New Players Old Problems

Chapter 1 - New Players + New School New Rules

This story is dedicated to Rat. His real name is Adam and he is my little brother.

Also, to my beta reader Gusman! You go gooseyboy!

And to all the other yr 12 outcasts at Wanneroo Senior High School.

Disclaimer. I own none of the original characters (unfortunately  ) however, I do own the plot and the new players, so if you wish to borrow them, then please ask me!

"Have a nice day sweetie!" Jessamine O'Hara called to her niece.

"Yeah, bye Aunty Jess." The girl replied. "See you at HOME" she emphasized.

"Ok dear. Bye!" Jessamine drove off.

"Adults!" the girl shook her head and headed to the front office of her new school. Her bike needed an oil change so her aunt had to drop her off today.

"Hey! Little red riding hood!" someone yelled.

The red-haired girl turned to see who it was. "Elle! AJ!" she laughed as the three girls hugged. "Great to see you guys! I haven't seen you in about 15 minutes!" the red head joked as they entered the office together.

"Same! We are gonna have a blast girls!" Elle said, grabbing the girls schedules from the lady at the desk. "Right, let the torture begin!" she said as they headed off to first period. Mathematics.

"And so…Ah! You must be the new girls! I'm Professor Magneus. Please come forwards and introduce yourselves. And describe you selves too please!" Professor Magneus said, sitting in his chair.

The girls looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Describe themselves? What a weird-assed teacher.

"Ok. I'll go first." the red head said, skipping forwards a few steps. "Hey y'all. I'm Amelia!"

"Full name please!" Professor Magneus said.

Amelia frowned. "Ok. I'm Amelia-James O'Hara. I'm 15, obviously. Uhh, I have red hair and normally it's got nice vibrant steaks of some color in it. Uh, I have green eyes and am 5'5 ½. And am female, for those who didn't notice." Amelia grinned cheekily.

The class chuckled.

Elle went next. "Hi. I'm Elleena-James O'Hara. But call me Elleena an' I'll have to kill ya. Melee is my 1/2 sister. I'm 15, of course. I have lavender hair, normally plain, but occasionally I streak it. I have green eyes and am 5'5. I'm also female." she winked.

Once again the class chuckled.

Last of all, Ang stepped forwards. "Angelus-James O'Conner. 15. Slate and ocean blue hair. 5'6 ½. Hair never streaked. Female. Cousin to Elle and Amelia through marriage twice removed on both sides. Don't call me Angel. AJ is fine." AJ said shortly.

"And, best bladers around!" Amelia grinned cheekily.

Murmurs broke out. Who did these girls think they were?

"What do you think Kai?" Tala asked his friend.

Tala never got an answer because Professor Magneus spoke.

"If you have any questions, now is the time to ask them!" he called from behind the book he was reading.

A blunette in a backwards baseball cap jumped up.

"What makes you think you're any good? The competition around here is the best in the world!" he sat back down.

Elle flushed slightly. Amelia went to say something, but AJ held up a hand to stop her.

"You mean you think so. You don't know half the secrets bit beasts hold do you kid? And until you do, you'll always be weak." AJ said coolly.

A raven-haired boy stood up. "What would you know about bit beasts huh?" he sat back down.

The girls looked at each other, and then grabbed their blades. Elle and Amelia from their bags, their pants were too tight for them to be in their pockets. AJ pulled hers out of her pocket. All three girls flashed their blades, and showed their left upper arms. On each of their arms, a black mark stood out.

"We're known as the Dark Phoenixes. Each of us was branded," AJ pointed to the black marks "with a black phoenix. And were each re-named personally, by Boris Valcoff." She said calmly, pulling her leather duster back up onto her shoulder, the other two following suit with their tee shirts.

Everyone gasped. They all knew about Boris Valcoff. The entire world did.

"Our parents were killed. We live with Elle's mother's sister, Aunt Jessamine. The names we gave you are our real names. Boris re-named us as he wished, tried to make us forget our own names. He failed. Elle was Night-Eyes. Amelia, Night-Huntress."

"What about you?" the raven haired by asked.

AJ's eye's darkened. "I was Black Feynix."

"None of us liked what we were becoming, so we eventually put a stop to him. Permanently. The abbey and everything below it was destroyed in the so-called earthquake a few years back." Amelia said, fingering her blade.

(Just put up with it, I know the ages are all screwed up, but they have to be or else this story wouldn't make any sense, not that it does to begin with but hey, who cares?)

Tala stood up. "You have your own bit beasts? Or are they other peoples?" he asked before sitting down.

AJ's eyes flashed, and she growled deep in her throat. "Unlike the Demolition Boys, we were not under Boris's thumb. We refused his offer. Our bit beasts are our own. We earned them, and they chose us."

"Who else is there?" Kai asked, not dropping his gaze from AJ's.

"Who else is where?" Elle replied, a frown marring her delicate features.

"Who else is in the Dark Phoenixes?" Kai repeated, but with more information, finally flicking his gaze away from AJ's

"No one. We three are it. Traitor." AJ sneered before grabbing her bag and walking out of the classroom.

Magneus looked shocked. "Err, enough questions I think! Elle, you sit beside Bryan, raise your hand Bryan! There he is. Amelia you sit beside Tala. He's the red head boy beside Kai." He told the girls. "Umm, will she be alright?" he asked when the girls were seated.

"Maybe. She's been having problems for a while now and they've only been getting worse lately." Amelia said. "But I think it's just the whole new school and everything mixed in with lack of sleep. She'll be ok. She just needs to work off some anger and frustrations. It's her way. She does it on her own."

"Oh, right. Now as we were discussing before, Tan is short for tangent…."

Amelia and Elle immediately blocked him out and spoke to their neighbors.

"Hi. I'm Elle." Elle said softly to Bryan.

"I'm Bryan Stranovich. Nice to meet you Elle." Bryan replied.

"I'm Tala, and he's Kai." Tala introduced.

"Amelia. So, you guys blade to huh?" she said, knowing the answer was yes and nearly everyone did these days.

"Yep. Hey, can we see your blades?" Tala asked.

The girls looked at each other. "Sure. Why not?" Elle shrugged as she and Amelia handed over their beyblades. "But return the favor." Amelia added.

They did, but Kai seemed a bit wary. When Amelia and Elle saw Kai's blade, their eyes widened.

"El, can you…."

"No Melee, I can't!" Elle gaped.

"What is it?" Bryan asked.

"Well see, umm….."

"No Melee. It's not for us to say." Elle shook her head.

The three boys looked annoyed.

"Please tell us?" Tala asked, reclaiming his blade, and the others doing the same.

"Sorry, it's not for us to tell. Hey, have you guy's ever heard of 'Black Dranzer'?" Amelia asked.

The boys froze. "Yes." Kai said stiffly. "You know we have. What about it?"

Elle took a deep breath. "It's gone. It wasn't in the abbey. We found its blade, but when we got near it, there was this huge flash of light and we all got knocked off our feet and unconscious too! When we came to, it the blade was empty."

The guy's all looked relieved. "Thought it was worse." Tala briefly explained their experiences with Black Dranzer before the bell rang.

Everyone filed out to their next class.

"What have you girls got next?" Tala asked them.

"English." Someone said shortly.

It was AJ!

"Ang! Sheesh, don't do that again!" Elle scolded her friend.

"What? Walk off, or scare you?" AJ smirked.

Amelia groaned. "What did you do now?"

The guys looked confused.

"She's a practical joker. Plays pranks and jokes on EVERYONE! Even us at times." Elle explained.

"Hey! I haven't done anything. Much." She added at her friends glares, still smirking.

Suddenly, someone screamed.
A girl came running out of the toilets. "Spider! A huge spider! It attacked me!" she wailed to the teacher who had appeared to see what the racquet was about.

The group of 6 quickly moved off when the teacher started looking for the culprit.

"You're horrible Ang!" Elle frowned. "That wasn't very nice. What did that girl ever do to you?"

"She's the one that almost rammed me off my bike the other day." AJ said calmly before introducing herself to the guys. "Angelus-James O'Conner. Call me AJ. Everyone else does." She nodded.

"Tala."

"Bryan."

"We're gonna be late." Kai pointed out, not introducing himself.

"Right. What room have you got?" Tala asked the girls.

"106." Elle said.

"You're with me then. Come on, we'd better go. See you Tal, Kai, ladies. See you at lunch? Normal spot?" Bryan said.

"Yep. See ya Bry!" Tala waved off Bryan and Elle.

"Bye guys!"

"See ya Elle!"

"Bye Elle-gal." AJ said non-commitedly.

Tala turned to the last two girls. "Right, what about you two?"

"211." Amelia said.

"49." AJ said dully.

"Well, that makes it easy! AJ, you're with Kai and Amelia, you're with me." Tala grinned; this was how he had wanted it to be.

"Wow. I feel REALLY special!" AJ said sarcastically, following a silent KAI. "See you later Melee."

"Miss O'Conner! Please pay attention!" Ms Slade snapped at AJ again.

"Sorry." AJ said, not meaning it at all.

The teacher glared. "Recite a poem from Wordsworth!"

AJ sneered, but to the classes shock, did as she was told.

"I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

The stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Outdid the sparkling waves in glee;

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company;

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought

What wealth to me the show had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils."

Ms Slade sneered. "Pathetic O'Conner, truly pathetic! That was the most horrible recital I've ever heard! You have no imagination at all! No idea of how to read poetry!" She snarled horribly.

"Shows what you know then." AJ said softly, but with a threatening tone to it.

"Stand up!" Ms Slade snarled. "If you believe you're so good, recite a poem of YOUR OWN!"

AJ swaggered up to the front of the class. She racked her brain for one that would tell a story, but couldn't be linked directly to her. One that ANYONE could make up. She didn't want to show who she really was. She'd made that mistake too many times before.

"Well Miss O'Conner?" Ms Slade grinned nastily.

"Almost ready Ms Slade." AJ said calmly, ignoring the old bat.

Kai was intrigued, this girl was different. Very different.

"She's very strange, isn't she Kai?" a purple haired boy beside Kai said.

"Yeah, she sure is Robert."

"What do you know about her?"

"Nothing much. She lives with two cousins and an adoptive Aunt. The three girls grew up in the abbey, like me. They all blade, and are apparently very good."

Robert pondered for a moment. "Hmm, what were they called?"

"Dark Phoenixes. Ring any bells?"

"Yes, sort of. They spoke the truth then, they are extremely good. Very powerful from what I hear. The teams daughters take their mothers spot when they are old enough."

"And they work as one with their bit beasts and blades." A red haired boy added in.

"How do you know this Johnny?" Robert asked the red haired boy, Johnny.

"I saw them blade once. They didn't call out their bit beasts, because they didn't have to. They were almost like a single person their moves were that coordinated. Like they could read each others minds and their teams mates blades as well as their own." Johnny said.

"Listen up class!" Ms Slade yelled. "When you wish O'Conner." She glared at AJ.

AJ ignored her, leaning her back against the whiteboard, she cleared her throat and begun.

"Stolen dreams

They once belonged to me

Until you ripped them whole, from me

You left me, torn and bleeding,

Yet still I live, I live still,

You left my life in tatters,

Tore my heart to ribbons,

I trusted you, believed in you,

Yet all you've done is take

I had nothing left for thee,

Alas, that did not matter,

You've robbed me of my life,

A life that was not yours to take,

A heart not yours to break

Yet hear I stand before thee,

Though I am a tangle mess,

For though you may think,

You have taken all from me,

You cannot steal a simple thing,

Hope, the last emotion I have left,

And yet, I do not have,

Alas, it still remains,

Lost in twists and bends,

Locked inside Pandora's Box,

Until eternities end

And now I stand alone,

No hope, no life, left inside of me,

I am alone, and all because,

I cared."

No-one said a word. They couldn't believe the words that had flowed effortlessly from their classmates' mouth.

"Well, that was…" Ms Slade smiled, the old bat actually smiled! "That was truly amazing. If it were your own I would grant you full marks." The nasty look returned. "As it isn't, well, I'm not exactly surprised. No-one in here has the ability to construct something THAT good. And I doubt any of you ever will. Sit down O'Conner."

AJ glared at Ms Slade. Instead of sitting down, she walked right up to the teacher, and stared her in the eyes. Ms Slade was rather shocked to see the hollowness and emptiness in the young girl's eyes. Perhaps she HAD written that poem? No, impossible!

"Sit down Miss O'Conner! Time to acquire some ACTUAL knowledge." Ms Slade snapped, striding to the front of the classroom.

She turned around at AJ's voice. "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Albert Einstein." AJ said simply before sitting in her seat.

Ms Slade looked ready to explode. "Any other famous quotes O'Conner?"

"Plenty." She replied shortly.

Ms Slade looked intrigued. "Fine, let us hear several more from Miss O'Conner."

AJ shrugged. "Whatever. Picasso, Everything you can imagine is real. Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure, William Samoan." AJ said.

Ms Slade looked vaguely impressed. "Not bad."

The bell rang.

"Hold it! Before you all go, O'Conner. Another saying from Einstein, or you ALL have a week's detention."

Everyone started talking angrily.

"Quiet!" Ms Slade yelled. "O'Conner?"

AJ sneered before answering. "I'll give it to you. And add another for the sake of it. The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking. Albert Einstein."

"And the other one?"

"Treat others the way you wish me to treat you in hell."

Ms Slade glared. "Who said that?" she demanded.

AJ smirked nastily. "I did." She said before walking out of the classroom, the rest of the class trailing behind, and leaving a furious Ms Slade alone in the room.