Greetings from Metal Bey City

The Convenience Store Oracle

The taxi moved at a steady pace, now that nothing was blocking the way. For a while, none of us said anything. Only a cheesy pop song could be heard, blaring from the radio at full volume, supposedly spreading optimism.

Spiky-Haired Guy won, I think. But that wasn't the point.

My head was filled with random thoughts, á la someone who have just witnessed something impossible. When you are forced to change your perceptions of reality due to an event that doesn't makes sense, it's very confusing. You start to question what's real and what isn't, and whether such a difference really matters. The side effects? You become dizzy and nauseated.

In other words, I felt like I was about to throw up.

I needed to verify if I was still sane. Or else.

"Did you see that?" I asked out loud.

The reply came from Dad. "Yeah."

I exhaled in relief.

"How did they do it?" I braved myself to say something ridiculous that's been bothering me in the last five minutes. "Was it... magic?"

"Nah, I don't think so." Dad tried his best to sound convincing. "It's probably just some advanced technology or whatnot."

"Beyblading is part technology, part magic," the taxi driver chimed in. "You can win with a good strategy, but you also need to have a strong spiritual connection with your Bey." He shrugged, ignoring our confused stares. "That's what most people struggle with."

"Hold up." Dad raised his hand. "Beyblading, as in Beyblade? That game we used to play when we were kids?"

"Yup," said the taxi driver. "A lot of things have changed since then, especially since Gingka Hagane and the Nemesis Crisis."

"Who and the what crisis?" That was me.

We pulled over at a gas station. As a pair of smiling attendants with baseball caps filled up the car with fresh gasoline and cleaned the windscreen, the taxi driver told his tale, his fingers drumming nervously on the steering wheel.

"Seven years ago, an evil alien named Rago tried to take over the world and plunge it into eternal darkness. He was defeated by Legendary Blader Gingka Hagane, who united the souls of every Blader on Earth through his radical Ultimate Move, Cosmic Nova!" He face-palmed. "How could you not know any of this? It was all over the news!"

I was about to point out that I've never seen anything like that on the news.

But what about Dad? And what happened to the rest of Japan? How could they carry on with their normal lives without worrying about more alien attacks? What did the Prime Minister say? Shouldn't we be studying about this in history class?

I crumpled all my questions and threw them inside an imaginary wastebasket. If I were to have any chance of surviving in this strange city, this was probably the first thing I should do.

"Anyway, here we are!"

We've reached the ice-cream shop.

This was the shop that had been Dad's favorite since I don't know how long. Opened circa 1983, and currently run by a friendly old woman named Yoshimi (I did my research), this place was said to have the best waffle sundaes in town (and I'm a big fan of waffle sundaes). For a shop with such a legendary reputation, it had a simple appearance of a roadside stand, tangled up with blinking Christmas lights and strings of old pictures. Unfortunately, when we got there, the shutters were down, and a crooked "CLOSED" sign was on display.

"No!" I choked out.

I glanced sideways at Dad. His expression showed that he was just as disappointed as I was, perhaps even more. But that look only lasted for a moment. He was eyeing something in the distance. A familiar, welcoming glow.