The Generation
Chapter 15- Cassie
Oh my God.
All of these people were staring at ME!
Cassie.
Cassie of the slightly bird pooped jeans and rubber boots. I had tried to find a pair of jeans that weren't stained. In the end I had had to go shopping with Rachel. You know what Rachel is like. She even fussed over putting on make up, and buying me the right top.
//What are these stupid things?// Tobias demanded, shifting uncomfortably on my shoulder.
"Jesses." I whispered as we followed Mr. Dickinson to the practice dish. "Standard falconer equipment."
//Uncomfortable ones at that.// Tobias hissed softly.
As we passed the hallways, Tyson would greet the different teams that were coming to watch the test.
"Hey Robert, how ya doin?"
"Long time no see Tala my man!"
"Hey Kane what's up?"
"Steve, looking good."
"Ozuma, sorry about beating the crap out of Flash Leopard the other day." Tyson said, like he wasn't sorry at all.
"I'm sure you are." A girl with purple hair pulled back in a ponytail and bandana snapped angrily.
"Oy Miriam, cut the attitude, after all, I WAS talking to Ozuma, not to YOU." Tyson sneered.
"Hey punk! Why don't you mind your own business!" Snapped a kid with blonde hair, a tan, a dew rag, and way, way too many muscles.
"HI DUNGA! How ya doin?" Tyson asked. "As stupid as ever I see." He whispered to Jake.
"What are you doing hanging around here Mr. World Champion?" Demanded a kid about Marco's height with green hair and green eyes.
"Oh! Hi Joseph, I'm here to watch Team Hawk here take their test. This is their captain Cassie, Cassie's boyfriend Jake, Jake's best friend Marco, and Jake's cousin and Cassie's best friend Rachel. Also, their mascot, Tobias the Red Tailed Hawk." Tyson said with an attempt at suave charm.
Miriam squealed and glomped her happily. "YEAY! A FEMALE TEAM CAPTAIN!! THIS IS GREAT!! GIRL POWER!!"
"Militant feminism manifest." Tyson whispered to Ezimili in a stage whisper.
"Ah." Ezimili answered. She had acquired a human morph using Tyson's, Max's, Hillary's, Kai's, Kenny's, and Rei's DNA. For this reason her hair was blue, with streaks of gold. She had long bangs that covered her forehead, shadowing, but not obscuring her cat like eyes (which resembled Rei's only they were blue/green). The rest of her hair was as long as Rei's. She wore a leotard for a morph outfit, a school girl sailor suit over that, and a pair of suede moccasins with a thunder bird beaded on them. "What is militant feminism?" She asked. We were just lucky that she didn't mince words like Ax did.
Tyson rolled his eyes, "Forget it."
"Actually, I think you'd be only one of five female team captains in the league." Miriam said thoughtfully.
"Miriam you're... chooking... me!" I stammered, struggling to get free.
"Oops, sorry, I'll be watching your test on the observation deck, have fun!" Miriam said, letting go and waiting good-bye.
"TEAM HAWK!" Called a boy about Tom's age with purple hair and wearing armor. "TEAM HAWK IT'S YOUR TURN!"
"COMING!" I called, rushing down the hallway towards the playing floor.
Tobias fanned his wings. //Watch it!// He cried. //I'm gonna fall off!//
"Sorry." I whispered. I tripped on a fold in the rug. Tobias screamed as he barely managed to escape a crash. "Sorry Tobias, sorry! Sorry!"
I picked up Tobias and stroked his head soothingly. Tobias crooned. "Sorry wing brother."
The boy dusted me off. "Right, my name is Robert, captain of the Euro Union team, the Majestics. These are my teammates Enrique, Oliver, and Johnny. We'll be supervising the tryouts today. The captain of each team has to defeat one random beyblade chosen by the BBA by lottery. In order to enter, at least one member of your team needs to beat that chosen beyblader. Got it?"
"One of us, defeat beyblader." I repeated. "Got it. Um... do you think you could hang onto Tobias for me?" I asked. "He's a bit skittish and I don't want to risk accidentally launching him into the air when I send out my beyblade." I said shyly.
"Go ahead." I carefully untied the jesses. "Be good Tobias." I warned him.
//Me? Good? Since when have I been good?// Tobias asked nobody.
Robert took hold of the jesses with one hand. "Easy Tobias."
//Hmm... he is easy to hang onto.// Tobias thought, fluttering up to perch on Robert's shoulder. //Must be all that armor.//
"Right, your opponent today is Wyatt." Robert told me.
"Pleased to meet you Wyatt." I said politely as we shook hands.
We stood on either side of a large, smooth dish. It was a lot larger than the practice dishes that Kenny had trained me on over the past three days. Tobias had managed to clear Eddy, and he'd start working on Michael when we finished. With luck, he'd finish the All Starz within a day of the mission, and since the attack wasn't scheduled to happen until the last day of the convention there would be plenty of time to practice.
"Pleased to meet you too, Cassie isn't it?" He asked.
"Yes."
"Ready?" Robert asked us.
"Ready!" We chorused.
"Good, then three, two, one, LET IT RIP!" Robert dropped the arm that Tobias wasn't perched on.
I cut loose my Beyblade. It was a combo blade that Kenny had lovingly put together. He'd made one of each kind for us, Jake's was a defensive, Marco's was endurance type, and Rachel's was an offensive blade. Between us there was, theoretically, nothing that we weren't capable of taking on.
Wyatt circled around warily, his blade looking for an opening. Right Cassie, I told myself, concentrate. I ducked in, feinting an attack, then spun around the dish, up and down, gaining momentum to use against Wyatt.
The blades hit, and sparks flew! Wyatt gritted his teeth, then broke away. I kept on him, shoving him upwards. Wyatt's blade resisted all the way. Then just when it was almost on the lip, Wyatt shoved my blade back down. I rolled easily backward to just beneath the opposite lip. "Wyatt, you're neglecting the main principle of a bird's flight, altitude equals SPEED!" I shouted as I turned my attack around, turning altitude in the edge of the dish into momentum.
Wyatt's blade was too slow to react. He had made the mistake of breaking off his attack too soon. I watched the expression of horror on his face as my Beyblade collided with his in a burst of speed and sent his beyblade rocketing out of the dish. It landed oh, about five feet away.
"CASSIEEEEEE!!!" Rachel cried, pulling me into a bear hug. "YOU DID ITYOUDIDITYOUDIDIT!"
"um... yeah." I flushed in embarrassment. "I did, I did do it... I made it! I made it!" I grinned. "Oh wow that was a rush!"
"I TOLD you you were good at Beyblading!" Tyson rolled his eyes. "But did you believe me? Noooooo! Go ahead, don't listen to the world champion and waste all of that potential!"
"That was a pretty good game. I'll have to try that rebound trick of your's." Wyatt said as he shook hands.
"Oh, well, you learn something new every day I guess." I said, blushing. If he knew that that was a fluke...
"Well." Robert handed Tobias back to me. "That was a pretty good match."
"Come with me and I'll make up your membership I.D. Have you worked on a team shield?" Asked one of his counterparts wearing armor. He had green hair, and I could just make out a blue hat and a pair of goggles under his helmet. "My name is Oliver. If you have any questions, just come to me. If you need to get into a meeting or a BBA sponsored event, you need to show your I.D. There's a beyblade's ball coming up in the evenings in about a week. Tyson will give you the details. But if you and Jake are really serious you might want to check it out." He said with a wink.
Oliver was small and lean. "Oliver, how old are you? You talk like you've been in the BBA a long time." I said suddenly, nervously.
"I'm fourteen, and I've been beyblading since I was eight. They won't let you into the main league of the BBA until you're ten, although they have a junior league for beginners and kids." Oliver led us to a machine. "Here we are." He said with a reassuring smile.
I was playing the part of the nervous newcomer pretty well I think. Oliver pointed out a scanner. "Place the design for your team badge on the scanner.
Our badge had a drawing of Tobias striking from the front, and beneath it were the letters, "TEAM HAWK" In a font that looked suspiciously like the ripping of claws. The banner behind it was black and white. (A/N: You know, like the Animorphs banners you see on the merchandise?)
Oliver whistled appreciatively. "Wow, pretty good art."
"I drew it." Ezimili said proudly. "It took awhile, and Tobias almost gouged my eyes out before we'd gotten a good picture of him. I had to use a poloroid."
"Right, lets see, members?"
"Cassie______"
"Rachel______"
"Jake________"
"Marco_______"
"Address?" Oliver arched an eyebrow.
We gave it to him.
"Mascot?" Oliver asked.
"Tobias, a red tailed hawk." I answered.
"Age?" Oliver went on.
"Fourteen."
"Fourteen."
"Fourteen."
"Fourteen." We all answered.
"Right..." Oliver removed his gauntlets to make typing easier. "Any bit beasts?"
"Not yet." I said nervously.
"Well then, I'll just add date of registration and you're..." Oliver punched the return key. "IN! Welcome to the BBA. In a few days a copy of the registration forms, a rule book, and some basic information about the game of beyblades will be sent to your house. And any second now we should be getting..."
Four badges fell into a slot on the console. "Here you go." Oliver handed me a badge. On it was my name, age, a bar code, picture, and team shield. There was also a small gold "C" in the upper right hand corner. "C" for captain, I was an official Captain! "Check it out, pretty cool huh?" He asked.
"Yeah." I smiled. It really was! Barely a week and a half ago I hadn't even known what a Beyblade was, let alone that they were inspired by Andilite technology. And now I was a team captain and official member!
"Wow, nice." Jake grinned.
"This is insane." Marco grinned, "But I like it!"
"Then let's do it!" Rachel grinned. "Come on! I'll bet that somebody back in the mountains has seen bit beast carvings before! Maybe we'll be able to find one!"
"OH WOW!" The two of us clung to each other, doing a little happy dance.
Marco snorted. "Girls."
"MARCO!" Rachel glomped him happily. "Come and do our happy dance!"
"NO!" Marco cried. "I don't do happy dances, dirty dances maybe, like if this chick is eyeballing my bod, but not happy ones."
I sighed. Tobias, startled, had jumped free and landed on the desk.
"Come on you guys, lets go get some burgers and celebrate all of this." Jake said with a smile.
That was the signal to head out. "Okay, see you around Oliver!" I grinned.
~notes~
Right, the trap is set for both yeerk and animorph! Lets see how they prepare for the battle.
Ax: //AH!! FAITH ROSCOW CAN DIE FOR WHAT SHE DID TO CARLI!!//
Marco: Huh?
Ax: //I am watching the human soap opera known as General Hospital, in which a human known as Faith Roscow is brutally torturing a married woman named Carli Correntos.//
Marco: (throws back his head with laughter) Ax! It's just a story!
Ax: //yes, but I cannot help but think that if that were really to happen Faith Roscow would have bought her way out only to be arrested by the human policemen.//
BTW: My reaction to the Sorachi vs. Taiora flame war is simple. LEAVE ME OUT OF IT! Thank You. Let me tell all you Taiora and Sorachi friends something. The only time I will play either pairing is for the sake of plot. I am a happy yaoi fan who will answer the question "Taiora or Sorachi?" quite simply. "Taito."
Thank u for ur patience,
The Fictor
Chapter 15- Cassie
Oh my God.
All of these people were staring at ME!
Cassie.
Cassie of the slightly bird pooped jeans and rubber boots. I had tried to find a pair of jeans that weren't stained. In the end I had had to go shopping with Rachel. You know what Rachel is like. She even fussed over putting on make up, and buying me the right top.
//What are these stupid things?// Tobias demanded, shifting uncomfortably on my shoulder.
"Jesses." I whispered as we followed Mr. Dickinson to the practice dish. "Standard falconer equipment."
//Uncomfortable ones at that.// Tobias hissed softly.
As we passed the hallways, Tyson would greet the different teams that were coming to watch the test.
"Hey Robert, how ya doin?"
"Long time no see Tala my man!"
"Hey Kane what's up?"
"Steve, looking good."
"Ozuma, sorry about beating the crap out of Flash Leopard the other day." Tyson said, like he wasn't sorry at all.
"I'm sure you are." A girl with purple hair pulled back in a ponytail and bandana snapped angrily.
"Oy Miriam, cut the attitude, after all, I WAS talking to Ozuma, not to YOU." Tyson sneered.
"Hey punk! Why don't you mind your own business!" Snapped a kid with blonde hair, a tan, a dew rag, and way, way too many muscles.
"HI DUNGA! How ya doin?" Tyson asked. "As stupid as ever I see." He whispered to Jake.
"What are you doing hanging around here Mr. World Champion?" Demanded a kid about Marco's height with green hair and green eyes.
"Oh! Hi Joseph, I'm here to watch Team Hawk here take their test. This is their captain Cassie, Cassie's boyfriend Jake, Jake's best friend Marco, and Jake's cousin and Cassie's best friend Rachel. Also, their mascot, Tobias the Red Tailed Hawk." Tyson said with an attempt at suave charm.
Miriam squealed and glomped her happily. "YEAY! A FEMALE TEAM CAPTAIN!! THIS IS GREAT!! GIRL POWER!!"
"Militant feminism manifest." Tyson whispered to Ezimili in a stage whisper.
"Ah." Ezimili answered. She had acquired a human morph using Tyson's, Max's, Hillary's, Kai's, Kenny's, and Rei's DNA. For this reason her hair was blue, with streaks of gold. She had long bangs that covered her forehead, shadowing, but not obscuring her cat like eyes (which resembled Rei's only they were blue/green). The rest of her hair was as long as Rei's. She wore a leotard for a morph outfit, a school girl sailor suit over that, and a pair of suede moccasins with a thunder bird beaded on them. "What is militant feminism?" She asked. We were just lucky that she didn't mince words like Ax did.
Tyson rolled his eyes, "Forget it."
"Actually, I think you'd be only one of five female team captains in the league." Miriam said thoughtfully.
"Miriam you're... chooking... me!" I stammered, struggling to get free.
"Oops, sorry, I'll be watching your test on the observation deck, have fun!" Miriam said, letting go and waiting good-bye.
"TEAM HAWK!" Called a boy about Tom's age with purple hair and wearing armor. "TEAM HAWK IT'S YOUR TURN!"
"COMING!" I called, rushing down the hallway towards the playing floor.
Tobias fanned his wings. //Watch it!// He cried. //I'm gonna fall off!//
"Sorry." I whispered. I tripped on a fold in the rug. Tobias screamed as he barely managed to escape a crash. "Sorry Tobias, sorry! Sorry!"
I picked up Tobias and stroked his head soothingly. Tobias crooned. "Sorry wing brother."
The boy dusted me off. "Right, my name is Robert, captain of the Euro Union team, the Majestics. These are my teammates Enrique, Oliver, and Johnny. We'll be supervising the tryouts today. The captain of each team has to defeat one random beyblade chosen by the BBA by lottery. In order to enter, at least one member of your team needs to beat that chosen beyblader. Got it?"
"One of us, defeat beyblader." I repeated. "Got it. Um... do you think you could hang onto Tobias for me?" I asked. "He's a bit skittish and I don't want to risk accidentally launching him into the air when I send out my beyblade." I said shyly.
"Go ahead." I carefully untied the jesses. "Be good Tobias." I warned him.
//Me? Good? Since when have I been good?// Tobias asked nobody.
Robert took hold of the jesses with one hand. "Easy Tobias."
//Hmm... he is easy to hang onto.// Tobias thought, fluttering up to perch on Robert's shoulder. //Must be all that armor.//
"Right, your opponent today is Wyatt." Robert told me.
"Pleased to meet you Wyatt." I said politely as we shook hands.
We stood on either side of a large, smooth dish. It was a lot larger than the practice dishes that Kenny had trained me on over the past three days. Tobias had managed to clear Eddy, and he'd start working on Michael when we finished. With luck, he'd finish the All Starz within a day of the mission, and since the attack wasn't scheduled to happen until the last day of the convention there would be plenty of time to practice.
"Pleased to meet you too, Cassie isn't it?" He asked.
"Yes."
"Ready?" Robert asked us.
"Ready!" We chorused.
"Good, then three, two, one, LET IT RIP!" Robert dropped the arm that Tobias wasn't perched on.
I cut loose my Beyblade. It was a combo blade that Kenny had lovingly put together. He'd made one of each kind for us, Jake's was a defensive, Marco's was endurance type, and Rachel's was an offensive blade. Between us there was, theoretically, nothing that we weren't capable of taking on.
Wyatt circled around warily, his blade looking for an opening. Right Cassie, I told myself, concentrate. I ducked in, feinting an attack, then spun around the dish, up and down, gaining momentum to use against Wyatt.
The blades hit, and sparks flew! Wyatt gritted his teeth, then broke away. I kept on him, shoving him upwards. Wyatt's blade resisted all the way. Then just when it was almost on the lip, Wyatt shoved my blade back down. I rolled easily backward to just beneath the opposite lip. "Wyatt, you're neglecting the main principle of a bird's flight, altitude equals SPEED!" I shouted as I turned my attack around, turning altitude in the edge of the dish into momentum.
Wyatt's blade was too slow to react. He had made the mistake of breaking off his attack too soon. I watched the expression of horror on his face as my Beyblade collided with his in a burst of speed and sent his beyblade rocketing out of the dish. It landed oh, about five feet away.
"CASSIEEEEEE!!!" Rachel cried, pulling me into a bear hug. "YOU DID ITYOUDIDITYOUDIDIT!"
"um... yeah." I flushed in embarrassment. "I did, I did do it... I made it! I made it!" I grinned. "Oh wow that was a rush!"
"I TOLD you you were good at Beyblading!" Tyson rolled his eyes. "But did you believe me? Noooooo! Go ahead, don't listen to the world champion and waste all of that potential!"
"That was a pretty good game. I'll have to try that rebound trick of your's." Wyatt said as he shook hands.
"Oh, well, you learn something new every day I guess." I said, blushing. If he knew that that was a fluke...
"Well." Robert handed Tobias back to me. "That was a pretty good match."
"Come with me and I'll make up your membership I.D. Have you worked on a team shield?" Asked one of his counterparts wearing armor. He had green hair, and I could just make out a blue hat and a pair of goggles under his helmet. "My name is Oliver. If you have any questions, just come to me. If you need to get into a meeting or a BBA sponsored event, you need to show your I.D. There's a beyblade's ball coming up in the evenings in about a week. Tyson will give you the details. But if you and Jake are really serious you might want to check it out." He said with a wink.
Oliver was small and lean. "Oliver, how old are you? You talk like you've been in the BBA a long time." I said suddenly, nervously.
"I'm fourteen, and I've been beyblading since I was eight. They won't let you into the main league of the BBA until you're ten, although they have a junior league for beginners and kids." Oliver led us to a machine. "Here we are." He said with a reassuring smile.
I was playing the part of the nervous newcomer pretty well I think. Oliver pointed out a scanner. "Place the design for your team badge on the scanner.
Our badge had a drawing of Tobias striking from the front, and beneath it were the letters, "TEAM HAWK" In a font that looked suspiciously like the ripping of claws. The banner behind it was black and white. (A/N: You know, like the Animorphs banners you see on the merchandise?)
Oliver whistled appreciatively. "Wow, pretty good art."
"I drew it." Ezimili said proudly. "It took awhile, and Tobias almost gouged my eyes out before we'd gotten a good picture of him. I had to use a poloroid."
"Right, lets see, members?"
"Cassie______"
"Rachel______"
"Jake________"
"Marco_______"
"Address?" Oliver arched an eyebrow.
We gave it to him.
"Mascot?" Oliver asked.
"Tobias, a red tailed hawk." I answered.
"Age?" Oliver went on.
"Fourteen."
"Fourteen."
"Fourteen."
"Fourteen." We all answered.
"Right..." Oliver removed his gauntlets to make typing easier. "Any bit beasts?"
"Not yet." I said nervously.
"Well then, I'll just add date of registration and you're..." Oliver punched the return key. "IN! Welcome to the BBA. In a few days a copy of the registration forms, a rule book, and some basic information about the game of beyblades will be sent to your house. And any second now we should be getting..."
Four badges fell into a slot on the console. "Here you go." Oliver handed me a badge. On it was my name, age, a bar code, picture, and team shield. There was also a small gold "C" in the upper right hand corner. "C" for captain, I was an official Captain! "Check it out, pretty cool huh?" He asked.
"Yeah." I smiled. It really was! Barely a week and a half ago I hadn't even known what a Beyblade was, let alone that they were inspired by Andilite technology. And now I was a team captain and official member!
"Wow, nice." Jake grinned.
"This is insane." Marco grinned, "But I like it!"
"Then let's do it!" Rachel grinned. "Come on! I'll bet that somebody back in the mountains has seen bit beast carvings before! Maybe we'll be able to find one!"
"OH WOW!" The two of us clung to each other, doing a little happy dance.
Marco snorted. "Girls."
"MARCO!" Rachel glomped him happily. "Come and do our happy dance!"
"NO!" Marco cried. "I don't do happy dances, dirty dances maybe, like if this chick is eyeballing my bod, but not happy ones."
I sighed. Tobias, startled, had jumped free and landed on the desk.
"Come on you guys, lets go get some burgers and celebrate all of this." Jake said with a smile.
That was the signal to head out. "Okay, see you around Oliver!" I grinned.
~notes~
Right, the trap is set for both yeerk and animorph! Lets see how they prepare for the battle.
Ax: //AH!! FAITH ROSCOW CAN DIE FOR WHAT SHE DID TO CARLI!!//
Marco: Huh?
Ax: //I am watching the human soap opera known as General Hospital, in which a human known as Faith Roscow is brutally torturing a married woman named Carli Correntos.//
Marco: (throws back his head with laughter) Ax! It's just a story!
Ax: //yes, but I cannot help but think that if that were really to happen Faith Roscow would have bought her way out only to be arrested by the human policemen.//
BTW: My reaction to the Sorachi vs. Taiora flame war is simple. LEAVE ME OUT OF IT! Thank You. Let me tell all you Taiora and Sorachi friends something. The only time I will play either pairing is for the sake of plot. I am a happy yaoi fan who will answer the question "Taiora or Sorachi?" quite simply. "Taito."
Thank u for ur patience,
The Fictor