Introduction by: Merodi
Well here it is, the third chapter of Torn By Blood. It would have been out
sooner, if I had been able to get my lazy fingers moving! ^-^ But finally,
it's here!
A couple of notices: firstly, would like to say that my name has changed
from MysticAngel4 to Merodi, Merodi sounds so much better. Secondly, if
anyone really dislikes the OC profiles, and all those other *unnecessary*
info on the front chapter, we apologize, sincerely. We did mean it for the
best, though.
Also, CC and I have stories in our own separate accounts you know, at least
one Beyblade story each, and we would value some of your advice on those
stories! So please, if you can, check them out! Arigatou minna-san!
You guys are probably wondering whatever happened to the Beyblading don't
worry, it DOES exist, and today, you'll finally see!
Also, there might be a little well, a lot of OOC-ism in the story. I try to
keep them -all of them- in character as much as possible, but hey, this is
an AU fic after all, and for different settings, different personalities
may apply, as long as it's not too drastic. If you don't like all the OCC-
ness going on, please, try to understand. Thanks! ^-^
I decided that a short introduction by whoever wrote the chapter would be
good, so starting from today, intros!
In this chapter, some pretty enticing Faith-Tala scenes happen, *wink* be
warned for some heavy swearing, Tyson and the others will get somewhat
introduced¡¦ And whatever did happen to Kai and Aeris?
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Chapter 3
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"How does it feel, Marle to know pain?" he snarled. He leaned in closer to
her, until their noses touched. His eyes showed cruel humor, and hers
showed pain, hatred, and fear. Kais lips curled up in a slight smirk. He
leaned in even more, so that her face was buried in his bangs, and he
whispered in her ear.
"How does it feel to know Marle that you're gonna be raped?" ---------------
Aeris couldn't help it. She screamed. Her scream was shrill, piercing the night air and Kai groaned. Damn bitch was certain to make more trouble.
"Shut up!" he grit his teeth and slapped her. The slap resounded through the alleyway, and Aeris would have crumpled, had Kai not been throttling her, gripping even tighter on her neck.
She choked. How was this all happening to her? Kai wasn't going to rape her Kai wasn't going to rape her Kai wasn't going to rape her! Right?
Her breath sharply caught in her throat as she felt his lips gently bumping on her neck. Oh god, oh god, oh hell no! Fuck no! This wasn't right, and they both knew it! Why the fucking hell was Kai doing this to her?
"Kai?" He whipped around. Behind them was the figure of Tala! He was standing there, car keys in hand, mouth open in sheer shock. His eyes showed confusion, and as Tala looked into Aeris¡¯ petrified eyes, he knew what would have happened a minute later.
"Kai man, don' t do it. You know its wrong." Tala took a step closer. "C'mon. Leave her and let' go. She ain't worth your time, that piece of shit."
Wordlessly, Kai slammed her head onto the brick wall. As Tala's eyes widened, he let go of Aeris, and her figure slumped down on the floor. Kai started walking towards Tala.
"Let's go then," he told him. Tala obeyed, and walked behind Kai, hands shoved in his pockets, still confused.
"Hey, Kai you weren't really gonna rape her, were you?" Tala questioned. He was surprised when he heard Kai snicker.
"Heh, rape her? Hell no. It's called freaking the enemy out. Letting him, or in our case, her, know that no supposed bad-ass can beat us. Fuck, she's gonna be so scared, she'll wet her shitty pants should she come a meter towards us." Kai was in a good mood, but that was soon to be disintegrated.
The two were closer to Kai's car, and they could see, even from that distance, that it had been trashed. Kai frowned as he reached it. "Damn! My fucking car!" he snapped. The car window was smashed, the leather seats were ripped open, and the roof was dented. "Fuck it now I'm gonna have to get a new one." Kai sighed, then turned towards Tala. "Remember," he said, turning towards Tala. "Tomorrow, come to the area where the Dark Raiders usually hang out. I'm dying to see their reaction." Tala nodded, and Kai stepped into his car.
"Don't forget!" with that, Kai clicked his radio on, turning on loud heavy metal, and drove off.
Tala wordlessly started jogging over to his car. It wasn't that Kai was doing anything wrong, but something at the back of Tala's head still jolted at the thought of Kai doing that to Aeris. Somehow, he felt sort of sorry for her. Also, the fact that Kai seemed to consider it as nothing; it was almost scary. ----------------
Faith was having a fucking bad time. First, her mom began bitching, and as Faith bitched back, her mom had grabbed an empty wine bottle and chucked it towards her head. Faith had narrowly dodged it, but as it smashed into the wall behind her, some of the glass had sharply ran into her skin. She had given her mom the finger, flung a few of the glass bits at her, and had run into her room. Now, wincing, she pulled one out, and thrust it out of the window.
Also, where the fuck was Aeris? She had said that she was going out for a walk an hour ago. What the hell? Even this was too long for Aeris, what if she had been jumped on by the Shadow Strikers? Faith chuckled. Aeris, getting caught off guard? Laughable.
But then again, it was possible. Aeris, however tough she was, was still a girl. Crap. What if she really was?
Faith, suddenly afraid for Aeris, quickly grabbed her jacket and stomped out of her room. Ignoring her moms bawling, she ran out, and began running. Not knowing where Aeris was, she was running on pure instinct only.
She came into a deserted parking lot was that Hiwatari's jaguar? Maybe she should trash it, just incase. Quickly grabbing a broken beer bottle, Faith slid over, and with a strident crashing sound, his car window was broken. Slamming on the roof of vehicle with her fists, she grinned, and when she was satisfied, she began jogging the other way.
She was startled, and slipped when she heard someone scream. As she got back up, trembling, she wondered; was that Aeris?
Yes! it was. It was! Oh fucking no! What the hell did Aeris do, to get her into that amount of shit?
Faith started running. Her feet pounding on the ground, her heart began thumping wildly, but all the while, she was repeating the same question inside her head. 'What the hell is happening to Aeris?'
She nearly screamed herself, when a red mustang zipped past her. Holy fuck the guy most definitely did not pass his driving test! She began cursing the driver, oblivious to the fact that she herself was running on the road.
She ran right past a deserted alley, then stopped in her tracks. Wide- eyed, she turned around, and slowly walked back towards the entrance.
There, in the back, was the crumpled body of Aeris. Faith gasped.
"Aeris!" --------------
Ray was storming down the road, angry because he had just been informed that Mariah had gone out with Devon. God she was doing that to him because of the whole incident at school, when Kai had forced him to say no to her. Damn him! Now his girlfriend was pissed at him, he had no clue where the rest of the gang was, and he was wandering around like a loser. The least he could have done was bring his fucking car. Hell, why hadn't he though of that earlier?
Devon and Ray had been enemies ever since anyone could remember. Ray had triumphed over him earlier, becoming Kai's friend, where Devon hadn't. Not that he had never tried. But the thing was, Devon failed, and Ray succeeded.
Mariah knew about this whole rivalry thing of course. That probably was why she had chosen Devon out of all people to go out with. Heh. No matter. He'd have her so won over by tomorrow, that Mariah would be begging to go out with him again.
Ray fingered his Beyblade inside his pocket. As he joined Kai's gang, he found less and less reasons to use his blade, and he had to admit, he was beginning to miss Driger, gangs weren't meant for Beybladers. Everyone he knew, even Kai had a Beyblade, and many had bit beasts but the puzzling thing was that.
It was Kai who always found an excuse to not battle, but then it was Kai who was truly the best, except for that kid, Tyson Granger. Although he was a living food fanatic, was lazy, never completed homework -which was also true for everyone else- and wasn't even part of a minor gang, that guy was practically unbeatable. He was the only living person to have beaten Kai in a battle.
So that was why even though Tyson wasn't even in a gang, everyone respected him at least a little bit, and no one ever jumped on him, in fear that he'd kick their ass in Blading. Tyson, the Seaside Tournament champion.
Before gangs were formed, Beyblading had been the top priority here, it had been the top priority everywhere! A tournament was held here, every year, and until two years ago, Kai had been the reigning champion. That was, until, from virtually nowhere, Tyson had popped up, and had proceeded to beat him, and Kai, in the competition. When Kai had lost, he had sort of made to himself a vow of Non-Blading, and created gangs. Others seemed to have had picked up on that, and had shoved their blades away, only to pick up a gun. How Kai was respected that much by all the others and was always followed was barely a mystery to Ray. Kai was so intimidating, and so commanding. Everyone followed him, because whoever Kai thought was an idiot, everyone thought the same way.
You could still see the occasional kid in the streets Blading, and Tyson was still some sort of a star to many. The Spiked Demons, a minor gang, consisted of Beybladers, none of them were truly gangsters. They were just some people considered a gang, but in reality, they were just a group of guys, all carrying around blades. Sure, Max Tate, the leader, had a nickname and had created a gang symbol, but what kind of a gang leader always went home by 8:00? Usually, you could see them, Tyson, Max, Kenny -the Beyblades expert- and the others hanging around in a bunch, a ripcord sticking out of their pockets, loudly discussing Beyblading skills and techniques.
"Ray!" he heard his name being called and turned around, to be greeted by the sight of Kai's head sticking out of his, dented, smashed up car. What the hell? Since when was Kai riding around in busted cars? He decided not to question him. "What are you doing, walking around here? It disgraces the name of the Shadow Strikers." He beckoned for Ray to come into his car, and Ray did.
"What were you doing?" Ray sighed.
"Visited Mariah."
A small pause was evident to tell Kai that Ray had been dejected, and the cunning bitch had probably gone out with some other guy, to show Ray. Kai sighed. What did Ray see in her? Kai had managed to convince himself that she wasn't that bad a person, but she was nothing above that.
"And what were you thinking about? I mean, it's not everyday I see you walking around with your face so serious. You must have been thinking hard." Ray nodded.
"Actually, Kai, I was thinking about Beyblading." Ray knew that it was a dangerous subject to touch upon, because Kai was still a little sensitive about that subject. He had a hell of an arrogance. Being defeated by Tyson had probably been the most humiliating thing in the world to him, and Ray sure did not choose today as a day to get knocked out. Kai was probably upset already, but heck, he had already said it so¡¦
"Beyblading? Funny you should mention that. I mean, I had nothing I wanted to do more than have a good Beybattle with someone for the past couple of days. I thought of going to Granger but couldn't find him anywhere. Coincidence? I don't think so."
Ray drew a breath. Kai didn't seem normal, usually he would have been pissed about anyone talking about Beyblading, let alone carrying around a launcher. But he was weird today. had something happened? He decided to not question, should Kai's good mood wear off.
The secluded park road was not a wise road to take, but Kai, feeling the need of a short cut, took it anyway. Just as they were going into a more surrounded part of the area, someone just happened to run right by the car, causing Kai to swear foully and suddenly hit his breaks. The car screeched, but halted, all the same. Kai slammed his door open and jumped out, and Ray followed suit.
"Why the fuck did you do that, you crazy bastard!" he yelled. Kai continued to glare angrily, and as his garnet eyes penetrated the darkness, a lone figure stepped out.
Ray was also searching for the person, and as the figure came closer, his eyes narrowed. Bryan Falkov.
"A pleasure to meet you, Hiwatari, in the middle of the night," he drawled on. "And I see you have Kon with you! Lovely. It'll make this even more interesting, I wager." Bryan smirked, and as he snapped his fingers, others came jumping out of the bushes, and soon, the two were surrounded.
"How the hell did you know I was gonna be here?" Kai questioned. Bryan smirked. "A touch of my genius, I'm sorry to say. I saw your car in the distance, and knew you were going to have to pass through here. So I got the people who were with me to hide, and ran across your car, to distract you. You just had to step out and confront me, didn't you? I knew you would. If you had just driven past, you wouldn't be in this situation. So basically, this is all your fault, Hiwatari."
Ray looked sideways at Kai. His face was dark, and his eyes were flashing. "So what's your whole point, Falkov? Just to get back at me for suspending your precious Roskov whore? Of course you are. That moronic bitch could never stay away from you too long, eh?"
Bryan glared. "Never call Faith a bitch, Hiwatari. My, you really are brilliant, aren't you? Still having the guts to diss my gang member, while being surrounded by a dozen of my allies."
Ray spat on the floor. "Falkov, the only reason Kai's calling Roskov a bitch is simple. She is a bitch. You keep denying it, but what's the use? Everyone else already knows." Kai grinned.
"If you have a problem with me, my reply is, Beybattle. I haven't smashed a blade in a while, and your Falborg is seriously crying out to be demolished." To everyone's surprise, Kai took out a Beyblade. Blue, with the insignia of a phoenix emblazoned on the tiny bit piece.
"What?" A small snigger starting in Bryan's throat slowly erupted, turning into a roaring laugh, which was quickly picked up by the others (Not Ray and Kai). Soon, the little vicinity was ringing with heavy laughter. "You, out of all people, still Beyblade Hiwatari? It's a kid's game! Fuck, I thought I knew you better than that! Ah; I know what this will lead to. You're planning to beat that Granger kid, and you want to take back your title, isn't it!" Bryan shot a nasty smile towards Kai. "Ha, being beaten by that boy was so disgraceful; I almost feel sorry for you." Kai flicked his blade upwards, and as he caught it, he stuck his arm out. "Heh don't jump to conclusions, Falkov. I merely miss Blading a little, that's all. Not to mention the thrill of seeing a kid cry over his trashed blade." Kai smirked. "So get this. It's either a Beybattle and you get a chance to run back home, or I kill you. Which one?" He could see Bryan's eyes scrutinizing him. Falkov, like himself, was too proud. He'd never back out of a challenge thrown to him by his main rival.
"Fine. If Beyblading is what you want, then Beyblading will be how I kick your ass. I'm doing you a favor, you know, by Blading."
A cold, determined shadow passed through Kai's garnet orbs, and the ghost of a smile flickered on his face. "Right." ------------------
Tala didn't know why he was standing outside Roskov's house, but here he was, staring at the small building, confusion written over his face. Why was he here? He had better things to do and better places to go. Part of him told him to go back to his car and drive away. He didn't have a single reason to be here, and did he want to look stupid in front of Roskov or Marle? Nope.
However, one small side of him was nagging for him to knock on the door, for no apparent reason whatsoever. Tala let out a frustrated sigh. This *angelic* side of him would be his downfall.
He rapped on the door. Taking a few steps back, he heard a slow thudding coming closer, and the door swung open. A tall, thin woman with an air of drunkenness around her came into view, and as her eyes blearily wandered around and landed on him, they narrowed.
"Who are you, and what do you want? If you're here to sell some ratty coupons, I'm not interested." Before Tala could open his mouth, the lady butted in. "Oh, and I don't do no shitty fundraising either."
"I'm here to see Rosk- Faith. Aeris too, if she's here please." Despite the woman's ill manners, he decided to be polite. For now, that was.
She gave him one more suspicious look before turning her head around. "Faith! Get your ass down here! There's someone to see you!" she screeched. It was all Tala could do not to wrinkle his nose and block his ears. God, that sound was dreadful. Pure dread.
"Fuck it, mom!" hollered a voice from above. Tala recognized it as the voice of Roskov. "I can't go down! Aeris is hurt, goddamit! Who the fuck is it, anyways?"
The woman, whom Tala now identified as Roskov's mom turned back and ran her eyes over his face. "Some guy with red hair!" she concluded. With that, she banged the door closed.
Tala was now left wondering whether to leave or to wait. He obviously had no clue as to whether or not Roskov was actually coming down, but as he turned to go, he heard the door being pushed open.
He turned around. There stood Roskov, dressed in an oversized, graying shirt, which came down to her knees. She gaped at him, before catching herself. "The hell? What the fuck are you doing here, Ivanov, and how the hell do you know my address?"
He shrugged. "Saw you coming inside this place once, while I was driving around."
"So then, why are you here?"
"To see how Marle was doing," he answered simply. Faith grunted.
"Aeris? Why the hell would Aeris be your concern?" Faith simply glared at him, and then, Tala saw it; a small tip of realization poking at her and her eyes widened. "You?" she breathed. "You fucking nearly killed her?!" Faith was going crazy. "You piece of shit!" she banged the door closed. Taking a step closer to Tala, a wild madness going across her eyes, she proceeded to rant on.
"You went that low, Ivanov? Fuck it, I can't believe you and your goddamn gang! How the hell could you go on as to grab a helpless girl who's alone at night, and then nearly kill her like that? She could be disturbed for ages!" She snarled. "I'll kill you!"
Faith leapt up into the air like an animal, and with a hiss drew her small knife out. Tala jumped out of the way, but Faith, seeing that he was going to move away, quickly grabbed his shirt. With a low growl in her lips, she pulled him and banged him onto a wall, knife positioned over his throat. Tala's wide crystal eyes stared at her.
"Any last words?"
"Listen to me, Roskov! I fucking saved Marle, and this is what you do to people that save your cousin?" He let out a sigh.
She froze. "What?"
He sighed, again. "I told you already, I saved her!"
Faith backed a step away. "But." she swallowed. Struggling for words, she continued staring at the pale boy, who had begun to get off the wall, wincing and rubbing the back of his head. "You? you saved Aeris?" Still backing up, she slowly went to the front of her door.
"That's what I said already, Roskov! I. Saved. Marle!" He seethed. "How many times does it take to get a simple sentence stuck into your thick head?"
Faith, still wondering over what he had said, waved off the implied insult. "But that's impossible."
Tala was still pissed. "What is?" he snapped.
"That you, out of all the people, you, a Shadow Striker, saved a Dark Raider."
He snorted. "Oh really. Then explain why Marle is at your house, resting or whatever the hell she's doing, and why I'm at your doorstep, telling you who saved her." He let out a frustrated noise. "What the hell was I thinking, anyways?!" he murmured. "Whatever. I'm fucking leaving"
With that, he quickly whipped around and began striding towards his car, parked a couple of blocks away. Faith, staring at him, gave off one more confused look, and slipped inside. ------------------
A fierce battle was going on, and although each opponent focused all their concentration solely on their blades, a war of words was brewing.
¡°Hey Hiwatari, is it me, or has your skills dropped just a little notch?¡± Bryan smirked. His Falborg was attacking Kai's Dranzer mercilessly. Kai stood there, gritting his teeth, as he saw Dranzer get scratched by Falborg, but he couldn't call out his phoenix yet, not just yet. Not until Falborg was summoned. Besides, if his blade couldn't take a bit of this, he hadn't trained enough in the past.
"Hang in there Dranzer!" he muttered. Bryan yawned.
"Hmph. This is getting too boring, isn't it? Time to increase it by a little, Hiwatari" He sneered. "Falborg! Come out!"
That was his fatal mistake. Kai had been saving up Dranzer's power, relying only on his blade to endure Bryan's attacks, while Falborg was busy destroying the blade, spending his energy.
"Dranzer!" Kai shouted simultaneously. As the purple falcon, shrieking, rose out of his blade, the red phoenix rose in its majestic appearance, slowly, slowly, rising. The two fowls glared at each other, the hostility of their masters enticing them, and they began slamming into each other.
"Fire arrow!" A triumphant laugh broke from Kai's lips, as his bit beast began shooting fire at the defenceless falcon.
Falborg let out a piercing scream, and almost at once, began vanishing inside his blade. A trademark smirk was gracing Kai's face, as he grinned at the pale-haired boy before him, standing aghast. Bryan's eyes darkened as his blade came to a stop, and clattered on the ground.
Bryan slowly raised his eyes to meet Kai's triumphant ones, and as he snatched his Dranzer out of the air, Bryan trembled in anger. "Hiwatari!" he spoke. As he did so, he gripped a knife, and the slate-haired boy's eyes flickered, as he too, reached into his pocket.
Almost at once, the two were on each other, punching, kicking, and slashing. Their knives were quickly covered in blood, and as the others, including Ray jumped in, one could see that Kai and Ray seemed to be losing.
Seemingly going on for hours, it wasn't long until they heard the faint siren of the police¡.
****************
Kai scowled. They were in a dark, crowded cell, with all of them stuffed inside. It wouldn't be long before the police would free Ray and himself because of the money he promised them, but until that, he would have to wait in here, with Bryan Falkov and his other lackeys for cell mates. Fun. ------------------
School. Faith had never liked school, but she dreaded it even more today, because of several reasons. Reason one, she was somewhat afraid to see Ivanov's face again, and two, it was because Aeris, who had always been anti-social, was even less talkative and wouldn't look at her. Three, she had received word that some of the Dark Raiders and Shadow Strikers had been in a brawl, and while those cheap Strikers got out by bribing the police, of course the Raiders were left behind, with nothing to bribe them with. At this moment, her entire gang, minus herself and Aeris, were sitting in jail.
Shit. They'd be left alone, vulnerable. Faith knew that she and Aeris could defend themselves well against the Shadow Strikers, but what if they bribed people, like they always did, and got like, three dozen people? That would be very crappy.
During lunch, Aeris mumbled an excuse and left, leaving Faith alone. The hell? Here she was, sitting alone at a table, looking like a loser for the entire world to see. Sure, everyone knew her as Faith Roskov, one of the members of the Dark Raiders, but seeing her alone and not knowing, they might think that she had gotten kicked out. God, where the hell was Aeris, anyways? A thought crossed her mind. Maybe Aeris was out scaring some people, to lift her mood. She smirked. "Might as well go find her and threaten some people, might make me feel better as well." ------------------
Tala stopped in the hallway as he saw Aeris Marle coming towards him, her piercing eyes fixated onto his face. He gulped. What did she want? He hoped she wasn't about to punch him out because of Kai, but why would she kill him when it was Kai? Wait, wait, wait; kill him? O.O that was a scary thought, because Tala knew that out of anyone else, she would be the one to be able to kill someone.
Tala's eyes slightly widened when Aeris halted in front of him. He had to admit, he was just a *tad* bit afraid of Marle.
"Ivanov" Aeris¡' eyes lost the cold look, and she looked at him, an embarrassed look slowly creeping inside her eyes. "I, well, I want to thank you about yesterday so, well, thanks." She looked down, as Tala bit back a laugh.
"Um, you're welcome I guess," who knew that Marle was capable of apologizing? Even just the way she was staring defiantly at the floor indicated that she seemed to never have apologized before.
Nodding, she brushed past him, and stiffly strode down the hall. Tala, looking back, chuckled. Aeris Marle was interesting, definitely amusing at times. ^-^
Still chuckling, he remembered his need for a bit of air. (the air in the school is stuffy I guess) Striding up to the door, he burst out and with a sparkling look in his eyes, he breathed deeply. Ah, fresh air.
No one knew that Tala was interested in nature, and enjoyed it. He could take walks for hours, go bird watching, plant seeds, everything associated to the earth. Tala would be mortified if someone found out, this was his deepest, darkest secret. The thought of someone, especially someone like Faith Roskov finding it out, was terrifying.
Well, speak of the devil. As soon as his mind echoed the name, Faith Roskov, she appeared, looking annoyed. Tala snickered. She had probably gone looking for Marle, who in turn, was probably looking for her. But why'd he have to meet her out here, in the parking lot, of all places? Geez, there was probably a special car around here somewhere, waiting for Roskov to hop in and squish him flat.
Faith froze when her lingering eyes caught the site of Tala standing there, with an apprehensive look on his face. "Ivanov. How's you?" She mentally smacked herself for asking. Who cared how he was? Ivanov was probably the last person, other than Hiwatari, that she would actually care for. Now he was smirking, fuck this shit. He thought that she actually cared for him. Dumb prick.
"Oh I'm fine, Roskov," said Tala, airily. "Thought I'm wondering why you're asking. I mean you, asking m-" Faith cut in.
"Yea, whatever. I don't have time to listen to your trash. I'm busy." She was just about to brush past him, when he opened his mouth.
"You sure about wandering around by yourself, Roskov? Kai's already pissed with being busted out yesterday. If I were you," his smile grew big. "I'd watch my back. For sure." He added that last part menacingly, and he could swear he saw her back off a little.
"You" Faith spluttered. "Are you threatening me?" She glared. Tala, smirking took a step closer.
"And if I am?" She was just about to give back a sassy reply, and to give him punch or two if needed, but was cut off by the deep voice of a male.
"Hey Faith!" She spun around, and as she took a look at the boy standing before her, her eyes grew large.
"Keli!?" -----------------
Yes! Chapter three is finally finished! Special thanks to Violent K for submitting a character!
Domo arigatou gozaimas for all the reviews we have received for the last two chapters¡¦ CC and I are really appreciating them, and happy that you enjoy this story! We¡¯re hoping for an early update, because some exciting things to happen for the next chapter! The big question at the moment is clear. Who is this mysterious Keli, and what is his exact relationship to Faith? Find out, in the next chapter of Torn By Blood!
Well then, readers. Till next time.
CC and Merodi
"How does it feel to know Marle that you're gonna be raped?" ---------------
Aeris couldn't help it. She screamed. Her scream was shrill, piercing the night air and Kai groaned. Damn bitch was certain to make more trouble.
"Shut up!" he grit his teeth and slapped her. The slap resounded through the alleyway, and Aeris would have crumpled, had Kai not been throttling her, gripping even tighter on her neck.
She choked. How was this all happening to her? Kai wasn't going to rape her Kai wasn't going to rape her Kai wasn't going to rape her! Right?
Her breath sharply caught in her throat as she felt his lips gently bumping on her neck. Oh god, oh god, oh hell no! Fuck no! This wasn't right, and they both knew it! Why the fucking hell was Kai doing this to her?
"Kai?" He whipped around. Behind them was the figure of Tala! He was standing there, car keys in hand, mouth open in sheer shock. His eyes showed confusion, and as Tala looked into Aeris¡¯ petrified eyes, he knew what would have happened a minute later.
"Kai man, don' t do it. You know its wrong." Tala took a step closer. "C'mon. Leave her and let' go. She ain't worth your time, that piece of shit."
Wordlessly, Kai slammed her head onto the brick wall. As Tala's eyes widened, he let go of Aeris, and her figure slumped down on the floor. Kai started walking towards Tala.
"Let's go then," he told him. Tala obeyed, and walked behind Kai, hands shoved in his pockets, still confused.
"Hey, Kai you weren't really gonna rape her, were you?" Tala questioned. He was surprised when he heard Kai snicker.
"Heh, rape her? Hell no. It's called freaking the enemy out. Letting him, or in our case, her, know that no supposed bad-ass can beat us. Fuck, she's gonna be so scared, she'll wet her shitty pants should she come a meter towards us." Kai was in a good mood, but that was soon to be disintegrated.
The two were closer to Kai's car, and they could see, even from that distance, that it had been trashed. Kai frowned as he reached it. "Damn! My fucking car!" he snapped. The car window was smashed, the leather seats were ripped open, and the roof was dented. "Fuck it now I'm gonna have to get a new one." Kai sighed, then turned towards Tala. "Remember," he said, turning towards Tala. "Tomorrow, come to the area where the Dark Raiders usually hang out. I'm dying to see their reaction." Tala nodded, and Kai stepped into his car.
"Don't forget!" with that, Kai clicked his radio on, turning on loud heavy metal, and drove off.
Tala wordlessly started jogging over to his car. It wasn't that Kai was doing anything wrong, but something at the back of Tala's head still jolted at the thought of Kai doing that to Aeris. Somehow, he felt sort of sorry for her. Also, the fact that Kai seemed to consider it as nothing; it was almost scary. ----------------
Faith was having a fucking bad time. First, her mom began bitching, and as Faith bitched back, her mom had grabbed an empty wine bottle and chucked it towards her head. Faith had narrowly dodged it, but as it smashed into the wall behind her, some of the glass had sharply ran into her skin. She had given her mom the finger, flung a few of the glass bits at her, and had run into her room. Now, wincing, she pulled one out, and thrust it out of the window.
Also, where the fuck was Aeris? She had said that she was going out for a walk an hour ago. What the hell? Even this was too long for Aeris, what if she had been jumped on by the Shadow Strikers? Faith chuckled. Aeris, getting caught off guard? Laughable.
But then again, it was possible. Aeris, however tough she was, was still a girl. Crap. What if she really was?
Faith, suddenly afraid for Aeris, quickly grabbed her jacket and stomped out of her room. Ignoring her moms bawling, she ran out, and began running. Not knowing where Aeris was, she was running on pure instinct only.
She came into a deserted parking lot was that Hiwatari's jaguar? Maybe she should trash it, just incase. Quickly grabbing a broken beer bottle, Faith slid over, and with a strident crashing sound, his car window was broken. Slamming on the roof of vehicle with her fists, she grinned, and when she was satisfied, she began jogging the other way.
She was startled, and slipped when she heard someone scream. As she got back up, trembling, she wondered; was that Aeris?
Yes! it was. It was! Oh fucking no! What the hell did Aeris do, to get her into that amount of shit?
Faith started running. Her feet pounding on the ground, her heart began thumping wildly, but all the while, she was repeating the same question inside her head. 'What the hell is happening to Aeris?'
She nearly screamed herself, when a red mustang zipped past her. Holy fuck the guy most definitely did not pass his driving test! She began cursing the driver, oblivious to the fact that she herself was running on the road.
She ran right past a deserted alley, then stopped in her tracks. Wide- eyed, she turned around, and slowly walked back towards the entrance.
There, in the back, was the crumpled body of Aeris. Faith gasped.
"Aeris!" --------------
Ray was storming down the road, angry because he had just been informed that Mariah had gone out with Devon. God she was doing that to him because of the whole incident at school, when Kai had forced him to say no to her. Damn him! Now his girlfriend was pissed at him, he had no clue where the rest of the gang was, and he was wandering around like a loser. The least he could have done was bring his fucking car. Hell, why hadn't he though of that earlier?
Devon and Ray had been enemies ever since anyone could remember. Ray had triumphed over him earlier, becoming Kai's friend, where Devon hadn't. Not that he had never tried. But the thing was, Devon failed, and Ray succeeded.
Mariah knew about this whole rivalry thing of course. That probably was why she had chosen Devon out of all people to go out with. Heh. No matter. He'd have her so won over by tomorrow, that Mariah would be begging to go out with him again.
Ray fingered his Beyblade inside his pocket. As he joined Kai's gang, he found less and less reasons to use his blade, and he had to admit, he was beginning to miss Driger, gangs weren't meant for Beybladers. Everyone he knew, even Kai had a Beyblade, and many had bit beasts but the puzzling thing was that.
It was Kai who always found an excuse to not battle, but then it was Kai who was truly the best, except for that kid, Tyson Granger. Although he was a living food fanatic, was lazy, never completed homework -which was also true for everyone else- and wasn't even part of a minor gang, that guy was practically unbeatable. He was the only living person to have beaten Kai in a battle.
So that was why even though Tyson wasn't even in a gang, everyone respected him at least a little bit, and no one ever jumped on him, in fear that he'd kick their ass in Blading. Tyson, the Seaside Tournament champion.
Before gangs were formed, Beyblading had been the top priority here, it had been the top priority everywhere! A tournament was held here, every year, and until two years ago, Kai had been the reigning champion. That was, until, from virtually nowhere, Tyson had popped up, and had proceeded to beat him, and Kai, in the competition. When Kai had lost, he had sort of made to himself a vow of Non-Blading, and created gangs. Others seemed to have had picked up on that, and had shoved their blades away, only to pick up a gun. How Kai was respected that much by all the others and was always followed was barely a mystery to Ray. Kai was so intimidating, and so commanding. Everyone followed him, because whoever Kai thought was an idiot, everyone thought the same way.
You could still see the occasional kid in the streets Blading, and Tyson was still some sort of a star to many. The Spiked Demons, a minor gang, consisted of Beybladers, none of them were truly gangsters. They were just some people considered a gang, but in reality, they were just a group of guys, all carrying around blades. Sure, Max Tate, the leader, had a nickname and had created a gang symbol, but what kind of a gang leader always went home by 8:00? Usually, you could see them, Tyson, Max, Kenny -the Beyblades expert- and the others hanging around in a bunch, a ripcord sticking out of their pockets, loudly discussing Beyblading skills and techniques.
"Ray!" he heard his name being called and turned around, to be greeted by the sight of Kai's head sticking out of his, dented, smashed up car. What the hell? Since when was Kai riding around in busted cars? He decided not to question him. "What are you doing, walking around here? It disgraces the name of the Shadow Strikers." He beckoned for Ray to come into his car, and Ray did.
"What were you doing?" Ray sighed.
"Visited Mariah."
A small pause was evident to tell Kai that Ray had been dejected, and the cunning bitch had probably gone out with some other guy, to show Ray. Kai sighed. What did Ray see in her? Kai had managed to convince himself that she wasn't that bad a person, but she was nothing above that.
"And what were you thinking about? I mean, it's not everyday I see you walking around with your face so serious. You must have been thinking hard." Ray nodded.
"Actually, Kai, I was thinking about Beyblading." Ray knew that it was a dangerous subject to touch upon, because Kai was still a little sensitive about that subject. He had a hell of an arrogance. Being defeated by Tyson had probably been the most humiliating thing in the world to him, and Ray sure did not choose today as a day to get knocked out. Kai was probably upset already, but heck, he had already said it so¡¦
"Beyblading? Funny you should mention that. I mean, I had nothing I wanted to do more than have a good Beybattle with someone for the past couple of days. I thought of going to Granger but couldn't find him anywhere. Coincidence? I don't think so."
Ray drew a breath. Kai didn't seem normal, usually he would have been pissed about anyone talking about Beyblading, let alone carrying around a launcher. But he was weird today. had something happened? He decided to not question, should Kai's good mood wear off.
The secluded park road was not a wise road to take, but Kai, feeling the need of a short cut, took it anyway. Just as they were going into a more surrounded part of the area, someone just happened to run right by the car, causing Kai to swear foully and suddenly hit his breaks. The car screeched, but halted, all the same. Kai slammed his door open and jumped out, and Ray followed suit.
"Why the fuck did you do that, you crazy bastard!" he yelled. Kai continued to glare angrily, and as his garnet eyes penetrated the darkness, a lone figure stepped out.
Ray was also searching for the person, and as the figure came closer, his eyes narrowed. Bryan Falkov.
"A pleasure to meet you, Hiwatari, in the middle of the night," he drawled on. "And I see you have Kon with you! Lovely. It'll make this even more interesting, I wager." Bryan smirked, and as he snapped his fingers, others came jumping out of the bushes, and soon, the two were surrounded.
"How the hell did you know I was gonna be here?" Kai questioned. Bryan smirked. "A touch of my genius, I'm sorry to say. I saw your car in the distance, and knew you were going to have to pass through here. So I got the people who were with me to hide, and ran across your car, to distract you. You just had to step out and confront me, didn't you? I knew you would. If you had just driven past, you wouldn't be in this situation. So basically, this is all your fault, Hiwatari."
Ray looked sideways at Kai. His face was dark, and his eyes were flashing. "So what's your whole point, Falkov? Just to get back at me for suspending your precious Roskov whore? Of course you are. That moronic bitch could never stay away from you too long, eh?"
Bryan glared. "Never call Faith a bitch, Hiwatari. My, you really are brilliant, aren't you? Still having the guts to diss my gang member, while being surrounded by a dozen of my allies."
Ray spat on the floor. "Falkov, the only reason Kai's calling Roskov a bitch is simple. She is a bitch. You keep denying it, but what's the use? Everyone else already knows." Kai grinned.
"If you have a problem with me, my reply is, Beybattle. I haven't smashed a blade in a while, and your Falborg is seriously crying out to be demolished." To everyone's surprise, Kai took out a Beyblade. Blue, with the insignia of a phoenix emblazoned on the tiny bit piece.
"What?" A small snigger starting in Bryan's throat slowly erupted, turning into a roaring laugh, which was quickly picked up by the others (Not Ray and Kai). Soon, the little vicinity was ringing with heavy laughter. "You, out of all people, still Beyblade Hiwatari? It's a kid's game! Fuck, I thought I knew you better than that! Ah; I know what this will lead to. You're planning to beat that Granger kid, and you want to take back your title, isn't it!" Bryan shot a nasty smile towards Kai. "Ha, being beaten by that boy was so disgraceful; I almost feel sorry for you." Kai flicked his blade upwards, and as he caught it, he stuck his arm out. "Heh don't jump to conclusions, Falkov. I merely miss Blading a little, that's all. Not to mention the thrill of seeing a kid cry over his trashed blade." Kai smirked. "So get this. It's either a Beybattle and you get a chance to run back home, or I kill you. Which one?" He could see Bryan's eyes scrutinizing him. Falkov, like himself, was too proud. He'd never back out of a challenge thrown to him by his main rival.
"Fine. If Beyblading is what you want, then Beyblading will be how I kick your ass. I'm doing you a favor, you know, by Blading."
A cold, determined shadow passed through Kai's garnet orbs, and the ghost of a smile flickered on his face. "Right." ------------------
Tala didn't know why he was standing outside Roskov's house, but here he was, staring at the small building, confusion written over his face. Why was he here? He had better things to do and better places to go. Part of him told him to go back to his car and drive away. He didn't have a single reason to be here, and did he want to look stupid in front of Roskov or Marle? Nope.
However, one small side of him was nagging for him to knock on the door, for no apparent reason whatsoever. Tala let out a frustrated sigh. This *angelic* side of him would be his downfall.
He rapped on the door. Taking a few steps back, he heard a slow thudding coming closer, and the door swung open. A tall, thin woman with an air of drunkenness around her came into view, and as her eyes blearily wandered around and landed on him, they narrowed.
"Who are you, and what do you want? If you're here to sell some ratty coupons, I'm not interested." Before Tala could open his mouth, the lady butted in. "Oh, and I don't do no shitty fundraising either."
"I'm here to see Rosk- Faith. Aeris too, if she's here please." Despite the woman's ill manners, he decided to be polite. For now, that was.
She gave him one more suspicious look before turning her head around. "Faith! Get your ass down here! There's someone to see you!" she screeched. It was all Tala could do not to wrinkle his nose and block his ears. God, that sound was dreadful. Pure dread.
"Fuck it, mom!" hollered a voice from above. Tala recognized it as the voice of Roskov. "I can't go down! Aeris is hurt, goddamit! Who the fuck is it, anyways?"
The woman, whom Tala now identified as Roskov's mom turned back and ran her eyes over his face. "Some guy with red hair!" she concluded. With that, she banged the door closed.
Tala was now left wondering whether to leave or to wait. He obviously had no clue as to whether or not Roskov was actually coming down, but as he turned to go, he heard the door being pushed open.
He turned around. There stood Roskov, dressed in an oversized, graying shirt, which came down to her knees. She gaped at him, before catching herself. "The hell? What the fuck are you doing here, Ivanov, and how the hell do you know my address?"
He shrugged. "Saw you coming inside this place once, while I was driving around."
"So then, why are you here?"
"To see how Marle was doing," he answered simply. Faith grunted.
"Aeris? Why the hell would Aeris be your concern?" Faith simply glared at him, and then, Tala saw it; a small tip of realization poking at her and her eyes widened. "You?" she breathed. "You fucking nearly killed her?!" Faith was going crazy. "You piece of shit!" she banged the door closed. Taking a step closer to Tala, a wild madness going across her eyes, she proceeded to rant on.
"You went that low, Ivanov? Fuck it, I can't believe you and your goddamn gang! How the hell could you go on as to grab a helpless girl who's alone at night, and then nearly kill her like that? She could be disturbed for ages!" She snarled. "I'll kill you!"
Faith leapt up into the air like an animal, and with a hiss drew her small knife out. Tala jumped out of the way, but Faith, seeing that he was going to move away, quickly grabbed his shirt. With a low growl in her lips, she pulled him and banged him onto a wall, knife positioned over his throat. Tala's wide crystal eyes stared at her.
"Any last words?"
"Listen to me, Roskov! I fucking saved Marle, and this is what you do to people that save your cousin?" He let out a sigh.
She froze. "What?"
He sighed, again. "I told you already, I saved her!"
Faith backed a step away. "But." she swallowed. Struggling for words, she continued staring at the pale boy, who had begun to get off the wall, wincing and rubbing the back of his head. "You? you saved Aeris?" Still backing up, she slowly went to the front of her door.
"That's what I said already, Roskov! I. Saved. Marle!" He seethed. "How many times does it take to get a simple sentence stuck into your thick head?"
Faith, still wondering over what he had said, waved off the implied insult. "But that's impossible."
Tala was still pissed. "What is?" he snapped.
"That you, out of all the people, you, a Shadow Striker, saved a Dark Raider."
He snorted. "Oh really. Then explain why Marle is at your house, resting or whatever the hell she's doing, and why I'm at your doorstep, telling you who saved her." He let out a frustrated noise. "What the hell was I thinking, anyways?!" he murmured. "Whatever. I'm fucking leaving"
With that, he quickly whipped around and began striding towards his car, parked a couple of blocks away. Faith, staring at him, gave off one more confused look, and slipped inside. ------------------
A fierce battle was going on, and although each opponent focused all their concentration solely on their blades, a war of words was brewing.
¡°Hey Hiwatari, is it me, or has your skills dropped just a little notch?¡± Bryan smirked. His Falborg was attacking Kai's Dranzer mercilessly. Kai stood there, gritting his teeth, as he saw Dranzer get scratched by Falborg, but he couldn't call out his phoenix yet, not just yet. Not until Falborg was summoned. Besides, if his blade couldn't take a bit of this, he hadn't trained enough in the past.
"Hang in there Dranzer!" he muttered. Bryan yawned.
"Hmph. This is getting too boring, isn't it? Time to increase it by a little, Hiwatari" He sneered. "Falborg! Come out!"
That was his fatal mistake. Kai had been saving up Dranzer's power, relying only on his blade to endure Bryan's attacks, while Falborg was busy destroying the blade, spending his energy.
"Dranzer!" Kai shouted simultaneously. As the purple falcon, shrieking, rose out of his blade, the red phoenix rose in its majestic appearance, slowly, slowly, rising. The two fowls glared at each other, the hostility of their masters enticing them, and they began slamming into each other.
"Fire arrow!" A triumphant laugh broke from Kai's lips, as his bit beast began shooting fire at the defenceless falcon.
Falborg let out a piercing scream, and almost at once, began vanishing inside his blade. A trademark smirk was gracing Kai's face, as he grinned at the pale-haired boy before him, standing aghast. Bryan's eyes darkened as his blade came to a stop, and clattered on the ground.
Bryan slowly raised his eyes to meet Kai's triumphant ones, and as he snatched his Dranzer out of the air, Bryan trembled in anger. "Hiwatari!" he spoke. As he did so, he gripped a knife, and the slate-haired boy's eyes flickered, as he too, reached into his pocket.
Almost at once, the two were on each other, punching, kicking, and slashing. Their knives were quickly covered in blood, and as the others, including Ray jumped in, one could see that Kai and Ray seemed to be losing.
Seemingly going on for hours, it wasn't long until they heard the faint siren of the police¡.
****************
Kai scowled. They were in a dark, crowded cell, with all of them stuffed inside. It wouldn't be long before the police would free Ray and himself because of the money he promised them, but until that, he would have to wait in here, with Bryan Falkov and his other lackeys for cell mates. Fun. ------------------
School. Faith had never liked school, but she dreaded it even more today, because of several reasons. Reason one, she was somewhat afraid to see Ivanov's face again, and two, it was because Aeris, who had always been anti-social, was even less talkative and wouldn't look at her. Three, she had received word that some of the Dark Raiders and Shadow Strikers had been in a brawl, and while those cheap Strikers got out by bribing the police, of course the Raiders were left behind, with nothing to bribe them with. At this moment, her entire gang, minus herself and Aeris, were sitting in jail.
Shit. They'd be left alone, vulnerable. Faith knew that she and Aeris could defend themselves well against the Shadow Strikers, but what if they bribed people, like they always did, and got like, three dozen people? That would be very crappy.
During lunch, Aeris mumbled an excuse and left, leaving Faith alone. The hell? Here she was, sitting alone at a table, looking like a loser for the entire world to see. Sure, everyone knew her as Faith Roskov, one of the members of the Dark Raiders, but seeing her alone and not knowing, they might think that she had gotten kicked out. God, where the hell was Aeris, anyways? A thought crossed her mind. Maybe Aeris was out scaring some people, to lift her mood. She smirked. "Might as well go find her and threaten some people, might make me feel better as well." ------------------
Tala stopped in the hallway as he saw Aeris Marle coming towards him, her piercing eyes fixated onto his face. He gulped. What did she want? He hoped she wasn't about to punch him out because of Kai, but why would she kill him when it was Kai? Wait, wait, wait; kill him? O.O that was a scary thought, because Tala knew that out of anyone else, she would be the one to be able to kill someone.
Tala's eyes slightly widened when Aeris halted in front of him. He had to admit, he was just a *tad* bit afraid of Marle.
"Ivanov" Aeris¡' eyes lost the cold look, and she looked at him, an embarrassed look slowly creeping inside her eyes. "I, well, I want to thank you about yesterday so, well, thanks." She looked down, as Tala bit back a laugh.
"Um, you're welcome I guess," who knew that Marle was capable of apologizing? Even just the way she was staring defiantly at the floor indicated that she seemed to never have apologized before.
Nodding, she brushed past him, and stiffly strode down the hall. Tala, looking back, chuckled. Aeris Marle was interesting, definitely amusing at times. ^-^
Still chuckling, he remembered his need for a bit of air. (the air in the school is stuffy I guess) Striding up to the door, he burst out and with a sparkling look in his eyes, he breathed deeply. Ah, fresh air.
No one knew that Tala was interested in nature, and enjoyed it. He could take walks for hours, go bird watching, plant seeds, everything associated to the earth. Tala would be mortified if someone found out, this was his deepest, darkest secret. The thought of someone, especially someone like Faith Roskov finding it out, was terrifying.
Well, speak of the devil. As soon as his mind echoed the name, Faith Roskov, she appeared, looking annoyed. Tala snickered. She had probably gone looking for Marle, who in turn, was probably looking for her. But why'd he have to meet her out here, in the parking lot, of all places? Geez, there was probably a special car around here somewhere, waiting for Roskov to hop in and squish him flat.
Faith froze when her lingering eyes caught the site of Tala standing there, with an apprehensive look on his face. "Ivanov. How's you?" She mentally smacked herself for asking. Who cared how he was? Ivanov was probably the last person, other than Hiwatari, that she would actually care for. Now he was smirking, fuck this shit. He thought that she actually cared for him. Dumb prick.
"Oh I'm fine, Roskov," said Tala, airily. "Thought I'm wondering why you're asking. I mean you, asking m-" Faith cut in.
"Yea, whatever. I don't have time to listen to your trash. I'm busy." She was just about to brush past him, when he opened his mouth.
"You sure about wandering around by yourself, Roskov? Kai's already pissed with being busted out yesterday. If I were you," his smile grew big. "I'd watch my back. For sure." He added that last part menacingly, and he could swear he saw her back off a little.
"You" Faith spluttered. "Are you threatening me?" She glared. Tala, smirking took a step closer.
"And if I am?" She was just about to give back a sassy reply, and to give him punch or two if needed, but was cut off by the deep voice of a male.
"Hey Faith!" She spun around, and as she took a look at the boy standing before her, her eyes grew large.
"Keli!?" -----------------
Yes! Chapter three is finally finished! Special thanks to Violent K for submitting a character!
Domo arigatou gozaimas for all the reviews we have received for the last two chapters¡¦ CC and I are really appreciating them, and happy that you enjoy this story! We¡¯re hoping for an early update, because some exciting things to happen for the next chapter! The big question at the moment is clear. Who is this mysterious Keli, and what is his exact relationship to Faith? Find out, in the next chapter of Torn By Blood!
Well then, readers. Till next time.
CC and Merodi