Persephone leaned her head against, the bus window, drowning out the chattering of Tyson, Max, Ray, and Kenny as the team made their way to the site of the Asian Tournament. The team had managed to catch a flight out of Hong Kong early that morning, and settled into their new hotel space, designed for traveling beyblade teams for the tournament space. She stared out the hills, painted with spots of trees and other shrubbery, taking a moment to admire the beautiful scenery around her. It was almost...peaceful. But she knew the day that lied ahead would not be. This was where the teams challenges began, and she was determined to help guide them to victory.
As the bus slowed to a stop, the she looked up to see different stadiums ascending up one very tall hill. Her jaw dropped a bit, the architectural feat blowing her away. She wasn't the only one impressed.
"Woah..." Tyson breathed, his awed face quickly turning back to his normal cheerful expression, "that's totally wicked!"
"Yeah! China sure is amazing! Too bad we won't have much time for sight-seeing," the Chief chimed in.
Mr. Dickinson stood up and chimed in, "And here we are ladies and gentlemen! The Asian tournament!"
His cheerful smile radiated all the way to Kai at the back of the bus. Persephone felt a smile of her own form on her face as her heart pounded with anticipation. She looked around at her teammates, her gaze falling on one frowning Ray. Her brows furrowed.
It must be the White Tiger Team. No doubt what they said is bothering him.
She felt a pang of sympathy for him, knowing he must be conflicted and hurt. Ray had informed the team last night, much due to Tyson's prying, that he had once been a member of the Chinese beyblading team, but left to pursue greater challenges. That's all he said on the matter. Not revealing many details, but it was enough to make the blue haired blader back off.
As Mr. Dickinson lead the team out of the bus and towards the tournament building, Persephone fell back to walk alongside Ray. Ray didn't look at her, his gaze steady and focused on the ground in front of him, dark brows furrowed.
"Hey, are you okay?" Her soft voice called, bringing Ray out of his frustrated thoughts.
He glanced over at her, scanning her meek expression before offering up a soft exhale and a fanged-half smile.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Just have a lot on my mind ya know?"
She nodded, "Well if you wanna talk about anything just know I'm here, yeah?"
She offered up a smile, something she rarely showed others, and Ray nodded in return.
"Thanks, P."
She didn't respond, but continued walking beside him, unaware of a certain flaming crimson gaze watching their interaction.
As they made their way to the tournament space, DJ Jazzman's voice was booming through the speakers and easily heard outside the arena space, hyping up the crowd, and explaining the process of elimination of the teams. The Bladebreakers had to win against every team they went up against in order to win.
Persephone toyed with the sleeves of her sweater as she studied the team schedule posted on a board, while Mr. Dickinson and Kai went to check the team in.
So we're in Block A. The White Tiger team is in block B, so the only way we'd go against them is if we both win our divisions and make it to the finals.
She silently prayed for Ray's sake, that the White Tigers would lose at some point in their division, but judging by the skills she had seen back in the alley, and the roar of the crowd as AJ Topper called their name, that wouldn't be likely.
Kai returned to the group as Mr. Dickinson made his way to the box that held all the BBA officials, leaving the Bladebreakers to their own devices with a cheerful smile and a tip of his hat.
Before anyone could speak, a familiar deep voice broke out from the chattering of the crowd.
"Well, looks like the losers club is in session."
Persephone whipped around to see Lee and the rest of the White Tigers standing behind them. Tyson growled, and Max held his arm in an attempt to hold back the his temper.
"What the hell do you guys want?" Tyson snapped.
Persephone stepped slightly in front of Ray, doing her best to muster up a tough looking expression. She could feel the cat-like eyes of the pink haired girl locked on her. She gulped, resisting the urge to hide behind him, but did her best to stand tall and hide her growing anxiety.
"We just wanted to wish you losers luck before the tournament starts," Kevin's nasally voiced chimed in, "You're gonna need it!~"
Tyson growled again and Kenny grabbed his other arm.
"Oh and Ray," Lee continued, "We don't go easy on traitors."
Ray narrowed his eyes at him before crossing his arms.
"Oh yeah? Well we don't go easy on anyone."
Persephone nodded, mimicking him with her arms over her chest, ignoring the death glare she was getting from the pink haired blader across from her.
Lee scoffed, "See you guys at the finals," he said, eyeing Ray up and down, "if you can pull out a win."
And with that they began walking away, leaving behind Kevin who moved closer to Tyson, practically in his face.
"You totally look like the weakest link!" he taunted, before running to catch up to his teammates.
Persephone could practically see steam coming from Tyson's ears as Max and Kenny desperately tried holding him back from going after the green haired blader.
"OH YEAH?!" he called after him, "WELL YOU LOOK LIKE THE MISSING LINK!"
Kai scoffed and turned his head.
"Focus on the tournament Tyson," he snapped, "and stop making a scene."
Tyson frowned, but didn't respond. Instead he turned to Kenny and threw his arm around his shoulders.
"Forget those guys! Talk as much as they want, but they won't stand a chance against us in the stadium," he said with a smug grin.
Max laughed, but Ray only furrowed his brows. Persephone noticed and frowned, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"It'll be okay, Ray. Just try to ignore them."
Ray looked a bit stunned for a moment, then quickly composed himself, going back to his normal fanged smile.
"Tyson's right. We came here to win."
The team then made their way to the locker room, pushing past dozens of bladers and fans alike. As much as she wanted to believe that smile, Persephone was worried about Ray. Having his childhood friends turn on him and seemingly hate him must not be easy.
Why were they acting this way? What exactly did Ray do to upset them that much?
These questions continued running through her mind as she took her seat at the table in the locker room and began researching the team they were going up against first. Just as she began her search, Kai sat on the bench next to her, leaving a person-sized space between them, and began adjusting Dranzer, scowling the whole time. She didn't even look up, deciding it was better to just focus on her computer.
"You're worried about him, aren't you?" he asked, his voice somewhat low so that only she could hear.
She paused for a moment, glancing up at Ray, who was sitting across the room, meditating.
"Of course I am," she replied, "He's my teammate, and he's clearly upset."
"He shouldn't be letting it affect the team before a match. He needs to focus."
Persephone clenched jaw, "People are allowed to have feelings," she shot back, her voice wavering, "It doesn't make them weak."
Before he could respond, she stood, snatching her bag and taking a seat next to Max across the room.
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The Bladebreakers were the first match of Block A, so not much time was spent in the locker room. Cheers from the crowd echoed across the stadium, along with DJ Jazzman's booming voice hyping them up through the speaker system. The team took their spot on the bench, and Persephone did her best to drown out the sounds of fans screaming in the stands.
"Okay guys listen up," Persephone said, gathering the attention of her teammates, "Our first opponents are the Tall Boys. They're pretty popular and as of now are undefeated. According to my research, they use a martial arts inspired style of beyblading to give them their edge, so be on the look out and do your best!"
"I'll go first," Ray said, his eyes full of determination as they locked on the bey stadium.
"Yeah Ray," Tyson chimed in, "We'll show 'em we're even better than the White Tigers."
"Hey, don't go there," Ray snapped, glaring back at his teammate.
"I don't think Ray likes talking about his old team Tyson..."
"Oh, okay," Tyson said, deflating a bit.
"Good luck Ray," Persephone cut in, "Let's kick some ass!"
A small smirk appeared on the Chinese blader's face as he turned and faced his opponent and the Asian tournament begins.
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Hey guys! Sorry it's been a long time. 2020 has been a crazy year, and I've been super busy with college and mental health stuff. This story and others should be getting updated more regularly and I will form a steady schedule in the coming weeks. So let me know what you think of the new chapter and what you want to see from my stories going forward! Thank you all so much for the support!
- S