Of Love and Death.

The Future Chapter 13: Bonds of Bladers and Beys Pt. 1

Possession, being forced to battle, being separated from people you care about. A bit of destruction. Tiredness. A few pages about how the bonds between bladers and beys work in this universe, which ISN'T EVEN HOW I THINK  THEY WORK IN THE SHOW ANYMORE WHY DID MY UNDERSTANDING OF IT HAVE TO CHANGE NOW OF ALL TIMES? And one author who stayed up till Midnight last night. (New Years Eve)

      Opening her eyes, the Masked Blader didn't realize that something was different. She'd fully locked onto the battle ahead. That was the thing on her mind. That conversation with Minerva? It had already left her head. Now all that she was devoting her brain to was focusing on her five opponents and their beys.

     All five of the Underground Bladers were sneering at her. With a shock, the Masked Blader realized that she didn't have her launcher out yet. At least she was no longer shaking in her boots. Something must have happened to calm her down. Or adrenaline had driven out the fear.

     Adrenaline was likely the answer. The Masked Blader bounced on her heels. She felt oddly powerful, especially considering her opponents. Five overconfident bladers who were all going to team up against her.

     Everything seemed crystal clear to the Masked Blader. With eyes as sharp as an owls, she studied her opponents. They were all basically the same. Weird hair with tattoos and sneers. But not like the cool people with weird hair and tattoos. These people seemed much more nefarious. Perhaps that was because they were forcing her to battle with her bey on the line.

     That would make someone seem nefarious.

     Closing her eyes, the Masked Blader took one more deep breath. Okay. There was no point in putting this off any longer. "All right!" She snarled like a monster, pulling out her launcher. The intensity took even the strange blader aback. And especially her opponents. All of them took a half step back.

      The Underground Blader's leader tried to rally them. And it kind of worked. "Come off of it!" He shouted. A big person with long green and yellow hair and no shirt. "It's not like she's Red Eye or something! And he's the only one who has ever been able to take on five of us at once!"

     One of the blader's in the ring with the Masked Blader, one with a nose ring and pink hair laughed. "Yeah! Come on guys, he's right! This little shrimp might have a mask, but she's not that legend!" That goaded cheers from all of her opponents. They all shouted out and raised their launchers in a pre-battle cheer.

      All the while, the Masked Blader watched on, silently clicking in her bey. Silently getting ready. Stealth and quiet like a barn owl in hunt. And as strong as a warrior. Every part of her felt toned and clicked, like she was a puzzle that finally had its last piece put in it. She felt complete and that made her feel strong.

     Like she was undefeatable.

     It took five minutes for all of the Underground Bladers to calm down and actually get into their launching positions. And the Masked Blader kept silent during it all. She could tell it was actually starting to get to her opponents. A few minutes ago she'd been a shaking kid, basically crying at the thought of losing her partner. Now she was a cool predator. What had changed? Even the Masked Blader herself wasn't sure. Whatever it was, it felt like it was for the better though.

     Finally, the ref tossed their hand in the air. They had all yellow hair in a buzz cut that had grown out a bit. Actually a kind of normal hairdo in this place. "Ready, set!" They declared. The Masked Blader crouched down, still not saying a word.

     The shout of "Three!" Rang out all across the underground room. It nearly hurt the Masked Bladers ears. Thankfully it didn't. Would have been hard to start the battle with her ears ringing, she mused even as she tossed her launcher to her left, and slightly more dominant hand. It was cool to be basically ambidextrous.

     The call of "Two!" was no different. But the Masked Blader was ready for the harsh noise this time, and tuned it out. She also enjoyed throwing her cape backwards dramatically. It was fun, and that was basically why she bladed.

     "One!" Everyone's eyes were on the Masked Blader as she placed her hand on the string. And her eyes were on all of her opponents. It would be hard to take on five beys at once, but like the guy said, Red Eye had done it. So could she.

      "LET IT RIP!" Finally, the Masked Blader said something. She could see the mild surprise on all of her opponents faces as she did. Maybe they thought she'd lost her voice in fright. Oh was it satisfying to just scream out "Let it rip" at the top of her lungs. It was like no other time she'd shouted the infamous words.

     It took approximately ten seconds for the Masked Blader to win. Ten seconds during which it was like she existed in two different places. One the one hand, she was the Masked Blader. Standing there, looking over the stadium and Minerva spun around.

     But on the other side. On the other side it was like the Masked Blader was on a rocky mountain, balanced on top of a few intersecting paths over a cavern. It was like she was a warrior owl, flying high above all the other beys, ready to stab them with her spear.

     It was a very strange experience. But it was over so quickly, it didn't really register with the Masked Blader. Almost like she was in some kind of strange trance. The side of her that was Minerva dove down to the ground, creating an impact that shattered all of the other beys into glass. They had been coming for her, about to converge on her. But she'd taken them down.

      Yet the side of her that was the Masked Blader watched as all of the opposing beys converged on her own. She watched as Minerva let out an attack that blew all of the other beys into the air, bursting them as they went. She watched as the wind absolutely demolished and trashed the Underground Blader's room. It even threw all of her opponents into the cage, breaking and bending it.

     The Masked Blader had won.

     Holding out her hand, Minerva jumped up into her human body's outstretched palm. Carefully, she pocketed the top. It felt strange, like it was just a shell, almost like it had less spirit than before. But at least she still had her partner.

     Looking up, the Masked Blader saw all of the Underground Bladers sprawled all over the place. As she turned around, she saw that the cage door had been burst open. Without hesitation, moving like she owned the place, the mysterious blader strode out of the door of the cage, and out into the fake sewer.

      Leaving nothing but destruction in her wake.