Disclaimer: I own neither Beyblade nor X-Men: Evolution nor do I make any profit from this story.
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[Chapter Ten: Questions without Answers]
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"Go over it once again, please," said Mr. Dickenson sounding nervous.
None of the X-men were certain, but nervousness appeared to be the BBA Chairman's permanent state of existence. Charles had felt it prudent to contact Kai's guardian due to his sudden and dramatic appearance in their facilities. That had led to calling Dickenson, which led to a video-conference with the foremost experts on beyblades. The foremost experts happened to be Mr. Dickenson along with Tyson's grandfather and Ray's village instructor, who had been flown in from China to Japan; Max's mother, who was performing research in the US; and Tyson's father and elder brother, who were both at a highly classified dig site.
Dr. McCoy had asked why Kai didn't have an adult representative, which had led to the awkward revelation that his grandfather was in a coma and his previous trainer was in jail only because said grandfather was in a coma and had not paid for his release.
Logan sighed but slowly began recounting the events of the previous evening. It was his fifth recital, so he was pretty good at it. Jean and Hank had required a lose briefing of events to understand where they should begin triage. Later, when everything had quieted down, Logan had explained in full what had happened to the instructors.
However, that morning he had been waylaid by Max, Ray, and Tyson, who had tried to wheedled the information out of him. Xavier wasn't keen on the students knowing too much at that point, which Logan had explained in the nicest way possible. That hadn't gone over too well. Tyson fairly well exploded at him, gaining the attention of the entire student body. If Tyson hadn't been tired out from the previous evening's explosion, Logan was fairly certain he would have gotten the chance to practice his whirlwind dodging skills. As it was, the chandeliers had creaked ominously.
Max took a slightly different tactic. He said that anything after Kai was likely to come after them too. They needed the information to protect themselves or at least to start comparing what had happened to Kai to previous threats. Logan hadn't bought it. But was more than a little spooked at the calm way Max had accepted the potential of bodily harm towards himself and his friends.
Ray turned out to have the most convincing argument. He smoothly reached out and gripped Logan's arm, as if to hold him in place, then proceeded to tell him that they knew some Russians who took Kai's safely very seriously. From this Wolverine could infer that healing factors and adamantium bones would not be a deterrent to information gathering. All the while, Logan was focused on his eyes, which had narrowed to near-imperceptible slits, and the fingernails in his arm, which had dug deeper with every word. Afterwards, it had taken nearly two hours for the claws marks to heal.
Of course, the commotion insured that every student heard what had happened, but that didn't bother Logan overly much. He was very careful to watch the boys' reactions as he told the story. None of them were surprised at Kai's condition, though all were obviously agitated, what really gripped them was the depiction of the evil phoenix in the subterranean room. His nose, which had been mostly clouded with the scent of feline rage at that point, was suddenly struck by fear and more human rage. If Logan thought any of them had been prone to swearing, his ears might have been blasted off. As it was, they pumped him for details then scurried upstairs as soon as he was out of things to say.
According to Kitty, who just so happened to wander upstairs shortly after the new finished quizzing Logan, they had their own video-chat. One frame had a bunch of boys, though only one with startling red hair was talking, and the other was of a single boy with very large glasses. They were all speaking Japanese, but occasionally some of the boys would call out something definitely not Japanese. Logan listened to her attempts at repeating what turned out to be Russian. Very deep down in the cockles of his heart, Logan was relieved that he did not have to deal with unfriendly Russian beybladers if their Japanese counterparts were able to cause so much damage.
As he recited his rescue of Kai he watched the faces on the monitor carefully. He could not use his enhanced senses on mere images, but he was very skilled at recognizing body language. As in his previous retellings, he described Kai's condition before talking about the room. From what he could see, the adults appeared grimly resigned. Here was yet more evidence that the Bladebreakers were often in danger. When he described the room and the carvings of the evil beast, even the worst observer could see them pale.
"What's up with the phoenix?" Logan growled.
"What do you mean?" asked Dr. Tate sharply.
"You guys, the kids, you all tense whenever I get to talking about the bird. Why is that?"
"The big chicken is a bad dude," said Tyson's grandfather. "But it's not really our story to tell. If the little dudes spill the beans, then we can tell you what we know."
"Would it not be better for you to tell us so that we might be able to face any potential threat?" inquired Ororo.
"At this point there is not enough data to support the idea that mutant capabilities are effective against," here Dr. Tate paused and granted herself a small smile, "against the big chicken."
Xavier frowned. "A lack of data simply means that more experimentation is needed. There is no reason to keep us in the dark if our students are in danger."
The villager elder took a swing at the video screen and the feed from Mr. Dickenson's office promptly went to static. Dr. Tate and Mr. Granger both sighed while Tyson's brother quietly laughed himself off the screen.
"Was he trying to hit me?" asked Xavier dubiously. He could feel prickles of amusement from Logan, Hank, and Scott, of all people. Ororo and Jean were at least appropriately surprised.
"To knock some sense into you," corrected Mr. Granger. "It's depressively effective on Tyson."
The static screen reformed into a picture though Charles was dismayed to a rather large crack distorting the image. The Elder was standing in directly in front of the screen. Behind him, Mr. Dickenson and Tyson's grandfather looked very grim.
"Mister Xavier," said the elder in very, very careful English, "I know that you are a smart man and a good man. Only a smart and good man could help the children at your school. But there are some people and other things that may take advantage of a man's smartness and goodness. At such times, it is better to wait and to watch before telling dangerous stories."
"In other words, what you don't know, can't hurt you," said Logan.
"You can still be hurt. But the chance is less," said the old man solemnly.
Xavier attempted to push away his own feeling of unease but encountered that of his senior X-men. They had all had time to assess the Blade Breakers skills and were suitably impressed. Max, Ray, and even Tyson, amazingly despite his usual temperament, were goal-oriented, worked well in teams, sought self-improvement, and performed well under pressure. Max could break down tactical schematics almost as fast as Scott. Ray's senses were nearly as developed as Logan's. Tyson had the necessary passion and drive to inspire others. As far as he knew, Dickenson had sought to form an all-star team with the Blade Breakers and had succeeded. Now they were talking to the men and women who had raised and trained those amazing children, and they were scared.
"Tyson and the rest of the little dudes will fill you in after Kai fills them in," said Tyson's grandfather. "They'll probably ask you to help if you can. All we're saying is: right now, we can't tell you. So don't ask and don't go poking around."
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Kai woke slowly. He was in a strange place with little clue as to how he had arrived there. It almost looked like a hospital room, but some of the equipment he saw made it look like a laboratory. Kai suppressed a shudder. In his current state an involuntary reaction like that could do a lot of damage. That thought made him realize that he was, in fact, bandaged and, judging by the lack of fever, being treated with appropriate medical care. Where was he?
Kai concentrated. The last thing he remembered was being attacked. He had thought that he might very well die—mystical aid and phoenix regenerative abilities aside. But someone, a man he had never seen before, found him and had carried him away. He remembered a motorcycle and then nothing.
So Kai had been rescued, but who had done the deed?
A door slid open and a man in a wheelchair rolled into Kai's line of sight. The young beyblader felt a flicker of astonishment. Professor Charles Xavier, headmaster of the institution known less fondly as mutant school, was staring at him with a solemn expression on his face.
Kai knew that Dranzer could keep the man out of any memories Kai did not want him to see. But the idea that someone could peer inside his head and see his thoughts made his skin crawl. He was a very private person. Even his relationships with the Blitzkrieg Boys and the Blade Breakers were very complex and subdued. But Professor Xavier, reportedly, respected human-kind in general and people in specific. Most likely he would not peer too deep into his mind without permission.
"My name is Charles Xavier, but I suspect you already know that."
Kai raised an eyebrow as if to say Really? But did not comment further. His throat was too dry to make talking comfortable any way.
"You are at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Students in our infirmary. Generally, this is not used for recovering from injuries such as you have received, but the nearest hospital was too far away."
Kai closed his eyes in a resigned fashion. It was likely true though Kai did not remember exactly how wounded he had been nor how long he had been recovering. His enemy had wanted him destroyed as always.
"You have been here for two days," said the Professor quietly. "This is the first time you've regained consciousness."
Kai started and nearly sat up, but the pain in his abdomen was so great he promptly lay back down.
Professor Xavier looked deeply concerned. He probably hadn't expected Kai to be able to move at all. That was no matter. Now that he was away from danger and had rested, he should be able to draw on Dranzer's power and heal himself. He should probably do it slowly. He wouldn't want to overtax his strength when trying to heal, but he would be out of this room in days instead of the weeks anyone else would need.
"Where is my beyblade?" he asked. His throat hurt, but he needed to see Dranzer again.
The Professor narrowed his eyes. Kai thought the man was going to berate him for asking about a toy, most people would, but then he saw Dranzer float into his view then onto a still outstretched palm. Half a second later a cup and straw floated into his line of sight and Kai was able to take a sip of blessedly cool water.
"Logan, the man who rescued you and one of the professors here, remembered it this afternoon. Mr. Kon suggested that you would sleep more comfortably with your partner here. I was bringing it down."
"You mean, Ray? Ray is here?" Kai asked.
"Yes, and Tyson and Max."
Kai closed his eyes and let out as deep a sigh as he could muster. He was obviously surprised but not shocked.
"Your friends wanted to visit. But given the condition in which you arrived, we decided it would only upset them. Dr. McCoy will come back down to check on you, and he might agree to let them come down tomorrow morning. But now it is almost ten o'clock and I think you could do with some more rest," explained Xavier.
Kai made no response and his eyes remained closed. Charles could sense no more from this boy than he could from the beybladers upstairs. He suspected the child had fallen asleep and turned his wheelchair toward the door.
A gruff "thank you" reached his ears when he was nearly across the room. Xavier suppressed the urge to chuckle. It was an expression of gratitude as reluctant as any he had ever pulled from Wolverine. But it was honest and unprompted and not anything like the total bad-boy attitude he had imagined from what he had gathered online.
"You are very welcome," said Charles and shut the door behind him.
Charles paused and took a moment to look at the monitor beside the door. Kai lay still on the bed, eyes closed, and more relaxed now that Xavier was gone. The professor watched in silent amazement as the toy top, still balanced on Kai's palm, started turning on its own. A soft red light poured from the top and washed over the room. For a moment he imagined he could see a half-formed phoenix curling around the boy's head. He blinked, and the image was gone, but the light remained steady as ever, even after the boy had clearly drifted off to sleep.
Xavier grabbed his wheels and pushed himself down the hall. He needed the contact to ground himself to the here and now. He was suddenly very glad he had not pressed for more information about the dark phoenix Logan had seen. He had very little experience with the sacred or the occult considering himself a man of science. He was afraid that his students would be woefully unprepared for whatever challenge they were about to face.
As he exited the elevator and was quickly pounced upon by three too excited students, he allowed himself a small smile. At least for now he had good news to deliver.
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End.
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So yes, this has been mostly done for a while…and had (more) different stuff in it. But I didn't like it so you get the slightly shorter, hopefully better version.