Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only characters I own are my OCs. Anything else is coincidental.
Note: This story is another prequel, more of a spin-off and it details the past of my bad OC Pyro. This chapter has very violent content, so you have been warned. Please no flames or hate comments.
Chapter 9: A Dangerous Move
Pyro awoke from his sleep and frowned at the amount of sunlight coming through. That meant it was late morning and he wasn't used to sleeping in this long. He jumped up from his bed and ruffled his hair into a better style as it was a mess from sleeping. He went over to the mirror, which albeit being slightly cracked, was a mirror nonetheless and he admired his reflection. It had been 9 long years since his friend, Nicolai's, death. He was now 14 years old and looked very different from when he was a little child.
His once child looks had developed into a more teenage look, mostly in his body's features. He had slightly more muscle in his arms and chest. His hair was the same, though perhaps slightly longer, but the real difference that could be seen was in his eyes. Okay they were no different in colour, the same light brown, but no emotion could be seen anymore. They were empty...no signs of feeling in them.
"Morning, Pyro." came Pyrotoa's voice in his master's mind.
Pyro smirked slightly as his picked his blade up from where he kept it and looked down at the bit. "Ready for another day, Pal?" he asked the dragon.
"I'm always ready, Pyro. Don't worry about that." the beast replied.
Pyro nodded and threw his blade into the air then caught it again. The blade hadn't changed much over the last 9 years, still the same colours of red and orange, just the occasional new part every now and then.
He looked around and sighed. The supplies he had left for eating were being set upon by a couple of rats. He growled and held his blade out in their direction. The bit glowed orange and the rats looked up, sniffing at the disturbance, then a fireball hit them, burning them badly so they scurried away with whimpering sounds.
"Damn creatures. I will have to go out for my breakfast after all." he said out-loud then headed outside the hideout to a good place he knew.
In town, Pyro managed to sneak some good food. He sneaked into an alleyway and sat down on a wooden crate as he began to eat. As he ate, he thought about everything he had been through: his parents' deaths and Nicolai's murder. He felt sad of the memories, but refused to allow a tear to fall. He wasn't going to show his emotions like that anymore.
"You're stronger than you used to be, Pyro. There's no need to think of the past. That's why it's called 'the past', as it's been, gone, done and can't be changed, no matter how much you might want it to." said Pyrotoa to his master suddenly.
"You have a point, but...I don't know. The past may be the past and can't be changed, but still, there might be a way to cover it all up." Pyro replied.
He finished up his food then eyed a warehouse in the distance. He had a feeling he should go there, though a part of him felt a stab of fear, which he didn't understand...as what was so creepy about a warehouse really?
"Okay, Pyro, what's on your mind? This warehouse is nothing special." asked Pyrotoa curiously.
"There's something about it. I'm sure there is something, or someone, there I know well, but I can't put my finger on it. I want to check it out." Pyro replied.
Pyrotoa sighed, and agreed with his master to investigate. Pyro headed towards the warehouse and noticed the sky darkening over him. Coincidence that a storm was coming, or a bad omen?
Inside the warehouse were a group of five boys. Two of them were discussing what had been going on lately for their group.
"Yo, Boss, why do we keep hanging around here? I mean, we could be doing more troublesome acts, a little vandalism. The works." said a blonde haired teen with a black streak in it and pink eyes.
"Listen to me, Austin. We do enough. Yesterday we robbed that kid of their poor little piggy bank. Shame we couldn't get more, but his daddy is a cop." said the leader, who had brown, spiky hair with two white streaks at the fringe, blazing red eyes and a scar across his face.
Austin frowned a little, then one of the others spoke up. "Well, Mystrael, you and Austin both have a point. We need something new or this gang is going to become unknown to the peeps of Russia as we're being so small-minded."
"You want to complain, Timothy, then go ahead. I'm not interested." replied Mystrael and he frowned at the one named Tim, who had red hair with golden brown highlights and orange eyes.
Tim growled as he wasn't too happy with his full name being used, so Mystrael smirked and turned away.
"You guys are so lame." muttered a blue haired teen with bluey-grey eyes.
Mystrael growled and walked over to the younger boy and glared down at him. "Let me run it over with you, James. The one who's lame is the one who's weak and doesn't know how to handle himself...and I have to say, that's you." he said.
James backed away from Mystrael and swallowed nervously.
The remaining member, who had yet to speak, turned his head to the entrance of the warehouse as he heard a sound and smirked then said "Hey, guys, you won't believe who's shown up."
"What, Daniel?" snapped Austin at the teen who had brown hair with two green streaks in it.
"He has black and red hair, light brown eyes and he's one pale dude. It's the 'Squirt'. Remember, the kid we beat up 11 years ago and then met again 9 years ago." said Daniel.
Mystrael smirked as he turned to face the entrance, though inside he did feel a stab of remembrance of that day he killed Nicolai with that knife.
"Hey, 'Squirt'!" shouted Austin tauntingly.
Pyro looked up with a raised eyebrow of surprise, then he gasped slightly as he remembered these boys.
"Pyro, I can sense your discomfort, what's wrong? You know these boys?" Pyrotoa asked his master.
"Yes...Pyrotoa. They...they were the ones who...killed Nicolai..." he replied to his bit beast slowly.
"What's wrong, Kid? You're looking a bit blank. Did you go a bit loopy after that emotional business 9 years ago?" continued Austin as he smirked harshly.
Pyro frowned, but looked a little scared. The memories of these boys were awful and he had wished for years he could just forget, but it wasn't possible.
"Well, say something, Wuss!" yelled James.
"Okay, I will. You guys haven't changed much in 9 years. You seem to have gotten worse. I came here out of curiosity, so I guess I wasted my time." said Pyro, and was about to turn away, when Mystrael called him back.
"Where are you going, Kid? You scared of us because you know we can beat you, or because we took the life of your precious and only friend?"
Pyro froze in his tracks then turned back, a clear growl and glare on him.
"You guys better watch what you say, as I have changed a lot in 9 years, compared to you lot." he said as he felt his anger flaring.
Mystrael hn'd. "So, you are braver with your words. And? How does that help you when there's one of you and five of us?" he asked with a smirk.
Pyro smirked back. "Because I have some back-up. Something that can handle dozens, let alone five." he said confidently.
"Ha, yeah right. You've changed all right. You've become an overconfident pest, now get lost before we feel like driving you to the same fate as we did Nicolai." Mystrael replied.
Pyro growled again at the mention of his friend, who had done nothing to deserve the death he had.
"Aww, poor squirt misses his friend. I don't know why as Nicolai wasn't that much cop. He was worthless, most street kids are to be honest, as our purpose serves us for our own reasons. Nicolai's purpose was to teach you how to live, which he clearly succeeded in...until now. Boys, get him!" shouted Mystrael.
Austin, Tim and Daniel surrounded Pyro as James blocked the exit, leaving no place to run. Pyro just eyed each member.
"Nicolai wasn't so tough, so chances are you aren't either." Austin muttered.
"We shouldn't have run off back then. We could have taken you out too..." started Daniel.
"...but no matter, as, after all these years of pining like a wimp, you can join Nicolai!" said Tim, finishing Daniel's sentence.
Pyro's anger started to boil and his blade was glowing in his pocket so he brought it out. The members of the gang stared at the glowing blade, its orange glow shining around the warehouse.
"He has a bit beast? Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle. Kill him and get it. It will be a nice addition." said Mystrael as he joined his group.
Just as Austin's hand flew out to grab the blade, it glowed brighter and Pyrotoa rose from his bit and roared. The members of the group looked scared, though Mystrael smirked.
"Pyrotoa, do your thing." said Pyro with a smile.
The dragon opened his wings and roared, but instead of a fireball, as expected, a bright orange glow enveloped the area and the temperature got hotter and hotter.
"Oh my...what is he...doing?" moaned Daniel weakly as he fell to his knees as the heat overwhelmed him.
Pyro himself was stunned at his own power, but smirked at the other five boys' pain. James was the first to scream as he felt burns on his arms, getting worse as the heat scorched his flesh.
"This can't...be..." moaned Mystrael as he watched his 'friends' screaming to the pain as their burns got worse, the heat totally burning them away, slowly and painfully.
"Pyrotoa, power up!" shouted Pyro. In his anger he wanted to see these boys suffer more.
The dragon roared and increased his power, and the heat with it. More screams broke through as the boys found themselves unrecognisable from their own burns, until finally there was a gigantic, but almost muffled, explosion and everything was silenced...
About 15 minutes later, Pyro opened his eyes to find himself on the floor. He couldn't really remember what had happened. He knew he had seen the five boys of the street gang and they had taunted him and Nicolai...then his power surged and there were screams, then it all blacked out. He got to his feet and looked around. The warehouse was nothing short of a wreck, but it was empty...what had happened to the gang members? Had they run away?
"Pyrotoa? What...what happened?" he asked the dragon, but got no reply except from a low growl. He supposed his friend was out of power and needed a rest, so left him be.
He looked around and saw small splats of blood. It made him nervous, then he slipped in one of the small pools and landed face down. Growling he put his hands out to get back up then felt something odd...it felt like powder.
He got to his knees and brushed his hands along the stuff then gasped in fear as it all came back. Pyrotoa had unleashed a new move, burning the boys to death...so this stuff he could now feel on his hands was ash...and not just any old ash, but ash that was now the remains of those boys...all that was left of them.
He looked around and thought to himself. He felt really weird. This experience was now his first killing, and though it scared him, he felt a feeling coming out of it. A feeling of superiority, of power...and he liked that feeling. He took another look around then his look of fear was replaced by a look of arrogance and he smiled evilly to himself...
