SS-Hey everyone! ^-^
Tym-You sound like you're in a good mood.
SS-Yup Yup! It was M-sen's birthday on the 16th.
Tym-…But today's the 20th.
SS-I know that! But we had a great slumber party. And part of my gift…is to think of a good idea for another Rei/Kai fic. Got any- *Tym hits her with a mallet* OW! TYM WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!
Tym-You told me to hit you really hard if she asked you to do another fic for her.
SS-Well…this doesn't count. I mean I can't turn down a birthday request.
Tym-Yea yea…*cough* push over *cough*
SS- v-v# Anyway…any suggestions would be nice.
Tym-Wait…how do you know the readers won't just give you ideas for stories they want?
SS-I don't. But as long as it's Rei/Kai…it's fine with me. It's like killing two birds with one stone. ~_^
~*~*~*~
The Spirit Within Me
Chapter Five
WARNING: Lots of arguing, yelling, minor Rei and Kai-bashing/insulting (Which I don't like but needs to be added in), and slight cursing near the end. Oh yea, and same disclaimer as always.
~*~*~*~
"We're here guys." He pulled back some branches to reveal a small, stone building. It resembled a church, but something told them that nothing about it was holy. Ray shivered as they approached it.
"Yea, this is the place. Eh…I'm not too fond of it." Kai nodded.
"All the more reason to hasten our search. Come on." He ushered them to follow him into the creepy castle; they reluctantly followed. Rei shivered and he felt as if something passed through him.
'Why do I not have a good feeling about this?'
(1:30 PM)
They entered the abbey cautiously, looking around apprehensively as the sound of their footsteps echoed off of the stonewalls. Kai was in the lead, followed by Ray, who kept her gaze on the floor.
'Just get the preserver and get out. In, out, simple. We'll be back to eating muffins and playing games in no time.' Kai glanced back at the gang, checking to make sure they were all right. He noticed how tense Ray was, but figured that it was normal for her to feel that way.
'She must hate this place as much as I despise Biovolt. Well, I want to get this over with just as much as she does.' He looked at his watch again; they had about an hour left. His eyes wandered to the other neko-jin, who was bringing up the rear. He was keeping up, but barely. 'He can't take much more. This last hour will really test him, and this is one test I really wish he didn't have to go through. We better hurry up.'
"Um guys? Someone does know the way, right?"
"I'm pretty sure I remember Max. Don't worry, we'll be out before you know it." Ray answered cheerfully. "So don't worry-ow!" Ray rubbed her forehead as she backed away from whatever she bumped into. "Kai? What's up?" She had indeed walked straight into Kai, who had stopped abruptly.
"We got a bridge to cross." Everyone moved to see that they had come across a fork in the road. The BladeBreakers' captain glanced back at Ray. "Left or right?" She stepped up and looked down both passages. Each less inviting then the other.
"Uh…" Tyson scratched the back of his neck.
"You said you remembered the way, right?" She bit her nail nervously.
"Well…I…I know I came this way when I escaped. And I chose the…the right! Yes. I chose the right side because I'm right handed!" She made to sprint down the right corridor until a hand grabbed her shoulder.
"What?"
"If you came down the right, then we would have to go up the left." She grinned sheepishly.
"…Right." The others chuckled lightly and headed for the left, following Ray's lead. Kai looked over his shoulder to find Rei leaning against the cold brick wall.
"Rei." The raven hair blader glanced up and caught his captain's gaze. "Come on," He walked over to him and grabbed his wrist gently. "We have to hurry." The other merely nodded and trailed behind him, fighting to keep his eyes open as he went.
'Man, what's wrong with me? I've never felt this tired before. Well, there was that one time when Mr. Dickinson was lecturing us about training more and playing less. Oh…and the day after that when Kai took Mr. D's advice and had us doing battle techniques until 2 AM. Hm…maybe this isn't too weird after all. I mean, how often do the BladeBreakers go on an adventure to help a run-a-way bitbeast?' He sighed as they continued down the dark hall.
'Still, shouldn't the others be tired too? They were the other times. Plus I slept in today. If anything, I should be just as hyper as Max. Maybe it has something to do with Ray and her assimilating me. Or maybe I'm just overreacting. That's probably it.' They were out within seconds, and back to the now regular cobblestone path.
"Ok, it should be smooth sailing from here on in. I only remember one split like that on my way out, so let's go!" She pumped her fist into the air and they were on their way again.
(1:45 PM)
"Only one split huh?" After a few more minutes, the group had run into another fork in the road. This time there were three paths to take.
"Well…when I said one split I meant one two way split." She threw her hands behind her head. "So technically, I wasn't lying." She grinned as the others sighed. Kenny was first to recover.
"So you mean you don't know which way will get us to the room with the preservers?" She turned back to look at the roads.
"Uh…I know it's not the middle. I remember turning a lot, so it can't be that one."
"But that means we still have two directions." Kai walked to the front, letting go of Rei's hand as he went.
"Thanks for stating the obvious Maxie." He quickly sized up the situation and gave out his directions. "All right. We need to find that tonic as soon as we can, so let's split up. Tyson, Max, Kenny, you guys go that way." He stated and pointed to the hall on the far left. "I'll take these two this way. If you find the preserver, come and get us right away. We'll come get you guys if we find it first."
"You talk as if this was a game."
"You can think of it that way Tyson, just make sure that you don't lose." The Dragoon carrier saluted him.
"Yes captain, my captain." He linked his arm with Max's and jogged towards the corridor. "We're on it!" Max tripped a little and grabbed Kenny's arm as Tyson continued to yank them from Kai's glare range.
"Come on Chief! If I'm getting dragged into this, then you're coming too!" They were gone in seconds; their clacking footsteps disappearing not too long after. Kai sighed, and turned his attention to the other two. Ray was looking down the right hall and Rei was leaning against the wall again, his golden eyes disappearing and reappearing behind his eyelids. He rushed over to him.
"Rei?" He held his shoulders in his hands and shook his softly. "Come on…wake up…" He kept his voice low, knowing what would happen should he raise it. Training Tyson for months taught him that yelling didn't exactly help. Though that didn't keep him from yelling at him, but Rei wasn't Tyson, and upsetting him wasn't one of the things Kai wanted to do to him. "Rei." The other turned her head.
"Are you talking to me Kai?" He shook his head.
"This Rei won't wake up even though it's time to go." He kept on shaking him until he could see those beautiful, golden eyes again.
"Hm…"
"We have to get going. Which means it's not time for a cat nap." Rei shook his head a few times before letting go of the stonewall and following Kai. Ray sensed his weariness and stood in front of the captain.
"Hey Kai? Why don't we rest for a bit? I mean…the preserver isn't going anywhere, and it looks like Rei could use a little break." He didn't pay attention to her opinion and kept going.
"No, we don't have time." She jogged up to him.
"We have plenty of time! And maybe Tyson and the others will find it first. Maybe we don't need to be rushing things-"
"Yea? And maybe Rei will die!" She stopped.
"…Kai, you don't have to say things like that." He turned to face her.
"Maybe I need to if it'll get you to understand! Haven't you figured it out? Rei's running out of time, so the sooner we get that preserver the sooner he'll be out of danger!" She looked to her double; he did look a little paler, and awfully tired, and he wasn't as cheery as he was back in the forest.
'How long has he been like that? He wasn't like that before. Is it because of me? Am I draining him? And if I am, and Kai noticed…why didn't he tell me?! Why didn't he tell everyone?!' She furrowed her brows and glared at the bluenette. "Why didn't you tell us?! Did you think we wouldn't notice?"
"You didn't." He took hold of Rei's hand again and continued walking.
"Well it's not like we wouldn't have noticed him die! You should have said something! Then at least we would have hurried like you told us. I mean, Tyson and the others might not be taking this seriously, what if they aren't looking?!"
"They are. They might not take many things seriously, but this time they will."
"How can you be sure?"
"I can't." They were confronted with a hall full of doors, and they would find the potion behind one of them. They proceeded to check them all, Ray taking one side and Kai the other.
"How much time do we have left before…before…you know?" He silently opened one door only to find a library.
"About half an hour." She slammed the door she had opened and looked down the long corridor.
"Only?! Why didn't you say so?!" She picked up the pace, slamming door after door as she found nothing.
"Quiet! We won't find anything if you let them know we're here!"
"It's your fault for not telling us! If you did then maybe we-"
"Would you stop with the maybe's?! What's done is done!"
"Yea well, perhaps if you had told us we wouldn't be in such a tight spot!" She practically threw the last door against the frame; which resulted in a thunderous crash that echoed off the walls. An eerie silence followed it. And now was the time Rei decided to speak up.
"Ray, calm down." His voice was quiet and weak. "Kai was only trying to protect us. He didn't want to worry anyone…that's what he does. It's how he looks after the team." More silence. After a few seconds, Ray looked up.
"What?"
"…I hear something. Footsteps…someone's coming!" They tensed as the sound reached their ears. "We have to get out of here!" She turned to go back the way they came until Kai grabbed her shoulder.
"No, we have to keep going. This way!" He led them to one of the larger doors on his side and quickly got them all in.
"I was sure the sound came from over here."
"Maybe they hid somewhere."
"Let's check." The trio held their breath, praying that the guards would pass over them. Their footsteps stopped when they came to their door.
"What about this one?"
"No, not that one. Queenie would kill us."
"Oh, right." As they moved on the sound of their steps disappeared, and they all sighed in relief.
"That was close."
"You're telling me." She agreed with her double and then turned to Kai, who was staring straight ahead. "Sorry about all that Kai." He didn't answer. "I was just upset that you kept something like that from us." Still no response.
"Don't worry Ray, after you've been with Kai as long as I have, you'll realize that it happens often. But he means well by it."
"Ok. Do I also have to get used to his silent responses?"
"Yea."
"Guys…shut up."
"You have to get used to that too." She giggled.
"I mean it! Look." Both neko-jins finally turned their attention to what Kai had been looking at and gasped.
~*~
SS-…Nope….it would be too mean to leave it here.
Tym-Never stopped you before.
SS-Well, it's a little too short for my liking anyway.
Tym-Of course you say that, you're not the one doing the typing.
~*~
(2:00 PM) Meanwhile…
"Man…we must have checked like, a hundred doors by now. How do we know it's even here?" Tyson complained as he shut another door.
"Well, we don't. Remember, it could be in one of the rooms down the hall that Kai and the others took."
"Then why don't we just go help them?"
"Because it might not be there. It might be behind one of our doors."
"Aww man." He gently banged his forehead against the wood. "Chief, isn't there any quicker way of checking?" The boy kept typing.
"Sorry Tyson, but without a map of the interior there's no way I can. I guess you guys have to keep looking."
"Argh…"
"Come on buddy, it's for Ray. And our Rei too."
"Yea I know." He lifted his head and walked further down the hall, continuing his laborious task. Max closed another door before turning to Kenny.
"Hey you guys…I was thinking about what Kai said back at Tyson's house."
"Yea?"
"What about it dude?"
"Well, when I said Ray sounded like a vampire, Kai said that that was basically what she was. She's absorbing Rei's energy to stay human." The blue haired boy shut another door.
"So?"
"So…nobody has enough energy to support two people…not even us, and we go through two or three bags of candy every week. There's no way Rei can last too long…what happens when he runs out?"
"Hm…I never thought of that."
"Well, Ray said that she wouldn't drain him dry."
"Yea, but Kai said that she couldn't stop it. What if she does? What would happen to our Rei?" Tyson grabbed another handle but didn't turn it.
"What would happen to him?" Kenny continued typing.
"I'm sure she'd know when to stop. She doesn't want to hurt him.
"But Kai said that she can't stop! He said that it's not something she could control!"
"Calm down Max, you're talking as if she's killing him."
"But…isn't that what she's doing, Chief? Draining the life out of him?" The clicking and clacking of keys ceased.
"It couldn't be….that couldn't…could it?"
"Anything seems possible Chief." Dizzy stated. "But maybe you boys should stop assuming and find that preserver." Tyson nodded.
"Dizzy's right. Whatever's true, Ray needs that stuff to become her own person." He opened the door only to find a staircase.
"But…what if she really is killing him? What if Rei's dying right now? He did seem pale when we entered this weird place."
"I think we all felt a little weird when we came here Max. But if she is draining him…then we got to hurry and get that preserver thing."
"Yea, ok." So they continued searching, their pace a little quicker with the thoughts of their friend running through their head.
~*~
Rei was the first to get over the initial shock. "Oh man…" Kai nodded.
"This is definitely the place." The female neko-jin stayed silent as they walked further into the room. Large green tubes were lined up on each side; all of them contained a different animal. They kept going. Ray cringed when the animals were shocked every few seconds and a little whisps of…something floated out of them and was sucked down into the machine below it. She unknowingly began moving closer to the guys, fear slowly building inside of her. "Now we just have to find that stupid preserver and we can get out of this stinking abbey."
"Well if you don't appreciate the wonders of my 'stupid preserver', then I suppose you wouldn't want it, hm?" Kai and Rei snapped their heads to the direction of the shrill voice, their gaze landing on a tall, sickly woman dressed in a plain, grey pant suit with a black whip hanging from her belt. Her hair was lilac but fading to white, it was tied in a neat bun behind her head. She had blue gloves on, and in one hand, she held a medium sized vial, which held dark green liquid.
"I could always pour it down the drain, it's of no use to me."
"Don't even think it."
"Ah…so you do want it. Hm…" She strolled over to them at a leisurely pace, stopping a few yards away. "Yes…yes I see. Spiky blue hair, matching fins…and striking blood red eyes, yes, it's nice to meet you Kai." He was surprised, but didn't show it. He only moved Rei behind him, his double clung to his other arm.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?" She smiled, but nothing about it pleased them.
"How could I not? You are Voltaire's grandson. The 'special project' he spoke of. His 'secret weapon' in his attempt to take over the world." Kai's glare narrowed. "However, if I didn't know that, I would have thought you were an escaped shark bitbeast. But since the other two cowering behind you bear no resemblance, you can't be." She tilted her head slightly to get a better look at the others, one seemed too tired to move, and the other tightened her hold on Kai's arm. She wanted to see the boy more closely, but the bluenette kept moving to shield him from her gaze. His actions left Ray wide open though, allowing the woman to see her fully.
"Well, well, it's nice to see you again 326. I see you've regained your senses and decided to return home." Ray blinked twice in shock. "Now why don't you come here, I can pull your reel and you can go back to the calm waters." She tapped the glass of an empty extractor.
With all the courage she could muster at the moment, she spoke out.
"There's no way I'm going back to that…that horrible cage!" Her voice was wavering; she just hoped that the woman didn't notice. She held out her hand, trying to stop it from shaking. "N-Now give me the preserver Queenie, before I have to take it myself!"
~*~
(2:15 PM) Meanwhile…
"Oh, this room looks like it would have a few preservers in it." Tyson exclaimed as he pushed the door wider to let the others see. The room was overflowing with bottles, measurement charts, analyzers, containers filled with liquids of multiple colors, and other scientific equipment. They all stepped in, closing the door quietly behind them. Once they made sure that no one was there, the trio began poking around.
"Are you sure about this Tyson?"
"Chief, I'm pretty sure that if there are any preservers in this place, they'd be here." Kenny looked around, but didn't touch anything. He kept Dizzy close to his chest and cautiously went around the tables.
"How will we even know which of these is the preserver?" The bluenette opened the cabinets but shut them when all they were filled with was cobwebs.
"Well, I'm sure it'll be labeled or something." Kenny turned to him.
"Do you really think they would do that? I'm pretty sure the scientists who made it would be able to tell it apart from the rest."
"How do you know?"
"It's like you and drinks, they all look the same but you can tell a Pepsi from a Coke can't you?"
"Uh yea…but anyone can." He sighed and kept looking.
"I think we need a back-up plan or something incase we can't tell them apart."
"Oh yea? Like what? Bring one of the guards in here and ask them to tell us which is which? I don't think so dude." Kenny walked up to him.
"Then what do you suggest?"
"I suggest we find it and get to the others without getting caught." He said as he skimmed the counter.
"And how do you propose we do that?" Max finally spoke up from his spot in the corner.
"Hey guys…"
"The way we always do it, we wing it."
"Guys…"
"That hardly works in bey battles, and besides, you can't 'wing it' for something like this."
"Guys…"
"And why not?" Tyson asked, putting his hands on his hips.
"Because this is a lab filled with potions and concoctions to magnify or decrease the power of a bitbeast. Ray will have to drink that stuff, what if we give her something else?"
"Hey guys…"
"Well, she's a bitbeast, it's not like it'll really hurt her."
"Kenny? Tyson?"
"But what if she drinks something that'll…I don't know, turn her into a mutant bitbeast? Or grow her wings?"
"Personally, I would love to fly."
"Tyson!"
"Guys!"
"We can't put her life in danger! Since there's no specific label that shows which of these is a preserver, we should just look for another room!"
"We don't have time! And what if this is the only place where they keep the thing?"
"GUYS!" They both turned to him and yelled in unison,
"WHAT?!" The blond sighed, lifted a crate onto the steel table, and turned it around to show some messily written words that looked like 'Bitbeast Preservers' on it.
"I think this is it." He said. Kenny and Tyson looked at each other and then back to Max. "You guys can yell at each other later, let's just get one or two of these and find the others." They nodded and each picked up a bottle before placing the crate back on the floor. "Now let's get out of here, because I don't think that all these chemicals are safe to be inhaling." The BladeBreakers quickly got out and headed down the hall, hoping to get to their friends in time.
~*~
The woman now identified as Queenie chuckled lightly. "Oh 326-"
"My name isn't 326! I'm not a number! My name's Ray!"
"Ray? Hm…then I assume, his name's Rei too?" She pointed her long; almost needle like finger at the neko-jin, who was fighting to stay conscious as he leaned against his captain's warm back.
"H-How did-"
"Let me see if I can paint the picture. You escaped, ran, and ended up near his house. He found you, and introduced himself. Since you didn't have much choice, you assimilated him, and since he introduced himself before letting you talk, you replied that your name was also Ray. Then you ran into his friends, and they helped you get here. It must have taken a long time though, since you're almost a duplicate of him. However, he doesn't look too good. He must be near the breaking point. How much longer do you have? Fifteen minutes? Twenty? Five?"
"Shut up and g-give me the vial!" Queenie held the bottle loosely between her fingers, threatening to drop it.
"Now, now Ray…you aren't really in a position to be asking things of me." She growled at her…clenching and unclenching her fists.
"Ray, who is she?" She didn't hesitate to answer.
"Queenie, the brains of this place. She's the one who overlooks all the experiments and decides what's what." Kai could see that Queenie obviously knew how to push Ray's buttons, and was doing a great job so far.
'She probably wants Ray to lose it, to release the bitbeast in her so they can capture her again.' Using his peripheral vision the bluenette noticed a few men gathering in the shadows. 'Yea, once she releases the jaguar, her body's defenseless. They could pull the tab and she'll become a spirit again. We can't let that happen.' He yelled to her. "Ray, don't let her get to you. Trust me," He glared at her. "That's just what she wants." Queenie met his gaze and smirked.
"I'm sure you know all about this don't you Kai?" He didn't answer. "Playing the tough guy are you? Yes, Boris said that you were a stubborn one."
"Hey, leave him out of this!" She exclaimed as her body began to glow.
"Ray!"
"Hm…he chose to accompany you, so he's fair game. Then again, he probably just came because he wouldn't trust you with one of his own." Her eyebrow twitched.
"Don't let her get to you!"
"Argh…" More light, if she didn't calm down soon, she'd release the jaguar, which is what Queenie wanted.
"Am I aggravating you Ray? I'm not even talking about you. I'm talking about the Biovolt quitter over there. The one who won't let that Rei boy out of arms reach. He must really be weak if he needs someone to keep him on his own two feet."
"Leave Rei out of it too! I can't believe you have such low self-esteem you've reduced yourself to insulting kids just to get your way!"
"If life gives you lemons…"
"Yea?! Well I hope those lemons
spit in your eyes!"
"Don't give her the satisfaction Ray!" She knew that she had to keep it together, but that woman really put her on the edge. She could sense that Kai was starting to lose it too.
"Weak friends, weak comebacks, I'm surprised you've made it this far, 326. Especially after absorbing such a pathetic human." You mind as well have jumped off the edge.
"That's it!" Ray wasn't surprised to hear that from Kai. She glanced over her shoulder to see Kai setting Dranzer and aiming for her head. "Move so I can do some damage to that son of a-"
"No Kai." He stopped and looked at Rei, who had wrapped his arms around Kai's neck to keep himself up. "Don't. It…it could be a trap to get Dranzer." He sighed and reluctantly lowered his launcher.
"Hm, I guess he's not as bad as I thought. However, it seems like the bitbeasts aren't the only ones on a leash." His eyes were dangerously narrow.
"Shut up damn mother f-" He was about to lash out at her, thank goodness Rei held him back. He snaked one arm across his chest and placed his other hand over his mouth, using all of the strength he had left to stop his captain from doing something he might regret.
"Poor Kai." She grabbed the whip on her belt and pretended to strike something. "Whipped." The bluenette muttered the rest of his sentence in Russian, knowing that she could hear it but the neko-jins couldn't understand. Queenie laughed, but it sounded more like a witch's cackle. She replied in Russian, and it really had its effects. Rei almost lost his hold on him.
"Don't worry Kai," Ray turned her attention to Queenie as her eyes glowed emerald green. "That bitch is going to wish she never said ...uh…whatever the hell she said. I don't know what is was, but it sounded like something she should be whipped for." Her body shook and in a flash it was still, her eyes still aflame, but on the floor in front of her was a spinning blade, and directly before her was a magnificent jade jaguar. She roared and lowered her head, bending her legs, poised to attack. But Queenie only smiled.
"Excellent."
(2:20 PM Start countdown from 10 minutes)
~*~*~*~
SS-Ok…*flips pages in her Note Book* only one or two chapters left. It all depends on how I sort it out.
Tym-And then you'll be over your slumpy and will finally get back to SSM, right?
SS-Of course. BTW, since I'm starting school next Monday (-0-;;;) It may be a while until the next chapter…which just happens to be the action one.
Tym-Yea well, you were never too good at those scenes anyway so *whacks Tym with a mallet* XS
SS- Ahem…I have about ¼ of it done already, so hopefully I can finish it by the weekend, save it, post it next Wednesday or so, and have the last chapter up the following weekend.
Tym- Xo I'm confused.
SS-Good for you. Oh…and I finally changed my pen name. I couldn't stand having a number after it…so now I'm Sleepy Sheep Guardian. Someone's got to protect those sleeping sheep and that's someone's me.
Tym-Then why aren't you SSG?
SS-Because…I just don't want that.
Tym-Uh huh…well people, plz RnR! It'll make SSG feel better. ^_~
SS- X_X *scribbles in NB* Need a new assistant…maybe a bitbeast.