It's Just For Fun, Right?
by Shadou-sama
Chapter 12 - Memories Are Forever, Mostly

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade.

Kai, Shadra, Tala, Spencer, and Bryan were already sitting in Math class before another single soul had entered. Kai, the total outsider, had to endure the other four's hushed conversation several feet from him. There was no way he could overhear and make it look natural.

He sighed and pulled out the sheet that Boris had given him before they had arrived at the school. The correct answers to the homework he had assigned. So this was why Shadra had suddenly become such a good student while training so many hours. He bet that it was the same in all of the other classes.

Suddenly, Rei, Tyson, Max and Kenny walked in through the door. They took one look at him and they looked extremely pissed. Kai tensed.

"So what's your excuse, Kai!" Tyson yelled, slamming his hands on Kai's desk. "Are we not good enough for you? Or do you hate us that much?"

"I…" Kai felt the eyes of the Demolition Boys on his back. They were listening. He closed his eyes and smirked. "Is there a third choice, 'all of the above'?"

Tyson was choking on his fury. For once, he couldn't speak.

"Kai, this is the lowest thing you've ever done," Rei said.

"Yeah," Max said.

"We thought you were one of us," Kenny added.

"One of you? Keh, I'd have to be run over by a steamroller to be like you."

"So why don't you piss off and play with your wittle beyblades," Tala said, smirking, as the four walked up to back Kai up.

The Bladebreakers turned around and retreated across the room. They were angry at him. He wished he could tell, but with the Demolition Boys behind him, and the fact that they'd probably blurt it out, it was too risky.


By the last period of the morning, everyone knew of Kai's betrayal. Wherever he went, people whispered to their neighbor about it, snickering, making cruel remarks about him. A few times he felt like cracking down, all the hate was just too much. But the Demolition Boys had stood by him. In some strange way, it was the kind of camaraderie that the Bladebreakers usually exhibited.

But he had to tell someone. And he knew exactly who.

The Demolition Boys had gone off to the cafeteria to eat, while Kai claimed he had to grab a book from the library. Now was his chance.

He quickly located Mariah coming out of the girls bathroom, alone. He quickly walked up to her, grabbed her arm, and hustled her to the deserted library. He wasn't completely lying after all.

"What?" Mariah asked as soon as Kai shut the library door.

"I'm a spy," Kai said.

"What?"

"A spy in Biovolt."

"You're spying for Biovolt?"

"No, spying on Biovolt."

Mariah paused, probably letting it all sink in.

"So that's why…"

"Yeah."

"You have to tell Rei and the others!"

"No."

"But—"

"The less people who know, the better. Only you and me know, and it stays that way."

"Then why tell me?"

"So at least one person doesn't hate me."

Mariah nodded. He mentally sighed in relief. She understood. "So what have you found out?" she asked.

Kai told her all about the secret training base underneath Boris' house.

"Holy crap," Mariah swore. He nearly smiled at Mariah's out of character-ness. "Well, now we know why they don't train in here."

"The data from the last tournament is obsolete," Kai said. "They've improved, and not in a minor way."

"Can you get some newer data?" Mariah asked.

"I'll try," Kai said. "I'll also try and get information on some experiments that Boris has been preoccupied with."

"Experiments?" Mariah asked. "What kind of experiments?"

"I don't know. But they seem rather important."

"And I'll ask Emily and Kenny if they can hack into the Biovolt computer system," Mariah said. "But how will we keep in touch? With the Demolition Boys tailing you and Rei so mad at you…"

"We'll leave notes," Kai said. "In…" Kai looked across the bookshelf. "Ten Habits For Highly Effective Teens. Nobody will find it."

"We're like a secret rebel organization plotting to take down the government," Mariah said. "Like in that Social Studies movie."

"Uh… Yeah, sure." He didn't completely disagree. Infiltration, secret communication, hacking, it all rather fit.

"So until next time," Mariah said and disappeared out of the library. Kai decided he better meet up with the D-Boys.


"Kai, hold on a second," Boris said as the Demolition Boys exited the locker room. Without even a glance back, the other team members continued. Camaraderie in public, but in privacy it was a whole different story.

Kai turned around to face the teacher advisor with a glare.

"You won't be beyblading with Dranzer," Boris said.

Kai looked at Boris with a mixture of surprise and questioning, and his cold bored look. His bit-beast had helped him through so many battles, and gave him an extra edge above other bladers like Tyson.

"You'll be blading with this," Boris said, holding up a black beyblade trimmed with green. He didn't even need to look down at his own beyblade to realise it. They were practically the same, except for the blue was swapped for black and the other beyblade looked more balanced, more powerful. More perfect.

A bastardized version of his Dranzer was etched onto the bit. Heh, a copy, Kai thought. But no mere clone could beat his proud phoenix.

Boris held it out for Kai to take. Kai took a small step back.

"Just touch it, and then decide."

What could be the harm? Kai reached out and took the black beybade from Boris.

A five-year-old Kai sat against the dungy stone wall of an Abbey in Russia. He was curled over, his eyes hidden, a drop of blood slipping along his brow to fall down to the dirt floor. A hand trembled in a feeble effort to raise it, but it only slid into the crimson mud.

Dozens of boys stood in line, each standing as straight as they could manage. One boy at the end of the line slumped, and a uniform-wearing man lashed him with his whip.

Eight boys, little Kai included, tried desperately to hold onto a few metal bars across the ceiling over a pit of poisonous snakes.

Young Kai, excitedly watching the lab below with his hands against the window panes, as a black beyblade shot around the large beydish, smashing the other beyblades to tiny pieces with out so much as trying.

Kai sneaking into the lab, and grabbed the black beyblade from the computerized rifle launcher. "You're mine," he said, as he placed it into his own launcher. He pulled the rip cord, but instead of flying out into the dish, the beyblade just hung there. A precious second went by before a blue glow enveloped the beyblade. The orb grew bigger until it exploded!

Kai gasped. He tried to calm his breathing, but the erratic beat wouldn't be slowed. His memories… He remembered them! He remembered his childhood before he lived in Japan, before he moved to Hieville. Where he grew up, what games he didn't play, the other kids that he had known.

But more importantly, he remembered the dark phoenix.

"So will you use this beyblade?" he heard Boris ask as if from behind a vale.

Kai smirked. "Yes."

Boris smiled. Shadra had had the exact same reaction. Plus he unexpectedly regained his memories from when he trained with Boris. Now Kai knew where he belonged. He walked away to overview the other boys' training.

"You're mine, Black Dranzer," Kai whispered.

Shadra watched from around the corner. She'd get back her phoenix from that undeserving fool.


Shadra watched as Kai finally came to train with the team. For the past two weeks, the two-toned haired blader had worked in the secret room Shadra had had, but this time it wasn't so secret. Two teammates knew this time, and two teammates knew what that bit-beast was capable of.

For the past two weeks, she had had to endure Kai's grubby hands all over her dark phoenix, watch him taint her precious bit-beast with his unworthiness. Her poor phoenix crying out to her in her sleep, and it was horrible to wake up knowing she couldn't do anything… yet. But today was different. Today she would get back her Black Dranzer.

"Kai," she said from behind, startling him. The black beyblade spun around the dish. The other three Demolition Boys glanced over, interested at what she was going to say to her replacement. "I challenge you to a beybattle."

Kai turned around and snickered. "You must be joking."

"I'm not laughing," she said, both her voice and her gaze solid. "Winner gets to keep Black Dranzer."

Kai started. "How did you know about it? Nobody knows."

She strengthened her glare. "He's mine," she said.

Kai smirked, closing his eyes. If he had been an emotional beyblader, he'd be laughing out loud right about then. Hilarious, the thought that Shadra could even concieve to consider the black phoenix as hers. "Then why do I have it?"

"Because Boris is an idiot. He thought that you actually could handle him."

"I think I've been handling him just fine. He needs a strong beyblader, unlike you."

"Then what are you afraid of? Let's battle."

Kai paused. Being down here must have fried her brain. No way could she, bit-beastless, take on both Kai and Black Dranzer. Over in six seconds, including launch time. Boring. But maybe he could make it interesting. "I'll even give you a chance by not using Black Dranzer," Kai said, and flipped the bit out, replacing it with a regular one.

"As you wish," Shadra said.

The two stepped up to the beydish, each on opposite sides. The other Demolition Boys ceased their training to watch. One didn't see this everyday. The two launched.

"Who's gonna win?" Bryan asked his captain.

Tala closed his eyes. "They're evenly matched. In both skill and desire."

Thought you'd take my name out You forgot about my home game
Thought you'd take me down, sucker Take me down so here we go

The two black beyblades circled each other. The only way to tell whose was whose was by the trim, Shadra's being red and Kai's being green. Barely noticeable when the two blades were spinning.

"Attack!" Kai called. His beyblade thrust forward at Shadra's, but the black and red beyblade dodged.

"Is that all you've got?" Shadra asked. "This is beyond easy."

Thought you'd take me down You forgot about my old school
If you want to teach me something new You'd better teach you something

Shadra assailed the black and green beyblade with a few powerful rapid-fire hits. Kai's beyblade fell back under the blows, but the black and red beyblade wasn't going to show any mercy. It kept on delivering the powerful and quick hits without a single hesitation.

Kai growled. With all the force that he could muster, he pushed back against the black and red beyblade. Shadra's blade bounced back, seeing as the offence offered little defense.

Swing Down, Swing Low
If you gonna better me
Swing Down, Swing Low
Let it rip Beyblade!

Shadra's blade slammed back against Kai's, but Kai was able to hold his ground. Sparks flew everywhere as the two beyblades sawed on each other.

Boris stood at the door, unnoticed. The arrogance of that little brat Kai… The blatant disobedience of Shadra… The blood in his veins was boiling. He would've thrown both of them into 'detention' if he hadn't been so interested in discovering which one was truly superior.

Thought you'd take my name out You forgot about my home game
Thought you'd take me down, sucker, Take me down to a whole new game

Shadra's blade retreated. Kai relaxed, only for a split second, and bam! The black and red beyblade shot at his with great speed, which carried through to force. The beyblade was thrown through the air, and fell, by two centimeters, out of bounds.

Shadra had won.

"Time to give up Black Dranzer," Shadra said, gloating a bit. Long ago, she would have been ecstatic to beat him, but now she expected the win.

Hmmm, this was definitely interesting, Boris thought. Maybe Shadra deserved the spot on the team more than Kai. Another victory notch for the experiment.

To be continued...