Alright! We're getting somewhere now! A little more history here about Jessy and the boys! Feel free to ask me anything!

I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any Beyblade characters. Just Jessy and Draiza.

Chapter 7

"Three…Two…One…LET IT RIP!"

The sound of blades clashing filled the air. The sound both invigorated and terrified me. I'd missed it, hell, I'd missed every aspect of blading. But the one thing I couldn't get over yet was the terror I felt as well. Boris had officially left his mark on me. Maybe I should have checked into a mental hospital myself. What was worse was that he was nowhere to be found by the authorities.

"You ready?" Kai asked me, nudging me with his arm. I flinched slightly at the contact and he quickly retreated. I sighed, hoisting my bag up a little higher. Both actions hurt, but I was adjusting.

Nodding, I let Kai lead the way into Tyson's house. He didn't knock, just went on inside. After we had deposited my things into my new room (with a real bed), he led me to the back area, where the sounds of blading were coming from.

When we stepped out onto the back porch, everyone immediately turned to look.

"Kai! Jessy! You're here!" Tyson hollered, stampeding towards us. He went to grab Kai up in a hug, but a quick shot to the shoulder with Kai's fist was all it took to stop him. He didn't even react, though. His happy face glowed.

Quickly, the others grouped around. Max gingerly patted my shoulder, and for some unknown reason, I felt my face flush. People don't touch me. I gave him a half smile as I stepped away.

"We weren't sure what time your plane was coming in," commented Ray. "But we sure are happy to see you again!"

I half smiled at him as well and replied, "We didn't have a lot of stuff, so we figured it would be easier to just not make a big deal of it."

Suddenly, this old man jumped out of nowhere with a long wooden stick. He wasn't menacing, just surprising. But my eyes widened in temporary fear. Damn it, I growled to myself. Get your act together.

"Yo homies! Who's this new home girl? Is this that Jessy chick ya'll told me about?" He talks weird.

Tyson rolled his eyes. "Of course it is, Gramps! You knew she was coming today! Why do you always have to embarrass me in front of my friends?"

"Hey, little dude! Calm your cheese! I just wanted to welcome this lovely dudette to the otherwise sausage-fest we got goin' on here!"

At that, Tyson turned bright red and dragged his grandfather out of sight. I giggled at the two arguing where they didn't think they would be heard. Unfortunately for them, we could hear all of it.

"Well," said Kenny awkwardly. "Let's head inside. I'm starting to get rather hungry. You guys must be famished as well! Airplane food isn't exactly a well-balanced meal!"

At the mention of food, Tyson came barreling back.

"Yeah! Now we're talkin', Chief! We've been hard at work for hours!"

With that, he led the way into the dojo.

As we sat down around the table, I brought up the beybattle I had heard coming in.

"Oh, yeah! Ray and I were going head to head!" cried Max happily. "You should have seen us! We just keep getting better!"

"We'll keep on getting better if Kai decides to take over the training schedule," Kenny interjected, glancing over at the two-toned blader.

"What do ya say, buddy?" asked Tyson in between bites of food (shovels, really). "You up for it?"

"Hn. I suppose…nobody else is going to whip you into shape better than me," he replied lazily, not even looking up from the food placed before him.

"Atta boy!" Tyson cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

I smirked. He wouldn't be so cheerful about it once Kai got through with him.

So we ate and talked and I got to learn a little bit more about the guys. For instance, Max likes mayo on everything; Kenny's bit beast, Dizzy, was trapped in a laptop; and Ray knew all kinds of martial arts. Gradually, as all good conversations do, we steered our way back to the topic of beyblading.

"So, Jessy," said Max. "What's your bit beast?"

"Draiza is a fire wolf."

Collective oohs and ahhs from the group.

I colored slightly. "Yeah, she's been mine as long as I can remember. I didn't always have a blade, but I always had her. She was in a bit chip that I had no idea what to do with. Until I learned about beyblading, that is."

"Wow! When did you learn about that?" Ray inquired.

"When I was about eight, I think. It was when…" I suddenly fell silent. I couldn't talk about this so cavalierly. Not yet. Kai glared at Ray, who quickly asked a different question, "Are you any good?"

The question took me by surprise. I was honestly speechless. I wasn't used to somebody not knowing how powerful I was. Kai scoffed and before I had a chance to say anything, said, "Wanna find out?"

He glanced at me, "If you're up for it."

I stood up carefully, grinning.

"You bet."

As we all walked outside, Kai asked me quietly, "Are you sure?"

I nodded. Truth was, I needed to battle again. I hadn't battled since before I was hospitalized. I was promised some real competition for the tournament but…okay, don't go there.

"You ready, Ray?" I called from the other side of the beydish.

"I've never been more ready," he smirked.

It took me a minute to get into a comfortable position for launching, but once I did, I was completely focused on this match.

"Three…two…one…Let it rip!" Kenny hollered.

We both launched our blades. They met in the air with a clash and sparks flew. His white blade and my black one spun as they fell. They didn't even break contact once they hit the ground.

"I can't shake her!" he complained.

He managed to pull away a couple of inches, but I bridged the gap in a matter of seconds.

"Draiza! Now!" I commanded.

She started to circle him, grinding his edge the whole time. Then, in a split second, she dipped down, hooked her attack ring under Driger's, and flipped him over. Mid-air, she then flicked into him and sent him flying across the yard.

"Holy shit!" he gaped. Everyone oohed and aahed. Kenny was quickly typing away on Dizzy's keys.

"I've never seen a maneuver like that before!" Chief exclaimed. "So much raw power!"

I smirked and held out my hand for Draiza to return to. Feeling a little light-headed, and a lot sore, I went over to sit down on one of the rocks next to the pond. Kai glanced at me, a worried expression on his face. I shook my head.

"That was incredible!" Max bounded up to me.

"How'd you do that? I mean, nobody's ever done that before! I didn't think it was possible!" Tyson shouted excitedly.

I stayed silent, smiling slightly, as everyone babbled incessantly. Finally, it started to quiet down. I turned to Ray and held out my hand. I wasn't wearing my gloves, and you could see the bruising that had turned that ugly brown-yellow color. He shook my hand good-naturedly.

"Nice match, Ray," I complimented. "You put up a good fight!"

He smiled. "Thanks! I can see I still have a lot of work to do!"

"We all do!" Tyson interjected. "That's what good ol' Kai is here for!"

"Hn." Kai responded, crossing his arms. "Six A.M. Down at the harbor."

"Aye, aye, sir!" saluted Max.

~~~A few hours later~~~

I was laying down on my new bed, trying to relax, when someone softly knocked on the door.

"Come in," I called.

Kai slid the door open and stepped inside. Wordlessly, he walked over and began checking my bandages. Carefully, he helped me sit up. He examined my arms and shoulder, nodding at the improvement. Ever so gently, he cupped my chin so he could look at my temple. His finger gently brushed over the stitches. They could come out in about a week.

His hand skimmed over the hem of my T-shirt. He met my gaze, asking permission. I allowed him to lift it up. I was bandaged up because of my ribs, so I wasn't too worried. He checked them to make sure none of them had come loose. I tensed as he pulled back one end to adjust it, his fingers brushing my skin accidentally. You could see the purple, contrasting with the beige wrap.

He tucked the end back in and pulled my shirt back down, careful not to hurt me.

"Thanks," I breathed, finally breaking the silence. It was hard to keep my ribs wrapped properly on my own.

His eyes locked with mine. I knew breathing would be difficult with my ribs being injured, but with him looking at me like that, it made it impossible.

"Maybe it's time…we talked," he said carefully.

I nodded and looked away. He stood up and leaned against my dresser.

"So…where do we start?" he asked.

"I suppose…we start at the beginning. I should tell you what happened at the Abbey after we battled, all those years ago." I asked.

His eyes burned into mine.

"After we battled, and the Abbey was destroyed, I ran," he answered. "I was scared and hurt, and I ran." He looked down at the floor. "I couldn't handle that level of destruction. I wasn't…strong enough to handle Black Dranzer. I honestly don't know how I beat you."

We were silent for a minute.

I finally spoke up, "After you left, Boris tried everything to get Black Draiza back up to full power. The blade was destroyed and he had to start over from scratch. Black Dranzer's blade still had the core, but Black Draiza had nothing but the chip. He was furious. He…" I hesitated.

"I lost to you. He locked me in the dungeon. For…months…When I was finally let out, I wanted to do anything to avoid ever going back there again. He forced me to train, even more than the Demolition Boys. He was convinced that I was going to be the new member of the team. The "secret weapon." With you gone, he needed another one. And because Black Dranzer and Black Draiza destroyed the training areas, we had to go elsewhere.

"In the middle of Siberia, the boys and I trained. It was just us there. Boris came once a week to make sure we were on task and to show what we could do. We were there for almost a year. That was when we got really close. We were all that each other had. We truly became a team.

"Once the Abbey was rebuilt, we went back and continued with individual training for another year."

I stopped, clutching my side. All this talking hurt. Kai glanced at me worriedly.

"I'm okay," I winced. He nodded and sat beside me on the bed.

I continued my story.

"One day, Voltaire came to visit. He wanted to see how far we had gotten. Well, actually…" I scoffed. "He wanted to see how far the boys had gotten. He didn't think that I would be strong enough. Especially since I had failed with Black Draiza." I rolled my eyes.

"He was…impressed…and said that after a few more years, I might make the team. I was thirteen at the time he said this. I had spent every moment since our battle and my confinement training hard with the Demolition Boys.

"Finally, after five more years, I had the chance to prove myself. I had battled my way to the top and won against everybody, including Spencer, Ian, and Bryan. They wouldn't let me battle Tala. I think they were afraid of the damage we would cause. The last boy that I had to beat was the very morning you guys came to visit. A fairly new one, but one I hadn't yet battled. Needless to say, he didn't stand a chance. Boris was very happy to make me a member of his precious team.

"And then you guys showed up."

I fell silent. I think that's the most I had ever talked in my life. Granted, I omitted a lot of details. But I told him what I thought he needed to know.

"There's more," Kai finally commented. Our gazes locked. "But I think it's time you rested. You look worn out. Battling today didn't help."

"Yeah but Draiza needed to stretch her legs. She was getting restless."

I punched his arm lightly. Dusk had fallen. I'm sure Tyson's grandfather was cooking dinner, but I was just too tired to eat.

Kai helped me lay back down under the blanket. Once I was comfortable enough, he knelt down next to me.

"I thought about you every day I was gone," he whispered. "I prayed that you would make it out alright."

What the hell? He brushed my cheek quickly, so quickly I thought I had imagined it. He stood up quickly.

"Rest," he said sharply. "I'm right next door if you need anything."

Then, he was gone.