Battle Strikers
Chapter 1: Deep Blue Beast

...Oh those sounds of metal clashing, don't they just drive you insane?!

Weapons clashing against each other, pounding with each passed second. The heat in the air unbearable yet these two warriors of steel fighting tirelessly. With each strike the vast crowd grows more and more impatient, more and more frightened, more and more exhilarated from this battle. They roar and cheer with every fiber of their being, awaiting the moment when one shall stand and one shall fall into defeat. This, my friends, is but a shred of the world-wide phenomenon that is Battle Strikers!

A loud gasp surrounded the battle grounds. The spectators stood in awe as in the center of all stood two small, metallic objects. Well, perhaps stood is the wrong term because, you see, each of these two metallic objects was spinning at great velocities, exceeding 4000 revolutions per minute, or RPM. Imagine two swords and how much damage each would do if they were to strike each other, and now imagine two chainsaws clashing. Maybe even then you might not understand the power these small objects posses. And yet they are called simple toys by everyone, except those who use them. But enough explaining, I’m sure you'd rather I continue and tell you the conclusion to this battle.

"Come on Jarred! Just one more win!! You can do it!" The kids cheered in the school yard, encouraging their champion. Jarred, with a tall statue for his age and a rigid face that was almost always in a grunt. He wore black jeans and a brown T-shirt with ripped off sleeves, clearly portraying his rebellious nature. He struggled to control that little weapon of his, the Battle Striker.

"Come on Raptor! Don't fail me!" He shouted in an ominous battle cry, as he used a small piece of plastic with a magnet on its tip to control his Striker. His brown steel Raptor tore through the arena as Jarred in one swift move tried to knock his opponent out. All his might was focused into this one move, hoping it would bring him victory. His spiky blonde hair shook as he moved his arm above the Striker, attaching it to his small, round controller and then swiping it across the arena floor. Raptor was flying a mere moment later as it rushed towards his foe. Closing in on its pray the fierce steel Raptor plunged his claws ahead. Certain death awaited anyone who would dare stand in the way of this fierce beast, and had this attack hit, the poor soul's striker that was the enemy would have been torn to shreds. However the predator turned prey in an instant, as the blue chunk of blurry, spinning metal that was before it disappeared. Had it escaped in fear? Certainly not...

"Too easy!" A boy wearing a blue bandana with the words "Deep Blue Beast" inscribed in its front smirked in content. He wasn't a newcomer or the underdog, but he most definitively wasn't the favorite. Quickly moving his arm he sent his blue Piranha speeding to the side of the stadium, quickly outflanking his heavily armored opponent. Another quick clash of metal followed, as the piranha hit the stadium's wall and repelled. Heading back towards the unlucky Raptor, the deadly predator devoured his prey whole. In the end the motionless bird found its end in the dust of the school yard's grassy floor and the victor stood tall, still revolving around it's proud self.

"Hell yeah! I won!" the kid rejoiced, putting his metallic-framed headphones back on top of his head.
"Aww man, you almost had him." Sour faces left the battlefield as the aftermath was clear. Jarred had lost and Nick, the kid with the blue bandana had won.
"Yeah well, I still almost won the bet."
"Hey, don't look at me. You said you could beat me 10 times in a row. Heh, I guess I proved ya wrong!" Nick smirked, rejoicing at his victory.
"9 times smurf. I still beat ya 9 times in a row," He walked past Nick, overshadowing him with his height. Stopping right next where his Striker fell, he picked it up gently, as if it was a jewel that could break at any moment. "And your still average!" He spoke without even turning away from his striker. Moments later he simply left.

Shortly after the battle, Nick walked over to another kid just sitting on a bench with a laptop on his lap.
"He's right, you know?" The kid spoke, without even glancing away from the laptop's glowing screen. His name was Brendon, age 13. He was two years younger than Nick and much, much shorter, standing as tall as Nick's chest. And that's while standing on his toes, and with his short black hair styled in an upwards manner. Still, his brains made up for his short stature as he was a lot smarter than he seemed. He had skipped a grade and was in the same class as Nick. Even so, the only reason for staying in that grade is that he had been friends with Nick since, well, forever. His blue eyes were moving with dazzling speeds behind his glasses, as he was reading an entire page of text in almost an instant.
"Yeah well, I’m still better at him online," Nick sat on top of the bench, putting his feet right next to where Brendon sat. "And you'll see. I'll be better than him. I'll be better than anyone!" A smile spread across his face as he gazed into the small metal toy that was his Striker, Piranha.
"Still," Brendon looked at his friend, adjusting his glasses. "You can't expect that to happen overnight just because you say that," He scolded Nick, and before he could object Brendon kept on talking. "And being in the top 20 online doesn't count. Playing the online game doesn't even begin to compare with Battle Strikers in real life."
"I know," Nick looked down as a grim shadow spread across his face. Nevertheless in an instant he was back to his cheerful self.

"Speaking of online, whatcha reading?" He struggled to get his hands on the laptop. "Lemme see! Is there any news? Are they releasing a new striker?" He shouted with extreme enthusiast, but as soon ne grabbed hold of the laptop his smile was quickly wiped away. "Large Hadron Whatnow?!" He was staring at an article that was certainly not about Battle Strikers.
"Yes," Brendon quickly took back possession of his laptop. "And it's increasingly interesting."
"Dude, is that even a phrase?!” He scratched his head for a moment.”Whatever, I’m going home." He jumped from the bench and landed a few feet away.
"But," Brendon closed his laptop and tried to jump off as well, but he merely hopped a bit and landed right next to the bench. "But we have two more classes after the break."
"Your point? It's not like it's anything important. “

He started walking away from Brendon and towards the schoolyard’s gate when a terrifying screech stopped him, freezing him stiff in his place. A voice so malevolent he thought his ears would bleed. It was the voice of..
“Nick Rivendale! Where do you think you’re going?!” He slowly turned around to face the horrors of his teacher, Miss Daisy. Wrinkled old face, deep saggy eyes that could stare a hole through a steel door. Messy red hair, almost fitting for a witch like her, as he called her.
“I was just umm…going to class?”
“Very good Nick. Now off you go! The bell rang quite a few minutes ago if you hadn’t noticed.”

And it was true, he hadn’t. He was so caught up with the game he forgot all about it.
“Of course it did.” He shrugged, walking to class together with Brendon. In the next torturing hour he did little to nothing other than gazing at the round clock on the wall, impatiently waiting for when he could finally go home.
“Finally!” He sighed in relief, rushing out of the classroom and barely forgetting his bag.

Fifteen minutes later, he found himself throwing his backpack carelessly onto the bed and starting up the computer as he relaxed in his comfortable chair. He opened his browser and typed with a blaze.
www.battlestrikers.com
Quickly he entered it and logged in, checking if anyone posted on his personal page. And someone indeed had posted something. Something that would change his life forever.

TheWhizz – You have quite the score. You must be pretty good at the game if you’re in the top 20
TheWhizz – Maybe someday we can battle and see if you’re just as good at the real deal?

He was flattered. He hadn’t seen this person before, so he rushed to check his or her own page. Oddly enough it was empty, yet his striker collection was maxed out.

DeepBlueBeast – I see you have quite the collection. It’s a shame nobody has posted anything here. Hope that changes soon

After spending nearly an hour gazing at the incredible amount of customized strikers, he returned to his own page to reply.
DeepBlueBeast - @TheWhizz: Sure, you just name the time and place >

Not even a second passed when he refreshed the page and to his astonishment, the stranger had replied.

TheWhizz - @DeepBlueBeast: Good to know…

As soon as he read those 3 words his screen flashed, as if his computer had crashed. A black screen appeared, with only an arrow pointing to the right, to his window. A teenager much like himself stood there in the dark, wearing a school uniform and a laptop in his hands, as if he had been typing on it just seconds ago, and a simple black suitcase sitting right next to his leg. He shouted:
“Are you the deep blue beast?” He spoke with a Russian accent. “If you are..." A devilish smile spread across his face. "I've got something for you.”

“Who is this guy?” Nick had deep doubts about this person, wondering if he was the one who posted on his page. Yet all his doubts were gone and blind fate encouraged him to rush through his house and go look at this guy up close. His reason? The Battle Strikers logo on the guy’s suit-case and uniform.
“Sup?” He asked from up-front, nearly spooking the other guy.
“I see you’re pretty quick on your feet. I’m Rurik.” He turned around, walking away from Nick. As expected, Nick followed him closely.

“I want to battle you. Do you…” He was quickly cut off by Nick’s reaction.
“Yep, right here!” he showed off Piranha at Rurik.
“Good.” He smirked. “Follow me then.” He kept on walking, quickening his pace, and so did Nick.

After half an hour of walking later, they arrived in an abandoned shipyard. The whole complex hadn’t been used for years, even though the city was open to the ocean. Dust and broken objects lay everywhere. They entered the abandoned warehouse where only stacks of empty boxed could be found, other than the mice, spiders and web around each corner. Coming to a stop at the center of it, Rurik lay down his suit-case and took out 2 identical in shape yet different in color devices. He put one of them on his hand, and then gave the other to Nick.
“This will be your controller for this battle.”
“Sweet! This some prototype I get to test out early because I’m so awesome, right?” Nick gazed at the controller as he spoke. Immediately and without question he put it on his right hand.
“Not really, but forget about all that.” Rurik distanced himself from Nick, walking around 20 meters away from him.
“Do you carry your launcher?”
“No but…” Nick couldn’t reply for as soon as he said the first word a launcher came flying at him, tossed by Rurik. Swiftly he grasped hold of it, attaching his striker to it. “Umm, where’s the stadium? How am I supposed to control the striker if there’s no stadium?”
“Stadiums? After this night you will never need any stadiums to fight your battles!” Rurik remarked with a sharp tone in his voice, his eyes focusing at Nick.
“I guess I’ll just wing it then!” Nick pulled his arm back then thrust forwards. In a blur his blue striker shot off into the air, heading straight for Rurik. “Dude watch out!” He barely finished the sentence as he heard a clash of metal. In the air Piranha was pushed against the purple Sentinel, pushing in mid-air.

Nick’s arm suddenly retracted, as if an invisible force had pushed it backwards. At the same time Piranha went flying back at Nick, from the force of Sentinel’s attack. It almost hit Nick as he barely dodged by sidestepping.
“The hell? I guess…I guess I have to hold my arm steady and toughen up for this thing!” He remarked as he moved his arm to the right, and his Striker was before him. Again he pulled his arm back and thrust forwards. And again the same thing happened. Piranha clashed with Sentinel and went flying back at him, this time covering him in a cloud of dust as it hit the floor.
“Well I suppose I might have been wrong about you. You lack the skills needed to be a battler. At this game you are nothing but a petty fish out of its sea.”

“Fish? You call me a fish?” Nick panted heavily as the dust cleared. Blood was dripping from his left arm. “I may not be good, I may…” He kept breathing heavily, trying to speak. “I may not be strong, but like hell…” He raised his right arm, pointing with the controller at Rurik and his purple striker before him. Suddenly the spin of piranha increased dramatically, spinning ever so faster with each passed moment. “Like hell, if I ain’t…” He pulled his arm back. “THE DEEP BLUE BEAST!” Waves of blue energy gushed in all directions as he punched forwards. And in a blur from before him materialized a scary as hell and bigger than en elephant a sea-blue piranha! And this piranha was hungry for a bite!

“At last…”

…Suddenly the spin of piranha increased dramatically, spinning ever so faster with each passed moment. “Like hell if I ain’t…” He pulled his arm back. “THE DEEP BLUE BEAST!” Waves of blue energy gushed in all directions as he punched forwards. And in a blur from before him materialized a scary as hell and bigger than en elephant a sea-blue piranha! And this piranha was hungry for a bite!
“At last…”


In an ear-piercing roar the gigantic blue StrikerSoul lunged towards its purple-colored opponent, ready to devour it. As the piranha struck the purple top, it too echoed with energy, and in a blitz appeared the gruesome Sentinel. For merely a second it flashed before Nick’s eyes, and in that same second, his striker was defeated, laying motionless on the ground.
“At last…” Rurik applauded, approaching his still spinning top. With a flick of his wrist it flew up to his hand and he grasped hold of it, stopping it from its endless rotation.

“Damnit!” Nick bit his lip out of agony, falling to his knees as if his legs had betrayed him. He punched with his hand into the ground, cursing Rurik, cursing his inability to win. “I lost…” He closed his eyes, tears nearly falling down.
“Relax my friend. You have lost, but you have also won. Won my favor and my recognition.” He smiled, walking up to Nick.

Nick glanced upwards to see a helping hand extended, ready to be gripped and to pull. And so he took Rurik’s hand and slowly rose up on his feet.
“I…I guess I’ve failed your test, huh?” He looked down again, ready to receive any punishment.
“True…”He smirked. “True it was a test. But you didn’t fail. You passed…as you say it, with “Flying colors.” His Russian accent roughed through this sentence.

“I did?” A smile suddenly spread across his face as his eyes were glowing. He looked at Rurik with joy. “I really don’t know what to say.”
“Really Nick? After all this you have nothing to say? I’m surprised.” He smirked, walking opposite of Nick.
“What?” He was caught off guard, but only for a moment. “Oh no, no. I have LOADS to say, dude! Like…What just happened? Was it magic or something?!” He began shouting.

“Magic?” Suddenly Rurik stopped, turning around. “My friend, this was certainly no magic. Excellence of technology – Yes. Magnificence of the unknown universe? Most definitively. Mysterious? Surely. But magic, it was certainly not.”
“But, but how is that all possible? I mean I could almost control my Striker with my mind. It was insane! In a good way, of course.” He couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Yes well…” Rurik kneeled down, grabbing the still bluish and yellow striker from the ground. “Maybe after one more battle I shall answer your questions.” He resumed walking away, tossing the striker at Nick without as much as glancing to see where it would go.

But as it headed in Nick’s direction, instead of the warm touch of his palm’s skin, the striker was met with cold steel as already in mid-air Nick greeted it by revving his launcher while the striker was flying his way. As soon as it approached him he pushed the bottom of his launcher forwards, sticking the striker dead on!
“Works fine for me!” Newfound bravery overtook him, as he was now more eager than ever to go up against Rurik. A rabid smile spread across his face just as Rurik came to a stop.

He attached his striker to his launcher, pressing the button gently as the sound of spinning metal became.
“You are indeed looking forward to this battle, dah?” a short but sweet smile of anticipation appeared on Rurik’s serious face.
“Heh. Nothing I’d look forward to more than a battle with someone who has beaten me!” He moved his legs, shifting to a more stable stance with his right foot forwards and inwards and his left foot backwards and outwards.
“Let’s go!” Nick was as ready as ever now, barely holding on for the starting words.

“Yes…let’s!” Calmly, he replied, spinning his launcher around his finger as if it were an old revolver.
“Aight! Ready!”
“Set!”
“STRIKE!!”Rurik grabbed hold of the launcher with both hands, forcing it to an immediate stop. The momentum of the launcher from the spinning was instantaneously transferred to the Striker. As it shot out in a blaze, dashing forwards and downwards at exceedingly high speeds.
“STRIKE!!” Nick shouted at the same time, extending the launcher in front of him and tapping it on the top. Just like before he pulled his controlling arm back and then punching forwards. But this time Piranha didn’t flew. Instead it swam across the surface, approaching Sentinel fast. But before a straight-forward clash could happen, Nick pulled his striker to the side, sending it a half circle around sentinel before springing it back at him, this time slamming with full force in the opponent.
“Don’t think I haven’t learned anything!” He smirked, content with the battle so far.
“I’d hope so. Otherwise you’d make a lousy contestant.” Rurik lowered his open palm a little, then raised it fast, causing Sentinel to jump high up in the air, nearly hitting the ceiling. Hanging in mid-air for a second, soon it came crashing back down at Piranha at an alarming speed.
“Damn! Gotta move!” Nick thought as he pulled Piranha away just in time. When Sentinel struck, a small crater was created.

“God damn!” Nick was laughing.
“Eh?”
“This is so GOOD!” He was intoxicated by the thrill, by the power. “This is just so awesome! I can feel my body overflowing with adrenalin! I think I’m going to BURST at any moment!” He shouted, as a broad smile spread across his face. “I love this battle!”
“Well I would sincerely hope so.” Rurik lowered his arm, letting Sentinel spin in place. “After all, it was players like you I created this for.”
“Ha! There’s nobody else like me!” Nick attacked the still sentinel, trying to break through the seemingly impenetrable defenses. “And I’ll make sure to prove it to YOU…” He attacked again, this time with more power than ever. Even Rurik got slightly startled, yet he refused to admit it. “I’ll prove it to EVERYONE who wants to fight me! Now come on! Get serious!” He raised his arm, doing a similar maneuver like Rurik.

“As you wish. Though you shouldn’t…”Rurik’s eyes widened. He was about to say “Steal other tricks” When he noticed it…Instead of repeating Sentinel’s attack, the blue piranha was falling upside down, and just as the blue StrikerSoul made its appearance again, it stroke. A cloud of dust shrouded this battlefield as Rurik couldn’t help but gaze. He let his guard down and now…now Sentinel was defeated, laying dead in a crater twice the size from the one he made earlier.

He couldn’t help but giggle at this. He closed his eyes, putting his hands in his pockets and walking to his striker just as the blue piranha flew back into Nick’s left hand.
“You’re not quite a thief, dah?” He said as he crouched to pick up Sentinel.
“I don’t know about that but…”He smirked. “Predators adapt.”
“Then perhaps…”He attached his striker to his launcher. “Two out of three?” He smirked.
“Oh Hell yeah!” Nick attached Piranha to his launcher and pressed the button. The Striker began spinning and he took three steps back, waiting for Rurik to begin the countdown.

“Умный парень. Понял это быстро. “Rurik conversed in his head just as he revved up his launcher, Sentinel attached. “Let’s try it your way now.”

“Ready!” Rurik shouted.
“Set!”
“STRIKE!!” Rurik shook his hand, Sentinel dropping on the now ravaged floor. This time he would show no mercy.
“STRIKE!!” This time Nick pulled his arm back, kicking off into a running start. But just after four steps he came to a complete halt, striking forwards with his right arm, causing his striker to shoot out like a bullet, going forwards in a blaze of blue energy. In mid-air it headed towards Rurik.

Calmly, Rurik anticipated as his striker spun in place. But just as Piranha was approaching rapidly, he said:
“Don’t expect my guard down this time…” He smiled as Sentinel jumped up, colliding with Piranha whilst purple energy was overflowing it. “…My friend.” With another blaze of energy Piranha was repelled, and both the blue and purple energy dispersed. He didn’t even give Nick time to react, as just when Piranha landed, Sentinel headed for the kill, moving in a zigzag pattern forwards.

Nick swiped his hand as Piranha moved to the left just before Sentinel struck. Sentinel propelled to the right and landed on a support beam. Shooting off from it just as Piranha dashed towards it, they collided in mid-air with piranha flying upwards and Sentinel going downwards, metal clashing in a burst of energy. From the sheer force of their impact their trajectories curved, balancing so both strikers were now parallel to the ground, and even spinning around the center of the two strikers, exactly where the sparks occurred, moving around each other and shooting away. Now both landed on walls opposite to their previous position.

“Not so easy now, is it?” Rurik remarked.
“No way, hah. But now it’s even more awesome!” He yelled, moving his hand through the air, commanding Piranha to land on the ground, moving towards Sentinel. In that exact moment Rurik lifted his hand, folding it into a fist. Sentinel shot into the air, going above the blue striker. In a violent crash a purple bolt shot down at Piranha, with the Striker in the middle of it. This time, however, Nick didn’t wait to be hit. He bent his hand slightly, with the tip of his controller pointing upwards, then raised his hand, sending Piranha upwards, only it was in a 90 degree turn, with the spinning weapon’s side facing Sentinel.

He roared in a battle cry as Piranha materialized with the striker in the middle of its body, biting through the purple bolt, just as the striker’s weapon struck Sentinel slightly away from the center, destabilizing it and sending it down falling, Piranha’s StrikerSoul dissipating soon after. Rurik was mildly impressed by this attack, but did not let it disturb his focus. With a flick of his wrist he flipped Sentinel right side up, and as it landed he sent it after Nick’s Striker. Focusing, Rurik called forth the demonic Sentinel.

In an ominous cry a purple winged beast appeared, chasing after Piranha. Catching up to it rapidly, Sentinel pushed into Piranha and both Strikers burst through the roof, flying into the sky. With no way to see what was going on, Nick closed his eyes, trying to focus. And then he felt it…

Up above the warehouse Piranha was pummeled from all sides by Sentinel, with its StrikerSoul appearing before each hit and disappearing immediately afterwards. As they landed on the top of the roof the hits continued with Sentinel trying to drive Piranha off the edge, until Nick couldn’t bear it anymore.
“Piranha!” He shouted for his Striker, and the beast appeared, sending Sentinel flying as it approached. Now both strikers were near the edges of the roof, each on the opposite side. In a blaze of furry both Strikers shot off at each other, both StrikerSouls appearing at the same time. A wave of energy cut through the air as they collided. Both Strikers went backwards and upwards at the same time, until the same thing happened again. The Blue and Purple beasts appeared again, this time colliding in an even bigger blast of energy. Yet again they were sent back.

“This stretched on for quite some time now. My friend, I shall end this here and now.”
“Heh, agreed!”
Both Rurik and Nick waited for their Strikers to land, focusing all their mind and soul into one last attack. Each Striker’s RPM increased dramatically as the sound of metal spinning became ever so higher. Soon they were blazing around at near 12.000 RPM. The same nanosecond each metal tip touched the surface of the roof, they propelled at a near sonic-boom, almost disappearing from their place and re-appearing at the place of impact. Piranha roared as Sentinel screeched and both StrikerSouls clashed in the center as an explosion tore apart the roof. The Sheer force of these two “toys” collapsed the entire warehouse roof. A cloud of dust engulfed the warehouse and when it was clear Nick and Rurik ran to where their Strikers had fell. And they saw Piranha and Sentinel, still spinning slower and slower, until seconds later, both stood still, having stopped at the exact moment.

“A draw?! The hell?” Nick scratched his head, moving around his bandana a bit.
“It would seem that way.” Rurik kneeled to pick up his Striker, putting it in his pocket. “So…” He put his hands, along with his striker, into his pockets. “You said you had some questions?”
“I did?!” Nick had totally forgotten what he wanted to ask. “Oh yeah…Right so, how does this all work anyways?”
“Trust me, if I was to explain the process, your head would hurt. Why don’t we leave it at “It’s the controller.”?”
“Umm, ok I guess. And, who are you really?”

“I’m just a fellow Battler. However unlike you or anybody else, I decided it was time to upgrade the game a bit. You see, the creator of Battle Strikers didn’t use normal metals for the Strikers, not completely anyways. The cores, the part that is used for controlling the striker are made from a meteorite that fell on Earth some time ago. Those meteorite pieces that were extracted and shaped to fit into the core of the strikers have strange magnetic properties, while being twice as durable and a lot stronger. So they’re a far better choice to use instead of magnets.” He stopped to pull out the striker from his pocket, showing it to Nick. “But those cores have a load of other unknown abilities, and one of them is having an insane amount of energy inside, waiting to be activated. And this…”He then took out the controller from his other pocket. “Is simply the key.”

“Duuude…that is so….immense!” Nick’s jaw was dropped. He quickly pulled himself together for one last question. “So umm, when is that thing going public?” He pointed at the controller.
“Never!” Rurik sharply raised his tone. “This is for private use only. If anybody with even the slightest shred of greed for power found out about this, it would be a disaster. Do you know the weapons that could be built using the cores?! It would mean World War three!” He pulled back his arms, turning his back to Nick. “That is why you mustn’t tell nobody about this! Am I clear?”
“I umm..”
“AM I CLEAR?!” Rurik raised his voice exponentially.
“YES YES!”
“Good.”
“So if nobody else has this, it’s no fun.” He took it off his hand, about to throw it away.
“Don’t!” Rurik interrupted him. “It’s not just you or me. Before you I selected almost a hundred Battlers and gave them controllers as well.”

“Good to know, but why would you do that, I still don’t get it?”
Rurik smirked. “Because, I created a sort of…tournament.” He said in cold-blood. “Here, this will help you find other Battlers.” He threw a plastic card at Nick, with his real name written on it, along with the nickname he used on the website – “DeepBlueBeast”. Then he walked off into the shadows, leaving Nick gazing in awe, saying one last thing before disappearing from sight:

“My friend…YOU are now part of that tournament!”

Chapter 3: Jet


“Part of the tournament eh?” Nick thought as he walked to school early the next day. His headset on, music booming through his ears. But to him it was the most silent moment in his life. Only one word rushed through his head…TOURNAMENT…
“Man, this is gonna be SO awesome!” A smile spread across his face as he kept walking. But as he day-dreamed a mild breeze hit him in the forehead.

“I wonder if…”He stopped. “I wonder if Brendon battled the weird guy too.” He looked at his striker, about to dash forwards to school, when something held him back unexpectedly. He looked back to see Brendon pulling onto his shirt. “What the…”He took off his headset. “How long have you been there?”
“78 seconds, precisely.” An innocent smile appeared as Nick scratched his head in embracement and confusion. In the midst of his thinking has he not noticed Brendon walk behind him? He was surprised as this hasn’t happened before.

“But no matter that. We will be late for school.” He proceeded to walk and Nick caught up to him as soon as he got his thoughts sorted out.
“Umm Rocky, do you know what this is?” He pulled out the controller, showing it to Brendon. “If he had battled that Rurik guy, he’ll know.” He thought.
“Nope, not really. Seems like another useless toy of yours.” Brendon kept on walking, unaware of what that “toy” was used for.
“Useless?!” Nick almost freaked out and spilled every little detail to Brendon. Almost…

“But Rurik said this is supposed to be a secret. Damnit, do I tell him or not?” Nick was torn apart. He’d give anything for him and his best friend to battle, all out and no holding back. But then a quick thought flashed through him. “Hey Rocky, wanna battle? We got…” With a smile, he took out his cell phone to check the time. “We got 15 minutes before class.”
“Sure, I guess.”

Rocky began unpacking his schoolbag for his striker and launcher, but he stopped mid-way.
“Umm, Nick? We don’t have an arena, and the one at school is always taken.”
“Pfft. We don’t need no arenas!” Nick took out his controller and put it over his index and middle finger. Afterwards he attached Piranha to his launcher and pointed at Brendon.
“But Nick, you remember what happened last time, don’t you?”

It was a few weeks ago, the first and only time they had tried battling without an arena. They revved their strikers and launched them on top of the dinner table. Needless to say, it was a bad idea. Yet despite arguing, Brendon had now taken his striker out and attached it to the launcher.
“Yeah but dude, this is outdoors! No glasses to break here…or windows…or dishes.”
“Alright, if you say so.” Still unsure a bit, Brendon fixed up his glasses.

“Ok. Ready, Rocky?” Nick kneeled so he was closer to the ground, but all Brendon had to do was bending over a bit. Upon realizing this Nick smirked. “Heh. That must be one advantage of being short.
“Shut up! My mom says I’m the type that grows a lot and all at once! You’ll see!” Brendon fixed his glasses again, preparing for battle. “Set!” Brendon answered.
“Strike!” Both of them shouted as they released their strikers. Nick rushed in and slid his striker forwards, attacking Brendon’s Viking. Swiftly his opponent dodged out of the way, and with a flick of a wrist the yellow striker was the one on the offence. Chasing after Piranha it rushed.

“Now!” Nick slid Piranha backwards, slamming it into Viking. Yet despite that he didn’t do much damage as Brendon had his hand over Viking, stopping it in place with his controller. From the strong defense it shot out to the left, going towards the street. Nick ran to the edge just a car was coming his way. He rushed against time so his Striker wouldn’t end up getting hit. Just as the car passed by he had attached his controller to Piranha and slit it back into the fight. Brendon gasped for a moment then focused on the battle. Moving his striker backwards only slightly, he created some distance between the two strikers.

“Gotcha!” Nick smiled. He put his controller over Piranha and made it go forwards a bit, then viciously sliding it backwards at Viking. He was sure he had him this time. Brendon surprised him, however, as he had his hand atop Viking and yet even though he could dodge, he didn’t. Simply he waited for Piranha to be close enough, and millimeters before impact he pulled back, carefully setting for a knockout. Using the opponent’s momentum against him, Brendon “Rocky” Hutchinson sent his striker sliding forwards, crushing into Piranha and knocking it out cold.

“Damnit!” Nick cursed as he picked up Piranha.
“You know you should watch out for traps like that. Not always is a sliding attack the best option, especially when fighting someone like Viking…”
“Dude…” Nick said nothing else, but Brendon recognized it from the look he gave him. He was telling him “Shut up” with his eyes. And so he did, but he didn’t hate Nick for it. He was aware that talking too much was a habit for him. Despite moments like this they were still best friends and got along great, just like brothers.
“Alright Nick, but we best get going. We’ll be late.” Brendon packed his striker along with the other items and put his schoolbag on his back.

“Fine!” Nick followed Brendon as he walked. Soon they were approaching a bus stop. And right there, coming out of a bus, they saw a teenager wearing a striped black jacket, with jet black eyes and dark hair concealed beneath a broad, navy blue beanie with a fist symbol on it. He jumped out the door with a careless attitude, turning his neck around a few times and popping it. With a daredevil’s smile he walked towards Nick and Brendon, colliding with Nick as he passed by. Off Guard Nick turned around in a haze as his card dropped to the ground, the same card that Rurik gave him. Nick leaned to pick it up, noticing that it was beeping and flashing.

“Oi, watch it kid!” He said, looking at Nick, then looking at the card just as Nick was picking it up.”Well well, what do we have here, eh?” The guy then reached into his jacket, taking out a card just like Nick’s, except this one had “V-Shot” written on it. “Take it you know what this is, eh?”
Nick looked up as their eyes clashed. He straightened up, looking at the card.
“Kid?Heh..." Nick couldn't help but smile as they we're probably the same age. "So that’s what this does huh?" He looked at the card. "Aight then! Let’s go!” Without a single thought he accepted the challenge.

“Wait a minute Nick! Where you going?” Brendon approached him.
“I’m gonna…umm…There’s something I need to take care off. I won’t be long so don’t worry, Rocky.” He smiled. “You should go ahead and go to school without me.”
“You gonna chit-chat or…”
“Fine!” Nick turned to this weird new guy. He didn’t like his attitude one bit. “Where are we going to do it, though?”
“Thought you’d never ask.” He smirked. “Follow me.”
“But Nick!” Brendon tried to stop him, but Nick was already gone. Brendon didn’t know what to think but the worst. He struggled between going to school and following Nick. In the end he decided…

“Where we going?” Nick was running through the alleys, dashing between buildings as he followed the stranger.
“You’ll see!” He said as he jumped over a fence and landed into a construction site. “Come on!”
“Dude…” Nick gazed around.
“Relax! It’s empty today, no workers around.” He walked for a bit, and then turned to face Nick. “Well? Let’s do this!” He took out his striker, the dark-blue Blitz.
“Oh I can’t wait!” Nick admitted as he put on the controller Rurik gave him and prepared for battle. They were now roughly 15 meters away from each other.

“Ready?” the black-eyed guy yelled.
“Set!”
“Strike!”

…“Well? Let’s do this!” He took out his striker, the dark-blue Blitz.
“Oh I can’t wait!” Nick admitted as he put on the controller Rurik gave him and prepared for battle. They were now roughly 15 meters away from each other.
“Ready?!” the black-eyed guy yelled.
“Set!”
“Strike!”…

Chapter 4: Blitzkrieg

“Strike!” Nick reminisced of his past battle with Rurik as he took a running start, kicking off for a few steps until he came to a violent stop, punching his arm forwards. And as blue waves spread across the surface of Piranha’s spinning tip, it shot off forwards, diving through the air as if it was a sea.
“Heh, right into my trap!” In his devious mind this black-eyed schemer had already formulated the blue striker’s demise. He began revving his launcher with a dark shine in his look. “Strike!” Instead of launching his Striker, he moved his arm downwards whilst spinning to the left. As he began turning in a circle he raised his arm with a dazzling speed. Almost in an instant, he had moved his arm from close to the ground to a point far above his head. The upwards momentum launched Blitz like a shuttle, sending it flying high into the air.

“What the?!” Nick tried to follow the striker’s movements, but it had risen so high that it aligned with the sun, blinding Nick as he looked at it. “UGH!” He covered his eyes.
“Heh, just as planned.” With a smile he pulled down his controlling hand. Dark blue sparks sizzled from Blitz as it came crashing down into the mid-air Piranha, slamming it dead in its tracks and forcing it into the ground.
“GAH!” Nick felt his hand being pulled down with immense force as he managed to look into the battlefield. Despite a scorching feeling in his right eye and despite being half blind still, he could see enough to realize he was in trouble!

“Damn you!” He cursed as he raised his hand violently despite the downwards force, tightening up every muscle in his arm. Soon the dark blue sparks were overwhelmed by a light blue wave and Blitz was propelled back into the air by Piranha’s force. Nick pulled his arm to the left, sending Piranha climbing up the steel frame of an unfinished building. His blue striker was racing fast, trying to catch up to Blitz and get revenge. Seeing the opposing Striker helpless in the air Nick folded his hand into a fist, pulling it back and punching a moment later. Another wave of energy came out as two sets of razor sharp jaws appeared. Soon a giant metallic Piranha, the size of two cars, was into the air. The piranha shrieked as it neared its pray.

“Heh…”
A push of a button! Soon a steel wrecking ball came crashing down into Piranha. Forcing it back down to the ground, the Striker was clenched under the ball, with Blitz landing on top of it, victorious.
“No…no!” Nick could no longer feel the connection between his striker and him. It could mean only one thin… that he had lost. “GOD DAMN YOU!” He raced over to the wrecking ball, pushing it away with all his force. Yet despite his desperate attempt of rescuing the blue Piranha, he couldn’t even budge it.

“One win for me.” The other guy revealed a remote of sorts, calling back his Striker as he pressed a red button. The wrecking ball began rising. Not even waiting for it to be out of the way, Nick dreadfully pushed it away as he tried to see if his striker was still in one piece. Fearing for it he tried to feel if there was anything on the ground. A shred of hope filled his eyes as he grabbed hold of a small metallic object, clearly recognizing its shape and texture. He pulled back his arm, looking at it.
“Thank god!” Luckily, Piranha was still in one piece, and aside from minor scratch marks, it had no other damage. “YOU!” He ran to the person responsible for this. Overfilled with rage he grabbed onto the guy’s jacket. “You CHEATER!” He yelled, pushing the guy backwards.

“Hey!” He pushed back, regaining his stance with ease as now both were griping onto each other. “All is fair in a battle!” He pushed back even more, causing Nick to lose his grip on him. “Besides, it ain’t my fault you…UGH!” He was interrupted by a fiery punch in the face that sent him to the ground. He hit the dirt as his beanie fell off to one direction and his launcher to another. “Son of a…” He kicked off the ground, launching himself at Nick and punching himself in the left cheek.
“You dumbass! You have nobody else to blame but yourself!”

Nick wanted to say something. He wanted to object so badly. But he couldn’t. The stranger was right. He had been too careless. He was so angry at this black-eyed devil before him, but even more so at himself. He wanted to get back up on his feet and start throwing punches, but he knew he had to find another way. And the only other way for revenge was….

“Fine!” He got up on his feet and walked back to where he had dropped his launcher after the wrecking ball fell. It pained him to think back to it for some reason. Perhaps he was attached to his Striker a little too much. He picked it up and slowly, with shivering fingers, attached Piranha to it. “Come on you carp! COME ON!” He activated his launcher.

“Fine then.” He walked to his beanie and picked it, brushing it off with his hand and then firmly placing it back on his head. Only after did he take the launcher as well, shaking it slightly and attaching his Striker to it. “Ready?”
“Shut it!” In a violent swing he launched his Striker, aiming not for Blitz but rather for the HEAD of his enemy.
Undisturbed, he simply raised the launcher and turned it 90 degrees. Now the blue beast was in a head to head collision with Blitz.

“Humph! Respect, kid!” He couldn’t understand Nick’s hatred, but he still respected his resolve to do something about it. “Now let’s bring it down!” He forced his hand forwards and in a blast he pushed Piranha back. He then slid his arm to the right, sending his striker flying to a nearby building. The striker dashed onto the metal construction, heading for Piranha, but Nick didn’t wait a moment more. He sent the blue striker soaring towards the same metal construction as it landed a few meters away from Blitz. Accelerating at each other they clashed with full power, indenting the metal deeply at the place of impact.
“Come on kid. That all your hatred got?!” He shouted as dark blue sparks shot off from his striker as it kicked off, shooting towards the opposite building.

“I SAID SHUT UP!” He couldn’t keep it inside anymore. In a cry of rage his Piranha buzzed as it spun in place, waiting to attack. And then it happened! It shot off, creating a large burnout hole in the place it stood just a second ago. Blue energy engulfed it as an explosion of power summoned the Deep Blue Beast!
“It ain’t happening kid.” His black eyes gazed as a wide grin appeared on his face. Thunderous bolts sprouted from Blitz as it propelled and then a dark, blue monster in the shape of a human appeared, with sparkling yellow blips all over its body. It shrieked as it struck Piranha and Piranha struck IT! They collided in an ominous shriek of metal clashing. The high-pitched sound echoed as an explosion engulfed them both.

Each was sent flying back…and all according to plan!
“Heh.” He took out a smaller remote with only a flip switch on it and pulled the lever. As Piranha was flying back from behind it came out a steel beam, tied to a long cable. It aimed to smash into the Striker as it was heading for it face-first.

This time Nick smiled as well, because this time he saw it coming. This time he knew what to do! With a twist of his palm the blue Striker turned around itself, landing on the beam tip-first and then propelling from it! As it went back at Blitz, the beam spun around, still connected to the cable. As Piranha smashed into Blitz, the beam had gone spinning into a circular trajectory and now it was approaching both Strikers from the side.
“Damnit!” His smirk turned into a frown as he struggled to not let his Striker get smashed to bits. He pushed with his controller, and Blitz came back into Piranha, hitting it low and raising it above the level of the beam, whilst the navy-blue striker itself landed on the steel beam, near the upper edge. From the force of the landing, the beam turned and instead of its side, Blitz was on the top surface now.

“Now’s the chance!” Nick lowered his palm as Piranha landed on the other side of the beam. Then he tightened his arm and shouted:
“EAT HIM UP!” Piranha glowed blue and so did Blitz. Light vs Dark, the time to clash was now. Concentrated energy sped up both Strikers as they shot off at each other. Each hit the other off-center, slightly above the beam.

In a blast, concentrated air pressure shot off from the sides like a shotgun as the beam spun around its centre. Landing back on it Piranha began pushing Blitz back. The jet-haired guy growled in anger. The blue predator pulled back and rushed again, and again! It pounded Blitz as both were spinning along with the beam. Inch by inch it forced it towards the edge! It was clear who was winning. But giving up wasn’t an option.

“Damn you!” He took out a small knife with his free hand, throwing it to the left. The knife soared through the air as he hit a rope tied to a bolt on the wall, cutting it. Rope tightened as another beam just like the one before, was headed…only not towards Piranha, but rather Nick. From behind it, tied to a high pole swung a long beam that aimed to crush his back if it hit the unaware Nick. It cut through the air as the vibrating sound of the tight cable buzzed in his ears. He turned around and…
“Nick!!!”

“Ugh…”He opened his eyes to see the body Brendon above him. His friend had pushed him out of harm’s way, just in time. “What the…Brendon?!” He wanted to thank him, but pain in his arm directed his attention elsewhere. He felt his arm pushed into the ground as he saw Blitz pounding his Striker into a wall. It hit from all sides and Piranha began to slow down.

“Damn you!” He jumped to his feet, angrier than ever! And just as Blitz struck for another time, he tightened his arm, focused on Piranha. The blue beast spun around faster than, repelling Blitz backwards as it shot off. A pair of jaws roared as the Piranha took the final bite! In a blur it went through Blitz, and a motionless navy-blue striker fell to the ground, only a meter away from its owner. Still spinning Piranha landed behind that cheater, that filthy carp that reached for Nick’s life!

He wanted to pull back his arm so bad, to send his striker piercing through the black-haired one’s back, through his heart! And he did it, but only in his mind. A simple thought stopped him from doing so in real life. And that thought was…”The battle isn’t over!” And in truth, it wasn’t. The battle was a two-out-of-three type of match, and he was one last round away from victory! But first…

“Rocky?!” He turned around as he slid his hand in a circular motion, guiding Piranha around and into his hand.
“I…I didn’t know what to do! But…but I...I thought you were in trouble!” Stuttering, he slowly spoke. He had arrived when the second battle had started, before which he had argued with himself whether to go to school or follow Nick. A tough decision…a life-changing decision! He couldn’t believe his eyes! He couldn’t believe his mind! He had seen something that seemed physically impossible!

Nick kept silent for a moment, realizing what Brendon had just seen. He knew he had to tell him, but didn’t know how. Only words he could say were:
“Thanks, Brendon.” He looked down at the Striker in his hand, and at his launcher in the other. “We need to finish this!” He shouted, turning his head towards his enemy.

Nick kept silent for a moment, realizing what Brendon had just seen. He knew he had to tell him, but didn’t know how. Only words he could say were:
“Thanks, Brendon.” He looked down at the Striker in his hand, and at his launcher in the other. “We need to finish this!” He shouted, turning his head towards his enemy.

Chapter 5: A Trickster faded

“Heh…” He smiled. “You wanna do this?” He picked up his striker. “Come on then, if you dare!” With his dark smile the black-eyed teenager ran to the ladder, climbing upon the bare building which was only halfway through construction. Soon he found himself on top of a metal platform, facing the opposite building and standing at least 10 meters above the ground. He gestured towards it, inviting Nick to climb on it just as he had.

“Nick, what are you going to do?” Frightened, Brendon asked his friend, pleading him not to go there with his desperate gaze
“Heck, I’ve got to do this!”
“But, it’s just going to be another trap!”
“I know. But like I said…I’ve got to do this, Rocky!” With a fearless shine in his eyes he dashed off, leaving one word echoing in Brendon’s head….”Rocky”…
A nickname Nick had given him, since the day they met. He remembered it clear as daylight, the distant afternoon of nearly a decade ago. They were kids, and Nick had just moved in next door. Curios as he was, Nick wondered off as his parents moved the boxes into their new home. And as curios as he was as well, Brendon followed Nick. One after another they walked through the neighborhood’s streets. And then something happened that would forge their friendship.

“Look at him, little baby wondering off!” 2 years older, bullies began picking on Nick.
“Shut up! I’m not a baby!” Infuriated, Nick was quick to reply.
“Hey, look at him! Who do you think you are?” Another one of the bullies said, pushing him back.
“I’m Nick! And I don’t care who you are!” Pushing them away, Nick walked past them. But if only that was the end of them. Pulling him back by shirt white shirt, one of the bullies punched him.

And all the while the even smaller Brendon watched from behind a nearby car, afraid to do anything. As small as he was, what could he do? But then it came to him…
“Are you gonna cry?!” The bully said as he pulled onto Nick’s hair.
“Shut….up!” Nick struggled to keep back tears.
“Aw…little cryba...OUCH!” A small stone had hit him in the head. A stone coming from a familiar nearby car. Seconds later an array of pebbles and small rocks came falling onto the group of kids, scaring them off, all the while only a single shiny pebble hit Nick on the head.

“Ouch!” He ran towards the car, finding Brendon crying as he held onto a few stones. “Rocks? Did you throw them?”
Wiping his tears with his sleeve, Brendon wanted to greet this new boy and say his name, but for some reason he could only nod. Probably all the fear that gathered inside of him rendered him speechless.
“Thanks!” With a smile, Nick replied. “I’m Nick by the way.” He extended his arm. “What’s your name?”

Yet again, Brendon wanted to say his name but couldn’t.
“What’s wrong? You can’t speak?” Nick arched his head in surprise. “I think I’ll call you…” He looked at the stones on the ground. “Rocky! That’s it! I’ll call you Rocky.”

Rocky…He flashed back to reality, hearing it again.
“Rocky!” Nick shouted from atop the platform, calling out to his friend. “Aren’t you gonna climb up too?!”
He thought about for a moment, and then began running towards a nearby building, dragging his schoolbag behind him. It took him quite a while before he made it to a platform, although his was a bit higher up than Nick’s and the other guy’s. It was a building next to the one his friend was on. He chose it because he wanted to be closer to Nick than this new, deceitful person.

“Finally! Want to start now?!”
“Oh I’m sorry.” Nick replied. “I figured you’d drop a stadium from the skies, so I was waiting for THAT.” He jested.
“Funny…”He smiled, rubbing his nose. “But that’s not what I had in mind.” He then took a few steps back, approaching a lever on the wall. “I was thinking something a little…” He pulled it as a whole cluster of metal beams came down, tied with cables, just like before. They hung from a large crane that was between the buildings. With them on the same level as the battlers, the beams created a long, moving maze that could hardly be perceived as a valid surface for a Strikers’ battle.

“Ready?!” Nick attached Piranha to his launcher, starting it.
“Wait!” Brendon shouted, waving his hands.
“Now what?” Annoyed, the black-eyed guy looked at Brendon.
“I want to do this!” With a brave smile he held up his arms in the hair.
“Fine…” He walked back to the edge of his platform, attaching Blitz to his launcher.
“Ready?!” Brendon shouted as both battlers took a steady pose, with a slight nod confirming this.
“Set!” Nick took a step back, while his opponent did the same. Blitz sparked in dark blue as Piranha was engulfed in light waves of energy, almost teal.
“Strike!!” He dropped down his arms, and then the final battle began!

The strikers surged with energy as both battlers launched them. Buzzing as they spun, each striker landed on a different beam, sliding swiftly across it. With a force of a wrecking ball they kicked off the beams, sending them in perpetual turns as they flew into each other. Both StrikerSouls appeared in a battlecry, slamming into each other. At the aftermath of the clash, both were kicked back, landing on yet another set of beams and roaming around, readying for the next attack.
“Come on! I gotta win this!” His red hot heart under those black robes pounded like a tank! Then he saw it! With a twitch in his eye he commanded his dark blue striker to soar into the sky, slashing through a cable that held a beam in place on the far side of this improvised battle ground, away from Piranha. But in a strange chain reaction, the beam that Nick’s striker was rushing on came plummeting down almost immediately after the one Blitz had cut through.

“I knew he was gonna do something like this! But how did he do it?! DAMNIT! I can’t think about that right now!!” Nick was struggling to find a way to get Piranha back into the battle. If that beam had fallen with Piranha on it, this fight would have found its end. But as he tried not to give up, he caught a glimpse of his opponent’s victorious snickering.
“Thinking you’ve won?!” He clenched his hand into a fist, angry. Seconds away from defeat, Piranha began surging with energy, ever-increasing its speed as it spun immobile! It sped up to a point that it almost melted the metal underneath and just as Nick cried out:
“IT AIN’T THAT EASY!!!”
His striker rocketed upwards, like a true blue piranha diving to the surface, biting into its prey!

The beast roared as its bite cut through a beam, arriving to face Blitz.
Still rotating faster than ever Piranha landed on a beam before shooting forwards like a cannon blast.
“carp! Gotta think fast!” In the last second Blitz had moved out of the way, its speed to its advantage. But he didn’t wait for another attack. With a jolt he pulled back his arm, sending Blitz thundering towards the enemy. But Nick did the same, waiting for just the right moment, and then extending his arm further, sending Piranha away from Blitz.

“Huh? That’s…” Brendon thought back to their short-lasting “battle”, and even wondered how he could even call it with such a powerful word after witnessing this astonishing display of power. “NOW NICK!” He shouted, trying to aid his friend.
“Heh, guess he caught me!” Nick smirked as he pulled back his arm hastily, slamming Piranha into Blitz. Two condensed blue energies smashed as Blitz got sent flying backwards in a spinning momentum with Piranha chasing after him.

“Grrr…that brat!” He growled as he looked up. Frown turned to smile as he directed his Striker to the right, cutting through another cable. But this time a beam, lower than the rest came rising up, slamming into Piranha.
“How the hell…!” A slight surging pain struck Nick’s arm as Piranha was slammed from the bottom. Agitated he looked around to see any levers and switches, any way he was doing it…

“Nick! Up there!” He turned to see his friend point upwards, where the crane held the cables that secured the beams. He focused, and upon close inspection noticed the gimmick. Instead of a separate cable for every beam, two and sometimes three beams were connected in one cable, intertwined in the top. Almost impossible to notice as he thought.
“So that’s how he does it, huh?!” He then lifted his hand even higher, sending Piranha flying towards the Crane. As it landed upside down, in a split second he decided to cut all of those cables. “But…heck, I’m not like him!” With a resolve not to use any trickery, he slammed his hand downwards hard, as Piranha came diving into Blitz.

“Heh, gotcha!” He sent Blitz blazing around the battlefield at insane speeds, releasing specific beams. The sound of cables tightening and beams plummeting filled the area as at least a dozen beams went flying at Piranha.
“NO CHANCE!” Every fiber of Nick’s body screamed as his StrikerSoul appeared in the form of the piranha he knew so well. Diving down the striker chewed his way through each beam, one after another.
“Of course not…It’s just to wear you out…” As Piranha made its way towards Blitz, the dark blue striker surged with blue sparks, spinning more and more rapidly. As the last beam was devoured, a dark blue human jolted upwards, going as fast as lightning at Piranha.

They crashed again! And again! Up went Piranha, down went Blitz. They crashed ever so powerfully! And then they clashed for one last time, slamming each other off center, propelling to the side. Heading past their owners, the strikers surged through the building. A short glimpse preceded a deadly lock between locks, as each battler directed his anger and controller at the enemy.

And from behind them, two deafening roars marked the arrival of the deadly Souls. They boomed their exit of the buildings as they headed into a collision. But then something stopped them. A benevolent purple fog interrupted them, along with the sound of a chopper’s propellers spinning and a megaphone through which spoke the person that started it all.

“Stop this battle at once! This is not an official tournament battle!”
They looked up only to see Rurik, hanging from a helicopter and speaking at them. His hair wavered in the gust of air that came from the spinning, and a very serious look befell his face.
“Get down on the ground, and take your strikers with you!” With a flinch of a wrist, he sent both strikers flying to their owners with his purple Sentinel. They grabbed them and rushed to the ground as Rurik landed with his helicopter.

“You!” As soon the helicopter stopped spinning its propellers, Rurik stepped out and approached the battlers, all three in shock and awe of his appearance. He walked up to the black-eyed guy, with an emotionless expression. And still with no emotion shown, he punched him right in the cheek, sending him to the ground.
“I already warned you! You were banned from the tournament!” Crouching, he violently took his card, ripping it in half. “And you stoop as low as to steal another license?! Pig!” He threw the two pieces to the dirt as the guy got up.

“Heck, what is all this?!” Nick looked at Rurik.
“Nick, I deeply apologize! Recently this cunning weasel was banned from the tournament for using prohibited tools in battles. I am sure you have witnessed such things in your battle just now?”
“Umm, yeah but...I thought anything was allowed.”
“Anything IS allowed, as long as it hasn’t been pre-prepared. Cutting through a boulder to make for a projectile, opening a nearby pipe to send a blast of water. Environmental attacks and they are not forbidden. But if one would go as low as to pre-arrange his battling environment, now that is an entirely different story.” He fixed up his hair and dusted his clothes off.

“So if he was banned, how did he have that card thingy?!” Brendon interrupted, much to Rurik’s surprise, even if it did not show on his face.
“Hmm, I see you were careless enough to let someone who’s not in the tournament to follow you. But since we’re talking…” He approached Brendon. “I took immediate actions to deactivate his license after finding out about his rule-breaking and chased after him to retrieve the controller. However he was fast enough to escape me and to even find an unlucky battler from whom he stole this license, through trickery no doubt.”

“Yeah well, you can’t keep me from a good battle!” He smirked.
“Good battle? You use devices and traps instead of giving your all!” Angrily, Nick replied to him.
“Whatever, I still would’ve won if it wasn’t for little miss sunshine here!” Untouched by this statement he spoke, referring to Rurik’s golden hair.
“Won?! You still don’t get it do you?!” Nick pushed him. “The time you push that button, the second you sent that wrecking ball down, the one moment you stop relying on your skill, you’ve already lost! You don’t win fights at the end! You win them in the heat of battle!! You win them when you give it your best shot and know you did what you could! And even if you lose, at least you lose with pride.” Turning away, he walked off with teary eyes.

“Come on Rocky, we’re late for class.” He started walking with his launcher and striker in hand and Brendon following close.
“Wait!” Running, he grabbed Nick’s shoulder. “carp! Just wait a minute!” Nick turned around to see those black eyes sharper than ever. “ You ain't going nowhere!” He said in an angry tone.

“I want a rematch! And back in the tournament!” He turned to Rurik. “Do it!” He ran to Rurik, grabbing onto his clothes “You! Get me back in the tournament!”
“No!” Cold as ice, Rurik cut him off.
“Rurik, just give him a chance. I’ll battle him for it!”
“YOU HEARD HIM!” Without looking away, Jordan quickly pointed at Nick. “My Striker versus his, for a place in the tournament.” A devilish smile spread across his face. “My strength! My skill.”

“Idiots…” Rurik couldn’t help but shake his head in disagreement. But, he knew there was only one way to solve this without getting himself into a battle. “But, fine. Only if he wins.”
“My way, boy!” Calmly he spoke. He simply let go of Rurik and walked to his launcher, grabbing it. Both him and Nick said no words, but they knew what the other was feeling. It was passion for a battle, burning desire to give it your all. When they positioned themselves, Rurik invited Brendon to join him in the hellicopter. They rose up in the sky in noise, as Brendon was handed a megaphone.

“Ready?!” He shouted, waiting for the battlers' confirmation.
“Set!” He spoke after catching a short glimpse of their battle-hungry eyes.
“STRIKE!”…


------Later that day----
Three boys walked in the sunset. A tall one, a dark one and a very short one…
“Yeah! I told ya I could do it!” He smiled happily, showing off his license with the initials “J.T.” written on it.
“Yes. I suppose you did earn it. After all, it only took you 7 rematches!” Nick grinned, tapping him on the back.
“Yes, I guess he did earn it.” Slightly sad, Brendon replied.
“Eh? What’s the matter Rocky?”
“Nothing. It’s just…I thought I could get a chance to enter the tournament as well.”
“Yeah well you heard Rurik. He had no more controllers available.”
“I know.” He looked down. “…I know…”

“Relax little guy!” He tapped him on the head. “I’ll let you use mine! After all, it’s the least I could do!” He smiled.
“You will?!” With his face lighting up, Brendon looked at the big black eyes that were above him. “But umm…It’s…” He looked around as the sun was going down. “It’s a little dark, and…”
“And you have to go home, right?” Nick budged in.
“Hah! Guess I’ll be heading off too. We part ways here!” He said as the three approached a crossroad.
“Alright.” Nick waved as he walked off, but a moment later a shock hit his head as he realized something. “Hey wait!” he shouted.
“Huh?” He turned around, holding onto his beanie with one hand, and his bag with the other.

“It’s been an entire day, and I still don’t know your name!”
“Yeah, I guess you don’t.” He smiled, turning around. “It’s Jordan!” He waved his arm, continuing to walk. “Jordan Teague!” And after crossing the street he turned around again. “And you better remember it, boy!” He shouted out at Nick, pointing and tagging him as a rival in his mind. Nick acknowledged him, just as a bus drove through the street, blocking him from view. When it passed, Jordan was hitching a ride on the very edge of the bus, waving at his two new acquaintances, and even though he didn’t admit it just yet…two new friends…