"Wh-What are you doing here?" Miguel asked, looking up at the man who had just arrived at his door.
"Why, Miguel, didn't you miss your old coach?" asked the man with a creepy grin.
"The only people I miss are my friends. What did you do to them?" Miguel demanded.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about what I did to them. I'd worry more about what's going to happen to you..."
"You son of a-"
Before the former leader of the Barthez Battalion could speak, he was held back by the two guards that had accompanied his former coach, and felt something cold and metallic press into his neck before he fell unconscious.
Chuckling to himself, Barthez commanded his guards to press onward, the henchmen placing Miguel in the back of the truck they had arrived in before Barthez pulled out a cellphone, typing in a number before putting the phone to his ear.
"Hello? Yes, I got him. All right... I'll be on my way there..."
Back in Japan...
The Dark Bladers waited in their locker room to be announced to walk out to block four. Sanguinex lazily threw his beyblade up in the air and kept catching it, then stopped when he heard a knock on the door.
"Dark Bladers, you're up," the voice said.
Lupinex grinned, getting up to open the door. "It's about ti-"
The werewolf-like beyblader was stopped in his tracks as he was shocked by a small, two pronged weapon, causing him to shudder where he stood and back up a few feet. Before the rest of the Dark Bladers could reply to the attack, a small ball rolled into the room, releasing a torrent of gas soon after it stopped, causing the Dark Bladers to cough from the smoke before feeling drowsy, landing on the ground and falling asleep.
"Time to make some changes to the scheduled match..." said a dark female voice, pulling a phone from her pocket. She dialled the number in and waited for a few seconds before getting a reply.
"Hello?" Boris' voice said, gravelly as always.
"The Dark Bladers have been taken care of," Dr. K replied as the bodies of the team she just knocked out were being dragged out by some henchmen.
"Very good. Now I'll have to make the last minute announcement about the return of some old friends of Tyson's..."
"Did Miguel make it to the party?" Dr. K asked.
"I'm expecting him shortly. My men work fast, as you know," Boris replied. "Thank you for your outstanding work. I look forward to seeing you back in my lab soon."
"Understood."
Both Dr. K and Boris hung up, and a henchman walked into Boris' laboratory. "Sir, the crowd is getting restless."
"Tell the Blitzkrieg Boys to go out there. Their appearance should satiate the fans for a little while."
"Understood."
In the Blitzkrieg Boys' locker room...
"You guys are up next," said a voice. "Better get out there."
"They sure took their sweet time," Spencer noted, following behind his team-mates as Tala opened the door.
"Forgive me for saying it, but I can't take a bunch of guys based on horror movies that I watched as a kid too seriously," Bryan said with a smirk.
"Hey, horror villains or not, they're still a good team," Spencer replied as he and his team-mates began walking out to the arena.
Bryan shrugged. "Whatever. We'll beat them anyway."
Tala smiled. "Don't get too confident. And remember, we're here to look for Ian."
"That reminds me, why do you think Boris took him?" Spencer asked.
Tala shrugged. "Maybe he thought Ian was a weak link."
"Or maybe Ian just got unlucky," Bryan suggested. "I don't think he would have just let Boris catch him like that."
"It's a good thing we only need three guys to participate in a match," Tala said. "Still, having Ian missing doesn't sit too well with me..."
"How do you think Tyson and the others are doing?" Spencer asked.
The red-haired leader shrugged. "Well, they've been doing well in their matches. Whether or not the same is true for their investigation remains to be seen."
The three bladers then made it out to the main part of the arena, and looked around, confused that they had seen nothing. The crowd themselves, just settling in, were also giving off many baffled voices.
"Where are the Dark Bladers?"
"Why is it just the one team?"
"Is the match going to get skipped because of this?"
Boris then arrived via his signature ground elevator, stopped at the optimum height before raising his hands so they were level with his chest before lowering them, silently gesturing the audience to quieten down, which they did.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he spoke, "it deeply regrets me to inform you that the Dark Bladers have had to pull out of the bout. They gave no reason why, but I wish them the best in the future."
"I smell a rat..." Tyson grumbled.
"But, in their place, I have found a suitable replacement, so there will be a bey-battle after all!"
As the crowd cheered, Tyson fought the urge to run up to Boris and clock him in the jaw. The Bladebreaker captain knew that something was up, and as he clenched his fists, he felt a reassuring hand on his left wrist, turning to see Hilary.
"I know what you're thinking," Hilary said. "I kind of want to do the same thing too." She felt Tyson relax a little, so she continued. "But if we make any sudden movements, we could jeopardise the real reason we're here."
Tyson nodded, feeling himself grow calmer before gently hugging his girlfriend, who rested her head on his shoulder, shifting a bit in her seat in an attempt to get more comfortable as Boris kept speaking.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like you to welcome back... the Barthez Battalion!" he said.
The crowd started cheering as the four bladers walked out from their respective entrance, waving at the crowd before going over to their bench, waiting patiently for Boris to announce the first match.
"Whoa, this is new!" Brad said from the commentators' booth. "What do you make of this, AJ?"
"Well Brad, I think it might be a blessing in disguise," AJ replied. "The Barthez team has always shown great skill in the dish, so the fights should be exciting regardless of who the Blitzkrieg Boys' opponents are!"
Tyson felt himself growing agitated again, but before he could say anything, he took a deep breath to calm himself before Tala spoke first, demanding to know what was happening, much like Tyson.
"Hey, Boris! What's the big deal?" Tala asked.
"The big deal is that you have new opponents," Boris replied. "There's no point in arguing; just go out there and battle!"
"If you think that-"
Tala's sentence was cut short by a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Bryan. Closing his eyes, Tala nodded, turning to glare at Boris briefly before going over to sit at his bench with his team-mates.
'We'll play your game for now, Boris...' the Blitzkrieg Boys' leader said to himself in his mind. 'But you won't get away with this crazy scheme, whatever it is...'
"Now that all of that drama is over, let's get our first match under way!" Boris announced. "Spencer from the Blitzkrieg Boys will battle Aaron from the Barthez Battalion!"
Before Spencer went out to face his opponent, he stopped as a voice called his name. "What's up?" he asked.
Tala stood. "Be careful around him. We don't know for sure, but if Barthez is back, then he might be up to his old tricks again."
"Got it," Spencer nodded.
The large Blitzkrieg blader walked out to the dish, waiting as his opponent made his way there as well, the focus in both bladers' eyes not faltering for a second as they stared each other down.
"Looks like they both mean serious business," Brad said. "Spencer and his Seaborg bit-beast are absolute powerhouses. But will his strength be enough to get the first win?"
"Who knows, Brad?" AJ replied. "Aaron is a very underrated blader, and him and his Rushing Boar are resilient as all heck, so this should be very entertaining!"
As Boris called for the dish to be shown, Spencer looked closer at Aaron, and saw that not only was he completely focused, but he had a small smile on his face. Spencer didn't let it intimidate him, but he knows that Aaron was never too confident as a rule.
"What's our dish for this match?" Brad asked.
"This one is the lily-pad dish, which features a lot of watery surprises for our bladers!" AJ replied.
"Spencer could take this," Ray said. "A dish full of water might just give him and Seaborg an advantage."
"He doesn't need it anyway to beat Aaron," Tyson replied. "But it might help. The sooner the Blitzkrieg Boys win, the sooner we can carry on with the investigation."
"You seem confident in them," Kenny said. "Do you still have some bitterness over Miguel not showing up in the first place?"
"It's not that at all. I just really don't like that Barthez might have them in his clutches again, and I love seeing him lose," Tyson grinned. "Even when he cheated, he never knew the value of winning fairly, but Miguel, Claude, Aaron, and Mathilda all did. They got at least one fair fight, even if it did cost them."
"I guess that's why you got so angry when Miguel refused to help us," Hilary said solemnly.
Tyson's own expression softened at that, realising that his girlfriend was right. He replied with a nod before shaking off his concerns and focusing on the battle, eager to see which side would win the opening stanza.
"On my count!" Boris spoke. "3... 2... 1... let it rip!"
Both bladers launched at the same time, their beyblades actually clashing in mid-air before both landing several feet away from each other on individual lily-pads. They both spun in place for a bit before Aaron made the first move, commanding Rushing Boar to skip across the pads and attack Seaborg from the side, but the attack was dodged.
"I've never seen Aaron move so quickly before," Kenny said. "He's definitely showing a lot more confidence in his own skill."
"Either that, or Barthez and Boris are more in his head than we thought," Tyson replied.
"Hey, we can't be so negative right now," said Max. "We need Spencer to win this."
The leader of the Bladebreakers nodded, focusing again on the match as Seaborg chased Rushing Boar across some of the lily-pads before the latter beyblade stopped. Sensing an opportunity, Spencer commanded Seaborg to attack.
"Jump up and hit him hard!" Spencer said.
As Seaborg descended onto its opponent, Aaron grinned, silently willing Rushing Boar to jump up and meet his opponent in the middle of their jump, clashing with them before landing on another lily-pad, remaining still as Seaborg wobbled a bit in the air before landing.
"What a counter move from Aaron!" Brad said. "That really took the wind out of Seaborg's sails!"
"Totally, Brad! Spencer better pace himself here, otherwise this could get ugly!" AJ replied.
Spencer grunted. "Don't let up, Seaborg! Take him out!"
His beyblade shook of its dazed state as it charged for Rushing Boar again, gaining more height before landing down and hitting the opponent, Aaron choosing not to dodge this time, wanting to hold his ground as Rushing Boar and Seaborg spun against each other, causing sparks to fly.
"Aaron really is playing smart here," Ray commented. "This is the best we've seen him blade."
"He's making Spencer look like an amateur," Tyson said, partially agreeing with Ray. "If Spencer doesn't buck up, then he won't have a chance."
"At least he's not cheating again," Dizzi said offhandedly.
"Can you detect anything in his beyblade? Any enhanced parts at all?" Kenny asked his laptop.
"I can't see anything there. This is all Aaron," Dizzi answered.
"That somehow makes this even scarier," Max replied. "If this is all him, then it makes you wonder if Barthez and Boris have had any say in it."
Kai, remaining silent as ever, kept his eyes on the match as it continued. After the brief grinding match, Seaborg delivered a harsh slam to Rushing Boar, knocking it back a bit on the lily-pad before Rushing Boar did the same thing back, hitting harder and causing Spencer's beyblade to teeter on the edge of the lily-pad.
Spencer chuckled. "Seaborg, let's see if we can't get this guy to take a dip! Stramolyu!"
On command, his whale bit-beast sprouted from its beyblade, letting out a low, rumbling roar before adding more water to the liquid that was in the dish already, causing it to splash around and send Rushing Boar into the air as Seaborg itself opened its mouth, diving down and grabbing Rushing Boar in its jaws, sending it crashing into the water below.
"Could this be it?" Brad asked.
"It's hard to tell," AJ replied. "The dish is kind of waterlogged right now."
After a few moments of silence, the water cleared, the attack from Seaborg having apparently been enough to cause it all to splash out and drench both Bladers' clothes and only leaving a small amount of lily-pads inside the dish. But to everyone's surprise, Rushing Boar was still spinning while Seaborg had dissipated back into its beyblade, which was still spinning.
"It... it's impossible!" Spencer said, seeing his own beyblade wobbling, obviously exhausted from the attack.
"How did he avoid that?!" Tyson said, not able to believe his eyes. "That's one of the strongest attacks we've ever faced!"
Dizzi spoke next. "It appears that Aaron managed to get Rushing Boar to stay on the inside of the waves to avoid any serious impact."
"Damn..." Ray said. "That was a smart move."
"All that power," Aaron finally spoke up, "but not the endurance to back it up. Rushing Boar, let's end this! Spin Charge attack!"
On cue, Aaron's boar bit-beast rose from its beyblade, emitting a loud grunting noise before beginning its attack. It dashed forward at Seaborg, the Rushing Boar beyblade colliding with Spencer's own beyblade before the boar bit-beast started running around in circles in times with its beyblade, which held Seaborg in place as its own pace continued before breaking away from Seaborg, leaving Spencer's beyblade dizzy before the boar roared another loud grunt, charging in time as its beyblade moved towards Seaborg at high-speed, clashing harshly into it and knocking it out of the dish, causing it to land to the left of Spencer.
"And Aaron wins the first match in block four!" Boris announced.
"I can't believe it..." Spencer said, picking up his beyblade. He looked up to see Aaron walking back to his bench, causing him to growl before speaking up. "Hey!"
Aaron paused and turned around. "What's up?"
Spencer just lowered his head before turning around, only saying, "Good match..."
Aaron shrugged and smirked, walking back to his team-mates and sitting back on his bench as Spencer did the same, sitting down and lowering his head into his hands, feeling bad about his loss.
"I... nobody's ever survived that..." he said.
Tala put a hand on his team-mate's shoulder. "Don't feel bad about it. The best we can do is carry on. We all lose sometimes."
Almost cutting the two off, Boris spoke. "The next match will be Claude from Barthez Battalion and Bryan from the Blitzkrieg Boys!"
"Speaking of carrying on, looks like I'm next," Bryan said, standing up before turning to Spencer. "I'll win this for us, buddy. We're not going to lose this tournament to them."
Tala watched as his friend and team-mate walked out to the dish, worried for him as one thought went through his head. 'Just what is Barthez up to?' He then looked up to see the Bladebreakers in the stands as he spoke again in his mind. 'If we don't win this, we're counting on you, Tyson.'
And another one in the books! I found this one easier to write, and I hope that I lived up to my promise of making it more story-based. I think I did, but what I think is irrelevant. I just want to know if you're all enjoying it so far, because I'm having more fun with the story now.
Oh, and before I forget, please, please, please vote on the poll on my page for what you want my next Sonic story to be. It really does matter, and I need more votes.
I'll see you next time, and as always, take care.