Okey-dokey, here's chapter 3! Oh, why did I have to say okey-dokey? This chapter has a little more action, and I'm sorry if my description of the Beybattle sucks! If anyone knows the song 'Perfect' by Simple Plan, it's the song I named the story after, and the one that was playing as I worked on it. The first verse especially fits.

DISCLAIMER: I think I forgot this in the last chpater, but I don't own Beyblade! What I own are Elizabeth, Carl, Lillie, and the five creepy thugs.

WORD COUNT: 1615

Tyson, Max, and Kenny all arrived at ten o'clock. The Beyblading camp would start at eleven, so they all planned to meet up at Lillie's place and then walk to the Beydome. Tyson couldn't help but stare when he saw Ray's face. "Whoa, what happened, Ray?" he asked, "Where'd you get that?" By 'that', of course, he meant the blackened left eye. Last time he'd looked, that hadn't been there.

"Huh? Oh, I… uh…" Ray mumbled.

Kai spoke up. "He tripped and whacked his face on a doorknob."

Tyson arched an eyebrow. Ray? Tripping? He wasn't exactly the clumsy type. Tyson himself was far more likely to do that.

The Kons entered the kitchen together. Ray mumbled a 'Good Morning' to them, but refused to face them. Tyson couldn't help noticing Kai throwing a death glare at Mr. Kon's back. What was with everyone today?

Mrs. Kon insisted that she and her husband accompany the Bladebreakers to the Beydome. It was only a ten-minute walk from Lillie's, so they didn't have to drive or anything. Ray kept his head down the entire time, until his mom finally noticed his bruise. "Ray, honey, what on earth happened?" she asked in a panic, grabbing his face and turning him so that she could get a better look.

Ray pulled away. "Tripped." His response, while making Tyson even more suspicious, seemed to be enough to satisfy his mother's curiosity.

We got to the Beydome soon enough, and were greeted by the camp director – Mr. Dickenson. I wasn't surprised to see him there, not one bit. Mrs. Kon pleasantly introduced herself and her husband.

"It's nice to meet you," she greeted him, "My name's Elizabeth Kon, and this is my husband, Carl. We're Ray's parents."

Mr. Dickenson shook her hand. "Likewise, it is a pleasure to meet you both." When he reached his hand out to Mr. Kon, the man grumbled before reluctantly shaking it.

Like everyone else, Mr. Dickenson seemed to sense something a little off about Ray's dad. I wondered how Mrs. Kon couldn't see how much he was hurting their son. The signs were obvious, of course that may have been because I knew the truth already.

At eleven, the doors opened, and a whole crowd of kids rushed in. I wound up instructing the more advanced bladers with Tyson, while Max and Ray handled the beginners.

It was hell. Even the more skilled kids weren't all that good. I nearly got hit in the face by more than one blade. If those kids had been on a team under my command, it sure wouldn't be for long. But instead of telling them that, I kept my mouth shut when it came to pointing out their bigger mistakes, and let Tyson deal with that. He's much better at not making kids cry.

It was four frustrating hours later when we were finally free from teaching. All the kids scattered, already challenging each other to test their new skills, and I was planning on bringing everyone back to Lillie's for some more training. Except for a few demonstrations, none of us had actually done any Beyblading of our own. But then Tyson started complaining about being hungry – no surprise there – so Mrs. Kon suggested we go somewhere for a late lunch. I groaned. Food had been given out around noon – but then again, it wasn't all that edible. I'm not even sure what it was supposed to be. So I reluctantly agreed.

As we walked, Ray and his dad got into an argument. Three guesses what it was about. "If you'd just spend more of your time doing something more productive, we wouldn't be having this problem!"

"Forget it! I'm not ditching my team now! Why don't you just accept that this is what I want to do with my life?"

"Beyblading is just a game! One that you're too focused on!" Mr. Kon grabbed his son's arm and squeezed, hard. Ray grunted in pain.

"Carl!" Mrs. Kon gasped. Her husband suddenly remembered that people were there and let go, still grumbling.

"Man, what is up with that dude?" Tyson whispered.

"Beats me," Max hissed back, "What kind of family argues like that?"

"Actually," Kenny interrupted, also keeping his voice low, "There are plenty of families that get along like that. It's sad but true."

"You know, guys," Tyson stated, "I don't think Ray got that shiner from tripping and falling onto a doorknob." I groaned again, inwardly this time. How was it that he could be totally oblivious to everything around him one minute and too observant for his own damn good the next? One may never know…

"What do you mean, Tyson? How else could it have happened?"

"Come on, Chief, aren't you supposed to be the smart one? Didn't you see what just happened? I bet Ray's dad gave him the black eye."

"No way!" Max gasped.

"He did," I admitted quietly, "I saw the whole thing last night. That's Ray's real reason for leaving home, and why he won't go back."

"Why didn't you tell us, Kai?" Tyson whined. Mrs. Kon glanced back, curious, and he plastered a huge, goofy grin on his face until she looked away. "Seriously, maybe we could've done something about it!"

"Like what?"

"I… I don't know, but there must be something."

"No. The only thing we can do is make sure Ray doesn't eventually lose it and swing back. It'll only make things worse if he does."

"Well, don't you think his mom should know?" Max added.

"That's not up to us."

"But…"

"Enough. Let's just go get lunch, then head back to Lillie's. Then as soon as Ray's parents are out of the room, we'll talk to him."

When we rounded the corner, Mrs. Kon suddenly screamed and vanished into an alleyway. As we ran after her, we saw a group of guys in black standing there. One of them held a knife to her throat. "Alright," another snarled, "Hand over all your valuables, and nobody gets hurt." Mr. Kon immediately dug his hand into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.

One thug snatched away and counted the money. "That's all you got?" he growled.

"Yes, it is. Now let my wife go."

"Not quite yet," the first one snapped, eyeing Kenny's laptop, "I said all of your valuables, including that fancy computer there." He tugged the laptop out of Kenny's hands and glared at the rest of us. "And what kind of kids your age don't go around with Beyblades in their pockets? Fork 'em over!"

Tyson clenched his fists. I knew his reply before the words were out of his mouth. "No way! You'll have to battle us for them!"

The thug smirked. "You're on, punk. We'll take you all on! Winner takes all!"

Tyson, Max, and I confidently stepped forward, but I held Ray back. "You're sitting this one out," I whispered to him.

"But-" Ray protested.

"You're not fully recovered yet, and you don't have Driger. Let us handle this."

"Kai, this is my mom we're talking about. I can't just stand aside and watch!" He took his spot between me and Max. I sighed, knowing there was no way of talking him out of this, and readied my own blade. I couldn't help but remember the final minutes before Ray's last round with Bryan. Everyone had begged him not to go back out there, especially considering Round 2 had left him unconscious. But he'd refused to back down, just like now, and wound up in the hospital.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Mr. Kon cried, "You're playing a game to decide what happens?!" I chose to ignore that comment. He didn't get it, that Beyblade is more than just a game, but a way of life. Instead, we watched as four of the five thugs, save the one still holding Mrs. Kon hostage, took their own stances, black blades and launchers at the ready.

"Three…" one began to count down, "two… one!"

"LET IT RIP!"

All eight blades hit the ground at the same time, pairing off into four one-on-one skirmishes. Max, Tyson and I each won ours within about a minute, but Ray was struggling. His opponent was evidently better than we'd assumed. Ray's blade had already started wobbling from the beating it was getting, and Ray wasn't doing all that well himself. As I looked over, I could see that it was happening all over again – he was pale and sweating and it looked like he was fighting to stay conscious. It was just like when he'd collapsed a couple days ago. Like before, the stress he was going through right now was hurting him physically.

Suddenly, the thug's blade did something I hadn't expected: it unleashed a Bit-Beast. It looked like a dark silver skeleton wearing a heavy cloak, making me think of the Grim Reaper. "Destroy them, Demonor!" its maters commanded. Demonor went for Draciel first. Sparks flashed as the blades collided. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mr. Kon staring at the two Bit-Beasts fighting it out. Something told me this was the first real Beyblade battle he'd ever witnessed.

Max's cry of surprise brought me back to the battle. His blade was on its side at his feet, defeated. Dragoon charged forward with a vengeance, but the same thing happened. Now it was my turn. Demonor was going for Ray's blade, but my Dranzer refused to move out of its path. I had a feeling that, with all that was on the line, Ray wouldn't be able to handle the stress if his blade was knocked out.