Rim: I finally get around to writing the next chapter. Man, I'm being lazy...oh well, it's not like this isn't normal for me, right Chaco and B.? Well, maybe I'll get this one finished by Christmas...if I'm lucky. Next chapter, here we go.
-oooooo-
"What did you just say?" Tala remarked, his blood turning to icy water in his veins. Maybe he heard the girl wrong, and there wasn't reason for his heart to be beating a mile a minute. Maybe it was just a prank they were trying to pull on him and Kai to see what their reactions would be. Hilary turned her attention between Kai and Tala, the expression growing more worried.
"Hilary, start from the beginning," Kai replied.
"We came over here to see if Kenny could come with us, and his mother started ranting the minute she saw Tyson," Hilary said, turning her attention back on Tyson, who was still managing to weather the storm that was Kenny's mother. "This has been going on for like two minutes. Kai, I'm worried."
Kai said nothing, walking up to Tyson and pulling him away from the venting woman. "Tyson let's go, this isn't going to help anyone."
"It's my fault," Tala said, stepping forward between Tyson, Kai, and Kenny's mother. Looking down into the woman's furious thought slightly puzzled eyes. "I'm sorry. I need to ask you something ma'am, it's really important."
"Tala, now is not the time to be confessing things to his mother," Kai stated. "Especially because we're going to have to explain to the others if you go ahead and spill it."
"Spill what?" Max questioned.
"Not now, Max," Kai replied, turning his attention back to Tala. "Tala, are you sure you want to do this with everyone here?"
"Yes," Tala nodded. "She has a right to know just how dangerous Bryan is, if she's met him before."
"What do you mean he's dangerous?" Kenny's mother voiced.
"It's my fault Kenny is missing now. If I hadn't got involved with him…" Tala trailed
off, locking his eyes with the woman. She had to know the truth to keep anything else from going wrong. "If I hadn't been involved with Kenny, Bryan would have never made him a target. I never thought something like this would happen, forgive me for causing this much trouble."
"Kai, what's Tala going on about?" Tyson whispered, however Kai didn't answer his lover, his eyes remained on Tala who was apologizing to the woman. Kenny's mother didn't say anything, her anger calming down just a moment out of confusion. This was going to end bad, Kai knew that, but he had to respect Tala for stepping forward like this. Had it been him, he would have left the woman in the dark in order to monitor things.
"I'm sorry for causing you to worry about this. I promise that I will do everything in my power to find him and bring him back to you. I never meant to have your son go through something like this, I love him too much to allow this to happen if I had known," Tala carried on.
"You what?" Kenny's mother exclaimed, looking up at the young man with wide eyes. She took a momentary step backwards as if Tala was going to attack her, her eyes remaining on the red head.
"I was involved with your son more than just a friend," Tala spoke.
"You...and...Kenny..." Kenny's mother paled at what he was saying before reaching up and slapping Tala across the face. Taking it in stride, he turned his eyes back to the woman that was glaring at him disgustingly. "Get away from my house! Don't you ever come back again or I'll call the police!"
"Tala, now is the time to go," Kai groaned, taking Tala's arm and tugging him away from the screaming woman that had all manners of curses and threats spewing from her mouth. "Why did you have to do that? The last thing we need now is her calling the police on us, and then we have another pile of crap to deal with on top of what we already have on our plate."
"She had a right to know," Tala voiced as Max, Rei, and Hilary followed behind Kai pushing Tyson and Tala from the house.
"I have to agree with Kai," Hilary agreed. "That was a stupid move. I mean, what happens when Kenny comes back home and then his mother goes off on him about what you just told her? It's going to cause him a whole pile more trouble than just going missing."
"I don't think it's going to matter at this point," Tala shook his head.
"What did you mean when you said Bryan's name?" Rei questioned, subconsciously tensing as the thoughts of the first world tournament in Russia came to mind. The scars on his body were gone, but some scars deep in his psyche still remained. Every so often, he felt the fear stir from the dark corners of his mind, and have him relive that match against Bryan.
Kai shifted his eyes to Rei, then Max and Tyson. Hilary looked on in confusion at the big deal towards a name. There was no choice to be let them know what was going on. Pulling Tala further down the street away from the Shinoda house, he finally let go half a block away. His attention focused solely on his team. "I just got the entire story yesterday, so if I miss anything, it's up to Tala to fill in the blanks."
"Is Kenny in some sort of trouble?" Hilary worried.
"We can't lie to you and say no this time," Kai replied. "Recently one of Tala's former teammates came into town looking for Tala."
"That's bad I'm assuming," Hilary questioned.
"It's not just bad," Rei spoke up, his eyes dimming with the memories of his battle with the silvery haired Russian. "Bryan isn't someone who should be overlooked. During the world championships...I was hospitalized because of him. He took pleasure in slowly ripping my beyblade and I apart with no remorse at his actions."
"He hasn't changed from the person you fought, Rei," Tala said. "Bryan found out that I'm involved with Kenny, and has set out to make sure that I pay for not becoming his lover again. It seems that the changes Kenny has been experiencing lately is because of something Bryan's down to his head."
"How could Kenny's mother let someone like that near her son!" Hilary gasped.
"Kenny knew what Bryan was like from the world championships! How could he be so careless like this!" Tyson exclaimed.
"Look how much time has passed Tyson," Kai offered. "Tala changed over time, he was led to believe that Bryan had done so over the course of years since the world championships. From what Dizzi told us, Bryan led Kenny on with an act, pretending to want to be friends with the person that Tala is in love with. All the while gathering information to plot his revenge. Once he had everything he needed to ensure he was going to get away with it, he brought his plan into the light."
"He should have come to us about this," Tyson shouted.
"If you believed that your friends would more than likely drive away someone who was trying to redeem themselves for the past, would you tell them? Or would you wait for the perfect opportunity when you were certain that everyone would accept him. Kenny has a kind heart, we all know that. It can lead him to make foolish decisions that turn out for the better." Kai's eyes went to Tala briefly.
"What's going to happen to Kenny now?" Max wondered.
"We don't know, we have to find him first," Tala sighed, raking a hand through his hair. "I should have made certain that he wasn't around instead of just taking his word for it. I know Bryan...I should have guessed him better."
"You do have blame in this," Tyson accused, crossing his arms over one another. "Kenny is your boyfriend and you put him in danger like this. I said that Bryan found out you were involved with Kenny, that means you knew all along whatever was going on, that Bryan was here, right?"
"The day Kenny told me about you and the others was the same day Bryan found me. I didn't want to cause a scene if it turned out to be nothing," Tala stated.
"But it has turned out to be something big in fact," Tyson argued.
"Yelling at Tala isn't going to help the situation. It's happened and there's nothing we can do but try to rectify the mistake," Rei commented, placing a hand on Tyson's shoulder.
"My best friend is in the hands of a lunatic he use to screw around with! I have every right to yell, scream, and accuse him of things! If he knew something like this could happen, he should have better protected Kenny against it. We have no idea what might be happening to Kenny right now, or even where he is," Tyson shouted.
"If it makes him feel better, let him vent. At least he's not keeping it in," Tala told Rei. "At least once he gets it out of his system, he'll be more of a help to us finding Kenny."
"So what do we plan to do now?" Max inquired, looking between Tala and Kai with concerned eyes.
"We should regroup," Kai thought, a frown creasing his brows downward. He was going to have to keep an eye on Tyson now along with formulating a plan to go about finding Kenny. He really wish Tala hadn't leaked it to Kenny's mother about Bryan. She might put out a report, leading Bryan into hiding whilst taking Kenny with him. Then they would never be able to find out where Kenny was. "Max, why don't you Rei, Hilary, and Tyson split up into two groups and ask around to see if anyone has seen Kenny around town. Don't mention anything about Bryan, we don't know if he has any help or not."
"What do you and him plan to do while we're doing that?" Tyson asked, glaring at Tala out the corner of his eyes.
"Coming up with a plan to bring Bryan out of hiding wherever he is," Kai responded. "The two of us have a better chance of making him stick his head out of his hole since we grew up with him. Now let's stop bickering about whose fault this is and get to work trying to help Kenny. We can meet back at my place in about three or four hours with any findings."
-oooo-
"Boss." Koizu stopped in the doorway of the room, his gaze not flinching as he watched the silvery haired young man lower the leather strap against a red stretch of bare skin already swelling from being struck numerous times before that. The brunette wearing a black dog collar, laying curled up in a ball on the floor made no sound at the pain inflicted on his body.
"Hm?" Bryan tilted his head to the side, raising the leather once more in the air.
"You by chance haven't seen Hikage have you? He's not at his usual post downstairs," Koizu replied, the sound another whip lash against the bare back of the teen on the floor followed his question shortly. "Should I have Shihara and Taki go out looking for him?"
"Don't worry about Hikage, I sent him on a little errand for me. What do you have to report from the boy's house?" Bryan turned away from his 'pet', tossing the leather strap in his hand to the side and giving his full attention to his underling.
"An errand, I suppose it's related to the kid?" Koizu grinned.
"I think I want to play a little game with his boyfriend to give him a chance to find this little slut before I completely lose all interest in him," Bryan chuckled, turning back to Kenny. Using the tip of his shoe, he kicked the boy over onto his back, the hair falling away to reveal cloudy, distant eyes. "He's starting to shatter...soon he's going to be a broken doll I will not want to play with anymore."
"That's when you're going to go directly after the boyfriend?" Koizu wondered, walking up to stand next to his boss, admiring the young man's handiwork.
"I'm going to make him wish he had stayed my sex slave when I wanted him again. He should have realized there is no betraying those you owe your life to," Bryan smirked, leaning down to touch the cool skin. A hint of a flinch was felt under his fingertips, the action drawing out a slow sadistic smile at the challenge to break that slight reflex. "You haven't shattered yet?"
Reaching down, Bryan grabbed the front of the collar just below the loophole to attached the collar to a chain or leash. Koizu watched his boss drag the teen over to the bed where a thick weighted chain rested, dried droplets of blood staining the cold metal. Koizu stood back, observing this routine Bryan went through every time he was getting some sort of resistance out the kid. In all honesty, Koizu had no idea what sort of resistance spurred Bryan to rip the boy apart, but he wasn't going to be the one to question it. He gave his loyalty to the silver haired young man, and when that was given no second thoughts interfered ever.
"There was a slight commotion today. The boy's friends came over to find their friend missing. There was also a red head that came there. The boy's mother had quite the temper and had a few choice words not in his favor. I'm assuming that's the boyfriend?" Koizu asked.
"He's quite the catch, isn't he?" Bryan grinned. "It's the only thing me and this slut have in common after all. Too bad he doesn't know how to keep something like that."
"So tell me, what did you send Hikage out for?" Koizu leaned against the wall lazily.
"I'm going to get the game started," Bryan said. "I think it's only far that he realizes just how little time he has to discover where this little bitch is. So, I had Hikage personally deliver a tape to Tala to get the ball rolling."
"That's a risky move, Bryan. Especially if they try to question Hikage's involvement with you and how to find you," Koizu frowned.
"Do you really believe that Hikage is going to turn on me? He knows what will happen if he so much as thinks about it," Bryan assured. "Anything he lets slip that isn't about where there friend is, it's no concern to me. They will need one or two small clues after all."
"If you've thought this out, then I have no need to worry. I'll just sit back and watch the show as it unfolds."
-oooo-
"Good afternoon, gentlemen." Tala and Kai were thrown off at the man standing by Tala's apartment door as if he were waiting for them to come back. For all either knew, indeed this mysterious, and quite suspicious individual was waiting around for them, and was sent by Bryan to taunt them.
"Who are you?" Kai said evenly, holding Tala back from jumping on the man until they found out what he wanted.
"You can call me Hikage," he introduced with a friendly smile. "I was paid by this guy who supposedly works for another guy to bring something here for you."
"Likely story, if I were to take a guess, you work for the same person that paid you," Kai glared. "We're not stupid, Bryan doesn't hire other people to pay someone off they don't know to do things. He's the sort of person who will either do it himself, or use someone close to him to get the job done. You aren't going to be able to bullshit us that you were paid by some unknown patron for this job."
"You're a sharp one," Hikage chuckled. "I like you."
"Thanks I seem to get that off," Kai scoffed. "What's the real reason you're here?"
"As I told you, I have something to deliver to you." Hikage stepped forward, extending the CD case in his hand to Kai. "Bryan wanted me to give this to you. He would have personally done it himself, but he commented about the boy's lover more than likely trying to rip his throat out."
"Where the hell is Kenny you sorry bastard!" Tala growled, trying to go for the man once more before Kai pulled him back.
"Temper, temper, it's not going to get you anywhere," Hikage shook his head. "You should learn to relax. Besides, you don't really think that I would give that away to you so easily."
"If I beat it out of you, then it won't be easy," Tala threatened.
"I don't believe you really want to do that. Besides, if I don't return in a set amount of time, it gives my friends free range to make sure you never seen the little brunette again. Or at least until his body turns up in Tokyo Bay a few weeks from now. By then, Bryan will be long gone, and you will have such a heavy guilt on your shoulders. Do you think you can deal with that scenario?" Hikage cocked a brow.
"Cool it Tala, we have no idea how many people are working with Bryan other than this one," Kai warned.
"Listen to your friend," Hikage advised. "It's not nice to kill the messenger. I'm just bringing the news after all."
"What's on this CD?" Kai interrogated, taking the clear CD case containing a CD with no writing on it from the man.
"You're going to have to pop it into a computer or a DVD player to find out what we have captured on it. Since Bryan was being a little generous..." Hikage reached down in the pocket of his cargo pants, pulling out a small fold up portable DVD player from one of the large pockets. "It doesn't hurt to be prepared when it comes to things like this."
"Anything else you have in your pockets that we need?" Kai raised a brow, taking the small portable device from the man.
"Nope, just go ahead and watch it, I'll be on my way," Hikage laughed, moving away from the two teens with a smile.
"Aren't you suppose to stay and wait around to find out what our reactions are going to be with what's on the CD?" Kai raised a brow. "Aren't you breaking some sort of underling law leaving?"
"I already know what's on the tape. I was there, so I don't need to wait around to find out how you're going to react to it. I should tell you, you might want to sit down before you watch it," Hikage advised, moving past the two teens to walk down the steps. "Thinking about it, it's best if you watched it inside. We wouldn't want some unsuspecting person walking by and happening to glance at it. It would look very bad for you two."
"Anything else we should know?" Kai had a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach over this CD in his hand. He had a feeling they really should follow this man's advice concerning watching it.
"Once you watch it, you have a short time to discover where he is. You wait too long...and let's just say that it's going to be useless," Hikage grinned. "You can't help but love how sadistic Bryan is."
"Yeah, a ball of joy," Tala snorted sarcastically. "Remind me to thank him with my foot down his throat while ripping out his spinal cord with my bare hands when I get a hold of him."
"I can understand why he likes you. You're a feisty one," Hikage beamed. "Well, now that my mission has been completed for today, I do believe I'm going to get drunk and laid. Enjoy gentlemen and I shall give Bryan your regards."
Kai waited until he was certain the man was gone before turning to Tala. "Open the door, Tala," Kai ordered.
"Why don't we just watch it here?" Tala frowned, reaching for the portable player and CD, but Kai pulled back, shaking his head.
"Open the door, Tala," Kai repeated.
"What's wrong with you? You aren't going to take his advice, are you?" Tala questioned.
"The way he said it..." Kai trailed off. "Open the door."
Tala didn't open his mouth, seeing the seriousness within Kai's crimson eyes. It was unnerving to say the least because Tala was trying not to think what could possibly be on the CD. He wasn't stupid, he had sensed truth in the advising, he just didn't want to believe in it. Pulling out the key to his apartment, he did as he was told.
Clambering inside and shutting the door, Kai popped the CD inside the player, cutting it on. What they saw on the CD was far worst than anything they would have imagined, and a cruel kick in the ass. The blood running through Tala's veins froze as he watched his lover struggle to get away from the four men that held him down whilst another man moved over the brunette. Screams boomed from the small speakers on the player followed by broken, sobbing pleas.
From the very beginning both Tala and Kai knew this wasn't going to be simple task dealing with Bryan and that they should expect worst case scenarios. However...catching the look on Kai's now pale face...they were just learning just how little time left was in their hourglass if Bryan was already this far ahead of them.
-oooooo-
Rim: Of course I didn't torment Kenny a lot you two. And Chao, stop crying, everything will be all right...just put down the torches and vases and we can talk this out. Who said anything about disappearing from this story for a few more months? Yes, I'm the devil also. There, does that speak for anything else you two might have to say to mean when it comes time to review?