Chapter 15: Sophie's Past:
Arriving in Italy, GanGan Galaxy were no where near ready for the upcoming battle like the normally would be. Tsubasa was still missing, and they had absolutely no idea how they were going to have a duo ready in time for Sophie and Wales. Thankfully the situation with the main battle with Julian was taken over by Gingka, who volunteered himself to battle the leader of Team Excalibur.
Wherever Tsubasa had run off to, they just hoped he would show up for the A-Block finals. If they were going to win, they needed to do it as a team.
Before they could even fully make it into the airport lobby. "LOOK THERE! It looks like Team GanGan Galaxy has arrived!"
The Japanese team were bombarded by the same annoying press that were bothering Team Excalibur the previous day.
"HEY GINGKA, CAN WE TALK?!"
"YEAH WE HAVE JUST A FEW SIMPLE QUESTIONS WE NEED ANSWERED FROM THE CHAMPION OF BATTLE BLADERS!"
Gingka was taken by surprise so much that he nearly fell back into the rest of his team. He couldn't even begin to process all of the questions that were being thrown at him.
"HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT THE UPCOMING A-BLOCK FINALS?!"
Seemed simple enough. Fortunately for the reporters, Gingka was not as cold of an individual as Julian was. "Different day, same plan, battle with everything we've got."
"Huh?" The annoying reporter asked. "Hey wait a minute! Why isn't Tsubasa with you guys?"
Gingka's eyes widened in fear. He had hoped he'd be able to keep this as contained as possible, but unfortunately, the press were relentless in their pursuit of the final story.
The rest of GanGan Galaxy looked just as puzzled and annoyed as their leader did.
"There's a rumor going around that Tsubasa is sick in the hospital!"
Modaka quickly gave a desperate response. "Huh? Oh is that so!"
Now all of the reporters were pounding on Madoka for answers, and based on the look on her face, it didn't take long for her to be overwhelmed.
Suddenly Gingka once again butted in. "Tsubasa's not in the hospital, he's just fine! He was so pumped up for the final battle that he actually came here ahead of us!"
Masamune was confused, almost baffled. "Huh? No kidding?" As a result, Yu and Gingka both stepped on his foot to keep him from exposing their lie.
To play it safe, GanGan Galaxy pretended that they were greeting Tsubasa is if he were actually watching them on television right now.
"Tsubasa," Gingka started. "We're here!"
"We're on our way to see right now buddy." Said Yu.
"Gotta run!" Yelled Gingka. "We'll catch you later dudes!"
As GanGan Galaxy tried to run away from the cameras, even more of them began swarming the team, specifically Gingka.
"Wait! Mr Hagane, just one more important question!"
Gingka now had no where to run as reporters were surrounding him.
"We've received an anonymous tip from an American source, called Mr R. He claims that there are rumors of you being involved romantically with our very own EU Blader, and Excalibur member Sophie? Is this true Mr Hagane? We would love to hear your thoughts on this matter!"
Gingka and the rest of Team GanGan Galaxy were absolutely baffled. Who in the world is Mr R, and why is he spreading false information, more so about he and Sophie specifically. For starters, he hasn't even seen her since the Festival Of Warriors, and secondly, she was on the EU Team, and they were rivals, dating would just be weird. BeyBlade and the World Championships were the only two things on Gingka's mind and nothing else. And besides, Sophie looked like the type who thought dating was a waste of time.
The Battle Bladers champ then formed a serious expression on his face. This face was normally seen when Gingka was battling. "And who is this 'Mr R?' And why is he spreading around lies?"
As the cameras flashed and GanGan Galaxy stood in awe, another voice was heard in the background.
"You should know firsthand that Excalibur does not tolerate any sort of false publicity whatsoever..."
Everyone, including GanGan Galaxy turned over to the source of the familiar commanding voice. The press and GanGan Galaxy tried to locate the source. Eventually the female voice made her physical presence known. Everyone turned to their left and saw
Sophie...
The female member of Excalibur stood there with full on confidence and a no nonsense attitude towards the press. Now the press had all eyes on her as well as Gingka. "Excalibur and GanGan Galaxy don't have any time to deal with the likes of you today, both mines and Gingka's teams are focused on battling each other in the upcoming A-Block finals."
"But Sophie, madam, our sources are usually right on target about ever-"
Sophie looked at the reporter with a piercing glare. She then looked at Gingka and in turn winked and shot him a small smile to let him know that he needs to play along to get rid of the press. Masamune and Yu easily picked this up, having their own thoughts running through their heads.
With quick thinking, Gingka gave a brief statement to the press. "Sophie's right, while me and her are on opposite sides of the BeyBlade world right now, we are both respectful friends towards one another, nothing more. You all want the scoop, come watch the final battle and see all of us battle, me, Sophie, Wales, Masamune, Tsubasa, Konzern and all."
To cap off the statement, Sophie and Gingka shook hands to signify the peace agreement between Japan and Europe until the final battle. This really got the press fired up as they snapped numerous shots of the two Bladers shaking hands.
Sophie had one more thing to say. "Now you've heard what me and Mister Hagane had to say, we're friends, nothing more, nothing less, now if you're all quick enough, you might catch Wales and Konzern, I hear Konzern's feeling generous today, so he'll answer your questions to."
Upon hearing that, the press nodded at each other, snapped a few more shots of Gingka and Sophie before running off to find Julian.
Once Sophie and GanGan Galaxy were sure all of them were gone, they could finally drop the act and talk normally.
"Oh man." Gingka starts, "I don't know how much more of that I could have taken, thanks for the save Sophie."
The female Excalibur member smiles. "You're welcome, believe me, I know how irritating that can get, I've had to deal with this for years, and I still do." Sophie decides to have a quip. "They'll be awfully disappointed when they find out there's no Julian in sight."
Everyone, excluding Masamune and Yu, laughs. Something about this girl was really bugging Masamune and he didn't like it in the slightest.
While Sophie confined to fiddle with Gingka and Madoka, Masamune takes his chance to pull Yu to the side and have his own conversation with the Libra Blader.
"Ow, what gives Masamune?"
The Striker Blader ignored Yu's whining. "Listen Yu, there's something weird about that Sophie girl that's just been bugging me since we first met her."
"What do you mean?" Yu was clearly confused.
Masamune elaborated on his point. "She's obviously trying to be play us dude, look at it like this; when he first meet her, she's all nice and toooo laid back about nearly falling off of a cliff and dying, then we meet her again at their little European Warrior get together and bam; she's suddenly revealed as a member of that, then later, she's all nasty and it's revealed that she's actually apart of Excalibur, then she's all nasty when we're battling her, the rich brat Julian, and her twin lapdog Wales. Don't forget she practically laughed and toyed with your bey and emotions just for fun."
"That is true!" Yu was starting to see Masamune's point.
"And finally, when we're dealing with the major issue of Tsubasa being contaminated with, what was it? The Dark Power and goes missing, Sophie conveniently just shows up and is acting all nice again? I don't buy it, and I don't like it."
"You're right Masa-Mu-Mu, it just doesn't make sense, my guess is, she and Excalibur has a secret hidden agenda or something like that."
"Exactly, and look at those two, Yu." Masamune and Yu look dead ahead at Gingka and Madoka, whom are casually conversing with Sophie. "They're already falling for her act."
"Especially Gingky." Yu notices that Gingka looks far too relaxed as he talks to the Excalibur member. He notices everything, their facial expressions, their eye movements, the eye contact, all of it. It made Yu and Masamune sick on the inside.
"Hey guys come on."
Yu and Masamune's thoughts were abruptly interrupted when the voice of Madoka and Gingka were heard.
"Sophie's gonna show us around Italy." Gingka added with genuine enthusiasm.
Masamune and Yu had extremely skeptical looks of their faces. They were making it evidently clear that they did not trust Sophie whatsoever, which she picked up based on their expressions and body movements. Eventually they decided to go along with it so they didn't blow their cover. Together, Sophie and GanGan Galaxy made their way to explore Italy.
A few minutes later, the group arrived in the capital of Italy, and where they would eventually battle each other, Rome. Gingka and Masamune had different expressions on their faces, with the leader of the team looking at the sites in awe and Masamune still remaining cautious.
Gingka broke the silence. "So why'd you bring us out here, Sophie?"
"Yeah. That's what I'd like to know." Masamune purposely added a tint of rudeness in his voice, causing Madoka to elbow him and glare at him.
Sophie then eventually explained her actions, "You see you guys, it's like this, after our preview match at the Festival of Warriors, I figured all of you might think of me and Excalibur as harsh and cruel people. I don't want there to be any sort of bad blood between GanGan Galaxy and Excalibur before the final. So consider this as a personal treat and apology from me on behalf of Team Excalibur to Team GanGan Galaxy." Sophie had a genuine smile on her face which signified that her intentions were pure.
While everyone else, Even Yu whom was a little concerned earlier, seemed convinced, Masamune was still not buying the act. "If that's true, where's that snob Konzern, and Wales?"
"Masamune!" Madoka grabbed him by the ear, punching him and pulling him away from everyone else. As she was scolding Masamune for his rude behavior, Gingka took the chance to talk to Sophie.
"I don't know what's gotten into Masamune, sorry."
Although Sophie looked slightly saddened by Masamune's untrusting of her, she quickly brushed it off with her Excalibur pride. "It's fine Gingka...I'll just move forward with everything like I always do." Seeing that she obviously didn't want to talk about it, Gingka left it alone. Seeing as how the two of them were together while the rest of GanGan Galaxy were a few feet behind them, Sophie decided to talk to the GanGan Galaxy Blader about the events that happened. "Although Gingka, I need to talk to you about some important matters."
"Yeah shoot."
"It's about your missing friend...Tsubasa...and the one they call, Ryuga." Sophie sounded almost terrified saying the latter's name.
Gingka's eyes widened. Tsubasa? Ryuga? What was Sophie talking about? And what did she know about Tsubasa? Did she know he was contaminated with the Dark Power? How did she know Ryuga factored in to all of that? "What do you know about Tsubasa and Ryuga?" He asked, with genuine interest.
Sophie began to explain. "It's not what I know, it's what has and what I've seen. So last night, as always, me and Excalibur were doing some special training, nothing extraordinary."
"Go on."
"And suddenly we see a massive burst of energy in the distance, thinking Julian was in danger, me and my team rushed towards the source of the blast and there we saw Julian, battling your friend Tsubasa."
"Tsubasa was battling Julian?" Gingka was now worried. Why exactly would Tsubasa battle Julian, and more importantly why would he travel to Europe before the rest of them? And even more importantly, why was Ryuga there picking a fight with Excalibur? Things sounded so chaotic and confusing that it was almost impossible to believe, but in the world of BeyBlade nothing seemed impossible. "Is Julian alright?"
"Yes Konzern is fine, and we should thank the gods that no was seriously harmed...so back to your friend, as me and Wales began to engage him, your friend Tsubasa started sounding increasingly more psychotic, and proceeded to go on a rampage like a monster, while also displaying levels of rage and negative energy that I've personally never seen before in my life. Then..." Sophie grew nervous again. "Ryuga...shows up, with some even more mighty power from the cosmos. It begins with him unleashing a meteor shower that rained down upon us."
Gingka was now even more concerned. "No one was hurt right?"
"Like I told you before, no, thankfully. As I was saying, your archenemy showed up and rained down on us with a meteor shower and rambles on about some sort of Dark Power and his apparent newfound power."
"Newfound power that Ryuga has?" Gingka asked.
Sophie continued, nodding her head. "Yes, he appears to have a brand new bey called Meteo L-Drago and claims it is far more powerful than his older Bey."
Now Gingka couldn't believe it. Ryuga, his BeyBlade nemesis has not only newfound power, but also an even more powerful L-Drago? It just sounded to good to be true. He would have to confront Ryuga for himself at a later date. But first, he needed to hear what Sophie had to say and then clarify all of this mess up.
"After he tosses me and Wales around as well as our Beys, he tells us this odd story about a star fragment falling from the sky and how two of them separated between light and darkness. He mentioned his bey L-Drago containing the Dark Power, and your Bey Pegasus, containing the power of light that fell the birthplace of BeyBlade, Koma Village."
Before Sophie could continue, Gingka decided to clarify this fact. "He's telling the truth, Sophie. Ryuga is many things, but a liar and a deceitful person isn't one of them. It's true what he says, Koma Village, also known as the birthplace of BeyBlade, is where my Pegasus came to be." He grinned. "Koma Village also happens to be my hometown and where I was born and raised."
"Ahh so I see." It all started making sense to Sophie now. Seeing as Gingka would not kid about something of this magnitude, she believed him and trusted his words. "And what he says about a star falling from the sky is true I suppose?"
"Correct." Gingka decided to tell her exactly why Ryuga was there. "Look Sophie, the reason Ryuga showed up was because we're dealing with Tsubasa having a dangerous power contaminated inside of him and we needed a way to help Tsubasa get rid of it. So we had a friend track down Ryuga, and bring him up to speed on his situation. The reason we needed Ryuga's help was because he too was once controlled by the evil spirits and Dark Power of Lightning L-Drago. We sought out his help to see if he could figure out of way to beat it. That's when he went looking for Tsubasa...and well, you know the rest. We had now idea that Tsubasa or Ryuga for that matter would show up at the Konzern Family Estate, and for that I apologize."
Now that Sophie was more understanding of Gingka and his team's ongoing crisis, she now understood why everything that happened at Konzern's estate happened in the first place. "I see now...then I must apologize for my mistakes and incorrect judgment."
"Don't sweat it Sophie, it happens to the best of us."
"No, this is only the first part of my apology, for the next part, we'll be in for quite a bit of traveling, so please tell your friends."
The GanGan Galaxy leader was curious. "Where are you taking us now?"
Sophie could only smile. "You'll see."
"Why are we on the outskirts of the city?" Yu asked, feeling completely worn out.
"Yeah, what's the big deal?" Masamune added.
"Guys," Madoka started, "Just shut up and be patient,"
Sophie suddenly spoke up, "We're here."
GanGan Galaxy all look and see what Sophie's talking about. They all look and see a very massive and unique looking village with active villagers working and attending to their community duties.
Sophie spoke once more. "This village is a sacred land that only those of a pure spirit may enter. This is where me and my family grew up before living in France. GanGan Galaxy, welcome to Itali Village, home of the spirits and soul manifestation. If you'll all follow me."
GanGan Galaxy did as instructed and followed Sophie into the village, observing their surroundings in the village as well.
Suddenly, "Hey everyone, look, it's Sophie! She's returned home to us at last!"
Sophie and GanGan Galaxy were now surrounded by a group comprised of elders, children and older, but still younger adults. It was quite evident that Sophie was obviously a hometown hero in the BeyBlade World Championships as were the rest of Team Japan.
"Hello everyone, it's been quite a while." Sophie replied with genuine enthusiasm.
"Is that, GanGan Galaxy? The Japanese team?" One of the elders asked.
GanGan Galaxy all flashed smiles to not come off as rude. Being that he was the leader of Team Japan, Gingka decided to introduce himself and the team to Sophie's village. "Yes we're Japan's representatives, I'm the leader, Gingka Hagane, and this is my Bey, Galaxy Pegasus." He pulled out his bey to show off to the villagers. "And this is regular member, Masamune Kadoya. Show em what's up Masamune."
Masamune relented. He decided to play along. Although he still did not trust Sophie right now, he decided not to be rude to innocent people of this village. "Yep, that's me, I'm aiming to be number one in the world, and we're gonna do it with the help of this Ray Striker baby." Masamune pulled out Striker and flashed it to the villagers, who marveled and were impressed by the design of the bey.
Gingka then introduced the next member of his team. "Since we're currently missing a member of our team, I'll just skip to the little guy. This is our sub member, Yu. You know what to do man."
Yu enthusiastically pulled out his Libra and like his two members before him, he showed it off to the villagers. "This is my Flame Libra, if you all want, I will gladly show you how cool it is later!" Based upon the reactions Yu had received, they very much liked that idea.
Gingka then introduced Madoka. "And this is our resident super mechanic and super genius as well as our support member, Modaka."
"Hi." Madoka politely waved at the villagers.
"And together we all make up Japan's representatives, Team GanGan Galaxy!" They all said in unison.
Sophie spoke about once more. "And now that we're all well acquainted with one another, let's show them how we do things around here. If you'll all follow me and the elders, we'll show you the the flaming tree of passion. Come now, GanGan Galaxy." Sophie formed a grin on her face. "Let us see some of those skills before the final battle between Team Excalibur and Team GanGan Galaxy."
Gingka, Masamune and Yu all grinned in return. If it's skills Sophie wanted to see, then that was exactly what she was going to see. Madoka jokingly worried seeing the looks on the faces of her team and Sophie's.
Arriving at the flaming tree of passion, the team as well as Sophie and some other villagers gathered around the Flaming Tree of Passion.
Sophie broke down how it worked. "This is the sacred Flaming Tree Of Passion. Legend has it once ignited, it shall bless those who have a genuine passion for BeyBlade and a passion for life. Try and maneuvering your Beys on the three torches to ignite them. Like this." Sophie immediately pulled out her launcher and Cetus. "Let it rip!" She launched Cetus and it effortlessly ignited all three of the torches.
About ten or fifteen seconds later, the torches on the tree began to self extinguish themselves.GanGan Galaxy was amazed. Especially Gingka. "Woah, that is so awesome."
"Give it a try, Gingka." Sophie suggested.
Gingka grabbed Galaxy Pegasus and his launcher. Once they were ready, he took a deep breath and then launched without any hesitation. "Let it rip! Go Pegasus!"
Pegasus effortlessly flew gallantly over the tree before coming back down. Gingka's Pegasus effortlessly ignited the Tree Of Passion's torches before being caught in the hands of his master. The villagers and the rest of his team were impressed.
"Wow," Said Madoka, still clearly in awe. "Good shot Gingka, I'll definitely be analyzing this data later."
"Thanks Madoka, Ha, guess that means I have a true appreciation of life and especially BeyBlade."
Masamune scoffed followed by a confident smile. "Pfft, give me a break, if Gingka can do it, so can I."
Sophie grinned herself. "By all means let's see what you've got Masamune." The nearby villagers and Yu were anticipating what exactly Masamune could do.
Without hesitation he pulled out and readied Striker. "Let it rip! Come on, let's go Striker!" Striker immediately charged forwards for the Tree Of Passion. It elegantly leaped and ignited the tree's torches one by one before landing back into the hands of Masamune, whom had an almost arrogant smile on his face. "Boom baby, that's how we get things done."
Next up was Yu. "Okey dokey, it's my turn now! Move out of the way Gingky and Masa-Mu-Mu!" Without hesitation, Yu launched his Flame Libra at the Tree Of Passion. Like his two fellow Japan representatives, Yu's Libra effortlessly managed to ignite all the tree's torches before landing back in the hands of his master. If they weren't in tune beforehand, Yu made it quite clear that he was obviously more than simply being GanGan Galaxy's sub member.
The villagers cheered as they were impressed with how much skill the foreign team had. GanGan Galaxy showed gratitude. Sophie for one was now certified in her belief that defeating Team GanGan Galaxy not going to be an easy task. She started eyeing Gingka and that's when she saw it; what made him a true Blader, a true warrior. His sheer determination, and great ability to lead whenever the time came.
While Sophie was still confident she and Excalibur would win the day, she knew that Julian was in for one of the toughest battles in his career as a Blader. While she was staring at Gingka, another person was staring at her.
"Hey Sophie!"
Sophie's staring came to a halt when she noticed whom was staring and trying to gain her attention. Sophie quickly realized.
It was Satomi, the little girl's autograph she had signed when she had gotten off of the plane with her team. Sophie was happy when she remembered that the little girl had told her that she, like her was also from this village
"Ah, Satomi, it brings me joy to see you."
"Same, and why were you staring at Gingka Hagane so much?"
"No reason." She quickly replied.
"Right." Satomi says in a sarcastic manner. Sophie was relieved she didn't have to explain to a little girl why someone as serious and well coordinated as her was staring at someone. "Anyways, we should bring GanGan Galaxy down to the Galaxy's Heart...get it...Galaxy's Heart? GanGan Galaxy?"
Sophie smiled. "That's a good idea Satomi, as a matter of fact, let me go introduce them to you, and then we'll go down to the Galaxy's Heart." Sophie and Satomi walked over to Gingka and the rest of GanGan Galaxy. "Guys." The Japan team looked up at Sophie. "This is Satomi, she may be young, but she has the spirit of any Blader young or older."
"Hi guys." Says the enthusiastic Satomi. "I watched all of your battles, and I'm really looking forward to seeing you guys battle against our own European representatives, Team Excalibur. And I you, they're no easy opponents."
Gingka grinned. "Oh we know, believe me, we definitely know that they're really strong opponents." Masamune and Yu nodded in agreement and unison.
Sophie stepped in and spoke up. "Before we get into that, Team GanGan Galaxy, allow me to bring you to one more great stop. Let's just say, it's the treasured monument on our great village."
Satomi added one more detail. "Calling it a treasure is putting it lightly, you'll see soon enough."
"Woah!" Gingka and Yu were absolutely amazed. Sophie and her young friend Satomi had taken them to the foot of a massive cave entrance. There was some sort of rainbow light shining, almost as if it were some form energy was coming from the inside of this cave.
Madoka pulled out her handheld computer. She started an analysis process. "Wow, I'm getting massive reading of energy and light coming from inside of that cave."
"GanGan Galaxy, welcome to the The Galaxy's Heart. The legendary cave of diamonds and crystals. This cave is Itali Village's most treasured place. We used the crystals and diamonds contained inside of it for a variety of purposes, particularly jewelry...and BeyBlade." Sophie passed it over to Satomi to let her further explain things.
"The Galaxy Heart is a place of beauty, compassion, artistic expression and love. The only ones chosen to enter these sacred grounds are Warriors with a genuine heart and a genuine spirit and appreciation of BeyBlade. Based upon the village's fondness and appreciation of such great Bladers outside of our country's own Team Excalibur, they've deemed you worthy of seeing these sacred grounds. Come now my friends, you're all about to witness something truly special."
As instructed by Sophie and Satomi, GanGan Galaxy followed the two of them inside the cave. Upon first glance they were amazed by what they saw. And what they saw were as the name and story suggests; diamonds and crystals embedded and scattered everywhere. And to make matters even more interesting, they were all different colors as well, drawing a conclusion as to why it was shiny and rainbow like from the outside.
"This is insanely cool!" Yu was jumping up and running around in genuine excitement. Gingka and Madoka carefully examined everything, with hints of their fascination show, even Masamune, whom still remained skeptical a little, was even impressed.
While Gingka was observing the Crystal and Diamond embedded walls, he noticed something about them. Some of them each had a constellation or another kind of symbol or drawing in them. "Are these constellations in the walls?"
"Yes." Sophie began to break down what they were and what they meant. "All of these markings in the wall are from various worthy Bladers whom have come here over the years, America, Europe, Japan, Russia, China, different Bladers from other countries have all come here. Myself, Julian and Wales have already carved our own here years ago. That should tell how many strong Bladers there are in the world, Gingka, and what you should expect in the BeyBlade World Championships."
"Yes, I understand."
"Hey, GanGan Galaxy should mark their constellation in the wall as well." Satomi suggested. "Just imagine the buzz it'll be around the village that two world championship teams have made their marks in the Galaxy's Heart. That'll be historic in the BeyBlade World."
"That sounds like a great idea Satomi." Sophie turned her attention to her frenemies. "Here's how this works, Gingka, Masamune and Yu. You'll find a spot on the Diamond and crystal embedded walls to place your beys. If you're deemed worthy, the caves will respond by calling out to you and your Bey. Your Beys will respond to this by emitting its power and marking its constellation. Let's see if the gods who came here long before any of us acknowledge your presence. Are you ready?"
Gingka, Yu and Masamune nodded.
Sophie flashed a confident smile. "Good, then let's get started shall we?"
The three aforementioned Bladers began to look for a spot across the walls. It didn't take them long to find a spot for their Beys. Gingka took a deep breath before embedding Galaxy Pegasus in the wall. Yu mentally prepared himself for the possibilities of what would come. He even prayed and hoped that somehow and some way that where ever Tsubasa was, he would come back to them safely. He embedded Libra in the walls of the cave. Masamune eyed his Striker with a look of hope. He embedded Striker into the walls.
After about maybe thirty seconds, their Beys started glowing and emitting the color of their respective powers. Gingka, Masamune, Yu and Madoka as well as Satomi and Sophie all took a step back as the light began to shine brighter and the energy began to grow more powerful.
"Pegasus?"
"Striker?"
"Libra?"
GanGan Galaxy, Sophie and Satomi all watched in amazement. Their Beys were worthy, they themselves were worthy. It all made sense to Sophie now. They were all true warriors and there was nothing else that anyone could say would change that.
The power coming from the guys Beys' eventually set off a miniature explosion that flashed blue and green lights that temporarily blinded everyone. Once their vision came back, they say three glowing spots on the walls where their Beys were set down at.
They all looked for Pegasus, Striker and Libra.
"Amazing!" Everyone said. They say exactly what they were looking for. Pegasus had successfully managed to capture and carve out the same exact constellation that was found upon the face bolt of Gingka's bey. Pegasus, the horse that soared from the heavens. Striker had managed to capture and carve out its constellation as well, much to the delight of Masamune.
"Now that's what I'm talking about baby."
Yu's Libra had managed to embed its face bolt constellation into the wall as well. Libra, the seventh astrological sign in the Zodiac and one of the 88 constellations in space. Yu was amazed seeing what his Libra was capable of doing. "Woah, that's awesome!"
"So the mysterious essence of these caves have officially deemed us worthy you guys." Gingka briefly celebrated with his team over the fact that they were worthy. Gingka being a fellow villager although from Koma Village knew that from the ancient stories passed down from his father, he was officially recognized by the universe for his true skills as a Blader.
As Sophie watched everyone talking and sharing happiness and joy amongst one another, she grew saddened at a specific moment of trauma and sadness that went down in these caves years ago. Her mood suddenly changed. Drastically..."I would like you all to take a look over there."
Everyone looked in the direction where Sophie was pointing at. Satomi's eyes widened in realization. She realized Sophie was getting ready to tell the story of the tragic events that happened here years ago.
Sophie took a very deep breath and looked like she was about to fall apart, which Gingka picked up on. "That very spot over there is where my father tragically...past away a few years ago." Gingka and Madoka saw a single tear flow down Sophie's face.
"Poor thing." Madoka said with full sincerity and sympathy. "Losing a loved one is never easy, you have my full sympathy and condolences Sophie."
"I'm sorry for your loss, Sophie." Gingka paused before continuing. "I know what that's like in a way, losing someone you love like your own father is a tough pill to swallow."
Yu and even Masamune had genuine sympathy and looks of concern on their faces. Satomi even held the hand of her BeyBlade idol to give her comfort. Once Sophie had enough reassurance and regained her composure, she continued on with her tragic story. "Thank you...all of you, I truly am grateful. Allow me to now share the story of my father...Barko Karagane, the man who loved BeyBlade and the natural wonders and beauty of life itself..."
Flashback, Sophie's Childhood, Pre-Metal Fusion:
Barko Karagane...
The man who truly appreciated the art of BeyBlade and life itself. And Sophie's father. He was one of a kind, hardly ever angry at all in his life. Barko was a wise man. A wise man indeed.
"...And that Sophie, is why you must always appreciate the best that life has to offer outside of wealth or even BeyBlade."
"Yes father, I understand."
Barko backflips off of the ground and lands on his feet. "You see my beautiful daughter, these trees can you your friend, the leaves can be your friend, the flowers that blossom can be your friend...the fruits that grown upon these trees can be your friend, and these rabbits can be your friends." A group of bunnies appeared before Barko. Sophie watched as her father placed a basket in front of the harmless little animals and let them feast upon themselves.
"You are a work of art, father."
Barko chuckled. "Haha, no I'm just some crazy old buffoon. But you see Sophie? The circle of life connects us all one way or another. Do not let our family's wealth and better positioning influence who you are as a person. You are not inferior to anyone, you're as remarkable as anyone can be, as soft as a rabbit." Barko petted the rabbit and in return the small animal nuzzled its head against the human's thigh. "As hard and tough as a rock, or as neutral as your mother. I want you to shine bright as a star can shine Sophie."
"I understand father, your words will never misguide me."
Just before Barko could share another teaching with his daughter, someone came running up to the two of them with another male beside her. "Barko my love, there's a riot going on in the village, we need your help to protect The Galaxy's Heart!"
"I will help fend them off, their wicked ways will not taint this sacred village as long as I'm around. Up now Sophie, I must go."
"Father wait!"
Barko ignored his daughter's pleas and ran in the direction of the danger alongside the male that arrived with his wife, Maria Karagane, whom was also Sophie's mother. Sophie loved her mother so much that her attire was modeled after her mother's.
Maria Karagane was Sophie's loving mother. Maria Karagane is a woman of class, elegance and peace throughout the world. Before moving into the city of Paris after a successfully long career resulting in a better thriving and wealthier life for her and her Sophie, she grew up in Itali Village just like her husband and her daughter.
For years she worked in various museums as a Curator and educator on the long and ancient history of Beys, Lost Civilizations, Lost Ruins, etc. In her adventuring and explorer days, Maria had found and discovered lost ruins and civilizations with the help of her BeyBlade, Lightning Valkyrie. As a result of this, she gained a very positive reputation throughout Europe, eventually becoming a veteran member of the European Union. After a lengthy career of exploring, adventuring and volunteering for various museums and teaching generations of children, she settled down with fellow Itali Villager, Barko Karagane.
"Up now Sophie, let us go make sure things aren't going bad down there."
"Right!"
Together Sophie and Maria rushed out of the forest and towards Itali Village's legendary Galaxy Heart Cave to make sure the situation was being contained.
--
A few minutes later, Sophie and Maria were inside of The Galaxy Heart Cave looking for any signs of Barko. Together they even took down hostile Bladers that were trying to commandeer the cave for their own.
These hostile Bladers were dressed in jumpsuits and wearing tinted goggles. Judging by the looks of things, these frequent attacks against Itali Village were by the same mysterious, powerful and nuisance unit.
"Take them down! Let it rip!" The lead bad of his unit ordered his cronies to attack Sophie and Maria.
But unfortunately for them, they were about to find out why Sophie was the heart of the Team Excalibur and the European Union. "Grand Malestrom, let's go Cetus!"
Upon being launched and on the order of its master, White Cetus immediately formed Sophie's infamous and iconic whirlpool formed and engulfed the opposition, much to their dismay and anger.
Maria on the other hand was effortlessly dealing with her share of enemies. "Let's go Valkyrie, show these uneducated fools the beauty of your power!"
Maria's Lightning Valkyrie Bey Beast appeared, much to Sophie's amazement. A female Valkyrie warrior appeared riding its horse and with her sword in full hand. Upon Maria's command, Valkyrie charged at the enemy troops and sent their beys flying along with their owners without much of an effort.
"Let's move, your father will need our help."
"Right."
Sophie and Maria nodded as they jumped over the unconscious bodies of the enemy Bladers. Just how much worse could this situation possibly get?"
--
"Why have you come here? This village is a peaceful place for those upper and lower class alike to relax and live in unison and harmony amongst another."
"Sorry gramps, but the good Doctor told me to seize this place, he said the power contained in this cave is something extraordinary that may help the world change forever."
Barko was busy battling this mysterious group of BeyBlade troops who had time and time again tried to take over the Galaxy Heart caves. This was not the first time this group has tried and tried obtain control of this sacred place.
"I've got you now! GO GO! SEND IT FLYING BACK INTO HOLE IT CRAWLED OUT OF!" On command, Barko's Bey charged at the gang of Bladers. Its charge attack was so powerful that it took out multiple enemies in one attack. Some of them were now getting even more scared by how powerful this man was.
Barko grinned as this was all apart of his plan. Yes that's it, keep wasting all of your power and energy, that way when it's all drained, I can strike and take them down all at once.
Barko allowed his Bey to keep getting knocked and tossed around on purpose. Whatever his plan was, he had to make it quick and fast because this part of the cave was starting to crumble and collapse in on itself.
Barko allowed his Bey to keep taking hits from the ones that were stronger and whenever the time was right, he would take out the weaker ones that dispersed from the group. Barko grinned. "Whomever your leader is, he obviously doesn't train you well! HAHA! Your launch form was all sloppy, your group attacks are horribly miscalculated and worst of all, you all seem desperate!"
"Why You!"
"Sir, we have to go now, this place is gonna collapse in and send us all into Hades! We have to abandon the mission for now! Do you hear me! We have to abort the mission now!"
The exhausted Barko Karagane grinned once more. He was single handedly making whatever their operation was fall apart one sentence at a time, and as a result of that, their battling style was getting more sloppy by the minute. Barko loved bey battling, but against horrible people like this he did not like it.
Suddenly a large rock fell from the ceiling nearly crushing the BeyBlade gang's leader, much to his minions horror.
"We must get out of here right now man! It's getting dang-"
"GOOOOO!" Barko's Bey charged and sent all of the excess Beys flying away from the battlefield. He was almost done. Barko however was also getting slightly concerned with the current deterioration of the landscape. As bad as this was, as long as the village was safe and could live another day, he didn't care what happened to him. One way or another, Barko would have to become apart of the circle of life and take his place soon. But before he could do that, he had to eliminate the entire threat to the village.
"Barko/Father!"
To Barko's horror and surprise, he heard the voice of his wife and daughter calling out to him. And there he saw, was Sophie and Maria trying to reach him.
"No! Maria, Sophie stay back right now!"
"We've come to get you out of here dear!" Maria started pleading with her husband. "The invaders are starting to retreat, the passion of the villagers' desire to battle was too much for them!"
Barko sighed, but not out of sadness, he took a deep breath almost as if he were at ease. "Listen, I'm not going to make it out of here okay, it's time for me to claim my place in the ever growing circle of life, it's time for my spirit to ascend to the heavens."
"Father, you've gone crazy." Sophie started, with her Mother pleading and starting to tear up next to her. "We Can-"
"LOOK OUT!" Barko sent his Bey charging at a sharp massive Diamond that was falling from the ceiling and aiming right for Sophie and Maria. No, not his wife, not his daughter, those two were both his pride and joy and he would not allow them to go so soon. They had so much more to offer to life than he did. Barko's Bey, Flame Achilles emitted a massive fire tornado around itself and smashed apart the massive Diamond crushed his wife and daughter. Sophie and Maria were absolutely relieved.
At this point, the section Barko was standing in was beginning to collapse. Seeing as how this was it, Barko had one last teaching for Sophie. And one last message for his wife. "Hun, I'll always be there for you in spirit. I'll always love you even if I'm not there anymore!"
At this point, Maria broke down crying. Sophie was trying her hardest to maintain her own confidence and composure.
Barko gave his beloved daughter one last message to carry on her journey and her life. "You'll become stronger on your own, Sophie, you'll carry on your own journey in life, you'll carve out your own path, your own destiny, and remember this my dear baby girl, Only one star in the sky can shine the brightest, your hear me, ONLY ONE STAR CAN SHINE THE BRIGHTESTTTTTTTTTT!"
"Daddy NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Barko winked at his daughter and wife before shooting one last double thumbs up. Barko closed his eyes, obtaining inner peace as his wife and daughter watched him disappear under the falling diamonds and crystals from the sky, dying in front of their eyes.
It was at this point Sophie and her mother were now both breaking down, heartbroken by the passing of their father/husband.
Flashback Over:
"...And quite some time after that, my mother, Maria Karagane came down with a terrible illness shortly before the beginning of the BeyBlade World Championships. She has since been bedridden." Sophie was struggling to contain her pain and grief. Madoka and Satomi were rubbing her back and giving her hugs.
Madoka was absolutely shocked that someone as elegant and calm as Sophie had such a grim past. "That's horrible, again Sophie, I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that."
Gingka, whom had a rough past in his own right gave Sophie his condolences and sympathy as well. "Yeah what Madoka said, it's awful that you had to go through all of that."
Yu and Masamune remained respectfully quiet, with Masamune feeling somewhat bad for giving Sophie a hard time about her not being trustworthy.
Sophie wiped the small tears from her face. "Come with me, all of you, there's one last place I want to show you before the Final Battle begins tomorrow."
GanGan Galaxy arrived at a cabin somewhere in the village, following Sophie and Satomi. "Take a look in there." She instructed.
Gingka, Yu, Madoka and Masamune looked through the window and saw a woman with what looked like Mint green hair. She looked visibly sick and weak and her eyes were not even open. She had a bed cloth over her entire body and a towel over her head.
"That woman in there, is my mother...Maria Karagane. Like I told you before GanGan Galaxy, she's been terribly ill since the beginning of the World Championships."
"She doesn't look good." Gingka says, in a serious tone.
"No kidding." Yu adds, albeit sadly.
"I really hope she'll get better soon." Masamune says, with genuine sympathy. Secretly, he could relate to the current predicament of Sophie having someone she cared about being terribly ill, but he had never shared it with anyone.
"I won't you all to know something."
Gingka and his team looked at Sophie.
"During the final battle, me and Excalibur will be fighting with everything that we've got, and we surely expect to win in the end. I made a promise to myself that I'd win the World Championships for my mother and my late father, and I don't want our victory to feel like we cheated to earn our eventual victory in the tournament. Promise me this." Sophie eyed Gingka. Her face grew serious. "Promise that you'll take the battle seriously and fight with all that you've got, if you don't, I'll never forgive you Gingka, and it'll be an insult to Excalibur's pride and all that we stand for."
Gingka was shocked. Sophie was seriously determined. He could feel that her Blader's spirit was pure, but she had one thing mistake; GanGan Galaxy was going to win the battle in the end. "Of course, that's not even a question, we'll fight with everything that we've got." Gingka's team nodded in agreement. "And in the end, we'll be the victors, Sophie. So tell Konzern, I'll be waiting for him."
Sophie formed a mischievous grin on her face. "Oh I will Gingka...I will indeed."
A/N's: It's officially the one year anniversary since the Twin Jewels Of BeyBlade was published by me! Nice! On December 11th, 2022 is when I published TJOBB for the first time.
We also got to learn about Sophie's past a little more. Everything I came up with here was off the dome and my full creative imagination. I'm kinda 50/50 on some stuff and how it turned out, but I'm happy with how it came out overall and I'm glad to provide more insight. see you all in Chapter 16!
Have Fun, Stay Safe, And Be Good People!
