Well, here I am again! No-one seemed to like the last chapter! (sobs) It only got two reviews and 68 hits! I'll admit, it was slightly...ridiculous towards the end. Sorry if that put anyone off, it was just a once-off moment of insane hyperness.Anyway, this one starts off frivolous and gets a lot more serious towards the end! Seriousness...whoa...
Please enjoy, and review!
oh yeah, and a big thanks to RoseOfSharon28 and annoying talking animal for reviewing the last chapter! (Even if a.t.a did review from the wrong name! .)
After that...fiasco, the Bladebreakers calmed down. Calming Kai down might have meant shutting Tyson in the lounge for three hours, but if it stopped Kai from glaring at all and sundry and giving Ray death-threats for getting him soaked, then who were they to complain? Of course, no-one told Tyson that...
Sighing, Hilary shoved another stale slice of pizza under the door. Like giving a baby a dummy, she thought as the complaints from inside stopped abruptly.
"Finished giving the baby his dummy?" Max asked, grinning. Hilary grinned back.
"I was just thinking that!" she exclaimed.
"Well, you know what they say about great minds..." Max joked.
"Whatever it is, it doesn't apply to you two!" Tyson yelled through the door.
"Oh? And who does it apply to?" Hilary demanded.
"You?" Max offered helpfully.
"Yeah!"
"Yeah, right! In your dreams!" There was a long pause.
"Meanies..." Tyson grumbled, then fell silent.
"Hey, Kai?" Max shouted.
"What?"
"Can Tyson come out now?" There was another, long pause.
"If he really has to."
"Yahoo!" Tyson shot out of the door like a rocket and headed for the kitchen. Kai came inside, watching Tyson intently for anything that he could use for extra training.
"Max?" Max jumped slightly.
"Yeah?"
"Your defence needs working on again. Damn PPB Allstars, distracting you from what you're best at..." Colouring at the unaccustomed praise, Max nodded and followed Kai outside. Hilary peered out. She always enjoyed watching her boys beyblade. Soon, she was cheering loudly for Max. All to no avail, as Draciel landed outside the dish within a pathetically short space of time.
"Bad luck, Max!" she said sympathetically. Max shrugged, trying not to show his disappointment at the speed with which Kai had overpowered him.
"Guess I still need to practice."
"I'll say you do." Kai interrupted from the other side of the garden. "Hilary, you go against Max." Hilary twitched.
"Kai! I don't want to!" she wailed.
"Tough. Stop acting like a three year-old." Grumbling, Hilary took Kai's place opposite Max and clumsily fitted the beyblade to the launcher.
"Glad to know you enjoy my company so much, Hil," Max commented dryly. Hilary blushed.
"Oh, it's not you!" she told him hurriedly. "I just know Kai wants me to use Dyler, that's all." Max frowned.
"Why don't you like your bit-beast?" he asked curiously. Hilary shrugged, shuffling her feet.
"It doesn't seem to like me." she mumbled, her face pink.
"Hil," Max said impatiently, "Like is a two-way thing! If you don't like it, why would it have any reason to like you?" Pity crushes aren't two-way things… Hilary thought, watching as Max reloaded Draciel into its launcher and settled into his launching position, a heavy feeling her chest. She had worked out that she had a crush on Max earlier on, a little after the hose incident. It had come as a bit of a surprise, to say the least. He was seriously cute though, if she thought about it…
Max was watching her too, she realised. They stayed in position for a good thirty seconds, just looking at each other. It wasn't that they were communicating or anything along those lines, it was just they couldn't seem to look away…
"Get on with it!" Kai ordered, leaning out of the door and glaring at them. They both jumped a mile in the air, blushing furiously and mentally cursing the captain. "Swear at me afterwards, battle now! 3, 2, 1, let it rip!" Hilary launched ineptly, unprepared for the speed that Kai had counted down at. Her beyblade zipped around the edge, not even disturbing Draciel, which was spinning calmly in the centre, waiting for her to make the first move. Taking up on the challenge, Hilary concentrated hard. Her blade crashed against Draciel, but skidded off within milliseconds of contact.
"Come on, Hil!" Max encouraged, his familiar, cheerful grin firmly in place. "You can do way better than that!"
"I know, I know, don't go on about it!" Hilary muttered, irritated. Max's cheery expression faltered, changing to one of puzzlement. Draciel nudged Hilary's blade almost curiously, the faintest of contacts. The turquoise beyblade skidded violently to one side and wobbled dangerously. Hilary and Max's eyes widened in shock, and the sound of Kai shouting for Kenny only intensified the situation. There was rarely a situation that Kai felt that he couldn't handle on his own. Very rarely. As in; never.
"Come on, Hil," Max practically whispered, his sea-blue eyes vivid with concern. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong!" Hilary snarled. Her blade slammed ineffectually into Draciel. "I just don't want my bit-beast involved in this, that's all!" She bit her lip, furious with herself as attack after attack on Draciel left the bulky green blade virtually untouched. Why was she suddenly so weak? She was stronger than this, even without her bit-beast! She was!
Unnoticed by anyone, a flicker of golden light hovered over Hilary's beyblade for a moment.
Max stared worriedly at his secret crush. Hilary was breathing hard, her eyes wide and blazing mahogany, her fists clenched by her sides. She was absolutely furious with her performance, Max thought. The kind of anger that was generally Tyson's prerogative, blind, headstrong rage. The dangerous kind.
"Hil, you wanna calm down? You're turning into Tyson!" He forced a laugh. She looked at him, and for a second, her rage seemed to fade. A moment later, Max saw that no, it hadn't, it had simply…frozen over.
"Not like I can help it." she said icily, before turning her attention to the dish and the futile battle going on. Reluctantly, with an uneasy feeling in his stomach, Max did the same.
Tyson peered nervously round the door, looking out into the hallway. Ray was pacing up and down relentlessly, his face tight. Kai was sitting perfectly still, staring outside, barely even blinking. Kenny was typing frantically and exchanging shriller and shriller words with Dizzi.
"What's going on?" Ray was the only one who bothered to move. He covered the distance between them in a single stride.
"Hilary's going absolutely out of her mind with anger because she's blading badly, her bit-beast is responding to it and she still won't let it out."
"Why is she blading badly?"
"Because she doesn't know exactly how strong her bit-beast is and she's accidentally keeping back a lot of her own power as well. Plus, Max is deliberately holding Draciel back, he's obviously trying to give her a chance to get the better of him."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning there's a lot of power building up out there. A hell of a lot." Tyson swallowed and gripped Dragoon tightly, noticing for the first time Ray's white-knuckled hold on Driger.
Hilary fell to her knees, her legs shaking too violently to support her. Frustration built inside her. Her head throbbed with it, there was a horrible tight feeling in her chest.
"Hilary?" Max's uncertain voice floated through the fog in her head. "You okay? Don't you reckon we should stop the match now?" She jerked her head fiercely to the side; no. She couldn't understand it, why the hell was she so weak? She had to win this, her befuddled mind decided, if she won it, then she wouldn't be pathetic, this horrible battle wouldn't have happened….
"Stupid blade!" she yelled suddenly, glaring venomously at the turquoise beyblade. "Fine! You want out? Come on out!" Her eyes glittered with triumph. She was going to win now! "Go, Dyler!"
An unearthly howl boomed overhead and the turquoise blade flooded with gold light. It collected in a little glowing ball, too radiant to look at, and then something began to emerge. Two jet-black eyes stared at Max from amidst a swirling, gleaming tangle of streams of power. Max gazed back into the eyes, those bottomless black holes, filled with rage at being supressed for so long. Coming to his senses, Max called out Draciel as fast as he possibly could and prepared himself for the fight of his life. This was one bit-beast that wasn't going to give up.
Hilary snapped out of her confused state and watched with horror as the giant tortoise struggled against the shapeless foe.
"Max!" Her voice rang out uselessly, flat and strange-sounding in the suddenly thick air. "MAX!"
Dun dun duuuuun! Does that count as a cliffhanger or not? Please, please review! If I don't get at least four reviews, I'm gonna cry!