Yes, a cross-over fic between Beyblade and... um... Beyblade.

I accept that some people dislike one series or the other, but here is not the place to debate this. May I only humbly suggest that you give them both a chance, as I think they both have merit.

This is set one year post-G-Rev, and about two weeks after the fall of Dark Nebula (end of first Metal series), so it's probably best if you know what's happened up to those points. It will occasionally lightly foreshadow events in the second and even third Metal series, more like a "spot the hints" sort of thing for those who have seen it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade in any shape or form, Metal or otherwise. Never have, never will. Just occasionally borrow the characters, that's all.

Chapter 1 – The Prologue: By Invitation Only

In which some visitors arrive

It wasn't that Tyson resented Mr Dickenson for it, but it was just so... inconvenient.

He'd been planning to spend the summer out in the mountains at the training centre with Daichi, Kai, Ray and Max, all training together. They would have finally learned how to get on as a proper team, he would have become a real leader of a world-class blading team, there would have been a huge breakthrough in actually getting Kai to talk for once... okay, maybe that was pushing it a bit. But it was going to be so much fun, and now everything had been cancelled.

Because the G-Revolutions had visitors.

It had been just over a year since the fall of BEGA, and the new BBA was gradually finding its feet. Of course, BEGA had been far too big for it to just collapse overnight, even with the hub taken out, and so Mr Dickenson had reorganised it into the Worldwide Beyblade Battle Association, coordinating tournaments all over the globe. The BBA would content itself with the small, local competitions, at least for now.

The WBBA had gone from strength to strength, and in the last year had held thousands of competitions around the globe, with the famous Justice Five team spearheading the effort. Unfortunately, it had seemed that even once Boris had been removed from the equation, there were others within the structure of the new WBBA who were willing to go to any lengths to get what they wanted, and the Dark Nebula organisation had materialised out of the woodwork, rebuilding the old BEGA headquarters and hosting the very first Battle Bladers tournament, with devastating effects.

So devastating, in fact, that several people from Battle Bladers were now without anywhere to stay. In a burst of perhaps rather presumptive compassion, Mr Dickenson had asked the top members of the BBA to host the top members of the WBBA, at least until they had somewhere to go home to.

Which was where Tyson's dilemma had come from. Much as he wanted to go up to the mountains to train, he just couldn't leave fellow bladers in the lurch. So he had accepted, as had Kenny, Max, Hilary, and after a lot of wheedling and pleading, Kai.

That was how they had ended up standing in the airport with only a name to go on, waiting for their visitors to arrive. Kenny had tried to look up information on their visitors, but due to the ongoing investigations into the rise of Dark Nebula, all personal data was so highly classified that even the Chief couldn't get through. Perhaps if he had been able to use Dizzi, things might have been different, but the computer-bound bit-beast had been dormant for a little over two years now, and no-one knew if Kenny would ever manage to get her out, or even if he could.

Tyson frowned at the card in his hand. He knew that the guy coming to stay with him in the dojo was a blader, and that he must be pretty good to be at the top of the WBBA, but what sort of blader was he? Did he have a bit-beast? Was he a natural, like Brooklyn, or would they get to train together? Were they even going to get along in the first place or would he be annoying, like Daichi?

Max poked him in the side. "Hey, Tyson." When the other looked up, he grinned. "Come on. This is going to be great, just you wait. You never know, maybe this'll turn out even better than going to the mountains."

"You've got Ray, at least," Tyson pointed out. The black-haired Chinese blader was staying with Max, mostly because the dojo already contained Daichi, Tyson and Grandpa Granger, and even the serene-natured Ray couldn't handle that much craziness. "All I've got is monkey-boy."

"Look!" Hilary's excited yelp made all of them jump.

"What? Where?"

"There!" And she pointed. "Just coming through the passage now! I think it's them!"

Indeed, a small group of people were walking out of the gates, sticking together in a huddle as they scanned the waiting crowds for names. With a sigh, Tyson held up his card, and saw the eyes of all seven of them latch onto him.

"Yep," he muttered to Hilary. "That's them alright."

One of the group took a step forwards, a boy with bright red hair that stood up around his head, held back by a thick blue band sewn with the emblem of a stylized golden horse head and single wing.

"Tyson... Granger?" The boy asked hesitantly, holding out a gloved hand – a blading glove, Tyson noted absently. "I'm Gingka, Gingka Hagane."

Tyson looked at his visitor, taking in the blazing shock of red hair, the blue pegasus head-band, the two-tailed scarf that looked oh-so-familiar, and felt a smile grow on his face as he shook hands. He could already tell he was going to like this guy. They were going to get along like a house on fire.