Phoenix Bloodrose: Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you with the moon thing. When I do a revision of the story I'll take it out. I promise. I'm sorry. ^-^ And yes, I know that there's only a fire phoenix; I just like to play around with mythology. And I take no offense, thanks for giving me your opinion. ^-^



Derek smirked at Annex. The Phoenix tribe sure wasn't looking good. After Cent's humiliating loss, and Annex's bad aim, people were quickly losing respect for the team.

Annex sighed. Even if they won this round, either Kai or Meil would have to pull another win. Nonetheless, she still had to win or they would be knocked out. She glanced at her blade. She had missed Derek by millimeters.

"Illuser, stay put." She instructed, before looking up at Derek. "I guess we don't have what it takes. Maybe I was wrong to think I could lead this team to a victory."

The boy smirked. "Damn right. I'll even be nice, and finish you off fast."

Annex nodded. "Illuser, just go with it." she turned around to look at her team, and gave them a helpless shrug. Meil was busy having a heart attack, screaming at her, but everyone else was calm. Disappointed, but calm. Breaking eye contact with them, she glanced at Kai, giving him a quick wink before focusing back on the dish.

Kai straightened up on the bench. Annex was up to something. He could tell by the way she looked at her team. He smiled slightly, knowing that the match was already over.

"Derek, just end this, ok?" Annex said, giving a heavy sigh.

Her opponent smiled as his blade shot forward, hitting Illuser head on. The silver blade fell back a few inches, but stayed in the dish. "Oh well," Derek laughed, "I guess this will take longer than I thought!"

Annex smiled at looked at his blade. As the boy prepared for another attack, Annex could see a faint glimmer on his blade. It was heard to notice, unless you knew what to look for. "Go ahead," she coaxed. "End this."

"I will!" the red blade started to move forward to attack, but only got a few inches before the blade glimmered again, this time more brightly and noticeably. "What?"

Annex smirked. It was too late to stop the attack, and too late for Derek. Seconds before the blade hit Illuser, it started to wobble.

Derek took a step back. "Hey, what the hell!?" he stared in shock as several long silver lines appeared on the blade, crisscrossing it. The lines became more noticeable, before beginning to widen, then without warning, the lines opened up, becoming fissures, and the blade fell into pieces on the dish floor.

Annex smiled and closed her eyes. She was satisfied with the way the battle had gone.

From their seats, the Bladebreakers stared in shock. Tyson and max were leaning over the railing, their mouth's hanging open. "Wha…what? When did she attack?"

Kenny sat back in his seat and groaned. "I should have known, Kai wouldn't have joined them if they were a bunch of losers."

Annex strode back to the bench with a self-satisfied grin on her face. She sat down beside Kai and just smiled at nothing. The rest of the team was quiet, listening to the confused voices of the tournament announcers, who were awarding the win to the Tribe.

Finally, curiosity got the better of Meil. "Ok, I give up. When did you attack?"

Annex smiled. "The first attack."

"You didn't hit him."

Kai spoke up in her place. "She didn't need to. I'm going next." He stood up, not waiting for Annex to give him the ok. As he walked to the dish, Annex called after him.

"Yeah, you have my permission to go next, Kai." She said sarcastically. "Hn. Humans these days." She added under her breath.

"Looks like we may have a new team captain soon." Ran said jokingly, sitting next to Annex.

"Shut up." she mumbled, crossing her arms and moping.

Kai gave his opponent a smirk. The other boy, Alan, wasn't looking to confident right then. His team had been getting cocky after the first round, but after Annex's win, they weren't so sure that they would be able to breeze through.

Kai scanned the crowds, looking for Rei. The boy had promised to come, and Kai believed he would, he just wanted to see him. He searched the crowd, finally catching sight of him. He smiled slightly, a real smile, then looked back at the dish.

'After I win this, the next battle I'll fight will be against the Bladebreakers.' He thought. As the thoughts ran through his mind, the smile disappeared from his face. 'If we fight them, I'll have to battle Rei. I won't let anyone else on the team battle him. But if I win…'

The slate haired boy shook his head trying to rid himself of the thoughts. He couldn't think of this now. He needed to focus on the battle, on what was going on her and now. The conflict had been brewing in him for days, but now it was time to stuff it down, forget about it.

From back on the bench, Annex could see Kai hesitate with indecision. The battle hadn't even stared yet, and she was having doubts. "Hey Kai."

Kai turned at the sound of her voice, responding, but not really caring to hear what she had to say.

"Listen. I know there's a lot of stuff going on right now for you, but this battle has nothing to do with Rei." She blinked her gray eyes hard at him. "These are two totally different matters."

Slowly, Kai realized what she was trying to say. Annex was thinking that Kai would throw the match just so he wouldn't have to deal with facing Rei in battle. He scowled. 'I'm not that weak.'

Ran glanced at her, slightly confused with her pep talk. "What was that about? Rei is Kai's boyfriend right?"

"Uh huh." She replied. "And he's with the Bladebreakers, too."

Ran shook his head. "What irony."

"Uh huh."

Kai narrowed his eyes at Alan. Annex's little talk had gotten under his skin. He wasn't so weak that he would throw this match. He growled under his breath as he prepared for battle.

"3…2…1…let it rip!"

Kai launched Dranzer into the dish with uncharacteristic rage. He was used to hiding his emotions, but the girl had really struck a nerve. "I'll show her." He muttered. "Get him Dranzer!"

Ran gasped and Annex's eyes got wide ads they watched Dranzer slam into his opponent, throwing him from the dish, mere seconds after the battle started.

Ran stared with mouth hanging open. "That was…really fast." Annex nodded.

"Yeah…"

Kai walked back to the bench, scowling at Annex. When she saw him coming she looked away. He stood in front of her, waiting for her to apologize. For a few seconds, all was quiet, until the girl gave in.

"I guess I underestimated you." She mumbled. "So…I'm sorry. I guess."

Kai nodded, "Apology accepted." He said, before leaving the stadium.

Ran watched him leave before looking at Annex. "You alright, Koi?"

The red haired girl's head was turned away, so Ran couldn't she the smirk that graced her face.


* * *


Kai walked along the hallways of the stadium, heading toward the exit. He was still fuming from what Annex said. He could believe that anyone thought that Rei was a weakness for him.

He was so lost in his thoughts; he hardly noticed his name being called.

"Kai!"

He looked up, spotting Rei leaning against a wall, waiting for him. As the older boy walked over, Rei smiled at him. "Congratulations." He said.

Kai smiled back. Rei wasn't his weakness, he was his only strength.




We're almost at the moment everyone has been waiting for, Kai vs. Rei in the finals. And yes, they will face off against each other. Hehe!