17. Swing Time
"Thank you, Irina," Boris said as the black-haired woman set a food-laden dish down in front of him. As Irina sat back down in her chair, Boris looked up at the rest of them sitting around the table and nodded, signalling them to eat.
Almost immediately, they all dove in-especially Tyson. He took advantage of everything on the long, rectangular table, indulging in what the Biovolt cooks had to offer of the Russian cuisine. A couple of the others paused with their utensils halfway to their mouth, observing the boy with wide eyes.
Sarah kept glancing at Kai on her right. He was eating rather slowly, slicing through the meat cautiously and chewing with even more wariness as if he felt someone was trying to poison him. She couldn't stand it anymore. "Kai? What's wrong?" she asked softly.
Kai hesitated and put down his knife and fork. "I'm just thinking..."
"About what?" interrogated Tala, who had obviously been eavesdropping on the conversation.
Kai turned to Tala on Sarah's left, his scowl intensifying. "That dream..."
Tala and Sarah looked at each other before turning back to Kai. "It's been like that all day, hasn't it?" asked Sarah.
Kai nodded solemnly. "Since I awoke this morning."
"I wonder if that dream wasn't of his subconscious..."
Sarah turned to Tala. "What do you mean?"
Tala swallowed what he had been chewing on and began to fork another piece. "I mean what if that dream wasn't his own?"
"How can it not be his own if he dreamed it?"
"Remember how you were possessed?"
Sarah stared at him blankly a moment before it finally clicked. "Oh! Of course! Maybe Vitality Extortion found a way to make him have that dream. That would explain the suicidal bit. They knew that if he was gone, the two of us would fall easily."
"Exactly," coached Tala as he turned back to his food. "It's psychological warfare."
"Attention, everyone-I have an announcement to make."
The feasters around the table all turned to Boris at one of the heads. "I am pleased to announce that we have a new Head Guard- Victor Khrushchev," he vociferated solemnly as he gestured to a brown-haired, blue- eyed man on his right.
There was only a select group that was sitting around the table consisting of the Biovolt executives, BBA officials and Hilanovs along with their teams. The executive included Boris, Voltaire, Irina, Lutka, Leon, Victor, Nikita, the head technician, Yakov, the training divisions superintendent, Mr. Dickenson, Judy and Nigel.
In Galsky Castle, a similar meal was taking place. Vitality Extortion was seated around the wooden table along with Phoebe, Ophelia, Marduk, Gilepse and some other important Goadbwa members. And like Boris, Gilepse was making an announcement.
"Tomorrow I shall be leaving for the other International Goadbwa branches..."
"...to the other International Biovolt branches where I will be asking the commanders for their aide against combating Goadbwa..." Boris continued.
"...Combating Biovolt by using the trainees from the other branches..."
"...With their help, we should be able to defeat Goadbwa easily."
"...To defeat Biovolt easily..."
"...After all, there is strength in numbers..."
"How many branches do you have to visit?" Philemon questioned.
"There are several branches for me to visit..." explained Gilepse. "The first one is in Ottawa, Canada with Commander Albert Gimli...He's in charge of the Victor Dome..."
"The first one I'm going to is the Ekkaren Building in Toronto, Canada, commandeered by Cedric Graham..."
"The third Goadbwa branch is in Nagano, Japan and is called the Miyato Tower. The commander is Satoshi Anzen..."
"The third Biovolt department is in Tokyo, Japan and is the Ikoru Geofront. I shall be speaking to Haku Shinzo there..."
"Goadbwa branch number four is in Sydney, Australia where the commander is Dawn Bond..."
"The fourth Biovolt branch is in Europe-London, England. The commander's name is Charles Boleyn..."
"The fifth Goadbwa branch is in Cape Town, South Africa. Mahmood Bhotta's the commander there..."
"Biovolt's fifth branch is in Canberra, Australia. Sheila Wulumu is a rather good director..."
"Berlin, Germany holds the sixth Goadbwa office. Kurt Brandez will be pleased to see me..."
"In Egypt I'll talk to Ishizu Ayyub, the commanding officer of the sixth training facility..."
"The seventh and final Goadbwa location is Brasilia, Brazil. Nelson Senna is the head honcho there..."
"An unlikely place, but excellent for testing, the last Biovolt bureau is in Antarctica. You have to admire Septimus Fornax's determination..."
"I will be taking one of the helicopters and going solo, so Vice President Deneb will be left in charge while I'm gone. You informed him of that, right, Ophelia?"
The blonde-haired woman nodded. "Yes, but he said that he had other arrangements for tonight when I invited him for this dinner."
"That's okay, as long as he knows," Gilepse replied.
"I will be taking one of the helicopters and I would like Sarah and Samson to come with me. I would like the commanders to meet my niece and nephew. I would have asked that Irina and Nigel go to, but you're busy with programming work, Nigel, and you're needed to keep things in order around here, Irina. I'm leaving you in charge, Voltaire, so if you need any help you should see Irina."
"I thought I you that I had other matters to attend to for the next few days?" Voltaire asked, slightly panicked.
"Yes, but surely those matters won't take up the whole time I'm away?" Boris countered.
"I'm afraid they will."
Boris stared at him a moment, stunned. "Very well, then. Irina, you're in full command."
The woman acknowledged the remark with a stiff nod of her head.
"Aren't you going to take Kai and Tala with you?" Tyson asked.
"I was planning for them to continue their training along with the rest of you. The final battle is approaching rapidly. Have you finished with the uniform repairs yet, Lutka and Judy?"
"They're ready, sir," Judy answered.
"Tala?" Sarah whispered to the boy on her left. "Are you okay?"
He had his head down and fists clenched on his lap, quivering as if in extreme anger. He wasn't answering her consoling queries.
"What's wrong with him?" Kai inquired, leaning close to Sarah's ear so as mot to be heard.
She turned to him. "I don't' know. Though he's been like that for the past couple of minutes. There must be something wrong." Sarah looked at Tala again. "Tala?" she repeated, nudging him this time.
He sat there quivering a moment longer before leaping up out of his chair, drawing the attention from everyone else's conversations. He lifted his head and all with a clear view of his face could see the possessive anger in his abnormally glowing eyes. They shone like two neon blue lights for a minute or so while he stood there, but then started to morph into a bright blood red. Placing his hands underneath the frame of the heavy table, he lifted, upending it easily to send plates, the tablecloth and food crashing down upon the ones on the opposite side of the table. They managed to get out of their chairs in time before the actual table fell and stood staring in horror along with everyone else.
Sarah stepped away from him, backing into Kai, who placed his hands on her shoulders should she make any daring moves. Bryan, who was on the other side of Tala, also stepped away, though he still had a calm look on his face.
"How did he upend the table like that? It took Victor, Leon, Yakov and I to move it into place!" exclaimed Nikita.
"Everyone, remain calm and leave the room slowly. Don't turn your back on him and don't make any sudden moves. Lutka, get to the main control room and check his sensors for malfunction," ordered Boris.
Most of them did as he had said, Lutka, once out the door, dashing down the stairs to the ground level. Kai, Sarah and Anya were unwilling to move, though. She approached him slowly, holding her arms out as if he was an untamed animal. "Tala, it's me, Anya. What's happening?"
"Anya! Stay away from him!" Boris cried.
"But he's my brother!" she protested. She moved closer and stood a foot away from him. "Tala..." There was tension as no one in the room moved, staring at the scene-Boris in the doorway and Sarah and Kai to the side.
With lightning agility, Tala reached out with both arms and grasped both hands around his sister's neck. He slowly began to tighten his grip as Anya gagged and struggled to get free.
Sarah felt Kai's hands lift off of her shoulder and saw him shoot forward into Tala, knocking him off balance as Tala had done to him. Tala let go of Anya's neck as he hurtled to the ground along with Kai. Anya stepped back and took a deep breath in, rubbing her neck regretfully. Sarah rushed over to her. "Are you okay, Anya?"
Anya coughed and swallowed. "I-I think so..." She took her hand away from her neck to reveal a red mark where Tala's hands had been.
Meanwhile, Kai was wrestling with Tala on the floor, trying to pin his shoulders down. He finally managed to do that and held him there for a moment or two while Tala remained dormant, calculating his next move like the cyborg he was. After that calculated moment, Tala struck again, jumping up and bringing Kai with him. He punched Kai, forcing the blue-haired boy to let go.
Sarah watched as Kai fell to the ground and Tala stood frozen with his fist out. She rushed forward, away from the stunned Anya to Kai on the floor. "Kai! Are you okay?"
"Sir! There's been a glitch in his operating system!" Lutka's voice exclaimed over the walkie-talkie at Boris' waist.
He reached for it and held it to his mouth. "What do you mean?"
"Remember how I told you that Tala went to the infirmary last night with a severed wrist vein? Well, it was a connection vein that was cut. Its laceration caused a contamination to the operation units and that is what is making the limb and instrumentality apparatuses malfunction."
"Send me an immobilization projectile," Boris commanded.
"But that could only worsen the contamination's toxicity, sir."
"That's the risk we'll take, then."
"Boris, sir, as his mother, I feel that I also have the power to decide the best method of incapacitating him. I suggest that we shut down all mechanisms and then restart the unit."
"But that would mean reprogramming every aspect of the system..."
"No, it wouldn't. We have a memory back-up chip. We'll just have to rewire him after," Lutka testified.
"Very well, then. Do what you think is best, just hurry with it," Boris said as he looked up to see Tala now advancing on Sarah.
"Yes, sir," came the quick reply before Boris reattached it to the belt at his waist.
Tala had now lowered his hand and stood in front of Sarah, looming over her. She stared up at him in utter defiance but then it became trepidation as he reached down and grabbed the neck of her vest, pulling her to stand up. He lifted her to her tiptoes and then into mid-air as he raised his arm to full extent. The fabric rubbed against her neck, causing a burning sensation. Tala moved his right arm to the left slightly, Sarah swaying in his grip. Then, he brought his hand to the right, aiming for the window that led to the Abbey courtyard two floors below. He swung his arm, then buckled his knees and fell to the ground, Sarah falling from his grasp to flop down beside him. His shutdown had saved her a trip out the window to meet stone ground.
"Take him to the east lab infirmary, Kieran," Boris instructed as the rest of the Blade Sovereign re-entered the room.
Kieran did as he was told, taking Tala in outstretched arms and leaving the room to head down the staircase. Samson rushed over to Sarah, who lay stunned on the floor. Rhea stood in the doorway beside Boris, watching her brother sit up, having recovered from the shock.
The next morning was grey and cloudy as the two Langley siblings followed their uncle through the main hall and into the courtyard where a helicopter was awaiting them. They had a suited Biovolt guard on each side, Victor being one of them.
Victor held the door open for the three of them as they stepped into the helicopter. Kai watched from the deserted dormitory that he was to be sharing with Tala and Sarah as it lifted off from the stones and left the courtyard, then disappeared from sight. He was the only one in the dormitory now, since Tala had spent the night in the east lab infirmary and Sarah had now left the Abbey.
He ran his hand over the large bruise on his left cheek. It hurt even to touch it lightly, and he was sure that eating and talking would hurt just as much, if not more. The bones certainly ached there.
"Memory implantation complete. Terminating life support and wire connection systems," a male voice came over the loudspeaker of the infirmary.
Lutka walked over to his bedside and began to disconnect the wires that were attached to the boy's head. When all the wires had retracted into the machine and his head was free, she closed the connection panel on the top of his head and took the mask away from his face. She sat down on the bed beside him and lay her hand on his cheek lovingly with tears welling up in her eyes.
Tala cringed and then opened his eyes to full extent. Lutka could see that as his eyes focused, they changed colour. First blood red, and then their regular icy blue. He blinked and looked up to see his mother's watery eyes. He sat up immediately, startling her to pull away.
"Mom..." he said as he stared at her with a slightly stunned look.
She swallowed and smiled sadly. "Yes...?"
Tala looked around the room and then at himself. He was wearing his blue fleece shirt and pants. He remembered having his other shirt and belts on before. He turned to the machine positioned above his head and then back to Lutka. "What happened?"
"You had to be shut down. The artery that was severed yesterday night was an important connection. You were experiencing erratic behaviour," she said softly.
"'Erratic behaviour'?" repeated Tala.
"Oh yeah. And you've got witnesses to prove it. Just ask my throat or Kai's cheek."
The two looked up to see Anya standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame. She stepped forward and sat on the other side of the bed. Tala gasped on seeing the bright red mark on her neck as she indicated to it.
"What happened? What did I do to you?"
Anya blinked, as if hesitant to answer. "I was trying to calm you down and you attacked me. You tried to strangle me!"
Tala looked down at the blankets, ashamed. "Sorry...What happened to Kai? And where is he?"
Lutka turned to Anya, silently telling her to answer. "You punched him when he tried to intercept you. I'm not exactly sure where he is, though Rhea said she had been meaning to talk to him today. And you harmed your little girlfriend, too-"
"Anya!" Lutka scolded.
Anya ignored it. "You picked her up and almost threw her out of a second story window. You would've done it, too, had you not been shut down." Tala opened his mouth to speak but Anya interrupted him. "And before you ask any more about Sarah, she left an hour ago with Boris and Samson."
There was a long silence between the three Romanovs. It was broken when Tala slipped out from under the covers and stood up. "I'm going to go apologize to Kai."
"No, Tala. Sit. He knows your feelings," Lutka said, patting the area on the mattress beside her.
Tala glared at her a moment before obeying the order. She placed a comforting hand on his knee. "Do you have all your memory back?"
Tala continued to stare at the floor but nodded. Anya got up from the other side of the bed and sat down on Lutka's other side. She leaned across to look at her brother. "You okay? I forgive you."
Tala nodded again but then gagged as a pair of arms enveloped him. Lutka squeezed him to her tightly. "Mom?" he managed to ask in a choked gasp.
Lutka released him slightly. "I'm sorry, dear. It's just...You and Anya are all that I have left. If I were to loose the two-even one-of you...I don't know what I would do. And I feel that it's my fault that you never got a chance to see your father, Tala..."
"Oh, that's right...Dad disappeared a few month after Tala was born," Anya voiced.
Lutka was now quivering, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Without a trace... He had left the Abbey one morning...to go to Galsky Castle on an errand for Boris... We then received a call that night...after we had worried for the rest of the day... It was Gilepse, saying that Sergei had never arrived at the Castle. No one knows what happened to him, only that he vanished on the way there... He's been missing for thirteen years, and...there can be no possibility that he's alive today..."
Lutka now burst into uncontrollable tears, covering her face with both hands and sinking down to her lap. Tala and Anya watched her, not really knowing what to do. Anya glanced at Tala before leaning down along with Lutka. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll always be here for you. I'm not going to die on you."
Anya glanced at Tala again and mouthed for him to say the same thing. Tala looked to the window. "I can't make the same promise..."
Lutka sat up and took her hands away from her face as Anya looked shocked and angered. Tala continued. "I can't make the same promise...because of my duty as a Hilanov. I can't guarantee my life-not while Goadbwa still exists."
Lutka began to smile again. "I...I don't think you would have needed to know your father, Tala..."
"Why?" questioned Anya.
"Because...that's exactly what Sergei Romanov would have said..." Lutka suddenly found her black high-heeled shoes rather interesting. "I just wish that you two didn't have to fight against your godfather..."
"What?!" exclaimed Anya, he expression changing from sympathy to anger. "What do you mean? My godfather is someone that's my enemy?!"
Lutka looked back up sadly. "Yes. I'm afraid that Gilepse Galsky is your godfather."
*
"Kai?"
The brown-eyed boy turned around and looked up at the doorway. Rhea stood there in her regular black clothing. She seemed just as lifeless as always. "Yes?"
"May I come in? I'd like to speak to you."
Kai lay his Beyblade that he had been fiddling with on his bedside table. He turned back around to look out the window. "Sure..."
Rhea slowly walked across the room silently, passing Tala and Sarah's neatly made beds. She sat down beside him on his bed and placed her hands in her lap. She sat quietly, looking out the window along with him for a minute or two.
After that, she finally turned to him. "I believe you wanted to know about mother and father?"
Kai's eyes widened as he observed outside the window for a moment longer and then looked at her with them. "How did you know?"
Rhea paused before replying. "I can tell by the way you act. You want something. I just made the inference that you wanted the knowledge of our parents."
"Well you guessed right. I became more curious since I had this dream..."
"Where they were killed in a car crash," she finished.
Kai had looked downwards at the floor but his head now shot up again. "How do you know all this?"
Rhea turned away from him and to the window. She closed her eyes. "You had a dream where you were in the playground of a clearing in a forest, and the other teams were young children. Then Bryan, Eva, and Tyson died, Boris came by, and Sarah accused you of killing them. You then walked through the forest at night where you came to a different clearing with four knotholed trees. Inside the first, you saw our parents in the car crash, in the second you saw my death, in the third, you witnessed Grandfather's, and in the fourth, yours. Then Tala came to you with a knife telling you to kill yourself."
Kai stared at her in astonishment. "Th-that's amazing!"
Rhea opened her eyes and lowered her head. "Yes. Isn't it? But it's not the truth that you saw."
"The Hiwataris aren't going to die like that?" Kai asked hopefully.
"You mean the Hiwataris didn't die like that," she corrected. She turned to him again. "Our parents didn't die because of a car crash. Though I'm sure that Grandfather and my fates were envisioned correctly."
"If they didn't die from the crash, then why did they die? And what about my death?"
"I doubt that that's how you'll die. Sarah may love Tala more than you, but she doesn't hate you, and you know that. And even if she did-she wouldn't kill you. Not like that, anyway-"
"Do you know if she does love Tala? Or is she just being polite?" Kai interrupted.
Rhea made a slight scowl at him. "Why are you asking me?"
Kai turned away and lowered his head to the ground again. "Sorry. Continue."
Rhea was silent for a moment but then continued. "Our parents didn't die like that. Trust me, I saw their actual death.
"They had left the Abbey to go on an errand for Boris. They were heading for Galsky Castle. Before they had left, they were both feeling a ill, and so Boris injected them with a solution he had mixed himself. I had seen him make it. He was following an order from Voltaire."
"Rhea?"
She turned to her brother. "Why do you call Grandfather 'Voltaire'?"
"If I call him by his first name, then I don't have to say his last name, which would mean he's a relative of mine. And since he's not my relative, why should I call him 'Grandfather'? I'm ashamed to be his granddaughter. Let alone know him."
"Oh. That makes sense..."
"May I continue? As I had said, he was following an order from Voltaire. He personally injected them with the solution and then sent them off on the errand. It was by chance that they were involved in the collision, and they actually survived it. They were just knocked out and taken back to Biovolt-as you had seen.
"While they were in the infirmary at the Abbey, the solution had affected their systems. They died in the beds, Boris onlooking silently and with you and I at his side. Irina came forward to Boris and told him that they were dead. I remember how you asked me what 'dead' meant. I told you that it meant they were no longer with us. You protested that they were still in the bed. I corrected myself, saying that those were just bodies and their souls were gone. You then waddled over to the bed and grabbed Mother's arm. You shook it and screamed for her to wake up. When that didn't work, you did the same to Father, only to meet the same conclusion.
"You cried for the next few days, refusing to train or eat. You would cry yourself to sleep, and that was when you met Tala. He showed you that you had to move on with your life and not dwell on things like that. I recall him saying, 'Don't hesitate, move ahead.' One so young, yet one so wise."
"But what was in the solution that killed them?" Kai interrogated.
"Castor bean oil," she replied simply.
The two were silent for a long time. Kai broke the tension. "Did anyone else know about what Boris had done?"
"No, only the two of us. But now, you know, too."
Rhea stood up and headed for the door, but not before pushing a photograph into Kai's clenched fist after another long silence. It was crumpled, so he uncrumpled it and stared at it a moment, his eyes widening. He whirled around.
"Rhea-Hang on a second."
She stopped and turned back to Kai.
"In my dream-you were possessed by someone called 'Crucis' and you said that that was how you would probably die-by jumping off a cliff after she forced you. So if that's true...then...that would mean that you're..."
"Possessed, I know." With that, she turned and sauntered down the hall, leaving Kai to stare in stunned silence.
"Thank you, Irina," Boris said as the black-haired woman set a food-laden dish down in front of him. As Irina sat back down in her chair, Boris looked up at the rest of them sitting around the table and nodded, signalling them to eat.
Almost immediately, they all dove in-especially Tyson. He took advantage of everything on the long, rectangular table, indulging in what the Biovolt cooks had to offer of the Russian cuisine. A couple of the others paused with their utensils halfway to their mouth, observing the boy with wide eyes.
Sarah kept glancing at Kai on her right. He was eating rather slowly, slicing through the meat cautiously and chewing with even more wariness as if he felt someone was trying to poison him. She couldn't stand it anymore. "Kai? What's wrong?" she asked softly.
Kai hesitated and put down his knife and fork. "I'm just thinking..."
"About what?" interrogated Tala, who had obviously been eavesdropping on the conversation.
Kai turned to Tala on Sarah's left, his scowl intensifying. "That dream..."
Tala and Sarah looked at each other before turning back to Kai. "It's been like that all day, hasn't it?" asked Sarah.
Kai nodded solemnly. "Since I awoke this morning."
"I wonder if that dream wasn't of his subconscious..."
Sarah turned to Tala. "What do you mean?"
Tala swallowed what he had been chewing on and began to fork another piece. "I mean what if that dream wasn't his own?"
"How can it not be his own if he dreamed it?"
"Remember how you were possessed?"
Sarah stared at him blankly a moment before it finally clicked. "Oh! Of course! Maybe Vitality Extortion found a way to make him have that dream. That would explain the suicidal bit. They knew that if he was gone, the two of us would fall easily."
"Exactly," coached Tala as he turned back to his food. "It's psychological warfare."
"Attention, everyone-I have an announcement to make."
The feasters around the table all turned to Boris at one of the heads. "I am pleased to announce that we have a new Head Guard- Victor Khrushchev," he vociferated solemnly as he gestured to a brown-haired, blue- eyed man on his right.
There was only a select group that was sitting around the table consisting of the Biovolt executives, BBA officials and Hilanovs along with their teams. The executive included Boris, Voltaire, Irina, Lutka, Leon, Victor, Nikita, the head technician, Yakov, the training divisions superintendent, Mr. Dickenson, Judy and Nigel.
In Galsky Castle, a similar meal was taking place. Vitality Extortion was seated around the wooden table along with Phoebe, Ophelia, Marduk, Gilepse and some other important Goadbwa members. And like Boris, Gilepse was making an announcement.
"Tomorrow I shall be leaving for the other International Goadbwa branches..."
"...to the other International Biovolt branches where I will be asking the commanders for their aide against combating Goadbwa..." Boris continued.
"...Combating Biovolt by using the trainees from the other branches..."
"...With their help, we should be able to defeat Goadbwa easily."
"...To defeat Biovolt easily..."
"...After all, there is strength in numbers..."
"How many branches do you have to visit?" Philemon questioned.
"There are several branches for me to visit..." explained Gilepse. "The first one is in Ottawa, Canada with Commander Albert Gimli...He's in charge of the Victor Dome..."
"The first one I'm going to is the Ekkaren Building in Toronto, Canada, commandeered by Cedric Graham..."
"The third Goadbwa branch is in Nagano, Japan and is called the Miyato Tower. The commander is Satoshi Anzen..."
"The third Biovolt department is in Tokyo, Japan and is the Ikoru Geofront. I shall be speaking to Haku Shinzo there..."
"Goadbwa branch number four is in Sydney, Australia where the commander is Dawn Bond..."
"The fourth Biovolt branch is in Europe-London, England. The commander's name is Charles Boleyn..."
"The fifth Goadbwa branch is in Cape Town, South Africa. Mahmood Bhotta's the commander there..."
"Biovolt's fifth branch is in Canberra, Australia. Sheila Wulumu is a rather good director..."
"Berlin, Germany holds the sixth Goadbwa office. Kurt Brandez will be pleased to see me..."
"In Egypt I'll talk to Ishizu Ayyub, the commanding officer of the sixth training facility..."
"The seventh and final Goadbwa location is Brasilia, Brazil. Nelson Senna is the head honcho there..."
"An unlikely place, but excellent for testing, the last Biovolt bureau is in Antarctica. You have to admire Septimus Fornax's determination..."
"I will be taking one of the helicopters and going solo, so Vice President Deneb will be left in charge while I'm gone. You informed him of that, right, Ophelia?"
The blonde-haired woman nodded. "Yes, but he said that he had other arrangements for tonight when I invited him for this dinner."
"That's okay, as long as he knows," Gilepse replied.
"I will be taking one of the helicopters and I would like Sarah and Samson to come with me. I would like the commanders to meet my niece and nephew. I would have asked that Irina and Nigel go to, but you're busy with programming work, Nigel, and you're needed to keep things in order around here, Irina. I'm leaving you in charge, Voltaire, so if you need any help you should see Irina."
"I thought I you that I had other matters to attend to for the next few days?" Voltaire asked, slightly panicked.
"Yes, but surely those matters won't take up the whole time I'm away?" Boris countered.
"I'm afraid they will."
Boris stared at him a moment, stunned. "Very well, then. Irina, you're in full command."
The woman acknowledged the remark with a stiff nod of her head.
"Aren't you going to take Kai and Tala with you?" Tyson asked.
"I was planning for them to continue their training along with the rest of you. The final battle is approaching rapidly. Have you finished with the uniform repairs yet, Lutka and Judy?"
"They're ready, sir," Judy answered.
"Tala?" Sarah whispered to the boy on her left. "Are you okay?"
He had his head down and fists clenched on his lap, quivering as if in extreme anger. He wasn't answering her consoling queries.
"What's wrong with him?" Kai inquired, leaning close to Sarah's ear so as mot to be heard.
She turned to him. "I don't' know. Though he's been like that for the past couple of minutes. There must be something wrong." Sarah looked at Tala again. "Tala?" she repeated, nudging him this time.
He sat there quivering a moment longer before leaping up out of his chair, drawing the attention from everyone else's conversations. He lifted his head and all with a clear view of his face could see the possessive anger in his abnormally glowing eyes. They shone like two neon blue lights for a minute or so while he stood there, but then started to morph into a bright blood red. Placing his hands underneath the frame of the heavy table, he lifted, upending it easily to send plates, the tablecloth and food crashing down upon the ones on the opposite side of the table. They managed to get out of their chairs in time before the actual table fell and stood staring in horror along with everyone else.
Sarah stepped away from him, backing into Kai, who placed his hands on her shoulders should she make any daring moves. Bryan, who was on the other side of Tala, also stepped away, though he still had a calm look on his face.
"How did he upend the table like that? It took Victor, Leon, Yakov and I to move it into place!" exclaimed Nikita.
"Everyone, remain calm and leave the room slowly. Don't turn your back on him and don't make any sudden moves. Lutka, get to the main control room and check his sensors for malfunction," ordered Boris.
Most of them did as he had said, Lutka, once out the door, dashing down the stairs to the ground level. Kai, Sarah and Anya were unwilling to move, though. She approached him slowly, holding her arms out as if he was an untamed animal. "Tala, it's me, Anya. What's happening?"
"Anya! Stay away from him!" Boris cried.
"But he's my brother!" she protested. She moved closer and stood a foot away from him. "Tala..." There was tension as no one in the room moved, staring at the scene-Boris in the doorway and Sarah and Kai to the side.
With lightning agility, Tala reached out with both arms and grasped both hands around his sister's neck. He slowly began to tighten his grip as Anya gagged and struggled to get free.
Sarah felt Kai's hands lift off of her shoulder and saw him shoot forward into Tala, knocking him off balance as Tala had done to him. Tala let go of Anya's neck as he hurtled to the ground along with Kai. Anya stepped back and took a deep breath in, rubbing her neck regretfully. Sarah rushed over to her. "Are you okay, Anya?"
Anya coughed and swallowed. "I-I think so..." She took her hand away from her neck to reveal a red mark where Tala's hands had been.
Meanwhile, Kai was wrestling with Tala on the floor, trying to pin his shoulders down. He finally managed to do that and held him there for a moment or two while Tala remained dormant, calculating his next move like the cyborg he was. After that calculated moment, Tala struck again, jumping up and bringing Kai with him. He punched Kai, forcing the blue-haired boy to let go.
Sarah watched as Kai fell to the ground and Tala stood frozen with his fist out. She rushed forward, away from the stunned Anya to Kai on the floor. "Kai! Are you okay?"
"Sir! There's been a glitch in his operating system!" Lutka's voice exclaimed over the walkie-talkie at Boris' waist.
He reached for it and held it to his mouth. "What do you mean?"
"Remember how I told you that Tala went to the infirmary last night with a severed wrist vein? Well, it was a connection vein that was cut. Its laceration caused a contamination to the operation units and that is what is making the limb and instrumentality apparatuses malfunction."
"Send me an immobilization projectile," Boris commanded.
"But that could only worsen the contamination's toxicity, sir."
"That's the risk we'll take, then."
"Boris, sir, as his mother, I feel that I also have the power to decide the best method of incapacitating him. I suggest that we shut down all mechanisms and then restart the unit."
"But that would mean reprogramming every aspect of the system..."
"No, it wouldn't. We have a memory back-up chip. We'll just have to rewire him after," Lutka testified.
"Very well, then. Do what you think is best, just hurry with it," Boris said as he looked up to see Tala now advancing on Sarah.
"Yes, sir," came the quick reply before Boris reattached it to the belt at his waist.
Tala had now lowered his hand and stood in front of Sarah, looming over her. She stared up at him in utter defiance but then it became trepidation as he reached down and grabbed the neck of her vest, pulling her to stand up. He lifted her to her tiptoes and then into mid-air as he raised his arm to full extent. The fabric rubbed against her neck, causing a burning sensation. Tala moved his right arm to the left slightly, Sarah swaying in his grip. Then, he brought his hand to the right, aiming for the window that led to the Abbey courtyard two floors below. He swung his arm, then buckled his knees and fell to the ground, Sarah falling from his grasp to flop down beside him. His shutdown had saved her a trip out the window to meet stone ground.
"Take him to the east lab infirmary, Kieran," Boris instructed as the rest of the Blade Sovereign re-entered the room.
Kieran did as he was told, taking Tala in outstretched arms and leaving the room to head down the staircase. Samson rushed over to Sarah, who lay stunned on the floor. Rhea stood in the doorway beside Boris, watching her brother sit up, having recovered from the shock.
The next morning was grey and cloudy as the two Langley siblings followed their uncle through the main hall and into the courtyard where a helicopter was awaiting them. They had a suited Biovolt guard on each side, Victor being one of them.
Victor held the door open for the three of them as they stepped into the helicopter. Kai watched from the deserted dormitory that he was to be sharing with Tala and Sarah as it lifted off from the stones and left the courtyard, then disappeared from sight. He was the only one in the dormitory now, since Tala had spent the night in the east lab infirmary and Sarah had now left the Abbey.
He ran his hand over the large bruise on his left cheek. It hurt even to touch it lightly, and he was sure that eating and talking would hurt just as much, if not more. The bones certainly ached there.
"Memory implantation complete. Terminating life support and wire connection systems," a male voice came over the loudspeaker of the infirmary.
Lutka walked over to his bedside and began to disconnect the wires that were attached to the boy's head. When all the wires had retracted into the machine and his head was free, she closed the connection panel on the top of his head and took the mask away from his face. She sat down on the bed beside him and lay her hand on his cheek lovingly with tears welling up in her eyes.
Tala cringed and then opened his eyes to full extent. Lutka could see that as his eyes focused, they changed colour. First blood red, and then their regular icy blue. He blinked and looked up to see his mother's watery eyes. He sat up immediately, startling her to pull away.
"Mom..." he said as he stared at her with a slightly stunned look.
She swallowed and smiled sadly. "Yes...?"
Tala looked around the room and then at himself. He was wearing his blue fleece shirt and pants. He remembered having his other shirt and belts on before. He turned to the machine positioned above his head and then back to Lutka. "What happened?"
"You had to be shut down. The artery that was severed yesterday night was an important connection. You were experiencing erratic behaviour," she said softly.
"'Erratic behaviour'?" repeated Tala.
"Oh yeah. And you've got witnesses to prove it. Just ask my throat or Kai's cheek."
The two looked up to see Anya standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame. She stepped forward and sat on the other side of the bed. Tala gasped on seeing the bright red mark on her neck as she indicated to it.
"What happened? What did I do to you?"
Anya blinked, as if hesitant to answer. "I was trying to calm you down and you attacked me. You tried to strangle me!"
Tala looked down at the blankets, ashamed. "Sorry...What happened to Kai? And where is he?"
Lutka turned to Anya, silently telling her to answer. "You punched him when he tried to intercept you. I'm not exactly sure where he is, though Rhea said she had been meaning to talk to him today. And you harmed your little girlfriend, too-"
"Anya!" Lutka scolded.
Anya ignored it. "You picked her up and almost threw her out of a second story window. You would've done it, too, had you not been shut down." Tala opened his mouth to speak but Anya interrupted him. "And before you ask any more about Sarah, she left an hour ago with Boris and Samson."
There was a long silence between the three Romanovs. It was broken when Tala slipped out from under the covers and stood up. "I'm going to go apologize to Kai."
"No, Tala. Sit. He knows your feelings," Lutka said, patting the area on the mattress beside her.
Tala glared at her a moment before obeying the order. She placed a comforting hand on his knee. "Do you have all your memory back?"
Tala continued to stare at the floor but nodded. Anya got up from the other side of the bed and sat down on Lutka's other side. She leaned across to look at her brother. "You okay? I forgive you."
Tala nodded again but then gagged as a pair of arms enveloped him. Lutka squeezed him to her tightly. "Mom?" he managed to ask in a choked gasp.
Lutka released him slightly. "I'm sorry, dear. It's just...You and Anya are all that I have left. If I were to loose the two-even one-of you...I don't know what I would do. And I feel that it's my fault that you never got a chance to see your father, Tala..."
"Oh, that's right...Dad disappeared a few month after Tala was born," Anya voiced.
Lutka was now quivering, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Without a trace... He had left the Abbey one morning...to go to Galsky Castle on an errand for Boris... We then received a call that night...after we had worried for the rest of the day... It was Gilepse, saying that Sergei had never arrived at the Castle. No one knows what happened to him, only that he vanished on the way there... He's been missing for thirteen years, and...there can be no possibility that he's alive today..."
Lutka now burst into uncontrollable tears, covering her face with both hands and sinking down to her lap. Tala and Anya watched her, not really knowing what to do. Anya glanced at Tala before leaning down along with Lutka. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll always be here for you. I'm not going to die on you."
Anya glanced at Tala again and mouthed for him to say the same thing. Tala looked to the window. "I can't make the same promise..."
Lutka sat up and took her hands away from her face as Anya looked shocked and angered. Tala continued. "I can't make the same promise...because of my duty as a Hilanov. I can't guarantee my life-not while Goadbwa still exists."
Lutka began to smile again. "I...I don't think you would have needed to know your father, Tala..."
"Why?" questioned Anya.
"Because...that's exactly what Sergei Romanov would have said..." Lutka suddenly found her black high-heeled shoes rather interesting. "I just wish that you two didn't have to fight against your godfather..."
"What?!" exclaimed Anya, he expression changing from sympathy to anger. "What do you mean? My godfather is someone that's my enemy?!"
Lutka looked back up sadly. "Yes. I'm afraid that Gilepse Galsky is your godfather."
*
"Kai?"
The brown-eyed boy turned around and looked up at the doorway. Rhea stood there in her regular black clothing. She seemed just as lifeless as always. "Yes?"
"May I come in? I'd like to speak to you."
Kai lay his Beyblade that he had been fiddling with on his bedside table. He turned back around to look out the window. "Sure..."
Rhea slowly walked across the room silently, passing Tala and Sarah's neatly made beds. She sat down beside him on his bed and placed her hands in her lap. She sat quietly, looking out the window along with him for a minute or two.
After that, she finally turned to him. "I believe you wanted to know about mother and father?"
Kai's eyes widened as he observed outside the window for a moment longer and then looked at her with them. "How did you know?"
Rhea paused before replying. "I can tell by the way you act. You want something. I just made the inference that you wanted the knowledge of our parents."
"Well you guessed right. I became more curious since I had this dream..."
"Where they were killed in a car crash," she finished.
Kai had looked downwards at the floor but his head now shot up again. "How do you know all this?"
Rhea turned away from him and to the window. She closed her eyes. "You had a dream where you were in the playground of a clearing in a forest, and the other teams were young children. Then Bryan, Eva, and Tyson died, Boris came by, and Sarah accused you of killing them. You then walked through the forest at night where you came to a different clearing with four knotholed trees. Inside the first, you saw our parents in the car crash, in the second you saw my death, in the third, you witnessed Grandfather's, and in the fourth, yours. Then Tala came to you with a knife telling you to kill yourself."
Kai stared at her in astonishment. "Th-that's amazing!"
Rhea opened her eyes and lowered her head. "Yes. Isn't it? But it's not the truth that you saw."
"The Hiwataris aren't going to die like that?" Kai asked hopefully.
"You mean the Hiwataris didn't die like that," she corrected. She turned to him again. "Our parents didn't die because of a car crash. Though I'm sure that Grandfather and my fates were envisioned correctly."
"If they didn't die from the crash, then why did they die? And what about my death?"
"I doubt that that's how you'll die. Sarah may love Tala more than you, but she doesn't hate you, and you know that. And even if she did-she wouldn't kill you. Not like that, anyway-"
"Do you know if she does love Tala? Or is she just being polite?" Kai interrupted.
Rhea made a slight scowl at him. "Why are you asking me?"
Kai turned away and lowered his head to the ground again. "Sorry. Continue."
Rhea was silent for a moment but then continued. "Our parents didn't die like that. Trust me, I saw their actual death.
"They had left the Abbey to go on an errand for Boris. They were heading for Galsky Castle. Before they had left, they were both feeling a ill, and so Boris injected them with a solution he had mixed himself. I had seen him make it. He was following an order from Voltaire."
"Rhea?"
She turned to her brother. "Why do you call Grandfather 'Voltaire'?"
"If I call him by his first name, then I don't have to say his last name, which would mean he's a relative of mine. And since he's not my relative, why should I call him 'Grandfather'? I'm ashamed to be his granddaughter. Let alone know him."
"Oh. That makes sense..."
"May I continue? As I had said, he was following an order from Voltaire. He personally injected them with the solution and then sent them off on the errand. It was by chance that they were involved in the collision, and they actually survived it. They were just knocked out and taken back to Biovolt-as you had seen.
"While they were in the infirmary at the Abbey, the solution had affected their systems. They died in the beds, Boris onlooking silently and with you and I at his side. Irina came forward to Boris and told him that they were dead. I remember how you asked me what 'dead' meant. I told you that it meant they were no longer with us. You protested that they were still in the bed. I corrected myself, saying that those were just bodies and their souls were gone. You then waddled over to the bed and grabbed Mother's arm. You shook it and screamed for her to wake up. When that didn't work, you did the same to Father, only to meet the same conclusion.
"You cried for the next few days, refusing to train or eat. You would cry yourself to sleep, and that was when you met Tala. He showed you that you had to move on with your life and not dwell on things like that. I recall him saying, 'Don't hesitate, move ahead.' One so young, yet one so wise."
"But what was in the solution that killed them?" Kai interrogated.
"Castor bean oil," she replied simply.
The two were silent for a long time. Kai broke the tension. "Did anyone else know about what Boris had done?"
"No, only the two of us. But now, you know, too."
Rhea stood up and headed for the door, but not before pushing a photograph into Kai's clenched fist after another long silence. It was crumpled, so he uncrumpled it and stared at it a moment, his eyes widening. He whirled around.
"Rhea-Hang on a second."
She stopped and turned back to Kai.
"In my dream-you were possessed by someone called 'Crucis' and you said that that was how you would probably die-by jumping off a cliff after she forced you. So if that's true...then...that would mean that you're..."
"Possessed, I know." With that, she turned and sauntered down the hall, leaving Kai to stare in stunned silence.
