Disclaimer: My creative mind is not ingenious enough for something like Beyblade.

Mariah left after her conversation with Kai and Ray. She said goodbye to the Blade Breakers and went back to the ranch she was staying at with her team. She had much to tell her teammates. Kai and Ray collected the other members of their own team and informed them of the happenings, and none of them were too impressed.

Tyson leaped up instantly and shouted, "What? You mean it wasn't an accident that the horse threw Mariah? And there is some bit-beast thief after us again?"

Max looked very doubtful and a little scared. He glanced at Kai and asked nervously, "It's not him this time, is it? How can he be here in Canada?"

Kai clenched his teeth, "Knowing my grandfather, it is probably him. He is too determined to just give up. He is definitely here. The Demolition Boys are still competing this year. He will want to watch."

Shea looked at them with a hint of annoyance in her eyes, "Is someone going to fill me in? What is going on around here?"

The boys looked at each other, obviously at a loss for words. Then Tyson said grimly, "I guess we should tell you now. But I warn you, it's not going to be pretty."

"Go a head." Shea said.

Ray said quietly, "You need to know, Shea, that not everyone loves beyblade the way we do. Some people have much more sinister plans concerning this sport. They found beyblade a way too conquer and vanquish. They use this to gain power."

"And that biggest power-hungry freak would be my grandfather, Voltaire." Kai laughed drily.

Tyson spoke too in his seldom heard serious tone; "He tried to build an army of bit-beasts to take over the world. In the world championship games last year, he openly took away other bladers' bit-beasts by force. He almost succeeded."

"And I was his tool. He used my lust for power to make me do his dirty works for him." Kai sounded bitter and aghast.

Shea stared at them, wide eyed in surprise. She asked breathlessly, "And you are telling me he is going to try again?"

"He is too determined to stop because of one set-back." Replied Kai, "He is going to try again, and he will unleash even more force and even sink to ways of theft and robbery to accomplish his goal."

"But how are we going to stop him?" Shea asked, still sounding a little dazed.

"We can stop him by defeating him in the match. We did it last year." Max pointed out.

"Yes, that's the least we can do." Kenny joined in the conversation too, "We can not completely foil his plans, but we can delay him and gain more time. The world intelligence agencies are already working on his case, but they are not very successful yet. Voltaire has hidden his secrets well."

Shea looked a little frightened now. She muttered, sounding a little desperate, "This is not good. I joined you guys and this tournament for some summer holiday fun. I hope I am not expected stop a potential Hitler from taking over the world."

Ray said softly, "Now you know the situation fully, you have to decide for yourself. We cannot force you to stay with us if you don't wish to. The situation may be very dangerous."

The last of his words sounded dark and haunted as he remembered the match he fought to death last year, the cold battle Tyson endured, and the incident this morning where he almost lost Mariah.

Shea looked at them each in turn, and there was something strange in her eyes, a mixture of astonishment and admiration. "And you guys will launch yourselves into this war? Regardless of what may happen?" She asked.

No one replied, but the solemn expressions from everyone gave her the firm answer.

Shea sighed, "I guess I can't exactly back out now. I am a Blade Breaker. I will go through this with you guys. And I hope you guys wouldn't mind me telling you that your heroic actions are on the annoying side."

Still there was no reply, but the boys all smiled, even Kai.

Shea stood up with some enthusiasm, "But we can forget about saving the world for a while. It's lunchtime! We will think once we all had a full stomach."

There comes the usual reply from Tyson, which includes an "Alright!" and a leap into the air.

For lunch they had sandwiches, salads and homemade soup. Everyone seems to be occupied. Kai and Ray sat silently; Shea was mulling over the information she just received; Tyson was too busy concentrating on his food to think or notice anything; Kenny was typing away on his laptop between bites of sandwiches and Max was looking at the computer screen over his shoulder. So when Kenny suggested some training after lunch everyone agreed, even Tyson, though he was complaining about the lack of food during the training session.

Shea laughed and clapped him on the back. "Don't worry, Tyson." She said, "I know a perfect place where we can practice and have an endless source of food."

Shea led her team mates outside and into a field lined with rows of metre-tall bushes. "We can train here," Said Shea, "This rough ground and obstacles would provide good practice for control and agility. And take a look Tyson, you can enjoy out-of-the-bushes fresh blueberries anytime you want!"

Tyson grinned widely, "Then what are we waiting for?"

They all pulled out their beyblades and launched. The small spinning blades wove in and out of the roots and branches of the blueberry bushes, sometimes sending a flock of small birds to fly up and circle around.

Ray watched the birds with some interests, then suddenly he smiled, "I have an idea that will make our practice worth a while. Take a look at this."

With that he called back his blade. He launched it again and sent it crashing into an especially leafy bush. A pack of grey-specked sparrows rose into the sky, chirping and wheeling about madly.

Ray cried, "Drigger! After them!"

His silver-white blade glowed green. It leaped onto the blueberry bush, from branch to branch and steadily rising higher. Finally it leaped into the sky with a ferocious force, crashing into one sparrow. The bird gave a tiny squeak and fall to the earthen floor. The white blade bounced and wheeled and crashed into another bird. When the blade finally hit the ground, there were at least ten limp birds on the ground.

Shea gasped, "Ray! How could you do that to the birds? It's so."

But before she could finish her accusation, the limp birds on the ground suddenly came alive. They screamed and fluttered their wings. Within a minute they all vanished into another row of blueberry bushes. Shea stared, eyes wide and speechless.

Ray smiled amiably, "You can only stun the birds. It wouldn't be much if you just kill them. Like you said, it would be too cruel. But I hope those sparrows learned a lesson. You aunt must be very annoyed with them pecking away her blueberries."

Kai looked at the vanishing birds with vast interests in his eyes. "It is rather a fresh idea. It would be worth our time. Dranzer!"

He sent his blue blade flying into another bush, this time raising a pack of robins. His Dranzer also left ten limp birds on the ground. He looked on with a little disappointment, "I missed a few."

The others joined them. They moved from bush to bush to find new bird source. Tyson used his storm attack to form a tornado to trap all the birds, however his attack was a little too aggressive, and two birds were left with torn feathers. Shea was aghast at the sight of those miserable creatures. She scolded Tyson, but most of her complaints have fallen on deaf ears. Max was having a little trouble with this exercise, having a defensive blade and a water-based bit-beast, but he still managed to stun more than half of the birds that rose into the sky.

In the end both Ray and Kai could easily stun all the birds that burst out of the bushes. The others came close. Tyson would have tried more to perfect his attack, but an angry Shea stopped him from tormenting those wretched animals. Kenny was busy feeding Dizzi with data again, occasionally he and his bit-beast would give the others a little advice. He seemed relatively happy that everyone was working hard.

Time passed quickly. The sky faded from a brilliant sapphire colour to a dusky blue. The sun was setting and it painted the western sky with brilliant colours. Clouds now dyed red and gold rolled across the vast heaven, creating a beautiful tapestry. In the eastern sky, one could catch a glimpse of a silver moon a gem like star.

The Blade Breakers walked home from their long training session. They were tired perhaps, but better prepared for the upcoming events. Tomorrow will bring another day.

A/N: My friend Kan was complaining about not enough action in the last chapter. I am sorry about that, there wasn't much action in this one either. There is only a bit of blading in the end. I promise a lot more actions to come though!