Karan felt a cold chill freeze his blood for a moment. Benkei. Face Hunters. Crap. The situation was suddenly much more dangerous. This wasn't a simple fight with a bully. He had attracted the attention of a known, dangerous group, and now he was officially on their list.
But that icy fear lasted only a second. It was instantly burned away by a wave of hot, fierce defiance that exploded from deep inside him. At that exact moment, the Beyblade in his hand, Dark Abyss Phoenix, answered his feelings. It began to pulse with a cold, angry energy, and the metal grew so hot against his palm it was almost painful.
The first rush of panic cooled into a low, simmering anger. Another one? Are you serious?
He didn't back down.Instead, a slow, dangerous smile curved his lips. He let his eyes travel over the big, shouting blader from head to toe, his look full of clear and intentional disrespect.
"Hey, Fatty! Get over here," Karan shouted, his voice soaked with sarcasm. He held up his device, showing the small number of points he had. "You're standing way over there, just shouting. Don't you want to take these points from me?" He let the challenge hang in the air for a moment. "Or," he continued, his tone sharpening, "are you too afraid that my 'strange' Bey will smash your precious Beyblade into scrap metal?"
The insult, and especially the mockery of his Beyblade, was like throwing a match into a gas tank. Benkei's face flushed a deep, ugly purple. He stomped heavily toward Karan, and with a sharp gesture, his two followers spread out to the sides, surrounding Karan and blocking any chance he had to run away.
"You have a huge mouth for such a small kid!" Benkei roared, his spit spraying. "I'm really going to enjoy crushing your Beyblade! My name is Benkei! And you're going to learn a hard lesson about why messing with the Face Hunters is the worst mistake you can make!"
Just as the standoff became serious, the fake-cheerful, robotic voice chimed inside Karan's mind.
"Ding!New Mission: 'The Hunter Becomes the Hunted.'"
A glowing,blue screen appeared in front of his eyes, listing the details:
Goal: Beat the Face Hunter officer, Benkei.
Win Prize: 2,000 Bey-Points and the 'Giant Slayer' title (gives a small advantage against heavy Beyblades).
Lose Punishment: Lose ALL your Bey-Points, and the system will be turned off for a full day
Karan's eye flickered with irritation. Failure? He couldn't care less. He came here to explore, but all he found was trouble. People kept confronting him, screaming, and trying to steal from him. This day was the worst. The mission felt like an insult, making his frustration burn even hotter. A reward wasn't on his mind. He was fighting for one reason only: he was pissed off.
"Enough talk!" Benkei roared, snapping his Earth Bull Bey into his launcher. The Bey itself was a heavy, brutal-looking object, made of scratched and worn metal. Its entire design screamed a single purpose: pure, crushing, overwhelming force.
Karan didn't wait a second. He clicked Dark Abyss Phoenix into his launcher, and the connection felt smoother and more natural than before, as if it were a part of his own body. His voice was cold and challenging. "You can make the first move."
Both of them took their positions at the stadium's edge. You could almost feel the pressure and hostility in the atmosphere.
"1,2, 3!" their voices called out together. And then, with a synchronized yell that broke the silence, they screamed, "LET IT RIP!"
The two launches were completely different. Benkei's Earth Bull shot out like a massive iron ball from a cannon. It smashed into the stadium floor with a deafening BOOM that shook the ground, the vibration traveling right up through Karan's shoes. It was a perfect Power-type Bey—all raw, brutal force, like a furious bull let loose to smash everything in its path.
Dark Abyss Phoenix screamed across the stadium, a speeding bullet of purple and black that left a smoky, dark path in the air. Its movement was fluid and deadly. But slamming directly into the Bull right away was the wrong move.
CLANG!
The noise was painfully loud.Dark Abyss Phoenix was thrown backward, skidding wildly across the stadium floor. Its perfect spin was broken, now shaking and unsteady. It was a clear mismatch—like a fast, graceful bird being slapped out of the air by a massive, powerful bear.
Benkei burst into a loud, roaring laugh. "See that, you little brat?" he shouted, his voice full of triumph. "Now watch me smash your Beyblade to pieces! Go on and cry about it, haa!"
Karan clenched his jaw, feeling the shock of the hit deep in his own soul. But he didn't feel hopeless. Instead, a fierce, untamed smile broke across his face. He could sense it clearly—the Phoenix wasn't damaged; it was enraged. Its killer instincts were igniting, a raw, ancient fury that poured directly from the Bey into his own heart.
"Cry?" Karan fired back, his voice surprisingly calm even after the hard hit. "I'm only just starting to warm up!" He looked Benkei's hulking Bey up and down with contempt. "That thing is all muscle and no brain!"
He understood immediately that a direct contest of strength would be a death sentence. He could never overpower the Bull. His only chance was to be smarter. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, he focused deeply on the mental link with his Bey. He didn't give it orders. Instead, he gently guided it, allowing the Phoenix's own fierce anger and sharp hunting instincts—which now felt completely fused with his own—to lead the way.
"Stop running away and fight!" Benkei bellowed, as his Earth Bull thundered forward in another blind charge.
"Who said anything about running?"Karan muttered under his breath, a sharp glint in his eyes. Then, he sent a clear, mental command: "Dark Abyss, now! Glide along the outer rim!"
The Phoenix moved immediately, flashing to the very edge of the stadium. As the Bull roared past, the whirlwind of dark energy around Karan's Bey reached out. It didn't hit the Bull directly. Instead, it tugged and pulled at it, making it unsteady—like sticking out a foot to trip a runner. Earth Bull wobbled, its powerful charge ruined, and it slammed its energy uselessly into the stadium wall.
Over and over, Benkei screamed for more wild charges. And every single time, Karan and his Phoenix moved as one being, in perfect, unspoken harmony. They would fake an attack, swiftly dodge, and use the swirling dark energy to make the heavier Bey lose its balance. Karan had stopped thinking with words. He was now acting on pure instinct and a shared, fierce desire to win with his partner. A sharp hiss of "Now!" from him, and the Phoenix would swerve left. A low grunt of "There!" and it would plunge downward, its dark aura draining the Bull's speed and power.
Benkei was becoming frantic. Sweat poured down his face, which was twisted in pure rage. He could feel his Beyblade growing weaker, its spin losing speed. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" he screamed, pouring all his remaining power into the command. "EARTH BULL, END THIS NOW!" With that, he launched one last, desperate attack.
The Bull thundered across the stadium, a speeding, unstoppable mass of power heading straight for the Phoenix.
But this time,Karan didn't move it out of the way. A wave of total, unshakable certainty flowed into him from Dark Abyss Phoenix. It wasn't a suggestion or a feeling. It was a clear, powerful order from his partner: Do not retreat. Meet it head-on.
"You want to end this?!" Karan's shout sliced through the chaos. "Alright! Do it now! Dive!"
Dark Abyss Phoenix didn't back away.It surged forward, flying straight at the charging Bull. But this wasn't a simple collision. At the very last moment, the swirling dark energy around the Phoenix compressed into one incredibly small, dense point at its front—a miniature black hole designed to swallow everything.
When they hit, there was no loud bang. Instead, a deafening SHWOOMP noise filled the air, like all the sound was being vacuumed out of the park. Earth Bull's powerful charge didn't explode—it was swallowed whole by the dark abyss. For one terrifying second, the two Beys were frozen together, the Bull's own strength being sucked in to make the Phoenix's dark vortex even stronger.
Then, with a shriek of released energy, Dark Abyss Phoenix redirected all that stolen force.
BOOM!
Earth Bull was blasted out of the stadium as if launched from a cannon. It flew in a wide arc and landed with a loud, messy clatter on the ground far away, skidding to a halt. It wasn't spinning at all. It was finished.
Silence.
A heavy,complete, and deafening quiet crashed down over the entire park. Benkei stood frozen, his mouth wide open in disbelief, staring at the empty space where his Beyblade had just been. His two helpers were just as shocked, their faces pale and their eyes wide, as if they had just seen a terrifying ghost.
Karan stood breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling. He called his Beyblade back. It flew smoothly into his open hand, feeling warm and alive. It pulsed with a strong, vibrant energy and gave off a feeling of deep, complete contentment.
Karan walked over to where Benkei stood, frozen. His steps echoed loudly in the silence. He wasn't grinning or looking happy. His face was set in a look of cold, serious finality, as if there was nothing more to discuss.
"You said you'd smash my Beyblade," Karan reminded him, his voice calm and cold. "You couldn't. You were too proud." He put his hand out, waiting. "Now, pay up. I want every last one of your points."
Feeling totally disgraced, defeated, and poor, Benkei mechanically gave up all his points. He walked away with his head down, completely shamed. But before he went too far, he looked back and snarled a final, shaky threat."This isn't the end of this! The Boss will find out what you did!"
"Ding! Mission 'The Hunter Becomes the Hunted' completed! Rewards: 2,000 Bey-Points and 'Giant Slayer' title have been applied!"
Hearing the system was satisfying.However, winning this fight felt more important than any reward. It was a victory that went much deeper.
Completely drained, both in his mind and body, Karan found a small, peaceful ramen shop. He slipped into a seat in the corner, away from everyone. He ordered a simple bowl of vegetable ramen and ate quietly by himself. The excitement and energy from the battle slowly faded, leaving him with a deep, heavy tiredness that seeped into his very bones.
He slurped the tasty flavorful noodles, thinking, This has been a awful day. Why did bullies always target him? First one kid, then the Face Hunters... It was clear now. The only way to stop it was to become much more powerful.
Benkei's threat repeated inside his head. The Boss. Using his knowledge from the anime, his mind instantly jumped to the most fearsome member of the group. Of course. There was that other, much more volatile and dangerous one... their true leader, Kyoya.
A cold shiver of fear, twisted together with a hot spark of excitement, traveled down his back. He remembered the anime clearly. Kyoya's Beyblade, Leone, was a monster of power, almost a perfect copy of its owner's fierce strength. In the whole show, only a tiny number of people—you could count them on one hand—had ever managed to beat him. That meant one scary thing: in this entire country, there were maybe two or three bladers who could truly stand against him.
He looked at Dark Abyss Phoenix, which he had set down nearby. In the low light, the Bey seemed to beat with a soft, red light from its heart. It felt restless, like it was dreaming of fighting again, eager and hungry for another challenge.
A sharp, determined light flashed in Karan's eyes, wiping away every last bit of his doubt and fear. Suddenly, the way ahead was perfectly clear to him, like a fog had lifted to reveal a single, straight road.
Fine, he resolved, his determination solidified by the day's struggles.If this world only respects strength, then I'll become the strongest. Let them all come. My Phoenix is hungry for more.