Is it 2022 yet?

Thank you once again for the reviews! You guys are the best!


"Two days…" She carefully touched and moved her wrist around as she walked through the sidewalk. A sharp twinge responded, denying her permission to use the laptop, the whiteboard, do housework or anything else that required steadiness from her main hand. Hence, after some time bickering in vain with the medical certificate, she decided to go to town. It was a good opportunity to admire the Christmas decorations scattered around Bey City in the form of flashing lights and multicolored orbs. She whined to herself nonetheless. "Even housework is painful at the moment. What am I supposed to do in two whole days? I can't believe they are going to decorate the headquarters without me..."

"Mary! Up here!" An aged voice called her from above.

"Oh, I can even hear my angel talking to me right now," she touched her chest with both hands and closed her eyes solemnly. "Yes, o' angel of mine, I shall humbly receive your counsel."

It came in the form of a paper ball hurled straight at her forehead.

"Snap out of it already lass!"

"Ouch!" Mary looked up to finally find the old smiling lady leaning over the balcony railing two floors above her. "Mrs. Makino! Good evening."

"Good evening, dear. Are you by any chance going to the library?" The girl dressed for the cold night nodded positively and the lady dropped a small bag tied to a piece of paper for her to catch. "Could you bring me these magazines, please? Here're the names and the money you will need."

"Isn't it too much, ma'am?" she asked after verifying the bag's content.

"Yes. I've added an extra for you to buy yourself a Christmas gift."

"Thank you… I really appreciate it." She smiled shyly, feeling her heart warm. "Let me write down your phone number just in case."

The healthy hand plunged deep inside the purse, patiently searching for the phone, when it suddenly touched an unexpected and yet familiar texture. She shivered under the bad feeling. Against her own heart's advice, she slowly pulled the object outside, time suddenly stopping when her eyes met the small and shining metal card lying between her fingers.

The sparkling and beautiful night suddenly became gray. That card…

"Congratulations. Your project has been selected with a record grade in our university.
You will receive financial support from now on and you are eligible to compete for a seat on the mid-year exams."

Her old access card to the university's laboratory.

"I'm so proud of you, Mary.
Together, we are going to revolutionize the Beyblade industry."

Veins turned into stone and blood into sand as the mature female voice spread like a poison cloud through her mind, touching old feelings buried deep inside her heart, stirring silenced memories, resurrecting scars.

"Mary?" A curious Mrs. Makino called after some time gazing at the motionless and emotionless girl.

"My apologies," she snapped out of it and proceeded to swap the card for the phone. But the brightness in the light green eyes was no more. "Your number?"

And the gentle stroll through the city, which initially promised fun and beauty, music and a path cleared by the colorful lights produced by the Christmas decorations spread over the trees, poles and buildings, became a gray, silent and automatic walk. The aloof gaze followed the ground as her body performed a journey in auto-pilot to the city's library, where eventually a sound penetrated her ears. Wearing an opaque mask of politeness, she talked to the employees, checked out the catalogue, climbed the bookshelves in search of the books and magazines, bought them and some time later the street sidewalk was again beneath her feet. A cold breeze caressed her cheek and attracted her gaze to the side, spotting street performers at the other side of the crowded avenue. A subtle smile intended to surface.

Until a solemn, familiar and unwelcome voice sprouted from the public television broadcasting an interview.

"Tell us, Dr. Albrey. Your team of researchers seems to be making some very interesting discoveries about bit-beasts. Regarding your methodology and results, what can you share with the public?"

Mary stared at the large screen with the corner of her eyes.

"Nothing much, really. All I can say is that I'm very proud of these hard working students and that you might receive news from them soon."

The image of the blonde woman in her forties wearing a white coat reflected in the glowing green iris behind the glasses like a witch slowly burning at the stake.

"And how is the team coping with the loss of its most prominent member?"

Like a taint, a poison impossible to cleanse.

"We are doing fine. Unfortunately, we don't have control over everything that happens around us. But we've adapted well and everyone is giving their best."

The hand clasped tightly, oblivious to the pain swallowing the wrist. The fingers pressed violently against the palm, to the point that the fist trembled and nails pierced the skin. A thin string of red blood slipped out. An irrational fever numbed the girl's thoughts.

Then something small and extremely nimble suddenly hit the screen, distorting the image, cancelling the audio and immediately setting the pole on fire. A commotion started when the startled crowd hurried away from the street, sensing a fire, an explosion or an accident. Mary flinched, confused for a second with the mess until her eyes caught the image of the gray-haired boy with blue markings in his face emerging amidst the stirred crowd. The small purple object jumped from the ground obediently into his hand.

"Kai! What did you do?!"

"Saved people from an extremely boring program," he hissed with a low voice whose cold tone would turn into ice the fiercest of the conflagrations. "Follow me."

He walked past the girl and she followed him mindfully into a dark alley between two buildings, a supposedly safe place to stay until the frightened crowd has dispersed. However, as soon as they stepped into the darkness, she gasped as she felt her back rammed against the wall without warning. The bag and purse escaped her fingers by accident and books and personal objects spread on the floor around them. Trapped between the cold surface and the boy's stiff body, she widened her eyes and blushed violently, surprised by the fierce look in the purple eyes shining like fire between gray bangs.

"Give it," he demanded bluntly. Upon receiving no answer, he made himself clearer. "Give it, or I'll search for it myself."

Meaning he wouldn't hesitate to be forceful or disrespectful, which explained the need of a private place. A trap. She hesitated, knowing what he was referring to, but the words failing to leave her lips. Then, true to his word, the merciless hand invaded her clothes without any pudency and went for the pocket behind her hip, ignoring her entire body cowering in fear and embarrassment. Her heart raced and her face burned. She couldn't possibly put up a fight. Hence the metallic access card finally appeared between her fingers, trembling along with her hand in front of the boy's stern face.

"You are not that person anymore. Let it go," he grabbed that small piece of poisonous memory from her hand and shattered it between his own fingers before tossing the shining pieces at the end of the alley.

"They are trying to rise using my research," a somber glare and unexpectedly icy voice surprised the blader.

"They are pathetic, Mary!" He silenced her with his own loud decree. "Just forget about them before it destroys you for good."

Yielding, the smoldering anger in Mary's expression slowly subdued. She closed her eyes and covered her face with her hand for some time, as if holding her own mind in place. As if keeping it together. Kai stared at her intently, for a brief moment fearing the worst. But when she lowered the hand again, only a sorrowful and rosy blushing face remained behind the glasses.

"You... are very ruthless sometimes," she muttered, gazing sadly at the ground.

"Get used to it." He answered with plain indifference as he finally created some space between them. But eventually the silence and lack of reactions coming from the girl still leaning against the wall like a cornered and overthrown animal softened his demeanor. He picked up the bag of books that she dropped on the floor during the altercation and returned it to her while complementing his words. "It's necessary now and then."

"Necessary…" The word found its way softly into her mind, like an idea, an epiphany. She processed it for a second. "I guess you are right..."

"Let's stay put for a moment and be reasonable," sitting down with his legs and arms crossed and his eyes closed in profound reasoning, Tyson evaluated the circumstances around him. "Yep, we are going to die."

"Shut up Tyson! I'm too young and beautiful to die in a dark and smelly place like this," Hilary barked.

The brunette stood up as slowly as the injured ankle allowed and approached the metal bars surrounding them. She touched them, feeling the texture, testing their resistance, and then gave a wide look around. They were inside a large and well lighted underground room accompanied by a handful of computer terminals at the walls, no signs of others or an immediate threat. Since the cage automatically fell upon the group when they slipped through the tunnel and landed flat on the ground below, and it held no doors or visible locks, it was only obvious that that small prison was controlled by an external mechanism. Sadly, not even the power of the Dragoon and Strata Dragoon combined could scratch or budge the bars.

"Now, there must be a button or a switch here somewhere that controls this thing…" she thought loud to herself.

They heard a faint snarl and the sound of bones cracking. They followed the sound to find Daichi forcing himself against the bars, somehow squeezing his small body through the gap in the metal and conquering freedom.

"Yo, I'm free!" He smiled victoriously.

"Nice work Daichi!" The team congratulated him and a more optimistic Kenny quickly went to the bars to guide his friend. "Now, go to the panels! The controllers for this cage are probably in there."

"Okay." The redhead approached the terminals by the walls. He crossed his arms, confused at that handful of lights, buttons and shining screens with tiny little letters filling his field of view. "Huh, surely there are a lot of buttons here… What do I do now Chief?"

"Search for a button with a label or an icon in it," the scientist suggested.

"Okay, it must be this one."

Daichi smashed an specific button. The floor beneath the cage started to slowly open, revealing another dark abyss below.

"Daichi! You moron! Press it again!" Tyson screamed while clinging like a monkey to the bars.

Daichi quickly pressed the same button and the floor closed again. They sighed in deep relief.

"I don't get it," he mumbled while crossing his arms, the gears in his tiny little mind working. Then he tried another button because it had quite a pretty blue glow. "This is the right one, I'm sure of it!"

A hidden door suddenly opened at the cage's ceiling and a thick pink smoke descended upon the trapped group. Caught by surprise, they tried to protect their noses and mouths, but it made its way into their bodies and lungs nonetheless.

"Hey guys, are you all okay? What happened?" Tyson managed to ask between coughs, waving his arms hardly in order to clear the smoke.

"I don't know… I don't feel any difference," a confused Hilary stated while touching her own body and taking a deep breath a couple of times.

"I feel fine too," Kenny confirmed after also checking on himself.

"Daichi! You moron! Stop messing xaxaxaxa-" A surprised Tyson covered his own mouth abruptly.

"...Tyson?" Hilary raised one eyebrow.

"Are you alright Tyson? glugluglu-" A startled Kenny also covered his own mouth.

"Chief?!"

"Pff! You sound like a strangled turkey!" Daichi laughed at them from the panels.

"That's not funny!" Hilary yelled at the profoundly amused redhead. "What the hell happened? This kekekeke-"

"Hilary!"

"Oh my god, this must xaxaxaxa-" Tyson punched the bars.

"Come again, Tyson? Hahaha!" Daichi was already round like a ball from rolling on the floor laughing.

"...this must be hell!" He managed to finish the sentence, enraged.

"Okay, so… That smoke…" Kenny began to speak slowly and softly, which apparently had a successful effect in keeping his voice straight. "It has probably affected… our vocal cords… somehow."

"Oh no…" Hilary whined worriedly, also speaking as tenderly as a fairy. "Will we be… forever like this?"

"Let's worry about it… later." The researcher turned back to the red-haired boy struggling to catch his breath at the control panels. "Daichi… Please, try that green lever… at the wall."

"You mean this one?" The small monkey managed to pull himself together, went to said lever and carefully lowered it. "Here goes nothing."

The cage creaked and finally began to rise. The team sighed in relief and quickly left the prison's grounds as soon as possible, catching up to the boy.

"You…!" Tyson furiously shook Daichi by his collar while snarling like a ferocious bear.

"Ow ow ow! Let go, you poppyface! I was only trying to help, okay?!"

"Come on guys… Don't fight…" Hilary tried to pacify things, but since Daichi suddenly laughed at her godly sweet soft voice, she joined Tyson at the suffocation ritual and they were about to hang him.

"Enough!" Kenny shouted and suddenly there was silence and order. "We must focus… on the mission. Let's… find the hacker and… get the hell out… of here."

"Roger…" they whispered in unison obediently.

Judging by the quietness and absence of any form of life inside that mysterious place, it was safe to assume that whoever inhabited the shaft didn't realize the intrusion. Tyson led the fearsome journey through the dark, cold and long corridors, shielding the girl right at his back and the two smaller boys behind from any threat that could suddenly jump at their faces. But aside from spiders and the sound of their own footsteps added to those of some machinery running at some distant place, they seemed to be completely alone.

"Where are we…?" Hilary whispered only to receive a synchronized shake of heads as answer. They were lost.

"Hey… That door!" Kenny pointed at the large double door that suddenly appeared as soon as they turned a corner.

Light poured from beneath it and the green panel at its side revealed that it was unlocked. They heard a strange and childish female cackle resound beyond it. They proceeded to spy through the small gap and found the small short-haired lass sitting at a large computer terminal with her back conveniently turned to the door. They looked at each other, evaluating their choices. Whatever was beyond that door could pose a great danger to the group, or even another trap. But of course, Tyson soon lost his patience and proceeded to ram the door with his own shoulder and weight.

"Found you, little nosy twerp!" The navy blue haired dragon roared as he dove on the girl like a crushing avalanche.

"Gah! How did you enter this hideout?!" She freaked out, fighting lunatically to free herself from the heavyweight pinning her down on the floor.

"It wasn't easy to find you, but you are not the only computer expert in this city, you know," Daichi smirked and crossed his arms, taking the lead on the conversation, knowing that he was the only one capable of talking properly at that moment. "Now, spill the beans! Why did you steal data from BBA?"

"I'm never telling you!"

"Really?" Tyson grinned with all the sadism he managed to muster. "Then we're gonna flaflafla"

"What was that?" The hacker smirked back, immediately recognizing the source of the flawed speech.

"... report you to Mr. Dickenson!" Hilary finished the sentence for him.

"No! Please! You have no idea what it cost me to enter this tournament!"

"Then start talking!" The brunette kept at it. "And do xaxaxaxa"

"Pff!" Efi lost it.

"Enough! What did you do to my friends? Why are they talking like retards?" Daichi inquired.

"Hah! That's my ultra-super-relaxing-quiet-down gas." She explained with an air of superiority. "It limits the speech of a human being up to a maximum of five words within a ten seconds time frame. After that, you start babbling like a moron."

"Why the hell did you HEHEHE-" Hilary covered her own mouth and waited for ten seconds before finishing the rant. "...make something stupid as that?!"

"It was first intended to be a silencing gas, but oh well, I messed up with some ingredients and that is what came out. I'm a hacker, not a chemist. It's funny at the very least."

"Give us the antidote!"

"Nope." Tyson shook the tiny female body for three seconds straight and she quickly changed her mind. "Okay, okay! There's a box inside the second drawer…"

Following the instructions, Daichi retrieved a colorful heart shaped vanilla cookie box from inside the drawer and looked at the villain in disbelief.

"What?" She raised an eyebrow. "That's the antidote! You better eat it or you'll be quacking like that for a week."

"It might be a trap…" Tyson made an effort to express his concern with five words only.

"I'll do it." And before the team could stop him or even complain, Kenny swiftly grabbed a cookie from the box and ate it. Time seemed to stop as the boys and girl stared at their precious scientist intently as if he would turn into some kind of aberration. "Testing. One, two, three, four, five, six… It works!"

"Hihehaha, now you guys just fell for my power-blast-upper-dupper happy pills." Tyson shook her again. "...I'm just kidding…"

They tied the child down with some Ethernet cable, and seconds later that seemed to be quite a disproportionate measure of precaution as her poor height and strength didn't allow her to even kick a shin properly. Tyson sighed and untied the little devilspawn.

"Alright, start talking," the dragon commanded.

"The name is Efi…"

"We know that much," he interrupted her.

"Ahem. As I was saying, I am Efi, the biggest information technology prodigy this world has ever seen." She stopped her inspired speech at the sight of the redhead eating the cookies one after another like popcorn. "Stop eating the antidote!"

"Cut out the self flattery and tell us already. Why did you steal the data? What do you intend to do with it? Are you trying to use it to cheat on the matches or harm BBA by any means?" Tyson inquired fiercely.

"I'm afraid you are asking the wrong person." The sincere explanation caught them by surprise and a sober silence suddenly filled the control room. Efi sat on her chair like a doll, her tiny hands resting quietly on her knees. "I wasn't the one interested in the theft. I was simply hired to do the job. And since the reward was amazingly good and I was curious about the information myself, I accepted it."

"Who hired you?" Dragoon's guardian asked.

"I don't know." She shrugged. "All I know is that it's a male and a very wealthy one. I was contacted by an agent of his who also presented himself with an obviously fake name. What was that again? Sigma…? Anyway, this guy carried out all the negotiations. He received the disk containing the data and paid me all at once in cash. So, as you can see, I never met the actual man behind us."

"So you don't have any clues about who ordered the job, nor what he intends to do with the information…"

"Nope. And it's better that way. You see, data theft is an expensive job. People who order it are usually dangerous and resourceful. Entrepreneurs, politicians, militaries… They frequently do that in order to disrupt concurrents and opponents. The less you know about them, the safer you are. The simple fact that he actually found me and knew about my skills already tells much about his influence and capabilities."

Tyson crossed his arms, staring at the ground in deep thought for a moment as the team behind him looked at each other in search of some insight.

"What kind of data exactly did the man order you to steal?" Kenny asked.

"Basically everything I could find on the bit-beasts registered in the database. Name, form, stats, probable source, strengths and weaknesses, estimated active time... Everything." Then her features dulled, and her surprisingly serious eyes met Tyson's. "However, he did ask me for extra effort regarding your and Kai's information. In addition to your bladers, I also looked up your personal and even physical data. Height, weight, nationality, blood type, how long do you two usually put up with being in battle... A lot of things."

"If you by any chance are lying to us…" Tyson threatened.

"I never lie," she pouted.

"Good," Hilary's scary silhouette suddenly grew at the girl, a ghastly and sadistic smile widely curving her lips. "Because right now, we are your best friends."

"W-w-what? What do you mean?"

"I mean that, from now on, you work for us."

"In your dreams!"

"Really? Well, that's bad…" The brunette slowly removed her phone from her pocket like a gun. She turned the screen to the villain, showing the red recording symbol blinking on it. "Mr Dickenson will be so disappointed when he learns that he has been bitterly betrayed by one of his new favorite beybladers~"

"No! Please! I will do anything you want," Efi panicked and cried, finally defeated.

"Then it's settled." A most sweet, innocent and kind smile emerged in Hilary's now angelic features, which frightened the hacker more than her demonic ones. She brought her index finger closer to the girl, who flinched as if staring at a sharp weapon. "So this is what you're gonna do. You are going to search for every little piece of information regarding the man who ordered the data theft. His identity, his movements, his pretensions, his relationship with Beyblade, even his favorite color. You are also going to find out who really is the man who carried out the negotiations. And then you are going to report this information right back at us right on a daily basis. You are going to be our eyes and ears, and make sure that you excel at that without being caught. Got it, bestie?"

"No way, it's too dangerous!"

"Oh, poor Mr. Dickenson…"

"I'll do it."

"You are so easy to talk to!" The lass grinned and then turned on her heels to make her leave. "Very well Efi, we will be… eagerly… waiting for news. Have a good and productive night! Let's go, boys."

"So nefarious…" An impressed dragon, monkey and scientist muttered between themselves before obediently following the girl home, the one who had been quite efficient in finding them the best of the informants.

The night had slowly regained its colors, lights and music. Surrounded by laughter and families at leisure, feeling her mind once again as light as a feather, Mary turned a discreet and loving gaze to the boy who always succeeded somehow in driving away her fearest demons. Kai walked quietly beside her, silent as a shadow, aware as a falcon, the serious amethyst eyes always pointed straight ahead and shielding the thoughts and feelings dwelling inside his soul. Sometimes, his unpredictability and insensitivity scared her deeply. Most of them, she felt safe whenever he was simply close.

"I know he's only keeping a close eye on me, but…" she rested her hand on her cheek, failing to hide the blush. "...it looks like a date."

Sensing some oddness in the air, Dranzer's guardian moved his eyes to its probable source, finding the girl blushing, chuckling and seemingly daydreaming. Oblivious to whatever strange process was running inside that complex head, certainly it didn't involve the past nor the wicked woman at the television anymore. Hence, the scowl slowly faded from his face. She was safe, for now.

"I got to go." He muttered and stopped walking, and she did the same. He intended to leave her so he could take care of other business and so she could enjoy what was left of her night. But before long, he felt the discreet touch of a tiny hand in his forearm.

"Excuse me, you are… You are Kai, right?" The gray haired blader stared at the child with the low corner of his eyes, watching him immediately blush and lower his gaze to the ground as if overpowered by some invisible force. Two more boys and one girl accompanied him, although keeping their distance, failing to hide themselves behind a Santa's sculpture nearby. "I was wondering if… ah… huh… maybe you are willing to… you see…" Kai crossed his arms, having already deciphered what the child wanted to ask, but letting him finish the question nonetheless. "...maybe you could battle us?"

Deep down, he would rather not. At that point in his life there were no advantages whatsoever for him in dueling untrained, inexperienced children. Unlike Tyson, he didn't enjoy the fame nor spending time with the fans that his arduous - and, sometimes, questionable - journey to the first rank have indirectly brought him. Those were hardly the reasons he always strived to be the best. On top of that, his intuition was asking him to check on Tyson and the rest of his team mates.

However, for some unknown reason, surrounded by the somewhat pleasing melody resounding from the speakers, big and hopeful children's eyes and Mary's smile, he felt soft.

He closed his eyes and lowered his face, an almost invisible smile hidden between the gray bangs.

"Well… I guess it's Christmas."

They went to one of the dishes installed on banks of the river, at that moment deserted due to the late time and the cold that was beginning to spread like a transparent curtain over Bey City.

For Kai, no real challenge was expected, so he just stayed sitting at the grass, one elbow resting on top of his high knee, his lips occupied with a leaf and his eyes focused on the four silver beyblades combining their strength, surrounding and hopelessly trying to budge Dranzer at the center of the dish. The simple task of removing that amethyst blade from its place seemed to inspire greatly the children, who sincerely seemed to enjoy the moment.

Sitting at the bench some steps away, Mary dedicated some brief seconds to check the purchases and make sure that no item was missing from her old neighbor's list. After removing some titles from the bag, she then suddenly found it - a specific sealed hardcover book lying stealthily among the others, one that she was sure she didn't buy. No wrapping, no card, no decoration whatsoever denounced it's nature as a gift. Nothing but a single and tiny red ribbon at its corner, probably glued in there by the seller herself when she had the sensibility of noticing the item's destiny. Mary touched the book, feeling its cover for a moment before raising her eyes towards the gray-haired blader still occupied at the dish. She blushed, feeling her heart warm and blissful. She kept her silence now and onwards, knowing that no thanks were needed or even wanted.

Kai, in turn, kept his eyes closed for a moment, trying not to let his thoughts fly elsewhere due to the growing boredom. He felt a combined attack push Dranzer one inch behind and answered in kind, delivering a single thump that sent the opposing beyblades flying towards the corners of the dish, not enough to knock them from the battle though. Then a phone ring attracted his gaze to Mary's direction, finding the girl still at the bench, managing her phone. She suddenly gave a wide smile and he frowned. He could easily read the word dancing in her lips. Elijah.

Dranzer faltered.

"Now!" The four beyblades gathered together for one final attack, which successfully punched Dranzer out of the dish. Kai narrowed one eye, watching the blade land on the grass by his side, the bitter result of his moment of distraction. "Hooray! We did it! We defeated Kai!" They celebrated, of course.

He gave a subtle smirk, retrieved Dranzer and swung his body back to standing. The overjoyed boy approached him to thank for the battle and, finding no reasons to ignore the child who just remembered him of his most valuable lesson, Dranzer's wielder sunk his hand on the boy's hair before turning around and leaving the siblings celebrating their unexpected victory at the dish.

"It's late, let's go." He said grumpily as he climbed the ramp back to the high ground and passed by Mary.

"Feeling extra generous today?" She chuckled after receiving no answer and finally left the bench to follow him. "Wait for me!"


Next chapter we will probably flaflafla