14. Intruders
"Can you see what's going on, Sarah?" Sarah heard through the earpiece of the machine.
"Yes. I can see exactly what Fovular sees; Griffolyon using its Wing Dagger. I can see the feathers being shot straight at me," she replied. Then she made a small scream and shielded herself.
"Yep, it's working alright." Lutka said as she leaned back in her chair.
Irina, who had been sorting files, gathered some in her arms and looked at the screen over Lutka's shoulder. "Hm...That's nice." She immediately went back to sorting files.
Lutka froze and then turned around, hooking her arm over the back of the chair. "'Hm... That's nice.'? That's it? Nothing more?"
Without looking up, Irina replied, "Yes."
Lutka stared at her oddly. "You know Irina, to someone who doesn't know you well, they'd think you wouldn't care for your daughter all that much."
"Is it my fault that I have work to do? Boris keeps me busy as Biovolt Operations Director, you know."
Sarah, Kai, Tala, Robert, Michael, and Lee were in the main hall. Boris and their teams were supervising them as they fought each other. Kai was facing Lee, Tala was facing Michael, and Sarah was facing Robert. Biovolt was testing the three in battle to see if the soul fusions had been successful.
Kai, Tala, and Sarah were wearing the machined eyepatches and new uniforms. The new uniforms had a bottom layer of body-tight jumpsuits, Kai's black, Tala's white, and Sarah's grey. The sleeves reached the wrists, the legs reached their ankles, and the neck covered their necks. On top of that was a light green vest. On the left side of the vest was the Biovolt logo, and on the right were the yellow buttons as on Kai's shirt. The vest had tubal lining around the neck and arm openings, Kai's blue, Tala's red, and Sarah's purple. Down the middle of the vest was a zipper that reached to the bottom of the vest, which was shaped like a female's one piece swimsuit. But you could only see the top half because the bottom half was covered by armour. The armour was a series of two plates, one layered on top of the other, that protected their stomach and groin area. Kai's was cerulean blue, Tala's was ruby red, and Sarah's was orchid purple. Where their waist was in the middle of the armour was a black belt with Kai's dragon clasp. From it hung two belts, the same colour and shade as on the person's tubal lining. They wore knee-high boots. The front of the boots were the red, blue, or purple, and went from the protruding triangle at their knees to the dragon design on Kai's boots, forming a shin- guard. The back of the boot was the same green as the vest. On the shoe of the boot was a strip like on Tala and Sarah's boots which was either black, white or grey. The sole of the boot was also either black, white or grey. They had gloves that went halfway up their upper arm that was either blue, red, or purple. At the wrist was a metal band that held a green strip there. It made a ring around their finger and made a half diamond shape that went halfway up their forearm.
So far, the experiments were functional. Kai first knocked out Galeon, then Tala knocked out Trygle, and finally Sarah knocked out Griffolyon. Once that happened, Boris clapped his hands for everyone to hear. "Right, everyone. That's enough for today. Sarah, Kai, Tala, get changed and return your blades to the testing facilities."
"Lutka, could you pass me that file on the counter, please?"
"Sure. I would if there was a file there," Lutka replied curtly.
Irina looked over to where Lutka sat and saw no file on the counter. "Oh. So you're right. Shoot! I must have left it in the basement testing facilities..."
"Don't sweat it, Irina," Lutka said as she typed stood up and finished typing something. "I'm done. I'll get it. Where is it?"
Irina placed a hand on her chin and the other her hip, as if deeply thinking of the matter. "Hm...Let's see...I'm sure I left it on the counter of the testing facilities control room."
"Okay, I should be able to find it, then." Lutka answered as she walked out of the room.
Lutka's high-heeled footsteps echoed throughout the Biovolt hallways. On her way from the east lab to the staircase that led to the basement level, she heard a sound come from the main entrance hall. She had just stepped past it, and so turned around and hurried a few feet back.
Lutka poked her head in the doorway, but saw nothing, and so she moved on. 'I'm sure I heard something...like a gunshot, door creaking and then a dash of footsteps...And if not, then what was it? Oh, Lutka...get back to your senses! Hearing things is a sign of ageing!'
Tok, tok, tok...
Lutka whipped around at the sound of footsteps that didn't sound like her own. She surveyed the corridor that she had stepped through already and saw no one. She scowled and turned back around slowly. 'If anyone's following me, I'd see them. The hallway's wide open...And if anyone has indeed infiltrated the premises through the main hall I'd have seen that, too...'
She walked a few more metres and then heard the footsteps once again. She stopped, and there were four more footsteps before they stopped, too. Lutka froze. Someone was following her! She whirled around again and made a defensive stance of clenched fists. She saw no one standing there once again.
"Come on out, whoever you are! I'm not afraid! Why don't you just assassinate me to get it over and done with already?" she cried, her voice reverberating down the empty hall.
When there was no reply, she turned and ran towards the staircase. She reached them and hastened down the stairs, almost losing her step halfway down. She heard the footsteps come after her, so she ran away from the staircase and to the testing facilities; the nearest room-she had to go there, anyway.
She made it there and rushed inside, slamming the door shut behind her. She put the four locks on and leaned against the door, breathing heavily. Once she had caught her breath, she listened carefully for sounds of her pursuers. All was quiet-she couldn't even hear their footsteps so she relaxed and stepped away from the door.
She moved towards the control room slowly as she ran her hand through her messed up hair. She sighed as she pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door to the control room. She had unlocked it and placed her hand on the knob to open it when she heard what sounded like another gunshot. She turned her head rapidly to see a hole in the wooden door where a bullet had penetrated it.
"Open the door!" She heard a familiar voice command.
Lutka stared in fear, not knowing what to do. She was trapped in the room-there was no other exit except for that door. She could open the door, but they would surely shoot her. Then again, if she left it shut, they would break it down.
"Lutka! I see you in there! There's no point in trying to hide from us!"
'Us...' That meant that there was more than one of them. But how many more?
"You've got three seconds! One..."
'What do I do?!' Lutka's petrified mind screamed.
"Two..."
"I'm coming, I'm coming!"
"Three!"
The door burst open, the wooden beams that served as locks cracked, broke, and flew past Lutka. Lutka stopped running towards the door and shielded her face from the beams. When the dust had cleared, she took her hands away and looked up to see Vitality Extortion standing there-with new uniforms. She gasped on seeing them.
Their new uniforms began with a horizontal metal headband. There was a black earphone on their right ear for receiving messages and a black microphone that extended from it to just in front of their mouths-for sending out messages. From the left side of the headband protruded a plastic transparent eyepiece of a different colour for each deploy. Kuiper's was blue, Spica's purple, and Telesto's red- their primary colours. Underneath their battlecostume they wore a sleeveless shirt that was of a lighter shade of their primary colour. Over that, they wore a loose short sleeved jacket of their primary colour. The shirts had a high neck that had lining around the top and down the middle to the bottom where the lining then followed the bottom. The lining also followed the edges of the sleeves and up under the arm, then down the sides to meet with the rest of the lining at the bottom. The lining was of their secondary colour- Spica's black, Telesto's grey, and Kuiper's white. Over the jacket they had white chest armour that protected their chests only and a belt that criss- crossed across their chests with the Goadbwa logo on a special patch on it. They had a belt with the Goadbwa logo on the clasp, and pants of a darker shade than their primary colour. They had white boots that went halfway up their shins with flaps and brown lacing. They had knee and elbow pads, and wrist-length gloves of the primary colour. From their belts hung gun holsters with a gun and dagger sheaths with daggers in them. On their left forearms were high-tech Beyblade shooters, strapped to their arms like bayonets, winder and all.
"So it was you three that were following me!"
"That's right," Spica replied.
"But...I thought your soul was taken, Spica!"
"It was, but Goadbwa gave me a cloned soul. It's so good to be on Goadbwa's side, but you wouldn't know that, because you work for Biovolt- which we're going to destroy!"
"How can you three expect to bring down Biovolt by yourselves?"
Bang!
Lutka stared in fear at Kuiper, who had just fired his gun near her head. "Like that."
"Now make it easy for us, won't you, Lutka, and tell us where Boris is," Telesto said with a disgusted, condensing look.
"Why do you want to know that?"
Spica placed her hands akimbo and rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, Lutka! You'd think a smart Head Scientist like yourself could see the answer to that. To kill him."
"Kill him?!"
Telesto smirked and folded his arms. "Of course. He's the President, and so once he's gone, Biovolt will fall without a leader."
"Well, we have a Vice President. Voltaire, Kai's grandfather."
Vitality Extortion looked at each other in confusion. "Gilepse never told us that."
"Yeah, I thought only Goadbwa had a VP."
"Well, anyway, do you really think that Voltaire'll get you out of the fire?"
"Yes, and if not, Irina will rise to the challenge."
"Why are we wasting our time talking about who will take over as president for Boris?! Lutka, spill it! Where's Balkov?"
Lutka scowled. "I don't know."
Spica glowered even more. "Then at least hand over the Hilanovs' blades."
"No."
"What did you say?"
"No," Lutka repeated.
Telesto advanced on her and waved an accusing finger at her. "Look, Mrs, Romanov-"
"Who cares about her?" Kuiper cried as he knocked Lutka out of the way of the control room door. Lutka fell to the floor as the three ran in and knocked over the glass cases containing Fovular, Dranzer and Wolborg.
Spica and Telesto made off right away, but Kuiper stopped on the way out to mock her. "We'll be on our way, now. Oh! And don't tell anyone else in Biovolt, or you'll be hearing from us."
"In a postcard!" Telesto added just before he exited the room.
Once Kuiper had left the room, Lutka pulled out a walkie-talkie from her belt. "Oh yeah? Watch me!"
"Irina! Irina! Can you hear me?"
Irina whirled around to face the walkie-talkie on the counter. She rushed over and picked it up. "Yes, Lutka. What is it?"
"Intruders! In the Abbey! It's Vitality Extortion! Tell Boris and the rest of the Abbey-but warn them to be careful-they're armed! And tell Boris to be especially precautionary- they're out to kill him on Gilepse's orders! Block them off at the main doors!"
"Right!" Irina hurried over to the doorway and picked up the receiver of the phone that hung on the wall to serve as a PA system throughout the Abbey. "Intruders! Intruders! Everyone to the main hall! Kai, Tala, Sarah- you're needed!"
"It's a good thing we haven't changed, yet," Sarah said after hearing the announcement her mother had made.
"Speak for yourself!" Tala and Sarah heard Kai say in frustration from the other side of the room.
Tala hastened to put his gloves, boots, belt, and armour back on while Sarah refastened the metal clasp on her gloves. She ran to the door and stood there waiting for the two boys. Tala jogged up a few seconds later, and thirty seconds after that Kai grabbed his belt and gloves, then hopped halfway across the room trying to put his left boot on. Once it was securely on his foot, he threw his belt around his waist and fastened it, then ran out the door right past Sarah and Tala. He tried to put his gloves on as he ran towards the staircase that led to the main floor.
"Shoot! Obviously that Tala and Anya get their stubbornness from their mother! She ratted on us!" Kuiper exclaimed, looking up at the speaker on the ceiling of the main hall.
Vitality Extortion froze as red lights flashed and an alarm sounded. They saw Irina first appear in the doorway followed by a few trainees. "Seize them!" Irina cried, pointing at them and signalling to the trainees.
The trainees made a dive for them, but Vitality Extortion turned around and headed for the door, only to be blocked off by more trainees. Spica pulled out her gun immediately and pointed it at one particularly innocent looking trainee, who began to shiver and stare in fear.
Telesto and Kuiper glanced at her. "Spica! Surely you wouldn't...they're just... children!" Telesto exclaimed.
"So what? Kids and adults are all alike. We're all human, aren't we?" Spica snapped.
Telesto and Kuiper were still edgy about the concept. They turned around again with worried looks to see that more Biovolt trainees and members had gathered, including Boris.
"Get them!" Irina cried again.
"No," Boris said, holding his arm out to bar their way.
Irina turned to him. "Why, sir?"
"Because." Boris stepped forward, away from the throng. He advanced on the three, Spica raising her gun to him shakily. Boris stood towering over her and placed his hand on the end of the gun pointing to him calmly. He lowered it slowly and glared at the frightened Spica in front of him. Everyone in the room stared in bewilderment.
Boris clasped his hands behind his back and continued to eye Spica. "Now. What is it you want from Biovolt?"
"W-well...I...uh...Mr. Balkov, sir..." Spica stammered.
"We were sent by Gilepse to steal the Fovular, Wolborg, and Dranzer blades and to kill you, Boris!" Kuiper burst out as he drew his gun from its holster in his belt and shot it at Boris.
The bullet hit Boris' chest head-on, but Boris didn't seem to feel it at all. He continued to stare at Kuiper, whom he had turned to as the bullet fell from his chest and hit the stone floor. Everyone stared in trepidation and shock at either the bullet or Boris. After a few moments of watching Boris they saw that blood wasn't even appearing on Boris' black turtleneck.
There was stunned silence and tension as Kai, Tala, and Sarah ran in, Kai still adjusting his glove. "What happened?!" Sarah cried.
"They have your Beyblades!" Lutka explained, panting and pointing at Vitality Extortion as she hurried up to them from the staircase to the basement.
"They do, do they?" Tala asked mockingly.
"I'm sure I heard a gunshot..." Kai said, trailing off.
"You did," Boris informed, turning his head slowly to look at them. "Kuiper shot me."
"What?!" Sarah screeched, her eyes filling with anger and fear. She growled and tensened, then charged head-long at Kuiper, fists flailing about. She brought him to the ground, pummelling him.
Telesto placed his finger on the mini microphone in front of his mouth that was attached to his headband and eyepiece. "Reinforcements!"
Almost instantly, the main doors were flung open, knocking the trainees that were standing there aside. Sarah froze in mid-punch and scrutinized something black, blue, and red on the floor underneath the men that were now marching in. Once the men had ceased and they were all inside the main hall, Sarah gasped. "They've killed Vladimir!"
All the Biovolt members turned their heads to the inert, prone cadaver on the top step. It was Vladimir, the Biovolt guard, all right. His uniform was covered in blood, obviously he had been shot to death-like Boris should have been.
"He was in our way," Spica said with a smirk and a shrug.
"You!" Sarah cried as she leapt up from Kuiper, who was struggling to get up and grimacing on the floor.
"Sarah! Calm down!" Tala exclaimed as she made a dive for Spica.
"Give me back my Dranzer!" Kai yelled as he tackled Kuiper to the ground once more, trying to pry Dranzer from Kuiper's hand.
Tala sighed, shook his head and then took his gun shooter out. He pointed it at Telesto. "Hand over my blade, or I shoot."
Telesto mimicked the action. "In case you haven't noticed, I can shoot, too."
"Irina! Where are the others?" Boris asked.
"Should I go get them, sir?"
"Yes." Irina left on his command.
As Sarah lunged at Spica, Spica unsheathed her dagger and held it out at Sarah. Sarah saw the action and tried to move out of the way, but the dagger grazed her shoulder, the blade shearing the tough green fabric of the vest to make the silver jumpsuit visible. Sarah observed the laceration before grabbing a hold of Spica's left hand, the one with Fovular in it. Sarah took Spica's arm and twisted it. Spica screamed and sunk the dagger into Sarah's right shoulder to make her let go.
This time, the cut went deeper and sheared both layers including Sarah's skin. The wound began to bleed as Sarah screamed and pulled away, having pried her Beyblade from Spica's grip. Sarah held her shoulder wound a moment but then hurried out of the room as Spica gave chase to her. They both left the room.
Meanwhile, Kai and Kuiper were engaged in a similar style of combat. As Kai tried to get Dranzer out of Kuiper's grasp, Kuiper used his knife to stab at Kai's hand, Kai letting out a yell and flinching on each impact.
It was pure dogged determination that kept Kai going, ignoring the pain from the bleeding wound and trying even harder to liberate Dranzer. Finally, Dranzer shot free and into his hand. Kai pushed himself of the ground, away from the struggle with Kuiper. He tried to step away, but Kuiper grabbed his foot and he stumbled and fell back onto the ground.
"Get the trainees away from here and somewhere safe!" Boris instructed authoritatively.
Irina and Lutka shooed the trainees away and to the basement stairs. They led them to the training room in the basement, and when Boris tried to follow them, he saw that the men were pursuing him. He knew that wouldn't be good for the trainees and so he went in the direction opposite the trainees, leaving Kai, Tala, Telesto, and Kuiper in the main hall all by themselves. Swiftly, he whirled around and pulled out a gun. He fired and brought down one Goadbwa.
Tala and Telesto still hadn't moved-they were still glaring at each other, guns held out, poised to shoot. In one swift move, Telesto cocked the trigger and the gun fired, right at Tala. The bullet penetrated Tala's uniform, specifically the green vest and white jumpsuit underneath. There was a loud clanking sound as the bullet impacted Tala's chest and then dropped to the floor in front of him.
Telesto stared in horror at the purply oxblood liquid that made its way out through the hole in Tala's chest. Tala looked down at the aperture and then back up at Telesto, who had his eyes fixed on Tala's chest. Even Kai and Kuiper had ceased their fighting momentarily to watch the other two- especially Tala. Telesto, having recovered a little from the sight of the gore, fired again, this time at Tala's leg. It hit Tala high on the leg, almost at the torso, but just as before, the bullet had ricocheted off him with a loud, "clunk!"
Tala lowered his gun slowly and then waited for Telesto to lower his. The brown-haired boy did so, still mesmerized by the wounds, and that's when Tala struck. He fired the gun directly at Telesto's leg. Then, since Tala felt hardly any pain from his wounds, he made a run for it as Telesto sank to the ground, holding the bulletwound and crying out in pain. On seeing that, Kai and Kuiper resumed their fistfight, Kai throwing the first blow to Kuiper's face. As Kuiper tried to recover, Kai threw Kuiper off him and got up.
He fit his Dranzer blade to his new red gun shooter and aimed at Kuiper. "Come on, get up."
Kuiper rolled over onto his back and propped himself up with his arm.
Kai fired the blade, not waiting for his opponent. "Go, Dranzer!"
Tala turned swiftly and ran through the corridors of the Abbey, looking for Sarah and Spica. He turned through labyrinth hallways yelling, "Sarah! Where are you?"
He rounded one blind corner on the first floor and ran right into someone. The person caught him and prevented him from falling backward. Tala looked straight and saw himself staring at a uniformed chest. He glanced upward and at the person gripping his shoulders firmly. "Tala!"
Tala recognized the boy right away as Sarah's brother, Samson. Tala pulled away from Samson's grip. "Where's Sarah?"
Samson retracted his arms to his side. "I don't know. Why? Has something happened?"
Tala glanced around anxiously. "Yes. She ran out of the main hall with Spica in tow. The two are trying to kill each other and the last time I saw them, Spica was succeeding."
"I'll say it again, I don't know- but whatever you do, be careful. There are Goadbwa deploys around every corner. Judy's been able to track and count about fifty of them within the Abbey's vicinity. Oh, and if you need any help or anything, go to the labyrinth halls. Kieran's stationed by the doors ready to assist."
Tala went around Samson and into the corridor perpendicular to the dark one that he had just been in. "Right, then. Thank you."
Samson headed down the corridor that Tala had come from. "I'll keep my eyes out for her." The two turned away from each other and began to jog, but Samson whirled back around and called out to Tala. "Tala! One more thing- where's Kai?"
"In the main hall with Kuiper."
"Then what about Telesto? Shouldn't you be fighting him?"
"I was, but then I took advantage of letting him recover from his wound while going to help elsewhere."
Samson looked down at the floor and then nodded slowly. Then he looked back up again and waved to Tala, dismissing him. Tala waved back and continued down the enlightened corridor.
When he came to the end, there was a four-way junction. He observed all three opposing corridors and then heard a scream come from the one on his right. He quickly turned and ran down it, but then ducked into a classroom doorway as two figures came into view at the end of the hallway ten metres away from around another corner. He saw that the two figures were Spica and Sarah.
Sarah was dragging Spica along the stone floor-both covered in blood. Spica seemed unconscious, so why was Sarah doing that?
Tala came out of the recess in the wall and hied over to the two girls. He stopped at Sarah's side. "What are you doing?!" he cried in a whisper.
Sarah stopped walking backwards but held on to Spica as she turned to Tala. "Dragging Spica out of the Abbey..." she panted, exhausted. Her hair was undone, all frazzled and she had numerous wounds on her arms and legs.
"Why are you doing that?"
"Because I don't want her waking up and then causing havoc in the Abbey again."
Tala grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from Spica so that she let go. "Look-if you're going to be a warrior, you have to learn to be ruthless. You don't pick your enemy up after they've fallen, you run for your life! Have you heard of a man called Rasputin?"
"Yes, wasn't he the advisor to the tsar and tsaritsa of Russia? And the tsarevitch, Alexei's miraculous healer?"
"Yes! He was stabbed in the stomach, poisoned with cyanide, shot in the head three times, beaten up, thrown in ice-cold waters, and still he wasn't dead!"
"What does that have to do with me dragging Spica?"
Tala grabbed her arm and pulled her away and down the corridor. "What if Spica springs back up and tries to attack you?"
"I..."
"You don't do anything except die, now move it! Follow me."
Sarah followed after him reluctantly, Tala having to pull her along. They came to the 4-way junction as Tala heard voices and footsteps coming from the hall in front of them. Tala then saw some of the Goadbwa deploys come into view, and so he took a turn down the perpendicular hall to the right, hauling Sarah behind him.
The deploys had obviously noticed him, as they called out, "Hey! There's Tala and Sarah!"
"Get them!" After which they gave chase to the two down the corridor they had taken.
Tala led Sarah into a turn that the deploys hadn't seen as they were still turning a corner. The passages became rather confusing in this area, so the deploys didn't know where to go. They decided to go straight ahead, the direction Tala and Sarah hadn't gone in.
Once the men had passed, Tala moved Sarah deeper into the hallway. He leaned her against the stone wall and then took a rest to examine his wounds-something he hadn't but should have done.
Tala ran his hand along his chest, wiping the blood away from the injury. Once he took his hand away, he saw something normal humans don't see. He saw metal; a component of an automata cyborg.
He glanced down at his leg and saw that the blood had flowed all down his legs and had also been transferred to the other one from all the running. He could see through his ripped uniform the tin pet that now served as his skeleton. 'What has Boris done to me?'
"Tala..."
Tala looked up.
Sarah leaned forward a little, eyes half-closed, mouth open slightly. Her eyes widened ever so slightly on seeing Tala's wounds, but she still had the same pained and drowsy expression. "What... happened?"
"Kuiper shot me."
Sarah pulled away from the wall, faster this time, fists clenched and anger beginning to show in her bluish-green eyes.
Tala threw his hands to her shoulders and pushed her back against the wall. "There's no reason to get angry-I'm okay. Please-don't hurt yourself more than you already are. My wounds are less serious than yours, and Boris can always repair me-he can't do that to a real human body such as your own."
Sarah continued to glare at him, the fury still raging inside. She examined the vast expanse of sky blue in his eyes. It was like gazing at the skies, cloudwatching once again with the Celestial Myriad... The good old days when there was no war and all there was to worry about was whether or not they'd lose their next match...not their life. The only thing about these skies was that they were cloudless, just blue like water. Only this water showed emotion in its colour-worry, sadness, and...fear. Fear wasn't an emotion that you would normally see in the eyes of a Biovolt trainee. No, Biovolt trainees were trained to be ruthless warriors, not compassionate, kind-hearted young children. The expectations were also supposed to be enhanced in the trainee that stood before her. As Biovolt's greatest genetically engineered Beyblading warrior, he was supposed to have next to no emotions at all, especially factoring in that the boy in front of her was a cyborg.
"Hey! It's like a maze in here!"
"I told you to let me lead, but did anyone listen? No!"
"Oh, zip it! I've had just about enough of your constant babbling!"
Tala turned his eyes away from Sarah and to the hall entrance behind him. He couldn't see anyone because of the bend, but he knew that the Goadbwa deploys were there-he could hear them. He turned back to Sarah, who stared back at him blankly, not seeming to know what was going on.
Tala turned his head down the hall in the direction opposite the entrance. He saw the recess in the corridor where the exit door was. Kieran would be waiting there, ready to help, Samson had said. Tala trusted that this be true.
He turned back to Sarah. "The deploys are back."
"I can hear."
He gazed deeply into those green eyes, which he found so beautiful. "Your brother said that Kieran is just down the hall in the exit doorway that leads to the outside of the Abbey. He'll be there to help you. Stay with him until you're told otherwise while I go head of the deploys."
Sarah nodded slowly and tried to leave Tala's grasp, but he held her against the wall firmly. She looked at him with the expression of a poor townspeasant about to be whipped. She saw Tala's intense scowl.
Then the scowl became the same as her expression. "Please-be careful."
"Yes." Sarah replied again, and made a second attempt to liberate herself but to no avail.
Tala gripped her shoulders more tightly, his blood on his gloves staining her vest. He continued to stare at her, trying to hold back the tears that tried to force their way through. Trying to suppress them only made him squeeze harder, making Sarah flinch slightly. His fingers bit deeper into her shoulders.
Tala was deeply thinking in his mind... 'What do I do? What do I do? To do or not to do? That's the question!'
Tala shook his head back and forth slightly, then stopped and began to bring his head closer to Sarah's, a look of disgust on his face. 'Boris'll never approve of this...'
He slowly loosened his grip on her right shoulder and let his hand, with a mind of its own, crawl up her neck and to the back of her head. As leaned in closer and closer, he found that his left hand was pulling Sarah closer and closer. After what seemed like an eternity of drawing closer, they made contact. He could feel that his left hand was digging into her scalp, but she didn't seem to notice it. She didn't seem to notice that the whole ordeal was going on. Her arms were hanging loosely at her sides, not responding to what he was doing.
Sarah felt Tala's hand then roam up her neck and to her cheek. She felt some warm, comparatively thick liquid that was left behind as he ran his hand along her jawline and to her chin. His lips were surprisingly soft for one made of metal. She could feel his mouth moving slowly against hers. She had been relatively reluctant up to this point, but now felt that she should contribute. She raised her hands torpidly, coiling them around his neck.
Tala felt himself being pulled closer-body wise. He perceived the tightness of her uniform against his chest. They remained frozen like that for a couple of seconds before embracing to full extent, and then releasing.
Sarah let her hands flop to her side and Tala took his hand away from the back of her head. He kept his hand on her chin, though, so that when she looked down at the ground and sighed almost immediately, he pulled her head back up again. They gazed into one another's eyes again, both with pained expressions.
"I love you," Tala divulged in a whisper. "I've loved since we were young and innocent in the Abbey so many years ago. Not as strongly then, but they were definitely feelings that I felt for no other."
He paused, as if expecting a reply from her. There was silence, so he continued. "If this is the last time I see you alive, I want to at least make it memorable."
She didn't reply.
"If you have nothing to say, I'll be on my way, then," he trailed off, feeling quite discouraged after having gone through that and not being able to hear those three little words that meant so much at the moment.
He loosened his grip on her and turned away, towards the corridor where the deploys were. He was about to round the turn, feeling she wouldn't say anything when he heard her voice call out to him. "Tala...Th- thank you. What I'd do without you, I don't know. For all you've done for me, I owe you a debt worthy of my life."
Tala didn't turn around to face her. He didn't even reply, feeling anger now beginning to surge from the depths inside of him. He commenced stepping forward when her voice halted him again. "Tala...I...I love you."
Tala froze in mid-step. He felt the anger drain from his heart. He smiled a smile of relief, then breathed in and out deeply but didn't turn to show her. He felt happy, blissful and...proud. Without another word or adieu, he took off down the corridor.
Sarah watched and waited for him to be out of eyeshot and then staggered down the corridor, not towards Kieran, but towards the direction that Tala had taken.
Tala bounded through the corridor towards the junction. When he came to it however, he collided with someone. Tala was thrown against the ground from the immense weight and strength of his opponent. He groaned as he rubbed his head and looked up warily to see Spencer looming before him.
Spencer stared in horror that you couldn't really see, but Tala was able to tell since he had known him for so long. Spencer had his white eyes glued to his captain's chest and legs. "T-Tala?"
Tala got up slowly and stood before Spencer. "What?"
"What happened?" Spencer asked, raising his gaze to meet Tala's eyes.
"I was shot, but I'm fine." Tala reached into his belt and pulled out his blue gun. "Come on. Let's go get revenge against Goadbwa." He said as he examined his shooter. He shifted hands with the gun in them, noting the dark blackish-red blood that was left on the handle.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Spencer queried, reloading his gun and holding it across his chest like a shoulder.
Tala looked up at him. "Sure. It's just a little wound."
Spencer and Tala both turned quickly as they heard Telesto's voice come from the corridor on Spencer's left. Spencer whirled around and into the corridor he had just come from. He hid in the blind corner and motioned for Tala to hide around the corner of the corridor across from him. Tala obliged and moved to the hall opposite Spencer's.
Spencer poked his head around the corner, careful not to be seen. He saw Telesto heading a group of deploys towards them about 20 metres away.
"That's funny..."
Spencer glanced at Tala, who had a confused expression on his face. "What is it?" Spencer whispered.
Tala flashed a quick glance at Spencer and then back at the Goadbwa deploys. "I would've thought that Telesto wouldn't have been able to recover from a lesion like that. He was sure making a fuss about it a while ago..."
"Oh. Well, here they come. We'll get 'em this time."
Tala and Spencer both gripped their guns tighter in anticipation. Their targets still weren't close enough yet, and seeing the weaponry that their opponents had created something that only added to the tension.
Then they finally came into shooting range; ten metres. Tala and Spencer leapt out in front of the fifteen or so deploys and pulled the triggers on their guns. Telesto, who as at the front, gasped in fear and froze. A few of the sunglassed deploys also gasped. Instead of making for a retreat, they also froze. Two fell to the ground, throwing their heads back abruptly and then collapsing. Crimson red liquid was thrown against the walls of the corridor. It splattered and stained against the stone bricks.
One deploy, who had evaded the first volley, raised his gun and aimed for Spencer.
Bang!
The deploy fell to the ground along with three others. Telesto whirled around as Tala and Spencer looked up to see the Bladebreakers standing there.
"Ooh. That's going to leave a terrible stain," Max taunted.
"That's right, Maxi. What do you say, Telesto? Care to add to our sanguinary piece of artwork?" Kai affixed.
Telesto stared in fear at all of the Biovolt deploys surrounding him. He pointed to the two Demolition Boys and the Bladebreakers. "G-get them, you fools!" he ordered in a shaky voice to the nine deploys left.
The deploys formed a tight circle around Telesto, holding their guns out and ready to shoot if any of the Biovolt legion made a move.
"Shoot!" shouted a voice from behind Tala and Spencer.
The Goadbwa deploys facing that direction shot as six bullets flew through the air, four taking down deploys and two ricocheting off walls. The voice had belonged to Philemon, who stood there with a gun in hand along with Elvin, Oliver, Kevin, Steve, and Ian.
The four remaining deploys formed a tighter circle around Telesto, being careful not to trip over the red and black carcasses of their former allies. With a whole horde of Biovolt Beybladers up against them, the Goadbwa deploys weren't feeling so cocky anymore.
"Here are your options," Kai began.
"1- Surrender and leave the Abbey yourselves," Philemon said.
"2- Persist and allow us to execute you," Oliver added.
"Or 3- Make us drive you out alive." Tala finished.
Telesto scowled and ground his teeth. "What do you take me for? We're not surrendering!"
"That narrows down your choices then, doesn't it?" Elvin asked mockingly.
Telesto growled. "Hmph. Fine then. Come on, guys."
"And stay out!" Tyson shouted as Telesto, Kuiper, and some of the deploys were thrown out of the Abbey.
Kuiper glanced towards his blood-covered partner. "Where's Spica?"
"Don't know. I lost sight of her once she ran out with Sarah."
"Telesto! Kuiper!" the two boys heard over their earphones like an exasperated whisper.
"Spica?" The two questioned.
"Yeah, it's me. I'm still in Balkov Abbey. Everyone thinks that all the Goadbwa deploys are outside, little do they know of my presence, though. Re-enter the Abbey, but don't bring any of the deploys with you."
"Right," the two answered in unison.
Kuiper turned to the surviving deploys. "Go back to Goadbwa HQ. We'll meet you there."
"Where's Sarah?" Boris asked, looking up and down the line of Beybladers.
Tala and Kai glanced around along with the Celestial Myriad. "I don't know..." Kai replied, trailing off.
"Where's Kieran?" Tala grilled.
"Right here," he said, waving from the end of the line. "Why?"
Tala leapt out of line to face Kieran. "She was with you!"
Kieran was obviously confused. "She was?"
"Yes! Or she should have been...Don't tell me she didn't listen!"
"I'd say she didn't listen. She's stubborn, and only ever takes orders from adults," Elvin mentioned.
Tala growled and clenched his teeth. 'You'd think she'd have listened to me...' he said to himself.
"She could be anywhere in the Abbey," Mariah suggested, slight worry in her voice.
"And if I remember, wasn't she supposed to be severely hurt?" Rhea questioned.
"What if there are still Goadbwa deploys lurking inside the Abbey?" Anya suggested fearfully.
"Stop it! Just stop it!"
Everyone turned to Tala, who had his head down. "We...we have to go...and...find her."
Just then a scream pierced the air of the Abbey. "Give it back! Get out, you cretins!"
"Vocabulary usage," Elvin began.
"Definitely Sarah," Eva finished.
Tala dashed out of the room like a bolt of lightning. Kai streaked out a moment later.
"Sarah? Sarah! Where are you? Oh please say something, anything!" Tala exclaimed, his yells echoing through the empty halls of the Abbey.
Kai stepped up behind Tala and glanced around the three-way junction that Tala had paused at. "If she's unconscious, she won't answer, Tala."
"Don't you think I know that? Besides, don't think of such terrible things."
Kai stopped in mid-step and glared Tala in the eye. "I'm just stating a possibility-there's no need to get so worked up over it. You have to stop living in your perfect fantasy world, Tala. This is no longer a game where you can start over. Once you lose, you lose forever."
Tala narrowed his eyes at the blue-haired boy. "I know that. Stop treating me like a little kid."
Another scream rent the air. Kai turned his head his the direction his body was turned in. "Over there!"
He took off down the corridor with Tala in tow. They came to another 4-way junction and surveyed each hallway. Tala ran down one until he came to the first bend; and turned to the right. He drew his handgun from its holster as he ran, and pointed it straight ahead as he stopped to turn the corner. He glanced down at the floor and froze, eyes wide with fear. He lowered the gun with a quivering hand. He gulped, his heart pounding in his chest. "K-Kai..." he said quietly.
Kai turned his head from the direction he was facing in and towards Tala. He saw Tala at the turn in the corridor. He saw Tala throw the gun to the side, drop to his knees and lean forward, spreading out his arms as if embracing something. "What is it?" Kai asked as he took a few slow steps forward.
Kai gaited down the dark corridor with cautious steps. When he came to the bend, he turned slowly to see Tala leaning over something. Kai's eyes widened just as Tala's had. "Oh... my...gosh..."
There lay Sarah, unconscious and in a pool of blood. Kai glanced from Tala to Sarah, Tala reaching his quaking hand out slowly and then stroking her cheek with slender digits while drawing sharp, choked breaths.
"Is...she..."
"I don't think... It can't be... She wouldn't..." Tala took his hand away and sat back on his haunches. He sighed.
Kai moved around Tala and knelt beside Sarah. He eased his hands behind her head and lifted her up, supporting her torso by placing his arm over and around her chest. As he did so, blood dripped from her clothes and hair. It stained his gloves. He examined her closed eyes for a moment or two. "Check her pulse."
Tala reached out and then pulled back, not really knowing what to do. He figured her heart would be in her chest, and therefore that would be the best place to feel. He reached out again, only to be scolded by Kai.
"Not there! On her neck!"
"Oh. Sorry..." Tala withdrew his hand quickly and reached out to her neck. With two fingers, he touched the left side of her throat.
"There's no pulse there. Feel the right side."
Tala exchanged hands and lay the same two fingers on the right side of her throat.
"That's it. Just feel around until you get it..." Kai coached, watching him closely.
Tala stopped at what felt like a pulse. "There it is...I think..."
"How fast is it?"
Tala tapped out the speed on his leg. It was quite slow.
"Tala! Did you find her?" Tala turned his head to see Boris rushing towards them from down the corridor.
Tala nodded solemnly. Boris came up behind Tala and turned to see the two attempting to nurse her. The sight even made Boris feel sympathy. "Here...I'll take her to the infirmary. You two go get changed. We're scanning the Abbey now for any signs of foreign matter."
With that Boris knelt down and took her from Kai's arms. He lifted her up easily in his outstretched arms. The blood she had been soaked in poured and drained onto the floor. The carmine liquid stained his white gloves and the arms of his green trenchcoat.
He commenced down the corridor, Tala and Kai standing up and following closely behind him. Boris turned to go in one direction at the junction and Kai and Tala turned to go in the other. "Oh-" Boris' voice made them pause and turn around. "And take a shower, too. Then go straight to the infirmary."
"Boris!" The red-haired and blue-haired boys looked to see Samson rushing towards Boris, calling his name. He gasped on seeing his immobile younger sister. "Wh-what in the world...?"
"I'll talk later. Meanwhile, Samson, I need you to organize a major cleanup and disinfection of the Abbey. I don't really want to turn every corner and see dead bodies with flies and maggots around them. Besides, the smell is beginning to make me sick. Hurry, before the insects set in."
"Yes, sir." Samson made a quick salute and then hurried down the hall.
"And Samson-"
"Yes, Uncle?"
"Get changed first."
"Will do, Uncle Boris."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ooh. Definitely not suitable for children! All gory! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! I'm not very good at those dramatic love scenes, am I? Anyway, REVIEW! Or you shall certainly meet the same fate as the Goadbwa deploys... MWAHAHAHA!
"Can you see what's going on, Sarah?" Sarah heard through the earpiece of the machine.
"Yes. I can see exactly what Fovular sees; Griffolyon using its Wing Dagger. I can see the feathers being shot straight at me," she replied. Then she made a small scream and shielded herself.
"Yep, it's working alright." Lutka said as she leaned back in her chair.
Irina, who had been sorting files, gathered some in her arms and looked at the screen over Lutka's shoulder. "Hm...That's nice." She immediately went back to sorting files.
Lutka froze and then turned around, hooking her arm over the back of the chair. "'Hm... That's nice.'? That's it? Nothing more?"
Without looking up, Irina replied, "Yes."
Lutka stared at her oddly. "You know Irina, to someone who doesn't know you well, they'd think you wouldn't care for your daughter all that much."
"Is it my fault that I have work to do? Boris keeps me busy as Biovolt Operations Director, you know."
Sarah, Kai, Tala, Robert, Michael, and Lee were in the main hall. Boris and their teams were supervising them as they fought each other. Kai was facing Lee, Tala was facing Michael, and Sarah was facing Robert. Biovolt was testing the three in battle to see if the soul fusions had been successful.
Kai, Tala, and Sarah were wearing the machined eyepatches and new uniforms. The new uniforms had a bottom layer of body-tight jumpsuits, Kai's black, Tala's white, and Sarah's grey. The sleeves reached the wrists, the legs reached their ankles, and the neck covered their necks. On top of that was a light green vest. On the left side of the vest was the Biovolt logo, and on the right were the yellow buttons as on Kai's shirt. The vest had tubal lining around the neck and arm openings, Kai's blue, Tala's red, and Sarah's purple. Down the middle of the vest was a zipper that reached to the bottom of the vest, which was shaped like a female's one piece swimsuit. But you could only see the top half because the bottom half was covered by armour. The armour was a series of two plates, one layered on top of the other, that protected their stomach and groin area. Kai's was cerulean blue, Tala's was ruby red, and Sarah's was orchid purple. Where their waist was in the middle of the armour was a black belt with Kai's dragon clasp. From it hung two belts, the same colour and shade as on the person's tubal lining. They wore knee-high boots. The front of the boots were the red, blue, or purple, and went from the protruding triangle at their knees to the dragon design on Kai's boots, forming a shin- guard. The back of the boot was the same green as the vest. On the shoe of the boot was a strip like on Tala and Sarah's boots which was either black, white or grey. The sole of the boot was also either black, white or grey. They had gloves that went halfway up their upper arm that was either blue, red, or purple. At the wrist was a metal band that held a green strip there. It made a ring around their finger and made a half diamond shape that went halfway up their forearm.
So far, the experiments were functional. Kai first knocked out Galeon, then Tala knocked out Trygle, and finally Sarah knocked out Griffolyon. Once that happened, Boris clapped his hands for everyone to hear. "Right, everyone. That's enough for today. Sarah, Kai, Tala, get changed and return your blades to the testing facilities."
"Lutka, could you pass me that file on the counter, please?"
"Sure. I would if there was a file there," Lutka replied curtly.
Irina looked over to where Lutka sat and saw no file on the counter. "Oh. So you're right. Shoot! I must have left it in the basement testing facilities..."
"Don't sweat it, Irina," Lutka said as she typed stood up and finished typing something. "I'm done. I'll get it. Where is it?"
Irina placed a hand on her chin and the other her hip, as if deeply thinking of the matter. "Hm...Let's see...I'm sure I left it on the counter of the testing facilities control room."
"Okay, I should be able to find it, then." Lutka answered as she walked out of the room.
Lutka's high-heeled footsteps echoed throughout the Biovolt hallways. On her way from the east lab to the staircase that led to the basement level, she heard a sound come from the main entrance hall. She had just stepped past it, and so turned around and hurried a few feet back.
Lutka poked her head in the doorway, but saw nothing, and so she moved on. 'I'm sure I heard something...like a gunshot, door creaking and then a dash of footsteps...And if not, then what was it? Oh, Lutka...get back to your senses! Hearing things is a sign of ageing!'
Tok, tok, tok...
Lutka whipped around at the sound of footsteps that didn't sound like her own. She surveyed the corridor that she had stepped through already and saw no one. She scowled and turned back around slowly. 'If anyone's following me, I'd see them. The hallway's wide open...And if anyone has indeed infiltrated the premises through the main hall I'd have seen that, too...'
She walked a few more metres and then heard the footsteps once again. She stopped, and there were four more footsteps before they stopped, too. Lutka froze. Someone was following her! She whirled around again and made a defensive stance of clenched fists. She saw no one standing there once again.
"Come on out, whoever you are! I'm not afraid! Why don't you just assassinate me to get it over and done with already?" she cried, her voice reverberating down the empty hall.
When there was no reply, she turned and ran towards the staircase. She reached them and hastened down the stairs, almost losing her step halfway down. She heard the footsteps come after her, so she ran away from the staircase and to the testing facilities; the nearest room-she had to go there, anyway.
She made it there and rushed inside, slamming the door shut behind her. She put the four locks on and leaned against the door, breathing heavily. Once she had caught her breath, she listened carefully for sounds of her pursuers. All was quiet-she couldn't even hear their footsteps so she relaxed and stepped away from the door.
She moved towards the control room slowly as she ran her hand through her messed up hair. She sighed as she pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door to the control room. She had unlocked it and placed her hand on the knob to open it when she heard what sounded like another gunshot. She turned her head rapidly to see a hole in the wooden door where a bullet had penetrated it.
"Open the door!" She heard a familiar voice command.
Lutka stared in fear, not knowing what to do. She was trapped in the room-there was no other exit except for that door. She could open the door, but they would surely shoot her. Then again, if she left it shut, they would break it down.
"Lutka! I see you in there! There's no point in trying to hide from us!"
'Us...' That meant that there was more than one of them. But how many more?
"You've got three seconds! One..."
'What do I do?!' Lutka's petrified mind screamed.
"Two..."
"I'm coming, I'm coming!"
"Three!"
The door burst open, the wooden beams that served as locks cracked, broke, and flew past Lutka. Lutka stopped running towards the door and shielded her face from the beams. When the dust had cleared, she took her hands away and looked up to see Vitality Extortion standing there-with new uniforms. She gasped on seeing them.
Their new uniforms began with a horizontal metal headband. There was a black earphone on their right ear for receiving messages and a black microphone that extended from it to just in front of their mouths-for sending out messages. From the left side of the headband protruded a plastic transparent eyepiece of a different colour for each deploy. Kuiper's was blue, Spica's purple, and Telesto's red- their primary colours. Underneath their battlecostume they wore a sleeveless shirt that was of a lighter shade of their primary colour. Over that, they wore a loose short sleeved jacket of their primary colour. The shirts had a high neck that had lining around the top and down the middle to the bottom where the lining then followed the bottom. The lining also followed the edges of the sleeves and up under the arm, then down the sides to meet with the rest of the lining at the bottom. The lining was of their secondary colour- Spica's black, Telesto's grey, and Kuiper's white. Over the jacket they had white chest armour that protected their chests only and a belt that criss- crossed across their chests with the Goadbwa logo on a special patch on it. They had a belt with the Goadbwa logo on the clasp, and pants of a darker shade than their primary colour. They had white boots that went halfway up their shins with flaps and brown lacing. They had knee and elbow pads, and wrist-length gloves of the primary colour. From their belts hung gun holsters with a gun and dagger sheaths with daggers in them. On their left forearms were high-tech Beyblade shooters, strapped to their arms like bayonets, winder and all.
"So it was you three that were following me!"
"That's right," Spica replied.
"But...I thought your soul was taken, Spica!"
"It was, but Goadbwa gave me a cloned soul. It's so good to be on Goadbwa's side, but you wouldn't know that, because you work for Biovolt- which we're going to destroy!"
"How can you three expect to bring down Biovolt by yourselves?"
Bang!
Lutka stared in fear at Kuiper, who had just fired his gun near her head. "Like that."
"Now make it easy for us, won't you, Lutka, and tell us where Boris is," Telesto said with a disgusted, condensing look.
"Why do you want to know that?"
Spica placed her hands akimbo and rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, Lutka! You'd think a smart Head Scientist like yourself could see the answer to that. To kill him."
"Kill him?!"
Telesto smirked and folded his arms. "Of course. He's the President, and so once he's gone, Biovolt will fall without a leader."
"Well, we have a Vice President. Voltaire, Kai's grandfather."
Vitality Extortion looked at each other in confusion. "Gilepse never told us that."
"Yeah, I thought only Goadbwa had a VP."
"Well, anyway, do you really think that Voltaire'll get you out of the fire?"
"Yes, and if not, Irina will rise to the challenge."
"Why are we wasting our time talking about who will take over as president for Boris?! Lutka, spill it! Where's Balkov?"
Lutka scowled. "I don't know."
Spica glowered even more. "Then at least hand over the Hilanovs' blades."
"No."
"What did you say?"
"No," Lutka repeated.
Telesto advanced on her and waved an accusing finger at her. "Look, Mrs, Romanov-"
"Who cares about her?" Kuiper cried as he knocked Lutka out of the way of the control room door. Lutka fell to the floor as the three ran in and knocked over the glass cases containing Fovular, Dranzer and Wolborg.
Spica and Telesto made off right away, but Kuiper stopped on the way out to mock her. "We'll be on our way, now. Oh! And don't tell anyone else in Biovolt, or you'll be hearing from us."
"In a postcard!" Telesto added just before he exited the room.
Once Kuiper had left the room, Lutka pulled out a walkie-talkie from her belt. "Oh yeah? Watch me!"
"Irina! Irina! Can you hear me?"
Irina whirled around to face the walkie-talkie on the counter. She rushed over and picked it up. "Yes, Lutka. What is it?"
"Intruders! In the Abbey! It's Vitality Extortion! Tell Boris and the rest of the Abbey-but warn them to be careful-they're armed! And tell Boris to be especially precautionary- they're out to kill him on Gilepse's orders! Block them off at the main doors!"
"Right!" Irina hurried over to the doorway and picked up the receiver of the phone that hung on the wall to serve as a PA system throughout the Abbey. "Intruders! Intruders! Everyone to the main hall! Kai, Tala, Sarah- you're needed!"
"It's a good thing we haven't changed, yet," Sarah said after hearing the announcement her mother had made.
"Speak for yourself!" Tala and Sarah heard Kai say in frustration from the other side of the room.
Tala hastened to put his gloves, boots, belt, and armour back on while Sarah refastened the metal clasp on her gloves. She ran to the door and stood there waiting for the two boys. Tala jogged up a few seconds later, and thirty seconds after that Kai grabbed his belt and gloves, then hopped halfway across the room trying to put his left boot on. Once it was securely on his foot, he threw his belt around his waist and fastened it, then ran out the door right past Sarah and Tala. He tried to put his gloves on as he ran towards the staircase that led to the main floor.
"Shoot! Obviously that Tala and Anya get their stubbornness from their mother! She ratted on us!" Kuiper exclaimed, looking up at the speaker on the ceiling of the main hall.
Vitality Extortion froze as red lights flashed and an alarm sounded. They saw Irina first appear in the doorway followed by a few trainees. "Seize them!" Irina cried, pointing at them and signalling to the trainees.
The trainees made a dive for them, but Vitality Extortion turned around and headed for the door, only to be blocked off by more trainees. Spica pulled out her gun immediately and pointed it at one particularly innocent looking trainee, who began to shiver and stare in fear.
Telesto and Kuiper glanced at her. "Spica! Surely you wouldn't...they're just... children!" Telesto exclaimed.
"So what? Kids and adults are all alike. We're all human, aren't we?" Spica snapped.
Telesto and Kuiper were still edgy about the concept. They turned around again with worried looks to see that more Biovolt trainees and members had gathered, including Boris.
"Get them!" Irina cried again.
"No," Boris said, holding his arm out to bar their way.
Irina turned to him. "Why, sir?"
"Because." Boris stepped forward, away from the throng. He advanced on the three, Spica raising her gun to him shakily. Boris stood towering over her and placed his hand on the end of the gun pointing to him calmly. He lowered it slowly and glared at the frightened Spica in front of him. Everyone in the room stared in bewilderment.
Boris clasped his hands behind his back and continued to eye Spica. "Now. What is it you want from Biovolt?"
"W-well...I...uh...Mr. Balkov, sir..." Spica stammered.
"We were sent by Gilepse to steal the Fovular, Wolborg, and Dranzer blades and to kill you, Boris!" Kuiper burst out as he drew his gun from its holster in his belt and shot it at Boris.
The bullet hit Boris' chest head-on, but Boris didn't seem to feel it at all. He continued to stare at Kuiper, whom he had turned to as the bullet fell from his chest and hit the stone floor. Everyone stared in trepidation and shock at either the bullet or Boris. After a few moments of watching Boris they saw that blood wasn't even appearing on Boris' black turtleneck.
There was stunned silence and tension as Kai, Tala, and Sarah ran in, Kai still adjusting his glove. "What happened?!" Sarah cried.
"They have your Beyblades!" Lutka explained, panting and pointing at Vitality Extortion as she hurried up to them from the staircase to the basement.
"They do, do they?" Tala asked mockingly.
"I'm sure I heard a gunshot..." Kai said, trailing off.
"You did," Boris informed, turning his head slowly to look at them. "Kuiper shot me."
"What?!" Sarah screeched, her eyes filling with anger and fear. She growled and tensened, then charged head-long at Kuiper, fists flailing about. She brought him to the ground, pummelling him.
Telesto placed his finger on the mini microphone in front of his mouth that was attached to his headband and eyepiece. "Reinforcements!"
Almost instantly, the main doors were flung open, knocking the trainees that were standing there aside. Sarah froze in mid-punch and scrutinized something black, blue, and red on the floor underneath the men that were now marching in. Once the men had ceased and they were all inside the main hall, Sarah gasped. "They've killed Vladimir!"
All the Biovolt members turned their heads to the inert, prone cadaver on the top step. It was Vladimir, the Biovolt guard, all right. His uniform was covered in blood, obviously he had been shot to death-like Boris should have been.
"He was in our way," Spica said with a smirk and a shrug.
"You!" Sarah cried as she leapt up from Kuiper, who was struggling to get up and grimacing on the floor.
"Sarah! Calm down!" Tala exclaimed as she made a dive for Spica.
"Give me back my Dranzer!" Kai yelled as he tackled Kuiper to the ground once more, trying to pry Dranzer from Kuiper's hand.
Tala sighed, shook his head and then took his gun shooter out. He pointed it at Telesto. "Hand over my blade, or I shoot."
Telesto mimicked the action. "In case you haven't noticed, I can shoot, too."
"Irina! Where are the others?" Boris asked.
"Should I go get them, sir?"
"Yes." Irina left on his command.
As Sarah lunged at Spica, Spica unsheathed her dagger and held it out at Sarah. Sarah saw the action and tried to move out of the way, but the dagger grazed her shoulder, the blade shearing the tough green fabric of the vest to make the silver jumpsuit visible. Sarah observed the laceration before grabbing a hold of Spica's left hand, the one with Fovular in it. Sarah took Spica's arm and twisted it. Spica screamed and sunk the dagger into Sarah's right shoulder to make her let go.
This time, the cut went deeper and sheared both layers including Sarah's skin. The wound began to bleed as Sarah screamed and pulled away, having pried her Beyblade from Spica's grip. Sarah held her shoulder wound a moment but then hurried out of the room as Spica gave chase to her. They both left the room.
Meanwhile, Kai and Kuiper were engaged in a similar style of combat. As Kai tried to get Dranzer out of Kuiper's grasp, Kuiper used his knife to stab at Kai's hand, Kai letting out a yell and flinching on each impact.
It was pure dogged determination that kept Kai going, ignoring the pain from the bleeding wound and trying even harder to liberate Dranzer. Finally, Dranzer shot free and into his hand. Kai pushed himself of the ground, away from the struggle with Kuiper. He tried to step away, but Kuiper grabbed his foot and he stumbled and fell back onto the ground.
"Get the trainees away from here and somewhere safe!" Boris instructed authoritatively.
Irina and Lutka shooed the trainees away and to the basement stairs. They led them to the training room in the basement, and when Boris tried to follow them, he saw that the men were pursuing him. He knew that wouldn't be good for the trainees and so he went in the direction opposite the trainees, leaving Kai, Tala, Telesto, and Kuiper in the main hall all by themselves. Swiftly, he whirled around and pulled out a gun. He fired and brought down one Goadbwa.
Tala and Telesto still hadn't moved-they were still glaring at each other, guns held out, poised to shoot. In one swift move, Telesto cocked the trigger and the gun fired, right at Tala. The bullet penetrated Tala's uniform, specifically the green vest and white jumpsuit underneath. There was a loud clanking sound as the bullet impacted Tala's chest and then dropped to the floor in front of him.
Telesto stared in horror at the purply oxblood liquid that made its way out through the hole in Tala's chest. Tala looked down at the aperture and then back up at Telesto, who had his eyes fixed on Tala's chest. Even Kai and Kuiper had ceased their fighting momentarily to watch the other two- especially Tala. Telesto, having recovered a little from the sight of the gore, fired again, this time at Tala's leg. It hit Tala high on the leg, almost at the torso, but just as before, the bullet had ricocheted off him with a loud, "clunk!"
Tala lowered his gun slowly and then waited for Telesto to lower his. The brown-haired boy did so, still mesmerized by the wounds, and that's when Tala struck. He fired the gun directly at Telesto's leg. Then, since Tala felt hardly any pain from his wounds, he made a run for it as Telesto sank to the ground, holding the bulletwound and crying out in pain. On seeing that, Kai and Kuiper resumed their fistfight, Kai throwing the first blow to Kuiper's face. As Kuiper tried to recover, Kai threw Kuiper off him and got up.
He fit his Dranzer blade to his new red gun shooter and aimed at Kuiper. "Come on, get up."
Kuiper rolled over onto his back and propped himself up with his arm.
Kai fired the blade, not waiting for his opponent. "Go, Dranzer!"
Tala turned swiftly and ran through the corridors of the Abbey, looking for Sarah and Spica. He turned through labyrinth hallways yelling, "Sarah! Where are you?"
He rounded one blind corner on the first floor and ran right into someone. The person caught him and prevented him from falling backward. Tala looked straight and saw himself staring at a uniformed chest. He glanced upward and at the person gripping his shoulders firmly. "Tala!"
Tala recognized the boy right away as Sarah's brother, Samson. Tala pulled away from Samson's grip. "Where's Sarah?"
Samson retracted his arms to his side. "I don't know. Why? Has something happened?"
Tala glanced around anxiously. "Yes. She ran out of the main hall with Spica in tow. The two are trying to kill each other and the last time I saw them, Spica was succeeding."
"I'll say it again, I don't know- but whatever you do, be careful. There are Goadbwa deploys around every corner. Judy's been able to track and count about fifty of them within the Abbey's vicinity. Oh, and if you need any help or anything, go to the labyrinth halls. Kieran's stationed by the doors ready to assist."
Tala went around Samson and into the corridor perpendicular to the dark one that he had just been in. "Right, then. Thank you."
Samson headed down the corridor that Tala had come from. "I'll keep my eyes out for her." The two turned away from each other and began to jog, but Samson whirled back around and called out to Tala. "Tala! One more thing- where's Kai?"
"In the main hall with Kuiper."
"Then what about Telesto? Shouldn't you be fighting him?"
"I was, but then I took advantage of letting him recover from his wound while going to help elsewhere."
Samson looked down at the floor and then nodded slowly. Then he looked back up again and waved to Tala, dismissing him. Tala waved back and continued down the enlightened corridor.
When he came to the end, there was a four-way junction. He observed all three opposing corridors and then heard a scream come from the one on his right. He quickly turned and ran down it, but then ducked into a classroom doorway as two figures came into view at the end of the hallway ten metres away from around another corner. He saw that the two figures were Spica and Sarah.
Sarah was dragging Spica along the stone floor-both covered in blood. Spica seemed unconscious, so why was Sarah doing that?
Tala came out of the recess in the wall and hied over to the two girls. He stopped at Sarah's side. "What are you doing?!" he cried in a whisper.
Sarah stopped walking backwards but held on to Spica as she turned to Tala. "Dragging Spica out of the Abbey..." she panted, exhausted. Her hair was undone, all frazzled and she had numerous wounds on her arms and legs.
"Why are you doing that?"
"Because I don't want her waking up and then causing havoc in the Abbey again."
Tala grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from Spica so that she let go. "Look-if you're going to be a warrior, you have to learn to be ruthless. You don't pick your enemy up after they've fallen, you run for your life! Have you heard of a man called Rasputin?"
"Yes, wasn't he the advisor to the tsar and tsaritsa of Russia? And the tsarevitch, Alexei's miraculous healer?"
"Yes! He was stabbed in the stomach, poisoned with cyanide, shot in the head three times, beaten up, thrown in ice-cold waters, and still he wasn't dead!"
"What does that have to do with me dragging Spica?"
Tala grabbed her arm and pulled her away and down the corridor. "What if Spica springs back up and tries to attack you?"
"I..."
"You don't do anything except die, now move it! Follow me."
Sarah followed after him reluctantly, Tala having to pull her along. They came to the 4-way junction as Tala heard voices and footsteps coming from the hall in front of them. Tala then saw some of the Goadbwa deploys come into view, and so he took a turn down the perpendicular hall to the right, hauling Sarah behind him.
The deploys had obviously noticed him, as they called out, "Hey! There's Tala and Sarah!"
"Get them!" After which they gave chase to the two down the corridor they had taken.
Tala led Sarah into a turn that the deploys hadn't seen as they were still turning a corner. The passages became rather confusing in this area, so the deploys didn't know where to go. They decided to go straight ahead, the direction Tala and Sarah hadn't gone in.
Once the men had passed, Tala moved Sarah deeper into the hallway. He leaned her against the stone wall and then took a rest to examine his wounds-something he hadn't but should have done.
Tala ran his hand along his chest, wiping the blood away from the injury. Once he took his hand away, he saw something normal humans don't see. He saw metal; a component of an automata cyborg.
He glanced down at his leg and saw that the blood had flowed all down his legs and had also been transferred to the other one from all the running. He could see through his ripped uniform the tin pet that now served as his skeleton. 'What has Boris done to me?'
"Tala..."
Tala looked up.
Sarah leaned forward a little, eyes half-closed, mouth open slightly. Her eyes widened ever so slightly on seeing Tala's wounds, but she still had the same pained and drowsy expression. "What... happened?"
"Kuiper shot me."
Sarah pulled away from the wall, faster this time, fists clenched and anger beginning to show in her bluish-green eyes.
Tala threw his hands to her shoulders and pushed her back against the wall. "There's no reason to get angry-I'm okay. Please-don't hurt yourself more than you already are. My wounds are less serious than yours, and Boris can always repair me-he can't do that to a real human body such as your own."
Sarah continued to glare at him, the fury still raging inside. She examined the vast expanse of sky blue in his eyes. It was like gazing at the skies, cloudwatching once again with the Celestial Myriad... The good old days when there was no war and all there was to worry about was whether or not they'd lose their next match...not their life. The only thing about these skies was that they were cloudless, just blue like water. Only this water showed emotion in its colour-worry, sadness, and...fear. Fear wasn't an emotion that you would normally see in the eyes of a Biovolt trainee. No, Biovolt trainees were trained to be ruthless warriors, not compassionate, kind-hearted young children. The expectations were also supposed to be enhanced in the trainee that stood before her. As Biovolt's greatest genetically engineered Beyblading warrior, he was supposed to have next to no emotions at all, especially factoring in that the boy in front of her was a cyborg.
"Hey! It's like a maze in here!"
"I told you to let me lead, but did anyone listen? No!"
"Oh, zip it! I've had just about enough of your constant babbling!"
Tala turned his eyes away from Sarah and to the hall entrance behind him. He couldn't see anyone because of the bend, but he knew that the Goadbwa deploys were there-he could hear them. He turned back to Sarah, who stared back at him blankly, not seeming to know what was going on.
Tala turned his head down the hall in the direction opposite the entrance. He saw the recess in the corridor where the exit door was. Kieran would be waiting there, ready to help, Samson had said. Tala trusted that this be true.
He turned back to Sarah. "The deploys are back."
"I can hear."
He gazed deeply into those green eyes, which he found so beautiful. "Your brother said that Kieran is just down the hall in the exit doorway that leads to the outside of the Abbey. He'll be there to help you. Stay with him until you're told otherwise while I go head of the deploys."
Sarah nodded slowly and tried to leave Tala's grasp, but he held her against the wall firmly. She looked at him with the expression of a poor townspeasant about to be whipped. She saw Tala's intense scowl.
Then the scowl became the same as her expression. "Please-be careful."
"Yes." Sarah replied again, and made a second attempt to liberate herself but to no avail.
Tala gripped her shoulders more tightly, his blood on his gloves staining her vest. He continued to stare at her, trying to hold back the tears that tried to force their way through. Trying to suppress them only made him squeeze harder, making Sarah flinch slightly. His fingers bit deeper into her shoulders.
Tala was deeply thinking in his mind... 'What do I do? What do I do? To do or not to do? That's the question!'
Tala shook his head back and forth slightly, then stopped and began to bring his head closer to Sarah's, a look of disgust on his face. 'Boris'll never approve of this...'
He slowly loosened his grip on her right shoulder and let his hand, with a mind of its own, crawl up her neck and to the back of her head. As leaned in closer and closer, he found that his left hand was pulling Sarah closer and closer. After what seemed like an eternity of drawing closer, they made contact. He could feel that his left hand was digging into her scalp, but she didn't seem to notice it. She didn't seem to notice that the whole ordeal was going on. Her arms were hanging loosely at her sides, not responding to what he was doing.
Sarah felt Tala's hand then roam up her neck and to her cheek. She felt some warm, comparatively thick liquid that was left behind as he ran his hand along her jawline and to her chin. His lips were surprisingly soft for one made of metal. She could feel his mouth moving slowly against hers. She had been relatively reluctant up to this point, but now felt that she should contribute. She raised her hands torpidly, coiling them around his neck.
Tala felt himself being pulled closer-body wise. He perceived the tightness of her uniform against his chest. They remained frozen like that for a couple of seconds before embracing to full extent, and then releasing.
Sarah let her hands flop to her side and Tala took his hand away from the back of her head. He kept his hand on her chin, though, so that when she looked down at the ground and sighed almost immediately, he pulled her head back up again. They gazed into one another's eyes again, both with pained expressions.
"I love you," Tala divulged in a whisper. "I've loved since we were young and innocent in the Abbey so many years ago. Not as strongly then, but they were definitely feelings that I felt for no other."
He paused, as if expecting a reply from her. There was silence, so he continued. "If this is the last time I see you alive, I want to at least make it memorable."
She didn't reply.
"If you have nothing to say, I'll be on my way, then," he trailed off, feeling quite discouraged after having gone through that and not being able to hear those three little words that meant so much at the moment.
He loosened his grip on her and turned away, towards the corridor where the deploys were. He was about to round the turn, feeling she wouldn't say anything when he heard her voice call out to him. "Tala...Th- thank you. What I'd do without you, I don't know. For all you've done for me, I owe you a debt worthy of my life."
Tala didn't turn around to face her. He didn't even reply, feeling anger now beginning to surge from the depths inside of him. He commenced stepping forward when her voice halted him again. "Tala...I...I love you."
Tala froze in mid-step. He felt the anger drain from his heart. He smiled a smile of relief, then breathed in and out deeply but didn't turn to show her. He felt happy, blissful and...proud. Without another word or adieu, he took off down the corridor.
Sarah watched and waited for him to be out of eyeshot and then staggered down the corridor, not towards Kieran, but towards the direction that Tala had taken.
Tala bounded through the corridor towards the junction. When he came to it however, he collided with someone. Tala was thrown against the ground from the immense weight and strength of his opponent. He groaned as he rubbed his head and looked up warily to see Spencer looming before him.
Spencer stared in horror that you couldn't really see, but Tala was able to tell since he had known him for so long. Spencer had his white eyes glued to his captain's chest and legs. "T-Tala?"
Tala got up slowly and stood before Spencer. "What?"
"What happened?" Spencer asked, raising his gaze to meet Tala's eyes.
"I was shot, but I'm fine." Tala reached into his belt and pulled out his blue gun. "Come on. Let's go get revenge against Goadbwa." He said as he examined his shooter. He shifted hands with the gun in them, noting the dark blackish-red blood that was left on the handle.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Spencer queried, reloading his gun and holding it across his chest like a shoulder.
Tala looked up at him. "Sure. It's just a little wound."
Spencer and Tala both turned quickly as they heard Telesto's voice come from the corridor on Spencer's left. Spencer whirled around and into the corridor he had just come from. He hid in the blind corner and motioned for Tala to hide around the corner of the corridor across from him. Tala obliged and moved to the hall opposite Spencer's.
Spencer poked his head around the corner, careful not to be seen. He saw Telesto heading a group of deploys towards them about 20 metres away.
"That's funny..."
Spencer glanced at Tala, who had a confused expression on his face. "What is it?" Spencer whispered.
Tala flashed a quick glance at Spencer and then back at the Goadbwa deploys. "I would've thought that Telesto wouldn't have been able to recover from a lesion like that. He was sure making a fuss about it a while ago..."
"Oh. Well, here they come. We'll get 'em this time."
Tala and Spencer both gripped their guns tighter in anticipation. Their targets still weren't close enough yet, and seeing the weaponry that their opponents had created something that only added to the tension.
Then they finally came into shooting range; ten metres. Tala and Spencer leapt out in front of the fifteen or so deploys and pulled the triggers on their guns. Telesto, who as at the front, gasped in fear and froze. A few of the sunglassed deploys also gasped. Instead of making for a retreat, they also froze. Two fell to the ground, throwing their heads back abruptly and then collapsing. Crimson red liquid was thrown against the walls of the corridor. It splattered and stained against the stone bricks.
One deploy, who had evaded the first volley, raised his gun and aimed for Spencer.
Bang!
The deploy fell to the ground along with three others. Telesto whirled around as Tala and Spencer looked up to see the Bladebreakers standing there.
"Ooh. That's going to leave a terrible stain," Max taunted.
"That's right, Maxi. What do you say, Telesto? Care to add to our sanguinary piece of artwork?" Kai affixed.
Telesto stared in fear at all of the Biovolt deploys surrounding him. He pointed to the two Demolition Boys and the Bladebreakers. "G-get them, you fools!" he ordered in a shaky voice to the nine deploys left.
The deploys formed a tight circle around Telesto, holding their guns out and ready to shoot if any of the Biovolt legion made a move.
"Shoot!" shouted a voice from behind Tala and Spencer.
The Goadbwa deploys facing that direction shot as six bullets flew through the air, four taking down deploys and two ricocheting off walls. The voice had belonged to Philemon, who stood there with a gun in hand along with Elvin, Oliver, Kevin, Steve, and Ian.
The four remaining deploys formed a tighter circle around Telesto, being careful not to trip over the red and black carcasses of their former allies. With a whole horde of Biovolt Beybladers up against them, the Goadbwa deploys weren't feeling so cocky anymore.
"Here are your options," Kai began.
"1- Surrender and leave the Abbey yourselves," Philemon said.
"2- Persist and allow us to execute you," Oliver added.
"Or 3- Make us drive you out alive." Tala finished.
Telesto scowled and ground his teeth. "What do you take me for? We're not surrendering!"
"That narrows down your choices then, doesn't it?" Elvin asked mockingly.
Telesto growled. "Hmph. Fine then. Come on, guys."
"And stay out!" Tyson shouted as Telesto, Kuiper, and some of the deploys were thrown out of the Abbey.
Kuiper glanced towards his blood-covered partner. "Where's Spica?"
"Don't know. I lost sight of her once she ran out with Sarah."
"Telesto! Kuiper!" the two boys heard over their earphones like an exasperated whisper.
"Spica?" The two questioned.
"Yeah, it's me. I'm still in Balkov Abbey. Everyone thinks that all the Goadbwa deploys are outside, little do they know of my presence, though. Re-enter the Abbey, but don't bring any of the deploys with you."
"Right," the two answered in unison.
Kuiper turned to the surviving deploys. "Go back to Goadbwa HQ. We'll meet you there."
"Where's Sarah?" Boris asked, looking up and down the line of Beybladers.
Tala and Kai glanced around along with the Celestial Myriad. "I don't know..." Kai replied, trailing off.
"Where's Kieran?" Tala grilled.
"Right here," he said, waving from the end of the line. "Why?"
Tala leapt out of line to face Kieran. "She was with you!"
Kieran was obviously confused. "She was?"
"Yes! Or she should have been...Don't tell me she didn't listen!"
"I'd say she didn't listen. She's stubborn, and only ever takes orders from adults," Elvin mentioned.
Tala growled and clenched his teeth. 'You'd think she'd have listened to me...' he said to himself.
"She could be anywhere in the Abbey," Mariah suggested, slight worry in her voice.
"And if I remember, wasn't she supposed to be severely hurt?" Rhea questioned.
"What if there are still Goadbwa deploys lurking inside the Abbey?" Anya suggested fearfully.
"Stop it! Just stop it!"
Everyone turned to Tala, who had his head down. "We...we have to go...and...find her."
Just then a scream pierced the air of the Abbey. "Give it back! Get out, you cretins!"
"Vocabulary usage," Elvin began.
"Definitely Sarah," Eva finished.
Tala dashed out of the room like a bolt of lightning. Kai streaked out a moment later.
"Sarah? Sarah! Where are you? Oh please say something, anything!" Tala exclaimed, his yells echoing through the empty halls of the Abbey.
Kai stepped up behind Tala and glanced around the three-way junction that Tala had paused at. "If she's unconscious, she won't answer, Tala."
"Don't you think I know that? Besides, don't think of such terrible things."
Kai stopped in mid-step and glared Tala in the eye. "I'm just stating a possibility-there's no need to get so worked up over it. You have to stop living in your perfect fantasy world, Tala. This is no longer a game where you can start over. Once you lose, you lose forever."
Tala narrowed his eyes at the blue-haired boy. "I know that. Stop treating me like a little kid."
Another scream rent the air. Kai turned his head his the direction his body was turned in. "Over there!"
He took off down the corridor with Tala in tow. They came to another 4-way junction and surveyed each hallway. Tala ran down one until he came to the first bend; and turned to the right. He drew his handgun from its holster as he ran, and pointed it straight ahead as he stopped to turn the corner. He glanced down at the floor and froze, eyes wide with fear. He lowered the gun with a quivering hand. He gulped, his heart pounding in his chest. "K-Kai..." he said quietly.
Kai turned his head from the direction he was facing in and towards Tala. He saw Tala at the turn in the corridor. He saw Tala throw the gun to the side, drop to his knees and lean forward, spreading out his arms as if embracing something. "What is it?" Kai asked as he took a few slow steps forward.
Kai gaited down the dark corridor with cautious steps. When he came to the bend, he turned slowly to see Tala leaning over something. Kai's eyes widened just as Tala's had. "Oh... my...gosh..."
There lay Sarah, unconscious and in a pool of blood. Kai glanced from Tala to Sarah, Tala reaching his quaking hand out slowly and then stroking her cheek with slender digits while drawing sharp, choked breaths.
"Is...she..."
"I don't think... It can't be... She wouldn't..." Tala took his hand away and sat back on his haunches. He sighed.
Kai moved around Tala and knelt beside Sarah. He eased his hands behind her head and lifted her up, supporting her torso by placing his arm over and around her chest. As he did so, blood dripped from her clothes and hair. It stained his gloves. He examined her closed eyes for a moment or two. "Check her pulse."
Tala reached out and then pulled back, not really knowing what to do. He figured her heart would be in her chest, and therefore that would be the best place to feel. He reached out again, only to be scolded by Kai.
"Not there! On her neck!"
"Oh. Sorry..." Tala withdrew his hand quickly and reached out to her neck. With two fingers, he touched the left side of her throat.
"There's no pulse there. Feel the right side."
Tala exchanged hands and lay the same two fingers on the right side of her throat.
"That's it. Just feel around until you get it..." Kai coached, watching him closely.
Tala stopped at what felt like a pulse. "There it is...I think..."
"How fast is it?"
Tala tapped out the speed on his leg. It was quite slow.
"Tala! Did you find her?" Tala turned his head to see Boris rushing towards them from down the corridor.
Tala nodded solemnly. Boris came up behind Tala and turned to see the two attempting to nurse her. The sight even made Boris feel sympathy. "Here...I'll take her to the infirmary. You two go get changed. We're scanning the Abbey now for any signs of foreign matter."
With that Boris knelt down and took her from Kai's arms. He lifted her up easily in his outstretched arms. The blood she had been soaked in poured and drained onto the floor. The carmine liquid stained his white gloves and the arms of his green trenchcoat.
He commenced down the corridor, Tala and Kai standing up and following closely behind him. Boris turned to go in one direction at the junction and Kai and Tala turned to go in the other. "Oh-" Boris' voice made them pause and turn around. "And take a shower, too. Then go straight to the infirmary."
"Boris!" The red-haired and blue-haired boys looked to see Samson rushing towards Boris, calling his name. He gasped on seeing his immobile younger sister. "Wh-what in the world...?"
"I'll talk later. Meanwhile, Samson, I need you to organize a major cleanup and disinfection of the Abbey. I don't really want to turn every corner and see dead bodies with flies and maggots around them. Besides, the smell is beginning to make me sick. Hurry, before the insects set in."
"Yes, sir." Samson made a quick salute and then hurried down the hall.
"And Samson-"
"Yes, Uncle?"
"Get changed first."
"Will do, Uncle Boris."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ooh. Definitely not suitable for children! All gory! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! I'm not very good at those dramatic love scenes, am I? Anyway, REVIEW! Or you shall certainly meet the same fate as the Goadbwa deploys... MWAHAHAHA!
