Of Love and Death.

The Present Chapter 12: The Battle of Flames and Thoughts Pt. 2

       Both Shu and Valt nodded to the ref, signifying that they were ready. "Ready, set!" The stripe wearing official announced.

    And then, the stadium fell silent. The entire crowd was on the edge of their seats, waiting to see what would happen next. A pin drop could be heard. The lights were off except for the three spotlights. One for the bey stadium. And two for the bladers.

    With a grip on the launcher, so tight that it would not waver in the slightest, Shu fell into his launching position. A short distance away, Valt did the same. Their eyes were locked on each other. Every movement, every breath, every twitch of their eyes were taken into account by their opponent.

     "Three!" Shu called out, in tandem with every other soul watching.

    "Two!" Valt declared. All others joined him.

     "One!" Both competitors shouted out. Their eyes gleamed with resonance and might. The fighting spirit within both of them ignited to a greater extent than almost any time before.

    And then, the stadium fell silent. The entire crowd was on the edge of their seats, waiting to see what would happen next. A pin drop could be heard. The lights were off except for the three spotlights. One for the bey stadium. And two for the bladers.

    This was it.

      "LET IT RIP!" Shu shouted out the words with all of the force and passion of billions of hours of joy. With all of the memories that he and Valt had shared. He wanted to let this battle be what it was supposed to be. A true testament to his skill. To Valt's skill. To the two of them, and their friendship that had lasted countless moons.

    And Shu pulled the ripcord. A thousand little flecks of sparks, mini bits of flame swirled around the string. With the force of a thousand horses, Spryzen was sent hurtling downward. But that wasn't what he saw. His launch wasn't what the fiery blader needed to watch. Shu's eyes were locked on Valt. Locked on his opponent, recapping everything he knew about the man.

    How Valt was someone to be feared. He had just as much passion, just as much skill, and just as much resolve as Shu. Perhaps even more. The mind reader who he'd grown up with. Who he'd gone through all stages of his life with. The good parts, the bad parts, the red-colored parts. Who he'd found himself falling in love with at the age of 11. Or at least, the beginnings of falling in love.

    Shu saw how Valt mirrored him as he launched. How blue sparks that looked like blue smoke surrounded his opponent's launcher. Or maybe the white-haired blader was mirroring the other. It didn't matter. Before even a moment had passed, Valtryek and Spryzen had landed in the stadium. The sound of them clanging against the metal resounded through the arena. It felt to Shu like his partner's impact shook the very earth upon which he stood.

    With nary a moment for either blader to catch their breath, or think of a plan, the red and blue beys slammed into each other. What could only be described as lightning burst out in flares from the collision. Beams of crimson and cerulean exploded in equal colors.

      There were shrieks of both fear and glee as waves of wind passed through the stands. Thousands of people raised their arms to their faces or ducked behind seats. Many gripped hats and even more lost their head wear. "An explosive collision, right out of the gate!" Hanami tried to call out over the chaos. He was not super successful.

     But Shu didn't hear any of it. He didn't feel the wind blowing his hair backward and exposing his glowing red scar. He didn't hear the cacophony of the crowd. Just silence. No static or humming. Just silence, an absence of noise. All of the brain power that was devoted towards his senses was set on watching this collision. Taking every little detail into account, not missing anything that might give him an edge.