A/N: Whew! I guess I am excited to reveal the epilogue...I finished this chapter in less than three hours...

Mei: Didn't your Lit professor say that the best writers just sit in front of their screens and then, after a few minutes, the words just start pouring out, and they somehow come up with a cohesive story without having to think very hard?

Me: True, but...I don't think I'm ready to be counted as one of 'the best', mainly because I'm not. Aki, the disclaimer, please...

Disclaimer - Aki: (sigh) Since you asked so nicely...Bakuten Shoot Beyblade doesn't belong to Hikari, but she owns the OCs depicted herein...

oOo

Chapter 8: The Tournament Commences

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the first official BEGA Japanese Regional Finals!" DJ Jazzman exclaimed, throwing an arm sideward for emphasis as he brought the microphone closer to his face. The crowd responded by cheering and clapping enthusiastically.

It was several weeks after Aika and her friends had turned eleven years old; the tournament the ruby-eyed girl had been training for and looking forward to had finally begun. She sat now beside Fumiko and Naoki - who had also elected to participate in the tournament - in the sidelines, waiting for the members of each block to be announced. Just like in the first BBA Japanese Regionals, there were going to be four blocks. The winners of Blocks A and B would battle, and the winners of Blocks C and D were to do the same. Then the winners of each match would battle it out for the title of Champion.

"Yes, folks, it looks like the sport is back on its feet after a long slump, with a fresh - and very excited - generation of bladers!

Once more the audience cheered. A split second later, the large display screen crackled to life. It showed 64 pictures, all of the competitors, and their names beside them.

"Hey!" Fumiko said suddenly, tugging on the sleeve of Aika's black shirt. "You...your name-!"

Aika grinned. "I know."

Under her picture were the words 'Hiwatari Aika'. "I doubt anyone will notice right away, though..." she giggled, pointing towards the announcer. "See? He's too wrapped up in what he's doing!"

"You know, you're right..." the light brown-haired girl mused.

"Besides, Mom agrees with me; revealing my true name isn't going to do any harm..."

Suddenly, a rumbling filled the stadium.

"Woah!" Naoki grabbed the edge of his seat so he wouldn't fall over. "Wh-what's happening?"

"They're bringing out the stadiums where the four blocks are going to battle," Aika replied, watching the four platforms rise up out of the floor. Then she glanced back up at the display screen. "Oh, look! The two of you are in the same block!"

"Huh?" the twins looked up at the same time. True enough, both their names were listed under Block A. Then Fumiko grinned. "Be careful, though, Aika..."

"Why?" the slate-haired girl wanted to know.

"You're in Block B. That means Naoki or I might go against you."

"No need to worry about me, Fumiko-chan," Aika replied, punching her friend playfully on the shoulder. "I'll be just fine."

"Will the members of Block A make their way to the battle stadium?" DJ Jazzman said suddenly.

"Well, this is it..." Fumiko said, standing up. Beside her, Naoki stood up as well. "We're off, Aika-chan."

"Ganbatte!"

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"Go, Dranzer MS!" Aika exclaimed. Quick as a flash, the five remaining competitors in Block B were knocked out of the stadium.

"Astounding, ladies and gentlemen," DJ Jazzman was saying now. "I don't think I've seen a girl battle as fiercely and intensely as this one in Block B! In fact, she seems to have excited the members of Team BBA - our unannounced special guests for this tournament - with her playing style!"

Sure enough, Takao, Rei, Max, and Kyouju were in the stands, cheering wildly for the ruby-eyed girl, who turned and waved to acknowledge them.

"And so the Block B preliminaries ends, folks!" DJ Jazzman. "Advancing to the Semi-Finals with the winner of Block A is..." the announcer suddenly gasped. "I don't believe this, fans! No wonder her playing style was so familiar! I don't know if any of you noticed, but she battles with the same ferociousness as the first ever Japan Champion, Hiwatari Kai! And there's reasonable cause for this: the winner of Block B is...HIWATARI AIKA!"

At first, the audience was relatively silent, murmers and whispers breaking out here and there. And then the bleachers errupted into thunderous applause.

It had to be said that most of them were sympathetic with Team BBA when they lost their captain in the BEGA incident eleven years ago, and they were ecstatic to find that Kai's blazing battle technique had not disappeared completely. Some had heard rumors, too, that the deceased blader's grandfather, Soichirou, had died a few months prior to the BEGA challenge, and so were heartened to know that the Hiwatari bloodline had not been eliminated entirely.

And so it was that a rather embarassed Aika made her way back to the bench she had shared with her two friends, and then she sat down. "Maybe I shouldn't have written 'Hiwatari', after all..." the ruby-eyed teen muttered, blushing furiously. "I didn't know the reaction would be this enthusiastic..."

"Well, it's not your fault," Fumiko said, grinning. "Besides, it would be worse for you not to acknowledge your lineage at all, don't you think?"

"Guess so..."

"Anyway, Aika, good luck in the Semi-Finals," Naoki said, holding out a hand to the slate-haired girl.

Aika smiled and took it. "Thanks. You, too, Naoki-kun,"

The dark-haired boy looked puzzled. "Huh?"

"What do you mean, 'huh'?" The ruby-eyed girl cocked her head to one side. "Didn't you make it?"

The twins shook their heads. "Nope. It was some other guy named Tetsuo."

"Oh..." Aika looked crestfallen, but smiled a moment later. "Oh, well. There's always next time, right, guys?"

"Yeah, there's always next time..."

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"Aika, you were great!" Hiromi exclaimed, giving her daughter a hug. It was a few minutes after Aika's Semi-Final match; she had won spectacularly, and the group had gathered in the back room provided for participants to congratulate her.

"Thanks, Mom..." the eleven-year-old replied, returning the gesture. "But I couldn't have done if my trainers hadn't trained me like they have."

"Aw, it was nothing, Aika, really..." Takao said, waving away the implied compliment.

"Also, if you hadn't expressed your intent to participate in the tournament," Max added, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder, "we wouldn't have trained you."

"So, Aika, do you know who your opponent is going to be?" Rei asked, plopping down onto a cushioned armchair. The slate-haired girl shook her head.

"No, I don't. I don't think the match between the winners of Blocks C and D is finished yet."

"Well, I suggest you go out there and observe the two competitors," the neko-jin continued. "Your dad placed a strong emphasis on knowing your opponent before battling them. In fact," the raven-haired man added thoughtfully. "That's the reason he was gone for hours on end during tournaments; we thought he was only training by himself, but it turns out that he'd been observing other teams and devising strategies with which to beat them."

"Really?" Aika looked interested. "I never knew that..."

"Well, now you do," Max said, occupying an armchair near the door. No sooner had he sat down that the door closed suddenly. "Woah!" the blonde jumped up in surprise. "What was that?"

"'That'," Takao began laughingly, "was Aika. Something tells me she's going to copy Kai again..."

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"All right, ladies and gentlemen! We've witnessed two very explosive battles in the Semi-Finals, now, prepare for the FINALS!"

The audience erupted into raucous cheers, whistles, and applause; DJ Jazzman had to wait for the noise to die down before he made his next announcement.

"So, without further ado, the finalists for the first BEGA Japanese Regional Finals, folks!"

"Aww, we missed the second semi-final match..." Takao groaned. "I wanted to watch it, too..."

"Cheer up, Takao," Max, said, settling into his seat. The group had chosen seats in the first row of bleachers, so that they could be easily spotted from the stadium. "At least we were able to watch Aika's match, and now she's in the finals."

"Our training is paying off," Rei said, smiling proudly. "And here I was worried she wouldn't be ready in time for the tournament, having been introduced to the sport so late in life..." The neko-jin stopped, and then grinned sheepishly. "Well, later in life compared to her peers..." he amended.

"Right." Takao said, taking the seat on Max's right side. Hiromi sat to Max's left, and Rei and Kyouju took the seats on her left.

"Unbelievable!" DJ Jazzman was saying, glancing at his copy of the competitors' names. "We seem to be having a lot of semi-flashbacks - if you'll excuse the term - today, fans! If eleven years ago, one of the hottest battles took place between Hiwatari Kai and Brooklyn Kingston, today, we have their kids battling it out for the top spot in the new generation of Beybladers! Yes, folks! The finalists are...Hiwatari Aika, and Shinji Kingston!"

Once more, the stands erupted into hoots and cheers of excitement; Team BBA, however, was looking a little unsettled.

"Did he just say 'Kingston'?" Hiromi leaned forward, worry creasing her brow.

"He did..." Max replied, looking just as concerned as the auburn-haired woman.

"Aika will do just fine..." Takao attempted to lighten his companions' apprehension, even though he himself wasn't feeling too good about this match. "She's come this far in so short a time; she'll manage..."

"I hope so..." Rei said, not taking his eyes off the stadium. Aika was already standing in front of the dish, and across from stood another eleven-year-old with short, spiky black hair, and - from what they could see - aqua eyes, eerily like those of BEGA's flame-haired trump card.

"Well, according to statistics," Kyouju piped up as he booted up his laptop and quickly opened a file, "there's only a five percent chance that the child of a Beyblader will inherit his - or her - ability, and only one percent out of that five can perfectly mimic said blader's playing style. That means, when in comes to Beyblading, only one in one hundred kids will be the spitting image of their parent - or parents, if ever such a thing happens."

"So Aika is one of the lucky ones?" Hiromi asked, still a little apprehensive. She was referring to Aika's speed in mastering several of Kai's more complicated offensive and defensive maneuvers, which she gleaned from watching the CD Chairman Daitouji had given them before.

Kyouju nodded. "There's a very slim chance - or none at all - that this Shinji will cause any problems for her..."

"That still isn't enough...as you said, there's still a chance..."

"True..."

"Bladers, are you ready?" DJ Jazzman called. Aika and Shinji moved quickly into their favored launching positions. "3...2...1...Go, shoot!"

Both blades - Aika's dark blue Dranzer MS, and Shinji's dark purple one - spun quickly into the dish.

"Dranzer MS, Fire Storm Attack!" Aika commanded. The blue blade began moving in tightening spirals around it's opponent, and then, quick as a flash, there was a thwack! and the purple blade spun through the air.

"No!" Shinji exclaimed, looking horrified. "Zeus, get back in there!"

Team BBA stood up quickly. "'ZEUS'!"

oOo

A/N: How many of you guys saw that coming? just wanted to know...Hmm...around two or three more chapters and this fic's done! Yay!

Dewa mata! Peace out and God bless!