Chapter 12

The stairwell of the enormous tower, where Kai could train his body without anyone around, was filled by his exhausted panting. The gloomy walls threw his voice back and forth, echoing endlessly in the windowless, silent space. He didn't have Dranzer because that miserable Kenny didn't finish her yet. That little, annoyingly smart brat was always in conflict with time when he had to modifiy or re-build a Beyblade. Although, Kai had to admit, Kenny had never left him dissatisfied with the result. And again, he could put the blame on no one else but himself alone for letting Dranzer to be demolished in such an amateur way.

Anyway, not having a beyblade was never an excuse to skip a body training. If he wanted to keep it up with his bitbeast, the incredibly dynamic and vigorous phoenix, who never gave up and always found its strength in the oddest situations, he needed to challenge his own limits, as well.

With this thought in his mind, he just threw up onto one of the steps in front of him. Gross but he immediately felt better. His entire body was shaking unstoppably by the intense workout. He was not done yet. His head was light and definitely should have eaten less than he had had, to avoid vomiting during workout. He needed to get to the top of the tower anyway. He took seriously his own promise to work even harder than on the last championship which he didn't know how could be possible. He already pushed his limits and boundaries many times last year. He still wore the scars on his arms – fingerprints of the cold Siberian wind. Man could never forget once the Russian winter took a grasp on them.

But Kai had to try again. It helped him a lot last year, it was going to be paid off this time, as well. He couldn't just turn his back to the Beybalde Championship without leaving a mark in its history, without becoming the very best. He had to prove to his grandfather and everyone else around him he still had strength and potential to be the first one.

Dubai gave him perfect opportunities for hard training with its huge towers and skyscrapers. He wiped the sweat from his eyes, spat out the disgusting taste from his mouth and continued his merciless training. Two steps up, two steps back, thirty pushups at the landings. He was already on level sixty-three, twenty-two more were missing.

When he eventually reached the roof, his eyes were throbbing due to blood rushing up and down with crazy speed in his body. He would throw up again if his stomach wasn't entirely empty already. He dropped to one knee and was just trying to catch a breath. Several minutes had to be passed until he finally collected himself and could rise to enjoy the view. Dubai was noisy and tireless, but up here, it was calm. Not a soul was nearby that would nerve or annoy him, he didn't have to listen to childish remarks or stupid jokes. There was only him and the wind stroking his wet soaking hair. Kai found his peace, away from everything that could hurt or confuse him, making vulnerable. He was satisfied with himself, he had been never tried to do a complete workout in a 85-level building. At level seventy-two, he really thought he wasn't going to make it and almost stopped, turning back to the hotel. But if someone had to tell one thing about Kai, it was his stubborn persistence. He hated leaving things unfinished, not reaching the goal he set. So he exerted himself instead and reached the top of the tower. Even Balkov would be pleased with this accomplishment. He should have done it in a shorter time, though. It took him too long, he must complete it faster next time.

Wake up…

In Tyson's dream a low and distanced voice was calling his name ceaselessly. He was sweetly sleeping, finally getting some rest after the many excitements from the past days.

Tyson, wake up…

Hopefully, when he wakes up at the morning, Kenny will be finally done with his Dragoon then he can Beyblade tomorrow. Yes, a great Beyblade party with his friends, he wanted nothing else.

Tyson… Wake up!

It seemed Dragoon was as eager to fight as Tyson, he couldn't stop calling his name.

"Tyson, I finished your Dragoon. WAKE UP!"

The champion screamed and jumped in his surprise. The voice calling his name belonged not to Dragoon but Kenny who stood only a few inches from his face which was quite a terrifying experience in these dark hours. In the neighbored bed, Max unintelligibly mumbled something and turned to his other side, sleeping. The sun has not set up yet, the gloom in the room was shaded by the glowing city lights.

"Oh my gosh, Kenny, don't do this again. Ever!" Tyson panted, trying to calm his frightened heart.

"I promised you that I'll tell you immediately if I finish your Dragoon. Here it is." Kenny whispered softly, not to disturb Max more, and showed Tyson the dragon bitbeast. "If you want to test it before the matches, you should now."

Tyson stared at the beyblade in Kenny's hand, it looked like nothing happened with it and was not melted by Dranzer just hours ago. Amazed by the neat work, he looked at his friend and observed his face extensively. It was hard to see in the dark room and Kenny's hair mostly hid his eyes but Tyson still managed to notice the black shadows under them. How long had he been working on the beyblades? When did his friend get a proper sleep last time? How was Kenny able to stay awake when he, Tyson could feel already tired after skipping a nap at the afternoon? He suddenly was ashamed that his friend worked so hard, so Tyson could reach his dream in the beydish. Maybe he should express his gratefulness more frequently as he usually did.

Kenny might have misunderstood the situation because he suddenly felt the urge to explain himself.

"I-I think it will work perfectly. I didn't adjust much on it because I know you were already satisfied with Dragoon's design. I merely corrected its balance so you could play more aggro against your toughest opponents, too. I still recommend you to test it, I'm only a human and I also do mistakes someti… Oh!"

His random apologizing speech was interrupted by Tyson's tight hug.

"You're the most selfless person I've ever met, Kenny. I'm happy and lucky at the same time that I know you on my side."

Kenny didn't reply, he was stunned by the sudden expression of Tyson's love.

"Let's go!" Tyson eventually said, jumping into his daily clothes, wide awake to use Dragoon again.

"Do you think the training room is still open at this hour?" Tyson asked already in the elevator, concerned that they had to spend valuable minutes to find a proper spot to launch Dragoon.

"I don't think they close that room at all. What would be the point of that when almost every competitor sleeps here?" Kenny pondered.

To reach the training room, they had to go through the hall. It was silent and peaceful without the many people flashing around, but it was not deserted, either. The receptionist stood with alert behind the counter to give immediate help in any request. A guest was sitting in the lounge comfortably, waiting probably for a pickup to the airport. Tyson looked out through the huge windows, the sky was already fading in with the sun's first rays behind the horizon. The city was calm compered to the midday traffic, but some people were already on the move. A familiar silhouette was just entering the hotel's building.

"Kai!" Tyson waved to his direction. The called man looked up at him with an exhausted and refusing gaze.

Kenny had a mix feeling to see their captain again. On one hand, he was relieved that he finally got the chance to give Kai his property back and didn't have to worry anymore to expect his judging appearances. He was damn tired of Kai's threatening expressions that he often used when he needed something from Kenny. On the other hand, he was nervous if Kai would notice anything on Dranzer. She was already tested in a battle and Kenny really, really didn't want to be in range when the grumpy cat found out this sneaky business with a Blitzkrieg member.

Tyson and Kenny waited in silence until Kai joined them at the center of the hall. Tyson smiled as always when he saw his dearest friends together, but his smile dropped as he noted Kai's disordered state. The half Russian stroke his hair back from his eyes, his clothes were weary and disorganized. It was outrageous that, despite of his messy appearance, he still looked strong and attractive.

"Are you okay, man? You look shit. Where were you?"

"You're flattering as always, Tyson." Kai retorted him, ignoring the last question then quickly looked at Kenny with a demanding look.

Kenny didn't need a word, took out the new Dranzer from his pocket and handed it to him with a stick in his throat. Kai picked it up and the phoenix glowed up. Bitbeast and wielder welcomed each other.

"Hn." Kai stated and turned on his heels to get finally some restful sleep in his room.

You're welcome…

Kenny relaxed that the most terrifying team member didn't notice anything on his beyblade. Also, he was offended that not even a 'thanks' was paid to him.

"Do you want a battle?" Tyson's words made the captain stop.

Kai was dreadfully tired, the ruthless workout wore out almost all his energy, he could barely command his limbs to move properly. It was obviously not a good idea to overexert his body. And still, he was eager to fight Tyson anytime. Dranzer had been just re-built, he needed to try out her anyway.

"Let's make it fast." Kai turned around and headed to the training room with Tyson and Kenny.

"I will, no worries." Tyson promised cockily.

Kenny silently groaned in his exhaustion. If it came to Tyson and Kai, nothing was 'fast'.

As Kenny predicted, the training room was open, no one was using it at this unusual time. Perfect conditions to test newly improved blades. Kenny opened up his laptop and got prepared for the recording while the two bladers stood to the beydish, ready to launch.

"3-2-1, go!" Kenny counted aloud and the bitbeasts immediately charged to each other, wasting no time.

Tyson and Kai's battles had become so passionate in the past years since they met, it was almost impossible to tell anymore when Dragoon and Dranzer fought friendly and when seriously, for flesh and blood. Their strength and will was too even to prevail against each other. That is why they were a legend.

For Kenny's surprise, the battle didn't last long this time. For a moment, it seemed that Tyson was able to conquer Dranzer's energy and shut Kai's beyblade out, but the phoenix wielder realized the danger just in time to avoid it, and with a massive counterattack, he cut off Dragoon's attacking move. In the attempt, he lost all his energy and couldn't come out as a victor, both beyblade flew out of the dish. Not a surprising outcome.

Tyson, slightly panting by the short but heaved fight, looked proudly at his Dragoon. The bitbeast could never disappoint him. He turned to Kai to thank him the quick match, but paused the older boy's condition. Kai visibly had a hard time to gain back his strength to stand up. He leaned down to the floor with one knee, and tried to steady his breathing.

"They work fine according to my calculations." Kenny reported eventually, his tone formal just like everytime he was doing analyzation, not paying any attention to the circumstances. He looked up at Kai who finally was able to raise. "What are your impressions?"

"It's super dope, Chief! I felt unstoppable, you did a great job on Dragoon!" Tyson rejoiced, too excited to realize the question was not meant for him.

Kai suspiciously narrowed his eyes.

"On Dragoon? Why did you have to fix Dragoon?"

Tyson freezed. Did he just bust themselves? He looked at Kenny for help, but the small boy just sat there on the bench, gaping at him like a fish.

"Y-yeah, I asked Kenny to make Dragoon even better, you know. Hehe." Tyson sheepishly adjusted his hat on his head, poorly implying his innocence.

"I corrected its balance because it was not satisfyingly stable on high speed. Nothing serious modification." Kenny tried to dismiss the question as neutrally as he could pretend it. He said the truth after all, just from a particular perspective. Apparently, it eased Kai's suspicion because he stopped the interrogation. "So how do you like the new Dranzer?" Kenny asked again and Kai looked at Dranzer in his hand before he formed his opinion.

"It's decent."

That was all he said then quickly left the room before they could say any more word, stopping him from getting some rest.

"Phew, this was close." Tyson exhaled as soon the door shut after Kai.

Dranzer was the most valuable thing for Kai and Tyson could understand that very well. He too would be irreconcilably furious if someone had taken his dear Dragoon without his permission. Now, he saw that their little experiment with Kenny and Alexa was not just wrong but unforgivable as a friend. Kai had already deep issues to trust people around him, and they just betrayed him in sake of… what exactly? Some precious data for Kenny to work with. He should have stopped Kenny doing any business with the Russian girl, and he should have refused to participate in any experiment on Dranzer without Kai's approval. Dranzer belonged only to Kai and not anyone else. He was also responsible in this betrayal in some way. Why he couldn't stop Alexa to try the phoenix in a battle? Why was he so eager to battle Dranzer within someone else's hand? He just sensed a headache was forming in his temple due to the many troubling questions that was spinning around in his mind.

"Stress gonna kill me one day." Kenny muttered while he was collecting his stuff to leave. He slowly raised up from the bench, he was ready to fall into the inviting bed in his room. Kenny really needed some sleep. He headed for the door but when he didn't hear Tyson's footsteps following him, he turned back to him.

"Is everything alright, Tyson?" The champion seemed lost in his own thoughts which was not a common sight and it usually meant something was weighing him.

"Are you hot?"

Because he was awfully tired and incapable to think logically, Kenny was absolutely stunned at this utterly inappropriate question.

"Uhm…am I?" He blurted out sheepishly after a relatively long silence, making Tyson laugh.

"Do you feel hot, I mean. I'm pretty sure you're hot among your geek type, Chief." Tyson had not much opportunity to see such a disorganized Kenny for a while, it was always amusing to witness.

Since Kenny was still lost at his question, Tyson became impatient. He didn't get used to the situations when he appeared to be the smarter companion in a conversation and had to explain things, which in Kenny's case, was even more surreal.

"The air is cool. When I battled with the Russian girl, it became unbearably hot just a few seconds after her launch. I experienced nothing similar against Kai now. Does it mean anything, Kenny?"

Tyson was worried. He couldn't tell if it had any significance at all or he was just overthinking the whole situation. Was Alexandra an unexampled talent? Or was it Kai who actually couldn't be a serious threat anymore? The thought itself made him uneased. If Kai was not a worthy opponent for him and Dragoon, he couldn't help but had an unexplainable loss feeling about it. And Kenny's long, painful silence didn't reduce his anxiety.

"Who is she?" Tyson was thinking aloud, concerned that Alexa might be in connection with Kai's recently poor performances.

"I don't know yet and I don't like the fact you just pointed out. I'll try to look into her more extensively. Also, I recorded each battle, I might find something analyzing them. But now, we really need to rest to win tonight. The team needs us." Kenny temporarily closed the case and urged Tyson to return to their room.

"You're right." Tyson agreed with a nod and decided to save his doubts for later.

Tala was busy building up a good strategy and re-thinking the scenarios for the next fight against F-Dynasty. He was alone in the Blitzkriegs' room, he sent away the boys to leave him in peace. He needed to focus now. On the paper, laying in front of him, was already scrawled his teammates name in a pair with another F-Dynasty member, in many scenarios. Some of them was circled, most of them was struckthrough. Tala wanted to try out the new member of his team to see how Alexa could handle a betting match but also, not depending too much on her. They had to win the fight for advantage or F-Dynasty called a tag-team match against them which would be a disaster for the Blitzkriegs. He and the boys were trained entirely differently to win a match requiring so much co-cooperativeness, so he had to avoid this situation at all cost.

As Tala held his pencil hesitantly right above the paper, he felt the soft touch of the sun, shining nicely through the huge windows. The bright sunshine was irritating for him. He preferred the subdued lights from blizzards and storms, it was less distracting. Fortunately, there was no noise, the walls kept away it from him smoothly. Almost ideal conditions to think and finding out strategies.

His peace was suddenly interrupted by a firm but not intrusive knock. The red haired Russian put down the pencil and opened the door, letting in his new teammate, Alexa.

"You called me, Talantlivij?" She asked, stopping at the center of the room, waiting for her captain to speak.

"It's Yurij for you. Sometimes Tala if I'm in the proper mood." Tala barked before closed the door and stepped back to the desk.

"Noted, sir." Alexa obeyed.

Tala shot another glance to her, then pulled out a card from one of the drawers and showed it up before Alexa.

"Here's your access to the stadium. You can use it only at the very late hours before dawn, not to draw any unnecessary attention."

"That was fast." Alexa blinked in her surprise, taking the card from the redhead boy.

"Yes, Mr Dickenson can be very accommodating if it comes to us." Tala said and turned away, suggesting her that they were done, she can leave.

"Don't you want me to report?" Alexa asked with a frown.

Tala suddenly became motionless, uncertain how to react to such an out-of-place question.

"To report?" Tala repeated almost with a dry laugh. "We're not in the military, playing soldiers."

He could see his sarcastic comment didn't get through in the blonde's head because she still stood there with a confused face. For god's sake, Balkov did a perfect job with the brainwashing. Tala wasn't aware he had to deal with this many problems when he agreed to let Alexa join the team. He already went through on this process with Boris and Sergei, that one time was more than enough.

"Right." He let out a tired sigh, standing straight, holding his hands behind his back like a respectable general. He found the whole situation a comedy, acting like a clown. "What report do you have for me?"

"Soon we can expect a dissension among the G-Revolution team members."

Tala let go his stiff pose, knitting his read eyebrows.

"Speak."

"The mechanic of the team let me test Dranzer's new design on the other day, without Kai's knowledge. In exchange, I gave them my blade to be analyzed for a short time. Considering Kenny's bright mind, I assume he'll be conflicted by the data in the next few days, sharing his concerns with the team. He, then, has to explain himself how he got this data and everything will be exposed. Kai will learn that his dear friends were willing and able to give me his only precious thing, Dranzer. Team morale will more likely be demolished." Alexa speculated nonchalantly, silence was followed her reporting.

So many questions were running in Tala's head, he didn't know which one to pick first. He was wordless for a few seconds, his eyes were running back and forth through the room, thinking over what he just heard, placing all pieces in order, trying to make any sense of it.

"Explain it." He ordered. "Start with the beginning - Dranzer has been rebuilt?"

"Yes, I caused too much damage on her when I fought with Kai for the position in your team." Alexa replied dutifully.

Tala nodded with a small satisfied smirk. He was pleased what he just heard. If Alexa was able to scratch enough Kai's beyblade, he didn't have to worry about her skills.

"Why didn't they test Dranzer with Kai?" Tala continued.

"That I do not know." Alexa admitted. "I can have only assumptions about that. I know for sure Kenny fears Kai. Maybe he wanted to take some low-end revenge on his captain. Or Kai was unavailable and I was in the right place at the right time. Or it was part of a bigger plan that I can't see through yet. Pick one."

This didn't make any sense for Tala. Kai's team was not the type to betray their friend's trust in such a childish and sneaky way, and they also believed in fair plays. He pondered a few more seconds on this matter, but eventually, he put it aside. No use to waste more time for something he couldn't know for sure without additional details.

"You said you offered your own beyblade for Kenny to analyze it."

"Yes. But!" Alexa nodded and quickly continued, stopping Tala with her index finger interrupting, seeing his distorting face. "They won't be able to learn anything useful. I have a very rare whale-dragon type bitbeast, I can summon loads of its kind, so the data will show Kenny only one bitbeast but regarding the power, it will imply he sees thousands of bitbeast in one single beyblade which is, of course, not possible.

"I already saw a beyblade containing more than one bitbeast." Tala objected. "I'm sure you heard about Black Dranzer.

For some reason, Alexa rolled her eyes back into her head. Tala lifted an eyebrow at the odd reaction.

"Black Dranzer was artificial. That's not a real bitbeast. It could do some tricks, but that's all." She retorted.

Black Dranzer was way more complicated than that but Tala decided not to argue with her, he didn't want to waste any time for unnecessary conversations, so he directed the narrative to a more important part.

"What if Kenny finds out your…" Tala paused because he realized he forgot again Alexandra's bitbeast name.

"Baladrac."

"…is a rare, family-type whale bitbeast and is able to summon its school?" Tala didn't bother to feel embarrassed for the small interruption. "We'll lose this important advantage against them." Tala let this thought sink in for Alexa a bit. His malicious voice could send a shiver down her spine. Alexa didn't even flinch, but Tala could tell she was not comfortable standing in front of him, under his gaze.

"All credit to the smart boy, I still doubt he had heard about this bitbeast type, it's the rarest one. Only a few researchers have a theory about this myth, but even the majority of the scientists deny them. You didn't hear about his, either, until I told you."

Tala closed the distance between them suddenly. Alexa was relatively tall among the girls, but Tala still could easily tower above her.

"For all your sake, I do hope you're right." Tala said in a low, threatening voice. He didn't like how carelessly she talked about a movement that clearly evoked Balkov's ways.

Alexandra swallowed and kept looking down in submission. When Tala had enough, seeing she understood his point, he turned, making a few steps distance from her again.

"How is the new Dranzer?" Tala finally asked, continuing the interrogation.

Alexa shrugged her shoulder.

"Nothing unexpected. She's strong but she'll never be significantly stronger in Kai's hand. This clearly doesn't mean we should underestimate them."

Tala crossed his arms. It was intriguing to hear from someone else the same opinion he had about Kai. He thought he was just blinded by the anger and disappointment he felt about his former teammate, and misjudged Kai's real potential. Listening to Alexandra's words, maybe he was correct about him. Something happened with that guy that kept him sliding down. It was not Tala's concern anymore, though.

"We'll see it anyway on the tournament today." Tala dismissed this part of the conversation, and before continuing, he leaned to the desk with crossed arms. "My last question is that who gave you the permission for such a mission?"

Alexa frowned at his question.

"Well… You?"

"Me?" Tala tried to keep his voice neutral, not to scare too much the girl, but he had a hard time hiding his cynic tone. "I don't remember asking you to do such filthy thing."

Alexa's expression suddenly hardened, her jaw clenched in obvious frustration.

"I'm doing my job!"

"Since when you count spying on other teams a job?"

Not a long time ago, Tala wouldn't have any problem to use such despicable techniques to harass enemy teams. For the same reason, they stopped the Bladebreakers' bus with a helicopter under the direction of Balkov in Russia, a few years ago. It was all about putting pressure to your enemy, to make them feel uneased, unsafe. Under such psychological press, the opponents made more mistakes in their Beyblade game. He left these nasty methods behind when he and the Blitzkrieg Boys turned their back to Balkov. He promised then that he was going to play fair and square, leaning only on his own strength to win a fight.

Alexa was not doing the same thing right now. She didn't threat her opponents with their life, beating them or putting them in danger outside of the stadium. What she did was more distasteful. She turned friends against friends without being the reason for it. No man could learn such awful tricks, this was woman practice. Tala could understand it in a way. They were weaker, they had imperceptible chance to win a fight with muscles against men, so they had to use their head and cold blood to outsmart their stronger enemies. On the other hand, it was a hell of a technique Tala only could detest. How do you spot a sly shadow in the darkness?

"You need my help to win this tournament. I'm just doing what you asked, dividing our opponents' focus and weakening them." Alexa protested.

"I never asked you to do that!" Tala found himself yelling into Alexa's face only from an inch. She didn't move but was terrified by his sudden furious words. "Forget these disgraceful tactics and play your game only in the beydish! We're not Balkov's fucking puppets anymore! Our life is not in his hand, we don't have to eat each other alive in order to survive!"

Tala was breathing hard, cursing himself for not being able to keep his temper under check. He moved back a few steps from Alexa who was frightened by the sudden outburst. She still didn't move, she was trained too well to do so, she kept her gaze fixed on the wall behind Tala. The only thing that betrayed her calmness was her fast blinking.

Tala stroke his hair, instantly regretting that he shouted the same way as the trainers in the Abbey when they were not pleased enough.

"I need your skills only in the dish." Tala said again in a more controlled voice. "Don't play with other people's minds, I don't want you to be called the rat of Blitzkriegs."

Alexa finally looked into Tala's eyes. He didn't know what she saw in them because she didn't reply immediately. He knew he couldn't run away from his older self. The younger Tala who never questioned the orders, only obeyed commands. He even remembered the days when he was ready anytime to throw his life for Balkov so he could make him proud. The old Yuriy who detested everyone around himself. Since he lost that match against Tyson and the Abbey got closed, Tala did everything to bury that brainwashed soldier into the deepest pit of his mind, but some days – like this day –, he still could feel its crawling hand, trying to broke free.

"Understood." Alexa nodded with a sincere look. It seemed, she accepted what he just said to her.

"Anyway, this whole dirty plan of yours will work only if Kenny acts the same way you've predicted it. Go, have some breakfast. Soon I'll join, too, and then we start training." Tala said eventually, sitting back to his desk to complete his strategy against F-Dynasty, while Alexa closed the door behind her.

A/N: Big thank you for your rock solid support, MagicalPhoenix12, mazaliam64 and dear Amy! It's unbelievable you all are still stick around, reading my dumb story. I'm glad you're here with me. I can promise you, there's a lot to come! These scenes are still just preparation for bigger things, so bear with me, soon shit gets serious. Also very grateful for the silent readers, they encourage me to keep writing.

Btw, I planned to post this chapter sooner (like 3 weeks ago). Unfortunately, the person who proof-reads my chapters was extremely busy recently, and I really don't want to ruin your reading-experience – mostly because more of you pointed out to the grammar mistakes I made (thank you, feel free to help me out with these anytime! :) )-, so I decided not to upload the new chapter until it's checked. Really sorry for keep you waiting because of this!

Alright, stay safe, leave a review if you feel, and a have a great day! :)