Disclaimer: I do not own this series, all rights belong to Takao Aoki. I merely got bored and had way too much time on my hands!

First story, constructive comments welcome!

"The World Championships are going to be teams of five," explained Mr. Dickenson.

"Which means we need one more blader, without Daichi, we're short one" concluded Rei. The original four Bladebreakers had decided to team up one more time for another World Championship.

"But who could we get, most bladers aiming for the World Championships are already part of a team," asked Max.

"Actually, if you boys don't mind, I have someone in mind," offered Mr. Dickenson.

"Who?" the team asked.

"You wouldn't know them, but trust me, they're one of the best and they'll give you an edge on the World Circuit," explained Mr. Dickenson.

The team looked skeptical.

"Trust me," said Dickenson.

"Alright," said Kai.

"Good I'll get a hold of them today," beamed Dickenson.

They left Mr. Dickenson's office and headed straight back to Tyson's place, the topic of discussion, their new mysterious teammate.

"Kai, can I ask you something?" asked Rei.

Kai was silent, so Rei took that as a yes.

"Why'd you agree so quickly, normally you'd want to know everything about them and then you'd still be hesitant? You don't even know the guys name," asked Rei.

"Something tells me this time, things won't be as easy," was Kai's reply.

"Yeah," agreed the others.

. . .

The sky was a brilliant blue, the occasional cloud passed over the sun.

"Teacher!" A child shouted from the ground below the tree where Teacher was lounging in a high thick branch.

Teacher sat up and looked down at the child.

"I need your help," said the child.

Teacher pushed off from the branch, free falling to the ground. Even from that height it was easy to land. 'Heh, even after all this time, I still haven't lost my touch,' thought Teacher.

Teacher smiled at the child.

"What'd you do this time Kyle?" asked Teacher, crouching down to the height of the small seven year old.

"It broke," said the child holding out a beyblade in three pieces.

"And how did you manage this?" asked Teacher taking the blade and sitting on the grass, leaning against the tree. It was obvious what was wrong with the blade and was easy to fix.

"I don't know, I was just battling and suddenly it went wobbly and flew out of the dish," explained the child.

"Here's the problem," said Teacher holding out the weight disk. "Your weight disk is cracked. You have to be more careful with your blade, you're being too rough with it," lectured Teacher while replacing the weight disk and putting the blade back together. "There you go. Now, what did we learn?"

"Be careful with our blades," repeated the group of kids who had gathered around.

"Good, here you go," said Teacher handing back the blade.

"Thank you Teacher!" exclaimed the child as he ran off to the nearest dish.

"Is that what you go by nowadays?" asked a voice from behind. 'Teacher' whipped around to find an old balding man standing there.

"What do you want?"

"Nice to see you too, Skye," replied the old man smiling.

"What do you want?" repeated Skye. How did this old man know her?

"I wanted to talk with you, I have an offer for you," replied the old man.

"Do I know you?" asked Skye.

"It's been a while, I know. I'm Mr. Dickenson, head of the BBA, though I wasn't when I met you," laughed Dickenson.

Skye's eyes went wide, but an instant later thinned dangerously.

"So that's what this is about," growled Skye and she started walking towards Mr. Dickenson. Mr. Dickenson didn't even flinch as she walked right by him, although it was more of stormed past him. Mr. Dickenson followed.

After walking a little ways away from the kids Skye stopped along the riverbank.

"I know what you're about to ask, and the answer's no," said Skye without even turning around. "I haven't spun a blade since I retired, and I plan to keep it that way."

"At least hear my offer," suggested Mr. Dickenson.
Skye was silent for a moment as she thought about it.
"Fine," she finally answered.

"I'd like you to join a team of mine, they already have four bladers, they only need one more since the rules have changed slightly for this World Championship and they require teams of five," explained Mr. Dickenson.

"So far you're not doing a very good job of selling this, it sounds like I'd just be there to fill the vacant spot," retorted Skye.

"On the contrary, you're their only hope," replied Mr. Dickenson.

"What do you mean?" asked Skye. "This has something to do with the rules that have changed, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does," replied Mr. Dickenson, the smile finally sliding from his face. Now Skye was worried.

. . .

"'Morning," Tyson yawned as he stretched, just waking up well after everyone else.

...

"Hey! Where is everyone!" exclaimed Tyson.

"Hey, chill out. We just finished breakfast," laughed Max.

"What! Breakfast is over!" shouted Tyson.

"Don't worry, we saved you some," grinned Max producing a plate loaded with food.

"Alright! You're the best Max!" exclaimed Tyson as he grabbed the plate a dug in. "Hey, where's Kai?" Tyson asked between mouthfuls.

"Outside already," answered Rei.

"Yeah, you might want to hurry up, he's waiting to start training," added Max.

"Already, but I just got up," complained Tyson.

"Then get up earlier," suggested Rei, and he and Max headed outside. Tyson followed after he finished eating and getting dressed.

"Nice of you to join us Tyson," greeted Kenny from his spot sitting on the deck, laptop open.

"So, what's the deal with the early morning workout? We still don't even have our fifth blader, or know who he is for that matter," complained Tyson.

"We don't even know if he's going to join yet, so we have to be ready in case he doesn't," explained Kai.

And with that the team went to work.

. . .

"Teacher!"

Skye was once again lounging in a high tree branch overlooking the park. She had been staring at the plane ticket given to her by Mr. Dickenson all afternoon. She still hadn't decided if she would take him up on his offer. She put the ticket away and jumped down out of the tree.

"What'd you do now?" she asked.

"Nothing, my blade keeps losing, I need a new one," said the child holding out his blade.

She took it and looked at it for a second.
"There's nothing wrong with this blade," said Skye. She could tell that after a glance.

"But then why do I keep losing?" asked the child.

"Well, I'll have to see you blade to tell you that," said Skye.

So the kid, Skye, and the crowd of kids that had gathered around went over to a dish. The battle wasn't interesting, and it didn't last long. The kid who had asked for her help, Sam, was sent flying after about two minutes.

"See, that's what always happens!" cried the child.

"It's your launch," said Skye. "You aren't pulling the ripcord straight, you're pulling it slightly on an angle which would cause your blade to lose spin, which would make your blade lose power, which is why you're losing your battles."

Skye spent the next ten minutes instructing kids the basics of launching. She then went back to sitting under the tree, staring at the plane ticket.

"What's that?" asked a little girl, Kylee, coming up and sitting in front of Skye.

"It's a plane ticket," answered Skye.

"Where are you going?"

"Japan, but I haven't decided if I'll go or not," explained Skye.
"Why would you go to Japan?" asked another child.

"I've been offered to join a team," answered Skye.

"For the World Championships?" asked another.

"Yes, and you guys ask a lot of questions," replied Skye.

"You should definitely go!" exclaimed yet another child.

"Yeah! You're the best blader ever!"

"How would you know, you've never seen me blade before?" laughed Skye.

"But you know more about blades and beyblading than anyone!"

"Yeah! You'd totally win!"

"So, you guys think I should go?" asked Skye, not that she would actually value the opinions of a bunch of seven year old kids.

"Yeah!"

"And what would you do when you break your blades and I'm not here?" she asked.

"We'll be ok, we promise!"

Skye just laughed.

"Well, I have to go, and if I'm not here tomorrow, you know where I'll be," smiled Skye.