Chapter Three

It was clear that Beyblading was in Tyson's blood. When most children were learning to walk or talk, Tyson was learning how to correctly hold a Beyblade and how to play. And he'd proven himself quite proficient at it, beating a lot of children older than him. Of course he never dared challenge anyone even semi-professional as he wasn't even ten and knew that they would beat him. But as he grew taller and stronger more Beybladers came within his reach and his abilities grew until he developed a formidable reputation. Even though he had once found himself standing in the shadow of Kai, Max and Ray a lot of the time he could hold his own. When others around him were doing typical teenage pastimes of watching television and discovering the opposite sex, Tyson was obsessed with building the perfect Beyblade and challenging others. Soon he became just as able as his friends, if not more so. With help from his friends, especially Kenny, Tyson's abilities grew. He had a lot to thank 'The Chief' for and very soon would have something else to add to that list.

As Tyson stood in the middle of the valley, now dubbed a stadium by the shadowy figure watching him from on high, memories of his Beyblading history were flooding back to him, pummelling each one of his senses and trying their best to drown out the noise of the rain, the thunder and the swishing of the giant blades spinning around him and bashing into each other, making them catapult in all manner of random directions. They were closing in on him.

There was absolutely no way that Tyson could challenge the Beyblades using traditional methods. He had a couple of 'blades in his back pocket but nothing that could match the massive 'blades spinning around him, each one glinting as the lightning struck the ground all around, determined to cause him damage. Tyson, who had thus far remained static at the base of the valley, found himself having to jump out of the way and into the mud as one of the giant Beyblades headed towards him, skirting just past where he landed. Tyson lifted himself back onto his feet – a difficult task with the mud giving in to his every move and sucking his limbs into the cold damp earth. At least he still had Kenny's laptop held securely in his hand, even if it was currently no use due to the static in the air. He watched as the blades continued to spin and collide, looking like they wouldn't be coming near him shortly. The mysterious figure that had triggered off this situation filled the void with a maniacal laugh and then some more talking.

'I suppose I'd better introduce myself. It'd be frightfully rude not to!' he screamed, trying to be heard over the thunder and the constant swish-swish of the 'blades, putting on a pseudo-upper-class accent as he did so. 'After all, it's only fair you know the name of the person responsible for your death.

'I say death,' he corrected in a questioning manner, 'More like re-birth, but we'll come to that later.

'You can call me Yukio. Yes, Yukio. That'll do. I'm one of the Mystical Warriors. I don't suppose you've ever heard of us? No. You're too young and inexperienced.

'Well it's written in our scriptures that we are the rightful heirs to this fine country and for years we've been plotting and planning ways of seizing control of this land and then the world. But each and every one of our plots has failed. Until now.

'You see, Beyblades contain more power than the layman can imagine. The power, when used for good, is fantastic. Utilise it for what you would call 'bad' and, well, the results could be astounding. And that's why I'm here.

'You and your friends are the first in my plan for domination. Five individuals with extraordinary Beyblading abilities. Your friend Kenny. You see the musty brown Beyblade? That is Kenny?'

'What?' Tyson yelled over the cacophony of sounds, confused by the monologue delivered by Yukio. 'How can that be Kenny?'

'Don't interrupt me Tyson,' he said calmly, 'I don't take well to interruptions. I captured Kenny in there using one of these…'

Yukio dug deep into the pocket of his shawl and removed a normal sized Beyblade. The size, however, was the only thing normal about it. The colour was amazing: opal. But not just any opal; fire opal. The Beyblade was diffused with a rainbow of colours, each moulded into another. Just the sight – even at such a distance – of the Beyblade made Tyson's mouth drop. He was nearly sliced in half by a Beyblade due to his sole attention on the object. Only a last minute jump forwards saved him from injury, yet he still kept his eyes fixed on the Opal Beyblade. He'd never seen anything like it in his life; the amazement was such that all noise seemed to fade away.

'This is one of the Opal Beyblades,' Yukio said with relish. 'There are only four in the whole world and I possess one of them. This is the Fire Opal. Strong and powerful and all consuming. I used this to capture Kenny. It possesses an interesting quality known as 'excipio daemon'.'

'Exsipio darman?' Tyson mouthed, trying – and failing – to replicate the phrase.'

Yukio just laughed.

'I didn't expect you to know what it means. You just need to know that using this Beyblade I can trap any human into any Beyblade and it utilises their abilities. Of course the fighters that have held these 'blades in the past were blind to the possibilities. They just trapped their friends in traditional 'blades. I've gone one step further, hence the rather larger 'blades.

'Of course going back to the brown Beyblade. That's absorbed Kenny's powers. You'll find that Beyblade is resourceful and knowledgeable about manoeuvres and attacks. How about that? A Beyblade that understands about Beyblading and calculates its next course of action? That's a step forward.'

Tyson could not believe what he was hearing. If there hadn't been physical proof of the Beyblades in front of him he would have scoffed at what Yukio was saying. But something inside was telling Tyson that his nemesis was telling the truth. He was about to open his mouth to say something else when Yukio interrupted him.

'And I guess you want to know about the other two 'blades. The purple one. That's Max. His Beyblade is excellent at strategy but also very competitive: a formidable 'blade. And the green one. That's Ray I think you'll find. I'd watch out for that blade: it may not look as dangerous – in fact it hesitates quite a bit – but that belies its true nature. It's ruthless and wants to win. In life Ray is determined to beat you; as a Beyblade he's determined to kill you. At all costs.'

Tyson swallowed hard, now watching the Beyblades attacking each other at the other side of the stadium. He looked back up to Yukio, his voice cracking slightly.

'I only see three. What about Kai?'

'I'm glad you asked.'

The response took a few seconds to come. Tyson just stood there in the mud in suspense waiting for an answer. All the time to rain continued to storm down on him, soaking his clothes more and more and making them stick to his body. A fork of lightning across the sky lit up Yukio's face – it was fresh looking but anger and revenge were etched into each of the few lines – and prompted the conversation to continue.

'Look up there!' he said, Tyson's head twisting so his eyes could see where Yukio was pointing. 'Two more Beyblades. The red one houses Kai. That's a remarkably strong Beyblade with a determination to win at all costs. That's probably the most dangerous hence why I haven't 'let it rip'… yet.'

'And the blue one?'

'That'll be yours when you've been defeated by the 'blades. Then, once I have all five of you it will be off into the town to capture the rest of the pathetic residents on my way to getting a fighting force that will eventually lead to my overall rule of everywhere a Beyblade could possibly spin.'

'You really think you'll get me in there?' Tyson said, a fraction of his usual courage returning.

'I don't think. I know!' Yukio said confidently, turning on his heel. 'Now I best leave you to it. I've got things to plan. I'll see you when you've been downed by my 'blades and then – well – I shall put this Opal 'blade to good use and get you into my collection. Now won't that be fun?'

Yukio started walking away. Just when Tyson had thought he'd finished, he lifted his arms into the sky and clapped twice in quick succession. Tyson watched with horror as Kai's Beyblade began to spin and move down the muddy wall and into the stadium. Tyson's legs were frozen to the spot but he realised, as the purple 'blade headed towards him, he would have to move else that would be it: Yukio would have won. With only a few seconds to spare, Tyson threw himself to the right, landing face down in the mud. Though dirty, he was still conscious.

The further sound of spinning brought the movement of the fifth giant Beyblade to Tyson's attention. That too was moving down the wall and into the arena, ready to join the other four. The battle was now getting fiercer. Each of the five 'blades was spinning around the stadium as if they were bikers on the wall of death. Tyson studied the patterns of them all as the spun and hit and revolved and collided and separated and launched into the air, but despite Yukio's descriptions of their individual personalities, Tyson found it difficult to ascertain any sort of pattern. He didn't really fancy studying them for any length of time as he feared they would soon be approaching him. He wasn't wrong.

Within a few seconds of that thought flashing in his brain, Kai's 'blade spun towards Tyson, who could feel the rush of air hitting his face. He threw himself left to the ground, narrowly avoiding the 'blade which flew over his head and along the side of the stadium, pushing back down into the centre to collide with Max's Beyblade. Tyson sighed and lifted himself back up, attempting to clamber out of the stadium but it was no use. The rain had made the wall of the valley unstable and he was unable to get a firm footing, constantly slipping down and finding him trapped with the Beyblades. Ray's came within a few metres of him before bouncing off Kai's 'blade which was furiously spinning around like a manic top. If this had been a real championship battle with people looking on rather than trees it would have definitely been a crowd pleaser with its combination of frantic action, giant 'blades and the uncertainty of who would actually win. Whether they would like the fact that a living person – dwarfed by the 'blades – was in with them was open to debate, a debate Tyson was not really in the mood to have. He continued attempting to climb up the wall but realised quickly it was a fruitless task. The harder he tried to climb the more he slipped back down into the action. Again the Beyblades came too close to him; Tyson could feel the air that rushed in to fill the vacuum left by the spinning metallic 'blades.

He was tiring quickly. Though Tyson was used to being a part of the action – often getting a little too close to the action – he wasn't prepared to be actually in the action like this. He would have been happy to just stand outside this stadium and watch the Beyblades doing their duty. He just didn't like the situation he was currently in, death staring him in the face and laughing. At least Yukio wasn't there to watch him struggling to avoid the 'blades. It was only through fear and adrenaline that Tyson didn't collapse there and then; he wanted to figure out a way of solving the problem he had found himself in as well as freeing his friends but he was struggling to do anything. His eyelids were drooping and his mouth was dry; Tyson was beginning to lose consciousness. He lost his footing and slipped backwards all the way down onto the earthy floor of the valley. Tyson's eyes stayed open just long enough to see one of the 'blades heading for him and then it went dark.

Tyson awoke after what seemed like only a few seconds to him but in reality it had been several minutes. As his senses came back online he let out a gasp of pain; a painful throbbing sound was shooting up his arm. He looked down at his limp limb to see a large red gash along it where he'd been struck by the edge of one of the 'blades. But that wasn't all that was there; a figure was standing over him. It didn't take Tyson long to realise it was Yukio. His nemesis laughed.

'I knew it wouldn't be long before you were beaten. It's a bit different being in a game than just playing it, isn't it?'

Tyson felt his head nodding; he felt like he was no longer in his body but observing the action from a few feet away. Still the throbbing continued, masking any other sounds about. He could just about make out the last few trickles of the rain storm but other than that there was nothing; not even the sound of spinning blades.

'I know what you're thinking,' Yukio muttered. 'I've stopped the 'blades. I wouldn't want to injure myself, would I?'

Tyson twisted his neck until his right ear touched the ground. He could see four of the 'blades lined up at the edge of the valley, all still and quiet. The fifth one – the one designated for Tyson – was missing, however. He couldn't see it but it was placed to his left a few metres away. Tyson looked back up at Yukio, his vision still presenting a mist between his eyes and what he was seeing.

'What are you going to do?'

'What I said I would,' he said in an off-hand manner, showing that he was palming his Opal 'Blade. 'You're going to become the next addition to my collection in your Beyblade. You did a good job but sadly, I always win. And you're going to help me with my next battle… and the one after that – and most likely the ones after that, on my way to world domination. Talented, competitive and a magnetic personality. You'll make one good 'blade.'

Yukio grasped his Opal Beyblade more firmly, bringing it in front of his chest.

'Now it ends.'

He made a quick jerk with his fist and the Beyblade burst into life; a ray shot out of it, creating a rainbow of colours. As soon as this ray hit Tyson he would be captured in the Beyblade but in a last chance effort to save himself, Tyson reached out and grabbed for Kenny's laptop which Yukio had planned to snatch and steal when it had all been over. Just in time, Tyson managed to deflect the ray with the silver casing of the laptop, sending it beaming up into space. It did, however, also send the laptop flying. Tyson, though his senses were muted, heard it land several metres away in the mud with a depressing squelch. Yukio just laughed.

'Nice try, Tyson. I like perseverance in my competitors. I like it even more in my 'blades.'

Yukio once more booted up the Opal Beyblade and fired the ray. This time it had no trouble in hitting its intended target. In a flash of light Tyson was gone; only his imprint in the mud suggested anyone had been there. Yukio twisted on his ankle and fired another ray at the spare giant Beyblade, transferring Tyson into it. He smiled. With this part of his job completed, Yukio slipped the Opal 'blade into his pocket and prepared to move the Beyblades back into his van which was parked out of sight down in the valley.

'Now with these five 'bladers captured, there is nothing to stop me from my plans. I am unstoppable!' he declared in a megalomaniacal fashion.

There was, however, something that stopped him in his tracks. A voice piped up from behind him.

'Not so far Yukio. You've got to get through me first.'

Yukio span around, his face red and his brow furrowed.

'Who the hell are you?' he said, feeling for the Opal Beyblade in his pocket.

'I,' the voice said confidently, 'am Dizzi…'

To be continued…