SOMEONE2003: Wow…thanks for all the flattering compliments! It's relieving that they're in-character, I was worried about that, though I'm not so sure I keep them i-c throughout all the chapters. I'm so happy you like it so much! Here, have some pocky for being the first reviewer!

Bra-Two: Hey, I thought it was a good review! Probably because you called my ficcy brilliant. blissful sigh And the bear is…'innocently evil'? LOL.

Blood of the Wolf: Highly amusing review! LOL! I couldn't stop laughing, man, thanks so much! And sorry, Kai, you're not in this fic.

The Dark Light 22: Ne, cool name! I'm flattered you like my fic even if you hate Beyblade! And I like the flashbacks too.

Tala's-Soul: I was hooked on writing it…. And, whee, you got lots of enthusiasm there. That's a good thing!

SN: Yay, glad you love it, I love it too!

biker chick: In that sense then, there's lots of insight about the D Boys' families here. Wish the show had told more about their pasts, though. Ah well.

aries1391: Thanks very much, I'm glad you like my stuff! You're a great author yourself.

storm-of-insanity: Is this soon enough?

Shadowy Bey-gurl: Yeah, totally cute! Thanks for reviewing all those fics of mine.

ed: Welp, here's more!

krage: Yay, another person loves it! happy-happy-joy-joy What does your penname mean?

ghostymangarocker: Don't know which is worse either. And, er, sure, you can call me Cyborg if you want.

Oh wowy, so many reviews! throws confetti Thanks very much, reviewers! And thanks to the people that put this on their favorites already! Man, my life just gets better and better and better….

And I hope this chapter lives up to everybody's standards….

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade; it belongs to Aoki Takao. But I do own Brody and Dimitri, Ian's evil brothers.

Start Chapter Two:

Everybody's Fool

Ian's POV

I didn't worry about why Tala was getting taken somewhere: After all, he was to battle tomorrow, so he was probably just getting a pep talk or something. But I was curious as to why he had that bear.

Two glassy black eyes stared up at me from Tala's duffel bag. Obviously, with the condition this thing was in, it had seen many a-day.

'Probably some childhood toy of his,' I concluded, 'But why does he still have it?'

I heard the door creak open, and I turned to see who it was.

Spencer closed the door behind him.

"What are you doing, Ian?" he questioned, with an undertone of suspicion.

I straightened up from my squatting position, not bothering to answer.

"Did you have extra training today?" I asked him, also intent on understanding why Boris would want Spencer to train still.

"No."

That's Spencer for you: Not wasting his time to explain anything. He's blunt, straightforward, and quiet by nature.

"Where were you then?" I persisted.

"Outside."

My look told him I wanted more than that.

"Boris gave me some time off, so I wanted to go outside, just to relax."

"Hm."

Spencer began changing into his night clothes. "Where's Tala?"

"What, you don't care to know where Bryan is?"

Spencer shot me a look that plainly was a warning. "I asked you where Tala is, Ian."

Despite everything he's been through, Spencer has managed to cling to his compassion. So somewhere under that quiet, bulky, deadly exterior is some caring…for his teammates anyway. None of us knew where Bryan was, so he naturally wouldn't ask about it, though.

I shrugged. "Some guard took him away a few minutes ago."

Spencer nodded.

"We ought to get some sleep, don't you think?" I suggested, climbing under my bedcovers.

The blond nodded again, and followed suit in his own bed.

I don't know how, but they managed to cram four beds in our dormitory, which only makes the room smaller. Not that we have much in it anyway: Just our beds and one duffel bag of clothes and personal items each. And a tiny bathroom is attached to our room, which is quite convenient, as the other boys at the Abbey have a 'public' restroom.

The miniscule window was spilling moonlight, casting eerie shadows on the door. I watched them out of boredom, as I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep; I was too anxious.

What were they doing to Bryan? Where was Tala at? What was going to happen tomorrow, after Tala won and fulfilled Boris and Voltaire's dreams?

I never actually believed tomorrow would come. Then again, I never actually thought I would be a part of the Abbey's beyblading team. And I managed that, didn't I?

Restlessly, I rolled over onto my side, and stared at Bryan's empty bed next to me. It took me a while to realize it, but in the faint moonlight, I could make out a dark shape on his neatly made-up bed sheets. Out of boredom, I attempted to examine it. Eventually, I recognized the fact that the shape was moving.

Quirking an eyebrow, I viewed it scuttling slowly across the covers. Squinting, I realized that it had eight legs.

A shudder caused my body to tremble slightly as I watched the spider crawl along Bryan's bed. I hate spiders. It makes me feel so weak that I'm actually afraid of them. Not that I don't have good reasoning, I suppose.

General POV: Flashback

A four-year-old boy, physically underdeveloped, lay sprawled in his shared bed, sleeping peacefully with his pillow tucked under his arm. His dark purple hair was unkempt and greasy, his clothing disheveled and tattered, and the boy looked as though he hadn't bathed in a while.

In the same room, another boy, of about seven years, sat against a wall, gazing at the ceiling with boredom. Just as the boy with purple, messy hair like his brother's sighed, he felt something tickling his hand. Startled, the little boy jerked his hand to his chest, and stared down at the floor, only to see a small black spider scurrying away.

Something seemed to click in the child's mind, and he looked toward his sleeping brother with a smirk.

The seven-year-old scooted toward the spider, which had crawled partially up the wall with peeling wallpaper. He lashed out quickly, and managed to grab hold of the spider by one of its legs. The victimized arachnid struggled and swung about wildly, endeavoring to escape back to freedom at whatever cost.

The child paid no mind to the spider's movements as he stealthily crept toward his little brother.

"Oh, I-an," he chorused in a singsong voice, "time to wake-u-up."

As four-year-old Ian blinked his blood-red eyes slowly, his brother dropped the creature on Ian's pillow.

Realizing there was a spider quite close to his face, Ian screamed. He threw the pillow off the bed, and leapt off the other side.

His brother was highly amused, guffawing and clutching his sides.

"Why'd you do that, Brody?" questioned little Ian in a shaky voice, tears prickling his eyes.

Brody, seemingly paying Ian no attention, scooped the spider up again from the floor non-too-tenderly.

"What's going on?" a harsh male voice rang through the air, and the two little boys could hear footsteps hammering closer.

Quite soon, a young man of about sixteen appeared in the doorway, glowering menacingly at his younger brothers.

"Sp-spider!" exclaimed Ian, pointing flamboyantly at Brody.

Like that was his cue, Brody sprung across the bed, and waved the helpless spider in Ian's face. Resulting, Ian shrieked, shielding his face with his hands.

"Stop it, you two!" the sixteen-year-old yelled. He stormed over to the little boys and gruffly ripped them apart from each other. "Brody! Leave Ian alone, if he doesn't like spiders! And Ian! Stop screaming, it doesn't help anyone!"

The eldest boy stalked away, scratching his blue-haired, greasyhead, as none of them had been bathed in a while.

All the commotion had caused Brody to squish the spider in his fingers. Some reddish guts were protruding from its side, and a few of its legs were twisted the wrong way.

Snorting, Brody shot Ian a dangerous look, and stomped away.

A few hours later, a bone-chilling scream erupted through the small apartment Ian's family occupied. His father was dead, his mother was out drinking—leaving the eldest to care for his little brothers.

And seemingly, no one in the apartments surrounding them cared to see what all the screaming was.

The eldest boy shot up in his bed, and glared with an intense though questioning look at the bed next to his.

Brody was leaning against the wall, laughing heartily. Little Ian was sobbing as he sat up in their bed. The dead spider was on his pillow, even more mutilated then before.

"Dimitri! Dimitri!" called Brody, attempting to stifle his laughter. "It was too funny! I put the spider on Ian's pillow, and he rolled over on it! Look! There's spider guts in his hair!"

Dimitri smirked at the joke, but quickly regained his strict countenance. "Ian, stop crying! It was only a stupid, dead spider!"

Ian's POV: End Flashback

'If only my incompetent, worthless family could see me now,' I thought heatedly.

I shoved all recollection of my family from my mind and made a decision.

I slid out of my bed, and knelt next to Bryan's, being careful not to get too close to the arachnid. Studying it, I discovered its diameter was about one and one-half inches, discounting its leg-span. With a slight gulp, I watched it sit there, waiting for me to touch it.

Somehow, it felt as though it were mocking me, taunting me. The way my useless brother used to do, since he always enjoyed poking fun at me for various reasons, including my height and my fear of spiders.

Gathering all the courage I could muster, I lifted my hand. To my disgust, it was trembling.

'Am I really that afraid of a stupid spider?'

My pounding heart answered that one for me.

"Ian?" came Spencer's tired voice. I ignored it. "Ian? What are you doing?"

I was determined to touch this spider. After all, I had managed to fulfill my other goals: I dreamt of being a beyblader, and I did that, didn't I? I even surpassed that level, and went on to become one of the best beybladers this country had ever seen! I wasn't going to let a measly spider make a mockery of everything I had become; after all, I was no longer a dumb, scared little boy: I had become a strong warrior.

"Ian? What are you doing?"

Spencer's voice not only seemed a lot closer but I was surprised to hear concern in his tone. Suddenly, I could feel his warm breath on my neck. Startled, I turned my head, and found him gaping at the spider with a raised eyebrow.

He didn't say anything, but gave me a look that spoke for him.

"Never mind," I grumbled.

"Go to sleep," he commanded, throwing me a last concerned look before heading back to his bed.

Disregarding Spencer, I gazed back at the spider. My heart nearly stopped when I noticed it was on the move.

'Touch it, touch it, touch it!' my mind was screaming at me.

SLAM!

I barely managed to suppress my jump at the sudden noise, but I did manage to fall backwards into my bed. I glanced toward the door to see it flung open, and none other than Bryan standing in the doorway, breathing heavily.

Momentarily forgetting the spider and the vow I made to myself about touching it, I leapt to my feet. "Bryan! Where have you been?"

The only answer I received was a sinister glower as the lavender-haired boy stalked into our dormitory, slamming the door shut behind him. He yanked his night clothes from his bag and scowled heatedly at me.

"What're you doing?" he growled tiredly, more irritable than usual.

I scowled right back. "Why does everyone want to know?"

"You were staring at my bed."

"There's a spider…."

Bryan walked around to the side of his bed I was on, and gazed at the bed. I noted how much more threatening and angry he looked then usual, not to mention exhausted; I tried to see if his shirt was blood-stained at all, because they very well may have whipped him.

"Who gives a care?" he snarled, pale eyes following the brown spider's every movement. When it scuttled to a stop on his pillow, Bryan seized it up roughly.

"What are you doing?" I asked automatically, not having realized I spoke until I had already. With sincerity I hoped I did not sound afraid.

Bryan eyed me. "What does it look like I'm doing?" It seemed he was studying me…and eventually he smirked. "Ian…you're not afraid of a wee spider, are you?"

"What?" I tried to sound as if no such thing was true, but I'm not sure how convincing I was.

Apparently not too much, because Bryan's smirk widened as he continued. "That's pathetic, Ian. Of all things in life, you're afraid of one, measly, harmless bug." After some punishment, tormenting me must have gave Bryan real pleasure.

"Some people are, Bryan, and it's not a conscious decision." I think both of us were startled to hear Spencer speak, as the two of us goggled at him.

"Standing up for him, are you, Spencer?"

The blonde simply shrugged.

"Hmpf."

I made a mental note to, perhaps, thankSpencer for that. Upon turning my head around, though, I came face-to-face with the spider, being dangled in mid-air by one of its legs.

Subconsciously, I released a yelp, stumbling backwards until I hit my bed and tumbled onto it. (Of course it was subconscious, would I ever have any desire to display weakness, especially in front of Bryan?)

As predicted, Bryan laughed that strange, evil cackle of his. I hate that laugh. It's…inhuman, the way it's void of humor and chalked with cruel uncaring. Then again, Bryan's not much of a regular teen….

He carelessly dumped the arachnid on the floor, relishing in my expression of anger and fright, and turned back to his night clothes.

Trying with all my might to be rid of the blush that had tinged my cheeks, I snarled, "What was that for, Bryan?"

"I needed something to lighten my spirits," he responded, with a hint of 'I'm-loving-your-pain' in his tone.

Growling and glaring, I climbed back under my covers, involuntarily hoping the spider wasn't on my bed.

A few moments later, I heard the squeaking of the bedsprings in Bryan's mattress, and I turned my blood-red gaze on him—only to see him smirking slightly with his eyes already closed.

I snorted before saying, "What'd they make you do today, Bryan? Extra training? Experiments?"

"Extra training," he muttered back uninterestedly, any signs of amusement now long gone from his features. As a matter of fact, exhaustion seemed to be conquering him finally after a long day.

"Did they whip you?" Even I was disgusted by the somewhat hopeful undertone in my voice.

"Probably will tomorrow. Too suspicious if I'm injured at the Championships…." His voice had become a murmur.

"Hm."

'I missed my chance…I could have—no, should have—touched that spider. Instead of proving everybody wrong…I made myself look like a fool. … Bryan was acting just like Brody, treating me the same way…using my fear against me for amusement, then pretending nothing had happened and overlooking the fact that I'm angry…. But that's just my fault, isn't it? I should have hidden my fear. There must have been some way to do that….'

I sighed, closing my eyes.

'Oh well. I've always been a fool and a nobody. What's really the point of contemplating the matter? I have more important things to worry about…like where on Earth Tala is…and then, of course, the impending Championship Finals tomorrow…. What's life going to be like…once Voltaire and Boris…come to power?'

:End Chapter Two

The first chapter was better, meh.I don't really know why I made Ian suffer from arachnophobia...probably because I do, LOL. And he needed some internal issue to deal with, ne?

Next chappie's about Bryan, everyone's favorite sadist!

Thanks for reading! Please review!

have a nice day

CyborgRockStar