CHAPTER TWO
"M- my name is Faust." he whispered to Toby.
"And I am taking my Tempo back."
I trembled as Faust held out his hand: in his palm he clutched a bey which glistened in the glossy lights above the lab. It was his Tempo.
Celeste.
"Please, don't take Tempo from me." I demanded. The last thing I wanted today was for the closest thing to be taken from me again.
Faust gazed at Tempo. He set it to his launcher, which was now out, and aimed it right at me. My eyes became as large as the moon at the sight. Was he going to hit me with it?
In an instant, I saw Tempo flying closer and closer, until....
The bey suddenly stopped flying towards me and flew up to the the tinted glass windows at which the doctor stood grinning wretchedly. A blinding light pierced my vision, and there was a loud crash. One by one the windows shattered to the ground. I could see the doctor standing there, awed at the sight and pain of glass shards flying into millions of tiny pieces.
He stumbled backwards at the sudden impact, screaming. "These windows were ordered to be shatter proof! Faust, that is not what I commanded you to do with the bey!"
"I don't listen to you. I only listen to myself!" Faust boomed. "I don't want to listen to orders coming from your disgusting lips."
The doctor gasped, his broken glasses falling to the ground in the process. He stomped on them, then ran from sight.
Faust walked over to me, undoing my straps that kept me on the medical table. "I don't know who you are, but Celeste told me about you." Faust gestured me to follow him. I didn't know what else to do but to follow. Celeste flew back to us, still spinning.
What snapped him out of his trance? Was it really Celeste herself? Does he have my memories and understand?
"Hey, where are we going?" I asked, confused.
"It's been about a week since this doctor guy kidnapped you. He cloned you, making me you're 'official counterpart' I guess. You know, I get all of this crazy talk about you being me."
"Who told you?"
"Celeste."
"But how could you have broken free from the hypnosis? You used to be completely blank minded."
"Celeste, I've told you so many times that it is she!"
"Do you...Know what Celeste looks like?"
Faust paused for a free seconds. "I guess so...Blue hair and brown eyes, right? Pale complexion, slim... too slim."
Our pace slowed. "That's right." I replied. How could he know all of this?
"How do you know?"
"I know because she told me everything."
Tears brimmed my eyes. "Why are you crying?" he asked.
"I just wish...That I could see her again."
Faust looked at the Tempo, which he had picked up before leaving the lab, then back at me. "Couldn't you see her through this bey?"
"Yeah, but it's just not the same."
Jealously crept through me as I watched my counterpart clutch the bey with ease. "Hey," I murmured. "Let's battle."
I didn't know what else to do. Faust gave a slight nod, placing Celestial Tempo on the launcher. I did the same- but with my Spiral Lyra that I still carried around.
"Three,"
"Two,"
"One,"
"Let it rip!"
Both beys shot into the stadium. Tempo began to spin at a quickened pace, but not an overwhelming one.
"Tempo," Faust calmly said. I watched as Tempo gracefully skipped towards Lyra, lightly hitting it. I watched with dismay as my Lyra instantly fell in a sleepout.
"But...How is that possible?" I cried, picking up my bey. "How can you control that Tempo?"
"It's easy," he replied. Outraged, I felt as though Celeste herself had betrayed me. How can she listen to Faust, but not me?
