𝕓𝕖 𝕞𝕪 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 | 𝔽𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕕.𝕝.𝕙.

Believe-Chapter ten

"Ravlynne. RAVLYNNE. RAVVVVVYYYLLYYYYNNNEEEEE!"

The girl snapped out of her thoughts. Valt was waving his hand frantically in front of her, pointing towards the arena.

"Free says you should go. We need to catch up to Sunbat United. They're fielding Silas next."

The boy seemed to have calmed down since his match and his eyes were serious. They were two points behind their opponents and they needed to buck up on the next round, or their defeat would be guaranteed.

"I'll go."

Ravlynne took out her launcher and walked over to the console, pressing down on the button below her picture. It lit up the screen and a voice in the stadium announced solemnly "BC SOL has fielded RAVLYNNE GLASS for the 2ND ROUND."

At the arena, Silas Karlisle was already waiting impatiently. The green-haired boy in a fur-trimmed jacket grinned at Ravlynne, showing off his sharp teeth. Ravlynne said nothing, only bent her leg slightly and prepared for the launch.

"So you're Ravlynne, the one they've been raving about, eh?"

The boy cackled and readied his launcher. The referee started the countdown.

"We'll see if what they said is true. 3, 2, 1, LET IT RIP-

Satomb hurtled into the arena, spinning steadily. Silas had launched his bey using his dominant hand, thus giving it a more controlled spin. He had chosen to play it safe first and prod Karaginn for weaknesses.

Karaginn, meanwhile, shot headfirst into the arena, wings outstretched. Launched at a 45 degree angle, she rode the slope of the dish and sped up, whirling circles around Satomb.

Silas sneered. Satomb possessed three tiny rollers on its layers, making it almost impossible to land a hit as they simply deflected the attack. The rollers would force the opposing bey off-balance, thus giving Satomb time to counter-attack.

"Karaginn, Raven's Call. Sweep him off balance first."

Karaginn grinned. She opened her beak, letting loose a series of harsh calls. Satomb growled as he was knocked off his performance tip, breaking his steady spin. Karaginn didn't spare him a moment to recover, immediately launching into her second move: V Formation Strike.

Mimicking the graceful formation formed by migrating birds in the fall, Karaginn sped towards her opponent, tracing the first tail of the long "V".

"Satomb, Roller Drift! GET BACK UP!"

Silas snarled and punched his fist into the air. His bey fell onto the curved edge of its rollers and drifted in a loop around the arena, narrowly missing Karaginn's attack. Satomb ducked and evaded the lethal sweep of her barbed feathers before she had time to complete the second tail of her attack. The raven swore under her breath and shielded herself with her wing, rebounding off the wall of the arena.

The green demon bey grinned devilishly. Satomb's rollers were a useful gimmick in both attack and defence. They would just keep chipping away at Karaginn's layers each time they clashed till she finally burst, and he could rely on them to escape whenever he was in a tight corner.

"We need more height...the rollers won't affect Karaginn if she attacks from above. But if I miss, she'll take a huge blow...Silas has experience, he'll know what to expect if I use Flight Launch. Karaginn has to gain altitude right now"

"Screw Satomb and his vegetable-brained blader. We can end this."

Karaginn spread her wings and sped across the arena in a blue arc, fast as lightning. The bey rocketed up into the air upon reaching the steep slope at the curved edge of it. Satomb growled. Roller Drift wasn't just an evasive move; it allowed him to unleash a serious counter-attack as well after recovering.

But with Karaginn in the air now, that energy packed into the attack would have to go into avoiding her when she, inevitably, came swooping down, her eyes gleaming for blood.

"Hang in there, Satomb! We've got this!"

Silas clenched his fists. Ravlynne leant back as her bey flew upwards, just barely grazing her chin.

"I need more precision. Give me a boost, Ravlynne."

The urgency was gone from Karaginn's voice. It was cold as ice and fixated as the raven's sharp eyes. Ravlynne only ever heard that side of her bey when the stakes were high and their chances low. She only had one shot to burst her opponent, and her aim was largely uncontrolled. The impact of falling from the height she was at would end the match for even a bey as hardy as Karaginn.

Silas was an A-list blader, and even though this wasn't an official match, it would be embarrassing for both BC Sol and herself if she lost. Besides, she didn't trust Silas not to go around running his mouth about how he had defeated one of the top bladers in the world.

And if, no, when her father heard-it would give him even more proof that his daughter was a failure. That her talent was just a flash in the pan. That she couldn't even accomplish anything without him.

No, Karaginn would not allow her blader to be humiliated just like that. Satomb and Silas were going to hell.

"Ever watched ravens hunt, Satomb? They go for animals more than twice their size from the air. They dive, lunge, claw, even barrel roll mid-flight to take down their prey. They don't stop at anything, not because they want the prey, but because they want to survive. That's the only difference between me and them."

Ravlynne's eyes glinted a steely blue. She believed her bey. Whatever Karaginn had in mind was going to help them win. Ravlynne's hand flew to her launcher and held it forward just as Karaginn began her descent.

The bey clicked into place and Ravlynne yanked on the ripcord. She barely had time to aim, just allowed her intuition and her link with Karaginn to point her in a direction.

"I can survive just fine. I just want to destroy you along the way."

Silas' jaw fell open. His bey faltered and Karaginn struck, crashing directly in the centre of Satomb. The bey burst, falling apart while Karaginn came to a rest between the pieces of Silas' bey. A long jagged crack ran along half of Satomb's energy layer.

"That-That's not allowed! You can't launch your bey twice in one round!"

Silas yelled. It was true that no one had ever pulled off or even thought of launching their bey again before the match had ended, and the WBBA rules were a little grey and unclear when it came to double-launches in one round. Technically, since Ravlynne didn't touch Karaginn, the win may still be counted.

"Good game. Your rollers were quite impressive."

Ravlynne stretched out a hand. Silas didn't take it.

"That was against the rules. You can't just-just decide to catch your bey and launch it again because you're losing-"

"He's saying it like it was easy"

Ravlynne shrugged. She picked up her bey from the arena and turned. Karaginn had fallen quiet in her mind.

The walk back seemed too long. The spotlights were blinding. The fixation from earlier was gone. If she had believed in Karaginn, why did it feel so terrible? Beys breaking weren't uncommon-but they weren't all that expected either. Would she become the sort that broke beys for fun? But her bey had told her what to do, and it had brought her victory of a sort.

It was victory, but Ravlynne had never won a more hollow victory before. Could she believe her bey?