Chapter 1: Blader Brawl, Start!
???'s P.O.V:
PING!
I jump in my seat, momentarily startled by the vibration of my phone, as I was too focused on my homework to notice it go off.
Stupid Maths, what's the point in solving quadratic polynomials if I won't be using them in real life anyway-
Dang, I'm going on a tangent. I put my pen aside and unlock the phone to check if I had somehow missed a call or something, but what greets me instead is an Email notification.
"Huh?" I double-check to see if that really was the source of the vibration, then my eyes settle on the notification once more. It's titled 'Top Secret. Please Read'.
Oooookay, that sounds pretty sketchy, and I probably shouldn't click on it, but I do so anyway. What? Maybe it really is an important secret someone wants to tell me, how am I supposed to find out if I don't open it?
The email loads after a few moments, and I read it out to myself.
From: pinkrose14@gmail.com
Subject: Top Secret. Please Read
"Greetings, old friend! I knew that title would catch your attention ;D"
Do I know this person? I think, then shake my head and resume reading.
"So, I'm sending you this as an invitation to a special little something coming up soon. I'll be hosting a tournament (it's called Blader Brawl and before you start talking about my naming skills I'll tell you that no, I couldn't think of a better name) at the Sparking Arena in one week's time, and I thought I'd let you know about it so you can come watch if you want to.
Which, of course you do, because I know you wouldn't say no to a battle, or to watching one.
If you wanna know more about the details, you can meet me there anytime during the week so I can explain before we start.
Oh, and, you can share this with your group of friendos so they can come watch too. I mean, battles are always more fun when there's a crowd to entertain, no?
So yeah, waiting for your response. See you later, goodbye, and peace out.
Yours,
Pink Azalea"
I blink once. Twice. Three times. Then my brain finally catches up and I let out a short gasp.
Ohhhhh my God it's Pink! She's back! I mean, she never really quit the game as a whole but she's been suuuuuuper inactive in the last two years and woah, she's hosting a tournament!
Now that curiousity hooked me into finding out more about the whole thing, I type in a quick reply to Pink's email and hit send, then I open the top contact in Whatsapp, which is a group chat.
"Guys, I have great news!"
-----------------------
"Blader Brawl, huh?" A teen girl mutters to herself as she runs a hand through her red-and white bangs, yellow eyes skimming over the email she just received. She pockets her phone after a few moments, turns away, and starts walking along the river bank.
"Sounds interesting..." Otsuka Mizuki smiles as she looks up at the bright moon illuminating the sky "Let's see if it lives up to the hype."
-----------------------
"Do you really think I can do this...?" A quiet voice whispers, its owner nervously pushing up his blue-rimmed glasses as he stares at his tablet.
His younger roommate sighs in both exasperation and fondness "Come on Endy, give yourself a little more credit here. You're not an A-Rank for nothing, of course you can do it."
Endymion doesn't seem convinced by that, though "I know, but still...Everyone else is an A-Rank too and, I don't think I'd fare so well against them-"
"Dude, relax." His friend puts both hands on his shoulders and looks him in the eye "If you can't trust yourself, trust me because I do trust you. You're much better than you think you are, you'll be fine as long as you believe that."
The pink-eyed teen averts his eyes a second later, but he gives a small smile "Um...Thanks, Archer. I'll..try to do my best, then."
"Don't mention it." Archer shrugs "It's what friends do when their friends have self-esteem lower than their grades."
Endymion chuckles quietly at that, and the two leave their room shortly afterwards. The indigo-haired Blader glances at the Bey in his hand, and it twinkles comfortingly at him. He gives a small smile again and places his hands his hoodie's pocket.
I'm going to be fine. I just have to believe in that.
-----------------------
"Et Voilà!" Droite shows his 'friend' the screen of his phone, confirming that he did get invited to the tournament as well "See, mon ami Falkor, I told you not to be so pessimistic about it. I knew I would get accepted into the tourney."
"Get your phone out of my face, Vireir." Falkor hisses, swatting the blue-haired Blader's hand away "And why should I care whether you got invited or not?"
"Uh, because we're friends?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Droite hums in response "Sure, whatever floats your boat. But you'll still be there to cheer for me, right?" He asks, mint-green eyes glinting hopefully. Falkor crosses his arms and huffs, turning away from him.
"Unless I have time to waste on watching you, then don't think about it."
"Mm, I'll take that as a yes." He says with a smile, then turns around and sprints away "I'll see you later bud, gotta go practice!"
"I don't care!" He hears Falkor shout from behind as a gust of wind blows against his face, tousling his hair and forcing him to close his eyes for a moment. He couldn't wait to meet all those cool Bladers he'll be battling, and the thought makes him smile even wider.
-----------------------
Callum didn't expect the invitation. He didn't expect to be accepted in the first place, to be fair. He turns to his companion and thinks about asking him if he got accepted too, but decides against it and returns to staring out at the beach and trying to organize his thoughts.
Next to him, Kiaru Yofutoremi stares wordlessly at his Bey, the occasional ray of light from the rising sun bouncing off its metal blades.
"I'm counting on you, partner. We can do this." He whispers, quietly enough for only him to hear.
"Of course." Comes the reply from his Bey Spirit, and Kiaru's lips curve upwards a little. He then looks up and admires the view, unknowingly sharing the same thought as the masked Blader sitting beside him.
"I've got this."
-----------------------
"Sis, I heard you were going to a biiiig tournament in Japan! Is that right? Is it right?" The young voice of her sister asks through the phone, and Jojo smiles at the enthusiasm.
"That's right. You'll be watching me, no?"
"Yeah! I can't miss a tournament you're in, it's gonna be so awesome!!"
"Hm, yeah."
"Oh, um, Mom and Dad told me they said Hi, and that we'll all be cheering for you. So...Do your best!"
"Tell them I said Hi too, and I will. Bye for now."
"Bye, Jojo!" And with that, the line goes dead. Jojo checks the time, then pockets her phone.
Still some time until midnight, she thinks.
I could get some more training in before I go back home.
She gathers her gear and places it back in her belt, then steps out of the gym's locker room and back to the workout area.
-----------------------
"I'm sorry, Amano-kun, but I'll have to say no this time. This is the only month I'll get as vacation this year, and I already have plans for it. Have a good day." A middle-aged man of about twenty-five says into his phone, before hanging up and groaning in annoyance.
"These people are far too lazy for their own good.." he mumbles, stepping out into a small balcony and sighing. Usually he didn't mind helping out his workmates with some of their work, but that doesn't give them the right to expect him to be available to help all the time. Especially not when he's supposed to be having a vacation-
"Oi, Ferrier-san!"
The man in question looks at the direction the voice came from, only to find a teen girl standing at the balcony next to him and waving, her ocean-blue hair blowing in the light breeze.
"Oh, hello Miss Aoi. How are you today?"
"I'm doing great, thanks." Aoi Vira smiles, reaching into her vest as if she's looking for something "So, I wanted to show you something..."
She pulls out her phone and tries to hold it out as far as possible "I got accepted into the Blader Brawl I've been telling you about the last couple of weeks. Isn't that great?"
Gregoire squints at the message on the screen for a moment, then he smiles at her "Yes, that is great. Congratulations."
"Thanks. By the way, did you get accepted too? I heard you tried applying for the tournament, and I was looking forward to seeing you there."
This gives the gray-haired man pause "Actually, I haven't checked yet. Let me see.." he pulls out his phone and looks at his mail inbox, then he holds out his phone to show a similar message "Looks like I have."
"Great! Good luck preparing for it, then."
"Same for you."
And with that, Gregoire steps back to his own flat, Vira following soon afterwards. She flops onto her bed and holds out her Bey, staring at it.
"This seems really exciting. Don't you think so, Valkyrie?"
The red-and-blue Bey twinkles, its spirit humming in agreement. Vira looks up at the ceiling, already thinking up strategies to practice for the upcoming matches. She grins to herself.
"It will bring us one step closer to the World League, and then..."
-----------------------
"Aaaaand it's an Over Finish. Try again when you get some sleep, Bahaa."
The teen in question huffs and picks up his Bey "And who said I need sleep?"
"Your performance, duh." His friend says somewhat amusedly, pointing at him "You never miss your mark unless you're not focused, and you never lose your focus unless you didn't sleep. Which means, we're taking you back home so you can get some proper rest."
"But Ahmed-"
"No buts, you're going to sleep now." Ahmed interrupts with a 'not taking any of your carp' tone, already shoving Bahaa away from the Beystadium "Seriously, aren't you supposed to be old enough to know how to take care of yourself, you blockhead?"
"Hey, I do know how to take care of myself! How am I supposed to prepare for the tournament when the stadiums are completely full in the afternoon?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, we're still going back for now."
"Dude, stop." Bahaa digs his heels into the ground to halt them both "I'm serious here, I don't need you to mother hen me like this all the time-"
The brunette's mini-rant is interrupted when he bumps into someone and falls on his butt.
"Oh carp!" He looks up to see the person he bumped into sitting on the ground, rubbing his arm "Hey, are you okay?"
Calculating blue eyes study him for a moment, then the person sighs and stands up, mumbling "A'm fine" before walking away. Bahaa notices something glint on the ground then, a Beyblade. He quickly picks it up and calls out to the guy.
"Hey! Is this yours?" He stops in front of the teen, who looks like he'd rather be doing anything other than interacting with him "I found it on the ground, you must've dropped it."
A few awkward second pass without any of them saying anything, then the guy takes the Bey from his hand and resumes walking.
"Huh, this dude's weird." Bahaa mumbles, watching him go away "Could've said thanks at least-" he then notices Ahmed catching up to him and swears as he sprints away.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?!"
"Anywhere but home!" The Egyptian answers, praying for his friend to lose him before he runs out of steam "There's no way I'm going back to sleep after 8 in the morning!"
-----------------------
"EEEEEEEEEEPP!! YESYESYESYESYES!!!" A small voice squeaks, its owner bouncing up and down on the couch she was sitting on, tablet in hand. She jumps off the couch and runs around the room in circles for a couple seconds, still squeaking in excitement.
"Athena, you gotta check this out!!" Fujiwara Aki says, practically shoving the tablet into her best friend's face, red eyes sparkling with joy. Said friend jumps reflexively, a confused look on her face.
"Huh?" Athena takes a moment to recover, then lightly tries to push the screen away from her face so she can read what's written on it.
"We got accepted into the Blader Brawl tourney!" Aki chirps, and Athena's eyes widen when she finishes reading.
"Woah, really?"
"Yeah, really!"
"That's awesome!" The purplette cheers, suddenly hugging her friend "I can't believe we made it!"
The two bounce around the room, shouting out cheers and high-fiving each other.
"WE DID IT! YAHOO!"
After they cool down a few minutes later, Aki and Athena decide to head out to the park to train for a while, and when they arrive there they find a certain empty Beystadium they like to use and walk to it.
"This is really cool," Athena says as the two sort out their gear "I wonder what kind of Bladers we'll be facing in the tournament. They must be pretty strong."
"Yeah! And we'll take them on and beat them all!" Aki responds, punching her fist for effect.
"Hm, yeah, you're right!"
The two take out their Beys and launchers, then get ready as they start counting down.
"3!"
Athena watches Aki flip her launcher, then looks down at her own.
"2!"
This is my chance to show how much better I got, she thinks, tilting the launcher down a little.
"1!"
Watch me, brother. I'll prove that I'm not weak anymore..!
She yanks on the string.
"Go...Shoot!"
-----------------------
1 Week Later, at the Sparking Arena:
"Okay, boys and girls!" Hanami yells from his commentary box, just as loudly as he does all the time "Today we have a- Hey! What's going on?!"
A pink-haired young lady shoves Hanami out of his seat and outside the box with a not-so-apologetic "Sorry, Hanami-san, but I'm taking over for today."
She turns to the microphone in front of her and looks out of the window, addressing the twelve Bladers standing at one corner together.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Pink Azalea begins, spreading her hands out for a bit of dramatic flair "This is the time to prove your worth, the day you've all been waiting for. How good do you think you are? Do you have what it takes to climb up the ranks, to challenge the Legends?"
Several murmurs rise from down below at that, and Pink smiles as she continues her speech.
"In this tournament, all your skills will be put to the test. Strategy, quick thinking, teamwork, and much more. Therefore, only one Blader will come out victorious in the end. The tournament is divided into two stages, and the first one will go like this:" She gestures to the screens in the middle of the arena, which are displaying icons of each Blader.
"You will be divided to six teams, and each team is going to battle the rest in Round Robin style. And the team arrangements for this stage are..." she pauses for a few seconds as the icons spin around randomly, and watches with everyone when they settle in six groups of two.
"Gregoire Ferrier and Droite Vireir."
"Eh? Me? But, where is this guy?" Droite looks around, trying to find the Blader he's supposed to team up with. However, he misses the shadow cast by the figure behind him.
"I'm right here, you know."
"Oh!" The blue-haired teen spins around, coming face to face with Gregoire. He scratches his head and smiles bashfully "Haha, sorry, didn't see you there."
The man sighs in resignation, as if he knew he'll have to put up with this as long as they were partners "It's ok, don't worry about it." He holds out a hand "Nice to meet you."
"Hm, yeah, same goes to you." Droite shakes his hand, and the two step into the podium shortly afterwards.
"Jojo Apoloian and Endymion."
"Oh." Endymion pushes his hood off his head and adjusts his glasses, quickly finding his partner standing a bit away from him. He slowly walks up to her, but doesn't say anything. Jojo shoots him a look.
"Are you planning on standing here all day or something?" She rolls her eyes, walking to the podium "Let's go."
"Oh, you, um...sure, okay." Endymion follows her steps quickly, pushing his glasses up again.
"Callum and Kiaru Yofutoremi."
The two Bladers exchange glances, not expecting that, but neither one shows any signs of surprise on their face. Callum makes a motion with his head, and the two head to the podium together.
"Fujiwara Akiharu and Athena Valhalla."
One second, Aki and Athena share a look.
The next second, they burst out in cheers, hugging each other.
"YES! We're on the same team! WOOOO!"
"Awesome!"
Pink sweatdrops at all the enthusiasm, then smiles as the two clap their hands together, Aki bouncing up to the podium with Athena not too far behind.
"Alastair Macmillan and Aoi Vira."
Vira spots her tag partner among the remaining three, standing at a fair distance with his arms crossed. She offers her hand and smiles at him "Pleasure to meet you. Let's have fun battles together."
Alastair simply stares at her hand for a good while, then sighs and gives it one quick shake "Ge bith de.."
"Huh?" Vira stares at him in confusion "Sorry, didn't catch that."
"..Nevermind, just follow me."
"Oh, okay then." The two walk up to the podium, leaving only two Bladers standing to the side, one of which mumbles something under his breath when Alastair passes by him.
"Otsuka Mizuki and Bahaa Said."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Bahaa motions to his partner, already jogging up to everyone else "Let's get goin'!"
Mizuki smiles and follows him. "Someone looks pretty excited," she mutters when they reach their spot at the podium "not that I can blame him."
With all Bladers assembled together, they exchange several looks. Some are challenging, some are just excited, and some look bored as heck. Pink clears her throat and adresses them again.
"Well, now that everyone knows who their partner is, and without further ado.." the lights in the arena go out, and a spotlight shines above the podium as confetti rains on it. Pink snaps his finger dramatically and grins.
"Let the game begin!"
@"Longinox", send help, I don't know how to write in Scottish Gaelic.
![[Image: full-metal-alchemist-edward-elric.gif]](https://i.postimg.cc/CLghV9xr/full-metal-alchemist-edward-elric.gif)
![[Image: giphy.gif]](https://media.giphy.com/media/tOUKt6obtJJtZmXHFD/giphy.gif)