Monastery of Spinjitzu
No One's POV
Well, it was time. After being scared for his life and run around an establishment dedicated to the entertainment of children, subjected to the torture of a murderous zombie and his even more murderous puppet, put under immense stress to Awaken both his Element and his Dragon Form, not to mention spent an entire week renovating a house and moving a new party into said house...

Yeah. After all of that...

Ken was ready to claim both his weapon and his title of Elemental Master of Metal.

The ventriloquist was a mixture of emotions about the fact. On the one hand, he was proud to be joining his friends and continuing his family's long history of Masters of Metal.

On the other hand, he was terrified about the implications the position had. Forget the fact that he had a literal metal source in his chest - he was supposed to use that source to protect all of humanity. Not just humanity, but all those who show some semblance of humanity, including their homes. All of them. In every Realm.

Sheesh. Talk about pressure.

Valt and Jin could talk for hours about how powerful their Elements made them feel, but Ken didn't think they even know how important a job this big was. He'd gotten a taste of it back in the Pizzaplex when he was fighting for both his life and the lives of those around him, but he had been scared stiff the entire time. This was on a much grander scale and the thought made his stomach twist with trepidation. It made him wish for the safe nonchalance of his puppets even more.

I'm not going to be alone, He kept repeating to himself. No matter what happens, we'll go through it together. I'm not going to be alone.

For some reason, that fact made him feel even more uneasy.

Which was why he was trembling as he stood before the pedestal that contained the Weapon of Metal. All around him loomed the tapestries that displayed other Elements, signifying thousands of years of history and power. They seemed to glare down at him with their woven eyes, judging his every move, his very being. Fear has no place here, they seemed to whisper to him. Do you really believe that you deserve to stand amongst the fallen?

Ken tried to ignore them, focusing his attention on the objects in front of him. Reflecting his father's puppeteer ambition as a teenager, the Weapon of Metal was in the form of large metal gloves with the faces of fierce wolves for hands. The stories his father had told him about his weapon said that he'd used his Element to manipulate the metal so that the faces acted like live wolves in battle. It had sounded amazing.

But how would it change for Ken? What aspect of his personality would it reflect? Would it reflect his love for puppets, as it had his father? His love for Beyblade and Kerbeus?

Or would it reflect some deep dark part of him that not even he was aware of?

Did he even want to find out?

"...Ken? Ken?"

He jolted back to the present with a start, taking in his surroundings for what seemed like the first time. Like with Jin, everyone had come to witness him claim his weapon. Out of obligation as a team or out of curiosity to their own inevitable future, it was unclear. Jin and Valt were standing with PIXAL, their respective whips and sword clutched in their hands, reminiscent of the empty pedestals of Lightning and Wind. The others were standing behind him.

Everyone was staring at him with equal expressions of confusion and concern.

Crap, did I zone out? He thought in a panic before he blurted out, "Sorry... were you saying something?"

"I was asking if you were ready?" PIXAL told him, though she phrased it as a question.

Ken didn't like the way she was looking at him; how they were all looking at him. Like he was something that could tip over and break at any moment. They had been looking at him like that for the past two weeks, racing to help him with the smallest job. Wincing and glancing at him out of the corners of their eyes when they think they've said something triggering. Valt had been slightly more lenient with his concern since their talk at the Pizzaplex animatronics' new home, but that didn't mean that he automatically stopped worrying. Even he was gazing at Ken with an expression of open concern.

Stop looking at me like that, Ken wanted to tell them, irritation twisting his mouth. He got enough worry out of his parents, who barely let him out of their sight ever since the incident. I'm not some baby you need to constantly watch. I'm fine.

Almost unbidden, his gaze returned to the large metal puppets mounted on the pedestal. The still faces of the wolves seemed to snarl at him, asking why are you taking so long?

Maybe they'll stop looking at me like that if I have this with me. "Yeah..." He finally spoke up. "I'd say I'm ready, PIXAL."

"Then get it over with, already," Lui called from the small crowd. A sharp cry afterwards signified that he'd been dutifully slapped upside the head - probably Shu's handiwork.

"It's okay Ken," Valt said, trying a more gentle approach. "Whatever happens, we'll get through it together. We're a team, aren't we?"

"Yeah," Jin spoke up softly; his spiked whips made a rattling noise as he shifted his weight. "We're all scared, but that just means that we're all in this together."

Ken nodded, trying to keep his bottom lip from trembling. I'm not going to be alone.

"Cut the sap fest and just do it!" Lui spoke up once more; his heightened cry that time signified that two people had slapped him upside the head.

Ken laughed at the theatrics, but Lui had a point. He'd drawn this moment out long enough.

It was time.

With a deep breath, Ken approached the pedestal and stood before the metal puppets. He hesitated a second before picking them up by the wolves' proverbial scruffs, staring at them curiously as he wondered how he would let them "feel" his Element. Recalling Jin's claim to his weapon, he'd allowed a small windstorm to wrap around the items. He decided to do something similar, allowing thin tendrils of metal to poke from his skin and wrap around the puppets, making a web of sorts. They encircled each crevice and niche, taking in every feature and sending the information back to Ken's mind, filling in details where his eyes could not. He waited a beat, expecting something to happen.

Let go.

He gasped when the puppets started to glow the same white glow that Jin's weapons had. That same voice in his head said again, Let go.

More surprised than afraid, he decided to listen and let go of his father's puppets. The metal tendrils dislocated from his skin without his obligation, with the mournful feeling of limbs being removed. That sad feeling turned to one of wonder as what was once metal puppets lifted higher and higher into the air.

The metal tendrils dissolved into a silvery mist that wove around the changing weaponry, eventually winding in and disappearing along its glowing surface. The outline of the puppets loosened until they were nothing more than hanging blobs of white. Those blobs shrank and joined together, parts separating and adding onto other parts, some parts shrinking while others enlarged.

By the time the blobs started to lower once more, it had been transformed from two weapons into one, longer and thinner on one end while wider and more spread out on the other. The new weapon continued lowering back towards its new Master until it touched his outstretched palm.

The glow of white disappeared, revealing the item in its full glory. A half-yard long rod made up its handle, tapering off into a point at its end. A hole marked the point's center, through which a metal ring had been looped. Three chains dangled from the ring, which made a loud rattling noise as gravity once again took control, coming to a stop about an inch past the edge of the rod. Attached to the ends of the chains were large metal pieces in the image of fierce dogs, not entirely unlike the wolf puppets they had been before. They were about the size of two fists put together, and the one in the center had a eyepatch over its right eye. Everything was done in a silver and green palette.

It was a moment before little Kit decided to break the awed silence, "Okay... so what are we looking at?"

Yugo, ever the expert on anything that can hurt, stepped forward as Ken held out his new weapon for him to assess. "It looks like..." He muttered, running his hands over the chains thoughtfully. "A triple headed war flail."

"War flail? Is it like my whips?" Jin inquired, holding out his own weapons for emphasis.

"Kind of, but war flails typically shorter than whips, so they deal with a lot more kinetic energy," Yugo explained, karate chopping his hand against his forearm as an example. He took another interested look at the flail. "I've never seen a flail with three heads, though."

"Really?" Valt perked up. "Why's that?"

"I don't know," Yugo snapped, irritated. "I guess people just stopped at two."

Curious, Ken held the rod higher so that the three dog heads were at eye level. "They... kind of look like Kerbeus..." He admitted, scrutinizing the features. One of the heads was in profile to him and the natural puppeteer in him caused his hand to mimic the shape, lining up his fingers with the edges of the jaws and moving them as if he was opening a puppet's mouth.

The eyes of all three dog heads started glowing pink as the jaws actually opened. A deep growl came collectively from within seemingly shallow metal throats, conveying promises of violence as they began to lift on their chains.

Everyone took a step back. "Uhhh... how are you doing that?" Honcho asked, from a distance in a defensive posture and his hands up, as if it would protect him from the snarling weapon.

Ken was equally shocked by the turn of events. "I-I-I don't know!" He claimed, holding the rod away from himself as he was afraid it would bite him. As soon as his hand stopped making a mouth, though, the dogs' eyes stopped glowing pink and their chains became slack.

When it was clear the heads wouldn't move on their own anymore, everyone took a breath. "Fascinating," PIXAL noted, curling her finger under her chin as she made her own inspection of the weapon. "It appears that the Weapon of Metal has combined your love of Beyblade with your love of puppeteering to create a truly unique item."

"Really?" Valt exclaimed, his sword becoming a right angle to his body as he clenched his excited fists beneath his chin. "That's so cool! You'll have your own personal Dog Squad during a fight!"

"Indeed," PIXAL agreed with a nod. "This will surely bring forth an entirely new fighting style." She fixed Ken with a serious gaze. "How you use it is up to you, young Master."

Ken offered her a timid smile. "I... accept the challenge," He told her hesitantly, secretly hoping that she didn't see the numerous areas of his face that were twitching. In an attempt to hide it, he raised the rod to eye level again. He moved his fingers in the imitation of a mouth, watching in amazement as the jaws of the dogs followed his lead. A small smile spread across his face as he guided the heads to turn around on their chains and gently nuzzled their small noses into his cheeks; the sounds they made were ones of content instead of violence.

Maybe... he thought as he giggled at the feeling of three cold noses nudging his face. He distantly realized that his teammates had stopped being afraid and were starting to get closer, lifting their fingers to linger along the chains. Maybe... this won't be so bad.

—————

Later that day, Ken was wasting time in his temporary room in the Monastery, playing with his new weapon by having the dog heads make different expressions. He was experimenting with how he could cause the heads to create separate emotions, twitching his individual fingers in order to get the desired effect. The faces ranged from borderline bloodcurdling to straight-up loony, and he found himself enjoying the show immensely.

His parents had shown similar expressions of awe when they'd come back to the Monastery after a day of work and saw his weapon. His father was ecstatic, tearfully exclaiming that his son was "following in his footsteps", while his mother was unsure, wondering if it would be a good idea to bring the weapon with its three heavy heads home.

"Well, obviously!" His father had defended. "How else is he supposed to learn how to use it?"

"Absolutely not!" His mother had declared, getting up in her husband's face. "We don't have enough money for renovations, and if we end up having to move again, I don't want to explain to potential buyers why there are bowling ball-sized holes everywhere! Besides, what happens if he's seen with it?"

"Practice makes perfect!" His father had shot back.

"Your point being?" His mother had asked heatedly, though whether it had been rhetoric or not was questionable.

Ken had gladly left the room after that, happy to leave the technical talk to his parents. Now, after remembering what aspect of their life his mother had vaguely referred to, his mood darkened and he slowly set his weapon in his lap.

Tomorrow's the day, he reminded himself sadly. Tomorrow's the day I go home. PIXAL had already given him and his family the go ahead, assuring them that Ken had healed completely, at least physically. He no longer felt any pain from the whole ordeal and most of his scars were unnoticeable to the passing eye.

The scars on his forearms, though, would require a creative mind to cover up.

Sighing, Ken cast his green eyes around the room, taking in the tatami flooring and the deep brown ceiling. He always knew that this would all be temporary, that he would eventually have to try to return to "normal" life. That didn't mean it didn't hurt like every other time he'd had to leave a home. He'd grown accustomed to the relative peace of the Monastery, the sense of safety that seemed to permeate from its strong walls. The way he felt like he wasn't being stared at all the time by people that didn't understand him.

Dang it, He realized, running a hand down his face. Way to go, Ken. You went and got yourself attached again.

He knew that he had to stop doing this - saying that he wouldn't get attached to a new place, then going ahead and doing it anyway. He'd made a vow to himself years ago that he wouldn't try to become accustomed to every new place that he lived in, to the people and the homes. All it did was bring him trouble and pain.

Especially when he eventually had to leave.

It was only with his friends in the Beigoma Academy Bey Club that he'd made an exception. They had presented themselves to him, invited themselves into his life against his better judgment. Except they hadn't left, even when he had. They'd made it clear the day he'd moved that they were always going to be friends, regardless of distance. Even when he went to a new school and made some new friends, there was always a little voice in his head that assured him that they were still there when he needed them. They were a team, a family. And he would forever be grateful.

He took another glance around his soon to be former residence and suddenly felt very silly. Get a hold of yourself, He told himself. It's not like you're going away forever. You'll be back for training. This is more of a 'see you later' than a goodbye. Content with that information, he pillowed his head with his arms and leaned back on the bed.

A knock came from the sliding door. Ken didn't think much of it - maybe his parents were finally done with their bickering and were coming to deliver their verdict. He himself could go either way about the decision. "Come in," he called distractedly.

When the door slid open, however, it wasn't the lean forms of his parents that filled the doorway, but the hulking form of none other than Xander. "Wow," was the first word out of his mouth as he slid the door shut behind him. "Your parents are really laying into each other out there! I didn't even have to try and sneak past them!"

Ken swung his legs over the side of the bed, blinking at the Laughing Giant. "You... snuck past my parents?" He asked, slightly disbelieving that his parents hadn't noticed Xander's tall frame - it was really hard to miss. "Why?"

Xander's sharp teeth formed a sheepish smile as he scratched the back of his head; one of his arms was kept curiously behind his back. "I-it's just, well... you're leaving the Monastery tomorrow, right?" He asked.

Ken blinked again before settling back on his hands and sighing, staring at the ceiling. "Yep. Time to return to normal. Or..." He unconsciously traced the faint scar across his face. "Something like that."

Xander made a confirmative sound beyond his field of vision. "And what do you plan to do about those?" He asked.

Ken didn't need to look at him to know he was referring to the scars on his arms and face. "This one isn't too bad - I personally think no one will notice it. The others, though... not sure." His fingers lifted from one unnoticeable scar to one very noticeable scar. "I could try to roll my coat sleeves down, though I don't know how the extra friction will affect my puppet practice. Maybe I could try to sew some longer fabric into Keru and Besu?" His stomach curled at the thought. He couldn't bare to do so such a thing to his left and right hand men - they were already perfect!

"You don't need to do all that," Xander declared brightly. "Because I think I have a solution for ya!"

That certainly made Ken's fingers pause. Xander sounded excited - that wasn't much of a surprise, but something was different this time around. He slowly released his neck from its ceiling-viewing angle to gaze at the large redhead once again.

And gasped.

The giant's hand had come out from behind his back, finally revealing the gift he'd been hiding. Laying across his palm were two rectangular strips of cloth, black in color and slightly curved at the ends. They were slightly larger at one end, and were sectioned into three pieces.

Ken had seen cloth like these before. In fact, Xander was currently wearing a pair of his own. For a second, the puppeteer simply sat on the bed, staring at the pieces of cloth and their cousins not too far away. "Are these... your gauntlets?" He was finally able to ask.

Xander nodded, his bright smile and hair giving him the appearance of a peppy sun. "Yup! No one likes talking about scars, especially over and over again, so I thought you could use these to cover them up." He took a step forward, holding the gauntlets forward beckoningly.

Ken found himself leaning away from the gift. "But... don't you use those?" He inquired. The cloth gauntlets were a part of Xander's identity, at least in his eyes.

Xander laughed jauntily, the gift shaking in his bouncing grasp. "Don't worry, I have at least five pairs of these!" He claimed, gesturing to the pair on his forearms. "These are the only ones I haven't stretched out yet. They're made of polyester, so your puppet show shouldn't be affected too much." He tilted his head. "Or are you worried that they stink? I can confidently say that these ones are clean!" He shot a thoughtful look at the cloth. "Though I will say that they soak up a lot of sweat, so I'd recommend throwing them in whenever you do a load of-"

He didn't get to to finish. Ken had jumped from the bed and wrapped the larger boy into a sudden hug. He pressed his face into Xander's muscular midsection, tears welling up and dripping down the tan skin. The redhead was caught off guard, his words catching in his throat as he struggled to make sense of the situation.

"Thank you... Xander..." Ken choked out, tightening his hold around the boy's midsection. "Truly... thank you."

It's only gauntlets, Xander thought in surprise, but his shock quickly melted into warmth as he patted the smaller boy's shoulder. "Hey, anything for a teammate," He promised with a slightly more gentle smile on his face.

Ken nodded, his fluffy black hair tickling Xander as it moved across his exposed skin. After a few long moments, he pulled away, quickly wiping his eyes to destroy any trace of his emotional bout. When Xander offered the gauntlets again, he gratefully took them and carefully slid them onto his scarred forearms. He was delightfully surprised at how well they fit - they slid over his skin like gloves and neatly covered the edges of his scars.

These are the ones that Xander hasn't stretched out yet? Ken thought bewilderedly, admiring his new adornments. Just how large are his triceps?

"Hey, they look great!" Xander noted, leaning down slightly to get a better look.

Ken had to agree. "They feel great, too! Now I'm super tough!" He threw a typical punch in the air for emphasis, enjoying how the gauntlets felt like extra muscles on his skin.

Xander let out one of his trademark laughs, going behind Ken and clapping his hand down on the shorter boy's shoulder. "Ya got that right! I guess this means that we're the strongest ones here!" He declared. His own fist punched the air in front of them. "The world better look out, because the Gauntlet Bros are coming!"

"Gauntlet Bros?" Ken repeated, looking up at him quizzically.

"Eh, we can workshop the name later," Xander promised with a shrug.

Little did the redhead know, Ken loved the name. It may have just been a silly reference to an item of clothing that they both shared, but to him, it meant so much more than that. It brought them closer, bonded them.

Made them a family.

I'm not alone. It was starting to have a nice ring to it.

—————

3847 words.