Here we are with chapter four! It's a few hours later than I would have liked, but ah well. Enjoy! Total foreshadowing count: 30
"Okay Gingka, just calm down. There's a solution to this." Benkei said.
"Calm down?! Madoka's unconscious with a bad injury in enemy hands and you want me to calm down?!" Gingka said, practically snarling.
"We'll get her back." Benkei said, putting a firm hand on Gingka's shoulder. "But rushing in angrily isn't gonna work. You learned that before."
Gingka growled and shoved Benkei's hand off his shoulder. "I know. I'm going to get my dad. I'll meet you guys at the WBBA."
Before anyone could say anything further to stop the redhead, he was gone.
Gingka darted down the streets and alleyways of Metal Bey City with all the speed he could muster. He dodged parked cars, trees, and traffic signs. Soon enough, the WBBA headquarters came into view, towering proudly above its surroundings. The sight of it spurred Gingka on faster, the redhead intent on getting there and getting out quickly. He got into the elevator before the receptionist could notice him, and pressed the button for the floor Tsubasa's office was on before leaning against the back wall, panting.
The doors seemed to close agonizingly slowly before the elevator crawled into motion. Gingka tapped his foot rapidly, his legs and lungs burning from the rush of getting there. His head was beginning to pound again, reminding him once more that he had hit his head, what had Madoka said, two days ago? He didn't even know. Neither did he care. Madoka's head was in worse shape than his was, so he could ignore the pressured feeling that was trying to inch its way back onto his forehead.
Gingka turned his head and looked out the glass sides of the elevator, wishing that it would move faster. He scowled at the sight of Spiral Core, hovering ominously over the ocean in the distance.
"Mark my words, Ziggurat… You will pay if you touch a hair." Gingka muttered before yelping and falling to the ground as the elevator jerked to an unexpected stop.
"Ow…" Gingka grumbled, sitting up and looking around before standing. He frowned, noticing that he was only halfway to where he wanted to be. Tsubasa's office was on the twentieth floor. So why was the elevator stopping at the thirteenth?
Gingka went to the door and peered through before his eyes widened.
"Oh no… No, no no!" He growled, spotting the floor of the fourteenth story at his own shoulder level.
"You have got to be kidding me…" Gingka muttered, glancing slightly above him to where the fourteenth floor was, then below him to where the thirteenth floor lay. Nobody was in sight. Gingka found himself trapped in a stopped elevator between the thirteenth and fourteenth floors.
"Come on…" The redhead growled, pulling out his phone. "This just had to happen now…" He grumbled, taking a deep breath to calm down before calling Tsubasa's office.
"Hello, WBBA Headquarters this is the Director's office, how may I help you?" Hikaru's voice came.
"Hikaru! Is Tsubasa there?" Gingka exclaimed, trying to calm down.
"Gingka? Tsubasa just went out to lunch with your dad, but I can take a message."
"This is a bit too urgent for that. I'll call his cell in a second." Gingka said, peering down the hallways on the fourteenth and thirteenth floors to see if anyone was coming.
"Is something wrong?" Hikaru asked, concern entering her voice.
"I'm in the elevator and it's stuck between the thirteenth and fourteenth floors." Gingka sighed. "And I need to get out quickly."
"Okay, hang on. I'll send a maintenance crew to get you out." Hikaru said. "Just hang tight."
"Not like I can do anything else…" Gingka grumbled under his breath, looking around.
"You'll be out within an hour, probably. Which floor is the elevator closer to?" Hikaru asked.
"Thirteenth." Gingka said with a sigh.
"Alright. The maintenance crew will be on their way soon. Watch out for monsters on the thirteenth floor." Hikaru joked before hanging up.
Gingka took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, closing his eyes. He pressed his back against the cold glass walls of what for the time being seemed like a prison. Taking more deep breaths to calm himself down and remind himself that he would be out of here soon, he again looked to his phone and called Tsubasa.
"You have reached the cellphone of Tsubasa Ootori. Obviously, I am unavailable right now, so please leave a message and I will return your call as soon as possible."
Gingka rolled his eyes slightly and looked faintly amused at Tsubasa's ever-polite voicemail recording.
"Hey Tsubasa, it's Gingka. I'll keep this short. Madoka's been kidnapped by Ziggurat and we need to get her out as soon as possible. She was injured and unconscious. Benkei and the others are meeting me at the WBBA, and we need your help to get us to Spiral Force. Please hurry." Gingka said quickly before hanging up and growling under his breath. Of all the times for Tsubasa to go out to lunch, it had to be now, and he had to be ignoring his phone.
Gingka sighed and turned, pressing his forehead against the glass. The longer time he spent trapped inside, the more it felt like a prison. Gingka shivered, suddenly feeling cold. He decided to turn his attention out to the surrounding city, which he could easily see from his vantage point. Somehow, the glittering buildings and bare streets only made him feel colder, as if he were all alone.
Gingka felt as if he were going to panic, only able to see glittering buildings that seemed to have lost their warmth, as if he were looking out over a dead city. The only thing he could not tear his attention away from was the bey-shaped city hovering in the distance, out over the ocean, barely visible on the horizon.
Gingka growled and decided to turn his back on the Spiral Force for now, as looking at it was only filling him with rage. He pressed his back against the glass wall of the elevator once more, resisting the tugging feeling that was enveloping his body and making him want to go to the Spiral Force. He knew that he had to rescue Madoka, but from his current position he was helpless.
Gingka stood there, an overwhelming feeling of being tied down enveloping him. He felt as if invisible claws were grabbing at him, grabbing at his shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and waist. Gingka jerked forwards in an attempt to get away from the feeling, whirling towards the Spiral Force and staring at it as if it were an alien from another planet.
The sound of footsteps snapped Gingka out of the panicked feeling, as he turned and sighed in relief, spotting the maintenance crew hurrying towards him.
"Are you alright in there sir?" One worker asked as they all began opening toolboxes and inserting crowbars between the doors to pry them open.
"I'm fine. Just get me out of here." Gingka said, sitting down on the ground so he could see them easier.
"We're working on it sir. We'll have these doors open soon." They promised, beginning to tug at the doors.
Gingka nodded and attempted to help from the inside. The entire group paused for a second and tensed as the elevator jerked slightly, dropping a couple of inches before stopping again.
"... Sir, don't move." The maintenance crew said hesitantly. "We're gonna need to call more help to make sure this stays put while we get you out. It may fall if we're not careful."
Gingka groaned mentally, but nodded outwardly, his body tense as he sat perfectly still, doing as he was told. Falling thirteen and a half stories was definitely not something he wanted to do, especially when he had a rescue to accomplish as soon as he got out of the elevator, which was feeling more and more like a prison with every passing second. One of the maintenance crewmen was soon on the phone with someone, calling for additional help. Some wind blew against the building, causing the elevator to shake slightly and drop a couple more inches. The maintenance crew tried to prop it up through the small gap they had managed to open.
Gingka breathed shakily. The prisonlike feeling was not helping with the new fear of falling and not being able to go rescue Madoka. He couldn't fall. Gingka knew that. If the elevator fell, he could be injured too badly to go do anything, and that was definitely not something that Gingka wanted.
It all happened at once. In slow motion, Gingka saw the gleam of something flying at him from the direction of Spiral Core. Before the maintenance crew could even notice, Gingka was standing and had launched Pegasus through the narrow opening they had created in the elevator doors. The silver and blue bey darted off down the hallway before returning at full speed and smashing through the doors of the elevator, shattering them and allowing Gingka a large hole to dive through to safety just as a second bey cut through the elevator's cables, causing it to plummet to the ground milliseconds after Gingka dove out.
Gingka laid on the carpeted hallway of the WBBA, panting slightly, his eyes constricted as he calmed down from the event that had just happened. After a few seconds, he sat up and looked around, his body trembling slightly with adrenaline. In an instant, the decision was made to run off and head to the stairs. Gingka had lost all trust in the elevators for the time being, and they would be too slow. Knowing that Tsubasa and his father were not in the WBBA, Gingka headed down the stairs, leaping back and forth over the railings rather than bothering with running down all thirteen flights.
Pegasus followed its master as he ran across the lobby and outside, looking around the empty streets for any sort of clue. Gingka could feel his power surging, imminent battle on his mind.
"Come out and face me head-on!" He exclaimed, narrowing his eyes. "Your little plan to take me out from the elevator failed, you coward!"
Slow clapping came from behind one of the buildings.
"I must compliment you on your quick escape, little Gingka. I thought I had underestimated you, and it would seem that I have. Your skills with a bey are quite advanced for having been advanced naturally."
Gingka narrowed his eyes. "Ziggurat." he snarled.
"Oh, are you mad at me?" Ziggurat asked calmly as he stepped into view out of the shadows of the building. "Really now, is that the way to greet someone you haven't seen in a long time?"
Gingka narrowed his eyes and growled, Pegasus circling him in almost a menacing although defensive manner. "I wouldn't exactly call you a friend, Ziggurat. Honestly, I'd hoped we'd seen the last of you nine years ago when we took down your little operation the first time."
"Well, sometimes your hopes get crushed by little pests." Ziggurat scoffed. "But you won't defeat me this time."
"Calling yourself the pest you are? It's about time." Gingka growled. "But you won't 'crush' me. You can't."
"Oh but I can. Have you already forgotten that I have your little friend?" Ziggurat taunted.
Gingka narrowed his eyes. "Of course not. But count on it, if you dare hurt her, I will personally see to it that you are taken down."
"Then let me make you a deal." Ziggurat said. "If you can get to your friend, I'll let her go. But you only have a certain amount of time."
Gingka scowled. "As if that's any sort of deal. I'll get to her and get her out of your slimy clutches either way."
"Oh, but can you save more than just her at once?" Ziggurat asked.
Gingka froze. "What are you talking about…?"
"You see, little Madoka is not the only one I have taken from where she should be if she were safe. I have several of your other little friends too, you see." Ziggurat boasted.
"You… You stink." Gingka growled. "Let them go now."
"Or what?" Ziggurat challenged. "All of the cards are on my side, you see. You're not exactly in a position to be making demands."
"Is that so?" Gingka asked, a smirk playing across his lips as he and Pegasus began to glow blue. "Have you forgotten that I took you down last time?"
"You had to have your little friends support you along the way though. What will you do when the only ones close enough to help are in my hands and can't help you?"
"Take you down without their help."
"Well now, isn't this surprising. Gingka Hagane, the one who is always going on about how one only gets stronger with the help of friends, saying that he can do something on his own without them?"
"You misunderstand what that means." Gingka narrowed his eyes. "I have something to fight for. I can fight for them. They don't have to be at my side physically for me to be stronger because of them."
"Is that so?" Ziggurat chuckled. "The way I see it, you don't stand a chance."
"We'll see about that." Gingka growled.
"Then let's see if your power alone can really save them!" Ziggurat exclaimed, raising his launcher and launching Spiral Capricorn at Gingka, who immediately blocked the attack with Pegasus and sent it flying back.
"Stop us, if you can." Ziggurat challenged, climbing back into a helicopter that was waiting for him. "Or rather, if you dare!"
"Mark my words, Ziggurat…" Gingka growled as he watched the helicopter fly off and out of his sight, away towards the Spiral Force. "You will pay if you touch a hair on any of their heads."
In an instant, Gingka had come to a decision. He couldn't wait around to see if Ziggurat really had captured his friends, as he had claimed to. He had to take action, and action meant getting aboard the Spiral Force if he had to swim to the stupid thing.
Gingka snatched Pegasus out of the air and turned on his heel, running back into the WBBA and running up all twenty flights of stairs, taking them two steps at a time. Once he reached the top, Gingka paused for an instant, blinked in surprise at the fact that he wasn't totally out of breath, and moved on towards the offices where he knew Hikaru must be.
"Hikaru!" Gingka called as he practically burst into Tsubasa's office, startling the bluenette, who nearly dropped her coffee.
"Goodness Gingka, calm down." Hikaru said, setting down the mug.
"I need a helicopter. Now. I have to get to the Spiral Force." Gingka said before Hikaru could make any further comment.
"Did Tsubasa say it was-" Hikaru began, but Gingka interrupted her.
"Tsubasa's been taken by Ziggurat, well, so Ziggurat claims. So have my dad and a bunch of the others. If Ziggurat's not lying, then he has them all. The whole group of younger bladers plus Tsubasa, my dad, and Madoka. I have to get there and get them out, and I have to do it now."
Hikaru nodded in understanding. "Why don't you have a seat and calm down. The helicopters will take at least a half hour to be ready."
"I don't know if we have that long…" Gingka muttered with a heavy sigh as he sat down on the couch.
"Well I can't get one ready any faster, probably. But we'll see." Hikaru sighed and went up to the roof to deliver the order.
Gingka, meanwhile, rested his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. He closed his eyes, head beginning to pound again as the adrenaline faded away slightly. He knew that he should probably get it checked, or should at least rest, but if he rested now, then who knew what would happen? All of his friends who were close enough to do what he had to do were the ones who needed rescuing. The others were spread out across the world, and could not possibly get to his location in time to help, right?
"Gingka?" Hikaru's voice interrupted Gingka's thoughts. The redhead opened his eyes and looked up calmly, although anger was brewing behind the golden-brown pools.
"You got lucky. There was one helicopter that just got back and will be ready in five minutes after refueling. If you head up there now then by the time you can get into it, it'll be nearly ready to leave." Hikaru said, smiling reassuringly at him.
Gingka stood immediately and headed for the roof. "Thanks, Hikaru. Guess I owe you one."
"Go get 'em." Hikaru said with a friendly smile as Gingka jogged up the stairs and onto the roof, stepping into the waiting helicopter.
"I'm coming for you, Ziggurat." Gingka growled as he sat down on one of the seats, the pilot closing the door behind him.
"I'm coming for you."
Dun dun duuuuun! Does this count as a cliffhanger? If this counts as a cliffhanger then that makes four in a row for you guys to hate me for. Isn't this just the funnest thing ever?! And on top of that, I'm coming up on my first main plot twist and maybe my second one! -The two plot twists might happen simultaneously but I haven't decided yet- Anyway, until next time, Galaxy out!