Gods of Beyblade

S2Ch9. Eclipse

Thundering silence continued for more than an eternity before Zac slowly turned to look at the others.

Fear was clearly written on his face. Fear was clearly written on everyone's faces.

Heracles didn't add another word after the declaration. He was either waiting for a reaction or was ready to charge himself.

Zac hurried back indoors from the balcony, lurching towards the other emperors.

"War, he said," Zac whispered.

Lui squeezed his eyes shut. "Fuck."

Xhaka sighed deeply. "Well, that summarized it. But what about-"

Shu shook his head, expression pained. "He's here with his army. I'm sure he will not back down even if we ask him to. We have no choice but to fight."

The four emperors looked at each other, and as if they were thinking the same thing, they all nodded together, eyes hard and grave. Yet, their faces remained blank and dignified.

Their younger selves stared quietly at the four. There was no doubt that they were panicked, but the only thing showing was their cold fury behind blank expressions. The younger four were suddenly reminded that these were themselves in the far, far future. These were decades, realms apart from their current selves. They looked so similar, yet so different.

How much of their skin was covered with scars? How much had their old eyes seen?

"If it's war he wants," Zac said, lips pursed. "Then war he gets."

The others nodded, leaning inwards.

Lui sighed. "Then that settles it then. He will fight, and we will fight back. Zac, here's the plan."

Zac's head tilted forward. "Let's hear it."

Lui clasped his hands together. "Alright. Shu, Xhaka," he nodded at both men respectively. "Both of your powers are destructive and wide-ranging. You two go wipe out Heracles' army."

Shu and Xhaka agreed, uncrossing their arms.

"Zac," Lui gazed directly at said man and took a deep breath. "We will take on Heracles directly, you and I."

Zac licked his dry lips. "Definitely."

Lui looked at the others. "Valt, Daina, Wakiya and Rantaro."

The four's eyes glowed, dim but piercing, at their names mentioned.

"The four of you, go with Xhaka and Shu. Kill as much as possible."

The four's past selves sucked in a sharp breath at this. Their future selves' faces were passive.

Lui turned to the right. "Gou, Quon, Naoki. You four will be with Zac and me." He closed his eyes tightly for a second. "Against Heracles."

He then glanced further to the right. "Akira. Jin. Protect the bladers down there before they all evaluated," he said darkly. "Eliminate anyone who dared to hurt our people."

Jin and Akira grinned widely. "Of course."

At last, he turned towards the Gatekeepers. "Ukyo, Yugo," he said, a hint of a smirk tipping on his lips. "Send those assholes' souls to Helheim."

The two looked at each other and nodded.

"As Shu, Xhaka, Valt, Wakiya, Daina and Rantaro fight off the army, Gou, Quon, and Naoki will start to distract Heracles. Zac and I will confront him directly ourselves. Akira and Jin will defend Asgard while Yugo and Ukyo take care of the realms and the souls. We will take Heracles alive for questioning," Lui paused. "Any objections?"