It's hard to think that five years have past since that day.

I can still remember it very clearly. Waking up in the tent as my father was packing. I can remember the confusion. Being eight years old and having your father tell you that he is leaving for a while can be that way. I can remember his warm smile, the last thing that I saw on his face. That day changed my life forever.

"Dad, what are you doing? All of that noise woke me up."

"Oh, sorry Kiran," my father said as he noticed me, "I got a call and I have to go out somewhere for work." My dad was a workaholic. His job was the reason that we were out here in a quiet place on the Izu Peninsula. He was always called out for his work. He was a... well, he was lots of things. A doctor, toy maker, scientist, programer, and a lot of other things that I don't know the name to. "I have to go out to Tokyo for a meeting. In that time, you'll have to stay here alone. I'll only be gone for five days, and I know that you are responsible enough to stay here alone."

"Are you sure dad," I said a little nervously. My dad had left me alone before, but that was back at our house, and only for a day, at the most. I didn't know how I was going to survive out there.

"It's going to be alright Kiran," he told me reassuringly, even though I could here the shakiness in his voice. "I'm leaving you with food and water, and it isn't that long. You'll be fine. After I come back, we can go back to Florida, and your brother is going to be there. He'll be going to the same school as you from now on." I hadn't seen my nine year old brother in months. He went off to a boarding school while I travelled with dad. It would be nice to see him again.

"Okay, I guess." My dad was finishing up his packing and I walked over to give him a hug. I never wanted to let go.

"Oh, I almost forgot," my dad said, after I finally let him go. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box that had a bow on top. "I want you have this. It's a prototype for something that my company is making. I can show you how it works when I get back."

He handed me the box, and picked up his bag, walking off to the outside, but stopping before the exit off the tent and turning to give me a smile. It was a silent goodbye.

After he left I opened up the box. Inside was a piece of paper. It read, "Beyblade! Shadow Aquario Blade 95 Metal Hole Flat!" and showed pictures of the items that were in the box, and detailed instructions on how they work. Underneath was a small spinning top, but more complex than any ones that I have ever seen. It was beautiful. The metal on it had three edges with small little ridges on it, while the plastic part under it had four swords on it that were about 3/4 of an inch long. The bottom of it was flat and made of a smooth metal, but there was also a hole right in the center There was also a weird looking cord that had some teeth type things on one side, which I deiced was the winder, and also a thing that looked like what the paper had called a launcher.

There was also a smaller piece of paper under where the top had been, and I recognized that it had my dad's hand writing on it. It said "This isn't just an object, treat as your best friend. From now on, you are partners. Find your strength together." After reading this, I tried to launch the top, but I just couldn't get it to work, so I decided to just wait for my dad to come back and show me. 

And I waited five days, but he didn't return. After another three days of waiting,
I was awoken by my brother Kole, and a weird looking man. My brothers eyes were teary, but they almost never had been before. I knew something was wrong.

"He's gone." That was all that was said before my burst of tears. I would never get to see my dad again. My brother and I flew on a plane back to Florida, to our house, and we grew up together. Going to the same school, having the same friends, it was like we were almost the same person. But after a while, we got more comfortable with our lives. We didn't have the best life, but for two kids living alone, I think we did pretty well.

When I turned ten, the beyblade I had been given had finally been given some use. Now, beyblade was the most popular thing around, and Kole and I were the best in our town at it. Beyblading became my life, and I think that my dad knew this was going to happen. I lived my life the same way every day, going to school, then hanging out with my friends and beyblading.

Little did I know that this day was going to be different.

Chapter 1: The beginning

"Wake up!"

Kiran ran into the room and jumped on Kole's bed. Kole, still half asleep, wrestled his brother off of him.

"Gosh," Kole started. "I'ts Saturday, I don't have to wake up early." He hid his face under the blanket and tried to fall back to sleep.

"Early? It's 12:00, what time did you think it was?" Kiran threw the blanket off the bed and sat on the side of it. "Get up, I want to go to Beytopia!"

"Oh wow, that late already." Kole dragged himself out of his bed and went to his closet, digging around for some clothes to put on.

"Can I battle you today." Kiran asked as he walked out of the room to go into the living room."

"You gotta work your way up to the champ."

After ten minutes, the two brothers left their house and arrived at Beytopia. They walked through the doors and were greeted by the warm cheer of the beyblading world. The building was large with beige walls that were covered in posters advertising new beyblades and tournaments. There were about 20 stadiums scattered around the room, but in the center there were three special stadiums. In the center was a huge battle royale stadium, where many people could battle at once. Many people were crowded around the battle royale stadium, and in the middle of the crowd was a man, about 15 years old, in a beyblading t-shirt with a clipboard.

"Attention all bladers," the man started. "Two minutes until the tournament! Hurry up, there are still three spots left!" After hearing this, Kiran and Kole ran up to the man. "Well, if it isn't my two favorite bladers. I take it you want to sign up for the tournament. With you two, let's see, there's room for one left."

"Sign me up," said a man in a black hoodie. He had a mask covering most of his face and seemed like he wanted to be hidden.

"Well, I guess that's it. Ok everyone, it's time for the tournament!" Within a matter of seconds everyone in the room, except for the people working in the food section, were all crowded around. "As you probably know, I am your host, and son of the owner of Beytopia, Arthur Arend. Now that the sign ups are over and we have 30 people, the tournament can start! Now first, we will have the preliminary rounds, which will consist of battle royales in our very own battle royal stadium!"

First up was block A, and the winner was a blonde girl named Lucy with an Earth Leone 125 WB. Next was block B, and the winner was the kid in the hoodie, with his Chaos Wolf 90 RF.

Next was Block C, Kole's block. He walked to the stadium confident in his skills with his partner, Celestial Gaurdian GB145 Rubber Ball. All five bladers launched their beys as hard as they could into the stadium. Kole's bey immediately went into defense, and reflect two beys right out of the stadium upon contact. One of the other two beyblades switched into a fierce attack mode and swooped through the stadium taking out one beyblade, and leaving just him and Kole. Kole smirked, and his bey slammed into the boy's bey, slamming it out of the stadium, and halfway across the room.  

"And that's how the champ plays!" Kole exclaimed as his bey returned and was greeted by applause.

Block D ended with a dark haired boy with named Sam with a Storm Pegasus 135 HF. The winner of Block E was one of Kole and Kiran's friends, Nick, who had a Vulcan Libra 85 XF.

Lastly was Block F, Kiran's block. The five bladers launched their beys into the stadium. Kiran's bey charged through the stadium, hunting down every bey except for one. With a finishing blow Kiran's bey slammed the last boy's bey into the air, but it came back down.

"Heh," the boy started, "Now the parties getting started!" He looked like he was 13, like Kiran. He had light orange hair, freckles, green eyes and dimples. He was wearing a pair of jeans, and a white tee shirt, with a picture of a bull. 

The boys beyblade, Ray Bull CH120 MF, hit the ground and charged back at Aquario. With a swift dodge to the side, Aquario was able to doge Bull's first attack, but Bull circled back around to hit again. 

"I'm not going down that easily," Kiran shouted back. "Go Aquario!"

Aquario began circling bull, getting closer each time, until grinding against it. Sparks were flying around the stadium as the two beys collided.

"Lets finish this, Bull!" the boy shouted.

"End it, Aquario!" Kiran exclaimed.

The two beyblades smashed, and they both flew to the edge of the stadium, but only one was still spinning.

"Looks like we have a winner," Arthur screamed. "Congratulations Kiran! Looks like Kiran, Kole, Nick, Lucy, Sam, and... um, what was your name?" 

"Just call me Fang," the hooded man replied.

"Ok then, well congratulations you guys. The quarter finals will start in ten minutes. Get ready bladers!"

* * *

"Looks like he has gotten stronger."

"But is it strong enough."

"We'll find out soon..."

Chapter 2: The Quarter Finals

"And now we're back!" Arthur exclaimed. "It's time for the quarter finals! First up we have the winners from Block A and Block B, Lucy with her Leone and Fang with his Wolf.

The two bladers stood across from each other next to the stadium, and launched their beys as hard as they could. Both of them flew into the center and collided. They both flew back to the edge of the stadium and Leone darted back into the center. Wolf circled the stadium, constantly diving in at leone and smashing it around.

"Hang in there Leone!" Lucy shouted.

Fang just replied with a chuckle, and Wolf charged again. This time, one of it's hooks grabbed Leone's metal wheel and spun it around, while smashing it against the ground. Leone was being destroyed. Fang couldn't stop laughing, as his Wolf slammed Leone into the ground breaking it's WB clean in half.

"It's over," Fang screamed, covered by some more maniacal laughter. Leone's clear wheel was shattered, the face was cut up, and the track had been ground to dust. The left over pieces were disseminated about the stadium, and Wolf wasn't done. Wolf started spinning even faster, as if it was energized by its massacre, and it finally let go of the metal wheel, launching it right at Lucy's head. Luckily she fell to the ground crying before it hit. Fang called Wolf back to him, as a wave of disgust flew over the room.

"Well, I guess Fang is the winner." Arthur said, but without any enthusiasm. Instead if the usual applause, Fang was booed, and yelled at. Beyblading was these people's life, and to destroy a beyblade like that, just wasn't natural. "So let's get to the next round!" Arthur exclaimed, back to being enthusiastic. "The winner of block C and block D, Sam and his Pegasus and Kole with his Guardian!"

Everyone started cheering for Kole, as he was the Champion of the last tournament. He was the crowd favorite, and he loved it being that way. The two of them launched their beys as hard as they could. This time, Kole's Guardian went on the attack, despite its defensive bottom.

"Well, this is new," Arthur started. "Kole almost never goes on the attack."

Guardian followed Pegasus around the stadium. Pegasus circled back around slamming Guardian from behind, but the rubber on it's wheel absorbed most of the damage. Guardian went into the center of the stadium, going back defensive, as Pegasus continued smashing at it.

"Guardian," Kole called out. "It's time! Let's go!"

Almost Instantaneously, Guardian's clear wheel and face started to glow. The metal and rubber circles started to shift positions, and Guardian charged. Pegasus tried to outrun the attack, but it's attempt failed. Guardian slammed Pegasus right back to Sam, who couldn't believe his eyes. Fang, who was standing in the back started to snicker, like he had seen this before, but everyone else was shocked. After a minute of silence, the room was filled with applause.

"How in the world did you do that?" Kiran asked when he managed to break through the rest of the crowd to see his brother. "That was crazy!"

"I don't know," he answered. "I just trained a lot, and then, I just felt something."

"What an amazing match!" Arthur proclaimed. "With two intense matches so far, let's see how this next match will be. The winners of block E and block F, Nick with his libra and Kiran with his Aquario!"

Kiran had battled Nick many times before, he knew Nick's strategy, but Nick also knew his. They both had to mix it up for this match. The two of them launched their beys as hard as they could. Aquario zig zagged across the field, but Libra mimicked the movements. The two were hunting each other down but with no avail.

"We aren't getting anywhere!" Nick said. "Libra, fall back."

Libra slowed itself down and tackled Aquario when it came back around. Aquario flew high into the air, but landed back on top of Libra, knocking it off balance. While being slanted, Libra charged smashing into Aquario's bottom, reflected off of the metal, and got its balance back. Aquario was knocked off of the ground by this blow, and lost a lot of speed.

"Don't give up Aquario," Kiran screamed. "Let's go!" Suddenly, Aquario started gaining speed. After a few seconds, Aquario was spinning faster than ever.

"What's going on?" Nick questioned. "Get him Libra!"

Libra charged but Aquario just reflected the attacks like they were nothing. Aquario kept speeding up and then started attacking, like it had a mind of it's own. Libra was taking heavy damage, Aquario just kept hammering away. Then suddenly, Aquario sped up, circled the stadium three times in a matter of seconds, and charged at Libra.

"Libra get out of there!" Nick shouted.

Libra tried to escape, but it was too late. Libra was tossed into the air and fell apart before landing back in the center of the stadium. Aquario returned back to Kiran, who was still confused about what had just happened, and the room went wild.

"Well, that surely was intense!" Arthur stated. "And with that, we have our three semifinalists, Kiran, Kole, and Fang! 15 minutes until that starts, so bladers, get ready!"

* * *

"They're both pretty strong."

"They are getting close to it..."

Chapter 3: A Turn Of Events

"Time for the semifinals! Now, instead of how we normally do things, a round robin, there will be a slight turn of events. We will pick one name using my laptop, and whoever it is, will battle me, in a three round battle in our new challenge stadium, for a chance in the finals!"

The whole crowd gathered around the laptop watching the names flash on the screen, until it stopped. Fang worked his way through the crowd, making his way to the challenge stadium, which was to the right of the battle royale stadium. This stadium was a lot different from the other stadiums. It used the best technology in order to make a stadium that can change its environment to make the best battle. This stadium was a lot more advanced then the old obstacle stadium, which just had rocks in it, this one could create anything, and all within a few seconds.

"Alright," Arthur said while preparing himself for the battle. "Lets get this party started." Arthur took out his Tornado Eagle 75 R2F and walked to the stadium.

"3, 2, 1, Go Shoot!" the crowd shouted. Fang twisted his launcher to the side as he launched, while Arthur just launched like normal. Wolf moved around the stadium in a flower pattern, as Eagle swiftly moved in a zig zag pattern, nimbly dodging Wolf. After about fifteen seconds into the battle, a green grid appeared on the bottom of the stadium, and small trees started to sprout from the ground. Eagle anticipated the trees growth, and flew around the course hunting Wolf down and dodging all of the trees. Meanwhile, Wolf was smashing through all of the trees and throwing wood at Eagle as it approached. Eagle charged toward Wolf, who had just used his hooks to toss a tree at Eagle, and used the tree as a ramp. Eagle smashed down on top of Wolf, heavily damaging it, and making it lose a lot of speed, and the green grid appeared again. This time, all of the tree's disappeared, and grass started to appear. The two beys were hammering away at each other, Wolf trying to grapple onto Eagle, but or kept dodging and countering. Not much had happened before the green grid appeared again, this time, the field was split into three sections. The two outer ones had grass while the one in the middle was a raging river, that had a small wooden bridge in the center. 

Eagle was flying through this grass like it was nothing, smashing Wolf, who was quickly running out of stamina, all throughout the stadium. One hit sent Wolf flying on its side, straight across the bridge, leaving behind cuts and cracks. The green grid appeared again, this time, it replaced the grass with a rocky canyon cliffside, with the same bridge across the gap. Wolf started to gain back speed here, and started hunting down Eagle, dodging all of the rocks. Eagle, on the other hand was having trouble on this new terrain, and was crashing a lot while trying to outrun Wolf. Wolf had finally caught up, and Eagle tried attacking, only to miss and crash into another rock. Wolf circled back, knocking the unbalanced Eagle into the air and onto the bridge, getting its R2F stuck in one of the cracks. Wolf darted across the stadium, slicing through the ropes holding the bridge up, and sending Eagle falling to the bottom of the canyon. The battle was over, Fang called his Wolf back, and the crowd was wild with excitement.

"Next time," Fang growled. "I'll won't give you any mercy."

Fang and Arthur both got ready for the next, Arthur thinking over his strategy, while Arthur was quietly talking to Wolf. "3, 2, 1, Go Shoot!" the crowd shouted. Wolf immediately started attacking Eagle, showing no mercy, like he had said. The green grid appeared, filling the whole stadium with grass. Wolf stopped attacking, and also stopped moving, as he was a great disadvantage on this terrain. Eagle flew at Wolf, knocking it around the stadium, up into the air, and smashing into the ground, over and over again. The green grid appeared again, this time taking away the grass, but not putting anything else there. The two beys charged at each other, Wolf grabbed on to Eagle, and threw it across the stadium. Eagle flew back at Wolf as a counter attack, and almost knocked it out of the stadium. Suddenly, the green grid appeared, but nothing happened.

"Is this thing broken?" someone from the crowd asked.

Then, one of the squares on the grid turned red, and a second later, a laser erupted from it. Wolf and Eagle were still battling it out in the center, Wolf zig zaging at Eagle, and Eagle attacking Wolf back.

"This is getting us nowhere." Fang stated as he turned his back to the stadium. "Finish this Wolf!"

Wolf's clear wheel started to glow, and a dark energy started flowing out of the bey. The whole crowd gasped as Wolf charged at Eagle, sending it flying back and burning a fang mark into its metal wheel. Arthur was shocked at what was happening, but then, he got an idea.

"Eagle," Arthur called. "Lets go!"

Right as the square on the grid behind Wolf turned red, Eagle swooped in and knocked it backwards. The laser shot Wolf high up in the air, but it was still spinning. Eagle circled back around and hit the edge of a red square, just as the laser came out. Eagle flew up at Wolf, hitting the bottom edge of the metal wheel, knocking it so it fell to the ground on its side, Arthur won. The crowd was screaming with excitement. Fang not the other hand, was full of rage. His eyes had turned red and his beyblade was glowing with a dark energy.

"3, 2, 1, Go Shoot!" the crowd cheered. Fang twisted his launcher to the side as he launched. Wolf was moving around in a flower pattern, but Eagle kept dodging the attacks. The green grid appeared, but this time there was a new terrain. The stadium floor was replaced with rocky magma that had dozens of cracks on it. Wolf's bottom kept getting stuck in the cracks, as Eagle smoothly glided across, hammering down on it.

"I've had enough of you!" Fang growled. His eyes were red, and it looked as if his hoodie was radiating with a dark energy. Wolf was acting up too, its clear wheel was glowing, its facebolt turned red, and it charged at Eagle, leaving a trail of dark energy behind. Luckily for Eagle, right as Wolf approached it, the ground started to sink into lava. Wolf was scorched, it circled back immediately after making contact. Eagle raced around the stadium, ramming the back of Wolf, and sending it back into the lava. Wolf was swallowed, and the crowd started cheering wildly.

"No!" Fang screamed. "It isn't over! I will destroy you!" His eyes glared at Arthur, all of his rage was aimed at him, and the crowd was silenced. Suddenly, lava exploded everywhere, as Wolf erupted from the underneath. Wolf charged, crashing into Eagle, and sending to the center of the stadium, into the lava. The green grid appeared again, this time, changing the environment back to a familiar setting. The stadium was split into three sections, the two outer ones were filled with grass while the middle one had a raging river, with a small wooden bridge in the center. Unlike the last time on this terrain, wolf was moving swiftly, as the grass around him was ripped up from the ground. Eagle dashed across the stadium, barely making it across the bridge before being grinder against the stadium wall by Wolf. Eagle managed to escape defeat and tried to attack from the side, by Wolf simply repelled it sending it flying back to bridge. Wolf tried to cut the bridge, like last time, but Arthur saw this coming and commanded Eagle to move away. Wolf was a monster, half of the grass had been destroyed, and it kept smashing Eagle's metal wheel, leaving fang markings everywhere. The green grid appeared again changing all of the grass to a rocky cliffside, with boulders scattered everywhere.

"Wolf," Fang called. "Let your bey spirit come to life. Destroy Eagle!" Wolf did just as his master commanded and slammed eagle straight into the side of the wall. Wolf's hooks shredded against Eagles bottom, grinding some of the rubber to dust, knocking away the rest of it, and sending Eagle toppling towards the center of the stadium. The green grid appeared once again, right before Eagle fell to its death. The big gap was now replaced and was now identical to the rest of the stadium, except Forrest the rocks falling from the ceiling.

"I'm not done yet," Arthur stated. Eagle was off balance and losing stamina, but it was still spinning. Fang smirked, almost as if he was laughing at Arthur's effort. Wolf charged again, avoiding all of the falling rocks, and slicing right through the bottom of its spin track, and swallowing the rest of it in darkness. Eagle would have just fallen over, but that wasn't good enough for Fang. Wolf's metal wheel was now cloaked in a dark energy and it hooked onto the bottom of Eagle's metal wheel and sprung up from the ground. The remains of Eagle were thrown to the ground, and bounced up before being crushed by a falling rock. Wolf landed on the ground and chased towards the rock, as what looked like a wolf formed of the energy appeared from Wolf's face. The wolf jumped on top of the rock, sending pieces of it flying everywhere, leaving the shattered hopes of Eagle sprawled throughout the stadium. The crowd was shocked, not really sure of what happened, as Arthur picked up Eagle's remains. Fang called wolf back to his hand, turned away from everyone else, and sat in the corner of the room. Arthur, who had finally picked up all of his bey, was now in the center of the crowd announcing again.

"Well," he started. "What a match, am I right? So Fang has moved on to the finals! Next will be another three round match between Kiran and Kole for the other spot in the finals! These are two really experienced bladers, and this ought to be a good match! Get ready bladers!"

* * *

"Fang seems to be getting stronger."

"It's good thing we sent him."

"Well, the two of them are up next."

"Lets see how far that they have come since then."

Chapter 4: Battle of Brothers

Kiran and Kole were both very excited for this match, and so was the crowd. The two brothers were the best bladers in town. As the two of them got ready, the orange haired kid with Bull from the first round approached Kiran.

"You better win this match," he said. "If I'm going to lose to anyone, I want it to be the champ."

"Thanks, um..." Kiran started.

"The name's Felix, remember it, we might face of again later."

Kiran walked up to the challenge stadium and confronted his brother. The two of them battled all of the time, they both knew each others every move. "3, 2, 1, Go Shoot!" the crowd screamed as they launched their beys. Aquario immediately went on the attack, but was repelled by Guardian. No matter how many times Aquario hit, Guardians defensive power was too high. The green grid appeared, changing the stadium to a sandy island with coconut trees, that was surrounded by water. Kiran saw an opening and sent Aquario charging at Guardians track. Guardian couldn't grip the ground like it normally would, because of all the sand, and was sent toppling around. Guardian switched to attack mode and rammed Aquario into one of the trees. Coconuts rained down on top of Aquario, severely knocking it off balance. Aquario almost fell into the water, but the grid appeared again, changing the stadium to a place with cracked ground, that had lava pouring out of it. Guardian struck again, this time bashing Aquarios bottom and sending it flying into the air, right to the edge of the stadium. Guardian tried another attack to knock Aquario out, but Aquario dodged at the last second. The crowd gasped, but Kole smirked.

"Now Guardian," he commanded. Guardian landed on top of the stadium wall, and rode back in, slamming Aquario into lava. Aquario couldn't take it anymore and toppled over, out of stamina. Guardian returned to Kole and the crowd cheered. Kiran picked up his Aquario and started rethinking his strategy.

"3, 2, 1, Go Shoot!" The two of them launched their beys, and Aquario landed on Guardian, knocking it off balance right from the start. Aquario followed up with another hit, this time too the bottom, sending Guardian skidding across the stadium. The green grid appeared, and changed the whole field to a grassy plain. Aquario was relentlessly attacking and never giving Guardian time to recover. Not much time had past before the green grid appeared. The middle of the stadium had turned into a raging river with a bridge in the center. Aquario kept attacking until it knocked Guardian onto the bridge. Kole screamed out to Guardian, and its clear wheel started glowing. Guardian finally regained its balance, but Aquario clashed into it again. The two of them were battling it out on the bridge, and the grid appeared again. Everything inside it disappeared, and the two of them wrier falling to their deaths. Then, Kiran and Kole realized that the two beys were floating. The two beys were now flying around the stadium, literally, and smashing each other everywhere. Both of them were running out of stamina.

"This battle could be over soon!" Arthur exclaimed. "It's anyone's game right now."

The green grid appeared, changing the stadium back to normal. Aquario and Guardian both hit the ground, collided with each other, and flew back to different sides.

"Aquario!" Kiran screamed. Aquario gathered up all of its stamina and charged at Guardian. It slammed into the bottom of Guardian's metal wheel, sending Guardian crashing down, a second before Aquario stopped spinning. Everyone went crazy, well, except Fang who was standing in the back corner.

"3, 2, 1, Go Shoot!" Aquario circled the stadium, waiting for an opening. Guardian went on the attack this time, slamming Aquario into the center of the stadium. It kept swooping in, smashing into Aquario every few seconds. The green grid appeared and broke the stadium apart, creating various gaps. Aquario tried to strike Guardian from the side, but was easily reflected and sent hurdling into the air. Swiftly, Aquario flipped itself over, landing on top of Guardian and knocking it off balance. Guardian was toppling around, getting stuck in the cracks and scrapping the ground.

"It looks like Guardian is about to wear out," Arthur said.

Kole smirked, Guardian started to speed up and its clear wheel started to glow. Guardian hopped up from the gap it was stuck in just as the green grid appeared. The whole stadium was changed to normal, but the grid remained. They both knew there were going to be lasers. Guardian charged, the circles on its wheel rapidly smashed Aquario, then with a final move, Guardian rushed Aquario sending it flying backwards, into a laser. The crowd started to cheer, but Kiran just grinned.

"Now Aquario!" he screamed. The laser burst high into the sky, as Aquario, now covered in energy from the laser, charged at Guardian. Guardian dodged, but Aquario kept going, right up the stadium wall and slamming back down on top of Guardian, sending another laser erupting throughout the stadium. The crowd was in awe as Kiran called his Aquario back. Kole, the champion, had been defeated.

"Incredible!" Arthur exclaimed. "With a come from behind victory, Kiran claims a spot in the finals against Fang!" The crowd was going wild with excitement. Kiran walked over to Kole to talk.

"Good job little bro," Kole said. "I never knew that you had that in you! You're going to dominate in the finals!"

* * *

"So, it looks like he is the one who advanced."

"He has gotten a lot stronger. He might even pass this test..."

Chapter 5: The Finals (Kiran)

The day had been leading up to this match. I had been through some hard battles to get to this point, but I was ready. Fang, my opponent, stood in the corner, his face was still hidden. He was talking to his beyblade, I think, but based off of the other things his bey had done, this didn't surprise me.

"It's time for the finals!" Arthur shouted. "Everyone, get around the battle royal stadium, this is going to be a great match!"

The crowd was cheering like crazy. I started to walk to the stadium, but was interrupted by Fang. He looked at me, his eyes pierced through me, filling me with fear. His mere presence made the place feel different.

"Kiran," my brother said as he approached me. "Kick his butt for me." He knew that this would cheer me up. I felt a lot better now, and walked up to the arena. Fang was standing there, glaring at me. Arthur came up to me just before the match started. I could tell that this was serious just from the expression on his face. He wasn't normally that serious, this was something new for him.

"This guy, whoever he is, is no joke," he started. "That beyblade of his is something else. He will do whatever it takes to win, even if he has to destroy your Aquario." I looked down at my launcher, to my partner. He was my one true friend besides Kole, my greatest memory of my father. "Just, don't take this battle lightly." Arthur finished as he walked away.

"Alright everyone! 3, 2, 1, Go Shoot!" Right after the launch, Wolf came flying at Aquario. It slammed it into the side of the stadium, then hooked on to it and threw it across the stadium. Fang started laughing, his same maniacal laugh, as he sent Wolf charging, throwing Aquario into the wall, almost knocking out. Wolf struck again, this time Aquario barely dodged it. I couldn't believe how fast and strong Wolf was. How could I beat a bey that doesn't even give me a chance to strike back. The two beys collided in the center, Aquario finally was able to get some balance back. Aquario lunged in at wolf, but it instantaneously dodged, countering and sending Aquario toppling over.

"Finish this!" Fang growled. Wolf's clear wheel started to glow and it charged. The dark energy cloaked the metal wheel and charged at Aquario. After being sliced by Wolf three times, Aquario stopped spinning and crashed to the ground, with three fang marks on its metal wheel. Wolf returned to Fang who was laughing again. The crowd was cheering wildly. I went over and picked up Aquario and started rethinking my strategy. If he can use that dark energy in a strong attack, there has to be a way to wear him down, I thought. If I can keep my distance until he slows down, I might win.

"3, 2, 1, Go Shoot!" The crowd chanted. Now on a new strategy, Aquario was speeding around the stadium, avoiding Wolf at all costs. Wolf was fast though, and occasionally got some hits on the back of Aquario.

"Come on you coward," Fang growled. "You're a weakling. To think that you were his son!" Anger was slowly building up inside me, not only due to the insult, but the mention of my father.

"What do you know about my dad," I snapped. My anger was feeding Fang, but it was impossible to calm down.

"I know more than you could ever imagine. Beat me, and I just might tell you something. Now, Wolf, let's go!" Wolf slowly dropped away from Aquario and made its way into the center of the stadium. "Wolf! Dark Vortex!" Wolf's clear wheel started to glow and it started to spin faster. Dark energy was pouring out of it, and the speed of its spinning caused the energy to fly everywhere, almost as if it was a vortex. Aquario was tossed into the air multiple times, each time it took more damage. I started to panic, knowing that I was going to lose, but tried one last thing to win.

"Aquario," I shouted repeatedly. Aquario started to spin faster, and its clear wheel glowed faintly. It started circling the stadium in the opposite direction of the vortex, crashing through all of the energy. But this time, it sliced through them, like they were a mere piece of paper. The energy was actually speeding Aquario up. "Now!" I exclaimed. Immediately, Aquario stopped circling the stadium and charged at Wolf, who now had no energy surrounding it, and lost a lot of stamina. With one blow, Aquario clashed into the track, sending Wolf flying sideways before toppling over. The crowd cheered in amazement. I called Aquario back to me and examined it. After looking at it for only a few seconds, I knew that it couldn't take much more.

"3, 2, 1, Go Shoot!" Wolf charged immediately, knocking Aquario off balance right from the start. Aquario tried to dodge The attacks, but Wolf was too fast. After attacking five times, Wolf hooked onto Aquario and spun it around while slamming against the ground. Aquario was taking a lot of damage, but somehow, it managed to break out of Wolf's grasp, and break one of the hooks. Fang was steaming with anger.

"Wolf, Chaotic Hurl!" Fang screamed. Wolf clocked itself in the dark energy and rushed at Aquario. After hooking onto it, dark energy surged everywhere. Aquario's metal wheel almost disintegrated because of this. Then, Wolf raced to the stadium wall, as the dark energy made a Wolf appear on top of its face. Wolf leaped into the air, off of the wall, and let go of Aquario. The wolf made of energy clutched Aquario in it's mouth, launching it down onto the ground.

"Hang in there Aquario!" I screamed. Aquario's metal wheel clashed into the ground. Barely being able to spin, Aquario found its way back up.

"Your father would be ashamed!" Fang said, barely being able to hold in his laughter. The wolf made of energy subsided as Wolf landed on back on the ground. Fang turned his back on the stadium, laughing as Wolf moved in for a final attack. I on the other hand couldn't hold in my anger any longer. Fang wasn't going to talk about my dad that way and get away with it.

"Aquario! Let's go!" Aquario started to speed up and its clear wheel began to glow. Wolf's attack bounced right off of Aquario, and now Aquario charged. One hit to Wolf's track sent it flying, landing outside of the stadium, right behind Fang.

"Kiran is the winner!" Arthur exclaimed. The crowd was full of excitement. I glanced over at Fang to see that he was smiling, and his Wolf, which was still spinning, started to glow.

"Wolf!" He started, and everyone turned to face him. "Dark Vortex!" The dark energy instantly poured out of Wolf, creating a bigger and fiercer vortex than before. Everyone hit the ground, hiding under tables and behind stadiums as the energy ripped through the room. Fang's maniacal laughter suddenly vanished, as did the energy. Slowly, everyone got up. Nothing had been damaged, except for a few marks on the ground. Fang and Wolf had disappeared, leaving behind a crumpled piece of paper in his spot. As the room started to fill with conversation, Kole, Arthur, and I walked over to see what the paper was. I picked it up to see that it was a flyer for a tournament that was happening in the next week. At the bottom of the page there was a message in a weird hand writing that looked like scratches from a beyblade. It read:

You have passed. We have been watching you for a while. Come to this tournament if you want to know more. Your journey is just beginning.

I read this over a couple of times before showing it to Kole and Arthur, trying to figure out what it meant. Arthur looked at it and immediately smiled.

"What a coincidence," he started. "I was going to form at team with the three semifinalists and go to that tournament." His smile started to fade. "Well, now that Fang left, we are one person short, that is if you two want to go." Kole and I both agreed. If Fang left this on purpose, it could be important, especially considering that he claimed to have known something about our father.

"Hey," Nick said coming up to us. "I'll come with you guys."

"Ok then," Arthur stated. "I guess-"

"Not so fast," Felix interrupted, walking over. "I want in too."

"It's a maximum of four people per team," Arthur said, thinking about how to choose. "You two can battle for it." The two of them went over to the battle royal stadium, preparing for a huge battle.

"3, 2, 1, Go Shoot!" Arthur exclaimed. Nick's Libra attacked first, but missed Felix's Bull. Bull countered and smashing into Libra's bottom, knocking it off balance. Libra kept trying to hit Bull, but it kept missing.

"What's wrong with you Libra!" Nick yelled. "Get him already!" Libra used almost all of his stamina in one attack, which barely scraped Bull. Felix laughed at his attempt.

"You get angry too easily," Felix stated. "Bull, let's win this thing." Bull moved swiftly, smashing Libra from the side and sending it flying out of the stadium.

"That settles it," Arthur said. "Felix is a part of our team now."

* * *

"He passed. He has gotten stronger."

"They both have. Fang did a good job."

"Zero, it's your turn now. You have a tournament to attend to."

 Chapter 6:

The four boys met up at Beytopia three days before the tournament would start. Even though it was only 75 miles away, they wanted to get there early, and were afraid that they might get lost in the desert on the way there. Lots of beybladers wished them good lucks they headed onto the bus that Arthurs father rented for them.

The bus was huge. There were two televisions hanging from the ceiling and luxurious seats on the sides. After they started driving away, the bus driver told them that they could walk around if they wanted, and then closed a tinted black window behind him. The first 68 miles were great. The boys were relaxing, drinking soda, and watching TV. That all changed when they got into the desert, and right after they heard the sound of four motorcycles.

All of the boys looked out of the window top see what it was. There were four boys, one was 15, two were 13, and one was 11. That 11 year old probably shouldn't have been riding a motor cycle. The 13 and 11 year old pulled something out of their pockets, beyblade launchers, and aimed them at the bus. Felix, Kiran, Kole, and Arthur all ducked, as the glass window shattered and the two beyblades flew through it, followed by there owners. 

Now they had a closer look at them. The 11 year old wore an unbuttoned jacket with a black shirt underneath. His right sleeve was rolled up, and he had a glove on. Also, he was wearing rider slacks and had his hair in a spiky downward style. Wailing Gemios Blade100 Xtreme Rubber Flat was his beyblade. Wailing looked like the killer metal wheel, but with bumps from the Vulcan metal wheel. The B100 looked like W105, but was straight and free spinning.

The 13 year old wore black pants with a red shirt, and a black cape. His beyblade was Stealth Shadow Mimic 80 Glide. Stealth was like a fusion of poison and mercury. Shadow was black, and looked like Pegasus, but was spiky. M80 was 80 millimeters tall, while glide was dome shaped.

"You guys can't just break through a window and barge in like that!" Kiran screamed at them. "What do you think you're doing?" The two boys laughed at this, and sent their beys right at the others. Without anytime to react, the four launched their beys.

"Kairu, you take Arthur and Felix," the 13 year old ordered.

"How do you know are names?" Felix asked. Neither of them answered, and Gemios rushed in. It took both Eagle and Bull to stop Gemios from crashing them out of the window. Shadow, on the other hand, was swiftly moving throughout the bus, closing in on Aquario. Guardian quickly moved in front Aquario, blocking Shadow's attack. Eagle and Bull were both circling Gemios, who was now defensively in the middle of the bus.

A loud noise interrupted their battle. Arthur looked out the window to see the 13 year old on the right of the bus and 15 year old on the left. Both of them launched their beyblades, and they cut through the back two tires. Distracted by this, Arthur didn't notice Gemios charge at eagle. When he looked back, eagle was implanted in one of the seats. Bull was the next to go, as Gemios slammed into it, sending it right back to Felix. It landed on the ground and spun for a second before stopping.

"Need any help Xad?" Kairu asked. He didn't even wait for an answer, and sent Gemios at Guardian. Both Aquario and Guardian had taken heavy damage from Shadow already, and now that a new threat was approaching, they knew that they wouldn't last that much longer.

"What's all of that noise?" The driver asked them as he pulled the window down. "First our tires break, and now you guys are being so vociferous. What a day!"

The driver was still unaware of the impending battle taking place in the back seat. Guardian was about to give out. Xad must have noticed this, as Shadow sped up and smashed Guardian. It flew right at the back of the driver's head, knocking him unconscious. The bus, with two flat tires and no driver, was out of control, racing aimlessly around the desert.

"You want to finish this up Kairu?" Xad asked. Kairu never answered, and instead just sent Gemios at Aquario.

"Gemios! Dark move, Regret!" He screamed. Right before contact, Gemios disappeared. Seconds later, the bus was filled with darkness, and the sound of metal clashing. The darkness peeled away, leaving behind Aquario, who had stopped spinning and was heavily damaged, and the destroyed bus, now covered with scratches. The two boys and their beys were gone.

"Well," Kiran started. "What are we supposed to do now?"

* * *

"Yes, hello. We have arrived, and the deed is done. Those four will be lucky to find their way here alive."

 Chapter 7: What a dream!

After gathering their beys and trying to wake the bus driver, the four boys decided to form a plan. The tournament was three days away, and they were about five miles away. They figured that if they could keep walking in the desert for long enough, they could make it in time. Luckily, there were some extra blankets in the back of the bus, which they took just in case.

The desert was confusing. Every place was similar to the last, making it almost impossible to know where you were going. Also, since it was night time now, darkness filled the land.

"Let's stop here for now," Arthur said. "It's late and dark. We can lay out the blankets, get some sleep, and continue in the morning when it is light." No one disagreed with this judgement, so they set up like Arthur instructed. They all fell asleep quickly, and got a great sleep.

Ok, maybe Kole didn't have that good of a sleep. He had a dream that night that was unlike any other that he ever had. It started off with him falling, but not like a regular fall. He was slowly floating down, to the bottom of a dark pit. The sound of a beyblade battle was echoing throughout the pit. Finally, after what seemed like hours, he landed on the ground.

"So, it's finally time," a booming voice said. As it spoke, the sounds of the battle stopped. It's voice was strong and forceful. "You are strong enough now. It is nice to finally speak to you." Kole was so confused, it seemed so real. He tried to speak, but his mouth was sealed shut, and his voice had vanished. "I can't talk with you here for long, but I can show where we can talk later on. Visit me tomorrow, but bring Kiran, Arthur, and Felix."

The voice slowly faded away, leaving Kole in the bottom of the dark pit. It was silent, but not for long. Suddenly, a bright flash came from underneath him and the pit was filled with light. Kole was sent flying into the air, slowly, only a little faster than his fall. Images flashed before him, of the desert, and many other things. He couldn't make sense what was going on, but he just knew that he had to meet the voice, and now he knew where.

He woke with a start at about 10:00 AM. Everyone else was still sleeping, but Kole really wanted to get moving.

"Get up!" he screamed as he shook them all awake. "We have to get moving right now!"

"What the heck is going on!" Felix replied in his rude awakening.

"No time to explain," Kole simply stated. "It's just a change in plans. I just feel like we need to go somewhere." Arthur and Felix tried to argue, but Kiran, being his brother, knew there was no way they could win. After a minute, they moved out, Kole leading the way to the place he had seen. After an hour of wandering, he stopped them, he had made it, but there was nothing.

"But it's supposed to be right here!" Kole screamed, running over to where it was. Kiran, Arthur, and Felix all looked at him like he was crazy. Then, the most unexpected thing happened. The ground underneath him collapsed, sending him plummeting down.

 Chapter 8: True Partners

Everyone crowded around the gap in the ground. "Don't worry," Kole shouted up. "I'm ok." The drop had been about seven feet. Kole called the rest of them down, and not knowing what else to do, they followed.

It was pretty hard to believe that something like what was under there had gone unnoticed. It would have been dark if there weren't torches scattered about the wall. Both the walls and the floor were made of a dark rock material. The place looked ancient, and as if nobody had ever set foot there. The group walked throughout the place, down flights of old rock stairs, and throughout what seemed to be a labyrinth. As they walked further, they found a straight hallway. It was mystical, like something you would find in a fiction story. On the walls were gems and diamonds, which shined brightly despite the lighting conditions. There were also paintings, the type that you would find in a caveman's cave. They were paintings of old metal spinning tops, an earlier version of beyblades. The group had no idea how they were here, if the place was as old as they had thought, the people who painted them wouldn't have known anything about beyblade.

When they reached the end of the tunnel, they were greeted by a voice. "You have arrived," it greeted. Kole immediately noticed that it was the same voice as the one from his dream. The boys followed the voice into a dark room, Kole leading the way. Right as they entered, the torches on the wall began to light by themselves. Startled by this, the group hesitated but continued walking forward.

"Kole, you did a good job finding us," the voice said ad it started to speak again. "You proved you truly are worthy." The group stopped walking and just in time. In front of them was a huge sloped hole, a beyblade stadium. Kole was thinking about why it was there, but then realized something the voice had said.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Kole asked. "You said that I 'did a good job finding us,' but you're the only one here, and we don't even know what you look like."

The voice started to laugh and then spoke again. "All of this time and you still don't know what I look like? Wow Kole, I thought you were better than that." The voice stopped as a faint light started glowing from the end of the room. Something stepped forward, a man in dark blue armor with a silver trim, who's face was hidden. It was followed by a Bull, and a great Eagle that soared above them. They all looked real, except for the fact that they were translucent. "Is it all starting to add up now?" the armored man asked.

"It can't be," Kole muttered out. "Is that really you Guardian?" The man nodded. The three of these were the same beasts that were on Kole's, Arthur's, and Felix's beyblades.

"Yep," he stated. "Well, it was decided that you are ready to earn your bey spirits, us." They had heard that word before. Fang had screamed it in the finals, but they were still unsure of what it meant.

"What's a bey spirit?" Felix blurted out. Guardians face was flushed as Bull and Eagle looked at him.

"Maybe you guys aren't ready," Guardian replied. "Nevertheless, you still have to take the final challenge, starting with you Felix." Felix walked forward and faced Guardian, with his question still unanswered. The Bull that was next to Guardian charged forward, jumping over the stadium. In mid air, its body morphed into a ball of energy, which smashed into the center of the stadium. A flash of energy and light filled the room, which cleared to reveal a beyblade spinning where the energy had hit. It wasn't just any beyblade, it was the exact same as Felix's, but it had a weird, strong energy about it. Felix knew exactly what he had to do. Quickly, he pulled out his launcher and beyblade.

"Go Shoot!" he screamed. His Bull ran right at the other, smashing it off balance with one hit. The other Bull was fast though. It sped up right after being hit, and by using its off balanced state, it diagonally slammed the bottom of Bull's metal wheel.

"Is that all you've got Felix?" Bull taunted. "And I was beginning to think you were actually good!" After hearing this, Felix commanded his Bull to finish its opponent. His Bull slammed into its track, sending it hurdling across the stadium, but that wasn't the end. It followed up with a final attack, it charged into the other Bull's tip, sending it flying into the air above the stadium. Metal rained down, as the metal flat tip had been pretty much destroyed.

"You pass," Bull stated. Right before hitting the ground, it transformed back into a ball of energy. This time, it flew up into the air and came back down on Bull's face. Bull started glowing as it was filled with new power. The glowing stopped and Bull returned to him. "Good job Felix," his beyblade said to him.

"Well, one passed. Let's see how the others fare." Guardian called Arthur forward. The Eagle that was flying above swooped down towards the stadium, changing into a ball of energy. The energy slammed into the center of the stadium and sent a flash of light energy throughout the room. It cleared to reveal a beyblade spinning in the center, the same as Arthur's beyblade. Arthur put his Eagle on his launcher.

"Go Shoot!" he screamed. His Eagle flew off of the launcher, but waited for the other to make its move first. The other Eagle attacked, but Arthur's bey dodged. The two of them zigzagged through the stadium, attacking and dodging each other. Arthur almost cursed as his opponent got a solid hit on his track. His bey was now wobbling out of control. The other Eagle glided around the stadium, randomly diving in and smashing Eagle's metal wheel.

"Don't give up Eagle!" Arthur cried out. His Eagle finally balanced itself out, but it looked like it was too late. The other Eagle smashed right into it, sending it up the side of the stadium and hurdling into the air. Arthur started to panic, but then a small grin appeared on his face. "Now Eagle!" he screamed. Eagle flipped itself over in the air, and dived down to strike the top of its opponents metal wheel. It followed up with a blitz, constantly bashing into the other Eagle, before knocking it off balance. It started to topple over but just before hitting the ground, it turned into a ball of energy and flew into the face of Arthur's Eagle.

Two down, one to go. Kole stepped up, knowing that he was going to have to face Guardian. Guardian ran towards the stadium, slowly morphing into a stream of energy. The energy slammed int the center of the stadium, leaving behind the same beyblade Kole used. Kole, who now had his beyblade ready was preparing for one of the biggest battles of his life.

"Go Shoot!" he screamed. His Guardian hit the stadium and slowed down, waiting for his opponent. The other Guardian took advantage of this, and charged with a merciless attack. Kole's Guardian was fast, it dodged half of the attacks that were thrown at it. Now, he went on the attack.

"Show me what you can do Kole!" the other Guardian tested. Kole accepted this challenge and sent his bey flying at his opponent. The attack would have done a lot of damage, if the opponent Guardian. Kole's bey was merely reflected off of it's metal wheel.

"That was pathetic," Guardian sighed. "Oh well, I guess it's my turn now." With that, it charged into war. After three hits, its clear wheel started to glow with a bright energy. Kole new exactly what was coming.

"Guardian!" he screamed to his bey. "Let's do this!" His bey's clear wheel started to glow, but the same thing was happening with his opponent. Kole's Guardian charged, smashing right into a pillar of energy that was now surrounding his enemy. The energy reflected the attack, and cleared to reveal the opponent, with a Guardian made of blue energy standing on top of it.

"Now the battle will truly begin!" the Guardian shouted. Kole's bey wasn't a match against this. The energy Guardian was wielding a sword, and continuously smashed down on top of it. Kole's Guardian was losing stamina fast as it was smacked around the stadium.

"Don't give up!" Kole cried out. Guardian snickered at this and swung his sword again. With that, Kole's bey flew up into the air. "Well then, I guess you aren't ready." The Guardian raised his sword up into the air. His grip on the sword intensified as a pulse of energy erupted from his arm. The energy travelled through the sword and it began to glow.

"Celestial Slash!" The Guardian swung his sword towards Kole's bey, which was still sailing through the air. The energy flew out of the blade in a crescent like wave. Everyone thought that it was over, but Kole had a different idea.

"Guardian!" he cried out, just like in the tournament. Even in the air, the bey was able to speed up. The circles on its metal wheel started to shift as it braced for the impact. Light exploded throughout the room as the energy clashed with Kole's Guardian. When he was able to see again, Kole saw that there was no damage at all doe to his bey. In fact, the energy was just swirling around it. With a final battle cry from Kole, the energy formed into a beam. With the speed of a bullet, the energy flew right into the other Guardians track. Light filled the room again, as pieces of the Guardian scattered around. The light cleared to show a ball of energy, which flew right at the face of Kole's Guardian. Kole returned his bey and the group celebrated his victory.

"Well done Kole," Guardian's voice said. Small beams of energy came out of Kole, Felix, and Arthur's beys. The morphed into the translucent beings from before. Guardian continued to speak. "You all have passed, and with every triumph comes a reward. You are now some of the few people who have a special power. The power to control a bey spirit."

"What about me?" Kiran questioned. "Why does everyone else get a bey spirit? Where's mine?" The three bey spirits looked at each other before Guardian spoke again.

"Well," Guardian said. His voice was a little shaky as he spoke, almost as if he was hiding something. "It just isn't your time yet."

"Anyway," Arthur interrupted. "How are we supposed to get out of here? We're trapped in the middle of a desert and our tournament is in two days!" Guardian led the group over to a wall in the back of the room. He slammed his fist against it and the wall shook. It collapsed, leaving a flight of stairs into the desert.

"We're about an hours walk away from the desert. We can get there before nightfall and stay at a hotel for the night." Guardian walked up the steps and led the way toward the city.

Chapter 9: The Start of a New Journey

After staying the night at the hotel, the group woke up in the morning and wandered the city. For a city in the middle of a desert, it was huge. Skyscrapers climbed into the skies, towering over the hundreds of people who lived there. The group found a small beyblade shop and stayed there for an hour or two while they trained with their newly gained partners. After finally getting some control over their power, they decided to leave and get some rest before the tournament.

"We're gonna dominate in that tournament tomorrow!" Felix exclaimed as they were leaving.

"Yeah," Kole replied. "These bey spirits really are strong. A long as we can control them we can..." His speech was interrupted by the sound of a beyblade flying past them. It was unlike any other bey that they had seen before. It had a black metal face on top that depicted a Reaper with a scythe. This was followed by a black clear wheel shaped in blade like patterns. Its metal wheel was black and circular, but with to spikes on each side. Its track was a white d125, the only part they could make out besides the metal face, and had a white bottom which looked like a wide ball, but bigger. The bey flew into an alley near the store, and Kole ran after it.

The group followed, but when they reached the end of the alley, there was nobody there.

"Well well," a voice from behind said. The group turned around to see two boys, one 15 years old and one 13 years old. They immediately recognized them from the bus ride to the city. These were the two boys that popped the bus's tires. "We finally meet."

The 15 year old was wearing a pair of black jeans with a grey t-shirt. Over that, he had a black jacket. His hair was spiky and black. The 13 year old was wearing a black jacket with dark blue jeans and red shoes. He had jet black hair which covered his left eye.

"What do you guys want with us?" Kiran asked with a little bit of anger. "First you destroy our bus, now you corner us in an alley. Seriously, what is wrong with you guys?"

"We have our reasons," the 15 year old replied. "We have been watching you guys for a long time, and we just thought it was time that we met in person. I'm Zero, and my friend here is the Dark Phantom."

"Well then," Kole started. For some reason, he had a bad feeling about these two people and wanted to get out of there as soon as he could. "We better get going, we have to go to a tournament tomorrow." The group tried to walk out of the alley, but the Dark Phantom blocked their path. His eyes, which had no pupils, gazed at them, filling them with fear.

"You guys can't leave just yet," Zero stated. "It's too soon. We haven't even been fully acquainted yet." Both Zero and the Dark Phantom pulled out their launchers and beyblades. The group knew what this meant and immediatly did the same. "Only two, it has to be fair."

"Kiran and I can handle this," Kole said to Felix and Arthur. The two of them lowered their launchers and walked backwards a little bit.

"3, 2, 1, Go Shoot!" they screamed. Right after the launch, Kole and Kiran took the time to analyze their opponents beys. The Dark Phantom was using the beybldae that they had seen earlier. Zero's beyblade had a mercury wheel with a Phoenix clear wheel. Unfortunately for Kiran and Kole, those were the only parts that they knew. Its track was a red 135, but had 12 flames on it. The bottom was a flat bottom, but made of Phoenix feathers.

Both Kiran and Kole went on the attack at first, Kole attacking the Dark Phantom and Kiran went for Zero. Phantom was fast and dodged almost every attack Guardian threw at him. Phoenix and Aquario were equally matched. Guardian was loosing stamina very quickly, his rubber ball not working very well on the rocky texture of the alley. Phantom took advantage of this weakness and attacked Guardian from the side, slamming him into the wall. Kiran took his eyes off of the battle that he was in with Zero and turned all of his attention toward his brother's beyblade. With a silent command, Aquario dashed away from Phoenix and charged at Phantom, sending it flying backwards a few feet. The Dark Phantom didn't even show a reaction to the attack, and just by looking at his bey, it vanished into darkness.

"You two are better than we expected," Zero stated. "Looks like it's time to stop holding back!" With that, he looked toward the Dark Phantom, who still hadn't said anything the whole time, as if he was giving a signal. The Dark Phantom didn't even acknowledge the glance. Kole sent his Guardian, whose clear wheel was now starting to glow, charging at Phoenix. The attack was in vain, as right before contact, it was knocked backwards. Phantom had seemed to appear out of nowhere, and disappeared from view again just as fast. "Time for the fight to truly begin!" Zero exclaimed. He motioned his right hand forward and Phoenix charged right at Aquario.

"I've got Phoenix," Kiran told Kole as he commanded Aquario to charge forward. The two beys clashed in the middle of the alley, both evenly matched yet again. Aquario followed up with another attack and slammed its metal wheel into Phoenix's bottom. Finally having taken some damage, Phoenix slightly moved backwards and its clear wheel began to glow with a reddish orange light. Once again, Aquario charged forwards aiming for Phoenix's track, but was blocked as Phantom appeared right in front of it. Phantom relentlessly attacked, driving Aquario backwards as if it were trying to buy some time for its partner. Guardian entered the battle again, circling around Aquario and smashing Phantom into a wall. Phoenix's clear wheel was now erupting with flames and it charged towards the other three beyblades.

"Although this has been so much fun, it can't last forever. Phoenix! Eruption Fireblaze!" Zero commanded. Phoenix started to move even faster, and the flames from the clear wheel rapidly increased. It was now only 15 feet away from both Aquario and Guardian. The smell of smoke filled the air as the flames climbed higher into the sky, forming into a Phoenix. Zero laughed as the flames on its track increased in size and ignited. Now only five feet away, Phoenix let out a cry that echoed off of the walls. The beast crashed down towards Aquario. Guardian moved forward trying to protect it and Phantom disappeared from the field. The flames exploded throughout the alley, flying every direction as metal clashing filled the air. Finally, the flames cleared to reveal the translucent Guardian standing onto of the almost destroyed Guardian beyblade. His sword had sliced the Phoenix in half right before the impact and absorbed most of the damage, but he had still almost been destroyed.

"A bey spirit?" Zero questioned. "I knew that you two were strong, but to think that you were worthy of that! Fang was right after all!" Both Kole and Kiran grimaced at the sound of that name. If Zero knew Fang, Dark Phantom probably did too, and that could also mean that they knew about Kiran and Kole's dad. In this distracted state, neither of the two boys noticed Phantom appear and slam Guardian into the alley wall, stopping it completely. Both Phoenix and Phantom charged at Aquario, smashing it off balance and almost stopping it.

"You can have the kill," Zero told Phantom and moved his Phoenix away. Instantly after that, Phantom disappeared again and then reappeared above Aquario. It slammed down on top of it, sending Aquario flying at a wall, but it was still barely spinning. Phantom's clear wheel started glowing as it charged at Aquario one last time. The face was now completely covered in a dark energy, the same type that Fang had used. Just before disappearing again, the energy exploded into the sky, creating a Reaper hold a scythe. The sky above them turned darker as the reaper lifted its scythe and began to swing down. This attack would finish off the battle.

Or it could have if it actually would have worked. Just before the reaper had finished swinging the scythe, it was cut in half by a beyblade that was launched from the roof. The intruding bey charged right towards Aquario, but instead of smashing it, it crashed into what would have been the wall next to it. Phantom had secretly hidden itself there and was planning the final attack, but had now been beaten by a new challenger.

"Ninja!" a voice from above cried out. Everyone looked up to see a 14 year old boy, all dressed in black, jumping down from the roof of a building at the side of the alleyway. He landed on his feet right next to his beyblade. "Get down you guys," he said as he turned towards Kiran and the rest of the group. They followed what he said and ducked onto the ground. "Silent Smoke!" As soon as the boy said this, his beyblade began to spin faster. Smoke started to pour out of the bottom of its metal wheel, but it looked more like fog and had a weird scent. It quickened as the beyblade spun faster, and finally the smoke cleared. Both the Dark Phantom and Zero were knocked out and slumped over on the side of the alleyway.

"We have five minutes to get away from here," the new boy said as he picked up his beyblade and handed Aquario to Kiran. The group sprinted out of the alley, Kole "accidentally" kicking the Dark Phantom on his way out.

"Let's get back to the hotel," Felix suggested. They didn't really have time to think about any place else, so there was no disagreement with that option. They sprinted through the streets as if we were being chased by a bear. It took us four minutes to make it back to the hotel.

"We made it just in time," the boy said as we got into the lobby and went into the elevator. After getting off on the third floor, they went to there room. The boy shut the door, double locking it, and ran over to the windows, locking them and closing the blinds. Everyone sat down, Kiran and Kole on beds, Felix and Arthur on a couch, and the new kid in an armchair.

"My name is Izuma Inzori," the boy started explaining.

"What was that all about," Felix interrupted. "You just stopped the whole battle, covered the alley in smoke, and then told us that we had to leave!"

"If that battle would have gone on any longer, Aquario would have gotten destroyed!" Izuma said, defending himself. "You saw what Phoenix was able to do to Guardian, and that was when he was guarding. Those two guys are dangerous. I've been tracking their whole group, and now they seem to be planning on doing something with you."

"A whole group?" Kiran asked. "That would explain why he brought up Fang in the battle."

"You know Fang!" Izuma screamed. He seemed startled and flustered. "This might be even worse than I thought."

"What is going on," Kole joined in. "We're just beyblading, what would they do about it? It's just a game."

"Not to them it isn't," Izuma warned.

"And how is it that you know so much about these people?" Arthur asked. "You just show up out of nowhere, warn us about some group, and expect us to believe you."

"I used to be one of them. They take beyblading very serious there, at least the commanders do. The grunts that they have aren't as bad. When I was there, our leader became obsessed with beyblades, but more importantly, the bey spirit. He was driven crazy and spent all of his time researching about them, and it led him down a dark path. He died in the desert right outside of this very city, while searching for a place. That place, which he shared with only the leaders, is the same place where you obtained your bey spirits."

Kole couldn't believe that a game could cause someone to die. What made it worse was that the man had died while searching for a place that he just happened to stumble upon. Guardian sensed this and started to speak to him, but in his thoughts.

"It wasn't just luck that you found us," he said. "You were chosen, and only the chosen people would be able to find that place."

"The next leader would have to be one of the commanders," Izuma continued. "I just couldn't bear to see one of my friends travel down that same path, so I decided to leave. Since then, I have been watching them, secretly spying on almost everything that they have done. They are all traveling down the same path as our former leader, but this time, things could be even worse. They need to be stopped, which is why I tried looking for you four. You might have the power to stop, if you just all work together with me."

"I don't know," Kiran started, still trying to piece this whole situation together. "We haven't even gotten in the tournament yet, how are we supposed to take down this whole group! But then again..." He stopped speaking, thinking back to the first tournament, and to his battle with Fang. Fang was a member of this group, and he knew something about their dad. "Fang's in that group, and I need to no what he does about dad. I'm in this fight if you three are."

"I'll do it," Felix immediately agreed. "This whole thing could be a little fun." He paused for a second, and then continued in his best action movie star voice. "The heroes must save the world from a dangerous group! Will they be able to bring peace to the world of beyblade?" He then started punching the air, as if it were an evil person, and even added in sounds for dramatic effect. The whole thing made everyone laugh and loosened up the situation a little.

"I'm fine with it," Arthur said. "It's all up to you now Kole."

"It's decided then," Kole announced without even taking a second to think. "Let's go kick some evil butt!"

"You can't just expect to march into their headquarters and take them all down at once." Izuma said, brining them all back to reality. "We need a plan first. I'm thinking that you could go to that tournament tomorrow, it could be good training for you. Meanwhile, I'll move out and try to do some more reconnaissance."

"So you won't be staying with us?" Kole questioned.

"No, I can't. In fact, I've stayed to long already. If we are all in the same place, we could draw unwanted attention, and we would be easy targets." With that, Izuma got up and walked towards the window. He moved the yellow curtains out of the way and unlocked the window. He climbed out and almost like a ninja, scaled his way up two floors and made it to the top of the roof. He looked down to see the four boys looking up at him from out of the window. "Good luck on your tournament tomorrow!" he said as he waved goodbye to them. Now full of hope for his mission, he vanished into the darkness of night.

Kole, Kiran, Arthur, and Felix all talked and tried to figure out a plan, but were too tired to do so. The all decided that they would get rest and try to form a plan after the tournament was over.

* * *

Zero dialed the number into his cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, boss. It's Zero."

"Hello. So, how did the plan go?"

"Well," he paused, unsure of how his boss would take the news. "We had an unexpected visitor. Izuma decided to say hello to us again."

"So, he saved them?"

"Yes, it was a failure."

"Oh well, there is still another opportunity."

"Oh and boss, one more thing..." the sound of his voice was blocked by the sound of falling rocks. It was as if a cave was caving in. "I'm going to have to call you back, I'm in a bit of a tight situation." He hung up the phone and sighed, thinking about what to do next.

Kiran: 13 years old. Black hair, tanned skin, 5' 1". He has brown eyes. Usually wears jeans and a black beyblading hoodie. He is confident with his skills, is outgoing, and is usually optimistic.
Beyblade: Shadow Aquario Blade 95 Metal Hole Flat. Shadow looks like Storm, but with ridges on each wing.

Kole: 14 years old. Black hair, tanned skin, 5' 6". He has purple eyes. Usually wears jeans and a t-shirt. Over confident, but has skills to back it up.
Beyblade: Celestial Guardian GB145 Rubber Ball. Celestial is like a cross between basalt and grand. It also has little circles, some which are rubber, scattered about the wheel.

Arthur: 15 years old. Blonde hair, white skin, 5' 8". He has blue eyes. Usually wears khaki pants and his famous Beytopia t-shirt. Calm, loves beyblading, and is very skilled.
Beyblade: Tornado Eagle 75 R2F

Nick: 13 years old. Brown hair, peach skin, 5' 3". He has green eyes. Usually wears a striped green and white shirt with jeans. Panics sometimes during battles.
Beyblade: Vulcan Libra 85 XF.

Fang: Mysterious, wears a black hoodie, black sweat pants, and a mask.
Beyblade: Chaos Wolf 90 RF. Chaos looks like the Quetzalcoatl wheel, but with three hooks on each wing that he uses to grapple onto enemies, and fling them around.