"Tus," I said, staring disbelievingly at the figure. Thoughts coursed through my mind, but none stuck for more than a few brief seconds. Hope flickered dimly inside me. Before I could move, footsteps interrupted me.
"Can we sit with you?" Max asked. Rei, Hilary, and Kenny followed close behind.
I immediately looked back toward the building and the windowsill. The mysterious figure had dissolved into the shadows. The memory of the fire consumed the hope I had felt, leaving nothing but ashes.
"Sure," I replied.
"If you don't want us to, we can go somewhere else," Hilary started. I shook my head in alarm.
"No, no, that's okay," I said. "Please sit." I glanced down and noticed my slice of pizza lying forgotten on the ground.
"That's a shame," Max said, as I gloomily picked it up. "If you want you can have one of mine." He held out a plate with a couple of slices on it. I met his eyes, reaching slowly for a piece and watching carefully for any signs of unwillingness. Max just smiled.
"How many slices did you get, Max?" Hilary asked. She stared at the five slices of cheese pizza stacked on top of each other. Max glanced at her and laughed, taking a piece of pizza.
"You should see Tyson's and Daichi's plate!" He exclaimed. I searched for Tyson's jet black hair and cap, curious now. Catching sight of the two, my mouth dropped. It looked like they had stacked two full pizzas on their plate, a small mountain of slices. I bit into my cheese pizza, rather subdued. Remembering that Max's mom had wanted us to go with them to the tournament, I asked Max about it.
"Well, the finals don't start until tomorrow morning. My mom wanted to show us around her facility and some of the technology she's been working on. We'll stay the night here and go up tomorrow," Max said. I nodded. What I'd said about 'safety in numbers' returned more strongly to me.
"What do we do until then?" I asked, already bored.
"Practice," a voice said. We turned to see Hiro's dark gray hair and white-and-red jacket. Max and I put down our pizza and unlatched the launchers from our belts.
"Yes, Coach," we said together. I threw away what was left of my lunch and, after asking Max's mom which stadiums I could use, started practicing launching. My bey still wavered whenever it hit the stadium floor, much to my disappointment. However, it rarely spun out at the beginning of my launch now. I fired again. Sparks ignited as Nyclix sliced the metal and plastic combination of the stadium I was using. Annoyance surged through me as a voice called out during my launch.
"You're still slanting your launcher too far to the right," Kai said. I spun around, eyes flashing.
"Yeah, well –" I began, but realized Kai was already walking away. I glared at his back and reclaimed my bey, deciding to try a different stadium. As I walked towards another stadium nearby, I passed Rei who was trying out attacks in a mountain themed stadium. Driger's green and white form roared above the stadium, Rei's bey flashing in complicated patterns. On impulse, I suddenly ran forward and shot Nyclix into the stadium. My bey wobbled, more shakily than usual. With one move, Driger pounced, shooting Nyclix out.
"Hey, Sandy. Kai getting on your nerves?" Rei asked, patiently waiting for me to launch again. My cheeks flushed angrily at the thought.
"That obvious?" I mumbled, firing Nyclix back into the bowl. Rei smirked.
"You're never usually this bad at launching," he said. I shot Nyclix back into the stadium, groaning as she spun out again.
"I see your point," I sighed. "Why can't he give it a rest and start chewing out someone else for once?" Rei kept smiling, but his eyes became more serious.
"He probably sees what the rest of us see in you. You have great potential, Sandy." I launched a third time and watched Nyclix spin at last. My beyblade whirred, filling the silence that hung in the air. Rei watched Nyclix and quietly added, "That and he probably likes you."
"Yeah right," I scoffed. "I'm not entirely sure Kai likes anybody. I'm not even sure I register to him as an ally, let alone a friend." Rei sent Driger charging forward and I swerved to avoid his attack. He looked thoughtful.
"I think we've all thought that at some point," Rei said. "But even though he acts tough, Kai's come through for us a number of times." I sliced Nyclix around in a brutal attack, hitting Rei's bey hard. As Driger started to wobble, Rei reclaimed it and ended the match.
"Hm. Well, I think I'm going to check out some of the other beystadiums," I said. Rei tossed Driger into the air and caught him on the way down.
"Mind if I come with you?" Rei asked. "There's not much else I can do with this stadium."
"Okay," I said with a shrug. "I'm heading that way." Rei and I walked through the different stadiums, trying them out. After testing a magnetic beystadium (which I hated because it reduced my speed and Rei loved for the same reason), a couple of water filled ones, and a volcano-shaped stadium which occasionally spurted sticky lava, we passed Tyson and Max. Both were in the middle of what seemed to be an intense battle, while Hilary and Kenny watched carefully. I quietly inquired Kenny what was going on.
"I've made improvements to both their beys. Right now, we're checking to see what adjustments need to be made. That reminds me, I have a few ideas for Nyclix too, Sandy," Kenny said. Seeing the look on my face, he added, "I know you don't like changing the original design, but I think what I have in mind will help you out in matches."
I studied the image of Nyclix emblazoned on the top of my bey and something shifted inside me. I handed her over to Kenny with a nod.
"Thanks, Chief," I said.
"No problem." Tyson's Dragoon was starting his Galaxy Storm Attack, or as I thought of it, the Death Spiral. I almost turned away, thinking I knew how the match was going to end, but I realized that Max's bey hadn't been blown out yet.
"Come on, Draciel!" Max yelled. The wind carried his voice away and made it hard to hear him. Draciel shone green and I glimpsed his bit beast standing tall in the center of the tornado. Max's beyblade spun steadily in the center of the stadium. Suddenly Tyson's wind attack died away and Dragoon lost its power. Max reclaimed his still spinning bey.
"Wow, you can have my bey anytime, Chief," he said, cheerfully. Tyson looked irked.
"How come Max is suddenly more powerful than me?" Tyson asked.
"He's not, Tyson," Kenny replied. "You just use too much reckless power. If you want to beat Max, you'll have to start applying strategy."
"I do use strategy," Tyson said. "Sometimes." I smiled at the argument, but started to lose interest after a few minutes. My fingers brushed the top of my beyblade compartment and I remembered in annoyance that I had given Nyclix to Kenny. Now what? I thought.
I looked around and found Kai beyblading at one of the distant beystadiums. For a second I considered going to watch him, but as if knowing what I was thinking, Kai suddenly turned from practicing and glared in my direction. I recalled that I was still irritated with him. That left one last option.