One True Team
* Sorry about last chapter! I was finishing it in a hurry cause of homework and exams coming up! EEK! Oh well! Enjoy! May update later because of exams next week! Sorry!
* * * * * * * *
& & % % @ @! ! # #
"Oh man, am I tired or what?"
"Yes Tyson, we know."
"But we've still got to practice for the finals! If we don't practice, then we'll lose!"
"Right, Kenny." The Bladebreakers were in their bedroom. It was night, and they were settling in to sleep. Tyson yawned.
"I'm glad we won today's match. If not, then we'll never make it to the finals."
"I'm just glad that all those weird accidents stopped occurring," Ray said.
"You don't suppose those accidents were done on purpose, do you?" Max asked.
"From my point of view, I'll say they were," Ray answered seriously.
"If you DO think about it, I'll say they were too. First there were those weird threat notes telling us to quit the championships," Kenny pointed.
"Then there was that sneaky smoke bomb threat on MY girlfriend Lexis," Tyson told him.
"There was that poisoned drink Terri drank," Max said.
"And then somebody framed Saber for stealing and beat her up on the restaurant roof," Ray added. Kai remained silent as he listened to them. He soon realized that nothing was done to his girlfriend, Solo.
"But why would they want to eliminate us from the finals? Couldn't they just eliminate some other team?" asked Max.
"Maybe there's someone on our team that the other team wants to get rid of," Kai suggested. "Up until now, someone has always been hurt due to those, uh, accidents. And every time, it's been someone on the Wildcats team."
"Maybe the other team is just doing that so we would be unprepared for the worst," Kenny gasped.
"Chill out," Ray said. "We've got two days before the finals to practice. So let's sleep and worry about things tomorrow."
"Okay," Kenny sighed.
"Good night all," snored Tyson. Everyone started to sleep except for Kai. Instead he looked out the window to the dark sky.
Something's not right, he thought. Something weird is going on around here . . .. He didn't give much thought to it and sleep overtook him.
() () () () ^^^^^^^^^^^^ () () () ()
"OWW!" The girl landed on the floor, groaning. Then she grunted again as she was kicked in the stomach again. The shadows of the leader shone on the floor. The girl with the red highlights raised a hand to stop the other two figures.
"You were told to eliminate the Wildcats and the Bladebreakers out of the championships and out of our way!"
"But I did. . . ow!"
"They were battling this morning. And I thought you had everything under control."
"But I did before. It's not my fault that Solo was too smart for a framing like that! If not, then they would have never entered the finals and we could have won it!" The brown-haired girl groaned again as she was stepped on. She had already been punched and kicked at for the last three minutes as a punishment and it could very well been an eternal three minutes of hell.
"I'll let you go this time," the leader said. The other figures walked away. The punished girl weakly lifted herself up from the floor, bruises on her face, legs, and arms. "At least now I know that Solo has been much more clever than she has been before. But, this time, I'm going to be wiser when I win the championships for good!"
**** ***** *******
"Wake up, Saber!"
"Okay already! Zzzz. . . . Ow! Don't poke me in the stomach! You know I'm ticklish!" Saber rolled off the bed. Her ankle had almost healed and she was feeling more awake than yesterday. Lexis, still in her pajamas, stood beside Terri, who was also in her pajamas.
"We better start training for the finals, because from what I've heard," Lexis said. "The other team is brutal."
"Yeah. And I'm the great saber-toothed panther," Saber joked.
"Enough joking," Solo cut in. "We've got some serious practicing to do. So get dressed and hurry up!" A few minutes later, the Wildcats and the Bladebreakers met outside in the main room.
"Morning," Tyson shouted to Lexis. Lexis blinked at him, then smiled in surprise.
"You finally woke up early for once!"
"Enough talking," Kenny cut in. "We've got a lot of work to do. Starting with you, Tyson." After a quick breakfast, the Bladebreakers and the Wildcats got to work. They starting training on their strategies, then worked on a few back up plans, and finally battled each other.
"Go Draciel!"
"Go Driger!" CRASH! Driger and Draciel rammed into each other in a dead headlock.
"Aww that was sweet, Max," Ray grinned.
"Thanks. I managed to update my Draciel so it will be superb when defending." Terri was sitting next to Saber and was both watching the boys battle each other in single combats.
"Ray's actually pretty cute, you know," Terri commented.
"Watch it," Saber joked. "He's taken."
"Let it rip!" Lexis yelled as she ripped her beyblade.
"Go Bengalion!" Solo shouted. Kai and Tyson watched as the two girls started to battle. Kai admired Solo's rough edge and quiet personality. If she were something like Tyson, then that's a different story.
"So Kai," Tyson said loudly. "What do you think of Solo?" Kai shrugged.
"She's very mature. Unlike you."
"Hey, so I'm a bit immature and I think you're too mature for your age."
"Don't tell me about my age, Tyson. We have the finals to win first and then you can tell me about my age."
"Hmph! Mr. Sour-pants doesn't like getting personal, does he?" Kai ignored him and concentrated on Solo's match. Solo was doing pretty well, but for some reason, she seemed to be thinking about something else instead of the match with Lexis.
"Jaguarah, Jaguar Paw Scratch!" Jaguarah attacked Bengalion. But Solo didn't seem to notice it. That was until her beyblade flew out of the ring and onto the floor. She blinked, then looked up.
"Sorry, Lexis. I guess I wasn't paying attention." Solo shook her head as if she just woke up. "Let's go again. I'll pay attention this time." Kenny went over to Tyson and Kai.
"Okay Tyson, here's where you need to work on," Kenny explained. "You need a bit more power in your attack skills, so when you attack, make sure Dragoon is fresh and strong. Kai, you're doing pretty well overall, but you and Solo need to concentrate a bit more on a defend strategy in case the other opponents' attack is more powerful than your own. I highly doubt that, but still, you never know when that can happen. Now, about that- AHH!" Kenny shrieked as a flying beyblade flew across him, and hammered into the wall between Kai and Tyson's heads. They both ducked down. Smoke drifted from the beyblade as Kai looked at it. It was an orange beyblade.
"Wow!" Lexis stuttered. "Sorry about that guys. Solo here just showed me how she amped up her attack power."
Walking to the hole in the wall, Lexis picked off her beyblade and smiled when she discovered it wasn't broken. Solo smiled innocently as Kai looked at her.
"Sorry," she said as she sat next to him.
"Now, how about you and I have a battle, Kai?" Tyson asked, showing his Dragoon to him. Kai sighed, then got up from the bench and walked to the ring. As the two battled, Lexis asked, "What do we need to work on?" Kenny uploaded a file on the laptop.
"Well, you and Tyson should work on another attack strategy in case you DJ Destruction plan doesn't work. You could try a more contacting battle strategy too. But so far, your DJ Destruction strategy has been successful. Solo, it would be better if you and Kai worked on a defensive strategy to back up your other attack strategy."
"Thanks a lot chief," Lexis smiled.
"Can we get some lunch?" Tyson asked.
"Didn't we just have breakfast?" Max asked as he, Ray, Saber, and Terri walked towards them.
"I DO recall that we ate breakfast an hour ago," Ray grinned.
"Let's go to our hotel room first," Terri suggested.
"Okay." With that, the two teams walked back to the elevator and up to their room floor. Kenny abruptly took his key and unlocked the door. But the moment light shone into the room, Terri gasped. The room was a mess. Chairs were overturned, lamps were knocked down, a few clothing items were scattered about, and scattered paper bits laid all about. Lexis stared at the messed up room.
"Um, guys, is this suppose to be some kind of joke?" asked Max.
"I didn't even know that Solo could make a joke at all- OW!" Saber crash landed on the floor as Solo socked her back with a satisfying punch.
"It's not me, so don't even start!" Saber muttered something under her breath but stopped when Solo cracked her knuckles. Kai had to hide his smirk.
"What exactly happened here?" asked Ray as he helped Saber up and peeked inside. Cautiously, Tyson took a small step inside. Then jumped when he heard a thud.
"Sorry!" Lexis had accidentally dropped her beyblade onto the wooden floor. Quietly, the two teams stepped inside the room.
"Who did this?"
"Well it wasn't me," Solo said, annoyed at Saber's comment. Saber stuck her tongue out in a play like matter.
"Let's see if anything was taken," Terri suggested.
"Well, they didn't take anything out of the fridge," Tyson told them as he opened their small fridge. Lexis sighed.
"The rooms are just messed up but I don't think they took anything either," Saber said as she poked her head into their bedroom. Solo looked about in the hallway, then closed the door.
"Maybe it was a break-in," she started to say as she turned around to lock the door. Then she froze. Her hand started to shake as she stared at the back of the door. Kai, noticing that she hadn't moved, walked next to her.
"What's wrong?" he asked. Solo didn't answer him. Instead, she pointed to the door. On the door was a photograph. The photograph showed a picture of the Wildcats and the Bladebreakers. Kai didn't see anything really weird until he saw what Solo was staring at. A knife was pinned to the part of the picture where Solo was. The knife ran right through her face and was nailed deep in the wood. The black handle of the knife was dripping with blood like substance. Scribbled on the photograph in the same blood red substance were the words: Next time, this is what will happen to you if you don't quit the championships! The blood was still dripping down from the knife handle and the photograph. Solo frowned and took a step back shakily. She accidentally backed into Kai.
"Sorry." She clenched her fists to stop shaking. She felt Kai put his arms around her waist, then he leaned close to her shoulder.
"It's okay," he murmured. Solo clenched her teeth, embarrassed of being comforted, but at the same time glad that Kai was there. Her face glowed a slight blush of pink.
"Thanks," she whispered to him. Then she calmed down and Kai released her from his arms.
"This has got to be another so-called-accident," Terri said, her hands on her hips. Solo and Kai turned around from the door, revealing the photo- stabbed-knife scenery. Terri started to say something else, but stopped when she saw the knife jabbed into the picture and into the door.
"Oh no," she gasped. Max, by now has also seen the door and was equally shocked as Terri was.
"Someone must really want us out of the game, huh?" he asked. "First they sent us threats, then they hurt you, and now they sabotage our room and send a knife dazzling photo."
"I think we better tell Mr. Dickenson about this," Kenny suggested. Solo's eyes grew wide the moment Kenny said this. Facing him, she said, "No."
"What?"
"I said No."
"But why?"
"This is probably some practical joke," Solo muttered. "Besides," she added quickly. "Don't you think Mr. Dickenson already has enough to worry about? He freaked out the last time we told him that Saber got beaten up. I don't want to worry him anymore, so we shouldn't tell him. Instead, why don't we just tell him that we want to switch rooms because somebody broke in and messed it up?"
"Um . . .. Okay," Kenny answered.
"Just don't tell him about the knife, k?" Solo hissed.
"Sure. Besides, Solo's right. Mr. Dickenson might try to take us out of the championships because of these accidents," Lexis said.
"We'll just tell him that our room got messed up and we didn't really like the room cause people were too noisy outside," Ray suggested.
"Well, that IS true in a way," Saber thought out loud.
"Alright. Let's pack our stuff then and Kenny can call Mr. Dickenson," Max said. Soon, everyone was packing or cleaning up. Solo, noticing that no one was looking, turned around and pulled the knife out of the door. She noticed that the blood like substance was actually stage blood (cornstarch, food coloring and water mixed together). But the knife was real. The picture collapsed to the floor but something was taped to the door behind it. A crushed black paper origami flower was plastered against the wooden door. Solo could see a couple of scars in the wood left by the knife. A deep gash pointed out that that was the place where the knife was pushed in. The other scars were rapid clean strokes. Solo touched the origami flower, then touched the scars. Her mind was racing. Could it possibly be . . .? . . . . no, it couldn't be . . . . . She nearly jumped out of her skin when someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was Lexis.
"Do you remember where the schedule of the beyblade finals is?"
"I gave it to Kenny because he asked for it."
"Thanks." As Lexis went into the boys' room, Solo quickly snatched the flower off the door, shoved it into her pocket, then marched into her room and started packing.
* * * * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"Mmm, this sure is good!" Tyson sighed.
"I'm just glad that the manager decided to give us a free room and a free dinner," Kenny said.
"We're going to have to start training afterwards," Ray replied. "Oh Chief, do you have any data on our opposing team?"
"No. The only things I DO know about this team is that they have never lost a single match in this championship, and from people's comments, they play pretty brutal, which means that WE have to train harder."
"Oh right! I forgot to tell you," Saber said, slapping her head. "We managed to increase our attack power and we DO have a few backup plans in case our X-Claw Collision doesn't work."
"We came up with a new name for our defense strategy," Max said. "We're going to call it the DC Barrier. We're still working on our endurance, but we have our attacking position in the bag." Terri gave him a peck on the cheek, which made Max turn bright pink.
"We've increased our speed and attack power," Solo replied. "That way, we can finish off our opponents two times faster."
"And we've created a back up version of DJ Destruction," Tyson cheered, flashing a peace sign.
"Alright!" Lexis laughed. With that, Tyson stood up, holding his cup of Coke.
"Here's a toast: To US, the best two teams out there!" Everyone else, even Kai, stood up with their cups of Coke.
"To Us!"
* * * * * *
"Bengalion, Tiger Pounce Tackle!" Bengalion slammed into Cougarah. Terri smiled.
"Cougarah, begin Defense Shield now!" Bengalion was locked head to head.
"Go Draciel!"
"Go Dranzer!" Both Draciel and Dranzer crashed into each other, Dranzer slightly pushing Draciel back. All of a sudden, Dranzer moved back and rose up in the air. It hovered a few feet from Draciel.
"Now Dranzer, Spin Fire Attack!" Dranzer dive-bombed right on top of Draciel and knocked him out of the dish. Max grinned.
"You still do that move on me, don't you?" he laughed. Kai smiled slightly in amusement. He had used that move on Max in the regional qualifying match in Japan before the Bladebreakers became a team. Solo and Terri however, were still in a tug-of-war-position in the bowl. Solo frowned.
"Keep her there, Cougarah," Terri replied. "Come on. It should be about time. . . now." Pretty soon, Bengalion started to wobble. "Now Cougarah, Mountain Cat Attack!"
"Bengalion, attack now!" Both beyblades bounced backwards away from the attack, landing on the rims of the dish. Cougarah bounced into the dish, but Bengalion spun on the rim. Suddenly, it shook, then fell into the dish and crash-landed in the middle. Solo raised an eyebrow at that. Terri had to grin.
"Don't tell me you let me win that?" she asked. Solo shook her head.
"I didn't. You won." Terri smiled, then held out her hand in friendly sympathy. Solo, looking reluctant at that, cautiously shook her friend's hand.
"That was a great match you guys," Ray smiled as he and Saber ran over.
"Yeah." Saber grinned cheerfully.
"Let's call it a night and watch something on TV," suggested Lexis. "We could choose some movies."
"I saw a couple in the TV guide," Saber recalled. "But I'm warning you! We are not seeing anything that's suitable for children!"
"And don't forget ROOM SERVICE!!!!!!" Tyson shouted. Everyone laughed, then headed for the elevator down the hallway. Solo walked a bit slower with Kai. That origami flower was still on her mind. Where had she seen that before. . . . ? Her thoughts broke as she saw Kai glancing at her puzzled.
"What's on your mind?" he asked.
"Nothing. Really."
"It's not another guy, is it?" Solo playfully slapped him on the arm.
"Of course not! I've got you! What more do I need?"
"Can you prove it?" Kai smirked as Solo raised an eyebrow.
"I've got so much evidence that it'll knock you off your feet." With that, she lowered his head to hers and they melted into a long kiss. Kai put his arms around her waist as Solo put her arms around his neck. After a moment, they broke away from each other, slightly panting. Solo recovered quicker and smiled slyly.
"Was that good enough evidence for you?" Kai, still dazed, shook his head and smiled a small smile.
"Oh yeah." Putting an arm around her shoulder, Kai and Solo walked towards the elevator, with Solo's thoughts of the black origami flower forgotten.
*Watcha think of that? I may update later due to exams! Review and I hope u enjoyed it!
~ Zero2-the-scyther
* Sorry about last chapter! I was finishing it in a hurry cause of homework and exams coming up! EEK! Oh well! Enjoy! May update later because of exams next week! Sorry!
* * * * * * * *
& & % % @ @! ! # #
"Oh man, am I tired or what?"
"Yes Tyson, we know."
"But we've still got to practice for the finals! If we don't practice, then we'll lose!"
"Right, Kenny." The Bladebreakers were in their bedroom. It was night, and they were settling in to sleep. Tyson yawned.
"I'm glad we won today's match. If not, then we'll never make it to the finals."
"I'm just glad that all those weird accidents stopped occurring," Ray said.
"You don't suppose those accidents were done on purpose, do you?" Max asked.
"From my point of view, I'll say they were," Ray answered seriously.
"If you DO think about it, I'll say they were too. First there were those weird threat notes telling us to quit the championships," Kenny pointed.
"Then there was that sneaky smoke bomb threat on MY girlfriend Lexis," Tyson told him.
"There was that poisoned drink Terri drank," Max said.
"And then somebody framed Saber for stealing and beat her up on the restaurant roof," Ray added. Kai remained silent as he listened to them. He soon realized that nothing was done to his girlfriend, Solo.
"But why would they want to eliminate us from the finals? Couldn't they just eliminate some other team?" asked Max.
"Maybe there's someone on our team that the other team wants to get rid of," Kai suggested. "Up until now, someone has always been hurt due to those, uh, accidents. And every time, it's been someone on the Wildcats team."
"Maybe the other team is just doing that so we would be unprepared for the worst," Kenny gasped.
"Chill out," Ray said. "We've got two days before the finals to practice. So let's sleep and worry about things tomorrow."
"Okay," Kenny sighed.
"Good night all," snored Tyson. Everyone started to sleep except for Kai. Instead he looked out the window to the dark sky.
Something's not right, he thought. Something weird is going on around here . . .. He didn't give much thought to it and sleep overtook him.
() () () () ^^^^^^^^^^^^ () () () ()
"OWW!" The girl landed on the floor, groaning. Then she grunted again as she was kicked in the stomach again. The shadows of the leader shone on the floor. The girl with the red highlights raised a hand to stop the other two figures.
"You were told to eliminate the Wildcats and the Bladebreakers out of the championships and out of our way!"
"But I did. . . ow!"
"They were battling this morning. And I thought you had everything under control."
"But I did before. It's not my fault that Solo was too smart for a framing like that! If not, then they would have never entered the finals and we could have won it!" The brown-haired girl groaned again as she was stepped on. She had already been punched and kicked at for the last three minutes as a punishment and it could very well been an eternal three minutes of hell.
"I'll let you go this time," the leader said. The other figures walked away. The punished girl weakly lifted herself up from the floor, bruises on her face, legs, and arms. "At least now I know that Solo has been much more clever than she has been before. But, this time, I'm going to be wiser when I win the championships for good!"
**** ***** *******
"Wake up, Saber!"
"Okay already! Zzzz. . . . Ow! Don't poke me in the stomach! You know I'm ticklish!" Saber rolled off the bed. Her ankle had almost healed and she was feeling more awake than yesterday. Lexis, still in her pajamas, stood beside Terri, who was also in her pajamas.
"We better start training for the finals, because from what I've heard," Lexis said. "The other team is brutal."
"Yeah. And I'm the great saber-toothed panther," Saber joked.
"Enough joking," Solo cut in. "We've got some serious practicing to do. So get dressed and hurry up!" A few minutes later, the Wildcats and the Bladebreakers met outside in the main room.
"Morning," Tyson shouted to Lexis. Lexis blinked at him, then smiled in surprise.
"You finally woke up early for once!"
"Enough talking," Kenny cut in. "We've got a lot of work to do. Starting with you, Tyson." After a quick breakfast, the Bladebreakers and the Wildcats got to work. They starting training on their strategies, then worked on a few back up plans, and finally battled each other.
"Go Draciel!"
"Go Driger!" CRASH! Driger and Draciel rammed into each other in a dead headlock.
"Aww that was sweet, Max," Ray grinned.
"Thanks. I managed to update my Draciel so it will be superb when defending." Terri was sitting next to Saber and was both watching the boys battle each other in single combats.
"Ray's actually pretty cute, you know," Terri commented.
"Watch it," Saber joked. "He's taken."
"Let it rip!" Lexis yelled as she ripped her beyblade.
"Go Bengalion!" Solo shouted. Kai and Tyson watched as the two girls started to battle. Kai admired Solo's rough edge and quiet personality. If she were something like Tyson, then that's a different story.
"So Kai," Tyson said loudly. "What do you think of Solo?" Kai shrugged.
"She's very mature. Unlike you."
"Hey, so I'm a bit immature and I think you're too mature for your age."
"Don't tell me about my age, Tyson. We have the finals to win first and then you can tell me about my age."
"Hmph! Mr. Sour-pants doesn't like getting personal, does he?" Kai ignored him and concentrated on Solo's match. Solo was doing pretty well, but for some reason, she seemed to be thinking about something else instead of the match with Lexis.
"Jaguarah, Jaguar Paw Scratch!" Jaguarah attacked Bengalion. But Solo didn't seem to notice it. That was until her beyblade flew out of the ring and onto the floor. She blinked, then looked up.
"Sorry, Lexis. I guess I wasn't paying attention." Solo shook her head as if she just woke up. "Let's go again. I'll pay attention this time." Kenny went over to Tyson and Kai.
"Okay Tyson, here's where you need to work on," Kenny explained. "You need a bit more power in your attack skills, so when you attack, make sure Dragoon is fresh and strong. Kai, you're doing pretty well overall, but you and Solo need to concentrate a bit more on a defend strategy in case the other opponents' attack is more powerful than your own. I highly doubt that, but still, you never know when that can happen. Now, about that- AHH!" Kenny shrieked as a flying beyblade flew across him, and hammered into the wall between Kai and Tyson's heads. They both ducked down. Smoke drifted from the beyblade as Kai looked at it. It was an orange beyblade.
"Wow!" Lexis stuttered. "Sorry about that guys. Solo here just showed me how she amped up her attack power."
Walking to the hole in the wall, Lexis picked off her beyblade and smiled when she discovered it wasn't broken. Solo smiled innocently as Kai looked at her.
"Sorry," she said as she sat next to him.
"Now, how about you and I have a battle, Kai?" Tyson asked, showing his Dragoon to him. Kai sighed, then got up from the bench and walked to the ring. As the two battled, Lexis asked, "What do we need to work on?" Kenny uploaded a file on the laptop.
"Well, you and Tyson should work on another attack strategy in case you DJ Destruction plan doesn't work. You could try a more contacting battle strategy too. But so far, your DJ Destruction strategy has been successful. Solo, it would be better if you and Kai worked on a defensive strategy to back up your other attack strategy."
"Thanks a lot chief," Lexis smiled.
"Can we get some lunch?" Tyson asked.
"Didn't we just have breakfast?" Max asked as he, Ray, Saber, and Terri walked towards them.
"I DO recall that we ate breakfast an hour ago," Ray grinned.
"Let's go to our hotel room first," Terri suggested.
"Okay." With that, the two teams walked back to the elevator and up to their room floor. Kenny abruptly took his key and unlocked the door. But the moment light shone into the room, Terri gasped. The room was a mess. Chairs were overturned, lamps were knocked down, a few clothing items were scattered about, and scattered paper bits laid all about. Lexis stared at the messed up room.
"Um, guys, is this suppose to be some kind of joke?" asked Max.
"I didn't even know that Solo could make a joke at all- OW!" Saber crash landed on the floor as Solo socked her back with a satisfying punch.
"It's not me, so don't even start!" Saber muttered something under her breath but stopped when Solo cracked her knuckles. Kai had to hide his smirk.
"What exactly happened here?" asked Ray as he helped Saber up and peeked inside. Cautiously, Tyson took a small step inside. Then jumped when he heard a thud.
"Sorry!" Lexis had accidentally dropped her beyblade onto the wooden floor. Quietly, the two teams stepped inside the room.
"Who did this?"
"Well it wasn't me," Solo said, annoyed at Saber's comment. Saber stuck her tongue out in a play like matter.
"Let's see if anything was taken," Terri suggested.
"Well, they didn't take anything out of the fridge," Tyson told them as he opened their small fridge. Lexis sighed.
"The rooms are just messed up but I don't think they took anything either," Saber said as she poked her head into their bedroom. Solo looked about in the hallway, then closed the door.
"Maybe it was a break-in," she started to say as she turned around to lock the door. Then she froze. Her hand started to shake as she stared at the back of the door. Kai, noticing that she hadn't moved, walked next to her.
"What's wrong?" he asked. Solo didn't answer him. Instead, she pointed to the door. On the door was a photograph. The photograph showed a picture of the Wildcats and the Bladebreakers. Kai didn't see anything really weird until he saw what Solo was staring at. A knife was pinned to the part of the picture where Solo was. The knife ran right through her face and was nailed deep in the wood. The black handle of the knife was dripping with blood like substance. Scribbled on the photograph in the same blood red substance were the words: Next time, this is what will happen to you if you don't quit the championships! The blood was still dripping down from the knife handle and the photograph. Solo frowned and took a step back shakily. She accidentally backed into Kai.
"Sorry." She clenched her fists to stop shaking. She felt Kai put his arms around her waist, then he leaned close to her shoulder.
"It's okay," he murmured. Solo clenched her teeth, embarrassed of being comforted, but at the same time glad that Kai was there. Her face glowed a slight blush of pink.
"Thanks," she whispered to him. Then she calmed down and Kai released her from his arms.
"This has got to be another so-called-accident," Terri said, her hands on her hips. Solo and Kai turned around from the door, revealing the photo- stabbed-knife scenery. Terri started to say something else, but stopped when she saw the knife jabbed into the picture and into the door.
"Oh no," she gasped. Max, by now has also seen the door and was equally shocked as Terri was.
"Someone must really want us out of the game, huh?" he asked. "First they sent us threats, then they hurt you, and now they sabotage our room and send a knife dazzling photo."
"I think we better tell Mr. Dickenson about this," Kenny suggested. Solo's eyes grew wide the moment Kenny said this. Facing him, she said, "No."
"What?"
"I said No."
"But why?"
"This is probably some practical joke," Solo muttered. "Besides," she added quickly. "Don't you think Mr. Dickenson already has enough to worry about? He freaked out the last time we told him that Saber got beaten up. I don't want to worry him anymore, so we shouldn't tell him. Instead, why don't we just tell him that we want to switch rooms because somebody broke in and messed it up?"
"Um . . .. Okay," Kenny answered.
"Just don't tell him about the knife, k?" Solo hissed.
"Sure. Besides, Solo's right. Mr. Dickenson might try to take us out of the championships because of these accidents," Lexis said.
"We'll just tell him that our room got messed up and we didn't really like the room cause people were too noisy outside," Ray suggested.
"Well, that IS true in a way," Saber thought out loud.
"Alright. Let's pack our stuff then and Kenny can call Mr. Dickenson," Max said. Soon, everyone was packing or cleaning up. Solo, noticing that no one was looking, turned around and pulled the knife out of the door. She noticed that the blood like substance was actually stage blood (cornstarch, food coloring and water mixed together). But the knife was real. The picture collapsed to the floor but something was taped to the door behind it. A crushed black paper origami flower was plastered against the wooden door. Solo could see a couple of scars in the wood left by the knife. A deep gash pointed out that that was the place where the knife was pushed in. The other scars were rapid clean strokes. Solo touched the origami flower, then touched the scars. Her mind was racing. Could it possibly be . . .? . . . . no, it couldn't be . . . . . She nearly jumped out of her skin when someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was Lexis.
"Do you remember where the schedule of the beyblade finals is?"
"I gave it to Kenny because he asked for it."
"Thanks." As Lexis went into the boys' room, Solo quickly snatched the flower off the door, shoved it into her pocket, then marched into her room and started packing.
* * * * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"Mmm, this sure is good!" Tyson sighed.
"I'm just glad that the manager decided to give us a free room and a free dinner," Kenny said.
"We're going to have to start training afterwards," Ray replied. "Oh Chief, do you have any data on our opposing team?"
"No. The only things I DO know about this team is that they have never lost a single match in this championship, and from people's comments, they play pretty brutal, which means that WE have to train harder."
"Oh right! I forgot to tell you," Saber said, slapping her head. "We managed to increase our attack power and we DO have a few backup plans in case our X-Claw Collision doesn't work."
"We came up with a new name for our defense strategy," Max said. "We're going to call it the DC Barrier. We're still working on our endurance, but we have our attacking position in the bag." Terri gave him a peck on the cheek, which made Max turn bright pink.
"We've increased our speed and attack power," Solo replied. "That way, we can finish off our opponents two times faster."
"And we've created a back up version of DJ Destruction," Tyson cheered, flashing a peace sign.
"Alright!" Lexis laughed. With that, Tyson stood up, holding his cup of Coke.
"Here's a toast: To US, the best two teams out there!" Everyone else, even Kai, stood up with their cups of Coke.
"To Us!"
* * * * * *
"Bengalion, Tiger Pounce Tackle!" Bengalion slammed into Cougarah. Terri smiled.
"Cougarah, begin Defense Shield now!" Bengalion was locked head to head.
"Go Draciel!"
"Go Dranzer!" Both Draciel and Dranzer crashed into each other, Dranzer slightly pushing Draciel back. All of a sudden, Dranzer moved back and rose up in the air. It hovered a few feet from Draciel.
"Now Dranzer, Spin Fire Attack!" Dranzer dive-bombed right on top of Draciel and knocked him out of the dish. Max grinned.
"You still do that move on me, don't you?" he laughed. Kai smiled slightly in amusement. He had used that move on Max in the regional qualifying match in Japan before the Bladebreakers became a team. Solo and Terri however, were still in a tug-of-war-position in the bowl. Solo frowned.
"Keep her there, Cougarah," Terri replied. "Come on. It should be about time. . . now." Pretty soon, Bengalion started to wobble. "Now Cougarah, Mountain Cat Attack!"
"Bengalion, attack now!" Both beyblades bounced backwards away from the attack, landing on the rims of the dish. Cougarah bounced into the dish, but Bengalion spun on the rim. Suddenly, it shook, then fell into the dish and crash-landed in the middle. Solo raised an eyebrow at that. Terri had to grin.
"Don't tell me you let me win that?" she asked. Solo shook her head.
"I didn't. You won." Terri smiled, then held out her hand in friendly sympathy. Solo, looking reluctant at that, cautiously shook her friend's hand.
"That was a great match you guys," Ray smiled as he and Saber ran over.
"Yeah." Saber grinned cheerfully.
"Let's call it a night and watch something on TV," suggested Lexis. "We could choose some movies."
"I saw a couple in the TV guide," Saber recalled. "But I'm warning you! We are not seeing anything that's suitable for children!"
"And don't forget ROOM SERVICE!!!!!!" Tyson shouted. Everyone laughed, then headed for the elevator down the hallway. Solo walked a bit slower with Kai. That origami flower was still on her mind. Where had she seen that before. . . . ? Her thoughts broke as she saw Kai glancing at her puzzled.
"What's on your mind?" he asked.
"Nothing. Really."
"It's not another guy, is it?" Solo playfully slapped him on the arm.
"Of course not! I've got you! What more do I need?"
"Can you prove it?" Kai smirked as Solo raised an eyebrow.
"I've got so much evidence that it'll knock you off your feet." With that, she lowered his head to hers and they melted into a long kiss. Kai put his arms around her waist as Solo put her arms around his neck. After a moment, they broke away from each other, slightly panting. Solo recovered quicker and smiled slyly.
"Was that good enough evidence for you?" Kai, still dazed, shook his head and smiled a small smile.
"Oh yeah." Putting an arm around her shoulder, Kai and Solo walked towards the elevator, with Solo's thoughts of the black origami flower forgotten.
*Watcha think of that? I may update later due to exams! Review and I hope u enjoyed it!
~ Zero2-the-scyther