A shorter chapter, but I split this round into two chapters as well!
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to today's round of the World Championships! We've got our home team, Team Shockwave of Africa, ready to go, but are the challengers, Team Breaking Dawn of China, up to the challenge? Well, instead of asking these pointless questions, how about we just see for ourselves! Our first match of the day, two powerhouses of the Legendary Bladers, You know them, and you love them! From Team Shockwave, we have Dynamis Hikari!"
The crowd's screaming was deafening, even to the DJ's ears. He chuckled a little, watching as Dynamis strode to his side of the replaced stadium.
"And from Team Breaking Dawn, the one, the only Aguma Ji!"
There was a high mix of booing and cheering as Aguma walked down.
"You know this battle is going to be a good one, so let's get right to it! Three!"
"Two!" Both Bladers readied themselves for battle.
"One! Let it... rip!"
"Kronos!"
"Jupiter!"
"Duck!"
Nefertiti, Nile, Ryuto, and Demure all ducked at Demure's order. Thankfully they did, or they would have been hit with a chunk of stadium.
"What the ever loving-" Ryuto started, as they popped back over the rail. The dust cleared, revealing the fact that the stadium had been turning into a rocky terrain.
"Perfect," Aguma smirked. "I'm sorry, Dynamis, but I'm afraid you will not win today."
"We shall see," Dynamis said. "Jupiter!"
"Kronos, Great Ring of Destruction!" Aguma yelled, and Kronos pulsed, the wind beginning to whip around the stadium, and pulling the debris of the stadium into the gales.
Jupiter was forced back.
"Aha! Jupiter doesn't have the low center of gravity needed to get under those rings!" Bao exclaimed.
"Yowza!" The DJ shouted, "There it is folks! The great planet of Saturn, right in our own stadium! You can't help but feel the power, even from a distance!"
Aguma smirked, "Alright Dynamis... what will you do now?"
Dynamis frowned, obviously thinking. He regarded the twisting rings of stone before him, before a slow smirk spread over his face.
"Jupiter!" He cried, and everyone watched as Jupiter swung up the side of the stadium and into the air, before falling back down.
"Really, Dynamis, that won't work- wait. What are you-"
Jupiter landed on one of the pieces of debris that Kronos' wind had brought up, and had begun to hop from surface to surface, closer and closer to Kronos. Finally, it launched off of one of the pieces of debris and into the air directly above Kronos.
"Jupiter, Grand Lightning!" Dynamis yelled.
"Kronos, Reaper's Swing!" Aguma shouted.
"Duck!" Demure called again, as once again, debris flew into the air from the force of both special moves colliding. As if it wasn't enough, the forms of both Jupiter and Kronos appeared in the arena, Zeus calling down the lightning from above as Kronos swung his scythe from above. An explosion shook the ground, along with an earsplitting CRACK! as the just replaced stadium broke apart from the force of the attacks.
"Whoops," Kuro muttered, sounding faintly amused. She stared into the dust, even as Bao, Xue, and Da Xiang covered their faces.
Bao sweatdropped at his sister's reaction, or lack of reaction.
The dust began to clear, and people rose from where they had ducked for cover to see the result.
"And Aguma wins it!" The African DJ shouted, as the Chinese team erupted into cheers.
Dynamis smiled a little as he knelt to retrieve his fallen Bey, "A good battle, my friend."
"Even if it was short," Aguma commented, as he called Kronos back into his open palm. "I expected it to be a little longer."
Dynamis shrugged, "It was not the will of the heavens today. Perhaps next time."
Aguma rolled his eyes, and turned away. On the team platform, Xue and Kenchii were cheering and applauding, while Bao and Kuro had their heads bowed, conversing with each other.
"-saying is, don't traumatize the guy," Bao was saying, when Aguma reached the landing. "You remember yesterday, don't you? And when they took us out to dinner?"
"All I'm hearing is that you're telling me to go easy on him," Kuro drawled in response. "Sorry, Bao, but you might have reservations, but I don't."
"I'm not saying go easy on him!" Bao sighed and shook his head, "I'm saying don't taunt him with his flaws like you do with most people."
"… But that's fun," Kuro nearly pouted.
"Kuro," Bao fixed his sister with a glare.
"Alright, fine, how about this: Unless he gives me a reason otherwise, I won't press his buttons?" Kuro suggested.
"… That's the best I'm going to get from you, so fine," Bao sighed.
"You can't win 'em all," Aguma patted his friend on the shoulder.
"You guys are weird," Kenchii said, boggled.
"You get used to it," Xue shrugged, typing away at her computer. "Now, Kuro-"
"Dragonis is a high attack power Bey with limited defense and stamina," Kuro interrupted, crossing her arms. "Fernis is a high attack type with mediocre defense. Is that what you were going to tell me?"
"… Sometimes you scare me,"
"Join the club," Bao muttered.
"And you've probably already got a plan on how to win?" Aguma raised an eyebrow.
"Duh," Kuro shrugged, grinning. "You know me so well, big guy."
"Moving on to our next battle, ladies and gentlemen!" DJ caught their attention, "From our home representatives, Team Shockwave, let's here it for Ryuto Katashi!"
The crowd erupted into thunderous applause and cheers, and Ryuto looked startled. Still, with a broad grin and a brief wave to the crowd, he rushed down to the dish.
"And from the visiting team, Breaking Dawn, Kuro Blackheart!"
The cheering wasn't as enthusiastic as it had been for Ryuto's introduction, but Kuro hadn't expected anything less. The home team was always the one to cheer for, after all.
Though, Kuro mused, as she made her way down. Something's different. Ryuto's different. Something's happened in the last twenty four hours that's affected him. The question is, what? He doesn't seem as apprehensive as he was yesterday. He seems more confident in himself…
Kuro pushed the thoughts away. Bao would say she was being paranoid, but Kuro knew she wasn't. She'd seen from the moment the African team had stepped out, how Ryuto was standing with a straighter stance, with his shoulders set back and chin raised. While before, she may have gone into this battle knowing she had an easy win… Now, she couldn't say for certain who's game it was.
Ryuto, unknowingly, had turned this battle into his favor, and they hadn't even begun yet.
Ryuga had kept one eye on the tv the entire afternoon, since someone had turned on the World Championships. The round of the African and Chinese team was creating quite a buzz in the office, and not much work was being done.
Heck, Kakeru had decided to come up from training and hang out with Kyoya in the last couple of hours of the work day, and Kyoya hadn't told him off. Normally, the Leone Blader was very insistent that Kakeru not visit and distract him while on shift, but apparently exceptions could be made.
It was a rather surreal scene, Tsubasa reflected. How a single tournament could cause such a shift.
"Oh, hey, Ryuto and Kuro are about to battle!" Kakeru suddenly exclaimed, eyes on the tv that hung on the wall. And just like that, what little attention Kyoya and Ryuga had on their paperwork was gone.
Tsubasa hid a smile behind a sip of his coffee, and turned his own gaze to the television.
"One! Let it rip!"
A streak of blue-white and silver shot into the Bey dish. One, the right rotating Dragonis, and the other, the left rotating Fernis.
Instead of either Blader taking even a second to think about their options, they met first in a head on attack with each other. A bright light lit up the screen, an explosion that echoed in the room. Someone inhaled sharply, and Tsubasa was unsurprised when his coworkers began muttering about bets.
"Without wasting a second, our two Bladers are engaging in combat!" DJ began, "Two Bladers, fighting to get that next win in, and I can hardly tell- who will it be?!"
"Fernis! Get 'em!"
"Dragonis!"
The cameras flashed to the dish, just in time to see Fernis try to ram into Dragonis, only for the aquamarine Bey shimmer and then flash out of existence. Kuro's mildly impressed expression filled the screen.
"Not bad," Kuro commented. "You know both yourself and your opponent."
"Dragonis has disappeared, leaving Fernis at a loss of what to do! What will Kuro do, if she can't see her opponent?!"
Kuro smirked. It wasn't a pleasant look.
"Show yourself now, and I'll go easy on you," Kuro called to Ryuto.
"Really, you mean to say what you lead with was you going easy on me?" Ryuto fired back, "I'm not sure I want to find out what you're like when you get serious in a battle."
Kuro stared him down, blank faced.
"Someone needs to tell Ryuto he's tempting fate," Kyoya muttered.
Kakeru nodded in agreement, wide eyed, "Kuro's about to go off…"
"Death Fernis! Special Move, Deafening Howl!" Kuro called the first move of the match.
"And Kuro calls the first move! Fernis releases a round of high powered winds in an attempt to find Dragonis- but take a look! Dragonis is nowhere in the dish? Where in the world could she be?"
A look of apprehension crossed Kuro's face. Ryuto smirked, cocking a hip and crossing his arms.
"If it's not on the ground, and not with the Blader…" Tsubasa mused.
"Dragonis! Special Move, Lightning Strike!"
"Then it's in the air!" Kakeru cheered, "Right on!"
"Fernis, meet the attack!" Kuro shouted, and Fernis' spirit appeared- a black wolf with glowing white eyes- in a flash of silver light, before snarling leaping into the air.
Dragonis roared, electricity crackling around her as she folded her wings and dived to meet Fernis. A mid air collision happened, a blinding explosion filling the television screen. The audio crackled, feedback causing several of the spectators surrounding the television to flinch.
"Talk about a light show!" DJ announced, "I can't tell who survived that- wait! The dust is clearing… Look at that! Both Bladers are still standing!"
Kyoya let out a low whistle, "Holy cow. Kuro survived an attack from above?"
"Fernis' defensive abilities are statistically better than Dragonis'," Ryuga pointed out, smirking proudly. "Besides, Ryuto had the upper hand, blindsiding her like that."
"Nice try," Kuro was saying. "But not good enough! Go now, Fernis! Shadowclaw Uppercut!"
On screen, Fernis slammed into Dragonis, beginning a barrage attack that pushed the dragon Bey closer and closer to the edge of the dish with every strike.
"How do you like this- nowhere to run without risking your stamina!" Kuro shouted across the way, "Just go ahead and give in!" Her smirk turned nearly feral, "After all, if you're not like Ryuga, you would've already run, isn't that right?"
The silence in the office was suffocating, as all eyes turned to said Dragon Emperor. The man's eyes were flashing dangerously at Kuro's statement.
"Keep talking, pup," Ryuga drawled. "We'll see if you're still barking by the end of the battle."
Ryuto went still, at Kuro's words. Below, Fernis continued to batter Dragonis towards the edge, reaching for a stadium out.
That was, until Ryuto straightened his spine. Below, Dragonis stopped dead, and the next time Fernis came to slam into the aquamarine Bey, she rebounded and went flying back through the air.
"The hell?!" Kuro exclaimed.
"Dragonis, Hammer Bolt!"
"And there's Ryuto's signature move, ladies and gentlemen! Will this be enough to end it?!"
"You wish!" Kuro barked, "Fernis!"
"Dragonis!" Ryuto shouted back.
And just like that, the two Beys unleashed their ferocious attack power, meeting head on in collision after collision. Neither Blader backed down from one another, their Beys responding to their fierce wills.
Not today, Ryuto thought. I'm not going to lose. I can't lose…
In the dish, Dragonis began to glow in response to Ryuto's thoughts and determination.
"Fernis, send him flying!" Kuro roared, and everyone watched as Fernis tilted, and then managed to get a ridge of her warrior wheel under Dragonis' own, before slinging Ryuto's partner into the air.
"Dragonis!" Ryuto shouted.
"Now, Fernis! Special Move, Death Jaws!"
Something clicked within Ryuto's mind, his bond with Dragonis wide open as a new ability unfurled within the mind's eye. A rush of power surged through Ryuto's veins, and he took a deep breath. His Blader's Spirit roared to life around him, a brilliant blue- white aura and he threw his hand out towards the sky.
"Omega Dragonis! Ultimate Move, Flight of the Dragon!"
Lightning crackled through the air, before a flare of bright, white light had everyone looking away, or risk being blinded. There was an explosion as Dragonis and Fernis made contact, and then…
There was silence, as the light and noise faded. There were two clinks that sounded through the air.
Ryuto felt… different. More powerful. He turned his gaze back to the dish, as the last of the dust settled.
"There it is, ladies and gentlemen! Ryuto wins it!" DJ shouted, his voice cutting through the tension in the air.
Kuro fell to her knees, eyes wide in shocked as she stared down at her own fallen partner, "Wha… but… how-"
Ryuto didn't answer. Inhaling deeply, fighting off the nervous energy that threatened to cause his hands to shake, Ryuto summoned Dragonis into his palm…
And that's when he noticed. He found himself staring, shock and awe causing him to shudder.
Dragonis had evolved.
Ryuto fainted on the spot.
Cliffhanger! Ryuto's the next Elemental, it seems. Hrm, but which one, I wonder!
There's one battle left, Bao and Nefertiti. Take your bets on who will win, and be sure to drop a review, let me know what you think!
Until next time, ciao!