A/N: I KNOW YALL MISSED ME. SOME OF YALL HAVE EVEN BEGUN CUSSING ME. THAT'S OKAY. I UNDERSTAND. I'D BE MAD AT ME TOO IF I HAD TO WAIT THREE MONTHS FOR A NEW CHAPTER.

COOL IT, YALL. I'M BACK. SIT DOWN AND EAT YOUR FOOD.

CHAPTER 35

I had a dream I was seven

Climbing my way in a tree

I saw a piece of heaven

Waiting impatient for me

Aurora

BROOKLYN

I wanted love. I wanted someone to look at me and think I was the best thing to have ever happened to them. I wanted someone to look at me and want me so much they find it hard to breathe when I'm around. I wanted to be loved. Fiercely. Passionately. With a visceral need that could not be put into words. I wanted the type of love poets write about and movies are made about. I wanted the type of love that will ruin me and also put me back together. I wanted that teeth-chattering, nerve-wracking, about-to-go-up-in-flames-because-of-you type of love. I wanted someone to touch me and send my entire body into a frenzy.

And I wanted it so much when Hiro finally fell back into my arms I nearly cried.

"Where am I?"

"The mystical land of the beasts," I said with a flair.

"Quit messing with me," Hiro sat up on the cloud-like bed and braced a hand to his head. "I have a fucking headache."

"Might have something to do with all the water you swallowed." My words prompt him to look up and stare.

"I…drowned?" he asked uncertainly. I bobbed my chin yes. He looked perplexed. No, he looked absolutely discombobulated. And that made me weirdly happy for some reason. (I knew the reason too. Hiro never looked surprised or shaken. Or out of his element. He was the one always catching other people off guard. This would be the very first time he was dealing with a situation like this. Finally, I got a chance to teach him something.)

"I can help you get rid of that headache," I offered sympathetically.

"How?" Hiro wore a sarcastic expression as he went on. "You gonna make the beasts cure me?" He was in shock and this was his way of dealing with it. I understood how overwhelming it could feel.

"Yes, the beasts are going to cure you." I reached out mentally to Zeus and asked him for help. He didn't take long. Hiro sat pissy-faced till Niambra popped right out of thin air and approached him on the bed. Niambra was one of the good bitbeasts. She was a beetle with cherry coloured wings and dazzling horns. Yes, those horns were real. Niambra had healing powers and was close friends with Zeus and I. She helped us out a lot. She put a tiny black hand on Hiro's ghastly pale face and smiled at him as she did her work. When she was done, she simply stepped back, nodded at me wordlessly and then vanished again.

"Better? I bet your head feels as good as new."

Hiro was concentrating hard on breathing. He took a couple of deep breaths and blinked several times before speaking. "Brooklyn, what the fuck is this place?" he asked without looking at me.

"I told you already. You're in the land of the bitbeasts. You wanted to come here and now you're here." Truth was, I didn't think he had it in him or he even cared enough to follow me here. But he did and it was giving my heart a hard time keeping up a steady rhythm. I kept going he came, he came, he came, he came, he came, he came, he came. Over and over again in my head. Crossing over to another side of the world wasn't easy. It was very, very difficult. I only managed to pull it off because I wanted to get away from the normal world full of normal people so bad I was ready to kill myself. But Hiro chose to face his worst fears for me. Me. All that shit for me.

Why?

He was nodding. "Okay"

"Want me to tell you everything right now or do you want to save it for later?" I asked him. "Go about it slowly?"

"Slowly is better I think." He glanced at me then away again. "One bullshit at a time." He was keeping himself from looking at me for too long. I understood that too. He believed I was dead for years. This must have been extremely bizarre for him.

"Are you real or am I drea- hallucinating?" Hiro asked, his gaze jumping around all over me.

"I'm real," I said. "You're not hallucinating."

I watched as his jaw clenched. His eyes kept darting to my hands. He was holding himself back from asking something else. "You can touch and make sure if you want," I offered with a laugh, holding my hand out for him to take.

I was standing near the bed. My hand hovered right in front of his nose. For a second he seemed to actually consider it, then he just shook his head and turned away. "Don't be ridiculous."

I snorted and was starting to pull my hand back when Hiro suddenly grabbed my wrist. His touch was slightly cold. But human. And jarring. I felt a jolt travel up my arm and down my body. My breath caught in my lungs.

He was looking at my hand with a slight frown, his lips parted. His fingers trailed down my skin. Rubbed slow, exploratory circles on the back. I tried not to react but my arm started trembling. Before he let me go, Hiro suddenly leaned just the tiniest bit, a jerk of his chin toward my hand, an unconscious movement, and it seemed for a fraction as if he wanted to kiss my hand. The desire to feel his lips against my skin hit with me such a force this time I actually gasped and startled us both, causing him to drop my wrist.

Hiro sighed and tilted his head back. "I need a shower and some food." His voice was gravelly.

I managed to find mine. "Sure. Come with me."

o-o-o-o-o

FLASHBACK

His giggles reminded him of water. Fluid and crystal clear. Satiating.

"Mmm, dad would be mad."

Kai rolled on top of him, Tyson's thighs pressing against his. "Because it's weird?"

"Yeah," Tyson nodded, bangs bouncing. "Boys shouldn't be kissing other boys."

"So we're weird people?" Kai reached down to get rid of the KitKat that was stuck between Tyson's back and the bed. He tossed it to the side and settled properly on his elbows once again. "Abnormal?"

There was a smile tugging at the corners of Tyson's lips. He was trying hard to suppress it. He pushed his head further back into the pillow, lifting his jaw and revealing the line of his neck. "I guess so."

Kai's gaze danced around Tyson's face, neck, his collarbone. "So you're never going to tell him? Going to keep this a secret forever?"

"What's this?"

"Sneaking boys into your room and kissing them."

"I didn't sneak you in. You walked into my room in broad daylight." Kai watched his lips. Then let his right arm circle his head, a few of his hairs brushing the underside of his wrist. "And what boys?" asked Tyson, his voice getting a touch smaller, lips poutier. "It's just you." His fingers brushed against Kai's lapel.

"I'm pretty sure you'd drag Kieran in here too if you could."

"What, while you're here?"

"No, but that would be a terrible idea."

"Why?"

"I'd punch his face in. I hate that fucker." Kai looked away, scratching his nose.

There was a moment of silence then Tyson started laughing all of a sudden. "What's so funny?"

"You're such a sore loser. You're still mad at him because he beat you once?"

Kai brought his elbows closer to his body and put his weight on them, tempted to get off of Tyson. Some space seemed appealing right now. "His face is irritating. He looks like a fucking clown in that stupid costume of his."

"'Costume'" Tyson was having a trip, there were tears collecting in the corners of his eyes. Yeah, he'd had enough. Kai sat up and untangled his legs from Tyson's, which finally managed to shut his awful cawing. Yet he still had a smile on his face as he looked at Kai, something soft in his gaze.

"You're hot when you're mad," he whispered.

Kai turned his gaze to the windows and chewed on his lip. The light pink curtains were drawn and the room had an oddly mellowing feel to it. The air smelled like roses. Air freshener.

Kai breathed out, looked back at Tyson, who was laying silently on the bed, one hand placed close to Kai on the mattress. "I'm going to leave now."

"No" Tyson got up and grabbed Kai's fist which was curled on his knee. "Don't go" The neck of the shirt he was wearing dipped lower with his movements, revealing one satiny collarbone. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Don't apologize. That makes it worse." Tyson's fingers brushed uncertainly along the backs of Kai's. Then he let go and sat back on his haunches, combing his hair back in light frustration.

Kai lingered for a moment, not quite fully wanting to leave yet. Tyson's mouth hovered open like he had something more to say as he stared at Kai. He was alluring. Tyson. And it occurred to Kai that he was giving his rival power over himself. Not knowingly of course. He couldn't completely control his teenage tendencies. No one could. And he'd forgive himself that, but he wouldn't forgive himself if he caved now and fell back into bed with his fucking rival and snuggled like they were a couple.

He stood up and was on his way out when Tyson spoke again. "I wouldn't bring Kieran into my room." Kai halted. "I don't want him that way."

Kai took a breath. Put his hands in his pockets. Turned around to face Tyson. "Doesn't matter to me. You can do whatever you want," he said. "Doesn't affect me." Repeating it again so the point really got across.

"I know," Tyson said quickly. "I was just-" He looked down for a moment, unwittingly drawing Kai's attention back to his eyes again. "I didn't want you to assume." Assume. His lips pursed toward the end of that word. Kai dug his nails into his palm inside his pocket. Then spun around and left, but not before taking a mental snapshot of Tyson sitting on the bed, with his legs crossed, looking the way he did. And saving it in his memory.

END OF FLASHBACK

o-o-o-o-o

"Here" Tyson handed Gabriela a steaming cup of coffee and settled next to her in the back seat of Max's car. Michael watched her carefully as she took a small sip and sighed. She still looked pale but at least her fingers had stopped trembling.

"Xavier's heading back to the office," Kenny informed them after getting off his phone. He peered in through the open window at the girl and then met Tyson's eyes.

"Well, he can go. We don't need him," Tyson looked at Gabriela. "Do we?"

King's secretary gave a slight shake of her head and shrank further into the jacket Tyson had lent her. The air inside the car was warm. Rei had switched on the heater a while back. They all waited for her to speak as Gabriela fingered the lid of the cup and glanced around before staring right back into her drink again. "How did you guys find me? I texted- him. Not-"

"Y-You...," Tyson answered uncertainly. "Texted Xavier." His gaze sought help from the others before he said, "Xavier works for Kai." Gabriela turned to face Tyson but she already looked too shaken to display more shock and so she simply stared at him for two long beats before shutting her eyes tight and squeezing her coffee cup.

"Kai is gone to Norilsk, right?" she began again tentatively, voice still a little scratchy.

"Yeah" breathed Tyson.

"King's there too. He left-" she gulped. "He left last night. Kai's walking into a trap King has been preparing for him for a long time."

"How long?" asked Rei.

"Years" Gabriela met his eyes briefly. "Ever since Kai came into power."

"Did he plan that too?" Tyson voiced his doubt aloud.

Gabriela nodded. "I didn't know back then. That it was so big." She seemed to be talking to herself for a moment. Confusing the rest of them. "King was always obsessed with the Hiwataris. He talked about them more than he didn't. I joined the company around the time Voltaire died and the Hiwatari enterprises were thrown into this sort of a liminal state. There was a new head of the company but nobody trusted him and it was all King ever bothered about. He had the news on 24/7 in his office and he'd even make me watch it sometimes and he'd point out how young and absolutely clueless Kai looked. I had a hard time understanding why he cared about one little boy so much." Her grip on the cup tightened, almost as if she was angry.

There was a moment of silence in which Gabriela was absorbed in her own thoughts and the guys all exchanged looks with one another. "Do you want water?" Tyson asked awkwardly after a second. Rei rolled his eyes. Max appeared ready to go fetch a bottle right away.

"No" Gabriela declined with a polite smile toward Tyson. Her gaze lingered a minute. "You used to be a beyblader, right?" Then she turned to the rest. "All of you?"

"Yeah" Michael answered from the driver's seat.

"Not me" said Kenny. "I was never an actual blader. More like an extra on the team."

"Chief-" began Tyson.

"Not like you." Kenny shut him down quickly. "I was never on the level you guys were and it's true."

Gabriela looked between them, and waited till they were done to continue speaking. "I went through King's secret files today morning. They were locked in a drawer. I got in. I guess they found out somehow or they've been planning to get rid of me for a while and it just happened to be today. But I've figured it out. What King has been doing all this time." Tyson raised an eyebrow. She drank her coffee, wetting her lips. Her voice was stronger now and she had more colour on her face. "There are these creatures called bitbeasts. I'm sure you're familiar with them." The guys nodded in confirmation. She lowered her drink. "They have powers. There were these tribes in Brazil that used to make use of these powers to keep their communities safe."

"Yeah, like the Araranguan tribe," Tyson pressed a hand between his thighs and leaned his shoulder against the backrest. He was sitting sideways so as to see her better.

"You know them?" Gabriela was surprised.

"A friend told me about them," he said.

She nodded. "Well, King is after one of those beasts. And the one he's looking for is known to be the most powerful bitbeast to have ever lived. A Mãe da Morte or the Black Dranzer." Tyson sat up straight. Eyes wide. He found Rei's gaze and himself holding his breath as she continued. "He wants it to use its powers for himself. He tracked the bitbeast to a tribe in Brazil - the one Tyson mentioned earlier - Leões de Araranguá. The Chief of the tribe was in possession of the beast and King was all set to take it from him. Bitbeasts have masters and masters have to prove themselves worthy. The only way one can take a bitbeast away from its master is by defeating him. There are many ways to defeat someone. You can break their will, break their bone. King had plans to kill the tribe chief. King approached the tribe as a visitor and they shared knowledge and skills with each other. He learned from the tribe and the tribe learned from him. In particular, he taught them how to beyblade. He was highly skilled in beyblading so he shared it with them. The kids were enthusiastic about the game and the adults set up a whole tournament for them." She finished her coffee and licked her lips. "The chief had a son at the time. A boy of twelve. King was especially interested in him and his bitbeast because they were both special. The boy's name was Kieran. Kieran was shy but he was an impressive fighter. He was always ready to protect the weak, which was how he came to own his bitbeast. She was a caterpillar with a deadly venom. It was the perfect opportunity. The winner of the beyblade tournament would get to battle the chief. King made sure Kieran won every one of his matches. He gave him personal training sessions. And Kieran managed to defeat all the other kids. Everything was going according to King's plan. He was so close to getting his hands on Black Dranzer. But on the day Kieran was supposed to challenge his father, the chief gave his bitbeast away to someone else because he wasn't naïve enough to trust King and he feared losing. You can do that. You can give up ownership of your beast if you want. But King didn't know that. Kieran lost anyway. His father was too powerful, with or without a deadly bitbeast. Kieran's beast lashed out of anger because she lost to a bitbeast less powerful than her. It was horrible. She went on a rampage and murdered everyone. Except King. He got away. Kieran was heartbroken and King took the boy with him.

"He searched again for years and he finally found out Voltaire had gotten hold of Black Dranzer. King was furious. King hated Voltaire. They used to be friends in college, but then halfway through they met a girl named Helena, and fell madly in love with her. Voltaire got the girl. And now he had Black Dranzer too. Except the beast didn't belong to Voltaire. It answered to his grandson, Kai. When someone gives up ownership of their bitbeast, the bitbeast becomes free to choose someone new. They don't necessarily have to choose the person they were given to. What King learned was that the beast which was caged in Voltaire's top secret facility was let out by a boy who lived there and when the beast attacked, the boy somehow managed to survive. He didn't recall the fight with the beast but he sustained severe head injuries and Dranzer now belonged to him. Yet Kai wasn't interested in using its power. He already had another bitbeast and he was more attached to it. King tried to get to Kai but the boy had a lot of protection. Voltaire made sure to keep him safe after what happened to his wife. There was only one way to steal Black Dranzer from Kai. King put together a team of bladers who used venomous bitbeasts. The team was named the Silent Assassins. He entered them in a major Beyblade tournament that Kai was sure to participate in." Kenny shifted against the side of the car when his neck began cramping. He'd been leaning in through the window to hear the conversation. He pulled his head out and looked at the traffic across the street as Gabriela went on.

"But that didn't work. Even though Kieran defeated Kai in a match, he still didn't have Black Dranzer and King didn't plan on killing the boy till it was absolutely necessary. But there was a problem, Kai had been challenged before. When he was still wielding Black Dranzer's power he was defeated by his friends. I'm guessing it was you guys. So King wasn't entirely sure the beast belonged to Kai. He was working with this woman named Dr. K at the time to try and track down the beast. He was also attempting to overthrow Chairman Stanley from the board of the BBA. And he made a couple of bad decisions that ended up ruining the entire tournament and all of his plans. He contacted a member of the Russian Bratva to cause trouble at the tournament to expose Stanley as a bad chairman. But they turned on him for some reason and bombed the whole stadium.

"This was also when King was trying to strike a deal with a tech company in France and ran into Voltaire at Paris closing the same deal with the same company. What with everything else going on, and repeatedly failing in his attempts to capture the bitbeast and one up Voltaire, King snapped and slipped something into Voltaire's drink. The next day there was news of the stadium bombing taking up most of the media's attention. Voltaire's sudden death didn't cause as much of a scene as it would have otherwise. He got away with it. And now he had a clear path to Kai. Kai didn't bother to protect himself half as much as his grandfather did. He refrained from killing Kai right away because that would draw too much attention, instead he played with him. King knew Kai was smart and would put two and two together. He strategically went out of his way to rile Kai up till the boy was hell bent on exacting revenge. He waited till Kai came to him and he even tried to use me to get closer to Kai, but that plan failed. The beyblade tournament going on now was originally King's idea."

"What do you mean it was King's idea?" Tyson interrupted, wildly puzzled.

"He used the power of suggestion." Gabriela folded her arms across herself. "It's a trick he uses during meetings to get his way. He makes them think the idea is their own by manipulating their subconscious."

"Like using certain words or phrases that makes your brain think of a particular thing," Rei said by way of explanation.

Tyson frowned on the outside, but there was a cold dread creeping up his gut. King was an experienced player. He was a professional at this game. How much of Kai's thoughts and actions were being manipulated without his knowledge?

Gabriela saw the look on his face and felt sympathetic. She wasn't a stranger to what he was feeling. She often felt overwhelmed and overpowered by King herself. "Kai was planning on unearthing King's secrets and bringing him down but he only ever found what King wanted him to. He enjoyed watching Kai play right into his hands. Kai was not like Voltaire. He didn't have the knowledge or the experience. It was too easy." She was going off track and the atmosphere in the car was tense. Tyson's breathing was shallow. His eyes wet.

Gabriela pulled herself together and rubbed a hand across her nose. "He thinks Kai has Black Dranzer, but there's no way of making sure without forcing him to summon the beast. King's going to torture him till he either calls his bitbeast or he dies. He won't die if King is right and he is in possession of the Black Dranzer because that bitbeast has power over death. Its master cannot die. But if King is wrong, then he has a list of other people who might be in control of the bitbeast." She looked at all of them in turn and then faced Tyson. "You're next."

Tyson flapped his hands nonchalantly. "Of course" He sat back and stared out the window, heart hammering.

"Well, he's a fucking idiot because none of us have Black Dranzer," said Rei.

"I don't think Kai does either," quipped Max.

"And even if he does have it, how does King plan on using the bitbeast for his cause? Kai's not going to help him," said Kenny.

"There's a chip he's been working on. I think it's finished now. It can be used to control the electrical signals in a person's brain when embedded into the neck," said Gabriela.

Michael stayed quiet, fiddling with his watch.

"It takes twenty hours" Tyson whispered into the dead silence after a beat.

"What?" asked Rei.

"The flight from New York to Norilsk takes twenty hours," Tyson told them. "It's only been three hours since he got on the plane. We can stop him before he gets there!"

A/N: I THOUGHT BECSO WOULD LIKE IT BETTER IF SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO WITNESS THAT FIRST SCENE FROM HIRO'S PERSPECTIVE. Ha! (Becso, stop hating on Hiro.)

Thank you for reading, mi amores. I missed you guys. Ella, I saw your messages. I'm sorry I didn't reply right away. Ana, stop cussing in Portuguese. I don't fully understand the language, but Google helps with most of it. Hehe, I'm kidding. I love reading your comments. I'm sorry I was gone so long! Forgive me? *bats eyelashes*

I will be around more. I will try to. I hope you all liked this chapter. I would love to hear feedback on it. It's a big one after all. Yall finally get almost the whole picture. Showdowns in the upcoming chapters. Hiro and Brooklyn tiptoeing around that line. Will Tyson be able to save Kai before time runs out? What is the real reason behind King's hunger for Black Dranzer?

Stay tuned to find out! God, that sounded so corny. I had fun writing this chapter. I hope you had fun reading. Stay safe. Stay cute. Bye. See you soon. Leave a review!