Hi guys! Is everyone enjoying my story so far? Anyway there's something I'd like to point out, in G Revolution the Demolition Boys are now called the Blitzkrieg Boys right? Well they are a Russian team right? I kind of think their new name is inappropriate because in World War 2 the Nazis used Blitzkrieg to bomb the hell out of Russia, I mean that's like a bunch of Beybladers from New York proudly calling themselves the 9/11 Massacre Crew!
Kai watched as the gang hurried to gather their coats and bags with sweet childish eagerness; it had been a long journey and the boys were more than ready to leave the confines of their carriage.
"Man! I can't wait to get out there!" exclaimed Max
Kai slung his bag over his shoulder, the fact that they were so excited annoyed him to the core but inwardly he shared their desperate desire to unboard…umpteen hours on a train with bad company can really 'turn' a guy.
"I'm outta here!" announced Tyson he then rushed without thinking and pushed through the-not-yet-fully-open doors of the train and jumped down onto the busy station platform "HEY RUSSIA! MAKE WAY FOR THE BLADEBREAKERS!!!!" he yelled……..
Kai frowned angrily, only three seconds in Moscow and Tyson had already made a twenty-four carat, grade-A dick-head out of himself …this has got to be a new record…
Luckily the climatic sub-zero temperature forced the over-confident kid into silence and left him shivering madly in front of the unimpressed crowd. Kenny giggled then threw his frozen friend a light blue 'official' BBA coat/cloak thing?
"Thanks Chief, but you could have given me this sooner" complained Tyson. Kenny also passed one to Kai "Here you go!" he said with a smile. Reluctantly, Kai took it and stared at the tacky garment with a great amount of disapproval; his original plan had been to either walk a few steps ahead or behind the rest of the team and completely disown them so people would not associate him with the Bladebreakers in any way…… but with the 'good old' team logo plastered across his back there was no escaping his tight link with the 'kiddie brigade'
Somewhere far across the platform, hidden by crowds and distance, two sneaky spies observed the actions of their future competition:
"They're here…" Tala smirked
"Those guys are the Bladebreakers?...I can't believe Boris is making such a big deal over this" sneered Ian
Tala's gaze narrowed as he looked at Kai and studied his attractive features; tall and athletic with hair of dusky platinum-blue and blackest indigo, he couldn't define the exact colour of his eyes but he knew they were dark…
"There he is…"
"Who?" asked Ian
"Voltaire's grandson, we're supposed to watch out for him in battle…apparently he's good…"
"Oh really?" replied Ian sarcastically "Hey! Maybe he's better than you"
"Shut-up… It's time to move on to the second phase of the plan, let's go. …Boris is waiting in Red Square" stated Tala.
Back with the Bladebreakers:
Kai was last to step off the train leaving behind the warm grace of central-heating. Outside the sky was a grey mixture of clouds, pollution and fog which seemed to reflect the personality of the passing strangers…every single person looked depressed…maybe they had good reason? Afterall, it's not like this was Disneyland, Kai and his team were now in a country where the mafia moves faster than the military, nuclear radiation poisons the land and the freezing air hits damn hard, like a drunken, abusive husband to his wife but this was normal for Russia and familiar to Kai.
Red Square:
Two boys lurked menacingly by one of the outer walls of Lenin's Mausoleum; Bryan and Spencer. They, like every other blader on Biovaults' team, had been trained non-stop to near perfection. Bryan: perhaps the most ruthless Demolition Boy of all? looked icy and mean with pale mauve hair and elongated side-burns. Then there was Spencer: 17 years old but he was big for his age and built like a body-builder who had been knocked into shape by Arnold Schwarzenegger; he too looked quite intimidating with a hard expression and an army haircut.
"Do you think Tala found them?" asked Bryan
"…Now's your chance to ask him" replied Spencer, grinning
Bryan followed his gaze looking behind to see Tala approach and judging by the excited glint in his blue eyes there was no doubt he had indeed located the Bladebreakers and more importantly, Kai.
"So? What do you make of Voltaire's grandson and his team?" enquired Bryan
"…Why are you so desperate to know? Are you scared of them?" retorted Tala
"No, just curious" stated Bryan
Tala smirked "Kids…They're just kids"
"I see" said Bryan, though no one quite knew what he meant by that
"Has Boris issued any further orders?" asked Tala
"No, we just have to make sure those kids are in position over by the Cathedral, according to Boris their hotel is in that direction and so is he…after that the situation is out of our hands" explained Spencer
"Alright then its show-time" announced Tala. Bryan reached into his backpack, propped against the wall, and pulled out two Beyblades still in their original packaging right from the toy-store shelf, he tossed one over to Tala and kept the other for himself; they both ripped the clear plastic covering from the backing-card and threw the litter straight on the floor. These blades were to be used as bait because using their own professional battle tops in public would raise suspicion especially with Kai who was, supposedly, a very clever character.
"We'll aim for Tyson and Max, the kid with the baseball cap and the American with blonde hair…although they seem to come through well in competition, our profiles show they can be extremely…. gullible" said Tala militantly as he and his team crossed the paved surface of Red Square.
Meanwhile the Bladebreakers struggled with the current quest of finding their hotel….
"Errrr….errrr….hmmmm….I think it says…ummm" stammered Kenny
"This is hopeless!!!!!!!" exclaimed Tyson who was growing ever impatient
Ray looked over Kenny's shoulder at the puzzling directions "Don't worry guys we'll find it……eventually" he said in a not-so-sure way….
Kai studied this 'new' world around him as he stood a short distance away from the others, the shape of the buildings, the lay of the land and the Cyrillic language spoken by the natives…..everything seemed to settle with a sense of belonging which left him feeling uneasy. He sighed heavily and caught up with the team …they can't even follow simple directions?...
"Let me see that" he said to the back of Kenny's head who then turned around quickly "Huh?....oh…sure" replied the 'Chief' who always cowered and became nervous whenever he was confronted with Kai…as though he thought Kai was going to hurt him or something. Kenny passed the directions to him and waited for a response.
…Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street…The Palace Hotel?...Grandfather you really are too kind…
"Follow me" ordered Kai as he gave the scrap of paper back and walked on ahead; without bothering to check if the others were following.
"…That guy drives me nuts!" exclaimed Tyson who didn't really care whether Kai heard him or not
"Hey lay off him Tyson, it's been a long journey, he probably just wants to get to the hotel and chill-out…I sure know I want to" explained Ray
"Yeah! I bet you're right" agreed Max
"I know he can be difficult, he's a loner…that's just the way he is" concluded Ray as he watched Kai walk further and further away.
"Why are you always trying to stand up for that jerk?…Do you 'like' him or something?" teased Tyson, immaturely nudging him in the arm.
"…Get real" Ray sighed before following after Kai
As the Bladebreakers trudged along with their captain, a strange feeling started to bug them: of all the countries they had visited over the past year Russia seemed to be the most unwelcoming. There were lots of kids blading in the streets and parks but they weren't laughing or having fun and offered no invitation to battle, instead they stopped and stared darkly, as if to say 'Who are you foreigner? Why are you in my country and more to the point when are you leaving?' Kai caught on straight away and briefly glanced at the other boys to see how they were reacting to this weird air of Nazi strength hostility. He looked at Ray specifically …you feel it, don't you?…
Nearby:
"Assume your positions now" ordered Tala
Bryan grinned as he held his loaded launcher out in front "I haven't done it for fun like this since I was a kid……..such sweet memories"
Dizzi the laptop suddenly came to life "Are we there yet?" her voice drew Kai's attention to Kenny who had decided to adorn his head with the most ridiculous hat he had ever seen; it looked like a dead racoon …you think that is Russian?...Pathetic…
"Wow! Look at this place, I wish we had time to check out the sights right now" exclaimed Kenny in attempt to start up some kind of conversation
"Yeah…that would be great" agreed Max, even though they knew 'the captain' would never authorise such 'a waste of time'
The tourism aspect of Moscow didn't appeal to Kai. He didn't see it as a brand new adventure; in fact it felt more like going back to see the same movie for a second time where all the scenes and sounds grow old and boring.
Tyson had been quiet for a while, to be honest he was thoroughly pissed off …Stupid blue haired jerk…always ruining everything…dissing the team non-stop… thinks he's so damn cool… His moody concentration was unexpectedly broken as something lightly tapped against his foot "Wha..? A beyblade?"
"Got him!" Tala confirmed, he stood proudly admiring his own skill, due to the fact it was quite an achievement to cover such distance with an amateur blade intended for child's play unlike pro-blades which clear the distance effortlessly and shred everything along the way.
"Hey that kid lost it!...I guess he's just a beginner" remarked Tyson as he picked up the toy and forgot he was supposed to be feeling angry
Ray wasn't so sure it had been an accident, his senses were sharp and he could judge most situations accurately "…Don't you think he looks a little too old for a beginner?" he asked with suspicion
Kai looked across at the grinning owner of the beyblade, and decided he felt the same as Ray …accident?...I don't think so…
"Let's give it back!" said Tyson "And since I'm in such a generous mood I might even slip him a couple of battle tips!"
"You're so big-headed" Max joked
Tyson ignored him and began waving his arms madly, yelling "Hey! Hey kid! I got your blade over here!"
Kai continued to study the red-haired teen and frowned as a throbbing headache began to develop …Ray was right. You're not a beginner…I know this because you were trained like me…with me…here?
Tyson dashed down the wet stone slope flanked by piles of snow and headed in Tala's direction "Don't worry I got it! Right here!"
Tala turned to the other three "…start walking". Without question they complied and left Tyson chasing behind "Waaaaaaaait! I have your beyblade!"
Suddenly Max bolted after him …it sure would be cool to make friends with some Russian kids…
Kenny giggled and trotted along as well, leaving Ray alone with Kai. "…I get the feeling that guy was looking for trouble".
Kai didn't answer, instead he slowly began making his way after the rest of the team, this caused Ray to lose his temper slightly "Kai!...Are we walking into a trap?"
Kai stopped at the base of the slope and looked back "You don't have to come…"
It wasn't a proper answer but Ray knew it was the best he could get out of Kai; today he was in super-jerk mode.
…Kai, you know more than what you're letting on…
"he's gaining on us!" whispered Ian, he glanced back at Tyson again
"Shut-up and keep moving!" Tala shoved him which made Bryan and Spencer laugh slightly
"Assholes" cursed Ian under his breath, lucky for him the others didn't hear.
St Basil's Cathederal now loomed before them and the Bladebreakers continued to follow in hot pursuit
"Where is Boris? I don't see him" said Tala as he scanned the area, "Maybe we got the wrong place?" suggested Ian which earned him some angry glares.
Unknown to any of them, Boris was very close doing what he did best: lurking like a shadow among the high surrounding statues and walls. He smiled slyly upon seeing the Demolition Boys because he knew that behind them his precious Kai was following whichever fool Tala had managed to lure.
"What's his problem? Why won't he stop" asked Tyson completely baffled
"Forget it, come on lets go" said Kai firmly
"No way!"
Backed against the locked metal gates of the Cathedral, and without anywhere left to flee the Demolition Boys were now faced with Tyson who was looking for an explanation.
"Why are you running away? I have your Beyblade, don't you want it back?"
"…Of course he does" came a smooth voice; Boris appeared somewhere to the side of the two groups "Say thank-you Tala" he smiled
Kai froze and felt numb like a corpse as the strange, tall, shrouded man passed by; meanwhile the rest of the team stood cautiously waiting for this guy to introduce himself. Boris stopped in front of Tala, who inwardly burned with fury at the patronizing comment …say thank-you?...go to hell…
"I recognise you five, you're the Bladebreakers, champions of Asia, Europe and America …believe me you have no idea how much of a 'pleasure' it is to finally meet you" it was a slightly overbearing greeting but he was charming and well-spoken so Tyson figured Russian people of high class society always acted this way.
"My name is Boris Balkov and this is my team, the Demolition Boys"
…Boris Balkov?…
Kai flinched and felt as though a ball of solid lead dropped within his stomach.
"Errr well Boris it's good to meet you too, hey guys don't you think it's awesome that our rep has spread so far!? So does Tala want this back or what?" said Tyson as he held out the Beyblade. Tala didn't like this setup, it had not been part of the original plan, he was beginning to lose his temper and it showed. "Come on Tala, I know you can be nicer than this" said Boris
"Kai…are you ok?" whispered Ray to his pale friend, he knew something wasn't right.
Meanwhile Tala came forward to Tyson and took the blade from his hand a little harsher than necessary. "So you're a Demolition Boy huh? Well I guess we'll be facing each other in the tournament"
"…maybe" replied Tala; he couldn't help feeling quite amused by this kid's pointless enthusiasm but for now he had fulfilled his orders and wanted to get the hell out of there. He looked at Kai one last time before leaving with Bryan, Ian and Spencer.
"He really isn't so bad once you get to know him" Boris chuckled
"That might be true but I'm more interested in defeating him rather than getting better acquainted" replied Tyson
"Such determination is admirable Tyson, but on a more serious note Tala's behaviour was out of line, as his coach I feel I am responsible so please accept my invitation to take your team to lunch as a way of apologising; afterwards I can arrange for you to be dropped off at your hotel"
Tyson instantly perked up at the thought of a free meal "That sounds great! Sure we accept!"
Max and Kenny also shared in the excitement, even Ray lightened up thinking perhaps he had been wrong to get so suspicious before but for Kai it was a completely different story. He didn't want to go but how could he walk away after the invitation had already been accepted? If he did it would make him weird and bad-mannered in the eyes of his team but on the other hand why should he allow himself to be dragged along in the company of someone who freaked him out?…what do you want from me Boris?...
Surely this kind of peer-pressure was reserved for teenage girls about to go on a date with a boyfriend who expected sex straight after. Kai couldn't remember the last time he had felt such insecurity, but rest assured, the memory was there somewhere.
Someone e-mailed me questioning why I had categorised this fic as romance and asked if the couple was Boris & Kai …..short answer: no way! And there will be romance; the pairing in Wicked Blue shall be Mariah & Kai!......Do you think I'm joking?