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Chapter Five: Battles.

"No way! He won another one!" Tobio was careful to keep his voice down so that no one other than Ryutaro could hear him; he didn't need everyone who was watching the bey battle to know that Jacques was truly a fake. After all, how many matches had they won in a row? Was this twelve, or was it thirteen? He couldn't tell…not that it really mattered.

Most of their opponents, he thought, lost due to their fear of Kyoya. And Jacques was pretty good at acting the part, too. That English boy was getting better and better at mastering Kyoya's throaty voice, and with all the insults and threats that flew from his mouth without a second thought, it was as though he literally was Kyoya himself. It was pretty unnerving, to put it simply.

Jacques let a cruel laugh erupt from his throat that startled even Tobio. The teal-haired boy howled out a string of insults at his opponent as the poor, unfortunate blader's bey went flying. He hated to admit that he was enjoying himself a lot more than he thought he would – degrading people really wasn't something he liked doing, but here, he was having more fun than he ever had in his whole life. And it was all because of the power that he could feel surging through his fingertips when he held his little green bey, Leone's perfect fake.

"Unbelievable! Another one bites the dust!" the blader DJ cried out for all to hear, and the audience roared in response, chanting Kyoya's name.

Completely in character, Jacques clutched the bey to his chest with a smirk, closing his eyes to soak up the applause. It may not be my name, but….they're cheering for me, he thought proudly, fighting to keep his cheeks from flushing a pinkish color. The real Kyoya wouldn't blush at something as simple as that.

But still.

Jacques could be considered a real blader, now. A real blader. He was even pretty good at it!

….Sort of.

For the most part, it was the power that his replicated Leone held. Jacques himself only pulled the ripcord, called out orders, and hoped for the best. Which, so far, had been happening. Match after match, he blasted the opponents out of the arena – and as much as he hated to admit it, it was partly because he would catch them off guard while he spat out cruel words that felt like acid on his tongue. Because spitefulness was not something he was used to.

But he was making Ryutaro and Tobio proud – mostly Tobio – and that was what mattered to him at the moment. They intended to pay him for his efforts at impersonating Kyoya and helping them win such a big event; not to mention, he was having a pretty unforgettable time.

Opening his striking blue eyes – it was still pretty weird for him to be wearing contacts, but he was beginning to get used to the feeling – he looked back over to the loser he had been battling and smirked to see the guy walking away with his head hanging in shame.

"It's the time you've all been waiting for~!" The voice of the blader DJ rang out once again, echoing over the sound of the screaming fans. "The final match is about to begin! And, of course, the first opponent will be the one, the only, Kyoya Tategami!" He screamed out the name excitedly, while the audience continued to cry out their support.

Jacques narrowed his eyes and flashed a smirk, lifting one hand in a careless wave to acknowledge 'his' fans.

"And his opponent is the big and bad…Ryuga!"

The cheers vanished into immediate silence, a sharp intake of breath out of stunned fear. Jacques was no different from them; he'd heard of Ryuga before! He was the blader who had once tried to rule the world with his beyblade, L-Drago. And he…was definitely not the kind of person Jacques needed to be battling. Kyoya Tategami himself had barely managed to stay standing up in his battle against Ryuga; there was no was Jacques, with his phony bey, would be able to last even ten seconds against him!

Tobio and Ryutaro stood on either side of him like statues, rigid with shock.

The white-haired blader himself made his way up to the stadium, the biggest, cruelest smirk spread across his features, his golden eyes narrowed to slits. One of his hands was clasped into a tight fist, muscles rippling along his arm from the slight motion.

"So, Tategami, we meet again, huh?" Ryuga asked with an arrogant edge to his voice as he came to a halt.

Jacques stared at him in silence for a few long moments, his sky blue eyes wide. He was at a complete loss of what to say. How on Earth was he supposed to talk to the Ryuga, the one who could destroy him almost immediately?

Tobio jabbed Jacques in the side with his elbow, but said nothing, as that was plenty enough to cause the now-teal-haired boy to speak.

"It's pretty interesting that the two of us get to battle again, eh, Ryuga?" Jacques bit the inside of his cheek. He did not like the way that guy's name sounded on his tongue.

Ryuga lowered his gaze and chuckled darkly. "Ah, Kyoya, you seem quite different from how I remember. Might you be scared to experience what happened last time?"

"Not at all!" Jacques knew his body was shaking, quivering with terror, but he fought against it. If Ryuga could tell how horrified he was, then his fans would be able to as well. Sure, they may not be his fans, but a boy could dream. "Because you'll be the one on the losing end!"

Ryuga retrieved his beyblade from the dragon gauntlet on his arm and held it out, prepared to launch. His fingers clutched at the ripcord. He smirked as he saw Jacques do the same. "Well, this oughta be interesting!" he laughed.

Jacques narrowed his eyes, shifting slightly. His feet were planted firmly on the ground a shoulder length apart. He was prepared…

Prepared to lose.

After calling out the usual, "Three, two, one; let it rip!" with the audience and Ryuga, Jacques launched his bey, more than a little pleased to see it land easily and begin circling the stadium. He'd been a little nervous that something really stupid would end up causing him to fail in the battle. But so far, he was doing decently. Until Ryuga's voice rang out in the air.

"You aren't attacking first?" Ryuga challenged. "That's a surprise!"

Jacques growled throatily, as the real Kyoya would've done. "Shut it, dragon boy! You just wait, and you'll get yours!" My God, he's gonna kill me.

Ryuga smirked and chuckled cruelly. "That's nice, Kyoya. Real nice." L-Drago tilted forward as it lunged for the fake Leone, a thin stream of purple smoke following out behind it. The two beys collided with a little clink, sending a flurry of sparks into the air as they ground together.

The white-haired blader frowned as Leone moved away from L-Drago to avoid the next attack. Something was definitely off. Kyoya wouldn't avoid him like that; he would make a counterattack, catch him off guard. Do something along those lines. Never before had Kyoya deliberately run from an attack. Okay, he had, but in those rare instances, he had a concentrated look on his face. But Kyoya now…he looked scared. And he was shaking.

L-Drago lunged for Leone again, and just like the first time, he was cleverly avoided. Ryuga scowled. Kyoya, huh? He may not have been an expert, but he could easily tell when someone was lying. And he was definitely going to do something that shocked these guys.

When Leone finally came at L-Drago for an attack, Ryuga allowed his bey to forced backward; however, he still faked a pretty decent fight. After a few minutes of excited shouts in the audience, some cruel trash-talking between himself and 'Kyoya', flying sparks, and the sound of grinding metal, L-Drago flew into the air. The fans fell silent in shock as the purple beyblade landed at Ryuga's feet.

"And…it seems Kyoya won!"

The screeches of the audience drown out Tobio's and Ryutaro's excited squeals and praise as they bounced up and down, slapping Jacques on the back in an action to say 'well done'.

"…how?" Jacques mumbled, just barely loud enough for Tobio to catch.

"What?"

"How did I win?" The teal-haired boy looked down at the ground after catching his fake Leone in his hand. "I…it was Ryuga…"

Ryutaro smiled and placed a hand on Jacques' shoulder. "I guess you learned more than you thought you did, eh?" His violet eyes switched over to look at Tobio. "This is our lucky day, friend~!" he sang happily.

As they continued with their celebration, Ryuga turned away without another word. He shot a glance to the camera that was trained on him, and he smirked down at his feet. Ahh, the look on Kyoya's face when he sees this on television.

Yes, I know the battle went too quickly. I got lazy, and I sincerely apologize for that. Still, though, thanks for reading!

(:Mizune