Windstar: I am sooo sorry. I did this last night. Looked at it, nodded, finished the proof reading and turned it off. I'm so completely sorry. Please forgive me! This is the longest chapter thus far and it is by far one of the saddest. I have to let you all know that I totally and completely apologize for how sad this story is going to seem for the next few chapters. I promise there is actually a happy ending at the end of this. There really is.

I'm glad you all approve of Adeline. She only appears once in this story. If you want to see more of her you'll see her in Chapter Two of the pulse.

Thanks for reviewing everyone, especially Marieke who is the only one to have gone over to the Pulse. It means a lot!

College has been hell so far so thanks for waiting all day for this, but here it is!

Chapter Twenty-Four:

"Sorry boys, Mr. Dickenson is unavailable right now." Kai purposefully kept his back to her when she came out, and didn't even spare her a second glance as she stopped in front of them. The Blade Breakers stared in dumbstruck awe at the girl behind the counter at the BBA. Reddish brown hair and blue eyes aside, british accent ignored, the girl was none other then Anna Jones – and they didn't even recognize her! No wonder Kai was moodily silent during that whole exchange. He barely cast a glance at her the whole time. Even when they'd left themselves wide open for his constant criticism he'd been mutely silent. "Sorry to disappoint you, the chairman is not in his residence right now, I'll inform you as soon as I get a hold of him. In the meantime, you're more then welcome to stay here with us. That's what we're here for, taking care of beybladers!"

She clearly had gotten into her role, the cheeky excitement and over happy statements were overly done, and at the time they'd brushed it off as just something, as a worker, she was supposed to say. Now though it was quite obvious that she had just about enough sitting around doing nothing and wanted to get involved.

"Uh...I guess we'll wait..." Rei mumbled awkwardly, earning a beaming smile.

"I'll check you into a hotel suite." She reached for the phone and picked it up, amusement playing on her features as she dialed.

"Thank you." The boys mumbled as they started to look around the BBA's office space.

"Hey...is that...Robert?" Tyson called out as he ran over to a board hanging on a wall nearby. Kai rolled his eyes and muttered something unintelligible, and had the Blade Breakers been paying attention to something other then the board, they would have noticed Anna swatting their Captain upside the head and earning a glare to which she simply looked back with a cheeky smile of clear innocence.

"What's he doing here?" Rei asked as he glanced back, the two easily back into their roles for the moment, and separated.

"Oh that? That's a picture from last month's tournament, Robert went undefeated the whole time. He's the regional champ!" She was gushing again, and Kai actually mumbled something the others had missed at the time.

"There goes Luka's number one fan." He griped, but the others were to dumbstruck to have noticed, all looking back at the photo. Anna swatted him again before the others could turn around and look.

"The regional champ?" Max asked, awestruck.

"I'm not surprised. He's awful tough." Tyson supplied, remembering his humiliating defeat at the hands of the German blader.

"So Robert will be competing in Russia for the championship?" Kenny asked, and Anna shrugged.

"Actually, no, he's not going." She said easily enough. Kai snorted, shaking his head, but she didn't dare to do anything with everyone watching.

"Why isn't he?" Max asked curiously.

"Yeah, why?" Rei added on, voicing his own curiosity.

"I...I'm afraid I haven't got a clue." She looked taken aback by the onslaught and it earned her the freedom of getting out from under their gazes because everyone was looking back to the poster.

"Robert isn't competing? But he's the best beyblader I've ever seen, it just doesn't make sense." Tyson muttered softly as he stared at the photo a bit longer.

"I have some paperwork that your Captain needs to fill out, and if you'd like I can give you some records of Mr. Jurgen that we have collected."

"Paperwork?" Kai asked as he turned and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, as you are technically in charge of the Blade Breaker team I need you to sign off on a few things because of the arrangements that I've made, it will only take a few minutes, if you would follow me?" He sighed heavily and nodded, glowering the whole way.

"Hey, can we come too?" Tyson whined, but she would not be deterred.

"I'm afraid this will only take a few moments, don't worry, here's some work you can look over if you'd like." She smiled brightly as she handed them a huge stack of paper and disappeared through a door to the left with their captain in tow.

"What'd you give them?" Kai asked he closed the door behind him.

"Oh this and that, nothing of consequence I can assure you." She laughed playfully. Turning to face the room he actually glowered at the man inside. Christopher. Glaring at his boss from the BBASS the teen crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance.

"What do you want Miss. Chris?" He asked moodily. The man sighed and shook his head slightly.d.

"Why is it that you kids insist on calling me that?" He muttered under his breath.

"Because it's better then calling you a mis-take." They both griped in unison. He rolled his eyes and raised a camera up from his desk, snapping a photo before the boy could react. Red eyes narrowed as he frowned at the man. "What the hell was that for?" He hissed.

"Michaels misses your face Grey." The other replied easily enough.

"Whatever."

"It's for the file, now I believe we need your signature..."

"Yeah yeah, I could have done this outside. What's the secret meeting for?"

"We're delivering a tape of some importance to the hotel you'll be staying at, I trust you'll allow your team to watch it?" Kai crossed his arms over his chest.

"As if I could stop them from doing something they wanted to do. What's on it? You know how much I've been wanting to see that new movie...the one with the kids that find out their spies...now where have I heard that from?" Anna giggled at the joke and the teen sent her a smile.

"Enough, it's about the mission...Mr. Dickenson thinks it's something the boys should see...to prepare them."

"Uh-huh. Whatever. Can I go now?"

"What has got you in this mood, you never acted like this with Michaels-"

"Michaels never made me miss a ship to my home land simply because he wanted to send me a video tape, nor did Michaels ever force me to do something that wasn't in the best interest for my team. Now you can sit there all you want and complain and say that I'm not treating you fairly, but in my opinion, making us miss that boat on purpose was low. I needed to get home soon. You and your stupid games are making that a little difficult Miss Chris."

"You have four months before the tournament, you have more then enough time-"

"You realize that I've got to get into that Abbey and convince Boris to let me get my hands on Black Dranzer don't you? You really think that that's going to happen with only a week's time? Knowing my team it's going to take at least three months to travel Europe, and you just like to keep making it harder don't you?"

"Kai-"

"Enough. I'm out of here. God I knew there was a reason we spent more time with the ISA then we did with you." He grumbled as he started back the way he came, he stopped shortly and looked at Anna for a moment. "And take that wig off before someone sees you and tries to get you killed."

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself thank you. Now if you insist on yelling at Miss. Then that's fine, but don't you do it to me Hiwatari." She snapped, arms folding across her chest. Kai hesitated for a moment before nodding and continuing back the way he came.

When the next scene appeared, the Blade Breakers were in their hotel room that Anna gave to them, and they were watching the video that had just arrived. Slightly creeped out by the fact that there was a camera of sorts in their hotel room they were comforted when they noticed that the camera was in fact on Kai's wrist band, whenever he moved the camera would shift and get out of focus, but it was usually pretty accurate.

"We can finally confirm our speculations; they have existed and interacted with our civilizations since the birth of man. Their images appear as idols in early civilizations; such as ancient Babylon and Egypt."

"What is he talking about?" Tyson asked as he stared at his father on the movie within the movie.

"Although different societies give them different names, the translated meaning always remains the same. They are always considered to be powerful sacred spirits. Part mythological, part magic, the melding of both science, and nature, today they have a new name: Beyblade Bitbeasts."

"Bit beasts!" Kai's voice was a low rumble due to how close the sensor was to him, and one of the girls squealed when she heard it.

"What-beasts? So my father's sacred spirits are actually bitbeasts?" Tyson was awed, and in real life, it had been confirmed earlier when Mr. Dickenson had said he was going to send Mr. Granger on the expedition.

"According to legend most sacred spirits exist in animal forms. They appear in hundreds of fables, fairy tales, and myths- always attatched to a small object, and appearing in a powerful burst of energy whenever they are called upon."

"A small object? Like the bit in our beyblades?"

"No way." Max could hardly believe what he was hearing, but Rei seemed to believe it as he spoke up.

"That makes a lot of sense. The White Tiger clan has been passing Drigger down from generation to generation since ancient times."

"And that's what happened to me! It's a family heirloom, the dragon heart sword's bit." Tyson added thoughtfully.

"Then it's true, our bitbeasts are those sacred spirits that your dad mentioned." While it was hard to imagine Dizzy as being a real bitbeast as she was trapped inside of a computer, Kenny's words did include her too and that in of itself included him in the number of rare beybladers that had the spirits.

"These sacred spirits are veered as a symbol of great power in countries all over the world, however there are some notable exceptions to this rule. There are some powerful spirits that have grown evil over the centuries."

"Oh man...there are evil bitbeasts?" That was the bit that made Kai interested. Though they couldn't see his face, it was obvious from how still the camera suddenly got that the boy had tensed, he was listening closely.

"That sums up our initial findings, I'll report again as soon as we discover anything else."

"Stupid thing barely said anything at all." He muttered as he shook his head. Rei frowned at him

"What are you talking about? I found it very informative." Kai just shrugged.

"You would."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Tyson interjected, but the captain was already walking away, his hand going to his wrist where he was disabling the camera on it.

Not to long after that the Blade Breakers were in that alley facing off against the first of the Dark Bladers. The camera setting was easily enough recognizable as the one that Anna had on her laptop and with the occasional typing sounds in the background it was confirmed that somewhere above the fight she had been sitting and recording it for her own data purposes.

Tyson jumped the gun stupidly and got involved in the fight head first. It didn't take long for him to realize though that the mummy bitbeast didn't want a conventional match and was going straight for Dragoon. So obviously Rei, and Max had to get involved without thinking and launch their blades. "Wait we need to make a plan!" Kai hissed hopelessly as they ignored him and went on right ahead. "God damn it these brats never listen!" He growled under his breath as he crossed his arms.

They hadn't seen what he clearly had in the first place – the alley was too narrow for them the maneuver. The way they wanted to. Or at least, it was too narrow at that particular moment for the bladers' capabilities to allow them too. So the first thing they did to fix the problem was call out their bitbeasts and the mummy bit of their enemy just wrapped them up so they can't move.

"There's nothing we can do now....Dragoon!" Tyson yelped in surprise. He couldn't believe how badly he was loosing.

"Not yet, there's still one beyblade left." Kai said easily enough. He'd actually thought things through long enough to get an idea on how to fix things.

"Kai!" Rei seemed surprised by the idea of his involvement but he just shrugged it off.

"Come and get me you walking bandaid." He glanced around, taking in the alley and the things in it one more time. "Let it rip!" And with that Dranzer was out. The mummy's arms flew out to grab it, but it veered to the left, causing the arms to trip up. Then it jumped hitting the fire escape and running up the railing then cutting through the various spaces in the bars. It jumped to the ground, scooting through the garbage, up another fire escape, constantly verering to the left or right to get away from the long arms that just kept getting longer.

"Don't give up yet, Kai only looks like he's retreating..." Kenny said faithlessly even as the fire child smirked. Kenny had no idea what he was talking about at times.

"That's it...follow the leader." He mumbled smugly.

"Hah! Take that!" Tyson hooted, laughing.

"It looks like Kai's got that mummy under wraps." Rei punned at his Captain's annoyance. He'd grown up with enough of Bryan's puns to last him a lifetime, he didn't need Rei's too.

"He used its own power against it."

"That's brilliant!" Max was clearly awed.

"Fire arrow!" Kai ordered, eyes locked on his blade. The bandages vanished from the trapped bitbeasts and the enemy was defeated.

"Kai did it! They're free!" Max all but jumped up and down in his excitement.

Kai however wasn't phased, he kept his eyes locked on his target. The bitbeast was still trapped from where it had wound itself up, and Kai wasn't taking any chances. "Who are you? Come out of there!" Kai snapped his tone deadly. A dark laughter was all he got in return as a figure slowly appeared in the darkness of the alley. A green cloak with yellow accents...glowing eyes....Kai actually had to restrain himself from flinching but he had to ask to make sure....it looked too much like Boris for a moment. "What...uh...are you?"

"I am your destruction....Cenotaph! Retreat!" The mummy tore out the bandages and brought the fire escape down with it as it pulled back.

"He's free!" Tyson shouted in dismay.

"You won't be so lucky when we meet again!" The dark person said with a sneer. "For that's when I'll break the Blade Breakers!" As he slowly vanished, the others all stared. Kai's mouth was dropped slightly, he looked like he couldn't believe what he'd just seen.

"He-he vanished...into thin air...yeah...we were lucky this time..." And Kai actually restrained himself from rolling his eyes in annoyance as he turned and walked away.

"What type of freak dresses up like a zombie and then does magic tricks and expects us to take him seriously?" He muttered under his breath as the screen faded into darkness.

As for the rest of the European trials, they were a huge surprise to most everyone. Who would ever have guessed that the actual reason that Kai had lost his battle was actually because he'd taken a bet up with Tala?

The slate haired boy was standing out on the balcony of one of the hotel's they'd been staying at and he was talking on his cell phone, the other end of the conversation picking up and carrying over to the subtitles in order to actually be understood.

"I'm just saying that it seems like if this team can actually beat them and make them realize how important it is to try, then I think it'd be advantageous for them to go head to head." Kai was saying simply enough, not realising he'd already sealed his own fate. There was the sound of laughter on the other end and Tala replied with the dare.

"Well then I dare you to lose to the first one you get a chance to fight with."

"What the hell? Why on earth would I need to lose?" Kai hissed angrily. He didn't like losing, that much was obvious, but Tala didn't seem to take note.

"Simple, they'll realize that they need to train more to become world champions – didn't you say so yourself."

"I don't need to lose to prove that to them. I could win and still do it."

"Yeah, but I didn't dare you to win, I dared you to lose."

"There's nothing in it for me if I do." Kai argued petulantly, sounding much more like a child than an adult.

"Then a wager. I bet that you won't do it, and if I win, you have to leave the BD Server to me. Meaning I take care of it completely and you don't go anywhere near it."

"And if I do do it?"

"Then you can get to do it with no complaints on my part."

"Steep stakes, but when you put it that way you already know you're going to lose."

"Yes, but you have to lose first. I just know Anya will get me the footage so I can make copies of it."

"Try it and you'll never see your Lady Love again." Tala laughed slightly and then trailed off.

"How are you doing though...seriously?"

"I'm doing fine Luka, quit worrying about me. How are things on your end?" There was silence. And then a quiet sigh.

"Not so good..." a shiver of warning went through the watchers backs. They had barely heard of anything else about the Abbey for a while, and it wasn't all that surprising to see how things were getting worse.

"What's going on?" Kai whispered worriedly.

"Mikhail...I think he's going to do something incredibly stupid. He's going to get himself killed."

"What? Mikhail's never done anything without thinking of himself first. He'll be fine."

"No Kai...he's got a weird bond with my little brother and mother...I think he's going to try to get them out before the baby comes..."

"You think he's going to kidnap Kiril right out of the Abbey?"

"Yes...I think he's going to do something like that..."

"Why? What's the rush? He must know by now that Free-Fall is underway and that we're going to get everyone out of that place in a matter of months."

"There's no time...something's going to happen soon, and I'm not going to have any say over it. Just take care of yourself and I'll try to hold him off...but Kai...the sooner you get your team to Russia, the better."

"We'll finish up with these Europeans and I'll get there as soon as I can."

"Don't forget to lose."

"Don't forget to breathe...I've got to go. Keep a leash on Mikhail, we're almost out of here."

"Pakah braht." Goodbye brother.

"Pakah braht." The screen faded into nothing.

It was humorous therefore when the watchers noticed Kai's less then pleasant mood he was in ever since they'd been given the invite to Robert's mansion (more like a castle) and the ride on the blimp through the storm. At first it could have been just chalked up to Kai's usual demeanor, but upon further inspection it was clear that he was actually rather agitated.

"That's just not right! They should not be able to use security footage from my own home!" Robert yelled out indigently once he saw the familiar dining room where the Blade Breakers and two other Majestics were sitting in wait. The others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it's kind of creepy actually..." Oliver said as he shivered. "But then again, they are the International Security Agency..."

"But there's no privacy! The other tapes I can understand, that was part of an ongoing investigation and set in public quarters, this however I must protest to!" Robert was actually seething, and the others were slowly trying to calm him down.

"Children, there's a movie going on, complain about it later!" Emily snapped as she glared at the german boy.

On the screen Tyson just could not stop fidgeting. He was tapping his fingers and toes and anything else he could think of, and he was complaining the whole while. He was being a complete distraction! (In real life, Tyson apologized quietly for being such a nuisance.)

"Awe nuts! I've had enough of this!" Tyson on tv shouted at long last as he stood up and started to storm for the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kai asked, clearly annoyed by his behaviour and growing tired of his agitating personality.

"To find him! I don't care who he is, he's not going to snub me!"

"Go sit down." It was said in exasperation, and it was clear Kai didn't think much of Tyson's plan. He wasn't even ordering him to do it, it was simple and clear annoyance and it was testament enough to how worked up he'd been in the first place to by past orders and just talk normally rather then putting on his tough guy routine.

"W-what?" Tyson clearly was surprised by the words, surely he thought Kai'd agree with him because he was actually startled. Although his puzzlement seemed to snap Kai back into his normal bossy self because the next thing he said was clearly a command.

"I said sit down. You'd just end up getting lost."

"Give me a break, he's just stalling that's all, and I'm tired of being treated like some dirt bag!"

"But Tyson-" Kenny tried to calm the other down, but he was going to get nowhere with the hot head.

"I'm outta here!" And with that the boy stormed away. Kai sighed and shook his head slightly.

"He never listens."

Of course it didn't take long for Tyson to figure out that if he had just waited with the rest of them he could have avoided the run through the castle by dropping spikes and a slide into a fire, but he never did listen. Fifteen minutes later they were all getting ready to do their match with Robert. Kai still in a foul mood, it looked like he'd never get over himself. He was silent the whole time and barely talking to them, if anything it was like he was just indulging them.

"How about we make this wager a little more interesting?" Johnny asked as he inspected the suits of armor around him. "Like you beat me to get to Robert? But of course you know that will never happen, right? So then, you're my first victim." He twirled around and pointed straight at the Captain who looked more bored with the suggestion then anything else. The others gasped at the announcement, but he remained motionless and with a raised eyebrow of clear boredom attached. "I think you look like you'd be more of a challenge then your little friends. Well, don't you?"

"No thanks." He said easily.

"W-what?"

"I said. No thank you. Besides, I don't have time to be playing games with the likes of you, Johnny."

"Boy, for someone who doesn't talk much, he sure talks tough." Enrique quipped as he watched Kai starting to walk away.

"And he sure put Johnny in his place didn't he?" Oliver added with a giggle.

"Oh, you wanna play hard ball do ya? Well you just crossed the line buddy and now you're going to have to pay!" Johnny yelled furiously, his eyes flashing with his ire. Kai just kept walking away though, ignoring him completely.

Oh come on Kai, you're seriously going to give up the BD Server just because Johnny's being an idiot? Anna's voice quipped, and almost instantly Kai turned around, ignoring Robert's flip anger management comment. Somethings he'd be willing to deal with, but he wasn't going to let Tala win their little bet.

"You're mine!"

"Alright then. Let's do it." Kai said simply enough, though there was a tension in his voice. He did not like to lose. Even during the match itself when he declared "I've never thrown in the towel and I'm not starting now." was proof alone that he was agitated with the predestined loss. He had the decency to look at least slightly shocked when he did lose though. He scooped up his blade and looked at it for a while, almost as though he were apologizing for not doing things right the first time.

"It's nobody's fault. We just have to get stronger as a team. Johnny showed us that we're not the best beybladers around, and we've got work to do." Rei said easily enough.

"You're absolutely right Rei, we'll show em. Someday soon we'll have our revenge." Tyson announced easily enough. Kai looked up. At least things were going as planned on their front. Things had a good chance of not going as planned not to far away though, and he was not looking forward to hearing the news about whatever was happening in Russia.

Tala was crouching in front of his little brother and a small child next to him. There was a pleasantly neutral look on his face, and it seemed like he toned down his dark aura when he was around the child. He wasn't smiling and yet he was certainly at ease with these little children.

A slam of screen made the boys flinch, and the teen turned to look behind him. Boris appeared, his posture stiff and his fists clenched. His back was to the camera, and as he moved closer to the trio the Tala stood sharply and positioned himself before the boys effectively making them vanish behind him.

"Sir." The red head dipped his head, but the moment his eyes met the floor a white glove snapped sharply across his face. He barely moved at the strike, and instead he simply looked up unflinchingly at the man.

"You murderous little traitor." He hissed as he caught the teen by the throat. "You bastard child of a whore, who knew I had my own little snake in the grass when I created you." Blue eyes looked at him without even so much as a waver.

"Sir?"

"You told the ISA quite a bit now didn't you? I watched you." At that the boy nodded sharply.

"Sir, if you'll allow me the chance to explain, I will do so." Tala's words were so slippery and soothing that it was clear that he was more then capable of dealing with this matter easily enough. Boris didn't give him the chance. He took the boy and he threw him to the floor. Toddlers yelped and ran in two different directions as they tried to avoid getting crushed by the sixteen year old.

"So I can hear more of your lies? What have you been filling the head of my little prince with hmm?" Boris leered towards Kiril who was staring at his idol with wide eyes. He was terrified. Tala glanced back at him and just motioned for him to speak, he had nothing to fear from the child. "Kiril?" Boris coaxed as he stomped on the teen's hand where it was motioning.

"He-he said that we were holding our blades wrong." The boy said, stuttering at first and then gaining confidence. "Adrien and me were prac-ta-sing." He held his blade up as proof and the other boy nodded shyly not to far away. Boris glared towards the boy and grabbed him roughly by the arm.

"What is a maggot like you doing with my boy?" The little boy's eyes filled with tears and Kiril screamed as he ran forward trying to pull his friend back.

"No! Adrien's my czar!" All eyes flew to the bronze haired boy. Tala raised an eyebrow.

"Guard?" He offered knowingly as slightly darker haired boy nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, yeah, guard!"

"It's yes, Prince." A voice to the side whispered into the room. Mikhail was walking towards them, his eyes glancing over to the teen still on the ground for a brief moment.

"Mikhail. Where have you been?" Boris hissed angrily. The young man apologized briefly.

"I was getting prepared for my meeting with Lord Voltaire at noon Lord Director." He bowed lowly. Tala frowned tightly. He was staring at his foster brother long and hard, and all the watchers could easily recall the red head's opinion on what was going to happen in the future.

"And you let my boy mingle with this traitor?"

"Sir?" Sharp eyes forced the guard to glance down at the teen who revealed nothing. His face was passive. He didn't look concerned. Either he was acting once more, or he was found out. Either way, Mikhail looked as though he were thinking rapidly.

"He told the ISA far more then he led me to believe he was sharing with those bastards." Adrien's arm was roughly released and the boy stumbled back towards Kiril who helped him remain upright. Then the two stared at the scene in front of them with growing surprise.

"Sir, in order to gain their trust I told them things to keep them interested. I have not told them all of the important details that you requested that I not share." Tala said simply, not in the least bit concerned. Boris glanced towards him.

"You spend far to much time with my son, boy." So that's what this was all about. It had nothing truly to do with him being a spy. Tala raised an eyebrow.

"Sir, am I to understand that you believe me to be corrupting your Prince?" Mikhail looked stunned at the wording. Theoretically, Tala if anything would be the heir to Boris Balkov. In the event that his great scheme actually worked, Boris would be the ruler of the world, Voltaire would be murdered at some point since he was no longer necessary, and Tala would be his first born son and heir....yet he was never once called that.

He never once drew focus to the fact that he was the man's child. He never once dared to call himself a Prince. He never once said anything of the sort. He was a master of wordplay. Boris didn't consider him his heir. He considered Kiril his heir. That being said, daring to call the boy his brother, or daring to put himself in a place of grandeur would only make things worse.

And expectantly, lapping up the words of his estranged child, Boris laughed and nodded his head.

"Yes...my Prince. You...you are far to much like your fool mother." A mother that he kept in the dungeon to produce more children. The words were so close to the surface on everyone of the watchers' minds, and yet they said nothing. No one spoke. Everyone was quiet. How ironic was it then that the boy that was stolen from his mother when he was just a baby was so much more like her when the child that grew under his mother's wing and with a deep fear for his father was more like that man then anyone else? Kiril glanced at his brother who didn't meet his eyes. He was focused on the man before him. "Did you know that that woman is having twins?"

"No sir." The redhead replied easily. He truly hadn't known.

"Yes...twins....and one is a girl." Blue eyes narrowed darkly. The only sign of emotion on the boy's face. The only sign of his act faltering. "Do you know what we do to girls in this Abbey of men?" Mikhail actually looked decidedly pale.

"Kill them sir." Tala replied, his voice even, even as he stared straight back with little emotion.

"Yes...but it's not a quick and painless death...no...the child will be ripped from your mother's stomach and she will be slaughtered like the animal she is for daring to contaminate my boy."

Unsurprisingly at the news there was a flash of hatred on the red head's face. It was the first signs of his mask crumpling. He looked like he was actually about to go and kill Boris. He looked like he was ready to do the deed right then and there, before all these people, he was ready to destroy him completely.

"Kiril and Nikita will not be tarnished by either your ill fated sister or you...you are nothing boy. Nothing but a means to an end, and trust me when I say you will never be considered a Prince in my Court you snake."

"I have no desire to be as such. I wish only to serve you and yours from now until the end of days." Tala's voice was actually quite calm considering how much it looked like he truly wanted to slaughter the man in front of him. Boris smiled pleasantly at him and nodded.

"Maybe you'll be a little monster and kill this new girl as well?" And with that he slowly started to slink away back into the shadows. For a moment, Tala just continued to lay where he was, his eyes closed as he concentrated fully on breathing. Mikhail watched him for a moment before sighing heavily and fiddling with the mask that he was wearing.

It was little Kiril who first broke the silence. He slowly walked forwards and he touched his idol's hand that still lay motionless on the floor from where it had been stomped on. Blue eyes cracked open to stare at him for a brief moment. Before he slowly moved his hand away and sat up. Pushing himself to his feet he glanced towards Mikhail and frowned heavily.

"I'll be leaving soon." The man said slowly as he looked at his foster brother and then tilting his head towards the two small children.

"Don't do it." The red head whispered...but it was only half a whisper...he couldn't bring himself to truly tell the other to stop. He couldn't do it.

"I'll be back." He said simply enough.

"Mikhail-"

"Come along children. Let me bring you to where you belong." He took Kiril's hand and Adrien quickly followed. Tala stared after them for a long while, his body rigid as he watched them go. His bruised hand clenched into a tight fist and in an uncharacteristic fit of anger he slammed it into the nearest wall.

Then suddenly he fell motionless. His eyes looked like they'd stopped seeing everything as he stared out the window closest to him. He looked out it and he kept himself completely still and silent. He was completely and totally still. Only the slight tremors of his lips, so small and unnoticable were his movements. The screen seemed to be put on pause for a moment as an overlay started applying sound. The ringing of a phone filled the room, and then a quick pick up a moment later.

"Da?"

"Mikhail vai morrer." Mikhail is going to die.

"Onde esta?" Where are you?

"Torre norte do Abbey." The north tower of the Abbey.

"Que é o que vai facer?" What is he going to do?

"El vai tentar salvar a miña familia de Boris ... el vai ter Kiril e miña nai fora. Kai é preciso contar a alguén, fazê-los parar de Mikhail sinatura fóra súa vida. " He's going to try to save my family from Boris...he's going to take Kiril and my mother away. Kai you need to tell someone, get them to stop Mikhail from signing away his life.

"Vou probar-"

"Non! Non faga-me gardar un irmán a perder a outra!" No! Don't make me save one brother to lose another!

"Vou probar Luka, I'll try." And with that, a single lone tear fell from Tala's emotionless mask as he turned away from the window. Kai couldn't do anything. He wouldn't have time. He wouldn't be able to do a damn thing. There was nothing they could do to stop what was going to happen.

The cameras outside could just pick up the sight of Mikhail and two small children and a heavily pregnant woman rushing out of the Abbey. It wouldn't take long. Not where Boris' Prince was concerned. The boy was essential to the man. So it wasn't surprising when moments later there were dozens of guards rushing after them as the three scurried away as fast as they possibly could. They ran and ran and ran, one of the guards raised a gun and fired, and Marina fell to her knees.

Mikhail stopped, and Kiril screamed for his mother, but Marina shouted for them to keep going. And they did. Mikhail grabbed the two toddlers and kept going – disappearing into the darkness of Moskva. Marina clutched the wound on her leg as the guards surrounded her. Her blue eyes looked up, and they widened slightly at something off screen. Her lips moved to say a name, Yuri, but soon her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she passed out.

As for Mikhail, he had disappeared. He had taken the two boys, for some reason Adrien had gone along, and he had vanished into Moskva. Boris was furious. He was absolutely furious and he couldn't believe what had just happened. He turned and found Tala watching the scene coldly and he roughly grabbed the boy by the throat, striking him over and over as the redhead was once again a mockery of everything he had done wrong.

The one person he had entrusted his child with. The one person who had known all about the boy and was willing to do whatever it was to continue being the boy's guardian, had disappeared. He never would have guessed Mikhail. He never would have guessed that the boy he had tricked into being the cause of his parents' deaths would have betrayed him so soundly...

Kiril, the boy who would have been Prince of the world, was now gone and all the man had left was his first born who he considered far beneath him, and the unborn child that was in that woman's stomach. At five months pregnant that bullet could do some extreme damage since neither child would be able to survive if something happened.

Tala didn't seem to mind the fact he was getting completely pummeled, but at the sudden appearance of Bryan, Boris shoved the boy into his friend and the Air wielder caught him. His face was grim. Clearly he had heard what had happened, and he wasn't pleased in the least. He held his friend up and Tala looked over towards him for a brief moment before sighing heavily and touching his bruised cheek.

"Get that ingrate out of my sight before I do something I regret." Boris hissed angrily, and Bryan complied.

They managed to walk rather far before Bryan finally opened the door to his room and led his companion inside. He sighed heavily and started to look the red head over. He looked miserable, and Tala was struggling hard to keep himself from reacting towards Mikhail's betrayal.

"They're going to capture him you know." Bryan said softly. He closed his eyes and put his head in his hands. "Mikhail prostule..." Mikhail you fool.

"Cine a ştiut de idiot a avut-o în el?" Who knew the idiot had it in him? Tala murmured in the same language Bryan had spoken, even as he diverted his eyes and wringing his hands tightly.

"Guys!" Ian threw the door open and both looked up quickly. "They got him." He was breathless. He must have run the whole way back.

"The boys?" Tala asked quickly as he got to his feet. Ian shook his head.

"They're gone, and Mikhail's not saying where to."

"What the hell do you mean they're gone?" Tala hissed lowly as he bore into the smallest Demolition Boys. Then he froze for a minute and that blank look appeared on his face.

Called Michaels, he picked up Kiril and another boy in an abandoned factory, couldn't get Mikhail. Kai's voice filtered softly. I'm sorry brother...

"Damn it all to hell." Tala felt his breath be sucked out of him as he clenched his fists.

"Tala?" Ian whispered worriedly.

"Where the hell is that fucking idiot? I told him not to do something stupid." The teen was furiously trying to get himself under control. Ian motioned back the way they came and the boys quickly moved to follow him.

They were rushing quickly, everyone was. The halls were filled with crowds and people were hurrying to the great hall. The three were just barely able to be able to get through. They were shoving people out of the way, barely taking note of the various children around them. After a time people just started to make a path for them to get through because they didn't want to get trampled on.

They were running as fast as they could, and they knew already that they weren't going to be able to make it in time. They hurried into the door and they pushed open the door and stepped inside, masks plastered onto their faces, they approached. Boris was absolutely fuming in hatred. He was striking at Mikhail with everything in his being, but the other was staying blissfully silent. Kiril and Adrien were gone, and as sad as it was to say, Marina was dying and with her death she would be free from this blood stained cycle.

"Where is my son!?" The man howled as he kept beating the other to death, and yet Mikhail said nothing, and he exposed nothing. He was simply quiet, a look of smugness on his face. He had finally done something of such great worth, he'd saved two children from this place and he'd kept them from being further tarnished by the darkness of the Abbey.

Tala met his eyes as he walked forwards to stand in his assigned place as a Demolition Boy. Bryan at his right, and Spencer at Bryan's right, Ian at the end. Everyone was watching the scene, and as the five hundred children of the Abbey gathered Boris was obliviously proving a point with this, but his tirade was getting no results and the young man he was soundly beating to death was going to keep the whereabouts of those boys to his grave.

Boris himself was getting the idea that the former guard wasn't going to break and so he did the one thing that he could do to get his final acts of revenge on the man who had destroyed his great plan for his child.

"Bryan!" The Air blader stepped forwards. His eyes locked on his friend. The mask had been removed and now there was nothing to stop the world from seeing the handsome and bleeding face of Mikhail Ivanov. The adopted son of parents he unwittingly had a hand in murdering. "Dispatch this traitor from this earth." Boris hissed hatefully.

Bryan's blade launcher/gun was in his hand in a flash. He steadied it had Mikhail's face. The brunette met his gaze unflinchingly. And echoeing through all the watcher's ears were Michael's words...

For nearly six years, you kids have been dealing with that place under our orders. If we go through with this, and none of the charges stick...then I'm taking you all out before this gets worse, or one of you ends up dead.

Before...one of you ends up dead.

Ends up dead...

"Boris told me to push Kai into the road. He's the one who caused the car to crash, he's responsible for all the deaths that every child here has-"

BANG

No one said a word. No one dared to make a sound. Mikhail's body was slumped on the ground. Blood trailed from the wound in his skull. The young man's death had been assured from the beginning. He had been the driving force behind everything. He had been responsible for saving Tala from that rooftop he'd been flirting with disaster on. He had been the mocking force that they could all blame forever. He was not evil.

No Mikhail was not evil. He was terribly sad and he was always hoping to have a life that was not stolen away by Boris. He was a cunning person who knew how to play all sides to get where he wanted. He was an encyclopedia of information when it came to things he wasn't supposed to know.

He didn't know that pushing Kai that day would get his parents killed. He didn't know that it really had nothing to do with Kai or him being there. That Boris was going to kill them anyway, but having that guilt shoved onto both of them had kept them under his thumb.

He didn't know how to talk to his younger brothers because he was always believing that they would hate him for the deaths of their parents. Yet he had been there when Luka had needed him. He had been there for him, just like he decided to be there for everyone when he did join the ISA. He was there for everyone and he was ready to do it again.

Mikhail was not a bad person. He was not evil, and he was not corrupt. He was simply capable of making the decisions necessary in order to achieve the goal he wanted. He had been totally ruined when he met Marina. He had been totally broken when he saw her face and he saw the child that she was caring for.

He was lost in the hope that he wanted to make things up to his brother. He wanted to show him that he wouldn't let this woman die, this woman who quickly became the mother figure that he too needed. This woman who's child became his ward as he stalked the boys steps to ensure his safety.

He was lost in the fact that he gave up everything to try to make that family happy. He saved Kiril from the Abbey. He got him to safety, and Kiril's friend was with him. Marina was recaptured again, but at least Kiril made it out.

The only true regret that anyone could say that Mikhail had was that poor girl who was slated to die was not able to be saved. Not even born, and never to experience true life, Tala and Kiril's little sister was going to be killed, and there was nothing that could possibly save the child. It was the only regret he had.

So as he lay there, dead on the ground, he was smiling. Even though he never had the chance to finish what it was he was going to say, finish telling the truth about everything he'd learned and everything he knew, he was smiling. He was truly at peace. The guilt of everything had been taken away.

He had absolved himself from his sins by saving those two boys. They were in the hands of the ISA. They were going to be sent off to someplace safe, and they were going to be free. They were not going to be trapped in Boris' world. He knew that the Demolition Boys were going to lose. That his sacrifice wasn't in vain.

The whole world world would be saved and those two children will be able to live in a life without fear or judgement. Kiril could exist as Kiril Valkov – or whatever surname that he so chose. Adrien would be able to be the friend and not the guard. And at long last, Mikhail could rest for eternity without the worries of the Abbey stalking his footsteps.

Mikhail joined them in freedom. He was not free alive, he was constantly entrapped by his guilt and his suffering, but now he was free. Now he was set to sleep forever without the fears and worries of anything. In death he had been saved. Bryan knew that as he pulled the trigger, but it didn't make the pain any less. It didn't stop anything. Instead, it made the people around the room stare in stony silence.

Mikhail may have been free, but the rest of them weren't. The rest of them were not free. The death of that one guard had done nothing except solidify the fact that none of them could betray Boris. That was their fate. Death. Yet at the same time, death was a promising outlook. A quick and painless death like Mikhail's was far better then falling to the darkness of the cannibal ridden hole in the ground that was still in the training center.

A painless death was something that they all, in secret wished for. Yet no one spoke. Everyone remained silent. Bryan turned his back on the corpse, unable to look at the face of his once dearest friend. He walked back to his spot and he glanced at his teammates who held no blame in their gaze, and held only the stony acceptance of everything that was around them.

They lived in this world, and they would accept it as their fate. While Mikhail had earned his freedom in death, they were still bonded to slavery in life, and they were still living in a world that had not changed.

Four months until Liberation day, Mikhail Ivanov was killed on May 7, 2001.