Everyone was planning to get on the helicopter again to head to China, but after traveling around for so long they decided to stay at a nearby hotel that was close to the facility. They were led there by Judy and Emily.
"This is a pretty fancy place," Hilary said.
"It is. Look at it! They got butlers at every door, carpets as red as rubies, glass chandeliers everywhere... it's beautiful!" Max exclaimed. Everyone gave him an odd look. "What? A guy can't appreciate the beauty of a good hotel?" he asked, making them chuckle.
"Hang on. Since we're in a hotel..." Kenny started.
"That means a buffet," Daichi finished for him. Then, everybody else turned to look at Tyson, expecting him to jump up to the buffet and steal anything he could for food. But he didn't.
"Um, Hilary?" Daichi asked.
"Yes, Daichi?" Hilary replied.
"Why isn't Tyson scarfing down all the food at the buffet?" Daichi asked again, getting a chuckle from Tyson's girlfriend.
"Well, I taught him how to restrain himself. He still eats like a pig, and still eats a lot, but he's less hyperactive about it. Plus, he does need to keep that cute body in shape..." Hilary said, trailing off at the end. She realized what she said about Tyson's body, but didn't care; they were boyfriend and girlfriend.
"I did notice that Tyson has kept himself in better shape lately," Emily said. Kenny felt a slight pang of jealousy about that; he had a major crush on Emily, which was returned. But he let it slide as Tyson was his best friend, and he already had a girlfriend of his own. Hilary also felt a wee bit jealous, but squashed it down.
"So, where should we start?" Tyson asked, referring to the buffet. His tummy grumbled loudly.
"Really? You're not going to jump the gun?" Ray asked.
"Nope. But that won't stop me from eating like a king," Tyson replied, making the former White Tiger chuckle. The Beyblade champion stood true to his word. He got every type of food imaginable on his plate. Well, plates. There was no way one plate was gonna fit all the food that Tyson wanted on it. Everyone gave him a look of disgust mixed with amusement.
"That's our Tyson!" Max said.
"You're one to talk, blondie. At least I'm not the one who has mustard with his noodles," Tyson retorted.
"Yeah, well, at least it's just on my noodles. You have mustard, ketchup, soy sauce... pretty much everything on your food," Max replied with a smile.
"Everybody had better eat up quick. We're heading to China in the morning to visit the White Tigers. They could have some vital information that could help us crack further into whatever Boris and Doctor K are planning," Mr. Dickenson said.
"It would be good to see them again," Ray said offhandedly. By 'them', everybody knew that Ray meant 'her'.
"How is Mariah anyway?" Kai asked, immediately catching on. It made Ray stumble a bit, but he gritted his teeth and answered the question anyway.
"She's actually pretty great. I want to ask her to marry me at some point," Ray said. He then gave a look to Tyson. Tyson was the only person, besides Ray of course, who knew about Ray wanting to pop the question. Tyson kept it a secret for Ray.
"That's fantastic news! Have you picked out a ring?" Hilary asked.
"Sort of," Ray replied sheepishly.
"Just 'sort of'?" Hilary questioned jokingly.
"Let's just say it's a good thing we're off to China soon. The rings here are beautiful, but there's one back home I had my eye on. I would have gotten it, but then a certain Beyblade chairman called me to go to Fukuoka airport," Ray said, glaring at Mr. Dickenson. The White Tiger soon turned the glare off, and started smiling, which then turned to a hearty laugh, where he was soon joined by the others. He stopped laughing briefly to continue his sentence, "And then I met my friends again and then we wound up going all over the world, fighting old rivals and finding out who's been behind the kidnappings. So it's not all bad!"
Soon enough, they finished their meal. Unsurprisingly, Tyson was the fastest to finish, even with the fact he had the most food. He made a big mess as always.
"Well, it's getting late, and we need to head back to the facility," Emily said. She was right. It was pushing 11:00 pm now, and the Bladebreakers needed their sleep, and plenty of it. They hadn't gotten much rest since this whole trip started, so it could do them some good.
"It was good to see you again, Max," Judy said, giving her son a big hug.
"You too, mom," Max replied as Judy let go of the hug. Suddenly, Emily started walking over to Kenny.
"Um... do you need help with anything?" Kenny asked. His only reply was a kiss on his cheek, which caused him to blush.
"See you later, cutie," Emily said before following Judy out of the hotel's front doors. Kenny just stood there, a blush spread all across his face. Tyson was tempted to tease the young genius, but opted against it, simply saying "Well, I think it's time for bed. We got a lot of work to do."
They slept through the night without too much hassle. Mr. Dickenson had told them that they were off to China, which was a long way away, so they got as much rest in as they could. They were in the helicopter waiting to land in China.
"I bet Ray's happy," Tyson said.
"What makes you think that?" Ray replied.
"Well, the fact that you're going to meet your old teammates for one. And for two, you're gonna meet with her..." Tyson said, drifting off at the end on purpose. He was tempted to make fun of Ray for his relationship with Mariah, but he decided not to. Besides, Ray was smarter than him. Also there's the fact that Tyson is dating Hilary, which everyone found a bit of a shock considering their constant bickering in the past, let alone Ray.
Tyson knew that Ray wouldn't hold the fact the Tyson and Hilary were dating, but he knew better than to keep talking, which was something he was never good at in the past. Hilary had taught him well, kept him grounded. It was one of the many reasons he loved her.
"We're here!" Mr. Dickenson said from the cockpit. Not long after his sentence, the helicopter found solid ground and the doors on the side of it opened up. Everyone stepped out, and Ray was the last to exit. He took a big sniff of the air and smiled wider than he had in a long time.
"Must be good to finally be back home, huh?" asked Kai with a smirk. Ray simply replied with a nod.
"Who are we here to see, Mr. Dickenson?" Tyson asked the BBA chairman.
"We're here to see the White Tiger X team. They have some information as to who else was kidnapped," Mr' Dickenson replied.
"Well Ray, this is your home. Would you kindly lead the way?" Hilary asked Ray.
"Gladly," Ray replied. He took the lead, and the others stayed close behind. He soon found the village where he most resided. He bought his own house there that he shared with his girlfriend, Mariah, also a White Tiger. Along with his house, his fellow former White Tiger X teammates, Kevin, Gary and Lee, also resided in houses of their own. Although they were no longer a team, they were still great friends, regularly training and competing in friendly beyblade battles. Even though it was Lee who led the team when Ray ran, it was Ray who held them together through thick and thin.
Ray lead the way for everyone else and they soon found Lee's house. They entered to discover that the other White Tigers present, save for Mariah and Kevin.
"Where are the others?" Ray asked almost worriedly.
"Right here," said a voice. Ray turned to see that Kevin had appeared at the door just after Kai had entered, being the one who stuck behind.
"Kevin here was just out getting some fruit. Mariah's getting some meat, but she had to go farther away so she may take longer," Lee told Ray. Kevin presented a brown cloth bag full of various fruit.
"It's good to see you, Ray!" said Gary, and he walked over and gave his friend a hug, which Ray gladly returned. Despite Gary's massive size, Ray didn't flinch in the slightest.
"You too," Ray replied as the hug stopped. He then walked over to Lee and shook his hand, before walking over to Kevin and ruffling his hair.
"And what about me?" asked another voice. A female. The only voice Ray wanted to hear. He smiled and turned around to see his pink-haired girlfriend, Mariah, standing at the door. Ray didn't need to speak; he walked over to his girlfriend, grabbed her hands in his own, and planted a kiss on her lips, which she returned. It was swift, but still sweet. Then, a sudden realization flashed in Ray's mind. Letting go of the kiss, he let go of Mariah's hands and dashed out.
"Don't start without me!" he shouted as he ran. He headed to the nearest jewelry store, and he saw the ring he wanted. It was a simple silver band, with a white diamond in the middle of it. It had markings of ten smaller diamonds going around in a circle in the white diamond's center. The smaller diamonds were two different colours, and in order went green then pink then green etc. The green diamonds echoed similarities to Ray's bit beast Driger, and the pink was a reference to Mariah's bit-beast, Galux. He paid for the ring and put it in his back pocket before heading back to Lee's house as fast as he could.
"Okay..." said Ray as he burst back through the door, panting slightly, before simply adding "Go."
"Right. Well, no one has been kidnapped, but Gary did almost come close," Lee said.
"What do you mean?" asked Max.
"It's easier if I show you," Gary answered. He lifted his left sleeve and revealed a large red mark.
"What happened?" Ray asked.
"Me and Gary were looking for some food, and we came across an alleyway. We saw two people, and we didn't know who they were. Upon closer inspection we found that they wore armoured combat suits and had tasers. They tried to get to us, but we ran. I was a little quicker than Gary though. He got shocked in the arm, but luckily the big lug managed to break out of their grip and escape," Kevin said. Gary smiled at that, then he rolled his sleeve back down.
"When Gary and Kevin came back and told us what happened, we went back to find the guys in the suits, but they were gone by the time we got there," Mariah added.
"Is there any hint you can give us as to who's behind all this?" Lee asked.
"Well, I'm sure you're aware that Boris is one of them. But he's also getting help from Doctor K," Mr. Dickenson told him.
"Who's Doctor K?" Mariah asked.
"Well, she's this scientist who lured us to this island and tried to steal our bit-beasts. We thought we took that place off the grid for good, but apparently she survived," Tyson replied.
"That reminds me, I wonder how Kane and everyone else are doing?" Kai asked.
"Kane you say?" Lee asked.
"Yeah. You know him?" Tyson asked Lee.
"Yeah. He's been helping us teach the kids around here. He's with his other friends, too. They're staying at a nearby house ," Lee said. By other friends, Tyson knew that Lee meant Goki, Salima, and Jim.
"What's all the commotion about?" asked a voice from the door. Everyone turned to see Kane, Jim, Goki, and Salima all stood there.
"I really need to put a lock on that door," Lee said.
"What are you guys doing here?" asked Mariah.
"We heard a helicopter landed. We thought it might be the same guys who were hounding us so we came to check if you were okay," Salima said.
"But we're glad to see that everyone's fine," Goki added.
"We're glad to see you guys again," Tyson said as he walked over to Kane. They bumped their fists together.
"Hey, Mariah," Salima said out of nowhere.
"Yes?" Mariah asked.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Salima said.
"Um..." was all Mariah could muster. She really had no idea what was happening.
"We were supposed to have a battle today after we were finished teaching," Salima said.
"Oh! I'm sorry. Um, yeah, let's go," Mariah said. The two girls dashed out and were quickly followed by everyone else. They came to a circular tree stump that was almost in the center of the village, and all the pedestrians nearby stopped what they were doing to come closer and inspect what was happening. Salima and MAriah took their positions on opposite sides of the stump.
"You ready?" asked Salima as she got out her launcher, cord and beyblade.
"As ready as I'll ever be!" Mariah replied as she did the same. Tyson started the countdown, and was soon followed by everyone else.
"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIP!"
Simultaneously, Salima and Mariah both fired their beyblades into the center of the stump. They both started circling each other before Mariah made the first move.
"Galux, go get her! Hit her hard!" Mariah exclaimed. Galux followed Mariah's orders well, slamming, hitting, and grinding Salima's beyblade from all possible angles. But Salima didn't let up an inch.
"Cyber Driger, blast back at her! Give it your all!" Salima cried. Hey beyblade followed suit, knocking Galux back a bit and giving Cyber Driger some breathing room. Despite the fact that the Cyber Driger bit-beast no longer resided in her blade, Salima kept the name anyway.
A grinding match ensued, with Galux pushing Cyber Driger further out of the stump. Despite being on the edge of the stump and almost being pushed out, Salima seized an opportunity to push herself away and slam back, which she did pretty well.
"Good move, Salima," Mariah complimented as Salima's and Mariah's blade clashed again.
"You're not too bad yourself," Salima replied.
They resumed grinding a bit longer, but then Salima pushed away again when one of the edges of her beyblade came flying off.
"That's the price of fighting a cat. You're gonna get scratched!" Mariah said.
"That was a good move, but this isn't over! Cyber Driger, no holding back!" Salima yelled. Hey beyblade kicked it up a notch and started hitting Galux from all possible angles.
"I've never seen Salima blade like this," Kane said.
"Same here. She's definitely taken good control," Jim added.
"Who would have thought your girlfriend would be so good, Kane?" Goki further added.
"I didn't know you guys were going out," Max said.
"Yeah. Almost a year and a half now actually. Things are great," Kane said.
"Good to hear. Let's keep watching the match, shall we?" Max asked, to which Kane nodded in response.
"Enough of this. Galux, Cat Bites now!" Mariah yelled. Her bit-beast, the mighty Galux, sprang forth from it's beyblade and started sprinting for Cyber Driger. After a couple of swift movements, Galux slammed into Cyber Driger and almost knocked it straight into Salima's chest had Salima not been quick enough to get her hand up to catch it.
"Hey, that was a good match," said Mariah as she walked over to her opponent. Mariah offered her hand, and Salima shook it.
"We'll have to do this again sometime," Salima said. Mariah smiled in reply, then she let go of the handshake. She turned to see that everyone else was gone but Ray, who was on one knee.
"Mariah, I love you, and I can't imagine a life without you. I want to ask you something, and I want you to say yes..." he then reached into his back pocket and pulled out the ring he bought.
"It's beautiful Ray," Mariah said.
"Yeah, it is. It's not a patch on you though. Mariah, will you marry me?" Ray asked.
"Of course I will!" Mariah replied. Ray slipped the ring on her finger and then stood up, capturing Mariah's lips in a sweet kiss. Everyone that was presumed gone popped up from behind a nearby house and came over to congratulate the new couple.
"We should get some rest while we're here," Mr. Dickenson said.
"How come?" Tyson replied.
"We're going to Brazil tomorrow to meet with Miguel. He has some vital information that could help us," replied the BBA chairman.
"Miguel. Man, it's been too long since we last saw him," Tyson said. He was excited. He had some good matches with Miguel, and he looked forward to another one.
I have no idea whether or not Team Psykick kept their cyber bit-beasts. I have watched the whole Beyblade series but my memory is hazy, so some clarification would be great. And once again, sorry for the random battle. But aren't you happy it ended on a good note? Mariah and Ray are getting married! Hooray! Anyway, there will be more of this and my Sonic story soon so stay tuned in dudes!