Author note: ...And now I present chapter 2 //bows// Sorry if it seems rushed or anything - I finished it on monday, instead of doing biology homework. I feel pretty guilty. The mitochondria will never forgive me!!

It was a few days later that Kai got his opportunity for a rematch, at the Nationals. He would get that cocky little Tyson and prove to himself that he was truly the best Beyblader. And it seemed Tyson had brought a new friend along for the occasion.

Whilst Max and Tyson bounded around like over-enthusiastic puppies, asking everyone else about their 'blades, Kai couldn't help thinking 'Oh gods, the idiots are reproducing…'.

Tyson's grandfather had shown up at some point too, and rather than separating the two hyperactive teenagers (they encouraged each other, after all) he had fed them sugar and pop. So Kai had fled in the most dignified manner possible to find a quieter spot and visualise his victory against the blonde kid. And good thing he did too, because Max was not the pushover that Kai had anticipated. He, too, had a bit-beast and not one of your average spirits either. This one was built like a rock. There was none of the usual rebounding business when the beyblades met; it was just like his blade was being held firmly by the defensive beast and its strength drained away with every hit. Kai was once again powerless in his own fight – all of his commands were slightly pointless. Dranzer knew what she was doing, she knew how to negotiate around this moving fortress of an enemy and it was quite clear that Kai's input was not needed. Needless to say, it had rattled him slightly. Two strong, old spirits both encountered within days of each other, and now their owners were united against him. Kai shook his head to dislodge the troubling thought.

Now was the final match. It was not the time for worrying about what had already happened. Now was the time for concentration. He and Tyson faced one another, the dish between them like some kind of chasm waiting to be filled. Then from the ceiling, linked fences were lowered to form a tight cage around the beyblading dish. Tyson was taken a little by surprise – he felt locked in, and isolated from his friends' support. His sentiments did not go unnoticed; Kai saw his unease and smirked confidently. The battle hadn't even started and already his opponent's nerves were on edge. He wouldn't have to work too hard to win this fight, it would seem. The caged arena had actually been installed the year after Kai's magnificent ascent to power, in which he had scorched the previous champion's 'blade and then knocked it (quite intentionally) at his little fan club in the audience. Whether or not Tyson knew this or not was irrelevant, but what a shame he wouldn't be able to do the same this year to that annoying blonde kid and the geeky one with the laptop. Oh well.

He turned, still smirking, to Tyson. Frustratingly, he had gotten over the little shock of the cage and the smirk failed to have any effect on his optimist attitude. In the spirit of friendly competition, he called over to Kai above the crowd's anticipated chatter;

"Good Luck!"

There were so many comebacks, taunts, witty abuses that Kai could have replied. He settled on the most sarcastic and scornful that came to mind. It should set the match off nicely, he thought.

"Oh dear!" He exclaimed exaggeratedly. "I didn't realise that luck would be involved!" He pronounced the word luck like it was foreign, and then his overdramatic tone turned sour. "And here I was, wasting my time with skill and practice. Well, silly me."

Tyson's face too, darkened.

"Alright, alright. You don't have to be so nasty about it; just trying to be friendly. Jeez, attitude problems…" The last part was muttered under his breath.

Now that the air of hostility well and truly hung about them, Kai decided it was the time to begin.

"I don't want or need your friendship, so you can keep it along with your luck." And then his 'blade was skimming up the sides of the dish. The official starting words hadn't been announced, but Tyson too let loose his beyblade into the fight. Agitated with Kai's antisocial responses over the days, he made the grey blade go straight into offensive, ignoring all of Kenny's advice. To everyone's surprise, including Kai's, Dranzer gave way under the vicious attack. It shot out of the dish with some force, hitting Kai squarely in the chest and knocking him back into the chain link fence. Instantly, Tyson's anger vanished.

"Oh crap! Are you alright, man?"

Kai remained motionless against the fence, his face hidden. Secretly, he was disbelieving. The kid wasn't so bad after all. While it was true that he had been testing the waters with that first battle, he hadn't expected such a…well, Kai-like attack. The place where the 'blade had hit him throbbed painfully. Maybe Tyson was a Blade Shark in the making; someone Kai could teach…

"Come on, get up you faker! I want to beat you properly!"

…then again, maybe he should just beat him and steal his Bitbeast. Yeah, that was better.

He raised himself, his fingers clinging to the cage links for support his shaky legs. Thankfully, his sneering expression drew attention from the slight weakness. He was grinning. Time to bring out the big guns.

"That's my move." He said, his eyes glittering with contempt. "Let me show you how it's supposed to be done."

He held his launcher close to his chest; his arms like a coiled snake ready to spring. At the word he practically flung his 'blade into the dish, so hard that the launcher was almost thrown too. The resulting momentum was so great that Tyson's grey beyblade was catapulted into the caged barrier within a matter of seconds (achieving the velocity Kai's opponent's had all those years ago. Oh, why did the cage have to be in the way of Kenny's head?). He had actually been aiming for a rather brutal headshot, but it was too obvious and Tyson had flinched sideways just in time. Damn. It would have gotten rid of him from the tournament. Then again, Kai would have probably been disqualified as well. Never mind then.

On the bleachers, Kenny gave a horrified gasp at Tyson's near-decapitation.

"Woah. They're really serious, aren't they Chief?"

"I knew the Blade Sharks used violent tactics, but I never expected him to use them in a national tournament! With the judges watching and everything!" Kenny replied, appalled.

"Do you think Tyson still has a chance of winning?" Max asked in concern.

"It doesn't look good. He'll have to go all out in this final match…"

The beyblades were launched and, as was natural for two air-orientated beasts, they gained height, each seeking to gain advantage and strength from the mounting gravitational potential energy. The battle was repetition of the same simple actions by each blader – first they would fly up, sometimes getting a good 10 or 15 seconds of air-time, then came the destructive descent where both attempted to flatten the other whilst landing, they wound crash earthwards, narrowly avoid mutually damaging collisions in the dish and then the whole process would repeat itself. It turned from a show of strength into an endurance battle. Kai and Tyson were both struggling to maintain the furious pace, and it was only a matter of time before someone screwed up on their timing and was trashed.

And here it was…

They were falling, but slowly as each bit-beast tried to delay the impact of the fall. Dranzer beat her massive wings with the blue beyblade corresponding to her movements, whilst Dragoon manipulated the air currents to cushion the 'blade. But both Kai and Tyson realised at the same moment that they were still falling too fast, and the impact would be too harsh. Even if they managed to keep spinning, it would all be a matter of luck as to who had enough power left to finish the other off. It seemed that luck would play a part in this battle after all.

Frantically, the 'blades began to swat at each other in midair, trying to knock the other so it wouldn't fall into the dish. Dranzer's wings flapped to neutralise each gust sent by Dragoon, and for each sent one of her own back. In a final ditch attempt, they shot towards one another, and yet again both were knocked aside, landing on the quarter inch rim of the steep-sided dish. Luckily for Tyson, the Chief's modifications came into play just in time, and the dragon 'blade regained balance quickly. Kai urged Dranzer to move faster around the rim, making her less likely to fall, but he knew he had lost. Grudgingly, he let it go and the blue beyblade faithfully wobbled back to him.

The crowd let loose a roar of approval for some, shock for others, and relief for the few who'd been bored by the extended match. Kai crouched and picked up Dranzer, feeling her last few revolutions die away as his fingers closed around the blade. He did not blame her for the loss of the match.

"All fires die down eventually." He said simply to his Bitbeast. "But don't forget that the wind feeds us." He added, shooting a pointed look at Tyson.

"Eh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means next time we battle, I'll eat you for fucken breakfast, moron."

.:--:.

"Anything?"

All the other CCTV cameras had been switched off; now the screens all showed the same lab from different angles. All showed the tank filled with malevolence, the silhouette of a bird in even darker black then the surrounding room. Since its initial stirrings, there had been nothing. Boris was in desperate need of something to report to his boss. The nervous scientist in front of him read off a long paper readout, interpreting the squiggles hurriedly. "Er, energy fluctuations for the two days, and then steadily decreasing from about an hour ago" he said worriedly.

"It's been re-establishing the connection" Boris stated. "Remarkable."

"Sir?" the confused scientist asked for elaboration.

"The boy was in a tournament. He lost the final match…" Boris glanced at his watch "…within the last hour."

"But sir, why did it wake up in the first place?"

"For the same reason, I suspect, as the anomaly there." The older man indicated at the readout, where the ink trace had jumped right off the paper. "The phoenix has finally come into contact with the other ancient Beasts."

To Be Contined...

Author note II, The Revenge (on DVD, Monday!): Hmm, I hope it's alright. Oh well, too late now, right? Eheheh...

Thanks to readers and reviewers, you get...I dunno...Cookies n' ...shit...

Chapter 3 might be a little while in the making. I have university interviews - WTF am I going to do?! They'll discover me as a fraud! Noo!