Hi guys! Sorry its been so long! Life has been strange what with Coronavirus. This chapter is setting the scene for bigger things later so excuse the lack of Bladebreakers and Kai related stuff. The goings on at Hiwatari Enterprises and with Shadow Vale in this chapter work up to the peak of the storyline later. Next chapter will feature muuuch more around Kai :)

Chapter 17.

Hiwatari Enterprises' head-quarters was a tall multi-story office block in the middle of Tokyos' affluent business districts – Ginza. Its exterior was ultra modern and superior to all neighbouring structures. It was an elegant building that had been constructed using steel girders and tinted greyish-blue glass. There was no brick work, only a hundred shimmering mirror like windows which made it glitter like a rectangular cut diamond in the daylight. The words Hiwatari Enterprises and the company logo were affixed to the buildings top right hand exterior, in block silver lettering. It was as elegant as it was iconic. The entrance lobby had white marble flooring, 6ft high ficus trees in artistic silver pots beside the electric sliding glass double doors, and perfect pink orchids waited for Monday morning at the reception desk. The inner workings of the office were restricted by train station-like turnstiles that would only open with a key card and scanner. Silver and white staircases and minimalistic corridors lead to the various office hubs, management offices, photocopy rooms, conference rooms and staff amenities; such as toilets, staff cafe, staff gym and even a meditation room. Kais' office was on level 30 and 2 levels down were the meeting rooms. One of which was occupied. It was a Sunday evening at 6pm. No receptionists, no tech guys, no cleaners... no other office worker was present besides the two security guards patrolling the building. The upper echelons of management on the other hand had been called in for an emergency meeting and Gottlieb was under fire.

Meeting Room 1 was the largest conference room, the most eloquently decorated and only used for the most important business meetings. It had cream and gold regal patterned wallpaper, cream and beige streaked office carpet and a heavy dark-oak table dominated the middle. Around the room were various paintings on 3 walls of Edo samurai with backdrops of trees and flowers to display a mix of beauty, Japanese culture and strength. Sat around the dark wooden desk were 6 individuals. 2 women and 4 men. At the head of the table sat a fraught Mr Markus Gottlieb, his stomach in knots and massaged his temples as he dreaded the upcoming verbal cat fight. His tall frame wore an expertly fitted black pin-stripe suit, white shirt, black tie and black shiny shoes tucked under the table. He swiped a hand lightly over his tightly curled brown hair to ensure all was in place and began.

Gottliebs' German accent caused his words to be exact and lingering. "Thank you all for coming in on such short notice. You all know why you are here and so I'll proceed. The doctors have informed me that Mr H is stable but in a life threatening condition. He is currently in the intensive care unit fighting for his life. I have had no update from the police about the apprehension of his attacker or why he was a target. His Grandmother and Beyblade team are at his bedside."

A young lady known simply as Megumi spoke up. She was a petite, busty 30 something beauty with long black wavy hair that she always tucked behind one ear. She wore a crisp white blouse which fought with her cleavage and a dark grey pencil skirt. Her voice was hurried, desperate and her thin black eyebrows furrowed with worry. "When will we know if he is going to be ok? He's going to pull through right?"

Gottlieb said in a flat tone as his eyes lowered. "The doctors keep saying we have to wait and see."

Zhou, a 50 something years old bulky, Chinese business man turned corporate manager wearing a black suit, moustache and cunning eyes. This man couldn't wait to voice his opinion. "I told you this was a bad idea. Someone of his stature going out in public to play with spinning tops was irresponsible and outright childish. The media is having a field day about this."

Gottlieb shot the man a dangerous leer. He had barely slept, eaten or rested since Kais' incident Saturday afternoon and the china-mans' remark had touched a nerve.

Megumis' pulse raged and her nail polished fingers curled tightly into her palms. Her boss and "friend" was badly injured and her colleagues' disrespectful retort about him sent her blood boiling.

Midoria , a 30 something in dark skinny jeans, black polo shirt and suit jacket wearing a Pokémon lanyard, dark green fuzzy hair and light facial hair on his chin. "How dare you say that Zhou. Beyblading is a legitimate sport and besides... this was for charity. Mr H competing in the tournament would have actually done us some good in the public eye. Advertising and showing we are a company that cares."

Yagami, a late 40s sporting a grey suit, brown eyed, short-brown haired, thin faced, tanned facilities manager with a lifetime of experience in the corporate world stropped in a husky voice. "He could have donated to a poor African village or Save The Elephants if he wanted a publicity stunt to make the company look good."

Zhou scoffed and started leaning over the table to have a pop at Midoria. "Well we certainly have publicity now. And not the good kind. I'm expecting a stock depreciation of 5% at market opening tomorrow. Stock holders do not like it when there's a change of management... you know this."

Megumi stabbed at Zhou with a short snappy tone. "I'll be the one to crunch numbers Zhou. Remember your field is marketing. So leave the finances to the finance department."

Midoria sweat dropped at the tension in the room. "So what do we do now?"

Gottlieb knew exactly what he was letting himself in for when calling this meeting and tried his best to keep his cool. Kais' rank and stern authority kept meetings like this civil but without him... it was turning ugly. "We carry on as normal. We conduct business as normal. Do not talk to the press. I want to hold off for the next couple of days to see which way Mr Hs' condition turns. I don't want to spark panic and then the shareholders fall away like flies. If Kai is going to make it through this...he's going to want a company to come back to."

Zhou – "And if he doesn't come back, we need to talk sucessorship. I assume he has a will and an heir to his stake in the company? And how long do we wait before replacing him as CEO... and as Chairman of the board... and as head of engineering hmmmmmmm?"

Megumi was getting fiery and her tongue viper- like. "Straight to the quick huh Zhou! You've been waiting for a shot as CEO for years. Huhh You bastard."

Zhous' face went red and cheeks puffy as he got angrier with Megumis' insult. "Call me what you want! The world doesn't stop spinning because Hiwatari does. We have shareholders to consider, not mentioning our own careers. If the company goes under then we... and all other staff lose our jobs."

Midoria slammed a hand on the table. "Don't be so dramatic! Mr H will die first before he lets this company go under. It's his name above the door don't forget."

Zhou scoffed. "Exactly! If he does die then the company may well go under. Share holders will pull out and we will nose dive into bankruptcy. And if by some miracle they don't...how are we going to manage the engineering department? We all know that's Hiwataris' forte and none of us have a clue about the field of engineering; our most profitable commodity as of late."

The 6 management giants went silent. They knew there was some truth in their disgruntled colleagues' words.

Haruka the only other female in the room was a quiet 20 something book worm looking type. She wore dark tights, knee length dark-blue skirt, light blue vest, dark blue open buttoned shirt over the vest, short curly brown hair and thick rimmed glasses. Like Midoria she wore a themed lanyard with the Harry Potter logo. "I guess with Mr Hs' absence until the foreseeable future...you are now Acting CEO." She said as her gaze pointed at the head of the table.

Gottlieb – "Yes Haruka...that's right. Until Mr Hs' return and he will return, you report to me directly now."

Zhou was livid. He detested Gottlieb... and Kai for employing a foreigner into the position he applied for years ago.

Haruka had a nasally voice and spoke a bit like Wilma from Scooby Doo. "What do we tell the staff?"

Gottlieb – "Tell them its business as normal. Reassure your departments that no-body is losing their jobs and Mr Hiwatari will return as soon as he is able. It's important that we stress to staff that nothing has changed. We don't want employees looking for other jobs and leaving us short staffed if they think they will be unemployed in the coming weeks."

Yagamis' voice was snide. "And the Engineering department?"

Gottlieb - I'll meet with the Engineering team in the morning to discuss matters. For now I'll be taking on any roles and previous appointments in Kais' diary for the next few weeks. If he does pull through he's not going to be in work for a while."

Zhou scoffed even harder. "But what about your own work load, you have your own department to run surely." He said sarcastically with a poorly hidden smirk. "How will you manage?"

Megumi – "I'll help you Markus. I have an apprentice who is chomping at the bit for more responsibility. We can share work-loads."

Gottlieb – "Thankyou for your offer of help Megumi. I have at least 2 interns who would love to take on more too. I'm sure we can put together a task force to deal with the lesser sensitive contracts. You see?... With a bit of team work we will pull through this." The latter of his sentence was aimed at Zhou and Yagami. He gave each a glare with his piercing monolithic blue eyes and condescending face. The two who had been most obstinate and difficult since Kais' promotion to CEO. They detested someone young enough to be their son with a fraction of their experience was made their superior. If it wasn't for their high wages and unwillingness to fit into another company they would have left years ago. They were too set in their ways and too comfortable in their jobs.

The meeting had finally concluded but not before Gottlieb had developed a raging headache. One by one the department leaders were excused after the finer details of a new work strategy had been laid out. Midoria, the head of Technology left with his long term girlfriend Haruka, the head of Human resources. Soon after them Zhou stomped out after having one more whinge about Kai beyblading "like the child he is" and behind him; the facilities manager Yagami who shared the same opinion.

Gottlieb had left the table and was staring out the wall sized window with his hands clasped behind his back, his chest out and his suit creased and flexed with the unnatural position. He eyeballed the pigeons on the opposite buildings' ledge and sighed. It was sunset and he felt guilty for enjoying the warm sun through the panes. Kai and he would do this sometimes... stare out the window and contemplate what to do about a risky business contract, or whether the numbers added up to make an investment worth-while, or discuss staff issues with certain employees. Whenever there was difficulty amongst the team, Kai had a way of working out how to curb them or maybe it was just his radiant authority that kept them in check. Gottlieb and Kai worked rather close on a day to day basis. The European felt a prang in his heart at the empty space beside him where the young CEO would stand at the end of difficult work days.

Gottlieb - "We need to keep an eye on Zhou and Yagami."

Megumi stepped in beside her older and much taller colleague. The last of the sun peeped behind distant buildings and the pigeons nestled down for the night. "Yes we do. They are going to start a coup d'état. I can feel it."

Megumi had the role of CFO otherwise known as Chief Financial officer. Anything to do with money and the company, she was the one to call. She worked very close with Gottlieb and Kai. In terms of rank; Kai was at the top, Gottlieb 2nd in command and Megumi was 3rd. Kai and Megumi had a very professional relationship and she respected him highly. He never objectified her and treated her with the respect she deserved, regardless of her age and gender. In Japanese society... respect was favoured to older experienced heterosexual men and Kai would have none of that in his work place. He valued skill and hard work above all; no matter what form his employees took.

Gottlieb – "They despise me as a foreigner. They don't respect you as a woman and refute Kai because of his age and lack of experience. They will do whatever they can now to discredit us and our conduct to the board of directors."

Megumi – "Mr H can barely keep them in check when he's here. How on earth are we going to manage in his absence?"

Gottlieb –"I don't know. Just be on your toes and report any suspicious behaviour to me...While the cats away; the mice will play."

Deep in the Asian wilderness, the night was drawing in, the sky was a toxic orange and the stars were starting to debut through the stratosphere. The air was warm and carried with it the smell of hot rock and flowering Asiatic cacti. A wide-open canyon and a cavern hideout nearby was losing its last minutes of daylight. The landscape was dusty with steep walls of ancient jagged rock where little vegetation grew. Lizards, snakes and bats inhabited the crag walls in a constant battle for survival. This cavern was one of many clan homes to Shadow Vale and this giant dust-bowl was a popular training ground. Boulders bore deep scratch marks from beyblade matches and man-made craters in the earth made for bey-dishes.

Night was fast engulfing the arid habitat and bats were leaving their sleeping perches to take wing to hunt. Moths were plentiful and tonight... fluttered around light emitting from fire lit pikes held by 20 figures in purple hooded capes. The humanoid figures were lined in a semi circle in a clearing and in front of them stood their silver-haired clan leader. Between him and the edge of a dust bowl bey-dish there waited Blake; with a launcher in one hand and in the other... a brown and black beyblade with a bitchip glowing amber.

"Tonight we will bear witness to the Bonding Ceremony of our Brother Blake and the Fire Bird bitbeast, Dranzer ." Announced the Great Arch Mage Rochimaru. He lifted his arms like a ringmaster at a circus. "Blake will release the Sacred One from his beyblade and will call Dranzers' name. Dranzer will take our Brother Blake as his new guardian, allowing him to touch the phoenix without burning and return to his beyblade as Blake commands."

The crowd of hooded onlookers shuffled excitedly but remained poised as their red eyes watched from afar. Blakes' "siblings" looked on from the coveted group and rippled with jealousy. They glowered with frustration and longed for their turn to do their clan proud and wield a Sacred Bitbeast too. Each had been dreaming of this day and Blake was brimming with pride.

"Now Blake...Are you ready?" The mage bellowed, his red irises sparkled in the dimming evening light.

Blake took to his knee to bow and effortlessly rose again. His heart fluttered with anticipation and felt honoured to hold the Sacred Dranzer in his very palm. His purple cape swayed lightly in the night breeze. He flicked his cape hood back for the fire pikes to light his face and his hair shimmered like starlight. "Yes Lord Rochimaru. This has been my life's' destiny."

Arch Mage Rochimaru – "Now Blake! Command Dranzer to bend to your will and join us on our mission to cleanse the world and all its filth!"

Blake clicked the beyblade into the launcher and held his arms out over the dish, ready to pull the rip-cord.

Arch Mage Rochimaru -"Now release, my Child!"

Blake pulled the rip-cord with all the force his elbows and shoulders could produce and electric excitement coursed throughout his entire body. Years of training, beyblading, practising Shadow Clan ideology for as long as he could remember...all in preparation for this moment.

His beyblade collided with the earth and instantly burst into a smoky, amber cloud of sand and fire. The flames erupted into the shape of a bird and then Dranzer took his full glorious form. Dranzer was no longer pinned by the golden daggers from his capture and was as regal as ever before. His feathers were plush and his gold parts were glimmering in the backdrop of the darkening sky. Dranzer let out a phoenix cry that rattled and echoed so loud throughout the canyon that loose rocks fell and all animals scuttled away in fright. The giant fire bird hovered in the space above the spinning beyblade and judged over the congregation of humans beneath him. He flapped his wings furiously and low growling rumbled from his crimson feathered throat.

"Now Blake! Call on Dranzer to come to you, and then return him to your beyblade." Beckoned the Arch Mage.

Dranzers' cry took his captors' breath away and all the man could do was gawp in awe. His emotions overcome with deep joy in possessing the great creature before him.

Blake – "Dranzer come to me and let me feel your Sacred Spirit against my skin!" He held his right arm out ready to caress a beak or stroke a soft fire-feathered breast.

Dranzers' demeanour took a hostile turn and erupted into a white hot rage. His magnolia coloured mane swished as his head and thick neck bucked. His yellow beak snapped in the air as if threatening to bite and wings turned to from feather to fire. His eyes mad with malice.

Blake felt an uneasy streak of self doubt and expected Dranzer to be more subdued than this. All the scriptures and teachings told of captured Bitbeasts behaving completely obedient to their new masters.

The crowd of purple clad onlookers began to mutter inaudibly amongst themselves. The show was not going as expected. Blakes' siblings watched wide eyed and felt anxious for their brothers' safety. One whispered. "Blake extinguished the previous guardian like the scriptures said so why is Dranzer not listening to commands?"

Arch Mage Rochimarus' voice was dangerous. "Blake. Is there something wrong?"

Blake panicked and felt his peers' eyes burning into his back. "Sacred Spirit Dranzer. I call you to come to me at once!" He hoped his angry tone would cover the fear in his voice as a heavy sweat drop cascaded down his cheek.

The fire bird screeched again but this time so loud that large rocks and whole chunks of cliff face fell away and caused all humans to cry out in pain as the sound pierced their ear drums. Their velvet sleeved arms provided little audio protection.

Dranzers' rage bubbled as his entire body spontaneously ignited and emitted a heat so searing that the audience clan members shrieked and ran to escape the living inferno that could match the sun itself.

Blake held his arm up to shield his young features from the wafts of burning air from Dranzers' body. Sweat made his body and clothes sticky from a mix of embarrassment, overheating and fear for his safety. He had no choice but to walk backwards or face being incinerated where he stood.

Dranzers' flames were growing wilder as his temper reached volcanic proportions.

Blake whimpered as his arm felt like it was cooking. "Dranzer is out of control. What am I doing wrong? It wasn't meant to be this way!"

Dranzer cried another earth shattering bird screech; his tails flared, tucked his talons in and arched for attack. With one great flap of his awesome wings he swan dived and like a flaming aerial torpedo, aimed directly for Blake.

Blake knew instantly. His eyes wide, his throat dry from the hot air and dust caused by Dranzers' great wing beats. He was about to die and fought not to scream.

Arch Mage Rochimaru – "ENOUGH OF THIS! KILLSERPENT GO!" And with these words and an expertly rapid launch of a beyblade; his Bitbeast was released. A giant snake Bitbeast materialised instantly. Its size matched Dranzers'. Its body was a block teal colour with black shiny shields down its back, sides and crowning the head. Its eyes were as you would expect a snake with florescent yellow slits on its white eyeballs. Killserpents' mouth was lined with a deadly row of golden dagger fangs which glinted in the fires' light. It automatically launched itself airborne to collide directly into Dranzers' swooping body resulting in the two great spirits tumble-weeding into the side of the canyon rock-wall... just in time to save Blake from what would have been certain death.

A Bitbeast cat fight began. Dranzers' fiery wings flapped and struck at the rock wall sending debris crumbling whilst the giant snake wrapped itself around the fire bird. Dranzer phoenix shrieked again in fury before biting down on the great snake's underbelly and vice gripping his talons into the flesh of his opponent, burning and cooking snake skin as he did. Killserpents' flesh was blackening from Dranzers' flames and struggled to coil around the thrashing fire bird.

Mage Rochimaru – "KILLSERPENT! A THOUSAND DAGGERS ATTACK!"

Killserpent turned completely black as he arched his head around in a way to face Dranzer head on and spat out his fangs like flying daggers. A duo of daggers plunged into Dranzers' plush bird chest and disappeared, leaving only the hilt on show. Dranzer screamed and thrashed wildly with pain and pure rage. Despite being impaled and thrashing...Dranzer still had the upper-hand against Killserpent as he was completely blind with emotion...rage and was physically no match.

The Arch Mage held his arms out towards Dranzer, slid his sleeves up to his elbows to expose his ink decorated arms. "Now Dranzer, YOU ARE MINE!" With those words his arms glowed illuminescent green and flexed his fingers as his pupils and irises rolled white.

A spell had been cast as a thick metal slave collar formed out of the air and clinked shut around Dranzers' neck. Dranzers' struggle with the giant snake spirit was over. Dranzer became immediately silent, ceased flapping, he released his slithering opponent from his beak and talons and flames died away in seconds. His eyes turned completely black and he stood like a statue in the dusty terrain. Zombiefied.

Killserpent disintegrated back into his beyblade and his nearby beyblade stopped spinning.

The great mage strode past Blake who was gasping for breath on the floor. His face was as red as his burnt forearm and his heart pounded with dread for the judgement that was about to befall him.

Arch Mage Rochimarus' eyes had returned to their normal auburn read and his sleeves pulled over his tattooed skin once again. His face however had turned sour and his temper was seething. He stomped over to a few feet before Dranzers' waiting and stupefied form.

The Shadow Vale leader snapped with venom in his words. "I didn't want to do this Dranzer but you left me no choice. Now return to your beyblade at once."

Without a seconds delay and soundless; Dranzer did just that and with a flash of light he lazer-beamed back to his brown and black beyblade prison. The beyblade then drew to an abrupt halt on the hard sand earth.

The atmosphere became quiet as the wind dropped. The other clan members began to appear from behind rocky shelters in the distance, their heads peeping over the boulders in the distance.

Blake was a trembling mess on the floor. His voice begged. "My Lord... what did I do wrong?!"

Mage Rochimaru could barely look at his flustered failure of a student. "You did kill the previous guardian didn't you?"

Blake stammered and sweated profusely. His voice panicked. "Of course I did Grand Master. I put my dagger in him and watched him bleed out in front of me. I watched him take his last breath and never take another."

Mage Rochimarus' raged words echoed for the entire canyon to hear– "Do you take me as a fool?! Well it's clear that you didn't finish the job properly because Dranzer is still connected to his previous guardian! That is the only explanation for this failure! You are an embarrassment to the clan!"

Blake resorted to a beggers stance. His face in the dirt and his arms out in front; praying. "I will put this right my Lord. I promise."

Mage Rochimaru – "Oh yes you will my child...If it's the last thing you do."