The beach became a different battlefield now.
Where most Bladers saw sand as an unstable surface, Tetsuya Watarigani saw a playground of chaos. His grin stretched wider as Mad Gasher spun erratically, bouncing unpredictably across the uneven terrain. The crowd from the city plaza hadn't followed, but a few curious Bladers lingered at a distance, watching.
Closer to the shoreline, Aarav stood silently, arms crossed, his sharp gaze fixed on the stadium. Phoenix remained clipped at his side, but his presence weighed on the atmosphere. He didn't speak. He didn't move. Yet his rhythm could be felt.
Gingka Hagane kept his eyes on Tetsuya, his grip on Pegasus steady. He had faced chaos before, but Tetsuya's tactics were something else. The crabs, the erratic spins, the sabotage—it wasn't a battle; it was a disruption.
"Tetsuya's spinning to break rhythm," Madoka's voice came from the sidelines, her analysis device flickering. "He's not just battling Gingka. He's attacking the flow of the battlefield itself."
Tetsuya clapped his hands sharply.
The beach responded.
From the dunes, real crabs began to emerge, scuttling with unnatural timing as if called to battle. They didn't aim for Tetsuya's Mad Gasher. They moved with precision, heading towards Pegasus's spin path, interfering without directly attacking.
Gingka's eyes narrowed. He knew this wasn't a simple trick. The crabs were living barricades, disrupting his storm's natural expansion.
Madoka's analysis confirmed it. "The crabs are breaking Pegasus's storm rotation vectors. Every time Gingka tries to widen the spin, the crabs force him to tighten. He's spinning in a cage."
Tetsuya's laughter bounced off the waves. "What's wrong, storm boy? Sand got you stuck? Crab power's real power, crabby!"
Mad Gasher's clamps snapped eagerly as it shifted into a wider bounce rotation, using the uneven terrain to launch itself into erratic arcs. The stadium had no center. Every time Pegasus tried to reclaim the core, a crab or an unpredictable bounce forced it off balance.
"Mad Gasher's altering its spin radius," Madoka narrated. "It's exploiting every dip in the sand to generate bounce momentum. Gingka can't predict the next impact point."
The air tightened.
Mad Gasher launched itself into a high bounce, its clamp aimed to strike Pegasus's spin axis from above. Gingka's gaze sharpened. He adjusted Pegasus's rotation, forcing a sharp storm draft upward to cushion the impact.
The clash happened mid-air.
Sparks flew, sand scattered, but neither Beyblade yielded.
However, the rhythm was still Tetsuya's to control.
"Let's dance some more, crabby!" Tetsuya jeered. "Try and catch me if you can!"
Mad Gasher spun outward, its bounce even more erratic now, while the crabs regrouped, forming new obstacles in Pegasus's path.
Gingka's storm rhythm was spinning in tighter circles, forced into reactive patterns rather than offensive ones.
Madoka's analysis deepened. "Gingka needs to reclaim center control. If Pegasus can't anchor its spin, the next clamp strike will seal this."
Aarav remained unmoved. His sharp gaze didn't waver, but the tension in his stance was subtle—a barely perceptible tightening of his crossed arms.
Mad Gasher lunged again, this time its clamp aimed lower, trying to catch Pegasus at its base.
Gingka reacted, but the delayed rhythm due to the crabs' interference cost him microseconds. Pegasus evaded, but not cleanly.
The sand erupted as the clash forced Pegasus to slide.
Tetsuya's laughter echoed wildly. "You see? Storms get stuck when the ground's got crabs!"
Madoka's gaze was fixed on the devices. "Pegasus's spin balance is shrinking. He's running out of defensive space."
But Gingka wasn't out of options. His grip on his launcher tightened. His eyes—no longer distracted by Tetsuya's taunts—locked onto the rhythm behind the chaos.
Tetsuya's bounce was erratic, yes, but it had a pattern now. The crabs moved like barricades, but their patterns were repetitive.
"Alright, Tetsuya," Gingka muttered. "You wanted chaos? Let's spin through it."
He launched Pegasus into a sharp rebound, forcing the storm to spiral tighter, using the crabs' positions to slingshot spin momentum. The sand that once disrupted his flow now became propulsion points.
Madoka's eyes widened. "He's adapting… using the obstacles to amplify his storm spiral."
But Tetsuya wasn't done.
With a sharp stomp into the sand, he triggered a final bounce. Mad Gasher soared, its clamp spinning fiercely, aligned directly for Pegasus's core.
The decisive clash was seconds away.
Aarav's eyes narrowed.