Chapter Six

Eight years earlier…

"… and the winner is… Dizzara!"

The applause of the crowd filled up the street as Dizzara lent into the stadium and stopped her Beyblade from spinning. She slipped it back into her pocket and turned to face the crowd, her young face beaming with happiness and the smile on her face stretching from ear to ear. Her opponent, who had also just turned eight, choked back his tears as he retrieved his own 'blade from the floor and held it tightly in his hands. He rejoined his parents who comforted him with a hug and some reassuring words. Dizzara also jointed her parents; her dad ruffled her hair and smiled.

'Well done!' he said happily. Dizzara beamed. This was one of the happiest days of her life and it showed in her fresh face. She skipped over to some friends. Her parents shouted after her:

'Don't wander too far!'

But Dizzi wasn't really listening. The joy at winning the Beyblade battle masked all other sounds and emotions. She continued to skip through the street, which was emptying, chatting to neighbours and friends who had turned out to see the day of Beyblade challenges which had culminated in the final that she'd won. Little did Dizzara realise that there was one person watching who didn't have congratulating her on his mind.

Dizzara decided to head home via the alleyway that ran near to her house. She skipped into the entrance, dodging the series of dustbins that lined the route. It was only when she was half way down that she realised something was wrong. The alley was overlooked by two houses and they blocked out the sunlight. A bitter wind blew down the alley causing Dizzara's hair to blow about and tangle up. She turned awkwardly on the sound of footsteps to see a tall man in traditional Japanese dress approach her. Something in his hand shimmered.

'W-Who are you?' Dizzara muttered, shaking slightly and fearing for the worst. Her young mind could not contemplate what the man could have done next.

'Don't be afraid, child,' the man said. 'My name is Fudo. I'm here to – help you.'

'Help me?' Dizzara said, trembling, taking a few steps back. The man just followed her, towering over the little figure. His hand shifted and he showed her the most beautiful Beyblade Dizzara had ever seen. For a moment she was transfixed, the true beauty of the metallic 'blade reflecting in her eyes. Fudo laughed. His shadow towered over Dizzara's own casting on the wall, lit by the sliver of sunlight from above that had finally penetrated the gloominess of the alley. A bright light blazed in the alley for a fraction of the second and then her shadow was gone. Fudo pocketed his Beyblade and whistled as he left the alley, bumping into a man and woman as he walked down the centre of the street. They looked worried and nervous.

'Have you seen a young girl about this high?' the woman said, gesturing a height with her hand. Fudo shook his head.

'There are lots of children around. But I shall keep a look out. What does she look like?'

He was very calm in his words; a complete juxtaposition to the panic of the pair speaking to him.

'Erm… brown hair, pretty face, wearing dungarees.'

The shot of Dizzara cowering in fear filled his mind. Fudo just shook the thoughts from his head, signalling a negative response with the same movement.

'I can't say I have. Sorry.'

And with that, Fudo walked off, leaving Dizzara's parents to frantically search the area in vain. Fudo tapped his pocket as he got into a car. His mission was over. He had secured one of the best Beybladers in the area.

Three years later…

Fudo had not seen, or been to, the temple in the last three and a half years. Returning to it was like visiting an old friend but, in reality, he feared this old friend would be less than forgiving. For three years he'd been trying to fulfil his role of using people captured in his red 'Opal Beyblade' to win more and more contests and eventually building up enough power to topple the Government but so far he had failed. His calling to the temple came on the back of his most idiotic mistake yet; he had accidentally released one of his key Beybladers.

As he pushed open the ornate entrance doors of the temple the scene flooded back into his mind. It had been back in the same alley in which he'd captured her three years earlier. Fudo was back at the Beyblading festival of the town waiting for the finalist to be announced. Security had been tight at the event ever since the kidnapping and he found himself having to be careful among the security guards that were positioned along the route. Whilst there he caught sight of Dizzara's parents, looking unnaturally older than they had before, mumbling to themselves and pacing up and down the street hoping their daughter would return to them on this day. Of course she hadn't on either of the previous years but they hadn't given up hope. Fudo smiled as he walked past them. If only they'd known that their missing daughter was still trapped inside the Beyblade in his pocket. The couple eventually left the competition after failing to see her daughter, the father reassuring his wife they would find her next year. Sadly for them both, the heartache of losing their only child would mean they wouldn't be there at the festival next year…

Fudo stopped outside one of the stadiums and studied the form. He waited there for the whole day until a young boy of about eight won the final. Fudo then proceeded to follow him until there was no one around, as the boy also foolishly took the shortcut Dizzara had taken three years earlier. The boy also turned around on hearing the footsteps behind him and too quivered with fear. The only difference with this encounter was that the boy fought back, avoiding the ray which bounced off the wall and this meant it hit Fudo's Beyblade, releasing Dizzara. Whilst she fell to the floor with a bump, the boy escaped to raise the alarm. Fudo quickly realised he had no time to re-capture Dizzara and so fled, running down the alley just as a mob of people entered the alley at the other end. By this point Dizzara had also run off, fearing his return. She found herself blindly stumbling the streets, her senses confused after three years in a Beyblade, unable to recognise her home town.

A harsh storm was building in the air and it was beginning to rain. She needed somewhere to hide. Dizzara spotted her only salvation. After three years stuck inside a 'blade, there was only one other place she could hide: somewhere equally as small. Dizzara spotted a nine year old boy dressed in a brown coat and with a pair of thick bottle-lens glasses on his head. With the energy from the 'Opal Beyblade' still throbbing inside her, she got herself absorbed into his laptop just as the storm began depositing heavy droplets of water all around the town causing everyone to flee inside. Dizzara was too relieved to realise that the laptop she had entered was being held by a boy who ran straight past her parents' house. Her dad was looking out of the window still hoping to see his daughter. But neither father nor daughter saw each other and that was the way it would stay.

Fudo's thoughts drifted back to his current situation. He was now standing on the threshold of a pair of a doors, having wandered down the main corridor. Fudo knocked three times on the door with the back of his fist and a voice inside called him to enter. He pushed the heavy door and squeezed in through the small gap.

The fire in the centre of the room, which usually sizzled and flamed and lit up the whole room, was all but extinguished. A dark figure was standing on the other side. He turned to face a shocked Fudo.

'Who are you?' Fudo asked, failing to recognise the figure standing in front of him. Though he was wearing the same cape, it was not the same man who had brought him to the temple three and a half years earlier.

'I am your new leader,' he said, the last embers of the fire flickering over his face. 'Your old leader has sadly passed away.'

'How?'

'I killed him.'

'You…'

Fudo had no emotional attachment to the previous leader but this revelation still came as a shock to him. He bit his lip. The void in conversation was filled up by 'the leader' as he walked away from the fire and around Fudo.

'You see the previous leader was useless, as were all of the guardians of the 'Opal Blades'… the so called 'Mystical Warriors'. Masa lost all his 'blades and came here begging for forgiveness. I had no choice but to slaughter him where he stood. That'll teach him to be so careless and then make me pick up the pieces to retrieve his 'blade.

'Raidon. He was just as incompetent. Three and a half years and what progress has he made? Nothing. He had to be extinguished.

'And then there was good old Hiroshi. Really nice person; appalling Beyblade player. I hate having to organise unfortunate accidents.

'And now I come to you.'

Fudo suddenly wasn't feeling very positive. A lump travelled down his throat as the figure passed behind him. Fudo was a brave man but even he was scared to turn around. He could hear the sound of something metallic being removed from a sheath.

'And now you, Fudo. Lose one of our key Beybladers. She was already trapped in their. What else did you have to do? If it wasn't for the fact that your actions have now brought me closer to her, then I'd kill you on the spot. But then again I might. I often struggle to make up my mind!'

The leader laughed.

'What do you mean?' Fudo said, sweat dripping down his forehead. The fire in the centre of the room finally petered out, plunging the room into blackness.

'Nothing,' the figure said laughing. 'I just need to recruit four more warriors that's all. But before that I need to make sure the remainder are… removed.'

From outside in the corridor not much more could be heard except for the swishing of steel and the faint thud of a body hitting the floor.

The leader found himself recruiting four more individuals but these too would prove equally worthless. Five years on there would be a new four who would once more attempt world domination via Beyblade battles. And one of those would be called Kano…

Five years later…

Kano was standing there with one hand on his left hip and the other clutching his Beyblade. Tyson was opposite him stood with his own 'blade, ready for battle. Kano with his Opal Beyblade fashioned in blue; Tyson with his ordinary Beyblade. It was possessed with the power of Dragoon though. Kano laughed.

'You know the deal Tyson. We fight for Opal Beyblades. I'm not interested in your pathetic 'blade.'

'Well if you want my Opal Beyblade,' Tyson snorted, 'Why not just kill me and get it?'

'I hope that's not a request,' Kano said dryly. 'I normally would. Nothing would please me more than seeing you writhing on the floor in agony. Well, when I say nothing, there is one thing. Humiliating you by beating you at Beyblade. Now show me your Opal Beyblade!'

Kano's speech got harsher as it neared its conclusion, rising to a crescendo at the final two words. Tyson swallowed hard and swapped his 'blades. The battle was now ready to start. Kai took a step closer to the stadium and cleared his throat before announcing:

'Let it rip!'

As if somehow mirroring each other's moves, both Tyson and Kano jumped up at the same time, pulling their ripcords and launching their Beyblades into the stadium. Both were immensely powerful Beyblades and sparked and steamed whenever they came into contact. Aside from the noise of the 'blades the area was silence. None of the usual cheer and bravado expressions were heard. Each and everyone around the stadium remained silent, studying the battle. Tyson's 'blade was the first to look like a winner, turning a brighter red each time it was hit and beginning to steam. It spun around and rammed Kano's water 'blade to the edge of the stadium almost knocking it out. Sadly for Tyson all it managed to achieve was to give Kano's Beyblade the energy it needed to launch an even more powerful attack. It spun around the stadium several times before launching into the middle and colliding with Tyson's 'blade knocking it to the edge and letting it spin weakly back into the middle. It hadn't left the stadium, however, and so the battle continued. Words finally returned to Tyson's mouth.

'Come on then. Show us what your Beyblade's made of.'

'I will,' Kano said, showing none of the signs of tension that Tyson was. His brow was furrowed and beads of sweat were dripping down into his eyes. He was trying his best not to show it, but he was nervous. Tyson's heart was racing and blood pumping round his body. There had been very few times in his life that he'd felt like this: when he was sitting his exams; when he had been battling in the final of the Beyblade championship; when he had been with Dizzi. Tyson bit his lip and studied the Beyblades.

Kano's was now gaining the upper hand, bashing into Tyson's 'blade with force like Tyson had never seen but his equally powerful 'blade was holding on. Both players knew it was going to be a close battle. Kano smirked. Tyson grinned. Neither was sure who was going to win. Tyson's Beyblade now began to fight back and this began to worry Kano.

Then one 'blade flew from the stadium. The battle was over.

To be continued…