The Fourth Tournament
Or
Hijacked by Astro V.
Chapter 5
Robert Jagen was seriously regretting telling Mr Dickinson that he had a lot of spare rooms.
Russia was the last country to hold its qualifiers. There had been several qualifiers; Europe, Russia, North America, Central America, South America, Japan and the Koreas, Australasia and China. The Majestics had got to the finals of the European, so had Barthez Battalion, much to Johnny's disgust. The Blade Breakers had got through the Japanese one, White Tigers through the Chinese etc. Much to Tyson's surprise, Team Psykick, a team he'd met in his travels had got through the American one.
And finally, the Russian ones.
They'd been watching the qualifiers for four days now, and it was down to the finals. No matter what happened, both teams would go in. This was just a bit of fun.
They were all crowded into Robert's 'television room', waiting to see who'd got through.
"And the first team… The Blitzkrieg Boys!" Suzy and Robert hi-fived each other.
"Could they really call them the Blitzkrieg Boys when there are so many girls there?" Johnny wondered aloud.
"Well, the final team hasn't been decided yet. If any of the girls get in, I imagine they will change the name." Robert replied, staring at the screen.
"They will if Kasi has anything to do with it!" Johnny snickered. Robert grinned distractedly. It was true that his feisty girlfriend was a stickler for equality, and he doubted she would be left off the team.
"The other team are… Astro V!" Johnny looked at the TV thoughtfully. He'd seen the triplets blade and reckoned they would go far in the tournament. But would they beat the Blitzkrieg Boys?
"Ok! This will be a best of three battle!" Jazzman said. "For Astro V, we have Jess, Katt aaaaand Ici!"
"No duh!" Johnny muttered, and then got thumped from the girl on either side of him.
"And for the Blitzkrieg Boys it will be Kai-" Suzy smiled softly. "-Tala aaaaand Hester!" Robert sat up.
"Hester? Did I just hear him say Hester?"
"Uh huh," Mollie Barnham, Johnny's girlfriend, nodded. "She's good, but is it sensible to bring her out in Russia?" The Majestics knew all about Hester's family 'problem'.
"First battle – Tala against Jess!" The Majestics watched as the cocky red head stepped up to the stadium, winking at the camera. Jess, on the other hand, stepped solemnly up, her face perfectly composed.
"Who'd you think will win?" Tyson asked, whilst stuffing his mouth with popcorn.
"It's difficult to say." Suzy mused, weighing up both Russian's abilities.
"How do you know anyway?" Daichi butted in rudely. "You don't beyblade!" Suzy sat on Johnny to stop him getting up.
"As a matter of fact, I do. Third member on the Majestics, aren't I, little brother?" Johnny scowled, but nodded. Suzy was sixty six minutes older than him, which did really make him the little brother. But still, he didn't like it being pointed out.
"What's your attack?" Tyson wanted to know.
"Achain airson an làidir." Even the words sent a shiver down Johnny's spine. Gaelic always did that to him.
"Your bitbeast?"
"Hydralyon."
"What's that?"
"That's on a need to know basis." Suzy, finally annoyed by all the questions, turned away to where her little sister Jo was playing in a corner of the room. Jo noticed the sudden attention and scrambled over, putting a pack of batteries into the convenient pouch on her belt. Being a McGregor, she was wearing a dress.
"Suze." Johnny muttered in her ear. "She's taken the batteries out of the clicker!" Suzy nodded and prised them from Jo's grasp, dropping them back into Robert's complicated looking remote.
"Ssh! It's starting!"
Battle 1 – Jess v Tala
Tala swaggered up to the dish and winked at the camera.
"Don't you dare get overconfident, Ivanov!" Kai growled in Russian.
"She's a girl. How could I fail to beat her?" Tala retorted, also in Russian.
"I think you may need to rethink that statement." Bryan's eyes were a tiny bit wider than usual, which meant he was shocked, maybe even slightly scared. Tala spun around. And stopped. Jess's eyes were gleaming. Not just sparkling, but gleaming. Actually changing colour. One minute they'd be the casual black, the next minute the pupils would glow white, and little flames seemed to be pouring out her eyes. Tala gulped. Maybe Jess was tougher than she seemed.
"3-2-1 – LET IT RIP!" Jess and Tala released their beyblades into the stadium.
"Go for the kill, Wolborg!" Tala wanted to get this over with.
"Stay strong, Sagittario!" Jess murmured. Tala watched in disbelief as Wolborg just… bounced off the girl's blade. And Sagittario kept spinning. Even faster. It was a flame coloured blur Tala could barely see.
"Try again, Wolborg!" Tala yelled.
"No!" But it was too late. Wolborg went in. "Tala! She's absorbing your strength!" Kai yelled.
"Fountains of Fire!" Jess brought her hands together. As Tala watched, fire began to pour out of the beyblade, streaming up, and then out. The dish was a lake of molten lava.
"Wolborg!" Tala cried as his blade was covered in the hot liquid. There was one last roar. Tala watched as his beyblade began to melt. And then, it stopped spinning. There was a hushed silence as the crowd digested the information. Tala Ivanov, THE Tala Ivanov, of Demolition Boy fame, had been beaten by a rookie. A rookie girl, none the less.
"Idiot!" Bryan growled under his breath. "And he's supposed to be better than me?" Kai watched as Jess blew a kiss to Tala, then walked to her side of the stadium, hi-fiving her brother and sister.
Tala groaned and sat down beside Bryan. Bryan hit him so hard that Kai winced.
"Idiot!" he growled. "What did Kai say? Don't get overconfident! And what do you do?"
"Leave it Bryan." Kai said wearily. "For once it wasn't Tala's fault. For once."
"Yeah, right." Bryan muttered, examining his fingernails. Kasi rolled her eyes.
"Will you guys just cut it out?" She growled. "Yeah, sure, Tala lost by being an idiot. But you aren't such a saint Bryan!" Bryan flushed and examined his fingernails even closer. "And as for you Kai, don't you get me started!" Kai looked up at the ceiling.
"At least I didn't do it to my own brother." Bryan growled breathlessly. Then he froze. Even Bryan, the scourge of the first tournament, was like a rabbit caught in headlights compared with Kasi. Her strong arm flew out, grabbing Bryan by the neck. He made a few choking sounds at first, but tried to escape from the hand restricting his airways.
"If I ever, ever hear you say something like that again…" Kasi left the threat open. She released Bryan and he slumped down in his seat, massaging his neck and taking gasps of air. "Now, get up there, Kai. And if you don't win…" Kai was up in a flash. He gave a nervous grin to Bryan and turned his attention on the dish.
Battle 2 – Katt v Kai
Katt knew as soon as she stepped up to the dish that Kai was different to Tala. He held himself like a king, his scarlet eyes penetrating into her soul. She had heard, of course, about the two guys her sibs had bumped into in Anadyr. She had recognised Tala as the one that was spying on her and Jess had revealed that it was fearsome Bryan that she kicked in the shins. And of course, it was Kai that had bailed Ici out when he couldn't run fast enough. Did that mean she owed him something? Nah, she decided. Kai just cancelled out Bryan's almost selling them to the police.
"Are you ready?" Jazzman asked them. Katt took a deep breath and nodded. Kai just turned his impassive stare to fixate on Jazzman. "OK! 3-2-1… LET IT RIP!" Katt's eyes gleamed like ripples on water. Kai's eyes were following the blades, she could see him assessing the situation.
"Scorpios! Hands of Water!" Kai blinked as her beyblade seemed to split into three.
"Dranzer, attack!" Kai ordered. Dranzer paused, as if thinking which to attack, then went for the one directly in front. Dranzer went straight through it. "I see your game, Morgan. Optical Illusions, yeah?"
"You're smarter than you look, pretty boy. But what you gonna do about it?"
"This! DRANZER BLAZING GIG TURBO!" He yelled, pointing at the dish.
"Oh dear, looks like your little sparrow got himself caught by a scorpion!" Katt's mocking voice seemed to be coming from far away. Kai watched, dizzy in horror as Scorpios wrapped his strong tail around Dranzer's neck.
"No!" He whispered. "Dranzer!" Dranzer gave a sorrowing call that pierced through Kai's defences.
"Scorpios! Scorpion Sting!" Scorpio jabbed his pointed tail into Dranzer's neck. One final song and it was over. Kai's blade stopped spinning. He realised he was shaking. He closed his eyes, trying to compose himself. "Hey, you ok?" He realised Katt was looking at him.
"Yeah, I think. Good game." Kai shook hands with Katt.
"You almost had me there. Next time, yeah?" She gave a final grin and walked back to her sibs.
Johnny released the breath he hadn't even realised he was holding.
"No way!" He breathed. Suzy shuddered.
"And if Kai and Tala, who are the best, there's no doubt about that, Tyson, were beaten by Astro V…"
"Then we don't have a chance." Robert muttered.
"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of 'Hester will be crushed to dust', but that works." Suzy admitted. Suddenly, her mobile went off. Everyone crowded round her, trying to hear who it was. "State your business." She said gruffly. "Kai!" Her voice suddenly changed. "Yeah, I'm watching at Robert's, btw, you're paying for the call." She glared at the others and took herself over to the window. "No, you were amazing. Honest." "No, I'm not just saying that." "You didn't let me down. You're still going to the championships, aren't you? Then what are you being so depressed about? Trust me, you'll be fine. It's when you get beaten by Enrique, then you start to wonder!" Enrique flushed and twiddled with his bangs. "You dare, Hiwatari… you just dare!" Johnny raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, sure. Love you too." She switched the phone off and swung around to face the accusing features of the others.
"What did he say?" Johnny growled.
"I don't ask you every detail of what Mollie says to you, do I? A girl's conversation with her boyfriend is private. And anyway, it's starting again."
And, try as they might, they couldn't get another word out of her.
Battle 3 – Ici v Hester
Ici nibbled his fingernails nervously. Try as he might, he couldn't shake off the nerves. He gripped his white beyblade tightly, hoping that some of the intensity in there could rub off onto him.
His opponent, however, looked completely serene. Almost angelic. Ok, as angelic as a fourteen year old with purple and orange hair, starry shaped spectacles, a pair of baggy jeans, a pierced tongue, mutilated ears and eyebrows could look like. Hester Mandarin was a punk.
Hester didn't expect to win. If Kai and Tala hadn't won, then why the heck should she be any different? However, she was determined to get out there and show Boris what she could do.
She looked at the squirrel that was engraved on her bit piece. A lot of people may argue that a squirrel wasn't a particularly fierce creature, but Zendare was the bravest creature she knew.
"Looks like we're both nervous about this battle," she quipped, looking at her pale opponent.
"Yeah, I guess." He mumbled, biting his nails again.
"OK! 3-2-1… LET IT RIP!" Zendare and Virgo span around the dish, causing a dazzling show of lights.
"Words of the Magi, Virgo!" A dazzlingly beautiful sorceress rose from the centre of Ici's blade. There was a high, haunting laugh and Virgo blew outwards with her hands. Hester cried out as Zendare was blasted with a large gust of wind.
"No!" Ici yelled. "Don't make a sound!" Hester was slammed back against the wall. She slumped down, unconscious.
"What the hell did you do to her, Morgan?" Tala yelled.
"Leave it, Ivanov." Jess said, her low voice reverberating around the stadium.
"Virgo, Castles of Air…" Ici breathed. As they watched, Hester rose up, her head hanging. Then, her eyes opened and the blood disappeared from her forehead.
"What the hell…" Bryan murmured, spellbound by the tiny blader's song. But he caught Kasi watching him and shut up.
"Words of the Magi will attack the blader if they make a sound." Katt explained, starry-eyed.
"Thanks," Hester said gruffly. Ici shrugged.
"Song of Spirit!" He cried. The song coming from the bitbeast changed. It floated around Hester. Zendare's eyes began to close.
"No, Zendare! Starrae!" If Hester had waited a moment longer, she would have lost contact with her bitbeast, but luckily she got in there just in time. Zendare chattered and sprinkled stars around the mage. But these were no ordinary stars. They burnt the magi and she began to shriek. Ici seemed to be in intense pain, Kai judged by the look on his face.
"Words of the Magi!" This time, Hester kept her mouth shut. Zendare toppled backwards like a statue. Hester waited until the temperature was back to normal before speaking.
"Ici. Brilliant! You're an amazing blader, well done!" She said, grinning widely.
"Thanks, you're not too bad yourself. That star thingy almost won you the match!" The two Russian teens shook hands, grinning widely.
Johnny's eyes were so wide; they looked like they were going to pop out of his head.
"Well, that was a surprise." Mollie said, hugging her knees. Johnny's phone began to ring.
"Hello, Johnny McGregor, I'm very important and handsome, how may I help?" he said with a wry smile. "Oh, Mother!" Suzy burst into hysterics and Jo tugged at her skirt, wondering what was so funny. Johnny watched his older sister sign to his younger as he listened to his mother on the other end of the phone. "Right. Ok. All of them? There's quite a few! Yes, Mother. Ok. Bye. See you on the thirteenth." He closed the phone.
"What was that about?" Suzy asked, cocking her head to one side.
"Mother's had a think, and she's decided…AFTER PARTYAT OURS!"
"YES!" Suzy and Johnny hi-fived. "Majestics and Blitzkrieg Boys?"
"Yep!"
Robert opened his eyes wide. He'd been to a McGregor Party before. Relentlessly cheery hardly described it. He'd barely stood it, and he was generally a happy person. How Bryan and Kai would stand it, well that would be interesting… His face lit up with a smile and it wasn't just the thought of his pretty girlfriend that put it on there.
