Sherbet Mayhem: Well, hello there! You came back for more? Good, 'cause that's exactly what you're all going to get! I'm glad everyone liked Chapter Four. Firstly, before we get the story going, I have a few thank yous to make out (I don't usually do this till the end of the story, so count yourselves . . . privileged! Lol)
Okay, there's one slight problem. My computer is acting up and it's only giving me your ID numbers, not your names! This should be good. These are all the reviews I had from Tuesday evening. If I missed you, it's because I got your review after Tuesday and haven't checked the net to see if your review! Don't be offended! I'm grateful for every review I get!
Right, User Number 379878 (I think it's Nicky!!! Hey if it's you!), thank you very much for your . . . incomplete review! Lol. Thank you for constantly reviewing my stuff and being there for me as a friend. I value every scrap of advice you give me and you're a fantastic e-buddy! DANKE SCHÖN!!! (Not French, German!). You're going to do – no, are already doing - brilliantly on this site! God bless, big kisses!
Next, User Number . . . oh wait; I have your name on the screen! Yay! Mr Abraham Lincoln! I am honoured, sir that you would even look at my story, never mind review me! Actually, I was touched when you said my story was amazing, and it inspired me to write more, because no one ever used the word amazing before! Thank you so much!
User Number 350303 (oh this is beyond a joke! For crying out loud what are your names! *Bashes computer with computer-bashing-hammer that bey-girl-nicky gave her a very long time ago to stop her breaking the mouse*), I know the chapters are really long, but if they weren't so long you wouldn't have all the story up that you have now and it would take eleven thousand years to put it up, or it would have eighty-bloomin'-eight chapters or something! Lol, but thanks for saying that lovely stuff about me being one of your favourites out of so many. Merci (into French mode again!) Oh, and yes, the other teams are on their way.
User Number 262153, oh dear! I'm not sure I should let you read anymore of my story if you can't breathe! Thank you, I get the point! It's lovely to see that my story is touching people emotionally like that. Even if it does almost kill them . . . lol! And you said amazing too! THANK YOU!!!
User Number 402470, I don't know if Kai liked Luna or not. I prefer to leave that unanswered, because that's one of the great things about Kai – we will never truly figure him out. Personally, I would like to believe that Kai did what he did out of sheer respect and emotion for Luna, because he had seen real promise in her eyes. Perhaps he could see something of himself in there. I don't know. But thank you for your pretty review! Yeah, I like sad stories too. What's the use in a story if it's all fun and no drama and action? We want torture; we want suspense, because that's what keeps us hanging on!
User Number . . . oh, I've got your name too! Alklachion – phew, that's a tough one to spell! Yes, I understand that cliff-hangers aren't the most comfy of positions, but I WILL KEEP YOU UNCOMFY BECAUSE I LOVE CLIFF-HANGERS!!! They're my speciality! Glad you're reading and liking and so on!
User Number 390449, glad you're enjoying things! Thanks for taking the time to review!
User Number 404711, Kai is my favourite character too (can't you tell?)!!! Rei follows him, and then probably someone like Lee from the Tigers of maybe Max. Thanks for reviewing!
Otherworlder (I know your name off by heart! Lol!) Thank you for your in-depth reviews and the information about the Chinese army and stuff that you have sent me! I'll say more in the emails I send you (lol) but it's wonderful to see somebody really reading a story thoroughly and coming up with perfectly knowledgeable questions about it! Shows you're paying attention! So yeah, thank you for being so honest and direct! Keep up the good reviewing!
User Number 437897 – are you Nicky and Dudems? HELLO if you are!!! This is so ridiculous, I'm guessing at people! Anyways, thank you for reviewing – and your joint story kicks ass! Go READ IT EVERYBODY!!! Find Nicky and Dudems – I'd tell you their name but I can't find it, but there's the User ID – oh, wait, read chapter five of this story first! Then read theirs! Oh wait, I just scrolled down and discovered that yes, this is Nicky and
Dudems. I am so dense sometimes! I am turning into a cheesecake!
Well, now that all the formalities are over with, let's get down to business. The time now is . . . 23:22. Quite early for me! Let's see, what do I own nothing of Beyblade. . . um . . . a dovetail saw, a piece of cheese, a purple plastic protractor (which sadly got chipped today), a tube of toothpaste, a strawberry yoghurt pot (lol, that tasted good) and today I discovered . . . A SHOEHORN!!! The usefulness! Maybe I should just throw this stuff away – nah, there'll be a prize for the person who can remember all of this stuff in order by the end of this story! Without looking back at previous chapters!
Let's get on with it! Enjoy, oh, and don't forget to REVIEW!!!
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Chapter Five: Schemes and Strategies
When Kai Hiwatari, Captain of the last standing Japanese squadron awoke, it was light outside. The rainy weather seemed to have cleared up, at that wet; grassy smell that signified that rain had once been was also gone. It had been some time since it had rained.
The window to the room was open, allowing the scent of the outside world to wander in when it wished. The room was pretty quiet, the only sounds being those that swept in through the window of occasional birds chirping as they flew past. The room itself was painted dull white, so it didn't hurt the eyes. It was square and quite large, with shiny tiles on the floor and a dresser nearby.
Kai found himself lying in a comfortable bed. His head rested on two or three pillows, and he wondered if he was dreaming. The last bed he remembered being in was hard with no sheets, covers or pillows to warm his freezing body. He pinched himself gently; clichéd as it sounds, and was assured that he was most definitely awake.
Kai found his voice. He was alone, in an alien place and could barely remember a thing that had happened. Pulling himself up and resting on his elbows, shaking a few bangs of silver-grey hair out of his eyes, he called out, seeing that the oak door was just ajar.
"Hello?"
He caught the padding of footsteps and then the door swung open. In the doorway stood the one and only Rei Kon, beaming in his light green khaki uniform, the star emblem on his hat glinting in the sunshine that entered through the window.
"You're awake, Kai?"
Puzzled yet extremely relieved, Kai smiled. "Um . . . yeah. It's been a while, Rei."
Looking entirely professionally in his uniform, Rei grinned happily, his ochre eyes beaming. "So it has, Kai. How are you feeling?"
"Okay, but I'm not sure what happened."
Rei's smile faded a little, and he pulled up a brown chair from near the cabinet. Easy going and optimistic, Rei Kon had worked his way up swiftly to the position of Second Lieutenant in the ranks of his troop of the Chinese Army. Highly trained in the Martial Arts, Rei was a character to be valued as a comrade or feared as an enemy. As he turned the seat backwards and sat with his legs apart, facing the back of the seat, Kai smiled a little as he spotted the badge on Rei's uniform.
"Second Lieutenant. I'm impressed. Who's your Lieutenant?"
Rei looked up and then answered. "I'm under the command of a man called Lieutenant Hing. You don't wanna meet him – he's a real jerk."
Kai laughed. "Enemies on your own side, Rei? How d'you hope to win?"
A pause from Rei and a flash of his mischievous grin forced Kai to repeat his question.
"How do you hope to win, Rei? Got something planned?"
"You'll see!" grinned Rei, rather secretively, "For now, I need to fill you in on some stuff."
Kai held up a hand, noticing how it was not scratched, bruised or marred in any way. "Some of it's already come back to me. Tokyo Square, Tyson's Dragoon rising, HQ burning, and Balkov Labour Camp."
"Remember Luna?" asked Rei helpfully, trying to jog Kai's memory. Little did Kai know that he had been in hospital for three days, unconscious, as the world continued to pass by steadily.
Kai's face darkened, and something gleamed in his deep brown eyes that startled Rei and almost made him want to take a step back. "How could I forget?"
He looked down for a second at the white linen that covered his body, and then glanced back up at Rei, the dangerous look gone from his eyes. "Yeah, I remember Luna. I also remember Merry-Go-Round, as they called it. I take it that's why I'm in here?"
Looking down at Kai's legs, which were still under the bed sheets, Rei nodded. "Yep. You were beaten up pretty bad when we brought you in."
"What happened?" asked Kai a little curiously. It was strange how well Kai and Rei got on. When they had first met, Kai had shown little interest, and Rei, thinking his friendship was not needed, had not seen any reason to offer it. After the defeat of BIOVOLT at the World Beyblading Tournament in Moscow, Rei and Kai had suddenly tightened. They had learned things about each other that they would never have seen in a million years if they hadn't looked. They had become firm companions.
Rei shook his head a little, his bangs of jet-black swaying in the gentle movement as he cleared his face of them.
"It's kind of a long story."
"We have all day," responded Kai quickly, suddenly determined to know what had happened. Rei sighed.
"Fine . . ."
*****************************************Flashback*************************************************************************
Rei had woken that night with an immense sense of misgiving, the dream of his friends facing Boris again and desperate for his assistance still fresh in his mind. His troop was due to fly to Japan in one week and see what was going on. The Japanese army had been annihilated beyond recognition, and he had heard nothing from his good friends Kenny, Max, Tyson or Kai. He was beginning to worry.
The flight day was an anxious one. China was flying over a small number of Storm-Troopers – the more advanced of the troops who were able to exact more extreme manoeuvres and tactics – and the rest of the three and a half million strong army was being shipped over in three days time. Throughout the whole flight Rei fidgeted in discomfort, unable to shake the feeling that his friends were in the greatest of danger. He was also worried about the odds. If Japan, with its well-trained army of three million, had been flattened by the seemingly unstoppable BIOVOLT, what hope had the Chinese without the British to support them? Still, Rei tried to hope for the best, being an optimist and pushing the worries to the back of his mind. Still, even when Rei was as settled as he could be, he still felt a strange, anxious feeling running through his blood. His friends needed him, and somehow, he just knew it.
The plane landed at Tokyo Airport at twenty-two-hundred hours. At ten thirty, Rei, dressed as a civilian as was the whole of his troop to avoid detection by BIOVOLT, had set up camp in a designated area. BIOVOLT were less than likely to find them there. It was in an extremely dense forest, with trees as high as the eye could see and extremely thick. Tired, Rei had wondered about his friends a little more, and then fell asleep in his tent, clutching his radio to his ear in case there was an emergency report.
There was.
At zero-seven-hundred hours the next day, Rei was jolted awake by the voice of his Lieutenant, Hing, screaming orders down the radio in a frantic attempt to wake his troop. Rei scrambled out of his tent, already dressed after falling asleep in his uniform, simply pulling on his hat to make himself look presentable. He faced Hing.
"We've found 'em," said Hing austerely. Rei blinked, still half asleep.
"Found who, Sir? BIOVOLT headquarters, you got them at last?"
"No, you fool!" snarled Hing; "I don't know why you're my Second-In-Command sometimes."
Rei scratched his head, suppressing a yawn with much difficulty. Hing continued.
"We've traced your friends. We picked up traces of their Bit-Beasts."
A physical jolt ran through Rei's body and he snapped to. "You found them? Are they safe?"
"That is what we are about to find out," snapped Hing grouchily, "Get the rest of the men together in fifteen minutes sharp. We have to get there on foot."
"Where are we going?"
Hing walked away without giving Rei a response.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
From seven twenty five to eleven thirty, Hing marched his men through Tokyo, skilfully avoiding the watchful eyes of BIOVOLT guards. Rei followed Hing with a severe sense of dread milling his slim stomach. What if something had happened? What if they were dead? They were his best friends. With his revolver pressed into a pouch in his rucksack, Rei's fingers itched. For some reason he was desperately on edge, and he barely spoke throughout the whole journey.
Rei's old White Tiger teammate, Lee, was also part of this troop. The Chinese army had acted in a similar way to the Japanese and had placed Lee and Rei together on the basis that they knew each other well and so would, on those grounds, be able to work together extremely well as a team. The other of the White-Tigers' male members, Gary and Kevin, were still based in China with the regular rank and file. Mariah had stayed at home to look after the village, as females were not allowed to fight on the front line in the Chinese army. She saw no point in it anyway. Her place, she felt, was to hold the village together whilst the men were at war, and she had written to Rei frequently to find out how he was getting on.
Lee spoke to Rei on several occasions on the five hour or so march, but Rei hardly ever responded with enthusiasm or interest. Worried, Lee had fallen silent himself, wondering what could have gotten his old friend so depressed.
At eleven thirty, the group set up camp, and changed out of their civilian clothing into their correct uniform. A light shade of khaki green and greys provided excellent cover and camouflage, and the star emblem on their hats was the only sign that they were from the Chinese army. Of course, they would have looked out of place in a group of soldiers wearing the BIOVOLT black army uniform. Civilian disguise was an absolute necessity.
The men ate something, but Rei declined food. His stomach churned as Hing scouted the area. They were half way through climbing a steep hill, and had set up camp on the grassy ground.
About ten minutes after he had left them, Lieutenant Hing returned, out of breath and looking scared of his wits. He found Rei's tent as quickly as possible and dove into it.
"Rei, it's a . . . they've got a . . ."
Rei held up his hands nervously. "Stop. Talk to me, Sir. What have they got?"
Hing took a deep breath to calm his racing nerves and then spoke quietly to Rei. "They've set up a labour camp! Like in Germany in World War Two!"
Rei's stomach turned, and a dreadful chill raced up his spine, like a demon lightly tiptoeing and tormenting his prey. He swallowed hard, blinking away the awful images that filled his head, and tried to concentrate.
"We'll infiltrate it. Free those in there. We can't stay and watch."
Lieutenant Hing nodded his affirmation, and the two crept out of the tent. Hing ordered his men together and debriefed them rapidly, while Rei took a pair of binoculars and began to walk up the steep slope of hill. He scaled it in three minutes flat, his feet moving faster than usually because of his nerves. Trembling with anxious expectation, Rei pressed the binoculars to his eyes and looked over the summit.
"Oh no . . ."
His head shook without him knowing it, and Rei began to breathe faster and faster as his mind began to register with what was happening. Images from his dream suddenly flashed into his mind, blinding all other thought, and he ripped the binoculars away from his eyes only to see that his troop had finally joined him. Seventeen men stood grouped, ready to take on Balkov Labour Camp.
Rei suddenly knew his friends were down there. He didn't understand how he knew. Just intuition or a hunch, a gut feeling. But down in his blood and at the bottom of his soul he could feel his friends' pain. Something was terrible wrong, and it was happening down there.
"Hing," he said quietly as his Lieutenant ordered his troop to march forwards, "I'm gonna use it now. Seems to make sense. It'll only help."
Hing stared at Rei, suddenly taken aback by the boy's self-conviction, and nodded, giving his consent. With a grim smile, Rei relinquished his Beyblade.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The two guards slammed the door shut, fixing the bolt in tight. Malevolent smiles notching each of their unshaven faces, they peered into the glass pane of the door and looked at the panicking assemblage of prisoners, soon about to die. The gas released would enter into their lungs, and, after about twenty seconds, would begin to burn them from the inside. As it reacted, it would give off carbon monoxide, which would enter into their bloodstreams and suffocate them anyway. There was no escape.
"Nice work, boys," came the voice of their Officer. He already had a bruise on his face where one of the prisoners had the audacity to slug him.
"The one who punched you, sir?" said one of the lackeys, turning from his view at the door. The Officer nodded.
"What about him? Insolent little-"
"He was Kai Hiwatari of the Japanese Storm Troopers, sir."
The Officer raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
He obviously didn't care who it was – he just wanted him and everyone else who had witnessed the scene to die – and painfully at that. The guard of lesser rank turned back to the panel and watched as the tiny grey gas canisters dropped from the ceiling and began to emit their poison. He smiled even further.
"I love this part."
The Officer, at this point, was bored. It wasn't his style to watch the deaths. Personally he didn't care how they died as long as they did. Sighing, a little uninterested, he turned away and walked out of the building. He stepped outside and breathed in the muddy, stifled air, thick with muggy rain.
Screaming to his right grabbed his attention, and he wondered how the screams of the gas chamber could be heard so far away. It was then that he realised that it wasn't the people in the gas chamber he could hear, despite the fact that the gas would have been released by now. Gunfire told him that the Balkov Labour Camp was under attack.
Reaching for his pistol, the Officer sprang forward, ready to protect Boris in any way possible – and was halted by a glow of green from around the corner of the building. He brought himself to an abrupt stop and stared up, his lip trembling in fear and astonishment, at the mighty form of a White Tiger, standing as high as a house, its tail swishing in irritation and enshrouded in a green glow. The emerald luminosity beamed out and lit the entire camp it was so bright and intense. Atop it could barely be seen a solitary soldier, amber eyes glinting like that of his beast. As the Officer watched, this prodigious animal, which defied reason and belief, bent its head and allowed the soldier to scramble off it quickly. The solider couldn't have been more than sixteen, and he wore the uniform of the Chinese army.
The Officer cocked his pistol, still determined to take down the lad and protect his leader Boris, but the huge tiger strode towards him, sensing the threat and stretching its claws. Quailing, the Officer stepped backwards as the Chinese soldier called for backup on his radio. Almost instantly there was a flood of Chinese soldiers from around the corner where the tiger had emerged from. It was an awe-inspiring sight. As the mighty beast stepped forward further, the soldier who had ridden the tiger motioned his troop to follow him and he darted into the grey barrack, through a set of double doors and out of the Officer's sight.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Rei slammed through the double doors, his heart racing at a phenomenal rate. Upon entering the camp, which had been heavily guarded and two of his fellow soldiers had been taken down, Rei had spotted what was going on. It was the spitting image of Maidanek, identical to Buchenwald, and sickening, just as Auschwitz had been – all of them slave labour and death camps in the dark ages of World War Two. Rei had seen enough pictures and war movies to know what a death camp was. People all around him – their faces were gaunt, their eyes sunken and hollow. There was no life in these people. Cries for mercy and salvation echoed all around, and after scooping the green barracks in which people were forced to live in, Rei's golden eyes had fallen upon the one thing he had hoped not to see. Grey barracks.
"I was drawn here," he thought as he passed into the changing room, "Something led me into here. Are . . . are my friends in the chamber?"
Shaking his head in almost complete denial, Rei raced on, until he barged through another set of doors, followed by his men, at least fifteen of them, and found himself in a kind of hallway, leading up to the direct gas chamber. Two guards were peering through the translucent panel on the heavy door, which was sealed with a bolt. One of them giggled in pleasure.
Rei felt his face twist in disgust, and he leaped forwards, tackling one of the guards and throwing him to his men. The other guard was swiftly taken down and held, immobilised. With trembling hands and a thudding heart, Rei fiddled with the bolt on the door, attempting to slide it out as hurriedly as he could. His fingers shook with nerves. He did not know what to expect when he opened the door, but he knew that it would not be pleasant.
"Rei!" he heard a call from behind. He turned and found an oxygen mask being thrown at him.
"Don't wanna go in without that!" smiled Lee, who had thrown the mask, his face looking flushed and apprehensive. These were designed to last for brief periods of time, and contained a small pouch of oxygen in the corner that released once strapped on to the face. It would last seven or eight minutes – which was plenty of time to clear the room. Rei strapped on the mask swiftly and then returned to the bolt – finally sliding it open with a bang.
"I hope my medics are ready!" he called as the bolt opened.
People in the room were still standing, and so Rei knew they still had time to save as many people as they could. Upon slamming the door open heavily, Rei leaped in and looked around. It was difficult to see much, because the gas in the air impended his vision, but Rei had extremely sharp eyes and immediately caught sight of Max, coughing heavily. Crying out within his mask, Rei waved his hand frantically, and one of his men jumped over and caught Max as he fell over.
Rei looked around the room in horror. His men had filed in and were removing people quickly, some prisoners having to be carried, others merely just assisted in walking out. Most were coughing and grasping at their throats; expressions of fear and torture were written on every face. Shaking his head again, the scene making him feel physically ill, Rei took another look around.
To his left, he caught sight a familiar face, and, squinting closer, he saw that it was Tyson. He was kneeling, and looking around in dizzy wonder at what was happening. As Tyson focused on Rei without recognition, Rei watched him bend down and whisper something to somebody who was lying on the floor.
Rei gasped.
"Men, get over here!" he yelled frenetically, already feeling overcome. Lee, hearing the near hysteria in Rei's tight voice, ran over and immediately pulled Tyson to his feet, muttering a few comforting words in the process. Rei knelt next to the shaking form of Kai, who had his eyes tightly shut. Rei didn't know whether that was with pain or fear. Blood surrounded the boy, having smeared onto the walls when he had been thrown in.
As Kai coughed weakly, Rei looked around, searching for a soldier to held him lift Kai. He couldn't lift somebody so injured on his own – it was a two-man operation. However, all the other Chinese soldiers were busy helping people out of the room. Panicking as Kai's coughing grew hoarser and somehow more tight, Rei grabbed the elastic at the back of his head and pulled off his oxygen mask, strapping it gently around Kai's head and attempting to avoid touching any of the wounds on the boy's pale face.
Immediately, the smell of the gas entered Rei's nostrils, and he almost retched. It was nauseating, and he could instantly feel it reacting in his throat and chest. Hurriedly, before it could have any serious effect on him, Rei stood and waved over a free soldier from his troop. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Kai was breathing in the oxygen fro his own mask, and, ignoring the cry of outrage that Rei was not wearing his mask from the other soldier, he grabbed Kai gingerly from under the arms. The other soldier grabbed his legs as gently as possible, and the two carried him hastily out of the room.
Rei laid Kai on the floor, and surveyed the boy. His stomach lurched as an oxygen mask was strapped about his head by Lee.
"I doubt he'll make it," came the voice of his friend, and Rei nodded, hating to agree but forcing himself to face the truth of facts. He was never one for trying to kid himself or others.
"We'll do our best," he said, his own voice sounding hoarse. Emotion welled up inside him. He had known for so long that something was amiss with his friends, and now he felt guilty for waiting for so long before arriving. He could have saved his friends so much pain and suffering.
"Wait just a second, Rei!"
*****************************************End Flashback******************************************************************
"Wait just a second, Rei!"
Rei paused at Kai's sudden interuption. He had been intensely quite through Rei's little flashback, showing a mixture of emotions as he had listened. He had frowned at the mention of the cruel, inhumane guards, and his face had fallen strangely serious when Rei had recalled giving him his oxygen mask.
"What is it, Kai?"
Kai stared at Rei, almost disbelieving. "You're saying you felt guilty? After you got us out of there, saved all of our lives and risked your own? And you feel guilty?"
Rei blinked back, and then he looked away, breaking Kai's incredulous glare and his own face falling.
"I should have been there sooner. I could have saved you the chamber, the Merry-Go-Round, Luna, everything."
Kai waited for a second so Rei could finish speaking, and Rei looked up at his silence, he spoke very quietly to emphasise how very serious he was.
"I salute you, Rei, summa cum laude."
Rei squinted for a second, played the words back over in his head, and then spoke.
"No, I don't get it. What did you just say?"
"I salute you with highest praise," answered Kai with a smile.
Rei blinked again, stunned. Whilst he was still speechless, Kai continued.
"For one thing, I'm glad I met Luna. She may have died, but I still hold her memory close. Secondly, you have nothing to feel sorry about. I don't know how I can stress the importance of what you did and what it means to us, Rei. But you getting there when you did made a huge difference – the difference between you opening the door when you did and difference between you opening the door a minute later. Do you see? What you did made an incredible difference to our lives – mine, and Tyson's, I'm sure, and Max's, and Dave's, and all of the other people in there. You saved us, there's no doubt of it. You have my respect."
Rei had merely stared at Kai as he had spoken, and something deep within had moved in Re's heart. This was true friendship, and the density of him arriving when he did sank in. He offered Kai a wonky smile, still not feeling one hundred percent right but feeling a whole lot better.
"Thanks."
"Besides," said Kai, "cui bono?"
Another empty stare from Rei made Kai laugh. "Sorry. It means 'who stands to gain?' What can you possibly gain from worrying about the fact when you weren't there earlier? The fact of the matter is: you got there. You saved us."
It was Rei's turn to laugh. "What's with all the Latin, Monsieur Multi-Lingual?"
Looking a little tired already, Kai moved from leaning on his elbows to lying down, his bandaged head feeling much better once he had laid it on the soft pillow.
"Ars longa, vita brevis. Art is long, life is short. I class language as a fine art. When I get out of this hellhole and go back home, I'd maybe like to get a job as a translator or something. You know, something normal? My life has been anything but normal, and I'm tired of being part of the action. A translator sounds pretty lame, I know, but . . . for once, I want to just . . . be able to live like a usual person."
Rei's face sobered, and he felt a small stirring of pity for Kai. He now realised that more than anything, deep down Kai longed acceptance and normality. He wanted a life that was different to his own; wanted to take himself away from himself.
"That's cool," he answered, standing up as Kai closed his eyes. "I'll come back later and fill you in with some more details. You look tired."
Kai snapped his eyes open. "Wait! Tell me . . . what were you talking about earlier? How are you going to . . . win?"
Rei sighed. "Fine, but only quickly. You look exhausted already."
Kai nodded, giving in to Rei's demands, and Rei sat back down again, removing his hat and running his hands through his floppy hair before replacing it. Kai smiled when he saw that Rei's traditional red bandanna was still in place under his hat, hidden from view.
"Well, Kai, do you even know where we are?"
Kai was about to answer, but then stopped, realising that he didn't know where he was at all. It hadn't occurred to him to even ask. "Good point."
"We're in Japan."
Kai started, and gave Rei a puzzled look. His mind was already whirring. "How can we still be in Japan and not have been discovered by BIOVOLT?"
Rei smiled. "Because we're where they'd never think to look. We're on top of a mountain."
Kai's bemused look seemed to grow, and Rei laughed. "Would they ever think of looking on Mount Fujiyama? Come on. You have to admit it's good."
Kai nodded, and then rethought it. "Yeah – if you like it cold, that is! How can you get supplies up here?"
Rei sighed, waving a hand. "You don't need to worry about that. We're still in Japan, and BIOVOLT don't know it. We also have a Mole working for BIOVOLT. That Mole will arrive tomorrow and give us all of the information we need. We have already been given information that BIOVOLT wants to move straight to China after the whole Balkov Labour Camp incident. Intelligence reports that old Boris wasn't too pleased – and neither was your happy chappie grandfather. They're pretty annoyed that the Chinese rescued everybody and stuff."
Kai chuckled. "Now how come that doesn't surprise me?"
Rei smiled and then carried on, lowering his voice, partially for effect and partially in case there were any moles in their own camp (a mole being an undercover person – a kind of spy who blends in with the enemy and then reports back).
"When the Mole comes back, we will have the location of the BIOVOLT Main HQ. We're going to take it down – internally."
Kai scoffed, the whole thing already sounding preposterously impossible. "Yeah, okay. We'll sneak in, fifteen of our best guys, and – uh, oops, tripped an alarm! Yeesh, Rei, imagine the security! Plus, how are we gonna distract the rest of the freakin' army? It's absurd!"
Rei smiled, nodding as Kai let off a little steam. "We know that BIOVOLT leave for China in exactly one month and four days. And we have received notice from Britain that she will be able to send – in exactly one month's time - not only the Expeditionary Force – which is their version of Storm Troopers but twice as many as usual – plus a standing army of three million. China will send her army of three-and-a-half, and the two will be able to stand against BIOVOLT's standing army of six million."
"That doesn't explain how we-"
"Britain and China," continued Rei, "will drop their men in from the air. It's a huge task – involving one heck of a lot of planes and parachutes, not to mention safety training. Thank Britain for that. She has one of the strongest air forces in the entire world. Once the RAF has dropped off the soldiers, they will immediately surround Tokyo – which is now completely taken over by BIOVOLT. BIOVOLT will not have had much time to prepare – simply because of the advantage of surprise that our forces will have. Every soldier that BIOVOLT has to spare will have to get to Tokyo if they intend to keep it in their possession. It'll be all out, Kai. It's gonna be massive."
Kai nodded, things beginning to make sense. "Still, Rei, what about-"
"I know, the infiltrating HQ part. Well, apparently, this Mole is also an expertise computer genius type. Like . . . like Kenny. The Mole says its possible to disable the majority of security of the BIOVOLT Main HQ from the central computer system that we have here. The Mole will also go with the squad sent to permeate HQ and will disable manually as many traps and alarms as possible. Then the squad – obviously Storm Troopers or better – will enter and begin to shut down BIOVOLT computer systems – not to mention downloading the files and so on that they need to survive. Rumour has it that Voltaire and Boris Balkov are hiding out there. They will also be removed. It's kind of like when Hitler died, leaving the German army without a leader. They didn't a clue, because their crazy, inspirational principal was gone. Hopefully, once Voltaire and Boris are off the scene, the BIOVOLT army will lose its vicious motivation."
There was a pause.
"Plus, we'll mess up their equipment so much that their radios won't work. Laser sights on their rifles won't work. Tanks will run haywire. If they have any aircraft at all, they will be ruined. If we can get into the heart of their HQ, we can win this."
Rei finished, and Kai took another moment to take it all in. It was pretty damn good. The plan seemed solid enough – very risky, and relying on a lot of things to be in practise for it to work – but if the circumstances were right then it would be a complete success.
"It's risky, but it's worth a shot. You know I'm starting to wonder what the point of it all is. All this death for our troops to flip a couple of switches." replied Kai as he processed it all, searching for mistakes, yet feeling deep in his soul that what they were doing was incredibly wrong
"Pro amor patriae," said Rei quickly, and Kai glanced at him, startled.
"For love of one's country."
"Et veritas, dignitatium, et pax."
Kai listened for a second, impressed that Rei knew just a little Latin, and then smiled. "And truth, dignity, and peace. You made your point."
"We had a deal. You rest now, and I'll speak to you in more detail later. Okay?"
Kai nodded in between a yawn. "Oh, wait, one more question – how are the others?"
"You mean Tyson, Max and Dave?" clarified Rei. Kai nodded.
"They're fine," Rei smiled reassuringly, "I think they're at the dinner table or something! Which reminds me; if you're hungry, just ask. We'll fix you up something no problem."
Kai nodded faintly, tiredness creeping up on him faster than expected now he was relieved about the other's situations. He closed his eyes as Rei began to shut the door very quietly.
"Oh, and you know how you were saying you wanted to be 'normal', Kai?"
Kai opened an eye and looked over sleepily. "Yeah?"
"Define 'normal' for me."
Rei closed the door as Kai fell asleep, and turned about in the pale lemon hallway. He was met by three anxious faces – three familiar, friendly faces.
"How is he?"
Rei smiled at Tyson, Max and Dave. "He's fine. He asked about you guys."
Max jumped on Tyson. "YES!!! I knew it!"
Dave burst into an ecstatic grin and leaned against a wall. "That's a relief. Can't wait to speak to him again."
Tyson merely jumped up and down with Max. "All right! Undefeated we remain!"
Rei rolled his eyes, inwardly grinning at his friends' enthusiasm. It would be a while before Kai knew how close he had come to death in those three days when he had been unaware of the clouds ambling by or the wind swaying in the trees.
Rei began to walk away, knowing he had many jobs to do – not like Tyson, Dave or Max didn't. They were just slackers. But he stopped at a question from Tyson.
"When did you say that the Mole would get here?"
Rei smiled at the way Tyson emphasised the words "The Mole". He sounded ridiculous.
"Jenny arrives tomorrow."
Tyson felt his jaw drop, and he tried to keep his exclamation as quiet as possible due to the fact that Kai was sleeping not far away.
"THE MOLE'S A GIRL???"
For he who grew up tall and proud,
In the shadow of a mushroom cloud.
Rich town voices can't be heard,
We just wanna scream it louder and louder and louder…
What the hell we fightin' for?
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Sherbet Mayhem: I am SO SORRY! That chapter majorly sucked. I mean, the plot was a disgrace to plots! Ok, so the part about Rei's view was cool 'cause – well, it was Rei, how couldn't it be cool? – but what's with all the Latin? I can't help putting it in – even though I don't speak a word of Latin! Ooo, it's one of those annoying chapters that has to go in to explain stuff, but it's completely action-less and stuff and boring to be honest! I tried to vamp it up with the Rei flashback and even that didn't work! URGHH! I AM SORRY!!!
FLAME ME!!! I DESERVE IT! I'm completely serious – I'm really sorry! Chapter six will be so much more interesting!
Oh, the lyrics were Queen – Hammer to Fall. I love Queen – they're one of my favourite bands of ALL TIME!!!
For those who are interested, it's a whole 03:25 am. Maybe that's why I seem just a tad grumpy.
Max: You're writing is fine! Why do you say it sucked! I thought it was okay!
Sherbet Mayhem: Shut up you turtle, what would you know about English Literature? Or English Language? I just got an A+ in both in my major exams and so I SHOULD KNOW IF MY WRITING'S CRAP AND IT BLOOMIN' WELL IS YOU FREAKIN' TURTLE HEAD!!! GO EAT SOME FRICKIN' SHRIMP YOU AMPHIBIAN!!!
Max: *backs off, terrified* I think I'd rather go back to the war. See ya!
Sherbet Mayhem: On the other hand, REVIEW!!!!!!!! (I promise chapter six will be better – please don't stop reading this story! PLEASE!!!)
SMOOCHES (despite the fact that they are angry smooches)