Wassup, long time no see! Sorry about that, school's been in the way and so has other fandom works :/
Anyways, continuing the last chapter's round of battles! Hope you enjoy!
"Without wasting a moment, our ladies are ready to do battle! So, let's not deny them another moment and get right to it!"
Kuro stared coldly across the floor at Bella, her grip on her launcher tight, and a cold fire burning through her veins. Bella stared back; her lips curved into a playful smirk.
Kuro tapped her fingers over her launcher's holster, thoughts turning twisted and dark; Fernis' power whispered at her, caressing the edges of her mind, familiar as an old friend. The darkness of the Wraith that Kuro had worked hard to lock away rattled at her nerves, the familiar fury stoking the flames of her rage even higher.
Since the announcement of who Russia's mechanic had been, anyone close with the Reynold's family had suspected that the Night Risers were corrupt. When word had reached them that Caspian had backed Ziggurat's arrangement program, it was only another black mark for the Russian team. In every round that the Russian's had battled in, they'd gone in without mercy. No doubt about it, they were powerful. If one wasn't the Death warrior, they were at least Nyx's heir.
Kuro probably didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of winning, if that was the case, but currently, she couldn't give a damn.
Kuro was angry—furious—livid, even, and she was determined to not get revenge for her brother, but to teach these Night Risers just what true power was.
The Wraith stirred in the back of Kuro's mind, stalking the cage doors and ready to be let loose.
"Three!" The countdown caught her attention. Quickly, Kuro attached Fernis to her launcher and readied her stance.
"Two!" The crowd cheered.
"One! Let it rip!"
If Bella wants the Wraith, she'll get the Wraith, Kuro thought, darkly.
"Get her, Fernis! Show no mercy!"
Fernis pulsed a smoky silver and black color and charged forward to meet Bella's Bey—of the sisters, Bella was the one who had yet to battle in the tournament. It should have made Kuro cautious—if she was in her right mind, she would be. She'd analyze the situation before charging in after her opponent, but now…
Fernis slammed into Bella's toxic yellow colored Bey and began driving her back towards the edge of the dish. Kuro took note that the Bey's defenses didn't seem very good, compared to Fernis' offensive abilities. For a brief second, she had the thought that she could push Bella right out of the dish, but then she thought that there was no way Bella would have gone through all the trouble of calling her out and riling her up just to let it happen.
Her instincts had never been wrong before.
Kuro called Fernis back, and just in time, too. Bella's Bey shifted angles, and went to deliver an undercut attack, but there was nothing for her to strike; Bella's partner was thrown off balance by the sudden loss of opposition, as Fernis drew back and began circling the dish.
"Running from a fight?" Bella sneered.
Kuro raised one eyebrow, "You're looking for one?"
Bella growled, "Apate! Get her!"
Apate, Kuro thought. Now I got a name to this thing. Okay, so who was Apate?
Kuro drew her gaze back to the dish as the yellow Bey sprung forward in a burst of high speed; it startled Kuro, because she knew of only one other Bey which could move as fast as her current opponent, and that Bey currently sat in pieces in her pocket…
White hot anger flooded Kuro's system again. Snarling, she swept her hand out, "Fernis! You know what to do!"
Fernis responded in kind, her aura flaring to life as her defenses went up. Fernis was an offensive type, mainly, but Kuro had the defensive training of the Beylin Temple under her belt, and she knew how to outlast the speed and stamina types. Speed types tended to use their stamina up, burning energy to build up for high powered offensive attacks—it was a good strategy, to those who knew how to properly wield said types, but in turn, those that knew how to fight against them were equally powerful. It could turn into a stamina battle with little fanfare.
So, Kuro called upon her partner to do what she'd always done in battle with her brother—wait until the last minute to avoid the attack, spending as little energy as possible to dodge. When the time came, Fernis' own stamina would be higher than Apate's, and Kuro's lips curved upwards at the thought of the vengeance she'd rain down on this second-rate brat.
"Hey, pup, where you looking?" Bella's voice brought Kuro from her thoughts, and Kuro raised her head to look across the dish at the girl.
"What'd you call me?" She asked, quietly.
"A pup," Bella sneered. "Because that's all you are! A small, weak pup! You don't have any bark to back up your bite! I thought I was going up against the best and most lethal in the business, but apparently not! All those stories I've heard about seem to be just that—stories!" Bella laughed, "But then again, why am I surprised by someone whose brother was so easily defeated by Thorn! You're powerless!"
Kuro growled, eyebrow twitching. Fire flooded her veins again, Fernis' aura flashing to life yet again in response to Kuro's emotional state.
"Let's not forget," Bella continued, eyes flashing with mania. "You abandoned your brother! Now, all of a sudden, you want to be back in his life, to try and atone for past sins? Don't you think it's too late for that? How utterly pathetic can you get?!"
"Hey!" Behind Kuro, Kenchii barked, jumping to Kuro's defense, "Watch your mouth! At least she's putting forth the effort, you slimy little bi—"
"Shut up!" Kuro snarled, raking her hands through her hair. Her head pounded in time with her pulse, leaving her off kilter and unable to fully focus. Her hands shook and she clenched her fists, growling, "Everyone just shut up!"
Fernis shot forward to intercept Apate, her movements growing erratic as she started a barrage attack on her opponent and driving her into a corner. Kuro struggled to breathe, trying to get herself back under control so she could focus on her fight—she couldn't afford to lose. Bao had already lost—if this team were as powerful as Kuro suspected, the only ones who could possibly try to put up a good challenge to them were any of the Legendary Bladers or one of the Seven.
Along the link, Fernis wavered, sensing her partner's emotional and mental distress. She closed ranks around Kuro's mind, trying to offer some sense of comfort, but the wolf could feel it—Kuro was slipping, falling back into the darkness she had been skirting on the edge of the entire battle.
The Wraith had been locked away too long, and she was ready to battle.
Kuro screamed, her aura flaring to life around her. The ground shook as Fernis released a shockwave of energy, silver and black light surrounding her. The wolf flashed into existence, silver armor over the black hide of a snarling beast ready for battle.
Bella stumbled back, throwing her arms up to shield her face from the wind and blinding light. Apate was thrown back, barely staying in the dish, circling her opponent warily.
Xue swore in Chinese, face draining of color as she stared at the tablet in her hands. She tapped at it frantically, eyes going wider by the second.
"Xue?" Aguma asked, "What is it?"
"Fernis…" Xue breathed, "Fernis has evolved!"
Aguma growled and turned back to the battle, "Kuro! You need to get yourself under control! You know Bella is saying all this just to make you lose it! You know Bao's forgiven you for leaving—so have I! We all have! You have friends now, friends who'll stand by you and back you up no matter what!"
"I said…" Kuro whipped around towards Aguma, whipping her sunglasses off to fix the Saturn Blader with a glare that would have dropped a horse at fifty paces. Aguma felt his blood run cold as the urge to turn and run flooded his brain, "Shut up!" She turned back to Bella, voice booming over the arena in a way that shouldn't have been possible, "You call me pathetic, that I'm powerless?! That I'm a weak, pathetic pup whose all bark and no bite?!" She let out a laugh, dark and verging on hysterical, "Oh, you weak minded fool! How wrong you are!"
Bella snarled, "Bring it on, you bitch!" She swept her hand out, "Apate! Go in for the kill!"
Kuro's laughter turned to something like a howl. Instinct had Aguma lunging forward to crowd Kenchii and Xue against the railing, wrapping his arms around them to grab the railing himself and lock the three of them in place.
"Death Fernis!" Kuro roared, her aura turning from silver to black, "Throw them all into darkness! Ultimate Move, Eternal Night!"
A loud explosion rocked the arena as a pillar of darkness flared to life. The resulting wind from the explosion would have knocked anyone who wasn't prepared off their feet; Kenchii and Xue ducked down against Aguma's broad stature, but Aguma couldn't find it in himself to look away, horror dawning as he watched purple lightning crackle along the pillar. The pillar expanded, curving outwards on all sides to form a dome over the arena. His vison slowly faded out, horror making way for numb despair.
He couldn't see anything. Hell, he couldn't hear anything!
What kind of power is this? Aguma thought, breathing sharply.
My power! Kuro's voice echoed in his mind, except it seemed warped, demonic even, The pain, rage, and darkness within Kuro. The emotions that have built up since the day Kuro left the Beylin Fist—outlawed by those who were supposed to watch over her. The emotions that fueled her quest for power for years… To form me.
Wraith, Aguma realized, a flicker of anger flashing through his system. This isn't Kuro's power… this is Wraith's power.
An explosion shook the ground, nearly throwing Aguma and the others off their feet. Slowly, Aguma's senses returned to him, and he blinked against the lightening sky, taking in the silence of the crowd, the dying wind, and the sound of a single Bey spinning.
Xue and Kenchii lurched forward against the railing, desperate to see what had happened.
Bella had been thrown to the other side of the arena floor, out cold with Apate laying not too far. A few yards from the dish, Kuro too, laid unconscious. In the dish, Fernis spun steadily and proudly, a black aura rising off the silver warrior wheel.
Aguma swallowed.
"A-amazing!" The Chinese DJ exclaimed, "In an explosive final move… Kuro Blackheart steals the win! Team Breaking Dawn steals the show and moves on to the next round!"
Xue and Kenchii wiggled out of Aguma's arms, running down for their fallen teammate, but Aguma was frozen in his spot, mind whirling a million miles an hour.
Kuro's the Death warrior, he realized. But… what's the price she pays to wield that power?
Christina was cursing up a storm, pacing the living room while on her phone, but Chris wasn't in any position to try and stop her. In fact, he was still staring at the television in shock.
He'd heard stories of the Wraith and her merciless nature—who hadn't, in the Blader for hire world? Chris had been dubbed the Phantom, Christina the Tracker. He'd never run across the Wraith in his travels, despite the fact that he'd arrived in the aftermath of some of her jobs. He'd always gotten chills from those scenes, the destruction and devastation left behind…
"I've got a flight to China in three hours," Christina stated, as she finally hung up her call. "I'm going to—Kuro's my friend. If this whole thing about the Death warrior is true, I'm not about to leave her hanging out to dry."
"Understandable," Chris agreed, finally snapping from his stupor. "But you're insane if you think I'm leaving you to go on your own."
Christina raised an eyebrow, "You're saying you're going with?"
"Kuro's going to need all the help possible, right? To get this power of the Seven under control?"
"Probably, yeah."
"Then yeah, I'm coming. Between you, Aguma, and I, surely we can make some progress with her before the next time she battles."
Christina tossed her phone to him, "Get your ticket, I'll pack our bags."
"Dynamis?"
"Yes, Nefertiti?"
"Remind us about the Curse of Death again?"
"The user of the element of Death may feel a pull to join Nyx, only because his or her element is something Nyx could use to her advantage," Dynamis replied, stoic as ever as he stared over the rim of his cup at the television replaying the battle that had only been hours prior.
Silence fell over the Storm's living room, Ryuto, Nile, Demure, and Motti trading nervous looks. Nefertiti stood behind the couch, eyes on the screen. After a moment, she knocked back the last of her coffee in her mug.
"Well, unless the Australian team somehow pulls off a win," Nefertiti said. "We've got just over a week to prepare ourselves in case we end up battling the Russian team."
"Prepare? Prepare against what?" Ryuto demanded, whipping around on the older woman, "Didn't you just see that?! Thorn completely totaled Bao! We stand no chance!"
"Not with that attitude," Nefertiti agreed. "But you and I still need to train anyways. With Nyx's rising getting closer and closer… we need to up our strength anyways."
"Breakfast first," Nile voiced. "And then we can get started."
"We're dead. We're dead, we're dead, we're dead, we're doomed, we're dead."
"Amy and King might be, but you two aren't."
"Hey!"
"Fair."
Nero stared at the television, blonde hair an even worse mess than normal seeing as he hadn't even had the chance to get ready for the day before deciding he'd wanted to see the Russia and China battle from the day before.
"Train hard," Julian said, over a cup of coffee. "We'll help."
"Train hard?" Nero whipped around on him, eyes wide, "We've got two weeks before we go up against the team that just destroyed the Russians—who, by the way, are probably not as clean as we think since Caspian is their mechanic and maybe funding them—and you think a couple of weeks of training is going to matter?!"
"I'm more concerned about the Curse of Death thing," Lucas mused, and Amy inhaled sharply from her perch on the couch arm to his left. "Remember Dynamis saying that whoever it'd be, would feel a pull to join Nyx's ranks?"
Jasmine swore in Russian, and Nero groaned, flopping back against the couch cushions while throwing an arm over his eyes, "If Kuro joins Nyx, we're screwed!" Then he paused and lunged towards Lucas with wide eyes, "Luke, you'd be battling against her according to the battle order!"
Lucas yelped, pressed against the couch arm from where Nero had him pinned, "Jesus, you don't think I know that!" He shoved Nero away, back into King, "Listen, I'll train as much as the rest of you, if it'll make you feel better."
"You'll be battling the woman that just destroyed one of the nastiest team's own. I don't feel better at all."
Okay, next chapter starts a training/Wild Card Round Two/plot development arc. Head's up, though, I am skipping one round of battles for plot speed's sake, but it will be mentioned who wins. kinda like it was earlier in the fic with the first round of wild card matches.
After these chapters, we'll have the battle between the EU and China, the third wild card match, and the finals... interspersed between will be a lot of Nyx development :3
anyways, hope you liked this chapter and will leave a review! until next time, ciao!