This is MidnightStar's request of a deleted scene of sorts from the episode where Max and Mariam are stuck in the collapsing building. The wait was long and I should be reprimanded. I'll have to have a talk with myself.
More requests coming up in the near future. If anyone would like to change their request they are free to do so, since it has been forever and a day since they were made. Preferences may have changed.
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.
Outtake
Max inhaled a little too deeply and coughed, choking on the dust that thickly clouded the air. He squinted at his surroundings, desperate to find Mariam before the building came down on top of them both.
"Mariam!" his call rang stale through the thundering roar of iron support beams and stone collapsing onto one another. The chaotic harmony made his ears ring.
He coughed again, more violently this time, and covered his mouth and nose with his hands. They smelled metallic and he realized that he was still clutching Draciel from when he had recalled it. He quickly slipped the blade into his pocket, not wanting to risk losing it.
The absence of a hand covering his nose caused another fit of coughs. He thought for a minute that the pulling of his collar was actually him choking to death. That was until he collided with the very body he'd been searching for. He squeaked when his brain registered that colliding with Mariam had squashed their bodies together, face to face and chest to chest, and tripped over his own feet trying to untangle from her. They both went down.
"Ow!" she shrieked, falling hard on her butt. "Ma-ax!"
"Sorry," he mumbled, spitting out blood as he sat up. "At least you're not the one that fell face first."
"That's not the point! Every time I'm anywhere alone with you, you fall on top of me! Are you trying to cop a feel or something?"
His face was overtaken by a spectacular blush. "No!" he stated firmly. "You're the one who grabbed my shirt, remember?"
"What, you think I enjoy having you fall on top of me? When I grabbed your collar I thought you knew how to stand like any normal person! Little did I know you have less balance than a two year-old!"
Max attempted a glare.
Mariam raised an eyebrow.
He frowned. "Look, Mariam. I know you don't like me at all-"
"We're enemies," she stated flatly.
Max huffed. "Yes, but arguing isn't going to get us out of here. Do you think we could call a truce just until we're safely out of this mess?"
She stared at him. One eyebrow was still raised. Max shuffled nervously under her gaze – he didn't like that look. She had defiance, anger and reluctance all packed into one glare, and it made him want to sink into the ground. And at the same time it annoyed him to no end.
"Your lip is still bleeding Max." She hopped to her feet and smoothed her skirt, turning on her heel. "And your nose is, too."
Max sat there with his jaw hanging and eyebrows knit together in an emotion that couldn't quite be called anger – it was more so incredulity. He didn't think he'd ever met someone so complex and difficult to be around! But still, something about her intrigued him. It was either the underlying possibility that she was more than she appeared and was hiding her true self for the sake of some Mission, or the fact that Max found her to be the most attractive-without-trying girl he'd ever seen.
"Well?" she almost growled at him.
He gave his own growl under his breath, and wiped the blood from his face before clambering to his feet. He walked purposefully past her, towards a giant crevice in the wall that opened up into a hallway he could only guess would lead to their escape. Then he stopped. "Ladies first."
Mariam rolled her eyes and shoved herself through. The broken pipes, wires and rough stone were hard to avoid, but she made it. "Are you coming?" she asked, turning to challenge Max from the other side. "Or will I have to send a search party back with a body bag?"
Max's eyes shot heavenward briefly, before he squirmed through. He was almost home free when his foot caught, causing him to lose his balance the second time that day. He fell, hands first, onto Mariam. In the scramble to get off of her, he was pretty sure he touched some places that he shouldn't have. She was swearing at him – some he recognized, some he didn't. This was going to be a long day.