Mizu_Tenshi:

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

Disclaimer: I don't own this anime

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Chapter 8: Friends

Kai woke with his head spinning; he felt like he was experiencing a hang over except this hang over came with bruises, cuts, gashes and sore muscles.

In the corner Ryo was awake and had been watching him for some time, his eyes glowed in the darkness like cat's eyes and Kai was suddenly painfully reminded of his team mates.

The door opened again and Mr Roskovi entered bearing two trays of food. Kai's eyes widened with hope as he noticed that there were sandwiches on the plate and not liquidated 'gloop.'

"Rise and shine," Roskovi smiled, placing the trays in front of them. "I hope you're gotten a decent rest because it's time to train again."

"Don't we get breaks?" Kai complained.

"We?"

"Him too," Kai gestured to Ryo. He naturally assumed that they would both be undergoing torture.

"No, no, no, my dear boy, not him," Roskovi shook his head with a faint, bemused smile across his face. "No bit-beast means no power, I have discussed it with some of my higher ranking employees and it would be best to just dispose of him before there's any trouble."

"Dispose?" Ryo squeaked and then clamped his hands over his mouth.

"I don't think that's wise," Kai said

"And why not? He can't be a good blader if he doesn't have a bit-beast..or is there something you should be telling me?"

Kai looked at Ryo's terrified form hiding in the shadows and then at Mr Roskovi. They were going to kill Ryo unless he came up with something.

'Oh let the boy die! You know you want to!' a part of him hissed but another part said, 'no, you wouldn't sink to that level. That might be what Voltaire does but not you!'

"Yes," Kai lied. "At the orphanage we had a battle and he was using a bit beast against me."

"Yes?"

'He owes me big time for this, lousy conniving rat boy!' Kai thought fiercely.

"And...he...beat me .." There it was. It had been painfully hard to lie like that and he felt his pride sinking like the Titanic. "If he had a bit beast he would - "

"He beat you?" Roskovi narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"...Y..yes," Kai said through gritted teeth that didn't want the words to come out.

"...I see," Roskovi remained thoughtful for a minute and then said, "okay, I'll give you a try Ryo a try out with a less powerful bit beast than Dreamex." Roskovi got up to make the preparations.

"Kai..why did you..." Ryo began.

"Just shut up! You owe me one for lying like that!" Kai snapped.

"But why?"

"Hn! I don't care what that idiot Roskovi thinks of me, I know that I'm stronger than what he thinks," Kai said and took a large swig of water; something he had been dying to taste.

"Um...hey!" Ryo called apologetically. "You know, you can have my food, I'm not hungry."

Kai glared at Ryo but didn't accept or turn down his offer.

"I'm sorry," Ryo apologised meekly. "I've been really horrible, haven't I?"

"I'm used to it," Kai shrugged.

"Um..so what do you think is going to happen to us?"

Kai simply shrugged his response.

"Who are they anyway? The way that guy talks makes him seem as if he's known you for years. How does he know you?"

"...I'd...rather not talk about it." Kai said. Only his team knew about Voltaire and Boris and how he was raised in the abbey but even they did not know everything

That was when he remembered that they had not taken his bag.

Most of it had dried after the episode in the lake but the water had already done its damage.

He looked despondently at the photos. The protective plastic had managed to keep several of them in tact but some of the images were warped and tattered probably by the water.

However that did not perturb Ryo the least. He leaned forward to stare at the images of all the places Kai had been with his team.

"Oh wow! You really are a famous blader!" Ryo gasped, "you've led such an interesting life! It must be really cool to be you."

"It's over-rated," Kai grunted.

"Aww, come on! Your life can't be that bad. You're famous and you have your team, they must be great!"

Kai looked away from the photos as if they were portraits or painful times. "My team." he said softly and slowly. "When I first met my team I thought they were a bunch of idiots."

"What!?" Ryo cried disbelievingly.

Kai looked as though he was ashamed to think like that and muttered, "I gave them a pretty hard time, made them think I hated them and that I wanted nothing to do with them but I was just jealous."

"Jealous?"

"They were innocent, happy and pure. I was so resentful; it wasn't fair. Why could they feel? Why could they cry? Why could they be happy when I couldn't? I didn't want to talk to them. Just being near them made me feel empty. And that's how I became known as Kai, the anti-social ice lord."

Ryo nodded but Kai wasn't sure if he understood or was just accepting this as an issue beyond his comprehension.

"Well, I kind of know how you feel. My mom died and left me with my monster of a dad. It was a car accident," Ryo said in hopes of starting a conversation.

Kai looked at Ryo strangely. Why was he being so nice all of a sudden? Was it because he saved his life?

"You know what my dad said to me?" Ryo continued. "He said that the day my mom died, she was driving to stay with another guy. He said that she left him; left me. He said she didn't want me."

Ryo paused and waited for Kai's reaction but Kai remained impassive so he continued.

"Well, it's not true! Moms don't leave their kids like that! Maybe dads but not moms! They have instincts and hormones that prevent them from doing that sort of thing, right?"

Kai thought of Max's mother but didn't say anything.

"My dad died later from cancer. I wasn't surprised; he smoked and drank like there was no tomorrow! I wasn't sad to see him go either. I went to the nearest orphanage, which was Crossroads, of course," he turned to Kai. "So, what about you? How did you loose your parents?"

Kai turned away from Ryo's gaze and refused to open his mouth. He wasn't the talkative one much less when it himself and his private life were the topic.

Ryo must have interpreted it wrong because Ryo suddenly took a great deal of interest at the ground and muttered, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, there are worst things than death...that's easy enough to see," Kai muttered

"What could be worse than death?" Ryo asked

Kai rolled his eyes, "you don't want to know."

The door slid open once more and Mr Roskovi and the muscled man stood in the entrance with that all-knowing smile on his face that told you that he was up to something.

"Well, everything's ready, Ryo, come along now," he gestured.

Ryo looked at Kai as if waiting for permission to go.

Kai looked at Ryo piercingly and slipped him the communicator he had stolen in the sick bay. "Put it in your ear," was all Kai said before Ryo got up and walked shakily over to the cell door.

"This is Mr Simons, Ryo," Roskovi introduced the intimidating man. "He will be assessing your performance."

"Let's go," Mr Simons grunted and dragged Ryo away.

~ Stadium ~

Ryo was brought into the replica stadium again. He looked around in awe; it would take forever for him to get used to standing here.

"Well, runt, since Dreamex didn't respond well to you we'll try a common bit beast, shall we?" Mr Simons was digging through a bag with his back turned to Ryo so Ryo used this opportunity to put the thing Kai had given him into his ear.

The man turned round just as Ryo had secured it in place. He had a white blade in his hand with what looked like a picture of a horse on the bit chip. "This is Saris, you will use it."

"What do you want me to do?" Ryo asked nervously.

"Eat it," Mr Simons said sarcastically, "go and show us your skill."

Ryo gulped and walked to the edge of the dish hoping against all hope that this would not turn out to be a repeat of the last time he had fought here.

The panel opened and five all too familiar blades came out.

"Ryo, can you hear me?" Kai's expressionless monotone whispered directly in his ear that Ryo almost yelled out in shock.

"I hear you," Ryo whispered once he had gotten over the initial shock of hearing Kai's voice in his ear.

"What kind of blade do you have and what are you against?" Kai demanded to know.

"Well, my bit beast is called Saris, it looks like a horse," Ryo replied. "It's the same size as your Dranzer and I'm up against five black blades."

"Okay," Kai nodded.

"Wait! What do I do?" Ryo panicked

"Don't linger! Blade!" Mr Simons yelled impatiently

Ryo ignored Mr Simons and listened to Kai breathing down the communicator. He had always thought he knew everything about the sport but being here made him realise how little he knew. He *needed* Kai to help him or else he was as good as dead.

"You trust me, that's what," Kai's voice eventually said.

Ryo nodded and launched the beyblade into the dish. The white blade instantly began dodging the attacks from the black blades.

"No matter what anyone says the basis of blading is strategy." Kai explained.

It was kind of cool to hear Kai talk to him and watch the white blade fight the black ones at the same time. Kind of like those anime shows.

"If you have good strategy and a fairly decent blade you can win these kind of battles," Kai continued.

"Are you sure?" Ryo asked, though that was a waste of words. Of course he was sure.

"Whose the captain of the world champion team?" Kai pointed out.

"You."

"Exactly, so shut up and listen!" Kai snapped. "Single out a blade and attack, don't call your bit beast unless it is absolutely necessary."

Ryo nodded to himself and obeyed Kai's words. He tried to send Saris at a blade but there were five of them and one of him and they were very evasive.

"They keep dodging!" Ryo cried frantically.

"Tell me what they're doing! Don't leave out the slightest detail and, whatever you do, follow my instruction exactly."

"Okay," Ryo complied.

The weakness in the five blades was that they followed the same strategy all the time and so it was easy to time attacks and knock them out.

Ryo smiled proudly as the last blade rolled to a stop.

"Five blade in ten minutes, not too shabby," Mr Simons murmured his approval. "I'll report this to Mr Roskovi but first you will go back to your cell."

Ryo hardly felt himself being dragged back. He felt dizzy with excitement at what he had just done.

'You would have been toast without Kai,' a more modest side of him said, 'you managed to scrape a victory but next time you may not be so lucky.'

~ Crossroads Orphanage ~

Trish hung up the phone in Miss Berry's office. "I've told da board 'bout Kai 'n' Mr Roskovi. They're goin' ta search Roskovi inc. now," she informed Kensuke.

"Good, now let's get out of here before we're caught!" Kensuke said slightly panicky.

"Oh, yer such a goody-goody," Trish pulled a face.

"Let's go!" Kensuke urged her to come with him.

"Okay!" Trish huffed, "Dis room was makin' me dizzy anyway."

~ Roskovi inc. ~

"Yes, feel free to drop round anytime," Mr Roskovi said to whoever was on the other end of the phone line. "I look forward to it and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised...thank you, good day.

Mr Roskovi put down the phone looking slightly peeved, however he grunted it off and returned to his paper work.

"Sir?" The muscled man that had accompanied Boris looked at his employer questioningly.

"Simons, isn't it?" Roskovi asked.

"That's right, sir. Keith Simons."

"Mr Simons," Roskovi said not looking up from a pile of paper work he was sorting. "Someone has tipped off the BBA that I am holding children here. I want you to contact Boris again, tell him I have another job for him. I want him to take Kai and the other one...Ryo...to Biovolt until the BBA have finished their search."

"Yes sir, right away sir," Mr Simons saluted.

"Oh, and one more thing," Mr Roskovi called him back. "I want Dreamex but away somewhere safe too."

"I'll make sure Boris takes good care of it," Mr Simons reassured his employer.

"Yes, but I don't want Voltaire to find out. Make sure Boris doesn't try to double cross me."

~ Cell ~

Kai was listening rather wearily to Ryo brag about his battle.

"It was so cool!" Ryo exclaimed. "It was like one of those anime shows! We have so got to do that again sometime! Where did you get that communicator - "

"Hey, runts!" The door swung open with a deafening creak and Mr Simons strode in with a gun in hand. "Come along," he ordered, waving his gun in the direction of the exit.

"Where are we going?" Ryo asked

"Away," was all Mr Simons divulged.

The pair got up obediently and walked down the hallways to the lift that would take them to the higher and more innocent parts of the company.

"We're leaving Roskovi inc.?" Kai guessed accurately.

"That's right," Mr Simons explained, "I'm meant to hide you away while the BBA inspect the building."

They walked the rest of the way in silence until they reached the outside.

It seemed like years since they had seen natural light and it took a while for their eyes to adjust but when they did they both saw...

"It's that purple haired man!" Ryo gasped

"Boris," Kai growled.

"Miss me?" Boris smirked, leaning haughtily against a Benz.

Mr Simons brought out some rope and Kai and Ryo both allowed their hands to be bound and pushed into the car.

Kai glared up at Mr Simons just as a suspicious suitcase was handed to Boris along with a glare and a threat.

Boris glared back and whispered his reply before getting into the car.

"Well Kai," Boris smirked, adjusting the mirror so that he could Kai glare at him from the back seat. "I was going to take you to Biovolt Voltaire doesn't seem to have forgiven you yet so we'll be stopping somewhere else for the night."

'Yeah, like I care,' Kai rolled his eyes.

Ryo looked at Kai uncertainly, hoping to get some advice but Kai was staring out the window as if he had been through this ordeal a thousand times before.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he has," Ryo muttered under his breath.

~ Bladebreakers ~

"This is hard!" Takao moaned.

"Who said it was going to be easy?" Rei muttered.

"Hey, why don't we go to the orphanage again?" Kenny suggested, adjusting hid glasses. "Maybe that girl you met knows something else."

"I doubt it," Rei muttered but seeing the expressions on his team mates he added, "but we can try."

~ In the car ~

Time dragged along lethargically but it was late afternoon when the Benz pulled to a stop outside a pretty ugly building.

"This is where you'll be staying," Boris informed them and then pushed them inside.

It was a basic fully furnished apartment, it looked pretty decent if you ignored the dust and cobwebs that resided in every nook and cranny of the apartment.

They stepped into the dusty front room, which had a kitchen to the left, a bedroom to the right and a bathroom straight ahead.

Kai looked around with approval; he was expecting a rotting, dilapidated warehouse.

They were lead into the kitchen and forced to sit on the floorboards where Boris towered over them.

"Listen, I'll allow you to get up only for bathroom breaks and when it's time to eat other then that you sit down and shut up. No talking!"

"Can't we sit somewhere that has carpet?" Ryo asked.

"No, because I'm going to go and take a break," Boris retorted and left for the bedroom.

"Yeah, like he needs it," Ryo muttered.

'I can't believe people still use rope in this day and age,' Kai smirked as he stood up, 'and he left us in the kitchen of all places! It's times like these you learn to appreciate the stupidity of some people.'

"Hey, what are you doing?" Ryo asked, alarmed.

Kai chose not to answer that question, instead he rather awkwardly opened several drawers with his bound hands until he found where the cutlery was stored.

Bending down slightly he fumbled around trying not to make too much noise until he got his fingers around the sharpest knife he could find, which was not very sharp, and began to cut through the rope.

Kai did this in silence and Ryo watched anxiously, listening for the sound of Boris returning.

"Are you done yet?" Ryo asked anxiously after what seemed like an hour.

"Nearly," Kai grunted at the same time Boris decided to walk in.

"Hey what are you doing?" Boris growled.

Ryo jumped to his feet in shock and made up the first pathetic excuse he could think of, "time to eat!" he lied.

"Listen, brat, you eat when I say you eat and - " He stopped when Kai suddenly stood up, the rope falling to the floor.

Boris took one look at the rope and then he lunged for Kai.

The sound of what Ryo thought was a gong caused Ryo to closed his eyes, wincing at the sound that nearly burst his eardrums.

"I thought my arm would have healed by now but it looks like it'll take a while," Ryo heard Kai mutter once the sound faded.

Ryo opened his eyes to see Kai shouldering a frying pan and looking particularly pleased with himself.

"Kai!" Ryo gasped.

"The one and only," Kai smirked in response.

Ryo nodded his thanks as Kai untied his bound hands.

"Time to go home!"

"Just one thing," Kai's voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

Ryo watched Kai disappear into the other room, when he returned he had something painfully familiar in his hands.

"That's - "

"Dreamex," Kai finished the sentence for Ryo, prying off the bit chip he dropped it on the floor, brought his foot down and crushed it in one ruthless action.

A horrible screech was emitted from underneath and the leviathan shot into the air like an angry ghost. Ryo quivered at the haunting sound and did not dare to speak until both Dreamex and the sound had faded away.

"You just destroyed it!" Ryo hissed accusingly.

"That was my intention," Kai shrugged. "My only regret is that Roskovi wasn't here to see it."

"Is it gone for good?"

"Hopefully," Kai shrugged again.

"Then we can go now?" Ryo looked at Kai optimistically.

Yeah, let's go," Kai nodded.

As they left he dropped the blade that once held Dreamex on the floor on the street. It fell with a small clang and rolled to a gentle stop. Maybe one day some passing kid will pick it up and turn it into what all beyblades should be.

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Mizu_Tenshi:

Identity Thief - Thanks. Well I guess Ryo and Kai are patching things up. Must be Ryo's guilty conscience

Feona - Thanks, glad you like my story.

anomynous - Yes and we kill him for that! Not really, he's not dead but still..anyway, thanks for the review.

Tewks - Yay! Hope you liked the chapter.

Syoaran lover - Wow thank you so much! Heh, he showed that Roskovi guy!

kai baby-girl - That's okay. Hope you had a good holiday 'cause it's back to school! Glad you like the chapters though.

Krixel - Thanks, glad you like it so much.

The Otherworlder - I know I am evil. Poor Kai, I'll go easy on him..later. Well he's managed to escape so yay!

whsiper*2*imaginary - A poor Ryo...wait poor Ryo? That's not right. Well he did try to make up but still. Thanks for reviewing! R&R!

DragonBlade - They will. Kai's escaped yay! And Ryo too...not so yay! Well thanks for reviewing.

SquirrelOfShadows - Is he dead? Oh well, you can always raise him from the dead and then kill him again.

Tenma Koneko - Okay so it wasn't much of a payback but it was something. Glad you like the fic. I dunno why I thought of a leviathan.

Karen - Well, since Kai was brought up in the abbey so he has connections with these evil people and plus he has experience stealing bit beats which is what Roskovi wanted him for. The team only broke up for Christmas and was supposed to get back together as soon as the next tourney starts but Roskovi got in the way of that. Hope that cleared things up for you.