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GOB: Bah!

Kai: Not again...

Max: SHEEP!

GOB: Yes again!

Max: SSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEPPPPPPPPP



Kai: God help me...

GOB: Sure!

Kai: I SAID 'GOD' NOT 'GOB'



GOB: So?

Kai: ARGH



Max: What's eating him?

GOB: I don't know. Maybe it's something Tyson did?

Max: Probably...

GOB: Do the disclaimer?

Max: Sure! GOB doesn't own anything that she didn't make up all on her own!



Kai: -_- Why me...

GOB & Max: BAH BAH, BLACK SHEEP, HAVE YOU ANY WOOL....

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(6:00pm)

(A/N: I'm not explaining most of the battles, I never found that interesting in fics, so I won't write them.)

As it turned out, Team 9 (Max, Ben, Hiromi & Kyle) beat Team 10 (Ray, Mariah, Emily & Rory), and Max was making sure that the little fact was burned into Rei's mind...

"MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT-----"

"I KNOW ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Rei, finally fed up with Max, retaliated by bellowing. Max looked at him, then said, wisely,

"You shouldn't yell just because you're mad you lost. Don't be such a bad sport."

With that, Max proceeded to walk away, shaking his head at Rei's 'bad sportsmanship'.

"Let it go Rei, just let it go..." Rory said, while he and Lee held Rei back. Rei, who was trying to break free and strangle, or just mortally wound, Max, just glared at them.

"Rei. Stop. Now." Kai said in his dark, demanding way. Ironically enough, Rei stopped, and proceeded to busy himself by muttering things like:

"Stupid Max..."

"Moronic Max..."

"Idiotic Max..."

"Annoying Max..."

"Loud-mouth Max..."

"Insolate Max..."

"Retarded Max..."

"Stupid, moronic, idiotic, annoying, loud-mouth, insolate, retarded Max..."

Needless to say, Max kept as far away from Rei as he possibly could, while still gloating about his victory. And whenever Rei tried to retaliate, Kai silenced him with the oh-so-famous, "Hiwatari Glare Of Death", as the others has so respectfully dubbed. (A/N: Lol, yeah right!)

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(6:30pm)

Everyone had decided on going to a nice, small, Japanese restaurant, tucked into the heart of downtown, but with the atmosphere, or feeling, of wide, open spaces.

"Hmm hmmm hmm hmmmm hm hmmm....." Max hummed. He had been humming ever since Lee finally lost it and... here, take a look into the past...

~ fLaShBaCk ~

Max continued to gloat cheerfully,

"MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR TEAM! MY TEAM BEAT YOUR--"

That is... until Lee lost it...

"WILL YOU STOP ALREADY!!!!!!!!! YOU WON!!!!!!! YOU KNOW THAT, I KNOW THAT, EVERYONE KNOWS THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST SHUT UP ABOUT IT ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!! YOU'RE GIVING ME A FUCKING MIGRAINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Lee had had enough. Max's constant shouts were enough to drive anyone crazy, but they didn't drive anyone crazy. They drove Lee crazy. So he decided to do something about it...

~ FlAsHbAcK ~

Yeah, so Lee had lost it, but at least he got Max to shut up... Until Max began to hum... the same song... over... and over... and over... again...

Out of nowhere, Max burst out singing the words to the song he had been humming:

"BAH BAH BLACK SHEEP HAVE YOU ANY WOOL? YES SIR YES SIR THREE BAGS FULL! ONE FOR MY MASTER, ONE FOR THE DAME! ONE FOR THE LITTLE BOY WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE!!!"

Everyone did an anime fall, and then just proceeded to ignore Max for the rest of the meal. Things went pretty smoothly on from that point forward...

But....

If everyone had bothered to pay attention to the people around them, instead of just listening to Max on hyper mode, and dodging the little tidbits of Tyson's supper, they would have noticed the single tear falling from her eyes.

Her soft eyes...

Her soft, pain-filled eyes...

Her soft, pain-filled, violet eyes...

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GOB: HOLD THE PRESSES



Kai: What presses...

GOB: That was just something to get everyone's attention! There are 4 things I need to tell you!

1) The rest of the chapter will be alternating between Tael's Thought's (as I like to call them), Kai, and Akira taking care of poor, little, sick Ria (Kai's youngest sister. How old did I say she was? Five? Well she's five now!)

2) I am going to update at least once every 2 weeks from now on!

3) I FINALLY KNOW THE WORDS TO BAH BAH BLACK SHEEP... THANKS KATIE



4) No time frames for the rest of the chapter



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(Tael's Thought's)

It's been... so long... so, so long... letting the sands of time pass by, my mind begins to lose its grip on the memories of long ago. They ebb away slowly, like the sand in an hour glass, until not one fragment of what happens remains in my mind. But to Him, they will always be embedded in the deepest crevices of His mind, constantly reminding Him, torturing Him, of the past.

He keeps the thoughts, no, the memories, of what truly happened that day to Himself. Not even risking telling His loved ones, for fear of hurting them, bringing them into a danger of which only He can acknowledge the true terrors, the true worries, the true risks... but most importantly, the true sacrifices...

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( Kai {A/N: YAY!} )

Kai drifted along the streets, not really knowing where he was going. He just needed to get his mind in some sort of order. His thoughts were racing back and forth, back and forth, until he could no longer stand it, and had retreated to wandering the streets alone, in a vain attempt to bring order to his jumbled thoughts.

He sighed and glanced at his reflection in a store mirror.

He wasn't sure...

He wasn't sure if he liked what he saw.....

Sure, he was good looking (understatement of the century, no millennium...), two toned blue hair, startling crimson eyes, tall, well muscled, he should be happy with what he saw.

But he wasn't.

It was his eyes...

Those eyes, crimson pools...

Filled with...

Nothing...

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(Akira & Ria)

"How you feeling small fry?" Akira asked gently, as she sat on the edge of the bed, on which Ria was lying down on.

"Blucky..." The little girl responded feebly, her throat hurting her to much to say more than that.

Ria had gotten sick, most likely due to the fact she had gone out with wet hair. Akira had decided to stay behind while the others enjoyed their off time, to take care of the poor, sick, child.

"Do you want to eat something?" Akira asked, a little worried, normally, Ria would be up and running within an hour of being sick. But the little girl just lay in bed, tired and exhausted.

"Akira..." Ria asked, somewhat hesitant.

"What is it?" Akira asked, furrowing her brow in worry.

"Do you... Can you..." Ria took a deep breath, or as deep as she could without getting into a coughing fit,

"Could you tell me...

A story?"

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(Tael's Thought's)

He always seems to blame Himself. Mostly about what happened during the... Explosion, as He, Sea Serpent, Dragon, and Basilisk have come to call it... Sea Serpent...

She is regretting her decision. Regretting accepting the responsibilities of becoming the protector of the elemental bitbeast of Water. The more she regrets, the weaker she will become, the weaker Larasher will become.

If their bond breaks. There is nothing... nothing I, or anyone else can do.

It will be over.

We will have failed.

I will have failed in my sacred duty to protect the Phoenix's.

I refuse to fail.

I must be...

Determined...

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( Kai )

Nothing...

"Have I truly forgotten? Forgotten how to feel?" Kai asked himself quietly, so only he could hear.

Gazing into his own eyes, no matter how deep he looked, he couldn't find...

Anything...

He had learned to, been forced to, chose to, keep everything inside. Locked up deep within his own heart and soul. Locked up in a place no one could ever find it...

"But someone did..."

That nagging voice... Always telling him what he already knew, but didn't want to take into consideration. What was it called again? Oh yeah, a conscience...

To bad he never listened to his...

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( Akira & Ria )

Akira's face broke out into a gentle, loving, smile.

"Oh my god... She's so sweet, so innocent. It's hard to believe that I was once that innocent..." Akira's thoughts were disturbed by Ria quickly saying,

"You don't hafta if you don't wanna... I jus---"

Akira cut her off by saying,

"I'd love to."

Ria smiled.

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( Tael's Thought's )

Fire, Water, Air, & Earth...

The four elements...

All intertwined...

If one breaks...

They all do...

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( Kai )

Kai sat on a railing, marking a path in a forest. From the looks of it, not many people came down here, which was precisely what Kai wanted.

He sighed and watched the clouds lazily drift by. He wasn't sure. He wasn't sure if he even knew who he was anymore.

He closed his eyes against the moonlight, and let his thoughts wander. He ran through his precious few memories, and was disappointed.

He couldn't find anything, anything that classified him as Kai. Not The Great Kai Hiwatari, not The Kai Hiwatari, not even Kai Hiwatari. He wanted something that told him why he was Kai. Just Kai.

He also wished that everyone else could see that to. He was Kai. That's all he could ever be.

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( Akira & Ria )

Akira smiled once more, and tucked Ria in. She took a breath and started her story.

" ~Ocean Tears~

Ocean created a beat to the song inside the heart by rolling her waves in and out. Wet sand bubbled as waves left it bare. Water from the sea came further towards a body, curled up, knees tucked to her chest and head resting on knees. She lifted her face, tears staining her cheeks. Taking deep breaths, she hiccuped as perfect air entered sobbing lungs. Why was she crying? Answers failed to exist.

Warm breezes, full of salt it'd picked up off the ocean's surface, ran across her face. Seeming to be reaching out a hand and wiping her tears. She wanted to stop crying, but if she didn't cry, what would she do? The world left her alone. The realization of that stung. She was physically alone. With friends and loved ones around the world, she sat on a beach without anyone there, saying everything'll be fine. If nobody existed to fill that place, it would've been easier to accept. Unfortunately, there was someone. Someone she wanted badly. Yet she was alone. She'd been alone, was alone, and would always be alone. She needed to find somewhere that thoughts of him couldn't reach.

Waves looked inviting. Water cried out to her, "Dip underneath us! We'll cover you from the world! Die in our depths, you'll never realize how alone you are again! You shall become us!"

Wind, earth, and fire seemed to heave her back. Crying out its reality. She cried with tears, "Why didn't you offer me peace?" The ocean looked alive, masses of spirits beckoning her forward.

Tears, salty as seas, slipped down cheeks and splashed into water that'd crawled up sand, and past her. Every second it grew deeper about her. Air seemed recoiling in rejection. Excitement overwhelming her senses, realizing that becoming one with the ocean, she'd give up hope of being with him... the one she loved. To her surprise, the thought granted her peace. She began to gulp in salty seawater mixed with ocean tears. Water became her life, air became her death. With one more wave, she disappeared and wasn't seen again."

Akira glanced down at Ria, and was pleased to find that the young girl had drifted off into a pleasant dream.

She sighed and glanced out the window. Soon, she to fell asleep.

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( Kai )

Kai sighed and got up. He walked back towards the hotel. He knew Akira was watching Ria, and decided to give her some time off. He would watch his little sister.

When he got there, it was surprisingly quiet. He glanced into his sister's room, and smirked.

Ria had fallen asleep on her bed, neatly tucked in, while Akira had fallen asleep kneeling on the floor with her head resting on the bed. Kai rolled his eyes and picked her up. As he carried her to her room, he couldn't help but notice the pain filled expression that adorned her face...

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GOB: ELEVEN PAGES!!!!!! WOW



Kai: I have to say, I'm impressed...

GOB: YAY! Now everyone review and tell me what you thought about this chapter, especially Tael's thoughts, Akira's Story, and yeah!

Everyone: REVIEW!!!!!!