Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade.
Chapter Four
Bryan stirred as the sun hit his face and forced himself to open his eyes. He grumbled and looked down when he felt a slight movement. Seemed the sun had woken Ellie as well. He slipped out of the king-sized bed and padded over to the wardrobe to get some clothes for Ellie. He turned to see Ellie still waking up. He placed the clothes on the bed and after changing her bandages, he left the room. He was glad to see her injuries were healing well.
'What happened yesterday must've happened due to her jarring her arm or something…' he thought as he changed his clothes (he had fallen asleep in his clothes yesterday). He left his room and saw Ellie leaving her room, a small fist rubbing her sleepy eyes. They walked downstairs and were about to go to the kitchen when they were stopped by a grinning Tala.
"Ellie, if you don't mind, I want to talk to you. In private." He added when he saw Bryan about to follow him to where he was already dragging Ellie. "Don't worry, you'll get her back in one piece!" Tala called over his shoulder as he rounded a corner. He continued to drag Ellie along, the girl only just staying upright, as he walked through the multiple corridors.
Ellie bumped into Tala when he stopped suddenly. She stepped back rubbing her sore nose and looked round, realising that they were in the training room. She looked at Tala confusedly and saw that he was holding out her blade and launcher. She quickly took them of him and was surprised to see that her blade had been modified. It seemed to be made of a lighter metal than before and the attack ring was sharper. She looked at Tala her brow creased with confusion.
"Your blade was pretty scratched up. I want to see if it's because you've gotten into some intense battles or if you are just a sore loser." Tala said, sensing her confusion. "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you." Ellie frowned. Nobody talked about her blading skills like that!
"Fine." She said frostily, stepping up to dish. She readied her launcher and Tala readied his own gun-shaped launcher.
"3…2…1…LET IT RIP!" Ellie and Tala launched their blades. Their blades met in the middle before rebounding of each other and landing in the dish. The blades circled the dish whilst their owners looked for an opening. Tala quickly spotted one. Ellie's left side was completely unprotected.
"Go Wolborg!" Tala called out, his blade immediately obeying his command and charging towards the red blade. Ellie smirked. He had fallen for her trap.
"Kyuuborg, dodge, hit and run!" Ellie ordered her blade. The red beyblade dodged at the last minute, quickly swung round to land a hit on Wolborg before quickly running away again. Tala growled, cursing his own stupidity. She was better than he thought.
"Come on Tala, I thought you used to be world champion. With the way you're blading right now it's no wonder that Granger kid beat you!" Ellie taunted, letting her more playful and sadistic side come through for once.
"You might say that now but I am only using but a mere fraction of my power but if you insist. Wolborg, Ice Blizzard!" Tala commanded. A large white wolf covered with icy blue ice shards came out of the white blade. The bitbeast called up an icy blizzard (well duh) which made Ellie shiver furiously and hugged herself to try to keep warm and caused her blade to slow down a wobble a tiny bit. Ellie willed her blade to stay up right and it thankfully did. She sent Tala a slight glare.
"Two can play at that game. Kyuuborg, come on out!" Out of the red beyblade came a nine-tailed fox with violent orange-coloured fur. Dark black bands were wrapped around all four paws, neck and head, standing out against the vibrant coat. "Use Hanabi No Yoru!"
The red blade seemed to be surrounded by flames as was the mighty fox. Kyuuborg charged towards Wolborg before abruptly disappearing. Tala looked all over the beydish but couldn't see the red blade anywhere. All of a sudden the red blade came careening towards Wolborg. Kyuuborg hit the wolf, causing a flurry of sparks to appear on contact before disappearing again. This happened about four more times before the red blade stayed visible for good. Unfortunately for Ellie, Wolborg was still spinning and appeared to have sustained little damage. Ellie, on the other hand, was exhausted. Tala saw this and quickly used it to his advantage, having Wolborg hit Kyuuborg with enough force to send the blade flying out of the dish, pass Ellie and into the wall behind. Ellie stood there in shock for a couple of seconds before turning round slowly to look at her fallen blade. She quickly ran towards her blade and picked it up. It gave her a reassuring glow and she held to close to her chest. It was the first time she had ever lost.
Ellie looked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder to see Tala smiling down at her. She pocketed her beyblade and picked her up gently. She laid her head on his shoulder tiredly, the battle having drained her completely.
"You're quite a good blader despite being so young. Where did you learn how to blade like that?" Tala inquired.
"My old neighbour gave me my first beyblade when I was about five and taught me the basics. I started of blading against the other kids on my street and as I got older I started to go farther afield, going to local parks to take on older kids. When I was about seven and a half, I was blading and all off a sudden there was this big flash of light and when I looked at my blade, I had Kyuuborg." Ellie explained as Tala carried her slowly out of the training room and towards the kitchen.
"What about school? Did you battle anybody at school?" Tala asked. Ellie looked away shamefacedly.
"I didn't go to school. My mama wouldn't let me." Ellie said quietly.
"But you're so good at Russian!" Tala exclaimed.
"My neighbour used to be a translator and she taught me everything she knew about languages and a tiny bit about maths and science but I'm only really good at languages." Ellie said, laying her head on Tala's shoulder again.
"You must be really smart to be able to know so many different languages. Most eight-year-olds can barely do Russian and they are Russian!" Tala commented. Ellie shook her head.
"Mama always said that it was futile to know a different language since I would never leave this country and that I should stick to useful things like maths and science." Ellie whispered. Tala frowned. It seemed like the Kuznetsovs' mother had a much bigger influence on Ellie's life than they had first imagined. He subconsciously tightened his grip on Ellie. She looked at him.
"Tala?" She called out uncertainly.
"Ellie, forget everything your mother ever said to you. She was an idiot who didn't know how to do anything but drink and get laid. Forget you even knew her!" Tala all but shouted, his grip tightening with every word until Ellie was trying to get out of his hold.
"I know, I'm sorry! It's really hard to forget! She's my mama! I know she was a bad person but she's really hard to forget! I'm sorry!" Ellie cried out, wriggling in Tala's hold in an attempt to escape, tears starting to fall from her meadow green eyes. Tala was really starting scare her. She didn't like this Tala.
Tala looked at her startled. He immediately felt guilty for saying that stuff. He loosened his grip on her and let her jump out of his arms. Ellie turned her back on him and rubbed her wet eyes. Tala kneeled down next to her and wrapped his arms round her small frame.
"Shhh, don't cry. It's not your fault, I shouldn't have said anything, it wasn't fair on you. Of course you can remember your mother, just don't live by her rules. I'm sorry I scared you." Tala whispered softly into her ear, stroking her lilac hair gently and in calming manner. Ellie just sniffed and nodded. Tala sighed and picked her up again. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. It's not your fault." Ellie said, nuzzling into Tala's chest.
"Thank you for being so understanding. I had no right to say what I did. Thank you." Tala said softly. Ellie just gave him a small grin and leaned against him. Tala smiled and started to make his way to the kitchen once more. "Now, we'd better get going before Ian eats everything!" Ellie laughed and jumped out of his arms before proceeding to drag Tala towards the kitchen.
For the next couple of weeks, things carried on normally. Ellie joined in with the Demolition Boys training and was steadily improving. Arguments between Ian and Ellie were commonplace at the breakfast play. Ellie had warmed up to Murielle but she was still a bit wary of being in the same room as the old woman by herself. Her wounds had finally healed, leaving nothing but a small scar on her left shoulder where her most serious wound had been. However, one Thursday morn that all changed.
Ellie had washed her hair that morning and Tala had helped her dry and plait her hair so they were both late going down to breakfast. They came across a strange sight when they entered the kitchen. Spencer was making breakfast; that was normal. Kai was drinking coffee; that was normal. Bryan and Ian were sitting on top of Tyson and Max whilst Kenny and Rei sat at the island and watched their two friends being squished; that was not normal. The only way to sum it up was:
"What the hell?" As Tala so eloquently put it. They all looked up, sans Tyson and Max, to see Tala and Ellie in the doorway.
"Language, Ivanov." Kai stated, returning to his coffee. Tala gave a slight growl but complied nonetheless, instead choosing to make his way pass the human mountain and sit down on one of the stools with Ellie on his lap. Spencer passed Tala a cup of coffee and Ellie some orange juice before returning to the oven. Tala took a long sip of his coffee before slowly lowering his cup and turning to Kai.
"What are they doing here?" Tala asked.
"Mr Dickenson asked me to let these guys stay here until the trials are over. The BBA are only willing to pay so much for room service. I was going to tell you yesterday but I forgot." Kai replied. Tala frowned.
"As if. You just didn't want to tell me because you knew it would annoy me more this way." Tala said accusingly. Kai shrugged.
"That as well."
"Would someone please tell me what they are saying?"
(From this point onwards: Japanese-normal, Russian-bold)
"Just wondering which way is the most painful way to torture you; castrating you and using a cheese grater on you?" Tala said airily.
"I vote for cheese grater." Ellie said seriously.
"I second that." Ian piped up. Both Kai and Bryan nodded whilst Spencer rolled his eyes.
"…Russians are sick, twisted, torturous people…" Tyson said quietly. Max sighed.
"No they aren't Tyson. You're just very gullible." The American stated.
"Max, not you too! You're supposed to be me on my side!" The Japanese boy whined. "I'm world champion. You can't be mean to me!"
"Tyson, if you don't shut up about being world champion, I'll make you run round this whole estate without any breaks, you got that? Now, Bryan, Ian, get off him, you don't know where he's been." Kai ordered. Bryan and Ian quickly got off of Tyson and Max and made their way to the island. Bryan gave his koi a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting down and taking Ellie off him. Max and Tyson quickly got up off the floor and sat down as well.
"Now that Max and I can finally breathe, who on earth is that girl and why is she sitting on Bryan's lap? I mean, isn't he kind of violent and sadistic?" Tyson asked loudly. All the Russians gave each other a look saying 'I'm not telling them, you do it'. Ellie was out of the question seeing as she was now hiding shyly in Bryan's arms, her eyes looking at the newcomers timidly; Spencer was busy making the sure the breakfast didn't burn; Kai would probably insult Tyson whilst he explained which result in there being a big fight, same with Bryan and Ian. All that was left was Tala. They all looked at him and his eye twitched.
"Fine, I'll explain but you all owe me big time." Tala sighed. "This is Ellie and she is Bryan's little sister. We would appreciate it if you didn't scare her too much. Ellie, these are Tyson Granger, Max Tate, Rei Kon and Kenny though everybody calls him Chief. They, along with Kai, form the Bladebreakers." Ellie looked up from Bryan's shirt and gave them a shy smile and wave.
"How can she be Bryan's sister? Sure they're both quiet but he's a sadistic brute whilst she's a sweet innocent little girl! It doesn't make sense!" Tyson shouted. Ellie winced. Couldn't this boy say anything at a reasonable decibel level?
"What do you mean? Bryan isn't a sadistic brute. He's really nice and kind and gentle. If he's ever callous it's because he has reason to be or he's being forced to do it. Or at least that's what I think anyway." Ellie said quietly, looking Tyson straight in the eye. He looked at her taken aback.
"Ellie?" Kai said looking up from his coffee.
"Yes Kai?"
"Thank you for finally shutting the pig up. Usually we have to resort to food." All the Russians smirked at this comment and the Bladebreakers, sans Tyson, sniggered.
"Ah, come on! I'm not that bad!" Tyson protested. His team mates stopped sniggering straight away and gave him long suffering looks.
"Tyson, you are and I should know considering how I have to cook for you." Rei stated wearily, feeling sorry for Spencer seeing as how he had to cook.
"Guys, stop fighting. Breakfast's ready." Spencer chastised lightly, placing the food on the table. Spencer had cooked a full English and porridge for everybody though Tyson had the double amount of food as everybody else.
'Kai must've warned Spencer that Tyson was coming. There's no way he could've made all this if Kai hadn't.' Tala mused, taking a bite of sausage. He tried his best not to look at Tyson for fear of throwing up. Even Ellie, who Bryan had placed on the stool on the stool next to him so he could eat, had better manners than Tyson and she was five years younger than him!
They managed to get through breakfast without any incidents though Ellie didn't argue with Ian which in itself was strange because the eight-year-old usually loved taunting the short blader any chance she got. Rei offered to help Spencer clear up so the two teams waited in the kitchen. Tala spoke when he saw that they were done.
"Kai, I don't know what you are planning to do but if you need me I'll be in the training room along with rest of the team. Now, if you'll excuse –" Kai cut Tala off.
"Actually, Mr Dickenson wants the two teams to become friendlier towards each other so he wants us to spend at least one day together. Might as well get it over and done with." He informed the Demolition Boys captain. Tala's eyebrow twitched.
"Wow, Kai that must the most you've ever said at once!" Tyson exclaimed.
"That's because Kai likes annoying Tala." Ian enlightened them, Spencer, Bryan and Ellie all nodding seriously at this statement.
"Well, where are we going to go?" Max asked.
"What about the Moscow Zoo?" Dizzi piped up from her laptop. Ellie looked at the laptop slightly surprised but didn't say anything. It wasn't everyday you met a talking laptop after all!
Spencer nodded.
"Sounds good." He agreed. "It's something that we'd all be interested in and it's a perfect day out for kids." Everybody nodded their consent when Ian noticed something.
"Spencer, why did you say kids when the only kid here is Ellie?" he inquired "I mean, what's the point in using plural when you don't need it?"
"He wasn't talking about Ellie; he was talking about you, Max and Tyson." Tala answered for the blond, smirking as he talked. Ian scowled but didn't do anything. If he did then Tala would have him running round the mansion with rabid dogs barking at his heels for who knows how long. Max knew he could be a bit childish at times especially when he had had sugar so he didn't say anything either. Tyson, however, believed that he had no such inhibitions and felt insulted a fact that he quite readily let everybody else know about.
"Hey! How do you call me a kid? I'm world champion I'll have you know and I'll easily kick your butt again!" Tyson yelled. "I'm thirteen years old! I'm a teenager not some bratty little kid! How dare you insult the wor-"
"Tyson, if you so much as think about finishing that sentence then so help you, I'll make you train until you wish you were back in diapers!" Kai threatened. Tyson had been bragging about being world champion and using it to get out of training for the past month and Kai was sick and tired of it.
"But Kai!" Tyson whined. He was about to say more when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned round to see Max.
"Just let it go Tyson. I'm sure they were only joking." He told his best friend. "Anyway, if we want to beat the crowds then we better get going and we can't do that if there's an argument." Tyson grumbled but nodded. Everybody quickly grabbed their coat and made their way to the garage. Since there were ten of them, they had to take two cars. Bryan, Tala, Ellie, Kai and Rei were in one car whilst Spencer, Ian, Max, Tyson and Kenny were in the other with Bryan and Spencer driving.
"I feel sorry for Spencer." Rei commented from his place next to Kai. "He has to put up with both Max and Tyson and Kenny's probably not going to be that much help either."
"Ian's will almost definitely egg those two on if he doesn't join in before hand that is." Tala added from the front.
"That's why they're not in the same car as Bryan. He would crash the car because he forgot he was driving while trying to strangle Midget, Pig and Hyper." Kai said grimly. Ellie gave a small a grin at the nicknames.
"I still think Cameron is a better name for Ian." She said smirking.
"That reminds me, what does that mean? Every time you say it Ian starts shouting at you and Spencer can't stop laughing." Tala asked, twisting round in his seat to look at Ellie. Rei answered for her.
"If I remember correctly, Cameron means big nose." He said looking at the small girl to his right for confirmation. Ellie nodded. Tala chuckled.
"You're right; it is a better name than Ian. It suits him." Tala agreed, turning back to face the road again. "By the way, what do you think of the rest of the Bladebreakers?" Ellie scrunched her nose up in thought.
"Rei and Kenny are nice and Max is okay when he's not hyper but Tyson…" Ellie bit her lip, not wanting to insult the Japanese boy but having nothing nice to say about him either. She looked down at her clasped hands.
"You get used to it. He's not that bad, it's just at times he's a bit over-zealous." Rei said kindly. She smiled at him and unclasped her hands. Rei noticed this and took one her small in his own and gave it a tiny squeeze. Ellie smiled and leaned against him.
Rei was definitely the nice one…