Chapter 10
Keeping in Control
The crowd cheered loudly as suddenly, two geysers of smoke came from the sides of the stage.
"There will be a firework ceremony tonight to kick off the second round and congratulate the winners of the first round." Mr. Dickinson said as the lights came back on and the stage sunk back into the floor.
"Wanna go to the firework ceremony tonight?" Enrique asked.
"Sure!" I said. Suddenly, the Jazzman walked out onto the platform where the dish was, "Oh, the First Round's starting!"
"Let's introduce our first teams!" The Jazzman said, "Meet, the All-Stars, and the Demolition Boys!"
The two teams walked out onto the floor and to their separate team benches. My eyes were trained upon Tala as he sat on the bench with no emotion in his eyes that once held so much for me.
"Let's meet our first competitors!" The Jazzman said, "Emily and Bryan!"
"Hello fans, I'm Brad Best!" Came a voice from over the speakers.
"And I'm A. J. Topper!" said another.
"And we're here to bring you some stats!" Brad said as a big screen at the far edge of the stadium showed Bryan's stats, "Let's start with Bryan! This guy has a lot of power and isn't afraid to use it. He has been known to be as absolutely ruthless as his Bitbeast Falborg."
"Now for Emily!" Said A. J.. "This little gal's got a big brain and a lot of strategies in her head! She and her Bitbeast Trygator have been known to take matches just as quickly as they begin!"
"Now let's quit the talking and get down to some knocking in this totally tricked out dish!" Brad said as the bottom of the dish opened and a different surrounding appeared. It was almost like a swamp. It had looming dark green trees and a deep, black looking oozy lake that was perfect for Trygator, "Welcome to the Swamp Stadium!"
"Wow!" I said, still looking over the stadium. I saw Bryan scowl a bit, he must know that the environment was in her favor. They both walked up to the edge of the dish. Bryan held out his gun Launcher and Emily held out hers. It was a tennis racquet shaped Launcher.
"3,2,1" The Jazzman started, "Let it rip!"
Emily swung her Launcher as Brian shot his. Both blades came out into the stadium and clashed at each other.
"Trygator," Emily said, "Into the swamp!"
Her blade raced into the swamp among the trees.
"After her!" Bryan yelled as his blade went in after her.
"Water smash!" Emily yelled as her blade started to glow and a large alligator came out. It slithered into the water and huge walls of water exploded from the swamp, and headed for Bryan's blade. They hit the blade, knocking it back a bit.
"Looks like Bryan's in trouble!" Brad said.
I heard Bryan growl under his breath, "We'll show you!" He shouted, "Falborg, attack!"
The big bird arose from the blade and rushed towards Trygator. It hit the other blade and slammed it right out of the dish.
"Woah!" I heard Brad say.
"Slam, bam, thank you ma'am, and that's the match!" A. J. said as Emily's blade landed by her feet as she fell to her knees.
"I lost," She said, "So easily…I can't believe it…. The environment was totally in my favor too."
"It's okay Emily." Said Eddy, who had come up behind her, "I'll take this match!"
"Good luck Eddy." She said as he helped her up and she walked back to the bench.
"Introducing our next contestants! From the Demolition boys, give it up for Spencer!" D.J. Jazzman introduced.
Spencer's stats are shown.
"Spencer, the almighty Beyblader and his Seaborg Bitbeast are a team not to be messed with because of their strong stats." A.J. Topper said.
"And from the All-Stars," The Jazzman said, "Eddy!"
"Now for Eddy!" Eddy is known to defeat opponents fast with his Bitbeast Trypio's sting shoot attack!" A.J. Topper explained.
"And now to roll back the floor and see the unknown dish the two teams will spin in. Burr! Why does it feel so cold in here?" Brad Best asked.
The floor opened and revealed a huge glaciers and water. It looked like some sort of miniature dish of Antarctica.
"That's because we're in the Arctic Stadium, Brad!" A.J. said, "now let's get this party started!"
"Players, get set!" Said the Jazzman, "Fire in 3… 2… 1… let it rip!"
Spencer and Eddy fired their Beyblades. Eddy already knew that if Spencer's blade falls into the water, he could be in trouble, so his blade started holding down Spencer's blade.
"Ha! Try using that typhoon of yours now. My Bitbeast can keep your Seaborg on land any time." Eddy said.
"Seaborg, strike!" Spencer commanded.
Spencer's blade suddenly spun loose of Eddy's blade. Spencer's blade then charged at Eddy's blade and knocked it close to the water.
"Mrrr! You! Trypio Shoot String!" Eddy commanded.
Trypio rose out of the blade. It was a large scorpion. It jumped into the air and hit Spencer's blade hard. The attack knocked Spencer's blade into the air, but he had a little trick up his sleeve.
"Rise, Seaborg!" Spencer called out.
Seaborg rose out of Spencer's Beyblade. Seaborg, along with Spencer's blade, leaped at Trypio and slammed it and Eddy's blade, causing the two blades to fall into the water.
"No! This isn't possible! I have to win this!" Eddy yelled.
"Finish him off Seaborg! Vooda impact!" Spencer commanded.
Seaborg created a twister in the water and it suddenly grew into a typhoon, heading right at Trypio.
"Trypio, final attack!" Eddy yelled as the two blades slammed together. Ice flew all over the field and out of the dish. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, Spencer's blade had stopped, while Eddy's had a small amount of spin.
"And the second round goes to Eddy!" D.J. Jazzman announced, "The third match will be held between Ian and Steve!"
I saw the two walk up to the edges of the dish.
"Let's check out these Bladers!" A.J. Topper said, "First we have Ian!"
"This little Ian is a big trickster." Brad best said, "and you can be sure that his Bitbeast, Wyborg, will get him out of any slippery situation!"
"And now we have Steve!" A.J. said.
"This guy has a lot of power and his rhino Bitbeast, Tryhorn!" Brad said.
"Let's take a look at the dish!" A.J. said as the floor rolled back, revealing a plain dish with large circle-like bumps scattered through out it.
"Welcome to dot stadium!" Said A.J., "The bumps in this dish have been known to slow Bladers down with their attacks."
"Bladers, take your positions," Jazzman said, "3,2,1, let it rip!"
The two launched their blades. Steve immediately went on the offensive.
"Tryhorn, attack!" He shouted.
"Wyborg!" Ian shouted as his Beyblade started to glow as his Bitbeast emerged. It was a long purple snake-like creature with green and yellow armor and blazing red eyes, "Attack!"
"Tryhorn!" Steve shouted as the large rhino came out of its blade, "Attack!"
"Let's get this over with, Wyborg, final attack!" Ian yelled as the large snake collided with the rhino, causing a blinding light to fill the stadium. When it cleared, both blades had stopped.
"And the third match is a quick tie!" The Jazzman said, "Now the tie-breaker will be held between Tala and Michael!"
"Tala." I said softly, "I wonder what blade he's using?"
Tala stepped up to the dish so did Michael.
"Let's take a look at these Bladers!" A.J. said, "First we have Michael!"
"This guy has one powerful blade, and one powerful Bitbeast, Trygle!" Brad said.
"Now let's take a look at Tala!" A.J. said, "Usually, this guy uses his cold as ice Bitbeast, Wolborg. But today, that's not the case. He seems to be using a new blade, and maybe a new Bitbeast, let's take a look!"
I saw Tala take out a pitch-black blade. Enrique and I both gasped.
"Is that--" He started.
"M-Motoki." I said, shaking, "No! Enrique, I can't let him do it, I can't let him battle, he'll kill himself, that kind of power can't be contained!"
I tried to get up, but not before Enrique pulled me down.
"Are you insane?" He asked, "You can't go out on the floor!"
I tried to get back up.
"Enrique," I said, "I can't let this happen!"
"How about this," He said, "If anything starts to go wrong, we'll do what we have to, but you can't just assume that's exactly what's going to happen."
"Okay." I said, siting down. I grabbed his hand, and turned to him, "I just don't want anything happening to him, you know? I mean, I've been with him most of my life, and I wouldn't want anything to go wrong. Have you ever felt like that?"
"Of course I've felt like that." He said, "I'd never want anything happening to you."
"Enrique--" I started.
"Let's just watch the match." He said, "I know you want to protect him, and I'll be right there with you."
"Thanks Enrique." I said.
"Anytime." He said as we sat back, and waited for the match to unfold.
"Let's get this started in a new unknown dish!" Brad said.
The floor rolled back to reveal a dish with tons of rings inside it at different angels, creating a large sphere.
"Welcome to the Ring Stadium!" A.J. said, "This dish is filled with different lengths of rings at different angles. The Blader must decide to take what ring. Also, the rings turn at different periods during the match!"
"Bladers, take your positions!" The Jazzman said as Tala and Michael stepped up to the dish, "3, 2, 1, Let it rip!"
Both of them launched their blades. Tala's landed on one platform of rings, while Michael's landed a platform below it.
"Attack!" Michael yelled as his blade went after Tala's and knocked it off the platform and onto the lower level. Tala just stood solemnly.
"What's up with Tala?" A.J. Topper asked as Tala still stood as still as he was when he first launched.
"Attack again!" Michael yelled again. His blade went after Tala's again. But this time, the blade disappeared, then reappeared and hit Michael's blade in the side.
"Are you trying to make a fool of me?" Michael asked, "Trygle!"
His blade started to shine a brilliant orange and a golden eagle arose out of his blade. It swooped down on Tala's blade, but missed again. I heard Michael growl under his breath. I noticed a small black fog start to come around the dish. I looked closer; it was coming from Tala's blade. I felt the floor lightly shake.
'It's happening!' I thought.
"Enrique!" I yelled.
"What?" He asked.
"It's happening!" I said, "He's going to call out Motoki!"
I got up and ran down the isle with Enrique running after me.
"Ayia, wait!" He yelled.
I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. I suddenly felt a glow. I pulled on my necklace chain to see Orelin's orb glowing.
"Orelin's reacting to Motoki!" I said as I ran out into the main hallway. It was filled with fog now. I choked on it. It surrounded me, almost filled my very space, "I've got to find Tala!"
I ran out into the main stadium to see the fog thickly around the dish. I suddenly saw Tala snap his head up. I froze in mid-run to see his eyes an absolute hollow black.
"MOTOKI!" I heard him yell.
His blade began to glow an eerie black. It filled the whole stadium. I looked up to see the mighty wolf arise from its blade. Enrique caught up with me and looked on in horror at what I saw. The wolf was a pure black with black armor. Its red eyes flashed in the darkness. It's gaze swept across the stadium until it saw my necklace glowing. It thrust its head into the air and let out a chilling howl that shook me to the core.
"This is Motoki?" Enrique asked.
"Yes." I said.
"ATTACK!" Our sentence was stopped by Tala's voice. Motoki averted its attention to Michael's blade and charged at it. It collided with the blade as the stadium was covered in darkness. I saw part of the floor being torn apart as Tala fell to his knees and clutched his side.
"What's happening to him?" Enrique asked.
"Motoki's draining his energy!" I said, "If he keeps this up, he may die!"
I saw Tala stand back on his feet, looking unharmed.
"Motoki's controlling him!" I yelled, 'or is he controlling Motoki?'
I saw Motoki sink back into its blade, knowing its job was done and it had gotten the darkness out of Tala it had wanted---for now.
I looked up at the dish. It was absolutely shattered. I looked to see what looked like Michael's blade on the ground. It looked like powder, except for the Bit Chip, which seemed to be in one piece. Tala's blade was still spinning strongly. It suddenly jumped up and cracked the Bit Chip in two as Michael fell to his knees. Tala merely stood as though nothing had happened.
"Why?" I heard Michael say, "I'm so sorry Trygle. I let you be destroyed, I'm so sorry…"
"I wouldn't destroy an ancient Bitbeast." Tala said as his blade started to glow again, "I'm just here to take it."
Suddenly, a light came from Michael's broken Bit Chip. I saw Trygle come out before being absorbed into Tala's blade.
"No!" Michael said as Trygle disappeared, leaving only a small golden feather behind that fell into Michael's hand. Tala turned around and stuck his hand out as Motoki landed in it.
I saw the pain in Michael's eyes as tears leaked from them in small streams down his face. I wondered that when I had Motoki, did I cause that much pain? I turned to Tala, who was walking away.
"The winner is Tala!" The Jazzman said.
"He kept control." I said, "But how?"
"What?" Enrique asked.
"He kept almost total control of Motoki." I said, "But he didn't use a normal attack, and it was that powerful."
"How did he keep control?" Enrique asked.
"I'm not sure." I said, was it because Tala had darkness in his heart, but why? How much darkness? I had a lot when I could control Motoki, and Tala was doing the same, so he must have hatred towards someone, but who?
Enrique tapped me on the shoulder. "It's almost time for our match." He said.
"Alright." I said. I stared back up at the destroyed dish. I had to win today to be able to move up in the ranks and face Tala, but…that destruction…it was unbelievable. Bryan was right; he was only a start for what Tala was.
I turned around and walked out of the center stadium, my mind still on Michael's destroyed blade and captured Bitbeast.
"I'll keep you safe Orelin," I said, "And Tala too."
