The Fourth Tournament

Or

Hijacked by Astro V.

Right… As promised, the final battle of the first match… You know what; I might actually put Astro V in it… Oh yeah, and the big italic bit that's coming up… it's a dream, at least I think it is.

Chapter 10

Neither Tyson nor Kai had a good night's sleep the night before their battle.

Tyson jumped at the knock on the door.

"Come in!" He yelled, switching channels on the TV. He heard someone open the door, and then there was a large thump. They ran out to see what was going on.

Ray was slumped on the floor, tears of pain pouring down his face. Hilary screamed as she saw blood ooze its way from the cut at the back of Ray's leg.

"Ray, who did this to you?" Max asked, helping him onto the sofa.

"Bryan – and Garland – and Lee – watched," Ray gasped.

Max and Tyson looked at each other in bewilderment. Lee?

No one batted an eyelid when Bryan slouched in, covered in Ray's blood.

"I'm going to have a shower!" He yelled, slightly limping from the attack earlier. He locked the door, not that there was much use in that, as all of them could pick a lock as simple as the one on the door. He reached to turn the shower on, but then decided against it. He ran the tap in the sink when there was a knock on the door.

"I'm coming in, Bryan." Kasi's low voice floated through the door. "So if you're doing anything indecent, pray stop." Bryan rolled his eyes as she opened the door, shutting it behind her. "Let's have a look at these scars then." She muttered, helping Bryan pull off the remaining rag that was his shirt. Most girls would have flinched at the scars on Bryan's back, but Kasi wasn't most girls. She was unique.

Kasi could have easily been mistaken for a cyborg or a robot, but she was completely human. She could either be very motherly, like she was now, or she could be the vicious killing machine that most people saw. As she sponged down Bryan's back, she murmured soothing things in Russian, her melodious voice soaring as it often did when she spoke in her native language. When she ran out of things to say, Kasi and Bryan just talked. About anything and everything. Everything seemed normal.

Until the night.

"I've called 911." Kenny said sitting down next to Tyson as Ray stumblingly recounted his encounter with Bryan. They'd called Mariah as soon as Ray had arrived and she was cradling Ray's head. There was another knock at the door and Max opened it to admit the paramedics.

"Mariah, if you go with Ray, the rest of us will go down to the office and get one of them to come with us. It's rules, you know." He said, pulling on his jacket. The Bladebreakers, minus Ray, of course, trooped down to the front desk.

"Um, excuse me?" Hilary said, leaning over the desk. "Our friend's just gone with the paramedics, but we'll need a companion to go with us. Is there anyone available?"

Brooklyn was woken up by Garland when he eventually came in. He groaned and rolled over, switching on the table lamp.

"And where have you been?" He said, watching as Garland pulled off his shirt and climbed into the bed next to Brooklyn.

"I told you. I was on duty!" Garland muttered, throwing a pillow at Brooklyn.

"Duty doesn't take that long!" Brooklyn threw it back. Garland ducked, the pillow hit Mystel. Suddenly, Garland's face took on a listening expression and he flopped onto the bed, looking to all the world that he was asleep. Brooklyn realised why when the door opened.

"Ah! Brooklyn, you're up." Mr Dickinson said, putting his head around the door. "I don't suppose you'd be able to go on duty now? We have a little situation down the front."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Brooklyn muttered, directing a glare at Garland when Mr Dickinson wasn't looking. "Just give me… twenty seconds."

"I'll be down by the front desk. I think you'll be going with Zoe, if she's awake, which she probably is." Brooklyn nodded and pulled on a navy blue shirt, grabbed a long leather jacket and, as an afterthought, picked up his iPod and hung it round his neck.

"I'm going to kill you, Garland Seabalt!" He muttered and exited, Garland chuckling softly behind him.

Max jumped as Brooklyn came thundering down the stairs, looking half asleep.

"Zoe not here yet?" He mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

"I am here." He jumped as Zoe came up behind him.

"You're driving." He said, throwing a set of keys to Zoe. Beside Max, Tyson groaned. It seemed that a lot of old enemies were going to be around this tournament.

Suddenly there was a scream. A terrified scream, a girl. Mystel flew down the stairs, pulling his shirt on as he did.

"Hiro's just coming." He panted. "We'll go and see what the scream was."

Kasi turned in her sleep. The band around her chest seemed too tight…

A little girl. Not older than seven was in a corner of the room. Her violet eyes were full of tears, her black hair hung in limp strands. She cringed away from the man that stood in front of her, the tears rolling down her cheeks as he lifted her up. His hands fastened around her throat, she found it hard to breathe. Eventually, he dropped her and she screamed…

"Kasi!" Someone was stroking her forehead. "Kasi, please wake up!" An unfamiliar face swam around her as she opened her eyes. She screamed, panting. She couldn't breathe. She covered her eyes as the room began to come into focus. A pair of arms wrapped around her and she uncovered her eyes slowly, like a small child. She found herself staring into a pair of concerned lavender eyes. She gasped for breath, relieved that she recognised them. "Tala!" She heard Kai call. "Her inhaler, it's in her bag!" In no time, her deep purple inhaler was pressed into her hands. She inhaled several times, catching her breath back slowly.

"What's going on?" Unfamiliar voices rang throughout their sleeping quarters. She recognised two of the ex BEGA bladers there, evidently she had woken them up. Kai pushed back her heavy curtain of hair and looked into her face.

"You better now?" He murmured, as Spencer wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. She closed her eyes, focusing her thoughts.

"I think so." She replied. Ian forced a hot drink into her hands. She smiled softly at him and sipped it.

Max sighed and opened the passenger seat door. Mind you, he didn't envy the other guys, under the watchful eye of Brooklyn. Zoe finished talking to Mr Dickinson (the conversation seemed to revolve around Zoe saying "No, I won't set fire to anyone!") and slid into the driving seat, securing her phone in the handset.

"Do you know what hospital he's in?" She said quietly.

"Umm… Central Great Mark." Max replied, looking closely at the girl who had almost set fire to his dad. She didn't look so tough, close up. Suddenly, a tone came out of no where. Max recognised it as a Greenday song; they were on the radio a lot. Zoe pressed a button on her phone.

"Zoe Albus, what the hell do you want?"

"Hey," There was a snicker from the other end of the phone. Zoe sighed.

"Mystel, I repeat: what the hell do you want?"

"Just thought you might like to find out about the scream… Hiro would ring, but he reckons you might try to burn the phone down if he rang."

"Too true. So, what was it?"

"One of Blitzkrieg Omega had a panic attack." This was met with a hushed silence as the Bladebreakers tried to take it in.

"Which one?" Brooklyn asked from behind.

"Kasi. The girl, you know. Apparently the attack on Bryan earlier on triggered memories, but she could keep them at bay until she slept. She's an asthmatic, which could also have had something to do with it. Garland will have a chat with her tomorrow." Zoe nodded and switched her phone off.

There was a stony silence until they got to the hospital.

Next day – about six am

Garland picked up his speed. He wanted to get to the gym before anyone else was there, so he could leave good and early, so no one would see him and asked him awkward questions about the day before. But it seems someone got there before him.

He stepped into the gym gently, hoping he wouldn't be noticed. Even if Garland had been an elephant, he wouldn't have noticed, because Kasi Rosetti was completely intense on her training.

Bitterly aware of the fact that everyone knew about her panic attack the night before, Kasi was currently taking out her anger and frustration on the punch bag in front of her. Her black hair was coiled on top of her head, her cloak forgotten and her dress whirling around her as she punched. Bare knuckle, of course. Kasi and Bryan thought very scornfully of any loser who wore pads on their knuckles. With one final punch, and a death scream in Russian, the bag fell to the floor, sand spilling out. She began to kick it angrily, pushing it against the wall in her anger.

"I don't think you're going to get another punch out of that." Garland muttered, leaning against the wall. Kasi spun around, her fists clenched, ready for action.

"Is it any of your business? What are you doing here so early, anyway?" She growled, pulling the pins out of her hair.

"I'm here to avoid awkward questions. And yourself?" He watched as Kasi plaited her hair.

"I'm here every morning. I had a late start today, because of the attack last night." Her cold violet eyes bore into him.

"Look, if you really want to know, I'm with you guys. I was the guy sent after Bryan to check he was ok, and I really think what Ray did was wrong. So will you stop glaring at me like I'm the devil himself?"

Kasi smirked and grabbed a bottle of water. She pulled her cloak back on and looked at Garland.

"Trust me, I can go worse than the devil incarnate glare. But I generally reserve that for Voltaire and Boris." She picked up a walkman and checked the cd. Garland peeked over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow when he saw the cd.

"The Phantom of the Opera?"

"Your problem? Damn good music, I'll have you know."

And, with that, she left the room, her cape flying out behind her.

Battle 3 – Kai v Tyson

Kai stepped up to the dish, clearing his mind of everything that had happened. Unbeknownst to Kasi, after her panic attack, he'd sat up the rest of the night, just watching her sleep. His sister was dearer to him than he'd admit.

Tyson was just as tired. Ray's condition had been worse than they thought, and he'd lost a lot of blood but un luckily he'd survived.

So both of them were shattered already.

"You've changed a lot Kai. I'm not even sure I know you, well, however little I did know of you. One thing is certain. Hanging around with Bryan and Tala, you've changed into the sort of person they are." Tyson stared at Kai. Kai stared back.

"You never did know me, Tyson. Well, if you did, it pales into significance. I'm going to beat you today. And show the world that I'm just as good as you, if not better!"

"Today, folks, we have new dish!" Jazzman yelled into his microphone. "It's called the sudden death dish! It may seem similar to the dish these two bladers battled in last time, and it's the same principle, but the first blader to hit the stadium floor loses!" He waited for the bladers to digest facts, before continuing. "So… 3-2-1… LET IT RIP!" Tyson released his beyblade into the dish, watching out of the corner of his eye as Kai did the same. The beyblades circled the dish predatorily and the bladers glared at each other.

"Last time you cheated me of the title, Tyson." Kai growled, his crimson eyes reflecting his blue beyblade. "This year, I will earn what's rightfully mine!"

"If it was rightfully yours, you would have won it years ago!" Tyson yelled.

"All you ever did was just put off the imminent take over that Biovolt wants. You think you stopped it, you just prolonged the suffering. But I've spent years honing my talents, working on my skills. Even before you knew me. And for what? For some ignorant fool with an IQ of seven, a big mouth and an even bigger appetite to just waltz in and beat me?"

"Don't do a Bryan on me and go all loony!" Tyson warned.

"Don't worry. I don't need to scare you to beat you." Kai spat. "Ray isn't the only one that has a new attack! Dranzer! Wall of fire!" The phoenix gave a horrendous screech and a ball of white light blinded Tyson. But when he got his sight back, Kai hadn't attacked. Nothing seemed to have happened. "I want to win Tyson, but not that easily. You aren't even trying!"

"Huh! I'll show you!" Tyson said, not realising that was what Kai wanted. "Dragoon! Galaxy Turbo Twister!"

"Excellent. So predictable, Tyson. Just what I wanted you to do." Kai snickered, pointing to the twin turbines Tyson had raised. As Tyson watched, the insides of the tornados began to glow red and fire began to bulge out of the net like hurricanes. Suddenly, the turbines gave way and both beyblades were catapulted out of the dish, striking the platforms the two bladers were standing on. Then, Tyson's gave way, followed a split second after by Kai's. As it was, Tyson hit the ground first.

The news was met with a stony silence. Then Kasi and Hilary jumped into the dishes, pulling the two boys out. For once, Kasi was smiling.

"Ladies… Ladies and Gentlemen! Blitzkrieg Omega have won the first round!" The crowd burst into applause.

"Tyson!" Kai's hoarse voice carried through the stadium. Tyson spun around, expecting one final jab. "A bit of role reversal here." Kai muttered, his eyes warmer than Tyson had ever seen. "But good game, yeah? One loss, doesn't mean much, does it?"

"We'll still beat you in the finals." Tyson grinned. Kai raised an eyebrow slightly.

"I wouldn't count on it." He walked away to his team.

"See! I told you! You just beat Tyson, you idiot!" Suzy ran into Kai's arms, almost knocking him flying. He blinked, slightly startled. She pulled away and put on a low voice. "I don't know Suzy. Maybe I'm just past my prime. Maybe I should just retire, Suzy." Kai couldn't help it – a tiny smile appeared on his face, lifting the corners of his mouth.

"Well?" Katt looked at her twin. "They've really improved since we beat them. Do you think, if we go up against them again, do you think we'll beat them?"

"Pass the chocolate." Jess grumbled.

Kane crossed his legs, his blue hair falling in front of his eyes. He wouldn't have admitted it, but he wasn't so sure about blading. As per usual, he had a strange feeling that he was on the wrong side. He'd thought Dr Gideon had been scary, but this… man, if he was that, terrified him. Scared him out of his wits. Not that he'd admit it, of course. He stood up again, stretching his arms and yawning. He knocked on the door.

"Come in." A deep voice came from within. Kane swallowed and pushed the door open.

"Stupid Mariah." Kevin grumbled, pulling himself onto the roof of the hotel they were lodging at. "Why do I have to do everything around here? Just because I'm smaller than them, and I'm better looking than them… and I'm smarter than them…" He was so content in his self pity that he didn't notice the green haired boy that scrambled up beside him.

"You do know talking to yourself is the first sign of madness, right?" Kevin jumped, staring at the youngster next to him.

"What's the second sign?" Kevin asked, taking in the uniform the blader was wearing.

"Purple and green spots on your hands." The blader widened his eyes slightly as Kevin checked his palms. "Third sign's looking for them."

"Hey!" Kevin protested. "That's not fair!"

"Gets them going every time." The blader snickered. "I'm Joseph, from the Saint Shields. You're Kevin, right? White Tiger X?"

"Yeah…" Kevin trailed off, confused. "How did you-?"

"Ozuma insists that we learn everything about our future opponents. Ozuma's my sister's boyfriend, by the way, and our team leader."

"Haven't seen you here before." Kevin snickered. Joseph shrugged.

"I have a lot of secret places. It takes time to visit them all." The grin on Joseph's face was only matched by the one on Kevin's. "Come on, I'll show them to you!"

Ozuma closed his eyes, composing the emotions that were flying through him.

The intense blader rarely smiled anymore. Not since being cast out from his clan for failing to secure the four bit beasts. His green eyes were always dim with pain, and his hands shook when he bladed. If it wasn't for Mariam, he would have given up a long time ago. But her and her brother had brought happiness into his grey life; their eagerness to add him into their family surprised him.

He'd never had a proper family; his life had revolved around securing the four bit beasts. From the minute he could hold a blade, he'd been practicing, from the minute he could walk he'd been training. And all for nothing.

Submitting his team to this, the fourth tournament, was a decision that he had not made lightly. He realised that he would probably not be welcomed back with open arms.

Tyson held a grudge against people that went against him, no matter what he said. You just had to see how he treated Tala and the rest of Blitzkrieg Omega. And the way he treated the BBA backups, in particular Garland, Brooklyn and Mystel. Not to forget Hiro. So, his battles would be interesting.

Katt pulled on her jacket and swung herself out of the window. She heard a chuckle behind her as Jess closed it, knowing she was there.

The Morgan's preferred to use windows rather than doors, because, they said it made them feel free. But it certainly wasn't free when they broke them.

She needed to feel the fresh air on her face. To compose herself, show that she was just as good as anyone else, without her sister always butting in.

Don't get her wrong; Katt loved being a spiritual triplet. They didn't always need to talk; they knew what the others were thinking. But, being five foot three wasn't a great deal of fun. Katt realised that she was about average height for the bladers that had congregated in Japan. Ici was slightly below average, at five foot and Jess… well, only Bryan, Kasi, Robert, Spencer and a couple of The Stallions were bigger than five foot ten.

Jess was the bigger, the stronger, the better fighter, the scarier. And Katt couldn't help but feel jealous.

"Suze!" Kai threw a handful of gravel up at the girl's window. Despite it sounding like pistol shots in the night, there was no answer. "Suzy!" He raised his voice a little. After what seemed like a lifetime, Suzy poked her head out of the window, her red curls flying behind her. Now that he had her attention, Kai knew he had to act fast before she pummelled or 'marmalised' him. "Care for a walk?" Suzy rolled her eyes and shut the window, withdrawing her head first. Kai gave a heartfelt sigh, but was unsurprised when a pair of gloved hands covered his eyes from behind.

"Boo." Suzy whispered teasingly in his ear, yet again showing that she was a quarter of an inch taller than him, if you didn't count his hair, of course. "Come on, we better get going before Johnny finds out we've gone!" Kai grabbed Suzy's hand and pulled her into the forest.

"Why? We've been waiting out here for the last two days. I hate to say this, Mark, but I think you've been stood up." Stuart complained, dodging the hit that was inevitable from the big blader. Carlos grabbed Mark's arm.

"He deserves answers. We all do." He said quietly, his dark eyes boring into Mark's.

Since Carlos was defeated by Tyson, he'd become a different guy. They all had, really, with Stuart learning to keep quiet around Mark, who's temper had increased, with Lex becoming more mouthy and sure of himself and Carlos going deeper into himself, trying to find answers to the questions that troubled him at night, yet were unfamiliar to him in the day.

"You remember those two girls that beat us, years back? Whilst Kai was still here?" Mark sighed, crossing his arms. Carlos and Stuart exchanged looks, wondering what the hell Mark was on about. "Well, they're here. They're battling in the tournament. And I want revenge."

Carlos and Stuart looked at each other as they both silently debated the matter of their leader and team-mate's sanity. Suddenly, Lex grabbed Mark's arm and silently pointed to the edge of the clearing, where Katt had appeared from nowhere, singing under her breath.

"Shh!" Suzy placed a finger to Kai's lips. "I can hear something!"

"But I wasn't talking!" Kai complained under his breath. Suzy glared at him and began to scale the nearest tree. Kai swung himself up beside her, as she looked out towards the clearing. Kai's eyes narrowed as he recognised the voices and he wrapped an arm around Suzy, hugging her close.

He stiffened at the feel of cold metal on the nape of his neck.

"What are you doing here?" Katt asked as Kai was lead into the clearing. She rose onto her tiptoes as someone else was brought in, then realised it was Suzy. "On second thoughts, I don't want to know. I just had dinner."

Kai glared at her angrily, but didn't say anything.

"Looks like we got a bit luckier than I thought." Mark chuckled, only to be met with the coldest stare ever to have come from a certain pair of crimson eyes. It stunned him into silence.

"Haven't I beaten you some where before?" Katt asked, in a deliberately vague tone. She stiffened slightly – only slightly – as Lex pulled his gun on her. After a deliberate pause, Carlos and Stuart did the same.

"What's happening?" Kai asked, his face the most emotional anyone had seen in a long time. "I knew you were a nasty piece of work, Mark, but I didn't think you'd be up to killing anyone. That was more my other team." Mark swung around, but Kai didn't even flinch. He shrugged himself free of the goons that held him and walked up to Stuart, who he was probably the closest to. "What's happened? When did you all change?" He asked quietly, astutely noticing the uneasiness Stuart felt at the close proximity. Kai wasn't surprised when he felt a gun pressed between his shoulder blades.

"If you want to know," Carlos' voice drawled from behind him. "It happened pretty soon after you left us in the lurch."

"What do you want?" Kai asked, staring into Mark's eyes.

"We went the girl."

"What, this one?" Kai motioned nonchalantly at Katt. "You can have her."

"Незаконнорожденный." Katt muttered under her breath, glaring at the blue haired boy.

Suzy rolled her eyes. She wasn't one to stereotype, but she was beginning to get the impression that most Russians weren't exactly the social type.

The three of them formed a triangle, back to back, no one was unprotected.

"Do we use blades?" Katt murmured, so that only Suzy and Kai could hear her.

"No!" Kai snapped. "These guys may look like idiots," He began, blocking a punch that came his way, "But their blading isn't too bad," Katt's foot landed in Mark's… place where the sun don't shine, "And their reading of the game is superb," Suzy bit Lex's arm as it came to her.

After a while, the three bladers got bored of this, and easily escaped.

"Where are you going?" Suzy asked. It had started to rain and her red hair was sticking to her head. "The hotel's back that way!"

"Yeah, about that… I'm going to take a detour… Through Russia!"

"Johnny's waiting…Oh!" Suzy's violet eyes widened.

"Yeah… I don't fancy being killed by a Scottish lunatic!" Kai looked at her properly for the first time that night. She saw the slight glimmer in his eyes that was the only thing that proved he was happy. She swung an arm around his shoulders and steered him towards the hotel.

"Don't worry; I'll make sure Johnny's isn't too mad." She teased.

"There's a slight difference between your version of madness and mine!" Kai replied, grabbing her around the waist and spinning her around.

Umm… Hey! I'm not going to translate the piece of Russian, it's a bad word! So yeah, you can imagine. Oh yeah, if you'd like any favourite character to appear in this fic, request it in a review and I'll see what I can do! (Unless it's a character I really really really don't like!