Disclaimer: We do not own Beyblade. It belongs to Nelvana and the company that created it in Japan. I do own Alex Cross, Daniel Von Brown, Ryujin, Loborg, Megumi and Isis. This story takes place during the episode 'Out of the Past' and will run through the rest of the entire first season. If you have any questions please contact us at ericpaladin@hotmail.com or nekowingzero@yahoo.com.
The Lost Blader
By: David Knight and Wingzero
Part 5
A Revealing Meeting
About twenty minutes later, Alex had gotten himself into the hotel where Mr. D and the Bladebreakers were staying at. He carried Tala in his arms, though the hotel manager didn't ask any questions. Probably Mr. D had told the man not to worry about him when he arrived. At any rate, Alex took the room key given to him and entered into the room. He placed Tala into bed, and also thought to change his clothes, since they looked pretty dirty.
That was when he saw the scars. Alex recoiled in shock and disgust, "My god... what the hell did they do to you..." He looked down at the face of the young boy, looking so serene and peaceful. It almost seemed impossible that this was the same boy that fought like a man possessed only a few hours ago in the beyblade arena. He looked down at Tala's blade, looking at his bit chip, the one containing Wolborg. He pulled out his own blade and let it fall to the ground, "What do you think Ryujin?"
The dragon soon came out of his blade, looking at Tala's for a while, 'I don't feel the connection between the blader and beast. However, I don't feel this one is like the ones I fought.'
"Are you sure?" Alex asked.
Ryujin nodded, 'Seaborg and Wyborg had dark intent in them. I could feel it. Boris had succeeded in warping their noble selves to his perversions. This one however could truly go either way. I would need time to know that.'
Alex nodded, knowing his bit beast, being as old he as he had told Alex in the past, was more knowledgeable in these sorts of things than any human. He removed the bit chip from Tala's blade and placed it down on the chair. "See what you can do with him. Assuming he can talk."
'We shall see,' With that Ryujin disappeared back in his blade, Alex knowing his bit beast wouldn't be around for a while now. He turned his attention back to Tala, who looked like he was in pain, even though he looked peaceful. Going into his pocket, he pulled out the silver falcon bit chip that he had found in the mountains earlier, "This thing helped me heal. Let's see how well it can help you," He put it into Tala's right hand. He didn't expect anything to happen immediately, though in this case, he kind of wish it would. Tala needed help.
How little Alex knew that he would be getting that help sooner than he thought.
* * *
Tala didn't know where he was. Was he awake or dreaming? All he could feel was pain and fear, pain from the torment that he had been forced to endure at the Abbey, at Boris's hands. Fear because even if he was free now, how long would it be until Boris came and took him back to the Abbey, turning him into a machine.
'I'm already less than human,' Tala cried as he curled up in a ball, holding himself tightly, 'I'd rather die than go back there. I'd rather die than go back to that hell! I don't want to go back! I want my nightmares to end!'
A young woman about Tala's age came into the red head's view. Her silver hair flowed gracefully down her back and stopped just below her shoulder blades. Her golden eyes looked over at the red head and she could feel the pain he endured. Gracefully walking towards him, she halted her progress as she didn't want to startle him.
Tala became aware that someone was looking at him. Slowly he turned around, half expecting Boris but never thought to see a young girl, "Who... who are you?"
"I am the silver falcon of light," the young girl spoke in a soft melodic voice. Around here, there was an aura of peace and tranquility. Wherever she went, she brought healing and peace, but that didn't mean she would fight. She fought only to protect those she loved and not for revenge or without a cause.
As Tala heard her words, he felt the pain dulling slowly; it was as if her very voice was healing his inner turmoil as well as his physical injuries. As he looked at her in the eyes, he saw nothing but warmth to her, "Do you have a name?" he asked.
"You may call me Dralcian," she said as she gave him a genuine smile.
"What are you?" The red head asked, seeing silver feathers blow past her.
Dralcian had a musical laughter. "I thought you would have never asked that question. I'm the silver falcon bit beast."
"You... you're a bit beast?" Tala stared in disbelief, "But... but you look human."
"In this realm, I have a human form, but in your world I do not," she appeared to be sad.
"You prefer to be human?" Tala asked.
"Yes and no," Dralcian answered with a riddle as she put her hands on his chest, "Now just relax."
To his own surprise, Tala did just that. Suddenly, he could feel all of his pain just starting to fade away. The memories would never go away, but he could start to move past them. Most of all, he knew that someone had risked his life to free him from the Abbey, to keep him from Boris.
He smiled, knowing now for the first time in a long while, he was free.
* * *
'What in the world...' Alex thought as he saw bruises on Tala's face fade away until it looked like they were never there to begin with. A smile formed on his face, 'Maybe there is something about that bit chip after all. I'll have to ask Ryujin to make contact with the bit beast inside.' Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Alex knew who the one knocking was, "You can come in Mr. D."
Mr. Dickenson entered the room. He was disappointed in Alex's decision to raid the Abbey without proper back up and he didn't mention he was bringing Tala with him. "I'm glad to see the both of you are okay. You could have been killed pulling off a stunt like that. I thought I had lost you a second time, but enough about that." He glanced over towards the former Demolition Boy who now was healed from all his physical injuries. "I was worried Boris will harm him, but I can see he hasn't been touched."
"That all depends on your point of view," Alex said coldly. When Dickenson didn't know what he meant, Alex simply lifted the covers a bit and Dickenson saw Tala's exposed back.
On the red head's back, old scars could be seen, but all the bruises and cuts he had received as a punishment were gone. His breathing became more even and he had a smile on his face for the first time in years. All the mental anguish had been removed from his slumber and now, he felt at peace.
Mr. Dickenson was glad there weren't any signs of injury, but what worried him were the old scars that remained on Tala's back. "That sick monster. How could he do this to a child?" He was angry that Boris could do this horrendous act to another human being.
Alex pulled out of his jacket pocket several CDs, "These should help in your case against Biovolt and Voltaire. They contain data on the mutation bit beasts, Biovolt's blade construction projects, and Boris' wire transaction with Daniel to help sabotage my team during the world championships five years ago."
"I can't believe they would stoop to that level," Mr. Dickenson said seriously as he took the CDs from Alex. "I would have never thought of Daniel betraying the team, but I guess Boris found a way to manipulate him. I hope it isn't too late for him." His eyes went over to the still form of a red headed blader.
"I don't think it is at all," Alex shook his head, "He tried to attack Boris apparently before I got there. He was going to wipe out Tala's memories and emotions because of what he had done to turn him into a cyborg. I think Boris had to delete some of Tala's memories earlier and Tala remembered something. Something that made him go against Boris."
Mr. Dickenson stood there, not knowing what to say. Boris had the audacity and the nerve to transform Tala into a cyborg. "I'll make sure that he never sees the light of day. We'll hire the best attorneys around. I think we'll have everyone who was involved testify if they are willing. Maybe Kai will volunteer to be a witness. I don't know about the others or if they are brave enough to take the stand."
"If it puts them away for life, I have no problem with testifying."
Both Dickenson and Alex turned around, though Alex had a smile on his face when he saw who it was that spoke, "Kai."
"I heard someone saying my name," Kai said, his crimson eyes taking in the situation. "So you're planning on putting Boris away for good? I don't mind testifying against him. It's about time the Abbey was shut down." He noticed the red head on the bed. "What happened to him?"
"Boris was about to turn him into a full blown cyborg. I went down to the abbey to go get Tala but I underestimated Boris," Alex shook his head, rubbing his right arm as he still remembered the bullet grazing it. "If it wasn't for Bryan attacking Boris from behind..."
"Bryan?" Kai asked with disbelief. He would have never thought that Bryan would save Alex. Out of all the people, Bryan was the one who had helped in their escape. "Where is he?"
Mr. Dickenson allowed the two boys to communicate with each other as he listened onto their conversation. He didn't know much about the situation, but he wanted to know more.
"We had to leave him behind. He wasn't ready to come with us Kai. I managed to make it so that Boris wouldn't think he had anything to do with helping us escape," Alex leaned up against the wall, his head down low, "Kai I saw those children this time. More than what you showed me... I wanted to help them. I wanted to free them all... but I couldn't. I could only help just one person."
"One person cannot do much on his own," Kai said thoughtfully. "But a group of friends can severely damage Biovolt. When the time is right, we will free every single one of those children from that miserable existence. I know we'll have to gather enough people who are willing to adopt them and endure the healing process each child will be going through. I know my team mates will help in any way they can." He chuckled at a thought. "You can't keep Tyson away even if you strap him on a bed."
Suddenly the door came crashing in as a pile of Breakers poured in. The poor genius ended up on the bottom of the heap with both Max and Tyson on top of him. Rei had managed to avoid falling with his feline abilities.
"Ack!" Kenny screamed as he moved his laptop out of the way. "You're going to squash Dizzi!!"
"Hey Max, mind getting your arm out of my face?" Tyson cried.
"Your arm?" Max snapped, "What about your foot out of my face?"
"... you were saying Kai?" Alex muttered as he put a hand behind the back of his head, not believing the sheer ridiculousness of this entire scene.
Kai rolled his eyes at the antics of his teammates. "Shut the door." He ordered the rest of his team.
Rei nodded his head. He would have shut the door, but there was a huge pile of his teammates preventing him from doing so. Instead, he jumped over them gracefully and landed on the other side of the pile.
"Thanks a lot Rei," Kenny said sarcastically as he tried to pry himself out from under the mess.
"Sorry about that," Rei apologized sheepishly. He then yanked the genius out of the pile after Kai had placed the laptop in a safe place. The team captain knew they were going to need all the help they could get even if it came from the sarcastic bit beast.
"Well we kinda figured something was up," Tyson shook his head, "I mean first Mr. D got that call during our evening celebration. A few minutes ago he leaves, soon you follow him out Kai and then..."
"Whoa!" Max blurted aloud, "What's Tala doing here?"
"He's here, because he's injured," Kai replied. "My friend brought him here after rescuing Tala from the Abbey, though it was foolish on his part to go alone." He nodded his head towards the mysterious blader in the room.
While the others were talking, Rei was studying the mystery blader. He knew he saw him from somewhere, but he couldn't figure out where. 'I know I have seen his face before.' He moved closer to get a better look.
"Whoa wait a minute! For real?" Max asked. "Man you must not have been thinking clearly."
"So who is this guy anyway?" Tyson asked, "Mr. D I think we have a right to know what's going on here."
Dickenson was trying to think of what to say when Alex took the option away from him as he walked forward, "It's okay, Mr. D. I don't think there's any harm in telling them. It's not like they are going to tell the world or anything," he held his hand out to Tyson and had a smile, "Alex Cross, how do you do?"
"...NO WAY!!!" was pretty much the entire Bladebreakers response, save for their team captain.
Kai knew the identity of the mystery blader as he was the one who helped Alex get his life back.
"Is it for real?" Tyson gasped as he saw his beyblade hero for the first time in person.
"Someone pinch me, I must be dreaming," Max said, spacing out a little.
Kenny nearly dropped his laptop when he heard the name. He started mumbling incoherent words.
Rei stood there, not knowing what to say. He couldn't believe this former world champion team captain was standing right in front of him and he couldn't identify the person.
"This is not a dream. Not by a long shot." Alex shook his head, very much amused by their expressions."
"Oh wow! This is so cool!" Max squealed.
"Absolutely!" Tyson agreed as he pulled out his beyblade. He was really eager to have a match with the former world champion, especially since he was now the current world champion.
"Really eager for a beyblade battle huh?" Alex said with a grin, though he had thought of battling Tyson himself sometime in the future.
"But... but just where have you been for the last five years?" Kenny stammered, "I mean. After the world champion ships five years ago, you practically walked off the face of the earth."
"You have Biovolt to thank for sabotaging the tournament and turning Daniel Von Brown, one of my teammates against us, giving their team the win and making me into a shell of my self for the last five years." Alex said bitterly, as he still wasn't and probably would never truly get over in some ways the betrayal at Daniel's hands.
"I can't believe they would do such an underhanded trick as that," Kenny stuttered.
"Then again, this is Biovolt we're talking about," Tyson spat out. "They aren't exactly angels."
"More like devils," Kai spoke up. His crimson eyes flashed pure hatred for the company that had raised him and had taken away his childhood.
Rei took a step back not only from the surprise announcement but from the looks that Kai was giving.
"Why would do such a thing?" Max asked.
"They will use any means to achieve their goal, even if it means sacrificing lives," a voice said from behind Alex.
"Tala," Tyson said, seeing the red haired blader get slowly out of bed though Alex threw him a shirt.
"Put that on before taking the bed sheets off," Alex told him, "You aren't exactly wearing a top at the moment."
Tala hastily wore the shirt before the Bladebreakers could see his old scars. "Thank you." He stood up and stretched not feeling the pain he had endured. His muscles weren't sore like they were before and he could only wonder how it happened, but he guessed Dralcian had been involved. Ice blue eyes scanned the room. "Did I miss anything?"
"Not much," Alex said.
"Tala, are you okay?" Tyson asked, "What happened to you after the finals?"
Tala suddenly found his bed sheets very interesting at the moment. "You see............... When I lost to you, Boris wasn't exactly pleased. He ordered the guards to punish all of us even Ian, who didn't blade during the finals. I was thrown back into my 'room' until I decided I had enough. I wanted out of there. When I broke out, I stormed over to Boris' office, but had this device that sends electrical shocks through my body by means of the cybernetic implants. I don't remember much afterwards, but I do remember being hauled to the laboratory for an upgrade. You'll have to ask Alex for the rest."
"That's horrible," Rei whispered.
"I managed to stop them from giving Tala that 'upgrade'," Alex said, disgust evident at what he knew was an upgrade, "I also downloaded files from Biovolt's computer system before trashing the system. I was very lucky to escape with Tala."
"Yes you were," Kai agreed with him, "though I still say you shouldn't have gone alone. If it weren't for an unlikely ally, you would have ended up with a bullet through your head."
"What do you mean, Kai?" Kenny inquired as everyone's attention went to the Bladebreaker's team captain.
Kai didn't even bother responded, but looked over towards Alex.
"... Bryan saved my life. He attacked Boris from behind. If he hadn't, he would have killed me." Alex told everyone.
"Bryan?" Rei gasped out loud. "The same Bryan who sent me to the hospital rescued you?"
"It goes to show you, how little we know about each other," Kenny spoke softly. "Where is he? Is he okay?"
"He's still at the abbey... he couldn't come with us," Alex shook his head.
"But why?" Max asked.
"Because he just couldn't. He did what he could because he didn't want any blood on his hands," Alex sighed, "And there was only so little time to act."
"If he didn't want any blood on his hands, then why did he have his bit beast attack me during the finals?" Rei wanted to know, but he also knew where to draw the line. If they weren't going to respond, he wasn't going to push for an answer.
"You'll have to ask Bryan," Kai said with a serious voice.
"I wish I could have saved him," Tala said wistfully, "but I was in no condition to help anyone."
"We'll help everyone at the abbey be free some day," Alex vowed, "I swear it."
"Yeah," Tyson agreed. In just the last few minutes, his dislike for Boris and Biovolt had gone way more than he thought they could and he didn't like them much at all to begin with. "One day they'll all go down for every single crime they've done."
The rest of the Bladebreakers, Tala, and Alex nodded their heads in agreement. They wanted Boris and Biovolt to pay for their crimes against humanity. One of these days, Biovolt would be only a bad memory.
Mr. Dickenson coughed to bring the attention to him. "Now that we have taken care of that, what are you planning to do?" He directed the question towards Alex and Tala.
Tala had no idea, where he was going to go or what he was going to do. He had been given his freedom a couple hours ago and he hadn't exactly planned on his escape.
"Rebuild bridges that have been broken," Alex said softly.
"Huh?" was the collective response from many of the people in the room.
"I'm going to find Isis and Megumi," Alex said solemnly, "Try to put my shattered friendships back together again and reform my team."
"No way!" Max gasped, "You're going to reform the Blade Knights!"
"Absolutely," Alex nodded, "I can't participate in tournaments without a team," he looked over to Tala, hoping that the red head wouldn't take what he was about to say the wrong way, "If you want to, I'd like you come with me on this journey Tala."
Tala was completely speechless. He didn't know what to say. "Are you sure you want someone like me?"
"You have a good heart, no matter what has been done to you or what you've been lead into doing. I wouldn't be asking you come with me on this journey," Alex said with a smile, "Or asking you join my new team if I wasn't sure about you."
A genuine smile mad its way across Tala's face. "I'd be honored to join your team." He frowned for a second. "Though I can't help thinking about Bryan."
"We'll help him out some day. I promise." Alex said. "But for right now, we need to heal from our wounds and learn how to live. It's the only way we can truly be ready for what lays a head."
"Learn to live?" Tyson asked.
"I may have been legally alive for the last five years but I was dead inside. Now I'm just trying to live again," Alex answered, "I need to be able to truly be alive and to move on from the past if I'll ever put all of my demons to rest... that means going to see the two people that meant so much to me but shut them out of my life for so long now. No matter what happens, when I see them I'll be able to finally move on."
"I also need to move on," Tala added. "I have much to learn about friendship, trust, and faith. The teachings of Biovolt aren't easy to remove in a single day. Undoing ten years of damage won't be easy." He pulled his knees closer towards himself and rested his head on them.
"Don't worry," Alex said to Tala, "I'll help you."
"We all will Tala," Tyson said coming over to the red head and putting his hand out. Tala didn't know what Tyson meant by the gesture until he said, "Friends?"
"Even after what I put you through, you still want to be my friend?" Tala stared at the hand.
"Yeah," Tyson said with a smile on his face. He knew there was something about Tala from the first time he took his hand. He wasn't like Boris and the other Demolition Boys and now he knew it.
Nervously, Tala took Tyson's hand and accepted his friendship. "Thanks, it means a lot coming from you guys."
"That's what friends are for Tala," Tyson smiled.
Alex watched on, knowing there would be tough times and trials a head. Biovolt wasn't done with them yet and it would keep on fighting until it finally died. 'But we'll keep on fighting too. We fight for what we believe in and we fight with a strength that they don't possess: the strength of friendship. With that strength, there isn't any force we can't beat.' As he looked at Tala, he shifted his eyes to Kai, until finally looking at himself in a mirror across the room, a sly smile on his face, 'But most of all, it can save any one, change anyone. Even those of us that are just known as lost bladers.'
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: We've about reached somewhere between one half to two thirds of completing this story. For those of you wanting to see battles sorry but there will be some very impressive fights later on as we plan to save the best for when it fits. Until next time.