A/N: Urk... noticed that Ginji's personality is rather flat in the previous chapter. Gomen...I guess you can blame it on Raitei, whose emotions tend to range from pissed to super pissed. Still working on that. Anyways, moving on, this is a little interlude until I can work out the logistics of the ending. It was supposed to be the first half of the ending, but I thought it'd be better as a stand-alone. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

REVISED 4/9/05: Thanks to Zining for pointing out a big plot hole. Hopefully patched now.

evrouw: Yay, that was exactly the point of starting out these two chapters with the same line. Ginji and Raitei are very different, so they react to their environment and their environment reacts to them in very different ways. Comparing this was actually my original idea, before it grew into this multi-part ficlet.

Zining:Ehhh...when I said I hope he isn't a typical baddie, I meant I hope he doesn't come off as inhuman and unsympathetic. Was aiming for someone who seemed reasonable, if a little foolhardy, and someone whose human faults (jealousy, envy, bitterness) led to his reckless behavior. Guess I'll just have to work harder on that. ;) Thanks for the review! It really made me think and push my writing skills further. Hopefully he's more sympathetic in the next chapter.

Thanks to everyone else who reviewed and answered my questions!

Disclaimer: Getbackers is not mine.

Ginji was falling. With every second that went by, he felt himself falling a little further, spiraling out of control. The winds rushed past him, brushing his sides and licking his skin. All was dark around him, save for the distant pinpricks of light. Ginji squinted at them. Stars? Yes, maybe a constellation. He heard in his mind Teshimine-san's voice, pointing to the various star arrangements in the sky on a rare, clear night that seemed so long ago.

And this one is of the hunter, who the gods honored by immortalizing in the sky. And that one there is of the Serpent Bearer…

And that one, Teshimine-san?

That one is Draco, the Dragon. He is the guardian of the north, and he watches everything from above. Some constellations are visible only at certain times of the year, but he is always there. If you are ever lost, Ginji, just look for him, and he'll be there.

The vortex was silent, but the roar of the whipping wind was deafening. Only in the far distance, somewhere far above or far outside where he was, could he hear a voice slowly counting down.

"…seven…six…"

Somewhere in the rippling darkness around him, he knew that he was waiting. Since that gray day a few years ago—an eternity ago—he had always been waiting on the dark edges of Ginji's consciousness, and he would always be there, the eternal guardian poised for the moment. And when the moment comes, just as Ginji was about to be crushed by the world around him, when Ginji feared that all was lost and he would never find all the pieces again, he would burst through the barrier and pour into the world. His wrath would sweep away everything in his path and his lightning would burn away anything that threatened what was his.

And now the barrier was breaking once again.

"…five…four…"

Ginji couldn't hold back the flood much longer. The blackness seeped through the cracks and spilled over his mind. He was going to drown.

"I'm sorry, Makubex." He heard his own voice echo in the distance.

I can't do what I'm about to do. I can't watch. I'm sorry, Makubex, but I ….

"…three…two…"

I….

It broke—the dam broke. His heart broke. The blackness rushed in and blotted out all thought. Ginji closed his eyes and let the darkness take him….

On the street, among the ruined warehouses and the last rays of the dying sun, a god awoke and opened his dragon eyes.

"...You have ten seconds. Ten...nine..."

No! Don't, please!

The world was black. Makubex couldn't even tell if his eyes were open or closed under Kouji's hand. His entire world was reduced to the vice-like grip around his neck and the wild beating of his heart in his ears, counting down. If it continued beating this way, he was sure that his ear drums would explode.

Ba-doom...ba-doom...

A voice cut through the drumming.

"Ginji-san!"

Kazuki-san! Help me! Please don't let him do this!

As if sensing his hope, Kouji shook the boy roughly. His bones jarred and he felt his brain rattling in his head. Argh! Stop it, you bastard! The blackness spun and his legs wobbled, but he couldn't fall or sit, the grip on his neck gave no slack. Let go! or I...I'll...

"...eight..."

No! I won't let you do this to me, you bastard.

Makubex brought his foot up and lashed back, aiming for the shin. Kouji saw it and moved his leg out of the way. Makubex found himself flailing uselessly with his foot. Desperately, he tried again, but this time Kouji cut him off by increasing the pressure around his throat until the boy gagged and saw stars burst in the blackness. Unable to breathe, the world again tilting and spinning like a crazy top, he struggled uselessly, like a fish caught in a net, mouth open, gasping for air, until suddenly the pressure lightened and he sucked in the air greedily. It tasted like rain and stunk of sweat.

It was useless, he knew. There was no way he could escape on his own. His fate was completely in the hands of this monster, and yet...

Someone...help me...

"Ginji-san!" he cried out.

Ginji-san, hurry please! I know you will save me, I have faith in you, but hurry!

"...seven..."

Hurry!

"...six..."

Kouji's hand covering his eyes was starting to get warmer.

Oh God, please hurry! Where are you Ginji-san! Why won't you answer me!

"...five..."

Say something, Ginji-san! Don't leave me!

"...four..."

GINJI-SAN!

Makubex panted with the effort to stay quiet. The situation was so tense that any sudden movement or noise might set off the attack. It was all he could do not to call for Ginji again, but the silence, the lack of Ginji's reply, was unbearable. Surely Ginji wouldn't abandon him. No, not Ginji. Ginji would never leave him. Ever.

But why hasn't he answered me?

The reply, when it came, froze the blood in Makubex's veins and reduced everything to a terrible silence.

"I'm sorry, Makubex."

No...

"Ginji-san..."

That couldn't be Ginji's voice. It sounded like Ginji's voice, but the tone…the tone was as distant as the dead, as untouchable as steel.

"...three..."

Makubex's heart caught in his throat. For a moment, he panicked. He tried to reach out to Ginji's warmth, his sweet smile and kind gestures. He wanted to scream and call him back, but he knew the gap between them was too vast already. They were on opposite sides of an immense abyss. The darkness between them was deep and unfathomable, and Makubex felt Ginji slipping further and further away.

Ginji-san! What are you saying?

The words didn't sound like an apology; they sounded like a farewell.

No…it couldn't be. His mind was racing, going through all the possible outcomes, discarding some as unlikely, calculating others to their conclusions. The possibilities were not good. Makubex wanted to shake his head, shake the thought right out of his mind, but the calculations he had just come up with….

Ginji could sacrifice one friend, or sacrifice all of Lower Town. Or….

Or he could go on the offensive and hit Kouji with his lightning.

Of course, this meant that Makubex would be hit also. Makubex estimated that Kouji outweighed him three to one. Kouji was very large for a man, and Makubex was very delicate for a boy. Taking the mass differentials and other variables into consideration, the amount of electricity in kilowatts per second required would be….

In a split second, Makubex found the answer. He knew what was going to happen. His calculations were never wrong. The only variable now was how careful Ginji was, and if he had the heart to carry it through.

"...two..."

There was no time left for hope, only faith.

Makubex knew what he had to do, then, and steadied his nerves for it. His face became a mask of grim determination. Ginji was going to do his part. Makubex had to do his.

I won't die. I can't, for Ginji-san's sake.

He knew that if he died by Ginji's hand, Ginji would never forgive himself. He shuddered to think what would happen to Ginji—and Lower Town—then.

"...one..."

Makubex braced himself and closed his eyes. It didn't matter because of Kouji's hand, but he did it anyways. He took a deep breath and held it.

Raitei Amano Ginji. You have always protected me, ever since the day we met. Now, I place my life in your hands. Do what you have to. I have faith in you.

When the shock came, his vision filled with a pure white, a blinding white, and even though his eyes were closed and he bit down against the pull of it, the spot of blackness in the center grew and grew and reached out tendril upon tendril until it gripped him and swallowed him whole.

Endnote: to be continued. Not a lot of action (none, physically actually), but you get the last scene from two POVs. Let me know what you think.