Hello again. Thank you to all of my reviewers! I love you all! I promise that I will write you responses for the next chapter, but right now it's ten o'clock and I still have a test to study for, so I need to scoot my booty along!
This chapter is merely to explain things a little more before angst and my little spirit friends enter the story. So please be patient! The point of this story will come around sooner or later…hopefully sooner.
Disclaimer: Don't own it. Someone please let me stop writing these stupid disclaimers, as they are only making me feel worse.
Happy Reading!
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The four boys made it back to the dojo without anymore strange occurrences. When they walked in they headed straight to the living room, as that was the place where the letter had been dropped. It was here that they all stood hunched over staring at the tiny piece of paper, wondering what would happen if they touched it.
"You think it's safe to pick it up?" whispered Max, as if the paper could actually hear them talking about it.
Kai, however, saw no reason to whisper. "Dammit Max, it's just a stupid piece of paper."
"But, when we read it before—
'I know what happened Tyson, and I don't think it has anything to do with the letter." Kai bent over to pick it up.
"No Kai, don't!" pleaded Max. Kai just rolled his eyes and picked it up. Nothing happened.
"I told you." He stood up straight, paper in hand, and began skimming it with his eyes. "So, Poveglia's some kind of island?" The others nodded. He looked back down at the paper, reading through the brief history summery and studying the map. When he was finished he let out a 'hn' and threw the paper over his shoulder. Rei caught it before it hit the ground.
"I still think it sounds stupid," he commented.
"I don't think it sounds stupid, Kai. I think it sounds important. And it sounds like their not going to let us back out of it."
"Hn. Even so, Rei, it could be another trap. Actually, it probably is a trap. We aren't without enemies, you know."
"I know that, and that's why I think we should check it out. Who knows what these guys will do if we don't go. Besides, you already agreed to come."
"That was before I read that letter. Whoever these guys are, they're out to get us and I'm not going to take the risk of never being able to leave that island alive. If there are really 'spirits' on this island, which I doubt, I don't like the idea of spending my entire after-life with them."
Max and Tyson watched the argument closely, although they didn't dare to interfere, their eyes darting back and forth to Kai and Rei like ping-pong balls as they spoke.
"Come on Kai, you said you would come." A sly smile spread across Rei's face. "You're not scared are you?"
Kai merely closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "Nice try Rei. But I'm not falling for that."
"Whatever Kai, but I think you're scared."
"Knock it off Rei."
"You are scared aren't you?"
"No, I am not!" he finally shouted. Then he sighed. "At least…not for myself."
Rei, along with the others, gave him a strange look. "What are talking about?"
"I mean that I don't care what happens to me. I…I just don't want anything to…to…" Kai struggled with the words. Showing compassion was something he didn't normally do, and was one of the few things that he wasn't good at.
"You don't want anything to what?"
"I don't want anything to happen to you guys, okay?"
Tyson smirked. "Awe, Kai. I never knew you cared."
"I never said anything about you, Tyson."
Tyson pouted. "Do you have to bring me down like that all the time? I mean really…"
Kai pretended to think about it. "Yeah."
Tyson's pout grew bigger. "Sourpuss…" he mumbled. Kai heard, but chose to ignore the comment. It wasn't like he hadn't heard it before.
"Listen, I'm the captain and it's my job to make sure that all of you stay out of trouble, which is extremely hard for any of you to do." Kai's eyes flashed over to Tyson. "Now that I think about it, it doesn't seem like a good idea to go."
"But Kai—
"I said no Rei!"
Everyone became silent after the outburst. They weren't used to Kai acting this way, especially towards Rei. The two usually got along just fine. They hadn't been known to get in many arguments.
Kai, seeing that no one was going to question him on his decision, turned on his heal and stormed out of the dojo once again. Once he was gone, the three remaining teens sighed simultaneously.
"Will that guy ever make up his mind! I mean, he has worse mood swings than my mom!" stated Max.
"I think he knows something that we don't Max," Rei hypothesized. "I think he knows who's behind this whole thing."
"BioVolt," chanted Max and Tyson in unison.
Rei nodded. "Exactly. You guys remember what happened last year? Voltaire nearly had Kai. The world would have been in peril if not for what happened at Baikal. Kai won't admit it, but I think he's afraid that he'll loose control again if he faces BioVolt."
"Maybe that's what he meant when he said that he wasn't worried so much about himself, but about us," Max suggested.
Tyson snorted. "Who knew the grumpy gus cared at all?"
"Tyson! You know that Kai would never let anything happen to us."
"Well he sure hasn't made it apparent until now!"
"You know how Kai is, Tyson," Rei pointed out. "He's not real good about showing emotions."
"Then why did he just then?" asked Max. "He's never admitted that he actually semi likes us."
"It was the only way to get us to agree with him. Just saying no wouldn't have stopped us from going, we all know that. He probably figured that the truth would work better than intimidation in this case."
There was a brief silence. "Maybe we shouldn't go, guys. Maybe Kai's right. It does sound dangerous. And if BioVolt's behind it, it's better that we don't get in the way. If Kai really does care about us, BioVolt could use us against him," stated Max.
Rei nodded. "That's why Kai tries to stay devoid of emotions. He has some dangerous enemies, and they won't be able to hurt him if they don't know what he's thinking."
"He stays devoid of emotions because he's a sourpuss, Rei. Always has been, always will be," said Tyson.
"You don't know that Tyson."
"Whatever Rei, think what you want. But I'll tell you something I do know. I have never seen a kid act as strange as he does in my entire life. He's even more serious than an adult. It's like he doesn't even know what fun and friends are! He treats beyblading like it's the most important thing in the world, and not just a game."
"Even so Tyson, this isn't about beyblading. And this isn't a game. In case you haven't noticed, this is for real, and it's obviously important if Kai is this worried about it."
Tyson shrugged. "Kinda sounds like a joke if you think about it."
"Tyson, I don't think this is a joke. There's something serious going on here. Now, we need to go find Kai and get this thing straightened out."
"But Kai doesn't want us to find him Rei. Why do you think he left in the first place?"
"I don't care. This is important and if we want to get this problem solved, we're gonna need his cooperation."
"Let's go then," said Max, feeling left out, "before it gets dark and the cops start patrolling the streets."
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Kai walked swiftly and silently down the concrete stretch, hands in his pockets, a solemn look on his face. He needed time to think, and he couldn't do it with those bimbos hanging around.
This first problem at hand: Who was behind the mysterious tape and letter? The first thing that occurred to him was that his grandfather had somehow gotten out of jail and was trying to lure him back to the Abbey. But, this Poveglia place was in Italy, a pretty good distance from Moscow. Plus, the invitation was for six. If BioVolt was behind it, wouldn't Voltaire only have invited four, Rei, Tyson, Max, and himself? Kenny was in America doing research with Judy and Emily, and besides, Voltaire wouldn't waste time on Kenny anyway. It was the remaining three bladebreakers that he would be interested in. Kai wouldn't have time to think about anything else but their safety while on the island, which would give Voltaire the upper hand.
What purpose could Voltaire possibly have by luring them to some bewitched island anyway? This kind of thing wasn't his grandfather's style. If Voltaire wanted Kai back at BioVolt, he would have made it apparent. Drugging his teammates, knocking Kai out, and then dragging him to some God forsaken place that only Hell knows where was something that he would do. So that ruled out Voltaire as far as the criminal mastermind behind this situation.
The second problem: Should he and the others go? He had said that he would leave with them, then said no, they weren't going. It did seem like something that needed to be checked out. Especially if it was going to have an effect on his team. Of course, when he had said no, that didn't rule him out as far as going with someone else. He had considered asking the Demolition Boyz to go with him, seeing as they were more physically and mentally qualified for this kind of thing. Plus, they would know for sure if Voltaire played a part in any of this.
Kai suddenly groaned. 'Oh great,' he thought. 'It's the three stooges.'
Kai could hear them shouting his name behind him and the sound of their feet hitting the concrete at a rapid pace. He turned around to face them, his expression clearly saying, "Someone shoot me".
"Kai!" Perfect. The human blob was with them (AKA: Tyson). Tyson ran up to him, taking in deep breaths as he recovered from his daily exercise. He held up a finger to say, "Just a second", then began breathing heavily again.
"Ok…I'm ready…Listen Kai, I know you don't want to go to this weird, twisted, confusing, freaky island thingy, but you did promise back at the—
"I'm going Tyson."
"Really! Hey guys!" he yelled as Max and Rei caught up. "Kai changed his mind! Again!"
"Really Kai?" asked Rei. "You're going?"
"I'm going. You're not."
Looks of complete disagreement crossed their faces. "What the hell Kai! Why cant we go!"
"I already told you, Rei. You. Are. Not. Coming. We talked about this back at the dojo. I'm not taking any of you with me."
"Then who's going with you?" Max asked.
"I'm taking the Demolition Boyz," Kai stated simply.
"Holy fricken hell Kai! Have you gone insane! We're your team. We should go! You're going to choose them over us!"
"You would just get in my way Tyson. This way, I can solve this problem without putting my team in danger."
"So you're going to put them in danger instead!"
"They can take care of themselves. They aren't unfamiliar with these kinds of situations."
"You mean that you've dealed with spirits before?"
"There are no spirits Tyson! Get that through your fat head!"
"They say that the most skeptical of the supernatural forces around us are always the first to go." It was not Tyson who had replied to Kai this time. No, this voice was not even male. It was soft, yet icy, and heavily accented in what seemed to be Italian.
They all turned around to see a woman standing behind them, looking a little older than Kai. She had long, flowing black hair and blood red eyes. Very unusually for an Italian, the eyes that is. She had a cold, protective aura about her, like she had been to hell and back again. Her voice showed no emotion, her face just the same. She was just…there. Like a machine or something, only different. It was like she was a mix of the obedience of a machine and the isolation of a traumatized human. Not a good combination.
"Were did she come from?" Rei whispered to Tyson.
"I don't know, but she's hot," he whispered back. Rei smacked him on the head.
"This is serious Tyson! Control your hormones, please!"
"Who are you?" Kai asked the girl. Her face remained the same. Pale as alabaster, also unusual for an Italian, and devoid of any liveliness.
"Trista."
"What kind of name is that?" Max thought aloud. Trista, for the first time since she had shown up, showed a little emotion by glaring at the blond.
"Max!" they all hissed in unison.
"Oh shit, did I say that out loud?"
Trista's glare sent a shiver down Max's spine. There was something very wrong about this girl. "Hold your tongue, American. Do not make me kill you."
"How do you know that I'm American?"
"A simple-minded fool could tell that you're a spoiled little American brat. Your posture is terrible, your accent has a hint of southernness to it, and you have the appearance of a Caucasian."
"Hey!" Max yelled at the insult to his country (ok, technically, I'm Chinese/Japanese. But I'm an American, born and bred, and have nothing against them…me…us…whatever! And I also don't think that all Americans are spoiled, skanky, stuck up, rich little pain in the asses like some countries think we are).
"What kind of little vampire are you, anyway?" Kai shot back. He may have been Russian, but he didn't agree with this pasty faced robot-like girl stereotyping people from different races and countries.
Trista turned her gaze to Kai. "How dare you insult me, Russian. Do not tempt me to kill you as well. I have nowhere to put the bodies."
"What is it with you and killing anyway?" asked Tyson.
"You will see soon enough. I am here to escort you to Poveglia. Your flight is for tomorrow, so we must leave now." Trista quickly scanned the boys. "There are only four of you. You are short by two."
"They're not coming."
Trista raised an eyebrow, an immense expression for her. "Oh?"
"Yes we are Kai!" yelled Tyson.
"No you're not. I already said that I'm taking Tala and the others with me."
"But Kai, they're all the way in Russia, and we're right here. It would make more sense to take us," pointed out Rei.
"I said—
"Have you made your decision? We must be going."
Kai closed his eyes at the remark, as if praying for patience. He really did not like being rushed by anyone. Especially this freaky pasty-faced girl whom he didn't even know. Although, it was kind of hypocritical to call her pasty-faced, considering he was just as equally pale.
"No, I have not made my decision, thank you," he replied, a bit of a bite coming with said reply.
He turned back to Rei and pretended that the girl wasn't there. Then he sighed. "I guess…I guess I'm going to have to take you." The group cheered. They were going to Poveglia…again.
"Wait a minute," said Rei, cutting off the cheers. "We're still short two people."
The group of teens thought for a moment while Trista tapped her foot impatiently, another immense emotion for her.
"I've got it!" exclaimed Tyson. Kai could almost see a light bulb floating over his head. "The White Tigers! They're in Japan for the week. Why not ask two of them to come?"
"That's not a bad idea Tyson," praised Rei. "Let's go back to the dojo and call them."
They all nodded, save Kai, and ran back to the dojo, save Kai again, who walked. Trista groaned, but followed them nonetheless. All these emotions were wearing her out. She hadn't shown this much personality since the day she was born, screaming her little lungs out after leaving the familiarity of her mother's womb.
'Oh well,' she thought. 'I might as well get this mission over with before I turn into one of those balloon heads…again.'
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"Hello?" Mariah's voice was the one emitting from the speaker of the phone.
"Mariah?"
"Rei! Is that you?"
"Yeah. Mariah, I need to ask you guys for a big favor. Is Lee around?"
"I'm sorry Rei, could you hold on for a second?"
Rei sighed. "Whatever Mariah. Just hurry."
In the hotel room of the White Tigers, Mariah put a hand over the receiver to muffle the sound. The boys were googling over Russian and Polish models streaking down the runway on the fashion channel. Of course, they weren't watching the show to see the fall line-up.
"Will you guys stop drooling and turn that stupid TV off! I'm talking to Rei!"
Lee merely reached over and turned the volume all the way down. It wasn't like they cared about the sound anyway.
"Sorry Rei, they're watching super models on Style Network."
"Again? Tell them to get a life."
Mariah put her hand over the phone again. "Rei says to get a life."
"Whatever," was the simultaneous reply.
"Whatever," Mariah said into the phone.
"Anyway, I was wondering if you could tell Lee and Gary to meet us at the airport here in Tokyo? You see, Kai got this weird letter…" Rei then proceeded to tell Mariah about the days events.
"Hmm…" mused Mariah. She then walked soundlessly into the bedroom and closed the door so the others wouldn't hear her.
"Well, here's the thing Rei. Gary and Kevin are flying back to China tonight, seeing as the tournament's over, but me and Lee are staying, so we could go with you instead."
"Why are you and Lee staying?"
"Well, you see, I have a…cousin staying here, and Lee wants to meet her. I said I'd visit her while I'm in the neighborhood anyway, so I figured why not kill two birds with one stone?"
"…Really…?"
"Yep. Anyway, we could go with you."
"…Well…I guess it wouldn't hurt if you come along. Are you sure that your…um, cousin…won't mind?"
"Of course not. I'll visit her when we get back."
"Alright. Meet us at the Tokyo airport tomorrow morning."
"You got it." They both hung up. Mariah grinned from ear to ear and jumped up and down slightly in excitement. He had bought into her fib. Well…sort of. But it didn't matter. She had tricked her way into spending more time with Rei. Oh how clever she could be!
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A couple translations for you:
Trista: Italian name meaning sad, since Trista is a very, very sad person, as you will come to see, and I mean that in both senses of the word sad.