Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Don't own Beyblade. Don't like it that I must repeat.

AN: This chapter is so short I want to kick myself, but I thought you might as well have a short chapter rather than nothing at all.

Scarlet's black coat stood out against the snow as she loped through the snow. What she was doing was idiotic, suicidal even, but she couldn't stand the thought of Alicia living her life in the abbey, being brainwashed until she was emotionless. Isis would take her over. Dranzer would almost certainly be killed. Dranzer, what am I doing?

Your own will. Dranzer replied. She would not answer further. Scarlet continued onward, her pace tireless, until she came to the abbey.

Can I have a bird form?

You will have to move quickly, your shoulder is still injured. Dranzer gave her a bird's form, but a small songbird instead of the hawk. As soon as she was inside the abbey grounds, Dranzer turned her back into a wolf. Scarlet paced carefully up to the doors, and then to a stone a few feet to their left. She nudged it with her nose, and it fell back, revealing one of the abbey's many secret passages. She trotted in, and the stones seemed to gather back up behind her.

Telekinesis, Scarlet thought. Nice. She continued up the passage until she reached a dead end. She pressed her nose against it, but it didn't budge. She tried again, with more force, but to no avail. Dranzer, what the heck? The phoenix had no reply. We can't be trapped… Scarlet threw every ounce of her weight against the wall, even tried the other walls to see if she had somehow found the wrong one, but she was trapped. Trapped in a tight, narrow corridor, with barely enough room to turn around. But turn around she did, and ran back to the entrance to the passage. She ran straight into the bricks, expecting to burst out into the harsh, cold sunlight, but no. She leapt back, pain bursting from her already injured shoulder, where it had hit the stone. Dranzer? She sat down, panting. Dranzer, we're trapped.

With Brooklyn

"The plan's working," Bryan commented as he glanced at the wolf trotting across the lawn. "If she does take the more… direct passage, we'll have to use a bit more force-"

"No, she's taking the passage," Brooklyn said. "Just as you thought." Bryan sighed and replaced the safety on his gun. He wouldn't have been aiming to kill, but, as he had told Brooklyn earlier, 'Accidents happen'. Instead, he grabbed a remote and hit a button. Brooklyn knew that the entrance was now sealed, and in a few moments, a strong sleeping gas would fill the small corridor. Believe me Scarlet, he thought. You're safer here than anywhere else. Zeus said nothing, but he was almost certain that his master lied, and lied through his teeth.

Back to Scarlet

Scarlet still was trying to get the bricks at the entrance to move when the sleeping gas hit her. She tried to fight it, but that only made things worse and she collapsed in a heap.

Only then did the passage reopen. Isis appeared first, her face hazy in Scarlet's semi-consciousness, then Falborg. "Where was she supposed to go?" Isis asked.

"The lab," Falborg replied, "Although Bryan told me they didn't necessarily need her alive." He pulled a wicked looking serrated edged knife from his boot, but Isis stayed his hand.

"No, not yet, I think," she murmured softly, "She deserves to die dishonored and alone." Then for Scarlet, everything went black. Isis picked her up and tossed her to Falborg like she was a sack of flour.

"I still say we kill her," he complained. "That gets Dranzer off of our backs." Isis rolled her eyes.

"There are times for killing," she said, "This isn't one of them."

Isis? It was Alicia.

"I am being called. Keep her alive." With that, she vanished.

With Alicia

Alicia had woken up a few minutes before she called Isis, and she couldn't quite remember how she'd gotten back at the abbey. She'd been with Scarlet and Tala, and then everything sort of went fuzzy. Isis appeared.

"What is it Alicia?" She asked worriedly, walking over. Maybe I should have Falborg kill the girl… but no, Dranzer is mine.

"It's just that… I don't know why I'm back here," she admitted, "I don't remember coming."

Dammit! Isis thought, My spell must be wearing off. She has a strong mind. "Dranzer and I had a fight," she replied sadly, "I took you away for our safety. The phoenix can be quite unpredictable at times."

"Why can't I remember?" Alicia asked.

"I cloaked you in a veil of magic so that you would sleep," Isis replied, "And then I turned you into a hawk. It's quite understandable that you don't remember."

Alicia puzzled over this for a moment, then shrugged. "Okay, that makes since. I wonder if anyone else knows I'm back."

"Actually," Isis said, "I think Boris will want to know. After all, the abbey's team is now down to three…"

"No way," Alicia replied, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "You think I could hold my own against Bryan or Ian or Spencer? There's no way."

"Oh, I don't know," Isis said, "I think that you could. In fact, I think you could finally realize a few of your dreams." She didn't doubt it. With her, Alicia was a strong blader, near the bottom of the abbey's social class only because the rest of the place consisted of sexist jerks.

"Well…" Alicia said, "I'll go see about it." Isis vanished back into her blade, and Alicia walked out of her room.

She didn't know it at the time, but she'd never come back.

AN: Again, sorry a million times over for the short chapter. Please R&R!