They waited patiently for Alexis' sobs to subside and then Hilary brought them up to speed on what had happened to her the last two years.
She had changed from somebody who viewed Beyblading as a waste of time to someone who was interested in the sport despite not taking part herself and had a deep crush on one of its most famous players. She and the Bladebreakers had gone through many trials and tribulations; they had been kidnapped and stranded on a remote island, fought battles with digital copies of her friends' Bit Beasts, faced a mysterious Beyblade team and an evil scientist named Dr. Zagart intending to steal the team's creatures and the team had split up, the four members having to face each other in the World Championships.
It had tested their friendship to the limit and hurt Kenny and herself watching them get tense and even angry with each other at times; she and the Chief had hoped fervently that things would improve between them – which they did – as the tournament progressed. A fierce battle in the finals between Kai and Tyson proved to be the most intense show of rivalry between the former Bladebreaker members. It was a close fight but Tyson had won in the end.
To her relief, the former team-mates' friendship had remained intact despite the fact that two of them did not reunite with her, Kenny, Daichi and Tyson after the tournament. Things settled down between the team members and it had felt good to know they were as close they had been the year before. Hilary did not see nor hear anything about Kai and Ray until Boris Balkov disturbed the peace.
He overthrew the BBA and replaced it with his own association, BEGA. After the Blitzkrieg Boys' attempts to defeat him which had resulted in their leader Tala Ivanov being left in a coma, Tyson and his team decided enough was enough, there and then vowing retribution. Ray, Kai and Hiro Granger, Tyson's older brother, had witnessed the whole thing too. Ray reunited with Tyson and Hiro and Kai, in a surprise move, joined Boris' side. It had hurt Tyson to see his own brother and one of his closest friends and rivals siding with the enemy and the others too.
Both sides began forming teams and the team that had once been BBA Revolution became the G-revolutions. Boris held a small tournament to select members, with Kai fighting for the last spot on the team against a strange, unnatural Beyblader with the name of Brooklyn. He tried with all his might to beat him but suffered a terrible defeat at his hands, being rendered unconscious by his attacks. Unbeknown to him, Tyson and the others had watched it on TV.
This had made them even more determined to take Boris down. Armed with new powerful Beyblades that Kenny had produced, they had fought the BEGA bladers. Daichi, Ray and Max had battled their hardest but Beyblading's future did not look bright. With BEGA having two wins and the G-revolutions only one, tomorrow's match was their last chance to even the odds.
"We're in need of a Blader to battle tomorrow but there's nobody strong enough among us," Hilary informed Sakura and Alexis. "We all know deep down that Kai is the only one would win it - although because we haven't seen him since he lost to Brooklyn, he's out of the question. That's what everyone else thinks anyway." She blinked away tears of frustration and sadness, grinning at her friends. "I believe he'll come back. I couldn't stop him from leaving the team at the World Championships like I did last year nor from joining Boris but I can have faith in his return."
Sakura nodded. "I'm sure he'll help the G-revolutions through this and give you guys another chance to win against BEGA."
"Maybe he'll even turn up today!" suggested Alexis brightly. "You never know."
"That's right!" laughed Hilary, glad she had got it off her chest.
"Man, aren't we a trio…" remarked Sakura. "We're so similar; top of the class, strong-willed, with feelings for mysterious, silent guys…"
"Who have left and betrayed us," Alexis finished for her. "But we miss them all the same."
"Yes," Hilary agreed. "Who would have thought we'd end up like up like this? I hope to tell Kai how I feel one day."
"Same here about Zane."
"Sasuke already knows about my feelings. All I want at the moment is to have him back again."
They fell silent for a few minutes.
Then Alexis spoke up. "Why don't you take us to meet your friends, Hilary?"
"Good idea," approved Sakura.
Hilary laughed at their eager faces. "Okay. Let's go."
She led them out of the park and they stopped beneath the great bridge overlooking the river where her friends were training. Tyson was panting, launcher and Beyblade in hand, glancing around impatiently at his team-mates.
"Come on, guys!" he urged his tired friends, who were either stretched out at the bottom of the grass slopes or sitting down and taking a breather.
"Sorry, Tyson," Ray sighed. "We're beat."
"We haven't had a break yet," Max added.
"They're right," Hilary joined in. "You've been driving them like a pack of sled dogs for the last four hours!"
Tyson looked about to retort when he noticed the two strange girls standing beside her. "Who are you?"
"I'm Sakura," the pink-haired girl answered. "I'm a ninja from the Village Hidden In The Leaves, which is also known as Konoha."
"The name's Alexis," the other one stated. "I'm a Duellist from Duel Academy."
He gave them a confused frown. "Never heard of those places…"
"I have…vaguely," piped up Kenny from beside Max and Ray, typing away on his laptop. "Ah, here it is. It says that Konoha is one of many hidden villages throughout Japan home to ninja. Not much is known about it and it's almost impossible to find, being so isolated from the outside world. What little knowledge we have is gleaned from ninja that go on missions or visit places outside of their boundaries." He glanced up at Sakura. "Like you for instance."
"That's right. I'm taking a break from missions and decided to come here for a bit, though only ninja of a certain rank and with a high level of reliability and trustworthiness can do something like this."
"Interesting…" the Chief was intrigued. "I suppose it's only natural. After all, you don't want to hurt innocent people by letting out a rogue ninja."
Hilary saw a mixture of anguish and pain briefly flash across her face. That's what Sasuke is…a rogue ninja. She surreptiously cast her friend a sympathetic glance.
"Yes." Sakura quickly regained her composure, giving the brunette a smile. "That's why Konoha does it."
"Duel Academy is school which, like Konoha, is hidden from the rest of the world. It is situated on a remote island that is difficult to get to. Only skilled Duelists - players of the Duel Monsters card game - can attend," Kenny explained. "It's very famous among Duellists and those who go there are said to excel. There are three groups that divide up the students: Slifer Red, Ra Yellow and Obelisk Blue. Slifer Red is the bottom group whereas Obelisk Blue is for the best Duellists there; players can move up or down depending on well they do. Each group has a dormitory and a uniform which represents them." He looked at Alexis. "I see that you're in Obelisk Blue."
"Yes," she confirmed. "I'm one of the top Duellists in the Academy as well as the dorm. I've come to Bay City because it's the spring break and also because the school's getting repairs done after some equipment went wrong. I'll most likely be here for longer than two weeks - it's taking them a while."
"Me too. My sensei said I needed a break from my medical role as well as missions."
"You've been medically trained?" Hilary was surprised. "That's great. How come you didn't tell me?"
Sakura smiled ruefully. "I forgot."
"I don't mind," the brunette assured her. She knew there was more to what the girls had told her friends.
Sakura had been very stressed and upset lately after failing to find Sasuke for the umpteenth time; so much so that her teacher had insisted she take a break. Naruto had apparently been told the same although Sakura suspected he was continuing to search for the Uchiha despite the fact he was on leave.
Alexis, like all the other students affected by what had happened with the portal, had been told to have some time away from the Academy. It was also because of Zane's death she had been asked to do this.
It was clear that both places hoped the girls would forget about their losses once they had had time to themselves. Hilary snorted. As if that would ever happen.
"How do you know Sakura and Alexis, Hilary?" Kenny asked, breaking through her thoughts.
She explained and then introduced her friends to the girls. "This is Kenny, the brains behind our new Beyblades and the strategist and technician of the team."
"It's nice to meet you. People around here call me the Chief."
"As you might have already figured out, that's Tyson." The brunette nodded to the navy-haired teen. "He's currently captain of the G-revolutions team and was the one who challenged Boris. His Blading style is powerful and based on attack - no surprise since he always goes into battle without any thought and is quite the hothead. He is an idiot, after all."
"Hey!" Tyson complained. "I'm not that bad."
"Oh yeah?" Hilary raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. "Then why have you driven your team-mates to exhaustion?"
"Huh," Tyson huffed, unable to think of a comeback.
Sakura giggled.
"What's so funny?" he demanded.
"Oh nothing. You two arguing like that remind me of myself and Naruto."
"Oh." He did not know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment. "Anyway, this is my Beyblade - Dragoon Metal Storm. Check it out!"
He held the blade out for the girls to see, chuckling proudly.
"It's tiny!" Alexis exclaimed.
"How can something like this be powerful?" wondered Sakura.
Tyson grinned. "You'll see." He turned to the other Bladers. "Anyone want to battle me?"
They shook their heads.
Hilary introduced the rest of her friends to Sakura and Alexis and had just finished showing them how the Hard Metal System Beyblades had been designed on Kenny's computer when Tyson let out a loud yell of frustration. He loaded his launcher and thrust it above his head, launching Dragoon into the air. The silver-grey Beyblade shot skyward.
There was a flash as spark flew, followed by a metallic clang. Dragoon hurtled back into Tyson's blue-gloved palm.
A familiar black-gloved hand was raised and caught the object that had collided with Dragoon. Another Beyblade.