I'm back! Slightly later than usual, but enjoy this chapter! And enjoy seeing a bunch more of Pegasus than before. You're welcome.
"How far up do you think he is?"
"Who knows? He could have reached that cavern by now. Hopefully he has with this storm that's coming in."
"Gingka…."
Everyone paused what they were doing for a moment to look up at the mountain towering over their heads.
"We'd better get moving if we're gonna catch up to him." Kentaro said.
"We have to open the gate ourselves first." Ryo pointed out.
"Not too much of a problem. There are six bladers here, are there not?"
"Five. Madoka's not a blader." Ren said.
"Well, five is enough to open a door." Kentaro chuckled.
"One is enough with enough power. I bet Zero could probably do it, or at least he could come close." Ryo said. "After all, Gingka has opened it twice now on his own power."
"He's a lot stronger than I am though." Zero said.
"Hold on a second. Zero, you gained quite a bit of power while Gingka was comatose, remember? Even if you couldn't beat him five years ago, I think you have to be at least at the level of power he was when he opened that gate before with his bey." Madoka said, pulling out her laptop and typing rapidly. The others leaned over her shoulder.
"You still have his old Storm Pegasus data on there?" Ryo blinked in surprise.
"It's Gingka we're talking about here. Do you have any clue how many times I've been asked to compare someone else's data to his?" Madoka laughed.
"Didn't you tell me the other day that you'd lost count a long time ago?" Ren said.
"True." Madoka chuckled. "But, if I take Gingka's stats from fourteen years ago, and compare them to Zero's stats now…" the brunette trailed off. "There! Zero has plenty of power!"
"His stats are double what Gingka's were back then." Ryo whistled. "He can definitely do it then."
"What about what Gingka's were before this transformation?" Ren asked. "You know, the last time you gathered data on Gingka."
Madoka typed for a few seconds before chuckling. "He's still got Zero beat there."
"... By how much…?" Zero asked slowly.
Madoka chuckled as she turned her laptop around for Zero to see. The Ifrit blader's eyes nearly popped out of his head before he sat down, staring at the ground in disbelief.
"No fair…" He whined.
"Gingka still had you beat by about five hundred percent." Madoka laughed.
"Meaning he was five times as powerful as Zero is now?" Ryo chuckled.
"... I'll catch up eventually." Zero muttered.
"Eventually." Ren snorted.
Zero glared playfully at his wife. "You wanna start this now?"
Ren giggled. "We don't have time, baka." She said, flicking his nose.
"Hey!" "Zero exclaimed, crossing his arms and pouting.
"You're still such a child." Ren laughed as she walked off.
"Am not!" Zero protested.
"Actually you are, now how long is it going to take you to catch up to your friend, because the Liberators are coming after you. I managed to throw them off his trail for the moment."
The group whirled, but saw no one.
"Come out, why don't you? You give all this talk about keeping the Liberators off our trail, but are you afraid of us?" Ren challenged.
"I am not afraid of you. It is merely not time for you to actually see me yet."
"And when will it be time?" Ryo challenged.
"Soon. Very soon." Pegasus replied quietly. "For now, you must all hurry and get within the walls around the mountain. As long as you stay here you can be easily trapped, as the Liberators can fly."
"They can fly?" Kentaro said, surprised.
"They… Have rocket boots." Ryo explained.
"I swear they're like something from one of those sci-fi movies." Zero said.
An amused snort sounding partially like that of a horse echoed, causing Ryo and Madoka to glance at each other in surprise.
"Get them!" A malicious-sounding voice echoed.
"Better hurry." Pegasus said.
"Right." Ryo muttered, quickly slipping a backpack onto his shoulder and helping Kentaro and Madoka do theirs.
"Zero?" Kentaro said.
"On it." Zero grunted, quickly launching at the gate. "Ifrit, Burning Uppercut!"
"Not enough distance!" Madoka called as Ifrit bounced right off the door.
"RIght then. One more time, Ifrit!" Zero called, pulling Ifrit back before sending it at the door again just as the Liberators burst out of the trees behind them.
"Here they come!" Ryo exclaimed, launching Fireblaze at the group.
"Gryphon!" Kentaro exclaimed, launching his own bey.
"Phoenix!" Ren called, launching before grabbing her baby and holding it close.
"Aries!" Hyoma called, also launching.
"Four to seven, huh? Not exactly fair odds for you, is it?" Kusari taunted as he stepped out, his black outfit gleaming menacingly in the sunlight.
"Depends on your definition of fair odds." Ryo said. "And there are five of us here."
"One's focused on opening that silly gate and the other isn't attacking and doesn't fight in the first place anyway." Kusari sneered. "I don't think you're that good at counting."
"One's just hidden from both of our view." Ryo said calmly.
"You're really going to force me into this, huh? Just as I was about to leave, too." Pegasus huffed.
Kusari tensed. "You…"
"Surprise, surprise. Yes, I'm still around despite your pathetic attempt at killing me last night. You even lost two of your allies in that attempt." Pegasus said calmly.
"Their sacrifice will not be in vain." Kusari growled.
"You're lucky that I currently have no intent of killing you as well, otherwise I'd have just taken care of you when you first arrived." Pegasus said.
"If you even knew when we first arrived." Kusari huffed.
"Three days ago at 1:45 in the afternoon, in Metal Bey City, in the exact center of Bey Coliseum." Pegasus replied calmly.
"How did you know that?!" Kusari gasped.
"You'll be telling someone that fairly soon and I was watching you arrive." Pegasus said. "Now I suggest you get out of here before I decide to paralyze two of your allies. You only have five left including yourself, after all. Wouldn't it be better to save your strength? You know that you cannot beat me."
Kusari growled, pointing his gun and firing it off in several directions at random.
"Hint: I'm not in any of the directions you fired." Pegasus said ominously.
"Show yourself!" Kusari exclaimed, continuing to fire.
"... Are those lasers? These guys really are straight from a sci-fi movie." Madoka muttered.
"Guys, I got it!" Zero called as the door creaked and opened.
"Go!" Kentaro exclaimed, running off with a speed that was fairly surprising for his age. Ren and Madoka followed, with Ryo, Hyoma, and Zero bringing up the rear.
"Get them!" Kusari exclaimed, sending two of the Liberators after them while he and the other two continued firing randomly in their search for Pegasus.
"Close the gate!" Ryo exclaimed. Zero caught Ifrit out of the air as he continued running. The gate slowly began to close, the Liberators choosing to go up and over the wall.
"So much for 'only those who are worthy may enter.'" Ryo muttered under his breath as he continued running.
"Get him!" Kusari could be heard yelling as the sound of beating hooves was heard.
Ryo and the others yelped and ducked as laser fire streaked past them, the Liberators taking to the skies as the gates closed.
"What in the world…?" Kentaro breathed as he spotted it, or rather, him. Pegasus was galloping in a zig-zag pattern towards them.
"Okay, so apparently he can turn into the actual animal." Ryo panted as he ran, glancing back at the armored winged horse.
"Forget him, just keep running! I think I see a cave up ahead!" Hyoma pointed.
"Get inside!" Kentaro exclaimed, running inside and quickly going to the back of the cave.
Madoka and the others quickly ducked inside, panting. Ryo and Zero stood watch as Pegasus kept zig-zagging up the mountainside, dodging burst after burst of laser fire. Madoka tensed at the sound of a loud, pained whinny.
"What happened?!" She asked, panting.
"He got hit." Ryo breathed. "They shot him."
Madoka darted to the front of the cave, looking wide-eyed at the now-fallen winged horse laying motionless on the ground.
"We have to save him." Zero said determinedly, launching Ifrit once more and running out of the cave. Ryo and Hyoma sighed and followed.
"You're finished, Pegasus." Kusari smirked as he and the others landed in a circle around the fallen horse.
"Burning Uppercut!" A wall of flames suddenly rose between Pegasus and the Liberators, causing the black-clad group to leap back with a startled yelp.
"Burning Fire Strike!"
"Horn Throw Destruction!"
"Fine then! But he will not survive long!" Kusari growled. "Liberators, retreat! We search for the other, the greater threat!" In a flash, all five had flown off.
"Well, that was surprisingly easy." Zero commented, catching his bey out of the air.
"One problem though." Ryo said, kneeling next to the head of the motionless winged horse. "They just took down their main threat. Now they're after Gingka, and without Pegasus he may be completely defenseless."
"Is he…" Hyoma asked.
Ryo frowned and placed the back of his hand across Pegasus's nose.
"He's still breathing, barely." the redhead reported with a sigh.
"Perhaps taking this armor off would help?" Hyoma suggested, looking at all of the shining metal that was hiding most of the winged horse from view.
"Does it even come off?" Zero asked.
"Only one way to find out." Hyoma said, looking for some sort of buckle.
Within minutes, Madoka had come out of the cave and joined them, her eyes widening at the near-white winged horse that was laying on the ground, wings outstretched.
"Can you hear us?" Hyoma asked, still examining the armor around the horse's ribcage.
"He's.. Beautiful." Madoka whispered, joining Ryo next to Pegasus's head.
"In a surreal way." Ryo agreed.
Madoka shakily reached out and laid a hand on the light blue nose that protruded from beneath the armor covering Pegasus's face. "This armos doesn't look too comfortable.." The brunette said. "At least not to lie down in."
"He's bleeding a bit." Hyoma frowned.
"Where was he hit?" Ryo asked, glancing over the horse's body.
"Several places. All right in between the joints of his armor too, those guys must have really good aim."
"Then he's good at dodging for having evaded them for so long." Ryo sighed.
"Pegasus?" Madoka said softly as a low moan escaped the horse.
"Hnnnn…."
"Can you hear us?" Hyoma asked as a light blue glow came from beneath the armor on the horse's head.
A slight shiver ran through Pegasus's body before he raised his head slightly and tried to get up, only to slowly sink back to the ground.
"Just rest. The Liberators left to go after Gingka." Ryo said.
The glow of Pegasus's eyes brightened at this as he once again tried to get up, snorting weakly.
"Just rest." Madoka said sternly.
"But…"
"You're too injured. Rest. Now." Madoka growled under her breath.
"I… Have to… Protect…"
"Gingka can protect himself. He figured out how to fire off lightning bolts and you said yourself that you threw them off his trail. Better listen to Madoka, she won't take no for an answer in matters like this." Ryo said.
"Does this armor of yours come off?" Hyoma asked. "I think it'd be easier to breathe if it was off."
As soon as Hyoma had finished speaking, the armor glowed, then disappeared into a shower of glowing blue sparks that disappeared back into Pegasus.
"... Well that was easy." Hyoma said.
"We… Should get to shelter…" Pegasus muttered, wincing as he once more tried to move. "Too out in the open…"
"Just relax. We'll be fine. I doubt we could carry you, but if you could… Turn human?" Ryo suggested.
"Can't… No energy…" Pegasus breathed.
"There's gotta be some way." Ryo frowned.
Pegasus let out a low, ethereal whinny in response. Almost instantly, Zero yelped and leapt back as the glowing figure of Ifrit appeared, looking around calmly. A small, pained smirk appeared on Pegasus's face as the group stared at it in shock. Another whinny from Pegasus, and the flaming creature had lifted the winged horse and was carrying it to the cave.
"Well… That solves that problem." Ryo said, blinking and following.
Within minutes, Pegasus had been laid on one of the tarps used to protect their sleeping bags, and Madoka and Kentaro were occupied treating the horse's wounds.
"You'll be alright… Right?" Madoka asked softly as she sat down next to the head of the winged horse and began stroking its cheek.
"Yeah…." Pegasus muttered, closing his eyes and drifting slowly off to sleep.
"Alright, this is where you said to come, so where are you?!" Gingka's voice echoed through the icy cave as he entered, looking around with a slight frown on his face as he wrapped his wings around him.
"Pegasus?"
"Found you, Hagane!"
Gingka gasped sharply.
Yay for cliffhangers! Yay for Pegasus being actually seen for once! Yay for a high chance of the next main plot twist being in the next chapter, although it might still be longer! Yay for being hyper while writing ANs! Galaxy out!