Hey there everyone! So sorry for the long delay! I came back from holiday and ended up with a massive writers block! Hopefully this chapter isn't too bad
I see that no one recognised the small detail I put in last chapter…
A special thanks to…
kavbj – Thanks for reviewing! Happy tears are good, right? Yes I had fun on my holiday, thanks for asking. I was the one armed with the video camera…mwha ha ha So sorry it took so long, but the chapter is here now! I hope you enjoy
UNpReDiCtAbLE life – Thanks for reviewing. Is the shock good or bad??? Hope you enjoy chapter 14
d1bontemp – Yeah Spencer's cool lol. Thanks for the review. I seem to have a thing for cliffhangers…sorry! Hope you enjoy
FlyingShadow666 – Thanks for the review! I'm glad that you liked it Here is the next chapter! Enjoy…
XxSweet MitsukaixX – Yes, they are safe…but are they really??? Thanks for the review! Hyper is always good lol. All your wonderful comments have made me so happy right now! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter
n-zelda-n – Thanks again for reviewing. It's okay that you didn't have much to say. At least you took the time to review, that's enough for me! Hope you enjoy
Destiny Quill – Thanks again for the wonderful review! I'm really happy that you think that way of my writing, as sometimes I think the exact opposite. Thanks so much for all those wonderful comments. They really mean a lot. I really hope you enjoy this chapter.
Elemental Gypsy – Hey, hey, hey! Miguel isn't actually in this chapter…sorry! But I promise you –whispers in ear- he is going to be fine. No Miguel die today I also can't believe I wrote for five hours straight…It astounds me to this day lol. You love this story? Aw man, everyone's making me fell all happy inside now! Thanks for reviewing! I did indeed have a good holiday and I hope you enjoy this chappie.
Nameless Little Girl – I'm glad you loved it! Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter
INNER FURY OF FIRE
DancerInTheDark101
INNER FURY OF FIRE
Chapter 14: Revelations Hurt
Voltaire grinned, his wrinkled face creasing even more with the wicked expression that flitted over his features. His cold eyes sparkled with amusement as he stared at the wide screen TV that was hanging on the wall of his office.
He was seated in a black wheelchair with a cosy looking red blanket draped over his knees. His face had taken on a slightly grey hue from the lack of sunlight and the illness that had battered his weakened body. Voltaire Hiwatari sighed and closed his eyes, satisfied. There had just been a report on the TV about the hostage situation and about the fact that the building had now completely collapsed, burying all inside.
Apparently, one of the captured bladers had somehow made it out in time and was currently in surgery at the nearest hospital. But, to most people's horror, no one else had been found and they were all – at the moment – presumed dead. That made Voltaire very pleased. He had wanted to rid the world of his meddlesome grandson and Boris Balkov for a while and now they were both gone. It was a day to celebrate.
Pressing a button on his desk, Voltaire paged his assistant. "Miss Jenson please bring up some wine from the cellar, preferably the most expensive one there. Thank you." Content, he leant back into the wheelchair and stared out the window. It was getting dark and he could feel the cold air seeping in through the open window. Shivering, he clenched his fists as his legs didn't respond to the cold. The elder man had tried many times to try and get his unfeeling legs to work or at least feel some kind of pain, but every time the result was the same: he was paralysed and there was nothing he could do about it.
There was a buzz at the door and Voltaire turned his chair to see his assistant walk through the door holding a tray in her hands, which had on it a bottle of wine and a crystal wine glass.
He wheeled himself over to her and grabbed the bottle off the tray. He examined and nodded, pleased. She had indeed got him the most expensive wine he owned. It would be a delightful way to celebrate the demise of his grandson and his former second-in-command. Voltaire wheeled himself back over to the desk and placed the tray on it. Opening the bottle of wine, he took a small sip and sighed in pleasure. The wine was divine. Maybe once he had finished the bottle of wine, he would ask for Miss Jenson to bring him up a bottle of hard vodka.
"You may leave now, Miss Jenson."
"Yes Sir." With that, she left, closing the door behind her with a small click.
Taking another sip of wine, Voltaire looked to the far edge of his desk to a silver framed photo sitting there. Frowning, he leant closer and gasped when he realised what photo it was.
It was a photo of his family before everything had gone downhill. In the photo it had been a beautiful sunny day, when birds were singing and the grass was a vibrant green. There was a family sitting on a small hill, smiles on their faces. Voltaire stared at the photo, remembering the day it had been taken. Back then, everything had been happy. But that was before he realised the potential of his grandson, before his own son decided to remove his grandson from his life.
He drained another glass of wine and poured another one. It was a brilliant day, one he wouldn't be forgetting in a hurry. Very soon, the bottle of expensive wine was gone. He sighed; feeling a little bloated and glanced at the clock that sat on his desk. His cold eyes widened in surprise when he realised that he had been drinking for over an hour. No wonder he was feeling a little tipsy.
A wave of tiredness washed over him and Voltaire buzzed in his assistant again. "Miss Jenson, would you please bring up Iris and her accomplice please? Thank you, you may retire for the night after that."
His left wrist began to hurt suddenly and the elder man grimaced. Damn Boris for planting a bomb in his office. He had to have the plaster cast on for at least six weeks, something he was not happy about. It restricted his movement and if the time came when he had to protect himself, he would be at a severe disadvantage in his wheelchair and with a broken wrist. At least if both wrists were functioning he would be able to hold two guns instead of one.
There was a buzz and the large door that opened into his office opened with a slight click once the security locks had disengaged. In walked Iris Johansson and a tall man. He didn't know who the man was, but he had heard from Iris that he was her accomplice and that he could be fully trusted to get the job done.
"Well, Iris. It's nice to see you alive and well. How are things?" he spoke with a guarded tone, his eyes narrowed in slight suspicion. He had no idea whether the assassin was in league with Boris and was here to eliminate him.
Iris smiled, her eyes sparkling slightly. "I'm well and fine, Lord Voltaire. Thank you for asking." She motioned towards the man next to her. "This is Marshall Leory. He is a doctor at the hospital in which your grandson and Tala Ivanov were admitted to. He assisted me in the elimination of those two problems you had, Sir."
Voltaire eyed the man. He was tall, dark haired with the most un-impenetrable eyes he had ever seen. The man named Dr. Leory was staring off to the side of the room with a faraway look on his face. The Russian owner of BIOVOLT contemplated what to do with the man. He would obviously be a very good asset to BIOVOLT, considering he was a highly acclaimed doctor and had a thirst for eliminating problems.
"Well, Dr. Marshall Leory…" he spoke, his voice low and guarded. "It seems as though you are a very well disguised accomplice."
When Dr. Leory spoke, his dark eyes locked onto Voltaire's own cold ones. He was pleasantly surprised to find that there was no love or warmth in the depths of his eyes. Something he had been looking for a long time had just shown up practically on his doorstep.
"Apparently so," his mouth hardly moved at all when he spoke. "This is the first time I have helped anyone in any form of project. It was quite pleasant working with Iris here. She has brilliant ideas of how to accomplish things and her mind is always focused on the task ahead. To me, it shows that whomever trained her is a brilliant assassin and/or organisation. Was it you, Voltaire Hiwatari, who trained her?"
Voltaire smirked. "No, it was not I who trained Iris. But she was trained by my organisation, BIOVOLT many years ago. Ever since she completed her training she has been one of my best employees."
"Very well, then. It seems to me that BIOVOLT is a very highly acclaimed organisation. I have heard from sources of mine that it is widely feared around the world and the former world champion beyblading team, the Blitzkrieg Boys were trained in the Abbey?"
"Yes that is correct. Although, currently they are not the world champions and they are no longer part of BIOVOLT." Under his breath he added: "Stupid meddling brats. They had everything they ever wanted, why run from it all?"
"That is very true. Why run?"
Voltaire looked up, shocked. He had spoken the last part of the sentence very quietly and in Russian, yet the man had heard him and understood what he had been saying.
"You understand Russian, Dr. Leory?"
The doctor nodded. "I was taught many languages as a child and because of such teachings I was able to live and work overseas for many years. That was where I found my love for the other side of my work."
Nodding in approval, Voltaire turned to Iris. The woman was standing away from himself and Dr. Leory, not wanting to intrude on their conversation. "Iris, come here."
She obeyed and Voltaire nodded at her to relax and speak her mind. "How would you like it if Dr. Leory here was to become your new partner at BIOVOLT? You did a great job of ridding this world of my grandson and that pain Boris. You deserve something as a reward."
Both of the assassins looked at him, shock written on their features. That was something they obviously didn't see coming. Voltaire knew that he wasn't the kind of man to just suddenly hand out jobs to work in BIOVOLT. He was very picky when it came to applicants and normally they had to go through a set of extremely gruelling tests before being picked as the final few. Yet, here he was, just handing out a position to partner with BIOVOLT's top assassin.
"Sir?" came the surprised voice of Iris. "Are you sure about this, Sir?"
Voltaire locked eyes with the woman. "Why, Iris, whatever is the matter? I thought you trusted him? Would you not like to work with him? I am giving you an opportunity to do just that."
"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." She smiled slightly, the gratitude showing through her eyes. Voltaire frowned as a look passed between the two assassins. There was something that they weren't telling him and he was going to find out.
"What's going on, you two? There is something that you aren't telling me and if I find out that it could jeopardise this organisation, you will be dealt with accordingly."
Dr. Leory hung his head slightly, a form of pain flickering across his face. It was the only emotion Voltaire had seen on the man since he had walked into his office. "You see, Sir…Iris and I, we're…emotionally attached as I would put it."
"You're together?"
"Yes, Sir."
Voltaire frowned slightly, but the fact that they were together didn't faze him much. In fact, it made things even better. The two assassins would watch out for each other and make sure that everything was perfect and precise so that either of them weren't captured or killed whilst doing a job.
"That doesn't matter, you'll just be more careful, won't you?" he sneered. They both flinched a little and shared a glance. Voltaire was content with his decision to employ the doctor. With a sadistic smile he reached into a draw and pulled out a piece of paper. The white object slid a lit before landing in front of BIOVOLT's newest employee.
"Fill in your details and sign if you wish to become part of the empire that is BIOVOLT."
Dr. Leory thought for a moment before taking the black pen that had been laid in front of him and filled in his details. A few minutes later, his name was scrawled in lack ink at the bottom of the page.
Voltaire turned to his newest recruit. "Welcome to BIOVOLT, Marshall Leory," he said with a smile that hid sinister intentions. This newest employee was going to be a great asset to his organisation. When he was finished with the doctor, he would just dispose of him and get another. Doctors were extremely useful, but eventually their use ran out.
"You may go now. Iris, show your partner to his quarters. You may share quarters if you must. Good day."
They left and Voltaire sighed again. The day was catching up to him, the stress of finding another employee and the fact that practically the whole world was looking for him. He knew that he was presumed dead, but he wasn't and even if no one knew he wasn't dead, it didn't ease his weariness at all. He had to be careful. If someone found out that he was still alive…
Voltaire didn't want to think of the consequences. If he found out that it was someone from inside BIOVOLT who sold him out – if that ever happened – he would have that person's head.
He reclined back into the chair and exhaled a deep breath. His eyes began to close slowly as the light coming from the overhead lamp flickered. The night was growing cold and Voltaire shivered again. As his body began to fall into a state of sleep, his mind began working overtime. Thoughts raced through his brain at a million miles an hour, thinking about his latest recruit, his dead son and grandson and his former second-in-command.
A small smirk played on his lips as there was a rustling sound coming from a corner of the room. Lifting his head slightly, Voltaire looked over to where a figure was standing in shadow. The person was tall, slim and was standing in a very tense position.
"You may come out now, Boris."
The man stepped out of the shadows and into the flickering light. Boris was suddenly bathed in light and his horrific wounds were revealed for all to see.
The left side of his face was horribly burned and that eye was covered in a patch, the eye gone. Most of his hair had been singed off and cuts decorated his almost bald head. There was a particularly nasty abrasion that ran from just above his right eye, across his forehead and right to the back of his head. Voltaire couldn't help but cringe at his former second-in-command's state. He looked awful.
Boris' right arm was in a cast, handing limply by his side. His clothes were baggy and hanging off his frame, which Voltaire realised was because of the bandages that wound around Boris' body.
"Well, hello there, Boris."
The injured man sneered. "Hello, Voltaire," nodding, he limped over to the desk and slumped into one of the leather chairs. "How are things?"
Voltaire only nodded. "What happened, Boris? How the hell did they overpower you? The BBA training building is now in ruins and I have no idea of how or why it happened. What happened?" he demanded, his tone fierce and cold.
Boris hung his head slightly and when he looked back up, his eyes were shining with malice and hate. "It was that brat of yours, Kaiaiai. He's been hiding her ever since he left BIOVOLT."
"Hiding whom? Boris…"
The BIOVOLT second-in-command growled a little. "Black Dranzer. The brat has been hiding the dark beast from everyone. He used it on Brooklyn, which ended up making the stadium unstable." Of course, he wasn't about to tell Voltaire that was his bombs that made the building collapse. He would be killed for it. "His new attack that involved both Dranzer and Black Dranzer is called something like 'Death and Rebirth'. An amazing attack that completely devastated Brooklyn and Zeus. That attack was the reason behind the structural damage of the building, which resulted in it collapsing."
If there was an inquiry – which there would most definitely be – it would look as though it had been the attack that had brought down the building instead of the strategically placed bombs all over the place. Boris smirked, his face hidden from Voltaire's view.
The elder man was completely oblivious to everything that was happening around him. He didn't even know that his grandson was still alive.
Voltaire narrowed his eyes as Boris turned his head slightly and smirked. The purple-haired man thought that he was completely oblivious to everything. He wasn't stupid; he knew that something was going on. He just quite didn't know what it was yet.
What he hadn't been prepared for though, was the fact that his grandson had Black Dranzer. Of course, the brat didn't have it anymore because he was dead. It didn't excuse the fact that he had acquired the beast in the first place. Now, Black Dranzer was most probably buried beneath hundreds of tonnes of rock and rubble. He had to get the dark beast back. That would be his next task for Leory and Iris.
Thinking about the pair, he would have to tell Leory to think of an alias. Marshall Leory was his real name, as Voltaire had checked it out before the man had walked into the room. Iris wasn't his female counterpart's name and he wondered if even Leory knew who she really was. Voltaire knew who the woman was and if it ever got out that she worked for BIOVOLT, he knew more than a few people whose lives would change drastically.
Iris Johansson was a woman of many secrets, most even worse than his own. He wondered what would happen if her secrets were to get out…
Kai lay on the ground with his eyes partially open. He couldn't see much as it was almost complete darkness where he was. Dranzer was nestled next to him and she provided him much needed warmth. He lifted a slender hand stroked the feathers on her head. The firebird had saved him and everyone else on more than one circumstance. He owed his life to her.
"Dranzer…" he whispered, his voice raucous. The phoenix chirped happily at the sound of her master's voice. Another bout of warmth radiated off her and Kai sighed, happy. He had no idea how long it had been since the building had collapsed and Dranzer and Black Dranzer had saved them all. The blue-haired enigma didn't know where anyone else was, didn't even know if they were all okay. When he had awoken, he had been alone.
Where were Tala, Ian and Spencer? Were they okay? Kai didn't know what he would do if they all didn't make it. Those three teens were the only family he had left. His parents died when he was young and he didn't count his grandfather as family any more. His grandfather was supposedly dead, but he didn't believe it for an instant. Voltaire Hiwatari was not one to just give up, roll over and die. The BIOVOLT owner was alive; Kai just didn't know where he was.
Struggling to sit upright, Kai gasped for breath. His lungs were protesting about the amount of air he needed to get in order to do the normal task of sitting up. The injures from the crash and battle with Brooklyn were not healing as well as he had hoped they would and now they were giving him lots of grief. Wheezing, Kai coughed as dust flew up all around him.
Looking around where he was using Dranzer's light, Kai saw that he was back in the main room of the building. There were large poles lying everywhere from where the structure of the building had imploded inwards on itself.
:master Kai. Please, take it easy: came the soothing voice in his head.
"I'll take it easy," Kai ground out through gritted teeth, "when I bloody well get out of here!"
He hadn't meant to yell at Dranzer. She was only trying to help and once again, she was dead right. If he didn't take it easy then he wouldn't have the energy to look for everyone else and try to get them out of the building.
Standing up slowly, Kai winced as his wounds were aggravated and some ripped open again. There was a throbbing pain in his head and he lifted a hand to probe his head. Moments later he found a large gash that was closed with dried blood. A fingernail scraped along it by accident and suddenly a warm liquid began to flow down the side of his face. He had reopened the cut. Cursing under his breath, Kai held his hand against the cut and tried to stem the flow of blood. His hand became covered in the sticky substance and when he pulled his hand away, it was coated in red.
"Shit," he sighed. This definitely wasn't his day. Things had been going wrong since before the sun had even risen for the day. He rubbed his tired eyes as he willed his body to take a stumbling step forward. He almost tripped and fell, but Dranzer caught him before he hit the ground.
Suddenly, a shout caught his attention. Kai strained to hear who was yelling and seconds later he recognised the voice as belonging to Johnny, the hothead from the Majestics.
"Kai! Tala! Spencer! Ian! Lee! Robert! Mariah! Can anyone hear me?" The last part of the sentence sounded dejected and Kai realised that Johnny must have been yelling for quite a while for him to sound the way he was. Taking in a shuddering breath, Kai prepared himself to shout back to the European blader.
"Johnny? Where are you?"
There was a gasp and Kai felt relief wash through his aching bones. Johnny had obviously heard him by the reaction he got and was making his way over to him as he waited. Kai abruptly felt his legs give way and he slumped to the ground, his head hung and his eyes shadowed by his blue hair.
"Kai? Is that you? Oh god, pleas tell me it's you…" Kai could hear Johnny talking to himself as he made his way through all the debris that had fallen all over the large room.
Kai was about to respond to Johnny, but when he opened his mouth and took a fairly deep breath it developed into a terrible coughing fit. Placing a hand over his mouth, Kai coughed. A wet substance made itself known in his palm and Kai looked down to see his hand stained with red. He was coughing up blood, which meant that the internal bleeding was back.
"Shit…"
"KAI?" came the worried voice from somewhere in front of him. Kai coughed again and signalled Dranzer to light up so that Johnny would be able to see where they were. He heard another gasp when Dranzer lit up. "Is that you, Kai? Answer me, god damn it!"
"Johnny…" Kai gasped out. He closed his eyes to fight the pain assaulting his body, especially his chest, and clenched his fists. Dranzer leant her head on his shoulder and tried to ease some of the pain. Kai was grateful, but pushed her away.
"You're going to get too exhausted, Dranz. You need to go back into your blade," he mind spoke to the firebird. Dranzer looked at him with sad eyes, but obeyed and returned to the blue blade that was situated beside him.
Moments later, a red-haired figure appeared out of the shadows and into the small amount of light that was emitting from the blue object.
"Oh my god, it really is you, Kai!" exclaimed Johnny, his eyes burning with relief. The European blader ran a hand through his hair, which was almost as bright as a certain Russian he knew.
"Hey, Johnny," he murmured, unable to speak any louder. His throat hurt from the coughing and his chest was burning with pain. He didn't know how much longer he would be able to survive with no medical attention, unless…
…unless he got Dranzer or Black Dranzer to heal him at least somewhat. But doing that meant that they would use up some of their energy - energy that was crucial to everyone. The only way they were going to get out of the mess they were in would be to use their bitbeasts in a way to rid the debris from around and above them. Even though they were mainly unhurt, there were still hundreds of tonnes of debris above them that could collapse at any time. Kai did not want to be in the ruined building when the weight got too much for the remaining structural walls and poles and the debris rained down on them. It had already happened once before and it was only because of Black Dranzer and Dranzer that everyone was unhurt by the incident.
Afterwards, Kai had found that the two phoenixes' energy had been severely depleted due to the shield they had formed to protect everyone. He didn't think that they would have nearly enough energy to do it again if the time called for it.
"Hold shit, Kai! Are you okay?"
Kai turned to Johnny slowly and assessed the damage that he may have sustained. Kai couldn't see any real bad injuries on the teen, but there were more than a few cuts and bruises littering the uncovered parts of his body.
"Johnny, " he began. "Do you know where any one else is? I haven't seen anyone since I woke up…"
The European shook his head sadly, his eyes downcast. "Sorry, Kai. I haven't seen anyone either."
Deflated, Kai felt himself begin to shake as shock started to take over. His jumbled mind processed the fact that Johnny had rushed over to him and was holding him upright, not letting him fall. He realised what kind of state he would be in; his eyes would be wide and frightened, his breathing irregular, chest heaving.
"Fuck…can't breathe…" The statement was true. Kai couldn't breathe as he struggled to stay awake. His chest was rising and falling, trying to get precious air in, but no air seemed to be filling his airways. He gripped his bloodstained shirt with a free hand, straining to breathe. Kai felt perspiration falling down his no doubt grey face, dripping from his face and onto his shirt.
Johnny grabbed Kai and he felt himself being lifted into Johnny's arms, bridal style. The he felt Johnny start to run. The European teen was sprinting, careful not to hit any debris in the way. His breath was coming in pants and Kai tried to make his breathing the same as Johnny's. After a few minutes of running, Kai felt his breathing settle and suddenly a huge rush of air entered his lungs.
Gasping, Kai gripped Johnny's arm and squeezed. The redhead stopped running and looked at him. Kai took in a deep breath to show the blader that he was able to breathe again, as he didn't quite trust his voice and he didn't want to look any weaker than he already did.
"You can put me down now, Johnny."
Johnny obeyed and as soon as Kai was on his feet, he swayed a little. He steadied himself by grabbing onto the nearest piece of debris. The blue-haired Russian sighed and ran his hands through his messy hair as he contemplated what to do. They were in the middle of a dangerous building that could collapse at any time, injured and didn't know where anyone else – or the exit – was.
"What are we going to do now, Kai? We don't know where anyone else is, or even if they're alive…"
Kai stopped, shocked. Then he remembered the vision that Dranzer had shown him. Confusion settled in his being as he remembered that when the vision had ended, everyone had been together, all safe and okay. Although, when he had woken he had been alone. There had been no sign whatsoever that anyone else had been there with him. What the hell was going on?
"Johnny, do you remember how you got where you were when you woke up? Do you recall where you were before everything came crashing down?"
The red-haired blader was about to answer when he abruptly stopped. Kai saw the look that passed over the teen's face and suddenly he was facing Johnny who had a confused look plastered across his features. "What a minute, Kai. You were unconscious when everything collapsed…how the hell do you know what happened? And what the hell did happen? One minute we were going to die and the next I wake up alone, and alive."
Kai sighed, wondering how the hell he was going to explain it all to Johnny. In the end, all he said was one word. "Dranzer…"
That word was sufficient enough and Johnny nodded. "Tell her I said thank you."
A black light started to glow from in his pocket and Kai realised that it hadn't just been Dranzer. Black Dranzer had saved everyone as well. "Wait, Johnny. Black Dranzer helped as well…"
"What?" came the incredulous reply.
Kai found himself seething after Johnny's response. Is it too hard to believe that maybe Black Dranzer isn't evil?
His face must have shown the anger as Johnny swiftly backed away from him. "S-sorry, Kai. It won't h-happen again."
The Russian teen was about to apologise, when a large crash reverberated through the building – or what was left of it. Kai spun around, careful not to lose his balance and fall over. A ray of sunlight hit him in the face and Kai shielded his eyes with a hand. He could see blue sky through a crack in the ceiling. Then a wave of horror crashed into him. If I can see the sky…and it wasn't there before…oh shit!
The roof – or rather, the debris above them – was starting to collapse. He shared a look with Johnny and Kai was about to start running when another part of the roof collapsed right in front of them, blocking their path.
Turning at high speed, Kai started to run in the opposite direction, Johnny following him. As he ran, Kai called out to Johnny: "Do you have any idea where everyone else could be?"
The answer that he received was not one that he really wanted to hear. "Sorry, Kai! I don't! When I woke up, I was in a completely different place to where I lost consciousness!"
Kai could feel his body tiring and he cursed. Normally, he was extremely fit and could run for miles, but he was exhausted from his battle with Brooklyn and was injured. There was no way he would be able to last much longer in his condition. He may have been harsh at G Revolution's training, but even he knew that pushing himself to the limit wasn't going to help anyone in any way. All it would do was exhaust himself and make himself a burden to whoever was with him. If he was on his own…well then, he was screwed.
Another loud crunching sound came from behind him and Kai kept on running. He had no idea where the hell he was going, except for the fact that everything looked the same. Dust rained down on them and the Russian teen had to constantly rub his eyes to get rid of the dust that was falling into them.
Unexpectedly, a door appeared in front of him and Kai stopped short. Johnny crashed into him from behind and Kai winced as the force of the crash aggravated his wounds. He just stood there and stared at the door for a bit before being urged forward by Johnny. Kai gripped the handle lightly and slowly turned it. The door opened with a click and Kai found himself bathed in bright light.
They had found the way out…
"We're out!" screamed Johnny. Kai didn't say anything. He turned back to look inside the building that had almost become his tomb. As the word tomb echoed in his mind, Kai felt guilt run through him. He had found the way out, but for some reason, he couldn't make himself step out into the safety of the outside world.
Tala…The other captured bladers and his friends were still inside the building. They were still alive, Kai knew that much. He wasn't about to take his freedom when they were still trapped in a place where they couldn't get out.
Kai turned to Johnny, who was smiling, happy to get out of the place alive. "Johnny, I'm going back in."
There was a shocked silence and Kai averted his gaze from Johnny's piercing eyes. "WHAT!?! Why?"
"Because everyone else is still trapped in there and I'm not about to let them die on me," was his only response. He started to walk back inside when a hand gripped his arm tightly. Frowning, Kai glared at Johnny, telling him to let him go.
"Let me go with you."
Crimson orbs widened in surprise and Kai shook his head. "No, you have to go and find someone and tell them that everyone is still alive, but trapped. Tell G Revolution that I'm okay," he ignored the look that Johnny shot him and continued talking. "Tell them that I'm okay and that I am still inside looking for the others. Oh and tell Rei that Mariah's just fine."
Johnny nodded and Kai graced the European with one of his extremely rare – even if it was small – smiles. He almost laughed at the look on Johnny's face. Taking in a deep breath, Kai pushed Johnny out the door and into the sunlight then turned back into the building, shutting and locking the door behind him so that Johnny couldn't follow him.
"Take care, Kai!" called out a voice from the other side of the door. Smiling grimly, Kai set off to find the rest of the trapped bladers.
The debris seemed to be even worse since he had passed it only moments before and Kai had trouble manoeuvring around the large pieces of rock and metal. The wound on his stomach began to protest when he had to resort to climbing over the debris and Kai felt the blood start to run from between the rows of ripped stitches. No doubt he would be going back into surgery when this was all over, if it ever ended.
Suddenly, another patch of blue sky appeared above him and Kai winced as the light hit his sensitive eyes that had been in the darkness for so long. Dranzer was still shining her light from his beyblade and Kai mentally thanked her for that.
"Hey! You!"
Kai looked up, astonished. There was a person at the top of the ceiling where the last hole had appeared. The person was clad in bright orange rescue clothes. Kai couldn't believe it. People were trying to break through the ceiling to try and find them when there was a door somewhere, where they could have just walked in. Unless…unless they thought that they were all dead…
Then there would be no point of sending in a rescue team through the door. Or maybe they didn't know of the door…
"You, down there! You okay!?"
Kai looked up again at the female rescuer. He nodded and hoped like hell that she saw, as he didn't think his voice would work well enough for him to yell up to her.
"What's your name?" came the response.
Kai groaned as he realised he was going to have to yell back up to her. "It's Kai!" he yelled. He winced as he heard his own voice. It was hoarse and sounded as though someone had shoved sandpaper down his throat.
"Kai!?!"
He nodded again and he heard a strange noise coming from the ceiling. The woman was attached to a rope, which was descending down past the debris, into the half collapsed building. Moments later, she landed on the ground with a sight clunk; due to the metal boots she was wearing.
Breathing heavily, Kai sat down all of a sudden. He lifted his hands and massaged his throbbing temples. There was now a person who could help him search for everyone who was still missing.
"Hey," spoke a soft voice. "You okay there?"
"There are still others missing. They're alive, I just don't know where they are…"
He caught the sympathetic glance that the woman sent him and Kai growled deep in his throat. "I am not in shock, okay! I know that they are alive! I have seen them with my own eyes!"
"Kai, honey," she began, placing a warm hand on his shoulder. "You are lucky to have survived that last collapse. I don't think that anyone else would have survived, Kai. This is the only part of the building that hasn't been completely destroyed. I'm sorry…"
"NO!" he screamed, wrenching her hand off his shoulder. "They are alive! I just know it!"
"Kai, stop being so delusional." Kai frowned at her words.
What the hell? Her voice sounds so familiar. Where have I heard that voice before?
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"Kai?" she groaned. "What's up? Is it morning?"
Kai nodded to the last question and cleared his throat. He knew it was going to be hard to talk, as it was even hard to breathe.
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Astounded, Kai was amazed that his voice even worked at all. "I-Iris?"
"Hello, Kai. It's nice to see you again. Although I must add that you don't look much better then the last time I saw you." Iris chuckled and Kai frowned again. There was something sinister about that chuckle.
"What is going on, Iris?"
"You're pathetic, Kai. Your friends are dead, every…last…one…of…them. Because…I killed them."
Kai couldn't have been shocked had she actually shot him. Then it hit him. Iris was working for Boris or his grandfather…she was supposed to kill him…
"I see you've figured it all out now, haven't you? Your grandfather did say that you were a smart boy though," she sneered, malice gleaming in her eyes.
"No one knows that you're still alive, Kai and it's going to stay that way, because once I kill you, this place is going to light up like a fireworks display at Christmas. I'm sure it will look spectacular from where ever you may be…"
Kai felt something that he realised was fear creep through his bones and chill him. This woman in front of him had been with him when the helicopter crashed, when Dr. Ollie Amaralli was looking after him. This woman was a murderer hired by his grandfather. He had trusted her with his life…"
Iris pulled out a sharp, silver knife and Kai stood completely still as its place glinted in the small amount of sunlight that was filtering through the holes in the ceiling.
He was injured, unarmed and alone with a woman who wanted to kill him…
End of the 14th chapter! Wow, I never thought I would reach 14 chapters! Thanks so much to everyone who has supported me in any way or form throughout this fic. Thanks!
Till next time
DancerInTheDark101