Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade, nor have Takao Aoki chained up in my closet, which is why I have to write this.
So hello everyone! Well despite CONSTANT whining from my room service girl, begging for me to take her shift tomorrow...life is wonderful! My boss offered me another position in the company, so I will be working 2 jobs...meaning I need to really crack down on writing! :S
Oh...plus the fact the province is burning down...
Some of you may have heard about the Fort Mac Wildfire that is going on, which is just a few hours north of here. I'm fine, but my city has taken in the evacuees with open arms...AND HOLY CRAP THE PICTURES OF THE DEVASTATION IS BEYOND AMAZING! Any of you authors wanting to describe a massive inferno with accuracy...look up some of those photos and videos!
Anyways, I'd love to thank Little A Granger, CorynofHoole and Tyka's Flower for being the ever faithful and amazing reviewers.
A special thank-you to Demons of the arch angel for putting up with my crappy grammar and spelling because I write everything at something stupid in the morning. You're amazing girl!
WARNINGS: Um...make sure you have heart medication with you?
Enjoy Chapter 41!
"Wow, I can't believe it! You knock these guys down and they get right back up again! How do they do it?!" Shouted DJ Jazzman as Gin of the Gale walked in with the rest of the former Bladebreakers team and Brooklyn walking right next to him. The ginger's usual care-free smile was replaced by a hard, stone-cold glare. He was clearly out for blood.
The audience went crazy at the entrance, while the rouge bladers scowled; Their plan was not working.
Their mission was to take out all of Kai's allies, Kai himself, and win the tournament, but the clever Russian was somehow able to keep all his pieces on the board. Which displeased Boris, and after a solid hour of the former abbey priest yelling at them through video chat, he had made himself perfectly clear: They were not to fail again.
"Let's get our next match underway!" Dj Jazzman turned to the mega-screen and the next pairings were randomly selected. "Today our match-ups are:
Eric vs Tyson
Pam vs Brooklyn
Alceed vs Kai
Tala vs Hiro
Bryan vs Ray
Rick vs Max
William will be getting a by this round due to the uneven amount of players. The matches start in 5 minutes!"
Kai and Tyson shared a nod. They had to put everything they had on the line and take revenge for all the bladers that Boris' recruits had hurt. Eric and Alceed each had 2 strikes. Just one more loss and they were out of the tournament. Max walked up to Kai.
"Be careful. Alceed has some sort of ice-type bitbeast. Before I fell, I swear he stabbed me with some sort of ice-spear."
Kai and Tyson's eyes widened, then the Dranzer wielder scoffed. "Don't worry about me Max. You should be focusing on your own battle."
"Yeah, but if something happens to you, you're not as easy to heal as the rest of us. Tyson is the only other person who can connect with Dranzer, and if something happens to the both of you-"
"C'mon Maxie, have a little faith in us, will ya?" laughed the Champion, cutting off the blonde as he hooked an arm around his friend's shoulder. "Kai and I can take care of whatever those creeps throw at us." he released the Draciel holder and gave his signature smile before walking off with Kai to their respective matches.
The American sighed. 'I sure hope you're right Tyson, but even players as great as you and Kai are, you're not invincible.'
"Players ready?" The referee asked as the 12 bladers stared down their opponent "3...2...1! Let it RIIIP!"
Right from the launch Kai came at Alceed with a heavy onslaught of attacks, hoping to end the battle as quickly as possible; However, it soon became apparent that his attacks weren't doing any damage.
"Heh, really? Is this all the 'Mighty Kai' is capable of?" chuckled Alceed, "I was hoping for some kind of challenge."
Kai growled in anger and turned his attention towards the turquois blade, trying to figure out why his attacks weren't working. He analyzed his opponent's blade closely, it's specs didn't come close to his Dranzer...so why was he losing? He paid close attention to the way Alceed's blade moved and it dawned on him! It was similar to the way Max battled with Draciel. Right at the last second, the turquoise blade would move slightly so it wouldn't get the full brunt of the attack and actually gain power. "Hn. I've figured out your little trick." He enjoyed the scowl that came over the Sharkeye wielder's face. "Its time to show you one of my own! Go Dranzer!"
On the ground, Tyson was trying hold on as Dragoon and Hawkeye collided. The aftershocks were rattling his body to the core, spiking his adrenaline. In the middle of the beydish a huge tornado had formed and he and Eric were fighting for dominance of the storm. "C'mon Dragoon, I know we can finish this guy!" Closing his eyes in concentration, Tyson channelled more energy into his blade and the winds shifted in his favour. This was it! Now all he had to-
He coughed as the air was knocked out of his lungs and he spit blood onto the stadium floor as pain radiated from his chest, breaking his concentration and he lost control of the twister as he fell to his knees. As he heard Eric's malicious laughter, he narrowed his eyes into a deadly glare. "That was such a cheap shot! Do you even know how to play this game without cheating?!" He bellowed, trying not to show weakness as he felt warm blood trickle down his torso from the gaping wound on his chest.
"No and I don't care to!" A crazed look spread over the blonde's face. "My only orders are to make sure that you're out of the way in whatever way I see fit. Good-bye Tyson Kinomiya, this will hurt."
Above, Kai was struggling against Sharkeye's icy attacks as spears of ice sprang out from all sides, including underground, all of them aimed at Dranzer, as the small blue blade skillfully navigated around each of them. This was one of the few times where Kai was grateful that he had spent so many hours painstakingly perfecting Dranzer's agility, weaving in and out of pebbles, thumbtacks and whatever other items he could find. But enough was enough. "DRANZER!" He cried, pouring more of his soul in his blade so now it glowed scarlet and it began attacking each pillar of ice, shattering them.
Alceed however was unfazed. "If you're so good Hiwatari, let's see you get out of this! Ice Cage!" Sharkeye rose up from the blade and encased Dranzer into a prison of frozen water, the walls were nothing but thick sheets of solid ice. A manic gleam twinkled in the brunette's eye. "Enclose."
It was a devastating loss.
Eric concentrated the tornado on Dragoon, hacking the blade to bits, while Sharkeye's ice cage enclosed around Dranzer, completely crushing the navy blade. On the Wind and Fire Master's faces were matching expressions of disbelief.
A stunned silence fell over the crowd as the greatest titans of Beyblading were left picking up the pieces.
"Arg! Those fucking little cheats!" screamed Tyson as he slammed his fist into the wall, too angry to even feel the pain.
It was rare for Tyson to swear and Kenny found himself backing away from the bluenette in fear. He glanced over at Kai, but the Phoenix Master just had his head bowed and his fists clenched. It was bad enough when one of them was mad, but both?! He glanced over at Max and Ray for help, but they both had solemn expressions on their faces; Clearly feeling if neither Kai nor Tyson could beat the rogue bladers, there was no chance for victory.
The room fell into a deafening silence.
WHAM!
Everyone's eyes landed on Hilary, who had slammed her hand on the table. "Alright! That's enough moping! All of you have one strike left, and Mr. Dickenson said that there will be a three day break before they go into the Top 10. I've seen you boys work miracles in half that time! So what do you say?" She looked at the boys with fierce, but hopeful eyes.
Max, Ray and Tyson all exchanged glances.
"She's right, since when do we give up?" said Max, putting out his hand.
"Ha! The Bladebreakers never knew the meaning of those words and neither do we." stated the Drigger wielder, putting his hand over Max's and looking to Tyson.
"We will show the world why we became World Champions and kick those creeps to the curb!" Tyson placed his hand over Ray's and looked over at Kai. "And what kind of team would we be without our captain?"
Kai looked up and saw the smiling faces of his friends and his heart gave a flutter. That's right. Winning, losing, it didn't matter, they would stick by each other's side until the bitter end. He placed his hand over Tyson's. "Heh, a pretty lousy one."
"There's our wet-blanket." They exchanged knowing smiles.
"First thing's first," They all looked to the Chief, "you all need new blades. Give me the night to finish
the proto-types I've been working on." said Kenny, his eyes glancing over at Hilary, amazed that she alone had reignited their spirits.
"Sounds like a plan Chief!" Tyson gave him a thumbs up and handed him his Dragoon. "It's time to show the world what we're made of!"
"Speaking of that, are you sure you're okay buddy?" said Max pointing to the blood that was soaking through Tyson's yellow t-shirt.
"Oh yeah. It's just a scratch Maxie, I'll be ok in no time!"
Upon hearing this, Kai's protective instincts kicked into overdrive. He walked up to Tyson. "Let's see."
The cheeks on the bluenette's face became rosey. "W-Why?"
"Because you have a bad habit of saying your injuries are nothing." The Russian deadpanned.
"Like when?!"
"Like the time you got stabbed."
"Kai, this isn't like that, I swear!" protested the younger.
"Your shirt, off."
"Oh you can't be serious!"
Ray stepped forward. "If there isn't a problem, then it shouldn't be a big deal, right Tyson?"
"Yeah, we've all seen you shirtless before." teased Max.
Tyson looked around, desperate for any reason not to show his friend's his injuries, but his last hope was already walking out the door. Hilary turned around and winked at him. "Good luck Tyson!" she giggled before she and Kenny walked out.
Tyson's left eyebrow twitched in irritation. Was he that predictable?
"Shirt off Kinomiya." Kai repeated.
The Champion sighed. He really should re-consider wearing yellow. Out of options, he took off his red jacket and slowly his hands went to the hem of his t-shirt and he slowly pulled it over his head. Ray's face instantly went pale and Max looked like he was ready to be sick. "What? It can't be that bad right?" He went to look-
"Don't you dare look down!" Kai's stern, slightly panicked voice made him freeze as the Russian walked over to him. Tyson looked up and found himself lost in the depths of soft rubies. "I'm shocked you can't feel anything." He drew the boy into a hug and Tyson felt a wetness on his cheek before a bright light surrounded the both of them. The Phoenix Master pulled away.
Tyson blinked. "I'm confused...I thought you were supposed to conserve Dranzer's power?"
"Tyson, there was a cut on your stomach...your intestine was coming out!" shouted Max.
"...ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!" shouted Tyson in alarm, quickly looking down to see nothing but smooth tanned skin.
Feeling a headache coming on, Kai pinched the bridge of his nose. "You seriously didn't feel it?"
"What? No! Some cheating cocksucker just destroyed Dragoon! Sorry if pain is the last thing on my mind!"
A knock at the door interrupted their discussion, as the boys looked at each other in confusion. No one ever knocked. They usually just burst right in...
"Door's open!" called Max.
When the visitor entered Kai's eyes immediately narrowed while the other three males stared at the newcomer in confusion. "What are you doing here?" asked Kai hotly.
The deputy CEO of Hiwatari Enterprises, Nathan Rivers stepped into the room. "Sorry sir, I didn't mean to intrude, but I've been watching the tournament and it has just been crazy! I had no idea what I was missing out on all these years!" His blue eyes glanced at Tyson's naked upper torso and his breath hitched. Those defined muscles. Smooth caramel skin. It was something like out of one his fantasies.
"You don't know the half of it." muttered Tyson, recalling all the events that had taken place off-camera over the last few days. He walked to his locker and pulled out a fresh yellow t-shirt from his bag and put it on.
"Why are you here Rivers?" Kai repeated, his voice slightly more dangerous.
"I was just hoping for a chance to meet with the World Champion himself, if he isn't too busy?"
All eyes on the room landed on the Japanese male, with Max's expression clearly saying "He's your crazy fan, deal with it." But the Champion's trademark smile worked its way onto his cheeks. "So, you've decided you want to officially meet the World Champion personally?" he said with a cocky tone, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Yeah! You're amazing! How do you get your blade to produce tornadoes like that?"
"Tricks of the trade my friend, tricks of the trade." he wrapped his arm around the smartly-dressed man's shoulders, "But I will happily tell you over lunch!" he slowly led the man out the door and down the hallway.
Max shook his head. "That Tyson, anything to get a free meal, eh?"
"Speaking of lunch, we should get some too, right Kai? Can't train on an empty stomach!" said Ray cheerfully to his former captain.
However the Hiwatari was still staring at the door, suspicion evident in his eyes, as he couldn't help but to wonder why he was getting such a bad feeling.
"Yeah so, Kai got off the ground, made this EPIC speech and he totally wasted Brooklyn! It was the most amazing match I have ever seen!"
Nathan looked at his companion, impressed. "Really? Even after all those attacks, Kai won?"
"Yeah, sliced Brooklyn's blade in half and everything!"
"Wow, sounds impressive."
"Yeah. Kai is the most amazing beyblader I have ever seen!"
"Yeah, I've seen a few of his matches this tournament, he seems to be in a class of his own."
Nathan was on the end of his rope. He had taken Tyson to a fancy 5-star restaurant and not only was Tyson eating everything in sight, but he had spoken about nothing other than Kai for the last 2 hours! And if it wasn't about Kai, then it was about beyblading! Surely this kid had other interests and abilities? The Kai Hiwatari had hired him to be his personal assistant after all and he didn't hire just anyone.
Then again, Tyson Kinomiya wasn't just anyone was he? His title aside, he was kind, intelligent and simply gorgeous to look at...Wait...he and Kai weren't together...were they? Now was a good time to ask as any- the bluenette had finally stopped talking... "So tell me Tyson, are you single?"
Tyson choked on his chicken wing before pounding on his chest and took a huge gulp of water. "Woah dude, where did that come from?!"
Nathan shrugged. "It's just a question. I mean with all your adoring fans, one just has to wonder, right?"
The teenager's cheeks went red. "Um...actually I've never dated anyone. I've just been so focused on beyblading and school, I've never really thought about it."
Ok, so Kai and Tyson weren't an item. Perfect. He reached out and grasped the boy's hand, making the pony-tailed teen look at him curiously. "Then maybe you should start thinking about it." he watched as tan cheeks became several shades redder. "Look, I like you. I really like you, would you give me the honour of being your first?"
"...I see." The air grew heavy as blue-bangs covered doe-brown eyes and there was a tense silence as Nathan waited for the other male's answer. "I'm sorry." said the youth gently withdrawing his hand. "You seem to be a cool dude and all, but I'm not interested."
Nathan's heart fell. "Is it my gender?" he asked quietly.
Tyson held up his hands defensively as he gave a nervous laugh. "Nononono! It's nothing like that! The truth is...I kinda fell for someone else a long time ago, and I just haven't worked up the balls to tell them. You understand, right man?"
Nathan looked downcast so his black hair covered his eyes. "Is it Kai?" he asked bitterly.
Brown eyes narrowed. "It's none of your business on who it is. I'm not going to date you."
A cheerful smile suddenly graced the deputy CEO's features. "Of course, you're right. My apologies. Would you like to order dessert?"
At the mention of more food, Tyson brightened. "Oh yeah! Three slices of cake for me please!"
A $487.73 bill and an hour later, the two males were walking down the street, laughing and talking like old friends, when suddenly Tyson's vision started blurring and his eyes started feeling heavy as the street started spinning. "What's going on?"
"You must be still exhausted from your beybattle earlier. Come with me, I'll take you back to my place to rest."
"No, that's not it." As the teenager fought against the darkness, he recalled the last time he experienced a similar feeling. "You...drugged me."
"Shh. It'll be ok Tyson. I'll make you love me."
"N-no. Please...let me go." He struggled to keep his eyes open as his body collapsed against the nearest structure. "No...Kai..." His consciousness faded.
Kai...
Crimson eyes snapped open as the Russian sat up straight against the Dojo wall, on high alert. That voice- that had been Tyson's. He had been calling out to him. He glanced at the old grandfather clock across the room. Tyson had left with Rivers over 3 hours ago.
His heart was thudding against his ribcage rapidly and he felt like there was a thousand pounds on his chest.
Tyson was in trouble. He could feel it.
While editing this chapter, I had to stop and curse myself for being so evil.
Advanced Warning: The next chapter is going to be hard to read, because it was extremely hard just for me to write it.
Please review!
