Two weeks later, Zero and the others were back to training, this time with their new allies.
"Is this really what you've been doing all this time?!" Kira exclaimed, as he continued his pushups.
"Yeah," Zero panted, "It is. This… is exactly how we've.. been training!"
"Okay, you're done!" Benkei exclaimed.
"Finally!" Zero gasped, getting up off the ground and dusting himself off.
"I don't believe this…" Baihu moaned, his face buried in the pavement. "How is this training?"
"Yeah, bladers of love and justice like us should be battling to train, not doing pushups!" Captain Arrow said, getting up.
"Quit complaining! This is the training that allowed Zero to beat Kira, so clam up and start your jogging!" Benkei yelled.
"You and your everlasting training. Come on Benkei, give them a break!"
"Huh?" the group turned towards the familiar voice.
"Gingka! You're out of the hospital!" Zero exclaimed.
Gingka grinned at the teen from his position leaning against a tree, then strode quickly over to the group.
"Of course i'm out of the hospital! You didn't think i was going to be in there for the rest of my life, did you?" he asked as he reached the younger bladers.
"Well, no, but we did think you would be in there a bit longer." Kira said, crossing his arms.
Gingka reached over and ruffled the multicolor-haired blader's hair. "Well then, you thought wrong, didn't you?" he grinned.
"Hey! Don't touch my hair!" Kira protested, ducking out from under Gingka's brown-gloved hand.
"I don't mean to be rude, but didn't Chief Madoka tell you to stay at the B-Pit and rest?" Maru spoke up.
"Not that you've ever really listened to her in these cases." Benkei chuckled, noting the innocent look on Gingka's face.
"Well, technically she did, but like Benkei said, i don't usually listen to her." Gingka said slowly.
"And it always gets you in a world of trouble." Madoka's voice came from behind the redhead, who froze and slowly turned around.
"Oh, hey Madoka! I was just getting some fresh air."
"Then why do you have your gear?" Madoka asked, stepping in front of Gingka and putting her hands on her hips.
"Because i thought i might need it for some reason…" Gingka said slowly.
"Uh-huh. Not fooling me. Back to the B-Pit you go." Madoka said, turning Gingka around and pushing him back towards the shop.
"But Madoka, i'm fine! Look, nothing's wrong anymore! Oh, come on, you're always like this!" Gingka protested.
"Yup, and you still haven't learned." Madoka replied as she pulled the redhead around the corner and out of sight.
"Have they always been like that?" Shinobu asked, sweatdropping.
"Yeah, every single time Gingka gets injured or sick, for as long as i can remember." Benkei laughed. "I give Gingka an hour before he'll manage to sneak out and be back here again."
"Again?" Baihu asked.
"Yeah, like Madoka said, he still hasn't learned. At least she's managed to control that temper of hers." Benkei replied. "Now, back to training!"
The group of teens groaned at the order.
However, just as Benkei had predicted, Gingka returned within the hour, declaring that he was going to sit and watch them train. Upon a query from Benkei, the redhead reluctantly confirmed that Madoka had managed to confiscate his Pegasus to keep him from battling.
"Have you even shown them any launching techniques?" Gingka asked after a while of watching Zero and the others holding water-filled buckets.
"Launching techniques? No, i haven't." Benkei replied.
"Seriously? Is this strength stuff all you ever do?" Gingka asked, surprised.
"Hey, we both know that it worked for Kenta."
"Yeah, true, but he also had a little help from me and Madoka. You can't really train a blader's spirit with just strength training, Benkei."
"Well, why don't you take over then?" Benkei said, crossing his arms.
Gingka grinned. "I was waiting for you to ask. Come on, we'll turn these champions into legends in no time!"
"You want us to do what?" Ren asked once the group had put down their buckets and were gathered around Gingka and Benkei.
"Shadow launches." Gingka repeated himself.
"What's a shadow launch?" Eight asked.
Gingka sweatdropped and looked at Benkei. "All of this training, and you've never mentioned shadow launching? That's one of the basic techniques that both Beylin Temple and the Dungeon Gym use!"
"Uh, well, i'd never thought of it." Benkei said, looking embarrassed.
"Well then, guess we'd better get going!" Gingka exclaimed, turning back to the group and pulling out his launcher.
"How can you show us without a bey?" Kira asked, looking skeptical.
"Shadow launches don't use a bey, it's like you're launching a shadow." Gingka explained. "Of course, there is actually a specific position that i find works the best for launching, depending on the surface. For a flat surface…" the redhead trailed off as he raised his launcher to shoulder level, planting his feet wide apart. "This usually works best." he finished.
"That's a pretty wide stance." Yoshio commented.
"It's required for launching Pegasus." Gingka replied, lowering his launcher and returning to a normal stance.
"Hang on a second, i didn't have to take a stance that was any wider than normal, and i was using Pegasus and Bahamoote." Kira spoke up.
Gingka turned to the younger blader. "You weren't using Pegasus's full power."
"What do you mean, i wasn't using its full power?" Kira asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I was injured, so that subtracted a bit from Pegasus's power. As much as i might tease Benkei about his highly physical training, a weak body weakens the bey as well. Also, in your battle with Zero, i was intentionally holding back some of Pegasus's power, since i hadn't actually given you guys permission to use my bey, you stole it. Still, even with that, you two did manage an extremely impressive battle." Gingka replied.
"But i still was using some of Pegasus's power." Kira commented.
"Well, yeah. I couldn't hold it all back, only a fraction, and you did have Pegasus's speed with that performance tip. However," Gingka smirked. "You haven't seen the full power and speed of my Samurai Pegasus. I couldn't even use it against Doji due to my injuries preventing a full-power launch."
"But you were still amazing!" Zero spoke up.
"Because i had you guys to help me." Gingka replied. "I remember telling you to leave it to me and get out, but now i'm glad that you didn't listen and stayed to help."
"Me too." Zero grinned.
"Now come on! Let's do some practice launching!" Gingka exclaimed, sliding smoothly into a launching stance in mere moments with the ease born of long hours of practice.
"So many different launching poses! I never paid attention to them all!" Maru exclaimed as the rest of the group also slid into their launching stances.
"What would happen if i launched Pegasus in this stance?" Kira asked as Gingka stepped over and adjusted his position.
"The same thing that happened to me the first time i launched it." Gingka replied, stepping back to examine his work before bending down and moving Kira's foot over.
"And that is?" Kira asked as Gingka moved on to Eight.
"You'd get knocked flat on your back and be left trying to catch your breath while Pegasus ran wild." Gingka replied, straightening Eight's left arm.
"You're kidding." Zero said as Gingka reached him.
"Nope, i'm entirely serious. It still knocks me on my back if i'm not careful." Gingka replied, looking the Ifrit wielder over with a critical eye.
"Man, you're good! I can't see anything wrong with your position." the redhead commented, moving on to Shinobu.
Zero grinned and stuck his tongue out at Kira, who rolled his eyes.
"I knew he'd be back here." Madoka sighed, coming up next to Benkei. "What is he doing, anyway?"
"Adjusting their launching positions to get the maximum power out of them, i think." Benkei replied, watching as Gingka poked Kite in the forehead, causing the Leviathan blader to stumble backwards, much to Ren's amusement until the same thing happened to her.
"Seriously, just move your foot back a bit." Gingka chuckled as the two regained their balance.
"Like this?" Ren asked, sliding her foot backwards.
"Exactly." Gingka replied. "Because now," he paused and poked the blonde in the forehead again, but she remained motionless. "See? I can't knock you over with a simple poke now. You'll find that you don't get blown back so easily in battle with that stance."
"Cool!" Ren exclaimed, tightening her grip on her launcher.
"He's grown so much…" Madoka sighed, watching as Gingka demonstrated a shadow launch to the group, who looked rather embarrassed at the obviousness of the concept.
"Hasn't he?" Benkei commented, watching as the entire group began shadow launching in sync, with Gingka leading and watching their right arms closely.
"Five years, and the reckless, idiotic, happy-go-lucky, careless teenager we knew has been replaced by a still-reckless, but calculating, smart, fiery, and rather good-looking adult." Madoka said.
"Good-looking, huh?" Benkei chuckled.
Madoka flushed beet red, realizing that she had just let the words slip right out of her mouth without intending to say them.
"You like him." Benkei stated.
"So?!" Madoka exclaimed defensively.
"But you more than just like him, don't you?" Benkei teased.
"Shut up." Madoka said sternly, but Benkei ignored her.
"Gingka and Madoka, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Benkei began singing loudly
"Shut up, Benkei!" Gingka yelled, his face beet red in embarrassment as the group of younger bladers behind him began laughing.
Benkei laughed. "Oh, come on! Could anything be more obvious than the fact that you and Madoka really like each other?"
Gingka narrowed his eyes, glaring at Benkei and wordlessly daring the Bull wielder to say one more embarrassing thing about him. Madoka gave a little gasp of surprise at the fierce fire burning in the redhead's eyes, a fire that made her almost afraid of the wielder of Pegasus. She wondered just how much the five years of training had changed her friend, wondered what surprising new things she would soon be finding out about him, and she became slightly afraid, feeling like she no longer really knew him.
"Okay, okay, i'll shut up. Sheesh." Benkei waved dismissively at Gingka, who smirked and turned back to the group of younger bladers behind him.
"Looks like he's taken over your training session." Madoka commented as Zero and the others resumed their shadow launching.
"Ehh, they've had enough of me and Gingka's more popular anyway." Benkei sighed, sitting down on the pavement.
"Well, that's kinda to be expected." Madoka said, sitting down next to the bored-looking Bull and watching the group.
"Hey, Gingka! What about other launching poses?" Zero asked after a few more minutes of shadow launching.
"Like what other launching poses?" Gingka asked, pausing his own shadow launch halfway through to look inquisitively at his young protege.
"Well, you said the one you're doing now is good for flat surfaces, like the one we're on. What about ones at an angle?" Zero said, as the rest of the group lowered their launchers and turned their attention to the redhead.
"Or what about if something's charging at you and you want to stop it with your bey?" Ren asked.
"Or you're launching at something far below you?" Eight spoke up.
Kira smirked. "Or above?"
Gingka lowered his launcher and held up a hand to silence the group.
"You want to see different launching poses? Just think about them, the ones you named are pretty simple."
"What about a cool launching technique then?" Maru spoke up.
"Yeah!"
Gingka looked around at the sparkling eyes of the younger bladers, a smile forming on his lips as he did so.
"Madoka?"
The brunette looked up and sighed. "There's no stopping you, is there? Alright, here you go." she reached into her purse and pulled out Pegasus, tossing it to Gingka, who caught it with a grin, the gleam of a challenge appearing in his eye.
"Alright, you wanted to see a launching technique? I'll need a bit of room for this." Gingka said, putting his launcher and Pegasus back in their carrier cases.
Zero and the others stepped back, with confused looks on their faces.
"Benkei?" Gingka turned to the purple-haired blader.
"Yeah?" Benkei said, looking confused himself as he stood.
"Launch at my feet." Gingka said.
"But he doesn't have his bey! I've never even seen it!" Maru exclaimed.
"Then how do you explain that slight bulge under his jacket?" Gingka asked, smirking.
"Sharp eyes." Benkei grinned, reaching under his jacket and pulling out his launcher and bey.
As Benkei raised his launcher and hooked his bey onto it, Gingka stood with his feet together and closed his eyes, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
"Don't think i'm going to just catch Bull out of the air after launching. We might as well battle." Benkei said.
"Of course." Gingka smiled. "Ready when you are."
"Then Let it Rip!" Benkei shouted, launching his bey directly at Gingka.
In an instant, the redhead leapt into the air, twirling his launcher in his right hand for a few moments before hooking Pegasus onto the prongs and launching, causing his bey to slam into Bull at full power before he even reached the ground.
"Whoa!" Zero and his friends exclaimed.
"It's not over yet!" Gingka grinned, the gleam of a challenge blazing in his eyes as he landed.
"Well, you've definitely gained power since the last time we battled. But, i won't lose!" Benkei exclaimed.
Gingka smirked. "You can try! Pegasus!"
"Dark Bull, Red Horn Uppercut!" Benkei called.
"Cool! He's using his special move!" Eight exclaimed as Bull made contact with Pegasus and sent it flying.
"Whoa!" Ren watched the silver and blue bey as it disappeared into the sky.
Benkei looked confused. "You don't usually let me toss you like that. Is something wrong?"
"Gingka?" Zero and Kira looked at the redhead, who was grinning from ear to ear.
"I've known you for nine years, and you still haven't learned? I mean, i understand a five-years-since-we-battled excuse if you want to use it, but still!"
"What are you talking about?" Kira asked.
Gingka glanced back at the group behind him.
"Kira, you used Pegasus's wings for the speed they gave you. Naturally, since you were in a Zero-G stadium, you didn't think of this, but speed isn't all that Pegasus's wings can offer. This is part of why you couldn't use Pegasus's full power, no, its true power!" the redhead paused for a moment to look up and point to the sky.
"Pegasus's ultimate power is its ability to soar! In any case, throwing it into the air is almost like forfeiting! And everyone i battle seems to forget that one fact." Gingka looked back at Benkei and grinned.
"The fact that Pegasus's true power comes into play when it is in flight."
Benkei growled under his breath. "So i remember now, but it's too late to stop you, isn't it? Well, Bull won't be taken down by just one attack!"
"Whoa!" Zero and his friends exclaimed as Bull dipped down, waiting for Pegasus's imminent attack, the horns on its spin track glowing red as it braced itself.
"Then you underestimate me." Gingka said, beginning to glow bright blue.
"Huh?" Benkei looked confused and surprised.
"Five years of training with all of my friends and rivals around the world, and you think that i'd have nothing to show for it? Zero, Kira, if you need any more proof that a blader's true strength comes from the bonds between them and their friends and rivals, then here it is! Pegasus, special move!"
Zero and his friends stared up at the sky in awe as Pegasus spread its wings and whinnied, looming over their heads as a blazing blue light.
"Pegasus, Starblast Attack!" Gingka roared as the blue flames around him nearly hid him from view.
"Whoa!" everyone shielded their faces as a huge explosion rippled through the area, shaking the ground and causing cracks to appear at the location where Pegasus had attacked Bull.
"But that was just your most basic special move, the first one you really had! How can it be that powerful?" Madoka asked as the dust began to settle.
Gingka grinned as a burst of wind from Pegasus cleared the remaining dust to reveal Bull embedded in the cracked pavement.
"I told you, five years of training and you expected my skills and power to remain the same? Even my basic Starblast Attack is now more powerful than even the move created uniquely to defeat Ryuga that first time."
"That was amazing!" Zero exclaimed, becoming the first to snap out of the awed silence.
"That power…" Kira trailed off, entirely in shock. "Was i really holding that much power in my hands when i held Pegasus Bahamoote?"
"Probably." Gingka confirmed as he caught his bey out of the air.
"Hey, battle me next!" Zero exclaimed, holding up Ifrit.
"No, me!" Shinobu protested, pulling out his Salamander.
Gingka laughed as the group began arguing.
"Hey, hey, calm down! I'll get to everyone eventually! No bladers left behind!"
"Just like the old days, sort of." Madoka sighed.
"Yeah, sort of." Benkei agreed, picking up Bull from the rubble.
"It's good to have him back here safe and sound."
"No kidding, right? And Zero and the others seem more pumped up than usual."
"Well, doesn't Gingka just tend to have that effect on people?" Madoka chuckled.
"Yeah, i guess you're right." Benkei grinned. "Now go on, go be the faithful mechanic and congratulate him."
Madoka smiled and walked quickly over to Gingka. The group surrounding the redhead parted to let her through as they saw her coming.
"See, i told you i was fine." Gingka smirked.
"I know, i know." Madoka laughed, looking up and meeting the redhead's sparkling golden-brown eyes. The world around them seemed to freeze and fade away, leaving only them behind, staring into each other's eyes.
Almost before she realized she had done it, Madoka had practically flown into Gingka's arms, nestling her face into the folds of his scarf as he wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek on the top of her head for a few seconds before pulling away and gently tilting her face up towards his, brushing her hair out of her face before bowing his head down the exact distance of the height difference between them and kissing her gently on the forehead.
"I knew it!" Benkei crowed triumphantly over the shocked silence that had fallen over the group of bladers surrounding the two as Gingka pulled himself out of Madoka's arms and got down on one knee, taking her hand and looking up into her face. Even Benkei fell silent at the sight, leaving only Gingka's next words to break the silence.
"Madoka Amano, will you marry me?"
Madoka gasped, surprised at the sudden question.
"Yes!" she squealed in excitement, dropping to her knees and practically tackling the redhead in front of her.
Gingka laughed as he somehow managed to maintain his balance, hugging the brunette tightly.
One month later, Gingka carried his bride down the aisle to the sounds of all of his friends and rivals, old and new, from around the world, cheering.