Disclaimer: I don't own beyblade. All I do own is my plot line, OC's and any of their extensions.

Summary: The threat of higher level competition in the tournaments to come makes Mr. Dickenson assign Riley Phillips to help train the G Revolutions. Tyson knows her. She was the one who taught him to really beyblade. But how much does he know about the time between back then and now? And why is she singling Kai out?

To Turn The Tides

Chapter Four: Up the Anti

Distant Storm

"Well, I'd have to say that you've improved," Tyson stated, his cocky nature coming into effect, "But I'm not going to let you win. Dragoon, Galaxy Storm!"

The group was training out on top of the hills surrounding the city, making their field grassy and a bit uneven, but good for battling. Tyson and Kai had decided to take each other on last, so that if they decided to destroy the hilltop, they'd at least had the chance for the others to train.

Blue and grey collided multiple times, and a tornado emerged from the bit of the grey one. Kai gritted his teeth and recalled Dranzer to regroup, before sending her back into the eye of the storm. "Dranzer! Volcano Emission!"

"Don't take that, Dragoon! Beat him into the ground!"

Fire began to rush up the tornado, and the cry of a dragon was heard. In a whirl of power, it sent Dranzer back out of the storm, which cleared revealing the blunette's bit beast. Dranzer appeared as well, with the accent of a few fallen feathers.

Riley watched, interested. She hadn't let them battle each other with their bit beasts before, but now she decided it was time to let them go all out. After all, they didn't have much time until it started snowing. Then they'd be confined to any dry patch of land they could find outside, or the B.B.A. Training physilities. And honestly, she didn't want to have to total them training the championship team.

"Dranzer, attack him again!" Dranzer chased around the dragon, both via beyblade, and sky. eventually, she caught up to him, but Dragoon added some extra oomph to it's flight, and surged skyward, ahead once more. Kai growled in frustration. He was not going to lose to Tyson again.

"Dude," Ray yelled to Kai, "Char his ass!"

"I don't think he'll be able to," Max said. "Tyson's gotten a lot faster."

"It's the upgrade on the beyblade," Hilary chimed in.

"Yeah, we made it lighter."

"Good going, Chief," Riley responded, squinting her eyes to see up into the sunlight. Dragoon was coming down closer to Dranzer, now would be the perfect time for an attack.

"Galaxy Storm!" Tyson called, and another tornado formed, rising up from the ground. It concealed Dragoon like a defence, but it was also pulling Dranzer in as an offence. Kai clenched his fists. He was going to lose if he didn't do something...

But none of his attacks worked against the champ. The flames always got burned out like a flipping birthday candle. Although...

'There is one attack we could try.'

/What is it/

'The one Riley-'

/I'm not so sure that's a good idea, but I trust you. Just be careful./

'Okay, let's buy ourselves some time.'

"Are you going to battle me, or stare off into space?" Tyson taunted. Kai blinked, and determination flooded into his features.

"Let's go."

"Now you're talking." Blue and grey collided again, causing the shrieking of both beasts.

"Dranzer!"

"Dragoon!"

"Omegacide!"

"Oh fuck no."

Ray looked over at her curiously. "What did he just say?"

"Omegacide," Max chimed in. "At least, that's what I think he said."

Dranzer began to glow eerily, and a red orb of light began to form, like a bubble. It grew to a decent size, then shrunk again, like the power was wavering. She noted the confusion on Tyson's face, and the determination on Kai's. Immediately, his hand, which had been extended forward fell limp at his side, his energy almost gone.

"Attack!" Kai yelled, and the orb of light began to explode.

Riley wasted no time in grabbing the still revolving Dragoon with her left hand and tackling Tyson. Dragoon vaporized into sparks upon impact with the girl's hand. They fell to the ground with a mighty crash as the explosion ricocheted at them with impecible speed. An arrow of light headed toward them and Riley shoved the champion away. It hit her causing three sounds. One was her scream, and the second was Dranzer's cry. The third was an earth shattering roar, that both Kai and Hiro recognized, but chose to say nothing.

"Riley!" Tyson yelled, sprinting back to where he had just stood and rolling the face down girl over. She was gone, though her face was dirty and distorted, revealing pain. He opened her clenched fist and saw Dragoon nestled in it, along with her blood. He looked up at a bewildered Kai. "What the hell was that?"

"I- I don't know," he answered honestly. His beyblade was wedged in the dirt.

Tyson growled in rage and checked the unconscious girl for a pulse. "At least she's alive," Tyson stated angrily. "Let's get her back to my place." Ray came over and picked her up, saving the already wiped out blunette from carrying her back to the dojo.

Hiro, who had remained silent until this point, looked at Kai with a dangerous expression. Thoughts were racing through the warrior's mind. He knew that Riley had used that attack a total of one time since coming to Bakuten. And from what he knew from Riley, Kai wasn't there. Unless...

Unless he was hiding and saw it, or she wasn't telling the truth.

She groaned and cracked open one eye. The clock to her right said it was already evening, reading 6:32. She sat up, allowing her vertebre to clink back into line, with some numbing pain included, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. God, she was going to kill that kid. What the hell was he thinking?

"It's an attack I created. Only I can use it, or someone I choose... you know. Someone who has seen it could try."

Oh yeah, she remembered. That. It had been a few weeks since that day, and it was now November. Taking a peek out the window, she realized it was already dark, and snow was falling. It wasn't sticking to the still warm ground, but it was coming down all the same.

By the time she had decided to stand up, Ray had knocked gently on the door. "Oh," he said, surprised. "You're awake?"

"Yeah." She smiled at him. "Everyone okay?"

He nodded. "Well Kai's a little shaken, but I doubt he'll say anything." He looked down at her hand. "Your hand okay?"

"It hurts a bit," she noted, "But it's not anything that won't heal in a few days."

Ray nodded, and smiled at her. "Tyson was freaking out."

"Tell everyone I'll be out in a minute. I'm starving, and I need to get changed."

"Okay. Hiro will probably want to check out your back, we didn't touch it, since it wasn't bleeding." She shrugged.

"Now that hurts."

"That arrow of light hit it dead on."

"Yeah." Ray turned away from her, stepping smoothly out the door. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Thanks. And I'll be out in a few." She shut the door behind him and drew out her beyblade, which had been left in her pocket.

/Are you okay, Riley/

'Fine.'

/In that case, you should've let me help you./

'I can picture that face, Tai', but you know I can't let them know about us. It's bad enough that Kai knows, and look what he did. I didn't think he'd try to do that.'

/You should've made him swear not to use those attacks./

'I know.'

/Are you sure you're alright/

'Yeah.'

Riley turned her back to the mirror and tilted her head over her shoulder. Pulling up the back of her shirt, she gasped. She had barely brushed the mark, but it burned and caused some excruciating pain to radiate through her body. The bruise was dark, and followed an uneven shape, where the ground had come in contact with her, and just the radiating effect of that large arrow of energy that had hit her.

In a random outbreak, she realized she had begun swearing in Russian. Her mother had never learned Russian, so that was the only way she had ever said what she wanted without getting in trouble. Of course, she thought that when you were married to someone, you'd probably learn their traits as well, language included.

One couldn't help but guess her mother wasn't good with relationships either.

After closing her eyes and trying to make the pain subside, she went to the adjacent bathroom and bent down, using her knees to try and keep from disturbing her back. That was going to hurt in the morning, she realized. It would take a while to go away.

She pulled out a washcloth from the cabinet and threw it in the sink, running cold water to help her wake up a bit. After washing her face, she ran a comb through her hair and put it back in a messy, off-center ponytail. Once this was taken care of, she pulled off the bandages wrapped around her hand. Her palm was pretty messed up, but she could fix that problem. The outline of the beyblade was imprinted in a cut that followed just below the beginning of her fingers. She rebandaged it, and went back into the bedroom area.

In one of the drawers containing her things, she found what she was looking for: a black, fingerless glove. That would save her from any discomfort during launch. After that, she got changed, and lingered for a moment in the doorway.

"Well," she said aloud, but to herself, "I better go make sure I didn't send them all into a state of shock."

/You seem to have that effect on people, Ril'./

'Shut up.'

Kai sat in the corner of the room, watching the others cautiously. He had neary gotten into a fist fight with Tyson an hour ago, and Hiro was still giving him death glares. This was not good. Riley had said that no one knew about her ability and Taidra, with the exception of Mr. Dickenson. However, he had the feeling that Hiro probably knew. Tyson was too dense, and the others didn't know her from anywhere other than here. He'd seen it up close. And that was his only way to win. Obviously that didn't work out too good.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Hilary asked. "She's been out a long time." She traced the edge of the mug she had filled with hot chocolate.

"I analyzed the energy that hit her. It was pure energy from Dranzer. She should be in pain for a bit, but she'll be fine once she wakes up.

Ray entered the room, causing Tyson, Hiro, and their grandfather to look up at them. "Yo, Ray-dawg, what's the scoop on Ry-girl?"

"Riley will be out in a few. She's okay."

A sigh of relief spread across the occupants of the room, Kai included. The last thing he intended to do was kill someone. "You," Tyson explained, his voice heavy and dark, "Have some apologizing to do."

"Hn." Kai didn't bother responding. It was going to result in a fist fight if he did.

"Everyone calm down." Hiro looked at Kai for a moment with a burning stare and then softened up on his brother. "Just chill out. She'll probably beat the shit out of him herself."

Kai resisted the urge to gulp. Or she'd challenge him to a beybattle. That was what he was worried about. He'd seen that bit beast angered before, and that was one sight he'd rather not have directed toward him.

A figure inched its way into the doorway. "Hey guys," Riley said, a small smile present on her face. Grandpa came up to her and looked her directly in the eye.

"Are you alright?"

"Peachy." She looked over at Kai, and he caught what she meant. They were going to have a little talk later. "Don't worry about me. I'm just a little sore."

Max moved over on the couch and gave her a spot to sit down, which she did, wincing a bit as she rested her back against the soft cushions. Tyson came and sat next to her, on the arm of the edge of the thing. "Thanks, Ry," he said, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. A growling sound from behind him made Max, Ray, and Daichi laugh. Riley turned around, focusing her glance on Hilary.

"He's all yours sweetheart," She said, with a laugh. Hilary turned red, and Tyson looked confused. "Don't worry, Ty, you'll get it. Eventually."

"Yeah, when 'it' is married to you and you have three kids," Max chimed in. The group laughed, except Hilary, who whacked him on the back of the head.

Hiro placed a hand on her shoulder. "I told Mr. Dickenson what happened."

Riley spun around, and then gasped. That twisting of the back thing, yeah, it wasn't working out. "You what?"

"You should give him a call."

"Great, now he's going to kill me."

"Why? All you did was protect me," Tyson said, innocently.

"Don't worry about it, Ty. I'll deal with that in a bit." She glanced over at Kai. "Come on, Sourpuss, let's go. You have some explaining to do." She got up and grabbed her red padded jacket and his black one, throwing it at him.

"You just got up, now you're going out? Don't you think that you should rest?"

"I need to stretch, and Kai and I need to have a talk. If Mr. Dickenson calls, tell him to call my cell phone." Kai threw his jacket on and followed her to the door, slipping on his shoes as she slid on hers.

"So," Hilary said, her blush from before almost faded, "All in favor of Riley kicking Kai's ass, say 'Aye.'"

"AYE!"

"That settles it, he's screwed."

The streets were deserted at seven o'clock at night this time of year. A few snow flakes had stuck to the ground, much to Riley's surprise. She glanced over, every so often to make sure he was still following her. His typical insensitive attitude wasn't really working right at that point in time, and his emotions were leaking out.

"Are you okay?" She asked him gently.

His head shot up in her direction in surprise. He thought for a moment and nodded. "Yeah."

They continued on in silence, until they had hit the beach, and the large bridge that crossed over the river. She stopped half way across the bridge and leaned against one of the iron support beams, watching the snow plummet from the sky to the water.

"You could've killed Tyson," She said carefully. "If I hadn't stepped in, you probably would have."

Kai said nothing, not entirely convinced. "Like you said, I'm not as strong as you."

"So? You have power, don't you? You're one of the best beybladers in the world."

"Not since there are Infinites now."

"You underestimate yourself." She extended her hand out over the edge of the bridge and caught some snowflakes on it. Her injured hand stayed in the sleeve of her jacket. "The fact that it even worked surprised me. Personally, I thought you were a goner." Her gaze traveled skyward, watching as the white specks first appeared high above them.

"How so?"

"Like I said before, people who have seen it can try to use the attack. I never said that it would work."

"It wasn't like the one you used."

"You weren't trained like me." She turned his attention toward him. Her voice was still majestic, like a tone she reserved for being a coach only. "I've watched you battle, I know about the Abbey, I know all about you. It's my job. I'm just saying that you haven't been trained like I have. They didn't teach you the same techniques that made me as I am."

Kai said nothing. Dranzer seemed to heat up his pocket, like a coal to keep his hands warm.

"Your attack was powerful, but it was Dranzer's raw energy. Didn't you feel weak when the attack left you?" Kai nodded. "The true Omegacide, had you actually used it, requires two things. The orb of destruction, and the oath." She paused. "You have to have good intentions, or all in the sphere will perish, the user included. That's why I had that red aura around me that day. That was Taidra's raw energy. It becomes like a shield, to protect you from any of the destruction that may try to take you out. It saves your energy too, so it doesn't leave you weak."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"If you decide to try again, you might want to concentrate on shielding yourself, or else you and your target will perish as well. The only reason I didn't die on contact was because I can use the attack myself. That power within me saved me. Not that it doesn't hurt like hell." She placed a hand on her bruised back and winced.

Kai was caught off guard. "Do you really expect me to try again?"

"I was told that you weren't a quitter." She shrugged. "If you want, I can help you."

"Excuse me?" His eyes were wide. This was not something he expected.

"You've got potential. Why do you think I've been working you harder?" He didn't quite know what to say, so Riley continued. "Someone's got to give Tyson a run for his money."

"We're on the same team."

"So?" Riley walked to the other side of the bridge so the wind was blowing her hair back behind her. "We all know that when you guys win, and I mean when because I know you will, you and Tyson aren't going to be satisfied until one of you beats the other in a beybattle and we have a champion. I think it's time for a change of pace, personally."

"What do you mean?"

"Did you not hear what I said? If you can become strong, an Infinite Class beyblader, maybe this year we won't be watching Tyson accept the medal. Maybe you won't be watching at all." She turned around and smirked at him.

"Why would you help me?"

"I want a change of pace, and I don't think Tyson would be able to do this just yet."

"He's the better beyblader."

"Just because he usually wins? Come on, Tyson believes he's good enough to win. He's lazy. He won't work really hard unless someone else is really, really better than him."

Kai went for a different approach. "Don't you want to compete? You could be the champion."

She shook her head. "I can throw Infinites around like rag dolls, remember? I won't compete until there's a challenge." She leaned forward, over the edge of the bridge. "In a way, Hiwatari, we're a lot alike." He came to her side of the bridge.

"You're offering to teach me so that you can have some competition?"

She smiled at him and winked. "Bingo. I'm glad you get it. Now I don't have to be such a bitch because you know the purpose of my working you into the ground." She leaned back, arching her back and nearly fell over, however, Kai grabbed her just before she hit the pavement covering the bridge.

"Are you alright?"

"Your attack fricken hurt, but yeah, I'm okay." She broke out of his grasp. "And you ask too many questions. Not that I mind, you're actually talking to me."

"You want me to be at your level, but Tyson's good too, he could do it as well." She rolled her eyes at him.

Going back the way they came, Kai followed Riley, however she went down by the river, which was starting to freeze over. "I'm not asking Tyson, am I? I can pick apart everything about your beyblading and make it a million times better. You've already proven yourself, and I want to see just how good you can become. I trust you more than Tyson anyway."

"Why?"

"Because you know what kind of destruction lingers with attacks like there. Tyson is too innocent, like a child. While in some cases that might be good, in this one, it isn't. You've been there and so have I."

"You have a dark history?"

"You were the one who signed as the witness so Dickenson could be my legal guardian, which by the way, thank you for not telling anyone." He shrugged. "You know I was in Infinity, there's the deal with my father."

"The Russian one?"

"No, my other father. Yes the Russian one." Her eyes glazed over. "He was murdered when I was five. I watched them do it." He said nothing. "And the reason you had to sign that paperwork is because my mom disowned me because I wouldn't be her corporate slave. No one controls me." She paused. "Great life, huh?"

"Hn."

"So do you want my help or not?"

Kai thought for a moment. She was in a way, just like him. Parental issues, control complexes, secrets galore... not to mention skills and a thirst for competition. "Yeah."

"Good." She turned around and extended a hand, which he shook. "We'll start during in a week. It'll be good because the December holiday is coming up. Everyone else is leaving, so we'll have the Dojo to ourselves, with the exception of Tyson, who will sleep the entire time. And you can't tell anyone about this either. If Hiro asks you if I'm training you, tell him yes, and if he asks you what for, tell him some bullshit about being good enough to beat Tyson. After all, it wouldn't be a complete lie."

"He's been looking at me like he's going to kill me all day. I thought you said he didn't know."

"He does. I didn't think you'd use my attack, but that's how I beat him once before. He's well aware of what level of competition I require."

Kai nodded. This girl was just about all over the place. But she was going to help him beat Tyson. So that's all that mattered. "Tyson thought you were going to beat the shit out of me."

She smiled cheekily at him, and slapped him once across the face. He winced, and felt the red hand appear easily in the cold. "No. If I was going to beat the shit out of you, you wouldn't be standing. But let him think you didn't get off easy." She started the treck back to the dojo slowly, and Kai followed. Maybe it was just her, but she noticed that there was a bit of a weight lifted off his shoulders. "You know, I'm still not going to take it easy on you during the regular practices."

"Hn."

"Good."

"Do you assume that means yes all the time?"

"Well, you don't have a choice. I thought it was just a general fact you should be aware of." She smirked at him, and pulled her jacket closer to her. "God, it's cold out here."

"You're half Russian, right? Deal with it."

"Three quarters, actually, and you're the one shivering." She couldn't help but laugh while Kai rolled his eyes.

"This doesn't make us friends, just because you're helping me."

"I never even had that thought, but whatever you say."

Author's Notes: I cranked this out in one day. Woo! Anyway, review(three is my goal per chapter), and I'll post next chapter.

Distant Storm x3