Chapter 34 - Name

"Gingka!"

"Gingka!"

That was most of them couldn't help but cry out at the joyous sight of the blader that they had long thought to be dead, and it only took a moment before they all ran towards him.
At the sound of his own name from those numerous familiar voices, Gingka found himself surprised... And afraid.
Of course, he probably shouldn't be afraid, but it wasn't something he could help. He was glad that they were here, glad that all of them were okay, that they cared enough to come after Alcorin, and him, even though they really didn't have too. But that was just like them - stubborn, and strong-willed.
His fear, however, almost overwhelmed that positive feeling, because, chances were, they would be afraid.
What would they think of him? Not even just about what he looked like at the moment, but just about him... What if they didn't know?
Chances are, they didn't, so seeing him as he was would be even more shocking to them even if they did know.. Regrettably, he almost wished that they weren't here.
But even still, he dared to look over to them, though he didn't turn his head enough for them to see the left side of his face - he didn't want them to see that, even if he knew that they eventually would.

"Gingka, you're okay!" Madoka said joyously as they approached him, her relief seeming to be amplified by the fact that he was even awake.
Most of them all looked pretty relieved at that. Gingka looked at them for a moment, his one eye showing how weary he was, and it took several moments for him to actually answer.
"I didn't actually think you guys would be here..." He said softly, though his voice echoed naturally off the walls of the empty room.
"Eh, you know us." Ren said with a shrug of her shoulders, though it did nothing to betray the hope and relief in her eyes, "We tend to show up sooner or later."

"We're just glad you're okay.." Madoka said with a warm smile, and Gingka found that it hurt to see that, "Especially after all of this..."
Gingka looked down slightly, and a few of them noticed them. The redhead didn't seem the most happy to see them... "You didn't have to come here..." The Legendary Blader said quietly, "You shouldn't have.."

"W-why?" Maru asked, confused.
"Because..." Gingka said softly, "You don't know what he'll do to you.."

"Who, Alcorin?" Shinobu questioned rhetorically, "We've kinda got the just of it by now.."

"Which is why we should get going before he gets here.." Kite suggested, "I doubt he'll be happy."
Takanosuke made an uncomfortable face at that, thinking back to Sakyo who had unwillingly left behind in that room..
What had happened back there?... He really hoped he was okay.
Then again, it was Sakyo, so there was almost no doubt that he'd probably some way out or another.
"Kite's right." Madoka agreed, and stepped towards Gingka a bit, "Come on, we'll find a way out." Of all things, Madoka didn't expect Gingka to sudden flinch when she stepped towards him, and stopped in her tracks, confused.
"Gingka?" She questioned, "Are you okay, what's wrong?"
Gingka silently cursed himself for that. For the sudden jolt of fear that he had felt when Madoka had stepped towards him, when he had seen her start to reach a hand out toward him, and he wasn't even entirely sure for what reason it happened.
Silently, the redhead shook his head, looking conflicted in all sorts of ways.
"Gingka, what's wrong?" Madoka asked, concerned at this sudden behavior.
Gingka was silent for only a few more moments before he shook his head a bit again, and said, "I can't..."

"What do you mean 'you can't'?" Shinobu asked, confused.
"I mean, I can't..." Gingka said, "Not after this... Besides, you wouldn't want to take me with you if you half of the things I did..."

"Is this about lying about you dying for 3 weeks?" Benkei asked, taking that as probably only the logical option.
A lot of them knew how Gingka was most often - open, outgoing, willing to do almost anything for people he cared about; lying to those people, heck, lying at all, just wasn't in his usual nature. No doubt that he probably feel guilty about it.
"We can get past that, Gingka, it's fine." Madoka assured the redhead with a smile, "Besides, I think we can find it to forgive a lot of our mistakes after all we've been through."
Gingka just shook his head, still not daring to look at them dead on.
"Not this.." He said softly, "Not after everything that I've done, or what I..." Gingka fell silent, and he cursed himself silently for being so pathetic...
They were his friends, and he knew that he could tell almost everything to them (Madoka, Kenta, Tsubasa, and most of the others had made that clear to him years ago in their youth), but this was not something that you just told anyone, let alone friends. They had all hated Nemesis, and that was a given, and he was sure they all hated Alcorin to hell, and that was also a given, but him...
What would they make of him?
Maybe that could be accepting, but he truly doubted it - after all, anyone who had ever had any sort of relation or something to do with the God of Destruction had never left a good mark on them.
There was a part of him that was foolish enough to hope, but some other part of him just said that they would think of him as no different - and that part, he almost believed.

"We know he's your brother, if that's what you're getting at." Zyro said suddenly, and Gingka was, more or less, surprised. He gasped quietly, and then looked towards the raven with one eye. The rest of them glanced at Zyro as well, though they said nothing.
"W-what?.." The redhead asked almost fearfully - Madoka could hear that in his voice, and she felt sorrow for him.
"We know Alcorin's your brother." Zyro repeated, though a little awkwardly this time - because, really, how exactly do you say these kinds of things to people? "We kind of found out on our own, on our way here.."

"B-but, how...?"

"It's a long and complicated story we probably shouldn't get into.." Maru said, then sweat-dropped slightly once she really thought about it, "And a little too weird too explain at the moment..."

"Wait, they're... What?" Takanosuke asked, looking very confused. Ren simply pat the kid's shoulder.
"Just go along with it, it's a little hard to explain." She said, "We can tell everything after."
Takanosuke looked at her skeptically for a moment, before slowly shrugging his shoulder awkwardly and deciding to take her word for it, as weird as was. What had he and Sakyo been missing out on this whole time?...
Madoka simply nodded at her student, and smiled at Gingka in turn. "Yeah, so don't worry about that, Gingka." The brunette said reassuringly, "We already got all of that down by now.. It doesn't matter to us if you are two are twins or not, you're still the same."
Was he?
Gingka was almost surprised to find himself asking that question, as much as he was glad that they seemed to think so - even Kira (When did Kira decide to start helping out?) seemed pretty dead set on it.
Was he even still him, after all of this?
Who even was he?
Which one was he?..
Surely, that should probably be obvious to him by now, but... They accepted him for who and what he was - whatever he was - but would they actually the things he'd done?
What he looked like at the moment might probably also be an issue, depending on how much they actually knew about it... Still, how could he tell him?
He could just not, he supposed, but he wouldn't feel good about that, or about telling them either. Clearly, he had no more options.
Madoka just continued to look at him, and soon put her hands on her hips with a stern look, "Now come on, mister, we're getting out of here." She said firmly, "And we're sure as hell not leaving without you.."
Gingka thought about protesting, but he knew there was no point when it came to Madoka. She was probably the most stubborn of them all, and he knew better than to argue. Besides, that would just waste more time, and probably put them into even more dangerous.
Reluctantly, Gingka simply nodded, though he still refused to look at them.
"I... Can't really walk.." He said just loud enough for them to hear, and Benkei almost immediately stepped forward.
"Don't worry, I gotcha!" The big man said enthusiastically, and, before Gingka knew it, Benkei was directly in front of him and scooping him up bridal style into his arms.
Gingka almost yelped at this, and stiffened for a moment at the feeling of hands touching him again (not again not again not again no), and shook, before trying to force himself to relax as best as he could.
Benkei, however, noticed that, and was confused, but didn't ask anything. The moment he turned around with him, Gingka could feel the eyes that were staring at him.

"Well, that's new.." Kira said skeptically, being as blunt as ever.
Even with as much as they had been told by Ryo and that other kid, none of them had expected to see half of Gingka's face - perhaps half of his body as a whole - to be completely stripped of pigment, save for his hair.
It looked like the skin was almost flaking off, almost like little paper squares that were attached to each other by mere slivers of paper that weren't enough to hold them like that forever. Of course, they (meaning all of them except for Takanosuke) had been told that Gingka and Alcorin were born albino, with pigment to speak of except for their eyes, which were red, but why half of Gingka's body was like that now was just... Weird.
Takanosuke, who didn't know this, felt a shiver go through him and took a small step back, immediately being reminded of what Alcorin looked like.
Clearly, the two of them definitely had a relation, but how that was possible he wasn't sure. Lately, he wasn't sure how any of this was possible.
"Gingka..." Madoka started, unsure of what to say, "W-why are you... W-why is.."
Gingka looked at her for a split moment before immediately looking away in shame, knowing that he really didn't have a good enough answer to give him.
Why did things have to turn out like this?...

Madoka saw how suddenly upset the redhead looked at being asked, how uncomfortable and shameful (how that pained her...) he looked to be, and decided to let that drop.
"N-never mind." She said, "You don't have to say anything now, if you don't want, it's fine.."
In response, Gingka said nothing.
"Alright, let's go." The brunette said once she composed herself again, "I doubt Alcorin doesn't already know were here."
Ren gave a small salute. "I'm with that." She said.
"I would've thought he'd come after us by now, honestly..." Said Shinobu somewhat uneasily.
"No jinxing!" Eight told him, and Kite openly agreed with him.
It was only when they were all about to head off and leave did Gingka's few words then freeze them where they stood.
"He's here." He said in an almost hollow voice, and they knew immediately that that was a statement, a fact, and not a question.

"Why did I know that this is where I'd find all of you?.." Came a voice that spoke almost boredly, and all of them suddenly turned towards where they had come in - and found him standing there.
Needless to say, most of them - save for Gingka and Takanosuke - had definitely not expected for Alcorin's appearance to look as it did - completely stripped of all color, wearing nothing but black and white, with only a splash of red to illuminate any of it. Those eyes, which reflected no light and barely any emotion, showed very clearly that he was not pleased.
"Then again, what am I to expect?" The albino questioned, "Of course you would be... There's a lot of things that tend to go your way, after all." A sudden smile made it's way onto his face.
"What do you want, Alcorin?" Madoka demanded, sounding far more fearless in the presence of the demi-god than she ever originally had.
"Oh, I think you know full well what I want here." Alcorin said simply, and shrugged his shoulders lightly, "After all, you are holding him.."
Zyro glanced back briefly towards Gingka, who just sat there in Benkei's arms, saying nothing.
"You're not keeping him." Zyro stated firmly.
"Oh really?" Alcorin questioned playfully, "We can see about that... Dear Sakyo certainly wasn't a problem, and I truly doubt that any of you will be any different."

"W-wait, what?" Takanosuke suddenly asked at the mention of Sakyo, and a wave of fear and worry washed over him.A few of the others glanced at the blonde boy, suddenly worried as well.
"Oh, like you don't already know..." Alcorin said teasingly, a sadistic light in his eyes, "After you so rudely ran off, I dealt with your dear Sakyo very easily.. You really should've been there. It was quite the sight to see... Really amusing to see him of all people like that. Just laying on the ground, twitching, whimpering like a dying animal.. He didn't beg, though, which was a shame... Though, I supposed I mayhave broken his jaw, so I'll let him off on that one. And then when we were done, he was barely even recognizable as human let alone the dear Sakyo you knew. I don't doubt that there's a pretty good amount of his skull all over the floor right now~"
Takanosuke had already started shaking well before the explanation had even started, and it didn't get any better after it.
When it had started, he had started shaking.
When it got to the part where he was on the floor, the boy had shook his head repeatedly, not wanting to believe any of it.
By this time, the kid looked about ready to collapse, many of them could see that Takanosuke's legs were just about ready to give out from underneath him, and the look on his face was too heart wrenching to even put into words. Defiance, disbelief, anguish, sorrow, things that couldn't be named - from the last part, he looked sick, and none of them could blame them from the similar notion of nausea that they got as well.
Eyes wide, tears just on the edges of his eyelashes with every word that Alcorin spoke, bottom lip held down tightly by his upper teeth. Throughout the whole thing, he could barely focus on anything except those words, as much as he didn't want too...
But even still, as he heard them, he wanted nothing more to deny it all.

Just... No..
Sakyo... Not Sakyo, definitely not Sakyo, that couldn't have happened, it couldn't have happened...
This was Sakyo. He would never let anything like that happen to him... Sakyo had told him that everything would be fine, and he knew that Sakyo very rarely made promises, and any promises he did make he usually intended to keep.
But... No, that couldn't have happened, it couldn't have!
Not Sakyo!... Takanosuke looked down towards the ground, his vision running blurry from the tears that clouded his eyes and soon started dripping down his cheeks.

"Aw, poor baby.." Alcorin said mockingly, that damned smile still on his face.
"Leave him alone.." Gingka said suddenly, which drew Alcorin's attention briefly, that smile momentarily disappearing from his face.
Gingka looked over at his younger brother, a weary, shameful, but very disapproving look on his face.
What all of them found the most astonishing, was that the psychopath even seemed to consider it.
Quietly, behind the rest of him and more with Benkei and Gingka, Takanosuke sank to his knees, looking at nothing as the tears poured down his face, leaving streaks of salt water, along with quiet, contained sobs that went unheard by quite a few of them, but were heartbreaking nonetheless.
Right now, the kid may as well have had nothing... And Alcorin had taken the time to rub it in his face.

"What is wrong with you?" Madoka questioned rhetorically, looking quite pissed off at the moment.
"Oh, a number of things!" Alcorin answered with mock enthusiasm, "But I think you already got by now.."

"You're just plain sick, you know?" Ren said almost flatly, glancing back sorrowfully towards Takanosuke, who seemed to be almost entirely tuned out from everything.
"Oh please.." The albino said with a small giggle, "I've done some namely terrible things, I'm willing to admit.. But how about we talk about what Gingka's done, hm?"

"What does that mean?" Kite questioned cautiously, not trusting this one bit.
"Ya know, I'm almost surprised you don't know, but I'm also not... Besides, I really doubt you'd actually want to take him with you knowing what he's done.."

"Get to the point." Kira said bluntly in a way that screamed 'I'm done, enough with the vague crap'.
Alcorin giggled softly, an eerie sound that echoed off of the stone walls and all around, sending shivers through all of them that couldn't be helped.
"Fine then." The albino agreed, and looked at them with a malicious look that wanted nothing more than their suffering, "I highly doubt you really want someone back so much who killed his own father."
At those words, all occupants on the room froze, and Gingka, pathetically, he'd admit, ducked and looked away, shame and guilt and agony etched onto his face, though he did not pull himself any closer to Benkei - he wouldn't do that.
Not after this...

"I call bullshit." Zyro said suddenly after a few brief moments of silence, and quite a few of them were surprised that Zyro had actually swore - though they really didn't blame him.
Alcorin, being the master of manipulation he was, was clearly just saying these kinds of these - as morbid as they were - to tear them down as he always had, but this one was rather strange, since even he had to know that they wouldn't believe such a thing.
Madoka most certainly didn't believe something like that. She had been around the two of them for many years, and she knew that Gingka and Ryo were very close as the only family that either hand - well, not biologically, she supposed, but did it really make a difference?
Gingka would never even imagine hurting anyone he cared about, let alone his own father.
Besides, wouldn't Ryo had something about that when they had met him in that supposed purgatory?... It couldn't be true, and she knew that, but there was something about the smirk on Alcorin's face that sent shivers down her spine, even though that was normal.
"Yeah, you would, I know.." The psychopath said almost wistfully, "But if really don't believe me, then just ask the man yourself... See if he can look you in the eye and tell you I'm lying."
They all knew it was just a ploy, just a thing to distract them, disorient them, but a few of them - Madoka and Zyro included - found themselves looking back towards Gingka, suddenly concerned at the guilt and shame on his face that had been there since they arrived. Now that they thought about it, it really was unusual...
"Gingka..." Madoka started, "He's lying, right?" Gingka didn't give an answer, and that made the brunette very uneasy, "Gingka?... He's lying, isn't he?.."
Gingka looked down, seeming to curl into himself, his expression guilt-ridden with shame and agony and grief.
"I..." Gingka seemed to begin to say, but was unable to finish.
At this, Madoka knew, and her heart sank.
Of course, she wasn't the only one, and they all found themselves unable to understand.
Zyro was among the ones who just weren't able to believe something like that. After all, Gingka had told him, on that night that now seemed so long ago, that his father had died a couple years ago from the sickness in their village that remained incurable to this day, and the raven was fairly sure that wasn't just something one lied about, since, from all that Ryo had told them, it sounded pretty legit.
Despite his lying of his own well-being, it was highly doubtful that Gingka would lie about his own father's death - when he had told Zyro, it had been wholly sincere from all he could see, and there was real grief in those eyes that had still lingered.
Besides, if Gingka had been lying, wouldn't it have just been easier to dismiss it and say that Ryo was fine instead? After all, it was probably highly more believable.
Gingka killing his own father - hurting anyone in such a way - was just too impossible to believe.
Still, the redhead's silence and facial expression of guilt and utter shame spoke more volumes than any words could have.

"See?" Alcorin said with a smile in his voice, "He's really not the messiah everybody makes him out to be, now is he? What a shame..."
By this time, all of them were way more than done with this psychopath, no matter what he said to turn them against the one man they were trying to save, no matter how many strings he pulled to tear them down, and Zyro, thoroughly deciding that he didn't care what Alcorin was saying, whipped around and pulled out both his launcher and Ifraid before connecting them, and taking on the stance that he was more than familiar with.
Several of them looked at him in both surprise and confusion, before all of the bladers of the group - save Benkei, Gingka, and Takanosuke - turned and did the same, a silent agreement between all of them that no one spoke of.
Seeing the battle that was soon to be initiated, Benkei took silent permission from Gingka to set the redhead down, and did so, setting him down gently beside him and relatively out of harm's way, before he himself also stepped forward by only a couple steps and pulled out Bull and his launcher.
All bladers now took their readied stances, with all others, being Gingka, Madoka, Maru, and Takanosuke, taking place behind them. At the show of defiance, Alcorin looked greatly annoyed, an unimpressed look on his face.
"Is this seriously how you settle all things?..." He asked boredly, but no one paid any mind to that. After a moment, Alcorin seemed to sigh.
"Fine." He said grudgingly, "See what good it does you."
The albino waved his left hand off to the side briefly, and out of thin air appeared the Bey that, still, none of them were able to entirely figure out - Bellerophon.

"Let's play."

There were shivers induced at the sound of that voice, unforgiving, cold, malicious, though Gingka seemed to be the one who was only very slightly affected, less than the others.
Of course, it had to be a twin thing...
Even so, none of that delayed the bladers on the other side of the room from taking action, all of them launching their Beys in near unison, though with no word of that immortal cry to be heard among any of them.
Even still, there was no denying the fire that blazed from both ends.

"Ifraid!"

"Phoenix!"

"Salamander!"

"Bahamoote!"

"Leviathan!"

"Orochi!"

"Bull!"

All 7 Beys took heed to their bladers' commands, all face bolts glowing in the respective auras that belonged to them before they all raced forward, though they knew to be cautious of this Bey that was as confusing as anything.
Alcorin, however, did not wait this time for them to approach. Instead, the albino snapped the fingers of his left hand, and Bellerophon disappeared once more.
Madoka seemed about to say something about that before the Bey reappeared again directly in front of all the approaching Beys, and with the haunting sound of, "Bellerophon!", the top of it shifted, and that familiar ring of energy that most of them had seen before it was released unexpectedly, knocking all 7 Beys back in a rain of metal that sent them all back several meters.
"It can do that?!" Benkei questioned loudly.
"Yeah, it can do a lot of things." Shinobu answered, before throwing his arm out to the side.

"Salamander!"

"Phoenix!"

"Leviathan!"

"Orochi!"

All four Beys, after regaining their balance, swerved off to the right, both Orochi and Leviathan speeding off ahead of the other two, and quickly circling around Bellerophon.
Bull came from the front.
"Bull!" Benkei exclaimed loudly, "Special Move! Maximum Stampede!" The face bolt of said Bey pulsated and glowed in a bright fiery aura, and visible flames wrapped around the Bey as a whole as it charged head on, preparing to use all of its raw attack power to do whatever damage it could to Bellerophon as several Beys came at it from all sides.

"Take him down, Phoenix!"

"Go, Salamander!"

"Orochi!"

"Leviathan!"

"B-b-b-Bull!"

All 5 Beys surrounded the one in the middle, and quickly headed all in to come at it from all sides. It probably would've actually done some damage to the opposing Bey, had Alcorin just let it sit there, like any other Bey might in a normal battle, but he didn't allow such a thing.
Madoka only realized this all too late when she suddenly saw the psychopath snap his lithe fingers once more by his side.
"Wait!" She cried out, "Pull ba-!"
Unfortunately, all 5 Beys were already too far in to pull back, and the bladers only just realized it a split second before they made impact upon Bellerophon.
Only they didn't - the Bey that they had been aiming to attack suddenly disappeared again, and made all 5 Beys crash into each other unexpectedly. Bull's special move sent all of them flying, all of its power suddenly projected onto the 4 other Beys that had been involved in the attack, knocking them back a good few feet and causing of them to wobble precariously - Bull among them, since a lot of its power had been used up.
"You can't do that!" Eight protested towards the albino, "That's cheating!"
Alcorin simply gave a light chuckle, and tilted his head to the side eerily.
"Well, you know me.." He said almost sweetly, "I don't typically play by your rules... Bellerophon!"

Once more did Bellerophon appear out of nowhere, this time in the general vicinity of all five Beys that had attempted to attack it.
Once more, the top of it shifted, and that ring of royal blue energy appeared between the Warrior and Elemental Wheels, before it shot off with a powerful force.

"Phoenix!"

"Orochi!"

At the sound of their names called, both Beys immediately regained whatever balance they could and spun off and away from the ring of light before it hit them, which left only Salamander and Leviathan, both of them tried to pull back too late.
Madoka bit her lip softly, her thumb placed just under her lower lip as a bit of a nervous habit, watching with anxious turquoise eyes as the battle continued to commence - and it definitely didn't seem to be working out in their favor.
To her, it was almost symbolic, because Alcorin was doing exactly with Bellerophon as he always did in all the time they'd known him - eluding them, and breaking them down by getting them to break themselves.
The Bey battle they had originally had was nothing like this, but, then again, the psychopath had already known that he had won in that moment. This time, he didn't even care about toying with them anymore, as had been evident with what he had said he had done to Sakyo (she continuously glanced over to Takanosuke in concern at that reoccurring thought, where he still just sat there, trying to wipe his tears).
This time they were an actual threat, and they all knew that he wasn't going to stop until they were out of the way and he got when he had wanted for who-knows-how-long - Gingka.

All the while, Alcorin didn't stop, continuing to bash down on the other Beys with not even everything he had, his supposed teleporting of the Bey around making things almost effortless on his part. Even Zyro and Kira - some of the strongest among bladers - kept getting thrown around, and it was evident that they were all getting frustrated by it.
After a few more blows, it was evident that they were all getting exhausted the more it went on.
"Just stop it!" Maru exclaimed once Ifraid and Leviathan were thrown back again with that unrelenting force that Bellerophon continuously let off, causing most of them to stagger back a bit, "Isn't this enough? Just stop!"
Madoka glanced down towards her apprentice, and gently placed a hand on her small head. She could see the desperation in Maru's eyes, and the fear of what would come.
The girl had to know that the albino wouldn't stop, but she pleaded anyway, afraid. Afraid to see them end up the same way Dynamis had - after all, there were plenty of pillars in this room for that.
Madoka's heart clenched at that look on her protege's face - no child, especially not as young as Maru at six years old, should ever have that look on her face.
The pinkette then flinched when Alcorin's gaze shifted over to her, red eyes cold and malicious, unmerciful, and then backed up more into Madoka out of pure fear.

"Stop?" The albino asked in that discomforting voice of his, "I am not just going to stop after all of this. I've waited... I waited for him for far too long... I am not going to allow anyone to separate us ever again..." Zyro staggered slightly, eyes widening as he recognized those words that he only now distantly remembered from a dream, where they had seemed like the most incomprehensible thing, and Alcorin's eyes shifted over to the man that he wanted to keep, "My dearest.. Dearest brother.."
Gingka visibly flinched at this words, and looked away, his hands clenched gently in his lap.

Zyro shook his head before throwing his hand out in front of him, and cried out, "Ifraid!", which made the others follow suit.

"Bahamoote!"

"Phoenix!"

"Orochi!"

"Salamander!"

"Leviathan!"

"Bull!"

All 7 Beys once more took off towards the silver, black, and dark blue Bey that spun in the middle, the bladers quickly trying to devise some sort of plan for taking it down.
Not that that would probably do anything to Alcorin, but even still... They could hope, because that was all they had at the moment, no matter how dangerous the prospect of it was.
Either way, the circumstances were different from last time - Alcorin wasn't using anyone as a substitute, for as well as they could see, for those eyes were all his.
Now all they had to do was defeat him.
If they could.
The only thing that rang in the air was the sound of clashing metal and commanding war-cries, an incorporeal fire filling the room, filled with determination and all of the strength that any of them could muster. Even still, the odds remained the same.

As broken down as he was, Gingka still found himself looking up towards the battle, towards all of them, watching but not really seeing as it commenced before him, before all of them, in a battle that would probably only go one way no matter who won.
The thrill that he had always originally felt when seeing such a battle had very well extinguished.
The absence of that feeling hurt him a lot, but there was nothing he could do about that.
All he could do was watch as Beys clashed, as lights shone for a split second before disappearing and then reappearing again, only to repeat the same pattern.
He admired them - the young bladers that stood before him. He was sorry he had let them down, for as well as he knew, there was no other way of getting out of this...
Which confused him, as he kept finding himself looking towards his younger brother across the field, kept staring at that nearly stoic face that was supposedly identical to the time when they had been born.
That face... He knew that face...
Not just from when they had met the first time, when he had first seen him (though vaguely) in Metal Bey City before most of this had ever happened, but further back.
He didn't even know how that was possible, because they had never met before then...
But he knew that face...
He knew it...

"-atch me if you can!"...

Gingka's eyes, mismatched now, widened slightly, shivering as he felt something suddenly came back to him.
Memories, from when he was young, very young, not even out of toddler years. Hell, he barely remembered anything before he was five or six, except for a select few snippets here and there..

..Children's laughter, their own...

So.. Why was it coming back now?..
What was...
And suddenly, he remembered it all, faint as it was.

It was a rather cloudy day in Koma village, grey coating the sky thoroughly with a few dark patches nearby, threatening rain. The adults were trying to get as much done as they could for the day before the rainfall, which would definitely welcome once it came, but also currently saw as a time bomb for them to get their work and chores all done before it happened.
Some of the older children were helping out too, while all the younger ones below the age of eight and seven were left with free reign of what they did their spare time.
Despite the oncoming dreary weather, it didn't stop many of them from playing outside for as long as they could - this including Gingka and Hyoma, aged four and five, who ran around in the small field next to Gingka's house, playing tag gleefully with each other.

"Catch me if you can!" Hyoma called back playfully to the younger boy, who chased him around with the biggest smile on his face, laughing all the while as he chased the older around with a single strand of wheat and tried to tag him with it.
Hyoma could obviously run faster than him, which they both knew very well, but the violet-haired boy hung back to let Gingka try and tag him - it wouldn't be fair otherwise.
Whether or not Gingka knew that he was hanging back was unclear, but the redhead didn't really seem to care either way.
Within the next minute or so, Gingka had managed to get close enough to the older boy to tag him, but instead deciding to tackle him from behind, sending both of them rolling to the ground in a fit of child-like laughter.
Both them untangled themselves, and just lay like that on their backs for several moments, laughing to their little hearts' delights, before a woman's voice broke over their fun and reached their ears.

"Hyoma~!" Called a voice from down the hill, the tone warm and motherly, "You should come in before it starts raining!"

"Coming mom!" Hyoma called back towards his mother, before quickly standing up along with Gingka. Hyoma turned to the little redhead and smiled.
"I'll see you later Gingka." He said, patting the boy's head.
"Okay!" Gingka greed enthusiastically with a nod, before waving goodbye to his best friend as he quickly made his way down the hill towards his own house and his mother, Isha.

Gingka, still smiling, watched as Hyoma went and waited until he was out of sight to turn look at the sky.
His dad had taught him that dark clouds were a sign of rain, so chances were that he would probably be calling him in soon. Gingka didn't like rain sometimes, since it didn't allow for playtime outside, but he had been told that it was good for their crops, so he supposed it was a good thing, right? Right, he agreed with himself.
He was just about to turn to head inside when something reached his ears, and he stopped to listen to what it was - it sounded like talking, most likely grown ups.
Nearby too. He knew he wasn't supposed to intrude on any conversations, but his surely he could still just look and see what was going on, right?
That wasn't really breaking the rules, so...
Mind made up, Gingka carefully followed the sounds of the voices, which he didn't have to go far to find the sources of - it was right on the side of his and his dad's house.
Being as silent as possible, he crept around the side of the house and peered around the back, seeing several adults in conversation with each other. He recognized a couple of those people, in their robes that he had grown to know quite well - it was two of the priests, though he wasn't sure which ones exactly.
Obviously it wasn't the really older one, since he couldn't stand.
Both of them were talking with another man, who was dressed in dark clothing and wore a hood, prepared for the rain to come. Gingka had never seen him before around the village, and everybody here knew everybody... Though, he didn't focus on that as much as he focused on the other person standing just beside him.

The person was small, just a little kid them-self, and clothed all in black. Black boots, black pants, black umbrella just in case, and a black raincoat with the hood drawn over their head, hiding most of their features.
Suddenly, Gingka really wasn't all too interested in what the adults' conversation was about anymore. He instead continued to look at the other kid, who he was also sure he had never seen before, which meant that he could be with the adult that he had never seen before, and he wasn't sure why he kept staring.
Staring was rude, as he had been told, but this time he just couldn't help it.
It didn't take long before the other looked his way as well.
Gingka suddenly felt a jolt and shiver run through him, and he trembled momentarily. He wasn't sure why, he didn't even know if he was making eye contact with the other kid, but something felt weird about it.
It was like that for several moments, the two of them just looking at each other, the other child looking almost just as curious, but neither said anything. They just stared at each other, and Gingka wasn't sure why he felt so weird about it...

Before too long, the conversation that had been going on, or maybe a type of 'business deal', ended, and both priests wished the man Gingka had never seen before farewell, before departing off down the hill.
Neither of them noticed Gingka, and neither did the man who stood holding a case with him, who turned and started walking away.

"-u, let's go.." He said as he started walking away at a slow pace.

What did he say...?

At the calling of his name, the other child snapped out of his trance-like state of looking at Gingka, which in turn snapped Gingka out of his.
The kid turned and hurried to catch up with the man, dragging umbrella quickly along with him, and only glanced back once towards Gingka, before never they both disappeared down the opposite side of the hill, and never looked back.
Still, Gingka stood there, unsure of what they had just been called.
"Gingka! Time to come inside!" He heard his father, Ryo, calling from around the other side of the house - it was only then did the redhead suddenly feel the rain drops that were starting to fall.
"Coming dad!" He called back, and turned to head inside.
However, he glanced back once towards where that man and child had stood, unable to get what little had seen of the other's face out of his head. What had they been called?...

"...-u..."

What was they're name?...

"...-i-u...

He had heard it... What was it?

"...-in-ru..."

Their name...

"...-inoru..."

No...

His name.

"Minoru."

"Minoru." Gingka said suddenly, his quiet voice echoing off the stone walls like the clashing of several Beys, which allowed everyone to here him. Everyone, including Alcorin.

Ba-thump

There was a split second when the psychopath faltered, a quiet gasp escaping his lips as he felt something jolt inside of him, before his eyes, along with everyone else's, went to the redhead.

"W-what?" Madoka asked, confused.
Gingka looked at her, this time not faltering, and said, "My brother's name is Minoru."

Ba-thump

Alcorin flinched at the sound of that name, and again felt something jolt.
No, not something. Someone.
Zyro, however, noticed the sudden effect that it had on the psychopath, and suddenly had an idea.
"Gingka, keep saying that name." The Ifraid Blader told the redhead, and everyone, including Gingka, looked at him, confused.
"Why?" The redhead asked, though he could see that this had a meaning to it - if anything, he would trust Zyro's judgement.
"It's effecting him somehow." The raven explained, gesturing over to Alcorin on the other side of the field, "If you keep saying it, you might be able to get through to him... Don't ask why, it's too long of a story, but just trust me on this!"
Gingka looked at the dual-haired boy for a moment, seeming to consider this, before he nodded, feeling determined for the first time in what felt like forever.
"That is the smartest and craziest thing I've ever heard, and that's saying a lot, Zyro." Kira said as they all turned back to the commencing battle.
"Thanks, and I know..." Zyro said gratefully, somehow feeling that that was a compliment. Considering Kira, it was probably meant to be.
"Are you sure about this?" Shinobu asked, looking at his best friend.
"Yeah, I hate to admit it, but this seems a bit like a one-shot thing..." Ren added.
Zyro shook his head.
"No." He said in answer to Shinobu, "And yeah, it kinda is..."

"Comforting." Kira said almost lightheartedly.
"Whatever, let's just do this!" Kite said in conclusion for all of them, and not a single person protested.

"Ifraid!"

"Salamander!"

"Bahamoote!"

"Phoenix!"

"Orochi!"

"Leviathan!"

"Bull!"

All seven Beys burst into action, face bolts glowing in their respective auras, and this time putting their all into their next actions.
If Zyro's theory rang true, than this time they shouldn't necessarily have a problem. Alcorin glared coldly, and seemed just about to command Bellerophon to do something or another, before Gingka called out.

"Minoru!"

Ba-thump

Just as before, Alcorin suddenly faltered with another jolt, and a sudden stir that halted him in his tracks. His red-eyed gaze went to Gingka, who sat there, staring at him intently with all sorts of mixed emotions in those mismatched eyes - one was determination, of which had not been present for a very long time.

"Minoru, I know you can hear me!"

Ba-thump (the strings shuttered)

Alcorin flinched again, feeling a sudden pain in his head that was faint, but still annoying, and tried with everything he had to force it all back down as he had for many years, because he was the one in control, not him..

"I know you're in there, Minoru!"

Ba-thump (he twitched, struggled to move what little he could, the strings shuttered more)

The ache in his head grew, not painful, but agitating, annoying, very present, but he could still push all of that down if he tried, he had to be able too...
He was not letting that little brat out ever again!..

"Minoru! Listen to me!"

Ba-thump (his movements stronger, pulling against them, resisting for the first time in forever, the strings started to bend)

Once more, the ache intensified, and the albino's head started pounding, and he flinched, feeling that jolt, that shiver, that stir, and he hated it...
He had held that brat down so that he would never come about again, held him down as he faded, and slowly but surely disintegrated into nothing, and he intended to keep it that way...
He placed his left hand on his head, over his left temple, and he didn't even care about the battle going on before him - not that he had actually cared about it anyway, but that didn't matter.
Everyone noticed this as well, even Takanosuke, who, with bloodshot eyes and a tear-stained face, now had at least mustered the courage to look up, though the occasional sniffle still made its way through.
"I think it's working, Chief!" Maru said enthusiastically to her teacher. Madoka nodded in agreement, her heart pounding in her chest hard enough to break a rib, hoping beyond all hope that what Zyro had suggested really would work - and from the looks of it, it was.
Resolute, all the bladers in the field kept on attacking Bellerophon however much they could, of which now just sat there, spinning motionlessly.

"Minoru!"

Ba-thump (he pulled against them, fighting, the strings bent, twisted, protested)

Now the ache in his head was bordering on painful, both hands on his head now, and he tried to block out the sound of that voice calling that name..
Between his trying to suppress the little brat, between the fighting and the denial, he almost wondered why in the hell that name was doing so much.

"Minoru!" Ba-thump (he pulled, eyes and fingers twitching, hard as he could, the strings strained)

Alcorin flinched, gritting his teeth, constantly screaming "No!" within his own head, because he was the one in control here, always had been...
Then again... He supposed a name, an identity, did have massive amounts of power over a person... After all, the only thing that had kept the brat in check, before now, was stripping him of his - and that was all it had taken.

"Wake up, Minoru!"

Ba-thump! (the strings gave)

Suddenly, a scream ripped through the air, and everyone jumped once they heard it, staring at the albino across from them of who emitted it.
There was no scream that any of them had ever heard sound like that.
It was double-layered, shared by two different voices, almost robotic, demonic sounding, and pained, a kind of pain that you would probably never hear, like that of being ripped apart and choking on your own blood, or another.
Raw, barely human.
It was the kind of sound that induced nightmares.
And Alcorin was the one who screamed it, his head down, both hands on either side of his head, eyes clenched shut.
All of them felt shivers race through them at the sound, even Gingka, who wasn't sure what he was feeling at the moment.
That sound almost seemed to go on forever before it slowly died down, and when it did, the albino breathed in breathlessly, and, in that layered voice of his that now sounded much different, spoke.

"..Gin..gka..."

BA-THUMP

At the sound of his name, at the speaking of those words, both of Gingka's eyes pulsated red - as did everyone else's.
However, the red soon faded back to the original color of their eyes (save for Gingka's left eye), leaving all of them suddenly confused.

"What just...?" Ren started to ask before trailing off.

Nobody answered, and nobody got the chance too before a loud 'cracking' sound filled the air, like glass.
All eyes glanced around, before Eight finally looked down toward the floor and pointed.
"The floor!" He exclaimed, pointing to the direct middle of where all of them were standing.

All eyes looked down towards where the boy pointed, and saw that, indeed, the stone floor was cracking.
But as stone naturally did - no, like glass, the sound of crackling glass filling the air as the cracks spread all around them.
They knew it probably would've been the best idea to run, but nobody thought of that, watching in awestruck panic as the cracks in the floor beneath them spread quickly like a spider web.
The cracks spread out quickly, unceasing until they wrapped all of them around in its deadly and fragile web, before it collapsed all together, the loud sound of shattering filling the air. It was almost a delayed reaction, since nobody really started moving until they were already falling through the floor that had given like thin glass with massive amounts of pressure pushed upon it.
Several of their screams were the only other things heard, and many were left watching as the light above quickly left their view, unable to be reached.
And the below them, darkness.