Bryan looked over his opponent as the two prepared their launchers, and as he glanced over Claude, Bryan tried to work out if there was any change, much like there was with Aaron when he and Spencer battled earlier.
To Bryan's surprise, he was right; there was something different about Claude. Whether or not it was with his confidence remained to be seen, but the Blitzkrieg blader knew that there was no use in worrying about it as he had to keep his mind on the battle.
"Our bladers are without a doubt the fastest of their respective teams," Brad said from the announcers' booth. "Bryan and his Falborg beyblade are known for their vicious style."
"As are Claude and his Rapid Eagle, Brad," AJ replied. "Claude's speed in the dish is something to behold, and his bit-beast can give him that slight edge if he needs it."
'I can't let Spencer's loss get to me,' Bryan reminded himself in his thoughts as he attached his blade his launcher. 'I can beat this guy.'
Boris interrupted Bryan's thoughts as he spoke. "Let's see the dish!"
"What's on tap this time, AJ?" asked Brad.
"This time it's the diamond dish. It might look pretty, but it can cut these bladers deep if they're not careful!" AJ replied.
"Eh, a little danger in a dish never hurt anybody," Bryan smiled, trying to intimidate Claude and gauge a reaction out of him.
But Claude just shrugged as he and his opponent prepared their launchers, the former seemingly oblivious to the intimidation, and he remained still as he waited for Boris to announce the match, clearly wanting to get this over with as Aaron had done before him.
Boris then started counting down. "3... 2... 1... let it rip!"
"Go for it, Falborg!" Bryan said, launching.
Claude remained silent as he launched, firing Rapid Eagle into the dish and commanding it to attack right off the bat, willing it to slam directly into Falborg, sending it back a bit before slamming again.
"Claude's not wasting any time!" Max said.
"Do you think that he might be getting reckless already?" Hilary asked.
"I doubt that. He's always been smarter than this." Max paused. "He's got something planned. I just wish that I could figure out what..."
"Any new information that might be able to help Max out, Dizzi"? Kenny asked his laptop.
"Not to my knowledge. My readings on Claude and Rapid Eagle are the same for Aaron and Rushing Boar," Dizzi replied.
"It's weird to see you taking this so seriously," Kenny noted.
Dizzi chuckled. "Well, one of us has to be the calm voice when it comes down to it."
"I'd high-five you if you had hands," Hilary replied with a small chuckle.
Back to the match, Claude's aggression was keeping up, his Rapid Eagle pushing Falborg close up against a sharp diamond that was sticking out of the ground, causing some paint to chip from Bryan's beyblade.
"Falborg, get out of there!" Bryan said.
Bryan's beyblade stood its ground for a little while longer before briefly pushing itself back from Rapid Eagle for a split second before slamming back, giving it enough room to circle around its opponent and attack from the side, landing flush.
"That was a close move by Bryan!" said Ray. "If he was stuck in the grinding match for much longer, his beyblade would have been ripped to shreds."
"Bryan's normally aggressive, but he seems to be more on the run in this match. Only time will tell if this will be a detriment to him," Kenny replied.
"It's weird seeing Bryan blade like this," Tyson said. "He can't let his confidence get stinted just because Claude got the upper-hand this early."
Kai then spoke up. "Hey, Bryan!"
"Huh?" the Blitzkrieg Boy replied, looking up to his former team-mate. "What is it?"
"You've got to take the fight to him. You can't keep running and blocking; attack him," Kai said, his tone completely serious.
Bryan gave a confused look, then turned to see Tala and Spencer nodding, agreeing with Kai. Bryan grinned and turned back to the dish, seeing Falborg get knocked over to him, but still holding its ground.
"Come on, Falborg. We aren't going to take this any more! Attack him!" Bryan said.
Falborg picked up its spinning speed, and went for a full-blown slam on Rapid Eagle, only to be met with a counter move of sorts by its opponent. Still undeterred by this, Falborg made a sharp turn and slammed into Rapid Eagle, this time landing hard and sending it back a bit, almost close to some diamonds sticking out from the side of the dish.
"That was a close call!" said Brad. "Another inch or two and Rapid Eagle would have been a shish-kebab!"
"Not only that, but it looks like Bryan smells blood in the water!" AJ replied. "Could this give him the edge he needs?"
Bryan smirked. "Come on, Falborg! Don't hold back! Hit him with everything you've got!"
Falborg went on the assault, clashing once more with Rapid Eagle, using its own speed to keep up with its arguably faster opponent. Claude only smiled, though, as he knew his plan had finally worked.
Max, noticing Claude's grin, suddenly felt worry for the Blitzkrieg blader as he kept up his relentless attack, but before he could speak out about it, the Barthez blader had pulled his plan off, getting Rapid Eagle to move away at the last second, causing Falborg to take the full brunting damage of a rather sharp diamond, causing the crowd to groan in unison from the impact and causing Bryan to hold his gut from the pain.
"Looks like Falborg and Bryan are badly damaged after that one!" said Brad. "This could be disastrous!"
"Speaking of disastrous, Claude looks like he's going to unleash his strongest attack!" AJ replied.
Claude grinned before a pair of bright blue wings sprouted from his back as he called his attack. "Rapid Eagle, finish it now! Twin Sabre!"
On command, Claude's two-headed eagle bit-beast rose from its beyblade, bellowing out a high-pitched screech from both its beaks as it began its attack, spreading its wings firing feathers which took the form of yellow arcs of wind, each one striking Falborg and causing it to grow weaker and wearier from the blows before Rapid Eagle itself charged for Falborg, the former beyblade joining with its might bit-beast as both beaks struck Bryan's beyblade, knocking it into the air and shattering it to pieces before they landed all around Bryan.
"Bryan's beyblade has been both knocked out and broken into pieces," Boris announced. "Claude wings, and Barthez Battalion will move to the semi-finals!"
"Ouch! What a brutal finish from Claude!" said Brad. "Leading Bryan into a trap and then ending the fight in such a gruesome way!"
"That is what you call capitalising on a mistake, Brad," AJ replied. "But I do agree. Bryan's going to have quite some time putting his beyblade back together."
Bryan gathered up the pieces of his beyblade, fighting off some tears as he looked down at every bit of it before turning his head upwards to see Claude catching Rapid Eagle in his hand, turning around and walking away without so much as batting an eyelid at his opponent.
Bryan merely growled in reply, picking up Falborg and putting most of the pieces in his pocket as he kept the bit-chip in his hand, his palm open as he saw that, despite the fact that his beyblade was broken, his bit-beast was a lot luckier.
"I'm sorry, Falborg..." the Blitzkrieg blader said. "I let you down..."
"At least it wasn't a complete loss," Tala said, noticing his team-mate's bit-beast as he walked back over.
"I know, but... I should have won that. I let my anger get the best of me," Bryan said. "He was the better man."
"Hey, you bladed your best, dude," Spencer said. "Barthez and Boris must have been juicing their beyblades or something."
"While I doubt he'd stoop that low," Tala said, "I wouldn't put it past him."
Bryan grinned a bit. "I hope you're not mad because I lost. If I hadn't, you would have been able to fight."
Tala shrugs. "Eh, it just means less repairs on my own beyblade." He then realised what he'd said. "I-I didn't mean it like..."
Bryan smiled, putting his hand on his friend's. "It's cool, dude. I lost. It is what it is."
Boris then spoke again. "Ladies and gentlemen, you may all return home for now as tomorrow we continue the semi-finals. The next match-ups will be announced by then. I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves so far, and remember to have a safe trip."
As he disappeared down into the ground on his elevator, the crowd dispersed from their seats, mostly still in shock from the brutal finish at the hands of Claude. The Bladebreakers, meanwhile, stayed seated or a bit longer before walking off to the exits.
As they walked, Tyson took the lead, walking further in front of his team-mates, but staying close enough to them as they soon made it through the myriad of corridors and hallways before finding themselves outside, seeing a limousine waiting for them.
"Ooh, fancy," Daichi said.
"Glad you think so," said Mr. Dickenson as he appeared behind the team. "I hired this limo myself. I thought that you all may need some relaxation after the tough battles you've been having so far."
"Well, it's much appreciated," Tyson said, smiling as he stepped inside the fancy car.
The others stepped in also, soon followed by Mr. Dickenson as he entered inside with them before the limo driver closed the door after them and went to the driver's seat, closing the partition before he began driving.
"So, why the fancy pick up?" asked Max.
"Well, I thought it'd be much nicer than just a taxicab," Dickenson replied. "And plus, it'll allow us to talk more together about our findings so far."
"Speaking of which, did Dizzi pick anything up after the matches had ended?" Tyson asked Kenny.
The bespectacled blader shrugged and shook his head. "Absolutely nothing. Besides some minor upgrades to their beyblades to help better fit with the times, none of them are doing anything too drastic in terms of cheating."
"So, they're winning fair and square with just their natural skill?" Max said.
"From what I can tell, yes. Myself and Dizzi will go over the research later tonight to see if we can find anything new." Kenny sighed. "But from what I saw just in that match alone, it does worry me that not a lot will change no matter what we find."
Tyson shook his head. "Well, I'm not going to let the Blitzkrieg Boys' loss be in vain. I want Boris stopped as soon as possible, especially if he's going so far as to ask Barthez to help."
"Not to mention shattering Bryan's beyblade," Hilary added. "That seems like a desperate measure to me..."
"What do you mean?" Ray asked.
"Well, Boris knows just how strong the Blitzkrieg Boys are. From what I know, you guys had a tough time with them way back at the Russian tournament, and let's not forget that Boris himself trained them all, including Kai."
"And I was the only one who lost to them at the time," Kai added. "I agree with Hilary here; something's off. I know that Spencer and Bryan are no pushovers."
"And team Barthez has always been good, but not that good unless they were cheating," Ray replied. "But they didn't cheat in the match with the Blitzkriegs."
"That might still be up for debate," replied Kenny.
The others nodded, and the rest of the ride in the limousine was silent. Tyson himself was mulling over the various possibilities in his head about what Boris was planning, how Doctor K and Barthez were involved, and if he and his friends could stop it all before it was too late.
His train of thought was derailed when Dickenson spoke up. "We're here!"
"Where is here?" Daichi asked.
"Well, not only did I manage to get us this limousine, but I also booked us a hotel. I thought it'd be a much more luxurious place to stay while we prepare for tomorrow," the BBA chairman replied, stepping out the door of the car.
The others followed him, and all looked at the fancy hotel, following behind Mr. Dickenson as he got their room keys sorted out at the front desk. Luckily, there was a room big enough for the whole team, while Dickenson himself stayed in a room he had reserved for himself.
And, for the first time all day, the team got some well-deserved rest, each having a short nap to themselves with the exception of Kenny, who was sitting up on his laptop and searching around the data files that Dizzi had accumulated over the last day.
"Anything new?" Kenny asked his laptop.
"So far, nothing," Dizzi sadly replied. "Maybe if I search in here..."
The laptop bit-beast took a few moments before a window popped up on its screen, and Kenny clicked on it, seeing the Barthez team's bit-beasts in their full forms from their previous fights.
"I'm not seeing anything new..." Kenny said.
"Sorry, Chief. I guess my circuits are fried from a mixture of the sun and all the fights today," Dizzi replied. "Computers need rest too, you know."
"As do us tech geeks," Kenny replied with a smile. "Goodnight, Dizzi," he followed on, turning his laptop off.
"Night, Chief," Dizzi replied.
After he put his laptop away, Kenny curled up in his bed, taking off his glasses and putting them away along with his laptop before going to sleep, joining his team-mates in their dreaming, hoping that tomorrow would bring better results.
So, that's another chapter. I know it's not the best ending, but I have some things that I want to keep to myself a bit more until further chapters come out. I hope you all had fun so far, and don't forget to vote on my poll on my profile if/when you can. Take care, and I'll see you later.