Chaos: Took awhile but it's finally done!

Bryan: Everyone let's celebrate! *pops open a champagne bottle*

Craig: Pretend to be excited, she'll take it out on us if you don't

Chaos: Well excuse me if I had major writers block! *glares at the red head*

Tonya: For once it's not us

Chris, Tala, Kai: uh huh *nod in unison*

Spencer: So who gets to do the disclaimer? *dead silence*

Aio: Ooh ooh me! Pick me! *jumps up and down while all stare*

Chaos: Oook...sure why not?

Aio: Yes! Ok Chaos doesn't own Beyblade or its characters, just her OC's and temporarily Chris. On with the chapter!

Tonya: You only did the disclaimer cause you're in the chapter huh? *narrows eyes*

Aio: *nods happily*

~*The Binds That Break*~

"Go away." Tonya growled at whoever was knocking on her door. She sat on the bed on the other side of the huge room since it was the farthest thing from the door.

"But I come bearing good news." A familiar male voice sounded as he opened the door. Craig stepped through and listened as the guards locked it behind him. "Aw, not even going to look at me?"

Tonya just drew her knees to her chest as Craig walked closer. He leaned against the marble arch doorway that separated her bed from the rest of her room. He just looked at her as she tried her best to ignore his eyes on her. As much as she wanted to turn around and hit him, she knew he was just as fast as her and could easily block her moves. She found out the hard way the first time he'd come to see her.

"What the fuck do you want?" She spat as she stared out the barred up window.

"Like I said I have good news. You're not alone anymore. Turns out, Adina was able to find one of your friends. He should be settled into his cell by now." Craig smiled when he saw her stiffen up. Within a blink of an eye she was across the room, her hand on Craig's throat and tightening around it.

"Start talking now." Tonya hissed as her collar began to spark, sensing her rising power.

"Temper, temper. Better calm down before that collar shocks you." Craig held his grin as Tonya gradually let go. As much as she hated him, she didn't have the heart to kill him. Least not yet. "That's better."

"How did you find him?" She asked softly, not bothering to look at him.

"Simple. When we left your red headed friend behind, we planted one of our tracking devices on him. Lord Aio could see how much you were missing them. So he sent Adina to get them for you." Craig rubbed his neck as he watched Tonya's hands curl into fists. "Unfortunately she was only able to find one of them. I'm here to escort you to him if you'd like to go visit."

'Him? So then Chris wasn't caught? But then who was? Which one of them have I endangered now?' Tonya thought to herself as she slowly turned around.

"Take me to him." She demanded as she faced Craig. He bowed slightly before turning to walk back to the door.

The guards watched as the two walked out of the room and down the long hallway. They knew she wasn't a threat with the collar on, but they were told to still keep an eye on her. Tonya silently followed Craig down to the dungeons. Tonya couldn't help but wonder which of her friends was being held down there and in what condition. A slow dripping noise could be heard and only grew louder as they walked farther back into the dank underground corridor.

"I'll leave you two alone so you can catch up." Craig smirked as he opened a heavy wooden door. "Oh and you might need this." He tossed her a small key and Tonya could only wonder what is was for as she entered the dark room.

The heavy door shut behind her, leaving her in semi darkness. Tonya could hear the dripping noise grow louder as she moved farther in, and she had a feeling she knew what it was. She walked forward slowly as her eyes slowly adjusted to what little light was in the cell. She could make out a slim but fit body. Whoever the boy was, he was too small to be Spencer, too short to be Bryan, but not quite short enough to be Kai. She began to shake as she realized who it was. Tala. She could see that he was hanging limply from his wrists that were chained together high above his head. She moved quickly to him, standing on her tip toes to fit the key into the lock of the shackles. She did her best to concentrate on the lock, trying not to lose balance in the dark pool of blood that she did her best to ignore. A click could be heard and his body slowly began to fall. Tonya easily caught him and helped moved him out of the pool of blood that had formed around his feet. She lowered him down gently to the floor, putting herself between him and the wall as she opened her legs and leaned his body against hers. Tonya ran her fingers lightly over all the cuts that ran over the upper half of his pale body. Her fingers came back sticky, meaning that the cuts were still fresh. She was glad that they had spared her seeing him in the light. She could only imagine how horrible he looked.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered as she leaned her head against him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as she lied there with him. "This is why we tried to leave…So this wouldn't happen to you." Her tears fell silently as she buried her face in his hair.

The two just sat there, her crying, him barely breathing. Tonya tightened her grip on him unwilling to let Tala go. She lifted her head as she cradled Tala's head in her arms. She leaned down and kissed his forehead as her tears continued to fall. A few landed on his face and rolled down his cheeks as she closed her eyes again. Slowly, the weak boy began to stir. He could feel the upper half of his body still in pain. He could feel himself pressed against another body as he lied there. Tala glanced up, his eyes slowly adjusting to what little light there was, to see a familiar face twisted in pain. But it wasn't the same pain he was feeling. He could see the tears falling from her eyes as she kept her eyes shut, unaware that he was awake.

"Why are you crying?" He asked weakly in a teasing tone. Tonya's eyes snapped opened to see a familiar teasing look on his face.

"It's my fault your like this. You, and the others should've never gotten involved. This is why I didn't want to come back. But my selfish self couldn't stay away without having you know the truth." She whispered as she held his hand against her face.

"I'm just as guilty. I stuck my nose into your business when you told me not to. I had plenty of opportunities to walk away, but I couldn't. I just couldn't walk away from you." Tala said weakly as he looked up at her.

"Dumbass." She muttered as she found herself smiling down at him.

"I never thought I'd ever see you cry. Especially for me." Tala said more to himself than her. He pushed himself up and hissed from the pain.

"Just relax. You'll only make it worse if you move too much." Tonya sighed as she gently pulled him closer to her. She kept her arms around his chest as she leaned her head against the wall.

"Who knew that when we met as little kids we'd end up here?" Tala asked as he leaned his head against her chest. He could feel his face grow hot as he realized he was leaning against her breasts.

"Who knew?" Tonya replied, not really caring where he rested his head since it didn't bother her.

The two just sat in silence after that. They didn't feel the need to fill the silence with useless chatter. All they were trying to do was enjoy what little time they had with each other in the hell they'd been thrown in before being pulled apart again. Tala lied there limply against her as he thought back to when they'd first met. The arguments they'd had, watching her and Chris battle in the tournament, and slowly finding out the truth. He glanced up to see Tonya looking down at him with a grin on her face. She'd been thinking about the same thing. Tonya rested her cheek against Tala's head as he rested his hands on her legs.

"Time's up." The two looked to the door where one of the guards was banging. Tonya carefully moved out from behind Tala and helped him against the wall.

"Try not to die please." She whispered as she hugged him tightly one last time.

"No promises." He chuckled as he slowly wrapped his arms around her.

Tonya stood slowly and reluctantly turned and walked away. Tala watched as she left, leaving him alone once again. The door shut and the lock clicked in place once again. Tala sighed as he leaned his head against the still warm wall. He could almost feel her still there with him, her arms around his chest. Tala reached up and touched his chest where her arms had been moments before and just felt his own skin under his touch.

'I just hope they can find us in time.' Tala thought to himself as exhaustion slowly overtook his body.

_._._

A few days later….

"How much farther?" Bryan whispered as he looked ahead to Chris.

"It's around here somewhere. This is where Daikairi lost Wolborg's energy." Chris replied as they looked over the rocky outcropping. It was dark outside and the boys could barely see anything. But Chris could see just fine as she scanned over the ledge the four were looking from. "There. The base is inside the rock."

"Well then let's go. We can't waste any more time." Spencer said as he readjusted the pack he'd brought.

"They'll have guards all over the place, we have to wait for the right time. I don't think they'll risk killing Tala since he'll be what they use against Tonya. We have to be patient a little more. If we charge in there then we could easily get one or both of them killed. So for now let's just move closer and scope out the place." Kai muttered as he turned to find a path around to where they'd spotted the base.

A warm breeze blew as waves crashed against the rocky cliffs. Every now and then one would glance over to where they'd spotted the barred windows high above the crashing waves below. As much as they hated moving slowly, they knew it was the best way to go. While they slowly made their way to the compound, inside Craig and Adina walked the quiet hallways.

"I don't see why Lord Aio cares so much about that girl. I say we should just kill her and her friends and move forwards with our plans." Adina mumbled as she and Craig walked down the empty halls.

"That girl holds power that we need in order for our plan to succeed. It shouldn't be too much longer before she breaks. She just needs a push in the right direction." Craig grinned as Adina glanced at him.

"Is that why we have her friend? Do we get to kill him?" Adina asked, almost too happy at the thought.

"No. We need that boy alive to use as our bargaining chip. If we kill him Tonya could very easily turn on us and slaughter us all. Lord Aio's orders are to not touch the boy. We'll have to be patient, but eventually she'll come around." Craig chuckled as he thought about what would come

"But until then, Craig perhaps you and I could…" Adina trailed off suggestively as she pushed Craig against the wall, leaning really close to him.

"Amazing how you can think of only one thing at a time like this." Craig muttered as he easily pushed her off.

"What do you mean?" Adina asked as she placed a hand on her hip.

"Don't you get it? The only reason Aio kept you around was because you were useful in helping capture his gems. But since we have one getting the other will be easy, meaning you're expendable." Craig smirked as Adina took a step back.

"Expendable?" She snarled as Craig easily cupped her chin, making her look at him.

"I suggest you either find a way to prove your worthiness to Lord Aio, or you may end up among that rotting pile of corpses in the dungeon." Craig whispered as he trailed his lips across her cheek. He finally let her go, leaving her standing there with a shocked look on her face.

'Me, expendable? How could Lord Aio think that? But….what if Craig is right? What if I do end up like all those who displeased him in the past?' Adina thought as she began to wander to help her think. Eventually her wandering led her to the dungeons where Tala was being held. 'Wait, Craig just said she needed a little push. And it's not like they'll find out it was me.'

Adina grinned as she walked over to the guard by the cell. She ordered him to open it and after a little fumbling with the key, the door finally swung open. Adina walked in and looked at the sleeping boy. She snapped her fingers at the guard who easily gagged the boy and threw him over his shoulder. Adina led the guard to one of the torture rooms that hadn't been used in awhile and was far enough away from Lord Aio's quarters to where he would never know. Once the guard clicked Tala's shackles into place, Adina sent him back to the cell to guard and not let anyone in. Tala stood in the middle of the room, hanging from his wrists as Adina walked around him.

"I can see why the little bitch is so keen on you. You really are a looker now aren't you?" Adina purred as she ran her fingers over his bare chest. She smacked one of his cuts, causing it to open up and bleed a little. She watched his face and saw that he didn't flinch at all. "Tough one aren't you? Don't worry, I'll have you screaming yet. And once she sees how you look after, it'll be just the push she needs to awaken her true power, and help me keep my life."

Adina was cruel. She wasted no time in reopening all of Tala's lashes. She always watched his face for any sign of his pain showing. But Tala refused to give her the pleasure of seeing his pain. Adina shrugged as she grabbed another small whip and began whipping his back. Each lash took away a part of his flesh, drawing more blood each time. By the time she was done, Tala's back was in ribbons. He hung limply from the chains that held him as Adina dropped her whip and walked around to face him again. She held a small dagger in her hand and drew it across his chest in short, quick slices. Tala hissed as all his pain began to hit him at once. Adina smiled at this and just continued the torture, drawing more and more blood from him. On one of her draws, she pushed a little harder than usual making the cut much deeper. Tala couldn't help but cry out and Adina just laughed in pleasure. She began making deeper gashes and each time earning her a scream. Tala tried to hold back his screams, but was unable to. After what seemed like forever, Adina finally stopped and looked at her work. Tala was a bloody mess. He was bleeding all over on his upper body. A small pool had already formed as Tala fought to stay conscious.

_._._

"Remember, this is your last visit of the day. I'll give you no more than an hour this time." Aio said as he glanced down at the younger girl.

"Thanks." She muttered. Even though she despised the man, she was at least grateful for the visiting time she got with Tala, when he could prevent her from ever seeing him. Even though she wished Tala wasn't there at all. The two finally reached the bottom step and walked a little more before reaching the cell Tala was supposed to be in.

"Open the door." Aio commanded as the guard stood still, sweating bullets. "Are you deaf? I said, open the door." Aio narrowed his eyes as the man slowly broke under his gaze.

"Sir I'm sorry! Adina took the boy earlier and hasn't returned with him. She said it was by your orders. She took him to room 01. I didn't know what she had planned honest!" The guard pleaded as Tonya froze in fear. If Adina had him there was no telling if he was still alive or not.

"Fool." Aio said as he flipped out a knife and easily drove it into the man's chest. He let go of the knife as the man flopped on the floor, slowly and painfully taking in his final breaths.

"Where is that room?" Tonya asked as she looked at Aio whose face held nothing but anger.

"Follow me." Aio said as the two hurried back up the stairs. "I promise you my dear I gave specific orders for no one to harm your pet. Adina will pay with her life." Aio promised as he led the way.

The two hurried through the various corridors until they finally came up to the room where Adina was. Tonya was the first to reach the door and found out it was locked. She turned to see Aio hurrying around and followed him to a viewing area. Both stood there as they heard a scream ring out. Tonya pressed against the glass, wanting more than anything to jump in there and stop what Adina was doing to him. She glanced back up to Aio who was shaking with fury. She could tell that he hadn't ordered this. No one could fake that kind of emotion. Tonya turned back to the glass and just listened as each scream tore through her body. Inside she could slowly feel something snapping, each strand breaking with each scream that rang from Tala's mouth. At Tala's last scream, something within her snapped.

"I promise you, I'll kill her myself for what she's done." Aio growled as he hit the extremely strong glass.

"Not if I get to her first." She snarled.

Tonya drew her arm back as she easily punched through the glass. She fell forward with the glass and easily twisted in the air to where she landed on her feet. Before either one in the room realized what happened, Tonya had already launched herself forward out of her crouch and hit Adina hard, knocking her into the stone wall.

"Who in the hell?" Adina hissed as she picked herself up from hitting the stone wall. "You!"

Tala opened his eyes to see Tonya standing near him glaring at Adina. Glass was scattered all over the ground as Tonya glanced at Tala. He could see how much it hurt her to see him like that. She closed her eyes and when she finally opened them, all Tala saw was bloodlust in her eyes honey brown eyes.

"I swear I'll kill you for what you've done to him." Tonya hissed as Adina laughed.

"I'd like to see you do that. With that collar you'll barely stand a chance against me." Adina flipped her hair over her shoulder as she eyed the thin metallic collar around Tonya's neck.

"Then you have nothing to worry about then huh?" Tonya grinned as she stood up straight, inviting Adina to attack.

Only a second had passed and Adina had already crossed the room. Tala's eyes widened when he saw that one of Adina's daggers sticking out of Tonya. Blood slowly ran down Tonya's skin as she looked at the dagger with a bored expression. Adina just smiled as she stepped back, sure she'd delivered a fatal blow. Tonya smiled as she gripped the handle of the dagger and pulled it out slowly. She stared at her blood on the dagger and then just let it fall to the ground.

"You know if you plan on killing someone, make sure you get the job done right." Tonya said softly as she turned to look at the shocked Adina.

Tonya quickly closed the space between them, scaring Adina even more. Tonya drew her hand back and easily drove it through Adina's chest. She pulled it back out holding the still beating heart of the girl. She held it in front of Adina who just stared at it. Slowly the dying girl fell to the floor and bled out at Tonya's feet. Tonya crushed her heart in her hand and let the remainders fall to the floor beside its once warm body. Tala could barely see Tonya's face, but he could tell that part of her had enjoyed killing that girl. Both heard a soft clapping and turned to see Aio and Craig standing at the entrance with a guard. Apparently they'd finally gotten the door open.

"It seems that someone does have a little violent streak in them." Craig smiled at the bloody girl who just narrowed her eyes at him. He glanced over to the dead girl and his expression changed from amused to boredom. "Make sure someone cleans that up later."

"Yes sir." One of the guards said as he went to get help. Aio walked in to look at Adina as he sighed.

"I do regret not being able to deliver the final blow myself. But after what she did to your friend here, I'm glad you were able to get your revenge." He smiled at Tonya who didn't relax her position. "Well, why don't we get you and your friend here cleaned up shall we? Here's the key and we'll have someone help you to the infirmary."

Aio tossed a key to Tonya and turned and left the room. She wasted no time in undoing Tala's chains and helping him down. He was still pretty weak and needed some help walking. Tonya looped one of his arms over her shoulder and helped him out of there. One of the guards offered to take him, but backed off when she growled at him and flashed her fangs. She slowly made her way to the infirmary, leaving a trail of blood behind as she walked. Tala kept glancing down at the wound in Tonya's side. It was bleeding pretty badly. Twice he'd tried to stand on his own and stumbled. So after that she refused to let him go. Instead of going to the infirmary, Tonya took them to her room and called for a doctor. She let Tala rest on her bed while she tended to her own wound. By the time the doctor had arrived she had patched herself up and could watch what the doctor did to Tala. The doctor could see the dark look in her eyes as she watched him work over her friend. He did his best to finish the job and get out of there before she decided to kill him too. Once he was gone she heard the lock on the door click into place and finally began to relax.

"How are you feeling?" Tonya asked softly as she looked over the bandaged up boy.

"Better. Thanks. How about you?" Tala could see that she was back to her old self as she nodded and moved away.

"I'm ok….You can have the bed. I'll just sleep on the cushions." She said softly as she removed her jacket and boots before walking away to the pile of giant cushions on the other side of the room.

Tala watched as she lied on her side facing away from him. He could tell something was troubling her. The image of her killing Adina flashed in his mind and he knew that was it. Tala saw her curl into a ball, despite the pain she was probably feeling. He slowly moved off the bed and over to her. But before he could get close to her, she snapped at him.

"Stay away! Please….just stay away." Tonya just curled up tighter as Tala listened to her crying. "How can you stand to look at me after what you saw? How can you want to be near me?"

"Because you're someone I care about." Tala said softly as he took a few more steps towards her.

"You care about?" Tonya started to laugh as she slowly pushed herself off the cushions and faced him. "I just killed a girl in front of you like some psycho! I tore her heart out and let her watch as it slowly stopped beating. I was happy when I saw her fall to the floor. I was even happier when I crushed her heart in my hands." She looked at her hand as if the heart was still there.

"But you did it to help me." Tala said as he moved closer to her.

"Don't you get it?" She hollered as she stepped back. "She's not the first one I've killed! I have blood on my hands that I can never get rid of! Every time I've killed someone, I've enjoyed it. I've taken pleasure from watching them squirm before finishing them off. I'm not human…" Tonya turned away and faced the wall as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"And you don't get it." Tala chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close even though she fought to get away. "I'm just as guilty. When I was in the abbey, ever time I beat one of the bladers I handed them over to die. They were dragged off kicking and screaming and I felt no remorse as I watched them go. They were weak and deserved to die is what I thought. I could've done something to save them all, but instead I did nothing. I'm a monster too."

Tonya stopped fighting after awhile and just threw her arms around his neck and cried. Tala just held her close and stroked her hair, whispering to her. He led her back to the cushions and sat down beside her. She kept crying into his chest as Tala just stroked her hair to help calm her down. The two just sat together until sleep claimed them.

_._._

'Tonya…Tonya can you hear me?' a familiar voice called out in the middle of the night.

'Shadow? Shadow is that you?' Tonya asked as she snapped up to look around.

'I'm here little one.' Shadow replied as Tonya felt a familiar, but weak, wave wash over her.

'Are you ok?' Tonya asked as she slowly wiggled free from Tala's grip.

'Yes. Only recently have I been able to make a connection with you again. I can see things have been rough for you.' Shadow's voice grew quiet as Tonya's memories became his once again.

'They have…but I've been thinking…' She trailed off as Shadow read her thoughts perfectly.

'I see. But are you sure about this?' Shadow asked as Tonya turned and looked back to Tala.

'Yes. I'm sure.' Tonya sighed as she walked over to the door. She opened it quietly and glanced back at the sleeping boy before shutting the door and leaving him alone.

Sorry for the delay on this one. It was a combination of writers block and being away for a week at a camp. Couldn't really find a good way to end this one until reading a book I'd recently gotten. Hopefully I won't struggle so much with the next one. Oh and I'd like to that SnowyNinja for reviewing faithfully even if it takes awhile. Trust me I feel your pain. Well you all know the drill