Chapter 14-----Trap
"Rise and shine sleepyhead!" Hilary tugged away the blanket that was covering Mai.
"Arhhh…still too early…go away…"Mai buried her head under her pillow, trying to block out the light.
"It's 10.30! Everyone's already up! 'sides, you need to see Mr Dickinson."
Mai tilted the pillow slightly above her head and winced at the light. "What for?"
"Dunno, he said it was something important." Rei spoke.
Mai groaned and reluctantly got up, running her fingers through her unkempt hair. She looked around. "Where's Tyson?"
"Kai went to wak—"
"AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHH!" a loud scream was heard from inside the house.
"Yup, Tyson's up." Max nodded his head contentedly.
Mai wasn't even going to ask… She got up, made her bed and went to the kitchen to get some breakfast, blah blah blah, basically the morning routine.
"Hey, umm…can I borrow a shirt and some pants or shorts or somethin' ?" Mai looked at the group. They stared back at her, clueless. "Um…no clothes remember?"
"Ohh!" they answered. Mai sweat-dropped… 'slow reaction…'
"You can borrow mine. Wait, I'll get 'em for you."
Max got up and disappeared into Tyson's room, returning with a red shirt which had a 'NEWYORK' imprint on the bottom left corner of the shirt and a pair of board shorts (Bermudas).
"Here" Max handed them over to Mai.
"Thanks…" she replied and rushed of to the bathroom to bathe.
She returned later with her hair in a messy bun, the shorter strands falling over her face. The shirt was over-sized and went all the way down to her mid-thigh and she put on her black fingerless gloves.
"Ready to go?"
"Yeah."
-Mr Dickinson's office-
"I'm sorry, but I think there's been a change of plan. Mr Dickinson had to rush off early this morning and said to meet him at this address instead. Sorry for the late notice." A woman with auburn hair bowed in apology and handed Tyson a slip of paper.
"Thanks anyway…" He turned to face the guys. "Guess we'll be meeting him at the –looks at paper- Bellmont Building." 'Strange…Mr D usually informs us himself…'
-Bellmont Building-
"This place isn't so bad, looks kinda like a business building." Max pointed out.
Everyone stepped through the automatic sliding-glass doors and was greeted by a lean man in a red blazer.
"Ah yes, you people must be the Bladebreakers. Mr Dickinson has been awaiting your arrival. Please follow me."
They followed him through hallways, up a few flights of stairs, down the elevator, through some doors with strange equipment in the rooms and finally to a metal door at who-knows-where in the building.
"This way please." The man directed his hand at the doors as they slid open to reveal a dimly lit room. They entered the room and found themselves standing in a huge arena with the exception of seats. They stood on a platform which overlooked the entire area.
Suddenly! The man pulled Mai away "Hey!" from the group and cuffed her as the doors slammed behind them, simultaneously; four huge glass walls popped out from the platform and formed a wall around the rest.
"Hey! What's going on?" Tyson shouted and pounded his fists in the glass.
"HAHAHAHAHHAHHHAHHAHA" a sinister laugh broke through the darkness and the lights brightened to reveal a man standing at the far end of the room. "Glad you could join us Mai."
Mai gasped, she knew that voice, that same laughter she had heard when her mother was killed… "Grandfather!"
But no, the man at the end of the room wasn't him, it was someone else.
"Grandfather? What the hell's going on? Let us out!" the people in the box demanded.
"Ahaha, I'm surprised Mai. I thought you hated me, or have you forgotten what I did to your parents?" Her grandfather sounded as though he was grinning.
Reality finally hit her, "This was all just a set-up wasn't it? Just to lure me here! Quit hiding and show yourself, you coward!" Mai's eyes wandered around the room, looking for the source of the sound.
"Oh, sad to say Princess, I cannot be there but I believe Philip knows what to do." Philip grinned at the sound of his name being mentioned.
"But I'll be watching Mai… I'll be watching you fall hahaha AHAHAHAHA…." The sound echoed through the room.
Mai gritted her teeth in anger and frustration. "Damn you! It's me you want! Not them! –points at people in the box- Leave them outta this!"
"Opps, I'm afraid we can't do that" Philip mocked. "They're important to you" he grinned evilly.
"Why you…" Mai wanted so much to hurt the guy, but it was useless, not when she was all the way across the room and hand-cuffed. Then she remembered, "Where's Mr Dickinson! What did you do to him?" she shouted, a hint of fear in her voice.
Just then, another glass box containing Mr Dickinson popped out of the platform on the far side of the room.
"Oh dun worry, he and your friends won't get hurt…yet" Mai didn't like where this was going…
"What do you want…" her voice became serious.
"Oh nothing…just you" he answered casually.
"And what if I refuse?" Mai knew there were strings attached to his proposal and it was definitely something she wouldn't like.
"Oh, you can't refuse. You don't wanna see your friends get hurt now do you?"
Mai clenched her fists. This was exactly what she feared when she decided to stay with them…them getting hurt. She didn't want them to…Hell! This was her problem…but she had warned them in the beginning…yet they still risked it. 'Those idiots… easy for them to say 'I'll take the risk' but when they're met with the real situation…they can't do a thing and put themselves in danger…' Mai glared at her friends in the box. She was angry at herself and at them, but mostly herself because she didn't want to see them get hurt…she dragged them into this,so it wasshe who had to get them out. But what could she do? She wasn't going to surrender herself to her grandfather, he'd kill her! 'No, there must be a way! There always is!' Then, an idea struck her.
"I'll surrender BUT! On one condition, you let my friends go!"
Philip seemed deep in thought for awhile. He nodded to himself, as if receiving orders from some invisible person.
"How 'bout we make it more interesting hmm? We'll let you battle for their lives."
"Battle for their lives? What're you saying?" She turned to look at the guys, the box was filling with water and so was Mr Dickinson's. Her head shot in Philips direction "This wasn't what we agreed on!"
He shrugged, "Nothing's fair, babe. If you win, we'll let your friends go… that is, if they haven't already drowned yet." He smirked upon seeing Mai's reaction, he was playing with her.
Mai glared at him with all the hatred she could sum up, "Fine!"
Philip clapped his hands with delight. "Diego! Liz! Parker!" At the sound of their names, three bladers emerged, two boys and a girl.
"Three against one? They'd drown by the time we finish!" Mai hated her Grandfather more and more, he was playing dirty. He didn't care if lives had to be lost.
"Fine fine, I'll be kind. Each time you win, I'll let the water level go down to the nearest level how 'bout that? But! You have to choose which box you want the water level to go down, Mr Dickinson's or you friends?" He smiled to himslef, obviously pleased about addingthat last condition. Now he could see her struggle more.
Mai thought it over, she hated the deal but it was the best offer that she could get; if she pushed it, he might change his mind. "Fine, three battles, if I win two out of three, you let them go."
Philip nodded his head. "Parker!"
A boy with bleach-blonde hair stepped up. He was fairly tall, had black highlights in his hair and wore a plain t-shirt with faded jeans, not to mention a playful grin on his lips.
"A girl as hot as you shouldn't be so stubborn." He grinned as he took his place at the rim of the beydish. "Maybe we can go out sometime, after I beat you."
'Sick pervert!' Mai glared at him then looked at her friends, the water level was at their calves. They looked at her with worried faces, Tyson and Kai trying to break through the glass with their blades.
She gave them a reassuring nod and turned to face Parker. 'Have to beat this guy fast before the water reaches the first marking. (ok, the box is divided into three markings so if Mai beats Parker before the first marking, then all the water gets drained got it?) If all the water is drained, it'll buy them more time and give me more time to beat these idiots'
The lean man undid her handcuffs and gave the signal for them to start. "3, 2, 1! LET IT RRRIIIIPPPP!"
The two blades crashed right in the centre of the dish. Parker's red blade immediately encircled Levian, giving him no chance to break out of the tight circle.
'Levian!'
As if reading her thoughts before she had even finished, Mai saw Levian slam through the red blades' entrapment, causing it to spin unsteadily for a moment before resuming its normal speed.
"ZEROX! LIGHTNING SABRE!"
The red blade charged at Levian, a golden light about its person.
"LEVIAN! ARTIC FLARE!"
With that, Levian rose from the blade and countered Zerox's attack, sending it flying out of the dish. (Sry if the battle scene is short, its kinda tough making up battle scenes and the moves are usually limited so… pls understand k? 'sides. The story is still interesting without the details no? XD!)
Parker stood there stupefied. No way did a girl just beat him! 'No way! No way! No way!' (pffht…men and their pride…lol) Levian disappeared back into the blade and it flew back into Mai's hand.
"Alright Mai!"
"Woohoo!"
The people in the boxes cheered. (ahahah, doesn't tht give ya the impression tht the charachters are really small? ahahha! imagine opening a box and hearing them cheer, then close it and open it again, LOLX! a music box! ahahah! ok, lame...lame...moving on!)
'Great work, Lev.'
Mai turned to face Parker; he had a look of disgust on his face. He grunted and returned to his group, wearing a pissed-off frown on his face.
"Mr Dickinson's box! Bring the water down!" Mai shouted at Philip, making sure he kept his side of the offer. She watched as all the water drained out of the box and felt a little relieved, but that didn't take away all the pressure. She glanced at her friends; the water was up to their mid-thigh, it had gone beyond the first marking.
"Next one! Hurry!"
"Now now, there's no need to rush things. Liz!" Philip replied.
A girl with black hair tied up in a pony tail took her place at the beydish. She gave Mai a competitive smile. Mai returned it with a nod; she figured there was no need for communication. Each one would roughly know how good the other was during the battle, so there was no need for snide comments.
"3, 2, 1! LET IT RIP!"
The first few seconds was basically trying to dodge the other's attack, swerving here and turning there. However, the battle tensed up when Mai released Levian. Liz was one tough cookie, with no exception of her bit-beast Macreal. The blue seal evaded Levian's attacks with little effort, its movements light and graceful as though swimming in water.
Both bit-beasts received attack after attack, taking its toll on their mistresses.
"MACREAL! AURORA BEAM!"
Macreal shot out a silver beam from the tip of its horn, aimed straight at Levian.
"LEVIAN! DODGE IT!"
Levian did manage to escape but its hind leg got grazed by the beam. The wolf yelped in pain and Mai felt sorry for Levian…She didn't wanna push him to hard…but she needed to.
'Sorry Lev…but please, try to hang in there' she said in an almost-pleading tone.
Mai checked the water level, it was up to their waist and nearing the second marker, she had to act fast.
"Levian! ARTIC FLARE!"
The white wolf raced towards Macreal, it flames burning a deep blueish-purple.
"Macreal! OLIVANDER'S TRIDENT! (ahaha, I love harry potter too much!)
In an instant, Macreal turned into a blue merman and struck out at Levian with its golden trident.
'No way! A selkie?' Mai couldn't believe it, 'It actually exists!' But she tore away from her thoughts and quickly focused on the battle.
The two blades clashed, creating a strong wind current which swept through the arena. Mai shielded her face from the immense force; everyone else could only wait in anticipation for the outcome…
The wind finally died down and—
'NO! It can't be!'
Sighs, I'm disappointed with nyself...I have not been updating for a long time...school really sucks...so I guess I'll have to find a way to cope. Sorry if I take too long. Wh know's when my next chpt will come out?
Anyway, pls review and stay tuned for the next chpt!
Mai: Dammit blu! You always end at the wrong parts!
blu: -makes cirlces in the sand with index finger- but...but...heh, you're mean!
Mai: -.-'' what kinda come back is tht...
blu: PPL PLS REEEEEEVVVVVVVVVIIIIIIIEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!