The Beigoma local park was bathed in the harsh, bright light of a Sunday afternoon. The sound of cicadas buzzing in the trees provided a constant, static backdrop to the rhythmic *clack-clack-clack* of plastic hitting plastic.
Ryu O'Hara stood at the edge of the tree line, holding a white plastic convenience store bag.
He observed the BeyClub from a safe distance before making his approach. Valt was practically lying on the grass, sketching launch angles in the dirt with a stick. Rantaro was doing aggressive squats while holding his launcher out in front of him. Daigo was quietly tightening the screws on his grip. Ken was sitting on a bench, his blue and brown puppets engaged in a heated, animated debate with each other.
It was a complete lack of discipline. It was chaotic.
Ryu stepped out of the shade and walked toward the plastic stadium set up in the center of the clearing.
"Hey! He actually showed up!" Rantaro called out, stopping mid-squat. He wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
Valt scrambled up from the dirt, dropping his stick. "Ryu! Check it out!" He shoved his launcher into Ryu's face. The new matte-black carbon-fiber grip was securely attached, wrapped in fresh yellow grip tape. "I tuned it last night! It feels so solid!"
"It is structurally sound," Ryu agreed flatly, gently pushing the launcher away from his nose. He held out the white plastic bag. "I brought rations. Dehydration decreases reaction time by seventeen percent."
Rantaro blinked, peering into the bag. Ryu had purchased an assortment of premium sports drinks, a box of high-end melon bread, and a carton of strawberry milk.
"Wait, you bought us snacks?" Rantaro asked, his tough-guy facade slipping instantly. He reached in and grabbed the strawberry milk. "Okay, I take back everything I said about you being weird. You're the best guy here."
"I am merely preserving my data subjects," Ryu replied, walking past them to sit on the edge of the wooden bench next to Ken.
Ken shifted slightly, pulling his knees up. Besu, the brown puppet, leaned over. "Thank you for the snacks, Ryu! Keru was getting cranky!"
"I was not!" Keru, the blue puppet, barked, grabbing a wrapped melon bread from the bag. "I just need fuel for my ultimate defense!"
Ryu unwrapped a melon bread for himself, taking a precise, measured bite. The sugary crust crumbled perfectly. He chewed in silence, watching the group settle down on the grass around the stadium to eat.
For a few minutes, the only sounds were the cicadas and the rustle of plastic wrappers. It was a rare, peaceful lull.
Ryu looked at the Beys resting on the grass next to their owners. Valkyrie, Ragnaruk, Doomscizor, and Kerbeus. He had analyzed all of them. From an engineering standpoint, none of them were perfect. They had glaring flaws. Valkyrie was too aggressive and prone to stamina burn. Ragnaruk was wide and susceptible to upper attacks. Doomscizor was intentionally unbalanced. Kerbeus lacked counter-attack potential.
"I have a question," Ryu said, his voice quiet, cutting through the ambient noise of the park.
The group stopped chewing. They all looked at him. Ryu rarely initiated conversations.
"Your Beyblades," Ryu started, gesturing vaguely toward the plastic layers on the grass. "They are entirely suboptimal. They possess massive compromises. Why do you use them?"
Rantaro choked slightly on his strawberry milk. Daigo raised an eyebrow.
Valt didn't look offended. He just tilted his head, a piece of bread sticking out of his mouth. "What do you mean, sub... sub-opta-what?"
"Suboptimal," Ryu clarified, his expression completely blank. "You prioritize one trait so heavily that you leave massive gaps in your defense or stamina. A Balance type like Nidhogg covers all variables. Why would you intentionally choose a design that is guaranteed to fail in specific scenarios?"
It was a genuine question. On the island, the engineers built Beys to eliminate weakness. The BeyClub seemed to embrace it.
Rantaro wiped his mouth, crossing his arms. He looked down at his orange Bey, Ragnaruk. "Because that's not how blading works, man. It's not a math test. Ragnaruk is a Stamina type. Yeah, it can get knocked around, but the whole point is guts. It's about standing your ground and outlasting the other guy, no matter how hard they hit you. It's pride."
"Pride does not alter force," Ryu stated factually.
"Maybe not," Daigo chimed in, adjusting his bandana. He picked up Doomscizor, running his thumb over the jagged plastic scythe. "But strategy does. Doomscizor is unbalanced on purpose. If it was perfectly round, it would just be another standard Bey. But because it has a flaw, it moves unpredictably. It forces me to think. I don't want a perfect Bey. I want a Bey that challenges me to find the perfect strike."
Ryu paused. He looked at Daigo. That was a surprisingly logical application of a deliberate flaw. Using a physical deficit as a psychological weapon against the opponent.
Ken raised his left hand. Besu spoke up, its voice soft. "Kerbeus is a shield. It protects the center. It makes Ken feel safe."
Keru, on the right hand, aggressively bumped against Besu. "Yeah! It's a guard dog! When I launch Kerbeus, I'm not hiding! I'm daring them to try and break my walls!"
Ryu looked at the puppets. Ken was painfully shy, entirely incapable of aggressive confrontation. But through Kerbeus, he could plant his feet and hold his ground against anyone. The Bey was a physical manifestation of the boundary he couldn't draw himself.
"And Valkyrie?" Ryu asked, turning his mismatched eyes to Valt. "It possesses almost zero defensive capability. If you miss your launch window, it exhausts itself and stops."
Valt grinned, picking up his blue Bey and holding it up to the sunlight. "Yeah, it totally does! But when it hits, it hits harder than anything else! Valkyrie isn't just a piece of plastic, Ryu. We're partners. When we're in the stadium, we're sharing the same feeling. If we hold back just to be 'safe,' we aren't really battling. We're going all out, every single time. Win or lose, we do it together."
Ryu stared at Valt. The absolute certainty in the boy's voice was baffling. It was an entirely emotional philosophy, completely devoid of mechanical logic. And yet, Ryu had seen Valkyrie shatter a heavy Defense type in three strikes. The emotion somehow translated into kinetic output.
Ryu looked down at his own pocket, feeling the weight of Eclipse Nidhogg.
He had forged Nidhogg to be flawless. Hollow layer, shifting weights, dual-action driver. It had no glaring weaknesses. But listening to the BeyClub, Ryu realized something fundamental.
Because Nidhogg had no flaws, Ryu never had to struggle. He never had to adapt. He never had to rely on "guts" or "strategy" or "partnership." He just dropped the Bey into the stadium and let the power solve the opponents .
"You're quiet," Rantaro noted, leaning forward. "Did we blow your mind with our awesome blader spirit?"
"No," Ryu said smoothly, finishing his melon bread. "I am just processing the sheer volume of unnecessary risk you all willingly subject yourselves to."
Valt laughed loudly, jumping to his feet. "Well, let us show you! Come on, Ryu! We've been resting all morning! Give me a practice match! I want to try the Rush Shoot on Nidhogg with my new grip!"
Ryu looked at Valt. The boy was practically vibrating with excitement.
Ryu stood up, brushing the crumbs off his black jacket. He walked over to the opposite side of the plastic stadium. He didn't pull out his heavy launcher. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a standard, lightweight WBBA-issued string launcher he kept as a spare.
"Hey, where's the big metal launcher?" Valt asked, blinking.
"This is a plastic park stadium," Ryu replied, attaching Nidhogg to the prongs. "If I launch at maximum velocity with my primary gear, Nidhogg's recoil against the walls will shatter the basin. We are using standard output."
"Alright! I won't hold back either!" Valt locked Valkyrie onto his new carbon-fiber grip.
Rantaro stepped up to the edge of the stadium, raising his fan like a referee. "Alright, boys. First to a Burst or Over Finish takes the bragging rights. Ready... Set!"
"Three!" Valt yelled, dropping his hips into the exact stance Ryu had corrected yesterday.
"Two," Ryu said quietly, holding the string launcher loosely.
"One!"
"Go Shoot!"
Valt pulled his ripcord. His core twisted perfectly, absorbing the recoil. Valkyrie hit the upper rim of the stadium with a sharp, heavy *crack*. The rubber driver caught instantly, and the blue Bey tore down the slope, leaving a blur of speed in its wake.
Ryu pulled his string. It was a light, effortless launch. Nidhogg dropped into the dead center of the stadium, stabilizing with its usual quiet hum.
"Rush Shoot!" Valt roared.
Valkyrie banked hard off the plastic wall and shot directly toward the center.
Ryu watched the trajectory. The speed was significantly higher than yesterday. The new grip and the corrected stance had improved Valt's power transfer by at least twenty percent.
Valkyrie struck Nidhogg.
The collision was loud. Nidhogg absorbed the blow, the hollow outer layer taking the brunt of the force. But because Ryu had used a light launch, Nidhogg didn't have its usual immovable mass.
For the first time since leaving the island, Nidhogg actually skidded backward.
It was only a few millimeters, but it moved.
"Yeah! Keep pushing, Valkyrie!" Valt cheered, pumping his fist.
Valkyrie rebounded off Nidhogg, hit the stadium wall, and rocketed back for a second strike. *Clash!* Then a third. *Clash!* Ryu watched the repeated impacts. Valkyrie was hitting hard, but the timing between the strikes was slightly off. Valt was letting the Bey bounce naturally, rather than forcing the rhythm.
*Click.*
Nidhogg's locking mechanism gave way. The internal metal weights snapped to the outer edge. The dark Bey's center of gravity shifted violently.
"Here it comes!" Rantaro yelled, stepping back.
Nidhogg tilted. The jagged Phantom driver caught the stadium floor.
"Eclipse Counter," Ryu said softly.
Nidhogg didn't just deflect Valkyrie; it lunged. It intercepted Valkyrie mid-rebound. The two Beys collided head-on with a sickening crunch of polycarbonate.
Because Ryu had used a weak launch, the counter wasn't enough to burst Valkyrie. But it was enough to completely derail it. Valkyrie was thrown wildly off its axis, spinning out of control before scraping against the plastic floor and dying entirely.
Nidhogg wobbled slightly, bleeding off its own stamina, before coming to a halt a second later.
"Spin Finish. One point to Ryu," Daigo called out from the bench.
Valt gasped, dropping to his knees and picking up Valkyrie. He didn't look defeated. He looked thrilled.
"Did you feel that?!" Valt yelled, looking up at Ryu with wide eyes. "Valkyrie actually pushed you! We moved you back!"
Ryu picked up Nidhogg. The metal was warm. He looked at the edge of the layer. There was a microscopic scuff mark on the white paint. It was the first mark Nidhogg had ever taken.
Ryu looked at Valt. "Your kinetic output increased. But your strike rhythm is sloppy. You are relying on the stadium wall to aim for you. You need to control the rebound."
Valt scrambled to his feet. "Okay! Tell me how! Let's go again!"
"Hold on."
The voice came from the paved pathway leading into the park.
Shu Kurenai walked into the clearing. He was wearing his usual crisp clothes, but he carried a gym bag over his shoulder. He looked tired. He had clearly been training somewhere else all morning.
"Shu!" Valt waved happily. "You're just in time! Ryu is teaching me how to not fall over when I launch!"
Shu stopped at the edge of the grass. His deep red eyes bypassed Valt entirely and locked onto Ryu.
"You're advising him," Shu said, his voice carrying a quiet, heavy edge. It wasn't an accusation, just an observation.
"I am correcting glaring errors," Ryu replied, slipping his string launcher back into his pocket. "It is difficult to watch."
Shu dropped his gym bag onto the grass. He unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. He walked straight toward the plastic stadium.
"Correcting errors," Shu repeated. He pulled out Storm Spriggan. "Then correct mine."
The atmosphere in the park shifted instantly. The lighthearted, chaotic energy that Valt had cultivated vanished, replaced by the suffocating, intense pressure that only Shu could bring.
Rantaro swallowed hard. Daigo tensed.
Ryu looked at Shu. The white-haired boy was completely serious. He wasn't asking for a friendly practice match. He was asking for a test. He wanted to measure his progress against the wall that had broken him three days ago.
Ryu slowly reached into his jacket. He bypassed the plastic string launcher. His fingers wrapped around the cold, heavy metal of his custom-machined grip. He pulled it out, the metal gleaming in the sun.
He snapped Nidhogg onto the prongs. The click was loud and sharp.
"Very well," Ryu said, stepping up to the opposite side of the stadium. "Show me your progress ."
Shu took his stance. It was flawless. His center of gravity was perfectly balanced, his arm pulled back tight, his red eyes burning with absolute focus.
Ryu didn't take a stance. He stood casually, his launcher held in front of him.
"Ready... Set!" Rantaro called out, his voice a little shaky.
"Three!" Shu roared.
"Two," Ryu said, his voice entirely flat.
"One!"
"Go Shoot!"
Both ripcords were pulled.
Spriggan hit the stadium floor like a gunshot. It didn't take the outer ridge. It dropped directly into the mid-slope, aggressively hunting for the center.
Ryu's launch was different from the one he had used against Jin. He pulled straight back, delivering massive, raw rotational power directly into Nidhogg's core.
Nidhogg hit the dead center of the stadium. The hum it produced wasn't quiet. It was a deep, vibrating roar that made the cheap plastic arena physically shake.
Spriggan charged in.
"Upper Launch!" Shu commanded.
Spriggan dropped low, its rubber tip gripping the plastic. It angled its heavy metal contact points directly at the base of Nidhogg, intending to flip the dark Bey entirely.
It was the exact same move Shu had used in their first battle.
Ryu watched it approach. *He is repeating the scenario to test a different approach ,* Ryu calculated.
Spriggan struck.
The clash was violently loud. White-hot sparks erupted from the center of the stadium.
But this time, Spriggan didn't bounce off.
Shu had adjusted his launch angle by a fraction of a degree. Instead of hitting Nidhogg head-on and taking the full brunt of the immovable mass, Spriggan hit the curve of Nidhogg's layer, utilizing the rotational friction to grind against it rather than just colliding.
Nidhogg wobbled. A heavy, violent shudder ran through the dark Bey.
*Click.*
The internal weights snapped outward. Nidhogg awoke.
"Now!" Shu yelled, stepping forward.
As Nidhogg tilted to counter-attack, Spriggan didn't wait. Shu had anticipated the exact microsecond of the weight shift. Spriggan disengaged early, riding up the slope to avoid the immediate counter, and banked back down with terrifying speed.
It struck Nidhogg right as the dark Bey was accelerating.
The two Beys collided with the force of a car crash. The plastic stadium groaned under the pressure. The wind displacement whipped through the clearing, blowing Valt's hair back.
Ryu's eyes widened slightly.
Shu had purposely triggered Nidhogg's counter-attack, only to intercept it at its most vulnerable moment—the exact second it transitioned from defense to offense.
It was a brilliant, flawless display of tactical skill .
For two full seconds, the Beys ground against each other in the center of the stadium, perfectly matched in kinetic output.
Then, the plastic stadium gave out.
With a loud *CRACK*, the center of the cheap park arena fractured. The sudden loss of structural integrity threw both Beys wildly off balance. They skidded across the broken plastic and flew out of the arena, clattering onto the grass in opposite directions.
Neither of them burst.
The park was dead silent.
Shu stood there, his chest heaving slightly as he caught his breath. He looked down at the broken stadium, then across the arena at Ryu.
Ryu didn't speak. He slowly walked over to the grass, picking up Nidhogg. He checked the locking mechanism. It was fully intact.
He looked up at Shu.
"You intentionally triggered the weight shift," Ryu said, his voice devoid of its usual flat boredom. There was a genuine edge of respect in it. "You used my own mechanical flaw against me."
"I told you," Shu said, his voice steady as he picked up Spriggan. "I won't launch the same way twice."
Rantaro stared at the massive crack running down the middle of the stadium. "Well... there goes practice for the rest of the day."
Valt didn't look upset about the broken stadium. He looked absolutely thrilled. He looked back and forth between Shu and Ryu, his fists clenched in pure excitement.
"Tomorrow," Valt grinned, his voice trembling with hype. "The quarter-finals start tomorrow. It's going to be insane."
Ryu slipped Nidhogg back into his pocket. He looked at Shu, then at Valt, and finally at the shattered plastic arena.
He had come to this district looking for an anomaly . He had found an entire group of them.
"Yes," Ryu said quietly, turning to walk back toward the paved path. "It will be."
....
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