Anime: Heh heh heh... sorry for the long wait for this chapter, guys, but
so much has happened in the past few days...
Chibi Kai: Like big Kai getting a tattoo and him and Anya getting drunk for the very first time!
Anime: *snorts* That was quite funny....
Kai: It was not....
Anya: It was degrading and unhealthy.
Anime: But at least you two realise how much you care for each other...
**Both muses leave room, blushing**
Anime: Aww..... young love... Well, let's see if I can get that into the fic soon...
____________________________________________________________________________ ________
The next morning, Anya's mood seemed to improve slightly, although she kept throwing annoyed looks at the possessor of Dragoon. Tyson wasn't speaking to Anya, partly for her treatment and partly because he was struggling to push three extra thick pancakes down his throat. Kai swallowed the last of his eggs and glanced over at Anya, who although looked to be in a foul mood, seemed extremely subdued, staring at something on the other side of the hotel restaurant and fiddling with her necklace. Kai learnt to recognise that as a sign that something was weighing heavily on her mind.
"What's the matter, Anya, aside from the obvious?" Kai asked quietly, trying not to sound too concerned or attract attention from the other Bladebreakers. Anya snapped out of her stupor and shook her head.
"Nothing."
Kai blinked, disbelieving, but dropped it. He raised his voice slightly for the rest of the team to hear. "Alright. I think we should do some training today. Our impromptu match with the Dark Ninjas on Valentines' Night shouldn't have been so hard for us. That signals that we have far more improvement to go through."
"Aw Kai... Why muff fwee twain now? I'm fill 'ungry" Tyson said after managing to get half the pancakes down his mouth.
******
"Again!"
"Aw, Kai..."
"Like I said, try again!"
Tyson huffed, reloading his blade into his launcher. He cast a glance to the others nearby. Max was up against Ray, both boys figuring out new strategies and making improvements. Anya was blading in a separate dish, crashing through rocks and planks of wood, or dodging them, Kenny observing and suggesting any improvements to Anya and Dizzi that could be added.
"Tyson! Were you listening or not!?"
Tyson sighed and turned back to face Kai. "Alright already! Keep your scarf on!"
The Bladebreakers continued like this during the morning, unaware of the fact they were watched.
******
"Attack ring."
Kenny handed Anya a purple attack ring that he'd designed for her. Anya snapped it into place and held up her newly constructed blade, inspecting it.
"So what so special about these improvements, Chief?"
"I've given you a new weight disk which will give you a slightly more solid spin. To counterbalance that so that your signature speed isn't affected, I've given you an altered attack ring. It's lighter, made of titanium, so it'll still pack a harder punch."
Anya lowered her hand and snapped in her bit chip. Draphiel glowed, making Anya smile faintly. Tyson, Ray and Max were sitting some way away, eating lunch. Kai walked up to the two and looked over them as they talked about Anya's improved blade. "Anything else?"
"Nope." Kenny said, looking back at the laptop screen. "That's about it. With the simulations Dizzi put the model through, it should be faster."
"Unless Draphiel put on some extra weight." Dizzi said.
"We'll see." Anya said, snapping the new blade into her launcher. She stood to her full height and looked at Kai. "Do you want a rematch? From what I can remember, we haven't bladed against each other since the tournament in Japan when I became a Bladebreaker."
Kai smiled and took out his own blade. "Why not? Tyson isn't much of a challenge."
"You'll be sorry you said that." Anya said with a smirk.
Suddenly, a blade flew out of nowhere. Kai knocked Anya down before she could be hit. The captain looked up in the direction of the blade.
"Kai..." Anya muttered quietly.
Kai looked down at Anya, hoping against hope his face wasn't burning up when he realised the way he was positioned on top of Anya. "What?"
"You may not be as heavy as Tyson, but you're not exactly light, either! Get off me!"
The rest of the Bladebreakers ran over as Anya stood and shook her head, snatching her hat off the ground. Kai looked into the dish at the still spinning blade.
"What's the big idea?" he said to no-one in particular.
"Did I scare you?"
The Bladebreakers turned. A cloaked figure was standing in the shadows. Although they couldn't see his face clearly, they could see him sneer. Ray frowned.
"You're not one of the Dark Ninjas, are you?"
The figure's sneer turned into a snarl. "How dare you associate me with those rejects? They don't even deserve the name of darkness!"
Tyson blinked. "If you're not a Dark Ninja, then who are you?"
The figure moved out of the shadows and faced the Bladebreakers. He removed his hood, revealing a pale, nearly white head of hair topped with a tall pointed hat. A pale young face, although hard looking, had a pair of mystical looking green eyes peering at the team, bemused. He held up a gloved hand. The blade in the dish rotated around the dish then slingshot itself into the boy's hand.
"I am Merlin. I come with greetings from my team, the Dark Bladers."
The Bladebreakers stared at the boy. A moment later, four other figures appeared from the shadows. A bandaged hand from one of the cloaked figures placed itself onto Merlin's shoulder.
"Excellent work, Merlin. You have found the Bladebreakers."
"Added points for frightening them". Sanguinex added, walking a little closer so the Bladebreakers could see his face. Anya's own face fell at the sight.
Tyson grinned. "Hey! It's the Dark Bladers! How's it going guys?"
Lupinex let out a low growl. "Not bad. Spreading a little terror here, a little fear there. Halloween's been a howl."
Zomb smiled. "Yeah. We got twice the candy we normally get, thanks to all the nice children giving us their candy."
Max tilted his head. "Kids gave you their candy?"
"Or you could say that they dropped their bags and ran off screaming."
Anya frowned a little and leaned closer to Kai. "Are these guys for real?"
Kai smiled and nodded, although something nagged at him about Anya's expression and tone of voice. Sanguinex walked closer and held his hand out to Anya. "I am Sanguinex. You must be Anya, the new addition to the Bladebreakers. Pleased to be of acquaintance."
Anya paled but out of politeness, tentatively held out a hand. "Yeah. Same... here..." Sanguinex smiled, fangs glinting. Anya's hand slipped out from the vampire-wannabe's grip faster than an oiled live trout from a chef's grip. That only proved to amuse Sanguinex further. She's afraid of vampires... Kai thought, subconsciously picking that up in his head. He wasn't sure how, but he felt as though he already knew that.
"I overheard you saying you wanted to test your new blade. I've heard so much about you, but I want to see for myself how good you are", Merlin spoke up. "I challenge you to a bey-battle."
Anya smiled and held up her launcher with her blade inside. "You're on."
******
"Draphiel!!! Harpies' Ice Hurricane!!!!"
"Magiciomon! Magical Blast!"
The two bitbeasts launched their attacks at each other. Anya and Merlin ignored the breeze that blew because of the impact of the two attacks. The purple blade that held Draphiel started to zigzag wildly around Merlin's own dusty indigo blade. Anya grinned.
"Good, Draphiel! Faster!"
"Dizzi! Those improvements have worked. I calculate Anya's blade to be significantly faster than it was originally!" Kenny said excitedly, recording the match.
"Anya's blade may be faster, but I'm betting she still won't be fast enough to catch you to get at me if she loses."
"Wanna bet?" Anya said over her shoulder to the laptop before turning back to the match. Merlin smiled. "You may have the speed, but Magiciomon has the magic we need to win. Wizards' Flare!"
The magician bitbeast lifted its wand and summoned a series of fireballs, sending them to Draphiel.
"Draphiel, retreat and regroup!"
The harpy retreated into her chip and continued circling the indigo blade rapidly. It took all the magician had to keep up with it. Anya smiled.
"Faster, Draphiel! Let's show them we're something else!"
Draphiel glowed in response. Soon, the blade was becoming nothing more than a purple blurred ring. It moved so fast that a white cloud began to form from the blade. The Bladebreakers watched and cheered for their team mate.
"Man; that's some speed she rippin' up in there!" Max said. "The dish is smoking!"
"You're right, Max." Kenny replied.
"Hold on, boys. That's not smoke; smoke's hot." Dizzi piped up. "And you know Anya. She's a regular ice queen with Draphiel."
"Then what is it, Dizzi?"
"It's mist. I say, this is a new technique Anya and Draphiel cooked up."
Anya lifted one arm out in front of her, hand open, palm down. "Now Draphiel!"
The harpy appeared from her chip. With one feathered arm outstretched, palm down, the harpy let out a high, mournful cry. Around the dish, from the rapidly spinning blade, the cold and dense mist thickened. Merlin looked around him confusion.
"What's this!?"
Anya smiled and laughed low and quietly. "Tell me, Merlin. What do you know about harpies?"
"Er..."
"Then allow me to explain. In Greco-Roman mythology, the harpy was often associated with the wind, the underworld and ghosts. As you can see, Draphiel is a harpy, and you know her twist in her attacks is ice. However, you also know she uses a hurricane-based attack, which is true to the myths on harpies..."
Tyson shivered, the chill of the mist reaching them. "So what? Why do we need a mythology lesson anyway?"
Max rubbed his shoulders. "I've never seen anything so spooky. I'm sure that mist is getting thicker..."
Anya giggled quietly and almost evilly sounding. "Well, this is a new attack Draphiel and I worked on in secret, true to the harpy characteristics. Being a team who likes the dark and spooky, I'm sure you'll like this. ICY APPARITION!"
Draphiel let out another cry and several pale figures rose slowly from the mist. They were several misty, icy harpies that might have resembled Draphiel if it wasn't for three features. Instead of the soft feathers on their arms, they had scaly, demonic looking wings. Their hair was wild and unkempt in contrast to the neat and straight Draphiel. Lastly, and possibly more scarily, bits of the icy harpies seemed to be falling off. Merlin even took a step back when one of the seven harpies looked straight at him.
"Wh..what the...?"
The seven harpies, under Draphiel's direction, launched themselves at Magiciomon. The wizard yelled and retreated. Anya smiled in victory as Merlin watched his blade roll by his feet. The mist and ghost ice harpies had disappeared, leaving a solitary purple and white blade spinning in the dish. The only clue that there were 'ghosts' in the area was the lingering chill.
"And Anya wins the match!" Ray announced.
"That was an exciting match" Zomb said.
"Quite. And I must say that that last attack would have earned you a place in our team, young Anya." Sanguinex said.
Anya had paled and hid behind the nearest Bladebreaker, which was Max, after retrieving Draphiel. The Dark Bladers bade farewell and left the Bladebreakers. Anya sighed in relief when she saw what she hoped was the last of the nightmarish team.
"I thought they'd never leave..." Anya said with a sigh of relief. "They really freak me out."
"What's a matter? Afraid of vampires and ghosties, Anya?" Tyson said in a baby voice.
Anya blushed and snapped. "Just drop it, Tyson!"
Kai frowned inwardly as Tyson and Anya argued all the way back to the hotel. He wondered why it didn't surprise him when he first saw Anya's reaction to Sanguinex. He recognised the feeling and linked it to when he first saw Anya at Japan. The feeling that there was more to the blader than meets the eye.
____________________________________________________________________________ _________
Anime: So you're afraid of vampires, eh, Anya?
Anya: *reddens* Leave it!
Kai: *walks in, dusting cat fur off himself* What's going on here?
Anya: *humph* Never mind.
Chibi Anya: *bounding behind Anya* Anya's afraid of vampires! Anya's afraid of vampires!
Chibi Kai: *behind Chibi Anya with Pikachu, both wearing fake fangs* BOO!
Pikachu: Piikkkkkkkkaaaaaaaa!! (trans: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! ^________^)
Chibi Anya: ;____; WAH!!!!! *runs off* Vampires!!! Help!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mizu-Tenshi - That's okay. I do that, too. And tellin' about who the kidnappers are would be ... well, telling, but I'm sure you smart people can have some decent guesses.
ssykes4000 - lol. Don't worry, I spell stuff wrong a lot. I just have to say this... TANK GOD FOUR SPEEL CHEQUER! ^____~
LiL MisS ME1 - Really? Well, I wanted Anna to be the over-exuberant, Elle- Woods-Legally-Blonde type. If anyone has any suggestions as to how she could act, well.... you know what to do!
Chibi Kai: Like big Kai getting a tattoo and him and Anya getting drunk for the very first time!
Anime: *snorts* That was quite funny....
Kai: It was not....
Anya: It was degrading and unhealthy.
Anime: But at least you two realise how much you care for each other...
**Both muses leave room, blushing**
Anime: Aww..... young love... Well, let's see if I can get that into the fic soon...
____________________________________________________________________________ ________
The next morning, Anya's mood seemed to improve slightly, although she kept throwing annoyed looks at the possessor of Dragoon. Tyson wasn't speaking to Anya, partly for her treatment and partly because he was struggling to push three extra thick pancakes down his throat. Kai swallowed the last of his eggs and glanced over at Anya, who although looked to be in a foul mood, seemed extremely subdued, staring at something on the other side of the hotel restaurant and fiddling with her necklace. Kai learnt to recognise that as a sign that something was weighing heavily on her mind.
"What's the matter, Anya, aside from the obvious?" Kai asked quietly, trying not to sound too concerned or attract attention from the other Bladebreakers. Anya snapped out of her stupor and shook her head.
"Nothing."
Kai blinked, disbelieving, but dropped it. He raised his voice slightly for the rest of the team to hear. "Alright. I think we should do some training today. Our impromptu match with the Dark Ninjas on Valentines' Night shouldn't have been so hard for us. That signals that we have far more improvement to go through."
"Aw Kai... Why muff fwee twain now? I'm fill 'ungry" Tyson said after managing to get half the pancakes down his mouth.
******
"Again!"
"Aw, Kai..."
"Like I said, try again!"
Tyson huffed, reloading his blade into his launcher. He cast a glance to the others nearby. Max was up against Ray, both boys figuring out new strategies and making improvements. Anya was blading in a separate dish, crashing through rocks and planks of wood, or dodging them, Kenny observing and suggesting any improvements to Anya and Dizzi that could be added.
"Tyson! Were you listening or not!?"
Tyson sighed and turned back to face Kai. "Alright already! Keep your scarf on!"
The Bladebreakers continued like this during the morning, unaware of the fact they were watched.
******
"Attack ring."
Kenny handed Anya a purple attack ring that he'd designed for her. Anya snapped it into place and held up her newly constructed blade, inspecting it.
"So what so special about these improvements, Chief?"
"I've given you a new weight disk which will give you a slightly more solid spin. To counterbalance that so that your signature speed isn't affected, I've given you an altered attack ring. It's lighter, made of titanium, so it'll still pack a harder punch."
Anya lowered her hand and snapped in her bit chip. Draphiel glowed, making Anya smile faintly. Tyson, Ray and Max were sitting some way away, eating lunch. Kai walked up to the two and looked over them as they talked about Anya's improved blade. "Anything else?"
"Nope." Kenny said, looking back at the laptop screen. "That's about it. With the simulations Dizzi put the model through, it should be faster."
"Unless Draphiel put on some extra weight." Dizzi said.
"We'll see." Anya said, snapping the new blade into her launcher. She stood to her full height and looked at Kai. "Do you want a rematch? From what I can remember, we haven't bladed against each other since the tournament in Japan when I became a Bladebreaker."
Kai smiled and took out his own blade. "Why not? Tyson isn't much of a challenge."
"You'll be sorry you said that." Anya said with a smirk.
Suddenly, a blade flew out of nowhere. Kai knocked Anya down before she could be hit. The captain looked up in the direction of the blade.
"Kai..." Anya muttered quietly.
Kai looked down at Anya, hoping against hope his face wasn't burning up when he realised the way he was positioned on top of Anya. "What?"
"You may not be as heavy as Tyson, but you're not exactly light, either! Get off me!"
The rest of the Bladebreakers ran over as Anya stood and shook her head, snatching her hat off the ground. Kai looked into the dish at the still spinning blade.
"What's the big idea?" he said to no-one in particular.
"Did I scare you?"
The Bladebreakers turned. A cloaked figure was standing in the shadows. Although they couldn't see his face clearly, they could see him sneer. Ray frowned.
"You're not one of the Dark Ninjas, are you?"
The figure's sneer turned into a snarl. "How dare you associate me with those rejects? They don't even deserve the name of darkness!"
Tyson blinked. "If you're not a Dark Ninja, then who are you?"
The figure moved out of the shadows and faced the Bladebreakers. He removed his hood, revealing a pale, nearly white head of hair topped with a tall pointed hat. A pale young face, although hard looking, had a pair of mystical looking green eyes peering at the team, bemused. He held up a gloved hand. The blade in the dish rotated around the dish then slingshot itself into the boy's hand.
"I am Merlin. I come with greetings from my team, the Dark Bladers."
The Bladebreakers stared at the boy. A moment later, four other figures appeared from the shadows. A bandaged hand from one of the cloaked figures placed itself onto Merlin's shoulder.
"Excellent work, Merlin. You have found the Bladebreakers."
"Added points for frightening them". Sanguinex added, walking a little closer so the Bladebreakers could see his face. Anya's own face fell at the sight.
Tyson grinned. "Hey! It's the Dark Bladers! How's it going guys?"
Lupinex let out a low growl. "Not bad. Spreading a little terror here, a little fear there. Halloween's been a howl."
Zomb smiled. "Yeah. We got twice the candy we normally get, thanks to all the nice children giving us their candy."
Max tilted his head. "Kids gave you their candy?"
"Or you could say that they dropped their bags and ran off screaming."
Anya frowned a little and leaned closer to Kai. "Are these guys for real?"
Kai smiled and nodded, although something nagged at him about Anya's expression and tone of voice. Sanguinex walked closer and held his hand out to Anya. "I am Sanguinex. You must be Anya, the new addition to the Bladebreakers. Pleased to be of acquaintance."
Anya paled but out of politeness, tentatively held out a hand. "Yeah. Same... here..." Sanguinex smiled, fangs glinting. Anya's hand slipped out from the vampire-wannabe's grip faster than an oiled live trout from a chef's grip. That only proved to amuse Sanguinex further. She's afraid of vampires... Kai thought, subconsciously picking that up in his head. He wasn't sure how, but he felt as though he already knew that.
"I overheard you saying you wanted to test your new blade. I've heard so much about you, but I want to see for myself how good you are", Merlin spoke up. "I challenge you to a bey-battle."
Anya smiled and held up her launcher with her blade inside. "You're on."
******
"Draphiel!!! Harpies' Ice Hurricane!!!!"
"Magiciomon! Magical Blast!"
The two bitbeasts launched their attacks at each other. Anya and Merlin ignored the breeze that blew because of the impact of the two attacks. The purple blade that held Draphiel started to zigzag wildly around Merlin's own dusty indigo blade. Anya grinned.
"Good, Draphiel! Faster!"
"Dizzi! Those improvements have worked. I calculate Anya's blade to be significantly faster than it was originally!" Kenny said excitedly, recording the match.
"Anya's blade may be faster, but I'm betting she still won't be fast enough to catch you to get at me if she loses."
"Wanna bet?" Anya said over her shoulder to the laptop before turning back to the match. Merlin smiled. "You may have the speed, but Magiciomon has the magic we need to win. Wizards' Flare!"
The magician bitbeast lifted its wand and summoned a series of fireballs, sending them to Draphiel.
"Draphiel, retreat and regroup!"
The harpy retreated into her chip and continued circling the indigo blade rapidly. It took all the magician had to keep up with it. Anya smiled.
"Faster, Draphiel! Let's show them we're something else!"
Draphiel glowed in response. Soon, the blade was becoming nothing more than a purple blurred ring. It moved so fast that a white cloud began to form from the blade. The Bladebreakers watched and cheered for their team mate.
"Man; that's some speed she rippin' up in there!" Max said. "The dish is smoking!"
"You're right, Max." Kenny replied.
"Hold on, boys. That's not smoke; smoke's hot." Dizzi piped up. "And you know Anya. She's a regular ice queen with Draphiel."
"Then what is it, Dizzi?"
"It's mist. I say, this is a new technique Anya and Draphiel cooked up."
Anya lifted one arm out in front of her, hand open, palm down. "Now Draphiel!"
The harpy appeared from her chip. With one feathered arm outstretched, palm down, the harpy let out a high, mournful cry. Around the dish, from the rapidly spinning blade, the cold and dense mist thickened. Merlin looked around him confusion.
"What's this!?"
Anya smiled and laughed low and quietly. "Tell me, Merlin. What do you know about harpies?"
"Er..."
"Then allow me to explain. In Greco-Roman mythology, the harpy was often associated with the wind, the underworld and ghosts. As you can see, Draphiel is a harpy, and you know her twist in her attacks is ice. However, you also know she uses a hurricane-based attack, which is true to the myths on harpies..."
Tyson shivered, the chill of the mist reaching them. "So what? Why do we need a mythology lesson anyway?"
Max rubbed his shoulders. "I've never seen anything so spooky. I'm sure that mist is getting thicker..."
Anya giggled quietly and almost evilly sounding. "Well, this is a new attack Draphiel and I worked on in secret, true to the harpy characteristics. Being a team who likes the dark and spooky, I'm sure you'll like this. ICY APPARITION!"
Draphiel let out another cry and several pale figures rose slowly from the mist. They were several misty, icy harpies that might have resembled Draphiel if it wasn't for three features. Instead of the soft feathers on their arms, they had scaly, demonic looking wings. Their hair was wild and unkempt in contrast to the neat and straight Draphiel. Lastly, and possibly more scarily, bits of the icy harpies seemed to be falling off. Merlin even took a step back when one of the seven harpies looked straight at him.
"Wh..what the...?"
The seven harpies, under Draphiel's direction, launched themselves at Magiciomon. The wizard yelled and retreated. Anya smiled in victory as Merlin watched his blade roll by his feet. The mist and ghost ice harpies had disappeared, leaving a solitary purple and white blade spinning in the dish. The only clue that there were 'ghosts' in the area was the lingering chill.
"And Anya wins the match!" Ray announced.
"That was an exciting match" Zomb said.
"Quite. And I must say that that last attack would have earned you a place in our team, young Anya." Sanguinex said.
Anya had paled and hid behind the nearest Bladebreaker, which was Max, after retrieving Draphiel. The Dark Bladers bade farewell and left the Bladebreakers. Anya sighed in relief when she saw what she hoped was the last of the nightmarish team.
"I thought they'd never leave..." Anya said with a sigh of relief. "They really freak me out."
"What's a matter? Afraid of vampires and ghosties, Anya?" Tyson said in a baby voice.
Anya blushed and snapped. "Just drop it, Tyson!"
Kai frowned inwardly as Tyson and Anya argued all the way back to the hotel. He wondered why it didn't surprise him when he first saw Anya's reaction to Sanguinex. He recognised the feeling and linked it to when he first saw Anya at Japan. The feeling that there was more to the blader than meets the eye.
____________________________________________________________________________ _________
Anime: So you're afraid of vampires, eh, Anya?
Anya: *reddens* Leave it!
Kai: *walks in, dusting cat fur off himself* What's going on here?
Anya: *humph* Never mind.
Chibi Anya: *bounding behind Anya* Anya's afraid of vampires! Anya's afraid of vampires!
Chibi Kai: *behind Chibi Anya with Pikachu, both wearing fake fangs* BOO!
Pikachu: Piikkkkkkkkaaaaaaaa!! (trans: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! ^________^)
Chibi Anya: ;____; WAH!!!!! *runs off* Vampires!!! Help!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mizu-Tenshi - That's okay. I do that, too. And tellin' about who the kidnappers are would be ... well, telling, but I'm sure you smart people can have some decent guesses.
ssykes4000 - lol. Don't worry, I spell stuff wrong a lot. I just have to say this... TANK GOD FOUR SPEEL CHEQUER! ^____~
LiL MisS ME1 - Really? Well, I wanted Anna to be the over-exuberant, Elle- Woods-Legally-Blonde type. If anyone has any suggestions as to how she could act, well.... you know what to do!