Chapter 13: The Axe Of Destruction, Klaus:
After their first loss at the hands of Excalibur, courtesy of Wales and Sophie, both Wang-Hu-Zhong and Excalibur had a brief break to strategize for the second match. It was a good day to be a European Blader or European fan. That was evidenced by the roaring of the crowd.
"Ouu-La-La!" The French DJ started, "The winners of the first match between Excalibur and Wang-Hu-Zhong in the BeyBlade World Championships A-Block round three is the Wales and Sophie pair! Fred Bien! Bonjour, it is a good day indeed, how will China's own Team Wang-Hu-Zhong respond to their first defeat?"
Meanwhile, back in Japan, GanGan Galaxy are still recovering from the shock of seeing Chao-Xin and Mei-Mei defeated by Team Excalibur, with Masamune noticeably more tense than everyone else.
"Wow..." Yu started. "They really are that strong...Excalibur."
Masamune's eyes didn't leave the television screen at all. "Yep...now Wang-Hu-Zhong can't lose another match."
"Yeah we know, but Dashan and Chi-Yun won't let it end here." Gingka pointed out. If there's one thing he knew about Chi-Yun, and especially Dashan, it was that they won't be brought down without a fight. The Pegasus blader had hope for their friends and knew this wouldn't be the end of them. But he also knew that Excalibur would not make things easy for them as well. Now he was puzzled on how he thought the battle would end. Then the younger Hagane remembered something Sophie had told him when the team was back in Greece for the Festival Of Warriors:
"I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of each other soon." Just as the girl leaves, she touches under Gingka's chin and slowly slides away her hand as she walks away, almost in a manner of flirting.
Who would they face in the A-Block finals?
...
Team Excalibur or Team Wang-Hu-Zhong?
Meanwhile, back in France, it was nearly time for the second battle of the A-Block Semi Finals to begin. For Excalibur, they didn't have to worry, but Wang-Hu-Zhong couldn't afford to lose anymore. It was now or never, and quite frankly they did not want to experience the 'never'.
"Bonjour, everybody." Said French DJ. "It is time to announce the Bladers who will be competing in the second match! From our home team of Excalibur, making his World Championship debut, it's Klaus!"
On the arena's large screen monitor, Klaus's face appears over Excalibur's team symbol.
"And from our respectable opposition, here is China's heart, and one of the key's to Beylin Temple's legacy, it's the ferocious and determined, Chi-Yun!"
The face of the mentioned Blader appeared before the Wang-Hu-Zhong's team symbol.
The French DJ was as excited, if not more excited than the fans for the upcoming battle. "Ouu, I cannot wait. It's almost time everyone!"
While the excitement for the battle was oozing in the air outside the stadium with the fans, Chi-Yun was by himself, inside the locker room area, cleansing and shining his Thermal Lacerta for battle. Once it was cleaned up enough for his liking, he stood up and prepared himself in a launching position. "That's very good." He said to no one in particular.
He walked over to a smaller sized Bey Stadium in the locker room area that was used for practicing purposes, and was preparing to do some intense training for his upcoming match against Klaus.
"Same as always, huh?" A voice suddenly called out.
As the startled Chi-Yun looked to his left, he saw a smiling Dashan standing in the walkway. "I've already told you, you need to learn to relax your shoulders Chi-Yun." The owner of Zurafa walked towards his friend. "You've got to learn how to keep from tensing up and getting nervous."
"Dashan." Was all Chi-Yun could say.
"If you tense up, your bey won't move the way you want it to."
The Thermal Lacerta Blader tried to play off his inner nervousness by following Dashan's orders with the best fake smile he could put on. "Uhh, of course. You're right."
"Chi-Yun." Dashan's smile only grew wider. "How about battling me as a bit of a warmup, you know, just like in the old days."
Chi-Yun was now smiling too. "Woah, way back then? That sounds great, and those days seem so long ago."
Dashan leaped across the room and landed on the opposite side of the Bey stadium facing Chi-Yun as the prepped for their mini battle. "You know, it's been a long time since I battled against you like this."
"Yes, a very long time."
As the two began to have a fun sparring session together, Chi-Yun reminisced about the days when he first traveled to the Beylin Temple. He was much much younger and weaker than the other Bladers that were training there. The training was difficult, one occasion he nearly got smashed into bits by wooden figures. Another occasion he nearly drowned and was crushed by a log during an aquatic training session. And another incident found himself falling down onto the ground from a high tightrope, injuring himself. And one more incident occurred when he was easily defeated by some Beylin Temple Bladers who as a result laughed and began bullying the then younger Chi-Yun.
The Lacerta Blader truly remembered how difficult it was to try and keep up with the extremely talented Chinese Bladers. He nearly fell behind almost all the time. Yes, It was tough, but it had to be done if Chi-Yun wanted to become an even better and stronger Blader. Then Chi-Yun thought back to the night he met Dashan for the first time. He had saw him training by having a battle against multiple Beylin Bladers.
He remembered being so impressed by how the young Dashan had sent all of them flying with one single ferocious attack from his Rock Zurafa. The kindness, motivation and enthusiasm that Dashan showed Chi-Yun that night would never be forgotten. It was the birth of their friendship for the years to come. They had trained together, ate together and fought together. They were truly brothers for life.
It was thanks to Dashan that Chi-Yun was who he was today.
After remembering the good old days, Chi-Yun did something that surprised Dashan. He called back his Lacerta, and suddenly stopped the battle before it could really get started.
"But Chi-Yun, what are you-"
The Lacerta Blader smiled as he cut off his friend and leader. He made a bold statement. "Leave it to me, okay? I Chi-Yun, will make your dream come true. I will defeat Klaus, and you'll defeat Julian Konzern. Then you and the rest of the Beylin Temple shall stand at the top of the world my friend." And with that, Chi-Yun walked out of the locker area leaving behind a stunned Dashan.
It was now time for the second match of the Excalibur, Wang-Hu-Zhong series to begin. So much was at stake for Wang-Hu-Zhong.
French DJ began his opening commentary. "It is now time everyone. Let the second match begin!"
Being that the opponents from both sides have already had their introductory speeches from FDJ, Chi-Yun was already front and center, ready to battle. But the problem was, Klaus was nowhere in sight.
French DJ noticed this as well. "The only problem is, on Team Excalibur, the competitor Klaus is nowhere to be seen. Team Wang-Hu-Zhong's competitive Chi-Yun is already standing in the stadium. Just what is going on here?"
Chi-Yun looked in every direction to see if he could catch a glimpse of his opponent. But he couldn't see him anywhere. Instead, Chi-Yun eyes landed on the smug and arrogant face of Julian Konzern. Something about this guy just made his blood boil.
Julian suddenly spoke up. "No need to panic." His finger suddenly shot up in the air. "Klaus!"
The cameras panned and flashed to where Konzern pointed. And there he was, the man himself; Klaus. He was high up in the stands, causing a massive applause and cheers from the audience. Klaus started running a top speeds. He jumped up high in the air, making it look as if he were touching the Sun. The mysterious Blader landed on the ground, in front of the stadium, even shaking it in the process. He stood up, with a serious look on his face. He was a big boy indeed, much taller than everyone on GanGan Galaxy, Excalibur and Wang-Hu-Zhong. Everyone was shocked.
French DJ was excited. "There he is! He is Team Excalibur's fourth member! Klauuusss! And oh boy, he's a big one!"
As the fans roared, Chi-Yun and Klaus stared each other down, with not a single ounce of fear in either Blader's eyes. "This guy is my opponent?" Asked Chi-Yun.
The rest of Wang-Hu-Zhong only looked on in concern. The rest of Excalibur remained stoic and unfazed. Chi-Yun with no hesitation readied his launcher equipped with Lacerta. He was ready. I will no lose. I will win this for Dashan.
Klaus, whom was silent and unfazed the entire time, firmly showed off his Bey; Grand Capricorn 145D. The huge Blader uttered his first words since arriving. "Stand by!" He aggressively pushed his Capricorn into his launcher and readied himself for battle against Chi-Yun.
"Okay, here we go!" Yelled French DJ.
Everyone began the trademark countdown.
"Three...!" Yelled the fans.
"Two...!" Said the rest of Team Excalibur.
"One...!" Said the rest of Team Wang-Hu-Zhong.
"Let it rip!" Yelled Klaus and Chi-Yun in sync as Thermal Lacerta and Grand Capricorn were launched. Both Beys sped past each other in mid air before landing in the stadium.
With no hesitation, Lacerta immediately began to charge after Capricorn, much to Chi-Yun's pleasure. "Alright!"
"He's got him in his sights." Mei-Mei said.
"The first attack is his for the taking." Said Chao-Xin.
Lacerta slammed into Capricorn with an attack that had full force. But instead of pushing around Capricorn, Lacerta was sent flying as if it was the Bey that was being attacked.
"No way!" Chi-Yun exclaimed.
Klaus remained and unfazed.
"Lacerta makes the first move, but it gets sent flying and instead!"
French DJ's comments make Chi-Yun grit his teeth in annoyance. Fortunately Lacerta managed to safely land back in the stadium, relatively unharmed.
Dashan, Chao-Xin and Mei-Mei express their relief, so far so good, They thought Chi-Yun had it in the bag so far. Meanwhile Excalibur broke down a description of Klaus and his level of Power.
Wales went first. "Klaus is the best power Blader in the entire EU. The Bey speed from his power launch is the fastest in the world. Second to none!"
"Anyone who gets close will simply be blown away." Sophie added for further emphasis.
The comments from Konzern's twin jewels didn't make Chi-Yun's mood any better as he prepped Lacerta for another attack against Capricorn. "Is that so?! We'll just see about that, Lacerta, Storm Barrage!" As it's master commanded, Lacerta charged for Capricorn and began delivering its special barrage attacks, but like before, none of the attacks seemed to be bothering Capricorn in the slightest.
"Lacerta is not giving up!" Said the French DJ. "It's unleashing a deadly barrage of attacks, but Capricorn is not bothered in the least bit!"
The rest of Wang-Hu-Zhong express more concern, particularly Mei-Mei. "You can do it Chi-Yun. Come on!"
Chi-Yun ignored his teammates and continued battling hard against Klaus. "Take that pal!"
The Excalibur Blader only grunted. "You pesky fly." Capricorn suddenly stopped the attack and had managed to send Lacerta flying across the stadium.
"Oh no, Lacerta!"
"Okay now it's my turn." Said Klaus. "Claw Of The Storm, First!" Capricorn began spinning around the stadium so fast, a red flash of energy could be seen. Capricorn smashes into Lacerta and completely sends it flying up into the air. Chi-Yun could only yelp in fear. Once Lacerta landed back on the ground, it barely had time to recover from the attack before Capricorn came in with a hard counterattack.
"Don't give up, Chi-Yun." Shouted Mei-Mei.
"I won't!" Chi-Yun then turned his attention towards Klaus. "Don't think you've won yet, if you're gonna fight with power then I'll fight back with speed! Lacerta, Piercing Wind Strike!" Upon command, Lacerta began heading towards the edge of the stadium to prep for another attack against Capricorn.
Julian was nothing more than amused while he watched on with Sophie and Wales. "Silly person, of course a Bey battle cannot be won with power alone. That however, counts in the case of normal power."
Lacerta came speeding down from the edge of the stadium to crash into Capricorn, but instead of sending the former flying, Lacerta crashed and burned as it basically sent itself flying out of here. How powerful was this guy? Just why won't he be a good opponent and get defeated already? Chi-Yun couldn't believe it.
Julian's comments weren't making Chi-Yun feel any better. "The fact is that an overwhelming power itself becomes the strongest weapon. An axe that crushes and mows down everything in its path, that is Klaus!"
"Claw Of The Storm, second!" Klaus called out.
Capricorn jumped up high into the air to kick off its special move. Then Capricorn came crashing down, smashing right into Lacerta, trying to forcibly finish it off like an axe chopping down a tree. Like a fox hunting down a rabbit. It was like a wild animal that could not be tamed.
"Run away Chi-Yun." Pleaded Mei-Mei.
Unfortunately while Lacerta was trying to escape and save its skin, it just couldn't shake off the annoying pest that was Capricorn. No matter how much it budged. No matter how much Lacerta shook itself, Capricorn just wouldn't go away.
"Why won't this Bey come off?" Chao-Xin asked. "What gives?"
Dashan seemed to be the only one that realized what was truly happening. "It's going to crush Lacerta completely flat."
"Jump Lacerta!" Out of desperation, Chi-Yun had Lacerta leap into the air with Capricorn on top of it. Fortunately the result was as expected as Capricorn finally let go of its grip on Lacerta in mid air. Once they both landed back in the stadium, Chi-Yun took his chance to strike. "I've got you, special move, Tempestuous Whirlwind Sword!"
Immediately the lizard beast of Lacerta appeared before everyone. It then slashed its tail, slamming Capricorn into the ground with its overwhelming force and devastating power. The impact from the attack caused a massive dust cloud that covered the entire stadium. Chi-Yun looked happy like he had just finished off Klaus for good.
But Klaus remained calm and unbothered.
The smile on Chi-Yun quickly turned into disbelief and shock. There was no way Capricorn should've survived that. It was a devastating blow. A direct hit. Just how much punishment could this Bey withstand?
"But...how?"
French DJ was mind blown. "Muoy Bien, Capricorn used its power to survive that special move!"
Dashan, Chao-Xin and Mei-Mei were all in disbelief as well, while Julian, Sophie and Wales looked as if they were expecting this outcome.
"That was your special move pal?" Klaus asked, clearly unimpressed. "A weak attack like that won't have any effect on my Capricorn."
Chi-Yun now looked worried and completely overwhelmed with anger, disbelief and despair. "You call that a weak attack?! See how you like it again and again!"
Lacerta began recklessly attacking Capricorn without any reason, as Chi-Yun was desperate for anything. Something, just a glimmer of hope, but the chances of that were very slim for Chi-Yun.
"Don't make a foolish move Chi-Yun!" Dashan called out.
Sadly for Wang-Hu-Zhong, Dashan's warning fell on deaf ears. Chi-Yun did not care. He was going to absolutely crush this guy in battle. And then Dashan would easily take care of that overly confident and self centered guy named Julian. "Special Move! Tempestuous Whirlwind Sword, do it, do it, do it right now!"
"Claw Of The Storm, third!"
At the same time, both Bey beasts of Lacerta and Capricorn appeared and began charging directly at each other. Lacerta tried to use its tail to smash down on Capricorn, but it easily dodged this and countered with its own attack and sent the helpless lizard beat rolling all over the stadium floor. Chi-Yun could neither say or do anything about this in that very moment Dashan gritted his teeth. Julian looked like he was very entertained and amused by the ongoing battle. Sophie and Wales both looked at each other and knew it was game over; this match was going to be Excalibur's as well.
"Claw Of The Storm, First!"
Upon the words of Klaus, Capricorn charged in at high speeds and crashed into Lacerta, sending it flying back towards Chi-Yun. It had just barley managed to hold its ground and avoid the stadium out.
Chi-Yun regained his composure. If offense wasn't getting the job done, then Beylin Temple's four thousand year old technique would. "Solid Iron Wall!"
This meant nothing to the Axe Of Destruction. "Claw Of The Storm, third!" Capricorn once again sent Lacerta flying, this time high into the air, almost to the point where no one could see Lacerta anymore. Julian, Wales and Sophie had smug smiles, while Mei-Mei, Chao-Xin and Dashan were in disbelief that their legendary Solid Iron Wall was broken through with little to no effort.
Chi-Yun looked like he was going to break down. "T-That's impossible!"
"Haha," said Klaus, without a smile. "Much to fragile my friend."
Capricorn began a relentless series of brutal barrage attacks against Lacerta. It was like a dead leaf being thrown around by a raging storm. It was just pitiful.
"Dig deeper Chi-Yun!" Mei-Mei pleaded. "If you lose here it's all over."
The Lacerta Blader's eyes widened. Something inside him was awakened. It was one of two things: determination or desperation. All that mattered was that Chi-Yun would not and could not lose. "I will not lose! Dashan had a dream. And I'm gonna make it happen! I must not lose here! Ahhhhhhhhh!" Lacerta jumped up into the air. "Go now Lacerta!" Lacerta began dive bombing back towards to the stadium in a last desperate effort to combat Capricorn.
"It's no use." Said Klaus.
"Dashan's dream is Chi-Yun's dream too." As Chi-Yun went on, his friends and teammates couldn't help but be worried for the wellbeing of their friend. "Chi-Yun will make it real."
Julian, whom was having a good time watching what he deemed a sad effort in his mind, formed what was possibly the biggest smile he had on throughout the entire day.
"CHI-YUN WILL MAKE IT REAL! SPECIAL MOVE, Tempestuous Whirlwind Sword!" Chi-Yun looked enraged and exhausted as he called upon his special move once again. This time he was going to win. Dashan's dream, Chi-Yun's dream, and the legacy of the Beylin Temple. All of it was riding on this battle right here and now.
The Lizard beast of Lacerta appeared once again preparing to finish off Capricorn once and for all.
But Klaus wouldn't allow that to happen. "Capricorn, special move, Steel Darkness!" The beast of Capricorn appeared before Lacerta's. Immediately it began charging towards Lacerta. In the process Capricorn formed into a massive red tornado and smashed through Lacerta and sent it flying completely. There was a massive explosion that ensued in the process.
Sophie merely smiled, knowing the result while Wales let off a small chuckle. Wang-Hu-Zhong looked nervous as they watched on. Once the smoke settled, it was clear who the winner of the match was.
Chi-Yun was baffled.
"La-Lacerta has stopped." The French DJ called. "The winner is Klaus!"
As Klaus called back and caught his Capricorn in his hand, Chi-Yun was still letting the reality of his team's second elimination in the World Championships sink in. It was all over. Dashan's dream, Chi-Yun's dream, Mei-Mei's desire to get back at the EU Team for Masamune; was all over.
"Tres Bien!" The French DJ excitedly exclaimed. "Astounding, Team Excalibur wins two matches in a row, which means they go to the A-Block finals, and battle Gingka and his group of warriors from Japan, Team GanGan Galaxy, Fred Bien!"
Excalibur's faces suddenly appeared on the screen next to GanGan Galaxy.
Chi-Yun stood there, heartbroken, shocked and disappointed. He had failed Dashan, and the entire Beylin Temple. All of that hard work, amounted to nothing.
"Aw man." Said Chao-Xin. "That's it? It's really over just like that?"
While Mei-Mei and Chao-Xin watched on with worry, Dashan with no hesitation ran over to the frozen Chi-Yun.
"Chi-Yun."
"I failed you...Dashan. I guess I wasn't able to help you realize your dream."
The leader of Wang-Hu-Zhong and the Beylin Temple smiled. "It's okay, I understand exactly how you feel. Let's start our training again from scratch, alright?"
Chi-Yun was beginning to grow emotional as he tried his very best to hold back tears and break down in front of his friends and the crowd full of people. Mei-Mei and Chao-Xin stood away from their comrades, happily smiling while letting their moment of rejoice and hope play out respectfully. While all of Wang-Hu-Zhong were sad that they wouldn't go to the A-Block finals, they knew that their friends in Japan would be waiting for Team Excalibur. They knew that Gingka and Masamune wouldn't lie down without a fight.
By this point, Team Excalibur had already begun to head for the exits. They were all satisfied with their work. As usual it was a job well done, and Julian didn't need to battle as usual. His March towards the throne was progressing smoothly and with great proficiency.
Back In Japan, Gingka and the rest of GanGan Galaxy were just as shocked as the rest of the world by Team Wang-Hu-Zhong's crushing defeat. More so due to the fact that neither Dashan or Julian even had to chance to battle each other.
"Wang-Hu-Zhong lost..." Said Gingka. "Unbelievable."
"So our opponents for the finals are Excalibur?" Masamune noted. Secretly he was glad Excalibur was now their opponents. The arrogance that this team had seriously bugs him and he for one could no wait until their egos were out in check.
"That Klaus guy," Yu started. "He's really strong. And really weird."
Gingka's father then spoke to them. "I don't think I have to say this to you all, but the final will be a very difficult fight for sure." As the Director went on, blabbering about how hard it would be to beat The EU Team, The nearby phone began ringing, and it caught Hikaru's attention. While her boss prepped their country's team with some good advice, she picked up the phone.
"Hello?.." she answered. Whatever the people that were calling were saying to the retired Blader, it sounded very serious. "Huh?!"
Ryo finally turned his attention back to Hikaru. "What is it Hikaru?"
"It's something serious director, Tsubasa has gone missing from the hospital!"
This caught the team off guard. The thing they did not need right now was their already hospitalized teammate to go missing before an important matchup. It didn't help that he was walking around with the Dark Power living inside of him as well.
This was truly an unwanted disaster.
Meanwhile in the depths of a hot and dangerous lava flowing tube lied nothing more than rocks and of course, lava exploding everywhere. No Blader with a normal mind would ever set foot in a place like this.
But, HE was not just any normal Blader. He was the strongest. He was the fiercest of them all. He absolutely smashed and crushed anything that would stand in his way. But most importantly...
He was the fearsome, Dragon Emperor
"LET IT RIP!"
An all to familiar beyblade was launched and smashed every Boulder and rock to tiny bits. Compared to this awesome power, these boulders were nothing more than pathetic baby mongooses hoping mommy and daddy would come and save them.
The Bey formed a tornado that quickly dispersed into the ferocious form of a red and orange dragon. The mighty beast smashed apart more rocks and devoured more of the lava before standing before its master and roaring loudly and proudly.
"Well now...I've finally found you."
The Dragon's master turned around slowly towards the imposter. He did not look impressed.
"So this is where you've been, Ryuga..."
The aforementioned Dragon Emperor called back L-Drago and caught it in his hand. How dare he interrupt his special training. Coincidentally an amazing burst of fire appeared behind him.
"What business do you have with me?!"
A/N: 13 Chapters down, who knows how many to go, and yay, Ryuga is finally here, and in the flesh, the story just got me more excited, and I'm the one who's writing it Lmao. But seriously I spent an umpteenth amount of time writing and planning on Ryuga's introduction. I didn't want to just go and do it like: "Oh here's Ryuga, the Dragon Emperor training with his L-Drago." I wanted it to be proper and feel more mature and authentic, and I felt that I did a good job with his introduction into the story.
And yes, Ryuga will be playing an important role as a main character, as you can see, it's not all about Masamune, Gingka, Sophie and Mei-Mei :) But I'll have you know that Sophie and Mei-Mei will have their own backstories explained in the upcoming chapters, starting with Sophie for the next couple of chapters and for Mei-Mei's next appearance down the line. Anyways with that being said, 13 down, more to go.
here's some small fun questions for past, present and future readers/reviewers to answer:
1: Who's your favorite Metal Saga character or characters?
2: What was your favorite BeyBlade to battle and own as a kid? (Mines were Pegasus and L-Drago)
3: Do you still watch BeyBalde today? (I don't, as I'm not a fan of anything past Shogun Steel)
With that being said, everybody have fun, stay safe, enjoy the fall season/weather of 2023 and be good people :)
