Chapter Text
The room was dark, there were a few stations lined up against a wall, stations most commonly used by bladers to create or evolve a bey. One towards the middle was occupied by a blader with black messy curly hair with blonde highlights, eventually, he sat up from his hunched over position over the work station.
“It's finished.” He said proudly to himself, turning on an overhead lamp and holding the finished layer under it, seemingly observing his work with a grin on his face.
The next day around 12:30-1:05, Milo went down to his local park where he and his friends usually hung out. As he approached, he could faintly hear in the distance the sounds of other people having fun and the clashing of beys. Hearing this, he could hardly contain himself and started on a sprint towards the stadium where all the others were, slowing to a stop once arrived to watch the current ongoing battle. One of Milo’s closer friends, Alex, spotted him through the crowd and walked over to greet him.
“Hey Milo! How’s it going, come to watch another match or two?” Alex asked excitedly, positioning himself to stand next to Milo so he can still watch the match while talking to him. “Things are getting pretty heated right now, Todd’s been on a winning streak all afternoon, no matter how many people go at him at once, he somehow always comes out on top!” Alex said, seemingly getting more excited just by saying it, as if he was ramping himself up to battle Todd next.
“Is that so? Well I'd like to challenge him myself, sounds like a lot of fun!” Milo said, turning away from Alex to face the battle in front of him.
Alex turned his head towards Milo, looking confused. “What? But you don’t have-” Just before he could finish his sentence, the referee, Jake, called out, "Shadow Reaper with a ring out finish, and with a score of 2-0, Todd Ortega is the winner!” A wave of disappointed sounds echo throughout the crowd as the blader who lost walks away, a look of defeat covering her face.
“Anyone wanna challenge me next?”Todd said proudly, scanning the crowd for anyone who would speak up. Just then, Milo raised his hand, pushing through the crowd and heading towards the stadium.
“I’ll challenge you, seems like you could use a challenge for once.” Milo said, walking up to the opposite side of the stadium to Todd with a confident stride.
“You can’t possibly be serious, you don’t even have a bey!” Todd exclaimed, his face showing a sense of disbelief in the challenge offered to him.
Milo reached into a compartment on his belt as Todd spoke, “Think again.” Just then, he pulled out a Bey, polished and seemingly brand new by the looks of it. “This is my bey, Cyclone Knight.”
Todd looked appalled, like he couldn't even begin to believe what he was seeing. “You can’t be serious, that bey looks like it hasn’t even been in battle before, let alone been launched! This is the first time I'm saying this but, are you sure you wanna go against me without a little practice first?”
“I think I’ll be fine. Now, are you gonna get ready or what?” Milo said confidently, pulling his launcher off his belt and holding it out in front of him.
Just then, Jake, the referee chimed in. “With both bladers please swap beys for inspection?” Milo then proceeded to hold out his bey to Todd, with him doing the same. As Todd inspected Milo’s bey, he took mental notes about the shape of its parts, the layer, the disk, the driver, they all had drastically different design choices. The disk was shaped like the “Taper” disk but it was wider, extending farther than the layer and stretching farther down closer to the driver. The driver had a second ring a bit above the tip, the bottom of it flat but hollow inside. The layer had a jagged sword like edge on both sides blocked by two shield like structures next to the sword, and straight down the middle of the layer was a more trapezoid shaped wedge on both sides covered in rubber connecting the shields while also providing another area to attack with, this area seemingly more aimed at harder hits rather than quicker less impactful strikes. Suddenly, Milo held out Todd’s bet towards him, seemingly finished with inspecting it.
“Yo, you ready to start the match or what? I'm practically bursting with excitement over here!” Milo said as he held out his launcher in front of him, Todd silently took his bey and gave Milo’s back to him before doing the same. The two attach their beys to the launchers and get ready for the countdown to begin
“The first battle! Ready…set!” Jake said loud enough for everyone around to hear. As the countdown started, Milo began pulling his launcher back, lifting his leg up as he did (think Dante Koryu launch), the moment the countdown ended, he pulled the launcher back towards the stadium, stopping in front of it and pulling the string outward and away from him.
“Let it…rip!!” The two bladed shouted in unison as they launched their beys, Cyclone Knight hitting the stadium hard and immediately diving towards the center while Shadow Reaper landed softly on the stadium before quickly striking for the center, about to collide with Cyclone Knight. Upon the first contact, both beys were sent backwards. Reaper went into a flower pattern of attack while Knight was pushed back farther, the ring around the tip of the driver making contact with the stadium causing it to quickly regain its balance and head back for another collision with Reaper. This continued for about three seconds before a particularly hard hit from Cyclone Knight sent both of them flying farther back, with Shadow Reaper narrowly missing the stadium wall and continuing on with a bit less stamina, unlike Cyclone Knight which slammed into the stadium wall and went straight for Reaper only to miss and hit another wall, bouncing off them at high speeds, losing stamina quickly.
“Alright Reaper, let’s end this! Hit him with a Shadowed Slice!” Shadow Reaper barrels towards the center of the stadium as Cyclone Knight hits the stadium wall just right to send itself towards the center as well.
“Come on! Don’t let him win Cyclone Knight!” The beys collided as sparks flew wildly as the collision persisted. Suddenly, both beys were sent away from each other in opposite directions, both hitting the stadium wall and flying into the air at the same time. Reaper fell onto the stadium wall and fell back into the stadium before continuing spinning with very little stamina left, Knight on the other hand burst the moment it made contact with the stadium wall burst, its pieces falling into the stadium, the layer rolling on its side for a short distance before falling over.
“Shadow Reaper with a burst finish! And with a score of 2-0, Todd Ortega is the winner!” Once again, a wave of disappointment, this time paired with an air of newfound excitement from the battle passes over the crowd, with people already offering to go next and calling dibs on who goes first.
“Aw man! Come on, one more round, I’ll for sure win this time!” Milo exclaimed, quickly picking up his bet and putting it back together before reaching for his launcher again.
“I think you should let other people have a go now, it seems people wanna try their luck against me again after that battle. You gotta wait at the back of the line now.” Milo sighs in disappointment at this statement and reluctantly heads back into the crowd, placing his bey back into its compartment on his belt as he pushes through to stand next to Alex and wait for his turn to battle.
After about 4 hours of people battling each other and a few battle royal matches, people started heading home. First maybe one or two at a time, then groups started leaving so they could get home before dark. Eventually, it was only Alex, Todd, and Milo at the park, battling over and over again. At this point, Milo had gotten a lot better and could now semi consistently win by survivor finishes and wasn’t losing to bursts as much. Just as another battle was about to start, somebody walked over, Milo, Alex, and Todd stopping to look over at him.
“Are you three bladers by any chance?” He asked, looking down at the stadium in front of him, observing how Milo and Alex were about to battle.
“Yeah…why do you ask?” Todd asked skeptically, standing up straighter as he asked. Milo and Alex stood up too, turning to face the mysterious man better.
“Well, lucky me then! I’ve just created a Beyblade team downtown and I seem to be needing some members to join it. So I came to ask if you three would like to be a part of it!” As the man talks, he makes some exaggerated movements, punctuating his words, even though it makes him look silly.
“Are you kidding?! No hesitation, I’m joining!-“
“But. There’s this one thing I want you three to do.” He reaches into a pocket on his jacket, pulling out his bey but not showing it to the three. “I want you three to battle me. All at once.”
“All at once, you’re kidding right?” Alex remarked, in disbelief at the statement.
“Hey man, three against one is totally unfair, why can’t we just go at you one-on-one, we’d all get a fair chance to battle then.” Todd retorted, opting for a more fair battle than a one sided one.
“I don’t care what kind of battle it is, I just want to be on a team!” Milo said enthusiastically, already pulling out his launcher.
“Come on, can’t we have a friendly little three on one battle, besides, it’s not that big of a deal anyways. We can always go one on one later because you’re all on the team regardless!” He once again exaggerates his movements as he speaks, sounding way too excited considering the situation. After about a minute of discussion between Milo, Alex, and Todd, they decided to have the battle. Another minute later, they were all readied around the stadium, the three on one side and the mysterious balder on the other. “As per normal tournament rules, I will hand my bet to you three so you can take a look at it and make sure I’m not up to some funny business and you will do the same, is that clear?” The three nodded, taking out their bets and handing them over to the mysterious blader. A moment later the man handed over his bet to the three, and upon seeing it, Alex and Todd were amazed by what bey it was.
“N-No way! This can’t be-“ Alex exclaimed quietly, amazed by the bey.
“Wait if this is his bey then he must be-“ Todd said just after Alex’s remark.
“Wait what are you guys talking about? It looks like any normal attack type to me.” Milo said stupidly.
“Dude, this bey is Nexus Apollo, owned by the national champion William Sonoma” Todd said, looking up at the balder across the stadium, who is now known, he seems to be inspecting the three’s beys very closely.
“Wait, he’s the national champion? How are we supposed to win this battle then!? Sure it’s three against one but he’s way stronger than us!” Milo said with a bit of worry in his voice, already imagining the group’s crushing defeat.
“Stop thinking so negatively, I’ve got a plan.” Todd said sternly, the other two quickly listened in. “So first, Alex, you’re going to attack William and push him backwards with your defense and the two of us will assist from the sides. We’re not trying to go for a burst, only a ring out or a survivor finish. All we’ve gotta do is win this one round and then we’re done. We all agree on the plan?” The other two agreed as they handed the bey back to William and each got their respective beys back.
“Alright, you three ready? Because I am super stoked right now!” Williaim said, strangely,he was backing away.
“Absolutely! This is probably gonna be the best battle of my life!” Exclaimed Milo, readying his launcher. Alex and Todd did the same, Todd holding his out in front of him while Alex held his above his head with both hands.
“Three!” They all said in unison, Milo doing his wind up launch, Todd attached his bey to his launcher, Alex suddenly pulled his launcher down to be closer to the stadium but lower than somebody would normally have it, William did cartwheels towards the stadium.
“Two!” Milo continues to wind up, Todd readied his launcher where it normally would be if he was doing a regular launch, Alex adjusted his footing, grounding himself for a more stable launch, William went into a frontflip.
“One!” Milo has fully winded up his launch, Todd also adjusts his footing, placing one hand on the launcher string while his left hand firmly grips the launcher handle, Alex does the same as Todd, grabbing the launcher string and making sure to angle his launcher correctly, William lands on the side of the stadium, pushing off of it and into the air, he points his launcher towards the stadium and grabs the launcher string.
“Let It…Rip!” Milo quickly ‘unwinds’ and launches his bey into the stadium, Todd launches his bey, pulling the string far behind him, the same goes for Alex, William launches his bey from mid-air, landing back onto the ground safely.
Alex’s bey, Supreme Guardian lands firmly in the stadium and immediately heads straight for Nexus Apollo alongside Shadow Reaper and Cyclone Knight.
“Alright Guardian, let’s go, Supreme Fortress!” Alex boomed, Supreme Guardian slammed into Apollo, stopping it in its tracks
“Okay Reaper, we got this, Final Strike!” Shadow Reaper hits Apollo from one side, pushing it back a little before being knocked off, though it quickly came back in for another hit. Repeating this over and over again.
“C’mon Cyclone Knight, don’t let him get away!” Cyclone Knight came in on the other side, slamming into Apollo as well, at this point it was being pushed back at a considerably fast rate. Slowly getting closer and close to the edge of the stadium.
‘Hmm, those two have some serious potential, just seeing the resonance between them and their beys shows that very clearly. But this third one however…he’s hardly resonating at all, and I hope to god it’s just because he’s new to blading and nothing else. I still think he has great potential though, man I can’t wait to see what these guys can do when they’re at their full strength!’ As he thinks, a smile forms on his face. Suddenly he seems a lot more focused in battle, and he clenches his fist and pumps it in the air towards the stadium. “Alright! You three are getting me fired up! I’m glad I chose you guys to be my first team members. Unfortunately though I must crash this little party of yours because not all things come to a good end.” He suddenly puts his hands together, his fist in his other hand’s open palm. He then makes a slashing motion with his left arm, going across his body towards the stadium. “Apollo! End this with Blinding Strike!” Just as Apollo is about to be knocked off the end of the stadium, it suddenly gets hit in a way that makes it tilt back, allowing it to deal an upper attack and send the three beys flying with sparks somehow bright enough to blind all four bladers. Guardian and Reaper get knocked out of the stadium, bursting before they hit the ground, Knight hits the wall of the stadium and lands back into the stadium, albeit with less stamina and a waver as it spun. This surprised all four of the bladers there. ‘No way! Usually that move is a one hit finish! Maybe I was wrong to doubt him…’ He thought as Knight quickly began attacking again, bouncing back quickly after every hit.
“Alright let’s go! Don’t give in! Keep at it, Cyclone Knight!” Milo pumped his fists towards the stadium multiple times, psyching himself up it seems. Despite Cyclone Knight's low stamina and waver, its attacks only seemed to get stronger and stronger. The ring around Knight’s driver allowed it to quickly recover from particularly strong hits that should’ve sent it far off balance.
‘This is insane, it should be slowing to a stop by now but it just keeps hitting harder every time! People don’t usually last this long in battle against me, this is exciting!’ William’s smile widened, he clapped his hands together as he grounded his feet, giving him a more stable stance. He twisted his fingers together and stuck his thumb out before pointing to the sky. “Well, things have been fun guys but I don’t have all day so I gotta end it here! Apollo! Strike him out with Nexus Whip!” He moves his hand from pointing to the sky to doing a two handed slash across his body, his left hand stopping at his left side and his right arm stopping at his right side. Apollo hit Knight with a hard enough hit to send them flying towards the edges of the stadium, Apollo’s driver makes contact with the stadium in a way that causes it to redirect into a direct hit with knight.
“Like we’ll let you win that easily! Cyclone Knight!” All caught up with adrenaline, Milo pumps his first towards the stadium and blindly shouts something out. “Blow him away with Whirlwind Breaker!” The ring on Cyclone Knight’s driver makes contact with the stadium, instead of causing it to move quickly towards Apollo, it started spinning around rapidly, staying in one spot as Apollo approached.
William saw something as Milo spoke, a little glow in Cyclone Knight. ‘Yes! His resonance! That’s exactly what I’d been waiting to see!’ He thought to himself as Apollo dove in for the attack. The two beys collided, sparks flying everywhere as neither of them refused to give up. Just then, Cyclone Knight wavered in a way that sent both beys flying out of the stadium. Cyclone Knight flew straight towards Milo, colliding with his fist that was facing towards the stadium. Upon impact with Milo’s fist, it bursts, the pieces falling towards the floor. Apollo hit the floor, rolling to a stop at William’s feet. “Well, that was unexpected.” He said, picking up his bey off the floor. “Well I guess I’ll see you guys down at the sports center tomorrow afternoon for the first team meeting! Have a good night you guys!” William turned and walked away, waving goodbye to them as he did.
“Aw man! I was so close I almost won there!” Milo said as he fell backwards onto the floor, seemingly a bit exhausted from the battle. He picked up the pieces of his bey and put them back together.
“Look on the bright side! We just got ourselves some free spots on our first Beyblade team!” Alex exclaimed with excitement, Todd nodding in agreement.
||Chapter End||