Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade
Prologue
Dragoon…help me!
Tyson prayed, fervently wishing for the consoling presence of his bitbeast and friend and clutching the blade in his pocket tightly.
As if it would help.
Small drops of sweat formed on his temples and on the palm of his hands. His lips were pressed in a tight grimace and his brow was furrowed over his closed eyes.
Dragoon…please… help me…
It really was ridiculous. Not even before a crucial battle had he ever been that nervous.
Dragoon…
But he couldn't help it.
The low, tense chattering in the waiting room was eating on his nerves, adding to the throbbing pain in his jaw. The stench of antiseptic brought nausea to his clenched and empty stomach. He felt like he hadn't eaten for days. He had to bring this behind him or he would never eat again.
Dragoon…
A hollow voice called his name out in the speaker.
Tyson jerked. All blood left his face. Slowly, with a dreadful feeling, he opened his eyes. With jelly knees he stood up. He didn't notice that the edges of his blade had drawn blood from his palm.
Dragoon… help me…
For a moment he stood waveringly. The exit was so close… so tempting… he just had to turn right, go through that door.
But no… the pain in his jaw… this path would lead him nowhere. He had to go forward. Pass through doors straight ahead.
For the first time in his life, he wanted to flee.
Not just run away, but in horror and panic without thinking make his feet carry his body away.
The world silently swayed around him. Colours blurred and shapes grew indistinct. The edges of his vision blackened.
Oh no.
Dragoon! Tyson cried silently, still standing motionless. Don't let me faint! Not faint! Not faint! Dragoon, help me!
He only could hear the strong, frantic beating of his heart, see the blood rushing through his veins, feel the blade in his hand warming with Dragoon's presence.
Then his vision cleared a little. He felt like packed in cotton. Bouffant white clouds surrounded his vision. As if in a dream he took one step, a second step, until he reached the door. His hand reached up. Opened.
While his body entered the room, his eyes blinded by the whiteness of the walls, the smocks of doctors and assistants, the tables and the chairs, he hovered somewhere above it all in the detached land of naked horror.
His body sat down in the stool and the doctor came. He greeted him friendly, shook his hand and then settled down on his little chair beside Tyson. He told him to open his mouth. Tyson's mouth opened. Pain surged through his head, but was too frightened to really feel it. However, in a detached way, he was a little surprised. He couldn't remember anyone ever telling him to open his mouth.
He was abruptly called back into his body when the doctor lowered an instrument into his oral cavity.
"So, boy, this is going to hurt a little…"
Dragoooooooon ! Tyson cried one last time and then the pain came.
He returned to the Dojo, feeling extremely exhausted, but extremely victorious as well. There was pain everywhere in his jaw and teeth and head, but at least: it was over.
Time for celebration.
His friends were out in the garden, as expected. Hilary, Kenny, Max and Rei were bent over the laptop; he heard the faint noise of Dizzi's metallic voice mingled with their slight chuckles. He wondered what kind of analysis they were making that was so funny, but, honestly, he didn't really care at the moment. He had just survived the worst ever experience in his life, his bravery was to be admired by everyone. Really, the fight at the World Championships against Tala had been nothing.
Tyson wasn't surprised to find the last of his team-mates, Kai, who always had been a bit of a loner, leaning cross-armed at one column of the Dojo's porch, a little bit away from the others, but at a distance where he could comfortably observe everything the others did. He was the first to notice Tyson's unusually quiet entrance.
Normally the whole neighbourhood would have heard him shouting, but not today. His mouth was bandaged with a white cloth that held a cool-pack to his cheek. It somewhat prevented him from opening it. Not to speak of the pain this would cause.
Kai greeted him as coolly as always (when he decided to acknowledge the bluehead's presence), but Tyson could have sworn that he saw the tiniest glint of a twinkle in the grey eyes of his team-mate. Somehow it made him feel uneasy. Kai wasn't usually one to joke around… maybe he had imagined it, though he couldn't explain why he should imagine the likes of it. Maybe he hoped that the calm and solitary team member would warm up to him a little.
"Oh, hello Tyson…" Nerd Kenny looked up from the laptop, an unruly mess of brown hair hanging deeply in his face that only the rims of his glasses were visible. "How was your visit to the dentist?" he asked, always the polite guy.
Tyson 'hmph'ed. What kind of question was that? Of course, he felt dreadful. He didn't even have to fake a pained expression. He wondered if the strange note he had heard in Kenny's voice had been a chuckle. He thought rather not, but his schoolmate Hilary's comment took him so completely off guard that he stopped dead in his tracks.
"You look so cute with that bandage around your head!" the skinny girl with bad taste in clothing, his classmate and constant pain in the ass chanted painfully loud and jovial.
What had she just said! He looked cute!
A howl rose in his throat, only restrained by the bandage around his mouth. She was unbearable!
He felt the heat of anger rise into his cheeks and, unable to vent it, he glared at the stupid girl, who happened to be the best in class.
If only Kai, the cold-hearted bastard could have kept his mouth shut!
"I don't think you are cute…" he said calmly, with a haughty, mean squint at Tyson. "But it relieves us from your constant bragging and shouting."
What! Tyson couldn't believe what he was hearing. They didn't have the right to make fun of him! Not now, when he felt pain like never before. He felt his vision blackening again. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep calming breath. He heard some worried words coming from the mouths of his true friends Rei and Max. He concentrated on staying upright and waited until the dizziness faded, before he reopened his eyes.
Everybody was laughing at him!
He was speechless (this time truly), and only because he couldn't stomp his foot on the ground and shout at his friends, he turned around and fled into the dojo, all the while clutching his beyblade tightly.
Dragoon!
A/N: This is a reviewed version of the prologue...