RTC: Hey everybody!

Tyson: Why is it when she starts off so cheerfully, you know something weird/depressing is going to come up?

Kari: Because it's abnormal?

RTC: (Coughs.) I'm still right here you know. (Sweatdrops.)

Ray: Just tell us already.

RTC: Okay then, um, see, it's has been a stressful few weeks because of the intense workload that comes as we approach the end of the year, and while I'm not going to stop updating, just expect more randomness and possibly worse writing in general. Well, that's what I wanted to warn you about. So disclaimer please!

Kai: (Groans.) We all get the idea, I'm sure, even Tyson's not that stupid; Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade.

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Together

"Hurry up, Tyson!" Hilary was shouting, "I want to start the movie already!"

"Coming," he replied and ran into the den in the dojo with snacks. Though it had been about two years since Kai had died, and much had changed, Tyson's appetite was still enormous! He and Hilary were dating seriously now, and surprisingly, the relationship had stayed intact through all the difficulties that had arisen in the past few years. Pretty soon the two had forgotten about the movie and were quite busy kissing. As they put it, "We'll be heading off to university in the fall and we're going to make the most of our last summer together before that!" In other words, they just needed an excuse to make out more often!

Elsewhere, in an airport, a figure dressed all in black was thinking about Tyson and Hilary while waiting to collect their bags. 'Damn, I didn't think this thing would be that heavy! How did I manage to get the thing on board?' they wondered. 'Well, the vehicle shop better have my motorbike ready, I wouldn't want to be late.'

"Alright then, everything looks to be in order, here you go! Have fun and drive safely!" the woman at the store said, handing over a set of keys. The figure quickly put their bag onto the bike, put on a helmet, hopped on and drove away. 'Hmm, that wasn't too hard. A lot of time spent, but not hard. Unlike what's going to happen next. Okay Tyson, here I come!'

Ding dong!

"Damn, who's coming over at this hour?" Tyson muttered, breaking away from Hilary. "I had better answer that. If it's Hiro, I'm going to kill him; I told him to leave me alone tonight."

"Okay, I'll wait here," Hilary replied. "Have fun arguing with him!"

Ding dong!

"Okay, Hiro, I'm coming, hold on!" Tyson shouted and opened the door. He opened it to find the mysterious person on his doorstep. 'Black boots, black trench coat, black skirt, black top, even black hair and bag. Well isn't this person original. Hey wait!' Tyson looked closer and spotted something. A bitchip was hung on a chain around her neck. And not just any bitchip either. Dranzer. "Kari?!" Tyson said, having finally processed the information.

"Yeah, it's me," she said, opening her eyes for the first time.

"Why are you just standing there? Come in." Tyson was massively weirded out by this new development.

"Tyson, what's going on?" Hilary asked, sticking her head into the hallway. "Kari!" she exclaimed and ran over. "Where? What? How? You look so different!"

A faint smile crossed Kari's lips. "I thought it was time for a change. And I decided it was time for me to come back to Japan for a while."

"So where are you staying?" Tyson asked, as they all moved back into the den. "Because you know you can always crash here."

"That would be easier I suppose. I meant to find a hotel here, but my flight was delayed and it took forever for me to get my motorbike."

"Your what?! I noticed that thing out there, but I didn't know it was yours!"

"Well, a lot has changed, Tyson. A lot." And just looking at her you could see it was true. She had abandoned her pastel-coloured outfits for black clothes, her hair had been dyed almost all black, but you could see some traces of the old blue colour showing through and her eyes had lost their old spark.

"I guess that's true. So what exactly are you going to do? Are you going to stay here?" Hilary wondered.

"You mean permanently? I don't know. But I figured I've been away long enough. And as long as we have this summer, I thought it'd be nice to spend it together, here in Japan," Kari told her, while stifling a yawn.

"Okay, well, why don't we all get some sleep and talk some more in the morning? I was going to crash here anyway, so we might as well," Hilary said. "And don't start thinking anything naughty, either! Mr. D wanted to see us early tomorrow morning, so we were going to go together," she added with a cheeky look.

"You should come with us."

"Sounds good."

Before long, all three of them were sound asleep, each with a reeling mind and thousands unanswered questions.

"Yo! Homies, it looks like we got another one here today!" Grandpa Granger woke Hilary and Kari p early the next morning.

"Say what?" Kari wondered, having spent so long without listening to Tyson's Grandpa's unique way of talking.

"Don't worry about it, Kari."

"Kari? Our little home girl is back? Yo, that really is awesome; the Little Dude has missed you along with his other home dogs. They'll be so psyched to hear this, ya get that? Fachizzle, I'll go make some grub, ya dig?"

"How did I ever understand that?" Kari asked herself, as Grandpa Granger walked off to the kitchen to make breakfast.

"Yeah, I see your point. Come on, we should get ready and then wake Tyson up," Hilary said. They quickly washed up, changed out of their pjs, put on their make up and did their hair and then rushed to Tyson's room, where they were nearly deafened by his snoring.

"Some things never change, I see. Should we try the water, or the chilly peppers?"

"I say the water."

"AHHHHH!!!! So co-col-cold!" Tyson managed to finally get out.

"Come on, we're supposed to be at the BBA in forty-five minutes!"

A relatively peaceful hour later (yes, they were late for the meeting), the three of them were sitting in Mr. D's office, waiting for him to finish his meeting and tell them whatever it was that he had called them here for. Before too long, he entered, with Kenny hot on his heels.

"Sorry, I over-slept!" Kenny apologized, not even noticing Kari's presence.

"I think Tyson is rubbing off on you, Chief," she said and he looked up and gaped. He regained his composure quite quickly though.

"Kari, so nice to see you," Mr. Dickenson said, "And such good timing too, I think you'd be helpful is this case I'm dealing with." He was considerably calmer than the others, and so he had noticed that Kari seemed distant, as though she didn't want to completely reconnect with her friends.

"What case?" Tyson asked.

"Well, it seems that there are still some issues left from the abbey that no one has dealt with and often times, they end up here, for the BBA to sort out. Fortunately, most of them aren't too bad, but every so often there are special situations that come up. The latest would be this little girl." He pulled out a picture from a folder on his desk. It was of a little girl, maybe four or five years old with dark brown hair and green eyes.

"Okay, so where do we come in?" Hilary asked. "And what does she have to do with the abbey; she's too young to have been one of the children there."

"You're right, Hilary, she was the daughter of a child that was in the abbey. As one of the few girls there, she got raped and eventually got pregnant. She was born right in the abbey."

There was a small part of Kari that realized that she wasn't feeling pity for the mother. 'That was the old me,' she told herself, 'I've changed since then.'

"Okay, I still don't see where we come in," Kenny said.

"I need you to watch over her. I know you aren't babysitters, but I think she'll be safest with you and perhaps you can get her to talk. She hasn't said a word since we got her out of Boris' clutches, you see, she's too scared. It won't be permanent; just until I find a good home for her."

"Awe, poor thing. Of course we'll do it. Where is she?" Hilary asked. The others nodded in agreement.

"Thank you all. I knew I could depend on you. Please bring her in." Mr. Dickenson said, that last part being said into the intercom.

A few minutes later, a tall woman came in with the little girl in the picture. The girl was hiding behind the woman's leg and didn't want to come out. "I'm Nathalie, her social worker, and this is Amie. She's a bit shy, but she'll come around. Now Amie, be nice for them, okay? I promise they won't hurt you." Amie made no move to let go of Nathalie's leg, so she prised her off gently and handed the child to Tyson. "And these are her things," Nathalie added, handing a bag to Kenny.

"Well, guys, it looks like we have a new mission," Hilary commented as the left the BBA.

"Yeah, and since Kari's here, what do you say we get Max, Ray and Tala here too?" Tyson asked. "I mean it's been forever since all of us were together. We haven't been in the same place at the same time since-" he abruptly broke off when he realized what he was about to say. Luckily for him, no one commented on his slip of the tongue, but they all knew what he was thinking.

"Sounds like a good plan," Kenny said, breaking the silence.

"And it's not like this 'mission' is hard or anything either, so we can relax!" Hilary commented. If only she knew how wrong she was.

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RTC: Dun dun dun!!! Oh the suspense! Okay, not really. Anyhow, this chapter ended up with bits that were supposed to come in the next one, so it seems my obsessive planning isn't going to be helping me when I write it! Yikes! Does anyone sense what I'm about to do? (Points at little button for changing chapters.) That is my ever-so-wise clue.

Kai: Does no one else think she is insane?! Her clues never seem to work!

RTC: Go back into my head! Now! Okay then, I hope you liked that, and tell me what you think of little Amie. I always doubt myself when adding new OCs, so feedback would be much appreciated. Bye-bye!