Chapter 9

Round One, Begin!

I saw the opening of a plane and walked through and saw only enough seats for our team and the Windwakers.

"What kind of plane did you book?" I asked.

"Private of course." He said, "Now find yourself a seat."

We walked down the aisle and sat down in a seat. Robert and Johnny sat together, Skylar sat next to Mimiru, Remei sat by Miriko, and Oliver sat by himself. Enrique and I sat in a seat together. The seat had belts, but no handlebar in between and looked more like a couch than a seat. I sat down and took off my backpack and sat it beneath the seat. Enrique sat down beside me.

Suddenly, I heard a deafening noise; it must be the engine. It startled me as I jumped lightly in the seat. I shivered a bit as the plane started to lunge forward. I looked out the window to see the plane turn onto a larger stream of tar, the runway, we were about to take off. My eyes widened as the plane started to go faster and faster. It suddenly started to get off the ground. I was scared; I had never been this scared. I closed my eyes and shivered. I suddenly softened as I felt Enrique's arm come around me and pull me close. I looked up to see his eyes closed too; was he just as scared as I was? He put my own feelings before mine, and sacrificed his own fears. I loved him; I knew it. I wanted to know what he feared, what he loved, what made him sad, happy, depressed, all of it. I wanted to know him better than he knew himself. I wanted to be there for him instead of him always helping me.

The plane lifted off the ground and into the air. I suddenly softened my muscles and looked up and out the window. I could see all of Paris. It looked almost a miniature set of figurines set up lightly across the landscape. I then sat a little more up right. A question still picked at the back of my mind.

"Were you afraid before?" I asked, "I mean, when the plane took off?"

"Of course not!" He said. I looked at him doubtfully, "Oh, okay. Yes, I was scared. I've always been afraid of things like that. I'm surprised I'm not airsick. I'm never sick on the sea though, never been afraid of water. It's just—not the height—it's the--"

"Speed?" I asked.

"Yeah," He said, "I hate fast things. I feel like I have no control over what's moving, and I'm a big control person---I'm just that way, but lately, I've pushed my own things aside---"

"For me?" I said, looking a little crestfallen.

"Yeah, I guess so." He said, "Why?"

"It's just," I said, "I feel a little weak—I mean like, not enough credit, I mean I can take care of myself. I just feel like I can't stand up for myself."

"Oh," He said, "why didn't you tell me?"

"Don't know." I said, "You didn't seem to mind—so I thought, why am I? So I just forgot about it."

"Until now." He said.

"Yeah." I said, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" He asked.

"For not telling you, for feeling like that in the first place and--" I started.

He placed his finger on my lips, "you don't need to be sorry," He said, "Save it for something worth it."

"O-okay." I said.

"Now just try to enjoy it," He said, "It works for me most of the time, and we'll both try not to get airsick."

"It's a deal." I said, shaking his hand.

I sat back for awhile and watched the scenery fly by. After awhile, I felt a lump of weight on my shoulder. I turned over to see Enrique asleep. I twisted my fingers through his hair and looked around the plane. I saw Oliver sitting by himself and he looked a little on the lonely side. I got up and put a small pillow in my place to keep Enrique asleep. I walked over to his seat and sat down.

"Hey Oliver," I said, "you okay?"

"Yeah," he said, "I'm just a little nervous."

"Today's match?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said.

"Enrique and you, I believe, will be first," I said, "Then Robert and I will go last. We just have to win three matches, and we'll be just fine. Besides, you're a great Blader, and I know you can win."

"Really?" He asked.

"Of course." I said, "I mean, a big part of wining is you're motive."

"Well," He said, "that's just it."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"My motive." He said.

"Yeah?"

"It's-" He started.

"Yes."

"You." He ended.

"Huh?" I said.

"You've inspired me, all of us, to win." He said, "I mean, without you, we'd be lost, or fighting."

"Johnny?" I asked.

"He doesn't count." He said as we laughed.

"Well," I said, "I'm sure you'll do just fine."

"Thanks." He said.

"Anytime." I said with a smile as I folded my arms over my head and gave him a smile.

Oliver was a cute kid. He was nice and very thoughtful towards me. He was a good teammate and always knew how to pick me up off my feet, even if he was a little naive about it. I'd love to just walk around the Eiffel Tower or Louver with him and just talk about random things all day. I mean, it was just easy for me to talk to him.

"Hey Oliver?" I asked.

"What?" He asked.

"When we get back," I said, "I mean to Paris, would you show me around Paris? I mean, there's a lot of places I haven't been even though I've lived there about three years."

"You haven't been to the Eiffel Tower?" He asked, "or the Louver?"

I shook my head no.

"Wow!" He said, "I'd love to show you around!"

"Great!" I said.

The plane started to slow down as a voice came over the intercom; "We will be landing in about five minutes." It said.

"Well I better get back to my seat before Enrique wakes up." I said, looking over at him, "Thanks for agreeing to take me around."

"Sure," He said as he grabbed my hand and kissed it.

"Now don't think you're getting lucky." I said as we laughed.

"I can always hope." He said with a smile.

"Bye Oliver." I said, starting to walk back to my seat.

"Bye." He said as I walked back to the seat. I sat down by Enrique and moved the pillow.

"Hmm." I said to myself with a chuckle, "Never missies a nap, does he?"

I heard him moan as he got up, "Wh-what time is it?" He asked.

"Not sure." I said, "but we land in around five minutes."

"Oh..." He moaned a little sickly.

"What's wrong?" I said.

"Landings are what's wrong." He said.

"What?" I asked.

"You'll see." He said. Suddenly, the plane dropped and my stomach went down with it before my mind.

"Oh…" I repeated as sickly as he had.

"Don't tell me you're gonna be sick!" He said.

"No---" I started. My mind seemed to be spinning in circles as the plane dropped lower. I swallowed hard, trying to keep down whatever I had in my stomach.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Never better." I said, still holding my stomach. The plane suddenly hit the ground and I jumped a bit. But then, it wasn't so bad. The plane came into a slow turn and went into where the terminal gates hooked up with the planes. The plane came to a stop as it was hooked to a terminal. Enrique helped me to my feet as I grabbed my bag and we all walked off the plane. I stumbled a bit as we walked out. Enrique supported me.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Fine." I said.

"Can you battle?" He asked.

"Of course!" I said, "I'd never give up a team battle for my own needs, I'd never do that to you guys, I mean, I love you guys more than you know."

I bit my tongue lightly, realizing what I had said as my face turned red. He merely smiled.

"You can prove that to me later," He said as he kissed my cheek, "Now, come on, we've got a battle to win."

I smiled as we walked down the out going hallway. We walked out of the hallway and into a main room with two double doors at the end. We walked out of the doors to see a young man with a sign that said 'Majestics' on it.

"Piddelsworth!" Enrique said.

"Who is he?" I asked.

"My butler." Enrique said.

"Oh." I said. As we all walked up to greet him. He went to open the door of the limousine. I put my hand in his way, "I can get it myself," I said with a smile.

"As you wish." He said as I opened the door myself and let the others in. I got in and closed the door. The limousine started off down the road. It came into a large city, Rome. I gasped in awe.

"It's huge!" I said.

"Yeah, I guess so." Enrique said, "I'm used to being around here."

I looked around to see the limousine pulling through the city. It pulled into what looked like a park and into a clearing where the road ended. My eyes widened at the sight. It had four separate paths leading to the middle where a splendid building stood. It was the tall Olympic Stadium surrounded by a lake.

"Is that where we battle?" I asked.

"Yeah." Oliver said.

The limousine stopped and we opened the doors and we got out. We walked down the pathway and into the stadium. The inner part was a collection of small hallways leading to the different rooms where we could stay and the center hallway led to the Blading arena. We walked through the main hallway to see a square room about a fourth of a mile long with rows of seats lining the sides. In the center was a large Beydish. Around one-fourth of the seats were empty.

"Where is everybody?" I asked. "The stadium should be full."

"The teams are probably here." Enrique said, "But our match doesn't start for about two hours."

"Where's our training room?" I asked.

"Room 156." Johnny said as he read our room-number off a piece of paper.

"Let's go find it then," Robert said as we turned around to leave. I turned back around to stare at the dish.

'Tala,' I said to myself, 'I don't want to battle you, but if it all comes down to that, I'll have to.'

I felt a hand on my shoulder, I turned around to see Enrique.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's just that I--" I started. Suddenly, from one side of the stadium, the Demolition Boys walked out. I froze as I saw Tala exit and look at me. My hands started shaking a bit.

"Tala." I said softly.

"I know that this will be hard for you do," I heard Enrique say, "But we'll all get through it together."

"Okay, Enrique," I said. He turned around to leave. I started to follow him, but turned one last time to see Tala. One question still resounded in my head.

'Why Tala?'

I finally tore my gaze away from him and walked out of the stadium with Enrique and the others. Johnny led us down a hallway and to a small room with the number 156 on it. He took a small key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. The door opened to reveal a small room with a bench in the middle and lockers lining the sides. I sat down on the bench.

"We're going to check out the rest of the stadium." Oliver said.

"Okay." I said as Oliver, Johnny, and Robert walked out. I grabbed Orelin out of my pocket. I rubbed my sweater across Orelin, shining its surface.

"We can do it partner," I said to the blade. It glowed white with agreement, "and nothing will stop us."

I looked at the clock, an hour and forty-five minutes until our battle.

"Is our battle first?" I asked.

"No," Enrique said, "The Demolition Boys and the All-Stars are up first."

"What?" I asked in surprise.

"I didn't want to tell you because I thought you wouldn't want to see—you know."

"I'm not afraid of him," I said, "I just want to know what's wrong with him, he's changed."

"I'm sure you'll find out." Enrique said.

"By myself." I said.

"What?" He asked.

"I need to find out things on my own." I said.

"But what about last time?" He asked, "what if-"

I grabbed his hand as my free hand tugged his collar so he came inches from me.

"There will be no 'what if." I said. I pressed my lips against his for a moment, then broke away, "Let's go watch the match."

"Okay," He said a little dazed.

I laughed a bit, "Let's go." I said as I tugged him out the door.

"Yes ma'am." He said with a smile as he wrapped his arm around my waist and we walked toward the entrance of the main dish.

We walked out to see tons of people now filling the seats. We were lucky to find some. Suddenly, the lights in the stadium dimmed.

"The ceremony's starting!" Enrique said happily.

Suddenly, the floor spit open and a stage rose upward. Beams of light shone around the stadium, creating the Beyblading Official Symbol. A light came on the stage as Mr. Dickinson stepped up to the microphone.

"As you all know, I'm Mr. Dickinson, head of the BBA, and I'm here to proudly introduce last year's world champion, Tyson!" He said.

The crowd went insane as Tyson stepped up to the mike.

"Thanks!" Tyson said, "I'd just like to say that I'm very proud to be here and will use all my skills and rules, in accordance to the BBA, so anyone who wants to challenge me, I say bring it on and let the games begin!"