Tyson stepped out onto the balcony of his hotel room. Immediately, he was attacked by a roaring wind that whipped his hair into his eyes and just as soon as he was out, he was back inside, shivering with cold.
"Woah! The wind's really strong tonight!" He said to the four other people in his room. Kenny, Rei, Max and Hilary tended to venture into his room to hang out, as it was bigger and there were several plugs for Kenny's laptop.
Hilary was the newest member to the Blade Breakers. She didn't blade herself, but she always loved watching Tyson and the others blade with the all of passion they had for the sport. Every time she watched them, her warm, brown eyes twinkled and she cheered and shouted advice for her team. She had played a very important part in the Blade Breaker's winning streak.
"The weather forecaster said there might be a storm." She looked up from watching Kenny working on Tyson's blade. Then suddenly, she glanced around the room, puzzled. "Where's Kai?"
Everyone looked up then. They looked around, realising their sixth member was missing. Again.
Kai was very much a loner. He was forever vanishing without word just to be by himself. The team had gotten used to him not being around. When he was there though, he never spoke, just listened and grunted his disapproval without stating why. He was an amazing blader though.
"Meh. He'll be fine." Shrugged Tyson, flopping onto his bed.
Tyson was arguably the best blader in the team. His bit-beast Dragoon and himself were very attached and battled with great strength. He had an older brother, Hiro, and was undoubtedly the most hyperactive of the team. He was also the one who ate the most, while managing to stay skinny as a twig.
"Hmm. But Hillary as a point. He's been gone for a while now." Rei frowned.
"Don't worry. He'll come back when he's hungry!" Lectured Tyson, rolling forward to watch Kenny work.
"What 'cha doing there Kenny?" He asked, playfully rocking backwards and forwards on his haunches.
Kenny was the brain box of the Blade Breakers. Him and his laptop Dizzy created updates for the blades and worked on new strategies for the team.
"I'm working on a new attack ring for Dragoon. The one you have now lowers your Beyblade's centre of gravity significantly, meaning each time you attack, you spend precious seconds regaining balance."
Tyson stopped rocking and took a moment to think over what Kenny had said. In the end, he shrugged again, falling back onto his pillow with a sigh.
"I'll leave you to it. Just make sure that next time I'm in a battle, Dragoon knocks our competitor right out of the stadium!" He laughed. His belly joined in with a small rumble. "Man, I'm hungry." Tyson moaned.
"We just ate!" Max exclaimed, finally joining in the conversation after carefully rubbing his Beyblade and checking it for scratches and dints. Max and his bit-beast Draciel had secured many wins for the blade breakers.
"I know but I'm still hungry!" Groaned Tyson. Everyone sighed dramatically.
Just then, Kai entered the room, drenched in rain water with his grey and blue hair flattened to his head. His face was blank and expressionless, just like usual. His clothes were soaked too, sticking to his slim frame and emphasizing his muscles.
Rei and Max turned to look at him. Kenny finally took his gaze from his laptop and frowned. Hilary gasped and sent a sympathetic smile his way. Tyson took one look at him and burst into fits of laughter.
"What the hell happened Kai?" Rei asked, standing up. Kai's eyes fell on him, his body didn't flinch as though he was staring him down.
"Take a look outside." He muttered, and opened his door, disappearing inside.
"Woah. What a grouch." Max sniffed.
"He hasn't changed a bit." Rei laughed.
Tyson woke the next morning feeling hungry. The night before, he had almost eaten everything the Hotel had to offer, yet he still wasn't satisfied.
He glanced at his watch which lay on his bedside table and frowned. It was 4.55 in the morning. This was a first for him. Usually he could sleep through an earthquake. Maybe today he was just too hungry to sleep.
Tyson stretched like a cat and yawned. Letting his eyes trace the cracks and bumps on the ceiling, he came out of his daydream with a start, as he heard a gasp come from on of the doors leading to his team mates rooms.
Tyson frowned and looked from door to door, hoping for another sign as to who it was. There was a couple of rustling sounds and creaks of a mattress coming somewhere from the left of him. That meant it was either Kai or Max.
Sneaking up to Max's door, Tyson strained to hear more. The strange sounds continued, but it was obvious that it was not coming from Max's room. Tyson edged over to Kai's door and listened again for confirmation. Sure enough, another gasp sounded from Kai's room.
Tyson opened the door without thinking, suddenly nervous and anxious. Light flooded the small room and Tyson spotted Kai's clothes drying on his radiator. His bag lay discarded on the floor, more clothes spilling over the sides.
On his bed, Kai was thrashing and twitching, hitting out at some invisible target.
"Kai's having a nightmare." Gasped Tyson, quietly. He watched out of curiosity as sweat built up on his forehead and the teenager started yelping as though in pain. With a start, Kai woke up, panting with his brown eyes wide.
As the silhouette in the door way floated into his vision, Kai froze. He immediately noticed the figure's long hair and small shape to be Tyson and his mouth gaped in shock for a while. Tyson was the first to speak.
"Kai? Are you alright?" Tyson asked. Kai said the only thing that came into his head.
"What type of pervert watches people sleep?" He yelled. Tyson stepped back, startled.
"I heard you shout! Were you having a nightmare?"
"What's it to you?" Kai snapped
"Fine!" Tyson sniffed. He flounced out, shutting the door behind him and flopping onto his bed in a huff.
As soon as the door shut, Kai dropped back onto his pillow, breathing hard. His heart thumped in his chest, his eyes were wide and scared. When he had calmed himself, he closed his eyes.
"Nightmare. It was only a nightmare." He tried to convince himself. His body was trembling with the memory of his dream, his face twitching at every sound that wasn't his own breathing. Finally, he was almost himself.
"What the heck happened?" He thought. As soon as he tried to remember though, the vivid images behind his lids vanished, the faces gone, to be replaced by blank memories.
Kai tried to sleep, but after a few minutes of yawning and rolling, he gave in and got to his feet. After having a quick shower and getting dressed, he made his bed and left his room. As it happened, the only way to get outside was through Tyson's room. Kai however knew that Tyson would be asleep in seconds, no matter what the circumstances.
He was right.
"Ahhh!" Tyson sighed, satisfied. Rei, Max, Kenny and Hilary stared, horrified, at Tyson as he finally finished his breakfast.
"You gotta be kidding me." Rei muttered under his breath.
"Nope. Tyson can probably out-eat King Kong." Max smirked.
"Hey! I worked hard yesterday." Complained Tyson.
"If you call hard work doing five press ups and then eating a hot dog." Kenny rolled his eyes.
"Well, maybe." Tyson laughed.
"Right! Back on subject!" Hilary interrupted them.
"Yes. Of course. We really need to discuss with Mr Dickenson about the up coming world tour he wants us to do. Three times world champion has stirred up the fans a little. They can't wait to see you in action!" Kenny turned to Tyson.
"Well, I guess I am pretty awesome." Tyson grinned. "If I were them I'd want to see me too!"
"They don't just want to see you. Kai's got quite a few fans too." Kenny said, glancing round.
There was a silence as everyone looked around.
"Uh..." Moaned Hilary. "He's off again."
"Does anyone know where he might have gone?" Kenny asked urgently. "We really need to talk about his speech with him." Tyson spluttered.
"SPEECH!" the mouthful of coffee he had taken was back in his cup. He started laughing uncontrollably. "Kai? Speech! He doesn't say more than three words to us, never mind his screaming fans!"
"Tyson has a point." Max smiled.
"That's why we need to talk." Kenny didn't laugh.
"If your looking for Kai, try somewhere high up, secluded and probably the last place we'd think to look."
"That's right. Think. What would Kai do?" Tyson joked. Rei thought for a few minutes.
"On top of the Hotel?" Max suggested.
"Hm."
"Now you even sound like Kai!" Tyson, always the joker, pointed out unnecessarily.
"We'll try there first." Rei announced, starting for the door.
"And then what?" Tyson asked. "We jump from building to building until we find him?"
"No, but the Hotel is pretty high. We'd have a good view from there."
All five ambled towards the escalator.
45 minutes later...
"You know, Kai's probably back at the Hotel right now, laughing at us while sipping wine in a hot tub." Tyson complained.
"You're probably right." Agreed Rei. "We should go back. Kai knows we have a meeting with Mr. D soon so he'll turn up right about then."
"Yeah. At the last minute." Grumbled Tyson.
"By the way Kenny, when is that meeting?" Max asked. Kenny consulted is watch. His eyes widened.
"In about ten minutes!" He screeched. They legged it back to the Hotel.
Sure enough, Kai was already there. He seemed a little distracted though, staring absent mindedly into his morning coffee. Mr Dickenson sat opposite, beaming up at his world-champion team.
"Sorry we're late, Mr D!" Kenny quickly sat in a chair next to him, opening his laptop, fingers poised to type.
"Kai! We were looking for you!" Tyson stood, arms folded across his chest. Kai looked up from his coffee.
"Hm?" He asked.
"Arggh!" Tyson sat beside him. "We. Were. Looking. For. You." He said slowly, as though speaking to a foreign student.
"Why?" Kai raised an eyebrow.
"Because that''s what team mates do!" Tyson said.
"You were ten minutes late. I didn't come looking for you and you turned up eventually."
"Kaaaiii!" Tyson yelled.
"Okay boys. Calm it down." Mr D said. "We all know what we're here to discuss, yes?" Mr Dickenson didn't wait for an answer. "Here is a list of the countries you will be performing in." He handed a list to Kenny.
"Wow! London! Madrid! Moscow! Woah!" Kenny repeated. Kai flinched.
"Moscow?" Rei asked, worriedly. He had seen Kai twitch.
"Yes!" Agreed Mr D.
"There's more!" Kenny yelped, turning over the sheet. "There's over 15 countries on this!"
"Read it out Kenny!" Tyson was practically jumping out of his seat.
"I'll read out the countries." He said.
"Argentina, Australia, Belgium, France, Greece, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America!" Kenny finished, taking a massive breath.
"Just how long is this tour?" Rei gawked.
"About a year." Mr D smiled.
"A year!" Hilary squealed.
The whole team jumped up and down. Except Kai of course.
"I knew you'd enjoy it. I'll be sending all the details over to Kenny's laptop soon."
"Thanks Mr D!" Tyson grinned.
Kai got to is feet. He gulped down his coffee, placing it back on the table, and left with a flourish, sending his scarf trailing in the air behind him.
"What's up with him?" Max stopped jumping.
"I don't know! He's been acting strange recently. More secluded and cold than usual." Rei watched as Kai silently disappeared outside.
"I bet he's trying to hide his joy, that old sourpuss." Tyson put his hand on his hips, pouting after Kai.
"Hmm... Maybe..." Rei mumbled.
"Actually... Come to think of it..." Tyson stopped, frowning with thought.
"What?" Everyone was looking at him now.
"Well, last night I heard him having a nightmare. I went to look and he seemed pretty shaken up by it when he woke up."
"Maybe he's worried about the tour?" Max suggested.
"No it's not that. It's more than that. He looked terrified."
"Woah. It must be bad."
"What about Russia? Returning to his home at the Abbey might bring back bad memories." Rei said.
"That sounds about right." Tyson nodded. "It's hard to imagine someone like Kai being scared." Everyone agreed solemnly.
Meanwhile, outside on the top of the Hotel, Kai lay watching the clouds. He took a deep breath, trying to forget all that had happened. All the strange things that had occurred this past week. All pointing to one thing.
Kai didn't believe in destiny. He wasn't superstitious. He thought that you yourself decided your own future. There was no such thing as fate.
However, his views this past week had been clouded with doubt.
First, there were the dreams. He was constantly being awoken by his own nightmares, but when he tried to remember them, they vanished like dust blown from a windowsill. Then there was that fortune teller in the street. She had immediately stopped what she was doing when she saw him and come over, eyes wide.
She told him to 'beware his past, prepare for his future and watch out in the present. He would be in big trouble soon. Nightmares would become real, past would become present, his mind would be taken over by emotion.' Kai had passed it off as some more superstitious nonsense and ignored her. Until the third thing.
Everywhere he went, he saw Tala. In shop windows, in the middle of crowds, everywhere. Tala wasn't actually there though, it was all in his mind. That's what made it so scary. He found himself anxiously glancing around everywhere he went. Watch out in the present.
And of all the places in the world to go on a tour, of all the places in Russia, they were going to Moscow. To the exact place he had grown up. The same place he had been taken over by Black Dranzer, so much that he had forgotten the original Dranzer. His Dranzer. Beware your past.
Also, Kai had been told to write a speech to say in front of his fans. He had no idea what he would say, in fact, he wasn't used to saying much. He wasn't used to long conversations. It would take a lot of thought and preparation. Prepare for the future.
What was up with him? Why couldn't he concentrate properly? Why did that stupid fortune teller keep plaguing his mind? Kai got up and moved to the edge of the building. He looked down at the cars driving about like robotic ants below him. He stepped closer to the edge...
"Kai! NO!" Tyson appeared out of nowhere, darting towards Kai. Kai turned around in shock and lost his balance. His foot scraped the edge of the Hotel and landed in the guttering. The gutter itself creaked and folded under the pressure. With a crash, it snapped in two, sending Kai tumbling towards earth.
"Gottcha!" Tyson's hand slipped into Kai's own. He lay on the Hotel for a moment panting. Then, he put out his other hand for Kai to grab.
"You idiot! What did you think you were doing?" Kai yelled, his feet flailing for some kind of grip.
"WHAT? ME? What were you doing? I didn't realise you felt so bad to commit suicide!" Tyson shouted back.
"I wasn't you twat! I was just looking over the edge! You were the one that nearly sent me to my grave!"
"And then saved you from it..." Mumbled Tyson. "Jeez, it's so hard to be the hero these days."
"Well, lift me up then! I'm not exactly in the position to do that myself." Kai grumbled.
Tyson started grunting as he tried to lift Kai up. He gasped, trying to get some air to his lungs. Finally, he stopped and panted, resting on the edge of the Hotel.
"Come on!"
"I can't! You're too heavy!"
"Me? With all you ate yesterday you should have enough energy to lift this entire Hotel up!"
"You need to go on a diet."
"If I need to go on a diet, so do you."
"I don't need a diet. Look at these muscles!"
"Muscles come and go. Flab lasts. You eat too much. FACE IT!"
"I'm a growing boy!"
"You're the same size as me."
"You're taller."
"Not by much!"
The two were interrupted by a gust of wind that nearly tore Kai from Tyson and would have sent him to an early grave. Tyson was put of balance though and slipped further over the edge.
"Hurry up! If you haven't noticed, I'm hanging off the edge of a Hotel, seconds from death!"
"We need a plan."
"Then get on with it, Batman!"
"Okay. Do you trust me?"
"This isn't one of your stupid romance films! Do something!"
"Do you trust me?" Tyson shouted as the wind started up again. Kai looked up into Tyson's eyes. He thought about it.
"Yes." He whispered. "Yes!" he said louder. "YES! Do what you have to!" Tyson grinned.
"Then let it rip." He said, letting go of Kai's hands.
