Chapter III – A Trap For Thieves
[Let's see here... Not many comments cept thanking for the reviews.
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.]
Ray sat on the hotel bed with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, still feeling exhausted for staying alert for most of the night but he was in deep thought. 'It is definitely not the White Tiger team with Lee, Mariah, Gary or Kevin... It has to be some other people... Could it be...'
"Ray, let's go already!" Tyson broke through his thoughts, already being halfway through the door.
"I'm going, hang on." Ray sighed and got up, following the others out of the hotel room and outside of the building.
"All of you keep your guard up... Whoever broke into our room last night could have stole our beyblades but didn't..." Kai warned, not bothering to look at the rest of his team.
Ray narrowed his eyes slightly. "I think we should go back to that park, you guys... I think I know what comes next..."
"Is it a hunch?" Kenny asked.
"No, it's more than a guess..." Ray replied. "I just have to make sure of something then we'll know who we're dealing with... Trust me on this..."
"It's better than nothing, though." Max noted. "It's still a little confusing on what they want from us..."
Tyson was about to say something but Ray started walking ahead. He blinked and shrugged, following after the Chinese beyblader. The rest of the team followed and after a few moments, they ended up at the same large park... yet this time it was more chaotic. Ray growled slightly as he saw an older black clad person picking on a younger kid.
"It's my beyblade, give it back!" The kid protested.
Kaze examined the beyblade then tossed it to the ground, yelling back at the other three darkly dressed people. "These are useless and we've already collected ones similar to these ones! Scrap them!"
Ray clenched a fist as the older boy took out his beyblade, already prepped in the ripcord on the chain. Kaze was about to snap the chain as a whip and shoot his beyblade at the other on the ground when Ray caught a glance at his scar.
"Kaze!" Ray yelled out, causing the other to look back. "What are the chances of you stalking me all the way to Japan..."
"Heh... So the all mighty traitorous Ray decided to show up after all... You have quite a history... First you betrayed your closest friends and then our relentless group..." Kaze pulled the black scarf off of his face and lowered the hood. "It's been a while... That stunt you pulled back way back when... I still have proof of it... You were always a vicious beyblader by nature, Ray, and there's no way you can deny it..."
"Things have changed... What you guys do is just wrong..." Ray shifted his gaze around to the other three people who gathered behind their leader. "All of you..."
"Is it? It's better to know your competition before you make assumptions..." Kaze replied as the rest of the group removed their scarves and hood, except Chiko who kept her scarf over her face. "Let's see if you remember us all, Ray... We're not the same anymore either..."
"Ray, who are these guys?" Tyson asked.
"It took me a while to find out myself... but they are definitely from around my village and don't seem to have a sense of honor in beyblading like the White Tigers did back in the Asian Tournament..." Ray enlightened the rest of his team with details. "Those four have been like a family of brothers and sisters... but only two of them are blood related... the other three were just stuck together..."
"Remember that last beybattle we had, kid?" Kaze crossed his arms. "I still have the mark from it... from you attacking me unfairly and almost making me blind in this one eye..."
"What? Ray would never do that!" Max protested. "Tell him, Ray!"
The Chinese beyblader remained silent as Kaze just grinned coolly. "Yes, Ray... enlighten us..."
"That doesn't matter, you brought it on yourself..." Ray snapped back, taking out his beyblade. "You want to settle this here and now? Well, I'm ready when you are!"
"We don't have time to play with you." Vane spoke out, turning his back to the Blade Breakers, his dark green hair falling over his eyes. "This isn't your territory anymore... You're in our cage, Raymond... We'll beybattle when it suits our own agenda..."
"Why don't you cut the drama..." Kai side-glanced. "It's getting annoying..."
"We are not only going after Raymond..." Vane spoke out again, looking back slightly. "From your smart ass comments, you have just ensnared yourself into the cage..."
"Bring it on!" Tyson took a step forward but Ray put an arm up to block him from passing.
"It's not worth it... Just drop it, Tyson..." Ray said quietly, keeping his gaze on the other four. "When they're ready, you do can what you want."
Kaze and Vane ran off, leaping through a cluster of bushes while Chiko and Fang remained behind. Ray flicked his gaze between the two, staying prepared in case one of them tried to do something. There was a rattle of chains and the two ran off, following the two other older beybladers as the Blade Breakers were left alone, since some of the other kids had run away.
"Ray, you said something about there being five... I only counted four." Max said, holding up the said number of fingers.
"I know..." Ray said quietly. "One's missing..."
"Why the hell do they want with amateur beyblades..." Kai said coldly, moving his gaze to Ray.
"You remember that mountain training session we had back for the American Tournament, right?" Kenny watched as he got nods in reply. "I think these guys are out to get the full potential of their bit beasts by optimizing their beyblades as best as they can... It's more like analyzing... but I think they've only gotten rookie beyblades to-"
"Lead us in a false sense of security..." Kai cut-in bitterly. "How pathetic..."
"Kaze hasn't changed one bit..." Ray growled. "When I left the White Tiger village, Kaze and the rest of them followed me, wanting to learn more as well... For a while, I didn't mind them tagging along but things started getting out of control when Kaze started destroying other people's beyblades when they lost, and the others soon followed. I don't know when they started picking up this habit of stealing them... but it was just before I let them go off on their own..."
"That's horrible! How can they be so cruel! Do they have no respect for the sport of beyblading?" Kenny asked.
Kai closed his eyes. "Ray, you stay with me. The rest of you find something to do for the afternoon."
"Wh-what? Kai, what's the big idea?!" Tyson protested, glaring at the Russian beyblader. "We're a team and-"
"Don't start saying that again. Just do what I say and don't ask any questions!" Kai opened his eyes halfway, glowering at the stubborn blader.
"But Kai..." Max said quietly. "You can't just make us go away. This concerns all of us-"
"I'm the team captain and I decide what the hell we do. For this situation, I am TELLING you to do what I say. Do I make myself clear?" Kai rose his voice.
"Yes, 'sir'..." Tyson muttered, making a mock salute.
"Now get out of here..." Kai growled, glaring as the said three team members walked off.
Ray looked at the others then back at Kai. "You didn't have to be so harsh, you know..."
"It's the only way those guys will listen." Kai shifted his gaze to Ray. "Did the girl fall for it last night?"
Ray nodded. "Yeah... but this is a really risky idea, Kai. She might not give it back."
"Hn..." Kai crossed his arms. "You'll get Driger back... Plus the similar beyblade we got the chief to put together shouldn't make Max and Tyson suspicious... if he can keep his mouth shut... How much do you trust this... Chiko person to make up-front decisions..."
"She was always shy... but if Kaze gets a hold of Driger then-"
"You'll get it back." Kai looked back away. "Trust me."
Ray looked at Kai, sighing slightly. "If you say so... I'll believe you..."
"Come on, let's get moving..." Kai started walking off back towards the streets, Ray following after a moment. "Just one other thing... Tell me the truth, how did that guy get the scar?"
Ray thought for a moment before carefully replying. "It's a long story..."
At the seemingly abandoned warehouse, the three teenaged boys were sitting on crates, talking about what they were going to do next. As Kaze continued to explaining about the next major step in their plan, Vane stole a calm glance towards the metal walkway above. Chiko sat there quietly, her legs hanging over the edge of the walkway as she folded her arms on the railing. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a beyblade that she had managed to swipe the night before. She hadn't shown any of the others what she had stolen. She closed her fingers around the edges of the beyblade, trying to steady her slightly shaking hand. That's what Kaze was aiming for... one of his many objectives to get back at Ray Kon and Chiko had it.
"It was too easy..." She spoke quietly to herself. "Why would he..."
She put the beyblade back in her pocket, deciding not to worry too much about it for the moment. Instead, she rested her chin on her arms and looked across at one of the broken old windows. She had almost been caught twice, almost on both accounts trying to escape. Sighing, she closed her eyes and thought back when all of them were back in the village all those years ago.
"Now try launching it." Ray explained to a young girl his age.
"Okay!" The pink-haired girl said as she did what she was told.
She pulled the ripcord back and the lemonade pink beyblade hit the homemade beydish and spun around for a few seconds. It started to lose speed before it completely stopped, lying motionless in the pit of the dish. The two young kids looked at the beyblade and frowned.
"It didn't work!" Mariah looked at Ray with a pleading amber gaze. "Can you tell me what I did wrong?"
"Well," Ray picked up the beyblade and smiled at the other. "You didn't have enough speed so try launching it a bit faster."
Mariah nodded and continued her attempt to launch her beyblade properly. In a tree nearby, Chiko sat on branch and held a bunch of blue flowers in her arms. She watched the two train with each other and then looked at the flowers. Chiko was going to give some of them to Ray and the others but she couldn't get the confidence to do so. Instead, she sat in the tree and watched Mariah and Ray train for a few moments more. Someone else pulled himself up onto the tree branch and sat beside Chiko, giving her a slight nudge.
"Kaze's been looking all over for you." Fang said as he ran a hand through his spiky hair. "You got to stop disappearing like that or he's going to give one of those lectures, you know?"
"Sorry..." Chiko lowered her gaze to her feet as she swung her legs over the edge of the tree branch a bit.
"Hey, don't be sorry. You just have to tell one us where you're going, that's all." Fang explained as he glanced at Ray and Mariah. "Are they still at it?"
Chiko nodded. "They have been for the last little while..."
"And who are those for?" Fang pointed at the flowers.
Chiko blushed a bit, hugging the flowers slightly. "..."
Fang raised an eyebrow. "Well? You can tell me, Chiko! Come on!"
"... They're... They're for everyone..." Chiko replied timidly.
Fang lightly took a flower and looked at it between two fingers. "Who are they really for? You don't have enough flowers for everyone, you know..."
"Chiko." A voice said from behind her.
The said person opened her eyes and looked back at the older boy, finding him watching her intently. Chiko hunched down slightly and unintentionally as she met the other's gaze.
"Mind if I sit with you?" Vane asked, gesturing vaguely at a spot beside Chiko.
Chiko stayed quiet as the other sat down, looking below at Kaze and Fang, who were sorting through the other beyblades.
"We're returning them to the owners..." Vane explained evenly. "We mostly have a list of where some of the beybladers live but the others will have to be traced down... That shouldn't be too hard. We're splitting the list evenly and we'll deal with the rest of the beyblades afterwards..." He sighed slowly then without looking at the other, he started talking again but more quietly. "Is there something bothering you, Chiko?"
"... No..." Chiko replied quietly, unraveling the black bandages from around her hands slowly.
"Are you sure?" It sounded more like a statement rather than a question.
Chiko stopped for a moment, thinking whether or not to tell the other about Driger. Ever since she could remember, Vane had mostly been the levelheaded one who would listen to everyone's problems. He would always have the time to talk about them as well and he didn't seem to mind.
"... I'm sure..." Chiko said more quietly.
There was a moment of silence as the two sat there without saying a word. Chiko unraveled the black bandages from her hands and set them down beside her, rubbing her hands a bit.
"She's coming tonight." Vane looked at the other out of the corner of his eye. "Kaze must have gone over the plans carefully with her before we made our way here."
"But..." Chiko looked at Vane, clenching her hands into fists nervously. "I thought she was going to stay back in the village... Or that she wanted to travel the world..."
Vane shook his head, looking down at the other two again. "She's definitely going to arrive here but Fang and I don't know where... Kaze's keeping too much from us. Either way, don't be act surprised for the next while... You'll only worry yourself more..."
With that, Vane got up and walked down the walkway towards the ladder. Chiko leaned against the railing again, looking at the crates below. The situation seemed to get worse by each passing moment: She had almost been caught twice, Ray had basically let her take Driger for some suspicious reason... and 'She' was going to pay a visit both to the thieves and the Blade Breakers...
[Aiya... Tis been a while since I've updated this... Sorry about that. I have quite a few fan fictions that I gotta update as well... oO; Man, I write too much... Anyway... Hope this chapter was more or less interesting...]
[Let's see here... Not many comments cept thanking for the reviews.
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.]
Ray sat on the hotel bed with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, still feeling exhausted for staying alert for most of the night but he was in deep thought. 'It is definitely not the White Tiger team with Lee, Mariah, Gary or Kevin... It has to be some other people... Could it be...'
"Ray, let's go already!" Tyson broke through his thoughts, already being halfway through the door.
"I'm going, hang on." Ray sighed and got up, following the others out of the hotel room and outside of the building.
"All of you keep your guard up... Whoever broke into our room last night could have stole our beyblades but didn't..." Kai warned, not bothering to look at the rest of his team.
Ray narrowed his eyes slightly. "I think we should go back to that park, you guys... I think I know what comes next..."
"Is it a hunch?" Kenny asked.
"No, it's more than a guess..." Ray replied. "I just have to make sure of something then we'll know who we're dealing with... Trust me on this..."
"It's better than nothing, though." Max noted. "It's still a little confusing on what they want from us..."
Tyson was about to say something but Ray started walking ahead. He blinked and shrugged, following after the Chinese beyblader. The rest of the team followed and after a few moments, they ended up at the same large park... yet this time it was more chaotic. Ray growled slightly as he saw an older black clad person picking on a younger kid.
"It's my beyblade, give it back!" The kid protested.
Kaze examined the beyblade then tossed it to the ground, yelling back at the other three darkly dressed people. "These are useless and we've already collected ones similar to these ones! Scrap them!"
Ray clenched a fist as the older boy took out his beyblade, already prepped in the ripcord on the chain. Kaze was about to snap the chain as a whip and shoot his beyblade at the other on the ground when Ray caught a glance at his scar.
"Kaze!" Ray yelled out, causing the other to look back. "What are the chances of you stalking me all the way to Japan..."
"Heh... So the all mighty traitorous Ray decided to show up after all... You have quite a history... First you betrayed your closest friends and then our relentless group..." Kaze pulled the black scarf off of his face and lowered the hood. "It's been a while... That stunt you pulled back way back when... I still have proof of it... You were always a vicious beyblader by nature, Ray, and there's no way you can deny it..."
"Things have changed... What you guys do is just wrong..." Ray shifted his gaze around to the other three people who gathered behind their leader. "All of you..."
"Is it? It's better to know your competition before you make assumptions..." Kaze replied as the rest of the group removed their scarves and hood, except Chiko who kept her scarf over her face. "Let's see if you remember us all, Ray... We're not the same anymore either..."
"Ray, who are these guys?" Tyson asked.
"It took me a while to find out myself... but they are definitely from around my village and don't seem to have a sense of honor in beyblading like the White Tigers did back in the Asian Tournament..." Ray enlightened the rest of his team with details. "Those four have been like a family of brothers and sisters... but only two of them are blood related... the other three were just stuck together..."
"Remember that last beybattle we had, kid?" Kaze crossed his arms. "I still have the mark from it... from you attacking me unfairly and almost making me blind in this one eye..."
"What? Ray would never do that!" Max protested. "Tell him, Ray!"
The Chinese beyblader remained silent as Kaze just grinned coolly. "Yes, Ray... enlighten us..."
"That doesn't matter, you brought it on yourself..." Ray snapped back, taking out his beyblade. "You want to settle this here and now? Well, I'm ready when you are!"
"We don't have time to play with you." Vane spoke out, turning his back to the Blade Breakers, his dark green hair falling over his eyes. "This isn't your territory anymore... You're in our cage, Raymond... We'll beybattle when it suits our own agenda..."
"Why don't you cut the drama..." Kai side-glanced. "It's getting annoying..."
"We are not only going after Raymond..." Vane spoke out again, looking back slightly. "From your smart ass comments, you have just ensnared yourself into the cage..."
"Bring it on!" Tyson took a step forward but Ray put an arm up to block him from passing.
"It's not worth it... Just drop it, Tyson..." Ray said quietly, keeping his gaze on the other four. "When they're ready, you do can what you want."
Kaze and Vane ran off, leaping through a cluster of bushes while Chiko and Fang remained behind. Ray flicked his gaze between the two, staying prepared in case one of them tried to do something. There was a rattle of chains and the two ran off, following the two other older beybladers as the Blade Breakers were left alone, since some of the other kids had run away.
"Ray, you said something about there being five... I only counted four." Max said, holding up the said number of fingers.
"I know..." Ray said quietly. "One's missing..."
"Why the hell do they want with amateur beyblades..." Kai said coldly, moving his gaze to Ray.
"You remember that mountain training session we had back for the American Tournament, right?" Kenny watched as he got nods in reply. "I think these guys are out to get the full potential of their bit beasts by optimizing their beyblades as best as they can... It's more like analyzing... but I think they've only gotten rookie beyblades to-"
"Lead us in a false sense of security..." Kai cut-in bitterly. "How pathetic..."
"Kaze hasn't changed one bit..." Ray growled. "When I left the White Tiger village, Kaze and the rest of them followed me, wanting to learn more as well... For a while, I didn't mind them tagging along but things started getting out of control when Kaze started destroying other people's beyblades when they lost, and the others soon followed. I don't know when they started picking up this habit of stealing them... but it was just before I let them go off on their own..."
"That's horrible! How can they be so cruel! Do they have no respect for the sport of beyblading?" Kenny asked.
Kai closed his eyes. "Ray, you stay with me. The rest of you find something to do for the afternoon."
"Wh-what? Kai, what's the big idea?!" Tyson protested, glaring at the Russian beyblader. "We're a team and-"
"Don't start saying that again. Just do what I say and don't ask any questions!" Kai opened his eyes halfway, glowering at the stubborn blader.
"But Kai..." Max said quietly. "You can't just make us go away. This concerns all of us-"
"I'm the team captain and I decide what the hell we do. For this situation, I am TELLING you to do what I say. Do I make myself clear?" Kai rose his voice.
"Yes, 'sir'..." Tyson muttered, making a mock salute.
"Now get out of here..." Kai growled, glaring as the said three team members walked off.
Ray looked at the others then back at Kai. "You didn't have to be so harsh, you know..."
"It's the only way those guys will listen." Kai shifted his gaze to Ray. "Did the girl fall for it last night?"
Ray nodded. "Yeah... but this is a really risky idea, Kai. She might not give it back."
"Hn..." Kai crossed his arms. "You'll get Driger back... Plus the similar beyblade we got the chief to put together shouldn't make Max and Tyson suspicious... if he can keep his mouth shut... How much do you trust this... Chiko person to make up-front decisions..."
"She was always shy... but if Kaze gets a hold of Driger then-"
"You'll get it back." Kai looked back away. "Trust me."
Ray looked at Kai, sighing slightly. "If you say so... I'll believe you..."
"Come on, let's get moving..." Kai started walking off back towards the streets, Ray following after a moment. "Just one other thing... Tell me the truth, how did that guy get the scar?"
Ray thought for a moment before carefully replying. "It's a long story..."
At the seemingly abandoned warehouse, the three teenaged boys were sitting on crates, talking about what they were going to do next. As Kaze continued to explaining about the next major step in their plan, Vane stole a calm glance towards the metal walkway above. Chiko sat there quietly, her legs hanging over the edge of the walkway as she folded her arms on the railing. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a beyblade that she had managed to swipe the night before. She hadn't shown any of the others what she had stolen. She closed her fingers around the edges of the beyblade, trying to steady her slightly shaking hand. That's what Kaze was aiming for... one of his many objectives to get back at Ray Kon and Chiko had it.
"It was too easy..." She spoke quietly to herself. "Why would he..."
She put the beyblade back in her pocket, deciding not to worry too much about it for the moment. Instead, she rested her chin on her arms and looked across at one of the broken old windows. She had almost been caught twice, almost on both accounts trying to escape. Sighing, she closed her eyes and thought back when all of them were back in the village all those years ago.
"Now try launching it." Ray explained to a young girl his age.
"Okay!" The pink-haired girl said as she did what she was told.
She pulled the ripcord back and the lemonade pink beyblade hit the homemade beydish and spun around for a few seconds. It started to lose speed before it completely stopped, lying motionless in the pit of the dish. The two young kids looked at the beyblade and frowned.
"It didn't work!" Mariah looked at Ray with a pleading amber gaze. "Can you tell me what I did wrong?"
"Well," Ray picked up the beyblade and smiled at the other. "You didn't have enough speed so try launching it a bit faster."
Mariah nodded and continued her attempt to launch her beyblade properly. In a tree nearby, Chiko sat on branch and held a bunch of blue flowers in her arms. She watched the two train with each other and then looked at the flowers. Chiko was going to give some of them to Ray and the others but she couldn't get the confidence to do so. Instead, she sat in the tree and watched Mariah and Ray train for a few moments more. Someone else pulled himself up onto the tree branch and sat beside Chiko, giving her a slight nudge.
"Kaze's been looking all over for you." Fang said as he ran a hand through his spiky hair. "You got to stop disappearing like that or he's going to give one of those lectures, you know?"
"Sorry..." Chiko lowered her gaze to her feet as she swung her legs over the edge of the tree branch a bit.
"Hey, don't be sorry. You just have to tell one us where you're going, that's all." Fang explained as he glanced at Ray and Mariah. "Are they still at it?"
Chiko nodded. "They have been for the last little while..."
"And who are those for?" Fang pointed at the flowers.
Chiko blushed a bit, hugging the flowers slightly. "..."
Fang raised an eyebrow. "Well? You can tell me, Chiko! Come on!"
"... They're... They're for everyone..." Chiko replied timidly.
Fang lightly took a flower and looked at it between two fingers. "Who are they really for? You don't have enough flowers for everyone, you know..."
"Chiko." A voice said from behind her.
The said person opened her eyes and looked back at the older boy, finding him watching her intently. Chiko hunched down slightly and unintentionally as she met the other's gaze.
"Mind if I sit with you?" Vane asked, gesturing vaguely at a spot beside Chiko.
Chiko stayed quiet as the other sat down, looking below at Kaze and Fang, who were sorting through the other beyblades.
"We're returning them to the owners..." Vane explained evenly. "We mostly have a list of where some of the beybladers live but the others will have to be traced down... That shouldn't be too hard. We're splitting the list evenly and we'll deal with the rest of the beyblades afterwards..." He sighed slowly then without looking at the other, he started talking again but more quietly. "Is there something bothering you, Chiko?"
"... No..." Chiko replied quietly, unraveling the black bandages from around her hands slowly.
"Are you sure?" It sounded more like a statement rather than a question.
Chiko stopped for a moment, thinking whether or not to tell the other about Driger. Ever since she could remember, Vane had mostly been the levelheaded one who would listen to everyone's problems. He would always have the time to talk about them as well and he didn't seem to mind.
"... I'm sure..." Chiko said more quietly.
There was a moment of silence as the two sat there without saying a word. Chiko unraveled the black bandages from her hands and set them down beside her, rubbing her hands a bit.
"She's coming tonight." Vane looked at the other out of the corner of his eye. "Kaze must have gone over the plans carefully with her before we made our way here."
"But..." Chiko looked at Vane, clenching her hands into fists nervously. "I thought she was going to stay back in the village... Or that she wanted to travel the world..."
Vane shook his head, looking down at the other two again. "She's definitely going to arrive here but Fang and I don't know where... Kaze's keeping too much from us. Either way, don't be act surprised for the next while... You'll only worry yourself more..."
With that, Vane got up and walked down the walkway towards the ladder. Chiko leaned against the railing again, looking at the crates below. The situation seemed to get worse by each passing moment: She had almost been caught twice, Ray had basically let her take Driger for some suspicious reason... and 'She' was going to pay a visit both to the thieves and the Blade Breakers...
[Aiya... Tis been a while since I've updated this... Sorry about that. I have quite a few fan fictions that I gotta update as well... oO; Man, I write too much... Anyway... Hope this chapter was more or less interesting...]