L-Drago's Return

Chapter 2

Ryuga's POV

The next morning, Ryuga followed Kenta through the city. They made their way toward the bey shop. In the distance, Ryuga spotted Gingka making his way toward the shop from the opposite direction he and Kenta were coming from.

"Hey, Gingka!" Kenta greeted, with a wave.

"Hi Kenta, Ryuga!" Gingka waved to both of them.

"Guess you got the text too?" Kenta asked, holding up his phone.

Gingka nodded.

"What's she need all three of us for?" Ryuga asked.

"No idea," Gingka admitted with a shrug.

Ryuga pushed the door open. Kenta and Gingka followed him inside. Madoka was inside, just coming up the stairs with her laptop in hand.

"Hey, Madoka!" Gingka greeted, waving.

"What's up?" Kenta added, "What did you want to tell all of us?"

"I found something!" Madoka exclaimed, dashing toward them. She nearly bumped into Kenta, who dodged by swiftly stepping to the side. "Well... it might be something, I'm not really sure, maybe it's a stretch."

Ryuga gazed at her. There were dark bags under her eyes and her smile seemed just a little unnatural. *Did she sleep at all?*

"What is it?" he asked.

Madoka practically shoved the laptop in their faces. They all stepped back. On the screen was a black and white photograph of a building in ruins.

"Uh..." Gingka and Kenta glanced at Madoka, looking clueless.

"It's the ruins of an ancient city!" Madoka explained, "It can't be identified as any known city and it's far out from civilization." She swiped the picture offscreen. It was swiftly replaced by a semi-detailed map of Japan. "It's closest to this city but still many kilometres away." She pointed to one city. According to the map, it was a few cities over from theirs.

"You think it might be of Dragon Clan?" Gingka asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Yes! Look at this!" Madoka swiped back to the first picture, pointing to a small black smudge on the screen. Ryuga squinted. It was blurry, but the smudge was actually a symbol of a dragon, the same one that represented Dragon Clan.

"She's right," Ryuga informed, "That's the same symbol we saw yesterday."

Kenta leaned closer. "Oh yeah! It's kinda small but I can see it!"

"I don't know for sure," Madoka admitted, putting the laptop aside. "But it's possible. I mean, surely they had to have lived somewhere, not to mention kept that backup bey somewhere."

Ryuga nodded. "It's worth a shot. Come on, Kenta." He turned and pushed the door of the shop open.

Kenta started to follow him.

"Where are you going?" Madoka asked.

"To these ruins," Ryuga answered, letting the door close again as he glanced at them.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Gingka stepped in front of them. "You're not going without us!"

"Yeah!" Madoka added, standing beside Gingka. "You need a guide!"

"Send me the map," Ryuga ordered. "We're going on our own. You two will just slow us down."

"Excuse me?!" Madoka exclaimed.

"What?!" Gingka's jaw dropped.

"Ryuga!" Kenta exclaimed, glaring up at him. "Don't say that!"

"It's true, isn't it?" Ryuga argued, his eyes narrowed.