Again, sorry this chapter took so long to post. Distractions, work, chores and the stress of Christmas shopping. Speaking of which, I also wanted to get this chapter done before Christmas was over (or before the Mayan Apocalypse, whichever happens first... jk... or am I? !) so I could work on a Christmas chapter. Please enjoy, I almost cried simply writing this stuff.
*Floor B8, Mirror World*
In the mirror world, Shroud, Momo, Naoto, Aura, Asuka, Hikari, Chan and Chun were walking down the tunnel that they had found underneath the stage where the twins were found. As they all walked down it, Hikari grabbed Aura and had moved to the back of the group.
"Aura, there's something that's actually been on my mind for the last few months…" Hikari whispered to her. "Remember how Spiral and I spent that night together… the thing is… I don't remember any of it. The hangover would explain why I don't remember, but… something's been bothering me and I can't quite put my finger on it."
"Please don't remind me of that…" Aura whispered back, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "Why would something be bothering you?"
"Like I said, I'm not sure." Hikari whispered in response. "It's just a feeling I've been having for a while now."
No sooner after their secretive conversation had ended did they arrive at the end of the tunnel. What they saw was a labyrinthine series of underground ruins.
"What the hell is this place?" Naoto asked.
"It looks like something that from a dark fantasy novel." Shroud stated. "Although what does this have to do with Spiral?"
"Regardless, I think this might be where Spiral is." Aura said. "I mean this is the only place we haven't searched, so we'll very likely find him here."
"How shall we split up?" Asuka asked. "That is, if we're splitting up at all."
They all stared off at the many different directions the whole place was branching off into with no clear indication as to if Spiral was even there.
"Maybe we shouldn't split up." Momo suggested. "What if one of us wandered off and they couldn't find their way back? It's not like we have breadcrumbs to leave a trail behind us."
Shroud spoke up. "Momo has a point… and I'm kind of scared to go in by myself."
"What a baby!" Chun insulted him.
Spiral's friends were still wandering through the labyrinth searching for him.
"Where could he be?" Shroud wondered. "Do you think he's in the last place we'd look for him?"
"We're ALREADY in the last place we'd look for him!" Naoto talked back impolitely.
"Ngh… AHhhh!"
They all heard a groan come from deeper in the labyrinth. Momo immediately started running in the directions she heard the voice coming from. The others followed her throughout the labyrinth, turning around corners, moving down staircases and eventually reaching a door. The sound could be clearly heard from the other side of the door and Momo looked at everyone to assure that they were all ready. Momo and Naoto thrust the door open and saw an empty room with Spiral lying on the floor, curled up and groaning.
"SPIRAL!" Momo quickly ran toward him in concern. "What's wrong? !"
Spiral eventually stopped groaning and Momo could feel his body relax. He then stood up and said…
"Nothing. Never been better."
As soon as Spiral said that in that strange tone, everyone knew that something was indeed wrong.
"No!" Momo grabbed a hold of his shoulders. "We all know you better than this! Especially me!"
"Heh, apparently you don't know enough." Spiral said. "You all saw me as a hero, didn't you? But my Duel with Raza reminded me. In truth, that was all just a ruse."
"What are you talking about?" Aura asked.
"I was never a hero." Spiral answered. "Hell, I'm a liar. Remember that night I spent with Hikari? That never actually happened. After removing our clothes, she passed out and all I did was sleep next to her in bed. That was it. I only said we did it because it would have made her happy."
"Wait…" Hikari's voice began to shake. "So… we never…"
"No." Spiral answered. "I lied so you wouldn't feel disappointed or sad."
"Wait… why did you lie about that?" Naoto asked.
"I told you already."
"No, I mean why for that reason?" Naoto clarified.
"Because what I want is irrelevant." Spiral answered.
Momo began to clench her fists and teeth as she heard Spiral say this.
"I was only a person who catered to the needs of others because my desires aren't even worth shit."
SLAP!
Momo had given Spiral a hard slap across the face.
"DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT ABOUT YOURSELF!" Momo shouted at him.
"So you're saying I shouldn't be myself?" Spiral questioned her. "Would you rather have that false hero than the true me? I am who I am because people wish it. That includes all of you. My only wish is to fulfill your wishes. That's the only thing I'm possibly good for. I'm too worthless to say what I want other than that."
"No!" Momo started to become enraged. "This isn't you!"
"You're that desperate to cling to your false reality, huh?" Spiral rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry to hit you where it hurts most, but this is the real me. This is who I truly am!"
"I DON'T BELIEVE THAT!" Momo continued to yell.
"Hmm…" Shroud hummed as he observed the situation.
"What's going on in that head of yours?" Naoto asked Shroud.
"I might not be known as a people person, but I definitely know this isn't the Spiral we know." Shroud stated. "What's even more curious is that this might be his Demon."
"How is that possible?" Asuka was confused. "Don't the Demons come out when a person enters here? Spiral said he never even confronted his Demon and he's probably been in here longer than any of us."
"That's the thing I don't quite understand." Shroud said. "I try to think that his Demon waited before it revealed itself, but when it mentioned Raza, that idea went nowhere because even though a Demon and its person are connected, they only have the memories of the point until it comes out. In other words, it came out recently."
"Well…" Asuka started to think. "If Spiral wasn't feeling particularly well in the head, do you think that might've triggered his Demon to come out?"
"That… actually sounds like a plausible theory." Shroud complimented left-handedly. "But what I don't understand is where Spiral is."
"I can hear you." Spiral pointed out. "And to answer your question, he's right here and…" Spiral then points to his head. "Right here. To ensure my success, I have locked up the Spiral you know inside my mind. No one can get in here and I doubt he can get out. Don't worry, it's not like his body is going to rot. After all, I'll be coming to the outside world and revealing the "real me" to the entire school! Everyone will know that Spiral is nothing but a selfish bastard who only does what others want because he has no worth! That is the real me! A worthless, deluded piece of crap!"
"… How can you feel that way about yourself?" Aura questioned. "It's as if you don't want to continue living… You never seemed like the type of person who would think so negatively about himself… I… I DON'T BELIEVE YOU'RE SPIRAL EITHER!"
Aura's eyes started to tear up and those tears fell down from her cheeks.
"Aura's right." Hikari spoke up. "Even if you are Spiral, we'd never believe you are him. All of us had been through so much together. Do you think we'd just give up and admit you're him? ! He undoubtedly thinks about others before himself… but we would never believe that someone as negative as you could be Spiral!"
Everyone now had a look of determination on their faces and Demon Spiral just sighed in exasperation.
"I was being 100 percent honest with you… and yet you still don't accept me. If you won't accept the real me… THEN YOU CAN JUST DIE!"
Red shadows engulfed Demon Spiral and his entire outfit had changed. He was now wearing a worn-out brown scarf that fluttered in the wind and a black cape, sweatshirt and pants in addition to a Duel Disk and Duel Gazer.
"So, who's going to fight Spiral?" Naoto asked.
"I will!" Momo said with an assuring look.
"I'm going, too." Hikari agreed. "There's no telling how strong he is."
"If you two are going, then we're going, too!" Chan spoke up.
"Are you sure about that?" Chun asked her sister.
"With more of us, I think we'd have better chances." Chan stated.
"Then I guess it's the four of you against me." Demon Spiral said. "Because I'm all alone, I'll start out at 16000 Life Points while you all start with 4000. That sounds fair, right? And no one attacks on until everyone has had a turn."
There were no objections to the rules and all five of them got into position.
"Let's Duel!" Everyone shouted.
Momo (LP 4000) Hikari (LP 4000) Chan (LP 4000) Chun (LP 4000) Demon Spiral (LP 16000)
In a dark abyss, Spiral slowly regained consciousness and tried to get to his feet. He almost tripped once or twice, but he managed to finally regain his balance and looked around.
"How did I…" Spiral began to speak. "Oh… right…"
Spiral looked around again only to see black nothingness surrounding him.
"Am I… dead?" Spiral wondered.
"No." A voice echoed through the abyss. "You are merely locked in the confines of your own mind as I drain your life away."
"So I'm not dead… at least not yet." Spiral said in a suspiciously calm manner.
Demon Spiral suddenly materialized from the abyss.
"You don't fear death, do you?" Demon Spiral asked.
"It's because I-"
"Because you are worthless and your death would be like that of an ant. Nobody would miss you."
"That's not-"
"I am a part of you and there's absolutely nothing I don't know about you. Since you're going to die soon, let us review the worthlessness of your life."
The abyss suddenly became an old Japanese house.
"This place…" Spiral muttered. "I remember it so clearly… This was where I lived during my childhood… Momo's family's place."
"This was when Momo and I started our ninja training." Demon Spiral said. "Deep down, you accepted the training without question because you wanted to worth something… but that did little help in the future, didn't it?"
"Yeah… a few years after we met Daisuke, that was when both of our lives took a turn for the worst."
The scenery suddenly changed to a dark forest in the dead of night.
"This was where Daisuke came to me and told me about how Momo's family didn't want me anymore." Spiral looked down. "He said that if I ever came within earshot of them ever again, I would be killed on the spot. Although… that was lie… but now that I think about it… why was I forced out of the village before the invasion on the clan happened?"
From another part of the forest that was far away, lights could be seen and screams could be heard. The lights were because of the fires that were starting.
"How about that?" Demon Spiral spoke up again. "That was your first moment of feeling truly helpless… Doesn't feel good at all… does it?"
"I… won't deny that… but what was worst was that I didn't even disobey rules to protect people… then again… I was 12 years old, what could I do? I was no Naruto back then, that's for sure. It would've been suicide."
The scenery changed again to a marketplace, more specifically Leadenhall Market.
"To ensure I was out of the clan's sight, I decided to leave the country." Spiral continued to reminisce. "As the luggage was being loaded onto a plane, I used what I was taught by Momo's family to sneak in the luggage without being detected by the crew. I just went on a random plane and the next thing I know, I was in London. In this marketplace, I saw a store being robbed by a gunman. And… well… I managed to save those people, but I took a bullet to my arm. That was when I met Aura… and I thought I could start a new life. But when we were heading to Tokyo two years later, I became nervous because of what Daisuke told me."
The scenery went back to the pitch-black nothingness that Spiral awoke to.
"And not long after you arrived here, you became involved with preventing the deaths of those who entered the mirror." Demon Spiral finished the retrospective. "Which brings me to the question that's begging to be answered: Why do you willingly and voluntarily perform these heroic deeds?"
"Because that's the right thing to do."
"Wrong answer! You do it to try to cover up your lack of worth. You feel that by performing these deeds, you'll be worth something. Whether or not you die during them makes little to no difference. Whoever left you with Momo's family probably did so because they thought you were worthless. That's why you've been performing actions that will make you worth something. But no matter what you do or how many times you do it, you will always know that you are worthless."
"No… No! That's not true!"
"Deny it all you want, but deep down it's the truth! You almost became absorbed by your illusion, but once Raza defeated you that sense of worthlessness came back!"
"Just shut the hell up!" Spiral grasped his head.
"Everyone else's desires take precedence over mine. Hell, what I want is irrelevant. I mean, I can't even choose between the women I love."
"Just SHUT UP!"
"I will not… BE SILENCED!"
Demon Spiral was then engulfed in red shadows. When the shadows dissipated, it had revealed that Demon Spiral had transfigured into a skeleton wearing the same attire as Demon Spiral.
"I am a Demon… from within your heart. I am the 'hero' who gains hollow satisfaction from his actions. Now… DIE!"
Demon Spiral pulled out a giant sword and swung it down on Spiral's head. Spiral closed his eyes and waited for the sword to hit him.
CLANK!
Spiral heard something and felt nothing split his skull in half, so he looked up and was completely surprised by what he saw in front of him. Out of every possibility, this was the last thing Spiral was expecting… The Principal had drawn out a sword and blocked the giant blade that Demon Spiral was holding.
"What the… What the hell…" Spiral muttered to himself.
"How did you-!" Demon Spiral also seemed confused.
The Principal simply smirked. "When Spiral was born, I placed a part of myself within his mind so I could always watch over and protect him." She then looked toward Spiral. "Spiral, you need to overcome your suffering or else you won't be able to return. This monster is born from that suffering and feeds off of it."
"But… what he says is true…" Spiral looked down. "I… am worthless…"
"That is not true at all!" The Principal shouted at him. "Your friends are fighting with your Demon outside of your mind as we speak… and they're not doing so well. If you really were worthless, would your friends risk their lives to save yours?"
Spiral looked up and started to stand up. "You're right. How could I have been so blind? The answer was right in front of me all along."
Spiral walked past her and Demon Spiral unlocked his sword from the clash with the principal so he could slash Spiral in half. But Spiral held out a card and as the sword was about to cut Spiral, a pair of twin swords came out of nowhere. Those swords belonged to Blade, the card Spiral had summoned.
"I am far… from hollow!" Spiral shouted.
Blade deflected the huge sword and he and Demon Spiral had a duel (the kind with swords).
"Twilight Angel!" Spiral held out another card.
Twilight Angel took Blade's place and flew up high above Demon Spiral. Then the left half of her threw the spear in her left hand at Demon Spiral, piercing him and pinning him to the floor.
"Damn you!" Demon Spiral became enraged.
Demon Spiral threw his giant sword at Spiral again.
"Volcanic Chaos!" Spiral once again held out a card.
Volcanic Chaos took Twilight Angel's place and fell to the ground with a large thud. The hardened skin of Volcanic Chaos easily deflected the sword without even scratching his body.
"Valkyrie!" Spiral pulled out yet another card.
Valkyrie appeared where Volcanic Chaos was and dashed toward Demon Spiral. Demon Spiral then pulled out the spear that was pinning him down and threw it at Valkyrie, but she dodged them and dashed past Demon Spiral, cutting off both of his arms.
"Aaaggh! Damn it!" Demon Spiral exclaimed in pain.
"Yukimaru!" Spiral pulled out one final card.
Yukimaru had appeared and Demon Spiral was quickly being encased in ice.
"Stop this!" Demon Spiral shouted. "Stop this futility at once! You're worthless! Enough of this false determination!"
"Here's the thing." Spiral said. "This determination… is real!"
The ice completely encased Demon Spiral. Spiral and Yukimaru snapped their fingers and the ice shattered, eliminating Demon Spiral and leaving a blob of shadows where he once was. Then Demon Spiral reformed into his previous form and Spiral walked up to him.
"Yeah, I felt like I wasn't worth anything if I couldn't help anyone." Spiral said. "But I don't need to be a hero or act like one to be worth something. If I was worthless, my friends wouldn't be in this world right now trying to save me. If they care that much about me, how worthless can I be?"
Demon Spiral then transfigured into a human man with spiky dark hair and the same attire as the Demon itself, only it had skin and his mouth and nose were covered by the scarf. It then turned into a Xyz Monster Card that fell into Spiral's hand. Spiral looked over the card and read it.
"It's name is 'Brave' huh?" Spiral wondered.
"It's a fitting name for it." The principal said. "After all, it came from your heart."
"There's something I don't understand though…" Spiral said. "You said you put a part of yourself in my mind so you could protect me… why?"
"Maternal instinct I guess." The principal responded.
"You also said it happened when I was born… did you… know me when I was a child? Do you know who my parents are?"
The principal smiled. "Ask me when you come back. This is only a fraction of my mind that presents itself when you are in mortal danger. I'm afraid that I won't be able to answer your questions. For now, you should return to your friends. The moment you overcame your Demon, it practically surrendered the Duel and your friends managed to win by forfeit. They will be relieved to know you are all right."
Spiral began to feel dizzy and his eyes completely closed and his consciousness was lost.
"Spiral? SPIRAL!"
"WAKE UP!"
"Are you alive?"
"Please! Answer me!"
Spiral could hear his friends' voices around him as he started to regain consciousness. When he opened his eyes, he saw everyone have smiles of relief and happiness on their faces.
"Thank God that you're alive!" Momo shouted as she gave him a huge hug.
"Spiral, we were so worried about you!" Aura was still crying, although it appeared she was crying tears of joy. Even she came up to give Spiral a large hug.
Then Hikari came to give him a hug. "Words can't even describe how worried we were!"
Naoto, Asuka, Chan and Chun also came in and joined the group hug. Shroud was standing outside, a little uncomfortable to join in.
"Shroud, you were worried about Spiral just like the rest of us!" Naoto pointed out to him. "Just swallow your pride and come give him a hug!"
Shroud was a bit reluctant and slow, but he did manage to join them all in the group hug. Spiral then noticed that the clothes of Momo, Hikari, Chan and Chun were all dirty and beaten.
"What happened to you guys?" Spiral asked them. "You're covered in bruises."
"While we were Dueling against your Demon, it was being merciless on us." Chun explained. "In fact, we were all about to lose when your Demon suddenly lost it and collapsed."
"… Spiral…" Momo spoke up.
"If it's about what my Demon said, don't worry." Spiral interrupted her. "I wouldn't have friends that were willing to do anything to save me if I was worthless. I… wouldn't have been able to overcome my Demon if it weren't for you guys. So, in a way, you guys all saved me. Thank you."
A tear fell down Spiral's eye as the touching moment continued.
"Why don't we all head back home?" Naoto suggested. "It's getting late and I'm sure we're all tired. Plus, tomorrow is a big day for Spiral."
"Huh?" Spiral seemed confused.
"Your birthday, silly!" Aura sort of laughed.
"Oh… right… I nearly forgot." Spiral said.
"Who forgets their own birthday? !" Shroud asked.
The group finally made it back to the real world through the mirror in the principal's office. The principal seemed to have been waiting for them to return.
"Guys, why don't you go on ahead?" Spiral requested. "I need to talk to the principal about something."
"Are you sure?" Asuka asked.
"This is something I need to discuss alone." Spiral said. "Plus, I'm sure you're all tired, too."
It took a moment, but they all nodded and headed outside. Spiral turned toward the principal and was about to speak.
"I'm sure you've got plenty of questions to ask me." The principal smiled.
"Well, before I ask my question, allow me to name a few facts." Spiral said. "When we were stuck in the mirror world rescuing Naoto and Aura, you seemed awfully worried about me. So much so that you gave me a bear hug. Next is when you were in my head. You said that you did that to me when I was born and that you were protecting me out of maternal instinct. 'Maternal' is another term for 'motherly'. I think I've finally figured out who you are, Miss Principal. Or should I say…"
The room was quiet for a moment.
"… Mother?"
The silence continued until the principal smirked.
"You're much smarter than you let people on." The principal said. "… Yes, I am indeed your mother. And before anything else is spoken, I should tell you the reason why I left you with Momo's family at such a young age. I'm sure you would like an answer for that… There were things I had to do that were dangerous and if the people I was up against knew that I had a child then… I couldn't put you through that kind of danger! But I didn't give you to strangers. Momo's grandfather was an old friend of mine and I knew if there was anyone who would protect you and teach you how to protect yourself, it was you. Also, I took care of you for two years and I cherished that time together… I never stopped thinking about you… never…"
The principal looked like her eyes were becoming watery.
"There's still another question I need to ask." Spiral said. "Who's my father?"
"… He… He probably doesn't even exist…"
"How… How is that even possible? !"
"I… When I was 16, I… underwent artificial insemination."
"Wait, what?"
"I went to a clinic and they put... 'stuff' inside me so that you could be conceived."
"… Ooooh!"
"Yes. Do you have any more questions?"
"… No… not really… but... never mind. I think I figured out why my Demon appeared when it did. My mental state wasn't at its personal best then."
Spiral left the office and the principal sighed as if she had finally moved an elephant off her back. But Spiral came back into the room.
"Oh, I forgot!" Spiral said. "What's your name? I should know my mother's name, shouldn't I?"
"… It's Pulse. And, yes, I named you Spiral."
"Thanks… Mom." Spiral left with a smile on his face.
Being called 'Mom' also made Pulse smile.
"I'm glad… that I don't have to hide it from him anymore…" Pulse looked like she was about to cry.
The next morning, Naoto quietly woke up Spiral.
"Wakey wakey…" Naoto said in a hushed tone. "Rise and shine."
Spiral slowly woke up.
"Hurry. Shower and get dressed." Naoto told him.
"It's Sunday. Why can't I just sleep in?" Spiral groaned, half-asleep.
"Just do it."
Spiral slowly got out of bed so his head wouldn't hurt, took some clothes from the drawer and headed into the bathroom.
After Spiral had finished his shower and put new clothes on, he went out of the bathroom and-
"SURPRISE!"
Spiral was indeed surprised to find nearly all of his friends in his room. Everyone was there: Shroud, Naoto, Momo, Lee, Camaru, Aura, Hikari, Asuka, Chan, Chun… even his mother and Etsuko were there. Etsuko immediately ran up to him holding a small box.
"Happy birthday, Spiral!" Etsuko handed Spiral his present with a smile on her face. "How old are you?"
Spiral smiled back at her as he took the present. "Today, I turn 15."
"I'll be the same age next month." Aura said.
"Oh yeah, that's right." Spiral responded. "You're only a month younger than me. Well, we'll be sure to think of something for yours."
"But for now, let's celebrate YOUR day." Momo told them.
Spiral just stood there as everyone was starting everything. He smiled and thought to himself.
*I can't even imagine how lucky I am to have these friends…*
Spiral joined the rest of them for his birthday and it was a very exciting day.
English Voice Cast
Todd Haberkorn Spiral
Monica Rial Momo
Alexis Tipton Aura
Laura Bailey Hikari
Kate Higgins Pulse
Yuri Lowenthal Naoto
Alison Viktorin Chan/Chun
Caitlin Glass Asuka
Maxey Whitehead Shroud
Preview
Aura: Yay! It's time for Christmas!
Spiral: It truly is the most magical time of the year...
Momo: I wonder if I should wear a sexy Santa costume...
Aura: What was that?
Momo: Nothing!
Pulse: Spiral, I have quite the gift in mind for both you and Etsuko.
Spiral: Really? I wonder what it is...
Momo: Next time on Awakening of the Soul, Christmas Time!
Aura: There's going to be everything from snowball fights to snow angels! Stay tuned!