Beyblade Ultima

Chapter 4: Minutes of Mystery

Silence pervaded the stadium, a chorus of whispers echoed as the noise rose and fell. The Savage Slammers glared at their opponent, normally they were very cheerful and laid back however this was an insult to Hawaiian Beyblading. They would show this impostor what real blading was and be done with it. AJ and Brad tried to relieve the tension of the room as the Majestics entered the stadium.

"Give it up for the BBA's special guests, the Majestics! They'll be opening the Shinawazi collection tomorrow."

"Don't miss it out, ladies and gents. Wow, is it just me or is it getting hot in here?"

"It is, the tension in here is rising so high you could cook an egg on it. If you have just tuned in, a single person team will be taking the Savage Slammers on."

Oliver looked down from the special booth, "This is an insult to the very sport of Beyblading, and I don't understand why the BBA have not done anything about it." Enrique shrugged as he sat down, "I don't know, maybe they are being very sloppy about it." Johnny grunted and folded his arms, "It was a big mistake to come here, and we aren't going to see anything interesting. Why did you make us come Robert?" The trio looked at their leader, he appeared deep in thought.

Piecing his words his words very carefully he replied, "On the contrary Johnny, there are quite a few things of interest to us. We have believed that we were the best because we were the strongest. However since the World Championship, Beyblading has changed so much, we may lose our position as the strongest. It is for our own sake that we observe this tournament and its competitors. Also we have an obligation to the BBA, this Hitori interests me. I doubt that the BBA would send a lone person out if they did not believe this person was strong."

Oliver blinked hard, "Do you really believe that, Robert?"

"I do, although his manner is very relaxed, Mr Valentino is a very good judge of Beyblading. He would not disappoint the teams or the audience by sending out a joke player. I fear that the Savage Slammers may get more than they bargained for."

DJ Jazzman wiped away some sweat from his forehead before starting the match, "Let's get this on the way, bring in the dish!" On his words the dish rose from the ground, the crowd cheered loudly for the Slammers. The Blade Breakers watched earnestly as the match was to begin. A dish with a mini volcano situated on a large island finally latched into place. Waves lapped onto the shores of the island, the volcano sent up a smoke ring as the spectators were in awe. The Savage Slammers cheered up as their fans began a chant; perhaps they were more popular and stronger than they thought.

"Lava 'n Surf is its name and Beyblading is its game!"

"Nice one AJ. This dish was specially designed with Hawaii in mind. With its tropical heart and occasional eruption, this dish embodies the typical tropical island, it even comes with miniature palm trees."

"Yo, it looks like the Savage Slammers have the advantage here. Born among the islands, these boys know the beaches like the back of their hand."

"Speaking of which, it looks like the first match is starting. First up it's Diego and Hitori. Check out Diego's stats, a true man of the islands Diego uses his Iguana Attack to surprise the enemy. It may be inspired by his pet iguana Susie, but don't be fooled it packs a punch."

"And the competition, Hitori is a complete unknown in the world of Beyblading. As far as we know, we aren't entirely sure if this player has a Bit Beast either."

Dr Judy frowned at the screen, "Emily, do you have anything on this player?" Emily shook her head after a brief search of her laptop, "No, nothing. Whoever this person is they are a complete enigma."

Michael scoffed, "Then that creep must have bribed their way in to play against us! I'm going to show that punk what real blading is!" The giant television screens in the stadium displayed the players' profiles, as Hitori's came up Kenny quickly pressed very hard into Dizzi's keys. "Ow! Watch where you type!"

Tyson rubbed his eyes, "Oh man, am I going blind or are his stats really like that?"

"I… think so… Man, this is one strange Beyblader." Max replied. Peering up at the screen he double-checked the profile. "Attack strength of 3, defence of 3 and endurance of 5… Chief, is that possible?" Ray asked. Kenny looked as puzzled as the rest. "I don't know… after all we've been through… I have yet to see many players that make their blades endurance the highest stat. Most players are attackers, defenders or evasive. I don't know, but it could be that Hitori is planning to outlast his opponents."

DJ Jazzman readied himself to start the match "Beybladers are you ready? 3… 2… 1! Let it rip!"

The two bladers launched their beyblades into the dish, Diego grinned at Hitori as his blade landed smoothly into the dish and headed towards the beach. Hitori stood and watched as his blade landed on a sand dune and started to sink slightly.

 "They're off to a smooth start but it looks like Diego has the upper hand."

"Do you want to know how I got my Beyblade?" Diego asked beaming at his opponent. Hitori remained impassive to the question; he stood and crossed his arms. Confused Diego shrugged and told the story despite the lack of interest from his opponent. Finishing with a flourish, Diego commanded his blade to head towards the water and do an Iguana Attack. The beyblade pounced out of the water and landed back on the sand.

"Looks like this is over before it even began."

"No wait, Hitori's beyblade has vanished!"  The beyblade in question was nowhere to be seen on the beach, Diego's blade moved towards the line of palm trees. His blade speed up and attacked again. "Diego's putting it all out now, it's an Iguana stampede!"

"Brad, iguana's don't stampede… though it looks like he's flushing his opponent out."

Diego looked around the dish, "Come on, I know you're out there. Don't be shy, if you lose I can let you pat Susie!" He noticed something flash in the lines of trees. Sending his beyblade towards it, he yelled "Iguana Attack!" The Beyblade fans watched and anticipated victory for Diego, some even cheered. Three seconds later, Diego's blade was seen being pushed past the trees and out of the dish. Stunned DJ Jazzman asked for a replay.

"Whoa, in a surprise to us all Hitori has won the first round. Let's check out the replay."

"You're right, as you can see here that as soon as Diego's beyblade landed, Hitori's blade launched its own version of the Iguana attack and pushed the opposition right out of the dish."

"Mimic." Emily and Kenny said to their respective team mates, "Hitori copied Diego's attack, the addition of endurance enables him to stay in the dish long enough for him to learn the other beyblades' attacks." Emily noted. In another place at the same time Kenny made a simular discovery, "Hitori not only mimicked the attack but was also to beat Diego with his own attack. Very tricky, I doubt that this sort of tactic will continue to work for him."

Brad Best coughed, "Well that's the end of that. Next from the Savage Slammers is Fernando!"

"Aye and Hitori better watch this character. He may seem laid back but this boy's got an attack that will drive you up the wall! His Seal-Shark Attack sends his opponents bouncing into defeat."

"Okay Beybladers get ready, 3… 2… 1! Let it Rip!"

Fernando's beyblade landed near the sea and made its way towards the middle of the sand. Hitori's blade landed directly in the middle of the beach, it spun as it and the player waited for their opponent.

"I'm going to let you in on something, my Beyblade's attack is real special and I'm going to tell you all about it."

Tyson gripped his hair and yanked on it, "Oh man, don't they realise that they're giving their attack away? No wonder Diego lost!" Max paled a little, "But Tyson, when we battled them we didn't get that sort of information from their stories. If we didn't, then how will he?" Fernando finished his tale about his discovery of the seal, "I hope you didn't mind that, but I love sharing my story." He winked at his opponent, "Bet you won't be able to copy it!" His beyblade sped towards its opponent; the other beyblade didn't stand a chance, or did it? The two blades circled each other, weaving in and out of each other's way, before long the beach sported wavy lines. Fernando pulled his beyblade back as did Hitori; grinning Fernando decided that it was time for a Seal-Shark Attack. As Fernando's beyblade moved in, Hitori's spun faster creating a sand storm. Fernando looked surprised as he covered his face.

"Better cover your faces, this battle is taking sand to a new level."

"A new level, alright. All the way to the roof!"

As the sand cleared, a whistling sound echoes through out the stadium. Everyone looked around to locate the source of the sound DJ Jazzman peered upwards. "Heads up!" he yelled. Fernando's beyblade fell to the ground in front of its owner.

Kenny typed away even harder, "If that was Dragoon battling I could understand why his beyblade went up so high. However this is impossible, even a very powerful beyblade shouldn't be able to attack like that unless they have a Bit Beast."

"Maybe Fernando should consider getting frequent flyer points."

"Dizzi!" Ray frowned as he watched the scene before him, "Chief, are you saying that there is something fishy about Hitori and his beyblade."

"Obviously, no normal blader would stoop to that level of playing." Mariah added.

"I don't know about that." Lee interrupted, "It seems that no one knows anything about this blader, therefore we can't underestimate them." Meanwhile Robert was proving his team mates wrong, "As you can clearly see, Hitori is a worthy if some what unorthodox player." Johnny groaned, "Whatever, its all amateur stuff. No one with any skill would bother playing around like that."

"Maybe, but there is something about this Hitori that bothers me. It feels like he's making the other blader work to show his full potential… Pardon me, I must be babbling." Oliver apologised.

"No need my friend, but you are right. There is something about this Hitori person that is bothering everyone." Enrique said. DJ Jazzman signalled the end of the second round, "The winner is Hitori!"

"Man, two wins already. That cat has got something up his sleeve, and I don't mean a mouse." Eddie said to Dr Judy. Surprised Dr Judy got him to elaborate, "There's something fishy going on. The Savage Slammers aren't that bad but they aren't that good either. So what's making them have to work hard to attack this blader?"

"You're right, it does seem odd. The Savage Slammers do appear lazy however I don't think they have ever had such a… challenging opponent." Emily replied as she added more information to the file.

"Last round of this match, will the Savage Slammers be able to fight back? Let's find out!"

"The last player to represent the Slammers is Axel the team captain. He's a big boy and so is his beyblade. With its attack Tortoise Grenade, this beyblade can squash the most irritating of opponents."

"Bring it on." Axel said, "My team and I don't mind losing but you've got some nerve showing up and trying to wig us out with your fancy moves."

Hitori looked up as he picked up his beyblade, "Man's folly." He replied in a dry voice, it sounded as if he had spent several days gasping for air instead of Beyblading.

"3… 2… 1! Let it Rip!"

The two bladers launched their blades Axel was confused. What did Hitori mean by man's folly, maybe he's trying to trick me into defeat. Axel concentrated at Hitori's face, "Well I think you better hear my story."

He began telling to story completing forgetting about his beyblade, the two beyblades circled around the wall of the volcano. Axel finished his story unaware that a bright flash of light shot through the dish causing the volcano to erupt.

"Ahhh… Someone better wake that poor kid up."

"I… why don't you do it?"

"Me? Why me?"

"Because… you… you've been in this business longer."

"Don't leave me in the dark, AJ! AJ! Err… Completely surprising us, I mean me; Hitori went straight for the kill. AJ! I can't do this by myself!"

"Fine, you owe me big time B-man. From this replay that has been digitally slowed down, you can see that some strange force just blast through the dish and caused the two beyblades to be shot upwards. Looks like we have a winner."

"The winner is…" DJ Jazzman began "is Hitori!"

The beyblade was still spinning on a chunk of rock, surrounded by lava, Axel looked stunned as he peered down. Lying on the ground before him was his Beyblade, "I don't understand…" He rubbed his stomach, strange it hurt a little. Like something hit him… something roughly the size of his Beyblade… Angered he clenched his fist, "You!"

Hitori glanced at Axel as he started stepping down from the dish, "Man's folly is his pride, courage and faith." Turning back to face the exit he spoke, "Your mind became clouded, you lost your focus because you were too proud of those Beyblades. Remember that it does not matter where your blade comes from but what you do with it." The Savage Slammers looked and felt glum; losing was not that bad, but losing because you were trying to be friendly was too much for them. They watched seething with anger as Hitori walked away. Perhaps revenge would come later, in the shape of a master Beyblader.

Tyson scratched his head, "I don't know what to say…"

"That's a first," Dizzi commented, "I wonder how long it will last?"

Ray spoke, "Was it just me or did that flash of light remind anyone of a Bit Beast?"

"Now what you mention it, it did." Lee commented, receiving nods and 'yeah' from the others. Kenny adjusted his glasses, "Dizzi can you please replay the battle between Axel and Hitori, also I would like you to slow down the section when the light first appeared."

"Sure," the Bit Beast replied, "Anything to get my hard drive in a spin."

"Dr Judy," Emily began "I've picked up a strange reading off Hitori's beyblade."

"How strange?" Dr Judy asked as she looked over Emily's shoulder to read the screen.

"Well, the energy patterns emitted from it are very simular to a Bit Beast. However these ones differ from anything we've seen before."

"Understood." Dr Judy stood up, "Let's go, we have important research to do."

Steve stood up, "We're with you Dr Judy, but we aren't in America. We can't just waltz in and borrow a laboratory."

"That's where you're wrong, we can borrow a laboratory. The Hawaii branch of the BBA has allowed us to borrow one of their top facilities. Let's go, Douglas will meet us there."

"Right." The All-Starz stood up and left. Max looked over to where he thought he saw his mom. Bye Mom, maybe I'll see you later.

"Hey Max, let's go! I want to be the first at the buffet!"

"Tyson, it doesn't matter if you get there first, you'll still eat more than everyone else!" Kenny whined.

"I can't help it Chief, Beyblading always makes me hungry."

"Anything makes you hungry Tyson." Ray commented. Max nodded, "I'm coming, I'll race you to the entrance!"

Hitori continued towards the back entrance, avoiding the paparazzi. Slipping through a door he sighed.

"That was a good job, I think you were too hard on them." A voice commented through the darkness.

"I would have been nicer but I have an image to maintain. This was your idea after all." The voice chuckled, "Ah so clever, you'll need to be careful in the next phase. The Blade Breakers and their friends are not stupid."

Hitori shook his head, "I know, they are all waiting to battle me. I will, eventually."

"Enough, you will rest now. Lie low so no one will know who you are." The voice and its owner walked away. Hitori sighed again as he begun removing his 'mask'. Of course I will stay hidden. Everyone knows that a ninja stays in the darkness. No one will find out who I am until the time comes. He looked down at his beyblade, "Soon my friend. Soon."

"Excuse me, are you the Blade Breakers?"

The Blade Breakers looked up from their meal, a girl about their age was looking back at them. She was wearing a blue jacket, a blue skirt, a white blouse, stockings and black shoes. The jacket had BBA sewed on the front in red, one hand held a red clipboard while on her shoulder hung a black bag: possibly a portable laptop. They looked up at her face; shoulder length brown hair, flyaway ribbons, brown eyes and a pair of glasses identified her as a stranger.

"Who wants to know?" Kai asked.

"I am Melfina, a representative from the BBA." She replied as she lifted the clipboard up. "The next event is tomorrow morning, you have a choice to enter the action, strategy and endurance challenge."

Tyson chewed and swallowed, "Wait… what are you talking about?"

Kenny nudged him in the stomach, "Don't you remember, Mr Dickenson told us that the BUC had Challenge Matches. I guess she is helping us to decide."

"She is called Melfina, I have a name. I'm also helping you choose your opponents when you battle. Plus, the BBA can't expect you to organise times for any challenges you receive."

Max shrugged, "Welcome to the Blade Breakers. I'm Max, that's Ray, Kai, Kenny and the one stuffing his face full is Tyson."

"You forgot me!" Dizzi stated. "I'm Dizzi, Kenny's Bit Beast in a Pc." Melfina smiled, "Good. Well I guess I'll wait till you've finished eating to get this under the way."

"Say, haven't I seen you before?" Ray asked.
"I doubt it, most people don't see the Junior Reps."

"Junior Reps?"

"Yes, Junior Reps are kids interested in working in the BBA. We don't usually get to help in the big competitions. Usually we do tons of research and monitor the Beyblading circuit. A few lucky ones get to organise charity events, the BUC is our first major competition."

"Whatever, just don't get in our way." Kai said and left the room.

"Don't worry about Kai, Melfina. He's like that all the time." Kenny said and invited her to sit down. "Please, you must tell me more about the BBA and the BUC."

She laughed, "Okay but you guys better be ready to choose your Challenge Match. I don't have all day."

Tyson waved a fork in the air, "Bring it on! We can take on anything, let it rip!"

Author's Notes: Beyblade belongs to TV Tokyo and other respected people; any original characters belong to me. The Beyblade anime has finished screening in Australia, so if I get anything wrong you may blame that on misinterpretation and my bad memory. If you wish to correct me on anything please email me. Yes, Melfina is a Mary Sue but don't worry I do not plan for her to be involved with any of the guys romantically. I guarantee this, so please do not hate Melfina because she is a Mary Sue.