Chapter 17 - Preparations

“Uh, Mason? You alright there?” came a voice. Suddenly, I was jolted out of my daydream and finally

returned to my usual level of consciousness to see everyone standing in front of me, staring worriedly.

“Oh, hey guys” I said, airily. I stood up and rubbed the back of my head, which felt relatively heavier at

the moment. Tyson spoke again. “Are you sure you're okay?” I looked at him, trying to look suddenly

bewildered. “What do you mean?” I asked. Rei cut in this time. “Well, we came in and you were just sitting

there; you're head tilted back and staring up at the ceiling.” Kaori nodded and began talking. “That's not

all. We tried to wake you, because we thought you were in some kind of sleep, but you never blinked or

breathed or even moved!” “It was almost as if you were…” Sora started but couldn't finish. All this concern and attention was starting to get on my nerves. “Look, don't worry. I'm fine” I said, assuredly. “Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some stuff to take care of.” I almost managed to brush past the group until Rei stopped me. “Listen” he said, an urgent but surprisingly concerning tone in his voice “we all respect your privacy just as you do ours, but lately… well, we're worried about you.” I looked rather nervously at him and then at the rest of the team standing behind him. “You haven't been yourself.” Okay, now I was just plain aggravated. I brushed Rei's arm aside and tried to sound as polite and casual as possible. “I really don't have time. I've got to go now.” I headed back for the door and, without looking back, left the now silent

hotel room.



I probably could've handled that a little better, but under the circumstances I just didn't have the time.

There was so much to do in just one day before the tournament. I had to make sure everything was taken

care of. My first destination would be Mr. Dickinson's private office near the ABBA, where I would make

arrangements for Heather to come and watch the tournament. With my goals set firmly in mind, I headed

down the street for the nearest bus stop.



I arrived at the ABBA around the same time it had taken us the very first night. Luckily, there had been

no traffic, but the weather had seemed to darken during the course of the trip. Not all to my surprise, it

began to drizzle as I stepped out of the bus in front of the massive, chrome complex. I briskly entered

through the revolving doors and immediately went up to the front desk in the lobby, where a man in a neat

security uniform sat, typing on his computer. He seemed rather irritated, so I tried to sound as calm and

polite as possible. “Excuse me, could you tell me where Mr. Dickinson's office is?” The man glowered down at

me, clearly more annoyed than he had been not just ten seconds ago. “Mr. Dickinson is way too busy to

waste his time on fans and visitors. You'll have to leave.” I remained adamant and tried again. “You don't

understand, I'm from the BladeBreakers. It's important that I see him right away” I insisted. The man

groaned and finally gave in. “Alright, it's the top floor, hallway D, room 13.” I thanked him and ran off for

the elevator to the right side of the lobby.

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