The remaining Bladebreakers sat around the room, silent, as the afternoons events began to sink in. Ray was leaning against the window frame, a self-satisfied smile still on his face. Max looked over from where he was sitting, a scowl forming as he saw Ray's expression. Catching Tyson's attention, he signalled towards Ray, shaking his head. Moving to sit closer to Max, Tyson glanced over his shoulder, checking that Ray wasn't listening.

'I know this is majorly bad news and all, but seriously, don't you think Ray went a bit far. I mean, he didn't even give Kai a chance to answer.'

Max nodded his head on agreement. 'I know what you mean. He just totally flipped out. I'm majorly surprised about all this as well, but Kai at least deserved a chance to answer for himself.'

'Yeah, he did. And did you hear some of the stuff that Ray said. That wasn't just mean, it was cruel.'

'I know Kai's given us some trouble in the past, but he's a good guy really. Considering that he never wanted to join us in the first place, he's given up a lot for us. And let's face it, we never would have got this far if it wasn't for him. He's really proven himself to us, but Ray treated him as if that didn't matter, like none of that even happened.'

It's so unlike him as well. Ray rarely gets annoyed about anything. This was just nuts. I don't think I would have believed that he could just snap like that, if I hadn't seen it for myself. It's just not right…'

Tyson looked over to where Ray had been sitting, checking that he still wasn't listening. But when he looked, Ray was no longer sat there. Turning back to face Max, his look of confusion turned to one of worry, as he saw Ray standing by Max, his arms folded defensively in front of him, glaring at the two younger bladers. Tyson got to his feet, unnerved that Ray could have got so close without him noticing. Max followed suit, not wanting to be caught out if things turned nasty.

Ray stood facing the two of them, his sharp canine visible over his lip.

'You shouldn't talk about people behind their backs you know. It can be seen as being very disrespectful.'

'Us disrespectful!' countered Tyson 'What about you! What ever happened to giving someone the chance to defend themselves? And you say we're the disrespectful ones. You never even gave Kai a chance.'

'Why should I have? He didn't deserve one.'

'How can you say that?' Max cut in. 'After everything he's done for us. And you just cut him down. I mean, come on. How would you like it if it was you. If we said anything like that to you, you would have said that it was wrong, that it was unfair. But you just treated him like shit, and what's worse, you actually seem to think that it was the right thing to do.'

'Who the hell do you think you are! What gives you the right to talk to me like that, to think that you can tell me what to do. You know nothing about me, about any of this. So spare me the lecture. Because quite frankly, I don't give a damn what you think. I know that I did the right thing, and it's not up to you to decide otherwise.'

'Ray, I don't care what you think we don't know. But what I do know, is that this isn't like you. I mean seriously, what the hell is wrong with you? Because the Ray I know sure as hell wouldn't treat his friends like this.'

'I guess it's a good thing that I don't consider him a friend then, isn't it. He's nothing but scum, and he deserves everything he's gonna get.'

'Dude, how can you say that? What did Kai ever do to you?'

'Tyson's right.' Added Max. 'You were fine with him earlier, so it's obviously not him you're angry at. Unless of course, he somehow managed to do something to you without even being here. If so, I'd like to know how. Because it seems to me, that you're just blaming him for something that he hasn't even done, that's not even his fault.'

'I know this whole thing with Kain is like, really bad.' Continued Tyson 'But it's not like you can choose your family. I mean, seriously, do you think I would have spent this long being humiliated by my grandfather if you could. You can't just automatically blame Kai for what they're like, what they've done.'

'You just don't get it, do you. There's no way that I'm about to trust scum like him. Because that's all any of them are. And if you don't agree with me, then fine.'

Ray turned and walked towards the door. Pausing with his hand resting on the handle, he glanced over his shoulder at the two younger bladers.

'I don't need any of you.'

- - -

Ray walked silently through the still busy town. He had left the hotel nearly an hour ago, but he was still angry with the team. Finding a nearby bench, he sat down, checking his surroundings. Only then did he realise where he was. The same burger bar that Tyson had practically bought out was only a few yards to his right, and the Apple shop that they had visited, around the corner to his left. Just this afternoon, they had all been here, a team. But now that was over. They had already lost one member, and Ray wasn't sure if they could ever take him back. Either way, the team was a mess. But it was the right thing to do. Wasn't it?

- - -

Sitting down on the bank, Ray glanced down at his reflection in the river. He had been walking again for almost an hour, and had made his way to the outskirts of the town. He lay back in the grass, relishing the peace. He sighed as he thought back over the afternoon. Although he hated to admit it, even he could see that he had gone too far. It wasn't surprising that Tyson and Max had been so stubborn about it. How he had acted was wrong, and Ray knew it. But still…

Ray lay there for a minute, running the cool blades of grass between his fingers. The sun was beginning to set, and a thin layer of dew had started to settle around him. A slight breeze picked up, gently blowing his hair. Staring up at the sky, he watched the clouds being blown slowly across, their edges tinted pink from the setting sun. It seemed as if the whole world was at peace, except him. A small bird darted quickly in front of him, coming to rest in a nearby tree. Ray wished that he could just lie there forever, just taking in the peacefulness. But how could he, when he himself was in conflict. Because even though he had taken it too far, ray could not bring himself to accept the truth about Kai. How could he? How could he just accept that his own captain, no, his friend, was one of them. And even if he could, how could they take him back. How could they trust him? But they would. Tyson and Max, they'd be able to look past it. But how could they expect him to. To be able to trust Kai again, Ray would have to go against his every instinct. He could never forget that Kain had been responsible for taking his mother away from him, for breaking up his family. And to know that that Kai was in any way connected to that, to what had happened.

Ray sat back up, resting his head in his hands.

'A Voltaire' he muttered to himself 'Why did he have to be a fucking Voltaire. Out of all the people in the world, why did he have to be one of them…'

A small smirk came to his face, and he shook his head.

'What the hell am I doing? Well, talking to myself for on thing… I dunno, maybe the others are right, maybe I should try and give him a chance.'

- - -

Kai wandered slowly towards the abandoned warehouse, checking the area around him, before stepping inside. Walking over to an old crate, he pulled himself up, sitting on the edge as he continued to survey the area. His mind kept replaying the 'argument' with Ray, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't push the thought away. Closing his eyes, Kai allowed the image to wash over him. An image of ray came to mind, eyes cold with a deep hatred. Kai opened his eyes, glancing quickly around him. He had expected them to be angry, and if anything, hurt. But he had always thought that it would be the others, that Tyson and Max would turn against him. He had presumed that Ray, being the calmest, and certainly the most rational, would hide his reaction, try to find out more.

Kai smiled to himself, but his eyes gave away the sadness that he felt. Why should he have expected things to be any different? What did he expect? For them to just not care. Kai shook his head. If he had really thought that, then he would have just told them in the first place. But whatever he had expected, it wasn't this. Kai slumped forward, as he allowed his eyes to flicker shut, exhaustion washing over him. He felt numb, his senses deadened, but he didn't care. What did he have to lose? The only people he had tried to protect, to look out for, had practically thrown it back in his face.

Footsteps echoed quietly around the large room, but Kai did not stir. Only when they came to a stop before him did he bother to react. Opening his eyes slowly, he glared up at the figure in before him. Kain stood less than a yard away, staring down at his son. A cruel look entered his eyes, a dark smile on his face as he spoke.

'Well well Kai, so much for the loyal friends.'

End Chapter 10

Read and Review please.

A/N:

So yeah, let me now what you think of this chapter, as I'm a little unsure of it myself. Aww, poor Ray's getting himself so messed up, he's even started talking to himself… maybe he should get that checked, it's not a good sign. Ah well, I guess it is fair, since he managed to get almost an entire chapter to himself this time. You know, for a story that was originally meant to be about Kai, there sure is a lot of stuff about Ray in here… I don't think that's too good for his ego really, it might overload him… but then again, that could be why he's started talking to himself.

But anyway, I hope the chapter was okay, and I'm grateful for anyone out there who takes the time to bother reading it… so yeah… thanks.