there in awe was all fine and dandy but it was clear Katsuro was on the back foot here by fighting without a weapon of any sort. They could theoretically win on a numbers advantage if Ryo joined the fight but he couldn't even stand. Launching Fireblaze sounded like a fine idea on paper, but a fire bey fighting in the rain and interfering in a person on person fight held the risk of making things too messy. He might accidentally give the woman an opening she needed to end Katsuro and then him.

BOOM!

Before he could ponder the situation further, a blast of fire from the crashed vehicle sent him keeling over on instinct. His arms found new life as they covered his head and face, taking the brunt of the heat and shrapnel flying through the air at him. He would have bit his tongue again if not for fear this time he really would bite it off. He gasped in pain instead, focusing on positive thoughts to prevent himself from going into shock again. It was all he had going for him at this point really. He was far enough way to not be seriously harmed, but unfortunately it appeared the explosion caught the attention of the combatants.

"Ryo!"

He looked up in time to see a horrifying sight: the woman breaking away from Katsuro to charge at him. He was frozen for a few seconds, a dear caught in headlights as the aggressor ran at him with the silver rapier forward, ready to run him through like a slab of meat. He could see Katsuro a bit behind her, straining his body to no doubt close the distance but it was a fruitless endeavour. She'd reach him first and by then it'd be too late. He and Katsuro both knew it. As the blade inched closer and closer, Ryo's mind began desperately trying to conceive of some sort of plan, but it was all jumbled and confused as his brain went haywire with panic. Unable to fight, run, or even just simply stand, his body instead did what his instincts shouted at him to do.

Throw the first thing he could find.

That just so happened to be a decently sized and sharp piece of shrapnel.

He might have hesitated if not for the pain in his leg and the realisation of the damage that could be done.

So his hand moved as if on autopilot.

He swiped the shrapnel off the ground and proceeded to throw it.

Not his finest moment for sure but desperate times call for desperate measures. His throw was surprisingly accurate too, but the woman was deterred only for a moment though as she spun away to avoid it impacting her face. Ryo didn't have time to be disappointed because as it turns out Katsuro had planned for this eventuality. Catching the shrapnel like a knife as it flew towards him, he quickly spun on the spot and hurled it at the woman's exposed back, Ryo somehow choking out a laugh of victory at the sight. The woman cried out in pain at the sudden blow, stumbling as she was forced to turn back to Katsuro lest he jump her and finish her off.

"I'll have both your heads for this!" Ryo heard her curse as she attempted to ward Katsuro off by swinging warning shots with her weapon. It was very much a pointless threat in the moment; she wasn't going to be able to attack Ryo anymore, not unless she was willing to leave herself open from behind again. Katsuro forced himself as close as he could get without killing himself, ensuring the two remained focused on each other while Ryo was safely off to the side. The two circled for what felt like hours but must have been only a few seconds. Ryo was so focused on the fight at this point that he couldn't really tell anymore. Stress, adrenaline and pain was all he felt, and the very fact that he'd been twice put in mortal danger was perhaps making his head a little lighter than usual.

Katsuro broke the deadlock first on a flash of lightning, purposefully letting his arms get slashed to get in close, catching the scabbard wielding hand and twisting till there was a snap and a scream. Ryo couldn't help but cringe at the sound, his own wounds hissing with pain as more rain bombarded him. By the time he got his bearings back Katsuro was the one holding the scabbard and using it to easily parry the woman's attacks, not at all deterred by their growing increasingly more erratic and sloppy. She was fighting with her injured hand behind her back now too, which meant she was forced to shift into what Ryo assumed was a fencing stance. A little bit of hope flickered in his chest; she was on the back foot at long last, striking less with strategy and showing she was wounded. Perhaps this was the shift they needed to win!

If Katsuro agreed with him then he didn't show it, though that could just be chalked up to the man's full-time paranoia and determination. Either way, he didn't let up or show an ounce of emotion on his face. He continued to fight as if nothing had happened, and in a way it was almost scary. He was like a machine in a sense, an emotionless, cruel, unhindered killing machine…

No, don't think about that now! Focus on the present at hand!

Despite his elation at the current state of the fight, Ryo did have to concede that despite the sloppiness, the assassin's attacks still seemed quite ferocious and dangerous. However, she was also overextending now, while her opponent remained completely calm and in control, slowly forcing her back and away from Ryo while landing small blows and punishing her for every mistake she made.

Ryo could see the fear and panic that slowly etched its way across the woman's face, the realisation setting in that she might not win this. If she knew whom Katsuro was then she must have also known what fate awaited her should she lose. Still, like a cornered animal, the will to survive was strong and she did not give up, deciding to take the dire situation as an excuse to grow more daring with her attacks. Her thrusts grew more notably aggressive, aiming not to wound but to kill by piercing vital organs. Despite controlling the flow of battle now, Ryo couldn't help but note that Katsuro was still at a slight disadvantage since the scabbard only allowed him to block and deflect attacks; he could not properly counterattack with what he held and the damage it could do simply was not equivalent to that of a rapier. Still, he knew that Katsuro could very well win a prolonged battle, which meant they should be fine…hopefully.

"Gun!" Katsuro suddenly shouted to him and Ryo jumped, cringing in pain from the sudden jolt to his injured leg again. He had his wits about him enough to quickly scan their surroundings and spot over by one of the buildings a handgun on the ground. Surely that was what Katsuro meant but it also begged the question, what was it doing there? Had the woman attempted to use that at first but had been disarmed somehow? Had she intended to finish them off at long range but Katsuro got the jump on her and forced her into a combat situation instead? It was unlikely to be Katsuro's; he knew the man never carried one on him even though he'd proven he had zero issues with using one to get the job done.

Pushing the ultimately unimportant questions aside, he began another slow and agonising crawl across asphalt towards the weapon. It was something, something that could change the flow of the fight once and for all. It was awkward as all hell of a crawl though, and he couldn't keep pressure off his right leg no matter how hard he tried. There was also a lingering concern that his fingers might fall off from all of this. What was most worrying though was what the woman would do now that she knew he was going for the weapon. He could only hear grunts and the sound of metal hitting metal but it was entirely possible she was trying to break off from the fight and run him through before he arrived at his destination. Suddenly crawling away from the fight and not being able to see what was going on seemed like a bad idea. Would he hear footsteps rushing towards him over the heavy rain and blood pumping in his ears? Or would he only know she was out for him once the sword sliced through his skull?

"Hurry up, Ryo!"

"You didn't hear me giving you unhelpful commentary during your fight!" Ryo snarked back as he inched closer and closer. He couldn't be angry with the comment because it was clear at this point what Katsuro was doing. He'd planned this; he'd disarmed her of the gun at the start and then kept her away from it. He'd been calling to Ryo this whole time because he wanted him to pick it up. That was how he intended to seal the deal on this situation.

"Argh!"

Ryo flinched, the sound of Katsuro's cry splitting the air and raining down on his eardrums. He dared not turn around, dredging up whatever remained of his energy to somehow crawl faster, ignoring the protests of his wounded leg as he used it to propel himself forward. The weapon was so close, so close he could taste it! If the woman was coming for him now he definitely couldn't hear her, or perhaps Katsuro was simply holding up enough to keep her distracted. Still, the cries of his friend were enough to spur him on and at long last his hand closed around the handle.

Sitting himself up awkwardly against a street lamp, he turned to see what was going on. It wasn't the best sight as it turned out.

Katsuro had a long red gash along his left arm, and he could see his blood had stained the woman's rapier. She was striking like a raging beast, her sword a ferocious monster that cut through the night sky. Katsuro was being pushed back, barely managing to parry her blows with the scabbard now. At last his unshakable resolve had been damaged, Katsuro's mouth was no longer a perfectly straight line, but rather open to reveal his grit teeth.

"Shoot her now, Ryo!" he barked like a mad man, somehow managing to land a kick to the woman's stomach, knocking her back and away. It left her wide open, and Ryo saw the panicked look on her face as their eyes met. This was a perfect opening, an opening to end this once and for all. All he had to do was aim and pull the trigger. Pull the trigger and end her life.

He did not move an inch.

Instead he was paralysed, and could only watch silently as her lip curled up into something one charitably could call a smile. To him though it was the face of a predator that knew it had successfully cornered its prey, and as she made a break towards him he could only see a wild beast lunging for his throat with its claws. The rapier was aimed for his heart once again, but even that wasn't enough to break him out of his funk and move. His throat was closing in on itself as if he were drowning, and his hands were numb, the gun abnormally heavy in his hand; where even the idea of lifting it seemed absurd.

"What are you waiting for?" Katsuro shouted at him, somehow managing to catch up the woman, striking her across the back of the head with the scabbard. She fell forward into a roll, immediately jumping up and slashing at Katsuro with a vicious hiss. Katsuro groaned but caught the blade on the scabbard and pushed in, leaving the two locked together and thus ensuring she couldn't break away again.

"I can't do this forever, Ryo!" he cried, somehow enduring a brutal knee to the groin.

There was obvious anger in his tone but also…something else. Fear perhaps, or panic. That's when it hit Ryo had fucked this all truly was. Katsuro was scared. Katsuro! He was afraid and worried and that meant he had to do something. Katsuro wasn't easily shakable, he'd seen far too much in his profession to be that way. He had to be calm and collected because if he wasn't then he'd have turned up dead in a ditch a long time ago. You had to be unwavering, that was the only option.

All of this just proved how serious and dangerous it all was. They were now in a scenario where even Katsuro was panicking and couldn't magically fix with his skill-set. This was all very real and very deadly and now their lives hanged in the balance and their salvation rested on Ryo's shoulders.

His and his alone in fact.

The redheaded man's hand twitched, and that was enough for him to slowly raise the gun. It felt unnatural in his grip, awkward even. His own arm didn't feel like his own, it was like someone else's arm had been stitched onto his body and he was awkwardly controlling it. It was like puppeteering for the first time, something simply didn't feel quite right. His hand was shaking so badly too that he had to steady it with his other, though that one was also shaking he quickly realised, and so it didn't change much. Still, better than nothing.

"Take a deep breath…" he told himself, though his words were said with such little faith and strength that it seemed pointless an endeavour. He knew there was nothing he could do that would slow his rapid pulse; his heart felt ready to burst from his chest!

Shaking off the thought he slowly aimed at the woman's back, closing on eye to try and be as precise as possible. His vision faltered for a moment, everything becoming a blurry smear as vertigo set in again but he shook it off with another shake of the head to jerk himself back awake. His finger somehow made its way to the trigger, the piece of metal icy cold against his single digit. He somehow thumbed back the hammer, the click seemingly echoing through the whole area, signalling what was to come.

"Do it now!" Katsuro roared like a beast, somehow managing to spin himself and the woman around, leaving her back perfectly exposed to him while minimising the possibility of himself being potentially hit should the bullet miss.

A bottomless pit formed in Ryo's stomach.

"I…I…"

His throat suddenly felt very dry and his heartbeat seemed unnaturally loud. Katsuro's screams fell silent to him and all he could hear was the blood pumping in his ears and the sound of rain impacting the asphalt. Everything seemed to slow as his finger twitched on the trigger but did not pull it. He tired again but still could not squeeze it back to let off a shot. His mouth went numb as he watched as the woman somehow craned her neck to look at him over her shoulder, a triumphant grin slowly etching its way across her face.

She knew.

She knew he couldn't go through with it. She knew he didn't have what it takes to take a life. She knew he didn't have what it takes to kill someone in cold blood. No matter how much his brain shouted at him to do it, how much his instincts screamed at him to do something, he couldn't muster the nerve to go through with it. For everything he'd done, murder simply wasn't something he could ever go through with. It was a line he hadn't crossed…but a line Katsuro had spat and trampled on long ago.

"Ryo, you have to… ARGH!"

He was entirely numb at this point, his hands shaking so badly that it was a shock he didn't drop the gun completely. Katsuro was on his knees now, a huge gash covering his chest from the shoulder down. His hands were desperately trying to staunch the blood flow as the woman stood over him, a wicked grin on her face. She purposefully moved around her prey so that she was wide open to be taken down should Ryo take the shot.

He wouldn't and she knew that now. Katsuro had staked both their lives on the wrong bet. He assumed Ryo would take the shot like he would. But Ryo wasn't Katsuro and he never would be. This was all just for the show now that the woman knew all the variables. She could have killed Katsuro already, but now that victory was assured she had no reason to rush things. This was her chance to gloat, to relish in her bloody victory. To relish in Ryo's failings.

"Shoot her…" the dark-haired man spluttered from his position on the ground, desperate eyes meeting his own. He reached out with one bloody hand pleadingly, tears forming in his eyes. "You have to…do it…now…"

"He will do no such thing," the woman mused, striking Katsuro over the back of the head with the hilt of her weapon, the man collapsing to the ground with a cry of pain. Still Ryo did not move. Still his finger refused to pull the trigger. The pit in his stomach grew wider still. "He does not have the will to do such a thing," she spat. "He is a weak and pitiful coward."

Her accent seemed German or Hungarian now that he had heard her speak more than a few words. Not that such a detail mattered, but right now he couldn't really focus on anything else. Or perhaps he was simply trying to distract himself. His eyes meanwhile were latching on to the image of Katsuro lying wounded and defeated on the ground, his constants blinks not dissolving said image and proving it to be some elaborate illusion. He really was defeated and lying wounded on the ground.

The two really were about to die. This was their endgame. No last minute rescue this time. Hell is what awaits them.

"Ryo, please…" Katsuro begged as the woman struck him in the back with a kick, him rolling over and groaning in pain as blood leaked out onto the pavement. His awkward attempts to crawl away left gruesome red prints on the ground, though he was making little progress with how slow he was moving. He didn't get far ultimately, the woman stomping on his back to pin him down. She said no words, instead simply grinning at Ryo with satisfaction as she slowly raised her rapier over her head for a killing blow.

Katsuro was going to die.

Then he, Ryo Hagane, was going to die.

Both would be dead and then the WBBA would cover up their deaths with a car accident or something. Gingka might never know what fate had truly befallen his father and either Hikaru and Tusbaba would be silenced or they'd be left uncertain as to what was truly ever going on. The WBBA would continue operating, their corrupt system working its way into every faction of the world until it had its hands in everything. Whatever was happening at the academy would transpire and there'd be no one to stop it or try to remedy the situation.

Everything would have been for nothing.

Everything he built would have been for nothing.

Everything he fought for would have been for nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

"…Ryo…"

Nothing.

Nothing.

NOTHING

NOTHING

"…Please…"

NOTHING

NOTHING

N̸̡͈͎͚͊̀̊́̏̿́͗̕Ǫ̷̥̯̱̀̽̆͝T̸͉͔̘̤̄̍Ḧ̶̠̹̬̄̓͜͠I̵̘̬̯͚͓͖̻̗͓̔͆̈́̈́̚͜N̵͇̱̗͓̎͐̈Ğ̶̝̠̣̘̍͆̉̏͜ͅ

"ARRRRRRRRRRGH!"

BANG!

The woman fell back, her dead smile unflinching as blood burst out of the back of her skull. If she processed she was dead then she didn't give any such indication. Instead she stood still for a moment whilst her sword slipped from her grip and clattered to the ground. She unceremoniously followed soon after, falling backwards with a wet smack.

The gun slipped from Ryo's fingers without him ever realising it. He couldn't hear anything; his eardrums were filled only with the sound of the gun going off and the bullet piercing the air before making contact with flesh. The sight of a bullet striking the face between the eyes would be forever burnt into his retinas.

"Ryo…"

He didn't respond. All he could see was red in his vision. He wasn't sure if he was frozen still or if he was shaking all over. Nothing made sense anymore. Nothing seemed to matter.

"Ryo…"

He didn't want to respond. He just wanted the red out of vision. He was trying to blink it all away but nothing was working. Why wasn't the red going away? Why wouldn't it leave him alone? He wasn't sure when it happened but at some point he had dug his nails into his skull, as if he could literally pry it out of his mind if he tried hard enough.

"He…He…Ha…Hahahaha."

Katsuro's laughter was haunting. At first it started like one would expect: moody and wounded. It was the laughter of someone grateful but also upset, someone whose laughter was of relief in a dark situation that had just passed. But that wasn't what stood out to Ryo; no, it was how the laughter changed. Slowly but surely the tone shifted till it sounded like Katsuro may have finally gone off the deep end. His low choked sobbing turned into a grim cackle, and the chilling sound made him dig his fingers into his skull even more. He knew exactly what it was.

It was the laughter of a psychopath.

"Goddammit," he heard the man bark with an eerie tone. "I was honestly worried there for a second. That was probably too close for comfort but all's well that ends well. You did a good job at the end there, I knew you'd pull through."

Ryo's heart skipped a beat, or maybe it stopped altogether, who could really tell at this point? The rest of his body seemed to be having similar thoughts, seemingly contemplating the idea of shutting down once and for all. His eyes did not roam to Katsuro even as he heard him approaching, his heavy footsteps splashing through the rain. Instead he was focusing on the man's words and trying to put the pieces together, to fully decipher just what he meant. He quickly wished he hadn't thought it through though, because that meant he wouldn't have had to contemplate the true horror of what just occurred.

Suddenly he wished his body did shut down.

"You…you…you planned this?" He wasn't sure how he got the words out, his whole head hurt and his mouth felt dry and stiff. The lump in his throat was still there, and he suddenly wondered if this was what it was like to be asthmatic. His eyes shifted to the blood on his hands, it wasn't the woman's but his imagination didn't really care about such facts. Literal or not, he'd killed someone and there was now blood on his conscience, and it might have all been for nothing.

N̸̡͈͎͚͊̀̊́̏̿́͗̕Ǫ̷̥̯̱̀̽̆͝T̸͉͔̘̤̄̍Ḧ̶̠̹̬̄̓͜͠I̵̘̬̯͚͓͖̻̗͓̔͆̈́̈́̚͜N̵͇̱̗͓̎͐̈Ğ̶̝̠̣̘̍͆̉̏͜ͅ

He heard Katsuro laugh again before he could decide if he was angry or sad or distressed or in shock or all of them combined. "What did you think was happening when I kept looking in the rearview mirror so much?" he asked rhetorically. "She was an amateur," he explained, cackling the whole time like this was all some demented joke. Ryo wished it was a joke. "She made it real obvious what was she was doing so I waited for the appropriate moment to let her hit us. Then it was as simple as setting up a scenario where you'd have to step up and prove you're a real man."

Ryo felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. "Step…up…?" he grit out, his bloody hands clenching into fists.

"Oh no," Katsuro mused with fake concern as he kneeled down so he could grab Ryo's chin and angle his face up. Their eyes met, and Ryo's innocent and pained orbs met Katsuro's dark and chaotic ones. It was like day and night, one set held life while the others were an endless sea of darkness. One belonged to a human, a flawed but still decent man. The others belonged to a creature of the abyss, an unrelenting monster.

Even now the way they carried themselves suggested a difference. Ryo was sitting wounded on the ground, barely able to feel anything or think straight. His leg was screaming at him and his head was spinning like he was strapped to a Merry-Go-Round. Katsuro meanwhile seemed unconcerned with the bloody gash on his chest, not a sign of pain on his face at all. It had all been an act; the crying and pleading had all just been an elaborate performance for him. He had never needed Ryo's help, he purposefully put himself in a vulnerable position to sell the scenario, to convince Ryo he had to be the one to do something.

"Did I hurt your delicate sensibilities?" he taunted.

"We… could have… died…" Ryo insisted through half-baked breathes. He could feel his chest getting ready to collapse in on itself, the air seemingly struggling to adequately fill his lungs.

"It was worth the risk," Katsuro returned with a shrug. The casualty of it all felt like a knife someone was embedding further and further in Ryo's chest. "You needed to learn a lesson about what we're going to be dealing with."

"A…lesson…" Ryo choked out, tears forming in his eyes as he grit his teeth. Katsuro only seemed bemused with his reaction.

"The assassin was after me just so we're clear," he admitted with another shrug as he placed what was apparently supposed to be a comforting hand on the redhead's shoulder. Ryo wanted to slap it away but couldn't conjure the energy for it even with his burning rage. "You would have thought the WBBA sent her though, which helped sell the whole thing. You probably hesitated a bit too much with the gun but it's always like that the first time. Next time you'll do it in a heartbeat."

"I won't do shit!"

Katsuro's hand suddenly tightened, and before Ryo knew it Katsuro's other hand was around his throat. He gasped, of course failing to capture any air in his lungs. He instinctively reached for the man's arms, trying and failing to pull them away. His grip was like iron, and as he was reduced to making desperate gargling noises as he looked into the eyes of his former friend and widened his own at the sadistic expression on his face.

It wasn't human, not even close. His eyes looked as if they were being pulled open by some invisible hand and his lips had peeled back into something resembling a smile. He was enjoying himself, amused in some deranged way as he choked the life out of him. This man had once been his closest friend, his confidant, and now he was about to die by his hand. This wasn't Kanai Katsuro he realised, the real Katsuro had died long ago.

"This is life," he snarled, his hands suddenly letting go and allowing Ryo to taste sweet oxygen once more. He collapsed to the side, coughing and spluttering as Katsuro simply laughed from above him. "I let this play out because you need to be ready. I have to be sure you'll be willing to do whatever it takes to win. To do whatever it takes to clean this all up. Know that I do this to help you. Now that you've tasted death, you'll never hesitate again."

"You could have killed us…" Ryo spluttered in meager rebellion. "…You did all this…just to teach me…a lesson? What kind… of sick bastard are you?"

Katsuro didn't react, instead tilting his head slightly. "Still holding on to your childlike view of the world huh?" He shook his head with disappointment. "That woman was trying to kill us, Ryo. Here's how it works, either they kill us or we kill them. There's no middle ground, there's no loopholes, someone simply has to die. That's the rules. I'm doing this for your own good. Because once everything goes to shit, you have to be prepared to wade into said shit and do what's necessary."

"I'm not going to kill again…" He managed to grit out, refusing to look the other man in the eye now. Every part of Ryo hurt right now, his body, his mind and his heart. It was all a mess, like he were a mirror that he been completely shattered. He wasn't even sure how he was still conscious at this point."

"Oh you will kill again," Katsuro simply barked out with laughter, nudging Ryo's face with his foot so the two were looking at each other again. "It's like a drug, once you've done it once you'll keep coming back for more." He stepped forward; smothering his bloody hands over Ryo's face before he could protests or move away. The red liquid was forced into his mouth, up his nose and even into his eyes. The smell completely overwhelmed everything, the taste forcing its way down his throat. It was absolutely repulsive and sickening and he had to rests the urge to throw up. He felt like he could choke any minute and clearly the groaning noises he was making were of little cocnern to Katsuro.

"It'll sicken you at first," the monster wearing the face of a man said as he kept his hands firmly plastered on his face. "But like any drug you'll grow to love it. It'll become intoxicating and you'll start seeking it out against your better judgment. This is the point of no return, Ryo. You're on the same path as me now, forever tainted. Eventually you'll crave the sensation just as I do. You're a killer till the day you die. That is the burden you must shoulder as penance for your crimes against humanity."

Finally he pulled away, letting the rain fall on him. It wouldn't be enough though, nothing could wash this sin away. Ryo curled into a ball on instinct, his hands shoved somewhere around his chest lest he smell or see anymore blood. He prayed Katsuro would leave but he could feel the man standing over him, watching him, judging him. He could feel his empty dead eyes glaring down at his pitiful form, feel his deranged smile tug at his lips. Ryo lay there for who knows how long while Katsuro merely laughed, unconcerned with anything that had happened. It was all just a joke to him. He was the jester and he'd played all of them. He had played the assassin and played him. This was all just a game, a sick, twisted game he was forced to suffer through.

Ryo hadn't wanted this, he hadn't asked for any of this. And yet this is what it all had led to. This is where his decisions had brought him.

This was his own personal hell. Lying all bloody and beaten on a street in the rain right after having killed someone in cold blood. He wasn't sure if he even had it in himself to cry at this point, it could have been tears of it could have simply been the rain washing over him as if even the heavens were weeping. This was the night everything changed.

"That's it, cry," Katsuro cackled. "Be sure to let it all out, Ryo. It's okay to cry. There's no one around to see."

"..."

"There's nobody here but us monsters."


To Be Continued: Next Chapter – The Final Fight with Ziggurat at last! Still deciding on a chapter title for this one.

Three of the four pillars have been destroyed, now all that remains is to confront Zygor himself once and for all. Mana, with Kenny by her side, must take Max's place and fight to prevent Nemesis' Heir from rising. But against the insurmountable might of Ziggurat's chaos powers does anyone stand a chance? As revelations about Ziggurat's past are revealed and Azrael enters the fray once again, doomsday grows ever closer for ours heroes as the final battles draws nearer to its close.

Well, there we go. I'm really putting Ryo through the ringer but I should make it clear it's not because I have anything against the character. Rather I'm simply looking to develop him in a new way whilst also adding more dimension to him than what the show provided. We also get a different side of Katsuro in this chapter, where we get to truly see how damaged and violent of an individual he can really be. Once again, he's fun to write because there really isn't a character like him in MFB at all. He just bounces well off Ryo because they are so fundamentally different as people. We're also seeing a much darker and violent side of this universe but also seperate from beyblade. Hey, when people fight it can get messy. Shit happens. And yes, Katsuro did indeed allow a life threatening situation to occur just to force Ryo to kill someone. He's screwed up, even if he does make a lot of sense in prior chapters. Morally grey characters for the win!

Anyways, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year in the very likely scenario I don't update before then. Thanks for reading as always and remember to leave a review if you have any thoughts or criticisms to air. Hope you all enjoyed this action packed chapter and I'll see you all next time. In two weeks maybe if you're lucky LMAO.