Beyblade Fan Fiction ❯ Running Scared ❯ Stupid ( Chapter 2 )

Authoress' Notes: Well, that went over better than I thought it would. So many reviews already! Gee…*wipes away tear* You're all so wonderful…

Warnings: Same as Chapter 1. See chapter 1 if you're that concerned about it.

Disclaimers: Nope. Still don't own anything. Don't own the song Stupid, either. That's also Sarah McLauchlan's.

Reviews: A huge thank you to all of you who reviewed! @ FF.Net: Nancys-little-obsession, TyKa Forevermore, Genna, Cat in the web, Bloody Mary, Yuki Tenshi, & Weeping Angel! @ AFF.Net: Xzanayu, & Yami Dranzer!

Chapter 2: Stupid

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The next morning we were hopping planes to get to Athens in time for the meet. Twenty-six hours of flights (including the change-overs, delays, and waiting between flights), while we are used to it by now, still wears us out some. I was looking forward to at least a couple hours of sleep at the hotel before we had to run off to get our assignment. Dranzer agreed with me.

{I say after this mission we retire, Kai. You've been doing this for seven years. It's time you had your life back again.}

{Dranzer, my friend, this is my life. You know why I accepted the job in the first place. Besides, you can't tell me you don't enjoy yourself helping out your fellow Spirits.} I shifted in my seat trying to get more comfortable, envying the way Rei could curl up and sleep damn near anywhere.

{Yes, Kai. I guess I can't argue with you there. I just think you need to stop while you're ahead. I would hate to see anything more happen to you.}

I smiled - a rare thing, I'm told. {I know you're worried, Mom. Don't! We're fine. We'll be fine.}

I got a mock mental scowl at the name. She's not fond of being called 'Mom.'

As we boarded the plane at Heathrow in London, a flight attendant came up to us just as I was sitting down and Rei was stowing our carry-on luggage in the overhead compartment.

"Excuse me, sir, but you dropped your keys as you boarded." She held out a set of car keys attached to a remote starter. I reached out and accepted them.

"Thank you, miss. Wouldn't know what I'd do without my keys." I said, voice filled with relief and a hint of surprise. "Didn't even know I'd lost them!"

"I'm glad I found them then! Have a nice flight!" She intoned, walking away to see to whatever it was she had to do. I looked at the keys more closely to see if they were what I suspected and saw the tiny monogrammed Phoenix on one of the keys. I shook my head.

Rei sat down next to me and buckled his seatbelt. "So?"

"Yep, they're mine." I responded. Rei nodded, understanding what I was telling him between the lines. The keys were to the car that Mr. Dickenson had said was waiting for us at the airport in Athens, and more than likely the flight attendant had been an agent - or at least personnel. I tucked the keys into the pocket of my jeans and settled in for the last leg of our airtime.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arriving at the Olympic Airways airport, Rei and I trudged through customs and the baggage claim without incident. We headed for the rental car park and looked around at the rows of cars.

"Which one? There's so many." Rei asked, frowning. "It'll take us forever to go through all of them."

"That's what the remote starter is for." I pressed the button on the little box and we heard a car start up not far away. We walked until we found it, and I popped open the trunk so we could stow our luggage - which wasn't much, really. We gave new definition to the phrase "travel lightly."

I stuck the key in the ignition and turned it, the remote start shutting off and the car's normal functions taking over. Rei flipped down the sun visor on his side and a blank CD fell from the closed little mirror. "Oh, goody. Tunes." He rolled his eyes, a bit sarcastically.

"Okay, now you're starting to sound like me. We really have been spending too much time together." I frowned and Rei laughed. "That's not a CD, by the way, it's a DVD."

"Oh well, in that case, cool! I get to watch a movie while you drive." He popped the disc into the DVD drive of the car's entertainment center and turned it all on. "I think we need to have a chat with the Chief next time we see him. He's got too much time on his hands to be coming up with all these gadgets and gizmos."

I pulled out of the car park and started driving. It would take a while to get to the hotel. Have you ever driven in Athens' traffic? It's murder, let me tell you. All you Americans living in big cities will scoff, but until you've driven in any European city, let alone Athens, take my advice and don't. It's a whole new experience.

I paid half attention to the road, since we were at a standstill in traffic anyway and didn't look to be moving anytime soon. The DVD started playing, and Mr. Dickenson came on.

"Well, boys, just a few instructions. If you're watching this that means you've gotten here all right and you're wondering what the hell all the precautions are for. You'll find out soon, trust me. For now, the meet's going to be at the Spirit Squad's world operations base. Yes, I know, you've never heard of any such thing. Let me reassure you, it exists. Go to your hotel and take a few hours of rest then head for the Sound and Light show that they have. You'll be approached by an agent whom you will recognize and under the cover of darkness you'll be brought to us. I'll see you in a few hours, Phoenix, Tiger. Oh, and Phoenix, if you would, please make sure this disc is destroyed immediately."

I sighed and ejected the disc, slipping it into my inner jacket pocket. "I'll do that later. It's too cramped in this car for me to do that."

"Yeah. And the interior of this car is leather. It would be a shame to damage such nice material." Rei grinned, running his hand over the leather seat fondly.

"You and your leather fetish. I would have thought you'd have a thing for fur, not leather."

"I like both. You like leather, too, Kai. Remember that club we had to get all dressed up for in Amsterdam a few years ago? You looked right at home in that black leather."

I rolled my eyes. "So? I won't wear that stuff ever again, Rei. Not unless Tyson…" I stopped. It had been automatic for me to mention him. I didn't say anything more and thankfully, neither did Rei. He knew better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tale screeches to a halt again ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is getting to be a bad habit. Okay. So now you're all wondering, "Who the hell is Tyson?" right? Well, since you're all so avidly interested in my love life, I'll tell you. But only because the Tyson in question is sitting right beside me as I write this all out and poking me in the side, whining about it. Excuse me. I have to go kiss him senseless to shut him up so I can concentrate.

That's better. Now. Tyson…

Remember that regional tournament I lost? Yeah, well, he's the one I lost it to. Ironically, my greatest adversary would be the one I'd fall in love with. Oh, maybe not at first. After all, we'd have rather killed each other than spent any time actually getting along. But after that first tournament, and every one after that, we'd keep running into each other and being forced to spend time together…okay, not forced. Nobody forces me to do anything unless I agree to it. Shut up, Tyson. He's laughing his ass off at me now.

Anyway, after a few more tournaments and a bit more time spent together, he and I started forming a bond. It was so strange. Not even Rei understood me the way this stormy blue-eyed bluenette always seems to. It scared me. I wasn't used to someone who could get so close to me, get under my skin the way Tyson can. But I needed him in my life, and more. I needed him in my heart. He could be everything I couldn't - happy, friendly, personable…

That bond just continued to grow. I battled him many times over the next couple of years. I even spent time with him outside the beystadium. I had to sneak away from my grandfather's eagle-eyed watch to do it, but I managed. We'd go for walks, grab a coffee somewhere and just sit and talk, stuff like that. Things I'd never really done before. He taught me how to have fun, to enjoy what life I'd been given, even if at the moment it sucked sour lemons.

He was so beautiful, so full of light. And despite my ability with fire, I was the opposite - the darkness, the silent strength.

I didn't realize how much he really meant to me until that fateful World Championship in Russia. When that was over, I'd gone to my locker room to shower, dreading my return to the Abbey because I knew that Voltaire would be waiting and he would not be happy. I think I knew, even then, that whatever happened there would change everything for me.

When I stepped out of my shower, towel around my waist and another in my hands that I was using to dry my hair, Tyson was waiting for me. He was leaning against the row of lockers with his hands in his pockets and studying me with an intense, entirely too close for comfort gaze that made my heart speed up and my breathing hitch. Then he just pushed away from the lockers, strode over to me, and drew me down to meet the hard kiss he planted on my mouth before releasing me.

"That's my congratulations, Kai, on winning the Championship." He'd said. I'll admit I was stunned enough to stand there staring at him stupidly for a while. I remember he smiled a little at me before he reached up and wound his fingers in my hair, my hands automatically going to his waist and drawing him closer to me as our mouths met again and I simply drowned in sensation and the most pure emotion I'd felt in years. Love. When we broke apart, panting and still wrapped around each other, he whispered in my ear, "And that's because I love you."

I trembled. Those three words I hadn't heard from anyone but Dranzer - and she didn't mean it the way Tyson did. I clung to him for a moment, trying to get my mind past the euphoria and the swirling emotions in my head. He just chuckled and held me as I mumbled incoherent nonsense at him for a couple of minutes. When I finally got myself back under control, I stared down into those incredible blue jewels he has for eyes and replied, "I love you, too, Kinomiya."

And then I kissed him again. He melted in my arms and if Rei hadn't chosen that moment to come knocking on my door, I might have gone a lot farther than just heavy kissing and a little groping.

Considering what came next, however, I suppose it was a good thing the nosy neko-jin interrupted. Because, you see, for a brief moment I'd forgotten about the Abbey, my grandfather, my life in general. My whole universe had centered on Tyson and only him. I'd felt more complete in that moment than I'd ever felt before. The perfection I'd always sought was right there for the taking…stupid, stupid me.

But…

Rei interrupted, grinned and winked at me when he found us on the floor, congratulated me on two levels, then disappeared. The moment was gone, and I was left with a hollow emptiness inside. I was going to have to do something that would break my heart, and Tyson's.

I had to let him go.

I'm not going to give details. That's just too private. Tyson's nodding his head in agreement, by the way. I'll just say that there were tears - buckets full of tears - some harsh words, and even a punch or two thrown. In the end, he stormed off in a temper, and I was left picking up the broken pieces of both our hearts. The light in my life dimmed down to a mere flicker of flame.

Despondent, I dressed, packed up my stuff, and went back to the Abbey. You already know what happened. Here's the part you didn't know. I would have gone after Tyson when things calmed down and the world forgot about me and the Abbey. However, that choice wasn't open to me in the long run. The more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself that Tyson would be better off with out me, that I could bring nothing but pain into his life. I was a shadow unworthy of his light. Dranzer tried to convince me otherwise and so did Rei. I didn't listen. I decided at that point that I would disappear from the world's view for good.

I would let Tyson (and the world) believe I'd died in that explosion.

It would be better this way, I reasoned. He'd be able to grieve, and put me in his past where I belonged. Then he could move on with his life and find someone who was worth his attention and love, rather than spending the rest of his life trying to find me, which I was sure he would do because if it had been me instead of him, that's exactly what I would have done.

Excuse me a moment. I have to go…breathe a little. Tyson will take over for a bit.

***

Heh. Who knew the ice Phoenix would be so emotional? Uh…hi! I'm Tyson. Nice to meet you! I'd shake your hand or something, but that's difficult when I can't see whom I'm talking to.

Anyway, like Kai was saying, he talked himself into letting me believe he was dead for so long. The idiot. He put me through hell! I didn't get over him, or put him in my past, or find someone else. Oh no. I went into a deep funk instead - a really, really deep one. I don't like to talk about that, and right now it's not important so I'll just move on.

This is Kai's little biography, after all. Not mine.

Actually, I don't know where he wants me to go with this. He's already told you what happened after the Abbey's destruction so…yeah. Oh wait, here he comes. Talk to you all again! Bye!

***

Yeah. He's got a point. I have nothing important left to explain, I suppose. I guess I'll just get back to the story, then, huh?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tale continues ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took us an hour and a half to get to the hotel. We made the trip in silence. I was thinking about Tyson, and Rei was letting me stew in my own thoughts. He'd been around me long enough to know I'd talk when I wanted to and not a moment before.

Once at the hotel (I had to snicker at the name of the place - the Parthenon Hotel) we did what Mr. Dickenson had suggested. We rested. At six that evening, I called around and figured out what time that Sound and Light show was supposed to be, and where, and we went and grabbed supper at the McDonalds a block or so away.

We wandered around the Plaka for a while, browsing. Okay, I browsed. Rei spent half an hour haggling over some necklace that he really wanted. I did find something I liked though. It was a pair of sliver and gold wristbands, elegantly designed with a Phoenix and a Dragon entwined together. The Phoenix was the gold and the Dragon was the silver. I paid for them and left the shop to find Rei.

He was still haggling over the necklace.

I dragged him out of the shop after paying for the damned thing myself. He pouted the entire time.

"I was having fun, Kai! You're supposed to deal with these people!"

"We didn't have all night for you to play, Rei. It's nearly ten. The show's about to start."

He gave me a pathetic look. I sighed and shook my head at him.

We got to the place where the tourists were gathering to watch the show. It's on a hill that has a perfect view of the Acropolis. The moon was huge in the sky already and the sun was already nearly gone on the horizon as we took our seats.

It got dark soon enough and the show started. It was really cool, actually, in a low-budget, touristy type of way. Rei, of course, was sitting there watching avidly, totally absorbed.

He's easily amused.

Half way through the show, someone slid into the seat next to me and whispered, "Hey, Phoneix! Long time, no see!"

I recognized the way too hyper voice of the Spirit Squad's only hotshot pilot, Max Mizuhara. His code name at the Spirit Squad was Daredevil, after the comic book superhero, because he had no fear. There is nothing the kid can't drive, fly, or pilot. I slouched in my seat and scowled. I didn't have the patience to put up with the genki blonde's antics.

"Great." I muttered. Rei glanced over and welcomed him with a fang-filled grin.

"Yo, Max! How's it going?"

"Not too bad. You guys ready to get out of here?"

"Please." I got up and Rei and I followed Max out of the area to the parking lot. We got into his car, Rei up front and me in the back. "What's with all the secrecy, Max?" I asked as he pulled out and headed into traffic.

"I haven't been given all the info yet, Phoenix. Sorry. I just got here yesterday and they told me to go pick you guys up and bring you in."

I blinked. "How do you know where this base is supposed to be? You don't have that high of clearance, do you?"

"Nope." He turned off into an alley and drove into a huge Mack truck's box. "This is how we'll get there. Even I don't know where it is."

"Wow. That's a lot of security precautions. But I guess I can see why…" Rei sighed. Max flipped on the interior lights of the car and shut off the engine as the door behind us was closed and the truck rumbled to life. The trip was short, and I had no idea where we were or anything. All I knew was that when the truck stopped, and the door opened, Max got out of the car and motioned us to follow him.

The facility we found ourselves in was, in a word, huge. And high-tech. I was nearly afraid to touch anything for fear of screwing up something important. There were security cameras, laser grid barriers, retinal and voice scanners all over the place…it was like something out of a movie. Even I had never seen so much security before.

Max led us to a small room where some guy in a uniform made sure we were who we said we were and passed out ID and pass-key cards to each of us. I stuck mine in my pocket and Rei happily pinned his to his jacket, as did Max. When they both looked at me and waited with expectant looks, I rolled my eyes at them and grumbled, pulling mine out and pinning it onto my jacket.

"There! Happy now?"

"Yep. So where to now, Max?"

"Mr. Dickenson is expecting us. I imagine Kenny's there already, too." We followed the blonde head through the corridors of the facility. I saw several rooms that required a Level A clearance at the very least to enter, which made me wonder what was higher than a Level A since that's what I was. Rei had Level C clearance for BBA and WBC facilities. I'm not sure what sort of clearance Max had.

He stopped in front of an elevator door and set his thumb to the plate on the wall.

//Please state your name and purpose.// That familiar, electronic voice intoned.

"Daredevil, Phoenix, and Tiger here to see Mr. Dickenson for mission briefing." Max replied. There was a moment of silence then the doors swung open.

//Enter. Mr. Dickenson is expecting you.// We got onto the elevator and I leaned against the wall, arms folded over my chest and eyes closed, the picture of indifference. Rei and Max babbled at each other for the ride up and I ignored them, not really interested in anything they were discussing.

Anti-social of me, I know. Hey, I never said I was a raving socialite now, did I?

I yawned expansively as the doors swung open and followed the two chatty ones into a huge, luxurious conference room. It was done in teak and mahogany wood, there were computers at every seat around a table that was semi-circular in shape, and there were several pieces of art on the walls. Kenny, the head of the tech department, also known as the Chief (his code name), was sitting at one of the computer terminals typing away furiously.

"Hey, Chief! Slow down or you'll burn out another keyboard!" Max laughed, plunking himself down next to the shorter young man. Rei sat across from Max and since I was sick of sitting, I leaned against a wall to hold it up with my eyes closed and hands shoved into my jacket pockets.

"I'm in the middle of some very important work here, Max. Can't you go bug someone else?" Chief complained.

"Nope! I was ordered here, same as you. I think you're going on a mission, buddy!" Max flashed a 1000 Watt smile.

Chief's face drained of color and if I could have seen his eyes under the brunette's hair I'm sure I would have seen his eyes go wide and panicky.

"I…I c…c…can't go on a…m…mission!" He stuttered. "I'm not trained for field work!"

"Relax, Chief." I interrupted, giving Rei and Max a warning glare that had them sucking in their giggles. "We don't know what's going on yet. If you do get called out to do field work, I'm sure it won't be anything risky or dangerous."

"Oh, I feel so much better now." He muttered, resuming his typing.

I might have said something else, but another panel door along the far wall opened and one of the other tech-geeks, a girl named Emily came waltzing out, lab coat floating around her, and arms clutching a load of files. Mr. Dickenson himself appeared behind her.

"Excellent, Emily. I'll expect an update on that soon, please."

"Sure thing, Mr. Dickenson." She nodded at us all and gave Kenny a lingering glance over her shoulder as she walked out that made him blush hotly and duck behind his computer screen. I raised an eyebrow at that, but said nothing. Max and Rei burst into a fit of giggles, unable to control it anymore.

"Okay, boys, that's enough." Mr. Dickenson smiled, faintly at them. "Phoenix, I'd like a word with you before the mission briefing, if you don't mind."

"Yes, sir." I walked into the room and the panel slid shut behind me. He gestured for me to take a seat in one of the comfy sofa chairs in front of his large, organized looking desk that was piled high with papers and objects that I didn't recognize.

"Well, now, Kai." There was my name again. This was going to be bad. I just knew it. "I wanted to tell you about the mission ahead of time to give a bit of time. I think you'll need it."

"Look, Mr. Dickenson, I appreciate you being considerate of my emotions, but I'm an agent. If I can't handle this, then I shouldn't be here. Just spit it out and quit laying on the drama." I interrupted before he could go on. He studied me carefully then nodded.

"Very well. Just please, try not to blow anything up when I tell you." He looked around the room, pained. "There's too many things in this room that are very important to me and valuable, too."

Now I was really worried.

"The problem, Kai, is that contrary to what we have all believed for the last seven years, Boris Balkov did not die in the explosion at the Abbey. We've recently received evidence that proves without a doubt he's alive and operating again." He was watching me really closely for my reaction and handed over a thick file. I couldn't provide him with a reaction because I'd gone numb. I shook my head and took the file.

"That's…that's impossible! There's no way in hell he could have survived that! Even if he did, he should have been severely injured! He was right at ground zero!" I didn't open the file yet, too busy trying to protest his existence. "What was the proof?"

"It's all there. He was spotted in Moscow a week ago by one of our agents, but Wolf was sure he'd just seen someone who looked like Boris. Then we intercepted a communication from Boris to some former trainees of the Abbey, some boys you once knew. Remember Spencer? And Ian?"

I flipped open the file and grimaced. There were pictures there and it was Boris alright. He was meeting with the two younger boys. "Who took these? Wolf?"

"Yes. He was with Ian when the meeting was arranged. Ian and Spencer don't know Wolf works for us now. Wolf followed Ian to the meet, took the pictures and informed me immediately. We haven't heard from him since. It's possible that he took matters into his own hands and went in undercover, which will get him into trouble when he's found, by the way. If he has gone rogue we need to know. If not, well…that possibility is not something I'd like to consider at the moment."

I sat there in shock for a moment, quickly thinking and considering all the possibilities. When I finally looked up, I saw something in Mr. Dickenson's eyes that made my stomach drop down to my feet. "What is it you're not telling me, sir?"

"It's about the mission itself, Kai. You see, Boris is alive and he's taken up where he left off. We still haven't figured out where he kept it, but all the data on Sacred Spirits that the Abbey collected was apparently backed up and kept elsewhere. He retrieved the data and he's found backing to start his experiments all over again." Mr. Dickenson handed me another file and I opened it.

"He's going to try and recreate Black Dranzer." I stated dully.

"Yes. But that's not the part that's going to get you. The way he wants to go about it is to use all the DNA samples and data he'd collected about Dranzer, Driger, and Draciel at the Worlds that year to enhance Black Dranzer and make her invincible. Kai…there was one other bit-beast present that he collected data and samples on at that tournament and he's going to use them. You're going to need one last team member to combat this mutant Black Dranzer…"

I stared down into the face of the one person I had never thought I'd see again. The picture was a recent one of Tyson, and he was sweeping the sidewalk out in front of his family's dojo, waving at a bunch of kids as they ran past and smiling. But I could see the weariness around his eyes and the loneliness and my heart clenched. I fought back the urge cry and carefully closed the folder. "No."

"I'm sorry?"

"NO. He's not going to be part of this! I won't ruin his life further by dragging him back into my mess of a life. He deserves better damn it!" I slammed the files on the desk and got up, pacing the room like a caged animal. Anger and fear were warring with each other inside of me - along with the knowledge that Mr. Dickenson was right. I was going to need my lost love and I really had no choice.

Mr. Dickenson sighed, regarding me with sympathy and a quiet understanding that made me want to punch a hole in the wall. "I'm sorry, Kai. I wish there was another way, but I can't find one. And I tried. I really did."

I stared into a fancy mirror that was hanging above the wet bar along one wall. My face was pale - ghostly white - under the blue shark fins that had been another attempt to brainwash me into the line Boris and my grandfather wanted me to accept. They were permanent tattoos. My eyes, that strange, unique shade of bloody crimson, stared back at me and I didn't recognize myself anymore. There was no emotion there anymore, despite the fact that there was plenty roiling around inside my mind and making me slightly nauseous. What had happened to me? I flinched away from the mirror and ran my hands through my hair in agitation.

"There's no other way?" My voice was as empty as my eyes and I knew it.

The old man at the desk knew it, too. But he didn't say anything about it. "No."

Hell for me had once been the Abbey. Now it was going to be a small metropolis called Bay City.

*******************************

Authoress' Notes: There! You all happy now?! Tyson! I told you it was coming, but nooooooooooo… Oh, and yes, I know Kai's shark fins aren't tattoos. I just wanted them that way for this fic. Same with Rei having a tail and being all cat-like. Too bad if you don't like that, either! *sighs* Anyway, please R/R!