"Ladies and gentlemen it's your favorite announcer here, Blader DJ! We're here live from Japan for the interviews of the next battle of the Beyblade World Championships! The last two battles so far have been epic on every level with one twist after another, and I for one can not wait for this one! We have Japan and Australia's representatives are here, so let's get right down to business!
"Introducing, from Team Coastal Riders, lets hear it for Australia's representative, Damian Hart!"
At hearing the name of his brother's old enemy, Nero nearly choked on his food. Before anyone could blink, he was in the living room, nearly tripping over the couch as he yelled, "Tell me I'm hearing things! Damian is the Aussie's representative?!"
"Nope," Julian deadpanned, rubbing his ear. "Please, lower your voice, and calm down."
"You expect me to calm down after finding out Damian is Australia's representative?!"
"Yes," Lucas said. "Or I will suffocate you in your sleep."
Nero looked over at the redhead, surprised. Julian raised an eyebrow.
Lucas stared back with a flat expression. Behind him, Wales sweatdropped.
"Is he often like this?" King asked Sophie.
Sophie laughed, softly, "He can be worse, believe me."
That little punk is the guy I got to sit through the next who-knows-how long with? Standing in the shadows of the stage, Ryuga huffed out a small sigh.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ryuga saw the cameras flash as Damian walked on to the stage and sat down in the chair for the Austrailia team table.
... he's still a midget, Ryuga thought.
"And from Team Wild Justice, you all remember him from Battle Bladers and multiple other tournaments in the world... it's Japan's represntative, the one, the only... Ryuga Katashiii!" Blader DJ called.
Ryuga sighed, really beginning to regret accepting Ryo's offer of the position as Japan's representative. Still, he held his head high, and walked out.
"Oh...!" Ryuto's eyes widened as he stared at the screen. Next to him, Nefertiti leaned back in her seat to look around him at the television, "Oh... so the rumors are true... Ryuga is Japan's representative..."
Nefertiti glanced at Ryuto, "You okay, kid?"
Ryuto sighed, and turned back to his food, "Yeah... yeah, I'm good." He stared at his plate, before shaking his head, and standing, "I'm not hungry anymore. I'm gonna go for a walk."
"Want me to go with you? Cairo can be pretty confusing, what with the hustle and bustle," Nefertiti offered.
"I'm good," Ryuto shook his head. "Thanks for offering though."
Nefertiti watched her team mate go. Across the table, Dynamis sighed.
"I believe our young friend is more troubled by the fact his brother is Japan's representative than he lets on," Dynamis said.
"Hm... Hopefully he gets past it," Nefertiti sighed. "Because if we get through the Wild Card matches and end up against Japan... It'd be bad for him to be distracted in battle."
"Dragonis!"
"L'Drago!"
"Pegasus!"
"Aries!"
The four Beys collided in the Bey stadium, trading blows and flying back up the slope of the stadium.
"Hah! Still got it, don't ya boys!" Gingka laughed, "Ryuto, you've gotten stronger!"
"What did you expect, Gingka?" Ryuto winked, "When it comes to the power of the dragon, only two Bladers are good enough to control that! Dragonis!"
"L'Drago!"
"Joint Special Move, Dragon Fury!"
"Ah! Aries!" Hyoma cried.
"Pegasus!" Gingka shouted.
In flash of white light, Pegasus and Aries had been tossed out of the stadium.
"Hah! Booyah, we won Ryuga!" Ryuto whooped, jumping in the air.
"Hmph," Ryuga caught L'Drago into the palm of his hand. A small smirk appeared on his face, "What did you expect?"
Ryuga... don't you know you're the reason that got me into Blading in the first place? Ryuto thought. He had made his way to the Cairo museum, walking the hallways of the building, Don't you know that the only reason I've kept up Blading is because of what happened with Doji? Because of Battle Bladers? The dragon... the symbol of the former Katashi bloodline... Loyal and powerful to all of its allies... After Doji sank his fangs into you, you forgot all about that, didn't you...
Ryuto sighed, stopping in the middle of a darkened hallway lined with sarcophocouses.
"You seem troubled,"
Ryuto startled, turning around to see a man just a little older than him standing next to him. He had dark blue hair, streaked with a lighter blue. He was as tall as Nefertiti, and she towered over Ryuto by a good foot.
Ryuto sighed, "You... could say that, yeah."
"Care to tell me? I'm a pretty good listener," the man offered with a shrug.
Ryuto was silent for a long moment, staring around him at the gold painted faces of former Egyptian rulers.
"It's... well, not nothing, but... family troubles," Ryuto said, quietly. "Ever know someone where they do something incredibly stupid and you're not sure weather or not you can trust them again?"
"Oh, yes," the man said, dryly. "Very much so."
"Well, that's what I'm dealing with," Ryuto sighed. "Except the fact that my problem is that the person who did something stupid potentially has the entire world against him."
The man tilted his head, "And why does this bother you?"
"It... It normally wouldn't... if I wasn't related to the guy," Ryuto huffed. His despair turned to anger, "Ugh! If I ever get within shouting distance of Ryuga, he's not going to know what him him! How could he just go and leave me like that! So what if he was promised the ultimate power, doesn't he know that loyalty and family is more important!"
"Perhaps that is why-"
"Ugh, and then he has the nerve to help Gingka during the Spiral Force issue, and then laugh in his face when Gingka asks for help during the Nemesis Crisis! Then he has to go and fight a freaking god by himself, and almost get himself killed! Now he's Japan representative, like nothing in the last five years has happened! It's so annoying!"
Ryuto's chest heaved as he finished his rant. His companion sweatdropped.
Ah, so this is what Taylor meant by Ryuto's temper... unlike Ryuga's, which can be triggered every so often, Ryuto's builds up and up until it reaches its snapping point, Hunter Hart thought. He cleared his throat.
"You seem to only know what is reported, or even other people's perspectives," Hunter said. "Maybe... you need to get your brother's side of the story?"
Ryuto groaned, "Like he would let me ask him... He probably thinks I hate him by now... And to some extent, I do."
Hunter raised an eyebrow.
"But he must hate me more..." Ryuto sighed, almost brokenly, "I haven't become the Blader he wanted me to be... I went off as a treasure hunter instead... This is the first tournament I've been in."
"Well, the World Championships are pretty big," Hunter said. "And if you won your first battle, you've clearly shown you're not a person to be underestimated." Hunter paused for a moment, weighing his next words carefully, "I believe you'll find you're destined for a story bigger than your brother's, Ryuto Katashi... you just have to awaken the spirit within yourself to see it yourself."
Ryuto gasped softly, whipping around to demand what the man meant, but yelped in surprise when he suddenly found himself alone, as though Hunter had never been there in the first place.
Suddenly, his phone rang, startling Ryuto. Scrambling to get it out of his pocket, he answered, "What?"
"Please come back to the hotel, so you can watch your brother's interview," Nefertiti pleaded, and she sounded almost amused. "Because he is absolutely owning Damian in a verbal battle."
Ryuto blinked as the phone line went dead. He sighed, and pocketed it again.
Fine, he thought. Maybe seeing how he is now will help me figure out where he stands with himself and others now.
"Like you're one to talk," Damian scoffed. "After you stunt with the Dark Nebula, I'm surprised no one has thought that you're taking Japan's team and turning them evil."
Are you freaking kidding me, Ryuga thought, eyebrow twitching.
"And what about the fact that you used to be Ziggurat's lap dog?" Ryuga shot back, hotly.
Damian growled at him, and Ryuga snorted, "Please, you act like a big bad wolf, but you're really just a poodle."
"What happened to being a big bad dragon, Dragon Emporer?" Damian mocked, "I'm pretty sure without L'Drago you're just a little garden snake trying to show his nonexistent fangs."
"Are you even a Blader anymore, Mr. Katashi?" A reporter called.
Ryuga visibly twitched, "Whoever asked that, why don't I show you-"
Ryuga, the Blader could almost hear Ryo's voice like he was standing next to him. You can't lose your temper.
Ryuga exhaled, "Yes, yes I'm still a Blader."
"Didn't L'Drago vanish in the final battle against Nemesis though?" Another reporter asked.
"... Yes," Ryuga swallowed. It still hurt, being reminded that he no longer had his partner with him, "But even if I don't have Bey, I do have my Blader's Spirit."
"Is it true that you're related to Ryuto Katashi on Team Shockwave?" A reporter asked.
Ryuto, Ryuga jolted at his brother's name. He could still vividly remember his brother's win against Bao from the Chinese team, just a couple of weeks earlier.
He'd never felt prouder of him than at that moment.
"Aw, is the little snake ashamed of bringing up the fact that his family name is disgraced by the fact his brother is a treasure hunter and not a big bad Blader like himself?" Damian asked, bringing Ryuga out of his thoughts.
"Excuse you?" Ryuga growled, dangerously.
Fear flashed over Damian's face, and he realized, a little too late, that perhaps he had stepped over a line...
"I am not at all ashamed of the fact that Ryuto took his own path," Ryuga stood up. "In fact, I'm proud of him. He's come farther than, admittedly, I have. If you know anything about the Katashi bloodline, you'd know that I'm the one who has brough dishonor to my family name. I blame my own greed for power and the fact that I was so easily manipulated by Doji." Ryuga towered over Damian, who sat in his chair in fear, "But I can say this- I'm a changed man. I'm working on regaining my honor... And I can also say with confidence that the Japan team can and will work hard to own you in the next battle of the World Championships... and if we do end up in the Wild Card matches, we'll work twice as hard to fight our way to the top and show you and every one else that we're not a team to be underestimated."
With those as his parting words, Ryuga turned and walked off the stage, ignoring all of the reporters shouting after him.
"Well, I planted the seed, like you asked,"
"Thank you, Hunter. I don't believe I could have. Ryuto has become too used to my musings about the stars,"
"Dynamis, buddy, you sell yourself short. You got through Aguma's thick skull didn't you?"
Dynamis sighed, heavily, "That was destiny, a historic event meant to repeat itself. And it wasn't entirely myself who broke through. It was the Venus Blader, Tithi with-"
"Yes, yes, I know, with his ability to see through attacks, I get it," Hunter huffed. He leaned against the rail of the hotel balcony, looking up at the night sky. He shivered.
"You seem worried, Hunter," Dynamis spoke, tilting his head to the side.
"Because I am," Hunter sighed. "The Sacred Seven... Taylor believes one of them is Nefertiti, and that another could be Kuro."
Dynamis blinked, "So you have two suspected already?" He looked over his shoulder, back into the hotel suite, before refocusing on Hunter, "How is that a problem?"
"You know the legend, Dynamis, just as well as the rest of us do," Hunter deadpanned. "They could die. Disappear! Vanish!"
"So you're worried that history will repeat itself? That their spirits will over take them and wipe their souls from existence?"
"Yes!"
"You do know that the legend also spoke of the Seven being able to reform the Mistress as well, don't you?"
Hunter sighed.
"Also, it was said in the prophecy of the Legendary Bladers that only the four season Bladers could seal Nemesis away... Yet Gingka single handedly destroyed the god of destruction... pardon my choice of words,"
Hunter twitched.
"And to continue, there's also the fact that if Nefertiti and Kuro are two the Seven, they have too much to live for. Nefertiti has her brother, as well as Kuro. They also have friends that will fight for or even alongside them-"
"Alright! I get it! Jeez, why do you have to be so all knowing?"
Dynamis smiled, mysteriously, "Because it's all I know how to be."
Hunter groaned, "You're worse than Taylor."
Dynamis laughed, "Don't you need to get to Japan?"
Tbh... I love seeing Dynamis as a little sassy or sarcastic.
So, Ryuto gets a visit from Hunter, and Ryuga puts Damian in his place. Hm, what will happen next, I wonder...
I hope you will be kind enough to leave a review!