Chapter 5

Alarms go off, blaring through the chilly night. Bright streams of light aimed at any movement on the ground below as helicopters searched frantically for a target who'd stolen something.

"Something very valuable! Our news helicopter is with the force now on the scene of the crime! It's been said the culprit has managed to impede capture! They think the culprit has made their way into a parking lot building."

"Wait- And it looks like two cars are exiting just as fast. Is the thief there?! A tactic to confuse the BABA Officers" Announced the anchor woman, motioning her finger to both cars going opposite ways on the street. Two helicopters went after one while the news helicopter followed the second car towards a highway.

Little did they know, from inside, the assailant had just been watching the two cars leave and turned over; successfully escaping. That wasn't known until the two cars were apprehended and the driver's inside, turned out to be rowdy teens with no beyblade and an elderly couple.

"Will the mysterious thief appear again?! We will continue coverage throughout these weeks."

"Ahhh…" Seita gurgled, stepping out to catch a glimpse of the actual TV the news came from. He stared for a second, before returning back into the bathroom where he found Himari was already inside, rubbing her eyes as she shut the door in his face.

"GGK-MuRi" Seita tried speaking while keeping his face to the ceiling as to not swallow, soon rushing out of the house to spit with a glass he had to rinse.

"Gah! I wasn't done using the bathing Himari!"

"Yo Seita!"

Seita heard someone call his name from the fence of his home. Raising an eyebrow, Seita squinted his eyes and noticed it was Gronk. "That's right, the park" Seita remembered the plans he had with Gronk.

"Gronk! I was just finishing up, be right out there!" With that Seita finished getting ready, though he asked Himari where Hilary was, he eventually found a note on the kitchen calendar. "Ah- for her gymnastics"

"Himari, I'll be back later today!" With that Seita took off, with Gronk to the park. Mimi soon met with them at the park. They'd have to train for the preliminaries.

"It'd have been great if we could get invitations but for us no named bladers, that's how it works"

"But it makes no difference anyway! I wouldn't want to get there and get cut short. There's no point in going for it if you're going for number 2. That just means you're the last to lose"

"Only the best bladers around the world get invites." Gronk went on until he noticed Seita already ran off.

He was so eager to start training for his very first competition that he found himself running. "Seita wait up! You know I'm not built to run this much man!" Gronk cried and attempted to catch his breath as he watched Seita jump over a rail, headed to a monkey bar swing. "Sorry Gronk, we have to boost our stamina! You've gotta keep up!"

Mimi followed close behind, jumping onto the monkey bar swing after Seita had slipped backwards when he tried lunging for the first bar. He fell on the sand as she scaled by four bars, only to glance back worried. "You okay? That sounded like it hurt… We can take our time you know" Mimi took a second, swinging back and forth before she flew up and over the bar's landing on top as she sat, with her legs crossed. Her small giggle ended as the sound of an icecream truck in the far distance filled her ears.

As expected, Gronk shut his eyes, listening to the tune. Almost as though he were now hypnotized, he stopped attempting to go over the bar, instead followed the music.

"That's destiny calling for a date, be back in four minutes!"

Seita finally leaned up, rubbing the back of his head.

"Grrooonk! We only have three weeks before the preliminaries and we just got here!"

Seita's attempts at bringing Gronk back were completely futile. Gronk already found himself lined up all the other kids waiting eagerly for their favorite ice creams. Seita's gaze went over to Mimi who elegantly jumped off of the bar and landed with the grace of a cat. A woman who had been sitting on a bench, feeding squirrels, claps after Mimi's little stunt. Mimi bowed to her as Seita stood up, using his hat to dust his knees.

"Ah, whatever; okay then. More training for me." Seita brought Squishy out as he then dashed for a large wall run that required Seita run up the slope to reach the top. Mimi only followed after seeing him reach the mountain run. Seita aimed Squishy. The goal was to shoot Squishy all the way to the top and then run to get Squishy.

Seita glanced to Mimi, who smiled; leaning back against the railing of the steps beside the mountain run which she then said "Three, two and one" In a relaxed small voice. Seita ripped Squishy to the top, watching Squishy skip to the top. Seita then started to run but found that he only managed to get half way up the mountain run before gravity caused him to go tumbling back to the ground. Seita got up and grinned. "Again!" He braced himself for another attempt. With a burst of energy, he raced toward the top once more. He came tumbling down again, however, he reached higher up than the previous attempt. He might have failed to reach the top today but he knew he will get there someday.

"Squishy!" Seita pointed up at the beyblade, that completely disappeared; forcing Seita to run up the stairs, only to see Squishy slip down the mountain run.

Gronk soon returned after finishing his icecream, it hadn't taken too long given the strawberry flavor he chose.

"Here Mimi, this one's for you" He extended one, though she declined with her signature smile and wide eyes.

"If I had a bit more I could have held on a bit longer to get to the top!

That only calls for phase two of our blader plan! Go jogging to improve our stamina."

"You took the words right out of my mouth but that's easier said than done" Said Gronk as he watched Seita take off. Mimi herself followed. Seita's focus kept him running around the park almost effortlessly and Mimi followed close behind. "Hey! Wait for me! You guys are going too fast!" Gronk calls out from behind, struggling to keep up.

"Take a break if you want to Gronk, but we can't afford to be weaker than other teams on any front! We have to build our stamina and practice a lot if we want to stay in that prelim." Seita noted he motivated Gronk to find the rhythm of his feet as Gronk eventually got to following even if it was a slow start.

Eventually Seita slowed down and started running evenly with Gronk. "That's the way! We're making progress!"

They finished quite a few laps around the park before stopping at a bench to fill their growling stomachs.

"Okay guys, look at what I made," Mimi opens her backpack and takes out boxes of vegetables sandwiches and a big bottle of fruit juice.

"You're still hungry after eating ice cream?" Seita asked Gronk who tugged him aside. "Listen Seita- you can never refuse a girls cooking!" They both turned around.

"Eating these vegetables is important. It will make us stronger and greatly improve your visions when you use your augmented reality headset." Mimi explains with a tiny smile gracing her face. Gronk groans instantly as Seita laughed.

"You were saying?"

"Bbbut I hate vegetables! I'm not giving up my ice creams for this stuff."

Seita looks over to him. "You don't have to give up ice cream completely. You just have to eat in moderation. A small change is still a change. A ripple … That can have a big effect."

"At least, that's what I'd like to say." Seita rubbed the side of his cheek uncertain of eating the vegetables.

"Ahhh- what the heck Mimi made this!" Gronk clenched his eyes tightly, taking several sandwiches. He scarfed them down, forcing juice in an attempt to make the eating faster but soon found the sandwiches were actually really good.

It was now nearing mid day yet Seita still wanted to do one last thing with his friends. After finishing their meal, the trio continued their trip through the park, eventually arriving at a tiny pond in the middle of the park to feed the fishes. The pond was overcrowded with almost 20 fishes in it and all of them gathered near to the spot where Seita was standing thanks to Seita tossing some of the sandwich strips he'd saved. "What can I say? It's a habit but at least you guys can enjoy this" Seita tossed the sandwich bits to the fish. Though while doing so, he felt something shift in his pocket and to Seita's surprise, Squishy wiggled out and fell into the pond to play with the fishes that were eagerly waiting to greet the beyblade.

"Squishy!" Seita reaches out for his beloved blade but found he reached too far and as a result flew into the pond scaring all the fishes. His flop splashed water all over Mimi and Gronk, who soon started laughing.

"Squishy?" Seita looked around and leaned in, eventually spotting him at the bottom of the clear water.

"Hey, are you okay?" An unknown voice asked, leading Seita to look up to see a boy who seems to be around the same age as him holding out his hand to help Seita get up. "A foreigner?" Seita wondered, though the boy spoke Japanese. Seita observed the tripped puffy afro like hair and the black turtle neck he had on when it wasn't all that cold out. At least not yet.

Seita grabs his hand, standing up. He found himself flashing the new boy a wide smile. "Thanks!" he says. The other boy's eyes fall on the blade in Seita's hand.

"Sure- Are you a beyblader too? From this town" He asks Seita. "Yes. I'm Seita Tachibana. Thanks for helping out. The one's behind me laughing are Gronk and Mimi. We're training together." Seita grins.

"Thanks for the help you guys" Seita glanced back at the two, giving Mimi and Gronk a sarcastic smirk as Mimi went over and lightly hit his shoulder.

"I was only laughing because it's the second time you're clumsy today, that's not like you and the pond isn't that deep, so why'd you have to act like you were drownin-" Mimi brought her attention to Simon. " Oh- It's nice to greet you."

"Sweet! I'm Simon Kon. You three must be from around here?" Simon shook the hand Seita extended to him, followed by Gronk and Mimi.

"We are! Is it your first day here?"

"I was actually passing by the park while exploring this city. It's awesome! It has been my second day"

"I'm here with my father for some work, so you could say I'm new here. I didn't consider there'd be bladers here though."

"You know, the best way to get to know another beyblader is to have a battle. You up for it?" Asked Simon.

"That sounds perfect! It'll be good practice too after all the running I did. Let's go" Seita jumped at the mention of a beyblade battle against Simon. Seita could feel the excitement of a battle run through his veins.

Checking out the nearby area, the two found themselves at the other side near the pond, where some boulders were located. Both prepared for the battle to while Gronk only watched sleepidly. "All of this eating and that nice breeze has me tired." Gronk shut his eyes, soon hearing the two boys shout.

"Let it rip!" Both beyblades left the launchers and clashed against each other. "Go Daz Hound! Shoulder bump!" Shouted Simon. Everyone put on their augmented headset.

Squishy went head on against the hound bit beast named Daz Hound but the hound refused to back down, bucking around as Squishy tried to hold onto its back in it's starfish form. Squishy's blade struck Daz's over the top until Daz spun aside and shook Squishy off. The starfish spun in the air, coming back down as Daz hound struck it across the field; only for Squishy to latch onto its face briefly.

Both held their ground and it was almost impossible to predict the outcome. All the people in the park had gathered around in a circle around the two blades to watch the nail-biting match going on before them. Even the most serious joggers stopped to watch the spectacle, if only wondering what the fuss was all about.

"Squishy, boost!" Seita yells. The star bit beast transformed into its mermaid boy form as the children that'd been having a picnic cheered and the blade began spinning faster as Seita snapped his fingers. "GO FOR IT!" Squishy pushed against Daz Hound while in it's mermaid boy form and tossed Daz Hound aside as Daz Hound found it couldn't keep up with the mermaid boy's jabs.

The hound began falling back and losing its momentum. It seemed victory was Seita's for the taking.

"Boost! FULL SHOULDER CHARGE" Simon calls out. Daz Hound looks up at the sky and lets out a long, bone chilling howl suddenly vanishing as Squishy shifted from Mermaid Boy back into a small Starfish and fell forward, Seita looked up in total shock at how fast his boost had waisted just by Simon's Daz Hound howling. The bit beast lunges at his opponent with a new found determination in his canine eyes. Simon's blade begins spinning faster and steadier. Daz Hound's retaliation causes the match to tip in Simon's favour as the Hound tackled Squishy twice, slamming Squishy against flowers.

"Come on, Squishy we're still in this!" yells Seita. Mimi notices beads of water starting to levitate just as both bit-beasts broke apart and their beyblades skipped and clashed, finding their place back in their user's hands.

"Ay, you're not all that bad!"

The heated battle had finally come to an end and the crowd dispersed.

"I haven't had a close match like that in months! Woooow Seita, you're definitely a worthy opponent." Says Simon.

"So were you! Where did you learn to blade like that?" Seita asks. "It's all thanks to my secret training." Simon Smiled.

Suddenly, a woman's shriek echoes throughout the park. The gang and Simon run over to the source of the scream. "He took my child!" The woman wailed, panic written across her face. A suspicious looking man was running with a stroller. Simon and Seita raced after him, while Mimi and Gronk stayed behind with the woman as others notified the nearby cop who'd been patrolling and heard the scream. Seita loads his launcher and in no time, Squishy heads straight toward the man's head. The blade strikes him hard on the back of his head, causing the man to lose his footing and fall to the ground. He let go of the stroller with the baby in it but since the path was a slope, the stroller kept moving forward. It was headed straight for the busy street with plenty of vehicles zooming past.

"THE BAAABY!" Cried someone among the honking.

Simon dove past Seita, taking a single step up into the air as he pulled out his blade and launched with the precision of a hawk. "GRIFFITH!" Simon shouted as Seita was shocked Simon had two bit-beasts. A large pale hawk swooped out, dropping onto the stroller as it's wings wrapped around the stroller, decreasing the speed. All the while, the blade itself hit the bottom breaks of the stroller causing the stroller to come to a halt. The baby inside was now crying loudly. The mother rushed over and hugged her child, practically ripping the baby out of the stroller with tears in her eyes. She tries thanking the boys who saved her child's life but she was still crying with relief and couldn't form proper words.

"That coordination of yours was something else Simon. You absolutely have to tell me about your secret training now." Seita says. "And you have two bit-beasts?!"

"Ah well- sorta." Simon raised a brow confused though happily smiled.

"Well, if I told you then it wouldn't be a secret now would it?" Simon laughed. Seita is just about to press him further about this secret training but the cops arrive to apprehend the robber.

"Damn you kids!" The robber cried, attempting to make a run across the street but found three cops took off after him before he could make it across the halted traffic. All three tackled, subduing the man in handcuffs as the two boys watched.

"Nothing to see here, move along!" A second cop stood, waving at the crowd that stopped to watch but glanced to Simon, recognizing Simon almost in an instance. "Hey, aren't you detective Kon's kid?"

Simon gave him a nod while Seita's eyes widen. "Wait, your dad really is a detective?! That's so cool!"

Simon smiled. "Oh ah- Sorta, pops is a detective. He's working on a case right now actually" Simon folded his forearms in thought.

"and I'm really excited because this is the first time he's letting me help out on something so big. We work for the BABA's investigation team"

Mimi was utterly intrigued, having arrived when Simon explained. "What case is he working on now? Simon, was it?" Mimi asked.

"Mmm- Do you know anything about bit beasts possessing bladers?" Simon asks.

Seita's eyes light up. "Yeah! I fought a few just the other day. I'd never seen anything like it. Is it a common occurrence? I have heard about possessions on the news before"

"It's been picking up pace recently. Way too often lately actually. My father was sent here to investigate that and track a few people related to these incidents. We've been assigned to track a specific corrupt bit-master that's direction was headed here. Somebody stole two really rare beyblades and we know it has to be that one."

"They are now in Japan, looking to steal more beyblades. We don't know what they plan on doing with the one's they're after but we know it's not anything good." Simon explains.

"You must be an amazing blader then to be part of that." Seita notes.

Simon rubs the back of his head with his hand and smiles shyly. "I don't know about that but I sure will be soon. I do hope we can be friends."

"Of course! We'll be great friends." Simon reached for the fist bump Seita gave him.

"I'll have to go back with the officers but will you be back here?" Simon asks.

"Yes, we'll come here to train tomorrow too since it's the weekend."

" Tomorrow too?! I have to run for Sunday?!" exclaims Gronk.

"Yes, Gronk, how else will you improve your stamina?" Seita tells him.

Simon looks at Seita. "Do you want to come over and meet my dad actually? The headquarter is near and you're still wet so I could give you a change of clothes."

"Oh, I'm not sure. These clothes can dry on their own"

"My dad would be happy to meet the guy who helped me save a child. You can bring along your friends too."

Seita hesitated, though he recalled how interested Mimi's always been in officer movies as she only smiled on as Seita finally agreed to go along with Simon. The group all took a ride with Simon and soon enough, the large building of the police headquarters came into sight. The place seemed to buzz with energy. So many uniform-clad officers entered and exited the building. Seita had to admit that he was quite eager to go see what's inside.

They enter the building and somehow, it looks even bigger on the inside. Few officers nod their heads or wave at Simon and the kids. Simon smiles back. He seems to be quite popular amongst the department. As they walk along to find Simon's father, they see a large number of bey stadiums where the police bladers train. Seita and Gronk are awe-struck to see this many bey stadiums under one roof. They had never seen this many at the same place, except at Mimi's family beyblade training centre. Mimi's father was a master trainer and his centre was state of the art and even the police stadium couldn't compete. Nevertheless, it was still beautiful to look at. Seita assessed. Watching this many people train with such determination was deeply inspiring.

Finally, Simon led them to a door with a nameplate on it. The name plate says 'Detective Kon'. When they enter, they see a serious-looking man with a well trimmed beard sitting behind a large mahogany desk. He looks very busy reading a neatly labelled black file.

At the sound of the kids entering, he looks up and a warm smile lights up his face when his eyes find his son, Simon.

"Ah, Simon you're back. I heard about what you did at the park just now from Nakai. You did great, I'm proud of you." Detective Kon had a deep, soothing voice.

"I couldn't have done it without this guy here, Seita. This is Seita, Mimi and Gronk." Simon introduces the rest to his father.

Detective Kon looks over at Seita. "So you made friends already? Your mothers going to be happy to hear that when I call her later. Thank you for helping out kids. Let me treat you and your friends." Before Seita could say anything, Gronk spoke up. "No thank you sir! I'm hungry from watching that long battle."

"Battle?" Detective Kon asks.

"Yes, Seita and Simon had a really intense battle that kept me up!" Gronk responded, getting distracted by the scent of donuts on Kon's desk.

"Before the baby snatching incident took place. It was a draw but it was delightful to watch." Mimi finished telling the cheerful detective.

"Oh, then you boys must be starving. I have just the thing. Follow me." The detective exits the room and the kids obediently follow. As they walk deeper into the building, they enter a narrow corridor with glass walls on either side. Behind the glass walls are rooms that held criminals and such. After crossing a couple of people, they come across the guy who tried to steal the baby in the park. They halt there and Seita notices that there's something not quite right about the guy. He wonders what it could be.

"Some of those people get possessed and that's a problem that's occurring more frequently in this current time. The spectral spirits throw temptations into the minds of those that don't know any better. It's been occurring for over four years now and we have to find a solution to it all soon, before the world is plunged into chaos. It's bad enough that the cities are being attacked and the special units are formed to act against corrupt bit-beasts. So many of our men are working overtime but we're still under-staffed, that's why everyone here is really grateful that you boys helped with at least one such incident." Detective Kon explains.

"It's a hope in your eyes!" Detective Kon turned away, as if he were about to cry. "Aw- come on dad not now!" Simon laughed.

They start walking again and Detective Kon continues. "We hope to get some useful information out of one of the individuals we have captured."

Seita wonders if he could be talking about one of the corrupted bit masters he had fought the other day with Ray and Max. He couldn't help but think of the tattoos on their face and how inhumane their eyes looked. He didn't want to think about what would have happened to him if Max and Ray hadn't been there. The possessed bit masters seemed rather keen on obtaining Squishy. What were they planning? He might have only had his beyblade for a short period of time but he couldn't stand the thought of losing him. He already had a very strong bond with Squishy and he knew that nothing could replace his new friend.

Seita's chain of thought is interrupted when he accidentally bumps into Detective Kon's tall, sturdy frame. He was so deep in thought that he hadn't realized that they had reached their destination. The older man opens a large door which leads to what looks like the break room. He heads on over to the shelves and pulls out a large plastic can which could easily hold a gallon of liquid. He sets it down on the table and reaches for the glasses. The glasses were lined up on top of the highest but he had no trouble reaching them. Seita feels his tummy rumble. He was quite famished from his previous battle. He smiles to himself thinking of the battle. He might have only had very few battles so far, but this was easily the one he liked the most.

Gronk's mouth waters as Detective Kon pours a red smoothie into the glasses. "This smoothie is very healthy for young bladers such as you kids. It improves eye coordination by a great deal." The detective tells the kids.

"Gronk's been all about food today… I wonder what's up with him" Seita questioned in his head, soon noticing something.

Seita's ears perk up. "Wait a minute. Simon, this is your secret, isn't it?"

Simon laughs. "You figured it out. I guess there's no point in hiding it anymore. This stuff does wonders!"

The tastiness of the smoothie is evident in everyone's faces as they all quickly gulp down the whole glass, ready for seconds though they hear knocking.

The door of the room opened, to reveal a pretty woman with an air of authority surrounding her. She smiles at Detective Kon and walks over to him. "Detective Kon. Looks like you've settled in quite well."

"Yes, all thanks to your hospitality, President Sakura." Detective Kon smiles.

She turns to Simon. "It's been a while since we saw each other. Who are your friends?"

Detective Kon introduces the kids to her and then tells the kids who she is. "This is Sakura, she is the president of BABA. She's Mr Dickenson's daughter. The previous president of the BBA."

The kids are shocked to learn that they are standing in front of the president herself. She turns to Seita and stares at him a bit. "Oh- this young child. Aren't you Hilary's brother? Hilary Tachibana? I think I've seen you with the Bladebreakers once."

Simon's jaw drops. "HHHAH?! You know the legendary Bladebreakers? How could you not tell me before? That is so cool! SEITA!"

Seita laughs. "Yeah, I do sorta. I just don't talk about it often because I don't want to seem like I'm bragging or anything."

Mimi smiles but she laughed annoyed, knowing all too well the dozen's of time's he'd rant about the single time he'd met them. So much so, he'd often overflow her growing plants. Her eyebrows knit together. "You brag about it all the time." States Mimi with her angry smile.

"Wait, your last names Kon ... isn't that Rays?" Seita asked softly.

"Oh right! Ray's somewhere looking to find Kai" Seita recalled in his own mind.

"Sort of, he's a distant cousin of mine; that young man is just as passionate about Beyblade as he is about truth- guess it runs in the family" Responded Detective Kon.

Everyone laughed and so did Seita but in the back of his head, he was reminded about how much he missed those times. He missed how much fun he had while hanging out with the Bladebreakers at least the one time he'd seen them all together. He missed Tyson. But most of all, he missed watching his sister look so happy. What he wouldn't give to see that again.

Suddenly, the door burst open once more but this time, the policeman that entered looked panicked.

"Detective Kon! There's trouble! The museum –"