A/N: Back with another chapter! I hope you all found this despite the slight change of title. Now, first things first, huge thank-yous for all the reviews! And secondly…

Miako6 (and everyone else reading this who aren't exactly crazy about OCs), I'm sorry, but this story will be an OC one. BUT, before you stop reading completely… Let me remind you that love is only one aspect in this story: as this advances further, the plot goes to so much deeper than relationships, and such an amount of… stuff is revealed that I would dare you to stick around. And if nothing else helps, you can always distract yourselves with inventing couples I haven't written into the story. (grin) (Btw, I was… well, unenthusiastic about OCs as well until I read this one story that got me into them.)

Hmm… If Dara is Boris' niece… Oh, I don't think I'll answer to that one just yet. You'll have to wait and see.

But now… Let's let the story go on.

CHAPTER 3: Payback-time

Early in the next morning, Dara decided that it was time to do some explaining to the people who'd taken care of her.

" This'll better be important", Tyson growled and yawned deeply. " It's six in the morning, for crying out loud!".

" Don't be a baby, Tyson. It's not her fault you stayed up until two last night", Kai, who was leaning against the wall in his usual pose, slashed back, showing no mercy to his poor teammates.

" Do you ever sleep?" Max muttered, slumping onto the couch beside half-asleep Kenny with a huge yawn.

" What's going on?" Ray, the only one (save Kai and Dara) who seemed to be even slightly conscious, asked as he also took a seat on the crowded couch, golden eyes questioning.

Kai looked at Dara. " You tell us".

For a long time Dara hesitated, unsure of how to begin. Eventually, she decided that it was better to just show them. With a slightly trembling hand, she took off one of her gloves, revealing the letter B tattooed onto the back of her hand. She heard gasps, and put the glove back on, too ashamed to meet the others' eyes. " Since I was seven, I've been raised in the Abbey. I was marked as Voltaire's property". She then looked at the boys, eyes burning. " I had to come to warn you. Voltaire escaped prison two weeks ago. It hasn't been allowed to be reported in the newspapers yet in fears that publicity might cause him to leave Russia". Her eyes flashed. " He immediately took charge of the Abbey".

" But… Didn't Kai take care of the Abbey?" Tyson inquired, seeming confused.

" With Voltaire and Boris' fortune, the unfortunately little damage he caused was easily prepared. And it's spread even further, become much stronger than before". Not giving chance to interruptions, she carried on. " Ever since Voltaire came back, he's made us all train like never before. The weakest ones almost died".

Ray frowned, obvious shock in his eyes. " Why?".

" Because he told all of us Abbey-kids to haunt down Kai". Dara looked at Kai. " He's desperate to have you reunited with Black Dranzer and help him achieve his goals". She felt a cold shivers run through her. " I refused to play manhunt. That's why he had my uncle kill me, but the task wasn't completed. I received a punishment, but my life was spared".

Where other innocent boys were didn't have a clue of the Abbey's harsh rules, she saw Kai's eyes widen slightly, as the boy knew perfectly what the punishment of the Abbey was, having received quite a many of them.

/ A nine-years old Kai closed his eyes tightly and shivered like a leaf as he sunk to his knees on the cold floor which was stained by splatters of dried blood.

" Grandfather… I am sorry… I… I won't disobey again…", he whispered in Russian, to no avail trying to restrain his tears. " Please… Don't do this… Please…".

" Stop whining, grandson. It's 'bout time for you to learn the price of arrogance and disrespect", Voltaire snarled, shoving no mercy. " STRIKE!".

Kai's tears flooded even harder as he heard the rest of the Abbey-kids prepare their launchers, knowing exactly what was to come. After a brief second, the blades designed precisely for this kind of a punishment flew towards him.

Helpless yells of pain soon ran through the Abbey as the blades met flesh. /

At that moment, Kai knew something clearer than ever before. He'd have to take down his grandfather, for he was the only one who could. He'd promised himself for a long time ago to never use the skills he'd learned in the Abbey ever again, but this time there was no choice. Things had gone much too far.

Dara seemed to have read his mind as her sapphire eyes flashed. " You know it now, don't you?".

Kai answered with a simple nod.

Again, the others were puzzled by all the silent understanding between the couple.

Tyson scratched his head in confusion. " Um… Are we missing something here?".

Kai looked at them, eyes burning like never before, his hands clenched into tight fists. " Last time, I couldn't quite finish up with the Abbey. This time, I'll have to take it down once and for all". There won't be anything left of that hell once I'm finished.

" Are you serious!" Ray gasped, eyes widened. " Kai, you know what Voltaire is capable of, especially now! If you go there now, it's the same as surrendering yourself straight into his hands!".

" Well, this time he won't be doing it alone", Tyson announced, giving a wide grin. " We'll be right with you, Kai. You can call us your own little backup-group".

They might've imagined it, but they could've sworn that for a short while, there was a look of worry and fear in Kai's eyes. " No. I can't let you do it, I won't put you into such danger. Voltaire won't kill me as long as he has Black Dranzer, but he won't hesitate hurting you".

" Well, too bad, 'cause you're going nowhere alone". Ray stepped forward, golden cat's-eyes flaming. " We're a team, remember? None of us has to go through things like this alone. I thought you'd learned that by now".

" Yeah!". Max was jumping up and down, obviously beginning to go hyper. " We're seriously gonna kick that old scumbag's but!".

" Ditto!" Kenny confirmed. " Just tell us what to do".

Kai felt a smile pulling the corners of his mouth, and it was hard not to let it show as he looked at his determined friends. Who would've known that someone as cold as he'd been could find such a good group of friends? (Tough he would rather swallow his tongue than say it out loud.)

After debuting for a long time, Kai spoke. " We'll have to destroy the Abbey, and also gather solid evidence to send Voltaire and Boris behind bars", he stated. " But collecting evidence against those two maniacs won't be easy".

" You've got it right with that one", Dara commented. After hesitating for a long moment, she chose to carry on. " The last time I tried to raise up against the Abbey, it almost cost me my life. I was shot. If I hadn't been a better blader and hence useful, I would be dead now".

Despite the resistance, Kai's eyes widened as a memory suddenly popped into his mind.

/ Thirteen-years old Kai gasped as he saw the shivering figure of also thirteen-years old Dara in the far corner of the small, dark room. She was holding her blood-soaked hand against her chest with a pained expression upon her face, eyes tightly shut.

" Oh no…", he whispered, rushing to her side. " Dara, can you hear me!". She refused to respond. " Dara!".

Gradually her eyes opened slightly, and a tear of pain slipped to her cheek. " It h-hurts so much…".

He caressed her face with his hand, angry and helpless, wishing that there was something he could do to take her pain away. " Sh… I know". He took off his white scarf as fast as he could and clenched it tightly against the wound. It was hard for him to hold back tears as Dara winced. " I'm sorry, but this is the only way to stop the bleeding".

Dara nodded and closed her eyes again, face terrifyingly pale. " I know". She weakly pressed her hand on his, trying to help him make the bleeding stop.

Not knowing what else to do to ease her pain, he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss on Dara's lips, with that trying to take her pain away. She responded with as much force as she could possibly muster in her condition.

Suddenly, the moment was cut by a voice that spoke in Russian. " Kai Hiwatari, what do think you are doing?".

Kai's eyes widened as he quickly pulled himself off of Dara, and it was hard to fight back all the emotions as he looked towards his grandfather, who stood by the door with Boris. " Grandfather", he stated in Russian, and almost begun explaining himself, but decided that it would be pointless. He would be punished anyway, one way or another.

Seeming to ignore him for the time being, Voltaire turned to look at Boris. " Make someone tend her wounds, then take care of my grandson".

" Yes, Master".

With that, Voltaire walked up to Kai and Dara, who held on to each other as tightly as they could, both unable to disguise their terror for one another. He graphed Kai's hand with a force that could've easily broken it, and begun to drag the struggling boy with him. Kai, however, held tightly on to Dara's hand. Both teenagers had tears in their eyes.

" Kai, don't leave me, please don't leave me!" she begged, by then sobbing uncontrollably.

" I won't!" Kai swore in a broken tone. " I promise you, I'll come back! I'll never forget! I will never leave you!".

" Come on, you brat", Voltaire snarled, managing to brake his grandson's grip on Dara, and dragged Kai away, leaving the girl under Boris' mercy.

The next day, Voltaire left the Abbey with Kai – with all of his grandson's memories erased. /

Kai's eyes were still widened as he looked at Dara, suddenly understanding everything. What Dara had said rang in his ears.

You don't remember, do you? You said you'd never forget…

How could he have forgotten!

" Kai, you okay?". Ray's voice forced him back to present world. The Tiger gaped at him, seeming worried. " You seemed a bit off it".

" I'm okay", he replied shortly. Deciding that he'd have to process all the new information before making any plans or decisions, he continued. "Consider this an afternoon off". Having that said, he turned around and left the hotel room.

A sly smirk appeared onto Tyson's face as he realized the possibilities of a free afternoon. " 'K, in that case, I'm going to take a shower". He gave Max a look. " The door won't be locked". With that, he walked off, soon enough followed by a widely grinning blonde. (A/N: I promise you, this is the furthest the yaoi in this story goes.)

Dara tried to no avail suppress a smile. " Are those two by any chance… teamed up?".

Kenny smirked. " 'Inseparable' would be a more accurate word". For a while, a rosy blush sneaked up to his cheeks. " Well, I also have something to do, so…".

Dara watched with wonder and amusement as the boy disappeared into his room with Dizzy squeezed tightly against his chest.

" He's going to be talking online with Emily for the next couple of hours", Ray, who still remained on the couch, revealed with a smirk upon his face. " She's what he calls a 'fellow scientist', but we know as 'Kenny's big crush'. Neither of them is ready to take the next step yet".

Dara couldn't help but smirk as well. " Seems like you people are busy".

" Well, most of us", Ray commented. There was a short silence, during which she allowed her thoughts wonder back to Kai, and felt a nasty ache in her heart. Ray seemed to notice this. " You shouldn't worry about Kai. We've known him for quite some time now, and he's just beginning to open up to us. You're doing a marvelous job. Just be patient".

She gave a small smile, knowing that Ray was right. She'd known Kai before, and knew how tightly the boy had locked up into himself. Still she'd eventually gotten through to him, and she'd do it again. " Thanks". Taking her blade from the table, she headed towards the door and out, deciding to find a place to practice and think.

As the door closed after Dara, Ray let out a miserable sigh. True enough, he was surrounded by friends, but it was still hard not to feel lonely with all these couples around him. Everybody seemed to have someone, but now that he and Mariah had decided to be just friends he felt like a third wheel. Of course he was happy for his friends, but… He still felt a little blue for being alone.

" Well, there's no use in just moping around…", he muttered to himself and took Driger. " Might as well do something useful".

As he got out of the hotel-room, however, he froze as his cat's-hearing picked a familiar voice speaking. Letting curiosity take the best of him, he followed the voice and saw Dara speaking on a cell-phone with her back towards him.

" I've done my share. He's coming, just as we agreed", she announced. There was a pause. " No, he doesn't suspect a thing". Another pause followed, after which she said something in Russian that, judging by her tone, was far from something pleasant.

Ray frowned deeply as he watched the girl hang up and walk away, some dark ideas rising in his mind.

What the hell was that about!
Tala had never before in his life felt such coldness he felt when the darkness begun to drift and he heard the voices that were much too loud for his liking. He winced and refused to open up his eyes, hoping that the voices would go away.

" Oh my God… He's alive!" the girl gasped in a thick Scottish-accent, Tala winced again as a warm hand touched his ice-cold neck, the touch hurting him. " But his pulse is extremely weak".

Alive… Impossible… He shouldn't be alive…

" Hey, buddy, can you hear me?" a boy asked, speaking the same way as the girl.

" Loud…", Tala whispered, so quietly that he could barely hear it himself. Couldn't those two understand that he didn't want them fussing around him?

" Everything's gonna be okay", the boy assured him. " Jessica called an ambulance, it should be here any moment. Can you tell us what happened?".

Tala almost gasped as the memory hit him and inched his eyes with a huge struggle, facing two blurry figures above him.

Kai… Nadja… Dara… He opened his mouth, tried to speak out the names, but didn't have the strength it required.

Another one of the figures, the girl, suddenly gasped. " Dominick… Don't you recognize him?".

The boy bent down to look closer, and came much closer than Tala would've preferred. The boy gasped as well in recognition. " Holy damn… Tala Ivanov from the Demolition Boys…". The boy, who was getting more blurry again with Tala drifting back into the darkness, seemed to frown slightly. " What the heck happened to you?".

With the last of his strength, he managed to lift his hand and squeezed it desperately around the silvery, oval-shaped pendant with a sapphire-stone that hang around his neck. " Warn… Kai…", was all he could whisper before the lights went out.

From a small distance, a girl clad in a long, chocolate-brown jacket and dark-blue (almost black) motorcycle-helmet, watched from her black scooter as Tala was some minutes later carried into an ambulance. Muttering something incoherent in Russian, she drove off, heading towards the hospital the ambulance would be taking Tala.

TBC.

A/N: And the plot thickens! Who is this new girl? And what the hell is Dara up to?

That's all for now. 'Til next time, everyone!