Metal City's alleys had a different rhythm.
While the main streets hummed with tension over Aarav and Gingka's quiet balance, the rusted corners of Metal City crackled with something uglier—chaos without rhythm.
Tetsuya Watarigani loved it.
"Heh… they're all so quiet now. Whispering about storms and silence." Tetsuya crouched beside a broken Beyblade, spinning a fragment of plastic between his fingers. "But none of them notice when chaos creeps in sideways, crabby!"
His Mad Gasher clicked eagerly in his hand, its clamp-like energy ring gleaming under the dim streetlights.
A group of younger Bladers huddled near a rundown practice stadium, unaware of the shadow lurking.
Tetsuya stepped out, his grin sharp and unsettling.
"Practicing in silence, huh? How noble." His tone was mockery in motion. "Let's see how that rhythm holds… when your Bey cracks."
Without waiting for a response, Tetsuya launched Mad Gasher with a sharp snap.
The kids barely reacted before the impact.
Mad Gasher spun aggressively, its clamp slamming down onto one of the Bladers' Beyblades, the grinding sound of plastic snapping echoing louder than it should.
"W-What are you doing?!" one of them stammered.
"Crabby!" Tetsuya laughed. "What's a Blader without a blade, huh? Just a whisper in the wind!"
Mad Gasher clamped another Beyblade, dragging it across the ground, sparks flying as it tore through the spin track.
The group scattered, fear replacing defiance.
Tetsuya's laughter echoed off the alley walls, wild and erratic.
Word spread quickly.
A new name began surfacing— "The Blade Crusher."
No one called him a King.
No one called him a challenger.
He was a nuisance.
But nuisances, if left unchecked, spread like cracks in a foundation.
At Metal Park, Kenta arrived breathless, his expression grim.
"Aarav, Gingka—there's this guy… he's breaking Bladers' Beyblades. Not battling, not challenging—just… breaking them."
Gingka raised an eyebrow, leaning casually against a railing. "Breaking Beys? That's low."
Aarav didn't respond immediately. He was seated on the ground, Phoenix resting in his lap as he adjusted its balance ring with quiet precision.
Kenta continued, urgency in his voice. "He's going after anyone who battles. It's like he's trying to force chaos back."
Aarav's fingers paused, his hand flexing slightly.
"Cracks only spread," Aarav murmured, "when rhythm's ignored."
Gingka straightened, his usual grin fading into something more serious. "If he's breaking Blades just for attention, then he's not spinning for the right reasons."
Kenta nodded. "People are scared. They think this guy's trying to bait you, Aarav."
Aarav clipped Phoenix back onto his belt. "Noise comes looking when it's ignored long enough."
Meanwhile, Tetsuya leaned against a crumbling wall, spinning a cracked Beyblade tip in his hand.
"Aarav… that's the quiet one, huh? The one everyone's whispering about." His grin widened, twitching. "Let's see how quiet you stay when I crack your precious rhythm."
He launched Mad Gasher again, the sound of its clamp grinding against concrete satisfying his need for attention.
Tetsuya wasn't interested in becoming King.
He didn't want to be admired.
He wanted to break the balance.
Storms, silence—what did it matter if both were cracked open?