“Can I just go home now?” Paris whined. It’d been six hours of intense training.
Paris felt like his legs were turning to jelly. He’d make him hurl a rock from one side of the school to the other.
“Paris,” Aiga warned sternly, “I understand you’re tired. But you need to train to beat Charles!”
Nodding, Paris held out Pegasus.
“How about a few battles, then?”
Aiga’s face immediately lit up.
Taiki held his hand in the centre of the stadium, as Paris could clearly see that battles would be different from now.
Paris guessed this was from experience. He’d battled Phi and Hearts, both of whom were almost impossible to defeat.
“Ready, set!”
“Three!”
“Two!”
“One!” Paris and Aiga both leapt into the air, spinning, as Paris immediately slipped, landing on his back.
“Let it rip!”
Pegasus immediately hurtled toward the wall and bounced off, losing a click.
“If only I could push in the burst stopper..”
Cho-Z Achilles came rushing down with a scorching chain of attacks.
With nowhere to move, Pegasus burst, landing at Paris’ feet.
Taiki burst out laughing.
“Can I make the name for that move? The Pegasus Plummet!”
Paris rolled his eyes, and wiped away the sweat.
“Come on, another battle!”
Aiga agreed, shrugging.
“—-One!” The Crimson Nova and Paris ran, leaping into the air and spinning.
“Let it rip!”
Immortal Pegasus dashed into the centre and crammed around it.
“Now Achilles!” Aiga yelled, as Cho-Z Achilles charged down at incredible speeds.
Pegasus quickly dodged the impending attack, however Paris knew there were more.
Immortal Pegasus shot upward and circled around the stadium, crashing into Cho-Z Achilles.
Both beys clashed, before Aiga commanded, “This is our chance! Super Z Sword!”
Achilles’ beast appeared, an armoured red knight. Its sword gleamed.
Cho-Z Achilles knocked Pegasus, but it barely survived, rebounding off the wall and losing a click.
“Phew,” Paris sighed.
Achilles made his way for a second round. It pressed into Pegasus, giving it barely no chance to escape.
Pegasus flung into the air and not before long, Paris shouted,
“Let’s do this! Immortal Starblast Attack!”
Pegasus’ beast appeared, a white winged-horse. It galloped and charged forward.
Immortal Pegasus dived down, arrowing into Achilles’ burst stopper.
“Come on.. come on...”
“Enough!” Aiga roared, “Super Z Slash!”
Two fiery whips emerged from either side of Achilles, as it slashed at Pegasus, making it lose another two clicks.
“One more click to go,” Aiga mumbled.
“That is, if you can beat this! Immortal Stormbringer!”
Aiga gasped, Taiki spitting out his drink.
Pegasus rushed to the centre of the stadium, as Paris’ lightning-bolt necklace flared. The bey rushed around, and captured Achilles into the tornado, widening its range.
“Now! Take him down!” Paris exclaimed. Cho-Z Achilles attempted to escape, but Immortal Pegasus blocked it, shooting Achilles into the sky.
As Aiga picked up Achilles, he noticed the Burst Stoppers push in.
“Wow! Paris, you took down Achilles’ wings!”
“I did?” The amber-haired boy leapt into the air excitedly, “I did it!”
Taiki was still in shock.
“Sweet! Now, take Charles down and earn yourself a place in the quarterfinals!”
Glancing over at Aiga, he nodded, and Paris looked down at Pegasus.
“We’ll fight together, Pegasus!”
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a highly anticipated match! In the red corner, we have Charles Schwab!”
Charles emerged from a door, and waved at the crowd, as they cheered for him.
“And in the blue corner, we have the boy who took the world by surprise! Paris Hagane!”
Paris ran eagerly and landed in front of the stadium.
“Nice to see you again, Paris,” Charles smiled.
Paris raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, but you seem.. different?”
“Thanks. Only kidding, I’m just serious during battle.”
Paris nodded. The room fell silent, as his eyes dawned on Pegasus.
“Let’s do this buddy.”
“First battle! Ready, set!”
“Three!”
“Two!”
“One!” The two bladers jumped, spinning and firing their beys.
“Let it rip!”
Ultra Centurion captured the centre inmediately.
“Centurion Fortress!” he yelled.
An orb-like ring surrounded Centurion, defending it as Pegasus dived down for a rush of attacks.
Pegasus jolted back, and warped into Centurion from all kinds of directions. Nonetheless, Centurion wouldn’t budge.
Immortal Pegasus rebounded and zoomed from the wall, ready to land a damaging attack onto Centurion.
“Dodge it!” Charles exclaimed, his red gloves glinting. Ultra Centurion rolled backward, and Immortal Pegasus slammed into the wall, losing stamina.
“Not good,” Aiga observed from the sidelines. Meanwhile, Roan was still watching. He seemed silent, but curious.
As Pegasus performed a flower-pattern attack, Centurion took advantage and cycled around it, making a Dead-Gravity style move.
The ring got smaller and smaller. Attempting to escape, Centurion thwarted each move.
“Now! End this, Centurion!” Immediately, Pegasus lost two clicks. Paris knew Pegasus was going to burst, and it’d be all over for him.
Luckily for Paris, Pegasus flung out of the stadium, and hit the floor, bursting afterward.
The replay button repeated what just happened.
“One point to Ultra Centurion for an Over Finish. The score is now 1-0,” the referee announced, pointing to Charles.
Charles grinned, picking up Centurion.
“Now let’s finish him off in the next battle.”
Aiga and Taiki both relieved a sweat.
“Phew,” Taiki said, “Close call.”
“We can’t keep relying on close calls, though.”
“Ready, set!”
“Three!”
“Two!”
“One!” Both bladers performed their special launches.
“Let it rip!”
Both Centurion and Pegasus immediately clashed in the centre, tossing wind and outbursts of energy out of the stadium.
“Take him down Centurion!”
“You know the drill, Pegasus!”
Both beys continued to clash, until one click was down. Pegasus was driven to the outer rim of the stadium, and Centurion in hot pursuit.
“Now’s our chance Centurion! Burst Strike!”
Centurion’s beast appeared, a robot-like soldier.
It sped up dramatically, flinging Pegasus into the air.
“Oh no you don’t! Immortal Starblast Attack!”
Pegasus tilted downward and fired into Centurion, flinging it into the air.
“Hah! It’s like an endless cycle!” Taiki exclaimed.
“Centurion Crash!” Charles erupted. Centurion bounced onto Pegasus, hurling both beys into the stadium wall.
“Haaaaah!” They both roared, as the two beys endlessly struck each other with scorching hot attacks.
“End this!” They cried in unison, as both beys flung into their blader’s faces, bursting.
The crowd exploded with excitement, as the referee pointed to both bladers.
“Simultaneous Over Finish! No points!”
Charles and Paris both panted, and prepared for round three.
“Third battle! Ready, set!”
“Three!”
“Two!”
“One!” Paris used his Supernova Shoot.
“Let it rip!
Immortal Pegasus rushed into Ultra Centurion with a chain of cosmic attacks.
“Let’s turn this up a notch, Centurion! Ultra Revival!”
Centurion’s beast appeared, a robot soldier. The bey spiralled along the outer edges of the stadium before diving down with amazing speed and attacks.
“No way!” Paris gasped, as Pegasus was thrown into the air. “Fight together! Immortal Starblast Attack!”
Pegasus’ beast appeared, a white-winged horse, galloping through the cosmos.
Immortal Pegasus bolted down and pierced through Ultra Centurion, knocking both beys into the air.
They both recovered, and Ultra Centurion took the centre.
“Heat the battle up, Pegasus! Rush him!”
A strong chain of attacks swept through Centurion, however it wouldn’t budge.
“Come on, Paris! You can do it!” Aiga boomed.
Paris gasped, turning away from the stadium and looking at Aiga. The Crimson Nova nodded, giving a thumbs-up.
Then, the entire crowd chanted Paris’ name. He felt a sudden burst of confidence, as Pegasus glowed, climbing the stadium walls and darting back down, expelling its power into one massive attack.
Centurion’s fortress broke, as its trajectory changed. Charles leapt into the air, his hair raising.
“Burst Strike!”
Ultra Centurion snaked around the stadium, viciously pinching Pegasus, making it lose a click.
Both beys crazily rushed each other, as they both drained each other’s stamina.
“Hold on, Centurion!”
“You can do it, Pegasus!”
Charles had a trick up his sleeve. As if pulling a card, he commanded,
“Now! Omni Attack!”
Aiga and Taiki gasped. Unfortunately for Pegasus, it was caught between Centurion’s ring.
Pegasus bounced around, attempting to escape, but it was within Centurion’s grasp. The ring closed, decreasing in size.
Then suddenly, Immortal Pegasus circled around the stadium, trailing a blue flash behind it.
Paris’ lightning bolt necklace flared.
“Now! Immortal Stormbringer!”
Charles gasped, as he had never heard the move name before.
Hanami tuned his microphone.
“Wow! Omni Attack against Immortal Stormbringer! Look at those beys go!”
Pegasus’ barrier extended, pressing against Centurion’s. After the dust cleared, Ultra Centurion’s barrier broke, leaving Pegasus capturing Centurion.
“Hah! I’ve always wanted to say this, but I got you right where I want!” Paris giggled a little.
Immortal Stormbringer closed and got smaller and smaller, smaller and smaller, until...
A beam of blue light shot upward, dragging Ultra Centurion along.
“Hang in there, Centurion!”
Ultra Centurion managed to escape, barely, landing onto Pegasus’ layer. It crashed down, bursting upon impact.
Charles gasped. The crowd cheered, as Aiga and Taiki leapt out of their seats and exclaimed,
“We knew you could do it!”
Charles hair covered his eyes, but he blew it away.
“Good job..” he said, sinking his fist into the floor.
Paris smiled, offering his hand.
“You did really good! I want you to take this.”
Charles glanced up, a little shocked. Paris handed him a Centurion-style BeyBread, as Charles quickly nibbled it.
“And there’s more of those at the BeyClub!” Paris smiled.
“Well count me in!” Charles added.
The referee finally pointed to Paris.
“Two points for a Burst Finish! The score is now 2-1, making Paris Hagane the winner! He moves on to the Quarterfinals.
“What an amazing win! Both blazers must be exhausted!”
Paris stared off into the screen, which showed the remaining bladers. Including himself, there were six left. His photo was paired up with a boy with a cheerful smile.
His bey read, Flash Trident!
Couldn’t have said it any better. I’ll definitely make Centurion win a few battles though!
