Welcome to Gaia! ::

Miki blinked her large crimson eyes in both surprise and confusion. Accepting Houka’s challenge meant…Battling the 1st half human, half animal bit beast.

She was slightly reluctant but she stood bravely “I accept, Houka-san”. She felt this is a good opportunity to be able to know Houka more…and possibly…her bit beast.

She looked at Drizzard, who in turn nodded. She proceeded to go to the stadium and readied herself. It is also an opportunity to test her other attacks as well. She haven’t really used them all.

Drizzard gave a nod of understanding towards her mistress and looked at her brother “I have to go…” she muttered and went towards her mistress to aid her by her side.

Diana was slightly worried since this will be Miki’s 2nd battle of the day against an opponent she hasn’t met at all. Houka was new to her and with her bit beast…it might be an interesting battle..But it can also be worrisome to say the least.

Miki might still have the possibilities that she was still weak from her attack with Kei. She was weaker than her since she wasn’t train that way. She trained by herself most of her life. So basically, she lacked the physical training.

It had all happened so fast that, by the time Kai moved, Miki was already on the platform. Immediately he went over to her and hoisting himself up on the platform as well. "Miki, what are you doing?" he asked, a little more forcefully than he meant to. "You just had that match with Hiyomura; you may not be ready for another match just yet..."

The slate-haired teen cut himself off; yet another comment that sounded like he was belittling his twin. "...look. Don't over-do it, got that?" he said at last. Hell, even if Miki was planning to push herself in the upcoming battle, if she showed any sign of weakening or collapsing, he would stop the match then and there, whether the bladers liked it or not.

Across from the Hiwatari twins, Houka stood, dark purple blade already in hand, her launcher in the other. "And here I thought you were going to stop her, Hiwatari," she commented, sounding slightly amused. "It's a good thing you didn't; how better for one to begin one's training... than with a little practice match?"

Quick as a flash, she attached the blade to her launcher, and pulled the ripcord, the blade flying in a purple blur into the dish. There was a clunk! as it ricocheted off one wall, and Houka's expression changed to that of a slightly sheepish one. "Oops. I forget how that huge weight disk causes such a ruckus in the dish..." But her eyes were laughing as she said this, indicating that she didn't really care how much noise her blade made, shooting around the dish and ricocheting off the slopes.

"Well, Miki?"

With a sigh, Kei settled down on the bench nearest the platform, glancing first at Kai and Miki at one end, then Houka at the other. Seeing how Houka acted when not in front of a stadium, she worried for the blue-haired girl.

True, she wasn't related to the twins in any way, but she still couldn't help worrying. Just calm down, Hiyomura... she told herself. It's just a quick match; no one's liable to get hurt...

Diana, deciding to watch closer, leapt into a blur and was now seated next to Kei on the bench she was occupying. It didn’t matter if the fox-wielder was surprised. Right now, she had to watch carefully for Miki. She knew Kai was thinking the same thing as her. Her health. If Miki used drastic measures in this battle, then she knew Kai will stop the match. Miki couldn’t handle a 2nd one in a row. Possibilities, she will lose not only her energy…but her life. Thinking, she decided to contact Kai once more.

MESSAGE: Kai, if you want me to…I will input an energy tracker to her and put one on you. Before you ask what it is, think of me putting something to your eyes so you can identify if Miki’s strength is fading. Hey, I am doing this for Miki’s benefit…and because we made a truce that I will tell you if Miki isn’t ok. She will have a colored energy, and the way to identify if she is faltering is when the color is diminishing. END MESSAGE

Her blood red eyes became normal red once again, she awaited for Miki’s next course of action.

Miki smiled at her older twin with the same reassuring smile she flashed at him awhile ago. “I will be alright Oniichan…I won’t overdo it. I promise”. She took out her blade and attached it to her blue launcher. And she pulled her ripcord and the same pale blue blade clashed with Houka’s dark purple one. And at the same time her blade clashed with her opponent’s, a pale purple aura ball was sucked inside her pale blue blade.

Drizzard stood near the platform but slightly away from where Kai was. She will come at the right time if Miki needed her.

Houka blinked upon seeing the pale purple energy being transferred from her blade to Miki's. What was that? she wondered, moving her Beyblade away, purely by instinct. /"Medaea..."/

/"I'm here, Houka..."/ the bitbeast's voice, which had been almost playful earlier, now took on a more serious tone. /"But I think its best we use ranged attacks; that energy you saw... that was mine. Somehow, your little friend's bitbeast absorbs her opponent's energy whenever the blades come in contact..."/

/"So that's it, eh?"/ The smirk was back on Houka's face now; a pale purple glow surrounded her blade. "Medaea, Gale Force, go!"

A barely-audible humming, and the wind started to pick up, forming something of a barrier between the two Beyblades. Hopefully, it would serve its dual purpose of defense and attack, dealing damage to the opposing blade while Medaea remained protected.

The revelation that Medaea controlled wind didn't surprise Kai in the least - or, that's what it looked like. Truth be told, he was more worried about Miki, and was seriously considering Diana's offer.

Considering, hell! The slate-haired teen turned slightly, just to get the brunette in his line of sight, and sent her his reply.

//Whatever it is you plan to do, Murphy, do it. As long as it keeps Miki from getting hurt...//

Miki’s energy transfer came to a halt as she watched the purple blade shoot upward, out of contact with the invisible glistening of the ice covered dish. Time to switch to offense. She looked at her pale blue blade and her eyes glowed blue. “Arctic Blast,” and her blue blade started to spin faster, creating a small blizzard before shooting an array of ice, hail and snow towards the direction of the purple blade. Her attack managed to hit the purple blade, now she hoped that it was able to knock her out or perhaps even send it coming down back to the dish for another clash.

As she expected, the hail, specks of ice and snow managed to get some fractions of the purple aura once more. Tiny speckles of pale purple energy continued to get sucked inside her pale blue blade. Miki glanced at Drizzard, who was still standing near her by the platform. “Drizzard, are you getting all the aura I managed to get?”

“Yes Mistress, I feel myself being replenished quite tremendously. I think we need to display some attacks. Why not we try another new one?”

“Of course…”

Miki returned back to the stadium and started to focus more. The seriousness didn’t fade from her, and her pale blue blade spun on one good distance from the purple blade. And Miki muttered “Songs of the Snow”.

Diana’s eyes blinked in surprise as she managed to hear the clear words of the younger girl. “She is planning to use that? And only now?” Diana slightly smirked. Out of all the offenses she had seen, only that peculiar attack was interesting to unfold but managed to get some damage done.

"Tch!" Houka frowned slightly; this battle wasn't turning out how she wanted it to. "On the offensive now, are you, Miki?" she muttered darkly, more to herself than anyone else. "Let's see how you like this one, then..."

Out loud, she gave the command. "All right, Medaea, enough hide-and-seek!" At that, the tornado keeping the purple blade suspended grew stronger, and the aura was seen enveloping it again, this time considerably more intense in color. Slowly, this aura began to take shape above the blade, taking on more recognizable contours until, at last, there she was.

Amber eyes and pale olive skin, framed by dark green hair. A woman's body covered lightly with scales, and where the legs should have been, there was a long, smooth-scaled snake's tail, of a darker shade than the woman's skin, interspersed with bands of black. A forked tongue flicked out, as though tasting the air.

Medaea.

At the sight of this, Kai nearly took a step back, but stopped himself in time. So this is what Houka's bitbeast looked like. To think that BioVolt had actually done something like this... he shuddered inwardly, then glanced at Miki to make sure she was still holding up.

So far, so good...

"Now that intros are over, Medaea..." Houka said suddenly, smirking again. "Hurricane Blade... but aim for the stadium!"

/"The stadium, eh?"/ the smirk in Medaea's voice was clearly audible to her partner. /"Don't blame me if you get hit by flying shards and such..."/ With an inhuman cry - it sounded like a woman's shriek, yet at the same time it was a reptilian roar, and then not - the snake-woman rose up a bit, then dived, talon-like hands ready to tear into whatever came in contact with them.

As she watched the purple blur that was her blade shoot downwards on a collision course with the dish, Houka smiled a bit.

It had taken her quite some time, but she'd finally figured out what the shining thing in the dish had been, thanks to her blue-haired opponent's previous attack - Arctic Blast. That had clued her in on what element Miki's bitbeast controlled; the auburn-haired teen just put two and two together, so to speak, and concluded that ice was coating the dish. That wasn't good, given her blade type wasn't built to be as steady on slippery surfaces.

So she'd remove that 'obstacle' first, then take care of the source. Oh, hell, why not do both at the same time? It certainly was possible, given the magnitude of Medaea's coming attack combined with the momentum of her previous one.

Then...

Was... was that a crack? Kai shifted his gaze from Miki, to the dish. He couldn't see much of anything because of the constantly shifting snow and ice, and of course the swiftly-moving wind. Through the haze, though, he thought he could see a purple blade smack in the center of the dish. And from under it... several cracks extended outwards on what had to be the absorbing ice Miki had coated the stadium with.

Had Medaea managed to -?

Miki admitted to herself that she was surprise by Medaea’s sudden attack to the ice coated stadium. Houka managed to figure out the main cause of the continuous energy absorption. But that didn’t stop Miki from getting creative… As Medaea smashed the icy surface, an idea clicked inside her mind as the crack deepened. And Miki knew exactly what to do. She waited for her opponent to really smash the ice and she noticed small and large pieces of ice were visible in the air. “The ice shards came flying to the mid air and now, I need to try and use it in my advantage. Thanks for destroying the stadium anyway, Houka” Miki smiled.

She wanted to use her just muttered attack but guess it had to wait for a while longer… Miki looked at her blade and at the same time, all the pieces of ice that were smashed from the stadium stopped in mid air as the snake woman broke them from the stadium surface. “Sharded Blizzard” Miki firmly announced. The ice shards responded and darted towards the direction of her opponent’s bit beast and blade.

“Good job, Miks” Diana’s surprised expression didn’t fade. She thought for sure Miki will use her other attack but deciding at the last minute to change it was an even better tactic. Miki is gonna be a big competition in the tournament.

"That won't work a second time..." Houka muttered, sea green eyes darkening with her concentration; if she was right, any ice that Miki created had somethin to do with the energy drain that took place earlier, and she didn't want her bitbeast to lose any more energy than she already had. So how could she dodge all the ice shards and get close enough to strike?

The auburn-haired girl frowned slightly, studying the dish, and then suddenly, her face lit up. She didn't have to get close, nor did she have to dodge anything - which would have been a waste of energy, anyway. She had just the move... but would it work the way she hoped it would?

No time to be hesitant, Kurozuki; let's go! she told herself. Aloud, Houka said, "All right, Medaea; lets blow her and those ice shards away with Cyclone Force!"

If the wind earlier had been strong, it became stronger now, so much so that even Houka had to take a step back in order to steady herself - and she was supposed to be used to her bitbeast! But that was only the backdraft; most of the wind was focused on Miki's side of the stadium.

/"How are you holding up?"/

/"Well enough, Houka. Good choice of technique - an offensive that also takes care of defense. I must say I didn't expect that of you, since you don't really go for defensive techniques..."/

/"Oh, shut up..."/

“Well, well…” a certain dark bit beast smirked amusingly at the battle unfolding. Tou’s mistress wasn’t so weak after all. She managed to keep a calm exterior and was able to make her opponent channel her anger. Anger was always the weakness of some players. Akurei watched a certain blue haired young male and noticed he had a darker shade of eye color and looked at his dark-haired mistress. “She had to be the reason why he had darker colored eyes. Only she had the power to.” He thought to himself.

Drizzard continued her task of sending a part of herself in the pale blue blade while she gets the energy from the small purple mass that her mistress helped absorb to keep her stronger. Actually, it was already enough but of course it is only used for her endurance to stay alert.

Kai smiled, watching the battle unfold. It was satisfying to watch his twin; the last-minute changes she made in playing style and moves showed how creative and decisive she was.

Right now, though, he had to say that who would win this match was pretty much up in the air, so to speak. It would be pretty hard to get through the storm Houka and her bitbeast had created, but Miki had already shown herself to be a competent, determined blader. It could go either way, really; but he wanted his twin to win - for her sake, and not just so she could show off to him. C'mon, Miki...

Kei tightened her grip on the bench to keep herself from being toppled over by the strong wind coming from Houka's end of the stadium. She was awed, and at the same time getting excited just from watching the two girls battle; she could also feel a smile creeping onto her face - she was sure it looked stupid, but she didn't care. If battles were like this outside of the tournament, how much more intense would they be during the tournament itself, this time?

Miki saw how Houka grinned at her almost in a mocking tone. She didn’t like being belittled…let alone mocked like this. “Guess I really need to win this match” she thought silently. There was only one move capable of doing such an attack. But it was still untested. Drizzard still needed the power. But she had to take the risk. You will never know until you try…. She looked back at her humanized bit beast, who quickly understood her intentions. She held her ground at the cyclone she unleashed and the attack of her opponent, trying to slice down her own attack.

“Now or never...” Miki pondered. She focused at the cyclone and then at her blade. Miki called out to Houka “I am glad that you find this match to your liking. But if you think you can win this then I will prove you wrong!” Miki clenched her fists and shouted “I will unleash my new attack, even if it is still untested! Drizzard, Arctic Comet!”

Diana quickly stood up in shock. “Miki is going to use that!? Does she want to blow the building up??” Diana knew better than to try and convince the blue-haired girl to back down. She also has her brother’s reckless streak to push herself to her limit.

Drizzard understood by the tone of her mistress’s voice. Blue fiery wings appeared on her back and she flew upward. The cyclone, ice shards and snow all came retreating back at the blue phoenix. They started to form a gigantic boulder. Bigger…bigger…it was enormous! Until it finally came into a halt and Drizzard was holding a huge meteor-sized boulder of ice. The icy mist was coming from the boulder and was hovering to the stadium freezing it once more but the ice continued to grow.

It took a while for Dranzer to generate enough heat to warm both him and Kai; all the while, the temperature in the room was dropping steadily as his twin created more and more ice, snow, and hail. It was a wonder why the walls didn't start cracking under the sudden temparature change!

It had to be said; he was worried for Drizzard. If he'd heard Miki correctly, this move was as yet untested. Wouldn't she be pushing her limits, then? For her sake, Dranzer hoped that this would be the last attack; he didn't think blader or bitbeast could last much longer, at the rate this particular attack was growing.

Kai was glad of the warmth his bitbeast afforded him; all he had to do was look in his direction, lock gazes with the phoenix, and he'd be understood. In that brief moment, when crimson met fiery red, something more than gratitude was passed. The crimson-eyed blader knew: his bitbeast was worried about his twin, just as he, Kai, was worried for his own. Whatever Diana had done to his eyesight, it told him that Miki's energy was dwindling, and had been dwindling ever since she gave the command for her untested attack.

It wasn't supposed to go this far... was it? Inwardly, Kai cursed the relative who, by virtue of his favoritism and hardheartedness, had instilled in Miki a sense not of competition - although that was in her, too - but a nagging feeling that she always had to win in order to be recognized. Kai had told her otherwise earlier, and he was sure she'd listened and taken his words to heart. Still... it seemed that his twin was intent on winning this battle, if not for him, then to prove to herself that she was really capable of winning.

Ice towers formed the room, blizzards emerged, hail descended, and snow fell. Miki stood her ground, her body desperately fighting the cold but she didn’t care and just raised her hand to signal for the attack.

“Attack full force!” She yelled and Drizzard, by the signal, sent the ice boulder flying towards Medaea, the purple blade and Houka. And when it collided, the ice boulder exploded and covered the room with ice. Miki fell to her knees and was now sitting on the ground. It took most of her energy but she was still ok. If Houka survived that attack…then her lost will be sealed.

"Aaah!" Instinct told Houka to duck and cover when the ice boulder hit and exploded; her training told her otherwise.

She listened to her training, standing her ground. Though she kept up an aloof front, she was searching the playing field - that is, the stadium - for any sign of her blade and her bitbeast. Then, a whirring sound made the auburn-haired teen glance up, and, this time acting on instinct, held her hand up in front of her face.

There was a fwap! as something landed in her upraised palm, and she closed her fingers around the object, wiping whatever ice particles hung in her hair and on the object away so as to see more clearly.

It was Medaea.

She smiled, hiding her anger - at herself, mostly; it seemed she needed more practice. "Well, would you look at that..." she said, tucking her blade and launcher into the pouch at her hip. "Looks like you win, Miki. Congrats."

The slate-haired teen freed himself from the thin sheet of ice that suddenly covered him when Drizzard's ice boulder hit its target, just in time to hear Houka's announcement. He frowned; he didn't quite like the tone the bearer of this Medaea had used. Still, upon knowing that Miki had won, it was hard to keep pondering the implications of this. The frown soon disappeared, replaced with the barest of smiles.

Great job, Miki...

Miki smiled reassuringly “I know…it still is untested so I can’t use it as often as my other attacks. And also Oniichan, I seem to have gained something that we both have in common”. She playfully sticks out her tongue and coiled it back inside her mouth. “I got your attitude of pushing yourself to the limit and even if injured. And I seem to have a reckless streak as well”.

Kai had to smirk at that. "Very true..." he said, a hint of laughter in his voice. He couldn't really stay mad at her, not when she was like this.

Chuckling at the similarities, Miki's laughter was cut when she winced at a pain in her left arm. She held it up gently and noticed a light purple bruise near her elbow. “I…got a bruise” she stated like it was nothing but she winced once more at the pain. It must have been because of the explosion. A good solid block of ice hit her arm. Now it was bruising pretty bad.

Kai was still grinning. "That's what happens when you get your bitbeast to create a giant exploding ice boulder; you never know who'll get hit and when. There's always that risk that you'll hit yourself as well as your opponent...But of course, you already know that, don't you?"

As he said this, he kept going towards the bench; after a match like that, he decided that his twin needed to sit down on something other than the floor. After all, how comfortable could you get on cold steel or tile flooring?

Over at the next bench, Diana gave a nod and replied “I need to check up on Miki. If you want to come, then fine.” She turned to walk and stopped before saying “I need to talk to Kurozuki...” She walked towards the auburn haired female and stood a good distance from her “Kurozuki Houka…or should I say…Leia Sonoda?” Diana spoke in a tone so the other’s won’t hear her.

If Houka had been a doll, her head would have snapped clean off her body, at the rate she jerked her head up upon hearing Diana's voice. She wasn't surprised that someone was talking to her; it was the name that had her reacting.

"What... what did you just call me?" she hissed back, knuckles almost white from clenching her fists. She hadn't heard that name in nearly eight years, and now, this girl she barely even knew was-

"Okay, you know what? Forget it; I don't care," she said suddenly, her face unexplainably relaxed as she stopped leaning on the platform; she stood, arms crossed, so she didn't have to keep glancing upwards at the brunette. "So whaddaya want?"

Back at the bench, Kei just stood there, confused. First Diana had gotten up to say she was checking on Miki - who seemed to be in pretty capable hands, anyway - and now she was talking - or tryying to talk - with Houka. Sometimes, she really didn't get that girl...

She sat back down, unsure of how exactly to go about things; she was essentially an outcast of sorts. Kai and Miki were related, while Diana seemed to know a bit about the newcomer Houka. Perhaps she'd wait until... well, until the opportunity to talk or just get to now someone better presented itself.

Or... I could try working out a new technique... the brunette pondered this possibility, eyeing the many dishes scattered throughout the room.

Drizzard shrugged and replied “I have no clue. The fox is our first opponent since we trained by ourselves all our lives or with machines. My mistress was never allowed to see anyone besides Miss Diana.”

Drizzard brushed some snow from her white garments and resumed “The unworthy kinds of beast will probably those who uses dishonorable methods to win a battle.”

"Then it appears we have similar ideas concerning opponents..." the fire phoenix said, more out of reflection than the actual need to reply. He turned back to his pale-haired teen, brow slightly creased from worry.

"Are you sure you're all right, Drizzard?"

------------------------------

Diana removed her mask and let her hair fall to her back once more. “I just want to know if you are going to enter the tournament. Because if you do…you might want to be with me and Miki. We are one member short.”

Smirking and crossing her arms, she continued “Besides…we all got a connection anyway. Since we all got invited to the Abbey. Well, for me… I was only doing my job. Miki was abducted and you got guarded.”

"'Guarded'...?" Houka's face was a blank, then she realized what the brunette was talking about. "I think you mean someone offered to be my foster parent, then left me in the care of a guardian - if you want to be technical, that is."

She leaned against the platform again, this time backwards, resting on her elbows. "Funny you should ask that, Murphy; the upcoming tournament is precisely why I came here." She cocked one eyebrow, smirking as well. "So, knowing that, what do you think my answer to your proposal is?"

Miki, with a tired expression, sighed a bit and looked back at her older twin “Is it ok if we go now? I am feeling even more tired, you see…”

"All right." Kai acquiesced, then stood up from the bench. "C'mon; we can leave these guys here. Its not like we need to tell them everything we do..."

At the other bench, the dark bit beast smirked in amusement and gave a soft chuckle “I prefer Kitsune. Besides, I am a real bit beast unlike you, you are just another human with the power to make herself a bit beast. There is a difference”

Kei rolled her eyes goodnaturedly. Apparently, she'd just acquired a new nickname. And been alerted to her limits as a bitbeast. "Though that may be true," she began, not really sure of what to say. "Look at it this way. A bitbeast is first and foremost a soul, correct? That's essentially what I am, if you take that view: a bitbeast trapped in a human body."

The purple-eyed teen sighed, looking down at the floor as she scuffed at it with the heel of one of her boots. "I hope you don't mind my asking, but... how did you come to meet Diana-san?"

Stories of how bladers met their bitbeasts or vice versa always caught her attention. For her, it had been more of a discovery rather than an actual 'meeting' or whatever first wen on between bitbeast and blader.

Diana hissed darkly, with her eyes turning back to their demonic onyx color. At a fast speed, she had Houka by the throat against the platform she was leaning on. Her left hand was holding her throat actually, not gripping. And her right hand was free…making them tightened.

“You better watch your words Sonoda…I may be once her bodyguard but I assure you that I will kill anyone who harms her…even if it may be you…You may not realize I have the power to control the blood flow of any living thing. And it includes humans.”

Her eyes returned back to their normal red color but the scowl remained and she reclined her grip from Houka and looked away “But i am sorry…My anger gets the best of me…but you may know that my weakness is Miki…and it results to my anger…making me almost kill someone..I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

The auburn-haired girl gave a small cough, a hand resting lightly on her throat. "No kidding..." she muttered. "In any case, no need to apologize; I understand where you're coming from..." Houka frowned, her mind flashing on the photograph she kept in her wallet. "There was... someone I wanted to protect, too. But I failed..." This last part, she whispered; hopefully, she wasn't heard.

-------------------

Miki gave a nod and held out her blade. “Drizzard” she just said and her bit beast turned to her.

“Brother, it seems we need to go back to our blades now. It was a wonderful reunion to be with you again. But we can still talk to each other with the help of my mistress’s power. Thank you for spending at least this day together.”

She leaned and gave her red phoenix brother a soft kiss on his cheek and hugged him gently. “Until we meet again, Dranzer”. And with that, Drizzard was bathed with a blue glow and returned to her beyblade. A picture of a blue phoenix was imprinted in the bit and glowed blue.

Dranzer watched, wordlessly, as his sister faded back into her respective blade. Until that day, he'd never known if they would see each other again; he knew better now.

Miki smiled and pocketed her blade and said to Kai “Oniichan, you can call out Dranzer. I made sure they can talk to each other mentally.”

He was unsure what to do, but the slate-haired teen followed his twin's example. Holding out his own blade, Kai called "Dranzer.", and waited. Just as with Miki's, his bitbeast was bathed in an aural glow - red this time - as he went back into the blade, the picture of a red phoenix once more appearing on the bitchip.

"Well, that's taken care of..." he said, putting said blade back into his pocket. "Come on, let's go, Miki..."

---------------------

Akurei sighed and placed a hand on the kitsune’s shoulder “No need to worry for my mistress, young Kitsune. She is a strong young lady. And if I know better, she is like the young Hiwatari. She doesn’t need to be pitied upon”.

Kei smiled at this. "I noticed," she replied. "And its not pity, really; just...taken aback and saddened at what happened to her. No one should have to go through such things, especially when they're children. It isn't right..."

She sighed. "But then, not everything is always right. Guess I'm just luckier than others... which just makes it unfair." The brunette shook her head, giving a small laugh. "Oh, no... you just heard my 'goody-two-shoes' side; don't mind me, please." For her, it was embarrassing to have someone overhear her musings, such as those she'd just uttered; she didn't know exactly why, she just did.