The Fourth Tournament

Or

Hijacked by Astro V.

Chapter 12

"Hello and welcome to the second round of the fourth annual beyblade tournament! I'm AJ Topper-"

"-And I'm Brad Best!"

"Today we have a trip back to memory lane, with The Bladebreakers facing off against the ever-surprising Saint Shields!"

"Let's go to the stadium, where the first two bladers, Mariam and Max will soon face off!"

"Ok Max, after yesterday's, umm ahem, unfortunate fiasco, we need to go out there with our guns blazing."

"Hey! It wasn't a fiasco from me, I won! And no one was severely injured.' Said Max, whilst looking pointedly at Ray.

"Guys, guys! We're a team. We don't argue! Besides, that's Blitzkrieg Omega's job, not ours." Tyson reminded them as he intervened between Max and Ray, in a way that seemed similar to Kai in reference to Bryan and Tala.

"Ozuma? Ozuma are you in there?" Mariam waved a hand in front of her boyfriend's face as she watched her younger brother and Dunga's heated discussion over what was the better ice-cream flavour, Chocolate or Strawberry.

"Strawberry. Definitely Strawberry." Joseph said.

"Uh… Hello? Chocolate is way nicer!" Dunga disagreed.

"Strawberry!"

"Chocolate!"

"Strawberry!"

"Chocolate!"

"Shut up you guys!" Mariam snapped. "Can't you see there's something wrong with Ozuma?" The two boys turned to the only girl on their team hurriedly.

There was something wrong with Ozuma. His green eyes were clouded over, his red and black hair in even more of a disarray than usual. He was murmuring words that made no sense, and they weren't in Japanese. They weren't even Chinese. They were English.

"Ozuma?" Joseph suddenly yelled, clapping a hand on the elder boy's shoulder. He jumped, his green eyes fading into the darkness they usually were.

"I-I'm fine." He stammered, flinching from Mariam's anxious stare.

"You are NOT fine!" Mariam snapped. "Dingbat-" by this she meant Dunga – "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you are replacing Ozuma's battle. Joseph, can you go and tell the BBA guys?" Joseph nodded. As he passed, he whispered in Mariam's ear.

"Take him outside. I'll get them to postpone your match until last."

Mariam smiled slightly at her brother's quick thinking. She placed an arm around Ozuma – she couldn't help noticing how he flinched - and steered him outside.

"Ozuma? What's wrong?" Mariam looked at the scared boy. He shook his head, a single tear tracking down his cheek.

"You wouldn't…" He shook his head again and completely broke down. Mariam wrapped her arms around the smaller boy, feeling his body shake with grief.

"Ozuma, you're our friend. We're a team. We care what happens to you. What scares you scares us…" She whispered in his ear.

"It's stupid… really, it's nothing." He muttered, burying his head in her shoulder.

"Ozuma… If it makes you feel like this, then it really is something. Please, just tell me."

"It's a dream… I get it every night. It's stupid; it's just a dream…" Mariam stiffened.

"A dream? Ozuma, why are you so upset about a dream? Oh no. It's not one of those prophecy thingy dreams, is it?" Ozuma shook his head. She was getting dangerously close to the mark. "Then… Ozuma. Did this dream happen?" Mariam's breath caught in her throat. "But when?"

"When we got back to the village… When Dunga went with his mother and you and Joseph went with your grandfather…" Ozuma had never had any parents, well not that he could remember, anyway. He'd been found in the forests near the Saint-Shield village, it was rumoured that he had been brought up by leopards.

"Oh god… When you went with the elders?" Mariam breathed, beginning to understand. "What did they do to you?" Ozuma's green eyes shadowed.

"I can't tell you…"

"Then don't. But Ozuma, don't hide these things. You're our family. Now we're on our own, we have to stick together. We won't judge you. Not like they did." The two embraced fiercely, more passionate than before. A tune began to float through her head.

Another turning point a fork stuck in the road…