The Final Showdown
Chapter 1: Strange Beginnings
"Careful, careful now!" Eugene Aki was saying.
He was barely heard through the noise of the machines in the construction site. In front of him was a big, deep pit where workmen were scurrying to and fro. One of them ran over to him now, an excited expression on his face.
"Dr. Aki! We found something!"
Dr. Aki followed as the man walked over to the edge of the hole. The workman signaled to two of his helpers and they came forward carrying a big black trunk. It was old and the wood was splintery but evidently still strong. The workmen set it down before him.
"Hmmm," Dr. Aki bent down and examined the trunk. "Open it."
Another workman came to them carrying a crowbar. Lifting the crowbar, he strained with all his might as he applied pressure. Two more workmen came to help him. It took the three of them five tries but finally, the wood gave and the trunk popped open.
Dr. Aki looked inside but all that was there was a small, circular container. Before examining the trunk to see if there was anything else inside, Dr. Aki lifted the object out. Made entirely of delicately carved marble and set with precious stones, there were also exquisite carvings on the sides.
"Well, well, well," Dr. Aki said. "What do we have here?"
He carried the object inside his tent and set it down on a table. Excitement vibrated from every pore in his body. He had begun this excavation with the slight feeling that nothing would come of it. Apparently, something had.
With slightly trembling hands, he lifted the top off the circular, marble container. The object inside was nestled in folds of red velvet. It was narrow and no longer than his hand. With a curious expression, Dr. Aki lifted it out and held it to the light.
It was a violet crystal.
Fourteen-year-old Ikki Tenryou shuffled down the street. The expression on his face was so obviously morose and gloomy that it pained his medabot who was walking beside him.
"Yo, Ikki! Snap out of it, man. Nothin'll happen if you sulk around all day," Metabee cried out, in an attempt to cheer up his medafighter.
"Uh-huh," was all Ikki said but the dejected expression remained.
Metabee sighed and gave up. It was no secret to Metabee why Ikki was looking like hell had arrived. It was only last year that Ikki realized how he truly felt for his childhood friend Erika. Despite that, it took Ikki nearly six months to ask her out. And Erika had turned him down flat. The reason became apparent two weeks ago when Erika announced that she had a boyfriend: Belmont from Team Iceland. Ever since then, Ikki had been walking around looking like he was going to a funeral.
They were rounding the corner when Metabee saw something out of the corner of his meda-eyes. In a dark alley was a boy and a red medabot. They looked like they were about to robattle a medabot with... Metabee blinked. Were his meda-eyes failing or did the medabot have no medafighter? He looked again. He wasn't mistaken. The medabot had no medafighter, all right.
'Shades of Rokusho,' thought Metabee.
"Yo, Ikki, check it out," Metabee pointed to the dark alley. "Looks like a robattle's comin' up."
Ikki's head snapped up and he stared at the direction Metabee was pointing. Encouraged by Ikki's momentary lapse from his misery, Metabee persisted,
"Let's have us a lookee." Without waiting for an answer, Metabee grabbed his medafighter's hand and ran down to the alley.
"Ah! Metabee!" Ikki cried out but Metabee shushed him and gestured instead to the two medabots and one human.
Ikki shut up and looked. Was it just him or did that other medabot have no medafighter? He turned to Metabee and Metabee nodded. So Metabee had also noticed the lack of a medafighter.
'This should be an interesting robattle,' Ikki thought, snapped out of his wretchedness for the first time in the past week.
Glyder
EGL-1213, Eagle-type
Special Attack: Claw Swipe
Medafighter: Thomas
The boy and the medabot looked like a formidable team.
Fulmen
DGN-78349, Dragon-type
Special Attack: Lightning-Thunder Combination
Medafighter: None
"Glyder, attack tactics. Let's go," the boy said into his medawatch.
The gray and blue medabot took flight with the wings behind it's back, flying directly for the other medabot. Instead of hitting it, though, the eagle-type medabot merely circled it and circled it. The green and light yellow dragon-type did not flinch whatsoever.
The eagle-type medabot continued circling the other until even Ikki and Metabee felt dizzy just watching it. Then, without warning,
"Glyder, Claw Swipe!"
The eagle-type bot pulled out from its flight so abruptly and quickly switched direction, the long, sharp claws on its arms glinting. It aimed for the other medabot... and swiped.
But the other medabot suddenly disappeared. The eagle looked around confused. It's medafighter was equally dumbfounded,
"Where'd he go?"
The other medabot suddenly appeared behind the flying one. Then,
"Lightning Bolt!"
A flash of bright light hit the eagle-type medabot. Ikki, Metabee and the medabot Glyder's medafighter shielded their eyes from the intense brightness. When the light had gone, and they could see again they were shocked. Glyder was lying on the ground, all function ceased. The dragon- type bot had won.
"Sucker match," the winning medabot said in a metallic voice and leaped up.... and disappeared again.
"Glyder!" the boy said running to his medabot.
"Whoa..." Metabee said.
"Yeah. Some match," Ikki breathed. "And what a medabot that was. Wonder why he doesn't have a medafighter..."
"Isn't it obvious? He doesn't need one! The way he just vanished and zapped that other bot down to the ground... Wish I coulda robattled him," Metabee was saying.
But as he looked at Ikki, he saw that Ikki had retreated back to his self- pity shell again.
The nine o' clock train stopped right on the dot at the station. People were in a hurry to get out. Among those people were the dark-haired girl and her medabot. Unlike the other people, they didn't seem to be in a hurry to get out. They lingered awhile in the station.
"Strange. I've been in such a rush to get to Japan as soon as possible. Now that I'm here... I don't know. Everything seems surreal," the girl mused.
"Surreal. Probably just jet-lag," her medabot replied.
The girl looked amusedly at her medabot. "Don't tell me medabots get jet- lag."
"Well... In a way. But that's not what we call it," her medabot assured her.
The girl laughed. Then she looked around the station.
"It seems wonderful to be here at last. I really did need a vacation," she said.
"I know you did. And if it weren't for my persuading, we wouldn't be here," the medabot reminded her.
"I know, I know. Must you remind me?" she sighed then picked up her suitcases. "C'mon. Let's go find my cousin's house, Sylverren."
The girl walked away with her medabot, Sylverren following behind.