Setsuna-chan: Hey guys! We're back with a new chapter.
Warstock: This one is made to be a little more relaxing, considering that the previous chapters were more serious than usual.
Setsuna-chan & Warstock: So please enjoy this new chappie.
Disclaimer: Warstock and chibi Setsuna-chan don't own Beyblade nor it's characters. They belong to Takao Aoki. They do own the characters of the Tsubasa Elite and Grim Reapers and the plot of this story. Enjoy your reading.
Chapter 14: Let's have some fun part 1
The next morning, Takato woke up early, he glanced at the clock and yawned
"Hmm, 7 am, not too shabby for once."
He dressed in his normal attire and went to the bathroom, where he met Satoshi.
"Am I seeing things?" questionned Satoshi.
Takato arched his eyebrow.
"Well... you're up..." said his best friend with a smile on his face.
"Very funny Satoshi. I just had a bad dream. You know, when you feel that things are going to get out of hand." said Takato.
"Well, it is Setsuna's birthday. What could possibly go wrong?" replied Satoshi.
Takato shrugged his shoulders and both guys went down the stairs and they walked to the kitchen to see Reanne eating a bowl of cereal.
"Hey love!" said Satoshi.
"Morning guys!" told a sleepy Reanne.
"Setsuna's not awake yet?" asked Takato.
"Doesn't seem like it. She was exhausted." responded Reanne. "Are you guys ready for today?"
"Yeah. We're supposed to meet them at 9." said Takato.
"Good!" told Reanne, while holding her thumb up.
"Anyway, there's a lot of things to do." said Takato. "But first, Satoshi, I'll let you handle the start of everything. I have to go pick something up."
"Setsuna's gift?", inquired Takato's best friend.
"Yeah, something like that." Takato answered.
Takato prepared his things and was about to leave when a hand landed on his shoulders.
"Where are you going?", asked a sleepy voice.
"Outside. Why?" said Takato turning to see Setsuna looking at him with an "are-you-kidding-me" stare.
"We have to prepare for our next match." answered the green-haired girl.
"First of all, happy birthday to you. Secondly, how do you want us to participate in our next match without blades?" replied Takato.
"I thought you took care of that!" answered Setsuna.
"I did. Now, if you'll excuse me. I have a jogging to do." said Takato and he left the house.
Meanwhile, Setsuna went into the kitchen, prepared toasted bread with peanut butter and sugar and sat down at the table next to Reanne.
"What's up with him?" demanded Setsuna, talking about Takato.
"Nothing, Why?" replied Satoshi.
"I don't know. Since you guys rescued me, he seems different." said Setsuna.
Satoshi made a face, but didn't say a word, as he recalled the event well. He knew exactly what was going through his friend's head. Fornutely for the young man, Setsuna didn't see the face he did. So he kept his mouth shut and gave pleading glances to his girlfriend to keep their captain occupied.
Takato did his morning run, undisturbed. After 45 minutes of running, he headed towards his parents house. Upon knocking, he came face to face with his dad.
"Hi dad." said Takato.
"Takato, good to see you. I can't stay long though. The boss called for a meeting. If you want to see Shotaro, he's out cold in the basement. Seems like he's been working on beyblades for quite some time." told Takato's dad.
"Yeah, that's my fault. It's our team blades. They got destroyed earlier this week.", answered grimly the silver headed teen.
"Grim Reapers?" asked his father.
"Yeah. It wasn't the tournament battle. We managed to beat them, but the results was that our blades were destroyed, especially Setsuna's. She faced the acid of Zephira, Aria's beast. It's a miracle Ember survived and won the match." said Takato.
"Well, I'm sure Shotaro came up with good upgrades, as usual. Well, I got to go.I'm going to be late if I stay longer." affirmed the older silver haired man.
"Wait! One question. Do you mind if I drag Shotaro in the team?" said Takato.
Takato's father arched an eyebrow at his older son.
"As a tech of course!" added Takato.
His dad smiled and nodded his assent. He then left and Takato went down the stairs to wake up his brother. Takato knocked on the door.
"It's open..." said the groggy voice of Shotaro.
Takato opened the door and on the bed, still dressed, was Shotaro. On the worktable, remains of the old blades were there, while 4 new blades and launchers were neatly resting in an individual box. Takato was amazed at the skills his brother had. He easily rivaled Kenny of the BBA Revolution.
"What was the time when you went to sleep?" demanded Takato.
"Around 4. The blades are done and they're better than what you guys had. One test was sufficiant to see what was missing in your old ones." answered Shotaro.
Takato took the launcher next to Wing Flame and indeed, it was lighter. The way it was done, less strenght would be needed. Still, Takato grunted in pain as his hand hadn't completely healed.
"Next time, don't smash any walls..." said Shotaro, half smiling.
"I'll try." replied Takato. "By the way, do you have anything special coming up in the upcoming weeks?"
"No, why do you ask?", questionned Shotaro.
"Want to join the team?", asked Takato.
"I don't know if dad would let me..." answered Shotaro.
"He said yes already." said Takato.
"Hmm why not! It's not like I'll be missing a lot here and I'll be closer to the action.", smiled the younger Takeshi brother.
"And a tech to our team." sheepishly added Takato.
"I knew there was a catch.", sighed Shotaro.
Takato made a face to which Shotaro just laughed. Half an hour later, Shotaro had packed everything he needed to be the tech of Tsubasa Elite.
"Won't Setsuna be mad at you?" asked Shotaro. "I mean, for dragging me like that?"
"She might be, but we need a tech with us. The company can't build 4 blades in less than 24 hours like you did." answered the silver haired teen.
They arrived to the Tsubasa Elite's home. Takato took out the extra mattress from under his bed for his brother. Shotaro put his bag down and got the blades out.
"So I'll go over the basics here." explained Shotaro. "I designed each beyblade to fit its blader' strategies. Like you and Setsuna, it's mostly offense, while Satoshi put his bet on defense. Reanne style is overall, I'd say. So, for Satoshi, I added a little more weight to Wind Eagle, just to make sure he doesn't get knocked out easily. In terms of blading, his blade would be a 2-4-2. The defense is high and Satoshi will need to put more strength in his launch. But with that, it should give him a edge defensively. It's new design will help him slow down his oponents. For Reanne, I didn't change Catalania that much. I just made the top with more curves. That will give Reanne higher speed at the beginning, giving less frictions. I do wonder why the guys at the company didn't see that. Overall her blade is a 3-3-2"
Shotaro stopped to breathe and Takato handed him a bottle of water from his room fridge. His little brother took a big gulp before continuing.
"Ember took a lot of damage, so I started from scratch. Setsuna' style is similar to yours, but she uses more speed than you. You have the fire spin to help you, while she has not. Or maybe she does and I don't know . Well the laucher I made for it gives her higher speed and power. I put a heavier ring than what she had. That will help her knock out the other blades easily. Unfortunely, I can't do a thing for acid drops. Also, even though the ring his heavier, Ember does not weight that much more. Because the rest of the beyblade is made of an alliage of light steel, making it more resistant, it keeps the blade's weight similar to the original's. Setsuna's stats are 4-2-3. She lost a bit of defense for a lot of offense. As for my masterpiece version two. Wing Flame is anew. Wearing a new red and black wardrobe, it's quite fashionable. " Shotaro laughed then stopped. "Seriously, the ring has a slightly jagged edge all over to give you the advantage in the battle. While your attacks are more forceful, you may have to use the fire spin to counter the fact that your hand is hurt. Like I said, adrenalin can't help you much more, so listen to me for once. Wing Flames stats are upgraded to 4-3-2. For now, that's all I can do for you guys. You'll need to train with your new blades. Good training session should do the trick to keep up with the improvements I did."
"I see. That's good to hear. Good work, little bro." said Takato. "Are you up for a party?"
"Well, I didn't have enough sleep, but I think I can put up with it." answered the younger man.
Takato smiled. He took the box containing Wind Eagle and the launcher and put it in his best friend room. He did the same with Reanne's. When he came back in his room, he fished a shoe box from the wardrobe and put Ember in it with the launcher.
"Our present for our captain.", smiled Takato. "You did it and I paid for it... heh heh heh"
The laugh was so fake that Shotaro, from lack of sleep, laughed for real.
Both brothers then left and walked to the place where the party would be held. They opened the door. The two men stopped dead in their tracks. The room had no decorations at all. Tyson and Max were running at each other, while Satoshi looked at them bewildered.
"What the...?" asked Takato, surprise in his tone.
"Sorry, coming in..." said Tala behind Takato. "I'll need a chair, please... "
In his hands, strapped on his shoulders, was a mattress. A big one. And it was moving.
"Is that what or should I say who I think this is?" questionned Takato, dumbfounded.
Tala grinned evilly.
"He didn't want to tag along. It was the only way..."
Tala unfolded the mattress to reveal a very angry Kai. Tala took the bluenette and put him on the chair. He produced a rope from his pockets to tie him there.
"Release me, Tala!" growled Kai, ice in his voice. "Now!"
"I can't do that. You'll have to do what I said." grinned playfully Tala.
"I don't want to throw a birthday party...", said Kai.
"Even for a girl that is falling head over heels for you?" asked Tyson.
"That's precisely why I don't want to!" said Kai firmly. "You guys have no right to keep me here. RELEASE ME!"
"Tell you what, Kai." told Takato, a plan forming in his head. "You help us throw the birthday party and no harm will come to you. But if you refuse to help us, we leave you here, tied to this chair and we bring Setsuna here. I'll let you imagine the fangirl mode she's going to be in."
Kai looked, fear crossing his face. at Takato.
"She has more than one mode?"
"Yes", said the silver-haired man. "You... have... no... idea..."
Tala sweatdrop. 'Crap! What is he going to do to me after she gets her way with him?' he thought.
Kai let his head fall down.
"Left pocket, my card's there."
"Thank you, Kai..." said Satoshi as he retrieved the said card and handed it to Tyson.
"You guys go buy decorations and please hurry up."
Satoshi had finished the sentence that the door closed on Max and Tyson.
"Geez, that's fast." said Shotaro.
"I saw them eat three bowls each of hyper sugar-coated cereals", said Satoshi.
Takato's eyes widened.
"Oh my..."
Meanwhile, while everything was going slowly on the boys side, Reanne took Setsuna's on a shopping spree. First, for the birthday, second, to cheer her up. After raiding the video store and book store, the girls left happyly, with a lot less cash but with more mangas and anime than ever. They dropped everything home and Reanne saw her beyblade in her room.
"Hmm, looks different" she thought.
Reanne left the blade there. Today wasn't a day to worry about blades. It was a day to celebrate her captain's birthday.
Less than an hour later, the room was ready and decorations hung from everywhere. Even Kai helped, after punching Tala as soon as Takato released him from his tied up position. The room was ready, food was being prepared and cake was in the fridge. Takato ordered a giant chocolate cake fit for 25 people. Takato's phone rang. He checked it and saw a text message from Reanne saying they were coming over there soon. He warned everyone and they hid under the tables. Takato hid beside the door, near the lights. He closed them. And waited for the girls to open the doors.
Upon arriving at the place, Reanne asked Setsuna to put a blindfold on. She looked suspisciously at her best friend, but complied. She knew Reanne and the boys planned something for her.
'Well it would be nice to relax even for one evening' thought Setsuna.
Reanne put the blindfold on her captain and led the girl into the place where her birthday party was being held. She opened the doors to the reception hall and told Setsuna to remove the blindfold. The green headed girl couldn't see a thing as it was pitch black in there. There was movement to her right and the lights lit up. While being blinded by the light, she heard of chorus of happy birthday shouted her way. All she could do was smile. But when her vision returned to her, the first person she saw was Kai being present. Her smile got bigger at the sight of him. She joined the party, the music started and everyone was having fun.
The time to eat had arrived so everyone took their places at the table. On a slight twist of fate, Kai was sitting on the left side of Setsuna, Takato on the right. Shotaro sat next to his big brother. The rest was dispersed around the table. Takato took his spoon and rang his glass. He then got up.
"I'd like to thank everyone that came today. First of all, thank you Kai for making this birthday possible. Without you, I don't think we could have made it." started the silver haired man.
Everyone applauded and Kai got a light shade of red.
"Second of all, I'd like to wish happy birthday to my wonderful captain."
A new round of applause was heard and Setsuna joined Kai, with her slight redden cheeks.
"And last, but not least, I'd like to present the newest member of Tsubasa Elite, my brother, Shotaro, who will act as our tech on the road." finished Takato.
Shotaro turned red like a tomato and bowed a little. Takato sat down.
"Well, Itadaki...OW"
Takato was shut up by a slap behind the head from Setsuna. The silver-haire man turned to his captain with a quizzical look on his face.
"You could have asked me before announcing it." said Setsuna.
"Sorry!" said Takato. "I thought we needed an expert beyblade builder to help us. We can't always count on the company."
"I definitely agree." replied Setsuna. "I wouldn't have said no..."
"Then why the slap?", asked Takato.
"Oh well you know, a slap behind the head is the wake-up call telling you not to forget who's captain. Next time, just talk to me beforehand. Okay?"
"Yes ma'am." answered Takato, half joking with the military act, half serious as he knew that the main decisions concerning Tsubasa Elite were approuved by her.
Everyone ate and they all thought the food was fantastic. After all that, the cake was served. Even though it was a chocolate cake, Setsuna didn't dive in as much as Takato thought she would. Everything went smoothly. After a while, it was Reanne's turn to ring the glass. Everyone turned to look at her.
"I think it's time for the gifts. What do you guys say?" she said, a smile plastered on her face.
"Yeeeaaaahhh... " they all cheered.
Disclaimer: Lucky you, Setsuna-chan. You get to sit next to Kai.
Setsuna-chan: Of course, I wouldn't want it any other way.
Warstock: Then again, it happen because everyone knows that if Kai wasn't by her side, she'd cry rather than being happy about her birthday.
Red Dux: You don't say...
Disclaimer: Anyway, I can't wait to see what kind of gifts she'll receive.
Red Dux: I think that just the fact that Kai was there is a big enough gift, but who knows what these nutcases of authors have in mind and in store for the readers. And for our characters, for that matter.
Setsuna-chan & Warstock: You have no idea! (evil grin from both authors) So please review!