'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚎.

𝚆𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚎𝚍?
➢ 𝚈𝚎𝚜              𝙽𝚘                    𝙻𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛  

𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚋𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚜 13 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

She leaned back against the chair, taking a good stretch.

Luckily, Zukira had managed to find herself a hotel to stay at for the night and perhaps, think things through. She observed Blazer as it spun on low speed right next to the laptop, occupied due to the examination routine at hand.

"Good thing I settled down. My feet are killing me," she complained, getting up from the seat and walking towards the window.

It was a silent night. Owls hooted and crickets chirped altogether, communicating as though they were at a jam-packed stadium. The breeze blew, sending a shiver down the improbable trees' trunks. The yellow streetlights buzzed and flickered, illuminating the road with its vivid glow and letting the nightly critters through.

"I should come here more often. It's better than that organization hellhole I live," she murmured to herself, watching a frog hop onto the stony pavement with a loud croak.

Moving away, the sounds of her steps on the wooden flooring echoed in the room, and the sounds of her low breathing sounded with each step. She sat at the edge of her bed, pulling out her journal from the side drawer. Flipping through the pages, she occupied herself with reading about her journeys from the past.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚏𝚞𝚕.  

𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The brunette looked up from her journal. That was surely fast. She got up and carefully detached her Blazer from the stand and replaced it with DragonKnight. She dragged the cursor over to a button and the robotic tone sounded again. 

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

𝙰 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍.

𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚋𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚊 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚎. 𝙴𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎: 2 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜.
...
𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎. 𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.
...
𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚎.

𝚆𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚎𝚍?
➢ 𝚈𝚎𝚜              𝙽𝚘              𝙻𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛   

𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚋𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚜 9 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 30 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"9 and a half hours?! That's- absurdly long," she shrugged. "It's past my bedtime anyways, so it should be done by morning."

Letting out a yawn, she dragged her feet to bed sleepily and crashed into bed, instantly dozing off.

🌄

With the waking of the morning Sun from the East, its lukewarm rays struck the window, bleeding through the room with its luminous glow. Sounds of car horns and machinery tore through the atmosphere, disturbing the peace. Zukira stirred in bed, draping the covers over herself while cursing to herself.

CRASH!

She sat up straight with strands of hair sticking out in all directions. Her left eye twitched as she let out a groan, gripping her hair. She wrapped the blanket around herself and trudged towards the window, sticking her head out to see what the all the commotion was about.

Two cars, from the opposite sides, had crashed into each on a fairly busy road. Both drivers were occupied in hollering and throwing curses at each other pretty much without caring about the people around them.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Your examination routine was successful.

Please detach your device from the primary stand.
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"SHUT UP!"

So much for her beauty sleep.

🏙️

Zukira shook her head as she walked through the busy sidewalk, uttering a small 'excuse me' as she made her way through impatiently. She took long strides, hoping to reach her destination quickly. After making it through the crowd, she found herself at the entrance of a dark, eerie alleyway.

"Zukira!"

A voice called out to her, and she peered over her shoulder with a raised brow, but her annoyance faded once she saw who it was.

"Hikaru!" Her lips curved to a wide smile, running towards her and enveloping her in a hug.

The girls stood like that for a few moments before pulling back.

"It's so good to see you again!" Hikaru took her by the shoulders. "I was afraid you must've left by now."

Zukira softly chuckled, "Oh no no, how can I leave behind my very best friend? Besides, I've finally adjusted here."

"That sounds great! Also, where do you live?"

The brunette felt her heart do a summersault, but she kept her composure and smiled.

"In another city close to Metal Bey city. I...live with my aunt,"

She felt terrible for lying, but she couldn't tell her that she was staying at the Dark Nebula Organisation as one of its most 'prestigious' members.

"How nice. Say, how about we go out into the city and grab something to eat?" Hikaru suggested, gesturing towards a restaurant.

"Yes! I would love to."

The sound of food surely made her feel excited, but what made it even better is that Hikaru was going to be with her.

🍱

"Wait, so you're telling me that you're not part of Battle Bladers or anything at all?" Hikaru's eyes widened, clearly taken back. "But you're a pretty strong Blader!"

Zukira chuckled nervously, scratching her cheek, "Ahaha...I kind of had a mix-up with the dates sooo..."

"Mix-up for something that important? C'mon, Zukira. That's not like you."

"Shuddup."

The girls exchanged giggles with bright smiles.

"The amount of food I've had in restaurants is sure making me feel guilty. The last thing I need is Aunt Melissa lecturing me on to 'eat healthy'," Zukira placed her hand on her mouth, uttering a small 'oopsie' as she recalled that specific memory.

"You're quite the heavy eater, huh?" Hikaru smirked, raising a brow in amusement. "Then you're surely to have a lot of energy in you."

"Yeah!"

"Then how about we put it to the test?"

Zukira looked up from her ramen bowl, meeting eyes with her friend in a curious manner.

"You and I, battle at sunset right in this old, worn-out stadium." Hikaru pointed at her, challenging her to a friendly match.

"shlurp- Ya! Let's do it!" she clapped her hands, wiping her mouth clean with tissue paper.

"So let's finish our meals and get this show on the road," Hikaru winked.

Both of them then worked towards finishing their food, with Zukira practically chowing down on her remaining meal like a hungry bear in the wild.




🌇

Making her way up the steep hill, she finally reached flat ground. Rocks and debris were scattered on the grass like pebbles and soon, it came into view.

The stadium was fairly old and abandoned, with the paint on its walls completely chipped off. Spiders crawled out from the crevices, covered by moss at some spots. Its weary board hung loose from one end, proving to be victim to the wind's relentless assault. It gave her the spooks. With day turning into night, the stadium casted a shadow on the other side, draped in the silver threads.

Upon entering, she took in the stadium's wrecked, broken appearance. It definitely hadn't been used in years, or so that was what Zukira thought.

"I assumed you would get lost."

Zukira saw Hikaru enter from the other side of the stadium, a smirk on her lips. "What an interesting choice of venue."

Hikaru chuckled, "You could say that. Now then," she took out her launcher and attached Aquario to it, taking her stance, "shall we get started?"

The brunette smiled and pulled on her gloves, swiftly grabbing her launcher from her coat pocket (with Blazer already attached to it) and pointed it at her. "Absolutely."

Both of them stood there, staring at each other with competitive, but friendly smiles.

"Now then, 3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"LET IT RIP!"

They pulled back their cords, releasing their beys and them racing towards each other. Clashing headfirst, they created a cloud of sparks which dissipated when they pulled apart. Blue chased purple, purple chased blue; it appeared like a game of cat and mouse but Beyblade style.

"I see you've been working on those moves, huh?" Hikaru called out, smirking in amusement.

"Indeed so. An Akarein has nothing to lose!" Zukira clenched her first, bringing it close to her chest out of pumping determination.

Blazer raced through, making a swift cut and delivering a surprise attack on Aquario from the back, followed by a barrage of attacks.

This took the other Blader by surprise. After all, Blazer was a child of the Night, made and designed to thrive and blend in with its dark blanket. At one point, it began swiping through like a ninja, making it hard for Hikaru to spot it.

"Ugh...! How will I catch Blazer now?!" she murmured to herself, clenching her fist.

An idea came to mind.

"That's it...Aquario! Take the centre," she swung her arm in the air.

The bey made its way through and stood in its place.

Blazer took note of the now idle bey and charged towards it.

"Heh, here we go. AQUARIO: INFINITE ASSAULT!"

There it was. Aquario duplicated itself and surrounded the other bey, tricking it into finding the real Aquario. The duplicates created a ring of water, completely trapping Blazer.

Zukira's frown turned into a calm smile, crossing her arms. "You may have stopped me from below, but how will you stop me...FROM ABOVE?!" she pointed a finger in the air and looked up.

Surely enough, Blazer had outsmarted the duplicates by keeping its 'eye' on the real Aquario the entire time and had now flung itself into the sky, standing still in front of the moon for a split moment.

"It's game over," Zukira rolled her sleeves, "SPECIAL MOVE! BLAZER: CRUSHING DIVE!"

A projection of the bey's facebolt appeared before the creature emerged from within. It let out a guttural roar, spreading its wings wide to break through the water wall. It came down, with the same fireball forming at its mouth.

The 8-Pit

"Ah, Pegasus's repairs are complete! Now, I'll work on Sagittario and-"

B O O M !

"WAAAH!" Madoka and Gingka yelped, holding onto the closest thing for dear life.

"What was that?!" Gingka exclaimed, his attention diverting to Kenta.

"Guys, come quick! Look!" Kenta pointed at the window, catching the attention of the duo.

They peered outside and surely, they saw it too: the nightmarish bat-dragon diving down. However, it was covered in a Russian violet, fiery aura and the way the sky lit up with bright lightning and thunder made it as if nature was responding to Blazer's call.

"Woah! What is that?!" Gingka's eyes widened, placing his hand on the glass pane and nearing his face.

"That looks like- L-Drago! But-"

Kenta was cut off with Madoka's speech, "That's not L-Drago."

"Huh?!" Gingka and Kenta squeaked in unison.

"Look. If it was Ryuga, then the dragon would have three heads not one," she explained, tapping her chin.

"Then- who could this be?" Gingka raised a brow.

"Only one way to find out..." Kenta trailed off, gulping.

🎇

Smoke covered the stadium, spreading out quickly like water. More debris and dust covered the ground with its rocky layer, proving difficult to move around.

Once it cleared out, Blazer was spinning perfectly well while Aquario'a rotational speed had significantly decreased, decreased to the right degree of having an easy knockout.

"Alright! Lets go, Blazer. One more swipe and- huh?"

She looked up and saw a figure lurking in the shadows behind Hikaru, near the other entrance, however, she couldn't make out who it was. The figure glared at her with a sharp gaze and soon walked off.

"HEY!" she called out and dashed past Hikaru.

"Huh? Zukira! Where are you going?!" Hikaru took after her with a worried expression on her face.

The figure stopped and glanced over their shoulder, taking one last look at Zukira before disappearing out of sight.

"Dang it! I lost whoever it was!" Zukira kicked the stone and groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Hikaru reached to where she was, standing besides her and looking off into the forest where the figure had disappeared. "Zukira, is everything okay?"

The brunette remained silent, glaring at the forest with narrowed eyes, her hand balling into a fist. Whoever that was, they were definitely here to gather data about Blazer. I can't grow weary now. I must find this person and give them the ride of their life.

"Hikaru," Zukira gave her a pat on the shoulder and turned towards the forest, "you stay here. I have some business to take care of."

"Zukira, wait!" Hikaru reached out her hand in attempts to stop her.

But the last thing she saw was a flowing trench coat and a speedy trail of purple disappearing into the dead of the forest.

~

— Hello, ZeeNation! I just wanted to quickly add in this little note: side by side, I will start editing the chapters and upload their updated versions, so if you see this book being updated, just know that it's me making improvements to the book. Thank you! ~ Zee