Beyblade: A New Era

The New Girl

Her light brown hands worked together to fasten the thick, grey elastic around her elongated fuchsia hair, shoving the dangling framing strands away from her face and pulled it against behind one of her ears, and lubricated her chapped lips with some balm. After she was done perfecting herself in the mirror, she stood back to admire her fairly olive skin and her soft mauve eyes. Pleased with her look in a skin-tight navy green dress, she spoke to her reflection, "Maya Crenshaw, you're ready to face this world!"
    She looked to her dresser and grabbed the one thing that's been with her for most of her life and left downstairs. When she arrived, she was greeted by her stepfather and older stepbrother. It's been the second year that her mother Ms. Crenshaw and stepfather George MacArthur had married and it's the first time Maya has moved from her old home of the always bustling Amarnia. Oh, how Maya missed it so...but she knew a change must be made and it's not the changes that defines a person, instead it's how the person react to those changes.
    Munching on her waffle, her peppy mood was noticed by her stepfather George. He observed, "Well, someone's giddy for something."
    Her stepbrother Eli felt very suspicious of this since he's older than Maya and knows how much of a venturesome girl she is. Maya already sensed Eli's suspicion and responded to George, "Well, I thought I'd take a walk around the neighborhood...check out the sites."
    "Oh cool," George said, pleased. Maya was eager to venture out on her own and was confident that he would let her out by herself. As she got off the chair and put on her white sneakers, George called out, "Take Eli with you. I don't want you to be caught in any trouble."
    Maya gasped, looking at George in shock. She saw Eli grinning, stifling his laughter. She grunted, "Fine."
    After Eli was done with his breakfast, he joined Maya as they walked in the new neighborhood by themselves. It was a bright and sunny day with a few clouds passing through. Eli took a deep breath and sighed, "Well, this is a peaceful day...at least, it should be!"
    Maya ignored his subtle tease and found her almost trapped in a quiet neighborhood. All the houses had the same layout as theirs: a cement boundary with an opening to enter and the house itself was either one storey or two, with a slightly raised roof. The only thing that was different was the color of each house. They had their plethora to pick from. Maya, noticing how close knit this suburbia is, joshed to herself, "At least it's better than a crummy apartment."
    Eli heard and agreed with her. Eli remarked, "Man, it is quiet here. What do kids do for fun around here?"
    In the distant, the siblings heard some commotion. Maya questioned the noise and ran to it. Eli chased after her, worrying that she may get herself in trouble again. As she ran, the noises became more clear to her. She knew what it was. It was the one thing that's kept her passion burning, her mind going, her life proceeding. Finally, she made it: below the bridge she stopped on were a group of children yelling while two of them were on opposite sides of a silver bowl. Inside that bowl were two colorful, weirdly designed spinning tops. The kids who were competing were almost ending their match as the spinning tops clashed into each other and returned to their owners.
    One of them complimented, "I see you're improving, Ace."
    Ace, who quietly dusted off his beyblade and placed it back in his pocket, tipped his black cap and curtly responded, "It's hard to improve when you're using the same gameplay."
    His opponent, a tall, blond young man, chuckled, "Probably because you're going up against the same guy."
    Ace grunted with slight annoyance. One of the children came up and asked for a spar with Ace's opponent. He chuckled, "No problem, kid. Just get settled at that side."
    Ace walked away in the direction of the bridge Maya was on, however Maya did not notice him. She just relaxed and watched at the sidelines. Eli caught up with her and panted, "What did I miss? Cops here yet?"
    Maya laughed, "Relax, Eli! Just watching a beybattle!"
    "Ugh," Eli sighed with discomfort. "One of those with the spinning tops? I don't get it!" Maya rolled her eyes and kept watching the scenery. As the spar was about to commence, a voice boomed from the far side. Everyone heard it and looked to the person: a jean-jacket with one of the sleeves ripped off and red bandana.
    "Rodolpho!" the person hollered. He looked around with a grimace on his face. Ace's opponent walked away from the silver bowl and asked, "You called for me?"
    The person looked down at him and smirked. Maya knew something was up. She reached in her pocket and tightened the one thing out of anguish. The feeling was mutual. Eli, noticing Maya's stance, thought, This can't be good.
    The jean jacket made his way down and dropped his bag, revealing a few of those "spinning tops" as they fell out. The children gasped and Maya shuddered, "He must be from a gang."
    Eli repeated out of disbelief, "They have gangs now?"
    "Shut up, Eli!" Maya lowered in to hear better. Rodolpho spoke to the jean jacket, "So I see you have a lot of beyblades? Care to tell me where you got them?"
    The jean jacket smirked, "Nah, but they're going the same direction yours is going when you lose against me."
    "If I lose against you," Rodolpho corrected. He crossed his arms and smiled confidently as the jean jacket started to get angry. The children started to get scared, backing away slowly. The jean jacket grabbed one of his own beyblades and showed it Rodolpho. He demanded, "Listen, I came a long way just to find you and get your beyblade so if you don't mind, let's get started!"
    Unscathed by the threat, Rodolpho gratefully accepted. The children gasped and murmured. The kid who was supposed to spar with Rodolpho took the stand and shouted, "No way, Mister! I want to go against Wo-Dow-Fo! Let's fight for it!"
    The jean jacket sighed. "You gotta be kidding me..."
    "Wah?" the kid shouted. "Too chiggen?"
    "Listen, shrimp," the jean jacket insulted. "If I wanted to challenge a thing like you, I'd have to stay in kindergarten, hear me?"
    Rodolpho spoke up. "Challenge him."
    The jean jacket was startled at that decision. He baffled, "You can't be—!"
    Rodolpho was subtly adamant as he kept his arms crossed and lowered his head. He backed away from the silver bowl and chimed, "Go ahead. You'll be surprised at how skilled my students are!"
    The jean jacket laughed, "Whatever! After I'm done, I'm taking everyone's beyblade!"
    Maya grew angry. She growled, "How dare he do that? Steal people's beyblade like it's nothing?"
    Eli crossed his arms and sighed helplessly for his stepsister, "It's a serious crime, but still, I find no fervor in all this."
    Maya became annoyed with Eli's thinking. She turned to him and answered, "What do you mean, no fervor? Beyblading is more than just a sport, it's my life! Besides my running and dancing, Pixolon and I have a strong bond."
    "Pixolon, right..." Eli remembered. "Your bite thingy?"
    "Bit Beast!" Maya scowled. She took out the one thing and shook it in front of Eli in a bit of a rage. "What Pixolon and I have been through to get to where we are is nobody's business but ours! And if you don't understand that, then you can just leave!"
    Eli sighed, "But I can't, I'm stuck with you!"
    "Well, I can't control my mother's feelings for your dad!"
    "And God, I wish I could..."
    The siblings held onto their tension against each other until they were taken by the sound of a child's cry. "How can this be?" he wailed, looking down at the ground as he sobbed.
    The jean jacket laughed, walked up to the silver bowl and grabbed the kid's small beyblade. The children rushed to their friend's aid. Maya was shocked, whispering with almost no breath, "He lost to that chump..."
    Maya rose up, looking straight at the jean jacket and growled, "He's gonna pay!" Eli, unaware of what she was about to do, tried to ration with her, "Okay, Maya...we just moved here."
    Ignoring him, Maya jumped on the railing of the bridge and kicked off with her white sneakers, with Eli screaming after her. He looked up and wailed, "Agh, Dad's gonna kill me!"
    Holding the one thing named Pixolon in her hand, she wiggled her other wrist and reached for a bulky gadget that seemed to fit the beyblade like a puzzle. A bracelet came loose and ran through a small hole in the bulky gadget and, while in midair, Maya grabbed onto the loose bracelet and reeled it back with all her might. She shouted with all her heart, "Let it rip!"
    The beyblade propelled like a light and hit the jean jacket's hand, releasing the bag of stolen beyblades. The children gasped and Rodolpho was stunned. Eli was scared and proceeded to race after his stepsister. The jean jacket, looking at his "collection", looked up and gasped, "What the...?"
    Maya, landing on her feet and bending her knees to avoid damage, slowly rose up and demanded, "Give him back his beyblade!"
    The jean jacket smirked, "You? Challenge me?"
    Enraged, Maya continued, "You stole his beyblade and made him cry...you made him cry!"
    He guffawed, "So? What's it to you, girly?"
    Pixolon returned to Maya's hand and she held it out. She demanded, "I challenge you and this time, when I win, you return every single beyblade you've stolen!"
    "And if I win?"
    "Well...I guess you decide that, right?"
    "Ha, you're on!"
    The children were at first bewildered at this new girl, but their excitement took over when Maya and the jean jacket took their places. Eli stood back, covering his face and hoping for the best. In his mind, he started to replay scenarios where he wished Maya wouldn't have gotten the better of the situation. Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice snapped him out of his daze. He gasped and looked at an arm-crossing, slightly interested Ace. He was never the type to be interested in another blader, let alone a girl. He must've saw something.
    "Huh, who are you?" Eli asked out of curiosity. Ace curtly responded, "Ace. You?"
    "Eli. That girl over there is my sister Maya."
    "Huh?" Ace sounded confused as he didn't see the resemblance of olive-skinned girl with pink hair to tall white boy with chestnut hair. Eli sighed as he explained, "Her mom and my Dad."
    "Oh..." Ace realized. "Is she a good blader?"
    "Why don't you see for yourself?"
    As they prepared their beyblades, the jean jacket asked, "By the way, what's your name? Mine's Denim."
    "Maya," she answered, gripping onto Pixolon. Ace kept his eye on Maya, observing her every move. He thought, Her position is well-on point, but how is her blading skills?
    "Alright, Maya, you ready? I won't go soft on you just because you're a girl!" Denim laughed. Maya shrugged it off. "I don't care. I've beaten paper plates tougher than your trash talk!"
    The children started bawling out of laughter at the remark. Eli covered his chuckling face for he knew how humorous and tough Maya can be. For Maya, this guy should be nothing.
    Rodolpho stepped up to the silver bowl. He eagerly spoke, "It's nice to see some new faces in the game nowadays. Alright, one round match! Winner takes all! Are you two ready?"
    They each took a step back, extending their arms on the launchers. They gave the okay. Rodolpho, along with the children, counted off. As they got to the final number, Maya and Denim simultaneously pulled back the reel and their beyblades shot off like a bullet from a gun.
    Ace pointed out, "Impressive launch."
    Eli glanced discreetly at Ace and his observation of Eli's stepsister. It seemed like Maya would have a new friend, but then he had to look out for her with a character like Ace, popping out of the shadows. They looked onto the battle. As it left the launcher, Pixolon made first contact with Denim's beyblade. It was part of Maya's strategy and it fell right into her plan. She smirked, thinking so confidently, I got this guy in the bag, knowing what kind of beyblade he's using.
    As the two made contact, they've fallen to the bowl and started racing. Denim, eager and confident with his pride, shouted to his beyblade, "Let's get this over with and grab Rodolpho's beyblade!"
    However, his confidence was interrupted by Maya's smirk. Ace noticed how quickly she had changed her mood and questioned to himself, "What is she doing?"
    Rodolpho, watching this manifest, was a little shocked as well by Maya's abrupt change. Wanting to question it himself, he decided to stay put and watch it as her strategy proceeds. Denim got frustrated and shouted, "Why aren't you making your move?"
    "I already did."
    "What?" All but Eli gasped. Denim baffled, "But how? We hit only once!"
    "I guess you underestimated me. My beyblade has a little special something, which yours doesn't."
    "What the...?" Denim gasped. He thought, What is she talking about?
    Crossing her arms like a boss, she bowed her head and chuckled, "Let's show this chump who he really is!" She looked up and directed her voice to her Bit Beast. "Pixolon, attack!"
    Pixolon, the rapidly spinning, royal purple with traces of sky blue top, understood her command and, breaking off from its speedy orbit of the silver bowl, gave into the gravity of the center and bumped into Denim's beyblade, knocking it out onto the cemented ground. Denim gasped and Ace was stunned. Easing off from his protective mode, Eli stood proud of his stepsister. He thought, You really showed them, Maya. And no cops yet!
    Pixolon returned to Maya, who pocketed safely after congratulating it. She looked up from her side and glared at Denim, who remained shocked after such a defeat. She walked up to him and cleared her throat, catching Denim's attention. He looked up and shrieked, grabbing his fallen beyblade and the sack of stolen beyblades and headed for his six. Maya called out, "Hey, get back here! Thief!"
    As he was about to make a run for it, he was stopped by two figures on the path before him. Maya stepped out of his shadow to examine the reason for his stop. There, she found two same-sized silhouettes beneath the bright Sun. They walked synchronized and their appearances were revealed: dark brown hair, one longer than the other's, pale skin and green eyes. They were fraternal twins.
    Their backs touched each other as they confronted Denim face-to-face. The girl stepped up, pointed to Denim and shouted, "We got you now, Denim!"
    Her brother joined in. "Give up the beyblades or else!"
    Denim smirked. "Or else what?" He heard Maya taking a step forth and quickly caved in. "Alright, alright! Take them!"
    He dropped the bag and fell to his knees, looking down in defeat. The twins walked up to him and they were joined by an officer. Smiling at his young helpers, the officer happily spoke to them, "Anne, Andrew, thank you two for tracking down this thief."
    He walked over to Denim and handcuffed him. Pulling him up and aiding him to walk, the officer cunningly said, "Come here, kid. Let's have a long walk downtown, shall we?"
    He looked over to the twins, who each put in an effort to lifting up the bag. Rodolpho ran over and gave them a huge assist. "Here," Rodolpho pleaded. "Let me bring this to the station."
    The officer smiled and greeted, "Well, fancy finding you here, Ro. Training some new bladers?"
    Rodolpho chuckled, "You could say that."
    Maya, noticing the authority present, discreetly ran near to Eli, stepping out of harm's way. She awaited with him and Ace until the officer and the twins took away Denim and his possession. When the coast was finally clear, Maya let a huge sigh of relief and laughed, "At least it wasn't me with the offense."
    Eli laughed as well, "True."
    Maya stretched out her arms and suggested that they head for home. That's when Ace caught their attention, especially Maya's. Their eyes met, Maya's unmistakable mauve eyes and Ace's glowing brown eyes. Maya blinked twice and asked, "Well, what do you want?"
    He brought out his beyblade in his fist and demanded, "A battle, please. I've always yearned for a battle with a blader of my league."
    Considering his offer, she shrugged and, without hesitation, responded, "No thank you."
    Ace gasped and Eli was shocked. Eli thought, What's going on with Maya? She never turns down an opportunity like that.
    "What do you mean?" Ace asked. Maya turned to face Ace and explained, "I don't mean to say that to insult you. It's just that it's my first day here and I don't really know anybody here. Sorry. Maybe next time."
    She grabbed Eli's hand and they ran off. He was perplexed by her response but dismissed it easily, turning toward the bottom of the bridge. Rodolpho caught up with Ace and asked, "So I see you've met the new girl?"
    "What's it to you?" Ace asked, burying his hands into his blue sweater and lowering his black cap with his head. Rodolpho, deflecting off Ace's curt words, chuckled and spoke to himself, "He'll come around soon."
    And soon came quick.