C is for Cryptic
"Look at 'em down there, you'd swear the kid with the glasses was gonna give himself an aneurysm."
Dunga crossed his arms and legs as he leaned back fully against the thick trunk of the tree. As usual, the Saint Shields had picked a bountiful ginkgo to cloak their observations of the BladeBreakers down below. With the champion team still unawares of the plan to take the four sacred beasts, watching them brainstorm ideas was important.
...And also fundamentally hilarious.
"Maybe they're spies..."
Tyson flopped backward on the grassy knoll with his hands behind his head. Eyes aimed upward at the cloudy sky, he too failed to notice the four competitors hidden in the branches of the towering tree.
"Spies? Spies from what Tyson?" Ray sat cross-legged beside him with an amused look on his face. In fact it mirrored Joseph's quite well.
"Maybe from the BBA! I mean it has been over a month since we've heard anything from Mr. Dickenson; you remember what he did to us in Europe?! This could be another master plan of his to keep us all in shape... Paying off hooded freaks to keep us on our toes!"
Dunga made a face. "Why I oughta-"
"Be quiet Dunga; you'll give us away."
"But Ozuma-"
"I said be quiet!"
Mariam rolled her eyes at the familiar day-to-day of her teammates. Having grown up together, bitching at one another was nothing new. In fact she'd planned on pushing Dunga out of this very tree only minutes ago. Swinging her legs slowly from the high branch where she perched, her elbow on her knee and chin in hand, she stared downward at the six people.
Most days they never really got anything of use from all the spying. And today seemed like one of those days, but Ozuma's paranoia could never be put to rest. The four of them had spent vast chunks of their lives preparing for the day that they would encounter the four mystic beasts, and he didn't want to let anything slide that could prove useful.
Though Mari hardly saw the use in Kenny thinking they were actually muggers in disguise.
"Chief that would never happen!"
"Max we didn't think any lunatic would ever use beyblading as a means to take over the world either but look at Kai's Grand-... Sorry Kai I'm sorry!"
Kai opened one eye where he lay beside Ray, hands also behind his head and spout of grass between his lips. Kenny tensed, but... Kai just closed his eye again. The Chief breathed a deep sigh of relief.
Apparently fear of the captain ran deep in the little guy.
"I don't get it, they act like Kai's pulverized people before or something." Joseph looked up at Ozuma. "Think if Kai challenged you to a fight you could take him?"
Ozuma raised an eyebrow. "Why the hell would I care about fighting Kai outside the beystadium?"
Joseph shrugged, "I dunno; could be interesting. I mean you're short and all but Kai's bark could be worse than his bite-"
"Jesus would you shut up Joseph?"
Her little brother grinned. "I'm just foolin' around Sis."
"Well your sister has the right idea Joseph. We're not here to fool around."
Joseph sighed, and the four pairs of eyes returned to the sight below.
Mariam's however couldn't help but be drawn to the same place over and over again.
Max Tate stretched his arms out and up with a yawn.
"Look, I don't think the Saint Shields are spies; and I don't think they're serial killers or muggers either. I mean, Mariam had me alone in an alley; if she wanted to mug me she had the opportunity."
Mariam closed her eyes, but couldn't help the brief smile that crossed her face. She had ideas, in that alley... She wasn't immune to a hot face and muscles; she maybe had a mission but that didn't mean she couldn't look. She just battled Max that day in New York... But if she'd been able to leave the cloak at home she maybe would've worn something a little more suggestive. Max always seemed to get so flustered when he was talking about her or about their team; and Mariam liked it when Max got flustered.
Joseph slid his eyes toward his blue-haired family member. 'There's that look on her face again... I hope Sis knows what she's doing.'
"I know Max, we're just joking about that kinda stuff." Ray plucked at a few pieces of grass. "I think we're all so bothered just because the Saint Shields are so... they're so intent on being mysterious. Not that most of our enemies aren't, but you've gotta appreciate the ones who just come right out and tell us who they are and what they want."
"Ray's right. Plus, I think it's a little funny that they're sticking around! So obviously they were interested in more than just that first battle with you guys."
Mariam tilted her head a little. That Hilary girl seemed to be plastered to the team's side these days. It didn't really bother her; she seemed more annoying than anything else. Though the way Hilary felt about Tyson was as obvious as Dunga's rage impairment.
The BladeBreakers really did seem determined to figure out what they were up to. ...Anddddd goddamn, Max's hair looked pretty nice in the sunlight.
...Crap.
"Maybe they're not bad guys. I mean they haven't tried to hurt us or anything. So far they haven't tried to steal anything." Max smiled as his far-off gaze faced the other side of the river, a rushing current that separated both sides of the city and a mirrored bank of grass. Mariam internally smirked.
'Oh Maxie... You have no idea.'
Ozuma crossed his arms.
"Wrong about that one, Max."
Joseph looked up at his standing leader again. "Hey techhhhhnically; if we challenge 'em to a beybattle for their bitbeasts and they lose it's not stealing!"
He had a point there. But it was also a good thing the entire BladeBreakers team appeared absolutely deaf, because Mari's brother was usually a lot more tactful than this.
The blonde BladeBreaker on the ground started to crack his knuckles, that same smile on his face. He seemed to be doing the act almost unconsciously. "I'd love to be friends with them. Not competitors, not enemies... Just actual friends. That Mariam was an awesome beyblader; I bet we could learn a lot from eachother."
Joseph looked at his sister again. But this time the smile had faded from her face.
Her green eyes were staring hard at the youngest BladeBreaker, her teeth visibly set inside her jaw. Whatever Max had said, it somehow struck a chord with Joseph's older sister. In a world where they didn't have this mission, Joseph would've had no problem with being friends with them; just so happens that Tyson, Kai, Ray and Max were the unlucky four who possessed ticking time bombs inside their blades. So he wasn't exactly sure what could've pissed Mariam off so much.
Well... Joseph had a fair idea, but Ray blurted it out before he could.
"You sure that's all you wanna be with Mariam, Max? Friends?" The Chinese blader grinned at his blonde buddy, pointed canines damn near glinting in the sun.
Max's cheeks turned fifty shades of red.
"I... Be quiet Ray, go call Mariah!"
Now that brought Tyson sitting straight up, Ray laughing like he had undeniably 'won this one' and Joseph's sister... a little more stiff where she sat beside him.
"Are you serious Max? Do you like that girl?!"
"No Tyson! It has nothing to do with that... I just think it'd be awesome to battle her again. She obviously knew a lot of tricks that I didn't because she kicked my ass..."
"Sure sure Max. Whatever. I'm sure you want to be her 'friend' because she can pull a ripcord through a launcher; not because her legs go on forever." Ray's cheeky grin deserved to be punched right off his overly smug face. And by god, Mariam wanted to.
"Ray I swear..."
Ray laughed again. "I'm just kidding Max. I know what you mean."
"Yeah, because I was about to credit your 'friendship' with Mariah to her D-cups."
Hilary was slamming her hands over her ears in a nanosecond. "UGH! GUYS! Female counterpart here?!"
Tyson laughed a belly laugh while even Kai cracked a smirk. Kenny's face had turned beet red and clearly he was having a hard time keeping the giggles in. Ozuma rolled his eyes.
"Oh for fuck's sake."
"Blondie-boy must be blind if he thinks Mariam's pretty..."
Mariam leaned over and punched Dunga in the thigh hard enough to bruise for a good few days, then crossed her own arms and sat there with a pissed off look on her face. Joseph could tell... It was easy, really; he knew Mariam better than anyone. And Max's infatuation wasn't exactly disguised up until now to her, either. Joseph just hoped that the little twit had more reasons than his sister's... legs... to be interested in her. Because... Yeah.
Ray's head dipped downward, but he didn't get angry at Max; nor did he make it better for himself. "I'm not friends with Mariah because of her boobs... But I'm not saying they don't help her case."
That got a good laugh out of all the guys. Mariam rolled her eyes and Hilary shook her head.
Soon, as the chuckles died down and Ray received a friendly punch to the arm from Tyson, Max continued.
"But, seriously... I do like Mariam. And I like her for her technique. I think if we had the chance to talk more, I might get past the whole hood-wearing side of her; maybe find out what the Saint Shields really want. You guys have gotta admit; all that mystery really adds to their power. It works for them."
Kai opened his eyes and slanted them towards the blonde.
"The idea of them sneaking around and watching us might be alluring Max, but that kind of shit only happens in movies. For now their presence is a thing that has to be taken seriously; they could be up to anything."
Ozuma, Dunga and Joseph, for the first time, let themselves have a chuckle at Kai's expense. It wasn't because what the dual-toned boy said was funny. Mostly, because his words were ironic. They really had no idea down there, just what they were about to face.
Mariam looked down at Max again, just in time for Max to open his mouth and speak.
"I know... But they aren't hurting anybody. And... I guess I like a bit of mystery."
Joseph shook his head with a chuckle. "It won't be a mystery for much longer, will it Mariam?" Sadly, that little smile had made its way back onto his sister's face.
MS: And there's chapter three. Thanks again to Iluvbeyblade for being my only reviewer! :) At least you make this worth writing :P
As a side note, in case anyone is actually listening, I'm wondering about the possibility of starting a two-person Beyblade roleplay. Possibly done over skype because it has a good messaging system; but no webcams involved. I have a few fic ideas I would love to run through with someone. If anyone is interested please send me a PM!
Thanks everyone :)
