Author's Notes: Mwuahaha*cough*HA! I'm back in the house, and ready to write! Or rock. Or rumble. Whatever works ^_^. Well…I can't remember if there were any questions in the reviews, but oh well. Anyhoo, I feel obligated enough to say I think this chapter might be deemed worthy of my praise XD XD. Dude, that'd be a first. So read on, and whatever else you guys do. Point out grammatical errors, gasp at my potty mouth, or laugh at the snooty doctors, each to his own.
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Chapter 3: Anger Management
'Ugh, feeding time yet again…' Tayla groaned in her thoughts, being knocked back into consciousness from her dead sleep. She regretfully sat up, hearing her stiff body creak in protest. Her hearing picked up the subtle sounds of a waking child in the room beside hers. It seemed her internal alarm clock was finely tuned to the boy's. The paper-thin walls gave her a chance to hear the dead silence coming from the room on her other side.
"Figures she wouldn't have the willpower to roll out of bed so early…" Natayla sighed, touching a hand to her forehead as she got up and out of the lumpy bed.
Her room was less than spacious, with a bed, dresser, and nightstand crammed into a room with faded wallpaper adorning the walls. A small window was fixed in the wall, covered with tattered curtains that served to keep out small amounts of the blinding sunlight. She pulled them back with a 'whoosh' letting the warm glow spill into her room. The windowsill creaked as she rested her palms on it, after wrestling to raise the sticky window. Deciding to reminisce later, she turned away from observing the outdoors and pulled on her usual attire. Speed was the key these days, with Parley on a rampage in the mornings.
As if on cue, she heard him in the hallway, "I'm hungry! Someone make me breakfast!" before the wild boy trotted down to the small kitchen. Sighing, Tayla protectively took her beyblade before leaving her room. The door opened with a loud creak, as she stepped onto the worn floorboards.
The hall she stood in was small, with three bedrooms side-by-side down it. The wallpaper was a cross between a faded peach and yellow, with a dreary bordering of flowers on the top and bottom. Mentally noting to renovate the place, Natayla walked through the arch that opened into the kitchen. The living room was off to the left, and in the hall behind it, was another bedroom and the bathroom.
"I want bacon! I want eggs! Tayla, Tayla, please deliver!" Parley sang, bouncing up and down on the stool at the counter.
"Yes master, I'll get right on that," Natayla winked, pulling on her favorite apron. "But you know I can't make any edible masterpieces without this!" she teased.
"Yum, yum, yum, Rika's a lazy bum!" Parley chorused, watching Natayla start their breakfasts.
Before he could come up with another verse, Rika's groggy form silently appeared in the kitchen's threshold, "I heard that, you little Care Bear lover." she retorted, breezing past them towards the bathroom.
"But the Power Rangers are *so* much cooler!" Parley shouted sarcastically, crossing his arms indignantly.
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'I can't believe it! I almost wonder if Kai's lost it.' Max thought, watching the people begin to start the day from his view on the balcony. 'From the abbey…that means something serious.' he contemplated, drawing up a mental image of Black Dranzer, and imagining two duplicates running loose around the city.
From his perch on his hotel room's balcony, Max vaguely wondered if the others were mulling over life threatening bit beasts before they wandered down for breakfast, as well. 'It's probably just me…but then again, I don't think the others really believe those girls are from the abbey, or that they're packing Black Dranzer clones.' Max thought, frowning unconsciously. But Kai had been dead serious when he'd explained where he remembered them from, not that he had thoroughly clarified much, except for the fact he suspected those girls might be working for Boris. 'But Biovolt is long gone, that company was demolished years ago. But…Boris wasn't arrested like Voltare…does that mean…?'
Max's inquiring thoughts were interrupted as someone knocked on his door. "Hey, Chief!" he greeted, as Kenny quietly opened the door and closed it behind him.
"Good morning." Kenny said, padding across the carpet to stand next to Max on the balcony. A long silence followed, a companionable quiet. After a while, the Chief adjusted his glasses before turning toward Max. "I was thinking about what Kai said yesterday, I guess I came in here to make sure I wasn't in some horrible nightmare."
At that Max laughed quietly. "I know what you mean. It's pretty creepy thinking there're two other abbey trainees out there, ones with bit beasts like Black Dranzer," he paused then, staring down into the streets. "I also kind of wondered if they're as dangerous."
Kenny didn't answer right away, resting his laptop on the railing and opening it. "Jeez Max, do you think Black Dranzer wannabees are going to be all sunshine and kittens?" Dizzi piped up, voicing her own opinion.
"It's what Dizzi and I were discussing this morning," Kenny said, meeting Max's gaze. "I'm beginning to agree with her. No matter how much we want to overlook this new information, we can't. If what we've experienced in the past is any indication, then we know that these girls are genuinely dangerous. Especially if they do have bit beasts from Boris's abbey."
"And if they're stealing bit beasts in the process!" Dizzi said, hitting the nail on the head.
"I think I know where you're getting at, Kenny," Max sighed, not exactly elated about what he knew was coming. "You want us to find them."
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Tayla smiled, leaning over the wobbly coffee table and tapping the paper with her finger. "Good job, Parley! You're really getting this. Now tell me what this figure of speech does and then we'll take a break."
Parley wasn't able to go to school like other kids, so Natayla taught him as a poor substitute for Public School. He really was a quick learner, and seemed to be managing just fine with home schooling. At times it was hard for a sixteen-year-old to teach a child the right curriculum, but at the moment they were managing as best they could. Rika had never been the best student before she'd dropped out, but she taught Parley his studies whenever Natayla couldn't. At the moment, his older sister had disappeared somewhere, but they had gotten used to it by now.
Natayla watched Parley try to remember the meaning of a metaphor, before the phone rang and she got up to answer it. She walked up to the kitchen where the cordless phone was sitting on the counter, and picked it up on the second ring. "Hello?" she said, holding the phone up with her ear and shoulder.
A low chuckle was heard on the other end, and instantly Natayla was suspicious. "Who is this? I don't appreciate people laughing at the way I say hello," she said, hoping she sounded more sure than she felt. Tayla wished it wasn't who she thought it was.
"My apologies, Natayla, I didn't mean to be discourteous…" came the reply. "But I suspect you already know who I am."
Natayla squeezed her eyes shut as another chuckle met her ears. "What do you want, Boris? We've told you plenty of times, we don't want anything to do with you!" she said, raising her voice and causing Parley to raise his head.
"Oh, but I think you do. I am the one who gave you those wondrous bit beasts, or have you forgotten? My dear, I hope you haven't disregarded my kindness…or else there will be consequences to be paid." came the chilling reply.
She swallowed. "What do you want?" she repeated.
"As you well know, Biovolt has been out of commission…" There was a pause. "For far too long. Without Black Dranzer in our possession, I became aware that we needed something else. Kai was a perfect candidate those long years ago…but now there are only you two to fill his place. The powers of your bit beasts are far greater than anyone else's alive! Join me, and you shall rise to the top along with Biovolt! And along with Voltare." the smooth voice said.
At the name of Voltare, Natayla's hand balled into a fist. "Anything else, Boris?" she said flatly, not interested in the slightest.
"Ah…I see you get right to the point, just as your friend does. I would enjoy talk-"
Before he could say anything else, she had hung up.
Wordlessly she placed the phone back in its cradle. 'We may be tied to you, Boris, but we work for no one.' Glancing at Parley, she sighed and forced herself to get on with the day.
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The clock against the wall chimed, and Kai looked up at the time. 'Half past nine…I guess time does fly when you're having fun.' He thought sarcastically. His brown eyes stared out at the dark sky, listening to the others talk.
The whole day had been spent listening to Kenny talk about background checks, old registration files, and accounts about Boris's abbey while he tried to dig things up on the girls from yesterday. No luck so far. Now, everyone was in Kenny's room, prepared to go out night hunting.
"There is a child involved, you know. We don't know if he's with them for right reasons, or wrong reasons." The Chief was saying, looking up every so often from his laptop.
"Yeah, yeah Kenny, c'mon! The sooner we get out there, the sooner we can find out what's going on. And put a stop to it if anything is going on." Tyson said, quickly adding his last sentence.
"I feel like the FBI," Ray said from his position in one of the chairs. "And I don't particularly like the idea of being verbally mauled by that girl…again."
Max couldn't help but laugh. "Or have that kid weasel you out of some valuables."
"Or, being accused of trying to molest him!" Tyson said, earning a loud snort from Max.
Kai frowned. "Enough. Lets go, we've wasted enough time."
And with that, he made his way out the door.
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Music pounded in her ears, forcing her to dull her heightened senses so a migraine didn't strike out of nowhere. The pulsing multitude of lights was sure trying it's hardest to give her one, though. It was bad enough the music was so shitty; she couldn't bear to even attempt to dance to it. 'Parley better not be trashing the apartment while we're gone.' she thought, idly swirling the shot of liquor around in its glass. The lights reflected in her lavender eyes as she raised her head. The bartender was staring at her; a greasy towel slung over one shoulder.
"You sure you want to be drinking that? It's illegal, you know." The bartender said, casting a glance over her.
"Well no shit! But thanks for informing me the merits of coming to a crap-ass hole like this." Rika said, earning a frown. But eventually the man was forced to move to another drunk looking for a shot. She glared at nothing in particular, swivelling on her stool to observe the dance floor. Natayla was having fun dancing to the beat of the music, unknowingly earning a few reproachful glances as she spun around to the rhythm.
Of course, Tayla didn't have a clue this was an illegal dance club. It was a nightclub for the underage teens, the ones that were fucking up the "18 or over" clubs by sneaking in. Rika knew the only reason Natayla had ever agreed to come, was the fact she was promised booze wasn't served in here. Evidently, it was…a lie, but what she didn't know couldn't hurt her.
It wasn't like the other drunken assholes cared that they were still underage, but still got moonshine.
Rika's facial expression twisted as the alcohol seared her throat on the way down, her sixth shot of the night. Taking a deep breath, she let the drink settle in her stomach like a giant dose of anaesthesia. 'If I hurl, it's going be on that fucked up bartender.'
She could still feel his gaze on her back.
Before she had a chance to demand another shot, she saw Natayla sort her way through the dancing mob until she was standing in front of her. "Hey!" she greeted brightly, obviously pleased with the night. "I'm going to go check on Parley, I saw a payphone outside."
Rika nodded inaudibly, watching the redhead make her way to the door.
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A brown head of hair slunk around the corner, pausing at the sound of music blaring out of a dingy looking dance club. 'I bet there're a lot of druggies in there…' Parley thought, slinking down across the streets. Darting down an alley, he was met with the sounds of scuffling coming from farther back. As the walked, he saw the shapes of a dish dug into the concrete, and of a bunch of older kids beyblading in it. 'Finally, sneaking out paid off.'
"Hey! Get out of here, you little runt!" A tall, dirty looking boy snapped.
Hands locked onto his upper arms painfully, and he was met with a gang of runaway street kids surrounding him. Each was a beyblader, he could tell. Maybe this was his ticket out of here, and back out where there were fewer psychos.
"Before you pound my face in, I wanna beybattle." Parley challenged, thinking how quickly this night had gone from good, to not so good.
The "leader" tilted his head for a moment, and then sneered. "Whatever you say."
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Natayla sighed as she walked out into the cool night air. That club was stuffy, not to mention smelly. She made her way to the payphone on the corner; intent on making sure Parley hadn't gotten the landlord mad again. Dialling, she listened to it ring…and ring…and ring…and ring. 'Just great…' Tayla thought, hanging up.
Just as she was about to get Rika to check on him personally, a loud 'clang' got her attention. Turning, she squinted off into the darkness, catching sight of something come rolling out of an alley. A beyblade. It spun tightly on its side, before falling motionless on the pavement. 'That's…Parley's blade…'
Something along the lines of anger and fear surfaced in her chest. Sprinting up to the scrapped beyblade, she pocketed it and kept running. Her feet carried her down an alley, and out into the glow of lamps bolted into the brick walls. A group of kids was surrounded around something against the wall. Ignoring their angry cries of protest, she shoved through them and felt her fists clench at what she saw.
Parley was curled up against the wall, holding a bloody face with his eyes staring at her pitifully. Blood was leaking through his fingers and staining his sweatshirt. Fury surfaced in her, and she felt her own beyblade burn in her pocket. Turning she deftly took it out, pausing for a second at the shocked looks on the boy's faces, before launching it into the dish where their own spinning blades were.
Something bubbled inside her, and she couldn't stop the feeling rising in her chest. "SOLARIS!"
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Rika scowled again, as the bartender left after another one of his lectures. 'Can't he take a hint? Or am I not blunt enough?' The glass in front of her was empty, and she stared at it balefully. After the numerous shots of liquor, she was starting to feel a real buzz in her head. Rika was tempted to ask for another, and while her thoughts debated, she didn't notice the hand rest on the counter beside her. Curling her fingers under the counter edge, she tilted her stool back, seeing the world from upside down. She couldn't hold back the laugh that exploded from her lips, making her seem like a real drunk.
"You really can't hold your liquor that well." A voice commented from her side. Her eyes flicked sideways, and landed on the upside down form of the dubbed jackass leaning on the counter. Fake fangs and all.
Her stool fell back forward, and her head swung back up. Ignoring the enigma at her side, Rika turned her attention to the lights on the balcony, accidentally staring into a few.
"What's the matter? Afraid I'll report you?" Ray asked, doubting he was going to get much information from her. Drunk or not. It was hard enough finding where they were, not to mention finding one of them in this throng of people.
Rika sensed it, before it hit her. Her vision rapidly split until she was seeing quadruple. A sudden heaviness fell on her, like something was sitting on her shoulders. Rika blinked, as a freezing cold overtook her, and her head became so light and dizzy it was worse than over drinking. 'Not…now…'
Rika felt like her mind was operating from far away, she barely noticed falling sideways, or having someone catch her. She felt drowsy, horribly fatigued. Two pinpoints of gold entered her line of sight, and she vaguely remembered what was happening. Or why. Forcing herself to get up, she barely managed to sit up in the person's arms. The person holding her slowly put her on her feet, and she shoved against their chest, pushing off. Staggering for the door, she frantically tried to stay upright, knowing she had to find Natayla. There was no time for liquor anymore. 'I have to get…out…'
Before she knew it, she was running, viciously fighting for the door. Ray watched her, far past confused. One minute she was hanging off her stool like an idiot, before she nearly passes out in his arms. His eyes trailed her form down to the door, where she wiped out on the floor. He knew he had to follow. The others were around the club, and he caught their attention and gestured to the door before he ran out. The door swung open with a squeak, and the air hit his face in a blast of cold wind. Pushing past stragglers in front of the building, he darted out into the street and caught sight of Rika sprawled the concrete, fighting to get up. Kai and the others were right behind him, and they crouched down beside her. No one offered her help to get up, but no one was exactly happy about the idea of assisting one of Boris's lackeys. Her breath came in raspy wheezes, and slowly she raised one arm and pointed. Kai raised one eyebrow, but followed her finger with his eyes.
"There's people down there…but it's bad now, I know if it's with me too…" Rika murmured, seemingly babbling to herself.
Kai watched the horizon of buildings where she had been pointing. Nothing. When he was about to turn away, light flared into the sky. Dark golds and oranges flickered in the sky around two buildings. Deep inside he felt a pang of realization.
'I know…what that is!' he thought in surprise.
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I sped through that…but oh well. And I wish a big happy birthday to Space Lion! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOOOO YOU!!!!