Alliance: (gasps) What, the, hell? You are doing a DOUBLE UPDATE?

Shush will you! I am doing this because of all the lovely reviews I have been getting for my story. Thank you to all of you!

Alliance: Come on! Let us see the chapters already! I want to see what happened to Yami!

It's not him you should be worried about. Anyhow, business before pleasure as they say: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Beyblade or any of their affiliated characters.

Business over with, let's get this show on the road!

Chapter 9: Face-Off

Dammit, why do I get myself lost for the first time when I need to get out of here fast! If that reading is anything to go by Crystelle has just gained four new allies, and if she gets many more she will be able to launch an attack on this place. I can't let her get to the new Vortex Generator…if she does then there will be nothing to stop her gaining a stranglehold on this world too. Let's hope the others have found a lead to the World Soul…

Where could it be?

Kai had to swiftly dodge several scientists chatting about their latest experiment as he rushed through the corridors, desperately searching for the exit. Eyes scanned the walls at length, taking in every detail and committing it to memory: as so to avoid this exact same scenario arising again. He was so caught up in his thoughts and memorising that he barely noticed a voice calling out to him.

But then again, the voice wasn't exactly subtle, so even to just hear it was prompt enough.

"If you want the way out of here then you've got ten seconds to get over here!" Kai could not help but round on the aggressive tone, not at all surprised to find Kaiba at the end of it. "I've been waiting six minutes for you!"

"Nobody asked you to come along," snapped Kai as he ran over to join him.

"Clearly you are lacking some brain cells as you will not be able to handle things alone," sneered Kaiba while leading the way out of the building.

"Like you know what is going on."

"Subspace radiation burst detected by your laptop, which is a direct indicator of inter-universal travel: it only lasts for three hours after arrival and based on the readings your laptop gave out, four new people have arrived."

Kai stopped running out of shock, which forced Kaiba to slow. "You read my notes as well as building the framework of the new Vortex Generator?"

"I'm a quick study, unlike much of your company."

Kai scoffed and stole a quick glance of Kaiba's arm, only to notice the same device as what Joey was wearing when they first met. What did he say it was again? A Duel Disk or something like that? I wonder why Kaiba is dragging that thing about: it's not as if it can be used destructively. It only creates holograms, but then again, they are pretty realistic. Might be a useful diversion…

"Keep up or get back to the Generator!" Kai snapped back to reality at the shout, swiftly catching up to Kaiba and passing him. Kaiba shook his head before taking position behind him as they raced through the streets. "So you know your way around Domino now, do you?"

Kai laughed. "You aren't the only quick study, believe it or not."

"You've learned your way around the city but not Kaiba Corp.?"

"I never thought I would need to get around there quite that fast, unlike the city. Anyway, who doesn't put up at least a sign to help new employees?"

"I expect them to have the place memorized after being given a tour."

"Let me guess: whole building?"

"Of course. I only take the best, and the best should be able to learn their way around."

"But in one go?"

"Why not if they are the best?"

"Not everyone is as fast as you, clearly you forget that."

"That is their problem, not mine." Kai rolled his eyes and turned his focus back to the streets. Finding the Crusaders was his biggest concern at the present moment; fighting with Kaiba could wait until after the crisis was over.

Both men skidded to a stop as the alleyway came into sight. What is it with alleys? Do they like dark damp places? Kai steadied his breathing as he glanced down it, only to see blackness. A thought suddenly struck him as he looked over at Kaiba, who was on the other side of the entrance. "Why did you come actually?"

Kaiba rolled his eyes and snorted. "You were stupid enough to race off without back-up."

"Why would that be of a concern to you?"

"You are not of my concern." Kai's heart sank a little at hearing this, which caught him by surprise. "My interests lie in that if something happens to you, then your little friends will become part of the dweeb patrol and I'll have even more stress in my life."

"You don't have any friends, do you?"

Kaiba scoffed. "Who needs them? Just another liability to add to my numerous list."

Kai sighed and leaned back against the wall. "I used to think that way too…" he whispered, just catching Kaiba's attention. "Friends can be a liability, but true friends are not. It took a long time for me to realise that…"

"In other words you got soft."

"Maybe I did…" Kaiba turned and saw Kai staring hard at him. "But that doesn't make me anything less than I was before."

"That is debatable."

"How would you know? You weren't there, and if you were…then you might take a slightly different view of things."

"Hmph, I highly doubt that, as I doubt how dangerous these Crusaders are."

Kai smirked. "Then why did you come along if they aren't dangerous? You think I need a babysitter or something?"

Kaiba scowled, and Kai could have sworn he saw a trace of red across his cheeks. "Can we just get this over with?"

Kai smiled slightly before venturing in, Kaiba close behind. Eyes were glued to every brick and ears tuned to every sound. Though neither would admit it to the other, their hearts were racing as they waited for the Crusaders to reveal themselves. Kai could not help but keep glancing behind him, but it was not out of suspicion: Kaiba may not have appreciated it, but still had Kai concerned about him. Kai had never anticipated that Kaiba would follow him and offer his assistance (if you could call it that) and it left Kai worried as the Crusaders would surely target him.

What does he hope to achieve by being here? He is going to get himself killed if he isn't careful…and I can't let that happen: I wouldn't forgive myself if he gets hurt. Kai shook those thoughts straight out of his head. No, I need to clear my head. If I don't Crystelle will surely see my weakness and take advantage. Fuck…of all people why did Kaiba follow me?

Both swiftly halted as they heard a clatter in a connecting alley. They looked at each other briefly before Kai led the way in. Instincts were telling them that something was very wrong with the situation, but neither listened to them as they took another turning off and ventured deeper into the maze of back-streets. It was only when they reached cross-point did alarms start to go off in both their heads. One quick look was all needed to confirm they were thinking the same thing, but by that point it was already too late.

Six silhouettes emerged from darkness and approached them: guns raised and locked to their positions. "Shit…we need to get out of here," whispered Kai, to which Kaiba nodded. They stealthily backed away but soon backed into sharp protrusions behind them. The pair spun around fiercely and came face-to-face with two more Crusaders, both of who smirked and showed off their firearms.

A cackle from the large group caught their attention. "Well Kai, I didn't expect you to bring company, especially of such good quality."

Kai growled lowly and turned slowly to face his nemesis: Crystelle. "And I didn't expect such a volume of you lot."

"Come now, you thought I would skimp on things when you are involved?"

"Nothing like living in hope."

"Not that you would know what hope is anymore given how things are back home. Enough chatter, who is the gorgeous one behind you?"

Kaiba scoffed, but still did not face her completely. "Like I would bother giving you my name."

"Well seeing as you two are not going to be leaving this alley unless you swear to our cause, it seems only natural to know the name of either a new member or a dead man."

Now Kaiba faced her and simply glared. "Seto Kaiba if you must know."

Crystelle sighed. "Why did you have to go and choose such a handsome guy as a new ally of yours, Kai? It just makes life difficult for me."

Kai snorted. "He won't join you Crystelle, so you can just give it up now."

Crystelle's mouth curled into a cruel smirk. "Shame, but then again, after watching your new friends I had gathered that impression, so I…demonstrated my power to a couple of them."

"What do you…?" Kai tailed off as he gave it some thought, and then his heart hit the floor when he realised what she meant.

"Have you heard from your dear Maxie in the past hour?" she cooed cruelly. Malicious chuckling came from the rest of the Crusaders as they saw Kai's resolve breaking. "You might be in for quite a shock when you see him next."

Kai's eyes had darkened until they were black with rage, at which he locked them onto Crystelle. "You bitch…what have you done to him?" he demanded.

"Well now, it seems your emotions are finally showing through. Come on then: take me down in revenge, show me how dark you really are."

Had Kai not felt a restricting hand on his shoulder, he would have leapt forward and charged down the Crusaders with no restraint. It took him a couple of seconds to realise fully that it was there, but he didn't have any more time to take notice of the situation before all hell broke loose.

"Yami come on, stay awake!" Max screamed desperately as Yami began lose consciousness from pain. The former pharaoh had been fortunate in that the bullet had lodged itself in his shoulder blade and causing limited damage along the way. Blood loss was minimal; the pain, however, was excruciating. "Yami stay with me!" Yami's eyes flickered open again at the tearful cries of the blonde and he stared up into misty blue eyes. He groaned when Max shifted him so that he was lying back against the other teen's chest while sitting between his legs. It may have hurt being moved, but he could not deny it was much better there than lying on Max's legs. "Is the pain easing any?"

"Unfortunately not," replied Yami through gritted teeth. He attempted to find a more comfortable position but only succeeded in aggravating the wound. Max pulled him back into a comforting embrace as Yami screamed out his agony. "Where the hell are they?"

"I don't know, but I could only give them our rough location." He paused before continuing. "I'm sorry, Yami."

Yami struggled to control his panting as he spoke. "What…for?"

"It's my fault you got shot. If my friends and I weren't here then you wouldn't have to deal with any of this. You would be living your new life in peace."

"Max… Don't."

"It would have been so much better for you all had we never come here-"

"Max stop!" Yami yelped at his own outburst, but it succeeded in silencing Max. "Max…that's not true and you know it…"

"But…you would be safe were it not for me…"

"Max…put it this way…I would rather take a thousand shots like this…than…than have never…met you…" It was then that Yami lost consciousness after fighting to stay awake for so long.

Max's tears were falling freely and uncontrollably as he held Yami's limp form against him. He cried into his unharmed shoulder and nuzzled it affectionately. It had been a long time since Max had felt so at ease with someone other than his fellow Rescuers that it hit him hard to see that person thrown into the war which threatened the freedom their world. Why did they have to bring all their troubles through with them? The blonde hugged Yami as tightly to him as he could: hoping somehow if he held on tight enough that he would lose him like he had lost so many before.

"Max!" Max looked up at the cry of his name to see Joey and Tyson running towards him. "Max, is he all right?"

"He's just passed out, the shot didn't cause too much damage. He was in too much pain; some painkillers and bandages should be enough."

"We should get him back to Kaiba Corp. Everyone is there waiting."

"What about Kai? Is he back yet?"

Tyson shook his head. "We haven't heard anything at all, but more readings popped up after they took off."

"Wait…what are you saying?"

Tyson and Joey looked at each other before answering. "They think they are meeting four of them: there's actually twelve in total. They've headed straight into an ambush."

"What the fuck is that thing?"

"Is that a…a dragon?"

"That's not possible!"

Kai felt himself being guided back, away from the action while a deep voice boomed out over all the commotion.

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon… Attack!" The majestic creature rose up high into the air; lightning burst ready and waiting to be launched. The Crusaders were rapidly forced to retreat, but they were too slow. As the dragon released its White Lightning, they all cowered in fear; and gave Kai and Kaiba their chance to escape. The hand on Kai's shoulder moved to his forearm and pulled him back. He spun and faced Kaiba, only just realising everything which had happened within about ten seconds. "Let's go!"

Kai nodded and the pair charged down the stunned Crusaders guarding the exit. The blue-haired teen landed a roundhouse kick to the head of one while Kaiba kneed another in the stomach before tossing him head-first into a nearby wall. Kaiba led the way as they raced back the way they came, only to find two more Crusaders as they emerged into another alley, with them blocking the route they had previously undertaken. Kaiba yanked on Kai's arm to guide him out of harm's way and the pair dashed away; bullets whizzing past them as they increased the shooting distance. Both dove into another alley and took cover behind some garbage cans.

"Nice little idea with the dragon back there," complimented Kai as he caught his breath.

Kaiba shot him a sceptical look and held up the arm with his Duel Disk. "You didn't think I lugged this dead weight around for nothing, did you?"

"Well I did wonder, but I just assumed you were making life more difficult for yourself than it needed to be, as usual," smirked Kai.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow and then glared when other man began to snicker. "You know, my distaste for you is swiftly returning."

"You mean to tell me you were growing to like me until I started embarrassing you again?"

Sapphire eyes momentarily widened as Kaiba realised what he had said. "Won't you just shu-" Kaiba's sentence was cut short by a bullet whizzing past their make-shift defence. "Shut up until we get out of this!" Amethysts twinkled in amusement for a split second before another ricochet snapped him back to their current situation. Kaiba leant back further into one tin can and armed himself with a loose lid while Kai peered around the edge subtly. He spotted one soldier about ten feet away closing in on them tentatively.

Shifting back within their fortress he whispered an update. "Five o'clock, ten feet away." Kaiba nodded and took a strong hold of the lid. Kai leant up and saw the Crusader had lowered his gun ever so slightly: just enough for them to take advantage. "NOW!"

The soldier barely had any time to notice the shout before a spinning garbage lid collided with his head, knocking him unconscious. Kai and Kaiba returned to the open and seized his gun. "AK-47, perfect." Kaiba swung it around his shoulder while Kai pulled a hand gun out from a holster on the side. "You know how to shoot?"

"I've fought a war for two years, what about you? When have you needed to fire a gun?"

"To protect myself and Mokuba."

"I don't begrudge you that. We need to get out of here but I'm guessing they will have almost all the exits covered by now. Any thoughts?"

Kaiba sighed and looked around before his eyes met with a fire escape ladder. He nudged Kai towards it. "You head up there and look to see what's going on while I buy you some time."

Kai took one look at the ladder and then turned back. "That is a stupid idea."

"If you've got a better one then tell me!" Kai could only stand in silence. "I thought so, now get up there before they close in."

Kai stepped back a bit before he realised arguing would do them no good. He sighed angrily and ran to the ladder. "I hope you know what you're doing!"

Kaiba nodded to him and took cover behind some more garbage cans as Kai swiftly ascended the ladder. The blue-haired couldn't help but glance back down as he climbed: hoping that Kaiba would be able to handle himself as well as he claimed he could. As the summit loomed Kai drew his gun, but hoping he wouldn't have to use it.

He stealthily looked over the rooftop and saw the coast was clear. Barely had he regained his footing on solid ground when he heard the furious shouts of Crystelle. "FIND THEM! I DON'T CARE IF THEY ARE DEAD OR ALIVE JUST BRING THEM HERE!" Kai looked down to Kaiba who nodded, clearly having heard the orders as well as he had. Turning his attention back to his task, Kai scanned the area trying to spot any Crusader soldiers, be they nearby or guarding an exit. Fortunately, it seemed that many of the exits were clear.

The bad news was however that they were all converging on Kaiba's position. Kai quickly realised the danger and raced back to the ladder; calling down it. "Kaiba you have incoming!" Kaiba had his gun poised, ready to shoot down any who ventured too near, and he didn't have to wait too long. Three of them came around the corner at once, and while two were swiftly taken down by the CEO, one managed to evade his fire. The remaining soldier fired back and forced Kaiba to take cover, only for another two to come at him from the opposite direction. He opened fire and mowed down another soldier while injuring the other, causing him to retreat. As more shots rained down on him, Kaiba realised he would have to get out of there fast or be trapped.

Gunfire rained down from above and targeted the soldiers. Kaiba glanced upwards, and sure enough, found Kai firing with precision. The CEO laughed, impressed, before taking his chance to ascend. He managed to get halfway before more shots came his way and caused him to pause and fire back.

That pause, however, cost him as he felt a bullet pierce his side.

Kaiba bit back a scream as searing heat tore through flesh and clothes, settling instead for firing back blind. Kai's attention was caught by this and he just caught a glimpse of violet hair before it took cover. He growled loudly but helped Kaiba up as he finally reached the top. Kai became concerned as he noticed Kaiba's body shaking, but kept his distance, settling instead for just kneeling next to the CEO. "Anything hurt?"

Sapphire eyes met with amethyst briefly before Kaiba shook his head. "Nothing, just a couple of close shaves is all. What's the situation?"

"All of the Crusaders are surrounding this building. We won't be able to get down another without them following us."

"Then we won't climb back down." Kai looked at Kaiba before he continued. "These apartment blocks all share a single underground car park, of which one exit comes out fairly near Kaiba Corp. We get there, we should be fine."

"So we just need to get to a building which uses this car park?"

"Yes, and the one to our right should use it if memory serves me correctly. We'll just need to jump across."

Kai rolled his eyes. "Oh yes! That easy is it?"

"What's the matter? Scared?" A gunshot rang out from the ladder, at which Kai leant over and shot down the Crusader which had been scaling it.

Kai stretched back and sighed. "Not as if we have much choice is it?" He got back to his feet and offered a hand to Kaiba, who took it as he stood. The two looked at each other, before turning to the void they had to cross, and then back to each other: only to see that they both had a smirk on their faces. They chuckled before running towards it with no fear and leapt from the edge, attempting to cross the three metre gap. Shots zipped past them as they soared through the air, cherishing the feeling of weightlessness. It was only once they reached the other side and landed with a crash did the gravity of their situation return to them.

Both panted hard as they lay on the concrete roof, allowing the rush of feelings to pass. They locked eyes for a few seconds, but those few seconds felt like hours to them: lost in each other's gaze while their senses were overloaded. Fear, anticipation, adrenaline and attraction rushed through them both all at once, causing everything to disappear, and for them only to see each other.

Their moment was ruined by incoherent screeching from Crystelle below them. Both sets of eyes widened as realisation hit that they would only have a few seconds to get away before they were seen. Kaiba was the first to his feet and helped Kai return to his. The pair rushed to the door on the roof and disappeared inside it, making sure to lock the door behind them.

By the time the Crusaders reached the door, the two were running through the underground car park, heading back to Kaiba Corp., and away from danger.

Kai collapsed to his knees as they re-emerged onto ground level while Kaiba settled for leaning against a wall. Despite there having been no sign of Crusaders behind them, the pair had taken no chances and dashed towards safety with all their remaining strength. Both their bodies shook with physical strain: their muscles only holding them up because of all the tension which had been there since they had left Kaiba Corp.

Kai was the first to speak, but he stayed on his knees as he dragged in well needed oxygen. "You can stop pretending now."

Kaiba scoffed through his pants. "Pretending what?"

"That you didn't get shot." Sapphire eyes widened and turned to meet cold amethyst. "I saw it the minute you made it onto the roof. White trench coat doesn't hide red blood very well."

Kaiba turned away again, his voice laced with malice. "So what if I did? It's not as if you could have done anything about it."

"That's not the point. Why didn't you say?"

"Because I don't know where your allegiance lies: with your friends, or with her." Amethysts widened in blind shock before Kaiba continued. "I saw what happened to you when you talked to her. You froze. She had you wrapped around her little finger and you would have been killed had I not been there. You need to figure out which side you are on before it gets someone killed."

Kai's eyes narrowed harshly as he stood and he sent the harshest glare he could muster towards Kaiba. "Well, if I'm lucky, maybe she'll shoot you more accurately next time and then you won't be able to comment on the situation."

Kaiba would have taken a step back in surprise had he not been leaning on the wall already. He faced Kai with all the ferocity he could and snapped back. "Maybe you should just get back to machine of yours and get out of here before you cause any more damage."

"Don't worry: the minute it is finished, I will be gone and you can go back to your sad little life you live."

Kaiba scoffed. "At least I have a life to live, unlike you who has nothing to go back to. Not even your friend now according to your girlfriend."

"Don't you dare say that!"

"Really? Cause it looks to me like something went on between you two, and clearly you haven't moved on from it. You are a liability. For all intents and purposes, you are an inside agent for the Crusaders, and the sad thing is your friends still believe in you when there is nothing to believe in."

The two continued to glare for another half minute or so before Kaiba pushed off the wall and walked past Kai, not even sparing him a second glance. "Where are you going?"

"To get rid of you before you cause any more harm."

Kai could only stand there in shock as the conversation washed over him, and he realised that much of what Kaiba had said, no matter how harsh it may have been, had truth to it.

Shit…he's right. I am a liability to them…If I don't straighten myself out, I am going to get someone killed. I just pray that she lied about Max…I won't forgive myself if he's hurt.

Next update: 3rd January 2011 at some time.

Look forward to seeing you all there!