Okay, this s a very small, very pointless chapter becauseI am ata dead end at the moment.
"Table for six." Kai said bluntly.
"Certainly. Over here." the employee said. Tyson suddenly let out a whoop.
"They have balloons! Kai, can I have a balloon? Please?"
"Oh God, it's like taking a five year-old out!" Kai muttered helplessly. "Yes, Tyson, you can have a balloon. Take two for all I care!"
"Yahoo!"
"Can I take your orders, please?"
"Yeah, sure." Ray answered. "Right, has everybody chosen what they want?"
"Yes!"
"OK then, we'll have a medium spinach and ham...a small marguerita...two cheese and spicy chicken...two-Tyson, you are NOT having two pizzas. At least not straight away. Sorry, so make that a large Meat Feast...and Kai?"
"Salad."
"That's all? And a salad please. Thanks."
Fifteen minutes later, the pizzas arrived.
"All right, who's got what? I forgot." Ray said, slightly embarrassed. He held up the marguerita. No-one moved. With a sigh, Hilary nudged Kenny.
"Kenny, your pizza's here." she hissed as Ray passed it over.
"What? Oh, right, thanks." Kenny mumbled. Everyone exchanged exasperated looks.
"Kenny," Tyson asked with exaggerated patience. "Why have you brought Dizzi to Pizza Hut?"
"Believe me, it's not by choice!" Dizzi said impatiently. "I'd much rather be settling down for a nice long charge-up, but no, Mr I-know-everything insists that we finish the analysis on-" Her voice stopped suddenly.
"What happened, Chief?" Ray asked. "Did you finally manage to get her a mute button?" Everyone sniggered.
"No Ray, you know that if I try she just overides them." Kenny muttered. "She stopped because I don't want her talking about what we're doing until I've finished it."
"How-"
"I threatened to load up a video of Tyson at a buffet and put it on repeat, close-up." Kenny interrupted.
"Ooh, nasty!"
"So, when are you going to be finished?" Tyson asked, pretending that he hadn't heard Hilary's comment.
"In about ten minutes, interruptions permitting!" Kenny snapped. Everyone backed off, recognising the glint in Kenny's eye.
Ten minutes later...
"Tell me now, Chief!" Tyson moaned, stuffing the last of Kenny's pizza into his mouth and looking around to see if anyone else had left anything even remotely edible.
"Hold on just a second..." Kenny muttered, his fingers flying frantically over the keys. "Okay...done!" He leaned back with a satisfied smile.
"Ow..." Dizzi whimpered. "Kenny..." she whined. "Let me shut down. Please? I'm completely overloaded here!"
"In a minute, Diz, in a minute." Kenny said consolingly.
"So?" Tyson demanded. "What were you doing?"
"Analysing the data from Hilary's battle with Kai." Kenny said offhandedly.
"And that's taken you...what, seven hours?" Max asked, frowning. Kenny nodded.
"Uh-huh. Well, you see, I found a pretty striking similarity while I was doing it, and I needed to cross-reference it with my other data to make sure."
"And?" Tyson persisted.
"Well, basically - and you've probably all grasped this anyway - Hilary is a natural beyblader." There was a short silence while the others digested this startling piece of information.
"You mean..." Max said slowly. "Natural like...Brooklyn?"
"Yep. Exactly like Brooklyn, except not quite that powerful." Kenny explained. "Power-wise, Hilary, you come in between Max and Ray. You see..." Hilary and Max listened intently as he began to explain it, actually really interested for once, while Tyson double-checked the table for scraps. Finding none, he resorted to the floor, crawling under the table to retrieve a dropped pizza crust. Popping it into his mouth, he chewed for a few seconds, before grimacing horribly.
"Urgh...spinach..."
To most people, right then, Kai would have seemed perfectly at ease. Or at least, no tenser than normal. Ray knew better. Leaning over, he gently tapped Kai on the shoulder.
"Kai?" he whispered. Violet eyes looked at him, deceptively blank. "Arms." Ray said urgently, nodding down to where Kai was ceaselessly rubbing the faint scars on his muscled arms, the only physical reminder of his battle with Brooklyn. Kai swore softly and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "You knew, didn't you?" Ray muttered. Kai nodded stiffly, looking fixedly ahead.
"I guessed." he said simply. "She was so good so fast, it was the only plausible explanation."
"You okay with it?"
"Fine. Stop worrying about me." he snapped, glaring at his best friend, who held up his hands denfensively.
"Okay, okay, already! I can take a hint!" Ray said lightly, turning away just in time to see Tyson emerging from under the table. He pulled a disgusted face. "Tyson, dare I ask what you're eating?"
"Pifa," Tyson mumbled indistinctly. Ray groaned and shuddered.
"Tyson, you are..." He trailed off, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Hopeless?" Hilary suggested, averting her eyes from the sickening sight of Tyson crawling around on the floor hoovering up anything that he could find.
"I was thinking more along the lines of disgusting, but yes, that works pretty well." Ray replied, staring at the navy-haired boy.
Voila! As I said, pointless and short. Any ideas will be gratefully appreciated!