A small gray dragon opened his eyes as he looked around. His big amber eyes scanned his location, before seeing his small and cute hands, trapped into some hand-cuff used for criminals. The SD dragon was wearing his Purgatory Knight armor but reduced to his side.

It was Demios, who realised what happened to him. He had been hand-cuffed and forced to be in his SD form. It annoyed him, as that form was everything he wasn't. He wasn't a dragon to look cute, it was beneath him. Pain resonated in his body and noticed the bandages and that he was resting in a bed. The dragon realised he was in the hospital. He wondered how to take off the hand-cuff, when he realised they weren't locked. Frowning in confusion, until his mind clicked as everything that happened came back to him,"I lost,"he resumed. If I'm in the hospital, Tasuku is too! He climbed off the bed as the hand-cuff felt on the ground. The dragon decided to stay in his SD form, to avoid causing a ruckus in a hospital. He sniffed the air and searched for the stench of the boy.

He passed in front of a room where he heard Gao and Drum arguing with a female adult human. He guessed it was the mother, reprimanding the two, like any mother should. He gave a quick gaze and felt the high tension in the room, with the SD red dragon suspended in mid-air, as Suzumi grabbed him by the horn from his snout.

The Purgatory Knight accelerated his pace, ignoring the cries of the victim of a mother's wrath and continued his search, my buddy must be somewhere else. There is no way Jackknife could have-, he found the trace of his buddy and followed it. He reached the room and before he entered, one voice made his stop and hesitated.

"Jack," the voice of his buddy was at the other side of the room.

Somehow, the darkness dragon felt as if there was a barrier between him and his buddy as the green dragon replied, "Tasuku."

Chapter 143: Reconnect

Tasuku opened his eyes as the sound of a machine resonated where he was. The sound was from the cardiograph, calculating the heartbeat of the boy. The boy grumbled as he felt the pain in his body and still tired. He looked by the window and saw the sun already high in the air. He slept for a long time and somehow, was still tired, how did I- Yeah. I lost against Jack and Gao and then… I- Yeah. I admit that I regret joining the Disaster before it was all black.

The boy then realised that something was on his lap. He looked down and saw the green dragon, sleeping on the boy's lap with his wounds treated by the hospital, Jack. He put his hand on the dragon's snout, feeling the warm coming out of it at the rhythm of the dragon's breathing. That made him wonder where Demios was, was he left outside the city or is he here? That question came to an end when the dragon woke up and looked into the eyes of the blue-haired boy.

"You're up," the dragon whispered with a small smile as he approached the boy, standing by his side.

Tasuku didn't reply yet but nodded. Eventually, "You too," where said.

"I was tired after the fight, but didn't want to let you alone," the green dragon replied as he approached his buddy. There was something he wanted to ask so much but pushed it aside. Now wasn't the time to ask it.

"Why are you here?" the boy asked, looking down, "I told you what you wanted me to say. The true. What I really think about everything I've been doing."

The green dragon pat the cheek of the boy with his snout and replied, "I know, but there is many things I want to say to you Tasuku."

"What more there is to say Jack? I've made a mistake and you made me realise it," the boy admitted before tapping the back of the dragon.

"What will you do now?" the green dragon simply asked as he stopped patting the boy and looked into his eyes, "Now that you accept the true, what are you going to do now? Nothing is over yet Tasuku."

"Now? Well…" he closed his eyes, "I don't know Jack. I just know that I won't return to Kyoya. What he is planning… I… I know it's wrong. I- I thought it was the best option. Azi Dahaka isn't as bad as Tenchi and his plan is-" he shook his head, "But it's still about controlling our world, even in the legal way," he opened his eyes and looked at his ex-buddy, "I am not sure if I even can do anything now. I left you, I hurt you, someone else hurt you because I left you, I hurt my friends and I literally hurt Gao. I've done horrible things."

"Don't say that. It's not as bad as what I had to do when I had to do the right things," the dragon replied to the boy as he moved his small finger and grabbed a tear that felt from the boy's left eye, "You did bad things and made mistakes. It's normal Tasuku. Nothing is perfect, and no one is perfect. We will all make mistakes in our life, some having unforeseen consequence. Sometimes, we must make horrible decisions of great impact. What is important my boy," the dragon lightly smiled, "Is what you did. Accept the mistakes you've made. That is one thing to do. Once you accept it, you will see the consequence of your actions, but also the possibility to correct them, either easy or difficult. That's why I'm asking you what you want to do next. You can do something about it, correct the wrong you've done, and it is little honestly. Even with them, you were still helping people in needs," he calmly said, comforting the boy.

The blue-haired boy nodded as he looked at the ceiling, only hearing the cardiograph. He wondered what he should do now. After everything he had done, what could he do now? Is there anything I can do? I just… I don't know, those though resonated in his mind. He had no idea what to do next. After everything, the future seemed unknown.

Jackknife helped the boy by telling giving him a suggestion of his possible decision, "Are you going to help us stand against Azi Dahaka or do you prefer to leave it to us? No matter your choice, we will respect it."

The boy was still uncertain for his future but looked in the eyes of his buddy. He seriously thought about it, since it was something his friends would do. He sighed, "I don't know."

"Something simpler then Tasuku. Are you going to stay Demios's buddy?" the green dragon looked back and tried to avoid putting pressure on the boy. He was uncertain of the boy's answer but needed him to know what he wanted. That was the most important question right now and he needed to know.

The blue-haired boy thought about it, Demios is a good friend, but I don't want to help Azi Dahaka anymore. I know this, he closed his eyes and quietly grumbled, I would just cause him trouble if I stay. I want… he carefully thought of all his memories of the time he spent with both of his buddies. He didn't know why, but those thought came to him. Jackknife was dominating those times together and remembered how they argued against one another, Jackknife was right, and I hurt him because I've… Even after this, you were still thinking about me so much, the boy got his answer. After hesitating more, he replied, "Demios is a good friend Jack. He never caused trouble and never wanted to hurt me, like when we fought you tod-"

"Yesterday."

"Yesterday. The fight was simply because Azi Dahaka ordered to capture Gao," he explained before putting his hand on the back of his buddy, "I cannot stay buddy with Demios. What Azi is doing is wrong. I know it now. The Disaster Cores, what happened to Kiri, Gao… All of this. I just didn't want to think about it. I didn't think about it," he took a deep breath, "Jack," he pulled him against him and hugged the green dragon, "I'm sorry for everything I did and said to you… I… I really want-" he couldn't say it.

"To be buddies again? Of course I want too, if this is what you really wish," Jackknife replied.

The boy sobbed and said, "Jack."

"Tasuku," the green dragon replied.

As they embraced each other's, the gray dragon was watching the from the entrance. As he saw the scene, the dragon internally knew that everything with Tasuku was over. Anger came in him, he felt his blood boiling when Jackknife took the boy away from him, but that quickly calmed down. Seeing the boy smiling, a large and joyful smile told the dragon that it might not have meant to be, Tasuku never smiled like that with us. He was never that happy. Maybe… He forced himself, as he guessed that, realisation came. He never truly knew who the boy was. He never really knew Tasuku, the boy who was with Jackknife. The damn green dragon was right, and he was wrong. The darkness dragon frowned as he felt something wet on his snout. He quickly cleaned it up and crossed his arms.

"I am glad to see that you are feeling better Tasuku," Demios said.

The two turned towards him and an awkward silence came in the room.

"No need to feel bad Tasuku, I understand what's going on here. I am mad at Jackknife, but that's another story," he entered in the room and looked at the boy, "So you are leaving The Disasters right?"

The boy looked down, but the gray dragon said, "Do not apology Tasuku. This is your decision and I will respect him. I care enough for you to let you follow your own path," he put his pride away and added, "And I cared enough to let you do whatever you want. Just like returning with Jackknife," he said the name of the green dragon with venom in his mouth, but shook his head, "Tell me what you are want and I will respect it."

The boy nodded, "Demios… I'm sorry. I'm hurting you right now," he didn't let the dragon protest as he continued, "Jackknife is my buddy once again, but I won't forget you. I promise that. I cannot continue to be your buddy since I am going to oppose Azi Dahaka. I don't want you to be in trouble because of me… Also, I am going to fight The Disasters Demios," he concluded.

The gray dragon didn't immediately reply, but clearly saw the resolution in the eyes of the boy. He closed his eyes and lightly lowered his head, "I understand. This is your own path," his heart suddenly felt heavier and knew what was coming next. He turned around and continued, "Then you won't find me in your way until the end of the elections Tasuku. I will be too busy recovering from the fight," he showed a thumb up and added, "It's the least I can do for you. Beware thought, my soldiers will put up a fight."

He took a step towards the door when the boy said, "Wait! You forget your spell cards," the boy showed his deck.

Demios gazed at the boy and nodded. He did forget those. He showed his hand and took them when the boy threw the deck case. He checked in the deck and took out a card. He looked at it for a few seconds and threw it back at Tasuku.

"Demios… This card-"

"It's just in case you need it Tasuku," he avoided looking at the boy, "I still see you as a Purgatory Knight and my buddy. If you ever need me, I will always come back for you. After all… there is no one else really like you," he walked away.

The dragon heard the boy said in encouragement, "You might find another buddy like me."

I don't think so, the dragon thought as another tear felt out of his eyes, damn. This is as hard as losing a soldier under my command, he put a strong face and returned to his room, I hope that one day… You will call me. Because I know you won't break your promise.

AC: This is the end of this chapter. A painful end for Demios, but I think you know when this card will be used in the next season.

Next Chapter: Prelude To The Final Battle.

The season is reaching is end, after more than 100 chapters. I learn a few things this season and next one will be different.

Season 3 will be more episodic with one of the Hundred Demons as the villain of the week (Not really by week). The chapters will be planned completely in advance, so I won't get a little hesitant in the chapters and stall less in the plot. It will still feel stall because of the structure, but I will use it to put lots of importance with our heroes and try to balance then more than this season, which Gao, Kiri and Tasuku took a major lead while some of them took a large step back compare to the show (Rouga).

Season 3 will begin when I'll finish the sister stories with How We Became Hundred Demons and A Boy And His F(r)iend. As they are important for characters motivations and some of their development.

A Boy And His F(r)iend is a very different origin story between Bolt and Yamigedo compare to the show. So I strongly recommend to read it as the season 3 won't put the details as this sister story will.

One last thing, Season 3 will be put as a new story because of the major change in the structure and see as a sequel.