The Price For Immortality

The Battle to End it All

Three AM, the roof of the WBBA. Lui is standing there, waiting for his opponents to arrive. He looks down at the street below. It seems emptier than usual. Wind blows, causing his hair and shirt to ripple. Where are they? Maybe they aren't coming. Maybe they're forfeiting. Lui scoffs. Where's the fun in that? He's hoping for a battle. He wants to crush his opponents. It's no fun if they crush themselves.

He also, you know, has to give Shu's phone back. That's something that he almost forgot about completely. Shu's cell phone, that he stole just for the heck of it. He taps his foot and thinks about what's to come. He finds himself quickly getting bored with that, however. Maybe he should practice his launching. Maybe he should be doing something productive instead of just standing on the roof doing absolutely nothing. Lui stands in front of the stadium, and pulls his Bey out of his pocket. Lost Luinor. It's a beautiful Bey, and a powerful one. It's the second most powerful Bey in the world.

Lui scowls. Second most powerful.

That's bound to change soon enough.

He grabs his launcher, too. He twists his Bey onto it and stares down the stadium. This is a battle he'll surely win. The others have different things on their minds. They're all worried about their friends, Zac, the Superstars, each other. They're worrying about everything but the battle, and that's what's hurting them. They won't win if their thoughts don't shut off. Lui knows that for a fact.

"Three... two... one... Let it rip!" Lui launches. It's perfect, as always, but it's still not good enough. He wants to take everyone down in a single strike. He can't waste time Blading these amateurs. He has to make it quick. Though, Shu Kurenai is among them, and so is Valt Aoi. Lui has a score to settle with those two. The others don't matter. It's the Spryzen wielder and the Valtryek wielder that Lui truly cares about. He grabs Luinor and twists it back on the launcher for another go.

"Three... two... one... Let it rip!" Lui launches again, and watches it spin around the stadium. That launch felt powerful, but not as powerful as it could've been. These are people that can survive Lui's basic attacks. These are people that are battling for a reason. Lui has to be able to counter everything they do.

He should've practiced last night. He knows he should've, but his thoughts had been elsewhere. He'd been so certain of his victory that he completely let his guard down. Lui clenches his teeth. He can't be careless. Despite the fact that these Bladers are nothing compared to him, he can't let himself get cocky. He can't underestimate them, especially not tonight, with his own Bey and his power on the line. Don't get careless, don't underestimate them, especially not Shu, and certainly not Valt. Lord knows what would've happened had that crack not been in the stadium...

Lui growls. He twists his Bey back onto the launcher again. "Three... two... one... Let it rip!"

He launches again, and again it's perfect, but Lui still isn't satisfied. It can be better, it can always be better. Perfection isn't a thing. There's always room for improvement, and Lui is desperately critiquing himself, trying to find that room. That statement that you're your own worst critic is certainly true in this case. Lui launches again and again, trying to perfect something that's already flawless. He's driving himself crazy.

He replays his failures again and again in his head. He visualizes Luinor bursting, thanks to Spryzen. He replays his match with Valt in his mind. He feels his heart starting to speed up. He remembers his hellish failure abroad...

"THREE! TWO! ONE! LET IT RIP!" Lui launches again. He watches Luinor fly through the stadium, and then bounce clean out of it. Luinor lands on the roof on the other side. Lui stares at it in shock and horror.

He messed up. His breathing is heavy. For once his anger isn't helping him. For once, it's messing him up. Lui walks over and picks up his Bey. He stares at the dragon within it. He can't let himself down, and he can't let Luinor down either. Luinor stole something from him, but in return, it gave him this. It gave him power. It gave him the ability to beat anyone. And that ability will certainly come in useful.