Angel of the Ashes
Arrival
"BBA flight 118 has just arrived from Canada." The airports p.a. system buzzed.
My team and I stepped out off the platform dressed in all black with chains, collars, and make-up. Everyone around looked in our direction; security kept a watchful eye on us.
"Doc!" an old male's voice shouted out to the team manager. I watched silently as a plump old man in a suit walked up to us with five boys and one girl trailing behind him. "Why, Hello Mr. Dickinson long time no see." Doc stuck out his hand. Mr. Dickinson shook his hand, "It's been a very long time. What have you been up to all these years?" "Traveling around the world like always, what about yourself?" Doc was being polite and talking. "Running the BBA as always." Mr. Dickinson laughed. I started to get annoyed, "That's fascinating and all but can we please get moving? I'm getting annoyed with these people staring at me like I'm in a circus or something not to mention we still have to get our luggage." "I called in advance to the servants when we were on the plane; they're getting our luggage and bringing it back to your house. So you have all day to stand around plus no one told you to wear that ridiculous outfit and technically you are in a circus." Doc told me in a superior voice. I looked down at my outfit and stuck my tongue out at him.
"Oh," Mr. Dickinson turned a bit, "may I introduce the-"
"Bladebreakers, we know." I said in my sour voice.
"Ahh, so you've heard of us." A boy in a backwards hat had a wide smile on his face.
"Tyson right," I turned to face him, "We just like to check out our competition that's all. But being the leader of your team I'm sure you keep your team well informed about the competition."
"Uhh... actually that's Kenny's job." Tyson's face had turned to the geeky looking kid.
"Not much of a team leader then are you." I yawned shutting my eyes tight.
"Ashes!"
"What?" I opened one eye to look at Doc.
"Don't be so rude." Doc sighed, "I'm sorry she's just really tired from the flight over here and she does tend to get really moody and sarcastic." "It's alright no harm was done." Mr. Dickinson waved it away, "Why don't we get something to eat, the BBA bus is just outside." "Food Alright!" Tyson started doing a little dance.
"Sure." Doc took the invitation, "But before we go introductions of whom we are, Ashes."
I sighed, "That's Doc." The white haired guy dressed in a black lab coat.
"On my left is Jester" The easy going boy with a black star drawn around his whole right eye nodded to them.
"On my right is Koji." I pointed to the tall muscular serious boy.
"And I'm Ashes the leader of the Runes."
"Nice to meet you all." The Bladebreakers greeted in unison.
Soon we all piled on the BBA bus and were off to a restaurant. I sat beside Koji on the bus so I could lean on his shoulder. "Don't get too comfy now you two." Jester laughed. "We'll stop being comfy when you stop flirting with nearly any girl you come into contact with." I shouted back quickly after noticing Jester was talking to Hillary. "So what was that comment about the circus?" Max asked in curiosity. "Before we became Bladers we use to be in this traveling circus. Total big top, Jester was a clown; which suits him perfectly. Then Koji and I use to be trapeze artists plus we'd occasionally fill in for anyone who was sick or away." I smiled in all the awing faces. "So how come we've never heard of you guys before?" Kenny asked while typing on his laptop. "That's because we don't battle like everybody else." Jester heard the question and jumped into the conversation. "Don't battle like everybody else?" Tyson pondered the statement. "We always battle in underground tournaments. Most teams do underground tournaments before they go into the official tournaments." I stated with a smile, "They're a lot more fun because all the rules go out the window. Although some players are no fun because they're so predicable."
"Oh yeah, like that one guy...oh what was he's name again? Um...Ozma I think it was." Jester was straining his mind, "Now that was an easy win."
"Ozma! Is that the same Ozma we know; leader of the Saint Shields?" Tyson, Ray, Max, and Kenny asked in unison. "Yeah that sounds right." I smirked at how easily amused they all were; except for Kai of course. Jester started laughing hysterically, "That was a funny match." "What was so funny about it?" Tyson leaned over to Jester. Jester straightened himself up by taking in a deep breath, "Well this Ozma character wanted to battle one on one only with the leader of the Runes, so naturally Ashes accepts. Not even two minutes into the match does she yawn and sit down. While Ozma's yelling at her, she waves one of her servants over with a cup tea. So she just sits there on the ground drinking her tea while Ozma tries to win the match." "So who ended up winning?" Ray asked after listening to the story. "I did, I didn't even finish my tea before the match was over." I frowned, "It's so hard to find good competition these days." "Maybe if you stop taking offers to battle and stop wiping out all the competition then we'll get a decent battle." Jester started to scold me. I just stuck my tongue out at him.
Tyson inflated his chest, "Why not battle the Bladebreakers."
"Now, now Tyson, you'll get your chance to battle in the upcoming tournament." Mr. Dickinson interjected. "What tournament?" Tyson acted dumb. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention there's a world tournament coming up." Kenny laughed nervously. "What!? Why didn't you tell us earlier Chief!?" Tyson went nearly ballistic. "Calm down Tyson." Kai finally spoke with an even serious tone.
"We're here!" Doc announced in happiness with the idea of food. "YAY, FOOD!" Tyson jumped out of his seat and bolted out of the bus. At normal speed everyone else got off and went into the restaurant taking in the wonderful smells. "Table for eleven please." Mr. Dickinson called out to the hostess. "This way please." The hostess led us to a large round table, "Enjoy."
Two hours later we finally emerged from the restaurant into the fresh air. I laughed as I followed Koji out the door, "I don't know who ate more, Doc or Tyson."
Tyson came out groaning but with satisfaction, "That food was great, I'm so full." "Yeah I know what you mean." Doc was waddling behind him. "Next time Tyson I think you might actually want to leave food in the restaurant." Jester noted to him then went back to flirting with Hillary. "At least they're staying in business." Max concluded. "Well come on everyone, back on the bus. We better get you all home." Mr. Dickinson shooed us all back on the bus.
"So Mr. Dickinson, what other teams are in the world tournament?" Kenny tried getting information from him. "Now Kenny, I don't want to give you an unfair advantage." Mr. Dickinson tried sounding nice about everything. "Aww, why not Mr. D?" Tyson whined. "Because it would be an unfair advantage and not all the teams have signed up yet." Mr. Dickinson gave a nervous little laugh. "What!" Tyson jumped to his feet in disbelief, "how can they not sign up for the tournament yet!" "It's because they're going to sign up the last minute." I stated knowledgably. "How do you know?" Tyson asked holding up his fist. "Because that's the way the underground teams work, they'll sign up last minute so other teams can't get any information on them. But it doesn't really work if you know all the teams." I smiled. "You know who's competing??" Kenny stared at me with his laptop open. "Of course I know," I gave a little laugh, "I'm a Rune aren't I?" "Well! Are you going to tell us or what?!" Tyson came closer and started waving his arms wildly.
The bus hit a large bump and Tyson lost some of his footing. He fell forward towards me. Like a flash of lightning Koji stood up and pushed Tyson back in a seat roughly. Hitting his head, Tyson let out a loud grunt. Ray and Max quickly stood up. "Hey what was that for?!" Tyson was rubbing he's head and he gave a look to kill. "Are you alright Tyson?" Max turned towards him. Everyone was watching the scene except for Mr. Dickinson and Doc; who were deep in conversation. "Yeah fine," Tyson snorted. Max and Ray sat back down. "Koji sit down." I order the last boy who was standing. Koji sat back down in his seat beside me and wrapped his hand around my waist.
Koji kept his eyes on Tyson glaring with hatred. "Sorry about that Tyson." I said with sincerity in my voice. "Huh, why are you saying sorry it was him who did it." Tyson pointed at Koji. "Well Koji is just really protective of me, it's a big brother thing." I stated casually. "Koji's your brother?" Ray sounded a bit shocked. "Yeah, I know. Kind of hard to believe right Ray, especially with the way he always has his arm around her like that." Jester snickered; Koji gave a death glare to Jester then returned giving the death glares to Tyson. "So, how many brothers do you have?" Ray was questioning. "Four." I answered. "All older then you?" "No, I'm the third oldest in my family, so the other two are younger then me."
"Alright we're here!" Doc shouted to the Runes. I looked out the window of the bus only to see we were at the gates of the Raven Manor. "Well looks like we're here, you're all welcome to come in if you want." I gave them an offer. Tyson, Max, Ray, and Kenny were looking at the manor like it was something new and shiny. "Sorry but we'll have to decline," Mr. Dickinson spoke up. "Why Mr. D?" Tyson obviously wanted to go inside. "Because I promised your Grandpa I'd get you home before ten." Mr. Dickinson stated. I got up with Koji still having his arm around me, "Come on Jester, that's enough flirting for one day." Jester did as he was told while Hillary blushed. "Well then let's get going." Doc jumped out of the bus. I watched as Jester passed me to get out of the bus. "Well, it was nice meeting you all." I nodded, "Thank you for dinner Mr. Dickinson." "You're very welcome Ashes." Mr. Dickinson smiled. "Oh by the way Bladebreakers, you're welcome here tomorrow if you want. I'm having two of the underground teams stay here at the Raven Manor; you're welcome to scope out the competition. Plus there will a party later that night." I gave a little smile, "Both my little brothers are fans of yours, so it'll be kind of a treat having you guys around." "Fans? Alright we'll be there!" Tyson leaned in a bit closer to me, "So who do they like best on the team?" "Tyson!" Kenny heard this. "What I can't help it if I have tons of fans now." Tyson leaned back with a wide smile on his face. I looked over at Kai, "Actually Tyson, they're both big fans of Kai." Everyone looked shocked, Kai looked up at me. "Kai!" Tyson was speechless. "Anyways, it'll be an honor having you over tomorrow especially you Kai. Well, we better get going; hopefully I'll see you all tomorrow." I walked off the bus with Koji trailing behind me.
"Ah, I see you're finally home." A man looking in his late thirties, with black hair, and sitting in a wheelchair greeted us when we entered the Raven Manor. "Sorry about our delay Mr. Raven, but we were met at the airport by an old friend of mine and were invited to dinner." Doc bowed in apology. "It's alright Doc, I understand. Why don't you all go on and relax while I talk to Ashes for a minute." My father looked at me as though I were some sort of virus coming to contaminate everything. Koji squeezed my hand before going off into the house. My father waited until there was no one around to start speaking, "I've heard you've been winning all your matches." I nodded. "Have you heard anything from your brothers yet?" "No sir." I was standing up straight as though I were in the army, with my hands pasted to my sides. "Is Koji's and Jester's beyblading skills up to yours yet?" "No sir." "What have you been doing all this time? Goofing off? Their skills should've been perfected by now!" My father started getting furious.
"I know that but it's not that easy. They're giving it all they have. They're learning through their mistakes." I stated calmly.
"MY TEAM CAN'T AFFORD ANY MISTAKES, ESPECIALLY WITH THE WORLD TOURNAMENT COMING UP!"
"Your team?" I kept my cool and raised an eyebrow, "Last time I checked I was the leader of the Runes, now if you don't mind I'm going up to my room. I expect not to see you again until I leave this house after the world tournament." My father smirked, "You are so like me in many ways that you can't even stand being in the same house as me, very well. I'm leaving for America in the morning; I have business to attend to there. I'll be following your progress so be sure you don't disappoint me or dishonor the family name. I'm leaving Bronco here just incase you do; that way I know you'll be punished for any mishaps." At that I walked away and took the elevator to the top floor where my room was located at the end of the long hallway.
I opened my bedroom door where Koji was patiently waiting by the window. He turned when I had entered and gave me a slight smile. I slowly moved towards him, "Dad's leaving for America in the morning and Bronco's staying." Koji embraced in a hug to make me forget all my troubles. I gave a heavy sigh, "Why can't dad see that I'm not the perfect one in the family? Doesn't he know what mom did to me when we were taken away before she died? God, I wish he'd quite treating me differently from the rest of you." A tear rolled down my cheek. "He acts as though I'm a virus and he needs to get rid of me. Sometimes I wish I could just tell him about what mom did but it's no use, he won't listen to me." Koji kissed my forehead and hugged me tighter. "I'm so glad I have you Koji, you understand me." I frowned, "I wish sometimes that you'd talk just so I can hear your voice again. I'm afraid I'll forget what you sound like when you use to talk but I guess you'll speak when you really want to. Koji..." He pulled away so he could see my face, "Koji make sure...make sure I don't forget what you sound like or forget you, alright?" Koji gave a nod, kissed my cheek and was gone from the room so that I could get some sleep.