A/N: Well, first of all I must apologize. I know it took me FOREVER to update, and I feel bad...stupid writer's block, and stupid homework, and stupid other stories! Hehe! Anyway, I hope ya enjoy it!

Chapter 6: Strangers at the Airport

A loud churning sound could be heard, as air filtered through the large airplane engines, making the plane shake as it did so. The tall blonde flight attendant politely ushered the row of people onto the plane, presenting each of them with a welcoming smile. Kai, Rei, Max, and Liika all shuffled their way onto the main deck of the airplane as Kai handed the stewardess his ticket. The young lady smiled pleasantly back at him and pointed directly down the aisle. "You'll be sitting in row 23 young man." Kai only snorted and gave a slight nod, as he quickly made his way down the compact aisle. Liika rolled her eyes at the rude blue-haired boy and she smiled politely back at the stewardess,

"thank you ma'am."

Rei and Max quickly followed behind Liika, each giving their thankful nods. People were cramped up in the tiny aisle, each one trying to get their bags into the overhead compartments. Kai was easily frustrated by the over cramped aisle and he shoved his way past the people, without a single 'excuse me.' Finally Kai noticed the small black numbers and realized that they had finally made it to row 23. He immediately took a seat near the aisle and resumed his regular sitting position: arms crossed, head tilted, eyes closed. Liika studied the arrogant boy and shook her head at his tough boy exterior.

"Why don't you take a picture...it lasts longer!" Kai shot out, feeling the shadowy presence of Liika standing before him. Liika blushed a little but quickly retorted with a loud remark.

"Yeah...but you'd probably break the camera!" Kai raised one of his eyelids, as he glared at her with a fiery eye. Liika only stuck her tongue out at him before walking past, and taking a seat behind him. Besides, she didn't want to sit with Mr.Happy anyway. Max and Rei each followed suit and they both took a seat beside each other...across the aisle from Kai. Liika studied the back of the seat in front of her, and began twisting a lose thread around her finger. Liika sighed, her arm was still pretty sore but her heart was definitely in more pain. She had to admit it, deep down she was incredibly bugged at the fact that Mr.Dickinson replaced her just like that. She knew that they needed a new teammate for the time being, but...why did it have to be another girl! Liika could feel her stomach turn into knots and she was scared that once her arm healed, she would no longer have a spot on the team. Liika shifted in the small blue seat, and tried her best to find a comfortable position. Once she did so, she took a firm hold of her seat belt and struggled to fasten it up. Liika honestly never believed how hard things could be when you only had one workable arm. She moaned in annoyance and finally gave up, as she banged her defeated arm up against the seat in front of her...totally forgetting that Kai was sitting in front of her. She instinctively scrunched up her face at Kai's usual harsh yell.

"Knock it off Liika...before I personally come back there and wreck your other arm!" Kai shouted, causing a million eyes to shoot back towards the two teens. Liika blushed furiously, and Kai could also feel his cheeks burning slightly. Rei and Max couldn't help but laugh at their two comrades, as they waited patiently for the other three members to arrive. Suddenly Kenny could be seen squeezing his way down the cramped aisle, trying his best not to knock Dizzi out of his hands. His brown hair was scattered across his head and he looked as if he was about to collapse in any second. Kenny was soon able to make it far enough back to his friends, as he leaned exhaustedly on the edge of one of the seats. He looked like he was trampled by a stampede, his shirt was ruffled with creases, and his tie was barely hanging on to the flat of his neck. Max blinked his blue eyes in curiosity, while he tried his best to hold back the laughter.

"Wha...what happened to you?" Max asked, between intervals of laughter. Kenny only replied with a shake of his head, as he pointed down the aisle, towards the front of the plane. Liika, Max, and Rei all locked eyes on a familiar figure, slowly making her way down the center aisle. It was Jade, and she didn't look too impressed! For some strange reason it looked as though she was struggling with something...or someone. Max simply exploded into hysterical laughter, finally realizing what exactly was going on. Jade was indeed dragging something behind her, and it wasn't much of a surprise when they realized that it was Tyson. Jade had her right hand grasped tightly around the cuff of Tyson's red collar, and her blue eyes reflected anger beyond belief. Instantly people began to stare, muttering words under their breaths. Jade took no notice to the thousands of eyes focused upon her, and she finally dropped Tyson beside the rest of the Bladebreakers. The thump of Tyson's butt hitting the floor caused Kai to flash his eyes open, meeting a very happy looking Tyson sitting on the floor beside him. Immediately Kai's eyes turned into a cold glare, while Tyson only smiled back at him.

"Hiya Kai!" Tyson replied, a smile perched upon his lips. He held a small yellow box firmly in his hands and he looked as though he had been blessed from above. Black letters were written across the side and they clearly reflected the words: TIM HORTONS. Kai shook his head in absolute disgust, knowing all to well that the doughnuts present in the box were not going to be shared.

"This is why you were so late!?" Rei replied with a smile, really not surprised at the usual food act made by Tyson.

"Hey!" Tyson exclaimed, pouting, "I'm not late! I'm just fashionably not early!"

Rei, Max, Kenny and Liika face vaulted, Liika slapping her forehead with her good hand. Jade rolled her eyes and nudged the blue haired boy with her foot. "I believe the expression is 'fashionably late', which I assure you we are well past being. Mr. Dickenson said 9:30 am, it is now 10."

Kai snorted in his seat and closed his eyes again. "Just get in you're seat –and not the one beside me." He snapped.

Tyson grinned, brought himself to his feet and whined, "Aww… But Kai I thought we were best buds man!" With that he nudged the taller boy with his elbow, then took the seat beside Liika, in the row behind Kai.

"Tyson! You better share those doughnuts!"

"What?? No way! Get your own doughnuts! These are mine!"

"How can you be so meaaan?! Can't you see I'm injured here?!"

"Why would that make me want to share? No doughnuts for you! Ha! MINE!"

Kai's left eyebrow twitched. He was going to kill them… especially Tyson. A slight shuffling in the aisle beside him caused him to open his left eye to see what dared disturb his brooding. A girl stood there, her reddish brown hair tied up in two buns and her crystal eyes glinting flatly at him. "Yeah?" He grunted closing his eye once more.

"Will you please move your legs so that I can get to my seat?" The girl asked, her tone as monotone as the glint in her eyes.

"And you are?" Why should he move?

"Jade, your new teammate, now please move."

Shrugging he moved his knees and allowed her to access the seat beside him. So this was their new teammate –Liika's replacement. He realized then that it was the girl that had run into Rei on their way to the hospital. Grunting again, he shifted a bit in his seat, settling himself to have a nap. The girl beside him did up her seatbelt quietly, almost making no sound.

Well, one good thing about her. She's quiet, unlike the rest of the Brat pack.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The plane eventually came to a landing in Nevada, much to the pleasure of Kai who had increasingly become annoyed with his immature teammates. The Bladebreakers hustled off of the plane rather quickly, thankful to be able to stretch their legs once again. The airport was overly crowded with tons of people, pushing their way in and out of airplane gates.

"Wow...just look at all the people here!" Max exclaimed, his eyes wide open as if he'd never been in an airport before. He had a small duffel bag slinged over his right shoulder and he held his small green Draciel blade within his left hand.

"Max...we just came from an airport in Hong Kong," Liika spoke up, stepping up beside the enthusiastic blonde. She placed her good hand upon Max's shoulder and glanced at him with a sort of disbelief. "How can you be so excited?"

"I'm just excited to be in America altogether...especially here in Nevada!" Max replied, laughter filling up in his blue eyes. "Ya see, my mom works here as a sort of...well, beyblading researcher. And I was kind of hoping that I could go visit her!" Everybody stared at Max for a few moments, noticing the excited expressions sliding over his face.

"Maxy, why didn't you tell us that about your mom before?!" Tyson exclaimed, practically throwing himself towards Max's side. He shot his hand over Max's shoulder and looked at his friend with keen interest. "You have definitely got to introduce us to her!" Max smiled and answered Tyson with a swift nod of his blonde head.

"Just as long as it doesn't interfere with our beyblade practicing!" Immediately all eyes were taken off of Max and were now redirected upon Kai; who stood a couple inches away from the group. Naturally he had his arms crossed over his chest, as he looked at his teammates with signs of disgust.

"Practicing!?" Tyson yelled, questioning Kai with disbelief. "What do we need to practice for Kai...we're pros!"

"Pros eh..." A feminine voice spoke up. "You sure didn't look like a pro back in that alley Tyson!" Tyson's navy eyes met crystal blue, as he realized that Jade was the one who was speaking now. She had her arms wrapped casually over her chest, her black wristlets hanging barely above the ground. Tyson stood in shock, looking Jade up and down...how did she know about his battle against Kevin?

"How...how..."

"I was there," Jade finished off, knowing exactly what Tyson was about to ask.

"You were there?" Liika questioned, eyeing Jade in a sort of suspicious manner. "What were you doing...spying on us or something?" Both girls seemed to focus on one another instantly, almost as if they were sizing each other up. Jade portrayed herself in a very intimidating manner, her eyes almost changing to a dark blue. Though Liika looked just as intimidating if not more...much to the surprise of her fellow teammates. Liika was normally the happy-go-lucky member of their group, but Jade obviously seemed to pull on some of her circuits.

"I wasn't spying, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time." Jade finally answered with a simple shrug of her shoulders.

"Why would you be hanging out in an alley anyway..."Liika muttered under her breath, causing Tyson to laugh slightly at her whisper. Obviously he was the only one who had heard it, seeing as nobody else seemed to give Liika a second glance.

"Ok, ok...enough about that." Rei added, hoping to end this conversation quickly. "Kai's right, we do need to practice...but, I think we'll still have time enough to visit Max's mom."

"I agree," Kenny added with a confirmed nod of his head.

"And so do I!" A familiar voice echoed out from behind them. Mr.Dickinson was standing close beside his enthusiastic team, his eyes portraying signs of complete pride. A smile was present upon his lips, which made his mustache scrunch up to the tip of his nose. "But if I may suggest, you boys go..." He was suddenly interrupted by an abrupt clearing of the throat, which just so happened to be Liika, looking at him with irritated turquoise eyes. "And girls of course," Mr.Dickinson finished, realizing his forgetful mistake. Liika gave a cheeky smile showing her approval of his correction. "Anyways, I suggest the seven of you head on outside and keep a look out for the bus."

"Good idea Mr.Dickinson," Kenny replied with a smile. Everyone else seemed to nod their heads with approval, along with a low grunt coming from Kai. "Are you not coming sir?"

"I'm afraid I have some other business to attend to at the moment," Mr.Dickinson answered, tapping his cane upon the carpeted floor. "But I assure you that I will meet you at the hotel, around 7 o'clock tonight."

"No prob Mr.Dickinson...we'll catch ya later!" Tyson replied with a hearty grin, as Mr.Dickinson quickly strode away from the group. "Well lets go guys...we don't want to miss our bus do we?!" Tyson yelled out, suddenly taking off towards the exit doors. Everyone gave a sort of desperation sigh before casually heading off after him.

"Why is that kid so energetic?!" Jade questioned, as she continued to trudge along at the back of the group; a couple inches before Kai.

"Well, I'd rather be with happy people...thank-you very much!" Liika replied, shifting her eyes back at Jade. Jade seemed to freeze at the sudden comment made by the blue-haired girl.

"What did you say?" Jade practically demanded, her eyebrows furrowing over her crystal eyes. Liika simply waved her hand dismissively, pretending that she hadn't said a single thing. Kai rolled his eyes at the immature scene, Mr.Dickinson should've known better than to substitute another girl for Liika's position. The entire group of seven headed out into the open parking lot, looking closely for the nearest bus that read BBA.

"Ummm, guys...I don't see it!" Tyson spoke up, holding his hand up to his forehead; like a sailor searching for clear skies. He had his eyes squinted rather tightly, and he surveyed the giant lot.

"Let me see!" Kai demanded, pushing his way through the bodies of his teammates until he reached the front of the group. He narrowed his maroon eyes, hoping for any indication of anything to do with the BBA. "As much as I hate to admit it...block head's right."

"What!? I am not a bloc..."

Liika quickly shoved her hand over Tyson's mouth, stopping the enraged boy from starting another argument with their team leader.

"Well, what do you propose we do now?!" questioned Kenny, starting to become frantic. "We have no contact numbers or anything...we're stranded at the airport!" As much as everybody hated to admit it, Kenny was right...if nobody came, then they were stranded.

"I say we ask them," Jade stated matter-of-factly. She was pointing towards two young figures, who were standing directly before a small orange school bus. But more importantly was the fact that they were each holding a small white sign, reading 'BLADEBREAKERS!'

Liika blinked a couple times, making sure that she had actually read the sign right. "It says Bladebreakers...that's us!"

"You don't say!" Kai replied, the sarcasm dripping from his lips. Liika shot him, what to her, was an intimidating glare; as he simply rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's see what they want."

Everybody seemed to agree with Kai's decision, as they quickly followed after the tall blue-haired teen. As they came closer to the two curious-looking figures, they noticed that they were only around the age of 14/15, and there was one girl and the other a boy. The boy was darker in color, and he was extremely tall! He had on strange apparel though and Liika noticed that it was indeed an old basketball uniform. A large orange basketball was tucked underneath his arm, and he had a sideways grin plastered across his face. The girl standing beside him was a quite a bit shorter, with flaring orange hair, which was flipped up at the sides. She too had on a unique outfit, being that of an old tennis uniform of a green skirt and beige cut-off. She also had on a pair of wired round glasses, that concealed her pretty lavender eyes. Both of them seemed to turn their eyes abruptly, as they noticed the Bladebreakers approaching slowly. The girl glanced up at her taller comrade, then looked over at Kai.

"Are you guys the Bladebreakers?" she questioned, eyes almost set in a suspicious nature. Kai simply nodded his head, while Tyson pushed his way forward.

"Yeah, that's us! And who are you!?" He demanded, trying to portray himself in an intimidating way. The girl simply smirked, while the taller guy let out a low amusing laugh.

"It's not important right now," the girl replied, in a sort of snobby voice. "But if you must know, I'm Emily...that's Eddy." She motioned her head upward towards the boy, as he waved one of his large hands.

"Well, now that that's over with...what exactly do you guys want with us?!" Rei questioned, speaking up for the rest of his teammates.

Emily waved her hand in a motion to quiet Rei up, "Were not at liberty to say!"

"Yeah, all we know is that we are supposed to pick up a team by the name of the Bladebreakers...Mr.Dickinson's wishes!" Eddy added in.

"That's right, and everything will be explained to you later...so come on, we don't have all day!" Emily shot out, before turning her back to the group and entering the bus. Eddy followed soon after her, while the Bladebreakers stood where they were.

"Well, if Mr.Dickinson told them to pick us up...then, I suppose we should go with them...don't you think?!" Max asked aloud, looking from person to person. The only response was a simple nod from everybody, though they all looked extremely hesitant.

Rei paused just before he was about to enter the bus,

"let's just make sure we stick together!"

A/N: There ya have it...remember R&R!!!! It makes us happy ^-^