Lui's arc comes closer to its end. All rights belong to Hiro Morita. And so, this book enters the final stages. I promise I'll write something short next time. Anyway, I'm going to go play Final Fantasy 15 now.
Lui was done fighting with himself.
After that encounter with Free and making his way back to Japan, the light blue-haired boy swore never to return to Onigashima again. He wouldn't let his obsession with being the strongest Blader ruin him like that: trading the comfort of a city for the savagery of an island's jungles, throwing away convenient food for hunting like a dog.
In the dark blue bedroom of his family's apartment, the boy barred his shark-like teeth and tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the email app on his computer to show up. After putting it off for as long as he wanted, Lui had finally decided to join the Blading Prize Circuit, a WBBA program that offered mountains of money to those who could rise to the top of their tournaments. It was the best Lui could do for his family after their poor financial state took them from a mansion to that trash heap of a car and even trashier apartments.
The horror of it all drove Lui over the edge into being obsessed with trying to feel that comfort, that security that he had as a kid, leading to him practically cutting off everything in his life to focus on his Blading and winding up on that worthless island. Thankfully, a good chewing out from Free, he'd managed to change his perspective and resolved to do something better with his life, and doing what he did best for money was definitely an improvement.
But that was where the problem started, to join the Prize Circuit, you had to be part of a team.
"Come on, come on, do what we bought you for..." Lui droned out while waiting for the computer to get on with it. He'd sent a request email to the team of his selection, the rather blandly-named Victories. As off putting as the garbage name was at first, a quick look through the rankings made it clear that they were far and above the humiliation being under that banner would bring. Good, the last thing Lui needed to get saddled with was a bunch of weaklings.
The inbox of the mail app finally flickered to life on the computer screen. Lui jumped at the chance, and clicked the top notification. The tab opened to a wall of text regarding his acceptance to the team and legal nonsense that the boy happily skimmed through, he was burning valuable hours of sleep as it was. The tail end of the document had an Accept button on the right and Decline button to the left.
Suddenly, Lui felt his once lax fingers clamp down on the mouse. A twinge of uncertainty ran through his head as his ringed, violet eyes stared at the two buttons.his mind drifted back to his last night at Onigashima. He'd made three promises to himself back there: To reunite with his parents, find a way he could support the family, and make himself some friends. The first one was all taken care of, but the other two were proving to be non-starters. Did he really need to do this of all things to make decent money? Being on a team was a pain for him; he'd always been in the business of doing things his way, most people in his eyes were like loud and obnoxious animals.
But he still needed that money.
Grunting and shaking his head, Lui slowly made his way to the Accept button and clicked it before shutting off the computer and pushing himself up from the chair.
Turning around, the boy made his way to his Bed, pulling back the blue covers and crawling under them. The world around him faded to black before he could put anymore thought into what he'd just done.
If things go south, just put up with it. He told himself as he drifted off.
Waking up slowly, Lui rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and threw the covers off of himself. Getting out of his bed, the boy went to the coat hanger on the right side of his room and pulled off the feathered boa he always wore, placing it on his bed as turned to his closet and pulled out a dark blue shirt with breeches and purple borders before draping it over his head.
Throughout the whole process, Lui still found himself staring back at the computer and thinking back to the choice he made last night. Every time he shut those doubts down without fail, it was a good way to provide for his family and do something he cared about all at once, he didn't have a thing to regret.
Pulling up his baggy dark blue pants and slinging his boa over his neck, Lui grabbed Rage Longinus and his launcher from his desk and headed out the door, not bothering to look at his computer again.
Making his way downstairs, the sound of clattering dishes and something sizzling on the stove caught Lui's ears. Picking up the pace and making his way down, Lui turned into the kitchen to find his mother slaving away at the sink while eggs sizzled on the stove in a frying pan.
Lui recoiled a bit as his mother turned to him, her eyes were baggy and shadowed from what was no doubt a lack of sleep and the drowsy tone in her voice didn't help either.
"Hey, dear. Nice to see you up and early. Grab a plate, I'll be done in a sec."
Lui raised his hands in defense. "Eh, no thanks, mom. I have to get moving anyways, the...team meeting's about an hour away." 'You've worked yourself enough already' stayed in his head.
His mother let out a defeated laugh at that. "Funny that, your father pulled the exact same card before booking it to work." Lui grimaced at the thought of what that meant for her before she went on.
"Alright, you go get'em and land that spot, ya hear? But remember what we talked about that night, okay?"
Lui shuddered at the memory of the night he came home from Onigashima. The inevitable talk he had with his parents had made him want to jump out of his own skin. He could thank himself for shoving people away for so many years, it made opening back up about the reasons he'd left a nightmare. In the end, his parents told him that, as upsetting as him leaving was, they were
ultimately proud of him for making the choice to get over his pain and come back. That doing the hard thing was just a part of living.
Unfortunately, Lui felt like he only half-listened.
Giving his mom a nod, the flame-haired boy ran for the door and made his way outside. After a long walk in the sweltering summer heat, Lui found himself on the corner of a street with a brick and mortar building staring him in the face with the same address mentioned in the email. From the outside he could already hear the jeering for what sounded like a good battle taking place.
The flame-haired boy opened the door to find that he was correct. The two Bladers were a short boy with blonde cropped hair with blue highlights and a blue jacket with teal diamonds on it that resembled a dragon's scales. The other boy was far taller, having shaggy sea green hair that covered the right side of his face and a red jacket segmented by black lines.
"Let's go for it, Tempest Dragon!" The blonde boy cheered as a white Bey with gold and rainbow-colored stickers rushed down the slope and struck the red and black Bey in the center of the stadium, the taller boy grunted in annoyance.
"Keep your ground, Death Diabolos." The dark-colored Bey did just that as it ground its tip into the stadium and gained a blood red aura just as Dragon came in from the right with another attack. The two Beys bounced off of the other's attack and flew out of the stadium to their respective Blader's feet. The both of them picked up their partner and smiled at the other.
"Not bad, Drum, but not good enough. You're still too focused on rushing your opponents without putting much thought into it. You should be building a strategy from the start, not just when you get cratered. The people at these tournaments aren't just going to shrug and hand that money over to you so you can keep the lights on here."
Drum just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and laughed. "My bad."
"Doesn't sound like you're taking it like that."
His smile grew wider. "Sure, I am, Delta. This is my sad face."
Delta sighed and facepalmed. "Can you even name a strategy?"
"Uhhh, would hitting them harder count?"
"You're impossible."
"And you're..."
Lui made himself apparent with a loud clearing of his throat. With the battle over, the two boys turned their heads to look at him, only to freeze in shock. Understandable, Lui was one of Blading's greatest faces. Anyone with at least five brain cells would be able to recognize what his presence in a room meant. Lui drank it in, it was nice getting a rise out of people.
Or at least, certain people.
All of a sudden, the blonde started jittering with excitement and clenched his fists. His smile and green eyes were wild with excitement that made Lui wretch a bit as he backed up slightly. In no time at all, Drum rushed at him and wrapped his arms around his waist, giggling with excitement before he turned his head to Delta.
"It's him, Delta! It's actually, Lui! Oh man, this is gonna be awesome! It's gonna be-" Whatever else he was saying was tuned out as Lui's mind screamed at him to get the boy off. A quick shove did just that as the boy landed on his butt. Even after registering the pain of being shoved back, the boy still seemed to stare at him with an almost inhuman glee.
Disturbed by the noise ( or so Lui imagined.) three more people came down from a set of stairs: a spikey haired brunette in a yellow gi, a blonde-haired girl in a purple jacket, and an apathetic looking boy with a suit and tie and braided white hair. The first two looked just as put out as Lui as they stared down at the blonde boy, while the last one gave a knowing smirk.
"Drum," The girl's tone was like a mother scolding a kid. "How many times have we told you not to maul any new faces around here?"
"Too many," the brunette sighed in defeat, placing his elbows on the railings. " I'm surprised he hasn't hit the ground running for that door yet."
"He wouldn't," The white-haired boy put his elbows on the stairs's railing. "If he wishes to receive a fraction of the profits from any victories we'll achieve he would logically attempt to put up with Drum's quirks."
"I guess that checks out," the blonde girl said. Made her way down the stairs and up to Lui, extending a hand, Lui took it gingerly.
"Um, sorry we got off on the wrong foot there. The name's Ichika Kindo, welcome to Victories! Gotta say, I never expected a big shot like you to come knocking on our door."
It had only been a few minutes and Lui was already getting sick of this place. "Yeah, yeah," He waved his left hand dismissively before crossing his arms. "You all know who I am, and what I'm about. Some of you for the better," He eyed off the blonde who had glomped on to him earlier. "And for the worst... So how about we just get down to business?"
Ichika sighed knowingly. "You're as straightforward as they all say..." With her left hand, she guided his eyes around the room. "As per your orientation letter, all new members get their pick of one test match so we can see what they're made of. So go ahead and choose, who'll be ?"
Her hand guided his eyes to the spiky-haired brunette. "Amane and his Bushin Ashura?" The boy grabbed a green headband from his pocket and wrapped it around his head before pulling out a green and gold Bey with 12 sword-like blades for contact points.
Her hand shifted to the boy with braided white hair. " Gwyn and Big Bang Genesis?"
The boy pulled out a purple Bey with gold highlights with a strange red armor around it.
"Delta and his Death Diabolos?" The green-haired boy pulled out a black and red Bey with four jagged blades and a red dragon head pointing to the left across the center.
"Or our captain Drum Koryu and his Tempest Dragon?" Lui's eyes widened as the idiot from before pulled out a mostly white Bey with gold highlights, rainbow stickers, and blue dragon head pointing to the left. The kid's green eyes gleamed with enthusiasm. This was their captain? If anything, he'd expect Delta to fill that spot. Who in their right mind and dead set on winning would let this idiot lead them?
Ichika seemed to catch his reaction and whispered in his ear. "He might not look like much, but he's the best when things really count."
Without a second thought, he pointed to Drum. He needed to see this for himself.
He needed to see this for himself. The idiot bounced up and down and giggled as he pulled out his launcher strapping his Bey to it while Lui took Delta's place at the Beystadium. Drum's hands jittered a bit as he held his launcher.
Drum's hands jittered a bit as he held his launcher.
"You ready, Lui? Cause I won't be going easy on you."
Lui strapped Rage Longinus to his launcher and turned it counter-clockwise without a word. That seemed to deflate the kid a bit. Good, that mouth of his was an opponent all by itself.
"3," The two said.
"2,"
"1,"
"Go Shoot!" The two launched their Beys into the stadium. Rage Longinus circled the stadium spinning to the left on the star tip below its Destroy Driver's plate. Tempest Dragon raced by it from the other side of the stadium with its Ignition' Driver.
"Crush them to bits, Longinus!"
"Let's give it a go, Dragon!"
The two Beys circled down to the center of the stadium and clashed over and over. If there was one word that could describe Drum's Blading, it'd be sloppy. Each time they broke off from each other, Dragon slammed into one of the stadium walls and rebounded for Longinus, only for its attack to miss entirely and bound off another wall, creating a cycle broken by an occasional lucky shot.
Even with that, the kid was as bright as could be, laughing and cheering all the while. It was stupid. Lui could get being excited at the chance to fight a strong opponent, especially since he rarely got one, but not being able to recognize when you're losing was far from being leadership worthy.
As Dragon knocked it back coming from the left, Longinus was forced back up the stadium's slope on the left as the prongs of its Disc shifted slightly counterclockwise. Its metal dragon heads gleamed purple as the purple and white Bey rushed for its gold and white opponent again.
"Let's pick up the pace, Dragon!"
Lui grinned. "My thoughts exactly."
Longinus slammed through Dragon, knocking the other Bey to the left and causing it to wobble slightly as it zig-zagged around the stadium center. Longinus didn't let up, using the opportunity to slam his opponent from all sides of the ring, jerking the Bey around further.
"Longinus, put Dragon out of its misery." Longinus angled itself slightly as it came rushing toward Dragon. The minute it made contact, one of the Bey's Dragon heads slipped under the right-spinning Bey's layer and flipped it into the air. Longinus didn't let up, it bolted across the stadium to break Dragon's fall and launch it into the air again.
This, however, only made Drum smirk.
"Dragon, Bound Wing!"
The Bey's white blades shimmered with blue light as it came down on Longinus while it circled the stadium center. The blades struck Longinus's Superking Chip as it bounced off, flipping onto its Driver and blasting off across the stadium's slope.
Lui growled as Longinus bolted after Dragon, one of its metal dragon heads surged with purple lightning sweeping under Dragon's layer and knocking it down to the stadium center. Before Drum could even react, Longinus coiled around his Bey like a snake, striking it with lightning all the while.
Despite all the punishment his Bey received, Drum's eyes narrowed as the blue highlights of his hair sparked with blue flames in the shape of horns. His body seethed with a blue and yellow aura.
"Tempest Dragon!"
The top erupted with blue energy that was washed away by a quadrupedal blue dragon with glassy green eyes and three sets of wings: one set was gold and blue, a lower one was red and silver, and the final set shimmered like a rainbow.
"Let's settle this! Rainbow Turbo!" Drum said as his partner drove ground against Longinus, pushing it back into a wall as it shimmered with a rainbow of energy. The shimmering Bey slammed into Lui's partner over and over with its amped up attacks. Normally, Lui would be panicking and trying to wrestle back control of the match, but the sound of a click from Longinus rested his nerves as his mouth curled into a shark-like grin; his body brimmed with a pale blue and purple aura while his hair crackled like fire.
"Rage Longinus!"
His Bey erupted into a spiral of darkness that gave way to a gold-headed dragon with a white body. The dragon let out a roar. The metal dragon heads mounting its shoulders and jagged sets of wings flashed pink.
Longinus managed to deflect the next hit from Dragon, the force from their impact actually gave the Bey enough strength to bounce off of the wall and get back on track. The two Bey chased each other just like they did at the start of the match.
"Go!" They both shouted. Both of their Beys rushed each other at that point the two raced down to the stadium center as their respective auras streamed off of them in the form of a roaring dragon head. Their avatars screamed with rage as the tops came closer and closer to impact.
And then a dull, amused voice rang out from nowhere.
"Sorry to tell you two but this game's for me."
Out of nowhere, a blue and pink flash intercepted the two Beys just as they were about to clash. The flash faded to reveal a Bey of a similar color scheme caught in between them.
"Not you," Delta growled.
Lui furrowed his brow in confusion and anger. "What?"
The two of them and the rest of Victories turned their heads to see a thin boy in a light blue jacket with a dark blue fringe that had a streak of pink through it. But what stuck out most were his eyes and mouth, the latter was lazy and heavily lidded while the latter was curled into a smirk.
"What do you, of all people, want? The match hasn't even started yet." Delta sneered at the guy who in turn shrugged.
"Nothin', just wanted to see the look on one of your faces when I inevitably stomp on you, and it looks like these two outta do."
Drum growled as Dragon focused itself on trying to push the intruding Bey back. As it kept up the attack, the blue Bey's wavey blades seemed to compress along with the pink rubber. Before the blonde knew it, Dragon was flung back and launched out of the stadium at his feet. The boy grimaced at his fallen partner.
"Hmmm," The blue-haired intruder said. "Good, but not quite my quota." He turned to Lui as his smirk grew a full blown smile. "But you'll definitely do, Lui Shirosagijo!"
Lui scoffed. "Not if I smash you into the ground first!" Longinus attempted the grind against the intruder, forcing it back a bit.
The loser's smirk maintained. "Smash me? Oh man, that's rich! See, here's the thing you should know," He pointed to his smile. "See this? See why I'm so happy? It's cause I don't lose. Rain, sun, or snow, that's how it's always been and that's how it's gonna be."
As Longinus ground further. Lui could see the blue Bey's wavey blades compressing along with its rubber again. Just like that, Longinus was flung out of the stadium and at Lui's feet. The White Tyrant clenched his teeth and fists and his eyes narrowed while he bit back the urge to scream.
The intruder grabbed his Bey and drank it all in as he looked at Lui. "Well now, that's the spirit." He turned to Drum. "You could use a few pointers, the only way you'll ever entertain a crowd with skills like those is getting knocked flat on your face."
With that, he turned to walk out, his arms behind his head like he did have a care in the world.
Lui seethed as he picked up Longinus. His shaky voice tried and failed to contain his rage "Who...was that?"
"That was Hou." Delta said grimly. "And he's our next match up."
The days dragged on after that. The more time he spent with them, the more Lui could piece together some opinions about the team. Amane and Ichika were painfully average when it came to Blading, but they were decent enough for the blue-haired boy to deal with. Gwyn was mostly the same, though his laxness with Drum was quite the thumbs down. Delta was about the closest thing he could call an actual teammate, serious, confident and actually decently strong. But regardless of all of that, the one stain on all their records in his mind the most was Drum; he still couldn't piece together how they'd let someone like him be in charge, whenever he asked about it he got the same kind of response Ichika had given him before their fight.
Then, there was the issue of this Hou character. From what he had gathered from the rest of the group, Hou was essentially a force of nature on the prize fighting circuit and held a Defense type Bey named Poison Hydra, beyond that, there was little they knew about the guy since his fights usually ended too quickly.
Lui sat in the corner of the Beyclub simmering in anger as he thought of more and more ways he could wipe that smug grin off the blue-haired boy's face. It'd serve the nuisance right after ruining his match like that. No matter what gimmick made Poison Hydra so powerful, the next time he and Lui fought, it'd be the end of him.
Moving on from his simmering rage, Lui half-hazardly took in his surroundings. Ichika and Amane were sitting on the couch flicking through Tv channels while Delta and Gwyn were training together. Since simmering in rage instead of acting on it would get him nowhere, Lui decided to get up and join the training session before the sound of footsteps hit his left ear. His eyes narrowed as he realized that Drum stood right next to him, his green eyes looking uncharacteristically gloomy.
"If there's anything you want, you've got plenty of people you can ask besides me." Lui said before looking away from the boy.
"Do you hate me?" he said glumly.
A beat passed before Lui responded. "See that obvious silence from just a few minutes ago? That's what we call a clue."
"Well..." Drum gave a slight gulp before trying to put on an obvious brave act. "I'm sorry for whatever I did, and I wanna know how I can make it up to you."
"Signing a restraining order would be a nice start."
"I'm serious!"
Lui turned to him and gave him a sardonic smirk. " And I am too, just look at this face." The kid deflated after that and walked off. Lui scoffed in his head at the thought of Drum and the word 'serious' going together. In all honesty, talking to the kid reminded him of talking with Valt and Aiga, not the people they were today of course, but the bratty and cheery versions he'd seen before the two learned to buck up for once. Could Drum ever do that? Lui honestly couldn't/didn't want to know. He didn't have time for being let down.
Ichika's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Everyone, come look!"
Lui made his way to the Tv to see the entire team's eyes dead set on a match between some random Blader and Hou. The blue-haired boy's Poison Hydra easily managed to cut through his now wobbling and shaking opponent, ending the match with a Burst Finish. The audience roared as the announcer declared the next fight for Hou's team, a clash with the Victories for a chance at S42,500. Everyone in the room seemed to feel a chill of fear down their spines.
The camera cut to Hou being surrounded by a mob of flashing cameras, his arms folded behind his head and his smile as disgustingly smug as ever. Lui felt his teeth grind together and his balled up hands shake as he continued watching.
A reporter led a mic up to his lips. "So, tell us, what do you think is the key to your rapid success?"
As smug as ever, Hou responded. "Obviously, it's all in the Bey at the end of the day." He flashed Poison Hydra as the cameras went wild. "People can try and doll it up all they want, spirit, grit, training is all just flowery crap spat out by pros.:"
That sent Lui over the edge. His teeth ground together and his blood caught fire. He'd fought with some of the best Bladers the world had to offer, he'd been the best Blader the world had to offer, and he'd fought through thick and thin to get it back. How could he have lost to someone with such a shallow idea of Blading? No, that wasn't the question he should be asking himself, that was "what was he still doing here after hearing that garbage?"
The sky gleamed with stars as Lui made his way up to the Cavalry's Beygym. A blue neon sign of the team's winged shield logo gleamed in the darkness as he entered the square building. For someone who was so overwhelmingly good at prize fighting, Hou's gym was surprisingly sparse.
Only a few posters marked up the mostly hallways as Lui walked down them. The further he walked, the clearer a certain conversation became to him.
"Please, boss? I mean, just one training session wouldn't hurt ya, would it? I mean, yeah, you're the strongest guy here, but they've got a Legend on their side for cryin' out loud!"
Hou's voice was cold and sharp. "Seems like someone's forgetting their place on this team."
The other guy shut up with that. Lui turned the corner to see Hou standing near a Beystadium surrounded by treadmills, one of his lackeys standing right next to him. The pink-eyed Blader smirked as he immediately pulled out his launcher.
"Well, well, speak of the devil and all that garbage! Still sore from last time, I see, Shirosagijo. What's the matter? Made you feel a little smaller than usual?"
Lui hissed, pulled out his launcher, and strapped Longinus. "Saw your little interview on TV, I insist you hire a PR team before spewing crap like that."
The threat only seemed to make Hou smile harder. "Ya can't fault someone for telling the truth. I created Hydra to be unstoppable." He turned to put a hand on his lackey's shoulder gripping it tightly. "And someone's going to learn that today."
The guy stammered. "But boss,"
"Oh quit your whining, and enjoy the show already." With that, Hou turned to Lui again, both of them were ready for battle."Ten bucks says I'll have you crying on the floor this time."
Lui snarled as his aura began to flare slightly. "Fine. I'll get to show you up as a lousy Blader and betting man."
"3,"
"2,"
"1,"
"Go Shoot!" The two Beys fell into the stadium as Hydra made it to the center spinning on a ball tip. As Lui got ready for his first move his eyes narrowed as he looked at Hou. The idiot turned his back on the match.
"The heck do you think you're doing?"
Hou didn't even turn to look at him. "Just making an example for you two."
Longinus circled down to the center to attack it over, only to be blocked at every angle.
Strangely, Lui noticed that the white Bey's spin speed had decreased. How could that be? Whatever the case, he needed to end this fast.
"Longinus, Dragon Scream!" The Bey's two dragon heads gleamed with violet energy as it rushed for its opponent again, the attack connected, only for Longinus to be forced back yet again.
And once again Longinus' speed seemed to decrease, it was now reduced to a wobbling mess until its spin finally gave out and it fell to the bottom of the stadium near Hydra.
Lui snatched up his Bey and reloaded into his launcher before growling. "Why, won't, you, fall?" He screamed as he launched Longinus to attack Hydra again. The white dragon Bey wasted no time charging one of its dragon heads with lightning before charging its blue and pink opponent.
"Dragon Stinger!" The attack connected with one of Hydra's rubber pieces as Longinus bounced off again, its spin decreasing like every time before. A quick laugh from the still-turned around Hou snapped Lui out of his rising frustration.
"You still don't see it, do you? " The boy chided. "Alright then, let me spell it out for you. This is why you and every other sorry soul on this planet can't beat me."
"What?" Lui growled.
" Poison Hydra's special ability is the power to adapt its defenses to whatever Bey crosses its path. When faced with right-rotating Beys, the rubber becomes a handy shield used to turn the opponent's attack power back on themselves."
Hou turned around before grinning wide. "And when faced with a left-rotating Bey..."
Lui's mind immediately filled in the gap. "You... you can't be..."
Hou exploded into laughter. "Well now, maybe there's a brain up there, after all! That's right, Hydra gets to absorb spin from your Bey!"
Lui couldn't believe it. Spin-stealing had always been a left-rotating Bey's thing. To see it out of a right-spinning one was rare, and in the hands of someone like Hou, all the more irritating.
"It doesn't matter," Lui gritted his teeth. "Just because you have some fancy gimmick doesn't mean I'm out of this fight yet! Rage Longinus!"
Lui's Bey attacked Hydra from all sides of the stadium, just to be bounced off. Reduced to wobbling again, Longinus fell from the slope to the stadium center, where the fiercely-rotating Hydra easily punted it out of the stadium and at Lui's feet. The violet-eyed boy hissed as he picked up his partner and readied himself to fight again.
But that was when a familiar voice rang out. "Lui, that's enough!"
Before Lui could even turn around, he was being grabbed by the wrist and being hauled away from the match as he struggled to keep his footing while pulling back at the same time. The last thing he saw was Hou's smug smile panning away from him. Before Lui knew it, he was outside in the cold night air where he turned to his wannabe savior to see a familiar bob of blonde hair with blue highlights.
"Who do you think you're grabbing like that, you brat?"
Drum looked at him with concern. The boy's green eye color stood out in the darkness. "Trying to help you out!" Lui groaned internally. He'd never can it with this friendship nonsense would he?
"Cut it with the hero nonsense. I was perfectly fine without you, and I always will be."
"You mean like how you were fine seeing Longinus get tossed around like a ragdoll?" Lui sneered at that. As much as he wanted to bark back that he had that match under control, any solution he tried to come up with ended in more blanks than he'd like to admit.
"Whatever." Lui crossed his arms and turned his head to the right. "Say what you want, but at the end of the day, I'll beat him myself. So keep your teamwork crap away from me."
"Lui, you can't just beat him on your own, and you know that. You have to work together with me and all the others. You should have realized that the moment he interrupted our match and took us both out."
"Oh really," Lui turned his head back to Drum and glared down at him. "Work with the people who would elect an idiot like you to be team captain? You, someone who'd rather jump around and giggle like a fanboy than focus on the battle at hand? Is that honestly how you expect me to roll?"
Drum's eyes sank at that. His voice became somber as he spoke up again. "Lui... look. I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot, okay? It just... growing up I never really had any friends, heck, I still don't. Everyone around me was like you: always saying I was loud and annoying. I-It's why I get so excited when meeting new people. Just the brief thought that, maybe, maybe this time someone can look past that and see me for who I am."
Lui felt a chill run down his spine at that, but kept up the cold shoulder regardless. "And?"
Drum's glowing green eyes shot a determined glare. "And I know you don't think I'm right, but we need to work together, and that's gonna take you looking past all the stuff you hate to see the real me. I know you can't, but you have to try."
With that, Drum hauled him off again, this time at walking pace. Lui strangely found himself letting him do it. There was something about that look in his eyes that was different. Instead of childlike glee or sadness, there was something that looked like a real Blader.
Death Diabolos exploded into pieces and fell to the ground at Delta's feet. Hou grinned smugly as he retrieved his Hydra from the ring while the crowd went wild. The rest of Victories and Lui groaned in frustration as the smug Blader stepped down from the arena to rejoin his team.
The big battle had been going so well for them at the start. They almost had this in the bag with two wins under their belt from defeating Hou's flunkies, but the minute the man himself entered the ring, it all fell apart.
Delta sighed in frustration. "Sorry, you guys. Looks like we just fell off the deep end."
Drum moved to comfort him. "It's alright, pal. You did your best."
Lui sighed."His best would have grabbed us that last point already. Now out of the way. It's my turn for a swing.
Drum instantly moved to get in his way. "No way, Lui. I've got this!" Lui glared at the boy. Not this again.
"Look kid, there's too much riding on this to leave it up to an upstart like you. Get out of my way or get moved."
Lui could almost feel the rest of the team's nervous eyes watching the two of them. Not that he cared. Drum continued to ramble on.
"So what? So you can get trounced again?" There was that look in his eyes again, as fierce and defiant as the last time. Regardless, Lui knew that things would be different this time. They had to be.
"The trouncing will be on my end this time. My new plan will make sure of that."
Drum's look seemed to soften at that. "Are you sure?"
"Positive." Drum looked to the rest of his team and they all firmly nodded.
Lui stepped up to the arena platform and looked around him. The green neon lines lining the black dome of the stadium shone brilliantly as Hou stepped up to the Beystadium again. The crowd roared in excitement for what was sure to be a tense match: The king of the prize-fighting circuit against the White Tyrant, the Legendary Blader Lui Shirosagijo.
"Y'know there's gluttony for punishment and then there's whatever you've got going through that head of yours, Shirosagijo." Hou chided.
"Save me the small talk and let's get to the part where I tear you up." Lui got out his launcher and cranked Longinus as Hou did the same with Hydra.
"Fine, fine." Hou backed off. "I'll cut to the chase, and shove some freshly-made failure down your gulett."
"3," The two said.
"2,"
"1,"
"Go Shoot!" The two Beys fell into the stadium as Hydra raced to the center where Longinus tried to meet it head-on.
Hou sighed wistfully. "Bravery or stupidity? Which side will the coin land on?"
Lui grinned. "Stupidity. For at least one of us. Now, Rage Longinus!" Longinus angled itself lower slightly as it readied to collide with Hydra. Just low enough to get under Hydra's Layer.
Hou's eyes shot open as the two Beys finally collided.
Hydra was knocked off its Driver and flung up the slope toward where he was.
The usually lax Blader gawked in panic and had to blink a bit before registering what was happening. "H-Hydra! Quit messing around!" The Bey fell onto the stadium and bounced on a piece of its rubber, flipping the Bey back on its side as it went about spinning on the slope from the right. Longinus raced toward it from the opposite side as the crowd exploded in shock and awe.
Lui grinned as Hou's pink eye's darted around the stands while beads of sweat began to form on his face.
"Crush him, Longinus!"
The white dragon Bey ground into Hydra again, driving the blue and pink Bey back toward a wall that it had just passed.
"Hydra, pull back!" Hou's partner fell back on its blue and pink Atomic Driver and swerved forward out of Longinus' way. Longinus itself fell onto its blue Destroy driver and whirled out of the way of the wall.
Lui chuckled a bit as Hou gave him an offended glare. "Something funny?"
"You're pretty trashy, you know that? All that bark and the minute things go south, you start sniveling like a puppy."
"The only trash here will be you when I toss you out!"
Hydra came in to hit Longinus, only for the white Bey to dodge out of its path and whirl back around with its Destroy Driver, striking the blue Bey from behind and into the air nearing the stadium center.
The rest Victories was in shock.
"Lui's...actually doing it..." Ichika said.
Drum jumped up in excitement. "Let's go, Longinus!"
As Longinus raced to get to the center to strike Hydra, Lui had to think for a second. Given the weight of Hydra combined with the power of gravity, he'd have to up the pressure for the next attack."Dragon Stinger!" Longinus dragon heads crackled with energy as it neared its falling opponent as the rest of Victories cheered.
"End it, Lui!" Drum shouted.
As Lui gave a confident look to Hou, the pink-haired boy's anxiety peaked a blue aura brimming around him.
"Hydra!"
The Bey erupted with a torrent of blue energy that was washed away by a three headed, bipedal blue dragon whose shoulders and wings were armored with pink coral. Hydra itself was wrapped in a vortex of blue water-like energy as it dove toward Longinus.
Lui's hair flared up along with his aura."Longinus!"
Longinus' avatar rose up from a swirl of darkness as it roared, ready to take the Hydra head on as the Bey's collided. The arena flashed white as an explosion of energy went off. Through the gleam, Lui smirked as he saw Hou's face frozen with fear. The explosion died down and the dust began to settle, the two Bladers looked around the Beystadium to see which of their Beys made it out alive. As the dust whipped away from the stadium floor, Lui's eyes widened as he saw Poison Hydra wobbling desperately while Longinus' parts had clattered to the ground.
The crowd roared in approval at the turn of events as Hou's fear broke away into hysterical laughter. Lui grimly picked up the pieces of his partner and walked back to the rest of Victories. Their expressions were as grim as his when the scoreboard turned to 2 - 2. Just one more loss, and it'd all be over.
"Darn it, back to the drawing board." Ichika said grimly. "Alright everyone, let's put our heads together and-"
"Don't bother!" Lui interrupted her as everyone looked up to him. "We lost because of a fluke and nothing more. I saw it in that loser's eyes, the minute Longinus started giving him real pushback, he fell apart. I'm going back in."
"But, Lui," she tried to interject.
"You have any better ideas to get that money?" She seemed to back down after that. Lui huffed and began screwing Longinus' parts back together.
"I do!" Drum's voice cut off his train of thought as he turned to look at the blonde.
"What?"
"I've got a better idea for how to win."
Lui's glance became skeptical." You've got a better plan than a pro?"
Drum just gave him a determined glare. "I'll use Dragon's Bound Wings against him."
"And? What good will that do?"
"I heard what he said when I came into Cavalry's to get you out. Poison Hydra's rubber only allows it to spin-steal from left-rotating Beys while my Dragon will only bounce off it. With the momentum of Dragon's attacks, the two of them colliding could cancel out Hydra's shield and force it back."
" Mute point." Lui countered. "Hydra can't even spin-steal from Longinus."
"Are you sure?" Drum's determined glare was wearing on Lui a bit. "There's no telling what he could be planning for now that he's got time to breathe. For all we know, you could be walking into a trap."
Lui scoffed. "Like I told you: the minute everything shifted my way, I knew he had no plan."
Drum's glare kept up. The edge in his voice made Lui pause for a bit. "Is that what's real, or is that just what you think, again?"
Lui was taken aback as he caught what he was implying, the White Tyrant had been loath to give him a second chance beyond they're first interaction. The more he thought about it the less it made sense, and that Blader-like glare Drum was giving him a sign he was wrong for it, no matter how much he wanted to say otherwise.
His mother's words from before echoed in his mind. But remember what we talked about that night, okay? It looked like this would be one of those hard choices he'd have to make.
"I–" He was starting to lose his voice. The more he thought about it, Drum kind of had a point, he was always quick with judging things. Valt and Aiga were nothing more than ants in his eyes before they got serious with him, maybe this was the same situation. Maybe he really did need to take a chance here.
"I– fine." He hissed that last part out. "But don't you dare come back emptyhanded." Drum gaze softened as he turned to the arena. "I won't." Lui gulped a bit as he watched the kid go.
Drum made his way up to the stadium at the same time as Hou, the pink-eyed boy was back to his usual casual smirk as he looked down at the blonde.
"What's with this? Are you guys trying to beat yourselves now? Come on! You can't take one step forward and jump thirty steps back!"
Drum just glared at him. "The only way we're going is through you, Hou! You can look down on me and my friends all you want, we'll just punch up and knock your teeth in!"
Hou just laughed as he got his launcher and Bey ready. "Ah, good old self-delusion. Never ceases to crack me up."
Drum readied his launcher. "Oh yeah? Then let's see you crack some more."
"3,"
"2,"
"1,"
"Go Shoot!" The two Beys fell into the stadium. Hydra immediately took the center as Dragon circled around it on the slope.
"Let's give it all we've got, Tempest Dragon!" The Bey raced down the slope for Hydra, picking up power and speed as it went.
Hou laughed again. "Is that all we can do now? Just make the same mistakes over and over?" He threw his hands up and shrugged. "Ah well, makes things easier for me!" The two Beys collided in the center as Hydra's rubber connected with a bound blade, the contact pieces shimmered pink and yellow respectively.
"Blow'em away, Hydra!"
"Do it now, Dragon!" The two contact pieces struggled against each other, lightning of their respective colors surged off them as they resisted the push of the other. Looking at Hou, Lui could see some of that fear in his eyes he had when fighting him bubble to the surface. The Beys struggled on until finally breaking off from each other, with Hydra being forced back and spiraling out of control while Dragon blasted off toward a wall and bounded back toward it.
Hou began to break out into a sweat. "W-what the?" Dragon raced through Hydra and knocked it to the side; bounding off of the nearby wall, it pivoted to strike the blue Bey again, forcing it down to the center to be bombarded with blow after blow.
Drum clenched his fist and smiled."Karma, that's what!"
"Keep going, Drum!" Delta shouted. "We've almost got this!" As the rest of his team shouted for him, Lui was left in stunned silence. He was doing it. The kid was actually doing it.
Hou gritted his teeth as the battle went on, Hydra was pinned down to the center as Dragon's attack power increased with each bound leaving it as a blur to the normal eye.
"Enough of this! Get up, Hydra!" The Bey fell on the free-spinning ring of its atomic Driver and swerved around Dragon's latest attack, making its way up to the slope clad in a blue aura and trailed by afterimages.
"Like that'll stop me!" Drum said. Dragon bounded off another wall on the left and ran straight for Hydra at top speed, only for the Defense Type to casually move out of the way, leaving Dragon to hit only another wall and pivot.
"Keep pushing!" Drum shouted, only for Dragon to miss strike after strike as the white and gold top began shaking uncontrollably. Even with its bound wings as a cushion, the force of all those impacts must have still done a number on it.
Hou put a finger to his chin. "Seems to me like we're all out of gas." He closed his eyes and sighed wistfully. "And here I thought you'd make me crack."
Drum grunted. "Sorry that I've kept you waiting! Put it to the pedal, Dragon!" Drum's partner raced up to the slope of the ring and made it to the outer rim, its Charge Driver sparked with power as it rocketed along the edge and stabilized itself.
Slipping off the rim, Dragon came up on Hydra from behind and struck it, causing the blue Bey to blast forward and into a wall. Hydra bounded off of it with its rubber and pivoted for Drum's partner.
Now it was Drum's turn to be shocked. "W-what?"
Hou's smile had flattened as he glared at the boy. His blue aura seethed around him. "You thought you were the only one with that party trick? Don't kid yourself. Hydra!"
The blue Bey exploded with energy as its avatar's three heads gnashed their teeth and roared.
In response, Drum's aura and flame horns flared up.
"Dragon!"
Dragon exploded as its avatar unfurled its multicolored wings and shot a stream of blue flames at its opponent's avatar who countered with three jets of water. The two Beys bounded off of each other and into walls all over the stadium clashing endlessly as their aura's streamed off them. The force from the clashes could be felt all throughout the arena as people had to shield themselves from the blasts of pressure erupting with each clash. Lui grunted as he strained against the wind.
Come on, kid.
The clash kept up as the Bey slammed into each other. Their avatars raged at each other all the while. Eventually however, Hydra slid on its Atomic Driver's ring, swerving out of the path of Dragon's attack and readying to strike it from behind.
Drum didn't even flinch and immediately countered. "Rainbow Turbo!" Tempest Dragon began to glitter with rainbow energy as it took swerved to face Hydra head-on. The rainbow wings of Dragon's avatar exploded with light as its opponent seemed to recoil a bit. A final burst of pressure billowed out from the ring as everyone stopped bracing themselves to look down at the arena.
The smoke cleared to reveal Hydra's scattered parts at the bottom of the stadium, with Dragon casually circling the stadium. Hou dropped to his knees as the audience roared.
Drum jumped with joy and ran down to his teammates to hug them. Lui watched as the boy went from hug to hug. It wouldn't be easy for him, but maybe he could get used to this after all.