Beyblade Burst: Firework Red

         The announcer's  voice sounded throughout the mall, right now was the registration  period for invited bladers, and Mahiru was there early with her squad  ready to cheer.

          When the lights dimmed, hoardes of children made their way to the  centre of the building, where a single stadium was illuminated and the  ref stood. The announcer's voice rang out over the silence, and the  chairman of the wbba. gave his opening speech. With all the formalities  out of the way, Mahiru and her squad took their places and waited  patiently for the first contestants to be announced.

         "And the first blader called to the stage is Valt Aoi!"

         'Valt Aoi? Isn't he that kid who lost a couple days ago? He's participating in the tournament? No fair!'

          Mahiru could feel the jealousy rising, she wasn't a great blader either  but how come he got invited to the tournament but she didn't? She shook  her head to clear her envious thoughts, and focused her attention back  on the stadium.

        Out from a puff of smoke stepped Valt Aoi himself, grinning from ear to  ear. An unassuming child, he stiffly clambered up the steps and tripped  over nothing and bumped twice into his opponent, Rantaro Kiyama, whom  he did not recognize as an opponent. Mahiru and her squadmates exchanged  glances and giggled to themselves over the silliness of his whole  entrance.

       The  crowd cheered as both Valt and Rantaro took their places at the stadium.  The announcer quickly went over the boy's Beys, and Mahiru stared in  awe over how cool they were.

       'Victory Valtryek is an Attack-type by the looks of it, wonder how it  stacks up against my Marvel Magician. Hmm, and it seems this Rantaro kid  uses a Stamina-type. It looks kind of tough, I don't know how much of a  chance this Valt kid stands against it.'

         Rantaro began his usual smack-talk right before the match, which seemed  effective against the small blue child. He began to display signs of  nervousness, which further cemented Mahiru's predictions that he  wouldn't win.

        As the announcer counted down the boys, Mahiru felt another tap on her  shoulder. Turning around, she was met with the same familiar face that  helped her out earlier. The mysterious girl smiled, then grabbed Mahiru  by the arm and began dragging her off. Mahiru tried to protest, not  wanting to miss the battle at all, but the girl was far stronger than  she was and effortlessly pulled her away. The last thing she saw of the  battle was Valt gaining the upperhand against Rantaro, catching everyone  off guard.

                                                                                   *       *       *

          "Alright, alright, you win! Now what did you drag me all the way out here for?"

           The girl released her grip on Mahiru's arm and turned around to face  her. Mahiru huffed and planted her hands on her hips, but her expression  changed when she noticed what was in the girl's hands.

           It was a Bey that she held gently cupped in her hands, and she nodded towards the nearby stadium.

            "I am Nellie Morkroda. I am the other transfer student that was  supposed to arrive at the same time as Laura. However, I had some  personal issues that prevented my attendance. Now, I stand before you,  asking to battle and test my Nordic Nisse's strength, as well as my  own."

            Mahiru just stared, barely processing the information. Still bummed  about missing the first match of the tournament, she was tempted to be  petty and decline her challenge, but then she took a closer look at this  Nordic Nisse.

         'It looks like a... Balance-type maybe? I can't pinpoint what it's  strengths may be, but surely me and Magician can still come out on top!'

          "Alright then, I accept your challenge!" Mahiru proudly pulled out her  Marvel Magician and held it up for Nellie to see. She looked impressed,  and... nervous?

          Both girls took their places across from each other at the stadium.  Mahiru got into her launch stance, but noticed Nellie hasn't done the  same. She just stood and awkwardly fiddled with her launcher.

        "Hey, uh, are we going to battle or... ?"

        "Yes, yes we are, I just need a moment."

         Mahiru straightened her posture while she waited for Nellie to ready  herself, growing more impatient by the minute. Finally, Nellie said she  was ready, but something about her felt different this time. The warm  aura she previously gave off was now replaced by a cold one, one that  gave Mahiru the chills. She hunched down into her launch position, and  Mahiru followed suit.

        "3... 2... 1... Let it rip!"

         Magican and Nisse flew into the stadium, but Magician had a wobbly  start. Nisse followed close behind, and once it gained first contact,  began slowly driving Magician up towards the stadium wall. In the blink  of an eye, Magician was thrown out of the stadium. Nellie had won with a  Ring-Out Finish.

        "Wha... ? What happened?!" Mahiru cried, unable to understand how the  battle ended up being so short. She felt helpless the moment Magician  went in with a weak launch and Nisse was too quick to take on the  offensive. She looked up at Nellie, who returned a cold stare. Mahiru  felt like she was standing in front of a totally different person.

         "I'll tell you what happened. You let yourself be caught off guard by  my change in demeanor, and you forgot what I had told you about your  weak launch stance. Mahiru Rojo, what am I going to do with you?"

         Mahiru was confused. Did Nellie purposefully act cold just to see if it  would psych her out? It had certainly worked, Mahiru facepalmed for  letting herself fall into a trap so easy to recognize now that she  mentioned it.

        "Alright, you got me. But listen here, you still only got a Ring-Out  Finish," Mahiru reset Magician in her launcher and held it out, "so that  means we have to go until someone gets two points."

        Nellie smiled at Mahiru's willingness to fight, and did the same.

        "3... 2... 1... Let it rip!"

         Right before pulling the launchcord, Mahiru remembered what Nellie had  told her about moving her launcher forward as she pulled, and caught  herself last second. Despite the late reaction time, Magican went into  the stadium barreling at a much faster speed, and soon caught up with  Nisse. They clashed repeatedly, neither one willing to give an inch.

         Getting hyped up, Mahiru began hopping up and down on the spot,  cheering her Bey on. The energy was contagious, as Nellie too also began  cheering for Nisse. As each Bey began losing momentum, Mahiru knew she  had to make her move if she wanted a Burst Finish.

        "Let's go Magician! You've been waiting for this moment so give it everything you've got! Flare Strike!"

        "Illusion Defense."

        Magician made a beeline straight for the weakened Nisse, but just as it made contact...

        "What was that?! I had it! Nisse was sure to burst then, that's Magician's most powerful move!"

         Nellie simply shook her head and retrieved her Bey.

         "You forgot another important thing. My Nisse is a Balance-type, it has  more utility. What makes Nisse unique is that when it appears to be in  one mode, it's actually in another.  That's how I once again caught you  off guard with Illusion Defense."

         Mahiru slowly let her words sink in before moving into a state of  further disbelief. Attack-types have a tougher time battling against  Defense-types, but how was Nisse's defense so good if it's a  Balance-type? Mahiru snapped out of thought when Nellie walked over and  waved her hand in front of her face.

       "Come on, that's enough for today. Just know that I will be testing you more like this in the coming days."

         There it was, Nellie's warm aura was back again. She gently grabbed  Mahiru's arm and led her back to the BeyMall to reunite with her  squadmates, who filled her in on the matches.

        Nellie smiled to herself, then disappeared into the crowd.

                                                                                    *      *      *

        That night, Mahiru couldn't stop thinking about her battle with Nellie.  While she was still kind of sad she missed the match where Valt Aoi won  against Rantaro Kiyama, she was also glad she got to battle someone  like Nellie.

      Smiling, she fell into a deep sleep and dreamt of Beyblade.