Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or any of its characters.

Summary: When Biovolt goes after one of its past 'students' the BBA steps in and places the girl under the watch of the Blade Breakers. What are Biovolt's plans for this girl and what happens when they get a hold of her because she risked herself by saving one of the Blade Breakers that has grown fond of her.

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Takes place after the World Beyblading Tournament

"…." Talking '….' Thinking

Clandestine Wolf

Chapter Twelve - Falling Stars

Tala and Kai were the first ones up, cleaning their rooms up as things were put back into place and clothes were packed back into their traveling bags. The uniforms had been cleaned and delivered outside their door earlier on in the morning, so the two took the chance to dress first and get their time in the bathroom done before the other two woke. The day was cool, a fog hanging onto the lands as the sun slowly rose into the sky while pushing the dark of night away. Alexis had given each of the three boys their own small tin of red paint, and both Kai and Tala had repainted their markings upon their face, which had been washed off while taking a shower the night before. After pulling an extra blanket over the still sleeping form of Snowflake Kai had made his way over to the next room, waking up Razor while doing so. From there the three boys talked amongst themselves, waiting for breakfast to be served before they left the hotel while taking the memories from it with them forever.

The three shared a few laughs while Razor was walking about the hotel room still half dazed in sleep. His blue eyes were glazed over, looking as if he still needed a few hours of rest. Kai entering the room had woke him up, though Kai hadn't been noisy at all as it was the change in the comfortable atmosphere that woke Razor up. It wasn't that Kai's presence made Razor uneasy, but he felt more secure around Tala while in the same sense closer to Tala as well. From there Razor had went to roll over and fell off the bed, grumbling something before offering a goofy grin for his own mistake. Even Kai had to laugh at this, as Razor didn't protest when he was told it was time to get up like Tyson had always done. It didn't end there as Razor had all but walked into the half open door of the bathroom but full fledge walked into the closed door of the shower. He had cursed then, but not at himself as he yelled at the door for -closing on him- while trying to get a cold shower to wake him up more.

Once having showered Razor was more on his toes, now dressed in his uniform and having painted his face perfectly, and this time succeeding within the first three tries of painting it along with a little help from Tala and Kai. From there all three of them sat on the balcony of Tala and Razor's hotel room, sitting quietly at first before Razor started up a conversation about the people they had faced already. Te team still had a long way to go to get enough of a reputation that Biovolt would actually pay any attention to them. Still their team's name was spreading like wildfire, and it was rumored that teams were actually searching them out to prove that they were nothing but a rumor themselves. At that thought they all chuckled, smiling as the sun shined its warm rays onto their features. The fog was slowly being blown away as the day grew. It was about six in the morning now; breakfast being served in just a mere hour and a half down stairs in the lounge.

Standing up onto his chair Razor foot one foot on the armrest, putting his hands on his hips in a mocking manner. After a moment he messed with his hair, running to the bathroom to wet it before running out and jumping back onto the chair almost causing it to fall over. At this Kai arched an eyebrow and Tala snickered softly. The way that Razor had done his hair made it look like Jonny's red flame looking hair. After making sure his hair was standing up still Razor put his hands back on his hips, huffing his chest out in a stupid manner as he started to speak aloud in a mimicking voice of Jonny, "Well well, what do we have here." At this Kai was grinning madly while Tala was nearly doubling over in laughter. Razor only continued, "Freak shows roaming the parks at night." There was a grin from himself before actually punching himself in the face to replay the fact that Snowflake had punched him. Razor didn't hit himself hard, but he fell from the chair in a fit of laughter with Kai and Tala joining in merrily.

Between all three of their laughter and the walls between the two hotel rooms none of the heard Alexis as she stirred in her sleep with a light fit of coughing. As she woke the coughing only grew worse, feeling as if she was coughing up flames themselves with how bad her lungs were burning. Steel blue eyes looked around desperately for Kai, yet finding him nowhere as she stumbled out of bed on shaky legs. As the coughing spasm grew worse, much like the ones she had back at the mansion the Blade Breakers were staying, dark red drops of blood started to fall onto the floor. The world to Snowflake was just a spinning a dizzy mess, her chest feeling as if all the muscles had just tightened up and were keeping her from breathing. Each breath was a desperate gasp ending in a harsh cough that sent droplets of blood from her lungs splattering onto the carpet of the hotel's room. No longer could her legs hold her up, collapsing onto her side, as the coughing grew worse with each spasm. Every time she went to try to call out someone's name she'd choke on her own blood, nausea falling onto her like a heavy brick as her stomach started to knot up on its self.

The laughing between the three boys lasted for quite awhile, as every time it started to die down just the slightest Razor would do something even more amusing like get up and trip over the chair or -accidentally- walk into the closed balcony door. Tala was at the point where if he laughed anymore he thought his sides would burst, and Kai was just near that point, tears from the laughter stinging his eyes yet not falling. Amazingly it was Razor who got control of himself first, falling dead silent as the others kept laughing. He was acting as if he heard something, turning his heard wildly around to try to figure out what it was. The other two didn't notice it until they started to calm down slightly. The worried look on Razor's face got Tala to calm down more quickly than Kai, as he knew the teen better than one would think, and he wouldn't have just stopped with his fun and jokes unless something was seriously off or wrong. It was then that Tala heard it as well, more clearly placing the sound to what it actually was. Metallic blue eyes went wide, jumping out of his seat so fast that it fall back and made Ka jump back to what was happening. All three of their ears were listening closely to the sounds, Tala being the first to speak up, "Shit, she's having another attack!"

All three of the teens were in a rush, this time not meaning to run into the closed door of the balcony as they rushed to open the sliding glass object. Razor still had yet to see one of these attacks for himself, but by the way both Kai and Tala were acting along with the stories that Tala had told him they didn't seem too pleasant. Kai was the quickest to move, Tala stopping to get the pack of syringes from his bag while the others went ahead. With Kai having the key to the room he fumbled with it, finally succeeding in getting the metal piece into the lock and turning none too late as Tala pushed past him with the bag of medicine and drug filled needles. As soon as Razor saw what was in front of him he stopped dead in his tracks, staring in horror as his teammate literally choked on her own blood while coughing it up in rather large amounts. While Tala was kneeling on the floor getting the syringes ready Kai was Gathering the shivering and violently coughing form of Alexis into his arms. As soon as she was sitting upright the world seemed to crash around her, coming a whirling mess of swirling images as she vomited a good deal amount of blood along with her food from the night before. Razor shut the room's door, only to slide down it with his back, shaking himself in utter worry and concern for Snowflake; his teammate, his best friend's childhood playmate and comrade, and the link to why Kai was here. Even as Razor watched the steel blue colored eyes of the girl roll back into her head as she started to black out he could feel tears spill from his eyes, heart-wrenching yet hopeless as he knew he could do nothing at all to help her. As Tala pierced the skin between the vertebrae of Alexis' back with the first needle Razor shuddered, nearly loosing him won stomach contents right there. The mask that Kai was no longer fooled either Tala or Razor, as they knew he was the most concerned out of the three of them about Alexis, her body shivering and limp in his strong arms as Tala followed with two more injections into the dark skin of Snowflake's back. From there they could only wait.

Razor was a shuddering mess, barely holding his own stomach contents in as Snowflake slowly stopped coughing. Tala let his sad and worry filled metallic blue eyes fall upon him, glancing at Kai for the briefest of moments before standing up an walking over to Razor. Kneeling down Tala gently placed a hand on Razor's shoulder, who in response half jerked away until he realized whom it was. With a small whimper Razor willing came into the embrace that Tala was offering him, the taller red haired teen settling himself behind razor as he scooted forward to make room for him. Razor sat in-between Tala's straddled legs, leaning against his chest while Tala's arms wrapped around his shoulders and held him tightly. They both had tears quietly flowing down their cheeks, Tala mostly on Razor's behalf, as he didn't want to see the blue haired boy in so much concern stricken horror. In a soft voice, trying not to let it waver too much, Tala spoke encouraging things to razor, telling him everything was ok and that Snowflake would be just fine after some rest. The shaking boy only nodded slowly, hiccupping every now and then.

Kai sat there quietly, cradling Snowflake's shivering body in his arms as he rocked her back and forth comfortingly. This had been the second time she had an attack in front of him, and here he had thought she had been recovering so well. He half blamed himself for not being in the room when he should've been watching over her, though he knew that she wouldn't want him saying he was sorry or that it was his fault. He could just hear her now saying not to be sorry, just like the first words she had said to him. Kai refused to cry, not wanting to show such weakness while at the same time knowing he had been told that feelings were just a sign of someone growing stronger. Tightly he shut his eyes, just sitting there with Alexis in his arms as he rocked back and forth. After a moment he paused, slowly rising to his feet on slightly shaky legs. Kicking off his boots he slipped onto his bed, sitting against the wall with her still in his arms as he pulled his blanket around her shivering body. Only a few more times did she cough, the new position irritating her lungs before they settled and allowed her to breath more easily. Unconsciously Alexis moved closer to Kai, inhaling his scent on the blanket as her shivering slowly came to an end. By then Kai had gathered himself together enough to wipe the blood from her mouth, not caring about her clothed since she had a clean uniform to wear the whole day. The blanket wasn't even his, so he cared less about the blood on it, but he knew the hotel would want money to pay for the mess on the carpet and their blankets.

A knock on the door interrupted the calming and silenced moment, the smell of the vomit seeming to have no effect on anyone at the moment. Razor seemed the most startled, half jumping out of Tala's arms as the knuckles hit the wood of the door. With a soft hushing sound Tala pulled him back against his chest, drawing him up to stand along with him as Tala helped the shaky legged Razor turn around. Not bothering to release his arms from around Razor Tale motion for him to open the door, watching as nervous and twitching fingers fumbled with the knob before pulling the door open only a few inches to see who could be disturbing them at such an important time.

"Ah… Sir, you told the manager is someone came here looking for the Ancient Shadows to come straight to you. Well, someone had come here looking for the ancient Shadows. Ohm.. Sir, is there something wrong? You look a little frightened and shaky. Say… didn't four of you come in here?" The maid of the hotel was obviously too nosey for her own good, pulling the door open more with sharp gasp at the sight she saw. For a moment it seemed as if she was about to faint.

"Figures," muttered Tala as he gathered himself together to speak to the maid. "Look Miss, we'll pay for the blood stains unless you want us to clean them for you, and I don't think that would be a wise idea. Take a deep breath and don't pass out on my here, just listen. Everything is fine, and we don't need any help. We thank you for coming all the way up here to tell us about someone wanting to see the Ancient Shadows. Just tell them that we'll be down later and that whoever they are can help themselves to breakfast, our treat for not being able to come down sooner. Give us fifteen to twenty minutes, thank you." With that Tala shut the door in the maid's face, hugging the still wide-eyed Razor to his chest comfortingly.

"You know it's just going to be a team looking for us. It seems we're easier to track than we thought… It'd be safe not to let anyone see our faces from now on." It was Kai who spoke up, head inclined to look at Tala and razor. "We only have three of the four of us who can actually beyblade right now, and that's only if Razor can pull himself together in the time you've given us. Let it be our luck that it's a major team that we've been hunting out ourselves. You two go get yourselves ready and pulled back together. I'm going to get Snowflake's uniform on her and carry her downstairs to wait for you two. She's going to need food as soon as she wakes, or at least something to drink." From there he paused, looking at Razor's face as he turned around with Tala. "Look Razor, I know I'm not the greatest person in the world, but I'm working on it…. Alexis is going to be fine, and the best thing we can do for her right now is to be strong and win the match that we're more than likely going to have."

Razor nodded slowly, hiccupping once more before taking a deep breath and closing his blue eyes slowly. Tala gave Kai a thankful smile before hauling himself and the blue haired boy out with him to their own room. Tala made sure to lock the door behind him, not wanting the maid to come waltzing in on her own demanding that the mess be cleaned right away. He was sure anyways that Kai would clean up the vomit for the most part so the room wouldn't smell horribly. Slowly but surely Razor was gathering himself back together, washing his face several times once getting back into both his and Tala's room. This time he allowed Tala to paint the red markings on his face, his hands still trembling too much to actually do it himself. Razor's eyes were puffy and red from crying, but Tala smiled anyways, though only half heartedly as he pulled Razor against his chest. Greatly needing the comfort Razor leaning into Tala's embrace, hugging him tightly as if he was a lifeline of sorts.

Sighing in a frustrated manner Kai reluctantly let go of Snowflake, resting her body down in a soft pile of blankets and pillows in which he had slept with. To him, either that or his imagination playing tricks on him, his scent on the blankets and pillows was calming her and helping her rest more easily. Moving from the bed Kai fetched a good deal of towels and the empty trashcan from the bathroom in which he filled with soapy water. From there he scrubbed the vomit from the carpet, making sure not to get any of the blood on his uniform as he only had a selected few of them to wear. Scrubbing the carpet didn't take too long, not bothering with the bloodstains, the smell of the vomit not seeming to want to leave the room. After dumping the foul water into the bathtub and washing it down the drain while rinsing the trashcan out. Kai left the dirty towels in the bathtub, not wanting to deal with them now as he fetched Alexis' uniform from her bag. Crawling back onto the bed Kai untangled Snowflake from all the blankets, being gentle as he pulled her nightshirt over her head and replaced it with her uniform top. He followed suit with her pants, leaving her undergarments the same as he assumed she changed them when taking a shower the night before, and he didn't want to change them anyways seeing as she more the likely wouldn't appreciate him undressing her fully without her permission. After pulling her black boots on and the warm material of the cloak Kai patiently painted the red triangles down Snowflake's cheek's, waiting until they dried before pulling the cloak's hood up. Only then did he pull on his own boots and cloak while pulling the hood up as well before gathering the unconscious form of Alexis into his arms and heading out of the room.

The trip down the hallway wasn't that bad, seeing as even with the light cloak on Alexis' form was as light as a feather still in Kai's strong arms. Even if he thought the elevator as being lazy he really didn't want to exhaust himself going down the stairs with Snowflake in his arms. The elevator trip was quiet, the operator giving him a strange look while sitting there on his little stool. Kai narrowed his crimson eyes at the older and nosey man who in return quickly turned his head away while clearing his throat, never looking back again even as Kai's stop on the main floor came up. Upon stepping out of the area Kai sent his gaze over the lounge area where breakfast was being served, looking to see if he could notice anyone out of the ordinary from the people he had seen yesterday. Sure enough there were the All Stars sitting at one of the tables big enough for the while team, waiting almost patiently for what Kai suspected to be the Ancient Shadows. So he was right in the first place to assume it was one of the major teams who had sought them out. Not even bothering to hide their presence Kai walked forward and into the lounge, settling in the first open table he found with Snowflake still in his arms.

It didn't take long for the All Stars to notice the two cloaked figures that had entered the lounge, yet they also noticed one was carrying another, which seemed to be either sleeping or unconscious. A wave of whispers flooded pass their whole team, yet they remained sitting there until they saw two more people dressed the same way exit the stairwell. Razor had his cloak hood down while Tala walked closely at his side, willing to offer his support when and if it was needed as they walked along to sit next to Kai. The All Stars, now up and walking towards the four, grinning knowingly at who the four were; the Ancient Shadows they had heard so much about from others teams including the Majestics.

"You must be the team called the Ancient Shadows that everyone is talking about so much. I heard you crushed the Majestics without a problem, but I'm afraid you'll have much more of a challenge beating our team. Even if we don't have any statistics on any of you we will still crush you like you did the Majestics. Will you accept our challenge, Ancient Shadows?" Judy was the one to speak as Emily, Eddy, Steve, and Michael stood behind her with determined and cocky looking looks on their faces. The harsh look in which Razor dished out at them made them all think twice about assuming they can just beat the Ancient Shadows without troubles.

"We accept your challenge, but on our own terms will you fight us… As you can clearly see one of our team members… No, a pack member is not able to beyblade as being Alex is unconscious. As not to give your team the advantage with numbers my bladeing rules are simple. One match of two on and, and the team to knock out the others team's blades is the winner. Once both team members are knocked out of the dish your team looses…. Do you accept our terms on the battle members of the All Star team?" Razor was obviously set on making sure that his team, his friends weren't going to loose simply because one of their best bladers was out for this battle. The fact that Razor called their team a -pack- caught the whole All Star team off guard.

Looks of uneasiness were passed back and forth between the All Star members, but the terms seemed easy enough. They were sure they were going to win with two of their team members in the battle instead of one, but they still thought that they only needed one t beat two of their bladers. Each of them nodded to Judy while already starting to walk towards the dish outside of the hotel. "Your terms are accepted, Ancient Shadows. Choose who is going to battle and we will be ready and waiting for you." Judy was all too snide with her response, but smiled only in a slightly kind manner towards Razor.

"Kai you and Tala are going to beyblade in this match. I know you two were never on the best of terms…But do this for the pack. We are loyal like wolves, right? Just like how loyal Alex is to us, so let fight for her. Win fro her sake." Razor was already on the verge of tears again, but Tala willingly pulled him into a comforting embrace while pulling his cloak hood up so no one would see him cry. It wasn't shameful to cry, but he knew Razor wouldn't want people to see him like this. The three walked in silence to meet with the All Star team at the dish, Kai unwillingly letting go of Alexis as Razor took her into his arms to allow Kai to beyblade to his best. Snowflake stirred in his arms, furrowing her brows lightly in her forced sleep before settling down again.

With their blades ready both Tala and Kai stepped up to the dish, Michael and Emily standing there on the other side with their own blades ready. "May we know who we are going to beat?" asked Emily in a mocking voice. Both Kai and Tala gripped their launchers tightly in their hands, both of them churning with anger towards the way they were being treated. Coldly and in a monotone voice they answered, their voices a mere rumble in their throat. "I am Terror." There was a long pause before Kai answered, his crimson eyes narrowed half in concentration and half in displeasure of the dishonorable way the Ancient Shadows were being treated. "I am Kain.."

"Haunting names, really," taunted Emily again until she grew serious. Judy had started to count down their match, and little did the All Stars know that they kindled a fire raging in both Tala and Kai. As soon as the countdown ended in those three final words all four of them let their blades fly. Michael and Emily were obviously going to wait to call out their bit beasts, but Kai and Tala were already ahead of them because as soon as they launched they called out in unison their bit beasts. "Go Ancient Dranzer!" "Go Ancient Wolborg!" The beyblade dish was filled with the glow of the two bit beats, a fiery red and a chilling blue as both falcon and wolf in their ancient forms cried out their own battle cry. As soon as the glowing blades touched the dish the metal started to shatter from the sheer force of the power being emitted by the ancient bit beasts. The energy its self was causing the wind to pick up, throwing the edge of the Ancient Shadow's cloaks in the air as dust flew about. Dead determined to fight back Emily and Michael went on the offense, fighting together as they went for Tala's blade first. It was too late, their maneuver being met furiously by both Tala's and Kai's blade as they utterly forced back the All Stars' blades by sheer power with what seemed like total ease. Just as the All Stars were about to call out their own bit beasts Tala and Kai finished them off together as a team, using a weaving pattern as they forced the two All Stars' blades to collide with each other and fly out of the dish into their hands. For a long moment Kai and Tala just stood there, their blades spinning in the dish still until they called them back into their hands.

"That's just…. Impossible. My computer couldn't even pick out any data from your blades other than frying the circuits period. The sheer power your bit beasts are just…wrong. The power is.." Judy was for a loss of words, but Razor filled it in as Kai took the limp body of Alexis from his arms. In the short time of the battle he had gathered himself together again. "Ancient. The power is ancient, and you should never underestimate your opponents. While you have your minds set on thinking you're the best because the Blade Breakers are not together right now we are concentrating more on our team and its needs. You dishonored us by what your said… We fought back in the only way that was honorable, in the dish without cheating. Words will get you nowhere. You heart a spirit does along with your team and loyalty. Learn something from this battle and carry it with you where ever you battle next and teach it to other teams."

Steel blue eyes slipped open slowly only to close again as the light of day made her vision swirl into confusion and nausea again. Her struggling and squirming got Kai to set her down on her feet, yet he supported her full weight with his arm around her torso. Both Tala and Razor turned their attention to her, Kai having already been watching her instead of paying attention fully to what was being said. The All Stars looked a little bit shamed after their fault was pointed out to clearly, their attention not even on the sudden movement of the once unconscious member of the team they had just battled. They murmured among themselves, nodding their head and talking quietly while Tala, Kai, and Razor had their own attention on Snowflake. To Alexis even the soft whispers from the other team were like screams, her mind swimming in a sea of confusion as her stomach started to knot again. Whatever wasn't emptied from her stomach before was lost now, most of it being blood as her mind lipped into unconsciousness again while her body slumped against Kai's frame.

"Hey… Is he ok?" inquired Eddy as Kai picked Snowflake back up into his arms. Luckily enough the blood hadn't gotten over her cloak or his, only all over the ground below. Razor didn't trust himself to answer; not really knowing for sure himself is Snowflake was actually going to be all right. Tala hugged Razor's shoulders, answering for his blue eyed friend as Kai walked away to get a cup of ice water along with a rag from the people at the lounge's counter. "Yes, she will be fine. Do please excuse us… We have to go take care of her. May your travels be well and your battles no longer judged before hand." With that Tala ushered Razor to follow Kai, having the intent on leaving just after he fetched all four of their packs from their two rooms. It wouldn't be that entirely safe to stay here at the hotel any longer, or to start moving with Alexis in her condition, but they had to leave despite it all. It was just something they had to do to keep protecting her.