Okay, so it's a day late, and i normally don't post story chapters if they're a day late, but i couldn't resist and had a couple of people pestering me to get this chapter up. XD For once, i've succeeded at keeping a major plot twist secret from everyone! (Except for one guest reviewer, i am still kinda shocked at how you managed to guess it, even though i left no obvious clues...) Speaking of clues, i did throw in quite a few not-so-obvious ones in there for you guys, and i'm listing them below if anyone wants to bother reading them. XD Enjoy!

"Madoka?"

The brunette's head snapped up from her desk at the call.

"Coming!" she called, bolting up the stairs, only to freeze and gasp as soon as she reached the top, her eyes widening in disbelief.

"G-Gingka?"

The redhead leaning heavily on Aguma raised his head and smiled tiredly at the brunette, who soon rushed forwards in concern, taking some of Gingka's weight on her own small frame as she slid her arm under his.

"Where's Arashi? Isamu! Ren! We need another place for someone to rest! Aguma, is Arashi coming with Da Xiang?"

Gingka gently placed a finger on Madoka's lips to silence her.

"Madoka, were you paying attention?" he asked, coughing slightly.

"Huh?" Madoka blinked in confusion.

"Madoka, his clothing." Aguma said as Da Xiang entered with the rest of Galaxy Flame.

Madoka looked down, then gasped, looking back up into a grinning Gingka's eyes.

"You're Arashi Hikou?!"

"Yes." Gingka replied, straightening and taking a slight step away from Aguma to stand on his own.

"This entire time, i have been playing Arashi to keep anyone from knowing that it was me. It was the easiest way to closely watch Galaxy Flame while still remaining unnoticed."

"But how?! And why didn't you tell me?" Madoka demanded.

"Madoka, I-" Gingka was cut off as he again began coughing up water.

"Forget i asked. Come on, let's get you to bed." Madoka muttered, darting forwards and supporting the weakened redhead as he lost his balance, carefully leading him downstairs and helping him onto the couch.

"As for you guys, i'll get blankets and stuff and you can all sleep down here if you want." Madoka said as soon as a heavily-breathing Gingka was laying down on the couch.

"Sounds good to me." Zero said. "But can i go wash this hair dye out?"

"What are you talking about, Isamu?" Madoka turned to the still-bluenette with a confused look.

"He's Zero." Gingka spoke up. "That's how i hid him from the DNA."

"Oh! I get it! You two acted like brothers to keep the DNA off your trail!" Madoka exclaimed.

"Exactly." Gingka grinned.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Are you ready for the final round of the Beyblade World Championships?" Guider asked.

The crowd burst out cheering.

"This should go easily." Yoshio smirked as Mortem Rio waited in the shadows.

"What's the plan, Gingka?" Zero asked as he stood behind Ren and Shinobu.

"Easy. I'll just stay back here unless i'm needed. You guys get out there, and we'll explain to the crowd about the apparent switch in bladers." Gingka replied.

"You're sure you're ready to battle?" Zero asied.

"I'm fine. There were no injuries from yesterday, just exhaustion. I've also gotten most of the water out of my lungs. Don't worry about it." Gingka replied.

"Ladies and gentlemen, they may be representing the tropical country of Brazil, but they still hail from Japan, please give it up for Team Mortem Rio!" Guider said.

Gingka chuckled as the crowd fell silent.

"No fans for the bad guys. Just watch, this is our home crowd."

"Before the other team gets all excited, we would like to challenge them to a special type of battle, fitting for the final round of such a huge tournament." Kira said.

"He looks a bit nervous." Ren commented in surprise.

"And that is?" Guider questioned, looking at the pastel-haired blader.

"We challenge them to a knockout battle, just like the Garcias did to Gan Gan Galaxy in the previous World Championships tournament." Kira said.

"What's a knockout battle?" Ren asked, as the entire team turned to Gingka.

"Oh, those are fun. First two bladers step up, but when one is defeated, the next one from their team steps up to face the first blader from the other team. You're not done battling until you're knocked out." Gingka replied.

"Oh, that makes sense." Ren said.

"Then we accept, right?" Zero spoke up.

"And play right into their hands? I don't think we should." Shinobu said.

"We'd only be making them think that we were playing right into their hands." Gingka grinned. "On the contrary, we accept and blow them out of the water."

"What do you mean?"

"They think they've killed me, or rather, Arashi Hikou. So, by challenging us to a knockout battle where they might figure that Isamu will be distracted by grief, they think there are only two real challenges on the team, two to their four. However, we've got four to their four, and we're even. I'll only go if i'm needed, and we can play it backwards by team rank, meaning that Ren can start. Sound good?"

"Well, you're the team leader." Zero laughed.

Gingka grinned. "Just do it in the most dramatic way possible. In fact, let's give them even more confidence. Zero, stay back here with me. We'll let them think it's a two-on-four match. If Shinobu and Ren can take them all out, then we'll have absolutely no problem. If they can't, we're here to back them up. Now, you two get out there."

"Right!" Ren and Shinobu grinned, then stepped out into the view of the crowd with straight, solemn faces.

"This should be about as good as Madoka yelling at me and asking me where i was." Gingka commented, crossing his arms and leaning casually against the wall.

"No kidding." Zero snickered.

"We accept your challenge of a knockout battle." Shinobu called across the stadium.

"Fools." Genjuro muttered.

"They've played right into our hands under the grief caused by the loss of their teammate. Perfect." Baihu said.

"You first, Genjuro." Kira said.

"You're not going?" Yoshio looked surprised.

"Why would there be a need to crush them myself when you guys can do it?" Kira asked as Genjuro started for the stadium.

"Good luck Ren." Shinobu said.

"I'll pound him, unlike last time, this battle will end with me as the winner." Ren smirked.

"Play grief." Gingka called as the blonde started off.

"You and your dramatic streak." Madoka commented from her seat directly above the hallway.

"It's more fun to be dramatic about it." Gingka replied.

"Suit yourself."

"Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for the first two competitors in this knockout battle, Genjuro Kamegaki of Mortem Rio and Ren Kurenai of Galaxy Flame!"

The crowd cheered and began chanting Ren's name.

"You've got this, Ren!" Shinobu called.

"Yeah, count on it!" Ren called as she slid her feet apart into a battle stance and raised her launcher, drilling her golden-brown eyes into Genjuro's aqua ones. The DNA blader raised an eyebrow slightly in surprise at the confident smirk playing around the blonde's lips, as he too raised his launcher.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Let it Rip!"

"Go, Phoenix!"

"Genbull!"

"Molten Wing!"

"That won't work!" Genjuro smirked. "Genbull, Rolling Shell Break!"

Ren growled under her breath, then yelled and dramatically punched the air, causing Phoenix to stop Genbull in its tracks, much to Genjuro's surprise.

"Genbull!"

"Kyahh!"

"She doesn't battle like she's distracted by greif." Baihu observed, raising an eyebrow.

"Odd." Yoshio commented.

Kira narrowed his eyes, looking across the stadium at Shinobu, who was struggling to maintain a straight face. Every few seconds, the pastel-haired DNA blader caught a glimpse of the various emotions flashing across Shinobu's face, as the cream-haired blader would lose control of his facial expression for a moment, allowing a confident smirk, a knowing grin, or an amused smile to flash across his features.

"Are you okay, Master Kira? You seem tense." Yoshio's voice snapped the DNA's ace out of his thoughts.

"I'm fine." Kira growled.

"Gahh! Phoenix!" Ren wailed as her bey was thrown out of the stadium.

"Oh! Phoenix, stadium out!" Guider announced. "Looks like Mortem Rio has taken the lead in this match!"

"Hah! You still couldn't beat me!" Genjuro boasted, smirking at the blonde.

"Shinobu, launch now, while he's distracted!" Gingka ordered as the DNA blader continued talking.

"On it." Shinobu said, launching.

"You should have known that you couldn't beat me. After all, you lost to me in Neo-" Genjuro continued, but was interrupted by Guider.

"Whoa! And Salamander takes out Genbull with one hit! These two teams are now tied!"

"Pay attention, you idiot!" Kira yelled.

"That was a smart move on Shinobu's part." Tsubasa said, raising an eyebrow. "The same tactic took out Gingka in the original World Championships."

"I wonder where the Hikous went though? After all their talk about the DNA, and Arashi's talk about being Gingka's eyes in the tournament, you'd think they'd be here." Benkei commented. "And where is Madoka?"

"Down there. She wanted to be near the team. Apparently the DNA team attacked them yesterday and managed to drown Arashi in the river." Tsubasa replied solemnly. "Knowing how distracted and worried Isamu was when Arashi was injured, i can't imagine what sort of depression he'd be in now, knowing that he was dead."

"I see… So we're two down right off the bat. Those DNA cheaters! No wonder Gingka wanted us to keep an eye on them, and no wonder he was so cautious about hiding Zero!" Benkei growled.

"What did you mean earlier when you said that Arashi was Gingka's eyes in the tournament? I thought he and Isamu joined because they wanted to defeat the DNA in the first place." Tsubasa said.

"I guess that was sort of a cover story that they dropped. Maybe it was true, but i haven't heard mention of it since the first time we met them." Benkei replied.

"Yoshio, you're up. Take him down." Kira growled.

"Yes, Master Kira." Yoshio replied, heading for the stadium.

"Good luck." Zero called quietly as his rival headed for the stadium.

"Yeah, i'll need it." Shinobu muttered as he stepped up to the stadium.

"Go, Golem!" Yoshio called, launching the silver and green bey and instantly attacking Salamander.

"Salamander, Blazing Ring Shot!"

"And Shinobu wastes no time out there, calling out a special move as soon as his opponent is in the stadium! Looks like we've got an exciting second pair of bladers in our match today!" Guider said.

"Think he can pull it off?" Zero asked.

"Yeah. Shinobu's a strong blader. The difficulty here though is that, if he beats Golem, Salamander's stamina will be drained quite a bit before he even gets to Byakko or Bahamoote. That's what makes this kind of battle so challenging. When i was up against the Garcias, i started with Selen, and her only strategy was to drain my stamina so that Ian could defeat me. I ended up defeating him, but it was a very difficult battle." Gingka replied.

"Well, we're here to back him up." Zero smirked.

"Yeah." Gingka grinned.

Kira narrowed his eyes, catching sight of movement in the shadows behind Ren, who still looked confident despite her loss.

"Relax, Kira. We've got this." Baihu said.

"I'm fine." Kira growled.

"Salamander!"

"Golem!"

"Kyahh!"

The people in the crowd shielded their faces as the two beys created an explosion that blasted through the air like lightning.

"Golem, stadium out! Galaxy Flame takes the lead!" Guider announced as the dust began to clear.

"But Salamander took a lot of damage in that battle." Maru commented.

"He'll be fine." Gingka said confidently.

Kira narrowed his eyes again, peering into the shadows as Maru half-turned and spoke to an invisible person behind her.

"There's someone there. They're hiding something." the DNA leader muttered under his breath.

"That's not a reason for you to be so tense." Genjuro said as Yoshio and Baihu swapped. However, Kira took no notice of his teammate's words, narrowing his eyes in thought.

A retreat isn't giving up…

"I know he won't give up… He's so stubborn."

Count on it, we will be back…

"Is this when he planned on coming back? Is that him there in the shadows talking to that pesky little mechanic?"

You might make it to the world stage…

"We've made it, we made it a long time ago and are now at the top of it all."

And it will be there that we will take you down…

"No, it won't. They're handicapped with only two bladers, even if that brat Isamu manages to get his act together enough to battle, he'll be last, and he should be easy enough to take down. After all, he was the third regular, the third strongest on the team, and we still have our two strongest in the game."

It would do you good to learn from the examples of Nemesis and the others…

"Why am i so afraid? Those words have been haunting me through the entire tournament, flashing through my mind with every battle i watch, every second of the day that passes."

"Salamander, stadium out! After beating Yoshio, Shinobu just didn't have enough stamina to beat Baihu as well!"

"Well, looks like your team loses. DNA is victorious after all!" Baihu said.

"With only two members of Galaxy Flame present, if another member doesn't show up in two minutes, Mortem Rio will take the win by default!" Guider announced.

"It can't end like this…" Tsubasa muttered.

"Too bad. You're short one teammate because of yesterday, and your third member should be too stricken by grief to even battle! Why don't you just save yourselves the wait and forfeit now?" Baihu asked.

"Because it's not over!" Shinobu replied.

"What do you mean? Of course it's over!" Yoshio called.

"Isamu Hikou. The whole time, even we had no clue about the secrets he held. You looked for him, your one threat, and he was hidden in plain sight." Shinobu smirked.

"We got rid of any threats yesterday." Baihu growled.

"Not the one you failed to get rid of before the tournament started." Shinobu said.

"What is he talking about?" Tsubasa wondered.

"Before the tournament… Zero!" Benkei exclaimed.

Kira growled. "I knew it." he muttered under his breath.

"Ready?" Gingka muttered.

"Yeah." Zero replied.

"We've got another teammate, and there can't be a protest from the WBBA that he's not on the team, because he officially is." Shinobu continued, pointing back towards the blackhaired blader waiting in the shadows.

"What in the world is he talking about? Does he mean Isamu or Zero?" Tsubasa wondered.

"Zero had been with us this entire time, and you never knew it! He was hidden for his own protection, yet he was on the front lines of every battle!" Shinobu shouted triumphantly.

Kira growled. "Does that mean…"

"Isamu Hikou IS Zero Kurogane!" Shinobu finished.

"What?!" Tsubasa and Benkei were shocked as Zero stepped out of the hallway.

"This entire time, i've been on the team. You never suspected it." Zero said, smirking. "Now, let's finish this!"

The crowd cheered as the Ifrit wielder switched out with Shinobu, the two bumping fists as they passed each other.

Kira growled under his breath as Zero locked eyes with him momentarily before turning his attention to Baihu.

"So, it was you all along. No matter, because my Byakko will still beat you." Baihu smirked.

"You'd have a better chance at beating me if you hadn't had your stamina partially drained from fighting Shinobu." Zero replied, holding up his launcher and attaching Kerbecs onto it.

"Umm, shouldn't he be using Ifrit?" Maru asked.

"Holographic image, remember?" Gingka said.

"Well, yeah, but why not turn it off?" Ren asked.

"Dramatic purposes." Gingka replied.

"You're still using that other bey? Why not face me with Ifrit, or are you too scared that it won't be strong enough after you gained power with Kerbecs?" Baihu taunted.

Zero grinned in response and pulled out a remote control, then pointed it at his bey and pressed a button. Instantly, Kerbecs glowed white, and in a flash, the black spin track and performance tip had flashed into bright blue, revealing Ifrit.

"What bey did you think i was using again?" Zero asked. "Ifrit, Burning Uppercut!"

"See, that's how you do it!" Gingka crowed.

"You taught him well, i see." Madoka chuckled.

"Byakko, stadium out! Just as Zero said after his dramatic entrance, Baihu just didn't stand a chance after battling Shinobu!"

"Yeah, baby! We're back in the game!" Zero cheered, punching the air triumphantly.

"Zero, look-" Gingka called, but was interrupted as an explosion sent Ifrit out of the stadium.

"You were saying?" Kira smirked, lowering his launcher.

Gingka promptly animefell.

"Talk about following in your footsteps." Madoka laughed.

"No kidding." Gingka sighed, getting back up.

"And Mortem Rio again takes the lead! With Galaxy Flame only having three members right now, that means-" Guider began.

"Wait!" Zero shouted.

"Huh?" Guider -and everyone else- looked inquisitively at the Ifrit blader.

"You'd better get over here, Kira. This battle isn't over yet." Zero grinned.

Kira's eyes widened in fear as the blackhaired blader suddenly dove off the platform and flattened himself against the ground as dark purple flames flared from the dark hallway behind Ren and Shinobu, who also dove to the side.

"Chimera!" Gingka called, changing his voice slightly to create the fairly well-recognized tones of Arashi.

"Impossible." Kira breathed, relaxing slightly and darting onto the platform. "Bahamoote!"

"Or, should i say…" Gingka continued, as dark purple flames flashed to blue and Chimera leapt into the air, changing colors from silver, black, and dark purple to silver, blue, and red.

Kira froze in the middle of ordering a special move.

"Pegasus!" Gingka called, darting forwards and reaching the platform in seconds to switch with Zero, who rejoined Shinobu and Ren.

"WHAT?!" Benkei, Tsubasa, and the rest of the crowd were stunned as Pegasus clashed with Bahamoote, creating a huge explosion that ripped the stadium apart.

"Ladies and gentlemen, with a surprise entrance from the Legendary Blader, Gingka Hagane himself, Galaxy Flame takes the win! Please give it up for the new World Champions, Team Galaxy Flame!"

"We did it!" Zero, Shinobu, and Ren cheered, gathering into a tight group hug and laughing.

"Impossible…" Kira and his teammates breathed, staring across the stadium into the blazing golden-brown eyes of Gingka, who calmly reached up and caught his Pegasus out of the air.

Well, now that that's done, here's the promised list of clues that i had put into the story and the cover pictures, actually. I'll start with the cover images.

If you look at Gingka and Arashi, you might notice that their eyes are the same shape and their eyebrows are the same. Also, both have ankle-high black boots with red upper parts, and Gingka still wears his red belt as Arashi. As for Isamu/Zero, there are even more similarities: Namely, their bangs and eyes are the same, again with the belts, and if you give Zero knee-high black boots and take off his jacket, well... XD Need i say more?

As to the hints in the story, there are a lot, so... Just stick with me for a bit:

1. The special move similarities, as Gingka/Arashi explained in the last chapter.

2. Maru's constant confusion over how Chimera and Kerbecs acted like attack types rather than stamina/defense types as her computer indicated.

3. Gingka only showing up at night, and only to specific people.

4. The part when Ren spotted Gingka and he climbed into Arashi and Isamu's window to escape. (I did mention that, right? I believe Julian said it.)

5. Isamu's personality.

6. Of course, the not wanting to get in the water.

7. Gingka's insistence that Madoka give the repaired Pegasus to Arashi, also mentioned in the story.

8. The fact that Isamu knew Madoka's name in 'The Hikou Brothers.'

9. My major bombshell, you ready? Nobody looked up Arashi's name. If you look it up, you should find out that Arashi means 'storm' and Hikou means 'flight.' So, Arashi Hikou=STORMFLIGHT. Bam! (That's my favorite. XD)

Oh, and this is actually the second-to-last chapter, so... Hikou Rising ends with the next one. XD See you guys next chapter! (And hopefully i can get off this writer's block for Stormflight and Aftermath of Nemesis, it's really killing me...)