Jun. 10, 2016 8:29 AM
Back when I was very active on the WBO there was an abundance of beyblade stories and almost a community of writers. Unfortunately, it seems like that sort of faded away, as it is rare to see a beyblade story posted here. Perhaps this is due to lack of interest and if so, I won't drag this out for too long, but I figured I may as well give it a shot, at least for a few chapters. So here it is, my latest attempt at a beyblade story. I haven't decided on a name yet, so bear with me. I'll be throwing in a few placeholder. Maybe one of them will stick. And as always, criticism is appreciated!
The Story:
Introduction:
Chapter 1:
The Story:
Introduction:
Spoiler (Click to View)
Note: Yes, I am aware that the introduction starts out slowly. Things should pick up in the next few chapters.
I still remember when I saw the first poster. It was the beginning of the summer before my senior year of high school. I remember the bright colors vividly. I remember the large graphic. I remember the text. “Beyblade Burst! Now in stock.” Beyblade. It had been a long time since that subject had crossed my mind. I had owned a few of the plastic toys years ago when they were popular. I enjoyed playing with them, customizing them, and battling them, but I soon grew tired of them. The toy had been brought back once after that, but I hadn't paid much attention to it.
This time, however, nostalgia directed me into the store. I scanned the aisles, feeling a bit out of place, seeing as I was probably the oldest person there, save the parents getting dragged around by their children. It didn't bother me, however. I soon found the aisle containing the tops. They looked much different than the old plastic ones I remembered. They were sleek and modernized, with a balance of transparent and opaque plastic, plus solid-looking metal disks. A few of the beyblades had a device included. It was called a beylogger. According to the box, I could use the Beylogger to store my battle information and connect to the Beycloud. It all seemed extremely well-thought out and advanced and this was what pushed me over the edge in my decision to purchase one. I picked the one named Valkyrie Wing Accel, which the box abbreviated VWA. After buying it and receiving a weird look from the cashier, which I dismissed, I went home and opened it up in my room.
It wasn't too difficult to figure out how to put the beyblade together. Once I had everything set up, I was eager to launch it. If there was one thing I had learned from my past experiences with beyblades, however, it was that I should never launch a beyblade on the floor. So I poked around until I found a plastic lid that belonged to a tote where I kept clothes that I didn't fit into anymore that needed to be donated. Attaching the beyblade to the launcher, I aimed and pulled the ripcord. The beyblade flew off and skidded a bit before stopping briefly in the center, wobbling, then beginning to make circles across the lid. There was a sort of excitement to it and I felt a child-like joy build up inside of me. I wished I had bought another one so I could perform battles. I didn't have much money to spend, however. After launching a few more times, I pocketed the beyblade and went about the rest of my day as usual.
As the next few days progressed, I noticed a change. It was subtle at first, but soon grew to be quite evident. A few ads on television and some posters in stores soon turned into a beyblade frenzy. Stores were sold-out, online sellers were making large profits, and for every toy store employee, it almost became second nature to inform customers when their next shipment of beyblades would be arriving.
I saw stadiums being brought everywhere and a walk through any park would reveal a lost part that a child would soon return to search for. Whoever was behind the marketing for these things was a genius. My friends were not caught up in this craze, so I still had yet to battle someone. I got my chance while walking past my local park one day. I saw a group of people huddled around a stadium. Surprisingly, they seemed close to my age. I heard clashing sounds and then the sound of one of the tops hitting the wall of the stadium.
“I told you, it may be unorthodox, but it works.” Someone said matter-of-factly.
“I just don't get it, there should be more recoil than what you're getting.”
“Not if I use a Heavy disk.” I walked closer, trying to get a better view. One of the kids turned around.
“Hey, want to watch?”
“Me?”
“Yah. Or if you have a beyblade, you can battle too.”
“Mine’s at home, I'll go get it.” I quickly ran a block to my house, grabbed my beyblade, launcher, and Beylogger, and returned. One of the kids looked at my beyblade.
“Stock Valkyrie? Not bad. Let's battle.” I remembered the countdown and it felt good to say it again, after all of these years.
“3, 2, 1, Let it Rip!” I launched hard and my beyblade caught the edge of the stadium and circled quickly. My opponent sat in the middle, hardly moving at all. No contact was being made, but my circles were getting smaller and smaller. However, I saw I was losing spin. Once I was within each of my opponent, I had almost lost already. There were two weak hits and my beyblade stopped.
“You need to do a sliding shot, your beyblade will make contact that way.” Before I had time to ask what a sliding shot was, a younger kid, maybe thirteen or fourteen, pushed his way in.
“What a boring battle. Let me have a shot.” I noticed his beyblade had the same drive as I did, but the other parts were different. I barely had time to reattach my beyblade.
“3, 2, 1, Let it Rip!” I launched hard again and the same thing happened. This time, however, my opponent's beyblade followed suit, and the two raced each other around the outside of the stadium. His slowly caught up to mine, however, and it delivered a blow that knocked me into a wall, where I deflected into the center before continuing my circle, but only after being significantly weakened. My beyblade managed to dodge his a few times, but the inevitable hit came moments later. Then, to my surprise, my beyblade exploded. Seeing the look of shock on my face, one of the kids shrugged.
“It's called Beyblade Burst for a reason.” It was good to know that my beyblade was supposed to explode, but I still wished I could have won.
“If you can, you should buy Ragnaruk Heavy Survive. You can swap out your disk for Heavy and that should help you out some.” My opponent suggested. I thanked him and went on my way. Even though I had suffered pathetic losses in my first two battles, there was a thrill to it all and I decided that this was a hobby I would try to stick with.
I still remember when I saw the first poster. It was the beginning of the summer before my senior year of high school. I remember the bright colors vividly. I remember the large graphic. I remember the text. “Beyblade Burst! Now in stock.” Beyblade. It had been a long time since that subject had crossed my mind. I had owned a few of the plastic toys years ago when they were popular. I enjoyed playing with them, customizing them, and battling them, but I soon grew tired of them. The toy had been brought back once after that, but I hadn't paid much attention to it.
This time, however, nostalgia directed me into the store. I scanned the aisles, feeling a bit out of place, seeing as I was probably the oldest person there, save the parents getting dragged around by their children. It didn't bother me, however. I soon found the aisle containing the tops. They looked much different than the old plastic ones I remembered. They were sleek and modernized, with a balance of transparent and opaque plastic, plus solid-looking metal disks. A few of the beyblades had a device included. It was called a beylogger. According to the box, I could use the Beylogger to store my battle information and connect to the Beycloud. It all seemed extremely well-thought out and advanced and this was what pushed me over the edge in my decision to purchase one. I picked the one named Valkyrie Wing Accel, which the box abbreviated VWA. After buying it and receiving a weird look from the cashier, which I dismissed, I went home and opened it up in my room.
It wasn't too difficult to figure out how to put the beyblade together. Once I had everything set up, I was eager to launch it. If there was one thing I had learned from my past experiences with beyblades, however, it was that I should never launch a beyblade on the floor. So I poked around until I found a plastic lid that belonged to a tote where I kept clothes that I didn't fit into anymore that needed to be donated. Attaching the beyblade to the launcher, I aimed and pulled the ripcord. The beyblade flew off and skidded a bit before stopping briefly in the center, wobbling, then beginning to make circles across the lid. There was a sort of excitement to it and I felt a child-like joy build up inside of me. I wished I had bought another one so I could perform battles. I didn't have much money to spend, however. After launching a few more times, I pocketed the beyblade and went about the rest of my day as usual.
As the next few days progressed, I noticed a change. It was subtle at first, but soon grew to be quite evident. A few ads on television and some posters in stores soon turned into a beyblade frenzy. Stores were sold-out, online sellers were making large profits, and for every toy store employee, it almost became second nature to inform customers when their next shipment of beyblades would be arriving.
I saw stadiums being brought everywhere and a walk through any park would reveal a lost part that a child would soon return to search for. Whoever was behind the marketing for these things was a genius. My friends were not caught up in this craze, so I still had yet to battle someone. I got my chance while walking past my local park one day. I saw a group of people huddled around a stadium. Surprisingly, they seemed close to my age. I heard clashing sounds and then the sound of one of the tops hitting the wall of the stadium.
“I told you, it may be unorthodox, but it works.” Someone said matter-of-factly.
“I just don't get it, there should be more recoil than what you're getting.”
“Not if I use a Heavy disk.” I walked closer, trying to get a better view. One of the kids turned around.
“Hey, want to watch?”
“Me?”
“Yah. Or if you have a beyblade, you can battle too.”
“Mine’s at home, I'll go get it.” I quickly ran a block to my house, grabbed my beyblade, launcher, and Beylogger, and returned. One of the kids looked at my beyblade.
“Stock Valkyrie? Not bad. Let's battle.” I remembered the countdown and it felt good to say it again, after all of these years.
“3, 2, 1, Let it Rip!” I launched hard and my beyblade caught the edge of the stadium and circled quickly. My opponent sat in the middle, hardly moving at all. No contact was being made, but my circles were getting smaller and smaller. However, I saw I was losing spin. Once I was within each of my opponent, I had almost lost already. There were two weak hits and my beyblade stopped.
“You need to do a sliding shot, your beyblade will make contact that way.” Before I had time to ask what a sliding shot was, a younger kid, maybe thirteen or fourteen, pushed his way in.
“What a boring battle. Let me have a shot.” I noticed his beyblade had the same drive as I did, but the other parts were different. I barely had time to reattach my beyblade.
“3, 2, 1, Let it Rip!” I launched hard again and the same thing happened. This time, however, my opponent's beyblade followed suit, and the two raced each other around the outside of the stadium. His slowly caught up to mine, however, and it delivered a blow that knocked me into a wall, where I deflected into the center before continuing my circle, but only after being significantly weakened. My beyblade managed to dodge his a few times, but the inevitable hit came moments later. Then, to my surprise, my beyblade exploded. Seeing the look of shock on my face, one of the kids shrugged.
“It's called Beyblade Burst for a reason.” It was good to know that my beyblade was supposed to explode, but I still wished I could have won.
“If you can, you should buy Ragnaruk Heavy Survive. You can swap out your disk for Heavy and that should help you out some.” My opponent suggested. I thanked him and went on my way. Even though I had suffered pathetic losses in my first two battles, there was a thrill to it all and I decided that this was a hobby I would try to stick with.
Spoiler (Click to View)
I managed to buy the beyblade that had been suggested to me, Ragnaruk Heavy Survive, and I noticed an improvement in my top’s performance. I went to the park as often as I could to battle and I won my fair share of matches. As I did, I kept track of them in my Beylogger, where my information such as win/loss record, launch power, and parts choice was uploaded to the Beycloud. I was told that there was no bigger purpose for the Beycloud yet, but that there was a lot of speculation about it.
“I think they'll use it as a way to distribute prizes. Like if you buy a certain amount of beyblades or play a certain amount of matches in a day, you get something.” Seth was the most knowledgeable about beyblades and everything having to do with them, at least out of the group I battled with. There were only four tops out so far, plus boosters with the same parts in different combinations, but he knew their names, weights, uses, everything. He was a year younger than me, but he was tall, about six and a half feet. He had unkempt brown hair that barely covered his ears and eyebrows. He was fairly skinny, but not to the point where he looked like a twig. He usually battled with a Valkyrie Heavy Survive.
“If they're going to do that, it wouldn't be based on amount of matches in a day, it would be purely based on economic incentive. They want you buy as many of their products as possible, so that's where they'll put their focus when it comes to prizes.” Evan was the same age as Seth. His family owned a large company so he was well off. He didn't flaunt it, but he was always dressed in at least semi-formal clothes and his blond hair was always nearly brushed to the side. He was a bit on the shorter side and was average in terms of weight. He wanted to follow in the steps of his parents and become the head of their business, so he was well-versed in economic matters. He used Kerbeus Heavy Defense.
“Who cares, let's just battle. Weren't one of you saying something about a tournament?” Calvin was the youngest of the group, at thirteen years old. He was just as annoying and hyper as any stereotypical thirteen year old. He was good, though, so no one chastised him much. He was sort of shrimpy, more than a foot shorter than Seth and just as skinny. He had short black hair that he tried to spike up with gel, but it usually ended up looking ridiculous. He battled using a Spriggan Heavy Accel.
“Well it was just an idea, seeing as our random battles are getting kind of repetitive. I could buy a prize for first place.” Evan suggested. There was a murmur of agreement throughout the small crowd.
“What kind of prize? I don't want the same old parts.” Calvin muttered.
“Well there's supposed to be a new release coming soon. I'll pre-order it.”
“A new release? Do you know anything about it?” Seth asked, curiously.
“No, I just know that I can pre-order it starting tomorrow. It should arrive in a week.”
“So we’ll have the tournament then.”
“Sounds good.”
The week flew by and I waited in anticipation for the tournament. I wondered what the new beyblade would look like, or if it was even any good. That didn't matter, I just wanted to get my hands on it. I practiced as much as I could, but there wasn't much I could do except work on my launch. I had worked hard to perfect the sliding shot, which I learned was a technique to get an attack type beyblade to cut through the center of the stadium at the beginning of the battle to hit stamina and defense type opponents. It wasn't too difficult to learn, but I worked to polish it.
Before I knew it, the day of the tournament arrived. Evan made a bid deal out of it, putting up a sign near where we battled, which attracted five or six curious individuals. The bracket was stapled onto a nearby tree and everyone ran over to look at it. There was a winners bracket and a losers bracket, so it was double elimination. I saw that I didn't have to face any of the good players right away, so at least there was that. After everyone had a chance to look at the match-ups, Evan called everyone over.
“Okay, so this is a double elimination tournament. Whoever wins, gets the prize, which is a Deathscyther Oval Accel. I won't reveal it until I give it to the winner. You can switch beyblades between matches, but not between rounds. Battles are best three out of five rounds. So let's begin.” I won my first battle with ease, but in my second battle, I noticed that my Valkyrie burst extremely quickly, even though I was facing a defense type. I still managed to win the battle, but I was confused. Seth asked to look at my beyblade.
“Yup, your Valkyrie is pretty worn. You battled with it so much that the teeth have been worn down, making it easier to burst.”
“Shoot, is there anything I can do?”
“Either buy another Valkyrie, keep using this one, or swap your layer.” I weighed my options. I didn't have the time nor the money to buy a new beyblade. Using Ragnaruk might end up being just as bad, since it burst easily as well, plus it didn't perform as well. I opted to continue using my worn Valkyrie. I made it all of the way to the quarter-finals of the winners bracket without a major problem, but then I had to face Seth.
“Still using Valkyrie? That's probably your best option. Whether it's worn or not, though, it'll would have trouble beating my Valkyrie Heavy Survive.”
“Well we’ll just have to see what happens, won't we?” I said. He nodded and we readied our launchers.
“3, 2, 1, Let it Rip!” I did a sliding shot and there was immediate contact. Both of our tops recoiled, then met in the middle for another clash. This happened two more times, before my beyblade burst. 1-0. Putting it back together, I decided I would try a different strategy. We launched again, and I let my beyblade circle the stadium. There was no contact at all for most of the battle. When our beyblades were within clashing distance, mine was already starting to wobble, while Seth’s was still spinning strong. A few clashes and my beyblade toppled over. 2-0. At this point, I didn't know what to do. I figured I may as well just go head-on and hope for the best. We launched again and our beyblades clashed right away. This time, I got a lucky hit in and Seth’s beyblade was knocked into the pocket. 2-1. I stuck with this strategy, angling my launched and pulling the ripcord as hard as I could. This time, Seth’s beyblade got lucky. The initial clash sent it into a wall where it rebounded, hitting my beyblade and bursting it. 3-1.
“Hey, that was a good battle. You're not out yet.” Seth said, shaking my hand. He was right, but even if I made it to the finals, I wouldn't stand a chance if I faced him again. I had to hope that he lost and that I managed to hang on. Seth was set to battle Evan and Calvin had already won his semi-final match, putting him in the finals for the winners bracket. I had seen Seth and Evan battle a lot and the two seemed evenly matched. I guessed that this battle would come down to luck. The two of them squared off and got their launchers ready.
“3, 2, 1, Let it Rip!” The two traded off wins, with Evan managing to out spin Seth twice and Seth out spinning Evan once and bursting him once. With a 2-2 tie, the last round would decide it. They launched hard, with both of their beyblades staying in the middle. There were a few light clashes, then Valkyrie dealt a hard hit, sending Evan’s Kerbeus back. This gave it the chance to build momentum, however, and it charged back into the middle, hitting Valkyrie. The impact and recoil was too much for Valkyrie, and it was sent flying into the pocket. At least I wouldn't have to worry about having to face Seth. I heard my name called and I went over to battle and try and stay in the tournament.
“I think they'll use it as a way to distribute prizes. Like if you buy a certain amount of beyblades or play a certain amount of matches in a day, you get something.” Seth was the most knowledgeable about beyblades and everything having to do with them, at least out of the group I battled with. There were only four tops out so far, plus boosters with the same parts in different combinations, but he knew their names, weights, uses, everything. He was a year younger than me, but he was tall, about six and a half feet. He had unkempt brown hair that barely covered his ears and eyebrows. He was fairly skinny, but not to the point where he looked like a twig. He usually battled with a Valkyrie Heavy Survive.
“If they're going to do that, it wouldn't be based on amount of matches in a day, it would be purely based on economic incentive. They want you buy as many of their products as possible, so that's where they'll put their focus when it comes to prizes.” Evan was the same age as Seth. His family owned a large company so he was well off. He didn't flaunt it, but he was always dressed in at least semi-formal clothes and his blond hair was always nearly brushed to the side. He was a bit on the shorter side and was average in terms of weight. He wanted to follow in the steps of his parents and become the head of their business, so he was well-versed in economic matters. He used Kerbeus Heavy Defense.
“Who cares, let's just battle. Weren't one of you saying something about a tournament?” Calvin was the youngest of the group, at thirteen years old. He was just as annoying and hyper as any stereotypical thirteen year old. He was good, though, so no one chastised him much. He was sort of shrimpy, more than a foot shorter than Seth and just as skinny. He had short black hair that he tried to spike up with gel, but it usually ended up looking ridiculous. He battled using a Spriggan Heavy Accel.
“Well it was just an idea, seeing as our random battles are getting kind of repetitive. I could buy a prize for first place.” Evan suggested. There was a murmur of agreement throughout the small crowd.
“What kind of prize? I don't want the same old parts.” Calvin muttered.
“Well there's supposed to be a new release coming soon. I'll pre-order it.”
“A new release? Do you know anything about it?” Seth asked, curiously.
“No, I just know that I can pre-order it starting tomorrow. It should arrive in a week.”
“So we’ll have the tournament then.”
“Sounds good.”
The week flew by and I waited in anticipation for the tournament. I wondered what the new beyblade would look like, or if it was even any good. That didn't matter, I just wanted to get my hands on it. I practiced as much as I could, but there wasn't much I could do except work on my launch. I had worked hard to perfect the sliding shot, which I learned was a technique to get an attack type beyblade to cut through the center of the stadium at the beginning of the battle to hit stamina and defense type opponents. It wasn't too difficult to learn, but I worked to polish it.
Before I knew it, the day of the tournament arrived. Evan made a bid deal out of it, putting up a sign near where we battled, which attracted five or six curious individuals. The bracket was stapled onto a nearby tree and everyone ran over to look at it. There was a winners bracket and a losers bracket, so it was double elimination. I saw that I didn't have to face any of the good players right away, so at least there was that. After everyone had a chance to look at the match-ups, Evan called everyone over.
“Okay, so this is a double elimination tournament. Whoever wins, gets the prize, which is a Deathscyther Oval Accel. I won't reveal it until I give it to the winner. You can switch beyblades between matches, but not between rounds. Battles are best three out of five rounds. So let's begin.” I won my first battle with ease, but in my second battle, I noticed that my Valkyrie burst extremely quickly, even though I was facing a defense type. I still managed to win the battle, but I was confused. Seth asked to look at my beyblade.
“Yup, your Valkyrie is pretty worn. You battled with it so much that the teeth have been worn down, making it easier to burst.”
“Shoot, is there anything I can do?”
“Either buy another Valkyrie, keep using this one, or swap your layer.” I weighed my options. I didn't have the time nor the money to buy a new beyblade. Using Ragnaruk might end up being just as bad, since it burst easily as well, plus it didn't perform as well. I opted to continue using my worn Valkyrie. I made it all of the way to the quarter-finals of the winners bracket without a major problem, but then I had to face Seth.
“Still using Valkyrie? That's probably your best option. Whether it's worn or not, though, it'll would have trouble beating my Valkyrie Heavy Survive.”
“Well we’ll just have to see what happens, won't we?” I said. He nodded and we readied our launchers.
“3, 2, 1, Let it Rip!” I did a sliding shot and there was immediate contact. Both of our tops recoiled, then met in the middle for another clash. This happened two more times, before my beyblade burst. 1-0. Putting it back together, I decided I would try a different strategy. We launched again, and I let my beyblade circle the stadium. There was no contact at all for most of the battle. When our beyblades were within clashing distance, mine was already starting to wobble, while Seth’s was still spinning strong. A few clashes and my beyblade toppled over. 2-0. At this point, I didn't know what to do. I figured I may as well just go head-on and hope for the best. We launched again and our beyblades clashed right away. This time, I got a lucky hit in and Seth’s beyblade was knocked into the pocket. 2-1. I stuck with this strategy, angling my launched and pulling the ripcord as hard as I could. This time, Seth’s beyblade got lucky. The initial clash sent it into a wall where it rebounded, hitting my beyblade and bursting it. 3-1.
“Hey, that was a good battle. You're not out yet.” Seth said, shaking my hand. He was right, but even if I made it to the finals, I wouldn't stand a chance if I faced him again. I had to hope that he lost and that I managed to hang on. Seth was set to battle Evan and Calvin had already won his semi-final match, putting him in the finals for the winners bracket. I had seen Seth and Evan battle a lot and the two seemed evenly matched. I guessed that this battle would come down to luck. The two of them squared off and got their launchers ready.
“3, 2, 1, Let it Rip!” The two traded off wins, with Evan managing to out spin Seth twice and Seth out spinning Evan once and bursting him once. With a 2-2 tie, the last round would decide it. They launched hard, with both of their beyblades staying in the middle. There were a few light clashes, then Valkyrie dealt a hard hit, sending Evan’s Kerbeus back. This gave it the chance to build momentum, however, and it charged back into the middle, hitting Valkyrie. The impact and recoil was too much for Valkyrie, and it was sent flying into the pocket. At least I wouldn't have to worry about having to face Seth. I heard my name called and I went over to battle and try and stay in the tournament.
