Title: Untold Truths
Authoress: Ladya C. Maxine
Rating: PG-13
Summary: see chapter one
Warnings: see chapter one
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or any of its characters. All unrecognizable characters belong solely to me and are not to be touched. I am not making any money off of this and I write with the sole intention to entertain.

A/N: ((...)) characters are speaking in Russian.

A small snivel woke him up and his eyes immediately lowered to the small head nestled against his chest. Soft hair tickled his chin and a small arm hugged his neck. Another small cry came and he sat up, lifting the petite body onto his lap.

((Sassy, wake up,)) he whispered softly.

The body relaxed against him and she opened her eyes, which were wet with tears. He wiped them away and she buried her face in his shoulder, arms holding on to him like her life depended on it.

((He tried to hurt me again. He hurt you too.)) Her voice hitched with a sob.

((He won't ever touch you again.))

((What if he wins?))

He could feel her tears seeping through his shirt and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

((I will never leave you. If we lose, I will go back with you. I won't leave you alone.))

((No!)) She pulled away and looked into the crimson eyes horrified. ((He will hurt you. He will make you do all those mean things again. He...,)) she sobbed and brushed his ice-blue hair from his face, ((...he...he will kill you.))

((He won't hurt anyone.))

((But Kai...)) She lowered her head, unable to look at the person she feared she'd drag down with her to an untimely end.

Strong but gentle fingers lifted her chin before two hands cupped her face.

((I let you down once, Sassy. I will not make that mistake again. If the judge rules in his favor then I will go back with you. I promised mother and father that I would look after you. And I always keep my word. We will get through this together. Trust me.))

She nodded sadly.

((You know that I love you more than the world?))

((And I love you even more than that.)) She snuggled into his strong arms. Within his embrace she always felt like no one could hurt her. Her brother was the strongest person in her eyes and it was from him that she drew her own strength..

((I'm scared,)) she confessed, face hidden by her hair from view.

She soon drifted back into a restless sleep but he remained awake, holding her lovingly as he ran a hand through her hair, repeating her parting words in his mind.

"…I'm scared too, Sassy."

"You're looking at him."

It took Ray's mind a decent number of seconds to link this with what he had heard earlier. Two adults had been shot multiple times in the head...and their murderer had been their own six year old son...who was sent to a mental prison...was set free...became a world champion beyblader for several years...lost to the Bladebreakers...appeared out of thin air as a supposed ally...destroyed an almost 200 pound punching bag...and was now standing before him drinking a hot mug of cappuccino.

"You're joking, right?" Ray slowly eased himself off his barstool. Maybe he could make it to his room and lock the door until the others woke up. "This is just a joke, isn't it?"

Those iced eyes followed his slow progress like a wolf homing in on its prey.

"Death is no joking matter, Kitten," came the serious reply.

"Uh...I think I hear my phone ringing upstairs. It's probably the guys. Gotta go!"

He dashed for the doorway but halted when a large carving knife sliced through the air a mere inch from his face to embed itself into the wooden doorframe.

"This penthouse's phone number is not given away easily and is not traceable. You yourself don't even know it so I truly doubt that your little friends in Japan would," Tala said, leaning calmly against the bar as he sipped his drink, glasses once again reflecting in the light and hiding his eyes. "Believe me, Kitten, I could have easily buried that knife into your vocal cords if I had wanted to. However, the...killer...inside me has retired."

"That's is reassuring."

"That doesn't mean, however, that I can't start a hobby of collecting kitty parts and storing them in little bottles," Tala added with a side-long glance, still as collected as ever, which made him ever scarier.

'What the hell am I thinking about locking myself in my room! He would just punch the door down and then I would have nowhere to run! Maybe I should just stay at the airport till the storm blows over. No, he would know to find me there. Aah! I can't lose him!'

"Isn't it ironic that you call me cold and thoughtless when it is you who don't even stop to consider why I did what I did all those years ago?" Tala questioned as he moved to sit at the bar. "You asked for my past, not my present life."

"And what difference is there?"

"The fact that if you had asked me this nine years ago you would be lying in a pool of your own blood with an ax sticking out of your back. However, at the moment you seem more than healthy and are standing on your own two feet."

"Fine then, why did you kill your parents?"

"It's a long story, so why don't you sit down?"

"I can hear you just fine from here."

"Suit yourself," Tala shrugged and leaned back against the barstool's backrest. Calling up memories he had buried for many years he started to talk.

"My parents were both very powerful people. My father was a retired general who had been in the army for thirty years. He went on to become Russia's Minister of Defenses. He was dominant and harsh in his decisions and no one could ever make him change his mind. My mother was a leading scientist in Russia. Along with her followers, she created weapons of mass destruction for the army.

"But, as deadly as they sound, my parents were decent enough people. Their goal in life was to support their country, Russia. When they had started out they had done so with patriotic intention. They wanted to see their country back in the rank of might. However, as the years went on their quest for a better Russia became a quest for a better them. My father used his position to blackmail others into following him. My mother used her brain to reel in financers. Her researches were done in top secret. Those who joined them were sworn a vow of silence and when they broke that they were assassinated.

"This went on for years until my parents came up with an even greater plan. Through science they had discovered the power of ancient creatures many believed to be just folklore."

"Bit-beasts?" Ray interrupted as he took a seat opposite the boy, momentarily forgetting his earlier wariness.

"Yes. No other country knew of this and they kept the discovery to themselves. More years of research passed and they were able to create their own army. There was one flaw though; they could not control the creatures. Many scientists were killed trying. My mother quickly thought up a solution. In 1974 she started to inject herself with several serums she and her team had created. Each could create DNA on its own. At first many were confused as to why she did this but in the year of 1975 she gave birth to a genetically perfect child who she named Ata."

"That's impossible. That means you should be 28 years old now."

"Nothing gets by you," Tala scoffed, swirling his cooling drink in the mug.

"Huh?"

"My parents were not really of the caring type to begin with. The child was a successful experiment, nothing more. He began his beyblade training the moment he learned how to walk steadily and all he was taught to destroy those who were weak. He was my parents pride and glory, but not their son.

"He was 10 and his training was at its peak when something completely unexpected happened. The same woman who had carried him in her was pregnant again. This screwed up the whole schedule and my father was not very pleased about it. To avoid unwanted questions, he and my mother decided to never let the world know about the second son. My mother gave birth to the child in secret and he was never registered as a citizen of Russia. The basically locked him in a bare room in their house and the only human contact he had was with a worker who came to feed him three times a day, and he was anything but social."

"What was the second son's name?"

"He wasn't named by his parents. They wanted nothing to do with him."

Ray was taken back by the total lack of humanity of these people.

"Ata never even knew that he had a brother. His training molded him into the ultimate fighter and his bit beast was constantly boosted with more energy till it was a walking nuclear factory."

Tala stood and poured out the tea he had been brewing on the stove into a cup. He handed it to Ray who was so caught up in the story that he didn't even think that maybe it could be poisonous, which it wasn't, by the way.

"My parents were about to bring their plan into motion when again something unexpected happened but with more disastrous results. My parents were holding a secret conference with many high-ranking people who were all willing to pay millions for a powerful military. Ata was the item up for bidding. With his skills and blade he was able to withstand bullets and even lasers. But…"

The redhead looked away for a moment, visioning the events that happened so long ago and they made him shudder.

"Ata was 14 at the time. He was powerful, but he was still human. My parents, for all their intelligence, didn't keep account of that. They pushed him too far, wanting to put on a good show. He couldn't handle it…the strain of his bit beast. It was draining him. Ten minutes into the display, he collapsed, foaming at the mouth. The power consumed him. He was dead on the spot and later examination showed that his brains has burst within his skull from the pressure."

Ray put down his tea and swallowed back his nausea as a mental picture formed in his mind.

"It just…exploded?" he was able to ask without throwing up.

Tala nodded solemnly.

"My parents were left speechless. When word of the failed plan got around the financers started to pull out. Without the money, my mother's labs were forced to shut down one by one. People quitted, no longer in fear of their lives since my parents no longer had any power. Soon the only ones left were my parents. While my mother had had her lab she had used her resources to help my father play a major part in the ruling of Russia. With her lab gone his accomplishments were decreasing and people's suspicions heightened."

The more the redhead talked the darker the blue eyes faded.

"It wasn't until a few months afterwards that they remembered their second child, who they had not seen for four years."

"You're that child."

Kenny had pointed out something out of the ordinary about the Demolition Boys the day before Tyson's match against Tala. The chief had said that their genetic code had been altered and Tala's specifically was amazingly perfect. It matched too well to not be true.

"Yes, it was me. I had lived the first four years of my life not even knowing that I had parents. So you could imagine my confusion when one day the door opened and, instead of the stone-faced butler, there stood two people. I remember sitting there, watching them. They looked at me, studying me too, before the woman, my mother, walked in and without a word picked me up. They brought me outside for the first time in my life but I didn't have much time to enjoy it. My training began quickly. The labs were gone so my father used his wavering power in the government to get an abandoned military base in the mountains reign. My father trained me day and night and my mother studied me during the few breaks he granted me. They called me Ata so assumed that was my name."

"Why do you still keep that name?"

"It wasn't given with love, but it was the only thing I ever got from them. In any case, my parent's could not get anyone to finance their work. My father finally lost his title as Minister of Defense. It would have all ended right then but it didn't. We got a visit from some businessman who must have been very important because my parents were anxious, afraid even. They told me his name was Voltaire--"

"Kai's grandfather!" Ray cut in, again. This story had so many twist and turns that he was starting to feel dizzy.

"The one and only. It turned out that he had a worldwide corporation called Biovolt. They too had discovered the hidden power of bit beasts and had harness them into beyblades, which had just started to become the craze it is now. Voltaire's scientists had also trained the strongest bladers there were, however, they were short one since an unforeseen problem had occurred and one of their potential bladers no longer possessed stable health. He offered to buy me from my parents for a generous fee since he somehow knew about my mother's experiments and that I, along with the first Ata, were the fruits of her labor. I would fit in perfectly with the others, according to him

"My parents agreed but they wanted part of it also. They would sell me to him but wanted to join his staff. He agreed and we were flown here to Moscow where he brought us to Balcov Abbey. We were introduced to the director, Boris. That was the first time I ever met Spencer, Bryan, Ian and Kai. It was hard for me, learning how to get along with other kids. It was like…I didn't get what to do when I was with my team. I didn't know how to act or how to talk to them. If it weren't for Kai…"

A soft smile graced his lips, the first time since he started telling his story.

"Kai has always been a quiet person, as you must know, but when you get to know him he is a great guy who you can always trust. I learned a lot from him, more than any expert could ever teach me. To tell you the truth, I couldn't really talk at the time. Living alone during the crucial years of one's life really messes up with my vocal skills. I could understand commands well enough, but I only some words and couldn't form more than a couple of sentences. I only started speaking after I befriended Kai. I bet you he regrets it now," he added with a chuckle.

So the two of them go way back. Did that mean that they were…best friends?

"Another year passed and my skills had drastically improved under Biovolt's harsh but effective training program. We were worked, experimented on, starved, beaten and whipped but strange enough, I didn't mind. I had people my age around me who accepted me for who I was, not who I was supposed to be.

"My mother resumed her roll as scientist and my father became a top advisor to Voltaire. Though we lived together in the same complex they never came to see me. They ignored me when we crossed paths in the Abbey. I didn't really care since I too began to see them as nothing more but workers. But things complicated soon enough. In a nutshell, our training took a drastic change of course. We were brought to an abandoned factory several miles outside of Moscow. Inside a worker was brought before each of us and we were handed a gun."

"You had to shoot them?"

"We had to do more then just shoot them. We had to kill them."

Ata fell silent as he remembered the cries of pain and fear of the captive people as Spencer and Ian had shot at the cowering staff members. Bryan, as always, had been more vicious than needed and had almost decapitated his target's head with the amount of bullet-rounds he fired at her. Then came Kai's intended victim; a little girl with pink eyes which had looked up at her brother's stunned expression. It hadn't been a smart move on Biovolt's behalf. The phoenix snapped…

"I was supposed to go last but something happened and to make a long story short; the whole place went up in smoke, literally. The building started to collapse and everyone scattered to escape. I caught sight of my parents and cried out to them for help, too scared to move in the heat. They simply turned and ran. Watching them abandoning me once again triggered something in me and all my training came back to me. And, at the age of barely seven, I picked up a fallen gun, chased them down and cornered them.

"All I had ever wanted was a normal life. The woman smiled kindly at me and reassured me that they loved me and that if I threw away the gun we could all go far away from here and forget everything. She toyed with me, promising me a new life. I wanted that. I really did. Lowering the gun, I ran towards her but when I was a few feet away from them my father drew his gun and fired once at me."

Tala pulled down his ever present turtle neck sweater and Ray stared in shock at a long scar that ran horizontally towards the back on the right side of the pale neck where the bullet had deeply grazed the skin.

"I was so surprised that he would actually shoot at me that I had faltered. My mother too pulled out a gun and started to fire wildly, screaming and cursing my very existence. She had never been a fighter so her aim was way off. Realizing this, she dropped the gun and grabbed me, holding me down for my father to take aim. He did and pulled the trigger, catching me in the left chest and shattering two of my ribs. What happened afterwards is a blank."

"Huh? How come?" Ray leaned forward, morbidly caught up in the real-life drama that had happened so many years ago.

"I guess I snapped. My training hit me like a ton of bricks and I somehow managed to slip out of my mother's arms and get hold of a gun. I was later told that when the officials arrived I was crying and screaming at my parents' bodies. I had killed them with two shots to both their skulls and had then proceeded to empty several rounds on them. The officials fired on me. The bullet hit my head but didn't kill me." He looked up, with a sad shrug. "I laid in a coma for two years."

"Oh man."

"Tell me about it. Despite the fact that I was unconscious my case had been brought to court where the defense pleaded insanity for me. The court agreed and I was sent to a correctional institution, should I ever awaken. However, I didn't and they started to doubt that I ever would. I had no living relatives and I had never been registered so I had no identity until Boris showed up a few months later with papers saying that he was my godfather and that he had an institute where he could bring me. I was turned over to him.

"Finally, after many experiments, Boris managed to bring me back to reality. I remember waking up, floating in a chamber of liquid with wires all over me. I had grown and my mind had developed even more. For two years they had been uploading data into my unconscious brain. I was reacquainted with Ian, Bryan and Spencer, who had also gone through similar yet less intense training."

"What about Kai?" he asked, hoping that Tala's tongue would accidentally slip.

"He was gone."

No such luck. Tala wasn't a fool.

"The four remaining bladers became the Demolition Boys and we were trained for many years. We entered the world championship and held the title for four consecutive years. Then this year we were to face off some unknown, riffraff, amateur team called the Bladebreakers," he said with a smile, goading Ray's reaction.

"Hey!"

"I don't need to tell you how that went down. After the championships Voltaire was arrested and the abbey was shut down. All the kids were either returned to their families and those who had none were brought to foster homes. I went with my team to St. Petersburg."

"Why there?"

"My parents had a house there that they had built before they decided to try and take over the world. So I was given the house and the guys stay there with me. Currently, they have set out to try and find any of their living relatives. I would have gone too but Kai needs me here."

"What for?"

"Can't tell you, Kitten," Tala said while sipping his drink.

"Stubborn. And stop calling me that," Ray grumbled and it earned him a smirk from the boy opposite him. There was just one more thing that had been bothering him the whole time.

"What's with the glasses?"

Tala laughed softly.

"I had a feeling that you would ask that. After our loss and before Biovolt was shut down, Boris had not been very thrilled with our defeat. He had the scientists delete every single data they had uploaded into us but the thing went haywire and short-circuited. Several stray rays of highly concentrated radiation caught me in the face. It didn't do any damage to my skin but eyes are very sensitive. My vision was destroyed and for a couple of weeks I was completely blind. Finally, it returned but never to what it was before. So I am stuck with glasses."

"Why don't you wear lenses?"

"My eyes are too sensitive to have something on them. Maybe in a few more months I can." "And the laptop?"

"I've always had it."

"I never saw it."

"I keep it in my travel bag. It can't talk like your little friend's own but I need it to keep all my files and stuff in it. I've had a lot of time on my hands to work on it lately."

"What about beyblading? Just because you lost a match doesn't mean you should neglect that. You still are extremely powerful." Ray was surprised to find himself complimenting Tala but it was true. The blading skill of the former Demolition Boy was unworldly in its strength and strategy.

Those blue eyes dimmed and Ray saw the shoulders slump a bit.

"I love beyblading for all its worth. But I can't anymore."

"Is it because of your eyes? Come on, you should know that that is not an obstacle."

"It's not that," Tala sighed and removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "I can't because I don't have a blade anymore... I don't have Wolborg anymore."

"Did he leave you?" Ray knew full well how hard it was to lose one's bit beast. He had been devastated when Drigger had left him for a time.

"Boris had him destroyed."

"What!" Ray jumped from his seat, "How could he do that!"

"Wolborg was too weak in his opinion and thus not worthy of existence. They took him and deleted his DNA."

"Why didn't you do anything!""I tried. I fought against the guards restraining me, cursing them all. They gassed me. When I woke up later that day...Wolborg was gone."

"I'm sorry. I know how it feels to lose your bit beast."

"Yeah, Kai told me about you and Drigger."Footsteps brought Natasia into the kitchen and she blinked to see the two boys sitting there so early in the morning. They looked at peace and she breathed out in relief. She knew that they would get along once they had a good talk. She just hope they hadn't exchanged more then words; she had seen the gym on her way here and it appears that Ata had been punching again. She was glad that his target hadn't been Ray.

"Good morning. You two are up early. Do you want to help me get breakfast ready?"

"I'm in." Ray wanted to know more from Tala but he was being as stubborn as Kai at the moment so he would have to drop it for now. He had learned enough from Tala to last a lifetime. Besides, he had always liked cooking and it would be fun to help Natasia.

"I have to return to my files. I'll see you in a few hours." Tala started to stand but Natasia's hand held him down.

"Don't think so. You can cook very well, so get to it."

"Yeah, get to it," Ray smiled from behind Natasia as he watched Tala's eyes widened behind the thin frames of his glasses. Ray would have never guessed Tala to be a cook but now that he knew he was very curious to see what the boy could do. If Natasia complemented his cooking then it must be good indeed.

"I have work to do," Tala argued but couldn't dislodge Natasia's hand.

"What's wrong? Afraid I will beat you at this also?" Ray challenged.

"As if," the redhead scoffed. "Fine then, best cook gets praise and the worst cook has to do the dishes."

It wouldn't hurt him to have some fun for a while. Besides, he doubted the kitten could out do him in this field. He didn't know if the scientists had mistakenly updated some cooking program into him but he was a master in the kitchen.

"You're on," Ray said and collected what he was going to need as Tala walked over to him and Natasia, rolling up the sleeves of his sweater. Natasia laughed at the two as they mocked glared at each other.

'This is going to be good.'

Tbc...

Anyone noticed something strange about the small Kai/Saskia scene at the beginning of this chapter? Read it again and see if you can find it! No, it's not a grammar mistake or anything like that. It's part of the plot.

Read & Review, please.