DISCLAIMER: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade belongs to its manga author, Aoki Takao.
A hundred thanks to Wreckless Spirit (everyone, check out her fic, Secret Desire, especially if you're a Max x Hilary/Hiromi fan; with good touches of humor in it, believe me), BeybladeFan (I'll try to update Opening Pandora's Jar soon) and Diamond Core (watch out for her next fic. I bet it's going to be as enjoyable as Beneath the Surface) for leaving those wonderful reviews! Here's the next chappie…
Oh yeah. Do you still remember the girl Nelvana dubbed as Frankie? Well, in the unsubbed original series her name sounds closest to Aura. If this is incorrect, kindly email me the official name so that I can implement it. Thanks. Anyway, I present to you Chapter 6. Hope you enjoy!
WHAT YOU DON'T CAN'T HURT YOU
ChApTeR 6
Kyouju watched as a girl with bounded purple hair and wavy bangs walked over to where he and his friends were standing. This girl looks so familiar. Now where had he seen her before?
"I don't believe this. The BBA Team is here in Brazil!" she exclaimed in surprise. "What are you guys doing here? Touring?"
"Something like that." With one hand Rei gestured to Elijah. "We have a companion, by the way. Aura, this is Elijah Parke."
"Nice to meet you." Elijah shook hands with the Brazilian girl.
"Aura?" Max looked thoughtful. "Rei, wasn't she your opponent in the American Pre-Finals?"
"That's right."
Oh, now I remember. That girl with the long fishing rod shooter. Kyouju forgot that she came from Brazil along with her two male teammates.
"Aura?" Takao scratched his temple. "Why couldn't I remember seeing you during the American Tournament?"
"You did see her, Takao," Kyouju stated. "But after that you were too busy going back and forth to the bathroom to remember her face."
"Bathroom?" Aura and Elijah echoed at the same time.
The small brunet gave a nod. "The night before the match, Takao had stuffed himself with so much food that I think he ruined his stomach and could not go on—" The rest of his sentence was left unfinished as Takao shut the brown-haired boy's mouth with his hand.
"You didn't have to let them know that, Kyouju! I don't want to recall that humiliating event again!"
"Oh," Elijah said slowly. "So that's why."
Suddenly Rei's body tensed.
Max turned to his Chinese friend. "What's wrong?"
"Someone's…" The neko-jin was silent for a while.
"Yeah?" Elijah's brows were raised, prodding him to go on.
His form was still for a while. Finally he relaxed. "It's nothing."
"Hey, Rei," Aura said brightly. "Do you still remember our match on that high way stadium?"
"Of course." Rei grinned. "There's no way I would ever forget that."
"Me too. In that case, how about a rematch? I had practiced so much after you won and I had improved a lot. Are you up for another high-speed battle?"
"You bet I am," the brunet answered just as enthusiastically. "My Driger needs some exercise anyway. So where do we do it?"
"Hmm… Can you give me the address of the place where you'll be staying?"
Chairman Daitenji wrote on a piece of paper the location for Rei and handed it to the Brazilian girl.
Aura studied it for a moment. "Oh, yes of course. I know this place. There's a nearby beach where I used to go to."
"So we're in?"
A smile formed on her face. "Let's do it tomorrow morning, ten o'clock at the right side of the beach itself. Get enough rest. My piranhas won't go easy on you."
Rei smirked a little. "Driger has gotten stronger even after the World Championship Finals. We're not easy to be defeated, you know. I'll see you then!"
"We're finally here!" More eager than ever, Takao and his companions stood before the hotel Chairman Daitenji had arranged for them. "Come on now so that we can order food already!"
Everyone else stared at him.
"What?" he asked as bellboys appeared and carried their baggage. "That last meal we ate in the airplane could hardly be called a meal."
"Let's go." Chairman Daitenji took lead, followed by Takao.
"Let's go," Max singsonged along behind him. Takao looked back, finding Rei, Kyouju and Kai silently following them. Elijah, on the other hand, remained rooted on his spot as though hesitating. Then he shut his eyes tight and rushed until he was almost inside the hotel's entrance before opening his eyes again.
What's up with that? Elijah had been acting like that ever since the start of the trip, from airports to hotels and other high buildings. "Hey, Elijah, why are you acting weird every time we enter a building?"
The American was starting to look more at ease. "Weird?"
"Yeah."
"Nothing."
"Yeah right. Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"I don't believe you for a second."
"Come on, Takao." Rei and the others passed by him and Elijah. "If you remain just standing there, Max and I will take your share of the food."
"Don't you dare!" Takao went after them, half of his mind on food while the other half still on Elijah. What's going on with him anyway?
Oh well, it's not that important right now.
"Excuse me?" Takao stared at Chairman Daitenji later.
"I said all of you except Elijah are going to share the same room with whoever you like," the stout man repeated. "Elijah requested to get a room alone. Any questions?"
"I do. How come Elijah gets a more private room again while the rest of us share the same quarters?" the Japanese champion complained. "That's kind of unfair, don't you think?"
"Takao, I don't think the rooms are a big issue here," Rei rubbed his temples with his fingers. "It doesn't really matter who gets what room."
Max nodded in agreement. "You never had a problem with this before. You don't want to share a room with me or Kyouju anymore?"
"That's not the point!" Don't they get it at all? This was the third time Elijah wanted a room all to himself. At first Takao had thought the smaller boy might have been feeling awkward since he was still a complete stranger to the BBA Team. If he were really shy, then Takao would more or less understand the discomfort of sharing the same space with any of them.
But it had been already almost three weeks. It was clear enough that they welcomed Elijah, and the blue-eyed boy was aware of that. So what was the point of him getting a solo room now?
"So what is?"
But this was more than just about the bedroom. The truth was that the navy-haired boy was starting to dislike the idea of Elijah always getting his way. For one thing, Takao had opted the idea of looking for the Signs individually when they were still in Mexico. He was dying to collect them already, and he knew his idea would make their search faster. But then Elijah had jumped in and managed to convince everyone to go by pairs. And forget it when it came to rooms of the hotels they had stayed at. Every time they had a disagreement on something, Elijah had this way of making almost everyone go to his side. Still, Takao had let all their arguments go.
"The point is, Elijah always gets his way whenever he likes it," he stated finally. "Like right now. It's not right to let it continue forever."
"Let me tell you right now, Kinomiya," Elijah uttered. "I'm not used to sharing rooms with other people. I don't have any complaints with space but privacy isn't such a crime the last time I checked."
"Maybe but you should adjust to us instead of the other way around—"
"Drop it, will you?" Kai interrupted.
Takao turned to his supposed teammate. "So you're siding with him, Kai?"
"I'm not siding with any of you. But you're arguing about pointless things, for crying out loud. It's getting old and annoying."
Elijah glanced at Kai.
Takao met the expectant looks of his other companions. Finally he sighed. "All right."
I can't take this anymore! Mildly irritated, Max got up from his bed to put his slippers on. He glanced at Takao who was snoring with practically the volume of a blasting stereo, legs sprawled and all. How he can sleep like that is beyond me. I better get out of here since I won't be able to sleep any longer anyway.
He crept out of the room silently so as not to disturb Kyouju too. Passing by Rei and Kai's room, he wondered what time it was. It must be, what, past four in the morning or something? he thought groggily, this time passing by Elijah's room.
Then he blinked. The light in Elijah's room was turned on, the door ajar, and curiosity got the best of him. Suddenly attentive, the half-Japanese peeked at the opening, surprised to see the brown-haired beyblader on his feet in the middle of the open floor, eyes closed. He was standing still with feet slightly apart, holding up his backpack with a steady straight left arm up to shoulder level.
Max watched him silently for a few minutes, trying to observe him without being caught. What is he doing? And on such an early hour too? Elijah seemed to be in a stance or something.
Suddenly the backpack was flung at the blond's direction and he immediately moved himself from the door. The door was thrown wide open as the bag crashed into it, and Max heard fast approaching footsteps. It was obvious that Elijah knew someone was watching him. Not wanting to be caught spying, Max retreated back to his room as quickly and silently as possible.
"Okay, I'm here." Rei glanced at the simple red beystadium between him and Aura before surveying his surroundings. From the white shore where he stood, he could spot many other similar beystadiums embedded in farther parts of the beach.
"Good." Aura smiled. "I feel this is going to be a great rematch."
With careful orbs Rei watched the girl. There was something about Aura's smile that was in a way not so pleasant. "Well, since you're the one who challenged me, I suppose you're confident that you had really prepared for this." He brought out his shooter and set Driger. "Show it to me then."
"No problem." Aura raised her rod shooter, the smile transforming into a smirk. "I have only one thing to remind you of, Rei. Do not underestimate me; I'm no longer, no, I'm not the same girl you'd battled with during the past pre-finals."
Okay, so she's really that confident, huh? "I'll keep that in mind. Are you ready?" He positioned himself. "Three, two, one…"
"GO SHOOT!" both beybladers yelled together as they released their beyblades. Driger immediately proceeded to the middle of the beystadium and kept spinning only on that spot while Aura's beyblade traveled around in a very high speed.
This reminds me of the first time I battled with Takao. Of course Aura's beyblade didn't possess Dragoon's abilities, let alone a holy beast. My advantages are that I had already seen her techniques before, and I had improved so much since that match. Still, looking down at what Aura could do wouldn't help him.
"Attack!" Aura shouted. At this, the piranha beyblade swept down to slam Driger, and Driger just dodged it.
Fast, almost as fast as Driger but still the same speed as before, the brunet observed, looking up at Aura to check her reaction. He was surprised, however, when he saw a smirk on her face instead of a frown.
Then he heard a sound in the stadium and was even more surprised to see Driger knocked by Aura's beyblade almost to the edge of the stadium. The attack continued; each time the purple beyblade came out from any direction to hit Driger, Driger tried to counterattack it but Aura's beyblade kept altering directions suddenly that not even Rei's sharp eyes could catch up. What was worse was that the piranha beyblade always managed to hit Driger at the most unexpected times, almost causing it to wobble.
"Don't bore this fight, Rei. I expect a world champion beyblader to do better." Aura covered her yawn with her free hand.
What's happening here? It was as though his opponent's beyblade gained twice the speed and strength. She really means business. Now I really have to be serious. Driger swiftly spun out of the attack, and the Chinese teen willed it to run even faster. His beyblade dug a trail along the way. "I won't fail you, don't worry. TIGER CLAW!"
Driger came in the closest contact with the Brazilian's beyblade to start trying to shred it from all sides, not even giving the slightest opening for the opponent to get out.
It was time to end the match, the Chinese boy decided. "I got you now. Come on, Driger! Finish it off—huh?" Aura's beyblade was vanishing before his eyes. "Where did it go?" And the next thing he knew Driger got struck thrice by something as fast as lightning. Minute fragments flew about as Driger retreated a little.
Aura just giggled a little.
The thing that smashed a part of Driger's attack ring slowed a bit to reveal her beyblade, still completely untouched.
"What!" Rei was baffled. The Decoy Attack! he realized, stealing a glance at the Brazilian girl. But—But when did she execute it? How come I didn't see her do that? I never took my eyes off her beyblade after the start of the battle! When he looked back at the stadium he was met by the sight of two piranha beyblades, both poised for attack.
Aura seemed to read his mind. "Single decoy, new strategy, not that I'd tell you when I did it. You never saw the quick switch because you thought the Decoy Attack would try to distract you with multiple images of the same beyblade, didn't you?"
The brunet tried to ignore the uneasiness settling at his stomach. She's right. The Decoy Attack I expect was the one with her beyblade hiding among false images. If she had come up with a variation of this attack like this one she just pulled, then she must have more tricks up her sleeve. That was only logical for a defeated player who wanted a rematch.
So why do I feel I'm about to lose?
"What do you think now, Rei?" Aura was starting to sound cocky. "Am I competitive enough for you?"
No kidding. "Don't be too sure just yet." Rei studied the two beyblades in front of his. It's another Decoy Attack. One of those beyblades must be the real one, and hitting the real one would make the fake one disappear. But given that there was only one other beyblade instead of four or five, there must be a plan behind it. The question is, what?
"If you don't plan to attack me then I'll just attack you instead." Aura's beyblades crossed to the other direction, picking up speed at the same time. "Or maybe you couldn't even catch me?"
"Just wait for it." Driger matched up her beyblade's speed, accelerating while digging heavily on the path, sending flying scrapes to distract the beyblades behind it. Even while the distraction was going on Driger traveled along the up going curve of the beystadium to position itself in the air, and neko-jin called out his next attack. "TIGER FANG!"
With the added force due to the pull of gravity, Driger successfully gave Rei's selected target a hard blow. But nothing happened to the other piranha beyblade. Did I choose the wrong one? I must have attacked the fake one.
"Get even with that!" Aura yelled, raising one bare arm. "PIRANHA ATTACK!" Like a dozen piranhas jumping in and out of the water, her attacked beyblade seemed to have multiplied by twelve and leapt high in the air to attack Driger.
Even though he knew an attack from an attacking illusion shouldn't cause any physical harm, the brunet willed Driger to quickly move away. He had already learned a lesson when he had encountered Tia in Mexico. But no sooner had Driger gotten away and attacked the untouched purple beyblade than the latter also launched its own Piranha Attack in a heartbeat. Driger was sent to the air in a blink of an eye, and before Rei realized it, the beyblade he had first attacked knocked Driger out in mid air, sending it right beside his feet.
Aura jumped up and down in happiness. "I did it! I finally beat Rei!"
Rei, on the other hand, was anything but able to move, still stunned at the unexpected turn of events. Everything happened too fast even for him that he wasn't able to follow. But he was sure Driger had hit both beyblades, so why didn't any of them disappear? He could only think of one thing. "Wait, you used two real beyblades at the same time! That's against the rules!"
"I did not." Aura stepped closer to the stadium. "Watch."
As Rei looked on, the two piranha beyblades joined together immediately, fusing back to being only one beyblade. He stared, bewildered, as the Brazilian beyblader picked it up. H-how did she do that? How come they seemed to be both real?
"Now impressed with real magic tricks, Rei?" Aura asked. "I told you before not to underestimate me, didn't I?"
If Rei did underestimate her, then that was a good reason for his defeat. But the problem was, he didn't, and he knew that. So what went wrong? he wondered while hiding Driger back inside his pocket. How could I… lose… to her?
"It's great to know that I, a mere semi-finalist, had defeated one of the world champion beybladers but I don't feel that fulfilled at all. What happened, Rei? I had expected an exciting battle with you but instead I practically fell asleep!"
Rei was starting to get annoyed with her. So he lost the match. But Aura's ego was swelling more and more, and he wasn't in the mood to hear her speak her overconfidence. He needed to get out of here before his mood turned dark. "Look, you got a rematch, you had the skills, so you won fair and square. I didn't underestimate you but I do admit that I lost and you deserve the victory. Congratulations." Turning on his heel, he began to walk away. "I have to go now. Bye."
"If you didn't underestimate me, what did happen?" the Brazilian girl called after him. "How did you and your pathetic loser team beat the PPB Team, let alone win the title of being beyblade world champions anyway, huh?"
Suddenly he stopped on his tracks, his head slowly turning around. "What did you say?" Calm down. Don't let her get to you.
"Oh, did I hit something sore?" Aura was all feigned innocence. "I heard from TV interviews that you managed to enter the American Tournament because the BBA Team had won during the Asian Tournament. Boy, just looking at you now makes me wonder how really weak and primitive those Chinese finalists are. They must be all pre-historic losers too if even you guys managed to defeat them."
Something snapped inside Rei, and he whirled around, losing his calm. You've gone too far. He could tolerate being bad-mouthed by others. He could tolerate ugly remarks about his current team being hurled by her. But Aura had just insulted the White Tiger tribe as a whole! "Take back what you said!"
"Why would I?" she sneered. "So then it's true, isn't it?"
"No one insults the White Tiger clan like that!" he growled. "And you don't know us for you to talk trash! In case you don't know you just made fun of my other close friends."
"Oh," the girl intoned mockingly. "You're mad at me because you also came from that dim-witted tribe. Idiots like you should be ashamed to even bear a lowly name such as your group's. I'm so scared!" Laughing, she started to walk away.
"You ought to be if you don't take back all those insults right here and right now!" Rei was so mad that he marched toward her, took her exposed shoulder and roughly spun her around so that she faced him. "And you're not leaving until you do so!"
Aura swatted his laid hand away. "Get your hand off me!" With one hand she pushed the Chinese boy back and used the other hand to strike him hard on his left arm with the use of her fishing rod shooter.
Rei tried to bite back the growing pain and stumbled back. Pulling up his sleeve, he witnessed the beginnings of a nasty bruise. "You…"
An icy glare was what he earned from Aura. "You don't touch a girl like that, Rei! The next time you do that again, your arm will be completely paralyzed." She carried her shooter on her shoulder. "By what you did, you just proved to me how much of a bad sport you, the BBA Team, and your tribe are. You don't know how to accept defeat with honor and grace. Wait until the whole world knows everything that just happened here."
Rei gritted his teeth.
The Brazilian girl turned her back on him. "Losers are losers. Your actions tell you who you are and what you are capable of. At least try to remember that." She walked away from their spot.
As for Rei, he had enough. And he went on his own way too, already sick and tired of what Brazil had to offer this morning.
Like it? Hate it? Can't stand it?
Please leave a review and tell me what you think. Thanks! I don't want to drop the story after all the ideas I planned out with but then again, I have to prioritize my life offline... Flames will be used to burn the trash in Takao's room.