BEYBLADE

CHAPTER ELEVEN: BROKEN GLASS

" What say we get a bite to eat before returning to the hotel, Maxie?" Tyson grinned.

Max shrugged his shoulders and chuckled. " Okay, Tyson." He suddenly dashed forward, calling over his shoulder. " Beat you to the nearest resturant!" murmuring soon after to himself. " Wherever that is.."

Tyson blinked and raised two fists into the air. " Hey, hey! No fair!"

********

The sun had finally begun to peek out from behind a barrier of heavily-grey clouds, which was slightly surprising considering a blizzard was supposed to be on its way. It shone a spot of warmth onto Rei's nearly frozen cheek, sending a wave of comfort and serenity that washed through the blader's body. Seeing Bryan mustn't have been good for his immune system. He felt sick and tired, as if he'd been fighting off a blizzard for hours on end, without a break. Kenny was strolling closely beside the obsidian-blue haired blader, Dizzi's laptop-body hugged tightly and securely to his chest.

Two hours was enough time to be separated from the group. Besides, Kai was more than likely worried about the team. After all, having a blizzard as well as a couple of past-time rival bladers on your tail wasn't exactly a safe and/or comforting thought. The two Blade-breakers found themselves standing in front of the hotel's doors, both silently and motionlessly beside each other, both lines of vision directed to the shards of broken glass only two metres away.

Rei took one step forward, a puzzled expression holding his face in place. " What... happened?" He looked up, both eyes widening as he noticed that the glass had come from the Blade-breakers' hotel room. " Kai..."

Kenny stepped forward also, slightly puzzled by the broken glass. " How'd all this glass get here?" He questioned.

Rei darted for the door, soon after followed by a distraught and still confused Kenny.

Max and Tyson were walking along the pathway, both patting their overly stuffed stomachs and grinning from ear to ear. Their grins however, faded almost instantly and became expressions of confusion and curiosity as they saw both buddy bladers running at top speed into the hotel. Max cast a repeatedly-blinking glance at Tyson whom clenched a fist, darting forward after Rei and the Chief.

*************

The hotel room was completely deserted, save for Rei and Kenny who stood staring at it from the doorway. Rei rushed forward and placed his hands around the the window sill, being careful to avoid any broken outjutting pieces of glass. Kenny just stood there without moving. Without moving that is, until Max and Tyson rushed through. Their speed and messy entrance forced the Chief to spin and almost lose his balance. Max stopped behind Tyson and looked around at the virtually turned-over room, while Tyson stopped beside Rei and peered through the open window.

" Whaw... What happened, here?" He asked.

Rei gritted his teeth. " I... I don't know, Tyson... but Kai is gone."

Max stared blankly at Rei. " Yeah... no kidding.. Who would do this to our room? Kai wouldn't have... would he?"

" No way, pal" Rei began. " I have a feeling this... has something to do with that blue-haired guy, the one Tyson bumped into."

" A-Are you serious?" Tyson blinked, questioningly.

" I'm dead serious. I think they... might have confronted Kai here."

" Now Rei," began Kenny as he opened Dizzi and sat her ontop of the only unturned bedside-table. He couldn't believe how messy and dishevelled the room was. " ...We don't know for sure that he had anything to do with this. Kai isn't even here either, so let's not jump to conclusions. It's not uncommon for a hotel room to be robbed and raided."

" Yeah, Chief.. but what are the odds of bandits choosing one of the highest rooms to raid? Why would they go to all that trouble? I mean, why waste time climbing those stairs to get to our room, when there are many rooms on the bottom floor, closer to the entrance?" Dizzi asked, smartly.

" Dizzi has a point. " Max said, pointing a finger to the ceiling as he glanced over at the liquid-crystal screen.

Tyson dipped his head and gritted his teeth angrily, though the angered expression was soon wiped from his face and replaced with an oddly curious one. He bent down at the knees and pointed. " Guys! Look! It's... it's... blood!"

The breakers all gasped, almost in unison and kneeled down beside Tyson, surrounding the small crimson puddle.

" Oh no!" Max placed both hands upon his head in shock.

" That's Kai's blood!" The Chief squealed.

" Chief, are you nuts? How would you know what Kai's blood looks like? He's so careful, I'd be surprised if he's even had so much as a papercut in his life." Tyson rolled his eyes and pointed with his other finger. " Besides, this blood is glowing.."

Rei nodded. " Yeah..."

The entire team gained their feet quickly in unison and gripped hands to their pockets. Their beyblades were glowing furiously against the varied colors of material, bit-pieces in the middle brightening up the darkened room.

" Wha-What's going on? Dragoon's restless." Tyson removed his blade from his pocket and glared down at the bit-piece.

" So is Driger. What... do you think they want, guys?" Rei questioned, gazing down at Driger's bit.

" Who knows? Maybe they're restless... because Dranzer and Kai aren't here?" Max shrugged, tilting his head as he glanced from one Blade-breaker to the other.

" It makes sense... " Rei added.

Kenny nodded. " It's plausible."

Dizzi made a sniffling noise. " Chief.. It's.. more than plausible. I can sense it, too. Dranzer isn't anywhere near to where we are." Her voice, although serious, had the slightest tinge of humor: more than likely the way Dizzi dealt with emotional situations.

" Well, I don't care what the weather says. I sa~y.. we go out and look for Kai!" Tyson tugged on the rim of his glove after shoving Dragoon back into his pocket. " What say you guys?" ( A.N.:: ~ elongates a word. eg::::: sa~y.. means.. Saaayy. =) )

The others gave out a sync reply of 'let's do it!' and before Kenny had the time to object, they'd already bolted through the door.

" Awohhhh...." Kenny slouched.

" Oh, relax Chief. You can either go with them... or, help me clean up this mess of a hotel room." Dizzi cracked.

***********

Dranzer. The only thing that Kai could hear about the sound of sleet and snow covering the earth with wild abandon, was the one word that echoed in his frozen mind. Dranzer had taken a beating from all three opposing bit-beasts back at the hotel, and the leader had done nothing but worry about his own sacred spirit. Injured and exhausted the red phoenix had become, the result of a long, purposely-drawn-out battle.

Jumping through the window seemed like a good idea at the time and the slate-haired boy was surprised that he'd only suffered from a few cuts and bruises along his right arm, not to mention the fact that he could have suffered a few broken bones from the two-story drop, alone. Who cares if he ran from Tomoshu and the two Demolition Boys, anyway? So he seemed like a coward, and he hated that- at least he and Dranzer were alive.

Kai gripped a hand around his right elbow and kept jogging along the snowy bank, the very edgings of civilization fading into nothingness behind him. The snow and wind had lowered his chances of seeing anything further away than arms length, dramatically and he knew with every step he took, that he'd been gaining further away from Ekaterinburg and moreso into the Russian wilderness.

Kai's legs felt heavy, as if his bones were filled with an icy-cold metal that weighed him down, burdened him with every next step. He knew he had to keep on going, for Dranzer's sake, for his own sake... for his team. Whether or not Tomoshu was following behind was far beyond the Blade-breaker's knoweledge yet he kept on, unwilling to take the risk of stopping.

Kai's legs could carry him no further and he collapsed to his knees, huddled in a small lump of snow that grew on one side of him with the direction the wind carried it. His body trembled violently from the cold, for he'd had no time to slip his teal coat around himself for extra added warmth. His eyes kept drooping closed, yet he gritted his teeth and forced both sorrel hues open, forced himself to remain conscious.

" Come on, Kai." He thought. " Never in your life have you run from something like that, before...Never have you run, at all. Why did you run? ... For Dranzer's sake. Yes, that's right. You ran to save Dranzer. Now you have to save yourself. Stay awake, Stay. awake.."

Two feet came into Kai's lowered view and he gazed quietly at the boots, what normally would have been a dark mousey brown, now a creamy-colored grey from a snow topping. The sixteen year old teenager tilted his head upward and boosted his gaze to find a tall figure in his line of vision.

" Kai..." A voice murmured.