Last battle

"Enrique! Enrique!"

Johnny crawled over to his Italian friend and grabbed his hand. The blonde lay still and quiet on the ground, blood running down from a shallow gash in his head, his helmet was gone. He was breathing steadily, but his eyes were closed, and beside him lay the shattered pieces of his blade. The bit chip was intact, but empty.

"Wake up!"

But Enrique didn't stir. Johnny felt tears sting his eyes; two down and one lost. Robert…

The sound of beating wings made him roll around and to face the chasm. It was wider than he could jump and the ends disappeared somewhere in the dust that lay thick in the air. Johnny's eyes widened as the black beast rose from the abyss. It threw its head back and shrieked in rage, the sound tearing through the boy's mind like a knife. He covered his ears and closed his eyes hard, trying to block it out.

The beast had returned alone, without any signs of Grypholyon.

The Scot shielded his face with his arm when those mighty, black wings began to beat more dust and sand up into the air. He was still holding Enrique's lifeless hand, and somewhere to his left he could hear Oliver moan. It was lost. The battle was lost.

But it couldn't end like this!

"Salamalyon!"

But his bit beast was gone too.

'Maybe he returned to my beyblade…maybe he escaped…or maybe he has already been captured.' The thought made him icy cold, like the wind from the phoenix' wings.

Suddenly he spotted Oliver's pink blade laying a few metres away from him. If he could just reach it…and Enrique's launcher lay beside the blonde's hand. It was cracked, but not broken, and it was the only chance he had. Gathering the last of his strength he hauled himself over the rocky ground. Pain shot through his leg, but he gritted his teeth and ignored it. Even in his armour he knew it was a bad wound.

Finally. He reached for the blade, feeling a wild surge of hope when he closed his hand around it. Unicolyon glowed softly in recognition, but before Johnny could attach the blade to the launcher a foot stepped heavily down on his wrist. He was forced to let go when his arm was ground into the dust, and his hope fell with the blade.

"No!"

Johnny watched helplessly as Unicolyon was sucked out of his beyblade, and into a black one, spinning just out of the reach of his free hand.

"How could you do this?" He screamed, looking up at the one who had single-handedly defeated his team, but said blader gave no answer.

The shoe left his wrist, which was red and scraped, and the feet began to walk away, while other black shapes were appearing from the dust-clouds. Johnny rolled over to his back, and the dust above him parted to show the blue sky of icy Russia. But the sun that shone there was cold and distant, and inside Johnny felt as if he would never be warm again.

"KAI!"