A/N: Hope you all like this chapter! Thank you for reading. I know I've said this many times before, but it really means a lot to me :)

Bright blue eyes stared impassively at the formerly violet haired man sitting across from him. Both of their gazes were unyielding, neither wanted to tear his gaze from the other. The others that were present in the room refrained from breaking the silence. They waited anxiously for one of the two to break the tense and uncomfortable silence. Finally, the silence was broken by the older man.

"It would be convenient for you to cooperate." Everyone's eyes fixed on the red head as he gave no indication of his feelings. He wore a calm and serene mask that was quite unnerving.

"And if I refuse?" Brooklyn smirked when he noticed the slight clenching of Boris's jaw, which was the only indication that the man was losing his patience. His face was horribly scarred from when he was burned; he was completely unrecognizable. He was completely bald and Brooklyn could see where new skin was growing. His new look served to make him even more sinister and intimidating than before. However, Brooklyn was no longer afraid of the formerly violet haired man and it was obvious to everyone present.

"Brooklyn, it would be in all of our best interests if you would listen," someone else joined the conversation. Finally, Brooklyn's eyes tore from Boris and focused on his previous teammate and "friend", Garland.

"I am listening, yet you have said nothing that garners my attention," Brooklyn looked around the room to everyone present. Besides Garland and Boris, Dr. K, King and Queen were also in the room. "Though I must admit, your presence in Japan is a bit shocking, when did you get here?"

"That is none of your business," Boris snarled.

"Oh, but on the contrary, it is my business. I'm very curious, so tell me, how did you know where we were? Zeus didn't warn me of anyone's presence while we searched for an adequate hiding place, which means you must have found a way to track us."

"How perceptive of you, I'm surprised that time with the Bladebreakers hasn't changed you." Boris seemed impressed. Back then, Brooklyn would have felt pleased to have impressed him, but now it was different. He no longer sought approval from the manipulative and cruel man. "I thought that they would have made you weak and soft. You-"

"You haven't answered my question," Brooklyn cut him off. He knew Boris enough to know when he was avoiding a question. Boris raised a painted eyebrow in amusement and nodded to Garland. Garland walked towards the door and opened it. He walked out of the room and didn't return for a while.

Brooklyn remained silent until he heard soft clicking on the floor. Garland reappeared with Voltaire and a stunning blonde woman. Her heels continued clicking until she finally stopped in front of Boris. Her hair was loose and stylishly curled. She wore a beautiful white knee length dress that accentuated her curves.

"Brooklyn, I would like you to meet the lovely Valentina Nikolaev. You already know Voltaire," Brooklyn didn't spare Voltaire a second glance. His gaze was fixed on the beautiful woman in front of him.

"Pleasure to meet your acquaintance," Valentina greeted him with a flirtatious smile. Brooklyn didn't reply, instead, he turned to Boris with a bored expression.

"I should have known you would pull something like this. You're using her to get to Kai, and that's how you found us. I can't say that I'm impressed, surely you could have come up with something better."

"But it worked; Kai has no idea that she planted a tracker on his cellphone when he was distracted. We always know his exact location because of this. He was always careful and calculating, yet he let his guard down in front of a woman. What can I say; women have proven to be our undoing. Especially this one, she's got Kai wrapped around her finger."

Brooklyn clenched his teeth angrily. Kai not only hurt Hilary, but now he has put her at risk. Boris would always know where they were hiding, so it would be useless for them to change hiding places. He turned his attention to Valentina and she smirked at him arrogantly. No wonder she and Kai got along so well.

"At the moment, they're hiding at an abandoned hospital, so if you want your precious friends to be safe, then you must cooperate," Boris said with a small taunting smile. Brooklyn opened his mouth to protest but stopped when Boris spoke again. "It wouldn't do you well to lose your precious Hilary, would it?"

"Don't threaten her," Brooklyn snarled as he abruptly stood. King and Queen immediately pulled out their beyblades and pointed them at him. Dr. K and Voltaire watched him with interest, but Brooklyn ignored them.

"It seems you have hit a soft spot," Valentina commented in an innocent tone.

"Don't worry; I wouldn't plan to kill her right away. She is a pretty little thing after all; I couldn't possibly just let her go to waste. I'm sure she could have other uses for me, don't you think?" Boris had a sick perverted smile on his face and that snapped the thin hold that Brooklyn had on his sanity.

Brooklyn growled and launched his beyblade at Boris who didn't even flinch. King and Queen's beyblades intercepted Zeus and that made the red head angrier. His blue eyes changed into an ominous green. A powerful vortex wrapped around them, yet it didn't faze the redhead. A dark hole appeared on the ceiling and everyone, except for Boris and Voltaire, flinched. They had all seen this before at the BEGA tournament. He had transported everyone to the dark corners of his mind, where he had nearly killed the Bladebreakers.

Everyone held onto things to prevent themselves from being sucked in. Boris lost his grin and frowned as he felt himself flying towards the hole. His hand gripped on a marble table, but he could feel his legs being pulled in. Finally, Voltaire spoke up to calm him down, lest he risk unnecessary death.

"Brooklyn, stop this nonsense. Hilary will not be touched and we will ensure her safety, if you help us." Brooklyn didn't listen, and the wind picked up speed, making everyone struggle to hold on to something. "Stop it! You have my word that no harm will come to the girl."

At those words, Brooklyn relaxed. Everyone fell down ungracefully, while Brooklyn glared angrily. His eyes never left Boris as he spoke.

"You will not use her against me ever again. If anything happens to her or to my friends, I swear that I will kill you all."

"No harm will come to them," Voltaire assured him. "Now, I believe we are done for the day. Garland, escort our guest to his room." Garland nodded and turned to Brooklyn.

Brooklyn followed with a serene expression, like if he hadn't just exploded in a fury of anger. It unnerved everyone; it seemed that the red head was still highly unstable.

Once they were gone, Voltaire turned to Boris angrily and he slapped the man harshly. Boris remained still and took the hit. Dr. K, King, Queen and Valentina wisely kept quiet.

"What were you thinking!? We need his aid to take down Black Dranzer. You didn't have to involve the girl in all of this. Your perverseness and idiocy knows no bounds. Threatening the girl will ensure that our carefully crafted plan will crumble. Brooklyn is not the only one that cares for her; it's obvious that my grandson is also very taken to her. Kai follows her around like a lost puppy and so does Tyson. We need them as our allies, not our enemies."

"Kai doesn't care about that whore. He's mine," Valentina snarled angrily.

"Apparently not, he came to Japan the moment he heard that she was in danger. I'm sure that you didn't even cross his thoughts," Voltaire taunted and felt satisfaction when she flinched.

Valentina stalked out of the room angrily. Everything was about Hilary and it sickened her. She felt jealous that Brooklyn had snapped the moment that Boris threatened her. She wished that she had that kind of devotion for herself, but no, Kai didn't give her any indication that he cared about her and it hurt. What was so special about Hilary anyways? She was nothing compared to her. Valentina knew that she was beautiful, sexy and rich. She could have any man she wanted, so why did she feel threatened by the plain brunette?

As she walked through the hallways, she passed by many of Voltaire's men and most of them looked at her lustfully. She wrinkled her nose in disgust and continued walking towards her destination, her room.

As soon as she walked in, she searched for her cellphone. When she found it, she immediately dialed Kai's number. She pressed the phone to her ear and waited.

He didn't answer.

She called again, and again he didn't answer. She kept calling until he finally answered. Her heart sped up when she heard his deep masculine voice.

"What do you want?" He asked brusquely, but she didn't let it bother her. He answered!

"Kai, thank goodness, I was beginning to worry. You haven't called and it's been days since we've talked. I wanted to hear your voice. I miss you," she smiled eagerly and waited for his reply.

"Hn"

"Don't you miss me?" She asked, hoping he would say yes, even if it was a lie. She was heavily disappointed when he spoke.

"Is there a point to this call?" His voice was cold and unfeeling.

"I wanted to hear your voice," she replied. "I also wanted to ask when you were going to return to Russia."

"Look I'm busy right now, I have to go."

"Of course, take care of yourself. Love you." She frowned when he hung up without saying anything else. She tightened her grip on the phone and her hands shook from the force.

She stood up and walked outside towards the gardens. This was her family home that she had in Japan, not many knew of it since it was isolated from other houses. It was in the outskirts of Bakuten, so they didn't have to worry about unexpected visitors.

She gracefully walked through the beautiful gardens and took in the lovely scent of flowers. She smiled, thinking about the sakura tree that would provide her with a lovely aroma. However, she stopped when she noticed that there was someone already there. She recognized him at first glance, Brooklyn. He was lying down on the grass and he wore a completely peaceful expression. He had one of his arms behind his head and his eyes were closed. She slowly approached him and he cracked an eye open.

She removed her heels and sat next to him. He tensed and opened his other eye. Valentina took the time to admire his beautiful blue eyes and his untamed hair. The wind softly caressed his hair and it fanned around his flawless white skin. She hadn't paid much attention earlier, but now that she did, she realized how attractive Brooklyn really was. The man before her seemed like a peaceful angel, but Valentina knew better. Under all that calm façade, lay a dormant beast ready to pounce should it feel threatened.

"That was quite the display earlier. I had no idea you were that powerful," Valentina broke the silence. Brooklyn watched her warily wondering what she wanted.

"What do you want?" He asked her, and Valentina smiled bitterly. He had unknowingly asked her the same thing that Kai had.

"I want many things, but most of all, I want you to help us defeat Black Dranzer."

"I will bring him down, but not because any of you asked me to. I will do it because I don't want him to hurt my friends."

"You need Voltaire and Boris to defeat him and you know that. Boris had the abbey, but you probably didn't know that Voltaire kept some of those bladers. We will use them to defeat the dark bitbeast, but we need more bladers. We need to work together."

"I see, well from my perspective, Boris and Voltaire don't want us to work with them. They want us to work for them and I refuse," Brooklyn's eyes narrowed and Valentina flinched. She had seen what he was capable of, and she didn't want to set him off.

"I'm surprised; rumor goes that you have gone soft with all the time that you've been with Tyson and the rest," Valentina said carefully.

"I have gone soft, but only with them. Make no mistake; should anyone try to hurt them, you will see a completely different side of me. What you saw today will be nothing compared to what's in store for anyone that dares to hurt them," Brooklyn said and he closed his eyes again.

The conversation was over.

The obvious threat made Valentina a bit nervous, but it also caused an unknown emotion course through her. She liked the dangerous aura that danced around the seemingly calm red head. Unfortunately, he only appeared to be concerned for Hilary and his friends.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

It had been one whole week since the bladers had burned the dojo and everyone had already been reunited. They were currently at an abandoned airport, where they anxiously waited for Enrique's private jet to land. The Blitzkrieg boys, Tyson, Max, Hiro, Enrique, Ray, and Hilary were the only ones there. The rest were either at their new base waiting for them, or in the halfway point to ensure that they returned safely.

Hilary tightened her hold on Shiro, her eyes kept scanning the area. Black Dranzer had probably seen the jet and would send someone to investigate. Everyone was alert and ready in case they were attacked.

"Mr. Enrique, we brought what you have requested," several men came out and they took out the giant machines. Tala parked an empty school bus behind the jet so that they wouldn't struggle to transport the machines. Tyson drove a second school bus, where they added the rest of the equipment. Hiro stood at the top of the bus that Tyson drove, ready to protect it and his brother, if something were to happen. Bryan quickly climbed on top of the bus that Tala was driving, he would protect his friend.

"Good work," Enrique complimented and the man smiled at the praise. "Listen, I want all of you to be as discreet as possible when you leave. This whole city is being watched so be careful."

The man nodded and left. They didn't delay in their exit and Hilary nearly let out a sigh of relief. However, several beyblades were launched in their direction.

Hilary turned towards the attackers and immediately released her beyblade. They had to distract them long enough for Tala and Tyson to drive away.

Tala seemed concerned and tried to get off the bus, but Ray stopped him.

"Tala, Tyson, you guys should get out of here. We'll handle this; you guys should just focus on taking the equipment to Kenny and the others," Tala nodded and drove away; Bryan gave them a backwards glance and tensely gripped his beyblade ready to protect the bus and Tala if necessary. However, Tyson seemed to be hesitating.

"Leave Tyson, we got this under control," Max urged the Dragoon wielder. Finally, Tyson nodded.

"Be careful guys and please protect Hilary," Tyson called out and he took off. Hilary would have been offended, if she hadn't thought that it was sweet of him to worry about her.

Several bladers made to follow them, but Ian and Spencer covered the way.

"If you want to get to them, then you have to get through us first," Spencer said with a smirk.

Hilary took the time to count their opponents and noticed that there were 10. It was going to be 7 vs 10. She didn't feel very concerned, Brooklyn and Kai had had worse odds.

Hilary called out for Shiro and her faithful bitbeast made an appearance. Three bladers noticed this and they went against her. Hilary braced Shiro for an attack, but she didn't get to since Dranzer sped in front of Shiro and attacked first. The fiery bitbeast made an appearance as it let out an ear piercing screech and attacked again.

Kai was protecting her.

The bladers formed a line together, preparing to attack in unison.

Hilary shared a sideway glance with the blunette and nodded meaningfully. Kai gave her a small nod in return. They wouldn't waste time; they were going to attack them together.

"Shiro, Fire Burst!"

"Dranzer, Blazing Gig!"

Scorching fire came out as both of their attacks merged and knocked down the bladers. The force of the impact caused Kai and Hilary to blow backwards a bit, but their opponents were sent flying. Hilary smiled eagerly, they had won. It may be arrogant for her to say, but she hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Good job, Hilary," Kai gave her a small smile of approval. He was impressed and Hilary felt proud of herself. She was glad that Tyson had considered her good enough to be in the first line of defense. It made her feel like she accomplished something and that she was useful.

"We should hurry and be on our way, they may need our help," Ian said as he pocketed his beyblade. Hilary nodded and took Shiro.

Max, Spencer and Ray were tying down the knocked out bladers. They then carried the bladers to the back of the bus; they were going to take them back to base. They had planned everything, two buses for the equipment and a third bus for any bladers that they might capture. Once Kenny and Emily got the machines working, they would try it out on the bladers and pray that it worked.

Everyone got into the vehicle. Enrique took the wheel and everyone else took a seat in the floor. The buses had all of the seats removed so that they could move if necessary. Their knocked down hostages were tied and knocked out towards the back, where Spencer, Ian, and Ray watched them. Kai went to the top of the bus to keep watch in case they were attacked by surprise.

In thirty minutes they reached the halfway point, where they saw Lee sitting on a tree branch. Once he saw them, he smiled and jumped on the bus. They opened the top door and he slid inside.

"The halfway point was secured, everyone left with Tyson and Tala." He glanced at the knocked down bladers and smirked. "They're not so tough after all."

"Did you run into any of them?" Max asked.

"No, apparently, they just attacked the airport. Hopefully they don't run into trouble on their way. Even if they did, Mariah, Kevin, Gary, Rick, Oliver and Michael went with them. I stayed to wait for all of you. I'm glad that you're all safe."

Enrique's phone began to ring and the blonde smiled and answered.

"Hey, what's up Oliver? ...Really? ... Sweet, we're on our way… Yeah, see you in a little while. Don't miss me too much, bye." Once he hung up, he let out a bright smile. "Oliver just told me that they're back at base. They had no run-ins with the bladers."

"That's great," Max said with an equally bright smile. Hilary let out a little sigh of relief. They were going to be okay.

THUD

Everyone jumped at the loud sound and Hilary looked up at the emergency exit. Her heart began to pound when she heard a soft whirring accompanied by Kai's loud cry.

"Dranzer!"

"Should I stop?" Enrique asked with unconcealed anxiousness.

"No, keep going," Spencer said as he exchanged nods with Ian. "Ray, keep watch on them."

"Wait, where are you going?" Max asked as they opened the back doors. They both ignored him as they jumped and climbed to the roof of the bus. The doors slammed shut, but you could hear the battle intensifying on the top.

Hilary jumped when a figure landed on the hood of the bus. Enrique let out a startled cry as blood soaked the windshields. The bus swiveled violently since Enrique had been distracted. The figure woke up and started pounding on the glass with his bare hands. A sickening crunch sounded as he broke his hand, but he kept pounding on the glass, not seeming to feel any pain.

Hilary covered her face when something was launched at the window. Cracks started to appear until finally, the glass gave out and shattered. Crystals of glass hit Enrique's flesh, yet he didn't stop his driving.

Ray stood anxiously but he hesitantly watched the unconscious bladers. He couldn't leave; he would run the risk of them waking up.

"You watch the back with Max, Hilary and I will watch the front," Lee said with a strong determination. He took out his Galeon with a serious expression.

He climbed on the hood, not seeming to care that the glass cut his flesh. Hilary made to follow, but Lee stopped her.

"You will stay inside and watch over Enrique," Lee said with a somber expression. "Max, try to make contact with Tyson and the others." Hilary and Max nodded. Lee kicked the blader off and climbed to join the battle on the roof. Hilary bit her lip anxiously; she knew that they were not going to have much space to move, much less beybattle. One wrong move and her friends could fall off the bus.

Enrique suddenly began to cough and Hilary turned to him in horror. Enrique had a beyblade deeply wedged in his stomach. His blood soaked the beyblade, and she could no longer tell what its real color was.

"Oh my God, Enrique?" Hilary called to him in panic. She tore at her shirt, leaving her midriff exposed. She placed a hand on his chest and the other on top of the wound.

"You know, I have dreamt of this since the first time I saw you. Just without the blood," Enrique joked as he began to wheeze. Hilary watched the beyblade seriously; it was embedded in his flesh. "Pull it out," he whispered painfully and Hilary nodded as she pulled it out. He cried out in pain, but refused to let go of the wheel. Tears pooled in her eyes as she noticed the alarming amount of blood he was losing.

She wasted no time and wrapped his injury. She was surprised that Enrique was even conscious, let alone driving. Judging by his blood loss, he would be passing out soon, or worse.

"Stop the bus," she ordered painfully.

Enrique started to blink wearily and Hilary made to move him, but he stopped her.

"Don't worry about me; I gotta make sure to take everyone to safety," Enrique forced a smile. "And then I have to take you on a date." Hilary nodded with tears falling from her eyes. "Why are you crying? Girls are usually eager to go out with me."

"Are they?" Hilary tried to ask teasingly, but failed miserably. He smiled softly at her attempt. She then remembered that she couldn't let him sleep, if she did, then he might never wake up again.

"Yeah, I'm very popular with the ladies. Though I must admit, you have been my favorite one," Enrique coughed out blood. Hilary went to tear more of her shirt, but a shirt was given to her before she could. She turned to Ray and smiled gratefully. "Aww Ray, you just ruined the show." Enrique playfully whined and he coughed again. He looked at the front and drove carefully, not caring that he was bleeding out.

"You're sure a pervert," Hilary forced a laugh as she began to clean his face.
Enrique smiled and slowly grabbed Hilary's hand with his right one. His eyes never left the road and he only used his left hand to drive. His hand was alarmingly cold.

"Enrique, stop the bus, we need to check over your injuries," Hilary whispered brokenly.

"I'm not stopping. If we do, more bladers will catch up to us and then we'll all be screwed," Enrique said with a strong determined look in his usually playful face.

"Please, hurry up and get here already!" Max cried out desperately to the phone in the background. A loud crash sounded as one of the bus's middle windows was broken. A hand strongly tugged on the emergency door and opened it. Several bladers walked inside. Max and Ray ran towards the door and fought to keep the bladers out.

"Hilary, I have to make a confession." He coughed and she cleaned out the blood that fell down his chin. "I really like you, and this time, I mean it." Hilary nodded numbly at his confession; she had honestly not known that he actually liked her. She had thought that he just flirted with her, like he did with every other girl. "I liked you since the first moment I saw you. You were a rose, very beautiful and seemingly delicate, but you were actually a deadly beauty. A very deadly one, you sure are scary when you're angry," he chuckled but started to cough again. "I admire that."

"Oh, Enrique," Hilary began to cry louder and Enrique tightened his hold on her hand.

"Now, about that date, I think we'll have to wait a little while."

"Of course, we'll go as soon as this is all over. You choose the place," Hilary went along with it.

"Letting me take charge, eh? I like that." After a while of silence, Enrique spoke up again. "Can you dial Oliver for me, please?"

Hilary nodded and with shaky hands took hold of the phone and redialed the last person that he had spoken with. She ignored the loud beybattles going around her and focused on getting hold of Enrique's best friend. Thankfully, after the second ring, he answered.

"Enrique! Thank goodness you're alright, I was beginning to worry. Max said that you guys are under attack! Don't worry pal, we're almost there," Oliver's panicked voice greeted her and she sadly put the phone on speaker. Enrique slowly grabbed her hand again and she gave him an encouraging squeeze.

"Oliver," Enrique started with a shaky voice. "I just wanted to let you know that you're my best friend and I love you. You've always been there for me, especially when I most needed you. Can you tell Robert and Johnny that although they're pricks, they're two of my closest and dearest friends? I couldn't have asked for a better team or friends."

"Enrique, why are you saying these things? Is something wrong?" Oliver asked in alarm. "We see you, don't worry pal, we're coming."

Hilary looked towards the distance and smiled when she noticed that a bus was driving towards them at a tremendous speed. Enrique gradually stopped the bus, careful not to stop suddenly.

"They're here. We made it," Enrique smiled as he weakly tugged on Hilary's hand. Hilary nodded and turned to Enrique with a smile. He was going to be okay, but she froze when she felt his hold on her loosen.

"No, no, Enrique, you have to stay awake. Oliver and the others are here. You can't go to sleep, damn it," Hilary cried out as she sadly shook him. Enrique's eyes closed and he let out one final breath.

"Enrique," Oliver's broken whisper drew Hilary's attention to the door and she quickly opened it. Oliver ran up and Hilary moved away. Tears fell down his face as he embraced his best friend. Johnny and Robert followed and they also ran towards their fallen comrade. Hilary watched with mounting sadness as they all called out to him, asking him to come back.

Hilary looked down at her blood soaked hands and ran outside the bus. She looked at the damage done to the bus and she let out a heart wrenching cry. She ran her hands through her hair and she screamed. Why did it have to be Enrique? Why couldn't she have saved him? She should have forced him to stop the bus instead of listening to him. Why was she so useless?

Arms wrapped themselves around her and she clung to the person, not caring who it was. They were offering her comfort, comfort that she desperately needed.

"Its okay, Hilary. Everything's going to be, okay," Kai whispered in her ear. Hilary tightened her hold on the blunette, and he didn't seem to care that she covered him in blood.

"I hate them," Hilary whispered angrily. She pulled away from Kai and turned towards the floor. She gripped Shiro tighter and made her way to her destination.

"Hilary, what are you doing?" Tyson asked nervously as he approached her. He grabbed her arms but flinched when she gave him a hateful glare, unlike her usual ones. She glared angrily at 8 unconscious bladers; one of them had killed Enrique. She didn't know exactly which one, but she honestly didn't care anymore. She pulled out Shiro, ready to launch him, but she was stopped by Kai and Tyson.

"Let go," she growled angrily. They gripped her shoulders tightly, afraid that she would actually kill one of the bladers.

"Hilary, get a hold of yourself. They are possessed; they weren't the ones that killed Enrique. This is not their fault."

"They killed him, Tyson! I watched him die," Hilary screamed in pure agony. "This wasn't like with Hiro, Enrique is not coming back!"

She struggled against the men that held her until she was too tired to fight anymore. Hilary fell on her knees and cried. Nobody dared approach her for a while.

A few painful seconds later, she heard soft steps approaching her and she looked up to find Oliver watching her with a miserable expression.

Yes, it hurt her to lose Enrique, but Oliver was clearly in so much more pain. He lost his best friend, one that had gone on so many adventures with him. He kneeled down to her level and pulled her on a tight embrace.

Hilary froze and felt her anger give way to be replaced by intense sadness. Images of Enrique filled her head, his smile, his shameless flirting, his bravery and his last words. Her whole body shook as she wrapped her arms around Oliver. She heard his painful whimpers and cried with him.

Everyone watched the two with sad hearts. Johnny and Robert openly shed their tears, something that nobody had ever expected nor wanted to witness. It was truly heartbreaking to see two strong men being reduced to tears. Tyson cried as well and he put a comforting hand on Johnny and Robert's shoulder.

Since their battle with Black Dranzer, this was their first loss, and it made their desire to win that much more personal. Now, they all had a purpose. They didn't want anyone else to suffer the same loss they did.

"Black Dranzer, we will take you down. That's a promise," Tyson spoke up and everyone silently vowed the same thing.