Shitza: Is there any more ways to say how sorry I am for this incredible delay? Well, if you want to know then much lately I have been of mood for writing. I can say I blame it on my current position. I am so bored these days… and it's still around two weeks left to go. If no one remembers, or if I haven't mentioned it yet, I am once more stuck up here in the summer cottage.

Ok, maybe I am overdoing things, but as long as there is no boat in the waters around, then there is no happy Shitza around. Being youngest in the family has its bad ways. One, I am not allowed to stay home, yet. I do envy my brother, he didn't have to follow at all, but he is 23, six years in difference… sigh.

Thank you for everyone who has bothered to send in help, I really needed that. Don't know how any though, I have no e-mail access up here, all though I did remember leaving in the End Notes, I have already checked up the teaser on The two I have read… well, thanks anyway, I am just really grateful that people cares. Luckily dad told me we are going home earlier then planned. I still miss the episode (GRRRRRRRRRRRRR) but I will not miss the start commentary of the next after on that Saturday. Beyblade is only show weekends by now and has never gotten such huge popularity here. I think Duel Masters and Yugioh (don't know really how you spell it, sorry), which as far as I've seen in the papers, are shown on the local television as well. (Couldn't they have done the same with Beyblade and then I might not have to chase episode news all the time whenever I miss something) is more popular to say, but we aren't much of anime fans (if you check the kids channels around.) the only hot shots I know I've seen much popularity around, is Pokémon and Digimon. But it was ages ago…

Ah I better stop babbling here and get on with it. After all, I left it in a kind of cliffhanger. Stupid me to leave all notes at home. Good thing is I managed to remember the necessary things, like Kai's attack that will show up. I want to thank the reviewer who sent new attacks, saves me the pain of creating new ones. I am awfully sorry I didn't decide to use them here and more sorry I seem to forget names, but right now I am writing offline since Internet out here costs again. So much for the luxury with broadband.

Shitza

Ps: Keep your fingers crossed because I have no idea how OOC Kai can sound in this chapter. I've already been told so and I am struggling to find some kind of balance between the real Kai and my own ideas. Mind you, it is hard to do so with mister Anti-Social.

Pps. To make things interesting here, it took quite some planning and thinking, so I hope there isn't too much confusion around. If so then reread this, for al details are there on what is happening. And also, sorry for making Raya evil again, but I can't leave them too easy off so close to the end. And there is a lot of mysteries here that will be explained in the future fics.

Warning: If anyone reading this can't stand blood, knives or violence then LEAVE now, please, because this is merely a taste of what is about to come.

Chapter 25 Fierce Plans and Burning Ambitions

Raya really didn't want to do this, she hated doing it and wished she had done like the previous three, left the team. Now however she feared she was too late and in some few minutes she would be up there, batting a match she had dreaded. She must have looked as a coward, sitting on the very corner of the bench, shivering and trembling, not from cold but of fear. She looked over to watch the happy tees from the Bladebreakers. She really could feel jealous, as nothing ever could seem to take down their team-spirit.

Her own team's spirit had gradually sunk down to the bottom of hell and now that Lei, Sakhmekh and Rumoto all had left the team only she and Anto remained. She didn't even like Anto, she concluded. Why was she still here? Why hadn't she left, she had after all already betrayed them.

Before her Veymo stood, snarling. The fearless leader of the team didn't like the way as it looked; the Bladebreakers had proved to be more of an obstacle then a simple task then he had thought. Maybe that was the way of evil stupid leaders? They thought too much about their own greatness they never saw the truth.

"Raya, if you don't win this then you can face your own doom! I have something that will seal our victory."

He took out a small black stone from his pocket. Raya stared at it with big eyes. She backed as much as she could, scared of merely the presence.

"No Sir, No, please!"

But Veymo didn't listen. In an ancient tongue he chanted a curse over the poor girl, who could do nothing more then to cry and pray that whatever he did to her, it would not destroy whatever bond and friendship she had managed to rebind with her new friends and her old ones.

The team spirit by the Bladebreakers looked like the same from the outside, but if you looked closer you could see some changes. The loss of Driger was something unexpected and Ray couldn't stop the tears from flowing. Hilary sat beside him holding his hand, trying to assure him that somehow they would get Driger back. Still, it was unfair… for this was the fourth time it had happened. Max had lost and regained Draciel two times; Kai had lost and regained Dranzer one time, at the Russian World tournament. Tyson had the lowest on zero, and for that he had no idea really how it felt.

The other players of the team were quietly talking about the situation, which meant Daichi did all talk while the three others listened. The shortest blader of the team looked serious as he described the next opponent in both offence and defence. Daichi knew more about Raya then he did about the other Elementals, mainly because he and his sister had played most of their first matches against her.

Daichi smiled. "I don't think Raya will be most of a horrible opponent, after all, she is on our side. Just try to win as fast as you can, and try not to shatter her blade. Sis made that mistake and had to dick for knives for three weeks afterwards. She takes that rather… personal.

Up in the stands, team Neo Borg sat discussing the next match, having a mildly wild discussion this time. Tala and Ian were back in a friendlier mood towards each other then afterwards the betting-thing. Indeed Tala sat beside Ian without doing anything that would seem evil and Ian looked bored. Bryan and Spencer sat in the seats over their heads and the four boys were deep in discussion about the upcoming duel. Alex, who had resigned from the team right after their loss in the tour, was nowhere in sight and Tala could bet he would probably not see her for quite a while. If his sister wanted to remain unknown she was unknown to everything.

"Do you think Kai can pull this of?" Bryan asked his captain. The former grey violet haired teen, whose hair had become grey over the last few years, looked quite anxious.

"Course, he's Kai! What on earth could beat him?" Spencer declared.

"Except for Tyson you mean, he never seems to be able to beat him, no matter how hard he have tried." Ian said.

Tala nodded. "Yeah, at least this girl isn't Tyson. Mind you, she is a tricky one, like everyone else in that stinky team she doesn't seem to be able to see differences between foes and friends.

"Do you think Kai needs some moral support down there, I mean we are his ex-teammates?" Ian asked.

Tala grimaced. "Nah, he can do well on his own. Kai trusts us as much as he trusts his grandfather, to say he has never trusted us and will probably never do so. Lets just sit back and enjoy, this could be interesting."

Kai walked up to the dish, looking calm and like his usual uninterested self. Even if he had interests in this match he didn't show them.

The first mysterious thing he noticed however as Raya approached the dish was the glassy look in her eyes, as if her soul had been stolen from her heart and the life drawn from her body. Noticing something was wrong Kai's eyes widened as the girl carefully chose her aim for her launch. Her goal was to kill him.

"Three… two… one… LET IT RIIIIIIIIIIP!"

Dranzer landed in the dish, close to the brim of defeat. For as soon as the blade had touched ground Avez, Raya's fox bit-beast came hunting after it. Raya had not only been quick at launching, she had been even quicker to call up on her bit-beast.

Kai didn't even have time to call up on an attack before the knife launcher hit his shoulder. It didn't become a deep cut and from his time at the abbey he was used to this kind of pain, so the battle continued. But his teammates screamed at him to quit and that he shouldn't risk both bit-beast and health to win.

Kai however was someone who didn't back away from a little pain and it surprised everyone watching as Dranzer was summoned to even things up. And before Raya knew what really had happened her blade was thrown out.

The spectators cheered, Kai smiled. The first win had been unexpected for everyone except himself. But unlike certain bluenettes with the ability to win without the really rough training, Kai had been training night-time every day to improve on his skills. Especially since the looses in the previous matches.

From behind he heard his own team cheer and admires. But in the mess of voices Daichi tried to reach him about something.

"Kai… Raya… Veymo… curse… eyes…"

Kai shrugged. He had no idea what the red headed blader tried to say, and he didn't have time to think before the next match had to start. However this time, he would have to watch out for more then just knives.

In another part of the capital two brown eyes stared up into the ceiling. They blinked three times before the person herself sat up, looking both confused and lost.

"Where am I?" she whispered, but no one was there to hear her.

Kim shrugged and got to her feet. It took some seconds before her brain could register that she in fact was in a hospital. She trembled at the thought. She hated hospitals. She remembered from the time at the Abbey one particular mad scientist who had done awful experiments on everyone there. He had particularly enjoyed playing with her, since she was one of the few surviving girls to be found.

Looking around her eyes lasted upon a plant that bloomed like as if it had never bloomed before. Her mouth twitched knowingly. 'So Daichi has been here, but where is he now?'

Her thoughts suddenly took her outside the hospital to the stadium. 'NO, it can't be, how long have I slept? I can't stay, I have to help them.'

Putting on her old clothes, that lay by the side o her bed, she hurried to the window and opened it. Without further thoughts she jumped out.

When the workers passé her room next time, it would be empty and no one would know where she could be.

Kai winced in pain. That girl was really hard to predict. Even if he had tried, believing he would be able to pull I of, he had gotten him. Not only gotten him, she had aimed at the same place as the previous cut. Kai had been used to a lot of pain, but things were getting a bit overboard and he had no idea how long it would take before this girl would stop playing with him.

The battle was once more in progress and once more Dranzer had the uphold of the match. Avez was a tricky fox but the magnificent bird kept pulling it back. Raya looked furious that she wasn't able to pull him back. Kai met that furiousity with a calm grin.

"Dranzer, Firewheel Jealousy!" he commanded. The ring of fire awoke from the blade, shot outwards knocking the other blade out from the dish.

Kai nodded towards Dranzer to return. The blue blade shot back to his hand, smoking from the heat. He could hear Daichi trying to get his attention, but he ignored him. However there was one voice he couldn't ignore no matter how hard he would try.

Kai looked back and even if you couldn't see anything in his face, you saw it in his eyes. He was shocked and so seemed everyone else as a black haired, brown eyed girl stood in the doorway, resting her back towards the wall.

"Long time, no see guys!" she said smiling.

Daichi ran over to her giving her a bear hug. Kim smiled and hugged her brother back. Only in one minute the remaining Bladebreakers, even including Kai who had returned from the dish in a hurry.

Kim asked her brother something in their own strange language and Daichi shook her head. He said something back and the girl looked quite taken.

"Can't even take orders can you Hiwatari." she snapped. Kai looked bewildered.

"Daichi has been trying to tell you through the two matches. Either you are blind or just more ego then ever.

She nodded towards the dish were Raya stood, stiff as a cliff.

"She's being controlled you jerk."

The Bladebreakers now all turned their heads while Daichi explained what he had been trying to explain if people didn't tend to ignore him.

"One thing, her eyes is all glassy, her soul has left her or they would be alive. Secondly you all have met her and she isn't someone who would hurt you without good reasons. Nope, I say Veymo did something similar to what he did with you sis."

Kim nodded.

"Thirdly, she has no control over her lade anymore, or else you would have lost this ages ago Kai. I think Veymo is getting quite afraid over there now that his little squad is leaving him. He was trying to keep her on his side, but he has done one simple mistake. Without the soul Avez is acting on his own, and unless you really have trained him to do so, he will not be much of an opponent all by himself."

Kai nodded and sighed deeply. Dranzer glowed from the blade indicating she was ready to do whatever they would have to do.

"Kai, defeat her and the curse will hopefully be gone. Veymo rarely keeps the trash anyway."

Kai smiled evilly. So, this was some new kind of Voltaire they were talking about. He should have known that from the start.

As Kai walked back ray stared at Veymo with hate in his eyes. He really wondered what had happened with Driger and what Sakhmekh had done with him.

Daichi seemed to be able to read his thoughts and bent closer and whispered.

"Don't worry, I know we will get the tiger back. Sakhmekh is just following orders."

Ray said something, cursing in Chinese. "I just wonder where he took me, it was all so strange. And now Driger is locked up in a tree. A tree!"

Daichi looked up at him and suddenly grinned knowingly. Then he did something startling everyone around. He laughed, as if it all had been some kind of joke.

Ray stared at him. The Chinese teen wasn't just confused, he also felt quite taken aback over the reaction.

Meanwhile the third and last battle started and this time Kai had managed to avoid being hit in the same place, which was good for another cut and the knife would probably stick out from his shoulder. Raya however didn't take this lightly, or whatever Raya now had turned out to be.

Kai didn't show any signs of emotions in his face, having his usual old mask of steel put on. This old mask that served his purposes as no blader he had met before had been able to read his mind. And that was something he preferred.

In the dish the red and yellow blade bounced of Dranzer in leaping attacks. Avez looked tired for being a beast and Kai still hadn't called forward Dranzer.

"What is the matter Kai, scared I will steal Dranzer from you?" the girl asked tossing her bright red hair over her shoulder.

Kai sighed and for one moment his mask lifted showing a rather and very rarely concerned teen underneath. (Shitza: And no, the rest of the team can't see this, thankfully or you could just imagine all the tease. Ps, he is OOC enough again, yikes!) Kai looked at her straight in the eyes for one moment…

Whatever Raya saw in his eyes no one could see, but something happened as the girl suddenly twitched and fell to her knees. The girl was murmuring something in her own language, trembling violently. In the dish the match stopped for some brief moments and the blades stayed on their spots. Raya looked up to meet the same gaze again.

'What in the world is going on?' people wondered.

Suddenly Raya's body glowed bright purple and black darkness and something seemed to try and regain its hold on her. "No… no!" she said over and over again trying to fight of.

In the meantime Avez started attacking again, grinding Dranzer to pieces. Kai saw this and understood that whatever it was inside the girl's body, it was taking hold again. Sighing, remembering Daichi's words about her blade he did the only thing that would end this.

"Dranzer, Firewheel Despair!"

The blue blade, shrouded in red flames circled the dish as if it intended to build up a hurricane, but instead it left a trail of fire. Forming a perfect circle the flames suddenly shot into the centre of the dish, knocking Avez out.

Dranzer returned to Kai's hand and Raya sank to the floor exhausted. Kai turned back towards his team, but not before holding Dranzer over his head receiving a mass of applause from the spectators. His team ran up to him, Ray, Tyson, Max and Daichi to congratulate him. Hilary was more worried about his shoulder and Kenny of his blade. No one noticed Kim sneaking of to the other side, helping a really startled Raya back to her feet.

"What happened really?" the black haired girl asked. She was wondering since the cameras had caught nothing of the scenery and more from the blades.

Raya blushed in response and said nothing. Instead she hugged her old friend tightly before walking off towards her team captain and so called leader. As she walked up she took her bit chip from the blade and tossed the remaining parts at them. The blade broke sending splinters everywhere before she hurried out of sight, never to return to that team again.

Tyson cheered like the rest, but not without feeling the tenseness grow inside him. It was 6-6 a draw so far, a draw he hoped to bring to a win. But he remembered that Anto Set wasn't a blader to cross and he hoped that he would be able to win.

On the other side, the last remaining blader of the Elementals grinned. He believed, no… he knew… Dragoon would be theirs!

TBC

To reviewers:

A, sorry for the long first notes but I was indeed very bored so I had to have some fun, and it is dead boring here. Anyway, better start on the replies:

fastblurd: Have to agree on that ray feels bad, if I have counted it right he has lost Driger most time among the Bladebreakers. First time during the Asian tournament, second after his match with Bryan, thirdly he lost him to the saint shields and now this time. Poor rat, I do feel awful.

Z Star: no worries about the episode, I hope I have some more reviews back home. Anyway, yes, I do also feel bad for ray and awful for Raya. After all, it was most like the same curse upon her as it had been on Kim earlier. Ah, this will be explained further on, especially about some few details. Hope you enjoyed and good luck with the registration.

storm-of-insanity: thanks for the three reviews, yes I know Daichi is OOC, and I will have to find out a way to either explain this or struggle to get him back in the old way. But he was the only one vacant without too much background. Besides, isn't he cute here, I mean I am not as anti-Daichi since I included him here. Yes, I have seen the opening theme for G-Revolution and it is funny, but I really hate that everyone is picking on him. (shakes head.) Also, thanks for the attacks, however the attack I included has some background as well, and it was decided age ago. But thanks for it saves me the trouble of inventing new next time.

End Notes:

Not much to say, have already said most I wanted to say. Thanks for the help and the reviews. However, please continue to review, it helps out a lot.

Shitza