Media: All victims of Reiji & Ryuga (top to bottom: Hyoma, Hikaru, Kenta, Tsubasa, Kyoya, Yu)

Saki...?" I asked, cocking my head.

The girl shuffled more out from behind Riyui's legs and torso, looking up at me.

She then gave me a hesitant nod. "I'm Saki."

I could sense her wariness as she shifted her weight from her left foot to her right.

Kicking my legs over the side of the bed, I rested my weight on my knees, peering at the girl that I had been working so hard to find.

"When'd they find her, and who did it?"

"Timon almost blew a fuse when he found out that Grayson and you had left, but calmed down once Grayson revealed that they had Saki in tow."

I hid a snort behind my hand, but dropped my hand, attempting to keep a straight face for poor Saki.

"Where were you, Saki?" I asked, trying to keep my voice as gentle as possible instead of like sharpened, jagged glass.

"Um... I was below ground, I think," she shuddered visibly. "I could hear cries for help... crashes, roars... more cries..."

My heart dropped.

"Cries... for help...?"

"Y-Yeah..." Saki didn't look too happy with relieving the memory. "Screams of pain..."

Screams of pain.

In an instant, my vision darkened, and the only thing I could hear, see, feel, smell, or taste, was darkness.

That was, until, in my haze, the screams started.

Screams, the screams of Hikaru and Tsubasa, one body who suffered pain in one, short burst, the other having to deal with the drawn out, mental torture session.

And just like that, I was snapped back into reality.

Cold sweat slid down my neck, and I swept a bang out of my eyes, focusing back on Saki.

She had spoken only two words during my flashback, and I grabbed onto it quickly.

"I don't know anything... but.. different screams, there were different screams... maybe five or six... there was so many screams in one day, then the next, there was only one... then it stopped..."

"They stopped screaming?" I frowned, and attempted to wrap my mind around it. "Only six, or seven..."

"... No way..."

My attention snapped over to Riyui, whose's eyes were trained on the ground, blue eyes widened, and her mouth in an 'o' from shock or horror.

"Riyui...?"

Very slowly, like a snail, her gaze lifted to meet mine, biting her lip.

"There were sixteen Bladers in Battle Bladers- Hyoma, Kyoya, Kenta, Gingka, Benkei, and Tsubasa along with eight Dark Nebula Bladers."

"Kato and Grayson didn't make it?"

Riyui bit her lip again, and blood dribbled over the broken skin, bubbling up.

"Once Kato heard Ryuga was in Battle Bladers for sure, he froze up and stopped going to competitions... Grayson stopped as well. So can I go on?"

Saki wrung her wrists, staring at the ground, just like her sister had been earlier. "The final battle is later today, at about five in the afternoon..."

"Can I go on?" Riyui repeated.

"Ah, yes, sorry," Saki murmured, going quiet.

"The only Dark Nebula blader left is Ryuga- which means there was only seven people there, and the aftermath of the Gingka and Reiji match... well, Reiji never went back to the Dark Nebula.

"That leaves six Dark Nebula members... if the member was useless, what would Doji do?"

I stiffened at his name, the black-haired prick and his smirk flashing through my mind.

"Knowing him..." I murmured, rubbing at my temples. "Knowing the bastard, he would...

"-offer her life force to L-Drago."

"... he..." My mouth went dry. "Offered their power to L-Drago."

"L-Drago... Ryuga's beyblade, right?"

I swallowed- or, at least, attempted to. "Using their power and transferring it to his beyblade."

Saki stiffened. "I... was hooked up to some wires, and I fell into exhaustion more often then not..."

I frowned, the thoughts of thick and thin wires flickering through my mind and involuntarily shuddered, sweat running down my brow. "Could... could we not talk about that?"

"She's still recovering," Riyui addressed her sister. "Don't remind her..."

"Ah... sorry..." Saki apologized meekly.

I could still see mental scars on the girl from her time in the Dark Nebula- longer then me.

"It's fine," I muttered into cupped hands, and tried to focus on Saki instead on the past.  "Why are you here?"

"Just wanted to tell you Saki was okay," Riyui said, crouching and giving her sister a half-hug. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"It was nothing," I mumbled around my hands.

"I'm gonna leave you now," She said, now straightening. "Saki, say bye."

"Bye..."

"Bye," I replied, and there was the sound of the door shutting.

Ryuga... taking people's power, people like those Dark Nebula bladers and Kyoya...

Kyoya, due to the bloody Dragon Emperor, was injured and in the hospital.

Just like Tsubasa and Hikaru were.

I laced my hands together, putting them under my chin and staring at the floor.

"Um, Miss Rixen?"

"Hm?" I replied distractedly.

"Your brother's here to visit."

I looked up sharply, and instantly, my blue-grey eyes locked with blue-green.

"Shaun..."

"Glad to hear you're better," my brother greeted, slipping in from behind the woman.

"It's just a month-long coma," I responded, tapping the heel of my foot against the ground. "It's not like it's six months."

"It's worrying enough," Shaun clicked his tongue.

"How'd you even figure out I was there? How'd you pick me up?"

His glassy eyes roamed over my face as he took a couple more steps towards me.

"I saw one of the bladers that hung around Gingka Hagane... Periwinkle-haired, I think?"

"Hyoma," I breathed.

"I saw him duck into a room, so I followed him... and then there was you. I promised Mom and Dad I would protect you, so I carried you here."

My teeth sunk into my bottom lip as I grabbed him by the arm, and with wobbly legs, pulled him into a tight hug.

"Please don't ever leave me like that again," I whispered into his shoulder.

Quietly, Shaun rocked me back and forth. "I won't."

My arms tightened around him before I stepped back, realizing that was a burn in my eyes.

"... Thank you."

"Tess... You do know that Ryuga's and Gingka's battle is going to start soon?"

I blinked, nearly staggering as I took a step forward.

"The final battle of Battle Bladers?"

"The final battle of Battle Bladers," Shaun confirmed.

I scowled at the thought of the white-haired blader. "I hope Gingka kicks his ass."

"... You're definitely healed. Do you want to go to Kyoya's room?"

My limbs froze, and I stopped mid-step. "Kyoya's room...?"

Shaun cocked his head, blinking at me as if that was obvious. "Yeah. His room's on the end of the hallway.

He's so close.

My heartbeat quickened, which it really shouldn't of have. At the thought of speaking to Kyoya after over a month, at the thought of the banter we had, it made me smile one of those creepy, masochist smiles.

"Tess, wipe that smile off your face."

"Yessire."

"So, do you want to go to his room?"

I nodded swiftly, then realized what it would imply. "H-Hey! It's not like I fancy him or anything!"

Shaun only gave me a wicked grin in reply, a grin I hardly saw. "Very well."

Wrapping his hand around my wrist, he tugged me out of the room and down the hallway.

The nameplate only had a K.T on it, and my hand flew to my neck, as if to comfort myself on the pendant being there.

Shaun opened the door, and there was the resting Leone blader.

His face was tilted towards the door, eyes closed and mouth slightly parted.

It was the most peaceful I've ever seen him- the most peaceful moment because of Ryuga freaking Kishatu.

The monitor, similar to the one to my room, was switched on, displaying a dark scene, the only light being the blinking lights that were lined in a circle.

A stadium.

I pulled up the chair beside Kyoya's bedside, and tugged the pendant up over my head, instead placing it in his clammy, slightly curled inward, palm, resting my hand over his as I raised my eyes to the screen.

Now, I could see someone in blue and red marching up to the stadium.

On the other side, Ryuga stood, his cape flying out behind him.

This marked the final showdown.

It had begun.