Chapter 19 - Golden Aftermath

For the first time in a long while… things for once, didn't revolve around the 'mother' of the trio within the young Chris's mind. For once, she had slammed the breaks on her little 'obsession' as if to suddenly come to her senses and realize something SERIOUSLY wrong had just happened, something big enough to warrant a major popndering on.

What was that issue, one might ask? Whelp she currently had a BIG issue in her mind right now which was centered around her currently unconscious childhood friend, Sun. Said childhood friend lay on an examination table within one of the Mansion's multiple Laboratories, with her standing beside him like a warden looking over her charge. Something which Chris SHOULD have been okay with since it had been the 'mother's idea to put him there… but, if so, then why did she have such contradictory feelings in her chest? She wondered whilst whilst placing a hand over her chest whilst looking at the closed eyes that hid away the eyes of her childhood friend… the eyes which, previously, had turned into something so… alien, so unrecognizeable, that Chris honestly couldn't help but shudder in sheer terror thinking about it.

BRRRRRRR!

More shudders ran down the back of her spine with no signs of stopping nor slowing down, as Chris gritted her teeth whilst rubbing her biceps. Below her, Sun's unresponsive form, which also lay strapped to all kinds of equipment which she didn't even realize existed up till this point, remained unaware of. Yet, despite the scorn she aimed at herself for feeling this way since it reminded her of… past events, Chris just couldn't help but feeling the exact same amount of terror, perhaps even more so, when she remembered what she had seen that day.

Those eyes…

Those DAMN eyes...

Just the sheer MEMORY of those eyes remained in her mind ever since she had been forced to retreat from the Chemicals Facility, foresaking Durandal which had been the reason why she and Sun had been there in the first place. Those greenish orbs, supplimented by that crimson flame over one of them, bore down on her within the back of her mind, leering down upon her with that emotionless, blank gaze like she wasn't even worth looking down on. Such a tiny little stain that it was hardlly worth acknowledging, like a small, dull grey mark on an otherwise flawless piece of cloth… which only servied to further aggrivate the girl along with confused the living hell out of her as she stared down at Sun's unconscious form.

What the hell was that just now?

Was that… really even Sun, at all?

Who was the childhood friend whom she had only recently reunited with?

WHAT was he? Some kind of monster…?

So many thoughts swirled around her mind, questions which she wanted answers to but the 'mother' of the trio wouldn't tell her anything beyond 'do not even THINK about it if she wanted to live past this existence'. At first Chris had thought that she was being looking down on, and to an extent she felt like she was, but the gaze which the mother had looked at her with… there had been something else behind it, something which she had NEVER seen on the woman before: fear.

She seemed AFRAID of whatever had happened to Sun back there…

Which only made her own anxiety and confusion all the worse.

"GRUMBLE, GRUMBLE, GRUMBLE…"

Just then, Chris almost jumped when she heard strained grumbling sounds from her friend, who soon began to awaken, due to the way his eyes tightened themselves with grimaces escaping his lips. The boy shuffled and twisted as if in discomfort, although this didn't last all that long when his eyes finally opened, blinking several times in order to adjust to the sudden light that his irises (which had returned to their 'original' state, much to Chris's internal delight… though she didn't like the fact that she felt that way about them) had to receive from the lamp on the Laboratory's ceiling. "Ugh… did someone get the license number of that truck…?" He muttered, closing his eyes again with a slight hiss, grasping his head whilst getting into a sitting position.

"S-Sun?!"

Chris made that startled exclamation whilst taking a step back from him, her eyes wide in shock at the fact that the boy had awoken so quickly. Their 'mother' had told her she'd predicted that it would take him a while longer, at least a week (it had only been a couple days since the incident)!

Upon hearing her voice, Sun turned his head to her and saw her features, to which if he had any reaction to it he didn't show much or outright ignored it as he gave a beaming smile to her. "Hey there, Chris!" He exclaimed, hopping off the table like there was nothing important about sitting on it. "How'd the mission go? Did you get the Relic like we were tasked for?" He questioned her, using that same dopey smile that she had come to expect from him ever since their reunion…

Though, that did NOT diminish the memory of what she had seen that day one bit, something which disgusted Chris as she gave a 'tch!' and turned her head to the side. "Of course, not!" she responded heatedly, much to Sun's surprise. "Fine told me to tell you that we failed the mission, since the Relic got activated right in front of us, and the Division 2 guys managed to get to it first." she explained, though she didn't mention anything about who activated it… nor anything else. Not only did she not WANT to cause aside from everything else it felt like openig another can of worms she didn't want to acknowledge at the moment, but 'Fine', their mother, had told her not to talk about it if she wanted to continue living, with the prior explained facial reactions.

"...Huh, I see." Sun responded simply, looking like he had begun deeply thinking about the encounter with the way he took on a posture similar to a detective in one of those mystery novels she had once read. He'd pulled it off quite well, though she wouldn't tell him that since it would inflate his massive ego. Though, ir only lasted for a couple seconds until Sun bounced back wit his previous cheery optimism. "Oh well, you win some you lose some." he declared, giving her a thumbs up and playefully winking at her. "We'll be able to get another shot at it, remember what the ol' saying is? Third times the charm."

"We've tried only ONCE to get the Relic, you idiot!"

"We DID try that one mission before that, right? We can just count this as our second failure after that one!"

"Urgh! You're so annoying!"

Finally done with everything, Chris turned on her heels and stormed off with her heels making loud clacking sounds, leaving her childhood friend alone in the room. Inside her mind, Chris kept seething with her thoughts running around a million miles an hour whilst steam literlly started coming otu of her ears. As much as she destested that insufferable, idiotic demeanour he usualy had around her since it didn't fit people like them in her mind, Chris believed that the guy had just been playing with her just then. Used their regular interactions do dodge any chance for her to ask him more about what had gone on back there. She just had that suspicion about him, and usually her gut instincts didn't really lead her astray, which only made her all the more furious about the situation. That girl who could use a complete relic so easily whilst Chris herself had to go through intense training aside, her childhood friend now had THIS on top of him in addition to his apparent ability to use such a powerful Gear. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair goddamnit!

What the hell was going on anymore?! Why was all this happening NOW of all times, when they were SO close to achieving what they desired?!

Worse still, this just showed her at last, that there was something bigger going on here, something which she hadn't even realized even EXISTED up until this point, and it had only taken her to face something that her supposed 'friend' had been keeping from her this whole time, something she REFUSED to let stay hidden any longer. It would seem that she may not have known as much about Sun as she had thought, which made her question on whether or not she really 'knew' him at all. Chris couldn't let this go though, and as such she would investigate this herself, since nobody would be willing to tell her the answers she wanted to know so badly.

Meanwhile, back with Sun as the doors to the Lab room closed behind his furious friend, their complete closure became a signal for him to drop the act. In that instance, his eyes turned cold and indifferent, looking as if everything in this world was bellow him.

'That was close, I dropped the act for a moment too long back then. I must have gotten soft after going easy for so long.'

As Sun thought this his mind started working, in his mind thousands upon thousands of possible scenarios quickly flashed by, theories over what he could have done and what he should have done, considering every possible angle and what the optimal path should have been.

His mind working faster and better than any human should be able to do, better than most computers even as he began analyzing everything and upon reaching a conclusion boredom emerged.

That detestable emotion, the understanding regarding every single aspect of every thing, completely negating every possible variable and seeing through every possible future of that moment. He was already certain regarding what he should have done and about what he should do moving forward, knowing every step of the way and already knowing what the future would be like until unknown variables emerged, but even those are mostly taken into account already.

Now all that was left was the boredom, the complete understanding of what will happen and not feeling anything regarding any of it. Sun then raised from the bed, wondering about what he should do next.

'Perhaps I should not lower my mind for a while now.' he thought as he decided to not take those medicines for now. He was still in doubt over what reason was there for the medicines stopping working since those unique powers emerged but he was not worried about it, in his mind he could barely sense the source of that energy and in time he would be able to make it his own.

Not taking the medicine would be hard on him, he knew that, but he needed to actually think now. He could not keep using the medicine he designed to keep his mind numb, he would just have to do a better job as an actor if he is to keep convincing Chris that the one she knew was not a fake.

Deep inside he wish he never had to lie to her, to be dishonest about just who he is, but if he was himself she would never like him. No one could ever love him if he were to be honest.

Humans fear what is above them, Sun understood that perfectly well, and he was above them. His mind was above all of them, his body was above all of them, he was beyond all humans in this world. How could others possibly understand him or him understand the limitations of others?

It was only music, only Chris, that allowed him to first experience what it was to be human. To not be alone in a peak that no one could ever approach, that none could even see in the distance. That is why the drugs were important, but to preserve that first time, to save Chris, he would abstain from them for a while at least.

Oblivious (or perhaps 'ignoring' would be the better word here) to the disgusted snort within the back of his mind.

'Foolish. How could an Emperor be the same as the bugs on the ground? To pretend otherwise is just avoiding the inevitable, your destiny, the true king of humanity.'

"That summarizes the report, Genjuro sir."

"Thank you, Sakuta. Return to your post, and keep me informed of any changes."

"Yes, sir."

The said staff member lowered his head in respect towards his superior, before proceeding to walk away from the Commander and back to his original post, intending on continuing the tasks given to him.

Meanwhile, Genjuro himself heaved a sigh as he held the bridge of his nose, looking like he had been drained of the majority of his vitality at the moment with everything being in the mess that it was. Not only were their most capable members down temporarily, with Hibiki in their recovery facility unconscious and SHADOW having been carried off somewhere by his own powers, according to the reports anyways (they'd mentioned something about black flames cocooning him then shooting off into the skies and then away or something), but then there was the REST of the mess this whole incident had brought onto them.

Aside from them being temporarily unable to hunt down any Noise which could appear at any time, since they lacked the proper means to fight them now, a whole load of unrest had begun to rise within the higher ups in the political chain thanks to Defence Minister Hiroki's death. Politicians were pretty much acting like rats over food scraps, scrambling to seize the ultimate prize that was the total control over Division 2's operations within Japan. Not many of them shared in Hiroki's ideals about their value to the Japanese economy after all, and if one were to ask him, then the odds that they would get someone who thought of them as useless pests was... about 9 out of 10. This meant that, at least within Japanese borders since Noise appearances tended to happen across the globe meaning that they'd need at least SOME degree of operational freedom, they would have to keep themselves on a tight leash and only 'bark' like dogs when their 'master' told them to, not something which Genjuro found himself looking forward to, but he didn't have much of a say in the matter at this point. If one were to try and ask him, like a few of his colleagues had done when expressing their worries about their imminent future, Genjuro would say that he had a few ideas on who could potentially take control over their operations in the future, but nothing certain as of yet, plus there was also the Election for Prime Minister being an upcoming event, so many candidates were going to be preparing for that…

Even with what had been happening over the last few years.

'Then, there's what happened with Hibiki, SHADOW and that other kid…'

Genjuro scowled when he remembered how Hibiki had come to be in her current state, how she managed to not only activate a Complete Relic, but from what he had seen seemingly done so with only her own song. As if it had resonated so much that it's Phonic Gain had been worth that of an entire audience. How the heck that was possible wasn't something which lay in Genjuro's field of expertise, and as such he hoped that the one whose specialty this DID fall under, Ryouko, could provide some form of explanation once things settled down. The matter of SHADOW wasn't as major, since he believed that the man would have ways of recovering from this battle, especially with how he managed to deal with the whole Kanade situation…

But then, THEN came the problem involving that golden haired kid.

If there was one thing Genjuro could consider him, then anomaly would be the right word for it. Looking him up on the records, Genjuro had found that his public name had been the Golden Sun idol whom, during the time of Zwei Wing, had been a fierce contender of theirs. Apparently, he had been quite active during the last few years, becoming an existence in the idol industry that seemed to almost be like the second coming of Tsubasa and Kanade. Many people were fans of his, and it seemed like he had been doing quite well for himself with how much people had loved his works. Recently however, he had practically gone off the grid after his last performance in Kyoto several months ago, with nobody being aware of where he had gone.

Though, right now Ganjuro had found the answer to THAT question, and he did NOT like what he found. Apparently, he seemed to be allies with the user of the Nehushtan Armour, from what had been recorded since he had helped her get close to the Relic by distracting SHADOW. That alone didn't promise anything good since his Gear seemed to be… well, it seemed to be just as strange as the rest of his backstory. From what he had seen it seemed to operate in a manner similar to the Synchrogear, but then there were times when he seemed to want to try singing but stopped himself, according to careful analysis of his lip movements, which implied that singing also was a weapon in his arsenal, just like a Symphogear. A confusing thing to be sure, and one which Genjuro remained both skeptical as well as suspicious about, especially with how him and SHADOW seemed to have known one another judging by their recorded interactions.

Also, just like the wielder of the Nehushtan Armour, Genjuro had tried to investigate them by cross referencing what he could of their facial features, coming up with little information on the former, and nothing on the latter, which both perplexed and worried the man at the same time. There had been practically nothing of his earlier records before entering the idol industry, almost like they had been wiped off the face of the earth for some reason, whilst the boy himself seemed to have a strong sense of keeping secrets according to interviews with his managers and colleagues in the idol industry.

Part of him wondered if someone deliberately wiped away records of him to try and conceal something about him. What that was, he didn't know…

But judging from how he acted at the end there, did he even want to know?

"Ugh… fwoo...grgh…"

Sweat rolled down the forehead of one Tai as he resided within the warm comforts provided by his room, currently busy immersing himself in a pushup routine whilst relishing in the burn he felt throughout his equally sweaty body. Rugged breaths escaped his mouth every time he completed a pushup, only for him to inhale and repeat the process like a never-ending cycle. The sweat rolled down the sides of his head, causing his hair to become damp and a thick smell to permeate throughout the room like a faint miasma. It wasn't something Tai was unfamiliar with though, not with the double life that he currently led.

The boy had stripped all of his upper body clothing, cladding himself in a pair of baggy jogging pants to expose his body to the scenery around him, also exposing the chiseled, thoroughly trained warrior body that he had been developing over the last couple of years, something which his clothes usually hid away… kind of like a Mask, actually. As to the reason WHY he had immersed himself in exercises…

Training.

Simply put, training.

For a more in-depth explanation, it had to do with the events that had transpired in the Chemicals Facility a couple days ago, to be more precise the events that had transpired around one particular individual.

'That day, there's no dancing around the issue at large…'

The appearance of the blonde haired boy clad in his Gear, flashed through his mind, causing Tai to grit his teeth as he almost lost his rhythm, but managed to retain it. It hadn't been the first time his mind had wandered over to these thoughts, in fact one could say that had been all he had been able to think about for the last few days. He'd tried to act normal during the school hours since then, his body having healed up nicely from that one strike thanks to his Synchrogear's Omnimatter, but he felt sure that he hadn't been performing at his usual level. The teen had to bet that Chad had already noticed something had been up, but like a total bro the large dude didn't say anything about it for the time being, knowing just how well Tai could handle himself and any issues that came his way.

Still, this issue may have become one of the hardest to bounce back from yet, almost as hard as… that time when he'd failed to save that Shiho character back on the School Roof. An issue revolving around a certain individual who had utterly WRECKED Tai during that battle in every way possible, crushing the pride and confidence in his ability that he had developed through multiple years worth of intense training. At first, he had refused to admit it, he had even tried to forget about it and move on, but quickly had that notion beaten out of him by the scolding Vritra had given him when he had first regained consciousness, resulting in him confirming the bitter-tasting truth with no small amount of defeat.

He had lost.

Tai had completely, utterly LOST against Golden Sun.

There were no ifs or buts about it, that fact would not change no matter how hard one thought on it. It had been a hard pill to swallow, one which Vritra had all but forced him into doing so. Initially, Tai had believed that things had been quite even between the two since they traded blows without any clear sign of ground being lost. Their weapons had seemed to have been quite even at the time, although Tai hadn't had the chance to try out any of the tricks he'd devised with Vritra against him.

Perhaps if he had… no, that likely wouldn't have changed the result, if anything it would have likely just made it occur quicker.

Ever since the whole incident with Kamoshida/Asmodeus, Tai had plenty of confidence in his abilities, certainty that there would only be a few things here which could match the might that he had amassed throughout the years he'd been a Synchrogear wielder. Perhaps… perhaps that had something to do with why this defeat had hit him so hard as well, not just the fact that someone else whom he'd previously looked down on for his hypocrisy had utterly wrecked his ass today. He felt like someone who'd gotten comfortable on their stool being suddenly knocked over by some asshole wanting a quick laugh at his expense…

Was he angry? Yeah.

Did he feel humiliated? Hell yeah.

Would he let that stop him from continuing on? Fuck to the no!

'Tch, so what? It's just one battle, one of the many pebbles across the path known as life. It's just one that caused me to stumble…' Tai thought as he finished his pushups and switched to a different exercise, sit ups. He'd pull out about 30 laps around his house after this too, then take a small break before going on to the next part of his training. 'It's not that big of a deal, I mean this isn't the first time I've slipped up like. It's just like what Sylvester Stallone said: The world isn't all sunshine and rainbows, it's actually a very mean and nasty place that, no matter how tough one is, it will beat them down and keep them there if they let it. Nothing's going to. Nobody, nobody was going to hit harder than life, but that doesn't matter. It's not about how hard one is hit, it's about how hard one can get hit and keep moving forwards, how much they can take whilst keeping on pressing forwards. That's how winning was done.'

Almost instantly after that, Tai's anger started to abate, being gradually replaced with fond nostalgia whilst he kept his pushup routine going. His eyes glimmered whilst his forehead glistened from the sweat on him, a fond and happy smile forming on his lips. One might wonder why Tai started acting like this, but he wouldn't give them that answer… at least the complete one, unless he had absolute trust in them. Someone who had become as important to him as Chad and Hibiki had.

Sylvester Stallone… someone who Tai personally took a great shine to, one could actually call him the boy's idol. An American actor who'd become one of the biggest box office draws for over 20 years, widely considered as a global icon. Despite being an easterner, Tai personally admired that man and his story, of how despite the complications of his birth the man had gone on to being one of the most well-known actors in the American film world. At one point in time he had even been facing a decline in his successes and took a break from his work, only to come back swinging and return to the spotlight, something which both awed and inspired Tai beyond belief. In the end, the life of Sylvester Stallone had taught Tai a valuable life lesson, that even someone who came from a common background could make it in life.

Something which stuck to his being like glue.

[Hmph, the saying 'talking is cheap' is also true, boy.]

Whilst he had been in the middle of a sit-up, Tai's eyes briefly shrunk before returning to normal, having heard the voice of his Synchrogear beast speak to him for the first time today, the current time being about mid afternoon. Although, Tai had to wince from the disgruntled, cross tone which he had used with him which the Evil Dragon had every right to have.

Of course Dragons seem to hold grudges, why wouldn't they? But seriously, it shouldn't have been as surprising to him as it had been that Vrita had been furious with him once they could communicate again, but when one considered how close they had come to death back in that Chemical's Facility, then Vritra's fury with him would be WAY more justified. Even more so when one considered how he had tried to warn Tai to get out of there and flee, but he had been ignored which had REALLY wounded the dragon's pride. Heck, Tai had felt like something had restrained his heart a little more than it used to when he'd woke up, to which he'd quickly figured out the reason why himself, in fact it honestly didn't really take him that long to do so.

See, it all had to do with the Synchro Rates. The way the Synchrogears were designed, was that one had to earn the trust of the beast inside of it in order to draw out power to fight with, as Vritra had explained to him during the Kamoshida incident. The more that the beast trusted a wielder, and depending on that creature one's Synchro Rate rising could be from turtle speed slow to cheetah fast, the greater the Synchro Rate which in turn allowed the user to fight with more power, not to mention more effectiveness. Everything around the Synchrogears revolved around building up trust and bonding with the beast inside, which could be considered as easier said than done, just look at history where monsters were usually slain by the 'valiant heroes'. Just how much of that was actually true and not just human propaganda to stroke their own arrogant egos?

However, when one says that Synchrogear users are powered by trust, it can also serve as their WEAKNESS as well, since whilst its so difficult to cultivate trust with them it was also EASY as fuck to lose that trust. It's like building a house of straw, although it's not easy building them up, it's SO easy for the forces of nature to destroy them. As such, should the beat inside lose trust in their wielders they will lose a percentage of their Synchro Rates which was accompanied by the sensation of tightening chains around their hearts.

In Tai's case, whereas he had been within the 80% mark before, now he had fallen down to just above the 50% mark. A SHARP decrease in power and effectiveness, hence why he had begun to train his ass off like this. Vritra always liked it when one took their training seriously, since it meant that they knew the value of living and that they could die to any number of things… although, Tai internally knew that it wasn't to regain Vritra's trust that he was doing this, not completely.

His own revenge against Sun had been part of it.

'Yeah… you're right, Vritra…' The black haired male replied meekly, frowning in self-loathing which spurred him on to continue his training regimen. This couldn't be allowed to continue, the male felt whilst trying to immerse himself in the burn that came from exercising his muscles. His fighting ability had been weakened thanks to this failure, a failure all of his own doing, which was unacceptable so he had to figure out a way to start bouncing back. What he'd done had no doubt betrayed a LOT of Vritra's faith in him, sure, and as much as he would have rather worked little by little to get back to where he had once been with him, Tai felt like they just didn't have that time anymore. Before, they only had to worry about themselves and their… own little problem, not to mention Chad's safety as well as the safety of innocent civilians. NOW however, the stakes were much higher and there was much more to lose, which meant that he couldn't afford to be as lax as he had been for the last 2 years.

He needed something, ANYTHING that could help him regain Vritra's trust quickly. It didn't even have to be the same amount of trust as before, Tai'd take a percentage below that honestly. Furthermore, that battle had taught him that he had MUCH more to learn about Vritra's abilities, abilities which Tai now had learned he'd barely tapped into since ideas had begun forming in his mind, ideas which all required for him to start mending his bond with the Evil Dragon as quickly as possible. He may have managed to 'sow the seeds' for some extra help back with Division 2, but in the end the only one he could truly trust to get things done was himself… and Vritra too, since he was just as important to this situation.

So how.. how could he…?

Wait a minute...

Whilst doing his exercising and reflecting on what he had done wrong, something popped into Tai's head, something which could backfire HORRIBLY on him if it were to fail. The moment that he had thought of this idea, a shudder ran down his spine with all sorts of thoughts about horrible scenarios filling his mind. The thing was, if it on the off chance DID work, then perhaps this fight could end up less painful for the both of them. Plus, what other choice did he have? With things escalating as they were, he feared that if he didn't take this risk then he'd be left in the dust, with death following shortly afterwards in his attempts to catch up to the others.

As such, Tai paused in his pushups, gazing down at the ground for a few seconds before inhaling and exhaling deeply. 'Hey, Vritra… is there anything that I can do? To get stronger, and to earn back your trust, I mean…' he asked the Evil Dragon whilst making sure to carefully choose his words. After all, a lot rode on this conversation, so he couldn't afford to accidentally say the wrong thing and make things worse for them both.

[...What do you mean?]

The cautious answer that came back to him nearly made Tai shudder and break out into a cold sweat, since that tone implied that just as he had suspected the wrong move would prove even more fatal. Perhaps this was his arrogance as a human taking control here, and if it was then he'd not deny it before his companion. 'I mean…Well, with that defeat, I've learned that we REALLY need to get stronger, since there's now someone else who is much more powerful than us. Most of our other tricks wouldn't have had much effect on him if he could call that power out whenever he wanted… something which I'm not so sure that he can do actually, now that I think about it. You saw, didn't you? Just before he 'switched' he looked like he had begun having a mental breakdown, plus during the fight I noticed that his movements seem quite sluggish… like he was under some drugs. I'd know those movements anywhere, having seen them a few times in the past.'

[Still, that does not make him any less of a threat, and if he cannot call that power on his own will that makes things even more dangerous, not just for us but for our surroundings. Whilst I could care less about everyone else, you must stay alive so that I can survivre myself. That's the only thing I can prioritize at the moment.]

'Not true, there's something else you value: your pride.'

[?!]

Sensing the shock that his partner expressed, Tai decided to elaborate. 'You may not show it as much as you used to, but you share the common trait of being very prideful of your abilities… and as much as you're angry at me for nearly getting us killed especially when we've been so cautious up till now, what I feel like you're even MORE upset about is the insult that guy made to you. Calling you a snake, when you're really something much higher than that.' If one were to look into how the eastern culture viewed dragons, they would find that they were seen as water gods who brought prosperity, as well as symbols of pride, courage and honor: the epitome of yang energy, as oppose as how western folk see them as bringers of chaos and disaster. Both were two sides of the same coin if one asked Tai himself though, but that guy he'd lost to, Golden Sun, had the nerve to call Vritra a snake. Something associated with deceit and evil… though in reality, in most of the legends surrounding it Vritra wasn't really that evil to begin with.

Taking up all the world's waters? Companies do the same but with resources.

Try to kill a God? Did that as that was his purpose in that Legend, same concept applies to revenge stories everywhere.

Hence, combined with how much he went on about the 'pride of a dragon' and all that stuff, resulted in why Tai believed that Vritra wanted to rip Golden Sun apart, even more so than himself.

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[...Ugh, this is why I hate you humans, you use your silver tongues to get straight to what you want.]

After a moment of silence between them where Tai feared the worst had happened, the male mentally prepared to have the feeling of his heart being constricted even tighter as a result of his arrogance. Humans have always been this way, though it didn't help the tension which filled his very being as he struggled to keep a calm demeanor on the outside… although, perhaps that would have been a foolish bit of effort from the start since Vritra likely could see what he felt deep inside.

Finally, however, his fears dumbed down when the mentioned Evil Dragon spoke the words that he did with a long sigh escaping him afterwards, although there was no malice behind it. If anything, there was a sense of being impressed instead, impressed by the gall that his host apparently had as well as his insight into the nature of dragons. Tai wasn't foolish enough to assume that he didn't hate humans though, he himself wasn't too fond of his own race either, so he couldn't really blame the Evil Dragon.

Nevertheless, when he heard this, Tai felt a surge of relief explode within his chest despite there not being any feelings of the Synchro Rate being affected just yet. The restriction he felt over his heart still remained the same as they had been for the last few days, confirming to him that this would NOT mean he was out of the woods just yet. Dragons DID hold grudges after all. Still, Tai couldn't help but chuckle weakly, knowing that he had just dodged a risky, downright lethal, bullet. 'Well, you got me there, Vritra. I can't help it though, I do have a strong fondness for Dragons, though.' he replied, a one-sided smirk present on his lips. 'By the way, do you know anything else about that Guy's situation? We need to know as much as we can about the enemy, knowledge is power after all.'

[Unfortunately, I cannot remember at the moment, it will take me some time to recall since its been a long while since I encountered something like that. Something which gave me both chills and the urge to kill so intensely. This does NOT mean you're ready for a rematch with him, far from it. If at all, until you are ready to face him, we should do our best to avoid fighting him as much as possible. Still… as much as I want to leave you to rot for such an idiotic defeat on your part, there is still indeed merit to what you say. That guy behaved like a God back there, and we beasts despise Gods for many reasons, this here is just an example of one of them. Thus, whilst I am cautious about it, nothing would make me happier than to utterly wipe that arrogant grin off his face… very well, I know of a few things that I can do to help out.]

'Really?' Tai questioned as he stopped his pushups, standing upright in order to take a small break, all before he would finish up his training regimen for the day. However, what he did NOT expect was for the full on rant that Vritra went on.

[But DON'T think that this means the grudge will be settled, boy. There will be ZERO tip-toeing around this: You have a LONG road ahead of you if you want my forgiveness, one with no shortcuts or holes to no mistake I will GRIND the current you into the very GROUND by the time that this is over, and you inevitably end up facing that brat again. You'll be evolving EVERYTHING you have: your weapon creation, your Purgatory flame manipulation, your armed and unarmed martial prowess, I will overhaul EVERYTHING you currently possess… in order to make you not a pathetic WIMP of a wielder!]

The way that the Evil Dragon went on like this, as if he had been waiting for this very moment in time, almost stunned Tai into silence and disbelief, yet the weight of those words as well as the ominous pressure pertaining to the torture that he would be enduring in the immediate future kept him from being so. Instead of shaking like a leaf would in the wind, Tai simply let out a grin of eagerness, his own excitement over increasing in strength under his partner's tutelage filling his being. 'Heh, I'll not let you down then, Vritra.' he declared… before noticing something odd that drew his attention. 'Huh?'

Vaguely, he noticed something on his back when he glanced at it through his mirror which stood not too far away from him. Something which he didn't notice before, and even now it didn't seem very visible, but right now he could see it on his back: a vague outline of something on his back which seemed to expand across almost all of it. Kind of like a tattoo… it's shape being VERY reminiscent of a Dragon.

'This is…'

[Hmph, although you were only there for a brief moment, it seems to have been enough for it to barely form. That there, boy, is the mark of using My Synchrogear. All users of one, the closer they get to their beasts, will slowly develop a tattoo over their backs, one which will signify their bond when they eventually reach 100% Synchro Rate: also known as a 'Balance Maker'. Once you reach that state, it will be complete, and will briefly glow before you transform into your Synchro Jacket… or THAT, which you can't access yet.]

Now THIS was news to him, so the more he increased the Synchro Rate, the more filled in this apparent Tattoo on his back would become, and when he had reached 100% of it (although Vritra never said that 100% was the limit, the boy noticed), the tattoo would be filled completely. Well, THIS definitely gave him an incentive, the boy mentally mused with his grin widening into an almost shark-like one, a similar look of excitement forming behind his glasses-covered grey eyes.

One thing whichTai was also a fan of, was Tattoos, especially the bigger picture surrounding them. To the common person, a Tattoo may look like something that's just drawn onto someone's body to look cool or impress potential partners, but just like the world of flowers Tattoos also have their own language, their own meanings, with the places that they are put on also having such meaning. Dragon Tattoos have had a more specialized meaning in Tai's life, and he had always wanted to have one drawn onto his back, as a way to showcase him putting something shameful behind him. This defeat definitely qualified as such, but until it was completely filled, Tai would have to suck it up and learn from this experience, as well as endure whatever hellish training Vritra had in store for him…

Boy, he couldn't wait to get started.

Chapter end

New chapter out, next one won't be out for a while. Want to focus on my other stories.

For those who complain about yuri and stuff... at least have some decent stories to back your arguments, or at least suggest ways to improve the story.

For those who liked, thank you and please let me know what you think, and how to improve the story.

Look forward to the next chap.

Peace Out.