Ok, this is my latest story. (Unless you're reading this a year from when I posted it) No, this is not linked to Heaven Forbid of Chase. I'm starting from scratch here, and I don't know how good this one will do. Please review, and cut me some slack.

Disclaimer; I don't own Beyblade.

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Nothing in this life is certain. People can stab you in the back over what you might call nothing, relationships can be ruined in a heartbeat, and people will kill others to spite someone else. But the only thing that prevents man kind from overcoming these unfortunate events is the lone fact that we do not know what or when they will happen.

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Lee laughed so hard he slopped his drink onto the carpet. And he wasn't the only one, because Tyson and Rei were also laughing to the extent that their sides ached. Mariah shook her head and sighed.

"You guys could help him, you know." The neko-jin put her hands on her hips and looked across the long table at the other boys.

"Rei, he wants his iPod. Why make fun of him behind his back?!" She was beginning to raise her voice. After a two hour meeting in the BBA's head quarters, she was ready to smack her friends upside their heads.

"It's not that we're mocking him, we're just… Improvising." Lee said through the laughing. The fact that it wasn't even funny irritated Mariah more. "Well, I have dinner plans, so come to the restaurant when you all grow up."

Mariah stood and left the room, truly hoping that she wouldn't be the first to the restaurant; that would be embarrassing.

Once the female was gone, the males began to crack up again. Sitting and doing nothing for two whole hours had taken its toll on the board teenagers, and they burst into laughter at the slightest sign of humor. Kevin, who was off in the other room of the meeting hall, came in empty handed and frowning.

"Shut up." He growled, glaring across at Rei and Lee. Lee just began to laugh again, while Rei found it in himself to calm down.

"Ok, fine. Can you find your iPod?" He asked through a smile.

"No, and there's a lesson in this; never give anything to Gary." He replied bitterly. Most of the other members of the two teams had cleared out of the meeting hall, and left to meet the Majestics, All stars, and the other teems. All that were left where Rei, Lee, Tyson, Max and Kevin.

"Well, I hope you find it, because if I stay here any longer I'll be reduced to Tyson." Lee said, chuckling. Tyson immediately stopped laughing and turned to the neko-jin. "What was that?" He asked.

Lee ignored him by leaving the room, followed by a fuming Tyson and a laughing Max. Rei looked back towards Kevin, who was once again searching for his iPod.

"Should I wait?" Rei asked blankly, not really caring what Kevin said in reply.

"No, I found it." Kevin sounded relieved, and paused to press the ear buds into his ears and turn it on. Rei made it out the door and started down the hallway, assuming Kevin would be right behind him. But when Kevin paused to select the song he wanted to listen to, the door had enough time to close.

Of course, he thought nothing of this. At least not until his fingers were wrapping around the handle.

To his left, from behind a modern looking metal bookshelf, someone stepped out of hiding.

"What's the rush, Kevin?" The voice asked. There was no time for reaction. The sound of a gun firing caused Rei, Lee, Tyson, and Max to turn abruptly back towards the room, but the door locked just before they reached it.

"KEVIN!" Rei yelled, slamming his fist of the door. Inside, he could here someone moving quickly around the room, and Kevin's voice crying out in pain. Max staggered backwards until he reached the opposite wall. This couldn't be happening. It happened to quickly… What was even going on?

Lee had his cell phone out and was just about to dial 911 when it rang. Slowly, he looked down at the caller id. 'Unknown' was all it read. Carefully, he answered it.

"Who is this?" He was breathing quickly, the erg to get to his friend stronger then anything he had felt before.

"Don't call the police, Lee. If I get word that you do, I'll kill Kevin."

Lee almost dropped the phone. "What do you want?" He managed to get the words out of his mouth coherently.

"Oh, I want a lot of things. But for now, I want you to get the other teams, and only the other teams, up into the hallway."

The voice sounded heavy, but not scared. Lee couldn't tell who's it was, or even how old they were. He just stood there, thinking.

"Don't hurt him again. I'll get the others up here as quickly as I can." He said, trying to stay calm. Lee flipped his razor closed and looked over to Rei.

"Call the All stars. I'll call the Majestics. Tell them they need to meet us in the hallway of the BBA head quarters ASAP, and to come alone without any one else. If they protest, tell them Kevin's life is on the line."

Rei nodded and pulled out his own razor, quickly dialing Robert's number.

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Mariah sat down next to Emily and sighed. "Sorry about showing up alone, the others were being babies." She said, recalling how difficult her teammates had been. Emily smiled and shook her head, but her reply was cut off by Robert's cell phone. The tone made both of the girls laugh though.

"My humps?" Emily asked, questioning Robert's choice in ring tones. The European blushed and answered his phone.

"Hello Rei! What's u-" He stopped talking, and the others watched as his face sunk. Just then, Michael's phone began ringing to the tune of All Star by smash mouth. The others looked over at him slowly. "Lee? What's going on?" He asked cautiously.

His face fell just as Robert's had, and his eyes seemed to gloss over with worry.

Mariah put her fingers to her lips, confused and worried. "What is it?" She asked as the two flipped their phones closed simultaneously.

"It's Kevin." Michael said slowly.

"He's been shot."

Mariah froze, while the others gasped. Of all the things that could happen, she least expected anything this awful. He first thought was 'Oh my god, Kevin is dead', but when Robert said he was still alive, just being held hostage, she actually felt relief; for however short a time.

"However shot him is demanding that us and only us go to floor 39 and meet the others in the hallway. And only we can go, so no adults or police." He said quickly, standing from his seat.

It didn't take long for the two teams and Mariah to make it to the BBA head quarters where everything was on lock down. The police were waiting quietly outside in the streets, and hostage negotiators were already trying to get through to the man responsible for the nightmare.

From the lobby, the two and a half teems were escorted to the elevators. "From here on out," an officer said, "You are on your own. Good luck, and stay calm."

The way the officer said it made Mariah feel as if she were playing a video game. But instead of crushing his high score, all Mariah wanted to do was hold Kevin in her arms. She felt sick to her stomach with worry, and the fear of losing her best friend dominated both the emotional side of her brain, and the logical.

When they finally reached the 39th floor, Mariah flung her arms around Rei and tears erupted from her eyes. She felt to insecure and vulnerable, but then, they all were.

But some more then others.

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xChewy; Aw, the first chapter and it's already morbid. Oh well, I hope this story will do well. It actually started out as a dream, and I changed it around. :3 Review?

Kevin; You witch. Why am I ALWAYS a victim?!

xChewy; shrug I don't know. Because you fit that roll?

Kevin; Jerk.