Chapter 12
It was snowing that day. Not heavy just light drops of snow flakes falling from cloud skies. The day earlier his grandfather had paid the abbey a surprise visit. Not really surprising to young Kai. The reason of the visit was clear as he stood in front of his grandfather with his arms behind his back with military discipline as his grandfather questioned him on his training progress. In the middle of it, he heard a car pull up to the abbey gates and turned his attention to the window over looking the front of the abbey. His lack of attention drew Voltaire's as well and the older man stood from his seat to stand behind his six year old grandson staring out the window.
Outside, a black limousine had pulled up and Boris was getting out of the back passenger seat.
A grin spread across Voltaire's face. "Ah, they are there."
Kai frowned. They?
The answer soon became clear as they watched on. After Boris, a young girl no younger or older than Kai's age emerged from the car. She was a pretty little thing with long dark hair but it was her eyes that caught Kai's attention. Unlike the other children he had seen in the abbey, her wide green eyes were filled with childlike innocent as she gazed u[p at the abbey in awe. There was something about that little girl that seems...different.
"Isn't she perfect, Kai?" Voltaire said. "A little thing with great potential to do great things."
Kai's frown grew deeper as he stared at the girl. "But grandfather, the abbey has never taken in any girl bladers. Why her? She seems like any normal person. What's so great about her?"
Voltaire chuckled at his grandson's naïve questions. "Kai, haven't I taught you to never judge a book by its appearance?"
"Yes, grandfather."
"They say big surprises come in little things." the mastermind of BioVolt said. "We shall soon see what big surprises she brings."
A sense of disgust rolled through Kai's stomach even though he only understood partly what his grandfather meant. But what could he do?
That moment Boris led her into the abbey and she followed taking her first step to a Hell-on- earth.
His eyes flew opened and he sat up in his bed gasping softly. In a daze, Kai blinked in confusion as he gazed around the room he shared with the others including Jade.
Just yesterday they had flown into Florence, Italy where the next part of the tournament was to be held. Mr. Dickenson got them a countryside chalet, the opposite of the villa they stayed at while they were in Bangkok. The chalet came with only one big bedroom, a bathroom and a living room with the kitchen attached to it. The living room also came with a fireplace. And since there was only one bedroom, they had no choice but to share. Kai had taken the bed closest to the window. On his left was Ray, Max, Kenny and Tyson; all in order. Jade slept in the bed closest to the door.
And speaking of Jade, he looked over at her bed to find it empty and neatly made.
Nice to know I'm not the only early bird in the team now, he thought warily.
With a soft sigh, he touched his forehead, trying to remember. His mind was a blank. He couldn't remember the dream he just had, only certain parts. Parts like when he stood with his grandfather, watching as Boris emerged from a black car. Other from that, everything else became a blank.
It felt so real...like I've been there...but...I can't remember...
He sighed softly and silently headed for the door. The moment he opened the door, the smell of freshly cooked bacon and eggs drifted in, drawing everyone else in the doom, awake including Tyson.
"Is that food I smell?" Max mumbled rubbing his eyes.
"Smells good." Ray commented taking a whiff.
Tyson leapt out of bed and sprinted for the kitchen. Kai calmly stepped out the food-maddened boy's way as Tyson dashed out the door, screaming aloud. "FOOD! GIMME! GIMME!"
For a few seconds, they could hear Tyson stuffing his face with food then there was a moment of silence before....
"Arghhhhhhhhhhh! HOT! TOO HOT!" Tyson yelled.
Looking at each other, the Bladebreakers hurried into the kitchen to see Jade smirking at a streaming red faced Tyson running up and down the room, crying out for water. A plate of half eaten bacon with red sauce on it was on the table abandoned.
"I tried to warn you that was chili not tomato but no....." Jade said. "You wouldn't listen to me. Next time try reading the label first."
"Give me a break and give me some water please?" Tyson pleaded, panting.
Kai rolling his eyes filled a bucket with water and splashed the water all over Tyson when he wasn't looking.
"HEY!" Tyson sputtered, turning to glare at the bluenette.
"There. Better?" Kai smirked sarcastically, putting the bucket down.
Max, Ray and Kenny were on the floor laughing their heads off at the sight of a dripping wet Tyson.
Fifteen minutes later after Tyson disappeared into the bathroom to dry up, he reemerged and joined the team at the table, this time careful to read the label on the bottle before pouring it onto his bacon.
"Jade, this stuff is great!" Kenny said munching on his bacon.
"Everyone agree that Jade makes our breakfast from now on?" Tyson asked raising a hand.
"I absolutely agree!" Max said happily.
"Plus lunch, tea, dinner...." Tyson stopped when Jade glared at him.
"I'm not your slave." she said.
Kai rosed from the table. "Hurry up. We're going to train." he said.
"The Great One speaks." Jade sighed as she too got up to clear the table. "Enjoy yourselves, boys."
Kai turned to glare at her. He stared into her green eyes, forcing himself not to cringe to the familiarity of them. Something kept nagging his mind like an irritating bug. "And that includes you too, Jade."
She glared at him. "Unfair. I made breakfast."
"So?" he shot back. "You wanna win this? The competition isn't going to be easy as you like to think. You're still part of this team whether you like it or not."
"You should listen yourself talk." she retorted.
"I don't have to. I have you to listen to."
"Hey. At least I'm not High and Royalty of Ice like you." she snapped.
"Proud of it. At least I'm not a Drama Queen like you." Kai replied.
"What that suppose to mean?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were dumb too."
The other watched them bicker with amusement.
"At least Kai has someone new to fight with." Max said swallowing a laugh.
"Hey, he is talking more than usual." Tyson exclaimed. "Is that good or bad?"
Ray grinned. "In Kai's case, I think that's good thing."
"I don't have time for this." their captain declared turning on his heel to head for the door. "I expect to see all of you outside in five minutes."
Jade considered that a momentarily victory. For the last few days, she and Kai had been at each others throats. And most of the time he won. Today's win was unexpected. She smiled to herself. The score for today: Jade one, Kai zero.
She looked at the other boys still sitting at the table with a sly look.
Max, Kenny and Ray recognized the look and wisely decided to leave. Only Tyson remained.
"Tyson, how 'bout giving me a hand here?" she asked casually.
He moaned, knowing now why the others left. "I have sensitive hands...."
"What's that?" she feigned deafness, cupping her hand over her ear. "No lunch?"
"On second thought, let me give you a hand." Tyson offered forcefully. "Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself...somehow...."
She smiled satisfied. "That's more like it."
Kai looked up from Dranzer spinning in the dish as Jade came out of the chalet approaching them barely five minutes later.
"Where's Tyson?" he asked, calling back his blade.
She smiled and tilted her head back at the chalet. "He insisted on doing the dishes."
From where they stood listening, Max and Ray grinned knowingly. It was about time Tyson did some real work around the team.
"Since when was he so generous?" Kai said with a snort.
Pulling out her launcher and blade, Jade answered. "He decided to change a new leaf."
At that the other burst out laughing. Even Kai had the faintest look of amusement on his face. Jade considered that another win for her part. Jade two, Kai zero.
From there on was training. Almost half an hour later, Tyson stormed out complaining about the amount of dishes he had to wash. It wasn't until Jade reminded him that it was him who eat the most therefore using the most plates, did he shut up.
After two hours of consistent training, going through their paces, a limo pulled up to their chalet. Mr. Dickenson emerged from the car, holding an envelope.
"Well, it's certainly good to see everyone training as a team." he said pleasantly.
"Like we had a choice." Jade muttered.
"Mr. Dickenson, what brings you here?" Kenny asked coming forward.
Mr. Dickenson handed the envelope to Kenny. "I have something for you." he explained as Kenny opened the envelope. Everyone crowded around him wondering what it was about. The Chief pulled out a black glossy card where written in silver ink read: Special Invite to the Bladebreakers to the BBA Gala Nite.
"It's an invitation to our Gala Nite. This year the BBA are having a special formal Nite where all the teams all over the world will get together. All the teams in the Championships are invited and since it's here in Italy, I thought I might give it to you personally in case you have any problems with your attire for the nite."
"That's nice, Mr. Dickenson but don't we have to train for the next match?" Kenny pointed out.
Ray plucked the card from his hands and examined it. "It says here the Nite is two nights from today. The tournament is next week. Shouldn't do any harm. What do you guys think?"
Max grinned. "Count me in! What about you, Tyson?"
"I'm so in!" Tyson declared knowing a big event like this had to have lots of food.
Kenny shrugged. "I suppose it won't hurt."
Tyson turned to Kai. "Well, Kai?"
Kai grunted in disinterest. "Fine. Whatever. But after this, it's serious training from there on."
"Cool." Tyson said off-handedly. He turned to the last member. "And, Jade?"
"I don't usually go for this sort of things." she said quietly.
"Well, you do now." Tyson said cheerily. "You're coming even if we have to drag you there."
Her mind raced for excuses. "But...I don't have anything to wear."
"That's why I'm here." Mr. Dickenson said. "Today we are going into the city to get you kids some proper clothes for the nite."
"Alright!" Max shouted. "Shopping!"
Yippee..., Jade thought as they headed to the limo waiting for them.
"Ah...Florence." Tyson declared. The Bladebreakers stood in the center square of the city where Mr. Dickenson had them dropped off.
"Have fun." he had said. "Just put everything on my tab."
Apparently those were the magic words for Tyson. He fully intended to have fun by shopping for his clothes then spend the rest of the day eating and probably a bit of Beyblading in between.
"I bet the Beybladers here are awesome!" he said seeking out an unsuspecting victim.
"Tyson, we're here to do some shopping not Beyblade." Kenny reminded him.
"So what?" Tyson replied. "I have to get ready for the World Championships!"
"You better not let Kai catch you saying that." Max laughed.
Kai came up from behind. "Too late."
"Kai!" Tyson gasped nearly falling over. "How are you, buddy?"
"I'm holding you to your words, Tyson." Kai said.
Ray grinned. "And we here are the witnesses."
"Where's Jade?" Tyson quickly switched the topic away from him.
Kenny pointed. "She's talking to that guy over there for directions."
Jade came back shortly. "He said there's a cloth shop down the road." she said.
"I had no idea you knew how to speak Italian." Max said.
"I don't. He was speaking in English."
"Oh."
"Don't worry." Kenny said. "We have Dizzi here to translate for us."
"Can we go now?" Tyson asked impatiently. "Those Italian Beybladers aren't going to wait forever, you know."
"Actually, we can. But I don't think you can." a familiar voice said.
They turned. "Enrique!"
The Italian member of the Majestics grinned. "Hey, guys. Been a long time. What you doing here?"
"Getting ready for the World Championships." Tyson answered.
"We're in town to get some clothes for the BBA Nite." Ray explained.
"BBA Gala Nite? Oh, yeah. The Majestics were invited too. Robert thinks it's a waste of time but you know Robert." Enrique beamed. "So you're shopping for clothes. Well, Bladebreakers. It's you're lucky day cause Enrique's here."
"This is great! You can be our tour guide." Max exclaimed.
"I wouldn't say tour guide." Enrique muttered. "Just call me your host for today." he looked around. "Hey, isn't there suppose to be five of you? Where's Kai?"
"Actually there's six of us now." Kenny said.
"Kai? Kai is right behind us..."Tyson stopped realizing the opposite of it. "Why does he always do this to us?"
"He isn't the only one." Ray said warily. "Jade ran off too."
"Whoa, hold it!" Enrique cut in. "Your new teammate is a girl? Is she hot?"
Tyson snorted. "If you mean hot in the mean sort of way, yeah, that's pretty much Jade. That girl lures me out from bed with freshly cook bacon and let's me spike my tongue with super hot Italian chili!"
Enrique bobbed his head in approval. "Not bad. I should congratulate her. When can I meet this fascinating girl?"
"When we find her." Ray said.
"It's impossible to find those two." Tyson complained.
"Well. When we see them, you can introduce me to her." Enrique said stretching his arms over his head. "Right now let me show you the town and its many wonders of high class outfits."
"Are you sure about this, Mr. Dickenson?"
Patiently, the BBA Chairman nodded to the Chinese teen's uncertainty. "Yes, Ray. Remember. You wanted to learn how to dance."
Sighing, Ray tried to copy the foot movements Mr. Dickenson did in the living room of their chalet the next day after breakfast. The others were watching and laughing at him. Jade however had gone to train a bit.
"Hey, Ray. Nice moves." Tyson laughed rolling about on the floor.
"Shut up, Tyson. "Ray snapped. "I don't see you dancing."
Mr. Dickenson stopped thinking thoughtfully. "Hm...this isn't work. Maybe Ray's right. Tyson, come here."
Tyson stopped laughing abruptly, eyes growing wide. "What?"
Max and Kenny weren't helping when they yanked him to his feet and pushed him forward.
"Now hold Ray." Mr. Dickenson instructed.
"WHAT?!" both boys cried out in unison turning red
Max and Kenny exploded into a fit of laughter. Even Kai had a small smile on his usually stoic face.
"No way!" Tyson yelled.
"Now Tyson, you do want to help Ray." Mr. Dickenson said with a bit of a chuckle.
"Don't encourage him, Mr. D." Ray said with a groan. "Really. I'm fine on my own."
He and Tyson were looking red like tomatoes.
"Nonsense." Mr. Dickenson chastised. "Now just follow me."
Jade held out her hand to her Beyblade, calling it back. On its master's command, Draizer flew back into her palm. She pocketed it and strolled back to the chalet from where she kept hearing roars of laughter. She opened the door and stopped, staring at the scene playing out in the living room.
Max and Kenny were on the floor laughing their heads off while Kai was leaning against a wall trying to contain his self. And in the center of the room where the furniture used to be but had been pushed into corners of the chalet, were Tyson and Ray holding each other.
"Ouch. You stepped on my foot."
"No, I didn't. You kicked my shin."
"Hold on! I'm leading, Ray. Right?"
"I thought I was leading."
"This is not working." Mr. Dickenson sighed.
They broke apart quickly.
"What was your first clue?" Tyson retorted, blushing red as his so-called friends were rolling on the floor howling in laughter.
"This is hopeless." Ray said shaking his head.
"But you'll never get it unless you have a partner." Mr. Dickenson told him.
"I'll be his partner."
All heads turned to see Jade standing at the door with an amused look on her face.
"We thought you were training." Kenny said recovering himself.
"Did these two disturb you?" Dizzi asked sympathetically.
"I was." she shrugged strolling to the center of the room. "So do you need me or not?"
"Jade, I didn't know you knew how to dance." Tyson said in surprise as he stepped back to allow her through.
"A little." she admitted. She turned to Ray. "So which dance? Cha-cha? Samba? Jive?"
"A little?" Max echoed her words with doubt.
Confused, Ray looked at Mr. Dickenson. The old man merely nodded thoughtfully. "Try Rumba." he said.
"Okay." Jade took Ray's hand and guided his other hand to her shoulder. "You put your hands here." she instructed.
"Oh, okay." Ray was blushing red from head to toe. Now, he thought, would be a very bad time for Mariah to walk in.
"Now you lead her, Ray." Mr. Dickenson said. "Remember the steps I taught you."
Taking a deep breath, Ray started to lead Jade, moving slowly first then with more confidence. Sub-consciously he looked down at his feet as if to check their movements.
"Don't look down." Jade advised.
"Okay." he twirled her slowly under his arm and as he held her out at full arm length, Ray glanced at Kai but the bluenette looked away, his expression emotionless.
Is he... jealous? Ray wondered.
After a while, Jade pulled away abruptly feeling uncomfortable. "I think you go the hang of it." she said. "Now I shall return you to your original partner."
Max grabbed Tyson and pulled him forward. "Come on, Tyson."
"Hey, cut it out!" Tyson protested. "I don't know how to do all those steps she did! I just found out I'm allergic to dancing!"
"Don't worry. Ray will lead you." Mr. Dickenson said laughing himself.
Reluctantly, both boys held each other in the position Jade had showed them earlier.
"This should be fun to watch." Dizzi said brightly. Her video camera in the laptop was on and was recording the whole thing. "I could watch this over and over again whenever I'm bored."
"Dizzi!" Tyson moaned.
"Ouch! Tyson! Watch where you're putting those feet of yours!" Ray said barely moving his own feet in time to escape Tyson's clumsy feet. "I'm supposed to be leading."
"I can't help it!" Tyson said defensively. "I was born with natural leadership qualities."
Kai scoffed. "As if."
"Nobody asked you, Hiwatari."
"Tyson! Concentrate!" Ray snapped.
Jade tilted her head barely containing a smile. "You guys are funny, you know. Maybe you should star in your own sitcom."
"Ha-ha. Very funny, Jade." Ray deadpanned.
"Look in the bright side." Kenny said. "It can't get any worst than this."
"Hello! Is anybody home?" the familiar voice of Tyson's grandfather called out as the door flew open.
For a long moment he just stared at them in stunned shock, completely speechless.
"I believe it just did." Kai pointed out dryly, breaking the silence.
"HAVEN'T YOU EVER HEARD OF KNOCKING?!" Tyson cried out in embarrassment.
The next few seconds, all that could be heard was Tyson shouting in denial, telling his grandfather it wasn't as it seems and Grandpa Granger yelling back.
