One True Team: Forever
-Hope you will enjoy reading this chapter! Sorry if this update is super late. . . just like all my other ones. . . argh. . . working on it!! Please read and give me some feedback as to how I can improve my story! Thanks for all those who have reviewed my story! )
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"Oh man! Can't believe the tournament begins tomorrow! Ai-ya," Saber sighed as she leaned back into the couch she shared with Ray. The two teams were completely exhausted from training and had gone up to the room to relax. It was 2 in the afternoon. They had spent the previous days training and practicing vigorously. Almost everyone had beyblades on the mind at all times. The Wildcats and the Bladebreakers hardly wasted time eating (Tyson sadly gave up on convincing everyone that they should have a longer lunch break), taking breaks, or hanging out.
"I have to agree with you. It's been pretty stressful these few days," Ray agreed.
"Well duh! We haven't exactly relaxed ever since Leslie and the Hellsings showed up," Max laughed.
"I wonder just how much stronger everyone else has become in the Hellsings," Terri wondered aloud.
"Beats me," Saber muttered as she stared at the TV screen. The animated Disney movie "Finding Nemo" was playing on the movie channel. It was pretty good, but none of the four friends could enjoy it in peace. Everyone was too tense about the tournament, even though it was only a day away.
Meanwhile, Lexis and Tyson were with Kenny inside the guys' room. Kenny was explaining to Lexis and Tyson about some beyblade attack ring he had customized. He had noticed that Dragoon had been missing out on some of its attacks due to a weak attack ring and had especially fixed up a new one for Tyson. He also helped fix up Lexis' Jaguarah by giving it a tune up.
"Oh wow man!" Tyson said in awe as he checked out Kenny's updates. "Thanks Kenny! This attack ring you replaced improved Dragoon's rotation spin, as well as increasing the power of the attack."
"Thanks Chief," Lexis said, as she turned Jaguarah around in her hands, inspecting every angle of it. "I'm impressed at how well your handiwork is."
"Aw shucks," Kenny murmured, blushing at the compliments. "It was all for the team."
As for Kai and Solo, those two were taking a walk by themselves around the hotel. They were walking in the hall where the training room could be seen from above in a window.
Solo walked up to the window, and looked down towards the training room. Some kids were there, practicing. Others were just playing one-on-one battles.
"Solo," Kai said.
"Yeah?"
"I don't know if you've noticed this, but, is there something wrong with Lexis?" he asked slowly and calmly. Solo looked at the glass window, peering at her reflection and saw Kai's face peering at her from behind. She sighed.
"You too huh?" she said, her hand touching the window. "I don't know what's wrong with her, but . . . she's been like this for almost 3 months now." Kai made no response as he digested this information.
"Kai." Solo turned around to face him. "There's something going on with her that she won't tell us," she whispered. "I can tell that she's struggling with something, and Terri's asked her once or twice already, but she won't tell her anything."
"You're worried?" he asked. This was not like Solo at all. Sure she was always checking up to see how her friends were, but to be this worried over Lexis?
Solo stepped out and put her arms around him. He embraced her by putting his arms around her. He could smell the sweet smell of shampoo in her hair.
"Thanks," she murmured, her chin resting on top of his shoulder. "I missed you."
"I missed you too."
"I just hope that, whatever's going on with Lexis, that she'll be alright."
Kai did not say anything. Instead, he thought of the possibilities of them winning the championships again. Before, their chances seemed to be greater. Now, their chances were almost gone.
We cannot win if our team continues to drag on like this, he realized. Unless Lexis gets her act together, there may be no way we can possibly succeed in our goal.
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"Lexis! Are you listening to me?"
"What? Huh? OH. Yes, I am."
"You need to decrease your power when you get sucked into Dragoon's hurricane, otherwise you won't have enough ammo to attack the opponents with," Tyson reminded her, as he stared at her. Tyson, Lexis, Max and Terri had gone back downstairs to train.
"I know that," Lexis answered back quickly. "But it takes a lot of steady power and stamina just to stay in the hurricane without being thrown back out."
"Well, then you'll just have to work harder," Tyson stated.
"Believe me Tyson, I'm doing everything I can," Lexis grumbled. She picked up her beyblade in frustration and launched it once again into the battle dish. Dragoon joined Jaguarah and pulled it in with its hurricane attack.
Concentrate, Lexis reminded herself. Concentrate hard-
"Mother—"
Concentrate.
"Your father and I have tried to keep you happy, but we cannot be happy within each other's presence—"
C-concentrate. . .
"I know this is hard on you, but you must accept this—"
C. . .concentrate— Crap man, how can I possibly accept this? Answer me!
"Please forgive us for putting you in this position—"
How can I?! Answer me! How can I possibly be happy? How can I possibly think cheerfully?
"— stay strong—"
HOW CAN I?! HOW CAN I POSSIBLY STAY STRONG WHEN EVERYTHING AROUND ME IS BEING SHATTERED? ANSWER ME!! WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER ME—
"LEXIS! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"
Lexis opened her glistening eyes, shocked to find that Jaguarah was breaking out of the tornado with its claws and ferociously tearing at Dragoon. She, out of all people, had actually lost control of her bit-beast due to her frustration. Shocked, her senses quickly reverted back to reality.
"Jaguarah! STOP!" Immediately, the bit-beast obeyed its master and disappeared back into its beyblade. Lexis panted breathlessly. It was then did she notice that she was sweating and out of breath. Tyson whirled around to look at her.
"Hey! Didn't I just say not to increase the power of Jaguarah? Huh?"
Lexis didn't respond. Instead, she tried to stop panting, but she could hear her heart beating very loudly and quickly. Right next to where Tyson and Lexis were, Terri and Max had turned around from their training, wondering what was going on. Kenny simply remained quiet from where he was sitting.
"Lexis?" Tyson said again, this time in a calmer voice.
"I know! I know! I heard you the first time," Lexis answered loudly, as she put a hand to her head. "I just. . ."
"Then how come Jaguarah's power increased by at least two times before? Anymore powerful, and I'll say Dragoon could have been seriously damaged," Tyson pointed out.
"I—I just couldn't . . . couldn't concentrate. . ."
"Today's the last day we get to train before the tournament--"
"I KNOW THAT, DAMMIT!"
The whole room remained deadly quiet. Tyson, speechless to hear the words coming out of Lexis' mouth, looked shocked as he stared at Lexis. He obviously hadn't been expecting this from the Lexis he knew so well. Terri put a hand to her mouth while Max couldn't believe what had just happened. Everyone was shocked and surprised. Lexis, still panting, arched her brow for a moment. Then finally, realizing what she had done, trembled. Her eyes started to tear and her face collapsed from its angry expression to an upset look.
Biting her bottom lip, Lexis tore away from Tyson and the rest of her friends and ran towards the door.
"Lexis, wait!" Tyson called after her. Lexis almost ran right into Saber, who was entering into the room with Ray right behind her the same time Lexis was exiting. Saber quickly leaned against the opened door and made way for Lexis as she ran outside and disappeared down the hallway. Lexis didn't even notice that she had left Jaguarah behind.
"LEXIS!" Tyson shouted again. But the only thing he could hear was her footsteps. Upset at what had just happened, Tyson started towards the door as well, but stopped when Max yelled, "Tyson. Why don't you just leave her alone for a bit? She needs to calm down."
"But she's upset—"
"I know, bud," Max agreed. "But she needs some time alone to think over what had just happened. The girl's freaked out by what just happened, you know?" Tyson sighed in defeat, and stopped in his place. Jaguarah slowly stopped spinning and toppled on its side with a loud CLANG.
"Lexis," Terri whispered.
"Yo! What was all that about? What's up with Lexis?" asked Saber as she and Ray reluctantly closed the door.
"I don't know what happened!" Tyson said in frustration. "We were doing okay this morning, and then while you guys went outside for a break, we were just working on the DJ Destruction technique. It was really hard to synchronize them in perfection, so we were working on that, since tomorrow is the tournament. We were trying to balance out our powers, but Jaguarah was too powerful and it kept throwing Dragoon off balance. So I told Lexis to lower Jaguarah's power and then, when we tried out the technique again, it was okay at first. However, half way through, Jaguarah suddenly became more and more powerful. It was frantically getting agitated more and more each second and finally, it began to go out of control. It was trying to bite Dragoon and fight it or something. I look onto Lexis and all I see is her with her eyes closed, looking as if she's frustrated. I yell at her and then she realizes all of a sudden that she's lost control of her own bit-beast while her eyes were closed. By the time she calmed it down, I was asking her why she didn't decrease its power cause today IS the last day of training before the tournament begins. She nearly bites off my head by yelling at me and runs out of the room! ARGH! I don't believe this!" Tyson slammed his fists down onto the floor, panting in anger.
Saber and Terri stared at each other. Ray walked forward and knelt next to Tyson.
"Tyson, I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding, but have you considered the fact that you may have been pushing Lexis around because of this tournament?"
Tyson didn't respond, but Ray knew he could hear him.
"I know that we've got a tournament tomorrow and I know just how badly you want to hold onto our title, because I do too. But you should slow down a bit. If you go too fast a pace with training, you'll only end up bossing people around and that will get us no where."
"Okay! So maybe I HAVE been a little stressed out lately because we were behind in our training, but why is she still biting my head off? Look, Ray," Tyson said, as he got into a sitting position. "I'm only trying to do my best, and I'm willing to accept the fact that I MAY have been bossing people around just too much, but . . ." He took off his baseball cap and fiddled around with it. "But what is wrong with Lexis?" he asked quietly. "She's always feeling down and she can't seem to focus on beyblading these few days. How am I supposed to work with that?"
The room stayed quiet. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop from one end of the room to the other end.
"Why don't we take a break?" Kenny finally spoke up.
"Yeah, that'll be great," Max said, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.
"Saber, I'm going to try to find and talk to Lexis, okay?" Terri told her friend.
"Alright," Saber answered. "Come back soon."
Terri nodded, then quickly walked to the exit doors and left the room. Saber sighed, looking down at her shoes. Things were not going well at all. The pressure of keeping a championship title as a team was already enough to make them uneasy, but to have a conflict with Lexis just made matters worse – much worse.
Lexis sat in her bed, feeling miserable and upset. First, there was the problem about her mother and father wanting her to make a decision that could very well destroy who she is now. Then there was all the pressure of keeping up with school work and passing. The additional pressure of keeping a championship title as a team made her concentration worse. And now, just moments ago, she had actually lost control of Jaguarah.
She wasn't sure how it happened, but it did. One moment ago she was in control of everything. The next she loses her concentration and unconsciously overpowers Jaguarah with her anger instead of focusing on the beyblade itself.
The worse problem of all was the fact that she had actually yelled and swore at Tyson.
She couldn't help it, for she was so frustrated, and took out her anger on him before she could stop herself. Drawing her knees to herself, Lexis buried her head into them and drew her arms around her knees. She heard the door open and close. Someone's footsteps sounded nearer as they walked closer towards their room. She heard their door open and someone come in.
"Lexis?" It was Terri's voice.
". . . . . ."
"Lexis, are you okay?"
She shook her head. Terri walked towards her and sat next to her on the bed. Lexis didn't raise her head.
"What's wrong?"
Lexis didn't respond. Terri sighed.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Everything's wrong," Lexis murmured. She finally raised her head up, her hair covering part of her face. Terri waited patiently as Lexis drew a hand and brushed back her hair from her face.
"You saw what happened, didn't you?" Lexis said aloud. "In fact, everyone in that room saw what happened. I lost control of Jaguarah. I was trying to decrease its power, but I couldn't concentrate on it. I was . . . I was so frustrated today cause of something my mom told me and I just . . . I couldn't control myself-" Lexis' voice broke as the tears finally flowed. Terri put an arm around her best friend's shaking shoulders as she watched her sob quietly. "I-I didn't m-mean to y-yell at Tyson like that! You have n-no clue how hard I was trying to c-concentrate. But it's j-just too much right now. And to h-have the additional pressure of keeping the ch-championship t-title as a t-team, I just c-couldn't handle it-t."
"It's okay," Terri soothed her. "Everyone gets stressed once in a while. You're no different."
"I don't want to lose T-tyson! I r-really d-don . . . And I don't w-want to l-l-lose J-Jaguarah either . . ." Lexis covered her face with her two hands as her body heaved with her choking sobs. Terri had never before seen or heard Lexis cry since she had first met her.
"Shh," Terri whispered. The room stayed quiet for a moment. The only sound was Lexis' sobs. Terri kept a firm grip around Lexis' shoulders. Slowly, Lexis' sobs grew calmer as time passed. Terri handed her a box of tissue, which she grabbed at and blew her nose. She wiped away the tears from her eyes and stayed quiet. Terri glanced at her exhausted and extremely stressed out friend.
"When you left the room, Tyson tried to call you back. He knows just how much everyone wants to keep the title and he also confessed about how he'd been pushing you around just a little bit too much these few days because of that. But, he's very worried about you because you didn't seem to be very happy these days.
He's worried about me?
"What I'm saying is if something's been bothering you these few days, you should tell him. It can decrease your stress and he may be able to help you. Even if he can't, at least you can have some comfort or support."
"Well, the only thing that's bothering me right now is what I've just said to him moments ago."
"Then apologise to him."
"But what if he hates me now, because of what I did?"
"Lexis, you can't tell for sure until you've actually asked him about it. Now, come on." Terri got off the bed and extended her hand towards Lexis. Lexis looked at her reluctantly for a moment, then grabbed her hand and got off the bed as well.
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Tyson drank the last of his Coke. He had been sitting at the hotel café for almost half an hour now by himself. Max was trying to figure with Kenny how they could improve Draciel's endurance but at the same time improve the defence ring without throwing it off balance. They were still inside the training room. Saber and Ray, who just had a break, were training and practicing their duo combat techniques. Kai and Solo had not returned yet.
Does Lexis hate me? Is it cause I've been pushing her too much these days, or is it because she's lost interest in me all together? Tyson debated with himself.
He stared at Jaguarah, whom he had picked up after Lexis had fled from the training room and stared at it. It was a very fine beyblade indeed. Thanks to Kenny's updates, it was almost shining proudly. But it looked most awkward in Tyson's possession.
Tyson took out Dragoon and held one beyblade in each hand. Staring at each one closely, he put them close together and observed them. The eyes of the bit-beasts on the bit-piece almost seemed to somehow rather, glow, as if they had longed to be together.
If Dragoon and Jaguarah can work together once again as bit-beasts, then why can't Lexis and I do the same? What had occurred in the practice room may just have been from all the stress. But that doesn't necessarily mean that we can't work together again . . . just like before.
Jaguarah stared back at him as he looked into its eyes.
"You miss your master, don't you?" Tyson whispered awkwardly to the bit-beast. It, of course, didn't respond to him, but Tyson could feel that it indeed was missing its master. "Well, I don't know about you, but I miss her too," Tyson continued on. "You're the only person, or um . . . thing, who knows what's going on with her. You probably can't tell me in words what's going on with Lexis, but whatever it is, please guide her and watch over her." In his mind, Tyson could hear the roar of the jaguar bit-beast as he stared at its bit-piece.
"Tyson."
Turning around, Tyson's heart skipped a beat when he saw that it was Lexis who was standing a metre away from him. Her eyes were red and her hair was slightly messy.
"L-Lexis?" Tyson managed to say. She looked at him with those navy blue eyes and for a moment, neither one spoke. Tyson could not tear his eyes away from her tear-stained ones. It was almost as if time itself had stood still all of a sudden. Their surroundings suddenly seemed blurred and far away. Lexis' hands, which were clasped in front of her, tightened.
"Tyson," she started again. "I'm . . . I'm sorry for what happened. It will never happen again. I just hope . . . hope that you will accept my apology and that you will . . . not look down on me because of what had happened –" She was caught off guard when Tyson suddenly rushed forward and embraced her in a tight hug. Lexis, overwhelmed by his sudden action, bit her bottom lip as it started to tremble. She could only stand as Tyson spoke quietly next to her ear.
"Lexis," Tyson whispered. "I want you to know . . . that I'll never look down on you . . . because I love you. To tell you the truth, I'm very worried about you. I'm worried about why you seem to be so sad lately. I thought at first that . . . that it was because you didn't like me anymore—"
"Tyson, what possibly made you think of such a thing?" Lexis asked, her voice cracking with emotion. "I never hated you! I just . . . it's just that . . . al-lot of bad things have b-been hap-penning to me f-for the last f-f-f-few months. I – I—"
She couldn't go on anymore. Her body shook with heaving sobs as she laid her head on Tyson's shoulder. Tyson soothed her and place one hand on her back while wrapping the other one around her waist.
"Shhh," he comforted her, trying to calm her down. "It's okay now. I'm here for you. I . . . I'm sorry for pushing you around so much these days, Lexis. I . . . I guess this tournament's just gotten to my brain, that's all."
"Tyson, I'll train harder. I'll c-concentrate MUCH harder t-t-this time round. You had n-no idea how hard I w-was trying to focus today. But I nearly attacked your own bit-beast because I couldn't concentrate!"
"Don't worry. We'll grow stronger together. You and I, and Dragoon and Jaguarah. Just, tell me what's troubling you, please."
I can't tell Tyson what Mother told me, not yet. But—
She lifted her wet face from Tyson's shoulder and blew her nose with a piece of Kleenex. Her voice was more steady this time.
"Tyson, if you really must know, then I'll tell you this: I'm failing in school."
"W-what?"
"Tyson, please don't tell anyone about this, not even the Wildcats. I don't want them to worry. For the last few months, ever since I failed my science project, I have not been doing very well in any of my studies. The only one I can actually keep up with currently is English. Everything else, I'm either getting low 60's or just below 50. I . . . I've just lost confidence in myself all of a sudden. It had to do with some other stuff happening but, I just couldn't focus on studying. The same thing happened again when we were beyblading today. I'm sorry if I'd let you down in anyway. If you-"
"You're failing school?" Tyson repeated. Lexis nodded sadly.
"But then, how are you going to keep up with your studies? And yet, you still took the time to come here-"
"I came only because I missed beyblading with my team mates and I missed beyblading with YOU." Lexis noticed suddenly that Jaguarah was lying on the table next to Dragoon. "Jaguarah!"
"Huh? Oh yeah, you'd forgotten it when you left the room. Luckily, no damage was done." Tyson looked worriedly at Lexis again, who stared back at him.
"Don't worry. I have you, so there's nothing to worry about. I'll work harder in my coming term and I'll probably have to take extra classes to keep up."
"You know, you can always ask me for help," Tyson said.
"I will. But I just don't want to worry you."
"No. When you need help, you should ask for it. Now c'mon. Let's get back in there and train! Tomorrow's the tournament and whether or not we win the first match, we have to be stronger as a team."
"Yeah! Thanks, Tyson." Lexis placed one hand on his cheek and kissed him full on the lips. Tyson responded by returning the kiss and wrapping his arms around her. A nearby waiter smiled at the now happy couple.
"Now, let's go!" With that, Tyson picked up Dragoon in one hand and in the other, took Lexis' hand as the two ran out of the café and down to the training room.
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Hoped you enjoyed this chapter! I'm sorry if it was disappointing! Please review after and tell me what can be done to improve my story! I will update faster next time!!!!
Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter again!
Zero2-the-scyther