Warnings: Some language and violence. Implied yaoi -warning. Don't like, don't read.
Author: Brooklyn Peayl
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade. I do own the OC's. I have no intention of making a prophet of this, I write for the soul purpose of writing alone.
Summary: What happens when Mr. Dickenson brings the Bladebreakers a new captain and Kai has to step down? And, what if this new captain is a girl who Kai knows from the Abbey?
Side note: I have altered some things so they will flow better. Including the characters in the team--meaning, I have added an extra member to it instead of Hilary. Sorry, Hilary fans, but she annoys me :)
RAY'S POV.
"Driger!"
The white tiger hit the ground hard, rolling onto its side before giving off a growl and returning to it's feet.
"You're slowing down, Ray, concentrate." Our captain folded his arms where he stood, glowering in my direction. "You keep evading to the right. Vary your moves so Tyson can't read them."
"I know, I know," I growled, narrowing my eyes at the blunette who was laughing hysterically as his dragon bitbeast let out a roar before charging at Driger. "Driger, Tiger Claw Attack!" My voice was raspy and I was tired, this being our third hour bey battling without rest, so it was difficult for me to hold my concentration longer than a few minuets. The tiger complied, letting out an ear-drum shattering roar. Tyson flinched at the sound, as did the glowing dragon above his blade, but our captain was unfazed.
I guess you deserve to know what's going on, exactly. Well, the tournament is over and Tyson was named the best blader in the world, meaning we are now constantly bombarded by people challenging the blunette. Some have come close to beating him, but no one has yet. Excluding, of course, our captain. In the rare event Kai picks up his blade to beat us into training, Tyson has yet to victor against the crimson eyed blader. I, on the other had, haven't battled Tyson up until now. Max and I were usually paired up, but he recently had to go back to America to help his mother and to train with the All Starz. When I say recently, I mean we came back from dropping him off at the airport less than four hours ago and Kai already has us sweating our skins off.
Also recently, we received a new blader. She's a tan-skinned, black-haired, ball-busting blader who is almost always challenging our captain to battles. Don't get me wrong, she's got spirit and is funny, and she is an amazing blader, but she wouldn't last a second against the cold Russian who is currently instructing Tyson into beating me into the ground. Kai has yet to accept a beybattle from her, but she's not letting up, convinced she can win.
We are still in Japan, more specifically, Tyson's dojo. We actually all live here. Tyson and Max share a room, and Kai and I share the other. Tati has her own room on the top floor, being the only girl, but now that Max is in America, Kai kicked me out so now I live with Tyson. Papa G is renovating, adding another room so that when Max comes back, Kai will still have his own room and I can move into the new one. Living with Tyson is a feat only Max can handle in access. Me, I like being able to see the floor.
Getting back to the present, Kai has pitted Tyson against me to help me with my evasive skills. That may sound cowardice, but sometimes the best strategy is to run, and Kai makes us perfect everything. Even coward-um.
"You guys, lunch is ready!" The short, black-haired girl dashed across the backyard, waving her arm energetically. "Come and get it!" She stopped at the pit's edge and smiled. "Who's winning?"
"Tyson." I growled after instructing Driger to move. The white tiger obeyed, but the dragon followed, ramming into him and throwing him against the edge of the dish. "Driger!"
"That's enough for now." Kai turned, making his way to the dojo where steaming food sat in the open.
The aroma caught the blunette who was pocketing his launcher and made a noise. "Mmm, smells good." He smiled and grabbed Dragoon before running past the captain into the dojo where he immediately began filling a plate.
"Why are you letting him win all the time?" I looked up from where I was picking Driger off the ground and pocketed both him and the launcher. Tati was crouching beside me, half smiling. "You're better than him, why do you let him win?"
"I was working on defense today, so my intent wasn't to win. Plus, this was the first time I've faced him in a while. He's improved." I said, standing and offering her a hand. She smiled and took it as I pulled her to her feet as well.
"So have you. From what I read, your levels were a lot lower than they are now, according to Kenny's data." She shrugged her thin shoulders, before pulling me to the dojo by my wrists. "Come on, let's eat before Tyson inhales it all."
I laughed and let her pull me, not minding her touch in the least. I know what you're thinking, and yes. I do have the world's biggest crush on her. But why wouldn't I? She's everything anyone would look for in a girl. She's caring and nice, warm, an amazing blader and an even more amazing cook. Which is why I let her take over my usual habit of cooking the meals. Hers always taste better, but I don't mind. Not to mention she's drop-dead gorgeous. Big brown eyes, that would be plain on anyone else, are anything but ordinary on her and her bronze skin is something to be envied by any other girl who happens to pass her.
We sat down and I looked to Tyson, who was already on fourth-sies, inhaling his food, just as Tati predicted. Kai sat at the opposite end, silently chewing, reading a book he sat beside his half-full plate. With a quick glance at the text, I came to the inevitable conclusion the piece was in Russian. Tati sank beside me and began filling a plate with whatever Tyson hadn't consumed yet. I followed her lead and picked a few select things out of the rapidly depleting mound of food.
By the time lunch was over, Tyson had managed to finish everything we couldn't and was in writhing pain as a result. As much as a good person I try to be, I smile inwardly at his body's reaction to the massive amount of sustenance he consumed in such a short block of time. Don't you just love irony?
His moans of pain were interrupted by a certain short genius with glasses bigger than he was. Kenny ran into the room, waving a closed cell phone.
"Hey, Chief, where've you been?" I asked, smiling at both his presence, the Chief always managed to make me laugh, and his actions.
"On the phone," he pointed unnecessarily at the device in his hands. "Mr. Dickenson said that we're getting another new member."
"When?" Kai never really was known for beating around the beydish.
"Tomorrow. He said she'll arrive at five tomorrow." Kenny had obviously ran here because he was breathless.
"In the afternoon? That gives us plenty of time to clean up a bit. Wouldn't want to scare her off with Tyson's messes." Papa G smiled from the doorway, sporting a pair of too-tight leather pants and a black shirt with a heavy-metal band logo on the front.
"And if that doesn't work, your fashion sense will do the trick." Tati smiled when Papa G scoffed.
"No," Kenny whined and shook his head, "Five in the morning."
The room fell silent as everyone took in the sad news. Five? In the morning? That was treason. Cruel and unusual punishment. I refuse to become subject to such ill treatment! And another thing--
"Ray and myself will go greet her." Kai crossed his arms after placing a playing card in his place in the book, "Tyson, Tati, and Papa G will clean."
"Why do I have to go?" I complained, pouting and shaking my head.
"Fine. Tati, how about you?" Kai sighed, obviously in no mood to be negotiating.
"Sure!" Tati smiled, happy to be acknowledged. He nodded, then stood, leaving the room in silence.
I glanced to Tati, who was gathering plates from the table to begin washing them. "You can get up at five?" I asked, disbelief saturating my tone.
"If I go to sleep early." She beamed then pointed to my plate. "You done?"
"Yeah," I picked up my plate and moved to the sink to aid in the dangerous and terrifying task of washing dishes. They were all worn and old, so some had jagged edges. I should know. Some time ago, I managed to cripple my left hand on a cup. It was funny until a certain ass-hole-ish captain found out about it. The it was hell on Earth. For me, of course. Kai was enjoying every moment of it.
"Thanks," She smiled, moving to open the dishwasher and began loading the dishes I handed her.
Tyson came bounding into the room to my surprise. I wasn't even aware he had left. I must be getting sick. "Ray! Ray! Kai gave us the rest of the day off to clean!" I don't see how this is good news. I despise cleaning. Don't get me wrong, I like having clean things, but I hate cleaning. But beggars can't be choosers, now, can they?
"Oh, goody." I mumbled and Tati giggled.
"I'll finish up here, you go help Tyson." She smiled, butting me out of the way of the sink with her hip. I pretended to be offended and gasped at her. She smiled and pointed to Tyson. "Go, before Kai comes back and changes his mind."
I sighed and nodded, "Yeah, fine." Tyson bounded out of the room, almost humming Why was he so happy? Last I recalled, he hated cleaning even more than I did. And if you don't believe me, let me show you hi-- ...our room sometime. Leading the way up the stairs to the level with the bedrooms, Tyson skipped into our room and stopped in the doorway. "What's wrong?" I blinked when I reached him who had yet to move.
"Cleaning..." Ahh, so it hadn't sunk in yet. Maybe this would be fun after all.
"Now, that's no way to look at it." I smiled encouragingly. "How about this, when I finish my half, I'll help you with yours." My offer was too good to resist to him when he nodded.
We cleaned quickly, prattling about irrelevant things that helped make the task a little less painful. With our combined efforts, we managed to leave the room immaculately clean. Proud of our accomplishments, we high-fived and shared a once over of our teamwork. Sometimes it was easy to like Tyson.
The knock on our door frame made both of us jump and turn to face a red-head we knew all too well. Tyson growled, but I smiled. "Tala," We chorused, my voice holding a little more enthusiasm than Tysons. Alright, so my voice held all the enthusiasm, but I missed him. Ever since the tournament ended, I haven't talked to him and we had gotten pretty close. Not anywhere near as close as him and Kai, but closer than anyone else in existence. He'd even admitted to preferring me over Bryan, Ian and Spencer.
"Hey Kitty!" He exclaimed when he took me in. Meeting me halfway, we hugged tightly before beginning our usual hour-long catching up.
We all ended up on the foot of Tyson's and my bed, Tala, sitting cross-legged, and me, laying on my stomach, on my bed, Tyson pouting on his.
"So, I heard you're getting another new member," Tala said smoothly, tugging on my braid.
"Yeah, I don't really know anything other than they're a girl." I admitted, pulling my hair away from him so he couldn't continue his game of trying to dislocate my hair from the rest of me.
"Hn, maybe Tati will be more comfortable then. Maybe that's the reason you're getting another new member!" The red head hypothesized energetically.
"I hope she's at least cute." Tyson grumbled, but fell silent under the redhead's scrutinizing ice-blue eyes. They seemed to bore into the poor lad until Tala chuckled.
"It's not like you'd get any either way." He concluded, turning back to watch me.
Another knock turned all our attention to the doorway again. Kai stood, arms crossed, watching us. "Lights out. We have an early morning tomorrow."
Tala nodded then stood. "See you all at four."
"Five," Tyson corrected.
"No, four." Kai interjected, ending the conversation. I had to force a cough to stifle my laugh.
"Night Tala, Kai," I smiled before getting up to flick the lights off.
"Sleep well, Kitty." Tala smirked before closing the door. Then it sunk in.
Four...
...In the morning.
Curse the sun. Curse the morning. Curse everything. Especially Tala.
I was woken by the fiery headed teen shaking me at three in the morning. Not four. Three. As in, AM. The world was still cold as the seasons nose-dived into Autumn and colors began to bland together. But of course, the weather did not affect the teen. No, he was used to it. Why? Because he grew up in bloody Russia. Me? I grew up in China. It was nice and warm in china. Snow was never too terribly heavy and the falls weren't quite as distinct. But, Japan, being an island and surrounded by water, is cold. Not as cold as Russia, but definitely colder than China. But here's what happened, despite the time:
"Ray," he whispered in the darkness, refusing to stop shaking me. I mumbled in response, batting him away, but then I hit the floor. Well, let me clarify. He was batted away, as stated, then he--Gods know how or where he got the energy to--pushed me out of my nice warm, soft, comfortable onto the cold, hard, did I mention cold or hard floor? "Come on, Ray. Would you rather Kai came in to get you?" He had a point.
Sighing, I sat up on the floor and pulled the blanket around me. A quick glance at the clock told me it was three. And so we've come full circle.
"Why three? I thought we agreed on five." I rubbed the remaining sleep out of my eyes before yawning widely.
"Four." Tala corrected in a whisper. "But, I was thinking you'd want to come with to the airport, even though Kai said you didn't." He smiled mockingly, "But then again, he did say if either us got you up, you could come to avoid cleaning. We all know how much you hate cleaning."
"Yes, but I hate mornings more."
"Technically, it's not morning, it's still night...ish."
I rolled my eyes at him, then looked around the room when I noticed he was still whispering. When I saw the sleeping mass in the bed near mine, I glared at the red head and hissed. "Why does he get to sleep in?!"
"Keep your voice down, Kitty." He smiled, standing and holding a hand out to me. "I'm willing to bet that if Tyson came with, he wouldn't be coming back. And you wouldn't want poor old Kai to have the death of his teammate on his conscience, now would you?"
"He wouldn't care either way," I muttered, taking the pale hand that was offered. The voice beside me laughed then nodded.
"Yes, I suppose you're right." He walked away, pausing at the door to motion for me to follow. Still drowsy, it took me a second to catch on. When I did, I advanced towards the other, closing the door softly behind me. As we made our way down the stairs, I spotted two other figures standing by the door.
The first that caught my eye was Kai. He was leaning against the wall with his arms folded. Garbed in a black sleeveless shirt and dark blue jeans, his face painted as always, he acknowledged us by grunting. "About time." His two-toned hair was pulled back and tied at the nape of his neck, even though his hair wasn't really that long. Still, his face managed to still be framed by the lighter of the two blues.
The second who caught my eye was, of course, Tati. She had a pale blue kimono top on, two buttons on the left side of her waist held the right side of the top to her thin figure, and tight black shorts that came to just above her knees. Below the plain black was gray legwarmers dangling under her knees before billowing over the black converse she wore. Her hair was lose and bangs covered her forehead and eyebrows, slightly obscuring her sight, but she seemed content brushing them away when needed. "Ready? Tala said you'd be coming with."
Me, I was still in my pajamas, but I really didn't care. If I may say so, I looked good in them. They were loose, white and very warm. My top was plain white as were my pants, but, unlike the pants which hung loose, the shirt fit me snuggly in all the right places while long thin sleeves cascaded down my arms.
Passing the piano in the TV and music room, which was where the stairs dropped you off on the ground floor, I grabbed my shoes by the door and pulled them onto my feet. "Yeah, yeah." I muttered, rubbing at my eye again.
"Let's go!" Tala said energetically and Tati responded by taking his hands and proceeding to jump up and down with him. Gods, where the hell'd they get the energy? Kai simply grunted again and turned to open the door. Tala and Tati raced each other to the limo. It wasn't really a limo, more like a long car, but it was comfortable and roomy and had it's own driver. The man behind the wheel insisted on driving us wherever we needed to go at any given moment. Such a nice man, he is.
I was the last to the car because I was the most asleep. Tati and Tala sat across from each other, prattling on about the airport, as Kai slid in beside Tala. I took the door seat, meaning I faced them all, and rested my head in my hands when the engine revved.
"Are you feeling alright, Ray?" I looked up to see the three of them staring at me with curious eyes. I flushed and nodded, sitting up as straight as my spine would allow and smiled, rubbing at my cheek to hide the red. Of course, I only made it worse.
"I'm feeling fine, just tired," I laughed at my own stupidity, but the crimson eyes looked away as the ice and brown soon looked back to each other to continue their gushing. The nightlife flew by in a haze as I battled sleep. I ultimately won, but that's only because Tala offered me an iced coffee which I over willingly accepted. Once I had the caffeine flowing freely, I joined in the conversation between the Russian and Tati, though I had no idea what we were talking about. I don't think they had much of a clue either because the subject kept changing after a fit of giggles. Kai was being his cold-shouldered self and rolled his eyes at our drunken fun.
"Here we are," The driver announced happily, watching us in the rear-view mirror. For some reason, I found myself sitting next to Tati instead of in my original seat. I guess that's what I get for drinking so much caffeine. The three of us chorused a 'thank you' and Kai nodded, pushing the door open and stepping into the chilly morning. Before I got out, I glanced at the clock which read four.
"We're an hour early," I noted, following our captain into the darkness with Tati behind me, Tala behind her.
"I know," Kai said, making his way into the bright airport. "Her plane landed early, apparently."
Glass panels surrounded the pick-up area, which is where we had been dropped off. Our party ventured into the building, Tala and Tati giggling when people passed by. The strangers must have thought the duo was high or something. We walked the wide corridors that were space with people. Obviously sane people knew the hour. Key word: sane. We ended up at the farthest baggage claim from the entrance just as the luggage began spinning on the devious looking mechanism.
"Mr. Dickenson!" Tati called, racing over to the man waving. I was betting with myself that her arm would fall out.
"Hello, Tati!" The man smiled and waved back. Beside him stood a girl in a hat, her back to us, facing the claim. When the three of us reached Tati and Mr. D, I thought I saw Kai and Tala stiffen. When the girl turned her eyes to us, my sharp sight caught them in the act. These three had obviously met before. And I was guessing that wasn't a good thing, gauging the blunette and redhead's reaction.
"Bladebreakers and company," Mr. Dickenson smiled at Tala, "This is Caliban. Caliban, this is your new team." She turned to face them fully, taking in all four of our faces. "This is Tati Jedel," He began to introduce us individually, "She just recently joined, having little prior experience. Ray Kon, living in China for years before joining the team, plenty of experience," He pointed to me then moved his eyes to Tala.
"Kai Hiwatari, ex-Capitan of the Bladebreakers, supposed best in all of Japan." Her silver eyes shifted to the other, "Tala Ivanov, captain of the Demolition Boys, supposed best in all of Russia." Her Japanese was meticulous and perfect, but she had an unidentifiable accent. Both teens' eyes narrowed at the girl as she stared indifferently at them.
Then something clicked.
"Ex-Capitan?" I blinked, looking to Kai who didn't shift an inch.
"Yes, about that," Mr. Dickenson began, clearing his throat, "Kai, Caliban has come to not only train the Bladebreakers, but to train you as well. She is now the captain, but you will still remain a valued member."
"What?" Tati and I gasped, I almost stumbled, but my catlike reflexes caught me.
"Yes, Caliban is now your captain. Isn't this nice? You'll all get along so well." Mr. D seemed overjoyed at this.
"Why is she now captain?" Kai suddenly demanded, stepping forward.
"Well, uhm," Mr. Dickenson began, but was cut off by the silver-eyed girl.
"Because the teams are getting stronger rapidly and my ability level has surpassed yours. Mr. Dickenson has made it clear that you are highly skilled, but I have yet to see you recently in action, so I highly doubt that you are as good as he praises."
Kai snorted. "You honestly believe you've become better than me?" Tala nodded at this, but didn't seem to take on the same reaction to her as Kai had. Kai was taking the defensive against her, snapping at this strange girl, but Tala seemed stuck in awe, unable to form a proper sentence.
"We will just have to see." Mr. Dickenson said, stepping between the two, "I had a feeling this would happen, so I've come to a compromise. When you all reach the dojo, you will have a match and whoever wins is the new or remains captain. Sound good?"
Kai narrowed his eyes, but they remained fixed on Caliban. But she seemed uninterested. "I wish you all the luck, Hiwatari." I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or serious. Turning to face Tala, her lips twitched, forming a soft smile, but it vanished soon as she turned to face the rest of us. "Tati Jedel, Ray Kon," She tilted her head, analyzing us, but saying nothing more.
Mr. Dickenson shooed us back out to the limo, er, car. Kai was still seething, giving the silver eyed girl glares that could send any other person running for the hills. She didn't seem phased. She was the last to enter the car and picked the door seat that I had previously occupied. The sun still refused to light the world, so the cabin was dark once the overhead light dimmed then went out once all doors were closed. The hour long ride seemed endless, but I think I was the only one suffering. Why? Because I was waiting for someone to say something, like the ride here, but it was silent. Tala was staring at the floor, Kai was watching the red head with protective eyes, Tati and I constantly gave each other worried looks and Caliban simply stared out the window she was sitting in front of. She didn't seem to mind that whenever the pair of crimson eyes looked away from the red head, they narrowed at her, either that, or she didn't see.
When the car finally pulled to a stop before the dojo, Kai pushed the opposite door open and grumbled for us to hurry out. Caliban opened her door, stepping out gracefully in the eyesight-blurring dark. You'd think I'd have the least trouble, being neko-jin and all, but apparently, the strange girl seemed to beat me with effortless ease.
Tati stepped up beside her and smiled warmly. "You'll be sharing a room with me, I'll show you to it."
At first, she didn't respond, she simply stared at Tati like she had six heads. Then, in an odd reaction, she angled her elbow to Tati and the bronze skinned girl looked like she was about to squeal with delight. She hooked her arm with the pale one, paler than both Kai and Tala, but Caliban's face didn't change. She didn't smile or frown, simply stared. It was unnerving. I shudder to think of what the full intensity of the silver eyes that I only got a glimpse of was capable of. Her eyes were even more unnerving than her stares. I had never seen silver eyes before. Gray and black, but never silver.
Behind me, Tala seemed to be attached to Kai, whose face was pulled into an angry expression, but eye no longer glaring. I was behind the two girls, so I paused to let the two catch up to me. When they reached my side, Tala gave me a pleading look and Kai nodded once. I had no idea what that was about, but as he advanced, Tala paused to stay by me, so I slung my arm around his shoulder and let him lean into me. Kai, with Tala no longer latched onto him, seemed to speed up his pace to stay close behind the girls.
A/N: Oh. My. God. Each other should from now on be one goddamn word. I completely forgot how much of a dumbass I am and decided to type chapters 1-4 in word pad. Never. Again. I also forgot what a horrible speller I am. I'm pretty sure I set a record.
R&R please, make my day 3