Chapter 4
They discovered they were staying at a Thailand style house just outside the city. The house was huge, more like a mansion than a house. It came with a Beyblading training room, a swimming pool, a gym and a wide garden with a big pond. It was more than enough to meet their needs. More importantly, it had Tyson's favorite place, a kitchen with endless supply of food.
"Oh man..."Tyson muttered in awe staring at the spacious living room. "This is the life..."
"I knew you would like it." Mr. Dickenson said. "Now if you all take a seat, I would brief you on the tournament rules."
They settled down while Kai leaned against a wall, crossing his arms in front of him.
Mr. Dickenson cleared his throat. "Alright, kids. The rules are simple. As you know instead of three, now each round will consist of five matches. Therefore in order to advance to the next round, you have to win three matches out of five. And seeing as there are more teams participating this year, the BBA have decided to place each team in to four different blocks; Block A, B, C and D."
"Kinda like the regional tournament." Max piped in.
Mr. Dickenson nodded. "Exactly. You kids will be in Block C. In order to advance into the semi-finals, you have to beat the other teams without loosing yourself. Am I clear?"
"It's something like football." Kenny said.
"If you put in that way, yes." Mr. Dickenson said. "And to advance into the finals, you have to beat the Block B winners."
"Sweet. So when does it start?" Tyson asked.
"Two weeks from today. That should give you enough time to train and sharpen your skills." Mr. Dickenson informed them.
"Maybe by then, we can find out how good Jade actually is." Kenny suggested. "I would really like to analyses her Beyblade."
"Yeah." Tyson agreed. "Then I can get my rematch with her."
"Hello? Her 's still here, you know?" Jade muttered. Her voice was light so they guessed she wasn't angry.
Mr. Dickenson chuckled. "That's good idea. But for today, I think you should get some rest, maybe do some sight seeing in town."
"That's great idea, Mr. D." Ray said.
That moment Tyson's stomach let out a loud rumble. They stared at him, sweatdropping as Tyson chuckled nervously. "You don't mind if we get something to eat before we do anything?"
Minutes later, they sat in a restaurant in the city, waiting to be served. Mr. Dickenson had insisted they try the Thailand food there when he had them dropped off at the restaurant. He said it was good but he forgot to mention how slow the service was.
"I'm hungry...." Tyson groaned, sitting in his seat like a fish out of water. He looked like he could pass out any minute. "I need food...."
"Quit your belly-aching." Ray snapped at him. "We're all hungry here."
"But you don't understand..." Tyson said feigning weakness. "I'm dying here..."
Max laughed at him. "Hang on, Tyson. I'm sure someone will take our order soon." he glanced around. "Um...can we get some service here? My friend here is like dying of hunger."
"Far from it." Kai snorted.
"Help...need food..." Tyson moaned.
"Tyson, you ate eight trays of food in the airplane!" Kenny scolded. "Haven't you had enough?"
"No!" Tyson retorted.
Finally a man came to their table to take there order. He spoke in Thai to them only to receive blank stares from Tyson, Max, Ray and Kenny.
"Does anybody here speak whatever language he spoke in?" Max asked.
Even Ray shook his head.
Jade spoke up, not to them but to the man. She spoke fluently in his language, ordering from the menu. The waiter looked relieved as he took her order. She glanced at the Bladebreakers. "Well? What do you guys want?"
Recovering from their shock, they made their orders which Jade translated for them to the waiter. Kai, to their surprise, ordered for himself.
"I didn't know Kai spoke Thai." Max muttered to Kenny.
Jade said something to the waiter, beckoning at Tyson as she did so. Tyson frowned as the man took down her request with a surprised look on his face.
"What did you tell him?" he demanded when the man hurried off.
"I just told him to make your order five instead of three." she informed him.
Kenny interrupted before Tyson could say something. "Where did you learn how to speak Thai?"
She shrugged. "I travel a lot."
"Really?" Ray asked interested. "Like where?"
"Places." she said carelessly. "Let's just say Thailand is one of them."
"Gee, must be fun." Max commented.
"Yeah. Very." she answered with less enthusiasm.
From the corner of his eye, Kai studied her, noticing her uneasiness.
Ray noticed it too. "Jade, -."
Fortunately for her, the waiter came back with their drinks and starters. The moment he placed the food on the table, Tyson dove for it. He grabbed the crispy sausage from a plate and shoved it into his mouth, chomping hungrily on it before anybody could stop him.
A moment later, Tyson's face turned red and steam sprouted from his ears and nose. He started to sweat. "Hot!" he yelled. "Water! I need water!"
"I wouldn't have done that if I were you." Jade said dryly.
"Now you tell me!" Tyson gasped, dunking down a whole jug of water on the table.
Kenny poked curiously at the food Tyson had taken. "What's this?"
"It's crispy chili." Dizzi answered. "Fried to perfect crispiness that almost melts in your mouth. That's if you can take the spiciness first. It's one of Thailand's specialties."
Ray took a bite, munching thoughtfully and a grin appeared across his face. "It's taste great. I should get the recipe for this. Maybe then Tyson will stop eating so much."
Tyson groaned, still steaming. "I need water!"
An hour later, the whole team watched Tyson help himself with a fifth plate of Thailand delights.
"You'll get use to him." Ray informed her.
She only nodded, trying to act as if she didn't know the boy gobbling up the remaining food on the table.
The waiter came back with the bill. In Thai, Jade told him to put it to Mr. Dickenson's account.
"Mr. Dickenson's gonna have a heart-attack when he sees the bill." she muttered.
"He's used to this too." Max told her off-handedly.
"I hope so." she murmured as the team exited the restaurant.
Tyson swallowed his last bit of fried shrimp and hurried after them. "Hey, guys! Wait up!" he paused, glancing left and right at the streets of Bangkok. "Now what?"
"I heard Bangkok has some pretty cool places." Ray said.
"I bet they have some Beybladers here too!" Tyson exclaimed.
"Slow down, Captain Courageous." Kai drawled. "We have to train for the tournament. I'm not about to loose our team's reputation because of you."
"Hey!" Tyson glared at him. "There's no way we can loose the tournament. We're the best there is!"
Jade raised an eyebrow. "Says you."
Now Tyson turned to glared at her. "What's that suppose to mean?"
She sighed, not in the mood to start arguing with him. "Look, if you want Thai Beybladers, you can find them downtown. Good luck."
"Aren't you coming with us?" Kenny asked.
"Nah." she replied. "Not interested." she turned, waving a hand at them. "I'll see you back to the house."
Tyson stuck his tongue out at her. "What's her problem?"
"Chill out, Tyson." Max said. "Can't keep those Beybladers waiting."
"I guess you're right." Tyson admitted.
The team started heading in the direction Jade pointed them to. Ray paused looking back. "Kai, are you coming?"
All he received was a grunt. "No."
Ray sighed. "Thought so. I'll see you back at the mansion."
Kai nodded. Then he headed in the direction Jade had gone.
