Disclaimer: I own neither Beyblade nor X-Men: Evolution nor do I make any profit from this story.

[Chapter Twelve: In the Morning I Awake]

Max waved good-bye as a train of cars pulled out of Institution drive way. Practically everyone had wanted to see a battle between Ray and Tyson. Xavier had nearly been convinced to let them fight on the grounds. But Kitty had revealed that she wanted the Brotherhood to see them battle. Apparently, Todd Tolansky, a kid he had only seen once or twice at school, was a huge fan, Pietro wanted to talk to Tyson some more, and Kitty, of course, wanted to hang out with Lance under non-battle, non-school conditions. Ultimately the desire to see world-class bladers in action outweighed the rivalry between the teenage mutants

The next challenge had been to see who would actually get to fight. They were going to attract attention no matter where they went. Tyson and Kai had managed to destroy a special designed beydish in the last world tournament. They would only get one battle in, if that, before other people started showing up. Tyson obviously want a chance to duke it out with somebody. Ray and Max were debating the pro and cons of having a smaller battle to determine who would fight him when Kai appeared out of nowhere scaring them all half to death.

Kai shouldn't have been out of bed much less walking around. Technically, he should have been in an intensive care unit on the brink of death—Max had managed to snag Kai's chart once and quickly hidden it before Tyson could see—but Kai never quite matched anyone's expectations. He had a very serious look on his face that made Max worry. If Kai said he was up to battling Tyson, then he would battle Tyson one way or another. Either the excitable dragon-master would forget that Kai was injured and accept the challenge, or he would refuse and Kai would let-it-rip in the middle in the living room and possibly destroy the mansion.

But Kai managed to surprise them yet again. He suggested, quite calmly, that Ray and Tyson should be the ones to battle and that Max should stay at the mansion to train with him. Then he not-so-subtly insinuated that Tyson would be a terrible distraction and would only get in the way. Max had grinned at Ray, who looked both excited about his upcoming match and upset about having to fight a pissed off Tyson.

"Let's go," murmured Kai drawing Max from his reverie.

"Lead the way," said Max.

Rather than going all the way through the mansion, Kai walked around it. Max walked beside him not entirely succeeding at hiding his amusement. Storm had remained behind in order to observe their practice. Kai was clearly trying to avoid this oversight.

They stopped at a flat, grassy spot about thirty feet away from the edge of the cliff. A breeze caught the edge of Kai's scarf, which streamed away from him in an elegant arc. Mr. Dickenson had had the foresight to send an extra bag with Tyson and his grandfather that just so happened to contain several changes of clothes, Kai's I.D. card and passport, and container of face paint. It appeared they were becoming predictable with this catastrophe stuff.

"You're not going to push me off or anything, right?" asked Max.

Kai snorted then winced. His healing muscles not quite ready for that much force. "No. Maybe if Tyson wants to try flying."

"You think he'll be able to do that?" asked Max.

"It's possible. Not soon but if things keep going the way they are…"

Kai trailed off still not ready to explain what was going on. He met Max's concerned gaze without flinching. Kai was especially known for his resistance of puppy dog eyes, but none of the Blade Breakers were known for giving up. Not Daichi. Not even Kenny or Hilary.

"Later," said Kai. "I'll tell you later. What do you know about meditation?"

Max scratched his nose. "Not very much. Just that you sit still and try not to think of anything."

Kai's lips twitched. He was trying so very hard not to smile. Max thought they had finally broken him of his habit of showing almost no emotion even with his friends. Clearly he had regressed over the summer.

"Launch Draciel between you and the bay. Then find a comfortable position and close your eyes," instructed Kai. "You don't need to send it off the cliff."

Max laughed quietly and did as he was told, sinking into a cross-legged position. He didn't mind kneeling, but if they were going to be there a while he didn't want his legs to get numb.

"You said that meditating was thinking about nothing. And sometimes that's true. But you're going to be thinking about your connection to Draciel. It's always there hovering in the back of your mind. In battle, the connection is larger than life. Impossible to ignore. But now it's quiet, waiting for you to find it."

Max let Kai's voice wash over him. Normally he would be stunned to hear the stoic beyblader say so much, but Kai reserved his words for when they were important. It was black behind Max's eyelids, blacker than he knew it should be. He raised a hand and realized he couldn't see it.

Perhaps, it's better that I don't have hands, thought Max, I don't have to walk around looking. I can just be everywhere at once and find Draciel that way.

Just like that Max expanded filling the cavernous black. Occasionally bits of him ran across different points of light. They were his connections to his friends, his opponents, his rivals, his enemies. He found a warm yellow dot that led to his father. Not too far away, or perhaps very far after all, he found a white dot that led to his mother.

He paused there beside the white dot. It was warm, like the yellow dot, but at the same time it was also very cold. His mother loved him. But the scientist loved nothing. Science was objective. Max wondered if he could follow it to his mother, if she would notice him then. A smaller part of him wonder what would happen if he crushed it. Would he feel better if he didn't care about her? If he didn't care, then it wouldn't hurt when she abandoned him to science. But he wouldn't be able to feel her love either.

"Find your connection with Draciel," urged Kai. "Follow it."

Max moved on abandoning those thoughts and collided with a glowing blue-green disc. He raised his hand, in the soft glow he had hands and a body and was himself again, and pressed his palm flat against the shining connection. The glow intensified and Max squeezed his eyes shut to avoid being blinded.

When he opened them again, he was somewhere else. And he was underwater. Max wasn't afraid. He didn't need to breathe wherever he was and everything was so beautiful. There were tiny fish darting to and fro, glinting in light from a distant sun. Starfish crawled along the seabed. Fronds of seaweed waved in the current. He followed the tide and found coral reefs thriving with life, sharks hunting in packs, deep abysses with glowing fish, and underwater mountains. This was the place that he and Draciel made together, a place for their minds to meet outside of the physical realm.

Eventually Max noticed something that didn't belong to him or Draciel. It was something above the surface of this mental ocean. Max angled up and kicked his feet once, twice. His head broke through into open air. Looking up he could the moon and sun hanging in the sky so much closer than they could have been in reality. Further out storms brewed on the horizon releasing torrential downpours back into the ocean. He looked back over his shoulder and saw one of many pristine sand bars. Unlike the others, this one had a fiery-red figure resting casually on the sand.

"Have a nice swim?" called Kai.

Max walked up to him, unsure if there had always been sand beneath his feet or if it had appeared for his convenience. Neither possibility worried him.

"Why aren't I blue?" asked Max.

"Do you usually see yourself as blue?" asked Kai. "This is your head."

Max shook his head. "No. But then why are you red and flaming?"

"I'm astral projecting into your head with the help of Dranzer's power. Phoenixes are made of fire. So right now, I am too," said Kai.

"Good to know," said Max.

"Do you know why you're here?" asked Kai.

Max looked out at the ocean. "This my power. Mine and Draciel's. This is where it waits until we call it. I tried this before, you know, connecting with Draciel to control my own power. It didn't work."

"Maybe you didn't believe it could work," said Kai. "It's easier when someone helps you find it. Look up there."

Kai pointed at the sky. The moon and sun filled the entire sky. Max felt his mouth go dry. There was power in the celestial bodies. The power to control the tide. He could feel it pressing on him. He pushed back and the pressure stopped.

"The reason you're getting tired and hyper-active in waves is because you're letting the moon and the sun, the real ones, control your power. When bit-beasts don't have a partner, they're ruled by nature. But now you're here. Those," he pointed again, "are yours. Yours and Draciel's. You control your power. Draciel will help you. It will be a struggle to fight the Sun and the Moon. You'll have to buckle in and refuse to yield. But I've got a feeling you can't do it."

Max stared at him dumbstruck. Finally he smiled, a huge, sunny, real smile. "Thanks, Kai. I appreciate it."

Kai grunted. "We need to leave so you can practice getting back here."

"How do I get back?" asked Max.

Kai smirked at him. "Just open your eyes," he said and winked out of existence.

Max rolled his eyes. Always the dramatist was Kai. He shut his eyes. When he opened them again, he was back in his body staring at the bay. Draciel was still spinning but as Max watched it slowed down finally falling over and coming to a stop. He looked at Kai, who was leaning against a tree, and did a double take.

"Why are you so wet?" he asked.

Kai glared at him in mild reproach. "I was waiting for you to show up. That's how you found the connection so fast. When you fell into your mindscape, you splashed into the ocean and caused a tidal wave. I got soaked there."

"But you weren't wet there," said Max.

"I was an astral projection made of fire," said Kai.

Max conceded the point. He was pretty new at all this mental stuff. He started stretching out his stiff muscles. They had been sitting for almost two hours. "How did you know what to do anyway?"

"The same thing happened to Stephen, but Tala sorted it out and told me how," Kai said and paled instantly.

Max nearly fell over from shock. "This happened to the Blitzkrieg Boys first?"

"Boris encouraged it along," said Kai quietly. "It really shouldn't have happened to them or you, except for Tala."

Max pushed himself up and marched over to Kai. He knelt and found his teammate's eyes. "No one else is here. Tell me what is happening."

Kai sighed and looked away. "There is something very evil in this world that the sacred spirits are capable of fighting with the help of a human partner. They follow a cycle. This time the burden fell on Dranzer, but after Black Dranzer happened it became obvious that we could not win on our own. So Wolborg's power woke as the next part of the cycle. Then Boris' experiments on Tala interfered with their connection, so the ability started spreading to the others. First it was the Blitzkrieg Boys, probably because Tala and I were there, but now it's moved to you and Tyson and Ray because you're so strong."

Not the most descriptive summary in the world, decided Max. But it was more information that he had had before. Obviously talking about the situation made Kai uncomfortable. He no doubt blamed himself and his time before the Blade Breakers was already so twisted. The Blitzkrieg Boys would have felt uncomfortable too. No one talked to them about their time in the abbey. But Max had read some of the files his mother's labs had confiscated from Boris' research and had had nightmares for weeks.

"What about Daichi?" asked Max. "Why isn't he here too?"

"Daichi's too young. He hasn't had his bit-beast long enough and his connection isn't as strong. But if things continue the way they are…"

He trailed off again, but now Max could fill in the blank. "If things continue the way things are, then we'll just get stronger and more beybladers will be affected."

"That's right," said Kai.

"I don't understand why you couldn't have told us this sooner," said Max. "Don't do it again."

He stood and offered Kai an arm up, which the other boy accepted. They started walking back to the mansion. Kai grimaced at the strain and Max slowed down without comment.

"If I had known you guys were showing symptoms, then I would have mentioned it," said Kai.

"But otherwise you would have said nothing?" asked Max. "What if you had died?"

"That would be bad," said Kai in an emotionless way that Max found very perplexing. "You would've wanted to help, but you'd just be in the way."

In danger, translated Max's brain. Just like Tyson being there earlier might have been dangerous. Kai got wet inside Max's head, but what if he had been struck by lightning instead? Or if Max had lost grip on his powers and the tide washed away the cliff face?

Kai stopped in his tracks and Max stopped with him. His eyes weren't quite focused, or rather they were focused on something so distant it was impossible to see. Concerned, Max leaned in closer. But suddenly Kai was moving. He pushed Max away, took two steps, and exploded into flame leaving nothing behind.

Max scrambled to his feet, taking one last look at the spot where Kai had been, and raced to the mountain.

"Ms. Munroe! Professor Xavier! I think we have a problem."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Scott turned off the engine and left his car. In the back of mind, the thought that this meeting might not be a bad idea was tentatively edging into existence. The Brotherhood only caused trouble when they were bored. They were definitely outnumbered by kids from the Institute plus Wolverine was here while Mystique was not. Kitty promised they would be on their best behavior, if only because Todd would be totally depressed at missing the chance to see real beybladers in action and no one wanted a depressed Toad.

"Summers," said Lance.

"Alvers," acknowledged Scott.

After that Kitty took over grabbing hold of Lance's arm and pulling him the rest of the way to Tyson and Ray. They exchanged introductions with the rest of the Brotherhood and were totally cool with it when Todd asked them to sign some sort of pamphlet he had.

"They have these programs that all the competitors and their stats and stuff. I always get the guys to sign mine," said Tyson.

"It has been three years and he still does it," said Ray. "Lee asked me if you keep losing them and that is why you ask every time."

"Only the championships!" protested Tyson.

"That must be awesome," said Fred. "Getting to travel around the world and compete."

"You are so right, man!" said Tyson. "I love it. You get to see all this cool stuff, meet the best people, and everywhere has great food!"

"Oh no!" said Ray. "If Tyson starts talking about the food, we will never get the match started."

An expression of perfect horror crept over Todd's face. Scott had to bite his tongue not to laugh. He heard a few low chuckles from Logan, who had no such restraint. Todd bounced on to Fred's back and grabbed hold of his shoulders.

"Food talk later!" he insisted.

"Right, right," agreed Fred.

"There's a fairly flat spot with no grass about ten minutes that way," said Scott pointing over his left shoulder. "Max said that was ideal."

"Yeah," agreed Tyson as the group started moving, "grass isn't too bad but it's harder to clean out of the gears."

"Harder than dust?" asked Scott.

"Dust is just dust," said Tyson. "You can dunk a beyblade in a cleaning solution and it comes right off. It's too small to mess with anything anyway. But if grass gets in your gears you have to take it all apart and get all the fibers off. If you're beyblade is really fast the gears will catch fire if there is dry grass inside."

"Personal experience?" asked Scott.

"The Chief was so mad at me. Grandpa was too even though we only had to replace one screen and the floor was fine," said Tyson.

"You set something on fire and your gramps didn't toss you out?" asked Fred.

"Grandpa? No way. I'd have to do something way worse than that. I just had to put the screen in and got a lecture. And he hit me over the head with his practice sword but he does that all the time."

Scott blinked and glanced over at Ray. The other teen caught the movement and nodded slightly. Tyson was telling the truth and he was getting the Brotherhood to relax at the same time. Well, as relaxed as they could be when they were so excited. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or nervous. Jean took his arm and his stomach settled on nervous

"Hey, is this it?" asked Tyson, when they immerged in a small clearing.

"Good spot on short notice," grunted Logan. "Away from the road, decent cover, doesn't connect to any other trails, not a place where couples hook up."

"You might want to stay on the edge but not right under the trees," suggested Ray. "They fall down from time to time."

"Awesome!" said Jamie and Todd together.

Kitty, Scott was amused to note, took this as silent permission to move even closer to Lance. If anyone was to be safe from falling trees, it was Kitty and whoever stood next to her.

Ray and Tyson took position across from each other. They were standing much farther apart than Ray and Max had during their big match.

"3,…"

"2,…"

"1…Let it rip!"

They launched their beyblades in unison. The ground was hard packed here even if not that many people came by, when the blades touched down they zipped away without raising a speck of dust. Just as fast they circled around crashed into each other then darted away again following their masters' commands.

This match was slower, Scott decided. Max and Ray's match at the mansion had only taken ten minutes and this one had been going for nearly five already. There was a lot more circling too. Building up speed, he realized. The ground at the mansion was slope and they were able to bounce off the beydish, but now the beyblades were nearly as fast as they had been when Max and Ray got started.

Apparently, Ray decided the same thing. "Show him who boss Drigger! Up the tree!"

Drigger, which had been on other collision course with Dragoon, darted to the right and raced up a tree then along a branch.

"Use Tiger Fang!"

"Dodge it, Dragoon!"

Dragoon zipped out of the way. Drigger's attack left a small impact crater in the dirt.

"Going old school, huh? Alright, Dragoon, use Storm Attack!"

Ray's eyes narrowed his pupils tightening to slits. "Move with the hurricane, Drigger!"

The beyblade followed the whirling winds using them to gain speed until it was moving at much faster pace than Dragoon.

"What? Oh no! Stop, Dragoon!"

Ray grinned. "Alright! Come out, Drigger! Use Vulcan Claw!"

"You too, Dragoon! Galaxy Storm!"

Beams of light poured from the two blades. A fierce dragon and massive tiger crashed in the air as the beyblades collided on the ground. Everyone was cheering, filling the clearing with noise. The trees tops whipped back and forth in the high winds.

"Gattling Claw!"

"Try to dodge, Dragoon. Then hit back with Phantom Hurricane."

"Don't get caught, Drigger!"

Dragoon dodged the Gattling Claw, but Drigger was clipped by Phantom Hurricane and started to wobble. Thunder rumbled in sky like an angry cat.

"Steady there, Drigger," called Ray.

"Dragoon! Finish him off with Hyper Victory Tornado!"

"Counter with Thunder Slash!"

Both beyblades jumped off trees to gain height. Lightning crashed down in the center of the clearing while a whirlwind rose and dispersed just as fast. When the dust settled Dragoon was circling a large charred spot and Drigger was nowhere to be seen.

"Alright!" said Tyson. "Good work, Dragoon."

The beyblade slapped into Tyson's open palm. Ray and Tyson shook hands.

"Nice match, Tyson."

"Good match, Ray."

"That was awesome!" said Todd hopping up and down. "Way cool!

"What happened to Drigger?" asked Kitty.

Tyson and Ray both pointed to one of the smaller trees in the clearing. Lodged firmly in the spruce was Drigger. Ray walked over to and placed a steadying foot on the tree and yanked. He stumbled back, beyblade grasped firmly in hand, but the poor tree shuddered, and the top half slowly fell back into the forest.

"Whoa. You weren't kidding about the trees," said Tabitha. "Is it okay?"

"Drigger is fine," said Ray. "It is harder to get it out of the concrete wall around Tyson's house."

Before anyone could say anything in response to this incredible statement, Tyson's stomach rumbled. Loudly.

"Aw. I'm so hungry."

Scott shook his head silently while Logan let out another rumbling laugh.

"Chuck gave me a card and said we could go for pizza," said Wolverine.

The air was filled with elation and tension all at once. It frizzled. The kids were all hungry. No one would ever turn down pizza. But the Brotherhood didn't want to accept charity.

"Come on, Lance, please?" asked Kitty.

"I don't know," he said warily.

"Looks like Lance is too chicken to go on date with Scott and Logan looking over his shoulder," said Rogue just a touch too loudly for a whisper.

Lance glared at her and stiffened.

"Should just think of it as pulling a fast one on the prof," said Tabitha. "You get free food and you know it's going to cost a bundle if tubby eats his fill."

"Hey!" protested Fred and Tyson.

They stared at each other in surprise. Tyson hung his head and sighed. "Man, she sounds just like Hilary. Well, you've got to go now. This way we can talk about all the awesome food everywhere and not get hungry!"

Scott shrugged. "Well, if they don't want to come, then we can't make them come," he said and turned around.

"Of course, we're coming!" cried Pietro. "Last one there's a rotten egg!"

Something blurred by Scott.

"Ah! My hat!"

Something else blurred by Scott.

"Was that Tyson?" he asked.

"I think Tyson will eat three pizzas, possibly four," said Ray.

The group of mutants was halfway to the pizza parlor from the park when Pietro caught up with them again. He was now wearing the hat and grinning like a loon. Half a minute later Tyson appeared on the horizon.

"He's not even tired," he said to the group in the convertible.

Ray thought about it for a moment. "I think the kidnappers had him running around for more than an hour but he was going slower. I don't really remember. But if you reach the pizza place again, let him stop. Using Dragoon uses a lot of energy."

"What kidnappers?" demanded Pietro.

"My hat!" yelled Tyson.

Pietro speeded up again and the angry Tyson raced after them. Scott sighed and wished faintly that he didn't know people who could keep pace with a car at thirty-five miles an hour.

Five minutes later, they arrived at the pizza parlor and saw Tyson and Pietro sitting inside. Tyson having successfully reclaimed his hat. The rest of the kids trooped inside and started pushing tables together. A few nervous waiters came by to take their orders. The big hitters were Fred, who ordered ten various x-large pizzas, Tyson, who ordered four large Supremes, and Ray, who ordered two large pizzas with anchovies, goat cheese, and mushrooms. Everyone else got things to split.

"Seriously, you look like a cat and you're ordering anchovy pizza?" demanded Tabitha. "Way to give into a cliché."

"I like anchovies," said Ray mildly.

Scott had two slices of vegetarian pizza and then settled back to people watch. Most of the customers had left once they saw who, exactly, was storming the shop. But Scott thought watching the X-men and the Brotherhood was more fun anyway and more informative. They seemed to be having a pretty good time. The girls were giggling together, which in Scott's opinion was never a good sign, except for Kitty, who was talking about applied physics in vehicles with Lance, and Rahne, a younger mutant who could change into a wolf, who was in deep conversation with Kurt and Todd.

Todd was known, among other things, for his unusual body odor. But now that Scott thought about it neither Kurt nor Rahne ever commented on it. They, like Logan and Dr. McCoy, had some of the most sensitive noses in the Institute. Scott had considered learning to read lips after Xavier had given him his sight and his life back. It was a useless skill if he ever lost his glasses, so he decided against it. On the other hand, his hearing was excellent, almost on par with Logan's, and could be quite selective if he forced it. Curiosity was an excellent reason to force it.

"Are you sure?" demanded Todd.

"He's from China," insisted Rahne.

"That don't mean nothing, yo. Sabertooth could have had kids anywhere."

"I already asked him about it," said Kurt. "He said most of the people in his village looked and smelled like he did."

"Besides Sabertooth's a mutant. There's no guarantee his kid would have a mutation remotely similar to his," said Rahne.

"Guess Sabertooth don't smell like lightning anyway," Todd said finally. His eyes widened. "Unless he and Munroe had kid."

Scott grimaced at the mental image and switched his attention out the window just in time to see a handful of sparkling balls pass over the skyline.

"Magneto!" he yelled.

Mutants scrambled to their feet and poured out of the pizza shop into the street. Breaks screeched as what traffic there was slammed to a standstill. The handful of humans still hanging around the area took off.

Scott surveyed the scene with a calloused eye. The more experienced X-men had established a line of defense. The newer students were behind them, scared but determined. The Brotherhood were clustered together off to one side. They looked confused and conflicted, no surprise there. Without orders from Mystique, Scott was hoping they would decide to leave. Pietro usually followed his father's lead, but Scott knew Lance resented Magneto's use-'em-up-spit-'em-out tactics.

Magneto's gaze swept over the assembled mutants. He paused and stared into the midst of the Institute's students. Scott followed his line of sight to Tyson and Ray. They both looked warily cautious, they had heard something of Magneto and his Acolytes, but they were not in a position to fight. Not that they could control their powers enough to be of any use. Then Scott recalled Ray's earlier statement about pulling Drigger out of a concrete wall and couldn't decided if he feeling relief or panic.

"You expect these two to hinder my plans?" asked Magneto sounding incredulous.

Scott didn't start per se so much as suppress a shudder of horror at the thought that Magneto could now read minds. Then he realized that the older mutant was addressing Mastermind in reference to some previous conversation.

The mutant started to nodded his head furiously. "If you do not do away with them, none of our plans will be realized."

Scott swiveled his gaze back to Ray and Tyson. Both boys looked surprised and curious. They were clearly tense and becoming stiffer by the moment, but he had never seen someone look quite so nonchalant in the face death. Then Tyson said something to Ray, who nodded, and suddenly they looked entirely too grim for students who, as far as he knew, had never had to fight for their lives.

"What do you mean the short one feels wrong?" demanded Logan.

"He does not feel like a normal person," said Tyson. "There is something else like a shadow on top of him."

"Darkness," agreed Ray solemnly. "Evil."

Several things happened at once. Mastermind let out a cry and, shoving Magneto aside, launched himself at Ray and Tyson trailing black ooze. Mutants darted out of the way. Ray and Tyson started off down the street, Ray actually jumping over cars so as not to present a unified target. Wolverine and Sabertooth fell into their usual feral not-death-match. And Kai Hiwatari, who the last time Scott has seen him looked like death on a stick, flamed into existence above the street. A sound not unlike the screech of an eagle echoed impressively along the street.

Hiwatari dove straight at Mastermind knocking him down and cracking the pavement. In an unusual show of strength, Mastermind shoved the younger mutant off and into the hood of a car. They both stood up and entered unfamiliar battle stances. There was a scuffle of sorts. Kai shot flames at Mastermind. Mastermind flung ooze and illusions, if the sparkling lights in the edges of Scott's eyes were any indication. Hiwatari just shook his head and made his flame hotter.

A bit of slime landed on Kai's face. He grimace and made a white-hot fiery shield with one hand as the other reached back to burn the sludge off his face. Scott didn't know exactly what it was, but if Hiwatari was willing to stop his offensive push, then Scott did not want any of the students near it. He started moving forward, pulling the younger students away, and seeing Jean do the same.

A muted whack drew Scott attention. Kai stood straddling Mastermind, who had somehow been knocked to the ground. One of Kai's hands was wreathed in flames and he bared down with his full weight behind the blow. It took half a second for Scott to realize Kai was going for a killing shot, even less time for him to decide to let it go. On the other hand Jean was not quite so willing.

"No," she said urgently.

Kai didn't stop, but he did stutter, slowing down ever so slightly. That brief hesitation was enough for Mastermind. He opened his mouth and darkness spewed out of his head. Ears, nose, eyes, mouth, from every opening a wave of black like knives poured out and slammed into Kai's chest. He was able to get one arm in a guard position, however little good it did him. Hiwatari flew through the air, his body following the arc of a near perfect parabola, slammed into the ground, and lay still.

There were two agonized shouts of "Kai!" and Scott saw the two Blade Breakers race to their fallen comrade. Scott looked around. Magneto had disappeared leaving Mastermind to his fate. LeBeau had stuck around, even though his transport had disappeared, and was very carefully making his way toward the mutant's still form. Scott followed him and stopped far enough away not to threaten the thief. It wasn't as though he was much of a threat to the man anyway.

"Have you ever seen anything like it before?" asked Scott.

Gambit looked up, his red-on-black eyes staring into Cyclops' red shades. "Non," he said, "Not the worst voodoo in the delta ever made something like this. He's not dead, but I'm not sure he ever gonna wake up."

Scott knew it was serious when LeBeau used personal pronouns. Rogue had referred to herself in the third person for a week after her encounter with the cagey thief. Nightcrawler teleported to Scott's side before he could ask what they would do with the body.

"Logan wants the keys to the car," he said. His accent more pronounced in his distress.

Scott handed them over without a thought. There was a reason he kept rebuilding the darn thing despite all the damage it took. Its more than slightly illegal engine could get the wounded Kai to the mansion faster than anything other than Quicksilver, without the added distress of getting someone covered in all that black ooze.

"You going to stick around?" asked Scott. "Or are you going to be alone when that thing comes back?"

Gambit grimaced and slid his gaze toward the Brotherhood. "There's plenty of folk who need watching, kid. Worry about them. Let Remy take care of himself."

Scott nodded once and backed off. Gambit would be fine. He'd probably take care of the body for them too, since Wolverine had raced back to the mansion with Kai. Scott was the field leader of the X-men and right now, he had some kids to comfort.

-0-0-0-0-0-

End.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Long chapter is long.

In regards to Scott Summer's character: in X-men Evolution, Cyclops' background is pretty open ended. He's an orphan and he has a brother, who he was separated from, and that's about all you get. In other canons, Scott was placed into the foster care system and ended up in an orphanage where he was experimented on by a guy called Mr. Sinister. He can't control his powers because he has a brain injury (which is sometimes retconned into a mental block). He's also very good at math, especially spatial geometry a.k.a. calculating angles, which allows him to bounce his energy beams off different surfaces. He's also a really awesome leader when he is not moping about Jean being dead. These issues are apparently too intense for a kid's show. For the purposes of this story, I assume that these traits still apply for the most part, which means his character is "darker on the inside." It's not so noticeable from other characters' perspectives but from his it makes a whole lot of difference.

In regards to Max Tate/Mizuharu's character: most fanfiction portrays Max as a super-peppy, hyperactive, and somewhat sinister sugar addict. In the actual show, especially the first season, which this story is strongly based off of, the Blade Breakers are the best in Japan with lots of experience (excluding Tyson) and a very serious desire to prove themselves. Furthermore, Max has a lot of conflict with his mom. Max knows his mom loves him, but does not believe she is proud of him or impressed with his beyblading skills, which will negatively impact a child's psyche even though they do "make-up" in the show. (Also, given that Boris and Voltaire think using beyblades to take over the world would actually work, any scientific work improving beyblades and beybladers is probably pretty important to the government, which is why I included that in a previous chapter.) Max is polite and optimistic, but he is not an idiot.

Alright ranting/explication finished. Hope you enjoyed it.