... that time the Reynolds brothers proved how powerful of a team they are.
It started with a passing statement from their mother.
"You know, Wales, as exceptional of a tag team as you and Sophie are, I can only imagine how great you and Lucas could be!"
Wales, at the time, had actually been running late for a tournament, Sophie having texted him several times already asking where he was. He'd had been too focused on making it to the arena in time to think about his mother's observation, much less reply.
It was after the tournament though—another win for Konzern's Twin Jewels—that Wales finally recalled what his mother had said that morning. He was exhausted after a day on his feet though, and had only time to think Huh, mom's got a point, before passing out and sleeping a whole night and half the next morning away.
After guzzling two cups of coffee and eating some brunch, Wales finally found the time to focus on what his mom had said the day before. Already, he could feel his blood rushing at the idea of battling alongside his brother, and so, he brought it up with Lucas when he finally managed to talk himself into it.
"Hey, Luke," Wales knocked on his brother's bedroom door. He poked his head in at Luke's answering call, leaning against the doorframe to see his brother sitting on his bed, one earbud in his ear as he typed away on his laptop. He was surrounded by textbooks and notebooks, and Wales was glad to see that at least one of them had a good work ethic when it came to school, "You got a minute?"
"Yeah, let me finish up this assignment," Lucas mumbled, typing faster.
"Take your time," Wales waved his hand, dismissively. Being careful not to spill his coffee, Wales let himself sink into the faux fur saucer chair in the corner of the room. He'd been mildly horrified when his brother bought the thing, but it was admittedly comfortable and more often than not, Lucas could be found reading a book while sitting in the thing.
The room was silent for a few moments, only broken by the occasional clack-clack-clack of Luke's computer keys, or the fwip-fwip as he turned pages of his books. Eventually though, Lucas let out a sigh of relief—one that Wales had come to associate with whenever Luke was attempting Advanced Statistics—and shut his laptop.
"What'd you need?" Lucas asked, as he stood up and began to gather his books, "Hey, congrats on your and Sophie's win yesterday. Sorry I couldn't come but… class."
"No big deal. Priorities first, right?" Wales grinned, "Actually… I wanted to talk to you about something mom said yesterday morning."
Lucas paused as he set his books down on the desk under the window. He tapped his fingers over the top of one of them, a pensive look on his face.
"The tag team thing… right?" Lucas asked, slowly, and dropped into his desk chair, spinning around to face his brother, "What mom said about us… being a good team?"
Wales raised an eyebrow and nodded. He sipped his coffee, and Lucas worried the ring around his finger.
"I've… never been a part of a team," Lucas said, quietly. "Dad… Caspian, he didn't want to take the chance that someone… found out… about him."
"Is it something you've wanted to do though?" Wales asked, "Something he denied you of?"
"… I've always been curious about what Khione could do if she had the right partner… if I had someone I could trust enough to work with," Lucas admitted with a loose shrug of his shoulders. "And… I'd be lying if I said I haven't been thinking about what mom said since yesterday."
Wales felt his lips quirk into a half smile, "And what conclusions have you drawn?"
"Khione's an attack and stamina type," Lucas said, slowly. But then, he gained traction and speed, "And then Cetus is a defense type. And, true, you and Sophie make a good team because it's hard enough to get through one defensive wall, let alone two, so I see why a lot of people look up to you two. But then, you could use that Grand fusion wheel to your advantage too. Instead of summoning up a wall of water or whirlpool that's hard to get through, you could use it like a battering ram. Like… like a fireman's water hose—there's a lot of force and pressure behind one of those streams."
Wales… had never really thought about that. When he was younger, before meeting Sophie, he'd always been on the defensive in his battles, and finished his opponent's by drowning them in a wave of water. He rubbed his temple, feeling like he'd had his feet yanked out from under him.
"Okay," Wales murmured. "And how would you take Cetus' abilities and combine them with Khione's?"
Because clearly, as Lucas had said, he'd thought about this.
Extensively.
"Khione's an attack and stamina type," Lucas repeated his earlier statement. "She can summon ice, blizzards…" He frowned, "I wonder if, by some combined move, if Cetus could summon a wave of water…"
"And if Khione could freeze it," Wales finished. "Which, by proxy, if our opponents were underwater—"
"—Then Khione would be able to stop them and it'd be an automatic win!"
"Okay," Wales sat forward. "What if, by some chance, they managed to break out of the ice?"
"Khione's Icicle Barrage… it's an attack move. But, if the ice shattered, I wonder if—"
"Khione could control the ice pieces and use them as some sort of debris attack!"
"But then, Cetus could also summon another whirlpool and—"
"Create an even stronger attack—"
When Alice came home that evening, it was to her sons in the backyard, standing over the Bey dish, and firing off strategies as their Beys circled in the dish below them. She watched them for a moment, amused, before turning back to the kitchen so she could start on dinner.
They were her sons, so maybe she was a bit biased, but she could see how they would take the world by storm.
Weeks of training and hypothesizing all led up to a bright, sunny day in Plymouth, England. A tag team tournament, known as the Seaside Series, that Lucas was… frankly excited to compete in. Especially considering this would be the first tournament he'd compete in alongside his brother.
The same went for Wales, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. Because he was nervous. While he himself had no qualms about having his brother as his tag team partner—and Sophie had squealed for a near hour when Wales had told her about them entering the Seaside Series—this would be the first time he was on stage with a partner other than Sophie. And, yes, while people knew Lucas was his brother, they had never competed as a team before. Against each other? Sure. Cheering one another on? Oh, absolutely.
Wales' phone buzzed, snapping him out of his spiraling thoughts. He hadn't even realized he had missed messages.
Mom: You'll do fine. Good luck! Also! Your friends are all here, so how does dinner after the tournament with them sound?
Wales' lips quirked up into a smile, "Hey, Luke. The others are here with mom. Apparently, they came out just to cheer us on. Want to meet up with them after?"
Lucas blinked, but nodded quietly. Hm. That was worrying.
Wales fired off an affirmative text, then sidled up next to his brother, "You good?"
"Just… nervous," Lucas answered. "Do you think we'll win?"
"Hard to say," Wales shrugged. "There are probably a lot of good teams here. We'll just go as far as we can and call it a day."
"You seem very relaxed about this,"
"Hey," Wales poked his brother in the side. Lucas yelped and jumped aside, "We aren't here to prove anything. We're here just to see how much our training has paid off, got it?"
"… Yeah," Lucas said, looking away. Wales eyed him for a moment, saw the way his eyes glittered in determination, and hid a sigh.
It was going to be a long day.
The day passed by relatively smoothly. Lucas and Wales were in the A-Block bracket of the tournament, and they blew through their opponents without much trouble. But as the day wore on, Wales found his excitement growing. With every win they earned, they grew closer and closer to the finals, and while Wales kept telling himself that this entire tournament was nothing more than a test run on his and Luke's teamwork…
He couldn't deny how much he wanted to win, to be able to share a trophy with his brother.
The semi finals came, and while it took a bit of work and strategic effort, Wales and Lucas found themselves as one of the teams in the finals.
"Did you think we'd make it this far?" Lucas asked, eyes glittering and bright with happiness and excitement.
"Honestly? No," Wales admitted.
"Yeah, me neither," Lucas nodded.
Silence passed between the two of them, as the brothers sat in the hallway, waiting for the final B-Block semifinals to end so the finals could begin.
"Wales… thank you," Lucas whispered.
"What for?" Wales frowned.
Lucas swallowed thickly, and picked at the frayed end of his jacket sleeve. His silence spoke louder than words, and Wales nudged him with his shoulder.
"Hey," Wales murmured. "I'm your brother. I'll do anything in my power to make you happy, and keep you happy."
Lucas peeked up at him from under his bangs, and the barest hint of a smile teased his lips. Instead of vocalizing anything, he only nodded.
"Reynolds Team?" An attendant called from down the hallway, startling them both, "Finals are ready to begin in ten minutes. You need to get down to the ground floor."
Wales inhaled sharply and stood up, "You ready for this?"
Lucas smirked, eyes shining with mirth, "Are you?"
Five minutes into the final battle, Lucas and Wales shared a look that said it all.
They'd met their match, when it came to battling Zeo Abyss and Toby King.
(Honestly, what were they even doing here? Wales wondered. Then, he decided, he didn't want to know and refocused on the battle).
"Guess it's time we pull out all the stops," Lucas murmured. "Let's drown and freeze 'em first, see how that goes."
"Right. Heard them towards me," Wales nodded.
"Got it. Khione!" Lucas swept his arm out, "Special Move, Icicle Barrage!"
Cetus shot for the center of the stadium, as Khione attacked their opponents with brutal ferocity, pushing them closer and closer towards the darker colored blue Bey. Once they were within range, Lucas turned to his brother, "Now, Wales!"
"Cetus, Special Move, Grand Fleet!" Wales called, and his partner began to glow, before unleashing a whirlpool of water.
"Look at that, folks! Lucas has pushed Fox and Lyra right into Wales' watery trap! Is the end of Team Dungeon's dynamic duo?!"
"Khione, Special Move, Black Ice!"
"Wow! And Lucas is following up with his own attack and—he's freezing the water, with not only Lyra and Fox still incapacitated, but also his own partner! What is he thinking?!"
"Go, Cetus!" Wales shouted, and a dark blue streak shot out of the water, right as Khione finished freezing over the top.
"I sure hope Zeo and Toby have their icepicks, because as far as I can tell—"
"Not so fast! Lyra! Crush String!" Toby shouted.
Lucas scowled as a red glow emanated from ice, before the ice exploded and shrapnel was sent into air. Both Lucas and Wales ducked and covered their heads, Wales cursing under his breath.
Lucas growled, "Fall back and gather your energy, Wales, I'm gonna hold them off. We're going for a debris attack." He lowered his arm, "Now, Khione! Special Move, Icicle Barrage!"
Khione rushed for Toby's Lyra, but the silver haired teen just flashed him a grin as Lyra flashed out of existence and attacked the icy Bey from behind, "You fooled us once, but not twice! You're going to have deal with the both of us now! Lyra!"
"Bring it!" Lucas shouted back, as Zeo ordered Fox into the fray.
"Fool me once, shame on you," Wales murmured to himself, watching Khione valiantly hold her ground against the joint forces of Fox and Lyra. He silently ordered Cetus into the center of the stadium, the dark blue Bey advancing slowly, so as not to be noticed, "But fool me twice, and shame on me… and you two are sure to be shamed."
Wales caught Luke's eye, and nodded imperceptibly. The corner of Luke's mouth quirked up into a smirk, before it faded.
"You two want me?!" Lucas shouted at the Dungeon Duo, "Then come and get me! Khione!"
Khione bolted away, circling the stadium at downward spiral as Fox and Lyra gave chase. Apparently, Zeo and Toby were too focused on the bigger, flashier threat of Khione and Lucas…
That they forgot the quieter, subtle threat of Wales and Cetus.
Wales widened his stance, eyes flashing, "Blue Cetus! Special Move, Hurricane Storm!"
Wales caught sight of Zeo and Toby's horrified and shocked expressions before the wind made it hard to look directly across the Bey dish. Water spilled into the dish, and sending chunks of ice floating to the top, like glaciers in an ocean. As the wind picked up, the water began rise with it, turning into just what Wales had summoned:
A hurricane, with the added deadly force of high powered projectiles in the form of sharp and deadly ice chunks.
Khione circled on the outside, before Lucas shouted something over the wind and Khione jumped into the storm. Wales could just barely make out the icy Bey in the waterspout, riding the waves and adding even more ice to the storm.
The crowd was oohing and ahhing over the spectacle, and frankly, Wales couldn't blame him. While the duo had trained and had done smaller scale versions of their combined power, to see it on such a grand scale…
"Hey, Wales!" Lucas called over, a grin on his face and eyes bright in the setting sun, "Let's finish this while we can!"
Wales returned the grin with a smirk of his own, "You bet! Let's do this!"
"Snowstorm Khione!"
"Blue Cetus!"
"Joint Special Move—" The crowd held their breath as the words reached their ears "—Arctic Age!"
In a blast of icy air, that sent chills through the crowd and even the Bladers themselves, the hurricane seemed to expand, growing in size and strength, before exploding into a blizzard of ice and hail. Within the icy explosion, a red and blue streak flew through the air, and landing far outside the dish.
When the wind died down, everyone stared in awe at the arena floor, which had been turned into nothing less than a winter wonderland. Ice and frost decorated the walls reaching up the stadium seats, and snow lightly dusted the floor and even some of the lower sections of the seats.
Cetus and Khione spun, side by side, in the center of the Bey dish, the clear winners of the final battle.
"And there's your winners, ladies and gentlemen! Two Bladers worthy of the Seaside Series trophy, Wales and Lucas Reynolds!"
The brothers looked at each other, wide eyed. Lucas was the first to break, breaking out into a wide grin and cheering along with the crowd, "We did it! Wales—Wales we won!"
And Wales…
Wales couldn't help but cheer right alongside his brother. Because, despite the doubts Wales had had since the start of the day, he and Lucas had proven themselves to be a team.
I really love writing these two, if it wasn't obvious. on another note, if i could animate, i absolutely would animate wales and lucas in battle together because we've seen different combinations of elements in the series, but i don't think we've ever seen water and ice? hello? that's a powerful combo waiting to happen?
SO yes, I have feelings about these two and what they're capable of.
hope ya'll enjoyed and will leave a review! ^^ until next time, ciao!