I\'m a father?

Title: I\'m a father?

Subtitle: Morning matches

Author: Lady Snowblossom

Rating: PG-13

Pairs: Rei/Bryan, Kai/Tala, Spencer/Ian, Tyson/Max and various other pairings

Disclaimer: Thought it was time I slipped this in. They still aren\'t mine!

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The horizon slowly grayed, then shaded into a rainbow of yellow, white and blue. Early morning birds sang and in the distance one of the guard dogs barked, sending a rabbit bolting for cover. The young man, who sat on the patio: coffee cup in hand ignored all of it, as he stared out over the yard.

Behind him, the house started to come alive and he rose to his feet. He took one last look at the yard, then turned and entered the house. It was time to get ready for the tournament and he could only hope everything would work out.

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Bryan sighed, he really hated to wake his kitten, but it was time to get ready, in a few hours, they would have to be at the stadium and then the battles would begin. Walking to one of the vases of lavender roses used to decorate their room, the Russian pulled one out and smirked.

An impish look entered his eyes and he went back to the bed and reaching out ran the rose feather soft over the golden shoulder of his mate. Rei had elected to sleep \'au natural\' after they had returned from their moonlit stroll, and the expanse of skin he could see was definitely tempting him to say, \'to hell with breakfast\' and just make love to his kitten until they had to leave. Shaking his head with regret, Bryan reluctantly decided to forego that pleasure and set about teasing his lover awake.

A smile crossed his face, as he gently brushed the tips of the petals under his love\'s pert little nose. The smile widened, as Rei screwed up his face and with a quiet little mewl brushed at his face, before scrunching down into the covers.

Once again, Bryan brushed the rose under Rei\'s nose and smirked, when golden eyes opened and glared up at him.

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Rei woke to something tickling his nose, he swatted at the annoying thing and burrowed back into the covers, but it returned a moment later. Irritated, the cat-boy opened his eyes, only to find that the annoyance was Bryan with a long stemmed rose in his hand and a smirk on his face.

\"Humph!\" Rei snorted and pulled the sheets and comforter over his head.

\"Rei.\" Bryan purred and shook his lover.

\"Go \'way, I\'m sleeping.\" And Rei clutched the coverings tighter.

Bryan chuckled; his kitten was just too cute, when he didn\'t want to get up. \"Baby, we have to get ready. Tournament, remember?\"

\"Go \'out me.\"

\"I\'d love too, Kitten, but I seriously doubt your captain would let us get away with leaving you behind.\"

A rude noise came from the lump in the covers. Bryan laughed, grabbed the bedclothes and yanked.

\"Hey!\" The annoyed boy yelled, as he lunged for the end of the sheet. Bryan dropped the covers and intercepted the Chinese.

\"It\'s shower time for my wittle kitty.\" The smirking Russian dragged his struggling lover off the bed and hauled him into his arms. Ignoring Rei\'s commands to \"put me down, right now!\" Bryan headed for the door and managed to get it open, only to come face to face with Meryl, who had come to wake them for breakfast.

Rei took one look and shrieked, \"Bryan!\" Backpedaling, Bryan ducked behind the door, all the while Rei was cursing in a mixture of English, Japanese and Chinese, while frantically trying to use his hair to hide his assets.

Mouth rounding in a silent \"O\", Meryl blinked, belatedly blushed and turned her back.

Of the three, one would be hard pressed to pick the one with the deepest blush, as Meryl said hastily, \"breakfast will be ready in ten minutes.\" Then she went hurrying down the hall to disappear into one of the other rooms.

\"Bryan, you dumb ass!\" Rei hissed, \"that poor woman is never going to forgive us for embarrassing her like that!\"

\"She\'ll get over it.\" The falcon said as he stuck his head around the doorframe and checked for anyone else. Not seeing anyone, he carried Rei out into the hall and headed for the bathroom.

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Ducking into one of the empty guestrooms, Meryl sat down in a chair and started laughing. She laughed until the tears ran and her sides ached. Breathing deeply, she fought to get herself under control, but every time she\'d managed it, she\'d see the image of poor Rei\'s face and she burst into laughter again.

Finally, she gained control and rose, wiping tears from the corner of her eyes with the back of her hand. \"I\'m going to miss those boys.\" She said softly to the empty room, \"they have really livened this house up.\"

Sighing, she went out to go and order the maids to come and pack for their guests.

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Breakfast was barely over, when the pair of buses sent by the BBA arrived; one would take the bladers to New York Stadium, the other would take their luggage to a hotel carefully chosen by Mr. Dickenson.

Outside the front doors, Meryl and Tarell waited to bid their guests farewell, and to wish them luck. Behaving like the aristocrats they were; the Majestic\'s merely nodded their farewells; then swept on down to the bus, some of Robert\'s servants having collected their cars the night before. Michael paused long enough to salute Tarell with a forefinger to the bill of his cap, while smiling at Meryl before hurrying to join Johnny.

Tala led his team out and the Demolition Boys paused, also nodding to the pair. Bryan blinked in surprise, when Meryl pulled him into a strong hug and murmured in the Russian\'s ear. \"You take good care of the little one, he is special, that one.\" Then, she kissed him on the cheek, and Bryan blushed and beat a - for him - hasty retreat.

Ian snickered, earning himself a glare. Eeping, the snake ducked behind Spencer, who just rolled his eyes.

Nixie came out next and handed Meryl a white pastry box tied shut with a red ribbon. The little cook smiled at the last batch of guests to exit the mansion.

Max and Tyson led the way, chattering like magpies. As Tyson bragged about how fast he was going to win his matches, his grandfather rolled his eyes and sighed. Kenny came next, clutching Dizzy and squinting in the bright sunlight.

Rei and Kai were last. Drawing even with Meryl and her husband, the neko-jin went to bow, but Meryl would have none of it. Stepping forward, she handed Rei the box, then hugged the surprised boy. Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, she whispered, \"take an old woman\'s advice and spend more time in the moonlight, he likes it. God, go with you.\" Then she stepped back and smiled broadly at the pink that stained Rei\'s nose and cheeks.

Behind Rei, Kai nodded his farewell and gently urged Rei forward. With a last sweet smile, Rei headed down the steps to join his mate, who led him to the first bus. Kai followed and took his place beside Tala, who flashed him a quick smile.

As everyone began to board, Rei turned and waved; at his side, Bryan brought his hand up and nodded. Meryl waved back as the boys vanished into the interior. She watched misty-eyed as the bus pulled away. As it disappeared behind the border of pine trees, she took out a tissue she had hidden in her sleeve and wiped away a tear that threatened to fall.

\"Come wife, they are gone. We must get back to work.\" Tarell said gruffly, after the bus disappeared. Nodding, she turned and followed him into a house suddenly too big and silent.

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Hey, Rei!\" Tyson called from his seat next to Max, \"what\'s in the box?\"

\"Don\'t know.\" Rei replied as he turned the box around in his hands, \"but it feels warm.\"

\"Warm?\" Max queried, leaning over to get a good look at the box. His inspection of the box made him no wiser, so he turned puppy eyes on his teammate and chirped. \"Open it?\"

Rei sighed, his curiosity and Max\'s puppy eyes were a lethal combination, even if he had been inclined to wait, he couldn\'t now. \"There is no need for the eyes, Max. I was going to open it,\" He said as he tugged at the ribbon, \"I\'m as curious to know as you are.\"

\"Curiosity killed the cat.\" Johnny said, his eyes on the white box. \"So, open it already!\" He snapped impatiently, as Rei pulled the ribbon free and handed it to Bryan.

\"And here I thought you were a lizard.\" Michael whispered as he nuzzled Johnny\'s hair. Absently, Johnny reached behind him and swatted the burgundy haired youth. Michael laughed and sat back in his seat.

Ignoring the by-play, Rei opened the box and the rich scent of spices filled the air. Inside the box, he found a small card, lying on top of a sheet of wax paper. Giving Bryan the box, the tiger opened the card and read.

\"Dear Rei,

Here is a small treat for you and the little one. We noticed that you have something of a sweet tooth, so Nixie made up a batch of her special Christmas gingerbread squares for you.

It was a pleasure to have meet all of you and I will always treasure the memory of the \'all of you\' I saw this morning.

Auf Wiedersehen,

Meryl\"

Rei blushed scarlet as he hid the note and pulled the wax paper aside. Inside the box, he counted at least two layers of rich brown squares of gingerbread dotted with raisins and currants. Reaching in, he pulled out one and sank his teeth into it. He smiled happily as the rich taste of ginger and other spices burst across his taste buds.

Practically drooling, Tyson bounced impatiently, his eyes locked on the brown goodie in Rei\'s hand. \"Rei-i-i-i!\" he whined, \'Gimmee a bite! I\'m starving, here!\"

\"You\'re always starving.\" Kai said dryly, as everyone, but Tyson burst into laughter. The bluenette smiled sheepishly and tucked a hand behind his head. \"Well. Heh,\" he flushed and sank down in his seat. Max smiled and hugged his koi with his good arm and Tyson sat up and brightened.

\"Don\'t worry, Tyson. I\'ll share.\" Rei said handing the box to Kenny. The bespeckled boy took the box, reached in and withdrew a square before handing the box to Mr. Granger. Quickly, the box made its way around the bus. There was a brief rumble of laughter when Max smacked Tyson\'s fingers for attempting to sneak a second square from the box before passing it on.

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Smiling, Rei went to put the last bit of his treat in his mouth, when a pale hand grasped his wrist. Blinking, Rei watched bemusedly as Bryan drew his hand to his mouth and the Russian, eyes never leaving the Chinese\'s face, delicately took his fingertips into his mouth and licked the sweetness from them.

Rei shuddered, and a flame kindled in his golden eyes turning them umber. Slowly, Bryan let Rei\'s fingers slip from his mouth and he planted a quick kiss to a trembling palm, then he smirked and leaned into his lover and Rei met him halfway, their mouths mating. The reaction from their companions was immediate.

\"Get a room, guys!\"

\"Not here! I\'m trying to eat!\"

\"Woo! Hoo!\"

Breaking apart, Bryan and Rei gave their companions half-hearted glares and settled back against their seats; Rei\'s head resting on Bryan\'s shoulder, the Russian\'s arm around his waist.

Only one person didn\'t join in the teasing of the pair, Robert sighed and began to wish for a swift end to the journey.

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\"Wow!\" Max chirped, \"look at all the fans!\"

Rei turned and grimaced. Outside the window of the bus, a veritable sea of people surged and roiled like a boiling pot of water. Here and there banners dotted the crowd; some proclaiming a team name, others sported more personal messages; like \'I love you, Rei!\' or \"Marry me, Tala!\'

One banner in particular caught the neko-jin\'s attention and he blinked and then nudged Bryan, who looked at him in question. Grinning, Rei pointed out the window and Bryan took one look and began to laugh.

\"What\'s so funny?\" Oliver asked as he stood up to get ready to leave the safety of the bus.

\"Ian actually has a couple of fangirls!\" Rei giggled, still pointing.

\"What?!\" Ian twisted around and nearly bruised his nose by banging it against the window. \"Ow!\" the snake rubbed at his nose, but then he pressed up against the glass, and goggled.

Behind him, Oliver giggled as the rest of the bladers jostled each other for a look.

Toward the end of one section of fans, two blonde haired girls held up a banner that read, \"Ian is hot!\"

\"I guess there is no accounting for taste.\" Johnny said dryly.

\"Hey!\" Ian turned around and glared at the Scot, who didn\'t look impressed. \"You\'re just jealous that there\'s no banners out there saying, you\'re hot!\" The smaller boy growled.

Johnny smirked, drawling lazily, \"I don\'t need banners to know how attractive I am. As long as Michael,\" and he took his lover by the hand. \"Finds me attractive, I don\'t need anyone else.\"

Michael chuckled and leaning down to nip at Johnny\'s ear, purred. \"You better believe you don\'t.\" Then, he pulled Johnny around and kissed him.

\"Humph!\" Ian crossed his arms and dropped into his seat, sulking.

Spencer groaned and covered his eyes with one hand. It was going to be a long day.

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Security was out in full force separating the bladers from their rabid fans. When the Demolition Boys disembarked, cat-calls and jeers filled the air, then over all came the shout of \"Tala, you\'re nothing but a dirty whore!\"

On the heels of the shouted insult, came screams of pain, as some fans of the Demolition Boys gently remonstrated with the offender. Tala gave no sign of having heard the commotion and strode head-high for the opened door leading to the locker rooms.

Pale with anger, Kai led his team off the bus and ignoring the cheers and a nasty comment or two flung at them, glanced quickly to see that Rei was where he should be at his right shoulder - he was. Satisfied, the bluenette headed for the stadium and his lover.

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Once his team was safely inside their assigned locker room, Kai disappeared to go see Tala. With a dejected sigh, Rei sat-with drooping head and slumping shoulders-on a bench, his forearms resting on his thighs and his hands dangling between them. Max and Tyson exchanged concerned looks and they went and sat down on either side of the neko-jin.

\"What\'s wrong, Rei?\" Max asked softly as he began to rub Rei\'s back.

\"Come on, Rei, you can tell us!\" Tyson urged as he put a hand on Rei\'s shoulder.

\"Its\' just so wrong! Tala is completely innocent! People shouldn\'t judge him by what that stupid paper wrote about him!\"

\"Indeed, my boy, it is wrong, but that\'s the way with some people; they believe everything they read. Their philosophy is; if its\' in print, it has to be true.\" A familiar voice said from the door. The three boys looked up.

“Mr. Dickenson!”

Mr. Dickenson walked in and closed the door. The jovial man made his way to the trio, coming to a halt in front of Rei, who smiled wanly at him, a question in his eyes. Reaching out, Mr. D. gently squeezed Rei’s shoulder, before moving to take a seat on the bench across from him.

Slowly and deliberately, he placed his hands on top of his cane, then looking at the three youths, he said quietly, “she’s suspended for now.” Looking down at his cane, he sighed, “I told Mariah, I was very disappointed in her. First for being so willing to destroy two fine young men’s careers on the basis of the fragment of a conversation, she’d eavesdropped on, and secondly, for not caring enough about Lee’s reputation to verify what she had heard, before she took action.” Raising his head, he looked Rei straight in the eyes and continued. “Thirdly, I told her that even if she had discovered that Kai and Tala were guilty of what she had accused them of. She should have come to me, and I would have dealt with it. Lastly, that the board and I will make no final decision on her future in the BBA, until her grandfather and the other elders have reviewed her actions and made their decision.”

“That’s only fair, I guess,” Rei said quietly. He rose from the bench and walked across the cream tile floor toward the door, his steps heavy and slow. He needed a few minutes to himself, so he could sort out his emotions. He opened the door and started out.

“Rei?” Max said anxiously, his eyes narrowing.

“Hey, buddy, where are you going?” Tyson called.

“Out. I need to be alone for a few minutes. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in time for the match.” Rei waved a hand and disappeared out the door.

“Wait, Rei, there’s something I need . . .!” Mr. D. began; the door clicked shut on his words. “Oh, dear.”

“What is it, Mr. D.?” Max asked, turning back to the BBA president. Tyson also turned back to look at the flustered man.

The portly gentleman sighed, “I wanted to tell him, well never mind, he’ll find out soon enough.”

Max and Tyson frowned.

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Taking an elevator to an upper level, Rei wandered out onto a landing overlooking the arena and he watched as the colorful ocean of fans flowed in and took their seats, their voices shrill with excitement.

‘The crowd’s certainly charged,’ Rei thought, as he listened to A.J. Topper and Brad Best whip the crowd’s energy levels even higher with commentary on the upcoming matches. Noting the time on the scoreboard over the arena, he turned to head back to join his team.

As he turned, he bumped into someone.

“Hey, brat! Why don’t you watch where you’re going!” The man, who’d obviously been visiting one of the concession stands and had more than a couple of beers, if his breath was any indication, glared at Rei.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.” Rei apologized and started around the drunk. The man grabbed his arm and hauled him back – leering.

“You know, you’re not half-bad looking, how’s about you and me going into the bathroom and have a bit of fun.”

“Not interested.” Rei growled and tried to pull away from the drunk, but the man refused to let go.

“Oh, I think I can change your mind.” The drunk slurred as he attempted to pull Rei toward him. Rei cocked his fist to slug his would be molester, when a pair of brawny arms suddenly wrapped themselves around the man’s waist and lifted him off the floor. Gary peered around the man and smiled at a stunned Rei.

“What the hell?” The drunk yelped and flailed his arms and legs in an effort to escape. Gary gave the man a friendly squeeze and said quietly, “Quiet, or I squeeze you again.” The man shut up.

Still stunned by the sudden appearance of someone he thought on the way to China, Rei only blinked as Lee stepped to Gary’s side and addressed the ashen drunk, calmly. “My little brother told you he wasn’t interested, you should have listened to him. Gary.”

“No problem.” The bear of a neko-jin rumbled and hauled the man over his shoulder. Lee turned and smirked at the open-mouthed Rei, “better shut your mouth – Rei, before you swallow a fly.”

“L-l-Lee? What are you doing here? I t-t-thought . . .” Rei stuttered to a stop as Lee laughed. “Let’s turn this jerk,” he waved at Gary’s captive, “over to security and then I’ll tell you what’s going on.”

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Down in the Bladebreaker locker room, the clock ticked off the seconds to show time and Rei still hadn’t returned, and his teammates were getting worried.

Kai leaned against the end locker and faced the door, he was in his classic pose – head down, arms crossed and eyes closed seemly indifferent to the fleeting minutes, but inside he was in turmoil. ‘Where is he?’ The matches started in less than ten minutes and the Chinese blader wasn’t back from wherever he had gone off too.

Max and Tyson were sitting on a bench, discussing what to do about Rei, when a sharp rap on the door, made them jump and Kai opened his eyes and look up. The door opened and a woman wearing a security uniform stuck her head around the door and said, “I have a message from Mr. Dickenson. Rei will join you in the arena.”

Tyson leapt to his feet and rushed to the woman, with Max right behind. “What’s wrong? Is Rei alright?”

The woman smiled reassuringly; “He’s fine, he just has to sign some complaint papers.”

“Complaint papers?” Tyson and Max chorused.

“Yeah, some drunk tried to get fresh and this big Chinese dude stopped him.”

“Big Chinese dude?”

“Yep, kinda looks like a bear.” With that, she pulled back and left.

“Bear?” Max said puzzled.

Kai pushed off the locker. “Let’s go, we can ask Rei, what’s up once he joins us.” The Russian strode out the door, Max and Tyson looked at each other, then they followed – pulling the door too behind them.

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Kenny was waiting when Kai, Max and Tyson turned the corner and headed for where the brainy teen stood, clutching his ever-present laptop.

“Kenny! Have you heard what happened to Rei? I wouldn’t want to be in that guy’s shoes, if Bryan finds out!” Tyson yelled as he and Max rushed up to the bespeckled boy.

“No, I’ve been talking to Judy.” Kenny suddenly stopped and stared. Kai, Max and Tyson turned to see what he was looking at. Rei, with Lee at his side was rushing up the hall towards them; the pair skidded to a halt in front of them, just as the loudspeakers boomed.

“BLADEBREAKERS AND ALL-STARZ TO THE ARENA!”

Nodding to Lee, Kai stepped in front of Rei and said firmly, “later.” Before Rei could respond, Kai spun on his heel and headed into the entryway to the arena.

After the phoenix disappeared, Lee squeezed Rei’s shoulder and said softly, “good luck. I’ll see you after the matches.” Then he vanished up a stairwell. Rei sighed and turned to the trio still waiting for him. “Let’s go.” He said and hurried off to catch up with Kai, the others right behind him.

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As the two teams stepped onto the arena floor, Jazzman-standing over the dish in a cherry picker urged the crowd to give it up for the teams. And the roar grew deafening.

Max, Rei and Tyson waved at the crowd, while Kai headed over and sat down to await the call to battle. After the teams settled into their dugouts, Jazzman called the first match.

Kai and Michael stood and strode confidently to their side of the dish. Both acknowledged the other with slight movements of their heads and assumed position.

“THREE, TWO, ONE! LET IT RIP!”

Both boys launched at the same time and wasted no time in engaging in a slugfest of slashing and slamming action.

The battle between the two captains seesawed back and forth without either seeming to gain the advantage. Finally, Kai called on one final effort from Dranzer and the mighty phoenix responded with everything, it had to give and blasted Trygle from the dish. Both boys stood panting, their chest heaving as they recovered from the battle.

“AND THE WINNER OF ROUND ONE IS KAI!” Jazzman announced unnecessarily from his perch above the action.

After giving the boys a couple of minutes to regroup, the second round began. After five minutes of intense smashing and bashing, Michael took advantage of a slight wobble on Dranzer’s part to knock the phoenix out.

“AND THE WINNER IS – MICHAEL!”

The crowd went crazy, chants of Michael, Michael filled the air, American flags were waved, as Kai’s supporters roared back and waved their own Japanese and Russian flags. Rei leaned forward, his eyes on his friend.

Kai stood proudly, his hands clenched around his blade and his launcher, his posture proclaiming he wasn’t out of this yet.

In the third and decisive round, the two combatants pulled out all the stops and immediately went for the kill. The two blades came together in a blinding flash of light and when everyone could see, Trygle laid at his master’s feet, while Dranzer spun dizzily at the bottom of the dish.

“AND THE FIRST MATCH GOES TO KAI!”

The crowd went nuts, as Kai and Michael nodded to each other, then turned and returned to their respective teams. Tyson came out of the dugout and gave Kai a ‘thumbs up’, as the phoenix approached him. “That was sweet, Kai!” The Japanese crowed, “you sure showed Michael, who was boss!”

Ignoring Tyson’s words, Kai went past the cheerful boy and paused, “Tyson,” he said quietly, “don’t screw up.”

Tyson, who had started to head out to the platform, stopped and wheeled back to face the phoenix. “Man, Kai, you never give me any credit!” He complained, “I’m the world champ! I don’t screw up!”

Kai snorted and turned to face the dragon. “Oh, really?” He retorted, “I can think of a few occasions.”

“Here we go again.” Max moaned, dropping his head in his hand. “Can’t those two ever stop fighting?”

“Actually, Dizzi has a theory.” Kenny began as his laptop began to sputter.

“Hey, don’t blame it all on me! You helped formulate this theory too, you know!” Dizzi squawked.

“What theory?” Rei asked intrigued.

“That being snide is how Kai psyches Tyson up for a match.”

Rei looked out at where Tyson stood waving his arms and the impassive Kai stood with his folded and smirked, “somehow Kenny, I don’t think that’s it. But, you know, I have my own theory.”

“You do?” Kenny perked up, “what is it?”

“That ticking Tyson off is Kai’s idea of fun.” Max and Kenny stared at Rei and then they began to snicker. “That works.” Dizzi commented, as Tyson spun away from Kai and headed for the platform.

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Steamed, Tyson stomped up to the dish and glared across the dish at Emily; who glared right back at him.

“Let’s do this, Emily!” Tyson snapped.

“Anytime you’re ready, Tyson!” The orange haired girl spat.

Rei tuned out the battle to search the crowd for Lee and the remainder of the White Tigers, his mind on the conversation he and Lee had had in the Security Office.

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“All right Lee, what’s going on? Its’ not that I’m not happy to see you, but I thought you were on your way home.” Rei glared at his friend.

Lee sighed and tucked his hands behind his head. “I thought I would be too. But,”

“But?”

“To make a long story short. By the time, Dickenson had finished talking to both Mariah and I, there wasn’t time to book a flight yesterday, so he suggested we just wait until after the tournament and leave then. I guess he told you what was decided?” Lee questioned.

“Yeah,” Rei said staring at the oyster shell white paint on the opposite wall. “He told Max, Tyson and I that he has suspended her for now.” He looked over into the ebony eyes of his boyhood friend. “I still find it hard to believe, she’d do something like that!” He said quietly.

“I know, I’m still having trouble with it, myself.” Lee agreed and glanced at the clock. Seeing the time, he rose to his feet and pulled Rei to his. “Match time.”

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The roar of the crowd jolted the cat-boy out of his thoughts and he grinned to see Tyson hamming it up for the crowd. ‘Guess he won the round.’ The neko-jin chuckled; then he looked over at Emily, who looked like she’d like to wrap her racket around Tyson’s neck. ‘Yep, he won’ and chuckled again.

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Kai was satisfied, the matches were going well and Tyson, the idiot actually seemed to be thinking for once, as he played Trygator like a fish on a line, luring the alligator in and forcing Emily to make mistakes of impatience.

Then his thoughts turned darker, Tala had passed off the incident outside earlier: as no big deal. but the bluenette had known it had hurt his lover, then something happened to Rei, who should have been safe in their locker room, so where had he been that a drunk got at him? And if Lee was here, were the rest of the White Tigers, as well as Mariah here?

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“AND THE WINNER IS TYSON!”

Rei and Max cheered, as Tyson waved at the fans and shouted, “Thank you! Thank you!”

“What a ham!” Dizzi sighed and Kenny chuckled, “yeah, Dizzi, he’s just a little ‘porker’.”

“OHHH,” the laptop groaned, “Chief, that was terrible!”

Overhead the loudspeakers blared,

“NEXT MATCH IN TEN MINUTES! MAJESTIC’S AND DEMOLITION BOYS PLEASE REPORT TO THE ARENA!”

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Max, Tyson and Kenny had gone off to get some refreshments, leaving Kai and Rei to wait for their respective boyfriends. Rei became increasingly nervous over Kai’s silence about what had happened in the Security Office. So, it was with a sense of relief, that he greeted Bryan, when the Demolition Boys joined them.

Kai greeted Tala with a kiss, while Rei and Bryan joined hands and stood forehead to forehead, their eyes saying all that needed to be said. Ian and Spencer studiously avoided looking at their teammates by staring at the ceiling and the walls.

“Hey Rei, stop swapping spit with your boyfriend!” A voice yelled. Rei sprang away from Bryan and looked around for the speaker. “Kevin, you pest!” He shouted, “where are you hiding?” Then, his eyes went wide as he belatedly realized what Kevin had said. “And we weren’t swapping spit!” He yelled.

Snickering, the green-haired neko-jin came out of a doorway and put his hands on his hips.

“You brat!” Rei growled, “what are you doing down here?”

Kevin shrugged, “Lee thought you might like to watch the matches from where we’re sitting. We’ve got a great view of the dish; you can see everything.” Kevin waved a hand and grinned, “Kai can come if he wants.”

Rei looked at Kai, who nodded. Smiling, the longhaired blader turned back, “all right, give us a minute and we’ll join you.”

“I’ll be right down there.” Kevin pointed left to a stairwell and then he hurried off.

As soon as he was gone, Rei grabbed Bryan and kissed his lover-hard and fast. “Good luck, Bry.” He whispered and released the lilac-haired blader. At the same time, Kai stepped out of Tala’s embrace. There was nothing more to be said. Win or lose, it was up to fate now, whether their lovers team would win or not.

Rei shivered as he watched his lover’s eyes change from the warm light they held when Bryan looked at him, to the cold angry light of long ago. He looked away, unable to bear the reminder of what Bryan had once been.

To his right, Tala’s blue eyes blazed with an icy light. And as Spencer and Ian closed in to finish forming the square, they became flinty-eyed and grim. Without a word, the four Russians pivoted as one and strode down the entryway to the arena.

Rei watched and wondered not for the first time, would the Abbey ever lose its grip on the quartet?

“Let’s go.” Kai’s clipped words brought the Chinese around and they hurried down the hall to join Kevin.

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Lee greeted them with a small smile, as he indicated seats by him. Rei nodded his thanks as he and Kai slid into the seats. Kevin hopped over the back of the seat on the far side of Lee and slid down into it. Gary ignored them all, in favor of stuffing a huge handful of popcorn in his mouth.

Rei looked around and then said, “where’s . . .?”

Lee shook his head, “she stayed at the hotel, said it was better that way.”

Rei sighed and turned his attention to the match below, Spencer and Johnny were walking out to take their places; neither acknowledged the crowd screaming for one or the other.

“Five gets you ten, Spencer gets under Johnny’s skin in less than a minute.” Rei offered Lee, who gave him a look. “Do I have ‘gullible’ printed on my forehead?” Lee asked, “there’s no way I’m taking that bet. I KNOW how short Johnny’s fuse is!”

“Oh well, never hurts to try.” Rei chuckled as the pair below launched their blades on a head-on collision course. Sparks flew as the two blades crashed together, Johnny obviously yelling at Salamalyon.

The salamander took charge of the battle and Seaborg seemed helpless to prevent the impending disaster.

“Hah!” Kevin crowed, “Seaborg’s gonna get beached!”

“I wouldn’t bet on that.” Kai said quietly, “watch.”

Kevin watched and sobered, as Seaborg pulled a reverse move that put Salamalyon on the defensive and the whale kept driving, until he drove the salamander over the top of the dish and out.

‘AND ROUND ONE GOES TO – SPENCER!”

Rei watched as Spencer turned and cocked his head, obviously listening to something Tala was telling him. The big Russian nodded and turned back to the fuming Scot.

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Johnny gritted his teeth, although he and the other Majestic’s had gotten a little better at listening to each other during a battle, he still tended to go it alone. Now he was angry with himself for falling into the very trap, Robert had warned him about - the trap of underestimating Spencer. It was so easy, when looking at the big blonde to dismiss him as a muscle bound oaf, that one tended to forget that he was a dangerous individual on a very dangerous team. ‘Won’t happen again.’ Johnny vowed angrily readying his blade.

With a snarl on his lip, the Scot launched the instant the command left Jazzman’s lips. Spencer was just as quick off the mark, but Johnny had released too quickly and Salamalyon was off balance and Spencer quickly took advantage of that to slam the blade out of the dish. The round had taken exactly one minute.

“AND THE MATCH GOES TO – SPENCER!”

“That was quick.” Lee said as the two combatants gave way to the next pair – Ian and Oliver.

“Johnny made a tactical error and gave Spencer the advantage.” Kai commented as the battle between Wyborg and Unicolyon got underway. “If he had shown some patience, he might have taken that round.”

“Can Johnny even spell, ‘patience’?” Kevin asked, leaning around Lee to address the bluenette.

“Doubt it,” Rei snickered, “but, he knows the word, im-patient real well!”

The four burst into laughter.

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Ian swore under his breath, Oliver was proving to be tougher than he had expected. ‘Damn Frenchman! He just kept coming!’ The first round had been going on for five minutes and that’s the longest any of Ian’s matches had ever lasted, but this one promised to go the distance and then some.

“Unicolyon!” Oliver shouted. The unicorn slashed at Wyborg and slammed Ian’s blade out of the dish.

Ian stared down at his blade in disbelief, behind him; he could hear Tala’s annoyed voice. “Ian! What do you think you’re doing? Get him!”

“AND ROUND ONE GOES TO – OLIVER!”

Ian stared across the dish at the petite green-haired Frenchman and narrowed his eyes. ‘The next round will be different.’ He growled and readied his launcher. At the command of “Let it rip!” Ian held back for just a second to allow Unicolyon to hit the dish, then he fired and sent Wyborg crashing into the other blade. Sparks flew as Unicolyon reeled from the blow, Wyborg staying on top of the unicorn allowing no time to regroup.

Oliver tried to find a way to counter the surging offense of the determined snake but couldn’t gain any maneuvering room and could only watch helplessly as Unicolyon was driven from the dish.

“AND ROUND TWO GOES TO – IAN!”

The crowd went crazy as the two fierce warriors, struggled for air, both exhausted by the battles and knowing that the winner of this one, would be whoever could summon the strength to last out the fight or got lucky.

“Oliver! Don’t let him corner you!” Enrique shouted from where he sat on the bench, watching his best friend struggle. The Italian leaned forward as if he could impart energy into Unicolyon. The entire stadium seemed to hold its breath, as the duo launched for the last time.

Oliver wasted no time in summoning his mighty bitbeast, hoping to overpower Ian and Wyborg, before they got going. But, the purple snake lived up to its’ reputation of being lightning fast. Wyborg dodged the headlong rush by the unicorn and went on the attack.

The pair of blades pounded and smashed into each other, each responding to the cries of their masters, until Unicolyon pushed Wyborg against the wall of the dish and began to grind away at the Russian blade.

“Wyborg, push him back!” Ian shouted, desperately making the connection with his beast and pouring all he had left to give into his blade. Wyborg responded with one last burst of power that sent Unicolyon wobbling on its axis and then it slowly fell over.

“AND THE MATCH GOES TO – IAN!”

The violet haired blader smiled proudly, as his blade continue to spin in the bottom of the dish, but his smile faded into a look of absolute disbelief, as Wyborg’s blade began to slowly disintegrate, leaving only battered parts at the bottom of the dish.

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He wasn’t the only one horrified. Kai felt his blood freeze, as Ian slid down into the dish to retrieve the parts of his blade.

There was no way, Ian would be able to fix that blade in the two-hour break between the morning session and the afternoon finals, and that meant . . . He looked over at Rei, only to find him and Lee staring at him.

“You know,” Lee said calmly, “with Ian and Max out, that leaves only you, Tyson and Rei to go up against Tala, Spencer and Bryan.” He looked down toward the floor, “and it looks like that thought has occurred to someone else.”

Neither Kai nor Rei needed to look, they already knew who Lee was looking at – Bryan.

“Oh, hell.” Rei groaned.