A/N: Next double course is here

Disclaimer: Don't own anything you'll recognize

Chapter 8

The doctors had forbidden Rei to take part in the American Tournament. Saying that he needed to take it easy for the entire month. Luckily, Kai, Tyson and Max were able to handle it without his aide.

Since the incident, Rei didn't have his hair in its usual bind, although he continued to wear his headband. He now kept it tied back with a simple ribbon. So in other words, long silky black hair fell behind him, some strands had the blood red tints. And with his nearly dark clothing, there was an aura of danger around him, making most back off.

Turns out that Emily was apart of the All Starz, so was Michael a brunette baseball player, Steve a rough green haired football player, Eddie an African-American basketball player. And Emily was the tennis player. Strangely enough, they used sports equipment for their launchers, making them a formidable force to be reckon with. And right after Rei got out of the hospital, Emily apologized on behalf of the All-Starz. She had no idea that the program would go crazy. Luckily, Rei kindly accepted her apology.

Now that the tournament was over, Grandpa Granger returned to Japan, while the Bladebreakers, the White Tigers and Mr Dickenson prepared to leave for Moscow Russia where the World Championships would be held in two months. But, for some reason, Kenny, Tyson and Max weren't at the docks. And the ship was to set sail any minute.

Finally, the missing three ran up to the group. "Sorry we're late. But Chief wouldn't leave his laptop alone." Tyson teased as Kenny turned red. Rei chuckled. And they quickly scrambled on board just as it set off.

Gary headed for the buffet, Kevin to the arcade, and both Lee and Mariah headed for the pool on the upper deck. Kenny instructed the Tyson needed to work on his defense, and Max his offense. Both Kai and Rei were at an even level with their offense and defense. So the two snuck off when Kenny wasn't looking. Poor Tyson and Max, Rei thought with a chuckle.

Rei just wandered off until he accidently ran into someone. Ouch. "Sorry about that." Rei mumbled, helping the person he ran into up. "It's okay." When Rei had a chance to look up. All he caught was a tall figure with slicked back dark purple hair going around the corner. He was confused. /Who was that?/ He asked. Driger was thoughtful. I think that was Robert. London's Champion. And his bit beast Gryfolion is pretty strong. Not even Dragoon can take him on and win.Rei gave a low whistle.

Impressive.

Rei stretched gracefully and carefully let his magical aura flare up around him. The silverish aura warmed him up. But he frowned. Powerful Heartless signatures were coming his way. Cursing, he dissipated his aura before anyone could see it. Before Rei could move, a blast of dark energy, about the size of a basketball, slammed into him from out of nowhere, sending the poor teen crashing through the safety railing. But, before he could plunge into the icy cold water below, a strong gloved hand grabbed his.

Pale blue met crimson red.

The young man known as Robert gave a thin smile and spoke in a deep voice. "I had a feeling you were in trouble," he grunted. "And it would seem I was right." Rei smiled weakly but his eyes grew wide as he picked up on a second blast heading for Robert. "Look out!" He cried. Robert cried out in pain as another blast hit him in his back. Hard.

KER-SPLASH

Both teens plunged into the icy water and surfaced, gasping for air. "Well, this is just great." Robert grumbled, giving Rei a dirty look. Rei glared at him. "Believe me, this is not my idea." He muttered.

Up on the deck, everyone had heard the loud splash. "Uh, guys?" Kenny began uneasily. "Where's Rei and Kai?" Tyson and Max exchanged horrified looks before sprinting towards where they heard the loud splash. Upon arriving, the trio saw that some of the railings were indeed missing.

Rei looked up in time to see a slightly light green creature dive over his head. He knew what it was and what it looked like. It's head had the shape of a torpedo, that is if you counted the slight darkness from where it opened in the front with glowing yellow eyes, a very thin green body with webbed feet and wicked claws. They usually carried spears in their claws.

A Screwdiver. One of the few aquatic Heartless.

"DIVE!" Rei yelled. Robert saw the frantic look in Rei's eyes and the number of Screwdiver's circling them and hastily agreed. So, they both took deep breaths and dove under water, to see over twenty of the said Heartless, each waving a rather nasty looking spear.

What are those things?! Robert wondered. Then he stared in awe as a bow of golden lightning cackled in Rei's slender hands. Rei drew the bow string back as an arrow formed. With a grin, he let it sail above them. Instantly, bright light flashed everywhere and the two teens had to shield their eyes to avoid being blind. But, Robert did hear the Heartless' screeches of pain and unknowingly, crystallized ruby hearts were flying away as each Screwdiver was destroyed. When the light cleared, each Heartless was gone. And Rei pointed up and Robert nodded.

The two surfaced just as two life savers were thrown in front of them. With a little help from some people on board, the two were standing on the dry deck, shivering violently. Mariah handed the two thick towels. "Care to explain what happened?" She asked. Robert and Rei exchanged looks and silently agreed that they should not tell. At least not yet.

"Nothing happened Mariah." Rei said quietly. "Nothing at all."

...

"What happened to the boat that was just here?" Tyson asked frantically. They had arrived in London for some supplies. And had returned six hours later, only to find the ship was missing. "Sir, do you know what happened to the ship that was here earlier?" Max asked to a nearby police officer. "Yeah, it sailed away about an hour ago." And left.

Tyson, Kenny, and Max made a face. "We'll never get to Russia at this rate." Kenny whined. Lee and Rei exchanged grins. They knew what to do. "How about we head to the Beyblade Federation Association?" Lee suggested. "The what?" Tyson asked. "It's like a private government just for us Beyblader's." Rei explained.

"Race ya Rei!" Lee teased, taking off in a run towards the British BBA. Laughing, the elder neko-jin raced after him. Also laughing, the other three White Tigers ran to keep up.

HONK

Lee's eyes widen as a huge truck came towards Rei who was in the middle of crossing the street. "Look out!" He cried. Rei looked up sharply, before his form blurred and he reappeared on the other side of the street. Perfectly safe. The eight teenagers felt their jaws drop down in shock. Since when could Rei move that fast?

Rei tilted his head. "Well? You guys coming or what?" He asked. They face faulted, but they got up anyway, following him to a large building. Once inside, Rei asked a secretary if they could talk to Mr Dickenson. Unfortunately, they could not. So, the secretary got them a hotel room for the night. Tomorrow they would head to Paris on a high tech train.

After getting some hot chocolate, Mariah noticed the slightly glazed look in Rei's pale blue eyes. "Is everything okay?" She asked softly, sitting next to him. He looked up and turned a light pink. "Sorry." He mumbled. He sighed and glanced up to see the others looking at him in concern. Yes, even Kai was worried. "I know this may sound weird," he began. "But have any of you noticed that we seem to be having a lot of bad luck?" He pressed on. "Almost as if we were being targeted by someone."

Kenny frowned. "It is possible," he started out slowly. "That the home team may be behind this. Ooh, I really don't know." Kenny said unhappily.

KNOCK KNOCK

Tyson looked up in curiosity. "Who could that be?" Max wondered. Kenny got up and answered it to reveal no one. He looked down to see a simple brown package sitting there. "Weird." He picked it up and closed the door. "What do you have there?" Lee asked, interested. Out popped a video.

"Let's see what's on it." Tyson suggested. Kai popped it into the tv that was in the room and instantly the image of a man with similar features to Tyson appeared on the screen. "That's my dad!" Tyson said in shock. "Your dad?!" Kai and Rei echoed in shock. "I'm guessing that he's in Egypt." Kenny mused. "He's an archeologist." Tyson muttered.

On the video, Mr Granger explained that bit-beasts were ancient scared spirits and that people would tend to use them for evil and destroy life itself. When the video ended, everyone was stunned. "Bit beasts are that old and powerful?" Kevin squeaked. Rei was silent. He remembered reading that bit-beasts were as old as time and were probably considered Gods among ancient civilizations.

Chapter 9

The Next Day

Five hours before their train would arrive, they chose to eat at a café for breakfast. "Why would people want to steal bit-beasts?" Max asked. "I just don't get it." Tyson gave a reassuring smile that Max, Kai, Kenny and Rei did not believe for one minute. "Don't worry guys! We'll beat them no problem!" He said cheerfully, holding up the Dragoon blade.

Rei tensed, and Lee saw why. In a blur, something very shiny had embedded deep into their table. It was a very sharp dagger. Tiny droplets of black liquid splashed onto the cherry wood table. "What gives?!" Kai said angrily. Suddenly, a tan beyblade crashed into Tyson's hand, forcing his own white beyblade to go flying into another man's waiting hand. Tyson growled angrily. All the group could see that the person was very tall, had bandages covering their entire arms and glowing yellow eyes. The man seemed to smile.

"Give me back Dragoon ya creep!" Tyson yelled, chasing the man. Rei sighed. "We better follow before Tyson does something really stupid." They nodded and took chase.

When they reached Tyson, the creep who took Dragoon had lead them into some kind of alley. And now Kenny had a good sight of the man's bit beast. A very tall, and scary mummy was slamming its fist on the white beyblade. "It's trying to force Dragoon out." Tyson said slowly. "So, where's the guy that took Dragoon?" Gary asked curiously. Rei's pupils dilated into slits as he scanned the shadows and frowned.

Aww nuts.

That was when the mummy decided to stop pounding on Tyson's beyblade and did something the group was never going to forget.

Snake like bandages reached out through the air and wrapped themselves firmly around Rei's throat. Rei choked as he was lifted into the air by the mummy bit beast. It was getting a little hard to breathe with the mummy cutting off his air supply."Rei!" Mariah cried. "Let him go ya creep!" Lee roared. The bandages dug deep into Rei's neck, drawing his black blood.

"Can't...breathe..." He rasped out.

"No."

Out of the shadows came the same man who took Dragoon and was slowly suffocating Rei to death. Those piercing yellow eyes locked onto Rei's fading blue ones. Did this man see the darkness that was the Heartless in him? If so, he was in big trouble.

"Go Gallon!" Lee roared out as he released the powerful black lion on the man, furious that he was hurting Rei. "You too Galux!" Mariah ordered. "Help them Galin!" Kevin cried. The leopard and the monkey rose from their beyblades and rushed at the man, only to bounce off. Much to the White Tiger's anger.

Suddenly, the man cried out, and was clutching his right arm, hissing in pain. And they saw why. A long, bloody red scratch marred his arm. As was the mummy's right arm. Rei landed on all fours and stood up, wincing slightly, rubbing his throat. Deep cuts ringed his throat. Black blood was still flowing, but Rei looked at the man with icy pale blue eyes. "Leave." Was all Rei said.

And he did.

The gang did fail to see the cuts pulsing as a soft green mist washed over them, leaving behind fresh, clear skin. At least, Rei thought no one did. However, Kai saw the faint green light around the cuts. His eyes narrowed. The puzzle that was Rei Kon just got more interesting.

...

That very same afternoon, they were getting ready to take an high speed train to Paris, France. "So, how fast is this train Kenny?" Max questioned. "Pretty fast. We'll be there in two hours." Kenny explained. Lee gave a low whistle, showing that he was impressed. "Then let's go!" Tyson cheered as they piled on. "After you Kai." Rei teased. "Hn." Kai grunted. Rei scowled, but just as he was about to climb on, he hesitated. "Are you okay?" Kevin asked quietly. Rei shook his head. "Yeah. I'm fine." He muttered back.

Rei took a seat towards the back, the other four White Tigers to the middle, and the Bladebreakers to the front. /Something doesn't feel right Driger./ Rei said uneasily as the train took off and a creature feature began. Why don't we go take a look?Driger suggested. Rei agreed and slipped away from everyone without them noticing.

His pale blue eyes searched every room only to find no one else was on this train. /Odd. You think other people would be here./ He mused. You're right.Driger agreed, also uneasy. Rei glanced at one of the tables in the dinner cart and was surprised to find a silver dollar.

/Cool. Someone left this behind./ He told Driger who blinked in confusion. Rei picked it up and flipped it. /Heads I go back to the movie. Tails I freak out by being on a ghost train./ It landed on his hand and he looked at it and sweat dropped. /Tails. Figures./ He said dryly. And quickly headed back to the main cart.

Lee looked up, hearing the soft footsteps of Rei. And blinked when he realized that something was wrong with his friend. "Is something wrong Rei?" He asked gently. The others turned to see what was wrong.

Rei took a deep breath. "Guys, there's no one else on this train." He said slowly. "This is a joke." Tyson scoffed. "Probably Kai's doing anyway." Kai and Rei exchanged looks before they both broke into a run to opposite sides of the train. Kai to the navigation side and Rei to the pilots.

In the pilots seat, Rei found no one and was genuinely worried. /This isn't good./ He whispered. Before Driger could answer, something hard slammed into the back of Rei's head and he slumped on the console in an unconscious heap.

Kai also found no one at the navigation systems and ran back. "No one is piloting this train." He said grimily. Suddenly the train lurched forward, sending them flying. And the lights were shut off. "Where's Rei?" Mariah asked frantically. "Let's hope he's outside." Lee groaned, standing up. Wincing, they got up and slid the door open and stepped out into the eerie tunnels.

CREAK

Kai's eyes narrowed. "We're not alone." He hissed as a pair of blood red, icy blue, and gleaming emerald eyes glowed from the shadows and three men in their early twenties slithered out of the shadows. One man with pale skin and slicked back black hair, another man with shaggy dark blue hair and the last was a bit taller than the others and had unruly dark green hair with bolts on his neck?!

"Who are you?!" Tyson demanded rudely, if not frantically. The man with the ruby red eyes grinned, revealing needle point fangs. "Forgive our manners," he began in a honey coated voice. "I am Sanquinex." The blue haired man grinned nastily. "And I am his little brother Lupinex." And the last man spoke in a very deep, cruel voice. "And among human kind, my name has always been Xan."

Lee's eyes widen in horror. "Human kind?!" He repeated. "Are you guys saying your some kind of monsters?!" Max squeaked. "And you shall know me as Cenotaph." The two teams whirled around to see the bandaged man from earlier standing behind them. "I believe you are looking for this person?"

And he threw an unconscious Rei at their feet. Rei groaned, but did not stir. "If you defeat us, we'll let him go. If not, we get your bit beasts. Doesn't that sound good Bladebreakers and White Tigers?" Lee and Kai froze. How do they know our team names? They thought at the same time. "Agreed." Tyson said reluctantly. The dragon blader glanced anxiously at his unconscious friend, hoping Rei would wake up and help them. But he did not.

3...2...1...Let er rip!

Pretty soon, a lion, a leopard, a grizzly bear, a spider monkey, a phoenix, a dragon and a large turtle were battling some of the fiercest monsters of all times. For Sanquinex it was a hungry vampire. Lupinex a deadly werewolf and Xan Frankenstein's monster. While the two teams were slowly losing, Rei was rapidly gaining consciousness. His pale blue eyes fluttered open and without Cenotaph noticing, sat up. Hm. Should he do it? Rei grinned slyly. What are you up to?Driger asked curiously. /You'll see soon enough./ Rei promised.

Come on Dragoon, you can do it. Tyson thought grimily. They were losing and Tyson knew it. Suddenly, Cenotaph was thrown into a very surprised Xan and they both crashed into one of the tunnel walls. Everyone gaped. "What the-?!" Max yelped. Rei came from behind them, rubbing his throbbing head, blue eyes cold. "You okay?" Kenny whispered to him. Rei merely nodded and pulled not only his launcher from his pocket but what also appeared to be a silver dollar.

"Hey wolfie!" Rei called. Lupinex growled darkly at the nickname. "Heads or tails," he flipped the coin into the air and Lupinex whimpered in fear. "You loose!" The coin landed neatly into the bit and Rei released a very pleased white tiger into the air. Instead of his usual green glow, Driger was glowing a molten silver. "Argh!" Lupinex howled as his beyblade was thrown from the match, still smoking. That only left Sanquinex and his vampire.

Kenny suddenly yelled out a way to take out Sanquinex. "And how do you defeat a vampire?!" He yelled. Max's eyes widen. "A cross! Of course! Draciel!" Tyson soon caught on. "Dragoon!" He yelled. "DOUBLE TEAM NOW!" Both boys shouted as one.

The white beyblade and the green one launched themselves into the air, blurred together and formed a huge, glowing white cross in the air. The vampire was soon out of the match. "We won!" Kevin cheered. Just then, an SUV pulled up and some medical people poured out. "We'll meet again." Sanquinex hissed, and soon all four Dark Bladers disappeared into the shadows. Fading out like ghosts.

"Is everyone alright?" One med asked. "Who was driving this train?" Another demanded. Tyson gave a weak smile. "It's a long story sir." He told them. As they drove towards their destination, Rei was lost in thought.

Those Dark Bladers aren't human, he thought. They'll be back. I know they will. His eyes harden. And when they do, I'll be ready for them.