Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade. I only own my OCs, and the plot line.
Summary:The threat of higher level competition in the tournaments to come makes Mr. Dickenson assign Riley Phillips to help train the G Revolutions. Tyson knows her. She was the one who taught him to really beyblade. But how much does he know about the time between back then and now? And why is she singling Kai out?
To Turn The Tides
Chapter Eleven: A Little Competition
Distant Storm
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"Flight 106A has just arrived. Passengers, please deport the plane and retrieve your luggage from the appointed racks."
Riley Phillips - er - Dickenson rolled her eyes, dodging her way through the masses of people looking either for someone, or for their luggage. She grasped her black and silver suitcases, towing them with strong muscles and a bit of determination. The time change was massive, she figured that she could use a little more sleep, since planes were not the most relaxing place to catch some z's.
Her cherry eyes met those of her 'father,' who had been waiting. He smiled at her, taking the smaller of her two bags, since she was obviously - noticibly - stronger than the B.B.A.'s chairman. He led her to a limo, one of an almost invisible black color amongst the New York early morning hours.
"What time is it?" Riley asked, yawning. "I know it was morning when I left Italy, but..."
"Four-thirty, am," He said, taking a sip of an expensively brewed colombian coffee. "You've got to be exhausted." She nodded, leaning against the old man's shoulder, her eyes closed, as she drifted off. When the car came to a stop and the ignition was turned off, she stirred again, following Stanley Dickenson to her hotel room. He motioned to her bed, pulling back the sheets of the bed.
"Thanks," she said, kicking off her shoes and throwing her bags out of the doorway. "Wake me up at eleven, or send someone," she said drowzily. "I'll probably be a beast, but tell whoever it is to yell at me... bring coffee," She finished, pulling up the sheets over her still dressed body."
The man smiled at her. "Of course, Riley," he said, in a gentle voice. "Sleep well," he said softly, knowing full well that she was already asleep. He shut the door, leaving the card key on her nightstand before returning to his suite nextdoor. He knew that he could catch about three or four more hours of sleep before his busy day would begin, and decided take what he could get. There were rumors circulating already about the viciousness of the bladers in Ottawa, Canada. He just hoped that nothing would prove to be too much for his team.
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Ottawa was a nice city, Kai'd give it that. But nothing else, however, since he was well aware that he had to kick his team in the ass several times to get them to come out on top. He looked up at the billboard in the distance, advertising in both French and English of the tournament, which would begin tomorrow at noon. All his team had to do was gain enough winning points to place in the top three to advance to Seattle, where the real competition would begin.
He also had to be on the lookout for Rafael, Westley, and especially Amanda, all of whom would be looking to fight the "traitor's" newest prospect. The other infinites were supposed to be hard, but not as hard. He hoped. Well, not hoped, but with Kai, you know what he means.
In the distance, Kai saw the light change and traffic begin to speed toward him. Amongst that traffic was a limo, with the window down, taking in the warm air. A woman in sun glasses gave him a hard look, then lowered her sunglasses for only an instant. He recognized her immediately.
Amanda.
That girl would be going down. By his hands. After all, Kai had a score to settle. Only two people had ever defeated him and gone unavenged(that he felt needed avenging), and those two people would be taken down this year. It was his time, and no one else's.
He shoved his hands down into his pocket, continuing the last three blocks to his hotel. Meanwhile, someone else was heading his direction. This someone was eyeing him competitively. "Well, well, well," The blue-eyed red head said, raising his eyes to meet that of his former team mate. "Look who we have here."
"Tala." He paused, looking at the teen. "Why are you here?"
"My retarded team mates forgot to send in the paperwork, so I can't help you out this time around."
Kai smirked. "I don't need your help with this, Tala. I'm perfectly capable."
"Speaking of that," Tala said, turning around to follow Kai back to the hotel. "Where is your girlfriend?"
"I don't know."
Tala spit out his gum after a small caughing fit. "Excuse me?"
"I told you."
"You didn't even deny it, you know, that you two are-" He glared at Kai, who seemed passive, yet oddly content. An amused smile toyed with his usually tight laced lips. "Oh great, you are even more hung up on her than I thought."
Kai saved him an argument by remaining silent. Tala decided that this was no fun. He couldn't wait until all this shit was over and things went back to normal. Well, at least a point in time where he wouldn't have to deal with a stupid lover-boy.
Continuing on, Tala left him in front of the hotel. When he rounded the corner, he passed a familiar face, who handed him a stack of bills. "See," he said, "I told you he had no idea you were here."
She shrugged, straightening her white rimmed glasses whose lenses were tinted a deep amber color to hid her vivid crimson eyes. "Well, I can't hardly take any chances. If he sees me outside of battle, he's gonna depend on me. We can't have that, now can we?"
"Well you told him you loved him."
"Oh God," She said, punching him in the stomach. "Who the frig told you that?"
Tala coughed, sputtering for air. "Some Rafael kid. Frig, my stomach."
"Great," she said, pulling Tala up to his full height. "Now get your ass out of here so I can trounce his. He'll need an ego-deflation after destroying however many beybladers he's recently took out."
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Max stared at the teams emerging from the opposite doors. This was going to be a pretty crazy step in their road to the top. Some of these beybladers looked harmless, but yet, their faces and their eyes screamed of an impending experience that would not be pleasant for the challenger. When he looked back at the rest of his team mates, they all revealed a slight hint of worry.
Except for Kai, whose posture was staight and his eyes were void of all fear. He looked determined to defeat any and all beybladers in his way. Strangely enough, he had stepped up rather easily to fill the voids from leaving home, as well as the absence of Riley. All of them noticed his behavior's shift, but none of them had chosen to say much. It truly was not worth it.
"Hey," Jazzman said, jumping up to the dish, "you guys, pick someone and get 'em up here. We don't have forever."
Everyone looked around. These matches were one-on-one, instead of the usual three-on-three for a two out of three victory. Two teams were chosen at random, then they each decided who to pit up against the other team's person.
"Ray," Kai commanded, pointing toward the dish. "Go."
The tiger stared at him in disbelief. Usually Max was the starter, and this was only the first match. "Oh.. okay," he said, marching proudly up to the dish. His opponent seemed to sense his aura of unsureness.
Their battle commenced quickly, with Ray's beyblade being thrown up in the air by the sheer waves emitted by his opponent's launch. The boy opposite the Chinese champion smirked knowingly, feeling as though the upperhand was already his. "C'mon Ray!" Tyson yelled. "You've gotta get this guy."
After a few minutes of overwhelming attacks, the boys could sense Ray's anger building. It took a lot to thoroughly piss off the Chinese boy, but once the line was crossed, Ray became good for one very powerful attack and some irrational decisions. Kai crossed his arms over his chest.
"No! Drigger-"
"Ray," Kai said in a warning tone. "Take a breath. He's using your frustration against you."
There was a snort from the platform Mr. Dickenson stood on. Beside the B.B.A.'s 'main man,' stood a few people. Kai immediately saw Riley and Amanda on opposite sides of each other, with Rafael and Westley between them. Wait a second... Riley?
The rest of the group had seen her too, but she stood silently, offering no advice. "Yo, Tys, what's the deal with the nasty looking bladers up there with Riley and Mr. D?"
Ray's opponent looked over his shoulder for a moment. "Oh," he said simply. "They're here to make sure no one messes with their people, if you know what I mean. They've all got their hands in this. They need certain people to win to get the control of the circuits. Anyway, you're finished!Likura, spiral blade attack!"
Without the utmost respect for Ray's beyblade, the attack diced up the entire core, salvaging only the small square of bit chip that contained Drigger. The boy gathered up the pieces of his blade as his opponent smirked, leaving the audience with quite an interesting discussion. Would the champions actually make it that far?
Hilary scoffed in disgust. "There's gotta be something against the rules in the way he-"
A sneer from above, where Mr. Dickenson stood stopped her. "Amanda," Kai said, in a low growl.
"Hiwatari. Just wait until we meet in the arena. Riley won't be able to bail you out now." She paused, looking at Hilary as if she were scum of the earth. The girl examined her fingernails before looking down at the tech again. "You know, sweetheart, there was nothing illegal about that attack."
"Heated attack rings," Kai said, examining the remains of Ray's beyblade.
Amanda smirked. "Well now, I suppose I'm next. Hope to God you don't face me until the end, Hiwatari. You'll regret being born."
Kai laughed. "I suppose someone like you already does, so it won't take my victory to instill that in you."
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Tyson stared at him in anger. "Bail you out? Why weren't we made aware of this?"
Ray, Hilary, and Kenny kept an ear out, though they were huddled in the corner, trying to build a stronger beyblade for the distraught Chinese teen who could not grasp the loss as he usually could. Hiro looked skeptic, though he was damn sure that he had the entire ordeal figured out.
"That's how you knew Omegacide, wasn't it?"
Kai shrugged. "I'd watch how you talk," the captain sneered. "You wouldn't want to slip up."
"Whoa," Max said. "That Omegacide thing, what does that have to do with Riley bailing Kai out?"
"You tried to fight Amanda, didn't you?!" Tyson said suddenly. "She saved your ass, didn't she?"
"She wasn't looking for me anyway."
Hiro rolled his eyes. "Kai, that's not the point. We still have no idea if we're-"
"I'm ready." Kai said, leaning back against the lockers. "Perhaps if the rest of you would get your heads in the game, you wouldn't have this problem."
Hilary looked over at Kai, then at the angry Granger brothers. "Hey, Tyson, babe, come here."
The Japanese champion did as told, while Hiro refused to quit. "She never told me that she had to bail you out," He said, growing beyond angry. "Why would you not say something? Obviously you've seen her battle."
"Yeah, and if you don't shut up, we'll battle right here," Kai said, obviously sick of the ninja. "I have all the time in the world." Upon this, he stalked out, leaving his scarf to billow in a non existant wind.
Hiro immediately threw a duffel bag upon the ground and wasted no time to enter the bathroom. The rest of the team looked at each other. "Jin," they said, rolling their eyes. Perhaps Kai and Hiro would solve things, once and for all.
Meanwhile, from beneath Hilary, Tyson was looking a bit perplexed. His mind was racing. Something was definitely up with Riley. From today, when she was standing up there with those creepy beybladers, to now when the whole argument began. He wanted to find out, but he had a strange feeling that the contents of his brother's battle would not be divulged.
"You know," Hilary said sweetly, "Hiro's just protective of her."
Kenny nodded, but Max spoke. "You know, I bet that Riley's a lot stronger than we think. Were any of you able to beat her?"
They shook their heads. Ray fidgeted with his attack ring, "But, you know, it did seem to get easier. Maybe she's borderline infinite?"
There was laughter from the doorframe, where Jin of the Gale stood. "C'mon," he said simply. "Riley, an infinite? She's just got experience with them. There's ways to beat an infinite when you aren't one, they're just a bit more involved." The man walked away, his beyblade at the ready.
Behind him, Tyson seemed to smirk. Kai was going to get a run for his money. Their team wasn't the only group training with Riley. Hiro had been training with her too.
The Chief looked to his computer screen. Dizzi decided to speak her mind. "Yeah, well guys, if you ask me, that girl's a lot more talented than she lets on."
"Does she even have a bit beast?" Max asked.
Dizzi laughed. "Oh, that girl's got a bit beast." She snickered. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, 'cause that girl's aura reeks of bit beast from all the way over here. And she's still in that arena."
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Hiro glared at Kai. He felt angry. Kai was way out of line. Not to mention that that little Russian rich boy knew far too much. Whether Riley told him or not, it didn't matter. That boy nearly killed his brother when he tried omegacide! Not to mention all the side switching in the past. While he had switched sides before, he was not as quick to do so.
"Well, well. I'm surprised you showed up," Kai said, a sneer on his face.
Blades were launched a moment later. They collided in sparks, and almost immediately Hiro realized that this type of battle was nearly identical to fighting Riley. There was one change in the battle style, however, and that was the eerie blue glow of his beyblade.
Jin rolled his eyes as he narrowly avoided an attack. "Metal Drigger! Take him down!"
"Dranzer, Volcano!"
"What, didn't you think up the clincher for your attack?" This arms were lowered to his hips. "Or were all the good names taken?"
"Omega-"
"Don't you fucking use that on me, thief!" Hiro's beyblade emitted sparks of lightning. The sky above became dark and hazy, low rumbles of thunder heard in the distance.
Taking a deep breath, Kai focused. It was a refreshing feeling, being in a beybattle of both wits and emotion. He knew that Jin... Hiro... whoever he felt like refering himself as- well, his opponent was overprotective of Riley. What Jin didn't know, was that Kai would do everything in his power to keep her from being hurt at all. So technically, where it counted, they were on the same side.
Their beyblades clashed again, bits and pieces of each littered around the areas where they collided and rubbed against each other. Kai looked up at Jin. "I'm not stealing her moves," he said evenly.
"Prove it to me," Jin said, his beyblade spinning faster to punctuate his statement. "Or has the almighty Kai learned he is nothing without someone else's attacks?"
Silence reigned over them for the next segment of their battle. The only sound was that of beyblades colliding, aggravated sighs, grunts, and the occasional cracking of knuckles as either side prepared an attack. Brown and violet eyes met, and the wind around them created a vortex. Kai noted Jin's smirk.
He thought he was going to win with just this?
"Dranzer!" The attack was left unsaid, as the area around the was dyed a bright blue, rich in hue. Hiro saw it coat everything, from himself to Kai, to the dish... even his beyblade was stained this color. From Kai's beyblade, a blue phoenix arose.
"I thought it was red," Jin mumbled.
Kai smirked. "Meet your maker, Jin! Attack!" The phoenix spiraled skyward, only to come down at Hiro's beyblade as an arrow of blue light. The resulting rumble was not thunder. It was the ground cracking beneath them.
Both jumped back as their battlefield was dismantled. Kai withdrew Dranzer, sparing no second glance to his opponent.
"You are an infinite, aren't you?" Jin asked to his retreating back. "That wasn't a stolen move-"
"Look, we both know we care about her," Kai said, against his better judgement. "And we both know that I didn't get this good on my own. So leave it be."
"She's practically my baby sister, for God's sake," Jin yelled after him.
Kai smirked. "I went to prom with her," he said quietly, not sticking around long enough to find out if Hiro heard.
Although, judging by the shocked expression on his face from when Kai said he cared about her, he didn't quite think Kai was too bad after all. Perhaps he had to start believing Hilary's comments about the duo. After all, Tyson told him everything. Maybe they were closer than initially thought.
As Jin began to walk away, a figure emerged from the shadows. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," The girl said, strutting over to him. "What the hell was that about?" She asked.
"I- uh, Riley," he said swiftly, and obviously with much difficulty.
"Don't screw around with him," She said defensively.
He gawked at her. "Has being away from Japan gone to your head? You just told me to stop messing with Hiwatari!" He paused, searching her crimson eyes with his own chocolate colored ones. "That was practically your passtime!"
Riley was nothing short of sincere. "Just get off his back. He's my business. I'll take care of him, alright?"
"Your business? Amanda busted him! My team wants to know how the reason why you 'bailed him out,' or whatever. How the fuck did he get challenged by Amanda?!"
The girl threw her hair behind her shoulders. "He didn't have a brain then. I had to teach him a few things."
"Have you seen that attack before?" A genuine smile crossed her lips. She shook her head, and he understood clearly. That look in her eyes. "You're proud of him, aren't you?"
She laughed. "Of course I am! Kai's got more potential than I think any of us know. I haven't trained him in like a month, and he's suddenly got the true aura of his bit beast spewing sparks and dying the entire arena. Dude, you have no idea how awesome that is!" Jin glared at her.
"Who's side are you on?" She knew immediately he meant Kai or Tyson. She had made her decision, but Hiro was a blabbermouth, and she didn't need any of that just yet.
She smirked. "I think that's my own private business, don't you, Jin? Let's think about it, though. Tyson's been my friend for how long? Why would you think otherwise?"
"You know that he cares about you, right?"
She laughed. "I knew that a long time ago. Somewhere around the time when he started driving me home. Don't worry, Hiro, I'm a tough-ass beyblader. I'm sure I can handle whatever Hiwatari's got in store for me." She slung an arm around him. "It's cute that you both wanna protect me. I appreciate it."
"Yeah, well I don't appreciate his attitude."
"He'll mellow out eventually, Hiro. You know how badly he wants Ty's title. You've gotta give him credit for trying."
"Somehow I think you'll be helping him with that." The rest of him started to understand. Riley was not, nor would she ever be on Tyson's side. She was on Kai's. Now he had to figure out just what Kai and Riley were to each other, and what that meant for his brother. If Tyson had been Riley private student, he'd be the best blader in the galaxy. So the question was:
Why Kai?
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I hope to God I'm not going around in circles. Thanks again to all my reviewers who help me out in multiple ways. Anyway, there's a storm coming, so what better to do than to write?! I'm going to start the next chapter now. I believe I have eight or nine chapters to go, but I keep combining things so it's not ungodly long and horrendous.
Thanks again for reading, and review please!
Distant Storm - Out!