Next Step

Some time has passed.

After a very long, very hot shower, I returned to find the mess I'd made completely gone with only the Launcher, Ripcord, and Leech Worm left on the table.

Nothing else to do, I decided I should head out. So, I grabbed the items off the table and set out to find some random mobs- I mean, 'neighborhood kids' to BeyBattle against - not doubting for an instant that no fewer than every three-out-of-five kids will have a Beyblade.

Since these were just random kids who barely had names, they obviously did not have Bit Beasts and my win was guaranteed. However, this was more to see how Leech Worm performed.

I learned two things from these BeyBattles.

First, Leech Worm is just as useless a BeyBlade as I expected. It can barely move and just settles at the base of the BeyStadium - the stylized wooden, plastic, or metal bowls where BeyBattles take place - for the opposing Beyblade to keep hitting it. Also, through my bond with it, I could feel the Beyblade like an extension of myself. So, I could feel just how heavy, slow, and utterly incapable of fighting back it was.

The other thing I learned was Leech Worm's special ability. We didn't get any special moves like the main characters, but what we did get was a passive ability to siphon off our opponent's energy. It seems to compensate for Leech Worm's disproportionate weight and lack of stamina so it can keep spinning. I'm calling it Energy Leech.

After a few matches, I decided to see what happens if I point out the inconsistencies of the world to the inhabitants. Just something simple like whether or not we should be in school on a Wednesday morning. The response I'd get was an unsure 'I guess' and everyone just went back to what they were doing. Oh well.

That isn't important right now. What is important is that after a few days of familiarizing myself with Leech Worm's abilities and performance, I'm now walking around town to try and find a Beyblade shop to buy parts to improve my Beyblade.

You may ask yourself, "Beyblade shop? You mean there's entire shop dedicated to spinning tops?" And the answer is, "Yup."

People here won't notice it but game shops all specifically cater to one type of game each and at most sell some other stuff on the side. Among these games, there are two especially prominent ones dominating popular culture right now. The first is Beyblade. And the other? You might have guessed it. The Duel Monsters card game - known to us as Yu-Gi-Oh!

Right now, Beyblade is the main focus of the world to the point of being recognized as a form of sport. Duel Monsters is a recognizable name but considered a 'wildly popular game'. The reason for this is due to Beyblade having 'unparalleled special effects' in the form of Bit Beasts.

That will change once holographic technology is introduced to Duel Monsters and people start playing with 3D projections of the cards. After that, the 'sport' of Beyblade and game of Duel Monsters seem to fuse together - though really the story just drops the Beyblade stuff to focus on the card game. That brings me to my first step in my mission to usurp the main character role. To become the world champion of Beyblade and get invited to Pegasus's Duelist Kingdom tournament.

The first volume of the story features a more streamlined version of the OG Beyblade anime. The simple of it is, there are tournaments around the world to determine the best of each country. Then, the winners of these tournaments are brought together in one big round-robin tournament to determine the best in the world. D.D. apparently had little patience for any match that didn't involve ancient spirit monster battles.

Then begins volume 2. This part of the story combines the OG Yu-Gi-Oh! anime and Beyblade V-Force - but mostly Yu-Gi-Oh! As a publicity stunt, Pegasus invites the winning team of the Beyblade World Tournament - because being good at spinning tops means you must be good at everything for some reason - to participate in his Duelist Kingdom Tournament.

"But wait, you said the story was shit, that doesn't sound too bad." And, you're right. That isn't a bad transition. Honestly, throughout volume 1, my issues with the story were more dialogue and pacing but otherwise I didn't have an issue with it. I barely left any comments at all. Volume 2 is where things start going to shit.

I don't know if someone else commented or if D.D. figured it out himself, but after the opening chapter establishing what was going on, he left an author's note saying how he 'forgot to include the epic scene of Exodia OBLITERATE!' and would strive to add it to the story. What this meant was the cast of Tyson, Max, Ray, and Kai had effectively replaced Yugi and friends and he was going to write them into the story.

So, you may wonder, 'did he write a few chapters for Yugi to beat Kaiba, have Grandpa's soul stolen, and we see the two casts interact?'

Nope. That would have been interesting, but no. In Beyblade V-Force, they introduce a new character to the team - Hilary Tachibana. D.D. decided to use this as a point to bridge the two stories. So far, so good, but then it goes off the rails by turning her into a composite character. The main Yu-Gi-Oh! cast consists of Yugi, Atem, Joey, Tea, Tristan, and Kaiba. What D.D. did was turn Hilary into a fusion of Yugi and Tea and have the Beyblade cast fill in the roles of the rest of them. Tyson and Kai replace Kaiba, Ray is Tristain, and Max is Joey.

They first come together on the boat to Duelist Kingdom where they meet Hilary. They try to be nice and notice how she's pretty nervous. She explains how she's never played Duel Monsters before.

When questioned why she's entering a big Duel Monsters tournament then - as if our cast had ever played the game before -, she says that a week before she was at a garage sale where she found the Egyptian pendant she's now wearing. The owner claimed it was a magic and would grant the truest wish of whoever owned it. She bought it and made her wish when she suddenly felt - and I quote - 'overwhelming magic energies flood into her body'. The next day, she received a recorded message from Pegasus inviting her to Duelist Kingdom, her grandfather gave her his Deck, and now there she was.

'But wait, what about the Duel between Kaiba and Yugi? And Exodia?' The answer to that question when confronted was 'Oh, yeah…I forgot.' Even this still wasn't too bad in my opinion - just disappointing. I could even stand the dues ex machina of every Duel she has ending the same way that puts regular Yu-Gi-Oh! to shame. What really started ruining it was the forced, cringy, reverse harem, romance plot D.D. added. I don't know if it was meant to be serious or not, but the guy cannot write romance.

If your wondering about Atem the Pharaoh, he's still around…sort of. Instead of turning into an ancient pharaoh, Hilary undergoes a magical girl transformation - outfit and all - into an aged-up, over-sexualized Tea that no one questions. I think its supposed to be related to Dark Magician Girl or something…I honestly skimmed a bit whenever she was the focus. Most of the text around her was just badly written, excessive descriptions on how attractive she was; cringy, justice-always-prevails dialogue; or the guys acting like braindead simps.

Anyway, where was I…Right! Looking for a Beyblade shop to improve Leech Worm, enter local tournament, enter world championship, become world champion. That may sound like an oversimplification, but it's really not. Of course, being simple doesn't mean being easy.

I find some 'random obaa-san's grocery shopping' and ask for directions. Ignoring their comments on how 'cute' and 'childish' I was due to my regressed age and playing Beyblade, I eventually managed to get directions.

Following them, I curiously noticed several Beyblade shops on the way. Worried I had something wrong, I found various people to ask but anyone who knew were to go just gave me the same directions - completely ignoring any shops in the vicinity. Out of curiosity, I continued following their directions. It wasn't until I arrived I learned why this was where everyone was directing me.

This Beyblade shop was none other than the most plot-relevant one in the early story. It was the store run by the father of main cast member Max. Nothing big or impressive, but it was certainly the most distinct of anything I'd seen on the way here.

Stepping inside, I was immediately greeted by the man behind the register, "Well, hello there! Don't think I've seen you around before."

I look over to him and see none other than Max's dad - Taro Tate. He has short, spiky, brown hair; a goatee; and he's wearing an orange shirt and gray slacks under a beige hardware apron.

"I'm new to the area," I say weakly.

"I'm just messing with you," Taro laughs. "Me and my son just moved here ourselves and set up shop. What can I do you for?"

Walking over to the counter, I pull out Leech Worm. "I was wondering if you had any good parts to improve my Beyblade."

Accepting Leech Worm, Taro looked it over quizzically. After a moment, he said, "While I don't think you should just put together any old bunch of parts and call it a Beyblade, I'll see what I've got. However, I must say, I've never seen a Beyblade quite like this. Not only is it rather odd but the parts seem out of the norm."

Chuckling nervously, I scratch the back of my neck. "I got it special in the mail."

Taro nodded at my excuse and walked away to see what he had in stock.

I'm not sure why I'm feeling so anxious but I do. It's not like my whole deal with D.D. matters in this situation. I could scream it from the roof tops and no one would think twice about it - just patronize me or play along. Is it because I'm seeing an anime character come to life before my eyes?

I brush these thoughts off and start thinking about what I can do to prepare for this tournament. From what I could tell from talking to the kids around here, the plot has already begun. Tyson should have had a match with some random character who doesn't show up past chapter five but someone got to him first. Tyson got revenge but fell into trouble with a local gang of Beyblade thugs called the Bey Sharks. Rumors are he beat their leader Kai. That puts us around chapter five or so. Meaning, Tyson will soon meet Max and the BBA - the Beyblade Battle Association - will announce their Japan Grand Championship tournament soon that is secretly the qualifier for the Beyblade World Championship Tournament.

The only hard part or hitch I see is my complete lack of combat power. Against a few dozen ordinary bladers, it'll be no contest. But, there will be main characters Max, Ray, Kai, and Tyson. I'm not even sure how my presence will affect the story going froward. How will it affect things if I take one of the four spots on the team?

While I contemplate this, Taro comes back with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, but there's just nothing I have that will work with your bey. It doesn't look like a manufacturing defect, so I can only assume it was custom made. I gave it some mild adjustments but you'll have to contact the manufacturer about getting new parts."

Having Leech Worm handed back to me, I accept it with some mild annoyance. This must be D.D.'s doing. He gave me a special Beyblade that wouldn't work with conventional parts so I wouldn't be able to customize it and get rid of its bad points - a smaller Weight Disk, better Attack Ring, etc.

As I lament my situation, the bell by the front door rings.

I turn to see three boys walk in. They are none other than main characters Tyson, Max, and Kenny - otherwise known as Chief.

Max is at the lead. He has messy blonde hair, a green shirt, and orange overalls. He approaches the counter to talk to his father - accidentally nudging me aside in his haste. "Hey, Dad, this is my new friend Tyson, he needs you to take a look at his Beyblade."

"I'm sorry Max, but can't you see I'm with a customer," Taro lightly chastises.

Acting as if he is just now noticing me, Max jumps back and hurries to say, "Oh man, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

"Don't worry about it," I say offhandedly. My gaze shifts over to the other two.

Tyson has long, messy blue hair resembling a mullet but its a little hard to notice due to his red and white ball cap. He has a yellow shirt with a red and white jacket over it, and blue shorts.

Kenny is the shortest of the lot with messy ginger hair that covers his eyes, big round glasses on his head, a white shirt, and green pants. In his arms is his ever present laptop.

I already know the situation but feign ignorance as I say, "I guess you're the son I heard about. Your friend needs your dad to look at his Bey? Just go ahead, I already settled my business."

Max and Tyson accepted my words and went about the original plot of Taro taking apart Tyson's Beyblade, cleaning it, and making sure it hasn't suffered any damage from being used as a dog's chew toy and then as a projectile weapon. All the while, Max regales him with the story of their heroic exploits of saving some random woman's dog.

As I pretend to listen, I consider the situation I'm in. Once Tyson's Beyblade is put back together, Max'll show them his basement where he has his own BeyStadium, Tyson'll challenge Max to a BeyBattle, lose, and then Mr. Dickenson arrives to tell them about the tournament. All things considered, I think it would be best if I tried to stick around until then.

In fact, maybe I can use this to test my meddle against a real opponent.