Silvan Arrow: At last! Here's the chapter everyone's been waiting for and the one I've been wanting to write!

Eri: And what chapter might that be?

Silvan Arrow: Truth or Dare!

Kai and Tala: O.O NOOOOOO! -run away screaming-

Michelle: -sigh- Oh great, there they go again. Eri, let's go get them.

Eri: Okay. COME BACK HERE, YOU WEANIES!

Eri and Michelle: -race after Kai and Tala-

Silvan Arrow: -sigh- Great, now who's going to do the disclaimer?

Ian: -walks in- What's going on? I heard screaming?

Silvan Arrow: Oh nothing. Hey, you wanna do the disclaimer?

Ian: No.

Silvan Arrow: Well, too bad! You get to do it anyway!

Ian: -growls- Oh fine. Silvan Arrow does not own Beyblade or any of its characters. She just owns her OCs.

Silvan Arrow: I keep forgetting to mention this, but I also don't own Michelle. She belongs to my best friend.

Michelle: Silvan Arrow, when I'm done punishing Kai, you're next!

Silvan Arrow: -gulp- Uh…while I make a few phone calls to increase my life insurance and hire some bodyguards, here's the next chapter!

Chapter 4: Truth or Dare! Oh the horror…

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Bit beast mind-chatting with master

But first, here's a recap of the last chapter:

Silence fell over the room, until Tyson blurted out, "I'm bored."

"Well, what do you have in mind, Mr. Smarty Pants?" Ian asked sarcastically.

"Hey, I've got it!" Everyone turned to look at Emily. "Let's play Truth or Dare!"

End recap

"Hey, that sounds like a great idea!" Mariam exclaimed, sharing a conspiratorial wink with Eri and Michelle.

"Is everyone agreed?" Hilary asked. No one objected. Then Hilary noticed something. "Hey, we're missing a couple of people." She did a quick head count and asked, "Where did Kai and Tala go?"

Michelle and Eri looked at each other and sighed. "They are such wimps," Eri stated sadly, shaking her head in shame.

"We'll be right back," Michelle said calmly as she and Eri walked out of the room. A few seconds later, the bladers in the living room heard her voice echo through the house: "KAI, YOU BIG BABY! WHY DID YOU RUN AWAY?" Kai tried to stammer some sort of excuse, but nothing intelligible came out of his mouth. "ENOUGH EXCUSES! NOW YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!" Michelle and Eri returned shortly, dragging their boyfriends behind them by the ears. (A/N: Thanks for the great idea, Beeku!)

"Ow, that hurts! Knock it off, Eri!" Tala whined. Eri let him go once he was seated on a couch. He rubbed his sore ear and said, "You know, that really wasn't necessary."

"You know, it really was, or else you would have hidden in that closet for the rest of the night," Eri replied matter-of-factly. Kai snickered.

"Shut up, Kai," Tala snapped. "You were hiding in there too." Kai shut up and looked away in disgrace.

Once that little matter was resolved, everyone sat in a circle on the floor of the living room. "Okay, we need a few basic ground rules before we get started," Michelle stated. "No boy-boy or girl-girl kissing, no sex, and no nudity. Also, you can't pick Truth two times in a row. Got it?" Everyone nodded. "Okay, good."

Tyson's hand shot up in the air. "Ooh! Ooh! Can I go first?" he asked excitedly.

Michelle sighed in annoyance at her hyperactive teammate and replied, "Yes, Tyson, you can go first."

"Okay! Um…" He scanned through the group of people until he decided on his first victim. "Eri, Truth or Dare?"

Eri thought for a moment and then replied, "Truth."

"Okay, ever since you and Tala started dating, have you two ever…um…you know…gotten--"

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Tyson! And no, we most certainly have not!" Eri exclaimed indignantly.

Tala's face went pale at Tyson's innuendo. "She's telling the truth," he added quickly.

Kai bashed Tyson on the head. "Ow! What was that for, Kai?" Tyson demanded while holding his pounding head.

"For being stupid."

"Eri, it's your turn," Max reminded her.

"Oh, right." She looked through the faces and thought this was as good a time as any to put Phase 2 of Operation Matchmaker into action. "Bryan, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," Bryan responded without hesitation.

"Do you like anyone in this room?" Eri asked.

Bryan was silent for a moment and then responded quietly, "Yes."

"Oh, really? Who?" she pressed.

"I thought you could only ask one question," Bryan stated with a glare.

Eri couldn't think of a good comeback. "Well…I…uh…"

"BAKA!" Michelle cried, smacking her on the head.

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Well, you deserved it."

Once the two friends had finishing bickering, Bryan asked Rei, "Rei, Truth or Dare?"

Rei smirked. "Dare," he replied confidently.

"I dare you to eat catnip."

Rei's eyes widened in horror. "No…you're not serious, are you?"

"I'm dead serious," Bryan stated, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, I don't think anyone has any catnip," Rei replied nervously.

"HEY, GUYS! THERE'S SOME CATNIP IN THE KITCHEN!" Tyson's voice called from across the lodge. He came skipping in carrying a small bag with catnip. "Here ya go, Rei!" he chirped, handing him the bag. Rei started sweating with dread.

"Oh no. This is not good…" Mariah muttered.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked.

"When Rei eats catnip…well, it's not a pretty sight."

Rei gulped before taking a pinch of catnip out of the bag and reluctantly shoving it in his mouth. For several long moments, nothing happened. But then…Rei hiccupped and got this goofy expression on his face. "Hey…everything looks…polka-dotted," he mumbled while grinning stupidly.

"What in the world?" Clara asked no one in particular.

Then Rei stood up, held up his hand like a microphone, and announced, "And this little ditty goes out to all my adoring fans." He started to sing…the Barney song. Oh the horror… "I wuv you….You wuv me…We'we a gweat big famiwy…" However, his song was cut short as he fell to the ground and passed out.

The others stared at each other wide-eyed for a few moments before Tammy asked, "What the heck just happened?"

"Catnip to Rei is like an overdose of alcohol," Mariah explained. "He basically got drunk."

"Well…now that Rei's out of commission, does anyone want to take his turn?" Spencer asked.

"Oh, I will!" Michelle chirped. "Eri, Truth or Dare?"

'Oh crap…' Eri thought. 'I've already picked Truth, so I guess there's no way outta this one.' She grimaced and muttered, "…Dare."

"Hehehehehehehe…thought so," Michelle stated while grinning wickedly. "Okay, I dare you to share a bed with Tala tonight. And no, you can't stay up the entire night on the excuse that you 'weren't sleepy.'"

Eri's eyes widened. "ACK! Are you kidding me? Those are single beds! They're not big enough!"

"Exactly," Michelle replied deviously. Eri opened her mouth to say something, but Michelle cut her off: "And no, Tala doesn't have a choice in the matter."

Eri glared at her best friend. "I hate you."

"Why, thank you!" Michelle chirped. "And I believe it's your turn again!"

"Fine." She needed someone to take some anger out on. "Mariam, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," Mariam replied confidently. "Give me your worst."

"All right. I dare you to kiss Ian."

"What? No! His nose could put my eye out!" Mariam protested.

"Hey, stop making fun of me!" Ian complained.

Eri shrugged. "Too bad, you picked Dare. Or would you rather me come up with a penalty that's ten times worse?"

Mariam growled. "Oh fine!" She walked over to Ian, gave him a quick peck on the lips, and walked back to her seat next to Max. "All right, the next person is really gonna get it! Kenny, Truth or Dare!"

Kenny yelped in surprise and stammered, "T-truth."

"Did you ever wet the bed when you were little?"

"No, of course not! Well…maybe this one time…" He groaned in embarrassment as a few people snickered. Emily patted him on the back comfortingly. "Urgh…Kai! Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," Kai replied with a bored expression.

"Have you ever cheated on Michelle?"

"No."

"Uh…o-kay…"

Kai looked around the room before deciding on his next victim. "Bryan, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," Bryan replied, since he had already picked Truth.

"I dare you to kiss Tammy."

Bryan felt his heart skip a beat, and he tried not to look as nervous as he felt. He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Tammy blushed beet red.

"Hey, that's no fair! It should have been on the lips!" Hilary protested.

"Kai didn't specify," Bryan stated.

Michelle sighed in annoyance and bashed Kai on the head. "BAKA!"

"Ow! What's the deal with smacking people's heads today?" Kai protested angrily.

"Because your brain needs reprogramming!" Michelle shot back.

Bryan chose his captain as his next target. "Tala, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," Tala replied without hesitation.

"I dare you to make out with Mariah for at least 30 seconds in front of everyone," Bryan stated with a smirk.

Tala's eyes widened in horror, and Mariah and Eri gasped. Was Bryan out of his mind? "You are so dead when this is over, Bryan," Tala threatened.

"Be glad Rei's still passed out on the floor," Bryan stated, indicating the snoring neko-jin with a wave of his hand. Muttering curses in Russian, Tala walked over to Mariah, pulled her to her feet, and kissed her. However, Rei happened to wake up and catch Tala in the middle of the kiss.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING KISSING MARIAH?" Rei yelled as he tackled Tala to the ground and started punching him. Bryan, Spencer, and Ian rushed over and hauled the enraged neko-jin off their captain and explained that it was just a dare. Rei then felt bad and apologized profusely for the next five minutes until Tala dared Mariah to clamp a piece of duct tape over his mouth. The game continued for another half hour until everyone decided to call it a night and go to bed.

In Tala and Eri's room…

"You know, Eri, you can't stare out that window all night," Tala reminded her as he lay in his bed looking quite amused.

"What? I happen to find looking out windows a very fulfilling hobby," Eri lied innocently.

Tala chuckled. "Come on, you don't want Michelle to have both our heads, do you?"

Eri sighed in defeat. "I guess not." She walked to his bed. Tala scooted over to make room for her as she crawled in next to him, pulled up the covers, and turned out the light. "She's always calling me a coward because this kind of thing makes me uncomfortable."

"You're not a coward. You're just shy, and there's nothing wrong with that," Tala said. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer so that their faces were only inches apart.

"If you try anything, Tala, I swear I will break your neck," Eri threatened.

"Thanks, I love you too," Tala teased. He kissed her softly on the lips. "You know I wouldn't do anything like that."

"Yeah, I guess," Eri replied with a shy smile. "Good night." She rolled over in his arms so her back faced him. Tala pulled her back against his chest and planted soft butterfly kisses along her neck. Eri moaned softly and snuggled into his arms. Tala tucked her head under his chin, breathed in the sweet scent of her hair, and sighed in contentment before drifting off into peaceful sleep.

End chapter 4

Author's Note: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I had so much fun writing that chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did! I was practically busting a gut laughing when Rei ate the catnip! So how is everyone enjoying the story so far? I'm really happy with all the positive feedback, and I hope the rest of the story meets everyone's high expectations. I wanted to get this chapter up fast because I won't be home for the next couple of days, so my next update won't be for a few days at least. In the meantime, PLEASE REVIEW and tell me what you thought!