RTC: Yes, you are not dreaming! I'm actually updating quite early this time! And guess what?! This is the last chapter! My fic is finshed! (Sobs.)

Kai: Great, she's bawling again. How do we stop her?

Kari: Well, the reviewers could give some nice reviews…

Kai: She's corrupting you! (Runs screaming.)

RTC: I'm just going to let you guys read and see what you think, okay? Though some reviews would be nice. (Hint, hint.) Disclaimer please! (Returns to crying.)

Kari: Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade, she just controls the plot and owns us OCs.

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Light At The End Of The Tunnel-Not!

It had been 17 years since the tournament, and Alex and his team had moved on and continued with their lives. They were all still in contact, but they could no longer spend time together due to the fact that most of them had families. Alex had gotten married, to a lady named Kayla and he and his wife had twins, Kai and Kari, who turned three a few days before. Ryan and Scott had both gotten married too, both were without children for the time being, while Dy had married and had two children also-a little boy, almost three years old named Raymond (Ray) and a daughter, Elizabeth (Lizzie), who was only a few months old. However happy they all seemed, their latest correspondence would reveal otherwise. They all knew Voltaire would not stay locked up forever and they knew he was being released in a short while. Then the unthinkable happened.

"Alex, that was just the Japanese police on the phone," Alex's wife said between sobs, "My mother's gone missing! They think it might be him at work again!" Kayla was half Japanese, half Russian, her mother being the Japanese and she was living in Japan all alone after the death of her husband several years before.

"NO!" Alex had gone surprisingly pale. Kayla knew all about his father, but he never thought that her mother would be targeted. "Let's go. We'll head straight to Japan and see if we can put a stop in his plan." Alex gave his wife a hug and comforted her to the best of his ability.

"Thanks Alex... You're right; we should head over there and see if we can catch him. But the only problem is that there's a blizzard on the way. I don't know if we can get to the airport, much less catch a plane." Kayla had calmed down considerably, it was Alex's specialty to calm her down.

"Well, we won't know until we try. I'll go call the airport and book us all a flight," Alex replied.

A few hours later, Alex, Kayla, the twins and their entire luggage were all stuffed into the family car.

"Mommy, Daddy, where are we going?" asked a sleepy Kai.

"To help your grandma out, okay sweetie?"

"Goody, I like going to Grandma's," Kari piped up, while Kai nodded in agreement.

Soon after, the twins had fallen asleep.

"So, what do you think he's done with my mom?" Kayla asked, sounding worried.

"Don't worry; he wouldn't dare try anything if he knows we can get there. I'll see to it personally that he gets shoved right back in jail."

"But what if he stops us?"

"I've alerted our friends, so they will be around to take care of him. They've all witnessed his horrid deeds and they care as much about all this as I do," Alex responded, while trying to jerk the steering wheel in the right direction. Just then the car started to skid, and unfortunately for Alex and his family, they were on a bridge and heading straight towards a pole holding it up. "Damn! The brakes aren't working either!"

"Alex, we're going to crash!" Kayla screamed, successfully waking up the sleeping children in the back seat.

"Dad must have planned this. Hold on, everyone!" Alex had replied and then the car did crash. And those were the last words spoken by either of them, and blackness overtook all four occupants of the vehicle.

Kai woke up to the sound of sirens blaring and flashing lights. "Mommy, Daddy, Kari?! Where are you?!"

"Hold on, kiddo," a paramedic had told him, as he approached with a huge saw type thing to cut the car open so that they could get Kai out. The car had been smashed to bits and it was surprising that the kid was even conscious.

"Where is my family?" Kai had protested, trying to wriggle free on his own, and discovering that he was quite stuck.

"Alright, I think you can sedate this one. He needs to be calmed down before we tell him anything," another paramedic told the first one. The first one agreed and injected Kai with enough sedative to keep him out until they were at the hospital.

"Kai, is that your name? Alright sweetie, please remain calm while we take some X-rays, okay?" the nurse had asked as she put him inside the machine. "We just want to see how badly you're hurt."

"But I don't wanna!" Kai shouted.

Kari, hearing her brother's screams from down the hall, put up a similar fuss. Before long, the doctors and nurses had had enough, and after a few tests, put the twins in one room, while they collected themselves to tell the children the bad news.

Finally, one doctor entered the room where she found Kari crying her eyes out in Kai's arms.

"Kai, Kari, there is no easy way to tell you this, but...your parents died in that crash," she whispered, wondering if they understood what that meant. Apparently so, because they both started mumbling something about who would take care of them.

"Don't worry, Kari, I'll always protect you," Kai whispered.

The raw emotion clogged Ryan and Dy's throats as they entered the cemetery, where their friend and captain would be buried.

"It is a pretty place, don't you think so?" Ryan whispered.

"Yeah, I suppose so, but I really wish this wasn't happening," she replied.

"I keep wishing this was all a dream," Athrun added, coming up behind them. Josh and Andrew were already at the gravesite, and Scott was trying to see if he could find Alex's children.

"I know the feeling," Dy told him.

"I found the kids, come on they're at the gravesite," Scott said, running up to the group. "They're a bit of a mess, but you can't blame them. Not knowing who's their guardian now."

"I can't believe that bastard is getting those kids! What kind of justice system is that? A convicted criminal getting custody of two innocent children?" Ryan ranted.

"We can't do anything about that but hope for the best," Dy said. "It looks like they'll be just as strong as their father, though, so we may not have to worry too much," she added, watching Kai attempt to push his grandfather away. "Besides, we all know Alex would never leave his children alone, he'll always be watching over them." Alex's friends all sighed and muttered about the terrible justice system letting the kids go with their grandfather. They had tried to get custody of the twins themselves, but Voltaire had always been a powerful man, and their fight was fruitless.

"Well, the future is in their hands. All we can do is watch over them and if he dares to try anything, we'll kick his butt, right guys?" Athrun said, getting a bit more hopeful.

"Right!"

"Because we can take him down as a team!" Dy added. The team looked up, and they knew they'd be okay, because they had Alex watching over them.

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RTC: (From behind fistful of tissues.) That's the end. Kind of sad, I know, and emotionally detached sometimes, but happily ever after doesn't always happen. Didn't anyone see this coming though?

Kai: Just because you think your hints are so obvious, it doesn't mean they are!

Kari: He's just sulking because he knows what you've got planned for your next fic.

RTC: Awe, poor Kai! (Glomps Kai.) A special thank you to all of my reviewers! (Glomps reviewers too.) Come on now, you know you guys want to press the little blue review button there. You know you do.

Kari: And RTC is handing out virtual chocolate to her reviewers. (Tempts readers with large plate of chocolate.)

Kai: Well, that's it for this fic! Hopefully I can leave now!

RTC: He's right about this being over, but I'll be back with more fics, I know that! So Kai can't leave! Bye guys! (Sobbing and waving.)