Hi. Just wanted to say I changed the matchups a bit for the story. Yeah. Don't hate me. ENJOY. Spoilers for episodes 40-43.
We all went out to the stadium. We all lined up in the middle. Madoka and Kenta's friends were in the audience somewhere. The stadium spotlights were on us and the crowd cheered at us all. I was trying not to freak out too much. So I was breathing deeply to try to slow down my heart rate.
Breathe in. 'Today, we're going to battle the Dark Nebula.'
Breathe out. 'Today, the organization will lose or prosper.
Breathe in. 'But no matter what happens.'
Breathe out. 'We will give it our all to win. For everybody.'
"Hey. Stop breathing like that. It's annoying." Kyoya snapped at me. I glared at him. "I'm nervous. I do this when I'm nervous." I stated.
"You're nervous because you don't believe in yourself. This is why people will see you as weak." Kyoya retorted. I growled. "No, I'm nervous because for the first in months, I have to go face to face with the organization that I helped with their evil agendas." I said.
We stopped arguing when Doji walked out on one of those rich people booths in the stadium. Doji was saying something about how memorable this day would be and how we all made it so far to get here and whatever.
"Without further ado, let us look at the pairings that, of course, have been randomly selected." Doji gestured to the screen. "Here they are."
There were eight total pairings. It was Gingka vs. Yu, Hyoma vs. the new dude with the barrettes in his hair, Benkei vs. Me, Kenta vs. Tetsuya, Tsubasa vs. Reiki, Teru vs. Ryutaro, Kyoya vs. Tobio, and Hikaru vs. Ryuga.
I thought about this a bit. It was obvious that Doji paired it specifically so it's us vs. the Dark Nebula. Great. I took a look at the board. Yu and Gingka. Gingka has come a long way since that battle from before, but would it be enough?
Hyoma and the other dude is not as predictable since I don't know how that new guy battles. Benkei and me battling should be pretty interesting. Benkei's been doing amazing as well. Kenta should win against Watarigani, but that guy may try to pull something.
Reiki is an easy win so Tsubasa is fine. Teru is strong, but he would have no way of getting through Ryutaro's Distortion Drive. Kyoya already won against Tobio so that's predictable.
And Ryuga with Hikaru. If Ryuga is stronger than how we saw him last time, chances aren't too good for Hikaru.
My friends were looking at their pairings. They all realized that almost all our opponents were Dark Nebula members.
"This is actually a chance for us to take down all of the Dark Nebula members at once!" Gingka said positively. "And in the end, we will defeat Ryuga!"
"Alright! We'll put our strengths together!" Hyoma said.
"And shut down the Dark Nebula for good." Tsubasa added.
"Now we'll all move down to the order of battles." Doji's voice interrupted us. "Isn't this fun?"
The board dimmed and lighted going clockwise. Like in those game shows. Then it stopped on Benkei and my battle pairing. "And the first battle with be B-B-B-Benkei versus (Fn)!" Blader DJ announced.
Benkei and I looked at each other. I smiled. "May the best Blader win." I said. He nodded, smiling as well. "I will be the winner! I will battle alongside Kyoya!" Benkei declared. "Well at any rate, let's make this opening battle the best one, got it?" I told Benkei. He nodded and we high fived.
"And now let Battle Bladers begin!" Doji announced. The crowd cheered. All of us except Benkei and I left to the audience area. We both stood at opposite ends of the Beyblade stadium. I heard Gingka and the others cheer for us. This was going to be fun.
"In the very first matchup of the day, we have big bad Benkei and his battling Bey, Dark Bull!" Blader DJ announced. "His opponent is the ever so clever (Fn) with her Vulcan Herculeo!"
The crowd roared. The outcome wasn't too hard to figure out though. Benkei isn't a bad Blader at all. But still, while he has Bull's incredible strength, I have Herculeo's strength and my mind. But still, I don't expect to win easily at all.
The battle started. Bull attacked Herculeo immediately. I watched closely as Herculeo held his ground. Herculeo seemed somewhat aware of what I wanted him to do without saying it. 'Hmm. Bull battles like, well, a bull. How do you win against a bull? Well, how about those bull fighting techniques? Yeah, yeah, that should do it.'
"Herculeo!" I called out, to my surprise, Herculeo moved on its own. Herculeo pushed Bull back and raced to the opposite side that Bull was on. 'That-that's what I was going to tell Herculeo to do. Did we both just synch?'
I shook my head. 'No time for that now. Focus on defeating Benkei first.'
"You know what to do Herculeo!" I shouted. Herculeo spun in one side and Bull went charging to clash with him. Herculeo immediately swerved out of the way. Bull continued spinning off the stadium and into the sky. When Bull came flying down, Herculeo clashed into Bull many times, not allowing Bull to stay on the ground.
At one point, Herculeo smashed into Bull and Bull was sent flying out of the stadium. Herculeo and I had won. The crowd cheered whil Benkei stood there in disbelief. "You did awesome Benkei!" I shouted at him. He looked up and smiled. "Don't lose to anybody in the next matches, got it?" Benkei shouted. I nodded.
We both went into the audience when the next pair had been chosen. It was Kenta vs. Tetsuya. Tetsuya was distracted by bragging about how he has come up with a new special trick after vigorous training. Kenta used that to win. I was rather disappointed that the battle was over already. I wanted to see what Watarigani had planned.
The next round was Teru and Ryutaro. I cheered for Teru. As I predicted, Teru lost when Ryutaro sent his Virgo flying with air currents or whatever.
When Ryutaro won, his picture flashed on the screen above. The thing was, his background was a picture of the Dark Nebula logo. 'So he's a member as well? Aw man. He was one of my favorites.'
The next battle was between Gingka and Yu.
This battle was intense, mostly because I had no idea who would win. People would assume that since Yu won once before, Gingka wouldn't win. But Gingka has been training since then. So I wasn't too sure.
After a bunch of sand was spun around the stadium and hearing the horrid sounds of Libra's Infernal Blast, Gingka won the battle with Storm Bringer, his new special move.
After it was announced that Gingka won, Gingka walked over to Yu and shook hands with him. I think we have a new friend, based on the friendly smile Yu gave.
The next two battles were pretty predictable and kind of boring. Kyoya won against Tobio and Tsubasa won against Reiki. What I found really awesome was that Dan came with Reiki to watch the battle. It shows that siblings will hate each other but be there also.
All of us met up at the waiting areas. We congratulated Tsubasa and Kyoya. We were all pretty hyped up since we were winning against the Dark Nebula. Kenta pointed out that the only members left were Ryutaro, and Ryuga.
All that was left was for Hyoma and Hikaru's matches and we would be off in the second round. The pair ups for round two would be Gingka and the winner of the battle with the Hyoma and the new guy, Kenta and I, Tsubasa and Ryutaro, and Kyoya with whoever won between Ryuga and Hikaru.
Hikaru stated confidently that she would win in that match. I went along with it. I know that Ryuga is really strong. He would win. But that's not something you say out loud.
Hyoma was also stating that he will win so he can battle Gingka.
All of us except Hikaru and Hyoma went back to the audience. The next battle would be Hyoma and the guy that Blader DJ called Reiji. Reiji was this really weird looking guy who reminded me of some of the slacker kids I've seen in the U.S. He slouched so much that his hair fell in front of his eyes and he was very thin. I worried for my psychotic friend.
The battle started off normally. Hyoma looked like he was going to win. Apparently, Aries was being injected with poison each time it attacked Reiji's poison serpent. And apparently, that's allowed. 'Note to self, add rocket launchers to Herculeo for future tournaments.'
Reiji' serpent attacked Aries continuously. You could see pieces of Aries' pieces being broken off. My once calm, but questionably sane, friend Hyoma then broke down. He was crying and freaking out. I don't blame him. If someone even thought about hurting Herculeo, they would feel the wrath of my rocket launchers that I have yet to install.
The battle was over. Reiji won. And Hyoma was having a mental breakdown. Reiji seemed to enjoy breaking Hyoma and Aries. 'Great. We're dealing a creepy guy who broke our calmest friend into tears. And enjoyed it.'
We all ran to Hyoma. Gingka attempted to comfort him, but Hyoma pushed him off. Hyoma kept wailing "Aries" and held the pieces of his bey.
Later, we managed to get Hyoma to his assigned room. We left him alone so to not crowd him. We wouldn't be able to spend time with him anyway. The next battle with Hikaru and Ryuga was about to commence. I had a bad feeling about that. Hikaru is really strong, but Ryuga...
We heard the crowd cheering outside. We rushed through the hallways and finally made it out onto the stadium. "Everybody run!" Blader DJ warned. Ryuga was using his Dark Move. We shouted warnings to Hikaru.
Hikaru didn't leave. The three dragons that appeared attacked Aquario and Hikaru. A huge explosion of energy blasted through the entire stadium. When the smoke cleared, a huge path caused by the ray of explosion created a giant hole at the stadium as well. I turned to look at the Beyblade arena. Hikaru was on the floor. Aquario had stopped spinning.
We all ran to Hikaru. She was unconscious. I looked up to see Ryuga, standing there laughing like a maniac as usual. Gingka yelled something at him. I didn't listen. I tried checking for Hikaru's pulse. I found it. She was alive.
I stood up and placed her arm around my shoulder. I dragged her towards her assigned room. Gingka caught up with me and helped as well.
At Hikaru's room, Madoka started taking care of her. We all went to a different room, I don't know who's, and waited there. The tv was on and Blader DJ was commentating casually, as if a maniac didn't just almost kill a competitor. I guess that's what makes him a profesional commentator. He announced the next matches. Gingka and Reiji, Kenta and I, Tsubasa and Ryutaro, and Ryuga with Kyoya.
I felt scared for my friends. Tsubasa, Kenta, and I have it easy for next round. Kenta and I are friends so we will have a fun battle. Ryutaro isn't as horrible as the other two Dark Nebula Members.
I couldn't stand it if Gingka or Kyoya got hurt like Hikaru and Hyoma did. I took a deep breath. 'Well it won't help if you act like they're doomed. Just do what you do best. Come up with a plan to take down the enemies.'
'Okay, Reiji. His Poison Serpent is a balance type. If it was a stamina type, it could've been more challenging. So if Reiji's Serpent injects poison and breaks its opponents' Beys, then the Bey just has to avoid being attacked. If it's a stamina type, they could just go for a sleepout. The only people with stamina types are Kenta and Ryutaro. So how about the rest of us? Hmm, well I guess the same tactic. It might not work but it's something.'
'How about Ryuga? Well, his power is immense. He steals power from the Bladers he battles. How do you beat that? Honestly, sleep outs seem to be the only solution. However, with their attacks, it just won't work.' I groan and placed my head on the table and covered it with my arms.
I didn't notice Madoka was in the room or that everyone was talking until I heard everyone laugh. Surprised, I jumped up from my chair, hit my knee on the metal table, and collapsed on the floor holding my knee. It also didn't help that when I fell, my head hit the wooden chair crate thing. Everyone laughed at that as well.
I rubbed my head and accepted Madoka's help to getting up. I sat on the wooden thing, holding my knee. "How's Hikaru?" I asked Madoka after everyone settled down. "She's fine. But she won't wake up." Madoka informed me.
I glared at the floor, clutching my fists. "This didn't have to have happened. If I had stopped the Dark Nebula before," I said to myself. Of course, everyone heard me. "We already told you (fn), it's not your fault at all." Kenta reassured me. I nodded but still, I couldn't have helped but felt that I could've avoided this.
"If I had at least tried to stop them, then-" I started again. "Then you would have never met any of us." Kyoya reminded me. 'Man, I hate when he's right.'
"All we can do now is fight together, for Hikaru and Hyoma." Gingka said. I smiled at them all. "Yeah. Thanks guys." I said quietly.
I then turned to Kyoya. "Listen, I'm counting on you for this match, okay?" I informed him. "Counting on me?" He asked confused. I nodded. "I'm counting on you to defeat Ryuga, and to not end up like Hikaru. Understand?" I asked him. I stared at him, to show him I was being serious. Kyoya glared at me. "Don't underestimate me. I'll defeat him and then I'll go on to defeat Gingka." Kyoya declared. I looked away from him.
'Okay so if he wins, he'll most likely be stronger than Gingka and win against him and leave. But if he loses, he'll fall into a coma. Either way, I'm losing a friend on this foreseeable path.'
~LaTeR tHaT dAy~
It was nighttime. Gingka, Benkei, Kenta, and Madoka went to eat something at a fast food place in the stadium. Tsubasa and Kyoya left somewhere. Hikaru was still unconscious. And Hyoma was fast asleep, obviously having a nightmare, based on his usual whimpering and sometimes walking out for Aries.
So for the most part, I felt pretty useless. I would've gone with Gingka and the others, but frankly, I didn't want to spoil their good mood. Benkei and Gingka loved burgers.
I walked around the stadium a bit. It was quiet. The occasional security guard walked by me. I was really bored and frankly, worried. Worried for Gingka and Kyoya. They would be dealing with the worst of it. Reiji and Ryuga are definitely not going to allow them an easy win.
I walked continuously until I was back at the rooms. I decided to go to my room and go to sleep. Tomorrow, if I win against Kenta, I'll have to battle Gingka or Reiji. And that battle is going to take everything I have.
~NeXt MoRnInG~
We all stood in the stadium, waiting for Blader DJ to start the show. We stood at opposite ends of the Bey arena stadium thing. Ryutaro, Reiji, and Ryuga stood at one side, and the rest of us on the other. If only Reiki won in the first match. Then Reiji, Reiki, Ryutaro, and Ryuga could've started a boy band or something. The Quadruple R's.
The crowd was cheering us on. Blader DJ was saying something but stopped suddenly. I heard a weird drum roll sound. Everyone stared at the Pair-Ups board. I looked too and gasped with everyone else. Originally, the pictures of each Blader were up there with their pair up. But now, the other Bladers' pictures flashed around, mixing the order. 'Is this another twist by Doji?' My suspicion was confirmed when only the Dark Nebula members didn't appear surprised.
The pictures stopped moving one by one, each time making a dramatic drumbeat sound. The pair ups changed.
The first match of the second round would be Kyoya versus me. I gasped slightly. 'I'm battling Kyoya? Wait, this can be a good thing. If I can get him to not take me lightly and if I can win against him, he won't abandon us! Okay, but I have to have a plan just in case. Wait, I got it! I know exactly what to do.'
The second match would be Tsubasa versus Ryuga. 'That's fine. I have faith that Tsubasa will battle this intelligently. Aside from me, he also can create a plan. He doesn't rely too much on plans, but still.'
The third match would be Gingka and Ryutaro. 'Okay, that's fine. Gingka won once, he can win again.' I begun to relax a little until I realized something. 'Wait, what about- oh no.'
The fourth match would be Kenta versus Reiji. I groaned. 'No, this is bad. Kenta is too young to go through what happened with Hyoma.' I pinched myself a little. 'Snap out of it (fn)! This is okay. Kenta is a stamina type. If anyone can go with your plan, it's him.'
While I was lost in my thoughts, I didn't realize my friends protesting a change. Kyoya was part of this protest. I sighed sadly. 'Okay. Time to get started with my plan.'
I closed my eyes and folded my arms. "I don't mind since I got an easy win right off the bat." I stated as loudly and arrogantly as possible. I've said it once, I'll say it again; years of practice have yet to fail me.
I slightly opened my eyes to see without anyone knowing they were open. Kyoya had turned to glare at me. "Easy win? You might not have noticed but I'm your opponent!" Kyoya said pointing to himself. I opened one eye to look at him.
I pretended to examine him, shrugged, and closed my eye. "We'll, I guess you'll put up somewhat of a fight. Let's just get this over with so I can go off to the semi finals." I said calmly.
Kyoya growled. "Who do you think you are? You won't be the one to win this round. I will defeat you and crush that confidence!" Kyoya declared angrily. I grinned in my mind. 'Okay, now time for the final step.'
I opened my eyes at him. "Is that so? Alrighty then, how about we make this interesting?" I asked him. "Loser has to do one thing the winner asks for. Anything at all." I explained. Then I smirked. "Unless," I began, "unless you don't want to risk anything. I completely understand."
I may have looked arrogant on the outside, but inside, I was nervous. 'Please take the bait.'
Kyoya growled at me. "Why you! I won't be risking anything! I will defeat you. You hear me (fn)?" Kyoya declared. I shrugged. "Sure thing." I responded. Inside, I was cheering with joy. 'Yas! His pride never fails to help my plans.'
Everybody was looking at us. They seemed confused and concerned.
I turned to Kenta. "I'm sorry I won't get to battle you. I really did look forward to it." I said to him. Kenta smiled sadly at me. "I was looking forward to battling you too. But we can still battle after this tournament, right?"
I nodded.
I looked at the board again. 'After this whole mess, I'm going to need a lot of therapy. And a nice vacation.'
Done. IM SO UPSET I HAD TO MAKE BENKEI LOSE IN THE FIRST ROUND BUT I DID IT FOR THE STORY. AGH. And why would they make Kenta battle Reiji? LIKE NO! KENTA IS A SMALL SCREECHING BABY THAT I MUST PROTECT FROM THAT MENACE.