A/N: The next few (2-3) chapters will contain mostly the Blitzkriegs and their background stories.
Maybe it's not necessary to explain, but I refer to Tala as 'Yuriy' when it's Alexa's POV as she calls him on this name. Just to prevent the confusion. :)
Also, I was experimenting with a different way to present the second day of the quarter finals, reducing the parts with the description of unimportant beybattles, saving you from the boredom. I hope it's working and you'll enjoy this chapter.
Have a nice reading!
Chapter 20
The dining hall was crowded at these hours, just like yesterday. The beybladers were having lunch as they had left only a few hours until the second round of the quarter finals, and most of the teams wanted to have a quick training before that.
Alexa arrived with her teammates after the brief Yuriy had given them in their common room. Standing before the huge table loaded with various meals, she was trying to figure out what she wanted to eat as she eyed the food greedily.
The richness of assortment was insane.
After growing up in an orphanage, having had the simplest meal with just enough nutrition to perform well on their trainings, she couldn't get used to the abundance, even after living in the posh hotel for a week now. She could pick anything she wanted, without paying, without stealing. She could eat even dessert, as much as she pleased.
Insane.
"How long do you plan drooling on the food, RR? Others want to eat, too."
Alexa turned to her right to respond with a glare at the rough voice. For a second, she thought it was Yuriy talking to her, although she could swear that he stood on her other side. Only then she realized a different redhead boy stared at her with a scandalously cheeky expression that screamed arrogance.
"Come on, RR, move! I wanna have some beef." The boy shooed her away, making space for himself.
"RR?" Alexa asked with a confused look.
Did the boy mistake her with someone else? She recognized the European beyblader. He was called something… James? Jonathan?
Who the fuck cared.
"It's you." The boy eyed her with a harsh smirk. "You're the Russian Rookie, RR in short. Your launch in the eight-finals was, let's say, memorable."
Alexa theatrically rolled her eyes.
'Great. Another infantilistic man who had no idea how to appear before a girl and underestimates me', Alexa thought to herself and she already opened her mouth to send the rude redhead to hell when she heard Yuriy's voice behind her back.
"Fuck off before I shove a leg in your mouth."
"Ew! You barbaric Russians have got some weird fetish. When did you figure out that you're gay and like putting your leg into men's mouth?"
Yuriy snorted, pulling his lip into a dangerously sarcastic line.
"Funny that the first thing you interpret is some gay-fantasy. What shall that tell about you?"
Alexa snickered at the derisive remark, enjoying the sight how the other boy's face became as red as his own hair.
"Ha,ha! So funny. You won't laugh when we send you back home, you idiot beets-eater." He sent after the Russian leader, but Yuriy didn't stay to listen to his insults, he already left to the table where Sergei was sitting, reversing seats around him.
Recognizing that he was ignored, the boy turned back to Alexandra with ferocious eyes, determined to take his revenge on her.
"Are you his girlfriend? Is this how you keep your place in the team? Sucking his dick? You won't win the championship with that."
Alexa raised a brow, completely at a loss about the groundless vehemence of the European. This boy was actually lucky that Yuriy already left, otherwise his head would have been served on the food table for this remark.
"Are you into red hair? What's your price? Do I have to ask permission from your master?" The boy still didn't drop his rude vulgarity, provoking Alexa more for unknown reason.
Sensing her blood boiling, Alexa loudly put down her plate, on which she was gathering small portions of various food, to teach some manner to the little rascal, but her another teammate interjected with his own malicious remark before she could raise her hand.
"Jeez, you must be hopelessly desperate if you have to pay for girls to talk with you. Pathetic." Boris sniggered, cackling as he joined Sergei and Yuriy at their table.
"Please, excuse his inappropriate behavior. Johnny always acts like a handicapped chimpanzee when he's in a company of a pretty girl." A boy with green hair hurried for the redhead's help, settling the situation, as Alexa was still fighting with the urge to beat the crap out of him.
The boy with green hair had a friendly smile with big, open eyes. The skin on his face was spotless and smooth, the clothes he wore were simple yet stylish. Alexa had only one word for his whole appearance; elegance.
"Don't embarrass me before our opponent, Olivier." Johnny scolded his teammate then he pointed at Alexa with his head. "This is the Russian Rookie. You know, the one, who messed up her launch. On a bloody tournament! How bad can you be, seriously?" He turned back to her again, demanding for some explanation like he was personally offended by her performance.
"I hope our teams will battle with each other today. I may teach you how to launch properly a beyblade, it's probably something you have had yet the time to practice with Tala." Johnny laughed at his own bad joke. "You don't deserve to be here. I will mop the floor with you."
Alexa's retort was already rolling on her tongue when she was interrupted once again, this time by a languid, sinister voice.
"Oh, you better not underestimate her. She's got her own secret power. But you won't have a chance to show her your ridiculous skills, anyway." Although, it was the first time she had a personal contact with Brooklyn, even Alexa felt irritated hearing his ambiguous comment.
She turned and looked into the same green color she saw in the mirror, unconsciously curling her upper lip at his figure. After seeing on the TV the craziness that the Bladebreakers had had to face last year, she didn't like the orange haired boy.
She also didn't like what he was saying about her, talking about 'secret powers' and whatnot. Alexa narrowed her eye at him.
Behind Brooklyn, Garland was watching her and the Europeans with a concerned look, ready to intervene in any second if it was needed, while his other teammates began picking their lunch, not paying attention to their childish sparring.
"You better don't say a word, noob. If Kai and Tyson managed to defeat you, it'd be an easy tea-party for me." Johnny sneered.
Alexa decided that it'd be the best to leave the scene at this point as there were too many annoying brats around her already.
"What took you so long?" Sergei asked when she finally sat down next to him at the long table.
Alexa replied with a growl, annoyed by the whole situation. She had yet gotten used to these unnecessary cocky addressing and taunting remarks, though she knew these were necessary concomitant of the championship. The competitors had to fire up themselves somehow, but she honestly couldn't understand with what she provoked that Johnny boy for talking with her like that. They didn't even know each other.
"Hey guys! Do you mind if we sit with you?" Julia didn't wait for their reply, she sat down with his brother across Yuriy, who raised a brow at the uninvited guests making them comfortable at their table.
"I thought you prefer Italian food."
Julia made a face at the redhead captain's comment.
"Yeah, he's cute , but… too much."
"Too mush?" Tala punned in a deadpan voice and Julia chuckled.
"Also, since our teams won't battle against each other anymore in the quarter finals, we thought a peaceful lunch would settle our nerves. I'm tired of the constant unnecessary rivalling." Raul admitted, obviously not handling well the stress.
Alexa silently related with him.
"Why do you bother to participate on a tournament at all when you can't handle the stress?" Boris asked nonchalantly with a full mouth.
Before Julia or Raul could reply, Miguel and Mathilda approached at their table then the whole Bladebreakers team. Ray, Max and Miguel's teammates joined the White Tigers at another table, seeing there was not enough room for everyone. Tyson, Hilary, Kai and Kenny sat down to the Blitzkriegs, F-Dynasty and Miguels, making it suddenly crowdy.
"Hey, Julia, Raul! I can't wait to battle you again in a pair fight! Kai and I will show you no mercy, just wait!" Tyson cheered on Alexa's side; already heated up for the next round of the quarter finals.
"We are not going to fight in pair, Tyson." Kai warned his teammate on a rough voice.
As a reply, Tyson started incoherently mimicking his leader deep, hoarse voice.
Alexa carefully stole a glance at Kai next to Miguel when he was busy cutting his meat, and noticed the dark circles around his eyes. He seemed tired and surlier than usual.
"Get a pair-fight with the Blitzkriegs instead. Maybe Tala's team will do the dirty job, knocks you out and we don't have to listen more to your trash talk." Julia mockingly smirked.
"That waterball in the stadium looked cool!" Miguel sent an acknowledging smile at the direction of Alexa and Sergei.
"Hm." The big muscled blonde boy hummed into his soup.
Alexa expected Sergei to say more, she didn't want to take away the glory from him, she knew how important it was for the men, but for her surprise, her blonde teammate just sat in a humble silence.
Before the quiet could turn into awkward, she patted the big guy's shoulder and smiled at Miguel.
"Thanks! It was all Sergei and Seaborg's doing, I just rode the tide."
Sergei's hand with the spoon stopped abruptly in the air, frowning at her words.
"I would battle in a tag-team, it looks so exciting!" Mathilda chirped on her soft, small voice, turning the conversation into a slightly different direction.
"Oh, Mathilda! Will you be able to battle today? Did you get another asset for the fight?" Raul inquired from the edge of the table.
"Yeah, Tyson demolished your beyblade pretty bad yesterday." Julia scoffed, enjoying the embarrassment that she caused on the champion's face with her comment.
"It was an accident, I got carried away!" Tyson apologized. "I'm sorry, Mathilda!"
"It's alright." Mathilda reassured him with her usual benign smile. "Miguel surprised me with a better one. He was working on it for months!"
Miguel tensed at the words, his eyes wide.
"You shouldn't have told them this, Mathilda!"
Mathilda gasped and covered her mouth like an innocent child who made a silly mistake.
"I'm sorry!" She pouted, hanging her head.
Miguel pecked her on the pinky hair and reassured her not to worry. The gesture provoked different reactions from the others at the table.
Kai, for instance, rolled his eyes and he turned his remaining attention at his plate, not listening to the conversation anymore.
"You're so cute together." Hilary smiled at them, her longing for a life-term love was easily noticeable for Alexandra.
"Get a room." Boris grumbled from the end of the table.
"They already have." Yuriy smirked.
"Tell them to use it."
"Aw! Someone's jealous of their relationship." Julia taunted the pale boy.
"Pff, not me."
Alexa quietly listened as the others were shooting retorts and sarcastic remarks, teasing and insulting then praising each other. She secretly admired the small community that suddenly surrounded her. These people were competitors, opponents of each other, yet they acted differently outside of the stadium. They were friendly, sometimes affectionate, like a family. Even her team, the Blitzkriegs joined in the conversation, making a joke or an insult what the others didn't take seriously, and in the end, they all just laughed loudly.
It felt alien.
It was such an extraordinary connection Alexa had never witnessed before. It was strange and she barely understood how it worked. Still, she recognized that day by day, it was getting harder for her to deny she was yearning to be part of such a community.
oOoOo
"Hello everyone, it's good to see you on the second day of the Quarter Finals! Are you eager to witness today's battles?"
The crowd gave its enthusiastic confirmation to Jazzman's question with a thunderous cheering that made Kai annoyed.
"You're great audience as always! Keep up your voice because here the competitors come! Give them your support!"
All teams lined up in the great hall just like yesterday, watching the huge screen in anticipation to find out which team they had to fight that day.
Kai did the same, calculating various strategies for multiple scenarios and preparing himself mentally for the battle at the same time.
Beside him, Tyson bounced from one foot to another like a caged bear, unable to control his excitement. The boy's passion for beyblade was always inflamed by the loud supporting crowd; one more thing Kai couldn't understand in him.
Sometimes, even Kai wondered why he loved participating on tournaments. He hated everything here.
The people, the crowd. The noise. The cheering. The booing. The attention he got. The bright lights. The other competitors. The commentator. The trash talks during beybattles.
And he still struggled to let it go and imagine his life without this whole circus.
The display finally lighted up with team names, revealing their opponent for today, and Kai's stomach clenched in agitation. He heard Kenny and Hilary gasped behind his back while Tyson now bounced up and down like a loose ball as they stared at the huge screen.
Justice-5 vs. Miguel's Squad
White Tigers vs. Ragged Force
Majestics vs. F-Dynasty
Bladebreakers vs. Blitzkriegs
"We battle with the Blitzkriegs! Awesome!" Tyson exclaimed in exhalation the others didn't really share with him.
"This is gonna be a tough one." Max huffed as he eyed the Blitzkriegs.
"Hn. They're not happy for this setup, either." Kai mused.
"What are you talking about? They look like they're ready to go to war." Hilary asked as she stared into the threatening eyes.
The Russian team didn't seem nervous, their challenging gaze burned with fire. Boris even bounced his eyebrows at them with a teasing smirk. Kai already knew his Russian ex-teammates enough to recognize the anxiety behind their hard look.
Jazzman requested everyone to leave and return to their locker rooms excluding the first competing teams – Justice-5 and Miguel's Squad.
"We fight last. We'll have enough time to prepare." Ray said hopefully as they were already walking down the corridor.
In the next few minutes, Kai expected him to sit with crossed legs on the floor, focusing on his inner peace to settle down his nerves.
"Alright, let's form a plan." Kenny sighed nervously as he seated himself at the only table in the locker room. He opened up his laptop and started immediately typing on it with furious speed.
"The 'fight for advantage' is extremely important for us to win, so we should choose wisely who's going to battle in this round. Kai, I would exclude you from this opportunity this time. I wouldn't want to risk a tie with the Blitzkriegs. I think Max should go first."
Kai arched a brow, not pleased by Kenny's strategy, but he had to agree with him. It wouldn't be clever to fight for the advantage as a captain.
"I don't know. Tala likes sending Boris to fight for the advantage, who prefers targeting his opponent instead of their beyblade. Could Max endure his attacks?" Ray mumbled in the middle of his meditation, keeping his eyes closed.
Max's thin blonde eyebrows ran together at his teammate's question.
"Of course, I could. I'd do anything for this win to help the team." He said, his voice a bit hurtful at the assumption.
"I didn't say that, I know you would. I still think I should go first." Ray replied in a humming voice.
Kai inspected the tiger thoroughly and wondered if he was anxious because there was a possibility that he had to fight against the falcon again. The last time they had battled Ray had ended in a hospital with serious wounds.
Knowing Ray and his caring attitude, he would rather go against the falcon himself than putting one of his teammates in danger. Kai didn't have doubts that Ray could beat Boris again, but his worried mind and cautious movements could cause numerous mistakes in his game that would easily lead to a loss. Something they couldn't afford against the Blitzkriegs.
"Boris only used that dirty tactic because Volkov told him so. He intentionally avoids targeting the opponent nowadays." Kai joined in the conversation, sharing his own thoughts to build a solid plan with his teammates. "Also, Tala's a strategic mind and a bit control maniac…"
"Ha!" Tyson tilted his head back as he barked a loud laugh. "Sounds familiar."
"He'll probably want to fight for the advantage himself." Kai finished, silencing Tyson with a hard glare.
"That'd be even better for us. In case I tie, you'll have to battle for the advantage as a captain, and Tala will be worn down. Easy win." Max concluded, shrugging his shoulder as if nothing would be simpler.
"Yeah, but if Kai's right and Tala starts, the odds will be against you." Kenny put a hand on his chin, scrutinizing the data on his laptop, uncertain which choice would be more suitable.
"I'm more than happy to start the battle, I'll defeat all of them!" Tyson piped in, voting for himself.
Kai couldn't stop rolling his eyes. He knew this was Tyson's way to hide his nervousness, but he hated hearing him talking like that. Blitzkriegs were tough opponents, they didn't get scared of pompous talk. It was obvious Tyson was not really this confident, but he liked pretending to be. It was annoying, and Kai had to realize he was never going to get used to that.
"Ray would be a better choice." Kai stated, shifting his balance to push himself away from the wall he was leaning to until now. The corner of his lip trembled with a smirk as he caught the quick disappearance of Tyson's stupid grin.
The mentioned one opened an observing eye at him, mildly interrupted in his meditation with a small frown on his face.
"Gimme one reason why you think so!" Tyson challenged him, making a fuss already.
"Because you're too much a predictable choice. And you play better when you see us battling before your fight."
"Hm. He's actually got a point, Tyson. You're better when you fight in later rounds." Kenny agreed, speaking more confidently now.
Tyson first eyed Kai with a puzzled look, seemingly surprised about his observation, but when Kenny also agreed with the captain, he groaned in objection. For Kai's relieve, he didn't put up unnecessary fight against it.
"Alright, alright! But I'll fight in the first main round! That's non-negotiable. My patience's growing thin, got it?"
oOoOo
The first set between Justice-5 and Miguel's Squad didn't last more than twenty minutes in total. Miguel and his teammates couldn't even touch their opponents' beyblade, they had been pushed out of the dish one after other without any serious effort from Garland's team.
Ming-Ming battled for the advantage against Claude, after she loudly whined to Garland to let her do it. Her cute and innocent appearance was tossed away, she was determined to win an important fight for her team after the battles she had lost on this tournament lately. During the fight, Ming-Ming left all the chatting and cheeky comments behind, and won the advantage like a professional beyblader, making no mistake in her play.
After that, Mystel, Brooklyn and Garland won their battles without any visible difficulties, stealing all the points from Miguel's team.
Not paying attention to the TV screen in the locker room, Tala was still discussing the best matchup for the 'fight of advantage' with his team to find flawless strategy for their upcoming battle with the Bladebreakers. Thankfully, their fight was going to be the last one on this day, so they had time to reconsider every detail, but Tala still felt that the short time was suffocating him.
The outcome of this battle had a symbolic meaning for him. It was the first time his team had got the opportunity to battle against the Bladebreakers after they had lost their champion title three years ago, in Moscow, and an important age of their life had perpetually closed.
If his team won this battle today, Tala could say he had finally achieved a bigger challenge as a captain. With this victory, he would prove himself worthy without Volkov's help and supervision after a long time.
It was the chance he had hoped for; he had trained ruthlessly; re-watching his opponents' every battle; analyzing his own critically; spotting and correcting every mistake he had made.
Sometimes, it was overwhelming. In the past year, his thoughts had been running around nothing else but victory. Mistakes were prohibited. He needed to prove himself he was an exceptional beyblader without Volkov's directions. He wanted to become popular without the psycho's help and celebrate his success only as his, not Volkov's.
"Tala, we get it! In any case, you'll fight for the advantage and we agree on this. I don't mind if you start the battle. Let's talk about our opponents, otherwise we won't have a plan for the other three rounds." Boris groaned, urging the captain to move on with the topic.
Red strands flapped as Tala shot a glare at Boris, but he had to acknowledge his point.
"I think I should go against Kai if he doesn't battle in the prior round. I already defeated him once. It won't be easy, but I can do it again." Sergei offered, making Tala nodding in agreement.
"Kai won't fight in the prior round, and I share your opinion. They probably will make Tyson fight for the advantage. Boris, do you have a problem going against Ray?"
An uncommon emotion appeared on his friend's face that Tala rarely saw; the pale boy furrowed his eyebrows and the small muscles around his mouth tensed. Boris was not the type of man who could have been accused with dwelling on his past, correcting and admitting his errors, but Tala knew that he was not proud of his battle with Ray from years ago, and he would have avoided another ruckus with the tiger with pleasure.
In the background, the TV buzzed at low volume with Jazzman's voice, who just announced that the White Tigers won the 'fight for advantage' against Ragged Force thanks to Mariah.
"I will defeat him this time." Boris swore, now with determination in his eyes.
Tala found more familiar this expression on him, and nodded in satisfaction. He looked behind his back at his last teammate who sat a little further from them, listening to the conversation of the boys in apathetic silence.
Since the morning, she was quiet, following Tala's every order without a question and with great diligence. Tala couldn't decide if she was mocking him, or she was just trying to make up to him.
"Alexa, you go against Max." Tala said and the blonde blinked at him in surprise. "You both have water-type bitbeasts and similar gears, but I think you have the upper hand with Baladrac's unique ability."
The girl straightened up in her seat, not believing her ears.
"You said I can't–"
"I know what I said. But we're against the Bladebreakers, we can't take them lightly, so I need everyone to fight in this matchup. I can't take any risk. Any risk." He repeated, boring his blue eyes that burnt with ice-coldness onto a green, confused one.
He expected enthusiasm from the girl, but Alexa only watched his hard glare with a perfectly blank face then nodded at him understandingly. Tala immediately realized she was not agreeing with his well-planned strategy.
Folding his arms, Tala exhaled with his concerns. He must make a decision right at this moment; trusting this girl and asking her advice, learning a new perspective of the battles with the Bladebreakers, gaining a higher possibility of winning against them; or he ignored her phlegmatic attitude and followed his own ideas, bearing all its responsibilities.
"I see you're disagreeing. What don't you like in this plan?" Tala asked through gritted teeth. This victory was before everything.
Alexa frowned with fraud innocence.
"What are you talking about? I don't disagree."
"I had to learn reading Kai's thoughts from his stupid empty face when he didn't want to tell me the truth. I'll easily see through your clumsy lies." Tala snapped, not appreciating he had to waste a whole minute for making her speak when he allowed it finally.
The frown on the blonde girl's face deepened with a tilt to her head. Tala saw her glancing briefly at Sergei and Boris, figuring out if it was a trap.
"Do you expect an honest answer from me, or a respectful reply?" She narrowed her eye at him in distrust.
This was harder than Tala had expected, but he blamed himself for it. It didn't seem she was doing it on purpose, she had truly lost her trust in the team as much Tala had in her. It was no good. He needed a solid teamwork to win the championship.
"I want to win against Tyson's team! For that, we all must put aside our differences and work together. So, spit it out already, what is wrong with this strategy according to you?"
Before she answered, Alexa blinked at the TV, checking the scores between the Chinese and East-European teams. The big guy from the White Tigers just scored the first point for his team, and now Kevin was standing at the dish with a guy named Ruslan.
"Alright." Alexa began, changing to a tone that was similar to Tala's commanding one. "You shouldn't fight for the advantage, that's reckless. What if you pull a tie? You'll have to fight again because of the rules. Against Kai. That's guaranteed loss and we can say goodbye to the advantage. Boris should go instead. Or me, but you don't trust me, so you have to choose Boris. His beyblade's mobile enough and he's got an aggressive style that is useful against more members from the Bladebreakers. He can destroy Max's defense; he can match with Ray's agility. Not against Tyson or Kai though. Tyson's too strong and Kai's smart enough to use Dranzer's fire power in a tactical way to suppress the falcon's wind. Boris's Falborg would be harmless against him. That's why it would be wiser choosing me to fight in the prior round. I can defeat any of them, because they still don't know the true power of my bitbeast. I could take them off guard with my special attack, moreover, I have an advantage against Kai." Alexa stopped to take a breath because she practically forgot to inhale during the speech.
Tala's eyebrows raised at the sudden burst of information, he concentrated hard not to miss anything she was saying. He couldn't completely agree with her opinion though.
"Tyson's Dragoon's also a wind-type bitbeast and Kai was never able to use effectively the heat against him." Tala argued, turning his body to face her, giving his undivided attention now.
"That's because Dragoon's a sacred bitbeast. His power is pure and outstanding, it can't be manipulated easily, even with another sacred beast. Also, right now, Kai barely uses the phoenix's true power. What you see from him is just a theatre play with smoke and flames, his bond with Dranzer is nothing comparing to what Tyson has with Dragoon. That's why Tyson's so powerful and it's hard to win against him. A sacred bitbeast is always mightier than any common bitbeast, and Boris wouldn't have a chance against the phoenix, nor Sergei's Seaborg."
"But you, of course, would stand a chance against Dranzer." Tala said, an eyebrow twitching.
Before she said a confident 'yes', Alexa briefly shifted aside her gaze, and Tala had a feeling she was hiding something that she didn't want, or didn't dare tell him. He narrowed his eyes at her as if he could obtain the information with a cutting glare.
Pondering on the things the girl just said, Alexa's perspective was entirely different from his and it was hard to contemplate it seriously at first hearing. Although he had to admit, it was something he kept forgetting out of his calculation; the sacred bitbeasts. He didn't give as much credit to the spirits as Alexandra liked giving, he was still convinced that battles depended mainly on the beybladers' talents and abilities.
The bond between the bitbeast and the wielder was another thing that Tala couldn't decide if he should believe or not.
"What do you know about Kai's bond with Dranzer? Why do you think it's weak?" He asked with a frown, forgetting about the strategy plan.
"I felt it when the mechanic gave me Dranzer to test her."
"You…felt it." Tala repeated, arching a brow in his incredulousness.
He eyed the girl up and down in a sarcastic manner, because feeling someone's else bitbeast was not an everyday statement. Alexa was either delusional, or she had an extraordinary ability with the spirits. Tala recognized that he didn't want to know the truth. The smallest possibility of such abnormality put him at unease.
"I can explain it later, we don't have time for this now." Alexa's serious and vigorous voice pulled Tala out of his muse, bringing back him to the main topic. "Boris would be a better choice for the fight for advantage, unless Kai–"
"Kai won't fight for the advantage, I'm certain about that. He prefers playing in the final rounds, so he doesn't have to stand about until his teammates finish their battles. Last year, I was often doomed to listen to his annoyed grumbles when he had to fight in the first round." Tala explained, seeing Alexandra's questioning look how he was so sure about this.
"My decision is still the same, by the way. I'll fight for the advantage."
Alexa already opened her mouth to protest, but Tala rushed forward.
"I made up my mind, I'm not going to argue about that anymore! Is there anything else?"
Before she could reply, Boris and Sergei exclaimed in a loud shock as Johnny humiliatingly defeated Raul in the first round. Apparently, the two boys lost their interests in Tala and Alexa's urgent war-council, and watched the broadcast of the quarter finals instead.
Losing his sense of time, Tala frowned at the screen, concluding that the battle between White Tigers and Ragged Force had already ended with the former team's victory, and now Majestics competed with F-Dynasty.
They didn't have much time left.
"Is there any?!" Tala urged the blonde.
"Okay, if you want to fight for the advantage so bad, at least don't send Sergei against Kai, he definitely can't win that battle. I still believe you should fight him." Alexa lowered her voice to the level that Tala had to lean closer to understand her.
"Why don't you think he could win against Kai? He has the same advantage with Seaborg as you with Baladrac." He automatically whispered back.
"Sergei hasn't improved as much as Kai, I'm certain he wouldn't stand a chance in that set-up. Seaborg is not good against any member of the Bladebreakers with this build. Sergei still uses an attack type beyblade for a defensive type bitbeast. He might win against Max, but I have doubts about that too."
Not approving her idea, Tala only waved a hand at her.
"You underestimate Sergei."
Alexa sighed exasperatedly at the gesture, not appreciating that the captain dismissed all her advices.
A subdued powerful noise through the door hit Tala's ear. Looking up at the TV and stepping away from Alexandra at the same time, he realized it was the crowd. The Spanish team just lost against Majestics, scoring one point thanks to Julia who won her battle against Olivier. The audience didn't appreciate their poor performance against the unpopular European team. They loudly booed at the nobles while they were leaving the stadium.
Tala suddenly felt like he had swallowed a bunch of bees.
"It's time!" He barked, attempting to hide his nervousness behind his commanding voice.
Everyone complied and got up, leaving the locker room. Before Tala could step in front of the team to lead their way to the stadium Boris caught his arm in the doorway.
"You will win this. Don't worry, Tala." He said, hitting Tala's shoulder with his strong palm.
I'm not worried! Tala wanted to spit back, instead he sighed shakily.
He hated every sentimentality before the battles, but honestly, he needed these words now. The distance that was stretching between him and Boris since they had put their foot inside of that abbey suddenly disappeared, and he could see the same boy in front of him who had taken care of him on the streets when they had been just two insecure, reckless children without a home to return to.
After ten years, they were still a team, watching the other's back. They had made a promise to stick together whatever happened and so far, they could keep their words, although Tala often didn't recognize his once boisterous friend. They never talked about the abbey, but he knew Boris' spirit had been broken on that place. He could often see the shards from the mirror of his soul in the pale eyes.
"Let's go, or we miss the battle." Tala said eventually, not replying to Boris' encouragement.
oOoOo
"I ask the competing members from the Bladebreakers and Blitzkriegs, who will fight for the advantage, to step forward and stand up to the dish! The battle will start in a minute!" Jazzman's voice resonated in the arena, followed by a thunderous, urging ovation.
People were eager to see the fight between the champion title defender and the Russian team.
Ray had to admit, the match brought some nostalgy with itself. Adrenalin was rushing up and down in his limbs, filling them with a tingling sensation, but his head remained clear and still thanks to the meditation he'd done in the locker room.
Behind from his back, he heard Tyson and Max's usual supportive cheering as if he was walking into a war.
"Go for it, Ray! Get 'em!"
"Win this battle for us!"
That was the plan.
As he arrived at the dish, Ray had to withhold his small surprise. Instead of Boris, he was facing Tala. Kai was right, his time with the Blitzkrieg Boys and battling on Tala's side for months were not in vain after all. Ray couldn't help but felt slightly relieved that he didn't fight against the falcon, although it might have been better if he could get rid of his fears eventually.
Maybe another time. Ray shifted his focus back on his battle with Tala who was staring down him. Ray eyed back the redhead with dauntless, slit irises.
"It's time to remove those claws, kitty." Tala sniggered irritatingly, taunting Ray in order to make lose his cool head.
It was a bold tactic though. Waking up the sleeping tiger was not wise; he must teach this lesson to Tala now. Ray hated when he was teased with demeaning cat nicknames as if he was some laughing stock.
He was not going to endure it from anyone!
"Are you ready? Let's start the countdown! 3…2…1…Go, shoot!" Jazzman bellowed while the crowd ceaselessly applauded, filling the stadium with deafening noise.
Driger spun up in the launch with unstoppable speed, and landed on the metal surface steadily, going after Wolborg to chase her around. The beydish was now designed with vivid neon strip lightnings, diverting the players' focus on the target.
The concept was working because Ray had to constantly blink as he tried to keep his eyes on the Russian's beyblade in the colorful, blinding lights.
After a few seconds of fruitless chasing, Ray realized he didn't need his sight. He closed his eyes and tried to predict his opponent's move with his other senses. A sudden loud crack distracted him – he hadn't ordered Driger to attack!
Forced to open his eyes, he stared into mocking ice-blue ones.
"Don't close your eyes, Ray. You're gonna miss how I beat your kittycat's ass. Wolborg can track down its prey's scent easily." Tala smirked mischievously as he rested a hand on his hip, the gun-launcher in the other at his side.
Ray sank to one knee to get a better look at the dish, trying to examine the damage on his Driger, but the flashing, vibrating colors didn't make it possible for him. Gritting his teeth, he realized that he needed a different strategy against Tala.
"Cut it short, Ray! Tala's stronger in late game." The not so resourceful cavalry hurried to help him in Kenny's form.
It was easier to say than done. Ray needed time to heat up the gears and build up the proper speed for Driger to use his special attack, but he didn't have other choice; he had to try anyway.
Forcing himself to keep his cool, he closed back his eyes and began centralizing his energy into a specific inner point, increasing the velocity of Driger in an instant. It was not complicated gaining speed in such a short time frame, the difficult part was to keep it steady. Ray had to find the perfect balance to maintain the pace.
The loud, encouraging crying of the crowd and Jazzman's permanent commenting quieted around Ray as he was concentrating, like the sun set behind the horizon, leaving only cool tranquility after it.
He was aware that he left himself vulnerable during the process, and Ray was prepared to Tala's attacks, nonetheless he couldn't do anything else than focusing more on his balance. He didn't need to wait long for the first clash; Wolborg crashed into Driger with the will to push Ray out of his stability.
Along with the distressingly flamboyant neon lights, now flashing sparkles illuminated their faces, but Ray just kept his eyes closed, not shifting his attention to the attack; he was determined to secure the balance. He was almost done.
"Are you ready to strike back, now? I'm getting bored. Come here, kitty, kitty, kitty."
Tala's taunting remarks should have been a red flag for Ray, but he was too occupied in initiating his own special attack. His greenly looming eyes finally snapped open, and cracking thunderbolts darted all around his tensed body as he slowly rose from the floor. He must look like a god from the otherworld.
Driger disappeared from Wolborg's grip and joined vibrating together with the neon lights in the dish. Ray let out a terrifying roar and attacked with all his might, committed to finish the fight with this final blow.
Before the bolts could strike down at Tala's beyblade, the temperature dropped in an instance, making visible Ray's breath and the green flashing, rapid lights froze in the air as if the time itself was preserved before their eyes.
It was such an artful sight, like a painting would have come to life. The thunderbolts caged in ice ran motionlessly around as a statue for a few seconds in the stadium before it exploded with a long crackling sound, raining gleaming harmless diamonds down on Ray.
"What a spectacular way to win the fight for the advantage! Yuriy baited Ray to attack in his favour, changing the stadium into a sheer art gallery with his final strike! Unbelievable!" Jazzman's voice was delighted with excitement, attempting to outshout the applauding crowd that rumbled like a real thunder in the stadium.
Turning in his upset state, Ray reluctantly left the beydish, not satisfied with himself. He felt lightheaded as always after using up a great amount of his energy. He returned to his team with lowered eyes, panting heavily. He knew they wouldn't scold him because he obviously did everything to win the advantage for the team and Tala was not an easy opponent, but Ray still felt ashamed.
"I'm sorry, guys." He breathed out, putting his hands on his hips; a common gesture from him when he was irritated.
"Ray, you promised me you win this fight! What happened?!" Tyson demanded, furious for losing the advantage and skipping the chance to fight Tala that day.
"Tyson, stop being an annoying brat!" Hilary rebuked him, but the others ignored her.
"It's my fault. I advised you to rush with the attack." Kenny pouted, staring at the screen with a long face. "I didn't collect enough data of Tala and didn't expect such an improvement from him."
"It's not your fault. I couldn't stand a chance against that counter-attack anyway." Ray reassured him, speaking with a sour tone.
"Define the order of your battling members, Bladebreakers! You have two minutes!" Jazzman warned them.
After a quick but less heated argument, the team agreed on that Tyson was going to fight in the first round, Max in the second and Kai in the last.
oOoOo
"Way to go, Tala!"
"That attack blew their mind! We got the advantage!"
Tala thanked his team for their praising words with a victorious smirk, but then he quickly pulled back his serious mask, eyes obsessed with possible strategies. His team instantly mirrored his expression.
"Now, we know that Ray won't play in the main rounds. Boris, you go against Tyson." The falcon saluted offhandedly, approving the captain's idea before Tala turned to his blonde teammates. "You two stick to the original plan. Sergei, you fight with Kai and Alexa with Max."
The girl shook her head with a sneer, obviously not satisfied with his strategy.
"Kai will defeat Sergei! And the only way Boris could win against Tyson if he deceives him with a clever move, but that's too much we could ask from him. He won't stand a chance!" Alexa snapped, not bothering to make her point in an appropriate manner.
"What the fuck did you say?!"
Boris stepped closer to the girl with a threatening aura, and Tala immediately stopped him with a hand on his chest.
"Stop insulting your teammates or I change my mind and bench you instead!" Tala hissed, glaring at Alexandra with piercing eyes. "Sergei goes against Kai, you against Max, this is my decision!"
"We'll lose two valuable points because of this, it's not a good strategy!" Alexa growled, still trying to reason with him when Jazzman already announced the battling order of the Bladebreakers.
"Discussion closed!"
Alexa pressed her lips to hold back the reply to herself, folded her arms angrily and turned to the dish so she didn't have to see her teammates' faces anymore.
Tala pitched his nose in his frustration while he exhaled exasperatedly, sensing an ache raising behind his eyes. Some time ago, he thought Kai was a difficult case with his independence and humiliating glares, but Alexa seriously tested his patience.
"Boris, you're the first, go! You can beat Tyson." Tala said, trying to sound encouragingly but he failed. He was too upset.
The falcon shot a hostile glare at the girl before he started to the dish, showing himself as confident as he could. Tyson was already waiting for him with a self-assured smirk on his face.
oOoOo
Jazzman's attempts to comment the battle were blown away with the typhoons that went on rampage inside of the stadium as both Tyson and Boris let loose their bitbeasts' power. The audience was clinging into their accessories that the wind wanted to grab away from them, tossing everything around that was moveable and easy to pick up.
Tyson dominated the battle, Boris was struggling to keep Falborg in the dish against Dragoon's heavy attacks. He barely got a chance to strike back or initiate a counter-attack while Tyson was just living his lifetime, enjoying the windstorm around him.
The Russian pale boy might have realized he didn't stand a chance against the champion because after a while, his goal was not to land an attack on Dragoon, but to wear out his opponent, tempting him to attack continuously and dodging in the last, perfect time. It was another pointless strategy as Tyson seldom ran out of his endless energy.
The outcome was shocking anyway. Boris managed to bait Tyson into a powerful move that the Russian used, and sacrificing the victory he managed to push both beyblades out of the dish, ending the battle in a draw.
Boris was noticeably relieved that he survived the battle without a defeat. Panting heavily and wiping the sweat from his face, he collected himself and stepped down from the dish.
"Oh, well, that was unexpected." Hilary commented the outcome.
"This shouldn't be…! It shouldn't happen this way! Tyson should've win this fight!" Kenny sputter in desperation.
"Ah, man… I'm so stupid!" Tyson growled returning to his team. He was angry with himself that he got carried away with the flow of the battle, not recognizing Boris' plan. "The win was in my pocket and I threw it away."
"You're a three-time champion, Tyson. How could you make such an amateur mistake?" Hilary put her hands on her hips in irritation.
"Didn't you see what we were doing there with Boris, Hilary?! This battle was awesome! His wind became more and more powerful, and I wanted to see what he can do with it."
"So you decided to sell your undeniable victory for a clown fiesta." Kai interjected, his voice filled with venom.
"Well, sort of." Tyson shrugged with an apologetic smile.
"Max, you're next. You have to win this now!" Kenny sighed.
Max stood from the bench, mustering up all his determination.
"Go, Max! Show them on my behalf!" Tyson told him inspiringly as he passed him by.
Max showed up a thumb, confirming he could count on him, making Tyson smile. He hurried to the beydish, wondering who was going to be his opponent, Sergei or the girl.
It was Alexandra. She seemed furious, almost breathing fire, twisting her pretty lines into malicious ones on her face. Max frowned at her expression. Did he make upset her with something?
"Good luck!" Max offered with a smile, trying to ease the tension. He knew how stressful the championship could be, and people easily made mistakes in this state, so he was intent to comfort her a bit before their battle.
"I apologize in advance, Max. I must show those dickheads that I have more value than they think." She said, pointing behind her back to her teammates before she readied her launcher. "I hope you have spare parts."
Max chuckled. It was not the first time he was underestimated and obviously not the last either, but he already got used to that and knew how to handle the patronizing remarks from his opponents; he simply ignored them.
"3…2…1…Let it riiiip!" Jazzman counted aloud, and both beyblades flew out from the launcher.
Draciel barely hit the surface of the dish when Alexa's beyblade already made its first move, crushing directly into Max's with unrelenting force, pushing back the turtle bitbeast.
Despite his rock-solid defense, Draciel's shell, the beyblade was cracking and falling apart, Max could see the flying green pieces dropping everywhere in the dish.
"Baladrac, unleash your power!" Alexa screamed and her whale-dragon bitbeast exploded out of the black spinning top with dozens of other creatures that all looked the same.
Max gaped in awe and his eyes widened in horror at the screeching spirits that were circling around him, covering the stadium's lights above his head. He was completely helpless what to do in this situation, it was like a vivid nightmare he couldn't wake up from.
The whale-dragons pulled in one direction and aimed at Draciel's board figure. The turtle was not able to endure such a powerful attack, and soon, Max's beyblade shattered into small pieces, completely destroyed by the well-synchronized attack.
"NOOO! Draciel!" Max cried, petrified by the sight.
The battle had just begun, he didn't even have the time to pull up a proper defense against the girl's attack and she already demolished Draciel. It was not a beybattle, it was a massacre!
Despite shattering her opponent's beyblade, Alexa's Baladrac didn't finish spinning in the dish. Actually, she was fighting to take back the control over it, Max could see the struggle on her face. Left without a target after crashing Draciel, the spirits were twirling aimlessly in the stadium above their heads while the black beyblade was digging holes in the beydish, breaking through metal and neon light glasses.
"Stop!" Alexa yelled with frightened eyes as she dropped to one knee with clenched teeth in the battle with her own bitbeast.
Eventually, her beyblade stopped and Max stared at the girl who looked back with a weary look, heaving loudly in the small murmur of the audience. Her nose was bleeding slightly. She wiped the red drops in the back of her hand as she rose and left the podium.
"Woah! I don't quite understand what just happened, but the Blitzkriegs won the second round against the Bladebreakers! It was the first time we could witness Alexandra's bitbeast in a battle! Boys, you better pull up your socks or the Russian girl will bulldoze everyone over!" Jazzman said in astonishment, and the crowd joined in uncertainly.
"Max, are you alright?" Hilary asked gently.
Max walked back to the team with empty hands. There was nothing left from his Draciel apart from the bit he could return to Kenny to examine the damage.
"No, I'm not! I have no idea what happened up there!" Max bit back, shaken by his ugly loss.
"Kai, you have to win this last battle for us!" Tyson jumped to Kai in desperation. Their fights against the Blitzkriegs were not going the way he was expecting.
"I will." Kai replied on a distracted voice as he watched Alexa joining back to her team, then eyed him with a pointed look. "But we already lost this set."
"What are you talking about?" Tyson prompted.
"Your fight with Boris ended in a draw." Kai said accusingly and before Tyson could raise more questions for him, he walked away to the dish to fight his battle.
"What don't I get?" Tyson turned and asked his teammates with a shrug.
Max understood what Kai was referring to, but he didn't feel to talk right now. His beyblade was demolished and he failed to score a point for his team. If only he could have fought back and done some damage on Alexa's beyblade, but he was totally weaponless against her. He had never experienced such a one-sided battle before.
Thankfully, Kenny deigned to explain the situation for Tyson.
"When a battle ends in a draw in the main three rounds, they comprise in the result of 'fight for the advantage' which, in our case, was won by Tala. If Kai scored a point for us now, we would still lose today against the Blitzkriegs because with Tala and Alexa's victories they already scored two points."
"Fuck. I totally forgot about that." Tyson cursed in a low voice, staring in shock at Chief.
Kai did score a point for them. It wasn't an easy win, he fought hard against Seaborg's, and after dodging one of his waving attacks he mercilessly struck back and turned Sergei's beyblade into debris, taking revenge on the Blitzkriegs for Max's loss.
"Kai takes his well-deserved revenge against Sergei and scores the first point for the Bladebreakers today, but sadly, it's not enough because with Tyson and Boris' draw, the Blitzkriegs wins the set with two points in total!" Jazzman concluded before the display presented every score from that day.
Bladebreakers: 1
Blitzkriegs: 2
F-Dynasty: 1
Justice-5: 3
Majestics: 2
Miguel's Squad: 0
Ragged Force: 1
White Tigers: 2
They left the stadium with mixed feelings that day.
oOoOo
Tala and Sergei hurried back to the hotel room to examine if there was any usable part left from Seaborg; they needed to re-build it for the last round of the quarter finals which was going to be tomorrow. Boris was left behind with Alexandra, pacing back to the hotel with no rush. They didn't talk, Alexa was still angry that Tala didn't listen to her, and Boris was not eager to initiate any light conversation with her. He wasn't the chatty type anyway.
To be fair, he was itching to question the girl about why she was so malevolent with him, but there were people around them and Boris didn't want to do it in public, attracting unwanted attention.
Winning the championship was extremely important for Tala this year, it seemed, his happiness depended on it, and Boris had promised to himself that he was going to do everything for the captain's dream. The redhead stressed unusually a lot about it and their new teammate didn't make his job easy, so Boris planned to give a piece of his mind to her.
He thought they were going to have dinner, but Alexa headed the training room in the hall instead. At first, Boris was relieved he didn't have to stare at her face while he was eating, but then realized it was his chance to talk with her in private. He followed Alexa into the training room and grabbed her by the forearm, so she didn't have a chance to ignore him.
"We need to talk."
He didn't want to hurt her, his grip was gentle, but Alexa misunderstood his intention.
Rotating her arm around Boris', she easily freed herself from the grasp then pointed her elbow to the soft spot on the boy's chest, stopping the movement right before the hit. Alexa's eye burnt with intense fire, promising him pain if he hurt her.
Boris fixed his gaze at the strong bone that was in dangerous proximity to him, astonished by the reaction he received from her. It was a Russian martial art move, a basic technique to escape from a grip with a counter-attack.
A predatory smile formed its way on his face.
"Where did you learn that?"
Alexa put down her elbow and stepped back from Boris, eyes still locked on his body to be prepared for any sudden move from him.
"I want to be alone. What do you want?" She asked instead, folding her arms and ignoring the question.
"Initially, I wanted to talk with you. But now, I'm more eager to fight." Boris was not able to suppress his grin, he felt too excited.
Not caring anymore what Alexa talked about him during the quarter finals, Boris wanted to test her capabilities. He didn't have the opportunity to practice hand to hand combat for a long time, as Tala and Sergei hadn't learned any martial art. It was a surprise that Alexa knew some moves.
"I'm not gonna fight with you." Alexa stated dismissively before she backed further, fishing her beyblade out of her leg pocket with the intention to train.
"Oh, come on. I'll hold myself back, promise."
The fiery eye snapped back at his wild expression and kept staring at him as if she had been considering the offer. Noticing that he just accidentally stimulated Alexa's desire to accept the challenge, Boris provoked her more.
"Come. Let's fight!" He urged softly, teasing the girl.
He saw and knew the hunger in her eye. He saw she longed for a battle out of the dish as bad as he did. The only thing Boris had to do was to give a small push to Alexa.
"I know you hate me. I see the detestation in your eye. I don't know the reason, but you can get rid of your frustration with a fight."
Alexa licked her lips, obviously trying hard to resist the temptation.
"No." She replied. Her voice was not so convincing this time. "I will only hurt you. Real bad."
Boris loudly cackled at the thought and shook his head as he eyed the girl. Despite that she was so obnoxious, he had to give some credit to her courage.
"You can't." Boris said after calming down his laughter. He was not boastful, he truly believed the blonde couldn't cause him any serious harm, her show-off was unnecessary.
Fortunately, this only provoked Alexa even more. Her eye was glowing with fury, her chest moved widely as she silently heaved.
"Don't misjudge me or we both will regret this." She warned him, putting down her beyblade and the pocket from her leg, then removed the claws that she always wore in beybattles.
"Aight, I'll give my best." Boris chuckled, sending his words as a taunt.
Taking off his jacket and tossing it away, he stepped to the center of the training room with Alexa and faced her with bent knees and raised hands with open palms. The Russian girl mirrored his position; she evidently learnt the same martial art he had.
"If I win, you'll quit being a pain in our ass and do everything Tala asks from you. Define your conditions." Boris said as a mere mockery.
"I don't want anything from you." Alexa spat back.
"Fine by me." Boris shrugged and turned his attention to the combat.
Alexa breathed audibly through her nose, all muscles charged with tension; she was nervous as if they were in a real fight. Boris liked the sincerity in her eye, it amused him, insisting his wild smirk to grow. She didn't move, she didn't have the intention to strike first, so Boris made this favor for her.
He launched his right fist to land a suppressed blow on the front of her shoulder, stepping automatically forward with one leg to close the distance between them. Alexa immediately grabbed Boris with two fingers on his elbow and swung him out of his balance, pulling him forward, towards herself. Her grip lasted only for a moment until she could break his movement then quickly stepped behind Boris and pushed a leg into the hollow of his knee, dropping him to the floor.
Giving him space, Alexa made a circle and walked back to stand in front of him. Boris' laughter filled the training room. He was enjoying this, it was such a long time he felt the adrenalin of a combat. His heart started to beat faster, pumping the blood in and out, sharpening his senses.
"Nice, nice!" Boris praised, appreciating the fun as he rose to stand into position again.
"I told you not to underestimate me! You wanted to fight then fight! For real!" Alexa shouted. "I'm stronger than you think!"
"Show me what you can do!"
Boris attacked again, with more intention this time, but Alexa dodged it easily, parrying it with a counter-attack and landing two hits at his gut and the back of his head.
"You still don't take me seriously!" She bellowed, infuriated.
Rubbing his stomach in the pain, Boris rose again with a smirk, although it was not so taunting anymore. It was hard to find the balance. He knew how he could harm the girl, for god's sake, he was a combat machine! The only thing he had been taught was how to cause pain and make his opponent harmless. But he didn't want to hurt Alexa. He didn't want to put a teammate in danger, causing pain or injure her for before the remaining beybattles. Tala would kill him for that. Hence, Boris was struggling to find the proper force he could hit with.
The blonde demanded a serious, true fight; she obviously wanted to test her own strength, too. The only thing she didn't know that once he lost control, he could damage her. 'Real bad'. He cursed his own stupidity that he provoked a fight with Alexandra. He didn't expect she was so desperately thirsty for his blood.
This time Alexa attacked, aiming at his side, Boris caught her arm and tried to throw her to the floor, but she went with the movement, jumping behind his shoulder then pulling back his arm in a painful angle, tossing him down once again.
Boris groaned on the floor, holding his shoulder to check if it was dislocated.
Meanwhile, Alexa crouched down to him with a disgusted curl of her lip; her green eye was a pool of wrath, lacking every warmth.
"That's it, Kuznetsov?"
He barely recognized Alexa's voice. She used such a low and raw tone that was foreign. Volkov had spoken to him like that when he had wanted to intimidate him. Hearing it from a teammate, from a blonde girl who glared down at him with a contemplating look, a cold chill ran down his spine. He felt humiliated that made boiled his blood, but he was still determined not to lose control.
"Yeah. You've win." He said bitterly, sitting up.
Alexa could only snarl more at his words.
"You're weaker than I thought. How could you protect your dear friends if you're so weak? How could you save Yuriy and Sergei from someone like me when you're so useless?" She spat with a growl and Boris felt his heart was getting to pick up a faster pace; his ear rung, his sight started to redden. She leant closer and whispered wickedly. "You're dull, Kuznetsov. You're a dull weapon."
Boris didn't remember how he did react. He didn't remember leaping forward with the will to clench his hand on her neck to choke the last breath of life out of the slender body.
He couldn't remember because Alexa unintentionally triggered something deep inside him he had buried carefully a long forgotten time ago. His mind was blinded with one pure purpose.
To kill.
A/N: Guysssssssss, I can't tell you how long I've wanted to write this scene and conflict! Sorry for leaving you on a cliffhanger, I really needed to end this chapter somewhere. I'll try to update as fast as it's possible for me.
Follow, leave a review, let me know what you think!