Chapter 12 – Fighting Tooth and Talon

Owyn sat on the climbing frame, his hands in his pockets. He looked about the deserted street, and sighed a little.

Sometimes he wished the other children didn't fear him so much. It wouldn't make him feel like a complete loner and depend solely upon the presence of two people for company.

Then again, he thought, ties with his teammates had been bad recently, especially in light of Scirocco daring to suggest he stole other people's beyblades.

Why, for the sheer fun of it? He wanted the Perseus bit for himself because it rightly belonged to him. He didn't intend to harbour rebellious ideals just for the hell of upsetting other people.

Meanwhile, Jordan had located a conveniently placed dustbin to take shelter. She jumped inside and clamped the lid shut just as Scirocco veered around the corner.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are…" he jeered, "eh, hide and seek got boring when I was about five, anyway."

"Please don't find me…" Jordan whispered to herself. "Please don't find me…"

"Word o' advice," said Scirocco, pulling the dustbin lid to, "next time you hide, try to keep yourself silent, you damned idiot."

"BUBBLEZ, ATTACK!"

Bubblez had sprung down from the roof above him, narrowly missing Scirocco's head as he dived out of the way. The dustbin toppled over and Jordan spilled onto the pavement, clambering to her feet amidst a pile of rubbish.

Bubblez landed in front of her, where it wobbled momentarily and then stopped spinning.

"Scorpius, sting shower her!"

Jordan grabbed her bey and sped down the alleyway. At the very end, there was light – but, as she looked back, the devilish form of the great, red scorpion loomed over her, and the orange bey was shooting at her, needles flying from all directions…

"No… it's going to…"

Scirocco's eyes were fierce as he charged after her. She was going to be hit by the attack before she reached the opening…

She halted and braced herself for the pain, clasping her head as she breathed into the ground; but there was none.

Instead, she felt a rush of icy cold wind gush past her, Scirocco's cry of shock, and the ripple of needles landing everywhere but on their intended target.

Sensing an opportunity, Jordan stood up and barely offered her saviour a fleeting glimpse before she burst through the opening at the end of the alley, dragging elongated breaths.

She looked back, and saw Scirocco burst from the same opening as if he'd been thrown. His Scorpius bey flew past him, carried by the momentum, along with Bubblez and – Jordan cried out – Dromeda and Leonine.

Scirocco picked himself up. "Aha!" he said, grabbing the two beys. "At la – "

Jordan threw herself at him, head-first, and tried to pry the beys from his grip. Behind them, Electra and the unmasked Jackie walked into the road.

"Scirocco!" shouted Electra.

"Uh, little help here?!" Scirocco shouted, struggling to push away the twelve-year-old girl.

The rest of Ripmongers, along with Chantelle and Stanley, pummelled down the road. They caught the attention of all the kids, whose faces were pressed up against the glass of the buildings they were hiding in.

"Jackie!" Chantelle squealed.

Jackie's head turned. "'lo, Chantelle. Hey, Fishy."

"Don't call me Fishy!" Nemo shouted at him.

"GUYS, HELP ME!" Jordan yelled, her grip on their beys loosening.

Maxie made to run at him, but Nemo held her back.

"Wait a sec," she said, "Jordan, just give him our beys. Let him have them."

Jordan turned to Nemo, dumbstruck. Scirocco seized the beys and howled with laughter.

"Alright!" he said, attaching Dromeda to his pistol launcher. He shot it at Jackie, who didn't move. "Andromeda, get'm!"

Dromeda landed on the ground, but instead of going for Jackie, it did a U-turn and went back at Scirocco. Nemo stepped forwards, grinning at the bandit's change of expression.

"Andromeda, Vixen Storm attack!" she ordered.

They saw his shocked face disappear behind an enormous funnel of sand. Jordan was swept off her feet and landed a distance away, her clothes plastered in the three obscenities of dirt, blood and garbage. Chantelle and Ashley rushed over to her to check on her.

When the vortex cleared, Scirocco was moaning on the ground, hardly able to move. Dromeda circled him freely, and then returned to Nemo's grasp. She caught the bey happily as it sped toward her.

"Just as I thought," she said, "it doesn't matter who launches the bey as long as the bit is yours. They never betray their owners."

"Excuse me, but are you Jackie?" Ashley asked the boy standing next to Electra. "As in… JACKIE? Because if you are, you have no idea how much trouble you've caused us and this entire valley!"

Jackie was about to answer, when he noticed Owyn walking to his fallen teammate. He stood over Scirocco, leering.

"So," he said, "you actually had the nerve ta' try and steal another person's bit, did ya'? That's the final straw, you're off the team. I don't wanna' be teammates with someone who takes stuff that doesn't belong to 'em. Electra's going too if she helped."

Electra looked at the ground, tearfully. Owyn ignored her and turned to Jackie.

"Finally decided to turn up, did ya'?"

"You say you don't like people who steal other people's bit-beasts," said Jackie, coldly, "but you're trying to steal mine."

"I ain't stealin' nothin'. Your bit belongs to me, as I explained in my letter." He retorted.

Jackie walked forward to meet him. They glared at each other from opposite sides of the dirt path.

With help from Chantelle, Ashley pulled Jordan away. Nemo and Maxie were transfixed on the battle that was about to unfold before them.

The two boys gripped their launchers.

"You ready?" he asked. Jackie nodded, Glaseus at hand. "Alright. If I win, you know my conditions. If you win… Perseus is yours. Three, two, one – "

Both beys landed before them. They kicked up dust from the momentum of landing, and then instantly went on the attack.

Glaseus came at Aquil, but was knocked away, harmlessly. Aquil returned the favour and started shredding at Glaseus, pushing it back effortlessly.

Jackie stood back. A cloud of dust formed as his bey was pushed back. Owyn grinned. This was what he'd been waiting for. This was it, he thought.

Ashley had her RPM-measuring remote out again. She checked it and pocketed it, passively.

"It's just as I thought," she muttered, "Owyn's bey is spinning even faster than before. Jackie can't hope to win by facing him head-on, so what will he do?"

Glaseus broke free of Aquil's grip, and then veered towards the climbing frame; Aquil trailed behind it, relentlessly.

Glaseus darted in between each bar effortlessly, but Aquil struggled to do the same. As it turned, it slowed down, and then couldn't speed up in time before hitting the next pole.

Jackie grinned. "That's it."

"What the… how are you doing that?!" Owyn demanded. He knelt down and peered at his bey from ground level. Why wasn't it evading the bars as easily as Jackie's?

"So that's what he's doing!" gasped Ashley, making the others jump, "he knows Aquil is spinning faster, and that means he's got less control over his grip! He can't cut the turns as easily!"

"No offense, Ashley, but can you shut up? I'm trying to watch." Nemo said.

"C'mon, Aquil, let's show him what we're made of." Owyn said. He jumped back, and Aquil sped out from underneath the climbing frame. It used the bars to propel itself into the air, and as Jackie looked up, he could almost see a bit that took the form of an eagle, materialising above them…

Owyn grinned, skidding to a halt in the sand. "Dive bomb!"

Aquil shot down again, and pierced through the bars like butter. Glaseus barely pulled from the wreckage in time before the entire structure collapsed in a heap on the ground.

Electra clapped a hand over her mouth. Chantelle, Maxie and Ashley looked horrified.

Owyn knelt down, smiling at his bey. "You know, they say the bell tower 'ere's haunted by a ghoul. That's why this place is called Ghoul Valley," he said, eyes fixated on his blade. "… That ghoul… is the spirit of me ancestor. She waited for the Perseus bit every day to her death, but she never retrieved it. You know… it once belonged to my family, right? You know about its history, right?"

He stood up, glaring at Jackie. Slowly, Jackie nodded.

"I do."

"Well, then – before I tear your bey into pieces like that climbing frame, I'll give you a chance. Give me Perseus, and you won't have ta' battle me no more."

"You're wrong," he said, calmly. "Bit-beasts are familiars, they're not family heirlooms. They're spirits with feelings… they choose their masters, and Perseus chose me."

Owyn's eyes turned cold. "Y'know, I like you. You're powerful, but don't say you didn't ask for it. Aquila – dive bomb! Shred that bey to pieces!"

"No! Jackie!" Chantelle screamed.

"It's over," Maxie said, weakly, "that attack's too strong. Looks like you aren't going to get a rematch, Nemo, 'cause his bey's toast."

Aquil sped up the nearby slide and took flight again. It hovered over Glaseus, and then shot down. The eagle bore its wings as it came in for the kill…

Jackie's eyes flashed. An icy wind drifted around his bey as he said, "Perseus, Cold Storm!"

Nemo's eyes widened. His bey became wrapped in a silvery blue mist that encased it like a force-field, the air around it dropping twenty degrees.

She blinked. A white leopard with black eyes and icicles for whiskers seemed to be emerging from the bey, to meet Aquila, its claws outstretched…

There was a gush of wind, and either blader was obscured by a thick cloud of dust. Jordan stirred and got to her feet, coughing like the others as she struggled to see through the mist…

And then there was Jackie…

Jordan stared at his back, and her expression of shock slowly turned to one of love as the dust began to settle.

Maxie appeared by her side. "What happened? Who won?!"

The bit-beasts had disappeared. In between the two opponents was a large hole where the path had been unearthed in the intensity of the fight. One bey continued to spin in the middle – the other one had drawn to a halt beside it.

Owyn coughed and emerged from the dust. He glared down at his bey. "No… way…"

"He did it!" cheered Chantelle, throwing her hands into the air. "He did it! Jackie won! Jackie beat him!"

"He – did?" Ashley stammered. Almost as soon as these words escaped her lips, there was a tremor as dozens of children poured out into the street, cheering and rushing into the park to reclaim their play-den at last.

The bandits' regime was over.

Jackie picked Glaseus up and walked to the gate, not wanting to be engulfed by the children. Before he went, he stopped beside Owyn.

"The reason Perseus was never bought to your ancestor," he began, "was because it was never the councillors' to give away. Bit-beasts choose their familiar, like I told you… just like Aquila chose you. Until you accept that and start believing in the bit that chose you… you won't beat me."

He couldn't suppress a smirk as he added, "good battle, though."

Owyn considered his bey for a moment. An uncharacteristic smile took his face. "You too, man."

"Jackie!" Chantelle shouted, scuttling through the crowd of people to hug him. "That was awesome!"

Nemo and the rest of the team walked up to meet him, too.

"He was okay," Maxie said, rolling her eyes.

"Good match." Ashley smiled at Jackie, who couldn't help but return it.

"Yeah, that was brilliant, mate." Stanley nodded.

Jordan seemed to be leaning toward Jackie, drooling, eyes twinkling. Nemo sighed and pushed her away.

"So, you ran away after all?" Jackie asked her.

"Of course. Told you, I hated the dump that I lived in." she said.

"You must've loved your friends and sister very much if you took them with you."

"Actually, that's another story," she snapped, as he grinned comically. "Hey… not that it matters or anything, but I actually thought Owyn was right at first. But I agree with you, now that you mention it. They choose their masters, if the bit didn't choose him then that's his problem."

"She's just saying that 'cause she hates the idea of Andromeda being passed down to one of her little sisters," Maxie jibed.

"Well, maybe I do, actually."

"They choose their FAMILIARS, Nemo. Not masters." Jackie corrected her.

"Yeah, whatever."

Maxie crossed her arms and stuck her bottom lip out. "Don't blame him for trying, though. Wish I had a bit."

"That's probably why we couldn't find anything in the library! If the councillors never owned the bit – there would've been no recorded transaction, no formal agreement," said Ashley, "still, you did fantastic battling him, Jackie!"

He turned to Nemo. His deep blue eyes were serious again.

"You still wanting to crash in Clow?"

Nemo blinked. "What?"

"You said you wanted to stay in my hometown when you ran away, remember?"

"Oh, yeah… yeah, that's where we're going, why?" she replied, over Maxie's annoying tongue-clicking.

"It's Saturday, that's change-over day for most of the hotels and inns. If you book now, you might find a nice place to stay, but that depends if you're fast walkers or not 'cause we're running out of time."

Nemo rounded on Jordan and Maxie. "You hear that? No holding us up, or we'll leave you behind!"

"Shut up, we're only slow because of Jordan and her boy withdrawal!" Maxie flared up, but unawares to her and the rest of the team, Jordan's ailment had quite lifted; she was staring at Jackie with a longing fascination, enchanted by those deep blue eyes and that dark mat of hair…

"We can't afford to stay here long anyway, not when Chantelle's friends are so worried about where she is."

Chantelle blushed a comical shade of red. "Oh – I made them worried? I didn't mean to – I just wanted your bit-beast to be safe…"

"Yeah, I know. Electra told me you beat one of the bandits… I'm proud of you for that." Jackie said.

"I couldn't have done it if you hadn't taught me, Jackie!" she said. "But, um, it came at a horrible price. I don't have a bey any more, actually. It broke just after I won, and my mum will never buy me a new one now I broke the first."

"If you want, I'll buy you a new one as a present," he grinned, and turned to the others as Chantelle clapped her hands together excitedly. "How long will you stay in the city?"

"Well, us four," Ashley said, gesturing to herself and each of the others, "have formed a team in the meantime; the Rebellion Ripmongers! We're all staying together until the inter-school sports event, when we're going to fight as the beyblading team for Gaia, like… like we arranged when we left."

She grimaced, and added:

"… and then we're splitting up again, and going our separate ways. Jordan, Maxie and I are going back to the city, and Nemo… well…"

"Can't wait to be alone." Nemo said dryly, making Jackie smirk.

"You guys not sticking together?" Stanley asked, frowning.

"No." Ashley replied, frowning.

"That reminds me." Nemo said, "partly the reason I came up here was because the competition's better here. So as soon as we get back and find a room, I want to battle you again, Jackie."

"Heh, good luck with that." Chantelle said. Pointing a finger at him, she said "Jackie is the best beyblader I know!"

"Wish I could go with you too, guys," Stanley sighed. "Eh, never mind. I like it here in the valley too much. Who knows, maybe the streets won't be so deserted in the afternoons now."

He spared a look at Owyn who was sitting on the swings, isolated from the dozens of other kids that now flocked the park.

"Hope everything turns out okay at Clow. If you ever need another team player, give me a shout, won't ya'? 'Cause that sports day thing sounds like fun."

Ashley smiled. "Will d- "

"Only if you're strong enough, I don't want any more weaklings on the team. Two weaklings is enough." Nemo cut across her, making Maxie hiss like a steaming kettle.

They waved their last goodbyes to Stanley, checked their campsite to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything, then began their long hike up the hill. Chantelle and Jackie raced each other up, leaving the Ripmongers to struggle under the weight of their luggage. Soon the road fell away and left them traveling straight into the thickset of a wood, but as the path got more hazardous, so the view of the valley and surrounding villages became more eye-catching and it took Nemo's continued to insistence to keep Ashley and Maxie from stopping to admire the sight below.

But the best view was offered to them when they got to the top of the hill. Blazing sunshine met their eyes and they were greeted by the twinkle of the city below, nestled comfortably within the hills.

For the first time since they'd left, Nemo smiled.

She wouldn't be part of their team for long. It was like Ashley said, they would part ways soon. Then she could return here, get a job and stay somewhere nice. Maybe if she saved enough money she could buy a house when she was older, all the while becoming a better blader.

This must be what contentment felt like.

"… It's ever so good of you to come all this way, Miss Maiden, we really appreciate it…"

"Oh, no, no, don't be so silly, Mrs. Perone! It's no problem for me at all!"

Corina sat in the reception area. The voices coming from the door opposite her were unnerving.

The woman continued: "… as deputy head of MINDERS, I assure you, Mrs. Perone – we will bring your daughters back here, safe and sound. Thank you for the information you have provided me today, but now I must question Corina. She may know something that we don't! I will not be long – hopefully."

With a light-hearted titter, the woman rounded on the door and flung it open. Corina had been expecting it, she knew she'd been bought here to be interrogated. The stout woman before her –barely old enough to have graduated herself – stood over her, peering down at her through eyes thick with mascara.

The woman smiled. "You must be young Corina! Come, there is no need to be afraid, you are not in any trouble, silly!"

Corina managed a grimace back. The woman sat opposite her in the office.

"Corina, my name is…"

"I know, Miss Maiden." Corina said, "I heard you talking in the room opposite me, ma'am."

"Ah, yes – did I speak so loud? Or you must have good ears," the woman laughed, "but – that would make wording my next question a lot easier, wouldn't it?"

She peered at Corina, smiling pleasantly – almost too pleasantly. Corina's eyes darted to the ground.

"Perhaps you know what I'm going to ask you?"

"Is it… to do with where Nemo went?"

"Right!" the woman clapped her hands, cheerfully. "So, do you know, then? Come now, Corina. There is nothing to be afraid of. We agree – and your parents, too – that what you did was extremely brave that night, and we are all so, so proud of you. If you have any further information that could help in the recovery of your sisters and friends, please be willing to share it, and do your parents and I prouder still."

Corina peeled her eyes off the floor so that they met hers. The words came almost mechanically from her mouth: "they're going to Clow."

Who was she to lie? Hadn't Ashley told her all about Nemo's plan back in the park, what seemed like a century ago now? She desperately wanted Nemo and the others to come back home, and she'd do anything to achieve it even if it meant betraying her dear old friend, Ashley.

The woman's face burned with satisfaction. Her eyebrows almost disappeared into her fringe. "Thank you, Corina. You will not regret divulging me this information, I assure you."