Hope you love this one too! Thank you very much to my first reviewer, mahwish1, for your kind words.
Chapter 2
Rose followed the rest of the Angels out of the airplane, down the tunnel and into Moscow International Airport.
"Look at all the snow!" Aure squealed in delight. She had always loved making snow angels.
"Can't wait to blade." Clair smiled.
Belle took a deep breath and let it out contently. She was in her element right now, in the middle of all the snow and ice.
Rose glanced at her best friend, smiling to herself on the inside as they grabbed their luggage and headed outside to get a cab to the hotel. Rose herself was quite comfortable, even as they walked outside into the frigid temperature and the icicle making wind. Her blade gave off a warmth that spread from her lower back all the way to her toes and fingertips.
Noel was also unfazed by the cold as they got into the cab. Her blade as well, giving her warmth. Clair, Aure and Chanel on the other hand were freezing and wrapped their jackets closer around their bodies as the cab started off for the hotel. The three had forgotten to put on their real winter jackets.
"Damn you three and your elements." Clair's teeth chattered as the cab took a turn. She went with the motion of the turn and rested her head on Noel's shoulder, allowing Noel's warmth to spread over her in comfort. Noel said nothing, but she did wrap an arm around Clair's shoulders and held her by her side. Aure and Chanel cuddled to each other, keeping the other warm with her body heat as Rose and Belle sat comfortably next to each other.
When the cab came to a stop at the hotel, Aure and Clair were out of the cab in a flash and into the hotel within a split second. Chanel laughed as she and Noel made their way to the hotel at a slower pace, with Rose and Belle following.
"Finally! Warmth!" Clair sighed. "Now, lets get to our-" Clair cut off as she was almost run to the ground by two idiots. Clair, not expecting the sudden impact, was heading face first for the tile when an arm whipped out and caught her around the waist, stopping her fall and pulling her back up, almost immediately. "Oh my god, thank y-" Clair stopped her gratitude speech when her ocean blue eyes met another pair of ocean blues.
Max smiled as Clair stopped herself mid-sentance. "No problem miss. I'm just sorry that your pretty face was this close to smashing into the floor. A black eye and broken nose wouldn't do for such a beautiful girl as yourself." Max complimented, pouring on his boyish charm.
Clair blinked and the beginnings of a blush began to make its way onto her face, but she quickly stopped it as Max let her go, now that she had her feet underneath her.
Aure sniggered as her best friend couldn't speak. Clair sent her a quick glare, but then smiled at Max.
"Well thank you. Ummm...?" She trailed off. Max noticed her signal and nodded.
"Max. Max Tate and you are welcome."
Clair's eyes almost bulged out of her sockets. "Max Tate. As in THE Max Tate, formerly a Bladebreaker and Team Captain of The PBB All Starz?"
Max nodded, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Oh, yea." He smiled. "Thats me."
"Oh my god." Clair mumbled to herself. She had just been saved by THE Max Tate, her idol. She didn't know what to do.
"Maxie!" A voice shouted. Max smiled to Clair again, before grabbing her hand and kissing it softly.
"It was a pleasure meeting you..." Max trailed off and Clair snapped out of it, long enough to tell him her name.
"Clair."
Max smiled. "Nice meeting you Clair, I must run now though." He dropped her hand and jogged away, disappearing around a corner.
"Oh my god." Clair repeated, louder this time though. Aure giggled, wrapping an arm around her friend's shoulder.
"Yup, that was THE Max Tate." Aure said, in exact imitation of Clair just a few moments ago.
Clair glared and elbowed Aure in the side, stomping her foot and turning her back to Aure.
"Ouch Clair-Bear." Aure groaned, rubbing her side, though she immediately started laughing again.
"Come on you two." Noel said shortly, although her own icy blue eyes were laughing, as she walked past the two of them and towards the front desk. "Before we cause a bigger scene."
Rose nodded and got their room keys from the clerk and they headed to the elevators, unaware of two pairs of eyes watching them curiously.
Chanel sighed contently as she sank into the comfortable cushions of their suite's couch. "So comfy." She smiled cat-like.
"You guys have the day off to relax. I have a Captain's Meeting tonight and the Ceremony is tomorrow afternoon, with the matches starting the next morning." Rose said.
"So, no training?" Aure asked cautiously.
Rose smirked. "Tomorrow morning only, but we have to stay on top of our game throughout the tournament. Got it?" Again, Rose saw her team switch to serious mode as they nodded. "Good. Now, I'll be in the gym if you guys need me. My meeting is at 5 then we will order room service and relax tonight."
The team nodded as Rose headed out of the room.
When Rose got to the gym she saw that no one was there. Perfect in her mind. After the 3 hour plane ride, she needed to stretch out her body and get her blood pumping.
She sat down on the mat, gathering her thick dirty blond hair and putting it into a messy bun. She stretched her legs and arms as she popped in her earbuds and blasted Alternative Rock from her iPhone. After she had run a few miles on the suspended track, she went straight for the punching bag. Since she kept her emotions in all the time, she had to let out her steam on something...
An hour in, Rose was so focused on the punching bag and her music that she didn't realize that not one, but two people had joined her in the gym.
Kai and Tala shared a look as they watched this girl kick the shit out of the punching bag. They were impressed to say the least. But since she was being somewhat quiet and wasn't saying anything, the two Russians shrugged and continued to walk into the gym, making their way to the beyblading dishes, each taking their own dish.
Another hour later, as the music crescendoed at the bridge, Rose went into over-drive and slammed the punching bag with a round house kick that sent it flying a good 10 yards across the room.
The huge thud that her kick made, plus the thud of the bag as it hit the ground caused Tala and Kai to look up from their dishes. Tala whistled to himself as Rose sighed and walked over to pick up the punching bag, bringing it back over to where it was supposed to be, tossing the mitts on the ground. The Angel turned around to see Kai and Tala staring at her, just able to contain her surprise at the fact that the two had probably been in the room for a good hour. Rose hesitated for just a second, as if waiting for something, but then gave them a glare as she made her way out of the room, dripping with sweat.
When she was finally gone, Tala narrowed his eyes. "Damn. That was The Spinning Angels' Captain."
Kai nodded. "It was."
"No wonder she won that match in one second flat. She's intense." Tala whistled, then he turned his attention back on Wolborg.
Kai narrowed his eyes, looking back at Dranzer as she was balancing on a needle in the middle of the dish. "That she is." He whispered to himself.
Freshly showered, Rose headed down to the conference room for the captain's meeting. Running a hand through her dirty blond hair one more time, Rose walked into the empty conference room, being the first to arrive. She sat down near the back and waited patiently for everyone else to arrive. As she waited, she pulled out her blade and looked down at it as it gave off its usual warmth, her bitbeast relaxing her in its usual way.
"Nice blade." A voice greeted her. Rose looked up calmly to see Ray looking down at her with a friendly smile.
"Thanks." Rose nodded.
"Ray Kon." Ray introduced, holding out his hand.
"Rosemarie Rousseau." Rose said, taking his hand. Ray noticed her Kai-like demeanor and strong handshake.
"Oh I know." Ray smiled. "May I sit next to you?" He asked and when Rose shrugged he took it as a yes. "I watched your Championship match. Very impressive, even for our level."
Rose nodded and put her blade back in it's case as another entered the room.
"Hey Ray." Max smiled as he walked over. "Hey, you were with Clair earlier. Right?" He asked Rose.
Rose nodded, smirking. "Yea, Clair is a teammate."
Max smiled even more brightly. "Brilliant. Then I definitely will be seeing her again. Tell her that I'm sorry that Tyson and Daichi almost ran her over earlier, they kinda saw food and freaked out." Max chuckled.
Rose nodded. "I will, thank you."
"Max Tate." Max smiled, officially introducing himself. "And you're Rosemarie Rousseau, of The Spinning Angels, right?"
Rose smirked. "So I'm guessing that you saw my battle too?"
Max chuckled and nodded, sitting next to Ray. "Yea, I think everyone did. Or at least Ray, Tyson, Daichi, Hilary, Kenny, Kai and I did."
"It was quite the match to see. After all, you guys are the new team here." Ray smiled.
Rose nodded as two more people walked in. Tyson and Ozuma Akiyama walked in, talking about Dragoon and the other Four Sacred Beasts. But upon seeing Rose, Ozuma clammed up and Tyson smiled. Ozuma's steely dark green eyes glanced over Rose, checking to see if she was too interested in what he and Tyson had been discussing. Old habits die hard. Seeing no threat to their topic, he ran a hand through his black and red hair.
"Hey Ray, Max." Tyson smiled, jogging over to his old teammates and friends. Tyson looked at Rose curiously, trying to place her. "Ah, you must be Rosemarie Rousseau, the captain of the all-girls team, right?"
Rose nodded. "And you are Tyson Granger, the current world champ..."
Tyson smiled proudly and put a fist on his chest. "Hells yea."
"...and you almost ran over my teammate earlier today." Rose ended with a smirk as Max, Ray and Ozuma laughed while Tyson looked confused.
Max turned to his best friend, still laughing. "When you and Daichi saw the food in the hotel lobby, you kinda almost ran her teammate Clair into the ground."
Tyson's eyes went wide as Ozuma shook his head. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry Rose."
Rose shook her head, a hand out in a placating gesture. "It's ok, Max was able to catch her and she is fine now."
Tyson nodded, relieved, until a detail caught his attention. "You caught her Maxie?"
Max nodded. "Yup, she's quite beautiful, no offense Rose, you are very beautiful yourself." He said to the team captain. Rose smirked and let him continue. "Although I had no idea she was a blader until I made the connection with Rose."
Tyson smirked. "Oh you dog you."
Ozuma rolled his eyes and sat down in the chair in front of Rose, turning around to talk to her. "Ozuma Akiyama." He said, holding out his hand. Rose took it.
"Hey Tyson!" A voice smiled, walking in. Kane Yamashita made his way over to the group and Rose was starting to get annoyed with all the people around, but she remained polite as the navy haired, cobalt blue eyed blader introduced himself.
"Kane Yamashita." Kane smiled holding out his hand. Rose nodded and shook his hand as two more people walked in.
"Rosemarie Rousseau."
"The french team leader, huh?" Julia Fernandez asked, walking over to the group, Garland Siebald behind her. She flipped her dark brown hair off her shoulders and her blond bangs out of her jade green eyes.
Rose simply raised an eyebrow in question as she knew exactly who the spanish blader was. "The spanish team leader, huh?" Rose asked.
Ray looked between the two females tensely. He wasn't sure whether to think that they were joking with each other or seriously going to hurt each other. He didn't know Rose at all, but if first impressions meant anything, then Ray's gut told him that she would act like Kai. And he knew Julia would jump at the chance to fight anyone.
Julia smirked. "Heard you were a tough cookie. Glad to finally personally meet you."
Rose smirked as well. "And you as well. Missed you at the European Championships."
Julia nodded. "Well, Raul and I were traveling with the family circus and just got back yesterday in time to make it here. Caught your match though, you and your girls made quick work of that Belgian team."
Rose smirked. "Robert said that they were a waste of space and Johnny just wanted to be able to play."
Tyson cocked his head to the side, confused for a moment. "Wait...Robert? Johnny? As in the Majestics?"
Rose nodded. "Yes. Oliver is my cousin."
The room went silent for a moment.
"Wait, you're related to Oliver?" Max asked.
Rose nodded. "Yes, his father is my maternal uncle."
"Haha, thats pretty funny." Tyson chuckled. "Oliver never mentioned that he had a cousin that could blade so amazingly."
Rose shrugged. "Not his thing to brag. Johnny and Enri on the other hand..." She trailed off as the room laughed.
"True that." Ray chuckled as he saw Kai walk in the room from the corner of his eye.
"Oh and by the way, I'm Garland Siebald. Nice to meet you Rosemarie." Garland said, holding out his hand. Rose nodded and took his hand. Garland had long silver hair tied at the base of his skull with light purple eyes.
"Likewise Garland." She replied as she saw Kai take his spot in the seat behind Ray.
"Hey, Kai stop being Mr Sourpuss and say hi." Tyson chuckled. Kai rolled his eyes and just crossed his arms over his chest.
"We already met." Kai said shortly glancing at Rose, who had turned in her seat. Rose looked at him, taking in his cold posture, and narrowed her eyes.
Ray raised an eyebrow at the exchange. "Really?" He asked out loud.
"Where was that Kai?" Max asked his former captain.
Kai sighed, knowing that they wouldn't stop before they got the information that they wanted. But that didn't mean that he was going to be descriptive about it. "Gym."
Tyson snorted. "Nice to see that your vocabulary has expanded." Kai glared at Tyson and Tyson winced. "Ok, ok, I'll leave it be. Geez, easy does it Sourpuss."
Kai sighed and closed his eyes. But they quickly snapped back open as the 10th and final captain entered the room. The person gave off an even colder vibe than Kai and everyone tensed instinctively as the hooded figure walked in.
"So this is The Dark Oblivions captain." Ozuma whispered at Kane who was standing next to him. Kane nodded as the blader took a seat on the opposite side of the big conference room.
Rose narrowed her eyes as the blader seemed familiar, but she brushed the feeling off as Mr Dickinson entered the room, a bright smile on his face, his baby blue eyes shinning as he ran a hand through his white hair.
"Welcome captains." Mr D greeted as the bladers took their seats around Rose. Rose groaned internally. They were all very nice, but she liked to sit by herself.
As Tyson sat next to him, and behind Rose, Kai saw Rose sink just the slightest amount in her seat and it was like Kai knew what she was thinking. As Julia sat next to her, Kai saw Rose shrink away just slightly. Kai noticed that she didn't seem to like human contact much, unless she initiated it.
"So, lets get down to business, shall we?"
"It was nice to meet you Rose." Ray nodded. It was after the meeting and the old Bladebreakers plus Julia and Rose were heading back up to the 10th floor where all their rooms were.
Rose nodded. "Likewise. Although Julia, I do have a question for you."
Julia shrugged. "Shoot."
"Who else besides you and Raul are on your team?" Rose asked. "I only ask cause last time the World Championships occurred, it was a tag team tournament and this time it's not."
Julia nodded. "Our friends Alvaro Cruz and Elio Soto have joined us."
Rose nodded as they arrived in front of her team's door. There was a shout from inside the suite and before anyone could react, the door was ripped open and Aure came bursting out, Rose gliding back a step so that she wouldn't be run over. But Tyson, who had been standing next to her, didn't react so quickly and Aure ran right into him.
"Oomph." Tyson groaned as Aure, who was significantly shorter than him, ran her shoulder into his chest. The pair ended up slamming into the hall wall opposite the door and sinking to the ground.
"Aure!" Came a scream from inside the suite. "You better give me Michel back right now!" Clair appeared in the doorway, livid, her red hair looking like fire right now. But she hesitated in the doorway, seeing everyone there. Her ocean blues scanned the faces, coming to rest on Max. "Max?"
"Oh hey Clair." Max smiled sweetly.
"Owwww, what hit me?" Tyson groaned, rubbing his head where it had slammed up against the wall.
"Me, Owwwwwwww..." Aure moaned, siting up and looking up to see that she was now in Tyson's lap. She looked closer at his face and recognition passed through her blue/green eyes as she realized who it was. But she didn't care as she stood up, offering him her hand. "Sorry about that." She said as Tyson looked up at her.
"No problem, but never do that again, that hurt." Tyson moaned, rubbing his chest. Then he glanced at her hand and wondered if she could really pull him up given that she was only 5' while he was just over 6'.
Aure noticed the look and rolled her eyes. She bent over, grabbed his hand and hauled him up on his feet.
Tyson went wide eyed as he momentarily left the floor completely. "Damn you are so much stronger then you look."
Aure rolled her eyes as she had always heard this. "Thanks Champ. A girl always likes to hear that. Way to be a gentleman."
Max and Ray couldn't help themselves and started cracking up as Tyson's face went red with embarrassment. Even Kai cracked a smile for a split second. Julia however was dying with laughter.
"You tell him girl." Julia smiled.
Rose rolled her eyes, but a smirk made it's way onto her face.
"Aure, would you just give Clair back her blade and stop making a fuss in the hall? I-" Chanel stopped herself in the middle as she saw everyone in the hall. She glanced at Tyson's red face, with Aure standing in front of him to Clair and her own slightly flushed face as Max smiled at her. Then she raised an eyebrow at her captain who shrugged, silently telling Chanel that Aure and Clair happened. Chanel nodded.
Ray ceased his laughter enough to look up at the newest member of The Spinning Angels that had appeared. "Sorry about all the ruckus. Your friend here certainly knows how to put Tyson in his place."
Chanel smiled. "Well Aure certainly loves to talk."
"Oi!" Aure turned around, a glare in her eyes. "C'était de sa faute, il a été à ma façon!"
"Non, vous avez pris Clair la lame en premier lieu, c'est de ta faute!" Chanel snapped back.
The two bladers glared at each other, no one really understanding what they said, other than Clair and Rose.
Rose sighed. "Aure, give Clair Michel back. And Chanel is right, it is your fault that you ran into Tyson. You took the blade in the first place. But Chanel also should know not to lose her temper."
Chanel took a breath and released it slowly. "You're right Rose. I'm sorry."
Aure sighed. "Sorry Chanel." She walked up to Clair. "Sorry Clair-Bear. I know how important Michel is to you and I shouldn't have taken him."
Clair nodded and took Michel back. "No worries Aure, as long as you understand."
Kai was surprised at how quickly the two stopped at the sound of Rose's voice. It reminded him of Daichi and Tyson stopping in their tracks when Kai himself snapped at them. Although Rose didn't even have to raise her voice to have order.
"What's with all the shouting?" Belle asked, walking to the doorway, Noel at her side. "Oh, hi everyone."
"What's with all the shouting!" Tala roared walking down the hall.
"Relax Tala." Kai said calmly. Tala glanced at him, then at the other girls. He knew the language shouted was french and that the new team was french so he knew they were to blame for interrupting his nap. He glanced quickly at Rose, then looked at Aure, Clair and Chanel, then finally Belle and Noel, but something about Belle made him rest his gaze on her for a split second longer, before glancing back at Rose.
"So, want to explain why you guys woke me up from my nap?" Tala asked.
Rose glared at him. "None of your business Tala."
Tala glared back, stepping towards her until he was looking down at her, him being 6'2" and her being 5'4". Rose however didn't even flinch as he glared down at her, she just glared right back.
No one was really sure what to do. Once again Ray knew that this could end badly if one of them was provoked further. Kai continued to lean against the wall near to door, but if anyone looked close enough, they would see every muscle tensed and ready to intervene if need be.
Tala smirked. "You got some guts. For a girl."
Rose snorted. "You got some balls. For a Russian."
At that Tala chuckled and he backed off a step. "And a sharp tongue too."
Rose smirked. "And you're smart enough to know when you've met your match."
Kai rolled his eyes, relaxing back against the wall, knowing the two wouldn't fight now.
Belle smirked, seeing the exchange for what it was. "Well, now that that is settled, Clair? Aure? We have training in the morning."
Clair nodded, putting Michel in her other hand to put him in his case on her hip. The light flashed on the bit-cip, sparking Max's curiosity.
"Clair, before you go, may I take a look at your blade?" Max asked. Clair's eyes widened slightly, but she thought about it and nodded.
"Sure Max." Clair walked over and placed her sea green/ocean blue blade in Max's hands.
Tyson looked over his best friend's shoulder to get a look at the blade.
As Max looked at the attack ring closer, what he noticed earlier was confirmed. "You're a defense specialist like me, aren't you?" Max asked Clair, looking up at her, ocean blue orbs meeting.
Clair nodded. "Yes, the only one on my team, like you were and still are right?" She asked, glancing at Tyson, Ray and Kai in turn.
Tyson nodded. "Yea. I'm more attack oriented, Ray's speed and Kai's balance."
"But it is rare to find a defense blader at all." Max said in awe as his eyes glanced over the bit-chip before handing the blade back to Clair.
Clair nodded. "I agree with that. After-all, of all the top bladers in the world, only you and I are defensive bladers."
Max smiled. "Well, we will just have to see who's the better defensive blader then."
Clair smirked. "I look forward to that."
Awwwww...haha
As you might be able to tell, this will have multiple pairings in it. I hope I can give each pairing the time that they deserve, but that might not happen, just warning you now.