*Second Battle*
The boys seemed to be standing in one of the spotlights while I stayed in the shadows. I had just learnt an interesting fact about my dear friend Daigo. Turns out he had been caught cheating in one of his matches. I don't really care though. From what I've observed, Daigo seems like he's sorry and won't do it again. That past is past. Forgive, forget. Simple. Black Eye apparently likes playing with crystal balls. And he knows how to as well. His first prediction came true as Daigo did end up losing to a ring out finish. I did notice Daigo realizing his mistake. He got too worked up and messed up his launch.
"I can see it now!" Black said weirdly.
"Next up, a burst finish!"
"Whatever you say, ya fraud!" Taro heckled. "Don't buy into it Daigo!"
"He's trying to throw you off your game!"
"Aw yeah! What he said!"
"Mop the floor with him!" They were all cheering for their friend as I stared at Daigo admirably. I could see him smiling at his little cheer squad happily when he caught my eye. I could see he was a little disappointed to find that I was not cheering but smiled again when I held up both my thumbs in a motivating movement.
"No way am I letting a copycat like you win!"
"The sequel is always better than the original." Black said as I scoffed.
"So not true." I mumbled under my breath while thinking of all those knock-off movies of the originals. Those ones are just sad.
"Second battle!" They got into their positions.
"C'mon," Daigo exclaimed with determination. "It's business time." Daigo then proceeded to glow a lively yet ominous purple. Thankfully, it isn't like any of the colours that I see surrounding the bladers here. Daigo's resonance is very powerful.
"Ready? Set!"
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"Let it rip!"
Doomscizor landed much more smoothly this time as both bladers called out moves to their allocated partners.
"Now, Hunt Launch!" Both beys zoomed in for collision but missed each time.
"Wide trajectory for Krusher Doomscizor!" Wakiya observed.
"It's gonna hit the wall!" Valt panicked. Just as Doomscizor was about to bash into the wall it leaped into the air with tremendous power.
"Show no fear! Unleash your hidden power, go!" Daigo's opponent was obviously confused with the little show Doomscizor was putting on. Finally, Doomscizor swooped in for the final blow.
"Daigo Kurogami's Krusher Doomscizor wins with a burst finish!" We all cheered for Daigo and his victory.
"Nice! It's like your move Ally! Owl Crash." I nodded at Valt's enthusiasm.
"I got this! I call it Flying Double Strike." Taro suggested, proud of his discovery.
"Shouldn't he be the one naming it?" Cuza asked matter-of-factly.
"He'll thank me later." I slapped my forehead. Then I noticed Black Eye staring at the shadow bey in his palm while he was wondering what went wrong.
"How unfortunate for you, Black Eye. I see no future for you here anymore." Ashtem said over the speakers.
"No! PLease give me another chance, Ashtem!"
"Failures must leave." The ground underneath the blader then opened up into a perfect circle as Black Eye fell through. Then all the spots that were in the light began disappearing as well. I knew something was up!
"C'mon! To the door!" I pointed at the big, metal doors on the other side of the room and proceeded to herd the screaming flailing boys over to the entrance.
When we got to the next door, we noticed a bunch of spikes protruding from it.
"If this is a torture chamber then I swear to Freya." I muttered.
"Uh what?" Taro said slyly. I shook my head.
"Nevermind." We approached the spine-chilling doors as it opened up to a full room of spikes jutting out in an orderly fashion from the walls.
"What in the..." I muttered to myself. A stadium had found refuge at the centre of the hideous chamber with no space around to launch. Or so I thought.
"You gotta be kidding!" Valt groaned.
"Who came up with this?!" Wakiya complained.
"Stalagmites." Daigo observed. Then I noticed that some of the spikes had blunter tips. They seemed to be good enough to step on.
"It's like a dance." I said quietly. It seems as if Cuza was the only one here who's keen on battling.
"Well then, show us what you got, little performer!" I patted his back while his gleaming eyes stayed glued on the stadium.
"How?!" Taro questioned. "There's no room around that stadium." Suddenly, a voice came out of nowhere surprising most of us.
"That's easy! You jump!" The owner of the deep, raspy voice flipped into view. A round kind of guy. Grey Eye. I shivered at the irony and blinked my grey eyes.
"You're Grey guy aren't you?" I asked with a sly smirk peeking in. He frowned.
"Grey Eye is my name. Cuza, it's your turn!" Cuza smirked cheekily.
"Guess it's time to show 'em what we're made of, huh buddy?" Alter Cognite gleamed in his hands. Grey's hands then flew up to show off Cognite's doppleganger.
"Knew it. Almost identical to my bey!" Cuza said.
"It's survival of the fittest in the Snake Pit! And this snake's getting mighty hungry!"
"Hey Wanna cut to the chase ladies?! We haven't got all day!" I addressed the two boys. Then, Grey Eye proceeded to take in a huge breath and began posing in all kinds of positions while grunting strangely. I internally cringed and had to keep my hands from covering my face.
"Hope you caught all of that! Got your white flag ready?" He smirked, proud of whatever he just did.
"It's gonna take more than fancy flexing to defeat us, muscle man." My eyes widened drastically.
"Wait a minute, that was flexing?!" I asked incredulously. Taro giggled a little while I was in mild shock. Grey Eye sneered and flipped his way over to the opposite side of the stadium.
"Come on then, we don't have all day." He repeated my words. Cuza jumped from one platform to the next as the boys stepped cautiously onto the closest surface. I chuckled at their antics and leaped to go watch from the sidelines. Eventually the boys found themselves all on one spike holding onto each other for dear life while I stood on another one close by.
"Nobody move, and don't look down!" Taro warned.
Aw, thanks captain obvious!" Wakiya screamed. Then, Valt sneezed causing all four of them to start shrieking. I laughed out loud when I noticed the two battle-ready bladers staring each other down. I took note of the expression on Cuza' face. He knows what to do.
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"Let it rip!"
Cuza vaulted himself off of the spike he managed to hang onto by his feet as Grey Eye catapulted from his platform. As Cuza plummeted down, Grey Eye bounced up, both launching with spectacular power. Both beys gaining some serious air. And both going with ultra-attack mode. But only one will make it out of this battle the victor. And I could already see the outcome.
"Alter Cognite with a burst finish! Cuza Ackermann wins!" Cuza pumped a fist in the air.
"Nailed it!"
"Can't believe you beat me with a cheap trick like that!" Grey Eye squatted down and pouted looking like some big baby on a spike. Yikes, that's a weird picture. I looked up to find Cuza doing a one-handed handstand with his legs apart in the air.
"I'm calling it the Gravity Boost! What'd Ya think?" He smirked, referring to his earlier launch he pulled off. Grey Eye muttered some incoherent words when he screamed suddenly. Then he was gone. A hole taking his place. Then we all heard a rumbling noise.
"Guys, the spikes!" I looked up to where Daigo had pointed to find that the walls were indeed caving in.
"It's gonna get real gory real soon if we don't hurry!" I pointed over to the next door and skipped from spike to spike. The boys behind me. Screaming. In spite of the situation, I still found myself laughing at my amazing, goofy friends. Who could still be funny even in the face of danger.
"What with all these traps?!" Someone screamed. I didn't know who and frankly, I didn't really care.