Beyblade Fan Fiction ❯ Flight of the Black Dragon ❯ The Mansion ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2

The Mansion

Early the next morning the Bladebreakers headed toward the address on the envelope. Ray and Tyson led the way, the envelope clutched in Tyson's hand as Kenny and Max followed behind. Kai hung back far behind him so it didn't look like they were even in the same group. As he walked, Kai kept his fingers closed around Dranzer and he could feel the Bit Beast flash and quiver in anticipation for another battle. But would this tournament be more eventful than the American tournament? Would the competition be better? Was that girl good as she seemed to be? And why did he feel like he knew her?

Kai fell even further behind as he thought about it. He had definitely seen her somewhere before, and he knew that she recognized him, too, but from where? It couldn't have been at a Beyblade tournament, so where had he seen her before? Or was the real question when? Kai went back as far as he could remember and racked his brain to try and find where he knew her. When nothing turned up he sighed and gave up. He would remember in time. Her face nudged his memory, but for now, he couldn't find her. It would come in time, he was sure of it. But hopefully it was soon because not knowing where he knew her was driving him crazy.

"Planning a secret rendezvous with your girlfriend?" Tyson suddenly said from in front of Kai. The younger boy grinned up at him, when Kai blinked in surprise and suppressed his rage. Kai rolled his eyes and pushed past him, ignoring him for the time being. "Aw, come on, Kai! I saw the way you looked at her! She was checking you out, you know."

Kai kept going as Max snickered when he past him. "Jealous?" he asked in a soft voice, smiling slightly when he heard Tyson choke on his own laughter now that he had been caught off-guard and hear silence from Max. Anything to shut him up. Kai ignored the words that passed between the Bladebreakers and stopped in front of the enormous gates of the mansion. He looked up at the large iron gate and listened as the rest of the Bladebreakers stopped behind him.

Unsure of what to do, the Bladebreakers stood still until a girl walked up to the gate and pulled it open. It wasn't the same girl as before, in fact, this one was quite different. Her long flowing brown hair was swept gracefully behind her and pinned in a loose ponytail with a strap of leather and a chopstick. Several of her long bangs hung in her face, a few strands touching her lower lip as she smiled, her warm brown eyes sparkling. She wore form-fitting blue jeans and a red spaghetti strap shirt. She held out her hand and Tyson handed her the envelope, his eyes wide as he stared at the pretty girl. She seemed to be ignoring it, but Kai knew that she noticed. The girl scanned the letter and her smile grew.

"The Bladebreakers, huh? Welcome. Sara didn't think you'd come."

"Who's Sara?" Ray asked as the girl ushered them inside and closed the gate behind them. She then led them up the winding path to the mansion.

"She was the one that gave you the invitation," the girl explained. "She was supposed to meet you here, but she said she didn't want to and left to do something else." She sighed and shook her head, laughing. "But that's Sara. So I'll be the one to show you where you'll be staying."

"Say what?" Max asked in surprise.

The girl lifted a brow and stopped, turning to stare at them a moment before she started laughing again. "Guess you didn't know. This tournament lasts about a week or two. All of the contestants stay here while it goes on."

"Are you competing?" Tyson asked dreamily.

The girl ignored his expression and nodded. "Of course. Oops! I forgot. My name's Lana Gabriel."

"Where's your team?" Kai asked, his hand still clutching Dranzer, although he wasn't sure why.

Lana grinned. "You've already met Sara Nelson. Then there's one more, but I'm not sure where he is right now. He's around somewhere and you'll see him sooner or later." She opened the huge doors that led them into the mansion and stepped aside, making a sweeping gesture with her arm to indicate they were to go through. "I gotta run, but Ella can show you to your rooms and show you around. The kitchen is way back there; you can help yourself to the food. See ya later!" She waved to them before she ran off down the hallway and disappeared around the corner.

The Bladebreakers stood in the middle of an enormous entrance hall, staring at the high ceiling and the tiled floor. Elaborate paintings hung on all of the walls and a grand staircase led upstairs directly ahead of them. The hall on top of the staircase went both left and right and then disappeared around the corners. There were so many doors Kai knew that it would take weeks to explore them all.

A younger girl suddenly appeared, her blonde hair pulled up into pigtails and she bounced happily before them. "Hi! I'm Ella. Follow me!" She didn't wait for them to answer before she led them to the grand staircase and climbed it two at a time. The Bladebreakers followed her, although Kai kept his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. When they reached the top he found what he was looking for.

Sara leaned against the wall at the far end of the hallway, arms crossed over her chest as she gazed straight at them. Her Beyblade was in her hand again, but this time he could see a bit more. Through the gaps between her slender fingers, he saw what looked like a powerful blade and a Bit Beast shining in the center. He looked at his own beyblade and saw that Dranzer was glowing slightly, flashing with anticipation before it went quiet again. Kai turned back and saw that Sara was seeing the same thing with her Blade and she suddenly got up and walked in the opposite direction.

"Oh, that's Sara Nelson," Ella explained when she saw Kai gazing after her. "She doesn't talk much. She's part of the Shadow Team with Lana Gabriel and Jake Baker. They're the best bladers in the world if you ask me." Ella paused a moment before she continued. "Sara's a pretty cool person, actually, but don't tell her I said that. Of all the bladers here, Sara and the Shadow Team are the ones you need to watch. They've never been defeated."

"Like we've never heard that before," Tyson said confidently, folding his arms behind his head as he continued to follow Ella down the hallway.

Ella shook her head sadly, her brown eyes casting a concerned gaze on the team as she opened a door to reveal a large room that split off into four other rooms. "Everybody else has said that and they've gone home crying because the Shadow Team defeated them so easily. Don't take them lightly! Too bad Sara doesn't battle more, though. Her technique is amazing. When she lets it draw out long enough to see it, that is."

"Do they have Bit Beasts?" Kenny asked.

The little girl nodded. "Yeah, everybody here has one."

"What do they look like?"

For once the girl looked frustrated. "I don't know. Nobody does. Usually they don't even use their Bit Beasts, but when they do, they're there and gone so quickly you can't even tell what they look like. We just know the colors. Jake's is silver and blue, Lana's is like fire, and Sara's is purple and black. Don't take them lightly! I'm warning you now, don't underestimate them."

"We've beaten the All-Stars," Tyson said with just as much confidence as before. "And they were tough to beat."

Ella shook her head sadly. "Let me put it this way. The All-Stars are complete amateurs compared to the Shadow Team. The Shadow Team plays at a European level, and they've even defeated the greatest there. You guys don't stand a chance, and I'm surprised you're even here." She sighed and shook her head again before she began to close the door as she left. "But I wish you luck, because you'll be needing all the luck you can get! I'll be back in a few minutes. I've got a few other people to show around."

Kenny sat down on the couch and opened his laptop immediately, already digging for information on the Shadow Team. Without having to look Kai knew that he wouldn't find any information. In a split decision Kai decided to go exploring for himself and left the Bladebreakers silently, closing the door behind him. Immediately he went down the hall and down the stairs, slowing his pace when he reached the entrance hall again. He turned slowly in a circle, taking in everything around him to reorient himself before he set off to the corridor to the right. Kai pushed the door open and stepped inside, closing it behind him. It led him to another corridor and he followed it all the way down, opening the only door at the very end. The second he did he had to shield his eyes with his arm to keep the bright blast of sunlight from blinding him. The corridor was dim as it was and the early morning sun was too much.

As his eyes adjusted, Kai walked out into what seemed like an indoor garden and he frowned, closing the door. Fingers instinctively holding Dranzer, he walked into the garden, his footsteps creating soft sounds on the dirt, almost silent as he went. The beauty of the garden wasn't completely lost on him, because he did appreciate beauty, but he made no show of it as he felt Dranzer begin to pulse and was suddenly face-to-face with a silvery wolf Bit Beast at least ten times the size of a normal wolf. Its great wings were partially spread and its paws were braced for an attack. Blue streaks colored its fur and they shimmered as it began to stalk him like he was its prey.

"Lupe, off," a voice said from behind him.

Kai turned around and saw a boy around his age, maybe a little older, step out of the trees. The Bit Beast yipped twice and then vanished within the Beyblade in the boy's hands. The boy was tall and his silver hair was cut in a style similar to Kai's. His silver-blue eyes weren't hostile, but they weren't exactly welcoming either. He wore baggy black pants and a navy blue T-shirt. His style was casual, but the way he carried himself Kai instinctively knew that this was Jake Baker.

"Sorry about that, Lupe isn't too trusting of people he doesn't know," the boy said, pocketing his silver-blue Beyblade. "The name's Jake Baker."

"Kai," he said shortly.

Jake's eyes widened. "Leader of the Bladebreakers, huh? I've heard a lot about you. Sara said you're a good blader."

"And how would she know that?" Kai frowned inwardly. How did Sara know about him?

The Blader shrugged in a careless way. He didn't seem that great to Kai, but looks were deceiving. "Sara knows everything about Beyblading, and that means all the competition. Take it as a compliment. If she knows about you she thinks you have potential to pose as a threat."

Oh really. Kai shrugged the last comment off and his dark amber eyes flashed. "Ella said she doesn't compete much."

Jake shrugged again. "Yeah, well, that's Sara for you. She only battles if she thinks it might be a challenge. Otherwise, she doesn't even bother. Although I think she might be interested in competing with you," he added as an afterthought.

Kai cast his glance to the side, closing his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest, knowing that Dranzer was flashing again. "She'll be totaled."

The leader of the Shadow Team smiled in a mysterious way, his silver-blue eyes glinting. "Don't underestimate her, Kai. Don't underestimate anybody here. But especially Sara Nelson." Jake waved and began walking out of the room. "See ya around, Kai!"

Kai stood in the room for a long time, mulling over what Jake had told him. Was Sara really as good as everyone seemed to think she was? And why did everyone seem so...strange around the mansion? But the question that tugged at his mind most frantically was why couldn't he remember her?