To all those who reviewed:
Moonlight Star Phoenix: Haha, dun worry, I didn't plan on everyone liking her, some are strictly friends. Sorry if I made ya have the wrong idea. But you'll get your wish :P
Rebbiegirl: Heys! Thx sooooo much for reviewing! I really wanna send like a billion 'thank you' presents to u for all the support! Hope you'll like this chpt!
Chapter 11-----Final Round
Max and Mai stood facing each other as they awaited the raven-haired neko-jin's signal. They were smiling, but it wasn't a kind smile, it was one of seriousness; they were loving the challenge of the game.
"THREE TWO ONE LET IT RIP!" Rei shouted.
The two bladers pulled hard on the rip-cord, (or whatever tht thing's called…Readers: -glares- what kinda author are ya! blu: I really dunno…dun sue me….) sending their blades flying straight towards each other's.
The blades met in mid-air and fell into the beydish. Levian and Draciel steadied themselves before charging towards their opponent; they attacked and bounced back, attacked and bounced back, repeating the same sequence as they tailed each other around the dish.
"DRACIEL!ATTACK!" Max shouted.
Mai was unprepared for this and Levian got pushed towards the edge of the dish.
'No!' Mai knew she had to act quickly.
"LEVIAN!" she summoned her bit-beast.
Levian fought back, pushing back Draciel's attacks until he was a safe distance away form the edge. The bit-beasts faced off against each other, a raging fire burning within them as if wanting so much to bring the other down.
"LEVIAN! ARTIC FLARE!" "FORTRESS DEFENCE!" Both bladers commanded.
The green blade charged towards the white one, its attack ring had a mysterious white glow around it. The two blades clashed together, sending sparks flying into the air. Their attack rings drilled against one another, trying to break each other's attack. Both blades were now flaming from Levian's attack but Draciel still held on.
Mai and Max were holding on too. Their energy was slowly draining but neither of them planned on losing. Even if they felt as though they were down to their last bit of energy, both of them still managed to hold up; they drew their strength from feeding off their determination.
To the stands-
"I dun think they'll last much longer…" Hilary commented as she watched Max and Mai panting heavily.
"Don't worry about it. The two of 'em will last longer than you think" Tyson waved his hand, casually dismissing her comment before diverting his attention back to the match. He was enjoying this, it felt like a real World Championship match. Both bladers were skilled and had strong bit-beasts; it's been a long time since they had met a worthy opponent. 'Max must be enjoying this' he smiled to himself.
Kai and Rei were silent, they'd seen this kinda thing too many times to be amazed by it, but they had to agree, it was an interesting match.
"She's still gotta a long way more to go…" Rei spoke.
"Mm." Kai agreed.
Back to the match-
The two blades had been fighting for over fifteen minutes now and Mai was exhausted. Drops of perspiration pummelled to the ground below her as she focused her concentration on the battle. Max looked tired but not as much as Mai, he was used to this feeling, the pressure during the World Championships was much worse.
Draciel and Levian were weakening but both persisted with their attacks. Mai could see that Levian was breathing hard; it was pushing itself to the limit.
'Levian…' Mai was worried; Levian's strength was ebbing away. 'Last one Levian…if we don't win…it's alright'
Levian: Mai…
"LEVIAN!WATER MAGE!"
"DRACIEL AATTTTTAACCCCKKKK!" Max reacted quickly.
The two beasts clashed in mid-air. The impact created a blinding white light, Mai lifted her arm to shield her eyes. At that moment everything became deadly silent as the light spread throughout the stadium.
The light died down and the first thing Mai heard was the sound of spinning. 'Who won?' she was eager to find out and ran to the edge of the dish.
Apparently, Max was thinking the same thing and he too ran up to the edge. Both bladers looked down to see—
"No way! They're still spinning!" Tyson exclaimed.
But just as he had finished his sentence, both blades slowed down and came to a stop…
"I guess…It's a tie!" Rei recovered from shock.
"Aaahhhh…." Mai breathed a sigh of relief (actually, more of exhaustion…) and slumped unto the floor in a kneeling position. She was tired…but was happy it ended in a draw…
'No, wait! That means…haaaaahhh…I have to battle again….' Mai whined in her head. She felt really drained…all she wanted to do was just sit there till her energy was restored.
Just then, a shadow came over her and blocked the light. Mai looked up to see Max above her, holding his hand out. She smiled and took it, allowing him to pull her up.
"Here." Max returned Levian to Mai. "You're not bad. I had fun" he had a wide smile sewn on his face.
"You never give up do you?" Mai teased as she took back Levian.
"Nope!"
The two of them laughed away their fatigue. Tyson swung his legs over the ledge to join them, the rest following behind.
"Oh man! You guys RAWKED!" Tyson praised.
"I can't agree more. You did well Mai, Max." Mr Dickinson addressed the two.
"So whaddya say Mr Dickinson? Can she join?"Rei asked.
Mr Dickinson pointed towards Kai, who froze when everyone turned to look at him with hopeful faces. He couldn't stand their looks…he had a big responsibility…and worse…he was making a decision to do something good…
"C'mon Kai! She's good!" Max was bouncing with anticipation for his answer.
"Hmph." Kai turned around to leave, gaining disappointed looks from the rest, but he suddenly stopped at the exit. "She can be Tyson's replacement" he said coldly before disappearing through the doors.
Everyone's face brightened. "HONTO? (Really?)" Mai couldn't believe it. She was staying!
"Alright!" Tyson and Max gave each other hi-5s.
Mai was happy; she wasn't going to leave them. Then she remembered to do something.
She burst out the door and hurried down the steps to the main road. She looked around and caught Kai turning a corner. She ran after him.
"Kai! Hey Kai!" Mai caught up with Kai, she noticed he was wearing a pair of shades.
"Shhh! Not so loud dammit!" Kai cursed.
Suddenly the whole street came alive with girly chatter…
"Kai? Kai is here?"
"OH MY GOD! IT'S KAI!"
"It's Kai!"
Kai freaked. 'Oh fuck…'
At the sound of his name, a huge mass of girls came stampeding towards Kai. Mai just stood there in total shock. (like this: 0.o LOL)
"Don't just stand there! RUN!" Kai grabbed Mai's wrist and the both of them ran for their lives with the crazed fan-girls screaming wildly behind them.
They ran through the streets of China, the fan-girls leaving a trail of chaos behind them as if a tornado had gone through the area.
"Do you even know where you're going?" Mai tried to pull away from Kai's grip.
"Who cares! This is your fault so just shaddup and run!" Kai shouted over the high-pitched voices of girls.
"I only wanted to thank you. If it's my fault then let me take responsibility!" Mai tugged her hand free at the last syllable. "This way!"
Kai followed Mai, who led him through a series of alley ways. 'She really knows her way around…' Kai was slightly impressed. They ran on and soon lost sight of the crowd, but Mai knew they were still close, she could hear Kai's name being called out in fake-sweet voices… 'Ugh…' she shuddered.
"In here!" She found a back door belonging to a restaurant and pushed Kai inside.
They found themselves in a kitchen…
"Oi! Ni men gan ma? (it's Chinese, means: what're you doin' here?)" A chef shouted at them.
Mai started conversing in a language that Kai couldn't understand and suddenly, for no reason, she discreetly punched him hard in the stomach.
"What the hell's –" but Kai was cut off.
"Just play along and act like you're sick." Mai whispered.
The chef looked disbelievingly at the pair but waved a hand. Mai then dragged Kai to the washroom.
"Stay here. I'll go check if your oh-so-adoring fans are still out there." She sounded pissed by the way she mocked Kai. "And DON'T even think about coming out, unless you want more attention from the girls in this restaurant."
'Hmph…who does she think she is telling me what to do…' Kai gritted his teeth. Being told what to do by a girl and actually having to listen to her… where was his pride?
Mai came back a few minutes later and pounded on the door. "They're gone. Let's go."
Kai unlocked the door and put on his shades before stepping out of the washroom. The both of them walked through the tables of hungry people and came out by the front door.
They kept a distance from each other as they walked back to the hospital in silence…
Hospital-
"Hey, where were you guys? We were worried." Hilary placed her hands on her hips, demanding an explanation.
"Stupid fan-girls…" Mai replied in a monotone as she plopped herself onto the sofa.
"Haha, I understand your pain Kai." Rei joked; but really he knew how it felt to be the prey of persistent fan-girls; if you didn't die getting caught by them, you'd die running from them, a terrifying experience indeed.
"Hehhh…is there anything else we should know about?" A sly grin formed on Tyson's face. "I mean you've kissed before and you guys were gone a lo—"
Mai and Kai punched him, sending him flying off anime-style. "THAT WAS YOUR FAULT YOU IDIOT!" they both shouted in unison.
Hilary and Kenny rushed to check if Tyson was alright and thankfully, he was. Rei on the other hand, just laughed at the entertainment.
"Oh, by the way Mai, We're leaving for Japan tomorrow so we'll be going back to the hotel after dinner to pack out stuff. You can stay in my room tonight." Hilary informed before turning back to Tyson. "Tyson! Wake up already!" she patted his cheek.
"Japan? Why are we leaving for Japan?" Mai was shocked; she was expecting to leave the country.
" 'Coz that's where we live. We're only here 'coz we were invited to participate in some beyblading tournament." Max answered.
"But…my passport?"
"Oh Mr Dickinson can handle that. He's got connections" Kenny said.
'I'm…leaving China? But…' she didn't know what to do…was it too soon? Was she gonna leave all the memories behind just like that? She didn't know…
Mai's cab ride from the hospital to the hotel was spent looking out the window:
Bright red lanterns lit up the streets. Hawkers shouted at the top of their lungs, inviting potential customers to dine at their restaurant. Men clad in loose-fitting attire lined the streets selling their produce; fruits, vegetables, clothes, women chatting heatedly with the stall vendors…
She wanted to absorb as much of the Chinese atmosphere as she could, this was her last night in China and she didn't know if she would ever return again… 'Might as well remember as much as I can while I'm still here" Mai thought.
Hotel-
Hilary forced down the cover of her luggage and pulled the zipper around it. "There." She dusted off her hands, feeling accomplished for managing to close her luggage. "You sure you don't wanna bring anything Mai?"
Mai was standing by the window, staring out at the night scenery when she heard Hilary call her name.
"Huh? Uh…no."
Hilary walked up to her and shared whatever Mai was looking at, she knew what Mai was thinking.
"Don't look so sad…you'll get plenty of chances to come back. If not, you can always tag along with Rei whenever he returns to China; I don't think he'd mind."
"Yeah. But…I should move on…there's nothing left for me here… Maybe I'll start a new life in Japan…no?" She turned to face Hilary and smiled.
"Mm." Hilary nodded. "You should get some sleep. We're leaving early tomorrow." She finished and climbed into bed.
Mai got into the bed next to Hilary's and lay there thinking… 'A new life huh?' she couldn't believe she actually said that when she couldn't even let go of the past. 'Maybe I'll move on… -yawns- someday…' Mai closed her eyes and let sleep take over her…
OH MAN!I can't believe I've done 11 chapters! Tht's a lot! Haha. But I love it anywayz :3 Hope you guys loved it! PLS REVIEW!