A loud explosion went off, followed by a large tree falling. It crashed onto the ground, its base burnt to a crisp. A red bey suddenly came spinning towards it, smashing into it once more and shredding it to pieces. The bey didn't stop there however. It leapt up and crashed through another tree, leaving a scorching hole right through it.

Nightmare zipped back towards him, moving in a circling and burning the very ground beneath it. Snotlout merely watched as it moved around him. He'd been out here for… he didn't know how long he'd been out here. He'd been practicing nonstop, only taking breaks to eat and sleep. Every other second was spent training.

While he had seen vast improvement in his power, it wasn't enough. He wasn't sure it would ever be enough. No matter how strong he got he couldn't shake the idea of losing to his cousin out of his head. He would have wrote it off as paranoia, but that's what he did last time. And that had worked out terribly for him.

This was his last chance. If he wanted to make it to the top, he was going to have to beat his cousin. And not just beat him. He needed to dominate the match. He needed to show everyone that he was the strongest in town. His fist tightened. "GAH!" Nightmare flared up and he could feel the heat from the flames pinching his skin.

This was all Hiccup's fault. Why couldn't his wimp of a cousin just roll over and accept defeat like he always had. Why did the little twerp have to go and grow a spine? He growled and waved his hand, sending Nightmare crashing into a nearby boulder. It smashed it into ruble with little effort.

But it still wasn't enough. He needed to find something to give him an edge. Something that Hiccup wouldn't be able to stop with his stupid tricks. Maybe a new special move or something? Anything that could ensure his victory. "Looks like you're having a bit of trouble there brat." Snotlout jumped at the mysterious voice.

He turned around and saw a large figure sitting up against a tree. Snotlout narrowed his eyes at him. How had he not noticed him there? The guy was huge. He brought Nightmare back to him, the bey spun around him flaring up. He may have been stubborn, but he wasn't stupid. A large stranger in the forest at midnight was not something that usually went well.

"Who are you?" He asked dangerously.

The bearded man laughed before taking a gulp from his bottle of liquor. Snotlout assumed that it was liquor anyway. It sure smelt like the guy was drinking alcohol. "I'm just an old man who got drunk and lost in the forest, that's all." He said with a chuckle. "And what about you kid? I don't see a reason for you to be out here this late at night."

Snotlout still didn't let his guard down, but decided to humor the old goat. "I'm training." He said nodding towards the fallen trees and smashed boulders. "And not that I really care all the much, but you could get hurt if you stick around here. So get lost."

The man looked at the destruction behind him and smirked. "Well, you certainly got a lot of power packed behind that bey." The man said taking another swig. Snotlout was going to tell him to get lost again, but the man cut him off. "Too bad you got no bloody idea how to use it properly."

Snotlout was stunned into silence. He stared at the old man who merely belched and leaned his head back against the tree. "What?!" He asked angrily. "Don't know how to use it? Do you see this? I've totally wrecked this place! That's all power you crazy old coot!" He snapped.

The man waved his hand at him. "I didn't say you didn't have power. I said you didn't know how to use it properly. Learn to listen boy."

Snotlout was starting to get tired of this old geezer. "Yeah, well who asked you? Get out of here before I decide to have a new practice dummy." He said turning around.

"Well don't be mad at me just because you can't handle a bey. Bit of a shame really. Back in my day only the real elite could even get their hands on a bey. Now every runt on the street can pick one up at the store."

Snotlout's already thin patience, was growing even thinner. "I'm surprised you even remember back that far you senile old crow. Just because you were pretty good with your ancient old models of Beyblade doesn't mean you should look down on us. We're way stronger than you aging farts ever were."

The old man stopped from taking his next drink. A smile spread across his face. "Oh, is that so?" He asked setting the bottle down. He got up and dusted himself off. "Well would you like to prove it? Right here right now boy."

Snotlout couldn't believe it. With this old man really challenging him to a bey battle? He really must have been senile. "You don't honestly think you can beat me, do you old man? You must have seen what I did to this place. There's no way you could keep up with me."

"Sounds to me like you're scared."

"Bring it on!"

The old man chuckled. He didn't know this boy, but he could tell he was a hot head. Just like he was back in his old days. He reached into his pocket and then pulled out a dark green bey. Snotlout couldn't really get a clear look at it in the dark, but it looked like a defense type. "See this boy? This is a real classic bey. My Whispering Death."

Snotlout snorted. "Huh, that old hunk of junk doesn't stand a chance against my Nightmare. I'm going to burn it to ashes." He said putting it on his launcher. There was no stadium around, so they might as well use the ground itself.

The old man put his bey on his own launcher. "3."

"2." Snotlout said smirking.

"1." They both said. "Let it rip!"

Both their beys went flying towards one another and clashed. Dirt went flying up into the air, and Snotlout was almost blown back by the shockwave. He had expected to end this with one attack, but somehow that old bey had matched his power. Nightmare and Death were locked with one another.

Snotlout grunted. How was he actually struggling against this guy? "Nightmare, push him back now!" He commanded. Nightmare flared up and began pushing Death back, leaving scorched earth in its path. "That's what I'm talking about! Knock that piece of garbage out!"

The old man smirked. "Like I said. A lot of power, but no idea how to use it. Death." Death suddenly stopped, and Nightmare was once again struggling to push it back. "I bet you thought my Death was a defense type didn't you? It's appearance can be deceiving, but it's actually a balance type like yours."

Death suddenly tilted forward, lowering towards the ground. It bucked forward hitting Nightmare with an uppercut and sending it flying back. Snotlout watched as Nightmare bounce back towards him. "What?! How?!"

"I admit using that fire to up your power is a good idea, but you'll need a much hotter fire than that if you want to do anything to my Death." The man bellowed.

Snotlout growled. "You asked for it old man!" He didn't care if the battle just started. He didn't care if it was just an old man. He was going to make sure he burnt this bey to a crisp. "Nightmare, Inferno Explosion!" Fire shot out from Nightmare, engulfing the surrounding area.

The old man didn't budge, but he did look at the sight curiously. Death was engulfed inside the blast of fire. Snotlout laughed as the attack dispersed. Nothing that had been caught in the attack had survived. Death was nowhere to be seen. "HA! I win you old geezer!"

"Oh did you now?" The old man asked with a smirk. Snotlout looked at him confused, but then felt the ground shake. He looked around confused and then saw cracks began forming inside of the ground. They began forming underneath Nightmare. "Death, finish it."

Death suddenly shot from right underneath Nightmare, sending it flying into the air. "From underground?!" Snotlout said in disbelief. He watched as both beys came down. Nightmare landed in front of Snotlout, completely stopped. Death came back down and the old man caught it.

"I win."

Snotlout couldn't believe this. He'd lost, again. This didn't make any sense. How could he have lost again? "Y-you cheated!" He accused angrily. "There's no way that old bey could stand a chance against Nightmare! It's impossible!"

The old man laughed. "You really are clueless aren't you? Me cheating had nothing to do with it. You can't just throw powerful attacks around and expect to get results. No one is going to just stand there and try to match you blow for blow if they know they're outmatched."

Snotlout balled his fist up. The last thing he wanted to do was be lectured right now. "Fine then! Share your almighty and powerful secret with me! How did you do… that?!"

"There is no secret. I told you, you need to find a way to use that power." He said turning to leave. "If you're interested in finding out how, I can show you. But not now. Tomorrow. I'm old and I need my rest." He said walking off.

Snotlout glared after him. He didn't need this old guys help to win. He was strong, and he'd only get stronger. He could do this on his own… but, it might be quicker if he learned a trick of his own. So maybe just this once he'd go along with it. "You better not be late!"

The old man just laughed.

Snotlout was angry. For one that old man had taken his sweet time coming back. Snotlout had no idea where he went, so he couldn't track him down. He was stuck waiting in the same spot for hours. When he finally did show up he said he was sleeping off a hangover. Then instead of sharing his secret, he just said he wanted to see Snotlout's launch.

He'd been blading since he could walk! He knew how to launch! But the old man insisted he needed to see it. Snotlout went along with it. Next he wanted to see him attack a few targets, which the old man used empty liquor bottles for. This once again riled up Snotlout. He had seen him attack plenty yesterday. What did he need to see it again for?

After smashing apart what had to be the twentieth bottle, he grunted and turned towards the old man. "What is all of this for?! None of this is going to help me get any stronger! If you're not going to show me you trick already then just-"

"Shut up already." The old man said waving his hand. "I was just seeing you're style, which I must say leaves a lot to be desired. It's literally just smashing into the target."

"That's what Beyblade is!" Snotlout argued.

"No it's not. It's a battle. Tell me, when you see a boxing match, is it just two people punching at each other? No. They duck, they clinch, they corner their opponents. There are all types of techniques and strategies to use in battle, and from what I can tell you use none of them."

Snotlout scoffed. "What? I use strategies… sometimes."

"Your strategy is to smash into the opponents until they stop. That's been getting you by so far because you're more powerful than most of those around you I assume. But a tactic like that is not going to work against a real blader who knows what they're doing." The old man said. "You're were a big frog in a small pond, and somebody bigger finally put ya down."

Snotlout glared at him. He wanted to yell at him and tell him he was wrong, but the truth was… he was right. Snotlout had never thought about it before, but his strategy really only consisted of bashing the opponent over and over again. He was more powerful than them, so it seemed like the logical option.

It was no wonder Hiccup had managed to outsmart him. He was a one trick pony. Snotlout cursed under his breath before turning towards the old man. "What do I do?" He asked.

The old man took another drink and sighed. "Start over, from the basics. Learn everything. And find a way to apply your power in a less blunt way." Snotlout groaned. Start over from the beginning? That would take forever. "It's a pain, but it'll be worth it."

"Fine." Snotlout said. "This better be worth it. What am I doing first?"

The old man got up and pointed towards the river. "We start with your launch. Skip your bey across the river. When you can do that flawlessly it means your launch has perfect balance."

Snotlout smirked. "Easy." He turned and lunched Nightmare towards the river. It skipped about halfway across the river, but then stumbled slightly and dropped into the water. "Crap!" He quickly ran towards the water and jumped in to the retrieve his bey.

The old man bellowed out in laughter as he watched the boy frantically search for it. Thankfully he managed to find it easily enough. Snotlout sighed in relief. "Not so easy is it boy?"

"Shut up! I just slipped! I got this!" He launched again, this time Nightmare made it slightly further, but ended up in the water all the same. "AAAHHHH!" Once again the old man laughed as Snotlout dived inside the water. "The sun was in my eyes!" Snotlout yelled as he came back up with his bey.

This process was repeated for hours. Each time Snotlout came close to making it across, but could never fully make it. And each time he'd come up with an excuse as well, though by this point even he didn't believe them. The old man had found it amusing for a time, but eventually had started to get bored.

"Widen you stance." He ordered.

"What?" Snotlout asked?

"I said widen your stance."

"How will that help?"

"Just do it boy."

Snotlout reluctantly followed his order, and sure enough Nightmare managed to skip all the way across the river this time. He smirked and pumped his fist. "HA! I did it!" He cheered. He turned towards the old man who was grinning. "Okay, okay, you were right… thanks."

"Your welcome. Now do it again."

"Why?"

"So you can get used to doing a proper launch. You want to get better, the basics have to become second nature to you. So once you get the basics down, we'll drill them into your head." He said grabbing another bottle of liquor. "With that type of power along with some skills, you'll be a forced to be reckoned with in no time."

Snotlout smirked. He liked the sound of that. "Alright then. Let's do it."

It had been a long day. A very long day. Snotlout felt more tired now than he had in the past week of training on his own. This old man was serious about his training. Not only did he have to master the basics, but he had to push himself physically as well. By the time he'd called it a day, Snotlout was completely drained.

"Not bad kid. You lasted much longer than I have you credit for. I thought you'd have quite by now. You must really want to get stronger for whatever reason."

"I want to beat my cousin." He said simply.

"Really? Is that it? You must have some rivalry if you're willing to go this far just to beat your cousin. And he must be some blader to stand up to power like yours."

He gritted his teeth. "That's the thing. He's not. He just started blading for real a little while ago. But he's a smart clever little whelp." He said balling his fist up.

"Oh, a strategist." The old man said.

"He's also got a pretty strong bey. Nothing on my Nightmare, but strong. So I have to get better so I can beat him into the ground and prove myself."

"Beating you cousin will prove yourself?" He asked. "To who?"

Snotlout sat up and looked up in the air. "My gang leader. I work for this guy who's the strongest in town, but I screwed up and now I have to prove myself to him. Otherwise there's no way he'll take me to the top with him."

The old man snorted. "So you're basically just trying to ride on this guy's coattails."

He raised his eyebrow at him. "What? No. I just… I need to get to the top-"

"But you're not strong enough to do it on your own, so you're relying on this guy to do it for you. That's pretty much the gist of it." He said leaning towards him. "Take my advice boy. If you want to reach the top, then you need to do it with your own power. On your own two feet. Otherwise even if you do make it, it'll feel empty."

Snotlout stared at him for a few moments. This old guy had proven that he knew what he was talking about earlier. Even now he spoke like he had some sort of experience with this. "Don't try to be just one of the best. Shoot for the best. All or nothing. At least that's what I say." He said taking another drunk.

Snotlout looked down at his Nightmare. Shoot to become the best. The strongest. Was that even possible for him? He knew he was strong, but he never thought he'd be able to keep up with those on the world level.

Maybe that was why he hadn't been as strong as he'd wanted. Maybe it was just a lack of motivation. He had been willing to settle for just standing beside the strongest, when he should have been trying to become the strongest period. He balled his fist up and gripped Nightmare tightly. "The best in the world."

A/N: Alright! Another update! So this chapter focused on Snotlout of course. I wanted to show him a little before the tournament got started. So, who do you think the old man is?(Pretty obvious I think, but still.)

The next chapter will be the kickoff for the tournament, and you'll get to see all the characters of the past returns. The gang leaders, the twins, our main characters. Hope you're looking forward to it.

Remember to leave a review.