Thanks to NorthernShinigami and Minekoanime for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.

Chapter 36: Arrival

It was quiet in the jet. Most of them were tired from the previous night. Johnny and Ray refused to sleep again, and Oliver was haunted by nightmares.

"Hey, Oliver," Johnny said, gaining his friend's attention. "Do you know anything about a Bitbeast named Lucia?"

Ray's attention snapped to Oliver, and Kitsune kept a wary eye over all three of them. Oliver trembled a little.

"She's the one in charge," he whispered. "She hates me more than anything else. She… she wants to kill me."

There was a shocked silence. Kitsune sighed.

"She has a grudge against the Polanskis," Kitsune said. "She's also a bit of a prissy brat. And I would do anything in my power to make sure that she doesn't get what she wants. That is a promise."

Oliver looked at her with wide eyes and nodded his head, smiling softly. Ray shifted in his seat.

"Phantom Driger mentioned her," he said. "He said she's one of the only Bitbeasts who's not afraid of you."

"She wasn't afraid to attack you," Johnny agreed.

"It's because I'm friends with Dea," Kitsune said. "Before Lucia became a Dark Bitbeast, she and Dea were rivals. When she became corrupted, anyone close to Dea became a target to her. She never liked me, but there's not much she can do against me."

"I thought you said they won't attack while you're around," Tala said.

"I said that they are less likely to attack," Kitsune corrected. "Not that they wouldn't attack."

"It's not her fault," Johnny mumbled. "If it wasn't for her, who knows what they might have done to me?"

"I'd rather not think of it," Kitsune said. "You see, I know what they would've done. And that is not something I would allow any of you to go through."

Johnny smiled at the fox-girl, and Oliver smiled in turn, happy that another one of his friends accepted Kitsune.

…..

"This way," Judy said, leading the All Starz along.

They were at the airport, coming to pick up their friends. Robert managed to get permission for the private jet to land at the public airport.

"They better explain what's going on," Michael said.

"I'm sure they will," Judy said. "Hey, I think I see them."

Soon enough, the group came into sight. When Max caught sight of his mom, he ran over to hug her.

"Mom! I'm so happy to see you!"

"I'm happy to see you too, Max," Judy said.

As the group came towards the American team, the All Starz noticed something.

"Who's that?" Michael asked.

They took note of the girl with white hair and violet eyes.

"Mom, this is Kitsune," Max said, losing his usual enthusiasm. Judy immediately picked up on this and turned to look at Max.

"Max, what's wrong?" she asked.

"It's a long story, Judy," Robert sighed. "And this is not the best place to tell it."

Judy nodded and they returned to the All Starz's bus, with the All Starz taking notice of how quiet the other teams seemed to be.

…..

They were all settled in the room that the Bladebreakers, Majestics, White Tigers and Demolition Boys would be calling home for a while. They were about to start the explanations once they settled, but before that…

"Um, excuse me."

They all turned to the door, where a girl with black hair was standing in the door.

"Kendra," Judy said. "Is something wrong?"

Kendra didn't answer, her eyes fixed on Kitsune. The two girls held each other's eyes for a while before Kitsune turned to Judy.

"She can come and listen too," Kitsune said. "I think this involves her as well."

Judy nodded and motioned for Kendra to come in. The girl obliged, but stayed close to the door.

"This is Kendra," Judy said. "She's one of the newest additions to the All Starz. She may be shy, but she's strong."

Kendra blushed at the compliment.

"So," Emily interrupted, "what's this about?"

…..

They had explained everything that had happened lately, from Ray's nightmares, to Oliver's encounters, the Slashers, and Oliver's recent abduction. When they finished, there was silence for a while, allowing Judy and the All Starz to absorb the new information.

"That's ridiculous," Michael eventually said. "Okay, the whole Biovolt revenge thing is possible, but the other things are unbelievable."

"See what I mean," Kitsune said. "The more technology advances, the narrower the mind becomes."

The All Starz glared at her. All except Kendra, who looked thoughtful.

"I saw it," she whispered. "I saw something yesterday. It looked like a shadow with green eyes."

Many members of the group gasped in surprise.

"That's Phantom Driger," Ray said, starting to tremble.

Kitsune narrowed her eyes and turned to Kendra.

"Where exactly did you see him?" she asked

"In the hallway," Kendra said, looking Kitsune in the eye.

Kitsune frowned thoughtfully.

"There were a few times yesterday where I couldn't sense him," Kitsune muttered. "What are you up to?"

"Kendra," Michael said, "you don't believe what they're saying, do you?"

Kendra looked in Michael's general direction and nodded her head.

"Yes," she said. "Kitsune is proof of that. She's a Bitbeast, after all."

Judy and the All Starz instantly looked at Kitsune, who had a small smile on her face.

"Is that true?" Judy asked.

"It's true," Kitsune said. "Illusion Trick."

The entire group instantly found themselves in a forest, the sounds of birdsong surrounding them like a blanket.

"What happened?" Eddy asked, looking around.

"Kitsune has the ability to create illusions," Oliver explained.

"So," Steve said, "this is all an illusion?"

"It's very realistic, don't you think?" Kitsune said.

As suddenly as it came, the forest disappeared, and they were back in the room.

"How'd you know Kitsune was a Bitbeast?" Bryan asked Kendra.

She blushed slightly, and Kitsune chuckled.

"She's psychic," she said. "She's sensitive to Bitbeasts and anything related to the spirit world. Am I right?"

"Yeah," Emily said, frowning a little. "How'd you know?"

"We're talking about a Bitbeast here," Johnny said. "Kitsune has her own intuition."

"There's that," Kitsune said. "And there's the fact that her Bitbeast told me. Now that was a voice I hadn't heard in a long time."

Kendra's eyes widened and she turned to face Kitsune.

"You're Dea's friend!" she said, eyes wide with realisation.

Kitsune smiled and nodded her head.

"Glad to see Dea has a good master," Kitsune said, making Kendra blush slightly.

Everyone looked at the exchange with strange expressions on their faces. Kai then turned to Oliver.

"Oliver, show them the medallion," Kai said.

Oliver looked at him in confusion before eyes widened in understanding. He withdrew the medallion from out of his shirt. Instantly, Kendra tensed, looking at the medallion with wide eyes, panic written in her eyes.

"Is something wrong?" Oliver asked.

"Take it off," Kendra whispered. "Please, take it off."

"I agree," Kitsune sighed. "You need to stop wearing it. It's not good for you."

Oliver nodded and removed the medallion. Kendra relaxed slightly, but kept her eyes on the medallion.

"There's evil in that thing," Kendra whispered.

"But we need to keep it away from the Dark Bitbeasts," Enrique said. "Any ideas?"

"Well," Kitsune said, "the only way for one of them to get to the Medallion of Lucifer is if a human gives it to them. If, however, they can't get to it because the humans don't know where it is, then it might be safe."

"Are you suggesting that we hide it?" Robert asked.

"I'm suggesting that I hide it," Kitsune said. "I'm not on their side, so they can't get to it if it's given to me. And they can't take it for themselves unless a human gives it to them. And if it's a place that a human can't reach…"

"I see what you mean," Robert said.

All eyes were on Oliver, who sighed and handed it to Kitsune. She nodded her head and disappeared.

"In the meantime," Judy said, "I suggest you all make yourselves comfortable. We'll get our researchers to look into it. It looks like you'll be here for a while."

…..

'They have arrived.'

'Excellent. Do what you need to do.'

'Understood. Time to have some fun.'

Did anyone notice how Kendra looked Kitsune in the eyes while she avoided anyone else's gaze? Just to clarify. Kendra can't look humans in the eye. Kitsune is not a human, so she has no problem making eye contact. Also, things will be picking up soon.