DISCLAIMER - I do NOT own the Beyblade Metal Saga. It belongs to its respective owner, Takafumi Adachi.

"Huh? You mean you're not gonna participate in the qualifiers for the World Championships?"

Outside of one of the many WBBA Beyblade stadiums which had been established in the country of Japan, two figures stood parallel to one another, in the midst of an unforeseeable conversation.

The first and much shorter of the two figures, being the one to have just expressed their shock at the second's sudden revelation, was none other than Yu Tendo. The boy had pale skin and eyes which glowed green with youth. He wore a bed of messy orange hair as if he'd just gotten up. He sported a harsh white jacket, as well as shorts of the same colour. The ends of the young boy's sleeves had been a light shade of blue, and green markings ran across the back and sides of the waist area of his shirt, and the back of the bottom half of his shorts. Yu also wore grey-ish boots with blue markings around the middle.

The second of the two figures, being the one who'd just expressed he wasn't going to compete in the qualifiers for the world championships, was none other than Tsubasa Otori. Tsubasa was much taller than the aforementioned Yu. The boy's silver hair ran down to the lower half of his back, with the end of his hair being tied into a ponytail via a clip. His eyes were a golden brown shade, and he wore a sleeveless brown shirt which exposed part of the boy's midriff. The edges of the shirt were of a deep lavender shade, and he wore white trousers along with brown fingerless gloves which ran up to the boy's wrists. Tsubasa also sported a pair of brown boots.

Under any normal circumstance, Tsubasa would most certainly choose to compete in the upcoming Beyblade World Championship. At his core, he was an immensely passionate Blader, whose Blader's Spirit shone like a diamond in a cluster of coal. So, for him to willingly pass up a chance to participate in an event such as this was more than out of character for Tsubasa.

"I'm sorry, but there's something that's come up that I have to see to, and that gets in the way of me competing here." Tsubasa slightly lowered his head upon saying so, though he promptly lifted his attention slightly upwards once more to look the orange-haired boy in the eyes. "Don't worry, soon as I'm done with it, I'll be there to watch all your matches, promise."

Tsubasa began to walk away, to which Yu was about to protest against, though soon found himself stopping from doing so, as the silver-haired Blader turned around to face the young boy once more. A slight smirk appeared on Tsubasa's face as he locked his attention on Yu once more.

"That is to assume you'll make it through the qualifying round, though." Tsubasa said before walking off.

Normally, Yu would have gotten somewhat whiny over Tsubasa's last statement, though this time, he simply found himself staring off as the silver-haired boy turned back around, growing further and further away with each passing moment. Eventually, the young Blader snapped back to reality, realizing that Tsubasa had been considerably growing even further with each passing second.

"Hey–hey, wait, Tsubasa!" Yu called out, reaching his hand out as if he'd been trying to stretch it out to grab hold of the white-haired Blader. However, no matter how he tried to reach, the distance between the two only continued to grow, leaving Yu at the soon-to-be-beginning qualifier to determine Japan's representatives for the Beyblade World Championships.

"Tsubasaaaa!"

"Thanks for waiting, everyone! Buckle up, because the official WBBA competition to select Japan's international team starts now!" Broadcast on the TV Screens inside of all the official WBBA stadiums which had been holding qualifier matches for the World Championships was none other than Japan's very own, Blader DJ! He wore his usual orange bandanna, black vest and blue shirt which displayed the WBBA logo around the chest area.

Up on the big screens at the top of the stadiums, pictures of the outsides of each of the stadiums which were being used for the qualifiers flashed across the screen, along with photos which snapped the images of the bladers who were competing at said stadiums. Many Bladers who'd previously participated in the Battle Bladers tournament, including the likes of Benkei, Tobio, Ryutaro, Teru, and the twin brothers, Dan and Reiki Sodo. It was immediately evident that entering and successfully getting to become a part of Japan's representatives was not going to be an easy task.

"First up! Due to a special ruling, the winner of Battle Bladers has already been chosen as a regular for team Japan! Yeah, baby! Who will be the next Blader to jooooin Gingka?!" Blader DJ announced, his voice booming with its usual enthusiasm.

Standing in the midst of the very stadium from which Blader DJ had been doing his announcing for the event stood Kenta Yumiya, who was one of the lucky sixteen Bladers to gather enough Bey Points to get into the Battle Bladers competition. Much like Yu, Kenta was relatively short, though such was to be expected for a boy his height. Kenta's hair was a bright green shade and his eyes brown. The young Blader wore a yellow T-shirt which had a blue stripe running directly across the sleeves and chest area of the shirt. He also wore blue shorts in accordance with blue and white sneakers and white socks.

The green-haired boy stared upwards towards the DJ as he announced how the leading member of the team had already been decided to be Gingka Hagane. A sweat bead formed at the back of Kenta's head as he lightly chuckled to himself. The green-haired boy could only wonder just how devastated Gingka had been to not be able to compete in the qualifiers of the tournament. He could also imagine just how much of an earful Ryo, Gingka's father and Director of the WBBA, must have been receiving.

Meanwhile, in another area at the same stadium stood Yu, his head tilted downwards, his earlier conversation with Tsubasa still fresh in his mind. Yu hadn't a clue as to why the silver-haired Blader suddenly couldn't participate in the qualifiers for the World Championship. Not long ago, he and Tsubasa had both participated in a tournament where they made it to the finals, and were about to duke it out, though were rudely interrupted by the so-called "number one blader", Masamune Kadoya. So, if Tsubasa could participate in a Bey Battle then, but now had something which had come up that prevented him from doing such here as well, then something must have occurred from between then and now to cause Tsubasa to cease from joining in on the World Championships. Regardless, Yu couldn't let such prevent him from giving it his all in these matches, so he'd have to push those thoughts aside in order for him to perform at his very best.

Finally, another figure who could be spotted in the same stadium as both Kenta and Yu was Masamune Kadoya himself! The boy had black hair with white highlights which spiked upwards, as well as a strand of red-dyed hair which hung over his forehead. The Blader's eyes were of a somewhat dark brown shade. He sported himself with a green sweatshirt, the hood of which being a light shade of blue. Underneath the boy's hoodie was an orange shirt, the sides of which stuck out from the end of the hoodie. He also wore khaki shorts with a dark-ish blue lightning-like design running along the side of the shorts. Masamune wore green shoes with yellow trims and white socks. Finally, the boy's hands were covered by brown fingerless gloves.

Masamune stood in the stadium, waiting for the tournament to begin. He was overflowing with excitement, yet still had a look of confidence displayed on his face, as if he knew his place in the World Championships had already been confirmed. Then again, it was no surprise that someone who would constantly call themself the "number one blader" would have an ego even larger than an over-inflated balloon which, by some miracle, had yet to pop. Regardless, all Masamune had to do now was to wait for when the qualification matches would begin, then he could show everyone just how powerful the number one blader truly was!

Fortunately for Masamune, he wouldn't have to wait for long, as it was right then when Blader DJ suddenly spoke up once more, shouting, "Now, let's get this party started! Here we go!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"Let iiiiiiiiit…

…RIP!" The voices of dozens of bladers all resounded at once as they thrust their hands which held their rip cords backwards, spinning their Beys into action.

Inside the many stadiums which many Bladers had gathered around, the sound of metal clashing resounded. Many intense battles had all been occurring at once, all of which had the purpose of seeing who was truly befitting of earning a position on Japan's team for the Beyblade World Championship.

"So the battle has begun in various arenas all at once!" Blader DJ shouted once more. "Remember, Bladers: try to earn as many points as you can in the time that you have, and aim for the top four!"

In this competition, the key to victory was not only in one's sheer power and abilities, but also the strategy which they implemented into their battles. There are two types of ways in which the contestants can gain points: defeating their opponent through a sleep-out, or a stadium-out. A sleep-out, which is much less risky and is most prominently in favour of stamina types, results in one point, whereas a stadium-out, which is much riskier and achieved through clashing head on, results in two points. Depending on the attack strength and willingness to take risks, one might formulate a strategy which favours one means of gaining points over another, depending on the pros and cons of their Beys.

Of course, despite all that, the number one thing which decides a battle in the end always comes down to the Blader's spirit.

And, based on how many opponents he's defeated in the short amount of time which had elapsed over the course of the qualifiers, it was clear Masamune's Blader's spirit was burning hot.

The latest of the self-proclaimed number one blader's victims fell to the floor in sync with his bey, just in time for Yu to catch sight of where Masamune had been. Normally, he'd probably be excited at the prospect of getting back at the one who'd so rudely interrupted his battle with Tsubasa - probably expressing such by thinking out loud since it was practically impossible for the boy to keep his mouth shut. However, in this circumstance, he'd still been excited at the prospect of getting back at Masamune, but found himself angrier than he otherwise would have been, had it not been for Tsubasa's unexpected departure. That was Yu's last chance to have a Bey battle with Tsubasa - someone who the young prodigy considered a very close friend - and this Masamune person ruined it.

"There he is! Now's my chance to get back at him for interrupting our battle earlier!" Yu said to himself before dashing forwards with the hopes of challenging Masamune.

Unfortunately for the young Blader, he was but a moment too late, as another who wished to battle the wielder of Ray Striker got into position right before he could. Yu whined about this for a brief moment, before another blader dragged him off to another area of the stadium.

And with that, time seemed to move on quicker and quicker. However, with how fast time seemed to be moving for all those competing, it also meant there were only a handful of minutes left until the qualifiers were done and over with. At one moment, there'd been three minutes left, then two, then one, and all the while, more and more opponents kept lining up to face off against Masamune, not giving poor Yu the time to get back on him for interrupting his earlier battle with Tsubasa.

Meanwhile, Kenta, who'd been keeping a close eye on the battles Masamune had been taking part in, considered if he, too, should attempt at challenging him. At first, Kenta was about to prepare to make a jump in to battle with Masamune, but soon found himself stopping in his tracks. He wasn't sure why, but there was something that had been practically screaming at him not to battle. He pondered this for a while, but after a few seconds, found his eyes widening as he came to a realization.

Battling Masamune wouldn't prove worthwhile in the qualifiers.

Kenta, who'd been determined to make it into the team for Japan's representatives, realized that battling an incredible opponent such as Masamune would only prove detrimental towards his chances of making it into the team - something that Yu, who'd been trying to get into battle with Masamune for quite some time only to get dragged away by another blader time after time, didn't seem to realize. However, Kenta knew his best chances of making it into the world and getting to fight as a representative of Team Japan would rely on who he battled, and how fast he'd be able to finish said battles off. If he were to battle someone like Masamune or Yu, who knows how much time he'd waste trying to defeat bladers such as them! So, turning his attention away from the two, Kenta ran off to another open stadium, determined to make it into the world!

From there, time only seemed to move faster than it even had been before. Bladers were rushing in for more battles, hoping to get even more points in the time they had left. At this point in the competition, the primary method in gaining points was very clearly that of stadium outs, since it gave the competitors two points. However, there was still barely any time left, and the last few seconds of competing were coming up. As the clock continued to tick up on the screens in the tournaments, many looked on as it reached its final digits.

3…

2…

1…

"Time's up, stop battling!"

The time for the qualifying match had run out, with the clock reaching zero.

With that, the scores of the competing Bladers were displayed on the screen, scrolling upwards from the lowest scores to the highest scores. As this occurred, Blader DJ announced the average points scored by the competitors was 87, and for you to enter into the World Championships, you'd have to have a score higher than that.

However, many Bladers who scored higher than an 87 were displayed across the screen, yet weren't anywhere near the top four slots.

As the screen grew closer to who the winners of the competition were, the faces of more and more skilled Bladers displayed themselves on the screen, with the scores even beginning to reach the two hundreds.

Eventually, it had gotten down to the top six, meaning there were only two losing spots left.

"So, many strong Bladers failed to qualify one after another, leaving only six remaining!" Blader DJ announced, with the remaining six all staring up at the screen with high hopes.

However, the hopes of two of those Bladers were soon completely crushed, as in sixth place came Sora, and in fifth, Benkei, with them earning 245 and 270 points respectively. Neither one of them were too happy about such being the case, especially Benkei, as not only had he gotten the most points in his respective arena, but was also one point off from making it into the true stage of the qualifying matches for the World Championships.

"Hold on to your Beys, boys and girls, it's time to announce the final four qualifiers! In fourth place…"

The column of Bladers up on the screen switched to a singular column to reveal one the Blader who'd been lucky enough to come in fourth in the qualifier round, with that Blader being none other than Kenta! The digits next to his image on the screen revealed him to have gotten 275 points, just five more than Benkei, who'd come in fifth right behind the green-haired boy.

"I did it…I-I made it!" Kenta said, his eyes widening with excitement at the prospect of him getting to make it into the top four. He did, however, feel somewhat sorry for Benkei, seeing as how Kenta only managed to get in over him by five points.

"Next, in third place, with 285 total points…is Yu!" Blader DJ announced. Due to his earlier encounter with Tsubasa still plaguing his mind and his complete focus on defeating Masamune, Yu's ability to progress through the competition as much as he otherwise could have was halted. He could have easily gone around, or maybe even above the 300 mark had it not been for those two factors.

"Aw man, I'm only third?" Yu whined.

"And second place goes to…with 370 points, Masamune!"

"WHAT?!"

The disappointed, sorrowful shout of Masamune rang throughout as he felt his heart drop to the bottom of his stomach. The number one Blader, in second place? It was unheard of, there had to have been some kind of mistake, right?

Although, due to him not having battled either Kenta or Yu, mostly engaging in battle with less talented Bladers, the number of points he got increased quite a bit from what it might have been had he encountered either of the two in battle. Regardless, he was still devastated from hearing he'd been one off from the big number one spot.

Regardless, Masamune still expressed great misery at such.

"No way! I'm not in first place?!"

However, with so many great Bladers having already been revealed to have taken up the highest spots, then who was the Blader to have come in first? Surely, one would believe that spot had to have been taken up by Gingka - or, at least they would, had it not been for the fact that he'd already received a guaranteed spot on the team for Japan's representatives. So then, the next consideration would be Ryuga - the runner up from the Battle Bladers tournament - but that was a very unlikely candidate for first place, seeing as Ryuga has not made any public appearances since Battle Bladers, and his current whereabouts were completely unknown.

So then, who could it be?

Addressing the elephant in the room, Yu shouted up towards the commentator area where Blader DJ had been, shouting, "Then who's in first place?!"

Getting straight to answering that question, Blader DJ began to commentate once more, saying, "Aaand! On the top of the qualifying round, having earned 500 Bey Points!"

The faces of each and every other competitor - minus the one who'd came in first - widened in shock, their mouths agape upon hearing the amount of points they who came in first place had earned in such a short amount of time. Even Masamune, who'd ended up in second place, still needed another 100 Bey Points before he could catch up to that level, and even then plus some! Of course, Masamune, as well as everybody else who'd participated in the qualifiers' first stage, expressed great shock at this. Even Gingka, who'd been observing the qualifiers (with a LOT of whining due to not getting to compete in them himself) along with his father, Ryo, and Hikaru, couldn't help but wonder who was skilled enough to receive that many Bey Points in such a short amount of time.

They wouldn't have to wait for long however, as Blader DJ began to announce once more, saying, "And the winner is…

…KYOYA!"

Up on the big screens attached to each of the WBBA stadiums and any and every device which had been broadcasting the qualifiers, an image displayed the winner of the competition, Kyoya Tategami.

Of course, Benkei was more than pleased to hear this news, shouting "Kyoya buddy, yeah!" not a moment after his victory had been revealed.

Inside the WBBA stadium Kyoya had chosen to participate inside of, a raging tornado fiercely rampaged on, with numerous bodies of his defeated opponents laying defeated all around the stadium. On the inside of the tornado was the lion spirit of Kyoya's Rock Leone, which promptly let out a powerful roar, with Kyoya standing still behind it all the while.

Not only had Kyoya come in first place in the first part of the qualifying round, but he also defeated each and every one of the other Bladers who were misfortune enough to step foot in the same stadium as him.

"Boom! That's the scoop! The four qualifiers have been decided! There are two more tickets to the Beyblade World Championships still up for grabs! So folks, who will take them?"

Once Blader DJ had finished his announcing, the images of top four Bladers in the qualifiers flash up on the screen, in order from fourth to first, with fourth and third appearing on the top of the screen from right to left, and second and first appearing on the bottom of the screen in the same direction.

The Beyblade World Championships were inching ever closer, and the excitement for it was growing with each passing moment.

In the middle of a park were none other than Gingka, Madoka and Kenta. The three of them sat on a blanket which had been laid out on the grass, with an empty picnic box centered in the middle of it and between all three of them. Also with the trio was Masamune, although he'd been fast asleep on a bench not too far away from the blanket. He snored loudly, not seeming to give a care about any of his surroundings, and certainly wasn't aware of the angered look Gingka had been giving him.

"Sheesh! Look at that Masamune, sleeping so peacefully! No fair…I wanted to battle too…!" Gingka whined, still upset over the fact he hadn't gotten the chance to properly participate in the qualifiers.

"It would have been exciting for you to battle Kyoya, huh?" Madoka asked Gingka, who's attention shifted away from Masamune.

"Kyoya did well to take first place. Four Bladers qualified in that round which leaves two spots open."

"If Kyoya wins in the next battle, he's in, right?" Madoka asked.

"Yes! Then I'd go to the world championships with Kyoya!" Gingka cheered.

Hearing the talk about the Bladers who managed to make it past the qualifying round, Kenta perked up somewhat. After all, it wasn't just Kyoya who'd made it past the qualifiers. Kenta had done so, too!

"Don't forget about me and Sagittario! We made it past the qualifiers, too!" Kenta said, bringing that fact to their attention.

"Oh, right! Congratulations, Kenta! Just one more battle, and we're going to the World Championships together!"

"You did really well to get that far, Kenta!" Madoka said, complimenting the young Blader. "Getting fourth is no easy task, you should be proud!"

Nodding, Kenta replied, "Thanks, I am! I just feel a little bad for Benkei since he only got five less than I did, but knowing him, he's probably more focused on the fact that Kyoya made it in, instead."

The three shared a good laugh for a moment, though soon found themselves interrupted by the sound of a certain devastated "number one Blader" having just awoken from his nap.

"NO! I'm not in first place?! You've gotta be kidding!" Masamune shouted aloud. It seemed as though he'd been angered by not getting exactly first like he hoped.

Once he'd woken up a tad bit more, Masamune realized what he'd just experienced was a dream - presumably meaning he'd just dreamt of the earlier events which prompted him getting second place in the qualifiers.

"Can't stand when I wake up from a nap tired…nuts!" Masamune said, wiping at the corner of his eye. However, it didn't seem he stayed tired for long, as only a moment later, the Blader of Ray Striked hopped directly off the bench and turned his attention towards Gingka. "Can't be helped! Hey! Let's battle Gingka!"

With a somewhat annoyed groan, Gingka's eyes widened upon hearing Masamune's request to battle. Sure, while Gingka almost always was down for a good Bey Battle, it was still somewhat surprising to hear that, after having battled the entirety of the morning, Masamune was still down for another battle.

"Even after battling so much, you're raring to go, huh?" Gingka asked.

"Yep, he's still upset he didn't take first place, isn't he?" Madoka commented.

"It's hard to call yourself 'number one' when you come in second!" Kenta added, the two watching on as Gingka got up from where he sat to battle with the ecstatic as ever Masamune.

On the outskirts of Metal Bey City, none other than Tsubasa could be found walking along the path which led outside of the city. He held a bag which had been slugged over his shoulders, appearing to have been stuffed somewhat, though not to the point where the bag appeared as though it might burst at any moment. The boy walked with a slight limp, appearing to have bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in days.

That statement might prove to be somewhat true however, as not too long after his battle with Yu which Masamune had interrupted, Tsubasa hadn't felt nearly the same.

"S-Somehow, I managed to hide this from him earlier." Tsubasa thought to himself, thinking back to his earlier conversation he'd had with Yu. "I'd have liked to participate in the Beyblade World Championships, but I doubt I could have with this…this thing I've been experiencing–"

Speak of the devil, a moment after Tsubasa thought that, he felt a sharp pain in his chest area, which prompted the silver-haired boy to collapse onto his knees, clutching at his chest. His heart felt as though it had been on fire, and he began to let out grunts of pain. What's worse was, Tsubasa himself wasn't sure what exactly this feeling was. One day, he had suddenly begun to feel off, as if something had been amiss inside of himself, and he's yet to find the answer as to why he feels the way he did.

As the boy clutched at his chest, a sudden stream of a dark purple aura began to emanate from his body. From there, the boy began to groan in pain as his clutching grew tighter. The aura began to grow more intense, more refined, and for a split second, a red glare began to emit from his pupils.

However, the sound of a certain eagle's squawk immediately caused the odd aura to dissipate, prompting Tsubasa's attention to divert upwards towards its source.

Tsubasa's eyes locked with his eagle friend's, who'd been watching over him all this time. A small smile appeared on the Blader's eyes as he got back up to his feet. Stretching his arm out to the side, the eagle recognized Tsubasa's signal, and as such, promptly landed itself on the Blader's arm.

"Thank you, my friend. I wouldn't be able to get through this thing if it wasn't for you. If this feeling ever takes me over again, I'm counting on you to help me get through it." Tsubasa said, to which his eagle friend understood.

With that, Tsubasa continued on his journey to discover what had bedeviled him, and been the cause of his suffering for some time. Fortunately, he knew of a place where he believed an answer might show itself, and he knew how to get there thanks to a story he'd been told by an old friend, a place they had gone when they lost themself to the anguish of defeat, and had begun to gradually lose their Blader's spirit. However, through arriving at that certain place and facing trial and error, they'd managed to restore their spirit back to how it had once been. Through doing the same, the curse which inflicted itself upon Tsubasa might be lifted. However, you might wonder, where exactly was the place which's lands Tsubasa had decided to traverse upon? It is one much more familiar than you might expect:

Tsubasa's destination was Koma Village.

I was originally going to make this chapter go on for a bit longer to show the first match of the qualifying round, but decided that should warrant its own chapter, and that this is a good place to end off this chapter.

So, what did you think? I know that so far it's quite a bit similar to the original Metal Masters, but trust me, I have things planned for the future of this fic which will change it up quite a bit from canon. I'm sure some of you can already tell that, however, with all that's happening with Yu and primarily Tsubasa, and how Kenta was one of the people who passed the first stage of the qualifiers.

In order for the premise of this story to work, I've changed up the effects the Dark Power has on Tsubasa, as I'm sure the majority of you have noticed, since it usually only acted up in the middle of a losing battle for Tsubasa, with the exclusion of the time it got so bad, it affected Tsubasa even outside of battle. Here, I'm taking some inspiration from how it influenced Tsubasa's actions in the time right before the battle against Excalibur, though I'm also adding in my own spin on how it works here.

Anyway, thank you for reading, and I hope to see you in the next chapter!