Jade: Man, these chapters are getting longer and longer!!

Mike: All the better! People'll know what we've been up to…

Patrick: (snorting) And you guys are getting sappier and sappier

Jade and Alexia: Shut up, Pat!!

Patrick: All right!! Sheesh… (looks to the readers) Go on. Read it. Make sure to review afterwards, you hear?

CHAPTER SIX

The Mass Practice

"Wake up!! Wake up!!"

Tyson awoke with a start to realize that Max, dressed already, was jumping up and down the foot of his bed in an effort to wake him up. "Good grief, Max, quit jumping up and down my bed!!"

"Hurry!" Max cried. "Wake up, now!!"

Ray stirred to life from his bed and stared at the sight of Max leaping up and down like a blonde marionette. "Wh-what's going on?" he asked sleepily.

Then, Kai, fully dressed, strode over to them and pulled off the covers with a snap. "Up! Now!!" he commanded imperiously.

"It's cold!" Tyson cried, curling up as frigid air overtook him. "What's going on, anyway? What's the rush!"

Max leapt off Tyson's bed and then ran down and then to the hotel room windows, pressing his nose against the glass. "Can you believe it? It's started!"

"What has?" asked Ray, getting up quickly.

"Mass practice!" snapped Kai. "They just said that mass practice was today, but they never specified what time. I think that when they said 'tomorrow' they really meant tomorrow! It's being held right down at the park across our hotel."

"What time is it?" asked Kenny, yawning and checking the clock. "It's seven in the morning!"

"There are already bladers down there," said Max. "Kai woke up ahead of everybody and he saw them all starting already. He woke me up. Man, this is cool!"

Tyson leapt off his bed. "How many down there already?"

"A dozen or so," said Kai. "But there're going to be more of them."

Ray went over to the window as well and gasped. "Aren't those guys the All-Stars?"

"Where?" Max demanded, looking around, until he suddenly spotted a blonde head that was his mother's. "There they are! It's the All-Stars! But when did they arrive?"

"Does that matter?" Kai raised an eyebrow. "We have to get down there." He turned to Tyson, Ray and Kenny. "Get dressed. The Relic Bladers might be going down already."

"Hey yeah," nodded Tyson. "I want to see them in action again!"

"You got too much action yesterday, Tyson," said Kenny as Tyson and Ray ran off to get dressed at their closets nearby. Ray looked at him and asked, "What? Why?"

"Tyson challenged Patrick of the Arcan team to a battle yesterday," said Kenny. "His blade was amazingly powerful! If Patrick didn't call back his blade at the last minute, Dragoon would've been way beyond repair! I just barely salvaged it yesterday…"

"You had a fight?!" Kai thundered. "What were you thinking? You don't even know how powerful they were!"

"Well now I do," said Tyson with a grimace. "Now I'll definitely be taking those guys seriously. Patrick hadn't even properly called out a bit beast on me yesterday…"

"So how's Dragoon now?" asked Ray.

"Up and going—thank goodness," said Kenny. "But I'm still doing some work on him. You guys'll have to go and battle without Tyson at first, but he'll follow soon."

"Right," said Max. "Are we all ready?"

"Yeah," said Tyson, pumping his fist into the air. "Let's go already!!"

And the Bladebreakers ran out of their rooms.

Mike rolled over on his bed and opened his eyes. Zeus was staring out the window. Mike raised an eyebrow. "Why are you up and what are you staring at?"

"Mass practice has started," said Zeus calmly. "There are bladers gathering at the large park across the hotel. Some over a dozen, right now."

"Oh really?" asked Mike, sounding somewhat disinterested. He sat up and groped for his cap. "And?"

"Not bad," said Zeus. "The other teams are there already. You'll face eliminations before getting to finals. Wouldn't it be good if you checked out competition?"

"Yeah, I guess," said Mike, standing up. "But I know who our only real competition will be."

"Yup," said Zeus, handing him some sheets of paper that were bound up. Mike flipped through them. "Is this everything?"

"Everything necessary, yes," said Zeus.

"Let's see…The White Tigers…The All-Stars…The Majestics…of course, The Bladebreakers…" and Mike frowned. "We hardly have anything on The Demolition Boys."

"It's practically impossible," said Zeus. "I have as much as I could. I have no idea to the capabilities so far of they blades—I'm working on it—but I've got the players. But it's not like you'll need anything more…"

"Anything on BIOVOLT?" asked Mike.

Zeus smiled. "You should ask Mr. Dickinson about that."

Mike laughed. "The Bladebreakers would trip right over if they knew that Mr. Dickinson was in with us too. We're the two teams he made up to beat down BIOVOLT's plans."

"Yes, well…I don't think they should know of that just yet," said Zeus. "Did you know that Kai of the Bladebreakers used to be part of BIOVOLT?"

"Is that right?" Mike smirked. "He's not a Demolition Boy anymore is he? He's a Bladebreaker now, and as a Bladebreaker we'll take him."

The door banged open and Patrick came in. "Finally, our Fearless Leader is awake! Are we going down to that session?"

"Don't you know how to knock?" asked Mike, making a face at him.

"It's a hindrance," Patrick replied coolly. "We've all been awake. You're the last one. Well?"

"Not yet," said Mike as he got dressed. "We don't have to go down there just yet."

Alexia, peeking into the room with a raised eyebrow, said, "Oh yeah? The Bladebreakers are down there."

Mike looked out the window, and saw five figures running out of the hotel doors and down the slightly misted Moscow grounds. They were the Bladebreakers all right, and making beeline for the park.

Jade followed into the room and said, "And look over at the park. The All-Stars are there already—and they've just flown in from America."

"Jet lag much?" asked Mike.

"No use for sarcasm right now," muttered Patrick. "I think we should be down there."

Mike looked at his team, and then sighed. "Oh…all right. After breakfast. There's no need to rush…besides, I don't think we're still in the mood to do so yet…"

Bolshiekovavitch Park was large and that was where the mass practice session was to be had. There had been 12 blocks in the World Championship, and the top sixteen teams in the world were there with four extra but equally skilled teams. It wasn't all too crowded there yet when the Bladebreakers arrived.

A woman at the park entrance was there, holding a clipboard. "Hello, here for the mass practice?" she asked.

"Yes," said Tyson. "We're the Bladebreakers."

The woman checked her clipboard. "Oh yes. The Block B World Champions. Please proceed and pick a stadium to practice in—there are still many vacant ones."

With Tyson in the lead, they went into the park. Each team were occupying a dish where they were practicing by themselves, each partially hidden by the mist. Max looked around awhile and spotted who he was looking for.

"Look!" he exclaimed. "The All-Stars!" He immediately ran to them. "Mom!"

Judy looked up and saw him. "Max!"

Max ran to his mother and immediately gave her a hug. Judy smiled at him. "It's so nice to see you again, Max."

"Me too, mom—when did you and the All-Stars arrive in Russia?" he asked.

"Actually we just got here a couple of hours ago," said Emily, holding her tennis racquet. "But we've got jet lag. So we decided to tire ourselves out with the mass practice session."

The rest of the Bladebreakers came up behind Max, and Steve said, "Well look what the cat dragged in. So all of you are here already, huh?"

"We couldn't wait to start," Tyson grinned. "There are so many bladers here and so many cool blades."

"Well, there're practice battles too," said Michael. "I want a rematch, Max."

"Aw, now?" Max grinned at him. "No fair—let me warm up first like the rest of you are doing and then let's see if we'll go about it."

"That's a deal!"

Kai sniffed irritably. "Look, you guys, our targets here are the Relic Bladers."

"Have you guys heard of them?" asked Ray. "They're from Arcanis, and they're the Block F World Champions."

Eddy crossed his long arms and nodded. "Yeah. We've heard. It's amazing how little is known about them, though. We had Emily doing all-round searching."

"Their blades seem to be incredibly new and unusual," said Emily. "We can't even begin to theorize how such blades were created."

"I know," nodded Tyson. "I fought with one of them. Patrick Crowe."

"You have?" Michael stared at him. "So how's your beyblade doing after repairs?"

"Recuperating but well," bristled Tyson. "You already know that I lost?!"

"That's a given—we know how powerful their blades are, and Patrick happens to be the most ruthless and has been known to wreak havoc on beyblades," said Emily with a shrug. "That's why we're practicing non-stop and hoping to get data on their blades when they come around."

Judy looked at Max. "I'll give you a word of advice now, Max—be careful when dealing with them. There are too many hidden factors when it comes to them. Be prepared for anything."

"Right," nodded Max. "We'll keep that in mind."

"Come on," said Kai. "Let's go and practice already. Once we've warmed up, you can all go challenge whoever you like."

"Any certain prey you've spotted for yourself, Kai?" asked Kenny.

Ray laughed. "Who else, but Mike?"

Michael stifled a laugh. "Come on. I know you guys are good, but can you be that good? Mike is such a good blader that even we're wary of him."

"That goes for the rest of his team for sure," said Steve. "I saw a clip of a bout of theirs in one of the preliminaries. I pity the opposing beyblades."

Kai ignored all this and towed his team away to an unoccupied beystadium not to far from where the All-Stars were. Tyson immediately grabbed Kenny and said, "Come on, Chief, make with the miracle repairs! I really need Dragoon in perfect condition so I can have a rematch with Patrick!"

"Okay, just hold your horses, Tyson—we're getting there," said Kenny as he took Dragoon and then his toolbox.

Kai took out his Dranzer, followed by Ray and Max. Ray grinned. "Let's see who stays in there last."

"Well I've got the endurance for it," laughed Max.

"Then quit talking and start beyblading," said Kai.

Tyson, who was out, then said, "Three! Two! One! Let it rip!!"

Three beyblades flew into the large arena in the ground—Dranzer, Driger and Draciel. The three beyblades went to chasing each other all around the beystadium before separating. Driger bounced off and crashed into Draciel, who got thrown back, but remained spinning due to it's drastic defense.

Draciel went around and slammed into Dranzer, who was pushed up the stadium, and the blue beyblade sped towards Driger. It crashed into the gray beyblade, which flew back a moment before returning the crash which sent Dranzer spiraling into Draciel.

The three beyblades peeled out again and began spinning rapidly around the stadium. By this time, some other bladers had begun to watch in interest at the awesome fight as again and again the beyblades stuck but none refused to give way.

Then, the three beyblades crashed, then flew apart they all came together in a sudden powerful crash that sent them all spiraling to the rim of the arena, where the three watched anxiously as each one teetered on the edge.

After a breathless moment, Draciel dropped off and Max groaned. "Darn. That was just bad luck. Oh well."

Now only two slipped back in and remained spinning in the beystadium. Dranzer and Driger proceeded to bash each other with almost unprecedented ferocity, and both beybladers felt the intense tension rising. There was quite a crowd watching them now, watching in awe at the battle.

Ray yelled, "Tiger Claw!"

Driger spun to Dranzer with sudden ferocious speed and with a powerful crash, sent the blue beyblade into the air. Kai snorted. "Good—but not good enough. Now, Dranzer! Flame Saber!!"

From up above, flames surrounded Dranzer and it shot down like a rocket and hit Ray's beyblade. Driger flew out of the arena, to be caught by Ray. Ray snapped his fingers. "Darn. I should've been more careful that time."

The crowd around them applauded as Dranzer continued to spin in the beystadium, and then flew back to Kai who merely reacted coolly, like this sort of thing happened to him so often that it was commonplace. Which was most probably what it indeed was.

"Kai wins!" Tyson laughed.

Barely had the crowd finished the applause, however, when a sudden, almost earth-shaking crash resounded down the whole park. There a sudden pair of crashes, and sudden, dust and debris billowed out from behind them. They all ducked or raised their arms in protection against the bits of stone arena.

And then a voice.

"For the love of god, you two—quit destroying the beystadium!!"

"We can't help it! Their bowl's carved on soft stone!"

When the dust cleared, everyone looked to see a pair of bright lights spinning rapidly in a stadium—one a metallic blue rocket, and the other, a red bolt of metal. It was only when they got a good look that they realized that the two spinning bolts were beyblades, but as these beyblades went, they were carving down a path in the stone arena. On opposite sides of the stadium were two holes, as if created by two heavy objects powerfully crashing in to the wall.

Then they saw who was practicing. There was Patrick on one side, and Alexia stood on the other. The two of them were coughing and waving the dust away so they could see how their beyblades were doing.

"Darn it, this is getting annoying!" said Patrick. "Can't they build stronger arenas?"

"These are only makeshift ones for the mass practice!" said Jade from one side of the stadium, dusting off her black pants.

"Now quit griping and get back to practicing!" said Mike imperiously.

"Right, right," said Alexia. "Go on, Aldebaran!"

The red bolt of a beyblade suddenly shot like a bullet across the stadium and struck the Armada beyblade. The two rammed into the wall. The Relic Bladers groaned. "Not again…"

Dust billowed out again. Then a voice yelled, "Patrick! Alexia! That's enough!"

"Aw, Zeus, we were just getting started!"

"Your beystadium's finished, though."

Patrick shrugged. "He has a point."

Both beyblades in the arena flew out. Patrick caught his, but he swung around in a full circle at the inertia it had. Alexia caught hers but nearly ended up falling down.

"Whew."

Everyone stared, appalled. The dust totally cleared. The Arcanis National Team—the Relic Bladers—had destroyed one of the stone arenas in their practice.

"They're here already?" Max blinked.

"Hm," was all Kai said as he frowned at their direction. The arena was pitiful. It was practically demolished. Everyone stared, stunned, at the sight of this. Their beyblades looked extremely heavy, judging by the inertia and the grooved stadium.

"What kind of stone did they use on these things?" asked Mike, picking up a chunk.

"I guess the softer ones—if we can bash through these stone tiles," said Jade.

The other new person that they didn't recognize was the one they called Zeus, and he looked a lot older than the rest of them. Kenny blinked, recognizing him to be their 'researcher'. However, he looked rather mysterious and quite older, as unlike open and young Kenny was.

The Bladebreakers quickly ran to them. "Hey you guys!"

The Relic Bladers, surprised, looked up at them as they approached. "Bladebreakers!"

Mike grinned as they stopped near them. "Nice to see you here. We would've watched that really cool battle awhile ago, but we had to start practice."

Ray gaped at the stadium. "What did you do to the beystadium?"

"Looks like a tractor ran through it or something," said Max.

"These beyblades are so darn heavy that they do that to almost every arena," said Jade in exasperation. "That's why it's hard to practice sometimes—it always has to be solid cement or granite or something."

"And they spin too fast for the plastic ones and their friction makes plastic melt," sighed Patrick.

Alexia looked up at the lady at the gates of the park. "Miss! Can we transfer arenas? This one got wrecked."

The woman, who was certainly stunned at the sight, nodded and said, "Of course. It got…destroyed."

The Relic Bladers shrugged and they moved on to another arena with the Bladebreakers in tow, while the other bladers were murmuring to themselves.

"You guys were pretty early here, huh?" said Jade.

"Yeah," nodded Ray. "We decided to look and see who was here already."

Mike turned to Kai. "I heard that you've been hankering for a match. I'd be happy to oblige after my other teammates have done practicing."

"The definition of practice being having matches of our own," grimaced Patrick.

"Fine! I want to battle!"

They looked up at the voice and Mariah came striding into the fray, with Galix in one hand. Behind her were the other White Tigers who did not approach. She walked up to them and said, "I want to battle her! Jade!"

Jade blinked at the Chinese girl's suddenness. "Well…sure, Mariah. Okay."

"Is she mad or what?" Max said aside to Tyson, and Tyson simply shrugged, saying, "I don't know, but Mariah sure looks determined."

Ray looked from one girl to another. Man…this is starting to get ugly… He saw Lee, watching from another arena, with his arms crossed over his chest. Ray went to him. "Hey Lee."

"Ray," nodded Lee in greeting. After a moment, he said, "What do you think?"

"Mariah…she's determined, she…has a shot," shrugged Ray, who was outwardly lying through his teeth.

Lee shrugged. "I don't know, but Mariah's been in a mood against the Arcans since yesterday. I think she might be jealous."

"About what?" asked Ray.

"Some things…" Kevin commented as he passed by. "If you don't know yet, Ray, you're pretty dense."

"Huh?" Ray blinked, completely oblivious.

"Nah, forget it," said Kevin. "Let's watch the fight."

At the arena, Mariah stood on one side. There is no way that she's beating me…

Jade stared at her. Why is she so mad? What did I do? I guess she might have a thing about Ray…

Even the All-Stars had joined in to see the match. Michael looked at the two girls. "Oh, a catfight, eh? This'll be good. Bladers! Three, two, one!!"

"Let it rip!!" came the chorus of the crowd.

Mariah launched with a yell, "Go, Galix!!"

Jade, with her bow and arrow, released the arrow ripcord and there were sparks as her Auran flew out. Mariah gasped and ducked as the arrow went past her. "Hey, watch it with that thing!" she yelled.

"Sorry," said Jade, but then the rest was drowned out as, with a powerful crash, Auran hit the arena and cracked the stone. It rushed about the arena, whirling like a green comet, and making a gauge in its path around the arena, in hot pursuit of the pink Galix.

Mariah was up for a game of chicken. Galix made a U-turn and began heading for Auran.

"I wouldn't do that, Mariah…" muttered Jade.

"What, are you scared?" Mariah grinned.

Jade sighed. Galix came rushing at Auran, and, when it was about a foot away, Auran suddenly bolted forward and crashed headlong into Galix. The impact was terrible as Auran's murderous spiral solid metal blades and spikes whirling at unprecedented speed smashed into the pink beyblade. Galix instantly flew apart and pieces hit the opposite wall of the stadium.

Mariah shrieked. "Galix!!"

Everyone was appalled at how quick it was. "Talk about sudden death…" Emily murmured.

Mariah ran into the stadium and picked up Galix's parts. Jade also ran in and said, "I'm really sorry, Mariah. I'll help you fix your beyblade if you want…"

"No!" Mariah cried, slapping her hand away. "I don't need your help!"

And then, teary-eyed, she gathered up Galix's pieces and ran to the arena where Lee stood waiting to help her remake the shattered beyblade. Lee looked up at Jade with a frown on his face, and then turned his attention back to Mariah.

Jade walked back up to everyone else and said to Ray, "I…I really didn't mean to break her blade. It's just that I thought she'd evade. I guess Auran crashed too hard…"

Ray just stared at her. Jade walked off and went to sit down next to Zeus, who looked at her. "What's wrong? You won, Jade."

"But I broke Mariah's blade and now Ray's mad at me," she replied, and said nothing more.

Zeus sighed discerning the main problem. "Come on, you guys, carry on practice."

Michael, enflamed by the power of the Arcan beyblades, said in a blaze of passionate confidence, "I want to fight too, then! I want to take on one of you too."

There was a pause as everyone waited, and Mike elbowed Alexia forward. "Your turn."

"What?!" she asked, stunned.

"Patrick already had his battle with Tyson," said Mike calmly. "Take your spot."

Alexia sighed and went over to one side of the stadium. Across her, Michael stood, tossing a baseball. "You're my opponent then, Alexia Raven?"

"Yes," nodded Alexia. "I see that you All-Stars have been doing research. Oh well. So, shall we?"

"More than ready," said Michael. Now this time, Michael, after seeing what had been done to Mariah's blade with barely any effort, immediately shifted to his right hand, to not give any chances at all.

"Judy, are you sure about this?" Emily asked her boss, and Judy just nodded. "I think it's good experience."

Alexia took out a large silver gun—a Desert eagle—and a closer looked revealed it to be her shooter. A red metallic beyblade was in her other hand. For the first time, they got a good look at it.

Alexia's beyblade Aldebaran was metallic red in color and made of the same solid heavy metal alloy that composed all of the other Arcan bladers'. Her attack ring was also thick, and around the attack ring were small red metal globes. But each of these globes had needle-sharp spikes all over them, giving Alexia's blade a look that made it seem like it was a crown of thorns. The defense ring was a blade like an axe's, straight all around it, and the beyblade tip was pointed.

She put the beyblade into the launcher. "Ready?"

"Three—two—one—let it rip!!"

Michael pitched the baseball, and Alexia fired the Desert Eagle with a bang. Both beyblades hit the stadium—Alexia's cracking the stone as well and gauging it as soon as it went running. Michael tried a different tactic—facing the beyblade headlong was obviously not a good idea.

"Let's see if you can tag me as I run to home base!" Michael grinned as his beyblade Trygle shot around the arena. Alexia kept her eye on the orange blade and was about to command Aldebaran, when she saw a flicker of red from behind the crowd watching.

Her attention wavered as she spotted a handsome fair-skinned figure with a flaming head of red and a shimmer of blue eyes. She stifled a gasp. That's…

"Alexia, concentrate!" exclaimed Mike.

Alexia turned back to the battle, and she saw that Trygle was coming at her. Aldebaran evaded just in time and Trygle missed a hit. "Close one," Alexia thought.

She watched as Michael rounded the dish again. "Not this time. Go, Aldebaran!"

In a blast of sudden red, Aldebaran, shot right across the stadium and hit Trygle with powerful force. Trygle split in half and rolled down to the stadium floor. Michael gasped in shock.

But Alexia didn't even wait for a verdict. Aldebaran flew back into her hands, and she caught it—barely stopping its inertia, though, and she suddenly tore out of the crowd. "Alexia!" said Zeus. "Where are you going?"

Alexia didn't even seem to hear, but they all saw that she was running to someone beyond the crowd, standing by himself. Kai blinked as he watched her go and he recognized the person she was running to. "Tala?"

The Russian beyblader was standing calmly in front of an unused arena, seemingly not paying attention to anything else that was going on. "Tala!" Alexia exclaimed.

He turned around at the sound of her voice and saw her. "Alexia. You… What are you doing here?"

Alexia frowned on him and promptly whacked him upside the head. "You idiot! I was worried sick about you! You never came back! I should ask you what you're doing here! Have you any idea how long it took me to find you?"

"Is this how you greet me after all this time?" Tala retorted, annoyed, rubbing his head as he looked at Alexia and saw her eyes misting over.

From the group of beybladers, Tyson said, blinking, "I didn't know that Alexia knew Tala."

But the Relic Bladers were obviously on a different line. "So that's Tala now, huh? The Demolition Boys version," said Patrick with a rather surprised intonation. "Pretty interesting."

"Huh," nodded Mike, looking quite oddly still. "I guess our search is pretty much over for this one. But he's changed. Drastically. It looks like this is going to have a hard ending for Alexia…and the rest of us too…"

"What're you talking about?" asked Kai.

"Well, all we can tell you is that we've all been looking for Tala for a long time now," said Jade as Alexia continued to talk with the red-haired beyblader. "He's actually an important person to Alexia."

Kai turned back to the pair. An important person, huh?

Alexia frowned as she looked at him. "But what do you mean…you can't come back?"

"I'm sorry," said Tala, looking as serious as ever. "I don't want to. I want to be the greatest beyblader. It's only here that I can do it."

"Under BIOVOLT?" Alexia glared at him.

"How did you know about—oh." Tala frowned at her slightly as realization dawned on him. "So you're one of them now, huh?"

"And you're one of them," Alexia replied.

Tala said nothing in reply, and one would feel that he didn't want to. Then Alexia said, "Please, Tala? You just have to come back. I need you."

Max blinked. "Oh, this is getting serious."

"Max, please—eavesdropping isn't good manners," said Dizzi and Kenny shushed her.

Kai finally got fed up and turned away. This movement caught Tala's eye and he saw the rest of the Relic Bladers, who were staring at him with grim faces, all of them standing rigid and gripping their beyblades. Then he said, "Alexia, I think you better return to the group."

"No. I'm not going until you give me an answer."

Tala looked exasperated but anxious. He bent down and put his hands to her shoulders. "Listen, Alexia—I'll tell you the truth. I really would go with you. But I can't. BIOVOLT won't let me go…and besides…until I am beaten…I'll still be going for being the best beyblader in the world. I want to be great—and look, so far no one has beaten me!"

"So you have to be beaten," said Alexia stolidly. "Is that it?"

"Well…yes."

"Fine!" Alexia said fervently, glaring at him. "We'll beat you."

And she whirled around and stomped back to the group with a furious look. Tala rolled his eyes and Ian came up behind him. "What was that all about?" he asked, looking at the Russian team captain.

"Nothing that you should care about," Tala answered before pushing past him.

"You okay, Alexia?" asked Jade as Alexia came back to them.

"Yes," replied Alexia. "Just peachy. Guess what—now, more than ever, I really want to beat down those Demolition Boys. Hey Fearless Leader! Take us to the finals!"

"I was hoping for that," Mike grinned. But he frowned as he glanced at Tala. What's happened to you? You've changed so much… he shook his head and turned back to his teammates. Eventually something would have to be done, but now was still an awkward time for things.

Kai caught Alexia's eye, and Kai snorted and turned away. Tala, he thought. Of all people. That guy's got too much ego, if I were asked… What does he have to do with Alexia anyway? One thing's for sure—he became a creep to her and left her for BIOVOLT. And now I can't let that pass by, now can I? I've always wanted to beat Tala anyway.

"Kai, you're staring into empty space," Ray remarked.

"It's nothing," said Kai, getting back to his senses. Ray blinked.

Michael was still appalled. "But… My Trygle…it's just been newly upgraded… How was it possible…that I…that I was beaten?!"

"I'm sorry to burst your scientific bubble, dude, but we've also just upgraded our beyblades," replied Patrick coolly. "What do you say now?"

Steve snarled but Judy said, "Cool down, Steven. This is only a practice session." She glanced to Emily and murmured, "Did you get anything?"

Emily was white as a sheet. "I—I'm sorry, Judy—but it all went so fast! And something is deliberately trying to prevent us from getting any data from them! There is an almost impenetrable firewall around them, and not even our scanners could get anything from the blades."

"What?!"

From a secluded spot nearby, Zeus smirked to himself as he slowly shut a laptop that he'd previously been typing on to counter a certain scanner and hacking system. "Not today, All-Stars…" he muttered in singsong with a grin.

Alexia sat next to Jade on the bench. "This day just gets better, don't it?" Alexia muttered.

"Didn't go very well, huh?" Jade murmured.

Alexia shook her head. "Almost the worst-case scenario, I'd say. I can't believe that Tala…what's happened to him? He's not the Tala I remember…"

"He isn't," Kai said to himself. "This is all by BIOVOLT's brainwashing and training…" He looked to his left and saw Ray staring at the White Tigers, who were still alternating on consoling Mariah and helping her remake her blade.

"Not a pretty sight for you, eh?" he asked.

Ray was hesitant. "I…I don't know what to say. On that awesome display of power. Kai…we may be in on our heads."

"Hm. We'll discuss this with everyone when we get back to the hotel."

Mike suddenly rose from his place as Kai turned around to look at him. Mike smirked and tapped his cap. "Well. Now that they're all done…shall we?"

"Oh, Fearless Leader's up for a fight, eh?" grinned Patrick. "Go and show him what you can do."

"Yes, Mike," said Zeus, smiling. "Why don't you? I'm sure that he's anxious to see a performance."

Mike turned to Kai and said, "Let's go then." And he raised up his catapult-grip DX-type launcher with a wolf's head for an adornment with a huge sword-like ripcord—he'd dubbed it a 'rip-sword'—and the huge gleaming silver Archonwolf beyblade was there and waiting, like a menacing, sleeping wolf.

Kai raised up Dranzer, and said, "I'll show you just what I can do."

Zeus stood up. "All right then! Three—two—one!!"

"Let it rip!!" everyone chorused.

With a yell, Kai shot out Dranzer, and the beyblade flew out with a smoking launch. Mike also released his beyblade, and sparks rained down with the release, and before they even hit the stadium, Archonwolf came in impact to Dranzer.

There was a sudden snapping sound, and Kai gasped.

"What was that?" Tyson exclaimed as the two beyblades landed on the stadium in crashes—Archonwolf crushing a tile in the process.

Kenny was immediately scanning and he gasped. "Look! Kai's beyblade!"

A closer look on the blue beyblade and a freeze-frame from Kenny's laptop showed a startling injury. Kai's defense ring had been snapped, but it was still attached to the beyblade.

"How—how did that happen?" Kai gasped, stunned.

In a flash, they remembered. Upon impact, one of the massive blades attached to Archonwolf and slashed right at the defense ring—and Kai's release had been so powerful that it was running up the impact to Archonwolf. But the Arcan beyblade was far heavier and more solid that the defense ring, unable to take the abuse, had split.

Mike smiled quietly to himself, watching with crossed arms over the battle. Kai clenched a fist, aware of the danger that he and everyone else would know—if this kept up and the defense ring went unhinged from where it was on the beyblade, Kai would practically be defenseless against the solid metal abuse to be taken from the wicked beyblade.

"All it takes is one more hit," murmured Mike. "Go on now, Archonwolf!"

The silver beyblade blasted like a lightning bolt. "Dranzer, evade him!" Kai cried.

Dranzer shifted position with instant agility, and Archonwolf passed by, unable to catch impact. It grooved a path just barely missing Kai's beyblade.

"Oh, well done," said Mike, smiling.

"Stop grinning—it's not over yet!" Kai snarled. "I can still attack. Dranzer!!"

A powerful red light exploded from the beyblade, and it went charging at Archonwolf in full throttle, like a flaming rocket. Archonwolf immediately swerved to evade and suddenly swung around and landed a powerful strike at Dranzer from behind.

"No!" Kai gasped. How did he move so fast?

As if divining what he had in his mind, Mike replied, "I thought you'd like to know—I have the fastest beyblade of all of us Relic Bladers! Like lightning!"

Suddenly, it happened. The halved defense ring had been pushed out by force of impact and clattered to the bottom of the stadium. But, although rendered defenseless, Dranzer was still spinning as it flew into the air.

I still have one shot… though Kai. "Dranzer, Flame Saber!!"

And, in the same trick as it had done to Driger, a whirling rocket of flame came to the ground, heading for the beyblade in the center. But Mike seemed incredibly calm as he watched. "It's not a good idea, Kai…"

"Shut up!" snapped Kai.

"I warned you…" said Mike. "Do you really think that your beyblade is strong enough to handle an impact collision course with my Archonwolf? I see that I'll have to prove you wrong, then!"

"What are you talking abo—NO!!" Kai immediately gasped.

And then they all soon found out why Mike kept Archonwolf in position and waited for Kai to land. With the defense ring gone, Kai's beyblade had taken a toll on its strength and it was now quite lighter and only had the less solid parts than the defense ring.

It impacted on top of Mike's blade, and instantly shattered by the force that it could not take. Mike's blade merely sank to the ground somewhat, but was not hurt at all because of its incredible metal alloy and solid heaviness.

Everyone gasped, appalled, at the sight. Mike looked up and said, "Archonwolf, come on."

The silver beyblade flew out of the stadium, and Mike caught it with two hands, but he took a few steps back with the force it had. And then he smiled slightly to Kai. "Match ended. I win."

Kai could not speak, stunned. The beyblade had been demolished, and the only recognizable parts were the pieces of the attack ring and the intact bit piece.

There was silence, and suddenly, a united chorus of applause came form the other bladers in the area. The match was quite astounding, and no one can deny the power of the Arcan beybladers. At this abashing act, the Relic Bladers flushed only so slightly as they all stood together. Zeus, smiling, came up behind them.

"Well then—what do you guys say to calling it a day for practice?" he asked.

Mike nodded. "Yeah. I think we've had enough practice for one day…and we've wrecked another beystadium…"

The Arcan team then walked through the crowd of other bladers. Mike smirked slightly at Kai again as he passed, and the latter glared at him. Patrick coolly grinned, looking rather smug, which made Tyson rather irritated. Alexia glanced Kai and he turned away, and he spotted Tala nearby. Tala glanced at her, but Alexia frowned and turned away. Ray watched as Jade passed, and Jade only looked at him for a brief moment without changing the serious look on her face and then turned back ahead.

The Relic Bladers then walked out of the park amidst general murmuring.

Tyson said, after a moment, "You guys…I hope you don't think me out of it right now but…I think I just got a little freaked out by that group…"

"Me too…actually…" murmured Max.

Judy frowned. She turned to her team. "That's it everyone. Back to practice. Let's work harder this time. Emily, just get all the data you have and let's get to work to upgrading your beyblades!"

Kai nodded to his group. "Let's get to work as well. Chief, you know what to do."

"I'm right on it!" said Kenny, nodding. Kai shoved at him the remains of Dranzer and stalked over to a seat and sat down, looking like he was brooding. Tyson said, "Oh don't worry about it, Kai—I'm sure the Chief will have Dranzer better than ever when he's through."

"It's more like he'd better have it better than ever," said Kai, though not sounding hostile. "It's more of a necessity now… Now that we know exactly how powerful the Relic Bladers are."

Max looked over to Ray and said, "You've been quiet."

Ray blinked and looked at Max and asked, "Hey Max…you don't happen to know why Jade looked at me like that, did you?"

"Wouldn't she have?" Max blinked. "You were looking as if you were mad at her awhile ago…"

Ray was surprised a bit. "When?"

"You don't even know?" Max blinked. "When Mariah's blade got trashed and she was saying something to you. You just looked at her like you couldn't stand it. I guess it got her pretty upset."

"I guess…I may have been upset at the time," he murmured.

Max shrugged. "I guess that's why she isn't going to be so sociable now…" And he turned back to Kenny to look over his shoulder as he continued to see how their blades could possibly be worked to beat the Arcans'.

Jade: Oooh… looks bad.

Mike: But good competition…

Alexia: …I'm going to get Tala for this…

Patrick: Chill out. It'll be all right. Hey, everybody—review!!