'Why do you fight for the Forsaken Fallen? You have no obligation to them anymore, now that Hecate's gone.' Raul spoke to the holy beast in front of him. Raul and Hades were within Raul's darkened soul room, with Raul being covered in chains to avoid him from waking up and taking control of his body.
Hades looked away from him, gazing into the distance as if he was remembering something, 'The reason why I continue to be with the Forsaken Fallen is not because of Hecate. Nemesis and I may have joined because Hecate asked it of us. But that is not the reason why we stayed.'
For a brief moment, he saw a young woman appear in the distance before she vanished, too quickly for Raul to see her features properly. He tried to focus on Hades's memories to see who it was but he felt the woman being blocked from his memory.
Raul frowned before he struggled with his chains, 'Why do you stay?'
'Nemesis and I both joined because we saw how much Hecate loved Chaos and wanted to make her happy. After time, we both decided to stay. Nemesis stayed because she believes in Chaos's ideals, as do I.'
Hades turned to look at Raul and smirked, something that looked really creepy because Hades looked a lot like him, "But the reason that I continue to stay with the Forsaken Fallen is because I know that this is the only course of action. If we don't do this, the Elders will never understand the error in their ways.'
Raul shook his head before speaking, 'You must know that there other ways to do this! All of this could be done in another, harmless way.'
'Nothing changes unless extreme measures are taken.' Hades responded, the brim of eyes glowing red as if he had been crying, 'That is the one and only universal truth that I believe in. And it is the one I will continue to believe in.'
Raul glared, struggling against his restrains and cursing himself for falling and becoming a prisoner to his own body. He hated that his jailer was this insane and extremist bit-beast. 'You're insane.' He said.
'Thanks for noticing.' Hades chuckled, sounding as insane as he looked, 'I am not as easily swayed as one of my brothers.' Raul wondered what Hades meant with that comment. All of the members of the Forsaken Fallen seemed to be dead-set on their beliefs. So who was the one who could be swayed?
Hades must have heard Raul's thoughts thanks to their link and glared at him, 'You're getting annoying. It's time for you to sleep. I have humans to destroy and Elders to subjugate.'
Black coils wrapped themselves around Raul's mouth, making him scream but it was muffled. He pleaded with his eyes for Hades to stop this but Hades merely smirked and Raul yelled as a sphere of darkness surrounded him, voices reminding him that he was never going to be as great as Julia, that he was worth nothing as a human, among other taunts.
Raul wanted to cover his ears but, thanks to the chains, that wasn't possible. Instead, he closed his eyes, wishing that someone could help him escape this hell. He could feel them surrounding him, whispering those taunts that he knew were true. All his fears and doubts were being exploited and he hated it. He felt a tear run down his cheek.
'Someone . . . help me . . .'
'No one will come.'
'Why would they need you?'
'Help me . . .'
~~~MIAB~~~
Forsaken Fallen Headquarters, Chaotic Dimension, 17th Universe (Time Unknown)
It had been a couple of minutes since Hecate had been defeated and they were still inside her chamber, Mathilda and Julia looking like they needed to rest. While they had been resting, Kenny had explained the plan of action to the dual-colored female. Julia looked absolutely livid once the plan had been explained to her, "I am not letting some stranger-."
"My name is Zeo, you know," The robot said in a monotone, looking bored.
"Whatever." Julia glared at him before turning to the others, "I'm not letting him fight Raul! I should fight Hades and get Raul back!" She stood up on wobbling legs and made her way to the door, "I don't want him to get hurt!"
"Julia, you're too weak to fight!" Mathilda said, Claude helping her get to her feet. Pierce Hedgehog was still on the ground, the blade smoking because of the intensity of the attack. Kai still wondered where the small, timid girl had gotten that intense power, a power that reminded him too much of someone that had died not too long ago.
"I may be weak but I have to save Raul!" Julia announced, leaning on the doors before opening them, "He's my little brother, you know! It's my responsibility to help him when he's in trouble like this."
"Julia," Zeo walked towards her, ignoring the look the Spanish girl shot at him, "you have been possessed for weeks by Hecate. She was draining your power in order to keep the link between the two of you so there is no way you can defeat Hades in this state. Not to mention that you can't possibly form a bond with Thunder Pegasus at this moment, with your soul room in disarray."
Julia's grip on the door handle tightened, obviously angered. Kaori knew that Julia understood what Zeo was saying. Her bond with Arion was in a fritz as well, thanks to the weeks of Nemesis controlling her, and they'd have to take some time to reconnect.
Zeo placed his hand on her shoulder, "I'll get Raul back and send Hades back to his prison. You can count on that."
Julia smiled at Zeo, "Thanks. Don't you dare hurt my brother."
"Got it." Zeo said, raising his hands in the air before taking out his Cerberus blade. He walked through the doors before turning to everyone else and grinned, "Let's go save Raul, everyone."
~~~MIAB~~~
Outside the Forsaken Fallen Headquarters, Chaotic Dimension, 17th Universe (Time Unknown)
"I feel like shit." Zeus muttered as Oliver finished cleaning his wounds. He and Ming-Ming had moved the wounded beast to a clearing away from the castle where they could get water to clean the bloodied holy beast. They had ripped some of their clothes in order to stop the bleeding, as they had been lacking bandages.
While they had been cleaning Zeus's wounds, said holy beast had woken up, saying that Brooklyn said hello. Now, almost ten minutes after he woke up, they were finally done dressing him.
"You don't look like it, at least," Ming-Ming said, sitting down next to Zeus, "I'm worried about everyone. Are they okay?" She sighed. Maybe she shouldn't worry too much about them – they were competent bladers – but she had a sinking feeling that something was going to happen.
"They're fine," Oliver said, trying to reassure the blading pop-star, "Well, I would hope so." He also sat down next to Zeus but he placed a hand over Zeus's head, who gave out a whimper, "Who would have known that holy beasts get fevers too?"
"We're not so different." Zeus muttered, coughing a bit. When had the air gotten so stuffy? It was getting hard to breathe and he didn't know why that was. He seemed to be the only one affected by the new development, as Ming-Ming and Oliver had engaged in a new conversation.
They were outside and far away from the Forsaken Fallen. They couldn't be trying to hurt them from so far away, right? After all, they were too busy trying to fight the others. Wait . . . didn't he control the air?
"I wonder about that, Zeus," Oliver and Ming-Ming both got up, immediately taking out their blades and launchers. Oliver hesitated when he saw who it was and Ming-Ming reacted in a similar manner. The one standing in front of them was none other than Shun.
"S-Shun?" Ming-Ming whispered, lowering her blade. The younger twin looked the same as he always had, except he had a gash on his right eye. He was dressed in the same clothes he had been wearing when he was captured and he looked almost as bad as Zeus. He smiled shakily before falling to his knees. Ming-Ming immediately caught him before he fell forward.
"How did you escape?" Oliver asked, walking to the two blunettes while Zeus felt the wind stirring. He frowned and looked at his surroundings as best as he could from his spot on the ground. This couldn't be Shun; he had seen the boy fall and become Ouranos's host before his eyes. So who was this boy? Was he a clever illusion made by Chaos? Or was he Ouranos?
"I pretended to be Ouranos and they all trusted me because of it." Shun answered before sitting upright, "We need to get out of here. Zeus needs to see a hospital, Oliver." He got to his feet, helping Ming-Ming do the same, "I think I can find a way to do so."
Oliver's narrowed eyes surprised Ming-Ming before the blade on the green-haired boy was pointed at the blunette. Shun took a step back, looking confused while Ming-Ming looked just as confused. Shun's expression was filled with hurt, "Oliver? What's wrong? Why are you pointing that thing at me?"
"You can't be Shun." Oliver said.
Shun looked at him with a very confused look before he looked around and glanced at Oliver once more, "We don't have time for this! We need to leave, guys. And fast, before they find out about my deceit. Or do you want to be caught by Chaos?"
"You're not fooling anyone," Oliver answered, "If this was the real Shun, he would have called me Oliver-kun, no matter how much I tell him to not call me that. Hikaru said that it's a habit he's trying to break from Shun but he's been failing. Not to mention that the real Shun would not want to leave here without Hikaru by his side, at least."
Ming-Ming backed away from 'Shun', realizing that Oliver had a point. She remembered that Shun had been injured on his side when he was captured and that wound was not present in his clothes.
Shun sighed, "You're right. I am not Shun Kuwashima. That boy hasn't existed for quite some time, you know." His entire appearance changed before he looked like the last time Zeus had seen him. He made his hair cover his scarred eye before turning to them, "I am Ouranos, holy beast of the sky."
"What do you want?" Ming-Ming asked, serious as the grave.
"I have some free time while the humans fight Hades and Gaea and decided to collect Venus and Unicolyon. I'd collect Zeus but Chaos would probably destroy his bit-chip and finish the job." Ouranos extended his hand out, "Hand them over."
"Never." Oliver glared while Ming-Ming did the same.
Ouranos pouted, "No wonder Tartarus said to not do it the easy way. Oh well." He closed his hand, forming a fist. The air around Ming-Ming and Oliver was now gone. They both gave out a gasp for breath, the blunette falling to her knees and dropping her blade as she gasped for air.
"Stop it." Zeus cried out, seeing how the two humans were struggling to find air, "You're killing them!"
"That's the point." Ouranos said while he waited for a couple of minutes as the two humans slowly suffocated. He frowned before opening his fist. The two bladers fell forward, gasping for the air they had been deprived of. Ouranos walked towards their blades and took out their chips, "Thank you for your service."
"N-No . . ." Ming-Ming croaked out, "S-stop . . ."
Ouranos tossed aside the blades and the wind hacked them to pieces, reminding Oliver of the way Bryan used to blade. The broken pieces fell to the ground before Ouranos vanished, leaving behind a half-dead holy beast and two tamers that had just lost their partners.
~~~MIAB~~~
Ray stood in front of Hades's door and was about to open them when something from inside opened it. They all took a step back when they saw it was a ghoulish looking creature that screeched at them before scurrying to the side of its master, the one they had come to challenge.
Hades was wearing a black shirt and black pants with a white sash tied around his waist. He had a white scarf around his neck that provided more contrast against his dark clothes, something that actually reminded them of the yin-yang. He wore a golden bracelet on his left arm that contained a bit-chip. He had black-silver hair, the front of his hair being silver while the back being black. He looked so much like Raul that it hurt Julia more than she could admit.
"It's been a while." Hades said with a smirk, "I've been so bored here, you see." The creature gnashed its teeth together before Hades patted its head, "We've done nothing since that American boy showed up in our room." Before they could question him, Hades directed his gaze to the ground.
They all looked down and Max's breath was caught in his throat. On the ground was Michael's cap, which had splatters of blood on it. He fell to his knees before grabbing the hat, looking sad and horrified at the same time. Rick's hands formed a fist, ready to punch the living daylights out of Hades but he knew that he wasn't the one that was going to fight this bit-beast.
"First Emily, now you?" Max squeezed the hat, "Eddy, what has happened to you?"
"This got personal," Rick growled out before Zeo sent him a warning look. Hades only chuckled at the reactions he got from everyone before turning to Zeo, the two having a silent stand-off.
"Will you be fighting me, metal boy?" Hades asked, tilting his head to the side while his electric blue eyes flashed black before turning blue once more, "This will be fun. That means you won't cry out while you bleed. I wonder if you will bleed oil." The creature hissed and Tyson realized that it was laughing at what Hades had said. It's laugh didn't last long, as it became a glob of darkness that vanished, wrapping itself around Hades's wrist.
Zeo glared at Hades, taking out his beyblade and placing it in his launcher. Behind him, Kaori whispered in order for Hades not to hear her, "Don't let him get to you. He can see what you fear, desire and what makes you self-conscious. He unbalances his opponents before a battle to get the upper hand. He's an attack-based beyblade, same as Dragoon but doesn't pack the same amount power. He is fast but not so great in balance and has a very weak defense. I'm afraid I've never seen his true form so you're on your own on that."
"Got it." Zeo said with a nod before stepping forward, getting into a blading position. Hades reached into his sash and retrieved his indigo blade, his bit-chip glowed menacingly before he placed it in the blade and taking out a launcher, loading his blade on it.
"Here goes." Mariam thought aloud.
"Let it rip!" Zeo yelled as he and Hades launched their blades. As the two collided on the air, the scenery around him changed. Zeo looked confused as shadows surrounded the two, cutting him off from the others that had come to support him.
"Zeo!" They all yelled. They saw the shadows that had formed into a dark dome that contained only Zeo, Hades and their two blades. They could hear the blades clashing together occasionally but, other than that, they were in the literal dark.
"I'm fine!" He yelled before turning his attention to the match, where Cerberus was trying to hit Hades but, like Kaori had said, it was too fast for it to be caught. He glared at Hades, "What did you do?"
"What? Don't you like this, Zeo?" Hades said, the robotic-blader flinching because Hades had spoken using Raul's voice, "It's to spare you the humiliation of losing in front of so many of your friends. Besides, they're going to be occupied."
"With what?"
Outside the dark dome, Julia was just about to try to break her way into the barrier when a person materialized in front of them. Kai took a step back when he recognized said person, "Hikaru?"
The person imitated the sound of a buzzer, "Wrong!" The young male laughed before the ground trembled. Kaori and Julia both lost their balance while everyone else tried to not fall by balancing on the trembling ground. A male that looked identical to Shun appeared before pointing at them. They all went flying, making them scream. They crashed out of the room and the double doors slammed shut, locking them out.
"No!" Max screamed, standing and pounding on the door, "Let us in!"
Zeo turned his head in the direction of the screams, causing Hades to slam itself twice at Cerberus, much to Zeo's annoyance and pain. Hades tsked, "Eyes on me, robot. They're not the ones that have an appointment with death."
"And neither do I." Zeo responded. Cerberus dodged an attack before attacking Hades to the point where the blade was sent flying. Hades frowned before his blade landed on its tip, still spinning. That was annoying, as it seemed it'd take more than one hit to take down Hades.
"Flight of the Furies." Hades boomed, pointing his blade at Cerberus. A dark aura surrounded the indigo blade before it zoomed very quickly at Cerberus. Zeo didn't even blink before Hades himself stood right in front of him. He grinned, revealing sharp fangs. He tried to hit Zeo's chest with his sharpened nails but Zeo moved out of the way. However, that didn't spare him from getting his arm destroyed. As he yelled out in pain, Hades's blade had created massive scratches on Cerberus's attack ring.
"Ah," Hades said with a little sardonic smile, "so you can feel pain."
Zeo grunted, holding what was left of his arm before glaring. He hadn't expected such a strong and painful attack. He felt as if his whole body had been attacked and he wondered with dread what would've happened if his chest had been attacked. He shivered, remembering Michael's bloodied cap.
"You're not holding back." Zeo spoke, continuing his assault on Hades.
Hades winked, "Of course not. I am not fighting for control like Nemesis was and I wasn't distracted like Hecate. When we're focused on our job, you'll see that we're pretty good at it."
"Damn. So were our other victories strokes of luck, rather than skill?" Zeo questioned. Hades shrugged and Zeo felt as if the universe was mocking them. If Nemesis hadn't been fighting with Kaori to gain control, would she have defeated Mariah and Hilary easily? If Hecate hadn't been distracted, would she have crushed Emily and Mathilda?
"Look who's distracted now." Hades spoke and Zeo froze, the holy beast standing behind him. Hades chuckled as his blade got on top of Cerberus, "Salvation of Styx." Zeo screamed as Hades stabbed him through his stomach, feeling something enter his body before Hades vanished, appearing in his side of the field.
Cerberus looked just as badly beaten up, his attack ring now gone. Zeo felt so tired and disgusted as he felt something stirring inside of him. He gave out a cry, "What did you do?"
"Giving you salvation, of course." Hades said with a laugh, "I placed some of my darkness inside you. Once it reaches your main circuits, you're going down, I'm afraid." He laughed, as if Zeo dying was something amusing to speak of, "How long will you last?"
"Cerberus!" Zeo answered, his bit-beast jumping out of its bit-chip with a growl. Hades just smiled, as if he didn't find him a threat. Zeo would have to change his mentality on that.
"Cerberus, Chain Storm!"
"Too easy and predictable, Zeo," Hades said before his eyes turned black, "Persephone's Garden." A tower of darkness shot out of Hades's blade, making Zeo stumble back as a large black ram appeared. Its eyes were electric-blue, meaning this was Hades's true form. It cried out, white asphodels coming out of its mouth and surrounded Cerberus, making it stop the Chain Storm.
"Damn." Zeo thought before he felt them cry out in his pocket. He glanced down and reached into his pocket, "I thought I had left you all behind."
"What are you babbling about over there?" Hades asked before Zeo looked up, taking out the four bit-chips that had been in his pocket. Hades tensed and hissed, "The not-holy beasts."
"The term is Cyber Bit-Beasts," Zeo responded, "Humans can't handle their power but it's a good thing I'm not human, don't you think?" His turquoise hair began to float, his eyes glowing while Hades saw the power of the four engineered spirits, freezing in shock.
"Time for a kamikaze attack, alright?" Zeo grinned, "Cyber Dragoon, Cyber Dranzer, Cyber Driger, Cyber Draciel, Cerberus, Hydra Hurricane!" All of the bit-beasts appeared behind Cerberus before attacking Hades, who gave out a cry of surprise before launching his own attack, an attack lost to the winds Zeo had unleashed.
~~~MIAB~~~
"Move on, humans." Tyson and everyone else turned around to see the twins floating above them, holding hands and looking as menacing as they had moments ago, when they had gotten them out of Hades's room.
"Why do we have to do that?" Kai asked.
The twin that was Hikaru answered, "Because Chaos is getting bored of just watching you chess pieces do nothing but watch the matches. Get a move on, will you? Or do you not have faith in your friend?"
That left them all in silence before Julia started walking up the stairs. She glared up at the twin members of the Forsaken Fallen, "For the record, I'm not doing this because you told us to! I'm doing it because I know Zeo is going to defeat Hades and get Raul back."
"Don't get your hopes up." 'Shun' said, looking at her with emotionless eyes. The same eyes that Julia remembered were filled with joy, hope and other positive and bright emotions. She looked away, knowing that Shun would be back.
"Let's get a move on!" Julia yelled back as she climbed up the stairs. Once the twins were gone, they all had no choice but to follow.
~~~MIAB~~~
'Zeo.' Zeo opened his eyes to see Raul sitting next to him while they were in a hall of mirrors one would see in a circus or carnival. He sat up, seeing darkness leave the halls. He frowned in confusion before Raul laughed, 'You broke my prison door. Hades wasn't pleased.'
'I won?'
'Not yet, to be honest with you.' Raul answered before helping Zeo stand up, 'I want you to know what caused Hades to be so insane, as insane as Chaos.'
'You know why?' Zeo asked, Raul leading him through the hall of mirrors. He saw images forming, making his attention turn to them. Raul nodded before the image in the mirror formed three figures, one of them being Hades.
'Hades was created by the 9th, 10th and 15th Elders along with Zeus and Poseidon, making them brothers but not twins like Erebus and Night and Ouranos and Tartarus. He thought himself inferior to them and developed a complex,' Zeus and Poseidon left and, in their place, was a beautiful girl that was covered in flowers, 'The one that helped him with that complex was a holy beast known as Persephone. She, along with Hecate and Nemesis, accepted him and he was happy.'
The mirror cracked while Raul turned sullen, 'Then Erebus killed Sasha and everything changed. Persephone disappeared and Hecate wanted to join a war to kill Erebus and his subordinates of Eden's Rapture. Hades was at a loss and tried to find Persephone.' Raul looked down, 'Imagine how crushed he felt when he saw that she was the second in command of Eden's Rapture and had fallen for Erebus.'
Zeo said nothing while the images showed a battlefield. Raul looked up, still looking sad, 'So he joined the Forsaken Fallen in order to kill Persephone, stopping her from causing more harm. He succeeded,' The image in the mirror was of Hades stabbing the flower girl with the same technique that had destroyed Zeo's arm, 'The last thing Persephone said was that she had always loved Erebus.'
'He was played?'
'Yes. He couldn't trust anyone anymore, wandering in his own mind while seeking for answers. Finally, he came to a conclusion: Persephone had been tampered with by humans. They had caused his Persephone to lose herself. He hated the humans, cursing them even though they had done nothing wrong. He saw that the world hadn't changed with the death of his friends and realized that the world could only change to a world worth living in if extreme measures were taken change it.
'In the end, Zeus and Poseidon tricked him and Hecate into going to a river where Poseidon kept them from leaving while the four sacred spirits sealed them away. You can imagine what that did to him.'
Zeo nodded before Raul touched the shattered mirror, 'I pity him. And Hecate, Nemesis and the other members of the Forsaken Fallen.'
'Why?' Zeo asked.
Raul turned to him and gave him a sad smile, 'Because they haven't been able to properly see this beautiful world.'
~~~MIAB~~~
The battlefield was no longer covered in the darkness Hades had created to disorientate Zeo and Cerberus. The two bladers were sprawled on the ground, their wobbling blades spinning right next to them. They were both panting, looking tired and melancholic.
"You're crazy." Hades muttered.
"I'm a genius." Zeo answered before trying to lift his head, "I'm sorry about Persephone, Hades."
"You don't need to apologize about it." Hades laughed, looking up at the sky, "So long as I keep the memory of my Persephone, not his, I can continue. However, it seems those memories are slipping away." He blinked his eyes, as if it was a chore to do so.
"It's better that way." Zeo replied, coughing as he opened his hand, releasing the four bit-chips of the cyber bit-beasts.
"Maybe."
There was silence, the spinning of their wobbling blades being the only sound they heard. "What are we calling this?" Zeo mumbled, closing his eyes as his blade stopped moving. As the darkness swallowed Zeo up, taking him to Chaos's chamber where the others could rescue him, Hades chuckled, wanting to do nothing but wipe the blood from the side of his mouth.
"My victory." He answered before his blade stopped and fell apart, leaving behind only the bit-chip. Hades closed his eyes, whispering so softly that no one could've heard him if they had tried to listen to his voice, "I wouldn't mind . . . falling asleep, though. I want to see you again but I'm so very tired." Hades abandoned Raul's body in the destroyed room, going back to the bit-chip where he could sleep peacefully.
~~~MIAB~~~
Chaos's Chamber, Forsaken Fallen Headquarters, Chaotic Dimension, 17th Universe (Time Unknown)
Chaos looked at the chessboard, where two chess pieces – one white pawn and one black rook were facing each other off. He closed his eyes and knocked both of them down, "We could've done great things, Hades, if I had listened to you before. I'm sorry, old friend. But it seems that it's over."