Disclaimer: The Arcan Blades don't own Beyblade.
Mike: Well…thirteen chapters…six reviews. Huh. I wonder why people haven't been reviewing…
Patrick: Maybe they ought to tell us if they don't like how the story's going…
Alexia: Come on, you guys, it's nearly time for our battle!
Patrick: (swinging his scythe) I better get myself ready…
Mike: We're facing the All-Stars. This is going to be tremendous… They've done a lot of work.
Alexia: Let's see if all the work we've done and they've done pays off. Everybody, read and Review, please!!
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Relic Bladers VS All-Stars
"Ouch."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"No, it's all right."
Ray loosened the bandage slightly. "How is that?"
"Yes, that's better, thank you," replied Jade as she held one side of the bandage with her hand. She looked up at a sudden roar from the crowd. "Looks like things are heating up out there. I wonder who's up…"
As if to answer her question, Zeus walked in, smiling and said, "It's Robert versus Lee."
"How are the stands?" asked Ray.
"It's one win each team, and whoever wins this last round goes into the Semi-Finals," said Zeus. "Gary had pretty much clobbered Oliver in the first round, but Oliver did put a tremendous fight. Gary suddenly went crazy, though…"
Ray laughed. "I bet Oliver made him laugh and he was hungry again."
"Oh so is that what it was?" said Zeus, grinning as he pushed up his glasses. "Anyway, to make up for things, Johnny had trounced Kevin in the second one…"
"Whoa, hold on," said Ray. "Mariah didn't play?"
"They take shifts," said Zeus. "Mariah already played yesterday. But Kevin was remarkable then, to hold out against Johnny as much as he did, and Johnny just got the better of him."
"And so now it's my cousin Robert against Lee," said Jade, smiling.
"Yeah," said Zeus. "I don't know which one to root for. I think they're both incredibly skilled." And then he smirked and asked, "Who are you guys rooting for?"
Both of them opened their mouth to speak, but they looked at each other, and were somehow unable to say anything. "Uh…" they both said, slowly turned back to Zeus.
Zeus smirked, "Trouble deciding too? Oh I'm sure the other won't be too upset…"
The two went scarlet and as a cheer rose up from outside, Zeus straightened up and said, "Well, there's a ruckus out there and I intend to watch—Ray, please finish up for me. I'll tell you what happened when I come back."
And he left the locker room. The two were silent awhile and Ray wound the bandage carefully. Then Jade said, "I can finish up by myself, Ray—I'm all right. You can go watch if you want. I know that you want to go see how the White Tigers are doing."
Ray looked at her and smiled. "No, that's all right. I'm sure that whoever wins between the two deserves to win, and I know that the White Tigers put their full force to it." He finished the bandage, and said, "There. That should do."
"Well then I guess the both of us can go watch now, right?" said Jade, suddenly getting up, and making Ray get up with her.
"Jade…are you sure?" asked Ray doubtfully.
"Well of course I'm sure," said Jade, walked two steps and then tripping, and Ray held her steady. Ray frowned and said, "No, I think you're still a little dizzy. You should just stay here and rest—I'll watch you."
Jade looked up at him for a moment and said, "Ray…really. I'm fine."
"You're not. I knew they brought you out here too soon."
"Well…I don't want to keep you here. I know you really want to see what's going on out there! It's the White Tigers."
"Yes, I do want to see it—but I know that you want to see it too. I'll give you company."
"No, I can stay by myself."
Ray laughed. "Not happening. Look, I promised Robert I'd take care of you, and I'll do that." He made her sit down. After a few moments of silence, Jade said, "Oh just take me to the infirmary, Ray, please? It's making me feel worse keeping you here."
Ray sighed. "Just lie down and rest."
"But—"
"Please, Jade," and now he looked rather serious as he looked down at her and said it. "I'm not leaving. And that's the end of it."
Jade sighed and closed her eyes. There was a very long silence. And Jade said, "Thank you, Ray."
He just smiled, cradling her head on his lap. Another pause followed, and Jade's Arcan pin suddenly crackled to life. Zeus suddenly spoke, saying, "Lee's winning, you guys!"
Jade nearly sat up with a start if Ray hand pushed her back down. Jade slipped the pin off her jacket and said, "Zeus?! But I thought my pin was broken."
"I replaced it this morning," said Zeus. "So now you'll know what's going on! It's been an eternally long fight, I'll give you that."
"W-what was the last thing you said?" Ray asked, now unable to hold back his excitement.
"Lee's winning!" said Zeus. "His Galeon is straining well against Robert's Griffolyon!"
Ray very nearly pumped his fist into the air, but he saw Jade looking at him and he checked himself, muttering, "Well…the match…hasn't…finished…yet. He—Robert could win," he added with a shrug.
Jade burst into laughter and said, "It's all right, Ray—I know you're a White Tiger at heart."
Ray blushed and Zeus said, "Oh, don't cheer yet, Ray, looks like Griffolyon's fighting back and just forced Galeon away." At this, Jade grinned at Ray, who just laughed.
"All right…they're rounding the Kremlin arena…" said Zeus. "It's been going on for forever, I swear… Oh no, wait—they're at each other's throats again…" they heard a crash from the background and both Robert and Lee's voices roaring out the names of their bit beasts.
"Wing Dagger!!" Robert could be heard yelling as Lee followed with a, "Black Lightning!!"
"Oh, man…" said Ray. "Here it goes…"
There was a powerful resounding crash heard from the pin and from the direction of the arena. Zeus was saying, "You guys, wait a while—we were blinded when the bit beasts crashed and we can't see what the heck happened…"
They waited with bated breath. And then Zeus said, "Oh, I can't believe this! They're both still spinning! They're going!"
"No way!" said Jade, her eyes wide.
"No, no wait! They're both weakened…it's whoever drops first…still spinning…and they're teetering… Someone's got to stop already… And it's…it's…" There was an instant uproar and Zeus said, "It's Lee! Lee dropped off first! Robert and the Majestics win!!"
Ray, regardless that his favored team had been defeated by a stroke of ill luck, smiled at Jade and said, "That's great! The Majestics won!"
But Jade wasn't smiling. She was suddenly horrified as she sat up. "Oh…oh no…" She struggled to get up.
"Jade, what are you doing?!" said Ray, trying to stop her and failing.
And Jade spoke breathlessly, "Ray—the White Tigers! They lost the match! Do you know what that means?!"
Ray felt his the hairs at the back of his neck stand upon realization. "Oh…no…"
"We have to stop them before it happens!" said Jade, heading for the door. "The Demolition Boys will take all the White Tigers' bit beasts!"
Ray leapt up as Jade went to the door, and he leapt at her, and she collapsed to the ground. "Jade, you can't go anywhere!" said Ray. "Stay here!"
"But Ray!"
"I'll go! Just stay here, okay?" and Ray, his heart pounding, flew out of the room. He ran on and on, looking for the White Tigers, until he spotted them walking at a hall that intersected wit the on he was in.
"You guys!" Ray cried.
They looked at him in surprise, and just as they did, Ian's voice sounded in the hall. "Hello, losers."
The White Tigers all looked up and saw the Demolition Boys standing in front of them. Lee stood in front of his group, knowing that it was time for them to pay the price of defeat within BIOVOLT arena. "You can't have our bit beasts!" Lee thundered.
"Wanna bet?" said Spencer, taking out his beyblade, and the White Tigers' bit beasts slowly began to emerge from their beyblades.
"No!" Mariah shrieked.
"Demolition Boys!!"
Ray rushed to the scene, holding his launcher and ripcord. He charged in, ready to fire at the Demolition Boys, and Lee suddenly knocked his aimed beyblade down. "Ray, don't!" Lee said. "If you fight, you'll lose and Driger will be taken away too!"
"But Lee—"
"It's all right, Ray," said Gary in that slow voice. "We knew this was going to happen…and we tried really hard to win."
"But this is the price all the ones who lost paid," said Lee. "And it'll be ours to pay too."
"How touching," snorted Ian. "Let's get these bit beasts!"
The Demolition Boys all held out their beyblades, and the bit beasts began to burst out of the White Tigers' beyblades in bursts of bright light. "Galix!" Mariah cried.
"Galzzy!" Gary moaned and Kevin murmured, "Galman…"
Lee was trying to keep it in, and finally cried, "No—Galeon!!"
Ray clenched his fists and tried to block his sight from it. No…my friends…I can't help them! I can't save their bit beasts! What…what should I do?!
And then right at that instant, there was a scream of rage from the hall Ray just came from. Ian looked up with a gasp, and stepped back quickly as three arrows came shooting right at him, and embedded in the wall at his most previous position. The last one even skimmed the rim of his headgear.
Ian, who'd moved back so fast, fell down with a crash. The White Tigers, frankly stunned, now turned to look as the bit beasts paused in their wake with the Demolition Boys put incapacitated for a moment.
Jade was standing fifty paces away, breathing hard and with another arrow fitted to her bowstring. Sweat was dripping down her temple as she forced herself up. Bryan snarled, "Back off!!"
"Not a chance!" said Jade, firing again and again, and three more arrows pelted the Demolition Boys' way. Ian skidded out of the way with Spencer and the arrows hit the wall again. Bryan snarled angrily and raised his gun. Ray's heart stopped.
"Jade!!" he cried.
Bryan fired, and Jade leapt across the hall to evade, and crashed into the wall. She stifled a moan in pain and pushed off, and Ray was racing towards her as he saw blood dripping down again.
"Finish the job!" Bryan barked. Ian and Spencer instantly stole back the bit beasts of the White Tigers. The vivid bit beasts got sucked into the bit pieces just as Ray reached Jade and threw himself next to her and held her. "Jade! Jade, are you all right?"
Jade looked up at him, wincing, and then saw Bryan still aiming the gun. "Ray—look out!!"
Ray turned with a gasp as he saw the gun, and grabbed Jade to shield her from any gunfire. There was the sudden rain of firing, and both expected the worst, but there was a blast of light and the fire of sharp air bullets was knocked away. "What the—" Bryan muttered.
Appalled, the two of them slowly looked up. A gleaming magenta light was in front of them, and a huge turtle bit beast stood over them. "Hey, it's Draciel…" said Ray. He looked up, and saw Max standing in the hall.
"Just in time, Draciel!" said Max, grinning. He looked to Ray. "You guys okay?"
"Yeah…" murmured Ray.
There was the roar of Griffolyon as the bit beast charged down the hall and headed for Bryan, who fled with the rest of the Demolition Boys to the other hall, upon finishing their job.
Robert looked particularly furious and yet incredibly composed. Max and he called back their bit beasts, and the Majestics and Bladebreakers came up behind the two as Robert bent down next to his cousin and Ray.
"What happened?" asked Oliver.
"She tried to stop them from getting our bit beasts," said Mariah, walking over with the White Tigers. "But Bryan fired at her."
"He didn't fire live bullets," said Max. "Looked more like bursts of air or maybe air bullets or something—I don't think they're allowed to have real guns."
"You guys are okay, right?" said Tyson.
Robert looked down at Jade, who had fallen asleep. He looked up at Ray, who looked at him and said, "I'm sorry…if I wasn't able to protect her properly."
Robert shook his head. "No. You did extremely well, Ray. My cousin is just too headstrong sometimes. It's hard to stop her when she's determined."
"Kind of like you, eh, Ray?" said Lee, grinning at Ray, who smiled back.
"Let's take her to the infirmary," said Kai. "And it'd be better if the Relic Bladers weren't distracted for the time being by telling them about this—they're about to have their battle with the All-Stars."
"Right," said Robert. "I'll take her there. Ray, you and the Bladebreakers go back out there. You guys are playing after the All-Stars versus the Relic Bladers are done."
"Well…are you sure she's going to be okay?" Ray asked.
And Robert smiled. "Yes, she will. I'll take care of her now. You did a fine job. We'll see you later."
And with that, the Majestics, with Robert carrying Jade, headed for the infirmary. As they went out of earshot, Ray let out his breath and looked around at his friends. They were all smirking at him—minus Mariah, whose eyes were rolled to the sky.
"What?" asked Ray.
"Ah, yes," said Tyson, smirking. "Robert has finally let you have it."
"What are you talking about?" asked Ray.
"Come on, Ray, it's obvious," said Kenny, grinning. "He's practically given you permission to sweep his cousin of her feet. 'You did a fine job', he says. That's all you need to hear from him, really."
"I don't know what the heck you all are trying to say," said Ray, turning magenta. He looked to Lee and said, "They're not making sense, right Lee?"
"Perfect sense, actually," Lee smirked at him.
"Not you too…"
After a moment, Mariah cleared her throat and said importantly, "Well I think it's cute."
Everyone looked at her in surprise, and Mariah reddened only so slightly. Ray blinked, quite surprised, and asked, "Really? You do?"
Mariah rolled her eyes and shrugged, turning away as she said, "Well…sure I do. I guess." She paused and then grinned. "Yeah. Sure I do."
Ray smiled, and Kevin said, "Hey Lee, why are you grinning?"
Lee flushed scarlet. "What? Is it a crime to smile now?"
"Oooh…" everyone—minus Kai, of course—chorused, and Lee yelled, "Everybody just pipe down and let's go see the game of the All-Stars versus the Relic Bladers already. That should be something interesting."
"Right, okay…" said Tyson. "If Lee is so desperate to avoid this subject then let's go."
Alexia turned around as the whole gang came back into the arena. "Where've you all been?" she asked.
"We, uh…tried to save the White Tigers' bit beasts," said Max. "Sorry."
Mike spotted Ray amongst them and asked, "Hey, you're back. Where's Jade?"
"Ah…um…Robert's keeping an eye on her," said Ray, thinking fast and smiling. "He said it was okay because I had to tend to my fight. Besides, I wanted to watch you guys. So I could tell Jade later."
"Okay…" said Alexia, looking slightly suspicious but not saying anything more.
Zeus said nothing. He obviously knew what was going on, but also said nothing. He knew that the other Relic Bladers needn't be unnecessarily concerned right now. Not when the match was going on. Patrick was in the middle of a battle between himself and Steve. Obviously, the Russians had given them once again the Midnight Diamond bowl—there was no other bowl that could stand the Arcan beyblades as of yet.
Steve had Tryhorn running circles around Patrick before slamming him, and Armada pitched off to one side of the bowl, but was still going. Sparks flew as Armada went in a chase after Tryhorn and slammed into it. Tryhorn flew back, wobbled, but kept going.
Judy let out her breath. That was close. "You're doing well, Steven—keep it up!"
"All right, then—go rapid on this guy, Tryhorn!" Steve commanded, and the beyblade began doing zigzag movements straight at Armada. "Go, Tryhorn!! Stampede Rush!!"
The bit beast came stampeding—literally, out of the beyblade and was soon charging at relentless speed. Steve figured that if he hit Patrick hard enough, his beyblade would be forced to fly out of the arena, or, if not, would sufficiently weaken him to make the beyblade stop spinning.
"Patrick, watch out!" said Mike.
Patrick snorted and said, "I've three words for you Steve!"
"Oh yeah? What's that?" he asked.
Patrick swished his scythe around as he yelled, "Great White Wave!!"
Armada suddenly shimmered and began to look like it was multiplying, moving in such speed. It then began to rush forward at such ferocity, that white shimmering sparks were flying behind every single after-image blade that it looked like the 'beyblades' were causing one great wave behind them.
Steve took a step back with a gasp. Emily exclaimed, "The beyblades! They look like sharks storming in the water!!"
Patrick laughed. "You got it, then."
"Steve, mind the beyblades!" said Judy. "There's only one that could be the real one!"
"Right," nodded Steve as the wave continued to give chase, but then Patrick instantly said, "Oh yeah? Well I've got news for you, Stevie boy."
And the sharks all suddenly ran up at Tryhorn, all of them crashing and tearing, not at the same time, but one after the other in rapid succession, and bits of Tryhorn were starting to scatter. Patrick exclaimed, "All of them are real!!"
"That's incredible," said Kenny. "His beyblade, even though it must weigh so much—it can still move so fast to be able to make each after image have impact!"
"Whoa, what a move!" said Max, aghast.
Tryhorn flew out of the stadium in a shower of sparks and, quite certainly battered, landed at Steve's feet.
DJ leapt up into the air. "The winner!! Patrick of the Relic Bladers!!"
There was an instant uproar in the stands. There was undeniable proof right there that the Relic Bladers were certainly skilled in their craft. Such a move was practically inconceivable to most beybladers.
Patrick waited and his Armada then shot back at him. It was rather odd, because the beyblade even seemed to be like it was alive, excited at the win. It leapt out of the stadium, and Patrick fell right over at the force of its inertia and weight.
Mike laughed and walked to him, pulling him up. "Well done, Pat. You did well."
"Yeah, but did you have to use your special move so soon?" asked Alexia.
"What can I do?" said Patrick, shrugging. "The All-Stars are good."
Mike smiled. "Yeah, I guess you have a point, there."
DJ began jumping up and down. "All right! This looks like an extremely interesting match! Both teams are quite well matched! And now! Bladers, bring in your next players!"
Alexia looked at Mike. "Aw, do I really have to go? I don't feel like blading today…my arms are still stinging from the fire, Mike."
"Huh?" Mike stared at her and scratched his head. "Oh man… I'm really sorry, Alexia. But it looks like you have to… Jade was supposed to play today…"
"You can let me go again," said Patrick hopefully, anxious to have another go and give Armada exercise.
"No," said Mike, shaking his head. "You've done enough for today, Pat."
From the All-Stars, Eddy picked up Trypio, and, after making sure that everything about it was satisfactory and grinned. "So I'm next, right?"
And then, before Judy could speak, Emily cleared her throat and said, "Judy, might I please be allowed to go next?"
Judy was quite surprised. "Well…Emily, isn't this quite a sudden decision?"
Eddy leapt to his feet, "Hey wait! I'm supposed to play next!"
Michael elbowed him sharply through the ribs and muttered by the corner of his mouth, "Ed-dy!"
"What?" asked Eddy, and he looked at Emily, who looked rather irritable. She gave him a sharp, narrow-eyed look and Eddy got a sweatdrop.
Emily turned back to Judy. "Well?"
"Well…sure, Emily," said Judy hesitantly. "If…Eddy doesn't mind, of course…"
All eyes turned to Eddy. "But…" Michael gave him a look, and muttered just enough for Eddy to hear, "Be. A. Gentleman."
"Michael…" Eddy wasn't liking this very much, but Steve said, "Come on, you saw how peeved Emily was. This'll cool her head about the thing."
Eddy let out his breath and said in a flat, mechanical tone, "I would be glad to let Emily play in my place, Judy."
Emily's face broke into a smile, saying, "That's great!" She picked up her racquet and Trygator and said, "Thank you, Eddy. Well—let's go!"
And she skipped over to the bowl. Eddy sighed, and Michael said, "Trust me, buddy—this does you more good than you think."
"Yeah, well…I guess Emily deserved to get to play," said Eddy. "She has been helping us a lot."
Emily stood ready. "All right! Who's your player?"
Mike, who was in heated conference with the others, looked up at DJ and said, "DJ—give us a minute! We have some trouble."
DJ blinked and said, "I see. All right—we'll allot a few moments, Relic Bladers."
Mike turned back to his group. "Well?"
"Well…I guess I could," said Alexia hesitantly.
"But if she's still burned…" said Patrick, eyeing her. "Are you really burned or you really don't want to play?"
"Pretty much both," said Alexia dispiritedly. "You guys, I know that it's a little selfish, but I don't think I can play to my fullest extent. Not when I'm still so bothered about what happened with Tala yesterday. I can still hear him…"
Zeus looked at them. "She's got a point. It's risky to put a beyblader that isn't concentrating out there. The All-Stars are too good."
"But who will take Jade's place?" asked Patrick.
The Bladebreakers were looking rather stunned as they continued to debate. "What are they fussing about over there?" asked Tyson.
"Looks like Alexia can't play," said Max, glancing back, and Kai whipped his head over to their direction. "What?" he asked.
"Yeah," said Kenny. "And they're debating who plays next."
"Is that such a problem?" asked Ray. "Why don't they send Mike out?"
Kenny shook his head. "I heard from Zeus that part of the Arcans' tactic is to limit Mike's playing time as much as possible. He's sort of like an un-secret weapon."
"So…who plays?" asked Kenny.
Zeus finally spoke up. "I'll play."
They all stared at him. "What?"
Zeus looked rather calm about the whole deal. "I don't mind. I wanted to battle anyway. I haven't done so in some time, you understand."
Mike blinked. "O-Oh. I see. Sure."
When it was Zeus who stepped forward for the Relic Bladers, there was a ripple of murmur from the stands, and everyone was quite surprised.
Brad Best exclaimed, "And what's this? It looks like the Relic Bladers are sending out their manager, Zeus into the match!"
AJ Topper added, "I must say that there has never been a chance that we see Zeus on action before. He usually stays at the sidelines, keeping an eye on his charges. But rumor has it that he does have a beyblade and a bit beast Amaranthine."
"Let's see if the rumors are well-founded, then," said Brad Best.
Emily blinked upon laying eyes on him and said, "Well. An unknown opponent."
Zeus smiled and bowed cordially like a courtier. "Hello, Miss Emily. I must say I'm honored to be an opponent of such a worthy adversary."
Emily brightened, pointed to Zeus and said to the boys—Tyson most especially, "You guys! See that? You guys should be more like that, you know?"
"Yeah!" came the chorus of all the girls who were in the gathering awhile ago. All the beyblader boys looked at each other and blinked incredulously.
"Aw, Zeus…" said Mike, slapping a hand to his forehead as Patrick groaned. Alexia bristled, saying to nobody in particular, "She's right, you know. Guys should be gentlemen to ladies sometimes if not all the time."
Kai raised his eyebrows upon hearing this and looked at the other Bladebreakers, who just shrugged and said, "You heard the lady."
Kai just snorted indifferently and looked off and Max grinned, "Or are you and Ray on the clear on that already?"
"Oh shush," Kai snapped flaring slightly.
Emily tossed her beyblade on one hand, preparing to launch, and Zeus suddenly whipped out a long baton that was an inch or two taller than he was. It was his weapon and his launcher—a bo, and he attached a gold-colored beyblade on it. His beyblade seemed slightly bulkier than the rest, with massive sharp metal points around the attack ring that split out as three groups of blades. The defense ring was also adorned in small sharp vertical blades.
"Well there you have it," said Lee, motioning to the bo while turning to the other White Tigers. "That's their thing. All of them have weapons of a sort."
DJ, rather interested now, trumpeted, "All right!! Both players are in—Emily of the All-Stars versus Zeus of the Relic Bladers! Bladers ready—three, two, one—let it rip!!"
"Go Trygator!!" Emily cried she raised her racquet and made a perfect serve of her beyblade into the midnight diamond bowl.
Zeus twirled and swung the bo before giving it a powerful swing at the beyblade and it flew into the bowl. "Go Amaranthine!!" he cried.
Both beyblades hit the arena right on the mark. The greenish Trygator seemed unsure of its movement for a time, because Emily had never seen Zeus play before and thereby didn't know what moves to take. Zeus, on the other hand, was rather calm although he didn't know exactly how good Emily can be, either.
Emily said, "Go on, Trygator! Take him down!"
Trygator came rushing at Amaranthine, and it crashed with powerful impact at the gold beyblade, and hung on, keeping on knocking into Amaranthine in attempt to throw it off course.
Zeus smiled. "You're very good, Miss Emily. However…"
The gold beyblade rushed forward in such speed that Trygator was unable to catch. And to everyone's surprise, Amaranthine began to circle menacingly around Trygator.
"However I have a few tricks of my own," he finished. "Gale Force Eternal!!"
A powerful blast of indigo light lit, and the gold beyblade began to spin faster and circle around Trygator so that Trygator soared into the air, Amaranthine flying along after it.
Emily gasped. "It's—it's a hawk! It's a hawk going after prey!"
Michael stepped forward, aghast. "If he keeps that up, Trygator would be flung clear off the arena!"
Emily stared anxiously, and an idea came to her. The problem was if she could maneuver… If it's like a water current then Amaranthine should be unstable enough to land a good hit in the air and Trygator can maneuver well … "Trygator! Chase it and go snap at it!"
The Trygator in the air sank and dashed down with the weight Emily had put on it, running through the air like an alligator in water, and the beyblade impacted with a crash on its end at Amaranthine's wing-like attack ring. The wind flailed, as Amaranthine's spinning was the fan that powered it and Emily's attack rendered it incapacitated for a moment.
But as both beyblades had been going wildly in their air, Trygator's hit forced Amaranthine off, and the recoil of the hit also flung Trygator off. Everyone waited anxiously, and both beyblades went into crash-down outside the arena in front of their respective beybladers.
A roar of cheer and applause rang all over the stadium. Zeus picked up his Amaranthine and said, "Impressive tactical maneuver, Miss Emily."
"Well…you're good too!" said Emily, grinning.
DJ crowed, "It's a draw for the second match!!"
The All-Stars all ran out to meet Emily as she returned. "Well done, Emily!" said Judy. "You adapted well to an unknown opponent."
"Yeah," said Eddy. "If it was me, I would've been completely dumbfounded on what to do, really."
"Thanks," said Emily, smiling. "I knew I could make a stand there. About time I did too!"
Michael just sighed and shook his head and looked back to the Relic Bladers dug out. Zeus had just been returning, and he was shaking his head but smiling all the same. "Yes, I know. I'm quite out of practice. I could improve, but I'd rather stay out of the action."
"Well…if you say so," said Mike, shrugging. "Job well done, anyway—it's time for my bout." He looked up and locked eyes with a grinning Michael.
Alexia looked up and said, "Remember, Mike—if you lose there's going to be another sudden-death match to settle."
"We'll see who gets a sudden death," said Mike, smirking as he walked out to the arena.
Everyone once again burst to applause as both beybladers walked out into the arena, as everyone knew that both were two of the most skilled beybladers in the tournament. Tyson leaned forward in his seat. "Oh, this looks really good!"
"I don't know…" said Ray doubtfully. "Didn't you see Mike's moves during the rescue operation yesterday?"
Tyson had instant flashbacks of what had happened then, and Mike's massive bit beast. Although he didn't see it too clearly, he knew that it was large and silver-colored, and it seemed like a large wolf. "Well…how do you think Michael will do?"
Kenny murmured, "I'd hate to say it…but we know exactly how powerful Michael can go. We haven't exactly seen Mike's full force. But if Michael had powered up his beyblade and had pumped up in the span of time we haven't seen him, then he may just be a match."
"For the third round!" DJ said, "Michael, captain of the All-Stars versus Mike, captain of the Relic Bladers! Bladers, are you ready?"
Michael transferred the ball to his right hand. "I know you—I'm not taking any chances with you that's for sure. Not when you're a captain like you are."
Mike drew out his rip-sword and loaded it to his DX - catapult launcher. "So I won't with you either."
The Relic Bladers looked at each other at this pronouncement. "Zeus?" asked Patrick.
Zeus pushed up his glasses. "Let him. He should be given a chance to stretch full force anyway—and I'll be upgrading again so…"
DJ raised up his hand. "Three—two—one—let it rip!!"
With a yell, Michael threw the ball, and the ball ripped out so fast and Trygle burst out of the ball, going flying into the arena. But the moment it soared the air, a massive silver beyblade slammed it and sent it crashing into the arena wall but kept spinning. Archonwolf clanked to the arena and chased.
"What the—" Michael stepped back.
"I didn't see him rip!!" Kenny leapt to his feet. "How did Mike do that?!"
All eyes turned to Mike, whose eyes were blazing. "I'll respond to that challenge, Michael—and I hope you won't mind if I exert all my pent-up fury into fighting you." He raised up his rip-sword and yelled, "Go Archonwolf!!"
There was an instantaneous howl of a wolf that resounded through the arena and Archonwolf hurtled after Trygle, trailing sparks all the way.
"Michael, be careful!" Judy exclaimed.
"Defend, defend!" exclaimed Max, leaping to his feet in excitement.
Michael flung up his arms in defense as Archonwolf crashed into Trygle. Both beyblades were straining against each other, but almost instantly, Mike was getting the better of Michael.
"Don't force it, Michael—Trygle will break at that force Mike's pouring at you!" Emily cautioned.
"Didn't you reinforce?!" Michael asked.
"I did! But Trygle isn't built for long term defense against an attack like that!"
"Pull away!" Michael commanded, and Trygle instantly broke free from Archonwolf's grasp. And Michael then quickly summoned his bit beast for the kill. "Trygle!!"
The golden bald eagle bit beast came screeching out of the beyblade and proceeded to go on attack at Archonwolf. More than obviously, Michael was playing his trump card, and Mike would be beaten.
But Mike also had a trump card to play. Swishing his katana, he yelled, "Spark Barrier!!"
There was a rumbling sound of a massive electric buildup from above. A powerful blast of lightning and thunder cracked down from above and impacted the silvery beyblade and burst into sparks. Quite a number of people shrieked in astonishment at the sudden blast. Impacting the beyblade, as Trygle approached, the eagle bit beast was drawn back in alarm as a swirling barrier made of the lightning's blinding sparks swirled around Archonwolf like a tornado. A towering silver wolf stood over the beyblade.
The wolf snapped ferociously at Trygle, who shrieked and flew back a moment. Michael was quite stunned and so was everyone watching.
"That lightning!" said Kenny. "That is Mike's move! Isn't that the element he used the very first time we met him?"
"So all this time he hadn't even been serious?!" said Tyson. "That's amazing!"
"I think he's just angry," said Ray. "But he's using his anger and determination to feed the power of his blade."
"Michael is going to lose this match," muttered Kai.
From the All-Star dug-out, things were crazy. "Judy!" Emily cried, checking all the computers surrounding her. "Meters are going off scale! What should we do?"
"There is nothing we can do!" said Judy. "This is too unexpected!"
"Oh yeah?!" said Mike, grinning. "Well you haven't seen anything yet, then, so it's too early to be surprised!" He turned to the wolf in front of him. "Archonwolf—go offensive!!"
The wolf snarled and howled. The attack ring's blades extended with a sudden metal sound and began to conduct a massive volt of electricity on each of the tip of the two blades. The beyblade was struck again in blinding force, and the barrier began to swirl around Archonwolf rapidly, but began to compress, turning into one, huge blast of lightning force rearing to strike Trygle, who now had no escape.
Mike gave a yell, "Voltage Fang!!"
There was a crack of thunder that resounded all over the stadium. The eruption of lightning leapt up like a bounding wolf, and made direct impact on the American's beyblade as Archonwolf bit at Trygle. The silver beyblade took to the air in a sudden discharge of energy and crashed at Trygle, bringing with it the force and power of the lightning.
The force of lightning was so strong that Trygle actually blasted off the midnight bowl, and flew out like a jolting rocket.
Michael, still gathering his wits about in the brilliant dimming light, tried to catch it with an ungloved hand, but immediately gasped and dropped Trygle, shocked with electricity. As Trygle clattered to the ground, sparks of electricity going around it, the light from Archonwolf dimmed, and Mike was slightly panting.
"Good work, Archonwolf," he muttered, smiling slightly, and Archonwolf gave an almost friendly bark and disappeared in a flash of silver back into the beyblade, that continued to spin on the arena.
"That was amazing!!" DJ exclaimed. "And the winner is Mike of the Relic Bladers!! The Relic Bladers move to the Semi-Finals!!"
The arena, after a slight awestruck silence, burst into earth-shattering applause and cheering. Michael, stunned, picked up his beyblade with his gloved hand. The other All-Stars ran to him anxiously. "Are you all right, Michael?" Judy asked.
"F-fine," Michael stammered, still staring at Mike and rather literally thunderstruck. The beyblade rushed back at Mike, and was knocked off his feet with the power as well.
As he fell to the ground, suddenly laughing, the other Relic Bladers ran at him. "You did it, Fearless Leader—you did it!" said Alexia, grinning at him.
"That was great!" said Patrick. "That ought to learn them big time!"
Mike got to his feet and just grinned as the Relic Bladers were still jumping at him. Even Zeus looked immensely pleased. Suddenly, there was a yell of delight and Jade leapt at all of them, and they all crashed to the floor.
"Jade!" Mike exclaimed in a muffled voice from beneath the pile. "What're you doing here?!"
"I just had to go out when I heard it!" said Jade excitedly. "We won, we won! That was awesome, Fearless Leader!"
"You guys, get off me, will you?!" Mike howled. "I can't breathe, for crying out loud!"
Robert ran out of the hall and came out next to Bladebreakers. He looked around a bit and saw Jade with the jubilant Relic Bladers. He let out his breath. "Oh for goodnessakes…"
"Couldn't stop her, eh?" said Ray, smiling. "Can't blame her for being happy."
"Did we miss a lot?" asked Robert as the other Majestics, who'd been watching, now went up to him, and Kenny said, "Boy, I'll say! All the battles had been great! Especially Mike's finale! Man, I've never seen so much lightning power!"
Lee's jaw was still hanging in shock at what he'd just seen, and Mariah said, "Close you mouth, Lee—you'll catch a fly."
Kevin said, as Lee closed his mouth, "What did you think of that kind of lightning, eh, Lee?"
"…speechless," said Lee. "Somehow makes me feel relieved that we didn't go against them…much. We would've lost beyblades again."
Gary nudged Mariah. "I'm hungry, Mariah."
"Here," said Mariah, shoving an apple to him with a smile. "This'll keep you for a while."
Judy smiled as she watched the victors. "Well…they were incredible."
"They sure were," laughed Eddy.
Michael looked at his Trygle and tentatively poked it before holding it with his ungloved hand. "I know they were. I didn't think that they could be so powerful. Actually, I think the only people who can go against them are the Bladebreakers or the Demolition Boys."
"Speaking of them…" said Steve.
They all nodded. Judy immediately rushed the beyblades into a box that they've just previously furnished. It was to prevent the Demolition Boys from stealing their bit beasts.
And the Demolition Boys themselves were already in the hall as this was happening. For a long moment, they had not said a word, until Ian finally decided to go and break the ice. "Well? What did you all think?"
After a moment, Spencer said, "Mike is dangerous. As with the rest of the Relic Bladers."
"Mike is—was—our captain's friend," said Bryan. "He's as skilled. Even without BIOVOLT training."
"And he's the first to show his true power," said Ian. "The rest of them should be just as powerful. How they managed to achieve this without the specialized training that we had is a complete mystery."
"We must report to Boris," said Bryan. "And figure a way to beat them down."
"With any luck, though, we won't have to," said Ian. "Perhaps who wins against the next bout for the Quarter Finals shall win over them in the Semi-Finals." He snorted, "Although I really want to beat them—especially that insane arrow-shooting witch."
There was a followed silence, and then footsteps sounded in the hall. Spencer looked up. "The All-Stars."
"Let's get moving," said Ian. "You know what to do, Bryan, if any of those meddling goody-two-shoes come and try and stop us."
Bryan got out his air gun and nodded.
Jade: (jumping on Mike) We did it, Fearless Leader!! To the Semi-Finals!!
Alexia: Whoa, take it easy, Jade… (smirks) If we open up your wound again, Ray will worry…
Jade: Hey!! What are you guys implying?!
Mike: You can't still not notice…
Jade: (innocently) What?
Patrick: (disgusted) Yuck. (to the readers) As these guys debate something like this at so inadequate a moment, review, all right?
