Author Note: Okay, so here are Dragon and Phoenix back with our new project. A Beyblade Fanfiction. Have a read and let us know what you think.

Disclaimer: Beyblade belongs to Takao Aoki

Cold Competition

Chapter One

Six figures travelled through the snow at a slow, uncertain, pace. The smallest of them was holding a map in one hand, or at least trying to, and a laptop in the other. He had a mop of brown hair that hid his eyes, and a pair of large glasses perched on top. Kenny Saien, known as the Chief to his friends. He was tilting his head, trying to read the map, when another boy joined him and took the other side of the map. Tyson Granger had messy black hair and a baseball cap jammed on top of it backwards. He peered at the map that Kenny had been studying and frowned. "Oh great. We're lost again," he announced.

"There are no landmarks," Kenny defended. It made it incredibly difficult to find the way and it wasn't his fault.

A third boy, Raymond Kon, spoke up. "Well, we'd better do something soon." Ray's black hair was long, and most was wrapped. He was easily distinguishable by his pointed ears, gold eyes, and the fangs that just peeked out of his mouth on occasion.

Near Ray stood Kai Hiwatari. He stood out easily too, due to the blue triangles on his cheeks. His hair was in two shades, the shade at the back being much darker, and he wore a long, white scarf that seemed to dance in the wind, billowing about.

Tyson and Kenny began to argue over the map. Kenny was insisting on holding on to it, while Tyson complained they were lost and he didn't want it worse. Hilary Tatibana, the only girl in the group, and having brown hair, shared an exasperated look with Max Tate, who laughed it off. The blond was used to the antics of his friends.

Knowing that the argument wouldn't get them anywhere, Kai stepped forward and took the map off them. While Kenny was right in saying there were no landmarks, that didn't mean that they were completely lost. All Kai had to do was glance down and see which direction the snow was drifting in, and he knew their direction of travel. "We should have taken the other path," he told the group simply. "The way we're going will take longer, but it'll get us there." He shoved the map back into Kenny's hands.

"Maybe you should hold on to the map, Kai," Hilary suggested.

Kai glanced at her briefly. "Kenny can manage. I'll keep him right if I need to," he replied. As usual, Kai had taken a step back, and was giving them an opportunity to learn. He knew Kenny was a fast learner, and Kai had faith in him, even if he was hesitant to admit it out loud.

The group continued on, accepting Kai's decision as leader. They had a beyblade event to attend, and sitting around bickering wouldn't help anyone. They'd been invited to Hokkaido for the event, but the bus was unable to go any further due to snow, so they'd opted to walk the rest of the way. They'd been wandering along for well over an hour, and the bus behind them was nowhere in sight now.

"I just realised!" Tyson announced suddenly. "We left all the snacks on the bus!"

"Tyson, can't you think of anything but your stomach?" Hilary snapped, unimpressed. "This isn't the time or place."

"I'm hungry!" Tyson complained. "What? You're on a diet or something? We've been walking for AGES!"

"And you had four helpings of breakfast this morning!" Hilary reminded him. "How can you possibly be hungry?" Already seeing where this was going, Kai decided to walk on ahead.

"Because I have an appetite!" Tyson responded, ducking to pick up a handful of snow.

"Tyson, that's not a good idea," Kenny commented worriedly.

"Don't worry about it, Chief," Tyson replied, before throwing the snowball at Hilary, and then running after Kai, laughing.

Hilary yelped as the snowball hit her on the shoulder and her face went bright red with anger. "TYSON! You jerk, get back here!"

Here we go... Kai thought with a roll of his eyes, knowing exactly what had happened, even without actually seeing it.

"You have to catch me!" Tyson responded, pulling a face at her and throwing more snowballs.

"Running around like that will only make your hunger worse," Ray commented as he walked after Kai with Max and Kenny. Ray then ducked out the way of a stray snowball. "Tyson, come on, don't." He might have been amused if it weren't for the fact that Kai was leaving and they'd spent enough time searching for missing members in the past. Ray turned his head and watched as Max moved to join in, throwing snowballs back at Tyson.

Kai stopped by a lone tree and turned to look back at his team. Tyson, as usual, wasn't watching where he was going, instead being more interested in throwing snowballs at Hilary. It was a wonder that the girl hadn't killed him already as she complained about snow getting inside her boots. Kai smirked lightly and grabbed one of the branches of the tree, which was heavy with snow. He then waited until Tyson was in range, before giving the branch a strong tug. The snow slipped through the smaller branches in a huge clump, which landed right on Tyson's head, covering him and getting down the back of his neck.

"AAAAGGHH! What the- KAI!" Tyson complained, as Ray, and Max burst out laughing, doubling over and holding their stomachs. Tyson grabbed more snow and threw it at Kai. Kai easily avoided the snowball by stepping to the side.

"Yay! Go Kai," Hilary cheered, "Show Tyson who's boss!"

"Shut up, Hilary!" Tyson shouted, throwing another snowball at her before trying to hit Kai again.

Unfortunately, Tyson turned back just in time to receive a perfectly aimed snowball to the face from his teammate. "Champion of beyblading, yes," Kai commented with a smirk. "Champion of snowball fights, not so much."

Tyson growled as he wiped the snow from his face, having stumbled back, and grabbed more snow. "You're gonna get it, Kai!" Tyson shouted, running at Kai, intending to face-wash him.

Kai was more than prepared for Tyson's next attack, until he heard something in the distance. A faint rumbling sound. "Stop," he hissed urgently, holding his hands up towards Tyson as his eyes scanned the mountain above them. The rumbling was still there and it was getting slightly louder. Heedless of the warning, Tyson continued on, ducking around Kai's arms and slapping the handful of snow straight into Kai's face. Spluttering slightly, Kai shook the snow from his face and fixed Tyson with an irritated look.

"Ha! Take that!" Tyson shouted, despite being right next to Kai, and pointed at Kai, while the others stared in shock. They'd fully expected their captain to dodge. Tyson's look of triumph dropped. "What?" he asked.

Kai glanced up towards the mountain again, before making his decision. "We need to move. Now!" he said urgently, pushing Tyson further up the path and turning to the others. "Come on, quickly!" All amusement was dropped entirely and the group obeyed, rushing forward.

"What's that rumbling sound?" Hilary asked as they made their way quickly up the path.

"You don't want to find out," Kai replied.

Something landed in the middle of the group, and they gasped in surprise as they looked down, the ground below them shifted suddenly and threw them off balance. But it didn't stop there, and swiftly turned into what appeared to be a miniature avalanche. They hadn't even had time to see what had landed in between them. The snow seemed to be pulling them all in different directions, separating them, and, along the way, burying them as it continued downhill.

000

Finding himself able to move again, Ray clambered out from under the snow and looked around. The landscape was white, there were no landmarks, no change there, but there was also no sign of the others. Ray got to his feet. "Hey guys?" he called out, mindful not to be too loud, in case of another avalanche. He listened, but there was no reply. "Kai? Tyson? Max? Chief? Hilary? Anyone there?" There was still no reply, and no sign of the others anywhere. Since the avalanche had brought them downhill, Ray figured that his best bet would be to go back up, and hope the others had survived and done the same thing. Ray gasped as his balance was thrown off slightly by a foot sinking through deep, loose snow. He looked down at the snow around him, and then at the route he'd chosen, before sighing and pressing on.

Travelling through the snow was hard work and exhausting. On top of that, Ray wasn't even sure where exactly they'd been. He'd lost his bearings during the avalanche, and they hadn't exactly known where they were before it happened. A cold wind picked up around him and snow began to fall heavily. Ray looked up and frowned, before looking around him. He had to find some shelter to wait out the storm. Wandering in a blizzard was foolish, and it was too cold to sit there and wait.

As Ray was looking one way, he caught sight of something coming from the opposite direction out the corner of his eye. It was moving fast, and heading for his head. Ray jerked back, losing his footing and landing on the snow with a startled yelp. He only sat there for a moment, in surprise, before raising his arms to shield his face. Something was coming in again, and Ray winced as it bounced off his arm. He realised it was a beyblade, and that he hadn't heard it because of the wind. Said wind had died down, as had the snow. Instead, Ray found himself looking at four strangers. They were dressed in what looked like furs to keep warm, but they might have been synthetic materials. There were three boys and one girl.

One of the four strangers, the largest of them, spoke up. "Let's battle," he challenged Ray, "A beybattle. Right now."

"I need to find my friends," Ray replied.

The four strangers held up their beyblade launchers. "I said let's battle," the large one repeated himself.

Ray got to his feet. "I really don't have time. My friends are out there and I have to find them," he insisted, and all four of the strangers launched their beyblades at him. Ray backed off and dodged the beyblades that came close to hitting him. He grit his teeth as he realised they really weren't taking no for an answer. "Alright, fine. We'll battle," Ray told them and the strangers called back their beyblades.

"We're The Avalanchers," the first of the four announced. "I am Bernard. These are Wade," he gestured to a small male with green hair, "Nathan," the last male who was close to Bernard's size, but smaller built, and had pink hair, "and Senga," Bernard finished, gesturing to the girl who had blue hair.

"Well my name's Ray. Now where are we gonna do this?" Ray asked.

"There's an ice patch over here," Bernard answered, leading Ray over to the area. He and Ray took up opposite sides of the ice patch and held up their launchers.

"3, 2, 1, let it rip!" they called out in unison, and launched their beyblades. The beyblades clashed continuously as they spun on the ice, though it took a good deal of concentration and skill to hold control on their beyblades.

"Selkar, smash him!" Bernard commanded and a polar bear bit beast appeared.

"Driger, go!" Ray commanded, and Driger appeared to fight the bear.

"The white tiger, just as we expected," Bernard commented. "Thank you for showing it to us. It'll soon belong to us."

"What?" Ray demanded, shocked by the claim.

"We aim to collect all the bit beasts in the world, starting with the four sacred bit beasts," Bernard explained.

"I won't let you," Ray told him.

"You can't stop us," Bernard replied and his team joined in, launching their beyblades. Each one contained a bit beast and against the polar bear Selkar, the narwhal Selnar, the walrus Selnus and the seal Selon, Driger was struggling badly. Each blow knocked Ray about and he could barely stand up to even watch the battle he was trying to fight. Driger was hit again and Ray found himself sent back across the ground. His body slid to a halt at the edge of a cliff, with his head hanging over. Ray rolled to the side, to be a little further from the cliff and scrambled to his feet, just as Driger was attacked again. Ray cried out as he was sent over the cliff. He landed on his back somewhere below and everything went black.

000

"No! Bernard, you idiot! You sent the beyblade over the cliff. We didn't have the bit beast yet!" Wade complained as the four of them approached the cliff. They looked down and were able to see Ray. He was lying on a ledge about twenty five feet below and not moving.

"He's not going anywhere," Bernard sneered. "Come on. He can't go down from there. It's too high and there's no other ledge below. And he can't climb back up. There's nothing for him to use. We know what direction it went in, that one's easy pickings. We just need to collect it. We should focus on the others, the ones that can fight back. We don't want them to regroup, so let's go." The others agreed and the four left.

000

Kai was relieved when he finally managed to pull himself free from the snow, having started to feel slightly crushed from the weight of it. Getting to his feet, he rubbed his head and shook as much snow out of his coat as he could then turned and looked back up towards the mountain.

"This isn't good," he muttered quietly to himself, realising just how far he'd been taken. The avalanche had carried him quite a distance and it would take a good while to get back up to where he'd started. But he had no idea where the rest of his team were and that made Kai anxious. He felt responsible for not getting them to safety in time. He was their leader and it was his responsibility to look after them. He could only blame himself if something bad had happened to them. Huffing out a puff of air, he turned and started marching towards the slope. Hopefully it would be strong enough to hold his weight without him sinking. Thankfully, having lived in Russia, Kai was very good at reading the snow and knowing where it was and wasn't safe to stand. To the untrained eye, everything looked the same, but Kai had already started picking out a path to follow.

He climbed steadily up the slope for about ten minutes, before coming to a halt when something falling caught his eye to the left. The object landed and glinted in the snow. At first Kai thought it had just been a lump of ice falling from one of the overhanging cliffs, but upon closer inspection he realised that wasn't the case. "Driger..." he murmured, picking the beyblade up in his hand. The familiar blade was damaged and Kai knew just from looking at it that it hadn't been caused by the avalanche. There had been a battle and that both encouraged and worried Kai. It meant that Ray had survived, but also suggested that he had lost the match. Kai frowned and looked back up towards the cliffs. He had been swept past them, but he was willing to bet that Ray was up there.

Finally having a proper destination, Kai put Driger away safely in his pocket and resumed his climb. It took him about fifteen minutes to get up to the next cliff and once Kai caught his breath he started calling out for Ray. When there was no answer Kai wandered around until he found evidence of a battle, along with several sets of tracks in the snow. The tracks made Kai angry just by looking at them. It seemed that Ray had been ganged up on and there were signs that he'd taken a fall. Also, pieces of Driger's attack ring were still visible in the snow. But Ray was nowhere in sight.

With a sick feeling in his stomach, Kai approached the edge of the cliff and looked over. His eyes widened when he saw what he'd been hoping not to; Ray lying on a small ledge about twenty five feet below him. "Ray!" Kai called. "Ray, can you hear me?" When Ray gave him no answer, Kai hoped that it was because he was just unconscious. Checking the edge, he then jumped down and rushed over to his fallen teammate. Checking Ray over, Kai found no obvious injuries, but knew it was too dangerous to attempt moving him. So he pulled his coat off and laid it over his friend then gently tapped the side of Ray's face with his cold fingers. He didn't want to risk shaking him and Ray had already failed to answer him when Kai called his name. A tap to the face was the safest option. "Come on, Ray, wake up."

Ray frowned a little and groaned before finally opening his eyes. "... Kai?" he asked uncertainly. He wasn't sure what was going on, where he was, or what had happened, but he realised it was cold. Everything came crashing back and Ray's eyes widened as he sat up. "Driger!" he exclaimed before cradling his head as the blood rushed to it from the sudden movement making him giddy. Despite this, he still tried to get up.

"Hold still," Kai ordered sternly, grabbing Ray's shoulders in case he fell back or tried to move again. "I've got Driger and he's fine. Your blade has a few battle scars, but the bit is intact."

Ray looked at Kai. "You have...? How?"

"I found it when I was climbing back up," Kai explained, pulling out Driger and handing it to him. "Here. Now tell me what happened."

Ray looked at Driger, holding the beyblade in his palm and nodded. "I was heading uphill, hoping all of you would do the same. But I had to stop because of the weather. That's when they appeared..." Ray frowned and brought his free hand to his head. He felt confused and was trying to make sense of his own memories. "Their beyblades... I didn't see them until the storm passed. They attacked through the storm. But the blizzard stopped right after I saw the beyblades. There were four of them. They call themselves The Avalanchers. They want our bit beasts... They want all bit beasts."

Kai frowned, "Ray, what blizzard?" There had been no signs of a blizzard that Kai had seen, not of natural causes anyway. "Did they create it?"

"They might have done," Ray answered, looking at Kai again. "But I'm not sure." Ray looked back at Driger. "All I know is that storm came up really quick, then I was attacked, then it was gone and they were there. I didn't want to battle them. I wanted to find you guys. But they didn't give me a choice." Ray tightened his grip and hung his head. "I couldn't stop them. I'm sorry, Kai."

Kai squeezed Ray's shoulder slightly. "Don't be. Let's just focus on finding the others and getting out of here." He stood up and threw his coat round Ray's shoulders. "Wait here." Kai walked back to the cliff face and looked it up and down. It was steep, but if they had footholds, they should be able to climb back up. Kai pulled his blade and launcher out and got ready to launch. "It's up to you, Dranzer. Let it rip!"

The blue beyblade flew through the air and smashed into the side of the cliff, knocking out a small lump of rock before skipping further up in a zigzag pattern. Reaching the top, Dranzer flipped back into the air and dropped down to land in Kai's hand. Kai then put his blade away and checked the rock face. "Alright, these will do. We have to climb out, Ray. D'you think you can?"

"I have to," Ray answered with a single nod. He got to his feet, slower than his first attempt, and was pleased to find his head remained settled. He stretched to work out some stiffness from his cold body and then joined Kai, before looking up the cliff face. Ray experimentally checked his grip on one of the dents. As he'd suspected, his hands were too cold to be able to keep any grip, so he breathed into them and rubbed them together to try work some warmth back into them.

"Take your time, Ray. Once we get up, we'll look for the others."

"They'll go after Max and Tyson for Draciel and Dragoon. We have to stop them."

"We will," Kai nodded. "Trust me." He nodded towards the cliff. "I won't let anything else happen to this team."

Getting feeling back in his fingers, Ray tested his grip again. "Okay, I'm ready," he told Kai.

"Alright, you go first. I'll follow you, just in case." While Kai was worried about all of his teammates, his main concern right now was for the one he'd already found. The cliff was strong and sturdy; Dranzer had proved that. The last thing they needed was Ray falling again and Kai not being able to catch him. So it was only logical that he made Ray go first. Ray nodded and turned back to cliff, beginning to climb up. Stretching had worked out the stiffness, but he was a little sore and his pace was slow. Kai followed Ray up several feet behind. When he finally reached the top, Ray scrabbled for a hold in the ice, trying to find a grip to haul himself up. Kai managed to find another place to grip the rock and moved up so that his shoulder was level with Ray's knee. "Use my shoulder. It should give you a little extra height to reach." Ray looked at Kai then did as he was told. With the boost, he was able to finish scaling the climb and pull himself to safety. He pulled Kai's coat a little closer around himself and moved to the edge again, a little warily, to watch Kai and help him if he was needed and able. Luckily, by the time Ray was up safely, Kai had managed to locate another foothold and was able to haul himself up to the top. He winced slightly then stood up. "Alright, we should get going. The sooner we find the others, the better."

Ray nodded, "Yeah." He looked around at the tracks in the snow, and noticed them leading off. "Do you think they knew where we all ended up?" he wondered aloud.

"I hope not, but there's only one way to find out." Kai glanced around for a moment. "Let's go this way," he said, heading off the right, moving further up the mountain. "There was no sign that the avalanche reached any further than I was, so hopefully that means we'll find the others on higher ground."

"Do you want your coat back?" Ray asked as he jogged after Kai, ignoring how much his leg muscles protested the action. "Aren't you cold like that?"

"I'm fine without it just now," Kai replied, slowing his pace a little for Ray's sake. "The cold temperatures don't bother me as much."

"Thank you, Kai," Ray stated after a moment of silence, taking note of Kai's change of pace. Kai had really done a lot for him. "I'm not sure what I would have done without your help. I'd probably still be unconscious... And even if I had come to beforehand, I'm not sure how I could have gotten back up without your help. And you found Driger. I didn't even see what happened when they beat me. I wouldn't have known the first place to look."

"That's what friends are for, right?" Kai stopped and looked back at him over his shoulder. "You guys taught me that back in Russia. So I should be the one thanking you."

Ray smiled and nodded, "Yeah. That is what friends are for. But I'm still really grateful to you. You very probably saved my life today."

Kai smiled and faced forward again. "Don't mention it, Ray."

000

Tyson had found Kenny and the pair, with Dizzi's help, tracked down an active beybattle. By the time they got there, the match was over, but the people were still present. Max and Hilary both looked distressed and there were four strangers gloating at them. "What happened?" Tyson asked, rushing over to Max and Hilary. "Max, Hilary, what's wrong?"

"They took him..." Max said quietly from where he was down on his knees, his voice broken with loss. "They took Draciel away from me..."

"They're bullies Tyson," Hilary warned him, "They sneak up without warning and fight dirty. And they say they already got to Ray!"

"What do you mean they got to Ray? Did they steal Driger too?" Tyson asked.

"Not yet," Bernard spoke up.

"He took a little tumble down a cliff and now he's stuck there," Wade put in smugly. "All we need to do is go collect his bit beast."

Tyson growled as he listened to them. "You stole Max's bit beast and you hurt Ray. Nobody treats my friends like that. Let's battle!" Tyson held up his beyblade launcher.

The Avalanchers laughed. "That's just what we wanted you to do," Bernard informed Tyson.

"This is all too easy," Nathan gloated. "Got the turtle and now we're gonna get the dragon. The tiger's already out of commission. With this, the phoenix will also be ours in no time."

"You've got to go through me first!" Tyson responded, before he and The Avalanchers launched their blades.

"Let it rip!" they all shouted in unison.

"Be careful, Tyson! Don't let them surround you," Hilary called while Kenny quickly set to work on recording and analysing the battle, in hopes that he'd be able to find a weakness for Tyson to exploit. Tyson called out Dragoon, doing his best to hold off the four opponents. Despite not having a bit beast anymore, Max couldn't leave Tyson to fight alone and did his best to support him by joining the fray.

000

"So how far down did the avalanche carry you?" Ray asked as he and Kai continued at a pace which was both hurried and yet easy on Ray.

"Almost all the way to the bottom," Kai replied. "But I made good time climbing back up."

"I kept tripping when my feet sunk in. You probably got through much quicker than I did."

"I'm used to the snow, Ray. I grew up in Russia, remember?"

"Gives you an edge here, right?" Ray guessed, grinning a little.

Kai smirked. "You could say that. Tyson was crazy if he thought he could beat me at a snowball fight, that's for sure." Ray laughed, but then yelped as he slipped on some hidden ice and fell back. Kai turned and moved back to him. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Ray answered, picking himself up again and starting to brush some of the snow off his clothes. "I'm falling over a lot today, so it's not making much difference anymore," he joked.

"Stay close then. Walk where I walk," Kai told him. He looked forward again. "We'll need to be careful moving up that." He pointed to a slope in front of them, which was pretty steep and covered with hard snow. "The snow is compact there, so it's slippery on the surface. But if we dig in our feet we should be alright."

"Okay," Ray nodded and looked up at the slope. "I'm slowing you down."

"No you're not," Kai told him. "Come on, it'll be fine. Just take it one step at a time." He started up the slope each step cautious, yet confident. "It's fine, Ray. Let's go." Ray followed Kai exactly, stepping in the other teen's footprints and concentrating thoroughly on where he was stepping. After a short while, Ray looked up to make sure he wasn't falling too far behind, but his foot slipped and he made a soft noise of surprise as he started falling again. Hearing the sound of the snow giving way, Kai looked back quickly and saw Ray slipping. So he dug one of his feet firmly into the snow and reached down, just managing to catch Ray's hand in his own. A sudden sharp pain coursed through his arm and Kai grit his teeth as he winced. "I got ya."

"You're hurt," Ray commented worriedly.

"It's nothing," Kai replied. "Now come on. Find your footing." He started pulling Ray back up, getting him past the part he'd slipped on. Ray nodded accepting Kai's help. Ray began concentrating on his footing again and thanked Kai. But he didn't stop worrying about the other teen.

000

When Kai and Ray got to the top, they both stopped to take a rest. The climb had been tougher than they'd realised and constant trekking through the snow was starting to wear them down. Not to mention that it was getting late in the day and the temperature was starting to drop. Ray shivered and pulled coat closer around himself again. He closed his eyes and tried concentrating on blocking out the cold. He brought up a hand and rubbed the back of his head, where he'd hit it when he fell off the cliff and abandoned the effort of concentrating. It hurt too much. He tried instead to focus on how they'd reach the other four. Kai felt bad watching his friend the way he was. It was his fault Ray was like this. "Come on, we should keep moving. You'll only get colder otherwise."

Ray nodded, "Which way now?" Kai rubbed his arm as he looked around, before deciding on a direction and heading that way. They continued on, having a few more incidents with Ray slipping due to highly unsuitable footwear, but he managed to stay on his feet. Despite this minor improvement, Ray was otherwise slowing down and wanting to just find somewhere to crouch down and rest, but he still pressed on, determined to help his friends.

It was then that they came across the battle. Dragoon was struggling against Selkar, Selnar, Selus and Selon. Max was assisting Tyson, but there was no sign of Draciel. "That's them," Ray commented to Kai. "They're the same ones who attacked me."

"Those low-lives," Kai growled, frowning as he watched Max's beyblade. He felt his anger boil up when he realised what must have happened, "Time to even things up a bit." He grabbed Dranzer and clicked him onto his launcher, and aimed towards the battle. "Nobody messes around with my team and gets away with it. Let it rip!" Dranzer shot off like an arrow, fire bursting into life around the beyblade as it crashed into the fight, knocking three of the enemy blades back. Then there was a spectacular flash as Dranzer rushed out, spreading his wings and screeching loudly. Kai winced a little at the pain in his arm from the launch, but then ignored it and ran towards the others.

Ray followed suit, sending Driger into the battle. "Let it rip! Go, Driger!" he commanded, before following Kai.

"Hm?" Bernard turned and laughed. "Well I'll be. Back for more? You must be a real glutton for punishment. Well, thanks for saving us the trouble of having to hunt your bit beast down again. And you're not even remotely recovered from the last battle. Senga, take him down while he's still weak."

"On it," Senga replied with a nod. "Selon! Get him!"

"I'm the one you should be worried about!" Kai snarled, having Dranzer move in to block Selon's attack. Kai didn't take kindly to being ignored.

"Selnar! Get him!" Nathan shouted and the narwhal bit beast dove at Dranzer. Selus moved to attack Driger instead, while Selnar and Selon fought Dranzer, and Selkar faced Dragoon and Max's beyblade.

"Come on, Driger, take him down!" Ray encouraged as the white tiger clashed with the walrus.

"Good to see you guys made it," Tyson commented to Kai and Ray.

"You mean you doubted us?" Kai retorted, focussing on the battle. Dranzer didn't feel right and Kai knew why. The phoenix was feeling his pain, which in turn was affecting his strength. But so long as Kai could keep that weakness hidden, then he still had a chance. After all, he had experience of fighting aquatic bit beasts before, after he'd gone up against Spencer and Seaborg in the world championships. And while he had lost that battle, he and Dranzer had both grown stronger since then.

"They told us they'd put Ray and Driger over a cliff," Hilary informed Kai.

"They did," Ray answered. "But they didn't count on Kai coming to help me."

"Hah, I didn't think you'd be getting out of that on your own. In fact, I knew that you were stuck," Bernard announced as Selkar pushed Dragoon back. "But the fact remains, your blade is already battered and it won't take much to smash it! Selkar! Finish him off!"

"Driger, go!" Ray commanded.

"That's why there are two of us," Bernard sneered as Wade's beyblade moved in to attack as well. Ray stumbled back as Driger was hit, but before they could strike again, Max's beyblade blocked it. A piece of Max's blade broke off and was shot out. "You guys are starting to annoy me!" Bernard snarled.

"Which one of them took Draciel, Max?" Kai asked as Dranzer started to power up.

"The big guy doing all the mouthing off," Max answered.

"Bernard," Ray spoke up, wincing at a twinge in his head caused by exhaustion. He then had Driger avoid another attack. The attack couldn't follow because it was intercepted by Dragoon. "He seems to be the ringleader."

"Oh, you want Draciel, do you?" Bernard scoffed, before a second bit beast came from his beyblade. "Let's see how you guys handle being THIS outnumbered! Go on, Draciel! Crush your former comrades. Start with Dranzer!"

"No!" Max gasped horrified at the situation.

Kai was forced back as Dranzer and Draciel clashed, until he put his foot down and anchored himself in place. As he did, Dranzer stopped giving ground and pushed back against Draciel, before rising into the air and diving at the other bit beast, knocking Draciel off balance. I'm sorry I have to do this, Max, Kai thought, glancing at his young teammate. But I'll get Draciel back for you. "Push him back, Dranzer!" The phoenix screeched and obeyed, rolling Draciel over, right into the path of Selnar and Selon. Dranzer then landed on Selnar's back, digging his talons in and clamping down on the Narwhal's horn with his beak. He pulled back hard and with a few powerful wing beats, lifted the other bit beast into the air. Kai felt the strain in his arm from Dranzer's wing, but endured it long enough for Dranzer to gain some altitude before dropping Selnar back down on top of Selon and Draciel.

"Hey, yeah, great idea, Kai!" Tyson commented. "Dragoon, go up! That bear can't push back if he can't stand!"

"Draciel..." Max murmured worriedly as he watched the area of Kai's battle.

Ray and Wade's beyblades were clashing with each other as Selus and Driger fought. "Driger! Tiger claw attack now!" Ray commanded. Wade's beyblade was sent into the air, but it recovered, landing safely and came back at Ray's with surprising force. "Driger!" Ray gasped as his blade wobbled upon landing.

"Now to finish you!" Wade shouted, sending his blade in for another attack.

Ray glanced at Draciel and gritted his teeth. He couldn't let these guys take Driger and use him against their friends, regardless of what happened to the beyblade, "Driger, retreat!"

"NOOOO!" Wade shouted, as his beyblade smashed into Ray's, sending it straight out of the battle and into the snow at Hilary's feet. "You put that back in now so we can take the bit beast!"

"Not a chance," Kai growled at Wade.

"I've got you, Driger," Hilary said, picking the beyblade up and holding it close. Cold, tired and aching, Ray walked over to Hilary to see how badly his blade had been damaged in the battle.

In that moment, the seal, Selon, sunk his teeth into Dranzer's wing, tugging down. With Ray out of the battle, Wade snarled and sent Selus to attack Dranzer too. Kai yelled in pain as Dranzer tried desperately to pull free, lifting one of his feet to slash his talons at Selon's neck and underbelly. "Dranzer," Kai winced, one eye closed in pain. "Counter attack." Dranzer's beyblade started to wobble slightly as the phoenix fought hard against the other bit beasts. Selon had a good grip on Dranzer's wing and feathers were starting to go everywhere. Then Selus appeared and grabbing one of the walrus' tusks in his beak was all Dranzer could do to hold him back. But then Dranzer lost his grip and Kai found himself being sent flying backwards, rolling several times before coming to a stop by a snow bank. The Russian growled angrily as he got to his knees, holding his elbow carefully. He spat out some blood and got back on his feet. "Come on, Dranzer. You can do it!"

"Dragoon! Get in there and help Dranzer!" Tyson shouted and Dragoon charged into the fight, knocking Selkar into his own team.

Ray had just collected Driger from Hilary and thanked her quietly when Kai had been knocked over. Hilary ran over to check on him and Ray was close behind her. "Kai, your arm..." Ray spoke softly, not wanting The Avalanchers to hear him.

"I'm fine, Ray. I can manage," Kai replied, moving away a few steps. "Dranzer, Flame Sabre!" At the command, Dranzer's whole body lit up and he burst into flames, managing to free his wing.

"These guys are such creeps," Hilary commented as she and Ray watched Kai. She turned her head as Ray stumbled forward slightly before grabbing his arm and looking back towards the battle. They'd both had their backs to the fight in their concern for Kai. Hilary looked down and noticed that two beyblades had left the battle to attack them on the side-lines. One jumped at Ray again and he tried to block it, while the other went for Kai. "Kai! Look out!" Hilary called out.

Her warning came just in time and Kai reacted by lifting his arm to shield his face. The beyblade cut him, running up the full length of his forearm before flying back into the battle. Kai didn't seem phased in the slightest as he directed Dranzer's attack at the offending blade.

Ray knocked the blade that was attacking him away, but his arm was just getting more painful each time and Senga just wasn't giving up. Ray looked at Driger, considering launching the blade at Senga's in defence. He winced as the blade hit him again and looked back at Senga. "Stop that, you're not supposed to attack the players."

"We'll attack whoever and whatever we want," Senga sneered. Her eyes narrowed and her smirk widened when Ray clicked Driger onto his launcher again.

"Ray, don't!" Kai told him sternly. "That's what they want you to do. Driger won't survive another battle."

Senga scowled as Ray hesitated and looked at Kai then had her blade aim for Ray's head while he was distracted. Catching sight of it too late, Ray tried to jerk back, losing his footing again in the process, but the blade never connected as a green one knocked it off-course. Senga looked at Max and scowled again. "You stay out of this, you little brat!" she snarled and sent in her bit beast to destroy Max's beyblade. The attack was suddenly blocked by Draciel, "What? Bernard! What are you doing?" she snapped.

"I didn't do that!" Bernard responded, shocked and frustrated.

"Alright!" Kenny cheered. "Max, Draciel is fighting back. He's reaching out for you."

Dranzer shrieked as his blade started to lose momentum. "No, Dranzer. Hang in there," Kai told his bit beast, knowing that if Dranzer stopped spinning, it would be game over. With Driger out and Draciel fighting for control, Dragoon would be left to fight off The Avalanchers alone. Unless... Kai glanced at his pocket.

"Come on, Draciel! You can do it!" Max encouraged. Draciel fully left Bernard's blade and returned to Max's then moved to join the fight again, this time on the right side. "Alright!" Max cheered.

"Way to go, Max!" Tyson called out as Dragoon continued to try fight off their enemy. Dranzer finally seemed to be making a comeback as well, but was still tangled up with Selnar and Selon. Kai grit his teeth, feeling Dranzer starting to wear down. This battle had to end, and fast.

Bernard shared a look with Nathan and the pair nodded before running around the battle to where Ray and Hilary were. Ray had just picked himself up and was taking Driger off of the launcher. Nathan shoved Hilary to the side and Bernard grabbed Ray's wrist, trying to make him lose his grip on Driger. "Get off!" Ray demanded, moving his arm down, into Bernard's thumb, to try break the grip, but Bernard used his other hand immediately and tried to pry Ray's hand open. "No!" Ray protested, moving his free hand to grab Bernard's, pressing in at the base of the thumb, trying to stop his grip. Frustrated, Bernard let go and struck Ray in the face, knocking him down before stepping on the hand that was still clutching Driger.

That was it. Kai felt something snap inside of him. To resort to physically attacking an opponent was unforgivable. This was all it took to make up Kai's mind and within seconds another beyblade suddenly joined the battle. It lit up before it even landed and a loud bellow filled the air as everything turned black. A huge black phoenix then rushed out of the blade and into the air, sending out powerful shock waves at the enemy. "Black Dranzer, attack!" Kai commanded furiously and the dark phoenix went straight for Selkar and Selnar.

"What? Kai! What are you doing?" Tyson demanded. He knew how Kai felt. He was furious too. But Black Dranzer was such a huge risk.

Ray tried to free his hand, tugging at it and hitting Bernard's leg with his other hand, but then Nathan grabbed that arm, preventing Ray from being able to continue. Ray gritted his teeth as Bernard pressed down more weight on his hand then cried out when Bernard twisted his foot. Despite his best efforts, his grip on Driger had loosened considerably and Bernard stooped down intent on prying Ray's hand open and taking the beyblade.

Unfortunately for Bernard, he didn't expect Kai to appear so quickly. While Black Dranzer dominated the battle, Kai had rushed over to help Ray and grabbed Bernard by the back of his coat. Pulling him back, Kai then slammed his fist into the side of Bernard's face, before turning to Nathan. Kai's hand caught Nathan's jaw and forced the other boy's head up, making him have to release his grip on Ray. Kai shoved him and then kicked him in the stomach, immediately putting himself between Ray and the enemy. "You'll surrender now, if you know what's good for you. Before my bit beasts devour you!"

Bernard rubbed his jaw and looked over to his other two teammates. He nodded to them. Wade returned the nod and a strong wind picked up. Senga looked at the battle briefly, an expression of frustration on her face, before she nodded too and it began to snow heavily. All visibility was impaired by the resulting blizzard.

"Again?" Ray asked as he got to his knees and looked around. All he could make out of the others were shapes and he was concerned that the beyblades would strike again.

"Oh no you don't," Kai shouted. "Black Dranzer, neutralize!" Black Dranzer flapped his wings and the storm dissipated. But when it did, the Bladebreakers found themselves alone. The Avalanchers were gone, bit beasts and all. Even their tracks had been covered by the snow. Both Dranzer and Black Dranzer returned to their beyblades once they were sure the danger was over and Kai dropped shakily to his knees. Dragoon and Draciel also returned to their blades, which then returned to Tyson and Max. Tyson, Max and Kenny then approached Kai, Ray and Hilary. The girl was intent on treating Kai's wound. Kai caught his breath and stood up slowly. "We should get out of here," he told the team. "There's no telling when they'll be back."

"So where will we go?" Tyson asked. "We gonna try go back? Or press on? And does anyone know where we are anyway?"

"We keep going," Kai replied, pointing, "That way." He moved away from the group and picked up both his beyblades, checking them for damage before putting them away. He wouldn't admit it, but he was feeling the strain of using Black Dranzer.

"Kai, your arm's bleeding," Kenny commented. "We need to do something about that right away."

Kai looked down at his arm, not showing much interest. Blood had run down his arm and was now dripping from his fingers. He flicked his hand, sending some of the blood down onto the snow and shrugged. "It's not that bad."

"Not that bad?" Kenny asked worriedly. "It is! Look how much blood there is! You can't just leave it like that!"

"Here, let me patch you up," Hilary offered, approaching Kai again.

Ray had quietly put away his beyblade and launcher before getting to his feet and approaching the others. "Do you want your coat back now?" Ray asked Kai.

"Oh yeah, you've got them both on," Tyson commented. He'd been too busy to notice earlier. "What happened with you guys anyway?" he asked, looking at Kai and Ray.

Kai resisted the urge to grumble at all the unwanted attention. He'd never been good at dealing with people making a fuss over him, but he knew his teammates were just concerned. So, sighing, he unfastened his arm guard and took it off, allowing Hilary to access the wound more easily. "No Ray, you keep it just now," he replied then looked to Tyson. "As for what happened, Ray and I were carried further down the mountain than you guys. I ended up almost as far as the snow went." Hilary busied herself with cleaning up the wound before dressing it.

"When I came to a stop and got out of the snow, I headed uphill but was caught in a blizzard, like that one they just left in. They attacked me and forced me to battle them, but they ganged up on me and I ended up getting knocked off the cliff to a ledge below," Ray explained and brought up a hand to the back of his head again. "I was knocked out. When I came to, Kai was at my side and he had Driger. He used Dranzer to make it possible for us to climb back up. And he helped me out along the way, whenever I was struggling."

"I just did what anyone else would have done," Kai added watching as Hilary wrapped a roll of bandage round his injury.

"How did you find him?" Max asked Kai.

"When I was heading up I saw Driger landing in the snow. So I went higher until I found where Ray had fallen and the rest you know."

"Hilary and I just run into each other on the way up and continued together, when those four creeps just attacked us and demanded a battle," Max explained. "I didn't want to be delayed, but they said their last victim had the same attitude and went off a cliff and then they started attacking us again. I tried to fight them, but they had me outnumbered and then that one's bit absorbed Draciel. Then Tyson and Chief turned up and Tyson got mad and challenged them. I tried to help even though I'd lost Draciel and then you guys came."

Kai nodded. "Well, you've got Draciel back now. So if they come back again, we'll be ready for them."

"As long as we're not separated again," Ray commented, frowning as he looked at the snow around them.

Kai nodded. "So everyone stay close. If we can make it to the facility at the top of the mountain, we should be alright."

"Are we all good to go then?" Hilary asked, having finished with Kai's injury.

"Yeah. So long as Kenny's ready to come out from hiding behind that snow drift," Kai commented with a smirk.

"It's not funny, Kai," Kenny retorted, peeking out. "You had blood all over you."

"Whatever, Chief." Kai rolled his eyes and turned away, after giving Hilary a quiet thank you for tending to his arm.

Tyson, Max, and Hilary laughed and Ray smiled in amusement. "You know, I'm still hungry," Tyson suddenly announced. "In fact, I'm even more hungry now than I was before."

"Don't start that again," Hilary told him.

"Actually," Ray spoke up, "I'm feeling hungry as well." And tired. "But we won't be able to eat until we get there. Right?"

"Hey, yeah, you're right," Tyson agreed. "So what are we doing still standing around here?" Kai smirked and led his team on.

000

By the time the gang reached the top of the mountain three long, cold hours had passed. The building they came to was a welcoming sight as everyone was pretty exhausted. Reaching for the door Kai pulled it open and ushered the others inside feeling a wave of warm air escape and hit him in the face.

"Finally!" Tyson cheered. "Now we can get some food." He rushed in but came to a surprised halt inside. "Mr Dickenson!" Max, Kenny and Hilary filed in the door and shared Tyson's surprise.

"Thanks, Kai," Ray mumbled as he passed the captain. Inside, he promptly moved to a bench near the others and sat down on it, listening to them asking Mr Dickenson how he'd gotten there.

Mr Dickenson was clearly upset about what had happened and relieved that everyone had made it to the facility safely. He went on to explain that only the route the team's bus had taken had been blocked and that the whole challenge had been a setup, as no event had been organised officially. The elder man sighed and looked at each member of the group. "I'm just glad you're all okay. I was so worried, especially when I heard reports of an avalanche."

"Only our route was affected?" Ray asked, surprised. "And it was a setup? And those guys are the only ones we encountered out there and they were able to create blizzards..."

Mr Dickenson glanced at his watch. "Let's get you kids out of here. You'll travel back in the bus with me and I'll take you to the hospital to get checked over."

Ray looked down thoughtfully. The Avalanchers had found him easily after the avalanche and he couldn't get his mind off that first battle. Ray gasped and stood up. "They were expecting us!" he told Kai urgently.

Kai looked round at him quickly and frowned. "How d'you know that, Ray?"

"When I called out Driger in the first battle with them, they knew. Bernard even said that he'd expected it. They knew we were coming here, we weren't even supposed to be walking up here as we had a bus and they found me really soon after the avalanche, almost right away."

Kai's frown deepened and he folded his arms. "So it was them all along. They set us up."

"Oh my..." Mr Dickenson gasped.

"And they're still out there," Ray commented. Kai nodded.

"It's obvious that they'll stop at nothing to get our bit beasts," Kenny commented. "So our only option is to train and prepare for them. We need to get up to speed," he glanced at Kai, "And not rely on unstable, dark bit beasts." Kai frowned at the comment and looked away, while Mr Dickenson was clearly puzzled. Ray took out Driger and looked at his beyblade, frowning at the condition it was now in.

"We came all this way for nothing!" Tyson complained.

"Be grateful we made it all this way, Tyson," Hilary scolded as they slowly got on the bus one by one. "It could have been very different with that avalanche."

"Yeah, I guess," Tyson agreed. "But I still think it's a waste of time." Ray sat down by a window and closed his eyes with a sigh.

Kai's eyebrow twitched as he pushed Tyson into a seat, so he could get past to the back of the bus. "Just sit down, will you? It's a long drive, so why don't you try sleeping."

"I'd rather eat," Tyson replied.

Kai growled. "How about a knuckle sandwich then?" he muttered under his breath.

"Just sit down, Tyson," Hilary ordered. Tyson grumbled, but did as he was told. Once everyone was settled, the bus left.

Author Notes: If anyone is reading through this a second (or more) time and notice some minor changes it's because Dragon is going through to correct grammar and add little bits etc