Chapter Ten: Secrets Exposed (thoughts in ~)
A blustery, dark wind raced through the dusky air, filtering through bare- branched trees, whispering thoughts and notions to anyone who would listen. Giving the occasional howl of misery, the fierce cold searing besides it, the wind whirred around in hysteria, rustling what it could find and chapping the weary walker's face in its bitter wrath. Upon reaching a large, browning building the wind split, escaped around the front of the building, and rushed to meet up at the back with its partner before moving on.
The building was rotting. It stood, isolated, on a small, snowy mount about a mile off the main road. Derelict for years now, it had lain quietly, veiled in a shadowy darkness, only memorial ghosts haunting its large inner expanse, creaking through its shattered windows and seeping through splintered doors. Inside was lavishly adorned with a silver layer of dust. Piles of idle wood and debris lay heaped in stacks and wrapped with bundles of rope, abandoned. One huge pile actually hung on a cord from the ceiling, almost ready for use yet forsaken just before its final moments. Now life lingered for this pile of wood, rotting away slowly, originally intended for use as firewood in industry. The window frames were also made of oaken wood, slowly decaying in the dull passage of time. Here and there were chunks of discarded machinery, once glittering and magnificent in electronic splendor - now rusted with the tasteless water vapour in the air. The floor, no longer polished to highlighted perfection, was beginning to splinter and perish, and a lifeless green paint was slowly starting to peel in great portions from the crumbling walls. A musky, unpleasant smell loitered in the putrid air. No light reached into the corners of this lonely rest. All was dark and still, and the aging structural walls of the building whined and creaked in the awful beatings they received from the manic wind outside.
Tyson stood outside the entrance of the warehouse, his coat rustling and blowing behind him. He stared up at the ominous building, trying to decipher what was happening. No matter how he tried, Tyson had not the intellect nor awareness to realize what was happening. None of the Blade- Breakers did. It was a seemingly thoughtless operation, and it annoyed Tyson that he couldn't predict the next move of the enemy - whoever the enemy was.
Movement from behind him told Tyson that he was not alone. A quick turn of the head assured him that Rei and Kai stood behind him, both staring as he did at the derelict ruin before them. None of them knew what to make of their situation.
"Well," said Rei through gritted teeth, shivering so hard that his back began to ache unpleasantly, the wind blowing his dark bangs about his face, "do we go inside?"
Tyson did not answer for a moment, and remained motionless, his eyes still glued to the building. Then his courage stirred.
"Yeah. We do."
Rei still looked unconvinced. Doubts filled his mind as he shielded his eyes, the chill making them water a little. "Do you really think that our Bit-Beasts are in there?"
"Only one way to find out," said Kai resolutely. Yet neither Rei nor Tyson moved. They seemed to be fixated on the appearance of the building. His position as leader of his team gave him strength and he took the first step forward.
"Come on guys. This side of Christmas."
Tension still lingered between them, the vile memories of previous arguments reemerging. Resolutely, these thoughts were pushed aside for the greater good, and the three boys stepped forward as a team, once more the Blade-Breakers.
Tyson was first through the door, and he immediately wrinkled his nose at the decaying, dusty smell that wafted to his nostrils. The others did the same, faced by some unknown unpleasantry. The warehouse was one large room, great in size, dark in stature. Tyson, though he could not see, could sense the expanse around him, and looked about, not acknowledging the fact that he couldn't see anything.
"This is the place, right?" he asked tentatively, sensing Rei to his left. Rei nodded through the darkness.
"I think so. If it weren't so dark, I'd check the note."
"Oh yeah, don't give me the note. I might hog it."
Irked that Tyson could not let it go, Rei shook his head in annoyance. Meanwhile, Kai had moved around to the right and was feeling his way around, his intense training from when he was younger giving him an edge over the others in the dark. As their sights began to adjust and they made out hulking shapes and strange figures, he was already moving around with a clear view of the warehouse and their surroundings. He had been trained for this.
His keen eyes spotted a metal, rusted light switch. He made over towards it, his feet feeling for splinters and loose boards, the tickle of dust beginning to creep up his nose. He reached the switch and turned it on swiftly. There was a deep hum from the aged lights above, then a dim flicker, and then finally they came on, overthrowing the darkness that had reigned for so long and chasing it away. The three boys squinted as the lights flooded on. When the painful glare began to subside they could see all around them clearly; could see what the warehouse contained.
In the centre of the warehouse floor, about ten feet away from where Kai was standing, was a huge, circular dome, made of transparent plastic and positioned in a hollowed out space in the floor. It was a Beyblading dish; it shone in the bright, lustrous glimmer from above. Rei stared, his eyes wide in wonder. Placed on one side of the circular dish (the side furthest away from the Blade-Breakers) were three Beyblades. Two greys and one blue - they too shone as though alight in the vivid flame of illumination.
The rest of the warehouse could also be plainly seen too. Here and there were large, flimsy looking crates, covered with dust, some so decayed that their insides were starting to spill out. Long shadows crept away from them along the cracked floor.
Tyson stared in amazement as his eyes sought out Dragoon lying amongst the arranged Beyblades. The other two were no doubt Driger and Dranzer. He felt a surge of happiness and leaped forward, overjoyed, not bothering to wonder how they had gotten here, too careless to look for any trick.
He halted at a warning cry from the ever-cautious Rei.
"Wait, Tyson. It's all a little too easy. It could be a trick."
Tyson turned, his eyes dripping with skepticism, and spoke with a sarcastic tone.
"Scared, Rei-sy poo? I'll get your Driger for you. What makes you think that this could be a trick?"
"The fact that we aren't alone," said Kai quietly, his eyes drawn forward past the dish to the figure standing behind it, which had just crept up on them in a strange, unnatural silence. Tyson and Rei turned, startled, and stared at the figure, now plainly visible in the light.
"G . . . Giorgio? You called us here?"
Giorgio, standing still and tall, gave them a wonky, rather sadistic smile, and the lights went off again. Only a small spotlight remained on Giorgio, and he stood there, a broken Beyblade in his hand, a smart black suit as his attire, and an evil grin worn on his face.
"Welcome to the show!"
Rei clenched a fist in confusion. "What's going on? Giorgio, did you take our blades?"
Giorgio chuckled, a manic sound that echoed through the building and it seemed to laugh back in response, the walls creaking again. The laughter continued for a while, filling the three wary boys with unease, and eventually it stopped. Giorgio smiled at them.
"The show must go on, boys."
Another spotlight appeared on the Beyblade dish, the three prized Beyblades gone now. Out of the shadows came a second figure, tall, silhouetted against the backdrop of the shadow, until it walked into Giorgio's shared spotlight.
"Rio?" cried Tyson in astonishment. Rio, now looking depressingly like Giorgio, smirked. A strand of dark hair flicked into her face and she pushed it away with a slender finger, the nail painted deep, sexy rouge and glistening in the spotlight.
"Hello again, boys. Surprised to see me?"
Kai glanced from one to the other, his mind ticking away. "You two run some sort of father daughter business? She is your daughter, right?"
Giorgio raised an eyebrow in sarcastic wonder. "Well, aren't we a bright one? Yes, Kai, you're right, in a way. My daughter and I run a little business - but we're not the only ones. Look up at the lights and you'll see our third member."
The Blade-Breakers instinctively looked up. There, perched on a creaky looking roof rafter, crouching next to a damaged spotlight yet elucidated by the glare of the others, was Bill. Bill from the airport.
"You?" cried Rei, "I'd almost forgotten about you!"
Bill chuckled his eerie chuckle, and it sent a shiver up each of the Blade - Breakers spines. Tyson wrinkled his face.
"I can't believe this. You guys run a shadowy business together?"
Bill nodded, and the lights went out again, the glare of the spotlights glowing even a second after they were turned off, circles fading in towards the middle and flashing in different patterns. The Blade- Breakers stood stock-still, waiting and clueless. They heard a hissing noise and then the real lights flooded the room again, making them squint and shield their eyes from the clawing, insistent brightness. When their vision returned, Bill was standing next to Rio and Giorgio. It appeared he had leapt down. Tyson gasped.
"Oh my gosh! How'd he do that?"
"It's not as hard as you'd think," said Rei with a wry glance at Tyson. Kai nodded. "Yeah, especially when you can see the rope the guy climbed down over there."
He nodded to where a rope had obviously slipped from its rest behind a molding crate. Rei grinned.
"Impressive . . . not."
Bill coughed and blushed, and Tyson gave his head a little toss. Their enemy's incompetence amused him.
"This is pathetic. You could have put up a better show, Giorgio. Honestly," his tone changed to a sarcastic, dry one, "you've got me so scared, Giorgio, that I'm shakin' in my frickin' boots!"
Tyson mimicked fright and pranced around, play-acting. Visibly, Giorgio's face grew redder as he became more and more angry. The wind howled wildly outside, rattling the windows. Eventually, when he could take no more of Tyson's antics, he exploded as a volcano does, rage spilling out of him as the steady flow of lava drips down the shattered mountainside, demolishing all in its path. He pointed a shaking finger at Tyson.
"That's it. Shut up! I was gonna take it easy on you - but not any more, you little punk! We are going to steal every Beyblade in the world! We've been planning it for years. We wouldn't have had to do this if your little team of no-talent upstarts didn't come along and threaten our plan. You have to be eliminated."
"So it was you who rigged the lake with the explosive," Kai nodded as he thought, "It was you who attacked our room. And Bill - I gather you placed that photograph to get our backs up, right?"
Giorgio answered for Bill, looking remotely impressed. "You got it. Took you stupid kids long enough. And now you'll pay!"
Tyson stopped dancing and turned, halted swiftly by the fury in Giorgio's heated voice, booming and resounding through the wide, spacious chamber. His heart began to pound.
"You will fight us," continued Giorgio, now directing his question to all three Blade-Breakers, "for your Beyblades. You must fight. If you win, you get them back. If you lose, you and the Beyblades belong to us, to do with what we wish."
"One problem, genius," commented Rei, his hands on his hips and an almost amused expression across his features, "You have our Beyblades. You stole 'em, remember?"
Rio stepped forward, curving her own hips as she did so. Out of the whole group, she seemed to be the most professional.
"You will use these blades."
Tyson, surprised by the amount she could hold in her dainty hands, caught the blade that Rio tossed him. It was wooden, splintering and ancient. The weighty attack ring, far too heavy for any impressive attack, would slow it down and it would be as useful to Tyson as a daisy. Just heavier.
"This is a joke!" said Rei, staring at the similarly pathetic Beyblade he held. "How are we supposed to battle with these?"
Giorgio chuckled, and brought out a state of the art Beyblade, black and yellow with a Bit-Beast in the middle. "You are the Blade-Breakers, are you not? Deal with it."
The three looked at each other, brows furrowed, confused, angry, and incredulous. They each held the most terrible Beyblade they had ever seen.
"Well," said Kai resolutely, looking at his hand with distaste, "It's the only chance we've got. Let's do this."
"He's right!" added Rei with bubbly confidence returning to his voice again, "We're the Blade-Breakers!"
"And we're here to Beyblade!" finished Tyson, making sure his gloves were on tight. Each took out their launchers. It felt strange, incorrect, to launch a wooden Beyblade from a launcher designed to spin a plastic blade, and Tyson almost lost his confidence. Then, he looked up and saw Kai and Rei standing at the edge of the dish, arms stretched out, ready to attack, and his spirits returned once more. He smiled with cheerful determination.
"Get ready, Giorgio, because you're going down."
Giorgio smirked, sarcasm dripping from his expression. "Whatever. Oh, and one more thing . . . "
He lifted his launcher into the air and attached his high-tech Beyblade. Then he looked directly at Kai.
"You are fighting for more than just your Bit-Beast, young Kai."
Kai frowned in confusion as he tightened his grip on his dark blue launcher. "What d'you mean?"
Giorgio signaled with his head towards a high ledge some way behind himself. This one ledge was surrounded with crates and such, and was still dark; especially as the light above it was broken. A spotlight fell onto it. Bill could obviously control the lighting from the floor.
The light fell glimmering onto a translucent, bell shaped object standing on the ledge. It shimmered like a frosty windowpane in the glare of the vivid light, and flashed a little as the spotlight moved into focus. In the brilliant path of the light, small, dusty clouds could be seen flitting in the warehouse atmosphere, rising and falling like the tide in a sea of radiance. The inside of the glass bell was about one meter in diameter, and two meters in height. At the top was a thick tube, for the moment sealed, leading off into a mysterious hole in the ceiling. And standing in the center of the jar, hands pressed against the cruel barrier, was Janine.
Kai gasped in surprise. "What . . . Giorgio? Let her go!"
Giorgio laughed again, mocking Kai in his sinister tones. "Let her go, let her go! Yeah right. You're fighting for her, kid. 'Cause look what's gonna be happening while we Beybattle."
He nodded upwards again, and Kai, his heart having leapt into his throat and lodged itself there, pounding resiliently at his chest, followed his gaze till he was staring up at the jar. A gush of water, as if sprayed out by the rushing tide, ejected from the tube and began to thrash into the bottom of the jar, soaking Janine in the process. Her sky blue work uniform clung to her slim body as the water swept over her, causing her hair to cling to her frightened face. The glass was thick and soundproof, and Kai could not hear her scream, but he could see terror in the wideness of her eyes. She backed against the glass, the murky waters sloshing around her feet menacingly, and turned back to Kai. Their eyes met, hers pleading and panicky. She placed a hand on the glass.
Kai swung around to Giorgio. "You freak. Let her go. This is just a game."
"No, boy, the game has just begun. That jar will be full in about three minutes time. You'd better hurry."
Kai grit his teeth and looked at Rei and Tyson, who were watching on in a mixture of astonishment and horror. They realized what he was asking of them and nodded.
"Don't worry, Kai," said Tyson, "We'll win this battle in no time!"
"That's right!" agreed Rei with a nod of his head, his black bangs flopping over his red bandanna, and ignoring the disappointing sense that he had been wrong after all, "We'll get her out."
With a half smile, Kai turned back to the dish. Giorgio, now joined by Rio and Bill, launched. The Blade-Breakers, on Tyson's command, launched in perfect synchronization, their blades spinning around the edge of the dish. Rei frowned as he noticed glinting sparks showering from his blade. He snorted.
"Some Beyblade you gave me, Giorgio. Thanks a bunch."
Giorgio laughed manically, clutching at his ribs as he chuckled, his eyes flashing dangerously. Next to him, Rio, perhaps the most perilous of the three, stood with one hand on her hip, her other hand in front of her face as she examined her nails with a bored expression on her face. She did not seem to be interested in the match whatsoever. Kai, the corner of his eye constantly turned to Janine in her slowly filling prison, saw his opportunity. For his part, he wanted to finish the match quickly and get up there to help Janine. His Beyblade, as piteous and decayed as it was, responded to his command and shot forward into Rio's blade. Sparks arose as the blades spun against each other. When Rio's Bit-Beast, Veloceraptrion, emerged with a roar from the lavender blade, the dish was filled with an immense lilac light. Kai stared at the magnificent creature before him.
Veloceraptrion, jaws pulled back in a cruel, threatening snarl, two massive claws glinting on each hand and each foot, and a long whip-like tail that thrashed in annoyance, growled at him, and sniffed the air with an expression of discontent. Rio laughed.
"Attack, Veloceraptrion!"
The mighty beast plunged forward, ploughing through the dusty air with a roar. The light approached Kai, who watched, still in awe of the beast in its splendour. As it was about to launch its devastating attack on the flailing wooden Beyblade, Kai laughed.
"That reptile doesn't scare me, Rio. I've seen this before. Your dumb dino is so consumed by its attack that the defence of your blade is wide open! Sorry, but you and your lizard are finished!"
Rio gasped and her hand clamped around her mouth as she realised her mistake. She watched helplessly as Kai's Beyblade swung around to avoid the claws of the dinosaur, and then the wooden blade crashed into her own and sent it flying out of the dish with a force she hadn't reckoned upon. Her blade slammed heavily into the floor with a scratch and she was defeated.
Kai had no time to waste. He looked up and saw with horror that Janine's prison was half full with murky water. He felt his stomach lurch and it egged him on, and, his Dranzer blade completely out of mind at the moment, he caught the wooden blade as it spun out of the dish and began to make for a rickety looking staircase tucked away in the left hand corner of the warehouse. He could see her eyes, darting from side to side with fear as she pressed herself back against the wall of her confinement, helpless as the water slowly crept up. As he watched it crawled past her hips, and with new fear, he raced towards the staircase.
"Now who's left their defences open?" shrieked Rio violently as she leaped straight for Kai, her arms outstretched. She landed full on and threw him hard on the floor, and there they rolled for a moment, gripped, locked together in fierce mêlée. As Kai rolled onto his back and kicked her off with a powerful thrust of his legs, he was shocked at how much sheer power Rio possessed. She was obviously a Martial Artist, and she clung to him ferociously, scratching his arm as he tried to toss her. His old 'Training Instincts' (as he called them) kicked in and he slipped deftly to his feet with new strength, swinging Rio around and hurling her to the floor. She landed hard and rolled two or three times over before coming to a still. When she didn't get up, Kai turned back to the staircase, and was just about to run to Janine's aid when Rio attacked again, wrangling her taught arms around his neck and squeezing hard.
"Dirty . . . trick . . . "hissed Kai through gritted teeth, his air passage slowly closing under the pressure of Rio's strong arms. With a desperate look upwards, he saw the water tank, and Janine, everything below her neck submerged, staring out through the glass at his struggle but powerless to help him.
********
Tyson's blade crashed head on with Giorgio's mightier one, and more sparks flew. Tyson growled, incensed at the fact that he just couldn't find a weak spot in Giorgio's superior blade. It was marvellous - every move, turn, leap it made was performed with the highest accuracy imaginable, performed to perfection. Near to him, Rei was in difficulty. He seemed to have gotten the worst blade of the lot and it was faring very badly against Bill, who was a surprisingly good battler. Rei clenched his fists with resolve. He wasn't giving up - he was fighting for his Bit-Beast. His mind flashed back briefly to the Asian championships, having almost lost his Driger - but it stayed by him, no matter what had happened. Longing stirred in his heart for his old friend, and he rose up with a new fire, a new determination. And the Beyblade - though old and rotting, sensed this fortitude and leaped forward, spinning wildly. Bill, taken aback, watched as Rei's blade chipped his own red and white one, and almost sent it flying.
"Not so hot now, eh Bill?" said Rei with a triumphant grin. Bill snarled, his gnarled face twisting further into itself.
"It isn't over yet, Rei!" he said, his tone as though he had discovered something lying dead in the road. Rei smiled even further, his eyes glinting, victory in sight.
"Oh really?" he cried, his Beyblade hurtling forwards again, "This one's for Driger!"
The blade thrust into the enemy, shattering the defence ring as if it were tearing apart a piece of paper, scattering iridescent pieces of metal through the air. One final spark flew off into a pile of nearby debris, and the broken blade landed outside the dish and stopped spinning.
Bill gasped. "No . . . you beat me!"
Rei picked up the wooden blade. "This wasn't so bad after all - but I still want my Driger back. So hand it over!"
********
"Come on, you cruddy excuse for a Beyblade!" cried Tyson in anger as his attacks went yet again unnoticed by Giorgio's incredible blade. His arms shook in exasperation. Each attack he tried just didn't seem to work, and Tyson, World Champion Class Beyblader - possibly the best in the world - was being brought down by a no good double crossing thief. He just couldn't stand it.
"This is so dishonourable!" he yelled as his Beyblade was tossed about the dish, seaweed on a stormy ocean. Giorgio just continued to smile nastily, keeping his eyes on the Beybattle before him. Tyson decided that this was a good idea and tried to concentrate too.
A little way ahead of him he could see his old blade. Dragoon. What a friend he had been. Through the many losses and many wins that Tyson had experienced, Dragoon had always been there. Never left his side. And now, suddenly, he was taken away - against his own will, no doubt. Tyson could feel himself growing angry again, but suddenly he could feel another force, a calm voice, from deep inside the passages of his mind, cooling his fiery thoughts and giving him patience and tranquillity. Tyson could feel his Dragoon.
"You . . . never left my side!" he stuttered in amazement. The voice answered him again. It took no familiar tone or expression - Tyson wasn't even sure if it actually spoke - but it gave him peace, which was what he needed. A glance at his blade told him he had not been mistaken, for Dragoon sparkled just a little, as if confirming Tyson's wildest beliefs.
With a grin, Tyson turned back to the match. His wooden blade was being pushed back, little chips of rotting wood flicking off it now and again. Tyson, his confidence returned, pushed his blade forward with all his might. It responded heartily, and gave Giorgio's blade an impressive tackle. It stumbled and began to spin much more slowly.
"Ha!" laughed Tyson stoutly, "Get ready to lose, Giorgio!"
Giorgio gave him a sarcastic smirk. "I don't think so . . . "
With a deafening roar, a black light split the air and escaladed from Giorgio's blade. It took the form of the strangest Bit-Beast Tyson had ever seen. It was like a half dragon, half man, the upper body being that of a fiery dragon, smoke smouldering from its nostrils - and the bottom half being legs, strong, stout and muscular. Then there was a long, black tail with a point on the end that glowed red. The skin, patterned as tough leather, was also black. The eyes of the Bit-Beast too glowed, embers of a dying fire. But this beast was far from dying. Smoke billowed all around it and Tyson stared, appalled, into its face. It was demonic, fangs glinting at the corners of its wide, dragon mouth. Spikes of flashing metal ran down its sinister back and along its forearms as it stretched and growled. Tyson almost cowered when he spotted a familiar looking sign on its back, carved in glowing red ember, a symbol, similar to a treble clef but not quite the same. It was a sight to strike fear into the heart of the bravest. The beast roared, recognising its own supremacy.
Giorgio laughed at Tyson's face. "I'd like you to meet . . . Apophis."
********
When Apophis appeared, Kai felt the hold on his neck loosen a little. The muscles in his neck aching and throbbing and his vision starting to darken, he grasped Rio's arm and slung her off his shoulders, the swiftness of his attack and the sight of the evil Bit-Beast stunning her. Again, she rolled over on the floor, and Kai wasted no time. Not pausing to clear his blurry vision, he raced to the rickety stairs and began to run up them two at a time. They spiralled dizzyingly and made it even more difficult. Now he was running he could get back his breath and he gasped it in thankfully, still a little taken aback at the force of Rio. She was definitely an adversary to be feared.
As he clambered to the last step, he stopped for a second to fully catch his breath. There he looked ahead of him, about five meters away along the dark ledge, to the prison in which Janine was confined.
"No!"
Kai stared in incredulity at the bell jar, where the water had reached the top. It had stopped pumping in now, as the thing was full and cloudy with the haze of the murky liquid. One hand was slipping slowly down the glass, long, brown strands of silky hair floating lifelessly in the water that surrounded. Janine's head bobbed and her eyes had fallen shut.
Kai leaped forward, his head filled with fears he had never wanted to imagine. He sprinted the short distance along the ledge to the glass, and immediately punched the glass with his powerful arms. Yet the glass would not crack - it was tough and durable and would not break easily. Giorgio had made sure of that.
Panicking and trying to clear his head, Kai automatically slipped the wooden Beyblade into his launcher. With a determined cry he pulled on the shooter and the Beyblade flew straight into the glass at high speed. It bounced off, still not breaking the glass but a little crack appearing and slowly spreading out in the pattern of a spider's web. With a dull grin, Kai picked up the blade and launched again, and the glass almost shattered.
After one more frantic look at Janine, Kai launched again, and finally the barrier between them broke, shards scattering all over him and causing him to shield his face and body with his arms. He felt pieces of glass scratching deep but could not care less, and when the thousand pieces had fallen he leaped further to where Janine had crumpled to the ground, her face pale and her body limp.
********
"No!"
Giorgio looked up at the massive cascade of water that was boring down on them from the higher ledge. It fell as heavy rain, and, in accordance, the wind outside rushed and howled in delight. Little flecks of glass also fell with it, carried in the swift current.
Giorgio yelled out in fear, not only for himself, but also for Apophis. It was a fire demon - it could not stand water, just as any fire- type Bit-Beast fell easy prey to water types. So he swiftly called his Bit- Beast back, attempting to hide it in the Bit before it could be destroyed. Tyson watched in awe as the water, catching the light as it fell, flashed and glimmered beautifully. He was even more amazed when the falls of fluid, swift in their retribution, began to douse the evil fires of Apophis. It screamed as its fires smouldered, and Tyson could hear the frenzied wails of Giorgio and Bill as their treasure was washed away in the swift vengeance of the water. The light of Apophis grew brighter and then faded, slowly becoming dimmer and dimmer till the beast, once mighty and untouchable, finally succumbed and disappeared with a shriek. There was a silence, and Tyson glanced over at Rei, who was picking up his Driger blade from where it had been washed away. Dragoon was not far away from Tyson, and he leaped towards it and scooped it up lovingly. With a smile, he turned to Rei.
"Well, I guess we won!"
Rei grinned back at him, clutching tightly to his Driger blade, and then, his ears pricking, he turned, an expression of terror on his face.
"Oh no!"
Tyson followed Rei's gaze nervously, his head racing. He found himself looking at a small pile of debris, unharmed by the torrent of water, and he noticed with a sinking heart that it was beginning to smoke. Either some sparks from the Beast or some sparks from the actual Beybattle had lodged itself in between two dry, sharp pieces of rotting timber and the pile had lit up. Before Tyson's eyes the flame, so small at first, budded into a red and orange blossom, thriving on the life supply of timber it required. It flickered, and then began to spread across the whole piece of debris, till the whole thing was one giant fiery pile of smoke and heat.
"The floor's wooden, Tyson! We have to stop it!" cried Rei, darting forward without haste. Tyson shook his head in fear.
"Too late, Rei. It's already there."
********
A flash of light from below told him that events were still taking place, and with a desperate shake Kai tried to wake Janine. She was cold. Blue shadows had crept around the edges of her lips. But after two or three rougher shakes, her eyelids fluttered and she opened her eyes with a little sigh, and a flood of colour rushed back into her cold face.
Dizzy with utter relief, Kai sat Janine up as she coughed a little. When she was done, he spoke.
"We need to get down. Lean on me."
Gently, he slipped underneath her soaking shoulder, wincing when he felt how cold she was, pitying when he felt her shivering. Runlets of water channeled off her face, off her hair, her body sopping, and a little trail trickled down his back, a finger lightly tracing the undulations of his spine. He shivered himself. Then he stood, tightly pulling one of her arms around his neck and also holding her by the waist. He felt her test the support in her legs, which she found were a little shaky but she could put a small amount of pressure on them. With a resolved look she smiled at Kai, who nodded back. They started, with a little bit of difficulty, to make their way down the stairs, finding the narrow twists and curves something of a problem. Kai found he had to support her more and more as he got further and further down, her knees buckling beneath her as she reached the bottom.
"I'm alright, I can support myself! Go . . . get your blade! Hurry!" she said shakily, leaning on the rickety, rotting wooden banister. Kai's thoughts and worries were fixated on the other side of the warehouse, where even the darkest, dankest corners were lit with the flames of hell.
********
Rei stared, mesmerized, by the awesome flames licking the dark, evil air around them. They danced before him savagely, their wreathes and in curves in time to the howl and drum of the wind, picking up viciously. Tiny flecks of ember glittered as it traveled through the thickening air and Rei followed them with his eyes, engrossed. They flickered and glimmered as they floated, and the flashes they gave off were reflected in Rei's amber eyes.
He started when Tyson grabbed his shoulder. Dragging his eyes reluctantly from the firework-like-patterns that danced and swerved his eyes onto Tyson's face, which was frantic and anxious.
"Come on, Rei, we've gotta move!"
He pulled on Rei's shoulder and Rei snapped back to his senses, a great mist clearing from before his eyes. Fear animated his gut and he moved swiftly, his skill coming into his own as he sought out with his now sharp eyes the safest path out. The fire had grown, had spread along the right hand side of the warehouse, and burned vividly, billows of smoke emerging and little ashes flicking out from the crackles within. The black smoke, wavering on the air, was beginning to descend and lodge in their throats. Swallowing, and trying to ignore the bitter taste of ash in his mouth, Rei's sharp pupils contracted when he saw the safe path he searched for, as a tiger's does when it finally spots its prey. Now it was only a matter of time till they could escape.
"Where's Kai?" yelled Rei over the incessant roar of the fire. Smoke clogged and he coughed hastily, still keeping his eyes on Tyson. Tyson shrugged.
"He must have gone to find Janine."
"I'm right here, Tyson."
Rei and Tyson swung from facing the fire to face Kai. He stood still, trying to take in the situation. Then, he noticed the Beyblades clutched tightly in their hands, and remembered the pang he felt for his own. With a smile, he thought that he would be holding his own blade in any second now.
"Guys, where'd' you get your blades from?"
Tyson frowned in thought, and then answered as though the lines were rehearsed.
"We picked them up. The water flooded them away."
Kai turned and looked back at the area where the slivers of water still glistened on the floor, reflecting the glow of the fire. He scoured the floor with his eyes, but no sign of what he was searching for appeared. His eyebrows furrowing a little, he looked harder, speaking as he did so.
"Did you see it? Did you see my blade?"
Rei shook his head worriedly. "No, I . . . I was only concentrating on my Driger. It must be there somewhere! Don't panic!"
Heedless, Kai stepped forward and walked slowly over to the Beyblade dish, scanning the floor and squinting through the smoke that clouded before him. Tyson, wondering where Janine was, looked over to the stairs and started.
"Rei! Look!"
Rei glanced over to the stairs, nodded, and then did a double take. On the bottom stair stood Janine, who stared at them with fearful eyes. A large, pale hand was clamped tightly across her mouth; a strong, ivory hand gripping hard. Tyson briefly recognized the stain of Giorgio fleeting behind her and then she was dragged off up the stairs, too weak from her prior encounter to struggle.
"Kai!" yelled Tyson as he sprinted forward, "Hurry!"
At Tyson's frantic yell, Kai swung around from his search and saw Rei and Tyson springing towards the stairs. Looking up he saw the ephemeral trace of Janine, and their eyes met. Something deep stirred in his heart, and he too sprang forward on the wings of fear.
"Get up there Tyson!" he cried, knowing he was too far away to help yet. Eager to assist and wrath emerging from his gut, Tyson nodded and took a leap onto the first stair. Giorgio had dragged Janine to the top of the stairs, and was making his way to where the glass confinement had been. Once he was there, Tyson, followed closely by a glowering Rei, was halfway up the stairs. The flames licked the night even higher and smoke billowed around them. Janine coughed into Giorgio's hand, which remained securely fastened to her face.
Giorgio let escape a gleeful, terrible laugh, which echoed through the flames and fire and chilled the boys despite the intense heat they were under. Kai reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Don't bother, boys!" Giorgio yelled with fervor in his voice, a kind of hideous passion rising from his throat, "She doesn't need saving yet. And Kai, I have your Beyblade."
He held up, with his free hand, the small blue and red blade, the hints of green on the edges glimmering in the light of the fire. Kai, at the bottom of the steps and feeling highly insignificant, growled with distaste.
"So," continued Giorgio, a patronizing, mocking tone in his words, "You were fighting not only for your blade, but for Janine here too. You did a great job, Kai. All of you did! Bravo!"
He laughed again, that terrible, mocking laughter that split the crackles of the fire, making them seem distant and inappropriate. Rei looked down at Kai, confused. Tyson scratched his head a little. Kai just stared up at Giorgio, keeping his eyes on Janine.
"What d'you mean?"
Giorgio sobered a bit, as though he were on some sort of high that he struggled to come down from. He blinked his eyes hard, brushing away tears of humor, and spoke again, this time softer.
"Never mind, boys. I would have been fooled too. She's a great actress, don't you think?"
He unclasped his hand from Janine's petite mouth and she gasped and tried to move forwards. But Giorgio's hand held her back and she stumbled. Giorgio laughed again, relishing in his complete control and power.
"I don't mean to disappoint you, Kai," he grinned nastily, his eyes glinting with menace and his words dripping with vile sarcasm, "but Janine is on our side. She has been all along! And she took you along for the ride!"
********
Silence, as cruel as the hush of a morgue, crept among them, broken only by the malevolent cackle of the fire ripping apart a piece of lumber, sending it to its untimely demise with a swell and fall of flame. The heat traveled easily through the soundless air, rested for a moment, and was carried upwards in the convection current and gathered at the ceiling, soon to make its descent. The mute dragged on, stretching unmercifully until it was interrupted by the sound of weak knees hitting the floor with a broken thud. Janine struggled free of Giorgio, still gloating in his victory, and leaned over the rail of her ledge to the hopeless boy below her. Tears that fell unnoticed from her eyes dropped to the floor and sizzled in the growing, uncomfortable heat beside him, but he paid no heed. For the time being his world had dropped into an unfathomable shadow, all thoughts of joy, happiness, love - gone, like the ashes on the air, and all he could see was the glow of trust being slowly put out.
********
Rei's eyes widened when he listened to Giorgio's spiteful words. It took him a moment to take them in, and he stared at Janine from his place high atop the staircase. When she broke free of Giorgio and moved forward, he watched her grimly, no emotion showing in his features. The bleak sensation of being proved right by events pressed on his mind, but he said nothing. For now his thoughts were with his teammate, brought to his knees by that one, powerful betrayal, who was suffering a torture that none of them could comprehend.
However Rei could understand that Janine was an enemy, for all her tears and falsities. Anger, retribution, wrenched in his stomach and he stepped forward past the stiff Tyson onto the top step.
"How could you, Janine?" he asked quietly, finally breaking the silence with a voice as cold and toneless as hardened lava on the mountaintop. She looked at him, her face pleading, but Rei was untouchable now. She wiped a quaking hand across her face.
"No, Rei . . . you don't understand . . . "
"I understand enough," he said briskly, sharply, curtly enough to stun her into silence. "You disgust me."
Tyson spoke up too. "I thought you were on our side, Janine!" he said, his mind whirring with events that he could not quite fit into place. Giorgio laughed again.
"Like I said, Tyson, she is a very good actress, aren't you Janine?" he smirked, folding his arms and tilting his head theatrically. Janine made no response and Giorgio, that all consuming sense of power and domination filling his head and urging him on, spoke again.
"You're a good girl, aren't you Janine? She played you for fools, boys. Yes, she works at the hotel. But she doesn't usually get involved so much with the customers. I know you must hate her, boys - but you must give credit where credit's due!"
Janine looked at him with hatred in her eyes. Tyson spoke, still incredulous.
"Did you steal our blades, too, Janine?"
Janine shook her head passionately. "No. But . . . my job was to distract you in the Jacuzzi while Giorgio took the safe . . . but I didn't mean to hurt you! I swear! I . . . I didn't . . . "
She looked down at Kai again, who hadn't moved. His head was bowed to the floor and she couldn't see his face. She didn't want to. Imagining it was hurtful enough.
"I . . . don't . . . " she stuttered, her voice shaking uncontrollably with the tears that rolled. Giorgio made his way to the rail and looked down in a condescending, intimidating manner.
"Well, Kai, it looks like you've lost more than just your Bit-Beast."
Down below, ashes flying past his face and catching in the slowly drying tears on his cheeks, Kai winced at that last remark. He didn't remember ever feeling so much pain before. His body, so strong and healthy, felt as though it contained no more strength, and he could not even bring himself to look up, finding no strength or heart for such a battle.
~What's the point?~ he thought, not bothering to brush away his tears or the embers that intertwined themselves in them, ~I'm such a fool~"
Tyson watched in sympathy. Then he stepped up onto the actual platform, and stared at Janine.
"Why did you do it, Janine? What's he offering you to break us up like this?"
Tyson's voice shook with rage as he spat out his words. Janine did not dare look at him in the face. She kept her eyes trained down to the figure down below her, motionless.
"I . . . he didn't offer . . . I . . . "
"Then why did you do it? Come on, spit it out!"
"Because I OWED it to him!" yelled Janine, new strength emerging from the bowls of her misery, "I owed Giorgio! He took me in - I was a street kid - he took me in and looked after me! I was just a kid! And he took care of me!"
There was another awkward silence. Then Janine turned on Giorgio angrily, her previous timidity replaced by fury.
"And you!" she yelled, pointing a shaky finger at him, "You brought me up thinking this was right! But now I see that your little game is wrong! You used me, Giorgio, like a tool! As a pawn for your little plots and plans! And I couldn't do anything about that - I had nowhere else to go! But it stops now, Giorgio! No more!"
Hot, enraged tears began to flow again, stinging her eyes as they emerged and trickled down her cheeks, torrents of spite. She turned back around again, so she was looking down at Kai. He still hadn't moved.
"Kai . . . I . . . never meant to . . . hurt you - I wouldn't . . . I . . . I'm so sorry."
She hung her head, her strength disappearing with her anger and her tears became ones of remorse, sinking slowly down the side of her face and dripping onto the floor several feet below.
********
~I hate this. It . . . it hurts, more than anything I've ever felt. Every word she says feels like it's slicing into my chest like a hot switchblade. What did I do?
Unbelievable. I trusted her, I felt I knew her. She . . . Janine . . . was a friend, more than a friend. She understood me, she knew what I was feeling, she didn't overstep her bounds or try to pass judgment . . . and it was all an act. All for the cameras, eh Janine? Good one. Hysterical.
What did she just say? I missed that. Everything's so hard to understand now. We were so close . . . I never thought she'd . . . actually become an enemy. A rival. She hid it well. Giorgio has a point. She's a good actress. She had me fooled. But, like they say, there's no fool like an old fool.
What's that? A . . . tear. Just landed next to me. She's crying. Is that for real? Is anything about her real? That sweet, caring personality; was it all just an act? When she cried, and I held her, so close that time, was it just an act? It felt . . . so . . . real. Was it honestly fake?
Does this mean it was her all that time - was it her who pushed Max? Was it her who . . . what's the use in asking that? She's fake. She doesn't want to know. It was too good to be true anyway. I should have seen this coming a mile off. What an idiot.
Why's she crying? These stupid tears falling next me are dumb. What is she crying for? She's done her job, she's done the damage - she should be gloating. What's that she just said?~
"You used me, Giorgio, like a tool! As a pawn for your little plot!"
~What? Sounds familiar. Something I've . . . oh yeah. I feel that way about my grandfather. He uses me against my will. Like a tool. I hate that, too. Is . . . is that what's happening here? Is that the case?
No, Kai, you're being too hopeful. Letting this soppy slush cloud your clear thinking. That's what Rei said. He was right. Or . . . or was he? Is she genuine now? Did she mean to do this? Did Janine mean to . . . hurt so much? Why? I . . . I don't understand - I don't understand anything anymore. I know nothing - except this stupid pain. Hurts so bad . . . I can't even look up there. Hurts. Is it hurting her too? I guess . . . I guess there's only one way to find out . . . ~
********
Janine was still staring down at Kai when he raised his head. She didn't know whether to look away or not, but some irresistible force - perhaps merely curiosity, perhaps more - held her gaze. A small tear rolled into the corner crevice of her lips and she licked it away in annoyance. Her breath ripped in rags but she didn't care. She wanted to see him.
Their eyes met. Both watery, both glistening with sorrow and disappointment. Both desperate for answers.
She stared long and hard into his dark brown irises. Usually so hard, usually emotionless - now emotion leaked out, unearthed by the tears that stained his cheeks, and filled Janine with grief. She covered her mouth with her shaking hand, and her head moved from side to side in resent, knees feeling weak with the weight of her burden. She had felt like this before - but then she had Kai to comfort her. Now whom did she have?
Before she knew it, the words were stuttering their way out of her mouth.
"Kai . . . I'm sorry!"
She closed her eyes, tears flitting off them and dissolving into the air, which was fast becoming smokier and smokier. Tyson and Rei, who had been watching on the sidelines, not quite sure what to say, continued to spectate as Janine swerved around and gave Giorgio such a shove that he reeled and fell backwards on his back into the mass of tiny shards of glass on the platform. He yelled out as the spikes pricked his back infuriatingly, and Janine saw her chance. She dashed forward, and grabbed Giorgio's wrist. Before he knew what was going on, Janine had retrieved the Dranzer from his pale, bony hand, and was running to the other end of the platform to the corresponding staircase at the other side of the warehouse - even though she was heading dangerously close to the flames of the growing fire. Rei and Tyson, after a shocked glance at each other, ran down the stairs that they were on deftly. They heard the noise of Giorgio getting up behind them and made haste as he shouted:
"Stop her! Stop them! Rio, Bill! Now!"
Slowly, tears dry and dead on his cheeks, Kai rose to his feet, one stiff, strained hand gripping the wooden banister. He watched through barely moving eyes as Janine made her descent, all the way on the other side of the warehouse. He hated her at the moment - he hated her so much - but even so his heart pounded with resilient fear that would not go away when he saw her swerve nimbly away from the magnificent, fearsome flames that conquered the dark of the terrible night. He sighed reluctantly, not understanding why he even bothered to care.
Then his attention focused onto Tyson and Rei - who were having problems of their own. They had run off the staircase to help, and Rio and Bill had immediately blocked them. Kai watched as Bill moved into a fighting stance before the surprised Tyson. Similarly, Rio raised her arms and got ready to launch a venomous attack on Rei. Both of the boys were trained in Martial Arts and could readily protect themselves, but Kai still felt a pang of worry. They were his team, after all, and he was their leader.
~How can I even be their leader anymore? They think I'm a fool - an absolute fool. I didn't even listen to them - not even when they tried to warn me! How can they ever trust me again?~
His eyes caught a momentary glance of the shadowy Giorgio, who was creeping over in the same direction as Janine. She, in the meantime, was crossing the floor at a steady pace: her drenched hair leaving trails of glistening water in the air as she ran. In her hands she still clutched Dranzer - so tightly as if it were her own. She was slowly crossing the large expansive warehouse and was making her way to where he was standing. His hand slid into his pocket and he fingered something, a round, silver ring, an unbroken bond, and breathed out heavily; pensively.
Looking back at Giorgio, Kai saw he had changed his direction. He now headed for a small section of wall, partially hidden from view by two large crates. Curious, Kai peered forward a little, wondering.
There he saw a rope, part of a pulley system, frail and aged, with tiny invasions of silvery dust slowly eating into every pore, every fiber of its being. Looking along the stretch of rope, he saw it led up to the huge mass of remains and debris of deadened wood and lumber that hung in a loosely tied bundle from the ceiling. It hung to the left of the Beydish, just off the center of the warehouse. His eyes slowly followed it back down again, it's dull glimmer reflecting the blaze of the fire nearby. It led to the crumbling wall, tied onto a white painted hook loosely, hastily, as if someone had to leave it as a half done job.
Kai felt realization flood over him, tormenting, as he saw Giorgio's hand, dotted with scratches and minor abrasions, reaching up towards the rope. Then his eyes flicked back to Janine, still running and beginning to pass into the shadow of the overhanging debris.
~What do I care? She's nothing to me now. Nobody is. No one's getting close ever again. I've learned my lesson. Grandfather was right. It's better to be alone. I am alone.~
Kai woke from his thoughts, his inner struggle, and found he was already half way across the floor, adrenaline rushing through every vein in his body, urgency like none before pressing him onwards. Something inside him whispered that loneliness was not the final answer. And so his fear, his incomprehensible, uninvited fear, drove him on, to save the enemy from impending fate.
********
"Ha!" cried Tyson as he threw Bill to the floor with a skill he did not know he possessed. Bill landed heavily on his side, and lay quiet, breathing deeply, knowing he was finished and it was easier to give up now than to face more pummeling from this kid. Tyson, a victorious grin on his face, wiped his brow with a sigh and straightened his back. Nearby, he saw Rei, grappling with the furious and relentless Rio. With a cry, Tyson leaped forward to help - but a flash of red metal to his left stopped him and he whirled around, a look of surprise on his face. He saw what he didn't believe - the contour of Kai, outlined brilliantly against the vivid backdrop of the raging inferno, darting at incredible speed across the splintering floor. Puzzled, he also caught sight of Giorgio, snickering away in a dark area of the warehouse, his hand twisting and uncoiling a piece of wiry rope from its lodge on a hook on the wall. And with the dawning of events striking a note in his mind, Tyson gasped, his body tensing, and found he was rooted to the spot.
********
Janine skidded to a halt, sensing the looming shadow around her becoming larger. Fearfully she looked up, her eyes widening in stark terror as she saw the mass boring down on her. And she too found her feet weighed like heavy boards - she couldn't move them, and she froze. Sounds around her evaporated into thin trickles in the air, the flash of the rampant flames nearby just a passing thing, and time seemed to stand still as she watched the thing grow.
********
~Why are you running? Why do you want to help her? She's nothing, remember? Nothing!~
He reached the outskirts of the shadow, still running, feeling the intense pressure of the thing above.
~Why am I running? Why should I help? Does she even deserve it? But . . . do I deserve it? I think . . . no matter what Giorgio says, I think . . . what we had . . . it was real, genuine. And that's what I think. Not what Giorgio, Tyson, even Rei thinks. Just me. This is I.
I have made my decision.~
********
Tyson watched on, his feet unmoving, as the debris fell, the rope unlinked pitilessly by the heartless Giorgio. And he watched on helpless, not realising he was crying out his friend's name until he heard the sound of his own terrified voice.
********
Fear overcame her, and she screamed silently as it flew. A wicked cackle from Giorgio. A glimmer of light from the destructive fire nearby. Boom, boom - heart thudded. Eyes closed. Wait for it . . . wait . . . wait . . . here it comes . . .
Janine, waiting for the intense weight to crush her shoulders, felt a furious shove in her side. She flew through the air, eyes still closed, and landed face down, and the world disappeared.
********
The debris came hurtling down at a rapid pace, and crashed with a colossal roar onto the ground. The warehouse shook, terrified of this new life, this new being in its depths, and a rumble came from deep within its bowls. A dreadful dust-cloud began to arise, stifling the already stifled air. It flowed and shimmered, and the fire sucked and licked, sensing more fuel, and began to move. The pile of broken wood, about a meter in height and five times as wide, lay still with the exception of a few neglected pieces of wood which could not find a secure place and fell further down the pile in their attempts to lodge themselves. When the scuffling was over, the pile was still, and the dust-cloud slowly began to fall, the rumbling from within the warehouse coming to an abrupt finale. Despite the crackle of the fire, which began to grow in frenzied hunger, the warehouse was hushed for a second.
A blustery, dark wind raced through the dusky air, filtering through bare- branched trees, whispering thoughts and notions to anyone who would listen. Giving the occasional howl of misery, the fierce cold searing besides it, the wind whirred around in hysteria, rustling what it could find and chapping the weary walker's face in its bitter wrath. Upon reaching a large, browning building the wind split, escaped around the front of the building, and rushed to meet up at the back with its partner before moving on.
The building was rotting. It stood, isolated, on a small, snowy mount about a mile off the main road. Derelict for years now, it had lain quietly, veiled in a shadowy darkness, only memorial ghosts haunting its large inner expanse, creaking through its shattered windows and seeping through splintered doors. Inside was lavishly adorned with a silver layer of dust. Piles of idle wood and debris lay heaped in stacks and wrapped with bundles of rope, abandoned. One huge pile actually hung on a cord from the ceiling, almost ready for use yet forsaken just before its final moments. Now life lingered for this pile of wood, rotting away slowly, originally intended for use as firewood in industry. The window frames were also made of oaken wood, slowly decaying in the dull passage of time. Here and there were chunks of discarded machinery, once glittering and magnificent in electronic splendor - now rusted with the tasteless water vapour in the air. The floor, no longer polished to highlighted perfection, was beginning to splinter and perish, and a lifeless green paint was slowly starting to peel in great portions from the crumbling walls. A musky, unpleasant smell loitered in the putrid air. No light reached into the corners of this lonely rest. All was dark and still, and the aging structural walls of the building whined and creaked in the awful beatings they received from the manic wind outside.
Tyson stood outside the entrance of the warehouse, his coat rustling and blowing behind him. He stared up at the ominous building, trying to decipher what was happening. No matter how he tried, Tyson had not the intellect nor awareness to realize what was happening. None of the Blade- Breakers did. It was a seemingly thoughtless operation, and it annoyed Tyson that he couldn't predict the next move of the enemy - whoever the enemy was.
Movement from behind him told Tyson that he was not alone. A quick turn of the head assured him that Rei and Kai stood behind him, both staring as he did at the derelict ruin before them. None of them knew what to make of their situation.
"Well," said Rei through gritted teeth, shivering so hard that his back began to ache unpleasantly, the wind blowing his dark bangs about his face, "do we go inside?"
Tyson did not answer for a moment, and remained motionless, his eyes still glued to the building. Then his courage stirred.
"Yeah. We do."
Rei still looked unconvinced. Doubts filled his mind as he shielded his eyes, the chill making them water a little. "Do you really think that our Bit-Beasts are in there?"
"Only one way to find out," said Kai resolutely. Yet neither Rei nor Tyson moved. They seemed to be fixated on the appearance of the building. His position as leader of his team gave him strength and he took the first step forward.
"Come on guys. This side of Christmas."
Tension still lingered between them, the vile memories of previous arguments reemerging. Resolutely, these thoughts were pushed aside for the greater good, and the three boys stepped forward as a team, once more the Blade-Breakers.
Tyson was first through the door, and he immediately wrinkled his nose at the decaying, dusty smell that wafted to his nostrils. The others did the same, faced by some unknown unpleasantry. The warehouse was one large room, great in size, dark in stature. Tyson, though he could not see, could sense the expanse around him, and looked about, not acknowledging the fact that he couldn't see anything.
"This is the place, right?" he asked tentatively, sensing Rei to his left. Rei nodded through the darkness.
"I think so. If it weren't so dark, I'd check the note."
"Oh yeah, don't give me the note. I might hog it."
Irked that Tyson could not let it go, Rei shook his head in annoyance. Meanwhile, Kai had moved around to the right and was feeling his way around, his intense training from when he was younger giving him an edge over the others in the dark. As their sights began to adjust and they made out hulking shapes and strange figures, he was already moving around with a clear view of the warehouse and their surroundings. He had been trained for this.
His keen eyes spotted a metal, rusted light switch. He made over towards it, his feet feeling for splinters and loose boards, the tickle of dust beginning to creep up his nose. He reached the switch and turned it on swiftly. There was a deep hum from the aged lights above, then a dim flicker, and then finally they came on, overthrowing the darkness that had reigned for so long and chasing it away. The three boys squinted as the lights flooded on. When the painful glare began to subside they could see all around them clearly; could see what the warehouse contained.
In the centre of the warehouse floor, about ten feet away from where Kai was standing, was a huge, circular dome, made of transparent plastic and positioned in a hollowed out space in the floor. It was a Beyblading dish; it shone in the bright, lustrous glimmer from above. Rei stared, his eyes wide in wonder. Placed on one side of the circular dish (the side furthest away from the Blade-Breakers) were three Beyblades. Two greys and one blue - they too shone as though alight in the vivid flame of illumination.
The rest of the warehouse could also be plainly seen too. Here and there were large, flimsy looking crates, covered with dust, some so decayed that their insides were starting to spill out. Long shadows crept away from them along the cracked floor.
Tyson stared in amazement as his eyes sought out Dragoon lying amongst the arranged Beyblades. The other two were no doubt Driger and Dranzer. He felt a surge of happiness and leaped forward, overjoyed, not bothering to wonder how they had gotten here, too careless to look for any trick.
He halted at a warning cry from the ever-cautious Rei.
"Wait, Tyson. It's all a little too easy. It could be a trick."
Tyson turned, his eyes dripping with skepticism, and spoke with a sarcastic tone.
"Scared, Rei-sy poo? I'll get your Driger for you. What makes you think that this could be a trick?"
"The fact that we aren't alone," said Kai quietly, his eyes drawn forward past the dish to the figure standing behind it, which had just crept up on them in a strange, unnatural silence. Tyson and Rei turned, startled, and stared at the figure, now plainly visible in the light.
"G . . . Giorgio? You called us here?"
Giorgio, standing still and tall, gave them a wonky, rather sadistic smile, and the lights went off again. Only a small spotlight remained on Giorgio, and he stood there, a broken Beyblade in his hand, a smart black suit as his attire, and an evil grin worn on his face.
"Welcome to the show!"
Rei clenched a fist in confusion. "What's going on? Giorgio, did you take our blades?"
Giorgio chuckled, a manic sound that echoed through the building and it seemed to laugh back in response, the walls creaking again. The laughter continued for a while, filling the three wary boys with unease, and eventually it stopped. Giorgio smiled at them.
"The show must go on, boys."
Another spotlight appeared on the Beyblade dish, the three prized Beyblades gone now. Out of the shadows came a second figure, tall, silhouetted against the backdrop of the shadow, until it walked into Giorgio's shared spotlight.
"Rio?" cried Tyson in astonishment. Rio, now looking depressingly like Giorgio, smirked. A strand of dark hair flicked into her face and she pushed it away with a slender finger, the nail painted deep, sexy rouge and glistening in the spotlight.
"Hello again, boys. Surprised to see me?"
Kai glanced from one to the other, his mind ticking away. "You two run some sort of father daughter business? She is your daughter, right?"
Giorgio raised an eyebrow in sarcastic wonder. "Well, aren't we a bright one? Yes, Kai, you're right, in a way. My daughter and I run a little business - but we're not the only ones. Look up at the lights and you'll see our third member."
The Blade-Breakers instinctively looked up. There, perched on a creaky looking roof rafter, crouching next to a damaged spotlight yet elucidated by the glare of the others, was Bill. Bill from the airport.
"You?" cried Rei, "I'd almost forgotten about you!"
Bill chuckled his eerie chuckle, and it sent a shiver up each of the Blade - Breakers spines. Tyson wrinkled his face.
"I can't believe this. You guys run a shadowy business together?"
Bill nodded, and the lights went out again, the glare of the spotlights glowing even a second after they were turned off, circles fading in towards the middle and flashing in different patterns. The Blade- Breakers stood stock-still, waiting and clueless. They heard a hissing noise and then the real lights flooded the room again, making them squint and shield their eyes from the clawing, insistent brightness. When their vision returned, Bill was standing next to Rio and Giorgio. It appeared he had leapt down. Tyson gasped.
"Oh my gosh! How'd he do that?"
"It's not as hard as you'd think," said Rei with a wry glance at Tyson. Kai nodded. "Yeah, especially when you can see the rope the guy climbed down over there."
He nodded to where a rope had obviously slipped from its rest behind a molding crate. Rei grinned.
"Impressive . . . not."
Bill coughed and blushed, and Tyson gave his head a little toss. Their enemy's incompetence amused him.
"This is pathetic. You could have put up a better show, Giorgio. Honestly," his tone changed to a sarcastic, dry one, "you've got me so scared, Giorgio, that I'm shakin' in my frickin' boots!"
Tyson mimicked fright and pranced around, play-acting. Visibly, Giorgio's face grew redder as he became more and more angry. The wind howled wildly outside, rattling the windows. Eventually, when he could take no more of Tyson's antics, he exploded as a volcano does, rage spilling out of him as the steady flow of lava drips down the shattered mountainside, demolishing all in its path. He pointed a shaking finger at Tyson.
"That's it. Shut up! I was gonna take it easy on you - but not any more, you little punk! We are going to steal every Beyblade in the world! We've been planning it for years. We wouldn't have had to do this if your little team of no-talent upstarts didn't come along and threaten our plan. You have to be eliminated."
"So it was you who rigged the lake with the explosive," Kai nodded as he thought, "It was you who attacked our room. And Bill - I gather you placed that photograph to get our backs up, right?"
Giorgio answered for Bill, looking remotely impressed. "You got it. Took you stupid kids long enough. And now you'll pay!"
Tyson stopped dancing and turned, halted swiftly by the fury in Giorgio's heated voice, booming and resounding through the wide, spacious chamber. His heart began to pound.
"You will fight us," continued Giorgio, now directing his question to all three Blade-Breakers, "for your Beyblades. You must fight. If you win, you get them back. If you lose, you and the Beyblades belong to us, to do with what we wish."
"One problem, genius," commented Rei, his hands on his hips and an almost amused expression across his features, "You have our Beyblades. You stole 'em, remember?"
Rio stepped forward, curving her own hips as she did so. Out of the whole group, she seemed to be the most professional.
"You will use these blades."
Tyson, surprised by the amount she could hold in her dainty hands, caught the blade that Rio tossed him. It was wooden, splintering and ancient. The weighty attack ring, far too heavy for any impressive attack, would slow it down and it would be as useful to Tyson as a daisy. Just heavier.
"This is a joke!" said Rei, staring at the similarly pathetic Beyblade he held. "How are we supposed to battle with these?"
Giorgio chuckled, and brought out a state of the art Beyblade, black and yellow with a Bit-Beast in the middle. "You are the Blade-Breakers, are you not? Deal with it."
The three looked at each other, brows furrowed, confused, angry, and incredulous. They each held the most terrible Beyblade they had ever seen.
"Well," said Kai resolutely, looking at his hand with distaste, "It's the only chance we've got. Let's do this."
"He's right!" added Rei with bubbly confidence returning to his voice again, "We're the Blade-Breakers!"
"And we're here to Beyblade!" finished Tyson, making sure his gloves were on tight. Each took out their launchers. It felt strange, incorrect, to launch a wooden Beyblade from a launcher designed to spin a plastic blade, and Tyson almost lost his confidence. Then, he looked up and saw Kai and Rei standing at the edge of the dish, arms stretched out, ready to attack, and his spirits returned once more. He smiled with cheerful determination.
"Get ready, Giorgio, because you're going down."
Giorgio smirked, sarcasm dripping from his expression. "Whatever. Oh, and one more thing . . . "
He lifted his launcher into the air and attached his high-tech Beyblade. Then he looked directly at Kai.
"You are fighting for more than just your Bit-Beast, young Kai."
Kai frowned in confusion as he tightened his grip on his dark blue launcher. "What d'you mean?"
Giorgio signaled with his head towards a high ledge some way behind himself. This one ledge was surrounded with crates and such, and was still dark; especially as the light above it was broken. A spotlight fell onto it. Bill could obviously control the lighting from the floor.
The light fell glimmering onto a translucent, bell shaped object standing on the ledge. It shimmered like a frosty windowpane in the glare of the vivid light, and flashed a little as the spotlight moved into focus. In the brilliant path of the light, small, dusty clouds could be seen flitting in the warehouse atmosphere, rising and falling like the tide in a sea of radiance. The inside of the glass bell was about one meter in diameter, and two meters in height. At the top was a thick tube, for the moment sealed, leading off into a mysterious hole in the ceiling. And standing in the center of the jar, hands pressed against the cruel barrier, was Janine.
Kai gasped in surprise. "What . . . Giorgio? Let her go!"
Giorgio laughed again, mocking Kai in his sinister tones. "Let her go, let her go! Yeah right. You're fighting for her, kid. 'Cause look what's gonna be happening while we Beybattle."
He nodded upwards again, and Kai, his heart having leapt into his throat and lodged itself there, pounding resiliently at his chest, followed his gaze till he was staring up at the jar. A gush of water, as if sprayed out by the rushing tide, ejected from the tube and began to thrash into the bottom of the jar, soaking Janine in the process. Her sky blue work uniform clung to her slim body as the water swept over her, causing her hair to cling to her frightened face. The glass was thick and soundproof, and Kai could not hear her scream, but he could see terror in the wideness of her eyes. She backed against the glass, the murky waters sloshing around her feet menacingly, and turned back to Kai. Their eyes met, hers pleading and panicky. She placed a hand on the glass.
Kai swung around to Giorgio. "You freak. Let her go. This is just a game."
"No, boy, the game has just begun. That jar will be full in about three minutes time. You'd better hurry."
Kai grit his teeth and looked at Rei and Tyson, who were watching on in a mixture of astonishment and horror. They realized what he was asking of them and nodded.
"Don't worry, Kai," said Tyson, "We'll win this battle in no time!"
"That's right!" agreed Rei with a nod of his head, his black bangs flopping over his red bandanna, and ignoring the disappointing sense that he had been wrong after all, "We'll get her out."
With a half smile, Kai turned back to the dish. Giorgio, now joined by Rio and Bill, launched. The Blade-Breakers, on Tyson's command, launched in perfect synchronization, their blades spinning around the edge of the dish. Rei frowned as he noticed glinting sparks showering from his blade. He snorted.
"Some Beyblade you gave me, Giorgio. Thanks a bunch."
Giorgio laughed manically, clutching at his ribs as he chuckled, his eyes flashing dangerously. Next to him, Rio, perhaps the most perilous of the three, stood with one hand on her hip, her other hand in front of her face as she examined her nails with a bored expression on her face. She did not seem to be interested in the match whatsoever. Kai, the corner of his eye constantly turned to Janine in her slowly filling prison, saw his opportunity. For his part, he wanted to finish the match quickly and get up there to help Janine. His Beyblade, as piteous and decayed as it was, responded to his command and shot forward into Rio's blade. Sparks arose as the blades spun against each other. When Rio's Bit-Beast, Veloceraptrion, emerged with a roar from the lavender blade, the dish was filled with an immense lilac light. Kai stared at the magnificent creature before him.
Veloceraptrion, jaws pulled back in a cruel, threatening snarl, two massive claws glinting on each hand and each foot, and a long whip-like tail that thrashed in annoyance, growled at him, and sniffed the air with an expression of discontent. Rio laughed.
"Attack, Veloceraptrion!"
The mighty beast plunged forward, ploughing through the dusty air with a roar. The light approached Kai, who watched, still in awe of the beast in its splendour. As it was about to launch its devastating attack on the flailing wooden Beyblade, Kai laughed.
"That reptile doesn't scare me, Rio. I've seen this before. Your dumb dino is so consumed by its attack that the defence of your blade is wide open! Sorry, but you and your lizard are finished!"
Rio gasped and her hand clamped around her mouth as she realised her mistake. She watched helplessly as Kai's Beyblade swung around to avoid the claws of the dinosaur, and then the wooden blade crashed into her own and sent it flying out of the dish with a force she hadn't reckoned upon. Her blade slammed heavily into the floor with a scratch and she was defeated.
Kai had no time to waste. He looked up and saw with horror that Janine's prison was half full with murky water. He felt his stomach lurch and it egged him on, and, his Dranzer blade completely out of mind at the moment, he caught the wooden blade as it spun out of the dish and began to make for a rickety looking staircase tucked away in the left hand corner of the warehouse. He could see her eyes, darting from side to side with fear as she pressed herself back against the wall of her confinement, helpless as the water slowly crept up. As he watched it crawled past her hips, and with new fear, he raced towards the staircase.
"Now who's left their defences open?" shrieked Rio violently as she leaped straight for Kai, her arms outstretched. She landed full on and threw him hard on the floor, and there they rolled for a moment, gripped, locked together in fierce mêlée. As Kai rolled onto his back and kicked her off with a powerful thrust of his legs, he was shocked at how much sheer power Rio possessed. She was obviously a Martial Artist, and she clung to him ferociously, scratching his arm as he tried to toss her. His old 'Training Instincts' (as he called them) kicked in and he slipped deftly to his feet with new strength, swinging Rio around and hurling her to the floor. She landed hard and rolled two or three times over before coming to a still. When she didn't get up, Kai turned back to the staircase, and was just about to run to Janine's aid when Rio attacked again, wrangling her taught arms around his neck and squeezing hard.
"Dirty . . . trick . . . "hissed Kai through gritted teeth, his air passage slowly closing under the pressure of Rio's strong arms. With a desperate look upwards, he saw the water tank, and Janine, everything below her neck submerged, staring out through the glass at his struggle but powerless to help him.
********
Tyson's blade crashed head on with Giorgio's mightier one, and more sparks flew. Tyson growled, incensed at the fact that he just couldn't find a weak spot in Giorgio's superior blade. It was marvellous - every move, turn, leap it made was performed with the highest accuracy imaginable, performed to perfection. Near to him, Rei was in difficulty. He seemed to have gotten the worst blade of the lot and it was faring very badly against Bill, who was a surprisingly good battler. Rei clenched his fists with resolve. He wasn't giving up - he was fighting for his Bit-Beast. His mind flashed back briefly to the Asian championships, having almost lost his Driger - but it stayed by him, no matter what had happened. Longing stirred in his heart for his old friend, and he rose up with a new fire, a new determination. And the Beyblade - though old and rotting, sensed this fortitude and leaped forward, spinning wildly. Bill, taken aback, watched as Rei's blade chipped his own red and white one, and almost sent it flying.
"Not so hot now, eh Bill?" said Rei with a triumphant grin. Bill snarled, his gnarled face twisting further into itself.
"It isn't over yet, Rei!" he said, his tone as though he had discovered something lying dead in the road. Rei smiled even further, his eyes glinting, victory in sight.
"Oh really?" he cried, his Beyblade hurtling forwards again, "This one's for Driger!"
The blade thrust into the enemy, shattering the defence ring as if it were tearing apart a piece of paper, scattering iridescent pieces of metal through the air. One final spark flew off into a pile of nearby debris, and the broken blade landed outside the dish and stopped spinning.
Bill gasped. "No . . . you beat me!"
Rei picked up the wooden blade. "This wasn't so bad after all - but I still want my Driger back. So hand it over!"
********
"Come on, you cruddy excuse for a Beyblade!" cried Tyson in anger as his attacks went yet again unnoticed by Giorgio's incredible blade. His arms shook in exasperation. Each attack he tried just didn't seem to work, and Tyson, World Champion Class Beyblader - possibly the best in the world - was being brought down by a no good double crossing thief. He just couldn't stand it.
"This is so dishonourable!" he yelled as his Beyblade was tossed about the dish, seaweed on a stormy ocean. Giorgio just continued to smile nastily, keeping his eyes on the Beybattle before him. Tyson decided that this was a good idea and tried to concentrate too.
A little way ahead of him he could see his old blade. Dragoon. What a friend he had been. Through the many losses and many wins that Tyson had experienced, Dragoon had always been there. Never left his side. And now, suddenly, he was taken away - against his own will, no doubt. Tyson could feel himself growing angry again, but suddenly he could feel another force, a calm voice, from deep inside the passages of his mind, cooling his fiery thoughts and giving him patience and tranquillity. Tyson could feel his Dragoon.
"You . . . never left my side!" he stuttered in amazement. The voice answered him again. It took no familiar tone or expression - Tyson wasn't even sure if it actually spoke - but it gave him peace, which was what he needed. A glance at his blade told him he had not been mistaken, for Dragoon sparkled just a little, as if confirming Tyson's wildest beliefs.
With a grin, Tyson turned back to the match. His wooden blade was being pushed back, little chips of rotting wood flicking off it now and again. Tyson, his confidence returned, pushed his blade forward with all his might. It responded heartily, and gave Giorgio's blade an impressive tackle. It stumbled and began to spin much more slowly.
"Ha!" laughed Tyson stoutly, "Get ready to lose, Giorgio!"
Giorgio gave him a sarcastic smirk. "I don't think so . . . "
With a deafening roar, a black light split the air and escaladed from Giorgio's blade. It took the form of the strangest Bit-Beast Tyson had ever seen. It was like a half dragon, half man, the upper body being that of a fiery dragon, smoke smouldering from its nostrils - and the bottom half being legs, strong, stout and muscular. Then there was a long, black tail with a point on the end that glowed red. The skin, patterned as tough leather, was also black. The eyes of the Bit-Beast too glowed, embers of a dying fire. But this beast was far from dying. Smoke billowed all around it and Tyson stared, appalled, into its face. It was demonic, fangs glinting at the corners of its wide, dragon mouth. Spikes of flashing metal ran down its sinister back and along its forearms as it stretched and growled. Tyson almost cowered when he spotted a familiar looking sign on its back, carved in glowing red ember, a symbol, similar to a treble clef but not quite the same. It was a sight to strike fear into the heart of the bravest. The beast roared, recognising its own supremacy.
Giorgio laughed at Tyson's face. "I'd like you to meet . . . Apophis."
********
When Apophis appeared, Kai felt the hold on his neck loosen a little. The muscles in his neck aching and throbbing and his vision starting to darken, he grasped Rio's arm and slung her off his shoulders, the swiftness of his attack and the sight of the evil Bit-Beast stunning her. Again, she rolled over on the floor, and Kai wasted no time. Not pausing to clear his blurry vision, he raced to the rickety stairs and began to run up them two at a time. They spiralled dizzyingly and made it even more difficult. Now he was running he could get back his breath and he gasped it in thankfully, still a little taken aback at the force of Rio. She was definitely an adversary to be feared.
As he clambered to the last step, he stopped for a second to fully catch his breath. There he looked ahead of him, about five meters away along the dark ledge, to the prison in which Janine was confined.
"No!"
Kai stared in incredulity at the bell jar, where the water had reached the top. It had stopped pumping in now, as the thing was full and cloudy with the haze of the murky liquid. One hand was slipping slowly down the glass, long, brown strands of silky hair floating lifelessly in the water that surrounded. Janine's head bobbed and her eyes had fallen shut.
Kai leaped forward, his head filled with fears he had never wanted to imagine. He sprinted the short distance along the ledge to the glass, and immediately punched the glass with his powerful arms. Yet the glass would not crack - it was tough and durable and would not break easily. Giorgio had made sure of that.
Panicking and trying to clear his head, Kai automatically slipped the wooden Beyblade into his launcher. With a determined cry he pulled on the shooter and the Beyblade flew straight into the glass at high speed. It bounced off, still not breaking the glass but a little crack appearing and slowly spreading out in the pattern of a spider's web. With a dull grin, Kai picked up the blade and launched again, and the glass almost shattered.
After one more frantic look at Janine, Kai launched again, and finally the barrier between them broke, shards scattering all over him and causing him to shield his face and body with his arms. He felt pieces of glass scratching deep but could not care less, and when the thousand pieces had fallen he leaped further to where Janine had crumpled to the ground, her face pale and her body limp.
********
"No!"
Giorgio looked up at the massive cascade of water that was boring down on them from the higher ledge. It fell as heavy rain, and, in accordance, the wind outside rushed and howled in delight. Little flecks of glass also fell with it, carried in the swift current.
Giorgio yelled out in fear, not only for himself, but also for Apophis. It was a fire demon - it could not stand water, just as any fire- type Bit-Beast fell easy prey to water types. So he swiftly called his Bit- Beast back, attempting to hide it in the Bit before it could be destroyed. Tyson watched in awe as the water, catching the light as it fell, flashed and glimmered beautifully. He was even more amazed when the falls of fluid, swift in their retribution, began to douse the evil fires of Apophis. It screamed as its fires smouldered, and Tyson could hear the frenzied wails of Giorgio and Bill as their treasure was washed away in the swift vengeance of the water. The light of Apophis grew brighter and then faded, slowly becoming dimmer and dimmer till the beast, once mighty and untouchable, finally succumbed and disappeared with a shriek. There was a silence, and Tyson glanced over at Rei, who was picking up his Driger blade from where it had been washed away. Dragoon was not far away from Tyson, and he leaped towards it and scooped it up lovingly. With a smile, he turned to Rei.
"Well, I guess we won!"
Rei grinned back at him, clutching tightly to his Driger blade, and then, his ears pricking, he turned, an expression of terror on his face.
"Oh no!"
Tyson followed Rei's gaze nervously, his head racing. He found himself looking at a small pile of debris, unharmed by the torrent of water, and he noticed with a sinking heart that it was beginning to smoke. Either some sparks from the Beast or some sparks from the actual Beybattle had lodged itself in between two dry, sharp pieces of rotting timber and the pile had lit up. Before Tyson's eyes the flame, so small at first, budded into a red and orange blossom, thriving on the life supply of timber it required. It flickered, and then began to spread across the whole piece of debris, till the whole thing was one giant fiery pile of smoke and heat.
"The floor's wooden, Tyson! We have to stop it!" cried Rei, darting forward without haste. Tyson shook his head in fear.
"Too late, Rei. It's already there."
********
A flash of light from below told him that events were still taking place, and with a desperate shake Kai tried to wake Janine. She was cold. Blue shadows had crept around the edges of her lips. But after two or three rougher shakes, her eyelids fluttered and she opened her eyes with a little sigh, and a flood of colour rushed back into her cold face.
Dizzy with utter relief, Kai sat Janine up as she coughed a little. When she was done, he spoke.
"We need to get down. Lean on me."
Gently, he slipped underneath her soaking shoulder, wincing when he felt how cold she was, pitying when he felt her shivering. Runlets of water channeled off her face, off her hair, her body sopping, and a little trail trickled down his back, a finger lightly tracing the undulations of his spine. He shivered himself. Then he stood, tightly pulling one of her arms around his neck and also holding her by the waist. He felt her test the support in her legs, which she found were a little shaky but she could put a small amount of pressure on them. With a resolved look she smiled at Kai, who nodded back. They started, with a little bit of difficulty, to make their way down the stairs, finding the narrow twists and curves something of a problem. Kai found he had to support her more and more as he got further and further down, her knees buckling beneath her as she reached the bottom.
"I'm alright, I can support myself! Go . . . get your blade! Hurry!" she said shakily, leaning on the rickety, rotting wooden banister. Kai's thoughts and worries were fixated on the other side of the warehouse, where even the darkest, dankest corners were lit with the flames of hell.
********
Rei stared, mesmerized, by the awesome flames licking the dark, evil air around them. They danced before him savagely, their wreathes and in curves in time to the howl and drum of the wind, picking up viciously. Tiny flecks of ember glittered as it traveled through the thickening air and Rei followed them with his eyes, engrossed. They flickered and glimmered as they floated, and the flashes they gave off were reflected in Rei's amber eyes.
He started when Tyson grabbed his shoulder. Dragging his eyes reluctantly from the firework-like-patterns that danced and swerved his eyes onto Tyson's face, which was frantic and anxious.
"Come on, Rei, we've gotta move!"
He pulled on Rei's shoulder and Rei snapped back to his senses, a great mist clearing from before his eyes. Fear animated his gut and he moved swiftly, his skill coming into his own as he sought out with his now sharp eyes the safest path out. The fire had grown, had spread along the right hand side of the warehouse, and burned vividly, billows of smoke emerging and little ashes flicking out from the crackles within. The black smoke, wavering on the air, was beginning to descend and lodge in their throats. Swallowing, and trying to ignore the bitter taste of ash in his mouth, Rei's sharp pupils contracted when he saw the safe path he searched for, as a tiger's does when it finally spots its prey. Now it was only a matter of time till they could escape.
"Where's Kai?" yelled Rei over the incessant roar of the fire. Smoke clogged and he coughed hastily, still keeping his eyes on Tyson. Tyson shrugged.
"He must have gone to find Janine."
"I'm right here, Tyson."
Rei and Tyson swung from facing the fire to face Kai. He stood still, trying to take in the situation. Then, he noticed the Beyblades clutched tightly in their hands, and remembered the pang he felt for his own. With a smile, he thought that he would be holding his own blade in any second now.
"Guys, where'd' you get your blades from?"
Tyson frowned in thought, and then answered as though the lines were rehearsed.
"We picked them up. The water flooded them away."
Kai turned and looked back at the area where the slivers of water still glistened on the floor, reflecting the glow of the fire. He scoured the floor with his eyes, but no sign of what he was searching for appeared. His eyebrows furrowing a little, he looked harder, speaking as he did so.
"Did you see it? Did you see my blade?"
Rei shook his head worriedly. "No, I . . . I was only concentrating on my Driger. It must be there somewhere! Don't panic!"
Heedless, Kai stepped forward and walked slowly over to the Beyblade dish, scanning the floor and squinting through the smoke that clouded before him. Tyson, wondering where Janine was, looked over to the stairs and started.
"Rei! Look!"
Rei glanced over to the stairs, nodded, and then did a double take. On the bottom stair stood Janine, who stared at them with fearful eyes. A large, pale hand was clamped tightly across her mouth; a strong, ivory hand gripping hard. Tyson briefly recognized the stain of Giorgio fleeting behind her and then she was dragged off up the stairs, too weak from her prior encounter to struggle.
"Kai!" yelled Tyson as he sprinted forward, "Hurry!"
At Tyson's frantic yell, Kai swung around from his search and saw Rei and Tyson springing towards the stairs. Looking up he saw the ephemeral trace of Janine, and their eyes met. Something deep stirred in his heart, and he too sprang forward on the wings of fear.
"Get up there Tyson!" he cried, knowing he was too far away to help yet. Eager to assist and wrath emerging from his gut, Tyson nodded and took a leap onto the first stair. Giorgio had dragged Janine to the top of the stairs, and was making his way to where the glass confinement had been. Once he was there, Tyson, followed closely by a glowering Rei, was halfway up the stairs. The flames licked the night even higher and smoke billowed around them. Janine coughed into Giorgio's hand, which remained securely fastened to her face.
Giorgio let escape a gleeful, terrible laugh, which echoed through the flames and fire and chilled the boys despite the intense heat they were under. Kai reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Don't bother, boys!" Giorgio yelled with fervor in his voice, a kind of hideous passion rising from his throat, "She doesn't need saving yet. And Kai, I have your Beyblade."
He held up, with his free hand, the small blue and red blade, the hints of green on the edges glimmering in the light of the fire. Kai, at the bottom of the steps and feeling highly insignificant, growled with distaste.
"So," continued Giorgio, a patronizing, mocking tone in his words, "You were fighting not only for your blade, but for Janine here too. You did a great job, Kai. All of you did! Bravo!"
He laughed again, that terrible, mocking laughter that split the crackles of the fire, making them seem distant and inappropriate. Rei looked down at Kai, confused. Tyson scratched his head a little. Kai just stared up at Giorgio, keeping his eyes on Janine.
"What d'you mean?"
Giorgio sobered a bit, as though he were on some sort of high that he struggled to come down from. He blinked his eyes hard, brushing away tears of humor, and spoke again, this time softer.
"Never mind, boys. I would have been fooled too. She's a great actress, don't you think?"
He unclasped his hand from Janine's petite mouth and she gasped and tried to move forwards. But Giorgio's hand held her back and she stumbled. Giorgio laughed again, relishing in his complete control and power.
"I don't mean to disappoint you, Kai," he grinned nastily, his eyes glinting with menace and his words dripping with vile sarcasm, "but Janine is on our side. She has been all along! And she took you along for the ride!"
********
Silence, as cruel as the hush of a morgue, crept among them, broken only by the malevolent cackle of the fire ripping apart a piece of lumber, sending it to its untimely demise with a swell and fall of flame. The heat traveled easily through the soundless air, rested for a moment, and was carried upwards in the convection current and gathered at the ceiling, soon to make its descent. The mute dragged on, stretching unmercifully until it was interrupted by the sound of weak knees hitting the floor with a broken thud. Janine struggled free of Giorgio, still gloating in his victory, and leaned over the rail of her ledge to the hopeless boy below her. Tears that fell unnoticed from her eyes dropped to the floor and sizzled in the growing, uncomfortable heat beside him, but he paid no heed. For the time being his world had dropped into an unfathomable shadow, all thoughts of joy, happiness, love - gone, like the ashes on the air, and all he could see was the glow of trust being slowly put out.
********
Rei's eyes widened when he listened to Giorgio's spiteful words. It took him a moment to take them in, and he stared at Janine from his place high atop the staircase. When she broke free of Giorgio and moved forward, he watched her grimly, no emotion showing in his features. The bleak sensation of being proved right by events pressed on his mind, but he said nothing. For now his thoughts were with his teammate, brought to his knees by that one, powerful betrayal, who was suffering a torture that none of them could comprehend.
However Rei could understand that Janine was an enemy, for all her tears and falsities. Anger, retribution, wrenched in his stomach and he stepped forward past the stiff Tyson onto the top step.
"How could you, Janine?" he asked quietly, finally breaking the silence with a voice as cold and toneless as hardened lava on the mountaintop. She looked at him, her face pleading, but Rei was untouchable now. She wiped a quaking hand across her face.
"No, Rei . . . you don't understand . . . "
"I understand enough," he said briskly, sharply, curtly enough to stun her into silence. "You disgust me."
Tyson spoke up too. "I thought you were on our side, Janine!" he said, his mind whirring with events that he could not quite fit into place. Giorgio laughed again.
"Like I said, Tyson, she is a very good actress, aren't you Janine?" he smirked, folding his arms and tilting his head theatrically. Janine made no response and Giorgio, that all consuming sense of power and domination filling his head and urging him on, spoke again.
"You're a good girl, aren't you Janine? She played you for fools, boys. Yes, she works at the hotel. But she doesn't usually get involved so much with the customers. I know you must hate her, boys - but you must give credit where credit's due!"
Janine looked at him with hatred in her eyes. Tyson spoke, still incredulous.
"Did you steal our blades, too, Janine?"
Janine shook her head passionately. "No. But . . . my job was to distract you in the Jacuzzi while Giorgio took the safe . . . but I didn't mean to hurt you! I swear! I . . . I didn't . . . "
She looked down at Kai again, who hadn't moved. His head was bowed to the floor and she couldn't see his face. She didn't want to. Imagining it was hurtful enough.
"I . . . don't . . . " she stuttered, her voice shaking uncontrollably with the tears that rolled. Giorgio made his way to the rail and looked down in a condescending, intimidating manner.
"Well, Kai, it looks like you've lost more than just your Bit-Beast."
Down below, ashes flying past his face and catching in the slowly drying tears on his cheeks, Kai winced at that last remark. He didn't remember ever feeling so much pain before. His body, so strong and healthy, felt as though it contained no more strength, and he could not even bring himself to look up, finding no strength or heart for such a battle.
~What's the point?~ he thought, not bothering to brush away his tears or the embers that intertwined themselves in them, ~I'm such a fool~"
Tyson watched in sympathy. Then he stepped up onto the actual platform, and stared at Janine.
"Why did you do it, Janine? What's he offering you to break us up like this?"
Tyson's voice shook with rage as he spat out his words. Janine did not dare look at him in the face. She kept her eyes trained down to the figure down below her, motionless.
"I . . . he didn't offer . . . I . . . "
"Then why did you do it? Come on, spit it out!"
"Because I OWED it to him!" yelled Janine, new strength emerging from the bowls of her misery, "I owed Giorgio! He took me in - I was a street kid - he took me in and looked after me! I was just a kid! And he took care of me!"
There was another awkward silence. Then Janine turned on Giorgio angrily, her previous timidity replaced by fury.
"And you!" she yelled, pointing a shaky finger at him, "You brought me up thinking this was right! But now I see that your little game is wrong! You used me, Giorgio, like a tool! As a pawn for your little plots and plans! And I couldn't do anything about that - I had nowhere else to go! But it stops now, Giorgio! No more!"
Hot, enraged tears began to flow again, stinging her eyes as they emerged and trickled down her cheeks, torrents of spite. She turned back around again, so she was looking down at Kai. He still hadn't moved.
"Kai . . . I . . . never meant to . . . hurt you - I wouldn't . . . I . . . I'm so sorry."
She hung her head, her strength disappearing with her anger and her tears became ones of remorse, sinking slowly down the side of her face and dripping onto the floor several feet below.
********
~I hate this. It . . . it hurts, more than anything I've ever felt. Every word she says feels like it's slicing into my chest like a hot switchblade. What did I do?
Unbelievable. I trusted her, I felt I knew her. She . . . Janine . . . was a friend, more than a friend. She understood me, she knew what I was feeling, she didn't overstep her bounds or try to pass judgment . . . and it was all an act. All for the cameras, eh Janine? Good one. Hysterical.
What did she just say? I missed that. Everything's so hard to understand now. We were so close . . . I never thought she'd . . . actually become an enemy. A rival. She hid it well. Giorgio has a point. She's a good actress. She had me fooled. But, like they say, there's no fool like an old fool.
What's that? A . . . tear. Just landed next to me. She's crying. Is that for real? Is anything about her real? That sweet, caring personality; was it all just an act? When she cried, and I held her, so close that time, was it just an act? It felt . . . so . . . real. Was it honestly fake?
Does this mean it was her all that time - was it her who pushed Max? Was it her who . . . what's the use in asking that? She's fake. She doesn't want to know. It was too good to be true anyway. I should have seen this coming a mile off. What an idiot.
Why's she crying? These stupid tears falling next me are dumb. What is she crying for? She's done her job, she's done the damage - she should be gloating. What's that she just said?~
"You used me, Giorgio, like a tool! As a pawn for your little plot!"
~What? Sounds familiar. Something I've . . . oh yeah. I feel that way about my grandfather. He uses me against my will. Like a tool. I hate that, too. Is . . . is that what's happening here? Is that the case?
No, Kai, you're being too hopeful. Letting this soppy slush cloud your clear thinking. That's what Rei said. He was right. Or . . . or was he? Is she genuine now? Did she mean to do this? Did Janine mean to . . . hurt so much? Why? I . . . I don't understand - I don't understand anything anymore. I know nothing - except this stupid pain. Hurts so bad . . . I can't even look up there. Hurts. Is it hurting her too? I guess . . . I guess there's only one way to find out . . . ~
********
Janine was still staring down at Kai when he raised his head. She didn't know whether to look away or not, but some irresistible force - perhaps merely curiosity, perhaps more - held her gaze. A small tear rolled into the corner crevice of her lips and she licked it away in annoyance. Her breath ripped in rags but she didn't care. She wanted to see him.
Their eyes met. Both watery, both glistening with sorrow and disappointment. Both desperate for answers.
She stared long and hard into his dark brown irises. Usually so hard, usually emotionless - now emotion leaked out, unearthed by the tears that stained his cheeks, and filled Janine with grief. She covered her mouth with her shaking hand, and her head moved from side to side in resent, knees feeling weak with the weight of her burden. She had felt like this before - but then she had Kai to comfort her. Now whom did she have?
Before she knew it, the words were stuttering their way out of her mouth.
"Kai . . . I'm sorry!"
She closed her eyes, tears flitting off them and dissolving into the air, which was fast becoming smokier and smokier. Tyson and Rei, who had been watching on the sidelines, not quite sure what to say, continued to spectate as Janine swerved around and gave Giorgio such a shove that he reeled and fell backwards on his back into the mass of tiny shards of glass on the platform. He yelled out as the spikes pricked his back infuriatingly, and Janine saw her chance. She dashed forward, and grabbed Giorgio's wrist. Before he knew what was going on, Janine had retrieved the Dranzer from his pale, bony hand, and was running to the other end of the platform to the corresponding staircase at the other side of the warehouse - even though she was heading dangerously close to the flames of the growing fire. Rei and Tyson, after a shocked glance at each other, ran down the stairs that they were on deftly. They heard the noise of Giorgio getting up behind them and made haste as he shouted:
"Stop her! Stop them! Rio, Bill! Now!"
Slowly, tears dry and dead on his cheeks, Kai rose to his feet, one stiff, strained hand gripping the wooden banister. He watched through barely moving eyes as Janine made her descent, all the way on the other side of the warehouse. He hated her at the moment - he hated her so much - but even so his heart pounded with resilient fear that would not go away when he saw her swerve nimbly away from the magnificent, fearsome flames that conquered the dark of the terrible night. He sighed reluctantly, not understanding why he even bothered to care.
Then his attention focused onto Tyson and Rei - who were having problems of their own. They had run off the staircase to help, and Rio and Bill had immediately blocked them. Kai watched as Bill moved into a fighting stance before the surprised Tyson. Similarly, Rio raised her arms and got ready to launch a venomous attack on Rei. Both of the boys were trained in Martial Arts and could readily protect themselves, but Kai still felt a pang of worry. They were his team, after all, and he was their leader.
~How can I even be their leader anymore? They think I'm a fool - an absolute fool. I didn't even listen to them - not even when they tried to warn me! How can they ever trust me again?~
His eyes caught a momentary glance of the shadowy Giorgio, who was creeping over in the same direction as Janine. She, in the meantime, was crossing the floor at a steady pace: her drenched hair leaving trails of glistening water in the air as she ran. In her hands she still clutched Dranzer - so tightly as if it were her own. She was slowly crossing the large expansive warehouse and was making her way to where he was standing. His hand slid into his pocket and he fingered something, a round, silver ring, an unbroken bond, and breathed out heavily; pensively.
Looking back at Giorgio, Kai saw he had changed his direction. He now headed for a small section of wall, partially hidden from view by two large crates. Curious, Kai peered forward a little, wondering.
There he saw a rope, part of a pulley system, frail and aged, with tiny invasions of silvery dust slowly eating into every pore, every fiber of its being. Looking along the stretch of rope, he saw it led up to the huge mass of remains and debris of deadened wood and lumber that hung in a loosely tied bundle from the ceiling. It hung to the left of the Beydish, just off the center of the warehouse. His eyes slowly followed it back down again, it's dull glimmer reflecting the blaze of the fire nearby. It led to the crumbling wall, tied onto a white painted hook loosely, hastily, as if someone had to leave it as a half done job.
Kai felt realization flood over him, tormenting, as he saw Giorgio's hand, dotted with scratches and minor abrasions, reaching up towards the rope. Then his eyes flicked back to Janine, still running and beginning to pass into the shadow of the overhanging debris.
~What do I care? She's nothing to me now. Nobody is. No one's getting close ever again. I've learned my lesson. Grandfather was right. It's better to be alone. I am alone.~
Kai woke from his thoughts, his inner struggle, and found he was already half way across the floor, adrenaline rushing through every vein in his body, urgency like none before pressing him onwards. Something inside him whispered that loneliness was not the final answer. And so his fear, his incomprehensible, uninvited fear, drove him on, to save the enemy from impending fate.
********
"Ha!" cried Tyson as he threw Bill to the floor with a skill he did not know he possessed. Bill landed heavily on his side, and lay quiet, breathing deeply, knowing he was finished and it was easier to give up now than to face more pummeling from this kid. Tyson, a victorious grin on his face, wiped his brow with a sigh and straightened his back. Nearby, he saw Rei, grappling with the furious and relentless Rio. With a cry, Tyson leaped forward to help - but a flash of red metal to his left stopped him and he whirled around, a look of surprise on his face. He saw what he didn't believe - the contour of Kai, outlined brilliantly against the vivid backdrop of the raging inferno, darting at incredible speed across the splintering floor. Puzzled, he also caught sight of Giorgio, snickering away in a dark area of the warehouse, his hand twisting and uncoiling a piece of wiry rope from its lodge on a hook on the wall. And with the dawning of events striking a note in his mind, Tyson gasped, his body tensing, and found he was rooted to the spot.
********
Janine skidded to a halt, sensing the looming shadow around her becoming larger. Fearfully she looked up, her eyes widening in stark terror as she saw the mass boring down on her. And she too found her feet weighed like heavy boards - she couldn't move them, and she froze. Sounds around her evaporated into thin trickles in the air, the flash of the rampant flames nearby just a passing thing, and time seemed to stand still as she watched the thing grow.
********
~Why are you running? Why do you want to help her? She's nothing, remember? Nothing!~
He reached the outskirts of the shadow, still running, feeling the intense pressure of the thing above.
~Why am I running? Why should I help? Does she even deserve it? But . . . do I deserve it? I think . . . no matter what Giorgio says, I think . . . what we had . . . it was real, genuine. And that's what I think. Not what Giorgio, Tyson, even Rei thinks. Just me. This is I.
I have made my decision.~
********
Tyson watched on, his feet unmoving, as the debris fell, the rope unlinked pitilessly by the heartless Giorgio. And he watched on helpless, not realising he was crying out his friend's name until he heard the sound of his own terrified voice.
********
Fear overcame her, and she screamed silently as it flew. A wicked cackle from Giorgio. A glimmer of light from the destructive fire nearby. Boom, boom - heart thudded. Eyes closed. Wait for it . . . wait . . . wait . . . here it comes . . .
Janine, waiting for the intense weight to crush her shoulders, felt a furious shove in her side. She flew through the air, eyes still closed, and landed face down, and the world disappeared.
********
The debris came hurtling down at a rapid pace, and crashed with a colossal roar onto the ground. The warehouse shook, terrified of this new life, this new being in its depths, and a rumble came from deep within its bowls. A dreadful dust-cloud began to arise, stifling the already stifled air. It flowed and shimmered, and the fire sucked and licked, sensing more fuel, and began to move. The pile of broken wood, about a meter in height and five times as wide, lay still with the exception of a few neglected pieces of wood which could not find a secure place and fell further down the pile in their attempts to lodge themselves. When the scuffling was over, the pile was still, and the dust-cloud slowly began to fall, the rumbling from within the warehouse coming to an abrupt finale. Despite the crackle of the fire, which began to grow in frenzied hunger, the warehouse was hushed for a second.
