Heather: I told you guys I would be updating faster. But it still kinda hard because I already wrote the chapters that I really got into. Anyways, continue with your reading to see what new insanities have escaped my mind to be typed.

Chapter 10

Arrival of Rivals

"Aw Man!"

"What's your problem?" Rachel questioned, pulling her luggage behind her.

"I hate having to figure out the rooms!" Tyson shouted.

"Why don't we wait to complain until we figure out how many rooms there are" Ray said, taking the lead.

"Yeah" Rachel agreed, smacking her brother in the back of the head.

"Oww…" he whined, rubbing the injury.

Ray walked up to the counter and received a piece of paper and key cards. He returned to the group and told them what was going on. "We got a suite with three rooms and Mr. Dickenson's already grouped us together. Looks like Kai and Kenny, me and Max, and then Tyson and Rachel."

"Damn it!" she shouted.

"What is it?" Kai said, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Grrr… Just because Tyson's my brother shouldn't mean we have to be around each other constantly."

"I know!" Tyson added. "It's not like we're joined at the hip!"

"Well, let's just stick with them for now and we can change later if we need to" Ray said walking towards the elevator.

"Nice place" Rachel replied flatly, gapping at the sight before her.

There was a gathering room with three beige sofas, a wooden table with chairs, a big TV, and it led to all four bedrooms.

"Four!" Rachel shrieked. "I call dibs on the extra room!" she yelled, jumping up and down with her hand in the air.

"Sorry, but that's my room."

Rachel turned to glare at the speaker but sunk her head low, seeing Mr. Dickenson.

"All I wanted was to finally have a room to myself" she whined.

"You think you're the only one that wants a private room?" Kai said, crossing his arms.

"ARG!" she yelled, shoving Kai from his spot. "Just leave me alone!" She threw her luggage in a room and left the hotel room in a blaze of fury.

"I didn't know she could have such a big mood swing" Max said, staring at the door.

Tyson glared at Ray.

"Hey! It wasn't me. We talked everything out before we left and are on speaking terms again" Ray stated, holding his hands up in his defense. "Besides…Kai was the one that got her so upset."

"Hmph." Kai walked into the empty room beside Rachel's and closed the door.

"Man" Tyson started. "Not even ten minutes and two people from our team have walked off."

"I swear. I don't know why I hang around with those guys sometimes" Rachel said quietly to herself. She stuffed her hands into her pockets as she wandered down the streets of the city.

She really didn't know where she was going but continued on her way. She came across a nicely decorated sign of a fence and decided to check it out. "Royal Botanical Gardens…why not." She entered the park and took in the beautiful scenery that surrounded her. The wonderful aromas danced around her nose and she admired all of the flowers and sculptures known in the common world as hedges. 'This is all beautiful, but there's got to be other stuff to do in this town' she thought to herself.

She exited the garden and began with her walking once again. She took in a deep breath and smelled the salt of the water. 'Must be near the harbors.' Other tourists sped past her, some shoving Rachel out of the way in their quest for faster arrivals. "Hey!" she shouted at one of the rude passerby. "What's the big idea!"

"The Sydney Opera House. It's just up ahead!" they replied quickly. They then continued on their way, not giving a second glance to her.

"Jackass" she said quietly. "Oh well, I guess it's something else to waste time."

"What are you doing here?" Rachel spat, standing off in front of the Sydney Opera House.

"Last I checked, this was a public spot. You can't try to kill me out here unless you want to get arrested" Kari glared.

Rachel closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry. That was rude of me." She walked towards the water and sat on a bench. She motioned for Kari to join her. "Ray explained everything."

Kari looked at the brown-haired girl suspiciously before finally joining her. "And…"

"We went ahead and broke up. I realized we didn't understand each other like we thought we did" she stated, staring into the blue water.

"Oh."

Rachel quickly snapped her head to look at her and glared. "Don't misunderstand. I'm still pissed about the whole situation, but…" she shook her head, "I guess I should be somewhat thankful."

"I don't get you" Kari said, standing up to look at the girl. "Why are you thankful? I mean, I would think you'd want to rip my head off and kick it around like a soccer ball. What are you up to?" she asked.

"Sit back down. You're drawing attention." She grabbed Kari's wrist and pulled her back down. "Me and Ray hadn't been on the best of terms lately. We were always awkward around each other and every little thing he did seemed to annoy me. I never told him about it though. It was like the feelings I had around the time of the Caribbean Tournament had completely changed."

"Why are you telling me this?" Kari asked, staring at her feet.

"I figured you would understand or at least listen since you like him so much."

"What do you …"

Rachel put her hand up. "Don't try to kid yourself. You think you're team is the only one that knows? That kiss may have been accidental, but it wouldn't have even happened if there wasn't some feeling behind it. I'm not stupid."

Kari stared at her, shocked. "But you're not mad" she scoffed at her. "I REALLY don't get you."

"You ended what I didn't have the guts to do myself. Being aggravated at you seems to give me more courage. Funny friendship we're building, huh?" Rachel laughed.

"Friendship? Yeah" she replied, looking up at the sky. "I guess so. I gotta say, though. You gotta mean left hook."

"Yeah. I gotta get Tyson to show you some of his battle wounds. Ray would actually be better now, though. I almost broke his nose that night."

"Guess I got off easy."

Back At The Hotel

Tyson was lying on the bed, grumbling about having nothing to do. Suddenly, a pillow came slamming down on his face. He quickly grabbed the object of annoyance and shot up.

"What's the big idea!" he shouted.

"If you're so bored, get up and do something" Ray replied, looking out the glass door. "We in a different country for crying out loud."

"You're right!" Tyson jumped up from the bed and struck a superhero pose. "There's so many foods I haven't tried yet!"

"Oh brother…" Max sighed, placing his hand over his face.

"Actually, I'm the sister" Rachel said as she walked through the door. Kari followed in behind her. All of the boys tensed up, especially Ray.

"What is she doing here!" Tyson shouted, tossing a hateful look towards the girl.

"Uhhh…Rach? What's going on?" Ray asked.

Rachel casually continued her way into the room and sat herself on the end of her bed. "Be nice, boys. Everything's alright."

"ALRIGHT! How can everything be alright! She's the one that caused all…"

"Maybe I should just go" Kari said, cutting Tyson off.

"Don't bother listening Tyson" she replied. She threw a pillow at her younger brother's head. "Why don't you learn some manners? I said everything was alright."

"Jerk" Tyson replied under his breath.

"So…what's with the sudden change?" Max asked.

"We talked and figured that it would waste too much energy being pissed at each other so we just decided to forget about everything and be friends."

"Just like that?"

"Well…it took a little while before we worked it all out" Kari stated.

"I still don't know if we should trust her" Tyson added, crossing his arms.

"I think if Rach feels good enough to trust her, we should be able to, too. After all, she had it harder than us so I think it should say something."

"Thanks, Maxie" Rachel said happily.

"Whatever will get things closer to being normal" Ray commented. He still wasn't too sure what to think about Kari being in the room. Rachel and himself had, indeed, worked out their problems, but that didn't make any of it any more comfortable.

"Well, now that that's over and done with, I think we should get ready for the tournament" Rachel stated.

"Yeah. I should probably check to see what my team's up to anyways" Kari said, walking towards the door.

"Don't be a stranger. I promise I'm not gonna try and kill ya next time I see ya" Rachel joked.

"Yeah" Kari laughed, "I'll keep that in mind."

Outside the Hotel

"What have you found out about the match-ups" Kai questioned the team's resident computer whiz.

Kenny placed his laptop on the bench and stood. "We will be facing the All-Stars tomorrow. It will only be two matches. The semi-finals with have three and the finals will be four. I'm not too sure who the All-Stars will have blading bit I think it would be a safe bet to say that Michael will at least be one of them."

"If they're going to have a captain fight, it would be a smart idea to have one of our captains fight, too" Max stated.

"Rachel can handle it" Kai said flatly, propping himself against a nearby tree.

"Fine with me if it's fine with you guys" she replied.

All of the boys shook their heads together. Agreeing with her was easier than having to argue with her.

"I want to blade, too" Tyson whined.

"Don't start" Rachel said, glaring at her younger brother. "If you want to blade so bad, you're going to have to take it up with the rest of the team. I'm going to go practice for my match. Come on, anti-social" she said, motioning for Kai to follow her.

"So can I fight?" Tyson asked again, looking at his teammates.

"I guess so" Ray said, watching Kai and Rachel walk off.

Max noticed his line of sight and walked over to the teen. "Hey…don't worry about it. You and her may have broke up but she wouldn't do something to upset you. Besides, what could she see in Kai and not in you?"

"You're right" Ray said, returning to his normal composure. "We should get to practicing, too. We gotta make sure that Tyson will get us into the next round so I get a chance to fight this tournament."

Heather: So there you go. Another chapter down. Isn't it sweet how everyone's starting to get along? Yeah right. You all should know that things can't just stay hunky-doory. So what evilness am I planning. You will have to wait and see! MWAHAHAHAHAHA! What? I said I was evil…