THANK YOU TO BESS9200, DARKER DUSK, THE-GRAY-NINJA AND AZURE BLUE EPSEON FOR REVIEWING! YOU GET… DA XIANG PLUSHIES? No, that was last time. YOU GET CHAO XIN PLUSHIES! YEAH!

So… in this chappie, you find out a bit more about Charice's past. Derp. I'm a snake. Actually, I'm a dragon. Derp. Dragons are awesome. Anyway, enjoy.

DISCLAIMER – I DO NOT OWN BEYBLADE, OR ELSE I WOULD NOT BE WRITING THIS!

Blading Brings People Together

Chapter 8: Charice's Past

"How much I've had to go through… just to prove my strength…" Suddenly, Charice went quiet. "All the sweat and blood… they… they never… made it easy… I HAD TO GO THROUGH SO MUCH PAIN!"

At once, Kyoya knew that Charice was thinking about her childhood, but what about, he didn't know. He knew that he shouldn't press her anymore, yet this could be his chance to find out what made Charice scared of spiders.

"Why? What happened?"

"They… they destroyed my… first bey..." Charice whimpered.

"Your first bey? So Wyvern wasn't your first bey?"

"No… it was… Earth… Earth Leone…" Charice let out a sob.

"L-leone?"

"It used to be… one of the best beys in Philippines while I was young… and… I was challenged all the time. There's nothing wrong with that." Charice's voice grew stronger. "But one day, I was tricked into an ambush. Hundreds of beys were launched at me, and during the assault, Leone was destroyed. The leader of the ambush's bey was an Arachnid, which started my phobia, I guess you could say.

"Meanwhile, I was badly injured, in more ways than mentally, with lots of cuts and scratches along my arms and legs. In fact, I even broke my wrist, when I fell and landed on it. I had to stop blading for a whole year, in case I injured it again. After that year, I went through several beyblades, but none of them lived up to my standards. Then, my… granddad… passed away…" Charice trailed off. "And he left me his bey, Rock Wyvern. Now, Wyvern is a bey like no other. Its fusion wheel can enhance both its attacks and its defence, though I don't know how. On top of all that, Wyvern can spin both ways. But I usually use right spin.

"That's why I'm really scared of spiders. I'm scared that the same thing that happened to Earth Leone will happen to Rock Wyvern… I know it shouldn't affect me, but it just does. I can't explain it." Charice finished.

Kyoya stood in silence. This was overwhelming him. One minute, Charice was refusing to say anything, and the next, she was spilling everything.

"I don't know how to get over my fear, though."

"Hmm… this has just given me an idea." Kyoya finally said and grinned, showing his gleaming white fangs.

-XD-

"You want to borrow my beyblade? Why?"

Kyoya's 'great' idea was to borrow Grant's beyblade and use it to help Charice's blading against Arachnids.

"I want to use it for blading practice."

"Why? You're a blader; you have your own bey."

"Just give me the bey!" Kyoya demanded.

"Ok…"

-XD-

"Ready Charice?" Kyoya attached Poison Arachnid to his launcher.

"Not really but I don't have a choice." Charice replied.

Trembling, Charice fastened Rock Wyvern on to her launcher.

"3… 2… 1… LET IT RIP!"

"I promise I'll go easy on you, Charice!"

"That's not what I want."

"Huh?"

"I want you to give it all you've got since that's how Aaden's going to fight, isn't he? He's not going to go easy on me, not in the Beyblade World Championships!"

"Your choice. Arachnid, show her your power! And show me too, in case I have to fight you later." Kyoya added in an undertone.

A gigantic tarantula appeared.

"Wyvern, crush that spider!"

Charice's beast, an enormous purple dragon (a wyvern) roared its cry for all to hear.

'Amazing! It's like Charice has already forgotten her fear of spiders!' Kyoya thought.

He checked Grant's list of special moves.

"Arachnid, Poison Missile!" Kyoya ordered.

Several violet missile-like things shot out of Arachnid's gaping mouth, as it clicked threateningly at Wyvern.

"Wyvern! Dodge it!" Charice smiled. It was so different when fighting one of her friends instead of an enemy: it was much more fun and enjoyable. Plus, when she saw Kyoya issuing orders to the spider, it was less scary than some random stranger doing it.

Wyvern obliged, and it zigzagged in between the missiles, dodging each one with ease.

"Wyvern! Attack!"

The purple beast let out another roar, before charging towards the spider, sharp claws outstretched, teeth bared menacingly.

"Arachnid, counter-attack!"

Arachnid screeched, and rushed towards the attacking Wyvern, fangs gleaming in the daylight.

Sparks flew as the two beys clashed head on, seemingly equal in power.

Then, Wyvern fell back, before continuing its assault, stronger than ever.

Slowly, Arachnid was pushed backwards, towards the edge of the practice stadium.

"Arachnid, Mud Sheet!"

At once, the stadium around the two beys turned to mud, causing Wyvern's attack to falter, also allowing Arachnid to escape.

Arachnid glided over the mud like it was nothing.

It attacked Wyvern while it was weak, making it wobble dangerously.

"No! Wyvern! Um…" Charice thought.

'Let's see… Arachnid is a Balance type, so its defence and attack are balanced, but what about its stamina? Maybe, if I go into defence mode…'

"Wyvern, head to the middle of the stadium!"

Wyvern steadied itself, before gliding towards the centre.

"What, going on defensive? That won't work! Arachnid, Mud Sheet, again!"

Once again, the stadium floor around Arachnid turned to mud, as it headed towards Wyvern.

"Wyvern! Spread your wings!"

"What?"

Just before Arachnid hit it, Wyvern jumped up into the air, spinning gracefully.

"But how?" Kyoya asked, befuddled.

"You see, Wyvern has a special performance tip that allows it to jump into the air from an unmoving position. I can't really explain it, so… ATTACK!"

Wyvern sped back towards the ground vertically, aiming straight at the top of Arachnid.

The beys met with a crash and dust filled the air.

As the dust cleared, it could be seen clearly that Wyvern was the winner, spinning next to Arachnid, which was now embedded in the stadium surface.

"Yay!" Charice caught Wyvern happily, and went over to help Kyoya wrench Arachnid out of the stadium ground.

"Well done; it seems like my training's done." Kyoya smiled slightly, standing up. "I think you'll do fine against Aaden." He turned to leave.

"Wait! Before you leave and change back into your usual grumpy self, I want to ask you one thing, and tell you one thing! The question is: why were you even in Philippines?"

"Why? Isn't it obvious? We wanted to see what we were up against."

'Yep, he's gone back to his moody self.'

"And I wanted to say thank you. For everything, Kyoya."

"It was nothing." Kyoya stuck his hand in his pocket, held up a hand in farewell, and left.

"Wow. Talk about bipolar. Huh. Well, I'd better get back to the hotel. Bet Nile and those guys are freaking out." Charice shrugged, following Kyoya out of the bey stadium.

-XD-

"HOW ON EARTH DID YOU JUMP OUT OF A 12 STORY HIGH BUILDING AND SURVIVE WITHOUT BREAKING ANYTHING?" Miku yelled at Charice as she entered the dorm.

"Eh? I dunno… I just did it…" Charice answered, glancing at Nile.

Said Blader was gazing out of the window, seemingly oblivious to the conversation.

"'You just did it'? That's not an answer!"

"Miku, come off it. Shouldn't you be more worried about the tournament tomorrow? We need to decide who's fighting who." Alex said.

"I'm fighting Aaden." Charice said at once, causing everyone to whirl around to face her.

"But you're supposed to fight Grant!" Mitsuki cried.

"I'm sorry, but I promised him. Plus, I want revenge."

"Ooh! I dibs Gr-" Miku started, but was cut off by Alex.

"I'll fight anybody."

"Hey! I was going to say-"

"Can I fight Grant, then?" Mitsuki asked.

"Ooh… fine! I'll wait 'til the next round! These guys will probably not be worth fighting, anyway!" Miku pouted, although she looked excited at the thought of her next battle.

"Then it's settled: we'll give it all we've got!"

"Yeah!" The team chorused.

"I feel that I'm being ignored." Nile puffed.

You likey? You review, you get Aaden plushie. You no review, you no get Aaden plushie. Simples.

SO! THE NEXT CHAPPIE HAS THE BATTLE! Well, the first one. Yeah. I'm not a snake. I'm a dragon. I'm a wyvern. Continue scrolling down and click on that nicely shaded review box, and you'll be a wyvern too! XD