Atlas held Jupiter in his launcher, breathing deliberately slow and steady. The crowd's cheers blurred into background noise; the only thing that mattered now was Reiji across the stadium.
Reiji's face was pale and lean, his snake-like eyes glinting yellow and cruel beneath his red hair. He held his own launcher at a relaxed angle, like a predator about to strike.
His Poison Serpent SW145SD glowed darkly in his hand, its green and serpentine parts coming alive in the arena lights.
Atlas didn't rush. He had something in mind. He set Jupiter into his launcher, locked it in with a soft "click," and steeled himself.
"Three~Two~One,"
LET IT RIP!
Both Atlas and Reiji launched their Beys into the stadium, the beys landing on opposite sides from the Blader as they began to move across the stadium.
Atlas' Jupiter didn't immediately go for a huge attack as he did before when battling weaker bladers, instead, he held back, letting the Bey spin balanced and confidently.
Reiji's Serpent came out fast, its fifteen-protrusion fusion wheel spinning like a vicious buzz-saw. Reiji's strategy was clear, chip damage or his special 'poison.'
He didn't need powerful one-shot hits, Poison Serpent was all about wearing an opponent down slowly but surely until he'd unleash his Dark Move and crush their hopes and dreams for good, shattering their spirit.
Atlas felt a familiar pulse in his chest, not just his Blader Spirit, but the deep, intimate bond he'd been building with Jupiter. He raised his vision, matched his pace to the Bey, and waited for the right moment.
Reiji struck first. Serpent lurched forward with surprising speed, lunging in with vicious precision. Its metal halves slammed against Jupiter's side, the rattling clang echoing in the stadium.
But Atlas had prepared for this. He leaned slightly, redirecting Jupiter's path just enough to absorb the blow. He didn't try to counter-attack yet, he let Jupiter hold its ground.
Around him, he could hear Reiji's low, cruel voice, taunting, "Feel that? That's poison already bleeding into your bey." Because that was exactly his plan, psychologically choke out his opponent, make them doubt, slow them so he can inject his "poison."
Atlas's eyes narrowed as he chuckled, "Jupiter,"
He said, and Jupiter immediately used the force of one of Reiji's attacks to shift the metal balls inside, entering Defense Mode and also immediately increasing spin speed.
"WHAT? Why is it going faster," Reiji muttered, frustrated and confused, not knowing what Atlas did.
"What's wrong? Cat caught your tongue you little rat?" Atlas said in a mocking voice, and Reiji swung his fist in frustration, calling for Poison Serpent to push harder, which it did, launching another flurry of attacks.
Serpent's metal wheel lashed out, fifteen protrusions ripping into the air in jagged arcs. But Jupiter moved like water. Not wildly, but purposefully. Each time Serpent struck, Atlas "pulled" the Bey into a safer trajectory, letting it absorb or dodge, then immediately redirecting.
With each contact, the momentum never fully favored Serpent; instead, Jupiter slipped around the brunt of the force, converting the energy into subtle counter-motion which would ware Serpent out over time.
It was already bringing fruition as Serpents spin speed had slightly slowed, while Jupiter's remained the same. Jupiter's defense mode also made it a pseudo stamina type, as his spin speed would be retained for as long as possible.
~BANG~BANG~BANG!~
"Why, Why, WHY ISN'T IT WORKING!" Reiji said in frustration.
His attacks grew more aggressive as he saw nothing working. Poison Serpent charged at Jupiter, lunging again and again, but with each attack, the Bey recoiled, not at all gaining any power on Jupiter, which only frustrated Reiji more and more.
Reiji launched Snake after snake: Serpent lunged, recoiled, lunged again. The crowd gasped at each jagged metal clash. But Atlas stayed rooted. He matched Jupiter's defensive pattern as best he could, never letting the Bey become reckless.
"How pathetic, is that all your attack power? Seems like I overestimated you," Atlas said, wanting to rage-bait Reiji, and it worked.
With a sudden burst, Reiji screamed, "Dark Move, Serpent - Venom Strike!"
His voice echoed, and Serpent lurched upward like a snake attacking, the bit-beast manifestation of Medusa seemed to coil around itself, ready to crush.
Atlas' own spirit flared in response: lavender light flickered at his fingertips, then brightened, spreading over his arms. He whispered, "Not today."
Jupiter responded, too, not in attack mode, but in a hardened, centered state. The Bey's spin became almost defiant.
Reiji howled. Serpent struck again and again, trying to break Jupiter's balance. But Jupiter, steadied by Atlas's control, took each attack, absorbing and redirecting.
"Boring," Atlas said, releasing a mocking yawn that only pushed Reiji further towards the edge as the battle continued, growing more tense by the moment.
Sparks flew and he arena seemed to shrink down to just the two Beys and the raw energy between them.
~BOOM~BOOM~BOOM!~
Explosions rang out as the two beys clashed, but Reiji never gained ground, and he could sense his Bey's spin speed dropping rapidly.
And that was all Atlas needed.
Jupiter curved tightly, slipping under a Serpent strike, and then launched a counter: a clean, sharp burst of movement that sent Serpent flying off balance. Atlas whispered, "Now, finish it."
He guided Jupiter into a precise line, weaving through Serpent's next assault. Serpent lunged wildly, but Jupiter dodged, then struck back. The impact was less about power and more about perfect positioning: a "defensive counter" rather than an all-out blast.
Serpent wobbled. Reiji's eyes narrowed, a flash of shock and anger crossing his face. He thought he had the upper hand, but Jupiter wasn't breaking.
Atlas's spirit glowed stronger now, not blazing, but firm, unwavering. He could feel their bond: him, Jupiter, in perfect harmony.
"Let it finish," he murmured, "together."
When Serpent lunged one final time, Jupiter met it head-on, stable and unyielding. The impact was like two steel titans clashing, but Jupiter didn't falter, smashing Serpent into the sky.
Jupiter rode off the wall into the sky and smashed Serpent, unleashing a huge wave of power that chipped away at various pieces of Serpent.
"SERPENT NOO!" Reiji said as he watched but Atlas didn't stop.
Instead, Jupiter rode Serpent all the way to the stadium back down, a huge explosion occurring that signified the end of the battle, as when the dust cleared, a partially broken Serpent laid bare.
Reiji flinched, launcher in hand as he saw the remains of his bey.
The crowd fell silent for a heartbeat, then exploded into cheers. Some gasped. Some stared, awed by what they'd just seen: a defense-mode victory over the venomous snake.
Atlas exhaled, dropping his launcher.
Reiji stood frozen across from him, stunned. His smirk was gone. There was something new in his eyes now, not just anger, but disbelief.
Reiji picked up his bey, or what was left of it, and ran out, anger surging in his eyes, but he knew there was nothing he could do, and that was just in time.
~BEEP~BEEP!~
"Time's up, stop battling," Blader DJ said, causing everyone to look at the massive screen in the arena.
"The average number of points earned by the participants was 87, so you had to do better than that to make it!"
Bladers from 16th to 8th place were quickly shown the door through Blader DJ's announcements, all of which included names Atlas recognized from Metal Fusion, such as Teru or Tetsuya, the crab dude.
In 8th place was Sora, with 245 points.
"So many strong bladers failed to qualify one after another, leaving only SEVEN ( 7 ) remaining!"
"Kenta & Benkei are both gone, too bad, so sad," Blader DJ announced, and Atlas nodded, seeing everything mostly following the original script so far, but with everyone down a place, probably due to him.
"There's 5 BLADERS LEFT, AND 4 SLOTS, WHO WILL BE THE ONE TO MISS OUT?" Blader DJ said, and after a short drum-roll, the next Blader was revealed.
"YU TENDO, out with 300 points!" He announced.
"WHAT?!!?!?!" Was the collective reaction from everyone not only in Atlas' stadium, but in every stadium across all of Japan, and Yu was especially shocked, not knowing 4 other bladers who could overcome him.
"300 points and out, how is that possible?"
"We really stood no chance, we could barely crack 40 and this dude got 300 and didn't make the cut,"
"HOLD ONTO YOUR BEYS BOYS AND GIRLS, IT'S TIME TO ANNOUNCE THE FINAL FOUR QUALIFIERS. IN FORTH PLACE - Masamume Kadoya with 350 points!"
" IN THIRD PLACE WITH 370 POINTS, TSUBASA!"
Another roar echoed from the crowd as Tsubasa's picture was shown, everyone shocked at how many points he got.
"Now wait a moment folks. As I've gotten news that we have a TIE FOR FIRST PLACE, I REPEAT, A TIE, FOR FIRST PLACE, BOTH HAVING EARNED 500 POINTS!"
"Did that dude just say 500?"
"Surely he's joking right?"
"Two different people got 500?"
"Firstly we have...KYOYAAAAA!"
Kyoya's picture flashed on the screen, and everyone roared with recognition, knowing just how immensely powerful he was, but then, more speculation occurred all across Japan.
"If Gingka isn't participating, the who on Earth could match Kyoya for points?" Was the thought running through everyone's mind.
"And also on 500 Points we have - ATLAS KUROSAWA!!
Atlas' picture flashed on the screen, and while viewers all around Japan were confused about who he was, Hikaru, inside the WBBA building alongside Ryo Hagane and Gingka, blurted out,
"IT'S HIM!"