9: Approaching Thunder
TigerTerror: The "I've seen worse" is something you'll have to guess, but I might chuck a further explanation into Believe
Sarcasmcat: You deem it worthy to be classed as a favourite? I'm honoured. #^_^#
Saiyan-Chang: Well I hope I see you too. I try hard to keep in in character, but it gets hard.
Chain Gun: Everyone has a hidden agenda you know. :p
sakura9566: You're mean cause you blocked all your anonymous reviews, yet are too lazy to log in here. And longer review next time, or I'll turn off the anonymous review. :p
Rel: I have the plot laid out before I start the fic in many cases. I'm going against that rule with Believe, and am regretting it 100%. Starting to lay out a plot now. *sigh*
Ryu_Blader: I want them to jump him too, but I think he'd knock them senseless. *^_^*
TigerRain: I know who'll be dominate. You'll just have to guess as we go.
Has anyone else noticed that in V-Force they have Kai's and Tyson's eye colour backward? And that in G-Revolution, they've given Kevin yellow eyes instead of violet? Did they even watch the first series when designing season two and three?
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Beyblade.
"Let it rip!"
Mariah smirked as Tyson's blade slammed down into the dish, aiming to cut Gary off and end the battle quickly. Gary was better then that though, jinking his blade hard and bringing it around behind the Blade Breakers', tailgating him. Tyson growled, dodging this way and that, trying to shake him off his tail, but Gary was on his every move, Galzzy every so often tapping against Dragoon to rub it in.
Glancing off to the side, Mariah brushed her hair from her eyes and smiled. "How long?"
"Ah…" Kevin glanced down at the timer. "Just over seven minutes now."
Mariah shifted in her position on the crate so she could look down at the two blades - Kevin's Galmon and her own Galux - as they spun without showing any sign of stopping. "We could just have a record here. What was Lee's time?"
"Almost ten minutes," Kevin leaned forward, fangs showing as he grinned. "I think those adjustments did the trick."
"I'll say." She picked at a bit of dirt under her nail as she frowned. "Kevin, about your battle against Steve-"
He groaned, pressing his hands over his ears. "I don't want to hear it, Mariah. I lost. Lee lectured me. Now drop it would you."
"If you care to remember, Lee lost too." Mariah arched her back, working out some of the dull aches. She noted Kenny watching her with his mouth open and realised that the movement might have appeared somewhat erotic to a male. Kevin wasn't effected though, which caused her to smile. Sometimes a friendship like theirs could be a good thing. "And though you may not want to hear it, your loss just goes to show that you need more practice."
Kevin pointed down at their blades. "Isn't that what we've been doing all day? Practicing so that we can improve." He stifled a yawn with the back of his hand as his shoulders drooped. "I'm beat."
"Yeah, well we're not going home until I'm satisfied that you've improved."
"Actually, Mariah, we'll be leaving in roughly quarter of an hour." They turned to look at Mr Dickenson as he approached, his eyes focused on the continuing battle between Tyson and Gary. "The drive back to the hotel is fairly long, and by the look of the sky outside it appears we may just be in for a spot of bad weather."
Kevin sniggered, nodding toward Tyson and Kenny. "Yeah. The kids might get scared of a little lightening."
"Let me remind you that you are still a kid, Kevin. Just because Tyson and Kenny are 13 and you are 14 doesn't make you any more mature then they are."
"Wanna bet?" He glanced down at the timer and grinned. "All right! Nine minutes. Lee's record is going to be toast if we keep it up."
"Well I'm not stopping any time soon."
Mr Dickenson smiled at her unspoken challenge as he checked his watch. Yes, they had all made great progress that day, even if they didn't realise it.
~~~~*~~~~
Kai reached out to pick up the bottle off the counter, forgetting about his injured arm until the pain shot through it, causing the bottle to slip from his grip and land with a thunk on the benchtop. He swore, grabbing his wrist and glaring at the bottle to the point that had it been glass, it would have shattered.
"A rather colourful vocabulary you got there, Kai. No one else could compare." Lee snapped the bit chip onto the top of his blade and stood, setting his launcher and shooting Galeon into the dish set up in the corner of the room. His satisfied smile vanished as the blade began to wobble, losing control and bouncing off the edge and into the air, barely missing Lee's head. He moved to pick it up, letting out a more detailed string of words with every step.
Kai raised an eyebrow. "You were saying?"
Ray choked on his drink.
Lee picked up Galeon and sighed, turning it over in his hand. Moving back toward the table, he pulled his box of parts toward him and picked up the screwdriver.
"Almost like the attack ring and defence ring aren't balancing right," Ray spoke up, wiping his mouth. "Maybe you should try and even them out."
"That's what I was doing." He tossed the attack ring aside and glared at it. "Ever since Michael trashed my blade in the finals, I haven't been able to get it right."
"Sure it's not the base?" Kai asked, perching himself on the edge of the counter, bowl of stewed apples in hand and glass of soft drink by his side. "You're still using the one from the battle, right?"
Lee picked up the base and looked at it. "Yeah."
"Is it cracked? Or even bent just a little?"
Lee stood, moving to stand beneath the bright light in the kitchen, closely inspecting the blade base. "Yeah, you're right. There's a small chip out of it near the top. Must be what's causing it to overbalance when it picks up speed." He moved back toward his case, pushing aside one of the levels and searching the contents. "I know I had… yeah." He pulled out a small container of filler and a tool, going about carefully repairing the damage.
Ray frowned, glancing up at the clock. "Shouldn't they be back by now?"
Lee looked up quickly. "Depends on what they were doing and the traffic out there. To be honest, I'm enjoying the peace."
"Let's ditch the brat pack more often," Kai said, closing his eyes and smiling faintly as he spooned in another mouthful.
"I don't know guys," Ray fidgeted. "I'm starting to get worried."
Lee put the lid back on the container and picked up the screwdriver, pointing it toward Ray. "You can't honestly tell me that you miss Kevin."
"Or Tyson," Kai added.
Lee looked at him. "I think Max managed three cupfuls of sugar this morning."
Kai head shot around sharply. "And you let him?"
"I was otherwise distracted." Lee gently aligned his blade before pushing one of the screws back into its hole. "Mariah was getting me to run through a list of what the White Tigers needed to do at training. It was rather lengthy."
Ray snorted. "And detailed knowing you. So how many miles did they have to run today?"
Lee looked up at him. "I knew I forgot something."
Ray chuckled, crossing the room and dropping his hands onto the other teen's shoulders. "I'm sure you'll remember next time."
"Run a few miles?" Kai narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, a small smirk playing across his lips. "Hn."
The Blade Breakers just aren't going to know what hit them next training session. ^_^