The New Generation
pyRO- Sorry, Nightswift! The champ of Group C (Whose name happens to be Devon), isn't going to be the final member of the team! But don't worry, the last guy is mentioned here, although I doubt many of you people will get who it is... ^____^
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word did outpour.
Nothing farther then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered-
Till I scarcely more than muttered: "Other friends have flown before-
On the morrow he will leave me as my Hopes have flown before."
-Then the bird said, "Nevermore"
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
~The Blue Knight Regional Tournament: Elimination Round Scores~
Ranking- Group A:
First place: Colin Drake- 124.6
Second place: Trisha Lyons- 73.2
Third place: Rowan Yang- 71.9
Ranking- Group B:
First place: Bradley (Last name unknown)- 86.5
Second place: Nathan Arcford- 86.3
Third place: Dominick Salve- 84.0
Ranking- Group C:
First place: Devon Rembrandt- 197.6
Second place: Anna Rumino-46.2
Third place: Jason Lemiure- 14.7
Ranking- Group D:
First place: Evan (Last name unknown)- 113.7
Second place: Eva Isley- 80.5
Third place: David Istavan-79.2
Overall rankings:
1)Devon Rembrandt- 197.6 pts
2)Colin Drake- 124.6 pts
3)Evan n/a- 113.7 pts
4)Bradley n/a- 86.5 pts
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Bradley scowled as he scoped out his ranking on the giant LCD screen that hung from the top of the dome-like beyblading arena. Evan had scored close to 30 points more than him! The blonde orphan shook his head in a frustrated way and began examining the infinitesimal chips and hairline cracks that had appeared on his battered beyblade. Even with Altiel, he had a virtual hell fighting off his opponents, many off which did not have any bitbeasts. Yet Evan, despite his lack of an ally like Bradley's, had managed to pull away with the points in his group and maintained a safe margin over them. The commentators had accordingly described Evan's skill with his beyblade; calling him the man with the invisible bitbeast. There was a lot more to his enigmatic friend than books and machines, apparently.
Colin, as expected, had devastated the field of Group A. The russet-haired beyblader had only encountered but a few minor obstacles on the way to his victory and had quite impressively lived up to the stories surrounding his abilities. Kaiser had made sure of that.
Group C's story however, was a complete surprise to Bradley and the audience that had congregated. Devon Rembrandt had utterly blew away each and every one of his opponents with such speed and precision that an arrow flung from the bow of the Greek Goddess Artemis could not have outraced it. As soon as Devon's bitbeast, an immense lion with a fiery attack and an equally intense ferocity, materialized, more than half of the entire batch had been mowed down and only a few well-designed or protected stragglers remained. It was clear who the winner was in that group.
Anyway, there was time for this later. Bradley decided to scoot over to the washrooms and douse his face with some cold water before the quarterfinals. Seeing how amazingly his roommate performed, he would definitely have to be alert and ready for anything. He might as well get rid of his shock over Evan's sudden increase in ability with a quick splash of icy water in the bathroom too.
But his attention was quickly diverted to another spot once more as he realized the Devon kid was standing but a few meters from his current location, leaning against a wall and buried deep in serious conversation with a brunette girl of around his height. Bradley decided to hang around for some impromptu eavesdropping.
"Come on, Jess! After I win this one, you promise to forget about Leheung and go out with me?"
Bradley's eyes widened and another disgusted scowl spread across his face. This sounded overly emotional for his taste. Ah well, maybe it would be useful as blackmail material in the future.
The brunette girl sighed regretfully and removed a strand of jet black hair from Devon's face, which was stuck on something that looked like desperation. Or spite.
"Leheung gave me his word he would come back... I don't want to break his heart, Devon. Why can't you understand that?"
"But how about mine? I've always been with you, unlike him! The freaking thief took off when he had the slightest of chances! But I've always been right beside you, supporting you, Jessica!"
Devon had slammed his fist on the steel wall, which had some repercussions on the other end. Bradley, whose cheek had been pressed against the wall, had received quite a bit of unwanted and somewhat painful vibrations on his face. The blonde muttered a curse under his breath and continued listening to the conversation.
"All right, Devon... I'll go out with you if you win this tournament." The girl finally replied, with a bit too much of remorse to go unnoticed.
There was the sound of a hand pumping the air triumphantly, as if a contest had been won, and Bradley immediately visualized the black-haired beyblader in a little celebratory dance.
"Then consider it done! No way any of those idiots will be able to stand up to me!"
"Yeah, Devon. I know."
We'll see about that, Mister Rembrandt. We'll see about that...
A grin plastered itself on Bradley's mouth as he walked away, a new goal slowly taking form in his head.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
"Welcome back folks to the Blue Knight Regional Tournament! This is DJ Sandman again, reminding all of you there isn't any sport like beyblading!"
"You got that right, man! That was certainly proven by the four awesome kids down there who survived the harsh elimination rounds!"
"Survived? Yo Joe, I think you mean TOTALLY DOMINATED the eliminations!"
A frenzied shout rose through the crowd like a tidal wave, filling the arena with intense cheering.
"You're absolutely correct, DJ! Those guys really ripped it up down there! So all you people put your hands together and cheer for the remaining four contestants..."
Below them, Bradley felt a surge of nervousness attack his stomach and his breakfast rose up to his mouth. Thankfully, he had the presence of mind to gulp down the regurgitated slop before it came spilling out of his lips. It was different when you were being cheered as a collective group but now hundreds of people had their eyes trained on him intently, expecting him to do well. He hastily reminded himself that the other guys, Evan, Colin and Devon, were probably experiencing the same thing as well. Oh wait a second... Colin and Devon are obviously enough experienced beybladers so they've already gone through this process and Evan is, well, Evan so he doesn't really feel much emotion... Guess he was in this tension thing by himself. He had to pull himself together before he battled his best buddy. After all, Bradley expected to give Evan a real display of skill.
"Getting cold feet, Bradley? Jesus Christ, man, you look sick." Colin commented, his mouth twisted into a lopsided grin.
"No way! I just ate a bit too fast at breakfast today."
"Yeah, right."
Bradley stuck his tongue out at Colin before puffing his chest out and looking prepared for battle. He better not let Colin see his weakness again. The brown-haired beyblader laughed quietly and shook his head before confidently striding over to the dish where he would be battling against Devon Rembrandt.
"Idiot... He's going to get creamed by that other dude."
The blonde European chuckled at this and stuck his hand into his pocket, wriggling out his blue and white beyblade, along with the translucent rosary that gave him Altiel. He figured a bit of luck might do him well in this tournament. He clasped these two items tightly and then began walking towards his buddy, Evan, who was adjusting something on his beyblade. The brown-skinned and black-haired twelve year old boy looked up from his work and wore an expression of disdainful amusement on his face. It sure looked like the fact Bradley had scored less than him had not escaped Evan.
"Hello, Brad... Guess we really made it to the top, huh?"
"Yeah, but don't expect me to go easy on you just 'cause we're best friends, all right?"
"Likewise."
Both orphans laughed and entered their respective beyblading stances. Bradley grinned at his competitor, who did the same. They weren't going to settle for anything except the very best from each other. And in doing so, they would definitely give more than their 100% effort.
"Beybladers ready!"
Their muscles tightened and both orphans could feel adrenaline pumping through their veins
"3"
Bradley's eyes narrowed and he his hands tightened their grip on the launcher and rip cord
"2"
A strange, euphoric stream of power poured into Evan and a demented grin appeared on his face
"1, let it rip!!!"
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
The two blades exploded outward, flying into the beyblade arena at full speed and crashing into each other with the force of a cannon. They both zipped backwards and came back again like rockets, slicing the smooth steel interior of the combat dish. They streaked back and forth, igniting sparks that lit up their immediate surroundings.
Bradley gritted his teeth in frustration as he watched his friend, whom he so easily defeated before, counter his lightning fast advances with an even display of offense and defense. Evan had gotten considerably more powerful in such a short period of time... He had better summon Altiel and finish this before the fellow orphan boy began beating him back.
"Hey, Evan, you're not doing so bad! But I still won't let you win! Go, Altiel!" Bradley shouted.
The majestic angel appeared from the center of the now glowing bit chip of Bradley's azure beyblade and unsheathed its translucent sword from its side. Its giant eagle wings beat the air gracefully and elevated the bitbeast's masculine figure a few good meters into the air.
Evan's lips creased into a thin scowl. Bradley had superb control over Altiel and it was beginning to look like the scales of war were tipping in his blonde-haired friend's favor. Still, during their somewhat one-sided practice matches, Evan had observed and studied one major flaw with Bradley's angelic bitbeast. Today, he was going to see if his theory was right...
"Go! Get out of there!" Evan commanded and his black, blue and white blade complied without delay; veering away from the empowered beyblade of his opponent.
"Altiel, attack!" Bradley ordered in response to his foe's maneuver and his blade quickly chased after Evan's, returning to a dominative stance.
The cobalt beyblade charged towards Evan's morbidly designed one, ready to knock it right out off the arena. Yet, in a startling show of precision, the black and blue beyblade of Evan suddenly slid to the right, completely evading the cumbersome attack of Altiel.
"Wha?!?" Bradley spat out, totally taken aback by Evan's ingenious trick.
"Now! Take him down!"
Evan's beyblade made a quick adjustment in its trajectory and slammed onto the disoriented white and blue blade of his stunned opponent, nearly throwing it out off the dish in that one attack.
But Brad's and the crowd's eyes weren't on the sudden change in balance and were instead fixed on the bit chip of Evan's beyblade, which was shooting miniature lightning bolts as dark as the darkest night into the air.
Evan's heartbeat quickened to a nearly inhuman pace, pulsing to the beat of another being that had somehow taken residence in him. He let out a feral shout, echoed by a shrill, beastly roar, and collapsed onto one knee as a dark mist enveloped him completely; shrouding his body like a veil.
A raven of immense proportions, just slightly smaller than Altiel, shrieked in its high-pitched voice as it flew outward from the cloaking fog that had materialized and soared around the beyblading dish. It circled the robed angel of Bradley once and released another strident scream in its direction before zooming into the glowing core of Evan's beyblade.
"Dear God..." Bradley garbled, in awe of the phenomenal event that had just taken place.
~This is completely unbelievable... The Raven breed was supposed to have died out...~
Then without warning, the mists surrounding Evan dissipated and the black-haired orphan was on his feet, holding his right arm out stiffly.
"Eiras, attack him... Temporal Lightning!"
~My pleasure... hahaha...~
The ethereal raven flapped its jet black wings and storm clouds grew over the arena, covering the entire dish in darkness. Unexpectedly, black bolts of hellish energy roared down from the smoky hazes that hovered above and completely vaporized the parts of the dish nearby Altiel and Bradley's beyblade.
"Holy-!!! Altiel, deflect the lightning! Execute Divine Intervention!"
Altiel swung his sword in short arcs, overcoming the intense power emanating from those bolts with a few slashes and transforming them into a shower of cascading sparks. However, another flash of dark energy zoomed down towards his back and he whirled around at the last moment, raising his free left hand. An otherworldly shield made of wispy white light materialized and absorbed the impact.
"Now, return fire!" Bradley commanded as his bitbeast opened the palm of his outstretched left hand, releasing a beam of intense light.
"Dark Equinox..."
A silver, liquid portal appeared in front of the raven and literally ate up every single particle of Altiel's attack and returned it to him, hitting him square in the chest. The angelic bitbeast gasped and clutched his smoking chest before glaring steely-eyed at his immeasurably powerful opponent.
"Altiel! I'm pulling out of this, man! There's no way we can beat Evan's bitbeast!"
Evan laughed coldly, his once spirited brown eyes shimmering with a cold, icy glow.
"Ah, but you are mistaken. Eiras, fabricate!"
Just like his other attacks, a ghostly cage of dark pulsing matter burst from the edges of the arena, effectively trapping all who were in it. Evan smiled mockingly at the antics of his opponent and snapped his fingers in an imperious manner.
"Eiras, Twilight Burst attack now."
Eiras, flew upwards, high above the caged Altiel and shrieked once more, before opening its razor sharp beak and unleashing a concentrated blast of black energy straight at Brad's beyblade and bitbeast.
~No! I cannot let this happen!~
Altiel streaked upwards, cutting air with both his wings and his sword as he readied to parry the nigh unstoppable onslaught. His azure blade sliced downwards, effectively diverting the main brunt of Eiras' attack to the dish, parts of which turned into charred craters and melted dents. However, the angel bitbeast was unable to impede enough of the strike and took a gigantic hit again on his chest. He presently dropped his icy sword, which dematerialized immediately, and fell to his knees, right in front of Bradley's spinning beyblade.
Altiel! Return to the bit chip already! I can't risk having you destroyed! I can fight alone!
~No... The power of this Raven is far too great for any mortal to battle... I shall end this!~
What? You idiot! Head back now, Altiel!
"Altiel!!!" Bradley shouted in despair as Eiras, talons glinting maliciously in the light, screamed piercingly and zoomed straight for his defiant bitbeast, who was chanting something under his breath. Evan's beyblade too, finally straying from its stationary position, streaked towards Bradley's relatively battered beyblade. It looked like all was lost for him now.
Then suddenly, Altiel stood up, creating a shockwave that knocked the rapidly closing blade and talons away and raised up his right arm and now empty hand to the heavens.
"You shall not defeat me, messenger of doom! I am Altiel, Angel of Courage! See if you can overcome my power! Heaven's Wrath!!!"
A bright flash engulfed the arena and exploded outwards, sweeping both Evan and Bradley off their feet. Then, just as quickly as it had come, the light disappeared, leaving no trace of both raven and angel. Only Bradley's beyblade, smoking and barely spinning, remained alive in the ring.
A tense silence followed, both beybladers stunned beyond words. Evan, his body still reeling from the pure power that flowed in him but a few seconds ago and Bradley, amazed at Altiel's amazing comeback from the depths of defeat. Oh, and the angel bitbeast actually said something that wasn't in his head.
Then applause shattered the silence as the crowd, who had grown bored with Colin's helplessness in front of Devon, cheered for both orphans, who had shown their own version of bravery and determination in face of nearly insurmountable odds.
Bradley stood up, his feet wobbly and weak. He figured Altiel must have sapped him off some of his spirit in order to pull off that destructive attack.
~Augh... We should check on your friend, youngling. Eiras might have altered him permanently~
Yeah... Nice move by the way.
~Thank you, young master. You yourself showed great calmness in the face of such power~
Thanks too then.
The victorious blonde then walked over to his friend, who was still crouched on the floor, clutching his stomach and chest simultaneously.
"Hey, Evs. You need some help there? Evan?"
His friend was laughing hysterically, clasping his burned beyblade in his left hand; his eyes holding a manic glint to them.
"That... felt... so... good... So much power... flowing in me... So much... power!" He croaked, before bursting into his insane laughter as if he was still possessed by the dark form of the Raven, Eiras.
Bradley took a step forward, a grim frown cemented on his face, and promptly hit Evan right on the head.
"Ow... What was that for?"
"Nothing much, Evan. Consider it a wake up call back to reality, Mister Nutcase!"
"Oh, sorry... It just felt so amazing. I couldn't help myself to Eiras' power."
"Well then, you better learn to control that raven of yours next time! You could seriously hurt someone with such a strong bitbeast!"
"All right... Thanks, Brad."
"No problem. Quick! I want to gloat to Colin! Hehehehe..."
"..."
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
End of Chapter
Yep, Evan's bitbeast is a Raven all right! A pretty strong one too! ^___^ Next up, Bradley takes on Devon without Altiel, who is still drained from performing the double-edged Heaven's Wrath technique!
pyRO- Sorry, Nightswift! The champ of Group C (Whose name happens to be Devon), isn't going to be the final member of the team! But don't worry, the last guy is mentioned here, although I doubt many of you people will get who it is... ^____^
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word did outpour.
Nothing farther then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered-
Till I scarcely more than muttered: "Other friends have flown before-
On the morrow he will leave me as my Hopes have flown before."
-Then the bird said, "Nevermore"
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
~The Blue Knight Regional Tournament: Elimination Round Scores~
Ranking- Group A:
First place: Colin Drake- 124.6
Second place: Trisha Lyons- 73.2
Third place: Rowan Yang- 71.9
Ranking- Group B:
First place: Bradley (Last name unknown)- 86.5
Second place: Nathan Arcford- 86.3
Third place: Dominick Salve- 84.0
Ranking- Group C:
First place: Devon Rembrandt- 197.6
Second place: Anna Rumino-46.2
Third place: Jason Lemiure- 14.7
Ranking- Group D:
First place: Evan (Last name unknown)- 113.7
Second place: Eva Isley- 80.5
Third place: David Istavan-79.2
Overall rankings:
1)Devon Rembrandt- 197.6 pts
2)Colin Drake- 124.6 pts
3)Evan n/a- 113.7 pts
4)Bradley n/a- 86.5 pts
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Bradley scowled as he scoped out his ranking on the giant LCD screen that hung from the top of the dome-like beyblading arena. Evan had scored close to 30 points more than him! The blonde orphan shook his head in a frustrated way and began examining the infinitesimal chips and hairline cracks that had appeared on his battered beyblade. Even with Altiel, he had a virtual hell fighting off his opponents, many off which did not have any bitbeasts. Yet Evan, despite his lack of an ally like Bradley's, had managed to pull away with the points in his group and maintained a safe margin over them. The commentators had accordingly described Evan's skill with his beyblade; calling him the man with the invisible bitbeast. There was a lot more to his enigmatic friend than books and machines, apparently.
Colin, as expected, had devastated the field of Group A. The russet-haired beyblader had only encountered but a few minor obstacles on the way to his victory and had quite impressively lived up to the stories surrounding his abilities. Kaiser had made sure of that.
Group C's story however, was a complete surprise to Bradley and the audience that had congregated. Devon Rembrandt had utterly blew away each and every one of his opponents with such speed and precision that an arrow flung from the bow of the Greek Goddess Artemis could not have outraced it. As soon as Devon's bitbeast, an immense lion with a fiery attack and an equally intense ferocity, materialized, more than half of the entire batch had been mowed down and only a few well-designed or protected stragglers remained. It was clear who the winner was in that group.
Anyway, there was time for this later. Bradley decided to scoot over to the washrooms and douse his face with some cold water before the quarterfinals. Seeing how amazingly his roommate performed, he would definitely have to be alert and ready for anything. He might as well get rid of his shock over Evan's sudden increase in ability with a quick splash of icy water in the bathroom too.
But his attention was quickly diverted to another spot once more as he realized the Devon kid was standing but a few meters from his current location, leaning against a wall and buried deep in serious conversation with a brunette girl of around his height. Bradley decided to hang around for some impromptu eavesdropping.
"Come on, Jess! After I win this one, you promise to forget about Leheung and go out with me?"
Bradley's eyes widened and another disgusted scowl spread across his face. This sounded overly emotional for his taste. Ah well, maybe it would be useful as blackmail material in the future.
The brunette girl sighed regretfully and removed a strand of jet black hair from Devon's face, which was stuck on something that looked like desperation. Or spite.
"Leheung gave me his word he would come back... I don't want to break his heart, Devon. Why can't you understand that?"
"But how about mine? I've always been with you, unlike him! The freaking thief took off when he had the slightest of chances! But I've always been right beside you, supporting you, Jessica!"
Devon had slammed his fist on the steel wall, which had some repercussions on the other end. Bradley, whose cheek had been pressed against the wall, had received quite a bit of unwanted and somewhat painful vibrations on his face. The blonde muttered a curse under his breath and continued listening to the conversation.
"All right, Devon... I'll go out with you if you win this tournament." The girl finally replied, with a bit too much of remorse to go unnoticed.
There was the sound of a hand pumping the air triumphantly, as if a contest had been won, and Bradley immediately visualized the black-haired beyblader in a little celebratory dance.
"Then consider it done! No way any of those idiots will be able to stand up to me!"
"Yeah, Devon. I know."
We'll see about that, Mister Rembrandt. We'll see about that...
A grin plastered itself on Bradley's mouth as he walked away, a new goal slowly taking form in his head.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
"Welcome back folks to the Blue Knight Regional Tournament! This is DJ Sandman again, reminding all of you there isn't any sport like beyblading!"
"You got that right, man! That was certainly proven by the four awesome kids down there who survived the harsh elimination rounds!"
"Survived? Yo Joe, I think you mean TOTALLY DOMINATED the eliminations!"
A frenzied shout rose through the crowd like a tidal wave, filling the arena with intense cheering.
"You're absolutely correct, DJ! Those guys really ripped it up down there! So all you people put your hands together and cheer for the remaining four contestants..."
Below them, Bradley felt a surge of nervousness attack his stomach and his breakfast rose up to his mouth. Thankfully, he had the presence of mind to gulp down the regurgitated slop before it came spilling out of his lips. It was different when you were being cheered as a collective group but now hundreds of people had their eyes trained on him intently, expecting him to do well. He hastily reminded himself that the other guys, Evan, Colin and Devon, were probably experiencing the same thing as well. Oh wait a second... Colin and Devon are obviously enough experienced beybladers so they've already gone through this process and Evan is, well, Evan so he doesn't really feel much emotion... Guess he was in this tension thing by himself. He had to pull himself together before he battled his best buddy. After all, Bradley expected to give Evan a real display of skill.
"Getting cold feet, Bradley? Jesus Christ, man, you look sick." Colin commented, his mouth twisted into a lopsided grin.
"No way! I just ate a bit too fast at breakfast today."
"Yeah, right."
Bradley stuck his tongue out at Colin before puffing his chest out and looking prepared for battle. He better not let Colin see his weakness again. The brown-haired beyblader laughed quietly and shook his head before confidently striding over to the dish where he would be battling against Devon Rembrandt.
"Idiot... He's going to get creamed by that other dude."
The blonde European chuckled at this and stuck his hand into his pocket, wriggling out his blue and white beyblade, along with the translucent rosary that gave him Altiel. He figured a bit of luck might do him well in this tournament. He clasped these two items tightly and then began walking towards his buddy, Evan, who was adjusting something on his beyblade. The brown-skinned and black-haired twelve year old boy looked up from his work and wore an expression of disdainful amusement on his face. It sure looked like the fact Bradley had scored less than him had not escaped Evan.
"Hello, Brad... Guess we really made it to the top, huh?"
"Yeah, but don't expect me to go easy on you just 'cause we're best friends, all right?"
"Likewise."
Both orphans laughed and entered their respective beyblading stances. Bradley grinned at his competitor, who did the same. They weren't going to settle for anything except the very best from each other. And in doing so, they would definitely give more than their 100% effort.
"Beybladers ready!"
Their muscles tightened and both orphans could feel adrenaline pumping through their veins
"3"
Bradley's eyes narrowed and he his hands tightened their grip on the launcher and rip cord
"2"
A strange, euphoric stream of power poured into Evan and a demented grin appeared on his face
"1, let it rip!!!"
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
The two blades exploded outward, flying into the beyblade arena at full speed and crashing into each other with the force of a cannon. They both zipped backwards and came back again like rockets, slicing the smooth steel interior of the combat dish. They streaked back and forth, igniting sparks that lit up their immediate surroundings.
Bradley gritted his teeth in frustration as he watched his friend, whom he so easily defeated before, counter his lightning fast advances with an even display of offense and defense. Evan had gotten considerably more powerful in such a short period of time... He had better summon Altiel and finish this before the fellow orphan boy began beating him back.
"Hey, Evan, you're not doing so bad! But I still won't let you win! Go, Altiel!" Bradley shouted.
The majestic angel appeared from the center of the now glowing bit chip of Bradley's azure beyblade and unsheathed its translucent sword from its side. Its giant eagle wings beat the air gracefully and elevated the bitbeast's masculine figure a few good meters into the air.
Evan's lips creased into a thin scowl. Bradley had superb control over Altiel and it was beginning to look like the scales of war were tipping in his blonde-haired friend's favor. Still, during their somewhat one-sided practice matches, Evan had observed and studied one major flaw with Bradley's angelic bitbeast. Today, he was going to see if his theory was right...
"Go! Get out of there!" Evan commanded and his black, blue and white blade complied without delay; veering away from the empowered beyblade of his opponent.
"Altiel, attack!" Bradley ordered in response to his foe's maneuver and his blade quickly chased after Evan's, returning to a dominative stance.
The cobalt beyblade charged towards Evan's morbidly designed one, ready to knock it right out off the arena. Yet, in a startling show of precision, the black and blue beyblade of Evan suddenly slid to the right, completely evading the cumbersome attack of Altiel.
"Wha?!?" Bradley spat out, totally taken aback by Evan's ingenious trick.
"Now! Take him down!"
Evan's beyblade made a quick adjustment in its trajectory and slammed onto the disoriented white and blue blade of his stunned opponent, nearly throwing it out off the dish in that one attack.
But Brad's and the crowd's eyes weren't on the sudden change in balance and were instead fixed on the bit chip of Evan's beyblade, which was shooting miniature lightning bolts as dark as the darkest night into the air.
Evan's heartbeat quickened to a nearly inhuman pace, pulsing to the beat of another being that had somehow taken residence in him. He let out a feral shout, echoed by a shrill, beastly roar, and collapsed onto one knee as a dark mist enveloped him completely; shrouding his body like a veil.
A raven of immense proportions, just slightly smaller than Altiel, shrieked in its high-pitched voice as it flew outward from the cloaking fog that had materialized and soared around the beyblading dish. It circled the robed angel of Bradley once and released another strident scream in its direction before zooming into the glowing core of Evan's beyblade.
"Dear God..." Bradley garbled, in awe of the phenomenal event that had just taken place.
~This is completely unbelievable... The Raven breed was supposed to have died out...~
Then without warning, the mists surrounding Evan dissipated and the black-haired orphan was on his feet, holding his right arm out stiffly.
"Eiras, attack him... Temporal Lightning!"
~My pleasure... hahaha...~
The ethereal raven flapped its jet black wings and storm clouds grew over the arena, covering the entire dish in darkness. Unexpectedly, black bolts of hellish energy roared down from the smoky hazes that hovered above and completely vaporized the parts of the dish nearby Altiel and Bradley's beyblade.
"Holy-!!! Altiel, deflect the lightning! Execute Divine Intervention!"
Altiel swung his sword in short arcs, overcoming the intense power emanating from those bolts with a few slashes and transforming them into a shower of cascading sparks. However, another flash of dark energy zoomed down towards his back and he whirled around at the last moment, raising his free left hand. An otherworldly shield made of wispy white light materialized and absorbed the impact.
"Now, return fire!" Bradley commanded as his bitbeast opened the palm of his outstretched left hand, releasing a beam of intense light.
"Dark Equinox..."
A silver, liquid portal appeared in front of the raven and literally ate up every single particle of Altiel's attack and returned it to him, hitting him square in the chest. The angelic bitbeast gasped and clutched his smoking chest before glaring steely-eyed at his immeasurably powerful opponent.
"Altiel! I'm pulling out of this, man! There's no way we can beat Evan's bitbeast!"
Evan laughed coldly, his once spirited brown eyes shimmering with a cold, icy glow.
"Ah, but you are mistaken. Eiras, fabricate!"
Just like his other attacks, a ghostly cage of dark pulsing matter burst from the edges of the arena, effectively trapping all who were in it. Evan smiled mockingly at the antics of his opponent and snapped his fingers in an imperious manner.
"Eiras, Twilight Burst attack now."
Eiras, flew upwards, high above the caged Altiel and shrieked once more, before opening its razor sharp beak and unleashing a concentrated blast of black energy straight at Brad's beyblade and bitbeast.
~No! I cannot let this happen!~
Altiel streaked upwards, cutting air with both his wings and his sword as he readied to parry the nigh unstoppable onslaught. His azure blade sliced downwards, effectively diverting the main brunt of Eiras' attack to the dish, parts of which turned into charred craters and melted dents. However, the angel bitbeast was unable to impede enough of the strike and took a gigantic hit again on his chest. He presently dropped his icy sword, which dematerialized immediately, and fell to his knees, right in front of Bradley's spinning beyblade.
Altiel! Return to the bit chip already! I can't risk having you destroyed! I can fight alone!
~No... The power of this Raven is far too great for any mortal to battle... I shall end this!~
What? You idiot! Head back now, Altiel!
"Altiel!!!" Bradley shouted in despair as Eiras, talons glinting maliciously in the light, screamed piercingly and zoomed straight for his defiant bitbeast, who was chanting something under his breath. Evan's beyblade too, finally straying from its stationary position, streaked towards Bradley's relatively battered beyblade. It looked like all was lost for him now.
Then suddenly, Altiel stood up, creating a shockwave that knocked the rapidly closing blade and talons away and raised up his right arm and now empty hand to the heavens.
"You shall not defeat me, messenger of doom! I am Altiel, Angel of Courage! See if you can overcome my power! Heaven's Wrath!!!"
A bright flash engulfed the arena and exploded outwards, sweeping both Evan and Bradley off their feet. Then, just as quickly as it had come, the light disappeared, leaving no trace of both raven and angel. Only Bradley's beyblade, smoking and barely spinning, remained alive in the ring.
A tense silence followed, both beybladers stunned beyond words. Evan, his body still reeling from the pure power that flowed in him but a few seconds ago and Bradley, amazed at Altiel's amazing comeback from the depths of defeat. Oh, and the angel bitbeast actually said something that wasn't in his head.
Then applause shattered the silence as the crowd, who had grown bored with Colin's helplessness in front of Devon, cheered for both orphans, who had shown their own version of bravery and determination in face of nearly insurmountable odds.
Bradley stood up, his feet wobbly and weak. He figured Altiel must have sapped him off some of his spirit in order to pull off that destructive attack.
~Augh... We should check on your friend, youngling. Eiras might have altered him permanently~
Yeah... Nice move by the way.
~Thank you, young master. You yourself showed great calmness in the face of such power~
Thanks too then.
The victorious blonde then walked over to his friend, who was still crouched on the floor, clutching his stomach and chest simultaneously.
"Hey, Evs. You need some help there? Evan?"
His friend was laughing hysterically, clasping his burned beyblade in his left hand; his eyes holding a manic glint to them.
"That... felt... so... good... So much power... flowing in me... So much... power!" He croaked, before bursting into his insane laughter as if he was still possessed by the dark form of the Raven, Eiras.
Bradley took a step forward, a grim frown cemented on his face, and promptly hit Evan right on the head.
"Ow... What was that for?"
"Nothing much, Evan. Consider it a wake up call back to reality, Mister Nutcase!"
"Oh, sorry... It just felt so amazing. I couldn't help myself to Eiras' power."
"Well then, you better learn to control that raven of yours next time! You could seriously hurt someone with such a strong bitbeast!"
"All right... Thanks, Brad."
"No problem. Quick! I want to gloat to Colin! Hehehehe..."
"..."
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
End of Chapter
Yep, Evan's bitbeast is a Raven all right! A pretty strong one too! ^___^ Next up, Bradley takes on Devon without Altiel, who is still drained from performing the double-edged Heaven's Wrath technique!
