A/N:Yup, another one. You guys encouraged me, so if anyone is to blame...

A/N no. 2: It's called 'Double or nothing', but they don't actually follow the rules of double or nothing wagering (as you will no doubt see). Now, this could be because I am a bit of a retard and didn't realise when first writing (and subsequently couldn't come up with a better title). But I'm going to say it's because Kai and Tyson are idiots and don't understand how betting works. Sorry boys.

Double or Nothing

It was summer, and the sun blazed outside. More than that; it was blindingly hot - the kind of day where you would be squinting even through sunglasses and could get burnt just by standing opposite a white surface. One by one, the Bladebreakers were driven from their training into the dark sanctuary of the dojo. His pale complexion a liability, Kai had been eliminated first, and retired to the house to modify Dranzer. Max followed next, and when Tyson and Rei finally came in, defeated, four glasses of lemonade welcomed them in the gloom.

"Wow, thanks Max!" Tyson exclaimed.

"Well, it wasn't just m—"

"You're welcome." Kai said in a sarcastic but not unkind voice. "Now drink up." He instructed.

Tyson stared.

"He's not an imposter, it's not poison, he hasn't had a stroke." Max explained.

"Hydration, hydration." Kai added. "Go."

"Well ok then."

And with that Tyson changed his tune entirely, grabbing and downing his drink like a man dying of thirst. Breathless, he slammed the empty pint glass on the table, belched, and proclaimed, "Hell yes, I won! Finished my drink faster than all of you!"

"We weren't even—"

"Oh yes we were, Maxie! I saw that look in your eye, but you lost and you have to admit to it like a man!"

"Damn you." Max shook his blonde curls and laughed. "I even had a head start! You have a throat like a duck!"

"Idiots." Kai muttered, finishing his own drink at leisure as he walked off down the hall.

Rei agreed. "You two are mental. I can't even follow your little contests, it's like you're telepathic."

"Ahh, Rei, when two minds are this great, it's only natural that they think alike."

They heard a "Hah!" from the living room where Kai had disappeared.

"So what should we do now?" Max said, as the flopped down onto the sofa beside their captain.

"Let's all play some Guitar Hero!"

"You go ahead," said Rei, "I have sweaty hands."

"Yeah me too. I'll watch you guys though." Max said.

"So Kai?"

"No."

"Aww, come on. You never give anything a chance!"

"No."

"I reckon you'd be quite good if you got into it."

"No. It doesn't interest me."

Rei held the cold glass against his forehead, watching with fascination. He really was an amazing actor, and he had Rei almost believing it. Tyson was certainly beyond fooled. What mastery! The conversation was going exactly where Kai wanted and he had barely said anything.

"So how can I make it interesting?" Hook.

"You can't'."

"You're always harping on about finding motivation to train. What can I say to motivate you to play one little song against me?" Line.

"I already told you: Nothing."

"What if I bet you-"

"Uhh, Tyson, you really don't wanna finish that sentence." Rei's advised. It went unheeded.

"I bet you can't even finish one song." Sinker. Beautifully done. Beautiful. Kai reeled him in.

"Bet me what, exactly? Cookies aren't a form of currency to most people."

Tyson ignored to jibe at his snacking/gambling habits.

"If you manage to finish one song without failing it, I will... I will give up playing for a week and promise to follow your every sadistic order, Captain!" He saluted; loyalty to his commitment. Poor boy was labouring under the delusion that he couldn't lose this one, Rei thought with a sigh.

Kenny could hear them playing Rockband downstairs. He and Dizzi had been working hard the last hour with little to show for it, and finally he decided he deserved a break. Maybe a quick game with the others would knock him out of his funk. Besides, how could he concentrate with all their racket? He rationalised as much to Dizzi, and only felt a little bit bad for folding down the laptop over her protest of, "Aw, but aren't we having fun too, Chief?"

Cracking the door of his temporary study, the muffled rock music became suddenly louder and clearer, and with some previously unappreciated lyrics. Tyson was taking some interesting artistic licence in the form of unbridled swearing.

With mounting confusion, Kenny headed towards the stream of colourful language. He walked into the living room, but what he saw did nothing to dispel his bewilderment.

"Huh." That couldn't be right. Calmly, he took off his glasses and wiped each lens on the tail of his shirt before pushing them back up the bridge of his nose with a middle finger. He looked back up from this highly involved activity and had a second go at evaluating the scene. "Nope, apparently not."

They were playing Guitar Hero. Upside-down. Side-by-side on the sofa, feet hanging over the top, hair stood on end and fingers clacking away at a furious pace. Tyson's brow was furrowed and his face was going red from the head rush. Kai, on the other hand, had a smirk that only deepened with every expletive gracing the lips of his rival.

"Sorry, what's going on?"

"Chief!" Max grinned, bouncy as ever. "It's a bet!"

"What kind of bet?"

Rei groaned in the background.

"Well," Max drew a deep breath, "Tyson bet Kai that Kai couldn't finish one song, but he did, so then Tyson bet that he couldn't beat his score, and Kai did, so then Tyson bet that he couldn't do it upside-down—"

The counters on screen said everything that Max didn't need to.

"And what are they betting exactly?"

Rei groaned again, louder.

"At the moment Tyson isn't playing any games for a month, is going to bed at nine-thirty and waking up at six, has to do everything Kai says, and is also going on a diet." Max said with a grin.

"Do you mind? You're putting me off!" The unfortunate victim roared.

"...And if Tyson wins?" Kenny whispered.

"Kai will be his slave for a month."

"Oh."

"Yeah it was like catnip. No way Tyson could resist taking that one, but look where it's landed him."

It was true, Rei thought, listening to Max explain the wager. The 'slave-for-a-month' thing was like waving a steak in front of a dog's nose; almost cruel. Tyson was digging himself further and further into a hole after that delicious prize, and it seemed that now he'd finally looked up and realised what trouble he was in. Rei could tell the exact timing of this 'Oh Shit' revelation – it coincided precisely with Tyson's deteriorating score. It was like when he 'bladed; when he started to lose, he freaked out, and this made him lose even worse.

"OhMyGod!" Tyson shouted, the anger at his performance dip misdirected to his opponent. "How are you so good? You don't even know what videogames are!"

"Tyson, I grew up in Russia, not on the moon."

"When did you first play a game?" He accused, practically spitting with the injustice of it all. Kai looked at Rei and gave a mischievous wink that no-one else seemed to catch. The blue-haired boy feigned reflection.

"Hmm, let me see. I think I played Tetris once when I was sixteen..."

Tyson exploded then, not even managing a coherent string of swearwords anymore and missing every single note of the verse.

"You're supposed to suck! Why aren't you sucking?"

A single raised eyebrow said it all.

"You've been practicing in secret, haven't you?"

"I may have...dabbled."

"Dirty Communist Tricks!" Tyson screamed.

Kai said nothing, reeling off a perfect solo to finish. In one smooth movement, he rolled backwards off the couch and onto his feet.

"Double or nothin'." Flames of determination burned bright in Tyson's eyes. Or flames of stubborn stupidity, setting alight his mind with thoughts of revenge and incinerating his brain cells.

Kai just chuckled. "You never learn, do you?"

"C'mon, you gotta give me a chance to regain my dignity, man!"

"This is just sad."

"Come on, one more chance! Please, Kai."

And that is when he began to prod the poor dragon.

"Ok, one more. But if I win, you have refer to me by my full title."

"What?"

"It's 'Kai, he's so amazing'. 'You're so amazing' when you're talking to me, obviously."

"...For how long?"

"Forever. Go ahead, try it now. You'll have to get used to it soon enough."

Tyson glowered. "Kai, you're so amazing." He said through gritted teeth.

A most evil smirk was spreading across triangled cheeks.

"Say, what's the name of the Bladebreakers' team captain again?"

"...Kai, he's so amazing."

This is getting out of hand, Rei thought. He had to act. If universal karma wasn't going to do anything, Rei would. As they bickered over the next song and the terms of their engagement, the neko-jin tried to slip off a shoe subtly. About thirty seconds in, and he struck. Stealthily, a snake, his toes crept alongside Kai's guitar and quick as a flash clicked off the power button before being tucked back under him in a cross-legged position.

At first, Kai just growled and shook the guitar, not understanding. He turned it off and on again, and resumed playing without too much questioning. He was too far ahead to be brought down by a one-off freakish glitch.

Not too long later, and Rei did it again. This time his act of sabotage provoked more of a reaction.

"My controller's not responding." Kai complained.

Tyson smiled grimly, focusing too hard to gloat. "Yeah, they'll do that sometimes. I don't know why." He said, without an ounce of sympathy.

Throughout the song, Rei's dextrous pedal digits worked their magic and by the end, the tables were thoroughly turned.

The final scores boomed across the screen. Kai was pale and silent. He didn't even push Tyson away when the other boy started dancing around him jubilantly.

"Ooh, hard luck!" Rei chirped. Roused from his dumbstruck state, Kai slowly swivelled his body on the couch to fix the Neko-jin with a glare of pure malevolence.

"You." He hissed dangerously.

"Me, what?" Rei said. He imagined his face to be a bright picture of innocence, and it was all the confirmation Kai's suspicions needed. His crimson eyes narrowed to a squint.

"Yooooouuuu."

Rei couldn't hold the straight face any longer. When Tyson started thrusting his crotch in the vicinity of Kai's face as part of his victory celebration, Rei broke out laughing.

"Why?" Everything Kai said was in the form of a drawn-out whisper, like a man stabbed in the back confronting the murderer in his dying moments.

"Uh, Asian solidarity?" The Chinese boy answered, receiving instant hi-five from his Japanese friend.

"What about Dirty Communist Solidarity?"

"Oh, not such a lone wolf now are we?" Tyson put on a deep voice and strutted around the living room. "'Hurr, there's no Kai in team, hurr.'"

Kai jumped up, livid and ready to murder him, and that was when Tyson did something suicidal. He swatted Kai on the nose with his baseball cap.

"Nu-uh! I don't remember telling you to get up, slave. Or are you not a man of your word?"

Kai grabbed the cap. It writhed and creased in his furious grip. Then, delicate to the point of being ridiculous, he replaced it atop Tyson's head.

"Double or nothing." It wasn't a proposal, it was a command. Tyson pretended to think for all of five seconds.

"Hmm. No, I think I'm good with this thanks, slave. Now, I'm feeling mighty peckish. I demand you make us some cookies, so that we may mock your lack of baking talent. Off you go."

Amazingly, the blue-haired boy did not kill him. He walked back to the kitchen, and the sounds of mixing bowls and oven trays being violently liberated from the cupboards was heard.

"I am not eating those." Max announced to the silent room.

"Yes," Kenny said, "it does seem rather likely they will be laced with something deadly."

"Like rat poison." Rei said, despondent.

"Or raisins. I hate raisins. Do you think I should have been more specific?"

"Honestly, Tyson, I think he will clobber you with a rolling pin if you go back in there."

- Owari -