This chapter has been a LOOONG time in the making. I've been writing snippets for a while, and finally managed to finish it up. Thanks for being so patient everyone!
"This should finish it up," Kyoya grunted from underneath a machine of some sorts. Just as he slid out after screwing in a final nut and bolt, he heard his phone buzz. It was a text from Nile. Hey Kyoya, did ya finish the time machine yet? Kyoya quickly typed back: Yep. Ready 2 test it out? Nile's quick response was I'll be over soon!
When Nile walked into the room, he immediately saw the rather odd looking machine that he and Kyoya had been working on for the past few weeks. It looked perfect! It was rather rocket-shaped and a dull gray color for the most part. The 'command center' for controlling the launch into time looked like your average computer, except for the complex mathematical equations showing up in green on the black screen. The rather dull monitor and computer were hooked up to a surprisingly colorful rainbow keyboard. All the equations had been worked out, and Kyoya had convinced Gingka to get him some powerful batteries from the WBBA (because his dad worked there and all) in order to power up the time machine, alongside the stellar powers of Horuseus and Leone. By capturing the powerful energy of their beys, the two friends hoped to be able to power their jump through time. Now all that was left was to test it out.
"Kyoya, do you really think we should both go back or forward in time? What if we get stuck there or something?" Nile asked.
"Good thinking," Kyoya said. "I'll go. You stay here and launch a rescue mission when I never come back."
Nile rolled his eyes. "Obviously you think we should both go. I say it's still risky, but let's give it a shot."
"Alright." Kyoya pressed some buttons, opened a door, and gestured for Nile to enter first, before he himself went in. Nile's last thoughts before the door closed, sealing them in, was that they should have installed some sort of way to keep track of the countdown until the time launch.
The time machine rattled for a few minutes and then all was still. Kyoya fumbled to push open the door in the pitch black, claustrophobic room. Light from the outside flooded in. Horuseus and Leone were spinning on the floor outside the rocket-shaped body of the machine, which had transported itself and the two bladers into the future. The beys leaped into their bladers' hands as they emerged from the machine. Their surroundings looked almost the same as before. But unlike Kyoya's house in the past, it was much tidier.
"Wonder who cleaned this place up," Kyoya noted thoughtfully. Nile shrugged and moved over to a window, opening it and leaning his head out. He beckoned his friend over to survey the drastically changed yet somewhat familiar cityscape of Metal Bey City. The WBBA Headquarters looked relatively unchanged, save a few ground-level additions.
"Looks like beyblading is still popular," Nile said. "Come on, let's walk around the city and see what else has changed."
The second the bladers exited Kyoya's house, they saw large signs in front of it proclaiming it to be 'The home of the Legendary Blader of Spring, Kyoya Tategami'. "Okay... It seems my house is a museum in the future," Kyoya said, feeling rather stunned.
"Hey, at least people haven't forgotten what the Legendary Bladers did for the world," Nile pointed out. "They've probably built you guys a hall of fame or something."
Kyoya stood a little straighter. "If they do, we should go visit it."
Nile laughed and shook his head. "The last thing you need is a hall of fame to boost your ego. Let's just see what all there is to do in this future Metal Bey City."
The two time-traveling friends headed first toward one of the most familiar buildings: WBBA Headquarters. There were portraits of all the directors hanging on the walls of the lobby, starting with Ryo Hagane on the far left. Then Kyoya found himself drifting toward a mass picture of the Legendary Bladers, which looked to have been taken soon after the Nemesis Crisis.
Another person in the lobby noted the similarities (actually exactness) of Kyoya Tategami in the picture and Kyoya Tategami from the past and whispers and pointing fingers soon had him as the center of attention. Nile quickly noticed and figured explaining a time-machine would be a bit advanced even for these people of the future. He grabbed Kyoya and half-dragged him out the door.
Half-way down the block, they saw an add for the Legendary Blader Hall of Fame. Kyoya looked pleadingly at Nile. The Horuseus blader sighed and shrugged. Kyoya immediately set off to find this hall of fame, with the much less enthusiastic Nile behind him.
After spending the entire afternoon in the Legendary Blader Hall of Fame (half of that time was in turn spent in the Legendary Blader of Spring area), Nile finally managed to pry his friend away from a gigantic statue of himself. "Come on, Kyoya. I just overheard some people saying there's a colony on Mars. Don't you want to go visit that?"
"Sure, but how much does it cost? I mean, we've been saving up for this for a while, but who knows how much a trip like that would cost?"
Nile thought for a second. "According to those people I overheard, it's relatively inexpensive, as it's been around for a while. Probably more than airfare back in our own time, though. I say we go check it out!"
Kyoya grumbled but agreed. He and Nile soon discovered that they had enough money along with some to spend up in space. They conveniently were scheduled for the end of the week flight. That meant spending two more days in the future. The two of them spent the night in the closed up museum that was Kyoya's house (they got in through the window Nile had left open earlier). Unfortunately, that meant they had to wake up early before the museum opened and leave out the window, which Nile was careful not to lock.
During those two days, the bladers enjoyed the new features of the town, including battling in cyclone stadiums, though by this time in the future the old normal stadiums of the times of the Legendary Bladers were back to being the main style. Kyoya also got thoroughly annoyed at all the Gingka statues around town. "Seriously, it wasn't just him!" Kyoya kept saying over and over. Nile always nodded, agreeing.
Then, finally, the day of the launch to Mars was upon them. Kyoya and Nile were surprised to learn that they only needed space-suits for the ride there and back. When they were actually on Mars, there was an artificial atmosphere, created so the people there could freely breathe. "Quite ingenious," remarked Nile.
The launch itself was heart-racing; the shuttle was so much faster than anything Kyoya and Nile had experienced in the past. Once they got into space, the two bladers enjoyed the feeling of weightlessness for the few weeks it took to travel the great distance between the two planets. The floating food buffet area was the best! As Kyoya put it, "Gingka would be soooo jealous. We're eating burgers in space!"
-After landing on Mars...-
Kyoya and Nile had just finished putting away the few things they had brought on the trip with them. "What do you think, Kyoya? Time to check out our beys?" Nile asked.
"Definitely. Let's go!" The Leone blader raced out of the Mars hotel they were staying at. He and Nile had been very surprised as to how normal the colony on Mars was. It very clearly resembled any ordinary town on Earth, except that there were no cars. Pollution was taken very seriously with the artificial atmosphere, which was not as spacious as the natural atmosphere of Earth – not to mention that the artificial atmosphere was maintained by people and not just nature itself. The other big difference of life on Mars was that the sky, instead of being blue, was red. It still struck the two friends on how weird it was to look up and see a red sky!
Once at the bey park – just one of the many attractions on Mars – the two bladers took up their places and counted down. "3, 2, 1, let it rip!"
Leone and Horuseus glided around the stadium, seemingly stronger than before. "It must be the gravity difference," Nile mused. "Things on Mars weigh about a third of what they do on Earth."
Kyoya glanced at some other tourist kid, who was jumping much higher than he should be able to. "Yeah, must be." Then he looked back at Leone, which was making a grating noise as it tried to grind down Horuseus' defenses. "Time for the big test. Special move, King Lion Tearing Blast!"
Tornadoes sprang up, but Nile wasn't about to back down. "Horuseus, Mystic Zone!" Yellow and orange light sprang from the Egyptian's bey, demolishing one of the Tearing Blast tornadoes. The clash of special moves soon ended – as usual – in an explosion that rocketed through the bey park.
"Cool isn't it," a kid said, walking up to them. Kyoya noted that it was the overly-jumpy tourist from earlier. "Beys react more strongly out here in space than they do on Earth."
Kyoya nodded, and Nile opened his mouth to reply, but the kid just jumped away over their heads. "Well that was odd," Nile said once he was sure the kid was out of ear-shot.
"But it proves our theory," said Kyoya. "Our beys are stronger out here. I mean, the stars are still light-years away, but my guess would be that the bey spirits are more free out here in their origin – space."
"Yes," Nile replied. "Our trip here was definitely worth it. And look at that!" He pointed over Kyoya's shoulder.
Kyoya turned and gasped. "The sunset: It's blue!"
A smile passed over Nile's face. "Just the opposite of Earth. Red sky, blue sunset."
And after that amazing experience, the two bladers went back to their hotel room and got some sleep – it had been a long day. What they did not notice was that their beys both shimmered unnaturally after they had gone to sleep, and the forms of a lion and Horus emerged and looked up into the sky. Yes, the beys truly did enjoy being 'closer' to their constellations.
By and by, the time came for the two friends to take their flight back to Earth. After their trip to Mars, which had taken a little over a month in all (space travel takes time!), Kyoya and Nile both decided it was time to get back to their own time. So after closing hours at Kyoya's house museum, the two snuck back in through the window Nile had never locked, went back into the time-machine, which they had hidden in a closet, and pressed the RETURN button. The machine spluttered and whirred, and the two bladers soon found themselves back at Kyoya's house, which was NOT a museum. As far as time in the past had gone, the two bladers seemed to have been gone only for a minute.
Kyoya and Nile then disassembled parts of the time-machine, so that an everyday person couldn't walk in and use it. "Too bad we can't tell anyone about our trip," Nile said. "Imagine what troubles our world would cause with a time-machine."
Kyoya shrugged. "They wouldn't have believed us anyways."
Nile: Just imagine Gingka with a time machine. [shudders] The horror!
Kyoya: Gingka? He'd just collect burgers from every year of the world's existence. It's Yu we'd have to beware of. He'd pull massive pranks through time!
Me: Uh, that's nice guys, but I have an announcement. I'm hoping to get a Christmas/New Year special out for these one-shots. I've never done specials like that before for a holiday or anything, so if anyone has a suggestion or comment they'd like to make, I'd be grateful!
Gingka: And now it's time for the fun fact of the day! Tsubasa?
Tsubasa: Sunsets on Mars actually ARE blue.
Me: Yep! I just learned that in physics, so I felt it was a cool fact to add to this fanfic!
