Chapter Summary – Emily makes her debut! The tournament is announced!
Inspiration (for this chapter) – Getting my computer back and the 2005 Miss USA pageant. And of course your lovely reviews!
Notes - a) Sorry about the late update but my computer died. Like seriously I had to get a new motherboard and a DVD-ROM drive all because some idiot who loaded the programs on my computer missed some that help run it (all those files that end with .exe for all you IT guys) and caused my computer to slowly kill itself every time it was on. Hopefully that is in the past and updates will be more frequent.
b) I was thinking of starting up a C2 group dedicated to the female characters in Beyblade and I was just curious if any of you guys were interested because I would definitely need staff members.
Miss Beyblade
Chapter 3
BBA American Academy, NY, USA
Spring vacation, fortunately for Emily, was officially over and the PPB All Stars were right back into their training and schooling at the BBA American Academy located in the Big Apple. It was there first day back into the new school year and as the six of them were in different grades and classes, except for Emily and Max who had advanced mathematics together (in which Max told Emily about the tournament), it wouldn't be until lunch that Max had the opportunity to tell the others the news.
After the two had somewhat worn out the topic of the BBA tournament as they revised over last term's calculus, Emily swapped her stories about her completely terrible holidays. It was common knowledge amongst the team that Emily hated her home life. She lived in what she dubbed a near shanty in southern Alabama with her mother, a previous third runner up in the Miss Alabama pageant some seventeen years ago. This of course was the highlight of her mother's life and she would relive it at any opportunity.
Her mother, the once attractive Chantel, had limped, thinning golden blonde hair and an even thinner physique. The once blinding pearly whites were now painted with a screen of musty yellow, a complementary gift from smoking a pack a day since she was nineteen. Emily hated to think of what her lungs looked like or worse smelt like. She was currently on potential husband number 5736 whose name was Pete or maybe it was Paul who had this irritating beer mug with a bicycle bell attached to it which he rung whenever he wanted his mug refilled and that was as frequent as her mum using the word 'hun' as a suffix on the end of every sentence. In fact, some nights when Emily lay awake at one in the morning, she could swear there was a faint ringing vibrating in her ears. Potential husband 5736 wore cheap cologne that got up the nose like a strong onion and was slowly being absorbed into the sofa, carpet and the house itself. Though she supposed he deserved one gold star for actually wearing any cologne at all.
However these weren't the reasons that made her spring break almost unspeakably horrible. Her half sister, Angela had moved in with her mum and her as Angela's dad had gone to jail for nine months for not being able to pay the fine for repeatedly hunting illegally in a national park. Despite being half sisters, Emily and Angela were almost strangers, Emily recalling only meeting her at least seven times at Christmases and various other holidays and family reunions and that was more than enough. The only merits Emily could list under Angela's name were that she didn't smell of onion and she had gotten herself a job as a waitress.
The two were from top to bottom bi-polar both in personalities and appearance. Angela had inherited their mother's golden locks, tanned skin which not a freckle dared to graced, intriguing violet eyes that certainly didn't come from the Reid blood line and though Emily would never admit it out loud (since she was above that) had a much smaller bust size. Emily's half-sister was, to be blunt, a bit of an airhead and with Angela moving into their house it only reinforced Emily's opinion further (for starters she thought that Harry Potter was a quarter back on some football team). The fourteen year old was also about as handy as a set of instructions written in Swedish. She had crashed her laptop, twice, with both times using it without her permission and she even put a fork in the microwave with her noodles and consequently blew the appliance up at which Max sympathetically groaned at Angela's lack of common sense.
Angela's personality had no fire within it; Emily would have preferred to argue then the uncomfortable stony silence that existed between them. It appeared that Angela was snubbing her, as if she thought she was better than her, but for what reason? Angela wasn't higher up the social ladder than her nor was she that pretty that she mingled with the beautiful people who thought themselves a cut above the rest. Plus she certainly wasn't smarter or more athletic than her so what was with the 'I'm too good to talk to you' attitude?
Definitely what had to be the worst clause of Angela moving in was that Emily had to share her bedroom. Their two single beds were pushed to the opposite walls like two repelling magnets as far away from each other as the room could possibly allow. It was extremely weird and tense between the two of them when they would lie in their beds willing slumber to fall upon them and hear each other's even breathing. Emily had a thing with people watching her when she slept especially with people she hardly knew them and they didn't get along with each other. She often wondered how on earth she would ever be able to get married and share a bed with her husband with this predicament.
However these thoughts were cut short when the bell rang for lunch and the team met up at their usual table, the one close to the cafeteria and next to a window where Max almost immediately told them the news.
"So let me get this straight. The BBA is hosting some kind of tournament which you and Rick can't compete in?" The now tanned Michael inquired with a somewhat doomed and pensive look etched onto his facial features. Max and Rick were the strongest bladers on the team and with them not permitted to compete would put a huge dint in the team's performance. Unlike Emily's holidays, Michael's had ended to soon spending the mornings surfing and the rest of the day on the baseball diamond or blading. Going back home to California for the spring break and spending all day in the sun had bronzed his skin noticeably a few shades darker, coupled this with his bleached blonde hair and blue eyes standing out even stronger with the tan made him look like a beach babe.
"Yeah and Tyson, Ray and Kai," Max added in an annoyed almost growl as he squirted mustard unsparingly onto his chicken sandwich irritably.
"That's whacked," Eddy replied. He had spent his break hanging out with Max and Rick and his old basketball team who too had grown at least a foot since he had last scene them. Unlike his Californian counterpart Eddy was somewhat relived at the thought of Max and Rick not being able to compete. Of course he felt sorry for them not being able to compete but depending on the tournament's guidelines he would get a chance to compete. It was alright for Emily and Michael who were Max and Rick's substitutes, they got a spin every now and again but he and Steve had their asses glued to the benches and the most action they ever got was the rare Beyblade flying out past their head.
"Maybe previous world champions can't enter?" Steve suggested through his steak and bacon roll giving his broad shoulders a shrug and appeared to be somewhat indifferent to the situation. Steve had gone back to his family's ranch in Texas for the holidays and spent the entire holidays rounding up cattle on the motorbikes with his brothers and cousins, playing football and of course beyblading when ever the occasion arose.
"Then how come I can't compete?" Rick demanded as he angrily squished his peas one by one with a fork. His holiday's consisted of hip-hop, blading and partying, the three necessities of life.
"Maybe teams that haven't competed before in the World Tournament can't compete?" Steve rebutted putting his burger back on the plate and taking a slurp out of his coke.
"Who would watch that and if so tell me how a tournament of that nature would boost the BBA's ratings and financial position?" Emily logically reasoned.
"No one of course," Rick spat bitterly.
"Can the rest of us compete?" Michael asked.
"Probably not," Max stated simply not removing his eyes from his food.
"Let's just all pick at her brain at practise and if she still won't tell, I can hold Max hostage with Trypio and force it out of her or she'll never she her precious baby alive again!" Eddy voiced dramatically causing Max to throw him a malicious glare in response.
"It's a nice idea but Judy's at the office organising the tournament," Emily informed keeping the topic serious.
"Then who's training us?" Michael inquired curiously.
"Douglas most likely," Steve supposed, at which Emily, Max and Rick groaned quite vocally in detest.
"Did I walk under a ladder or something this morning?" Rick questioned out loud.
"What's wrong with Douglas?" Michael asked defensively, in his opinion the guy wasn't as bad as Emily, Max and Rick's groans indicated.
"What isn't wrong with him?" Emily demanded. "Between hitting on Judy and cuddling up to Max as a means to get to Judy what is there to like?" Emily explained, the words coming out of her mouth as if she had a sour after taste at which Michael nodded in realisation. "Sorry if I offended you Max."
"Hey, it's the truth," the blonde replied bitterly. He absolutely despised how Douglas kept trying to woo his mum especially when it was so obvious that his mum did not reciprocate the feelings. Deep down he still wanted his mum and dad to make amends and try again at a relationship, however the two were too concerned with their careers for it to work out. He supposed it was selfish of him to think of what he wanted instead of what made his parents happy, though no matter what he couldn't shake of this desire that had permanently latched itself to his heart. Apparently these thoughts sobered up his anger of not being able to compete as he answered Eddy's question with less bite.
"By the way who was the lucky one who got to break the news to Tyson?" Eddy enquired curiously, his tone suggesting he was glad it wasn't him.
"Unfortunately me," was Max's reply as he shuddered at the not too pleasant memory and when he opened his eyes they had fallen on a familiar looking purple haired girl. "Hey do I know that girl?" Max asked from what appeared to be out of nowhere for his team mates.
"Max you sly dog," Eddy commented with a grin, clapping him on the shoulder like a proud father. There previous topic of conversation forgotten for the time being.
"No seriously I think I've meet her before," Max stated waving off Eddy's comment.
"What in your dreams?" Rick chuckled, at which Emily huffed annoyed. Being surrounded with males and their suggestive, sex orientated talks was sometimes a bit too much. "Oh don't go getting all jealous on me now Em's," he ribbed causing her to roll her eyes to the ceiling.
"Who are you talking about?" Michael inquired curiously, eyeing the crowd.
"That girl with the purple hair," Max pointed out to a girl with slightly shorter than average height, shoulder length purple hair tied into a pony and a small top that showed of her toned belly and a lot of her back. Max figured it was her top that caused Michael to let out a low whistle.
"Oh she's Frankie Mayne. She was in my Maths class first period." Steve informed.
"Is she new or something?" Emily asked.
"Yeah she transferred from Canada." Steve replied.
"You said Frankie right?" Max questioned.
"Yeah," Steve responded.
"I think Ray bladed against her in the American tournament a couple years back." Max stated unsure. "And she was heaps into fishing I remember."
"Nah I do, she liked skimpy tops back then too," Eddy recalled.
"I don't remember her," Emily stated a bit annoyed as she could memorise half of her chemistry textbook yet not remember this girl at all.
"Wonder why she transferred here?" Michael pondered aloud to which everyone else just shrugged.
Yamanaka, Japan
Making out with a dummy isn't as exciting as it's cracked up to be, Hilary thought as she discreetly wiped away her lip gloss print she had stamped on the dummy she had failed to resuscitate to life on account of Frank (the dummy's name) never being alive.
The brunette had enrolled herself into a Friday evening first aid course. Hiro, Tyson's older brother, had given her a bit of a scare last year when he took over the role as the team's trainer and now that she had gotten her position back their was no way she was going to be pushed to the side again so easily should Hiro or anyone else decide to take over her role as trainer. She had come to love her position as the team's trainer so much so that she had been seriously considering doing a degree in exercise science when she finished high school so that she could pursue the career of a professional trainer. And for these reasons, plus the fact that everyone seemed to be out to get the Bladebreakers she had decided to do a first aid course, to which her mother was delighted.
Being a nurse and a mother, Mrs Tatibana was thrilled that her daughter had voluntarily enrolled into the first aid course and was pleased that Hilary was shouldering some real responsibility, growing up into a respectable and sensible citizen. Though sadly, Hilary reflected, her mother's positive thoughts of her were somewhat tarnished when she discovered that she had her ears pierced. At first she had grounded Hilary from going to Ming-Ming's concert though quickly she realised that this was more of a reward than punishment when Hilary failed to cover the glee that tugged at her lips.
Unable to think of an appropriate punishment, as Hilary didn't exactly go out partying, her only available option was to give Hilary one ear bashing of a lecture. 'You should have known better!', 'Do you know how many people have had to get half of their ear chopped of from piercing infections!' and even the dreaded 'Are you doing drugs?' Hilary was dead certain that her ears were about to bleed from the verbal onslaught when her mother shot herself in the foot with the comment, 'It's illegal for a minor to get their body pierced with out a parent's or guardian's consent.'
At her mum's statement it triggered a flashback into one of her legal studies class. The class was debating whether or not sixteen was an appropriate legal age for females to have sexual intercourse and eighteen for males. Of course Arakawa, the class's clown, proclaimed that the majority of teenagers especially males had done the deed way before the legally age. Once the debate had died down and Arakawa's vow to change the law had been heard no fewer than five times, the teacher, Miss Suwa informed the class of their legal rights. One just happened to be that once you turned sixteen you were allowed to pierce your body anywhere you pleased which of course Hilary voiced quite happily to her mum who didn't believe it the second it had registered in her ears. So when Hilary got on the computer and looked it up and proved her wrong she had no option but to shut her mouth.
This was the reason why her mum had been in such a testy mood as of late. Hilary supposed it was the principle, 'I'm the parent, I know what's right' being smashed to pieces was the root to her mum's current disposition. Usually in these scenarios, Hilary would demand an apology but since it was her mum instead of Tyson or anyone else for that matter and for the fact that she had to live with her under the one roof and put up with her mood and burnt ramen she just settled for being right.
Peering through the clean window outside as she stuffed her dummy back into the cupboard, she noticed a familiar current world champion leaning against the rail, flipping his beloved cap with one hand. She always took a cab home and didn't need to be walked, unless Tyson was going to walk her home but if so why? Her stomach clenched excitedly at the thought. Biting back a laugh when he missed catching the hat causing it to fall unceremoniously to the ground, she turned her attention back to the teacher who had promptly dismissed them. Exiting first from the class she stealthily scooted up to him, snatching the cap mid-toss.
"Hey!" It was more of a protest than a greeting but it sufficed.
"Hey yourself," Hilary replied with a smirk, slapping the cap on her head and when he leapt at her, proceeded to walk in front of him, backwards so she could keep an eye on him. "So how come you're waiting for me?" She asked, her hands glued to the top of the hat, holding it down. Her lips set in a pleasant smile and her ruby eyes sparkling with glee.
"Not sure if I should tell you now," He voiced crossing his arms over his chest then taking another failed swipe for the hat when she took a glance backwards to make sure their were no obstacles.
"Please!" She pleaded with a protruding bottom lip.
"No can do, thief." He stated with a satisfied smirk.
"Oh a guessing game!" she cheered, unsticking one of her hands of the cap and punching it into the air rather awkwardly. "Did you get a car?" The brunette question knowing all to well how much he wanted one as he was going for his licence in three months.
"Then why are we walking?" Tyson questioned sarcastically.
"Cause you don't have your licence," she replied in a sing-song voice.
"Good point," he reasoned.
"Did… Kai finally admit that he blocked you on MSN?" she tried again.
"Course not," he scoffed. "Hey! Where do you thing you're going?" He questioned as she turned down the street that lead to hers, still walking backwards.
"Err, home?" She questioned letting her guard down for a split second in which Tyson retrieved his cap and put it back on his head despite her protest.
"Nope to Kenny's," he corrected, indicating with his thumb to the adjacent street.
"How come?" She inquired intriguingly as they began walking down the street that took them to Kenny's.
"Well in the US the BBA has announced its latest tournament and Max is sending a recording of it to Kenny's love." He informed.
"You mean laptop," she corrected with one neatly plucked eyebrow raised.
"Love, laptop, essentially it's the same thing," he replied flippantly.
"What about Ming-Ming?" she challenged.
"I stand corrected." He said, giving Hilary a slight bow with his head though never taking his wary eyes of her.
"I thought you were pissed off about the whole tournament thing?" she inquired.
"I am. I just want to see why I can't compete," he replied, putting a hand behind his head and Hilary noted his whole posture tensed up at the thought of not competing. Clearly he was still pissed at not being able to participate. Hilary hadn't been there when Tyson received the news that he and the rest of the former Bladebreakers couldn't compete but Kenny had and from what she had heard from him, Ty's reaction at been exceptionally ugly. She had heard down the grape vine that Max wasn't to happy with the call either which lead her to wonder whether Kai or Ray knew about the tournament and that they couldn't compete. If they did, Kai probably didn't care or at least not show it and Ray, he would be cut but not irrationally angry or anything. The Chinese, in Hilary's opinion, was probably the calmest person on the team.
"Hey guys come quick ninety percent of it has been downloaded!" Kenny hollered from his second storey bedroom window which perched above his family's noodle shop. Their feet hitting the pavement like a fast paced beat, Hilary and Tyson raced to the front door, gave a quick greeting to Mrs Kyoujyu and thundered up the steps to Kenny's room.
"Nice timing guys," Kenny complimented as the last percent loaded.
"Thanks." Tyson replied with a grin. "Why does the last percent always take the longest?" he whined.
"Good question," Kenny replied and once the file had downloaded opened it up.
An attractive female news reporter with perfect teeth and long brunette locks flashed up on the screen and a BBA logo appeared on the screen in the right corner of the shot "And in other news, the Beyblade Battle Association also known as the BBA has just released the news of its new tournament. The announcement made by Stanley Dickinson at a press meeting was just captured only less than an hour ago at the BBA's North American Head Office in New York."
The shot than switched to the familiar BBA president standing on a wooden podium with 100's of microphones and cameras being shoved into his face. "All rumours suggesting that the BBA was going to sell itself off to BEGA are entirely untrue. The BBA was always meant to be a long term company and just because we just had a low doesn't mean we should sell. In fact a new tournament has already been drafted and is being organised as we speak." And as if on cue a logo of a purple beyblade with a yellow crown above it projected onto the screen to the left of Mr Dickinson.
"May I present to you, Miss Beyblade an international tournament composed for the female beyblading population of the world." A slideshow of shots relating to the tournament was played on a screen next to the president. "Entrants must be at least 13 and no older than 18 to enter. There will be eight regional tournaments, Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Pacifica, Russia, Africa and a Wildcard. The winners in each of these tournaments will advance to the Miss Beyblade World finals in Germany and the winner of the finals will be crowned Miss Beyblade. All eight finalists' expenses are paid for plus an additional US $10,000 for spending money. The winner's prize pool includes a tax free US $1,000,000 payout to spend on whatever they want. For more details on the Miss Beyblade tournament check out the official BBA website for tournament details."
At this point the recording stopped leaving a slightly flabbergasted trio.
"Well that explains why you can't compete," Kenny said coming out of his shock and breaking the silence.
"Yeah," was all that Hilary could manage to say.
"Dude that's some flashy tournament," Tyson said in astonishment.
"And the winner gets one million US dollars," Kenny continued.
"With that much cash I could buy my own island." Tyson proclaimed
"Or two," the Chief piped in. "It more than cover your college fees."
"Buy me a new car!" he cheered
"Pity you're a male though." Kenny pointed out, bringing him back to Earth.
"Maybe I should consider cross dressing and try and enter," Tyson voiced half serious.
"Somehow I have the feeling that idea wouldn't work," Kenny advised causing Tyson to slump onto his bed covered with a Ming-Ming doona cover and pillows, in deep thought.
"I've got it, Hilary should enter!" Tyson declared triumphantly.
"Me!" She squeaked coming out of her daze. "I can't blade!"
"Yes you can!" he defended standing up to face her.
"Um not very well!" she shot back, rising herself to her maximum height.
"You will if Kenny and I train you!" he protested.
"Tyson Granger you are crazy!" she diagnosed with an accusing index finger on his chest.
"Why?" he challenged, poking her shoulder in retaliation.
"This is not going to work!" she shrieked.
"What's going to work?" Kenny questioned confused, he a learnt long ago to zone out of their spats.
"You and I, Chief, train Hilary to become the best female blader ever, she enters the tournament, wins it and we split the winnings." Tyson announced with a passionate sparkle inn his eye.
"Tell him he's crazy, Kenny," Hilary pleaded.
"Now that's an idea," Kenny pondered ignoring Hilary.
"You're out of your mind too!" Hilary shouted in frustration.
"Come on Hilary the idea is pure genius!" Tyson reasoned. "Imagine what you could do with that kind of cash!"
"You could go to any college you want, buy a house and go on a shopping spree," Kenny continued adding on to Tyson's persuasion.
"Exactly, at least consider it instead of just tossing it aside." Tyson pleaded.
"I'll sleep on it," she replied snappily knowing this would shut them up without all out agreeing to their proposition.
Review Responses
Kaz – I loved the Mariah/Mystel scene too! You have no idea how much fun I had writing it and I hope you like their role in the plot! That pairing and the romantic triangle of Ray-Mariah-Mystel have so much potential!
Yuko – Yeah! Another Tyson fan! And I'm guessing a Max fan too? Don't worry I absolutely adore Raul! So I'll make sure he doesn't miss out on the love! As for pairing the usuals (aka Kai, Ray and Tala) with OC's I totally understand where you are coming from but sorry I can't promise I will pair them with an original Beyblade character or a made up one or even at all. Why? There are just not enough girls from Beyblade to pair them up with (unless they two time…) and I have this idea planted in my head already. But I can promise you my OC's are not going to be clichéd! Definitely no popularity hating, preppy hating girls who hate dresses falling in love with Kai and vice versa.
Lobo-Chan – I actually have no clue by what you mean by that your feet don't have socks on them but never all less you have provided me with a challenge and I will fill in the gaps with my own knowledge! Is it… a) Your socks are in the wash; b) You have taken them off to make sock puppets or c) You are frying them in the microwave o see if it is possible to create 'roast sock'. Personally I hope it's 'b'.
Twincharm – Your suggestion is similar to something I already have in mind, though unlike a normal pageant I don't want looks and swimsuits to be the dominant focus. However there will be elements of a pageant in the tournament… Oh and you don't need to worry about your suggestions dominating my story, my personality is way too stubborn and assertive to allow that. That's not saying I don't like them, I love hearing other people's ideas and often use them as muses for later on in the plot or in another story. Let's just say it adds fuel to my imagination.
On the subject of people not really using Frankie, I suppose it is because she is a way minor character and we don't have enough insight on her personality to use her effectively. Well that's my theory. As for the triangles they will unfold as the plot unfolds though some to contain OC's. Yeah I would love more reviews but the again I am writing this to satisfy my own desires of a female focus story so I shouldn't expect anything in return. In conclusion, (lol! It's been a long reply) thanks for your review!
Tyson & Hilary 4 life – Glad you like it! And just so you know I am a bona fide dudette!
Rose-whip123 – Thanks for the compliment and the review!
Nazen – I love the word, well words 'advertising pimp'. It made me laugh and don't worry it didn't trouble me in the slightest. As for the two girls who have Enrique whipped, I totally adore their part! But they don't enter the plot for a while. You like my writing style? Really? I am sitting here so stoked with the hugest grin on my face. I know how you feel about the connection thing, sometimes I see an OC with my name and I tell you what I always check the story out! Weird huh?
HottyGirl81 – Another Tyson lover! Yew! As for pairing him with Hilary, maybe, maybe not. I'm such a tease!
LoveKaiforever – Question? I love questions! Okay well actually I had a story about three years ago with the same title but it was absolute trash so I deleted it. It focused way too much on an OC and the plot train literally ran off the tracks. Then not too long ago I realised there was hardly any stories focusing on the girls of Beyblade and it triggered my old story title in the back of my mind and that's where I got the idea to write this story. How I got the idea for the title of my old story was I was actually going to enter in a pageant for my regions show but I ditched that as it would take out a lot of my time and required study. Can you believe it I had to study about the show's and region's history and all that jazz. Plus you had to pay $300 just to enter as a contestant. That's $300 down the drain if you didn't get a place.
I've updated, now it's your turn to tell me what you think!