Chapter 3 - A Dark Encounter And Vai's Life-threatening Experience
Vai awoke, blinking in the soft light of morning as sunlight streamed through the window. Brushing sleep from her eyes, she looked at Kai's makeshift bed, that was next to hers. Kai wasn't there. He's probably gone out for some air, she thought, sitting up. It was then that she was struck with a thought. His bed was beside hers. Had he voluntarily slept beside her? Or had he just slept there anyway? He might want to be my friend after all, she thought. She smiled. I sure hope so. But I'll find out as time goes on; it could be that it's just wistful thinking…and he doesn't want to be my friend at all… Her smile faded slightly as she shrugged. She would find out some when if their friendship was to carry on; there was hope that it would last for a long time to come, and Vai hoped that she and Kai would still be friends in the future.
The girl slid open the wooden front door and slipped out into the small garden. She had taken a Beystadium out with her and set it down on the ground. Thrusting out her launcher, Beyblade and ripcord inserted, she took up her position at the arena. "LET IT RIP!" her shout rang out. Icefire flew into the stadium, a blur of sparkling sapphire. As everything was quiet and she was alone, Vai unleashed her Bit Beast. The giant, elegant creature rose up before her, gliding on wings at least thrice the width of itself. Each individual feather sparkled and shone like crystals when they caught the light of the sun. The phoenix's eyes, the same colour as its body, looked at her kindly. Its call sounded out coolly, chiming and crystalline.
"Sapphire Blizzard!" Vai called. The blue phoenix vanished into a blast of fierce wind; a freezing gale that ripped through the garden, a chilling blizzard of sapphire-blue ice crystals raining down. Soon, the whole garden was engulfed and frozen in a crystalline, sapphire-ice structure. "Well done, Icefire!" Vai told her Bit Beast. "Nice job." As she scooped up her Beyblade, she looked around at the frozen garden and sighed. How was she going to clear this up before the team came out? Even the sun itself could not melt this ice. A dark blue Beyblade shot into the garden out of nowhere, spinning with amazing, almost effortless ease over the uneven, frozen ground. The blade blazed with bright red fire, its mystical flames melting the ground as it span towards her, leaving the ground drenched in the water from the melted ice in its wake. The Beyblade span on the spot in front of her.
Vai looked up to see Kai stride uncaringly through a particularly large puddle. He silently held out his hand and Dranzer flew into it. He glanced around at the flooded garden and raised an eyebrow. "You did this?" he asked. Vai's cheeks turned pink with embarrassment as she looked about at the huge puddles that covered the ground. She giggled nervously, nodding. The corners of Kai's mouth twitched with amusement. "Good Special Attack," he approved calmly. "Just a little wet."
Vai's flush turned from pink to red at his words. He looked at her, shaking his head. With that, Kai returned to the dojo. Vai sighed. "This is great, just great," she muttered. "The garden's all slushy thanks to me. What will Tyson's grandfather say?"
At that moment, Ray came out, stretching extravagantly. His yellow-orange eyes were bright in the morning light. He gave Vai an almost catlike grin, his long sabre-like canines slipping over his lower lip. They flashed brilliant white as they did so. Vai beamed back. "'Morning, Ray," she smiled. The Chinese teen laughed a small laugh.
"Good to see you too, Vai," he replied cheerfully. Max looked over Ray's shoulder at her and winked, flashing a big smile. Vai nodded to him, tucking a loose strand of glossy raven hair behind her ear. Her friends stepped out in to the garden, looking around at the puddles. Vai laughed. "Early morning training," she chuckled. Ray and Max didn't seem to mind. They practiced in the garden anyway, easily adapting to the flooded ground. Kai came out just then, and also joined in the training. Vai found herself training alongside him, and her heart leaped for joy. He didn't seem to notice her happiness as she and Icefire practiced.
Tyson's loud shout made Vai and the others jump out of their skins. "Hilary!" he groaned. Hilary walked out of the house, trying to suppress whoops of mirth. Her ruby-red eyes twinkled with amusement. Then, she burst out laughing. Max and Ray looked at her in suspicion.
"What did you do to our team-mate?" they asked together. The girl put on an innocent, wide-eyed lost little girl look.
"Oh, nothing…" she replied sweetly in a girly voice. Ray fixed her with a mockingly fierce cat stare.
"Spill it, Hilary," he told her, his eyes becoming catlike and an intensely bright yellow. Max also stared at her sternly. Kai watched this from a distance, violet eyes amused as he saw Hilary back away from them.
"Okay, okay," she relented. "I surrender!"
"I just gave him a drink of water, that's all," she explained.
Ray gave her a mocking dark look. "You mean, you soaked him with water," he corrected.
Hilary threw her hands up in exasperation, sighing irritably. "Oh, whatever!" she huffed, "He needs to wake up sometime!"
Muttering and grumbling, a dripping, bleary-eyed Tyson stalked out into the garden. He shot Hilary a dark look before getting on with his practicing. Vai smiled to herself. What a pair! she thought, shaking her head.
That evening, at Central Park, Kai wandered around the playground absently, alone in his thoughts. His mind dwelt on the premonition Vai had told them about a night ago. What did it mean? The Dark Beybladers…Black Dranzer…their Bit Beasts, captured…the evil gang's Bit Beasts more powerful than they had been before… He thought hard about it, yet the answer to the strange dream eluded him. When would the gang appear? And how could Black Dranzer return, when it had been destroyed so many years ago? He paused in mid-walk as he was hit by an awful thought. What if Black Dranzer hadn't been destroyed, just lost somewhere, waiting to be released once again? The boy gave an involuntary shudder. He shivered inwardly.
"Kai Hiwatari," an icy, evil voice hissed. "We meet again, at last." Kai whirled around.
"Who's there?" he demanded. "Show yourself!" Seemingly from the shadows themselves, a shady cloaked figure emerged. The man's face was hidden beneath a hood, but his eyes glowed with an eerie, cold, blood-red aura; they pierced the dim light of the evening. He fixed an unwavering, piercing gaze upon Kai, eyes heartless and blazing with an evil lust. This terrifying stare was enough to even scare Kai, but the teen showed no outward emotion and remained calm and silent. He shot back an icy death glare. These were a well-known factor about him, and always unsettled his victims. The cloaked figure cringed and looked away. No one could ever withstand Kai's chilling stares for long. They were unnervingly penetrating and struck terror into the hearts of those they were directed at. No one evil could ever beat the horrifying, soulless, cold-hearted glare that seemed to bore into their very heart and soul.
Kai smirked. He could always stare someone down, no matter who they were, and he always won staring contests. If looks could kill, Kai's certainly would have killed many - including the creepy guy confronting him now. "What do you want from me?" he interrogated the man. "And what're you doing here?"
"I've come…for you," was the answer. "Because you're the only one who can do it."
Kai felt his skin crawl. "Do what?"
The newcomer stared at him coldly. "Control Black Dranzer."
Vai snapped awake, heart pounding. Something had woken her, but she didn't know what. Something told her that a terrible thing was about to happen; and its occurrence was imminent. She leaped out of bed, dressed into normal clothes and slipped out of her hotel room, locking the door behind her. She sped out of the hotel, taking her Beyblade with her. Vai needed to get to the park - and fast. All she knew was that Kai was in danger, and needed her help. She had to stop him, before it was too late.
Kai's heart beat faster. "Black Dranzer's…alive?" he asked slowly. "But, how in -"
The cloaked figure regarded him icily. "Yes," he answered. "More alive than you think."
"You're needed," he continued, "To control Black Dranzer. And if you don't comply, the consequences will be grave…don't forget, I have other powers besides the ones to control a Bit Beast…" He bared long, lethal fangs that were curved at the tips. They flashed a luminous white in the dim light as he menacingly advanced towards Kai.
Without warning, a Beyblade flashed past Kai, zipping through the air to slash at the hooded man, cutting his face. Blood flickered through the air. The man stopped in his tracks, placing a pale hand with long, sharp nails to his cut-open cheek. "Leave him alone!" Vai snapped, appearing beside Kai.
"You've got nothing to do with this," the vampire-like man retorted. "I'll kill both of - "
"Keep your mouth shut!" Vai cut in, "Or it'll be more than your cheek that gets ripped out!" Icefire returned to her palm and she re-attached it to its launcher, thrusting it and the Beyblade out threateningly towards him, aiming for the person's neck. The cloaked figure retreated, backing away from her and Kai.
"You can't protect him forever, girl!" he hissed, before vanishing back into the shadows.
Vai sighed with relief. "Phew, that was a close one," she gasped. "You were almost a goner!" She looked at him anxiously. "You're not hurt, are you?" Kai shook his head. Thanks to her, he had escaped unscathed. The girl shuddered. "He wasn't human, was he?" she shivered. "There's something creepy about him…and those fangs…ugh. I hate to think what he'd have done to you." She shivered again, grimacing. "He gave me the creeps."
"That vampire guy comes from the Dark Beybladers," Kai explained to her.
"Are th-they all like that?" Vai asked fearfully. "Have fangs and stuff, I mean?"
He nodded. "Uh-huh. Their Bit Beasts are like that, too."
Vai grimaced even more. "Great." Kai looked at her reassuringly.
"Don't worry, Vai," he told her seriously. "We won't let them bug us. The team'll beat 'em."
She looked at him thankfully. Then, her face turned to surprise. "You said my name," she breathed.
Kai shrugged. "Yeah, what of it?"
"It's just that it's the first time you've used it in years," she replied, eyes shining. "I think you like me more, is all." With that, Vai smiled at him brightly and began to walk out of the park. Kai, a little confused and startled by what she had said, followed close behind her.
Vai fell straight to sleep as she laid her head into the pillow, back in her hotel room. All that excitement with the Dark Beyblader in the park had worn her out. She slept fitfully, but knew that the threat from the shady team wasn't over yet. They would be back, for sure. The Bit Beasts, including hers, were in terrible and grave danger…and the battle had only just begun.
Kai's team, the next day, after hearing Kai and Vai's tale of what had happened the previous night, vowed to take the Dark Beybladers down and practiced even harder. Mr. Dickenson, Head of the Beyblade Battle Association, (the BBA), also heard about what happened and promised in an e-mail that he would look for the evil team and try and track them down. "He hasn't got much hope of catching them," Tyson remarked as they gathered around Kenny and his laptop to read the e-mail. There were nods and murmurs of agreement from the team members. Only Kai said nothing, silent as usual.
They practiced hard over the following week, so they would be prepared if the Dark Bladers struck again without warning. But there were no other events concerning the shady team and no one saw any sign of them. Mr. Dickenson, pleased that they were working so hard, said they could have a well-earned day of rest at the beach. He hired a coach for them, and they were taken to the beach the next day.
The beach was beautiful. Surrounded by towering cliffs, it had miles of golden sand and a calm, crystal-clear sea. Vai sighed with content as she relaxed in the cool water, drifting up and down with the waves. Tyson, Kenny and Hilary swam close by, also enjoying the water. Ray and Kai relaxed in the shade of the overhanging cliffs. Daichi, a feisty little red-haired kid, had rejoined the team after staying in his village for a while after they had won the Justice Five Tournament. He had also joined in with the beach trip and swam in the water with Tyson and his friends. Vai liked him; he was amusing and funny in many ways - the way he acted, what he said. He even amused Kai at times, making him almost smile at his comical antics. His bright, emerald-green eyes danced as he played about in the water.
Vai stopped floating and swam gracefully to the shore, walking up on to the soft, dry sand. Her skin and hair glistened with droplets as she walked over to Kai and Ray. She lay down in the shade beside Kai, relishing the feel of the soft, warm sand beneath her. As they lay there, tiny stones fell down from the cliffs. They bounced off Kai's nose. He looked up. Bigger stones rolled down the cliff face now, with huge boulders that tumbled after them. For the first time, Kai's face showed emotion briefly but clearly - and that emotion was fear. "Guys - look out!" he shouted frantically. Ray managed to escape, but Vai wasn't quick enough. Screaming with terror as the rocks plummeted towards her, she shut her eyes.
Someone threw themselves against her, hurling her flat against the cliff wall. As debris and rocks pounded their body, the person didn't even flinch, standing utterly still, keeping her against the cliff. When the rockslide had ceased, Vai opened her eyes. Kai's face peered down at her. His eyes, instead of being cold and hard, were soft and worried. "You okay?" he asked. She nodded breathlessly. He stopped pressing his body against hers and stood facing her, shaking the dust and debris from his hair. Vai was silent and speechless with astonishment. Kai had protected her from the rocks, shielding her from harm, and getting hit by them instead of her. He had saved her life.
"Thank you, Kai," she told him. He nodded, then looked up suspiciously at the cliff face, violet eyes narrowing. She looked at him quizzically.
"What's up?" Vai asked him.
"Something must've set that off," he replied. "It wasn't unstable when we got here…and I thought I saw someone just now. I bet it was a Dark Blader."
She sighed. "They're after us again."
Kai nodded. "Yeah…" The team, after just witnessing what had happened, ran over to them anxiously.
"You guys okay?" Tyson panted.
"Yeah," Ray answered, "It sure was a close one. We would've been dead meat if it hadn't been for Kai." He smiled at Kai, adding, "And he saved Vai's life - he stopped her from getting hurt by the rocks!"
Tyson also beamed at Kai. "Well done, buddy," he laughed. The Russian remained silent, but Tyson swore that he saw the ghost of a smile flicker across his friend's usually emotionless face.
Vai glanced up at the cliff face. The Dark Beybladers were out there, somewhere, she knew. This had been their second strike - and she and her friends had won again. They had purposely set off a rock slide to hurt - or maybe even kill - her and the team. Who knew what third terrible deed they would think of next? Her heart clenched with fear at the thought of them plotting something even worse than what had happened today. She shivered, in spite of the warm summer day. Something told her that she and her friends might not be third time lucky.