Of Love and Death.

The Present Chapter 8: Enter the Antagonist Pt. 3

     Shu nodded to Free as the guy scooted over to let him sit next to Valt. "Are your ears okay?" He asked his best friend. Valt turned to face him and grinned in response.

     "Yup, my ears are fine! Yours?" Valt asked.

     Shu nodded, and then turned his attention to the center of the stadium where Rashad was about to start battling. He didn't want to miss seeing this guy battle, in the first match no less. Some bladers would show off if they got to battle first in a tournament. Rashad, however, seemed more the type who would hide his true strength. So this would be a measure of just how strong he was. All Shu had to do was scale his measurements of how strong someone was. Like how you scale being tall based upon age.

     Up on the jumbotron appeared a picture of Rashad and one of Greg, both of which with their beys. Shu, however, was only studying the first of those two. It would appear that Rashad had a balance type, and a powerful one at that. Rashad had picked a good name, too, Glory Regnar. The bey had white spikes that could attack, and a black base. Shu wasn't certain, but it looked like the brown tip might be able to swap modes.

      If I do end up battling him, it'll be tough, Shu thought just before a sound dragged him out of his head.

       "First battle!" The ref declared, causing the crowd to go silent for a moment. Especially since it was hard to hear without the speakers. Anticipation was in the air as Rashad and Greg took out their launchers and beys. "Ready? Set!"

     "Three!" Everyone shouted.

     "Two!"

     "One!"

      "Let it rip!"

       Rashad's launch was strong enough to cause sparks to fly. So, he was at least on the level of those who could do lightning launches. Shu wasn't close enough to the stadium, but he knew that Regnar would have landed hard in the stadium.

      "Regnar!" Rashad shouted, loud enough to be heard in the first row of the bleachers.

     What happened next went by too quickly for Shu to look up to the jumbotron and see what was going on. A bright light shined out from the stadium. Then Shu heard the sound of a bey bursting a moment later. Finally, a burst of wind that had been called by Regnar's attack reached Shu and BC Sol. Shu grunted as it passed by, causing his eyes to water.

"Ack!" Venice exclaimed. Shu didn't miss Valt's laughter at the sight of the azure-eyed blader. Venice had been blown backward by the gust of wind into the row behind him. His legs were sticking upward and his head had disappeared from view.

     "Well that took talent, Venice," Free said dryly, speaking up for once. Also causing Valt to break out in even harder laughter, the rest of BC Sol joining him. Shu even chuckled a bit himself.

     "Thank you whoever said that," Venice muttered, still tossed behind the chair. 

* * *

     Shu stretched as he waited to be called out to battle. It turned out that he was the last one to go. So, you know, he'd been sitting for quite a few hours. It'd been nice to be next to Valt, though. Especially once Valt did something odd and scooted close to Shu. Close enough that their sides were pressed together. Shu was very grateful that no one had noticed, or at least no one had commented on his slightly pink face.

     I noticed, Spryzen teased.

     "Yes, but you aren't going to tell Valt I like him," Shu said aloud. With a bit of an edge to it. As in, "You had better not tell Valt."