A/N: I posted this on anon on AO3 but then I gave up on that. Gosh, really have no idea about this plot XD
His body was hurting all over; his back was burning in pain and his arms—wait, did he still have his arms attached to his body?
Keiwa slowly opened his eyes to find himself staring down towards the floor. Or something... what was this? Where was he? What happened to him? He glanced up to see that he was inside a mostly empty 'room', and when he turned his head to his right side he saw a tall metal pole. To which he saw a long chain dropping down from it and was latched to... his right hand. Keiwa turned his head to find that his left hand had been the same—so he still did have his arms attached to his body! How long... had he been chained like this to the point that he lost any kind of feelings in his arms?
He glanced down at himself as Keiwa started noticing that aside from his arms being held up by the metal chains attached to the poles at both sides of the podium; there were also thin wire strings wrapped around his upper body, keeping him in a kneeling pose. That explained the reason why his arms had not yet dislocated itself due to him being chained at this place for a very long time.
After all... he had been unconscious as well.
.
Eventually, he started to remember. He was fighting with Ace—And Ace had refused to continue fighting him. That guy wouldn't tell him why he refused to fight, only that he didn't want to use force to make him change his mind. And Ace also kept trying to tell him to keep on believing that his wish could come true. And then the second Goddess—no, Tsumuri—She tried to tell him what Ace truly feels. She tried to tell him that Ace hadn't actually abandoned him...
And then—ah. He saw something approaching Tsumuri from behind. He was trying to take it down before—!
"I'm disappointed in you..."
Keiwa glanced up to find the hateful game master standing in front of him.
"Just a bit more... and you could've killed Ukiyo Ace. And then you'll finally be able to get your family back... because then we'll be able to restore the second Goddess's power and grant your wish." The man knelt down in front of him and grabbed Keiwa by the face to force him to look up.
"Don't you want to get your family back? Or did you decide to give up on recovering your family?"
Keiwa pulled away from the game master's grip.
"Will you even help me get back my family? Wasn't the only thing you wanted was for me to kill Ace... and to turn Tsumuri into the new Goddess?" Keiwa gritted his teeth. "This was never about me. It's all about the Bad Ends that you liked. You don't actually care about what happens to this world."
Jitt placed his hand over Keiwa's cheek and caressed it gently. If anyone hadn't known better, the gesture might have at first looked as if Jitt actually 'cared' about Keiwa. Which in truth, was far from what it actually appeared. "No, everything that has happened so far was all Geats' fault. It's because of that fox that the second Goddess botched your wish—!"
Keiwa frantically shook his head at Jitt.
"No, Ace didn't have anything to do with this. I won't let you convince me with your horrible lies anymore!"
.
Jitt immediately chuckled aloud at his captive. He raised a hand towards Keiwa and brushed the side of Keiwa's cheek again with the back of his hand. Keiwa flinched away from the touch.
"Did you decide to trust Ukiyo Ace after meeting him again just once? Did you forget already what I've told you before?"
"Seeing Ace again made me realise something..." Keiwa raised his eyes towards Jitt. "I wasn't the one who botched my ideal world. You guys did. You, Beroba... and even—!"
Keiwa shook his head as his thoughts caught up to him. "Even if my wish did revive some people who shouldn't have been revived, my wish wasn't the one that allowed those criminals to get their hands on the Desire Drivers." He gritted his teeth at the man. "From the very beginning, you never intended to let me have my wish granted properly."
.
Jitt suddenly laughed.
"Heh... you finally got it all figured out, don't you?" He shrugged. "But it doesn't matter now anymore. I can still use you to get Ukiyo Ace. As well as my secondary Goddess—"
"Over my dead—!"
Jitt quickly shoved his baton into Keiwa's mouth before Keiwa could even try to bite his own tongue. The game master grabbed Keiwa's hair to force him to look up.
"What a troublesome tanuki... but I still have a use of you. So while waiting for our dear mischievous fox to come and rescue you, let me give you a special present."
"How about I let you witness again how your family DIED for the second time—?"
Keiwa's eyes widened in alarm. Before the man could do anything to free himself, Jitt let go of the baton he was holding and slammed his palm over Keiwa's eyes. And then he 'streamed' the old footage directly into Keiwa's head as Keiwa started to scream—!
xxx
Everyone inside the Desire Lounge went silent. Even as they watch Keiwa's body going limp inside the holographic display, no one utters a word.
Jitt got up on his feet before turning around to face the camera.
[Return the second Goddess by this time tomorrow or Sakurai Keiwa dies. Your choice, Ukiyo Ace!]
And then the transmission was cut off...
.
"It's terrible... what they did to Keiwa—!" gasped Neon as Win nodded his head at her.
"We need to get that guy away from those bastards!" growled Michinaga as he gritted his teeth. "We need to save that guy..." he said again, before lowering his voice, "...and I need to apologise to Tycoon, for the things that I did... and for the harsh things I said to him before—"
"Ah," Ace spoke out as well. "We'll save him for sure. Definitely... and without sacrificing Big Sis."