SUMMARY: The beyblade underground. It used to be his battlefield. A side of him that his current team never truly deciphered. And he didn't really want to expose them to it. But now, few months short of eighteen, Kai finds himself travelling down the memory lane to where it all began.

A/N: Story will be updated every 8 days. (check the updating ritual on profile)

Listening to while writing: Odyssey - (Groove Addicts & Ninja Tracks); inspiration is still Switchblade (as you might've noticed).

I like reviews, any reviews.


THE PITS

[Chapter 3]
Lonely sights and lonely sounds


Tyson ended up with the face inside a cold pond. Just his face though, seeing as Kai was making sure to have a good grip on his ankles as he dipped him in. The edges of the pond were frozen, which meant the water itself couldn't be of a very pleasant temperature. Tyson tried to save his cap, turning his head up in the process, getting a mouth-full of slimy freezing water, successfully washing away the acid aftermath of a discarded doughnut.

Other BladeBreakers protested, but all Kai had to do was glare in their direction, and they shut up.

He pulled Tyson up. "Had enough?"

There was a splutter that involved something suspiciously similar to a word that was not a "yes". Sounded like another original nickname Tyson came up with for his captain.

"Guess not," Kai dipped the holding teenager down again. Tyson's grip on his cap was better this time, so Kai had to lower him even more to get to the desired effect.

It was a good workout. Kai's arm and stomach muscles really burned. Tyson was heavy.

"He's going to get sick," Chief commented quietly.

"What, again?" Hillary asked huffing.

"I'm just saying -"

Kai looked at him and the boy shut up just like that.

"It's true, though," Max muttered. "That water is cold and doesn't look really hygienic."

Kai shrugged. "Been swimming through worse."

"You had?" Hillary asked. Max and Chief had their mouth opened in a surprised 'o'. Ray was scowling while leaning on the back of the bench, staring in the other direction.

Kai shrugged. "Hn. Ice swimming." Clearly a surprising information for all of them. Probably had something to do with them pulling him out of the ice-cold lake three years ago. He lifted Tyson up and asked his routine question: "Had enough?"

A cough. "Y-yeah."

"Yes, what?"

"Yeah, Mr I'm-better-than-thou-coz-I-am … gurgle, gurgle."

He really never learns, does he?

Five seconds passed in silence.

"What-what's ice-swimming?" Hillary asked, a bit taken aback by Kai's simple determination to get Tyson on the right track of mind.

"Is it what it sounds like?" Max asked.

"You break the ice and take a dip," Kai shrugged. A bit like that, he mused looking at Tyson, only right way up.

"Why would someone do that?" Draciel's blader was shocked at the idea.

Kenny wiped Dizzy's screen with his sleeve. "It's tradition in northern countries. It can either have to do with sauna treatment that is considered healthy for some strange reason. Could be simple sport. Or even, here in Russia, the celebration of Christian holiday, called Epiphany."

Also one of the punishments for losing in the Abbey. Or training. Depends on the day.

Others looked at Kai, who stayed seemingly passive to the live documentary. Simply lifting Tyson up again.

"Enou-kh!" the Dragon spluttered.

"Enough, what?"

A cough. More spitting. "Enough, Hiwatari Kai, Oh, Dear Leader of Mine!"

Kai lifted his eyebrows, but moved Tyson above dry ground before dropping him unceremoniously onto it. Did I just learn the old dog a new trick?

"It was just a push coz you were being so bossy at this ungodly hour of the morning, you big -" Tyson looked up and obviously found his brain, closing his mouth with a click. Kai was staring at him intently, daring him to finish the sentence.

Something flew past Kai and hit Tyson in the face. A white towel. The boy started rubbing vigorously, stubbornly staying seated on the cold hard dirt. Messing up his already messy hairdo. At least he stopped dripping.

"So, can we go back to training now?" Ray asked from behind Chief. He was suspiciously quiet throughout the whole ordeal. Probably being careful not to get on Kai's bad side. They were sharing a room. Not that Kai ever made Ray do something extra in the safety of his privacy. He respected the time designated for relaxation and rest. He was told however that his mood affected Ray's own the most. The guy was sensitive about surrounding aura.

Ray took too much to heart, Kai thought. Not so much as Max did, but still plenty.

"I don't know," Kai answered, looking down at Tyson. "Can we?"

Tyson peeked up from underneath the towel. "Sure, Oh Mighty Wise Boss."

Kai decided to ignore the muffled sarcasm.

"So, Tyson and Max – blade control at the statue," Kenny summed up, standing. "Kai and Ray – working on Driger attack/defense-transition."

"There's a dish over there," Hillary pointed towards the tree not far from the cafeteria exit.

Kai motioned to Ray to follow him. "Let's go."

"Be careful with the defense ring!" Kenny called after them as the rest moved towards the abstract sculpture in the center of the park.

Yeah, yeah. Whatever.

Kai led Ray to the spot, noting the silence between them. No chuckles at Tyson's expense before, no comment now. Not even a mouthed idea of how they should bite into their designated workout.

Could just be morning and cold getting to him. As soon as they would start to battle, Ray would snap out of it and get back to his normal self. Adrenaline did that to a person.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Three … two … one … Let it rip!"

As he unleashed Dranzer upon his team-mate, something became obvious, though. Ray's head was not on the training. At all.


=[1 year and 2 months ago]=

United States of America. The Pits – or Underground as it was sometimes called here – were never hard to find. Being teamed up with the Blitzkrieg Boyz gave a person lots of privacy. They didn't ask each other where they were going as one was leaving their rooms. They didn't wonder when one would come back. They were a team merely because it was convenient for them. Abbey did that to a person – made them individually perfect soldiers. The others knew that Kai would return before the tournament matches began.

So when said boy disappeared after they landed in New York City, nobody gave it much thought. And he was left to his devices.

He only had to walk the slummiest street in the neighborhood and listen to the noises. An hour later, he came across the mix of cheering, sneering, arguing and yelling. He followed it, drawn to the commotion like a moth to the light.

In a basketball court, squeezed between the apartment buildings, a crowd of unruly kids gathered. They weren't playing basketball. There was a makeshift beydish in the middle of the group, built out of discarded pieces of metal and wood. Empty soda cans were used to make the blading surface more interesting.

The winner of the current battle squealed in delight, making Kai's ears hurt.

The boy picking up his blade huffed in annoyance. "If I hadn't lost my former blade to Rick, I could beat you no problem!"

The girl laughed. "Yeah, but you did! Loser!" Her blade was red and purple, reminding Kai of the matching outfit she wore. She even had red and purple strands in her otherwise black hair. "I don't see the big deal about it. I battled Rick plenty of times and he never won!"

"He probably went easy on you, because you're a girl."

The girl paused her mirth for a moment. Then burst out laughing, making Kai wince with her tone. "As if! Rick doesn't care about the blader. As long as he wins!"

"You won against Rick?" one of the younger ones asked.

"You 'betcha! He even said we're gonna have a rematch as soon as the world championships are over."

Many of the present snorted in disbelief.

"Rick ain't so tough! He's a hot-head. A bit unpredictable at times, but as long as you keep your own head cool and your blade stable, you can outsmart him." Everybody stared wide-eyed at her. She let them bask for a minute, before grinning evilly. "So, who's next?"

Another, younger boy lifted his hand and stepped forward reluctantly. But Kai strode right past him until he was standing in front of the dish, staring at the girl.

"Fight me."

The girl giggled. "And who might you be, cutie-pie?"

Kai ignored the nickname. "Does it matter?"

"I haven't seen you around before. And that accent of yours …"

"Well, I'm not from around."

"Tourist?"

Kai shrugged, not answering. Let her think what she will. There were murmurs right at the back of the crowd where elder kids hung out. He heard his name, but obviously no one was enthusiastic to inform the annoying girl that she was facing a tournament fighter.

"Did you lose your group? Ran away from your parents?" someone else laughed from close-by. They were promptly ignored.

If my parents were still around, they'd probably run away from me.

"So, what's your name?"

Kai growled. "What is this? Twenty questions?"

"Japan," someone in the crowd muttered. "He has the similar accent as my grandmother."

"Nah, those r-s are too hardcore."

"Pretty good English, though."

They were beybladers. Probably following the current championships like crazy. You didn't have to be smart to connect his heritages and trace it back to him.

"Well, if you don't want to battle," Kai shrugged and turned around.

"No, wait!"

He tried so hard to hide the smirk that formed on his face. He mostly succeeded. Probably. Maybe. He turned back around, lifting his eyebrow at her.

"If I win, can I have your number?"

Now his eyebrows lifted on their own accord. It wasn't hard to fake a phone-number. Hell, it wasn't hard to give her Bryan's instead. But the fact that this girl was able to stare at his serious face with his blue face-paint on and everything, his grip strong on Dranzer, in the back alley of the slums, and all she asked for the winning was his number … That kinda threw him off. She saw his beyblade, that much he was sure off; it was the first thing her eyes flew to as he approached the dish. Yet, she didn't ask for it.

Either his genes were doing something really funny, really fast, shaping him into an astonishingly handsome man, making this blader's mind fuzz, or she didn't have all her priorities straight. He really hoped it was the second. Fangirls were annoying enough when they were too scared to approach him. The mix of the races was obvious on his being. Round face of an Asian. Nose and forehead of a Russian. Lips and eyes somewhere in between. Skin never a shade darker than pale.

But back to the problem at hand. He had no doubt that he would win. Still, better safe than sorry. "You don't even know my name."

"Okay, number and a name."

He glared. No idea if he was mad at himself for mentioning it or at her for abusing it.

"Fine," he said finally. Definitely give her Bryan's number.

"And if you win, you get a kiss," she said sweetly.

He paused at readying his launcher. Looking up through his bangs. Seeing her stupid grinning face. "If I win, I get information." It was how he usually worked. A win for information. If he lost, he also got the said information, just indirectly and a bit imperfect. This girl beat Rick. Fighting her will tell him the way she moved and her strength, then he can deduct from there.

He was ready to go, but she kept stalling. "What kind of information?"

If he told her that he knew Rick, that might give her the last dot to connect. Dranzer's chip was small and if he didn't call the phoenix out, his identity might remain unknown throughout the battle. So far, he was a strange tourist wandering around the city. "Why don't I tell you after I win?"

She snorted very unlady-like, finally placing her blade on her launcher. "As if."

The little boy that was the referee in former matches, lifted his hand. "Both ready? Three … two … one … LET IT RIP!"


A/N: Okay, here I am. Here it is.
When you've been reading beyblade fics for a month or a few (?) now, your taste starts to evolve and you all know how it goes. At some point I started to get really annoyed by the fics where BladeBreakers are scared of Kai, but he really never does anything scary. Other times you've got Kai the devil. I'm trying to get somewhere in between here. It is a fact that Kai is a large looming figure, casting an even larger shadow. It is also a fact that, while everyone else might follow his lead no questions asked out of respect, Tyson is still a brat that will poke the hell out of any such creature, would the said creature allow it to happen.

And they're all older now. Following that Tyson is his 16 years that turns every teenager into I-know-more-than-you. Add the fame to it and you get a leaking hot-air baloon if there is nothing to fill the cracks. Others have respect, even Max with his sugar-high, he always looked up to Kai. As you noticed Ray is being moody, so there's that. And Kai is just stuck with them all, thankfully - and I use this word lightly - grown up in the environment that 1. trained him to focus on his one goal in beyblading, 2. thought him to receive order without a question and give them, demanding the same in return.

Therefore - the frozen pond moment. He knew what he was doing. And as much as it might have momentarily shocked/worried others, Tyson knew exactly that he deserved it. It's called being a respected leader.

Again, bit of puberty in the flashback. We all know where most fans stand with Kai, and we all know we'd probably be too intimidated to say anything to him if we got to that point (or I personally, would just secretly watch him move, coz I'm obsessed with peoples movements). Then you've got people like this american girl. Nowhere does it say that Rick is unbeaten in the streets. As Kai figured out, street-blading is as much of a tactic before going into the battle as during it. As far as I know, Rick was the most ruthless, which I easily believe was true at the point where Max met him (before he melted that big heart like with everyone else. the kid is evil in his own way, I'm telling you!).

Also, notice that flashbacks are going back on the timeline - we are travelling one-way down the road. No more flashbacks that are later (earlier?) than the last one.

Thank you to all reviewers. Don't stop at just one review.
I have a plan for something after the Pits, but it's in a bit more personal waters (yes, more personal). Okay, okay, I'm thinking of a certain grow closer together thing - nothing graphic though, and it won't be a flowing story but a progressive series of one-shots, so any opinion is much appreciated.

You find any mistakes, tell me (really, they annoy me too)!