The whole team watched as Isobel, who continued to deliriously insist that she was absolutely fine, was placed onto a stretcher and taken from the stadium floor. Kai stared after them, wondering if he should follow. Was she really OK? They had all seen her collapse into her teammates arms after the match, and what a match it had been.

Kai was still in shock that Brooklyn had been defeated by someone that wasn't himself or Tyson. Her BitBeast was eeriely terrifying, its drawn rattling breath and it's long taloned fingers, or were they claws? He wasn't sure, whatever they were, Kai had a sneaking suspicion that they had only seen a pinch of its power, and he wanted to know more.

Everyone in the stands was still cheering and chanting 'DUALITY' over and over again. Up on the podium, Ming-Ming and Crusher were trying to pull Brooklyn, who was still staring blankly at the dish, back down to the stadium floor. Out of the corner of his eye Kai spotted what looked like an angry Garland marching towards them.

"C'mon!" said Max quickly, turning away from Garland, and they all sped off away from him down into the corridor where Duality had just been taken.

They followed at a distance and headed down below the stadium onto the training level.

"Lets wait here," Max said as Duality rounded the corner with a couple of doctors.

The Bladebreakers stood in the corridor for at least fifteen minutes until the doctors left the room and headed off in the opposite direction. They all looked at each other and nodded and the whole team rushed around the corner and peered through the frosted window of the medical room door. Kai could see the outline of Isobel sitting upright on one of the medical beds and two other figures, who must have been Issak and Tim who were each sat on either side. They were talking in low hushed voices. An excited buzz seemed to fill Kai's chest with anticipation.

Silence fell inside the room.

"Mm…hello?" said a voice from within. They must have seen their shadows through the window. They all looked at each other warily and then Max opened the door.

"Hi! It's only us!" he said with nervous excitement, "we just wanted to congratulate you all!"

"Oh, Max! Hey!" Isobel said, a smile spreading across her face as the rest of the Bladebreakers came into the room. Issak's eyes widened in surprise as they entered and Tim waved and offered an enthusiastic greeting.

"Aw man, I thought you might be the doctor coming back to say that I can finally leave!" Isobel complained. Tim and Issac seemed to roll their eyes at this and Kai could understand why, Isobel's arms and legs where scratched and bloody, although they were now covered in a few plasters and medical tape. There were however, three considerably larger wounds on each arm that were still open and bleeding, as well as the one on her leg that had caused her to fall to one knee during the battle.

"I think we're gonna be here for a while!" Tim laughed.

Isobel must have noticed that everyone's gaze was drawn to the cuts on her body as she said quickly, "I've got to have stitches for these apparently!" she indicated her arms and legs with a laugh. Kai couldn't help but notice that she sounded surprisingly chipper for someone that was covered in bandages and would soon find herself being sewn back together, but then he supposed she had just won a match against Brooklyn.

"Aw man, you're ok thought right?" Max asked, rushing to her bedside.

"Yeah we were worried about you!" Hilary added.

"Yeah I'm fine," she grinned, "I won my first match! We won!" she said gesturing at the rest of her team.

"Yeah, I can't believe we're going to advance!" said Tim as if this was beyond his wildest dreams.

Ray folded his arms, "Not gonna lie, we all thought you were goners, y'know, being a brand new team against The Justice 5 and all that! But then when you beat Garland," he spoke directly to Issac, "we were like damnnnn!"

"YEAH- YEAH! IT WAS SO AWESOME!" exclaimed Tyson, "and then we thought Brooklyn was gonna slice you up Isobel! But you really turned the tables on him! That BitBeast thing of yours is terrifying! What is it?" Tyson asked eagerly.

Isobel and Tim grinned but for some reason Issak grimaced and looked annoyed.

"That'd be telling!" she said, clearly very flattered by their reaction. Kai wasn't surprised that she was reluctant to reveal more about her BitBeast.

"Ah man…. Well, still, that was some battle!" said Tyson, undeterred. "You better make it to the final! Cause you'll be facing us! I WANNA BATTLE ALL OF YOU!"

"You can't battle all of them Tyson!" Hilary sighed.

"I know… but I WANT TO!" Tyson complained. Everyone laughed.

"Those were some damn powerful attacks!" Ray said to Issak.

"Oh.. Thanks," he muttered, although he looked as if he didn't know how to take this compliment.

Tim shifted awkwardly in his seat, "I lost…"

"That's ok!" Isobel said quickly, "there's always next time!"

"Ming-Ming is very powerful!" Kenny said consolingly.

"Actually, I'm not much of a blader myself, I prefer building blades.." Tim explained, "I kinda knew I'd lose to her, shes so powerful!" He smiled fondly as if remembering the battle. "Not that I don't enjoy playing, I'm just not as good as Issak and Isobel. I build their blades, and we need three people for the matches… so here I am I guess!" Tim laughed.

Kai remembered his conversation with Isobel about Tim, oh, so he's your Kenny!

"That's cool!" said Tyson, "you're kinda like our Chief!" he patted Kenny enthusiastically on the head. Kai didn't know how he felt about Tyson saying exactly the same thing that he had said to Isobel, and then Isobel caught Kai's eye as if she were remembering it too. Max must have noticed this as he suddenly grabbed Kai by the shoulder of his jacket and pulled him to the front of the group.

"I just realised, you've met all of us but I don't think you've met Kai! I mean, does Kai yelling across the stadium at Brooklyn count as an introduction?" Max laughed.

Isobel surveyed him, "We've met before.. In the lift! The ass-starer!" she chuckled pointing a casual finger at him. Kai froze. Was she really going to bring this up now? After he had just saved her from death-by-Brooklyn?

"The… whaaat?" Tyson asked with a gleeful glance in Kai's direction. Max was looking confused.

"Yeah, he was checking out my butt!" she giggled.

Kai glared at her. "I was looking at your launcher, it was in your back pocket!" he retorted angrily.

"That's sounds like what someone who was staring at my ass would say…" she said reasonably. Kai gaped at her in disbelief and then turned to everyone else. They were all avoiding each others eyes as if trying to stop themselves from bursting into tears of laughter. Max however looked as if this meeting wasn't going at all how he had planned.

There was a moment of silence where this knot of tension hung over the room, then Isobel laughed, "ok, I'm sorry!" Kai gritted his teeth, she didn't look very sorry. "I'm sure you were just looking at my launcher!"

"Whatever," he said but continued to glare at her, he could hear Tyson snickering behind him and he knew was never going to live this down.

"I guess I should thank you for coming to my rescue… I doubt I would have won if you hadn't distracted Brooklyn!" she grinned mischievously.

"Hn." Kai said grumpily. He was beginning to regret not simply allowing Brooklyn's BitBeast to eat her alive.

There was another awkward moment filled with muffled snickering but then the door creaked open slightly and someone spoke through the gap, "may we come in?" It was Julia from F-Dynasty.

"Sure!" Isobel answered, but they had already started to pile in before she had finished speaking, and it wasn't just F-Dynasty. Into the room came The Blitzkreig Boys- Kai couldn't help but notice that Julia was pulling Tala along by the hand. They were then followed by The White Tigers, the All Stars, the Majestics and finally, when it seemed as if there was no more room to be had, The Battalion and the Mystics managed to squeeze themselves in too.

Kai and the rest of the Bladebreakers were pressed against the wall as everyone began to shuffle around and offer their congratulations to Duality on their win. Tala seemed particularly impressed at how Issak had beaten Garland.

Kai watched them all and felt that it was quite strange to see everyone so united like this, especially because Duality were a brand new powerful team who had just come into the tournament. Normally, everyone would be full of suspicion and hostility towards a new super powerful team, but there was no enmity and everyone appeared genuinely intrigued by Duality. Kai had to suppose that he felt the same way too, it had been extraordinary to watch the Jusice 5 go down so easily. Plus, everyone still associated them with BEGA, it wasn't surprising that everyone was being so amiable.

They all spent the next ten minutes discussing the match and bombarding Duality with questions about their beyblades and Bitbeasts until there was another knock at the door.

"Oh my, you're all in here are you? Well I guess that'll make things easier," It was Mr Dickinson. He squeezed himself through the gap in the door and stood shoulder to shoulder with Miguel and Johnny.

"What is it Mr D?" called Tyson from the back of the room.

"Well I'm afraid I have a little announcement to make!" he said sounding a little muffled. He was shorter than those surrounding him and everyone on the opposite side of the room had to strain to hear him. "I've just spoken to the stadium manager and he says we need to postpone the tournament for a week!"

"A WEEK?" a few people shouted in unison.

"Yes, I'm sorry to say, a week! Just so the structural integrity of the building can be tested before we resume matches! That last battle was.. Well.. We weren't expecting such an intense battle this early in the tournament." A small grin flitted across the old mans face, "a small part of the roof seems to have fallen in," he explained and everyone nodded with understanding. "Although I do think a congratulations are in order! Very impressive Duality, you'll be the team to watch this season!" he said taking his hat off and waving it in Isobel's direction. "I would advise you use the time to rest well before your next match," he said kindly.

"Not likely!" she grinned.

"Ahh thats the spirit!" said Mr Dickinson with a smile, "make sure the rest of you get lots of training in before the tournament resumes next week! Well I must be off, I have to go give all the uh…" he gazed around the room as if trying to do a mental headcount, "other teams the news… although most of you seem to be in here.." He sighed happily and waved goodbye and then squeezed himself back through the door.

There was silence in the room as he walked off down the hall.

"Soo.. We've got a week off!" Bryan said loudly to the room with an air of someone about to throw caution to the wind. "Party at ours?" he beamed, trying to catch peoples eye to get them to agree.

It took Kai a few moments to realise that by 'ours' Bryan meant Kai's hotel apartment. Oh god no he thought, glaring in Bryan's direction. He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it, realising he couldn't say anything unless he wanted Tyson to find out that the Blitzkrieg Boys were staying with him, and he was sure that wouldn't go down well.

"A PARTY?" Julia asked excitedly.

"I don't know Bryan…" said Tala glancing over at Kai.

"Awww come on Tala!" Bryan whined, "it'll be fun! I'm sick of being the team that everyone thinks are the big bad guys, they all think we're dicks but actually," he held his hands up infront of him as if surrendering to something, "thats just you two fuckers," and pointed at Tala and Kai. Everyone laughed and Spencer nodded as if Bryan had a fair point.

Tala had opened his mouth in outrage as Kai snapped, "I'm not even on your team!"

Tyson beamed at this exclamation and shouted, "YEAHH, LETS HAVE A PARTY!" There was an excited murmur of agreement around the room.

Kai shook his head, he would have to shut this down somehow, and fast. They were not having a party in HIS apartment. He glared at Bryan who was grinning widely around at the crowd. Then he caught Kai's eye and winked.

Oh hell, what did Kai care if Tyson found out?

"You're not throwing a fucking party in my room!" Kai shouted at him. Everything went silent.

Tyson's eyes widened like dinner plates, "WHA'DYA MEAN, YOUR ROOM?"


An hour or so later Kai found himself stood reluctantly in the hotel lift heading up to the 40th floor. He was carrying a large crate of beer and was surrounded by the rest of the Bladebreakers and Blitzkrireg Boys who too were carrying some form of alcohol.

Kai was quite impressed at how Tala, Bryan and Spencer, who were all eighteen, had managed to get their hands on so much alcohol considering seven underage teenagers had been stood nervously in plain sight right outside the off-license.

Tyson wasn't speaking to Kai. He had yelled himself hoarse upon finding out that Kai had let the Blitzkrieg Boys stay with him. There had been the usual 'I bet you're going to switch teams on us!' and 'You must prefer them over us!' and Kai's favorite; 'You're just jealous that I'm the world champ and you want another shot at the apple!'

Now, Tyson was hiding his face behind a towering box of acid green alco-pops in shame, but he was still making the effort to make irritable noises every time Kai spoke. Tala, Spencer and Bryan had tried explaining that they hadn't had a choice and that Kai was doing them a huge favor, but Tyson still seemed unable to accept what he called yet another betrayal.

As the lift opened they all traipsed down the hall towards Kai's apartment. Hilary, Daichi and Kenny kept bouncing off the walls as they were each holding four large shopping bags full of crisps and popcorn and other assorted snacks.

"Wow!" most of the Bladebreakers gasped as they walked through the door. Tyson sniffed derisively.

"This is so fancy!" said Max as he followed Tala into the kitchen. "Dy'a think we've bought too much?" he asked as he transfered three bottles of tequila from his arms to the worktop. Max had insisted on getting the branded tequlia with the little sombrero lids.

They all stopped and stared collectively at the haul that was now spread out across the kitchen island.

"Nah, this look's like a normal Tuesday for me!" said Bryan. They all laughed and some of them broke away from the kitchen island to explore the apartment.

"Don't look in there, thats where Kai keeps dead bodies!" Tala said as Hilary opened the door of a massive American style fridge-freezer.

"Yeah Tala, you'll be in there later!" Kai retorted quickly.

Tyson rolled his eyes and stomped off.

They all spent the next twenty minutes transferring the contents of crisp packets to bowls and plating up cheese cubes with grapes on cocktail sticks. As Kai brought what must have been the tenth plate through to the living room to place it on the coffee table, he couldn't help but notice that Tyson and Daichi were sat on the sofa watching the TV instead of helping.

"Are you two gonna help or what-" but he broke off as he realised what they were watching.

A news report was detailing some new advancements in the BioVolt Investigation was flashing across the screen. Kai watched it with a sinking feeling in his chest as a video filmed from a helicopter appeared, circling a burning Balkov Abbey.

The match between Duality and the Justice 5 had been such a good distraction, so much so that he had managed to push everything else to the back of his mind. Now however, it all came flooding back.

Seeing the look of horror on Kai's face, Tyson quickly picked up the remote and made to turn the TV off, "s-sorry!" he said quickly with a guilty look.

"Don't turn it off!" Tala complained as he waltzed into the room carrying a plate of cupcakes. "Oh its beautiful!" he continued, putting the cakes down and wandering over to the screen, placing a palm on it longingly, "oh sweet, sweet revenge! How I wish I was there to see it in person…"

Kai couldn't think of anything he'd want less, in fact, he felt a little queasy.

"Y'know.." Bryan had appeared in the doorway, holding a plate of sausages rolls, "Watching that Abbey burn, it really makes me feel a little aroused…"

Tala snorted with laughter and everyone else stared giggling, but for some reason Kai could barely hear it. A strange sensation passed over him, almost as if someone had shoved him underwater. He felt suddenly disorientated, and tried to grab the side of the sofa to steady himself.

"Kai?"

He could see the Abbey burning infront of him but a dark cloud had enveloped the rest of his vision. Then, very abruptly, an image materialized in his minds eye and he swayed on the spot.

A huge, towering monster was stood over him inside a massive arched room. It's glowing red eyes were boring into him as he stood rooted to the floor, unable to move a muscle. In the distance he could hear shouting, it sounded familiar, he had heard that voice before.. It sounded like… Boris?

"KAI?" Someone yelled. Kai flinched and shook his head violently. The room swam back into focus, everyone was staring at him. Tyson had jumped to his feet. "You alright?" he asked, all his earlier enmity appeared forgotten.

"Hn. I'm fine," he lied. They were all watching him as if waiting for him to collapse. Kai turned on his heel and stomped out of the room but then he slumped against the wall opposite as another wave of dizziness passed over him.

Tyson must have followed him out as he grabbed Kai's arm and pulled it over his shoulder. Kai tried to flinch away, "m' fine Tyson!" he insisted.

He could see Bryan and Tala exchanging concerned looks.

"Yeah sure," Tyson said as if he didn't believe him, "which room is yours?" he asked, half dragging him down the hallway.

"The last one," Kai said finally relenting and allowing Tyson to pull him towards the end of the hall.

The door slammed shut behind them and Tyson let Kai down onto the bed. His legs felt like jelly and his head was still spinning.

"What happened?" Tyson demanded with a face full of concern. Kai didn't answer.

Tyson sighed, "Look, I'm sorry I freaked out about Tala, Bryan and Spencer staying with you, I thought you were gonna leave the team again!" he insisted. Kai didn't say anything, he was too busy reeling from the monster that had been stood over him moments before.

When Kai didn't reply, Tyson hammered on, "I didn't realise the whole Voltaire thing was so bad! You don't tell us anything!" he complained, "I mean, the Abbey burnt down? that's crazy! Is that why you went all funny? Or was it me? Are you ok? Should I call for a doctor? What happened back there? You looked like you were gonna pass out!"

So many questions. Kai flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. What was that monster? And that voice?

Tyson sighed as if he knew he wasn't going to get any answers and they sat in silence for a few long minutes until he said quietly, "so.. did you know? About all of that?"

Kai took a few moments and then said, "yes," reluctantly. He realised that he hadn't told anyone about what Mr Dickinson had told him and The Blitzkrieg Boys about Voltaire or Balkov Abbey and Boris. They must have only known about what had been in the original news report when Voltaire had been arrested, and he was sure that Tyson didn't read the paper, so there was no way that he could know about the abbey burning down.

"AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?" Tyson demanded.

"It was in the paper this morning!" Kai said annoyed, frowning and lifting his hand up to rub his temple which was aching. "And don't you think that if I had wanted to tell you, I would have?" he glared at his teammate.

"Don't you think I ought to know?" Tyson asked, getting up and stomping over to the bathroom with raised eyebrows.

"Who are you, my Mom?" Kai called to him.

"Well," Tyson said as he came back into the bedroom holding a glass of water, "I mean, we can't have our captain passing out on us mid-battle…"

"Oh shut up, I'm fine!" he lied, lifting his head slightly, frowning as he watched Tyson place the glass down on the bedside table. He let his head flop back down onto the bed and ignored it.

Tyson made a frustrated noise, "water. Drink!" he picked up the glass and tried to hand it to him.

Kai glared but sat up and reluctantly held the glass, taking a small sip.

"So is Voltaire going to jail… finally?" Tyson asked a little hopefully.

Kai let out an exasperated noise. "Talk about something else, Tyson," and he moved up the bed to rest against the pillows.

"…. Fine.." Tyson said, sitting down next to him and putting his feet on the bed with his shoes still on.

Neither of them said anything for at least a minute.

"Isobel's pretty cool huh?" Tyson began.

"Yeah, I guess.." Kai was still thinking about the fire and the monster. It's red glowing eyes seemed burned into his mind.

Tyson snickered, "y'know, you really acted the hero, running over to her like that during the match!"

Kai turned to him with a frown, "you're the one who said we should go help her in the first place!"

"Yeah, I guess I would have got there first if Hil hadn't held me back…" Tyson agreed, pausing for a moment, "but I mean, maybe you were just really motivated by that great ass!"

"Fuck off!" Kai said and he threw a pillow at him and immediately regretted it as another small wave of dizziness passed over him at the sudden movement.

Tyson dodged the pillow and continued, "look, you've even got a balcony!" noticing it through the window for the first time, "you can woo her under the stars tonight!"

"Oh shut up!" he knew Tyson was just trying to take his mind off the abbey, but he couldn't resist saying, "so when are you gonna tell Hilary you're in love with her?" in a scathing voice.

Tyson blushed bright red, "oh don't talk to me about that!" Kai smirked, which was enough to send Tyson off on a tangent. "It's like we both know it, but neither of us will do anything about it, y'know? It's like it's been this unspoken thing for so long… She's just there… doing her own thing, being pretty, smiling, looking cute, having silky hair and just BEING HILARY!" he said wistfully, then he added in an undertone, "I've even started to like it when she yells at me."

At this, Kai actually laughed. "You masochist!"

"Oh fuck off!" Tyson laughed and continued, "then theres me! Tyson, world champion, I'm pretty great, you'd think I'd be a catch right?" Kai raised an eyebrow, "but she sees all the bad things about me, y'know… all the things that would put someone off me!"

"So.. Everything?" Kai asked in an undertone.

Tyson let out a deep sigh as if trying to constrain himself, "I could have left you to pass out on the floor, but no, I, Tyson, a GREAT friend, brought you all the way in here and gave you water and-"

"Yeah, yeah I get it!" Kai cut across him. "Hilary sees all your flaws and so you're scared that she doesn't like you."

"Well… yeah," Tyson admitted, he seemed to be hoping that Kai would elaborate but Kai just shrugged in response. Tyson looked aghast as if this wasn't the answer he wanted. "Nothing? You're not going to say anything?" Kai shrugged again. "Do you.. Do you not get how this whole thing works? You're meant to be reassuring me! I just told you like.. a really big secret! I guess I should have known better than to ask you for relationship advice!"

Kai stared at him with a disbelief, there was no way Tyson could actually believe that his crush on Hilary was a secret. Then he smiled. Kai couldn't help it, it was so much easier to talk to Tyson one on one, when he wasn't being stupid or annoying. In fact, in those rare instances, Kai often found himself saying things that he would never say in front of anyone else.

"I just blacked out and you're asking me for relationship advice!" he complained, "also, I don't know if you've noticed, but I am very single. I'm not the best person to ask!" He admitted.

Tyson raised an eyebrow, "how would I know if you're single? Its not like you tell me anything!"

Kai took a long pause, "and I plan to keep it that way," he said wistfully.

"Hey!" there was a knock at the door. They answered and a flash of red hair appeared. It was Tala. "C'mon, everyones arriving!"

"You can stay in here if you want," Tyson said, "I'll make your excuses."

"Hn.. Alright." Kai muttered and the mattress shifted as Tyson vacated the bed.

"Come party when you're ready!" Tyson added with a grin and two thumbs up as he walked backwards out of the door that was held open by Tala. Kai shook his head at the ridiculous sight, but then stopped. He still wasn't feeling one hundred percent.

"You alright?" Tala asked once Tyson had left. He was still stood in the doorway.

"M'fine." Kai said shortly.

Tala stared at him as if unsure of if he should say anything. "Y'know.. it happened to me for a while after I left that place, and Spencer.. It'll pass."

Kai nodded but said nothing. He knew this was Tala's way of trying to comfort him.

"Alright well you better come join us in a bit, Bryan will be mad if you don't do at least ten shots with him!"

Kai let out a brief grunt that could have been a laugh, "fine! Give me half an hour."

And with that, Tala closed the door.


Helllllo! Sorry its been almost a month since the last update ahhhh! I kinda had life get in the way a bit after the last chapter but then I got such a lovely message last week and it motivated me to write this haha! I hope this chapter was fun, I thought we needed some good casual friendship fluff after the last chapter. Although I couldn't leave out Kai having a bad time at least once mehehe!

Thanks so much to The la land2021, Sierra 0220, AS and guests for the reviews! (hope you liked the extra blitzy boys stuff in this one eheheh as requested!) pls do leave a review if you enjoyed!