Media: Reiji Mizuchi

The aura that radiated off of Reiji defined creepy.

He stood, hunched over, on the other side of the stadium, his bangs overshadowing his eyes.

"... Look, why don't we just talk?" I tried. "Let me go free and find my brother."

At first, he didn't reply. Then: "Abssssolutely not..."

With that, Reiji proceeded to whip out his launcher, aiming it at me, a silver-and-green beyblade fit into it.

"Three... Sss..."

"Whoa, whoa, wait up-!"

"Two..."

Fumbling for my launcher in attempt to quickly pull it out, I was clumsy in locking my beyblade to the launcher.

The blader across from me hissed, before we finally shot together.

"One...!"

... Shit!

I had improperly put my beyblade into my launcher, causing him to land awkward on the stadium, wobbling.

Meanwhile, the beyblade that was spinning on the opposite side of the stadium, looked very steady and secure.

"Poison Ssssserpent..." Reiji smirked.

Poison... just like Shaun's. I was familiar in the way the fusion wheel slowly chipped away at the other beyblade's strength, so I had to avoid most contact with that.

Added to the fact that Eagle's stamina was low due to my failure of a launch, the odds of lasting this battle in stamina was miniscule.

From the looks of it, I was going to have to use a special move and attempt to end it quickly.

Down below, Eagle warily circled the stadium, but Serpent was quick to attack.

With a speed and eerie creepiness that rivaled a king cobra, Serpent weaved in and out, before smacking hard into Eagle. He was sent spiraling back, wobbling on his HF/S tip.

"Eagle, finish now! Piercing Thunder!"

I know what you're thinking- what the heck is she doing? Piercing Thunder is a move that should be used outside!

Welp, newsflash: I didn't care.

Reiji didn't lose his composure, swaying slowly back and forth. His bangs moved with him, still overshadowing his eyes.

Recovering from the attack, my beyblade sped towards the curve of the stadium, smoothly gliding over the surface and into the air.

I had to time this perfectly, or else Eagle would hit the metal roof.

Sucking in a breath, my eyes never left Eagle in the air. It might have been difficult to locate him, yeah- but I had to keep my eyes on him.

When he neared the ceiling, I yelled. "Now!"

Clouds burst from Eagle, a trick due to the sudden push of his tip over and over again, along with the moisture in the air.

Hidden from view, out of sight... Reiji wouldn't be able to see where the lightning came from (created from even more friction), or Eagle.

But my opponent surprised me.

He watched the cloud, silent, before tipping his head back down at the stadium.

Then back up.

He didn't look the least bit fazed- at least, from what I saw. Pressed into a thin line, his lips revealed nothing but his neutral expression.

Then, he raised a hand, movements slow and calculating, and raised his index finger, waggling it at Serpent.

There was no command, words- nothing. Dead silence.

After a flash of lighting, Eagle spiraled down, but Reiji didn't... Really do anything.

He just stood there, lips curved into a neutral line as he tracked my beyblade.

Eagle smashed into... Something. Before I could see what he hit, the clouds had slunk across the battle.

"Ha! You're going down!"

In response to my claim, he only cocked his head. Then: "Clearly, you... don't know what if means to feel ssssorrow, fear, and pain..."

Several moments passed as I waited for the clouds to clear, waving wisps away from my face along with floating hair strands.

"Wh...!"

In the middle, Serpent looked unharmed. And spinning beside it was Eagle, wobbling harshly, but still spinning.

Instantly, Reiji took the opening. Serpent batted at my beyblade, taking a poke at it.

Eagle responded harshly, and just like my battle with Dan and Reiki, something thrummed in my ears as the spirit animal burst from the facebolt, screeching.

Immediately, Serpent's own animal rose from it, a green king cobra (I think?) that hissed and slid across the stadium.

With another angry shriek, Eagle dove for the opponent, flapping his wings wildly as he clawed at Serpent. The cobra hissed and raised its' hood.

The fangs flashed before I realized what was happening. Eagle's name died on my tongue.

Thrash, he did. He trashed from side to side, but Serpent only dug its' fangs deeper into the feathers.

Meanwhile, Reiji observed without a single hint of remorse on his face.  Instead, a hint of a smile spread across his thin lips, but there was something off about that smile.

Something that reminded me of Doji's smile.

Another irritated squawk.

"Eagle...!"

As Serpent threw Eagle across the stadium, puncture holes oozing with what seemed to be blood, a frigid feeling in my toes caused
me to shudder and look down.

I resisted a screech much like Eagle's.

Stone had started to crack my shoes- in a way you wouldn't believe. It was like my shoes were stone themselves, webbed and cracked, heavy as a brick.

Across from me, my opponent wound itself around Eagle, squeezing. The blood started to flow faster, glistening as it slid over the scales.

To my terror, the same concrete-like look was starting to spread from Eagle's left wing.

"In this world... The weak do not decide. The weak become prey..."

"Shut up!"

The instant the words left my mouth, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and straightened when they saw Reiji's crazed smile.

"Show me more, more, more! Let me
hear your screams as the stone envelops your body, the terror that runs through your blood!"

"Psycho!" I hollered back, but decided to keep my mouth shut as a sliver of stone traveled lazily up my limb.

Finally, I caught a glint of Reiji's eyes through his bangs- a startling golden, just like Tsubasa's, but more on the yellow side.

The pupils were thin, glazed over.

Glazed over with insanity.