Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, it belongs to the rich people. Jade Tomei belongs to Jade-55 and Lane Houka belongs to me...And any other unimportant character that doesn't exist in the Beyblade anime/manga belongs to me also.
Operation Alpha and Omega
By: Couronne
Prologue: A Road to Nowhere
"Hey look, that cloud looks like cotton candy!"
"Most clouds look like cotton candy Lane."
"Fine then, be critical." Lane scowled, turned away from Mariam and looked out the car window.
They're currently cruising across the No.3 highway, near the border of Astia and Zelos, where the Zelos Republic Guards (The ZRG) are threatening to overrun the Astia Imperial Force. They are on their way to the Northern District Beyblade Championships, which Mariam is going to compete in. Just like any other highway, they are travelling through what seems like a limitless amount of trees.
Lane glanced back at Mariam, the driving bluenette look as calm and collected as always, emerald eyes concentrating on the road ahead, merely flinching at the sound of gunshots and the sight of smoke which could be seen from beyond the woods.
Suddenly Mariam hit the break, Lane looked up to see what was going on, and they manage to stop just in time before crashing in to the three black cars parked diagonally in front of them.
"What the…?" She could hear Mariam breath beside her as masked men stepped out. Some of them were holding guns.
Lane paled, she wasn't much of a fighter, and whatever is going on here, it was definitely not good. She subconsciously clutched her blade that resides in her pocket a little tighter. Mariam looked very annoyed, but sat calmly as the men approached. They both knew there was no point launching their blade, and it would be a safer option to keep them hidden for the time being. Mariam's fists were ready to punch out at the first person who opens the door.
This, as Lane predicted, did happen.
When someone smashed the window right beside her face and splintered glass fell to her she panicked and punch the thug square in the face, he let out a surprised yelp. Lane undid her seatbelt while kicking the door open and stumbled out of the car, then jumped to the side almost automatically as someone swung a fist at her.
A strange howl could be heard from the other side of the car; Mariam was out of the driver's seat and facing the thugs with furious kicks and punches. The bluenette is a good fighter; being taught karate since she was six, but one against five doesn't give her much of a chance.
"Get off me!" Lane screamed as someone pulled a strip of black material over her eyes, two hands were restraining her arms while she struggles frantically. She could hear Mariam yelling as they shove a needle down her neck.
Lane didn't know what they injected in to her veins, but her body stopped functioning and her mind went black.
The ceiling fan needs cleaning… Lane was on her backside. There were more important things to worry about than a ceiling fan though.
They were locked in a room, for one, and Mariam was still somewhat unconscious, there were also the room's other occupants to consider.
"Are you awake? Wakey, wakey!" One of the young men was pulling Mariam up in to a sitting position while cooling her.
Lane's first reaction was to attend to her friend. Well, after she manages to get her muscles moving of course.
"You could've knocked the guard out when he let them in." The other man spoke, Lane remember him complaining about being hungry earlier. "What happened to our plan?" He didn't sound happy, but at least all the hostility was directed at the other guy.
"Because," said the blue-eyed blonde with a cheerful smile. "It's not polite to leave a sick visitor here in a prison." No one seemed to notice Lane yet, she still couldn't move either.
"Ugh." Mariam was awake and up on her feet now, this would explain why he was half way across the room and rubbing his chin.
"You shouldn't kick strangers." She finally found her vocal cords. "He's nice you know."
"Oh, my apologies…" Mariam said, sounding not at all sorry.
"At least sound like you mean it…" Lane commented while trying, with what you'd call a pathetic attempt, to get up. "Ow CRAP!"
Mariam had stomped over and pulled Lane up roughly in to a standing position, by the arm, and it hurts, a lot.
"That's not very nice." The blonde narrowed his eyebrows as Mariam lets go of her arm, which caused her to slump back in to the ground.
"Thanks a lot…" Lane muttered sarcastically as she finally managed to stand up without falling down again. "Friend."
"What?" Mariam smirked innocently. "You wanted to stand up!"
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes, then leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. "So…introductions anyone?"
"I'm Max, Max Mizuhara." The aqua-eyed one smiled genuinely. "And this is Tyson, Tyson Granger." He added pointing at the other occupant of the room.
"That's Mariam." Lane gestured towards the bluenette who just dropped her like a raggedy Ann doll about five minutes ago. "I'm Lane, Lane Houka."
She looked at their black clothes, and thought that they were dressed like soldiers, or more correctly, special operations, with the combat boots and full black coats and everything. Mariam was walking around examining the room, looking like she was ready to kill. The room they were locked in is very dark; it has no windows, only one door.
"Gah! Lane, we need to get out of here!" She growled impatiently. "Why are we here in the first place anyway?"
"How would I know?" Lane walked over to where her friend stood; as Mariam gave the wall another frustrated sidekick. "We'll never make it there before eight tonight."
"This sucks." Mariam mumbled softly to herself. "I wanted the gold medal damn it!"
"It's a bit hard to get out when there's a lock on the door you know." Lane sighed.
"Well no, you think?" Apparently very irritated about the situation, Mariam stomped around the room before stopping again. "This is bad; the wall is completely filled with concrete, no hope of getting out this way. Unless…" She fished out her blade and fingered the attack ring.
"Don't bother." Mariam looked up and saw Max shaking his head. "We tried that, it didn't work."
"Great." Lane glanced at her watch. "It's past six o'clock, we don't know where we are and there's no way to leave."
"You have the time?" Tyson jumped up excitedly. "What is it?"
"Six twenty-two," She answered. "Why?"
"The guard comes in to check at around seven," Max smiled; Mariam cocked an eyebrow at him. "We could knock him out then!"
"Sounds like a plan, but you would know this because?"
"We've been here since yesterday afternoon."
"Alright, so we kick him in the stomach when he comes in and make a run for it?" No longer slumped in the corner, Tyson punched his right fist in to his left hand.
"We can do that." Mariam nodded. "So now all we have to do is wait."
They gathered and sat down around the door, completely quiet. Lane noticed it was very cold in the room; judging by the way her head was pounding, the stuff they injected in to her before she passed out was probably a tranquilliser of some sort.
But the question is, why?
She considered asking Max and Tyson what they were doing here, but decided against it, she'll keep silent for now.
It felt like an eternity before the door clicked when someone unlocked it from the outside. Mariam and Tyson stood up. The deed was quickly done, before she knew it, they were out of the door. A couple of guns went off, and then Mariam threw something at her. She caught it, but just barely.
It was a black pistol, fully loaded.
Lane squealed as she saw someone aiming her way, the only thing she could think of was duck and fire back. Everything was in a blur, she ran and she ducked, shooting at anything that got in her way. An alarm was activated; the shrillness of it hurt her ear. She ran as fast as she could, even though she has no idea where she was headed.
Then silence endowed. She stopped, with the pistol still tightly held in her right hand. Her breath was uneven, and she was doing her best to recover while coughing on the gunpowder.
"You guys okay?" Max asked, they had entered another room, except it was no prison, there was lush carpet covering the floor.
"Yeah." Mariam was already up straight, and Lane had managed a nod.
"So, you've escaped." Her head shot up, there was someone seating in a big leather armchair a few feet in front of them. They now stand in a well-furnished study; the place was filled with a musky essence that just makes Lane want to choke more.
"Well no kidding, I so want to be stuck inside a gloomy prison for the rest of my life!" Mariam spat, obviously still annoyed about the fact she has missed out on the Northern District Championships.
"Don't you dare speak to me like that!" The man sitting in the leather armchair roared. "You four little brat just had to stand in the way of me taking over the government! My perfect plan! RUINED! All because of you!"
"Does it look like I CARE?" Mariam yelled back, emerald eyes flashing furiously. "No one cares about you okay? I don't give a crap about you or your plan to take over the government!"
"Get them!" Whoever the man is, he shouted in anger, and then the other people in the room lunged at them. Lane held up her gun and aimed at the first person that came at her. She felt a twist in her stomach as the bullet hit the target and blood starts to gush out of the wound.
They did what they could, but they were outnumbered, and soon they were cornered, the only option they have other then surrendering was to jump off the balcony now they have been forced out of the sliding glass door. She peaked over her shoulder; well at least below them there's a river...except God knows how deep it is.
So it's either fall through ten feet of empty air then swim for her life or surrender and then go back in to that gloomy dark prison. Neither was very appealing to her.
Just as she was debating with herself, someone tugged at her arm, then before she realised what had happened, she fell and plunged straight in to the icy river water.
I hate my life!
Lane struggled to surface, she spluttered and kicked her legs hard before managed to properly swim. She could make out a bit of blue and then blonde hair, but she couldn't see very well, her vision was blurred by small waves and her own hair.
It was maybe ten minutes or so, before she heard Tyson yell. She turned with difficulty, and found him pointing and swimming towards what seems like an outline of a cave. After swallowing another mouthful of water, Lane followed, deciding it's now either that, or drown.
"Bloody Hell..." She coughed and spat her lunges thankful for fresh oxygen. Lane was drenched, even though the others weren't any better. Mariam was beside her, and seethed out a line of swear words while trying frantically to dry herself. Tyson has taken off his coat and was flapping it dry; Max made the same attempt a few minutes ago.
"Well at least we're out." Max grinned, Lane stood up and begins to wring out her mass of hair.
"That is true," Mariam agreed and nodded. "Except now we have no idea where we are."
"We never had any idea to begin with." Lane ran a hand through her hair, what she knew probably looked like a mess of black cyclone. Now she feels frustrated.
They are now stuck in the middle of nowhere, how wonderful.
"We can start walking." Max pointed out and gestured at the bit of dry land, enough for them to walk on in a line.
"What if there's an ambush?" Mariam narrowed her green eyes; the path may be good option, but it was dark, they wouldn't be able to see much."
"We'll freeze if we stay here." After checking her blade was still with her, she looked up and answered.
"Fine, let's go."
Lane bent over and picked up her pistol from the ground, and found it only have two ammos left. She sighed and followed Mariam, who followed Tyson. Max walked behind her, and they moved on in complete silence. She wondered though, what the man meant when he said they ruined everything, she's never met him, let alone knew of any plan to take over the government.
Even if that sounds really pathetic and impossible to her...
Still, questions remained. Which government was he talking about? Since the Astia Empire's got a monarchy system does he mean Zelos Republic?
Her thoughts were cut off and she winced, if they continue walking like this for another hour, there's no doubt she's going to have blisters all over her feet. Her head was still aching from the musk scent, the gunpowder and the tranquilliser.
This is not her day. She's soaked and she's pretty sure she's going to get hypothermia sooner or later.
Just as she was going to start complaining, Mariam abruptly stopped. Lane glanced up there was someone in front of them, blocking their way, wearing a big black cloak. She groaned inwardly to herself.
First kidnapping, and then falling in to the river, now what's going on?
"Who the Hell are you?" Tyson, who was at the very front, demanded sharply as the figure came forward a few steps.
"That's no way to speak to your senior." It was unmistakably a male voice; he removed the black material and revealed navy hair with slate blue bangs. "Is it, Granger?"
"Kai!" Tyson breathed out, obviously relieved.
"Are those two the new transfers to the Special Investigative Service?" His red eyes fell on them, and he inquired.
"Yes sir!"
Lane could have sworn she was going to have a heart attack as Max and Tyson confirmed his question. She exchanged a look with Mariam.
They've got to be freaking joking right? We don't even know what that thing is! Judging by the name, it's probably some sort of military or government service...
Holy crap.
The Gods must truly hate me. She thought bitterly as Kai spoke again.
"Follow me."
He led them down the hard pathway, and Lane thought about her sister Alex. How she would react to all of this, she'll know what to do. But then Lane remembered, Alex is claustrophobic, so she probably wouldn't react too well to the slowly narrowing path. They all stopped as Kai signalled them to.
He appears to be examining the wall, but she couldn't see what he was doing.
Whatever he did, a part of the wall slid opened, revealing a staircase, leading to God knows where. They started to ascend the stairs. It was slightly slippery, and Lane had to use the wall so she doesn't fall, but even if she did, most likely she would end up on top of Max, which really wouldn't be pleasant.
Maybe she should watch action movies more, so in situations like this she can pretend she knows what she's doing, even if she don't.
Finally they reached a door, Lane watched as Kai knocked on the door twice, paused and then knocked on it three times. There was a silence then another knock came from the other side, followed by a pause and four more knocks. It must be like a code or something, because Kai knocked back twice again before the door opened.
They filed in to the room and the first thing Lane noticed was a teenage girl about her age with fiery red hair. Someone had lit a candle on the table, and Lane could actually focus. It was warm inside the chamber, there was a crackling fire burning, now she felt drowsy.
Kai gestured for them to take a seat, and they obliged. Her headache still hasn't eased and all she wanted right now is sleep. She rubbed her right temple, and felt like she was going to be sick. Lane glanced over at Mariam, who seemed to have gone paler than usual.
That tranquilliser stuff has some pretty bad side affects.
"You two don't look too well." The red-haired girl smiled warmly, the handed Lane and Mariam each a cup. It held gold liquid that gave off the scent of honey. "I'm Jade Tomei, Lieutenant Colonel of the Special Investigative Service."
"Mariam," The bluenette managed a weak smile after she stopped shivering. "This is Lane." Lane took a sip of the sugary liquid and managed to tug her lips in to a small, grateful smile.
"I presumed you've already met Kai Hiwatari, Lieutenant Colonel of the Elite Military Support." Jade nodded at Kai. "Over there is Rei Kon, he's the Captain of the same unit." She pointed towards the teen sitting in a corner with raven hair and gold eyes.
"So, would anyone like to explain why we were kidnapped?" Mariam asked, now slightly warmer.
"We can talk after I feed you with something to eat." Jade brought out a tray of delicious smelling food. "You lot look exhausted."
After they finished eating, they gathered around the small table.
"You do remember you are the new transfers to the SIS right?" Kai glanced suspiciously at them before anyone else could start talking.
"Of course..." Mariam replied, and Lane reluctantly gave a nod. Maybe they could just do whatever they need to do and then leave. "But we weren't given any information before we left." She quickly added.
"Were you explained what the SIS is?" Rei asked, now arranging some paper. They shook their heads.
"You'd think they'd be a bit more efficient than that." Jade sighed. "We do investigative work, obviously, mainly undercover investigations, but sometimes others as well."
"Like spies?"
"You can put it that way. The person who kidnapped you, were no one really important...Just some lunatic who tried to over throw the government." As she explained this, Jade shrugged. "Why he chose you four, however, is beyond me, considering it wasn't even you who got him exiled."
"I would presume it was because you just happened to be travelling down that route." Rei offered, seeing Mariam's sceptical look.
"Now, I think I need to tell you this, the training centre you were sent from was blown up yesterday by a group of bandits." Jade sat up straight. "They didn't get the chance to send us any information on you two, so after we head back to the headquarters tomorrow, you will be required to do some paperwork."
"What do you know about us?" Lane asked, suddenly alarmed.
"Nothing much, only you were the top two students and female."
"We'll be leaving tomorrow at 0700; I suggest we all get some rest now and this mess can be sorted out tomorrow." With that, Kai stood up and left the room.
Tis the end of the prologue, chapter one will be up in four or five days time...leave a review and tell me what ya think about it XD Flames will be used to roast marshmallows. nods
Ciao
Couronne