Chapter Two

"You want a battle? ... I'll give you a battle ..."

Tarkoz grinned, his previous shock disappearing in the exhilaration of a battle. He released his grip on Kai's wrists and, swiftly jumping back, retrieved his launcher from his belt and his beyblade from inside his pocket. His beyblade glinted in the dim-lighting, green, blue and black the predominant colours with the slightest flecks of yellow.

Kai moved away as soon as he had been released and steadied both hands on his launcher, body poised to pull the ripcord, all his muscles taunt in expectation. His eyes narrowed imperceptibly when he caught sight of a bit-chip, which had started glowing a mystical silver, the being of which it contained obscured from his sight.

Tarkoz leisurely attached his beyblade to the launcher and stepped back, finger reaching for the ripcord. The group of youths around them tightened their circle once again, closing in on the two teens with a ripple of excitement coursing through them.

Kai glared at Tarkoz, eyes blazing, his finger itching to pull the ripcord and just end this unnecessary battle, but he knew he couldn't underestimate his opponent, especially now he knew that the other had a bit-beast. He took a deep, controlled breath, a flash of irritation and disgust appearing on his features as Tarkoz grinned even wider and winked at him salaciously.

"Ready?" Tarkoz rose an eyebrow in question.

"Get on with it," Kai growled, eyebrow drawing down in concentration.

Tarkoz shook his head, "Impatient are we?" Kai merely hissed in response, "Fine then. We start. 3, 2, 1 ... LET IT RIP!!"

With one swift movement, both blades sliced through the air and met halfway, clashing together and drawing bright sparks as they ground against one another, before shooting back to their masters and gyrating at their feet, easily shattering through the cement and sending rock and debris flying up. Many of the youths surrounding them shied back, covering their faces from the onslaught in hopes of avoiding injury.

Kai gritted his teeth, watching Tarkoz do the same as the teen's calculating eyes focused on his own blue and red blade, seemingly trying to figure out a weakness. Then all of a sudden, Tarkoz grinned and looked up at him, cold green eyes clashing with fiery, gold specked, crimson red.

"Got'cha," Tarkoz smirked before his blade charged forwards, scattering rocks in its path and heading straight towards Dranzer.

Widening his eyes imperceptibly at the sudden attack, Kai tensed, waiting for the right moment to launch a counter attack of his own; Dranzer spinning dangerously at his feet. He wondered mildly what weakness Tarkoz had managed to spot so early into the battle, and felt a dark frown marring his features.

Tarkoz's blade drew closer, attack ring glinting threateningly, when all of a sudden, it shot up into the air, not a metre away from Dranzer and flew straight towards Kai.

Kai hissed and ducked, his reflexes kicking in immediately, as soon as he realised what was going to happen, but a sharp burst of pain above his right eye told him he hadn't been fast enough. Cold laughter reached his ears, and Kai straightened, a hand coming up to wipe away the heavy flow of blood that obscured his right eye, a dark scowl evident on his face.

"What the fuck was that?" he hissed, left hand clenching into a fist at his side.

"That? That's how we play on the streets, Hiwatari," Tarkoz grinned, a treacherous glint in his eyes, his blade back at his feet, spinning threateningly with a splatter of crimson decorating its attack ring: Kai's blood.

"Bullshit," Kai spat, lowering his right hand to the hem of his shirt and ripping off a shred, before lifting it and tying it firmly around his head and the cut, which refused to stop bleeding. "That is not how it works on the streets. You forget, I was a member of the Blade Sharks." He ignore the sluggish trickle of blood that still persistent and trailed down the side of his face to drip off his chin.

Tarkoz scoffed, "Oh yes, I remember: The Blade Sharks. They were the most notorious street gang in the whole of Japan, but not anymore. That was years ago and now times have changed. The streets have gotten tougher, and this is how we're forced to survive. Kill or be killed."

Kai could only shake his head, disgust welling up within him. He regretted it soon enough though when a wave of nausea swept over him, but he fought it back, focusing his blazing gaze on Tarkoz. "No. No matter how tough life gets, you shouldn't resort to 'kill or be killed'."

"Who the hell are you to tell me how to live my life, huh? That motto has kept me alive the past couple of years, so don't you dare tell me what I should do." Tarkoz sneered, "You're nothing but a stuck-up, rich, pretty boy."

Kai bristled, 'Pretty-boy'?

"You know nothing about us! About me! You don't know half the shit I've been through, what we've all been through. It's never been sunshine and daisies for any of us!! We have to struggle to get through life," Tarkoz's eyes darkened noticeably, turning a deadly emerald green. "You have your resources. You have your money and shit. You never have to worry about anything in your life!! So don't fucking tell me how to battle. Nemesis, ATTACK!"

Kai could only widen his eyes in shock as Tarkoz's blade, Nemesis, shot towards him with a speed he had not expected, nor had he encountered for a long time.

"Dranzer!" at Kai's gasped command, Dranzer flew up, and at the last possible second, managed to deflect and knock Tarkoz's blade away.

Tarkoz growled, calling Nemesis back to his side. "That's it!" Casting an intense glare around the other members of the Backstreet Bladers, who had been watching the battle avidly, he called out a command: "Launch your blades. We need to teach pretty boy here a lesson!!"

Kai stiffened, a scowl appearing on his face as every member of the gang raised their launchers again, this time with an intent and a command to actually release their blades. He shrugged off the 'pretty boy' comment, knowing that now was not the time and place to get annoyed at a childish comment. Hastily wiping away the blood that still trailed sluggishly down the right side of his face, Kai allowed his eyes to gaze around the threatening circle of bodies surrounding him, flickering over each person methodically, trying to find another weakness that he could exploit if worse came to worse, and considering the situation and the odds stacked high against him, he knew he would need that opportunity to escape.

"NOW!"

Kai started and barely had time to blink as fourteen beyblades hurtled towards him with striking speed, determined cries echoing loudly off the alley walls. Ducking quickly, he was extremely lucky to dodge every single attack as they flew high over his head, each beyblade returning to their master's feet dutifully.

Standing slowly with a dark, venomous glare, Kai growled and clenched his hands into fists. Fixing his fiery gaze on Tarkoz, he was infuriated to spot a lingering smirk on the taller boy's face. Snarling and tearing his eyes away, he resumed his quick scan of each gang member, knowing that he really had to find a way to get out of this situation and fast, lest something less than pleasing happened. Suddenly he saw an open opportunity: one of the gang members had stepped back slightly, looking reluctantly hesitant, his beyblade rotating slowly at his feet. Smirking, Kai opened his mouth to launch his own attack, only to gasp in pain as a beyblade sliced through the air behind him and struck his left shoulder harshly, drawing blood immediately on contact.

Hissing, he clutched his shoulder briefly, mentally assessing the damage, blood seeping fluidly through his fingers and down his arm. Wincing, he pulled his hand away and almost retched at the amount of crimson liquid soaking his hand. He glanced up and was instantly pinned with Tarkoz's icy stare. He suppressed a shudder at the complete blankness in the other's eyes, and he wondered just what he had managed to get himself into.

Quickly ignoring the pain in his shoulder and his head, he curled his hands into fists, and glared back, anger and frustration building up within him at an alarming rate. "Dranzer ... attack!!"

Dranzer screeched and surged forwards, a fiery haze surrounding her blade. Five beyblades were quick to surround her, encasing her in a circle, their attack rings clashing and drawing sharp, almost blinding sparks.

Refusing to allow his eyes to remain glued to the beyblades surrounding Dranzer, Kai's eyes roamed around yet again, desperation filtering into his being. He clenched his teeth together when a blade flew towards him, seemingly out of nowhere, slicing through the skin on his arms. Another followed immediately after, shredding through the thin material of his trousers easily. Beyblade after beyblade flew at him, their attack rings glinting threateningly before they made contact with Kai's body and drew blood. Choking back a pained scream, Kai raised his head to face Tarkoz, noting that the other's blade had remained at his feet throughout the attack, breathing heavily through clenched teeth.

"This has gone on for too long ..." Kai's eyes glazed over, the flecks of gold building up steadily until the crimson of his eyes had almost disappeared. "Dranzer! BLAZING GIG TEMPEST!!"

With a piercing shriek, Dranzer rose up from her blade, flames surrounding her majestic form. Gasps ricocheted around the alleyway as blades shattered into mere fragments under her superior power, until only Tarkoz's beyblade was left spinning. Tarkoz himself stared at Kai in shock, unable to comprehend the fact that the other boy had managed to decimate fourteen beyblades in a matter of seconds, when not long ago, he was on the verge of collapsing and losing. Forcing himself to look into the shorter boy's eyes, Tarkoz swallowed a gulp as pure fury blazed in the almost golden depths.

His shock soon dissolved though as he turned his attention back towards his blade. A smirk twitched at the corner of his lips as he felt the power of his bit-beast coursing through him. Raising his head, he fixed pitch black eyes on the startled boy in front of him.

"Nemesis ... Shadowed Death." A dark black mist engulfed his beyblade, before swirling up and wrapping itself around his muscled frame, tendrils reaching out to the air around.

Kai felt a shudder run through his body, aware that the rest of the gang members had turned tail and fled, obviously terrified, but he stood his ground, bracing himself for the attack that he knew was seconds away. But it came without warning, and no matter what, Kai couldn't prepare or protect himself from the darkness that surged forward and encased his beyblade, draining Dranzer of her energy and forcing her back into her bit-chip, and encased his lean frame, surrounding him, squeezing him and refusing to relinquish its hold.

He struggled wildly against the smoky tendrils wrapping itself around his figure, tightening as the seconds passed, choking him, restricting him, wrapping him in an intensely cold embrace as it quickly drained his energy.

Heart beat slowing, Kai felt his muscles go limp, eyelids dropping as he fought to stay conscious, but it was a losing battle. The last thing he saw was a figure with short sapphire blue hair leap in front of him ... then his world went black.