The future of Beyblading. Just a mountain of destroyed Beys and L Drago glowing in the dark. That was what Ryuutaro had seen and it was frightening. He didn't want it to end that way. No matter what people might think, judging by his behaviour... Fukami Ryuutaro deeply loved Beyblading with all his heart.
But now... thankfully, like the sun breaking through the clouds, the future seemed to have changed. The fortune-teller still had a hard time trying to believe it.
Hagane Ginga. Could he... really change fate? Not only his own, but also that of thousands of Beybladers? Was a thing like this really possible? Ryuutaro wanted to believe in it. He wanted Ginga to defeat Ryuuga and the Dark Nebula, so that one day he could have fun with Beyblading again.
But now it was not the time to worry about that. Now he had to worry about nobody, but himself. No matter if and how fast Ginga would win his fights... it couldn't be fast enough to save Ryuutaro from the future that layed before him. Ginga couldn't be fast enough to save him from Reiji.
Ryuutaro had joined the Dark Nebula and then he had lost to Ginga. Now he had to pay the price. Briefly the boy had considered running away. But the Dark Nebula would've found him. Everywhere. And in the end he wouldn't be able to avoid this fate.
Unavoidable fate... How ironic.
And so Ryuutaro had decided to stay strong, to fight this last battle with pride.
But his hand was clenched around Thermal Pisces so tightly that he almost cut into the skin and started bleeding. Ryuutaro had seen what Reiji did to the others. And he was terrified at the thought that it would happen to him and Pisces, too. But he still wouldn't give up. He'd put up a real fight. Maybe the last of his time as Beyblader, but he didn't want to think about that.
„Are you ready?" He twitched at the sound of Mizuchi Reiji's snake-like voice. It sounded weirdly loud in the empty room. Ryuutaro managed to fake a grin. „Sure."
But still he almost didn't want to let go of Pisces, even though it was unavoidable.
„3...2...1... GO SHOOT!"
The echo was all around them. Even though there was no crowd to shout with them, it still filled Ryuutaro's ears like it was screamed with thousands of voices. Thousands of fearful voices.
He tried to concentrate, but without his fan his hand felt empty. He didn't really know what do with them. Even though Ryuutaro didn't regret to have teared it apart... It was just a weird feeling.
The fight hadn't really started yet. Pisces had positioned itself in the middle of the arena, just like it usually did. Poison Serpent also had not made it's move yet, it was just circeling it's enemy.
And suddenly something came flying towards Ryuutaro. For a moment he thought it was a knife, a bomb... or something different, that was still dangerous. But then again he reminded himself, that Reiji liked to give his opponents pain during the battle, not outside of it. And before Ryuutaro really knew what he was doing, he caught the thing. It wasn't dangerous. It was a fan.
His eyes widening, Ryuutaro looked at the fan and then at Reiji and then back at the fan. What was going on here? Reiji was grinning teasingly in his cruel, creepy way. „Wouldn't want to let you fight without your favourite accessory", it sounded mocking and dangerous at the same time. All the ‚s's were snake-like hisses, „Suits you so nicely after all."
Ryuutaro just stared for a moment. Was that guy joking? Still, this meant Reiji had looked him up, watched his fights. It was only natural, but this... gesture? Ryuutaro had no idea what it meant. He wondered if it was dangerous to accept. Because he was tempted to, the familiar feeling of a fan in his hand was wonderful.
It even was a nice fan. Dark blue like the night-sky. But it was water, since a beautiful, red Koi carp was portrayed. Where did Reiji get this ‚gift'?
Had he bought it for this situation only? Or had he just found it around and decided to use it to play a joke on Ryuutaro, see the face that he'd make?
Anyway, this was still a fight and the fortune-teller knew that he shouldn't waste too much time thinking about something silly as this.
„Alright then", he said, hoping that this wasn't a huge mistake. But if it was, he'd make it with style. His lips parted to a smirk, he pointed the opened fan at his enemy.
The reply was coming instantly. Reiji moved his hand forward, almost seeming to copy Ryuutaro's movement, just without fan. "Soon you will be screaming in fear! Go! Serpent!"
Pisces had a good defense. Of course it had, after all it could control the airflow surrounding it. But Ryuutaro had seen Serpent's power and decided not to rely on that alone. He'd use his special move soon. But that didn't stop him from following his usual habit. He brought the now closed fan to his lips and spoke his mantra. Sadly he heard his voice shake slightly as he said it. „Good luck come my way. Good luck come my way. Good luck come my way."
This was going exactly as Reiji wanted it. He liked to see that pride, because he knew he'd crush it later on. He liked to hear those shaking words. Fear. He loved it. And he was planning to bring out far more of it later on.
That fan really suited Ryuutaro nicely. Reiji was glad to have given it to him. He wanted to crush Bladers who were whole...Ryuutaro without his fan, seemed to be only half, because he gestured with it that much during the fights. Reiji had indeed watched the other, but that was not special. Reiji spent a lot of time watching others on the countless screens in his rooms. Ryuutaro was not like Ginga. He didn't shine, because there was something sneaky about him. He had the basics to be really good, but Reiji had seen the other's pathetic side, too. He was nothing more than an appetizer, even though Reiji knew that the expression of fear the fortune-teller was going to give him would be absolutly delicious.
As for the fan... the idea of giving it to him sure was nice. But actually it had been developed after Reiji had purchased the item. When he did, it had just been a random idea of his psychotic mind. The fan was cheap and so he really bought it. It had reminded him of Ryuutaro and even though they never talked to each other until then, he felt like it would be useful someday. And he had been right.
‚Maybe Ryuutaro isn't the only fortune-teller in here?' Reiji thought in amusement.
Pisces's defense was good that was true. But then again it hardly mattered to Reiji, as Poison Serpent got through it anyway. With difficulty or not... he didn't care.
For Ryuutaro it was a quite biger shock. Somewhere in his mind he had expected it, but now that it happened, he still felt his body freeze in fear. His grip around the fan tightened and his knuckles turned white, as he watched Pisces getting all these tiny venemous hits. He had to do something. When he ‚painted' his pentagram in the air with his fan, he did all he could to look calm and unaffected.
„Special move. Distortion drive!"
And then he saw Reiji's eyes through his bangs of hair and knew that nothing he did now really mattered.
Well, well, the fan-gesturing definitly looked... enchanting in some way. But right now Reiji was far more intrested in the special move. Around him were only colors, the arena seemed to have disappeared. He knew about that illusion, but this was the first time he experienced it himself. Intresting.
He laughed. It was a hard, almost metallic sound. „Now we're alone, hm? So that nobody will hear you scream!"
Even though the words were stupid... the voice... the words... They were doing their job perfectly. Ryuutaro really was afraid. His hands were shaking as he kept his eyes focussed on the Beys, so that he didn't have to look at his creepy, crazy opponent. Who for some reason didn't get the headtache he was supposed to have now. Reiji seemed to be unaffected by Pisces's hypnosis. That was bad. Ryuutaro knew that his last trump had just been destroyed.
The boy tried his best to keep the fear out of his voice as he spoke, but he knew he failed.
„Hagane Ginga... will beat the Dark Nebula. You will all fall down! It's your fate! Whatever you do now, it will be useless!" This was not exactly what he had seen, actually he just knew that Ginga would fight Ryuuga. But the fortune-teller hoped that it would be like that. The time of terror had to end! He himself wasn't the fairest player in the world, but what the Dark Nebula did was simply evil.
There was a glimpse of anger in Reiji's face and Ryuutaro felt momentarily satisfied. Until Reiji hissed: „That won't help you now... All the blader-spirit in the world won't get you out of this. It's just you and me and we both know how it will end. So let you fear show through!"
„Never", Ryuutaro managed to say, hiding most of his face behind the opened fan, because he didn't want to give Reiji the pleasure of seeing his expression right now. The expression he had, as he heard Pisces breaking slowly. This just wasn't alright. And still he knew no way to avoid it.
That fan... Reiji wanted to get it to move down.. But he knew that Ryuutaro was going to break eventually. His snakes were already all around the other. It was only a matter of moments until one of them forced Ryuutaro's hand to go down.
Oooooh, the pain on his face. It have Reiji the rush he needed. Making him feel like flying.
„Nnnghh..."
Reiji would've loved to play for a little longer, but it was about time he finished this. There were other things he needed to take care of.
The final blow almost felt as if it was happening in slow motion. Ryuutaro flew backwards, with him the three pieces that Pisces had been broken into. It was a heartbreaking image to every passionate blader. ‚Pisces... I'm... sorry'
The thoughts were finished right before he hit the ground and his whole world was filled with pain. Every part of his body hurt and Ryuutaro felt tears running down his face, bluring his make-up. Wether it was from physical or emotional pain, he didn't even know anymore. Pisces... Ryuutaro tried to reach out for the pieces, when he noticed that Reiji had come over. He noticed this rather roughly, as the winner had set his foot on Ryuutaro's hand. The fortune-teller almost feared to hear his fingers breaking, but thankfully he didn't. Still, the pain kept him from moving his hand again, even as Reiji took his foot away and kneeled down besides Ryuutaro.
Seeing those tears pleased the sadist greatly. This was what Beyblading was about. This feeling of success. He didn't get how it could be different for anybody.
Ryuutaro stared at him with wide eyes. What more was that person going to do to him?
He was frightened, but at the same time his damn pride couldn't shut up, not even in a situation like this. He raised his other hand, the one that was holding the closed fan and pointed it at Reiji's lips, like he usually did to silence people or get their attention.
Reiji blinked, but his eyes were hidden by his hair so the other couldn't notice. Even in a situation like this... he still hadn't given up fully? Maybe he had underestimated the boy. Maybe he could have much more fun with him later on.
The pride and will was there, but Ryuutaro's body didn't want to play along. He didn't have the strength to hold the fan up for a longer time and not even to put it down with elegance. His hand just kind of gave in, falling down limply, the fan really brushing Reiji's lips.
Ryuutaro couldn't keep his eyelids up any longer. The last thing he saw were Reiji's eyes. ‚Poison...', the fortune-teller thought, before he fell unconscious.
Reiji chuckled. What an amusing person. He reached down, his hands brushing through Ryuutaro's soft, fluffy hair in an almost affectionate movement. And then without a warning his grip turned violent and he jerked the unconscious person up on his hair to take an even closer look at his face.
The pained expression sure looked nice. And Reiji suddenly thought he'd give Ryuutaro some kind of special treatment. A solitary cell would be nice. The fortune-tellers pride was not yet broken. Reiji would take care of that. He'd change the shark to a little goldfish in a glass.
Bursting out in laughter Reiji got up, letting Ryuutaro fall back to the ground violently. Then an idea hit him and he bent down again. He wasn't sure why he was doing it, but he picked up the fan, that previously had ‚shushed' him, and pressed it to Ryuutaro's lips.
„There, there...", he whispered with his cruel, cold, teasing voice, „Now you've kissed me, you naughty boy."
Humming a creepy little song, Reiji dropped the fan, leaving the injured fortune-teller on the ground. Mizuchi Reiji himself walked away towards his battle with Hagane Ginga, towards future and fate.