Ok guys! Sorry it took me so long to update, I had a mild case of writer's block, but its gone now! So this story should continue to update as usual! Also, I took down my stories Rule of Nemesis and Aftermath of Nemesis, because they were poorly written and needed rewriting, they will be reposted eventually! Gingka?
Gingka: GalaxyPegasus14 does not own Metal Fight Beyblade and once again, I'm out of here!
Me: don't tell me you are still mad because I wrote and posted Shifted! Come on, stop holding a grudge already!
Gingka: how am I supposed to not be mad? You made me only half human!
Me: so? You are awesome in that story!
Madoka woke up a couple of hours later to the sound of approaching helicopters. "Mmm, Ryo! I think they are back!" she called, sitting up and rubbing her tired eyes, then pulling on her coat and going outside as three helicopters landed in the center of Koma Village. Madoka quickly ran to the nearest one, hoping that Gingka would be inside it. As she approached, Gingka stepped off, looking exhausted. His entire right arm was bandaged neatly, as Madoka could easily see because of the fact that Gingka was not wearing his coat. Madoka flew to him, concerned for his safety. Gingka wrapped his free arm around her as she reached him, and Madoka buried her face in his arms.
Hyoma directed the remaining nine bladers to various abandoned houses around the village, Ryo helping them unload supplies from the helicopter, than noting that Madoka had already found Gingka before returning to the house.
"I knew you were underestimating your own injuries" Madoka whispered, her face still buried into Gingka's chest.
The exhausted Legend Blader smiled. "I didn't want you to worry before I got back, but seriously, Kenta took care of it."
"Well, I am still going to insist on looking at it" Madoka said.
"Yeah, you might want to do that, I didn't have the supplies to clean and bandage it properly" Kenta said, his own exhaustion showing in his voice.
"Come on then, lets get you home to rest" Madoka said, taking Gingka's free hand and leading him towards his home.
"But, I'm not done here yet! I have to help them unload and-"
"Gingka, you go. I can take care of overseeing things here." Ryuga cut him off.
Gingka opened his mouth to protest, but Kyoya interrupted.
"Yeah, you got the worst of the fighting. You go home right now, we can take care of this."
Gingka sighed. "Thanks guys, call me if you need anything" he reluctantly allowed Madoka to lead him back to his own home. Halfway there, he stumbled, but quickly regained his balance with Madoka's help and was soon seated on the couch in the living room. After pulling off his boots, Gingka leaned back and closed his eyes, weariness quickly overtaking him before Madoka even had time to gather some medical supplies together to take care of his injured arm.
As she entered the room with fresh bandages, Madoka smiled, noting that the redhead was already asleep. She brushed a few strands of loose hair off his tired face, then untied the knotted bandage at his wrist and unwound it, her eyes widening in worry as she noted several large bruises right away. Gingka winced slightly in his sleep as she carefully dabbed at a scrape on his arm with a wet rag soaked in antiseptic, but he continued to sleep. By the time she was done, it had been two hours, and the sun was just peeking over the horizon. Madoka sighed and leaned against Gingka, who put his uninjured arm around her. Ryo, who had been watching Madoka, smiled as he watched the couple drift back to sleep.
"Those two are perfect for each other," he thought, "Madoka will make sure that Gingka doesn't become too reckless, and will take good care of him if he gets injured, like he did tonight, and Gingka will protect her with all his power if he has to. They made a smart choice, marrying each other." tired, the older redhead turned back to his own bed.
Having finally finished unloading, the other nine Legend Bladers all collapsed into sleeping bags on the various houses Hyoma had opened up for them. Kenta lay awake for a while, hoping that Ryuga and Gingka's injuries would heal quickly, with no complications. The young blader thought over the previous night as the first rays of sunlight shone into his window. They had all fought hard, and for being against an unknown opponent, they had done pretty good.
Ryuga stood and watched the sun rise. "Alright, I'll admit it. That was actually a pretty good attempt at defeating us, but they still couldn't stand up in the end to our defense. Still…" his thoughts trailed off as he glanced over at his injured shoulder, which was going to keep him from launching until it healed.
Kyoya, hiding nearby, was keeping an eye on Ryuga. He himself had not sustained any injury, only being a bit tired from the late night action of the night before. Chris, sleeping in a house opposite, had narrowly missed several bullets, and the only damage done was the large dent in his helmet face. Kyoya smirked as Ryuga's sixth sense picked him up and the dragon blader turned.
"What are you doing Tategami, spying on me?" he snarled.
"Not exactly" Kyoya replied, jumping out of the branches of the tree he had been sitting in. "what do you think of their attack last night? I think they actually had a chance for once, but only a small one."
Ryuga grinned. "Yeah, honestly, they could have."
"If we had been expecting them, they would never have been able to overrun the base, according to my data" Yuki said, coming up behind Kyoya.
"Didn't you get any sleep?" the Leone blader asked.
Yuki shook his head. "Nope, I had to figure out what happened and what those things were that you mentioned having fought. I also had to run a diagnostic on Gingka, Ryuga, and Titi's helmets so I could see how long it might take to fix them. Chris's just needed the dent popped back out."
"And?" Ryuga grumbled.
"It's going to be about a week until I can fix the eye on yours. The damage to Gingka's jetpacks is so great, it will actually be quicker to just make a whole new set than to try to fix it. And Titi just managed to jam something in his, I can have it fixed in about an hour."
"Great, so I'm stuck here then?" Ryuga growled.
"Looks like we all are for now" Yuki sighed.
-back at the DNA HQ-
"So, they fled from us?" Argo said.
"Yes, our new robot arsenal turned out to be too much for them. They left with their helmets damaged, as far as we could tell" the leader of the squad that had attacked the night previously replied.
"And? Is there anything in their base?"
"No sir, that was what surprised us. There was absolutely nothing, no indication that they had ever been there, and we only saw four of them, including Stormflight. We think they may have already moved out, and that those four were just remaining to pack up whatever remained. We did see three helicopters take off just after they fled back inside."
"Good, so the prototypes worked then? There were no complications in their performance?"
"Yes sir, if it weren't for them, we would have never had a chance. Their bullets were what made it happen, rather than our beys. However, the four bladers defending the base did take out nearly half of them before leaving"
"That can be replaced. We have several battalions of them anyway. You may go, tell the other bladers to prepare for a test assault on Metal Bey City as soon as possible."
"Yes sir" the DNA blader bowed and left.
"So, they retreated before our forces hm? Seems as if the Legendary Bladers are helpless against our forces after all" Ian said.
"Still, it would not be wise to underestimate them. Even if they were defeated last night, they now know about our robots, at least partially." Selen replied.
"True, but I think that if we can keep this up, we can take them out quite easily." Argo said. "now back to work"
-back at Koma Village, a couple of hours later-
"Hey lovebirds, want some breakfast?" Ryo asked, holding a plate of eggs and bacon. The couple sleeping on the couch made no reply however, and Gingka continued snoring.
"Come on guys, its almost noon!" Ryo waved a slice of bacon under Gingka's nose. However, the Legend Blader still continued to snore as if nothing had happened.
"Here let me try" Kenta said, walking in.
"Be my guest!" Ryo stepped back.
The green-haired blader took a deep breath. "Gingka! The DNA is attacking!" he shouted.
Madoka suddenly fell over on to the couch, waking up in surprise and looking around for Gingka. A couple of seconds later, they heard the front door slam. "What happened?" Madoka asked, suddenly wide awake.
"Wow, you know how to wake him up" Ryo laughed.
"Kenta! Seriously, cant I sleep a little longer without you yelling at me? No more false alarms!" Gingka exclaimed angrily, coming back inside once he figured out what was going on.
"Sorry, but Yuki needed you at his temporary lab, so he sent me over here to get you. Plus, your dad was trying to wake you up."
"Is that why I started dreaming about bacon all of a sudden?" Gingka flopped back down on the couch next to Madoka.
"Most likely" Kenta laughed.
"So, what's up?"
"Yuki said he needed to talk to you about something"
"Where is he?"
"About a block down, Titi was sitting on the front steps when I left"
"He's awake now? Is he doing alright?"
"As far as I can tell, yes."
"Ok, good. I'll head over there right now" Gingka got up off the couch and left.
"Wait for me Gingka!" Madoka called, jumping up and running after him. "I wonder what Yuki wants?"
"It probably has something to do with the Stormflight system" Gingka replied, finding the house and stepping onto the front porch. "good morning Titi, you doing ok?"
"Yeah, but where are we and what happened? One moment I was escaping down the DNA hallway with Kenchi, and the next I wake up inside a house and find myself here! Where is 'here' anyway?"
"You are in Koma Village, according to Kenta, you crashed into a wall last night and knocked yourself unconscious" Gingka replied shortly.
"Gingka-san? Is that you I hear?" Yuki called from inside.
"Yeah, I'm coming!" Gingka called back, entering the house and leaving Madoka on the front porch to chat with Titi.
"It's going to take a lot longer to repair your jetpacks than it would take to just make a new pair" Yuki said as Gingka entered the house.
"Ok, but do we have the materials for that?" Gingka asked.
"I don't know, that's why I called you. I can probably salvage some of the metal from this, but..."
"Oh wow, you can salvage that?" Gingka laughed, looking at the smashed pile of parts that Yuki had in front of him.
Yuki grinned. "At least I think so"
"Go for it then, with us temporarily out of commission, who knows what the DNA will try? How long do you think it will take?"
"If I work straight through, with breaks for sleeping and stuff, it should only be about a week."
"And to repair Ryuga's?"
"About the same amount of time, his helmet got badly damaged, but it will be fairly easy to fix, just a bit complicated"
"Alright, tell me if you need anything, guess I'll leave you to it."
"Alright, will do."
Gingka stepped outside and sighed, looking around for Madoka and Titi, who had disappeared.
"Ryuga! Get your injured shoulder over here right now so I can look at it?"
"It's fine! I don't need help"
"Yes you do! Now get over here before I make you do it!"
Gingka chuckled, hearing Madoka and Ryuga yelling.
"No, I don't! I'm fine, so just leave me alone already!"
"You should listen to her Ryuga, otherwise she will be pestering you for the rest of your life about it!" Gingka called, noting Titi swinging happily from a tree branch. Even now, at 17, the younger blader hadn't changed much. Really, none of them had. Hearing the sound of a bey being attached to a launcher behind him, Gingka whirled, whipping out his own launcher and bey. He winced as his injured arm protested at the sudden movement, but managed to keep his launcher steady.
"Your reactions are as fast as ever, Hagani" Kyoya smirked, stepping out of hiding behind a few crates, ready for launch.
Gingka grinned. "How many clashes do you think we can get in before Madoka catches us?"
"None! Gingka, drop your launcher right now!" Madoka exclaimed, coming up behind him and forcing his injured arm back into a relaxed position at his side.
"Aww, come on Madoka! Give me a break! You know Kyoya wont be refused when it comes to a challenge!" Gingka whined, wincing again at the sudden movement.
"No, no battles until your arm is completely healed! You told Ryuga to listen to me, so now you have to set the example and pay attention yourself!" Madoka dragged Gingka back to his house.
"How long do you think it will be before he tries doing something again?" Kenta chuckled, coming up beside Kyoya.
"Not long" Kyoya snickered, watching as the two disappeared into Gingka's home.
Once they were inside, Madoka shoved Gingka onto the couch. "Now, don't you get up until I say you can, got it?"
Gingka rolled his eyes. "Yes, your highness" he said sarcastically.
"Good, now I have to go back to Ryuga and take care of his arm, I expect to see you in the exact same position when I get back!" Madoka said, going back outside.
"Ten" Kenta said once he saw her.
Kyoya grinned. "Nine"
"Eight" both said at once.
"Three" Titi piped up from behind them.
"Seven" Kenta and Kyoya ignored him and kept counting down.
"Two, one!" Titi crowed triumphantly as Gingka poked his head out the front door, then bolted around the corner and out of Madoka's sight.
"Yup, good job Titi" Kenta chuckled, watching Gingka as the redhead disappeared into the forest behind his house.
"Shall we?" Kyoya asked, following his rival.
"Why not?" Kenta shrugged, helping Titi down and following the Leone wielder as he crashed through the bushes.
After a couple of minutes, they lost track of the redhead completely, only to be ambushed a few seconds later by his bey, which narrowly missed Kyoya's head as the blader rolled to the left.
"Nice dodge Kyoya" Gingka smirked, coming out from behind a nearby tree.
Kyoya grinned and launched Leone.
Kenta rolled his eyes. "Just don't blow up the forest guys!" he called, running to the edge of the clearing they were in.
"One!" Gingka called, attacking Leone with Pegasus.
Kyoya smirked. "Two, three!" he said, countering Pegasus's movements.
"Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!" Gingka unleashed a barrage of attacks on Leone.
"Twenty!" Kyoya yelled. "Lion Gale Force Wall!"
Madoka rolled her eyes as she caught sight of Leone's tornado in the distance. "Good thing Gingka cant see that from where he is" she muttered, finishing with Ryuga's arm and untying the ropes that she had tied him to a tree with. The dragon emperor immediately bolted, muttering some threat before disappearing into a nearby house. Madoka sighed, watching Kyoya's tornado and letting the breezes from it blow in her face. Suddenly, she saw the face design of Gingka's Pegasus shining above the tornado.
"Wha- Gingka! I told you to stay on the couch!" she yelled, taking off in the direction of the tornado.
"We should stop now" Gingka said, catching Pegasus out of the air.
"Yeah, before we blow up the whole forest." Kyoya agreed, grabbing Leone.
Suddenly, Gingka yelped in fear and surprise, then turned and fled into the bushes behind him.
Kyoya raised an eyebrow, confused, until Madoka stepped out of the bushes and followed Gingka, muttering angrily.
"Gingka, when I catch up to you, you are going to be in so much trouble!" she yelled, running after him as she caught sight of his red hair.
Kenta laughed. "Don't ever disobey Madoka"
"Yeah, no kidding!" Titi exclaimed.
Kyoya chuckled, listening to the sounds of the couple yelling back and forth.
"I told you to stay on the couch and not move!"
"Kyoya had just challenged me!"
"That's no excuse! Now get back here!"
"But I have to train!"
"No, you don't! now get over here before I call your dad!"
"No!"
"Get out of that tree right now!"
"I think I'll stay up here, thank you!"
"Alright then, you leave me no choice! Here I come!"
Gingka let out a surprised yelp as Madoka began climbing the tree he was sitting in, then turned and scrambled further up the tree.
"Come on Gingka, please?" Madoka pleaded with him.
"Give me a break! I have to be ready in case the DNA attacks again!" Gingka called back, climbing further and further up the tree.
"The faster way to do that is to let your arm heal by resting!" Madoka called.
"The faster way is to train and- whoa!" Gingka yelled as he lost his balance and fell out of the tree, right past Madoka.
Madoka held her breath as he hit the ground, landing on his face. "Gingka!" she called, carefully climbing back out of the tree after him. Halfway down, she paused, hands trembling as she watched her friend try to pick himself up off the ground, only to have his shaking arms give way and collapse again. Madoka scrambled the rest of the way down the tree, quickly jumping down and getting to his side in seconds.
"Please be okay, please!" she whispered as she approached him. "Gingka! Can you hear me?"
The redhead made no response, remaining as still as a rock. Still trembling, Madoka carefully rolled him onto his back and pressed two fingers to his neck, then laid her head down on his chest. She gave a sigh of relief as she felt his pulse, still going strong, then raised her head and watched his chest rise and fall.
Madoka let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, calm down Madoka, he's only unconscious." she whispered, then noticed the rocky ground he had landed on. She winced, picturing him struggling to get up and failing, before gasping. "Kyoya! Come quickly!" she shouted.
Kyoya and Kenta glanced at each other, then ran, following Madoka's voice.
"Madoka! Keep calling to me so I can find you!" Kyoya shouted.
"Ok! Umm…" Madoka trailed off.
"What happened?" Kenta yelled, prompting her.
"Well, as you guys know, I was chasing Gingka down because he wouldn't stay on the couch and rest. We ended up in this clearing and he climbed up a tree, so I followed him. We both kept climbing higher and higher, and then he fell out of the tree-"
"Ok, found you!" Kyoya said, cutting her off. "now that I'm here, what do you want me to do?"
"Oh no! is he okay?" Kenta asked, catching sight of the redhead lying on the ground.
"I think so, he's still alive at least, but I cant be sure until I have the right supplies. Kyoya, would you help me get him back to the house?"
"I don't think I can carry him, but I'll try" the blader of spring replied, bending down and getting an arm under Gingka's arms and lifting him to a sitting position. "mmph, Kenta, can you try to get his feet?"
"Umm, maybe?" Kenta wrapped both arms around Gingka's knees and pulled up. The two green-haired bladers struggled to a standing position and staggered a few steps before carefully setting Gingka down.
"Nope, we need someone stronger." Kyoya panted. "seriously, he weighs a lot more than it looks like he does!"
"Must be muscle, he's too skinny to be fat" Kenta puffed. "I'll go get Aguma and Ryo, maybe they can help"
"Alright, I'll stay here" Kyoya said.
Kenta took a few steps over to the middle of the clearing. "Computer, activate Firearrow system" he said.
"Firearrow activated, awaiting orders" a mechanical voice replied.
"Activate helmet and jetpacks, silencers on" Kenta said. Within seconds, his helmet had slammed shut over his face and he was out of sight.
Kyoya leaned against a tree, crossing his arms and closing his eyes to wait. Outwardly, he seemed indifferent, but inwardly, he was worried about his rival.
Madoka knelt down next to the limp redhead. "Please be okay" she whispered, brushing a few loose strands of flaming red hair out of his face.
After a few minutes of silence, the two in the clearing heard the sound of an approaching helicopter. A couple of seconds later, one of the LBN helicopters landed in the center of the clearing and a very worried-looking Ryo jumped out and ran to his son's side. Aguma and Kenta followed more slowly after him.
Ryo carefully picked up his son, then turned and carried him to the helicopter, Madoka following close behind. Ryo paused and motioned for her to get in. Madoka quickly climbed into the helicopter and sat down at the end of one row of seats. Ryo carefully placed Gingka with his head in Madoka's lap, then sat down on the row opposite the two. Kenta and Aguma went up to the cockpit to pilot them back to Koma village, while Kyoya casually took a seat next to Ryo.
Madoka continued stroking Gingka's forehead with a trembling hand.
Ryo reached across the aisle between them and laid a reassuring hand on her arm.
Madoka glanced up, tears forming in her eyes, then glanced back down at Gingka. Her eyes remained fixed on his pale face for the rest of the ride.
"We're back in Koma" Aguma reported a few minutes later, having landed and turned off the helicopter.
As Ryo carried Gingka into his house, the remaining seven Legend Bladers froze, alarmed at the sight of the limp form of their leader.
"What happened?" Ryuga asked, coming up behind Kyoya as the green-haired blader watched Madoka disappear into the house.
"He fell out of a tree running from Madoka, that's all I know" Kyoya replied shortly.
"And that's about all I need to know" Ryuga muttered.
"Is Gingkie okay?" Titi asked Kenta, the younger blader having returned to Koma Village before Madoka had started chasing Gingka.
"I-I don't know, I hope so." Kenta replied quietly, worry showing right through his eyes and all over his face.
-inside-
Ryo carefully laid Gingka on his bed once Madoka had pulled down the covers, then he left her alone to care for Gingka.
(A/N: I am not going to get very descriptive with this, because I fully intend on keeping this rated K+, no higher.)
With her hands still trembling, Madoka unzipped the front of Gingka's shirt. "Oh Gingka, how do you manage to get yourself injured so badly?" she whispered, carefully peeling the black fabric away from the half-dried blood that was holding it. Once she had his shirt off, Madoka went to get the first-aid kit. She carefully set a bottle of painkiller on the nightstand next to her, just in case Gingka woke up and she needed it. She worked for the rest of the afternoon, carefully, but quickly, cleaning up Gingka's injured body.
Gingka: O.o
Me: what? You are going to be fine?
Gingka: fine? For all I know, you are going to kill me in the next chapter!
Me: I wont, I promise!
Gingka: -_- really?
Me: really….
Gingka: -leaves-
Me: I wonder what's up with him… oh, and on a side note, if anyone wants me to pray for you, just ask! You might want to do it over PM, for privacy reasons, of course, but I feel prompted by God to pray for people. And, if any of you start flaming me for this, your comment will be removed, because the review section is for this story, reserve your comments for a PM and don't flame in those either. Until next time, Let it Rip!