Disclaimer: Don't own nothin that ain't mine
Quote of the Update: When his life was ruined, his family killed, his farm destroyed, Job knelt down on the ground and yelled up to the heavens, "Why God? Why me?" and the thundering voice of God answered, "There's just something about you that pisses me off."—Stephan King
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Tala strode hurriedly through the endless halls of the Abbey, his footsteps echoing off the hard stone walls and through the long corridors. He winced slightly as one off his healing wounds irritated him from his fast movements. He vaguely remembered how he had gotten them, after he had tried to warn Kai of Voltaire's plans. But he'd gotten his stupid ass caught, and now Kai was paying the price. Although, Voltaire had made sure he got his fair share of payment from Tala as well. Lucky for him, he was drugged pretty much the whole time and didn't remember half of what had happened.
Tala quickly shook the thoughts out of his head, focusing on the task at hand. If he didn't get to Kai in time, Voltaire would kill him. Then the bond to Dranzer would be broken. If that happened, the bitbeast's power would fall mercilessly into Voltaire's hands. And if that happened, the world would be in mortal danger.
And Kai's little friends were probably already 'storming the castle' right now. Idiots. The only thing they would accomplish from that would be getting themselves killed. And Kai didn't need anymore deaths hanging over his head. Tala could use a few less himself.
As Tala turned the corner, something caught his eye. A set of feet were being dragged into the main control booth. 'What the hell?' Tala ran over to the door, hoping to catch the person who was doing the dragging before they shut the door. He was unsuccessful. The door slammed shut and a light 'click' followed, signaling that the door had been locked.
'Damnit!'
Tala stared at the door in frustration. Could he really spare any of his time to wait for this guy to come out? Hell no. He'd just have to break the door down. He cracked his knuckles and got to work on the hinges.
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Suki walked over to the control panel. This was going to be harder than she had originally thought. There were so many little buttons. Why did there have to be so many buttons?
"Kenny, do you have any advice for me?"
"Well, the security system on this place is pretty tight. Even Dizzi couldn't get into it. You're on your own. I've got no idea how this thing works."
Suki groaned. This was going to give her a major headache. "Alright, I'll give it a try."
She began studying the monitors on the wall. They were security monitors, probably hooked up to all the cameras in this place. That was a start. If she found a way to disable the cameras using this thing, maybe every monitor in the Abbey would stop working, making it easier for her to search this place without getting caught, not to mention the others that were waiting outside.
After studying the many cables that ran under the booth, Suki began to get frustrated. 'Ah, screw it. I'll just start unplugging things until what I want turns off.' Suki tried one of the red wires, pulling it out of its circuit. A droning sound emitted from the control panel, then everything went dark.
'Ah fuck.'
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Tala was working on getting the door hinges loose when suddenly every light in the building went off.
'The hell?'
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Outside, five teenagers watched from outside the Abbey's gates as all the lights in the buildings went out. One of the teens who was holding a small laptop turned his head toward the others.
"I guess she pushed the wrong button."
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Kai stared up at the ceiling. The lights were beginning to dim slightly. Then darkness engulfed the entire area. He could hear the two men outside cursing and feeling around the halls while trying to get their bearings, only to run into something and curse more.
Kai didn't pay them much mind. This could be the break he needed. With the lights off, no one would see him escape. But wait. How was he supposed to get out of a locked cell? He found himself longing for Dranzer. If he had his bitbeast, at least he'd be able to do something.
A loud yell nearby followed by some colorful language suddenly made it's was to his ears, breaking his train of thought. Kai smiled. One of the dumbasses outside had run right into his cell's bars.
He could hear the man's footsteps as he stumbled back away from the mental wall, accompanied with the sound of something striking the floor. Something that largely reminded him of the sound of keys jangling.
Kai had to stop himself for a moment. This was all too perfect. The idiot had dropped the keys right outside his cell door. And if the lights were off, the men outside wouldn't see him take the keys, open the door, and escape. It seemed that luck was finally on his side.
Kai began to crawl quietly forward towards the cell door, one hand outstretched to feel in front of him. When his hand finally hit one of the cold metal bars, he reached his arm through the gap and began feeling around on the floor outside for the keys. After several seconds of searching, his hand made contact with one of the smooth grooves of a key. He closed his hand around it and pulled it back inside. After searching a few more seconds for the key hole, he began trying out each of the keys. After trying a few, he finally came across the right one. The lock on the door clicked open.
Very carefully, Kai pushed the door open just enough for him to squeeze through, careful not to make any noise. From this point he knew it was going to be much harder, since he couldn't see where he was going. Kai chose to go down the hall on his right because the two idiots that had been outside his cell were still stumbling around in the dark closer to the hall on his left.
Kai put a hand on one side of the wall and began walking slowly and carefully down the long dark corridor.
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'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!'
Suki fumbled around with the wires under the control panel, desperately trying to find the circuit she had pulled the lighting wire from. More than once she knocked her head on the underside of the booth.
"This is just great! The first wire I pull out, and it's connected to every damn light switch in this bloody place!"
Finally her hand grazed across an empty circuit. Suki sighed in relief. She then placed the wire in her hand back into the tiny hole. All the lights flickered back to life.
"Thank God." 'If I can't do anything right the first try, at least I'm not so stupid that I can't fix my own mistakes.'
Suki's head whipped around to the door as she heard a large 'clank'. The hinges on the door shifted, and it fell over with a crash. She jumped slightly when the large door hit the ground, and looked down at the fallen slab of wood. When she looked back up, Tala stood in the doorway with a murderous look in his eyes. That look faded into confusion when his gaze fell on Suki knelling on the floor in overalls.
Tala looked from her, to the man on the floor, back to her again before he found his voice. "Suki! What are you doing!"
Suki stood up and dusted off her jean clad legs. "Umm, saving the world?"
Tala crossed his arms over his chest and walked over to the panel. "You were the one who cut the power, weren't you?"
"It was a total accident! I was looking for the wire that disconnected the cameras and kinda hit a snag."
"Obviously. Do you need some help?'
"Yes please."
Tala studied the panel for a moment, then knelt down to look under it. After a few seconds, he selected a yellow wire and pulled it out. The monitors on the wall instantly cut off.
"How did you know which one to pull out?"
Tala stood up from his position on the floor. "I've been here a long time. Anything else you need?"
It was then that the man on the floor began to stir. Suki tilted her head his direction. Tala sighed, then walked over to the semi-conscious man and punched him square in the face. The man fell back into a deep sleep.
"Thank you. I'll just be going now." Suki began walking over the fallen door to exit the control room when Tala grabbed her arm.
"Do you remember at all how to find your way around this place?"
Suki didn't have to think long. "Good point. I guess I could use a little more help."
"I don't know how you thought you could conduct a rescue operation when you don't even know you're way around the building you're breaking into."
"I couldn't find the layout ok? This isn't the easiest system to hack."
"Whatever, let's just go."
Suki nodded, and together they began their journey into the long maze of halls.
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Kai paused for a moment when the lights came back on and the hall he was walking down became visible again.
'That was weird.'
Without anymore thought to the strangeness of the situation, Kai broke out in a run. It wouldn't help him to have somebody catch him now that the lights were back on. As he was running, Kai thought of all the places Voltaire would keep that control he used for the weird device he had put in Rei and himself. His first thought was that he probably kept it on him at all times, which made things difficult.
Kai sighed. Things would be so much less complicated if he had Dranzer….
That's when it hit him. Dranzer was the solution. If he could find his bitbeast, he could take down Voltaire and destroy that stupid control. But he had to hurry. Voltaire could finish him off at anytime. And there was the issue of the others. If they were going to attempt a jailbreak as they said they were, they could be putting themselves in mortal danger.
Kai let his thoughts wander for a moment. It was kind of nice knowing that you had someone out there willing to risk their life for you. Kai hadn't known that feeling for a long time. For years, his grandfather had treated him like he was nothing and had told him that he was just that. Nothing. Nothing but a tool spawned to do his bidding. He'd beat it into his skull. Then he had met the Bladebreakers, and they had treated him like he was something. Well, in truth they had treated him like the mysterious, sourpuss captain that he was, but at least it was something. And over time, they had begun to treat him as one of their own, a friend. But even though they had told him countless times to accept help because they were, in fact, his friends and that's what friends were supposed to do, it wasn't worth it to risk their lives. Especially for someone like him.
Kai shook the thoughts out of his head. He had a job to do, and getting all emotional wasn't going to get that job done. He needed to find Dranzer. Kai figured he'd be in a lab somewhere where a bunch of scientists would be trying to unlock the secrets of his immense power. How cliché. Besides, they weren't going to get much out of his beyblade. Kai knew for a fact that you couldn't get a drop of Dranzer's power out of him unless you were his host blader. And he didn't just pick anyone. Despite what Voltaire had said to him before, about not needed him alive to obtain Dranzer's power, Kai seriously doubted that such a strong bitbeast would give up its power to anyone who held it in their hand. But that wouldn't stop his grandfather from killing him.
Kai brought his mind back to finding Dranzer. With all the labs in the Abbey, Kai would be lucky to find the right one before Voltaire finished him off. Well, it wouldn't hurt to start looking now.
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Voltaire paced his study anxiously. He needed to know now. The scientists had told him that the power that Kai possessed did not come directly from him, but from Dranzer, but hey had not told him for sure if they could harness the bitbeast's power without Kai. Quite honestly, Voltaire was getting sick of the boy. It got tiring chasing down an angst-ridden teenager who was twice as strong as you were. It would be some much easier just to kill him off and still be able to have the power that he had obtained through his bitbeast. Only in a perfect world.
Voltaire became more anxious. If it turned out that he did in fact need Kai to harness Dranzer's power, all his plans could be ruined. Of course, he could always hold his friends against him. Hell, he even had one of his friend's lives in his control. But that would only take him so far. Kai's friends weren't as dumb as they looked. Well, half of them, at any rate. They'd find a way, sooner or later, to overpower him. His plan would only work smoothly if Kai was taken out of the picture.
A knock sounded at the door. "Come in," he said gruffly.
A lone scientist walked into the study. "Sir, we have the 2nd test results you requested."
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Suki and Tala strode quickly down a narrow hallway. Tala had made it clear that it was imperative to find Kai as soon as possible. If they didn't reach him fast enough, Voltaire might kill him.
Suki spoke suddenly, her voice transmitting through a microphone she hid in her front pocket and outside to the others. "Ok you guys, the cameras are off so it should be safe to come in now. Just watch out for all the BioVolt stooges that are crawling around in this place."
A loud, annoying voice answered, "Ah, don't worry about us, Suki. I'll protect everyone, no problem. Me and Dragoon can do anything!"
"Tyson, give me that back!"
"Hey! Wha—
A muffled sound emitted through the speakers, then Kenny's voice came through. "Sorry about that."
"Whatever, at least he's enthusiastic. Just hurry up and get in here. I could use the help."
"We'll be in as soon as we can."
Suki reached down into her pocket and turned off her microphone. "Well, maybe now that the cavalry's on its way things will get a little easier."
"Easy? Those guys? Whatever you say."
Suki smiled. "I have faith in them…Half of them, anyway."
"Exactly. Let's just hope they don't get themselves caught."
"We'll see."
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Kai was getting frustrated. Extremely frustrated. Trying to find anything in the Abbey was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Nearly impossible. So far he'd run into nothing but dead ends. At least he hadn't had to drop kick any loose-lipped scientists who might squeal to Voltaire on him yet.
He walked over to another laboratory door and tried one of the keys that he had taken when the lights had cut off on the lock. Once he got the door unlocked, he opened it to find…Nothing. Nada. Zippola. Just like every other damn door he'd opened today. Kai bit back a growl of frustration. The only thing he'd manage to accomplish so far was learning what doors not to go into. He figured that's how it'd probably be for the rest of the time he searched. Narrowing the field. He moved on.
It was just then that two armed men turned into the hallway he was standing in. 'Shit.'
One man looked up at him and pointed. "Hey!" he called out.
Kai didn't waste anytime. He made a full 180 and began sprinting down the hall in the opposite direction. He could hear footsteps behind him as the men began their chase. Kai turned sharply and began running down another of the endless halls with no warning, hoping to throw the men off. It didn't work. Apparently these were smarter than the rest.
The two men followed him step for step, and he could just hear them begin to load their guns as they ran. Kai couldn't risk these men killing him, and he couldn't risk them telling Voltaire that he had escaped either. He'd have to stop them here and now.
Kai skidded to a halt and turned around to face the two men. They were, indeed, loading their guns. When they saw him stop they skidded to a stop as well.
"Just come with us easy, kid, and there won't be any problems," one of them said.
He smirked. "You're right. There won't be." His foot lashed out suddenly and caught one of the men in the stomach, flying into the wall. Then he turned his attention to the other man. Kai thrust his hand upwards, breaking the man's nose. He fell to the floor in a heap, clutching his face. Kai raised a fist to knock the man unconscious when he felt a white hot pain rip through his right shoulder. It didn't take him long to figure out that he had been shot. Kai clutched his shoulder with his left hand in an attempt to stop the bleeding, leaning against the wall.
The man who had shot him and the man with the broken nose approached him, satisfied looks on their faces. But Kai wasn't about to let them take him back to a cell to die. He clenched his bloodied left hand into a fist and hit both men hard in the stomachs. They fell to the ground unconscious.
Kai groaned. Now he'd have to drag their asses somewhere where no one would find them. He took the ring of keys out of his pocket and unlocked a nearby utility closet. Then he proceeded to haul both men into the closet together. Because both men were twice as big as he was, he had to use both arms, which only served to aggravate his wound further. He winced painfully as the hole in his shoulder tore open more from the strain. Once he finally got both men into the closet. He locked the door behind him and fell to his knees.
Kai could tell that the bullet had gone straight through, so he wouldn't have to worry about getting it out of the wound. But it was bleeding badly, and he couldn't afford to die of blood loss right now.
Kai struggled to his feet, taking a moment to regain his bearings, and then set off again. He needed to find Dranzer now, or he might never get a chance to again.
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Tala stopped dead in the middle of the corridor. Suki looked at him, confused.
"Tala, what—mmm!" She looked down to see a hand clamped over her mouth.
"Shhhh." Tala paused for a moment. "Do you hear that?" he asked, removing his hand.
"Hear what?"
"Footsteps."
Suki strained her years. She could just make out the sound of faint footsteps making their way towards them.
"Yeah…" The footsteps were getting louder.
"Get ready," instructed Tala, tensing up a bit. Suki nodded. She tensed up as well when the person barely started to round the corner, getting ready to pounce on them if need be. When the mysterious being finally made into the hall they were occupying, it came as a huge shock to the two teens. The person was not who they expected it to be.
"Wha…"
"Kai!"
Kai looked up at the two familiar faces from across the hallway. They could just make out hints of relief on his face. They both noticed, to their dismay, that his shirt was soaked in blood.
"Suki…Tala…" Kai didn't get anymore words out before he pitched forward, his exhausted body not being able to take the stains of consciousness any longer. Seeing this, Tala rushed forward and caught him before he hit the ground. Suki followed after him.
"Oh God…" she said worriedly. "Tala what do we do?"
Tala stared down at Kai's unconscious form in silence. "….I don't know…."
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Yeah yeah, I know. It wasn't terribly long. My chapters never are. I would have made it longer, but I was really losing steam there at the end. I'm lucky I got this done though. I didn't think I'd be posting this chapter for another month. Life's been hectic, you know? If any of you've read my homepage, which is just my livejournal, you know that I've been having some family problems lately. But they're all over and done with, so I'm pretty happy right now.
Also, I know that I left off on a bad note with you guys in the previous chapter, just because I was kind of depressed about the whole Steve Irwin thing. It just made me really miss my dad. Anyway, thank you guys for all your support. It means a lot.
And I have some good news for this chapter. I'll be leaving on a happier note! Do you know why? Because I'm an aunt! Yay! You may call me Auntie Rei. My brother's girlfriend had a baby after I updated the last chapter, so that was really exciting for me. Her name is Madix, and she is the cutest thing ever! Ok, I know what you guys are thinking. I made the name Madix up, right? Wrong. I couldn't believe it either. But whatever. It's my brother's kid, not mine. He can name her whatever he wants. I didn't like the name at first, but it's starting to grow on me. Plus, we call her Maddy most of the time, which I think is a cute nickname.
Anyway, I'm rambling, and am going to stop now before I wear myself out. Have a happy day!