Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or any of its characters. All unrecognizable characters however, belong to me (aside from those mentioned in chapter nineteen)!
Thanks to all those who reviewed!
The :::Movie Mode::: section was inspired by Da Rude's Sandstorm. It also does not belong to me.
As requested, a character list has been posted on my author's page for your reference!
"" For speaking
'' For thinking
Italics just for the fun of it!
She's Going Where?!
Chapter 21- Slinkies Against Nature
Written by Euphrosyne
"Just follow her!" There was a pause as the pink-haired girl turned and shushed the group behind her. "Quiet down. She'll hear us…!"
Not exactly understanding why they were sneaking up the dimly lit stairs to the large gymnasium, Enrique nonetheless cursed up the steps, coughing at the dust.
"May I ask again why we are ever-so-mysteriously following the blonde girl around?"
Mariah turned to answer Rob's question.
"DeCourte's up to something, I'm sure of it. Ever since the night of the club, the girl's been strangely ecstatic…mumbling in her sleep even…"
Ray felt for his girlfriend; she was stuck sharing a suite with the bottle-blonde. Takes very little to turn one loony.
"Kenny did some research for me and discovered Gen-X and M-Class booked the gymnasium for practise today. They've been World Cheer Champs for the past few years. Something's up."
Johnny sighed. "You said it yourself, they're the top two cheerleading teams. I doubt Viv will be able to steal any of their moves."
"Ah, the Evan twins. Tashiana and Charlize." Enrique chuckled.
"That's exactly my point. I'm worried they'll get hurt. As much as I resent it, our cheerleading team will never be able to do real moves with Viv coaching…" The pink-haired girl opened the side door at the top of the stairs and sneaked in, signalling the others to follow. "I saw her on the lower platform. From the balcony we'll be able to keep an eye on her without her laying an eye on us."
Kai quietly closed the door, holding the handles so it wouldn't sound a click.
"5-6-7-8-!"
Divided down the middle, the two schools faced each other, taking turns as they danced and flipped to the music, each trying to out do their competition.
Gen-X and M-Class were creepily evenly matched, each team lead by an exotic Evan twin.
If anyone was dying from the backbreaking flips, they sure weren't showing it!
Finally calling a break, the two captains wrapped it up and broke the teams off. Charlize grabbed two bottles of water form the cooler, tossing one towards her sister. She laughed. "Getting rusty there, sis. Sure you can still defend your champion title?"
Tash raised a brow, smirking in her younger sister's direction. "Girl, you're just lucky the full team isn't here. Chloe, Riley, and the others are training outta the country. You wait." Retrieving her Gen-X cell from her duffle bag, Tash flipped open the cover and dialled a number. She waited for a ring before pressing a button, placing it on the floor. She sighed. "Thank god the tournament only allows up to three competitions per person else Riley and the others would never sleep!"
A large projection illuminated the room. Everyone turned to watch the movie-like screen projected from the phone.
…Everyone included those who were not suppose to be in gym.
Sincerity's smiling face appeared, wearing thin black framed glasses and a long white lab coat. She held a clipboard in hand, jotting down a few notes before acknowledging her schoolmate. "What's up Tash? How can I help you?"
'…Smart, polite, famous, and beautiful...' Tala tried to hold himself together from his hiding position up on the balcony.
Tash continued. "Just checking up on my home girls. How are they doing? Can you cue me in?"
Nodding, Sin smiled, typing something into the computer screen in front of her. "Anything for you, hun. I'll zoom you in." There was a moment of silence before the screen went blank.
:::Movie Mode:::
Snow. Heavy storming flakes tore through the sky as the blizzard winds howled in the distance.
A raw hand clamped the side of the icy mountain, hammering the metal axe into the jagged icy surface. Riley pulled herself over the cliff, struggling to support the weight bound around her waist.
It was a technique the training committee had recently developed; the physically weaker leading the heavy, a direct aim to building physique as well as structuring team trust through the dangers of nature.
Her blonde team-mate pulled herself over the edge, not an ounce of energy left in her body.
Ash dug his hammer into the ice, rapidly pulling himself onto the mountain top as he stood to his feet, shielding himself from the blistering wind. He looked up just in time to race to Chloe's rescue as she fell to her knees.
Inhaling and exhaling deeply, Chloe grabbed the collar of her jacket, her breath fogging up her goggles.
Tai quickly unhooked himself from the rope attached to Riley's harness. Unzipping his pouch, he ripped open a package with his teeth to reveal a bright yellow glow stick. The captain ran towards the centre of the mountain, the horrid vision of their journey propelling his stinging body to move.
They were being timed, every second mattered. If they failed to achieve the desired results, they would repeat this trip all over again until they did. No way in hell would the girls be forced to pull them up the mountain again! The committee was insane! No human in their right mind would force their champion team through such training, no matter how good they were! Had they not proven themselves enough?!
Slamming the glow stick into the snow with full force, Tai waited for a reaction.
Slowly, a box levitated, automatically opening to reveal four parachutes. Laser red numbers flickered through the blizzard.
2:57:03
They had less than three minutes to get off the mountain.
Throwing two chutes towards Ash's direction, the dark-haired boy ran over to Riley who was down on one knee, clenching her wrist against her chest as she breathed heavily.
Tai quickly threw on his parachute, grabbing the other as he buckled it on the raven-haired girl. He picked her up, holding her petite figure over one shoulder as he ran towards the edge.
Cold air slapped him in the face as he tightened his grip around the girl.
There was simply no time to spare.
A demonic laugh echoed through the forest grounds, forcing the three girls to run even faster.
Thorns and branches tore at their clothes; blood seeping through their freshly opened wounds.
Scarlett stopped in her tracks and spun around. Both Sasha and Rin urged their team mate to keep running.
Red-streaked bangs blew wildly across the girl's face as the large shadow drew closer.
The trees surrounding them completely uprooted, the ground below them trembled from the power.
The two girls ran over to Scarlett's side, Rin grabbing her wrist as she tugged her forward.
The red-streaked Asian refused to move.
"…I will run no more…"
Sinister cackling sliced through the air as Maeve appeared riding some large twisted root creature. She glared, pointing a finger at her team. "How do you expect to beat the others if you can't even beat me?!" Her eyes flickered with anger and disappointment. "We both may be from Gen-X, but there's only one spotlight. We will not share it!"
Scarlett ripped out her launcher, aiming it at her captain. Her two team mates followed her example.
Maeve laughed, shaking her head. "Scarlett, always the fiery one standing up to her challenges." The captain's eyes suddenly deepened. "Show me all you've got."
The girl smirked, narrowing her eyes as she gripped her launcher.
"With pleasure."
:::End Scene:::
Tapping his gold watch with platinum trims, Emmerich drew in a deep breath.
He knew Gen-X was tough, but not this tough.
Currently his team was squatting with their mouth agape as the scene before them came to an end. In all honesty, he couldn't blame them. As a captain, he didn't even know what to say!
Pointing towards one of the bleachers to grab the attention of his team, Emmerich opened his mouth to speak.
"That's Vivinne DeCourte," he gestured at the blonde who had thick earphones over her ears, swaying her head as she listened and watched the camcorder recording of the two cheer team's rehearsal. "Not exactly the brightest girl in the tournament, but the perfect vessel for our plan."
Xan, Leianna and Erika raised a brow.
"I trust you all know what I'm talking about?"
The muscular American nodded. "Vivinne is Kai's girl, right?"
"-A perfect bridge towards Gen-X's team…" added Leianna.
Erika smiled as the plans began unravelling before her eyes. "So you want us to report her to the judges disqualifying her from the tournament, and then manipulating her vengeance to do our dirty work?"
"Take a few tournament rules, add a hormone-crazed chick, then frame a world renowned school president. It's so simple. We can't go wrong." Xan clicked away on his laptop.
"On that hand, we'll place our scheme in action at 1700:00," decided the Sitric captain as he retreated down the stairs, his hands in his pockets. He shook his head, chuckling to himself.
'Registering up to three tournaments eh? The World's must be depriving our great Riley Lovett…"
"I'm so sorry! Let me help you with that."
As tired as anyone could ever be, Riley blinked a few times before registering the fact that she was on the ground. Letting out an annoyed sigh, she sat up to pick up the registration forms scattered all over the concrete entrance.
"Leianna you fool! Watch where you're going. I don't care if you're killed but you might hurt someone else!"
Glancing over at the blond boy who was lecturing the fallen girl, Tai went over to help her up as the blond quickly kneeled to help Riley gather her papers.
The green uniforms said it all. They were both students from Sitric Academy.
"Hey, sorry about my friend over there. She's such a klutz." The blond offered Riley a hand. "The name's Xan by the way." He smiled.
"I told you to let me carry that stack for you but you refused. You alright?" Scolded Tai as he tucked the folders under his arm.
Riley smiled, sheepishly shrugging before turning to accept Xan's handshake.
The other girl skipped over and ducked her head, apologizing quickly while introducing herself. A thick English accent sounded from her voice.
"It's alright Leianna, it happens. You should slow down in public environments like this, accidents are waiting to happen." Riley smiled. "The names Riley-"
"-Lovett, I know. I've heard so many wonderful things about you." The English girl shook hands before turning her attention to Tai. "And you're Taylor Leigh, am I correct?"
Tai forced back the urge to narrow his eyes. He had a strange feeling about these two.
"Well Tai, I guess we should be heading into the restaurant. Ash and the others are expecting us." The red-eyed girl bowed politely at the two fellow competitors before excusing herself. "It was nice meeting you."
The two bowed respectfully before waving goodbye. Xan laughed, "Hope we don't run into each other again!"
Leianna subconsciously suppressed the need to gag.
The two Gen-X students waved before entering the restaurant.
Once the glass doors shut, the two so-called Sitric students looked up onto the open patio.
Boredly sipping a milkshake, Erika was lost in her own little world as Emmerich nodded pleasantly at the two's unintentional encounter with their rivals. The Sitric captain gave a thumbs-up before signalling the girl to leave.
Reluctant at first, the Chinese girl finally left her unfinished drink on the table and obeyed Emmerich's request.
"There you two are! We're been waiting for nearly 600 whole seconds!" whined Scarlett as she twirled a loose strand of ruby red hair between her fingers. "I'm hungry, let's eat!"
"Yes, yes, yes you little whiner. I'll go grab the food and holler Ash over. He needs a break, probably been working all day." Leaning on the back of Riley's chair, Tai handed her back the folder before excusing himself from the table of slightly intimidating women.
Maeve suddenly rose to her feet, following the raven-haired boy towards the counter. "Here, let me help you, Tai!"
Scarlett rolled her eyes but continued looking bored. "…She's got it bad…"
Sipping the glass of ice water through the straw, Riley lifted a confused eyebrow.
The other two Azn4 members joined in. "I know! Maeve's had the largest crush on Tai ever since she entered Gen-X. That's why she started beyblading in the first place…"
"The only reason why she hasn't made a move is because she's worried she'll interfere with the relationship you two have-!"
The red-eyed girl choked. "What the heck are you talking about? Tai and I are like siblings! Tell them Chloe!"
The blonde took this opportunity to slide two seats over.
The Evan twins laughed.
"Don't get Chloe involved, she has her own love life to deal with. You and Ash were pretty lovey dovey back there during your training session!" teased Tash.
Chloe looked away but continued stirring her drink with her straw. "It was a matter of life and death. It was more of a moral obligation-"
"-Because he loves you!"
It was clear Chloe's excuses weren't going to get her anywhere.
"Hey! You're not allowed to tease, Tash. You and you're perfect life and your perfect fiancé, Shamal." Scarlett did a mock cheer. "You can fall from the sky, you can fall from the tree, but the best way to fall, is in love with me…!"
Tash immediately turned red and tossed a napkin her way.
"What about you, Scarlett," spoke Charlize to her sister's defence. "You and all your men?" She teased.
"Scarlett's such a feisty girl. One of those who order Orgasms and Blow Jobs at bars."
The said Asian quieted down, calmly playing with her utensils. "You girls know I don't believe in true love…"
"If true love hides behind every corner, I must be walking in circles…"
Scarlett nodded at Chloe's comment. "As I always say, the love of power over the power of love."
Riley intervened. "I don't know Scarlett. What about you and Johnny? You two do have a lot of history together. Be pretty funny if you two hooked up!"
Making a face, the Asian shuddered. "Ugh. The more I get to know guys, the more I like dogs…"
"…Then maybe you shouldn't be screwing them in that posi-"
Scarlett glared. "Don't you dare finish that sentence, Rin." There was a pause. "If Sin wasn't so busy finishing up those beyblade stats, she would be the one being teased. Her and that Tah-la boy…"
Tash sighed. "All our Gen-X gals are being whisked away by these Middleton boys." She smiled at Rye. "How are you and Kai coming along?"
The Gen-X president slumped at the name. "I haven't even seen Kai at all throughout the trip." There was a moment of silence as she thought. "…I always knew looking back on tears would make me laugh, but I never knew looking back on laughter would make me cry…"
Chloe wrapped an arm around her best friend.
Scarlett's eyes softened but tried to lighten the mood.
"Guys are like slinkies. It's only fun to watch'em fall down the stairs."
Riley sniffled a laugh.
"Hey hey, my favourite girls! Food is served!"
Scaring Chloe with his sudden appearance, Ash placed a platter in front of her from behind. She jumped in her seat. "Speak of the devil…"
Ash chuckled at Chloe's comment before opening a large white cloth, spreading it on her lap. He whispered against her ear, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I'm just trying to keep up with you my dear. Heaven won't take me and hell's afraid I'll take over."
Chloe stiffened at the heat of his breath against her neck.
He leaned over to grab the pitcher. "I'll go refill this for you m'ladies."
Scarlett waved a celery stick in the air before taking bite. "Mmmhm. A man who can cook, serving you on both hands and feet…Now that's hot." She smiled jealously at the blushing blonde. "You are going to be so spoiled Chloe Quinn."
The title and the slinkie comment are dedicated to my pal Erica!
Yes yes yes, I have a pretty 'complex' outlook on guys. (I'm all for Scarlett and Chloe's perspective, LOL!)
Read and review, please!
