RTC: Hello all! I'm sorry for not updating.

Kai: I'll bet you are. Do you realize how many times you've said that in this fic?

RTC: Uh, every other chapter?

Kai: Probably more.

RTC: (Sobs.) Wait, you're a muse, why am I listening to what you say? You're the depressing one! Now there's just this and the epilogue, so we're almost done!

Kai: Why do I sense impending doom?

Kari: Because she's got a new fic in mind, with torture designed just for you.

Kai: That could do it. Meh, Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade, got it? Good.

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Battle On, Alex!

"3, 2, 1, let it rip!" the announcer and both bladers were shouting.

"I'm not going to let the past come between me and beating my father! I don't care about who you were, it's who you are right now that's my concern. And what you are is a brainwashed minion of Boris!" Alex shouted as the battle got underway. "Now take this!"

"Ha, shows what you know, your subconscious is screaming at you to not attack me! You forget that I know you, can read you like an open book, Alexander Hiwatari! You can try, but there's no chance of you beating me, especially when I do this! Go, Dark Beast! Inner blast!" The creature that occupied Ryan's blade went on the offensive.

Immediately Alex felt the pain of the attack, even though nothing had hit him. His head pounded, his body shook, and the light was causing him searing pain. "Read my lips, I. Will. Not. Give. In!" He knew the only way to save his friends from their terrible fate was to take them out himself, which would hopefully undo the brainwashing.

"That's the way to do it," a voice whispered in his ear.

"Who's there?" Alex wondered out loud.

"See, you're cracking up already," Ryan taunted. He used this moment to try and attack Alex's blade, but a mysterious aura was blocking his attacks.

"Keep fighting," the voice urged, and suddenly the pain started to diminish.

"Who are you?" Alex was still trying to grasp if this was a trick planned by Boris or his father.

"Um, guys, I hate to say this, but maybe Alex is losing it under all the pressure," Josh murmured, "He's talking when no one is there."

"Have some faith, Josh, Alex knows what he's doing. And we've come much too far for him to lose it and he knows that," Scott pointed out.

Meanwhile, Dy had been rushed to the nearest hospital. 'When will she wake up?' Stanly wondered. There was so much to ask her, why she was using a false identity, where she came from and whether her parents even had any idea where she was. The girl was sneaky, he had to give her that one; even he had not suspected that she was a girl until the doctors had told him. There was nothing to do but wait, and hope that Alex won his match.

"I am Dranzer," the voice in Alex's head informed him. (AN: Did anyone see this coming? I hope I've surprised you all!) "I am a bitbeast and I have chosen you to be my partner. Do you wish for me to fight alongside you?" The bitbeast's voice was soothing Alex, and slowly restoring his energy.

"Dranzer, huh? Thank you, I accept," Alex mumbled, as his shock turned to awe. He knew only the best bladers could handle a bitbeast and he was honored one had chosen him as a partner. No sooner than those words had been spoken, a bright flash of red light flew into Alex's beyblade. "Go Dranzer!"

"I control the fire element, Master. You might want to use that to your advantage."

"What is that light? I think it's radiating from Alex's blade! You don't think that they might have tampered with it, do you?!" Andrew wondered.

"Don't worry, it's alright," Alex said, having heard that last comment. "Now, Dranzer, Fire Shot!" Alex had combined a shot attack he had known previously and Dranzer's fire power to form a more powerful attack.

"Dodge it, Dark Beast! What is that anyway?!" Ryan shouted, seeming a bit unnerved. "When did he acquire a bitbeast?! And where did he get it from?"

"You see, unlike you, I worked for my bitbeast! He chose me to be his partner!" The blades were flying more and more wildly, it was only a matter of time before one of them got taken out. "Final Flash!"

"Impenetrable Darkness!"

'Well, it is said that the light always defeats the darkness. So flame should take it out too. Now we'll just have to see if that's true!' Alex thought and hoped for the best. The massive collision of the two beasts caused an enormous blast, and everything else in the dish, and the dish itself, was most likely destroyed.

"Who won?" Josh asked, getting nervous.

"Did the blades even stop spinning?" Andrew added.

"Look! Only one person is standing!" Scott shouted. "It'd just better be Alex," he added quietly.

"Alright, ladies and gentle men, it looks like the smoke is finally clearing! Let's see who our new champion is!" the announcer said, as a figure with a mop of spiky hair emerged, carrying something on his back.

"Alex!" his team greeted enthusiastically.

"How's Ryan?" Scott asked, noticing the lump on Alex's back.

"What's this? Ryan seems to have passed out! I think we need another medic in here!" the announcer shouted before Alex could say a word. "Now what about the blades?" he added, as soon as he saw the medics heading for Ryan.

"So, did you win?" the team asked excitedly to which Alex could only shrug. He had honestly not noticed such details when he saw his friend in trouble. Ryan's fainting spell seem to have been caused by a nasty blow the head, which was bleeding quite a bit by the time the medics rolled him out.

"You think he'll be alright?" Alex asked and received shrugs back from his team mates.

"And we have a winner! Congratulations Alexander Hiwatari, our new beyblade champion!"

"I won? I won!!" Alex smiled. "Now they just have to lock up my father and our mission is done!"

"Yeah!" Josh and Andrew shouted.

"Now who's up for a trip to the hospital?" Scott added. Of course the whole team was in agreement on that.

"Stanley! Where's Dy" the team practically shouted in his ear, successfully waking up the coach.

"She's in the room down the hall. First one on your left."

"She?!"

Alex smirked. "Betcha didn't see that one coming huh?" He was hoping his team mates would be as accepting of this fact as he was, but he wasn't sure.

"Well, then she has a lot of explaining to do! Come on, Alex, don't you want to yell at her for taking that match?" Alex smiled at his team mates antics. It looked like things would be alright after all.

"In other news tonight, a man accused of abusing several young children, Boris Balkov, and his boss, Voltaire Hiwatari, have been picked up by the police at a downtown hotel. The details on what these men have done have not been revealed by police, but it looks like they have something to do with a few foreign beybladers, who were injured in a tournament last week. Fortunately, it looks like there will be no lasting effects on the bladers," the news anchor blared.

"About time they caught up to those idiots," Ryan said, followed by a string of colourful language. His memory had come back, and the brainwashing undone by that blow to the head, and fortunately, they had gotten Athrun to come around as well. He and Ryan were out of the hospital, and back with Alex's team.

"Meh, the police were bound to stumble on to all of this eventually. I'm just glad no one got hurt," Dy added, having also been released from the hospital, after promising several people that she'd take care of herself.

"Don't worry guys! Think of this as a new beginning for all of us!" Alex exclaimed, "He has to stay locked up, there's no way they could let him lose!" And Alex was right...at least for several years...

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RTC: Haha! I left a cliffie for you! So, please review, and tell me what you think! Take a guess at what I'm going to do next time, if you want! Sorry about the bad action scenes, I really did try, but it didn't come out perfectly, did it?

Kai: At least she didn't get writer's block and write a really bad chapter. You know, the kind with fluff. (Cowers in fear of fluff.)

RTC: Crazy muse. (Shakes head.) See you guys soon!