Things should start getting more interesting from here on! Although I'm still not sure where it's going... Ah well, I'll figure something out.
Enjoy!
"Right, Max, Ray, you two ready?" The two boys nodded. It was Ray's first beybattle in over a month, and the familiar contours of Driger felt strange in his hand, his launching stance uncertain. Although that could be because he was still propping himself up with the crutches. Kai had decided that he was going to demonstrate what he had been saying a few days ago to Max, and had ordered Ray to test his theory out, his argument being that Ray didn't need his legs to battle. Tyson and Dragoon didn't have the manoeuvrability for what he was intending, and for some strange reason, Kai was refusing to battle. No one had seen him beyblade since a few days after Ray came out of hospital, which was the subject of much debate between them all. "Three! Two! One!" Tyson called out enthusiastically.
"Let it rip!" Max and Ray cried in unison, pulling their respective ripcords. The two beyblades landed in the dish, Driger wobbling slightly as Ray struggled to find his connection with the tiger again.
"You okay, Ray?" Max asked. Ray nodded, grinning as he found himself slipping back into his old niche. "Kai? What did you want Ray and I to do again?"
"You, stay where you are. Just do everything as you usually would." Kai replied curtly, busy filling Kenny in on what he was planning to do. "Ray, I want you to do what I told you earlier, all right?"
"Got it." Ray bit his lip in concentration. The manoeuvre that Kai wanted him to do was quite complicated, especially as he had just this second remembered how to do simple things like turn. Focusing fiercely, he sent Driger hurtling towards Draciel. At the moment of impact, he used Driger's momentum to shift the beyblade slightly, attacking a completely different point of the green beyblade. Max's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to call out a command, only to close it with a rueful smile as Draciel landed by his feet.
"I see what you mean." he laughed. Kai nodded briskly.
"I'm always right." he said with a faint smirk. "Now then, Max, as you can now see, your defence needs some serious work." He smirked again, nastily. "Maybe you can practice with Tyson."
"Hey! My defence does not need... okay, maybe it does." Tyson said reluctantly, scowling at the captain. Kai turned to Ray, who couldn't help but blush ever so slightly at the teasing look in Kai's deep ruby eyes.
"And I thought that you said you couldn't remember how to blade, Ray?" Ray looked away, desperately fighting to keep his face a vaguely normal colour. "Okay, Tyson, Ray, you two battle next." With a triumphant yell, Tyson jumped up to the dish, readying Dragoon for launch.
"At last!" he exclaimed. "Ray, you're going down!"
"Quite possibly." Ray agreed dryly, ignoring the increasing ache in his legs as he raised Driger to chest-height. "But I'll do my best." Max, acting as referee, stepped up to the dish and raised his arm.
"All right, guys! When you're ready... And three! Two! One!"
"Let it rip!" The sound of clashing metal on metal echoed throughout the room, joined by Kenny's cries of advice and encouragement. With a brief smile at their antics, Kai slipped outside the training room on the hotel ground floor, walking slowly along the path.
The cold wind bit into his unprotected skin, but he barely noticed it. He was an Abbey student through and through in that respect. Amongst others. He leaned against the hotel wall, noticing out of the corner of his eye a dent in the wall, the bricks jagged and scored with deep lines. Pushing the unwanted explanation out of his mind, he pulled Dranzer out of his left-hand pocket. The royal blue beyblade sat awkwardly in his palm, not a glimmer to suggest that Dranzer was aware of his master's presence.
"Dranzer?" His voice was unsure, nervous, and prompted no response from the magnificent bird trapped inside.
Seeing the other's blade had only reminded him of how little contact he had had with his own bit-beast recently. Dranzer's unresponsiveness gave him a strange hollow feeling in his stomach, but sparked off a long-dormant, almost childish stubbornness to keep on doing the wrong thing.
Kai? Slowly, Kai reached into his right-hand pocket and drew out the jet-black blade, staring at it as if transfixed.
"You tried to rape me." he whispered.
You lost control. Phoenix told him scathingly. It's your own fault. You're too weak to use me. Rage came to life inside him and he tightened his grip on the beyblade. Dranzer had slipped out of his hand at some point, and was lying on the concrete.
"I can control you."
No, you can't. You're weak. Pathetic. With a surge of anger, he slammed the blade into his launcher and launched it. He wasn't pathetic! He was the strongest beyblader around! If the order of battle had been different, he would be World Champion now, not Tyson! Him! I'm invincible, bitch! In-fucking-vincible!
"I am not pathetic!" he shouted wildly. Fury made a tight knot in his throat, created a pounding in his head. "I'm not! Black Dranzer, go!" The malignant spirit rose gracefully, glowing with a dark, feral beauty. Kai experienced a quick jolt of relief at the sight of Black Dranzer. He couldn't handle Phoenix with any degree of skill at the moment. He knew that they were one and the same, but he felt far more at ease with the beast form. "I'm more than strong enough to use you!" he yelled, sending a mental order to the bit-beast.
Of course, Kai. Black Dranzer said patronisingly. She let out a banshee shriek of glee and soared in a full circle before returning to the task that Kai had set her. Destroy anything that won't cause a stir. After annihilating the metal fence that ran along the pathway, she landed in front of Kai, staring directly at him. Gradually, the red mist began to seep from her body again, coiling around Kai teasingly. You really think you're strong enough to have me as your bit-beast?
"Cocky, aren't you?" he replied coolly, bathing his hand in the cool, clinging mist and watching it idly. Anger was wiping out what little common sense he still had, replacing it with something that he liked a whole lot better.
Panting, Ray commanded Driger to stop spinning.
At last! a faint voice sounded from nowhere. Ray frowned, then shrugged, dismissing it. The shredded tendons in his legs were screaming at him, his head spinning, pounding. Tyson rushed forwards and caught him as he fell, grabbing him round the waist and lowering him carefully to the floor.
"Ray, pal, you okay?" he demanded, staring worriedly at him. Ray gazed blurrily up at the hot-headed younger boy and smiled weakly.
"I'm ...okay, Tyson." he mumbled. "Probably should've stopped a while ago, though..."
"Yes, you should have!" Kenny snapped, concern for his friend making him irritable.
"Oh, leave him alone, Chief!" Max said lightly, punching Kenny gently on the shoulder. He leaned over and grinned cheerfully at Ray. "You're knackered, bud!" he pronounced. Ray tried to grimace, but it came out as more of a spasmodic twitch.
"Yeah, I know." he said faintly.
"Well, go to bed then!" Max said easily. Ray glared at him with what little energy that he could summon for annoyance. The blond relented and grinned again, putting his hands underneath Ray's arms. "Okay, I get the point. Tyson? Lend me a hand here?" With a nod, Tyson bent down and helped Max haul Ray upright.
"C'mon, bud. Let's get you into bed." Oh, joy! Ray complained silently, fighting down the urge to either cry out or vomit as he was pulled into a vaguely vertical position. Keeping his head erect by sheer force of will, he watched dazedly as the two boys heaved him along.
With a sigh of utter exhaustion, he tumbled into bed the second that they let go of him. His eyelids fluttered closed. Faintly, he heard one set of footsteps exit the room. Stirring slightly, he forced his heavy eyelids to open.
"What's up, Tyson?" he asked feebly. Tyson flushed slightly and looked determindly at the floor.
"Can I ask you something kinda personal?" he asked.
"Go ahead."
"Um...um...are...you and Kai...you know...together?" After silently piecing the fragmented sentence together, Ray looked at the younger boy in surprise. Tyson wasn't usually that perceptive. Make that never. "It's just...Max thought that you two were acting kinda...weird round each other..." Tyson was tomato-red by now, one hand cupping the back of his neck in sheer embarrassment. Ray chuckled softly in his team mate's obvious humilation.
"I don't really know." he answered quietly, sitting up with difficulty. "It's...tricky."
"Like what?" Tyson sat down next to him, his expression interested. Ray took a moment to laugh at his situation. He was talking to Tyson - Tyson - about his messed-up relationship with the team captain? He must be even more tired than he thought...
"Well, you know him. Ask him to show emotion and he runs a mile." he said flippantly.
"Oh yeah, my hunch was right! Go me!" Max said excitedly, coming in and hurtling onto the bed. The two older boys looked at each other. Sugar, they thought in unison.
"What have you eaten, Max?" Ray asked tiredly. Max reddened furiously as he mumbled something indistinctly under his breath.
"Couple a' tubs..."
"Chocolate ice-cream again?" Max nodded sheepishly.
"Anyway, back onto the good stuff. How long have you known you were gay?" he inquired, changing the subject with dazzling speed. Ray blinked, taken aback and unsure how they would take the answer.
"A long time." he said finally.
"Who was the first guy that you had a crush on?"
"What's with the inquisition?" Ray asked defensively, wakening up slowly. There was a slight pause. Max raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Lee." he said eventually, with a sigh. Unexpectedly, Max let out a soft whoop of triumph.
"Oh yes! Right again! Man, I rule at this!" He turned a million-watt smile on Ray. "Mariah was the cover-up, then?" Ray couldn't help but let his mouth fall open in utter shock. No one had ever guessed this accurately about his screw-up of a love-life. Even Kai had only guessed that he used to fancy Lee, he had made a comment about the fact that Ray had to be bisexual because of it. In reality, Mariah and himself both had ulterior motives for their apparent attraction. Him: Lee, at the time, Kai almost at first sight later on. Mariah: Emily, once again, almost at first sight. Personally, he couldn't see the attraction in the ginger-haired tennis and computer freak. Not that it was surprising, after all, he wasn't exactly the best judge of females. Or feminine anything, although having Mariah as his "girlfriend" and one of his best friends had given him a look into their confusing, fashion-orientated heads.
"Max," he said slowly. "Does sugar give you mind-reading properties or something? You're seriously freaking me out here!" Max grinned widely.
"I'm good at reading people." he said simply. "Always have been. It's a good party trick." Tyson was just sitting there, his head following the conversation like a nodding-dog puppet, a look of vague bewilderment on his face.
"You haven't answered my question properly." he said abruptly. Ray mentally rewound the conversation until he reached the part that Tyson's slow-moving brain had just processed.
"Oh, that. It's just...there's times when he's almost...tender, if you can believe it - " Tyson's face said no. "- but there's more when he won't let me near him, when if I try to...do anything, he comes out with some crap about me deserving better than him!" He slammed his fist into the mattress in frustration. "Like I care!" His voice lowered. He could practically see Max's ears extending... "I didn't fall in love with his attitude, I fell in love with him. And nothing he can say is ever gonna change that." He laughed softly at the two boy's very different reactions to his unintentional outburst. Tyson had both hands clamped over his ears, an uncomfortable expression on his face that read OH HELL, MUSHY STUFF! in neon writing. Max was making an incredible effort to look as though he couldn't care less, but his eyes were gleaming with interest.
You are needed, Ray. He shook his head irritably. There was that strange voice again. He'd better not be going nuts, he had enough to worry about without adding his mental state to the mile-long list.
"You okay, bud?" Tyson asked, looking concernedly at him. Absentmindedly, he nodded.
"Uh-huh...fine..."
"No, you're not!" Tyson pronounced matter-of-factly.
"We should probably get out now, let you have a kip." Max said, more to Tyson than Ray himself. Standing up, the previous signs of sugar overload came back with a rush. He grabbed Tyson by the ear and dragged him out. "See ya later, Ray!" he yelled.
"Bye!" Tyson choked out, writhing around in Max's iron grip. Ray sighed and sat back. He felt...strange. Edgy. As though something bad was about to happen. Don't be stupid, he scolded himself. You're just over-tired and imagining things.
No, you are not.
"Shut up!" Ray muttered angrily. "Great! I'm talking to my own head!" He lay back, staring at the ceiling.
You don't know a tenth of my power, Kai. There was a note in her voice that intrigued him. Looking up, he met her eyes confidently.
"Oh, don't I?" He plunged both arms into the mist up to the shoulders, felt the shock and a brief moment of pain as his body readjusted to the dark phoenix's unholy strength. He looked up at her, an evil smile plastered onto his face, his eyes blazing. "Don't I?" His suddenly harsh voice rasped around the pathway, carrying too clearly in the icy night air. Slowly, he took a step forward. His eyes were mere holes in his corpse-white face, alight with writhing blood-red flames.
For the first time since she had been created, Phoenix felt a stab of fear pierce her unshakeable self-confidence. She could feel her power being drained from her, drawn into the sinister figure that was Kai Hitwatari.
Who...what...was he? Remembering that her human form unsettled him, she switched in the most flamboyant way that she could think of, flashing lights, screeches, you name it. The manical grin on Kai's previously handsome features didn't change. If anything, it grew wider, more malevolent. He reached up and touched her cheek, his skin so cold it burnt.
"Bad Phoenix." he whispered. He leaned forward and captured her mouth in a bruising, dominant kiss, forcing her mouth open with his. When he drew away, wisps of mist trickled out the corners of his mouth. He stared at her, his flat, blank stare far more terrifying than any glare. Phoenix shrank away, recognising a power far greater than hers.
Voltaire! she shrieked silently. What's happening?
What do I care? You're on your own, bit-beast. Voltaire's pitiless thoughts told her. With a defiant screech, the mutated spirit, born long ago of Dranzer and Kai's DNA combined, rose to fight her sire.
I will never lose to you, Kai! she swore silently. You can't defeat me, you can't even keep away from me! You're mine! Hard, unflinching, cold obsidian met blazing, untouchable ruby as the two combatants stared at each other. I'm the part of you that you can't even bear to think about! How can you fight what you can't even face up to? she challenged.
"You're nothing." Kai's harsh, icy voice grated out. "I have become more than you ever were." He stepped forwards again. "Now's who's pathetic?" His eyes glittered with the cold light of triumphant revenge as he faced his life-long seductress.
Ray tossed and turned in bed, unable to stay still. The uneasy feeling of trouble had blossomed into a fully-fledged certaincy.
"Guys?" he called. Keny's head popped round the door.
"Yes, Ray? What's the matter?" he asked.
"Could you go and get me my crutches, please? I need to walk around for a bit." With an uncertain nod, Kenny disappeared, his feet pattering down the stairs. A few minutes later, he returned with the crutches.
"Are you sure that you're okay?" he asked anxiously as Ray slowly levered himself upright, pausing to take a deep breath and fight back dizziness.
"I'm fine, Chief." Ray answered mildly. "Don't worry about me." He flashed a grin at the youngest team member, hoping that he looked and sounded more confident than he actually felt. Clearly he did, as Kenny gave him one last, unconvinced stare and left, mumbling;
"Well, if you're sure..." Pushing his unwilling, throbbing legs into action, Ray hobbled out of the room and began wandering around aimlessly, searching for the reason behind his unreasonable dread.
At last, he had searched every room in their suite and discovered two important things.
One: Kai was nowhere to be found.
Two: The feeling had gotten much worse. His stomach was twisting with anticipation and nerves, and for what?
There was only really one place left that he could look for Kai.
Outside. Shivering at the very idea, he reluctantly changed direction.
The sound of his crutches clicking on the pavement was loud in the thick silence. Quivering violently with cold, he was about to turn tail and go back inside when he spotted the end of Kai's scarf just round the corner. He went slowly, unable to hurry due to the pain shooting up both legs like a lightning bolt. Evetually, he rounded the corner and stopped in shock.
Frozen, unable to move or think, he watched in horror as Kai broke what appeared to be a very passionate kiss with a tall, black-haired woman. A desperate scream poked experimentally at his lips, but he clenched them tight, feeling a leaden weight slowly settle on his chest. Kai...no...Kai, please... His legs folded underneath him and he knelt on the cold concrete, leaning his entire weight on the wall. Where did I go wrong, Kai? he pleaded mentally. What did I do? The soul-destroying sight began to float oddly as his eyelids drooped.
Look again, Ray. His eyesight blurred. When it cleared, a very different picture emerged.
Ooh, a cliffe! I luv 'em! I've started on the next chapter, so it should be up pretty soon. Expect lots of strangeness! And please, please review, the last chapter has only had two reviews and about sixty people've looked at it! And tell me about any mistakes, so that I can worry about my spelling.