It had taken a week for Krim and the rest of the Tokujo members to go through and analyze every computer and piece of equipment Banno may have had access to in order to confirm that the scientist was indeed gone. There were small bits of code and programs that could have potentially been troublesome, but they were quickly purged and deleted.

After five long months, the final part that plagued them in the Roidmude threat was finally gone…at the cost of Gou's human life.

—

Chase took Gou's pale hand into his and squeezed gently, staring at the boy's still face, searching for any sort of sign that Gou was awakening. The Roidmude had barely ate or slept the entire week, refusing to leave Gou's side in the lab. As such, the lack of energy had created several times where Harley would come in to find Chase passed out with his head on the side of Gou's bed forcing the man to threaten the Roidmude to eat or he'd hook him up to the nutrient solution like Gou was hooked up to.

"Chase, make sure you eat everything okay?"

The Roidmude looked up, the dark bags under his eyes apparent on his pale skin, and shakily took the bowl from Harley's hands, nodding once. Harley waited until Chase had started to eat before walking away to his main lab to look over the new data from Gou that came in every hour to see if there was any change that would let them know when Gou would wake up.

—-

Even with Harley's tests and Krim's research, with the small bits of Banno's research on the Roidmudes that Krim decided to keep, no one knew how Chase did what he did to Gou's body, not even Chase himself.

Chase thought it was impossible since having a new body and going through a Super Evolution, that he was even able to sync with his old parts in Gou's body, but somehow, either through sheer will or their still connected bond, Chase was able to trigger an evolution in Gou's body to save his life. However, it came at a cost. Since a Roidmude evolution was only made for Roidmudes, Gou's dying human body was destroyed, replaced by a body similar to Chase's. He was alive, but he was now fully Roidmude, only able to call himself as human as Chase was.

Gou had also not woken up for an entire week, forcing Harley to create a nutrient solution based on the boys' notes and observations on Chase's body so the boy would have something in his body for the Roidmude healing to kick in. Harley was worried that Gou had been in a week long coma, but knowing what the two boys had went through when they first got here, Gou would wake up when his body was ready for him to.

The professor was more worried about Chase. He had never seen the boy this stressed or worried, even when Gou had been working himself too hard to learn how to use his Roidmude parts. While Chase didn't talk as much as Gou did, it hurt the man that the Roidmude had barely said but a few words to anyone, even refusing to talk to Kiriko when she had asked for him.

Harley didn't want to assume, but he was beginning to think that Chase blamed himself for the condition Gou was in. He kept reassuring the boy that he had saved his brother, that Gou would appreciate being given a second chance, and that when his body healed from all the changes done to it, Gou would wake up. Chase would just nod, still holding on to Gou's hand, still keeping vigil in his chair by Gou's bed. Harley hoped Chase believed him.

—

Chase was moments from nodding off when the hand he was holding in his own twitched slightly. Chase's eyes shot open and he gently squeezed Gou's hand, resulting in the hand to weakly squeeze back a few moments later.

"Gou?"

Gou's eyelids fluttered and he blearily tried opening his eyes, the sharp light in the room hurting them. Chase quickly left Gou's side and dimmed the lights before returning and gently placing his hand on Gou's shoulder. Gou tried opening his eyes again, blinking them repeatedly to wake himself up. He looked over to the Roidmude beside him that was tiredly smiling at him in relief. He took in his brother's disheveled appearance. It was obvious Chase looked like he hadn't taken care of himself in a while.

"You look like crap. …I probably look the same way…"

"It's because of you, you idiot." Chase chuckled, lightly tapping Gou's shoulder.

Gou groaned, trying to flex his body to get rid of the soreness. "What happened? Last thing I remember is hearing Harley start crying and then a bright light. Did we win? Is Banno gone?"

Chase closed his eyes, looking down and refusing to look Gou in the eyes. "We won…Banno's gone finally. Everything he might have corrupted has been purged of him. He'll never be a threat again. …Gou… I'm sorry… I'm sorry I… I didn't want you to die. I just wanted to save you. But…"

Gou noticed the tears trying to form in Chase's eyes. Concern formed in his mind and he forced himself to try to raise himself up to a sitting position, careful of the IV in his arm, noting he was in far less pain than he normally would be in this situation.

"Chase…what's wrong? What happened? I'm fine…as far as I can tell."

Chase mumbled something that Gou couldn't quite hear and the boy reached over to take the Roidmude's hand in his own, squeezing it gently. Chase looked up, sorrow in his face. "I…synchronized with my old parts…forced them into a Super Evolution…I… I turned you into a full Roidmude… Your body is just like mine."

The room was silent for several minutes while Gou took in the words that Chase told him. He looked down at the IV in his arm and gently pulled it out before shifting himself closer to the Roidmude beside his bed and leaning across, pulling Chase into a hug which he eagerly returned. "I guess we really CAN call ourselves twins now. Don't blame yourself for what happened. I already told you long ago that I've accepted the fact that I was part Roidmude. Actually…I'm glad I'm just like you now."

"But…"

Gou sighed and patted Chase on the back. "I…kept it hidden from you and believe me, it was hard to do with our shared mental link. I was worried about you Chase…about what would happen when we got older, about what my human body would do. I don't know how long a Roidmude body will last…but I knew eventually my human body would start to fail me, even before all this stuff with Banno. I…didn't want to leave you alone, especially after all we've been through. I don't know how much time has passed, but if me being in this state while my body healed after what you did to save me caused you to be in the state you're in, I don't think you would have been okay for long when my human body eventually died. Chase…please, you didn't do anything wrong."

Chase sniffed and his grip on Gou became tighter as Gou rubbed circles in the Roidmude's back. "I… I kept thinking I did the worst thing to you this entire week… And then you wouldn't wake up and I thought you wouldn't ever… And I just…thought that you would hate me for what I did if you DID wake up… And I couldn't… Thank you Gou. Thank you for…for…"

"You're my brother Chase. I could never be mad at you. Now…I think it's time we go tell and show Harley that his sons are both okay… and maybe get something to eat. If I've been hooked up to whatever was in that IV, that means it's been a while since I've had food and you look starved. After that, you're going to bed. You look terrible. I'll lay down with you, but you ARE going to sleep."

—

After an emotional reunion with Harley and getting much needed food in them, Gou and Chase went to bed while Harley stayed up to make travel arrangements for the three to go to Japan. Krim had wanted to see all three of them once Gou had some time to recover and Kiriko had been frantically worried about both Gou and Chase after Harley told her what happened after they got back from destroying Banno.

Harley knew the boys would be happy to see everyone again and Gou was planning to grab a few of his things he had to leave in Japan since both were wanting to stay with Harley for a while to help him with his research. However, he was worried about what Krim wanted with them. Harley knew that the two knew that it was Krim and not Banno talking, but he knew the day that the two ran away to America still plagued their dreams. He just hoped that whatever Krim wanted with them was positive, otherwise he was ready to fight for his two boys again. After all, as Gou had clearly made him realize, they were his sons and no one hurt his family and would get away with it as long as he was around.