Beyblade Masters (Ninjago x Beyblade Burst)

Second Stop: Toko and Nika

It's Fall Break for my school, and you guys know what that means...

Yup! More updates!

No One's POV
It was a hot summer day, and the Aoi twins were just hanging out in the park. Nika was sketching in her notebook while Toko watched bey battles on his BeyPad. They both were lounging next to the bey stadium, but neither of their beys were out, especially not on a day like today. It was their big brother's birthday; it was also the four month anniversary of the day he vanished.

The past four months had been hard. After the family heard about their eldest son's disappearance, Toko and Nika went to bed crying the first few nights. Their mother did the same, and the bakery remained closed for about a week; no take out orders, either. Once they'd turned numb enough to go out in public again, it was a living hell. Sure, everyone was sympathetic to them, kept saying "sorry", kept giving them gifts. The twins didn't want their sorry faces. They faced those looks in the mirror every day.

That day marked the beginning of their new lives. They did not dare to battle on such a grim day.

Nika looked up from where she was sketching Valt's face; she was getting pretty good at these, professional even. She watched her brother's longing face as he watched yet another rerun of Valt's battles, the animated flash of beys lightning his cheekbones, which had turned gaunt in the past few months. Their appetites had changed - couldn't even look at bey bread without crying.

Nika watched the warring emotions in Toko's eyes for a few moments before breaking the silence with a sigh. "You know we could have a battle," She said hopefully, her fingers moving towards her pocket. She and her brother didn't battle as often as they used to, but that didn't mean their habit to carry their beys everywhere had died.

Toko was quiet for a few seconds as the battle continued on his BeyPad. Then he answered gruffly, "Don't feel like it."

Nika sighed. That was how he answered to every proposal of a battle - in four syllables or less. Sometimes she pushed until either of them gave their final statements, but Toko seemed in an especially sour mood that day. Knowing things would only get worse if she pushed this time, she decided to let the matter slide.

"What did you say?"

The voice came so soft, so faint, the twins ignored it at first. Then it came again, "Tell me I heard wrong." Toko and Nika looked up in surprise to see a stranger clad in a gray blue hooded trench coat, with a creepy electric mask. Their eyes couldn't be seen, but their gaze was probing as their head swiveled between the two of them. "Your brother is Valt Aoi, isn't he?" Whoever it was asked them. "I'm surprised that his siblings don't share in his love of Beyblade."

The surprise of a complete stranger talking to them quickly wore off, Nika shoving her drawings down her shirt while Toko quickly swiped out of the battle he was watching. The male twin set his BeyPad aside and faced the stranger with a scalding glare. "You mean was our brother," He informed them hotly. "He's been missing for four months, so if you came to us hoping to find him and challenge him to a battle, you're out of luck."

"That's not why I came to you at all," The stranger said swiftly. "I have no intention of battling Valt Aoi."

Nika looked up from where she was stuffing her pencil into her pocket. "Really?" She asked in surprise. That was the main reason foreign visitors even approached them these days; they always turned away from them, disappointed. "Why did you come to us, then?"

The stranger moved to the side of the park's bey stadium. "I came to battle you two," They said. "A Battle Royale, if that's alright with you."

"A Battle Royale?" Nika asked. "You mean, you battle both of us?"

"Yeah, that's it," They replied gently. "And whoever beats the other two wins."

"NO!!" A voice yelled furiously. Toko's chest was heaving and his eyes were turned into tiny slits. He faced the stranger with clenched fists. "Today is our big brother's birthday, and it's also the anniversary of the day he disappeared," He hissed. "You want us to do the very thing he was known for on the very day he may as well have died?" Tears shone in his eyes as he finished.

The stranger was silent. When they spoke again, their voice was even softer, but it had even more of an edge, "Well, why not? You said it yourself, it was the very thing he was known for. What better way to honor him on his birthday then with a battle?"

Toko opened his mouth, but his eyes turned comprehensive. Nika's widened as well. This guy had a point. Valt had loved to battle. It was all he had ever talked about, all he had ever did. He would be horrified if he saw that his twin siblings turned down a battle, especially on his birthday. Hell, he would offer to battle the guy himself!
      
"They have a point, Toko," Nika said softly. She took her bey and launcher out and moved to stand on the other side of the stadium. "Valt would want this." Toko looked like he wanted to argue again, but his eyes turned downcast, and instead he nodded his consent. He brought out his own bey and launcher and took his place next to his sister.
      
The stranger pulled out a bright blue bey that looked like a ball of lightning. "Meet Electric Raijin," They said proudly. "I want you two to give your all against it, okay?"
      
"Okay!" Nika replied, quickly locking her bey into her launcher.
       
"Yeah yeah," Toko added sullenly, doing the same with his bey. "Let's just get this over with." His twin sister looked at him in dismay, noting for the first time just how much he had changed in the past four months.
       
With all three beys locked and loaded, and no one else there to act as a referee, the three bladers yelled out their own countdown: "3... 2... 1... LET IT RIP!!" Having no special moves to their names, Toko and Nika just did the standard launching position. Their opponent, however, looked like a leaping beast in the way that they crouched in their starting position, then leapt into the air. If the Aoi twins hadn't already launched when they witnessed the stranger's launch, they definitely would have failed their launches.
      
The twins' beys dropped into the stadium and started to spin in a pair. They looked like twin soldiers, strong and loyal, neither wavering from the other's side as they went for the enemy.
      
On the other hand, the enemy was a wild beast charging around the stadium. Toko and Nika had to stay still and keep up with it with their eyes in order to see it - it was spinning that fast. Its tip seemed to carve into the stadium floor, yet its speed did not decrease in the slightest. It really was a monster as it spun closer and closer to its prey.
        
"It's going to hit our beys head on!" Nika yelled in alarm. Toko growled sharply.
        
"Tell them to move out of the way," The stranger said simply.
        
"What?" Toko asked. "Why would we do that?"
       
"It's getting harder to believe that you two are the younger siblings of Valt Aoi," They muttered, staring down at the stadium as the three beys raced. "Don't you remember; Valt always spoke to his bey, Valtryek, especially during a battle."
       
Toko and Nika remembered. Valt wasn't exactly subtle when he talked with Valtryek...
       
"Valtryek always listened to Valt because of those talks - Valt talked to Valtryek to make sure there was a bond between the two of them so there was a mutual trust during a battle. Valtryek trusted Valt, so it listened to him. If you have such a bond with your beys, they will listen and do as you say."
        
The Aoi twins shared a look. The explanation was vague, but it was better than nothing if they wanted to win. So simultaneously, they yelled into the stadium "GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!"
       
Their beys wavered for a second, then slowly began to pull apart from each other. Toko and Nika's eyes widened unanimously as Raijin sped between them, completely missing either bey. "Not bad," The stranger praised. "Now keep it up! Raijin, Roundup!"
       
Raijin went to the left, going for Toko's bey first. In no time, it had caught up, pushing the smaller bey along. Then it reversed direction quickly and, pushing Toko's bey in front of it, went for Nika's bey.
        
"Huh?" Toko gasped while Nika gaped. "I've never seen a bey do that before!"
        
"That's because this move is for Raijin only, and it's a move that works perfectly during a Battle Royale!" The stranger boasted.
       
Toko wheeled on them, steaming. "What?" He asked gruffly. "You challenged us, knowing you have a move we can't beat?"
       
"You gotta go into every battle with a game plan!"
       
"You came out of nowhere and just randomly challenged us to a battle! We didn't have time to put together a game plan!"
      
"Regardless." They leaned towards the stadium as Raijin pushed along both of its captives. "How are you going to get out of this? Think!"
       
The Aoi twins thought for a second. They came to a conclusion, exchanged a nod, then yelled, "GRIND INTO IT!! SLOW IT DOWN!!"
      
Immediately, the two beys surrounded and started to grind into Raijin. The blue bey's speed started to diminish, but it was still going fast.
      
"See?" The stranger told them. "You two do have a strong bond with your beys! It's almost a shame that I have to wrap this up, or I'm gonna be late." Before the twins even comprehended what they had said, the stranger was yelling, "Now, Raijin! Electric Double Strike!"
      
The bey turned into a mass of brilliant blue. In the blink of an eye, it had zipped to the right, bursting Nika's bey, then zipped to the left, bursting Toko's bey. Once it had destroyed its two opponents, the bey with the name of a god finally stopped spinning.
      
Toko and Nika stared in shock at the remains of their beys. They slowly kneeled down, picked up the pieces, then put them back together in a sad manner, as if the very action pained them. The stranger did the same with their bey, though with a much more brisk manner. The twins stared at their former opponent with blank eyes. When someone finally displayed emotion, it came from a very unexpected source.
      
"HOW DARE YOU?!" Nika screamed, her small hands curling into fists. She rushed around the stadium to the stranger and attacked them, beating her fists against their chest. "IT'S OUR BIG BROTHER'S BIRTHDAY, AND THE DAY THAT MARKS THE FOURTH MONTH HE'S BEEN MISSING!! WE ALREADY FEEL AWFUL ABOUT TODAY, AND YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO MAKE US FEEL EVEN WORSE?! HOW COULD YOU?!"
      
She continued beating their chest for a total of two minutes, tears streaming down her cheeks. Toko only watched in misery his sister broke down before his eyes. The stranger didn't make a move to stop or comfort her. They stayed completely still as she whacked at their chest, until she finally wore herself out and she leaned against them, sobbing. Then, surprising both Aoi twins, they kneeled down and gathered Nika into their arms.
      
"I'm sorry," They told her. "I didn't realize just how much you were hurting on this day. I just wanted to battle you, both of you... one last time."
      
Nika paused in her sobbing to look up at her mysterious comforter. "One last time? What do you mean?" She looked closer at their hooded face. "Do we know you?"
       
The stranger reluctantly pulled away, as if they were scared of what they were about to do. "I should hope so," They said softly. "We lived together, after all." This hit the twins like a punch to the gut. Apprehension slowly dawned on them as the stranger pushed back their hood and pulled down their mask. Chocolate brown eyes stared back at them and a red birthmark glared loudly on a chiseled cheek.
       
Their big brother. Valt Aoi.
        
"Hey little sis," He murmured, smiling down at the paralyzed pink haired girl in his arms. He turned to Toko, who also had tears on his face. "Hey little bro."
       
Toko and Nika were frozen in place for a few moments. Then Nika buried her head into her brother's chest, and Toko practically sprinted around the stadium to join the bear hug. Valt accepted them both, holding them close as the sound of their sobs filled the air; a gentle smile lit up his face, tears also trekking down his cheeks.
      
"Whyyyyyyy?" The twins sobbed, gripping the cloth of his shirt and trench coat. "Why did you leeaaave?"
       
Valt sighed, fully knowing now that everyone he visited was going to ask him this question. "Let's just say Mom has a lot of explaining to do," He replied simply, gently rubbing their backs.
       
Nika pulled away, meeting his gaze with her watery eyes. "But why?" She hiccuped. "Why did you battle us? Why didn't you just tell us who you were?"
       
A sly smile crossed Valt's face. "You know I've always been a little dramatic," He told her.
       
Toko glared at him, but there wasn't really any heat behind it as his eyes still had tears rolling from them. "A little is the understatement of the year," He said groggily.
       
"O-KAY, a big dramatic," Valt relented, laughing slightly. "As for why I battled you, I wanted to see how strong you two have gotten since I've been gone. And from what I've seen, I gotta say, I'm impressed. You held out a lot longer than I thought you would."
       
Toko stared at him, then glanced downwards, ashamed of what he was about to tell his big brother. "W-well... the truth is..." He said haltingly. "We haven't really been battling since you disappeared."
        
Valt looked at his younger brother, then looked down. He was also ashamed of what he was about to say. "Well, I hope that changes soon," He told them slowly. "Because I won't be around to coach you guys."
       
Both twins pulled back from him as if they'd been burnt. "WHAT?!" They shouted in unison, both feeling the sour sting of betrayal. "YOU'RE LEAVING AGAIN?!"
       
Valt kept his grip firm on his younger siblings as they struggled to comprehend what he said. He could not leave until he got them to understand, at least a little. "Look, there are things that are simply impossible to explain," He started. "I need to go in order to protect you two..."
       
"Valt, you're scaring us!" Nika protested while Toko whined in discomfort.
       
"I don't mean to," Valt told them, his heart breaking with every word. "But I need you to know at least the idea of why I have to stay away." The twins seemed to accept that answer, or at least tolerated it, because they stopped struggling. Their eyes still refused to meet his, so he tried another tactic. "Look, while I'm gone, I need you two to do something for me." They looked up at this. "I need you two to battle. Battle with all your heart. Battle with your bey as a partner, not a tool. If someone challenges you, accept the challenge head on. Learn from every battle, like you learned from ours." He gripped their smaller hands in his bigger ones. "Promise me, Toko and Nika. Promise me that you won't give up on Beyblade."
       
His younger siblings stared at him with wide, tear filled eyes. They finally seemed to accept that he was leaving once more, and nodded slowly. "We promise, big brother," They vowed solemnly.
      
One hand reached up to wipe the tears from their faces while the other reached up to wipe the tears from his own eyes. "Good," He told them. His arms went around their shoulders and he pulled them in for one last hug. "I have to go now."
      
Toko's hand caught his gloved one. "Can't you stay longer?" He pleaded.
      
Valt smiled at his younger brother and patted the top of his cyan blue hair. "I'm sorry; I can't," He told him. "I have other people to say goodbye to." He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to both of their foreheads. "I love you two, from the bottom of my heart." He stepped back and pulled his hood over his head. Before pulling up his mask, he said "Don't forget about me, okay? Because I swear I will never forget about you." With that, the mask was up, and he vanished into the park.
       
Toko and Nika stood still, staring the direction they had seen him run off. They still didn't completely understand why he had to leave, but they knew it was for a good cause. Their ears still rang with the favor he had asked of them, and they would carry their promise to fulfill his favor to the ends of their days. Speaking of which...
      
"Hey Toko. Wanna battle?"
      
"Yeah, sure."
———————
2919 words.

Took two days to make this.

Oh God, I need help...

Speaking of which, I have an announcement. On my last test, I got a 24/35. Needless to say, my parents were furious. They told me that until I got my grades up, I couldn't draw unless for school, and I wasn't allowed to read for fun unless it was right before bed. Personally, I think it's a little excessive, since both are like 85% of what I do, especially on the weekends. So the Inktober drawings have been put on hold, and so have future music number comics, so my updates may decrease in the future. But I promise, I will post more of my art when I get a chance.

Help me.