So... here we are. After well over three years (almost four) I've finally reached the final chapter of this story. I honestly didn't think that it would take this long, or that I would get this far, or that anybody would even still be reading by now. With my other stories to work on, I just let those things get in the way, and I can't deny that I'm going to miss writing this story. I've honestly had a lot of fun, and to think that this is the last chapter... it just blows my mind. It really does. I want to say thank you to everyone who's stayed with it so far, even if you're joining later, it still means a lot to me. It's been a long time coming, I know, but I needed to get all that off my chest first. So, once again, thank you to everybody, and I'll see you all at the bottom.
The next morning, at Boris' lab...
Hiro Granger awoke in his container. Unlike the containers that held everybody else, his was made for more of a sleep and stasis purpose, as opposed to keeping him under the chips influence, which Boris didn't feel was needed.
He looked around after he woke up, seeing that the room was mostly quiet, save for some scientists going about their work. Boris was busy planning out the meeting with Voltaire via phone call, and Barthez and Dr. K were going over some last minute details on the chips.
Hiro decided to open up his container by simple pushing the glass case over to the left. Since he wasn't under any influence, he had enough energy to simply open the door of his container, stepping out of it before he looked up at Boris' booth.
'Eh, may as well pay him a visit,' Hiro thought to himself, making his way over to the small spiral staircase that led to Boris' booth. As he walked up them, he couldn't help but notice the containers with all the bladers inside them, but tried to pay them no mind.
He soon entered Boris' office, not needing to worry about any guards stopping him as he walked into the room, seeing the current Beyblade chairman smiling as he was finishing his speaking with Voltaire.
"Absolutely, I'm fine with that amount," Boris said, holding out his hand with the palm facing towards Hiro, silently telling him to wait as he carried on. "There'll be no trouble shipping. We have plenty of chips to go around... hmm, yes, the authorities could be an issue, but since my side has most of them bought out, I don't need to worry..."
Hiro was a little bit shocked at this news, but kept his surprise to himself as he walked over to a couch that sat at the side of Boris' room, sitting down on it as he continued to listen in.
"Of course... yes, we'll be there... okay, I'll speak to you then." Boris then hung up, smiling as he turned to hero. "We're all set."
"What was that all about, anyway?" Hiro inquired.
"Voltaire is contacting some fellow businessmen he knows outside of Japan to help extend our reach."
"Wouldn't it be a better idea to start small first?" Hiro suggested. "I mean, we barely even have an idea of where to start with Japan, and now you're reaching out to elsewhere without knowing what could happen?"
"Hiro, relax," Boris reassured. "We'll have scientists in their ears helping them out with the process until they can figure it all out on their own. And besides, we've always looked forward to the ending for us, and it ends with myself, you, Barthez, Dr. K, and the rest of our associates, business or otherwise, as the wealthiest people on the planet."
"And what are you going to do if one of those said associates turns your idea down?" Hiro asked.
Boris grinned. "I shall keep to my word. If they say no, then I won't try to force it on them. If they're not interested in my idea, I'll just take it to somebody else who is. It's as simple as that."
Hiro nodded. "So, that's it? You're not going to hurt them or anything if they say no?"
Boris appeared mock offended. "Why would I do such a thing?"
Hiro didn't take too kindly to Boris' sarcasm, but realised that the man had a point; he hadn't hurt anyone that wasn't necessary, and even those that he had hurt barely had any physical signs of damage. The mental and emotional pain, however? Hiro wasn't too sure on that.
"Well... I can't doubt that," said Hiro. "You haven't hurt anybody without having had good reason."
"I'm glad that you understand that," Boris smiled.
"But just remember to keep that promise, okay? I might be working for you now, but only because you promised you wouldn't hurt my brother or my friends."
Boris grinned. "Of course. I am a man of my word, Hiro. I'll not hurt Tyson, or anybody else."
The blue-haired blader stood up and nodded, turning to leave, before something came to mind. "I just remembered... what did you do to Dickenson and Jones after you were done with them in your office?"
"I sent them back to their hotel. It's much further away from my base, for one thing, and they have their limousine with them if they so wish to use it."
Hiro nodded. "Very good point. They never did figure out how to get here on their own, despite how close they were."
Boris chuckled. "Exactly. And even when they did get here, they were too unconscious to think straight, and had no memory of it."
"Well, as long as everyone stays safe, I'll trust you," Hiro said, finally leaving the room before adding in his head, 'For now, at least.'
He then headed downstairs, taking a look at his brother's container before sighing and turning away, heading for the section where the scientists were at the computers doing their research.
"Hey, Hiro," said one of the scientists. "You heading out?"
"Yeah. I need some fresh air," Tyson's brother replied.
"I can see why. Big day today."
The scientist then typed something on his computer, which caused a small section of wall to shake. Hiro looked off to the side, seeing the large gap between the nearest container and the computers as the aforementioned piece of wall moved to its left, the early morning sunlight pouring through it.
Hiro stepped outside, taking a breath as he noticed two nearby guards leaning against a wall, each with a cigarette in their mouths. The nearer guard was just now lighting his own smoke up as Hiro waltzed over.
"Hey, it's the wonder kid!" said the further away guard through a mouthful of smoke. "What are you doing out of your cage?"
"I'm just getting some fresh air, although I think it'll start to get polluted if I stay around you for too long," Hiro retorted.
"Well, we just lit these babies up, so we ain't putting them out," the first guard replied.
"It's not the cigarettes that I've got a problem with."
The guards growled, but continued to smoke, knowing that they wouldn't win this argument before the first one begrudgingly smoke. "Just get the hell out of here if you don't want to be around the smoke, okay?"
Hiro smirked. "That might be the most intelligent thing that you've said all day."
"Why, you son of a-"
"Cool it, dude," the second guard said, stopping the first one and putting an arm out to stop him from moving. "If we do that to him, then Boris is going to do a lot worse to us."
The first guard stepped back, waving his hand off at Hiro, who took it as an exit, turning around and walking the opposite direction. He soon reached a small alleyway, leaning against one of the walls as he thought to himself.
There were two thoughts that were the most prevalent in his mind, but he knew that he couldn't risk tempting fate in either case. Firstly, he thought about if he should go to Dickenson's hotel and warn him about what was happening, but knew that the guards outside - not to mention everyone else in the building - would get extremely suspicious.
There was also the factor of the security cameras on the outside of the base. They weren't the traditional kind that looked rectangular and swept their gaze from left to right; these ones were more built into the wall, and were much smaller and more compact as a result, almost looking like a small, half-spherical eye.
"Man, those things creep me out," Hiro murmured, not caring that the camera would hear him. He then pressed the back of his head against the wall he was leaning against. 'I have everything I need to take Boris out right now, but I can't risk it... he probably has his suspicions already about what happened with the fire in China. I was just fortunate enough to have been there at the right time when it went down.'
Before he could continue his train of thought, his earpiece tingled, and Boris' voice came through. "Hiro?"
"Yes, sir?"
"We're about ready for our meeting with Voltaire. You're coming with us."
Hiro groaned out a sigh. "Great. I get to ride in one of those big trucks with a bunch of idiots doing the heavy lifting."
"Whoever said we'd be in trucks?"
Before Hiro could question in, he looked up and noticed several helicopters flying over head. Since Boris' base appeared as a massive warehouse to outsiders, there were several landing pads on the roof, spaced out well enough to easily fit six choppers onto them.
"Courtesy of Voltaire, I'm presuming?" Hiro said, unable to hide the grin on his face.
"You presume correctly!" Boris replied.
"Why do we have so many choppers?" Hiro asked. "How many people are we taking with us to Voltaire?"
"We're really only taking Tyson," Boris explained. "The rest of the choppers are all ours. They're going to be piloted and will fly around Japan to deliver the chips to whoever else wanted them!"
"Isn't Voltaire's backing more than three times what the others are worth?"
"It is indeed, but that doesn't mean that we can't have some extra help in distribution!"
Hiro looked to his left at a ladder that hung by the wall. "I'm on my way up!"
Boris hung up in reply, so the blue-haired blader shrugged and climbed up the ladder to the rooftop, seeing Boris just now doing the same from the opposite side. As they shook hands, a pilot, wearing similar gear to Voltaire's normal guards, walked up to the two.
"Hiro? Boris? This chopper's yours," he said.
"Do you have a cable set for the container?" asked Boris.
"We won't need one! We've got enough room in our chopper!" replied the pilot. "I hope your guys are strong enough to carry it up!"
"If not, then I really should have invested in more elevators!" Boris joked.
Hiro chuckled, then turning to his right to see a pair of Boris' guards raising up from the ground. They hadn't used a ladder, but one of the staircases surrounding the building, and easily carried the container up.
"Where do you want it?" asked one of the guards.
"Just leave it here then get back inside!" Boris replied. "We'll take it from there!"
"You sure you don't want some extra security?" the other guard replied.
"I think we're covered!" Hiro spoke for Boris.
"All right! We'll stay back!" replied the guard.
Boris nodded, turning to the pilot as two of Voltaire's guards came by and hauled Tyson's container onto the helicopter. Thankfully, there was enough room for Boris and Hiro to sit on the chopper as well as hold Tyson's container, not to mention Voltaire's guards.
The doors of the chopper closed as the blades picked up speed once more before finally taking off into the air. Boris smiled and looked down at the other choppers as the pilots of said choppers exited the aerial vehicles, conversing with Barthez and Dr. K as they joined them.
"Aren't they coming with us?" Hiro asked. "I'm sure that Voltaire would be more swayed if we brought them along."
"It's best that they sort out Voltaire's pilots with the correct locations," replied Boris. "They're just planning ahead, is all. Always best to get what they need in order."
"Good thinking," Hiro replied.
The rest of the ride went by in silence, with the exception of Boris getting another phone call from Voltaire to confirm that the helicopters had made it. As Boris and Voltaire conversed, Hiro looked at the container that held his brother.
'I swear, Tyson, I just need one shot, then I'm getting you out of there...' Hiro thought to himself. 'After that, we'll rescue everyone else, save Dizzi, and take out Boris and Voltaire and the others once and for all. You just have to trust me.'
Soon, the choppers had reached their destination, landing on the roof of Voltaire's huge mansion. The man himself was waiting nearby the door of his rooftop, standing clear back with an arm over his eyes as the chopper landed.
Boris and Hiro then exited the chopper, and two of Voltaire's guards walked over to help grab Tyson's container. Boris grinned and walked over to Voltaire, extending his hand outwards as he walked.
"Good to see you," Boris said as their hands shook.
"Likewise," Voltaire replied.
Hiro stepped forward. "How are we going to get Tyson's container inside the building?"
"We're not carrying it inside the building," Boris said.
"Wait..." Hiro said, realising what was happening. "You're going to have the battle up here? On the roof?"
"Yes," Voltaire answered. "It will save time, for one thing."
"Wouldn't it be better to do it inside? There could be less collateral damage that way," Hiro pointed out.
"True, but we don't have a lot of people here to get damaged," Boris replied. "And besides, we've nobody to broadcast to to prove our product. That was already done last night."
"And I am the one who arranged the locations where we'll be selling," Voltaire added with a grin.
"So, what is the purpose of this battle?" Hiro asked.
Boris chuckled. "Ah, Hiro... still so naive, even after all this time. Your brother is the strongest blader on the planet. This battle is to prove that even he of all people can be made weak."
"What reason do you have to believe that he is truly the strongest?"
"It's simple," Boris replied. "After all of the things I've seen him do in a bey-dish, all of his opponents, every challenge that he has faced... he has never backed down, even if that cost him a win or two. What makes him so strong is that he truly believes in the sport of Beyblade itself. That is why we're having this battle. We're going to shatter his belief in beyblading, even if he won't be completely aware of it. We're going to rip away every good thing about Beyblade, and not just for Tyson... but for the whole world."
Hiro clenched his teeth. "What, you're going to force him to lose? What would be the point? We don't have anybody else up here to witness it, besides all the guards."
"And why do you think that is?" Voltaire asked.
Hiro looked back and forth between the two men, growing worried. He then felt a pair of hands on either side of him, causing him to look left and right at the pair of Voltaire's guards that had grabbed him and were carrying him forward.
"What should we do with him, boss?" they asked.
Voltaire shrugged, turning to Boris. "He works for you. It's your choice."
Boris looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling. "Let's make him watch what's going to happen. He said that none will be here to witness it. Well... let's change that..." Boris then leaned down, whispering. "I know that you've been helping your friends out, Hiro... as good as you are, you're not that good."
Hiro then felt one of the guards place a hand on top of his head and wrench it upwards so he could watch. Before long, he stared as his little brother was helped out of his container. The multitude of tubes and wires that were connected to Tyson retracted back into the walls of the container, and Tyson's eyes slowly blinked open as he stumbled forwards.
"Tyson..." Hiro mumbled.
Boris chuckled and walked over to the older Granger brother. "Did you really think I was too stupid to not have noticed that you were helping them this entire time? Did you think I didn't know about China?"
"What about China?" Hiro growled. "So, I went there and saved people from burning to death. I'm sorry if that put a damper on your plans." Hiro glared at Boris. "And if I remember, you sent me over there to follow them, just like I did all over the world."
Boris smirked. "Quite the opposite. I would have expected nothing less. True, I did send you there to track them, as I did with everywhere else they went... but you weren't supposed to stop the fire. After all, who do you think started it?"
Hiro's gaze narrowed. "You bastard... do you know how many people could have died? How did you even start that fire if you weren't there?"
"I merely gave an order to a guard who I sent to track you, but only to China. After that, I called him back."
"So, you set a small village on fire in the wake of Ray and Mariah's engagement all just to test if I was trustworthy?"
"And also to see how much you still cared for your brother and your friends. When the guard reported back, he told me what you did, and I knew that it would have been best to let you carry on following them..."
Hiro struggled against the guards that held him down. "Let my brother go!" he screamed. "This whole time, you knew? You knew about everything, and you let me carry on anyway? You knew that I saved that kid from the fire, and you didn't stop me?!"
Boris shrugged. "I wanted to see just how far you would still go for the ones you love. It seems as though the Granger name is rife with nobility and courage no matter who carries it."
Hiro shook his head. "You won't get away with this!"
"And you're not going to stop me," Boris snapped, being quick. He then pulled out his own beyblade and launcher, both having been customised, as well as the rip-chord. He noticed as Tyson was silently willed to follow suit, standing straight and preparing Dragoon.
"Tyson!" Hiro called out. "Don't do it! Don't fall for it! If you're in there, then I know that you can hear me! Please! Put your beyblade away and stop!"
"He can't hear you any more..." Boris growled.
Voltaire looked over Boris' beyblade. "I see that you didn't need a bit-beast."
The purple-haired man shrugged. "I would have, but didn't have enough time. And plus, the only bit-beast that we had has already been all used up. There's barely enough of her left."
"I hope that there's still some for me," Voltaire said. "I'd very much like to research how she works..."
"We can make that arrangement," Boris grinned. "Now, would you mind calling the match?"
"Not at all," Voltaire spoke. "Bladers, ready!" Both Boris and Tyson prepared their launchers, and Voltaire began the count down. "3... 2... 1... LET IT RIP!"
Tyson and Boris both launched at the same time, their blades clashing right off the bat. Boris' blade was an old Black Dranzer model, but since it had no bit-beast, it wasn't too much of a threat. It was still pretty powerful, though, as proven when it slammed Dragoon back hard.
"What's the matter, Tyson?" Boris taunted. "You look half-asleep!"
Hiro gritted his teeth as he watched Boris taunt his brother, and struggled once more against the guards that held him down before one of them pushed a knee into his back, causing him to lay prone on the ground while his head was forced upwards.
Boris grinned as he landed a particularly harsh shot on Dragoon, causing it to spin and turn over onto its side, giving Tyson a loss. But, instead of picking up his beyblade and walking away as he normally would, Tyson picked up Dragoon and launched it once more.
Hiro once again tried to speak out to his brother, but he knew that even the thought of it was hopeless. No matter what, Tyson wouldn't be snapping out of the chip-induced trance any time soon, and the younger Granger brother continued to blade weakly.
It was then that Boris spoke. "Tyson! Open your eyes! This is what your future will be!"
Hiro wondered why Boris spoke to Tyson in his comatose state, but then noticed that his younger brother snapped out of his trance briefly, shaking his head and looking around where he was, only to see his beyblade get slammed over towards him, landing on its top as it stopped before Tyson's feet.
"Wh-What is happening?" Tyson closed his eyes and shook his head once more. "Ugh... how long was I out... and was I sleepwalking?"
"Tyso-"
"Shut up!" said the guard whom stomped on Hiro's back to silence him.
"Hiro!" Tyson said. He looked up at the guards. "Let him go!" He growled and turned to Boris and Voltaire. "Tell your goons to let my brother go! Now!"
"Oh, Tyson..." Boris shook his head. "You're in no position to be making threats..."
Tyson looked down at Dragoon, picking it up. "You... you're not just hurting my brother and friends, now you're hurting my beyblade?"
"I'm not just hurting your beyblade," Boris replied. "In fact, hurting doesn't even describe it. I'm going to destroy everything that you love about Beyblade, and you're going to see the worst parts of it..."
He then grinned as he watched Tyson drop to a knee, smiling as the chip in the champion's head activated, causing Tyson to become subservient once more. Tyson set up his launcher once more and fired his beyblade.
'Tyson... wake up...' Hiro pleaded in his mind. 'Please... you have to snap out of this... I know that you can do it...'
Meanwhile, at the hotel...
Mr. Dickenson awoke, shaking his head as he looked around to see that he was back in his hotel bed. He sat up and turned to his side to grab his cane before looking down and realising that he was still wearing his clothes from earlier. The only thing he needed was...
"Glasses..." he mumbled as he turned to his left, grabbing the spectacles and slipping them on with ease. He lifted himself to his feet and walked around his bed, calling out. "Jones? Are you all right?"
The man whom Dickenson entrusted as his driver was found just waking up himself, moving to the side of what he thought was a bed, but turned out to be floor, making Dickenson inadvertently chuckle as his friend fell from the couch to the ground.
"Ow..." Jones said, sitting up. "What happened?"
Dickenson shrugged as his friend stood up. "I wish I knew. All that I remember is that we found Boris' hideout, and I think we were in his office... but my memory fades at that point."
"Likewise," Jones replied, wiping his mouth and seeing some crusted blood. "Whatever they did to me, they obviously tried to clean me up."
"Maybe they didn't want to seem too suspicious when they returned us here."
"How did we get back here, anyway?"
It was then that their room door opened, and a young man dressed in a green/grey suit with a hat of the same colour stepped inside. "Ah, Mr. Dickenson. Are you and your friend feeling better?"
"A little bit," Dickenson spoke. "How did we get back?"
"A man dressed in grey brought you back. Apparently, you'd had too much to drink at the nearby bar," the hotel porter replied. "And... Jones, was it? How's your nose feeling after that fall?"
"Just fine, thank you," Jones replied.
The porter nodded. "Good to hear. I have your bags packed and ready, and your limousine is parked just outside."
"Thank you," said Dickenson.
Jones then felt around his pockets, but couldn't find what he was looking for, so he turned to the porter. "Keys, please?" The porter threw them over, and Jones caught them. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." The porter then stood back and waited by the side of the door.
Dickenson and Jones smiled at the porter and walked past him as they made their way down the hall to the staircases. As they drew closer, it was then that the porter asked a question.
"How are the Bladebreakers? Still at the tournament?"
Dickenson and Jones both cautiously turned around before the older man spoke. "As far as we know, yes. Why?"
The porter pulled out a small gun and shifted it to his left, wanting Jones to turn around, which he did. The porter stepped up close behind Jones and Dickenson as he held the gun in one hand while carrying the container for their suitcases in the other.
"I heard that they got a little bit sidetracked," the porter said, his formerly jovial and formal nature becoming a little bit more menacing. "Apparently, they got involved in some bad dealings with Boris."
"Is that so?" Dickenson replied.
"Is is so," the porter replied. "And Boris has made a business proposition with you, Mr. Dickenson."
"What would that be?"
"He wants you to leave Japan. He wants you to cut off any connections that you have with the authorities to try and stop him, and he wants you to leave your precious Bladebreakers alone. If you do so, then he won't hurt them... much."
The porter pressed the gun harder against Jones' back as the young man spoke. "I've got a counter offer for him..."
That was all that he said before turning around quickly, grabbing the guard's arm and turning it upwards as the gun fired a bullet into the ceiling, causing some small rubble and bits of dust to fall down into the guard's eyes. Jones took this opportunity to grab the guard's gun arm and slam it against the nearest wall, causing him to drop his pistol, allowing Jones to pick it up, aiming down the sights at the guard, who was on the floor clutching his injured arm.
"We'll be taking our own bags, thank you."
Jones then delivered a hard kick to the guard's face, knocking him out instantly before quickly placing his gun into his back pocket. As he reached over to grab the container, footsteps made their way up the stairs, and a pair of beefy men stood before Jones and Dickenson.
"What seems to be the problem?" Dickenson asked.
One of the guards looked over at the unconscious body of Boris' assassin. "Whatever it was, it seems to be over."
"You knew that he didn't work here?" Jones asked.
"No, we didn't know anything about this," said the other security guard. "I'd recognise our staff from top to bottom. He's not one of ours."
"I trust that you'll not tell anybody about this," Dickenson said.
"Well, the manager will find out for certain, but this will stay in the hotel," said the guard. "Was anybody hurt by the gunshot?"
"Nah," Jones replied. "It just went into the ceiling. Since the weapon's so small, I doubt that the bullet even made it through to the floor up there."
"Well, from what we've heard, we'll let you keep the weapon if you need it," said the first security guard. "If whoever sent this one after you is anything to go by, then I think that you have a lot worse coming your way."
"Thank you for understanding," Dickenson smiled. The assassin was then heard groaning, so Dickenson shook his head and walked over, hitting him across the face with his cane to knock him out again. "That felt pretty good."
Jones chuckled. "Come on, sir. We'd better leave while we can."
"Yes, of course," Dickenson replied.
The two quickly made their way past the hotel's security guards, with Jones looking back to notice one of them putting the luggage back inside their room while the other easily picked up Boris' assassin, lifting him over one arm.
Shoving that aside, Jones and Dickenson soon found themselves in the front foyer of the hotel, making their way out the front doors to see their limousine parked, still in pristine condition, much to Jones' shock.
"You'd think that they would have tried to damage it in some way," he said as he unlocked the back door to let Dickenson in.
"Perhaps Boris had too much faith in his enforcer," Dickenson shrugged as he entered the car.
Jones quickly swivelled around to the driver's side door, opening it up and hopping in before instantly pushing the key into the ignition, reaching for a button nearby to open the partition to speak to Dickenson. "I'd recommend a seat-belt, sir. We're going to be driving very fast for a very long time."
"Are we going to the police station?" asked Dickenson.
"There'd be no point," Jones replied as he started to pull the car out of its parking space. "Boris has most of them on his payroll by now, and the people we can trust wouldn't get away with helping us."
"What about the photographs?" Dickenson added.
"As a safety measure, I save the picture on my phone just in case," Jones replied, pulling a sleek looking mobile phone with a black case from his pocket and swiping around. "Just need to find them... and there we go," he said, finding an image which had each picture of what he and Dickenson hoped was the path to Boris' hideout next to each other in a collage.
Jones then placed his phone onto a small holder on the dashboard of the limousine before resuming his drive. He looked back and forth between the pictures on his phone and the road he was driving on, hoping that the turns and swerves that he made were the right call.
As Jones drove, Dickenson sat in the back, also hoping that Jones had it right with the pictures. The older man sat back in his chair, sighing a bit out of worry. He had good reason, too, and not just because of the hell that his bladers were going through.
"I know that this is kind of a dumb question, but is everything okay, sir?" Jones asked, noting the look of worry on the older man's face.
Dickenson sighed. "It's not that I don't have faith in you, but... what if we don't make in time? Or worse, what if we do make it and can't stop it? We have no outside help, I haven't been able to contact anybody, and nobody has a clue as to what's happening except for us."
Jones nodded. "Not to mention that he sent somebody to try and scare us out of the city. If he's willing to go to such lengths, then that should be all the more reason to try and stop him."
Dickenson chuckled slightly. "You could have a good chance at getting a shot off on somebody, but considering how many guards Boris and Voltaire combined will have, I don't think there'd be much of a chance."
"If it's worth a try to save Tyson and the others, then I'd give it a shot, no pun intended." Jones then sighed. "I just wish that we had a plan. With all of this happening out of nowhere, we're ill-prepared and ill-equipped."
"And with no help from the police force, we're even worse off," Dickenson noted. "We have no sources of outside help available to us..."
"What about Tyson's father?" asked Jones.
"He's too far away too reach," replied Dickenson. His eyes then widened. "Wait... perhaps Max's mother?"
"Didn't she get caught too?" Jones reminded. "Not to mention that Max's dad is still stuck in America, so he'd be hard to contact on such short notice."
Dickenson nodded. "I wish this were easier than it actually is..." He sighed. "Let's try to think of something in the short run while we wait to get there. Talking about it isn't helping us out at the moment."
Jones sighed in agreement. "Yeah, you're right." He then continued to follow the directions made out to him on the phone, frowning slightly. "They're in a cohesive order. Well, as cohesive as I can make them... I guess I'm just going the wrong way?"
Dickenson looked outside the window. "What the..."
Jones shrugged and also looked outside. "We're... we're back at the hotel? What?" He then looked at his phone once more, just seeing the pictures shift. "Dammit! I've been hacked!" He picked up his phone and threw it out the window.
"Smart choice," Dickenson said. "Somewhat reckless, but smart. No doubt that Boris knows where we are. He was probably tracking us."
"Not just that, but we probably have less friends than we thought on the police force," Jones added.
"What do you remember from the pictures?"
"Not a lot, considering that we didn't make it that far, and that I had to keep my eyes on two things at once," Jones replied. He paused for a second. "I'm trying to match those pictures with the trail that Kenny left us the other night..."
Dickenson smiled. "That's a good plan. I wish it were easier to think back, though. It was rather late at night, and we all dropped like rocks when we got back to the hotel."
Jones shrugged and drove on. "If I find the right path, I'll let you know."
Dickenson nodded before sitting back in his seat, closing his eyes in thought. 'I pray that Tyson is safe... now more than ever...'
Back on the roof of Boris' hideout...
"Ooh! A good slam there from Tyson!" Boris said, chuckling as he bladed.
Hiro growled, but remained where he was, as he was still being held down by two of Boris' guards. He didn't dare speak out again, lest he suffer more hits from the guards that kept him pinned to the floor, forcing him to watch his brother.
It was an endless cycle of it, now; Boris would start a match with Tyson, force the champion to lose telepathically via the chip in his head, then every two or three times of doing this, he would snap Tyson back to normal to see what was happening. But before Tyson could do anything to stop it, Boris would force him back to his brainwashed state, and repeat.
This time was now the fourteenth time it was happening. By the ninth, Tyson was starting to cry a little bit. By the eleventh, Dragoon itself had become damaged to the point of unrecognisable, with the bit-chip being the least damaged part, and even that had a few cracks in it.
Tyson was snapped back to reality once more, looking down at Dragoon. Instead of turning him back to subservience, Boris allowed Tyson to speak a few words this time as he picked up his harshly damaged beyblade.
"Why... why are you doing this? What is the purpose of torturing me?!" Tyson demanded, turning to Hiro. "At least let him go! Double agent or not, he's still my brother!"
"It's not that he didn't betray you," Voltaire spoke. "It was that he ultimately did betray Boris."
"I'm sorry," Tyson spat, "but what the hell does that have to do with you? You're Boris' backer here, I'm going to assume. And, what, you suddenly have a say in this because of the fact that you're partnered up now?"
Voltaire smirked. "Oh, Tyson... still so young and naive... you seem to underestimate how much more this deal means to us both than just money and making an army. We partnered up for more than just that. We have both wanted this for a long time, but due to how things were, it simply wasn't possible." Voltaire then chuckled. "Did you really think that I'd be stupid enough to make this deal without knowing that I'd get something from it myself?"
Tyson growled and chuckled. "Doesn't change the fact that you're still a bad relic to the world of blading these days. Heck, you were a has-been when we first met you all that time ago." His smile grew wider as he got more daring. "Both you and Boris are just doing this out of spite because you could never beat me fair and square! You could never beat any of us, so you resorted to all of this underhanded crap just to get one over on us!"
"Tyson! Don't-"
Hiro was cut off once more by the guards holding him down, so Tyson looked over at said guards. "And what about you guys? How does it feel to be a bunch of underpaid lackeys to a washed-up cheater like Boris?" He then had a thought. "It's a shame that Dr. K and Barthez aren't up here to join us! I'm sure that they'd more than happily agree with me on this, especially considering how much work they must have put into this plan too!"
Boris grunted. "That does it..."
He willed Tyson to fall under the influence of the chip again, sending the champion back on his knees and forcing him to hold his ears and scream as he felt the influence take him over again.
'N-No!' Tyson said in his head as his mouth kept screaming. 'I... I won't cave in again! I can't!'
"Give in already!" Boris growled, gritting his teeth.
"I... I won't!" Tyson said. "This has... gone on for... for long enough! And I won't let you get away with it any more!"
Boris kept trying, but felt his own head hurting. Voltaire, noticing, spoke to his guards. "Restrain Tyson, now!"
They moved to do so, but at that moment, Tyson's beyblade began to glow. Despite how excessive the damage done to it was, it was shining brightly, and the bit-chip started to glow also, glowing a brilliant blue.
"EVERYBODY GET BACK!" yelled Voltaire.
But it was too late, and Dragoon itself rocketed forth from the beyblade that held it with an almighty roar, turning to see Tyson hurt. Immediately, the guards holding Tyson let him go and backed away as Dragoon surrounded itself around Tyson, its eyes staring Boris and Voltaire down as it began to speak.
"Leave this place immediately," he warned.
Tyson, shaking out the cobwebs, turned to see Dragoon. "Wait... how did you..."
"Just relax," Dragoon replied. "You're safe now."
Tyson smiled. "I forgot that you could actually, you know... talk."
Dragoon nodded. "If I did it more often, perhaps you'd listen more," he playfully jibed.
"Hey..." Tyson chuckled.
"How on Earth..." Boris said, amazed. "This... this is incredible! And here I thought that Dizzi was the only one who was smart and powerful enough to do this!"
Voltaire looked up, also amazed. "I helped create one of the darkest bit-beasts in the world, and even I'm astonished by this."
Tyson smirked. "I don't think that your flattery will get you anywhere right now."
Dragoon moved closer, coming immediately face-to-face with Boris and Voltaire. "You are going to let us all leave. You're going to give Dizzi back to us, and you're going to relinquish your hold over the authorities. Speaking of which, you're going to hand yourselves over to them. You're also going to destroy this warehouse and everything in it."
"You're also going to stop production and distribution of those chips around the world," Tyson added on. "And you're going to cut off any deals you made with other people."
"What about us?" one of Boris' guards said.
"Remember what Dragoon said about handing yourselves over?" Tyson grinned.
"Will that be all?" Boris asked, backing away slightly.
Tyson thought for a second. "Shake on it?" he said, extending his right hand.
Boris grinned as Tyson before nodding, reaching his own right hand over to shake. "Are you familiar with the first rule of a magic trick?"
Tyson gave a quizzical look. "What does that have to do with anything?"
Boris revealed his left hand as it held a small black lever with a red button on the top of it. "Always remember which hand you're looking at..."
Before Tyson could respond, Boris pressed the button, and the warehouse started rumbling, and Boris looked up at the choppers nearby as the majority of them left, packing up with several guards of both Boris and Voltaire.
"Ahahahaaa!" Boris laughed loudly. "Tyson, you have ten minutes to save all of your friends! But, while you're doing that, I'll be long gone!"
He hopped into the last remaining chopper, followed closely by Voltaire, and the vehicle began to take off. Before it could get very far, however, Dragoon reached a clawed hand up to grab the chopper, stopping it in its tracks.
"I'll hold him down! You two go and save your friends!"
Tyson nodded, looking over to Hiro who was no longer pinned down, and the two nodded at each other. Tyson, before stopping to leave, looked back at Dragoon, then at his beyblade, before shaking his head and climbing down the ladder on the side of the building, deciding it was better to leave them behind.
As soon as Tyson made it to the bottom of the ladder, the ground shook, and he stumbled. "Whoa!"
Hiro held Tyson up, preventing him from falling before speaking. "Are you all right?" Tyson nodded. ""Good. Come on. We've got to move."
Back in the limousine...
Jones continued to drive around, looking left and right as he spoke to Dickenson. "I think we're getting closer, sir..."
Dickenson also looked around. "Well, at least we're not going in circles any more, or being tracked."
Jones smirked, and was about to reply, until he felt the faint rumbling of an earthquake start to shake the car, causing him to grip hard onto the wheel to brace himself before he looked over to Dickenson.
"Is everything okay, sir?"
Dickenson nodded, sitting back up after having been knocked over to his side. "Oof... I'm fine..." As he got back up fully, he looked out the window, seeing a blue glow. "It... it can't be..."
Jones turned to see where Dickenson was looking before looking out the window himself, also seeing it. "That... is that what I think it is?"
Dickenson nodded. "Yes. Drive. Now."
Jones needed no further instructions, instantly pressing his foot to the accelerator and beginning to drive in the direction of the blue glow, managing to find his way around the alleyways and buildings that led there before they reached a narrow pathway.
"We won't be able to get the car through here," Jones said, opening the door to get out.
Dickenson opened his own door, also exiting, joining his driver at the front of the car before looking past the alleyway, seeing some of the blue glow from Dragoon lighting the path for them.
"That's the way to go," Dickenson said.
"Roger," Jones replied.
They made their way through the alleyway, and turned to their right where the light was coming from. Their eyes traced upwards as they saw Dragoon's tail swishing back and forth as it held its ground.
"Mr. D! Jones!" Tyson said happily, running over to the two as his brother followed.
"Tyson! Hiro! You're both safe!" Dickenson said, hugging the two boys.
"There's no time to waste," Hiro said. "We have only a short amount to save our friends, but we can't find a way inside."
"What happened?" Jones asked.
"Boris rigged the place with explosives as a fail-safe," Hiro replied. "And we can't exactly go in through the front door."
"I've got a key-card for them," Jones said, pulling out the gun he took from Boris' enforcer earlier. He spotted a camera and looked over at Hiro. "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do..."
Hiro looked back and forth, instantly getting the idea. "This ain't the first time..." he said.
Jones smiled. "You're a good man, Hiro."
He then spun the gun around so that he was holding the slider before smashing the bottom of the magazine against the older Granger brother, hitting him under his left eye. Apparently the corner of it hit hard enough to open a cut.
Jones then turned Hiro around and grabbed him from behind, pushing him forward until they were both in view of the camera, with Tyson and Dickenson rushing to hide against the walls of the warehouse, being careful not to be spotted by the cameras.
"Knock knock," Jones said, putting the gun against Hiro's head for effect.
"Jones... what are you doing here?" said Dr. K's voice through the small speaker attached to the camera.
"I'm here to make a peace offering. Tyson escaped, but I managed to catch this one instead."
Dr. K chuckled. "You're willing to betray your own friends so quickly just to save others? I think I like you."
"You going to open the door or what?" Jones grunted. "Remember, you probably need a way out of there yourself."
"Oh, so pushy," Dr. K chided. "All right, I'll open up the door."
After the sounds of buttons being pushed was complete, a section of metallic wall began to move besides them, pushing outwards and sliding over to the right. Jones nodded at the camera, making the nod more surreptitious to Tyson and Dickenson, before walking over to the door, keeping Hiro held close while Tyson and Dickenson quickly moved around.
Jones entered past the door, holding Hiro still. "Here you go. Do whatever you want with him." He pushed the younger man over, causing him to stumble.
"I think that we will," said Barthez as some guards surrounded Jones.
Hiro then smiled up at Barthez before reaching behind himself. "It's been a while since I've needed to do this..."
"Do what?"
Instead of speaking, Jin plucked out a small ball from his back pocket and slammed it on the ground, causing a bright white flash of smoke to pop out, covering a small area of the ground floor of the warehouse. Jones covered his own eyes and coughed, and Hiro smiled, dashing through the smoke and taking out the guards that were surrounding himself and Jones.
"That's our cue..." Tyson said, rushing in with Dickenson.
Jones himself smiled, knowing that the smoke wasn't going to hurt him, so he took a chance, reaching over for Barthez and holding him much like he was doing with Hiro earlier, keeping the gun to his head.
Dr. K coughed a bit as the smoke cleared, then gasped as she saw several guards knocked out and Barthez being held by Jones. "Let him go this instant!" she demanded.
"You tell your scientists to let all of the bladers free, and to disable the chips in their heads first," Jones replied.
Dr. K grunted. "Anything else?"
"We want Dizzi back," Tyson added on.
"Y-You do care about me..." the laptop said quietly.
"Dizzi!" Hiro exclaimed. "You're still okay?"
"I'll be f-fine... their experiments really took it out of my battery..."
Tyson chuckled. "Don't worry, okay? We're going to get everyone out of here, and Kenny will fix you back up." He then turned to Dr. K. "Free my friends. Now."
The doctor sighed and nodded over at the scientists. "You heard him. Let them free, and disable the chips."
Within a few seconds, all of the containers opened up, and the bladers stumbled out, either landing on their feet, kneeling on one or both knees, or just coming short of falling forwards completely.
Tyson and Hiro rushed around, and the younger brother instantly went over to Hilary. "Are you okay?"
"Tyson?" Hilary asked, her eyes still hazy before they snapped open. "Tyson! Oh god!" She smothered him with kisses all over his face as she hugged him tight. "Are you okay?"
Tyson blushed a bit before backing away and nodding. "I'm fine."
"How did you escape from Boris?"
"It's a really long story, but we don't have time," Tyson said. "If we don't leave soon, this whole place is going to explode."
Hilary nodded, then looking back to see the other beyblading teams also being helped to their feet, mostly by other bladers. Soon after Kenny was released, he didn't stumble at all, much to everyone's surprise, and instantly made a break for Dizzi.
"Is she going to be okay?" the chief asked worryingly.
"Eh, nothing a little ointment won't fix," Dizzi joked. "I'll be okay..."
"Hate to break this up," said Jones, "but we need to move."
Kenny nodded, seeing all of the wires still attached to Dizzi and unhooking them. He was surprised when a second pair of hands began working alongside his own to unplug the wires, and Kenny looked to his side to see Emily.
"Thought you could use some help," Emily smirked.
"Aw... that's adorable! You made Kenny blush!" Dizzi said.
Kenny simply giggled in reply before departing, holding Dizzi in his arms. "I'll set you back to normal the first chance I get, okay?"
"Much appreciated. For now, let's focus on not dying in a fiery explosion."
As soon as Kenny left the door, which Dickenson was helping people through, the bespectacled blader noticed that Jones had handed Barthez back over, keeping his gun pointed at both Barthez and Dr. K.
"Are you guys going to come with us or what?" Jones said.
"Wait, what?" Barthez said. "You're not going to leave us here?"
"Well, part of Boris' deal was that he'd hand you over to the authorities, and he can't live up to his deal if you two are buried under umpteen tons of metallic rubble," Jones grinned. "Plus, he did promise to cut off all ties to them, and with him being held up, you might have to do it for him."
"Can it wait until we're clear of the blast zone?" Dr. K asked.
Jones nodded. "Get your goons to tag along, too. Also part of Boris' deal."
Dr. K nodded and turned to them all, seeing the guards that Hiro fought earlier begin to get back up slowly. "Hurry your asses up, or get blown to kingdom come! Your choice!"
"And prison is the best alternative to that?" a scientist asked.
"It's the best option you have right now," K growled. "Stop arguing and escape!"
Within moments, all of the remaining guards and scientists just nodded, escaping from the warehouse and joining everyone else. As soon as they all left, the door closed behind them as another earthquake erupted.
"Not much time left," Jones said. "Come on, we've got to get through the alleyway!"
After everyone made it through, they soon found themselves in front of Dickenson's limousine, all looking back to see the warehouse building beginning to shake once more as a low boom was soon heard.
"What was that?" Max asked, worried.
"That was one of the bombs under the building," Barthez replied. "They'll take out the support to the building, and cut off the connection to the tournament arena."
"That's not a bad plan," Max shrugged. "Credit where it's due, and all that."
Hilary joined in on the ensuing laughter, and then turned around to look for Tyson. In the rush to get everybody out of the building, it had gotten extremely crowded around the limousine, even after they walked further away.
"Where's Tyson?" Hilary asked Kai.
"I thought he was with you," the blue-haired blader replied. "You left the building together, right?"
"He must have gotten himself lost when we were all moving out!" Hilary said.
Kai shrugged, then looked up and past Hilary. "There he is!"
Hilary turned to follow Kai's line of sight, noticing that Tyson was heading back to the building. "Tyson! Wait!" she called, running through the alleyway, followed by Kai.
Tyson stopped and turned around. "Dragoon, Boris, and Voltaire are still up there! I can't just leave them behind!"
"But if you go out there, you could be killed!" Hilary said. "The building's going to go down any minute now!"
"I don't care!" Tyson replied. "We didn't make it this far to stop at the last second!"
"At the risk of your own life?!" Kai said, louder than he usually would. "It's not worth the risk, Tyson!"
"Says the guy who almost died when he fought Brooklyn," Tyson reminded, smirking to soften his words. "If you could step up and defeat him, then I can do this!"
Kai grunted. "Urgh... fine. But you better not die up there, you hear me?"
Tyson nodded, then walked over to Hilary, pulling her into a kiss. She kissed back, leaning up against him and briefly wrapping her arms around him before the kiss was stopped by Tyson, and he smiled.
"I'll come back, okay?"
"O-Okay..."
Tyson turned back around and made a run for the building, knowing that he'd have to move quickly if he wanted to save Dragoon and bring in Voltaire and Boris, not to mention not get blown up himself.
He made it around the building and found the ladder, climbing up it as fast as he could. As soon as he made it to the top, he saw Dragoon holding the helicopter still, but he stood back to avoid an accidental attack from his bit-beast.
"Boris! I'll only make this offer once, mostly because we're really short on time!" To punctuate this, there was another explosion heard below, taking out another support pillar of the warehouse. "Look, all you have to do is come down quietly, okay?"
"What would be the point?" Boris asked. "All that you're going to do is hand me over to the police anyway!"
"So, what? You'd rather get blown up?" Tyson said.
Voltaire chimed in. "At least if we do, we'll be taking your bit-beast with us!"
Dragoon then spoke up. "You think I'm just that weak? I've been holding back this whole time."
Tyson chuckled. "Waiting for me?"
Dragoon nodded. "I knew you'd come back. You're just that stubborn. And brave. But mostly stubborn."
"Well, bring them down! We can't waste any more time!"
Dragoon grunted and managed to bring the chopper around, settling it onto the ground before moving back so that those on the chopper could jump off of it. Tyson helped them down the ladder, and Dragoon came over to him.
"That should be everyone!" Tyson said. "Let's head back down!"
As soon as he turned to the ladder, however, another earthquake shook and caused it to fall off. Carefully, Tyson turned to a nearby staircase, but also saw that starting to give way as well, and he spotted Boris running towards the alleyway before he turned to face Tyson.
"I'm keeping my end of the bargain, all right?" he said. "As I've told you, I'm a man of my word!"
Tyson smiled at that. "Well, I guess I'd better survive this then, huh?"
Boris grinned and nodded before turning and walking out of the alleyway, joining with everyone else, Voltaire and the other guards on the plane included. Jones walked over to Boris and spoke.
"So, you ready to seal the deal?" he asked, producing a phone from his pocket. "I guess Dr. K didn't have to do this part after all."
Boris took the phone from Jones, typing in the emergency number and waiting. "Hello, Tokyo Police Department? Yes, this is Boris. And... well, there's been a change of plans..."
Back at the rooftop, Tyson walked over to his beyblade, picking it up. As he did, he grimaced slightly at the amount of damage done to it from his brainwashed battle with Boris, but then turned to Dragoon.
"Come on! You need to return to the beyblade!" he said, feeling another rumble. Much harder than the last few times.
"There's no time!" Dragoon replied. "This building is collapsing! We need to find a way off!"
Tyson shrugged. "All the ladders and staircases got taken down from the explosions! Short of jumping, I can't think of much that we can do!" He then paused and his eyes widened. "Dragoon, that's it! We'll jump off the side, and you can catch me! We'll both be fine!"
"Are you certain that it's worth the risk?" Dragoon asked as another explosion went off, sounding a lot closer than the last ones.
"In case you haven't noticed, we're short on time!" Tyson said.
Dragoon didn't speak any more, instead waiting as Tyson rushed over to him. But just before Tyson made it halfway there, there was a huge booming thud from below, and the building finally began to creak and crumble under Tyson's feet.
Dragoon reached forwards as Tyson began falling, and seeing no other options, he rushed as fast as he could towards his friend, jumping down the hole and reaching a claw out for Tyson, who reached a hand of his own back as the building around them collapsed completely.
Outside the alleyway, everyone was shaken as they felt the last of the explosions rumble through the ground and under their feet. Instantly, Hiro regained his balance and looked over at the alleyway as Daichi stood next to him.
"You think he made it?" the red-haired blader asked.
Hiro shrugged. "Let's go find out."
Hiro and Max made their way through the alley, and were soon joined by Hilary, Kenny, Max, Kai, and Ray. They made it out the other side to see the warehouse now reduced to a huge pile of rubble.
"Oh, no..." Ray said, rushing over to start moving the rubble.
The others joined him. "Tyson?" called Hilary. "Are you in there? Can you hear me?"
Kenny stood back and spoke to Dizzi. "Can you detect anything in there?"
"No..." Dizzi said, almost sounding sad. "I think that the rubble is interfering with my sensors. Either that, or..."
"Don't you say the 'or'. I don't want to think about the 'or'," said Hilary.
"Tyson! Come on!" Ray said. "If you're in there, say something!"
The bladers continued to move rubble in every which direction that they could think of, but no matter how much they moved, more just got in the way. They all called out their fallen friend's name, hoping that something would happen... but nothing did.
"Tyson..." Hilary said slowly, tears beginning to form on her eyes.
Daichi put a hand on her shoulder. "I-I'm sorry, Hilary... we tried..." His own voice was starting to sob. "For what it's worth, he went out a hero..."
Kai hung his head for a moment, also shedding a tear for his fallen friend as did everyone else. For a moment, Kai did debate using Dranzer, but he didn't see what difference it would make now.
"Tyson... no..." Hiro said. "Please... please don't let this be the end..." He then rose his head. "Tyson! If you can hear me, then don't quit, okay? You're my brother! You're the best blader in the world! And you can't let this stop you!" He shook for a moment as he calmed down. "I... I won't let this stop you..."
It was then that something underneath the rubble began to shift. Hiro stopped his crying as he looked to see the cracks in the rubble begin to move as a blue glow emitted from underneath it all, and the top of the pile began to shift and move.
"It... it can't be!" Max exclaimed.
"T-Tyson?" Hilary sniffled.
Before anyone could say anything else, suddenly, the top of the rubble pile burst open as Dragoon rose its head upwards with a mighty roar, the rest of its body soon joining it as it shot out from the pile of rubble, holding something in its hands.
"Dragoon!" Ray said. "You... you made it!"
The blue dragon bit-beast nodded, and walked past the rubble to show what was in his arms; Tyson, who was unconscious and looked dirty from all of the rubble, but was breathing slowly in his sleep. Dragoon slowly laid his blader down onto the floor before the rest of the Bladebreakers.
"You saved him..." Hilary said, standing still in shock before speaking again. "Th-Thank you, Dragoon..."
"And thank you all for being his friends," Dragoon responded. "It is your strength that guides him. It always has been that way, and it always will be."
With that, Dragoon closed its eyes as it dissipated into small particles and shrunk into Tyson's beyblade, not just going back inside it, but surrounding it with a blue-white glow when it did, repairing the blade to perfect condition.
As it did this, Tyson's eyes opened slightly. "W-Where am I..." he mumbled.
"Tyson!" Hilary said, instantly walking over and hugging him as he sat up. "I'm so happy that you're okay!"
Tyson hugged back before Hilary helped him stand up. "What happened?" he said.
"You got caught in the building explosion," Max explained. "You were trapped under all the rubble, but Dragoon saved you."
Tyson looked down at his beyblade and simply smiled. 'Thank you, my friend...' he said in his mind.
"So..." Dizzi said, breaking the tension, "now that the champ is still alive, what do we do now?"
"I just want to go back home," Daichi said. "The tournament's done, so there's no point in going back to the arena for the trophy considering that it's empty."
Tyson shrugged. "Eh... the gold doesn't matter to me." He lifted up his beyblade. "This? This is what matters to me..." He smiled and turned to Hilary, kissing her cheek. "You matter to me." He gave her another kiss before turning to his friends. "All of you guys... and everyone out there who helped... you all matter to me."
The others smiled and joined him in a group hug before walking out the alleyway together, smiling as they saw the police force putting a pair of handcuffs on Boris and placing him into the back of a car.
Tyson walked over to the car he was in as the door was still open, and spoke. "For once, you actually kept your end of the deal."
Boris grinned. "Considering what you went through, it would have been downright disrespectful of me to not have gone through with it, now wouldn't it?"
Tyson chuckled at that. "I'd shake your hand, but..."
Boris rolled his eyes. "Point taken. Have you had your fun?"
The champion pursed his lips in thought before nodding. "Yeah, I'm all done now." He then shut the door himself, smiling and waving as an officer got back into the car. "Hope you have fun!"
Hilary soon joined his left side, linking their arms together as she spoke. "So, what's next for the world famous Beyblading champion?"
"Eh, I'm thinking that I might retire young. Let some of the younger kids have a chance, you know?"
Hilary laughed at that and kissed his cheek before leaning her head on his shoulder. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
After that, everyone went their own ways, and Tyson smiled to himself as they did. All of the teams that he got to meet, all of the battles that he got to fight, and all of the things that he got to do... he knew that he wouldn't have ever made it this far if not for his friends. All of these years later, and many more years to come, he knew that in his mind. And with them, he would be prepared to fight anything in his way.
And there it is. That's this story finally finished now. I'm sorry that this chapter took so long, but I wanted it to feel as epic as I was hoping that I was making it out to be. I just hope that you all enjoyed it, because getting back to this story after such a long time away felt pretty good for me, despite all the problems with my old laptop. Anyway, that's officially it. I'll see you all next time for my next story, whenever that will be. Take care, and stay tuned. Until then.