Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or any of its characters.

Beyblade

Broken Down Ghost House

By: Plushie-Sensei

Chapter 8: Fallling Pieces

The bayou waters leveled with an eerie fog hovering over it. Several crocodiles floated in the water not even taking notice to the rather large boat silently drifting through. The motor made a low buzz as Robert turned the wheel every now and then to keep the boat on course. In front, Kai's eyes sifted through the fog, taking notice of every object and shape. The others resided in the boat, looking through the front window just behind Kai.

"We're almost there," came Robert's voice. Even though he whispered it still made Kai jump. The area was so silent he could hear his heartbeat loudly in his ears, and thought that Robert could probably hear it too. He was so nervous, unable to think of anything but getting Rei back, but it still hurt him inside. How could he not see that Rei cared about him in that way. It was so obvious now that he looked back on it. He felt so stupid, and regretted not telling Rei that he felt the same.

"There it is..." he whispered, trying to change his own subject. Sure enough, the island sat not too far away. It looked even scarier returning to the blasted place, but Kai wasn't as scared anymore. As a matter of fact, Kai wasn't afraid of anything, but one thing. Losing Rei forever...

"I can't believe that evil woman has done all this..." Rei watched with mirth as the ballroom came alive with old guests, all trying to find a way out, but only bumping into each other. He turned his head, careful not to fall off of the rafters, as he looked at Madeline.

"Yes... keep in mind, these are the souls she left to wander around aimlessly, just to give the Inn a scare factor. She keeps hoards of them in a trunk somewhere else..." Rei glared at the spirits once more.

"So what about you?" he asked, looking up at the little bat again. Madeline frowned, her face showing that of grief.

"I was visiting here for my honeymoon..." Rei looked astonished.

"You're... or... were a newlywed?" She nodded.

"Yes... I'd just gotten married to a wealthy French gentleman, and my father was very happy. Now I would be able to produce a blood heir to the kingdom..." Rei suddenly gaped.

"You're a princess!" Madeline nodded with a smile. His surprise seemed to lift her mood.

"Yes, in a small island off the coast of South America. My father though it would be a great idea to come here for my honeymoon, but that was not the case. On the second day, the young Evelyn took us on a tour and we immediately got lost. The house became alive with ghosts and ghouls and soon, we were trapped. My... husband was pushed out of a window, and unfortunately didn't survive... The mistress took his soul, but I begged her not to. She said she'd keep him in a special place for safe keeping if I became her pet. I instantly agreed, and she pulled my soul away from my body. The next thing I knew, I was a tiny bat with a small bell collar... My husband was no where to be found..."

Rei listened to her tale with a heavy heart. So she lost a loved one as well...

"And what about you? I saw you earlier, but you didn't seem to take to me well..." Rei smiled, watching his tail swing back and forth below him.

"Yeah, I'm... sorry about that... Well, long story short, I was here with my friends on an invite. Apparently, she knew me long before I knew her... Anyways, my friends should be long gone from this place by now. I..." Rei paused.

"Don't be shy, Rei. We're going to be here for a while..." Rei nodded, suddenly bursting with energy.

"Yeah... I wanted to make sure my friends never had to deal with place again, so... I had to hurt someone very close to me..." Madeline bowed her head.

"I see..."

"I... loved him..." Madeline smiled softly.

"I see..."

"I don't want his soul sucked out and used to try to make that jerk look younger! I have to protect them all... It's the least I can do, since it's my fault we came here in the first place. I felt so out of place in their group, but occasionally, I would find my place. Who knew it would end up causing so much pain..."

"It's okay..." Madeline soothed. Rei could only stare off into nothingness, his mind filled with memories of his human life as they slowly faded away into the nothingness he was staring into...

"So, everyone knows what to do right?" Kai asked everyone as they piled onto the shoreline.

"Yeah, stay in our groups and look for the door of doom," Tyson mused as he jumped off the boat. He looked up seeing Hilary watching him with worry. "Hey, Hil, what's wrong?" Hilary pulled back, holding her hands over her heart with a frightened look.

"I'm just... worried... Normally you run off to face these huge and powerful beybladers and end up winning since you've got Dragoon and all... but this time... it's not a beyblader... it's something else... Something much more unpredictable..." Tyson turned to see Kai and the others gathering up their belongings a distance away, but still in sight. He smiled, then, and climbed back onto the boat, immediately catching Hilary's trembling lips with his own. He pulled her into a comforting embrace as he kissed her, trying to calm her. He pulled away from her to smile and could only hold her as she threw herself against him.

"It's okay to be scared, Hil... I'm scared too, but we have to save Rei. Something about him leaving just didn't seem right. I don't think he really wanted to go, and so, we have to do something... And don't worry... if anything happens, I'll rescue you..." Hilary pulled away to look into his honest maroon eyes, shining with affection. She looked a bit uneasy, but smiled anyway.

"Thanks," she mumbled, starting toward the edge of the boat. Tyson nodded and jumped off to help her down.

Max sighed heavily looking rather discouraged as Kai stared off into the forest. His brow knit with slight frustration.

"What's wrong, Max?" Kenny asked, strapping on a small backpack. Max continued to look rather jealous.

"Why does Kai get to have to cool power... Is it love, er... something like that?" Max looked down at Kenny as if examining him. Kenny then looked and all of a sudden looked rather disgusted.

"Ew, Max, you're not thinking of-"

"Oh, absolutely not!" Max stepped away from Kenny and up to Kai. "Hey, Kai?" Kai looked back without much interest.

"What?"

"Oh, I was just wondering how you got that power to work, is all..." Kai turned to him with a curious look.

"I just felt it and focused and it came to me. Now stop asking stupid questions and let's go," he said, somewhat harshly. Max stood where he was with a dejected look. He raised his hands to examine them. A strong feeling passed through him but he was unable to place it. Was it sorrow or the feeling of abandonment? Something of that nature... Max decided to do what Kai did. Focus. Something deep inside him felt different all of a sudden.

Max steadily followed the others as they walked through the woods, though his attention was more on his trembling hands.

"Come on..." he coaxed, feeling even more frustrated than before. His hands remained void of any such power. Max's heart began to sink slightly. He'd always envied the others for their different abilities and how something great always happened to them. Since when had anything ever happened to him? Suddenly Max's heart sped up and he raised his hands into the air as he yelled, "Why doesn't it work for me!" Kai and the others turned around and gasped as a pair of huge werewolves raced up from behind Max.

"Max, look out!" Kai warned, his hands already ignited with small flames. Max turned to watch the wolves close in and suddenly, he frowned, looking rather angry. In an instant, a rush of water seeped from under him and the wolves were washed away through the trees with the tall wave from nowhere. Kai stopped, gaping at the complexity of the situation. He looked at his own hands, watching the flames dissipate, then back at Max watching with interest at the swirling water dancing around his fists. "Max...?"

"YES! Oh, yeah! I did it! I have the power!" Everyone sweatdropped at the childish dance Max was doing in celebration to the birthing of his new power.

"I have a sneaking suspicion that Max and Kai aren't the only ones with weird powers..." Kenny mused, turning to Tyson and Hilary. "Tyson, why don't you try something?" Tyson blinked a few times before examining his hand. He clenched it into fist then pulled his body into a battle stance. He focused all of his energy into his arms and pulled back. He waited for a moment then released the energy to his finger tips and like magic, a gust of wind blew roughly against a tree, knocking off several leaves.

"Cool! I have the power of invisible shockwaves!" Hilary walked up and smacked him over the head, making him yelp with pain.

"You dork, that's wind!" Tyson thought it over.

"Well, wind's cool too..." Hilary sighed in exasperation.

"That's very interesting... Hm?" Kenny looked up at Kai whom was looking at his hand with an earnest expression. "What's the matter, Kai? Don't feel special anymore?" Kenny smirked. One glare from Kai shut him up instantly.

"That's not it. Okay, now that everyone is all power rangers like, can we please continue!" Tyson and Max looked at each other with grave expressions.

"You know..."

"Suddenly, I don't like these powers anymore..." Tyson finished, as Max and he stared at their hands with mirth.

Soon, the gang found themselves on the outskirts of the forest staring right into the entryway to the very place they wished never to return to. Memories began to flood back into their minds of the terrifying events that took place last time, and here they were trying to get back in. It seemed almost suicidal to even think of returning to a place like this, but a very important piece to their chain was missing, and life would never be complete again without that piece...

"And so the dawning of my new era begins..." Miss Mary mused, looking upon an old leather trunk. A newer one sat right beside it, open and empty. "Soon enough, I will have my animal spirits... The most powerful, too. I shall keep the Tiger God of Thunder as a trinket, along with that useless bat princess, and then I will use the Phoenix God of Fire, the Chimera God of the Sea, and the Dragon God of the Wind. I'll keep the Dragon Queen as another pet, along with that cyborg animal thing with the glasses. It's all working out... How wonderful..."

"Miss Mary... Our other guests have arrived..." Mary turned to see Evelyn standing in the doorway. She eyed her with a distant look.

"Evelyn...?"

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"Do you think that young girl would look good with dress?" Evelyn made no reaction.

"I know not, I don't have opinions..." Miss Mary frowned then.

"That's too bad... I think I may have to get a new maid... One with a more vibrant personality..." Evelyn made no reaction. "Ugh, you're so boring... I can't even scare you. In that case, I'll just destroy you..."

"As you wish..." Miss Mary suddenly became very angry.

"Never mind that! How about I give you back your mind and send you off into the house. You always were afraid of every little bump!" Mary waved her hand and suddenly a light shined in Evelyn's eyes and a look of fright overcame her. "That's better... now go away and leave me be!" Another wave and Evelyn dissipated into the air, her body teleporting into another part of the house.

Rei carefully padded across the hallway, giving a bare back ride to his new princess friend. Madeline clung tightly to Rei's collar, enjoying the ride for the most part. Suddenly, though, Rei stopped midstep, his eyes dilating.

"What's happened, Rei? Are you okay?" Madeline slid off of his back and scurried to his front, looking frightened at the pain in his eyes. "Rei? Rei, what's-"

"They've come back... They... came back..."

"Who? Who came back?" she asked, grabbing onto Rei's collar and climbing onto his back once again.

"They did... They... Argh! I can't remember their names!" Rei suddenly collapsed, mewling in pain. Madeline watched him with concern and frowned at the pounding flesh above his heart. It looked as though his ribs would burst any minute.

"What can I do...?"

"I have to see them... I don't know why... but I need to..." Madeline yelped in surprise as Rei stood up in a flash and barely had enough time to grab onto his collar as he sped off down the hallway toward the front room of the house. Something there beckoned his heart, and he had no choice but to see what it was.

Kai slowly opened the doors to the house stepping into the dead atmosphere. The others followed cautiously, keeping in a group.

"So far, I've got normal readings of some paranormal activity," Robert piped up. Kenny placed a laptop on the ground and began typing on it, opening up a program.

"This map of the house is incredible, Robert," Kenny cooed, loving technology oh so much. Robert nodded in agreement.

"Years of research went into that, and you don't know what I had to go through to find the blueprints..." Kai made a noise of boredom as he fixed an earphone to his right ear.

"You sure this'll work?" he asked, turning to see Tyson doing the same with another earphone, as well as Max. Hilary examined the room, noticing that it looked much older than the first time they'd been there.

"Yes, this should work. Alright, you three, Kai, Tyson, and Max, being the ones with those weird... power... things... will go out into the areas assigned, looking for that door." The three nodded at Kenny's statement. "These earphones will keep us all in touch and the bracelets you've got will let us know where you are on the computer at all times. Meanwhile, Robert, Hilary, and I will stay here. And of course, Rei's body will be right here." Robert carefully pulled the blankets away from Rei's face, making a face to the almost white skin. "We'll keep an eye on him, in case Rei's soul appears-"

"I'm the one who's going to find him..." Kai said. "I'll give him a piece of my mind..." Kenny gulped slightly, fearing what Kai had planned for Rei.

"Alright, then everyone got it?" With a nod from everyone, the three explorers set out to find the coveted door of doom. Of course, only one will find the door, so what exactly would the other two find? No one really knew at this point, but they knew it'd be a scream...

TBC...