Chapter Eight:

Finals: Blade Breakers and the Scream Team vs. the Dark Bladers

"3-2-1- let it riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiippppp!" Tannis's milk-white Beyblade fell into the dish, spinning so fast it looked transparent. The bit-piece glowed white, silver, and black. Pushing aside a stray corkscrew, the little girl grinned triumphantly over at Max, the blond teenager who was her partner in the double-teamed tournament.

"Okay, Phantom, kick that stupid Beyblader to the curb! Yeah!"

"Go, Draciel! Triple Shell Shark Attack!"

"Phantom, Banshee Song Sound-Wave Cannon Ball attack!" Scott and Oz, their two opponents, gave cries of alarm as their Beyblades flew out of the dish and landed at their feet.

"Joanna and Max's blades are still spinning! Winner of the second round is the Blade Breakers and the Scream Team!" The announcers cried.

"All right!" Max cried, his sky-blue eyes flashing. He turned to see Tannis dancing her victory dance, crying, "We are the best-est! We are the best-est! Oh yeah!"

"Having fun there, Tannis?"

"You betcha! Uh-huh!" The five-year-old girl danced all the way back to the bench, singing, "We are the champions!"

"So, now that Tannis is done doing the 'Hippity-Hop,' where are Kai and Midnight?" Julian cried in agitation.

"Maybe she's still to weak." Max answered.

"No. She looked fine when we got home yesterday. A little shaky, but those scratches had healed. Wait... how the-"

"It's a Scream Team thing. We all heal fast." Every gasped when they saw Midnight, walking toward the bench, looking absolutely gorgeous. She wore a black silk skirt, along with a white shirt with bell sleeves and a really small fish-tail. Her black hair was pulled into a braid, which hung over her right shoulder. She looked about ready to kill something with that dagger/launcher she had hidden up her sleeve.

"Glad to see me?"

"Wow! Is that new?" Kenny cried.

"No, I wear it for all the finals I've been in. Kai, would you hurry up? Hustle, stop being the moody, broody team captain who slug-walks all the time." Kai slug-walked up behind her. It seemed nobody knew they were in love, and both wanted to keep it that way.

"What took you guys so long?" Dizzi asked.

"We ran into Daimon." Midnight shrugged carelessly.

"That guy from the Dingoes? You know him? How?" Ray asked.

"He was the boyfriend to a friend of mine."

"Did they break up?" Tyson asked.

"No. She was murdered." Everyone fell silent, and then they heard laughter.

"Midnight, if you're so gifted, try reading my mind. Please?" Justin cried. Midnight smirked to show she still thought he was an idiot, but then the human boy's thoughts pushed into her mind. He was deliberately taunting her with his memories, especially the ones of Felicity and Marina's deaths. She squeezed her eyes shut, clenching her fists.

"Kai…" she whispered breathlessly, "Kai, make him stop!"

"Why don't you get lost, Justin? Or are you such a sore loser that you wanna try me again?" Midnight's contact with the human snapped, and she opened her eyes. Now all she felt was Justin's fury and his wounded pride. He didn't understand how the vampire bitch had managed to keep from totally transforming. Her fangs hadn't even gotten any longer. He knew she was a vampire, but he also knew that wanna-be blader had some kind of hold on her human-like aspects. If Justin could get her to kill him, or better yet get him to kill her, he'd have a lot of fun.

"See ya around, Midnight." His tone was friendly, if not sarcastic, but Midnight heard the thought running through his mind: Daimon and I can't wait to have you over. Midnight glared malevolently, and then gave Justin the intense impression that a 30-pound bowling ball had dropped on his foot. His scream of pain ripped through the stadium, and Midnight allowed herself a brief flash of grim satisfaction.

"What did you do?" Kai asked her softly.

"Nothing. The pain is all in his mind. Literally."

"Why did I ask?" Kenny gave a whistle. He and Winter were grinning from ear to ear.

"Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?" Kai had to smile, if only a little, at the antics of Wendy, Tannis, Butterfly, and Finn.

"We won the tournament, I'm assuming." Kai said.

"Yep, we sure did!" Tyson cried. "But it was really thanks to you two."

"Us?" Midnight echoed, confused. "Why us?"

"Because you took on the roughest, toughest players on the teams." Max said. Kai shrugged, muttering, "Sure, whatever."

"Huh. I never thought of that. Don't worry, I won't let it go to my pretty little head. I promise."