Chapter 7

"THAT'S MY BEST FRIEND!" Tyreese roared.

Vesuvius powered up the dish's sides using Lupa's tornado, performing divebomb after divebomb. There was a burst of light for every impact, and dust clouds ballooned up. The two they were up against covered their eyes and tried to work out a counterattack. What was supposed to have been an easy skirmish between rounds had morphed into a much-tenser battle.

"Wanna waltz, Aya?"

Ayaka thought about it. The waltz was primarily about…rotation around each other. Their own speed would generate the attack power she couldn't on her own right then. Alright. She understood and drew her bey back from the barrage. Dai followed suit., and the beys began their orbits.

Almost…almost…now!

The training bey smashed into their adversaries just a little later than Ves. That worked to throw them off a bit, but Ayaka clearly was still too weak. The time she had to recover was passing by. Her throat started tightening. She needed to stop relying on the others to battle. On the day she faced Kai-Rah again, the stadium had to remain gold and not that sickening purple. She felt Dai's concerned glance.

"Do try to keep up, dear." Ayaka rolled her eyes as she slowly loosened her grip on her cardigan. Dai curled her lip in response.

Hm. She isn't retaliat-HEY!

Dai called Vesuvius, and it crashed into Ayaka's training bey. Its momentum launched it forward, fully breaking up the opposing team's formation. Tyreese laughed at their dismay and tracked their scattering beys.

"My turn!"

Lupa sped straight through, the wake of its silver streak knocking them off-balance. Only three beys were left spinning.

I'll allow it.

Results would always be satisfying. Despite some…deviations… her plans were working. She was mainly a support, but she was battling too. Ayaka looked at the darkening sky above the streetlamps as she caught her breath. Was Mercury's spirit up there? Two of the first stars caught her eye. One shone brightly, and fairly consistently. The other was little dimmer but flashed more- a little more volatile. Hm. Just like those two. Tyreese was like a kerosene fire. Dai, more like sparks. Both were dangerous, but in entirely different ways. And, as with all bladers, their blading showed their personalities.

Dai was clearly warming up to her, but she lost her head quickly. And when that happened, she went for all-out strikes. She'd lose stamina too easily as they progressed. She also trusted Tyreese a lot. No tactical expertise at all. A change should do her some good.

Tyreese on the other hand could clearly think of things she couldn't. But Lupa was a Stamina-type. All the spontaneous moves didn't play well into that. Either she reeled it in, or Ayaka could play around with Lupa's build. And that…the way she liked completely overwhelming her opponents didn't sit well with the burgundy-haired blader. So much lost potential. She couldn't study moves if people were eliminated so thoroughly.

There'd been a lot of weight in her hand as she held Lupa. A new Attack Ring would help the situation. What about a Performance Tip?

As greyish rainclouds gathered overhead, and the air grew cold and biting, the girl followed the cement path into the tournament parts shop. Ayaka ducked to avoid hitting her head on the doorframe and as she entered, her sneakers thudded against white tiling. The walls had bright, glossy posters of experimental and standard bey builds. The bright white lights reflected off the display cases, and the shop smelled of polish and new rubber. Only when it filled her nose did she realize how much she'd missed the scent. Greeting the salesperson and taking a basket, she started on the wooden shelves to the far left. They had 90 Spin Tracks- the one Mercury needed. Ayaka immediately added them, with extras in case of emergencies or later build switches.

A 130 caught her eye. Hm. How would that work for Dai? The girl's bey was low, and she wondered if a slight height increase would increase warm airflow. She would definitely test that out. Huh-they had Twisted Attack Rings? The shape might help Tyreese out, but they were supremely heavy. Perhaps she'd shave off some metal, and make sure it compensated for it not being anywhere near as good as the original Twisted Tempo. All those grand plans required some new tools, so she took them.

She found some other part worth trying out, as well as the remaining ones for her old build. All that was left to do was to hope for a miracle. She was about to leave, but a 3-tiered metallic case all but winked at her from a display case. Ayaka read the features, and her heart fluttered.

It boasted of soft inner padding, compartments for the different parts and a built-in computer on the inside of the roof. That would be pricey. But she thought of the benefits. Running simulations for the team, calculating outcomes based on bey modifications- it was exactly what she needed. Besides, she wasn't of much use in the dish itself yet. This would increase the two's chances, and thus hers while she fixed her bey.

From the second she tightened her fingers around its ergonomic grip, she knew she'd made a good choice. Ayaka was in good spirits when she at last made it back to the dorm. A full-length wardrobe stood near the entrance against sunflower-yellow walls. Further in, two bunk beds faced each other, standing on a simple rug. Each bunk also had accompanying side tables, and on each table stood one small lamp. She'd likely have spent more time there given its charm, but things had gotten unexpectedly crazy. And despite the weather, it seemed a certain third had no time at all for a pause in the room either.

"And Dai is…where, exactly?"

"Dunno. Whaddya get?"

Taking a deep breath, Ayaka sat on the rug and laid the parts out. Tyreese pulled out her phone and started looking up different configurations.

"You're all about speed, so your bey needs to definitely be lightweight. That basically settles your Attack Ring as closed-circumference and Performance Tip as Metal Spike. Spin Track's a bit of a grey area. I-."

"Wait-no. It'll be Blaze and Rubber Sharp like before. Reduces my adjustment time for competition."

"Uuuhh…"

"It's going to be the same setup."

"Huhhh…"

"What? Stop making those noises!"

"Whaddya mean what? Just make it better. You saw how many new builds are out. That Static one will be perfect for what you're looking for."

Why was she hesitating so much? She'd always loved trying things and tracking the trends. She'd just gotten new parts, for crying out loud. But those were just for playing around with. Her old setup had been just fine. It had worked.

"My setup was fine. I just…."

Her research worked so well she hadn't needed to change…for…a while…Oh…There it was. She'd been both cocky, and unprepared. She hadn't updated in so long.

"It…really was all my fault, wasn't it."

Mercury suffered for her mistake. Her arrogance had destroyed her best friend, depriving them both of the thrill of the chase. It was why she hadn't planned for so long- why she had lost touch with the mechanics forums. She'd gotten lazy.

"I…guess? I mean, it did look like you just went on in and didn't read the dish at all. The glowing purple dish that sucked other beys in. But it happens."

It…happened? To idiots, maybe. Professionals understood that their bey wasn't a tool. That they needed care and time. They felt joy and pain just as their wielders did, and she'd lost sight of that. Even if it did 'happen', it shouldn't have been the case that it happened with her. She should have known better. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tyreese reach forward, and pull back a few times, debating over whether to pat her back.

"You're terrible at this."

"Doing my best here. Now shut up and feel better."

Dai's laugh came from the passageway. "Really, Ty?"

She entered the room, dropped the bags on the rug and tugged Ayaka to the edge of the bed. "Come here."

Dai hugged her. "It's been a long way up. But you're doing what you can. I'm happy you got your parts today. You can make Mercury even better now! So, how about some snacks while we get the new build going? We can take a break from training- we've done more than enough."

Ayaka nodded slowly. Time to switch gears to another kind of work. However, she shot Tyreese a quizzical, mildly irritated glance as soon as their third team member turned again.

Another disappearance?

The girl's hand slightly rubbed the armrest of her wheelchair in thought. She figured she might as well give her some explanation if they were going to get through the tournament. Dai would get worse, and Ayaka freaking out even more wouldn't really help. Tyreese beckoned the other girl to come closer and whispered.

"She…takes things personally and stresses about competitions for longer than it looks. Going off on her own is just how she handles it. Had a couple close calls, yeah, but she always pulls through. No worries."

Tyreese fell into silence after, lips were pursed in thought. Dai had been dealing with her for a while, now. Having her plus Ayaka- with both their extreme ways- was probably a mess and a half for her brain. She'd been able to single-handedly push the blue haired girl past her limit before, so she wasn't surprised at the amount of vanishing she'd been doing lately. A memory came back to the platinum blonde.

Listen. We can do this two ways: we can fight about this forever and ever. Or we can actually Beyblade. Your move.

Tyreese had dropped it since then.

Ayaka, for her part, was worrying about it. But there were other things to be done. All three of them assembled at the carpet and unloaded the bags. The amber light of the bulb overhead lit up the darkness of the night and the storm. As the thunder rolled, and the rain drummed against the windows, the three bent their heads and got to work.