Title: Odd2 Chapter 10

Rating: T

Summary: Kai has to face his past, once he remembers it.

The train ride to Moscow was uneventful, Kenny was reading up on everything related to Moscow and Russia, although there was a good few things unpleasant, he found that parts were incredibly interesting.

So interesting in fact that he kept sharing facts with the team, although Tyson complained about it, Max only partially listened and Rei nodded at him. Kai was in his bunk, sleeping soundly, although Kenny felt he was just pretending so he didn't have to talk to anyone.

When the other three left to get some food, Kenny looked up at the top bunk and took a deep breath; "Are you okay Kai?"

Opening his eyes he turned his head to look at the younger teen; "I'm fine,"

"It's just; you're a lot quieter…"

"It's nothing," Kai said; "Just need a little bit more sleep than usual," Having said that he closed his eyes again and Kenny left the carriage, going off to find the others.

XXX

Once they had finally arrived in Moscow, it was the challenge of finding where the hotel was, although Kenny had a map, which he had bought at the station after they had arrived, he was having a problem translating it.

"Does anybody know where we are going?" Tyson complained, not noticing how flustered Kenny was getting.

"According to my calculations, we are almost there,"

Max looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes at the map; "Are you sure you can read this map Chief?"

Kenny looked up at him and blushed; "Well, my Russian is a little rusty…" Before he could even look back at his map, Kai had taken it from him and pointed to the right.

"This way," He walked away from them and they all looked at him.

"Well I am having the time of my life, but does anyone know where we are going?" Tyson repeated his last question and Kai stopped at look at him.

"Just zip it and follow me,"

Having said that Kai continued to walk away; Max shrugged and followed, the others walked behind him when they came across a park that had kids beybattling.

"Oh cool," Max said as they all stopped to watch the battle going on in front of them, it was only when a few of the kids had run off that a man appeared and Kai's eyes widened , feeling like he knew this man.

"So you are the Bladebreakers, I welcome you to our training grounds. I am Boris, the head organiser for the World Tournament," He nodded to them with a smile; "But please, let us continue our conversation inside, over some lunch,"

Before any of the Bladebreakers could saying anything, Tyson's stomach rumbled and Boris laughed.

"That it's settled, lunch it is, and it's on me,"

The team followed Boris into the training ground, where Kai noticed the sign on the wall.

Balkov Abbey, hn, I've heard of this place. It's the Demolition Boys training area. He moved along with the others for lunch.

XXX

After lunch Tyson was given a challenge to battle one of the Abbey's young beybladers, since the Dragoon wielder had said that the Russian way of training was far too strict for his liking.

Although he had found it a hard battle, he won against the Russian boy, who was dragged away to everyone's shock.

"Now I believe it's for you to take your leave," Boris said to them, as the Russian spectators, those young students of the abbey, brought out their own beyblades and pointed at the foreigners who dared to defy Boris.

"But what's going to happen to that kid?" Tyson asked, worried about the boy who had been dragged away, who had his beyblade crushed by that man's foot.

"Forget it," Kai said and his team just looked at him in shock.

"Kai?"

"Pretend like it never happened,"

"What? No way! I could never forget that in a million years!" Tyson rounded on the team captain, who wasn't moved by his little speech.

"It's better to accept what has happened and move on, isn't that right Kai?" Boris finally spoke once more, looking right at Kai, ignoring the rest of the team.

Kai held his gaze, then closed his eyes and walked away, deciding there was no need to stay, his team follow after him and the door closed once they left the building.

"I can't believe…" Tyson began, shaking his head.

"Let it go Tyson," Kenny told him gently; "There's no point in kicking up a fuss, Boris is right, we are in a different country, their rules aren't ours and vice versa, if that is how they train, then so be it,"

"But it…" Tyson trailed off; "Ah, let's just go and find out hotel,"

"Yea, I'm getting pretty hungry," Max said as they walked away, leaving Kai standing and looking at the Abbey.

Just wait… Kai thought to himself, remembering the blader's who were ready to launch at them, and the boy who had been dragged away, although he pleaded for someone to help him; You just wait Boris; because I'll be back!

He moved to follow the rest of the team, with Kenny looking back at him sheepishly;

"Er… Which was do we go now?" He showed Kai the map, but the bluenette didn't look at it, instead he kept walking and gestured for the others to keeping going.

Max walked quickly to be by his side; "Kai? Are you okay?"

"Hm? Yea, I'm fine,"

"Really? Because…"

"Don't worry about me Max," Kai informed him with a slight smile; "Right now we need to get to the hotel and begin a training routine,"

"Say what?" Tyson exclaimed and Kai sighed, as did Kenny.

"You were almost defeated by that kid, you might have gotten stronger, but in Russia it's a whole other level. If Max hadn't reminded you of our battle at the regional tournament you would have lost," Kai said bluntly and saw that Tyson bristled; "You might not like it, but you need it,"

When they got to the hotel and checked in they went for lunch and Kenny went through with Kai the training routine he had developed before they went to the Abbey.

"Do you have any info on the home team Chief?" Rei asked, before he took a sip of his soup.

"Well I am pretty sure we've got our work cut out for us. Unfortunately I don't have any data on the home team,"

"So we're just going to wing it?" Tyson asked mouth full of fries.

Kenny winced before he continued on; "All I know about the ream is that they have never been defeated. Which means we can't goof around,"

"They sound wicked!" Max commented and Rei nodded.

"You are right about that, the word is that they play rough, they waste no time in wiping out their opponents in battle,"

"The sooner we start our training the better," Kai stated and looked at them all; "The Demolition Boys have the upper hand right now, they have probably seen out battles and we haven't seen a single one of theirs,"

"This means we need to improve all our attacks, our strategies, everything to be able to take them on!" Kenny added.

"All right, are we ready?" Rei looked at Tyson and Max, who both nodded; "Let's do this,"

"First, I think the basics first, to get you all ready, I need to go through some other things with Kai first before we put you through your paces,"

As they left to go to the training rooms under neither the hotel, Kai and Kenny went to the locker room to go over plans.

"So I was thinking we should focus on Rei's…" Kenny stopped noticing Kai was looking too intensely at the laptop; "Kai? Are you all right?"

"Yea," He replied and so the other teen carried on explain his plan, which Kai amended slightly.

For the rest of the night the team trained, although they went to bed earlier than Kai would have liked, but considering they were all suffering from jetlag there wasn't much he could do about it.

When he fell asleep, he found himself back in the Abbey, once more watching the boy being defeated by Tyson, his beyblade crushed and he was dragged away, but not before he pleaded to Kai, begged him to help. As those heavy metal doors slammed shut Kai woke up with a start and found Rei looking over at him.

"Are you okay Kai? It sounded like you were having a nightmare," Rei asked, having never heard Kai sound so emotional before, he had never heard Kai have a nightmare in all their travels.

As usual the bluenette refused to comment, although Rei was expecting it, it didn't stop him from worrying about the other blader.

When they both got up, Rei went to shower and wash his hair, while Kai got dressed and left the room, not even stopping for breakfast.

"Kai?" Rei said as he came out, towel drying his hair, only to find the teen gone; "Huh, maybe he's gone for breakfast," Wrapping his hair and getting himself dressed he made his way down to the dinning hall, meeting up with Max.

"Hey Rei! Sleep well?" Max asked him and Rei nodded.

"Yea, what about you?"

"Yea, aside from Tyson snoring,"

As they came up to Kenny and Tyson, both noticing that Tyson was, as usual, stuffing his face, Rei asked them both; "Have you guy's seen Kai?"

"No, he never came down," Kenny replied and Max looked over at Rei, wondering why he asked such a question.

"Something wrong?" The blonde asked him.

"No, he just seemed to act a bit funny this morning, it's probably nothing, guess I'm not used to sharing a room with him any more," Rei joked, although Max could see through it.

"Where are you guy's off to?" Kenny asked as Tyson once more began shovling his food into his mouth.

"I'm going to meet up with my mom at the airport," Max told them cheerfully.

"I'm going to check out the parks," Rei said and waved goodbye to the two as Max followed him; "We'll see you later,"

"Rei?" Max asked as they came out of the hotel, and walked towards one of the local parks; "What about Kai?"

"He just, he seemed to have had a nightmare, although Kai being Kai, he didn't want to talk about it," Rei said with a shrug; "I didn't want Tyson to know, you know what he would be like if he knew Kai had some kind of nightmare,"

"Yea. I just… I wonder where he went off to if none of us saw him?" Max wondered and hailed a cab; "Have fun at the parks Rei,"

"Say hi to your mom for me," Rei said with a smile and waved Max off; Kai… Where have you run off to?

The person in Rei's thoughts was by a river bank, looking into the water, thinking; What's the matter with me? Why can't I get that stupid dream out of my head? It's almost like my memory is a puzzle and I… I don't have all the pieces. There's something familiar about that place, something familiar, and that man… Kai gasped as he saw Boris' face in the water, when someone threw a stone and the image became distorted, coming back to being his own reflection. The bluenette waited for the kids to move on before he got up and walked away, already formulating a plan in his head.

Sneaking into the Abbey grounds Kai managed to find some spare robes; Probably be easier to get in rather than just waltzing up, they'd throw me back out. He thought as he changed into them and quickly moved to get into the Abbey itself, bowing at the other guards who walked past, since they did the same thing to him.

Not exactly a friendly place. But why does it feel so familiar? He entered the training room that Tyson had his match in, removed the robes and walked towards the large metal door, placing his hand one door he paused; I'm… I'm afraid to go in but why? He looked to the side and found a large hole in the wall, a chute of some kind, although he had no idea where it would take him, he had a feeling it would be a lot easier than heading down a corridor where he'd meet even more guards.

What? He thought as he noticed where he landed; moving behind some rocks and noticed that the guards were down there, along with some scientists; A research room? This is no Abbey, it's a laboratory… And I'm starting to feel like I'm one of the lab rats. He ran away from the room quietly, unaware that a video camera was monitoring him, making him a lab rat as he had feared.

As Kai walked along he wondered to himself; How long has this place been hidden underneath the Abbey? They must be working on something to have this much security… These tunnels make it feel like a maze, but why do I feel like I know exactly where I am going? He noticed a door was left partially open and walked over to it and peaked inside only to find something disturbing.

"Oh my god…" He whispered, his garnet eyes widened in shock and he backed away from the door; "All of those animals are alive, but their spirits are being taken out of them… They can't…"

He stopped and turned towards a sound further down the hallway, as he walked towards it, the sound became words; That gives me the creeps.

"Defeat to our enemies, victory is ours," Thirty young beybladers were saying all at the same time, as they went through the motions of launching a beyblade.

As Kai watched, he noticed some of them fell to their knees and were removed, he moved along to the next area, finding that it was a type of gym, making the recruits work out to increase their endurance, and then he watched them battle each other.

He watched, clenching his fists and trying to remain silent, but he growled in frustration at how these bladers were being treated, were being trained.

He finally understood and slowly he moved away, feeling exhausted, bowing his head and leaned against the wall; I remember now, I know why it haunts my dreams… I know why that man scares me… He back away and bumped into some one, turning around he saw him.

"Did I scare you young Kai? You look like you've seen a ghost," He laughed and removed his head clothe, instead he placed on a pair of red glassed; "Well Kai, remember now?"

"Ah… B… Boris," Kai fell to his knees, the pieces of the puzzle all came together; "I… I grew up, in this Abbey,"

"Welcome back, so glad that you remembered me," Boris said with a more sinister smile; "You always were a bright child. But now young Kai, you have some important decisions to make… About your future,"

Kai finally stood up and now that his fear had passed he glared at the man in front of him; "Like what?" He demanded to know.

"Like returning to us, to join the team that made you, the team that you were meant to lead…" His hand moved closer to Kai's face; "Come Kai, face your future…"

Before his hand could touch Kai, he slapped it away violently and glared at him; "No! Get this Boris, you may think you know me, but I barely remember you or this rotten abbey. Coming here was a waste of time," He turned and began to run back to where he started.

"Really, well keeping running," Boris said, although he knew Kai couldn't hear him, he turned away, heading back to the main control room to watch Kai, who was about to face some obstacles.

As Kai kept running down the hallways, he found that he didn't know where the exit was, but spotting a light, which looked like it would lead to the outside he ran towards it, only to find that it was a tower, with the large windows at the top letting in so much sun light into the room. Looking around he decided to go straight ahead.

"Don't be so hasty, we are more than just a beyblade team, but a company…" Boris began to say, speaking on the overhead radio.

"What makes you think I care about that?" Kai asked, pausing from his running, wondering what Boris might spill, what could be of use to him once he gets out of this place.

"You don't have to care, you can do it for yourself. Don't you want power?"

"Not really," Kai lied, although everyone who knew him knew that he wanted to become stronger, and having power would always help him achieve that.

"You're apathy is less than convincing, but all right, what is it that you want then?"

Kai thought for a few seconds; Max… Kenny… Dizzi… He breathed out slowly; "Nothing,"

"Everyone wants something, just name it and we will get it," Boris told him, but was startled to find that Kai had begun to laugh; "What's so funny?"

Kai clutched his sides as he laughed; "How… how ridiculous you are Boris!" He stopped laughing, glaring over at the camera; "If you think you can just buy me, then you really don't know me that well,"

"I know you are always striving for perfection," Boris countered, trying to gain the upper hand once more.

"What serious beyblader isn't?" Kai closed his eyes; "Perhaps I do spend more time training, to find the perfect balance between blade and technique than the average blader does, but I'm not so free agent that you can pick up on the open market," He looked up at the camera again; the defiance was clear in his eyes.

"Perhaps… " Boris began, but Kai, rather than saying anything else, brought out his beyblade and launched it at the camera, then he proceeded to run; "The abbey had eyes everywhere Kai… you'll find it a lot harder to leave this time,"

Over the period of time that Kai had been in the abbey, avoiding getting hit by lazers, using his beyblade to battle the many beyblades that were fired his way; his team had begun to go and search for him, with Rei having a rough idea of where to look and arrived at the Abbey as well, only they didn't sneak in, instead they found themselves having a beybattle between Tyson and a short kid with a rather large nose, whose friend stood behind him, his cold blue eyes scanning the team in front of them.

But over time, Kai realised that his skills in the Abbey had become far greater than they had when he was with the Bladebreakers, he was getting closer to perfection in the short space of time than he did in all the training alone and with the team, and when Boris gave him the final option?

"Black Dranzer…" Kai said as he looked at the chained up beyblade; "Fine, then. I'm all yours and Black Dranzer is all mine. Now unlock it!"

"Stop," The blue eyed teen said to the other, whose beyblade returned to his hand, he then looked at the Bladebreakers; "The one you are searching for… His name is Kai, isn't it?"

"Yea! So he is here?" Max asked the other, who nodded; "Can we see…" He stopped when the other teen shook his head.

"I'm afraid not, he was outside for a bit too long, he's caught a fever. Our doctors are checking him over, he should be fine,"

"Oh, all right," Max said, sounding a bit deflated.

"Hey, we don't know your names," Rei said before the two could leave.

"I'm Tala," The blue eyed teen said.

"And I'm Iain,"

"All right Tala, we're trusting you to keep your promise, and to let us know if anything happens," Tyson said to the taller teen who smiled slightly and nodded.

"Yes, of course,"

As they left, Max kept looking back at the abbey, having a heavy feeling in his heart that something wasn't right, that Kai, who read the Russian map so easily, would allow himself to get a fever.

This doesn't add up, how could Kai get himself sick before an important tournament? Max kept on walking, trying to not let the questions that kept coming into his head affect him, he had to hope that Kai would return to them, that Kai would get better.