You guuuuuuuuuys, you didn't all revieeeeeeeew! Whine whine nag naaaaag!

Seriously: The less reviews I get, the less interested I am in updating. I'm not trying to be a jerk; if you don't want to review, don't. I'm just being honest here people omg.

WHY IS IT SO HARD FOR ME TO SPELL 'HILARY'?! I misspelled it every time I tried to type it out. My favorite one is 'hoselj'.

Yes, I learned my typing skills while driving a semi-truck over a field full of gopher-holes. Thank you for asking.

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Chapter 7 – All Aboard

There was a dull drumming noise there to greet him when Bryan groaned and opened his eyes. He was staring at a gray slate, presumably above him, as he was lying on an equally flat, uncomfortable surface. Shifting, he pushed himself up onto his elbows and looked around, unaware of anything that could help him assess his situation; time, location, physical condition. He quickly concluded that the latter was an unnecessary thing to worry about; with the exception of an aching back and a headache, he was whole and not bleeding.

He was, however, surrounded by weaved fencing, like thick chicken wire. Sitting up more, he discovered himself to be in a dog cage, one made specially for traveling. Surrounding him were crates and boxes, and finally, another cage roughly the same as his; five feet by four feet. In it was Kevin, still unconscious and facing away from Bryan.

"Shit."

Bryan attempted to stretch out his legs, but being about six foot two, he simply couldn't get comfortable. Whoever had shoved him in there hadn't given much thought to the size differences.

Awkwardly, he stretched his shoulders and tried to get some motion back into his arms. The bruising on his upper and lower back from being grabbed by that thing wasn't treating him any better then his location, which he was ready to gamble on it being a plane of some sort. And they were in the luggage cabin underneath.

"Kid." His voice seemed numbed over the sound of the plane. Not quiet, but without any echo returning to him like it would if he had been in an actual room.

"Kid, wake up." Bryan tried again, padding his pockets for something unimportant to throw at him. Kevin, however, didn't move. His back shifted gently as he breathed, but nothing more. The Russian sighed and watched the slighter male for a few moments, jealous that he couldn't have remained unconscious too. Finally, he began to look around, hoping to find something helpful.

The cargo hold was actually quite boring. The five crates were the only other thing filling it, and there was a small panel of lights on the far end so that he could see. A huge metal shape, probably storing the wheels of the plane, sat beyond the lights, and other than that everything was rounded and metal and vibrating dully. It was in that moment that Bryan vowed never to put his dog on a plane; if, of course, he had a dog.

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Max could have smacked his head on the countertop until it bounced. And maybe it would, if his brain matter emptied out and made way for all the irritating words fluttering out of Hilary's mouth.

It was, of course, no surprise in the slightest that Hilary would do this. She paced back and forth in the kitchen of Tyson's dojo, flailing her hands in panic and rambling on about the potential danger they were all obviously in. 'And look at your arm!' she could cry, pointing directly at the cast that constricted Max's broken limb. He would nod and shrug and try to calm her down by saying it was alright, but she didn't seem to notice that he had said anything at all. For the next moment she was rambling again, her eyes pinched in worry, her breathing labored, her socked feet scuffing back and forth until Max was sure the floor was about to give way. However, despite all the panic and repeated worries, there was one question that kept coming up, and everyone was wondering the same thing;

"I mean, how did he even get out?! 'Maximum security', they said! 'You'll never see him again', they said! Well they were wrong, and now he's going to kill all of us!"

"Hilary, don't say that." Max tried, smiling sadly and shaking his head as if he were correcting a child about something minimal. She didn't seem to hear him.

"And the White Tigers! That man killed Kevin, remember? He died!"

"Actually, we can blame Dickenson for that little heart-skipper… no pun intended."

This voice was new to the room, and drew the attention of both Hilary and Max. Kai strolled in, his face hard and tired, with his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Hilary stopped pacing and looked at him with uncomfortable silence, while Tyson finally stood up. He had likely been thinking the same thing throughout the course of Hilary's panic, and his fists were clenched.

"Well we can't just sit around. Someone needs to show that bastard that he can't do whatever the hell he wants!"

Kai considered him silently while Hilary turned to face him in a huff.

"Tyson, no! We have to stay out of this, someone is going to get hurt!"

"Actually," Kai said, emphasizing the start of his sentence to get attention back on him, "it's too late to turn down his invite. Last night both Bryan and Kevin were abducted by a large machine sent to enforce Matherson's request."

Max, Tyson, and Hilary fell totally silent now. The air seemed to stop moving, as if those in the room stopped breathing it in and out. Kai glanced down at his toes and sucked on his teeth thoughtfully. Reaching into his pocket, he fingered the package of Nicotine gum thoughtfully.

"Why was Bryan there?" Max asked quietly. Kai removed a piece from the package and unwrapped the small paper that hugged it.

"I had requested that Bryan and Spencer go to provide protection. They were only there for an hour before it happened."

The gum was in his mouth now, and he was chewing carefully. "And I got a very interesting message from the instigator himself on my phone."

The air began to shift again as Tyson stormed forward. "Let me hear it." He growled. Max came up cautiously and put a hand on Tyson's shoulder, frowning. The action seemed to calm the world champion, enough for him to let his shoulders slump. Kai just stared at him, chewing.

"You sure?" He muttered, somehow appearing totally calm. Hilary appeared beside Tyson and returned his glance with a hard look, to which he shrugged.

"Alright, fine. But if you punch a hole in the wall I'm not paying for it this time."

The phone appeared out of Kai's other pocket, and he slid his finger across the screen to unlock it. He tapped it twice and then paused, looking up at Tyson for confirmation. When met with another hard look, he played the message.

"Interesting play! I hadn't expected to snag two butterflies in my net, but I'll make due. I'm sure there are plenty of redeeming qualities in a Biovolt student that will help with my goal. I look forward to seeing you in two days, though. May the next round be just as exciting as this one!"

The message ended and silence ensued. No one seemed to comprehend the basic idea of the recorded voice, but Kai put his phone away regardless.

"I traced it to a throw-away phone." He offered. Max looked up at him slowly, and spoke cautiously.

"Why did he sound so happy?"

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"Because it's a game, okay? Just go with it." Bryan sighed, rolling his eyes. Kevin hugged his knees to his chest and nodded slowly, glancing over his shoulder for the thousandth time.

"Okay: I have a lot of kids that aren't mine and I'm married to someone I'm not married too."

"Angelina Jolie?" Kevin muttered, his voice filled with apprehension. He had woken up to the same confusing drum of noise and headache Bryan had, only instead of his back aching, his stomach and lower chest was bruised. He fit better in the cage, being so much smaller than Bryan, and not a minute had passed where Kevin stopped thinking about what was going to happen to them.

"Close." Bryan replied, seemingly calm and collected over the whole matter.

"… Brad Pitt."

"Goal."

"Can we play a different game?"

Bryan sighed and looked away from Kevin. "Yeah? Like what?"

"Like 'try to figure out how to get out of this mess'. That's a fun one."

"We can't do anything right now, and we probably won't have a chance when we land… Depending. Just stay calm."

Silence. "You don't know that."

Bryan rolled his eyes. "No, I don't. How about 'Slap Punch or Kill'? That's a good one."

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If I ever get abducted by a giant robot and put on a plane in a dog cage, I want Bryan to be my kidnap-buddy.

Oh, the times we would have…