Chosen By The Bitbeasts

by Starwolf

 

A/N: I’ve got plenty of time to start on this chapter since I’ve finished all my homework! ^-^   Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get into ff.net recently, so I’ll have to wait to post this.  About the new characters in the tournament: I’m still organizing them and deciding how and where to put them etc.  That’s still taking a while, when I’ve got that done, I’ll get into the tournament.  Right now, I guess you could say that I’m just stalling for time….well, kinda.  Ok, let’s get going, then:

Disclaimer: See previous chapters

Chapter 10: The Missing Starr

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Later that night, as everyone started to go to their rooms, Mr. Dickinson approached Kai and Rei.  “Ah, Kai.  Rei.” He said to them.  “Do you mind if I have a chat with the two of you?”

“No, that’s fine with us, Mr. Dickinson.” Rei said, a bit uncertainly, and the two of them followed him to another room. ‘What in the world is going on?’ he thought, obviously confused.

“What do you want?” Kai asked, as the door closed behind them.

Mr. Dickinson took a deep breath.  “Boys, I need to talk to you two about something important.”

“What?” Rei asked curiously.

“As you know, Starr is going to be our second substitute for the Tournament.  I’ve arranged that.  You know, the teams don’t really need a fifth blader.”

“They don’t?” Rei asked. “Then why’d you sign her up anyways?”

 “By hanging out with the Bladebreakers, she may still attract attention.  She needs to have an excuse for being with you guys.  Like she said, the chances of her actually having to blade are very little.  Now, you two are the oldest of the team.  I’ll be off on an important meeting tomorrow morning.  I won’t be back until much later and I’m just asking that you just help keep an eye on her.  Don’t make it too obvious, though.  She won’t like it if she finds out.” He paused for a moment, catching his breath.  “Well, then what you do think?”

“Sure Mr. Dickinson.” Rei replied.

“Kai?”

Kai grunted, his own way of saying yes.  After all, he was pretty much doing this already anyways….

Mr. Dickinson clapped his hands once and smiled.  “Ok then!  You boys don’t know how much I appreciate this.  Thank you very much!  You two are dismissed.”

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

“Hey everyone!  How’s it going?” Tyson asked brightly as he walked up to the breakfast table the next morning.

“Finally decided to wake up, Sleeping Beauty?” Rei, who was closest to him asked.

“I guess so.” Tyson replied, yawning and stretching his arms.  He took a seat next to Max and Kenny then looked around.  “Hey, where is Mr. Dickinson?  And Starr?”

“Mr. Dickinson had to leave early this morning for some kind of meeting.  He told us to keep training on our own.” Kenny answered.  “As for Starr, I don’t think she’s awake yet.  We haven’t seen her at all this morning.”

“That’s odd.” Tyson said.  “She’s never been one to wake up late.”

“I know.” Max added.  “She’s usually the first one up.  I mean, she even gets up earlier than Rei!”

“Maybe we should go and see if she’s alright.…” Rei said thoughtfully.

Tyson broke the solemn, thoughtful mood.  “Hey, I’m sure she’s fine!”  He said reassuringly.  “Remember, I haven’t eaten yet, and I’m dying of starvation here!  After breakfast, if she doesn’t up, we’ll go up to her room.  It’s no big deal!” 

Rei sighed.  “Yeah.  I guess you’re right.” he replied, sighing again. 

Kenny shook his head.  “Always thinking about his stomach.” he said sweatdropping.

“Alright!  Are you ready breakfast??  Here I come!!” Tyson said happily, scrambling out of his chair and heading for the breakfast table.

“Don’t worry.” Max said.  “This will be fast.  I bet you Tyson will probably finish all of that food at that table in about fifteen minutes.

 

About ten minutes later, Tyson returned to the rest of the group w/ a full stomach and angry hotel employees yelling at him from a distance.  “Mmm…that was good!” he exclaimed, patting his stomach.

Everyone sweatdropped.  “And he didn’t even bother to bring any food back to the table to eat.” Kenny said in exhaustion.

“So, um….have you guys seen Starr yet?”  Tyson glanced across table.  No said a word, but the looks on their faces were enough to tell the answer.  “I guess not.”  Everyone, even Kai, for some reason, seemed at least a bit worried.  “Well, then I guess we better go up to her room and check.”

Everyone rose from they’re seats to leave.  “What’s her room number again?” Max asked as they headed for the elevator.

“527.” Kenny replied, after checking the sheet of paper that Mr. Dickinson had given him.  He pressed the up button.

“What do you think happened?” Tyson asked, a bit concerned.

“I dunno.” Rei replied.  “But I hope nothing’s wrong.”  The elevator door opened and they went in.  Kai pressed the “five” button, and then there was silence as the elevator started moving. 

Ding!  The door opened.  “Come on!” Tyson said, as they rushed towards room 527.

“Ok, here’s the plan.” Kenny said, panting slightly as they reached the door.  “Mr. Dickinson gave me all the spare keys to our rooms, just in case.  If Starr doesn’t answer the door, we’ll have to open it ourselves.  We have no other choice.” 

Rei knocked politely.  No answer.  He tried again.  No luck.  Now it was Tyson’s turn. 

“Come on, Starr!”  He yelled pounding on the door.  “Let us in!!”  A maid that was passing by glared at him.  Tyson didn’t notice and didn’t stop.  “We know you’re in there!” he continued loudly as Kenny opened the door with the key.  No one was in the room.  Everyone stared for a long time.

“….or not.” Tyson finished weakly.  Everyone facefaulted.

“Wow!” Rei said.  “This place is a lot neater than it was before.

“Yeah!” Tyson answered.  “It seems like she packed up last night or something.”

“Her backpack is gone!”  Max noticed.  “Where do you think she could be?” He asked, turning to the rest of the team.

“I don’t know.” Kai replied.  “But we’ve got to go find her!”  He turned to leave.

“Wait!” Kenny called out.  He had wandered into Starr’s room.

“What is it, Chief?” Tyson asked.

“She left us a note!” he said, waving the sheet of paper that he had found on the desk nearby. 

Everyone but Kai, who stayed where his was by the doorway, gathered around him.  “What does it say?” Max asked curiously, coming closer.

“Hey, you guys!” Kenny read aloud.  “I knew that you would probably come looking for me, so I left you this note.”

“Geez.” Tyson said dully, facefaulting.

Kenny continued.  “Anyways, I just want you guys to know that I’m fine.  Don’t worry about me.  I’ll be back at around 11:30.  I won’t bother you details until I’m back, but I’ll give one clue for now: pack your bags!!  Okay, see ya soon!”  Kenny paused for a moment.  “It’s signed by Starr.”

“What does that mean?” Rei asked.

“I don’t know, Tyson.” Kenny replied.  “But I guess it’s something about leaving, or she wouldn’t have told us to pack up.”

“Well….then should be?” Max asked.

“I guess so…..I hope Mr. Dickinson knows about this!” Kenny answered uncertainly. 

“Ok, then.” Rei said, checking the clock on the desk.  “It’s 11:06 right now.  We’ve got about 30 minutes to pack up, and then Starr should turn up by then.”

“Hey, sounds pretty good to me!” Max replied.  They split up to go to their rooms. 

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At around 11:40, the Bladebreakers (minus Starr) were packed and waiting in the training room.  Well, at least Kenny was waiting.   Kai was making Tyson, Rei, and Max train.  They were “wasting time”, as Kai put said. 

Tyson moaned.  “How long do we have to keep doing this?” he complained.     

“How about now?” asked a rather familiar female voice coming from the doorway. 

Everyone whipped around.  “Starr!” everyone exclaimed. 

“Hey guys.  Sorry I’m late.” She replied coolly, coming in.

“Where were you?” Tyson asked.

Starr seemed to be in a pretty good mood.  “Whoa!” she exclaimed.  “You’re turning into Kai now!”  Nobody except for Kai, who smiled, kind of-in a way, had any idea what she was talking about.  They looked at her blankly.  “Never mind.” she said quickly.  “I was just at the office talking to Mr. Dickinson on the phone.”

“For a couple of hours?” asked Kenny disbelievingly.

Starr laughed.  “No, just for about five minutes.  Before that, I was at the downtown Chicago BBA office.”

“What were you doing there?” Rei asked. 

“All of you ask too many questions.  Patience, I’ll get to it.” Starr took a deep breath.  “We’re leaving today.” She announced happily.

“Man!” Tyson groaned.  “She’s really getting to me.  We’re leaving for WHERE?”

“Hey what did I say before?  Just give me time!”  Starr tried again.  “Mr. Dickinson once told me about that one time when you guys were heading for the American Tournament, and he took you guys to some remote place to train.”

“Yeah!” Tyson interrupted.  “I remember, isn’t when we met that guy Antonio or something?”

Starr shrugged.  “Yeah!” Max answered.  “That’s the guy who wanted to teach kids how to blade.  But he wasn’t too good at blading himself.” he recalled.

“And yet he managed to beat you, didn’t he Tyson???” Kai smirked. 

“Well, so?” Tyson said defensively.  “At least I learned a lesson.”

Starr raised an eyebrow.  “Anyways, that’s what we’re gonna do.  There’s a new training facility that’s just opened off in the woods somewhere near here.  I’ve asked permission for us to use it.  We’re gonna be the first ones to use it, but it’s not quite finished yet, so we may have to rough it a bit….”

“That’s okay.” Rei replied.  “Sounds like fun!”

“COOL!” Tyson cheered.  “We’ll be famous!”

“Um….not quite, Tyson.” Max said, sweatdropping. 

“Anyways,” Starr continued.  “We’ll be leaving at about 1:15.  I got a BBA van to get us there.  It’ll take abut 6 hours to get there.” 

“WHAT?!?” Tyson exclaimed.  “I thought you said that it was near here!”

“Hey, when you’re talking about the woods, a 6 hour drive is definitely still ‘near’.” Starr replied, not batting an eye.  “Are you guys packed up?” she asked.

“Yeah.” Tyson said dully.  “Kenny made us.”

“Good for him!” Starr said brightly.  “Let’s hurry up and go eat lunch.  Then, we can go!”

“Sounds good to me!” Rei replied.

“Sounds REALLY good to me!” said Tyson happily.  “I’m gonna make today a world-wide holiday!  The one day Starr suggests we go and eat lunch!”

Everyone looked at him oddly.  “What’s so special about that?” Max asked.

“Well, sometimes you kinda feel left out, being the only person who’s smart enough to worry about the welfare of our poor stomachs.” Tyson said in a fake sad voice.

Starr snorted and smacked Tyson lightly on the back.  “Don’t celebrate just yet.  I’m just saying we’ve gotta go eat now, or either we’d miss our ride, or we’ll have to spend the whole ride there listening to you complaining about how hungry you were.”

Tyson shrugged.  “Close enough.  Let’s go eat!!!”

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Well then. I guess we’re done for now.  I think these chapters are slowly starting to become shorter.  Sorry.  Anyways, I promise that after going to this training center place I’ll get to the tournament.  Hey, how come no one’s reviewing for this anymore???  I got a lot less reviews last chapter than in the one before.  WHAT’S HAPPENING TO MY READERS???  Thanks, and please read + review!

You can send your comments and question to Starwolf at: moonbeygirl@yahoo.com

Ok, bye!

Starwolf ^.^