Chapter 14
Tyson had a hard time to contain his excitement. He loved Beyblading, but Beyblading in front of a huge audience was even beyond. He and G-Revolution team were already in the centre of the stadium, waiting for Jazzman to announce the first game of the day, which was them against Tall Boys – more familiar faces from the past. Truth be told, Tyson didn't remember well their match from the first tournament. He and his team had already many opponents and challengers in the past few years, it was hard to keep in mind every faces and stories anymore. However, Tyson hoped, they were going to have a decent battle. He was itching to feel finally the adrenalin in his blood, the shivering excitement when he faced a dangerous opponent. He needed to test his capability, his limits, and out of the tournament, it was getting harder and harder with the ordinary kids on the playground at home.
"What's the strategy plan, Kenny?" Max asked, just to make a habit. When they were the Bladebreakers, they always had a short regroup before the matches and listened to the genius boy's advices.
Kenny almost disappeared behind his computer's screen, he leaned so close to it. He clearly didn't hear or see what happened around him. After Tyson dragged him for lunch, he dozed off and slept for a few hours before the match. Thereby, he had a lot to catch up with the Blitzkrieg's beyblade.
"Kenny?" Max tried again, others looking into Kenny's direction, as well.
Hilary grabbed Kenny's shoulder and gave it a good shake.
"Earth to Kenny, answer!"
The boy adjusted the glasses on his nose because it was dropped due to the hard shaking then looked up. Kenny got embarrassed by the many faces staring at him.
"Uhm… yes?" He asked sheepishly.
"What's the strategy?!" His whole team asked at the same time, out of patience. The match was already about to start.
Kenny had to adjust his glasses again, in his terrified jump they slipped off his face again.
"Right." He said. "Let's be nostalgic a bit. Kai starts with the fight for advantage first then the rest of you go against you played three years ago."
Ray snorted in amusement as Kenny immediately turned back to his screen. Whatever was it he analyzed, it must have contained potential data.
"There's no plan B for the case we lose the fight for advantage?"
Kai slowly and dangerously glared at Ray, noticeably offended. The Chinese already got used to this expression, so it didn't really affect him, he just laughed at the typical Kai reaction, and patted him on his shoulder to reassure him about the teasing. Credit to their relatively long friendship, Kai didn't even try to step away from the gesture.
"Of course, we win the fight for advantage against the Tall Boys, I don't see the reason to play over other options in my head. They basically have zero chance to win any fight."
Ray shared a funny look with Max and Tyson at the serious reply. When he was focused, Kenny often didn't realize they were just messing with him and answered every question with the biggest determination like his life would depend on it. With that, Kenny was swallowed again in the pool of his valued data.
DJ Jazzman asked the first competitors to the dish, so Kai made his move. His long coat and long white scarf demanded attention as it swirled around his tall appearance.
"Wait!" Kenny shout to Kai who turned back, annoyed.
"I know it's unsportsmanlike, but I suggest you play with them and try out Dranzer as long as you can. Your test match with Tyson was too short from yesterday."
"It's not about how long I can. It's about how long I like." Kai's reply was filled with his usual arrogance. Kenny's bossy manner was almost insulting for him. He acted like Kai'd been a rookie in the team.
"Oh! But don't show your full potential…!" Chief kept talking like a vinyl record that was forgotten on.
"Shut up already!" Kai snapped, fed enough with the vacuous advices. He stepped to the dish, ignoring his team from now on.
Kenny didn't bother to get offended by the leader's rudeness, he switched on the camera on his laptop, preparing it to record the fight for more data.
"What does he have to try out on Dranzer?" Ray asked the mechanic, but he was too deep in his thoughts to answer.
Eventually, Kai did as he was suggested. He toyed with his opponent's nerve like a cat does with the bowl of string. Every time Dranzer caught the other beyblade, Kai made her to let go, giving his opponent space and time to collect some energy for the next, absolute harmless attack, just so to dodge it with ridiculous effort. Kai was pleased with Dranzer, her moves were smooth and precise, it was delightful for him to watch. The satisfaction of harmony with his bitbeast made him totally forgot to respect the new, 'promising' talent of Tall Boys who literally couldn't do anything against the rather mocking charges of the phoenix. The Tall Boys were already yelling to their teammate from the ground to throw in the towel and make a stop on the embarrassing battle. Kai realized he didn't have more fun to watch the satisfying movements anymore, so with a mercilessly quick and harsh attack he finished the fight.
"Kai, you overkilled it." Tyson addressed him disapprovingly when the captain stepped down from the stage. "You humiliated him."
"I did."
"Geez, you almost sound like a pervert who enjoyed it." Tyson retorted, partly joking to avoid the conflict. If there was something that made his blood boiled is the unrespectful battle. He thought, the Russian already left this attitude behind.
"This was totally unnecessary, Kai." Ray agreed with Tyson, his strict frown hauling.
"I suppose my upmost attention and interest in your opinion is well-readable on my face." Kai retorted dryly, giving the most perfectly blank and bored expression he could perform.
"You…khh!
Tyson grumbled in his helpless anger, then left the captain and stepped to the dish when Jazzman called the beybladers for the next battle. He was against Tommy and he didn't want to keep him waiting after such a demeaning fight. Although, he also tested Dragoon during the battle, he didn't stall his time in the dish. To be fair, Tommy made some unexpected moves that caught Tyson almost off-guard, but nothing serious that he couldn't counter easily. He never had intention to humiliate anyone in a beyblade fight, so after a few laps and attacks, he pushed Tommy's blade out.
Ray and Max fought their battles swiftly and nice, not wasting more unnecessary minutes than the match required, and so, G-Revolution team won the first game on the second day of the eighth-finals.
"How much improvement we had compering to them, wow." Ray stated after they shook hands with the Tall Boys. Three years ago, they had more difficulties with these boys, now the difference between the two teams was too big to even mention.
"Yeah, I feel almost… disappointed. No. I do feel disappointed." Max agreed while they were walking on the corridor of the stadium, after Jazzman announced their ultimate victory and dismissed them from the stage. Now, they were heading upstairs to watch the other matches from the grandstand.
"I expect we'll get tougher opponents soon or I'll lose my nerves." Tyson couldn't hide his dissatisfaction. He waited a whole year for this event, and it was not the less casual so far.
They occupied seats among the audience and waited for Jazzman to continue. Lots of familiar faces had to fight that day.
"Let's move to the next match-ups, ladies and gentlemen! The competing teams are the following!" DJ Jazzman bellowed enthusiastically into the microphone.
Majestics vs Blade Sharks
All Starz vs Ragged Force
White Tigers vs Spin Shephards
"Look! The next is Majestics and your old team, Kai! Are you excited to see them?" Tyson teased him in his excitement. He knew that both Max and Ray were already enthusiastic to cheer for their own teams today. He thought it'd be funny to see the sourpuss rooting for Blade Sharks the same way. So bizarre to even imagine.
"No." The deadpan reply from Kai.
"Are you cheering for them like Ray and Max will do for All Starz and White Tigers?"
"Find another target for the rest of the day, Tyson." His voice sounded neutral, though, Tyson knew that he was about to tip toe the line of his tolerance. Pushing aside the urge to mess more with the captain, he chuckled then turned his attention to the tournament.
Jazzman summoned the bladers of the first matchup between Majestics and Blade Sharks to the dish. Robert and Stuart stepped up and Jazzman started to count down. Hillary looked at Kenny who was frantically typing on his computer, clearly excited about something he just discovered.
"Don't you record the fights, Kenny?"
"Shh! Not now." He waved her down with a movement of his arm.
'Rude', she thought but she left alone the working mechanic.
The game between Majestics and Blade Sharks was surprisingly fast. The difference between the two teams were too significant and the European team showed that everyone. They didn't spare Kai's former vandal team any unnecessary minute, they mercilessly went for them right after the launch.
"Wow. This was intense. They obviously take this championship seriously." Ray commented.
"No wonder. After the fiasco of Barthez' Battalion from last year, I wouldn't risk anything if I were them." Max nodded.
"They fight so much better as a team. Good to see. They learnt the lesson." Tyson put up his arm behind his head, smiling with self-satisfaction at the Majestics. It was him and the Bladebreakers that tried to make them understand the importance of team spirit. The European nobleman team clapped each other's back, praising their good performance. Their high-horse attitude was seemingly softened, although did not disappear. It was something that belonged to them. They were not the same bold-faced team but a well-united one.
"In the next set, All Starz will clash with Ragged Force! Ragged Force plays for the first time on the championship, however, they won already many competitions at home, East-Europe, so you better not underestimate them! Give a warm welcome to the team, people!"
The audience politely applauded to the new team, encouraging them for the fight.
"On the other side of the dish, the members of the American team – Michael, Emily, Eddy and Steven – are eager to fight. You all already know but I can't tell it enough times how many trophies they collected before the age of Bladebreakers! Give them what they deserve, folks!"
"'The age of Bladebreakers', did you hear that, guys?" Max chuckled at Jazzman's words.
"Another predictable set. All Starz will defeat them easily." Tyson had to shout as the audience went crazy over All Starz. Sure enough, the American team had some popularity.
But Tyson couldn't be more wrong. Steven lost the fight for advantage and apparently, Ragged Force had a very clever and nasty strategy to defeat the American big guns. They used psywar. They knew Steven was a famous hot-blooded muscle player who was also short with patience. The Ragged Force bullied the bull and despite of his team's begging, Steven couldn't leave it without a raging respond. Hence, Ragged Force won the first fight and took the advantage for the match setup. After that, they took the lead more easily than they should as the members of the American team spent more time on blaming each other for the mistakes than on the battles.
"Ouch." Max said in shock, watching Emily still quarrelling with her teammates on the stage, after the game.
Tyson exhaled in distress. "That was painful."
"They could learn more about teamwork from Majestics, now." Ray noted with some irony.
"I won't have the opportunity to fight against them, I guess." Max's voice was sad. He was deeply disappointed with his former team's play. How many times will they commit the same mistakes? He was not so surprised at Steven's breakdown, though. Since the last tournament, he preferred Rick as a teammate. He had some temper issue, too, yes, but he also had wisdom. He was eager to co-operate if someone reasoned him. But Steven? You could talk to him all day and he'd just charge you to the wall. Shame on Eddy and Michael, too. They were strong beybladers, Max saw them practicing many times, their performance from today was a poor, amateur attempt for the win compering to the trainings they did together. It looked like they weren't so interested in Beyblade anymore. The only one who still showed its professional side was Emily. She won one match for her team today. Max could understand her anger.
"They surely can't keep their temper on check. They walked into the trap of Ragged Force almost voluntarily." Hilary noted.
"Bunch of idiots." Kai's remark was thick and raw.
"Wha-? All Starz lost against a no-name team?! And I didn't record it, argh!" Kenny finally lifted his head from the computer.
"Kenny, seriously. What are you working on?" Max questioned him, but Kenny was adamant.
"I'll tell it in time, don't worry."
"Lee and Mariah are coming." Ray announced, shifting in his seat. He was doing a poor job concealing his excitement seeing again his former teammates and childhood friends. After the unexpected drop-out of All Starz, he started worrying if White Tigers was going to make to the next round. He believed they were prepared for anything, but then again, cockiness was a common enemy in every team.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! The last match for today might bring some more déjá vu for you. White Tigers and Spin Shephards had been already fighting each other on the World Championship. It was three years ago. Let's see which team will get the upper hand this time! Let me hear your hands, folks!"
The audience cheerfully applauded, and this time, Ray also joined in.
The beginning was also not fortunate for White Tigers, Kevin lost the fight for advantage, and then Gary made a draw round with Bobby. After sensing the danger of dropping out, Mariah and Lee quickly beat up Bruno and Doug without giving any chance them to counter.
"That's right, guys." Ray smiled to himself, relieved he was going to see them more on the tournament.
"Damn it! Totally useless!" Kenny cursed, fiercely scratching his head in his frustration. Meanwhile DJ Jazzman summarized the events for that day and closed the eighth-finals. People all around started to rise from their seats and leave the stadium, loudly discussing today's events.
"What is it, Chief?" Tyson leaned closer to Kenny so they could talk discretely besides the team.
The tiny boy looked at him, something was in his eyes that Tyson didn't like at all.
Kenny sighed wearily. "It's just… It doesn't make sense!"
"What doesn't make sense?" Tyson asked, trying to keep his voice low.
"The data I retrieved from Russian girl's beyblade. Every bit's a contradiction. Here, it says–"
"Tyson, are you not coming?" Hilary interrupted.
Kenny jumped, unawarded, looking up at the team manager who was waiting for the two with a puzzled look. Behind her the entire team.
"We're coming!" Tyson grinned, quickly stood up and joined them, pretending he had nothing to hide with Kenny. "Now. Who wants to eat a good dinner? I got hungry watching these fights. Oh, I have a great idea! Let's have a dinner with the other teams! Celebrate with soup and noddle!"
Tyson suddenly became enthusiastic by his own idea and took the lead to the exit with Max who agreed with the plan as most of the times. Kenny squeezed the laptop to his chest, guarding it with his own body, and hurried after them.
"Don't forget the mayonnaise!" Max cheerful's voice was heard, Hilary on his heels.
Kai and Ray walked after them, and meanwhile the guys were arguing about what to eat for dinner, Ray moved closer to the silent Russian boy.
"Don't you think Tyson and Kenny are acting weird recently?"
Kai fixed his gaze on his smaller teammates' back.
"I do."
Ray leaned back and tried to find a way to question the two friends. He was sure Tyson and Kenny had the reason not to share something with them, but it was visibly getting out of hand. He tried to push away his bad feelings about it and took it easy, but honestly, it was getting harder and harder to pretend everything was great among them. He didn't talk about it to anyone, but it was difficult for him to turn back to Tyson's team in which not every member was open and direct. On White Tigers, they didn't have any secrets, they were a family and acted like that. With G-Revolution team, Ray felt them more like just a team rather than a family. He hated secrets. How could he trust anyone with undeniable secrets in their eyes? That was not how he was raised. Ray and all the White Tigers members had to be upfront for the sake of the community, for the small village. Because they could lean only on each other in trouble. Ray wanted to make understand this with Tyson and his team. It was important for him. He just didn't have the idea how to explain it to them yet, without making it ridiculous or a joke of himself. These were his principles, after all. He needed to find the proper moment to talk about it with the boys soon.
oOo
"I should've fought all battles by myself and I still had more chance to be qualified to the next round!" Emily was still grumbling angrily about her team's performance when they were already finishing the dinner in the restaurant. The staff pulled several tables together in favor to make possible for G-Revolution, White Tigers, All Starz and Majestics teams to eat together. They basically filled the whole place. The waitress ran back and forth between the tables and the kitchen busily, balancing numerous glasses and plates on the trays.
Tyson was thinking to invite Blade Sharks, as well, but Kai immediately made him forget the idea, while Tall Boys refused the invitation with the excuse that they had to pack for their flight back to Thai Land.
"Drop it off finally, Emily." Michael had enough of the snappy ginger girl, he was listening to her complaining about their loss since the game ended. "I can't stand your whining anymore. Besides, we still can try it again next year."
"Next year? Next year?! Michael Parker, you really give a crap about this whole tournament! I don't know why you're even part of this team!"
"It's okay, Emily, you did everything for your team." Max comfortingly patted her hands on the table to calm her nerves down. She was about to make a huge scene in the middle of the restaurant and Max felt already embarrassed by her loud fuss. Thankfully, he said the right words to her because she sat back on her seat with a defeated sigh.
"But Emily is partially right. It's strange to see you guys so uninterested." Max turned back to Michael and Eddy. "It was like your thoughts were somewhere else."
"Thank you!" Emily smacked the table with wild gesticulation. "It's because Beyblade is not their priority anymore, and –"
"Emily, would you mind checking something for me? I had an issue with some data lately."
The loud American girl was cut by the random technical question of Kenny and she suddenly forgot to argue anymore with the boys. She turned to the dwarf boy to help him out. Emily loved dealing with issues and problems, they all were just challenges for her. Figuring them out was a triumph. The more complicated was the problem, the more she was obsessed with to solve it.
"Finally. Kenny saved the night for us." Eddy sighted, rubbing his tired face.
"The truth is, Maxie," Michael spoke up, answering the blonde's previous question, "we were always better at our prior sport. I'm at baseball, Eddy at basketball, Steven at football until he was banned. Since you and your team kicked our asses three years ago, we kinda lost our interests in Beyblade. We only agreed to register on the tournament this year because Emily insisted and couldn't give us a break."
"She still loves this sport." Max said with a warm smile.
"She's a perfectionist, ya know." Eddy shrugged.
It was unfortunate that Michael, Eddy and probably Steven, too felt that way but hearing their excuse, Max could respect Emily only more. She was highly talented both at tennis and on scientific field, but she kept coming back beyblading.
oOoOo
Tyson looked around at the big companion with a happy grin on his face. He was surprised when so many of them agreed to gather so spontaneously and have a dinner together. For an outsider, they might have just looked like a big, noisy family with all the little arguments and disagreements that different but bonded people usually had.
Tyson lived most of his life alone with his grandfather back in Japan, after his birth – after his mother's death – the family had shattered. His father ran away with his grief and was travelling in foreign countries all the time; Hiro followed him the moment he had the chance, leaving Tyson behind with his only grandpa who did everything for Tyson not to feel so alone. The old man often made a complete idiot out of himself just to cheer his grandson up, and eventually, he got used to babbling so many funny, out of context words that was rather annoying for Tyson, now.
Slowly growing up and participating on tournaments, Tyson found his new family.
He looked at Kenny discussing his data issue with Emily who was listening to him closely, not wanting to miss any important details; Max was chatting about the All Starz' future with the three American boys; Ray was chortling with the White Tigers, a Mariah in love was clinging to his arm, meanwhile Kai and Hilary seemed to have an interesting conversation with the Europeans. It was almost like a Christmas gathering and despite being so far, far away from the dojo, Tyson felt suddenly at home.
"Tyson!"
The dragon-wielder jerked out of his daydreaming and looked at his team mechanic whose hands invitingly urged him to his table.
"What is it, Chief? Did you decode the data?"
"Emily just told me a very interesting theory about a bit-beast type."
"A bit-beast type? I didn't even know there were types."
"Wind-type, fire-type, water-type…" Kenny counted sardonically.
"Okay, but I never thought they've officially existed." Tyson groaned, annoyed by Chief's sophisticated reply.
"It's because bit-beasts are still an undiscovered field in science." Emily spoke up, the hunger for knowledge in her eyes gleamed in a familiar way. "Although, there's a new theory about collective and family bit-beasts."
"Collective and family?" Tyson parroted.
"I know it sounds lame. Scientists haven't really come up with the proper definition yet, it's too new a theory." Emily scoffed then quickly started to explain it. Tyson always found it difficult to follow her explanations when she was this eager. "It assumes there are bit-beasts that are only able to exist in a group. They are weak alone but stronger with other bit-beasts."
Tyson frowned at the information. He had already two bit-beasts in his mind that acted similarly to the description.
"It's like my Dragoon or Black Dranzer."
"Dragoon perfectly gets along by himself. He's different. Also, a wind-type." Kenny corrected him. "He only unites other bit-beasts' power, not living on or with them."
Tyson now furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, so Emily began to lecture him.
"Family-type bit-beasts are able to summon their group mates that are equally strong. Steven's Tryhorn has that power, if you recall, he has a special attack with the whole herd. It requires though a big burst of power to summon them, so it's hard to study. Not everyone is capable to control them.
The collective-types are using other bit-beasts' might and energy to fight and keep themselves alive. They'd die alone. Black Dranzer stood close to these conditions, but as I remember, it was already strong by itself before that scum Kai decided to steal our bit-beasts." Emily took a deep breath through her nose. She still couldn't forgive the Russian for such a dirty betrayal. "Unfortunately, if I'm not mistaken, it was demolished by the Demolition Boys years ago, so we can't make experiments on it anymore. Collective-type bit-beasts are extremely rare, according to the current scientific statements, they exist only theoretically."
"What if Black Dranzer was not destroyed?" Kenny piped up. It could explain easily the other strange things, as well, like how naturally the Blitzkrieg girl used Dranzer against Tyson. He believed that there was some kind of connection between Kai's Dranzer and Black Dranzer – and he didn't mean only their names.
"It was." Tyson's firm objection quickly crashed Kenny's assumptions. "Tala told me that he and his team destroyed it by Volkov's order because he meant Black Dranzer only for Kai."
"Black Dranzer could be only one of the many." Emily's lifted finger warned them to stay open-minded.
"You just said that type exists only in theory." Tyson protested, he was already struggling to keep up with the scientific discussion.
"I said, according to the current scientific statements." Emily rectified him with her cockily scolding finger which made Tyson sigh exasperatedly.
"So, you believe there are other collective bit-beasts out in the world." Tyson stated eventually, reading the two geniuses' expression. Emily's big nod confirmed him. "And how is it related to the Blitzkrieg beyblade?"
"Tyson," Kenny's voice resonated with both excitement and sincere, "I'm certain the Russian girl has either a family-type or a collective-type bit-beast."
Tyson still didn't know where they wanted to go with this, but he let Kenny to explain it for him. The brunette rotated the laptop in his direction, giving him a full view at the screen which was covered with data. It was futile, though. He couldn't even read the lines, it was just a bunch of gibberish for him, not making any sense out of it.
"I already told you that Alexandra has a defensive-type beyblade." Kenny began, Tyson gave him a firm nod on it, it was something he actually did remember.
"My confusion in data started when her bit-beast kept giving me the sign it was an aggressive, attack-type spirit."
"So? She just built a wrong beyblade for her bit-beast." Tyson shrugged.
"I had the same thought, at first." Kenny nodded eagerly, he became almost as excited as Emily. It was terrifying to think, these two people were getting hyped by only data, saying a lot to Tyson about their future sex-life. "So I changed the settings, and virtually built an attack-type beyblade for the bit-beast, and ran a battle simulation, but then, you're not gonna believe this because it was incredible even for me, the bit-beast modified itself to a defensive-type spirit!"
Tyson could only keep blinking at his friend, dumbfounded. What Chief was talking about didn't make any sense. He admittedly didn't know much about the bit-beasts from scientific point of view, but for a spirit to change its essential abilities was a complete absurdity.
"This was the point I asked Emily's help because I couldn't make any more sense from the data, and she shared this theory with me, filling in the gaps." Kenny gratefully pointed to his pretty scientific partner, who adjusted the glasses on her nose in self-importance.
"Okay, let's go back to the changing spirit thing." Tyson asked, he knew he was getting lost somewhere in the middle.
"You already know what it looks like if you just change your Dragoon to Draciel for the shield with a snap of your fingers and then to Dranzer for a counterattack and then back to Dragoon again to finish the fight." Emily told him, snapping her own fingers each time mentioning a bit-beast. Tyson keenly nodded, he was already familiar with this scenario and it was not a pleasant memory for him.
"This is the collective type bit-beast." Emily continued and Tyson was listening closely. "It means it can continuously change its fighting style thanks to the various spirits it possesses. But if you think about the family-type bit-beasts' special attack, they can develop the same capability in a moment. Basically, the science is not able to tell the difference between the two types for now, but they're certain these are truly two different types."
"Can you finally make your point?" Tyson pleaded, massaging the growing ache in his temper.
"The point is," Kenny tried again, "the data on Alexandra's bit-beast is so conflicted, she could easily fight and defeat any type of bit-beast because of the high capability of its adaptiveness. I can't tell if she has a family- or collective-type bit-beast – or even both –, but now I'm certain that she did fake that clumsy launch the other day and will cause serious difficulties for the team in the future."
Tyson looked at Emily for some encouragement, but only a greedy smile emerged on the girl's face. "It's wicked, right?"
"If that's true, what chance would be…" Tyson started but he was suddenly interrupted.
"What is this random study circle over here?"
Ray popped up out of blue, his faced gleamed with joyfulness. Tyson could see his friend had had a good time with White Tigers and didn't skip to notice how relaxed Ray was around them all the time. Although, he grinned at them at first, his smile quickly melted down at their probably stern expressions. Tyson didn't want him to suspect anything around the serious conversation with Kenny and Emily. He knew very well that Ray often read between the lines and saw through the people, so it was always a challenge to sell him a believable lie.
Before he could say anything, Tyson suddenly heard loud chair dragging noises, he looked behind Ray and realized that the others were standing from the tables, leaving for the night. Was it so late already? They just arrived at the restaurant an hour ago. Or was it two? Three? When did he start the conversation with Chief and Emily?
"I see the boys are leaving. I'm going with them. Good night!" Emily announced suddenly, waving a short goodbye to G-Revolution team.
All other teams took their leaves as well, after paying for their dinner. They wished good nights and congratulated to each other for being qualified into the eighth-finals. Soon, all G-Revolution team member gathered around Tyson and Kenny, ready to leave, as well.
"What were you talking about?" Ray raised the question with a friendly smile, but his voice was somehow intrusive.
"Just… beyblade stuff, you know." Tyson dodged offhandedly. He saw that Kenny didn't want to share the new discovery with the rest of the team yet. He also saw that Ray was offended by his obvious lie. However, the tiger-wielder didn't push him further, the crossing arms and suspiciously narrowed eyes made Tyson uncomfortable. He didn't want to ignore Ray, but Kenny was still not ready to admit before the team his dirty business with the Blitzkriegs. He hoped the mechanic was going to commit himself soon because Tyson felt disgusted lying to his friends. Lies only eroded trust.
"Well, we were talking about a much more interesting topic. Paris!" Hilary's eyes gleamed like stars on the sky and she dreamingly clasped her hands. "Olivier invited me to visit him after the championship. He's such a gentleman!"
oOoOo
While the team was heading back to their hotel room, Hilary talked over the whole route. Max cordially discussed the idea of a trip to Europe with her, sharing their own stories when they, as Bladebreakers, decided to make a big loop before the finales in Moscow, a few years ago. Even Kai joined in the conversation occasionally, scoffing at the pranks of Dark Bladers and mischievously chuckling when he revived Johnny's defeated face.
Ray was glad that their captain finally felt relaxed around them, he rarely saw the self-contained boy talking with the team. For a long time, G-Revolution almost looked like a well-bonded team. Almost. Tyson's silence was an uncommon phenomenon. It bothered him that the usually chatty boy now didn't share his thoughts with them. Ray couldn't put his sudden distrust anywhere. The dragon-wielder didn't say a word since he caught him with Kenny and Emily in the middle of a conversation that seemed concerning for them.
Although, he hoped for a better moment, he already knew he was going to ruin this great evening for everyone. He was struggling for a while to find a proper opportunity to question Tyson, but there was always something around that required the team's focus, like the Championship itself. The team was finally together this time, Kai didn't disappear to train; Max and himself already had their time with the White Tigers and All Starz and now spent their time with G-Revolution again; and Tyson didn't drag Kenny aside to talk about something in muted tones. Hilary also was with them, although, her presence was not so important in this matter. What was it if not the proper moment to expose the two secretive teammates? Ray wanted to get his doubts off his chest.
When they arrived at their own small lounge, he made his decision. Before they all retired to the sanctuary of their own private rooms, he asked the team's attention. Everyone waited for him to speak up, the light mood hung there only for seconds before all of them mirrored him with a sincere look. Ray assumed he couldn't hide very well his doubts.
"In the recent days, I often saw you, Tyson and Kenny whispering about something. At first, I thought just Kenny wanted to surprise us with something cool invention, but I noticed each of you were getting more and more stressed. Would you mind share with us what's going on?" Ray didn't want to be harsh, but even he could hear out the impatience from his words.
Although, he addressed only Kenny and Tyson, the others also froze in their place as if Ray would have put a spell on them. He saw their curiosity and Ray realized it was not only him who was bothered by their secretive behavior.
Tyson undoubtedly was caught surprised by the unexpected question and was struggling to find the proper words. Kenny, meanwhile, just stood in the middle of the room, head hanged down, holding his laptop close to his chest like hoping for some support from it.
"W-what makes you think that? We were just talking." Tyson grinned, waving down Ray. "We had a long day, let's catch some Zs." He already took a step in the direction of his room when a cold, ominous voice made him stop again.
"You're a horrible liar, Tyson." Kai stood beside Ray, an obvious declaration of sharing his teammate's concerns. His ruthless glare put anyone at unease in a blink of an eye.
However, Tyson attempted to stand the captain's stare, Kenny quickly broke. Ray knew that the little mechanic always feared Kai, no matter how hard and how many times he tried to befriend with him, putting aside his insecurity.
"Alright, I think it's time to share with you what I found." Kenny let out a shaky, defeated sigh while he put the laptop on the coffee table.
Tyson tried to resist but Kenny immediately silenced his futile effort with a hand wave. The others followed and sat around him closely to have a sight on the screen. Only Kai didn't bother to sit, he leant close to the side of the sofa, arms tightly crossed around his chest as always. Ray could sense his tensed alertness due to the sudden change of the conversation. His relaxed, talkative manner was long forgotten. Ray truly ruined the night of the team and already felt the choking sensation of guiltiness in his throat, but he quickly brushed his unsettling feelings aside, he was going to deal with them later.
"A few days ago," Kenny began, trying to sound as neutral as he could, "Tyson and Alexandra from Blitzkriegs beybattled."
The announcement was followed by a general frown from the team, while Kenny was looking for the proper file to share the data with them.
"So?" Max asked, spreading his hands, eager to hear the details. "How did it go?"
As Kenny was still searching among the files, the team looked at Tyson for a reply. Although, he didn't say a word, his twisted lips made it clear for them the champion was not pleased with the fight.
"Let's say, he was not prepared for the unexpected." Kenny answered, eventually.
"Did you lose?!" Hilary snapped with shock and anger at the same time.
"Well… She kinda melted Dragoon with –"
"Dragoon practically got demolished by her." Kenny quickly stated, taking the word from Tyson.
The team gasped in their shock.
"You just corrected the balance, hm?" Kai suddenly spoke up. His voice was low, almost indifferent but Ray saw how the captain's silently threatening eyes narrowed at Chief. "You told me it was just a small adjustment on Dragoon."
"Yes, however, I–" Kenny defended but Kai's now intimidating voice cut him.
"You lied to me."
"Yes, I did!" Kenny agreed. He didn't shout but his voice suddenly resonated with an offended determination for some reason. "It may sound uncanny for you, but I respect the dignity of each member of my team. When someone loses a fight, demolishes his beyblade and ask my help to repair it, I'm not gonna talk about his shame with the others because I believe it's his interest and concern to stand up before the team in the right time and confess his mistake."
Ray already heard Chief talking like that to Tyson several times when the navy-blue haired boy crossed a line with him, but he never did it to Kai before. Kenny's lecture made silence everyone for a few seconds, even the captain seemed astonished by the unexpected speech, however, Ray heard the screech of the firmly squeezed teeth and saw the clenching fists. Kai tolerated badly when someone gave him a scolding, especially in front of other people.
In addition, Ray found unusual that Kai left Kenny without any retort. The fact that Kai didn't push Kenny back made Ray suspicious that the whole speech was not a question of moral but a hidden message for the captain. He already felt the pressure of more unexposed secrets and started to slowly put two and two together.
Kenny waited a few seconds for some reply, but when he got none, he turned back to his laptop, opening various data files on it, then briefly summarized for the team what he had got on the new Blitzkriegs member.
"You think she has Black Dranzer?" Max was the fastest who asked the first question that occurred in each boy's head.
Kenny shook his head, but not in denial, rather in frustration.
"I don't know what the heck it is. I have all the details from Black Dranzer and ran an analyzation on the two data, but it showed only inconsiderable resemblance like it would with any other beyblade. I don't think it's Black Dranzer. It's something else but similar."
They all pondered on this for a few minutes, trying to think of some other explanations that supported Kenny's data, but none of them could figure out anything.
"Can you show us the video record of the battle?" Hilary broke the silence. "Maybe we can catch something that you can't find in the data."
Ray noticed how both Kenny and Tyson tensed at the idea. Furthermore, he realized that Tyson was still uncharacteristically mute in the past half an hour. He saw the champion cursing, grumbling and making promises to show his opponent when he lost a fight, but now, Ray could find only concern on his face.
"I already watched it hundreds of times. I don't think you will discover anything else." Kenny objected and Ray immediately got suspicious. Chief never hid his records or data before them.
"Show us, anyway." Ray insisted.
"Yeah, we wanna see." Max urged. "We're not gonna judge you, Tyson. You always win your fights at the end."
Tyson sent him a timid smile, appreciating his friend's supporting words, however, Kenny clearly didn't try to keep the record away from them for his honor. Neither Kenny, nor Tyson had an issue discussing his loss with them in the past, they preferred to co-operate with the team, developing an effective strategy for the next battle.
Kenny looked at Tyson and everyone instantly understood in the room, the two boys shared something they didn't want to tell them. The secret was about to be revealed and Ray was eager to finally get to the bottom of it.
"It's my bad." Tyson began, luring every eye on him, but before he could continue, Kenny closed his laptop with another heavy sigh.
"No, Tyson. I can't let you take the blame for this. It was my decision, my idea, I'll take the responsibility for it." Kenny said with great sincere. He obviously was nervous for telling his next words because he folded his hands so tightly that they became white, breathing deeply again before admitting the truth.
"I made a deal with the Blitzkrieg girl." He said, eventually.
Ray's eyes widened in his great interest, listening closely. He felt Kai shifted beside him, probably disturbed by the news, too.
"What deal?" Hilary demanded.
Kenny rubbed his sweating hands together, consistently avoiding Kai's glare.
"She let me to analyze her beyblade for a few minutes. In return, I gave her to try out the modified Dranzer in a battle against Tyson's Dragoon."
"What?!" Max and Hilary exclaimed in disbelief.
Ray's jaw dropped. This was so not like Kenny. The little genial boy was always trustworthy. He wouldn't even dream about him handling one of their beyblades to an opponent to try it.
"You gave that girl Kai's Dranzer?" Ray asked to confirm what he had just learnt. He wanted to hear the truth again from Kenny, he still believed it was some misunderstanding and wanted to prevent the conflict as fast as possible.
"Yes." Kenny's sad voice didn't lessen his immoral act.
"How did it happen? How she got Dranzer? Where was Kai then? How did you come up with this idea?" Max hastily shot his questions and Ray was certain he would've asked another hundred one if he hadn't been interrupted.
Ray saw in the corner of his eyes the blurred movement, but he didn't have a chance to stop it. He knew about the captain's strength, his tenacity, his competence, this deadly speed though was incredible even for Ray. Kai bent down the other side of the coffee table where Kenny sat, he stretched his arm to grab the mechanic's tie and violently pulled him closer, all this in a mere flash.
Kenny squeaked helplessly in the jolt movement, staring unwillingly at furious, crazy eyes.
"You gave my only Dranzer to that fucking bitch?" Kai still didn't yell, he spoke in a very deep, low voice like a wild animal growled at the intruder who trespassed its territory before it'd been ripped to pieces. It was a frightening sight.
"I'm sorry." Kenny whined, clearly on the edge to cry.
Kai already let go his tie in favor to clench his grip on the boy's neck when Ray prevented him doing so with Tyson's help.
"That's enough, Kai!" Ray tried to reason him, grabbing firmly the captain's other arm to pull him back.
"Let him go!" Tyson cried, hurrying to help his little friend, and he successfully managed to remove Kai's hand from Kenny's collar before he could squeeze it. "What's wrong with you?!"
"You…!" Kai now focused on Tyson as if to see him the first time, breathing heavily to suppress his fury. He shook Ray's hand from him and stood up to tower over Tyson, to feel the control again. "You and your… bullshit about… friendship and trust, meanwhile…"
Ray saw how hard Kai found the words he wanted to throw at Tyson. Anger blinded his eyes and Ray started to worry that soon the situation was going to escalate.
Sensing the potential danger of a possible skirmish, he stepped in front of Kai with an attempt to separate him from Tyson, but the phoenix-wielder concentrated only on the champion who stared back with a challenging look, ready to fight him in any second.
"Kai." Ray called him, though the only respond was anger radiating from the captain's body. "Let's sit down and talk it through."
"Yes. We should take a break, get some fresh air and continue after." Max agreed with him, trying to sound nonchalantly but his shaking voice sold his anxiety.
Ray glanced around the room to check the others' position. Both Max and Hilary already were on their feet near the sofa. The blonde watched the scene with wary eyes, ready to jump in in any second to help, while Hilary tried to hide behind him, her hands covered his mouth in panic. Kenny was still frozen at the coffee table in his weary appearance, his hands clung to the edge of the furniture. Ray himself stood the other side of the table with bended knees. He couldn't find enough room for his foot to stand firmly when Kai suddenly rose a few seconds ago to turn to Tyson.
Ray was not surprised by his teammates' nervous reaction. They had never faced such an intense conflict in the team. They were usually able to settle the arguments with cultivated discussion with his teammates, while Kai most of the time just ignored any dispute, leaving the scene.
But now, something snapped in the captain.
Ray knew this kind of anger. He saw it in Lee's eyes many times before. The difference was that he had experience in Lee's rage, he was aware of his intentions, he knew when to intervene and when to let him vent out his frustration.
Kai was totally different in character.
He always kept a check on this temper outside of the dish, although Ray often saw the captain suppressing his anger, so it made him worried what would happen if once, Kai aimed his dark energy to someone and not into his beyblade.
"Look, I'm sorry. You have all the right to be angry with me." Tyson spoke up. Ray assumed he was trying to ease the situation but his words rather triggered Kai.
"I have all the right?!" Kai spat back, trying to take a step towards him but Ray gently pushed him back. "You collaborated with this little brat who betrayed my trust, giving to our opponent the only thing that precious to me on this goddam miserable world, willingly help him in the process, and then you dare to call yourself my friend! YOU FREAKIN' HYPOCRITE!" Kai bellowed at the top of his lungs at the end of his sentence.
Ray forgot Kai could have a general's volume. The boy would be able to navigate a whole army on a battlefield only with his voice. He had only heard him yelling this hard in the stadium and he remembered understanding his words crystal clear there. He easily filled a smaller room like this one, so considering the fact he was standing right in front of the captain, Ray was seriously concerned that Kai was going to deafen him.
"Stop shouting, Kai! It's late night, people are sleeping!" Ray warned him but his leader could care less about other people right now. "Why was Dranzer under reparation anyway?"
"It's a shitty feeling, right?" Tyson talked back, once again making everyone ignoring Ray's important question. His venomous tone was sinister. "When your friend betrays your trust."
Kai only stared back in disbelief for bringing up such a sensitive topic in that moment.
"Chief made a bad decision, " Tyson continued mercilessly. His eyes dug into the captain's. "He made a horrible mistake and he apologized for it. So did I. It's already much more what you ever did every time you left this team that always unconditionally welcomed you back."
Ray was prepared for the charge, he steadied his foot on the floor as effectively as he could to push back the wild force in the crucial moment, but Kai still shoved him away with a single move just so to close the distance between him and Tyson whose face was now smashed with a heavy fist.
Hilary shrieked in her shock, and Ray immediately got on his feet to prevent more blows, pulling back the Russian. Kai quickly swung his fist again, aiming now Ray's head, but he dodged it with his palm thanks to his martial arts reflexes, tossing away the meat-bone weapon. He also saw the other hand, but he was in a very disadvantageous position to avoid it, and Ray got a hit on the edge of his jaw that threw him out of balance and fell next to the coffee table.
He didn't stop dwelling on the pain, he jumped immediately on his feet again when he saw Kai didn't plan to clash more with Tyson. It seemed the captain had enough with that only hit.
Tyson whined in pain, pressing his hand on his nose to stop it bleeding. Red drops dripped down on his shirt, polluting then the floor.
"Fuck!" He cursed in agony. "You broke my nose!"
"I did much more for this team than a useless apology." Kai roared, his hand uncharacteristically gesturing in his anger. "What would have helped a freaking apology when I pushed you to your limits and guided you to find your spirit in the most desperate times? I was always there when you needed me! You'd be a fucking no one if I weren't be! It was me who made this team win the tournament! It was me who made you champion, while you made me listen to your bullshit about friendship, togetherness and believing in each other! You made me believe you were my friend and now you stab me in the back in the same way I was stabbed many times in the Abbey! You keep asking me what happened with me there, well this! Exactly this happened in every fucking day!"
Kai was practically in Tyson's face who bravely stood the captain's volcano outburst, letting him pour all his anger and frustration at him. The leader heaved for a second then he carried on with his raving.
"Why the fuck did you agree to let Alexa use my Dranzer?! If you are my so-called friend who I can trust even in the most difficult times, why didn't you say no to the stupidest idea of century and refused to give to the blonde witch my beyblade?!"
"Because I wanted to know the truth!" Tyson finally found his voice and yelled back into Kai's face with the same vehemence and it made stop the captain for a short time. "When I first met the Russian girl, she told me you purposefully lost the match against me last year. She told me she could have used better Dranzer's power than you did and defeat me! At first, I thought what a fucking trash talk she pulled to make me doubt you. But then, Kenny made a deal with her, she launched Dranzer against my Dragoon and you know what?!" Tyson paused with the question, however, he was not waiting for a respond from the pale leader. Tyson already felt not only blood, but hot teardrops streaked his face in his hopeless anger and disappointment.
"She handled Dranzer much better than you!"
Ray thought he truly deafened in the big shouting combat because the room suddenly sank into a deep, cold silence after Tyson's honest, hurtful statement.
"The Russian girl, the fuck knows who she is, melted my Dragoon to a fireball in a few minutes while you, you struggle to beat me for hours! How could you explain that?! What's the matter with you? Why can't you defeat me if you claim you are the one who made me who I am now!"
Tyson stared at Kai, desperate for some explanation, but the leader could not give to him any. Both of them breathed heavily, exhausted from the emotional storm, the rest of team watched their fight in stupor.
"I told you to avoid her." Kai said, eventually. His tone was still filled with anger but didn't shout anymore. "I warned you that she was messing with you. But you're too stupid to obey."
"Do you know her?" Tyson ignored his remark and asked him the same question again that the Russian answered already before. He was keeping his voice on low, too.
"No!" Kai snapped back with unfaltering stubbornness.
"Then how can she know so much about you? What about the tattoo?"
"I don't have any fucking tattoo!" Kai lifted his volume again. His closeness to Tyson was threatening.
"Show me!" Tyson demanded and looked deep into Kai's eyes to confirm his determination. If Kai was going to back out of this, then they all were going to know Alexandra was right.
Ray feared that the dragon-wielder stepped on Kai's pride and risked his trust for a life with this request, but there was no turning back now. Tyson already said the words and wanted to know the truth for good. Kai never talked about his past or his childhood to them, he kept his small and enormous secrets to himself and Tyson manifestly got tired of blindly trusting captain.
They stared down each other for several long seconds. Tyson already expected Kai to cowardly turn on his heel and storm out of the room as he always did in these situations, when the bluenette gave him a menacing, disgusted look for forcing him to do such a thing that obviously humiliated him.
He lifted his hands and removed his scarf and coat with quick, harsh movements, dropping them on the sofa. He stood before the boy with the bleeding nose, feeling almost naked. He still stared at Tyson as if giving him a last call to take back his request before he fully shattered his pride in front of the team, but Tyson stood his cutting glance in silence.
At last, Kai turned him his back slowly and exposed his bare neck in the lamp lights. Tyson leaned closer but didn't dare make any step, he was afraid of the captain's another attack. He searched eagerly for the black ink, eyes darting from one point to the other, but he didn't see anything on the pale neck, only a scar on the side that looked like a burn injury.
Nothing that reminded him of a tattoo.
The sinking feeling in his stomach came sooner than Tyson expected. He just broke Kai's pride for nothing who now turned back after the survey.
"And you wonder why I have trust issues." Kai finally said, his voice disturbingly hollow and cold. He gathered his clothes before he left the room with a loud, grievous slam of the door that rung in Ray's ear for hours on that night.
A/N: Phew. This chapter is twice longer than my last one. I could've split it in two but I prefer to provide you with longer pieces in the future. My updates are unpredictable anyway.
I had great fun writing this, though, describing such an intense scene was not easy for me. Finally, we have some serious conflicts that we can work with, G-Revolution team is in big trouble now. I hope you enjoyed this turn of events, we're getting step by step closer to the big shitstorm, haha.