The Beyblade teams soon made it to the second block of the tournament, finding good seats to watch the new matches between BEGA and the Majestics. As for the Bladebreakers, they were hard pressed to pick a winning team as they had had troubles with both teams before, and they knew how good both teams are.
"The Majestics are hard nuts to crack. I couldn't believe how strong they were when we first battled them," Ray said.
"Not to mention how strong they were when we battled them not long ago," Tyson said. "They didn't miss a beat, even though they lost."
'If only all our battles were that easy,' Kai thought to himself. 'Still, there's no doubting their skill.'
Suddenly, the floor of the arena opened up, and Boris ascended from the ground, stood on a small stage that continued to rise up until he reached his optimum height. Once he had, he spoke into his earpiece again, addressing the people in the arena.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're here for the second battle of the tournament between the mighty Majestics and the powerful BEGA League!" he announced. "Our first battle will be Enrique from the Majestics against Mystel from BEGA!"
"Ooh. This'll be a good one," said Max. "Mystel has never actually lost to my knowledge, but Enrique is no pushover either."
Ray smiled. "I remember when you and Mystel battled. It was probably the closest he actually came to losing a battle. It did end in a draw, but you kept us in the tournament."
"It was a tough fight, dude. He can give anyone a run for their money," Max said.
Meanwhile, the two bladers who were called out for battle stood up for their respective teams, getting applause from the crowd and support from their sides as they reached the dish in the centre of the arena, waiting for it to open up.
"This'll be a great match! We have the ever unpredictable Mystel and his Poseidon beyblade against Enrique from the Majestics, accompanied by the powerful Amphilyon," AJ said.
"Yeah... it'll be good..." Brad replied through some heavy breathing.
"Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine. Just let me catch my breath."
"Show them the dish!" Boris said.
"What have we got this time, Brad?" AJ asked as the dish opened up.
Brad took a couple of breaths before replying. "Sorry. The run over here from block one really tired me out." After a few more breaths, he spoke again. "Today we have the jagged dish, which has surprise knife traps. If our bladers aren't careful, then they could get an unexpected scratch or two on their beyblades!"
'This could be troublesome if I'm not careful...' Mystel thought to himself as he put on his signature mask before readying his signature slingshot launcher.
Enrique prepared his own launcher, ready to battle as he spoke. "Hey, Mystel! I've heard a lot of good things about BEGA! It's a shame we never got to fight way back then!"
"I agree. Hopefully this'll be worth it," Mystel replied, aiming his beyblade for the dish.
"3... 2... 1..." Boris counted down before finishing. "LET IT RIP!"
"Go get him, Amphilyon!" said Enrique as he launched.
"Let's show these guys how good BEGA really are, Poseidon!" Mystel said, launching his blade as well.
Mystel and Enrique both launched their blades into the dish, thankful that there were no surprises for now at the start of the battle. Enrique raised his hand forward to command Amphilyon to attack Poseidon, but Mystel was just one step ahead as Posdeidon dodged and bounced back against Amphylion, sending him back a bit.
"Good move there from Mystel," said Brad. "His unpredictability remains as strong as ever."
"Stay on him, Amphilyon!" said Enrique. "We can't let his tricks get the better of us!"
Mystel smiled to himself. 'It's all going well so far...' he thought to himself before speaking out loud. "Poseidon, hold your ground!"
The BEGA blader's beyblade stayed in place, bracing the fierce attack of Amphilyon as the two blades found themselves in a vicious grinding battle, neither one giving an inch as their teams spoke.
"Wear him down, Enrique!" Johnny said to his team-mate. "Keep up the offensive!"
"Can't he see that won't work against Mystel?" Garland asked himself with a smile.
"I will admit, the Majestics are tougher opponents than I thought at first," said Crusher. "I'm looking forward to battling them."
"As am I," Brooklyn added. "Never underestimate your opponent, Garland."
"I guess you learned that the hard way, huh?" asked Crusher.
The red-haired leader of BEGA smiled. "What can I say? Tyson and Kai were both truly worthy opponents. I am honoured to have battled them, even if I lost."
Back in the battle, the crowd gasped as the two beyblades both broke away from their grinding match, now circling each other carefully as they both knew that if they took one misstep, it could change the tide of the battle.
"Those two are blading on eggshells," said Max. "The new bey-dishes that Boris has treated us to so far have really been something else."
"Hey, as long as it makes the match more exciting, it's all good to me," Tyson said with a smile.
Hilary smiled to herself and rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's expression. 'I know he loves me than he does the sport, but I do get worried sometimes...' she thought to herself with a small giggle.
"Guys, look!" Kenny said, pointing to the dish.
The others all stopped and stared as Poseidon narrowly slipped a harsh slam from Amphilyon which caused the latter beyblade to spin across a small button, suddenly causing a small knife to shoot out from the edge of the dish, aiming directly at Amphilyon and scratching it across the bottom, causing it to visibly slow down.
"Ouch!" said Dizzi. "I felt that all the way in my circuit boards!"
"Seems like you were right about the eggshells," Ray said to Max. "I just hope that our bey-dishes aren't that dangerous when we battle the All Starz."
"Even if they are, it doesn't matter," Tyson spoke, "so long as I get in there and battle."
"I think some of Boris' dishes may be too tough for even us," said Max. "Kenny, are there any safety regulations about the dishes?"
"Not that I know of," said Kenny. "I agree with Tyson that we've battled in worse places, but that really doesn't make it any better."
"Eh, he's just trying to get to us," said Tyson. "I'm not bothered by it."
"You will be if your beyblade needs plastic surgery after its next battle..." Kai said. "I know you want to battle, but you need to take this a bit more seriously."
Max smiled before adding on to Kai's sentence. "Yeah, and be sure to leave some competition for the rest of us."
Back at the fight, Amphilyon was starting to wobble a bit from the knife that struck it, but it kept its ground. Poseidon, meanwhile, circled around it, waiting for a chance to attack as it didn't want to take an easy victory.
"Why not finish me off?" Enrique asked Mystel.
"Because I don't play that way," said the BEGA blader. "And besides, it's no fun if it ends so quickly."
The Majestics blader smiled at that. "Then get ready, because I don't back down from anything. Amphilyon, attack!"
Enrique's blade sprang back into action, clashing head-first against Poseidon again, slamming hard against it and causing it to bounce several inches away and land on another button in the dish.
Mystel, hearing the click, raised his hand. "Poseidon, use your 360 degree attack to get out of there!"
His beyblade listened, just barely managing to get out of the way as the small gleam of the knife passed by it, embedding itself into the ground of the bey-dish. Poseidon and Amphilyon circled each other once more, ready to attack again.
"That was a good move," Enrique said. "It's too bad I'm going to kick your butt before you can use your next one." He then crossed his arms before raising them. "Amphilyon, finish this! Twin Destruction attack!"
On command, Enrique's bit-beast burst forth from its beyblade, its appearance as intimidating as ever as it roared loudly from both mouths before the head on its tail circled around to appear several feet in front of its body, charging straight for Poseidon as the beyblade that housed it doubled, both surrounded themselves in a small, flaming spiral that grew larger as it got closer.
"If Enrique lands another one of those strikes, then Mystel is toast!"
Mystel smirked to himself. "Poseidon, spin around and land on the hilt of that knife!"
On command, his beyblade followed his orders, staying completely still on the hilt of the knife that attempted to attack it earlier before hopping off and circling around Amphilyon, attempting an attack from behind.
"I see what you're trying to do," Enrique said. "But it won't work! Finish him off, Amphilyon!"
'Oh, it will work...' Mystel thought to himself with a smile.
Enrique's now doubled beyblade went to attack Poseidon, both closing in on Mystel's beyblade, but at the last second, Poseidon willingly collided one of the Amphilyon beyblades, allowing itself to be knocked far back before starting its own attack.
"Poseidon, Ocean Javelin!" Mystel called.
On command, Mystel burst forth from its beyblade, waiting as Amphilyon went to attack it again. At the last second, Poseidon dodged the attack and spun around the bey-dish, surrounding it with water before the bit-beast itself called upon a red, glowing trident, hurling it at Amphilyon and taking the shape of its beyblade as it got closer, landing his attack flush and knocking Amphilyon out of the dish, causing both the bit-beast and the copied beyblade to dissipate before the blade itself landed several feet behind Enrique.
"What a move there by Mystel!" said Brad. "He hasn't lost his touch!"
"Or his unpredictability!" replied AJ.
Boris smiled to himself. "The winner of the first match is Mystel from BEGA League!"
"That was a close match," Tyson said. "I thought Enrique had it for a second there."
Max smirked to himself. "I'm looking forward to the next one even more now."
Meanwhile, at the dish, Mystel called Poseidon back into his hand as the bit-beast within dissipated, putting the beyblade into his pocket before walking over to Enrique who himself was picking up his own beyblade, a bit saddened at his loss.
"Hey," Mystel said, extending a hand, "you and Amphilyon battled well. You should be proud."
Enrique smiled, shaking his former opponent's hand. "Not enough to beat you, though," he said.
"Come on, we all know you could have taken the win if it wasn't for the dish."
The Majestics blader shook his head at that. "I'm not going to blame the dish for my loss, as much as it might have hindered me. I just lost to a better man."
Before Mystel could reply, Enrique picked up his arm and raised it for the crowd, earning louder cheers and whistles from them as the teams of each side also cheered on their respective team-mates.
"Good luck in your next battle," Enrique said as he put Mystel's arm down. "Maybe your unpredictability will help you avoid whatever traps Boris has next."
"Let's hope so," the BEGA blader replied, smiling before turning around and walking back to his bench as Enrique did the same.
Boris smiled from his elevated spot. "The next match will be Ming-Ming from BEGA against Oliver from the Majestics!"
"Win one back for us," said Robert as Oliver stood up.
"I will. You can count on me!" Oliver replied.
"You've got this, Ming-Ming," Crusher said. "Don't give them an inch."
"I won't. Don't worry," replied Ming-Ming.
"This is an interesting one," said Brad. "We have Oliver and Unicolyon against Ming-Ming and Venus!"
"Both of them are easily the fastest and flashiest of their teams, so this match could go either way!" said AJ. "If anything, we'll get lots of pretty sights!"
Daichi smiled. "This'll be good. On the bright side, Ming-Ming doesn't have a backing band any more to help her, or her microphone beyblade launcher."
"That must have really thrown you off when you battled her, huh?" Max suggested.
The red-haired boy nodded. "You're not wrong."
"Let's look at the dish!" said Boris.
What's on the table this time, AJ?" asked Brad.
"This time it's the tower dish!," AJ replied. "The trick to this one is to use the heightened buildings to your advantage and try to get the drop on your opponent."
"And that's easier said than done!"
"Bladers, ready?" Boris said. "3... 2... 1.. LET IT RIP!"
"Let's go, Venus!" said Ming-Ming.
"Take this win, Unicolyon"! Oliver replied.
The two beyblades greeted each other with an instant slamming attack before backing away and doing it again, colliding head-on much to the appreciation of the crowd and the commentators.
"These two certainly aren't pulling their punches!" said Brad.
"No doubt, Brad. These guys definitely want this win easily! If Oliver wins, it'll keep the Majestics in for one more round and stop BEGA from getting a goose-egg, which is exactly what Ming-Ming is hoping to win!"
"This isn't what we'd normally expect from these two," said Kenny, "but it certainly is entertaining!"
"Looks like they decided to skip dancing around and actually battle," said Daichi.
"Someone's still salty..." Tyson said under his breath.
"I heard that," Daichi said, turning to his friend with a smirk.
Back in the bey-dish, the two beyblades clashed again, but this time was different as Venus had gotten the better of the exchange this time while Unicolyon started to wobble just a little bit when it landed back.
"That was a good hit," said Oliver to his opponent. "But it'll take a lot more than that to take me down! Unicolyon, get after her!"
Ming-Ming chuckled as her beyblade avoided another attack from Unicolyon, bouncing back and slamming into it hard, which started to frustrate Oliver a bit as he gritted his teeth before smirking.
"Let's see if you can keep up!" Oliver said. "Unicolyon, climb the towers!"
"Don't let up, Venus! Follow him!" Ming-Ming said.
Both beyblades ascended upwards, spinning up the buildings nearest to them, easily making the climb to the top before they both settled on a rooftop each, spinning as they waited for their opponent's next move.
"You know, that was a pretty smart move," Ming-Ming complimented. "I wonder what you'll do next?"
"Instead of telling you, I'll show you and let you judge for yourself," Oliver replied with a smile.
"Sounds good to me," Ming-Ming replied, also smiling.
The two bladers stared each other down, both knowing that they weren't going to give up without a fight, and the crowd roared louder as the two beyblades began moving towards each other, ready for a sky-high battle.
So, there you have it, folks! The first fight between the Majestics and BEGA , and the first half of the second fight which will conclude in the next chapter. I hope you're all enjoying it so far, and I'll see you all next time. Take care.