Recap:
Save yourself the shame, boys. I'll see you around when I take the Block A title tomorrow. So, watch out, Bryan," you said before winking at the grey-haired male.
"You fucking wish!" Bryan replied defiantly.
"No, no. I FUCKING know," you replied, swearing back at him with a sweet smile on your face before walking off into the dark hallways.
Ch. 2 : Who's That Girl?
The tension in the air was thick as they watched the unknown blader walk away after dissing them. Bryan growled and was about to go after said blader and beat the pulp out of that arrogant brat only to be blocked by a certain redhead.
Looking at his teammate, a glare was still evident on Tala's face, and it was obvious he, like the others in his team, was furious by this point. However, he was mature enough to know that beating up that unknown blader would solve nothing and that a true blader would have their battles fought in the beystadium. It might not have been very likely of Tala to let that person dis them like that and get away with it, but in Tala's mind, he knew that by chasing that bastard, it would only give him the satisfaction of seeing them, the Russian regional champs, all angry and frustrated.
"Let's not waste more time on that worthless amateur. He's just trying to get to our heads. Let's just get out of here," Tala said with cold eyes, walking ahead of the others towards another hallway that would lead to their locker room.
The others followed Tala's lead and silently walked into the hallway with their leader. While walking down the corridor, there were no words exchanged between the boys as silence took over. Every each and one of them had their own thoughts to worry about, and they were not about to share it. It was normal for them to keep things to themselves. The former Demolition Boys had been trained to refrain from showing any weakness, and it was just natural that they didn't discuss any concerns they had.
Tala stopped in front of a blue door that had their names labeled on it, and if looks could burn holes into objects, Tala would have made a huge hole on the door. Grabbing the doorknob, he turned it forcefully and swung the door open. Due to that unnecessary force used, the door swung open swiftly and slammed against the wall of the room. This in turn startled some of his fellow Demolition Boys behind him. However, they decided against commenting and walked in after the redhead.
Why was Tala so angry? What was it that got him so riled up? It wasn't him that lost to that unknown blader, so what got him so frustrated? Well, he wasn't the only one feeling that way. Bryan and Ian were feeling the same way and Spencer just had a mild annoyance towards that attitude you had.
It was simple really. Sure, he was pissed off by your ignorant comments about his team, but what got him really frustrated was that power you demonstrated in your battle with Ian. What was that that happened out there? What was that blinding light that could have created such force? It was all too cryptic and he couldn't figure it out. All the redhead wanted now was these questions to be answered, but it was obvious that nobody could answer them except the wielder of that ebony blade, which was you.
On the other hand, Ian was just very disappointed that he lost. The fact that he lost just brought him down, and he felt horrible losing to a rookie. What angered him most was that he lost to you so easily and he didn't know why. However, he knew that it had something to do with that stupid gleaming light. Being the stubborn boy he was, he believed it was all some of kind of trick and felt totally mocked by it.
Bryan had a different reason to be on your case. He worried less about that power that you displayed in your battle with Ian, and was more enraged by what you had said to them. Actually, maybe he wouldn't be that mad if it was directed to the team, but he was angrier due to the fact that you mocked him. NOBODY talked to him that way and got away with it. Well, whoever that worthless amateur was he was sure to beat that person tomorrow. No, he wasn't just talking about a beybattle. He also meant that literally.
Finally breaking the silence, said grey-haired blader grabbed his things from the locker before stuffing them forcefully in his bagpack.
"No, no. I fucking know," a certain grey-haired male mocked childishly, unable to let go of the fact that he got told off by some unknown amateur. "Well, you fucking know you're gonna lose and then, we'll see who fucking knows what."
"Yo, chill, Bryan. Like Tala said, he was just trying to get to you," Spencer informed, knowing that this was no time to be blinded by anger.
Spencer looked at his fellow teammate and understood that he was furious, but now that Ian was eliminated, Bryan had to make sure that he would win the Block A title tomorrow. Or else, that loser would be in their team and right now, that was the last thing they as a team wanted. With this in mind, the blonde Russian informed Bryan of this.
"HAH! Great, Ian. You could have finished him off today in your battle, but I guess as always, I've got to pick up your dirty laundry," Bryan said.
Ian got up from the bench and pointed accusingly at Bryan.
"Hey! It's not my fault he used such a low trick to beat me!" Ian defended, "We'll see how you fare tomorrow!"
At that, Bryan chuckled, losing what coolness he had before smirking like the sadist he was.
"Humph. It's obvious I'll do way better than you did. At least I'll be able to crush him and teach him a lesson. Literally. Tomorrow bones will be broken and blood would be shed," the sadistic grey-haired Russian said with malice lacing his words.
Ian involuntarily shivered at what Bryan said and Ian knew Bryan all to well. The purple haired Russian wasn't stupid enough to reply to that. Everyone knew that back in their training days at Balkov Abbey, Bryan was trained to not only attack the blade violently but also the blader. Basically, Bryan was known to be a pretty violent guy.
Tala felt that this was getting out of hand, and being the leader he was, he invited himself into their discussion as he walked towards his fellow teammates.
"Bryan, it doesn't matter if Ian lost. You have to win the next one and you better make sure you don't do anything stupid. We saw what power he had today, so stop taking this like it's a walk in the park. You have to be prepared for anything if you wanna show that amateur what the Demolition Boys are made of," Tala said, commanding at Bryan that he wasn't taking this seriously.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I'll win, you guys," Bryan replied in a somewhat bored manner before throwing his bagpack over his shoulder.
"Alright. Now, let's just head back. I have a lot of matters to attend to. When we win the preliminaries, I have to make sure that all the applications and registration stuff are done and sent in to the BBA officials," Tala informed his fellow team members as he grabbed his own bagpack.
The boys nodded firmly at this before following Tala out of the locker room. Despite Ian not being qualified to be on their team anymore, he followed the rest of his ex-teammates out as he was currently living with them. But even Ian knew that he wouldn't be able to follow his team for long as they would be heading to the World Championships without him.
"Come along, Ian!" Spencer called out as he held the door open for the purple-haired Russian.
Sighing in an upset manner, he walked out of the door, following the rest of his team members.
The boys were currently walking along the streets of Moscow. Unsurprised, they walked along with the occasional fan who came along asking for an autograph. Being the cold members of the Demolition Boys, they walked past all these fans, ignoring their requests for an autograph or picture. They barely had any time for this, and it was obvious that they could be doing something way better and of use than attending to their fans.
As Tala walked around the corner, he collided into who knows what. Today was definitely not his day and he was losing his patience by the minute. Glaring at the figure on the floor, his glare faltered slightly as he looked at the figure with flowers down on the floor, but it was within a brief moment that nobody could have noticed it. As he regained his cold look, he was glaring daggers down at the person who so clumsily collided into him.
You were now heading out of the locker room that you were designated to get ready in before your matches. No longer wearing your cloak to hide your identity, you were dressed in a long black cotton dress that reached to your ankles and had your hair held up by a hair tie. Sighing, you wiped the sweat away from your forehead with a hand towel before you looked at your shaking hands. It was trembling so much that it almost felt that your whole body was shaking along with it. Suddenly, you clutched your right hand before falling to the ground, yelping in the process.
To be honest, you were exhausted from using too much power in your match with Ian just now. It was clear that you wanted to win so badly that you even over-exerted yourself to the limit. True that you believed that you could have won without using your special move, but you had something to prove to those four Demolition boys especially their leader. You were a powerful blader with a powerful bitbeast, but that didn't mean you could use your power as freely as you desired. You knew that with this power, there were consequences. Whenever you used Lisitsa's special move, Smertelno' Ice, which you haven't perfected yet, you often felt yourself being drained of almost all your energy. You were determined to overcome such fatigue with a lot of training and sometimes, you just believe that you were not strong enough to wield Lisitsa. But in the end, you always got back up on your feet and trained harder. As your mother always told you, perseverance was the key to everything you'd be able to achieve.
Smirking, you stood up before picking up your things. With this, you were even more determined to get better and better, and you guaranteed that tomorrow you would be victorious. This was for your mother and yourself. It was your time to shine, and you weren't going to give it up without a fight. With that final thought in your head, you left the building alone with all your thoughts clouding your mind.
As you walked along the streets of Moscow, you were greeted by a few children who were beyblading by the street. Smiling at them, you would greet them back before walking off. Those children were some kids that you would meet at the park whenever you headed there to relax. You often helped them with their beyblading skills, and it seemed like they were only people you communicated with. You had no friends or family besides them being your only friends.
Well, you had a pretty good relationship with some of the store vendors, and they often gave you discounts on staple items such as bread, etc. However, they were only nice to you because they were your mother's friends. Every now and then, they would bring up how sorry they were for not being there when your mother was gone, only to have you look away before silently walking out of their stores. It frustrated you how they didn't understand that you didn't like them bringing up the topic of your mother's disappearance. What was it that was so hard to get? You didn't understand at all! Wasn't it common sense that you do not bring up a tragedy in front of the person who was affected by said tragedy? Well, you guessed not.
Deciding to go to a very significant place, you remembered that today marked the day your mother disappeared. That was the reason you were dressed in black. You entered the flower shop that one of your mother's friends owned, buying a bouquet of yellow carnations. Those were your mother's favourite flowers, and you remembered it like it was just yesterday when she would be planting these flowers. Smiling at this thought, you turned around the corner in a dazed state. However, you crashed into someone before falling back on your backside with the flowers spread all over the floor.
Looking up, your eyes met a very familiar pair of angry violet eyes glaring at you. It belonged to a certain redhead that you met just hours ago, and behind him was his team members that look as emotionless as ever.
"Watch where you're going, kid," Tala growled at you before looking at the flowers spread just before his feet.
Smiling and ignoring the fact that Tala so coldly brushed you off, you got back up without his help and started picking up your flowers. Tala and the rest of his boys were about to walk around you who happened to be blocking their path only to hear your reply.
"Hmm, yeah, I can say the same to you, hotshot," you replied, as you picked up your flowers while a smile still adorned your face.
"What did you say?" Tala's eyes darted back at you, staring at you in slight surprise that you talked back to him.
You knew that he couldn't recognize you and somehow, it was funny to you that you could still mess with his head, not as a competitor, but even as a regular person walking down the street. Finally, after you finished picking up all of your yellow carnations, you stood up in front of him, shining a bright smile his way. Taken aback by your strange attitude that you were displaying, Tala wondered why your witty comment sounded just a tad bit familiar. However, he still didn't understand how you could smile at him like that when it was obvious that this wasn't the time to be smiling right now.
'That voice sounds….a little familiar….' Tala thought to himself.
"Well, Tala, I just said that I could say the same to you. I admit that I'm at fault for clumsily knocking into you, but seriously, maybe if you were just a little bit more careful, we could have avoided a human collision," you stated smartly before sweeping your hair away from your eyes.
"How do you know my name?" Tala snapped at you with his eyes locked on yours.
"Duh, you're famous, genius. Aren't you THE 'Tala Valkov' along with your almighty former Demolition Boys?" you stated as if he was dumb.
"Hmph, another fangirl…" Bryan scoffed, looking at you as if you were just a worthless piece of trash.
"You know, just because I happen to know who you guys are and am a girl does not necessarily mean that I'm a fangirl, Smarty-Pants," you said, showing them that you had the words to defend yourself from such assumptions they were throwing at you. However, the tone you used against Bryan wasn't one of annoyance but rather a soft and polite tone which further mocked him.
"Hey, you can't talk to Bryan like that," Ian complained at you, glowering at you as well.
"Yes. However, lil boy, I think Bryan over there is capable of talking for himself. But I guess I've gone a little overboard with this conversation. My apologies if I appear to be rude, but I guess I've been here for too long. I need to attend to some matters now, so if you'll excuse me," you informed before walking away.
"Oh and boys, I'll be seeing you guys very soon. Especially you Bryan," you said before winking at Bryan and making your way away from them.
"Hmph," Bryan scoffed once again, "whatever, she still seems like a fangirl to me."
"But I gotta say, she is rather strange," Ian said recognizing that her antics were rather peculiar.
"Tala, let's go," Spencer voiced out, tired of standing here for the last five minutes talking to some weird fangirl.
Tala looked at your back as you walked away until you were out of his sight. He was still trying to figure out what seemed so familiar about you. Was it those eyes, or maybe the hair? But one thing was certain; he had heard that voice before. Brushing it aside, he looked away and continued walking.
"Hmph, let's go," he commanded only to be followed by his teammates again.
With you on the other hand, you headed towards a very familiar spot nearby a river. As you looked on ahead, you saw another person standing by that river. Walking towards said person, you smiled with a greeting.
"Hello. How's your day?" you asked politely.
It was a woman who dressed in a cloak. Her hair was an odd silver colour while her eyes shone a dark brown. The old woman looked at you before looking towards the calm waters again.
"It's been rather fine. And you, girl?"
"Me? I'm actually doing great today," you replied with a slight smile before looking at the flowing rapids before you.
"That looks like a rather sad smile you have there, girl," the old woman said with a questioning gaze.
"Hmm, am I that easy to read, ma'am? Well, I guess it's just because today marks the day my mother disappeared. I'm actually here to mourn for my mother. I don't know if she's dead or out there somewhere, but whatever it is, I want to make sure I've lived to make her proud," you said, voice softening towards the end.
"Well, aren't you the dedicated girl? I'm sorry to hear that. I'll leave this place to you then," the old woman said before leaving.
"Wait, don't….!" you grabbed her hand and the yellow carnations fell out of your hands; some flying with the wind while others flew into the river.
Suddenly, you looked towards the hand you were holding only to see it had disappeared. Blinking at that, you looked around everywhere as to find the old lady who has seemingly vanished.
You had no idea why you grabbed that lady's hand, but you knew that her presence calmed you. Your thoughts were interrupted as a light was emitted from your pocket. Grabbing your blade from your pocket, you saw the bit in your blade sparkle before it returned back to its normal appearance. Your mind was suddenly brought to a flashback that you thought about every day of your life. No matter how hard you tried to forget it, you just couldn't.
A 5-year old version of you and a beautiful young lady walked together hand in hand, smiling as they conversed with each other happily. Dressed in heavy-duty winter wear, you clutched on your coat and buried your neck under your scarf.
"Mother, where are we going?" the younger version of you asked with curiosity beaming in your eyes.
Your mother smiled at you before ruffling your hair.
"Why, I have something very important to give you, my dear," she said with a kind smile.
Reaching a certain river, your mother and you stood face to face before she bent down in front of you, holding your small cheeks in her glove-clad hands.
"(Name), I want you to promise me something," she said with the smile on her face gone as a look of seriousness swept over her face.
"Anything for you, mom!" you yelled out rather enthusiastically, not noticing the sudden change in your mother's emotions.
Your flashback was cut short by you shaking your head side to side in attempt to get that memory out of your head. It was always the same. Your memories were always cut short, and you just could not understand the visions of your past. It seemed as though there were fragments that you couldn't seem to remember, and at many times you believed that it was for the greater good that you didn't remember much of the details. But sometimes there was a certain curiosity that piqued in within you that demanded you to find the answers. Problem was that you were just to scared to pursue the answers.
You looked at the flowers that were floating on the river before sighing.
"Mother, where ever you are… Even if you're dead, you'll always be in my heart," you said holding your beyblade against your chest. Slowly, hot tears began to roll down your face no matter how much you tried to hold it back.
"I'll stay strong… and I'll make you proud…" you said before smiling at the water while wiping your tears away from your face.
With that, you did a small prayer in your head with your eyes closed before silently leaving the area with your dress swishing as you walked up the hill. As you gave the river one last look, you ran away towards town, leaving the memories of your mother aside.
Tala was in his room with his laptop at hand as he checked through his inbox in his email. Looking at the first email in his inbox, his eyes widened as he saw who it was from. It was from Kai. Kai Hiwatari. His eyebrows furrowed at this as he wondered why Kai would be contacting him. Well, it could possibly be chain mail or something of that sort, but knowing the kind of guy that Kai was, that would be highly unlikely. Clicking on that email, Tala started reading what Kai wrote to him. Seconds ticked as Tala read the email, smirk slowly emerging on his lips before he relaxed his back on his chair.
"Well, well. So Kai Hiwatari, huh?" he said to himself, smirk still plastered on his face.
Chuckling, he stood up as he walked away in a rather good mood.
'That letter was the best part of this lousy day,' Tala thought before looking at his Wolborg in his hand.
'Well, Wolborg. There's no way we can lose now,' Tala thought in his mind, still looking at his beyblade before he entered his room, slamming the door behind him.
~~~~ To be continued~ ~~~
A/N: So basically, this is a chapter that revealed much of the reader's past. This chapter was rather dark, so I hope to brighten things up with the Blitzkrieg Boys in the next chapter! Hope to get your thoughts/reviews on this, my dear readers, thanks! :D
A/N 2: Smertelno' Ice (pronounced as Smare-tell-no-ice) is Lisitsa's (Lee-siet-sa) special move. Smertelno' means Deadly in Russian by the way! And as mentioned in the previous chapters, Lisitsa means Fox in Russian.
