This chapter was basically to show what is to come. Next couple chapters should be more hype.

Future Eagle

CHAPTER 4: Qualifier Beginnings

"Hey, Tsubasa!"

"Hm?" Tsubsas turned around to see a Yu Tendo on the streets of Metal Bey City, running towards him while waving happily. "Hello, Yu. How's it going?"

The young boy gave a thumbs-up as he caught up to him, "I'm doing great! How about you? I haven't seen you around lately."

Oh, right.

In the past, he was supposed to have battled Yu in the finals of the WBBA's Re-opening Tournament. Of course, Masamune interrupted their battle, and Yu proceeded to battle him, while Tsubasa himself left out of disinterest.

What happened in this timeline, he wondered.

"I'm doing fine. Just been training out of town, is all." Tsubasa replied without missing a beat. Yu grinned, before suddenly frowning.

"By the way, you're here for the Japan Qualifiers, right?" Yu asked, to which the silver-haired teen nodded to. "Well, there's this one guy who has Ray Striker. He's mine to battle, got it?"

"Oh?" Tsubasa raised a brow. "What's this Blader to you?"

Yu put his arms across his chest childishly, "I was going to battle Kenchi in the finals of a tournament, but then this guy just shows up and interrupts our battle. Kenchi said he didn't want our battle disturbed, so he and I teamed up."

'So Kenta came in place of me, huh? Interesting.'

Tsubasa kept listening though.

"We beat him, but then he kept talking about how he was the best Blader ever and how he could've beaten us if we didn't team-up. The nerve of that guy! I could've beaten him with my hands tied behind my back!"

'So Masamune actually lost?' the Eagle-user thought in surprise, 'Is that for the better, or...did I just make a grave mistake?'

"Well, I'll leave him to you then." Tsubasa nodded without showing any signs of distress, "Let's meet in the finals, Yu. Remember to always remain calm, keep your guard up, and focus on your defence."

'A bit of advice for you in the future.' Tsubasa thought, thinking it'd help him against Masamune. He wanted to test out how he could impact the future with a few words.

"Yeah, yeah! Let's meet at the finals!" The orange-haired Blader grinned back at him.

Making his way into an enormous stadium, Tsubasa looked around discreetly. He quickly spotted Yu, Masamune, Kenta, Benkei, and a bunch of other formidable Bladers. He guessed there were around two hundred candidates.

Looking up, he saw Gingka up behind the glass doors with Ryo Hagane. He smiled, noticing the disappointed look on his face. Gingka loved to battle, and this seemed like a wasted opporunity for him.

But since he won Battle Bladers, it just made sense for him to already be apart of the team.

"Welcome all Bladers!" Blader DJ announced in the stadium, and throughout the thousands of broadcasts in Japan. He was wearing his usual red head-band, blue Beyblade t-shirt, and black vest.

"Today is the day where contestants all over Japan battle to earn the spot to represent Japan!"

A cry of cheers could be heard, and Tsubasa smiled fondly. This feeling...it was a good one. No more of the Dark Power to ruin it as well.

"As you can see, there are exactly a hundred mini-Beystadiums." the DJ pointed towards the small arenas before them.

"Every contestent will use these arenas for battle. Your goal is to collect as many points as possible through defeating your opponents. One point for a sleep-out, and two points for a stadium out."

'Last time, I accumulated around 370 points, giving me second place. The person that was in first place was Kyoya, who had 500 points...' Tsubasa clenched his fist as he recalled the memory of his battle against said Blader. It wasn't a good one, that's for sure.

'Kyoya isn't here right now though. He's participating in another stadium, which makes sense as to why he got so many points. There probably weren't as many strong Bladers. Still, I have to do better!' Tsubasa looked up to Blader DJ, listening to his next words.

"The top 4 with the highest number of points will make to the semi-finals, so do your best in the ten minutes that you have! Are you ready!?" Blader DJ asked with uncontrollable excitement.

Ten minutes. That was all they had.

Yet nearly everyone in the stadium and around Japan responded with a loud, "Yes!"

"Three..."

The Bladers all took their places amongst the numerous Beystadiums.

"Two..."

They grabbed their launchers, and placed their Beys onto it.

"One..."

Gripping their cords, the Bladers prepared themselves.

"Let it rip!"

A flutter of Beys were sent spinning by their owners, and at the same time, a few were sent out.

Nine minutes remained, and the one who was currently in the lead was Kenta Yumiya.

"Sagittario, Flame Claw!"

With those words uttered, Kenta's Bey was wrapped in a dense yellow flame, knocking out every Bey it came contact into. In total, he sent ten Beys out flying.

"Alright, twenty points already!"

All of a sudden, he was confronted by his good blond-haired friend, Sora. It was to be expected that he would also be participating.

"Let's go, Kenta! You seem super strong, so we'll see how well you can do against Cyber Pegasus!"

Smiling, Kenta accepted Sora's challenge.

Seven minutes remained, and it looked as though Yu Tendo was having the least amount of difficulty.

"Libra, Sonic Wave!"

The young voice of Yu commanded, his Bey channelling multiple sound waves to disrupt the balance of Tetsuya Watarigani's Dark Gasher. An instant later, Flame Libra crashed into the Bey, easily sending it flying out.

"D-Dark Gasher! Crab you!" Testusya cursed, his pun making Yu sigh disappointingly.

"I already have forty points. This is just so boring..." Yu moaned, before his ears perked up at hearing a familiar voice.

"This is just too easy!"

The familiar self-promotion was followed-up by the clanging of a Bey falling to the floor. Rolling directly next to Yu, the ten-year old noted the Bey was Rock Scorpio. Quite rare.

"I can't believe I lost to this arrogant brat!" Another more mature voice bellowed in frustration.

Yu looked around, and finally found a blue-haired Blader known as Busujima on his knees. He was strong, or at least according to Kenta.

Curious, Yu walked a couple feet up, and much to his surprise, it was Masamune Kadoya who defeated Busujima. AKA the one who wielded Ray Striker.

"Fifty points, people! Anybody else wanna challenge the king?"

Yu smirked, and run up to the stadium Masamune was battling in. But he was a second too late, as another Blader known as Tobio Oike challenged him.

"Let's go!" Tobio readied his Capricorn along with his launcher.

"Alright!" Masamune grinned, happy to battle. Yu fumed, however.

"Hey, he's mine to battle-"

"Do you wish to battle, little boy?" A broody voice suddenly asked from the side. Turning around with a tic on his head, Yu immediately accepted.

"Don't call me little boy, clown!"

Yu wasn't wrong, as the Blader wore violet lip-stick and pink make-up marking, along with clothes resembling a yukata.

Laughing lightly, the Blader replied, "My name is Ryutaro Fukami. Let us see who is truly worthy of being the clown."

Five minutes were left, and Benkei was doing quite well.

"Bull, Maximum Stampede!"

Using all of its raw attack power into a flaming aura, Bull charged at the ten Beyblades before it, sending every single one of them out of the mini Beystadium.

"Hehe. One-hundred points!" Benkei exclaimed, drawing attention from some other Bladers.

Six minutes had passed, meaning the Bladers didn't have much time left.

"Earth Virgo, Pirouette Tour!"

Teru Saotome's Bey, Earth Virgo, began to increase its spin rotation. Soon enough, it was able to create a wind-shield that drastically increased its stamina and defense.

The Special Move was based on a famous ballerina technique, and it did almost exactly like its name-sake.

Virgo charged at its opponent, a Bey quite like itself.

"Earth Eagle! Metal Wing Smash!"

Tsubasa's Eagle began pulsing a purple light, gliding through the air and attacking the Bey head-on. Tsubasa was in no mood in being nice.

Boom!

The two tops made rough contact, and a small explosion immerged, sending the two of them opposite to another in the stadium. Some of the surrounding Bladers were captivated by the battle.

"Although you, Tsubasa, shine brightly, Virgo and I shine even brighter!"

Because of the unique properties of Virgo's Special Move, it seemed that Eagle took more damage. That wind-shield was pretty strong.

However, Tsubasa was having none of that.

"Eagle, soar through the skies!"

Obeying its owner, Eagle turned around and used the curved ends of the stadium to fly out into the air. Tsubasa took a deep breath, simultaneously allowing Eagle to glide through the wind, fully entrusting its movements to it.

"Ooh~!" Teru's eyes sparkled, mesmerised by the flying Bey.

As it floated, Tsubasa exhaled, and Eagle suddenly went flying down in a purple light, dangerously targeting Virgo. It was almost like an aerial Metal Wing Smash, except it was moving at far faster speeds.

"Let's do it! Eagle, Stream Slash!"

"It's no use!" Teru replied. Almost on cue, his Bey spun faster, thereby increasing its defenses.

However, when Eagle crashed down into its face-bolt, an explosion larger than Teru expected erupted.

Boom!

...

Clang!

"I-impossible!" Teru exclaimed as Virgo rolled next to him.

"Stream Slash allows Eagle to bypass any resistance, including vibrations, or a wind-shield in your case." Tsubasa explained briefly, catching his Eagle immediately after. "You were a good opponent, but not good enough."

The agent prepared his launcher once again as another hoard of Bladers approached him.

Only thirty seconds were left.

And finally.

Finally, Yu could battle Masamune.

That Ryutaro guy proved to be a bit more difficult, his dimension-controlling Special Move being a huge problem.

In the end though, Yu was able to change the dimension into a sand-field through his Sonic Buster, allowing him to take control of the battle and quickly win.

Of course, immediately after, he had to battle a bunch of other Bladers too, but who cared about them?

And looking at Masamune, Tobio was pretty tough too. The Bladers that came after the captain were no problem though, so he wasn't entirely out of stamina either.

"Well, well, it's Yu again. Come to gang up on me?"

Yu fumed at the light taunt. "It's your fault for disturbing our battle! Kenchi and I were really looking forward to it!"

Masamune growled, "Okay, yeah, I feel bad about that, but still! You could've had only Kenta battle!"

"After you interrupted us!?"

"Yeah! I'm the number one Blader, remember? Everybody should want to battle me fair and square!"

"Why you-!" Yu shouted in almost genuine anger, "You're definitely not number one, pal!"

Masamune seethed, "Oh, really!?"

Yu got his launcher from his sleeves, and placed his Flame Libra. "Yeah! And I'll prove it right here, right now!"

"That was just what I was hoping for!" Masamune replied, preparing his Ray Striker and ready to rip his cord.

"Three...two...one..."

"Time's up!" DJ Blader declared, making the two rivals freeze. "This was one heck of a battle! But let's see who made it to the semi-finals!"

"B-but..." Yu drooped, putting his launcher to his sides. Masamune, although somewhat agitated, nonetheless smirked.

"Well, the timer is apart of the game. So it's your own for being late to challenge the number one Blader."

"Grrr...!" Yu's growling was stopped by Kenta putting a hand on his shoulder, sweat-dropping all-the-while.

"You'll get another chance, Yu. I mean, I wanted to battle Masamune too, but it looks like it just didn't come to."

"Hey, if you pass the Qualifying rounds, you'll eventually battle me." Masamune shrugged, before grinning widely, "Because I'm sure to have passed! Haha!"

"The average points were 87, so you had to get better than that to make it!" the DJ stated with an over-exaggerated wave, causing the audience to whisper amongst each other.

Who made it, they wondered.

A blue screen appeared on the large stadium display, which listed the contesants along with their total points. As it scrolled down, many were disappointed.

"Looks like the Kumade Brothers and Tetsuya didn't make it!" Indeed they didn't, as the four listed were in places 19 through 16.

Reiki and Dan Sodo didn't make it either. Neither did Busujima. "Next!"

"Tobio, Teru, Ryutaro, and even Sora failed to reach the next level! Unbeliavable!" DJ Blader commentated, creating a small uproar in the audience. At the same time, the rankings pasued to allow everyone to collect themselves.

Sora was listed at 7th place, along with having 245 points, higher than anyone so far. Becuase of that, it was quite frustrating for him, but luckily, he was comforted by his friend Kenta.

The two had battled, and Kenta had just barely won, so it wasn't too much of a surprise to the Blader. There were definitely more qualified people than him.

"So many powerful Bladers failed to qualify one after another! And now, there are only six remaining!"

The Bladers not listed had serious expressions plastered onto their faces, as well as nervous ones. Well, except for Tsubasa and Masamune, for reasons already known.

The list scrolled down, and...

"Kenta...and Benkei! Both gone! Too bad, so sad!"

Kenta looked down in disappointed, "Man, I can't believe I didn't make it..."

Benkei simply yelled, expressing his disappointment whole-heartedly. "How can that be! I earned 270 points!"

"Now we're down to final four!" the audience gulped in anticipation, "In fourth place is Yu, who got a total of 310 points!"

"Aw, man! How come I didn't have more!" the orange-haired Blader pouted. He didn't count his points, so he expected a bit more.

However, the rest of the audience was in shock. How did a kid like him get that many points in such a short amount of time!?

"Next, in third place, with 360 points...is Masamune!"

"What!? No way! I'm not in first place!?" the black-haired Blader wailed, even though everyone else in the stadium was in utter awe at the new-comer's number of points.

"And in second place is..." the DJ paused for effect, "Nobody!"

Huh?

"Ehhh!?" the audience howled, confused by his words. The DJ quickly began to explain.

"What I mean is...there were two contestants who earned an equal amount of points. 500 Bey points, to be exact."

"Are you kidding me!?" Yu exclaimed, as did the rest of the audience.

"What!?"

Kenta then added the elephant in the house, "Two people got 500 points!?"

"For real!?" Masamune's jaw dropped. Even Gingka, who was still behind the glass door with his father, wondered who the two Bladers were.

"500 points...that's an awful lot." the Pegasus-user commented.

"And the two that tied for first and second place are...Tsubasa and Kyoya!"

"No way, Tsubasa!" Yu turned around to look at his silver-haired friend, who had an impassive face on him.

"Woah! Tsubasa and Kyoya, huh?" Gingka told himself, surprised at the neck-to-neck ranking.

"Leave it to those two to give us a huge surprise." Ryo commented with a big smile on his face.

'Unlike you guys, I was constantly battling whoever I could, even those that had already lost.' the older teen thought. 'I'm sure Kyoya did the same.'

"Kyoya! Alright!" Benkei exclaimed, happy that his best friend was able to get to the top rank. Since the lion-finatic wasn't at this stadium, nobody expected him of all people to have that many points.

"Boom! That's the scoop! The four qualifiers have been decided! There are two more tickets to the Beyblade World Championships still up for grabs. So folks, who will take them!?"