Hi!!!! It is I! The spirit of the… of the… of the kitchen sink!! WMHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I have come to give you some important news. I have discovered that… There is disgusting food located at the bottom of the pipes!! You need to clean them out as fast as you can. Though, I'm also going to guess that you know that this isn't real and that I'm just messing with you, right? I mean, I'm here all the time, at the beginning and end of every chapter, so you know that this is just how I get my kicks. A ghost has to do something, after all. I can't just report to you what they're doing. I have to have my fair share of words. So, yeah, things are getting interesting with them. Something is happening with Byakko, the evil creature had just revealed that he's twisted beyond compare and that Tyson can actually be graceful. How awesome is that? Anyway, onward to their chase…

"We should be okay." Tyson said after they had run for a while to make sure. "Let's get a fire started for…" Kai fell to his knees and looked to be fighting off some pain. Tyson took a closer look, seeing that his shoulders were bleeding from where Byakko's claws were. "Are you okay?" He wasn't sure if getting Byakko off was the action that Kai wanted to take.

"Not really." Kai slowly took one paw off then the other, placing Byakko on the ground.

"We do have a first aid kit, right?" Kenny asked, wondering if they thought about that.

"Can you move your other hand?" Ed asked, with Max coughing in the background.

Kai looked at the hand that was puncture before, able to move the fingers, "It's still numb, though."

Max then hit Ed's chest lightly, as if to get his attention. Ed leaned in closer, sighing after a moment, "Max said that he was scanning Byakko when you were fighting. He doesn't know exactly what's going on, but he thinks he knows of a way to let him be in less pain."

"What does he need?" Kai asked before they heard a sound from above. Kai managed to pull Byakko out of the way of another bug in the form of a bee. He noticed that everyone was on the same side, so he picked up Byakko again, "Let's go!" And they took off again.

The bee had called upon more as they were running away. The pain in Kai's shoulders was increasing the more movement he had to do. He started to wonder if that creature was doing this, since he would be trying to make sure that they didn't get to the center. Max then appeared over Ed's head, landing beside him and started to run. Kai wondered what they were doing, but figured that Max had a plan.

Max started to get warm again. He was glad that his idea was working. As long as he was able to keep his body warm, he would be able to use Alchemy. Once he was coughing only slightly, he pulled out Draciel and had him spinning beside him. He did a quick scan, finding that they were off course, but only slightly. He pushed Ed to go in the right direction, since he was the one in the lead. He also noticed that the creature wasn't in his field of view and that Kai was leaking out a lot of this world's element. He realized that these creatures were probably attracted to Kai because of this.

Once they were back on course, Max started to think of something that would get them to go away. He was about to transform Ed's arm when it had appeared before Kai had ordered them to run. He looked back at the team, seeing that Kai was bleeding a lot more. He also realized that he didn't have a jacket on him. Max sent his energy to Draciel, having him use the water array to move the snow around them. The bugs were covered in an instant and they made a faster retreat.

Everyone collapsed the moment they were giving themselves a break. Kai removed the claws from his skin, but otherwise allowed Byakko to stay on him. He was too exhausted to move much more. "Can you move?" Kai asked, hoping that Max could answer.

"How is he?" Max asked, not liking that he was starting to cool off. "I have to do this quickly."

"Are ya… sure it's… safe?" Tyson asked in between taking a breath.

Max got himself up, walking over to Kai and Byakko. "I'll be fine for the moment." He had Draciel draw the two circles, but he couldn't have Kai in it this time. He picked up Byakko, who was already knocked out from the pain. "I'll take care of you next."

"Worry more about Byakko than me." Kai said, looking like he wanted to move to be near Byakko.

Max laid Byakko on the ground of the circle. He placed his hand on the other circle, not wanting to use himself since he needed to take care of Kai as well. He took another look at what was going on with Byakko. Max had noticed that the body was morphing, but he didn't know into what. There was heavy resistance to this morphing as well, though he wasn't sure as to why. Max didn't like the idea all that much, but he had to allow the morphing to take place. It was half way there already, and fighting to continue. He figured that allowing it to occur would create the lease amount of pain for the body. He just hoped that there would be a way to reverse it once completed.

Max released his energy into the circle, affecting the body as it started to go back to transforming. Max didn't like that he had to use a lot more of his energy than he wanted to just to keep the body from resisting.

Tyson was in awe at the sight. Rei's body was slowly changing into something that was more animal like. He looked at Kai, seeing that he was only able to watch. He didn't look like he had an opinion on the matter, probably figuring that as long as Byakko wasn't in pain anymore, everything would be alright. He got himself up, since they would need a fire for Max. His legs were very weak, probably because he wasn't used to all this running through snow. They also hadn't had lunch yet and it was already getting close to night. He hoped that they wouldn't need to move for a while, since they needed to settle in for the night.

"Are you okay?" Kenny asked, noticing that there was something off with how Tyson was walking.

"I was planning on getting wood for a fire, but my legs are very weak." Tyson said with a small laugh. "How are you holding up?"

"I don't think I can move." Kenny and Tyson looked at Ed, who was getting up slowly.

"Find the first aid kit. We might as well get Kai healed before Max gets to him. I'll help with collecting wood."

Tyson walked with Ed, getting wood from around the area. "What's Max doing?" Tyson asked.

"I'm not sure myself. He didn't tell me what he had seen. I can only imagine that it would help ease the pain."

"How are your shoulders?" Kenny asked Kai as he went through Rei's bag, figuring that he would have the first aid kit.

"It hurts to move them." Kai was watching Byakko and Max, wondering what was going on. It looked like Max was changing him to be more like a tiger. He also hoped that Max was going to be okay afterwards, since it seemed like it was a lot more work that Max had hoped for. Kai also found himself wanting to go to sleep, but knew that this action wouldn't be the smartest move. "Rei probably only has a basic amount of things that would heal up wounds that only he would understand. Jade was the one that was carrying the first aid kit."

Kenny placed it down, wondering where the bottom of this thing was. "Did you get your answers?"

"Not really." Kai didn't get anything solid. He wondered if he would ever know what his past contained. It was certainly not a normal one, since he knows Chinese; has someone that's willing to kill him, but knows his family; and knows how to cook on a fire. "I really hope we're not off track."

"I think we're on the right track." Ed said as they got back with wood in their arms. "Max had pushed me into this direction."

"Don't start the fire yet." Max said, though not looking at them, "I know it's for me, but if I don't heal up Kai, we'll probably be attacked again during the night and it would a waste of energy."

"Place them in here for now." Kenny moved Rei's bag over to them, having them doing so.

"What's going on with Byakko?" Kai asked, figuring that if he could talk then, he could explain what's going on as he's doing it.

"I'm not sure as to why, but the body is changing. The reason it was causing him so much pain was because there was a lot of resistance to the change. I'm right now allowing the change to occur. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be, since I can't focus my attention on everything, and everything wants to change at the same time."

"What if he can't change back?" Tyson asked.

"I'll look into that once I'm not coughing tomorrow. I don't know all that much about bodies, but I'm sure that Ed and I can come up with something together."

"And why am I attracting the creatures to us?" Kai asked, since that was what Max was saying. It was also right in line with what the creature had said to him about shining too much.

"Even though this world is mixed inside you, you're leaking it out right now. I'm not sure if it's because of your wounds or just something that is happening naturally, but when that creature increases his element, we get a lot more creatures after us. Obviously, they can sense it and are trying to obtain it."

"So you're going to see if you can block it?" Tyson asked.

"Yeah… I'm not sure how well I'll be able to, but I should be able to do something about it. You should probably get a jacket on you, so you don't freeze." Max didn't like the fact that no one was paying attention to that. It just reminded him how Kai said he was the only one that could notice when something was wrong with Rei. It wasn't like Max had just noticed, but he also didn't want to be the one that pointed it out.

Kai got himself off the ground, though having his shoulders telling him that it wasn't going to be a pleasant experience. Tyson handed him the jacket that he gave to Max and Byakko before his match, which he put on in his normal fashion. Tyson didn't know if he was cold and just acting like he wasn't. "Are we in the right direction, Max?" Tyson looked at his best friend.

"Yeah, we are. We're about a quarter of the way to the next point. I hadn't looked beyond it, though it does seem like the creature wasn't around when those bees were after us."

"How much long until you're done?" Ed asked.

"I don't really know… I can't really do this entirely fast, which is what the transformation wants to do. Also, Tyson needs to be on guard. I can't really scan to see if we're about to be attacked."

Tyson got Dragoon out, "Gotcha."

Kai was leaning on a tree, watching Max do his work on Byakko. He was hoping that this process was reversible since he knew that Rei was still in that body as well. He was glad that his bleeding had stopped. They weren't that deep or that big, but they were at points that were really hurting his muscles.

"Kai," he looked at Kenny, "Is that creature going to come after you again?"

"I don't know… I know that he's going to try to stop me from getting to the center… Apparently, there's someone there that I should never met. Jade and Krypton are there as well, and Mariah is with the others, but I don't think they're at the center."

"Have we met anyone that is called the Guardian?" Max asked. "The creature was saying that Rei knew one of them before the tournament."

"We don't know anyone of that title." Kai said, though wondering if it had something to do with the people that the creature had mentioned to him. After all, he did say that there were other people here that were watching them. "Maybe TK has the answers that we're looking for."

"I was thinking the same thing." Max said, "He is connected to this world a lot more than we are. Should we try to track him down?"

"We'll worry about getting to the center first. Apparently, my Grandfather is here as well… And Krypton has Dark Dranzer…"

"What?" Tyson and Kenny said. Max was shocked too, but was keeping his mind focus on his work. "Since when?" Tyson asked.

"Since we got back from the world tournament… I still had him, and he knew that I did, so he took him from me and has kept him. I know that he hasn't used him for anything, but I also don't know if he brought him along or not. I just don't want Boris to have that chance."

"Why don't you two reveal what you've learned from him?" Kenny offered, "You don't have to reveal all you learn, though." He looked at Kai.

"He knows the basics of things about our sport." Max said, "He knew of the connection that I had just found, and he is able to do enter that as well. He entered my mind, so I got a look at him. He also revealed how he is able to control the Bit Beast to Rei when he was Lee. I noticed that he is able to control both blader and Bit Beast from afar, but probably doesn't know that he could use the blader to control the Bit Beast. I think he can probably sense the connection too, since he was able to tell when I was controlling Draciel with my Alchemy abilities.

"He also isn't working solely for Boris. He has a master that he's very loyal to. He also has claimed that there was a period in his life that he had grown a human heart, and that there were people around him that never saw him as a creature. That's all I got out of him."

"How did you fight against him in your mind?" Tyson asked.

"Draciel came in and fought against him. It was pretty cool to see, but I'm also not really sure how to explain it. I think that's how he's able to control other beings, though."

"Anything interesting on your end?" Kenny looked at Kai, though knowing that only a few things would get revealed.

"He can read the minds of people he controls…" Kai said, now understanding why Rei was probably worried and ready to fight against this creature. After all, he wanted to keep his mother a secret and some stranger is able to find that with ease probably didn't make him all that happy. "When I mentioned my Grandfather, he looked into Tala's mind to see who I was talking about. I also realized that Boris probably kept my Grandfather in the loop, but never allowed the kids in the abbey to know about him, since Tala never knew whom I was talking about when I mentioned my Grandfather to him when we were brought to Russia… Boris is also at the center, since he mentioned that my tormentor was there… Though, he never realized that there was another spirit within Rei's body."

"Did it sound like he should've been able to see that?" Tyson asked.

"It did… It sounded like he should've known my past, as well… I'm not sure as to why, though, but that's what it sounded like."

"If he knew your past, shouldn't he know about your Grandfather?" Max asked.

"That's why I said should've known. He doesn't know everything about my past." Tyson could tell that Kai was holding something back. It's probably why he didn't want to say the lie he did.

"Is that all you were able to figure out?" Tyson figured that the more personal things would only be revealed to Rei.

"Yeah… I'm not as good as Rei at getting information indirectly. He probably got more from me than I got from him." Kai only decided to say that because of Ed. He could tell that Tyson and Kenny were pretty much going to let him off the hook about telling them the rest, but Ed looked like he was going to press the issue. He just didn't want his silence to give anything away, since he doesn't know how well Ed was at figuring things out like Rei. "How done is Byakko?"

"It's getting there." Max said, "I'm nearly done."

They heard a noise and Tyson went to face it, with his launcher in his hands. Kai got out Dranzer, ready to do the same thing. Max was now trying to get the process done faster, since he was trying to get everything connected in some way so he could do the mass transformation that the body wanted to do. They heard the launch of an attack and both Kai and Tyson launched their Beyblades, "Dragoon! "Dranzer!" They both said in unison, having their Bit Beast appear and take the hit.

"Flame Saber!" Kai commanded. Dranzer gathered the flames around his wings before launching it in the trees.

Dragoon went to the other side of Max, making sure that they were protected in that direction as well. When they looked up the burned trees, they noticed that there was a big bird creature up there. It was green colored. Suddenly, other bird like things dropped from the trees, surrounding them. Kenny was moved closer to Max and Ed was guarding them. Kai was suddenly having a sharp pain in his head. He wasn't sure what it was, but was ignoring it as much as he could. The brown birds on the ground opened their months, launching pointed things at them in unison.

Max closed his eyes, trying to keep his calm before noticing that his energy was being taking away from him rapidly and Byakko was transforming at a faster rate. A flash occurred and Max was pushed away from the circle. He landed hard on the ground, and out of the protected circle of his team.

Before anyone could react to what had happened, the ground shot spikes at the creatures, killing them all instantly and their attacks disappeared before they could reach. Kai looked in the direction that Byakko was in just as something leaped out of the pile of smoke. He followed it all the way to the bird in the sky as something was attacking it.

"Max!" Ed called, taking Kai's attention away from Byakko. He was now back to coughing as Ed was picking him up from the snow.

"Tyson?" Kai looked at him, making sure that he was okay.

"We're good on this side." Tyson said before looking at the spikes, "I guess Byakko is back." He remembered that he was able to do this with the ground.

"Call back Dragoon." He said as he did the same with Dranzer. Kai looked up at the battle, seeing that Byakko was using the trees to help him attack the bird. Kai held his head, having the pain pounding away.

"Something up with you?" Kenny asked.

"It's nothing." He said, going back to ignoring it. Byakko finally killed it, since it turned to dust. Byakko landed in front of them, but not as Rei's body. He was now a tiger, and a white one at that. Kai noticed how majestic Byakko looked, staring them down.

Byakko noticed humans once landing. They were all staring in Byakko's direction. Sniffing the air, they didn't seem to be a threat. Byakko walked back and forward, moving closer to them slowly. They were so defenseless. Normally, humans fear before Byakko. Humans fear before tigers, always. Why weren't they afraid?

Kai wasn't sure why Byakko was being cautious of them. He could tell that this was Byakko, completely Byakko and no one else, but something was wrong. He could tell that Byakko was confused by their reaction as he came closer. He wanted them to be afraid of himself. Kai wasn't sure if Byakko was looking to play with them or to hunt them. He wanted them to do something, but Kai also knew that everyone was going to go with whatever he decided. "Byakko?" He asked, knowing by how he reacted to best deal with this situation.

Byakko froze, looking at the human that spoke. How did this human know the name? Byakko got lower to the ground, watching solely him. Byakko wasn't completely on the ground, incase there came a reason to attack this human. Byakko realized that this human was different. Byakko also remembered a time where humans had taken the home away.

Byakko looked around, noticing that this wasn't home. The ground here was a lot harder than the home. The home Byakko only slightly remember because Byakko was taken away at a young age. Byakko wondered where this place was, now trying to remember what happened once leaving home.

Kai wondered if this form had messed with Byakko's memories. Kai tried to remember if Rei had ever told him where Byakko came from. He knew that Byakko was a tiger spirit, so maybe this was Byakko before becoming a spirit. Though, it's kinda odd that Byakko would still be the name, since he figured that someone of Japanese origin came up with that name for Rei.

As Byakko was looking around, feeling the ground with his paws, Kai could tell that Byakko was realizing that this wasn't his normal surroundings. Kai wondered what Byakko was remembering, knowing that the Byakko never knew anything about his past. Kai had actually asked a couple of times, even bringing him to zoos to help him get something, but nothing came back. Kai also realized why Byakko was happy whenever they went, since it was like they were going on a date since Kai had always allowed Byakko to be closer to him. Kai was just worried that Byakko would get into an animal mode and chase after something. As Kai was remembering all the moments that were too precious to really tell anyone about, he realized that he didn't have that pain in his head. He wondered if those birds were connected to his past.

"Is everything okay?" Tyson asked, realizing that everyone else was just too afraid to move. They didn't establish a relationship, or understanding, with Byakko before this and now that he's a full tiger, it didn't help the situation. It also wasn't encouraging that Kai wasn't moving either. Tyson hoped that Kai had an answer. Max was still coughing in the background, though they couldn't do anything about him until they could deal with Byakko.

"I can't say for sure." Kai said, though not taking his eyes off of Byakko. "I think I know what's going on, but I don't want to say until I can tell for sure. What's Max condition?"

"He's temperature is dropping." Ed said, "So the faster we can get this answered, the faster we can get to a safe place to rest."

"I hope we can get that." Kai said, knowing how important it was to go the speed that Byakko was going.

Byakko was slowly remembering that the humans were cruel. They denied Byakko food many times, made Byakko fight a lot of animals, but mainly lions. Byakko won them all, Byakko remembered with pride. Byakko looked back at the human that called the name, seeing that he was relaxing as he watched. Was he a human that was there? Byakko then remembered that those humans were captured by other humans. Byakko was then moved to different places. The humans of those places tried to be kind, but Byakko could never trust them. Byakko was finally given to a place that kept had other tigers. Byakko never really got along with them, and there were many humans that looked at them through a glass.

Byakko remembered that upon arriving at this place that the fights that got Byakko in trouble with the humans would stop. Byakko never bothered with the other tigers, never caring about their social order. Byakko did, though, took joy in scaring humans that were eager to get close to the glass.

Kai wondered what Byakko was thinking, since it looked like he remembered something he wanted revenge for before realizing that Kai wasn't part of that group. What had happened to him in past was now something Kai wanted to know. Though, he could also tell that Byakko had moved on to something that amused him. Kai wondered if Byakko had always had a sense of self, a self that was a bit more human that most other animals had. Byakko looked at him before walking over with no caution. Kai smiled at Byakko, knowing that Byakko hadn't remembered him yet, but knew that Kai wouldn't hurt him. Kai let his hand be in reach of Byakko.

Byakko took a sniff. This human was starting to become very familiar to Byakko, but Byakko wasn't sure as to why. Byakko looked at this human, who was smiling kindly. This human trusted Byakko, maybe even loves Byakko. Byakko wasn't sure why, but Byakko wanted to be submissive to this human. Byakko had never submitted to any human before, even those that had brought Byakko to the glass cage.

Byakko looked at the other humans that were there. They were worried, but not afraid. They weren't giving Byakko the same feeling. Byakko looked at the human with the smile, wondering why it was only this human. Byakko heard a sound coming from behind and immediately turned to face it. Instantly, Byakko's senses were sharpened upon seeing the food. Byakko launched at the food, but they suddenly disappeared before Byakko could eat it. Byakko smelt something more delicious a distance away. The hunger drove Byakko to follow the smell, uncaring for the distance.

"Byakko!" Kai yelled once Byakko took off, having them all go running after him.

Very interesting… Very interesting indeed. I wondered what's going to happen next. I mean, is Rei going to come back? Why did this transformation even occur? Will it happen every time Rei is fused with Byakko and calls out Driger? And why were the bird creatures giving Kai a headache? I mean, it didn't seem like they were able to attack his mind in any way, so there has to be a reason for it, right? So many questions and so many unanswered questions. Will everything be revealed at the end?!!! I guess we'll wait and see.