Redbird, Part Two- The Merging
Chapter One: Reappearance of the Dark Phoenix
As Lei Feng got off the plane Oliver DuBois had piloted onto the private runway owned by Johnny McGregor, she gazed up at the impressive stone structure the second-best player in Europe lived in. It reared up grandly on a cliff of granite, and it called to mind tales of dark castles with secrets better left unfound, of secret and dangerous passages, of traps and the guillotine that had been used to execute Marie Antoinette. Though if she was right in what kind of guy Johnny was, he would probably have replaced it with beyblades- which were as effective as guillotines, in their own way. It was at times like this that she was reminded of the destructive power a blade actually held- more so a blade like her own.
Her thoughts were then distracted by three other guys, one with gelled purple hair who was taller than the other two, one blond with colour coordination as bad as Max's- yellow, red and green. And the last, with distinctive red hair held back by a bandanna and with lavender eyes tempered with a hint of steel grey, would be the current owner of this entire place. Jonathan McGregor.
She noted that the minute he saw them, his eyes went first to Kai, and there they stayed, locked in their little silent war, ignoring the rest of them as Robert and Tyson made the introductions.
When Tyson pointed to her and said she was their newest member, she inclined her head slightly. "As Tyson said, I'm the newest member. And you would be Robert, right? Top player in Europe?"
"That's right. And I look forward to battling you someday."
"Me too."
And then she was cut short by an untimely rumble emitting from Tyson's stomach. Oliver offered to show them in, and Enrique slapped Johnny on the back, commenting about feeding the big black hole. Johnny just rolled his eyes.
Dropping back to where Kai was, she noted the utter lack of expression on his face and wisely refrained from saying anything, instead just walking companionably at his side.
The knocker at the door was carved in the shape of the family crest- that of the fire lizard, the salamander, and the bitbeast now held by Johnny- Salamalyon.
Pushing open the door, the Bladebreakers were shown to their own rooms by Johnny's butler, who eyed each of them suspiciously and then finally, laid eyes on Tyson. By the way his eyes widened, a piece of advice had been given to him by Robert's butler on the gastronomical powers of this boy.
Shown to a room of her own, she chucked the small duffel she had with her on the bed, changed into fresh clothes and went down for lunch.
Robert, Enrique, Oliver, Johnny and the irrepressible Tyson were already seated there. And to the left of Oliver, there was another person- a girl, who bore a stunning resemblance to Johnny, except that her hair was far longer and braided into a long plait, and her eyes were a dark blue instead of the lavender of her brother. She wore a dark blue shirt with ripped sleeves and long white jeans. The bandanna was similar to the one her brother wore.
Johnny said, "People, this would be my sister Janrilene."
The girl scowled and said, "Janri will do. I don't know what mother was thinking when she decided to stick me with such a long name."
Giving a slight smile to the other girl, she held out her hand. In the moment when Janri shook hands with her, she realized Janri was a beyblader and had been such for a considerable length of time. That much was obvious from the calluses that all bladers did after a while of holding and yanking at the ripcord.
"Walters! Where's the food? I'm huuuungry!"
Janri grinned widely. "My brother said he's always like that. I can't believe a person could eat as much as he does and live. He just ate all the appetizers already."
"He's a hopeless case, Janri." The girl's voice had been about an octave higher than that of her brother, her words were clear and had a certain crispness to them which made Lei Feng reasonably certain Janri would be a great opponent in the dish. "The best strategy around Tyson is to grab your food and guard it with your life."
Just then, the rest of the Bladebreakers arrived, and Mariah seated herself to the left of Ray, with Yu beside her, the pink haired girl vivacious and lively beside her more somber seeming companion.
Again, Lei Feng eyed Yu with suspicion. But since she returned to China, she had not seen neither hide nor hair of the fox bitbeast that had tailed Yu in Greece. Maybe Yu was out of the picture already. Anyway, forgive and forget. If Yu did not try to harm her, she would not try to harm Yu.
After a most delightful dinner [Tyson enjoyed it the most], they all settled down in a smaller room off the side, each settling down to their own activities. Johnny and Robert went back to a chessboard with the pieces scattered across, obviously they had stopped in the middle of a game.
Enrique was talking with Tyson, Max and Kenny, Ray was in a small corner with Mariah and Yu was nowhere to be found. Kai was sitting in a chair with his eyes closed. Lei Feng decided it would be nice to chat with Janri.
"So how come I've never seen you before?" Lei Feng asked. "As far as I can tell, you have no ranking in the European blading networks."
"Simple reason, Lei Feng- I don't battle in tournaments."
"Why?"
"They just aren't my style. I prefer quieter little one-on-one competitions."
Janri wasn't the type to seek attention, but Lei Feng knew not to misunderstand that for weakness. She was Johnny's sister, and more likely than not was a good blader in her own right.
"I'd like to battle you some day, Janri," Lei Feng said.
"As would I, Lei Feng. But I won't lose."
Lei Feng looked after the girl. The way she had said 'won't' made her think that Janri would not be pleased if she lost- she obviously had a temper to match that hair.
***
Satashi settled down on the couch in the hotel room he was in, which was a considerable distance from the McGregor estates, but the closest he could get. Foxflame sprang out of the blade and curled up on his lap.
Satashi asked the bitbeast to send a message to Marine through the link that had been created, telling it to inform Yu of his presence in Europe.
***
Yu was sitting in her room. One good thing about being here was that it would be easier to talk to and communicate with Satashi without arousing suspicion, since she didn't have to share with Mariah or anyone else.
Marine shimmered in the pattern Satashi had told her to remember, two long shines, three sharp flashes, then a fading burst of light. Tapping into the mental connection, she heard Satashi as they channeled through their bitbeasts.
"Yu, I need you to help me keep an eye on the girl. I'm now in Europe, but I can't get close. Do you know if Hiwatari still keeps Black Dranzer with him?"
Yu shook her head automatically, though she knew he couldn't see her. "No, I don't know."
"Anyway, just try to watch. You know my master needs them to do this."
"What is your master trying to do with the bitbeasts anyway, Satashi?"
His answer, when it came, evaded her question deftly. "Well, I'm not sure, but I'll definitely try and tell you if I can."
Yu frowned a little, but knew that was all the answer she was going to get from him. "Alright, Satashi."
***
Settling into her bed, Lei Feng opened a link with Redbird. There were a few questions she needed to ask her bitbeast.
"Redbird, what do you know of my past? I never even knew what my lineage was. My mother was surnamed He, so I took my surname after her. I don't even know what name my father went by. There must be a reason why I'm attracting this kind of attention. Why did Kenshin appear only after so long? Why did you come to me if you didn't want to?"
"I was summoned to you, Lei Feng. We can choose whom we think suits us best, when the time comes for us to be bonded, but those who are reluctant can delay thrice and stay in our realm. On the fourth time, you will be forced to choose. I tried to deny that fourth choice. And I was forced somehow to your blade."
Lei Feng lay still, digesting that bit of information. So Redbird had come to her unwillingly. Maybe she didn't deserve her bitbeast.
She forgot her thoughts were still open to the Lightning Bird. "No," Redbird said firmly. "I was sent to you. Which means that you were meant for something. If I had killed myself in refusal, another would have been sent to you. I later learnt that there was already a backup if I suicided. But that bitbeast was later given to a girl called Janrilene McGregor."
Janrilene?
Busy thinking about what her bitbeast had said, she forgot that she had asked about her heritage in the first place.
***
Janrilene loosed the dark green and cyan beyblade, thinking about the girl who had shown up with the Bladebreakers that day. Her name was Lei Feng, a very distinctive person with that long streak of white in her hair, her jet eyes. This girl would be a very strong rival in the near future.
Johnny had yielded and brought the Bladebreakers here for a most absurd reason, in Janri's mind. If Robert would let him win three chess games, he would bring them here. And Robert had his own plans for this bunch.
As far as Janri could gather, he wanted to get a little research on bitbeasts done. He had said something about working on a blade-and-bit prototype, and that comment in particular had intrigued Janri. How he was going to get the data, she didn't know.
Tyson, from what her brother had said, was a bottomless well when it came to food, but currently one of the top bladers in the world. Max, with the bitbeast called Draciel, was one of the more obscure members of the Bladebreakers, but she knew he had to have something about him that made him different from just anyone. Maybe it was that aura of never having matured past his kid years.
Ray, who had defected from the White Tigers, and judging on his relationship with his former team leader, was carrying out an illicit little relationship with the pink haired girl called Mariah. He wielded the bitbeast called Driger, the White Tiger and was probably quite a good fighter.
And then there was Kai Hiwatari, who was their team leader and had been master of the bitbeast called Black-Dranzer at one time. Sure, now he used Dranzer, but the fact that he had managed to control the dark power of that particular blade spoke well for him, in her estimation.
Recalling her blade, she studied its chip. Emblazoned there was the picture of a stag, its horns carrying twelve tips, each tip coated with a layer of steel, the hooves of the same metal, its pelt dark as twilight. The blade itself had 'horns', sharp, spiky lances sticking out.
Hallyon.
The dark stag, which was said to face down the predatory wolves that the deer were threatened by, king of the herd. Hers.
She had been so disappointed when Salamalyon had been given to Johnny. There was no other bitbeast in the family line. But then Hallyon had come, told her that he'd been waiting for one worthy of him all this while, reassuring her that she was no less better than her elder brother.
Soon, Lei Feng, I'll fight you, and then you'll see what it means to battle the Stag of Twilight. And I won't lose. I won't. I'll lose to nought but my brother and Robert. I cannot say that I will be better than them.
But Robert told me who you are; you're just another blader off the street. I won't let myself be beaten by you. Look out, He Lei Feng.
***
Johnny frowned as he lay back in bed. He was the only one who knew how explosive Janri could be when she lost a match. Sure, he had a temper too, but she practically ruled the rest of the McGregor household.
And here another strong-minded female had appeared. This was not going to be good. If Janri and Lei Feng had a battle, he doubted either would back down. Feathers would fly and if he was lucky, the two of them together wouldn't destroy his family estates.
Robert had better have a very, very, very good reason for bringing the Bladebreakers here.
***
Lei Feng woke, and dressed quickly, not wanting to be late to breakfast. But first, she looked in on the guys. Max and Kenny she shook awake, but Tyson was hopelessly dead to the world. Fishing around in her pocket, she found a red pepper. The type favoured by the Bladebreakers as the fastest that Tyson reacted to. There were peppers, and then there were peppers. Some were so mild he did nothing more than cough once or twice and then roll over. But then there were those that took less than three seconds for him to react.
Popping into Tyson's open mouth, she waited and then suddenly he was in her face, screaming for water. She suddenly remembered she hadn't poured any water yet. Without waiting for her confirmation of that fact, some instinct made Tyson dash for the bathroom and stick his head under the tap.
He came out; glaring at her and shaking his head like a dog to rid himself of the water droplets. Lei Feng raised her hand to stop herself getting a shower.
"How uncouth, Tyson," came a voice from the door. Robert stood there, looking on the proceedings with a mixture of amusement and disgust.
"Don't you start on me! This bunch play a bunch of tricks on me just to get me to wake up in the morning!" Tyson said indignantly, pointing an accusing finger at Lei Feng.
"Whoa, and if you'd wake up quicker, Tyson, the bunch of us who actually wake early wouldn't have to pop peppers into your mouth, pour water down your neck, or tell you that you missed breakfast!" Lei Feng said defensively. "Do you know we actually spend quite a lot on peppers? The hot ones are expensive!"
Smirking, she stalked out of the room, saying over her shoulder, "Oh and hurry before you miss breakfast! I had the distinct feeling Walters didn't like you, he might accidentally forget your share."
"Nooooo!"
Lei Feng laughed and headed down after her teammate.
***
Later in the day, they all headed down to what Johnny had called a training room. When the lights switched on, she couldn't suppress a gasp. Dishes of different terrain were scattered all over the room, with a large shelf of blade modifications, etc.
Striding in, she looked around. Going to the counter where beyblade parts were kept, she quickly dismantled Redbird and looked around for a good attack ring. Running her fingers over each, she hit on one that was a shuriken-like object, five pointed blades sticking out. Putting her blade back together, she saw Redbird glow in a little pleasure at the new part. Mariah tapped her on the shoulder. "May I have the first battle, Lei Feng?"
She grinned at her friend. "You're on, Mari. You get to pick the dish."
Mariah looked around, then her grin widened, pointing toward the mountain dish. "That one. Is that okay?"
Lei Feng's eyes widened at the advantage the dish would give her pink-haired friend. Being mountainous, it would suit Galux- which was a mountain cat- very well. And earth absorbed lightning. It would have to be a very accurate hit.
Well, never let it be said that she backed down from a challenge.
"You're on."
She had practiced with Mariah once or twice, but never battled her in earnest. This would be veeery interesting.
They both took up their positions. Tyson shouted, "THREE! TWO! ONE! LET IT RIIIIP!"
Both blades hit the dish at the same time. Lei Feng shouted, "Don't let her get the height advantage, Redbird! Up!"
A brief flash of the bit chip, and the blade soared upwards.
Mariah's eyes slitted, and she yelled, defiantly flipping her ponytail for effect, "Oh no you don't! Galux, pounce!"
Her blade sprang from where it had been, and both blades fell together, crashing into the ground. Both were still spinning, though the two blades had gashes it their sides from the attack ring, and they wasted no time in springing apart, gearing up for another attack.
"You'll never be fast enough to catch up, Lei Feng! Give it up!" Mariah yelled. "Cat Slash!"
This attack was basically a bumped up version of Cat Scratch, causing a lot more damage. Redbird dodged, but tripped over a pebble and was hit by the last bit. Mariah seized the chance and started hitting at her.
Lei Feng glared at the dish in desperation. She knew this to be a weak point of her bitbeast- once hit; Redbird found it hard to parry off following attacks if they came at high speed. She didn't want to use her attacks since there were definitely a lot of people here whom she would be battling in the near future, and thus showing them how she fought wasn't a good idea.
Quietly, she whispered, "Flame Circle."
Redbird caught it, if no one else did, shown by the fact that suddenly small bolts of lightning zapped around Galux's base and burst into flame, forcing it to stay still or get hit.
Knowing that the flame wouldn't last long on such sandy terrain, it was now or never. Dashing in a final slam, knowing that if she didn't manage it this time, it was all over, she threw everything Redbird had behind that blow.
Sand and grit flew everywhere as the two blades rammed into each other.
When the smoke cleared, both blades lay on their side.
Sighing, she shrugged. Considering the terrain on which she had been battling, she hadn't done quite too badly. Mariah scooped up both blades and grinned at her. "You won't be so lucky next time, Lei Feng."
Lei Feng smiled back, relieved at Mariah's nonchalance. "Yeah, right."
Janri grinned at her, revealing rows of perfectly white and beautiful teeth. "Me next!"
She nodded. Glancing at everyone else, she realized they were all looking at them. Raising one eyebrow, she said, "Don't you guys have to train as well? I know what I'm doing, stop looking like some mother hen."
The guys suddenly dispersed. "Dish?" Janri asked, a hungry looking glint in her eyes.
Lei Feng noted the sudden shine. This was a girl who would be dangerous, no matter whether she won or lost. In that case, do your best to win. Grinning the neko-grin she had picked up from living around Mariah, though her teeth weren't quite as pointed, she said, "Classic."
That would be the best dish, because if she won, no one would be able to say that she hadn't played fair by choosing a dish to her advantage.
Janri nodded and moved over. The countdown was silent, but both managed to release the blades at the exact same moment. "You won't beat me, Lei Feng. You might as well give up now- or maybe I'll show you a little of my bitbeast first. Hallyon!"
The huge deer reared from the bitchip, tossing its head at the other blade. Lei Feng just smiled ferally at Janri. For some reason, Janrilene McGregor and her blade incited bloodlust in her, the want to destroy the enemy's blade, shred it into a million tiny pieces and suck the power from it, drain it. She knew it was wrong, but. . .
Her eyes glazed over with a slight red filming as she shouted, "Redbird! Rise!"
The lightning phoenix gracefully soared out, deafening Lei Feng with her loud shriek of challenge. Suddenly, the bird dived without warning, slamming hard into the deer. Lei Feng blinked in surprise. This was the first time that Redbird had actually attacked without waiting for instruction.
Looking at her opponent, Lei Feng found Janri was actually grinning. What was so funny? Redbird was busy striking at the deer's head with her talons, trying to reach the creature's eyes and blind it.
Suddenly Redbird jolted away from the hooved creature, screeching her pain, dark red ichor running down her face from the gashes, the blood also left on Hallyon's horns. She snapped herself out of the blood-red haze, racking her mind for a solution as Janri shouted, "Hallyon, Repeated Strike!" Grinning at Lei Feng, Janri said, "Hallyon's first attack hazes the enemy into bloodlust, making them muddle-headed in battle. You fell for my trick, dear."
Hallyon reared up at the girl's command, striking out and thudding the metal cased hooves on Redbird's chest. The bitbeast withstood the attack, but Lei Feng could see it slowly but surely weakening. Then the bitbeast thudded to the dish surface, finally letting the cries of pain escape as the ground cracked underneath her as Hallyon continued its relentless pounding.
No time to think up something else, no time to think at all. "Redbird! The final attack- Ring of Ruin."
This was the attack she'd come up with when she was sure Redbird could control Storm Devastation. Based on both the former ultimate strike and the attack called Flame Circle, she had decided to let Redbird try it- sooner or later. This one would call upon all the destructive forces of nature that were somehow connected to the storm, and it would form a sort of ringed attack.
The first was that of the typhoon- like Dragoon's Phantom Hurricane, just with the rain added. The second ring would have been the increasing of water and then leading to flooding- except that on a dish like this, Redbird would be submerged too. That particular ring would only come into use if Redbird was on higher ground. The third would be the use of lightning to shake the earth, causing an earthquake. And then the fourth would be the original might of the storm, and the lightning that came down. The destructive might of some of the mightiest forces of nature in one, simultaneous strike.
Now all she had to worry about was whether Redbird would bring it down on their own heads. Attacks like this were hard to control, and all attacks needed to be controlled so as they wouldn't turn on their creator. But she didn't have a choice.
Redbird responded to her summons, crying out the strange, siren-like calls that drew the forces to her, creating the first attack. The wind howled around the dish, gaining in speed and sheer power, whipping round and round, but Hallyon plunged the metal hooves into the dish, anchoring itself, and resisted the pull of the wind.
Redbird called on the second ring while holding the first in place, and the lightning flashed down in quick, sharp strikes, and the dish surface began shaking, the stored energies released by the thunder.
Hallyon's blade cleverly maneuvered away from potholes, somehow sensing the next crack and avoiding it all, growing closer and closer to Redbird. Lei Feng supposed it was because of the connection the beast had to the earth. If it hit, the phoenix would never be able to withstand the attack and hold her own. It was time. As the phoenix unleashed the last ring, the fury lashed down in whipping rain, and the thunder deafened, the tempest howling its rage.
Lei Feng didn't notice the interested bladers surrounding the battle, her body tensed and hunched over, as strained as Redbird.
Janri sensed the power, because she threw everything in one desperate attack, slamming her way through several fires and scorching Hallyon badly- and slowing it down besides. The hit she gave Redbird was weak and would never have done anything under ordinary conditions, but in this case it was enough to snap the delicate balance of control.
Redbird stood against the impact, but Lei Feng took the residual blast. She involuntarily cried out as the wind streaked across her face, slashing her in a dozen places, gashes appearing and beginning to ooze crimson blood, the hurricane of her own making throwing her down to the ground. Utterly helpless as the wind enveloped the two bladers and the dish, forcing the others to step back. She thought she heard something crack and felt a sharp pain slice through her- she guessed it was a rib. Through her own miasma of pain, she faintly heard Redbird cry out for help.
She couldn't respond, being pinned by the wind as she was, but something else did. Dark power suddenly flowed throughout the room, pervading every corner, then solidifying in the dish to become the bitbeast no one else had ever expected to see again- Black Dranzer.
The rich dusky power of that dark phoenix covered Redbird, lending strength, and the pressure lessened as she slowly felt the two majestic phoenixes work in tandem to take the storm back under control, felt the rain lessen, until all that remained of the failed attack was the physical damage it had caused. Which was horrific. The dish was utterly ruined and the ground around it for at least one metre around shattered. And two badly hurt bladers.
But no one paid attention to that- all eyes were on the two bitbeasts. Redbird had collapsed, but Black Dranzer was standing protectively over her. Hallyon started to approach, but at a hiss from the Dark Phoenix, he backed away.
Finally Redbird got to her feet. As she disappeared into the bitchip, Lei Feng distinctly heard her say to Black Dranzer, who was fast dissipating into the black miasma of power he had come in, "Thank you, my brother."
And the reply had been amusingly like that of an elder brother. "Try not to get into any more scrapes I have to rescue you from."
And that was the last thing she heard before the dark tunnel contracting over her vision closed and she blacked out.
Cherry Rain: Oh yay! I finished! And I will try my very best to make the chapters of Redbird Part Two longer, because I realized chapters were really was quite short in Redbird. Sorry! =P Review, okay? =] Be nice! =]