Hi everyone. I'm sorry for how long this took to get out, but I did get it! The next one should hopefully be out quicker, since I'll be back at school, and that's where I do my quickest writing. ^_^ Strange, isnt it?

I had a heap of reviews for the last chapter, plus some nice people even gave me reviews for the Author's note I added after, so I'll answer them at the end.

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone you recognise, but I do own the Royals.

Chapter 8

"Sir, your guests have arrived. Would you like me to show them in?" a servant asked Benjamin. The boy nodded, not taking his eyes off his work.

"Yes, show them in. And prepare my sitting room. I will see them there," he commanded.

The servant nodded, bowed and went to leave, but Benjamin called to him. "Also, see that they are fed when they get here. And I want to speak to the Demolition Boy, Tala, before I meet with the others."

"Very good, Sir." The servant replied. "What should I tell them?"

Ben frowned. "Don't tell them anything," he said. "If they have figured out why they are here, you may confirm their suspicions, but don't tell them anything. Do you understand?" there was a hard tone in his voice, one that broke no argument and promised punishment for disobedience.

"Yes Sir."

"Good. Now leave me alone. I will meet with Tala in half an hour."

"Yes Sir," the servant bowed again, and left.

Only once the man had left, and Benjamin was alone again did he move.

Ben stood from his desk, leaving his work unfinished on the polished wood surface, and walked over to a bookcase, withdrawing a thick, leather-bound text, and going back to his desk with it. He opened it, and turned three pages, one at a time. Then he set the book down on his desk.

The book was old, a family heirloom passed down to him from his Uncle. It was a hollowed hiding space, disguised as a book to keep prying eyes away. The ritual of turning three pages separately was something else his Uncle had passed down, as a way to open the book. Ben didn't actually know if the book would reveal it's secrets without this ritual, but it was tradition, and he was brought up to follow tradition.

Inside the now hollow book lay a single object: a beyblade. It wasn't his; his was kept on his body at all times for protection. No, this blade currently belonged to no one, but it might just be the tool he needed to persuade Tala to help him in his plans.

Ben's hatred for Tyson ran deep, nearly as deep as his hatred for Andre, and he had only known the blue-haired boy for a number of days. Tyson, it seemed, had a way of getting on everybody's nerves. It was reputed that Tyson had nearly been killed numerous times by none other than his own teammates.

Also inside, lying next to where the blade lay, lay a ring. A simple golden band, adorned with a small blue diamond. He had picked it out himself, when he had first learned of Teresa's predicament. Now, he was waiting on the right time to use it. But first he needed the throne secure.

Ben closed his eyes, trying to rid himself of unpleasant memories. He had work to do.

Gathering the blade, he placed it in a white silk pouch, similar to ones noble women had used, a hundred years ago, and tied it his belt. He was wearing a blue shirt, and black trousers, with a dark cloak that hung from his shoulders. The cloak covered the white pouch, effectively hiding it from view. He knew the outfit he was wearing was not something he would normally wear to greet guests, but he didn't want to make these people feel at home today. He wanted to intimidate them, and with this outfit he knew he could.

Smirking to himself, Ben replaced the hollow book in its place on the shelf, and went to his safe in the wall. Inside that was another beyblade – Tyson's. He had taken it from the boy while he sleep, to ensure that he didn't try to use the famous Dragoon to escape. He wouldn't have put it past him.

Sighing, Ben strode out of his study, into the hall, where his guests would soon be arriving.

"The Master wishes to speak to you."

They were the first words the BladeBreakers, Lee and Tala heard when they stepped off the plane in the Royals' private airport.

"Why?" Lee asked. The servant just looked at him.

"I am not at a liberty to say," he said shortly. "Which of you is named Tala?"

Tala glared at the servant. "I am. Why?"

"The Master wishes to speak to you first, privately. He told me he has something of great value to offer you," he explained.

Tala paused. "Fine," he said, after a minute. "I'll meet your so-called 'master'," the sneer in his voice as he spoke the last word was clear to all.

The servant, however, seemed nonplussed by Tala's rudeness. "Very good Sir," he said calmly. "If you'll all follow me…"

The group did as requested, following the servant through a number of spectacular gardens, each having a different theme, and filled with different ornaments. One, Ray noted, with filled with oriental style plants, with the walkways and borders imitating a Japanese temple entrance. Strangely, this part of the garden was fenced off, so you could see the beauty inside, but couldn't enter.

The servant must have noticed Ray's curiosity in the Japanese Garden, because he stopped the group.

"The Japanese Garden was sealed off by Master Benjamin some years ago. The only ones allowed inside are the gardeners who care for the gardens."

"Why was the Japanese Garden sealed off?" Max asked. The servant gave the BladeBreaker a hard look, but answered anyway.

"The Japanese Garden was sealed off because it was Master Andre's favourite. After Master Andre's disappearance, it has been forbidden for anyone to enter."

Lee and Kai exchanged secretive glances at the servant's words, but neither said anything. Ray frowned as he noticed, wondering just what was going on.

After a few more minutes walking through the gardens, which also included an Australian garden and an African garden, the group finally arrived at the main house.

The servant led them through a set of large oak doors and into a foyer. Ray could hear Max's intake of breath. He could understand how the blonde boy felt. The foyer was a large, airy room that was practically lined in marble. White marble lined the walls and a dark grey marble surface shone beneath their feet. Large portraits hung around the foyer at regular intervals. Most of them showed four males, one older and three younger.

"Who are they?" Max asked, pointing at one of the portraits.

The servant paused. "That portrait was completed soon before His Majesty passed away."

"Oh," Max said softly. "I'm sorry."

"Do not be, young sir," the servant said, as he gazed at the portrait, seemingly lost in his own world. "You could not have known, and His Majesty, King Adrian, would not have wanted to be remembered with sorrow."

"Are they his sons?" Kai asked, looking at the picture too. A gilded frame cased a man sitting in a throne, with three boys around him, the tallest standing behind the chair, while the other two stood on either side. The two on the sides were identical, and obviously the twins, Daniel and Christopher. Kai guessed that the other son was Benjamin.

"Yes."

"But…" Lee said carefully, "there's only three. Had Andre disappeared by that time?"

"Yes, he had," came a new voice, one that was slightly familiar to Lee and Ray. In a doorway leading into the foyer stood a boy with golden brown hair with streaks running through it.

"You!" Ray said, recognising him. "You're the one who gave Lee his ticket!"

"No, actually that was my brother, Chris. I'm Daniel," the boy said with a large smile. "You're Ray of the Bladebreakers, aren't you?" at Ray's nod, he continued, "and you're Kai and Kenny and Max," he said, nodding to each in turn. "Then that means you must be Lee, from the White Tigers." Lee nodded. " I have a picture of Andre, if you want to see it. Most people do, for some reason, but Ben had all of the portraits with Andre in them removed," Daniel explained

"Can we see one?" Lee questioned.

Ray noticed that Daniel didn't say anything to Tala, which only heightened his mistrust of the entire situation.

"Mr Tala?" the servant asked, gaining the attention of everyone, as he came out of a room they hadn't seen him go into, and shut the door behind him. Tala raised an eyebrow in response. "Master Benjamin will see you now."

Tala nodded, and followed the servant into a room that was just off of the foyer. The others watched him go in silence, before Daniel spoke again.

"So…what do you guys want to do?"

"Can we see Tyson?" Max asked.

"Sure. I can show you the picture on the way, if you like."

Ben was again sitting behind his desk when there was a knock on the door.

"Enter," he ordered, looking up. As expected, Tala walked in, while the servant bowed and closed the door behind him. Ben stood up, walking over to where Tala was standing, in the middle of the room, a small, strange smile on his face.

"Tala," Ben began in greeting. "I was wondering when you would get here. Sit down, and we'll talk."

"I'll stand," Tala replied shortly, doing so. The smile never left Ben's face as he nodded, and then sat back down himself, behind his desk."

"And how are you? I haven't heard much from you, or even about you since the - Abbey, was it? - was destroyed. Is your friend Ian out of the hospital yet?" the smile turned into a full - blown smirk.

Tala clenched his hands into fists, determined to stay calm. "Ian died in the hospital. His injuries were too severe."

"Oh, that's too bad. And what of your other friends? How are they coping?"

"Just tell me what I came here for, and stop with your idle chit-chat, Ben," Tala ground out. "I don't want any of your condolences, or advice."

"Well, if that's the way you want it," Ben leaned forward, resting his chin on his arms. "You and I have common ground, Tala. We both want to destroy the Bladebreakers."

"And exactly how do you intend to do that? The Bladebreakers are unbeatable as a team!" Tala countered.

"As a team, maybe, but as individuals? Destroy the heart of the team, and they'll fall apart," Ben reasoned. Tala's eyes widened, before narrowing again.

"If you have this great, wonderful plan, what do you need me for?" he demanded.

Ben didn't answer straight away. After a minute he opened a drawer, took something out, and placed it on the desk, between him and Tala.

This time Ben saw Tala's eyes widen.

"Black Dranzer! Where did you get this?"

"It's amazing what you can pick up from a pile of burning debris," Ben said, smiling again. "Take it, it is real, you know."

Tala took the blade off the desk, and inspected it. It was the real thing, that much he could tell. But something was bothering him about this whole thing.

Tala put Black Dranzer back on the desk, and glared at Ben. "So you have Black Dranzer. Where do I come into all this?"

"I have the means to destroy them. I don't have the skill."

Tala frowned as Ben's meaning sunk in. He wanted Tala to use Black Dranzer to defeat the Bladebreakers. "What do I get out of all this?"

"You? You get Black Dranzer."

There was silence for a few minutes, as Tala thought over this new development.

Then, one word.

"Deal."

Ben smiled.

"This is a picture of my family," Daniel said, holding a photograph so they could all see it.

Kai studied the photo, trying to pick up any similarities between Andre, in the photo, and Tyson. Andre had short, spiked brown hair, with blonde highlights, and his eyes were, it looked, a strange colour of blue, lighter then Tyson's current colour. His face was thin, and he wasn't smiling in the photo. In fact Andre looked worried.

"Why does Andre look so sad?" Max asked, taking the photo from Kai.

"He always did," Daniel explained. "He was always really quiet. Oh," he said, stopping in front of a closed wooden door. "We're here."

Tyson jumped up off of the bed when he heard voices approaching the room he was being kept in. Voices that sounded suspiciously like his teammates. He heard the lock click as someone unlocked his door, and then it opened. Daniel stepped through the doorway, followed by Lee.

Lee?

"Lee, what are you doing here?" Tyson asked, as Ray, Kai, Max and Kenny filed in after him.

"What do you think I'm doing here?" Lee answered with a grin. "We came to rescue you!"

"Oh. Cool," Tyson said, grinning back, and waving to his teammates. "Did you guys bring any food?"

"TYSON!!!!!"

***

What did you guys think? Please review and tell me!

Ok, now to replies to reviews:

Firehedgehog: Give a cuddle to R. Calumon for me, please. He's cute!!!! And I finally got the description in for you! ^_^

Darkarc: Thanks, Darkarc. I like your story too! I've done more! See?

Shadowcat: Thank you!

Dia: I'm sorry it's not slash, but my one-shot will be… with a twist. ^_^ It's nearly finished, so look out for it in the next couple of weeks, if you like.

Pinkdevil: Thank you. This is my first BB fic. In fact, I only started watching the show a little while ago, but I liked it! And I cant kill Ben! He's really not all that bad, but then again, I'm biased! ^_^

Shinigami29: Thanks. I did update, but not as soon as I had hoped I would. Sorry about that.

Darkspider: Thanks. And thanks for taking the time to review, even though you didn't want to log in.

Asa-chan: Thank you!

Calm Serene: Thanks. I'm glad you guessed who Tyson was. I had hoped I had made it obvious enough, without making it too obvious!

BladeBreaker Girl: Wow, long review! Thank you! If you think Tala was a slimeball in the last chapter, I think he's somewhat worse in this one. But Ben takes the cake for that!

XiaoFa: Thank you. What does the Fa in your name mean? I know Xiao means little in Chinese, cos my Chinese teacher gave me the name Xiao Ai, to tell me apart. My name was Ai Hai Lun, though, but there was another girl in the class with the same name and I'm rambling! Sorry. But, thank you for the review. ^_^

Muy-Kech: Thank you. I just want to hug the twins too, more Daniel then Chris, cos I like Daniel more. Kai cares more about his team then I think even HE reaslises. I think it was just so gradual, over the years, that no one noticed it!

Mistress of Anime: Ah, I think the Tala question was partly answered in this chapter. ^_^

Chibi-Mariah: Thanks.

Wow, that was a lot! Thanks to anyone I missed.

Weeping Angel