Battle of the Masters
Chapter One
by Shadou-sama

Golden fields of wheat whisked by Shadra's window as the bus drove smoothly down the road. It looked like it was going to be a nice day, weather wise at least. If only they could wait to go to the tournament, then this day would be perfect.

She knew this would be impossible. The others were really excited about it, they thought it was going to be fun. She suppressed a yawn. She hadn't slept last night. It hadn't been Tyson's snoring this time, just like it hadn't been the cause so many other times. It was the same old nightmare, the one that had been plaguing her since that terrible night. She shook it out of her head, flipping around her shoulder length black hair.

She looked about the bus. In front sat the other members of the team. Tyson was slumped over onto Max, who, in turn, was slumped onto Kenny. Ray was stretched out across two of the padded benches. Kai sat behind Ray with his arms crossed looking serious, as usual. They were all asleep. And why shouldn't they sleep? She thought. It's been a rough couple of months. First they had to defeat the White Tigers in the Asian Tournament, and they are no kittens. Then they had to defeat the All Stars and their incredibly powered beyblades in the American Tournament. Then they had gotten stranded in Europe and they had had to defeat the Majestics and the Dark Bladers almost simultaneously. They thought that was just so tough but they were terribly wrong. They had to defeat a super evil team called the Demolition Boys that stole bit-beasts to increase their own power. And this upcoming tournament wasn't going to be a walk in the park.

It was the Prairieland Tournament and only beybladers with bit-beasts were allowed to enter. There would be a lot of new rules to memorize, like the winning team was the one with the most points and points are won by bladers winning. The Prairieland Tournament promised challenge.

She wished those guys weren't so bent in competing in this one. Otherwise she could go with Holly's team. It was in her blood and it's pretty hard to go against something etched into your very skin.

After the World Championship, Holly had approached her, with tales of how it was better for humans if they didn't have bit-beasts.

"Humans are so power hungry, so vain, so stupid and naïve. Letting them keep the bit-beasts would cause the end of the world." Holly had explained. "It's our duty to take them and it's our right." Holly went on to explain about her plan to bring every single beyblader with a bit-beast to one tournament. Holly's team, the Masters would then steal them by defeating them. The rules were designed to allow the Masters to challenge every single beyblader entered. That was when Holly had extended Shadra an invitation to join her team.

Shadra remembered the week that followed. She, Kai and Ray had stayed at Tyson's house since they didn't have a home in town. While the rest of the team practiced, she had gone off to think about what she should do in private. The few times she had joined them, she kept noticing how rookie her friends were compared to the Masters. Even when she ignored those thoughts, they buzzed around at the back of mind, distracting her. It made her make the biggest mistake she had ever made in the beydish.

Her beautiful black beyblade had chipped the dish. Shadra stared in surprise. Even when she had been an amateur, she had never done such a thing. The others looked equally surprised.

Kai picked up her beyblade and turned to her. "What was that?" He demanded.

"I-I chipped the d-dish." Shadra stammered.

"Why?" Kai asked. He stared into her eyes, giving her the feeling that he was seeing right into her mind. When she didn't answer, Kai had continued, "Because you were distracted. Do you want to let your team down? Do you want to make us lose? No? Then keep your problems out of the beydish. Until you can concentrate, I'm keeping your beyblade."

She had wanted to hit Kai. He had no right to take Darker. But she hadn't because she knew that Kai was only trying to save her from losing Darker permanently. Instead, she had walked out.

That day, Shadra had decided what to do. She knew Holly was right, but she also knew she couldn't let her team down. Now she had to only tell Holly.

"Hey, miss?" Shadra called up to the busdriver. "How much longer?"

"About forty minutes." Came the response. Shadra shifted her position, trying to get comfortable. It wasn't easy, being a school bus.

She pulled out a little compact mirror from her bag, she wanted to look at least presentable.

A girl with a tanned complexion and dark red eyes looked out. Her feline eyes made Shadra grin, they strongly reminded her of Darker's true form eyes. Cat like fangs appeared with her grin. She ran her fingers through black bangs that looked almost identical to Ray's. Shadra wore no makeup, too much of a bother. She put away the mirror and stood up, smoothing out her beige tank top, and feeling her silver key swinging lightly upon it's chain around her neck.

"Hey guys, wake up! We're almost there!" She called. She walked up to them, carefully stepping over Ray's legs. But if they stay asleep they wouldn't be able to beyblade. Shadra thought wickedly.

"We can't be there, I just closed my eyes!" Whined a black-haired boy known as Tyson. Tyson was thought to be the best beyblader on the team, probably because he beat the toughest and cruelest beyblader even when he was thrown into another dimension. But at least he accepted that he wouldn't have gotten there without his friends. He grudgingly opened his charcoal eyes and absent-mindedly reached for his blue and red baseball cap.

"It's been four hours since we left town, and you were asleep even then!" She replied and rolled her eyes. "You must be stoked, I don't think we've ever waken you up this fast before."

"Yeah, it even beats the time we fed you a chili pepper." Ray said, pushing himself into a sitting position. Ray may look cute and cuddly, but his Tiger Claw attack packs a real punch and his speed goes unchallenged. He stretched his arms for a yawn, showing off his tiger fangs. She snickered, remembering that morning. It had been hilarious.

"How far away are we?" Asked a brown-haired little boy with a black laptop on his lap. He was Kenny, the Bladebreakers' manager. He took care of all paper work and came up with strategies, player stats, and customized the team's beyblades.

"About a half hour drive now." Shadra answered, checking her watch. "I guess I could have waited to wake you guys up, but I thought it would take longer to wake Tyson." She sat on a nearby seat.

"I'm not that bad, Shadra!" Tyson called out.

"The only thing worse is your snoring." Replied a gray-and-blue-haired boy. His arms were still crossed, much like his sleeping self, but now his red-brown eyes were open and he sat up straighter. Kai who was the sexy loner who automatically gained female admirers wherever he went. He controlled the powerful phoenix Drunzer and beat his opponents quickly and mercilessly. Kai was also the team captain, Shadra being his co-captain.

"What about my eating?" Tyson asked jokingly.

"Well, since we're awake maybe we can work on a game plan." A blonde boy suggested. He was the team's defence specialist, Max, who was forever perky.

"Good idea, Max." Kenny agreed. He opened up his laptop. "Wake-up Dizzi."

"Are we there already?" a drowsy voice asked. Dizzi was a bit-beast who had gotten herself trapped in a computer during a power surge.

"Not quite, but we need your help for a strategy." Kenny replied.

"Hmm… How about, win?" Shadra said sarcastically. Everyone gave her an exasperated look. "Well I think it's a brilliant plan."

"Yes, but how are we going to win? Don't answer that." Kenny said quickly as Shadra opened her mouth. "We have to choose our lineup, we only get a hand full of beybattles to win points. That's divided up amongst you all. Plus, you get to pick your own opponents so the line-up is even trickier."

"I'm sure you'll come up with something great." Max replied. "Especially since we've already beaten everyone going."

"That's not true, there are two teams going that I've never heard of. The first is the Bit Trashers, and the other one is the Masters." Kenny sighed. Then he straightened with an idea. "Shadra, have you ever heard of them?"

"WHAT?" Shadra jerked straight up. She quickly hunched back down to her first position. "Why should I know anything?" She snapped. Shadra felt angry and foolish. Did they know?

"It's just that you always seem to know a lot about unknown teams." Kenny said nervously.

"Hey, don't get mad at the Chief. He just asked a simple question." Ray shot at her.

She wished it was just a simple question. Shadra rolled her eyes but still relinquished her information. "The Bit Trashers' only strong point is that they have bit-beasts. They can't control them, they can't defend, they can't last too long. I'm surprised they can even launch their beyblades into the dish."

"So they're easy pickings?" Tyson asked.

"Yep." Shadra replied.

"What about the Masters?" Ray asked.

Shadra closed her eyes and waited a moment. "The Masters are the opposite. I think they'll be the team to beat."

"Anything else?" Kenny asked.

"They've only competed in one tournament before, and it was local meaning that they didn't have any competition for gold. Didn't need to show off much, so I don't know how strong and skilled they are." Shadra said.

"If you didn't really get to see them beybattle, how can you say they're the team to beat?" Ray asked.

"They won too easily. It might've been a fluke, I guess, but I get this feeling that they're strong, really strong." Shadra said. She shivered slightly.

"Who's on the team?" Kenny asked.

"The team captain, as far as I know, is a girl named Holly. Daddy-dearest is hosting this tournament for her. Then there's Alleon, I think he might have a wolf bit-beast. I know there's another person on their team, but only those two bladed." Shadra told them.

"So, who's the strongest?" Tyson asked eagerly.

"Tough to say. Alleon is definitely the weakest link, but for strongest? I'll have to see their other teammate beyblade." Shadra replied.

"Hey, is this it?" Ray asked as he looked out the window. The bus was slowing down and stopped beside a white washed wood building. A few short shrubs lined the door.

"Yes, this is your stop." The bus driver told them nicely, opening the doors to the bus. The team grabbed their bags and filed out.