I did not mean for nearly two months to pass. Work has kept me busy and then life in general just kinda decided to hit me with the ole one-two. It's been a fun time.

Anyways! Have the aftermath of the last chapter and then some more history/lore for the Seven and history/lore in general bc I'm a sucker for history and mythology and love tying it into Beyblade lore.

Hey, it's my (head)canon now, I can do with it what I want.

Enjoy!

"You're not freaking out?"

"If I freak out, I'm going to lose what little sanity I have left,"

"Since when were you ever sane?"

"Lucas, I swear to the gods, if you keep testing me, I will lose it,"

"Honestly, I'd prefer you lose it over being quiet in a time like this. I mean, even I had a melt down when Khione evolved,"

"I honestly think I'm freaking out so much I've circled right back around to being calm,"

"You're never calm,"

"Luke. Lulu. Lucas. Lucy,"

"That's a new one,"

"Keep toeing the line and one of us is going to get hurt,"

"Pretty sure I'm the one who's getting self-defense lessons from Klaus, not you,"

Nero fixed Lucas with a glare so withering, it could have melted a rock. Lucas, being somewhat of a brat that he could be, just smirked. It was the scene that Excalibur walked in on, when the door to the team room flew open—Nero looking ready to commit murder and Lucas looking ready to pick a fight.

"… What?" Klaus asked, having heard his name on the tail end of Luke's comment.

"Leave it alone unless you want to get punched," King piped up, munching on a carton of popcorn. "But the basics is, Nero's close to losing it and Lucas is unsettled by it." He went white when he was fixed with twin icy glares from said two teens, "E-heh-heh-heh…"

Whatever was going to be said next, never got said, because Jasmine raised her hand and snapped her fingers, catching everyone's attention, "Scans are done, stats are back."

The two teams swarmed her, Nero swiping Furie off the table as he did so.

"So, what's the status?" Wales asked.

"So. Hellfire Furie has evolved and is in fact one of the Elemental Seven Beys, with Nero being the Fire Elemental. Furie was already primarily an attack type, but it looks like she's evolved into an even stronger one. Remember me talking about how Kakeru could best Kyoya with his new defensive Chimera? Well, Furie could easily hold her own against Gingka—"

"Oh, that's not fair!" King whined.

"King," Jasmine leveled him with a look, and the VariAres Blader rolled his eyes, but shut his mouth.

"The fusion wheel is still decorated to resemble flames, but it's thinner than it was before. Before, it could be used defensively, but not any longer," Jasmine continued to type, eyes on her screen and pulling up various windows. "Actually, before, the design of the flames was inlaid in the fusion wheel, but now they're protruding and they're wicked sharp. Given the randomization of the flame designs, the damage a head on collision can do is both severe and unpredictable. There's also the sharp ridges on the top of the fusion wheel…"

"Okay, so is Furie capable of any defensive moves? Even before, like you said, with the width of her fusion wheel…" Nero asked, leaning over Jasmine's shoulder to peer at the screen.

"I think, if I'm going by my scans, that Furie's attack power is also her defense," Jasmine mused. "Unless there's some hidden ability in the design of Furie I'm not openly seeing. Furie's spin track looks like a 145 that's been doubled…"

"Wouldn't that make it a stamina type then?" Lucas asked.

"I said it looks like a 145, but instead of it being stacked it looks like it's layered—it's like a slope, instead of a staircase," Jasmine held her hand out to Nero, who gingerly handed Furie over so Jasmine could hold the red Bey under the light, "See?" She pointed at the spin track, running a nail over the part, "It's layered, widest in the middle and narrow at the top and performance tip which… seems to be free spinning as well."

"So, back to the stamina type," Lucas crossed his arms.

"Nope. Extreme flat, but the performance tip is starburst shaped… Similar to Pegasus' star shaped flat performance tip, but surface area it gains from being the shape it's in is greater than Pegasus," Jasmine handed Furie back to Nero, who stared down at his partner in contemplative silence. "Yo. Blondie. What are you thinking?"

"Can you run a simulation, Jazz?" Nero leaned down, "You're confused about the spin track, right?"

"Yeah, because I don't see the logic behind a design like that! The height sure, could be used as a stamina thing, but—"

"What if the spin track collapses?" Nero asked, "You know, like Beat Lynx's spin track does?"

"That…" Jasmine turned to her laptop, eyes wide as she typed quickly, "That would be a genius design, actually! Then, with the ridges on the top of the fusion wheel, she'd be able to deliver stunning uppercut attacks or shred a fusion wheel from below! And, while Lynx only has the ability to change spin track heights once, Furie…" She clicked a key, and everyone leaned forward to watch the simulation Jasmine had created, which showed Furie able to change heights at three separate intervals, "Furie has three options to choose from."

"It's like the varying heights of what fire can reach," Wales murmured. "Wicked."

A startled look crossed Julian's expression, at that, "Wait, Wales—You might be on to something there."

"What?" Wales blinked, "What are you talking about?"

"Think about it—The sign of flames getting higher is usually an indicator of how strong and hot the fire is. And what happens to fire the hotter it gets?"

"It changes color!" Nero lit up, "Oh! That'd be wicked if Furie could summon different flames!"

"Okay, so that would mean that Furie isn't limited to Hellfire anymore," Jasmine looked up at Nero. "Which means… you need to figure out a new name for your partner there, Nero."

Nero bit his lower lip, peering down at the Bey in his palm. Furie's red energy ring gleamed in the florescent lights, her red and black facebolt of a woman's head with snakes for hair stared back up at him. After a moment of silent debate, a name clicked in his head.

"Blaze Furie," Nero murmured. "That's what I'll call her… Blaze Furie."

"After replacing the stadiums, we are ready for our next battle!" DJ called out, "So let's cheer on our next set of Bladers—King and Taylor!"

"I'd say King has this in the bag but considering the fight Taylor gave Kakeru when he battled him…" Amy mused.

"Yeah, well that was also before Chimera evolved," Jasmine pointed, eyes fixed on her laptop. "We technically don't know how he'll hold up against a Legendary Blader."

Amy worried her lower lip between her teeth and glanced over her shoulder, at where Nero and Lucas stood with their heads bent together, "I know that the battle order got messed up thanks to Nero and Hunter, and that given the power we have on our team we should, reasonably, pull off three wins in order to move on, but… do you think if it comes down to it and we need a tie-breaker, that Nero can handle Furie's new power so soon?"

Jasmine paused as the countdown for the next battle began, "Well… I think Nero has surprised us before, but if you really want to know the answer to that question…"

Amy raised an eyebrow.

"Ask Lucas,"

"One! Let it rip!"

Conversation halted as King and Taylor's battle began. Jasmine squinted at the look on Taylor's face, not that of the happy-go-lucky teen that had battled Kakeru, but of a young man who was out for blood.

"Given the fact Hunter screwed us over with that first match," Taylor called over the sound of Beys clashing. "I think it's only fair I gain back that win you stole from us! Wendigo! Antler Toss!"

"A head on attack? Has he lost his mind?" Lucas asked, as he and Nero stepped up to the railing.

"Yeah, well, remember his battle with Kakeru? He met Kakeru head on too, but… yeah, Kakeru attacked first," Nero frowned, thoughtfully. "He waited until Kakeru made the first move, last time."

"So, what's changed?" Amy mused out loud.

"He did bring up Nero and Hunter's battle," Jasmine pointed out.

"Go now, VariAres! Ares Shield!" King responded in kind to his opponent's, throwing up his defenses.

Taylor smirked in response, going so far as to laugh slightly. Wendigo disappeared into the shadows, and then reappeared in VariAres' blind spot, slamming into the red Bey and sending it flying.

"VariAres!" King called in surprise.

"Go now! Infected Fangs!" Taylor shouted as the demonic beast appeared, growling as he lunged and sank his jaws into Ares' shoulder from behind and threw him to the ground in an explosion of dust and debris.

Amy let out a low whistle, "Well then, the kid's not messing around today."

Nero was frowning, eyes narrowed, "I thought Kelsea said Taylor wasn't that bad…"

"Huh?" Jasmine glanced over, "What are you talking about?"

"Comparing Taylor to Jack, are you?" Lucas asked, crossing his arms and watching VariAres get driven into a corner, "King better come up with something soon."

"I mean… he's not crazy, but… he's brutal," Nero answered Luke's question. He gestured to the battle below, "I mean, don't you think so?"

"… I think he's using the right tactics to go up against someone like King. Regular Bladers need every edge they can get when it comes battling those that are on another level, after all," Lucas turned around, putting his back to the battle to lean against the railing. "Personally, I'm applauding the kid."

"… Fair point," Nero said, after mulling Luke's words over.

Amy and Jasmine shared a look, wondering what the hell had just happened.

"Enough is enough!" King shouted, and the group looked out to see a bright red aura around the teen, his hair having turned white, "VariAres! Special Move, Sword of Ares!"

Taylor's grin could be seen even through the dust the two Beys were kicking up, "Wendigo! Special Move, Bloody Claws!"

Both beasts flashed into existence, releasing their own war cries as they lunged for each other; the god of war with his sword held over his head and shield to the side, and the wendigo charging forward on all fours—

Lucas went ramrod straight, cursing in a mix of Italian and English, "King! Fall back!"

It was too late. Vari Ares had been left wide open for attack, and Taylor exploited that one opening that, normally, most people didn't think to use—then again, most people were too in awe of facing down a god to think straight—

Wendigo reared back on its hind legs and swiped upwards with its long claws, a direct hit to the other beast's unprotected body. For a moment, time seemed to freeze, before Ares let out a cry of pain and vanished from existence.

"Duck!" Amy barked, grabbing Jasmine's shoulder, and yanking her down, as Lucas and Nero both threw themselves to the ground. A red-orange streak flew at blazing speeds over their head and into the concrete wall behind them. The five members of Rinascinta turned slowly to stare as the dust cleared.

"Vari Ares?!" King shouted, disbelief coloring his tone.

Vari Ares fell from the wall, landing on the concrete landing with a near deafening clink.

"Well," Nero mused, as the crowd began to cheer, and the DJ announced Taylor's win. "At least he didn't leave King comatose."

Lucas groaned and let his head fall back into his arms.

"Soo…"

"So."

"When you said our teams might end up battling each other, did you think you and I would be the ones to do battle?"

"Honestly? No. Do you want to spare yourself the embarrassment and just go ahead and give up, considering, you know…?" Lucas raised an eyebrow and made a vague gesture.

Kelsea tilted her head, a smile playing at her lips, "You know, you're funnier than you look."

Lucas shrugged, "Maybe."

"No, you definitely are," Kelsea decided. "And to answer your question… auf keinen fall."

Lucas cracked a grin at that, and drew out his launcher and Bey, "Fair genug, mein freund."

Right, because if the fact that he's secretly a little shit, Lucas also knows a whole variety of languages, Kelsea thought, as the countdown began.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One! Let it rip!"

Lucas, predictably, made the first move, "Khione! Black Ice!"

Kelsea scoffed as Khione released a shockwave, the temperature of the air in the dish dropping to create a layer of ice over it, "Considering your heritage, Lucas, I'm surprised you don't know about the Morrigan's story, and—"

"How our abilities compliment each other? Ice and shadow? Cold and death?" Lucas smirked, his voice dry, "Oh, trust me. Ever since your teammate completely upheaved the battle order yesterday, I've been thinking a lot about this."

Kelsea felt a thrill run up her spine, and she instinctively straightened, her lips curling into a half pleased, half teasing smile, "Well then… Morrigan! Ride the wind! Fly over this icy trap!"

With a loud cry, the purple crow appeared, flapping her wings viciously and shooting forward towards Khione, who was spinning steadily in the center of the ice.

"Wicked!" The DJ exclaimed, "Despite Lucas calling out his first line of defense, Morrigan glides over the ice, completely unaffected! What will Lucas do?!"

Lucas closed his eyes, smirk laid firmly over his lips, "You didn't let me finish, Kelsea."

Uh oh, Kelsea thought, the excitement racing through her turning to dread.

"Khione!" Luke's eyes flew open, "Ice Strike!"

Khione flashed into existence, firmly gripping her staff firmly over her head, before swinging it down on to Morrigan once she was in range. The crow let out a cry of pain as an explosion shook the ground, both beasts vanishing among the dust.

Kelsea let loose a stream of German insults, as Morrigan was hurled backwards. Thankfully, she managed to catch her balance and landed right on the edge of the dish. Kelsea let out a breath of relief, and peered through the dust to look at Lucas, who stood calmly with his hands in his pockets on his side of the dish.

God he almost seemed bored, and that grated on Kelsea's nerves more than she cared to admit.

"You gotta know your history and how it ties in with the Bey, Kelsea, and that is something I'm, thankfully, really good at," Lucas grinned. "The Morrigan… originates from Irish mythology, and was generally a feared and respected goddess, foretelling doom, death, or victory in a battle. Strikes fear into the hearts of her enemies, but here's the thing… there was a more feared and respected figure about the same time as the Morrigan was known, from Norse mythology… and Norse mythology was something that the Vikings followed… the Vikings were in Ireland for a time, back in the nineth century, you know?"

"Please get to the point and stop monologuing," Kelsea groaned.

Luke's voice was a lazy drawl, "My point is… Who was as feared and respected, if not more, than the Morrigan, who has the same ability as Khione, to call winter's wrath down upon them?"

Kelsea blinked, and she was ashamed to say it took her a moment to catch on to Luke's train of thought. Her eyes went wide, "Oh… Oh no. You, you mean—"

Luke's grin turned sharp and cold as ice, sliding his hands from his pockets as he adjusted his stance to something a bit more threatening, "In Russia he's Father Frost, a man; Germany thinks winter is via woman; Jack Frost in America is a man…"

Kelsea swallowed thickly, finishing the poem on a whisper, "Norway's Jokul Frosti is Ice Man."

Luke's grin was still sharp and cold, every bit of his aura screaming threat-danger-avoid, but Kelsea felt as though she were, ironically, frozen in place and unable to do anything as Khione flashed into existence.

The thing about winter… was that it could be beautiful. It could be peaceful, bringing with it scenic wonderlands and the warm thoughts of sitting by a window in a warm room with a hot drink in hand. It brought with it the thoughts of holidays, of family, of warmth and good tidings, of shrieking children having fun in snow and memories to be made and looked back on.

But winter also had a darker side, a reason to fear and respect its powerful force. Ice storms and blizzards and a bitter cold that seeped so deeply into a person's bones that it felt like you'd never warm up again. A somber and depressing mood, where at times it seemed like winter storms could be the idea of the end of the world, with its bleak look and black doom.

Khione now, wasn't the smiling figure that brought the good memories. Not the figure that Kelsea was used to seeing or hearing about.

No, now she was all sharp edges and fierce points, her expression dark and damning as she raised her staff, crackling with power that sucked the air right out of Kelsea's lungs.

Kelsea couldn't find it in herself to call upon Morrigan's defenses as Khione delivered her final blow. Icy, bitter winds blasted from the dish in the wake of the explosion, and Kelsea's partner flew to land at Kelsea's feet. She stared for a moment, the world around her fading away as if she were underwater as she knelt down to pick up her fallen partner.

That wasn't a monologue, Kelsea realized. Dynamis… he told us, each of the Seven weren't just known for the element they controlled, but because of their title, too. The strategist, historian and the tracker has already been identified… Kelsea looked up and across the dish, at Luke's retreating back, Could it be… Luke's the analyst?

The poem that Lucas and Kelsea quoted during their battle is Terry L. Sledge's "Jack Frost".

Honestly, when I was first developing Kelsea's character, I wanted to give her a Bey based on Jokul Frosti, simply bc I knew I would eventually have her and Luke battle, and while that would have, ehhh, sorta tied in with her German backstory, I went with the Morrigan instead. In my opinion, the Morrigan and Frosti are really equally powerful-respected figures in Nordic/Irish/Celtic history. God, sometimes those lines all blur together, trying to figure out where one culture's mythology begins and the other ends, but I guess that's what you get when kingdoms and cultures mesh and expand.

Honestly, I may have gotten some things screwed up in this chapter, so, legit, don't try to quote me on anything from this ending bit. *pause* except the whole Vikings in Ireland thing, that much I know I got right.

Anyways, hope ya'll enjoyed and will leave a review! Let's hope that the next chapter (between Amy and Ariana and then some filler) won't take as long to get out.

Until next time, ciao!