Chapter 13: Landslide
Man, it feels like I haven't seen you in FOREVER!"Derek, Rika and Sasha were still sprawled out in the hallway, Sasha babbling about everything, their new friends, the tournament, everything."Wow, sounds cool..." Derek said, nodding."Can anyone say 'selective hearing'?" Rika asked, smiling."Hey, I was listening...but not when she started repeating everything." Derek answered, starting to fidget on the carpet."Ok, get off Godzilla, we're starting to cramp up!" Rika said, shoving Sasha off and rising."And thank you." Derek said, stretching out his back.Sasha giggled and jumped up. "I never did ask why you're here!" she said."Because home is so boring without you guys around. And plus, I had to come and see you win your first tournament." Derek grinned."Uh...well we're gonna miss it if we don't leave like yesterday." Rika said, pointing at Derek's watch."HURRY, LETS GO!" Sasha screamed, as they started jogging down the hall."Great, half our team isn't even there!" Rika snarled."Way to start the day!" Derek laughed.
"Can this bus ride be any longer?" Rayne moaned, slumping in her seat.Andi made a vain attempt at peeling herself off the seat that she was glued onto. Heat seemed to visibly rise off of everyone in the bus, which was smouldering in the day."I'm melting..." Max mumbled, sliding down the seat, his damp skin making a squealing sound."I'm betting these stupid seats are leather." Tyson said, his head flopping backwards over his seat."Quit whining." Kai said from the back, his frown darkening as some sweat ran down his temple."Yeah, stop your belly aching." Ray agreed from back up at the front, brushing damp hair off his forehead."Now now, I'm sure we're almost there." Mr. Dickinson replied, leaning forward on his walking stick."I hope you're right, my circuits are sizzling!" Dizzi cried."By my calculations, we still have some way to go." Kenny commented.A collective groan ran through the bus."You have to be kidding! We'll be dead by the time we get there!" Andi yelled, sliding sideways against the window."Dragoon'll be fried lizard by the time the tournament starts." Tyson muttered, leaning heavily on Max who looked passed out against the window."Oh geeze, get off!" Rayne cried, as Andi flopped onto her lap, stretching out across the seat."Nu-uh, I'm sleeping the whole way there." Andi muttered."Good idea." Tyson said, using the already half-asleep Max for a pillow.They heard a 'Humph' from the back as most of the beybladers settled down for a nap. Rayne slid out from under Andi and wobbled up to the front, sitting in the seat behind Ray.Kai was sitting quietly at the back with Tyson, Max and Andi sleeping in the middle of the bus. Kenny was sitting in the seat across from them with Mr. Dickinson in front of his seat."You gotta be used to this kinda weather, living here and all." Rayne commented."I guess, not that living in frigid, cold temperatures like you helps." Ray answered, turning so that his back was against the window."So...what was with the scream-a-thon going on back there?" Rayne asked after a moment, leaning her chin on the back of Ray's seat."Nothing.""Riiiiiiiiiiight, well...why did you want to talk to Rika in the first place?" Rayne asked slowly, understanding there was something touchy about the subject."No reason."Rayne sighed.This guy was not going to give her anything. "C'mon, I know something's up! We haven't known each other for a long time but I've known Rika my whole life so I totally have a right to know!" Rayne ordered, silver eyes glinting dangerously.Ray glanced at the girl out of the corner of his eye.If he told her, maybe she could get Rika to talk to him. Or she could side with her and try to kill him or something.Raising his gaze to the roof for a second, he made up his mind.Swinging his legs off the seat, he made room for Rayne as she grinned victoriously and slid in beside him."So? Tell me everything!" Rayne ordered, their bus passing through a tunnel.
"I hate weather! I hate outdoors!" Sasha continued to whine, increasing the annoyance in the air."We heard you the last trillion times!" Derek said, staring out the window of their bus.After making the mad dash outside, they had flagged down the bus ready to leave. Oddly enough, they were the only ones onboard and the driver had said he was just about to call it a day.Now they were drowning in their own sweat as the bus trailed along, tailgating what had to be the slowest bus known to man."What's going ON? We're gonna be late and no one wants to be around me if we get disqualified!" Rika cried, failing in her mission to drown out Sasha."Maybe there was an accident..." Derek suggested, tugging on the collar of his navy blue 'industry' t-shirt."I'm so hooooot!" came another high-pitched whine from the back."SHUT UP! I'M WEARING BLACK, HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL!" Rika hollered, lunging into the middle of the aisle."Not half as bad as I do! I'm a guy, we're allergic to heat!" Derek replied, his naturally messy head of spikes drooping from the humidity.
"I bet some of that blonde hair dye has leaked into your brain...or the empty cavern in there." Rika grinned, turning her head."Oh haha!" Derek answered, blue eyes tearing away from the window to look at her."Ok guys, no fighting! We don't want Rika to rip you apart like she tried to do to Ray!" Sasha cried from her position perched on the top of her seat, her jacket lying forgotten on the floor."Whose Ray again?" Derek asked, craning his neck to see the girl behind him."He's a dweeb!" Rika answered calmly, forgetting how angry his name used to make her."Oh...a dweebster boyfriend then?" Derek asked, raising an eyebrow teasingly."Let me think...um, no and no I'm not trying to dodge any bullet." Rika said sarcastically, seeing the eyebrow rise even further.Derek didn't reply, too busy grinning to multi-task."I'm NOT and he's NOT!" Rika said, crossing her arms.More grinning."Well she's crushing on KAI!" Rika yelled pointing at Sasha."Who's Kai again?" Derek asked, turning around to stare inquiringly at Sasha who had her mouth hanging open.Rika was about to answer smugly when the bus suddenly stopped and Rika fell out of sight. A loud sniffle came from the back as Sasha fell off her seat, landing on the floor."What's with the injury-inducing stop, Mr. Bus driver?" Derek yelled, leaning over the seat in front of him."I don't know, the road looks like it's backed up for a long way." The driver replied."Are you cracked in the head? That could've killed me!" Rika snapped, leaping to her feet."The roads blocked, Drama Queen." Derek said."What? We have to get to the tournament!" Sasha shrieked, forgetting about her invisible injuries and running up to the front."Sorry but I can't get through! Take a look outside, everyone else is stalled too!" The driver replied.
"Well? Take a look!" Rika yelled at Derek, pointing at the door.Derek crinkled his nose and stood up, yelping as he nearly tripped on his black skateboard pants."I'm ok..." Derek hollered, stumbling into the aisle."What could you trip on? They don't even go to your ankles!" Sasha said, pointing."Stop harassing me!" Derek howled, pretending to be seriously offended."Ok DRAMA QUEEN, get out and check!" Rika demanded again."Yes ma'am!" Derek yelled, saluting, before running out the door.Sasha smiled and ran up beside Rika, waiting for Derek to come back."OW! IT BURNS!" Derek screamed, shielding himself from the sun."He's such a freak!" Rika laughed."Check Vampire Boy, CHECK!" Sasha called out the door."Right! Ok, there are a million vehicles all lined up on the road, no ones moving and...the lines really, really long...?" Derek called back."Well that was informative..." Rika said sarcastically, jumping outside and onto the dry dirt road.Slapping her forehead, she realized Derek's report had been more or less accurate. Sasha screamed in panic as she saw how long the traffic was."We're gonna be late!" Sasha wailed as she bounced up and down, dust flying around."Ideas?" Rika asked, knowing they wouldn't be getting a bus ride to the tournament anytime soon."Let's go hiking!" Derek cried, pointing up the steep mountain on their right."Yeah! That leads to the tournament! Up and over!" Sasha babbled, tying her jacket around her waist."Ok, you need medication!" Rika said, pointing at Derek, "And you need counselling!" she said, pointing at Sasha."We can climb it! We have to if we wanna get there anytime today!" Sasha said, placing her hands on her hips.Rika tapped her foot impatiently on the ground.To stay and wait, or go and die a horrible death.Decisions, decisions."Ok, fine. We'll climb the stupid mountain but if I die I'm gonna kill you two!" Rika finally yelled."Yay! We get to go mountain-climbing!" Derek said, impersonating Sasha."Oh yay for us..." Rika grumbled as the duo started scrambling up the path ahead of her.
The Bladebreakers and half of the Blade Bratz had been some of the few who had actually made it to the tournament. The crowd in the stadium was getting impatient as they noticed just how many competitors were actually present. Mr. Dickinson had left to see what had happened while everyone else lounged around in the cool stadium, recovering.Not Rayne of course."I can't believe you did that!" Rayne whispered, as her and Ray walked a little ways out of earshot.During the bus ride, when Ray had spit out what had happened that night, Rayne had got so excited she nearly bounced off the seat. Even after Ray had told her every little detail at her demand, she was still bothering him."Wow! I've known Rika to have boyfriends before, but a kiss is the first!" she whispered."I get the picture! That was her first!" Ray hissed, not wanting to have this conversation at the moment."Yeah, do you know how important that is to a girl?" Rayne asked, clapping her hands together."Evidently not, since I'm a guy!" Ray muttered."Well it is! Even to people like Rika who have serious anti-social issues!" Rayne replied."What do you want me to do about it? She doesn't want to talk to me!" Ray said."I know...but still, it's sweet..." Rayne said sympathetically, knowing how stubborn Rika could be."Sweet that she's going to murder me, or sweet you think we're eloping?" Ray asked sarcastically."Ok, she's not going to kill you! Not to sound disgustingly perverted but you're hot Ray! So chill, Rika probably knows that too!" Rayne said, waving a hand around."And your point is...?" Ray trailed off, beginning to feel disturbed as girls in the crowd started saying the same thing."I'm saying Rika could more or less be crushing on you like Sasha is to Kai." Rayne said, crossing her arms and nodding.Ray paused.To be fair to himself, he knew Rika was quite a looker when she wasn't tearing you to shreds. But...he wasn't sure if this information was good or bad. Sure, she was pretty but he was really foggy when it actually came down to knowing anything about her.She was pretty hard to get along with."Don't give me that look, I'm not speaking of the impossible you know! She has friends so she can obviously be humane on some level." Rayne joked.Ray glanced at the floor. He had thought he knew that that kiss was a one time thing.One time...Rayne examined his expression."Hey...you like her don't you?" Rayne said slowly, seemingly understanding what Ray could not.He looked up sharply; golden eyes furiously questioning silver ones.Unaffected by his heated gaze, Rayne smiled slowly, almost mysteriously. "Keep on it, Lover-boy. I'm sure you'll get it some time or another..." Rayne said, before walking off.Ray looked after her, drilling holes into her back."Hey Mr. Dickinson, what's wrong?" Max suddenly asked, as he caught sight of Mr. Dickinson running toward them."There's been an accident!" he yelled quickly, a worried look on his face.
Rayne gasped and turned around, joined by Kai who walked up and frowned at Mr. Dickinson."Yes, the girl's bus hasn't arrived yet. Hopefully they weren't in it." Mr Dickinson said, reading Kai's piercing gaze."But they could have been...?" Kenny asked, standing up from the bench"Someone tell me what kind of accident!" Tyson yelled, jumping up."A landslide, and a big one." Mr. Dickinson answered."Landslide...?" Ray asked finally, stepping forward.
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