Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Beyblade. -_-

Chapter 1

*Rei's Thoughts*

My name is Rei. I am more than 500 years old, and I am also a white tiger youkai. But I look like a 17-year-old. I like this body as it is young and energetic. Although, sometimes it attracts females to me, like Mariah for instance. I choose to stay in this body, because it is similar to my youkai form, and with only minor differences. I have been like this my whole life. I will tell you exactly what happened to me. I have never been normal. For you see, I am part white tiger. I can turn into one, and when I'm human, I have the senses and the instincts of a white tiger. My pointed ears are sharper than normal humans', and I have fangs. I used to live in a small village in China, and one day I read up on the history of my village.

That's when I found out that my village was cursed with the Curse of the White Tyger. It is said that all who live in the village for a century after the curse has been placed shall bear children partly white tiger. This curse was placed on my village a short time before I was born, and that is why I am part white tiger.

I had made some friends in my village, and they were four young people like me, Lee, Gary, Kevin, and Mariah. Mariah has pink hair and golden eyes, and whisker-like marks on her face. She has fangs like me. She keeps her hair in a ponytail at the back of her head, and has a bow that makes it look like she has cats' ears on top of her head. Mariah always wears pink. Kevin has green hair, and violet eyes. He's short in height, and has his hair in a ponytail sticking up in the air. His fringe hangs down over his left eye, and he also has fangs. Lee has black hair, and he keeps it long, hanging down his back. He has brown eyes, and fangs. Gary is taller than the rest of us, and wider too. He also has fangs.

I haven't described myself yet, have I, no I see I haven't. I have long black hair, and it is so long that when it's down I look like a girl. That's why I tie it up in a long strip of silk which is held by a red tie at each end. When I'm standing my hair is down past my knees. I have a long fringe, which is down to my chin. I wear a red silk bandana around my forehead with a yin-and-yang symbol on it. I have golden eyes, and whisker- like marks on my face, beneath my eyes. I wear baggy blue pants and a shirt of the same colour. Over that shirt I wear a white tunic lined with yellow which has a yin-and-yang symbol on the back. I wear a red belt to keep it in place. I also wear black shoes with no socks.

In my youkai form, I have long black hair, the same as in my human form, and I have dark markings on my face and my body. I still have my fangs and my eyes are still golden. I have three tails, all white with black stripes, and black tips. I have tiger vision, and instincts and senses. I am as fast as a white tiger, too. I have tigers' ears that stick up through my hair, and I can hear the tiniest sound. My eyes can see really well, and I can spot every little thing. My night vision is superb. I see through the night as if it were day.

I left the village after I got my bit-beast, Driger, and that's when all this trouble with the White Tigers started. For that is the name my former friends gave themselves when they became a team of beybladers. I left China and made my way to Japan. I had heard about the latest beyblade tournament, and I wanted to enter it and find a worthy opponent. Then I would have an honourable battle with him.

I entered the tournament and sat down in the locker room and waited until it was my turn to beyblade. The first four rounds were to determine who would proceed to the finals. I knew that my round would have me as the winner, so I wasn't too excited. In the first round some kid named Kenny was the last one with a beyblade in the dish after the returning champion, Kai, had launched his beyblade. The only reason that was, was because he had a spring on the bottom of his beyblade, and I knew that Kai would defeat him. Kai did, and then a kid named Max won the second round.

It was my turn then and I wiped out everyone's beyblades pretty soon after I'd launched Driger. While I was walking back to the locker room, I felt a pair of eyes staring at me, so I turned and glared at whoever was staring at me. It was a kid with blue hair, and I later knew him as Tyson. Tyson was up next, and he beat his opponents. Then after that it was the semi- finals. It was Max against Kai, and me against Tyson.

Max and Kai battled first and Max got his bit-beast Draciel in the third round of the battle. Kai won the match and was declared the winner. Then it was the battle between me and Tyson. We launched our beyblades, and his just spun in the center of the dish. Driger spun around the edges and I got bored of Tyson's little games. "Driger, Tiger Claw Attack, now!" I yelled and Driger went to attack Tyson's beyblade, Dragoon, as he called it. Driger hit its mark, and Dragoon went flying. I had won that round.

I started to walk away knowing that since Tyson's beyblade was destroyed by my Driger he wouldn't be able to battle anymore. And that made me the winner of the match. The kid was no match for me. He never had been. Then that kid, Kenny came out of the locker room, and he and Tyson went off to try and fix Dragoon. I was sitting in the locker room, when I was confronted by Mr. Dickinson, the chairman of the BBA. He convinced me to continue with the battle against Tyson, so I did. A short while later, it was the start of the second round. Tyson had somehow managed to fix his beyblade, and we launched our beyblades. Tyson's beyblade spun in the middle of the dish, and then something happened that I'd never expected.

Dragoon somehow caused a tornado in the stadium. I didn't care, though, because I knew Driger could handle anything. I yelled for Driger to come out of his beyblade, and he did. Driger easily slashed through the tornado, and appeared as a big green tiger. For Driger is the white tiger bit. I tried using my Tiger Claw Attack again, but somehow it just bounced off of Tyson's beyblade. I was surprised at this, but quickly got over it. Tyson's beyblade made another tornado, and his bit beast emerged from his beyblade. Then his beyblade hit mine and sent it flying right past my face, and because Driger is razor sharp, it cut my red silk bandana, directly above my right eye. I was shocked that some kid had managed to defeat me, Rei, the greatest beyblader in all of China.

Then I decided that I couldn't face Tyson again, at least not until I had gotten strong enough to defeat him. So I forfeited the match, so I could get stronger. Tyson had been a worthy opponent, and I was proud to have battled against him. I looked forward to the day when I would face him again, and little did I know it would be sooner than I expected. I went back to the locker room, and on my way there, I was stopped by Mr. Dickinson. He asked me if I'd really forfeited, and I told him that I had. I knew that he had wanted to make a team of beybladers, so I decided I wanted to be a part of that team. Mr. Dickinson was surprised by my request, but he knew I would be a worthy member of the team, so he accepted my offer. Tyson was up against Kai then. And by sheer luck Tyson won the match.

Later on I went off by myself, since I had a job. I did my work, and later that evening I was put to be the waiter of my team, who were now officially known as the Bladebreakers. Mr. Dickinson was with them, and none of them except him realised who their waiter was. When he did notice, though, I signalled for him not to let the others know, and see if they would realise who I was. He got my message and didn't say a word.

It wasn't until later when I spoke to Tyson, that he recognised me. He wondered what I was doing here, and I told him I work here on the weekends. Later on I sat down at the table with the rest of them, and Mr. Dickinson explained about the system the teams would have to follow in the world tournament. That's when Kai decided he'd had enough of the team, and left us. We were in Hong Kong, and Kai was wondering the streets all by himself.

Tyson didn't want to go looking for him, so I went off on my own, because I couldn't stand his whinging. Then I thought about how much of a cockhead Kai was being, and knew that if I found him I wouldn't be responsible for my own actions. I knew that my instincts would take over and I wouldn't know what I had done.