Disclaimer: We don't own Beyblade or these characters. We're not making any money off of this.

Ranma's Notes: An ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. This is how we think it would go if Kai was the One-Armed Blader and he and Tyson actually got off on the right foot. None of the Bladebreakers have met; this is a different beginning and world!! This episode was originally over 26 pages long… but we've cut it to make the chapters smaller. ^_^ special thanks to FireKali who beta-ed this!

Glay's Notes: Please don't hate us for how we portray the characters in this AU! ^_^;;;; We are basically trying to show the different types of human reaction to Kai's one arm through the others.

The One-Armed Blader

Episode 1

"The Returning Champion"

In the winter of 1990, a terrible explosion of unknown causes destroyed a compound named Balkov Abbey - the top Beyblading training facility in Moscow, Russia.

What a strange, wonderful place it had been. High towers that stretched up, way up, into the sky and deep underground basements that lay buried down into the earth. Huge courtyards filled with beystadiums and cobblestone walks surrounding them. And inside, great auditoriums and gymnasiums built specifically for the sport. And yet, further down, extensive research laboratories and testing rooms for the newest developed technology. And even deeper still, odd cells and prisons that had been around for longer than anything above them…

The fires had twisted and ravaged the buildings for hours before being put out, but in the end there was no use. Everything had been damaged beyond recall, along with the people who had been inside…

There were no recorded survivors of the catastrophe, and no explanations for how it had happened. All that had occurred within those walls of stone was lost for eternity, and the dead carried their secrets to the grave.

A few miles away from the burning abbey, a truck driver who had passed the complex found an unconscious, severely bleeding young boy in the back of his pickup. On closer inspection, the driver found that the boy's left arm was missing. The man brought the boy to a hospital, and from there, the boy healed…

The doctors asked the boy for his name.

He told them it was Kai.

And ten years later…

****

He was running.

Always running, faster, always faster, never stopping. Across fields and grassy hills, he seemed to cover them in seconds, one kind of scenery blending flawlessly into the next. The wind was blowing into him from behind, caressing his hair and clothes, urging him to run even faster, pulling him towards his goal… and yet he could never seem to see it. But he knew it was there.

He was chasing something.

A shape gliding among the rolling clouds in the blue sky. He had to catch up to it before it disappeared completely, because it knew something he needed to know. 'It' was a creature. He had caught glimpses, just hints, of the beast when it passed from one wispy cloud into another. It was blue like the sky itself, and it moved like the wind, with the wind, and as if it were the wind in a physical form… It was alluring in the very nature of the word, drawing him to follow it to the ends of the earth.

And he would.

In some distant part of him, the part that was not under the desperate grasp to catch the mysterious creature, he knew what it was. It was the shape of a promise. But he just needed to know what promise it was…

His feet were barely touching the woodland floor as he darted through the maze of sandalwood trees and dried foliage. The wind picked up the leaves as he passed by, swirling the russet-coloured leaves into complicated designs in the air around him. Somehow, the wind carried them faster than he could run, and they took a path through the trees of the forest.

The creature was showing him the way.

He weaved through the trees that surrounded him, trying to escape the endless labyrinth. But no. There were more trees, never ending, frustrating him in his search to see the elusive blue beast. They were everywhere, blocking him, and just as he felt as if he could yell…

The continuous expanse of trees abruptly ended, and he came to stand at the edge of a clearing.

And there was the creature he had been chasing after.

It was a dragon.

It was like a part of heaven had descended to earth.

Its body was winding and coiling gracefully in the clearing. Its scales were translucent and shimmering along it's back. Long claws protruded from its forelegs and he looked into its face, expecting to see wise, timeless eyes staring back, but what he saw were…

Dark, deep youthful blue eyes pinning him in his place. Time seemed to stop as he looked into those eyes, eyes that were human and seemed mismatched on the dragon's scaly features – as if they belonged to something, someone, else.

The dragon bowed its head, then, and spoke.

"Hello, Kai."

Auburn eyes snapped open in shock and the young teen sat up straight in his bed. His nightshirt was clinging to his body from a cold sweat and his heart was hammering in his chest. He was breathing deeply, staring at the wall, trying to remember what the dream had been about.

Beside him, the flashing numbers of the clock radio in his private room at the special facility orphanage switched from reading 6:29am to 6:30 am.

The clock began to blare loudly, the alarm having gone off.

Kai raised his right hand, the one he had remaining, and carefully pressed the button to turn the clock off. The teen then slipped out of bed silently and glanced at the calendar tacked to the wall. The day's date was circled.

"The championships…" Kai said under his breath as he exited the room, ignoring his reflection as he passed a mirror.

****

It was the Regional Championships again in Japan.

As always many young kids had come to participate, and the stands were filled and bustling with crowds of people waiting to watch the popular event. The first matches had already begun and would most likely finish quickly. The semi-finals were scheduled to start in about forty minutes.

That was why Mr. Dickinson walked into one of the many waiting rooms situated in the stadium. There he found a Chinese teen with bound long black hair. He was sleeping.

The old man sighed and poked the young man with his cane causing him to jolt awake.

He yawned. "Oh, Mr. Dickinson." The Chinese blader rubbed his eyes. "Time for my match already?"

"Just about." The manager's voice was creased with what sounded like worry. The blader wasn't going to like this.

"Ah… Ray, I wanted to talk to you about the captaincy of the team."

Suddenly, the Chinese youth named Ray perked up and he grinned, fangs glinting. "Finally adding it to my contract?"

Mr. Dickinson seized up in anxiety at Ray's words.

"No worries Mr. D, I'm all for it. I'm confident that I'll be able to lead whoever you put on this team."

"Oh, Ray..." The old man turned fretful and he swiped at his brow with a handkerchief. "You're ah... You're not the one I've chosen."

Ray blanched in absolute shock that made him freeze. "What?" He gaped. "There must be some mistake – I… I thought we'd agreed."

"Another candidate has been called to my attention…" The old man's voice was wavering. "As head of the BBA I had to take it into consideration and it's been decided."

Ray's eye twitched and he gritted out, "Who is it?"

"Now, please don't get upset, Ray…"

"Who?" The Chinese blader asked icily.

This wasn't what he had left home for!

Ray Kon had traveled from his isolated village in China in search of bigger and better things. Trying to expand his horizons as a Beyblader, he'd met up with some scouts for the BBA. It was the largest Beyblading association in the world, Japanese in origin and ownership, and proved to be the perfect place for Ray to set up connections. In fact, Ray had skill. Mr. Dickinson, the head of the entire organization, took notice and assigned Ray to a special four-member team he and a few others had been collaborating on at the time.

The plan was to choose the four top Beybladers at the Regional Champions of the present year. However, Ray wasn't a resident of Japan and under normal circumstances wouldn't have been able to participate. So, they immediately signed him to the team.

Ray had explicitly stated that he was the best person to be captain of the BBA team. As the first active member he found himself taking on many responsibilities that he would have to teach the other three – whoever they'd be. BBA wanted a group of competitors that had not been registered in it's own training programs. The idea was to hone skills already learned independently rather than taking the extra time to teach and train fresh recruits.

And the purpose of creating such a team?

To get team BBA into the World Championships being held in Moscow, Russia – taking place in a few short months time.

For the better part of the last decade, Russian and American teams had usurped the most prestigious Beyblading association in the world.

And for the past four years running, Team China dominated the World Championships by placing first each and every time.

Ray had been offered a spot on Team China, as a few of the children he grew up with had as well. He turned it down. He gave up the sure bet of captaincy of an excellent team. However, BBA's contract was hardly refutable, yet incredibly binding.

All he had suggested was that he should be team captain.

"Kai Hiwatari, Regional Champion for 3 straight years."

Ray mouth became a thin line. His voice was grim. "Hiwatari? …Don't tell me… No…"

Mr. Dickinson flinched and replaced his handkerchief into his pocket. "He's a remarkable young man. And he's won more than his fair share of tournaments!"

"He's the One-Armed Blader! Isn't he?!" At Mr. Dickinson's nervous expression Ray stood up angrily. "HE IS!!"

The Chinese teen crossed his arms tightly. "I'm sorry Mr. Dickinson, but I can't believe this! I'm the one who knows the protocols by heart! There's no way I'm following orders from him. What were you thinking? I've been on team BBA longer than that weirdo, and I didn't win any of my battles because of pit-"

"That's enough!" Mr. Dickinson said, his voice firm. "You're a fundamental part of this team, Ray, because you're a good blader and a responsible person. However, there's an image that we must uphold-"

Ray choked. "What?! Image? Are you saying that a Chinese captain is worse than a kid with one arm!? Tell me, where's the sense it that, 'cause I don't see it!"

Mr. Dickinson's voice was quiet. "… I find Kai to be the best choice for captaincy - one arm or not. Your nationality is not the issue here…"

"Yeah right! Like I believe that!!" Ray took some short breaths, trying to get his anger to lessen. How could they? How could they? Why didn't he see it before…?

There was a long stretch a silence before the head of the BBA turned slightly and broke eye contact.

"You want to head off to the arena now. Take a look at the match going on right now. It's for the other semi-finalists. You'll be blading a young man named Tyson Granger. He's shown amazing promise. I'm hoping he'll be on the team as well." He said softly, almost apologetically.

"It'll be a piece of cake." The Chinese blader said in monotone as he walked out the door.

In the empty hallway he clenched his fists tightly and his amber eyes narrowed to slits like a cat.

"I can do it with one arm tied behind my back."

****

Inside the arena the bladers still left in the competition were milling about and waiting for the next match to begin. This one would be a semi-finals qualifier.

"What'd you say your name was again??" A short young teen with a red baseball cap, red jacket, yellow shirt, and blue shorts asked an even shorter kid who was standing in front of him holding a laptop.

"It's Kenny, but people call me Chief." Kenny replied irritated.

"Chief…Chief…" The taller teen scratched his head, his midnight coloured hair messing up at the movement. "I don't think I've ever heard of you!"

"That's okay…" Kenny sighed. "But that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about."

Suddenly one of the remaining bladers, a blond teen around fourteen years old, bounded over to the kid who was standing with his hands on his hips looking really happy while the shorter one holding his laptop beside him looked frazzled.

"Hey!" The blond teen called out to the taller one. "You're Tyson, right?"

The midnight blue haired boy turned to face the blond and smiled.

"Tyson Granger, right?" The other asked.

"Yep, that's my name, don't wear it out!" Tyson grinned and did a peace sign. "Don't tell me I've got another fan!"

The shorter bespectacled boy spoke up. "I told you - I'm not a fan!"

"Suuuure." Tyson rolled his eyes then looked at the blond again. "Hey."

"Hey! It's good to meet you, my friend!!" The cheerful blond exclaimed. "My name's Max Tate. I'm the winner of heat number 2 - I heard you won yours!"

"Yeah! I'm in the semi-finals!" Tyson replied. "Man, Max I'm totally stoked about that!"

"Yeah, me too! Do you know who you'll be blading against yet?" Max asked.

"Nope, not yet." Tyson shrugged. "I'll find out in like half an hour though."

"Oh! Yeah, about that…" The blond started. "See him?" Max pointed across the stadium towards a tall figure in the crowd. He stood out though, as other competitors were giving him a wide berth.

Tyson squinted and tried to pinpoint whom the other blader was talking about. Giving up he just shrugged and replied. "Yeah?"

Max's expression went sad for a brief instant and his eyebrows turned up as he stared out at the mystery blader. "Go easy on him."

"Why?" The midnight haired boy questioned, feeling as though he was missing something. "Who're you talking about?"

"They call him The One-Armed Blader."

Kenny gasped. He recognized him from the program booklet. Whenever he researched there had never been much information on that blader. But that was Kai Hiwatari, the returning champion.

Tyson finally registered the person Max was talking about and his eyes widened. That guy didn't look like someone whom you had to go easy on. Before he could say anything though, Max continued, his tone solemn and quiet.

"You could end up blading him, and it's an unspoken rule here at the Regionals. Everyone goes easy on him because of his handicap." Max told them.

"I can see why!" Kenny exclaimed.

"Okay wait… that doesn't sound really fair." Tyson frowned, thinking that if it were him he wouldn't want people to make him feel less than anyone else.

The blond sighed, completely misinterpreting Tyson's point. "I know it's not. But it's the polite thing to do. If you have to beybattle him in the semi-finals, go easy."

"Isn't the point of Beyblading to try your hardest though? How's anyone gonna really win if they don't go all out? So what if he has one arm?" Tyson asked raising an eyebrow.

"Listen, you're a rookie here, yeah?" Max questioned patiently. Tyson nodded bemused.

"I entered last year, and things don't really work the same way like they do if you're just blading for fun!" The blonde explained as he walked towards the sidelines.

"I thought the point was to have fun…" Tyson muttered his eyes only straying to the One-Armed Blader briefly before he followed Max into the sidelines to watch the next qualifying match, Kenny walking close behind him.

****

This was Kai's fourth year at the Regional Championships. He was the returning champion and knew how things went. Yes, he knew how things went and how those things never seemed to change.

So far, the kids that had appeared to challenge him were the same as last year's, and the year before that as well. Either young and scared, or older and tough, they all still held the same air about them. He could tell that none of them were real beybladers. None of these kids fought with that something that made a worthy opponent.

He would win his heat easily.

For the final qualifying heat of the Regionals, Kai was to go up against four other bladers. He stepped up the stairs that led to the dish they would be competing in. The crowds in the stands suddenly got much louder and the other kids already there began watching him nervously. As Kai walked, his scarf swished across his back and he became acutely aware of the sewn-up tank top sleeve of his missing left arm.

"And there he is, it's The One-Armed Blader! Looks like the Returning Champion is back again and in this final heat!"

"You're right, Brad! Kai is sixteen and has been the champion of this tournament for three years! Will he do it again this time?"

"It's hard to say, A.J.! There are a lot of promising new bladers coming out of the woodworks, and it might be that The Blader has his work cut out for him!"

"Well I for one, Brad, think this kid can do it single-handedly!! … No pun intended!"

Kai ignored the commentary.

He lifted his left leg up and held it there, bent at the knee. There was a tight black strap around his left thigh and securely fastened to it was his shooter… small and rudimentary, the shooter wasn't anything special, but it was the only type that he could attach to the strap when he needed to, without any help. Still standing on his right leg, he got the ripcord from where it was looped loosely in his belt, and carefully fed it through the shooter. Kai then took his beyblade from his pocket and set it against the shooter, locking it onto place by pushing on it with his thumb.

Hopping slightly, Kai repositioned himself so his left leg was aimed at the beystadium, just like his left arm would have been, if he had one. Kai hunched over and held the handle on the ripcord.

From their places in the sidelines, Tyson, Max and Kenny were paying close attention to the match. Well Max and Kenny were, Tyson had only just perked up when Kenny told him he should be watching his potential opponent's blading styles.

"What is that…?" Kenny questioned Max, stupefied by the strange sight – He had never actually been to the Regionals before.

"That's how he blades." Max replied amiably. "I saw it last year, and it's still really weird to see."

"This is absurd!" The Chief exclaimed and hastily typed away in his laptop. "He can't possibly get enough power behind the rip at that height and with that beginner's shooter!"

"What did you want again?" Tyson glanced down at Kenny.

"Like I said before, I think you have a chance at winning this tournament…" The Chief's fingers flew across the keys. "I can help you out with upgrading your Dragoon blade if you want."

"Woah really!? Hey -"

"Shh!! I think the match is starting!!" Kenny said touchily.

And sure enough, the five final bladers had gotten ready to try and advance to the semi-finals. DJ Jazzman took out his microphone and the crowd went up in cheers.

"How does he do it?" Kenny adjusted his glasses and peered more closely.

The One-Armed Blader didn't bother to look at his opponents. Instead he just kept his eyes down, and held his shooting position with almost perfect stability, waiting until DJ Jazzman counted down the rip.

"3!"

Kai's leg muscles tensed.

"2!"

His grip on the ripcord tightened.

"1!"

Kai bent his right knee and jumped, propelling himself into the air.

"LET IT RIIIIIP!!!!!"

"Grahh!" Kai yelled as he pulled the ripcord powerful, his Dranzer blade leaving the shooter and spiraling hectically into the beystadium. Kai twisted back and landed in a crouch his two feet planted squarely on the ground, steadying himself with his one arm.

The blue beyblade whipped around the dish, the attacks from the other four not even phasing its power. The match was over before it even started – one after the other, each opposing blade was knocked out of the dish.

"And the winner is The One-Armed Blader! Kai!"

The other competitors blinked in shock and disappointment as they collected their blades. Three of them left the arena, but one kid was holding the remains of his shattered beyblade looking very sad. The kid looked up at Kai and he could see he was near tears. The returning champion took a small step back. He never meant to ruin the beyblade, but sometimes things got broken – sometimes things were lost.

The One-Armed Blader quickly walked down the steps from the beystadium, because 'sorry' was still a very difficult word to say.

"Did you see that!?" Kenny exclaimed from the sidelines. His laptop computer was pulling up all sorts of data, a small vid screen replaying the offensive attack. "His stats are off the charts! But it doesn't make sense – how could someone blading with one arm get that kind of power?" Kenny questioned to himself and was surprised to hear a reply from beside him.

"He must really love the game…"

The bespectacled boy looked up and saw that Tyson was looking at the dish The One-Armed Blader had just won his heat at.

Kenny felt slightly irritated at that. 'So now he's taking this seriously!' The short teen thought, and adjusted his glasses. He had come to the regionals because he had heard Tyson, the best blader he had information on from Bay City, was going to be participating. He had wanted to get in touch with Tyson because according to his statistics and his bit beast Dragoon, Tyson had the potential to win. He had also heard of the returning champion with a disability and figured it would be a piece of cake. The big thing was, while researching through different Beyblade confidant websites he had managed to obtain information that it was rumored the winner of this year's tournament would go on the Beyblade World Championship's! Tyson could win this, and with Kenny's skills at modifying blades, perhaps he too could be a part of the Japanese team!

The only problem was, Tyson was never standing still long enough for Kenny to properly talk to him about it. The Chief had settled on making sure Tyson focused on his opponents and really did win this.

With the new and slightly startling data about the returning champion scrolling on his laptop, Kenny noticed that Tyson was still staring at the dish. Before the match had begun Tyson hadn't shown much interest in the returning champion, but now…

"Ah, Tyson…?" The Chief questioned.

"Did you see??" Tyson suddenly looked down at him with a wide smile. "Did you see the look on his face when he was blading? He really loves beyblade!" The smile changed into an almost giddy grin. "It'd be awesome to go up against someone with that much passion for it!" The baseball capped boy turned and looked at the large video screen in the stadium where the last match's outcome was currently posted with some small recap clips.

"Kai." Tyson said, reading the name and matching it with the picture. "Kai." He said again, the single syllable rolling off his tongue pleasantly. Tyson's eyebrow's rose thoughtfully. "Yeah definitely, I gotta go up against him."

Max spoke up from behind the two of them. "If you do, Tyson, remember what I said about going easy."

"I don't think I'm gonna need to." Tyson responded with a sly look.

Max looked surprised and a little worried, but before he could reply DJ Jazzman's voice boomed throughout the stadium, amplified by his microphone.

"Aaand now!! The semi-finalist matches have been decided!"

Max, Kenny and Tyson looked up.

"The winners of heats 2 and 4! Max versus Kai!!" DJ Jazzman proclaimed. "And blading next, the winners of heats 1 and 3! Tyson versus Ray!!"

Max grinned as he heard that and did a peace sign. "Guess we aren't up against each other, Tyson! But I'll see you there!"

"Yeah!" Tyson grinned back then looked off in the direction the One-Armed Blader had disappeared to after winning his heat. The midnight haired teen's eyebrows angled down in determination. 'And I'll see you in the finals, Kai.'

****

End Episode 1