Disclaimer: Beyblade is a trademark of Takara.
Insert Self, Beyblade Chapter 2
By Ryu Himora
Ryu regained consciousness and looked around. The last thing he remembered was stepping on a piece of wood, then it clicked. He vaguely felt his body hit the ground, and then he ended up here. But where was here?
Ryu was underground - he could detect the faint scent of mushrooms and mildew. There was no light, so he must've been in some sort of underground cavern. His eyes began to adjust, but his low-light eyes still couldn't function in an area of zero illumination. Ryu checked his equipment and made sure everything was there, then stood up.
As soon as he did that, Ryu heard a banging to his right, with some highly muffled voices. It sounded like a fist banging on glass. Ryu didn't have a flashlight, be he could do the next best thing. He loaded Spirit Dragon and launched it - then began his Esper Slash, but kept it in the stage when it was gathering energy, which emitted a faint light field. He could see now.
Tyson and the rest of the Bladebreakers were trapped behind a glass barrier with no obvious exits. Tyson was banging on the glass and shouting, but the rest of them were sitting to side, Max and Ray with their ears covered. They obviously didn't see Ryu, their eyes just wouldn't adjust to that low of a light level.
Ryu walked over and lightly knocked on the glass. Tyson was stunned, and almost fell over when he saw Ryu.
"How long are you going to keep doing that? You can't shatter the glass."
"Yeah, well, shut up." Tyson said. "How'd you get out there, anyway?"
"I don't know. My guess is we were all brought here, but I'm probably going to have to save you." Ryu said.
As soon as Ryu said that, powerful flood lights erupted into life in the cavern. The Bladebreakers were blinded, but Ryu was looking away - he could slowly look toward them. As he did, Ryu saw yet another beystadium in the large room. Along with that, another Team Psykik member was standing next to it.
"Do I really have to fight you again?" Ryu said. Spirit Dragon went back up to his hand.
"That's right." Doctor B. said from the speakers. "But this time,if you don't win, your friends will suffer the consequences."
Ryu walked up to the stadium. "What makes you think this idiot can beat me?"
"This blader happens to be the best we have. So get ready to battle."
"If this is the best, then why didn't you send him against us already? If you're trying to capture our BitBeasts, then what would make you use substandard players?" Ryu reloaded Spirit Dragon and got in his launch position.
"Enough questions! Here's what you face should you fail!"
Tyson and the others heard a click in the walls to their sides, then they started moving in on them! The Bladebreakers started retreating from the walls, but fortunately they only moved in a few inches.
Ryu watched the event with extreme malice for whoever trapped them on this island. He would pay for all the crap they were put through.
"Alright. Let's do this!"
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!" Ryu shouted. "Let it rip!"
Launch RPMs
Spirit Dragon: 32000
King Trygle: 35000
"Go King Trygle!"
Spirit Dragon entered the stadium and was immediately attacked. He dodged two incredibly fast attacks right off the bat, but was hit by the third. He flew up and bounced off the side of the stadium, but landed perfectly back in. He scraped against the side for less than a second, then started circling.
"Oh no, watch out Ryu!" Tyson said.
Ryu smirked. "Heh. So you're kind of fast, but are you fast enough? Go Spirit Dragon!"
Spirit Dragon's bit chip glowed with the same rippling energy he used to light the room, then it expanded to the entire blade. The rotation speed jumped up, and Spirit Dragon started darting around the stadium in an intricate pattern.
"Esperrr Slaaash!"
Spirit Dragon launched itself off the side of the stadium, doing two flips in the air. The energy surrounding it focused to a thin blade around the attack ring as it fell toward King Trygle -
- Which dodged it easily. Spirit Dragon impacted the stadium and made a huge gash in the side, then bounced to the other half of the stadium and landed off balance.
"No! Get with it, Spirit Dragon!"
King Trygle came about and smashed into Spirit Dragon, knocking it clean out of the stadium. Ryu was stunned. No one had been able to dodge his special attack - or if they had, they were in no condition to hit back. This blader was a serious threat to Ryu.
Doctor B's voice once again reached their ears. "Come on, Ryu. I know you can do better than that. Summon your BitBeast!"
Ryu growled, then retrieved his Beyblade. "I don't have a BitBeast! You of all people should know that!"
"Alright, then. We'll give you some encouragement."
The walls around the Bladebreakers clicked, then started moving in again. This time cutting the space behind the glass in half.
"Come on, Ryu!" Ray shouted. "Go and show him who's boss!"
"Yeah!" Max shouted. "You don't need a BitBeast to finish this clown!"
Ryu grimaced. He looked at his launch assist, specifically at the picture of Spirit Dragon on the side. His mind was racing; Could he do it again? Ryu summoned the feelings that he had when Spirit Dragon first appeared. Then he remembered his need to help the Bladebreakers.
Something clicked in Ryu's mind. He looked up, startled, and he was suddenly in a grassy plain. There was a sound below his vision. Ryu looked down and saw Spirit Dragon spinning in the low grass. It sudden darted away. Ryu ran after it, not sure where it would go in this featureless dimension.
Ryu followed his Beyblade for several minutes. He was about to run out of energy when there was suddenly a large crater in the ground. He stopped at the edge.
Inside the crater was a large, light-blue transparent dragon. Ryu was stunned. It was looking at him with wonder, but also some familiarity. Ryu's beyblade circled him once, then jumped into his hand.
The dragon got up. With three massive steps, it lumbered toward Ryu and extended its long neck toward him. Ryu felt its' trust form him. He reached out and touched it on the side - the scales were smooth, and it felt soft rather than the harshness he expected.
The dragon closed its eyes, and bowed its head toward Ryu's beyblade. The nose touched the bit chip, and the entire dragon dissolved into tiny specks of light, then they all collected on the bit chip.
Ryu looked down, The picture of Spirit Dragon was no longer on his launch assist - Instead, it now resided on the bit chip. He looked back up, and saw the stadium again. The blader using King Trygle looked smug.
"Well, are you going to fight or let your friends die?"
Ryu stepped up to the beystadium again. He slipped the ripcord into the launcher and put Spirit Dragon on with a satisfying click. He looked squarely at his opponent, then put his launcher at the ready.
"Go show him who's boss, Ryu!" Tyson said.
"Hmm!" Kai stepped forward. "Be careful, Ryu! You don't know what you're getting into!"
The rest of the Bladebreakers were stunned. Kai was giving out advice? When did he suddenly become charitable?
"Three!" King Trygle's blader said.
"Two!" Ryu responded.
"One! LET IT RIP!"
Launch RPMs
Spirit Dragon: 37000
King Trygle: 35000
Spirit Dragon landed and instantly charged forward. Right when it was about to hit, it darted to the right and circled around, hitting King Trygle in its dodge arc! King Trygle was launched to the other side of the stadium, and wobbled for a few seconds before recovering.
"That's the way! Go for it, Ryu!" Tyson said.
"Don't get too cocky!" the Team Psykik member said. King Trygle started spinning faster, and Spirit Dragon begun to be repelled away! Ryu tried to overcome the resistance, but it was too great. Spirit Dragon could not attack.
"What happened?" Ray asked.
Kenny opened his laptop. "Bad news! King Trygle activated his magtram! Ryu doesn't have the training to overcome it!"
"No..." Tyson started.
Ryu chuckled, then full on laughed. "It'll take more than fancy magnets to beat me! Spirit Dragon... ATTACK!"
Everyone but Ryu and Kai were stunned by what happened. The bit chip of Spirit Dragon started glowing, then a beam of light shot from it and dispersed, turning light blue and then turning transparent, then forming into a translucent blue dragon! It roared, and Ryu's beyblade sped up dramatically, enough to smash through King Trygle's magnetic barrier and throw it to the other side of the stadium!
"Now! Finish him off! ESPER BEAM SLASH!" Ryu shouted.
Spirit Dragon emitted more of the rippling energy it used so effectively. It gain launched itself off the side of the stadium and made two delicate flips in the air - but this time it did not collect the energy to a blade. A point of light collected outside the aura, then a slash of energy was launched at King Trygle, and it clean in half! The pieces spun together with their inertia, then flew apart at the seams. Th beystadium behind King Trygle, and some of the cavern wall, was unrepairable.
The Spirit Dragon BitBeast roared in triumph, then went behind Ryu and cut the glass holding the Bladebreakers into pieces with its long claws.
"Alright! Way to go Ryu!" Tyson said. Then he looked over. "Huh?"
Ryu was not standing in a proper battle position. His legs looked weak, his arms were limp at his sides, and his head was down. The Bladebreakers got out of their shrinking prison, then went up to Ryu.
"Hey man, are you okay?" Ray asked.
Ryu grunted, then the everyone noticed Spirit Dragon was still spinning. Ryu suddenly looked up, then he and Spirit Dragon let out a synchronized roar! The BitBeast went berserk, trashing the cavern walls, and Ryu fell to his knees, dropping his launcher and ripcord. His beyblade began circling the stadium, then a miniature tornado erupted from its center, causing a lot of wind to blow around the room.
Kai spoke up. "Tyson, fight him!"
He turned around. "What?"
"We have to get this bitbeast under control! It will only respond to force!"
Tyson looked at Kai for a few seconds, then at Ryu. He closed his eyes for a second, then opened them with renewed vigor. He took out Dragoon and set it in his launcher.
"Let It Rip!"
Dragoon entered the beat-up stadium and charged toward Spirit Dragon. It impacted, but Spirit Dragon didn't move much. Dragoon attacked several more times and pushed Spirit Dragon back, but its power wasn't going down.
"Man! What's it going to take to beat this thing!" Tyson asked.
"Spirit Dragon isn't tamed yet." Kai said. "Dragoon alone won't be able to do it alone. It takes more power than that."
"More..." Ryu muttered.
"Ryu!" Max shouted over the wind. "You need to control your BitBeast! Get up and tame Spirit Dragon!"
Ryu grabbed his launcher. He struggled to get up, but fell again. Ray and Max ran over, and Ryu managed to get to his feet with their help. "Tyson! I'm coming after you!"
"Come and get me then! Go Dragoon!"
The bit-chip of Dragoon glowed, and a beam of light shot out of it - which morphed and turned into the Dragoon BitBeast. Spirit Dragon looked at it, then they charged at each other. Their beyblades hit in the exact middle of the stadium and ground against each other as they collided and tried to push each other away.
Ryu and Tyson's beyblades pushed for a full minute. Neither was able to gain ground, but Ryu unexpectedly yelled. Spirit Dragon became surrounded with its energy aura, then shot Dragoon away. The BitBeast began glowing white. It split into thousands of pieces which recollected on the bit chip. The beyblade left the stadium, and Ryu caught it, then fell back to his knees.
"Is it over?" Tyson asked.
Ryu looked at Spirit Dragon. Its image was contained on the bit-chip, and he could feel the power running from it. He clenched it in his hand and looked at Tyson. "Yeah. Its over." Ryu got up shakily and walked over. "Thanks. I guess now we can truly have a good battle sometime."
Dragoon flew back into Tyson's hand. "You bet! I'm not going to forget that talk about holding back, though."
The two grabbed hands and clenched. They looked in each others eyes, as equals, and let go.
"Hey!" Hillary said. "That battle opened up a tunnel!" She pointed to the end of the room where Ryu's opponent once stood, and Spirit Dragon had knocked a hole in the wall, with light at the other end. All seven of them began walking through it.
Kenny's Battle Analyzer beeped. "Mr. Dickinson's waiting outside! Let's go!"
They all ran the rest of the way. Sure enough, when they all reached the end, a helicopter was just landing next to the opening. Ryu and the Bladebreakers piled in, and it lifted into the air, then took off for the mainland.
"Hello there! I'm terribly sorry for this! Oh. Who are you?" Mr. Dickinson said, after noticing the new arrival.
"I am Ryu. I was dragged to this here island with the Bladebreakers."
"He's a pretty good blader." Tyson said. "But it gets better - we helped him tame his BitBeast!"
"Wow! I bet that was exciting!"
Ryu nodded. "It was pretty exhausting, though. Is there anything to eat on this gyro?"
Dickinson gestured to a box on his right. "I brought some snacks just in case."
The seven kids began pigging out. Ryu visibly ate the most - he had just fought a dragon and won! Tyson had an idea - one that Ryu would probably like. He didn't know about the rest of the team, though.
"Hey Ryu... Would you be interested in joining the Bladebreakers?"
Everyone was silent. The only sound was the beating of the helicopter blades. Eventually, Ryu answered. "Pfffffft! Really! Even with Spirit Dragon, I doubt I'm as good as any of you!"
"Then we'll test you." Kai interjected. "The day after we get back, you'll battle each of us. If you win against someone, you're in." Kai looked at all their stunned looks. "I'm team captain. It's my decision anyway to let someone in. I think Ryu has the potential to be with us."
Ryu thought about it. It would be amazing to be part of the world champion beyblading team. But was he good enough? Well, they were about to find out.
"Alright. It's a deal."
Author's notes:
This chapter was physically tiring to write. Maybe the battle was so intense that it started leeching my own energy.
Misspellings:
Every other time I write 'Spirit Dragon' it comes out 'Spirit Dragoon'.
Bladefreakers
Wrote 'Jai' a bunch of times. Don't know how.