Disclaimer: The Arcan Blades don't own Beyblade—in case you wanted to know.

Mike: Man…I can't stop pacing around…the tournament's about to start!

Patrick: Cool it, Fearless Leader… Shouldn't be too tough.

Alexia: (raising an eyebrow) That would depend on your definition of 'tough'.

Jade: Guys, will you pipe down?! I can't concentrate! It's about to begin!

Everyone else: We know!!

Jade: (rolling her eyes as she looked at the readers) Sorry. Pre-tournament jitters. Well, here's the next chapter. Read and Review, everybody!!

CHAPTER EIGHT

The Tournament Casts Off

Crickets were chirping in the night, and everything, even the wind, was still. A blazing moon shone down from the night sky, and stars twinkled under a midnight blue sky. Every building seemed dark, and the hotel was also in the same state. However, faint lights glowed in windows apart from one another.

Within one window, Kenny was typing away furiously in his laptop, doing scans and scopes on how they could possibly strengthen the power of their beyblades. He was surrounded by half-built and half-taken apart beyblades of his teammates that they'd given him to work on. He wiped away the sweat on the back of his forehead and kept working.

Dizzi yawned and said, "Chief, please—call it a night!"

"We can't, Dizzi—we have so little time! And the tournament is tomorrow!"

"Oh…all right…"

Unnoticed by Kenny, Tyson was tossing around in his bed, unable to sleep. I just have to figure out a way… I have to figure out how I'm possibly going to beat Patrick… But his beyblade seems impervious to anything… And he's too heavy to blow away… What should I do?

From the next bed, Max was biting his nails. What if I totally flunk out on the tournament? I'd hate to be the reason why my friends will lose… I know that I might be the weakest beyblader in our group right now…but that doesn't mean that I have to give in… Man, of all the times to have the jitters!

From another window, Emily yawned with Judy next to her, and they both were staring at a large computer screen. Judy looked at her and said, "If you're tired, Emily, you can go to bed now. I'll keep working here."

"No, Judy—I want to help," said Emily. "I want to make these blades as good as they possibly can be." And she looked to the still broken Trygle lying nearby.

"But I'm not very sure if we can do much more about this," she added. "We've sent for all the strongest materials and most effective utensils…and I think we may have done enough for the night."

"Well…we still have to rebuild all our beyblades," said Judy. "We'd better get to working on them with the tournament tomorrow and everything."

Judy nodded, and Emily picked up the broken Trygle, and immediately began to work on it with a laser beam nearby in their portable laboratory.

In yet another room, instead of the electric light that glowed in the other two, firelight was lit. The White Tigers were all awake, and sitting in a circle in the middle of the carpet. Each one had their beyblade in front of them, and they were meditating, enhancing their powers to prepare for the oncoming tournament.

As they did, however, Lee opened his eyes. "Mariah, you're not concentrating."

Mariah looked up. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"You have to focus your energy to make yourself more powerful," said Lee. "You're distracted."

"Yeah, Mariah," said Kevin. "You haven't been quite yourself."

Mariah bit her lip. "I…well, I just had some things on my mind, that's all."

This is all about Ray again, Lee thought. Not like it's bothering me… It's just that Mariah can't concentrate like this. "Don't worry about things, Mariah. I'm sure that everything will clear once we win the tournament and we show them how good we all really are."

"Yeah," said Mariah, nodding, and closed her eyes, concentrating. The rebuilt Galix, now upgraded, glowed a slight pink in its bit piece, as if Galix was responding to the beyblader who owned it.

Lee smiled to himself and nodded, and they all went back to concentrating. Then a large grumble sounded in the room. They all sweatdropped. "Gary!" they chorused.

"But I'm hungry…" Gary moaned. "Can we have a midnight snack first?"

The others all sighed.

In another room, Johnny slept soundly—that is, until Robert jerked the covers from under him and he toppled off the bed with a muffled yell.

"What the—hey, what's the big idea?!" Johnny exclaimed, his head popping up from the carpet.

"Get up," said Robert. "We're all working on our beyblades and you had just better do the same because we're not going to do it for you."

"Isn't there any other way to wake me up?" Johnny grumbled.

"We've been trying," said Oliver, looking up from the table where he was tinkering with Unicolyon. "But when you wouldn't wake up, Robert had to do that."

"Now get up and work on your Salamalyon," said Enrique. "All those special parts that we've sent for have arrived."

Johnny groaned and plodded over to the table, took out Salamalyon, and began working on it like his companions were on their own beyblades.

In another room as well, Zeus was typing away on his computer, the bluish light of the computer lighting up his face. After a few moments, he stopped and said, "Can't sleep, Mike?"

Mike was sitting up on his bed. "You always know, don't you?"

"I'm supposed to," said Zeus calmly. "I was chosen because I knew you all very well."

Mike stood up and touched Archonwolf which was at one end of the row of beyblades next to Zeus. And then he asked, "I was just thinking…of how we all managed to into this glorified mess of a tournament."

"Easy enough—you all had done so well, that they wanted you to," said Zeus. "But not is not the time for that. You know you need to rest."

"I haven't even worn myself out," said Mike, blinking.

"I wasn't talking to you."

They both turned around, and there was a sigh from one of the beds, and Jade sat up, followed by Alexia. "I can't sleep," said Jade. "I'm just a little…wound up."

"Same here," murmured Alexia. "I have things on my mind."

"You shouldn't," said Zeus. "If you're distracted, you won't be able to perform properly in your matches."

"I can't help it," said Alexia. "I can't stop thinking about Tala and what's happened to him… He was just so different from what I remember him to be."

Mike stood up and sat next to her, patting her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. If we make it well in the tournament, we'll be able to see him and we'd be able to straighten him out… somehow. BIOVOLT is pretty serious on keeping him, though…"

Alexia nodded slowly. "But still…I'm not going to give up on him. I just can't—I want him back."

"We all do," said Mike, nodding.

Jade smiled faintly at them. I know how they feel…but I guess I'm still worried because I've upset Ray… He's such a nice person and he was a good friend in the short time I've known him. I didn't want to upset him…but now I've done it…

She shook her head. No. I'm not going to think about that. I'm going to make myself focus on this tournament and this alone. We have to win…there's just so much at stake!

Zeus then said, "Go to bed, you all. Look at Patrick. He's sleeping soundly. He'll wake up the best this morning, and I bet that he'll be able to show you all up because he's concentrated and serious and well prepared."

"Oh no way," snickered Mike. "Come on, you guys. Let's go back to bed. Hey Zeus—"

"I'll catch up. I'm still upgrading your blades."

"Again?!"

"They still need a lot of work…"

The others groaned. And then they all went to bed.

From outside in the grounds, four shadows crept into the mist, all wearing billowing coats of dark khaki. They moved in silence, like ghosts on the haunt. They were the Dark Bladers, and unbeknownst to all, they'd arrived in Russia to gatecrash the tournament.

And from even beyond the hotel, in an abbey a way off from it, where there should have been stillness, there were bursts and sounds of electric charges, and lights flashing around at every buzz and bolt. It was quite obvious that BIOVOLT was also hard at work.

Boris was overseeing everything that was going on with a rather spectral look and a sneering grin. Tala, Ian, Bryan and Spencer stood behind him, watching the work being done to their beyblades as sparks and lights flew all around the BIOVOLT laboratories.

And this was how the night before the tournament was spent, as everyone did their utmost to achieve their full strength and ability for the most important tournament in the year.

When the Russian sun rose, casting a rosy glow over the horizon and the clouds, there was an almost tangible layer of anticipation and excitement all over Moscow, like the blanket of pure white snow on the ground. The day has arrived—and it was time for the very much-awaited Russian Tournament. As everyone stirred themselves to life, the site where the tournament was going to be held, a former Russian palace, waited with patience for them to arrive.

Kenny slowly stirred, his head propped on his arms. Something was making a sound in the still Russian morning in the grounds. It was the sound of something hitting a stone pavement and going like crazy. He got up, feeling rather tired, and as he did, the rest of the Bladebreakers had awakened at the sound as well.

Kenny blinked. That sound… he turned to the beyblades next to him. All were there—save for one. The green Draciel was missing, and in its place a note, saying: 'Thanks, Chief!'

Kenny stood up and went to the window, and Tyson crowded up next to him, looking curious. Down in the grounds, Draciel hit the pavement and ran up and down like crazy. Max was there, standing over it, breathing hard and gripping his launched and ripcord.

"Max!!" the Bladebreakers all yelled.

Max stopped, surprised, and looked up to see them with their heads poking out of windows. He grinned and waved, "Hi, guys!!"

The Bladebreakers, stunned, all grabbed their beyblades and got dressed in a span of twenty-five seconds and they all bolted down and headed to the grounds, running all over each other to see what was going on.

As they broke out into the grounds, they saw Max, standing fifty paces from them, smiling as he held Draciel, and he looked like he'd been very awake for a long time. But before they could run to him, however, Kai stopped them saying, "Wait. Look at the pavement."

They all looked down, and their jaws dropped. The pavement was covered with beyblade scratch-marks, leading all the way up to where Max was, holding Draciel. Max smiled. "Sorry. Did I get too noisy for you guys?"

"Max, how long have you been awake?" Tyson asked.

"Oh…since…five this morning, I guess," said Max, checking his watch. "That's in Russian time, of course. I decided to practice a bit."

"A bit?!" they asked.

Ray grinned and said, "Max, I'm really impressed—look at all this!" He motioned to the scratch marks. "How'd you do all this?"

Max held up Draciel and grinned. "Chief upgraded all our blades. And when I woke up this morning, I couldn't help but try it out! I just kept practicing until I really got the hang of things… I was having the jitters and this calmed me. I'm going to do all I can so that I won't let you guys down."

"Come on, Max, you haven't let us down," said Tyson, smiling at him.

"Well, I'm just safeguarding against that," Max replied. "Have you noticed how upgraded our beyblades have all gone?"

They all looked down at the beyblades in their hands and for the first time noticed changes in them. They all seemed much heavier now, and they were quite solid in comparison to before.

Kenny smiled wanly. "Well, I worked all night for those beyblades—I've upgraded them all and changed their compositions. Not only will they be strong enough to go against the Relic Bladers' without being weakened on impact, by they'll also have enough power to take them down with enough strategy!"

"Well done, Chief!" Ray said, looking at his Driger.

"Yeah," said Kenny, still smiling wanly. "Now if you guys don't mind, I'd like to rest…it's been a really long night…" And he promptly fell down, fast asleep.

Max and Tyson flew out to help him, and Ray said, "Well…good job, Chief. He deserves a rest after this."

Kai looked at his own beyblade. "Yeah. Nice work. Well you'd all like to know that it's eight-thirty now. We better get to the tournament."

"Hey! Little man!"

Tyson winced at the highly vocal tone of his grandfather who seemed like he was desperately trying to be 'cool' and thinks he's pretty good at it. Not a bad try, actually, but it was a whole other case for Tyson…

"Hey, yo, my homies!" said Tyson grandfather, coming over with a smiling Mr. Dickinson and Tyson's father. "What's up, dudes? Let's all roll so you guys won't miss the awesome tournament!"

"Grandpa…can you please talk normally?" Tyson begged. "Can you please be a normal grandpa?"

"What'choo talkin' 'bout, li'l dude?" asked his grandfather, prancing around in his best suit and tie. "It doesn't hurt to show if you're cool—now let's go! You've got a tournament to win over, eh?"

And he strolled forward ceremoniously, heading for the Bladebreakers' bus, which was already waiting. Mr. Dickinson and Tyson's father just laughed as Tyson slapped a hand over his forehead and ceremoniously followed after him, with the rest of the Bladebreakers hopping in behind—the sleeping Kenny in tow who Kenny's father had on his back.

The group piled into the bus, and Tyson's grandpa immediately leapt into the driver's seat. "All right, then! I'm in the pilot's seat for today, so you all will get to the tournament quick."

"I think he's really going to mean quick," said Ray, blinking.

"Come on, dad, take it easy," said Tyson's father to the old man. "The Chief is asleep…"

"Well, I'll go along in a leisurely pace if it suits you all," he replied as they drove off, and the Bladebreakers settled into their seats in relief. Tyson's grandfather was practically infamous for his terrible driving—with a license that expired forty years ago.

As they rode down the street in Russia, they peeked out the windows and saw a large contingent of people all heading for BIOVOLT stadium. They all were looking flushed and excited upon the oncoming first day of the tournament.

"Man…looks like everyone is coming…and it's just the eliminations!" said Ray.

"According to the people in charge, there's going to be one round each day," said Max. "They're having the Elimination Rounds today, and the Quarter Finals happen tomorrow, followed by the Semi-Finals and the Finals."

"Looks like we'll have work pretty much cut out for us," said Tyson.

Kai was ignoring all this, and he looked out his window. And then he said, "Ray, you're friends are here to see you."

"What?" Ray looked over that side of the bus, and they saw the White Tigers' bus going alongside them. When Ray's face appeared at the window, Mariah waved wildly at him.

Ray laughed and waved back, and soon Kevin and Gary joined in. As Ray waved back, Max asked, "Hey guys…who's driving that bus, you think?"

"I've no idea…" said Ray. "Wait a minute. Mariah…Kevin…Gary…but where's…"

As if figuring it out, Mariah grinned and pointed to the front of the bus. Ray's jaw dropped. "Lee's driving?! Are they insane?!"

"No he's not, look!" said Tyson. As they glimpsed the front of the bus, they saw that Lee was sitting up front, but the person driving was someone they didn't recognize. But Ray obviously did.

"Oh, it's all right then," he breathed. "That's Chen. He's a trusted friend of the tribe and he used to look after us. I bet that they had Chen sent with them to keep an eye on them…"

As Ray sat down, Tyson gave a cry of excitement. "Look! There go the Relic Bladers! And the All-Stars! And the Majestics too!"

They looked ahead at where Tyson was pointing, and indeed, they saw buses of the other teams going ahead of them, all making a beeline for BIOVOLT stadium. "It looks like everyone plans to get to BIOVOLT stadium in a hurry," laughed Mr. Dickinson.

"Hey that's not fair!" Max laughed. "The Majestics are in a helicopter!"

"So are the Demolition Boys—look up there!" said Tyson. Heading the Majestics were the Demolition Boys, all right, also in a helicopter.

In front of them, the All-Stars were in a bus, but the Relic Bladers were piled into a Hummer, with Zeus driving like a man possessed. Patrick turned to look at them, grinned, and gave them a wave before they shot off. The All-Stars sped after them, so did the White Tigers, and then Tyson's grandfather said, "Well, then! If it's a race they want—a race they're going to get!"

"Grandpa, no!!" Tyson yelled, but they had shot off, and they were racing for BIOVOLT stadium.

People were already crowding to the entrance of the BIOVOLT stadium, anxious to glimpse the players. The Bladebreakers' bus pulled to a stop, and the Bladebreakers piled out, all looked pale and breathing hard.

"Man, we nearly went off the road!" Max exclaimed.

"Grandpa, don't do that again!" Tyson cried.

"Well it was a good race—we would've overtaken those darn All-Stars if we didn't nearly slip on that puddle in the road…" said his grandfather, and Tyson cried, "Don't remind me!!"

"It's amazing," said Tyson's father. "Chief didn't even stir. Boy, he must be really tired…"

Kai, regaining composure, said, "We'd better get inside—and see the order of plays."

"This is a bad omen for the first day," Ray groaned as they all plodded to the direction of the stadium. They were received with a roar of cheers from the people gathered in front of the stadium. They were quite stunned.

"Wow, look at all these people!" said Max.

"They're cheering for us!" said Ray.

Tyson grinned. "Looks the people really like us, guys!" He waved wildly at them and yelled, "We're going to win!!"

And at this, the crowd cheered even louder, and the Bladebreakers were rather flushed at Tyson's overall outspokenness. Kai rolled his eyes and pushed Tyson forward, saying, "Keep going!"

Tyson was still waving wildly as the group ushered him into the stadium. Tyson gave one final wave before his friends grabbed him and pulled into the stadium and the doors shut behind him. Finally inside the stadium, they all walked across the front hall and heard a lot of noise inside—as there were already a lot of people inside.

From one hall, they saw a large group of bladers heading for inside the main stadium already. Mr. Dickinson said, "Go on, boys. The tournament won't start just yet—all bladers are to assemble there upon arrival. We'll be watching from the bleachers for the opening ceremonies."

"Yeah—Chief needs sleep," said Tyson's father, smiling.

Tyson nodded. "All right, then. Let's go, guys! I'm so psyched up on being in the Russian tournament!"

"Well, well…look at what we have here."

Surprised, they all turned around. Just as Mr. Dickinson, Tyson's grandfather and father had left, the Demolition Boys materialized behind them.

"I thought it was a good idea to hang around awhile and see what the masses would bring in," said Ian, smirking.

Tala said nothing for a moment and then he just frowned as he said, "You're not going to win this tournament—we will. And we'll crush you along the way."

"Dream on," snapped Kai, feeling unusually agitated at the sight of Tala right now.

"You really think you have a chance against us?" snorted Spencer. "You'll pay dearly, you know, for underestimating us."

"Well we're ready for you," said Ray.

"Yeah," said Max. "We're not going down without a fight."

"If you say so, then," Ian chortled.

A figure suddenly came up from behind the Demolition Boys. "That's enough teasing the…plebeians, boys," said the baritone that belonged to no one else other than Boris.

"Boris…" snarled Kai.

Tyson said, "We'll beat you—mark my words, we'll beat you! You and BIOVOLT will never succeed in your plans!" He whirled around and said, "Come on, guys—let's go. I can't stand breathing the same air as these creeps."

The rest of the Bladebreakers followed suit, and Kai lingered only for the briefest instant to glare rather malevolently at Tala before walking off with the rest of his teammates.

The group walked down the hall, and Tyson said, "Man, the nerve of those guys…"

"Yeah…they really underestimate us," said Ray.

"But they certainly have a right to," said Kai suddenly and they all looked at him. He raised an eyebrow at them and said, "It's true. They're more powerful than we are and they know it. And if I know them, they're bound to have a trump card waiting to be played somewhere…"

"But I'm sure that we'll be able to get experience soon," said Max, rising up to give them a little ray of hope. "That's why it's a good thing they have eliminations… Unless we face the Demolition Boys right out…"

"Come on, you guys, let's not think about that!" said Tyson. "We've all been working hard and Chief also worked hard for us. We can't let him down, and we can't let each other down. We're a team, right? And together, we'll beat them!"

"Right!" said Ray and Max, and Kai nodded.

At this, they broke out of the dim hallway and into the bright light of the center arena. There were three arenas in the building, but this one was right at the middle and was thereby where the opening was going to be held. A blaze of brilliant light met them, and they saw a crowd of other beybladers there already. From bleachers all around, a throng of people were there, cheering.

"Man, this is what you call a tournament," said Tyson, grinning from ear to ear.

The group went over to the mess of beybladers, studying them. They were a very colorful bunch, coming from different countries, and they saw familiar faces in the crowd.

"Boy, everyone's here already!" said Max. "There're the Majestics over there—and the White Tigers."

"There are the All-Stars up front—I guess they wanted to see things in full view," said Ray.

"And the Relic Bladers too!" said Tyson. "There they are—next to the delegation from Canada."

Indeed they were. Mike glanced around and spotted them. "There are the Bladebreakers… the company's all here."

"The Demolition Boys stepped out for a moment, huh?" said Alexia, looking a little more unnerved than usual. "I wonder what the line-up's going to be for the elimination rounds…"

Jade turned around and saw Ray, who looked back at her. Jade looked at him for a moment before looking away. Just…ignore him. That's the thing to it. Don't let it bother you. Because if you do, well, there goes the thing…

Patrick smirked at Tyson, who puffed up in fury. "Man, he's really trying me! Well, I'm ready for him this time! The next time I'll see him, I'll show him what me and Dragoon can really do!"

Finally, the lights in the stadium started to go crazy. A spotlight shone down and hit up at the catwalk where DJ Jazzman—the everlasting referee for every single beyblading contest—was there, wearing a very Russian outfit and striking a dramatic pose.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, and beybladers alike!" he crowed into the microphone. "Welcome to the finals of the World Beyblading Championship—the Russian Tournament!!"

There was an earsplitting roar in the stadium, and DJ dramatically motioned to the bladers below. "People all around the world—you see before you the most talented beybladers in the world gathered here for the biggest tournament of the year! They will be competing in a tournament lasting several days! Each round of the tournament will take the span of one day—and today, we formally open the Elimination Rounds with a speech from our sponsor, the leader of BIOVOLT!!"

He motioned across him, and in a balcony with a majestic view of everything going on, Boris stepped from the shadow, and bowed amidst everyone's mild applause.

"Prepare to be bored," murmured Patrick, rolling his eyes.

"Don't we know it," said Mike, yawning.

"Hey Robert—here's a guy who'll be the only person in the world who can be more boring than you when making a speech," said Johnny, elbowing him, and Robert stepped on his foot as the other two snickered behind their hands.

As Boris droned on in his incredibly boring speech—at least, that was what most of the beybladers down there thought—Tyson yawned and said, "Is it over?"

"Not yet," Max replied.

"Keep still, Tyson," said Ray. "You shouldn't be so restless."

"I can't help it—it's boring," said Tyson. "I mean, look a these guys and tell me that there's one person here who thinks that this is even remotely interesting."

"Robert seems to be paying attention."

"He doesn't count."

And from the All-Stars side, Emily was whispering to Michael, "…so don't be too hasty on using your Trygle—it's still a little untested."

"I'll keep that in mind," nodded Michael. "Man, this speech is so long."

"Look—Steve's about to drop off," said Eddy, nudging him. "Hey, wake up, man, or the Russians'll see you."

"I'm still wondering why he has to make a speech," said Mariah from where she stood with the rest of the White Tigers. "Let's just get on with it."

"Take it easy," said Lee. "After this comes the hard battles. Think of this as a pre-resting moment."

And when Boris finally concluded his speech and resumed his seat, the respectful applause that was given to him was more of relief than grace. DJ smiled and struck a pose again and said, "And there you have it! And now, I shan't keep any of you waiting any longer—I know that all of you want to see this tournament go underway! So let's go!"

And everyone cheered again. DJ ran up to one end of the catwalk-like balcony for his benefit and motioned to a large screen inside the stadium that had just recently been installed. "Let's see how it all goes, shall we?"

And the screen shimmered and changed, and DJ said, "The top twelve teams all over the world and some of the most powerful, special teams as well are participating, bringing a total of fifteen top beyblading teams in the world! The tournament is split into two blocks—Blocks A and B—for the elimination rounds. For Block A, the teams competing here shall be…"

And as he did enumerate them, the names and symbols appeared and took a place on the screen and each group was spotlighted as they were named and their country of representation.

"They are:

The Afterburners—Canada!

The Green Dazzlers—Ireland!

The All-Stars—USA!

The Conquistadors—Spain!

The Blade Sparkers—Columbia!

The Bladebreakers—Japan!

The Orient Pearls—Philippines!

And The Relic Bladers—Arcanis!"

A screaming roar was met by the Block A teams, and the Bladebreakers noticed that some teams looked rather relieved that the Demolition Boys were not pitted in this block. The lights went out and went crazy again, as a new set of names and symbols appeared on the screen, and DJ began talking again.

"And not to be outdone, the teams for Block B are:

The Snow BlazersIceland!

The Olympian BladesGreece!

The MajesticsEuropean Union!

The TribalsAfrican Union!

The Silver SpanglesNew Zealand!

The White TigersChina!

And the hometown heroes, The Demolition BoysRussia!"

An even louder roar of applause was met by the Block B teams due to the stating of the last name. Everyone seemed incredibly excited by the events.

Tala looked down at the set of beybladers below and spotted Alexia. Well…I know that you and your teammates will make it far… but hopefully you'll make it far enough to face of with us…

Alexia looked around and saw the Bladebreakers, talking animatedly with one another at the selection of teams for each block. Kai looked up and saw her, and Alexia quickly looked away. Kai frowned only slightly, but looked up once again at the referee who was dancing up and down the catwalk.

Tala, who'd seen all this, marked it.

DJ waited until it had all silenced and the lights all died down as, on the large screen, the two sets were waiting to be sorted out into the groups that were supposed to go against each other for the elimination rounds. The screen changed into a hierarchical chart. "And now—if all of you are ready, let's go and see who will go against who in Block A!"

He snapped his fingers, and the names began flashing in the name blocks of the chart. The groups in the Block A teams watched anxiously as it went.

"Man…who'll it be?" murmured Max.

"Relic Bladers, Relic Bladers…" Tyson chanted.

"Come on, Tyson—I don't think so!" said Ray.

"It can happen!" he argued.

"You're not ready," said Kai. "Our best shot is to meet them in a latter round."

Emily was biting her nails, watching anxiously, as this tournament weighed pretty heavily on things and Steve said, "Don't worry—whoever it is, we'll take 'em."

Mike watched the screen with utter calmness, as his teammates, determined to keep themselves focused for the battles to come. Within the block the same as the Bladebreakers, he knew that they might be treading into dangerous ground.

Finally, in a sudden spectacular flash, the names stilled. There was an uproar as the names were displayed.

"And look at what we have here!" said DJ. "Quite a well-made mix!"

And indeed, for most of them it seemed to be well made. The screen had revealed an interesting selection. For the Block A Elimination Rounds—Bladebreakers VS Conquistadors; Green Dazzlers VS Orient Pearls; All-Stars VS Afterburners; Relic Bladers VS Blade Sparkers.

"All right!" said Max. "That was a good mix they've done!"

"Right," said Kai. "We'll face the Conquistadors on the eliminations."

"The All-Stars have to take on the Afterburners today," said Tyson.

Ray saw the screen and said, "The Relic Bladers have to take on the Blade Sparkers too. They look pretty calm."

Mike looked to his group. "All right, guys. We're facing the Colombian Blade Sparkers. If we win against them, we'll take on whoever wins between the All-Stars and the Afterburners."

"Let's take this a step at a time," said Zeus. "We'll deal with the Blade Sparkers first. Then we'll worry about the Quarter Finals."

"Right," they nodded.

DJ motioned to the screen again. "All right—let's go again! This time, for the teams on Block B!"

The screen began flashing rapidly again, and everyone watched in anticipation. The White Tigers watched anxiously, as with the rest of the people at Block B as they knew that they would be in for an extremely difficult time if they were pitted against the Demolition Boys.

As this went on, Oliver murmured, "I just noticed something. There's an odd number of teams in Block B. That means that one team will be left over and automatically goes into Quarter Finals."

"Must be one lucky team, then," said Enrique.

Finally, the screen flashed in a brilliant spectacle again, and the names all stilled. There was another uproar, as a mix was drawn for the second time.

"Look!" exclaimed Mariah. "The Demolition Boys are the team with no opponent—that means they automatically go into the Quarter Finals!"

And indeed, this was true. The Demolition Boys' name and symbol were on the solo block in the top of the ranks that automatically lined up to the Quarter Finals of the tournament. As for the rest of the contenders in the Block B Elimination Rounds, they were: Silver Spangles VS Olympian Blades; Majestics VS Tribals; White Tigers VS Snow Blazers.

"I should've known," said Tyson.

Robert looked at his groupmates. "Looks like we're not taking on anyone we're familiar with just yet. We're tackling the Tribals."

"And if we win, whoever wins the battle between the White Tigers and Snow Blazers are our opponents," said Johnny.

"That's right," nodded Robert. He took a glanced at the Block A side of the area and looked to his cousin, standing not too far, talking to Alexia. A slight movement caught his eye, and he saw that Ray was glancing at her. He immediately frowned.

"What's the matter, Robert?" asked Oliver. "You have a terrible look on your face. Are you still sick?"

"No," replied Robert. "I'm quite fine, thank you. Now let's get back to our job at hand."

DJ then said, "All right, teams—you are to separate between the two arenas here in the BIOVOLT stadium! The Elimination Rounds will take place at the same time, and when you get to your respective area, you will be informed which team goes first!"

There was another roar of applause and cheers, but before any of the bladers can move an inch, the doors to the arena blew open in a bang, and a menacing blast of cold wind burst into the area.

"What the—" Tyson began.

They all looked up as four shadows crept into the room, and from the shadows materialized four figures. The Bladebreakers gasped. "The Dark Bladers!"

"What are they doing here?" Patrick demanded, taking two steps forward, but Mike pulled him back.

Cenotaph eyed the crowd around and Sanquinex smirked eerily—exposing vampire fangs—and said, "Sorry if we're late. We had meant to drop by sooner."

Everyone was too stunned to react. Cenotaph then raised a mummified hand and pointed up to the elevated area where the Demolition Boys were. "You."

Bryan merely raised an eyebrow, and Cenotaph said, "We know all about you, and we know of your evil plans. We will not allow you to so easily waltz through this tournament."

"That's right," boomed Zomb. "We will be the ones to go against you for the Elimination Rounds."

There was murmuring up and down the arena, and everyone was rather appalled at this extremely unusual pronouncement. Tala looked to Boris, who merely nodded the slightest inch. Tala turned to them.

"We do not treat gatecrashers well," he said. "But to give you the most suitable punishment, we shall accept this pitiful challenge at a battle in the Elimination Rounds and will quite effectively destroy you."

"I don't believe it!" DJ howled. "This is unprecedented! Looks like there's going to be one awesome match for Block B to dish up for today's Elimination Rounds—The Demolition Boys VS The Dark Bladers!"

There was instant uproar. Alexia stared, stunned. "Tala…"

Patrick: Nothing against ol' Tala and everything…but am I the only one who notices that he's kind of…freakish?

Mike: Shut up, Pat—this is serious.

Jade: Yeah… What could they be planning? Going against the Dark Bladers like that?

Alexia: (shaking her head) This looks bad…

Jade: (to the readers) Well, that's the chapter. Please review!!