Disclaimer: Right ...
IMPORTANT! – Last chapter is revised. The second half is rewritten and expanded. So, it's best if you reread it, Okie? D
As the Ice Breaks.
Part 23: Match 2: Whispering Winds.
"Bold." – Commentary by Brad and AJ.
"Whoa!! Falborg totally knocked Driger into tomorrow!"
"But will Tomorrow never Die, AJ? Young Rei is getting his butt handed to him on a silver platter ... with a side of gravy."
Down below, the sheer force of Bryan's attack was keeping Rei's Driger at bay.
"Relax, Rei!" Tyson shouted to him.
I am relaxed! Rei thought to himself. "Argh!" he was sideswiped by an invisible force which tore a hole into his sleeve.
Bryan smirked at the shocked look on Rei's face. "Aww ... what's wrong, Kitty-boy? Is the wind too strong for you? I have news for you ... a tornado's coming ... and it will shred everything blocking the way! Falborg!"
Powerful winds started to whip by Rei, his attention focused on defending himself from an opponent invisible to him. It's just the wind ... hang ... on ... argh! He was forced back a step as a sudden blow caught him on the stomach.
"Rei is barely holding on," Oliver studied his previous opponent with a watchful eye. "Rei is an amazing blader, but Bryan is completely over powering him."
"Little dude's getting smushed out there." Mr. Granger stated from where he sat.
"It's like ... he's being pummeled by the air around him." Bruce kept a fearful gaze on one of his son's friends.
"He is!"
The three of them turned to the voice of the BBA research director, Judy.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean ... Bryan is literally blowing holes in Rei," she turned a grave eye to Mr. Dickinson, "You have to stop the match, Stanley, or else the results could be disastrous."
As they spoke, Rei was barely managing to keep his balance as the vicious winds blew around him, nicking him in various parts of his body from time to time. After only a few minutes of enduring Bryan's attack, Rei looked like a giant pincushion with fangs.
"Just give it up, Kitty-cat. You're finished!"
"You wish, Pasty!" Rei narrowed his eyes, "I'll never give in to you – argh!" a sharp wind blew past his face, cutting deep into his cheek bone, splattering the blood over his white clothes.
"Oh, no!" Mariah clasped a hand over her mouth, "Rei!!"
Beside her, the entire White Tiger team was also on their feet in protest.
"That was a disgraceful attack on the blader!" Lee growled.
"Yo, bandana-boy. Why don't you open your eyes a bit? That freaky bit-beast stealing freak just totally took a swipe at Rei!" on the next row, Michael was also on his toes shouting his disagreement to Jazzman.
"Yes ... but sorry ... no one saw the weapon, so technically that isn't against the rules."
"HE'S GOING TO KILL HIM! HOW MUCH RULE BREAKING POINTS DOES THAT GET!!" Mariah hopped to her feet, startling the others around as she suddenly screamed at the poor Jazzman.
"Mariah!"
She turned her hair to the voice, and recognized it as being Rei's.
"Calm down, Mariah. Don't blame Jazzman, this is between him, and me." he motioned to Bryan with a nudge of his head, since his hands were held in front of him in an attempt to shield himself from the onslaught of high speed winds. "I will win this tournament, even if it's the last thing I do."
"Rei ..." Mariah stared wide-eyed at his determination.
"DRIGER!" Rei said in full fortitude.
Bryan smirked. "So the little Kitten won't give up his ball of yarn, eh? But we'll fix that, won't we? Falborg!!"
Sparks flew as both blades confronted each other for the final time of the match.
This will be my time to shine ... Driger ... I need you now. Rei closed his eyes in concentration, ignoring the pain shooting up his body as a result of Bryan's ruthless attacks.
"Aww ... am I boring you some much that you're starting to fall asleep?" Bryan taunted. "Let me just warn you, Kitten, if you fall asleep now ... I'll make sure you never wake up again. Go, Falborg!"
Bryan's blade swiped Driger and flew high into the air. A bright light shot out, blinding everyone in the building. As it began to fade, the crowd gasped as the gigantic Falcon bit-beast rose out of its blade, awing the spectators in its wake.
"Whoa ..." Tyson, Max and Kenny's jaws dropped at the sight of the mutated beast.
Even Kai, who had only recently recovered his lost memory, had to give his praises at the sheer intensity his ex-teammate's beast was emitting.
Rei shook his head, dislodging all the negative thought that was running through his head. He took a deep breath and lifted his head to meet the gaze of his opponent. Bryan looked a little startled at the sigh of Rei golden eyes that had a peculiar cat-like appearance to them.
"Lets get in on." Rei said in a low tone.
Bryan smirked. "Strolblitz!!" Falborg shot up, getting ready to annihilate Driger with its final attack.
"Go Driger!" Rei raised his arm high, "Tiger Claw attack!!"
The moment both blades hit, an enormous explosion of light filled the entire arena. Everyone who was focused on the match had to hold their arms up to shield their eyes from the vividness of both bladers' power. The light did not fade for a whole five minutes, and when it did, the crowd (plus both opposing teams) stood in astonishment at the sight of Bryan holding his blade in front of him. His eyes bore forward, glinting with disbelief as he studied his panting foe.
"Is it ... yes! Rei's blade is still spinning!! The winner of the second match ... Rei!"
The crowd had its moment of silence, but as the reality started to sink in, they all jump up and cheered.
"Yes!!" Tyson pumped his fist in the air.
"I knew he could do it!" Max joined him. Even Kai had a look of pure glee on his face.
"REI!!" Mariah shouted happily and lurched forward. Lee hurried forward to grab hold of her waist, preventing her from falling over the ledge.
Rei heard the cheers of his friends and smirked at Bryan. The blood oozing down his cheek and that had now dyed his neck and clothed shoulder red, only added an effect to the ferocious look that he was wearing. But before he could say anything, he saw his vision start swimming in front of his eyes. As he collapsed forward into the spinning dish, he could vaguely hear the concerned voices of his friends calling his name.
"Rei!"
0-0
"Sir."
Boris turned his goggled eyes to the balding scientist that was calling him.
"It is ready, sir."
"Good!" he smirked. He intertwined his fingers in front of his chin as he studied the screen in front of him; a secret camera had also been placed inside the locker room of the Bladebreakers. "Where are the subjects?" he asked suddenly to no one.
"They are in their locker room, sir."
Boris stood from his chair and walked out, not acknowledging the presence of the scientist. "Have it set up and ready to launch."
0-0
"Relax, Bryan." Spencer said to the fuming lilac-haired blader.
"Shut up!"
"Calm down, guys –"
"Bryan!" Boris stomped in the room and over to Bryan. He pointed a finger in front of his face and said warningly in a low tone. "You'd better not disappoint me in the next match, Bryan."
Bryan returned his gaze with a glare of his own. "Understood!" he said through gritted teeth.
"Good. Now get out!" he roared to his team. "Except you." He pointed to Tala.
As the door to the locker room slammed shut, Boris walked over and backhanded Tala across the cheek. Tala grabbed his reddening cheek in confusion.
"You think you can deceive me, Tala?" his eyes glinted maliciously. "You and Kai. You think you can make a mockery of me?"
"No, sir." He said firmly.
"You're correct." Tala raised an eyebrow as Boris suddenly grinned at him. "I will make sure of that!"
Tala was about to come back with a retort, when he felt a sudden stabbing pain in the back of his neck. The pain soon became so severe that he dropped to his knees whilst still clutching his neck with one hand, the other stretched in front of him, holding himself up. He bit him lip in an attempt to not cry out.
It felt like an eternity before the pain subsided, but in truth it was just a few minutes. As he felt the burning sensation in his neck slowly go away, he strenuously pulled himself to his feet.
"Do you get it, Tala?" Boris glowered down at him.
Tala panted hard but nodded his head nevertheless.
"Good. I do hope young Kai will learn his lesson as quickly as you, when his time comes." He smirked and walked out, his coattail billowing behind him.
0-0
"Are you okay, Rei?" Bruce held Rei's wrist in his own hand, checking for an irregular heartbeat.
"I'm ... fine ..." Rei winched when Bruce's hand passed over one of his wounds.
"You're not fine ... you can't go back out there, Rei. He will destroy you." Mr. Dickinson said gravely.
"I have ... to ..." he pushed himself off the sofa in which he had been placed on, "just one more ... match," he panted.
"Rei ..." Max looked sadly at him.
Tyson glanced around the room, taking in all the glum looks of the people occupying it, the gloomy look on Rei's face. His face sad, thinking that people didn't believe in his power anymore. Mr. Dickinson, his dad, Grandpa and Judy had all rushed down after Rei's loss of consciousness at the end of the second match. He knew Rei, and nothing anyone could say would deter him from his steadfast decision to finish his match. Oh, Rei ... Tyson had always liked Rei. Since the first day they met, even though Tyson thought he was a pompous idiot after the first match, but he had always respected his calm nature. The way he would seldom loose his head, even in the worst predicament.
On first glance, everyone had always assumed that Tyson is just an egotistical person who only had Beyblading on the mind. But when people didn't realize, Tyson would study them ... watching their every move. Though as hard as it is to believe, Tyson had one gift; he was an excellent judge of character. No one realized it, but indeed, Tyson was a very intelligent person deep down.
"Cheer up, guys," he said happily, pushing away all the thought that were running through his head, "everyone knows just how stubborn Rei is, and let me tell you, I say this from first hand experience," his eye glinted with mischief, "so what's the point of bringing down his spirit in a time when we should be cheering him on?" he gave the occupants a mock disapproving look. "Rei is an excellent blader, and I'm sure he'll make us proud."
Kai looked towards Tyson. He had been startled from out of his thought by Tyson's boisterous voice. "He's right," he said out suddenly, shocking the others by agreeing with Tyson, "we should give Rei our hopes and cheer him on in the third match. He is doing this for our sake, isn't he?
Tyson grinned and jabbed Kai in the ribs. "Aww ... now you're going all cheesy on us. I liked you better when you were a grump." He snickered.
"You'll be sorry you said that." Kai smirked.
"Yeah," Max hopped in front of Rei, "go get 'em, Tiger," he grinned at Rei and punched him playfully on the shoulder.
"He been watching Spiderman two, too much," Kenny explained to them.
The adults just stood back, smiling at the trust they put in their teammate.
"Go out there, Rei, and kick some Biovolt butt!"
"We believe in you, Rei," Rei looked at Kai as he flashed him a quick smile and handed Driger back to its rightful owner.
That's all I need, my friends, to get me through this. Rei looked at his blade and with a quick turn of the heel, he walked back to the awaiting crowd.
0-0
"Driger!"
"Go, Falborg!"
"And the deciding match of the day, AJ. I'm sure it's going to be one hell of a match."
"Me too, Brad, especially on Rei's part. The fate of the Bladebreakers is totally depending on the outcome of this match."
"One more loss, then it'll be goodbye Bladebreakers."
"Holy cow. This is some match," Jazzman hollered at the top of his voice, "neither opponent giving the other a chance. Sit back and watch folks, this is going to be a long match."
0-0
"Sir, is it time?"
"No, not yet. What till the match ends," Boris smirked as he studied the screen, "the moment a winner is announced, I want you to activate it. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir," the man nodded and went back to his work.
Boris looked at the screen one last time, before turning on his heel and walking out to rejoin the Demolition Boys. If he were to be absent any longer, people might get suspicious.
0-0
"Hang on, Rei!"
"You can take this chump!"
Rei stood in the eye of the storm, the advice of his teammates going unnoticed.
"You stole the win from me last match, Kitten. But I assure you, it won't happen again." Bryan glared at him.
Rei just ignored his taunting, concentrating instead on Driger and a strategy to bring the win to the Bladebreakers side.
Hang on, Driger. He panted hard, feeling his energy being drained from him with each attack Bryan dished out.
"I'd say farewell, Kitten, but I really want you to fare badly ... Strolblitz!"
Rei's eyes widened as he watched Bryan's attack being brought out. There! He could see it, for the first time. It wasn't invisible; it was just too fast to be seen by the naked eye. Bryan's Strolblitz attack ... turned the moving air around him into tiny needle-like weapons. He could only watch as thousands of those needle headed straight towards him, ready to maim or kill anything that stood in its path.
--
Back at the Demolition Boys stand, Tala and the rest too looked on in disbelief.
"He isn't ..." Ian gaped.
"He is."
The three of them turned to the voice of Boris, who had a mad glint in his eye.
"Young Bryan has been trained since small to never give a chance to any opponent. My guess is ... all those lessons have finally paid off," a low cackling sound was emitted from deep in his throat.
Tala just looked at Boris with loathing on his face and turned back to the match. Bryan ... don't do anything stupid.
--
The air needles rushed towards Rei with much velocity.
Rei looked on in horror, realizing that there was nothing he could do to stop them. This is the end ... he thought sadly. He closed his eyes, waiting for the blow to come. He knew it was time to surrender to his fate. The time seemed to slow down, and Rei began to think of his friends. He saw the happy history he had with them and his old team as it passed before his lidded eyes.
"I knew I had to have you on my team. The skill and poise you possess when you battle is what had drawn me to you."
His eyes snapped open when he remembered Mr. Dickinson's kind words.
"Rei is an excellent blader, and I'm sure he'll make us proud."
Tyson's grinning face came to mind.
"Go get 'em, Tiger."
He smiled when he remembered Max's words.
"We believe in you, Rei."
He too a deep breath. I'm sorry, my friends ... for almost giving up. You put your trust in me ... and I will make sure that it isn't wasted.
His eyes opened, once again possessing their cat-like appearance.
The fierce attack of Bryan's now inches away from piercing his body, Rei knew he could do nothing to stop it ... but at that very moment, he felt a warm and familiar heat surrounding him, protecting him for the sharp weapons that were about to maim him. The green glow emitted, assured him that he wasn't alone in this battle. He had his forever-faithful companion, Driger.
"What's going on? Driger isn't rushing out?" Johnny looked astonished.
"He's rising." Robert too looked mildly impressed at the actions of the White Tiger bit-beast.
"He's shielding him." Mariah said happily as she wiped her damp eyes. Rei's sudden phasing out had worried all of them.
"Driger," he smiled and turned to Bryan, a new fire of determination lit brightly in his heart. "Fare badly, you say," he smirked, "my bit-beast begs to differ."
Before Bryan could say anything, let alone react, Rei took the position of attacking.
"Go Driger! Tiger Claw ... ATTACK!!"
This time, the power of both blades crashing into each other did not only cause a blinding light to appear. The ground shook with the impact and cracks started to appear beneath both opponents' feet.
All spectators leap to their feet in preparation to exit the building incase it started to collapse.
"Whoa!" was all anyone could say during the entire time it took the blades to lose their momentum.
Within minutes, the rumbling stopped and the cracks in the floors reached their limit.
Every single person in that arena, and those watching on television, had their eyes glued firmly to the spot where both bladers were, just a few seconds before. Waiting anxiously as the smoke began to clear up, neither one dared to make the slightest sound.
The smoke faded at last, but not before deciding to do it as slowly as possible. All breaths held when the last layer of smoke blew away.
There was a slight movement and Bryan dropped down to the ground in heap, his beyblade dropping beside him and shattering into a million pieces.
It took Jazzman a few second to get his bearing. "Umm ... is it? ..." he looked down to the broken dish, "YES! Rei's blade is still spinning!! The winner of the second match, and winner of the session ... REI!!"
The crowd went wild, cheering and jumping around like mad.
"That was the most exciting match I have ever seen, AJ."
"Talk about rocking the house! Rei has managed to turn the tide and take the second session win back to the Bladebreakers. Go Rei!"
The Bladebreakers, plus their allies, jumped up in delight.
"Yeah!!"
"He did it!! I knew he could do it!!"
Max, Tyson and Kenny ran forwards to congratulate Rei on his win.
"Rei!!" the four of them hugged him tightly.
Rei winched slightly, but smiled brightly; proud of the performance he had showed.
"You okay, Rei?" Kai walked up beside them.
"I'm feeling a little –" he started to stagger and feeling his legs give out from under him, fell forward, but was caught by a pair of strong arms.
"Let me give you a hand." Kai smiled at him.
"Thanks, Kai."
With that, the five Bladebreakers walked back to their stand, too the sound of the crowd singing and anthem for Bryan and Rei, satisfied with the performance he and Bryan had put on.
Up in the stands, Mr. Dickinson was getting teary eyed with joy. "Rei sure has made us proud, and reinforced his reason to be on this team."
Back at the Demolition Boys stand, Boris looked about to spontaneously combust. His eye started twitching madly and his fist gripped tightly at his side.
Tala, Ian and Spencer stepped back, not wanting to suffer the wrath of Boris.
0-0
"It's time."
0-0
Kai walked slowly, supporting the injured Rei as Max and Tyson talked animatedly to him at his sides.
He suddenly felt a peculiar pricking in the back of his neck. Surprised he stopped suddenly, bringing Rei to a halt as well and looked back at Tala.
Tala met his eyes, but soon was given a hard shove by Boris in the direction of the exit door.
The slight pickling soon became more perceptible, so perceptible even, that he would go as far to say that it hurt.
"You okay, Kai." Tyson appeared in front of him.
"Yeah ..." he winched as the sensation became stronger, "take ... Rei."
"What's wrong, Kai?"
"I –" he stopped mid sentenced, gasping suddenly for air. The prickling all of a sudden intensified, burning painfully in his neck, before traveling to every part of his body.
"Kai!" Tyson rushed forward to catch both Rei and Kai as he fell forward.
Max caught Rei and Kai dropped to his knees. One hand placed on his neck in attempt to sooth the pain, but to no avail.
It felt like he was being burned alive from the inside. It blurred his vision and suddenly, the sound all around him became mute. The frantic cried of his teammates calling for medics were blocked out. He couldn't see the worried expressions of their faces as the watched their Captain and friend writhing in pain. He couldn't do anything to stop the pain, and soon, everything became numb. Unaware of the people around him; Kai's body could no longer support him, and he collapsed, aware only of himself and the sudden burning agony that ravaged his body.
Tyson caught Kai as he passed out. He held his Captain close, ignoring the heat Kai's body was emitting.
The medic rushed forward, followed closely by Bruce, Judy, Mr. Granger and Mr. Dickinson, each one wearing a look of worry on their faces.
The others teams were on their feet, ready to lend any support when it came time that it would be needed. Next to the wide-eyed Lee, Mariah had her hands clasped over her mouth.
"Kai ... what's wrong," Tyson looked at Kai, who's face was contoured in pain, "Kai!!"
0-0
Kai was lifted up onto a stretched by the medics and rushed to the nearest hospital, Tyson riding along with him.
When they reached the hospital, Kai was taken straight into the emergency room. Tyson was prevented from following him and was led to the waiting room to wait for the others to arrive.
The adults and all the other teams arrived soon after.
And there they waited for news of their friends' condition.
0-0
The door swung open, and all heads snapped up to meet the grave face of Dr. Olga.
"Doctor ... what's wrong with Kai?" Tyson rushed towards her.
"Relax, Tyson. He's being taken care off," she smiled at him, "but before I say anything, I need to know what happened?"
All faces turned to each other, praying that someone would speak up and tell them what actually had happened back at the stadium.
"Tyson?" she turned to him, "you came in with him ..." her eyes bore into him, seeking an answer.
"I don't know ... one minute he was fine ... then the next ... he started sweating and gasping for air. It looked like he was in pain –"
"Yeah," Rei continued for him, seeing the miserable look on Tyson's face, "he was helping me back to the locker room. He told the guys to hold me when he collapsed all of a sudden. We don't know what caused it, but he was gripping his neck." The moment he said that, both his and Mr. Dickinson's eyes widened. That scar, he thought, Tala had the same scar ... the Abbey! His mind came to a conclusion and he looked at Mr. Dickinson, who nodded to him, signaling that he too had made the connection.
"That is peculiar," he had her fingers to her chin in contemplation. She looked up, seeing the anxious look on all their faces and smiled sadly. "Kai is currently in stable condition, but we're still running some tests to try and pin point what exactly happened to him," she looked away, "judging from what we saw while taking his Cat-scan ... it would seem like ... you are going to find this strange, I know I do. It seemed to us that he was electrocuted ... like someone had taken a electric wire to his spine, hitting exactly on his pain receptors."
"My god ... who would do such a thing?" Bruce gasped at the information he received.
"I don't know ..." her attention switched to Rei, "speaking of which, young man ..." she raised a disapproving eyebrow at him, "which part of 'not pushing you limit' did you decide to ignore?"
"I-I ..." he grinned nervously, "you saw the match?"
"Of course ... it was one of the best matches I've ever seen, but getting back to business ..." she motioned with her index finger for him to follow her.
Rei just dropped his head and, while being supported by Mariah, followed her closely behind.
"I know of two people ..." Tyson spoke up suddenly, turning all attention towards himself. He was wearing a serious look and his fists balled up at his side, "Boris and Voltaire!"
Mr. Dickinson took a deep breath. "Kids ... there is something I think I should tell you about Kai."
End Part 23.
The needle thing came from an episode of Naruto. The 'Go get 'em, Tiger,' line is from Spiderman two, and in my opinion ... the cheesiest line of the century.
Sorry I didn't update before. The Writers Block decided to attack again.
And ((gasp)) Is Kai going to be all right? : O
Review if you want to find out, ne?
And next chapter will be the second to last of this story. Never thought I'd get this far. Hurrah!! XD
Thanks to all. I replied to some previous chapter.
Darkest Winter: I think if you read some Yaoi stories, you'll find that may of them are better than non-Yaoi stories. Not that I'm saying you should, but trying won't hurt, ne?
And thanks to all.
((Glomps))