Woohoo! New chapter! XD Enjoy! Oh, and since there seems to potentially be a little bit of confusion (I have had at least one person ask me if Gingka and Madoka are married in this one) I would like to state more specifically that this is a PREQUEL, meaning that it happens before the other four Stormflight stories. So Gingka and Madoka are not married. This is set approximately one year before Shogun Steel. The original Stormflight (Stormflight: Together We Stand) is set during Shogun Steel, about a year after this one, and the other three (Return of the Warrior, The Next Generation, and The Final Battle) Are set their respective distances along the timeline after that. Gingka and Madoka get married at the end of Together We Stand, and therefore are not married in this story. Sorry if there was any confusion but hopefully I cleared that all up, so now you can enjoy the chapter!
"Yuki.. Hang on…" Gingka growled as he spotted a city at last. He couldn't tell how long he had been running. He only hoped that it hadn't been too long. Yuki had to survive. Without Yuki, the Legendary Bladers would have a much harder time. Yuki was the one who had set up and currently maintained their information and communication network. Without him it would become increasingly difficult to keep an eye on the world as they did now. Yuki would survive. He had to. And Gingka would make sure that it happened.
Multiple doctors looked up and raised an eyebrow as a single tribal warrior rushed in, carrying the mangled form of a second.
"... Don't those guys usually stay deep in the jungle?" One doctor asked nervously.
Gingka glanced down at himself and groaned mentally.
"Look, we're not tribal warriors. We just dressed up that way, now help him!" He nodded to the limp form in his arms.
"Lay him here. We will do all we can." The doctors said, bringing out a stretcher. Gingka carefully laid Yuki down on it, worry shining in his eyes.
"Yuki… Hang in there…" He whispered as his comrade was rushed off into the hospital. Several doctors looked at Gingka in concern as he half-collapsed, panting heavily.
"Are you alright, sir?" One asked.
Gingka waved them off, sighing and looking at himself. "I'm fine… But… Is it too much to ask for some normal clothing instead of this stupid thing?"
"Not at all, sir. We can give you a temporary change of clothing and you can run down to a nearby store to get a more permanent one." One nurse said.
"Thanks…" Gingka muttered, suddenly noticing exactly how exhausted he was. The adrenaline rush from saving Yuki was beginning to wear off and, after the activity of both the previous day and the current one, Gingka was completely worn out. He sighed heavily, suddenly glad that he had decided to bring some money that was hidden underneath his clothing, if what he was wearing could even be considered clothing. The redhead nodded gratefully as a nurse brought him one of the hospital gowns to wear. Still embarrassing, but at least people wouldn't stare at him like he was actually a tribal warrior out of place in the middle of the small city.
Less than an hour later, Gingka returned to the hospital and returned the hospital gown to a few staring nurses, who clearly were doubting whether he was the same person as the tribal warrior that had rushed in earlier.
"Call me if anything happens with him." Gingka said, giving them his phone number. "I am going to go rest."
The nurses nodded, staring after the redhead as he walked out, shoving his hands into the pockets of the dark blue pants that he had just bought. Gingka sighed, deciding to check into a hotel rather than sleeping outside as he usually did. He figured that after so much hard work, he deserved it anyway.
"Hey, is that… ?!"
"Oh no…" Gingka groaned mentally. The last thing he needed right now was a group of news reporters or fans chasing after him, especially when he was completely exhausted.
"It's him! Whoa! It really is the Legendary Blader, Gingka himself! Hey, wait!"
Gingka sighed heavily and tried to ignore the group of younger bladers and news reporters that were now chasing him down.
"Battle me, Gingka! Please!" the bladers demanded, while the news reporters demanded an interview.
Gingka paused as the bladers raised their launchers.
"You want to battle me?" He said calmly.
"Yes!" They said.
"Fine then." Gingka said, whirling, raising his launcher, and launching almost before the others realized what was happening.
"Pegasus!" An enormous explosion gave Gingka the cover he needed to escape before anyone noticed as he knocked all of the bladers out simultaneously and sent them flying back.
"Where did he go?"
"Good thing I learned how to escape quickly." Gingka sighed as he watched from atop a nearby building, catching Pegasus out of the air neatly before turning and walking slowly off, hoping he could even make it to a hotel without collapsing from exhaustion.
"Yuki…" The thought of his injured friend weighed heavily on his mind as he walked into a hotel, startling the receptionist.
"I just need a room. I don't care what kind." Gingka muttered. The receptionist, noting the look of complete exhaustion on his face, nodded and quickly checked him in. Gingka went up to the room he was given and closed the door, barely making it to the bed before completely collapsing onto the mattress.
"Ow…" He groaned, enjoying the feeling of laying down at last and allowing his sore, tense muscles to relax. It was not long before he drifted right off to sleep, exhaustion taking over completely.
Gingka did not know how long he had been asleep, but he woke up to the sound of a rather frightening roar.
"Whaa…" The redhead muttered groggily, raising his head and trying to ignore the extreme soreness in his muscles. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of the reddish light coming through the curtains.
"Could that… But no… That's impossible. He's dead… Right?" Gingka stood shakily and stumbled to the window, blinking sleep away from his eyes. He pushed back the curtains and his eyes widened.
"It is… L-drago…" Gingka muttered. "So… Ryuga is alive? Interesting…" He sighed and closed the curtains. "I will have to see if I can talk to him… Somehow." An idea popped into Gingka's mind and he smirked suddenly, a light blue glow appearing behind his eyes. "Or perhaps I won't have to go anywhere." He said, reaching for Pegasus and turning back to the window.
Ryuga opened his eyes and looked up at his blazing dragon. He was laying on his back in the middle of who-knew-where, but he didn't care. All he knew was that L-Drago was soaring once more. Ryuga sighed and sat up, catching the bey out of the air and blinking suddenly, looking down at himself. He scowled at the injuries he saw.
"Nemesis… But at least Hagane beat you." He growled. "I saw that much before L-Drago put me into some sort of weird sleep." Ryuga stood, scowling as he found that he was barely able to manage even that. "How far have I fallen?" He snarled. "Yet at the same time.." His golden eyes narrowed. "That kid Kenta… I have to admit that he got through to me. He was something…" Ryuga sighed and leaned against a nearby tree, closing his eyes for a moment before a loud explosion caught his attention.
"What's that?" He muttered, opening his eyes and turning, then spotting the source: the enormous blue armored horse that was now spreading its wings over the city.
"Pegasus, huh? It seems that Hagane saw my return to the conscious world after all." Ryuga narrowed his eyes. "But I did not expect him to be here. What is he doing?"
Only silence answered Ryuga's question.
"Well Hagane? Come out and face me, if you're really here!" Ryuga called. "I know that was you!" He reached for L-Drago and tried to raise his launcher, only to wince.
"S-Still injured… But that's not gonna stop me!" Ryuga roared, raising his launcher before narrowing his eyes and scowling at a bey that landed in front of him and spun steadily.
"Who's there?" He growled, launching with a rather surprising amount of power. L-Drago attacked experimentally, but the other bey did not give in, merely sending it flying in clean fashion.
"Even if I'm exhausted… Ryuga is more so?" Gingka opened his eyes and frowned. "I can feel it. Ryuga is not quite at the level of strength he was six years ago when I last fought him. Perhaps it's because of his battle against Nemesis, however… It has been six years since that happened as well. That's plenty of time for him to recover his strength."
"What is this bey?" Ryuga snarled. "It can't have sent L-Drago flying that easily. I cannot be that weak. L-Drago!"
"Ryuga, stop. I can feel that you are weaker than you were before Nemesis. That or… I am stronger. Either way, my intent was not to battle you."
Ryuga narrowed his eyes as the clash brought the thought into his mind. "Who's there?" He growled.
"It's me. Gingka. I am in a hotel not too far away and saw L-Drago. Currently, I'm not in a condition to go very far personally, so I sent Pegasus."
"So this is Pegasus, huh?" Ryuga scowled. "You've gotten another little toy, I see."
"This is the same Pegasus that you fought before, only now it has been upgraded to the form you see now." Gingka said.
"Isn't that nice for you." Ryuga growled.
"Calm down, Ryuga. We need your help again."
"What, you're still too weak to do things on your own? Pathetic."
".. Ryuga. That's not it at all. Listen to me. In the last six years, the rest of us have-" Gingka began, but was interrupted.
"Six years? What are you talking about, Hagane?" Ryuga snarled.
"... Do you not know that it has been six years since Nemesis was defeated?" Gingka asked.
Ryuga gasped sharply, then narrowed his eyes and growled. "How can that be possible?"
"How should I know? Maybe you should come here and I can explain, rather than us having to do it like this when neither of us have the strength for a full-out battle."
"Why should I?" Ryuga growled.
Gingka narrowed his eyes. "You promised Kenta. He still holds the power you gave him. If that is still important, then meet me on the roof of the hotel I am in now. I know that you can get there much faster than I could get to you."
Ryuga growled. "Fine. But only because of that brat."
"I think once you see the Kenta of today you will be a bit less inclined to call him a brat." Gingka said before Pegasus darted off towards its master. Ryuga scowled and, in a flash of red lightning, was atop the hotel. His eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed.
"So you weren't lying. I see now that it has been a while."
Gingka chuckled as he leaned against an air conditioning unit. "Somehow I figured you wouldn't believe me unless you saw proof."
"Well you no longer look like a little kid, I'll give you that."
Gingka merely laughed. "I should hope that I don't. You don't look so good."
Ryuga looked down at himself and scowled. "Minor details."
Gingka chuckled as he stepped towards his old rival. "Sure, sure. But those wounds are still weakening you. Strange that they have not yet healed."
Ryuga crossed his arms. "Doesn't matter. I can still crush you if I want to."
Gingka paused a few feet away from Ryuga and extended his hand. "Come with me."
"And why should I?"
"One, because we need your help. Two, because of Kenta. You may deny it, but I know that deep down you really do care for him. The fact that you gave him your power proves that much."
Ryuga looked away, scowling. As much as he hated to admit it, for once he had to admit that Gingka was right about him.
"I will join you on one condition." Ryuga growled.
"What is that?" Gingka asked, frowning slightly.
Ryuga looked back at Gingka and smirked, raising L-Drago. "Battle me. If you win, I'll go along with your little plans."
Gingka smirked. "Fine then. I think you'll be surprised. Better get ready to join our network. But we shouldn't battle here."
Ryuga smirked. "I might throw you off the rooftop if we did and that would just be unfair. If I'm going to defeat you, I will crush you completely."
Gingka chuckled. "You underestimate me. I've had the last six years to grow in strength. I am much stronger than when we last fought and I beat Nemesis, who you lost to. Granted, it was with the power of the entire world backing me, but it is that same power that I always had. I will defeat you. Count on it."
Ryuga smirked. "We'll see about that, Hagane."
A red flash of lightning enveloped them both and took them elsewhere. Gingka yelped slightly in surprise and looked around.
"Well, you found a nice open clearing here." Gingka chuckled.
"Let's do this." Ryuga smirked as he raised his launcher.
"Yeah." Gingka chuckled, also raising his launcher and ignoring the soreness in his arms.
"Three!" Ryuga growled.
"Two!"
"One!"
"Let it rip!"
"L-Drago!" Ryuga roared, immediately glowing a brilliant red-orange as L-Drago attacked fiercely, slamming into Pegasus at full power. The silver and blue bey went flying, but Gingka seemed unfazed.
"Pegasus! Go now! Special move, Galaxy Nova!" Gingka called out, as Pegasus appeared and spread its wings before soaring high into the sky. Ryuga looked up expectantly, waiting to make a move until the winged horse reappeared. Soon enough, Pegasus came diving back down.
"L-Drago, Dragon Emperor Life Destructor!" Ryuga roared as L-Drago leapt straight into the air, fangs bared as it flew for Pegasus like an arrow flying towards its target, which it may as well have been.
Gingka grinned widely. "Been a long time since I battled this strong of an opponent. Don't give up, Pegasus!"
Ryuga growled. "L-Drago!" He roared.
An enormous explosion ripped through the air, causing the very ground to shake. Both Pegasus and L-Drago flew back. Gingka narrowed his eyes.
"He has power, that's for sure. As usual, Ryuga will not be an easy blader to fight. But I can't lose. We need the help of everyone we can get, especially with Yuki injured." Gingka muttered to himself, narrowing his eyes as his thought flashed for a moment to the memory of his injured comrade. His eyes narrowed.
"You think… You can beat me?" Ryuga growled, feeling his strength returning.
Gingka closed his eyes for a second. "I know I can."
"How?" Ryuga growled.
Gingka opened his eyes, which were now glowing blue. "Because I have to!" He shouted.
Ryuga raised an eyebrow, managing to keep his surprise from showing on his face. "Oh?"
Gingka smirked. "I have grown stronger. I'm not at all the same blader I was before."
"I've heard that one before, Hagane. So, if you think that you really have changed and can beat me now… Then prove it! L-Drago!" Ryuga roared as he and his bey glowed and pulsed, charging towards Gingka and Pegasus in a ball of fire.
"Fly now, Pegasus! Show Ryuga, show him now! Show him your new power!" Gingka said as Pegasus disappeared in a flash.
"What?" Ryuga growled, looking around for the silver and blue bey's imminent attack. However, even he had to admit that he was not expecting Gingka's next move.
"Pegasus… Lightning Strike Storm!" Gingka yelled, nearly becoming hidden from view as his aura wrapped powerfully around him, shooting into the sky and creating a cloud of energy. Pegasus appeared and spread its wings, whinnying a challenge before flapping its wings and sending multiple bolts of lightning flying for L-Drago.
"What?!" Ryuga gasped as L-Drago was sent flying by the attack.
"Finish it, Pegasus!" Gingka said as the lightning flashed, bolts coming faster and faster before an enormous explosion blew both bladers off their feet.
As the dust cleared, both Gingka and Ryuga got back to their feet, panting. Ryuga growled angrily.
"That was cute, Hagane."
Gingka smirked. "Well then, 'cute' just defeated you." He said, pointing triumphantly to L-Drago, who was motionless, half-buried in the ground beneath them, while Pegasus spun circles around it.
Ryuga gasped. "No way!"
Gingka grinned and caught Pegasus out of the air as it returned to him. "As agreed then?"
Ryuga narrowed his eyes at Gingka as he reached down and picked up his bey. "Fine."
Gingka chuckled and walked over, extending a hand to his rival. "Welcome aboard, Ryuga."
Ryuga rolled his eyes before smirking. "Alright Hagane, for once you have convinced me. But you'd better not make this boring." He took Gingka's hand and clasped it firmly.
Gingka smirked. "Saving the world is never boring. And I should know. I've done it three times, after all."
Ryuga merely grunted, but smiled. A single bolt of red lightning came, and when it faded, Gingka and Ryuga were once more gone.
Woohoo! Epic battles! I'm hyper! And I have once more reached my seven-page length that I had previously! I'm loving this thing! I feel like I am actually able to use my fill writing skills again because this story is going so much better than the last one! (Even though I did like writing Into the Future. Stormflight always gets me pumped up.) Until next time, Galaxy out!