Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Beyblade or the bitbeasts, nor do I own anything related to the City of Belfast or Ireland. I do however own Amber Benson.

A.N. My very first Beyblade fanfiction set in the Beyblading world. I've wanted to do one for years but could never think of a plot that hadn't been done to death or wasn't clichéd. Until I came up with this one while talking to Nexess and then everything fell into place. Hopefully you'll enjoy it and that it's a little unique. I gave up reading Beyblade Fanfiction a long time ago so I don't really know what's out there anymore.

Saving Part of the World

By: Zadien

Chapter One: Ireland, here we come

"Not for nothing is Eire- to use Ireland's ancient, Celtic name – called the Emerald Isle. Its stunning, shamrock green is the product of the mild, humid and ever changing climate created by the Atlantic weather systems washing over one of Europe's most westerly isles," Hilary Tachibana read from a brochure, as the Bladebreakers stood outside the Belfast City airport as a heavy downpour ravaged the car park.

"Mild, humid weather," Tyson Granger, the current world champion in the sport of Beyblading, repeated dully before rounding on the pretty brunette. "Are you insane? Does that look mild? Does it feel humid?"

Hilary flinched. Well, was it her fault the brochure got in wrong? Did she write it? No, if she was writing it, she would have made a point of letting people know that in a space of ten minutes, the day could go from dry to sopping wet.

She tentatively touched her hair and cringed; it felt like a damp bush. Warm air and wet rain were a bad combination, and her legs felt cold from the fat wet drops that splattered against them, running down into her socks. She would be sick by the end of the day; she just knew it. Whose bright idea was it to hold the World Championship in Ireland? Why couldn't Europe, who were hosting it this year, hold it in one of their warmer countries, like France or Spain? She'd read that Portugal was nice at this time of year, certainly warmer at any rate.

She sighed softly.

"She did say ever-changing," Max Tate, best friend of said World Champion, defended her and she smiled warmly at him. She liked Max; she had always liked Max. He was funny, cheerful and always looked on the bright side of life. It was great to have him back on the team again, and since Steve had recovered, the American's weren't too upset about losing him.

Not that they had a chance, Hilary mused, because her team were here to win this Tournament and they always achieved what they put their minds to.

"Ireland's well known for its rain." This input came from the ever level-headed Rei Kon, also someone she was thrilled to have back. Since the WBBA had returned to their old rules of four players per team, three per game, and since White Tiger X weren't competing, Rei had quickly signed up to the Bladebreakers - at least she was pretty certain they were the Bladebreakers again. And having Rei and Max back took some of the sting of Kai remaining on the Russian team - she supposed part of that was because Kai and Tyson were eternal rivals, the Sasuke to Tyson's Naruto.

It pleased her that Kenny, or Chief to his friends, hadn't raised any drama about the boys coming back. They all knew he wasn't world championship level with a blade, but, despite being so helpful and so shy, he could be quite touchy about certain things.

She watched as Rei shielded his eyes against the glare to look at the sky. It didn't seem as though the rain was going to stop any time soon, but at least they weren't on a schedule. All Mr. Dickinson had said was for them to get a plane to Belfast and get a taxi to the hotel and for them to be there on the fourth of June.

So here they were, ready and raring to go... whenever the rain stopped.

A plane roared over head, ascending into the sky and she blinked against the rain that stung her eyes.

"Where are the taxis?" Chief asked as he pushed his glasses up his nose and peered through the rain spattered lenses.

"There're buses over there," Max said, pointing out to the three buses, one a small private bus and another two that were longer.

"Mr. Dickinson said to take a taxi," Hilary reminded them as she studied the grey sky. Wasn't it summer here in Ireland? Maybe this was what a summer in Ireland was like, non-stop rain.

"Do you think it'll rain for our entire time here?" Tyson unconsciously echoed her thoughts, leaning back against her suitcase and arranging his cap to sit firmly over his hair.

Hilary watched suspiciously as Tyson's eyes moved to the unspeaking member of their group. Kai Hiwatari, though no longer a member of the Bladebreakers team, was leaning against the glass wall at the exit of the airport. Despite his eyes being closed, it was a given fact that Kai was aware of everything. He was astute like that.

"You going to speak any time soon Kai?" When the boy only opened his eyes and looked at him before closing them once more, Tyson sighed loudly. "Jeez, he should have travelled with Tala and co for all the attention he's paying us." If Kai got the dig, he didn't seem to show it.

"Uh, guys? Where's Daichi?" Max suddenly asked.

Tyson groaned loudly as Hilary scanned the area. Oh no. Oh no, oh no. Mrs Sumeragi made her swear that she would look out for Daichi and keep him safe. As the youngest member of the team and the one most likely to get himself in trouble, Hilary had taken that vow very seriously - for the length of one airplane journey! She failed at babysitting.

"Daichi! Where did you guys see him last? Daichi!"

"Ah, don't worry about it, Hills. Monkey-boy's probably just found a tree to swing from," Tyson drawled lazily, linking his fingers behind his head and crossing his feet at his ankles, his lazy pose. She scowled darkly at him. Of course the World Champ wasn't concerned, he wasn't responsible for Daichi. He wouldn't have to face Mrs Sumeragi.

"Calm down, Hilary. I'll go back inside and see if I can find him," Rei offered because Rei was nice.

"I'll go with you," she said, scowling at Tyson and feeling petty, she shoved him hard to the side. Because of his stance, he had no way to balance himself, so it was with great satisfaction that she watched him tip over and fall to the ground.

"HILARY!"

"You deserved that Tyson," Max told him, and helped him up.

"Idiot."

She smirked at Kai's insult and walked with Rei back into the air conditioned lobby of the airport.

"If Daichi's still in the Arrivals area, how are we going to find him?" The place was brimming with people, a vertible cacophony of mismatched accents as they veered towards the exit, luggage in tow. Hilary side-stepped a family and their baggage, and propped her hands on her hips as she looked around, noting the Car Rental place, the information desk, the Juice Bar and coffee kiosk as well as the check in desk.

Rei sighed and folded his arms. "I guess we could just slip under the tape that cordon's off the two areas."

Hilary looked uneasily at two guards standing nearby. "You know how twitchy security in airports is these days. We could end up arrested, or worse." She clucked her tongue in disgust. "What was Daichi thinking?! I told him to stick close to us."

"That could have been your problem, Hilary. Daichi considers himself a grown-up-"

"He just turned thirteen years old; that's hardly a grown up."

"I wasn't much older myself when I started travelling to see the world of Beyblading."

"It's not safe to go out on your own these days. Weren't you worried about paedophiles or murderers?"

Rei simply smiled. "Nope."

"You should have." Still, she knew there was no point arguing about the past. She just wished that Daichi would exercise more caution. Some day he would get himself in a lot of trouble and who did he think would bail him out? "So what about the White Tigers?"

Rei excused himself as he passed through a crowd of harried travellers, "They're not coming."

"They're not? Why not? I mean I know they're not competing this year but I thought they'd come to support you."

"Lee has his duties to think about. The elder is sick and soon the people of the village will be looking to Lee to guide them. He thinks it's time for him to settle down and learn what he needs to do before the village elder becomes too sick to teach him."

"Oh." She never realized what an important position Lee had in his village. She supposed it made sense that he would stay to look after his village and it showed a great deal of maturity. If only Tyson would exhibit a little of the same, it wasn't as though Grandpa Granger was going to be around forever and then who would look after the dojo? Tyson's father had his own job to do that took him away from home a lot, and Hitoshi worked long hours for the BBA, not to mention how he had to travel a lot too. Of course, Tyson never thought of things like that. He never looked at the bigger picture.

"I think Kevin wants to try his hand at some other hobbies before he settles for one he's truly interested in. Last time I talked to him, he was mentioning something about tightrope walking."

"But what about his bitbeast?"

"Oh Galman's with him. Monkey's have surprisingly good agility and balance."

She paused for a moment. "Are you teasing me, Rei?"

He looked back at her and chuckled. "No, I'm serious. Kevin's... not the most normal of teenage boys. But he's doing what makes him happy. You never know, if he earns some money over the summer, he might come for the trip."

"And Mariah?"

"She'll be here soon."

She watched the way his face softened and longed for someone who would make her look like that. It seemed impossible though. She was too overbearing and independent. Boys just weren't attracted to girls like her; there had been one, but as soon as Tyson found out, he'd quickly dissuaded Daisuke's interest.

She allowed herself one mournful sigh and gained control of herself. She didn't need a boy anyway. She already looked after six; Kai might not like the idea the thought that she looked after him but she did. While Tyson acted as though he needed looking after the most, Kai was the one she had to watch. The boy often seemed to skip meals when he was dwelling on his dark, innermost thoughts. The amount of meals he skipped out on was staggering and it made her wonder how he coped when she wasn't around. So even if he wasn't technically a Bladebreaker, she still monitored him. The last thing he needed to do was faint in the arena (again), and chocolate just wasn't a balanced meal.

"AHHHHH!"

The scream came from nowhere and everywhere at once, startling the people gathered in the lobby into an abrupt halt. Rei and Hilary exchanged looks of comprehension.

"Daichi," they mumbled in unison, running off in the direction of the scream.

They'd just cleared the ribbon at the cordoned off area when they caught sight of their missing team-mate squealing and wriggling in the hands of airport security. One held him roughly by his collar and the other gave him, what looked to be, a severe lecture, but Daichi was too busy shouting and screaming to even hear what was being said.

Rei reached them first but Hilary was right behind him.

"Ah, officers? What seems to be the problem?"

"You know this runt?" the officer, with a large, coarse moustache, demanded, jiggling Daichi lightly while the other officer spoke in low tones into his radio.

Hilary watched the scene nervously. The last thing the Bladebreakers needed was this kind of press, hence why they had flown in early to avoid any kind of media coverage. Ever since beyblading had burst out onto the international front last year in a big way - a big city destroying way - beybladers had gained more interest from the media. Twice since the school year had started in April, a reporter had been caught trying to sneak pictures of Tyson in class, sleeping, drooling on his homework, serving detention. Impressive hadn't been the word.

"Who are you calling a runt? Dumbass! I'm an athlete, you hear me, an athlete! I'm famous!"

"Daichi, please." Rei warned, before turning to the officer. "I'm sorry, sir, this is my team-mate. Whatever he's done, I'm sure we can work things out."

They didn't seem to be the type who would work things out, Hilary thought especially not with the way they were holding Daichi. "Could you please let him go?"

"We caught this here kid climbing onto the conveyor belt at the baggage retrieval area and when we told him to get off, he ran for it."

"Daichi why were you even on the conveyor belt?" Hilary demanded, taking a firm hold of Daichi's shoulder.

"I couldn't get my bag, it was too far for me to reach so I climbed up to get it, but then these guys yelled at me and I couldn't see you guys so..."

"So you ran for it." Rei sighed and flicked his hair off his face. "I'm sorry officers; I can assure you that he won't be causing any more trouble."

"Don't you kids have a parent or something?" the second officer asked, having finished his conversation over the radio.

"Uh no, we're the Bladebreakers." At the man's blank look, Rei shot Hilary a quick glance.

"The Japanese Beyblading team; we're here for the world championships." She crossed her fingers and hoped that they had a clue about the championships.

"Oh yeah, I heard about that. You use spinning tops, right?" Hilary pasted on a smile and her grip on Daichi's shoulder became tighter as she felt the boy bristle. The officer looked at his partner and nodded. "Ah well, the kid didn't do no harm, so I suppose it'll be alright if we let you go this once; just don't be causing any more problems, alright?"

"Of course officers, thank you." Rei should have been a diplomat, Hilary mused as she watched the officers look at him as though Rei were an adult instead of a 16 - nearly 17 - year old boy.

As the officers wandered off, Rei and Hilary took an elbow each and began to lead Daichi and his bag towards the exit.

"It wasn't my fault!" Daichi exclaimed, wriggling in their hold.

Rei huffed out a breath, hoisting the boy's bag over his shoulder. "Daichi, you need to remember that you're a representative of the WBBA; you have to show decorum at all times."

"Yeah, yeah, so where's 'the World Champ'?"

"Decorum means good manners Daichi; you're not showing much right now," Hilary added.

The small red haired boy made a face before shrugging off their grip. "I can walk by myself."

Rei and Hilary exchanged bemused glances as their younger team-mate strutted through the automatic doors and froze. "Why is it raining?" he demanded, pointing accusingly at Tyson as if it was all his fault that the water poured from the sky.

"Apparently it does that in Ireland," Max offered, studying the heavens.

"Well," Hilary sighed, picking up the handle of her suitcase from behind Tyson, "I guess we should head off to the hotel. Did you guys see any sign of a taxi anywhere?"

The boys shook their heads – well Max and Tyson did; Kai didn't even bother to open his eyes at her query and Kenny was playing with his new tablet.

"It looks like it could rain forever," Daichi grumbled, holding a hand out and catching the drops on his rough palm.

"It won't, Daichi." Hilary was quick to soothe.

"Hey," a voice called out and Hilary looked up to see a girl approaching them. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yes, we're fine," Rei replied politely, sending a glance to the rest of them. "We should probably get going."

The girl cast a quick look to the sky as she passed them. "Actually, if you guys don't want to get wet, I'd advise you to wait for another ten minutes or so."

"Oh? Why?" Hilary wondered curiously, did she know something they didn't? Probably, she sounded local even if she was walking into an airport without any baggage.

The girl stopped a little up the pavement from them at the entrance to the airport, her darkened jacket, spattered with rain, and the strands of black hair peeking out from the hood, plastered to her brow. She flicked off her hood as she stepped under the shelter and turned to look up at the grey clouds before pointing up. "See that blue sky?"

Hilary looked up at the grim looking sky and found herself feeling slightly sceptical at the girls' words, even as she spied the small patch of blue sky revealed by a break in the cotton clouds.

"That tiny piece of blue sky?" Tyson repeated dubiously.

"Yeah, any minute now it'll clear up."

"Because of one piece of blue sky?" Max queried.

"What have you been smoking?" Daichi demanded, squinting at the girl.

"Daichi!" Horrified Hilary quickly covered the boy's mouth with her hand before offering a tentative smile to the girl. "I'm so sorry, he... I'm sorry."

The girl studied Daichi for a moment before smiling at Hilary. "Don't worry about it; I'm just saying that usually if there's one break in the clouds, there'll be others. It's supposed to get sunnier later today anyway, according to the forecast."

"Oh, well that's good."

"So why are you guys here? Is it your first time in Ireland?"

"Yes. We're here for the Beyblading tournament," Hilary said, flicking a quick glance at the boys wondering if the girl could possibly be one of those scary fans that popped up every so often desperate for an autograph or a date. However the girl only nodded in understanding but showed no other sign of recognition. "We're just waiting for a taxi."

"Where are you guys staying?"

This time Hilary looked to Kai to answer because she wasn't going to be responsible for having a hoard of fans loitering in their lobby, but she didn't want to be rude if the girl was simply being polite and making conversation.

Kai met her look for a moment before sighing and looking at the girl. "Why are you here?"

The friendly expression dropped from the girl's face, eyes several shades darker than Rei's narrowing. Hilary raised a brow and glanced at an equally confused Tyson. Yes, Kai tended to annoy people but there was a kind of underlying fury to the girl's expression that Kai's comment didn't seem to warrant. Oh well at least she wasn't drooling.

"To collect my dad, his flight should be coming in soon."

"Do you live in the city?" Hilary asked, drawing the girl's attention away from Kai.

"Ah no, my dad does but I live on the other side of the country in a place called Donegal." A smile curved her lips warmly and her eyes lit up. "If you guys have time to travel during your time here you should definitely see the west of Ireland. Belfast is a city of culture but the west of Ireland gives you an idea what the country looked like before the factories and cars."

Hilary found herself smiling in response. "That does sound like a good idea." She looked to the boys, wondering if any of them would be interested in going for a trip. From what the brochure said, there were a lot of places that interested her. Such as the Blarney Stone and Croagh Patrick and the Burren and Bantry Bay. All of the pictures she'd seen of the rolling hills and blue mountains, bubbling brooks and thatched cottages framed by stone walls had painted such a picturesque view that she couldn't imagine visiting the country and just staying in the city.

"We're here to play, Hils, not sightsee!" Tyson pointed out.

"I suppose." She sighed softly.

"Well if you guys have a day off, you should really go. It's not that far," the girl said with a smile but there was a sense of uneasiness to it and suddenly, with a quick look at her stoic companion, Hilary could understand why. She sidled over to Kai and elbowed him subtly before sending him a dark look. Why did he have to be so rude? He was representing WBBA and he wasn't doing such a good job of it! It was bad enough that she had to cope with Tyson and Daichi but Kai as well?!

"Anyways, if you guys are looking for a taxi..." the girl trailed off with a frown and looked down the line past the buses. "They're down there but if you wait a little longer, that bus right there should be leaving," she pointed to the first of the long buses behind the short one, "and then that bus will move forward and the taxi's will move a little closer but if you guys are in a hurry to go, I could head down and get two taxis for you. It'll save you guys from getting wet and catching a cold."

Hilary took a moment to absorb everything the girl had said. Despite being quite good with English, the girl did tend to speak a bit quickly for her liking. She looked helplessly to Kai again, happy to let him take charge even though he wasn't a member of the team. Kai was the unofficial leader.

Kai looked the newcomer over before finally nodding. If she wanted to get wet, it was no skin of his nose.

"Okay then, be back in a sec," the girl said, jogging down the street, forgetting to pull up her hood before she stepped out from under the shelter.

"She seems nice," Max mused.

Rei nodded. "If everyone in Ireland is that friendly then we should have a good time."

"She didn't even recognize me!" Tyson finally blurted out. "It was as if she had no idea who I am!"

"Haha! That doesn't surprise me in the slightest! Everyone knows that this is my year!" Daichi proclaimed loudly earning a hard punch to the head from the current world champ. His green eyes crossed and he wobbled precariously, collapsing against Kenny who whimpered and held his table close to his chest.

Hilary stared at Tyson for a moment before rolling her eyes to the sky. "Maybe she doesn't watch Beyblading. I know it's impossible for you to understand Tyson, but the world does not revolve around you and your blade."

Whatever Tyson had been about to say was cut off when a car, with the sign 'Taxi' on its roof, pulled out past the buses and came to a halt beside them followed by a second one. The driver's door opened and a man stepped out. "Want to put your stuff into the boot there fella's?"

"Okay, we'll split into three-"

"Hey, you're not the boss of us Hilary. I say we... split into- Kai where are you going?" Hilary smirked as Tyson threw his hands into the air and watched Kai climb into the back seat of the second car after placing his bags in the boot. Rei offered Tyson a 'what-can-you-do?' look, before sliding in beside Kai.

"Tyson and I will go with Kai and Rei," Hilary decided as Kenny lugged his large bag to the boot and Max took a seat beside Daichi. She trusted Kenny and Max to look after Daichi and he was more likely to behave himself in their company than in hers or Tyson's. Ignoring Tyson's grumbling, she led the way to the second taxi and handed her bag to the taxi driver.

"Hey, thanks for the taxis!"

Hilary looked over her shoulder as she watched the girl stop just before she entered the airport to respond to Tyson.

"No problem Hope you have a nice stay."

"Uh, yeah. My name's Tyson Granger by the way!"

"Tyson quit flirting and get in," Kai barked out gruffly.

Tyson blushed hotly in embarrassment before climbing into the passenger seat with a grumble. "Dude you're so embarrassing. I was only asking her name."

"Travel Lodge," Kai ordered. "I'll be glad to get back to my old team. Hilary, come on."

Hilary sighed out a breath before turning to the girl. "Thank you."

"Really, it was no problem."

Hilary slid into the backseat of the car just in time to hear Tyson's taunt to Kai.

"Admit it, Kai, you miss us."

"Shut up, Tyson."

"Hey Tyson, if you don't leave Kai alone, he'll probably throw you out of the taxi." Rei chuckled.

"He wouldn't do that, would you Kai? Kai? Kai, I don't like that look you're giving me."

Hilary sighed heavily and pulled her music player from her pocket. She put on her earphones and allowed allowed the English language file she'd downloaded to drown out the voices of her companions. Somehow, she didn't think Ireland was ready for the Bladebreakers.

As the taxis pulled away from the curb, Amber watched them leave with a grim expression. She leaned back against the glass window, paying no attention to the automatic door going crazy beside her, opening and closing recklessly.

"You know, for teens who are about to kill millions of people, they don't seem that evil." She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Then again, why should they. They probably aren't even aware of what they'll do."

She rolled her neck, trying to ease the tension gathering at the base of her skull. "I know, I know, I have to work fast. Don't worry your pretty little head; I'm well aware of what's at stake." She pushed to her feet and turned into the airport, keeping her head down as she muttered under her breath. "The other teams should be coming soon too, let's go see what they're like."

Whatever Ian Paplov had been expecting from Ireland, he pretty much got. Grey skies surrounded the plane he sat in, working diligently on his laptop and beneath them - far beneath them thankfully - was a patchwork of multicoloured square fields with a smattering of grey blotches he assumed were those quaint little villages he'd read about. He wasn't particularly interested in Ireland but he figured all good journalists did their research and since he was the unofficial reporter for the Blitzkrieg boys, he might as well get in the right frame of mind. A lot of things could be said about Ian, but when he put his mind to something, he expected to excel at it.

He leaned closer to the window to take another peek and was roughly shoved back into his seat by a disgruntled Bryan Kuznetsov. He rolled his eyes at the burly boy before turning his attention back to the screen before him. He knew better than to get annoyed with Bryan, especially when Bryan was sleepy – possibly drugged - and in an airplane. It was a well kept secret that Bryan – despite being in possession of a flying bitbeast or maybe because of it - hated to travel in airplanes. It made him more grumpy that usual. No wonder Tala and Spencer had deigned to sit on the other side of the aisle.

"So is Kai meeting us at the hotel or what?" he asked, deleting what he'd just written. Writing a blog was hard. He wanted to capture the excitement of going to Ireland for the World Championships, but with the airplane being so cluttered with people and with the children crying around him and the bad movie playing, it was just hard to create the right atmosphere.

"I told you he was."

"But why didn't he get a flight with us?" Should that be in italics? Maybe since the emphasis was more on the second word than the third. He directed the cursor back to the word he wanted to highlight and formatted it before frowning. Then again, it just didn't look right like that.

Tala sighed loudly. "Because Ian, he was already in Japan visiting Tyson, it just made more sense for him to get a plane with them."

"He was supposed to be back last Friday," Ian muttered, feeling just a little petulant. Kai was their team-mate but he seemed to spend just as much time, if not more, with the Bladebreakers than he did with the Blitzkrieg boys. It was kind of irritating considering Tala tended to be just a little more arrogant when Kai wasn't around to put him in his place.

"So he extended his trip," Tala replied. "He has no obligation to us, we're just his team, remember?"

Ian curled his lip. Yeah, just his team. If Kai wanted to be a member of the Bladebreakers so much, why didn't he just rejoin them? If he did, Ian would be able to become a playing member of the Blitzkrieg boys instead of their tag along PR guy, which was what he felt like half the time. He'd taken up the idea after he had missed out on the previous tournament –well there had been some other trouble too, namely a little problem with summer detention for something he still swore he hadn't done– so that he could go this time without the BBA objecting. As he saw it, if the midget geek from the Bladebreakers could tag along with nothing but a laptop to his name, so could Ian. He wasn't really sure what that kid with the toupee and large glasses did for the Bladebreakers, but it couldn't be too important. He certainly wasn't a beyblader, that's for sure.

He pulled up a second window on his screen and studied the folders arranged there. He'd need to form another for the photos from Ireland. It was surprising how popular his little site had become since it had been formed just two months ago when he'd had the idea. He'd been blogging on and off as a form of therapy –apparently his 'psychologist' believed he had 'anger problems' and needed a safer outlet rather than blowing things up. Ian thought she needed a hobby or to get laid, but either way, the blogging had worked out. He could rant and rave about his team-mates and they'd never know because it was about as private as you could get on the worldwide web. The site was a stroke of pure genius on his part, if he did say so himself. Who knew the Blitzkrieg boys would be so popular amongst the female body of the world? Every time he posted a new picture of them, he gained ten new fans and the money began to pour in. Again, he'd been surprised by how many people wanted to donate to the 'management of his site'.

"Kai will be there," Spencer Petrov suddenly spoke up gaining two surprised looks. Spencer was the oldest member of their team and had a tendency to just remain quiet; usually a look or two was enough to convey what he meant. While Tala was the leader, they often deferred to Spencer's experience on certain things. He may just look like the brawn to the outside observer but Spencer was actually the brains of their little group when it came to the mechanics of things, he just played 'stupid' to keep people from bothering him. Spencer absolutely hated people's attention on him, hence when he bladed, he liked to get things over and done with.

"I'm sure he will," Tala murmured and Ian raised a brow, looking past the red head to gain Spencer's opinion on Tala's odd attitude. According to Tala, there was no love lost between him and Kai. They were simply team-mates but he'd once heard Tala and Bryan talking about their shared past with Kai, when they'd lived in the abbey and had been friends. So was it hurt pride that made him block out that old friendship when he spoke of Kai? Did he think Kai would rather be friends with the Bladebreakers than with him? Ian pondered that for a moment and then dismissed the thought. It didn't bother him what Tala thought or felt as long as it didn't affect the game outcome or him.

"Are we nearly there yet?" he demanded, shutting his laptop as it didn't seem as though he'd be getting any work done on his site.

"Looks like it," Bryan stated quietly, peering out the window and shoving Ian back as the boy tried to gain another look.

"Window hogger," Ian muttered grumpily, kicking out his feet in front of him and gaining a dark look from the woman in front of him. He simply smiled widely at her, garnering a sneer in response. "Tch." He hated people.

"Behave Ian," Tala warned; closing his eyes and leaning his head back just as the light for the seatbelt came on.

Ian inwardly cheered as he tugged the strap over his waist. About time, it seemed as though they'd been flying forever. Was Tyson already down there, he wondered and if he was, was he nervous about the match? Seriously, it had to be about time that Tyson lost. The guy had been winning every World Championship for the past couple of years despite the odds being stacked against him, surely it was time for someone else to take the forecourt and be the hero. Ian snickered; maybe he'd be the hero for a change and have a fan-site dedicated solely to him!

"What are you laughing at?" Bryan demanded, irked that his large fingers couldn't seem to fix the clasp properly on the seatbelt.

"Hah, nothing. Want me to do that for you?" Ian offered, taking the clasp when Bryan simply grunted and looked out the window. Ian cheerfully slotted the clip into its holder and turned his attention to the screen over head. "I bet there are going to be loads of teams there this year," he mused; then inspiration lit up his eyes. "Think there are any Irish teams?"

"Not that I've heard," Tala replied through a yawn. "All I know is that I want a rematch against Garland."

Ian quirked his purple brows over garnet eyes before wrinkling his nose. "Yeah I don't think that's such a good idea. Don't want you ending up in hospital again. You're a lousy patient."

"Nurse Ian," Bryan taunted and the other three snickered.

Ian flushed darkly. "Yeah, well see if I look after any of you ever again. You can all drop dead if that's the thanks I get."

"You almost killed me, you idiot."

"I didn't know you'd already taken your prescription, did I? Usually we have to force medication down your throat-"

"Or crush it into his food." Spencer gallantly tried to hide his smile, he really did.

"Nurse Ian, the overdoser!" Tala cackled causing a fresh round of laughter to burst from the scary looking boys. A few passengers eyed them uneasily while a child began to cry in the back.

Ian glared at his team darkly. "Fine, go battle Garland; I hope you get a scar on your pretty face!"

That shut Tala up quickly and Ian snickered under the venomous look the pretty-boy red head sent him. "Uh, so, uh, who else do you think will end up in hospital? I mean Bryan sent China boy to hospital and then Tala... yeah, so this year, any bets?"

"Ian," Spencer said his name quietly but the order was loud and clear. He was being tactless again.

"I'm only joking. Jeez. I personally think it's about time Granger suffered something, seriously the guy is about the clumsiest schmuck in the game and nothing ever goes wrong for him, lucky bastard."

"Ian!"

"Alright, fine. Sheesh."

"Max Tate," Bryan suddenly said and his lips twitched when Ian grinned up at him.

"Oh yeah, Blondie. Shit yeah, with mummy and daddy rushing to his rescue. Oh and the girlfriend."

Spencer sighed loudly but Ian just smirked.

"What about Cheng?" Tala mused. "He's a sneaky little dickhead."

"Oh yeah! That would be good," Ian agreed. "He always manages to avoid everything. He even avoided having Kai steal his damn bitbeast, 'cos I'm telling you, I didn't see that-"

He broke off as the captain began to speak overhead and the plane began to lower steadily towards the ground. The patchwork blanket of greens and gold began to rise to meet them and a flutter began to quiver in his stomach. They were finally here, finally at the world Championships again and this time he was with them and they were going to win! Nothing could stop them, they were the Blitzkrieg boys and this was their year.

Ireland, here we come!

A.N. Well I hope you guys enjoyed the first instalment. I'm really excited about this plot because it's going to be fun and action packed and I actually have a plot outline for the chapters, so they should come along quickly enough and I will fit in my other stories too, don't worry, but this one won't leave me without getting it written. The start is slow I'm afraid, but the action will pick up soon.

Edit 02/05/14: So I revised this, changed some of the dialogue, cleaned up the punctuation as much as I could. I also had to change when they arrived in Belfast because the previous date would take them into July which for Belfast is pretty much a dangerous time of the year. Since I don't want to bring in any politics into this story, I just moved the date back to the start of June.