The Beginning! Urgent Ursa!

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go shoot!” Everyone in the room says in unison. The two beys are launched. 

“You can do this Ursa!” Ugen cries out to Ursa. Ursa rushes towards its opponent to strike.

“Gaia! Burst it!” Gabe cries to Gaia. Gaia bursts Ursa in an effortless hit. Ugen is shocked. He practiced for almost two hours the previous day to get stronger.

“It’ll take more than raw power to defeat me.” Gabe instructs Ugen. 

“What do you mean?” Ugen questions Gabe.

“It seems you don’t seem to know about the fundamentals of Blading.”

“What? I’ve never heard of that.”

“They’re the basics of Beyblading. It includes things such as launch technique, power, and most importantly, the bond you share with your bey. That bond is the most powerful thing when it comes to Beyblading. Without a strong bond, you’ll never become stronger. 

Ugen was impressed by what he heard. 

“There’s going to be a local tournament held this weekend.” Gabe told Ugen, “I think you should join. With some practice, you could do quite well.” After that, Gabe left. Ugen leaves for home as well.


Once he got home, Ugen practiced in the stadium in his backyard.

“So, we need to work on our bond. Maybe it’s time to try a new technique...” With that, Ugen practiced a new technique until dinner. 

“I haven’t seen you practice for that long before.” His mom brought up during dinner.

“I’d like to sign up for the local tournament tomorrow, so I’ve been practicing a new technique. I think I’ve got it down. Can I practice it a little more after dinner?” Ugen asked his Mom.

“Sure, just make sure to get to bed soon after. You want to be at full power for your tournament tomorrow!”

After dinner, Ugen practiced for about an hour.    He noticed that Ursa was speeding all over the place.

“Ursa, you’re out of control. At this rate, we’re going to be eliminated within the first round. What are you trying to do?

Looking at Ursa, the words formed in his head, as if Ursa was talking to him telepathically. Ugen knew what he had to do.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ursa was still moving all over the place, but this time with purpose. Ursa hit the walls and eventually gained a massive increase in power. After that, he knew his new move was ready. He went to bed, confident he was going to be able to pull of his new technique.

The next morning, he was driven to the local tournament. He registered for it and waited to battle. He noticed some people from his school registered for the tournament, including Gabe. Soon after, he saw who he was going up against: Saoki Nioko. He had yet to see what his bey looked like though. 

When it came time, he stood behind a door that would open automatically when it came time for his debut.

“Ok, boys and girls! Time for the next match in the local tournament! To the left is the descendant of a samurai and a well known Blader in the local area: Saoki Nioko!!” The reporter says as the crowd cheers when Saoki comes onstage.

“To the right is this blader’s first recorded match in a tournament! Whether he has what it takes to beat Saoki or not will be decided: Ugen Senoku!!” Ugen is also greeted with crowd cheers when he walks onstage.

“So it looks like your journey ends here!” Saoki tells Ugen right before he shows him his bey.

“Meet the bey that will end your journey: Shuriken!” Ugen inspects Shuriken. From the looks of it, it looks like a defense type. It looked like an eight bladed shuriken, hence its name. It looked strong, for sure, but that didn’t discourage Ugen.

“Meet my bey: Ursa! Your win streak is going down!”

“Weak smack talk, kid,” Saoki tells Ugen, “You’re going down with a score of 2-0.” Ugen starts shaking, affected by the smack talk.

“I’ll win, you’ll see!”

“You do that.”

“Ready? Set!” The referee says.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ugen launches with his new technique.

“Looks like Ursa is all over the place!” The reporter observes. Ugen knew at that moment he failed the launch. Shuriken heads straight to the center. Ursa goes in to strike, but Shuriken is unfazed by every hit, which sends Ursa near the edge of the stadium each time.

“Now Shuriken! Shuriken Throw!” When Ursa striked, Shuriken pushed Ursa to the edge of the stadium, throwing Ursa into the air.

“It’s already over,” Saoki states. Ursa flys out of the stadium and hits the ground.

“A ring out finish! One point goes to Saoki.,” the referee calls.

“What? It wasn’t a burst finish?” Saoki asks.

“Looks like I still have a chance,” Ugen states.

To be continued in chapter 2: Holding on! Dual Strike!      

Chapter 2: Holding On! Dual Strike!

“You got lucky that last time,” Saoki told Ugen, “Next round you’re going down, even if it isn’t a burst finish.”

I’ve got to stay focused this time,
Ugen thought,
It’s time to pull of my new launch right this time.

“Ready? Set!” The referee called.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ugen had jerked his launcher to the left and launched.

“Ursa is coming out of the gate with great speeds! Looks like we’re in for an exciting round, folks!” the reporter stated. Ugen has pulled off his launch this time, better than even at practice at home.

“If you think better speed will beat me, you’ve got another thing coming!” Saoki said. Ursa began striking Shuriken, but like last time, it was unfazed by the hits, sending Ursa near the edge of the stadium.

“It’s a repeat of last round! Looks like this could have the same outcome as last time!” The reporter stated. As he said that, Ursa was thrown near the edge of the stadium, but this time took one click.

“Now, Shuriken! Shuriken Throw! When Ursa hit Shuriken, Shuriken pushed Ursa towards the edge of the stadium and threw it. Instead of being thrown out of the stadium, it hit the stadium wall, causing it to take another click.

“What!? It didn’t KO!?” Saoki was surprised.

“Go, Ursa! Dual Strike!” Ursa rushed towards Shuriken.

“Ursa has become incredibly fast and-wait, it’s balanced!?” Even the reporter was shocked by what he was seeing. An attack type was actually balanced.

“It’s not over yet! Hang in there, Shuriken!” Shuriken stayed in the middle, holding its ground. Ursa hit Shuriken once with its spear tip, then hit it with the other spear tip on the other side, causing Shuriken to burst instantly.

“Sh-Shuriken!”

“A burst finish, two points go to Ugen. Ugen is the winner!” The referee calls.

“Incredible, folks! What we just witnessed here today is insane! The Blader with no name before coming to this tournament has given himself a name now!” The reporter said.

“We did it, Ursa!” Ugen said. He was excited he was able to pull off his new move.

“Not bad, kid,” Saoki told Ugen, “That Dual Strike of yours is one powerful move. Say, I go to your school, don’t I? Wanna battle again sometime?”

“Sure!” Ugen replied. With that, he left the stage, with one win over his belt.

That Monday, people were all over Ugen.

“You’re so cool, Ugen!”

“That Dual Strike move you pulled off was amazing!”

“How did you get so good in such little time?”

After school, Ugen hid until people left. Then he went to train in the stadium he had battled Gabe in a few days earlier.

“Saw your match Saturday,” Gabe said as he entered the room, “You’ve gotten stronger in just a few days.”

“Those fundamentals are coming in handy,” Ugen said.

“I’m creating a Beyblade team, called Rideout, but for it to be an official team, I need five members. We’ve got two members, including me. Would you like to join?” Ugen thought about this for a few moments.

“Sure, why not?” Ugen replied. Ugen wanted to get stronger and thought the best way was to train with a team.

“So, when do we start training?” Ugen asked.

“Right now, if you’d like. We have our own room other than this one to train in though.” Gabe replied. With that, they went into the other room, which was upstairs in the school.

As they were training, Ugen asked, “Where’s the third member?”

“He...doesn’t like to train with the team.” Gabe explained, “He likes to train alone.” They continued to train, but every round ended with a burst for Gabe.

“Why haven’t I at least stopped being burst?” Ugen asked.

“You’ve gotten stronger, for sure, but you’ve still got a long way to go to beat me. You’ll have to grow stronger over time. That Dual Strike of yours is strong, but you could make in stronger if you could activate the move earlier in the battle,” with that, Ugen got an idea.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ugen pulled off his launch again, but this time with more force when he jerked his hand. Ursa was speeding all over the stadium, faster than before. It hit the stadium twice, taking two click when it hit the stadium.

“Ursa! Dual Strike!” Ursa rushed towards Gaia at a incredible speed.

“Gaia! Swing Launch!” Ursa hit Gaia, resulting in Ursa being KO’ed.

“I still lost.” Ugen stated.

“But you did a lot better than before. Ursa didn’t burst.”

“I guess you have a point,” Ugen agreed.

“Alright, I’ll catch you tomorrow,” Gabe said, then left. Ugen left soon after.

The next Saturday, Ugen was driven to the local tournament for round 2. He had done some training before then to perfect his improved Dual Strike. He knew he was ready for whoever his next opponent was, and he knew he was going to crush his next opponent.

To be continued in Chapter 3: Insane Endurance! Hurricane Hercules!

Chapter 3: Incredible Endurance! Hurricane Hercules!

It was almost time to head out onstage. Ugen has no idea who was facing when he walked out of that hallway. All he knew was that he was going to win.

“Ok, boys and girls! It’s time for the second round of the tournament to begin! Our debut match is going to be an exciting one! To the left is a Blader who in his free time does archery! It’s shown in his skill around this area! Give it up for Hoeinn Oh!” Hanami calls as Hoeinn comes onstage and the crowd cheers, louder than when Saoki had come on stage the week before, Ugen observes. He also observes how big Hoeinn is for his age. He looked a good foot taller than he was. He wasn’t skinny, either. He was muscular as well, kind of like someone who is serious into archery.

“To the right is a Blader that has only one recorded match! He managed to beat Saoki so his skill isn’t of an ameteur’s! Give it up for Ugen Senoku!” Ugen walks onstage. This time the crowd cheers louder than last match, he observed.

“I saw your match last week. Don’t even think about getting overconfident just because you won against a skilled Blader. You’re in for a loss to Hurricane Hercules!” Hoinn showed off Hurricane Hercules. Ugen looks at it and observes that it looks like a lion in the center. The outer part of the layer on the top and bottom have what looked like bows. It also seemed to be the place where its weight was concentrated on in Hercules. He had doubt that this bey must have serious stamina.

“Your bey will be finished with dual strike!” Ugen announces.

“Like your move will do anything against Hercules. Your move isn’t even close to powerful enough to faze Hercules.”

“We’ll see about that,” Ugen says.

“Ready? Set!” The referee calls.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ugen pulls off his launch with more power. Ursa bangs against the walls several times. Hercules heads straight for the center at a fast speed.

“Looks like a failed launch to me,” Hoeinn observes. Ursa clicks twice.

“Ursa! Dual Strike!” Ugen yells. Ursa Rushes towards Hercules at a fast speed.

“Hercules! Hurricane Launch!” Hoeinn yells. Hercules creates a powerful tornado all around it, causing Ursa to be blown to the edge each time it tries to hit Hercules. Within five attempts, Ursa ran out of stamina.

“A spin finish! One point goes to Hoeinn!” The referee calls. The crowd cheers loudly. Ugen was surprised by how powerful the tornado Hercules created was. How was he going to get through such a powerful move? Ugen kept thinking for the few moments he had.

“Your move was pathetic. You’ll never be able to beat me!” Hoeinn yells. Ugen ignored him and kept thinking. He realized soon after what to do.

“Ready? Set!”

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ugen pulls off his launch again, but at a steeper angle. Hercules went straight to the center. Ursa right off the bat hit into the walls twice, causing Ursa to click twice.

“Ursa! Dual Strike!” Ursa rushes towards Hercules.

“Hercules! Hurricane Lau-“ Ursa smashes into the lower part of Hercules, sending Hercules flying and hitting the ground.

“A Knockout! One point goes to Ugen!” The crowd goes wild, amazed at how quick he beat Hoeinn.

“H-How’d you do that!?” Hoeinn was astounded and confused that he was beaten by someone that he had just beat the previous round.

“Guess you’ll have to observe that next time when I destroy you,” Ugen said.

“You can’t pull off that move again to beat me now! Just watch!” Hoeinn was confident he knew what to do next match. Ugen knew he was going to have to try something new this time around if Hercules did something different, so he had to be ready for whatever came at him.

“Ready? Set!”

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ugen pulled off the same  launch from last round. Ursa smashes into the walls twice. Hercules has head straight for the center.

“Ursa! Dual Strike!” Ursa head straight for Hercules and is about to hit it when Hercules tilts and rushes toward the outer part of the stadium.

“You can’t get a good hit on us if we power up our move! Hercules! Mobile Hurricane Launch!” Hercules creates its powerful tornado around it while moving around the stadium, then heads straight for the center.

“It’s over for you,” Hoeinn calls.

“It’s not over till’ it’s over!” With that, Ursa hits the stadium and flys across. “Ursa! Flying Dual Strike!” Ursa dives into the center of the tornado, and smashes into Hercules from the top, bursting Hercules upon its double impact.

“A burst finish! Two points go to Ugen! Ugen wins the match with a score of 1-3!” The referee calls. The crowd goes insane, in awe at what they just saw. Hoeinn was dazed. He actually lost. Hoeinn snapped out of it quick, though.

“You’re pretty good, kid. I haven’t seen talent like that for a while.” Hoeinn complimented Ugen.

“Don’t you go to the same school as me? Wanna battle sometime?”

“Sure! I’d like that. Just make sure you know you’re going down next time!” Hoeinn said. With that, they both walked offstage.

That Monday, Ugen actually wasn’t stormed as much as last week, meaning many people seemed to expect this kind of talent from him.
After school he went to his beyblade team to train.

“You’ve really improved, even from last week. You’ve gotten really good at observing your opponents weaknesses.” Gabe said to Ugen.

“I still don’t think it’s enough to beat you yet,” Ugen claimed.

“Let’s see!” With that, they started training.

During training, they heard a knock at the door. Gabe went to get it. Behind the door was Saoki.

“I’d like to join your beyblade team.” Saoki told Gabe.

“I’ve seen you before. You battled Ugen a couple weeks ago. Why do you want to join?” Gabe asked Saoki.

“After seeing Ugen’s match a few days ago, I saw what kind of bladers this team trains. I want to get stronger with the rest of you.”

“Ok, then. Welcome to the team!” Gabe said.

“Saoki! I wanna battle you first!” Ugen said.

“Ok, then, it’s on!” Saoki announced.

“Ready? Set!”

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!”

To be continued in chapter 4: Insane Power! Wailing Whirlwind!

Chapter 4: Insane Power! Wailing Whirlwind!

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Shuriken went straight to the center. Gaia slammed into it and burst it.

“Not again!” Saoki had been trying to beat Gabe since Monday. He still hadn’t done it by Friday.

“So, Ugen, you know who you’re going up against tomorrow?” Gabe asked.

“I’m not sure,” Ugen replied.

“I do,” Saoki said, “I saw the matchups a couple days ago. You’re going up against Whintoki.”

“I’ve seen his bey. But he doesn’t go to this school.” Gabe said.

“What about his bey?” Ugen asked. 

“His bey is Wailing Whirlwind: A balance type like mine,” Gabe explained, “It has two modes: Attack and defense. The trick is to figure out what mode it’s using.”

“Then I need to practice getting good at countering both types,” Ugen decided. “I’ll battle Saoki first.”

“Let’s go, then.” Saoki said.

“Ready? Set!” Gabe said.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ugen pulled off his steep angle launch. Ursa smashes into the walls twice, the second one sending it flying. Shuriken guarded the middle.

“Ursa! Flying Dual Strike!” Ugen yelled. Ursa smashed into Shuriken with one spear, then the other, bursting Shuriken.

“One hit!?” Saoki was surprised how fast he was defeated.

“Looks like the practice this week payed off,” Ugen said, “You next, Gabe.”

“Let’s go!” Gabe said.

“Ready? Set!” Saoki said.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ugen pulled off a new launch. Ursa went straight for Gaia, which had took the center. Ursa made impact, then Gaia went towards the outer part of the stadium and went in circles around the stadium.

“Now, Ursa! Rush Impact!” Ursa rushed towards Gaia and smashed into it, sending Gaia flying.

“Gaia! Swinging Smash!” Gaia did a swinging fall and smashed into Ursa, bursting Ursa upon impact.

“Not a bad move, but you’ll need to prepare for whatever comes at you. Whirlwind won’t perform like Gaia, so it’s important to do that.” Gabe suggested to Ugen.

“Alright, then, I need to keep battling!” Ugen decided.

“Let’s go then!” Gabe said.

Come Saturday, Ugen had practiced for many hours since Wednesday, at home and at school. It was time for the third round of the local tournament.

“Welcome, beyfans, to the third round of the local tournament! Let’s go ahead and get started with our first match! To the left is a blader that is well known around here and may be one of the best bladers in the area! His talent in music shows in his skill in blading! Give it up for Whintoki Sayoke! Whintoki walked onstage and the crowd went wild with applause.  

“To the right is a blader who had a couple close matches in the district tournament! Will he be able to continue that win streak? Give it up for Ugen Senoku!” The crowd cheered for him, but not as loudly as for Whintoki.

“Its a shame you have to battle me to advance, because you’re not going anywhere! Your time ends here! Whirlwind and I won’t hold back, so give it everything you got!” Whintoki showed off Whirlwind. As Ugen thought, it looked like a balance type. It seems to have two bulky blades which could work for defense or attack. It also had two large protrusions on the top and bottom that seemed to be targeted towards defense. The bit beast in the center looked like a tornado with eyes. 

“I know your tricks, and I’m not falling for them!” Ugen yelled.

“You already have.” Whintoki said. Ugen made sure not to get worked up by smack talk, and so he would not mess up his launch.

“Ready? Set!” The referee said.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ugen pulled off his launch to counter defense, and Whintoki rotates his arm in a large circle, then when his arm came back down, pulled on the string of the launcher hard. Whirlwind went straight to the center. Ursa hit the wall twice.

“Ursa! Dual Strike!” Ugen yelled. Ursa did his dual strike move against Whirlwind, but it had no effect. Ursa continued to use dual strike, but it had no effect.

“Your pathetic attacks won’t have any effect on Whirlwind!” Whintoki told Ugen.

“Now, Ursa! Flying Dual Strike!” Ursa hit a wall, and flew down onto Whirlwind.

“Whirlwind! Wailing Flip!” Ursa smashes into Whirlwind, pulling off Flying Dual Strike. After the second strike, Whirlwind hit the ground and pulled off a flip right above Ursa, then went to the center where Ursa was, making impact with Ursa. Ursa went flying and hit the ground.

“A KO! One point goes to Whintoki!” The referee called. The crowd cheered. Ugen picked up Ursa, and Ursa burst in his hands.

“Looks like you got lucky. If I had gotten another hit on Ursa it would have burst.” Whintoki observed.

I’ve got to make sure I can pull off my next move without nearly bursting, Ugen thought. 

To be continued in Chapter 5: Aggressive Attacks! Rush Impact!

Chapter 5: Aggressive Attacks! Rush Impact! 

Whintoki is going to go with attack most likely to catch me off guard, Ugen thought. I’m going with my new move.

“Good luck winning the next battle. It won’t matter anyway though, because you’re clearly not going to win,” Whintoki said. He was confident he would win this next battle.

“Ready? Set!” The referee said.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ugen did his launch to counter attack, and Whintoki did a counterclockwise launch from last time. Whirlwind jumped around the stadium aggressively.

“What kind of attack type jumps around!?” Ugen asks.

“Only Whirlwind,” Whintoki replies. Ugen goes in for an attack, but when it goes in to attack, Whirlwind jumps above Ursa.

“If you can’t get a hit on me, you can’t defeat me,” It looked like Whintoki had it in the bag. Ursa kept trying to attack Whirlwind but every time it tried, Whirlwind would always jump over Ursa.

“Now, Ursa! Rush Impact!” Ursa spun towards Whirlwind at a fast pace, smashing into Whirlwind, sending Whirlwind flying. Ursa went to the more central part of the stadium.

“It’s not over yet! Whirlwind! Gliding Impact!” Whirlwind hadn’t been KO’ed. It came flying down and hit the stadium wall, sending it gliding to Ursa and smashing into it. 

“It’s over for Ursa,” Whintoki said.

“That’s what you’re think,” Ugen said. With that, Ursa hit the ground and hit Whirlwind, sending Whirlwind to a wall and bursting it at the same time as Ursa burst, or so it seemed. The crowd was amazed at what they just saw. 

“Incredible! I can’t even tell who won that one! The referee will have to decide this one!” Hanami said. The referee took a few seconds to decide who burst first. His hand raised to the right.

“Whirlwind burst first! Two points go to Ugen. Ugen wins the match with a score of 1-2!” With that, the crowd went wild with cheers.

“Incredible! Ugen managed to beat one of the best bladers in the local area! Ugen is becoming a force to be reckoned with! With that, Ugen advances to the fourth round!” Hanami and everyone else was shocked at what they saw today. With that, it was time for Ugen to watch Gabe’s match, which he wished he had done earlier.

“Gabe! You’re gonna ace this match!” Ugen and Saoki were cheering for Gabe. For Ugen, watching one of his teammate’s battles was half as fun as battling. 

“Alrighty, boys and girls, it’s time for the second match in the third round of the tournament! To the left is a blader that has blading skills that could rival most bladers in Japan! He ranks as one of the top bladers of Japan! Give it up for Gabe Burnai!” Gabe came out right after Hanami said that. The crowd cheered, Ugen and Saoki being the loudest.

“To the left is a blader who has won two matches in this tournament! He has yet to lose a match in this tournament with! Give it up for Akiro Masuki!” The crowd cheered, but not nearly as loud as for Gabe. 

“As one of the top ranked bladers, I’ve been watching your matches. Get ready because I have the ultimate strategy that’ll put you at mercy!” Akiro was confident in his skill. Gabe remained silent, concentrated on how he was going to counter Akiro’s defense type bey.

“Ready? Set!” The referee said.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Gabe pulled of one of his usual launches. Gaia went straight for the defense type bey in the middle.

“Gaia! Swing Launch!” The defense type bey burst upon being smashed into by Gaia. 

“A burst finish! Two points go to Gabe. Gabe wins the match!” The crowd cheered loud for Gabe.

“Looks like Gabe is moving in the The fourth round! Stay tuned bladers for the third match of the third round!” Hanami said. After that, Ugen and Saoki left, having no other business there.

That Monday, Ugen was swarmed again. He expected this as it seemed like no one expected him to beat Whintoki. After school he went to practice. When he went into the room he saw a familiar face.

“Did we get a new member?” Ugen asked Gabe.

“Yep. Say hello to Hoeinn, the opponent you beat in the second round,” Gabe replied.

“I wanted to join after seeing you match against Whintoki. You’re more skilled than I originally thought. Seeing the bladers this team trains led me to join.” Hoeinn told Ugen.

“I need some help practicing for the fourth round. I would like to do a battle Royale. Me against the three of you.” Gabe proposed to the team. The team nodded in agreement to the battle Royale.

“Let’s go!” The team said in unison.

To be continued in Chapter 6: A Battle Royale! Triple Teamwork!

Chapter 6: Battle Royale! Triple Attack!

“You guys ready?” Gabe asked the team, which was about to do a battle Royale. The team nodded.

“What are the rules for this battle Royale?” Saoki asked Gabe.

“The battle will be all four of us against each other. I’m planning to take all three of you out myself.” Gabe explained.

“Not if I beat all three of you!” Ugen confidently said.

“Ok, let’s just get this battle started,” Gabe replied to Ugen.

“Ready? Set!” Gabe said.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Gabe pulled off a new launch. The four beys entered the stadium, Shuriken and Hercules immediately heading towards the center, fighting for the center.

“Send Hercules flying!” Saoki yelled. 

“Hercules! Blow Shuriken away!” Haejinn yelled. Ursa hit the stadium twice, trying to pull of dual strike.

“Now, Ursa! Dual Strike!” Ursa rushed towards Gaia, smashing into Gaia. Gaia rode up the slope of the stadium, gaining speed and power.

“Now, Gaia! Swing Counter!” Gabe yelled. Gaia rushed towards Shuriken and smashed into it, bursting Shuriken upon impact.

“No way!” Saoki was in awe. Gaia continued on its rampage and hit Ursa again.

“Again! Swing Counter!” Gaia rode up the slope of the stadium and back down again like last time, rushing towards Hercules.

“Now, Hercules! Hurricane Launch!” Hercules crested a tornado surrounding it. Gaia hit the tornado head on and went right through. It hit Hercules, bursting Hercules upon impact.

“Impossible! Someone went through my tornado!” Haejinn had never seen a beyblade go through Hercules’ tornado. Gaia had lost a lot of stamina going through the tornado, so Ugen saw an opportunity. 

“Ursa! Duel Strike!” Ursa went right towards Gaia, smashing into it. 

“Gaia! Swing counter!” Gaia rode up the slope,  came back down and smashed into Ursa, bursting Ursa upon impact.

“Not again!” Ugen had still lost to Gabe with two other people going up against him. 

“This was the perfect time to perfect my new move: Swing Counter. It still isn’t perfected yet and was risky to use, so I’m gonna have to keep practicing with it.” Gabe said. 

“I wanna battle just you, Gabe. I wanna get stronger,” Haejinn proposed.

“Let’s do it then,” Gabe replied

“Ready? Set!” Saoki called.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!”

Friday came fast. Ugen and Gabe kept practicing for their matches which would be the next day, knowing their matches would make or break them getting into the semifinals. 

“Ursa! Rush Impact!” Ursa rushed to Gaia and smashed into it, causing it to rise up the slope of the stadium.

“Gaia! Swing Counter!” Gaia came back down with more power and speed. Ursa avoided the assault.

“Not this time! Now, Ursa! Dual Strike!” Ursa went straight into impact with Gaia, bursting Ursa.

“What!?” Ugen was shocked.

“The impact angle was too much for Ursa. The move is good but you’ll need to perfect it so it doesn’t work against you. Going in for the right angle is key for each opponent with that move.” Gabe suggested.

“Thanks. I will keep that in mind,” Ugen replied. They continued to practice, and Ugen was able to go for the right angle, but he never won a round against Gabe during practice.

The next day, Ugen was ready for whoever came at him. All he knew was that his opponent was named Theo Rusuki and that he owned an attack type beyblade. He was prepared for whatever Theo there at him. It was almost time and was waiting behind the doors that led to the stadium.

To be continued in Chapter 7: Flying Attacks! Thrashing Thunderbird!

Chapter 7: Flying Attacks! Thrashing Thunderbird!

It was time. Ugen knew if he lost this match that he would lose his chance of getting into the semifinals. He had to win this.

“Alright, boys and girls! It’s time for the fourth round of the tournament! Let’s get started with the first match of today! To the left is a blader that spends his time with birds! He does his training in the forest, and it’s built up his strength for sure! Give it up for Theo Rusuki!” Theo came onstage, and looked like someone who would spend a lot of time outside. The crowd cheered for Theo.

“To the right is a blader who went from unknown to a strong blader in the area! Will he continue his win streak? Give it up for Ugen Senoku!” Ugen came onstage, and the crowd cheered loudly. 

“You’ve got yourself quite the audience, don’t ya? Who needs a crowd cheering for them when I have plenty of friends back home?” Theo was confident most people were distrustful, and he, for the most part, relied on his friends, which for the most part, were birds.

“You mean those animals? A human crowd is much more reliable than some stupid birds,” Ugen insulted.

“You take that back!” Theo insisted.

“Why should I take back something that is true?” Ugen asked.

“You’ll regret saying that!” Theo had to crush this opponent. Someone like him didn’t deserve to move on, “Thunderbird will crush you!” Ugen got a good look at Thunderbird. The center and bottom part of the bey had a bird head, and the sides had wing protrusions. The top part had lightning bolt protrusions, thee of them to be exact. Indeed Thunderbird looked strong, but Ugen knew Ursa could take it.

“Ready? Set!” The referee said.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ugen pulled off a new version of his dual strike launch. Ursa sprinted forwards Thunderbird, busting into it. Ursa took one click. Ursa came back for another hit. Ursa took another click.

“Now Ursa! Dual Strike!” Ugen yelled. Ursa smashed into Thunderbird. Thunderbird went flying into the air.

“Now, Thunderbird! Lightning Thrash!” Theo yelled. Thunderbird smashed into Ursa repeatedly, destabilizing Ursa. Ursa wobbled horribly. Thunderbird came down again, sending Ursa flying. Ursa burst at the ground. It was unknown whether or not Ursa burst first or hit the ground first.

“Incredible! The referee will have to review the footage to see if Theo gets one point or two!” Hanami informed. The referee went over the footage in slow motion. Ursa slowly fell in the footage. Ursa hit the ground and then burst.

“Ursa hit the ground before bursting! Theo gets one point for a KO!” The referee called. The crowd went wild.

“Ugen almost lost that one! Will he be able to make a comeback like he has in previous matches? Let’s find out!” Ugen knew he could have lost that match. 

“So you’re all talk, I see. Guess I will be taking this match then,” Theo said. Ugen remained silent.

It’s time to make a comeback, Ugen thought. Ugen adjusted his launch so it was different from last round’s. 

“Ready? Set!”

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ugen pulled off an adjusted version of his last launch. Ugen rushed towards Thunderbird like last round. It smash into Thunderbird once and then again.

“Ursa! Dual Strike!” Ursa smashed into Thunderbird, sending Thunderbird into the air.

“This is a repeat of the last round, folks! Will the outcome be the same?” Hanami asked. Thunderbird came crashing down

“Thunderbird! Lightning Thrash!” Thunderbird came crashing down, but Ursa avoided the attack, causing Thunderbird to crash into the stadium floor.

“Thunderbird!” Theo yelled. Thunderbird lost tons of momentum from the impact and was wobbling horribly.

“Now, Ursa! Dual Strike!” Ursa smashed into Thunderbird, sending Thunderbird into the stadium wall and bursting it upon impact.

“A burst finish! Two points go to Ugen. Ugen wins the match!” The referee called. The crowd went wild with cheers. 

“Amazing! Ursa took the match, as it has been doing for the last now four matches! Ugen moves on to the semifinals!” Hanami yelled.

“You really think the same move would work on me again? Pathetic.”

Theo was teeming with anger, and stomped offstage. Ugen went offstage as well.

It was time for Gabe’s fourth match, and everyone was cheering, Ugen and Saoki cheering the loudest. Hoeinn remained silent. 

“Welcome, bladers, to the second match of the fourth round of this tournament! Let’s get this started! To the left is a blader that has won three matches in this tournament! He has yet to lose! Give it up for Riyo Desoku!” Hanami explained. Riyo came onstage, gathering some cheers.

“To the left is a blader who has started training with his new team: Rideout! He leads the team well and has helped him to get stronger! Give it up for Gabe Brunai!” Hanami yelled. Gabe came onstage. The crowd went wild with cheers. 

“Good luck winning, because you have no idea what is coming for you!” Riyo said. Gabe remained silent. 

“Ready? Set!”

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Gabe launched like he was doing Swing Launch. Gaia went straight in for the attack type beyblade.

“Gaia! Swing Launch!” Gaia went in and burst the attack type beyblade with one hit.

“A burst finish! Two points go to Gabe. Gabe Brunai wins the match!” The referee called.

“Outstanding! Gabe got a burst finish in five seconds! Gabe moves on to the semifinals!” Hanami said. The crowd went more wild than in most matches. The team left along with Gabe.

To be continued in Chapter 8: Going Solo! A New Move!

Chapter 8: Going Solo! A New Move!

Monday morning, it was clear at this point something was up. At school, people who used to come for Ugen and ask questions about the match that happened just a couple days ago now ignored him. He was a bit confused what was going on.

After school, he went to train with his team, as usual. 

“Hey, Ugen, I need to talk to you about something,” Gabe said, “Saoki, Hoeinn, can you step outside, please?” Gabe asked. Saoki and Hoeinn nodded in agreement and left the room. Gabe got a serious look on his face.

“Ugen, I am disappointed,” Gabe told Ugen.

“Why is that?” Ugen asked. It was becoming clear to him what was going on.

“Your sportsmanship Saturday was horrible. Your smack talk went beyond smack talk. Insulting someone is not what this team represents. You’re getting overconfident because of the wins you’ve been getting the past few weeks in the tournament, and for that, I am going to suspend you from training sessions for a week,” Gabe explained.

Ugen started to explain, “But training together is much easie-“

“It doesn’t matter, Ugen. Getting stronger alone can be effective. I did it for a long time before forming this team. Now leave, please,” Gabe told Ugen. 

Ugen tried to explain again, “But it’s better if I-“

“Go, Ugen, and don’t come to train with us until next Monday,” Gabe commanded. Ugen left the room, and Saoki and Hoeinn returned to the room.

Ugen went home, somewhat ticked off at what had happened just 15 minutes ago.

“Home already? What’s up Ugen?” Ugen’s Mom asked him.

“I was suspended from coming to training sessions until next Monday,” he explained to his mom.

“You probably got what was coming for you, so I can’t do anything about it,” Ugen’s Mom explained, “You’re welcome to train in your stadium outside.”

“I guess that works,” Ugen said, and went outside to train.

“Go Shoot!” Ugen launched. Ursa wobbled, hit the stadium wall, and burst. Ugen was out of it today after what happened at school. He had to get back in sync with Ursa.

“Go Shoot!” Ugen continued practicing and a couple hours in started to notice his feelings weren’t getting in the way anymore, and Ursa started to pick up speed. Ugen had pulled off Dual Strike. 

“How about we try a new move, Ursa? I think I’ve got one in mind. It’ll be a while before we get the hang of it though, if it is even possible,” Ugen explained to Ursa, realizing how strange it was to be speaking to a beyblade. Ugen angled his launch for his new move, and launched.

“Go Shoot!” Ursa went to the center to try and circle it, but wobbled and scraped the stadium floor and burst.

As expected. It will take a while before I can master the move, Ugen thought. Ugen continued to practice the move, but it still was not working after an hour of practice. Then a blader yelled from across the fence on the sidewalk.

“Hey! You’re Ugen, right?” The blader asked.

“Yes! What do you want?” Ugen asked.

The blader opened the gate of the fence and walked into the backyard.

“I’m Alex, and Ares would like to battle you. After all, I am your opponent in the Semifinals,” Alex proposed to Ugen.

“I’m training right now, so probably not,” Ugen replied.

“Come on, we can learn something from each other if we do a battle,” Alex pleaded.

“Ok, fine, one battle and that’s it,” Ugen said. Alex nodded in agreement and struggled to hide his excitement.

“First, let me show you my bey: Angered Ares!” Ares had a double sword going through the middle of it and through the left and right side of the bey.  The top part had the avatar of Ares and it’s helmet went through the outer part of Ares, creating a contact point. The bottom part had his hand held down and had a spear shape protruding out of the bottom part. It looked tough for sure, but Ugen knew Ursa could take it, as usual. 

“Are you ready to battle, then?” Ugen asked.

“Of course! Let’s do it now!” Alex replied. The two got their beys ready on their launchers.

I can’t use my new move yet, so I’ll have to use one of my existing moves, Ugen thought, putting Ursa on the launcher.

“Three!...Two!...One...Go Shoot!” They launched their beys, Ugen pulling off a normal launch for one of his moves.

“Go in, Ursa! Rush Impact!” Ugen yelled. Ursa rushed towards Ares and made impact, sending Ares into the air, taking two clicks. Ares did a flip and landed back into the stadium. Ursa rushed towards Ares again. Ursa banged into the wall once and took two clicks 

“Now finish it! Dual Strike!” Ursa came into contact with Ares, sending Ares into a wall.

“Now, Ares! Sword Reverse!” Ares hit the wall on the spear tip and gave itself clicks back, as well as having the sword blades extend out. Ares came rushing at Ursa.

“It’s not over yet! Ursa! Go for Rush Impact again!” Ursa rushes towards Ares. They collide, and Ursa burst within a second upon impact.

“B-but how!?” Ugen said in a daze of confusion and shock.

“I won! I knew I could ace it!” Alex was excited, and knew he would ace Saturday’s Semifinals match,”Thanks for the match, Ugen! See you Saturday!” Alex opened the gate and left, closing the gate behind him. Ugen was still standing there in shock. A few seconds later, Ugen yelled in defeat and fell on his knees. He did that for about 10 seconds, then picked up Ursa, and tried to practice.

“Go Shoot!” Ursa wobbled and stopped spinning within a few seconds. Ugen knew he had to put his feelings aside when it came to the battle, and yet, he was still failing with his launch. 

“Ugen! Time for dinner!” Ugen’s Mom had opened the back door and told Ugen.

“Ok, Mom! I am coming!” Ugen got Ursa and his launcher, and went inside the house.

To be continued in Chapter 9: The Semifinals! Claw Barrage!

Chapter 9: The Semifinals! Claw Barrage!

Ugen had never been so messed up in blading until now. After his loss to Alex, he wasn’t able to launch his bey properly. 

I have to get ahold of myself before Saturday, he thought to himself, before it’s too late for me.

It was Wednesday after school. Ugen continued to practice launching, but he was still failing as Ursa continued to wobble and spin out or burst.

“Why can’t I just get it down? Maybe I need to remember the fundamentals?” Ugen was questioning himself. 

“Go Shoot!” Ugen launched, keeping his emotions aside and remembering the fundamentals of blading. He continued to fail, and eventually gave up for the day. He ate dinner, and went to bed.

The next day after school, he noticed when he went to the backyard to train that someone was in the backyard. When he got outside, he realized Saoki was at the stadium, and looked like he was waiting for someone, who was probably him.

“Saoki? What about training?” Ugen asked.

“I wanted to help with training. Gabe will probably be upset when he finds out, but I know you need the training for Saturday. I also heard from your mom you’ve been having trouble with training,” Saoki replied.

“Well, see, my opponent I’m facing Saturday decided to come battle me in my backyard, and I lost the battle. Ever since then, I’ve been unable to launch correctly and I can’t get any better at this rate,” Ugen said.

“Well that’s why I’m here,” Saoki said to Ugen, “To help get you back in shape in time for the tournament.”

“Then let’s do it!” Ugen exclaimed in excitement, getting his launcher ready.

He’s already got that look back in his eyes, Saoki observed when he looked at Ugen at that moment.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Saoki pulled off a new launch and Ugen pulled off one of his usual launches. Shuriken bounced towards the center, striking Ursa when it came in to strike. Ursa took two clicks after it happened twice.

“Ursa! Dual Strike!” Ursa went straight towards Shuriken, but Shuriken bounced back and hit back harder. This happened a few times over, Shuriken repeatedly pushing Ursa back.

“Shuriken! Bite Rebound!” Ursa hit Shuriken, causing Shuriken to bounce towards the groove of the stadium, but this time, came back with more power and speed than before. Shuriken Burst Ursa upon impact with it.

“I...lost again?” Ugen questioned. He couldn’t believe it happened again.

“I learned a new move while you were gone. I figured out since my performance tip was made of rubber, that I could absorb impacts and come back and hit hard. You have your spirit in the game back now, Ugen. Don’t take it away now. Let’s practice some more!” Saoki said, trying to convince Ugen.

“I guess we can,” Ugen replied.

“Then let’s go again! I’m sure you can win next time!” Saoki encouraged Ugen. They got their launchers ready.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!”

It was Saturday, and Ugen was getting a few more launches in before the tournament.

“Go Shoot!” Ursa rushed around the stadium, and eventually, did a failed circle around the center of the stadium.

I’ve almost perfected the move, Ugen thought, knowing he was close to being able to use the move in battles. He practiced a few more times. Ursa went straight for the center of the stadium and did fast circles around it. He had finally perfected the move. Or made it usable in matches, at least. Ugen knew it was time to go and left for the tournament

It was almost time for Ugen to go up against Alex. He hoped his training for the week would pay off. Even right behind the door that lead to the stadium, he could be the cheers of the crowd.

“Alrighty, boys and girls! It’s time for the first match of the Semifinals! To the left is a blader that climbed a mountain to obtain his bey! Some say the bey holds the spirit of a legendary warrior! It’s Alex Koruchi!” The crowd exploded with cheers as Alex came onstage. 

“Honestly, at first, I was afraid to battle you since I had no idea how to counter you, but now that I have beaten you in a battle, I have the perfect strategy to counter your moves,” Alex told Ugen. Ugen stayed silent, deep in thought.

I’m going for my new move this round, Ugen thought, thinking it was the best thing to do against Alex.

“Ready? Set!” The referee called.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ugen used his new move launch, which consisted of Ugen tilting the launcher upward. Ursa rushed around the stadium, waiting for Ares to make the first move.

“You’re making this too easy! Go for it Ares!” Ares struck Ursa with a swoop, sending Ursa flying into the stadium wall. Ursa took two clicks.

“Ursa! Dual Strike!” Ursa went for Ares and hit it into a wall.

“You’re so predictable! Ares! Sword Reverse!” Ares hit its spear tip into the wall, giving it back clicks, and making the swords protrude out more than they were. Then Ares went straight for the center where Ursa was. 

“Now, Ursa! Claw Barrage!” Just before Ares hit Ursa, Ursa avoided the attack and kept Ares in the center of the stadium as it used its claws to try to burst Ares. But each time Ursa hit the spear tip, Ares gained clicks back. Eventually, Ares used one of its swords while it was protruding out to make Ursa go flying. Ursa caught onto the top of the stadium and went speeding around the top part of the stadium. Then it came back down and hit the stadium floor with no stamina left. 

“A survivor finish! One point goes to Alex!” The crowd went wild with cheers. Ugen was shocked. His new move had failed against Ares.

“Is that the best you’ve got? I’ve already taken this match!” Alex told Ugen. Ugen was deep in thought again. He realized eventually how to counter Ares’ Sword Reverse. 

I’ve got this in the bag, Ugen thought.

To be continued in Chapter 10: A New Face! Lost Longinus!

Chapter 10: A New Face! Lost Longinus!

It’s go time, Ugen thought, knowing if he lost this battle his journey to the finals would come to an end.

“Ready? Set!” The referee called.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ugen pulled off his new launch again.

“Go straight for it Ursa! Rush Impact!” Ugen yelled. Ursa smacked into Ares, sending it into the stadium wall.

“Ares! Sword Reverse!” Alex yelled. Ares smashes into the wall, getting back clicks and making the swords come out more.

“Now Ursa! Claw Barrage!” Ursa did circles around Ares, hitting it everywhere, but this time, not the spear tip. 

Alex was shocked,”What!? If it doesn’t hit the spear tip it’s gonna-“ Ursa burst Ares just before Alex finished his sentence. 

“A burst finish! Two points go to Ugen! Ugen wins the match!” The crowd went crazy. Ugen has moved on to the finals.

“Well played, Ugen. Wanna battle again sometime?” Alex asked.

“Anytime!” Ugen replied. He stepped off the stage, waiting for Gabe’s match.

It was time for Gabe’s match. Hoping he wouldn’t choke his match, Ugen cheered loudly for Gabe, as well as Saoki. Hoeinn stayed silent alongside them.

“It’s time, boys and girls, for the final match of the semifinals! Let’s get started! To the left is a blader who is the son of a retired top ranked blader, who is Zyro Kurogane! He takes from his father and is a well known blader around the area as well for being very skilled in blading! It’s Bushi Kurogane!” The crowd went wild for Bushi, as being the son of Zyro meant a lot.

“To the right is a blader who is determined to make it to the finals! Rumors are he’s developed a new move! It’s Gabe Brunai!” Gabe comes onstage, and the crowd cheers loudly for him.

“I’ve been waiting for this battle. Now to finally do what I came to do: Destroy you in battle!” Bushi yelled time Gabe. Gabe remained silent, focused on the stadium. 

“Ready? Set!” 

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ifrit went straight for the center. Gaia went in to strike.

“Ifrit’s incredible balance skills can mimic any of the three types! My defense is impenetrable!” Bushi explained. Gaia went in for a few more strikes, continuing to fail to faze Ifrit. Gaia went in for another strike and was thrown to the groove of the stadium

“Gaia! Swing Counter!” Gaia went in for a powerful strike, sending Ifrit to the top of the stadium.

“Ifrit! Burning Crash!” Flame-like power surrounded Ifrit as it came crashing down. Ifrit crashed into Gaia, bursting itself.

“Wait?! What!?” Bushi was immediately shocked.

“A burst finish! Two points go to Gabe! Gabe wins the match!” The crowd went crazy for Gabe.

“You should have waited until you could get the right angle to strike your opponent. Strike them wrong, and your opponent can gain an advantage,” Gabe said, and then walked off the stage. Ugen went home, as well as Saoki and Hoeinn.

That Monday, after school, Ugen went to practice. He began to practice with Gabe. A few minutes later, someone opened the door and entered.

“I saw your match Saturday. I want to see just how much better you’ve gotten.” The person said.

“Gabe, who is-“

“Outta my way, kid,” the person said. Ugen didn’t appreciate the rudeness of him. 

“Gabe, who is this?” Ugen finally was able to ask Gabe.

“Ugen, this is the fifth member of Rideout: Lui Shirosagi. He’s also one of the strongest bladers in Japan, and owns Lost Longinus,” Gabe replied.

“That’s awesome! I gotta battle you!” Ugen told Lui.

“I only battle bladers I deem worthy of battling me. You’re not one of them,” Lui replied. Ugen was disappointed.

“Anyways, Gabe, battle me!” Lui told Gabe, pulling out his Longinus. Ugen observes it, very interested. It was mostly white in color, but the disc was blue with the driver being a gray color. The bey definitely looked like an attack type. It also looked like it was a left spinning bey, which surprised Ugen, as he thought he was the only blader that owned a left spin bey. The center of the bey had metal two dragon heads, one the the left side facing downward and one to the right facing upwards. It had four wings, and two were smaller but also two larger ones that had contact points that were shaped like spears.

“Alright, then, let’s do it,” Gabe said to Lui, accepting the battle. The two went to the stadium and got ready.

“Ready? Set!” Ugen yelled. He was confident that Gabe could win this battle. 

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Gaia goes straight to the center, with Longinus going straight for it. It sent Gaia straight to the groove of the stadium.

“Gaia! Swing counter!” Gabe yelled to Gaia. Gaia went straight for Longinus. 

“Longinus! Lost Spiral!” Lui yelled to Longinus. Longinus went head-on with Gaia, bursting Gaia upon impact.

“Gabe lost!?” Ugen, Saoki, and Hoeinn said in unison. They had never seen Gabe lose a battle.

“You still haven’t bonded with your bey completely. I’m outta here,” Lui told Gabe. With that, Lui left through the door and closed it.

To be continued in Chapter 11: The Ultimate Finals! Ursa Vs. Gaia!

Chapter 11: The Ultimate Finals! Ursa Vs. Gaia!

Ugen was nervous. Very nervous. In a few days, he would be facing his team leader and friend: Gabe. It was Tuesday and he was about to go train with his team when Gabe walked up to him.

“Ugen,” Gabe said, “I have decided that until Monday of next week, I will not be coming to the training sessions.”

“What? Why?” Ugen questioned Gabe.

“It is the best thing I can do. Since we are going up against each other this Saturday, I need to train by myself. For now, it’s what’s best for me,” Gabe replied to Ugen.

“Well, ok, I will support your decision,” Ugen said to Gabe. 

“Ok, I’ll see you on Monday,” Gabe said, then walked away. Ugen went into the training room. Saoki and Hoeinn came over to Ugen.

“Did you hear? Gabe’s not going to be training with us for the rest of the week,” Saoki told Ugen.

“Yeah, he just talked to me about it,” Ugen replied. Then he walked over to the stadium to start training. Hoeinn decided to train with him.

“Alright then, I’ll judge the match,” Saoki said, “Ready? Set!”

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ugen tried his new move on Hoeinn, as he hadn’t done so the day before. Ursa rushed towards Hercules with a barrage of attacks, not fazing Hercules at all.

“Hercules, Hurricane Launch!” Hoeinn yelled. Hercules created a giant tornado around it, creating a powerful barrier around itself. 

“Ursa! Rush Impact!” Ursa slammed straight into the tornado, and struggled to get through. After a few seconds, it burst through the tornado and got an impact on Hercules.

“Now, Ursa! Claw Barrage!” Ursa started circling around Hercules, which did many impacts on it. Hercules struggled to escape but was able to use the spear tip on Ursa to escape the barrage.

“Wait, you took my tornado!?” Hoeinn said in awe. Ursa was rushing towards Hercules, which was on the outer part of the stadium, with Hercules’ tornado around it. Hercules got caught up in the tornado, and tumbled around in the tornado, losing stamina. Hercules was thrown out, and hit the stadium wall, bursting it upon impact.

“You’ve really improved. How’d you do that?” Hoeinn asked Ugen.

“Using Claw Barrage helped a lot, as I was able to divide the wind from your bey and take it from you,” Ugen replied to Hoeinn.

“You have gotten a lot better, Ugen,” Hoeinn said,”I need to catch up to you.”

“You’re next, Saoki,” Ugen said.

“I’ve been training! Let’s see if it paid off,” Saoki said.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!”

It was Friday, and Ugen had been training hard all week, strengthening his moves to be able to hold his own against Gabe and win.

“Go Shoot!” Ursa smashed against the walls, calling for a dual strike.

“Dual Strike!” Ursa successfully did a dual strike.

“Now do Rush Impact!” Ursa did a strong Rush Impact.

“Go for a Claw Barrage!” Ursa zoomed around the outer center of the stadium.

I’m almost ready, Ugen thought, I just have to strengthen the moves a little more. Ugen continued to train, helping his moves become stronger.

Gabe was hard at work after getting permission to use the training room, even on non-school days. He was working to strengthen his launch, as well as strengthen his moves. 

Ugen is going to come with me with everything he’s got, Gabe thought, I can’t let him get the best of me. Gabe continued to strengthen his launch, and had worked out some as well to help with that.

“Gaia! Swing Counter!” Gaia has used the walls in place of an actual Beyblade, and it managed to work, giving Gaia a large boost in energy, flying across the stadium in a flower pattern.

I’m almost ready, Gabe thought, just a little more.

Saturday came in the blink of an eye. Ugen was at the tournament and prevented himself from seeing Gabe until the match, and Gabe did the same, and was also at the tournament.

It was finally time. Ugen thought about every match before this one. It had been a great and short journey getting to the finals, and now he was about to battle Gabe.

“Folks, it is finally time for the finals of the district tournament! This is the moment you have all been waiting for, so let’s not delay it any further! To the left is a blader that is a meme bet of the Supreme Four! He happens to be friends with who he is facing today! It’s Gabe Brunai! The crowd cheered loudly for Gabe, but Gabe showed no response to it.

“To the left is a blader that has fought his way to get here today! After a few close matches, he has proven to be a force to be reckoned with! It’s Ugen Senoku!” The crowd went wild for Ugen, and Ugen also showed no response to it.

“Who do we cheer for? They’re both on our team!” Saoki asked Hoeinn.

“We cheer for both, so that we won’t be as sad when the other loses,” Hoeinn replied to Saoki.

“Ugen, I want you to come at me with everything you’ve got. No holding back,” Gabe told Ugen.

“Don’t worry! I won’t!” Ugen replied.

“Ready! Set!” The referee said.

It’s go time, Ugen thought.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ugen and Gabe gave their strongest launches. Gaia went straight to the center to defend.

“Go for it Ursa!” Ursa smashed into Gaia several times, and eventually took two clicks.

“Now, Ursa! Dual Strike!” Ursa made impact with Gaia, sending Gaia onto the edge of the stadium. 

“Gaia! Swing Counter!” Gaia went rushing towards Ursa and smashed into it, sending Ursa flying.

“Ursa! Flying Dual Strike!” Ursa did flips in the air and made impact with Gaia. Gaia resisted, sending Ursa into the wall.

“It’s not over yet! Claw Barrage!” Ursa hit the wall and ricocheted into the outer part of the stadium, doing circles and speeding up as it got closer. Eventually, Ursa had a strong force and busted into Gaia, sending Gaia flying.

“Now, Gaia! Swinging Smash!” Gaia came swinging down towards Ursa.

“Not this time! Rush Impact!” Ursa came rushing towards Gaia as it came swinging down. The two made collision, and Gaia was sent flying out of the stadium at the same time Ursa was sent flying out of the stadium. The two seemingly hit the floor at the same time.

“Incredible! The referee will have to look at the footage to see who won that one!” Hanami said. The referee looked at the footage along with everyone else. The two beys in the footage were falling at a slow rate due to the footage being slowed down. It was close, but Gaia hit the ground first.

“Ugen with a ring out finish! One point goes to Ugen! The referee said. The crowd screamed in cheers for Ugen.

It’s not over yet, Ugen thought, I still have to get another point to win, and I know for sure Gabe isn’t going to let me off easy after that win of mine.

To be continued in Chapter 12: A High Speed Battle! The Beginning of Something New!

Chapter 12: A High Speed Battle! The Beginning of Something New!

I’m going all in and taking the risks this battle. I can’t play it safe anymore, Ugen thought. 

“Ready? Set!” The referee said.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” With that, Ugen turned his launcher 90 degrees in front of him, and launched with all his power. Ursa hit the stadium floor, taking two clicks.

“Dual Strike!” Ugen yelled. Ursa bounced straight to Gaia and made impact, setting Gaia off balance. 

“Gaia! Swing Counter!” Gaia came crashing down onto Ursa, not effecting Ursa at all.

“You absorbed my attack?” Gabe said surprised. 

“Yep, now it’s time to strike you with Claw Barrage!” With that, Ursa surrounded Gaia in a never ending barrage of attacks. Gaia hit Ursa’s spear and propelled itself to the stadium wall, making Gaia jump in the air. 

“Swinging Smash!” Gabe yelled. Gaia came swinging down. Ursa hit the stadium wall and sprang up to Gaia.

“End this, Ursa! Flying Dual Strike!” Ursa collided with Gaia, resulting in a very strong wind. It nearly blew Ugen and Gabe off their feet. Ursa and Gaia were spinning so fast it caused wind to form, and the attacks were very strong. When the wind cleared, Ursa and Gaia were spinning very slowly. They started to wobble, and they both hit the stadium floor as they began to come to a stop. Ursa burst upon impact of the stadium floor.

The crowd was silent for a few seconds. Then the referee made the call.

“A burst finish! Two points go to Gabe!” The crowd went wild. Ugen knew he was only one point away from a loss.

“Amazing! Ugen suffers a close match, but what an amazing one it was! Will he be able to come back from this loss?” Hanami asked.

I have to get myself together, or I’m going to lose this match, Ugen thought, I haven’t perfected it yet, but I’ll have to use a new move.

“Ready? Set!”

“Three!...Two!...One...Go Shoot!” Ugen did a full 360 with his launcher and launched when he finished the full rotation of his launcher. 

“Ursa! Urgent Crash!” Ursa came crashing down, tumbling down the stadium. It came into contact with Gaia. Gaia resisted, and managed to come out of the attack without bursting.

“Gaia! Swing Counter!” Gaia came down with a massive amount of energy. Ursa has very little stamina and was wobbling. Gaia came crashing down and collided with Ursa, bursting them both at what seemed like the same time.

“Incredible! Looks like this round will have to closely examined to see who won!” Hanami said. The referee looked at the slow motion footage. Ursa was, in slow motion,spinning very slowly, and Gaia was coming at Ursa slowly in the footage, but much faster than Ursa. It was close, but when they supposedly burst at the same time, Gaia had actually burst slightly before Ursa.

“Gaia burst first! Two points go to Ugen. Ugen wins the match!” The crowd cheered loudly for Ugen and started chanting.

“Incredible! Ugen has one the finals match and is the winner of the district tournament! That’s all, folks! See you next time!” Hanami concluded

“Ugen! Ugen! Ugen!” Even Saoki and Hoeinn got in on the action and chanted his name.

“Incredible! Ugen has one the finals match and is the winner of the district tournament! That’s all, folks! See you next time!” Hanami concluded.

“You’ve gotten very good in a short amount of time,” Gabe said to Ugen, “If you continue at this rate, I’m confident you could become one of the strongest bladers in the world.”

“Don’t worry, I’m going to continue training with you guys. I still have a long way to go,” Ugen replied.

A few hours after the tournament, Ugen heard a knock at the door.

“I’ll get it, Mom!” Ugen yelled to his Mom. Ugen opened the door. Standing there was Saoki.

“Hey Ugen. Congrats on the win a few hours ago,” Saoki said to Ugen.

“Thanks, but is that the reason you came to my house?” Ugen asked.

“No, I actually wanted to ask you about something,” Saoki replied.

“Well come in if you’ve got some things to say,” Ugen insisted. Saoki enters his house and sat down at the couch.

“Come and sit down, Ugen, I’ve got something to talk about,” Saoki said. Ugen sat in the couch across from Saoki.

“So, what’s up?” Ugen asked.

“I wanted to ask if you wanted to come with me next weekend to a training area of mine. It’s a part of a samurai training school. My dad used to use it all the time when he owned a bey. It’s very different from other training facilities and uses older but effective methods. They’re very similar to Samauri training techniques, but for Beys. I asked Hoeinn and Gabe, and they said yes. Would you like to come with us this weekend to do some intense training?” Saoki asked Ugen.

“Let me ask my Mom,” Ugen replied. With that, Ugen yelled loudly, “Mom! Can I go training with my team over the weekend!?” 

Ugen’s Mom came down the stairs, “You don’t have to yell, Ugen. Sure, you can go,” Ugen got excited and started to pack some things.

“Ugen, it isn’t until next weekend!” Saoki yelled to Ugen.

“Oh yeah, I forgot,” Ugen replied.

“Well, I gotta go now,” Saoki said, “See you Monday,” with that, Saoki left and closed the door behind him.

Next weekend is going to be so awesome, Ugen thought.

To be continued in Chapter 13: Intense Training! The Way of the Samurai! 

Chapter 13: Intense Training! The Way of the Samurai!

Waiting for Saturday was torture. Ugen trained hard all week, expecting to have to endure hard training that weekend. It was already Friday, but the day just wouldn’t speed up for Ugen.

“Let’s go again!” Saoki told Ugen.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Shuriken went to the center. Ursa burst it as usual.

“Man, I haven’t been getting any stronger,” Saoki said, “At this rate I’ll never be able to beat you.”

“You’ll get there one day,” Ugen encouraged Saoki, “Especially since we’re leaving for your training site in a few hours.”

“That’s right, I almost forgot about that,” Saoki said. They, along with Gabe and Hoeinn, continued to train for another hour before leaving to go to the train station. Saoki’s Dad came with them to pay for the tickets and get them to the training site.

“I’m so excited! I can only imagine what it will be like,” Ugen said to his team.

“It isn’t going to be all fun. Some of it is intense training. In the end though I think it will have us leaving a little stronger, at least,” Saoki replied to Ugen. It was time for the team to board the train. 

The train rode to the training site was, well, quite boring in Ugen’s opinion. All they could really do was stare out the window.

“How long has it been, Mr. Nioko?” Ugen asked.

“It has only been an hour. We still have around  four hours left,” Saoki’s Dad replied. Ugen leaned his head against the train car, bored out of his mind.

“It’s felt like half a day,” Ugen replied. 

The train ride had felt like it had taken a long time, but finally, at close to midnight, they had made it to their destination. The team got off the train and the training site was a couple miles away. Once they arrived, they headed into a cabin in the training site to sleep after a long day.

“Y’all get some sleep. It’s been a long day,” Saoki’s Dad told the team.

The next morning, Saoki was up earlier than everybody else. After a few minutes, he got bored of waiting and went to the dojo. About half an hour later, everyone else woke up.

“Guys, where’s Saoki?” Ugen asked sleepily, having just woken up and looked around for a few moments. 

“Saoki’s not in his bed?” Hoeinn asked back.

“No, he’s gone.”

“He must have started training without us,” Hoeinn concluded, “We should get dressed and get started with him.” So the team got dressed and ready, and went to the dojo.

They opened the relatively large doors of the dojo, and saw Saoki doing stretches, almost as if he was waiting for them.

“Took you guys long enough. Let’s go ahead and get started,” Saoki told the team.

“We first start with calming ourselves and empty our minds, to prepare us for the training,” Saoki instructed. Hoeinn and Gabe were able to do so, but Ugen had a harder time. 

“How am I supposed to think of nothing?” Ugen asked.

“You just have to do it,” Saoki replied, then emptied his mind again. It took a few minutes to figure out how to do it, but Ugen was able to empty his mind for a few seconds before hearing the sound of walking.

“We’re already done?” Ugen asked.

“Yes, we are going to start training now,” Saoki replied. The team went outside.

“First, to practice out Beyblade’s balance. Launch the Beyblade on that pole,” Saoki pointed to a pole, which was the size of a pencil eraser. 

“How are we supposed to do that? It’s so small,” Ugen stated.

“That’s the whole point. It helps improve your Beyblade’s balance,” Saoki told Ugen.

“I’ll go first,” Hoeinn said, launching Hercules right on the spot. Hercules landed it in one try, with perfect balance.

“How’d you do that first try?” Ugen said in awe.

“Archery requires accuracy and precision. I simply used those fundamentals here,” Hoeinn replied. 

“I gotta try next,” Ugen said, launching Ursa. Ursa missed the pole completely, leaving Ursa on the grass.

“That was just a one time mistake. I’ll get it this time,” Ugen confidently said, launching Ursa again. This time, Ursa hit the pole, but bounced right back off and into the grass.

“I think I’ll go next,” Gabe said, launching Gaia onto the pole, and aced the landing. Gaia had only a bit of instability, but keeping its balance on the pole. 

“Am I the only one who isn’t able to do this?” Ugen asked in shock.

“Well, we did all start Beyblade before you, so that may have something to do with it,” Gabe replied.

“My turn,” Saoki said and launched Shuriken. Shuriken bounced off the pole and jumped on it.

“Now you’re just showing off,” Ugen said.

“I’ve done this many times before, so you could say I’ve mastered it,” Saoki replied. They went to do the next part of training, which was towards a river. 

“Next up is the pole jump,” Saoki stated. In front of them were five wooden poles rising up from a river, varying in height. The poles were about the size of dock poles. 

“What do we do?” Ugen asked.

“Your Bey has to jump across all five poles and make it to the other side of the river,” Saoki explained, “this time I’ll go first to show you guys how to do it.” Saoki prepared his launcher and launched. Shuriken went bouncing on the first few and tripped up on the fifth on, creating a cut into the grass when it made impact on the grass when it hit the other side.

“Looks like I slightly messed up the launch, but you get the gist,” Saoki said. Hoeinn went up and launched Hercules. Hercules has a harder time jumping across the poles due to the cone shape of the tip. Hercules had to throw itself across the poles by tilting down and hitting the side of the pole to get to the other one. By the time it got to the fifth pole, it had almost no stamina. It launched itself off the fifth pole with all of its stamina, and landed right in the edge of the river bank.

“That was a close one. Good job for your first try,” Saoki said. Ugen was so shocked how everyone else was doing so well, and was afraid to go.

“I’d like to go next, if that’s fine with you Ugen,” Gabe said. Ugen nodded in agreement, and Gabe launched Gaia. Gaia hit the pole wall and bounced off of them. On the third pole it ricocheted into the water, splashing water onto nearby poles.

“Looks like my launch angle was off,” Gabe said, going to retrieve Gaia in the water.

“That was still good for your first try,” Saoki said. It was Ugen’s turn.

I just have to angle my launch so it hits the poles at an angle to bounce off of, Ugen though. After a few seconds, Ugen launched Ursa. Ursa bounced off of two of the pole, leaving cracks in the wood, and then fell into the water with a large splash.

“Ursa!” Ugen yelled, and ran into the water to retrieve Ursa.

“I think you guys will like this next part of training,” Saoki said. They walked into an opening into a forest on the other side of the river. After a few minutes of walking, they came across what looked like a stadium.

“This is a stadium made of a tough native tree around here: The Japanese Zelkova,” Saoki explained, “Decades ago this was created out of the trunk of a Zelkova. Many battles have occurred in this stadium. It’s larger than normal stadiums, and it’s tougher in texture too, making Beyblades run out of steam faster.”

“This is so cool!” Ugen said, feeling the stadium and amazed by it.

“I’m shocked a tree grew to this size,” Hoeinn observed.

“Yeah, it was one of the largest Zelkova’s that ever grew,” Saoki replied, “I want to battle against you, Gabe. I want to try out a new move I have been practicing on my own.”

“That sounds good. Let’s go,” Gabe replied to Saoki.

“Not before I get my revenge battle!” Someone yelled behind them. The team looked in the direction the voice was from. It was Bushi.

To be continued in Chapter 14: The Ultimate Revenge! A Team Battle!

Chapter 14: The Ultimate Revenge! Team Battle!

“Gabe, you may have won our last match, but I refuse to leave without revenge!” Bushi yelled to Gabe.

“Are you gonna battle him, Gabe?” Saoki asked.

“Sure, why not. I’m always up for a rematch,” Gabe replied to Saoki. Gabe went towards the wooden stadium, and got his bey ready on the launcher. Bushi did the same on the other side of the stadium.

“I’ll be the ref,” Ugen stated, and went in between Gabe and Bushi on another side of the stadium.

“Ready? Set!” Ugen yelled. Gabe and Bushi got into their launching stances.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Gabe and Bushi launched their Beys. Gaia and Ifrit went straight for the center, resulting in a fight for the center.

“Ifrit! Inferno Defense!” Ifrit held the center, Gaia struggling to penetrate its defense. Gaia hit Ifrit a few more times and rode up to the edge of the stadium to the top of the slope. It stayed there for a few seconds before coming back down.

“Gaia! Swing Crash!” Gaia wobbled, causing stamina loss, but greatly increasing attack. Upon impact, Ifrit flew out of the stadium. 

“A Ring Out finish! One point goes to Gabe!” Ugen announced. 

“You got lucky! I’m gonna win the next round!” Bushi yelled to Gabe. Gabe remained silent, focusing on the next round.

“Alright then. Ready? Set!” 

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Bushi pulled off a new launch while Gabe used the same launch as last round. Gaia went straight to the center. Ifrit went in for defense and fought Gaia for the center.

“Inferno Defense!” Ifrit took the center, Gaia struggling to take back the center. After a few hits, Gaia went back up to the top of the stadium, and went back down.

“Gaia! Swing Crash!” Just before Gaia was going to crash into Ifrit, Ifrit moved out of the center.

“Ifrit! Triple Slash!” Ifrit rushes into Gaia and hit it three times with its three blades. After hitting it the third time, Gaia burst from the impact.

“I-Ifrit with a burst finish!? Bushi gets two points. Bushi...wins the match!?” Ugen was shocked that Bushi actually beat Gabe, especially since Gaia had a new move up its sleeve. Bushi smirked, and walked away.

“That was brutal, Gabe. How did you lose?” Ugen asked.

“He’s gotten a lot stronger since I last battled him, so it’s not that big of a surprise,” Gabe replied. 

“I also set up a team battle right after lunch, and since it’s almost noon, let’s go eat,” Saoki said. The team left the forest and went back to the dojo to go to the cafeteria. 

The cafeteria had an old style to it, and was partially enclosed, having a roof but two of the walls didn’t exist. It connected to the dojo to the side. The team went to eat some delicious naporitan. 

“It’s quite delicious!” Ugen said with a mouthful of the pasta.

“Maybe not talk with your mouth full of food,” Gabe replied.

After lunch, the team was full and ready for a team battle. They went to the battle room, where a stadium was placed at the center of the room.

“So how do these team battles work?” Ugen asked.

“Every match, each team sends out one blader, and they battle it out for first to three points. It’s first to three wins, so whoever gets to that goal first wins the team battle,” Saoki explained to Ugen.

“What team are we up against?” Ugen asked.

“I think they’re called the JP Spirals,” Saoki replied. Right after he said that, the door opened on the other side of the room and three people entered. Two of them Ugen recognized, which were Whintoki and Bushi. The third one Ugen had never seen before. It looked like he was ready to go swimming, as he had swim shorts and a swim shirt on. 

“We’re the JP Spirals, now let’s get our victory already!” Whintoki exclaimed. The teams went to their sides of the room to discuss who would go out first.

“So who’s going out first?” Hoeinn asked.

“Whintoki will probably send himself out first,” Saoki said, “I say we send me out first. I’ve been training hard and I really want to prove my worth on this team.”

“You’re a great team member, and you don’t have to prove anything to us,” Ugen told Saoki, “Should we send out Saoki?” 

“If he wants to, he can go first,” Gabe replied. With that, they waited until the JP Spirals were finished picking their teammate to go up. When they were, Saoki went up for the Rideout’s. As predicted, Whintoki went up for the JP Spirals’. 

“Saoki. I saw you when you went up against Ugen back when he was still weak. You’ll be a piece of cake to beat,” Whintoki told Saoki.

“I’m a lot stronger than you think. Don’t underestimate me!” Saoki replied, keeping himself together. 

“Whatever. Your words don’t make you a better blader,” Whintoki responded.

“I’ll be the referee for match 1,” Ugen said, waiting for the bladers to ready their launchers.

“Ready? Set!” Ugen called. 

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Saoki tried out his new launch. Whirlwind had gone for defense and took the center. Shuriken fought Whirliwnd to take the center, having no success. Whirlwind hit Shuriken with one of its big contact points and Shuriken went flying. 

“Shuriken! Samurai Downfall!” Shuriken hit the stadium wall with its driver and bounced across the stadium, landing on top of Whirlwind. The weight of Shuriken made a whirlwind begin to wobble. Eventually, it started to fall on its side. When it landed on its side, it hit Shuriken with one of its big contact points, sending Shuriken flying out of the stadium.

“A KO! One point goes to Whintoki!” Ugen announced. 

“Looks like I’ll definitely be taking this match,” Whintoki told Saoki.

“Don’t get overconfident now! I’m just getting started!” Saoki replied.

To be continued in Chapter 15: A Ballistic Opponent! Ballistic Baskark!

Chapter 15: A Ballistic Opponent! Ballistic Baskark!

“Ready? Set!” Whintoki and Saoki got their launchers ready.

I have to get this win for the team, Saoki thought. I have to prove to my team I can get them victories.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Saoki tried the same launch as before, but with more power. Shuriken got to the center first this time, and Whirlwind went it for jumping attacks, trying to get Shuriken to budge from the center.

“Keep going at it, Whirlwind!” Whintoki yelled to Whirlwind. Whirlwind continued, and was hitting harder each time. Eventually, Whirlwind hit Shuriken and threw it into the stadium wall.

“It’s not ending now! Absorb the impact Shuriken!” Shuriken hit the wall, but wasn’t effected, and started doing small bounces across the stadium.

“You’re not the only one who can jump! Aerial Smash!” Shuriken bounces right to Whirlwind and started attacking it.  

“You didn’t actually think a defense type Beyblade could attack effectively, did you? End this, Whirlwind!” Whirlwind used its performance tip and landed on the top of Shuriken, pushing it into the stadium. Eventually, Shuriken was tilted down all the way, losing stamina rapidly. Whirlwind made the final blow, bursting Shuriken.

“Whirlwind with a burst finish! Two points go to Whintoki! Whintoki wins the match!” Ugen announced. Saoki clenched his fists hard, gritting his teeth, and walked back to the other side of his room where the team was.

“I-I failed you guys,” Saoki told the team.

“You didn’t fail us, Saoki. I can see you have improved,” Gabe told him,”You just weren’t ready for Whintoki’s attack.”

“Alright, then, who’s next?” Hoeinn asked.

“I think we need to send out Ugen. He can get us a point,” Saoki replied.

“Agreed. Ugen, you go out next match,” Gabe instructed. Ugen nodded in agreement. When the JP Spirals were finished picking their teammate to go out, Ugen went out, along with the teammate from the other team. Ugen realized it was that surfer dude, and he had no idea what Beyblade he used. 

“Howzit, dude? The name’s Bartek, and it’s epic to finally battle the blader that placed first in the district tournament,” Bartek introduced to Ugen, “My bey’s Baskark, the ultimate shark Beyblade!” Ugen examined Baskark. The whole center part of the layer had a shark head with its mouth open wide. It’s dorsal fin and it’s tail were it’s two main contact points, as well as two other hooked fins on the sides of the beyblade that made for two other contact points. It was definitely an attack type.

“Nice bey. Just wanted to let you know: I’m not holding back, even if you do,” Ugen said.

“I wouldn’t hold back on a powerful blader like you,” Bartek replied. He put his foot on the outer side of the stadium.

What’s he doing?, Ugen thought, it doesn’t matter, because I’m not holding back.

“I’ll be the ref for this match,” Gabe announced.

“Ready? Set!” Ugen and Bartek got their launchers ready.

“Three!...Two!...One...Go Shoot!” Bartek lifted himself of the ground with his foot on the stadium, and did a sliding shoot launch. Baskark wobbled aggressively and sped forwards Ursa. Ursa hit the wall hard

“Dual Strike!” Ursa smashed into Baskark, causing Baskark to do erratic jumps and smash into the wall.

“Baskark! Ballistic Ricochet!” Bartek yelled. Baskark bounced off the wall and started a barrage of attacks on Ursa. Ursa was having trouble surviving the attacks.

“Ursa! Claw Barrage!” Ursa escaped the barrage of attack and started its barrage of attacks on Baskark. Baskark struggled, but managed to push Ursa away.

“It’s not over yet! Ballistic Crash!” Baskark rushes towards Ursa, Ursa beginning to wobble. Baskark crashed into Ursa, bursting Ursa.

“The power in that attack! Insanity!” Ugen called out.

Gabe rose his hand straight towards Bartek. 

“Baskark with a burst finish! Two points go to Bartek. Bartek wins the match!” Gabe announced. Ugen fell to his knees, and picked up the parts of Ursa scattered around the stadium.

“Looks like I trained hard enough. Latronic,” Bartek told Ugen. Bartek went to his teammates. Ugen picked up Ursa and went back to his teammates.

“Baskark has incredible attack power. I’ve got to improve Ursa’s as well, I guess,” Ugen told the team.

“You did well, Bartek just seemed to have seen your moves and countered them,” Gabe replied to Ugen.

“So who’s going to go out for the third match?” Hoeinn asked the team.

“How about Gabe? Surely they are going to send out Bushi next, and Gabe needs a rematch against Bushi,” Ugen suggested. The team nodded in agreement.

“Agreed. I will go out next match,” Gabe announced. When the JP Spirals were finished picking their teammate to send out, Gabe went out, as well as Bushi. The next match was going to be Gabe Vs. Bushi.

To be continued in Chapter 16: An Epic Rematch! No Holding Back!

Chapter 16: An Epic Rematch! No Holding Back!

“So we meet again,” Bushi said, “It doesn’t matter though, because I’m gonna win again.” 

“Don’t get so overconfident when the match hasn’t even started,” Gabe suggested to Bushi. 

“I’ll be the ref for this match,” Hoeinn announced.

“How about I make a goal? I’m gonna beat Gaia in ten seconds or less,” Bushi announced confidently. Team Rideout gasped except for Gabe, who remained silent and serious, focusing on how he was going to launch.

“Ready? Set!” Hoeinn yelled.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Gabe appeared to have failed launch Gaia, as Gaia was spinning somewhat slowly, and wobbling. 

“A failed launch? This will be too easy! Ifrit! Triple Attack!” Ifrit came crashing down and collided with Gaia, sending Ifrit to the stadium wall. Ifrit came to a slow, and ran out of stamina.

“It didn’t burst!?” Gabe exclaimed in shock.

“I saw right through your plan. I’ve seen this technique in the past, so I know what it looks like in action. I wasn’t able to win, but I was at least able to prevent a burst and only get outspun,” Bushi explained.

“You really have improved as a blader, Bushi. I am impressed,” Gabe told Bushi.

“Gaia with a survivor finish! Gabe gets one point!” Hoeinn announced.

Now next round, I’m gonna crush him, Bushi thought.

“Ready? Set!” 

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Ifrit went to the center, looking as if it was defending. Gaia went straight for the attack, but Ifrit avoided it and started running around the stadium.

“You can’t win if you can’t get attacks in! You’ll run out of stamina before you can get any attacks on me!” Ifrit continued to circle around the outer part of the stadium quick. Gaia went for attacks but could never land a shot. Ifrit went in for the attack.

“Ifrit! Triple Slash!” Ifrit came towards Gaia, hitting it twice before Gaia escaped the third hit. It went all the way down and onto the other side of the stadium, at the top.

“Gaia! Swing Counter!” Gaia came down and rushed torwards Ifrit.

“I’m not giving up! Triple Slash!” Ifrit started rushing towards Gaia, and as the two collided, Ifrit slashed Gaia three times, the third hit bursting Ifrit.

“Wait, what!?” Bushi said in shock.

“Gaia with a burst finish! Gabe gets two points. Gabe wins the match!” Hoeinn called. Team Rideout cheered in excitement for Gabe.

“You shouldn’t have tried that attack when I was doing such a powerful attack and you didn’t even have enough clicks to survive your own attack,” Gabe suggested. Gabe returned to his team.

“What an epic victory,” Ugen complimented Gabe, “At this rate he’ll never be able to beat you

“Don’t underestimate the opponent,” Gabe told Ugen seriously, “Bushi has great potential, so don’t act like he’s some pushover. He still has a long way to go, but he’s not weak by any means.”

“Anyways, who’s up next?” Hoeinn asked.

“Saoki, I want you to go back up again,” Gabe answered. The team had a shocked face, including Saoki.

“But I lost my last match, and plus, if our team loses another match, we’re done for,” Saoki argued.

“I believe you can beat whoever goes out against you,” Gabe said encouragingly, “I want to see you go out there and do your best,”

“I’ll go out there and give it my all, then,” Saoki said. After the JP Spirals picked their team member to send out, Saoki went out. He was going up against Bartek.

“Whaddup, dude? I crashed the waves with Ugen, so I doubt you’ll be much more trouble than him,” Bartek told Saoki.

“Don’t underestimate me when you haven’t even seen me at my best,” Saoki replied. Bartek ignored him and got his launching position ready, doing the same stance as before.

“I’ll be the ref for this match,” Bushi came up and announced, “Ready? Set!”

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Bartek launched Baskark off of his knee this time, giving a more controlled launch causing Baskark to become balanced rather than wobble. Shuriken took the center and was tilted slightly. Baskark went in for the attack and tried to push Shuriken out of the center. Shuriken resisted, its tilted position giving it more aggressive defense.

“I’m not giving you victory that easy! Shuriken! Super Shuriken Throw!” Baskark attacked again, and Shuriken went up the slope of the stadium, coming back down and hitting Baskark. 

“You didn’t forget about my Beyblade’s move already, did you? Baskark! Ballistic Ricochet!” Baskark bounced off the wall and smashed into Shuriken, sending it flying across the room and into the wall. The impact Shuriken made on the wall caused it to bury into the wall.

“It’s stuck in the wall!?” Saoki said in shock.

“Baskark with a ring out finish! Bartek gets one point,” Bushi called. Saoki went towards the wall and pulled out Shuriken, which took great force to pull out.

“I’m surprised you didn’t burst from that impact, dude. I’ll give you credit for that,” Bartek told Saoki.

Baskark’s attack power is incredible, Saoki thought, I have to counter it with my best defense.

To be continued on Chapter 17: It’s Comeback Time! A Grand Battle Royale!

Chapter 17: It’s Comeback Time! A Grand Battle Royale!

Time to give it my all this round, Saoki thought.

“Time to finish what I started,” Bartek said.

“Ready? Set!” Bushi yelled.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” Saoki tilted his launcher toward him downwards 45 degrees, and launched. Shuriken jumped around the stadium, Baskark trying to land a hit on it. 

“Shuriken! Crash it off course!” Saoki yelled. Shuriken crashed into Baskark, sending Baskark off course, wobbling more than usual.

“I’m not letting you beat me that easily! Baskark! Brutal Cascade!” Bartek yelled. Baskark’s wobbling became worse and worse, resulting in it going out of control all over the stadium, landing a hit on Shuriken. Shuriken smashed into the stadium wall, however it was hit on its driver, allowing it to absorb the attack.

“I’m not giving up either! Shuriken! Absorb Counter!” Shuriken sped around the stadium quickly, landing hit after hit on Baskark, eventually surrounding it in a shield it couldn’t break out of.

“Now Shuriken!” Shuriken bounced into the wall, and right into Baskark, bursting Baskark on impact.

“Impossible!” Bartek exclaimed in horror.

“A burst finish! Two points go to Saoki. Saoki wins!” Bushi announced. Team Rideout shouted in joy as Saoki came back to the team.

“What an epic new move you came up with Saoki!” Ugen told Saoki. 

“Now we’re tied two to two,” Gabe stated.

“So who’s going up next?” Saoki asked.

“No single person is going next! We shall all battle it out in a battle royale!” Whintoki exclaims from the other side of the room.

“I’m down for that,” Gabe agrees, heading towards the stadium. The two teams went to the stadium with their three team members chosen. 

“I’ll be the judge for this battle royale match,” Hoeinn announced.

“Let’s give both of our teams three minutes to think up a strategy,” Gabe proposed to Whintoki.

“Fine by me. Doesn’t mean you’ll have any better chance of winning though,” Whintoki accepted. The two teams began discussing battle strategies.

“I think the best strategy is to go after all of them all at once, each of us taking one of them on,” Saoki proposed.

“It’s probably a better idea for all of us to go after each one. Then it would be picking off one at a time, putting them at a disadvantage,” Gabe replied. The team nodded in agreement to that plan. They told Hoeinn they were ready. A few seconds later, so did the JP Spirals.

“The two teams are now ready! Ready? Set!” Hoeinn yelled.

“Three!...Two!...One!...Go Shoot!” The two teams launch their beys. As planned, Gaia, Shuriken, and Ursa all went after Whirlwind, which was in attack mode.

“I thought you might go for something like this!   Bushi! Bartek! Go for it!” Whintoki yelled. Ifrit and Baskark slammed into Whirlwind and launched it into the air. Baskark and Ifrit then targeted Shuriken. 

“A special move I can only use properly in team battles! Whirlwind Dive!” Whintoki yelled to Whirlwind. Whirlwind came crashing down onto Shuriken while Baskark and Ifrit were also colliding into Shuriken. The immense amount of power caused Shuriken to burst. 

They were one step ahead of us, Gabe thought, All we can do is give it everything we got.

Gabe looked at Ugen with a certain look. Ugen knew what it meant, and nodded. Baskark, Ifrit, and Whirlwind surrounded Gaia and collided with Gaia, creating an inescapable attack. Ugen made his move.

“Ursa! Break into the attack!” Ursa rushed into the JP Spiral’s attack. Ursa came at it with such force, Ifrit flew out of the stadium. Gaia has an opening, and took it. 

“Gaia! Urgent Swing Counter!” Gaia went straight up and come crashing down, Ursa slamming into it to give Gaia more power. Gaia slammed into Baskark, sending Baskark flying.

“You can’t defeat me that easily!” Bartek stated. Baskark aimed for the stadium wall, but Ursa came rushing towards the stadium wall.

“You’re done for, Bartek!” Ugen yelled. Ursa slammed into Baskark just as it was about to hit the stadium wall.

“If I’m going, I’m taking you down with me!” Baskark flipped over the stadium wall, flicking Ursa out as well.

Looks like it’s up to me, Gabe thought.

“Whirlwind! Slam into Gaia with everything you’ve got!” Whintoki yelled. Whirlwind still had plenty of attack power and slammed into Gaia, Gaia fending off the attacks with its defense. 

“If I can’t beat you with brute force I’ll just have to use some tricks!” Whirlwind aimed for the bottom of Gaia’s layer, striking it, and sending Gaia flying.

“This is the end for you!” Whintoki exclaimed. Gaia hit the stadium wall instead and was on the very top part of the stadium.

“Looks like I’ll have to beat you through stamina! It’s a one point battle after all! Spin until you’ve got nothing left to give, Gaia!” Gaia continued to spin quickly, with a good amount of stamina left. Whirlwind, on the other hand, was running out of stamina. 

“It doesn’t matter if you’re at the top of the stadium! I’ll just slam you off the stadium! Whirlwind! Go for it!” Whirlwind used the last of its stamina to bring one final hit to Gaia.

“Golem Smash,” Gaia said with a regular voice. Whirlwind smashed into Gaia, and Gaia slammed Whirlwind with one of its golem heads, causing Whirlwind to burst immediately upon impact of it.

“Such power...” Whintoki said quietly.

Hoeinn raised his hand to the right.

“Gaia with a burst finish! Team Rideout wins the battle royale and the team match!” Team Rideout cheered in joy.

“Good game, Whintoki,” Gabe raised his hand out to Whintoki for a handshake. Whintoki hesitated for a moment, but then took the handshake.

“Good game, Gabe. You guys definitely aren’t a team to take lightly. I’ll be looking forward to the next time we battle,” Whintoki replied.

“Same to you, Whintoki,” Gabe responded.

“You guys would probably do great at the regional tournament,” Bushi suggested to Team Rideout.

“There are regional tournaments?” Ugen asked Gabe.

“Yes, there are. They just so happen to be happening a couple weeks from now,” Gabe replied to Ugen.

“We gotta join!” Ugen suggested you the team.

“Some training is in due for us, though. We are gonna want to train up hard, because the regionals aren’t a joke. I got out within my first match at last year’s,” Hoein suggested.

“Let’s go train then!” Ugen said, running out the door.

“Let’s wait until we get back to our original training area. It’ll be more effective if we do so,” Gabe suggested.

“Oh yeah...” Ugen replied.

To be continued in Chapter 18: Ursa Upgrades? Training to the End!

Chapter 18: Ursa Upgrades? Training to the End!

“I’ve got to train Ursa to become strong enough to win at the regionals tournament!” Ugen yelled to his teammates. Ugen was determined to do whatever he could to train hard and win the regionals tournament. He started his grinding training the day after they came home from the dojo. After a good night’s rest, Ugen invited the whole team over to his backyard to train.

“Is there any specific reason why you chose your backyard over our training room at the school?” Hoeinn asked in confusion over why he was in Ugen’s backyard.

“Isn’t the school closed on the weekends?” Ugen asked Hoeinn.

“Our training room isn’t,” Hoeinn replied to Ugen. Ugen’s face turned apologetic.

“Well, we’re here now, so I guess we should train here for today,” Ugen said, thinking it was the most logical thing to do.

“This can work for today,” Gabe told the team, “We will train here for today.”

“If it’s ok with you guys, I’m going to try and unlock Ursa’s true power. I’ve been noticing some wear on the driver, and I think it’s performance is gonna change for the better soon,” Ugen requested time his teammates.

“Sounds good to me. Training alone sometimes can unlock potential you never would have found otherwise training together,” Gabe said acceptingly. Ugen went up to his personal stadium and launched Ursa. Ursa was still as fast as it usually was.

It’s gonna take awhile before it awakens, but once it does, it’s speed will increase dramatically, Ugen thought. Hard launches were the key to awakening the driver, and he knew this would be the key to give him a chance in the regionals. He was awaiting an invite, to which he figured he’d probably get since he beat Gabe in the finals of the local tournament. Ugen knew the more times he launched, the more worn down his tip would get. He had to keep going until it happened. So Ugen did exactly that.

Several hours went by. Ugen kept launching Ursa over and over again, trying to awaken it.

Saoki started walking over to Ugen and said, “Shouldn’t you take a-“

Gabe stepped forward, in the way of Saoki.

“Don’t talk to Ugen right now. He’s in the zone. Just get him a sandwich or something if you want to get him something to eat,” Gabe told Saoki. Saoki modded, and went inside to get Ugen a sandwich, with the permission of Ugen’s Mom.

Ugen kept going for a few more hours. He had eaten the sandwich Saoki had given him in between launches. 5:00 PM rolled around. Ugen launched Ursa, and a sudden burst of speed came upon Urgent Ursa, which rushed around the stadium. It’s dual strike practice attacks were much more powerful than before.

“It’s finally ready! Gabe, if you don’t mind, I’d like to battle you real quick,” Ugen requested to Gabe.

“I’ll accept. I’m excited to see how well Ursa does in a battle. Don’t expect me to hold back though,” Gabe said assuringly.

“I won’t. Hoeinn left a little bit ago, so Saoki, could you come judge this battle?” Ugen asked Saoki.

“Fine by me. I’m interested in how this battle is gonna go,” Saoki accepted, and walked over to judge the match.

“Ready? Set!”

I have literally just awakened the driver, so it’s going to be hard to control at first. I have to try my best, Ugen thought, readying his launcher.

“Three...Two...One...Go Shoot!” The two launched. Gaia went straight to the center, wobbling. Ursa dashed around the outer part of the stadium.

“Dual strike!” Ursa went right to the middle and landed a hard hit on Gaia. Gaia went to the top of the stadium slope as usual with this attack.

“Gaia! Swing Counter!” Gaia came speeding down quickly. Ursa didn’t hesitate and collided with Gaia, sending the two into the stadium wall and burst at the same time.

“Simultaneous Burst Finish. No point!” Saoki called the match.

“Interesting to say the least. Let’s keep going until one of us gets a point,” Gabe proposed to Ugen.

“Works for me. Hopefully that’ll be soon, since it’s about dinner time,” Ugen accepted. Eight rounds went by, each one ending in a draw, every time being either a simultaneous KO or Burst. By the time the tenth round came, Ugen was getting discouraged.

“After that round, come in for dinner!” Ugen’s Mom opened the outdoor door and called out.

“Ok, Mom!” Ugen responded. He knew this was his last chance to win against Gabe today. He wanted to end off today with a victory, should he be able to. The match started, and Ugen decided to try a risky move after Gabe used Swinging Smash.

“Urgent Crash!” Ugen yelled out to Ursa. Ursa came crashing down like usual, but almost looked like a flying eagle, swooping down to catch its prey. Gaia tried to dodge, but was hit on the side and immediately burst upon impact.

“ A Burst Finish! Two points go to Ugen. Ugen wins the match!” Saoki announced.

“You have definitely improved, Ugen. Wearing down that driver has really shown Ursa’s true potential. If you can master using Ursa’s awakened form, I have no doubt you could go on to at least be the best Blader in Japan,” Gabe told Ugen. Gabe noticed when he picked up Gaia that a small crack had formed on the side the Ursa had hit Gaia on.

That’s some serious attack power. If Ugen had mastered Ursa’s awakened form, it might have broken Gaia, Gabe thought. He and Saoki went home right after the match. Ugen ate dinner and went to bed early that evening. He knew his training wasn’t done yet if he wanted to make it far in the regionals. He still had a ways to go.

To be continued in Chapter 19: The Regionals Begin! Last Chance Training!