Beyblade Fan Fiction ❯ Sanctified ❯ The Coming Storm ( Chapter 6 )

Note: The Russian team was referred to as the Demolition Boys in Season 1, and the Blitzkrieg Boys in Season 3. The only difference between them is a few attacks and blade upgrades, and the absence of Ian (the kid with the HUGE nose and Wyborg) from the roster in Season 3. Anyway, I'll be referring to them as the Blitzkrieg Boys, so don't get confused.

Chapter 6: The Coming Storm

Tyson was not used to battling solely with his Bit-Beast, but it was not as hard as he'd feared. He was used to feeding Dragoon his energy, and all he really needed to learn was to focus entirely on the spirit, and not the blade that had once housed it.

As far as he could tell, Kai had never battled this way, either. But for some reason, his rival was having no difficulty controlling Black Dranzer. It was as if they shared one mind at all times, so much so that Kai rarely even had to give the dark phoenix commands to follow.

"Dragoon and I should have that by now," Tyson thought to himself. "We've worked as one before. Why can't he read my mind?" He was jolted out of his thoughts when Dragoon's tail nearly clipped the side of his head. "Hey, watch it, Dragoon!"

Dragoon bellowed back a response that was probably his way of saying, "Yeah, well, I don't see YOU wrestling with the giant phoenix."

Kai laughed loudly. "Having trouble, Tyson? I told you, the blades don't matter. If you expect to challenge me, it's time for you to think outside the box-and beyond the blade. You can't keep thinking of Dragoon as a Bit-Beast!"

"But he is…or was," Tyson's mind insisted. Even if his blade was gone, it was hard to see Dragoon differently. He looked the same, at least, and he was still following orders. How was he different?

"Hey, Black Dranzer!" Kai called. "I don't think Tyson is taking you seriously!"

Tyson's heart stopped as the dark phoenix trained its furious gaze on him. "Kai, what are you doing?!"

"What's the matter? I thought you wanted to be closer to a Bit-Beast?" Kai said with a smirk.

Black Dranzer practically bowled over Dragoon and flew straight at Tyson, its talons gleaming as they reached for him.

"Kai, call him off!" Tyson cried, backing up as quickly as possible. "Dragoon, HELP!!!"

Dragoon rose up behind Black Dranzer and sank his teeth into the phoenix's nearest wing, while coiling his tail around the bird's legs. He held on as best he could when Black Dranzer began to struggle frantically, more from outrage than pain.

The talons stopped only inches away from Tyson, and that was much too close for his taste. Swallowing noisily, he gasped, "Dragoon! Hyper Victory Tornado! AND MAKE IT SNAPPY!!!"

Kai's eyes widened in surprise at the order. "What? No, you fool! We're too close!" But his words were lost in the howl of the powerful, rising winds that gripped the entire area.

Tyson realized his mistake too late. Before he could take back his command, he and Kai were swept up into the huge tornado that Dragoon had created. He could just make out Dragoon and Black Dranzer still struggling in the midst of the storm, apparently unconcerned with the fates of their wielders. With that sight, Tyson's hopes sank, and he knew that he was lost.

If there had been any sort of life for him before he became a Blitzkrieg Boy, Bryan had long since blocked it out. Of course, there were both certain advantages and disadvantages to his doing so.

For example, while he was not haunted by ghosts from his childhood (barely even having a childhood to recall), the idea of being reassured by anything other than a good battle, his Bit-Beast, or his teammates was completely foreign to him.

So when Falborg stopped responding to his commands in the middle of a training session, Bryan went to find Tala. This, however, was not done out of any real sense of fondness or attachment.

The fact was, Tala had remained leader of the Russian team through all its incarnations for a reason. He was the closest to his Bit-Beast (and there even times when he was rumored to BE his own Bit-Beast), and he'd made the least amount of changes to his style in that time: partially out of arrogance, but mostly because you didn't mess with perfection. If anyone on the team wanted a problem dealt with swiftly, they took it to Tala, because he got it out of the way at once so both parties could get back to Beyblading. Aside from that, Tala seemed to have a natural talent for controlling any Bit-Beast that passed through his hands.

But Tala, for the first time that Bryan could remember, was not in his room, the training center, or the laboratory. He was simply not in the abbey at all, which was really odd. Tala never left the abbey, unless there was a press conference or a battle to fight, and in those cases, he went with the team. But this was definitely downtime (or as close to it as they got), so Tala would've had no reason to leave. Even if something had gone wrong with Wolborg, Tala would be down in the lab, either fixing it himself or shouting at one of the many ever-present scientists to do so.

Bryan was even starting to consider going to Spencer on his way back to his room. But as he passed Tala's room again, he found the door was open this time.

Spencer stood just inside, staring straight ahead.

Bryan was about to chew him out for entering Tala's room, but then he realized what his teammate was staring at.

The entire room was covered in a thick sheet of ice: the walls, the floor, the ceiling, even the bed.

"Where is he?" Bryan asked after a long moment. He was not really expecting an answer, but Spencer turned to face him.

"Gone. There was a plane ticket charged to his expense account an hour ago."

A blank look crossed Bryan's face. "Tala's gone? Where would he go?"

Spencer shrugged and went back to looking at all the ice.

Bryan almost questioned his teammate further, but it was then that something caught his eye. He crossed the room and knelt by the bed.

"Find something?" Spencer asked.

"No, but that's the problem." Bryan held up the broken remains of Tala's Beyblade. "The entire center is missing. So is Wolborg."

Kai gritted his teeth as he tightened his grip on Black Dranzer's warm, sharp feathers. He had managed to find his sacred spirit in the midst of the storm, but he did not think that Tyson had been so lucky. And while Black Dranzer was perfectly capable of ending the storm himself, Kai wanted to wait and see what Tyson would come up with. But after several minutes had passed, he was starting to think that Tyson had been knocked out.

That was when Mariam appeared before them.

"Kai!" she shouted. "Stop this right now! You know Tyson won't win if he hasn't done it by now!"

"Stay out of this, Mariam! This is between Tyson and I! It doesn't concern you or the Saint Shields!"

"How is dashing Tyson's head on a rock going to settle things between you two?! He wasn't ready for all this and you knew it!"

"And that's exactly why he has to go through this now!" Kai snapped at her. "If he can't handle me, then he can't handle Ozuma!"

A blank look crossed Mariam's face. "You…want him to beat Ozuma…?"

"I want Dragoon to be where he belongs."

For a long moment, she didn't say anything. Then, so softly that he almost missed it: "You owe me."

"What?! I killed your murderer!"

"But I didn't ask you to do that," Mariam pointed out. "You owe me, Kai, and you repay that debt now! If it wasn't for me, Ozuma never would've helped you, and you would still be Black Dranzer's puppet. So end this battle now, as a favor to me. Let Tyson get ready for Ozuma in his own way. He's had enough."

Kai glared at her, but finally, he called out, "Spiral Survivor!"

Black Dranzer shrieked and began to spin in place, starting his own black cyclone that churned against Dragoon's tornado. Within a few seconds, the cyclone tore away from the tornado, taking much of its fury as well. As the tornado died down, an angry Dragoon was revealed, roaring in wounded pride as his opponent retreated.

Mariam was the first one to spot the falling body just a few feet behind the dragon. "Tyson!!!"

Without even turning his head, Dragoon's tail lashed out, wrapping gently but firmly around Tyson before he could hit the ground.

"This isn't over!" Kai swore from within the black cyclone, moments before it took off into the air.

Dragoon's steely gaze landed on Mariam, conveying that she wasn't welcome any longer.

"Um….good dragon. Stay." She quickly flew after Kai.

Dragoon held Tyson's limp body up to his face, crooning softly as he studied the boy's lifeless form. But when it became apparent that he could not wake his partner, Dragoon took to the skies to find someone who could.

Mariah woke up to the odd sensation of the majority of her body being numb. The reason for this was all too obvious.

There was an oversized cat sleeping on top of her.

It took only a moment for this to sink in, along with the realization that she knew the cat. Her eyes shifted to her left hand, the one that usually held her Beyblade while she was asleep.

The Beyblade itself was in pieces now, but she was starting to think that was normal, considering her Bit-Beast had probably torn it apart trying to get out. That would explain why it seemed to be sleeping so deeply: exhaustion.

Hesitantly, Mariah turned her head so that her lips were right next to the cat's ear. "…Galux?"

The ear twitched, and the cat raised her head as she yawned, displaying several pointy teeth. Upon noticing Mariah, her yellow eyes lit up, and her tail switched from side to side in what was apparently pleasure.

"Nice to see you, too," Mariah said faintly. "But…how'd you…?"

Galux did not answer, so much as she leaned forward and licked Mariah's nose with a rough, pink tongue, before settling back down a bit heavily on her owner and going back to sleep.

A large sweatdrop rolled down the side of her face. "Galux!" she whispered urgently, writhing underneath the big cat. "Come on, I need to use the bathroom…"

Galux did not move.

Mariah smirked evilly. "Well, if you DON'T let me up, you're going to have to lick yourself clean in a minute."

Galux was off the bed at once.

"Good girl," Mariah said, patting the cat's head as she passed. Maybe she didn't know much about how Galux had gotten loose, but Mariah knew quite a bit about cats.

"Tyson! TYSON!!!"

The boy's eyes slowly fluttered open. "Unh…that you, Hil?" he asked weakly.

"Tyson!" she squealed, tackling him in a big hug. "Oh, thank goodness!"

"Mmm…" A goofy grin plastered itself on Tyson's face. Hilary smelled awfully nice, and her skin was so soft and warm against his chest…and….and why could he feel her skin against his chest?

He eventually looked down to find that his shirt was missing. His pants, thankfully, were not.

"Hey, um…what happened?" Tyson asked.

"You don't remember?" Hilary asked, pulling away slightly. "You ran off to fight Kai!"

The events flooded back to him in an instant. "Kai…where is he?"

"I don't know. I just found you here, lying on the ground without your shirt."

"Weird," Tyson muttered. "I remember fighting Kai, but…he must've knocked me out. And stolen my shirt."

Hilary gave him an odd look. "Are you sure you didn't just lose it?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure I was wearing it."

"Just like you were wearing this?" Hilary asked, holding up his cap. "I found it in the bushes."

Tyson snatched the cap and shoved it on his head. "Could've happened to anyone," he reasoned.

"Um…Tyson?" Hilary asked, her eyes suddenly drawn to his chest.

He couldn't help grinning. Hilary was checking out his bod. Oh, he was never going to let her live this down. "Yeeeees, Hil?" he asked, drawing it out on purpose.

"Did you always have a tattoo?"

"Huh? I don't have a tattoo. Yet."

"Um…then I think Kai did a little more than steal your shirt while you were out cold."

Tyson looked down again, finally noticing what Hilary was talking about. Wrapped around his navel was what looked like a blue tail. It wound around his body…and around and around and around, until he found the roaring dragon's head just beneath his collar bone. "Dragoon," he whispered. "It wasn't a dream…"

"It's so long," Hilary said at last, absently running her fingertips along Dragoon's neck.

"Big, too," Tyson added, holding back laughter.

"Yeah…"

"Hil."

"Hmm?"

"You're groping me."

"That's nice…"

"And I'm liking it."

"Hmm…"

"…your hair's on fire."

"Thanks."

Tyson blinked, realizing that Hilary seemed to be hypnotized by the tattoo (he knew what it really was, but it just seemed simpler to think of it as that). Experimentally, he grabbed her neck and tugged her face closer to his. "Hil."

"Hmm?" she asked dreamily.

"HILARY."

She blinked a few times, seeming to awaken from a dream. "Tyson?"

"Freaky. You totally spazzed out on me."

"…I did?"

"Yeah. You were feeling me up and everything."

"I…what?!" Hilary cried, her face red.

"You were even moaning," Tyson said, a wicked grin on his lips.

"I WASN'T!" Hilary shrieked. "Was I…?"

Tyson began to run his hands up and down his chest. "`Ooooh, Tyson,'" he said in a horrid impression of Hilary's voice. "`Make Dragoon dance for me again!'"

"NO!" Hilary wailed, covering her mouth.

"Hey, it's okay, Hil," Tyson said, grinning hugely. "I know you couldn't resist my animal magnetism. And hey, no hard feelings. So long as I get to return the favor one day."

"I…I have to go," Hilary said, quickly getting to her feet. "I-I'm sorry, Tyson!" With that, she ran off.

"HEY! Hilary!" he shouted after her. "I was kidding!" Tyson sighed and shook his head. "Girls. Always overreacting. Like feeling me up is a bad thing?"

"I think we seriously need to discuss your commitment to this team," Mariam said firmly.

"Why don't you go haunt Dunga for a while?" Kai asked, refusing to look at her. "I doubt he'd even notice that you're a ghost."

"You could've seriously hurt Tyson today! What were you thinking?!"

"He was the one that couldn't control Dragoon. If he didn't learn then, the match with Ozuma would be a total shut-out. I doubt Ozuma wants to win him that way."

"You still shouldn't have done it. What if something had gone wrong? What if you'd lost?"

"I didn't lose," Kai reminded her. "I quit because you begged me to. I was never in any danger of losing. If Tyson couldn't keep himself from getting swept up into Dragoon's attack, there was no way he could've focused it enough to beat me. That proves he's not ready, but it doesn't mean he's not worthy of Dragoon."

"We do things differently on the Saint Shields, Kai," Mariam stated. "You can't just do whatever you want without considering how it will affect your teammates, everyone else, and the world itself. What you did today puts our mission at risk. The whole point of watching the Bladebreakers so closely was to make sure their sacred spirits didn't get out of control. Now that you've unleashed Dragoon before Tyson was ready, there's no telling what might happen."

"Is that concern in your voice?" Kai asked with a smirk. "If you Saint Shields can't handle one Bit-Beast without my help, how exactly did you expect to capture Dragoon?"

The words were barely out of his mouth when the door slammed open, revealing a grinning Dunga.

"VICTORY!!!" he bellowed, thrusting his Beyblade high in the air. "Driger is ours!"

"You were saying?" Mariam muttered to Kai as she floated over to Dunga. "Great job, big guy! I'm proud of ya."

"…oh. Thanks, Mariam," Dunga chuckled weakly, rubbing his head. "I didn't know you were gonna be here…"

"And why wouldn't I be? You got the third Bladebreaker Bit-Beast! It's time to celebrate!"

"Actually, Mariam, it's time to seal," Ozuma said as he entered the room. "But I wouldn't be opposed to a celebration afterwards. We could all use a break." His gaze shifted briefly to Kai, but Ozuma merely looked away as they all gathered around the rock.

"Can we do this without Joseph?" Kai asked suddenly.

Ozuma smiled. "Normally, no. But thanks to our guest, it's still possible."

"What guest?" Dunga asked.

"He means me, dummy," Mariam pointed out good-naturedly.

"But you're not a guest," Dunga said fiercely, shooting a glare at Ozuma. "You're one of us!"

"Technically, I'm only half of one of you," Mariam replied, "and while I'm still a Saint Shield, I can't exactly fight with you anymore. Just relax, big guy. Ozuma didn't mean anything by it. Did you, boss man?"

"Of course not, Mariam," Ozuma said calmly. "You will always have a place with us, living or deceased." His gaze moved to Dunga. "I know it is hard to let go, Dunga. But there are responsibilities that Mariam can no longer carry out, no matter how much we might wish it otherwise. Kai has stepped in to complete our group with Mariam's blessing. If you can accept him, then you must also accept that Mariam cannot be with us in the same capacity that she used to be. But as I said, she will always have a place here." Ozuma paused and crossed his arms. "Does that satisfy you, Dunga?"

Dunga bit his lip and glanced at Mariam, who nodded, and then at Kai, who looked indifferent, as usual. "Yeah," he said quietly after a few seconds.

"Then let us proceed, so we can celebrate your accomplishment," Ozuma declared. "Today, Driger is sealed. Dragoon cannot be far behind."

Ray was taking the loss of Driger hard, but he was trying not to show it.

Max had virtually given him the same speech that Ray gave his friend just the previous day, and amazingly enough, it had worked. Under Kenny's strict supervision, they both began training harder than they ever had before.

Zeo stayed by Kenny's side, watching the repeated matches with an undying sense of awe. He still couldn't believe that they'd just welcomed him into their midst, as if they'd been friends forever. Well, he still hadn't gotten to meet Tyson and Kai, but he was assured that at least Tyson would show up a little later. No one said anything about Kai, though.

And sure enough, Tyson finally did make an appearance…still without a shirt, though.

It only took a glance at the intensity at which Max and Ray were battling for Tyson to guess what had happened in his absence. He wanted to tell his teammates that Beyblades were pointless, as Kai had proven, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Max and Ray had lost their partners, and Beyblades were all they had now. He couldn't crush the little hope they had left.

He only vaguely heard Kenny introduce Zeo as the newest member of their team, but he heard enough.

"Hey, guys," Tyson said, waving to get Max and Ray's attention. "Why don't both of you take on Zeo? You know, last blade spinning wins? He needs to get used to working with us."

"Sounds like a plan," Ray replied. "You up for it, Maxie?"

"In it to win it," Max answered with a smile. "Give us all you got, Zeo."

Still a little starstruck, Zeo hesitantly joined them at the dish.

Tyson pulled Kenny aside. "Listen, Chief. I've um…gotta go for a bit. Actually, it could take a while."

Kenny frowned. "Tyson, you really should be practicing with the others, for Dragoon's sake."

"And for mine! I'm a Bit-Beast, too!" Dizzi added, but she was mostly ignored.

"I would, Chief, but this is really important. I gotta go get Hilary back." At the look on Kenny's face, he quickly added, "Don't worry, we just had another misunderstanding. I'll apologize and be all serious."

"I hope she sees it that way. Tyson, you can't keep upsetting her like this. One day, she might not forgive you so easily. And if you haven't realized it, Hilary's support goes a long way with this team. Without her, Max would still be in the dumps about you-know-who."

"Yeah, I know. I said I was going to get her back, didn't I? Just give me a few hours. I won't come back without her, I promise."

Kenny nodded. "Okay, good luck. I think you're going to need it. But put a shirt on first. And when did you have time to get a tattoo that big?!"

Kane woke up from a nightmare. He had been dreaming about Cyber Dragoon yet again. Even though he had gone back to using his old Beyblade, the white dragon still haunted his thoughts. It was impossible for him to discard the memories completely; his Team Psykick teammates were his best friends, and they had all fallen under the control of their Cyber Bit-Beasts. Sometimes he wondered if he was the only one that still thought about what it would be like to wield such incredible power again.

He sighed and began to slip out of bed. That was when he noticed the thick, white tail curling silently around his bed. Before Kane could think to move, the tail tightened, cracking the bed in two and trapping him within the powerful coils.

"No!" was all Kane had time to cry out before the coils tightened to much for him to do more than groan in pain. He could only watch as he was lifted into the air and pulled out of the suddenly open window.

"Don't be afraid, Kane," said a familiar voice. "We've come to take you home."

Kane's eyes widened as his captors came into view. "No…Salima…"

His old teammate smiled at him from atop her Cyber Driger. Cyber Dragoon loomed behind them, growling softly as he drew Kane closer.

"We've missed you, Kane," Salima purred softly, reaching out to him as the coils loosened ever so slightly.

"Salima… what have they done to you?" he whispered. "How did they come back?"

"It doesn't matter," she replied, taking him in her arms. "All that matters is that we're together again."

Kane wanted to fight, for both their sakes. But already he could feel the addictive lust for power entering his heart again, and the added sensation of Salima holding him didn't feel so bad, either. "What now?"

She smiled up at him. "Now, the world is ours."

Hilary's eyes snapped open as a hand covered her mouth. She tried to scream anyway, for all the good it did.

"Hil, it's me!" hissed a voice that she knew, and then Tyson's face slid into view.

"Tyson!" she gasped, sitting up in her bed. "How did you get into my room?! I'm three stories up!"

"I had some help," he said, pointing to the balcony.

Hilary's eyes widened and as she saw what could only be Dragoon's eye staring back at her. Unconsciously, she drew her blanket a little tighter around her body before turning back to Tyson. "What are you doing here so late?"

"I had to see you," Tyson replied. "I wanted to make sure you'd be coming to our practice tomorrow."

Her face fell as she averted her gaze. "No, Tyson. I can't. I can't…take this anymore…"

"Look, it was a JOKE. If I knew you'd be this mad, I never would've-"

"Tyson, it's not your fault. Well, it IS, but there's nothing you can do about it, so just let it go."

"I won't," Tyson snapped, grabbing her arms. "Hilary, you're too important to the team. You can't quit on us now! I'm sorry for what I did. You don't even have to talk to me anymore. Just be there for the guys!"

"That would only make it worse!" Hilary moaned, shaking him off. "Tyson, just go away!" She flung herself onto her pillow and pressed her face into it.

Tyson began to get the feeling that this was about far more than a joke gone wrong. "Hilary, just for the record, exactly why are you so mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at me!" came the muffled reply.

"But you didn't do anything wrong!"

"Yes, I did! I felt you up!"

"Oh, that. Well, like I said, it didn't feel bad…"

"It doesn't matter! I took advantage of you, Tyson! I could do it again."

A rather goofy smile appeared on Tyson's face, but he refrained from making a comment that would just upset her more. "Hil, it's okay. I forgive you, and I trust you. Now would you look at me?"

"No! That's how I got in trouble the last time!"

"Okay, you asked for it." Tyson yanked her blanket away, seized her ankles, and proceeded to tickle her feet mercilessly.

"AH!!! Tyson, no!" Hilary squealed, trying to kick him away. "Stop it!"

"You gonna listen to me now? Or do I have to find another place that's even more ticklish?" he threatened.

"Okay, I'll listen!" Hilary cried at once. "Just…stop it!!!"

Tyson stopped tickling, but kept a firm grip on her legs. "I can tell this isn't just about the joke. What aren't you telling me, Hilary?"

She looked away again. "I took advantage of you, Tyson. I…I can't trust myself around you anymore."

"I like to live dangerously," Tyson chuckled.

"It's not funny!" Hilary wailed, burying her face in her hands.

"Hey, you were hypnotized. You couldn't help it. It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is!" Hilary insisted. "Because I wanted to do it BEFORE you got the tattoo!"

Tyson's expression went from smiling to dazed, and then to shocked. "Are you saying…that you like me?"

"Yes," Hilary moaned pitifully. "And I can't be around you now, because I might go even farther the next time without realizing what I was doing."

"Well, ain't that a kick in the head." Tyson thought for a moment. "What if I said I wanted you around, anyway? That I was willing to risk it?"

"I'm still staying away."

"What if I paid you?"

"No."

Tyson decided to unleash his secret weapon. "What if I said I liked you, too?"

"I wouldn't believe you," Hilary said at once. "You're just trying to make me feel better."

"But what if I did?"

"If you really did, I guess it would change things. But you don't."

"How do you know? Did you ask me?"

"Stop teasing me, Tyson!"

"Okay." With that, Tyson dragged Hilary into his lap, pulled her face up to his, and kissed her.

Hilary's instincts kicked in roughly three seconds later when she finally broke the kiss. "What are you doing?!"

"You said to stop teasing. I took that to mean you wanted me to stop messing around and give you what you wanted."

"…that's almost sweet, Tyson, except what makes you think I wanted to be kissed?"

"You've been sitting here all night, thinking you couldn't see me anymore because you couldn't trust yourself with me. I came all the way out here to prove I want you back. You hit me with this tantrum, I tell you I like you, and you still try to brush me off. I figure if kissing doesn't work, nothing will. Anyway, I haven't heard a complaint yet. And it took you a while to pull away."

"Bad reflexes," Hilary muttered.

"Yeah, horrible," Tyson murmured, right before he kissed her again.

Hilary's hands flew up at once to push him away, but then they stopped and came to rest gently on his chest.

Tyson grinned to himself as he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the balcony.

"Hey! Where are you taking me?" Hilary demanded.

"Late night strategy meeting. You need to be there, in case Kai comes after you to get me to fight him."

"You don't really think he'd do that?"

Tyson smirked. "Even if he doesn't, I'll take any excuse I can get to keep kissing you a little longer."

"Oh? And who says I'm gonna let you, mister?"

"That smile on your face, for starters…"

To Be Concluded Next Chapter:

The way of the Beyblade has changed forever. As a result of Kai & Tyson's battle, Bit-Beasts all over the world are reacting strangely. Some will no longer answer the voices of their owners. Others have erupted from their Beyblades, possibly never to return. And some, it would seem, have come back from the dead.

Can Tyson win against Ozuma and Flash Leopard, now that Dragoon has been freed? Will Kai remain with Black Dranzer and the Saint Shields? What new threat will the Cyber Bit-Beasts bring? All this and more, in the final chapter of "Sanctified."