Chapter Text
Being one of the biggest companies and roots of several beybladers who have strived to become stars today, PPB still continues to be one of the highest paid companies after BBA in the world of beyblading.
Speaking of the BBA, for the opposition, take Boris for example, it used to and still probably is the number one target for dirty and underhanded businessmen.
Now that Boris failed to conquer the world of beyblading by ousting the BBA for a short period, is PPB his next target?
A fair blader plays by the rules and doesn’t rely on contraptions but his or her fighting spirit to win matches. This is what is taught under BBA and PPB. Besides, they work hand in hand.
It was one day when a small accusation brought about a twist in the two must trusted companies of all times.
Boris…still clutching on to Barthez who is his fellow little worker, roaming through the dark alleyways in pain. After all, he was never sent to jail anyway. He had fled. Little did people know the truth about him.
What could be his next move?
A disguise.
And when the opportunity crosses him, he shall grab it with four hands.
***
A tall man of about forty with a young boy of about fifteen entered the PPB facility, willing to recruit his son for training.
“Can I speak to Judy Tate?” He addressed the receptionist.
“Uh, right this way, sir,” he pointed out nervously.
Judy was a top-notch scientist at both BBA and PPB. Currently, she was standing calmly with Eddy and Steve at the Beyblade: Attack-Ring lodge.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Tate…” a guard piped in, interjecting Judy as she was passing on orders to her fellow subordinates.
“Adam, you mustn’t allow anyone to enter without an arranged rendezvous or without the consent of high leaders! How did they get past security?” Judy snarled.
She suddenly heard a laugh.
“Not to worry my dear, they got past my consent,” A tall, middle aged made his way through.
“You?”
“He’s a trusted friend of mine and wishes to recruit his son in your training facility.”
“You need to complete the documentation at the front desk first and then-”
“Don’t sweat it, I have him all under control Judy. Let the boy in!”
Judy dropped a sweat. “This is a private facility and I have the rights to any documents-”
“And who is one of the major owners of the PPB, my dear?” The man addressed her coquettishly which made her uneasy, but she trusted him and nodded respectively. “I have the documents, not to worry. We won’t have to go through that bullshit. Besides, you wouldn’t question me out of people, right?”
Judy gave sighed remarks. After a moment of tension and gaze, she finally spoke up.
“Alright. What’s your name, little boy?” She interrogated the boy, kneeling down.
“Elijah Smith. Age fifteen.” He retorted coldly.
“Steve. Eddy. If you will,” Judy eyed, standing up to her feet.
Steve and Eddy escorted Elijah through the hallways leading to the gymnasium.
“Judy, you mustn’t tell any of the employees about this. Capisce?” The man ordered, placing his right palm on her shoulder.
“Listen…ixnay on this intimateness. You know this better than I do. Giving a close friend a free pass is a very dirty, underhanded and cheap trick.” Judy said calmly, furrowing her eyebrows. “But you have my trust, sir.”
“I think we already transcended this topic and I won’t repeat myself again. Off you go, Judy.”
The man was about to walk back to the main door with the middle-aged man when he suddenly ceased.
“Oh and,” he said softly, grabbing Judy’s attention. “Tell Paul and the others that I need the parts ready by tomorrow.”
“You have plenty available at the storeroom as well.”
“No, I need the specified ones. Don’t fail it and give the blade at least ten test runs before handing it over to me!”
“Roger that,”
Everything seemed to be going great. PPB, or more specifically this man, who was trusted by Judy held her busy alone, instead of she herself assigning people jobs. This sort of caused everything to go out of Judy’s scrutiny as it passed on to this man unwittingly, which as anticipated, turned into a disaster.
Not many weeks later, KNN news was barraged with PPB on every headline. It left majority of the staff of muddled, especially Judy. For context, PPB was accused of being biased towards some of its recruited members by providing them with extra training and advanced parts, which automatically got them shortlisted in order to get into an international team.
To get into an international team, recruited members are examined based on statistics of various aspects. But it was discovered that these comments were just not allegations after all.
Judy rammed her palms on the newspaper on the desk, bending over with sweat running down her face, as though she just encountered a massive panic attack.
“What…the hell is going on?! When a company loses the trust after in the long run…everything breaks apart!” Just vented. “How did this happen?”
“I don’t know…” Adam said apprehensively. “Perhaps this is the first and biggest allegation of all!”
We need to get to the bottom of this. PPB only works by fair and only fair means. There is no way-” Judy paused concerningly. “Hold on…”
“Is there something wrong, Mrs. Judy?” Adam questioned.
“Adam, go call him right now.”
Adam conformed and immediately left.
Five minutes by. Adam didn’t return.
Ten minutes.
Twenty minutes.
Well, PPB was a massive center after all. This man could be anywhere.
Soon after, Judy heard a loud panting.
“Adam?”
“Miss Judy…he’s not anywhere. I sent around five groups to look for him.”
“But today is a working hour!” Judy hollered. She ran down the hallways, towards the training center. Elijah, the boy the man had got recruited by power, was collapsed on the floor.
“Elijah!” Judy yelled across the hall. She ran towards him.
The staff was utterly concerned about Judy’s demeanor. Even in the worst of times, Judy maintained her chill. However, she seemed to have a pent up of emotions recently. This also included a plethora of panic attacks.
“GO AWAY!” Elijah suddenly woke up, pushing Judy away from him.
“I think I get it now…” Judy whispered to herself. She turned around and kept running. On the way, her heels lost balance completely and she fell on her face. She got on her feet and continued running till she reached the entrance of the headquarters.
What she witnessed in front of her was well expected.
Rampages, riots, protests…
***
The G-Revolutions looked up at the two most underhanded men on this planet through a glass pane which was only light visible to them at that point.
“Why?” Now the story was followed by Barthez. “This man is the key to this entire scheme. He recruited Elijah and a three other boys: Adam, David, and Maverick. These four boys were supplied with high tech but illegal blades so that they can reach out on the top. Not only did they manage to defeat every other trainee in the facility but might have taken it a little further- if you know what I mean.”
“No way!” Max exclaimed. “So what about mom?! What happened? Tell me! Don’t leave me hanging!”
Barthez smirked. “Of course, there’s a lot more to it. This was all a part of our plan. The bladers that were fought against were all severely battered. The parents and guardians obviously didn’t expect this from such a well renowned and high tech institution like PPB. You see, after the tournament in New York last year, you, Max and your partner Rick had already lost the trust of the American audience. If you think you redeemed yourself with other matches, especially against the one with Mystel, you’re sadly mistaken. They still believe that you entered the tournament either by favouritism or by cheating. This situation only added fuel to the fire. Not only did Elijah and his team cheat, but they also injured severely...remember Tala?”
“Are you telling me that the injuries were as bad as Tala’s?!” Ray exclaimed.
“Now, the PPB is in deep waters. The institute which was once looked upon is now looked down to. When things start to pile up and ominous suspicions rise with an addition of such deceitful and hazardous moves, protests are bound to rise. While there are several officials in defense of the PPB, there are as many above it. BBA and PPB are in liaison. That’s why Mr. Dickenson and Hiro departed to New York City last week. That’s why you haven’t been hearing from them. The chairman of the BBA which is linked to PPB is now trying to back it up and at the same time, trying to settle the entire scenario down.”
“But-but I spoke to Mr. Dickenson!” Kenny hesitated. “You’re lying!”
Boris possessed a demonic laugh. “No, Kenny. It was not Mr. Dickenson who brought you here. It was me.”
The entire crew gasped.
“So-that voice!” Kenny fell on his knees. “That was a voice changing device?! I should have known!”
“You’re downright creepy dude!” Michael piped in. “Miss Judy is a smart woman, she’ll figure something out!”
“Max,” Boris said softly after Michael’s remark, “Miss Judy, this smart woman, your mother, is under great threat right now.”
“Wh-what do you mean?” Max quavered as he asked. Boris’s voice shook him.
“All the allegations and injuries...who knows what might happen to her?” Boris continued. “Your mother, young man, was also involved in the illegal extraction of bit beasts from a very ancient rock.”
Max’s eyes widened in shock and intimidation. Judy had been sealing the rock in her research lab for ages under a radical security system. She even gave her contribution in order to catch and arrest the man who had stolen the rock. So what in the world was Boris talking about? This left everyone perplexed and lost.
“You-you’re lying...aren’t you?” Max covered his eyes with his bangs to hide the pain hoarding in his chest. “Stop...just stop it...you...make no sense!” He now unleashed in his eyes. “You make zero sense!”
“Max…” Tyson said softly, unable to bear seeing his free-spirited friend in vain.
“How do you think Elijah managed to batter a bunch of bladers to an extent where they were sent to the hospital? Do you really think a beyblade would do that? No, my boy, it was the power of the bit beast.” Boris gushed. “And it’s not the rock you think it is. This is a discovery of the man, a discovery that we got luck with.”
“The man, the man…” Tyson repeated mockingly. “Who the heck is this guy anyway?”
“That’s none of your business, my young man,” said Boris sternly. “Perhaps you might want to know why you’re here. Well, you will figure that out by the end of this excursion I suppose, if you follow my instructions.”
“You’re barking up the wrong tree, Boris,” said Tyson. “I don’t why anyone would work for you, but the authorities are going to take over once we’re outta here.”
“Tyson, you and your gang are yourselves the authority in the world of beyblading. After all these years, why do you think the police has always been unable to take a stand? That’s because they’re too weak. While beyblading is reaching a wide audience, it isn’t enough for the police to take a stand. They either get in my way and then get crushed, or they stay in the center where they belong.”
Tyson grunted. While he did have a good point, it also struck him that the strongest crew on this planet was now under control. The authorities could do nothing. A bankrupt Boris has only one way of getting this far: Manipulation. Barthez might have been the one who provided him all this while, since he had disappeared for good after the World Championships and no one in the audience knows the cheating that took place during the tournament, apart from the participants themselves.
“Now, there isn’t a way out. Follow my instructions and maybe you will get somewhere. Or else, you know what will happen…” Boris eyed at a certain slate-haired teenager. “Don’t you, Kai? You know there is no point in escaping, right?”
Kai first glared back at Boris before turning back. “The door, guys!” He pointed. “Come on!”
“No!” Ray hollered. “It’s a trap, Kai!”
“We either deal with this bullshit or stay here forever,” said Kai. “You can do whatever you want, Ray. But I’m not staying under this creep’s eyes any longer. Now, if you want to come along with me, you’re welcome.” It sounded sarcastic, but that was typical Kai-style communication.
“That’s right!” Tyson backed Kai up. “We can’t stand around listening to this anymore. We gotta find a way out!”
The entire crew nodded and made their way out. Upon opening the door, came a flight of stairs, which was then followed by a water body.
“Look, a boat!’ Julia pointed out. “Let’s get on!”
Meanwhile at the back, Boris and Barthez were snickering. “It’s exactly how we planned.”
The boat was filled with exchanges of fears, anger, frustration and also a little moping by the most cheerful individual. His mom was under threat, accused of taking up deceitful measures in the PPB. But what about the illegal extraction of bit beasts? Of course, no one would want to believe a freak like Boris. But a part of him was believing it. Who was this man that his mom trusted so much? Who was this man that caused such a pandemonium?
“Hey Max?” A voice called out. The blonde looked over his shoulder and saw his ex-teammates, except Kai, right behind him.
“Hey guys, what’s up?” Max retorted dully.
“You don’t really believe what Boris said, do you?” asked Ray rhetorically.
“I don’t know, Ray,” Max turned his head back in front. “This all just seems to much to take in right now. PPB being called out, illegal extraction of bit-beasts...I know my mom wouldn’t be complicit but- but the bit beasts are the only thing that can explain the injuries and the psychotic behaviour of that kid named Elijah.”
“Who said anything about psychotic behaviour?” Tyson deadpanned.
“The way Barthez described the story said everything, Tyson. I can’t tell a hundred percent, but there is a possibility that a very powerful bit beast caused him to collapse on the floor and then, back Judy away harshly,” Kenny explained.
“From what I infer, Kenny, is that one of the prime reasons behind this entire situation is the power of that bit beast. And the other is the illegal trading or marketing of these beyblade parts. Only a very powerful man could be behind this,” the ex-BladeBreakers turned around to see Emily, who had been listening to the entire conversation.
“Who is it this someone that Judy most likely trusts?” Ray muddled. The collective sigh was soon interrupted.
“Guys,” Lee made an appearance. “It might interest you to know that we’re in the middle of nowhere. The water body appeared normal the first time we saw it, but now we’re practically in the middle of the ocean and there’s absolutely no way back.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” said Raul. “And I doubt any of us have maps over here.”
“Gee,” Kenny dropped at a single knee. “If only I had Dizzi…”
A certain someone by this point had been struck by a pang of sympathy and compassion.
“Hey..Kenny,” the navy haired champion called out. He had his eyebrows unwrinkled. “I’m really sorry for losing it on you. I know it wasn’t your fault. I guess I just couldn’t stand the fact that our friends were missing. None of really knew what was coming.”
Kenny sighed. “It’s alright, Tyson. I do understand how you feel. And once we’re through this situation, we’re going to find Hilary and the others no matter what.”
Tyson’s lips turned into a reassured smile. “So are we good? I’m ready to do any thing to pay for what I said.”
Kenny responded to Tyson’s smile with his own. “I know you very well, Tyson. There’s no need for it.”
“Woah!” The red haired boisterous lad called out. “Check that out!”
“What?”
The entire crew looked squarely forward. It was a small island in the middle nowhere, with a hilltop covered by snow.
“I don’t know if I’m overthinking, but this place looks awfully familiar,” piped Ray.
Kai scoffed and walked over to the front of the deck. “Yeah, because we’ve been trapped here before with a bunch of creeps.”
“The same island where we fought the Psykicks, isn’t it?” Tyson deadpanned. “I guess all the bad guys land in the same place after all. Let’s pull over!”
Kenny gasped in Tyson’s direction. “No! This is nothing but another trap set by Boris!”
“No chief, I gotta agree with Tyson,” said Max. “There’s no point stalling anymore. We’re practically stuck and now there’s no way out. Maybe we could even contact someone from there, like the radio, remember?”
Julia looked down curiously at Max. “Been here before?”
“Yeah, about two years back,” he retorted. “A bunch of scientists wanted to capture our four sacred beasts.”
The boat pulled over on the island. Kai had his feet up on the deck. He gaped at the island with suspicion and trepidation. Of course, Kenny was right, this is certainly a trap set up by Boris. This is also the same island they were trapped in by Gideon. But it was Boris this time. It was worse. Why would anyone first trap them in the building and then leave a door open for them to run out? Also, where were they? Kai was especially confused about the itinerary. They first pulled up in a random building quite far a walk from their homes because they were told to come to this place leaving no whereabouts and then, they ended up in the ocean?
There was certainly nothing that could be done. Sure, they had been on this island before, but what was the use? Back then, they knew that they were supposed to try and defeat the members of the Psykicks. This time, their shortcomings were unknown; Boris’s next move was unknown. Until an action occurred, all they could do is survive on this island. Therefore, once again, the group decided to split up. One section will head to the lighthouse to see if the they can reach out and while they’re at it, they may look for any supplies that could help them until tomorrow. The other section did the same, except they decided to head to the other direction.
“I can assure you this time that the stupid radio is gonna be broken,” Tyson remarked. He had said this the last time they came here and ultimately broke into an argument with Hilary. But he did have a point. The radio worked last time, but now they were under Boris’s control and he would never leave any hints behind.
“Change of plans,” said Emily. “I really think we should split in three group of four instead on two groups of six.”
“But that’s too dangerous! The more, the merrier. It’s better to have more people for backup,” Lee said, disapproving Emily’s idea.
“Well looking at the size of this island, Emily might just have a point, Lee,” said Ray. We should take a good advantage with the number of people. If we go three ways, who knows, we might find more supplies. Besides, the more we scatter, the easier it will be to find each other. None of us have cellphones or any device we could use to communicate, so what do you think?”
“We’ll split in three groups,” Kai made the final call. He then shut his eyes and continued, “The chances of multiple people dying reduces.”
“You really didn’t have to put it that way,” Tyson scoffed. “So, how are we splitting?”
A beneficial balance was needed if by any chance, they ran into trouble. So the first group consisted of Tyson, Julia, Kenny and Daichi, the second had Kai, Max, Mathilda and Raul who were heading to the lighthouse and the third group had Ray, Lee, Emily and Michael. The second group didn’t have anyone to analyze data in case they ran into trouble, but exchanging even a single member could break the balance.
The groups finally split up.
“Hey, Kai,” called Max. “I can’t hold of the entire situation here. I just wanna know how we ended up here,”
“I haven’t a clue either, Max,” Kai deadpanned. “But I can assure you that Boris will pull no punches. We need to keep our guard up at all times.”
“Do you think he caused such chaos at the PPB so that he could stall everyone and get hold of us?”
“Hn. I think that’s obvious,” said Kai. “With the BBA lieutenants busy, we have to figure out who’d be the perfect person to get us out. Looks like Boris was never arrested after all. He fled once again and now he’s back with Barthez. The world still doesn’t know what Barthez did during the world championships.”
“You’re right, we gotta keep our guard up.”
Kai nodded. “There’s already one creep attacking the PPB and we don’t know if it’s just him, or if there are more.”
It hadn’t even been five minutes and the first group had already encountered somebody- somebody who’s face was completely wrapped with a cloth. She was wearing sunglasses. Her outfit consisted of a black tank top covered by a waist-level hunter-green sports jacket and trousers of the same colour. She also wore black boots.
“I know you!” Exclaimed Tyson.
“What?” It was more of a shocking remark.
“I know her! I’ve encountered a person with the exact same outfit and face before!”
“It’s only been a few days, hasn’t it, Tyson?” The girl in disguise spoke up.
Flashback:
“I hope the movie Max booked is a decent one this time.”
Few days prior to Mr. Dickenson’s leave and his own injuries, Tyson was walking through the alleyways of his hometown to visit his friend Max. His ambling was interjected by a shadow coming all the way from the top of a pillar. Tyson looked up. This person was clearly in disguise. Looking at her outfit took him back to the day where he first encountered Ozuma. She took a long jump from there and for a moment before she landed, Tyson could’ve sworn that she resembled an eagle.
“Boy, I ain’t encountering another wannabe again,” said Tyson, backing off a little. “Get out of my way!”
“I can’t believe I’m encountering Tyson Granger, the three-time defending world champ!” She said dramatically, followed by a laugh. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to steal itty-bitty dragoon. I just want to test my skills.”
Tyson had a gut feeling that the person in disguise was someone he knew. How did this girl know that people had been behind his bit-beasts at one point? It wasn’t public news. But this was a fair assumption- the girl might’ve thought that being famous does have predators after all. So he left it at that.
“At least show yourself, you coward!”
“Tyson, are you going to battle me or not?” The girl said, stepping forward. “It’s very disrespectful to talk that way to a girl who doesn’t want to be exposed.”
“Listen, I’ve got better to things to do, like watching a movie,” Tyson said, sweating in a smirk. “And I guess you’re just too chicken to show yourself because you don’t want me to know the person I humiliated so bad.”
“If you refuse to fight, I’ll just tell my acquaintances just how arrogant you are,” the girl said calmly but condescendingly. “Besides, this is the least of a girl’s desires. Don’t keep me waiting, I just want to battle you.”
“Fine, whatever,” Tyson grunted in annoyance. “Don’t show yourself, but I’m not backing down!”
Both the bladers firmly took their positions with their launchers in hand. The girl’s blade was maroon with a black launcher attached to it. The launcher had a white grip calibrated with it.
“That’s a fancy launcher,” Tyson discerned with a smirk. “Oh and a sweet blade too. But that’s not getting you anywhere.”
“Less talking, more playing.”
“Three, two, one- LET IT RIP!” Both the bladers hollered as they pulled their ripcords apart.
The blades struck severely against their attack rings back and forth. Both the blades seemed to been focusing on their attacks.
Tyson snickered as he looked up to the girl. “You’re no rookie. But head-on attacking isn’t enough to beat me! Go Dragoon, show her how it’s done!”
Dragoon backed off for two seconds before completely clashing into it again. This time, her blade was taken completely aback.
“Not yet! Go, Thunderbird!” The girl hollered.
“Thunderbird?” Tyson said in bewilderment. “No wonder, you did resemble an eagle a few seconds ago. But here’s where it ends! Come on Dragoon, Evolution-”
Before Tyson could even complete his attack, the girl called her blade back which ended up with Tyson toppling on the ground. He screamed in exasperation before getting up on his feet. “What the heck, dude?”
“I just needed to test my blade with a few spins which I did. See ya!” With that, she twirled and ran away. This had to, by far, be the shortest battles Tyson encountered. Even then, Tyson admitted that she was fairly strong.
End of Flashback
“So she was the girl you were talking about…” Kenny muddled as he sat on a single knee, opening up his laptop. “Interesting. I sense a predator here.”
“Who are you?!” Julia exclaimed. “Are you working for Boris?”
“Show yourself!” Tyson yelled after here.
Simultaneously, the other two groups seemed to have encountered someone too, but the other two weren’t exactly in disguise.
The girl encountering the first group conceded to working with Boris and then finally unveiled her cloth, stupefying the four. Tyson, Julia, Kenny and Daichi gasped in unison.
While unveiling herself, she seemed to have been mumbling something with a complete change in her voice, as if it’d been altered.
“What...the..fuck?” Tyson was so shook that he couldn’t move. It’s as if he had just been stoned by medusa. But this was the result of suffering through the years of nothing but loneliness, depression, betrayals and several panic attacks. Ask anyone three years ago, Tyson would be the mirthful thirteen year old boy who’d get his way out through being a hot-head and a determined brat. But this was sixteen year old Tyson. His adolescence had been fluctuating- as a fourteen year old, from the day he encountered Ozuma, through fifteen, facing deep depression with everyone turning his back on him and now, sixteen, the pile up and resultant of the previous two years.
“No...way...man.” Even Daichi stuttered.
Kenny had shut his laptop in sheer intimidation and hugged it to himself. “What in the- world- is going on?!”
“Y-you…” Tyson took a deep breath. “Explain yourself Hil, NOW!”