Mizu_Tenshi: It's been a while since I've updated so sorry for the wait. I hope you don't find this chapter too confusing.

"..." Speech '...' Thought *...* Implied words

Disclaimer: I don't own this anime

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Chapter 7: Dreamex

Kai lay in the sick bay on what looked like a hospital bed with restraints to prevent him from escaping. His eyes were closed but he was wide-awake.

He had been patched up as best as possible by the staff here but he still felt like death, he remembered once he had broken his ankle and had been nursed over by his team mates. Unprofessional and annoying as they were it was a million times better than what he had gone through here.

There was one good point though, there was a window directly next to him for him to stare out of. It was good to finally see natural light.

He could hear the door slide open and Mr Roskovi told the men monitoring him to leave. Kai could not help but open his eyes to see what was going on. Mr Roskovi noticed Kai staring at him and made his way over to Kai.

"Hello Kai," Roskovi wheeled a chair next to Kai, "I think it's time we talked, don't you?"

Kai remained silent. If Roskovi wanted to talk then let him talk. He did not have to listen to it.

"You see," Roskovi whispered. "I know how you think, I know what you're afraid of, what you want...what you are. I can help you."

"Why do I have trouble believing that?" Kai spat.

"Scared, Kai?" Roskovi smiled.

Kai closed his eyes and refused to reply. He didn't like this. He didn't like being studied like an animal. He wanted it to stop.

"I understand you, I know how much you hate yourself and everything you've become. You shouldn't hate yourself. You're superior."

Kai opened his eyes again and glared at Roskovi. Neither one said anything for a few minutes, in this silence Kai could hear his deep shuddering breaths rack his chest. If he ever got out of this alive he swore he would never waste water again.

"It's true, though, you're superior, look at yourself! You're young, smart, mature and an excellent blader, fit and healthy, impervious to disease and harsh weather. You are what many adults can never be." Roskovi urged.

"If they want this..'power'...if they want this kind of life then they can have it," Kai managed to say.

"I know you feel as if you have no place in the world." Roskovi ignored Kai's remarks. "Deep down you're just a little lost and forsaken child. You feel totally alone even surrounded by friends, you wander amidst them but you feel like you can't touch them. Night after night, screaming out loud but completely silent, it's like there's a wall of ice in the way."

Again, Kai refused to answer him. He pretended as if Mr Roskovi was just another pesky insect.

"Very well," Roskovi sighed, getting up slowly from the chair, "I have to meet your little friend now."

Kai waited for the door to bang shut before moving his position slightly so he could stare out of the window.

Kai squinted as an object he had not noticed before caught his attention. He could not quite make it out with the sun glaring at him but he raised a shaky hand for it.

It was a battle between him and the restraints as they limited how far he could reach. Groping around clumsily with his fingers he managed to wrap the object securely in his palm and brought it down to his face.

It was a compact communicator like the ones is sci-fi movies. He wondered who would leave a communicator behind and he suddenly began to remember what Ryo had once told him.

'...it's amazing how careless adults are, isn't it?..'

"Yes," Kai muttered, "it really is."

~ Stadium ~

Ryo followed the man nervously to the replica of the stadium that Kai had once entered.

Ryo looked around in wonder at the large stadium. He had seen them before but had never been in one let alone near the dish where the most talented and powerful bladers from across the world would challenge each other.

"I see that you're impressed," Mr Roskovi smiled as he entered the stadium. "Now, would you care to show me your skills?"

Ryo gulped but proceeded closer to the dish, his hands were shaking as he fumbled with his bit less blade.

The sound of a phone ringing exploded through the silence.

Mr Roskovi picked up his mobile. He stood listening for a few tense minutes and then he spoke, "I see, this has come at a bad time if I knew it would be completed so soon I would have taken Kai instead. No matter, I can always use this one."

Ryo took a few steps away from Mr Roskovi. 'This one' meant him and no way would he want to be experimented on. Where was that boy? What did Mr Roskovi call him? Kai?

Ryo didn't know how many minutes passed before the door in which he entered opened again and two people in laboratory coats walked in clutching a suitcase between them.

The two scientists deposited the case in front of Mr Roskovi's feet and undid the latches before stepping away respectfully.

"You," Mr Roskovi pointed a long finger at Ryo, "come here."

He couldn't do anything but obey the man's command. Taking a few uneasy steps he dared himself to peek into the case.

What lay in the case was a beyblade looking ridiculously minuscule in such a large suitcase.

"This is Dreamex," Roskovi announced, not taking his eyes for one second off of the white blade. "We're hoping that it can rival and perhaps, in the right hands, surpass that of Black Dranzer. Allow me to demonstrate."

Roskovi stood up so suddenly Ryo jumped back. The head of Roskovi inc. clutched Dreamex in one hand and a launcher in the other.

Before he had even got near the dish he pulled the ripcord and the blade did what looked like an ultra fast pirouette into the dish and continued spinning strong.

The side panel opened, releasing five black blades. They circled the purple Dreamex and went in for the kill. It was less than a minute upon impact that the five blades flew out of the bowl and rolled onto the floor. Dreamex was in the middle still spinning strong from the spot where it had not moved.

"Whoa!" Ryo gasped. Such power...he had never seen anything like that.

"Impressive, no? Of course if the blader isn't talented enough to control it then, like Black Dranzer, it will do some nasty damage to the blader, " Roskovi smiled that sinister smile Ryo was beginning to hate. "Go ahead and try it."

"What?! I'm...no way!" Ryo took a few more steps back.

"Why not?"

"I can't..I won't...I won't be able to control something like that!" Yes, he wanted power as much as the next person but he wasn't stupid enough to risk his own neck to get it.

"You will blade!" Roskovi ordered.

Ryo hesitated but he had no choice. He slid into the dish where Dreamex was still spinning.

Sliding in he scooped up the purple blade in his hands and climbed back out of the dish. Loading the blade onto his launcher he could feel its power pulsating like a heart sending waves of energy into his hands.

"If you're strong enough Dreamex will be your greatest ally," Mr Roskovi explained, "if not then it simply won't listen to you and will run wild. Once it gets a taste of destruction it is hard to restrain."

Ryo launched the blade into the dish.

It was complete failure from the moment the blade touched the surface of dish.

The black blades came out as they usually did and Dreamex was upon them, destroying them easily but it didn't stop there it went on to demolish the side of the dish.

"Tell it to stop," Roskovi ordered.

"Err...stop now, Dreamex," Ryo said shakily but the blade continued to demolish the dish then suddenly it flew up the side and propelled itself towards Ryo.

Ryo screamed and shielded his face with his hands awaiting impact.

He waited ten seconds, fifteen, twenty and then lowered his hands and looked around in confusion. Mr Roskovi had Dreamex in his hands.

"Dreamex has a very distinct personality," Roskovi smirked. "It won't obey just anyone. I see this test was unable to launch seeing that you were unable to control it."

"We will need the test data now, sir," the scientist in the white coat reminded him.

"I see," Mr. Roskovi turned to address the second scientist. "Bring me Kai."

"Now? Sir, he's suffered - "

"He's not dead!" Roskovi snapped.

"Yes sir," the scientist bowed low and exited the room.

'How do you control a bit beast like that? I thought they were supposed to obey no matter what. ' Ryo stared at the ground, hoping that they had forgotten him when the door opened once more and then sound of feet and wheels emerged.

Ryo couldn't help but look up. His eyes widened and he took a step back, impulsively covering his mouth with a hand.

There was a pair of eyes the colour of dried blood staring, no, glaring up at him. Ryo looked at the figure lying down on a portable bed, he looked at the arm in a sling, the bruises, scabs and scars that littered what parts of the body he could see, the torn clothes and then back at those accusing eyes.

Maybe it was his guilty conscience but he would swear he heard a voice in his head say, 'this is all your fault.'

"Kai, I know you're in a weak state right now but you have a job," Roskovi said coldly. "You are to blade with our newest bit beast."

Kai blinked a few times as if this took time to register and then he spoke, his voice was shaky and frail but his eyes glared with determination. "...Fuck..you..."

The scientist brought out a taser and stuck it into the side of Kai good arm.

Ryo squeezed his eyes shut and wished he were back at the orphanage. Luckily for Ryo's ears Kai didn't cry out but clenched his teeth as the volts of electricity shocked his system.

"I'll repeat that; you will blade with our newest bit beast," Roskovi ordered as the scientist withdrew the taser. "Get up!"

Kai was breathing heavily and didn't respond.

"Get him up!" Mr Roskovi snapped at the two scientists.

Kai felt strong arms heave him into a standing position where they kept on holding him until he stopped swaying.

"Now, blade!"

Kai stumbled clumsily to the edge of the dish whereupon the scientists gave him a launcher already loaded with Dreamex on top. He lifted shaky arms and then pulled as hard as he could at the cord.

The panel opened again sending a new fleet of five blades circled around Dreamex.

'At least there's no stupid helmet so I won't feel those blades,' Kai tried to think positively but he wasn't a very optimistic person by nature.

"Destroy them, Dreamex!" Kai rasped.

The purple blade singled out each opponent and dealt with them quickly yet mercilessly.

"Good, now tell it to stop," Roskovi ordered.

"Dreamex, that's enough," Kai said to the blade.

The blade spun in the middle, at first it seemed as if it would listen but that moment passed and Dreamex began circling the dish angrily.

'Concentrate,' Kai told himself, 'it's just like Black Dranzer.'

"Stop now," Kai said more forcefully, putting what little energy he had left into his command.

Dreamex began to glow again, spinning even faster it emerged from the bit chip and Kai got to see Dreamex for what it was; a midnight blue Leviathan.

It screeched at Kai, towering over him ferociously.

Kai felt his hand twitch by his side, he knew what Dreamex wanted to do and normally he would have resisted but he was too tired. He closed his eyes and wished he could just go to sleep and hopefully never wake up.

Dreamex screeched again, the sound echoing through the replica stadium like an eerie siren. Then, swiftly it lunged at Kai.

~ Bladebreakers ~

Rei had explained everything on their way back to Takao's house. This really was, as Max had put it, 'Looking for a needle in a haystack.'

"So we're back to stage one, huh?" Kenny sighed. This was hard but they couldn't give up just yet. The answer was just round the corner...hopefully

"Think guys, if you were Kai where would you go?" Max, who had tried to stay as optimistic as ever, tried to get the rest of the team to work on the problem.

"Beats me," Takao shrugged, it seemed he had given up on ever finding Kai.

"What if Boris got him?" Rei voiced his thoughts. "He hasn't called."

"Kai isn't the kind of person to call or ask for help," Kenny said matter- of-factly.

"So what do we do now?" Takao asked but he was answered only by silence.

~ Roskovi inc. ~

"Pitiful!" Mr Roskovi spat, "being with the Bladebreakers must have softened you."

Kai opened one dark red eye and surveyed the stadium before he opened the second eye.

"You're lucky we have a safety programme for emergencies so we can disable the bit chip by remote," Mr Roskovi growled, and raised his fists.

Kai looked at the threatening fist and then at Roskovi's angry eyes. He would argue but he could not be bothered.

"Weakling!" Roskovi yelled and finally brought his fist into Kai's stomach. "Lock him up and this one too!"

Kai doubled over in pain and sank to the ground and stayed there until the guards dragged him away

The two teenagers were thrown into the same old cell again and the door slammed shut on them. Ryo staggered to his feet and, with what little courage he had, crouched next to the slumped figure of his cellmate.

"H..hey, you, get up," Ryo shook the teenager gently, his voice was shaky and he felt awkward but he did his best to get a response. "K...Kai?" That's what that man had called him, wasn't it? Kai, the famous leader of the Bladebreakers.

"What?" Kai asked, opening one eye to glare at Ryo.

"A...are...you okay?"

"Oh yeah, just a few broken bones, fried insides, cuts, gashes, I might be bleeding internally and if so I could die but other than that fine; I couldn't be better," Kai said in a way that you could practically choke on the sarcasm.

"Trish wasn't lying?"

"No," Kai glared at Ryo.

Ryo said nothing, which was fine by Kai; his voice was too annoying to be heard and at least this meant that they wouldn't be insulting each other.

Settling himself against the stone he closed his eyes, sat back and waited for the morning

~ Crossroads Orphanage ~

"I don't know, Trish!" Kensuke moaned

"C'mon, Kensuke!" Trish pleaded, her brown eyes seemed to grow larger when she pleaded, giving her the perfect puppy-dog look. "Something's goin' on 'n' I know it! Kai wouldn't leave with Ryo!"

"So then what do you think happened?" Kensuke asked sceptically

Trish paused to think for a moment, her whole faced furrowed in concentration."...I dunno," she admitted. "Dat's why we're gonna find out! Here, let's start investigatin'!"

They began searching thoroughly. They even searched in the most unlikely places, poking at every crack they could find, scratching at hidden holes in the walls but they found nothing of any use.

"What exactly are we looking for anyway?" Kensuke asked after fifteen minutes of rummaging around the room for nothing in particular.

"I dunno," Trish blushed.

"Then why bother?"

"Kensuke!" Trish put her hands on her hips angrily. We gotta help in anyway we can!"

"We're not helping! We're wasting our time!" Kensuke argued.

"Fine! Go! I'll search by myself!" Trish kicked over the rubbish bin in her anger.

"Trish! Stop being a baby and clean that up!" Kensuke ordered.

Trish muttered things under her breath Kensuke was glad not to hear; hastily picking up the waste pieces of paper and throwing them back into the bin while throwing glares in the older boy's direction.

Her fingers closed around a piece of card and she opened it out of pure curiosity.

Her eyes bulged at her findings. "Kensuke! Look what I've found! Ryo wouldn't 'ave a card 'bout a board member; it's gotta be Kai! Dis means somethin', I know it!"

"Of course!" Kensuke snapped with fingers, it was as if a light bulb was flashing above his head. "That purple haired man wanted to see Kai, right? He probably wanted to take Kai away but Kai refused so he broke into the room and took both Ryo and Kai while they were sleeping!"

"Let's call der board! To Miss Berry's office!" Trish jumped up, her legs slightly apart; her arm outstretched pointing to the door in a dramatic pose of heroism.

"Err...are you feeling okay?"

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Mizu_Tenshi: Ryo said that in chapter four when Kai asked where he found the key. Well, hope you enjoyed that. Hold on, it will get better!

B Girl - Don't worry, no way will Ryo ever be better than Kai. Kai couldn't control Dreamex because he was tired out from his last battle.

Tenma Koneko - Well he will get better but not right now. Just a little more torture before the pay back comes.

evil-tala - Hey, you shouldn't be reading fanfics in school...well I do the same so I can't say anything. ^_^ Thanks for the reviewing.

CC Queen of the Damned - I'm no sure if I can get Tala into this fic since I didn't plan it when I started but he should be in 'I'm just a kid' Yes, I'm working on continuing I'm just a little stuck.

DragonBlade - Thanks, more Kai torture on the way! Thanks for your review.

maliks-dragon - Really? Wow, thanks and thanks for your support.

Syaoran-Lover - I'll try but it is angst so I might have to be a little cruel. Hopefully Kai getting back at Roskovi should even it out.

Squirrel or Shadows - Hey, killing Boris looks like fun! I gotta try that out one day! Glad you like the fic!

Demented Yami - Yeah though not as annoying as Ryo can be. Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Pyro Dranzer - Thanks a lot, appreciated and thanks for the review (Which are all appreciated). R&R!

MidnightMidlight - More action on it's way! Hopefully the Bladebreakers will have more scenes.

whisper*2*imaginary - Yeah, Ryo is an idiot and something nasty should happen to him. Thanks for your review!

Alkvingiel - Really? Oh, thanks, I'm honoured. Hope you enjoyed this chapter too.

heatherthegreatone - I never thought about the helmet that way but now that I think about it, it is like Star Wars. Glad you liked the chapter.

The Otherworlder - I know I don't update fast enough. I'm so ashamed of myself! It seems that Ryo is annoying everyone even me. Die Ryo!

anomynous - Yes, when they hit Dranzer Kai feels it because of the helmet. I'm not exactly sure how that works ^_^; but then again I'm not a criminal mastermind *Hides the anarchist's cook book*

Feona - Viola! An update! Thanks for reviewing R&R!

Identity Thief & Roofer_Gun - Yeah, Kai torture! I love Kai torture too! Thanks for reviewing!