I'm really, really, really sorry that I haven't been writing lately. Once again, I'd like to thank all my readers. You're great!

Mission 5

Barren Discoveries

Aleks sighed miserably the next morning. Paval just shook his head, leaning closer for what felt like the thousandth time.

"It's not your fault, it was only the first attempt. What do you expect? You're not superhuman." She smiled weakly.

"Yeah, alright. But I can't help but feel inadequate. A whole night of searching, and I found squat. Not even a lead."

"Hey, relax. You only searched one wing, right?" Aleks was silent.

"See there? We'll try again tonight."

"You are not fit to be a beyblader. Leave at once." The boy looked up, his face full of fear.

'That's the fifth person today…they know that the boys don't want to leave.'

"B-but I have nowhere to go! Beybladeing is my life!"

"You are weak. A beyblader has no room for weakness."

"That's it! You think that you're any better? I bet that I could beat you blindfolded!"

"Aleks…!" hissed Paval. "We can't afford mistakes!"

"I don't care," she huffed. "I can't stand this. This is the fifth person that they've dismissed!"

"You. What is your name?" They failed to notice that the guard had drawn up in front of them and was glaring down at Aleks. His eyes flashed, cold and harsh, underneath his hood. Aleks drew herself up.

"Aleksander."

"Aleksander what?"

"Bogdan."

"Well Aleksander…" She let out a hiss of pain when his hand whipped up to backhand her. "That is to teach you to hold your tongue!"

"Now, now. What's all this about?" drawled a voice. No one had noticed Boris walk in.

"Sir. He was talking back to his superiors."

"Is that so? I wonder then, why did he speak back?" She couldn't control the hot fury rising up her throat.

"He's dismissed five people because their launch was a fraction off! This is only the first day of beyblade training! How can we have perfect launches if he won't give us a chance to work at it?"

"Silence!" the guard struck her again.

"Now, now, let's not get too violent yet. Now, boy, do you wish to fight for your claim?"

"I've already told him that I could beat him in a match. While blindfolded." Aleks felt a shiver run down her spine at the cruel smirk that spread across Boris' face.

"Then you shall have it. I will referee the match between underling and superior. Step up to your sides."

'Something is off. He agreed too quickly…' Aleks thought, stepping up to the ring.

"Blind him," commanded Boris. Something cool and rough was pulled over her eyes and tied swiftly. She reached up to the offending blindfold. A dirty cloth.

'Figures…' Aleks felt around for the launch bit and firmly twisted Faith in place.

"Three…Two…One!"

"Let it rip!" Aleks was silent, but rather ripped the cord out of the launch so quickly that the musical whirring of her blade was more a sonic boom. The two blades collided, dropping to the stadium.

Then it was silent.

"What? Why can't I hear anything…?" A sharp pain spread across her arm, making her wince. Aleks raised her fingers to the spot and felt something watery. Bringing her fingers to her nose, she sniffed it frowning. She put it to her mouth.

'So that's the way you want to play it, is it…?' Aleks thought viciously, as the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. 'Alright, let's see how you deal with humiliation…'

Aleks stilled, feeling the tremors of the blades' collisions and the breeze of their movement. A moving picture formed in her mind of Faith being chased around the dish by a black blade. Another tremor shook the ground as her blade was knocked forwards.

'Enough is enough.'

"Faith! Reverse and tackle." The white blade responded immediately. Aleks revelled in the satisfaction of the guard's shock.

"Drive." With a satisfactory swoosh, a blade was pushed from the dish and one last tremor shook the room.

Aleks threw the dirty cloth to the side, a look of disgust on her face. Faith spun idly in the dish.

At lunch, the agents thought that someone had plastered 'Look At Me!' signs on their backs. From the moment they walked in to the moment they left, every set of eyes had been watching them. Even the Elites had a glance to spare them.

"You'd think that the guards were invincible." Paval sighed heavily. His friend could be so dense sometimes.

"Aleks, you've made a mark out of yourself. And me, for that matter. Now every guard, superior and ambitious numbskull in this nuthouse are going to be watching us at all times. We'll be lucky to have a moment of solitude."

"Well, I'm sorry! But really, you'd think that I'd destroyed the coliseum, or the Tower of Pisa, or something stupid like that."

"Do they ever clean these vents? I can't believe that no one is sick…"

"Be quiet Aleks! They'll hear us." She rolled her eyes. Their every movement sent a loud bang down the shaft.

"Do you really think that the labs are in the south wing?"

"Yes, yes. Just trust me, alright? The worst that can happen is a guard shift that I was not aware of."

"Well, you better hope there's-SHIT!"

"Aleks, Are you alright?"

"Ow…" she groaned, sitting up. Looking up, Aleks saw that one of the vent covers had come loose, sending her toppling into…

Where was she exactly?

The room was filled with an eerie green glow. Incubation tubes lined the walls, all empty. A computer sat in the centre of the room, line after line of data scrolling by.

"What is it?"

"I dunno, but I intend to find out." Aleksandra settled into the chiar and began to hack the system.

"It looks like a time trap. If you're too slow it'll go off…wait a minute. I already went through this firewall…" Paval could have sworn that he saw Aleks leave her body in the chair when the alarms went off. He never saw her jump, but less than a second later, he saw her frantically motioning him to follow her back down the vents.

"Before they notice we're missing. Come on!" Several feet down the shaft, they jumped down into the corridor and began to sprint outside.

They had agreed to go out into the streets as a decoy before returning to the abby, to avoid suspicion.

"There's supposed to be a tunnel around here somewhere that will take us to the last room before we get outside!" called Paval.

"This had better not be it…" Aleks pointed into a round hole in the wall and up the slope.

"Yeah, that's it."

"Stop!" Brian and Spencer towered at the entrance of the corridor, pointing leathal-looking launchers at the agents. Aleks's eyes widened.

"Time to go." They began to shimmy up the impossibly steep hole. Not even a foot away from the bottom, Aleks's ankle was caught in an iron grip, and was pulled back, much like a rag doll. Brian's triumphant smirk loomed above her. Without thinking, she whipped her hand across his eyes and threw a smoke bomb at her feet. Kicking her ankle free, she frantically clawed her way up the shaft before the two giants regained their sight. Paval waited for her at the top.

"Come on!" The doors flew open with a deafening crash, and Tala and Ian stood on the threshold.

"Hold it right there!" Aleks was in such frantics that she disregarded their launchers and tackled her way past them, Paval close behind her, laughing at the bewildered Elites.

Aleks had no idea how they managed to get back to their cell without getting caught.

The grimy window that they found had lead back into the kitchens, and they had rushed back to safety.

"Okay, anything that well guarded must be important. There must be a safer way to get in there." Paval roused himself from his musings.

"Trainees aren't allowed down in the south wing. But I did notice Tala coming out of their one day, and he was acknowledged by the guard."

"So you think that the Elites are allowed to go where they please then?"

"Positive. But how does one become an Elite?"

Aleks had fallen asleep before Paval had finished his sentence.

Well there's a little action for you! I hope it's as thrilling to read as thinking it up.