A/N and such:
Lemon Fluff: I get to say the disclaimer. No, wait, that's a bad thing, isn't it? T_T;; Anyway… we don't own Beyblade. (Or Seto Kaiba… T_T;; Yes, that's irrelevant. ^^; )
kawaiikaichan: My sister here, is making me type from kneeling on the floor –
LF: HAHAHAHAHAHAH—
KKC: because she won't get her fat butt off the chair. XP Yah, and anyway, she has no interest in Beyblade whatsoever, and yeah. This is HER chapter to type, so expect everything to be messed up. And yeah. I'll be editing, so WORRY. XD
LF: … sh'up. _o;;;
Moral of the dialogue:
1) We do not own Beyblade. 2) Little sisters are brats.KKC: I'm not a brat.. you're CORRUPTED! XP
LF: Yes, you are a brat, and… as for that comment 'bout me… proud of it! XD;;;
Surviving Untrodden Paths
Chapter 1; Inanimate Objects R Us!
Kenny stared blankly at his laptop's blank screen. Dizzi had decided that she'd take a break several hours ago and had put herself on Sleep, as she'd just recovered from a virus that an unknowing Tyson had managed to download onto her when he'd accidentally disabled the virus scanner. The bit beast hadn't made a single sound since then, and Kenny didn't want to wake her. He knew she'd wake up in good time, and besides, she deserved a rest. It had only been last week when the two of them had pulled numerous all-nighters to prepare themselves for the Canadian tournament…
He glanced at the window, blinds closed because Tyson hated to wake up in the morning and the rest of them didn't appreciate being greeted by the overly brilliant morning sunlight streaming through the glass. Sure, it happened a lot in the novels that Kenny read when he had the time, but he and the others knew from experience that it wasn't as pleasant as some authors made it out to be.
There was a knock on the door. Kenny checked his watch- it was only 6 in the morning… who would come calling this early? The visitor knocked again, and again, more insistently each time before it finally registered in Kenny's sleep-deprived brain that he should get up to answer it before Kai awoke and was grumpier than usual for the rest of the day…
"Coming, coming!" the Chief muttered, making his way to the door, not bothering to peek out the spyhole of their hotel room before pulling it open. "Mr. Dickenson! You're up early."
"Yes, well, just out for my morning jog," he explained, motioning to his Grandpa-like attire and adjusting his glasses. "I'm terribly sorry I had to disturb you so early, but I was alerted of a carnival that just set up last night, and I thought the five of you would be interested. You deserve a break, after winning the Canadian tournament, after all."
"This couldn't have waited?" Kenny asked dubiously turning for a moment to peer into the room. "Everyone's still asleep."
"Ah, well, yes, I suppose it could've, but I figured you'd appreciate knowing as soon as possible so that you don't plan something else for today. It's your last day in Canada, so I figured you should enjoy it as best you can. Here's a map- discuss it with the other boys when they awake, will you?"
"Sure," the boy nodded, a yawn escaping his lips.
"And get some sleep, Kenny," their white-haired benefactor advised. "No one can go without sleep for as long as you have without having their health deteriorate."
"Yes, sir," Kenny promised, nodding a goodbye to the older male and closing the door. He walked over to the table in the middle of the suite and placed the map and tickets on the unmarred wooden surface, checking on Dizzi along the way. She was still asleep.
"Guess I should get to bed too," he yawned. "Good night, Dizzi."
She mumbled something indiscernible that Kenny took as 'good night, Kenny'. He closed her up and moved into the room the five boys shared, taking his rarely used space beside Kai and snuggling under the covers. His eyes closed and he fell immediately into a deep sleep, his body making up for all of the rest that the hardworking boy had denied it.
---
"CAAAAARRRNIIIVALLL!!!!!" Tyson screeched, bouncing about the hotel room. "Let's go let's go let's goo! There'll be food and games and food and food and yum!"
"Tyson," Ray admonished,"quiet down, or you'll wake Kennythe Chief up."
"Hn," Kai rolled his eyes. "He's already awake."
"It sounds fun!" Max said brightly. "Don't you think so, Chief?"
"Unn… what..?" Kenny yawned, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. "What… what time is it?"
"1:30 in the afternoon," Max responded. "Why?"
"Ahh! I overslept!" Kenny exclaimed, falling out of bed in his haste to rise. "Why didn't you wake me up? I was supposed to tell you about the carnival that's being held—"
"Already discovered it, Chief," Tyson grinned, waving the tickets around. "We've decided that we're going to go! Woo hoo! Carnival, here we come!" He punched the air with a fist eagerly, turning towards the door.
"Wait! I haven't eaten yet-"
"We can eat there, Chief!" the energetic boy insisted, dragging his longtime friend out of bed. "Come oonn, we've got no time to lose!"
"Can I brush my teeth, at least?" Kenny groaned.
"Yeah, can he?" Max put in, holding his nose and swooning dramatically. "I can smell his morning breath from here!"
"Max!"
"Just joking, Chief!" Max smiled playfully.
"Go clean up, Kenny," Kai commanded gruffly. "Stop wasting time bickering."
"Oooh, it looks like someone is eager to go to the carnival," Tyson grinned. "I knew even you couldn't resist a carnival! Yaaay, CAR-NIII-VAAAAALL!"
"Hn," said Kai.
---
"Tyson, are you sure you know where you're going?" Kenny spoke up hesitantly, after two solid hours of running and not getting anywhere. "This rock looks familiar."
"Of course I know where I'm going!" Tyson reassured him. "Look, this forest is right on the map! It's between the Scenic Views Resort that we were just at and the place marked for the carnival, see?"
"I guess so," Kenny said doubtfully. "But-"
"Don't worry, I'll find my way! I always do," Tyson boasted. "Trust me!"
"It always makes me nervous when he says that," Ray commented.
"Oh, come on, you guys…"
Seven hours and four hundred fifty-two reassurances later, the Bladebreakers were in the same place that they had been when they first entered the forest in pursuit of Tyson.
"So much for your shortcut, Tyson," Kenny sighed. "Now we not only wasted the entire day running in circles in a forest, but we're utterly lost and the sun has already set! What are we going to do now, Tyson?" the diminuitive boy demanded, seizing his plump, navy-haired teammate and shaking him vigourously. "What ARE WE GOING TO DO?!"
"Calm down now, guys," Ray said placidly, prying Kenny's hands from the shaken Tyson's motionless almost-corpse. "We'll find a place to stay overnight and we'll deal with this in the morning. You guys stay here, Kai and I will go off to find some shelter.."
"Can I help?" Max asked.
"You can help keep these guys from shaking each other senseless and falling into a giant pit in the dark," Kai suggested sarcastically.
"They just might need it," the braided boy laughed, lightening the mood, and dragged Kai off.
"So," Kenny said despairingly, looking at his sleeping laptop and then up at the sky. "What do we do now?"
---
"I think we passed a hut earlier on, during our fifty-ninth pass through here," Ray remembered, parting branches randomly and peering in different directions.
He didn't receive any response.
"It was kind of small, and we were running after Tyson at the time, so maybe my eyes were just playing tricks on me, but that usually doesn't happen," he added, talking partially to update Kai but also to alleviate the silence.
Ray frowned at a particularly thick clump of vegetation and tugged at some of the more prominent growths before speaking again. "Did you see anything, Kai?"
Again, no response.
"Well, I'm sure that I saw something," he shrugged, unfazed by his teammate's usual lack of response. Kai had already spoken more than normal today. "I think it was this way… I recognize this tree, because the blossoms stemming from it are so different from the other ones I've seen." He moved towards the unusual tree, careful to avoid tripping on the many dead branches and critters moving about on the forest floor. The boy looked at the oddly well-trodden path to the left of his current position, and his eyes followed the footpath to the small cottage he'd seen earlier.
"Kai! I found it," Ray announced. "We can go back to the others now." He turned around. Kai wasn't there. "Kai?"
"I'm right here," the familiar voice murmured behind him.
Ray nearly jumped out of his clothing, and told Kai so. "Why'd you do that?"
Kai just shrugged, smirking faintly. "I brought the others."
"That was fast," Ray commented.
The stoic boy shrugged again. "I found the cottage some time ago. I just didn't say anything to you when I left to get the idiots."
"Hey, who do you think you're calling an idiot?" Tyson yelled. "I'm NOT an idiot, and Kenny and Max certainly aren't either!"
"Yeah, Kai, that wasn't very nice," Kenny scolded.
"Hn," said Kai.
"Aw, I'm sure Kai was just kidding with us," Max smiled, slapping Kai's back. "He's just got an odd sense of humour."
"Hn," said Kai.
"Uh, guys?" Ray prompted. "It's dark. Maybe we should go see if those people will take us in."
Tyson took one look at the hut and shivered. "It doesn't look good to me. Looks like a witches' hut."
"Like the ones you see in fairy tales where they turn you into frogs," Max agreed.
"I don't like the looks of it either…" Kenny said uneasily.
"We don't have a choice," Kai snapped. "We wouldn't be in this situation if TysonTyson hadn't decided that he was omniscient and led us into this forest."
Ray sighed. "It can't be that bad. I'm sure it's just the dark making you imagine things. Come on."
The five boys paused, frowns on the faces of some, glares on the faces of others. Finally, Tyson spoke. "All right, I guess. Let's go."
Ray led the way, ducking under the branch as they proceeded single-file through the brush. "Be careful," he warned. "This trail has been used often but there are still roots sticking out of the ground that could-"
THUMP.
"Oww," Tyson groaned, sprawled out on the ground over a protruding rootlet. "Why didn't anyone say anything about these things…?"
"…trip you," Ray finished, shaking his head. "Are you all right, Tyson?"
"No," Tyson shook his head, the corners of his downturned mouth twitching. "I think my ankle's twisted… you'll have to carry me the rest of the way, Ray…"
"Idiot," Kai muttered, hauling Tyson up by the arm and towing him to the entrance of the forest home. "Ray's not going to carry you anywhere… especially when you can walk perfectly."
"Geez, I was just joking," Tyson yelled defensively, jerking his arm out of Kai's grasp. "What's your problem? Why are you so concerned with Ray all of a sudden?!"
"…" Kai just glared, not dignifying the question with a spoken response.
"Guys… we want to make a good impression on these people," Ray said rationally. "We don't want them to think that we're a bunch of troublemakers, remember?"
"…"
"Yeah, you're right," Tyson grinned. "But Kai sure goes grab hard…" He frowned and rubbed his arm. "I think I'll be sore in the morning."
Max smiled good-naturedly. "Now that we're all presentable…" He walked forward and knocked on the door. There was no response. He knocked again. Max blinked. "I guess there's no one home."
"I don't think anyone's been home in a while," Tyson noticed. "I know the path's all used and everything, but look inside. It's all dusty and stuff. And look at the door- it's all rottish."
"'Rottish'?" Kenny raised an eyebrow. "I know what you're getting at, Tyson, and I don't think we should. It's not our house. How would you feel if some strangers randomly came into your house when you weren't home?"
"We're not going to eat anything," Tyson said. "I mean, I'm really hungry and stuff, but we're just going to sleep."
"I'd give a stranger shelter if they needed it," Max offered. "And we'll be on our best behaviour, Chief. No fighting or eating or anything," he added, winking.
"No!" Kenny protested. "We'd be TRESPASSING! I don't want to break the law! Why can't we just build a shelter?"
"Need I remind you what happened the last time we tried that?" Max poked him. "Tyson destroyed it with all his twisting and turning and we woke up buried under an incredibly heavy pile of branches."
"So what's to stop him from doing the same to this house?" the Chief shouted hysterically. "Then we'd be in even more trouble!"
Ray smiled faintly. "Tyson's right, though. It looks like no one's been here for ages. I'm sure they won't mind if we borrow their quarters for a bit. I doubt they'll mind if we just sleep on the floor."
"Ray! Not you too!" Kenny wailed. He turned to Kai, the ever-rational one. "Please, Kai, don't tell me you agree!"
Kai looked impassively at the cottage, at the other Bladebreakers, then at Kenny. "It's going to rain soon."
"How can you tell?" Tyson demanded, just as thunder cracked in the sky.
Kai shrugged.
"Inside we go!" Tyson declared, grabbing Max's hand and dragging him inside. Ray and Kai followed.
"You guys! No…" Kenny's shoulders slumped in defeat, and he followed them inside.
"Look on the bright side, Chief," Max said, pulling away from Tyson and patting Kenny on the back. "At least now we get shelter from the pouring rain-" he motioned out the dirty window to the visible and easily audible raindrops crashing to the ground with the force of miniature bombs- "and besides, they'd have locked up if they didn't want anyone to come inside, right?"
"What if the lock just rotted away?" Kenny moaned. "If they catch us, we'll be arrested!"
"Don't be such a worrywart, Chief," Tyson laughed, joining and poking the two boys. "They won't arrest us! In fact, they'll probably be honoured that they're hosting the beyblade world champs!"
"We're not world champs yet," Max reminded him. "We've still got a couple more tournaments to go…"
"Yeah, but we already won last year," Tyson said flippantly, clasping his hands together behind his head. 'We're definitely gonna win again this year!"
"Not if we get arrested!" Kenny wailed.
"Will you shut up about getting arrested already?" Kai snarled, face tinged pink.
"Yeah, you guys, just relax. Kai and I just scoped out the living room," Ray explained, moving to stand just behind the team leader in the doorway to the next room. "It's actually pretty clean in there. We've dusted somewhat, so it should be okay to sleep. The floor's wood, but there's a bit of carpet…"
"It's better than sleeping on the wet soil," Max noted cheerfully. "I think we'll be fine."
Tyson nodded, yawning. "I'm sleepy already."
"Good night," Ray said, settling in beside Kai.
"Night," Max and Kenny chorused, Max light-heartedly and Kenny worriedly.
Tyson was already snoring.
---
"I can't believe you're going and leaving me here!" the older huffed, crossing her arms. "What do you expect me to do with all those random strangers who come here seeking your help and wanting you to make them rich?"
"Deal with them like I do?" the younger suggested placidly. "I'm sure you won't have any trouble."
"Won't have any trouble, my foot," the first scowled. "If one of them dares ask me to magic them a million dollars, I'm going to blow them up."
"Don't you dare," the second warned.
"You just try and stop me."
"We need someone to stay behind and watch the cottage, and since you don't know my friend in Japan, you're the one who's going to do that," the younger explained reasonably.
"Hmph," said the older.
"Don't turn anyone into frogs while I'm gone," the second witch said good-naturedly.
"I won't," the older muttered. "But there's nothing stopping me from turning them into something else."
"Whatever," the younger laughed, disappearing in a puff of yellow smoke.
"Whatever my a-" She paused, frowning. "Is my stove snoring again..? It shouldn't be, I put it to sleep just yesterday…" She stood up and made her way downstairs, descending without a sound.
"Ohoho. What's this? Children?" she raised an overly-plucked eyebrow. She looked at one of them, the one from which the snoring came. "…he sounds like my stove, when my oven isn't working. I should shut him up, but I need something to keep me up tonight, or I'll never be able to stay awake long enough to finish that curse…" She glared at the five boys. "You're just lucky I'm not in a bad mood," she declared, before making her way back upstairs.
---
As usual, Kenny was the first to rise. "Ah, ah, ah, come on, everyone! It's sunny, wake up, we have to get out of here right now!" His eyes still foggy, he ran about, nudging the other Bladebreakers with his edges. "Come on, you guys!"
"Ow!" Max jumped up in a start. "You're just lucky I'm immune to paper cuts," he commented, yawning. "Your hand felt kind of sharp there."
"You can't be immune to a paper cut, they just happen," Ray corrected, standing up and reflecting the sunlight into Kai's prongs.
Kai squinted and bent over to avoid the light shining off Ray's metallic surface. "Did you really need to wake me like that? Why are you so…"
The realization hit all four members of the Bladebreakers at the same time and they all gasped.
"We're… we're… OBJECTS!" Max gaped.
"This is worse than being arrested!" Kenny moaned.
"How did this happen?" Ray wondered. "I'm.. a spoon… and Kai… you're a fork."
"Oh, really? I hadn't noticed," Kai muttered sardonically.
"What are we going to do?" Max bit his lip. "We can't live life as… spoons, forks, maps, and.. funny dolls!" he exclaimed, motioning to each of the Bladebreakers in turn.
Kenny sobbed. "I knew we shouldn't have come in here! I… I… no…"
"You're getting yourself all wet," Ray said, poking him with his handle-end. "Stop crying. We'll find a way out of this."
"Where's Tyson?" Max noticed suddenly. "You'd think that he'd have said something by now…"
"He's probably still asleep," Kai said, scowling.
"I don't hear any snoring," Ray said slowly.
"Hey, where'd everyone go?" a booming voice wondered aloud. "Huh, that's weird. Usually they call me if there's breakfast…" The four Bladebreakers-turned-objects on the floor looked up and saw what appeared to be a giant Tyson. "Where… is everyone?" He looked around blankly.
"Hey, why didn't he get transformed?" Kai demanded.
"I don't know, but let's hope he notices us so we can get out of here and get some help," Ray murmured.
"Hey! Tyson! TYSON!" Kenny yelled. "DOWN HERE!"
"Huh? Could've sworn somebody called my name," Tyson blinked. "Chief? Is that you?"
"Yeah! Tyson! Look down here!"
"Guess not," Tyson shrugged. He looked around, and his eyes fell on a strange, clear liquid in a cup. It looked something like… Pocari Sweat.
Come to think of it, I am kinda hungry… and I'm sure the person won't mind if I just drank a little bit of this… and since no one's here… Tyson reasoned with himself. He reached out and downed the entire contents of the glass in one swallow.
'Yum," said Tyson. "That was goo-"
POOF!
"Mmm? Mmmf?" Tyson's brow furrowed. What had.. happened?
"Tyson! I told you not to drink or eat anything here!" a map scolded him in Kenny's voice. "Now our last hope is gone!"
"You really are an idiot," a fork said, reminiscent of Kai's statement the night before.
"Mmmmf!!" Tyson protested.
"Hey… he can't talk," a doll that looked like Max noticed. "He's got no mouth."
"He's… a Hello Kitty doll, complete with pen and post-its," a spoon commented, a hint of mirth in its voice. "Hello Kitty dolls never had mouths, except in the anime…"
"At least we'll get some peace and quiet around here now," the fork smirked.
"MMMF!!" Tyson-the-Hello-Kitty-plush complained. "Mmfffffmm!"
"But we don't have mouths either. Logically, none of us should be able to talk, except Max," Kenny pointed out. "It doesn't make any sense."
"Being turned into an object doesn't make any sense in itself," Ray countered. "I guess whoever it was that did this to us just got tired of listening to Tyson snore."
"Yeah, maybe," Kenny shrugged… or rather, ruffled.
"We should get out of here before something worse happens," Max said thoughtfully.
There was some rapid scribbling before Tyson held up one of his post-its. It read 'WUT CULD POSIBULY B WORDS THEN THICH?!!?!'
Kai shrugged, expression unreadable.
Ray sweatdropped. "If we can find our way out of this forest, maybe we can find a way to contact Mr. Dickenson, and he can help us out. I know he's dealt with crazier things…"
"Has he?" Max raised a painted-on eyebrow.
"Worth a shot," Ray-the-spoon shrugged, and the five Bladebreaker-objects made their way out the open door and into the wilderness…
A/N and such; v.2: Moral of A/N[v.2]:
LF: Syuuu, mes chers tomodachi, how did ye l'aime?
KKC: Some people just can't understand French, you chair-hogging bum. Yeah, so MY turn is up next! My next chapter is gonna be weird! XD Hope ye enjoy it! XDXD
LF: That's better. XP;; (Hey, it capitalized my 'x'! O_;;) Anyway. Hope you enjoyed, please review! ^_- It'll encourage us to post faster… and it'll boost our miniscule egos. ;-;
KKC: FANCY WORDS! X_X Eh, I understand it, but still.
LF: The end. e_E HAHAHA, it didn't correct me that time! XD;;
… P.S. Pocari Sweat is a Japanese drink. Weird name, ne? o_O;