Chapter 14 – Bridge Over Troubled Bladers
For the first time since they'd arrived, Maxie was the first to wake next morning and she did so very noisily indeed.
"Alright!" she shouted, flinging her toothpaste all over the place. "I'm so hyped for this virtual reality game!"
They arrived outside a big building with stone steps leading to the front entrance. Nemo looked around and vaguely remembered she'd seen this building before when they'd taken the wrong bus and ended up stranded miles away from Gaia.
Ashley frowned. "Where is everyone?"
Nemo glared at her. "What do you mean, 'where is everyone'?"
"I know that all the trial candidates are given set times to play," said Ashley, giving her watch a brief glance. "But I still would've expected long queues and big crowds and stuff. This virtual reality thing sounds popular."
"Nah, they just show up when it's their turn, like we are." Nemo yawned. "Not that I care, but where's Jordan?"
Maxie crossed her arms, looking grumpy. "Gone to find that idiot, Jackie. I dunno' what she sees in him. I tried to make her come with us, but nope, she's gone to the cabin to learn how to beyblade better."
Ashley let out a chuckle. "I always thought those two had chemistry. 'Bout time something happened."
"Don't blame her for going." Nemo said.
"What? You mean you have feelings for Jackie too?" said Ashley, smirking.
"No," snapped Nemo, "I'm just saying, I'd rather be practicing than doing this stupid virtual reality thing. And you know what? I wouldn't even be here if I didn't know there was money involved."
A little while later, Cinthia, Jodie and Dana came out of the double doors beyond the stairs.
"Hey, you guys!" Jodie waved over to them.
"Hey, Jodie – Dana – Cinthia! How was it?" Ashley greeted them in turn as they came down the steps, but they didn't seem to pay any notice. They were fixated on Nemo, who of course they hadn't seen the day before.
"You guys are up next." Dana smiled, and Maxie boiled with excitement beside them.
Nemo noticed Cinthia looking at her. "What do you want?"
"Nothing." Said Cinthia, briskly. "Y'know, just looking for something to say to my sister who I haven't seen for almost two weeks and who's been avoiding us since we got here."
"I haven't been avoiding you, I have better things to do than small talk with people who don't mean anything to me," Nemo snapped as she turned to trudge up the stairs. "C'mon guys, it's our turn."
Jodie and Dana gaped after her. Ashley's eyes darted between Nemo and Cinthia.
"Cinthia, I'm sure she doesn't mean that. She was woken up early this morning because of Maxie, and you know how she isn't an early bird – "
"Oh wait, now I've thought of something to say!" Cinthia shouted, snarling. "Mum's FURIOUS at you! And when the authorities find you and bring you back home – baby gurl, you're going to do all the family chores for a MONTH! And I don't give a damn if you stay or leave, so quit pretending I do!"
Nemo disappeared behind the double doors. Cinthia cursed and grabbed her phone.
"She makes me so damn mad!" she hollered. "I'mma text my boyfriend, he always makes me feel better."
Ashley blushed and mumbled incoherent apologies.
"Well, good luck." Dana nodded to them.
"Thanks. Come now, Maxie – "
But Maxie had already darted up the steps, screaming at the top of her lungs. Ashley smiled weakly and followed her up.
"Hm," muttered Jodie, "like, where's Jordan? We gotta' get this plan done properly, or like, we're gonna' get nothing out of this."
Jordan spotted the cabin ahead. Nice and cosy, it was, she thought to herself. A great place to find some common interests with that boy…
She blushed and walked eagerly inside. It wasn't so packed during the day, but there was the odd beyblader about, waiting for a turn at the stadium – was he here? – yes, thank goodness – one of the bladers was Jackie, looking carelessly down at the battle he was a part of. It was easy to distinguish him from the others, those magnetic blue eyes and that dark hair…
Oh, Jackie, she thought…
"C'mon!" his opponent was saying, but his bey's attacks were proving futile.
"Oh, hey Jackie!" Jordan said, marching up to them. "It's me, Jordan… you know how you said you'd teach me how to battle better…?"
The opposing kid gasped and stepped back as his bey flew past his shoulder. Jordan watched it go, and then turned and saw Jackie gazing intently at her.
"Yeah, I remember," he said.
Delighted he'd been true to his words, Jordan nodded. "Yes! Jackie, I – "
He took Glaseus and walked over toward the door. "Let's go."
"But – Jackie? – What's wrong with this place…?"
"Too many people." He said shrewdly, and stepped out.
Jordan cast a glimpse around the room as she exited behind him – there really weren't that many people at all… was he perhaps trying to find them a more intimate location? Her heart leapt at the thought. It was almost too good to be true; she'd come here expecting a challenge to win him over.
She slid dreamily after Jackie as they took the lane up the hill.
"Where are we going?" she said, trying to catch his arm, but he was walking too fast.
"Away from here." He replied, simply.
Nemo, Maxie and Ashley found themselves in a long reception room. At the end of a hall was a pair of sliding double doors, and beyond that a set of booths coveted by curtains that flanked either side of each booth.
The hall was nearly empty. For once, Nemo thought to herself, she wished there were kids around them, shouting and screaming, because then it wouldn't feel so much like they were walking into an ill-conceived trap.
"This is weird," Maxie muttered.
"If you're scared of the dark, now's not the time to say so," Nemo snapped.
"Heroes are never afraid of the dark!" Maxie replied, assuming a battle stance. "I, Maxie, swear by all that is good and right to conquer the forces of evil that lay ahead…"
Nemo and Ashley looked at each other, and sighed.
They approached the receptionist.
"Names?"
"Nemo – Maxie – Ashley," Ashley said, pointing to each of them in turn.
"Ah, yes," the receptionist said, checking their names against her record. She looked up again, and smiled in a mechanical way that made Nemo feel uncomfortable. "Yes, yes... first of all, I'll be needing your beyblades."
Maxie willingly handed hers over. Nemo pushed Dromeda further down into her pocket and said, "Mine's at the repair shop, and Ashley isn't a beyblader."
"Ah, right," she said, taking Leonine from Maxie. "In that case, follow me, girls."
"What gives?" Maxie muttered to Nemo as they walked.
"I don't like this," she muttered back. "You shouldn't have given him your beyblade, idiot…"
"What do you think she's gonna' do, steal it?" Maxie jibed at her. Nemo didn't answer.
She led them to the booths. There were a number of other staff waiting there, and together they fixed a pair of very complicated-looking glasses on each of them, then handed them metal consoles that they explained would act as their launchers in the virtual world.
Nemo could feel the receptionist's hands slipping around the glasses as she adjusted them, almost as if she was worried.
"Yes, there you go," she said, with a grimace, "enjoy your experience on behalf of the MINDERS extracurricular provisions department."
"Thank you!" beamed Ashley as they were ushered into separate booths, the curtains drawn behind them.
Nemo fidgeted uncomfortably in the confines of her booth. A door that seemed to open into further darkness opened behind her. She went through it and joined Ashley and Maxie, whom both appeared disjointed through the lenses of her glasses.
Maxie stared at Nemo as she walked. "Cool! You look taller than me with those on!"
They walked in a tight spiral around a circular wall. There was eerie music playing ahead. Neon green arrows on the walls beside them needlessly guided them along the one-way path. With the glasses on, Nemo had no sense of whether they were ascending, descending, or really moving at all. She could only feel the presence of the other two beside her and hear the music ahead; growing in volume as they rounded the hallway.
"Where are we going?" Maxie asked.
"How the hell am I supposed to know?" snapped Nemo, unnerved. "Let's just get this over with so we can claim our cash prize and get out of here."
"You sound worried, Nemo." Ashley said, softly.
Nemo would've shot Ashley a dirty look if she knew she could see it.
Finally, a silver light loomed from the darkness. They approached it apprehensively, and walked into what appeared to be a metallic chamber alive with buzzing.
"What's this?" asked Maxie. Nemo didn't bother replying this time.
A wall came down behind them, sealing the way they'd entered. A screen opened in front of them, and a stout robot with a square body and head appeared.
"Hi guys, I'm SmarterChild! I'm your new robot friend. I salute you!" it said, raising one of its arms rigidly in greeting. Its voice was monotonous as it continued, "Speaking of which, did you know the term 'robot' was first coined in 1921 by a Czech writer called Karel Capek?"
"No, and we don't care," Nemo replied, bored.
"What? Oh, you're right. That doesn't have anything to do with why I bought you here!" it said. "Yes, now that you mention it… I bought you here for entirely different purposes, to request that you undertake a most daunting task, but the fate of my hometown rests on your shoulders. Travellers… are you ready? Do you except my plea for help, on behalf of my hometown of Salem – "
"Can we have our money now?" interrupted Nemo.
Maxie was on her knees, bowing to the robot.
"We accept!" she shouted, theatrically, "we accept your request! We, who swear to conquer the forces of evil…"
Nemo sighed. "Idiot, it's not real."
"Nemo, don't ruin the atmosphere!" Ashley told her, beaming at the robot, which ploughed on as it was programmed to.
"… the wise sage of Salem has asked your help. To vanquish the dragon that has slayed my town and its people… but the only way to do so is by going in my time machine, and kill the dragon in the past. That'll mean the future of the town – which is our present – is saved!" the robot threw its arms above its head in mock celebration. "Er – if that makes sense. It doesn't, right? It's O.K. Those glasses are fitted with an advanced communication system so that we can stay in contact throughout the course of your adventure. In the meantime, beybladers, sit back and enjoy as I blast you into the past!"
"Wait, where did beyblading come into this? I wasn't paying attention." Nemo said.
"Basically, it's saying its hometown was taken over by a dragon that shoots beyblades from its mouth, and now we have to go back in time and defeat the dragon." Ashley recited.
"Oh. Lame."
"Just try to enjoy this, alright? You could be out there mowing the lawn round about now."
SmarterChild grabbed hold of a lever and pushed it down. "Whoopee! Here you – gogogo!"
The screen flickered, the audio became distorted and there was an exaggerated whirring of mechanics in their ears. Nemo grew weary of the cinematic effects.
The door opposite them flew open, and they were blinded by light again. Nemo exited the room behind Ashley and Maxie, walking into the most peculiar thing she'd ever seen.
It was a prehistoric-looking place. A thick patch of forests lay beyond them in the horizon. Ancient-looking monuments were littered in bundles around the landscape. Far away to their right was an ocean, and to their left a hill that peered out over a tribal village. The virtual environment was accompanied by slow music to set the mood.
It took some time for them to register the appearance of the place, but when they had, Ashley mirrored all their thoughts in a single word for them: "Wow."
"I know, right?" Maxie whispered.
"Wonder what it's like with the glasses off." Nemo said, and she loosened the strap that held up her glasses. She peered over the rim of them, and saw that they were in a seemingly endless dark room. Solid components had been placed in the exact region where the equivalent of a tree or monument would be in the virtual world, probably to make the experience even more lifelike, Nemo thought to herself.
Nemo pulled the glasses back around her eyes and admired the scenery once more. There were pterodactyls flying in the distance.
"See you arrived safely! Great!" SmarterChild droned somewhere overhead. A hologram of the real thing appeared in front of them, stuck to the forefront of their glasses wherever they looked. "I've never tested the time machine myself, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that something could've gone wrong and you'd never make it out the other side. Sorry I forgot to mention that!"
Ashley let out a chuckle.
"Welcome to the lair of the dragon, the place where it lived for a thousand years before it came and destroyed Salem. In the east, you'll see… oh no, look out! The pterodactyls are coming!"
"What?!"
Nemo looked up. Indeed, the creatures were coming down upon them, wings outstretched. She dived out of the way along with the others, but one of the beast's wings caught her leg as she went. She couldn't feel a thing, of course, but her vision flashed a temporary red.
"My screen just went red, what does that mean?" Nemo asked.
"It means you've lost a life!" Ashley replied. "You've only got nine left, so be careful or you're out of the game!"
"My radar is picking up on some ancient tribal beys situated nearby!" SmarterChild said. "They should be placed on a rock near the village! Quick, hurry and get them before they attack again!"
The birds took flight again. Nemo and the others darted right, to the village, and saw three spinning tops laid out for them on a rock. They grabbed hold of them, and again, whilst there was no solid component to feel, by the visual element of the glasses they could anticipate where they were holding them.
Nemo bought hers to her launcher and shot it at the pterodactyls. Maxie and Ashley did the same. The beys struck the wings of the birds, causing them to screech and change course.
Nemo took hold of her bey as it bounced back at her, and jumped over a pterodactyl wing as it crashed beside her. She shot it right at the bird's face, and the bird flickered and vanished in a cloud of dust, a skeleton appearing in the place it had been conquered.
"Good job, Nemo!" Ashley said.
"Please, it was nothing." Nemo replied, and found, to her horror, that she was beginning to enjoy this game.
"Right… good call, I would've helped you out myself, but I'm a mere machine and I couldn't have done so much as bombard those critters with scientific knowledge. D'you think that would've worked?" SmarterChild continued. "… No, maybe not. Anyway, I can detect a village nearby – best head there straight away and see the tribesmen, I think they might know exactly where the dragon is!"
Ashley turned to them. "Feel like this game could make me a better beyblader, I might take it up! Don't forget to keep your launchers at the read – "
But Maxie had already run into the distance, screaming "WOOHOO!"
Five minutes down the lane, Jackie had led Jordan to a bridge that overlooked the river. Jordan reluctantly took the bank opposite Jackie.
"Why HERE?" she asked, trying to sound more curious than disappointed.
"Your bey has a spring attached to it, right?" Jackie asked, as if he hadn't heard her.
"Yeah, so?"
"If you continuously use the spring to attack," Jackie said, "then your grounded attacks won't be as powerful… you've gotta' learn to attack from the ground as well as from the air."
"Right," said Jordan, "how do I do that, Jackie?"
"We're going to be doing skimming practice."
He pointed to the river in front of him. "Basically, you can't bounce on water, so by beyblading on the water you can snap out of the habit of relying on the spring!"
Jordan tilted her head. "You can blade on the water?"
Jackie flipped out his launcher in response. Glaseus flew across the surface of the river effortlessly and to the other side, where it bounced up. Jordan stretched out her palm to catch it.
"Now you try…"
"Okay!"
Jordan threw his bey back to him and moved her own launcher out. She attached Bubblez to the end and took her stance.
"Let it rip!" she screamed, and watched as Bubblez landed safely on the water – but then sprung into the air and took a nose dive into the water.
"Try again," Jackie said.
"Oh well," Jordan said, bending down to pick it up.
"It's to do with how you launch your bey," Jackie explained, "make sure you launch flat, like you would over a stadium, but also make sure you give your launcher a slight flick as you let your bey go."
"Why don't you come over here and show me…?" Jordan asked him, trying to stop herself drooling over the idea of him touching her.
Jackie smirked and crossed his arms. "If you don't get it after a few times, I'll show you."
Jordan nodded obediently. Joke's on you, she thought to herself: she'd just fail as many times as it took to get him here.
"Let it rip!" she said, flicking her launcher far too hard as she tugged the rip cord.
However, instead of flopping, Bubblez landed on the water and shot across it easily.
"Woah," Jackie said. "That was quick, you must have a natural talent."
"Probably," replied Jordan, dully. She watched as Bubblez did a loop of the water in front of her, skimming effortlessly around it without using the spring.
Glaseus joined it and slammed into it, causing it to bounce into the bank. It barely regained balance as it pulled into the side, wobbling and almost sinking into the water again.
Jordan looked up. Jackie was smirking. "C'mon, fight back, newbie."
"You bet! Go, Bubblez!"
She watched Bubblez chase Glaseus around the water. When it stopped spinning, she took hold of it and launched it the same way as she did before, skimming it across the water again.
"Nice."
"Thanks," said Jordan. "I can feel myself getting stronger already! Do you think I can beat Nemo, Jackie?"
"Nah, Nemo's too strong."
Jordan glared at the top of his head as he watched the battle. She'd hoped he'd say yes just to make her feel better.
Maybe he was just playing hard to get…
Yes, that must be it, she thought. Why would he teach her to battle if he didn't have feelings for her?
This thought cheered her up slightly. She looked around and said, "it's nice when Nemo, Maxie and that other girl aren't here. Don't you think?"
"I guess…?"
"It's… peaceful," she continued, "Clow is a pretty city."
Jackie didn't respond.
"Jackie?" She said softly, "are you okay?"
Glaseus fell back and hit the bank as Bubblez attacked it. It slid up the bank and returned to the ground in front of him.
"Yeah," he said, "I was talking to Nemo last night…"
"About what?" she asked, pleasantly.
Jackie looked up at her. "She was telling me about life back home. About her personal feelings towards people."
Jordan blinked, stupidly. Why was he talking about Nemo all of a sudden? Didn't he have feelings for her? Why wasn't he talking about HER?
"What about her feelings?" she asked. "Did she talk about me or…?"
"Yes and no," Jackie replied.
"What do you…?"
"She said she hated everyone, even her friends. She said she doesn't care about anyone and that she wouldn't care if any of her friends died," he replied, flatly.
Jordan laughed and rolled her eyes, and her almost knowing reaction unnerved him. "Oh, yeah, she's just like that. But let's get back to talking about – "
"What do you mean, 'just like that'?" Jackie pestered her. Glaseus flipped across the bank and met Bubblez, causing it to fly uselessly through the air. "You mean that's normal where you're from, Jordan? That nobody cares about anyone?"
Jordan reached out and caught Bubblez. She kept her hand outstretched and stared at the bey as she returned her reply: "well… no, Jackie, it's not normal. But Nemo's… well, that's just how she is. Back home, she's lazy, complains a lot, watches too much T.V and bullies her sisters and even makes them cry! All the way out here… well, she's really no different at all, minus the T.V bit."
She chuckled and let her hand drop to her side. "She and the others have gone to play some stupid virtual reality thingy… I don't care about video games, of course, I'd much rather beyblade like you, Jackie!"
Anything for the pleasure of his company, she thought to herself.
"Virtual reality?"
"Yeah!" she answered, rolling her eyes. "That new MINDERS virtual reality game that opened recently in town. Like I said, I hate video games so - "
"MINDERS?!"
"Something like that, I'm not sure…"
She blinked. He was clutching Glaseus and looking into her eyes. He looked pale and frantic.
"Jackie – what's wrong…?"
"Jordan," he began quietly, "you've got to show me where they went. Now."
"I thought you were teaching me how to beyblade better…?"
"This is more important. It's… you've got to help me."
"Jackie, stay strong."
She ran across the bridge and dived at him for a hug, but he'd already dodged her advances and was running along the bank.
Resisting the urge to pout, she followed him. "If he's playing hard to get, he sure is doing a good job of it…" she thought to herself.