Hey guys, sorry for the little delay, but at least this chappie is longer than usual ^^;; Thank you for all the support and this chappie goes out to Jade for giving me my very own mini-Tyson! I totally love him! And simply to everyone: a big, huge DOMO ARIGATOU GOUZIMAS ^^;; Enjoy the chappie; it was interesting for me to write, even though I don't quite understand some things I wrote... ok that's not a good sign *sweatdrops* Er... happy reading! ^^
Star Horizons
Chapter 8: Finishing Sequence
"This is getting boring Tyson," Richi said with a yawn. "I know you can do better than that," he added, narrowing his chocolate eyes while casually folding his arms.
Tyson growled inaudibly, shooting his opponent a heated glare. Despite what both Richi and Kai had said to him earlier about Dragoon's storm attack, there was still no way he was planning on using it. This time, he supposedly knew what Richi was tying to do and he definitely was not going to be caught in the same old trick twice. As far as his concern, the storm attack was still just something advantageous for Draikin.
'He still hasn't figured it out yet,' the brunette thought to himself, sighing. 'I really want to help him, but I'm still a competitor and I can't just tell him straight out what to do…' Richi glanced at the white Beyblade and its complimentary blader with a concerned glint in his brown eyes. "Come on Tyson, you were the World Champion, just think," he finally said out loud, attempting some words of discreet encouragement.
"Save your breath because I'm not even listening," stated Tyson in an unexpected tone of severity. "I know exactly what your trying to do. Pretending to be some kind of a nice guy and giving me 'tips', huh? Well I'm not buying it anymore! You're nothing but a mind-playing jerk," he finished harshly, but ultimately regretted his last remark a bit, as he caught sight of the slight twisted and hurt expression on Richi's usually soft facade.
"Ouch, I think that one hit Richi right on the spot," commented Max from his seat, crinkling his nose with distaste. Sure, maybe it seemed that the brunette was manipulating Tyson a bit in the last round, but nevertheless, sometimes Tyson's mouth could get a little bit too carried away during the trash talk.
"Richi doesn't look too happy down there," began Brad in his announcer-type voice. "It looks like Tyson's really getting to him."
"Well I guess he better brace himself for some revenge," chirped in AJ. "After what went on during the last match, I'm sure Tyson wants to even the score: both in the Beyblading and the trash talk."
His light-brown hair suspended freely, nearly touching his face. Those normally gentle dark eyes of his were now stiffly locked on the blades, seemingly hiding the earlier small stir of emotion. Not daring to look up at Tyson, Richi remained fixed on the battle as the two blades continuously bashed against each other like bumper cars in a theme park, neither one of them slowing down.
He was still a bit upset about Tyson's sudden show of indignation, but he was a reasonable guy. He knew he probably deserved that remark anyway, even if it was a bit over the top. Strangely enough though, you must also realize that despite Tyson's comment, Richi's main concern was actually contrary to what everyone else thought. What was bothering him more was his growing dissatisfaction of unsuccessfully being of any aid to Tyson. His latest attempt seemed to just anger the sixteen-year-old even more and he never intended for that.
'Did I expect him to still trust me after that little stunt I pulled in the first round?' he began wondering to himself. 'Well…I guess not. And under normal circumstances, I wouldn't trust me either, but like I told him, Tyson is a World-class blader. He should've figured things out by now! I mean, Kai has…' Pausing his musings briefly, he made some attempt to concentrate on the battle without much luck. Unfortunately, his mind was still busy juggling his own thoughts.
'Man, this is just great! I came here to help so I could give a good first impression and what happens? I look like a mind-playing jerk! It's not like I purposely meant to trick him… Damnit! Where's some chicken when I need it?" he groaned inwardly, frustrated.
Meanwhile in the stands, the other boys were watching the battle closely, specifically the young man with glasses.
"Is it just me, or am I the only one who thinks that Richi isn't actually paying attention to the match?" Chief spoke up, scratching the back of his head. He just noticed that although it looked like the brunette was really into the battle, if you took a closer look you could see that his ostensibly intense gaze into the dish was actually a blind stare.
The other boys gave Kenny a puzzled look, excluding Kai, and decided to see for themselves. Almost instantaneously, they quickly realized that Kenny's remark was quite accurate.
"What is he doing then?" asked Ray.
"He's just a bit frustrated," Kai stated simply. "Probably lost in some thoughts since he can't seem to get through to Tyson."
The blonde blinked, giving the blue-haired teen a curious glance. "I still don't get why he wants to help Tyson so badly… he wants to win too, right? Plus we can't blame Tyson for not trusting him after-"
"Tyson's defeat was not completely intentional," Kai cut him off. "You remember what he said earlier to Tyson? About his storm attack being the key? Well it's not a trick. The fact that Richi ended up using it to help himself was just a coincidence; Draikin would've gotten into the air either way. Reality is, this kid is trying to help."
Then it was silent as their attention shifted back to the match, just in time to see Richi's blade boomerang back into the ring.
'GAH! I wish he'd stop doing that!' Tyson yelled in his mind, watching Dragoon wobble a bit from the rebound. 'This is definitely not cool.'
"Tyson!" Richi called out again, hoping that maybe he would listen to him. "I refuse to spell things out for you. You should know what to do by now!"
"Huh? Did I just hear a voice?" the navy-haired boy looked around ponderingly. "Oh probably just my imagination."
Richi could hear himself let out a low growl, surprising even himself. "I'm not kidding! Y'know you could at least *try* to understand how to correctly use your storm attack against me. Why do you have to be so hard-headed??"
Tyson couldn't help but to smirk. He was definitely teaching this kid a lesson. Nobody messes with his mind and gets away with it. There was only one little thing that he still hadn't figured out though: how was he going to beat Richi anyway?
"OH I GET IT!" Kenny jumped up from his seat triumphantly. "I know what Richi was trying to get at! I gotta go tell Tyson!" As he was about to burst into the stairway, a strong hand gripped his arm sternly. Kenny looked up to see Kai shaking his head. "But Kai, we're his friends. We've gotta help him."
"He has to figure this out on his own," Kai firmly declared, receiving a soft sigh from the small brunette. "He's not gonna learn if we interfere."
'I prefer the term "assist",' Kenny thought to himself, sitting down again. 'But Kai is right…I just hope that Tyson understands before it's too late.'
"You're not giving me much choice but to beat you all over again," the brunette attempted to point out, trying not to sound too daunting. Taking a deep breath, he began again in a calmer tone. "I'm asking you as a fellow blader to think about your storm attack for just one minute. This match is not helping either one of us if it's one-sided."
Tyson rolled his eyes, groaning at the same time. His mind was telling him that Richi was just trying to distract him again. "If I do, will you stop trying to mess with my head?"
Richi almost protested to that last remark about "messing with his head", but decided against it. Looking at Tyson straight in the eye, he nodded. "You have my word."
Tyson involuntarily grinned, hearing the authenticity in his voice. Examining his rival carefully, he came to see that Richi's expression, alongside his tone, had no trace of deceit. His opinion for his opponent seemed to take another 360-degree turn. "Hm…maybe he's not as bad as I think," he said quietly, realizing that perhaps he underrated Richi's character. "Well, only one way to find out. Okay, Dragoon's storm attack…Draikin's meteor raid…tornado…falling orbs of energy….wind….Draikin in the air…meteors…hurri-HEY WAIT A SECOND!" Tyson shouted out loud, quickly coming into realization. Finally dropping on him like a ton of bricks, he knew what he could do, and this time, it was no trick. "It's the phantom hurricane!" he shouted exultantly.
"Phantom hurricane?" repeated his adversary,cocking an eyebrow. "Is it safe to say that that's the name of your stronger storm attack?"
Tyson grinned, nodding his head smugly.
"Finally you get it!" Richi exclaimed, letting out a sigh of relief. "But remember," be added, getting a bit more serious, "I can't guarantee you'll win. Heh, I mean you have a better chance of beating me now, but basically, now it just comes down to who has more power. And I can promise you that I'm not planning on going easy on you anymore."
"Just what I wanted to hear," smirked Tyson, pumping a fist. "So, you want a lift?" he suddenly asked politely.
Richi almost laughed, but held it back and nodded instead. "Sure, why not." He felt reassured that he was finally able to get through the kid's thick skull. Plus now that that was over with, things would get much more interesting. Richi could finally let out the blader in him and he wasn't going to hold back.
"Alex you should come watch this," suggested Casey loudly. "It looks like both of them are ready to actually get serious."
"No thank you," came a faint, but firm voice from somewhere in the bedroom. "I'd rather not."
Jade looked in the direction of where her darker-haired friend was situated and sighed. She knew Alex wasn't too happy at the present moment. "She's still a bit mad about him leaving without telling us," she whispered to Casey. "You know how she's like. We should just give her some space."
The light-haired girl nodded, knowing exactly what Jade was referring to. Alex had, no doubt, a quick-temper and a bit of a guarded nature too. Patience wasn't exactly her finest virtue, if it could even be applied to her at all, that is, and she wasn't exactly the type to be discussing her problems openly either. Both Jade and Casey knew that it was best to let her be for now. If Alex really needed them, she'd eventually ask.
Back in the bedroom, the redhead had occupied herself listening to Casey's Michelle Branch CD, and at the moment, the current song playing was "Everywhere". It was such a nice, upbeat song; it usually calmed her down when something was bothering her. It was unfortunate that this method wasn't as effective as it usually was, not for this particular vexation at least.
'Y'know I shouldn't even care about this,' she began thinking to herself. 'Why does it matter to me that he left without saying anything? He can enter a tournament if he wants to. It's a free country, right? He doesn't have to tell us every single thing that he does. I mean everyone deserves some privacy!' Her reasoning almost brought her to that point of wanted composure, until another thought entered her mind. "But…it's only a tournament…what would be so private about that?" Sighing, she pulled a few strands of dark hair from her face and lay back down on the bed, staring at the ceiling aimlessly.
This was definitely not fun. Every time she tried to come up with a rational explanation, the other part of her mind would think of something else to counter it. It was like she was trying to drive herself mad! Any onlookers who could see her now would probably think she was overreacting, but they don't know the whole story. Who would they be to judge her?
You see, Richi and the rest of the girls were really tight, the bestest of best friends you could say. They tell each other practically everything, unless it was something extremely private. Thus, for Richi to not tell them about his competing in the tournament, something so practical and ordinary, indicated that there was some kind of unknown importance behind his actions.
This is what was getting to Alex: the secrecy. Plus it was just so out of character for him to just take off like that! And the fact that he didn't mention it AT ALL made it even worse. She just had this sinking feeling in her stomach that whatever reason he had for leaving without a word was going to be an unpleasant one.
"Oh my gosh!" suddenly exclaimed a voice of what sounded like Casey from the living room.
Immediately catching her attention, Alex's head jerked up, looking inquiringly at the gaping door. Quickly switching into a sitting position on the bed, she began debating with herself whether she should go see what the fuss was all about.
"GOOOOO RICHI!" squealed another voice, this time sounding more like Jade.
Hesitantly, the redhead pulled off the headphones and eased herself off the mattress, heading for the open door. Poking her head into the hallway, she soon saw her two friends practically glued to the TV. Casey was literally on the edge of her seat, which made Alex wonder how she didn't fall off, while Jade had made herself a pillowed niche smack down on the floor in front of the set.
Unwillingly, her curiosity finally got the best of her and she quietly began making her way through the hall. Before long, she silently stood leaning against the wall in the outskirts of the living room. Unblinkingly, she watched the actions taking place on the television in a disturbing sort of silence.
"Planning to talk anytime soon?" Casey posed a question.
Another few moments of reticence persisted before Alex finally spoke up. "What's there to say? Do you want me to start cheering or something?"
Jade managed to tear her gaze from the display to see her friend's apathetic stance. Knowing Alex all too well, she carefully stood up and walked towards her.
"Are you okay?" she asked, giving her a soft smile.
Alex, who's eyes had still yet to divert from the TV, nodded. "Fine," she replied in a flat tone.
Jade sighed, knowing that the red-head's response denoted that she still didn't want to talk about it yet. Putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder, her attention soon fell upon the ongoing match again.
"HAH! You are so going down Richi!" Tyson announced in a tone of complete confidence.
His opponent shook his head with a cocky grin. "Don't expect me to just roll over and let you win Tyson," the brunette retorted freely. "DRAIKIN!! Let's move this up a notch!!" he hollered.
The suspended gold Beyblade and corresponding meteors soon began pushing harder against the hurricane, gradually making its way through the turbulent barrier.
'Ah Damnit,' Tyson thought to himself. "DRAGOON! Don't let him get through!"
Tyson's Bit-Beast obeyed as the gale's energy level also increased, halting Draikin's progression. The two forces were equally matched and again, the battle was in a deadlock.
"Whoa! How long are these boys going for? They've been at it for quite some time now!" exclaimed Brad.
"I can't even tell B-man, but I know that the outcome of this match all depends on who has more power," added in AJ. "It's the battle of the elements!"
The crowd was roaring with exhilaration, thoroughly enjoying the game. The match had definitely heated up after Tyson finally figured things out. He realized that all he had to do to counter Draikin's meteor raid was to simply increase the power of his storm attack; thus explaining the use of the phantom hurricane. Now, it was just a battle between the two powers. Either Draikin would be able to penetrate through the squall barricade, or Dragoon's storm would finally be able to blow him out of the dish.
"Tyson, this is getting a bit old," said Richi, raising an eyebrow. "Mind if we just cut to the chase?" As if responding to his question, Draikin's golden vicinity slowly intensified, giving off an almost dangerous sort of aura.
The nary-haired teen grinned at the alluring challenge and responded with a brisk nod. "Just what I was thinking," he smirked. "Since we've got that cleared up…Dragoon! Let's finish this off!" he suddenly directed with great avidity. His Bit-Beast's aura, like Richi's, also began to intensify as the surge of growing energy could soon be felt throughout the stadium.
Kai's mahogany eyes glanced at a faint light emitting from his pocket. Swiftly pulling out Dranzer, he watched his blue Beyblade as it gave off that familiar red glow.
'You feel that, huh Dranzer?' he silently asked his Bit-Beast, receiving the continuous illumination of crimson light in response.
"Oh, is Dranzer reacting to the battle?" Kenny asked unexpectedly, noticing the radiation coming from Kai's blade.
The slate-haired teen was a bit annoyed at the sudden interruption, but kept his vexation quiet and simply nodded.
"Well duh Chief," that familiar female voice came from the young boy's laptop. "If you could actually fully feel all that energy those two are giving off right now, you'd be pretty stirred up too. This is definitely some serious business." Kenny cleared his lungs, understanding what Dizzi had said. His gaze quickly moved back to the battle, wondering who would overpower the other.
In the dish, the two Bit-Beasts were in a constant struggle against each other. It was just like a game of tug of war, and neither of them was planning on loosening their hold on the rope anytime soon. Also in that childhood game, if one boy pulled harder, then his rival would simply tighten his grip and increase his pull as well. That is exactly what Dragoon and Draikin were doing. As the hurricane's energy increased, so did the push of the meteors and vice versa.
Now, what happens when two people pull hard enough? A thin rope can easily snap and both contenders go hurdling backwards. Nobody actually wins. But in this case, if the 'rope' does snap, the rules change a little and whoever is left standing would be declared the victor.
"Don't give up Dragoon!"
"Keep going Draikin!"
The two boys fervidly encouraged their Bit-Beasts to go on, pushing the battle to the max. Onlookers watched in awe, unsure of whom the victor would be. Both players were equally determined to win.
All of the sudden, the rope snapped! The disputing energies finally went over their limit resulting in a large flare that could easily be misinterpreted as a super nova. The competing boys instinctively raised their arms to shield themselves, but still managed to hold their ground, while the audience, also quite shaken, immediately grabbed something or someone for some stability. That final blast clearly signified the end of the match. Everyone waited in anxiety for the veil to lift, wondering who was the last one standing.
Man, what a wicked match! Things definitely heated up there...but I gotta know, who in the world won? Tune in next time for the next chapter of Star Horizons!
Star Horizons
Chapter 8: Finishing Sequence
"This is getting boring Tyson," Richi said with a yawn. "I know you can do better than that," he added, narrowing his chocolate eyes while casually folding his arms.
Tyson growled inaudibly, shooting his opponent a heated glare. Despite what both Richi and Kai had said to him earlier about Dragoon's storm attack, there was still no way he was planning on using it. This time, he supposedly knew what Richi was tying to do and he definitely was not going to be caught in the same old trick twice. As far as his concern, the storm attack was still just something advantageous for Draikin.
'He still hasn't figured it out yet,' the brunette thought to himself, sighing. 'I really want to help him, but I'm still a competitor and I can't just tell him straight out what to do…' Richi glanced at the white Beyblade and its complimentary blader with a concerned glint in his brown eyes. "Come on Tyson, you were the World Champion, just think," he finally said out loud, attempting some words of discreet encouragement.
"Save your breath because I'm not even listening," stated Tyson in an unexpected tone of severity. "I know exactly what your trying to do. Pretending to be some kind of a nice guy and giving me 'tips', huh? Well I'm not buying it anymore! You're nothing but a mind-playing jerk," he finished harshly, but ultimately regretted his last remark a bit, as he caught sight of the slight twisted and hurt expression on Richi's usually soft facade.
"Ouch, I think that one hit Richi right on the spot," commented Max from his seat, crinkling his nose with distaste. Sure, maybe it seemed that the brunette was manipulating Tyson a bit in the last round, but nevertheless, sometimes Tyson's mouth could get a little bit too carried away during the trash talk.
"Richi doesn't look too happy down there," began Brad in his announcer-type voice. "It looks like Tyson's really getting to him."
"Well I guess he better brace himself for some revenge," chirped in AJ. "After what went on during the last match, I'm sure Tyson wants to even the score: both in the Beyblading and the trash talk."
His light-brown hair suspended freely, nearly touching his face. Those normally gentle dark eyes of his were now stiffly locked on the blades, seemingly hiding the earlier small stir of emotion. Not daring to look up at Tyson, Richi remained fixed on the battle as the two blades continuously bashed against each other like bumper cars in a theme park, neither one of them slowing down.
He was still a bit upset about Tyson's sudden show of indignation, but he was a reasonable guy. He knew he probably deserved that remark anyway, even if it was a bit over the top. Strangely enough though, you must also realize that despite Tyson's comment, Richi's main concern was actually contrary to what everyone else thought. What was bothering him more was his growing dissatisfaction of unsuccessfully being of any aid to Tyson. His latest attempt seemed to just anger the sixteen-year-old even more and he never intended for that.
'Did I expect him to still trust me after that little stunt I pulled in the first round?' he began wondering to himself. 'Well…I guess not. And under normal circumstances, I wouldn't trust me either, but like I told him, Tyson is a World-class blader. He should've figured things out by now! I mean, Kai has…' Pausing his musings briefly, he made some attempt to concentrate on the battle without much luck. Unfortunately, his mind was still busy juggling his own thoughts.
'Man, this is just great! I came here to help so I could give a good first impression and what happens? I look like a mind-playing jerk! It's not like I purposely meant to trick him… Damnit! Where's some chicken when I need it?" he groaned inwardly, frustrated.
Meanwhile in the stands, the other boys were watching the battle closely, specifically the young man with glasses.
"Is it just me, or am I the only one who thinks that Richi isn't actually paying attention to the match?" Chief spoke up, scratching the back of his head. He just noticed that although it looked like the brunette was really into the battle, if you took a closer look you could see that his ostensibly intense gaze into the dish was actually a blind stare.
The other boys gave Kenny a puzzled look, excluding Kai, and decided to see for themselves. Almost instantaneously, they quickly realized that Kenny's remark was quite accurate.
"What is he doing then?" asked Ray.
"He's just a bit frustrated," Kai stated simply. "Probably lost in some thoughts since he can't seem to get through to Tyson."
The blonde blinked, giving the blue-haired teen a curious glance. "I still don't get why he wants to help Tyson so badly… he wants to win too, right? Plus we can't blame Tyson for not trusting him after-"
"Tyson's defeat was not completely intentional," Kai cut him off. "You remember what he said earlier to Tyson? About his storm attack being the key? Well it's not a trick. The fact that Richi ended up using it to help himself was just a coincidence; Draikin would've gotten into the air either way. Reality is, this kid is trying to help."
Then it was silent as their attention shifted back to the match, just in time to see Richi's blade boomerang back into the ring.
'GAH! I wish he'd stop doing that!' Tyson yelled in his mind, watching Dragoon wobble a bit from the rebound. 'This is definitely not cool.'
"Tyson!" Richi called out again, hoping that maybe he would listen to him. "I refuse to spell things out for you. You should know what to do by now!"
"Huh? Did I just hear a voice?" the navy-haired boy looked around ponderingly. "Oh probably just my imagination."
Richi could hear himself let out a low growl, surprising even himself. "I'm not kidding! Y'know you could at least *try* to understand how to correctly use your storm attack against me. Why do you have to be so hard-headed??"
Tyson couldn't help but to smirk. He was definitely teaching this kid a lesson. Nobody messes with his mind and gets away with it. There was only one little thing that he still hadn't figured out though: how was he going to beat Richi anyway?
"OH I GET IT!" Kenny jumped up from his seat triumphantly. "I know what Richi was trying to get at! I gotta go tell Tyson!" As he was about to burst into the stairway, a strong hand gripped his arm sternly. Kenny looked up to see Kai shaking his head. "But Kai, we're his friends. We've gotta help him."
"He has to figure this out on his own," Kai firmly declared, receiving a soft sigh from the small brunette. "He's not gonna learn if we interfere."
'I prefer the term "assist",' Kenny thought to himself, sitting down again. 'But Kai is right…I just hope that Tyson understands before it's too late.'
"You're not giving me much choice but to beat you all over again," the brunette attempted to point out, trying not to sound too daunting. Taking a deep breath, he began again in a calmer tone. "I'm asking you as a fellow blader to think about your storm attack for just one minute. This match is not helping either one of us if it's one-sided."
Tyson rolled his eyes, groaning at the same time. His mind was telling him that Richi was just trying to distract him again. "If I do, will you stop trying to mess with my head?"
Richi almost protested to that last remark about "messing with his head", but decided against it. Looking at Tyson straight in the eye, he nodded. "You have my word."
Tyson involuntarily grinned, hearing the authenticity in his voice. Examining his rival carefully, he came to see that Richi's expression, alongside his tone, had no trace of deceit. His opinion for his opponent seemed to take another 360-degree turn. "Hm…maybe he's not as bad as I think," he said quietly, realizing that perhaps he underrated Richi's character. "Well, only one way to find out. Okay, Dragoon's storm attack…Draikin's meteor raid…tornado…falling orbs of energy….wind….Draikin in the air…meteors…hurri-HEY WAIT A SECOND!" Tyson shouted out loud, quickly coming into realization. Finally dropping on him like a ton of bricks, he knew what he could do, and this time, it was no trick. "It's the phantom hurricane!" he shouted exultantly.
"Phantom hurricane?" repeated his adversary,cocking an eyebrow. "Is it safe to say that that's the name of your stronger storm attack?"
Tyson grinned, nodding his head smugly.
"Finally you get it!" Richi exclaimed, letting out a sigh of relief. "But remember," be added, getting a bit more serious, "I can't guarantee you'll win. Heh, I mean you have a better chance of beating me now, but basically, now it just comes down to who has more power. And I can promise you that I'm not planning on going easy on you anymore."
"Just what I wanted to hear," smirked Tyson, pumping a fist. "So, you want a lift?" he suddenly asked politely.
Richi almost laughed, but held it back and nodded instead. "Sure, why not." He felt reassured that he was finally able to get through the kid's thick skull. Plus now that that was over with, things would get much more interesting. Richi could finally let out the blader in him and he wasn't going to hold back.
"Alex you should come watch this," suggested Casey loudly. "It looks like both of them are ready to actually get serious."
"No thank you," came a faint, but firm voice from somewhere in the bedroom. "I'd rather not."
Jade looked in the direction of where her darker-haired friend was situated and sighed. She knew Alex wasn't too happy at the present moment. "She's still a bit mad about him leaving without telling us," she whispered to Casey. "You know how she's like. We should just give her some space."
The light-haired girl nodded, knowing exactly what Jade was referring to. Alex had, no doubt, a quick-temper and a bit of a guarded nature too. Patience wasn't exactly her finest virtue, if it could even be applied to her at all, that is, and she wasn't exactly the type to be discussing her problems openly either. Both Jade and Casey knew that it was best to let her be for now. If Alex really needed them, she'd eventually ask.
Back in the bedroom, the redhead had occupied herself listening to Casey's Michelle Branch CD, and at the moment, the current song playing was "Everywhere". It was such a nice, upbeat song; it usually calmed her down when something was bothering her. It was unfortunate that this method wasn't as effective as it usually was, not for this particular vexation at least.
'Y'know I shouldn't even care about this,' she began thinking to herself. 'Why does it matter to me that he left without saying anything? He can enter a tournament if he wants to. It's a free country, right? He doesn't have to tell us every single thing that he does. I mean everyone deserves some privacy!' Her reasoning almost brought her to that point of wanted composure, until another thought entered her mind. "But…it's only a tournament…what would be so private about that?" Sighing, she pulled a few strands of dark hair from her face and lay back down on the bed, staring at the ceiling aimlessly.
This was definitely not fun. Every time she tried to come up with a rational explanation, the other part of her mind would think of something else to counter it. It was like she was trying to drive herself mad! Any onlookers who could see her now would probably think she was overreacting, but they don't know the whole story. Who would they be to judge her?
You see, Richi and the rest of the girls were really tight, the bestest of best friends you could say. They tell each other practically everything, unless it was something extremely private. Thus, for Richi to not tell them about his competing in the tournament, something so practical and ordinary, indicated that there was some kind of unknown importance behind his actions.
This is what was getting to Alex: the secrecy. Plus it was just so out of character for him to just take off like that! And the fact that he didn't mention it AT ALL made it even worse. She just had this sinking feeling in her stomach that whatever reason he had for leaving without a word was going to be an unpleasant one.
"Oh my gosh!" suddenly exclaimed a voice of what sounded like Casey from the living room.
Immediately catching her attention, Alex's head jerked up, looking inquiringly at the gaping door. Quickly switching into a sitting position on the bed, she began debating with herself whether she should go see what the fuss was all about.
"GOOOOO RICHI!" squealed another voice, this time sounding more like Jade.
Hesitantly, the redhead pulled off the headphones and eased herself off the mattress, heading for the open door. Poking her head into the hallway, she soon saw her two friends practically glued to the TV. Casey was literally on the edge of her seat, which made Alex wonder how she didn't fall off, while Jade had made herself a pillowed niche smack down on the floor in front of the set.
Unwillingly, her curiosity finally got the best of her and she quietly began making her way through the hall. Before long, she silently stood leaning against the wall in the outskirts of the living room. Unblinkingly, she watched the actions taking place on the television in a disturbing sort of silence.
"Planning to talk anytime soon?" Casey posed a question.
Another few moments of reticence persisted before Alex finally spoke up. "What's there to say? Do you want me to start cheering or something?"
Jade managed to tear her gaze from the display to see her friend's apathetic stance. Knowing Alex all too well, she carefully stood up and walked towards her.
"Are you okay?" she asked, giving her a soft smile.
Alex, who's eyes had still yet to divert from the TV, nodded. "Fine," she replied in a flat tone.
Jade sighed, knowing that the red-head's response denoted that she still didn't want to talk about it yet. Putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder, her attention soon fell upon the ongoing match again.
"HAH! You are so going down Richi!" Tyson announced in a tone of complete confidence.
His opponent shook his head with a cocky grin. "Don't expect me to just roll over and let you win Tyson," the brunette retorted freely. "DRAIKIN!! Let's move this up a notch!!" he hollered.
The suspended gold Beyblade and corresponding meteors soon began pushing harder against the hurricane, gradually making its way through the turbulent barrier.
'Ah Damnit,' Tyson thought to himself. "DRAGOON! Don't let him get through!"
Tyson's Bit-Beast obeyed as the gale's energy level also increased, halting Draikin's progression. The two forces were equally matched and again, the battle was in a deadlock.
"Whoa! How long are these boys going for? They've been at it for quite some time now!" exclaimed Brad.
"I can't even tell B-man, but I know that the outcome of this match all depends on who has more power," added in AJ. "It's the battle of the elements!"
The crowd was roaring with exhilaration, thoroughly enjoying the game. The match had definitely heated up after Tyson finally figured things out. He realized that all he had to do to counter Draikin's meteor raid was to simply increase the power of his storm attack; thus explaining the use of the phantom hurricane. Now, it was just a battle between the two powers. Either Draikin would be able to penetrate through the squall barricade, or Dragoon's storm would finally be able to blow him out of the dish.
"Tyson, this is getting a bit old," said Richi, raising an eyebrow. "Mind if we just cut to the chase?" As if responding to his question, Draikin's golden vicinity slowly intensified, giving off an almost dangerous sort of aura.
The nary-haired teen grinned at the alluring challenge and responded with a brisk nod. "Just what I was thinking," he smirked. "Since we've got that cleared up…Dragoon! Let's finish this off!" he suddenly directed with great avidity. His Bit-Beast's aura, like Richi's, also began to intensify as the surge of growing energy could soon be felt throughout the stadium.
Kai's mahogany eyes glanced at a faint light emitting from his pocket. Swiftly pulling out Dranzer, he watched his blue Beyblade as it gave off that familiar red glow.
'You feel that, huh Dranzer?' he silently asked his Bit-Beast, receiving the continuous illumination of crimson light in response.
"Oh, is Dranzer reacting to the battle?" Kenny asked unexpectedly, noticing the radiation coming from Kai's blade.
The slate-haired teen was a bit annoyed at the sudden interruption, but kept his vexation quiet and simply nodded.
"Well duh Chief," that familiar female voice came from the young boy's laptop. "If you could actually fully feel all that energy those two are giving off right now, you'd be pretty stirred up too. This is definitely some serious business." Kenny cleared his lungs, understanding what Dizzi had said. His gaze quickly moved back to the battle, wondering who would overpower the other.
In the dish, the two Bit-Beasts were in a constant struggle against each other. It was just like a game of tug of war, and neither of them was planning on loosening their hold on the rope anytime soon. Also in that childhood game, if one boy pulled harder, then his rival would simply tighten his grip and increase his pull as well. That is exactly what Dragoon and Draikin were doing. As the hurricane's energy increased, so did the push of the meteors and vice versa.
Now, what happens when two people pull hard enough? A thin rope can easily snap and both contenders go hurdling backwards. Nobody actually wins. But in this case, if the 'rope' does snap, the rules change a little and whoever is left standing would be declared the victor.
"Don't give up Dragoon!"
"Keep going Draikin!"
The two boys fervidly encouraged their Bit-Beasts to go on, pushing the battle to the max. Onlookers watched in awe, unsure of whom the victor would be. Both players were equally determined to win.
All of the sudden, the rope snapped! The disputing energies finally went over their limit resulting in a large flare that could easily be misinterpreted as a super nova. The competing boys instinctively raised their arms to shield themselves, but still managed to hold their ground, while the audience, also quite shaken, immediately grabbed something or someone for some stability. That final blast clearly signified the end of the match. Everyone waited in anxiety for the veil to lift, wondering who was the last one standing.
Man, what a wicked match! Things definitely heated up there...but I gotta know, who in the world won? Tune in next time for the next chapter of Star Horizons!