"Thats him!" A Chinese boy cried out, pointing directly at Kai. "Thats the guy I saw!"

Kai felt his heart rate grow rapidly as everyone who was watching the previous beybattle turned to stare at him. With amazing skill and grace, he leapt clear of the bench and sprinted down the path.

"Wait!" He heard a voice call behind him. "We wont hurt you! We want to help you get home!"

Home?

Kai stopped in mid-stride and turned to stare at the boy who came up to him, wheezing and clutching his side. How did he know that he wanted a way home?

"Wait," the boy gasped again as he collapsed to his knees in exhaustion.

"What do you want?" Kai asked quickly, narrowing his crimson eyes.

"We want to help out," the Chinese boy said, coming up behind his tired companion who was now fanning himself with his cap. "You want to get to Japan right?"

"How did you know?" Kai gasped in surprise, amazed that these strangers could be so knowledgeable of his situation.

"Its all over the newspapers for one," a blonde smiled, digging a cutting out of his pocket and holding it up for Kai to see.

Kai took it from the blonde boy and quickly scanned his eyes over the article. It didnt sound very convincing to him at first until he saw the picture of the lost boy at the bottom. Just like the ghostly images he had encountered in the old house, this boy looked exactly like him.

"So you think Im this lost kid?" Kai muttered loud enough for the group before him to hear. "I dont know."

"Why not?" A smaller boy with large glasses piped up. "No one knows what happened to him. Do you remember anything around the time when he disappeared?"

"No," Kai said. "This is going to sound strange, but I dont remember anything from my past. My earliest memory is waking up in some abbey when I was eight or something. But I do remember something about Japan."

"And the only living relative of this boy is in Japan," the Chinese boy spoke again. "So, how about it?"

Kai stared at the picture for a moment before answering. "Well, I dont know. I mean, its kind of hard to imagine yourself as the grandson of this rich guy when youre using a rat as a pillow. But why not, I need to get to Japan anyway so I guess I accept. Who knows? This could be the family Im looking for and if Im not then this guy will know right away and its all just an honest mistake."

"All right!" The boy with the cap cheered, suddenly getting his energy back. "Glad to have you on board. My name is Tyson by the way."

"My name is Kenny," the small kid with glasses piped up.

"Im Max," the blonde smiled.

"And Im Ray," the Chinese boy said, giving a small greeting bow.

"They call me Kai," he introduced himself before a deep rumbling sounded from his stomach.

"Looks like youre hungry," Tyson smiled. "I know how you feel."

"You probably dont," Kai said, holding his complaining stomach. "Ive been eating out of bins for the past week or so."

"Man, thats rough," Ray sad, pulling a large sandwich out from his bag. "Here, take this."

Kai quickly mumbled a thank you before attacking the sandwich like a crazed animal and within fifteen seconds the entire thing had disappeared down his throat.

"Wow," Max laughed. "Looks like youve got competition Tyson."

"A challenge then?" Tyson smirked. "Lets get back to the hotel and then Ill show you how to eat, Tyson style."

***

As usual, it was bleak and dark within the underground hallways of the abbey, despite the weather being warm and pleasant outside. The training rooms were full of rookie beybladers but only the stronger were allowed into the most advanced training rooms.

Boris watched the rookie trainees with eyes that would outmatch a hawk, even though they were covered with the strange red goggles. He watched as beyblades collided in an endless sea of battle dishes, their owners each sweating up a storm for they knew the price of failure. Every now and again, a beyblade would be knocked from the battle dish and its owner would be dragged away, never to return. Oh, how he loved to hear the desperate screaming of the losers as they begged for mercy to deaf ears who frankly didnt care.

"Sir," one of the heavily armoured guards said as he came through the large steel doors. "There is someone to see you in your office."

"Who is it?" Boris snapped, annoyed at having a voice talking over more desperate screams that had arisen.

"I dont know sir," the guard said, shrinking back a little. "But he requested your presence right away."

"Very well," Boris sighed. "Lets get this over with."

Turning away from the training, Boris strode down the dark stone mazes until he reached the brown metal doors of his office, located in the very depths of the abbeys dark winding underground system. Motioning for his escort to wait behind, Boris opened the large doors and strode inside, shutting the doors with a heavy thud.

"Hello Boris," the visitor said, turning to face the abbey master.

"I dont believe it," Boris gasped as he recognised the face underneath the dark hooded robe. "Repulsant?"

"You got it brother," Repulsant smiled, removing his hood to reveal his face.

On any other occasion, brothers who had not seen each other for years would have embraced but, every now and again, there were pairs who did not approve of such displays of affection. Boris and Repulsant were such a pair.

"I thought that you had perished eight years ago," Boris said, puzzled.

"Dont tell me that you doubt the power of your own creation," Repulsant smiled, taking the Black Dranzer beyblade out of his pocket and holding it up for his younger sibling to see. "Your theory did prove correct. As long as I own the immortal power of Black Dranzer, I cannot be destroyed."

A smile tugged at the corners of Boris mouth before the doors to his office flew open and a small blader ran through them into the office. Anyone who didnt know his power would have made fun of his stunted growth and oversized nose. However, once he launched his beyblade, he was a force that seemed impossible to overcome.

"Boris," Ian said, breathlessly as he came to attention. "I really think you should see this."

"Cant you see Im busy?" Boris snapped. "Come back some other time."

"But sir," Ian protested, holding up an old looking piece of paper. "This newspaper page just blew over the abbey walls. I really think you should see this article."

"What the..." Boris snapped, grabbing the article from the short beyblader and bringing it up to his face to inspect the picture printed underneath the article. "Kai?"

"Give me that!" Repulsant snapped, grabbing the paper off Boris to see for himself. "Its him! I should have destroyed that boy when I had the chance! Boris, bring me your best beybladers. Im going to finish that brat off once and for all!"