Disclaimer: the only thing that belongs to me here is Shea Willington,
whose character is loosely based on a combination of everyone I know. That
is, not including my knowledgeable but infuriating RIM teacher Mr. Kam.
By The Way: Someone asked about this, but I forgot to explain this last time. So I will just have a quick go. In chapter 14 I used some strange abbreviations, so for all of you who wondered, here is the explanation. You all know what FBI is. MSS is the Chinese version of it, the Ministry of State Security. M16 is the British secret service (think James Bond, but I am not sure he IS from M16 though... LOL!). KGB is Russian one. BRGE is French, and BND is Germen. For more information on those organizations, visit www.globalsecurity.com.
"So, you are saying this whole tournament is just their way of recruiting new followers, and you want me to help you to stop them?" Harry asked and slowly blinked.
"Yes, that's the basic idea." Kai replied in his usual dark, cold voice.
"And what exactly is your specific plan?" Harry asked again.
Shea said carefully, "We want to find the location of Voltaire and Voldemort's headquarter. Our guess is it shouldn't be far from where they are holding the tournament, so by entering the competition we will have a chance to do some investigations."
Harry looked at the Blade Breakers sitting before him in the silent common room. There was no tense, solemn air, but they all seemed serious enough.
"But why do you need my help?" Harry asked.
"Because, you are the only one who knows much about Voldemort." Shea smiled at him, "Knowledge is power in a battle like this."
"I see." Harry said doubtfully. He was still not wholly convinced.
"Listen to me, Harry." Shea looked at him with those golden eyes of hers that seemed dazzling with enchantment at the moment, "We need you in this little plan of ours."
"I guess it's a fine plan..." Harry answered, "I will help you."
Shea smiled, though one can see sadness in her eyes.
"Thank you, Harry." She said quietly.
Harry nodded, and then asked, "Where do we start?"
"You can start training with us." Kenny piped in, "You will need some serious work and we need to tone up as well."
Harry again nodded, "I have one last question. What should I tell Ron and Hermione?"
"Tell them you are joining the tournament with us, and save everything else." It was Kai who answered in his commanding voice.
Harry seemed doubtful, but he did not object.
"I guess that's it, huh?" Tyson yawned loudly, "We really need to get some sleep. All of us."
They all stood up and headed back to their dormitory. But Kai threw a glance at Ray and the two of them remained sitting. Shea turned back and threw them a suspicious glance.
"Aren't you two going to sleep?" She asked.
"Soon." Kai answered, "I just need to talk to Ray for a few seconds."
Shea shrugged and left. When everyone was gone Kai said quietly to Ray, "What do you think of Shea? She is playing her role rather too nicely. I am sure she did something other than words of persuasion alone to convince that boy."
"I saw it too." Ray nodded, "Do you have worries?"
Kai narrowed his eyes, "It feels strange to me, how she would change her mind so suddenly and would use every mean possible now to go on with the plan."
Ray was silent for a long time. Finally he answered softly, "I do not doubt her. We have convinced her, that is all."
"Maybe we did convince her." Kai murmured, "And I know just which words exactly."
His eyes suddenly became sharp and bore down on Ray, "What you said to her that day, make sure you forget about it."
"What?" Ray straightened in his chair, "Why do you tell me that?"
Kai answered cynically, "Really, Ray, tell me what's the chance that he will come out of this alive? Very slim, you know that as well as I. It is needless for you to do more. And do not object!" He cried sharply here, seeing the mutinous look in Ray's eyes, "As your captain I command it! Forget what you said that day, and do not even think of it."
Here he stood up abruptly and went away, leaving Ray sitting alone in the common room, lost in thoughts as the night deepened. The clock had just struck one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The days rolled on normally. The schoolwork load was slowly building up again. With much distress Harry noticed there were two essays due for Snape on the usage of dragon heart blood, and also an analysis for Defence Against Dark Arts on the development of firearms, not to mention the numerous assignments for Transformation and Charms.
The Blade Breakers did not talk to him for a while, but Harry suspected it was not because of the schoolwork. He had often noticed that they seldom spent anytime on schoolwork, and strangely, they seemed to do well in every subject. Finally they came to him on a Thursday afternoon, asking if he would like to train with them on Saturday morning. Harry quickly agreed.
However, Ron was not impressed when he heard of it.
"What? Practice this strange beyblade thing with them?" He exclaimed, "Are you quite in your right mind, Harry? Why would you want to join something like this?"
Harry replied casually, "They asked me to join the tournament, and of course I have to train with them."
Ron threw him a look and asked suspiciously, "Why would they want you to joint them though? I mean, you have never even heard of their thing before now."
Harry shrugged and said, "They though I would be a help, that's all."
Ron spoke no more, but he still looked sullen.
On Saturday morning, Harry went out of the castle alone, clutching his beyblade in his hand. When he was outside he couldn't help but turn his head and looked at the castle. With a strand of sadness he noticed he might have been estranged from Ron and Hermione a little. But he couldn't help it. The Blade Breakers needed his help, and they have enough reasons to be secretive. He reached the appointed place, which was a small grove of trees by the lakeshore. The place seemed silent and unoccupied. He looked around, wondering if he was early.
Suddenly a pair of blades flew out of the trees. One of them was heavenly blue, the other pearly white. They were flying in a gravity defying way, and consistently ramming into each other at the same time. The two blades flew past him, missed his head by mere inches, and landed on the grassy ground. There was a noise of grinding metals and sparks flew as the two blades went on with their battle.
Harry watched, mesmerized and intrigued. This was indeed much more exciting than he thought. The two blades held their place and for a while neither made a move to break the stalemate. Suddenly the blue blade leaped and became air borne. It flew straight up and came crashing done on the white one, its sharp edges smashing the other blade as it attacked ferociously. For a second it seemed the white blade was subdued and the match was over, but with a blink of the eye, the situation changed again. The white blade tilted and flipped the blue blade around, sending it flying off in an uncontrolled fashion. Before the blue blade ground can hit the ground, the white one zoomed and rammed it again with its tilted edge. Another collision, and the blue one was again sent back flying.
"Dranzer! Pull it together and attack!"
Harry heard someone shout. The blue blade glowed faintly red. It righted itself and came smashing down at a great velocity. Somehow Harry suspected the acceleration was not entirely due to the gravity.
He heard another voice shout, "Drigger, counter attack!"
The white blade glowed green as it leaped off the ground.
Harry felt a sudden anticipation rushing through him. He was waiting for something to happen. For a second his mind wandered back to that summer day spent in Hermione's house, and those TV clips they watched. He stared and the blades flying in the air, and he waited. And then it happened.
The red glow and came from the blue blade was quickly expanding and growing. The glare soon grew so strong that one could barely look at it directly. A faint golden line ran through the red light, tracing the blurry image of dancing flames. Then from the light fire leaped, like a picture suddenly springing into reality. A figure slowly solidified inside the flame. It was a phoenix, with fire red plumage mixed with gold like a new sun's light. Its beak was gold, so were its claws, and they glinted with a steely touch. The form of the phoenix reminded Harry of Fawkes, thought he was greater and grander. The creature's glory was beyond Harry's wildest imagination, and he could not even begin to glimpse the awesome power that the ancient bird possessed.
The phoenix did not come uncontested. Already the white blade was glowing furiously. From the centre of the blade a light came, of white and green mingled like a sweep of fresh spring leaves dabbed with the still lingering winter frost. A shape slowly condensed in the light. Harry saw that it was a tiger, with snow-white fur lined with stripes dark like the rich soil. Its form spoke of great unyielding power and an easy elegance. The tiger leaped, its speed was so great that eyes cold not even distinguish its shape clearly. It looked no more than a splash of white, bright against the iron-grey sky.
The phoenix and the tiger met in the sky with an earth-shaking collision. The two blades clashed in mid-air and flew away. Two hands caught it at the same time as the bladers emerged from the shadows of the trees.
"Well, well, was that the third tie, or the fourth?" The dark, sceptical voice that was Kai asked cynically. He was eyeing his blue blade with scrutiny even as he said this.
"I believe that's the fourth, captain." A calm smooth voice that belonged to Ray answered. He turned to Harry and nodded, before walking up to him.
"Hello, Harry." He said quietly, "Up early for some practice?"
"Yeah." Harry nodded, not knowing what to say.
Kai walked up also and looked him with the slightest hint of approval. "I see that you are an early person." He said.
"You saw our last battle, didn't you?" He questioned, abruptly changing the subject, "What do you think of it?"
"Think of that?" Harry answered uncertainly, "It's great, I would say." He smiled here, "It looked extraordinary to me, who has seen quite a lot of magical stuff over the last five years."
"You think?" Kai asked again. He was silent for a while, and then he said, "Come, we need to see what you can do. We have to get you to a decent level before the tournament."
Seeing Harry's hesitant look Ray laughed and said quietly, "Just try it. It will be fun. I think you will like it for its own sake."
Harry shrugged. He loaded his launcher carefully, and then he pulled the ripcord hard, watching the olive green blade sail and landed on the soft grass. They all watched silently as the small green blade rotated noiselessly.
"Not bad!" A voice commanded, "The balance is excellent. Good spin rate too. Kid you have got some potentials."
Harry tilted his head and saw Tyson, Max, Kenny and Shea walking up to them. The comment seemed to come from Kenny; though Harry was definite the voice was female.
"Er, Kenny?" Harry asked with a frown, "Was that you who just spoke?"
Kenny smiled and didn't reply. Instead the same female voice answered, "No, boy. It is I."
Now Kenny was much closer, Harry noticed the sound had came from the small laptop computer that Kenny held in his hands.
"Wow!" Harry exclaimed, "Your computer speaks."
Again Kenny smiled. "I guess I should tell you." Kenny said, "It was Dizzi who just spoke, she is a bit-beast that got trapped inside this computer accidentally."
He paused a little here, trying to find the best way to continue his explanation. But Harry beat him to it.
"Bit-beasts?" Harry asked, "Do you mean those ancient beast spirits that you use in beyblade games?"
Now it was the Blade Breaker's turn to stare. Finally Max asked with amazement, "How did you know this? I thought you didn't know anything about beyblade."
Harry stiffened, uncomfortable that now everyone's attention was directed to him. He said in a light voice, "I have read books on those so-called bit- beasts, for history report."
If the Blade Breakers had any doubt, they didn't question him further. Their attention seemed to turn back to the matter of beyblade training. Kenny was already sitting on the dewy grass, his laptop open in front of him.
"Well, Harry, Dizzi seems to think you can be very good at this indeed." Kenny said casually.
Dizzi interrupted, "What do you mean, I think! I know he can be great at this! Give this kid a two week workout and he will be world class."
Kenny smiled, "That's good to hear. So are you ready to start the training, Harry?"
Harry nodded, feeling his blood rushing faster in excitement and anticipation. He asked, "So where do we start?"
Kenny stood up and answered in a matter-of-fact tone, "We start where everyone starts, the basics. For instance, the proper way to launch your beyblade."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a few days later. The tournament was but a little more than a week away, and the waiting tension hung thick in Hogwarts. It seemed as if everyone was preparing. Harry was no exception. He was again meeting with the Blade Breakers.
"I have got the tournament rules and regulations right here." Kenny said, rummaging through a pile of papers and fishing out two pieces that were filled with tiny letters. "They are quite different from what we had before."
"Well, tell us then." Tyson said in his usual enthusiastic voice.
Kenny adjusted his glasses, "First thing, we no longer compete in teams. We battle in pairs; tag team blading with two on two and all that."
"Tag team blading?" Ray said with a frown, "That means we have to change our strategies completely. How come you never told us about this before, Kenny?"
Kenny said apologetically, "I only just got the rules yesterday. But Dizzi and I did come up with the pairing last night."
"Took a lot of work too!" The bit-beast's indignant voice rang out from the computer, "You ungrateful creatures! We worked late into the night, trying to analyze all the data of your past games and to decide a perfect teaming."
"So what did you come up with?" Kai asked with interest.
Kenny cleared his throat and spoke with much more confidence, "Kai and Ray should be on one team. You two both have excellent control over your blades. I think you two can pull of some very extraordinary manoeuvres together."
He looked positively excited as he took off his glasses, rubbed them clean and put them back on. He continued, "Tyson and Max would work well together. You two have a lot of material power, and your styles complement each other. Shea, you can work with Harry. You have enough flexibility for that."
They all nodded in silence and contemplating the information just received. Harry glanced at Shea, his blading partner, and found her looking thoughtful with a sadness he could not quite grasp. Seeing his look, the girl returned a smile and a nod.
"The tournament starts next week, doesn't it?" Someone----it was Max----- asked.
"Yeah." Kenny said, "It starts on the first day of Easter break. The date is especially set to accommodate students, so there shouldn't be any trouble."
"So, what is the plan?" Harry asked.
He found Kenny staring at him with the slightest hint of annoyance as he replied with a question with his own, "Didn't I just explain it?"
Harry smiled, "No, not the beyblade part! I mean, what do you plan to do, other than competing in the tournament."
"That plan?" Tyson laughed nervously, shooting looks at his teammates with a worry that puzzled Harry.
"We haven't really got a plan, not really?" Tyson said uncomfortably, "We will just improvise as we go along, really."
Harry frowned slightly. That sounded absolutely absurd to him. He saw Max and Kenny fidget and looked uncomfortable. Kai wore a frown on his face, his eyes with exasperation as they bore down on Tyson. Shea had her lips pressed into a thin line, while Ray leaned back in his chair, seemingly asleep with his eyes closed. Harry's frown deepened. He could sense something here, but not quite sure what.
"What he is saying is," Kenny explained hurriedly, "That what information we have now is not enough for us to come up with a detailed plan. I have been trying to hack some information, but so far it's not that successful."
Harry nodded silently. That made more sense now. Suddenly something else came to his mind as he leaped.
"I have to go!" He said apologetically, "I promised I would meet Ron and Hermione and I think I am already late."
With that he waved and took off. When he vanished from their view the Blade Breakers all let out a relieved sigh.
"I see what you mean now, Shea." Max muttered in a stiff voice, "The guilt is almost burying me."
Ray straightened in his chair, his golden cat like eyes flashing.
"No, don't think of it. Little will come of it." He said sternly, "Why don't you tell us what information you found, Chief?"
Kenny typed furiously on the computer and pulled up a map on the computer, "Here it is."
The others shifted near him and looked on. It was a floor plan of some large building, done in neat red lines and with tiny letter crawling everywhere.
"The entire complex is underground, right beneath the bey-stadium where the tournament will be held." Kenny explained.
"Wow!" Tyson exclaimed, "How come no one noticed?"
Shea nodded in agreement, "He got a point, Chief. That large complex must use a lot of electricity and water. Someone should get a few inklings there, especially when M16 is already searching for Voltaire."
Kenny shook his head and replied, "The complex is well hidden. I also checked their electricity and water intake for the past few months. They appeared perfectly normal. The electricity and water metre must been tempered with."
"Is this the floor plan for the first level, then?" Ray asked, eyeing the diagram with interest.
"Yeah." Kenny replied, "I have six more, since the complex is seven layers deep."
He quickly pulled up six more pictures. He pointed to a large square on one of the floor plans and explained, "This one is labelled the main computer room. I believe the main processor computer would be in there. If we can get the information out of there, it would be more than enough evidence to charge Voltaire. Also I imagine all the main controls and technological developments are kept there. So if we can destroy it, the damage would be enough. The auxiliary computer rooms are located on various floors."
He quickly highlighted more squares on the various diagrams, and continued, "We should be able to get enough information out of there too."
"Can you not hack into their system?" Max asked, slightly puzzled.
Kenny blushed, and said, "I don't think so. I can't even locate those computers on the network, never mind hacking. The information I have is retrieved from a very outer branch of BIOVOLT network. The others we must stand in front of them to get it."
Max nodded, "I see. Their protection is good, I'd say."
Ray suddenly asked while pointing to a section on the screen, "What is this room for, Kenny? It looks ten times the size of all the other rooms."
Kenny replied after some silent reading, "I think it is where they store their machineries. It is five levels high, I think, so all the large artilleries would fit in there."
"This will be one of our main targets, then." Kai said.
Kenny nodded in agreement, "Of course."
There was another long silence. Finally Kai said, "The tournament is only one week away. I expect you all to train hard, especially you, Tyson." He glanced at Tyson sharply, who stuck his tongue at him. Kai turned away in mock disgust and continued, "This mission is not a excuse to lose the tournament. I expect you all to advance to the semi-final at least. That means you too, Shea. Just because you are teamed with him doesn't mean you can lose to some amateurs."
Shea made a face at him and protested, "That's hardly fair, captain. You know his skill doesn't quite cut it. How am I supposes to take on both opponents?"
Kai rolled his eyes, "Don't start pulling Tyson on me, Shea. You know you are capable. And frankly, Harry is not too bad a blader. He can actually help you out enough in battles. So no excuses, just win the match."
They all laughed heartily at that. Even Kai had a small smile on his face, thought it may seem a little sceptical a smile. Yet behind their smiles, they all knew the great danger and toil and lay a head of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, well, will you look at that?" Voltaire said in a voice that contained both contempt and amusement at the same time as he read the list of names on the computer screen.
Voldemort took a seat adjacent to Voltaire's luxurious armchair, and moved his head closer to the screen with interest.
"It looks good, Voltaire." He said lazily, "Many children have signed up for you little tournament. This game does rather attract their attention."
"Yes, yes, of course. But I was speaking of something else." Voltaire said impatiently, "Listen to this. We have just received those registrations yesterday. Group B, team 7, Tyson Kinomiya and Max Tate; Group C, team 4, Kai Hiwatari,"-Here his voice hitched and a snarl surfaced on his face-"And Ray Kon. Don't those names mean something to you?"
Voldemort straightened in his chair, the signs of laziness fled completely. There was an expression of cold hatred on his face as he spoke, "Them? Them again? Of course I remember them, they are after all Dumbledore's little pest army. Why did they register for our tournament?"
"To foil our plan, and stop people from joining our rank. What else can they want?" Voltaire said vehemently, "All they ever wanted is to ruin me, even my little rebellious grandson."
He suddenly paused, staring at the screen; his rigid form betrayed his shock. Then he burst out laughing. His eerie laughter echoed in the large and empty computer room, sounding a shade more hysterical than it actually was.
"And what do you find so amusing?" Voldemort asked coldly, his voice hinting annoyance.
Voltaire stopped laughing abruptly, and replied in a growling voice, "They must mean business, I would say. Guess what it says here? Group D, team 5, Shea Willington." He paused, again, dramatically, as if waiting for the pretext to sink in.
"And Harry Potter." He finished.
Voldemort shot up as if he was electrified. His pale, flat face was twisted to the extend it allows. His scarlet eyes looked like ready to kill.
"Harry Potter?" He asked with a snarl, "Why is he involved."
Voltaire answered calmly, "I told you, they mean business. The Blade Breakers normally would never ask someone outside their circle to help them with their plans. But now that they did, they must have serious purpose. Perhaps they mean to take you down as well, and that's the reason they want someone who knows enough about you with them."
Receiving no replies from Voldemort the Russian man turned and taunted, "Well? Are you going to let them go on with their little devious plan and drag you from your fox den?"
Voldemort threw him a glance, all traces of rage gone. He asked, "What do you reckon they will do?"
"What they will do?" Voltaire answered after a minute of musing, "They will try to sabotage us, this very room where we sit now. If I know them right, they will find this perfect chance to destroy my place in Britain."
He frowned, and added, "Ah, something else comes to my mind now. An employee in Russia reported that someone has hacked into one of the outposts on the network. He thought that someone might have taken a copy of our building plan. I did not think much of it then. But it is certain now. Blade Breakers did this. They are preparing to crumble this building even now."
"That is good, is it not?" Voldemort said in an easy manner, his scarlet eyes glinting with a vicious light, "We will simply set up a trap here, and wait patiently for them to walk in."
A/N: So yeah. I am sorry, but I am terribly busy lately. So much work! It's a little late, but it's twice the length. The major reason is that it's pretty boring, and I thought you would like to have it done in one sitting. Yeah, I know, I said that in chapter three too. Hehe... Enjoy, have fun and gimme REVIEWS!!! *Goes off dancing and laughing* Beware! Hysteria level rising!!!
By The Way: Someone asked about this, but I forgot to explain this last time. So I will just have a quick go. In chapter 14 I used some strange abbreviations, so for all of you who wondered, here is the explanation. You all know what FBI is. MSS is the Chinese version of it, the Ministry of State Security. M16 is the British secret service (think James Bond, but I am not sure he IS from M16 though... LOL!). KGB is Russian one. BRGE is French, and BND is Germen. For more information on those organizations, visit www.globalsecurity.com.
"So, you are saying this whole tournament is just their way of recruiting new followers, and you want me to help you to stop them?" Harry asked and slowly blinked.
"Yes, that's the basic idea." Kai replied in his usual dark, cold voice.
"And what exactly is your specific plan?" Harry asked again.
Shea said carefully, "We want to find the location of Voltaire and Voldemort's headquarter. Our guess is it shouldn't be far from where they are holding the tournament, so by entering the competition we will have a chance to do some investigations."
Harry looked at the Blade Breakers sitting before him in the silent common room. There was no tense, solemn air, but they all seemed serious enough.
"But why do you need my help?" Harry asked.
"Because, you are the only one who knows much about Voldemort." Shea smiled at him, "Knowledge is power in a battle like this."
"I see." Harry said doubtfully. He was still not wholly convinced.
"Listen to me, Harry." Shea looked at him with those golden eyes of hers that seemed dazzling with enchantment at the moment, "We need you in this little plan of ours."
"I guess it's a fine plan..." Harry answered, "I will help you."
Shea smiled, though one can see sadness in her eyes.
"Thank you, Harry." She said quietly.
Harry nodded, and then asked, "Where do we start?"
"You can start training with us." Kenny piped in, "You will need some serious work and we need to tone up as well."
Harry again nodded, "I have one last question. What should I tell Ron and Hermione?"
"Tell them you are joining the tournament with us, and save everything else." It was Kai who answered in his commanding voice.
Harry seemed doubtful, but he did not object.
"I guess that's it, huh?" Tyson yawned loudly, "We really need to get some sleep. All of us."
They all stood up and headed back to their dormitory. But Kai threw a glance at Ray and the two of them remained sitting. Shea turned back and threw them a suspicious glance.
"Aren't you two going to sleep?" She asked.
"Soon." Kai answered, "I just need to talk to Ray for a few seconds."
Shea shrugged and left. When everyone was gone Kai said quietly to Ray, "What do you think of Shea? She is playing her role rather too nicely. I am sure she did something other than words of persuasion alone to convince that boy."
"I saw it too." Ray nodded, "Do you have worries?"
Kai narrowed his eyes, "It feels strange to me, how she would change her mind so suddenly and would use every mean possible now to go on with the plan."
Ray was silent for a long time. Finally he answered softly, "I do not doubt her. We have convinced her, that is all."
"Maybe we did convince her." Kai murmured, "And I know just which words exactly."
His eyes suddenly became sharp and bore down on Ray, "What you said to her that day, make sure you forget about it."
"What?" Ray straightened in his chair, "Why do you tell me that?"
Kai answered cynically, "Really, Ray, tell me what's the chance that he will come out of this alive? Very slim, you know that as well as I. It is needless for you to do more. And do not object!" He cried sharply here, seeing the mutinous look in Ray's eyes, "As your captain I command it! Forget what you said that day, and do not even think of it."
Here he stood up abruptly and went away, leaving Ray sitting alone in the common room, lost in thoughts as the night deepened. The clock had just struck one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The days rolled on normally. The schoolwork load was slowly building up again. With much distress Harry noticed there were two essays due for Snape on the usage of dragon heart blood, and also an analysis for Defence Against Dark Arts on the development of firearms, not to mention the numerous assignments for Transformation and Charms.
The Blade Breakers did not talk to him for a while, but Harry suspected it was not because of the schoolwork. He had often noticed that they seldom spent anytime on schoolwork, and strangely, they seemed to do well in every subject. Finally they came to him on a Thursday afternoon, asking if he would like to train with them on Saturday morning. Harry quickly agreed.
However, Ron was not impressed when he heard of it.
"What? Practice this strange beyblade thing with them?" He exclaimed, "Are you quite in your right mind, Harry? Why would you want to join something like this?"
Harry replied casually, "They asked me to join the tournament, and of course I have to train with them."
Ron threw him a look and asked suspiciously, "Why would they want you to joint them though? I mean, you have never even heard of their thing before now."
Harry shrugged and said, "They though I would be a help, that's all."
Ron spoke no more, but he still looked sullen.
On Saturday morning, Harry went out of the castle alone, clutching his beyblade in his hand. When he was outside he couldn't help but turn his head and looked at the castle. With a strand of sadness he noticed he might have been estranged from Ron and Hermione a little. But he couldn't help it. The Blade Breakers needed his help, and they have enough reasons to be secretive. He reached the appointed place, which was a small grove of trees by the lakeshore. The place seemed silent and unoccupied. He looked around, wondering if he was early.
Suddenly a pair of blades flew out of the trees. One of them was heavenly blue, the other pearly white. They were flying in a gravity defying way, and consistently ramming into each other at the same time. The two blades flew past him, missed his head by mere inches, and landed on the grassy ground. There was a noise of grinding metals and sparks flew as the two blades went on with their battle.
Harry watched, mesmerized and intrigued. This was indeed much more exciting than he thought. The two blades held their place and for a while neither made a move to break the stalemate. Suddenly the blue blade leaped and became air borne. It flew straight up and came crashing done on the white one, its sharp edges smashing the other blade as it attacked ferociously. For a second it seemed the white blade was subdued and the match was over, but with a blink of the eye, the situation changed again. The white blade tilted and flipped the blue blade around, sending it flying off in an uncontrolled fashion. Before the blue blade ground can hit the ground, the white one zoomed and rammed it again with its tilted edge. Another collision, and the blue one was again sent back flying.
"Dranzer! Pull it together and attack!"
Harry heard someone shout. The blue blade glowed faintly red. It righted itself and came smashing down at a great velocity. Somehow Harry suspected the acceleration was not entirely due to the gravity.
He heard another voice shout, "Drigger, counter attack!"
The white blade glowed green as it leaped off the ground.
Harry felt a sudden anticipation rushing through him. He was waiting for something to happen. For a second his mind wandered back to that summer day spent in Hermione's house, and those TV clips they watched. He stared and the blades flying in the air, and he waited. And then it happened.
The red glow and came from the blue blade was quickly expanding and growing. The glare soon grew so strong that one could barely look at it directly. A faint golden line ran through the red light, tracing the blurry image of dancing flames. Then from the light fire leaped, like a picture suddenly springing into reality. A figure slowly solidified inside the flame. It was a phoenix, with fire red plumage mixed with gold like a new sun's light. Its beak was gold, so were its claws, and they glinted with a steely touch. The form of the phoenix reminded Harry of Fawkes, thought he was greater and grander. The creature's glory was beyond Harry's wildest imagination, and he could not even begin to glimpse the awesome power that the ancient bird possessed.
The phoenix did not come uncontested. Already the white blade was glowing furiously. From the centre of the blade a light came, of white and green mingled like a sweep of fresh spring leaves dabbed with the still lingering winter frost. A shape slowly condensed in the light. Harry saw that it was a tiger, with snow-white fur lined with stripes dark like the rich soil. Its form spoke of great unyielding power and an easy elegance. The tiger leaped, its speed was so great that eyes cold not even distinguish its shape clearly. It looked no more than a splash of white, bright against the iron-grey sky.
The phoenix and the tiger met in the sky with an earth-shaking collision. The two blades clashed in mid-air and flew away. Two hands caught it at the same time as the bladers emerged from the shadows of the trees.
"Well, well, was that the third tie, or the fourth?" The dark, sceptical voice that was Kai asked cynically. He was eyeing his blue blade with scrutiny even as he said this.
"I believe that's the fourth, captain." A calm smooth voice that belonged to Ray answered. He turned to Harry and nodded, before walking up to him.
"Hello, Harry." He said quietly, "Up early for some practice?"
"Yeah." Harry nodded, not knowing what to say.
Kai walked up also and looked him with the slightest hint of approval. "I see that you are an early person." He said.
"You saw our last battle, didn't you?" He questioned, abruptly changing the subject, "What do you think of it?"
"Think of that?" Harry answered uncertainly, "It's great, I would say." He smiled here, "It looked extraordinary to me, who has seen quite a lot of magical stuff over the last five years."
"You think?" Kai asked again. He was silent for a while, and then he said, "Come, we need to see what you can do. We have to get you to a decent level before the tournament."
Seeing Harry's hesitant look Ray laughed and said quietly, "Just try it. It will be fun. I think you will like it for its own sake."
Harry shrugged. He loaded his launcher carefully, and then he pulled the ripcord hard, watching the olive green blade sail and landed on the soft grass. They all watched silently as the small green blade rotated noiselessly.
"Not bad!" A voice commanded, "The balance is excellent. Good spin rate too. Kid you have got some potentials."
Harry tilted his head and saw Tyson, Max, Kenny and Shea walking up to them. The comment seemed to come from Kenny; though Harry was definite the voice was female.
"Er, Kenny?" Harry asked with a frown, "Was that you who just spoke?"
Kenny smiled and didn't reply. Instead the same female voice answered, "No, boy. It is I."
Now Kenny was much closer, Harry noticed the sound had came from the small laptop computer that Kenny held in his hands.
"Wow!" Harry exclaimed, "Your computer speaks."
Again Kenny smiled. "I guess I should tell you." Kenny said, "It was Dizzi who just spoke, she is a bit-beast that got trapped inside this computer accidentally."
He paused a little here, trying to find the best way to continue his explanation. But Harry beat him to it.
"Bit-beasts?" Harry asked, "Do you mean those ancient beast spirits that you use in beyblade games?"
Now it was the Blade Breaker's turn to stare. Finally Max asked with amazement, "How did you know this? I thought you didn't know anything about beyblade."
Harry stiffened, uncomfortable that now everyone's attention was directed to him. He said in a light voice, "I have read books on those so-called bit- beasts, for history report."
If the Blade Breakers had any doubt, they didn't question him further. Their attention seemed to turn back to the matter of beyblade training. Kenny was already sitting on the dewy grass, his laptop open in front of him.
"Well, Harry, Dizzi seems to think you can be very good at this indeed." Kenny said casually.
Dizzi interrupted, "What do you mean, I think! I know he can be great at this! Give this kid a two week workout and he will be world class."
Kenny smiled, "That's good to hear. So are you ready to start the training, Harry?"
Harry nodded, feeling his blood rushing faster in excitement and anticipation. He asked, "So where do we start?"
Kenny stood up and answered in a matter-of-fact tone, "We start where everyone starts, the basics. For instance, the proper way to launch your beyblade."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a few days later. The tournament was but a little more than a week away, and the waiting tension hung thick in Hogwarts. It seemed as if everyone was preparing. Harry was no exception. He was again meeting with the Blade Breakers.
"I have got the tournament rules and regulations right here." Kenny said, rummaging through a pile of papers and fishing out two pieces that were filled with tiny letters. "They are quite different from what we had before."
"Well, tell us then." Tyson said in his usual enthusiastic voice.
Kenny adjusted his glasses, "First thing, we no longer compete in teams. We battle in pairs; tag team blading with two on two and all that."
"Tag team blading?" Ray said with a frown, "That means we have to change our strategies completely. How come you never told us about this before, Kenny?"
Kenny said apologetically, "I only just got the rules yesterday. But Dizzi and I did come up with the pairing last night."
"Took a lot of work too!" The bit-beast's indignant voice rang out from the computer, "You ungrateful creatures! We worked late into the night, trying to analyze all the data of your past games and to decide a perfect teaming."
"So what did you come up with?" Kai asked with interest.
Kenny cleared his throat and spoke with much more confidence, "Kai and Ray should be on one team. You two both have excellent control over your blades. I think you two can pull of some very extraordinary manoeuvres together."
He looked positively excited as he took off his glasses, rubbed them clean and put them back on. He continued, "Tyson and Max would work well together. You two have a lot of material power, and your styles complement each other. Shea, you can work with Harry. You have enough flexibility for that."
They all nodded in silence and contemplating the information just received. Harry glanced at Shea, his blading partner, and found her looking thoughtful with a sadness he could not quite grasp. Seeing his look, the girl returned a smile and a nod.
"The tournament starts next week, doesn't it?" Someone----it was Max----- asked.
"Yeah." Kenny said, "It starts on the first day of Easter break. The date is especially set to accommodate students, so there shouldn't be any trouble."
"So, what is the plan?" Harry asked.
He found Kenny staring at him with the slightest hint of annoyance as he replied with a question with his own, "Didn't I just explain it?"
Harry smiled, "No, not the beyblade part! I mean, what do you plan to do, other than competing in the tournament."
"That plan?" Tyson laughed nervously, shooting looks at his teammates with a worry that puzzled Harry.
"We haven't really got a plan, not really?" Tyson said uncomfortably, "We will just improvise as we go along, really."
Harry frowned slightly. That sounded absolutely absurd to him. He saw Max and Kenny fidget and looked uncomfortable. Kai wore a frown on his face, his eyes with exasperation as they bore down on Tyson. Shea had her lips pressed into a thin line, while Ray leaned back in his chair, seemingly asleep with his eyes closed. Harry's frown deepened. He could sense something here, but not quite sure what.
"What he is saying is," Kenny explained hurriedly, "That what information we have now is not enough for us to come up with a detailed plan. I have been trying to hack some information, but so far it's not that successful."
Harry nodded silently. That made more sense now. Suddenly something else came to his mind as he leaped.
"I have to go!" He said apologetically, "I promised I would meet Ron and Hermione and I think I am already late."
With that he waved and took off. When he vanished from their view the Blade Breakers all let out a relieved sigh.
"I see what you mean now, Shea." Max muttered in a stiff voice, "The guilt is almost burying me."
Ray straightened in his chair, his golden cat like eyes flashing.
"No, don't think of it. Little will come of it." He said sternly, "Why don't you tell us what information you found, Chief?"
Kenny typed furiously on the computer and pulled up a map on the computer, "Here it is."
The others shifted near him and looked on. It was a floor plan of some large building, done in neat red lines and with tiny letter crawling everywhere.
"The entire complex is underground, right beneath the bey-stadium where the tournament will be held." Kenny explained.
"Wow!" Tyson exclaimed, "How come no one noticed?"
Shea nodded in agreement, "He got a point, Chief. That large complex must use a lot of electricity and water. Someone should get a few inklings there, especially when M16 is already searching for Voltaire."
Kenny shook his head and replied, "The complex is well hidden. I also checked their electricity and water intake for the past few months. They appeared perfectly normal. The electricity and water metre must been tempered with."
"Is this the floor plan for the first level, then?" Ray asked, eyeing the diagram with interest.
"Yeah." Kenny replied, "I have six more, since the complex is seven layers deep."
He quickly pulled up six more pictures. He pointed to a large square on one of the floor plans and explained, "This one is labelled the main computer room. I believe the main processor computer would be in there. If we can get the information out of there, it would be more than enough evidence to charge Voltaire. Also I imagine all the main controls and technological developments are kept there. So if we can destroy it, the damage would be enough. The auxiliary computer rooms are located on various floors."
He quickly highlighted more squares on the various diagrams, and continued, "We should be able to get enough information out of there too."
"Can you not hack into their system?" Max asked, slightly puzzled.
Kenny blushed, and said, "I don't think so. I can't even locate those computers on the network, never mind hacking. The information I have is retrieved from a very outer branch of BIOVOLT network. The others we must stand in front of them to get it."
Max nodded, "I see. Their protection is good, I'd say."
Ray suddenly asked while pointing to a section on the screen, "What is this room for, Kenny? It looks ten times the size of all the other rooms."
Kenny replied after some silent reading, "I think it is where they store their machineries. It is five levels high, I think, so all the large artilleries would fit in there."
"This will be one of our main targets, then." Kai said.
Kenny nodded in agreement, "Of course."
There was another long silence. Finally Kai said, "The tournament is only one week away. I expect you all to train hard, especially you, Tyson." He glanced at Tyson sharply, who stuck his tongue at him. Kai turned away in mock disgust and continued, "This mission is not a excuse to lose the tournament. I expect you all to advance to the semi-final at least. That means you too, Shea. Just because you are teamed with him doesn't mean you can lose to some amateurs."
Shea made a face at him and protested, "That's hardly fair, captain. You know his skill doesn't quite cut it. How am I supposes to take on both opponents?"
Kai rolled his eyes, "Don't start pulling Tyson on me, Shea. You know you are capable. And frankly, Harry is not too bad a blader. He can actually help you out enough in battles. So no excuses, just win the match."
They all laughed heartily at that. Even Kai had a small smile on his face, thought it may seem a little sceptical a smile. Yet behind their smiles, they all knew the great danger and toil and lay a head of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, well, will you look at that?" Voltaire said in a voice that contained both contempt and amusement at the same time as he read the list of names on the computer screen.
Voldemort took a seat adjacent to Voltaire's luxurious armchair, and moved his head closer to the screen with interest.
"It looks good, Voltaire." He said lazily, "Many children have signed up for you little tournament. This game does rather attract their attention."
"Yes, yes, of course. But I was speaking of something else." Voltaire said impatiently, "Listen to this. We have just received those registrations yesterday. Group B, team 7, Tyson Kinomiya and Max Tate; Group C, team 4, Kai Hiwatari,"-Here his voice hitched and a snarl surfaced on his face-"And Ray Kon. Don't those names mean something to you?"
Voldemort straightened in his chair, the signs of laziness fled completely. There was an expression of cold hatred on his face as he spoke, "Them? Them again? Of course I remember them, they are after all Dumbledore's little pest army. Why did they register for our tournament?"
"To foil our plan, and stop people from joining our rank. What else can they want?" Voltaire said vehemently, "All they ever wanted is to ruin me, even my little rebellious grandson."
He suddenly paused, staring at the screen; his rigid form betrayed his shock. Then he burst out laughing. His eerie laughter echoed in the large and empty computer room, sounding a shade more hysterical than it actually was.
"And what do you find so amusing?" Voldemort asked coldly, his voice hinting annoyance.
Voltaire stopped laughing abruptly, and replied in a growling voice, "They must mean business, I would say. Guess what it says here? Group D, team 5, Shea Willington." He paused, again, dramatically, as if waiting for the pretext to sink in.
"And Harry Potter." He finished.
Voldemort shot up as if he was electrified. His pale, flat face was twisted to the extend it allows. His scarlet eyes looked like ready to kill.
"Harry Potter?" He asked with a snarl, "Why is he involved."
Voltaire answered calmly, "I told you, they mean business. The Blade Breakers normally would never ask someone outside their circle to help them with their plans. But now that they did, they must have serious purpose. Perhaps they mean to take you down as well, and that's the reason they want someone who knows enough about you with them."
Receiving no replies from Voldemort the Russian man turned and taunted, "Well? Are you going to let them go on with their little devious plan and drag you from your fox den?"
Voldemort threw him a glance, all traces of rage gone. He asked, "What do you reckon they will do?"
"What they will do?" Voltaire answered after a minute of musing, "They will try to sabotage us, this very room where we sit now. If I know them right, they will find this perfect chance to destroy my place in Britain."
He frowned, and added, "Ah, something else comes to my mind now. An employee in Russia reported that someone has hacked into one of the outposts on the network. He thought that someone might have taken a copy of our building plan. I did not think much of it then. But it is certain now. Blade Breakers did this. They are preparing to crumble this building even now."
"That is good, is it not?" Voldemort said in an easy manner, his scarlet eyes glinting with a vicious light, "We will simply set up a trap here, and wait patiently for them to walk in."
A/N: So yeah. I am sorry, but I am terribly busy lately. So much work! It's a little late, but it's twice the length. The major reason is that it's pretty boring, and I thought you would like to have it done in one sitting. Yeah, I know, I said that in chapter three too. Hehe... Enjoy, have fun and gimme REVIEWS!!! *Goes off dancing and laughing* Beware! Hysteria level rising!!!
