AUTHOR'S NOTES: Part Three here! This part now is all in Tala's POV, so please don't be confused. Thanks for the people who commented, even though most of them are my friends and some are anonymous. Please tell me who you are! Provide any link, okay. Any e-mail or URL will do.

Oh and also some things in here might be wrong, since I watched our OWN NATIVE version of Beyblade rather than the NELVANA dub. So please bear with the confusion, especially in terms and names of the characters. E-mail me if there's something wrong or if you want to suggest something. Everything stated in this story are totally products of my vivid imagination, especially the cycle of events plus "The Cursed Woods" and Tala's pet wolf…

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Beyblade, satisfied?

JUST LIKE ME

PART THREE: THE PAST THAT IS YET TO UNFOLD

I remember everything now. I was opened to the whole truth about me, and my cruel past. His eyes seemed to burrow into me after he told me the whole story, and I am here to tell it to you all now, and it all happened seven years ago.

A cold dark night ensued, with no one to rescue one soul wandering through the cold and all the hoarfrost forming in the sub-urban Russia. This little being walked limply, his footprints settling on the thin layer of ice forming on the ground. With each of his pushing through, he panted heavily, and a mist of frosted breath escaped from his small mouth. His scarlet-red hair that was rather long-backed was flaked with the crisp powder-blue snow and is tossed carelessly. He can't focus on where he must go because of the sub-zero temperatures and his blight weakness.

His walk seemed to last forever until a blurred vision came into view. Blurred black and made of stone… shelter… Somewhere where he can rest and stay for the night.

But all he didn't know is that his stay will be for forever, and he's tangled in there for life, even though he doesn't want to.

He panted like crazy as he rushed towards the entrance until he was too weak to go on that he fainted right at the doorstep.

And that poor soul, it was me, and no one else.

Soon I woke up from a bed, and then and there I saw an old guy around his forties and beside him sat a meek yet tough-looking little boy and all the other boys were gathered right behind them. They appeared to be so vicious as if they are planning to eat me alive. They were new faces for me, since all my life I have been away fro everybody since I live in the forest, somewhere at the place that they call "The Cursed Woods", a place where no one dares to go because of the peril of wolves roaming around inside it.

Actually I have a pet wolf, and it had become my closest friend since no one dared to befriend me after all. And that wolf is the main reason why I had been walking beneath the falling winter storm for about three hours until my exhaustion.

People had been going away from me and my family inside the woods, for the people in the Cursed Woods are really cursed, as most Russians say and believe.

To go on, I sit here in front of all those unknown people, but then again things do change in one blink of the eye, for as quick as sudden, they welcomed me into their group, and it's a group with a somewhat strange name…

VOGUE

A strange name for a group, but they are superior in strength and security and they use one thing I haven't known before.

VIOLENCE

I can't stand the scene of many kids of my age suffering through those lashes and whips being given to them by those cruel guards. I can't dare to watch kids falling down and being punished of imprisonment whenever they do something wrong. Day by day, I always see violence encompass the whole monastery that I am in. I noticed that as days fall by, fewer kids are present in the training base, well, not for me. I don't want to be there…

Because I try my best… and to be the best

Who gave me that mindset? It was he.

That meek yet tough-looking guy beside Mr. Balkov at my bedside that first day I entered there.

And he goes by a certain name of Kai.

I remember it… I had met him way back before…

I remember him encouraging me not to give up despite of the lashes I had received since I was only a beginner by then… through rough words.

"Stand up there, fool." His voice returned to my senses after I had been lashed fifty times. My fragile heart (by then) broke upon his words so I cried.

"Tch, weakling. You'll never survive here if you'll cry like that. GET LOST, WEAKLING." With those words stated, he turned away.

WEAKLING

For the first time, I felt anger rushing in me. No one ever called me a weakling. I wiped those tears away and stood proud despite of the pain caused by the whipping.

I'll show that proud boy who I am; that I am no weakling. I'll show him… he'll see.

With those words said, my obsession for power started. Everyday I struggled to do my best in trainings. Every time there's a Bey battle, I will always think of his face and those stinging words, and I'll put every ounce of my strength, anger, hate, and what I had learned in my every Bey's clash and strike. And indeed I will make the enemy come down, but not making myself contented. I want to be better, since I know that my enemy's no match with that Kai. And when I turn around, I'll see him standing at a corner, his eyes narrowing at me. That sets the fire in me; I need to defeat him, someday… I have to prove to him that I am somebody.

Day, weeks, months passed by, I made myself better, but it never satisfied my thirst for power. Never satisfied, even though others know it's too much, that I seemed to be Mr. Balkov's favorite… and that made that boastful Kai envious, of my power, of my capabilities. Hah, I had shown him enough. He knows that I am much better than he is. I see in his eyes the rage and the envy as he looks at me as I Beybattle with my fearful might.

But yes, things have its own end, and unfortunately… my downfall begins.

It was one chilling dawn when I heard shotguns ringing outside the monastery. I looked at what happened, and I saw two guards carrying something, something from the forest.

I froze in horror. I know what it is! It's a shot wolf, and worse, it's my pet wolf, Zythe.

"Why? Why? Why?" I cried in hysterics in front of Mr. Balkov. I held on his enormous cape, but he just shove me away from him, and left me to be dragged by the guards. I saw Kai, my nemesis, smirking down at me, but I don't mind; what's important is the life of my dear pet.

Since then I became so lonesome and homesick. I realized the bad thing that I had done. I need to go back home, even though I know the fact that we're being shunned by the society. I didn't concentrate on my Beyblading and so one time came that I lost the battle with someone in the group. And you know the punishment. Mr. Balkov had no heart; he'll imprison even his favorite student.

In my desperate hope and all the pain that goes with it, I cried for the first time in the three years span of my stay in that monastery. I cried out loud, asking for help as the guards dragged me away, to that dark part of the place, to the tower…. But no, no one will give heed to my call, for I know I am a reject of the society, a cursed little boy from The Cursed Woods.

I have no choice but to accept the painful punishment… I know that will be the cruel end of my life. I let the steel door bang before my face, and the darkness to eat me.

I don't know how long I had slept but I was awakened by a faint knock at the door. I looked at the crack, and I was surprised to see Kai at the other side.

"W-why are you---" I haven't completed my statement when the door opened. I soon realized that he had the key stolen from the sentry dumbly sleeping.

"You okay?" He whispered.

"K-Kai…." I don't know what pushed me then but I hugged him tight, probably because of my phobia of being left alone. He gasped but then he just returned the hug to me.

I can't believe it; I can't believe he cared, despite being my arch-nemesis.

"Come on, you need to get out of this hellhole." He reckoned me to stand up and to make MY escape.

"B-but… isn't it ILLEGAL? H-how about you?" I asked back.

"Don't mind me. You need to go away from here." He simply replied as we walked in caution to the underground exit.

But unluckily, we were caught, and it was the worst thing I had ever seen and experienced… but it was worse for Kai.

"NO, PLEASE!!! IT'S MY ENTIRE FAULT!! PLEASE, JUST... SET HIM FREE!! I PLANNED THE ESCAPE!!!" I cried out loud as Kai was pulled away from me. There, I witnessed all the torture they had done to Kai. They battered him, punched him, and electrified him in the tower. And the helpless me just slumped there at the corner, crying. I should be the one who's receiving all those. In the end, I saw them simply dropping the weak and worn out Kai on the floor.

"Kai… I—I am so… sorry."

"I—it's all r-iiight…" He cowered in pain. "Y-you need to e-escape…"

"No need… I am just okay. But please rest yourself." I hugged him again, and I felt all the pain and torture he had received.

"This is all my fault. If I didn't agree on your idea then none of these would have happened." I whimpered.

"NO, it isn't. It's just me, for I don't want you feel the pain in here, in this hellhole. I am so sorry for all that I have done" He just snuggled closer to my hold.

"Never mind, just rest yourself and sleep." I offered. Soon enough, he's in a deep slumber. I don't know, but as I looked at his face as he was sleeping, I felt admiration and awe, and at the same time, pity and mercy for him. Soon, silence passed me by.

I woke up the next morning, but Kai was nowhere to be found. I soon found out through Mr. Balkov that he was already out of the group. They made him go away. He bade his goodbye without me knowing it. I want to complain but then I felt piercing pain at my back. Darkness enveloped me…

I opened my eyes, and it's all unclear. What happened to me? Why am I in this glass cylinder? Why are there tubules all over my body? I can't feel anything; I am so numb. Somebody, tell me what's going on…

I was commanded by Mr. Balkov to stand up straight. I don't want to but still I followed. I was being controlled. How? That I really don't know… Suddenly, he laughed out loud.                               

"From now on, you will be known as Tala, the greatest Blader of all."

"Tala…" I parroted, not blinking my own eyes. They seemed to be so… blank.

What happened to me? Why was my name Tala? Why was I being controlled? Why? Why? Why? These certain questions were left open-ended and unanswered, but now I know why…

They changed me, everything of me. From the innocent little boy they changed me for who I am, the Tala right now… cruel, cold-hearted, power-thirsty, yet calm and serene, as if without any emotions. And now, look at me. I am Tala, the great heartless leader of the Demolition Boys of Russia…

They erased my emotions. I turned blank as a heartless being. They turned me into a sophisticated machine, a complicated and intelligent one yet without any emotion or intellect, for the fear that I will leave the group just like Kai did.

I wanted to cry, I wanted to feel tears seeping down my cheeks again… yes I cried. Seems that they didn't transform me completely after all. But as I felt for my tears, I saw blood. I shed blood as my tears..

They were forced tears, forced tears without any emotion… blank.

An android, that is…

And my pet, the soul of Zythe, they drenched it and turned it into a Bit Beast, and it is in my hands right now.

Wolfborg

I remember everything. It was Kai who tried to save me from an untimely death, yet he was the one who was harmed, and was rejected by the abbey.

And now, we clashed headlong along the way yet I didn't recognize him…

I have to thank him, I thought as I was preparing to leave the hospital due to my recovery. I turned back at the drawer; it's still there…

I have to give this back to him, before they leave for Japan.

-O-O-O-O-O-

Good thing I wasn't late because they were just meeting at the helicopter pad when I came.

"Kai…" I called out. His teammates were shocked, and including him.

"Kai?" Max looked inquisitively. Ray and Tyson had a sheepish look.

"Why are you here? I thought you told me you don't know me." He replied in a distant manner.

"Just want to give you this…" I handed him his scarf. "You left it when you rescued me. Thank you… thank you, for everything."

"Kai? You rescued him?!" Tyson asked awkwardly. "HUH?!" He was shocked.

"Hmph." Kai turned away from me as he fitted his scarf. Well, It's not new; he'd been doing it all the time.

"I told you there's something creepy about Kai. He lost one piece of his outfit." Ray told all the others in their team and beamed.

"Oh, I see." Tyson nodded.

I just nodded, since I had nothing more to say to them, and turned away.

"Tala" Tyson called out. I turned back.
"I'll look forward in seeing you again." He beamed. I simply nodded at him since I had already accepted my defeat.

I took my first three steps away when…

"Dmitri…" Someone called out. I turned back, and was taken by shock when it was Kai who called me, by my name

"Take care." He simply said, but what made it special is that he slightly smiled. I just nodded and said, "Thank you." With that said, he closed the door of their helicopter. Soon, they flew away, to their native land Japan.

Then the snow fell down. I raised my line of vision to the heavens, welcoming the dropping snow to my face. I am thankful that I have known Kai way back before, for it was through him that I've known what my past was like. But I can't get away from the thought that somehow Kai and I had some things in common, from the history of our lives, to our habits, and our behavior. And it is good to have someone to share my problems, my experiences with. For he had become my reflection, the mirror of my life and all that had happened to me, not just because that he had told me my whole dark past…

But because he knows me better than any other people around me

THE TWO OF US ARE THE EPITOME OF EACH OTHER

SO WE STRIVE TO HELP EACH OTHER OUT IN ANY WAY THAT WE CAN.

BECAUSE HE IS JUST LIKE ME, AND I KNOW THAT HE SOMEWHAT THINKS THAT I AM JUST LIKE HIM…

~END!~

FOOTNOTE:

Hah, Dmitri?!? *laughs more* Well, that's just my made-up name for Tala, since he's a Russian, right?

Well, it's all been done! Haha, no more part four!!! Hahaha, anyway, please review and tell me what you think.