Here is chapter 16 for you! This one is the longest so far at around 3,800 words. James is going to have to make a hard decision this time, but what is the decision? And will he make the right choice?
Well, what are you waiting for? Go on!
~Silverleone
"What are you doing?!"
*Crash*
"You dumb dog! Gimme that!" Ryan looked up from the TV to see our dog, Charlie, scrambling down the hall, a look of panic on his face with something in his mouth. I soon followed in pursuit, my bare feet giving me more purchase on the hardwood than his tough paw pads. I chased the dog around the kitchen island and into the living room. Charlie made a beeline for the couch and Ryan threw up his hands.
"Charlie no!" Charlie leaped at Ryan, slamming into him and knocking both of them, and the couch, backwards. "Oof! AAHH!"
*Thud* I had to stop and laugh when I saw the looks on both of their faces.
"Get, off, you, fat, dog-!" He shoved the Lab off of him and coughed as he got up. I walked over and helped him set the couch upright, then snagged Charlie by the collar before he could run off again.
"First of all, gimme back my Beyblade!" I rescued Hyper Wolf from his jaws and pointed at him. "Second, you know better than to be on the couch." He lowered his head. Ryan rubbed his neck as he stood up.
"Geez, well if I wasn't awake, now I am."
"Sorry. I don't know what got into him. He was just growling at Wolf and then grabbed it." I scratched my head. "That's the third time this week he's growled at it." Ryan cocked an eyebrow at the dog.
"What's the matter mutt? Don't like Wolf?" Charlie looked at the Bey in my hand and let out a low growl. I held Wolf close and pointed at Charlie.
"Uh uh. No." He gave me a side glance and stalked off. I raised an eyebrow at him. "What is your problem?" I mumbled.
"Maybe it has something to do with Wolf being a canine Beyblade?" I looked at the blue and silver Bey.
"You think so?"
'What if...?' The Fusion Wheel glinted, and my grip tightened a little.
««{{¤}}»»
"Wolf...I don't think I can keep you..." The Beyblade froze on the spot, its energy dropping a noticeable amount. I was out behind our apartment complex, a small Beyblade stadium sitting in the ground. I had launched Wolf into it so it could run around for a bit. But that thought from earlier kept bugging me and it wouldn't leave. "Don't take it the wrong way, you are an amazing Beyblade. You have done so much for me. You helped save another Beyblade that was in danger. I couldn't have done it without you." I sighed as it made a quick circle, enjoying the praise. "You really are a dog aren't you?" It vibrated lightly and I smiled weakly. "Wolf, in all seriousness, I don't know if I'm the right Blader for you." It seemed to tilt sideways, another vibration making its Fusion Wheel ring in a whine-like fashion. "I really do want to keep you. But Charlie is getting aggressive, and I don't want you to get damaged." It slowly spun down into the middle of the stadium, sitting in the middle for a minute. Almost like it was thinking. I watched the rotation, almost in a trance.
"Hey, you using that stadium?" I looked up to see a boy and a girl walking up, both of them holding Beys.
"Oh, no go ahead." I held my hand up and Wolf jumped into it. I stepped over and took a seat on a bench nearby.
"Sweet, thanks! Alright, let's try this one out, I've only got it for 30 minutes so let's make this quick." The boy walked around to one side of the stadium, smirking at the comment.
"Alright. But you might want to rethink buying it when I'm done with you."
"We'll see about that." I couldn't help but watch as they loaded up and counted down.
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"Let It Rip!" The Beys flew across the stadium and landed, both of them going for the middle.
"I designed this Bey for maximum Stamina, you won't outlast me now!"
"We'll see about that, I'll be sure to wear you down first. Go!" One Bey dashed around and slammed into the other, knocking it away with surprising ease. I squinted when I realized that the girl's Fusion Wheel wasn't silver like normal, it was white. That Beyblade had a plastic Fusion Wheel. Her friend, on the other hand, had a metal one. I could see it glinting in the sun as it let out a barrage of attacks.
'There's no way she can win with a plastic Fusion Wheel. Physics alone would argue that.'
"You're not going to win, go!" The plastic one moved around and hit the metal one, only to glance off of it like a fly on a windshield. "What?! Why didn't my attack work?" I chipped in, grateful I had done more research.
"You have a plastic Fusion Wheel. Your Beyblade probably isn't heavy enough to do a lot of damage against a metal Fusion Wheel." She looked at me in shock, then turned to her friend.
"Is that why you're always beating me?!" He shrugged.
"Guessed right. Finish 'em off!" The metal Bey dashed around and slammed into the plastic one, making it land in front of its owner outside of the stadium. The first kid fell to her knees and picked it up. "You lose again."
"Well that's just great, where am I supposed to get a metal Fusion Wheel? I've never seen one in the shops before!"
"That's because you keep going to the cheapest shops in town. You gotta go down near the beach to find the good parts." I stood up, getting an idea. I walked over to the kid who lost and handed her Madoka's card.
"Here. Meet me at this shop today at 3. I know the owner and can help you out."
"Really?!" I nodded, my grip on Wolf tightening a little.
"Yeah, I think I know exactly what you need."
"Awesome, thanks!"
««{{¤}}»»
*Ding ding ding*
"Hello, welcome to the, hi James!"
"Hey Madoka. Could we talk?"
"Yeah, sure. What's up?"
««{{¤}}»»
"...Are you sure that's what you want?"
"I don't know, to be honest. I don't want to give Wolf up, but my dog won't leave it alone. I had to wash it earlier today because he took off with it." Madoka slowly nodded her head as she listened.
"So you still think this girl you met will be a good match?"
"Yeah, I noticed her checking over the Bey she was borrowing after the battle. She must take care of them." She nodded.
"That's good. ...But do you think Wolf will be okay will all of this?" I sighed and pulled it out.
"Let's find out." I loaded it onto my launcher and jerked the ripcord. Wolf landed on the floor and hopped up to the table, moving around a bit before stopping to vibrate in front of Madoka. "Wolf, do you remember what I said earlier? About not being able to keep you?" Wolf hesitated for a moment but vibrated as an answer. "Well, I think I found someone who could be a really good match for you." Wolf slowly moved to the edge of the table, almost as if it was reaching out to me. I clenched my jaw for a moment before relaxing. "Wolf...don't make this harder than it needs to be, please." I sat down at the table and rested my arm on it. "I don't want you to think I don't like you, because that is just not true. You helped rescue Burn Leone, and that is something I will always be grateful for." I hovered my hand over the Bey, feeling the wind it put off. "But I want you to be with someone who will make you their number one focus. With Leone, I won't be able to do that. You would just sit there half the time, and with what you have done for me and Leone, you don't deserve that." I looked up when I heard the door open.
"Hello?" The girl from earlier walked in, looking around in awe. Madoka excused herself and stood up.
"Hi! Welcome to my shop, can I help you with anything?" The girl noticed me before she could answer.
"Hey, you're that kid from the park, right?" I stood up and nodded.
"Yep. This is Madoka, she runs this place."
"So, you can help me get a really strong Beyblade? I can't ever beat my friend." Madoka nodded.
"I can help with that. But first, there is a Beyblade you should look at." She stepped to the side and motioned over to the table I was at. I stepped back so she could see Wolf spinning calmly. She walked over and bent down to look at it.
"What is it?"
"It's Hyper Wolf, an Attack Type." I reached out and picked it up, holding it out for her. "Here, take a look."
"It's really light, does it actually have any attack power?" She asked as she looked it over. I nodded.
"It's lighter so it can move easier. It's not really for smashing into opponents, it's more built for barrage attacks." She "ah'd" in understanding. "Now I have to warn you, its last owner is leaving it for someone to take care of it. They want to make sure it's going to the right owner. Are you going to take care of it?" I coughed when Madoka tried to speak up.
"Why is its owner leaving it? Is it not strong?" The girl asked.
"Oh no, it's strong alright. He just couldn't keep it any longer." Madoka seemed to catch on and stayed silent. "He wanted to make sure it goes to a good Blader that will take care of it. Are you going to treat it well?" Her eyes lit up.
"I'm not one to treat a gift like it's nothing. I will take good care of it!" I smiled.
"I figured you would say that." Madoka chipped in.
"And my shop is open at any time. So if you need repairs just stop by, and I'll be happy to do it."
"That is awesome, thank you so much guys!" I nodded.
"Don't even worry about it. Just go have some fun." I looked down at the Bey in her hand. I saw the Face Bolt gleam a little and relaxed.
'Wolf feels safe around her. That's good, hopefully, they'll become a strong team.'
"Alright! Maybe I'll see you around town!" She waved at us as she stepped out the door.
"Yeah! Maybe we can battle some time too!"
"That'd be awesome! See ya later!" Madoka and I waved as she stepped out. When she was out of sight, I slumped back onto the bench I had been sitting on.
"Why didn't you tell her Wolf was yours?" I looked up at Madoka.
"Because that would have made things all the harder for me." I sighed and rubbed my face. "Wolf had been trying to bond with me since I got it, and I withheld myself. I had the feeling it wouldn't be around forever once I got Leone." I smiled. "Besides, that kid fits the bill better than me, Wolf will have a lot of fun with her." Madoka gave me a look that said two things, one, 'you are crazy', two, 'you really care'.
"You didn't want to take the chance of her not taking it if she knew you were giving it to her."
"Yeah." I sighed and pulled out Leone. "Now, I have my focus solely on Leone. Which is needed." I had a thought pop into my head. "Do you have a stadium in here?"
"Oh, yeah, why?"
"I want to try something..."
««{{¤}}»»
I stood above the stadium, my launcher in hand.
"Alright Leone. We aren't going to be battling, but I just want to help us get used to each other. That way whenever you are ready, we can battle someone." I loaded up and took my stance.
"Oh, hold on, I just had an idea!" Madoka ran upstairs and I heard her rustling around. Soon enough she came back down and handed me something.
"What's this?" It was a plastic block with a glass dome on the top, a loose ball floating inside it.
"It attaches to your launcher. Whenever you get ready to launch, you can tell what angle you're holding it at." She held up a finger, "The more balanced your launcher is, the easier it is for your Bey to land and stay balanced."
"Oh. That's actually really cool!" I attached it to my launcher and got ready. When my launcher was balanced, my arm felt like it was being strained. "Okay, that's, different." I grunted as I tried to adjust my stance but couldn't seem to get comfortable, and my balance was off. "What's going on?"
"You're too tense like that." Madoka and I looked up to see Gingka leaning over the railing of the staircase.
"Hey Gingka! Any way you can help me with that?" He came down to the stadium and stood across from me, holding out his empty launcher. He took his stance.
"See? I'm able to relax like this. With the way you're standing, you can't relax." I nodded in understanding. I copied his stance and noticed my body felt more relaxed, and I wasn't fighting to keep my balance as much.
"Wow, that's a world of difference." He stood up, putting a fist on his hip.
"Yeah, and being more relaxed means you can launch easier too. Try a shadow launch."
"Is that like shadow boxing?" He tilted his head.
"I guess it's similar. You're just launching without your Bey."
"Okay, I'll try that." I took Leone off of the launcher and took the stance Gingka showed me. I pulled the ripcord as hard as I could.
"Good, again." I slumped a little.
"What, are you my personal trainer now?" He smirked.
"James, I could work you into the ground. Again." I sighed and decided not to fight it. I pretended to launch again. "Again." I noticed Madoka went over to her workbench and started doing something. "Again."
««{{¤}}»»
"My arm!" I dropped onto the couch and held my forearm. My forehead was covered in a light sheen of sweat, and it wasn't even hot inside.
"Yeah, it's going to hurt the first few times." Gingka sat across from me. "You're lucky, I went easy on you and you did better than expected."
"Went easy on me huh?"
"Yeah, you only did 200 shadow launches. Every morning I do around 1,500." I stared at him.
"You're kidding?"
"Nope. I've been at this since I was a kid, so I'm a lot stronger than someone who is just starting out, like you." I grumbled under my breath. "Now that you've got the launch down, what do you say to a battle?" Madoka froze and slowly turned around. As she was behind Gingka, he couldn't see her, but his face went from a smile to panic. "O-of course, we'll do it somewhere else! We wouldn't want to disturb Madoka and her VERY important work." I caught Madoka's eye and I shrank a little.
"Y-yeah, let's not disturb her...!" Gingka and I were up and fighting to reach the stairwell first. I was able to get past him and took the stairs three at a time. We got out of the shop and dropped against a street lamp, both of us nearly having a heart attack. "How is she so scary?! She's not even 15!"
"That's what I want to know!" We both sighed and I followed Gingka to the nearest stadium.
"So you've been doing this since you were a kid huh?"
"Yup, I grew up in a small town, and there wasn't a whole lot to do other than Beyblade. So my friend and I were always battling. Eventually, he was the only one who could beat me in the town. Especially once I got Pegasus."
"How'd you get it?" A haunting look came over him.
"My dad gave it to me." Okay, this sounds like an unpleasant back story. "Remember when I told you about Ryuga? Well, at first he didn't have L-drago. Our town was in charge of keeping it hidden and safe."
"So he got power hungry and stole it."
"Yeah. When he took it, the cave it was in collapsed, and my dad was in there. I thought he died. But before he did, he sent Pegasus over to me."
"But he's alive...right? He's the weird guy in the hospital?"
"Yeah. But I only found out about a year ago. I thought I was the only Hagane left. But, somehow he made it out."
"Okay... So, what makes L-drago so dangerous?"
"It could steal its opponent's energy, leaving the Bey and Blader near lifeless." I stared at him in shock.
"How does it do that?!"
"Most Beyblades spin to the right. L-drago spins left, absorbing most of any attacks." His eyes narrowed as we walked. "It could steal energy from their Blader's Spirit, draining them until they couldn't even move." He grimaced at the thought. "He had done that to three or four of my friends, and he used that power against me. L-drago had even taken over Ryuga, turning him into a monster." I let everything that he just told me sink in.
"So there is a Beyblade out there that steals people's life force?" Gingka nodded.
"Thankfully, once L-drago was defeated, the energy it took was returned."
"What happened to it?"
"Ryuga realized he couldn't control it with all of that dark energy, so he somehow got rid of it all, turning it into Meteo L-drago. It could still steal energy, but in a way less dangerous way." He went on to explain how it had rubber on its Fusion Wheel, allowing it to gain energy from almost any attack.
"I didn't think anything like that could be possible..."
"That's L-drago for you. I actually like it now, it's a strong opponent." He sighed. "And Ryuga learned from the whole experience. He doesn't try to take over the world in an evil way, he just works to get stronger."
"That is...a lot to take in." We arrived at the park and I pulled out Leone. "Hey Leone, do you feel like you are good enough to battle?" I didn't get a response for a few seconds. "It's okay if you don't want to, remember, I said I wouldn't force you to battle. And Gingka isn't going to go crazy, I just want to see how strong you are." A small glint off of the Face Bolt seemed hesitant. "Hmm...I have an idea."
««{{¤}}»»
"Alright, so Pegasus and I aren't going to do anything, right? We're just going to let Leone get used to another Beyblade in the stadium."
"Right. Leone is probably still hesitant after all it's been through."
"Alright, let's try it!" We loaded up and got set.
"3!"
"2."
"1."
"Let It Rip!" Leone and Pegasus landed in the stadium and started circling. Leone immediately moved to the center while Pegasus calmly circled around.
"Madoka's work is good as always." Gingka said, pumping a fist. I nodded.
"It seems impossible for something to be that balanced. Alright Leone, how are you feeling?" It simply stayed where it was at, spinning in the center. "Leone?"
"Maybe it's not sure what to do... After all, there's no telling how long it's been since it has had a regular battle." I nodded.
"That's true. Alright Leone, let's try an attack." It just sat there. "Leone?" I had to throw my hand up to stop Leone from hitting me in the face when it launched itself out of the stadium without warning. "Woah! Leone, what going on?!" I looked at it with concern.
"I've never seen a Beyblade do that before...Leone must not be ready to battle."
"My Leone is always ready to battle. Sounds like that one is just a scaredy cat." My lips tightened and I turned it see Kyoya walking up. "Did your Beyblade seriously just forfeit a battle on its own? How pathetic." I felt defensive over my Bey and held it close.
"Hey, watch it! Leone has been through a lot." He scowled.
"Tch. You need to get over yourself." I started to snap back, but Gingka got there first.
"Kyoya! That was uncalled for!" I ignored him, sick of this kid.
"I'm not going to get over anything but your giant ego!" I turned and walked away.
"Hey! Nobody insults me and gets away with it!" I heard him load up so I turned, my eyes stone cold.
"I'm not going to fight you. Burn Leone isn't ready."
"What happened to your little puppy Bey?" My gaze darkened.
"I gave it to someone who could appreciate it more than me." I turned to walk away again.
"Gave it to someone? Hmph. Whatever. I'll make that Leone battle! Let It Rip!" I ducked when I heard those three words, knowing the Bey would fly at me.
"Pegasus!" I heard a clash of metal As Pegasus stopped Fang Leone in its tracks.
"What's the big idea?! Out of my way!" Another clash. I turned to see a green and white Beyblade knocking Pegasus away.
"Burn Leone isn't ready to battle, so I'm not going to let you force it. Back off Kyoya."
"Grr, I'll send you flying and then beat him!" I saw a feral gleam in his eyes growing. His hair appeared to match his expression, almost growing wilder.
'Does he feel...threatened by me? Could he feel challenged by another Leone Bey?' I stepped forward.
"Enough. Kyoya, I'm not going to fight you. Burn Leone was tortured by its last Blader, so it's too scared to battle. I'm not going to force it to do anything against its will, so stand down." I saw something in his eyes change when he heard me. Surprise or realization, I couldn't tell. But I kept a hard look on him. He held up his hand after a while, his Leone jumping into it.
"Tch. Pathetic. I'm outta here." I watched him walk away with his hands in his pockets. Gingka caught Pegasus
"Sorry about Kyoya. Sometimes he lets the whole King of Beasts thing get to his head."
"No, I think I understand. He's been here for a while, and here comes this less experienced Leone Blader trying to force their way into the pride. He's probably scared of losing his position of 'king'." I scratched my head. "Thanks for the save, he's strong enough to blast me away without hesitation, if he's as strong as you are."
"Don't mention it. If Burn Leone won't even stay in the stadium with Pegasus, then there is no way it would fight Fang Leone." I nodded as I glanced at the mentioned Bey. Burn Leone timidly gleamed in the sunlight. I smiled knowingly.
"Too true."
So James decided that Wolf would be better off with someone who could appreciate it better. Granted he grew to care for it, but Leone was going to be his main focus when it came to Beyblading, and he didn't want to neglect Wolf.
I hope you enjoyed!
~Silverleone
