My Observance for the Day: My name sounds multi-gender. For clarification, I'm a girl. *ahem* (cough) a TEENAGE pre-woman of 17.

Authors Note/Story Synopsis: I've been with FanFiction.net for a while, but this is my first Beyblade fic, so please be kind: I've only watched a few episodes. I got sick of trying to look for a good Mariah/Ray story. If you haven't already noticed, I like the spelling of Ray better than Rei because I am an American. However, I want to make this story resemble the T.V. characters/setting as closely as possible. No cheerleading/gay/dumb high school kids (I should know: I am one!). Also included is a small plot and another love triangle between Kenny/Emily/Max. I favor one of these pairings. This story takes place in my imaginary European Tournament.

Disclaimer: Any misspellings, confused references or mixed up teammates are purely accidental and are a result of the authors new innocent fascination with the world of beyblading. Believe you me though, this author did quite a bit of research before starting.

Italics are thoughts.

Bold Letters are songs.

*SecretQuill*: There's so many freakin' Kai stories! And so many slashes between you and Kai! That's just wrong.

*Ray*: Yeah. Poor Me. Can we get on with this story already?

*Kai*: What's wrong with me?

*SecretQuill*: Actually, nothing. I don't mind the mysterious type-that's why I LOVE Seto Kaiba.

*Kai*: I'm not mysterious.

*Ray*: Who's Seto Kaiba?

*SecretQuill*: Yu-Gi-Oh? Oh, never mind. Great talent/looks Kai, but awfully poor personality. You need to set your priorities straight!

*Kai*: I'll make a note of that…next summer.

*SecretQuill*: (~sigh~) Poor devilishly handsome Ray!

*Ray*: STORY BREAK! STORY BREAK!

WATCH THIS!

Chapter 1: Sabotage

"What a doozy!" Max rubbed his head as he stepped off the local city bus.

"Crazy European drivers," Tyson stumbled off, grabbing the side railing for support.

"Tyson, that bus needs to leave," Kenny rubbed moisture off his glasses.

"Yeah, well good riddance. We're walking next time."

"No, you don't understand," Kenny shook his head, "You need to move your hand."

"Ooops!" Tyson straightened and waved merrily at the driver, who happened to be cussing as them in French.

"Quit fooling around," Kai snapped from the sidewalk, calmly folding two arms across his chest, "We're never going to enter this tournament if you keep dawdling."

"Huh? Dawdling?" Tyson looked confused.

"It's procrastinat-oh forget it." Ray finished quickly.

"So…." Max spun around, "Where is this thing?"

"Over there." Ray pointed to an immensely large park across the street where several people were already gathered.

"Are you sure?" Kenny squinted, "I don't see any arenas or other bey-"

"Hey look! There's Emily and mom! It's the All-Stars!" Max jumped excitedly pointing to a few familiar faces in the crowd.

"C'mon Kenny! See? There's the booth to sign up-the big one right in the middle." Tyson began to cross.

Everyone followed, except for Kai.

Ray turned,

"Aren't you coming Kai?"

"Get out here slowpoke!" Tyson called, "We're gonna miss the action!"

Kai shook his head,

"This isn't Bladebreaker material. We can do better than this."

"Where?" Max asked. "I don't know about any other tournaments."

"On the contrary, Kai, the BBA has invested more time and money into this event than the Russian tournament," Dizzi, Kenny's digital computer bit-beast replied.

"Yes! What she said. Now come on already!" Tyson whined.

Kai scowled, but walked reluctantly toward the competition grounds.

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"Where'd Dr. Judy go?" Eddy asked.

"A hotel. I'd rather not sleep on wet grass. And Michael's checking out competition."

"I can help the next person over here!"

"Great!" Emily dragged Eddy over to the English gentleman.

"Why would--"

"Shhh!" Emily turned her full attention to the registrar, "I'd like to sign up the All-Stars please."

"Emily! This grass isn't wet!"

"It's supposed to rain tonight."

"I don't think we're staying here anyway-there aren't any arenas."

"That's why Judy went to look for a hotel to stay in."

"Excuse me, Madam, could you tell me the name of your team one more time?" The registrar asked hesitantly.

"The All-Stars. Is there a problem?"

"I think-"

"Excuse me," Mariah Mynx from the White Tigers appeared out of nowhere and pushed Emily aside rudely, "The White Tigers need to be signed up."

"We were here first! You'll have to wait your turn!" Emily snapped.

"Well, you're done now. So, logically, it's my turn," Mariah smirked.

"We haven't gotten anything yet, you twit!" Emily clenched and unclenched her fists in anger.

"Ma'am?" The English gentleman was talking to Emily.

She momentarily forgot the little pink brat and turned around,

"Yes?"

"I'm afraid there's no record for the "All-Stars". You'll have to sign up over there."

He pointed to the 'Beginners' table. Mariah laughed. Emily gasped and grabbed the registrar's arm,

"But…there has to be a mistake-we're not some ordinary team-we've competed in the best tournaments!"

"I'm terribly sorry miss. I do know all about the All-Stars. I'm afraid, though, until we can recover and confirm your previous records, this is the best I have to offer."

Mariah stuck out her tongue and turned Emily around forcefully toward the Beginner's table,

"Confused? That's your destination."

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"Can this line GO ANY SLOWER!?" Tyson jumped up, struggling to see over the crowed.

"Tyson, quit yelling!" Kenny pleaded. "We're almost there."

"Give me your eyes, Chief!" Tyson picked Kenny up and placed him on his shoulders.

Kenny turned blue quickly and rolled around uncertainly,

"Tyson, I'm terribly afraid of heights."

Tyson ignored his comment and yelled very loudly,

"WHAT DO YOU SEE CHIEF?"

Kenny looked around carefully, then yelled back,

"PEOPLE!"

Tyson plopped Kenny back on the ground and stood with his arms apart, smiling,

"Great."

After a few minutes, he proceeded to jump up and down again.

"Look! It's the White Tigers, and there's the Majestics and hey look! Even the Demolition Boys have joined the crowd!"

"Over there guys!" Max narrowed his eyes, "What are the All-Stars doing at the Beginners table?"

"And there's the Bladehunters and-huh?" Tyson's foot slid on a rock and he landed on his back.

Kai turned, "Beginners table?"

"What are they doing over there?" Ray wondered.

"Let's go check it out," Tyson suggested.

"But we'll lose our place in line…and you know how long it's taken to get here!" Kenny whined.

"Okay," Ray turned, "You stay in line and we'll go check it out. Coming Kai?"

Kai grunted and proceeded to face forward.

"Okay then," Ray grinned, "See you later!"

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"Each city marked here are competition round offs. Teams will compete through either East Europe or West Europe until they reach the final competition in Egypt. Skilled teams start three days earlier, providing a better chance of making the finals. The losers of that round will then face off beginning teams, creating yet another opportunity to stay in the game. All expenses for travel will be provided by the BBA. If you do not reach a round off in the required time, you will be disqualified. Here are your maps, tickets and your orange pass, which will allow you to take the three-day start. Good luck!"

"Thanks!" Mariah smiled happily. No stupid All-Star twerp for three whole days! I'm in heaven! No thanks to Kevin that is.

Mariah began to walk around and found Kenny and Kai from the Bladebreakers a little further down the line.

Where's the rest of their team?

"Mariah! Have you signed up yet?"

"Huh?" Mariah turned to see Lee and Kevin coming toward her.

"Where's Gary?" she asked.

"Have you signed up?" Lee repeated.

Of course he has to be straightforward.

"Yes, I have. Now where's Gary?"

"Where do you think?" Kevin grinned, pointing to the food stalls, "Eating."

"Look, here's the info," Mariah shoved all the papers into Lee's hands, "Maps, tickets and this orange thingy."

"What's this for?" Lee frowned.

"A pass. As a 'skilled' team, we get a three day start."

"Hey! Lee, Mariah, Kevin! Over here!" Kenny waved from the line.

"What in the world…" Kevin began curiously.

"Yeah?" Lee walked forward, "You called?"

"Have you signed up already?" Kenny asked.

"Right here," Lee held up the papers.

"How long is the rest of this line?" Kenny asked.

"You should be there soon," said Mariah.

"Where're the rest of your teammates?" Lee looked around.

"Over there," Kai gestured toward the Beginners table, "The All-Stars are signing up."

"Why are the All-Stars signing up at the Beginners table?" Kevin pondered aloud.

"That's what we wondered. And that's where you'll find Tyson, Max and Ray."

"Lets go take a look," said Lee.

No, no, no, no, no. If they find out it was me……Lee's not gonna like this.

"Oh! We don't have to do that! We'll just ask the Bladebreakers later," Mariah grinned cheekily, hoping her innocent act would work.

"Don't be stupid, Mariah. C'mon," Lee grabbed her arm.

NOOOOOO! My life is rotting away as I know it!

"I really think this'll be a waste of time," Mariah suggested again.

"Compared to what?" Kevin asked grumpily.

Michael had joined them by now. Emily, red faced and holding a bunch of blue papers, was explaining their situation.

"What's going on?" Lee stepped forward into the conversation, "You shouldn't be over here."

Mariah decided it was best if she said nothing.

"Our records are gone from the database somehow," Eddy explained, "We have to start as beginners until it's recovered."

"Wonder how that happened?" Kevin asked, half-sarcastically and half-annoyed.

Don't you dare say anything, Kevin. I'll rip your green hair out.

"Come to gloat again?" Emily snapped at Mariah.

Time to act dumb.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mariah turned away.

Kevin stood nervously next to her, wringing his hands.

He wouldn't dare tell. Would he?

Just to make sure, she stomped quickly on his foot. His eyes went wide with pain. She glared at him from the corner of her eyes. He looked down ashamedly at the ground.

Max was saying,

"Who would do such a thing?"

"Someone who hated us very much," Emily glared at Mariah with contempt.

Mariah faked surprise.

"No beyblader here has access to your records though. How could they erase everything?" Tyson asked.

Ray had been silent for quite a while. He took a quick breath as if thinking to himself and then said quietly,

"Maybe……maybe…No, it's stupid."

"What?" Emily turned, "What's stupid?"

"Nothing, really," Ray shrugged, "Just an idea."

No! Mariah thought nervously, He couldn't figure it out, could he?

"Well, stupid or not, I want to hear," Emily seemed almost anxious.

"Well, someone really smart could probably figure out the password and file programming to hack into the system through a computer. The sabotage required could cost a team the entire tournament," Ray figured, "It's possible they didn't delete everything out of the main system, so maybe the BBA could still figure out how to recover everything."

Kevin began shaking quietly again. Mariah stared. I'm doomed. That's exactly what Kevin did. Everyone else gaped.

"How do you know all that?" Michael asked.

"Well," Ray smiled a bit, "When you're around Kenny so often…"

Max laughed.

"But he couldn't have told you all that," Michael began suspiciously, "And you are competition…"

Ray stopped smiling,

"Do you think I actually did it?"

"It's not entirely impossible," Michael snapped.

"Well, I didn't." Ray snapped back.

"Kenny is smart…" Emily began putting two and two together in her bright honey head of hair, "We really can't rule out the possibility that any of you did it."

"We've been scanning the grounds," Lee justified, "We can't have done it."

"We don't know that." Michael replied.

"And Mariah was with Eddy and I when we registered…" Emily said bitterly.

"You were?" Lee asked, surprised.

"We had to get registered too, you know," Mariah snapped.

"Look, no ones going to confess even if they might have done it. I think it was just an honest mistake," Tyson offered.

Kevin began swaying nervously.

Max had been watching Kevin's quick movements for a long time,

"Kevin, are you all right?"

Mariah turned quickly.

NO! He WOULDN'T sell her short……

Kevin stopped swaying and stood nervously.

"Kevin?" Emily narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "What's wrong with you?"

"I did it!" Kevin suddenly blurted out.

Lee spun around, shocked. Everyone gasped. Mariah stood nervously now.

Kevin continued, quickly,

"I did exactly what Ray said I did. I hacked into the system through a computer and erased the files, but I didn't want to do it, honestly, I didn't. Mariah forced me to. It's all her fault!"

"KEVIN!" Mariah screamed suddenly, "You little snitch!"

"I KNEW it!" Emily pointed accusingly at Mariah triumphantly.

Mariah suddenly slapped Emily. Lee grabbed her hand and pulled her back forcefully. Michael helped Emily up while Mariah hissed bitterly,

"I don't regret it either. You don't deserve to be in this competition."

"Mariah! That's enough!" Lee managed angrily, "We might get disqualified now because of you two!"

Kevin looked down, a bit ashamed. Mariah turned a tinge of pink and stared at the ground. All she'd wanted was to get ahead of the All-Stars and everything and everyone was now blowing up in her face.

Lee pushed her forward, ready to leave,

"Let's go find Gary."

The All-Stars weren't done complaining though.

Michael grabbed Lee,

"Hold it tiger breath. We still need our records. What are you gonna do about that?"

Lee grabbed Michael's hand off his shoulder and forced it back at his opponents side,

"You'll get your files, I promise. Leave me to my own team and I'll leave you to yours. This is no longer your argument."

"Lee…" Ray began.

"Stay out of this Ray."

Lee walked away quickly.

"Well," Max tried to look happy, "Look at the bright side: Now you don't have to start as beginners."

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Final Note: What do you think? The bladers might seem just a bit out of character in this one, but that's just because there's a lot of tension and rivalries. I don't think Mariah and Emily are out of character-they hate each other with a passion. But if you have any useful advice, I'm all ears. BTW, the whole "WHAT DO YOU SEE?" "PEOPLE!" part is based on a real life event. Poor little 3 foot 15-year-old boy! Review me people!