The plastic basin of the National Dome's center stadium was bathed in a harsh light.
Daigo Kurogami's eyes were darting frantically, his pupils dilated as he tried to track the movement. His Bey, Doomscizor, was executing its jagged Quake launch perfectly, bouncing in erratic zig-zags across the floor to prevent an easy lock-on.
But Ukyo Ibuki's Unicrest wasn't locking on. It wasn't even visible.
The dark blue layer seemed to melt perfectly into the shadows cast by the stadium's steep upper rim. It was a flawless optical illusion, combining a low-friction needle tip with a color scheme designed to absorb, rather than reflect, the stadium lights.
"Find him," Daigo gritted his teeth, a drop of sweat trailing down his cheek. "He has to strike eventually. Wait for the contact!"
Up in the VIP balcony, Ryu O'Hara watched the match with his chin resting quietly on his hand.
"He is looking at the center," Ryu noted, his voice flat. "The ninja is not in the center."
"Of course he isn't!" Zac the Sunrise dramatically draped his white cape over the velvet chair next to him. "It's a classic misdirection! The spotlight is meant to guide the eye, but the shadow is where the real performance happens! Daigo is too tense. He's looking for a fight instead of feeling the rhythm!"
Down on the stage, Ukyo's eyes narrowed above his ninja mask.
"Alicorn Strike," Ukyo whispered.
Unicrest didn't drop into the basin. It used the steep angle of the stadium wall to drop perfectly vertical, entirely bypassing Doomscizor's erratic horizontal bounces. It fell from the shadow of the rim directly onto Doomscizor's exposed, unbalanced driver.
The hit was entirely silent until the plastic connected.
*Clack!*
The downward force on an already unbalanced axis was devastating. Doomscizor's jagged scythe layer slammed into the stadium floor, completely losing its grip. It skidded wildly, unable to correct its posture, and shot out of the arena, clattering against the referee's padded barricade.
"Over Finish!" the referee shouted, pointing to the Sword Flames' corner. "One point to Ukyo Ibuki! The score is tied, one to one!"
The crowd roared. The Sword Flames dojo students in the stands began chanting rhythmically.
Daigo stood frozen for a second, staring at the empty space where his Bey had been. He slowly walked over, picked up Doomscizor, and walked back to his team. He pulled his bandana down slightly, looking frustrated .
"I couldn't track it," Daigo admitted to Valt and Rantaro. "The second I lost sight of it against the rim, the match was over. He struck from a completely blind angle."
"Don't sweat it, Daigo!" Valt cheered, patting him on the back so hard Daigo stumbled forward a step. "You made him work for it! We just need to win the next one!"
Rantaro grabbed his paper fan with both hands, his face pale. "Valt, the next one is the tie-breaker. Do you know what that means? It means the captains step up."
Rantaro slowly pointed a shaking finger across the stage.
Xander Shakadera was already stepping out from the Sword Flames side. He was marching. The sheer size of the boy made the standard WBBA stadium look like a toy. He cracked his knuckles, a massive, booming grin spreading across his face.
Valt looked at Xander. He looked at the giant red launcher in Xander's hand.
Valt didn't gulp. He didn't shake. He just grinned back, entirely oblivious to the concept of self-preservation, and pulled out his carbon-fiber grip.
"I call a five-minute equipment check!" the referee suddenly announced over the PA system. "Captains, please prepare your gear!"
Up in the VIP box, Xander cracked his neck, his aura flaring. "BWAHAHA! It's finally time! I've been sitting up here for twenty minutes, my arms are falling asleep!"
Xander vaulted over the VIP railing, completely ignoring the carpeted stairs, and landed on the stadium floor twenty feet below with a heavy, earth-shaking thud that genuinely startled the security guards.
"Show-off," Lui Shirasagijo scoffed, rolling his eyes.
Zac sighed, pulling out a small, glittering compact mirror to check his hair. "Honestly, the sheer amount of dust that giant kicks up is a hazard to my complexion. Someone should sweep this balcony."
Ryu stood up from his plush leather chair. He smoothed out his black jacket and turned toward the exit door.
"Where are you going?" Zac asked, not looking away from his mirror. "The main event is about to start. Don't tell me you're intimidated by the noise."
"I am going to locate an environment containing less sequins and a higher concentration of caffeine," Ryu replied, his voice entirely deadpan. "Your cape is shedding feathers. It is compromised."
Zac gasped, immediately dropping his mirror and frantically inspecting his pristine white collar.
Ryu walked out the heavy VIP door, letting it click shut behind him, completely cutting off Zac's dramatic wailing.
The concrete corridors wrapping around the upper level of the National Dome were blissfully quiet. The thick walls absorbed the roar of the fifty thousand fans, leaving only a faint, rhythmic vibration under Ryu's sneakers.
He found a row of glowing vending machines tucked into a small alcove near a maintenance stairwell.
He stepped up, fished a few coins from his pocket, and pressed the button for a premium black canned coffee. It wasn't his preferred sweet milk tea, but he needed the bitter shock to keep his pulse grounded. The machine hummed, and the can dropped perfectly into the tray. No failure this time.
Ryu popped the tab and took a slow sip.
"You're making a lot of noise for a ghost."
Ryu didn't flinch. He didn't turn around immediately. He took another sip of his coffee, letting the bitter liquid wake up the back of his throat.
Lui Shirasagijo stepped out from the shadows of the maintenance stairwell. His jagged teeth were pulled into a sharp, feral smirk, and his hands were shoved deep into his pockets.
"I stood on an elevator," Ryu corrected smoothly, turning to face him. "The noise was generated entirely by the audience. I had no part in it."
Lui laughed, a short, harsh sound. He walked over, leaning against the vending machine next to Ryu.
"You stepped into the light, O'Hara," Lui said, his voice dropping the arrogant mockery, replacing it with a heavy, serious edge. "You let the WBBA put your face on every screen in the country."
"It was the most effective route into the bracket," Ryu replied, leaning against the concrete wall opposite Lui.
"Effective " Lui scoffed, shaking his head. "You think this is just about a tournament bracket? You think Tokyo is the only place watching this broadcast?"
Ryu's pink and grey eyes locked onto Lui. He didn't say anything. He waited.
Lui crossed his arms, his aura simmering just beneath the surface. "For three years, you sat on that island. You operated in the shadows. The only people who knew about the Anvil were the ones desperate enough to fly out there and challenge you in secret."
Lui took a step closer. "You broke a lot of people on that island, Ryu. People with egos just as massive as Zac's, and power just as heavy as Xander's."
Ryu thought about the quiet, sterile stadium back home. He thought about the golden-haired prodigy from Spain, who had walked onto the island with absolute, sleepy arrogance, only to leave staring blankly at a shattered Beyblade. He thought about the destructive, hollow-eyed blader from the underground circuit, whose terrifying power had simply cracked against Nidhogg's immovable mass.
"I provided data," Ryu stated flatly. "Their integrity failed. That is not my concern."
"It's about to be," Lui grinned, his eyes burning with a dark thrill. "You think those monsters just went home and forgot about you? You think they just accepted the loss to a ghost?"
Lui tapped his finger against the metal of the vending machine. "They've been sleeping. Waiting. And today, the WBBA just broadcasted your exact location to the entire world. You're a target now."
Ryu looked down at his free hand. He slowly closed it into a fist.
He didn't feel the crushing, apathetic boredom that used to suffocate him. He felt the phantom impact of Valkyrie hitting his layer. He felt the precision of Spriggan trying to pry his defense open. He felt the heavy, vibrating hunger of Nidhogg resting in his jacket pocket.
The monsters he had crushed in the past hadn't forgotten him. They had been training. They had been evolving. They were going to come to Tokyo, and they were going to try to tear him down.
Ryu looked back up at Lui. The deadpan, flat expression remained, but his mismatched eyes were piercing, entirely awake.
"Good," Ryu said softly.
Lui blinked, momentarily caught off guard by the sheer, cold anticipation in Ryu's voice.
"The island was a tomb," Ryu continued, crushing the empty aluminum coffee can in his hand with a sharp, sudden flex of his fingers. "I am tired of waiting for them to change. If they want a rematch, they know exactly where to find me. I will gladly break them a second time."
Lui stared at him for a long second. Then, a massive, genuinely thrilled laugh tore from his throat.
"You really are completely out of your mind!" Lui laughed, pushing off the vending machine. "I love it! But don't you dare lose to some European reject before I get my hands on you in the finals, O'Hara. You're my prey."
"You are welcome to try, Shirasagijo," Ryu replied, tossing the crushed can perfectly into a recycling bin down the hall.
The intercom above them suddenly chimed, echoing through the concrete corridor.
"The five-minute equipment check has concluded! Will the team captains please step up to the stadium!"
Lui smirked, turning toward the VIP stairwell. "Better get back to the box. You don't want to miss the rookie getting flattened by a mountain."
Ryu didn't follow Lui up the stairs. Instead, he walked down the maintenance hallway, opening a heavy fire door that led directly to the ground-level competitor tunnels.
He didn't want to watch from a plush leather chair. He wanted to feel the air .
Ryu stepped into the shadows of the tunnel entrance, leaning against the concrete archway just a few yards away from the main stage. He was perfectly obscured by the darkness, but he had an unobstructed view of the stadium basin.
Valt Aoi stepped up to the plastic rim. He looked incredibly small standing across from Xander Shakadera.
"Are you ready for this, Valt?!" Xander boomed, his voice echoing without needing a microphone. He locked his massive red sword, Xcalibur, onto his oversized launcher. "I told you I wasn't holding back anymore! I'm bringing the heavy swings today!"
"I wouldn't want it any other way!" Valt yelled back, locking Valkyrie onto his carbon-fiber grip. He dropped into his launch stance.
Ryu watched Valt's footing. *Back foot planted. Knees bent. Center of gravity anchored. He hasn't forgotten .*
"Captain's Match!" the referee shouted, stepping back quickly. "This is a single-elimination tie-breaker! The winner advances their team to the second round! Ready... Set!"
The fifty thousand fans in the stadium went entirely silent. The tension was a physical weight pressing down on the plastic basin.
"Three!" Xander roared.
"Two!" Valt screamed, his brown eyes burning with absolute focus.
"One!"
"Go Shoot!"
Xander pulled his ripcord with a terrifying, full-body torque. Xcalibur hit the stadium with a sound like a bomb detonating, immediately carving a deep, jagged groove into the plastic as it tore toward the center.
Valt didn't flinch. He twisted his core, absorbing the massive recoil of his own launch perfectly. Valkyrie hit the upper rim, the rubber driver catching with a sharp shriek, and accelerated into a blinding blue blur.
"Rush Shoot!" Valt commanded, throwing his fist forward.
"Take the center and crush him! One-Impact!" Xander bellowed.
Valkyrie banked hard off the stadium wall, diving straight down the slope. Xcalibur didn't wait in the center; it met Valkyrie halfway, swinging its massive metal sword directly into the blue Bey's path.
From the shadows of the tunnel, Ryu watched the two Beys converge. The hammer and the giant sword.
"Show me your impact, Valt," Ryu whispered into the darkness.
The collision sent a shockwave through the National Dome, and the stadium exploded in a blinding shower of sparks.
.....
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