The New Generation

Disclaimer: And oh yeah, I own Colin Drake too.

pyRO- Sorry folks, but I made a mistake concerning Mr. Dickinson's first name. It should actually be Stanley instead of Allen. Please imagine his name was Stanley right from the very start.

Thanks for the reviews guys! Now I'm only 22 reviews away from breaking my record!

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Colin stared evenly at Bradley, who was being repeatedly told off by the white-haired priest who had earlier arrived, and lightly ran his finger across the shimmering gold edges of his beyblade. Nobody dared called him arrogant back at school anymore as the last person who insulted him that way had several of his beyblades completely trashed and ripped to pieces. Colin believed only his parents and closest friends were worthy enough to call him a braggart and then he'd look at their comment as a passing criticism; their way of telling him what was wrong.

But here comes Bradley, some blasted orphan from a center he had never heard about before, and calls him exactly that! This orphan was going to prove himself worthy of some of Colin's respect through a beyblading match. The reason why Colin didn't respect much guys at school anymore. Losers, the lot of them.

Ah well, the only person who had ever beaten him in the first place was some 20 year old Chinese guy. Wiped Colin's beyblade right off the face of the planet faster than anything the European had ever seen before. After Colin got his own bitbeast though, he doubted that would happen again. And with the new upgrades he had integrated onto his fire-themed blade, Colin was sure to sweep that arrogant smirk of Bradley's face for good.

"Are you done, yet, orphan kid?"

"Shut it, Colin! Why don't you drag those prim legs of yours to the arena already then?"

Bradley shouted back, evidently frustrated with the somewhat prehistoric attack ring catch of his beyblade. Evan, the ever faithful and handy friend, sighed and snatched the white top from his comrade's open palm. The Asian snapped the attack ring backwards and it presently fell off, open and ready for modifications. Bradley was left gaping, pointing up at his pony-tailed buddy and down at the beyblade that was left quite accessible all of a sudden.

"How the hell did you do that?"

Evan shrugged and continued to dismantle Bradley's beyblade, simultaneously replacing outdated parts of the surprisingly complex machine with brand new pieces, fed into his hand by the plump man who had accompanied them. Even Father Matthew stared blankly at his ward's unnatural gift.

"Done. If I calculated correctly, this beyblade's spin ratio has been increased by 126.8%... Give or take a few tenths of a revolution... Sorry about that."

"Er... Whatever. Evan, you're amazing! Let me see my blade!"

Bradley practically slashed air with the speed his hand moved to reclaim his beyblade. He rotated it in his eager palm and examined every inch of it with the scrutiny of a diamond cutter's eye. Evan had practically updated his beyblade from Stone Age to a modern piece of lean mean blade-crushing machine. Now only if Bradley could figure out how to attach it to this neat launcher that their still unnamed companion gave him.

-click-

Okay, now he understood the reason why Evan read all those thick books about machines and the such. The blonde orphan's jaw hung open for a few seconds before jolting back into its rightful place and spewing a generous amount of thanks for Evan. "Evan, you are amazing. I owe you garden duty back at the center."

"Sure, Brad. I despise plants..."

"...Right. I better get going now... I'd hate it if that hotshot had another reason to shout at me."

Bradley commented freely and spun his heel around. He was about to take a step in the general direction of the store's dish, where Colin was waiting, rather impatiently, may I add, when Father Matthew clapped a hand onto his shoulder.

"I should be reprimanding you for your actions today, Bradley, but I'll let it pass for the while. Go in there and show young master Colin what you're made off!"

"Sure I will, Father! I'm going to kick Colin's-"

"Ahem."

"Sorry, Father."

The spirited priest sighed and then grinned in a supportive way at Bradley.

"Just don't forget to be humble, son. After all, everything we have comes from God."

"I'll keep that in mind, Father. I promise."

Father Matthew shrugged and then ruffled the hair of his protégé. Evan rolled his eyes and patted his friend on the back.

"How do I put this into words? ...Uh, go get them, Brad."

Bradley laughed at his tan-skinned friend's social ineptness and jogged to the next room, where the training dish in which he would have his very first beyblading battle lay.

"I'm really sorry about this, Stanley... I know you had a schedule for the day and master Bradley sort of messed it up and all..."

Mr. Dickinson laughed merrily and took of his gray hat, shining it with the edges of his similarly colored shirt's sleeves.

"It's quite all right, Matthew! In fact, this is really exciting! Not only do I get to witness your young and somewhat reckless charge," Mr. Dickinson smiled thoughtfully, remembering how his own former ward, Tyson, acted in years gone by, ",but I also get to observe the local beybladers, in particular, this champion, Colin!"

The aging priest sighed, shook his head and noticed Evan was staring up at him reproachfully.

"Don't stare at me like that! It's not my fault nobody else has a sense of urgency!"

"Pardon me saying this, Father Matthew, but wouldn't the term "worrywart" be more appropriate?"

"...Never you mind, Evan."

"Yes sir."

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Colin's lips turned into a twisted scowl, a shadow of the polite smile that was on his face but a few minutes ago, as Bradley, trailed by some fat guy he had seen somewhere and two other unknown faces, set foot in the high-ceilinged room. Bradley stared evenly at him as well, his own emerald eyes shimmering with an intense desire to win.

"I was beginning to think you ran away, seeing how long you took in there, Bradley."

"Well, you were wrong then. I'm here and ready to beyblade!"

"Whatever you say."

A bead of sweat dripped down from Bradley's golden bangs and slid down his flushed cheek as the blonde teenager watched his opponent attach his scarlet beyblade to a heavily modified launcher. Maybe he should have kept his big mouth shut after all. Colin looked a lot more formidable with a shiny beyblade and customized launcher. Bradley shook his head and clipped his own pallid-hued blade onto his new spring-loaded launcher. The brown-haired boy standing in front of him glared at him, slowly changing his stance into one of a veteran of the dish. Bradley quickly emulated his would-be enemy.

"Ready there, Brad? You look kind of scared to me." Colin asked, flavoring the word "Brad" with all the venom his tongue could muster.

"Oh yeah? Then that's the second time you've been wrong today, Colin. And don't call me Brad. Only my friends call me that." Bradley snarled back and just as well applied a hint of spite on his rival's name.

Colin's lips slipped into a narrow frown and his eyes did the same. This stupid orphan packed quite a bit of attitude into the blonde head of his. No matter. Losing a battle usually deflates these moronic idiots' egos into nothing more than a popped balloon.

The referee stepped up to the dish, took sideward glances at the two bitter rivals and raised his hand up. Bradley's teeth clenched together as if they had super glue pasted all over them and he couldn't help but tremble a little. This was it.

"Beyblades ready! Three, two, one... LET IT RIP!!!"

The two beyblades, one pure white and the other a fiery gold and crimson, soared into the dish and clashed as one in the center of the fighting arena. The duo then separated and circled the ring like hungry animals.

"He must have upgraded that prehistoric beyblade of his... Otherwise, he would have been knocked out of the dish on my first hit. I better not waste any time here." Colin thought, reflecting on the battle situation. Aside from having an extremely well-built beyblade, his calmness and strategies were one of the traits that made him number one in this small European village.

"Attack! Don't let that loser gain any ground!" He commanded and his beyblade responded instantly.

Bradley swore again as the red blur that was Colin's blade began the offensive and could only watch desperately as his beyblade was pummeled. He had to escape this or his newly fixed blade would be scrap plastic in a few seconds.

"Sharp turn to the right! Shake him off!" Bradley shouted in frustration, to no avail. Colin had far better control over his beyblade than he did.

Colin laughed at Bradley's pathetic attempt to flee his beyblade's wrath. This guy was a complete and total amateur. He might as well go along with his feeble efforts and play kissy kissy for a while. After all, Bradley stood no more of a chance of beating him than a Brazilian tree frog! His scarlet beyblade broke away from its chase and zipped around the simple dish aimlessly.

"You call this a match? Here, Bradley, I'll give your puny blade a chance to attack mine!"

The people who had gathered to watch the battle snickered in unison, expressing amusement over Colin's treatment of the newcomer.

Bradley snarled in reply and sent his beyblade flying after his opponent's. Naturally, Colin's beyblade dodged the attack. Soon enough, the orphan was beginning to wonder if hiding in the institute for a few years would make these people forget his humiliation at the hands of Colin.

This was taking too long. He might as well end this poor boy's misery now. Might as well blast that irritating white beyblade into a smoking pile of plastic and metal already. Colin shook his head and grinned at his sweaty and infuriated foe.

"Your time's up, Bradley! I'll give you a taste of real power! Go, Kaiser!" Colin yelled and a bright blue light wrapped itself around his crimson blade, flooding the room as well with an azure glow.

Bradley stared, awestruck, as a lithe winged dragon began to snake out from the core of Colin's beyblade. Colin laughed at his rival and held a hand out, gesturing towards his rapidly materializing bitbeast.

"This is my power, Bradley! Mine alone!"

And for once, Bradley agreed.

A majestic winged dragon, snake-like yet in a way similar to those of Western legends, soared above the crimson beyblade of his opponent. It had sleek midnight blue scales and a raven black claws that would be more fitting on the edge of the Grim Reaper's scythe. If all those stories Bradley had heard as a kid were true, then he had no more hope of winning this match than of becoming emperor of Japan. He only hoped it didn't breath fire. Too bad.

His white beyblade zipped to the side not a minute too late as a jet of indigo plasma seared the spot where it was but moments ago. In its place lay a patch of melted metal, warped beyond recognition. Bradley needed a miracle no less than the parting of the Red Sea to even survive this one-sided match.

Colin, being an exceptionally bright kid, immediately noticed his opponent's apprehension and couldn't help but gloat about his approaching victory.

"Enjoying the show? Kaiser doesn't only breath fire, you know. He increases the strength and spin speed of my beyblade by around 200%! Why don't you just give up already, Bradley? There's no point in tiring yourself out..."

"Shut up, Colin! I entered this match with my pride intact and I intend to exit that way! I'm in this until the end so keep that thought to yourself, you pompous braggart!"

Colin's eye twitched reflexively and he shook his head in anger. Impudent fool. I'll crush his beyblade into pieces so small he won't be able to find the remains.

"Fine then! Kaiser, charge up a Nova Cannon!" The brown-haired teenager ordered his bitbeast, which presently roared in approval, as it was ready for some destruction.

Kaiser's jaws opened wide and a ball of red hot energy gathered at the base of its mouth, accumulating charged particles from the surrounding area. Bradley could already feel a vibration, a tingling which foreshadowed the mighty blast that was going to impact on his beyblade soon. But he didn't dare entertain the thought of surrounding... He'd show Colin true determination; true fighting spirit!

"Lord Almighty, I hope you can hear me now... Give me the grace to beat Colin, Lord. Show me the way; the way to victory 'cause I'm sticking in this 'til the very end!"

~You are ready, young one~

What are you talking about? I'm about to get steamrolled here!

~Hahaha... True. But not if I help you, youngling~



Wait! What are you talking about anyways?



~You are brave, Bradley. I admire that. You shall soon witness my power~

Okay... But what exactly is that power? I doubt you could send a bolt of lightning to blast Colin's blade...

~Close enough~

A brilliant sphere of dazzling light began to grow outwards from Bradley's pocket and the people watching the fight, Colin included, raised their arms up to shield their eyes from the glare.

The rosary that was forgotten in the depths of Bradley's jeans floated above the dish, its centerpiece, the angel carving, emitting a faint white glow that pulsed at an progressively quicker pace. A shapeless light exited the engraved angel chip in a slow manner, constantly shifting, as if adjusting to the outside world.

~My name is Altiel, the Angel of Courage, Bradley. I am your bitbeast~

A beautiful angel materialized from the fluid mass, cloaked in flowing white robes that reached down to the tips of the angel's fingers and toes and up to his nose, concealing his mouth from view. Wings as white as the clouds of heaven and as awe-inspiring as eagles' wings flapped confidently in the air, sending light breezes across the room. His hands grasped a massive sword with an ethereal blue blade that almost seemed like it was shaped from the fabric of the skies. Needless to say, Colin was quite taken aback.

Colin cursed vehemently and his fists clenched even further. This made the battle far more complicated than he had expected. Far more complicated.

"Kaiser, before he figures out how to control his bitbeast, shoot him down! Nova Cannon!"

Bradley, who had fallen flat on his tail end after watching his new ally appear in all his glory, gaped stupidly at the divine warrior who had emerged before him.

~I am yours to command, young one~

Er, okay.

"Quick! Parry that attack, Altiel!" Bradley shouted with newfound vitality and his bitbeast, raising up the breathtaking sword in his hands, soared towards the beam of white-hot fire; the white beyblade following its path.

Altiel's blade came down in a large swooping arc, effectively slicing through the beam and dissipating its energy harmlessly. The icy blue sword came back up again in the blink of an eye and slammed onto the cobalt-scaled chin of Kaiser, knocking out the agile dragon bitbeast. Colin gnashed his teeth and slowly loosened his vise-like fists, realizing the futility of his struggle. Without Kaiser to supplement his beyblade's abilities, he stood no chance against this angelic enemy. The match was over. Bradley had beaten him.

A hushed silence fell over the room's occupants as Colin stooped over to pick up his defeated scarlet beyblade. The brown-haired boy sighed and stood stiffly, pocketing his beyblade. His brown eyes met with the spirited green eyes of the victor and his mouth curled into an approving smile.

"You're pretty lucky to have gotten such a powerful comrade right in the middle of a battle, Bradley. But still, you aren't so bad. I look forward to the next time we battle, orphan."

Colin began to clap for Bradley, who was still sitting on the floor, shocked, and after but a few moments, the audience erupted into tumultuous applause for the triumphant amateur.

~Congratulations, Bradley~

Thanks.

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End of Chapter