Shitza: I am terribly sorry for the late chapter but it took me ages to write. Can't blame on anything this time, I have been part time working as well and haven't been sitting here that much. Hopefully you will like this chapter though, this may not be so fierce this time, I can say Sakhmekh has his own methods of doing his stuff, which is a way quite interesting.

Anyway, I won't be sitting by this computer for so long, my parents wants me to go to our BORING summer cottage and typically enough I am not allowed to stay at home. But luckily and hopefully I will still be able to log in on the Internet in the old way. I will try to update this while I am there, when time allows, I will be quite busy helping out. "Summer duties."

But while I am gone, could someone who is reading this do me a favour? It just happens that from all the beyblade episodes that are running here in Sweden (Still V-Force though) I will miss one of them which I have been dreaming to watch since I think it would really give me much about the relationship between Zeo and his dad. The episode is Who's Your Daddy, which I unfortunately missed last time and for some unknown reason we can't record anything from the digital box while we are gone anywhere… If anyone could please help me and write some useful details about (with or without comments) the episode I would be thrilled of gratefulness. Please do this because it would help the fic to survive and to help it grow better. Please either review some details or e-mail me on you!

Shitza

Ps: Changed details. I just remembered that in Asian culture the King and Queen are also called Dragon and Phoenix. So from now on Dranzer will be a she instead of he.

Chapter 24 Killing Claws of Thunder

"Sakhmekh!"

Raya stood beside him and even now he ignored her. Tigers were a real mystery, a silent mystery and in her opinion divas. But it was just Fire's opinion…

Sakhmekh was a typical tiger, or Lightning Village inhabitant. Being his village elite had left its marks upon him. They were clean animals with a big sense of glamour and beauty. They really didn't enjoy fighting but did everything to defend their homes. Another thing to mark them was that their whole village was inhabited by Neko-Jins, making it very special. Indeed the White Tiger village in China were distant related. Through one of many wars, it was said that all villages has to split unless a big catastrophe would appear. By that time the ten mighty bit beast had already been split, and as half of the valley left, so did the half of the split bit beast. Each of these were now the Sacred Gods or Goddesses in whatever village they came to.

Raya waved her hand over the Neko-Jins eyes but still received no response. Sakhmekh's eyes were closed and his mouth twitched so she guessed he was either asleep dreaming something nasty, or he was so fully concentrated on planning something nasty he didn't notice her. Not that she minded, he could be a good companion in battle… but he was still a giant mystery to her.

"Tiger, wake UP!" she called through his ears. Sakhmekh opened his eyes, staring at the empty space before him. The yellow eyes then fixed upon her locking her into a deadly gaze. Raya quickly shook the murderous feeling away as she fixed more upon her task from her heart then the Tiger's little nap.

"What?" he asked.

Raya sighed. 'Neko-Jins'. She held her hands on one of her knives and said. "I want you to promise me not to hurt Ray. I think Veymo has been lying to us and if he orders you to kill Ray, don't. I… I have spoken to the Bladebreakers in private and believe me, the priests and priestesses are right after all… the time hasn't come yet. Nothing can forge such a great beast and control it once after its birth. That would be impossible.

The golden eyes flashed as the Neko-Jin got up to his feet, brushing the dust away from the big Tiger fur that went over his shoulders, fitting around him like some sort of weird costume. The fur however looked unusually pale this time, but Raya had to remind herself that Tigers didn't live in these kinds of areas and Sweden was too cold. She would have to take Sakhmekh to a zoo one day. Something to make him stay happy and at least a bit more social.

Sakhmekh slowly walked over to the dish, dragging his launcher over his shoulder. The stone filled paw, attached to the iron chain made a screeching noise as they walked up, waiting for the opponent.

From behind Veymo called out his orders. "No more nice games, finish him off quickly!"

The walk up to the dish seemed endless… and all Ray could think off was the murderer he saw as he walked towards their next fate. The Elementals were still winning, 4-2. Ray knew they would have to win at least six more matches if they would do it.

Sakhmekh grinned as the other Neko-Jin approached. For him it had been a while since he had had the chance of battling someone like him. The two feline bladers didn't need Jazzman to give them the signal. They were cats after all, they could wait and they knew when it was time to drag out the claws.

Sparks flew from the launchers as they launched into the dish. Indeed both blades glowed when they chased each other around. Ray steadied himself for any foul moves that could be used. He knew, out of experience having been knocked out probably a dozen times in battle what bad guys could do and what you did to achieve what you wanted.

"Driger, Thunder Growl!" he called out. The white blade flew forward in a destructive speed ripping the bottom of the dish like claws. Sakhmekh watched it with calmness and in the nick of time his own blade moved out of the way.

Ray growled. Driger appeared looking exactly as pissed of as his master.

Sakhmekh made a sweeping move with his left arm, calling out his own spider bit beast. "Moheda, attack!"

A green spider appeared from the blade, its pincers clicking furiously. The two bit beasts slammed into each other with all their strength proving their power and their strength. The spectators gasped and Jazzman went wild commentating from the microphone.

Suddenly Moheda knocked Driger backwards. "Web of destruction!" Sakhmekh commanded. A huge spider web engulfed the tiger and Driger was trapped. Sparks of rage flew from ray as he watched his defenceless bit beast howl in pain for as the match continued

"Poisonous Web!" Sakhmekh said. Driger roared now in pain as an acid green web hit the fur, burning into the flesh (well if they had any). The bit beast returned too his blade and Driger stopped spinning.

Ray sunk back to his knees, picking up his blade. He had no idea what really had happened and how Sakhmekh had won so easily.

Moheda returned to Sakhmekh's open palm. The Elemental blader smiled before stepping down from the dish, heading back towards his team. He would allow Ray half a minute to collect himself because for Sakhmekh he wanted his opponents to be collected before he could crush them again.

But even if he had won Veymo still wasn't completely content with his actions. His intentions would have been to tell the world about them, not to play fair. This was a tournament without any rules and he didn't dare use those options… Veymo knew one thing, that cat would pay for it.

"Ray?"

"Ray?"

"Ray… is everything okay?"

…

Ray was shocked and he barely could stand looking into the eyes of his friends. Thanks to him they were loosing again and he had no idea how he could withstand those kind of attacks. He had been shocked to discover how helpless Driger had appeared being caught in the web.

Ray sat down, trying to think but the more he thought about it the more he didn't understand. Driger had claws and would easily have been able to cut web like that. Driger was strong he had been able to break through worse things. How could he had lost?

From the stands a voice suddenly reached him. Ray looked up and somewhere in the middle he saw Mariah standing up shouting at him.

"Ray, how could you even think off giving up now? You are the best blader I know and we all are counting on you!"

It may not have been the best speech Ray had heard in his life, but hearing Mariah's voice cleared some of the fog in his head. Noticing there was less time left before the next match he hurried towards Chief to ask him more about the mystic web he had been attacked by. Chief's answer turned out to be quite interesting.

"This is nothing like we have ever encountered before. From all details I can get the web is same kind of mixture between the bit beast's spiritual powers and Sakhmekh's soul. Driger can't cut through because unless the bladers intention is to kill, the soul cannot be harmed at any cost."

"So this means I will have to avoid his attacks to win?"

"Correct. Even if you are a great beyblader Ray you cannot do anything against these attacks. If I know you correctly you would never try to hurt anyone willingly."

Ray nodded, clutching Driger in a firm grip. The raven-haired blader looked determined as he hurried back to the dish, now knowing at least what he could expect from him.

Three… Two… One… LET IT RIP!

Daichi growled watching the small TV as Ray had been awfully beaten and was now facing a second attempt of doom. Daichi didn't know everything about Sakhmekh except that he was the Elite blader in the Lightning Village and had held that title for five years. He also happened to know Sakhmekh most often preferred doing business on his own and rarely even followed the priest's order. It surprised him some as antisocial and strange soul as him had joined Veymo's league.

A sudden movement from the white bed suddenly caught his attention and to his amazement and joy his sister had finally decided to start awaken. He hurried over to her, stumbling over his fallen chair and took her hand in his.

Kim slowly opened her eyes and looked up. Daichi's eyes filled with tears as she smiled up to him, now at least awoke. But she didn't either open her mouth to speak nor move. Daichi guessed she was still drained from all energy and he was right. One minute later she had fallen asleep yet again.

Daichi could cheer and he would unless he caught a glimpse of the screen just to discover that Ray was on the edge of loosing again.

"No!" Daichi whispered pressing his nose against the screen. What was he doing here; his team needed him and that soon. They were loosing and because of that they would soon loose not only the match but also their bit beasts. Daichi hurried towards the door, casting one last glimph of his sleeping sis.

"Sorry sis, but they need me badly.'

As he went he didn't notice a twitch of a smile upon his sister's lips.

Indeed once more Driger had been caught in the web and even if Ray and Driger had done a wonderful teamwork dodging the web it had been nothing compared to the immense strength upon Sakhmekh and soon the tiger had been caught in the web once more.

Ray knew he was loosing yet he remained calm. He still had one thing he hadn't tested yet and he believed soon would be the idea. Moving into a fighting position he opened his mouth to give his tiger a new command, but he never got the words out.

"Ray, use the stone! Use the stone or you will never win this!"

Both bladers looked towards the entrance were an exhausted Daichi stood. The red haired blader stood with one hand holding the wall to support his tired legs. It had taken the red haired blader about four minutes to turn up, how he had done it though they didn't know.

"Daichi, what are you doing back?" Hilary shouted asking.

Daichi turned to his team and hurried towards them, almost falling down from exhaustion as he reached them. Max and Hilary grabbed him for support seeing how tired he was.

Daichi managed to take some deep breaths before he started talking. Well, not exactly talking since no one understood a word he said.

"Sisisokay,sheissleepingexhaustedfromthefightwithVeymoand…"

"Daichi, take a few more breaths and take your time talking" Kai said as Ray seemed to have gotten the hang of the match, now slowly gaining back some of his lost strength and determination.

Daichi indeed took a deep breath once more before starting over. "My sister is okay. Before I left she woke up again. She is still exhausted from the match with her father and is currently sleeping regaining some strength. I didn't want to leave but seeing it as we are loosing way too much I figured out it was either staying and suffer from seeing us loosing or go here and suffer from my sister's anger once she wakes up again."

Max shrugged. "Having met your sister I do wonder if it wouldn't have been physically better for you to stay?"

Daichi shook his head. "I can cooperate with her, she's not that bad. But being tortured while Veymo takes over the world is something way much worse! And worst for me as a blader would see my own bit beast wreck everything into dust."

"I understand what you mean." Kai said looking down at his own bit beast. Dranzer gleamed fiery red in her master's hand.

Over at the match Ray finally managed to get Driger out from the net and attack Moheda the spider bit beast with a knock out. Electric sparks still flew from the blade as it soared out and landed by Sakhmekh's feet.

Sakhmekh growled and looked up to face his opponent with a deadly glare. It was then he noticed the little piece of stone hanging around Ray's neck. Grinning he jumped down to face his now shocked and murderous leader.

"They have a piece of the stone," he whispered to him. Veymo glared at him, his eyes shining with fright before he looked over at Daichi. If this stare could have killed anything then Daichi would have been long before it even came. The pupils turned bright red and the roar from his mouth seemed to shake everyone but none from the stands managed to locate from where it came.

Ray grinned when he returned to the others, but his joy quickly scattered hearing Veymo's screams behind. Daichi was holding his hands over his ears trying to block the sound out. He was sure he already knew what it meant.

"What just happened?" Ray asked.

Daichi sighed and leaned closer so that only he and his team would know what this was all about.

"Sakhmekh probably told him about our little extra power, so if you don't mind I say it you guys better watch out for he is going to steal our bit beasts before we even manages to blink."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hilary asked.

"Daichi closed his eyes and said his next line even quieter. "It means we are toast!"

Ray looked down at his blade. He knew he was risking a lot being out there but he had never let his team down and he knew what Driger was capable off. But he had no idea of survival.

"Sakhmekh, take this and win!" Veymo said giving him something. It was complete new blade, a copy of the one he was using.

"But sir, that is illegal even for these rules."

Veymo grinned. "And who can notice, it is built exactly as your old one except for some detailed tricks I have produced. Now go and don't dare loose!"

Sakhmekh nodded, not trusting the man. But he would go anywhere to win today, that was for sure.

Veymo leaned back looking quite proud of himself. He didn't notice however that from somewhere high up by the spotlights in the ceiling, two ex-teammates gave him a very dirty look.

"Bladers ready? Three… two… one…"

"LET IT RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!"

The first thing that seemed odd, as Ray's cat eyes could notice, was how odd Sakhmekh's blade behaved. The blade was spinning uncontrollable and wobbling slightly. Something wasn't right; all his senses could indicate that. Fearing the worse Driger attacked sending Moheda backwards. So far no one of them had called their bit beasts and Sakhmekh seemed to be waiting for something.

Ray felt the sweat pouring down his face. Sakhmekh had done nothing for half a minute, which felt odd. Ray wondered if he perhaps should go on his defences instead. That's when it all happened…

He didn't have time to think, he didn't have time to react or dodge it. Sakhmekh's blade had been pushed towards the edge were ray stood and this was what Sakhmekh had been waiting for. Not wasting his time he called out for a 'Surprise attack', which indeed was a surprise. Something flew from the blade, some kind of powder that engulfed him. It had a mu7rky brown colour and smelled strongly and itching in his nose.

But that wasn't all. It was the effect the powder had once you breathed it. Ray felt himself stiffen, he fell towards the floor, barely able to stand. It had paralysed him all the way through his body and worse. He couldn't concentrate. This match would probably soon be over.

But as Ray looked up he knew this hadn't been deliberately done by Sakhmekh himself for the blader was as shocked as he had been. Indeed Sakhmekh's strategy was electricity and shocking his foe. But paralysing, he felt like a chicken. Angrily he yelled something at Veymo on the language only he, and his own kind knew. Kenny asked Daichi for translation, who explained.

"Veymo tricked him. He just said 'How could you do this to me, what honour is there to find in such cheap and fowl tricks as you play. I cannot understand why you were able to convince me and thus I will play fair. I will wait till this potion of cowardly wears of.'

Tyson stared at him. "Do you think he will really mean it?

Daichi shrugged. "To be honest, I have no idea how that tiger thinks. But if he is going to play fair for once, which I doubt as he keeps cheating on money back at the Valley, but still. His pride has always been bigger then his head."

Hilary snorted. "Was that meant as a joke?"

Daichi gave her a sarcastic smile. "Not really, even if he is a mystery neither me nor sis has ever really liked the presence of a tiger. Well, guess Ray is sort of an exception" he said seeing how everyone gave him a questioning look. "He is at least not as violent as they tend to be."

Moheda just kept circulating the dish and for every second that went Ray was prepared for the worst. Sakhmekh looked bored and he had his reasons. After all, he had been waiting for quite a while. Jazzman was in the meantime giving a speech about the tour, as the commentator had no clue what was going on.

Sakhmekh yawned widely. "Aren't you getting up yet?" he asked sounding bored as ever. Ray growled for answer. The effect from the powder was wearing off slightly, but he still couldn't concentrate enough for battle. Sakhmekh didn't seem to care as Moheda suddenly broke away from her calm circulating to attacks.

Ray felt as if each of those attacks stabbed him in the back and growling even more he forced himself back to his feet.

"Much better" Sakhmekh said admitting. "Now, shall we continue?"

Ray nodded now feeling ready for any dirty tricks up Sakhmekh's sleeves. The raven-haired blader's eyes glowed bright yellow before he called out his next move, which he prayed would take Sakhmekh down.

"Driger, Majestic Thunder Growl!"

The white blade glowed green before getting hit by a gigantic clap of thunder coming somewhere from surrounding clouds outside. There was an ear-splitting sound as the two blades collided.

Everyone shielded their eyes, as there was a blinding flash. No one could either see or hear what was going on, but much can happen during some few seconds.

Ray found himself in some kind of landscape resting between life and death. To his great astonishment the battle had brought them here. Sakhmekh stood before him, lending him a helping hand up. The sky was dark blue, filled with stars yet no clouds. The grass underneath him was warm and the flowers bloomed which such a ferocity he feared they would explode. Somehow all this felt unreal.

"Where are we?"

Sakhmekh ignored his question and gave him a sign to follow. Ray followed him down the grassy fields to a small shrine by a great mahogany tree. Somehow it felt like this tree was something more then just a tree. As if it was more then just a living creature. To his astonishment he noticed he was standing in front of something Sakhmekh thought of as a god.

Ray leaned closer to it and saw something carved in the bark. Striped, standing on its hind legs, roaring into the dark weather before it. It was a tiger and not just and tiger… it was Driger.

Sakhmekh took something from his pocket. It was a stone, much bigger and larger then the little thing ray carried around his neck. The stone glowed bright green and something soared from the bright sky.

"Driger?" Ray said weakly fearing this.

The bit beast roared before it connected with the trunk, sinking in to the protective borders.

Ray stared at Sakhmekh, who looked calm as ever. Not even the slightest hint of emotions could be shown in his eyes.

"You may get him back after this, if you are worthy enough to keep him. I can bring him back, only if you promise me that you will defeat Him."

Ray didn't know what to say but nodded. Sakhmekh smiled, which was a very rare thing for him to do. Slowly everything went hazy and then they were back.

Ray opened his eyes only to discover that he had lost. He stared at his blade, not believing his eyes. Sakhmekh walked away, this time not returning to his team. The Elemental blader promised himself to never deal with Veymo Thon again or become a team member at any cost.

Ray didn't even notice his team coming to collect him. All he knew was that everything was gone for him. Looking into his blade the tears streamed down his face.

"Ray what is wrong?"

Ray still said nothing but showed the blade so everyone else could see. Nothing in the vision had been a dream as you could hope. Driger… was gone…

Raya stared as the Bladebreakers left the dish to regroup. She had no idea what had happened out there more then that Sakhmekh had won and for some reason broken Ray's heart. She felt bad; she was one in that very same team responsible for it.

What team, there was hardly anyone left on it? In that way the boys had succeeded. They had at least split the team. She just wished Veymo could die here and now so they might have some companionship left. Yet she was too afraid to say anything against him.

She suddenly felt an ice-cold hand on her shoulder. Turning she saw Veymo smile evilly at her.

"You are facing Kai and you will battle this match, understand!"

She couldn't say anything, not even complain. His powers over her had weakened her enough so that she couldn't command herself to do what she wanted. Tears trickling down her cheeks she faced the dish.

'Please Kai, be careful. I don't want to win this, but you do…'

To reviewers:

lashingcries: Well, I am happy you thought so; still I hated to really torture Max. There was planned more violence in it, because that ring was once described as really sharp and then you know what I mean. But I deleted that since I guess there can be younger readers out there.

I must really write awful stuff now, but believe me. It is really no fun torturing them. But you'll see what happens next time. Cannot say more then that.

fastblurd: Max won two of three. The score is at the moment 3-6. Okay, next match will be interesting as well, for knowing me this is more of a mental attack then physical.

End Notes: DON'T WANT TO LEAVE! Luckily I have Internet up there and I have managed to convince my parents for 30min surfing every day except weekends (1h). Well, it was either that or me not coming.

Till next time, please help me with that episode summary because doesn't say much and I haven't find much from fansites either. I would most of all want to see the episode for myself as I guess I am much of a Zeo fan these days. If you know what I would need the sum for then there is much work in the Sequels.

Speaking of sequels… I think there is about highest 5 chapters left in this. So, I will try to finish this soon, I don't have such a big amount of stories left to update. Not that I am growing tired of writing, but I get so stressed out updating and having to study same time. Bit of stress relief having so few stories to look after, not to mention I have other writings on my shelf.

So see yah next time, around 20 miles from where I am sitting, surrounded by a forest and sea.

Shitza