Rei was beginning to get bored; Hillary had ranted non-stop all the way from their apartment, and much to his own disgust, Max was sympathising with her.
Then he smiled to himself; his little Maxie always did try to see the best in people.
"Rei, hurry up!" Hillary's annoying singsong voice invaded his ears like an infectious but unbearable catchy pop song; he just couldn't get away from it no matter how much he ignored her.
Kai had been right; this girl was definitely trouble.
Max bounding over to his side knocked him out of his brooding thoughts.
"Hey, look! Kai's following us." Rei craned his neck to see down the lane, his slit cat-like amber eyes turned to huge black and orange orbs, as light flooded his vision.
Kai could see them all clearly now. He hadn't bothered to run to catch them; he knew Rei shared his opinion of her and he would probably be distancing himself as much as possible.
Then his cold grey eyes settled on his target, his face became set hard as stone, and he purposefully altered his gait to a swift amble as he neared them.
Max began jumping around happily, as he saw Kai approach; he assumed their leader was going to apologise for being so mean.
He was sorely disappointed as he saw Kai directly approach Hillary, and without stopping to acknowledge her, he swung back his fist, and threw a brutal right hook with caught her upside the nose, knocking her to the floor.
Hillary gasped as she felt the punch connect; it was like needles of ice and fire at the same time, pummelling into her skin. She sat looking up at Kai with mixture of fear and defiance flashing in her bright hazel eyes.
"Don't waste your time looking at me like that." Kai's cold anger was audible in his voice. "You had that coming for a long time."
Rei silently applauded his leader, but in the back of his mind he knew this wouldn't go away with just a punch.
He was proved right by Hillary's answer.
"If you want Black Dranzer back, you'll have to take it from me."
Kai smiled cruelly, his voice was silky smooth as he answered; "I intend to."
He stepped forward and brandished Dranzer in its launcher in front of him. "Ready when you are."
Max was too shocked to say anything, so Rei stepped in to act as a ref. "THREE...TWO...ONE...LET IT RIP!"
A loud whirring noise slashed through the silence in the street as both blades were launched split seconds apart.
Hillary's landed first giving her chance to recover for her first attack. Black Dranzer surged forwards as Dranzer landed on the pavement.
"Dodge it Dranzer!" Kai yelled as he saw the black blade spin towards him. Dranzer spun in a wide arc, effortlessly avoiding Hillary's opening attack.
Now it was Kai's turn and he embarked on a ruthlessly brutal attack pattern.
Dranzer began to slow down, much to Hillary's surprise, and foolishly, she thought Kai was surrendering.
Then Dranzer stopped, balancing perfectly on its tip, and then it began to spin again, backwards!
Hillary gasped again as Dranzer picked up rotation speed at an alarming rate, in a matter of seconds the phoenix was no more than a blue blur to the naked eye.
In frustrated anger, she went on the attack again, struggling even with Black Dranzer's power in her hands, to keep up with Dranzer's speed.
Finally, Kai stopped dodging and let Dranzer spin stationary.
Hillary smirked and decided to let her secret weapon loose.
"Gallux, come to me!"
A pink light began to emerge from Black Dranzer.
Rei gasped in shock as he recognised Mariah's bit-beast.
Kai braced himself; he the powers of this bit-beast well, if he didn't keep focused it could use the air its self to literally slice him to pieces.
"Dranzer!" The phoenix responded to its master's call immediately, illuminating the street with its vibrant red glow.
At the same time, Hillary called out her own bit-beast, and Black Dranzer emerged, its great black wings shrouding half the street in darkness.
Kai watched in disgusted horror as it began to merge with Gallux.
The great wildcat protested loudly as its power was absorbed.
Rei bit back tears at the sight of his old teammate's bit-beast being abused like that.
Black Dranzer now had a dark pink mane, a second row of wings, also dark pink, and claws more razor sharp than ever before.
Kai stepped back slightly, determined not to be intimidated, but he couldn't help but wonder how on earth he could defeat the power of two bit- beasts.
Suddenly pain shot through his left arm, forcing him to drop the launcher. He was shocked as he realised that Hillary had launched a direct attack on him.
Probably payback for the punch! He thought grimly, but it was so worth it!
He looked down at his arm, which was bleeding just below the elbow, and he let the crimson liquid drip freely onto the pale grey pavement.
Then a familiar voice shot through his ears snapping him out of focus. Just as he turned to face the sound, Hillary let loose another slicing air attack, which he instinctively dodged, then his eyes widened in horror when he realised who the attack was now headed for.
"TYSON!"
The storm haired boy stopped abruptly when he saw Kai's horrified expression.
He was about to ask what was wrong, when his eyes widened in surprise as he felt something in the air move in front of him.
He froze in shock, then he felt himself lifted off his feet, and propelled backwards by an unseen force. All the while terrible freezing pain shot through every nerve in his body, and as he hit the ground some yards back from where he'd been standing, he instinctively curled into a ball to protect his head and stomach.
Hillary's own eyes widened when she realised what she'd done.
Kai, immediately raced to kneel at Tyson's side, cradling the boy in his arms, and pleading with his tormented mind not to let himself cry.
Tyson coughed weakly, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, where he'd bit his own tongue.
"Don't worry about me, you have to stop her Kai, you're the only one who can."
"I can't fight the power of two bit-beasts." Kai protested, becoming more desperate by the second as he looked down onto Tyson's battered face.
"Then use mine." Tyson replied, rummaging in his pocket for Dragoon.
"But I don't-" Kai was cut off mid sentence as Tyson's blade began to glow blue in his hand.
Suddenly, the glow flashed and Kai saw Dragoon race through the air towards Dranzer.
He watched, mesmerized, as the two bit-beasts appeared to dance, swirling through the air together and curling around each other as if locked in an embrace.
Then another flash emitted from them, and when the glare cleared Kai stood up to look at the new power Tyson had entrusted to him.
Dranzer's colour had changed to blue, his head was protected by Dragoon's armour, as was his chest, along his back ran a line of sharp spines, and his tail emitted flickering turquoise blue flames.
He walked back towards Hillary and faced her down.
"You'll pay for that!" He spat menacingly.
