Yeah, this is what I've been busy with the past few days. If anyone's wondering why I haven't updated my other stories yet, it's because I've been drifting away from Inazuma Eleven for a while. I won't discontinue them though. I hate leaving people hanging.
Anyways, for now, just enjoy this story.
The Stage is Set: Chapter 1: Power Out
The streets of Hong Kong were definitely soaking in the downpour. Honestly, Gingka was glad they hadn't gone outside that day or they would have been stuck there. The redhead threw a small glare at the youngest member of the team for talking too loudly to Tsubasa – seriously, he wasn't even listening! – as he finished recounting the events of the first round to his childhood friend, Hyoma. He turned his gaze to Masamune, who was watching the ceiling from a nearby chair as Madoka repaired their beys next to him.
When Gingka finally put the phone in his pocket, Masamune screamed, "This is so boring!" The others would have replied, if it hadn't been the tenth time in a row.
Normally, boredom wouldn't be a problem for Gan Gan Galaxy, but since their beys (except Yu's) were being repaired after their battle with Wang Hu Zhong, they couldn't exactly battle. Otherwise, they'd have had to face Madoka's wrath, which was never a good thing. And since it was raining, they couldn't look around the city for something interesting to do.
"Find something to do then," Madoka said, not taking her eyes off of Pegasus as she brushed out the dirt from it. "There are plenty of activities on the internet."
After thinking about it for a few seconds, Masamune whipped out his phone from his pocket. Gingka took a seat next to Madoka, watching her work. Just as he did, a loud roar echoed in the room and a bright flash of lightning illuminated the room.
A few seconds later, the power went out.
All was silent for a while as everyone took in the situation. Then, Yu spoke up. "Hey, what happened to the power?"
Madoka was the one who answer. "It went out." Gingka could hear the sourness in her tone, though he couldn't really blame her. He would hate being interrupted while doing something important too.
The redhead himself sighed and pouted. It just wasn't their day. This was just adding salt to the wound caused by the incessant rain.
Masamune's reaction, however, was not as mellow. Taken by surprise, he leaned back on the chair enough for it to fall backwards, creating a loud crash which was soon followed by a yelp. Gingka sighed. Did he have to be so loud? "Great. The net won't work now."
In other words, more complaints.
The room was suddenly illuminated again, this time by a beam of light coming from Madoka's hand. Apparently, she had managed to find a flashlight.
The five made their way to the center of the room, trying not to bump into anything, and sat on their beds while the flashlight remained on the table, shining in their direction. For a while, they just looked at each other.
"So, what now?" Yu asked.
Good question. A really good question.
Gingka thought for a while. What could they do that was fun, available at the moment and an activity that wouldn't end in an argument?
Honestly, it was kind of sad when he came up blank.
Suddenly, a snap pulled him out of his thoughts. They all turned to a beaming Madoka who was holding out two fingers in front of her. "Since there's nothing we can do right now, we might as well get to know each other."
Yeah, an excellent way to start an argument.
At everyone's blank looks, she elaborated, "I mean, we know next to nothing about each other."
Gingka wondered if it even mattered. They could function as a team without knowing much about each other, right?
"Come on! You saw how well Wang Hu Zhong works with each other, and who knows how better the other teams will be! If we have to participate as a team, we might as well start working together."
That was a good point, he had to admit.
They just blinked at her while she stared back, her blue eyes wide and hopeful. Then, the silence was broken by Tsubasa's sigh. "Fine. It's not like we have anything better to do."
Gingka sighed. "You have a point."
One by one, they all agreed. Beaming, Madoka said, "I read about this activity called the Twenty Questions the other day. Basically, you just have to ask a question and the rest have to answer truthfully, you follow?"
As long as it was nothing embarrassing.
"Sounds simple," Masamune said. Looking around, he declared, "I'll go first then."
Good. Gingka was in no hurry to ask a question. What should he ask anyways?
Met with no objections, he thought for a while. "If you had to give up a food forever, which one would be the hardest to give up?"
From how quick Yu's answer was, one would think he didn't even need to think. "Ice-cream."
Gingka crossed his arms with a thoughtful expression. What would be the hardest to give up? "Triple beef hamburgers." That one was obvious. There were also a few others though. "And Madoka's cake. And-"
Masamune interrupted him, holding one finger in front of him. "One food, Gingka."
The redhead pouted. This was turning out to be harder than he thought. "Fine. The hamburger."
Tsubasa had his eyes closed as he said, "Fish."
Really? Gingka didn't even like fish! Then again, eagles loved them. Maybe Tsubasa was trying to give up being a human in favor of being an eagle...
"Does coffee count?" Madoka asked.
Did it? It wasn't exactly a food, but it was edible. Still, he had no idea Madoka liked coffee. Maybe this was necessary after all...
Masamune thought about it for a few seconds. "I guess. Mine would be burgers too."
Wait, they had to answer their own question too?
Yu raised his hand and waved it around. Gingka noticed with some amusement that he nearly poked Tsubasa's eye out and did even notice when the silver haired blader glared at him in annoyance. "I'll go next. If you were an ice-cream, which flavor would you be?"
The rest sweat dropped at the unusual question. In hindsight, they really should have seen an ice-cream related question coming from Yu.
Ice-cream, huh? There wasn't a flavor he particularly liked or disliked, so...
"Chocolate, I guess," Gingka and Masamune said at the same time. Why did they always have to think everything at the same time? It was annoying, to say the least.
"Strawberry," Madoka said. "It's the only type of ice-cream I like." Strawberry, huh?
"Does it have to be ice-cream?" Tsubasa asked. At Yu's rapid nod, he sighed. "Vanilla." Gingka got the impression that he answered just to get it over with. After all, Tsubasa wasn't exactly a big fan of ice-cream.
"I'd be butterscotch," Yu said.
Butterscotch? Honestly, he had thought chocolate would be Yu's answer.
"I thought you'd have be chocolate," Masamune commented, obviously thinking along the same lines as him. Again.
Yu pulled a face. "I'm allergic to chocolate."
Wait, what? Allergic? Then, Gingka recalled the he had, in fact, never seen Yu eat chocolate before. Honestly, how could he have missed that?
He then turned to Gingka. "Your turn, Gingky."
Gingka looked around the group. What should he ask? The last couple of questions had taught him that he knew next to nothing about his teammates. Where should he start?
He asked the first thing that came to his mind. "Favorite color?"
"Green," Masamune said immediately. No surprised, considering how green his outfit and bey were.
"Black," Tsubasa said. Now that came as more of a surprise. Then again, Tsubasa had always been a mystery.
"Pink." No surprise again, for some reason.
Yu shrugged. "I'm colorblind, so..."
Okay, they had definitely needed this. He hadn't ever realized that Yu was colorblind. Honestly, he had always thought that Yu was an open book, but now that they had started this, he couldn't help but wonder a lot of things.
How come Yu stayed with Tsubasa and not his parents? How come Tsubasa was an agent despite not being a legal adult? How old was he anyways? How come Madoka never beybattled even though she had a bey? Why did Masamune want to be Number One so much?
"What?" Yu asked and Gingka realized that everyone else was gaping at him.
"You just never mentioned it before," Masamune said.
Yu shrugged. "You didn't ask." They really should have, Gingka couldn't help but think. The kid turned to Tsubasa. "Your turn."
Tsubasa thought about it while the rest watched. Gingka was expecting a different question from him, something more to do with the team rather than individual preferences. He didn't disappoint him.
Finally, he said, "What is your honest opinion about your teammates?"
At the question, everyone shared uneasy glances. The last time they commented on each other, they'd gotten into a fight and Madoka had gotten mad, leaving them a week without their beys. There was no way Gingka was going to repeat that.
He was both surprised and unsurprised when Yu was the first to respond.
"Gingky's cool, even if he can be childish sometimes," Yu said, albeit sounding unsure. Gingka smiled at him, encouraging him to go on. "And Madoka's awesome when she's not angry. Then, she's really scary." Gingka shuddered. That was an understatement.
"Tsubasa can be a know-it-all, but he did help me with my nightmares about the Dark Nebula and Reiji, and he lets me stay with him too, so I guess he's cool." Tsubasa's mouth twitched upwards into a small smile which was the only reaction he gave.
Meanwhile, Gingka's mind stopped at one part of the sentence. Nightmares? Just how much did he not know bout his own friends?
"I don't really like it when Masamune teases me about being the sub, but he's not such a bad guy, I guess." By now, it had started to seem as if Yu was talking to himself and not them.
No one said anything for a while so Gingka spoke up. "Masamune's a knucklehead for sure."
He mentally grinned at the loud "Hey!" he received.
"But he did stop me from showing Dashan Star Booster attack and he never gives up. That's something I can respect."
"Thanks," Masamune said, unsure of what else to say.
"But he's still a knucklehead," Gingka finished with a grin, making Masamune clench his fists and glare at him, even if neither of the two held any real bite.
"Yu's a great blader," Gingka continued. "Even if he can be childish, but what would you expect from a kid?"
Yu pouted. "I'm not a kid!" Well, at least something was expected.
"The youngest person around," Gingka corrected, laughing silently along with the rest. "You're a great person, you know."
Immediately, his pout turned into a smile brighter than the sun. "Thanks, Gingky!" he chirped.
"Tsubasa can be a real downer sometimes, but he's an amazing blader for sure. He never freaks out during a beybattle and always calm and collected. He never gets distracted and is always serious, sometimes even a little too serious. Still, you need to loosen up a bit sometimes." Tsubasa nodded in acknowledgment.
"Madoka's-"
Just as Gingka spoke, the light flickered back on and the said brunette turned the flashlight off. Going back to her spot on the bed, she asked, "So, should we continue?"
The four bladers shared looks. Somehow, they all knew what the others were thinking. They could continue their previous activities some other time. And besides, they hadn't been doing anything productive anyways.
"Nah, this is fun," Yu said for all of them.
Years later, the team would look back and marvel at the difference one small game could make.
Sorry if that was a bit cheesy, but I just wanted to do something that would bring the team closer quicker and see how that would affect their journey in the World Championships. The changes will be subtle at the start and turn bigger later.
And seriously, Gan Gan Galaxy had a lot of room for improvement in the anime, especially in the teamwork department. So, this story will focus on those changes and how they work for the better and for the worst. Although I'll try to keep the rewriting to a minimum.
I hope everyone was IC. If not, please tell me where and how and I'll try to fix that. If you have any other suggestions, whether they are about writing or some prompts, feel free to share.