A/N: I lived, b*tch...
This is for those of you who still remember this fic. Thanks for hanging in for, what, 5 years?
Twenty-Nine: Battlefield Reunion
"So, they've announced the formation for the semi-finals…"
Tyson was sitting cross-legged on the dojo floor with Kenny, while the rest of the team was scattered about the room, all paying varying degrees of attention. This mention of the semi-finals, however, caught everyone's attention.
They'd gotten back from Australia four days ago, and while the Finals were being prepared in the Turbo Dome in the city, it gave the remaining four teams time to train and recuperate from all their efforts to get this far. Kai had been the relentless taskmaster he had always been in training them, but with Stryker now being a very real threat immediately on the horizon, the whole team threw themselves into their captain's brutal training regimen with gusto and not a word of dissent. Not even Daichi objected to the aggressive pace Kai set, relishing in the challenge.
"So, what's happening?" Max asked, setting down the Uno cards from the game he'd been playing with Ray and Daichi. Kenny, Hilary, and Tyson had been going through the recent data from the BBA relating to the upcoming battles, while Kai kept himself off to the side, as he always did, sitting by the open door out to the garden, finding some peace in the quiet of nature.
"Seems they're gonna open it up to the fans," Tyson told them. "The match-ups were announced today, but the fans will decide who faces whom."
"Did he just say 'whom'...?" Hilary muttered to herself, a puzzled look on her face, though she was largely ignored.
"So, who have we got, then?" Daichi asked, shuffling closer as anticipation gripped him.
"We're taking on the Blitzkrieg Boys again," Tyson replied. They had a two-out-of-three chance of facing someone they'd already battled in this tournament, so the odds had been in favour of that from the offset.
"And it's the fans who will decide the battle order...?" Ray cocked a brow, intrigued. "I guess this is the last time they can really get creative with the battle formation, so they may as well throw it back to the fans. I wonder what formation they'll choose..."
"I wanna face Tala!" Daichi declared loudly. "They better pick me against Tala! I owe him a sock to the face for the last time he beat me!"
"I think Ray will get called up to the dish again," Tyson proffered, and while Hilary gave her friend a quizzical look, the others all knew the origin of this theory. "Ray versus Brian. That's a battle I'd want to see again."
Max chuckled lightly at this. "Oh, man! I nearly forgot about that! Ray nearly got pulverised!"
"Thanks for the reminder, Max..." Ray sighed, unable to keep the smile from his face. "I'd like to beat Brian again. But who do you think they'd pick for the second slot?"
Kenny glanced up from his laptop for a moment to offer a shrug. "Could be Daichi and Tala, I suppose... I mean, that was quite the battle, and Tala is a formidable opponent..."
He then turned to the team's captain. "Hey, Kai, have you ever faced Tala in battle?"
Kai didn't react to the question, and he didn't rush to answer it, either.
"I don't think I've ever seen you two in competition against one another..." Ray quipped.
"You're right!" Max agreed. "I've never seen Kai battle Tala!"
"We've battled in practice, but no, never seriously," Kai shrugged off their interest easily. "The odds of them choosing that as a battle possibility aren't high. They've never seen us battle, so what is there to get excited about?"
"It's you two!" Max insisted. "I mean, you've both fought on the same team a couple of times, but you've never been pitted against one another! Now that would be a battle for the ages!"
Kai had to admit, purely to himself, of course, that getting to take down Tala in a public arena had piqued his interest from the offset. When he had initially not been drafted into the first battle against the Blitzkrieg Boys, he'd dismissed the idea as a passing fancy, but now there was a chance it could happen here, in the semi-finals. That would be exhilarating for him, but would those watching agree? He couldn't say for sure.
"How long do we have to prepare?" Ray turned the conversation back to what they did know about the tournament.
"Semi-final round one is next Saturday, so we have a week to the day to prepare," Tyson replied. "Man, it makes me feel itchy to join in!"
Tyson was progressing well with his physiotherapy and was finally free of all the plasters, bandages, and casts he'd had to wear since the accident. With most of his mobility restored, some lingering pain in his wrists and knees aside, he was fighting fit again.
"You are not!" Hilary half-shrieked, slapping Tyson over the back of the head. "This isn't your tournament, Tyson! You're not going to take this away from the team!"
"Ow!" Tyson wailed indignantly. "Hey! Yeah, I know, Hilary! I don't actually plan on doing anything! I'm gonna sit it out!"
"You better..." the young woman growled, shooting a dangerous look at the cap-wearing youth.
Tyson shook his head, aware of his current position regarding this tournament. He'd had no intention of interfering."This is for the team, not for me. I know I wanted you guys to come and fight for the team because I couldn't, but I think you're fighting for yourselves, on your terms, and this is all you guys."
"I think you've still been a mascot for the team," Max pointed out with a smile. "I'm sure the fans have liked seeing you there cheering us on. You cast a big shadow, Tyson, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't nice to get out of it..."
"Well, you've all really shown just how good you are," Hilary beamed, her grin wide. "I mean, of course, I've always known you're amazing, but this is knocking it out of the park!"
"You know I think we owe a good bit of this to our leadership," Ray noted, his attention shifting towards their stoic captain. "Steady and solid leadership makes a huge difference."
No one was surprised to find that Kai's position in the room was now vacant, and the young man was nowhere to be seen.
"The guy is like a ninja..." Daichi grumbled. "How does he just escape like that?!"
"It's always been Kai's special skill," Tyson chuckled softly. "He knows how to make himself invisible. This is how he's always been. He hasn't changed much."
"I don't know," Kenny quipped, shifting his legs underneath him. "I think Kai has changed a lot, perhaps the most out of any of us. I mean, he has spent legitimate time with us. Like that hike you guys did in South Africa? The one up Table Mountain?"
"Oh yeah!" Max smiled. "Yeah, I think you're right, Chief! He's started opening up to us!"
"Only took him five years!" Tyson laughed. "But I can see what you're saying, Chief. Kai has evolved. Become less who he was when we first met him. Nowhere near as power-crazy! Perhaps only a little less hostile, though..."
"What was Kai like in the beginning?" Hilary asked with a smile, bringing her knees to her chest, and wrapping her arms around them.
Ray laughed as he recalled what the half-Russian had been like in the beginning. "Mean! He was serious. Really serious. Didn't like any of us. Then there was the whole Baikal incident."
"What the hell was that all about?" Hilary looked at Ray. "No one has ever explained what happened there!"
"The short version is that Kai went power-mad and threw out Dranzer and went all-in on Black Dranzer," Tyson started nonchalantly. "We all got drawn out to Lake Baikal, which is goddamn cold, by the way, and Max rocked up with Dranzer and snapped Kai out of it. Then, yeah, the ice started breaking up and Kai was ready to die of hypothermia in ice water, but we all pulled him out. Then he left us at Baikal and went off in his grandfather's helicopter..."
"Yeah..." Max shivered. "Every time the temperature drops, I remember that. I mean, we saved him, and he just left us there..."
Tyson let out a heavy sigh, stretching his arms up above his head, his features dominated by a calm yet satisfied smile."Ah well. We're all closer as friends, and after all this time, we keep coming back to one another. I don't regret anything."
"Nah, me neither," Daichi agreed. "Yeah, there were times I wanted to quit the team, but let's face it: we're the best! Can't do any better than us!"
"And come tomorrow, we should take our training for the semi-finals seriously," Kenny interjected. "We have a week to be in top form for the Blitzkrieg Boys, and we have no idea who will be going into the dish, so we should all be prepared."
"The announcement said the finals would be old school," Tyson added. "The semis will be the last of the big, grand matches. The finals are back to basics, with standard large dishes with no frills or surprises. Just skill on skill. And yeah, our match is first, then the Stryker match, but I think it's a guarantee that Stryker will win. We just have to make sure it's us facing them in that Final."
"They've beaten the Blitzkrieg Boys before, so they could easily beat them again," Daichi pointed out. "They're two Bit Beasts down, and we're a full army. We gotta take them down! We're the only ones that can!"
"The consequences for us failing don't bear thinking about..." Max said grimly, looking over to their bespectacled friend. "Chief, for curiosity's sake, what would happen if we lost our Bit Beasts to Yama...?"
The thought of it sat ill with all of them, and they could tell from the sudden loss of color from Kenny's face that he knew exactly what would happen if they failed, and the young genius summed up their fears in one word.
"Oblivion."
"Ah, there you are!" Tala exclaimed as he walked into the bar of the hotel he and the Blitzkrieg Boys were staying in.
He'd asked Kai if he would meet him, and the quiet other man had, bizarrely, accepted his invitation. Maybe it was the end-of-the-world threat that loomed large on the horizon that had suddenly made Kai more socially amenable.
"You asked me to come here," Kai said flatly, and Tala couldn't help chuckling at the fact that Kai was still wearing that damn weighted scarf. He seemed to only remove it when he was in the dish against someone he considered a challenge, and those opponents were few and far between.
"And I do appreciate the effort, Your Majesty," Tala hit back, voice dripping with sarcasm, grinning as he sat himself on the bar stool next to the half-Russian.
"So," he started with a heaving sigh. "Blitzkrieg Boys and G Revolutions: Round Two."
"Mhm," Kai wasn't overly invested in the small talk portion of this discussion. "Why did you ask me to come out here, Tala? I need to train."
"Well," Tala shifted. "I figured you and I were friends now, after Dublin and all that." He ignored the derisive snort that garnered from the other man. "Come on! Fighting in a fountain does cement a friendship!"
"You were drunk and ridiculous," Kai turned to look at him. "And if that's what we're here to do, I'm leaving right now."
"You can't drink in this country," Tala pointed out firmly. "I can, but you're not old enough yet. So I may have one or two, and you can, you know, just watch." Kai rolled his eyes as Tala ordered himself a couple of shots. "I mean, we're facing into literal hell here, so I may as well, right?"
Kai rolled his eyes as he watched the older man take the drinks before paying for them, shaking his head slightly."You're being over-dramatic. We're going to stop him. We're going to stop all of this. And we'll get back all of the Bit Beasts he stole. It's as simple as that."
"And you say that like you've got us beat already," Tala scoffed, downing one of his shots. "We could wail on you. If you and I face one another in the dish, you're doomed. I won't let you win, and I won't lose."
"How optimistic," Kai chuckled. "We may have never faced one another in a match with anything on the line, but of all the people to lose to, it's not going to be you. If I won't lose to Ryall, and he's a much better Blader than you are, what makes you think I'll let you beat me?"
"Cold," Tala shrugged, downing his second shot, ordering another round. "It'll be a good battle either way, I suppose..."
Kai nodded in silent agreement. Any battle with the Blitzkrieg Boys would be good because he wasn't arrogant enough to say that they weren't good. Anymore, anyway.
"But Kai," Tala's tone held something of a warning within it. "We need to be serious for a second here. Ryall is possibly the biggest threat we've ever seen. He makes Brooklyn look like that Ming-Ming girl. That guy has blood on his hands, I'm sure of it."
"Don't talk like you know anything about this," Kai looked over at him again, his tone perhaps more brusque than he had originally intended. "This is far more complicated than you can understand. That Bit Beast is the source of all of this. I'm not sure if Ryall is inherently bad, or just someone who fell prey to the call of absolute power and is now being corrupted by it, but I don't think we can just assume he's bloodthirsty on the back of how little we know about him."
"What do you know...?" Tala turned to face him, a frown creasing his brow. "I know you know something. What do you know?"
He didn't like being pressed and interrogated like this. More often than not, he preferred to hold his counsel and keep his secrets, but there would be no benefit in keeping quiet about something like this, and Kai knew it. "Aside from the fact that Ryall and Yama have a symbiotic relationship? That aside, I don't know much else. Yama is seeking a new host, if you count that as pertinent information, and it looks like he's set his sights on me."
"Why, because you and Ryall are both power-hungry psychopaths?" Tala suggested before he could stop himself, unable to stop Kai from kicking the stool out from underneath him, sending him straight to the ground with a thud. "Hey!"
"Don't compare me to him," Kai stated sternly. "People change. I've changed. This has likely changed him, too. We sever their connection, he'll probably change again."
"But you sever the connection, and that Bit Beast will try and latch onto you," Tala slowly pulled himself back up onto his stool. "Is that what happened to you after that last Stryker match? Yama tried to grab you?"
"Pretty much," Kai shrugged indifferently. "We have to approach Stryker tactically. You can't just go and barrel in and expect to win. This involves strategy. You're not exactly someone I'd call a strategist."
"You're a dick, you know that, right?" Tala scoffed, scoffing again as Kai reached over to take one of his shots, downing it before he could snatch it back. "You could get arrested for underage drinking, you know."
Kai shot him an acerbic look, the glass still clutched firmly in his hand. "How many people here know how old I am?You and me. Anyone else here is going to assume I'm old enough unless you give them a reason not to."
Tala couldn't help laughing lightly at the unspoken assumption of loyalty towards silence as he downed the remaining shot, ordering a third round.
"Fine," he conceded, sliding a shot to Kai this time. "Let's drink to the end of the world as we know it. To the end of all of this. To the end of Beyblading."
"You're quitting too, huh?" Kai cocked a brow at Tala's statement.
Tala let out a heavy sigh, weighed down by years of fatigue that no words could express. "Yeah. I'm tired of it all now. I don't want to start hating it, so I'm gonna- wait, too? Are you, Kai Hiwatari, the man obsessed with the sport, about to retire?"
"I want a life away from Beyblading," Kai replied. "I've done enough averting disaster for a lifetime. I think I'm ready to stop. I wasn't planning on entering this tournament after Tyson was forced to withdraw, but he asked me to captain the G Revolutions, so I did. It's..."
Kai looked at the golden liquid in the small shot glass. "Captaining this team has been an honor. They're all good, great, even. I know we'll beat the Blitzkrieg Boys, and win this tournament, and after that, I'm done. No more of this."
Tala couldn't help the small smile that was growing on his lips as he watched his friend speak.
"You've grown up," Tala remarked. "You've changed a lot, Kai. Still with all the scarves and junk, but inside, you've changed. You're like a fully-fledged human being."
"I will kick the stool out from under you again, so help me..." Kai threatened, and Tala broke into another laugh, despite knowing Kai was serious.
"We're messed up, aren't we?" Tala chuckled lightly. "I wonder what Boris would think of us now. I wonder what your grandfather would think of us now..."
"Boris can go shove his head where the sun doesn't shine," Kai grumbled, and Tala nearly choked on his spit. "As for my grandfather..." he looked down into the small glass again. "I spoke to him yesterday."
This was something Tala had not expected to hear, regarding the younger man with wide-eyed surprise.
"You called that old jerk?!" Tala exclaimed. "He gets phone calls in that Moscow prison?"
"I called him," Kai confirmed, putting his glass down. "I got control of his money when I turned eighteen. He's been trying to call me three or four times a week since, and so I called him back yesterday. He got right into how he needed me to get him out, bail him, whatever, and how I'd then have to transfer the money back to him as well as control of Biovolt. I thought someone in there would have told him that Biovolt was dissolved as soon as he went to prison, and most of the money was put into charitable causes."
"Aww, did you give your grandfather's ill-gotten gains to charity?" Tala half-cooed. "Aren't you just-"
His stool disappeared from under him once again, and despite it having happened not five minutes before, Tala couldn't catch himself before he hit the ground.
"I gave them an indication as to what to do with it," Kai continued, unaffected by his companion now being on the floor. "Virtually the entirety of the dissolved Biovolt portfolio went to charities to help refugees from war and children."
"Right..." Tala pulled himself up and back onto his seat. "So what, you're broke now?"
"I'd hardly say that," Kai shrugged. "It's not like all the money that man had was tied up in Biovolt. He had a substantial personal fortune, and then I found something very interesting amongst his financial possessions."
"Dare I ask what...?"
"Documentation for a Japanese bank account. A bank account with my name on it."
"So, what, your grandfather set up a bank account for you?" Tala didn't know if that sounded like the Voltaire he'd known. That showed compassion, and the old man wasn't known for that.
"No," Kai shook his head. "My mother set it up for me. The documentation for the account was signed by her."
"That's pretty standard, though," Tala noted. "Parents start bank accounts for their kids. Well, not that I'd know, I'm an orphan, but normal parents do that. If she died when you were little, It's probably not that big, cos she wouldn't have been able to save much for you. But it's still sweet to know she cared, and yet a little diabolical that your grandfather would keep that from you."
"Because it wasn't nothing," Kai replied. "It was over a billion yen. About 640 million rubles. I get the feeling my mother's family had money, and he was using it to help fund his weapons factories..."
"Holy..." Tala's eyes were wide as dinner places. "See, now that sounds like Voltaire. Cold and money-grabbing. Your mom must have left you everything, but how much of it was left after she passed away...?"
"That money was all that was left," Kai told him. "Even though my grandfather was siphoning money away from her, she saw him for who he was and left it to me. But I guess he figured, if he had control of the account, and me, he could get to the money and continue arming the world's most dangerous tyrants..."
"Didn't work out so well for him, though..."
"No, it didn't."
"What about your father? Have you ever thought of tracking him down to ask him about your mom? He's bound to know something."
"I keep that man out of my life for a reason," Kai scoffed. "And it's going to stay that way."
Tala wasn't aware of Kai's connection to the Stryker coach, and that was how Kai wanted to keep it. The fewer people that knew the better, as far as he was concerned.
"Well," Tala started, raising his glass towards Kai. "To hell. To the hell we now have to ride through and come back to, once again, save the world from an out-of-control psychopath."
The two toasted and drank down their shots, sitting in silence for some time. Kai found his thoughts drifting to his estranged father and kept replaying Tala's suggestion in his head. Tyson had proposed that Kai try to mend bridges with his father to find out more about his mother, but he hadn't put that plan into action. But the more time that continued to pass, the harder broaching that topic became.
"So," Hilary was sitting on the wooden walkway that went all around the Granger family dojo, a well-maintained example of traditional Japanese architecture, looking up to the quiet night sky at the dozens of stars scattered overhead. "We only have a couple of days left..."
The team had been training intensely since Saturday, and with their match now barely forty-eight hours away, Kai had taken the unusual decision to pull further mandatory training. When pressed about it, he'd said that if they hadn't gotten any of it into their heads by now, it just wouldn't work ever, so there was no point in forcing the matter, but both Hilary and Tyson thought it was Kai's way of giving them some breathing room and recovery time before the main event.
"Yup..." Tyson nodded from his spot next to his friend. "This could be the most important battle of the team's lives. They have to win this to get to Stryker and save, well, everyone from the apocalypse..."
"This is all excessively heavy for a game about spinning tops..." Hilary remarked, her voice still soft and quiet, not wanting to disrupt the peace of the night.
Max had gone to his dad's for the evening, taking Ray and Daichi with him, while Kenny was back at the noodle bar with his own family, and Kai... well, no one knew where Kai went at the best of times, but Tyson had a hunch.
"It's crazy, isn't it?" Tyson laughed softly, his voice also adopting the soft, gentile quality of his friend's, as if speaking any louder would shatter the calming peace of their surroundings. "When I was kid, it was just about having fun, now it's about stopping an evil force of nature from destroying the world and killing my friends..."
"Do you think Yama will hurt them...?"
"Yeah, I do. I'm certain that's his goal. Ryall has his eye on the prize, and Kai's played a risky gambit up to now. We'll have to see if it pays off in the end..."
"What are you talking about now?" Hilary groaned. "Why is it you and Kai seem to have your private little club, and none of us are invited?"
Tyson couldn't help rolling his eyes at this, once again reminded of the young woman's penchant for over-dramatizing things. "It's not a secret, Hilary. And he hasn't admitted to anything outright, but it's obvious what he's been doing this whole time. He's been putting a flashing sign over his head to attract Ryall and Yama to him. He's made enemies of both of them, so they'll target him over any of the others."
"So Kai has been goading Ryall into battling him?" Hilary looked puzzled. "I haven't seen those two interact much, though..."
"It's psychological warfare, Hil," Tyson explained. "Kai is getting into Ryall's head. A battle isn't just about the quality of your Beyblade, or your tactical knowledge: it's also a psychological war. If you get into your opponent's head and mess with it, it can turn the tide in your favor."
He shifted his body to face her, propping his foot up on the decking, his arm draped over his knee. "Ever since Kai and Ryall met, they've been sizing one another up. And Kai is going out of his way to try and get into Ryall's head so that he will be the target of his anger rather than any of the others. The fact is that Kai is the best player on the team. He could beat Ryall in a long game, because Yama's battles to this point have been pretty short, and over relatively quickly. If he gets Ryall into a drawn-out battle, Kai could take him."
"But the finals are being decided by the BBA," Hilary reminded him. "They're going to pick the battle formation. None of us can state our preferences, and so there's no guarantee that Kai and Ryall will even battle one another."
"It's obvious, Hil," Tyson barely suppressed an eye roll. "Kai is the captain of the G Revolutions. Ryall is the captain of Stryker. They'll be the grand finale of the tournament because what better way to end it than with what's gonna be the biggest clash of the titans anyone has seen anywhere?"
"But you say that like beating the Blitzkrieg Boys is a sure thing," Hilary pointed out. "They're strong, Tyson. Tala and Brian still have their Bit Beasts. I don't think it's going to be as easy to beat them as you all seem to think it will be."
That was a point to which Tyson had to concede. He knew as well as anyone that no one was guaranteed an easy ride when it came to the Blitzkrieg Boys, and while he had absolute faith that his friends would emerge victorious, he knew it wouldn't be straightforward.
"They've never given us an easy ride, ever," Tyson agreed. "They're a team made up of our toughest opponents. But we have a mission. The team has a mission. We've got no choice but to win, for the sake of everything and everyone."
"Well, things must be going well if you're getting dramatic already, Tyson."
A familiar warm voice punctured the stillness, and Tyson turned, with wide eyes, to see his father and brother standing in the courtyard watching them, both appearing happy to be home and yet weary.
"Dad! Hiro!" Tyson exclaimed, immediately leaping down from the deck in sock-clad feet, ignoring Hilary's shrieks for him to put on shoes as he ran over to embrace them, soon enveloped in his father's muscular arms. "I've missed you! What took you so long?!"
"Getting out of Egypt was a lot harder than we thought," Hiro told him. "We were out near Abu Simbel, and when we heard about your accident, we immediately tried to get home, but the airport there is tiny, and we couldn't get a flight up to Cairo for a couple of days. There were issues with leaving the dig site, and Dad got into some arguments with a few colleagues of his. By the time it all got ironed out, we got a call from Grandpa to say you were on the mend and would be joining the team on the tour circuit."
"I'm so sorry we're so late, son..." Bruce Granger looked apologetic, hugging his youngest again. "But you look well, and I'm relieved."
"I'm fine, Dad," Tyson reassured him with a smile. "I've been to all my physiotherapy sessions, I've tolerated being poked and prodded by doctors all over the world, and I've got the casts off now, so I'm free, mostly!"
"Glad to see it," Hiro smiles. "How's everyone feeling? I hear the Blitzkrieg Boys are up next for them. Are they ready?"
"As ready as they can be..." Tyson said, finally noticing the looks his father was giving him, glancing down at his feet, and Tyson flustered quickly hopping back onto the deck, sitting to dust off his socks. "It's not unfamiliar territory. We've faced the Blitzkrieg Boys before."
"But not with stakes like these," Bruce mentioned, sitting on the deck beside his son, his booted feet remaining on the ground, his eldest son sitting to remove his. "I've done a lot of research on the Sacred Bit Beasts, and on Yama. It's a beast of unmeasurable power. Yama has survived through the years, small as it was in the beginning, by latching onto hosts, and absorbing their power and that of others until the host dies, and then they move on to the next, and it continues. There is every chance that Yama, with the strength it has now, is preparing to transfer to a new host. It means whoever wields its power may soon die as Yama detaches from them..."
"No..." Tyson groaned lowly, looking over to Hilary. "Hey, Hil, can I see you tomorrow? I gotta catch up with my dad and brother."
Hilary had kept herself off to the side as the three had reconnected, and understood as her friend sought privacy to be with his family.
"Of course..." she got to her feet, offering the trio a smile. "Nice to have you back Mr Granger, Hiro. I'll see you tomorrow."
With this, the brunette politely excused herself, heading home, and Tyson's attention was now fully on his newly returned family members.
"I don't want her here for this," Tyson explained to the puzzled faces of his father and brother. "She'll get unnecessarily worried."
"I'm assuming you're about to say something bad, then..." Hiro cocked a brow at his younger brother.
"We have reason to believe Yama has chosen its next host," Tyson told them. "I mean, we didn't know for certain if separating Ryall and Yama would kill Ryall, but we do know that Yama now has his eye on Kai as his next host..."
"Well, it makes sense..." Hiro nodded. "Kai is the type of person the likes of Yama would see is desirable..."
"But Kai is protected," Tyson said. "Dranzer is protecting him. Yama came at him in the last battle, and Dranzer kept him safe."
"Well, Dranzer would," Bruce agreed. "As a Sacred One, Dranzer's loyalty can never be called into question. Her loyalty is to Kai and his family. It's highly likely that she has always been in his family, like everyone else's. Like Dragoon."
"Dranzer has a human form," Tyson added, and both his father and brother looked surprised by this news. "We saw it in the last battle. She looks just like those old drawings and carvings of her we saw in the museum in London. It was unbelievable..."
"You saw Dranzer's true form?" Bruce was agog, and Tyson could see excitement bubbling up inside his father. "That must have been dazzling! Was she as beautiful as I've heard?"
"She was really something..." Tyson replied. "But, so you know, not everyone is aware that Kai is lined up as Yama's next host. It's just me, Kai, and you two. I don't think Kai wants this getting out, so keep it to yourselves."
Bruce looked troubled by this, setting his removed boots aside and getting up onto the decking."If you say so... This is a whole other universe from what you're used to, son. I know you've faced certain doom before, but nothing like this. Your team, if they make it to Stryker, are walking into their battles with their lives on the line. Any one of those Stryker boys could kill them. This is more than a game this time, Tyson."
"I know..." Tyson acknowledged, Hiro now having also removed his boots, the trio looking to go into the main house to find his grandfather. "And so do they. And believe me, the fact that they're still willing to fly into danger worries me as much as you..."
Tyson had been having too many sleepless nights recently in the build-up to the finals. Facing the Blitzkrieg Boys was one thing; Stryker were going to be a whole other beast. Nightmares of his team lying dead around him had haunted him for several nights now, and they wouldn't go away, along with the burgeoning feeling of dread. The clock was ticking down, and Tyson knew that things would get worse before they would get better.
"Beyblade fans, this is it!" DJ Jazzman was happy to be back in Bay City, back in front of his home crowd in a full-to-the-rafters Turbo Dome. "We have whittled down the top Beyblade teams in the world to this final four: Stryker, the G Revolutions, the Blitzkrieg Boys, and the Side Winders!" The crowd erupted into screams and peals of cheering and delight. "Who will be the two teams who will get the chance to play in the Grand Final and win the honor of the World Championship title!" More deafening cheering followed.
"Good afternoon Beyblade fans! This is Brad Best here," Brad started, getting comfortable in the commentator booth that had been his and his work partner's office for many years.
"And I'm AJ Topper," AJ chimed in. "And we are here for match one of the semi-finals, which will see two of the stalwart teams of this tournament, the G Revolutions and the Blitzkrieg Boys, face off for the first place in the Grand Final!"
"These two teams have a long-standing rivalry with one another, that dates back to the days when the G Revolutions were called the Bladebreakers," Brad continued. "And today there will not only be fan-chosen match-ups but a fresh stadium for each battle!"
"The Grand Final is going to be old school Beyblade, so this is the last real spectacle of the tournament, and the BBA is sending it out with a bang!" AJ grinned. "But what I'm looking forward to the most is finding out what match-ups the fans voted for! Voting closed for the choices about two hours ago, so no one yet knows who the winning battles will be!"
"For this, the first of the semi-final battles," Jazzman began. "The G Revolutions and the Blitzkrieg Boys will face off in matches chosen by you, the Beyblade fans!"
The stadium erupted into more cheering. The long-standing BBA MC brought an envelope from his pocket, holding it aloft. "In this envelope is the second choice match-up, as picked by you! At the end of this battle, the first choice match-up will take place! If a third match is required, the third choice match will happen!"
Kai's gaze flicked around the arena as the cheering grew louder still. He was well used to all this noise by now, but it was still an annoyance he could easily forego.
"I wonder what it is..." Max mumbled lowly to Ray, who was seated on the team bench beside him.
"We're about to find out..." Ray replied softly, watching as Jazzman opened the envelope and removed the paper.
"The first battle of this semi-final, and the second choice match-up for these two sides is... Ray versus Brian!" the MC declared, and Ray couldn't stop the smile that hit his face the second their names were called.
He'd known this would happen. The crowd was delighted, and Ray got to his feet, looking at the blue fingerless gloves everyone on the team was still wearing with a fond smile.
"Go for it, Ray!" Max said with a smile.
"You can beat him, Ray!" Hilary offered.
"Bring us the win!" Daichi leapt up. "You can do it!"
"You got him once, and you can get him again!" Tyson grinned, patting the Chinese youth on the shoulder. "Take him out!"
Ray looked over to Kai, to see if the team captain had anything to add, and from the older youth, he received a calm smile, small as it was, and a nod. That was more than enough as far as encouragement and Kai were concerned, and the half-Russian didn't need words. Ray smiled and nodded back before heading to the centre of the arena, standing opposite Brian on the other side.
"It's you and me again..." Brian remarked, his tone bearing that familiar nonchalant flatness.
"You and me again..." Ray echoed, his tone calm, collected, and without fear. He knew he could overcome Brian, as long as he played his best, and kept his head in the game.
"Brian and Ray have had one historic battle in the past, in the Bladebreakers' first Grand Final in Moscow," Brad explained. "It was an intense battle of power and endurance, that tested both Bladers to the limit, but it was Ray who came out victorious then, though it cost him. We can only hope no one suffers this time."
"And now to reveal today's stadium for the match!" Jazzman declared, and the ground beneath the two players' feet began to part, drawing both young men apart even further.
What lay before them now was a sunken stadium, the likes of which they hadn't seen since the last World Championship, and within the large stadium was what looked to be a replica of the London cityscape.
"Whoa..." Ray gasped softly.
"The theme for the semi-final dishes is to look back on the fabulous locations where the heats took place," AJ stated. "So each stadium, across the two semi-finals, will represent a host city from one of the preliminary battles. For this battle, it's the City of London!"
"There are no traps or switches to knock in this dish!" Jazzman told everyone. "Each stadium is a hand-crafted replica of something within one of our fantastic host cities, and the Beyblades will face narrow streets, skyscrapers, and who knows what else! London is a vast metropolitan landscape, and the central portion is what has been chosen, with its architectural skyscrapers and narrow streets, so the challenges are there for the two Beyblades to explore!"
It was all relatively straightforward, but the narrow battlefield would certainly prove challenging, to say the least.
"Brian is formidable in every sense of the word," Brad introduced Ray's Russian opponent. "He's never been known for mercy, and he's an out-and-out powerhouse with his Falborg at his side."
"Ray has established himself as someone strong and capable," AJ started. "The Master of Driger has claws as sharp as his Bit Beast, and he's just as difficult to take down! This won't be an easy match for either of them!"
This was a battle Ray had been waiting years for. One he had been quietly hoping to have again since the first time. Now it was here, there was something of tension roiling inside him. This time around, there was something major at stake, and not just the Bit Beasts of Lee and Mariah.
"Beybladers, Turbo Dome fans, are you ready?!" Jazzman ramped everyone up once more, his question greeted by screaming cheers as Brian and Ray loaded their launchers. "Three, two, one... LET IT RIP!"
The two Beyblades met above Trafalgar Square, and fell into the square, barely avoiding the fountain as they skirted around it to clash again. The familiar strength of Falborg gave Ray a strange sense of comfort, relishing in the feel of the familiar. Everything had been chaos for so long that feeling a familiar power in the dish was nostalgic. It by no means meant a win was guaranteed, but that feeling helped to ground him in the battle, and blocked out the outside world, and the Stryker team he had spotted in the stands. This was him versus Brian; he didn't need to think about what lay beyond just yet. That could come after he won. If he won.
"You haven't impressed me this time," Brian shook his head in disappointment, looking over at Ray. "You've been a lackluster performer so far this tournament. I don't see how you can hope to repeat your previous success against me."
Ray watched as Falborg ground against Driger hard, yet his white tiger seemed unshaken, a placid smile gracing the Chinese youth's features."I have plenty going for me, Brian. I've changed a lot since that first time. I'm older, I'm wiser, I'm stronger, and through all of my tribulations in this tournament, and there have been a lot, I've learned a lot from each of them. You learn more in defeat than you do in victory. Tell me: do you think you've learned enough to adapt your game to me as I am now? Or did you stagnate the last time we fought and it's been the same old Brian ever since...?"
"Don't try and rattle me!" Brian hissed, sending Falborg in for another barrage assault, but still, Driger stood strong.
"Is Ray talking smack in there...?" Daichi cocked a brow. "What kind of tactic is that?"
"A smart one," Tyson replied. "Brian is generally calm and collected. Only two people have ever made him lose his cool, and one of them is sitting over there." He jutted his thumb over at Kai, who artfully ignored him. "The other one is Ray. Something about Ray has never sat well with Brian. He's always managed to get under his skin and annoy him, but that's Ray's way in. Don't forget, Daichi: there's a psychological aspect to a Beyblade battle. Get into your opponent's head, and you can win the battle before it's even started."
"So, that's what Ray's doing...?" Daichi watched the match carefully. "Getting into Brian's head to force him into a mistake?"
"Looks that way," Max replied. "I remember battling him, and while he is a lot stronger than the last time we faced them, his style is still largely unchanged. He's easily rattled if you know the buttons to press, so Ray's employing some psychological warfare."
Move for move, Driger and Falborg matched one another, steel screeching against steel as they wheeled and spun through the London streets. The stadium was so vast, and the skyscrapers so tall, that it was easy to lose the two Beyblades within the sprawl, but the height at which they were positioned certainly helped, if only a little, to keep tabs on where they were. Neither seemed to be pulling out in front of the other, though looking at the two, Tyson was sure that Ray seemed too relaxed, almost as if he were biding his time. He was waiting for something, but what?
"I haven't seen anything impressive from you yet, either," Ray stated truthfully. "What are you waiting for? An invitation?"
"You haven't seen half of my power yet!" Brian snapped. "It may not look like it to you, but I have changed! I'm stronger than I've ever been! And this time, I won't lose to you! We're going to get to that final because those Stryker idiots have to pay for what they did to us!"
Falborg's attacks seemed to grow in aggression, and soon the Bit Beast itself emerged, screeching loudly as its wings spread open, vast and resplendent.
"Looks like Brian has called Falborg in to play!" AJ declared.
"This could be what turns the battle around, because, to this point, Ray seems to have had the upper hand," Brad added.
The sight of his Bit Beast should have given Brian a surge of confidence but there was something about this battle that didn't feel right. Ray's calmness, how generally unaffected by all of this he was, was putting his teeth on edge. Something was wrong, he could feel it, but what was important now was bringing Ray down, and bringing the team one step closer to the final.
He then saw Ray's eyes suddenly darken, seemingly turning black, and a shock rattled Brian's spine. That was abnormal.
"What are you doing?!" Brian barked out, Falborg continuing its all-out attack. "What are you plotting?! Tell me!"
"I don't have any plot," Ray replied, completely calm. "I don't have a scheme. My only plan is to win. Time to put that plan into action! Driger!"
There it was again: that onyx-black shine in Ray's normally golden eyes that made Brian's blood pressure climb. Driger soon appeared to challenge Falborg, the white tiger possessing an almost ethereal glow.
Something isn't right... Brian knew something was still amiss. His eyes widened as a realization hit him all at once, recalling the last battle the G Revolutions had participated in, and the awe and disbelief he and the rest of the team had felt on seeing Dranzer in that way.
"It can't be..." Brian gaped.
The tiger Bit Beast let out a booming roar that was felt from every seat before it was entirely enveloped in a golden light. Tyson's heart started to pick up, every fiber of his being knowing what was about to happen. As the light faded, what remained was a man reminiscent of a soldier in ancient China, with long black hair in a high ponytail down his back and pitch black eyes, wearing a white tunic, and clad in golden armor over his shoulders, forearms, shins, and chest. In his left hand was a long golden spear, and on his right hand was a glove with long, sharp claws protruding from it.
This was the true form of Driger: Byakko, Sacred Guardian of the West.
"Unreal!" Jazzman cried out loudly. "Driger has form-changed, just like Dranzer did in its last battle! This is unbelievable!"
"Ray did it!" Kenny applauded. "That's the Guardian of the West! His true form! That's two forms unlocked! We just need Strata Dragoon and Draciel and we'll be ready to take Stryker down!"
"Great!" Tyson pumped his fist in the air. "Go for it, Ray! You've got this!"
Driger and Falborg engaged violently, taking down a couple of the skyscrapers in the to-scale business district of their London stadium, and the two Bit Beasts tousled above the dish, though Falborg, despite its many spirited attempts, could barely land a claw on Driger.
Brian was beginning to sweat, his temper fraying. This was not something they had prepared for. He'd heard whispers of the G Revolutions learning something or other about their Bit Beasts, but he hadn't taken it seriously. He'd seen it as just gossip to try and throw their focus, but seeing Kai's Dranzer last time had shaken them, and seeing Driger like this now really hammered home that this wasn't something unique to Kai: the whole team, in all likelihood, could do this trick with their Bit Beasts, and if they couldn't overcome this, there was no way they'd beat Stryker.
"Come on, Driger..." Ray encouraged his old friend. "We've got this. We can't lose this..."
"And what have you got on the line?!" Brian snapped, Falborg's attack intensifying, though Driger remained unaffected. "I have two Bit Beasts to claim back, along with our honor! You haven't lost anything to those monsters! I have too much to lose to let a pathetic whelp like you beat me!"
Falborg continued its aggression towards Driger, and the Bit Beast held firm against it, using the spear in his hands to keep the large bird back.
"We have everything to lose," Ray stated calmly. "Everything to lose, and everything to gain. None of us want to deny how powerful you are, how powerful the Blitzkrieg Boys are, but this is a battle we have to win. It has to be us. We can't let you guys risk your lives to recover your pride, because that's what's on the line for us: our lives, and the fate of the world."
Brian cocked a brow when he started to notice a soft golden glow surrounding the Chinese youth. The battle seemed to be taking a turn for the surreal.
"You haven't changed, Brian," Ray continued in that same even tone. "You're still a worthy opponent. But I'm still going to win."
The conviction in his voice, the sheer bold confidence, caused a ripple of concern to wave through Brian, and he found a small voice inside himself saying that Ray was right.
"This battle is insane!" AJ half-shrieked as the two Beyblades continued to battle with destructive ferocity, near-enough leveling the arena as they fought. "Driger is putting Falborg to the sword, and there doesn't seem to be anything Brian can do to fight back!"
"Ray is battling with true conviction," Brad remarked. "He has total and complete belief in Driger and himself, and when he's in the zone like that, beating him is next to impossible."
"Even for someone with the power and intensity of Brian, I don't see how he can win this!" AJ declared. "I think Ray has this!"
"This is our destiny," Ray stated, that golden glow around him growing stronger. "That may be something you don't believe in, but it's about faith. Faith in ourselves, and faith in our Bit Beasts. They're the ones who have to take down Stryker because if Yama gets our Bit Beasts, everything and everyone will be doomed. I can't let you beat me, and I can't let you face them in my place."
Driger pulled back from Falborg, calmly staring the bird Beast down, the golden aura that had started to encompass Ray now coating Driger and his armor.
"This is it..." Tyson watched the battle carefully. "Ray's won. Brian just... He didn't stand a chance..."
He stole a glance over to Kai, aware the two had been training together since Cape Town and could see something of pride in the Phoenix's eyes that all of their work had paid such large dividends. They watched as Driger started to move towards the ground, its feet on the razed cityscape of the large sunken stadium, the wide river that carved through the city now mostly dammed up with debris. Driger's glow grew brighter, the air around him starting to crackle, and Brian could feel the hairs on his arms starting to lift as static flickered about them.
For him, this was the first time he had been truly, completely crushed in a long time. Even the fight against BEGA couldn't measure up to this. Ray had changed so drastically from when the tournament had started that his battle style was almost unrecognizable.
"I see..." Brian muttered to himself, an unfamiliar feeling of acceptance descending over him. "This is how it is..."
He looked across the stadium at Ray, the man glowing as his Bit Beast was, eyes a dark inky black. "Fight for us all. Get them for us all. And don't let it go to your head that we're relying on you..."
Ray gave the man a single nod, as Driger lifted his spear, the weapon crackling with electricity. A single-word command would end the battle.
"Strike," Ray commanded, and Driger, both Bit Beast and Beyblade, were encompassed by electricity and light, and the Bit Beast pulled the spear back as the Beyblade reared back to strike.
With a single, smooth motion, Driger threw the spear with pinpoint accuracy, the Beyblade in the stadium tearing at Falborg with the same ferocious speed. The spear struck Falborg in the chest, the bird letting out an ear-splitting shriek as the Russian's Beyblade immediately shot out of the dish, landing at Tala's feet, still crackling, the metal even sizzling a little following the electrical surge from the dish.
"And it's over!" Jazzman declared, the stadium erupting into cheers. "The first battle goes decisively to Ray and the G Revolutions!"
Ray quickly and easily caught Driger, giving Brian a smile and a nod, which were returned by the other man before he returned to his team, Ray then doing the same.
"That was amazing Ray!" Daichi jumped up. "You completely owned him!"
"You embarrassed me out there!" Max chuckled. "You made it look so easy! I had to work to beat him!"
"I'm sure if you faced him now, you'd glide through it, too," Ray smiled softly. "Brian is still as good as I remember him, but I knew I couldn't lose. We can't let anyone else take on Stryker in the final but us. Because we all know what facing them means."
Tyson sighed softly at this. His team were willing to risk everything to save the world, and if he were in the thick of it, he'd be right up there with them, down to risk it all. As an outsider, though, it was a lot harder to see his friends having to put themselves in genuine harm's way. He now understood what Kenny and Hilary had to have been going through all this time.
"And now!" Jazzman had a second envelope in his hand. "The most voted-for match-up, that could decide who goes to the final, is about to get underway!" With a flourish, he ripped open the envelope and pulled out the paper from within. "The next battle is... Tala versus Kai!"
The two men found one another's gaze across the stadium. This was what they'd both wanted and now it was on.