A/N: Hi again! Up with another chapter.

As always, thank you so much for your amazing reviews! You can't even imagine how much they mean to me! (sends huge hugs) And it's particularly important to me that you like my OC's, since this my first ever OC-attempt. So... Your encouragement is important!

Okay, okay, on with the story. (This was pretty much my shortest a/n ever!) Hope you enjoy!

CHAPTER 21: Traces of the Phoenix

Staying in the Spanish BBA-headquarters, the gang – though they were less than willing to admit it – was exhausted.

Tracking down Kai Hiwatari was a much harder task than any of them had expected it to be.

Suffocating due to the thick atmosphere of fatigue lingering in the room where the group was currently staying in, Max quietly sneaked out, searching for a quiet, private spot. Eventually he found his way out of the building, and took a seat on a bench nearby the entrance. Relieved for the moment of peace, he closed his eyes and leaned back, allowing his thoughts to wander.

He had no idea of for how long he'd been sitting there – most likely over an hour – when he jumped slightly to the loud sound of his cell-phone's dial-tone. After recovering from the shock for a moment, he picked it up. " Y – yeah?"

There was a small, familiar laughter. " Why do you sound like you've just received a phone-call from a ghost?" came Jax's deeply amused voice. " Did I wake you?"

Smiling slightly, Max blinked his eyes and rubbed his face with one hand. " I suppose you could say that…", he murmured. " How's the packing going?"

" If trashing half of my belongings can be called success, then I'm doing a great job", the boy replied gravely. " I called you to get an excuse to take a little break."

Max snorted. " Geez, I'm flattered."

There was a short silence, during which Max suddenly realized that he still hadn't made his decision of going to America. He gulped nervously, running a hand through his hair. " Jax…"

" Max, you don't have to know yet", Jax immediately cut in, almost like reading his mind. " I'm not going anywhere, you know?"

Max's eyes filled with misery. " What now halfway across the world…"

" Max, I will be waiting. America will be waiting", the boy once again interrupted him, voice filled with sincerity. " The last thing I want is you ending up regretting something you did because of me."

Max smiled slightly. " Jax…" His mouth opened a couple of times without voice, desperately attempting to form words. Eventually only one pushed through. " Thanks."

" Oh, quit the sappiness. It doesn't suit you", Jax commanded him with a small laughter. There was a small, warm silence. " I've gotta go now. Just… Hang in there, 'k? You'll find new traces of Kai sooner or later."

" I know", Max replied softly. It took for a while before he spoke again. " I'll call you tomorrow."

" Roger that. Goodnight, blondie."

Max smiled. " 'Night."

It took for a long while before Max finally felt like returning to the room where the other group-members were. He found the exhausted, yet steely-determined gang going through huge piles of different kinds of papers – maps, notes, everything imaginable.

" Where do you think they're going next?" Tyson asked from Kenny. Thankfully, it seemed the bluenette hadn't noticed his momentary absence.

" There's no pattern", the computer-whiz replied, typing on Dizzi. He paused to yawn and rub his face with both hands. " They could be going absolutely anywhere."

" Getting tired, are we?" Dizzi bleeped.

Kenny made a growl. " Not now, Dizzi."

" Geez, don't take it all out on me!" Dizzi sounded hurt. " My keypad is almost on fire, you know?"

Kenny sighed. " Sorry, but things are kinda… intense right now."

All of a sudden Ray, who was almost asleep with Alissa leaning against him, felt something burning him. With a frown he took out Dranzer, and immediately dropped it with a small yelp. The blade was glowing and unbearably hot.

Gasping, everyone gathered around the blade. It begun to glow brighter, almost like Dranzer was trying to get out.

" What on Earth…!" Max gasped.

" I think Dranzer is trying to tell us something", Ray murmured, staring at the blade with wide eyes.

And just as the words left Ray's lips, the blade seemed to light up like a torch when the magnificent phoenix emerged with a deafening cry, spreading it's wings in all their glory.

" Holy damn…", Tyson gasped, eyes huge. After a moment of hesitation, he begun to approach the bird, unable to hold himself back. It felt almost like the phoenix was calling him. " Dranzer…"

" Don't touch her", came Tala's order.

Tyson had a frown upon his face as he turned to look at Tala. " Why not? If she's trying to tell us something…"

" You won't be able to touch her, unless you want to get your hand fried up. Trust me, I've tried many times, and it has never ended prettily", Tala cut in. " Only Kai can touch her without getting burned."

But Tyson had never been one to listen very well. Before anyone had time to stop him, he was standing right before Dranzer. " By lake Baikal… you trusted me enough to let me blade with you, remember? You did it to get Kai back. Now… Would you trust me again?" He begun to reach his hand towards the red feathers, but suddenly froze in movement. No. This wasn't the right way. He let his hand drop, waiting for Dranzer's response.

Everyone in the room subconsciously held their breaths as Dranzer turned her gaze, staring into Tyson's eyes, searching. A gasp left Tyson's lips as the eyes, filled with all the wisdom and pain they'd gathered during the centuries Dranzer had spent on Earth, searched through his soul, seemed to see every single one of his most hidden thoughts. And suddenly, looking without fear into the very much familiar burgundy depths, Tyson realized: Kai had those same eyes, the ones that could see everything. Kai and Dranzer… They were the same, they were one. And therefore, just like Kai, Dranzer would never hurt him.

It seemed that both Tyson and the phoenix were under some sort of a spell as they acted simultaneously, Tyson reaching out his hand and Dranzer bowing her head, both showing deep trust towards one another. And as Tyson's hand touched the feathers, he felt no burning, but instead met the same trust Kai had showed him when taking his hand on the ice of lake Baikal. Trust of a friend. His eyes were stinging as his lips formed a small, genuine smile of gratitude. " Thank you", he whispered.

Everyone else gasped as they watched the scenario. " I can't believe this…", Bryan managed to utter.

" How are you not getting burned?" Nadja blurted out, blinking her eyes in disbelief.

" I… I just don't know", Tyson murmured, seeming dazed as he stroked Dranzer's feathers.

' Tyson'. At first, Tyson thought he was imagining the feminine voice echoing inside his head, but then realized that it was actually Dranzer.

He blinked in confusion and disbelief. Rattled as he was, he gradually managed to speak. " Y – yeah?"

The others, as they couldn't hear Dranzer's voice, watched with growing confusion as Tyson spoke to what seemed to be no one. " Um… Do you guys think that's alarming?" Nadja inquired.

" I've alwaystried to say thatTyson could use a visit or two to a shrink", Tala stated.

Tyson paid no attention to the others as all he could hear was Dranzer's voice. ' I need you to give me a map, but please hurry. I can't be out of my blade for long without being called out'.

Nodding, Tyson quickly did as ordered, returning with a map of world. He spread it before the phoenix. " Can you tell us where Kai is?" he asked, voice lazed with hope.

Dranzer gave something that seemed like a nod. ' Yes. I can sense Master at all times'. The phoenix leaned forward. ' Would you please step back? I don't want to harm you'.

" 'K", Tyson responded, retreating some steps.

Several gasps were heard when Dranzer light into a flame, and folded her burning wings over the map. As the wings were removed, they could see the map burning for a while, but then the fire died, leaving the map almost unharmed.

" Impossible…", Kenny whispered.

' I afraid this is all I can do for you', Dranzer told Tyson. ' I must go now, but before I do… Thank you for helping Master'.

" Of course we help him", Tyson stated, throat tightening. Just as Dranzer was almost back in her blade, a sudden thought came to his mind. " Dranzer, wait! I need to ask you something."

' Yes?'

He had to search for right words for a while. " Why… Why do you trust me?" He'd been yearning to get to ask that same question from Kai ever since lake Baikal. Perhaps… Perhaps now he would finally understand.

If it's possible for birds to smile, Tyson could've sworn Dranzer did. ' Because both Master and I have seen the beauty of your soul, Tyson. He would trust his life into your hands, and so would I. Besides, I can see that you want him back just as much as I do'. The bird was almost inside the blade. ' But now… You must hurry. I afraid time is running out'. With that, she was gone.

For a long moment they all stared at the blade, speechless.

Ray was the one to break the silence. " That was…" He couldn't find a proper word.

" … weird", Alissa filled, dazed.

Some time later, after the biggest shock had faded, curiosity took the best of them, and the gang walked up to the map to see which place Dranzer had pointed out. A small burn-mark she'd left showed a place in China.

After a while, Ray gasped loudly as he realized that the place wasn't just any part of China. It was his home-village! " Oh my God…", he whispered. " The White Tigers…"

Mariah, who'd been practising in the night, suddenly froze and called her blade back as she felt that she was no longer alone. Her cat's-eyes squinted as she gazed the area, but saw nothing. " Who's there?" she demanded in Chinese, preparing herself to fight.

After a while, the silvery light of the moon revealed a figure as it stepped out of the shadows. Actually, the figure – a boy – itself was almost as dark as the shadows with the all-black clothes, long hair and face-paint. The only thing that separated him from his background were his somehow familiar, auburn eyes and the pendant hanging around his neck.

She frowned, not liking the way he was looking at her. " Who are you?"

" It doesn't matter." The voice that spoke in Chinese… It was harsh, but still… There was something familiar in it. The boy prepared his launcher. " This matters."

Mariah knew how crazy it was, how great the cost could be, but she wasn't going to back down. She prepared her own pink blade. " Okay then." She steeled herself. " 3… 2… 1… LET IT RIP!"

As the blades were shot onto the dish, Mariah let out a suppressed gasp as she recognized the black blade the boy was using. That same blade had once taken away her beloved bit-beast.

But how…? How could it be Black Dranzer? Only one blader could use it.

Unless…

With a frown, she looked at the boy opposing her, searching for his eyes, the ones that had been so familiar to her. He looked back at her, eyes cold and challenging. " What?" he snapped.

She gasped, and this time it was loud. Her head was spinning.

This boy. Looking into his eyes that were now so different from what they had been, she knew.

" Kai?"

Kai looked at the girl that had been introduced to him as Mariah, feeling a mixture of anger and confusion. He didn't like it when people he had no memory of seemed to know him. Besides, stealing bit-beasts was excruciating enough even when he was forced to do it to people he didn't know. " Concentrate on the battle", he ordered harshly.

Mariah could barely hear Kai's words as she studied him with her gaze. Gods how he had changed! Despite his muscles, it was easy to see that he'd lost a lot of weight. And even in the dim light, it was easy to see the already mending bruises on his face, the one particularly nasty scar on his cheek seemed so deep that it would never heal. And those eyes… Whenever she'd seen him battling with Dranzer, there'd been fire and passion in them, like the beast and her master had become one. Now all she could see was coldness and emptiness. It seemed that there was no more Kai beneath the exterior.

" What happened to you?" she whispered.

Suddenly, her entire concentration was ripped back to the battle again as Kai summoned the dark bit-beast. " BLACK DRANZER!"

Oh shit…

She knew perfectly what was against her. That beast could crush her. But still, she refused to give up. Gritting her teeth, she readied herself for the hardest battle in her life. " GALLUX!"

In the Siberian clinic, Pereshov rubbed his face with both hands in exhaustion. Taking care of Dara and Dimitrei day and night out was seriously taking its toll. Well, at least Dimitrei was doing better…

All of a sudden, he stopped walking with a deep frown upon his face, staring at the trashcan about two steps before him. " Am I seeing things…?" he murmured, bending closer – and gave a gasp of utter shock and betrayal, blue eyes widening. " Oh my God… Sparov…"

There, on the bottom of the trashcan, laid the notes he'd given to his friend. As he kept staring at the papers in absolute disbelief, a dark wave of understanding washed over him.

Sparov had never called the police, nor tried to contact Mr. Dickinson. His friend… had betrayed him, perhaps even worse.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind him. " Oh Pereshov, you really shouldn't have found those. Curiosity killed a cat, you see?"

Turning his head, eyes burning, he saw Sparov standing behind him. And for a first time, he understood that the face he was looking at weren't ones of a friend. " Why the hell did you do it?" he almost roared. " I… I don't understand…"

Cruel smirk he'd never seen before came to Sparov's face, grey eyes were filled with something sinister. " You were a useful business-partner, Pereshov. But my real boss pays me a great deal better than you do." Before he could even move, Sparov had plunged a needle meant for Dara into his neck. " Now… you will never interfere into my plans again."

For a moment their eyes locked, Pereshov's shining with rage and betrayal, Sparov's with something so dark it would've chilled anyone. And then Pereshov's world turned black.

For a moment Sparov looked at his fallen friend, then gave a despising sound. " Pathetic", he declared, turned around and begun to walk towards Dara's room.

The group – even Tyson – ran faster than ever in their lives as they made their way towards the room where Mr. Dickinson and the local BBA-president, Juan Marcinelli, were having a meeting with some other BBA- hot shots.

This time, they couldn't afford being late. The price… would be too high.

All adults in the room startled as the teenagers barged in. " What's the meaning of this?" Juan asked, sounding deeply irritated.

" Shouldn't you be resting?" Mr. D asked with a deep frown.

" This is important!" Tyson told them, ignoring the comments. " We know where Kai is!"

Mr. D's eyes widened. " W – What!"

" He's going toattack onthe White Tigers!" Ray exclaimed, face pale, eyes widened with terror. " We've gotta stop him, or they'll destroy each other!"

Lee woke up from his sleep as he heard a distant scream. He almost pushed it aside, thinking it was just another dream, when he suddenly recognized the voice.

Mariah!

Faster than he'd ever moved, he jumped into his clothes and, taking his blade with him, stormed outside, towards the spot where he knew Mariah loved to practice. What he saw made him freeze to spot and let out a loud gasp.

Mariah was on her knees on the ground, visibly shivering and eyes tightly shut, tears on her cheeks glittering in the moonlight. She seemed so bruised and cut that it caused a sick feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. All around the practice-dish and on the ground were pieces of her pink blade.

" Oh my God…", he whispered, the sound disappearing into the wind.

He didn't even notice her opponent before the dark figure, who'd had his back to him, turned around to face him. A growl escaped through his clenched teeth as he met the cold burgundy eyes. That bastard was going to pay…

" You came to join the party?" the boy asked in a voice that would've sounded familiar in Lee's ears, had he not been so blinded and deafened by rage.

Mariah's whisper never reached his ears. " Lee, no… Don't…."

Lee's eyes flashed. " I'll make you pay, you piece of shit… dearly", he hissed, pulling out his launcher.

Dara, who'd been sitting on her hospital-bed, jumped when the door suddenly opened. Body prepared to fight, she turned her head, but relaxed when noticing that it was just Dr. Sparov. " Time for injection", the man announced, preparing a needle.

Dara nodded, though with a small frown. " Dr. Sparov… Why are you giving me all these injections?" she asked the question that had been burdening her mind for a long time. " They make me feel so drowsy…"

" Nonsense", Dr. Sparov declared, starting to approach her with something chillingly familiar in his eyes. " Now… Just relax, and this won't hurt."

And just then, Dara gave a yelp of shock and frighten when a memory suddenly came to her mind. Her eyes were widened as she looked at the man, trembling from terrifying realization. " Sparov…", she gasped.

/ In the darkness of the Abbey, seven-years-old Dara was shivering in her cold cell as the door opened, and a doctor of Voltaire's – a man with black hair and gray eyes – entered, holding a needle in his hand. " P – please… Don't…", she whispered, voice lazed with anguish and desperation.

The man's eyes were filled with something dark as he approached her, smiling chillingly. " Don't worry, little-girl", the man whispered, almost stood before her. " Now… Just relax, and this won't hurt."

And still, it always hurt – a lot. /

Dara gasped again, still trembling. " You… you work for Voltaire."

The doctor nodded, still approaching her with menacing eyes. " Yes, I do", he confirmed. " And now, my assignment is to get rid of you."

TBC.

A/N: Gaaaaaaaaaaaah! The suspension! Will the Bladebreakers find Kai before all the White Tigers – or Kai – will be trashed? And gosh, what's going to happen to Dara and Dimitrei?

Until next time, guys! And please, please, review!