"Let it rip!"
"Alright, Nieth, let's do this! He can't attack if he can't see us! Camoflauge Barrage!"
"Mama mia! Where did Nieth go?" The EU DJ exclaimed in shock as the green energy ring of Christina's Bey shimmered and disappeared, "Wait! Luke is getting hammered by unseen assault! Could it be- that maybe-"
"Hm," Luke smirked a little. "A sneak attack, huh?"
He's far too calm, Christina thought, unnerved. I need to finish this battle, quickly.
Luke's icy eyes were cold and calculating, watching as Khione got hit from the left, the right, front, back and center, before smirking.
"Bingo," he said, softly. "Khione! Special Move, Black Ice!"
Khione pulsed an icy blue, before releasing a shockwave. In it's wake, a sheet of ice covered the stadium.
Christina growled as the shockwave revealed Nieth on the edge of the stadium, spinning steadily, "So you disrupted the air around Nieth. Big deal- Nieth!"
Her Bey glowed green, before shooting forward and on to the ice. However, the moment the extreme sharp performace tip met the ice, it was unable to speed forward.
"What? It's not a mirage?!" Christina exclaimed.
"And now, you're in my trap," Luke smirked. He swept his arm out, "Go now! Khione! Special Move, Icicle Barrage!"
Christina yelped in surprise as Khione suddenly began a barrage attack on her Nieth, "How? How are you not slipping on the ice?!"
Lucas chuckled, "Easy. Khione is made for the ice. She has extra balance thanks to the nodes not only on her spintrack, but also on her extreme flat perfomance tip. They're good for balance, and gripping on to slick surfaces where other Beys can't. Many a time in previous battles have my opponent's fallen to this move... You will be the same."
Christina growled, eyes narrowing, Luke's words ringing in her ears.
You will be the same...
Christina took Tyler's tablet from him, ignoring his surprised 'hey!' as she did.
"Is there a pattern he follows in that three hit attack thing?" Christina asked, as she hit play on a random video clip.
"Um... not that I've seen yet, but then again, you just took my only way of figuring it out away from me..." Tyler said, dryly.
"He's got to have a game plan, some sort of pattern for his multiple wins," Christina said, watching the battle on the screen.
"If it's any help, not that it will, with the fact that Nieth is a nature type, but he seems susceptible to fire types," Tyler said. "And, any time he ends up in battle with Nero Konzern, it's almost always a tie. But, then again, when they're in battle together... they're fire and ice devestation move just about eradicates their oppoenent, so..."
"Black Ice!"
Christina frowned, watching the screen intently.
"Icicle Barrage! ... Now, finish him! Winter's Wrath!"
Christina's brow furrowed, and tapped at the tablet, pulling another video up... then another, and another...
Christina smirked, "Unfortunately... some people are just predictable."
"And that's what you are, Lucas McKandless!" Christina shouted, "You're predictable! All of your tournaments show that you use three hits to defeat whoever you're battling! Kind of a rip off of your brother's three second rule, don't you think?"
Luke growled, glaring, "Excuse you?"
"I already know what you're going to do next!" Christina laughed, "You may be smart, but I got something you don't- survival instincts!"
Luke scoffed, "Oh really?"
"Don't you know? Being a Blader for hire is a bit of a rough lifestyle? I can tell you that, and so can my big brother. You got to be tough to make it in the world, you have to be strong! You have to know how to survive! You also have to know where the weak point is and strike them down," Christina smirked. "In your case... You've already revealed to me what that is... And an archer never misses her target- Nieth! Special move-"
Christina's Blader's spirit flashed around her, a dark green aura of flames. In the stadium, Nieth's Bey spirit appeared.
A woman dressed in black armor flashed into the air, a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder and a bow in her hand. The beast pulled an already strung arrow back on the string, aiming for Khione.
"Now! Arrow of Accuracy!"
Nieth released the arrow.
"Khione, no!"
"Here, I want you to have this,"
Lucas blinked as his brother slid a medium sized rectangular box across the table towards him. He stared at it warily, as though it might explode.
"Open it," Wales said.
Cautiously, Luke opened the top, frowning as he saw a belt and launcher in the box. He looked up, confused. His confusion turned to surprise when Wales pushed a small square box to him. Luke quickly opened it, staring as a silver Bey with an icy blue energy ring winked at him in the dim light of the dining room.
"Snowstorm Khione," Wales said. "It's a rare Bey, but I managed to get it. Don't look at me that way, I saw you had it marked in the recent Blader Monthly magazine. You know, all you have to do is ask if you want something."
Luke looked away, leaning back in his seat. His eyes drifted back to the Bey that lay in the tissue paper lining the box. When he had first seen the Bey in the magazine, he had felt an instant connection to it, after reading its stats on the glossy pages. Now that it was in front of him, he could almost hear it calling to him.
"It's yours," Wales said. "Go on, take it."
Keeping a wary eye on his brother, as though Wales might it snatch away with a cruel laugh, Luke reached out for the Bey. The moment his fingers curled around Khione, a feeling of peace, peace that he hadn't felt in years, surrounded Luke. He exhaled, feeling his entire body relax.
"Wanna battle?" Wales asked, standing.
Luke looked up at him, staring cluelessly.
"Come on," Wales walked for the door. "Let's start your training. Meet me in the training room."
Luke watched him go, before looking down at the Bey in his hands.
You'll go so far, dear boy... You've come so far, already, a female voice rang in his mind, startling Lucas. He jumped up, surprised.
A flash of blue light appeared around Khione, and the air shimmered before Luke. A white wolf in silver armour appeared, looking up at him. Lucas and the wolf stared each other, before the spirit shimmered and disappeared, leaving Lucas in shock.
Playing it off as a trick of his mind, Lucas simply gathered his launcher and belt, and made his way after his brother.
Except it wasn't a trick. Nothing concerning Khione is ever a trick... or predictable, Luke thought, eyes closed against the dust rising from the stadium.
"Is he.. Has Luke been defeated?" Luke heard King ask.
"No way, there's no way Luke would be beaten that easily!" Nero exclaimed, "Luke come on, say something!"
"You say I don't have any survival instincts, huh?" Lucas mused, quietly. He opened his eyes, the dust having cleared enough that he could see Christina on the other side of the stadium, "Well then, tell me... how it is I managed to survive the terror that is my father for ten years!"
There was a loud clash in the stadium, and Nieth was thrown up through the dust and into the air.
"Nieth!" Christina cried.
"You say being a Blader for hire is what sharpened your instincts!" Luke snapped, "Well tell me- tell me what it's like to live in fear every day of your life! To constantly look over your shoulder, never knowing when the next assault will come from! If it'll come! Never knowing what it's like to live in fear that the tiniest sound, the slightest movement could set someone off!
"Predictablity... Hah!" Luke scoffed, eyes glittering dangerously, "There is nothing predictable about me! Snowstorm Khione!"
"You got this Luke, buddy! You can win! You got this!" King shouted.
"Yeah, Lucas, show her who's boss!" Nero yelled.
"Christina, be on guard!" Chris called.
"Don't lose!" Toby shouted.
"You got this CeeCee!" Tithi cried.
"Camoflauge Nieth!" Christina swept her arm out.
"Mama mia!" The EU DJ called, as the two Beys in the stadium exchanged blows, "Even after being dealt a powerful blow, Luke isn't backing down, and niether is Christina! Blow after blow, these two powerful Bladers exchange! The winner of this battle decides who moves on to the next round of the World Championships! Who will it be, I wonder? Christina, or Lucas?"
"Hm, I wonder that as well,"
Khione sat in the audience with the rest of the crowd, arms and legs crossed. She stared down through the wild audience as Christina and Lucas battled hard.
"Eh, my guess is Lucas. He has a lot to prove. I mean, you heard that speech he gave there, didn't you?" Next to her, Bella stretched her arms over her head. She yawned, and leaned back, closing her eyes.
"Yes, but just because one has something to prove, doesn't mean that they will win. Sometimes they lose as well... Remember Hunter?"
"No, and I really don't want to," Bella growled.
Khione chuckled softly. Her eyes narrowed in on the battle below.
"Khione! Special Move, Winter's Wrath!"
"Wha- No! Nieth!" Christina cried, as the wind began to pick up.
Khione stood up, staring up into the sky as clouds rolled in and lightning cracked across the sky. Bella opened her eyes, her gaze widening as she saw Khione grinning manacially.
"Ah... so this is the limit of his power," Khione whispered, as snow began to fall from the sky. "To create a blizzard..." She chuckled darkly, "Oh, Lucas McKandless... now I see why it is your father finds so much pleasure in you."
An explosion in the stadium caught Bella's attention, staring as Nieth was flung out of the stadium and into a wall. Her eyes drifted over to Lucas, who was surrounded in an icy blue aura, his Blader's spirit. In the stadium, as a mirage over his Bey, a white wolf sat regally, staring down Christina as she fell to her knees in dispair.
"Now, you know," Lucas said, grabbing his Bey out of midair. He showed it, facebolt up, to Christina, "My own survival instinct are exactly what have brought me this far- and they're going to be what takes me and my team to the top of the world!"
The Europe team whooped at Luke's speech, and the crowd erupted into cheers.
"And Team Rinascinta moves on to the next round of the World Championships!"
And with that... We move on to Japan vs Australia!
I hope you'll be kind enough to leave a review!