Shao grinned evilly, then made a swiping motion of his arm. Lei, Takao, and Kai managed to jump out of the way as the fierce cutting winds drove right through the ground and put fresh welts upon the earth.

Tsukiyo covered Professor with her clean bandanna as a huge cloud of dust came up upon impact and enshrouded them in its unforgiving, choking embrace. Max gritted his teeth. "This isn't good…"

"Well, how do you like my welcoming present, Lei Kon? Mind you, it was very hard shooting down those stragglers who managed to get away from my men," Shao taunted, "and yes, I was the one who shot down your best FRIEND. Hmm…I believe his name was Rai?"

Lei's eyes widened and become glassier still as he stood there in the middle of the choking whirlwind of dust and debris.

"…RAI?!"

There was a subliminal flash of Rai being shot down by that same fast-moving projectile that threw them off their feet a while ago.

Rai…

Oh GOD!

"…LEEEEIIII~~~~!!!!"

A crimson spark shot out, and Lei fell down to his knees. Blood spurted out in thick rivulets where the projectile had hit him, and dimly, Lei pulled it out to look at it more closely.

But…it CAN'T be…

"That's plain old Garrox." Shao smiled at him sweetly as the clouds of dust cleared. "Heh, of course, you of all people should know that Beys don't ACTUALLY work properly if handled by people other than their owners. Do you get what I mean…?"

"N…no…this…this is…a…LIE!"

"Hey, I'm not lying." Shao looks over his shoulder. "Come on down, I believe your little friend here wants to talk to you."

"…" One of the smaller black-cloaked figures alighted right behind Shao, the cloak flapping wildly in the wind. Lei could only stare at the figure in disbelief.

"You…it can't BE…"

"Surprised, Lei? All I needed was a little 'cooperation' on that doctor's part and yes, we lured you straight back to China." The face gear was discarded, along with the cloth helmet and revealed the speaker as Mao.

"M…Mao…"

"I've decided that being goody two shoes isn't the life for me. Besides, I was getting rather BORED waiting for you to come back. And he's right. I should've been more of a warrior and less of a helpless little maiden in distress pining for her phantom little lover to come back." Mao glared at him with her now slanted amber yellow eyes, the edges tinged with crimson eyeshadow. "This sorry life was becoming a bit too pathetic, that was why I swore my new loyalties to HIM."

"B…but…they killed your BROTHER!" Takao could only yell in shock and disbelief. "Why…why have you betrayed the Clan you were supposed to protect…? Even more so…they killed everyone dear to YOU!"

"Shut up." Mao looked at the still dazed Lei. "Lei, if you'd only been a bit more useful, I could still let you live. But you're useless now. I don't need you HERE."

"No…"

"Driger was SO wrong to have chosen you to become his master. You couldn't even protect an entire village with HIM!"

"Stop it…"

"Where were you when we all needed you? I was getting very worried for my brother, raving about you like a lunatic these past 4 years. And yes, they CAME. Ha, they were killing us one by one like so many flies, waiting for you to come back. But you DIDN'T! All you cared for was going on one stupid trip and forgetting there are several other things more important than TOURING~~~!!! They all died waiting for you to come back. But I made a promise. So now, by so doing, I would be able to greet you with open arms. We're the only ones left, Lei, isn't that FUNNY." Mao gave a small smile. "But parting is such sweet, sweet sorrow. I guess this is hello and also goodbye. You'll never see the light of the tournament, Lei. You'll all be dead here, no one would likely miss you. Isn't that cool or what?"

"Mao…" Lei stared at her, the one woman he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with, tears coursing slowly down his face. "Mao…what happened to you…"

"This is for your BETRAYAL." Mao nodded. "Goodbye, Lei."

Shao got the one which caused the explosion and it was revealed that it was a Bey Blade of a deep blue color. He set it on his shooter, hidden in his gloved (^^;;) arm.

He carefully aimed it at Lei, who could only gaze at him blankly. He slowly smiled. "Let's see how Asura could do with a little geographical 'cutting', shall we?"

"LEI!" Takao yells.

Shao lets its rip.

"DEVIL CUTTER~~~~!!!"

"…"

The Bey emitted an evil red glow and revealed a –Holy Beast- of a very huge wraith lizard, with needle sharp fangs and dangerous red, glowing ember eyes. It shot straight towards Lei, intending to cut him down like the millions of victims it had managed to cut down as well.

Tsukiyo had her hands to her face. Max gritted his teeth, his eyes wide.

"LEEEEEIIIIIII~~~~~!!!"

A cream colored spark ricocheted about them, hitting Takao's backpack, touching Professor's laptop lightly, bouncing against Kai's shoulder guard…and went on to deflect the attack with one precise blow.

"SHINING ARROW~~~!!!"

The cream colored Bey was surrounded by a furious white and silver wind as it shot straight towards the attacking Bey and had it hurled out of the way. The way it managed to deflect the Bey was so powerful it embedded it with only ¼ of the entire Bey to spare to jut out of the rock.

They all looked up to see Asaya standing there, looking absolutely furious.

"And you come back, Devil! Why, has the Guild some ugly errands for you to do AGAIN?"