The Other Side of the Story
Summary: After the BEGA incident, Reine finds herself unable to cope with the blind side of the world which turning away from all that's been done and will happen with the sport of beyblade. As a new BBA program was set into action, she finds herself, along with her beyblade-hating town, stuck as the proto-type. The BBA program was made to help blader-haters all over the world to cope and even get to love beyblading as a sport. Reine finds herself in the middle of things when the bladers chose her school for their first experiment? What would happen when you throw beybladers at blader-hating mobs? Nothing pretty.
Disclaimer: I don't earn Beyblade. I do own my OC's as well as the plot.
Pairings: Still uncertain but I'll work it out soon so just keep reading. ;-D
Rating: T for mild swearing
Quick AN: This story is told in multiple point-of-views so the key below should help to determine what's being said. I hope it's not too confusing.
(action)
'thoughts'
"talking"
/talking with bitbeast via mind link/
Chapter 7 – Past Remembrances
Reine's POVI stood there helplessly as I watched the king cobra rear back and lung at the pink-haired girl and me. Suddenly, a blue beyblade appeared and knocked the onyx blade belonging to Destruction off balance. The cobra missed us by inches after being thrown off balance. I took that opportunity to get the pink-haired girl and myself the hell out of there. Staggering under her dead weight, I made it back safely into the protective barrier of Esilé's muscled torso. She closed off the space by wrapping her finned tail to form a circle with us in the middle. Noticing that we were safe, she turned back to the battle.
I felt a shift in the surrounding water particles of the fog. There appears to be three blades moving around blindly in the alley space. Deciding to take action and attack Obstruction, I called to Esilé, "ESILÉ! SERPENT'S TWISTER!" Esilé roared in recognition. Her fourteen golden orbs started to glow brightly as the fog began to swirl, distorting the light shining through her eyes. Within minutes, all the water particles in the near vicinity were collected in a whirling mass of water. The massive water twister spiraled from my blade as Esilé revealed herself to the eyes of our foe. Her body was spotted here and there poking out of the twister while her seven heads were hanging out of the vortex in different positions. The mist, caused by the force the twister, surrounded her flowing manes, casting light on her glistening cerulean scales. Her fourteen golden orbs were still glowing eerily in the light drizzle of water caused by escaping water particles.
From my position in Esilé's embrace, I can make out the three foreign blades. Upon closer inspection, two of the three weren't so foreign.
'That's Kai and Tamayo's blades. What are they doing here? Did Tamayo and Tala get away from the Skullz thug safely?'
/I can sense three presences behind us in the alleyway./
I chanced a look behind me and sure enough, I caught sight of Kai's dual-colored hair and the vibrant red of Tamayo's hair. There was a ginger-haired head that I didn't recognize. A hissing sound brought me out of my musings.
"Well, well. The girl's got power, but can you use it? Obstruction! Shadow Nightmare!" The cobra reared up and started to sway from side to side. Two of Esilé's heads started to follow it, their pupils strangely dilated. Slowly, but surely, Esilé was being affected by his attack. Wasting no time, I called, "Release the twister! Aim at the cobra!" The five remaining heads roared and the twister exploded from its confines and spiraled dangerously at the cobra and its wielder. The attack made a direct hit, stopping the cobra from completing its attack. The two mesmerized heads shook themselves awake from their dream-like states and roared angrily.
"Reine!" I heard Tamayo call out to me as she, Kai, and the ginger-haired teen ran up to Esilé's coiled tail. They were on the other side, still in danger while Esilé protected me. Reading my thoughts, Esilé temporarily lifted her tail to allow the three bladers into her safe sanctuary.
"Are you okay?" Tamayo asked worriedly.
"I'm fine but I'm not sure about her," I replied, hefting the girl's arm around my shoulder again to secure her more tightly. As I said this, the ginger-haired teen was inspecting her.
"Mathilda's fine except for the multitude of cuts on her body," he announced as he finished his inspection.
"I would have Esilé heal her if she's conscious," I said ruefully.
"Why can't you heal her if she's unconscious?" Kai asked curiously.
"Esilé must have the person's consent so that they won't struggle when she heals them or something bad might happen. She has to cover the person with her aura in order to heal them, and since it's so powerful, a person must be conscious to avoid getting scared and overreacting once it slides over them. It's a safety precaution."
He nodded in understanding.
"So who's the cloaked freak?" Tamayo asked.
"A high-ranking Skullz officer. What I don't understand is why he's doing a grunt's job. They have more than enough rough bladers in their team to spare such a powerful weapon, but enough about my situation, what happened with the thug in the shop?"
"Oh him? We kicked his sorry arse and Tala, Robert, and Johnny are taking him back to the mansion for interrogation," Tamayo said lightly, waving the question aside.
Temporarily turning away from the conversation, I shouted, "Judgement of the Deep!"
Startled by my sudden command, the three bladers snapped their attention to me.
"Don't worry. The attack won't hurt you as long as you stay out of Esilé's line of fire. Don't want you to be incinerated, now do we? Oh! You guys better call your blades here."
Tamayo calmly called her blade to safety just as Esilé started charging for her attack. (AN: If you want a thorough description of it, check out Chapter 4 – Challenge.) The ginger-haired boy and Kai followed Tamayo's example after a couple seconds of hesitation, eyeing the destructive energy balls in the sea serpent's seven mouths.
"What do you mean 'incinerate'?" the ginger-haired boy asked nervously.
"Exactly what it means, Brooklyn," Tamayo said dryly, "You get vaporized except there's a pile of ash left over. Don't worry about it. I was there when she fired it last time and it didn't hurt anyone. It probably won't hurt the bitbeast or blader if they follow her directions."
I glanced at the ginger-haired boy I now know as Brooklyn.
'So this is the person Tamayo was going on about being cute,' I thought, smirking to myself.
I looked up briefly to note that Esilé had finished charging. A quick glance at Destruction showed that he's still busy with our first attack.
"Okay Esilé! FIRE!"
The huge energy beam hurtled towards the unaware blader and bitbeast. Just like the time before, there was a hug explosion as the charged particles hit the pavement. As the dust cloud cleared, Brooklyn and Kai examined the damage with gaping mouths. Esilé had gotten stronger since the last battle judging by the size of the crater. The obsidian king cobra was no where to be seen as its onyx blade lay broken on the ground. The high-ranking Skullz officer was trapped inside the watery prison, an unreadable expression on his face.
"I wouldn't try to escape if I were you. The charged particles will incinerate you on contact. If you try to evaporate it, the hydrogen gas will cause the bubble to explode like a miniature bomb," I told him casually.
Kai and Brooklyn visibly paled as they heard my explanation.
"So how would you escape?" Brooklyn asked cautiously.
I shrugged.
"You can't until I let you."
"So this move is basically invincible?" Kai asked incredulously.
"I don't know. Out of all the times I've used it, it has yet to fail me," I said truthfully, "Now that we've contained the situation, who has a cell phone?"
Tamayo promptly took Eris' pink razor out of her bag. As I called the police, Kai, Brooklyn, and Tamayo retrieved their blades. After I hung up, I handed it back to Tamayo.
"She needs a new phone that's a different color," I said as I shuddered, "That color is horrible!"
Tamayo nodded in agreement before beaming proudly at me. I cocked an eyebrow.
'What is it this time? Better not be a piggyback ride.'
/I think it's something significant. I feel that she's different somehow, a bit more powerful./
"I got a bitbeast!" she crowed happily before showing me her blade, "Her name is Ciatra! She's a gray bobcat!"
"Awesome Tamayo!" I cried happily, glad for my friend.
"I think I hear police sirens," Kai interrupted stoically, destroying our moment. We glared at him, but sure enough, we heard the sirens.
"Brooklyn, you're closest to the exit. Can you direct the police here?" I asked the ginger-haired boy.
"Sure."
He ran off to the entrance of the alleyway. A couple of minutes later, he returned with the two same officers as last time in tow.
"Well, we got another one I presume?" one of them asked, viewing the damage with a raised eyebrow, "What did I say about damaging public property?"
I smiled sheepishly.
"I couldn't help it. It was either the crater or us getting eaten alive by a giant king cobra."
"Right…Well, we know what to do. Whenever you're ready."
The bubble disappeared with a small pop and the police moved in to arrest the high-ranking officer.
"Might want to keep an eye on this one. He's pretty high on the status list," I informed them.
"Right. We'll keep that in mind," the cops said as he handcuffed Destruction's hand together and led him to the police patrol car. Esilé roared one last time before the fog rolled in to obscure her from sight and dissipating seconds later with Esilé no where in sight. Silently calling my orange and white blade back, I turned to face the others before shifting Mathilda's weight from my left shoulder to my right.
"Do we wake her up or take her back to the mansion? Either way, she needs treatment, fast. She's loosing a lot of blood."
"I'll carry her," Brooklyn offered before stooping down so I can place her on his back piggyback style. We headed towards the closest destination, which happened to the mansion, in silence as I pondered our dilemma.
'Why are they sending out these important people? The usual rogue bladers they send don't have bitbeasts. Does it have something to do with this beta-testing program?'
With a jolt, I realized their motives.
"We need to call a meeting!" I suddenly blurted out. Kai's eyebrows raised at my random comment.
"Why?" he asked.
"It's urgent. I don't have time to repeat myself. Putting it shortly, all of you are in danger and will end up like Mathilda if we aren't careful. I'm sure that thug you guys captured earlier will verify my observation even if he won't tell us about their plans. Let's meet everyone at 8:15 p.m. tonight. Tamayo and I will pass the information on to Eris and Toji another time. Right now, it mainly concerns bladers, which are mainly us."
"Fine. How are you going to get everyone home by 8:15 p.m.?" Kai asked woodenly, obviously skeptical about the urgency of the situation.
"That's where you and Brooklyn come in. You guys know everyone's numbers right? Call the ones that aren't home and tell them to meet us in the mention at 8 p.m. Most of them shot be there already considering that it's a weekday."
Glowering at me, Kai said stiffly, "I don't do phone calls. It's like being a secretary and I won't steep so low."
"Don't be such a whiny brat, Kai," I snapped impatiently, "This is very important. Do you want your teammates to end up in critical condition or possibly dead? If not, then you will hurry up and do what I ask." I matched his glare with one of mine.
"Fine! Give me the god damn phone," he demanded. Tamayo shrugged and handed him Eris' pink razor. He quickly dialed a few numbers. A couple of minutes and many threats later, he gruffly declared, "Everyone will meet us at the mansion at 8:15 p.m. sharp. Now it's 7:50 p.m. so we better not be late."
As he said the last part, he stared especially at me.
"I won't make us late. We would be traveling at a faster pace if Mathilda wasn't hurt this badly. Due to her fragile condition, we can't move her too much or her clotted cuts will open again causing her to bleed even more. We can't risk her moving into shock."
Kai only grunted at my statement.
"Fine but if we are late, I'm blaming you."
Fifteen excruciating minutes later, we arrived at the bottom of the hill of the mansion.
"How do we get up this hill in less than 30 minutes?" Tamayo groaned remembering previous experiences. A car horn honked behind us, and we turned around to see Robert in the driver's seat of a silver Mitsubishi with Johnny in the passenger and Tala in the back with the hostage. Robert scrolled down his window.
"Need a ride?"
"You're my savior!" Tamayo shouted dramatically and dashed into the car causing Tala to glare coldly at her. She responded by sticking out her tongue. I rolled my eyes at their childish antics.
"Are you getting in?" Kai asked as he held the door open. I shook my head.
"Nah, I'll run up the hill. Either you or Brooklyn should take the last spot. I'll live with a little more exercise."
Kai shrugged and motioned for Brooklyn to get in, which he did quite gladly.
"I guess I'll have to join you on your jog," Kai said emotionlessly, a challenge evident in his eyes.
"Fine with me," I shrugged, an answering glint shining in my eyes. As our silent count down reached zero, we sprinted forward towards the large, oak doors at the top of the hill. Finishing a mile in a record of 6 minutes 23 seconds, I beat Kai by 0.2 seconds. Smirking in triumph, I pushed open the door and stepped in, panting heavily.
As the door creaked open, I was assaulted by an extremely hyper Celia.
"Reine! Reine!" she squeaked, "You came! Now you can play with me!"
I smiled sadly at her.
"I'm sorry, honey. I'm here on urgent business. I'll come back soon and blade with you, 'kay? I'll bring Esilé with me as well as Eris-chan and Toji-kun," I promised the little girl. She looked sadly at me for a moment before a big smile flew across her face.
"Okay! I'll hold you to your word!" she scolded before darting off to play with Thomas. I shook my head at her retreating back, remembering the time I was like that. A happy memory before they had shown up. I felt my face shifting darkly as I remembered the burning BBA building.
Flashback
I panted as I ran around the maze-like hallways. Red alarms flashed above me signaling that there's a fire in the building. I looked around frantically for my mentor, my baby blue beyblade held tightly in my hand. My other hand clutched the silver necklace that's hanging around my neck, holding onto the intricate hydra charm. Mommy had given it to me when I started blading lessons and I considered it my lucky charm.
"Aliahe! Aliahe! Where are you?" I shouted desperately, coughing from the smoke that started to fill the hallway. I stumbled on the edge of my light green dress and fell painfully on my knees. Holding back a painful sniffle, I found myself crawling blindly away from the heat, bowing my head to keep myself from inhaling too much smoke. As I turned my fifth corner, I spotted the exit up ahead. I paused briefly, contemplating with myself whether I should leave without Aliahe or go and look for her again. Before I could crawl another foot, I saw Aliahe being dragged forward by a bulky stranger.
She shouted in pain as he launched his blade at her, tearing her flesh. I could only look on in horror as my best friend and mentor got ripped to shreds before my very eyes. I was helpless to stop her. He was much more experienced than I was, and he was also physically bigger. I felt hatred starting to burn in the pit of my stomach. I burned his image into my head. His messy black hair flopped in his face over his cruel green eyes. His tattered black leather jacket was snug on his toned form as his torn jeans fell casually on his long legs.
With one final cry of pain, Aliahe keeled over and laid there, unmoving.
"Aliahe!" I heard myself call as I hurried forward. He turned and smirked maliciously at him, his cruel eyes dancing with bloodlust. As he raised his launcher and bloodied blade to attack me, I felt a burst of power come from my hydra necklace.
An ear-splitting roar filled with anger filled the building as Esilé rose from her confinement and stared dangerously into the cruel green eyes of the rogue blader, my hated enemy and the murderer of my best friend. He cackled maniacally before launching his bloodied beyblade.
"Korkcash!" he called harshly as a blood-red vulture emerged from his stained beyblade. I quickly launched my blade as Esilé prepared for attack. Roaring fiercely, all seven of her heads simultaneously lunged at the vulture. She quickly defeated the weaker bitbeast. With a final cry, it disintegrated to retreat back into the safe confines of its blade, resting and restoring its lost energy.
A caressing whisper tickled my mind as I heard a voice murmur softly.
/All's alright now, child/ the beast told me soothingly. /I am Esilé, the ancient spirit that guards the seven seas./
With a cry of anger and hatred, Aliahe's murderer advanced on me. A menacing hissing on Esilé's part stopped him in his tracks, causing him to reconsider.
"I won't forget this! I will come back and kill you along with destroying that bitbeast of yours! You just wait!" he threatened before turning on his heel and running out the door. Picking myself off the ground, I staggered over to Aliahe's limp form, crying for her to wake up before firefighters picked me up and carried me away from her corpse.
Still Reine's POV
"Hey Reine? You okay?" asked Max anxiously after I zoned out. Shaking my head, I smiled wanly.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just peachy."
"So what did you call all of us here for?" an impatient Johnny asked, fidgeting from foot to foot.
"Right. Meet me in the sitting room in five. Bring the thug with you," I told them absently, "Um, is there a bathroom on this floor?"
"Yeah, just past the staircase and down the left corridor on your left," Tyson instructed as he headed with the Robert to retrieve their prisoner. Following Tyson's instructions, I found the bathroom. Walking inside and locking the door, I turned on the tap, watching water run for a few seconds before reaching out and cupping my hand under the stream of water before splashing my hot face with the cool liquid. A quick knock on the door informed me of someone waiting outside.
Unlocking the door with a quiet click, I opened it to face Kai. He had an unreadable expression on his face as he examined my disheveled appearance.
"What's wrong?" he asked quietly. I quickly averted my gaze from his face.
"A living nightmare," I said quietly before pushing past him quickly and head for the sitting room. Striding quickly inside, I joined Tamayo on a brown leather couch. Catching her curious look, I shot her a look that said, "I'll tell you later," before calling everyone's attention.
"Thanks for coming on such a short notice," I started, pausing hesitantly as I scanned the faces of each blader, "but before I start, was Mathilda treated?"
"Yeah," a blonde Spanish blader called out (AN: Is Miguel Spanish? I don't really know. If you know, please tell me so if I'm wrong, I can correct it. Thanks!), "Claude is watching over her now. Thanks for saving her."
I nodded before turning to stare at an unfamiliar face sitting in the center of the room, bounded tightly. His exposed bicep revealed the Skullz tattoo. Narrowing my eyes, I continued speaking.
"The reason I called this meeting is because we're all in danger. Doesn't it seem fishy that all the people who's been targeted since the return of the Skullz are bladers or somehow related to them?"
Whispers started to float around the room at my observation. A lot of the bored looking bladers were now fully alert.
"Yes," Robert said slowly, listening intently.
"Doesn't it also seem as too much of a coincidence that the bladers that they've targeted are always alone and their opponent had a bitbeast?"
"It is strange," Tala said musingly.
"What about Thomas and Celia's attack?" Enrique asked, intrigued, "They aren't bladers but they were attacked. I wasn't there so I'm not sure if their attackers had bitbeasts."
"Like I said before, the people that were attacked were either bladers or related to them in some way, like Thomas, Celia, and Tamayo…but Tamayo is a blader now," I added as an afterthought.
"The main reason that they were probably targeted is not because they're a direct threat, like you guys, but because of the fact that the Skullz wanted to scare you and break you down mentally by hurting those close to you. And to answer your other question, no, the four thugs didn't have bitbeasts mainly because Thomas and Celia don't have ones either. I bet they didn't count on me showing up and whooping their asses with the help of Esilé."
There was a pregnant pause as everyone absorbed the information.
"So you're saying that people close to us are in danger just as we are?" Garland asked cautiously, staring angrily at the orange-haired Skullz member in the middle of the room bounded tightly by a piece of rope. I nodded quietly before turning to thug.
"Am I right? I know that you should know at least this part of the plan."
His face remained shadowed as he slowly nodded.
'Is he ashamed?' I thought, startled. Out of all the members I've met, I've never seen one with a conscience. They had all relished in destruction and murder.
/I sense him emitting waves of grief./ Esilé observed.
'He is ashamed!'
I slowly walked up to the bound teen despite calls of protest from various bladers. Lee reached out and grabbed my hand as I passed, preventing me from getting any closer.
"Let me go," I commanded quietly, staring deeply into his amber eyes, willing him to trust me. My hand slid slowly out of his grip as his hand loosened around mine. I sent him a look of gratitude before walking to stand directly in front of the sitting teen. His face was turned away from me, but I can sense the waves of sadness roll off his aura. Squatting down, I lifted his face to look deeply into his brown eyes.
"Why are you working with them? You're not that kind of person," I asked delicately, careful not to push him too hard. His eyes shifted slightly.
"So they won't hurt her," he replied brokenly, his voice full of emotion.
"Hurt who?" Oliver asked kindly.
"Lisa, my sister. They've got her captured in one of their numerous headquarters. They threatened to kill her if I didn't do what they ask."
Silence fell on the entire group as they heard his heart-felt answer.
"I had no choice," he continued softly, "She's my last living family member. I can't just abandon her. They killed our parents and held her at gunpoint, forcing me to join them. I haven't seen her since, but I occasionally talk to her on the phone, when they allow me, to show me that she's still alive." He laughed bitterly.
"Why did they want you to join them?" Kai asked icily, obviously not trusting him.
"Because I defeated one of their high-ranking officers. They want powerful bladers to join them. When bladers refuse, they hurt those around them and blackmail them into joining for the sake of their loved ones."
"We'll help you," I said determinedly, glaring around the room daring anyone to challenge my decision. He looked up startled.
"You can count on us, Durby!" Tamayo piped up before turning to look at everyone in the room, "I believe him and I agree with Reine's choice of action."
People stared at us, astonished.
"How do you know he's not lying?" Johnny asked brashly, eyeing the teen with distrust.
"Esilé," I replied simply.
"You can talk to your bitbeast?" Ray asked, surprised.
"Yes. Why? It's not strange, is it?" I asked, curious.
"It's very rare for the bitbeast to talk to their partner unless you guys are really close," he explained slowly.
"Really? I can talk to my bitbeast, Ciatra, too," Tamayo stated with wide eyes.
Everyone looked at us even more astonished then last time.
"I guess we have powerful allies," Enrique said cheerfully, breaking the tension. I nodded in agreement.
"As do we. With your help, we can reach our common goal. We have support from all over the world, all of which is sitting in this room."
"Youse will really help me?" the orange-haired teen, who I now know as Durby, asked.
"Of course dummy!" Tamayo said cheerfully, clapping him hard on the back.
"Do you know when and where they will strike next?" I asked. He looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging.
"Beats me. They don't tell me anything since I'm not reliable. I may be powerful but I'm not trusted since I was forced to join rather than willingly. They know that I will eventually betray them or get captured so they don't tell me any of their plans or secrets. Knowing them, I would say during a big event."
I felt the gears turning in my head as I created a foolproof plan.
"Guys, I have a plan, but it requires all of you. It'll lure them out of hiding because the chance is too great to pass up," I announced as people discussed about what had just transpired.
"In order to lure them out, there has to be a bait," Kai pointed out.
"So what's the bait?" Kane asked.
"It's not what, but who, as in plural," I explained as I told them the plan.
"That's brilliant!" Tamayo shouted, jumping up.
"Now all we need is a reserved time in the city fair and an idea placed in the principal's head," I said maliciously, a hard glint in my eyes.
'The Skullz have gone too far this time. We'll get them for Mathilda and Lisa.'
Esilé roared in approval, ready for action.
'Time for revenge.'
Author's Note:
What could be Reine's ingenious plan? xD Wait and find out.
I might not be able to update much during the week. / I have several tests coming up so I need to spend time studying. I also decided to update at least one chapter of "A Fork in the Road" before continuing this story so sorry for the wait. :-(
Thanks to DaCow Takao, soldier4Christ, and whyamidoingthis01 for the support! I really appreciate it guys!
I noticed that I got over 300 hits! Whoot! Thanks for reading my story. –bows– It would make this author really happy if you guys reviewed more. –pouts–
Please R&R!
Rand-chan