Oh, I'm so sorry for not being able to update!!! You see, I just had sooooo many responsibilities during the summer it's just wasn't fun! To top it off, I have a MAJOR writer's block... Nothing interesting or anything to inspire me... Well, not for my current stories, anyway. (pouts) Then I started school... total nightmare... It's been a month, and I can't wait for it to be December... Well, I finally found a time to sit down and write something for you guys. I'm sorry to say it won't be long, but I hope I'll be able to add more soon! Now, on with the next chapter!
Note: If you need a refresher of what's happening, feel free to re-read the last chapter.
Disclaimer: No, don't own Beyblade... Just a Driger F, a Driger V, a Driger G, a Driger MS, a Metal Driger, (- Driger Collector!!!) a Metal Dranzer, a Dranzer V2, a Draciel V and a Wolborg 2 bey, three BK BB figures, lotsa trading cards, DVDs, VHS and the video games... The characters or plot or stuff are not in my "I own..." list... (facefaults) Damn...
Chapter 5: Zhang Yuen
Mariah softly fluttered her eyes open, her neko-jin orbs adapting to the darkness around her. She tried to get up, only to be unsuccessful. She looked down to see her ankles and wrists bound by rope. Scared, and freaked out, she turned to look around, looking for any clues that would help her identify her whereabouts.
"Wh...where am I?" she wondered out loud, her voice echoing inside the large warehouse-like room. She was sitting in a corner of the room floor, while every other corner of the room was empty, except for several crates and what seemed like a beyblade dish.
"Huh... how did I get here?" She began to remember what had happened... Kai had come to talk to her... then the weird gas in the room... someone grabbed her from behind and knocked her out... That was all she recalled.
Suddenly, she heard the room's only door creak open, and she found herself squinting as the person turned on the light. She heard heavy steps directing themselves toward her, until they stopped just a few feet away from where she was. She looked up to see who it was, and when she recognized the person, she gasped and her eyes quivered.
"Zhang Yuen..." she breathed, and the male figure before her smirked. He was very tall, probably about six feet two inches, and he was muscular. He had long dark-green hair tied back in a low ponytail and his wild bangs were tossed on his face, while his violet eyes shone with mischief. He looked at least twenty-two years old.
"So... you still remember me, Mao-chan (1), kitten." He replied as he moved a small crate towards them, using it as a chair. Mariah disdainfully looked away from him.
"DON'T call me that." She growled, bearing her fangs. Zhang Yuen, although he wasn't fully a neko-jin (2), showed his own fangs when he smiled at the pink-haired koneko (3) before him.
"Aww... you don't have to act so grown-up. Why, only seven years ago, you would WHINE if I didn't call you that." He leered at her, but she just puffed up her cheeks and turned the other way.
"Hmph."
"You always WERE too stubborn for your own good." Mariah turned to glare daggers at him.
"Argh! What do you want with me?"
"Nothing personal. I just need you... to get to that... that... kid." He growled bitterly, memories flooding back into his mind.
"What kid?" Mariah questioned further. If he was planning on keeping her here, he would HAVE to give her the answers she wanted.
"You know him." He suddenly smirked at Mariah, taking her by surprise. "Oh, you know him VERY well, Mao-chan. That boy you call... Ray."
Mariah's eyes widened in horror at the mention of the neko-jin's name. "R-Ray?"
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"Ray, wait up!"
Kai was following a now feral Ray closely as he weaved his path through the abandoned warehouses at the harbor. The neko-jin's golden eyes were slit, showing just how ticked off he was.
"When I get my claws on him... I'll kill him!" he snarled, as Kai managed to catch up to him, just barely.
"Ray, do you have ANY idea which one of these warehouses is it?" the Russian blader questioned, seeing as his companion was blinded by anger.
"I sure as hell do." He replied as he suddenly stopped in front of a particularly run-down and rusty warehouse. Kai, seeing as Ray thought this was the one, tried to open the door.
"It won't budge!" he informed, only to be pushed roughly out from in front of the door.
"Out of the way, Kai." He growled, as he took out his launcher. "Driger, bust that door!" he hollered as Driger materialized from his blade as soon as it hit the ground.
In a split second, the once-door was now a mere pile of scrap metal. Ray huffed and pocketed his launcher before entering, leaving a dumb-founded Kai behind.
"Since... since when Ray's so reckless?"
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Mariah and Zhang Yuen jumped at the horrifying sound of a crashing metal door.
"What was that?" she cried out, and a smirk once more found its way to Zhang Yuen's lips.
"It appears as if the tiger has arrived."
"Ray?"
They heard a commotion outside their door, as the men that accompanied Yuen fussed over the break-in.
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"I told you, get out of my way!" Ray yelled, back-to-back with Kai, as twenty or so men surrounded them. Kai turned to Ray.
"Why do I get the idea that they're not gonna listen to you?" He said sarcastically. Ray's eyes slit again.
"We fight."
"WHAT?!" Kai asked incredulously. He couldn't believe that this was his sensible teammate who had just said that. The one who didn't like to fight, who always looked before he jumped. Ray wanted them to take on all these guys? From the looks of it, it wouldn't be a beyblade battle. Just raw fighting. He expected them to win? The odds were stacked two to twenty, not in their favor.
"I take the ten to the right, you take the ten to the left. Sound like a plan?" Ray asked, surprising Kai once more. Seeing Kai wouldn't answer, he inquired. "You DO know how to fight without a beyblade, right?"
"I was trained at the abbey, Ray. What the hell do you think?" Kai growled, bringing a smirk to Ray's lips.
"I'll take that as a yes!" he said as they both separated.
"Get them!" a man yelled, before Ray's fist connected solidly with his jaw.
"Just stay out of my way!" he yelled, before whispering. "I'm coming, Mariah. And Yuen, you'd BETTER have life insurance."
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"Hmm... little tiger's causing quite the commotion out there..." Zhang Yuen cursed, while Mariah's eyes welled up with tears.
"He... he's coming for me... even after what I did to him?"
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A man dove at Ray, who ducked and quickly snapped a kick that sent another opponent slamming against the wall. Thinking Ray was distracted, the first man, (who had jumped at him), prepared to land a punch. He jumped, he prepared his hit, and he would've hit... if it weren't for the fact that Ray's sensitive ears picked up the sound behind him, making him turn just in time to shoulder-throw his opponent.
"Done, Kai?" Ray called out to his team captain as he backhanded the last of his opponents, knocking him out. Kai had just landed an uppercut on his last adversary.
"Like dinner." He smirked, causing Ray to stifle a laugh. They were about to move on, when a couple more guys appeared out of nowhere, surrounding the two once more.
"What the...?"
"Jeez, Ray. Is that guy a member of the Chinese Mafia or something? Where does he get all these guys?"
(A/n: Kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it?)
This time, the guys took out black launchers, with matching beyblades.
"Ready, Kai?" Ray called as he took out his launcher and glared at his opponents with an expertise we only though Kai possessed. "Must be spending too much time with him..." Ray laughed inwardly.
"I was born ready, Ray."
"Let it RIP! Driger, Vulcan Power Claw!"
'Dranzer, let's go!"
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"Damn it. He's not alone!" Yuen cursed very loudly, making Mariah jump.
"Ray isn't alone? Then who...?" she asked, more to herself than to someone else. That's when she heard another voice.
"Attack, Dranzer! Volcano Excellent Emission!"
"Kai!" she exclaimed surprised.
"What? Who's Kai?" Yuen growled at her, but she just turned her head disdainfully.
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"ARGH!!!!!!!!!! I've had ENOUGH OF YOU!!! DRIGER, ULTIMATE ROYAL SLASH!!!!!!!!!!" Ray roared, and his beyblade started glowing gold. It looked as if it was charging power, when it suddenly disappeared in a flash of light.
"What the??? Where the hell did it go?" the apparent leader of the thugs cried out. Then, as quick as it had disappeared, Ray's Driger ripped through all the enemy beyblades, breaking them into pieces.
As the men cowered out of the warehouse as fast as they could, Ray turned to look at Kai, who was sort of... well... giving him his famous "Hiwatari Death-glare of Doom".
"What?!" Ray finally yelled annoyed. "What did I do? Why the heck are you glaring at me like that?"
"Why don't you fight like this at the tournaments? I mean, you fight well, better than the rest, but today... you just fought exceptionally good. That's all." Kai shrugged him off, before Ray sighed.
"I'm sorry... I'm just so... so... RAGING MAD!!!"
"Whoa. Calm down there, tiger. Let's go find Mariah." Kai said, but as soon as those words came out of his lips, Ray was already twenty feet ahead of them. "Hey, wait up!"
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"It seems as if Ray's skills have improved immensely since the last time I saw him fight..." Yuen pondered out loud. Mariah was quick to snap.
"Of course he's improved, you moron! He was eight years old at that time!" she smirked. But Yuen just growled.
"Don't remind me that!"
Mariah was about to reply, when the door to the room was suddenly brought down by a powerful force. Guess who...
Ray slowly walked into the room, his head hung low, his raven bangs covering his hair as he walked in. He looked extremely freaky. Mariah was frightened. She had never seen Ray look like that.
"So, we met at last, Rei Kon." (4) Came Yuen's voice, serious and dark, as he scowled at the figure in front of him.
"And this meeting..." Ray murmured in a voice that was almost too dark to be his own, as he flashed his slit golden eyes suddenly, making the others in the room jump. "...will be our last."
TO BE CONTINUED
Well, I have nothing to say except... please review!!!! It'll help me get inspired faster.
Oh, and here are some terms I used in Japanese that some of you might need to know (if you don't know 'em already, that is).
(1) Mao-chan: for those of you who don't know, Mao is Mariah's original Chinese name from the series.
(2) neko-jin: humanoid cat; Ray, Mariah, and others from their village possess cat-like qualities like the fangs, the pointy ears, the cat-like eyes that slit when angry, the ability to jump REALLY high, among others. Broken down into two, neko means cat and the suffix –jin means it has to do with people (or something like that).
(3) koneko: kitten
(4) Rei: that's just Ray's name in Chinese (and Japanese, I think) I think it's only normal for Yuen to call him by his original Japanese name, so don't sue me. Besides, I like to write it once in a while. (grin)
Now press the nice button that says "Submit Review" and make Sora-chan happy!!! -.-