A/N: Oh my goodness, first of all, I'm so sorry! It's been weeks since I last updated! My excuses are that school ran me over, and I had a hug crisis of inspiration. Once more, I'm so sorry!
You've already been waiting for far too long, but before getting to the chapter… Thank you so much for your amazing reviews! (hugs to each and every one of you!) It's only because of you guys I actually ended up updating. Thank you!
Okay, without any further… Here it finally is – chapter 25! I sincerely hope you'll enjoy!
/ Eight years later. /
Almost nine-years-old Adi Hatake's formally bored ice-blue eyes suddenly flashed as she paused rummaging through the old chest that'd been practically hidden to her home's attic. As she lifted up her discovery, she immediately knew she'd found a treasure. It was nothing more than a simple photograph, but still… Something about it entranced her.
The photograph seemed old, considering how yellow it'd become, and so worn that it must've been fiddled for countless of times. It represented two teams, she realized right away, stood quite nearby each other and obviously celebrating, though there seemed to be some… tension and suspicion lingering between them. She blinked when recognizing those faces, although they couldn't be older than in their teenage-days, and some of them had passed away before she'd ever seen them in more than shabby photos.
Her daddy, her papa, Tyson, Ray, Hilary, Max and Kenny, along with Bryan, Spencer and Ian.
Instinctively, she flipped the picture over, and blinked once more when seeing text that was smudged so badly it was barely readable.
' BEGA defeated. '
She jolted a bit with fright when something suddenly brushed her knee. Looking down, she felt her curiosity picking up once more when finding it was another, much newer, photograph, which had apparently been almost glued to the first one by time. Feeling her fingers tingle, she picked up the photo, and immediately felt her skin crawl. It represented a group of grieving, devastated people she couldn't recognize from umbrellas, gathered for a memorial service. Still shivering, she flipped around this photo as well, and found a text that was written in a different handwriting from the last one.
' I'm truly sorry for your loss, but didn't I already warn you? When you try to save the world, you are bound to lose something.
After all, no legend is born without sacrifices. '
She frowned, feeling very cold.
What on earth could that mean?
She woke up from her thoughts to a male-voice. " Koishii, dinner's ready!"
She nodded, although the one who'd spoken couldn't possibly see it. With great carefulness, she put away the pictures. " I'll be right there!"
As she left, a breath of air slammed the chest's lid closed, sealing its secrets in once more.
(Megiddo Saga, Chapter 12) CHAPTER 25: In every end…
/ Present time. /
If there was one emotion Darja hated above any other, it was confusion. And masses of that were flowing through her as she sprinted forward with the young man she'd just found.
She knew her son was dead – had been from pretty much the beginning of his life – and it was pathetic, as well as useless, to even wish for anything else. But still… That red hair, those blue eyes, let alone his name – Tala – and the… connection she'd felt instantly when they'd met…
Could she really turn her back on all the signs?
Fortunately her thoughts were swept elsewhere as the sight met her. It appeared the battle she'd been anticipating with great fear had just started. Most of the rebels that'd grouped together into what looked like a lobby of the building were engaged to a battle with Black Dahlia's soldiers.
As always before a battle, she shuddered. " It's time", she announced half-aloud.
¨
Hearing the woman's – his mother's – words, all Tala could do was nod. Without saying a word, they joined the battle.
Tala had received battle training for pretty much his entire life. That's why he felt almost guilty by how easily he took down Black Dahlia's barely prepared soldiers. But his consciousness was soothed as soon as he reminded himself of some facts.
Because of the people controlling these idiots, he'd been tortured for most of his life, until he'd reached a point where he'd felt nothing at all. Because of those freaks, almost all bonds he'd ever attempted to create had been destroyed. Because of them, he'd come an inch from losing what mattered to him most – hell, that danger still existed.
He'd been beaten. He'd been just about shattered. Now, he finally had a chance for some payback.
His newest opponent flew to floor as though struck by tons of iron when his fist met the man's cheek. Ice-cold pleasure could be seen in his eyes as the man struggled into a sitting-position after quite a while, casting a fearful glance his way. " Do you have any idea of what you're now fighting for?" He gestured towards the partially destroyed building around him. " All this place and those freaks create is pain, terror and monsters. Is that really something you want to support?"
The man swallowed thickly. " H – how… can you… be sure?"
He smirked while kneeling to the man's level, revealing his teeth. " Easily", he noted while lifting his fist. " I was raised by your bosses." With that, he slammed the fist directly to the dumbstruck man's face. The man was down in a flash.
¨
Darja – who'd also just managed to take down her latest opponent – frowned when feeling a sudden tingle underneath her skin. As though following some inner voice, she turned her head towards Tala. Her heart nearly froze at what she saw.
Somewhere along the battle, Tala's shirt had ripped so that she could see the back of the redhead's neck. There, solid and clearly visible, was a crescent shaped birthmark – the same she'd once seen on her son.
Her eyes widened, and her almost stilled heart was sent into a mad dash as all her former suspicions were confirmed. " Oh my…!"
Her son… After all this time, he was still…
All of a sudden, her chaotic thoughts were interrupted as she spotted movement from the corner of her eye. Her eyes widened as she turned her gaze to discover one of Black Dahlia's soldiers lift a gun and fire. The bullet never hit its right target, who managed to dodge right on time, but instead continued its journey towards its new, unsuspecting victim. Which happened to be Tala.
Her eyes growing even wider, she sprinted into movement. " No!"
The group of former Bladebreakers stared at Boris' gun with widened eyes, each of them trying to figure out how the hell they'd be able to get away from this one.
Boris gave them a somewhat impatient look. " Time's running out", the man informed them. " Which one is more precious to you – your bit-beasts, or your lives?"
Thoughts were buzzing around in Ray's head. A couple of sweat drops formed.
He won't be able to gun us all down at one go, he mused. If he'd be distracted for even just a little while…
Only those stood behind him noticed the slightest twitch his hand made, searching. " We're a team, right? We should also work as one." Finding what'd he'd been looking for, he wrapped his hand tightly around it, then – faster than Boris could blink – threw it towards Tyson. " Move it, NOW!"
Tyson's eyes widened as the bluenette realized what the object thrown at him was. Ray's bit-chip. " Ray, what…?"
But the raven didn't hear anymore, as he was already moving, fast. With the training he'd received in his home-village, it took no effort of him to punch the gun from stunned Boris' hand. The weapon slid a nice distance backwards.
' MASTER!' Driger's terrified voice shrieked inside his head.
" Ray, are you out of your mind?!" he could faintly hear Hilary yelp.
Boris emitted a loud growl, look of rage and humiliation in his eyes. " That – you brat – was the final stunt of yours!"
He aimed another punch at the wrath-blinded man's face. " So long as I manage to take you down with me, asshole…", he hissed, raising his fist again. " … it doesn't matter."
But by then, Boris had regained his self-control. Ray found a shudder travelling through him when the man's irony hold graphed his wrist, nearly breaking it. " Did you really think it'd be that easy to take me down?" A punch threw him to the floor. " Guess again."
Golden eyes flashing, he threw his leg forward, successfully tackling the man down. " I know enough to not have such delusions, you fuck."
¨
At this point, Tyson – realizing that something would have to be done – finally regained his ability to move. All thoughts whirring in a huge mess, he darted towards the stone-table, praying that he'd make it on time. Finally reaching his destination, he fought furiously against the urge to look over his shoulder when he heard Ray and Boris' voices along with sounds of falling down and punches. There was no time to hesitate.
He could've sworn the table begun to buzz when he rapidly placed three bit-chips into the holes on it – just then realizing that two were still missing. Heart skipping a beat, he whipped his gaze towards Hilary (who was staring at the fight between Ray and Boris) and Max (who'd sunken to the floor with Milja's body, searching for the woman's pulse). " Hils, Maxie, throw your bit-chips to me, now!" he screamed.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Max nodded. In a flash, the chip was flying through the air towards him. " Hurry, Tyson! I don't think we have much time!"
He made an exasperated sound. " You don't think I already know that?!" he huffed, taking a catch and placing the chip into place.
He grinned brightly as the table's glow grew far brighter than before. " Done! Only one more to go!"
¨
Ray's breathing eased a little as he heard Tyson's words.
It'd all be over soon. They'd succeeded.
Unfortunately, however, it appeared his momentary loss of focus had been a huge mistake. Before he could as much as blink, Boris aimed one more punch at him, causing stars to dance upon his vision. " I'm not letting you destroy everything I've been dedicating myself to for all these years, you useless idiot!"
As his head begun to clear out little by little, he spotted Boris' gun laying nearby, only about three or so steps away. His eyes flashed with determination.
It was time to bring an end to this, once and for all.
With one, fiery kick he managed to push to older man further from him, and begun to crawl his way towards the weapon, his head still too hazy to allow standing up. His hand was already reaching out for the gun, when a heavy boot was suddenly slammed against his fingers. He couldn't restrain a mew of pain when his fingers were crushed against stony floor, and sounds of crackling bones could be heard.
Boris snorted while leaning down and picking up the gun. " Foolish little thing. You actually thought you could win this." Metal was pointed towards him. " Goodnight."
¨
Hearing those words, Tyson's self-control broke and he spun around. His eyes widened as the sight met him. " No…!"
" RAY!" Hilary shrieked, and begun to sprint forward – but she was hopelessly too late.
A deafening bang was heard, and in a matter of seconds Ray's face gained a look of pain and surprise, before he slumped to the cold floor.
Disbelief and such rage Tyson had never felt before rooted him tightly to the spot as he watched outraged, teary-eyed Hilary attack Boris with all her might. " You bastard!" she screamed. " How could you…?!"
With what seemed to require no effort, Boris punched her, sending her flying backwards. " Pathetic", the man declared, then prepared his gun once more. " Now… Which one of you fools would like to be the next one to go? Or have you finally regained your senses?"
Tyson barely heard, his terrified gaze locked to the pool of blood that'd begun to form underneath Ray's heartbreakingly still form.
This just couldn't be real…
" Tyson!" Hilary's voice called him back into reality. There was a line of blood oozing from her nose, but her teary eyes were nothing but fire as she threw her bit-chip towards him. " Catch!"
He reached out his hand and took a step forward – until everything stilled, and his eyes widened once more, though this time for a whole another reason.
Two more gunshots echoed in the walls.
After a moment, a small clinking sound was heard as the bit-chip hit the floor, followed by a shrill scream from Hilary and a loud gasp from Max.
Meanwhile, the group inside the BBA-centre could actually feel a battle approaching.
Mr. Dickinson didn't think he'd ever been as terrified as he was while hiding in a carefully disguised safety-room (which one of his employees had suggested to be built) with Bruce Granger, Sonia, Katia plus Tyson and Hilary's baby-twins (who were currently soothed and watched over by Judy Tate). At that moment, he did the only thing he could to maintain his sanity. He reasoned.
There was no staff inside the building – he'd given them all a day off the day before. So right now, all he had to worry about was the gang. And…
Katia's voice interrupted his thoughts. " Mommy, is Konstantin alright?" There was a heartbreaking look of utter worry upon the ten-year-old's face.
Sonia managed to smile while ruffling her daughter's hair, although her own worry for Max must've been overwhelming. " Of course he is, honey. Everything's going to work out."
All three of them jumped when the room's door was suddenly opened, but calmed down upon discovering it was only Kenny. Despite darkness, they could see a pronounced shiner decorating the computer-whiz's eye as he led startled and suspicious looking Mischa in. Noticing what they were looking at, the brunette winced. " Please, don't ask."
Mr. D frowned, noticing something missing. " Where's Emily?"
Worry was clear upon Kenny's face as he replied. " She went to get Anna and Joshua." The man swallowed hard. " She said it shouldn't take long."
Mr. D fought the urge to wince. " I'm sure she'll be back in a second."
Kenny gave an odd sound that was most likely supposed to be a laughter. " I really hope so. Because…" He trailed off.
Silence fell.
¨
Only a couple of hallways away, Emily sprinted into the room where she and Kenny had left Anna and Joshua to sleep in.
Joshua jolted a bit as she shook him awake, but calmed down right away when recognizing her. Anna, on the other hand, was obviously unable to see her, and begun to shiver when awakened by a sudden force. A small bang of ache appeared to her chest. " It's alright, sweetie. It's just me. I'm sorry I scared you." Her eyes then became stern as she looked at both of her kids. " Anna, Joshua, we'll have to go, now. A group of very bad people is attacking this building – we need to get to a safe place."
With wide, terrified eyes, the children nodded wordlessly. She opened her mouth for words of comfort, but much to her dismay nothing came. And so they slipped towards the door without saying a word, minds forming soundless pleas.
Unfortunately, none of those pleas seemed to be registered. For as soon as she opened the door, she gasped when meeting a impressively sized gun. The male-soldier holding it smirked icily. " So here you were hiding."
Instinctively she positioned herself so that her body was protecting the children as much as possible. Her eyes filled with a huge set of emotions when she stared at the soldier's fingers squeeze all the more tightly around the weapon, fully expecting the final blow to come. The weapon would go off any moment now, she was sure.
But the hit never came.
She blinked with surprise when the man's eyes suddenly bulged a bit until he fell forward, unconscious. And it was then she finally saw Bryan, who was standing right behind the soldier. The lilac-haired gave the unconscious heap a disgusted look before fixing his sharp eyes on her. " Are you okay?"
She nodded, dazed. " Y – yeah." She gulped a bit. " Thanks."
The Russian simply waved a hand. " C'mon, we'll better get going before any more of these…" He made a loud swallow. " … nasty people find you. I'll take you to where the others are hiding."
She followed without a hint of hesitation.
¨
Some moments later, Bryan looked around with extreme caution before moving a particular book in one shelf of the building's huge library. In a blink, a small secret space was opened up for them.
The people inside cast fearful glances towards the door as it was opened, but breathed deeply with relief when finding them. Unable to restrain himself for even a briefest second, Kenny rushed forward, pulling his family into a bone-crushing hug.
Bryan, on the other hand, frowned with almost showing worry when discovering that certain faces were still missing.
Seeing this, Mr. D's eyes softened. " Irina is looking for Nikita, Konstantin and Adi. Don't worry – I'm sure she'll be able to protect herself."
He nodded stiffly, and opened his mouth. All words were, however, halted when a sudden, extremely dark feeling went through him, from head to toes. He shuddered.
Oh no…Seeing his expression, Mr. D frowned. " Bryan, what…?"
He was gone before the man ever got the chance to finish his sentence.
They were all surprised when after a moment, Bruce begun to move as well. Fret flashed in Judy's eyes. " What do you think you're doing?"
The man's eyes were filled with hardness and determination. " There's a group of kids trapped into this building, and both of my sons are missing. I'm going to find them before those soldiers do."
Judy's eyes flashed. " I'm coming along."
" No." Bruce's eyes softened considerably. " You need to stay here and look after the twins." They could both tell that wasn't the real reason, but neither pressed the issue.
The woman seemed to shudder a bit, knowing that there was nothing she could do to change the stubborn man's mind. " You'll better be careful, do you hear me? Because if you do something stupid, I sweat…" She trailed off.
In spite of all, Bruce managed to smile weakly. " Stop worrying. I'll be back before you know it." With that he, too, disappeared before any objections could be voiced.
¨
Only one floor above, Irina was lead by some instinct within – mother's intuition, could it possibly be? – as she entered a small, yet extremely comfortable room.
Despite the situation, a smile graced her lips when she met Nikita's eyes, which turned from scared to relieved when seeing her. " It's alright", she all but whispered.
No matter how hesitant he still was towards people, Nikita lost all control over himself at those words, and before she blinked he'd wrapped his tiny arms around her and buried his face into her clothes. " T – thank you", she could've sworn she heard him murmur. " Thank you."
Her eyes filled with utter warmth and nearly spilling tears of movement. But before she managed to voice a single one of the thoughts whirring inside her head, a voice interrupted her. " This is adorable, it must give you that much. But unfortunately I'm forced to cut this… bonding-moment short." Turning around, she found one of Black Dahlia's soldiers, a rather big-sized man who looked back at her with eyes that carried no emotions. " It's time for me to complete my mission."
¨
In the building's lower floors, Brooklyn and Hiro came to discover all too clearly that it wasn't easy to hide a group of terrified kids from the soldiers attacking the building. But eventually (after a lot of calming words) it became silent in the in the quite well hidden cellar-space that was much too small for their group.
Hiro almost dared to sigh with relief – until his careful ears suddenly steps two pairs of heavy steps, far closer to the storage's door than he would've liked. He swallowed heavily, feeling very cold.
If something wouldn't be done soon, those freaks would find them, and kill each and every single one of them, down to the very last child.
With that thought ushering him forward, he pushed himself up from the floor and began to make his way towards the door, steps somewhat shaky.
" What do you think you're doing?" Brooklyn's shushed, terror-filled voice suddenly sounded.
He didn't dare to turn and look at his fiancé. " Someone's gotta lead those idiots away from here." No matter what the cost, he silently added.
His hand was already rested to the door handle, when he heard Brooklyn whispering again. " Kira, take care of the kids, okay?" the orange hair said to the oldest of the children.
His eyes widening, he spun around to find Brooklyn also standing up, Kira (as well as most of the other kids who were old enough to understand the situation) staring at them with terrified eyes. " But…! Those people, they…!" The last words were swallowed.
A warm, yet slightly sad look appeared into Brooklyn's eyes. " Don't worry about us – we'll be okay." The gaze then turned a lot sterner. " Be quiet, and stay here. Don't let those people find you."
Horror built up in Hiro's chest. " I'm not taking you with me!" he exclaimed as loudly as he possibly could.
Brooklyn's eyes showed nothing but resolve when colliding with his. " There's nothing you could say or do that'd make me let you leave alone. So let's stop wasting time and get going, okay?"
Unable to speak another word due to a lump that filled his throat and a strange sensation filling his eyes, he nodded weakly.
Casting a one last glance towards the horrified children and trying to seem as reassuring as possible, they stepped out. As soon as they closed the door after them, the two soldiers who'd been terrifyingly nearby noticed them.
Hiro realized that he was beginning to shiver as he took a deep shuddering breath.
Heaven help us…Without wasting another precious second, they ran towards the exit nearby, the guards following (never remembering to inspect the room they'd escaped from).
Kai had never moved quite as fast as he did when dodging one attack from Noah after another, throwing his responses with as much intensity as humanly possible.
He couldn't keep himself from smirking carnivorously as a sickening crunch was heard when his fist met the other's nose. " Second time I broke your nose, bastard."
A fist flew his way, slamming against his prepared open palm. " Third, Dollface", Noah corrected him, threatening, stomach-turning gleam in his eyes. " How unfortunate you've forgotten about that little sparring-session of ours."
He snorted while delivering a punch that missed its target with an inch. " I didn't exactly consider it worth remembering."
¨
Dmitri – who'd been helplessly observing the battle with widened eyes, one hand pressed against his injured shoulder – was suddenly ripped out of his concentration by a feeling of painful, searing squirming underneath his skin.
Looking downwards with deep reluctance, he felt his eyes grow even further upon discovering patterns of darkest purple dancing upon his skin. That chilling doctor's (Repnin, wasn't it?) words came echoing into his ears.
/ " This injection will finally awaken something that's been laying in slumber inside you." /
He gulped laboriously. " Oh fuck…"
¨
Hearing Dmitri's somewhat pained whisper, Kai instinctively turned his gaze towards the silver-haired, and felt his body grow unnaturally cold as he saw the patterns, too. " Oh shit…"
That moment's distraction was all Noah needed. From the corner of his eye, Kai could see something approaching, until an irony kick was straight at his stomach, ceasing his breath, and he flew through the air. Despite himself, he emitted a hiss of pain as his head slammed mercilessly against a wall, and he was nearly knocked out. He could feel something warm, thick and moist on the back of his head.
Damnit…Forcing his eyes open, he found everything spinning a little, and realized that his hearing wasn't working right. He saw that Dmitri's lips were moving frantically as the man screamed something with an expression of utter terror, while Noah approached him with a chilling sneer, also saying something.
In a flash, his ability to move returned, although his ears were still blocked. He jumped into a standing position – only to face a gun Noah aimed his way. Although he couldn't hear a sound, he could tell he was screaming loud protests when he noticed Dmitri beginning to dash towards the bastard in a desperate attempt to take over the man. Defying all dizziness, he begun to rush forward as well, frantic to stop what was about to happen before it'd be too late.
And then – unable to do a thing a stop it – he saw Dmitri collide with the snake-eyed. The trigger was pulled.
Still in that extremely beautiful, strange place he'd recently woken up in, Robert blinked at Johnny's cryptic words. " Help me… let go?" He frowned. " You mean… I'm going to die?"
Johnny shook his head with amusement and sadness tinged expression, making him even further confused. " It's not your world I'm trying to convince you into letting go of. I'm not here to help you die, but to live." The Scott's eyes became uncharacteristically soft. " Spencer loves you, and from what I can tell, the feeling is very much mutual. So stop hanging on to something that'll never be and give yourself a chance to be happy – for both your sake."
First time since he'd came into this place, Robert felt warmth pumping through.
He'd known for a long time he loved Spencer. But it wasn't until at that moment he realized just how much.
A somewhat arrogant, knowing look appeared to Johnny's face. " So you're finally catching on, huh? It sure took you long enough." The redhead's eyes softened once more. " Trust me, I know how good it feels to be with someone you love and who loves you back with all their damn heart. So stop being an idiot and take your chance for that. Don't throw it all away."
He knew Johnny was right. But still, he just had to ask… " I'm going to see you again one day, right?"
" Of course you will, stupid." The redhead smirked. " Now quit the sappy stuff and go back already, will you? And make damn sure you won't waste this second chance; I'll be watching you."
He couldn't keep himself from smiling faintly, although sadness must've been apparent in his eyes. " I know." After a moment's thought, he added. " I'll miss you."
Johnny rolled his eyes that had something soft, almost sad in them. " Yeah, yeah." The redhead flashed him a one last grin. " So long, Jurgen."
He nodded his own goodbyes and opened his mouth, but before he managed to pump any more volume into his voice everything became painfully bright and he felt himself fade away. Little did he know, what he'd been about to say was left lingering into the strange place.
' Thank you.'
¨
In the hospital's waiting room, Spencer felt a warm flow go through him.
A smile of utter relief rose to his exhausted face.
¨
The nurse who'd announced Robert had stopped breathing suddenly made a loud gasp. " H-He's breathing again!"
Eyes filled with bafflement, Spencer's doctor checked and gasped as well. Just a moment ago, she'd been ready to proclaim this man dead, and now… " What the hell just happened?"
No one could answer.
It seemed like time had stopped working in the ancient room the group of ex-Bladebreakers was in. Hilary's huge-sized eyes were filled with utter terror as they glanced towards Tyson, who'd pressed a hand against a bleeding wound that'd appeared to his chest. Boris, too, had pressed a hand against a gunshot wound on his stomach, spiteful eyes darted towards Milja, who'd bounced into a sitting-position and was now pointing a gun towards him. Max's head was spinning so badly he barely managed to sit as he desperately tried to take in everything around him.
A growl escaped Boris while the gun slipped from his hold, making a loud sound when hitting the floor. " I… shot you… straight to heart…", he hissed. " How…?"
Milja snickered icily. " You've never heard of a bullet-proofed west?" Her eyes hardening, she tightened her grip on her weapon once more. " It's 'bout time to finish this, you piece of shit."
She fired again, and this time the bullet hit Boris straight in the middle of his forehead. Seeming almost surprised, the man managed to stay up for a fleeing second, until his eyes glazed over and he fell to the ground.
After several moments, Milja allowed her hand to drop.
It was finally over.
¨
Tyson registered hardly any of this, partially because of the pain blocking all his senses, partially because of all his screaming thoughts.
Barely managing to keep his body from crumbling completely, he graphed Hilary's bit-chip (which had fallen to the floor that was no slightly bloodied) with a badly trembling hand, then turned to the table once more. With the absolutely last of his strength, he managed to slide the chip into place. The table lit into what seemed like an inferno.
A tiny, extremely weary smile came to his face. " I… did it… damnit… I… did it…"
With that, his eyes slid closed, and he begun to fall, everything disappearing.
¨
As far as it was humanly possible, Hilary's eyes grew even larger than before as she sprinted forward, managing to catch Tyson just before he would've hit the ground. " TYSON!" Hearing no response, she felt tears building up behind her eyes. " You damn moron… Don't you dare do this to me, do you hear me!" She shook him, but there was still no response. A couple of tears rolled. " Don't you dare…!"
Max, on the other hand, rushed over to Ray, searching for pulse with frantic movements. His heart nearly stopped. " He… He's barely breathing…"
Just then, the affects of the bit-beats being joined begun to show. All three conscious ones of them yelped with fright when a flash of extremely bright, white light flashed from the table, going through the entire room. Once the light disappeared, it felt like the entire world had begun to crumble.
Milja's eyes widened. " We've gotta get the hell out of here! This place is going down!"
Max frowned. " What about Kai, Tala and everyone else?"
" We'll worry about that later, alright?" Milja growled, just managing to dodge a piece of debris falling on her way to help Hilary with Tyson. Together she and Hilary managed to support the bluenette so that they'd be able to run. " We've gotta move it, right now, or we'll be squashed like bugs!"
Seeming hesitant, Max nodded slowly, extremely reluctantly coming to a conclusion that Milja was right. If they wanted even a slightest chance to help anyone, they'd have to be alive. With those thoughts, he cautiously placed one hand under Ray's legs and other behind the raven's back, then lifted the other up.
Not another word was said as they begun to run, hoping for best being the only thing they could do.
Tala had never, ever liked being touched, especially when he had no control over the matter. That's why he jolted violently when a rough hand was placed to his shoulder and he became pushed down with irony force.
His blue eyes smouldered when turning and finding Darja. His mother or not, he barely knew this woman – her touch was definitely unwanted. " What the heck are you doing?" he nearly hissed.
His tone didn't seem to affect the woman a slightest. She opened her mouth the exact moment a bullet whistled above them, crossing the precise point where Tala's head had been a moment earlier. " Does that answer your question?"
He swallowed, not willing to look at the woman while he straightened his form. " That was the second time you've saved me today", he stated with deep unwillingness.
As he finally forced himself to look to side, he found the woman's eyes far softer than they'd been. Although he never said the words, she seemed to understand. " No problem, Tala."
Feeling this absolutely smothering need to tell absolutely everything, he opened his mouth. But before any words came out, the building began to shudder. He barely noticed the chaos that ensued around him as the soldiers and even some rebels panicked, and everyone begun to rush out. All that fit into his chaotic mind was a single thought. " Kai…"
With half an ear, he heard Darja gasp. " Dmitri…!"
His eyes hardened when darting towards the woman. " This shit-hole isn't going to last long. We should get moving."
Darja's eyes flashed. " No! I'm not letting you stay here – it's too dangerous! You're going to get the hell out of here, as fast and far as possible!"
If anything, those words caused his eyes to grow even more determined. " There's no way you could ever make me leave. Would you abandon Dmitri here?"
Darja's eyes softened as the woman emitted a defeated sigh. " So you just had to inherit my stubbornness", she sighed, speaking more to herself than him. After a long moment, she nodded with obvious reluctance. " Fine. I'm taking upstairs, you check the lower floors. Be out in six minutes. Understood?"
He nodded. Once more, he opened his mouth to say something (even he had no idea of what). But Darja cut him off, her eyes suspiciously moist. " Be careful, alright?" And with that, she hurried off.
He didn't know for how he stood there – not even noticing the pieces of the building falling all around him – when Wolborg's voice broke through. ' Master… I can sense him. I can lead you to him', the bit-beast announced, sounding somewhat anxious. ' We should hurry.'
His eyes flashed. ' Then what are we waiting for?'
And so he ran, skilfully avoiding being hit by all the junk falling down and hoping – praying – that he wasn't too late.
In the BBA-building, Ian ran through the hallways as fast as humanly possible, half-dragging panting and trembling Ming-Ming behind him. Although he'd been trained for battles for all his life, he realized that he'd never been this terrified in his entire life.
They turned around one more corner until they froze completely. There, five soldiers of Black Dahlia were waiting for them. A man who seemed to be leading the group snickered upon seeing them. " Well how about this… Looks like we got a little bit of action after all."
Ian's eyes turned stony. " Ming, run."
The woman shook her head with wide eyes. " No, I'm…!"
" NOW!"
After hesitating for a longest time, the woman took two steps backwards, the rushed away.
One of the soldiers laughed. " So you didn't want her to stay and see you getting your ass kicked? Understandable."
He smirked coldly. These idiots were underestimating him – this'd be easy. " Well, if you want to do this the hard way… That can very well be arranged."
Three of five men were down before they even properly realized what was happening, completely taken aback by his speed and force. The two last ones, however, were proven to be more of a challenge. He ducked down when a kick was aimed his way, hissing as his ankle twisted painfully, then – ignoring the slight pain flowing – jumped once more, making an impressive black-flip over one of the remaining opponents, managing to take the man down. But as he landed, things got a lot more complicated. A sickening snap was heard, and he didn't manage to fight back the small growl that came when a wave of pain erupted from his ankle.
Oh shit…His last remaining opponent grinned wickedly. " So you managed to get yourself defenceless? How unfortunate – it would've been much more satisfying to finish you off with you in full strength." The man's other hand reached out to look for something. " But now…"
Suddenly, something he would've last expected happened. The man's mouth remained hanging open when a nauseating 'swat' was heard. The man's eyes widened drastically before he fell with a loud thud.
Ian could just feel his eyes widen when he found Ming-Ming stood before the man, a long iron-bar in her trembling hands. Her eyes were filled with shock while staring at the unmoving soldier. " Oh my…! What have I…?!"
His eyes softened a bit. " It's alright." He would've said 'thank you', had his pride allowed him to. After a moment and a wince of pain, he spoke again. " Now… Would you please help me up? We'll better get the hell away from here."
Ming-Ming nodded, still in a state of shock, and after some long moments managed to convince herself to move.
" Remind me to never piss you off, will you?" he noted as she gently helped him up, and they begun to make their way away.
Despite her state of shock, Ming-Ming laughed just a little.
¨
One floor down, Bryan was sprinting through the hallways once more, desperately attempting to find Irina, Nikita, Konstantin and Adi, who hadn't been in the room where Kai and Tala had left their kids to sleep. Near-terror squeezed his heart as his imagination came up with sickening images of what could've been done to the four of them.
All of a sudden, his careful ears picked Konstantin's very much familiar voice. " Stay the hell away from my sister!"
Instantly, he begun to sprint towards the sound, and ended up finding an extremely small room that looked more like a storage-space than anything else. There, a young woman (or no, a girl) with plum-coloured hair was stood before Konstantin, who was holding baby-Adi protectively and glaring at the girl with seething eyes. (1)
He could hear a small, icy laughter. " Just hand over the brat, and make things easier on yourself. You can't even imagine what kind of pain I'll be able to put you through if you resist."
Bryan's eyes flickered with anger.
He'd make that bitch regret dearly ever laying a hand on a child.
In a move swifter than eye, he'd graphed an extremely sharp, star-shaped blade he'd once made and thrown it forward. As the girl turned her gaze towards him, he was almost sure the blade would hit her right in the middle of forehead – but that never happened.
It took all he had to keep his eyes from widening when the girl lifted her hand and graphed blade skilfully into between two fingers. Not even a drop of blood was spilled.
The girl gave him a chilling smile. " Well how about this…", she mused, amusement flickering in her eyes while she allowed the blade to drop. " One of you idiots is actually going to put up a good fight for his miserable life." With a flowing motion, she'd revealed two long daggers from the sleeves of her long jacket. " Too bad it isn't going to save you – or these brats."
He scoffed. " We'll see about that."
With that, the battle begun.
¨
Looking at the man stood before her, Irina found herself beginning to shiver with nearly exploding wrath. Her eyes gained a dangerous look as she took a firm stand before Nikita. " You piece of shit, keep your hands away from my son!"
She couldn't see the expression upon Nikita's face, but she heard an extremely loud gasp. The man before her, on the other hand, sneered. " Do you honestly think you'd be able to protect him? How pathetic."
Emitting a growl that resembled that of tiger's, she charged forward – only to find her fist meeting an open palm. Her eyes flashed with fury and surprise when colliding with the man's stoic ones that held a colour of blood in the lack of light. " I see you've mistaken me to one of those pitiable idiots sent to attack before. Let me assure you, I'm not one of them. Master Hiwatari has trained me for this for my entire life."
Despite the situation, she snorted. " 'Master'?" She slammed her fist forward, and it came dangerously close to hitting the man's face. " Should I take it as you're his own little puppy?"
Rage flickered, and before she managed to even blink a surge of pain struck her face. Looking at the man once more, she encountered a pair of flaming eyes. " I am no one's puppy, bitch", her opponent hissed.
She was about to retort, until she heard Nikita emit a whimper of pain and fright. Immediately turning her head with extreme worry, she found her eyes widening. " What the…?!"
Nikita's eyes – which were slowly turning into a shade of bright red – were filled with terror when looking back at her. The boy's skin was filled with furiously spinning dark-blue patterns. As the trembling child opened his mouth, she could clearly see a pair of sharp fangs. " H – help me… P – please… P – please help m – me!"
The desperation in that thin, shivering voice almost brought tears to her eyes. Pain filled her unnaturally tight chest as she, too, opened her mouth, but words simply refused to come.
Her slip of concentration was exactly what the man had been waiting for. Before she managed to get a slightest clue of what was approaching, a brutal force threw her against a nearest wall. After an explosion of pain everything became black.
¨
Outside the building, Hiro and Brooklyn had no idea of for how long they'd been running when they suddenly reached a dead-end. Hiro's breath wheezed and a look of terror appeared into his eyes as he and Brooklyn stood on a cliff.
The fall itself wasn't impossibly high. But below, he could see a razor-sharp field of rocks waiting. And if one would in some miraculous way manage to dodge those, there were still hungry waves of ice-cold water, anxious to take a jumper into their eternal embrace. Survival would be a miracle.
And behind them, he could hear the guards approaching, already so close by that any minute now they'd start shooting.
There was nowhere to go.
He shuddered a bit with surprise when a hand was suddenly wrapped around his, holding tenderly. Looking up, he found a pair of trustful azure eyes looking back at him. Light shone in the man's engagement ring. " All the way down. Come what may", the orange-haired whispered.
His own hand returning Brooklyn's hold with a nearly desperate force, he was powerless to keep a couple of tears from coming. As they looked at each other for one more fleeing second, the valuable words didn't have to be voiced out loud to be known.
' I love you.'
Taking deep breaths, they jumped into emptiness just as the first bullets whistled.
In the ancient labyrinth underneath Black Dahlia's base, Kai was almost sure his heart would simply stop as his hearing finally returned to catch Dmitri's small yelp of pain before it became dead silent. Unimaginable, mind numbing surge of emotions washed over him when the silver-haired's limp body slumped into his arms, what seemed like gallons of blood staining the front of his shirt.
Despite Noah's presence, he couldn't keep shimmering from appearing into his eyes. " DMITRI!"
This… couldn't be happening… This had be… a sick dream… A trick of imagination…
His eyes were filled with hotness he was determined to hold back for now as they locked to Noah, who was smirking amusedly. " You… piece of shit…"
Noah snorted. " It wasn't my fault he got in the way, no? Or that he ended up into the middle of all this, for the matter."
At those words, Kai felt something inside him snap, but he refused to let all rage unleashed just yet. With the most gentle of moves, he laid the precious cargo in his arms to the ground. His moves firm and rapid despite the slight tremble of hands, he ripped three slices of fabric from his black pants and dark-purple shirt. Not stopping to think for even a moment, he wrapped two of the slices to tight rolls, then pressed them firmly to the gaping wound. Still not hesitating, he wrapped the much longer slice (which went all the way around Dmitri's middle torso) so that it anchored the two others firmly to place, effectively squeezing them tightly against the wound.
He shivered with mild relief as the flow of blood slowed significantly after a couple of beats, but his muscles didn't relax one bit. Dmitri had lost a lot of blood, and there was no telling how much damage had been done inside. He'd have to get the silver-haired out of this rat-hole, fast.
Noah, who'd remained silent until then, made an amused sound in the back of his throat while putting his gun away. " So you're actually thinking you can save him?"
Now, Kai mused, was the time to let all that was whirring inside him loose. Casting a one last glance towards Dmitri's face (feeling more guilty than ever in his entire life), he jumped up, and was rushing towards Noah before the man could properly realize what was happening. His strike sent the man flying to the floor and sliding at least two metres backwards. " I already told you, you piece of shit", he remarked in a dangerously calm voice, watching as the other struggled to all-fours. " If you want to keep me here, you'll have to work a hell lot harder than that."
Noah smirked. " Is that so? Well, then, allow me to remind you that if you want to get out of here…" All his alarm-systems activated as the man fished out something. " … you'll have to work a lot harder as well."
He could actually feel boiling spreading through his veins as he clenched his fists. It was now or never. " As you wish, you piece of shit."
Before the other could move another muscle, he kicked forward with all his might, sending Noah sliding again. He grinned icily when hearing a small crack and growl as the man hit the wall. " That one was for Dmitri", he hissed. " And now…" He was hovering above the man in a blink, his steady hand wrapped around the snake-eyed's gun. " … it's time to finish off what I came here for."
After that, everything happened as fast as a flash of lightning. Their hands moved, and a beat later two chilling sounds were heard; a gunshot, and a nauseating wet sound of knife plunging into flesh. Kai was powerless against the flash of pain that appearing into his eyes when he laid a feeble hand to the knife Noah had showed right into his stomach.
Oh shit…Despite all pain and soon appearing dizziness, he managed to stand tall as he watched his bullet – which had hit right Dmitri straight to chest – working its magic, causing blood to roll in a sickening river. The man's snake's eyes filled with what looked like surprise when looking up him. " Holy damn, Dollface…", the man managed to choke, then grinned weakly, coughing blood. " You…" Before the next word ever managed to make its way out, Noah's eyes glazed over, and the man fell utterly limp.
For several endless seconds Kai watched with stern eyes, not trusting the man to stay dead. Eventually – as he finally realized that it was actually over and adrenaline faded – it all became too much. He fell to the floor, his bloodied hand slipping from his wound.
With the absolutely last of his might, he forced his body into moving and crawled over to Dmitri's hopelessly still form. Barely possessing the strength it required, he lifted his clean hand to the silver-haired's face. Yet again, his eyes were sent stinging by how cold it felt, and two crystalline tears escaped against his will.
He opened his mouth to say something – he had absolutely no idea of what – but no longer found what forming words would've required. In utter defeat, he allowed his hand drop from Dmitri's cheek, and his searing eyes slid closed. He fell limply to the man's side, one arm resting on the silver-haired's body (almost like in a weak attempt to protect). His mind was completely oblivious to the fact that the building was collapsing all around him.
Dangling on the very edge of consciousness, he could all of a sudden faintly hear Tala's frantic voice. He wasn't sure if it was because of echo or his spinning head, but the voice seemed to be coming from every direction at once. " Kai! Kai, are you in there!" There was a odd, banging sound he could just make out with all other noise and darkness sliding in. " Kai, answer me, damnit! Can you hear me?"
Slumping even further to the floor, he felt his eyes sting as they slid closed. " Go… J – Just go, Tallie…", he whispered, although there was no way the redhead could hear him. " Get… out of… h – here… Please… Leave…"
" KAI!"
There was only a thin trace of consciousness left. " Get… out…"
The entire world vanished, melted into blinding whiteness.
¨
Tala's heart – heck, his entire body – was thumping with terror as he kept banging the blocks of debris he knew separated him from Kai with all his desperation, knuckles already bloodied. " Kai!" he screamed yet again, his voice growing scratchy. " K…!"
Then, his voice became slammed into the back of his throat as his gaze dropped downwards.
There, running like a small river, blood smeared from underneath the door.
His eyes widened to a nearly impossible size. " No… No, no, NO!"
From his terror, he couldn't see the piece of ruins falling his way.
He only felt an electric-like jolt of pain until everything became darker than night.
As soon as the building was down, electricity returned to the world that'd been sauntering in darkness for several months.
Black Dahlia had been defeated.
There was once more light.
All around the world, people gathered to streets and after daze begun to cheer, feeling hope for a first time since darkness had fallen.
TBC.
1) You probably can't remember because she was mentioned so briefly, but this is the girl mentioned in the very beginning of the last chapter.
A/N: (winces) Yeah, I came back after a LONG break, and immediately throw all these cliffies at you. Sorry!
As I feel a need to escape FAST, I'll get going. But first… PLEASE do review! It seems I've managed to develop a nice little crisis of inspiration, so right now, hearing from you guys would seriously mean a world to me! (sends pleading eyes)
Until next time, folks – I seriously hope it'll will appear faster than this one! (sweatdrops)
Be good!
Chapter countdown:
One chapter an epilogue to go. Woohoo!
BloodRedViolet: (winces) If the reviews so far have been a strain for you, I can't even imagine what these once do! I'm so sorry! Right now, the only comfort I can offer is that at least the end of the story will soon end them.
My goodness, I just can't believe how close to an end this story is! It feels like ages since I started out with this one! (makes an anime fall)
Again, GIGANTIC thank yous for reviewing! I really hope you'll be staying tuned!
¨
thegreatwhitewolf: Three exams AND a lab quiz in one week? Wow – so I'm not the only one who's tortured by school! (winces)
Thee-hee, gosh how good it is to hear that there are other BrookxHiro fans out there as well! Hooray! (dances with joy) Hey, maybe I should make a fic of them…? (pauses to ponder)
Once more, enormous thank yous for reviewing! See you around, yeah?
¨
Fengary: Gosh, you have no idea of how proud I am you like the characters! (jumps all over the place with utter joy) (Yay, I've created a Tala-lover!) (hearts in eyes)
A sequel, hmm? (scratches chin with a thoughtful expression) What a interesting thought… Interesting indeed… Whoever knows, if my devious mind manages to come up with a decent plotline, there could actually be one. I've kinda grown on to these characters – it'd be heartbreaking to let go of them. (smirks)
Darja felt… a bond, I guess, between she and Tala. Heh, a mother knows their kids, huh?
Hooray, I'm so glad you like BryanxIrina! It's become one of my favorite couples in this fic.
Ooooh yeah, Adi definitely has Tala's eyes. (squeals) Gosh, she's such a cutie – and she'll definitely be a real heartbreaker when she grows up! (snickers)
Once more, loads and loads of thank yous for reviewing! I really hope I'll be seeing you around!
¨
LadyOfTheBluePhoenix: (cringes) The next update seriously took time, huh? Once more, I'm so sorry about the wait!
Heh, I'm so glad you liked the Konstantin and Adi –scene! I just couldn't resist making it once I got the chance!
My goodness, I just can't believe how close to an end this story is! It feels like ages since I started out with this one! (makes an anime fall and sniffs) Heh, perhaps I'm having a borderline writer's block because I wouldn't want to finish up this fic. (Yeah, a real psychologist speaking here…) (snorts)
Again, MASSIVE thank yous for the review – I'm beyond thrilled you liked the chapter! I really hope you'll be sticking around for the final chapters!
The OCs in this story:
(These are only the 'important ones', such that make frequent appearances. With the others, like most of the kids – such that appear only once or twice, or don't hold much significance – I'll explain who they are each time they appear.
If you notice someone important missing, just let me know, 'k? With a memory as lousy as mine, at least five's bound to be missing…)
Konstantin Hiwatari-Valkov – Kai and Tala's son, who's recently ended up getting kidnapped by Black Dahlia, as he's (aside his papa) the only one able to handle both Dranzers.
Katia Poldevski – Reporter Sonia's daughter, whom Gabriel and other freaks from Black Dahlia are using to blackmail Sonia.
Dmitri Polinovskaja – A almost graduated doctor, who's been taking care of a mysterious brunette named Alexander (that is highly likely in fact Kai).
Irina Hiwatari – Kai's sister, who's been working for Black Dahlia under a recently revealed code-name Cobra. It appears she has 'history' with Bryan.
Sonia Poldevski – A reporter whom Kai contacted a little before the shooting-incident. She's now determined to find out the truth behind Black Dahlia.
Mischa Kuznetsov – Bryan's sister, who was a test-subject for the freaks from Black Dahlia. As a result of the tests, she lost her hearing, and was locked up into a institution until recently.
Misha Kuznetsov – A soldier of Black Dahlia, who's current assignment is to punish traitor Irina. It's been revealed that he was the one who shot Kai. He's managed to wrap Hilary around his little-finger.
Noah Tataranowicz – A snake-eyed, extremely skilled hit-man of Black Dahlia, who's behind a lot of the bad things the group's gone through. It was recently revealed that he once worked for ISA, but (obviously) betrayed them.
'Dr.' Ilia Repnin – Another hit-man of Black Dahlia, who appears to be next from Gabriel in the hierarchy. He was, for example, behind stealing the new-born baby-girl of Kai and Tala's. He also happens to be responsible for most of the horrible scientific experiments of the organisation (being the 'doctor').
Gabriel Hiwatari – Kai and Irina's father, as well the leader and founder of Black Dahlia. He's the monster responsible for all the suffering the group (along with MANY other people) has gone through.
Commander Raphael Dacosta – Kai and Irina's uncle, and (aside his mother and Mr. D) the only adult the former has been able to trust, as well as Gabriel's twin-brother. He was presumed dead, but is instead now a commander of ISA.