Epilogue! Yay! This story is now finished! Enjoy!

It did not take much time for Ryo and the others to get Gingka out of the Spiral Force and to safety. Once the group was safely away from the structure, the Japanese army destroyed it, causing all of the power to shoot back into Pegasus.

"... That feels much better." Was all that Gingka had said before drifting off into a state of unconsciousness that lasted several hours, allowing Ryo and the others to get him to the hospital without any protest.

"That was too close for comfort." Madoka sighed as she sat next to Gingka's hospital bed, stroking the redhead's hand gently as she watched him sleep.

"I'm surprised they said they should only have to keep him overnight, and then we can take him to the B-Pit and just let him rest and recover there, as long as there are no complications." Tsubasa said.

Ryo nodded silently, stroking Gingka's head with one hand while his other hand held Gingka's other.

"Considering that we had everything but Gingka's help, I think we did pretty good." Zero spoke up from his seat across the room.

"He's always saved us, and now we've saved him… Twice, actually." Maru said.

"Once from DNA, once from Spiral Force." Shinobu nodded.

Benkei, Ryo, Madoka, and Tsubasa shared a glance, a slight worried look passing between them.

"I sure hope this pattern doesn't continue to follow you-know-what." Ryo said.

The others nodded.

"If it does, we're in trouble. Big trouble. We'd need you-know-who." Tsubasa said.

"Bu-bu-bull! Not that I want 'that' to happen, but it'd be nice to see them all again! Especially Kyoya!" Benkei said.

The others just looked confused.

Madoka shuddered. "Considering how this almost ended… I don't think I want the trend to continue. If it did, we might actually lose him." She looked back to Gingka as the room became more solemn.

"What are you all talking about…?" Zero said hesitantly.

"Nemesis." Ryo said, scowling. "If the trend of bad guys returning and capturing Gingka continues, then Nemesis could be next."

The younger bladers looked frightened. "But… Even Gingka and the other Legendary Bladers could barely stop Nemesis! And in the end, it was only Gingka!"

"Through the bonds created with bladers around the world, yes." Ryo said solemnly. "If this trend is going to continue, we had better be ready."

"Okay, why are we all being such downers? It's not like that guy is going to revive… Right?" Ren asked.

"Ren's got a point." Kite said. "But so does Mr. Hagane."

"So what if that guy comes back?!" Zero said. "We hope he doesn't, but if he does, we'll be ready for him!"

"That's the spirit…" A soft voice broke into the conversation.

"Oh, you're awake." Tsubasa said as all eyes turned to Gingka.

The redhead chuckled lightly, his voice slightly muffled by the oxygen mask over his face.

"Yeah. I'm awake."

"Next time we just won't let you get captured." Madoka said firmly.

"I am getting tired of that… But at least I know that there'll be someone who will come get me." Gingka said, looking around at his friends with a weary but confident smile.

"We just don't want them to kill you before we can get there. That almost happened."

Gingka shrugged. "Occupational hazard, annoyingly enough."

"... If you weren't so weak I would slap you for saying that…" Madoka growled.

Gingka looked genuinely nervous at this. Madoka started crying and the look of fear in Gingka's eyes soon faded to one of concern.

"Come here…" He whispered softly, tugging at her hand. Madoka climbed up and buried her face in Gingka's hospital gown, crying softly. Gingka wrapped one arm around her waist securely.

Words could not quite describe how relieved Gingka had been to find out that his father and Madoka were still alive, that everything had been nothing more than a nightmare crafted by Ziggurat to trick him into powering the Spiral Force.

"I didn't kill her…" He thought to himself, a relieved smile falling across his lips as he brought his other hand up and placed it on the back of Madoka's head, simply holding her. Whether it was more for his own comfort or hers, he did not know and honestly, he did not care. All that mattered to him at the moment was that everything was alright.

"Just get better and fight with us next time, okay..?" Madoka whispered.

Gingka chuckled deeply. "Of course, milady."

Madoka raised her head and looked confusedly at him. "'Milady'?"

"... What? I thought girls liked being treated like royalty." Gingka said slowly.

"... We do…?" Madoka said just as slowly, a bit bewildered.

Gingka released one of his trademark cheesy grins. "Well then." He tried to sit up but Madoka held him down.

"Nice try, you big idiot. You still have to rest."

Gingka crossed his arms and whined childishly. "Hey, hey, I was just trapped by an evil mastermind and tricked into thinking I killed you, can't you cut me some slack here?"

Madoka rolled her eyes. "That's exactly why you need to rest." She said, bending down and kissing his forehead. "Plus, you owe me one."

Gingka huffed. "After all the times I saved you, you think that one time of you saving me is gonna repay it?"

"Well I'm not repaying you by letting you get up because that could cause your vitals to fail right now." Madoka said firmly.

Gingka paused, realizing he had no comebacks for that… Save one, that was.

"Fiine… I was just gonna get something from my inner jacket pocket anyway." He muttered in resignation.

"I'll get it for you." Madoka sighed. "But you lie still." She got up and walked over to where Gingka's jacket was hanging on a chair. "Which jacket pocket?"

"Inside, just below the collar on the right." Gingka said, smirking triumphantly with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that caused Ryo and the others to raise their eyebrows at him.

Madoka calmly reached in and pulled out a small red box, then paused and looked at Gingka confusedly.

"Need I even explain?" Gingka said sheepishly. Everyone else just stared at him in surprise. Madoka downright glared at the redhead, who looked quite frightened at the look in her eyes.

"... I know I'm an idiot…" The redhead mumbled.

"Yes. Yes you are." Madoka said, stepping over with the box in her hand.

"But can I be your idiot?" Gingka asked, looking up at her with a sheepish grin that Madoka knew she could not resist. She never had been able to.

The brunette held up the ring box. "Well I wasn't ever planning on saying no."

Gingka paused for a moment, turning this statement over in his mind and attempting to decipher the meaning. Madoka sweatdropped.

"Yes, you idiot. My answer is yes." She said, hugging him tightly.

"... Oh." Gingka said, hugging her back and slipping the box from her hand as he did so.

"... That was smooth." Tsubasa whispered.

"... I don't believe it… My son is better at this than I was." Ryo said, just staring in shock.

"Yet still an idiot." Shinobu pointed out.

"I think that's why it was so smooth…" Zero said.

"See if you'd let me up I coulda done it properly…" Gingka muttered.

"Uh-huh. And what would you have done then if you had fainted before you ever got to your knee?" Madoka asked as she pulled out of the hug and put her hands on her hips.

"... Improvised." Gingka muttered.

"While unconscious?"

"Once I woke up."

"Sure. Sure you would have. I wouldn't have let you up anyway."

Gingka pouted. "I was only trying to do it the right way."

"I don't care about that, Gingka." Madoka said, putting a hand on his cheek and caressing his face gently. "I'm just glad that you're okay."

"Well you saved me." Gingka said. "M'just glad it was only a dream…"

"You need to rest." Madoka said.

"Not before I put this on you." Gingka said, opening the box and holding it up.

"Okay. But then you're going back to sleep." Madoka said, holding out her hand and letting Gingka slip a silver ring with a sparkling pink jewel onto her hand before she tucked the blankets around him snugly and sat back down in her chair next to him, stroking his forehead until he eventually drifted off to sleep, a small, triumphant smirk on his face.

"Always the idiot…" Madoka whispered softly with a smile on her face as she watched her now-fiance sleep.

"I taught him well." Ryo chuckled.

"That you did." Tsubasa teased. "Mr. 'Immortal Phoenix.'"

Ryo smirked.

"Like father like son." Benkei laughed. "In some ways, at least."

"Which is sometimes a bad thing." Madoka teased, her eyes sparkling playfully as she looked at the others.

Ryo crossed his arms and pouted, looking very much like his son as he did so. Zero and the others laughed at him.

Slowly but surely over the next few weeks, Gingka regained his strength. It was only when he came up behind Madoka one morning and swept her off her feet that she finally declared that he could leave the B-Pit and return to a more normal life. It was one evening a few days after this that Zero found the redhead seated atop a warehouse near the docks, staring out over the water with a solemn look on his face.

"Gingka?"

The redhead looked down. "Zero? What are you doing all the way out here?"

"I was looking for you. What are you doing all the way out here?" Zero replied.

"Just reassuring myself that it really was a dream." Gingka said, helping the younger blader up atop the roof.

"That real?"

"Yeah. In that alternate reality, the Spiral Force was right over there." Gingka said, pointing out over the water. "I was trying to destroy it, so I punched a hole through it before creating a vacuum barrier using Storm Bringer. It imploded and then exploded, creating the tsunami that I thought was causing my death."

"I wonder how that almost actually caused you to die." Zero mused. "Maybe because your brain was telling you that you were, and so then you were?"

"I wouldn't underestimate the power of the brain." Gingka thought. "There are reasons psychological warfare works so well."

"Well, either way, you didn't die and it was all only a dream." Zero said cheerfully, not liking the solemn direction that the conversation was beginning to take.

Gingka smiled at this. "Yeah. It was. Makes me wonder though…" He stood and trailed off, reaching for his launcher.

Zero raised an eyebrow and stood as well, curious as to what was about to happen.

"Pegasus knew it was a dream. I ignored everyone. I have to wonder if this too is a dream." Gingka said. "Only one way to find out." He raised his launcher with the usual grace and lightning speed that his skill had attained over the years, hooking Pegasus onto it with a slight dramatic flair.

"And that is?" Zero asked curiously.

"Watch and see." Gingka responded simply. "Let it rip!" He launched Pegasus in an instant, the silver and blue bey flying effortlessly from the launcher. Gingka then closed his eyes, allowing his arms to slacken at his sides as he focused, his face becoming expressionless.

Zero just watched, wondering what was going on. He gasped suddenly as a blue glow and what seemed like some sort of starry portal appeared. Moments later, Pegasus itself rose out of the portal, spreading its wings and whinnying loudly.

"It's free." Gingka said, opening his eyes and smiling. "When I last saw Pegasus, it was chained down and unable to fly because of Spiral Force. But now…" He threw out a hand. "Fly high, Pegasus!"

The winged horse whinnied in response and launched into the air in an instant, the bey it represented following just underneath it. Gingka laughed triumphantly as his bey created a shockwave, soaring until it was out of sight.

And so it begins. A headache, a kidnapping, a glass prison; the scream of a friend, when life comes to an end. In the reality of a nightmare, hope for victory is snatched in an instant. What is happening? Unleashed, more than it seems, is the reality within a dream.

OwO I have finished it! And if you didn't notice, that last paragraph was a combination of every chapter title in this story. As soon as I can get it up, I shall see you with Eye of the Storm 2! For anyone who has not, you should go read the first Eye of the Storm so that you know what happened previously! Until then, Galaxy out!