Chapter IV – Bloody Welcome
(And now the fun begins. Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.)
The Blade Breakers had finally arrived in Russia and were looking for the home team that had invited them over in the first place. Tyson glanced around, a hand above his eyes to 'shield' them from the ceiling lights as he tried to get a glimpse of anything close to the Demolition Boys.
"What's the point in inviting us all the way here if they don't bother to show up on time?" He complained, putting his hands on his hips and looked a tad peeved.
"I thought you were going to complain that you were hungry again." Ray joked.
"You know, thanks for reminding me. That was the next thing on my list." Tyson pointed out, grinning widely.
"Perhaps they're running late?" Kenny suggested, looking up from his laptop.
"Hey, Tyson! Cut it out!" Max looked just about ready to jump up to the other. "I don't think that's a good idea!"
Tyson had put a suitcase on its shortest face and stood on top of it, getting a better view over the people who were walking about the airport. "Don't worry about it! It's easier to see Tala and the others that way-Hey! Whoa!"
Of course, the blue-haired teenager leaned too far and managed to lose his balance, ending up sprawled out on the airport floor. Kai was leaning against a wall, paying little attention to the antics of his teammates and kept his mind preoccupied with the more pressing matters. Narrowing his eyes, he caught the glimpse of the other team walking down the long hallway. He almost growled low in his throat, as the team got closer. It didn't look like they had changed much and Kai was not about to drop his guard for anything.
Tyson finally sat up, rubbing his forehead and looked up when he heard someone talking. "Need any help?"
A wide grin appeared on the Blade Breaker's face as the other helped him up. "Heya, Tala! It's been a while since we've seen or heard from you guys!"
"Likewise," Tala answered with a small smile but was still burdened with what was yet to happen. "Shall we go?"
"You bet!"
Ray caught Bryan's glance and politely yet barely greeted him. "Bryan."
"Ray." The other answered with the same courtesy and couldn't help the small smirk on his face.
There would have been thick silence between the two teams if it weren't for Tyson's chatter about previous tournaments they had been in and other such topics. The two teams left the airport, mostly quiet and tense. The Demolition Boys were as social as usual and it was no surprise since the Blade Breakers didn't expect much of anything else.
"If it alright with your team, we decided to hold the beybattle in a few days. It would be rude to ask you to beyblade right away since you just arrived. It will give you guys some time to settle in and take a look around." Tala explained as they neared a hotel.
"Hey, that's great! We didn't get much time to look around last time we were here." Tyson exclaimed.
Kai tensed up more, if possible, shooting a burning glare at his teammate's back. 'How cocky is he... It's not like any of us can forget what the hell happened here... That idiot...'
"Tyson." The said person looked back to see who called him.
"Yeah?" He blinked, looking at captain of the Blade Breakers.
Rethinking his decision, Kai found it pointless to tell the other to keep his guard up and he merely shook his head, remaining silent. Something wasn't right and it was becoming more apparent with each passing moment. They entered the hotel and Kenny and Max checked in at the front desk while the others waited in the lobby. Three of the Demolition Boys left and knew that Kai was watching them intently and with all the suspicion possible.
"Where are they going?" Tyson asked, looking past Tala. "I haven't heard any of them put a sentence together since we got here!"
Tala merely shrugged, glancing back out of the corner of his eye. "They are really not... used to being as social as your team..."
"Still? Hell, we thought you guys were gonna go nuts again with all that world domination stuff." Tyson said, folding his arms behind his head.
"That's all in the past now." Tala answered carefully, knowing it was partially true. "I'll come back in half an hour to check on you guys. Perhaps we can take a walking tour around the immediate area?"
"What do you guys think?" Tyson looked back at the rest of his team. "You up to it?"
"Sure!" Max regained his cheerful mood but kept a cautious thought at the back of his mind. "Sounds fun."
"I think I'll stay here and e-mail Mr. Dickenson to tell him we got here. That and I just want to make sure your beyblades won't malfunction in the beybattles." Kenny admitted.
"I think I might take a short nap. I couldn't really sleep on the plane that much with Tyson talking non-stop." Ray grinned slightly from the protest from his teammate.
"Hey!" Tyson slightly pouted, looking offended before he turned to the last member of the team. "What about you, Kai?"
"Whatever..." That was an expected reply after knowing the Russian for years.
"Good enough for me! We'll meet in the lobby in half an hour?" Tyson looked back at the other.
Tala nodded before he turned to leave. "Seems appropriate. I hope you all enjoy your stay here."
When he left, Tyson turned back to his team and the cheerful grin was still there. "See? I told you he's changed! Can't really say the same about the others... They're about as talkative as a brick wall... But this turned out better than I thought!"
"Yeah, I guess." Max agreed.
"Then there's nothing to worry about!"
'Easier said than done...' Ray thought, glancing at the Russian on their team. 'He seems really uptight about this whole situation...'
The team took their bags, making their way over to their designated rooms on the second floor and divided their team in their usual sleeping arrangements. Kai and Ray were in one room and that left the other three to the room across from theirs. Tyson dropped his bag on the bed and jumped on it.
"Hey, Chief. Who'd you ask as back-up?" He asked, looking at the other upside-down as he lay across the bed. "Not like we need it or anything."
"I e-mailed the Majestics since they are closer than some of the other teams and easier to contact." Kenny said as he opened his laptop. "I'm not sure if all of them are going to show up but they should be here later tonight."
"You sure this place isn't too low-class for them? They might expect everyone here to wait on them hand and foot." Tyson scoffed, folding his arms.
"Come on, Tyson. You know they're at least a bit better than that. Though a few of them are a bit ruder than Oliver and Enrique but that doesn't change anything right now. We're not sure whether the Demolition Boys are going to try anything so you can't just take this in stride." Kenny started typing at the laptop, writing the e-mail to the chairman of the BBA.
"I was just kidding... Sort of, anyway." The dragoon beyblader sat back up, picking up a pillow before throwing it at another one of his teammates. "Heads up, Maxie!"
"Hey!" The bubbly blonde threw the pillow back and the two ended up starting a pillow war.
It continued for a good few minutes until they grew tired of the little game and decided to spare the pillows any more abuse. That and Kenny was having more than enough trouble typing up his e-mail without narrowly dodging stray pillow war ammunition. Soon enough, thirty minutes had passed and most of the team made their way downstairs to the lobby of the hotel. The team leader of the Demolition Boys was waiting for them, his arms folded neatly over his chest and his icy eyes watching them carefully.
"We're not late, are we?" Tyson asked.
"Of course not." Tala reassured the small group. "There's plenty of time. Shall we go?"
The group of beybladers left the hotel, walking along the streets closer to a snow-covered park. Kai glanced around with his eyes, his gaze narrowing slightly as he noticed that not too many people were outside. It was approaching the evening hours but he grew more and more suspicious with each passing moment. He tuned out the chatter of his teammates and carefully watched for anything that moved. He heard a branch snap and stopped walking, glowering at the place where the sound came from. A small squirrel ran across the pathway but such a small animal couldn't make that much noise...
Tala looked back out of the corner of his eye at the other Russian. 'Bryan and the others went back to the abbey... The other two are already making a mess out of this...'
The armed twins were hiding behind the fountain in the park and Dima sharply hit his sibling across the head.
"Watch where you're walking! You're going to give us away!" He hissed at her, turning his gaze back to the suspicious Kai. "He already knows something is going on and we're this close to screwing it up... Wait until the other two get close enough..."
"I don't completely understand what they're saying..." Sinya said quietly. "What language are they speaking in?"
"It doesn't matter! Be quiet!"
Tala stopped the miniature walking tour and looked back to see the other two having a snowball fight. He merely crossed his arms and watched quietly before shifting his eyes back to Kai, meeting the other's gaze. He smirked at the other slightly but with all the knowing intention in the world. Kai visibly tensed, his glare intensifying before folding his arms across his chest and muttering curses in Russian. Max and Tyson continued with the snowball fight, running around the park near the other two. Max ran around the large fountain and slipped slightly on some black ice before his eyes met the jade gazes that watched him intently. Confusion appeared on his face before an extremely pained expression flashed on his features as a metal-clad foot brutally hit his stomach.
"Max!"
The attacker stood up and landed another strong kick into the other's stomach, her eyes watching the boy intently as he fell back. Max grabbed his stomach in his pain; his eyes squeezed shut as he felt the shadow of someone running over him to the other side of the fountain. He struggled to regain his breath as he cracked an eye open a bit, his heart nearly leaping into this throat as he saw a metal hand near his face.
"What's going on?! Who are you?" Tyson yelled, taking a step back as the second attacker started walking towards him.
A splash interrupted Tyson's thoughts as he caught a glimpse of Max just before the blond hit the cold and shallow water of the fountain. Max struggled up from the water, gripping the stone edges before pulling himself up shakily, not wanting to stay in the chilling pond. He made a slight choking sound before almost forcing a few coughs as some blood sprayed onto the light layer of snow. Kai ran over, half turning swiftly to avoid a punch then he swung his fist over, striking Sinya in the face, right above the metal mask.
"I knew it..." Kai scowled, watching the other stumble back a few steps from being stunned.
He made his way back to Max and helped him out of the freezing water, sitting the blond against a nearby stone bench before giving him his own coat. Kai stood back up, somewhat used to the cold for the moment as he glared hatefully at Tala and the two that had attacked his teammates. Tyson ran over to Max's side and continued asking if he was all right, partly hearing the conversation between the four Russians.
"Surprised, Kai?" Tala asked calmly.
"No, not really." Kai shot back. "Did Boris get sick of the four of you failing miserably? Maybe that's why there are others to do his dirty work...."
Looking out of the corner of his eye, he heard the blond attackers shuffle their feet on the icy ground slightly.
"This is not just for fun. The beybattle is going to be held within a few days..." Tala said casually, a little irritated that Boris wanted Kai to return to the abbey to hold up his prodigy title. "I'm sure you'll find this location fitting, Kai... I know you remember that frozen lake where you summoned up your former team a few years ago..."
"Tala!" Tyson jumped up, glaring at the redhead. "How could you do this? You changed for the best last time I fought you!"
"Wrong."
"What!?"
"If you still don't understand, I would advise you to be quiet, Tyson. This doesn't concern you." The captain of the Russian team declared.
"The hell it doesn't!"
"Care to humor me?" Words as icy as the air itself cast the area into silence.
Kai narrowed his eyes slightly as he made eye contact with one of the blond assailants, having a feeling that he met him somewhere before. Then three words reminded him of exactly who it was...
"You're mine, Hiwatari."
"... Dima." Kai growled out the name. "I should have known that you'd be having a ball with this...."
"It's only going to get better, trust me... You may have beaten me in the past just because you were 'special'. This time you're not going to be so lucky." Dima explained smugly as his jade eyes almost flashed with malice and he crouched down slightly. "I don't care what Boris says... The abbey doesn't need you... The Demolition Boys don't need you... So you're only a discarded pawn..."
Scowling once again, Kai heard the two assailants run towards him from different directions. Sinya glanced to the side slightly as Tyson went to stop her and she sharply thrust the bottom of the palm of her hand into his chest, driving him back slightly as she continued running for the target. Max winced as he started getting up, watching the scene before he summoned up all his strength to help out.
"Kai, watch out!" The said person locked one hand with the frontal attacker, the other hand held up in case the other decided to strike his face.
"Max, don't!" Tyson yelled as he stumbled over to stop his friend.
The next moment passed painfully slow as Kai was locked in a one-handed mercy fight with Dima but he felt a weight on his back and could swear that he heard a sickening crack. He looked over his shoulder slightly and his eyes widened as he saw Max wince painfully and he saw why. Sinya had ducked down and had a strong punch aimed for his back but Max had managed to make his way there and intercept it... catching the blow in his chest. Dima's free hand had shot past Kai's head and the metal claws of the gauntlets had pierced and ripped through the clothing and skin of Max's shoulder.
Sinya looked up, wondering why the other had done such a stupid thing then the other made another strangled cough, the blood hitting her face. She squeezed her eyes shut, the warm blood dripping down to her eyes as she pushed Max away and proceeded to stumble back.
As Max fell onto the pathway, Kai shifted his weight and pushed back at Dima, throwing him off balance. His blood felt like it was starting to boil as the other leaped back a bit and took off the metal mask.
Dima smirked coolly as he brought up the hand that had the blood on it and licked some of it off, enjoying the reaction of Tyson and the infuriation of Kai. "Not bad..."
"You're sick!" Tyson yelled as he tried to tend to the fallen boy.
"Here's the deal, Hiwatari... You've got until sundown to return to the abbey and remain there or I'll put it this way... Next time, I'll personally see to it that one of you is dead." Dima smirked more.
Tala glanced to the side slightly, taking note of how close the entrance of the park was to the street, his voice held the utmost authority and iciness. "They get the point. Dima, Sinya, get moving. Now."
"... I'm c-cold..." Max said in a small voice, his body wracked with shivers from the wintry air and the pain throughout his body. "I... I can't feel my feet..."
"Max, hang on!" Tyson said before looking up at the captain of their team. "Don't just stand there, Kai! We have to help him!"
Kai turned his back on the fleeing Russians and vaguely assessed the damage done to the two then he looked his right hand, seeing that the top of his hand was bleeding from the sharp fingertips of Dima's gauntlets.... Max let out a few more strangled coughs as blood dripped down the side of his mouth and down to the cold ground.
When the help that Kai called for by a nearby phone had arrived, Max had already slipped unconscious. He didn't hear Tyson say that help was coming, he didn't feel the slap on his face that was supposed to jerk him awake... He could only feel the mind-numbing pain and the frigid air that bit at his face. Soaking wet and cold, he was trapped in darkness, in pain, and alone.
(... I just had to add that last line, you know? Anyway! I haven't written anything in so long, tis ridiculous! There's probably a bunch of typos but unlike last time, I'm actually typing a bit of the next chapter now Oo; It doesn't mean that I'm going to post it any time soon... got all that stupid school stuff and the basketball season is only halfway through... Stupid practices... Anywho, I'll probably fix up the typos another time when my brain isn't so dead from a stupid basketball tournament. Hope this made up for the wait oO; )