Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only character I own is Marina as she's my OC. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 15: Changes and Battle

Both Tala and Marina were standing apart staring at each other, though while Tala wasn't showing any sign of what he was thinking, Marina was looking very unsure.

"What's happened to you, Tala?" she asked nervously.

Tala didn't answer and Marina was feeling more nervous because so far in their relationship, he hadn't given her reason to be afraid.

"Marina, you should go. There is nothing wrong with me."

Marina still just stood there, now confused as well as nervous.

"Tala, please tell me what's wrong, I might be able to help you." she said approaching him.

"Stay back, Marina." he said harshly making her stop.

"Okay, Tala. I'll stay back, but you have to tell me what's going on."

Suddenly an icy wind blew down the alley, but Marina didn't register what it must mean.

"Tala, please come back to Russia and we'll sort this out." she said, almost pleading.

As she stepped forward, she realised she shouldn't have, because Tala was putting his hand in his pocket and took out his beyblade.

"Marina, I warned you to leave me alone. If I have to, I'll get the message through the hard way." he said putting his blade into his launcher.

"Tala? Please don't." she said scared.

"Wolborg, attack." and he released his blade.

"Hurry, Zeroth." and Marina released hers. The unicorn appeared in a flash of gold to face the arctic wolf.

"This will be the one match power won't help you." said Tala.

"I don't care how much you've changed, I can still beat you." she said even though she was bluffing a bit.

Tala's blade used the boxes in the alleyway to get above Zeroth.

"Wolborg, now." and his blade came charging down at Zeroth.

Marina blinked in fear and Zeroth got hit.

"Zeroth, Lightning Flash."

She waited, but her attack didn't come.

"No, what's wrong? Zeroth, Lightning Flash!" she tried again, but nothing happened.

"I knew it. You can't fight back." said Tala almost smiling.

Marina was panicking now, if her attacks weren't working, there wasn't much chance of winning.

"Wolborg, Novae Rog!"

The ice cold attack came towards Zeroth.

"Zeroth, Electric Sphere!"

An electric shield surrounded her blade and bit beast, just protecting against Tala's attack.

"Nice try, but Zeroth is running on empty." said Tala; even though he was annoyed his attack hadn't worked.

"Zeroth can't be out of energy. What's holding me back?" Marina asked herself in panic.

Just on the outskirts of town, Kai was lying in the grass watching the sky and the peaceful movements of the clouds across it when he felt something hot in his pocket. He put his hand in his pocket and took out his beyblade; Dranzer's bit piece was glowing brightly.

"What's wrong with you, Dranzer?" Kai asked, trying to figure this out.

Back in the alley, Marina was starting to feel cold and Zeroth was losing any chance he might have.

"You're not going to last, Marina. I have won this battle." said Tala with an evil smile on his face.

Marina let tears fall thick and fast as she realised Tala was right.

"I'm not going to win. Tala has changed so much and Zeroth isn't helping me." she said to herself and she fell to her knees.

"Well, I thought I knew you better than this. Giving up?" Tala said and then laughed as Marina looked up with anger in her eyes.

"Zeroth. Go get him with all your power!"

However, Zeroth didn't, in fact, he did the opposite, and he disappeared back into his beyblade.

"No, don't give up! Zeroth!" she shouted desperately.

"Perfect. Now, Wolborg, Novae Rog!"

His attack let out a wave of blue energy which, when hit Marina, made her fall flat on her back.

Not far away was Kai searching the alleys.

"What's happened here? I saw the flash that indicated Wolborg, so Tala must be here." he said to himself as he ran through the alleys.

Finally, he found Marina.

"Marina?" he looked up. "Tala! What's going on?"

"Nothing to do with you. Get lost if you know what's good for you, Hiwatari." Tala said harshly.

Kai just growled under his breath as he looked down at Marina. He put a hand to her forehead, she was freezing cold.

"You've changed, Tala. The Tala I knew would not do this to someone he cared for."

"Whatever. I'll let you go for now, but do me one favour." said Tala as he turned away.

"As if I'd help you now." said Kai as he stood up to full height.

"Look after her. I didn't mean to hurt her and I'm not lying, Kai."

"I know you well enough, Tala. I think I know what this is about, so take your time until you return to us." said Kai.

Tala left and Kai bent down to pick up Marina.

"Don't worry about Tala. He's still one of us, he just needs some time." he said to himself, but directing it to Marina.

When he made it back to Tyson's house, Tyson and the other Bladebreakers came running out.

"Kai, what happened? While you were out, the Blitzkrieg Bladers showed up." said Tyson pointing over to Bryan, Spencer and Ian.

"I'll tell you when Marina is inside." said Kai walking past Tyson.

"Marina? I knew we shouldn't have come for Tala." said Bryan and he kicked the wall.

"Did that help?" asked Ian and Bryan nodded. "Did it hurt?" but Bryan didn't respond.

Once they were inside and Marina was in a bed near a makeshift fire to warm her up, Kai explained what he knew.

"So you say Tala attacked Marina?" asked Tyson, trying to figure it out.

"No, Tyson. He didn't mean to do that to her. I think he's lost control of his emotions, probably as a result of being in Balkov Abbey for so long being taught to be emotionless." explained Kai.

"I understand." said Bryan. Spencer and Ian both nodded in agreement.

Soon after, Marina started to stir.

"She's waking up." said Max a little nervously.

"Max, there is no need to be worried about Marina. She won't be hurting anyone." said Ian, almost giggling as he thought about what he was saying.

"Where am I?" asked Marina.

"My house." said Tyson and she looked at him.

"What happened to Tala?" she asked bolting up.

"Calm down, Marina and tell us what happened." said Kai.

Marina took a breath and told the Bladebreakers everything that happened in Russia while the others listened in when she got started on what happened in her encounter with Tala.

"I can't believe he's changed so much. And I can't understand why Zeroth wasn't at full power." she finished.

"I think I can explain that. Tala has changed because of his years in Balkov Abbey, he was taught for too long to be emotionless, so he isn't used to it yet. For Zeroth, I think it's because you didn't want to fight back, deep down, you didn't want to risk hurting Tala while he was fighting with no restraint." explained Kai.

"So, what do we do now, Kai?" she asked.

"For now, I don't know." he said and everyone started to think ahead. What would they do now?