XD here is the other chapter for the day! Double update awesomeness!
Gingka: Do I have to do the disclaimer again?
Me: Well, I guess not…
Gingka: Good, because I'm still mad that you are making us lose.
Later that day, Madoka looked up as the front door slammed shut. Moments later, Gingka walked in to find his wife beaming at him from the couch.
"So, you're pregnant?" Gingka sat down next to her.
"Yeah, and the baby wont stop moving." Madoka grabbed Gingka's black-gloved hand and placed it gently on her stomach.
Gingka smiled as a tiny foot kicked his hand. "You're right, there's definitely a baby there." he leaned in and kissed his wife on the lips for several seconds before pulling away. Madoka laid her head on his shoulder.
"I'm just glad you're back safe." Madoka said quietly.
"Me too Madoka, me too." Gingka laid his arm across her shoulders and pulled her closer. "We can't stay here for long though, who knows how many more robots the DNA has. Plus, they know where we are. Did you get everything packed up?"
"Yeah, it's already loaded into the helicopter. Kyoya is outside-"
"I know, directing the loading of everything else. Shall we pack up here?"
"Yeah, we might as well." Madoka stood up from the couch.
"Then let's go help my dad." Gingka chuckled as he heard a loud thump accompanied by Ryo's voice calling for help.
The two walked down the hallway and burst out laughing once they saw Ryo buried in a pile of towels and blankets.
"Thanks guys, now can you cut it out and come help me?" Ryo muttered.
Gingka, still chuckling, stepped over and began pulling blankets off of Ryo and helping him shove them into a large bag.
"Too bad we have to evacuate, I always did love this place." Ryo commented.
"Yeah, me too. Someday we'll come back to it, when the DNA is defeated."
"So, where are we going to go?" Madoka asked, handing Gingka a stack of towels from the closet.
"Well, there are multiple other villages in these mountains, so I figured we would go to one of them. To avoid being attacked there however, we would have to take all of the Steel Warrior equipment somewhere else though." Gingka replied, picking up the now-full sack and carrying it outside with Madoka following him.
Off in the forest, Hikaru, who had been wandering around enjoying the beauty of the place almost ever since she had gotten there, was seated next to the river, trailing her fingers in the water. To be honest, she had always felt a bit awkward around the others, especially after they all went on to become famous as the Legendary Bladers, leaving her behind. She loved her job at the WBBA, watching and silently cheering Kyoya on from the sidelines. The bluenette had nearly lost her former personality as a reckless, daring blader after becoming the secretary at the WBBA. Now, she was shy, especially around Kyoya, who she had a major crush on.
"There you are, I was wondering where you had gone. Tsubasa said you might be out here."
Startled, Hikaru turned to see Kyoya leaning casually against a tree behind her.
"K-Kyoya! Umm, what are you doing here?"
"I was just trying to find you, we have to evacuate Koma Village."
"Oh… okay."
Kyoya stepped over and sat down next to her. "But, we don't have to leave right away. Everyone else is still loading up."
"Shouldn't you be helping them then?"
"Nah, I feel more like being out here at the moment."
"Oh…" Hikaru fell silent. "Do you mind me asking why?"
Kyoya looked over at Hikaru. "Because you seem like you need someone to talk to. You aren't the same as you were when I met you, why?"
Hikaru looked up and met his eyes, surprised at the question. "I-I…" she looked away.
"Hikaru, look at me." it was a request, not an order.
Hikaru looked up at Kyoya, who placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Look, I don't really know what I'm doing here, but-" he stood up, then got down on one knee. "will you marry me?" he took both of her hands in his.
"I-I…" Hikaru was speechless. "Yes, yes I will."
Kyoya smiled and stood up, pulling her with him. "Then let's go back to the others." he said, pulling a small metal band out of his pocket. "It's not much, but Yuki didn't have that many resources to use when I asked him to do this." He slipped it on Hikaru's finger.
"He does a great job with metalwork though." Hikaru commented, admiring the tiny swirling designs that Yuki had somehow engraved.
"Yeah, doesn't he?" Kyoya linked arms with Hikaru and began walking back to the village.
Once the two got back, Yuki whistled at them, earning himself an annoyed glare from Kyoya. The Anubis blader only laughed and went back to his work. Ryuga and Aguma were once again teaming up to move the larger crates, with Madoka yelling at Ryuga to be careful and let Dunamis do it. However, Ryuga ignored her, and Gingka pulled the brunette aside to help him fill another crate. Zero and Shinobu, doing their best to help, were straining to lift a crate, and finally succeeded with Benkei and Tsubasa's help. Eito and Kaito had succeeded in lifting a smaller crate onto Eito's skateboard, and were pushing it over to King and Kenta, who were doing most of the loading. Most of the other young bladers had already scattered, following directions handed out by Gingka to various villages around the mountains where they would hopefully be welcome.
Ren, meanwhile, was helping Hyoma in the kitchen, packing up food that would last them for a while.
The Hagane home was already completely packed up, and Ryo was loading boxes into a separate helicopter with Gingka's help. Once everything was packed up, Ryo, Madoka, Hikaru, Tsubasa, and Benkei climbed in, along with Zero and his friends, who were more hesitant.
"Aren't you coming, Gingka?" Madoka asked, seated next to Ryo.
Gingka shook his head. "No, I'll meet you there. Kyoya and Chris will get you there safely, I have to stay here and direct the others." with that, the redhead shut the door, stepped back, and waved at them as they took off.
"Okay guys, let's get the rest of this stuff to a safe place, somewhere where the DNA will hopefully never find us." Gingka said.
"Like where?" Kenta asked.
"Guys, you should come see this." Yuki said, looking at the screen of a computer that was still up, monitoring the DNA's activities.
"No way… we failed?" King was shocked as the news showed pictures of people fleeing from a whole army of DNA robots.
"They've reached Tokyo, and the government buildings." Ryuga pointed to the screen.
It was Titi who said what they had all now realized. "The DNA now has control of Japan."
"How can we have been so blind? We knew that was their target all along, we just didn't think they would strike that fast!" Gingka kicked over a small pile of crates in his frustration.
"Calm down, there has to be something we can do!" Kenta said.
"Gingka?" everyone turned and looked at the redhead, who sighed and closed his eyes.
"I don't know guys, I don't know. All we really can do is to set up a base somewhere they won't think to look, and hope that we can at least protect the group in that helicopter." he indicated the small dot on the horizon. "That is our main focus right now, the future of all bladers is there, and we can't let the DNA have it."
"Right, Zero and the others need to be protected until they can protect themselves." Ryuga said.
"But not only them, my child as well." Gingka said.
"Huh?" everyone turned to stare at him.
"Gingka, you don't mean…" Yuki trailed off.
"Yes, I do. Madoka is pregnant."
"Well congratulations, but this isn't exactly the best time. This calls for a greater priority on protecting her too then."
Gingka nodded. "Yes, now let's finish up here and get going ourselves."
"I'm getting kinda tired of running from the DNA. Hopefully Gingka-san and the others can defeat them soon." Zero muttered.
"Yeah, I bet it will be within the next month!" Ren exclaimed.
"It's a definite possibility guys, now that all their resources are back together and we know where the DNA is." Madoka said.
"Yeah, we should be able to take them out, as long as Yuki can get the materials needed to make a few more large fuel tanks." Kyoya called from the pilot's seat of the helicopter.
"And with Gingka's leadership, no offense Kyoya, but we should be able to come up with a plan that will actually work." Chris said.
"None taken, I was a bit too hasty in my planning." Kyoya muttered.
"In the meantime, Madoka has something big to announce." Ryo said, turning to the brunette, who blushed.
"What is it Madoka-chan?" Maru asked.
"I'm pregnant." Madoka said simply and quickly.
"You're what?" everyone except for Ryo nearly exploded.
"Well, congratulations Madoka! Bu-bu-bu-bull I bet Gingka is so proud!" Benkei exclaimed.
Madoka smiled. "Thanks Benkei."
The group sat in silence for a while, some wondering when the DNA's threat would end, some, like Hikaru and Ren, guessing what Madoka's baby would look like.
"I bet it will have blue eyes like Madoka-chan!" Ren exclaimed.
"No, more likely brown like Gingka's. Brown is dominant over blue." Hikaru insisted.
"Well, Gingka does carry blue eyes, his mother had grey-blue eyes." Ryo spoke up. "So both are possible."
"Oh…" both girls fell silent.
"Then I bet it will have red hair." Hikaru said.
"And I think brown, so we'll wait to see who wins!" Ren and Hikaru shook hands.
Madoka laughed. "I don't care what color its eyes or hair are, I just know that it will be cute."
"Yeah, with parents as good-looking as you and Gingka." Ryo teased.
Madoka blushed again. "Thanks Ryo." She muttered.
"There they are!" Kyoya exclaimed from the front seat as he caught sight of the other helicopter flying just behind them.
A couple of hours later, they landed in another village, similar to Koma, but on the very slopes of a mountain rather than in a valley. Kyoya landed the helicopter just outside the village, the other helicopter landing next to it.
As Ryo stepped off, he was greeted by a figure who appeared to be the same age as him. The other blader wore a green headband similar to Gingka's, with a design that resembled a bird's head in place of the horse's head on Gingka's headband.
"Greetings Ryo, wielder of the winged horse, what brings you here?" the other man placed his hands together and bowed as he spoke.
"Greetings Isamu, wielder of the soaring bird, I come here with a request and to tell you that I am no longer the wielder of Koma." Ryo replied, mimicking Isamu.
Both straightened. "What can I do for you then, Ryo?" Isamu asked. "I assume that your son is now the wielder?"
"Yes, he is. It is on his behalf that I am here to ask you to take in these people behind me, our village was under attack by an evil outside organization."
"What's up with all the fancy talk?" Zero whispered to Madoka.
"I don't know." Madoka replied.
"Of course we can take them in. Those houses over in that section are available, they may take their pick." Isamu said. "Is your son here?"
"He is actually, he was just busy for one thing, and for another, so much has been going on over the last few years that I have not taught him all the formalities yet." Ryo replied.
"Oh, forget the formalities, our two villages were the only ones who used them anymore and they're annoying anyway." Isamu said.
"Dad! We are going to go drop some stuff off at another location, be back in a few hours!" Gingka called from the door of a helicopter as it took off.
"Okay, be careful!" Ryo called.
"He has grown since the last time I saw him." Isamu commented.
"Yeah, he has. Wasn't that at the last Wielder meeting about fifteen years ago?"
"Yeah, I think it was."
"He's married now, Madoka, could you come over here?"
Madoka glanced up and walked over.
"This is Mrs. Madoka Hagane. Madoka, this is Isamu, the leader of this village."
"Nice to meet you Mr. Isamu." Madoka said politely.
"Likewise young lady." Isamu shook hands with the brunette.
"She's going to be a mother soon." Ryo said proudly.
"Well then, she can have the large house over there if she wants it. Children are truly a blessing." Isamu indicated a large house on the very edge of the village. "And as the wife of the wielder of Koma, of course."
By nightfall, everyone was settled. A few streaks of flame in the sky soon indicated the return of the Steel Warriors, who all seemed very pleased at the results. Gingka thanked Isamu repeatedly for letting them stay, to which the older wielder replied that it was no problem.
At near midnight, Yuki and Madoka hacked into the DNA's computers so Gingka could talk to Argo, as he put it, 'So that he doesn't forget who he's dealing with, and to let him know that we have not been defeated yet.'
"Well Hagane, it would seem that we have defeated you for once." Argo smirked as soon as he came up onscreen.
Gingka only smiled. "So it would appear, but you haven't won yet."
"How have we not won?" Argo growled.
Gingka closed his eyes as his helmet slammed closed over his face. "Because, as long as there is one Steel Warrior, one true blader left, you can't win. You may have control of Japan, but just remember this: good always triumphs in the end. You can knock us down as many times as you want, but we will stand back up. You can close in on us and leave us with seemingly no way out, but we will find one. You can kill all of us except for one, but that one will continue where the others left off. So, in the end, you can't win. We will back down for the moment to regather our resources, but we will be back. Remember that, Argo." With that, Gingka leaned forwards and cut off the connection, leaving a very disturbed Argo.
"Get the others together in the center of the village, including Zero and the others." Gingka said, turning and striding outside.
Once everyone was gathered, Gingka landed in the center and put his helmet down. With a serious look on his face, he began. "You guys all know that we have been continually fighting against the DNA for nearly three years. The first big push came with Operation Stormflight, where we first appeared to them and showed them we were a force to be taken seriously. Over the last year, we have been keeping them down, but they finally made a push big enough to force us to leave our original headquarters. Since then, they have been practically beating us down, and we haven't had enough time to recover fully before the next attack. I have to admit that they have won this battle, but not the war. Now that they have control of Japan, our battle has become a lot harder. But, you guys know that we won't give up. We have lost this battle, but not the war. So, let the real fight begin!"
Me: Aww, come on Gingka! You got like, the best lines in the whole story here at the end!
Gingka: I have to admit, those were some pretty awesome lines… We'll be back, DNA!
Zero: -Reading the sequel- O.o I'm WHAT?
Me: Quiet down Zero, you'll spoil the surprise… Anyway, next week look for the sequel mentioned a few chapters back, it will, again, be titled "Stormflight: The Next Generation."