I'm...growing so sick of writing this story. Can you tell the quality has gone down a bit? I'm so sorry...D:

Also, I apologize that the battles are so short. It's been over a year since I last watched an episode of Beyblade, so I really don't remember their attacks or anything.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Executing the Plan (Part Three)

They'd long since grown tired of running, and Kyoya had begun to find it pointless to waste their breath anymore, anyways. Somewhere off in the distance, the tell-take sounds of two beys clashing could be made out over the natural sounds of the wind and chirping birds. That alone was enough of a sign that they were safe; those people were surely the only ones that posed any real threat within the Dark Nebula castle, besides Ryuga himself?

Besides, soon the remaining five of them would have found the white-haired blader, and Kyoya and Ginga would make an excellent two-person team to fight against him, since Hikaru and the other girls would be of no use. Their beys were destroyed, and Madoka was simply not one for battles like that. Kyoya had faith that they could win - heck, he even beat Ginga himself a few weeks back! He was stronger than ever, and maybe he could even how that happy-go-lucky redhead that he really was the best! ...without going overboard and letting darkness cloud his good judgment, of course.

"Now that we're directly in front of the castle, Ryuga's bound to be here somewhere," the brunette girl announced, her soft voice breaking the constant sounds of their gasps for breath. She sounded exhausted, of course, as they all were, but there was an air of determination about her, even though she wouldn't be the one to battle, using up every last ounce of her energy until the end.

"Do you think he's inside somewhere?" Hikaru asked quietly, tugging on the sleeve to Kyoya's tattered shirt.

"It's a good possibility," Ginga agreed. "What business could he have away from here?"

Even though Kyoya knew the answer, he kept his mouth shut. He had been too busy keeping his sky blue eyes narrowed in the direction of the tall, steel 'castle' that he'd spent many of his days training within. Even Hikaru had her negative memories of the place flooding back to her; he could feel the strong-willed blue-haired blader shivering slightly from her spot standing next to him.

All he could do was squeeze her hand tighter, lacing their fingers together. Soon, all those dark memories would be a part of the past that they'd never have to look back to - just as soon as Ryuga fell, they could go back to the semi-normal life they'd all led in the past.

"Let's check it out," Ginga finally decided, and he wasted no time on getting a response from the others who were gathered just behind him. The redhead began moving right away, sucking in a deep breath of air and letting it out in a heavy sigh.

Ginga led the way into the castle, ignoring the others' exhaustion and instead focusing on forcing his legs to carry him quickly, before something bad could happen that they wouldn't be able to prevent. Kyoya, Hikaru, and the other two girls pounded after him, sweat pouring from their brows and breath coming in desperate gasps. It wasn't long until they reached the entrance to the castle, and with little struggle - Kyoya had practically lived there for a while; he knew how to get himself in without raising an alarm - they managed to sneak in.

"Now where would he be?" Ginga asked, and his question was directed at the teal-haired blader who had been staring off into the distance with a blank look hollowing out his pale blue gaze.

Kyoya shook his head lightly when he realized that the redhead had been speaking to him, and he absent-mindedly turned to look at the boy. "I think there's a place down the hall... It has a dome and everything," he replied gruffly. "Perfect for battling, even though the others really didn't stand a chance."

Alice tensed from where she stood next to Hikaru, and the blue-haired girl's muscles tightened up as well - they had only narrowly escaped, after all. It wouldn't have been long before they became prey to the mighty Ryuga as well; if they hadn't busted the door down with their beys, things might not be as they were then.

Kyoya rubbed his thumb over the back of Hikaru's hand as though to offer reassurance while Madoka spoke up, her soft voice echoing off the metal walls.

"I suppose that's as good a place to check as any, right?" she prompted, looking at Ginga.

"It could be possible," the redhead mused, tapping his chin with his finger. "Well, we really can't waste time on thinking about it right now, now can we?" He directed his gaze to Kyoya, amber orbs burning with a determined fire. "You can show us the way, right, Kyoya?"

Kyoya only gave him a curt nod and began to move at a fairly steady pace down the hallway, giving the others a bit of time to breathe before something unexpected came up. They couldn't battle anyone if they were completely winded, now could they?

To Ginga and Madoka, the place was merely creepy - they didn't seem to have much of a problem with it, besides being nervous that some Dark Nebula guards would burst out of no where and attack. For Hikaru and Alice, however, it was like a trip down memory lane - and the memories weren't very good ones, either. The pair of girls were terrified about the possibility of being captured again, locked up, and forced to wait until their demise. Hikaru felt slightly safer with Kyoya just in front of her, of course, but if he had lost to Ryuga once, then there was no way he could protect them again.

Ginga, on the other hand...

"We're here." Kyoya's gravelly voice rang out, causing Hikaru to bring herself to a stop just behind him. The pitter-patter of their feet on the metal floors faded into dull echoes as they all halted.

Alice began to tremble, reaching forward to grab her new friend's soft hand, and she managed to lace her fingers together with Hikaru's. The room...it held a strange sense of dread. The only lighting came from the windows that lined the room up by the tall ceiling, and the faint sunlight that filtered through left dark shadows to dance around on the steel floors and walls. The air within seemed significantly colder as well, and Ginga was the first to notice when he saw that his breath came out in a small cloud of white fog.

"What...happened in here?" the redhead wondered aloud, looking around as though he were in some kind of trance.

"Th...This can't be..." Alice murmured quietly, her voice quivering. She shrank back from the curious stares the others directed to her, backing up against a wall with Hikaru at her side, their fingers still entwined for comfort. "This...must be where Ryuga would..."

When the dark-haired girl trailed off, Hikaru continued in a breathless voice, easily guessing what Alice would've said. "...take the bey spirits of their prisoners..."

Ginga opened his mouth to say something in response, but he was cut off by a loud thud that came from somewhere above him, shaking the whole room. Dust rained down on the five of them, and as they all turned to look at what had smacked against the steel wall from somewhere high above, a dark, cackling laugh echoed within the room. Kyoya was the first to recognize that it was Ryuga, and he announced the white-haired bladder's arrival by growling out his name in a tone that was gritty with irritation.

Sure enough, said blader was perched across the room, standing on a metal bridge that led to a hallway somewhere high up - a second story, most likely, and that had to have been where he'd come from, as the place had been empty just moments before. There was a flight of stairs that led up to the grates Ryuga was standing on, and Ginga's gaze darted from them to the evil blader and back again several times before he decided he should probably stay where he was, instead of trying to move up to where Ryuga seemed intent on remaining.

"Ryuga!" Ginga howled; by the tone of voice he used, it almost seemed as though he and the Dark Nebula blader had known each other in the past sometime, but no one questioned it. Ryuga only tilted his head to one side as his smirk grew wider, golden eyes taunting as he prompted the redhead to speak again. "Why have you been doing this to all these people?" he shouted, referring to what Hikaru and Alice had said.

"Simple." His voice was rough and arrogant. "To gain strength. L-Drago just has that kind of special power. And imagine...when I take your strength from you! I can take it from your precious friends as well - and Tategami, too!" Ryuga's cruel gaze settled on the teal-haired blader, and Kyoya met the glare with one of his own. "Why did you leave us, anyway? Did you get too jealous of the fact that I am better than you?"

Kyoya gritted his teeth together, a growl coming from somewhere deep within his throat. "I learned that some things are a bit more important than being the best blader, Ryuga!"

He only snorted and directed his attention back to Ginga. "Well, whatever. This'll be an easy win. Besides, if this pathetic weakling can lose to you, I think I'll have this in the bag!" Ryuga lifted his hand, fingers spread out, and in the moment that he growled the name of his beyblade, he clenched his hand into a fist. L-Drago had been circling the ground just beneath him, and the rotation speed of the bey increased; three purple dragons emerged from the smoke, their jaws snapping hungrily, but they made no move to attack.

Alice flinched away, and even Hikaru had to admit that she was quite terrified. How could Ginga stand up to something like that? Compared to the three large dragons, Pegasus would surely be far too weak?

Ginga reached for his bey launcher and Pegasus, quickly snapping his bey in. He yanked on the ripcord the moment it was ready, sending his beyblade forward in a sudden rush of energy.

"Be careful, Ginga!" Madoka shouted when the redhead stepped away from the others.

Kyoya moved away from his spot near Hikaru and stopped near the brunette, placing one calloused hand on her shoulder. Reassuring someone felt awkward, sure, but he knew more than the others about Ginga's power now. "He'll be fine," Kyoya told her confidently. He removed his hand, shoving it deep into one of his pockets. "Ginga climbed out of Wolf Canyon, right?" When Madoka nodded, he went on. "Then his spirit should be stronger than ever. It takes a lot to pull yourself out of that place, and the will to live is what will make him more powerful than he was before. No doubt, Ginga's strength is at its peak right now."

Madoka stared up at the tanned boy, her aqua eyes a torrent of emotions. Then, she looked down and murmured, "But he's still weak. He has far too many injuries, and even though Pegasus is repaired, I think there might be a limit to how much it can take..."

The teal-haired blader didn't respond, instead shifting his gaze to Ginga when he spoke.

"There's no holding back! Pegasus!" the boy shrieked, and his bey responded immediately, picking up speed and speeding towards L-Drago. It carved a path in the steel ground, blue smoke streaming out behind it. The tell-tale sound of metal clashing against metal rang in their ears, along with Ginga's shouts and Ryuga's snarky comments. Even despite the wind that sent Ginga flying backward on more than one occasion, the redhead blader managed to hold his ground, pushing L-Drago back with equal force.

Hikaru held one of her arms up to shield her face from the onslaught of dust and wind. "This is crazy! Ginga might actually have this won!" she told Alice, who only nodded, watching with wide milky blue eyes.

"Pegasus, finish it!" Ginga yowled, his voice sounding out even above the roaring and whistling of the beyblade-created wind. His beyblade pulsated, blue light emanating from the small object, and all at once, the bey tilted forward and raced for Ryuga's exposed L-Drago. And just when it seemed like the finishing blow was going to be delivered...

...a metallic clash from a third bey sent Pegasus flying backward.

Credit.
Alice Hara belongs to destened-star-girl.

I could've taken this farther, but eh. What's wrong with a cliffhanger every once and a while?

(:Mizune