An: I do not own BeyBlades or any of its characters, but Sam Hanara, The Love Seekers, The Wildfires and The Dark Hunters are mine just as Tenebrae belongs to Drago-Kai. If you wish to use or borrow any of these characters or teams I suggest you ask first because we are each fond of our own creations and do not want them stolen. Thank you
Chapter 8:- Shamrock?
As the saying goes, time can really fly when you are having fun… but on the other hand it can really drag when you are not. Sam was still having the occasional nightmare, but the memories of her past, though less frequent were still vivid and terrifying at times. The boys tried their best to make Sam feel as though she was a part of the team but they did not see that this was driving her further from them. At times she felt quite smothered and so went back to her mansionette. Kenny was working hard on a new type of blade for them but Sam refused quite frankly to let him change her blade. She was the one and the only one who was allowed to tamper with her blade so that if anything did go wrong it was her fault and not that of another's. She did alter her blade slightly but didn't bother to tell Kenny yet. He would see in time. Finally all the months of training came to a head without too many more incidents. The morning of the Grand opening dawned in beautiful reds and oranges. Sam stood on her balcony having spent the night at her home instead of the hotel.
"This had better be worth my while." She sneered and walked back inside. Tyson had come sometime during the night and made himself comfortable on a lounge. "Probably at Kai's demand." Sam murmured. She walked into the kitchen and made coffee. She also made a large breakfast and ate some before going to her training room and practicing for a while. At ten thirty she finally went back downstairs to find Tyson scarfing down as much food as he could.
"Well good morning. I trust you slept well?" Sam said sarcastically
"Mmmh mh hmmmhm…" Tyson said. Sam screwed up her nose
"Swallow, then try again." She advised
"I said yes and we're late." Tyson said before gulping down some juice
"You are late Tyson. I have been up for hours." Sam said with a smirk.
"Good for you." Tyson muttered and ran around looking for a bathroom.
"Third on your left Tyson… Left Tyson… I said left you dolt." Tyson had run into a laundry shoot. "I am surrounded by idiots…" Sam mumbled and pressed a lever to bring up the last load. Tyson had a pair of underwear on his head and was wrapped in a nightgown. She lent against the wall and watched his futile efforts to get out.
"You going to help him out?" came a voice
"Nope." Sam said emotionlessly.
"You'll be late if you don't." came the same voice
"Fine." Sam pulled Tyson out and unwrapped him.
"Thanks Sam." Tyson said and tried to fling his arm around her shoulder. Sam just made a hn sound and sidestepped him. Tyson frowned just as the doorbell rang. Sam went to see who it was. It was the rest of the team. Max jumped up and down at the door as Ray grinned, Kenny smiled shyly and Kai frowned. Sam leant against the door jam until Tyson came and saw the rest of his team.
"Ready to go?" Ray asked
"Yes." Sam said calmly and walked out the front gate. They walked in relative silence to the site. Teams from all over the world had flocked to the British isles just for this and the BBA did not let them down. As the respective teams came and were announced by TV reporters and the famous reporters Brad Best and AJ Topper, fire works were let off in the colours of the teams country flags. Sam laughed in delight as she saw all of her roots were covered. Max looked at her oddly seeing as she had not laughed of given them a true smile in weeks. As they looked around, Sam spotted The Dark Hunters, The Love Seekers and the Wildfires. Kai saw what remained of the demolition boys, Max saw the All Stars, Ray caught a glimpse of the White Tigers and Tyson was astonished to see the Majestics. There were many other teams, some that they had fought before and many they hadn't. Sam ran ahead with Kenny as the others looked around and helped register them. Once that was done that was done they had the rest of the afternoon to themselves and could battle whom ever they wanted so long as it was within BBA regulations. It didn't count however until they were in the dish in the next day. Sam made a note that their battle was at a quarter past one the next day and quickly walked off. Tyson had started the whole 'we are a team and we look out for each other' speech again and quiet frankly Sam was sick of it. Out of the corner of her eye, Sam saw a group of bladers hanging around a single dish and so she joined them to see what all the fuss was about.
"OK, so who else dares to battle against me and try take my title? Huh? No one else brave enough?" came Blaise's smug drawl
"I'll take yeh." Said a newcomer with a thick Irish brogue. Blaise rose an eyebrow as he looked at his opponent. By the way that they had thrown a long trench coat type cloak over them, he could determine little about who they were other than a single strand of long dark hair that had managed to escape the hood and the glint of white from a small protruding tooth. Listening to the voice however he gathered it was a girl. Blaise wasn't about to turn down a challenger so whilst smirking, he set his blade to launcher and watched his opponent do the same.
"So, my lady, who do I have the pleasure of defeating hmm?" He drawled. The girl smirked and altered her stance slightly so she could launch
"I dunno who you think you are defeatin but yeh may call meh Shamrock." Sam's eyes widened in recognition as the girl spoke loudly for all to hear. Some people gasped and others snickered. Sam saw her 'team', the word still tasted bitter in her mouth, approach and Kai sneered at the girls name.
"Alright Shamrock, get ready to loose. I'll beat you in less than a minute." Blaise said confidently as the crowd chanted the usual countdown.
"Not if yeh aim like that yeh won't." Shamrock sneered and Sam could see that she was right. Blaise's aiming was slightly off and he still hadn't rectified it when he launched. Instead of spinning on the rim closest to her as he seemed to want to, he was going to miss the dish entirely if Shamrock didn't intervene.
"Idiot." Sam mumbled as she clasped her hands together and concentrated on the match. Shamrock sent her own blade where she knew Blaise's would be and deftly knocked it into the dish.
"Did she just save his Blade?" the whispers went round as the girls blade spun steadily in the middle. Blaise was getting sick of the whispers questioning if he could really blade at all.
"Arno, enough of this. End it with FireFlame." Blaise ordered his BitBeast. A deep red wolf BitBeast with black eyes and eagle wings that had white tips emerged and let out a deep resonating growl. A black tinged flame began to form around the blade as it spun ever closer to the girls who still spun steadfast in the centre.
"Now" Shamrock called out harshly as the blades were almost an inch apart. The girls blade began to backspin and almost flew around the rim of the stadium. The wind picked up and the fire seemed to go out of control. Sam gasped as the heat grew intense but still Shamrock did not back down.
"End this." There was a blinding flash as Shamrock spoke and as everyone tried to regain their sight, they saw that Shamrocks blade was still spinning strong and that she had caught Arno in her hand. Sam looked pensively at Blaise's scowling face as he stared at shamrock. The girls tossed his blade back to him and recalled her own. As she clipped it to her belt, the crowd saw a flash of red, causing Blaise and the rest of his team to take in a sharp breath.
"Who are you?" One of the Wildfires better known as Brenda asked
"Yehr leaders equal." Shamrock said with a laugh.
"No please. A name." Adar demanded
"I told yeh once I'm an Irish lass known as Shamrock. At other times Aye may have other names but this is the one that concerns yeh now."
"But surely you have a common name too. Please. We wish to know it." Edan said in his gentle manner.
"A common name yeh may desire but 'twould help if aye knew it too." Shamrock said solemnly all emotion gone from her voice. With that she jumped into the air and swung with catlike grace onto a street lamp. She glared at them before jumping into a tree and disappearing. Sam let out a sigh of relief and ran to see where the girl had got to. She saw another BeyBattle and jumped into a tree to better observe. Surely enough, Shamrock was there too. Sam tried to take in some of the serenity that nature provided. Shamrock was watching the people below, her cloak flapping in the breeze and unfortunately acting like a beacon for the BladeBreakers.
"I am bored Lee." came the plaintive voice of a pink haired girl with golden eyes and small fangs.
"I am sure there will be some good competition around here somewhere Mariah." Said a boy with black hair, golden eyes and what looked like gauze covering him from elbow to wrist and knee to foot. He was obviously the one called Lee. There were two others that were visible. A young boy with green hair and the trade mark golden eyes and a tall boy who referred to himself as Gary. Shamrock decided to try and cause more trouble. She jumped down from her hiding spot in front of the small group.
"If yehr looking for a half decent battle, I'll give yeh a go." Shamrock offered
"I hope you are somewhat better than the last guy I battled." Mariah said with a grin.
"I'm a girl." Shamrock said in a matter of fact way as if that explained it all. The Guy known as Lee let out a growl.
"Watch it you." Mariah hit him lightly as she loaded up her blade. Shamrock went into her stance and did the same. The Green haired boy was to do the count down
"3…2…1… let it RIP!" Mariah and Shamrock both pulled out their ripcords at the same time, sending their respective blades into the dish.
"Go Galux!" Mariah called. A shaft of sunlight reflected on Shamrocks own fangs as Ray and the BladeBreakers finally caught up.
"Watch out Mariah we know very little about this Shamrock girl." Ray called out. Lee and the other boys looked up in surprise but Shamrock barely looked at them, more intent on finding a weakness to exploit.
"Ray!" Mariah exclaimed and looked over at the newly arrived teen. Her lack of concentration caused her blade to wobble slightly and Shamrock used the moment to ram Galux hard.
"Keep your eyes on the match girl" Shamrock hissed as the blade grew more unstable.
'Are you getting this Dizzi?" Kenny asked as Mariah's attention snapped back and her blade steadied a little.
"Sure am chief, that Shamrock is givin Galux a beating and still trying to give her handy hints as well." Shamrocks Blade came to a halt in the middle of the dish and spun steadily. As if waiting for the right time. "Chief, do these movements look familiar to you?" Dizzi suddenly cut in. Sam panicked and knew she would have to do something drastic, but she would have to wait for the end of the match. Shamrocks blade still didn't move even when Galux battered against it relentlessly. A dark mist seemed to engulf the stadium and the two blades could barely be seen, but it was obvious that Shamrocks blade was attacking again with increasing vigour. The mist was slowly absorbed as Shamrocks blade spun faster and faster around the dishes rim before going in, striking Galux and returning to the rim again to gain speed. Mariah was getting agitated and losing a large amount of energy. That was quite obvious to all but they could not understand why. They could not see it but Shamrock was getting tired too. She had been away too long… Mariah didn't notice the blade slowing down, didn't notice the BitBeast come out not quite invisible, didn't notice that if she did not make her move now, she would loose the match. For Shamrock, blading was more than such a simple little game. Like many in her past had realised, blading had become the only reason for their existence. Even if her life was being tampered with, Blading was the one medium that did not change, other than her getting stronger. The time had come. Mariah's Galux was still getting back beaten. She had to act now. Mariah seemed to have come to a similar conclusion.
"Galux, end this. Scratch attack" Shamrock waited. She had complete faith in her BitBeast. The Irish girl shook her head and wagged a finger back and forth.
"Not this time my pink haired friend… you took too long, were too impatient in the begging of this match. D use binding strength." The air around Sam and the others sizzled with a black heat as an aura formed around Shamrock. As this occurred, Galux came closer in her full glory. A black, purple and silver ball of energy appeared in Shamrocks hand as energy was absorbed from all living things around them. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty" The Irish girl purred and gave the ball to her invisible bit. She then turned her back on the arena and soon heard the clashing of a blade crashing out and coming to a halt as well as a small cry from Mariah. "Game, set and match nice try though" Shamrock said and recalled her own blade. It flew into her open palm and she walked off. Sam's eyes flashed white as she snapped her fingers and whipped some of the info on Kenny's laptop. Shamrock was safe, but she owed her big time. Sam ran off just as Dizzy let out an astonished cry.
"Chief I think you had better take a look at this. All the info we got on Ms Shamrock is gone and so is half our other stuff!"
"What do you mean gone? It has to be there somewhere. Let's check the back up files." Kenny said frantically trying to find a trace of the lost data.
"It has vanished chief. I already checked for back up files. They have gone too! So has Sam's stuff" Kai scanned the crowd. 'Where is that girl anyway?' he asked himself
"Speaking of Sam where is she?" Max asked thinking along the same lines. Suddenly the sound of Sam's laughter was carried to them on the wind.
"Over near the food tents!" Tyson exclaimed and immediately tried to run over there himself. Kai quickly grabbed Tyson's collar and brought him to a halt.
"We are ALL going together Tyson. We don't need to loose you too." He growled before letting go and walking with the rest of his team, leaving a bewildered White Tiger team behind.
"Hey look there is the rest of your… team" Called a familiar voice.
"Shell is right and it looks like they have company too." Came a second voice. Sam half looked up in amusement, a secretive smile on her lips.
'Sam! Where were you? Did you by any chance see an Irish girl called-" Max was cut off by Sam
"Shamrock? Yes I saw her. You could say she is a … close friend of mine."
"Really?" Kenny asked exited, "then you-"
"Who's your friends Ray? Are you going to introduce us?" Raelie asked. Ray smiled and did the introductions, just as they were joined by their final member.
"Lee, Mariah, Bruce, Kevin and Gary, meet our newest team mate Sam and her friends the Love Seekers."
"An old team reunites with a lost member hey Ray?" Sam sneered openly. Ray paled slightly as the others blinked still trying to get used to the abrupt mood changes.
"Why are you so rude to him? What has he ever done to you?" Mariah demanded storming up to Sam.
"Stay out of it Pinkie," Sam hissed, "up until three months ago I was a lone blader and a perfect warrior. But a certain someone claimed it would be 'beneficial' if I joined this team out of all the others. Oh and another certain someone is trying very hard to get me to return to my so called roots, in fact I am being stalked by one of them, and I am so obviously wasting my time here seeing as what was in the past is so obviously dead." Sam glared at a certain blue haired teen. It was then that Sam realized what she was doing. She shook her head in self disgust. She was becoming like Voltaire. It was not Ray or his friends fault that she had grown up relatively alone. Nor was it their fault that she went to Biovolt. They had in fact done nothing but shown her friendship. She would have to give them the benefit of the doubt and trust them. There was nothing else for it and this way she would be nothing like her former master. She started to smile at that thought.
"Sam!" called a cheery voice and pounced on the unprepared girl. Sam staggered and nearly fell to the floor
"Tenebrae…" Sam said softly
"Not picking fights again were you?" Ten asked seriously
"Well whatever she's trying to do it looks like she is starting to enjoy" Jason said laughing
"Oh Yeah Jase I'm just having a ball." Sam said sarcastically and danced around the two as they shared looks. Suddenly a weird sensation overcame her and she stopped dead in her tracks. The fine hairs at the back of her neck were standing on end as she looked around. Finally Sam gaze locked with a pair of blue green eyes. Her own eyes flared dangerously and she started growling deep in her throat. A hand suddenly waved in front of her face and out of reflex, Sam spun on her heel and punched the annoying person. It was Tyson.
"Owwww… what was that for Sama-"
"Don't call me Samantha" Sam said absently, looking around for the eyes but no longer seeing them.
"What is with the name?" Bruce asked
"It's a long story but bottom line is that she hates it." Keelee explained
"Also you never got our names. This is Keelee, her almost sister Raelie, Rachelle, my sister Brittany and I am the leader of The Love Seekers, Jason." Jase said almost warmly
"Also my name is Tenebrae and I am close friend and on occasion trainer of this lot." Ten said with a glare at Jason for not introducing her.
"So you are THE Love Seekers. The beyblading actors?" Mariah asked excitedly
"The one and only" said Brittany shyly but also proud. Mariah squealed
"I am like your biggest fan!" she claimed almost jumping up and down
"In your village maybe." Sam mumbled under her breath unthinkingly as she noticed that Raelie was looking at Lee in puzzlement. "It's dark hair." Sam said to her softly and tensed, ready to intervene in the chaos about to unfold. Raelie grinned and tried to launch herself at Lee. Sam moved into the firing range and gave her the little plushie that she carried around everywhere as a safety measure. Raelie looked from the doll to Lee and back again before settling down somewhat and cuddling the stuffed friend in her arms.
"You have a doll… looking like Lee…?" Tyson asked slowly.
"Well it works on these guys as well as catnip does on cats so yes I carry them around in case of such emergencies. I have others depending on the person."
"Really? Can I see?" Kevin asked. Sam smirked and started pulling out her small collection, loosing them almost immediately as soon as she had one in her hands. Mariah had claimed Ray, Brittany had claimed Max and Tyson, Keelee had abducted little Kevin and Mariah, Raelie had also taken Johnny and Ozuma, and Rachelle had claimed the Sam plushie with a detachable cloak and seemed anxious to take the last one in Sam's hands that had not yet been uncovered.
"So what is the last one in your hands?" Kai asked against his better judgement.
"You really want to know?" Sam asked blinking at him
"Would I have asked otherwise?" Kai demanded
"Well let's put it this way then; you don't want to know." Sam said almost playfully
"Tell me now!" Kai commanded stalking towards her
"Fine." Sam said with a real smile and as soon as he was within arms length, she opened her hands. Within them was a small version of Kai that looked more life like than the others. Kai's eyes widened
"Why does this one look so different?" Kai murmured not taking his eyes off the figure still amazingly in Sam's hands. Sam shrugged off handily
"I wanted to see this one more than I desired to see the others. I guess I took more care." Kai slowly rose his gaze to look at her. His expression was unguarded for a moment and Sam saw a myriad of expressions cross his face, before the familiar glare came and stuck. 'How dare she have anything that looks even remotely like me. How dare she say such things and almost sound like she means them. Why did I allow her to see my emotions and why do I feel almost pleased that she made mine better than the rest?' Kai thought bitterly to himself as Sam looked away. She went to toss it like she did the others but thought better and simply handed it to Rachelle.
"Are you happy now oh mighty Kai?" Sam sneered trying to draw comfort from indifference. 'No' Kai thought but he simply nodded his head that he was "Good." Came her curt reply before she turned on her heel and walked over to Jason and Tenebrae. "And here is the warning. I shall now be practising with the Love Seekers and Tenebrae for a minimum of two hours each day."
"Fine but two hours each day is all you are getting." Kai said firmly, almost harshly. 'What has gotten into him?' Sam thought looking at him with a slight frown.
"Alright." Sam said slowly. Suddenly the strange sensation came back to Sam. Her back stiffened as she looked around slowly, taking in every detail of their surroundings. This time it was Brittany that noticed Sam actions
"Sam, what is it?" Brittany asked as the older girl put a finger to her lips and listened hard. All the others stopped talking and looked at Sam to see what she was doing.
"Is she-"
"Shhh," Sam growled, "we are not here alone. Someone…" Her voice trailed off as her eyes locked with the self same blue-green eyes as before. That is when she recognised the scenario. A white band came flying at Sam's head and she put up her hand and caught it. The others crowded around and Rachelle gasped when she saw it was a collar. Sam's Biovolt collar. Sam realized that they were being watched by a spy from her past. His name: Rick…