Comatose
Chapter 2: Awaken
From Voices…
'Yes, master. It is the young phoenix,' Wolborg filled in for me, 'Kai has reclaimed Dranzer.'
"Dranzer…"
That's Kai's voice all right, although it's a deathly pale shadow of his usually quiet but strong, commanding tone. He must be still injured. Wolborg nuzzled my hand in agreement.
"BEGA will pay… and Boris will be behind bars – for good," Kai declared quietly.
Was he talking to me or to himself?
"You'll wake up to see it happen, Tala… I promise."
Swish… Shuffle… C-creak-k…
…
My mind has been in a mind-boggling whirl since that late night visit and for once, I've lost track of the time. I think somebody has visited me… and still is… There seems to be somebody in the ward now… and I think the TV's on… I'm not sure… I don't remember if the doctors have come in today, or yesterday… The only thing I can remember clearly was, was that Kai had visited me…
But I still can't quite grasp the fact that he did come… and that he was actually concerned – in his indirect manner – about me. We are teammates, but that doesn't mean that he would definitely care about me, or the other two. Respect us? In his own indifferent way, yes… But caring takes a whole different meaning to respecting.
However, it seemed that I had no more time to ponder about this problem, or whatever it was. For some reason unknown to me, the landscape in front of me changed. And instead of blackness, I saw different colors starting to emerge out of the monotone of black. They were like appearing out of nowhere as black was often associated with emptiness and nothingness. The next thing I knew, I was staring frozen in shock at the scene that the colors had formed before me.
Kai Hiwatari stood facing the now totally destroyed dish. One Beyblade was still spinning, and it was a blue one – Dranzer. The opposing black blade was battered and had parts of its components, namely the attack ring, cracked off. It lay motionless in front of an orange-haired teenager who was kneeling on the platform and staring at his blade in disbelief.
The bruised and battered slate-haired teenager raised his hand upwards in a sign of victory. The BBA Revolutions Team cheered, whistled and yelled his name, as did the crowd watching. It was almost as if he had single-handedly won the Justice 5 tournament. They were ballistic with excitement for they knew that the BBA Revolutions team was now back on a winning track.
But there was sadness in those brilliant amethyst eyes as they stared down at the spinning blue blade that was beginning to wobble on its tip.
And behind it, immense regret.
The images blanked out. What was that that I had seen? Was it real? Daichi, or perhaps it was Tyson, had mentioned to me about a battle against BEGA. Was this one of the matches? It seems so real… but how did I…? And the thing that shocked me most… Kai looked liked he was about to lose his life. No, something even more precious than that. He was regretting something. I know it; I sense it.
But Kai never regrets anything he does.
Not even with the Black Dranzer incidents.
That scared me. His regret. Call me a psycho, whatever you please, but telling me that Kai Hiwatari was unsure of his actions and regretted doing them was way worse than telling me the Sun was going to explode this very moment and wipe out the entire solar system as it did so. Kai was always so sure of himself, so confident that it turned into arrogance… The way he did things was like he didn't have a care in the world. He made everything he did look so easy, so graceful, so faultless… That I can't bring myself to believe that he, the oh-so-perfect Kai Hiwatari, ever felt bad after doing something. So what was it that caused him to feel that way?
But it seemed that once again, my mind wouldn't let me ponder over this as colors started forming like before. Another scene appeared before me, leaving me in stupefied shock yet again…
Tyson led the BBA Revolutions Team as they ran forward towards the bey dish where Kai was now coming down. Smiles and grins were present on each and every one of their faces. They were now even closer to stopping Boris's plans!
Kai walked down slowly from the raised platform towards his teammates, a tiny smile on his face. For a split second, his eyes turned blank and lifeless and his knees suddenly gave as a soft but pained cry escape his mouth. He stumbled and fell forwards. Instead of feeling the hard stadium floor, he crashed into a body clad in a red jacket who caught hold of him. It was Tyson.
"Kai! Kai?" Tyson asked frantically, worriedly.
The rest of the team gathered around Kai, worriedly asking whether he was okay and such. Slowly, Kai stood up by himself and reassured, "I'm fine."
Then to Tyson, he said, "I've done my part. Go take down Garland."
The images vanished like before. Kai was worse than fine. It was plainly obvious. He just didn't want the team to worry, especially Tyson. Well, the kid had a match coming up. But Kai had almost fallen there. It just wasn't right. Even after his match against Ray and Tyson, which were the two most intense matches he ever had, Kai was still able to walk away without any problem. I still remember that I almost thought he had to be kidding us… He made it look so easy to walk away like that then. Like the battle had been so effortless he didn't need help to move. Which wasn't exactly true of course. But he had the willpower to show no weakness…
Something has to be wrong. Kai would never ever show weakness in front of anybody, not even his friends. And those cuts under his eyes made him look like they were blood tears… Well, something will be wrong if what I saw was really happening now at the stadium. Which in itself was incredible and virtually illogical. I was in a coma and stuck in a hospital ward for goodness sakes! How could I know what was happening outside of the ward? Much less the hospital! But somehow, it feels real… I think it is real. Call it a gut feeling, but yes, I know it's real. I need answers. Evidence. Proof.
A flash of misty blue appeared next to me and Wolborg materialized. Good. I could ask Wolborg about those images. He could find some way to get to Dranzer or any of the BBA Revolutions' bit-beasts to determine whether they were real.
'Wolborg, could-' I started to ask, but I was interrupted by Wolborg's strangely melancholy voice.
'It is real, master.'
My breath hitched. What! Now this was bad. Very, very bad. Alarm bells were ringing in my head and I could feel my heart starting to pound rapidly. Damn it! Couldn't it have been a dream? Everything would've been much easier. I don't know why I'm so alarmed and panicking when I know I can't possibly do anything to help. Hell! Why should I care anyway? Kai never exactly cared for the team. But I am the Blitzkrieg Boys' team captain. I am responsible for whatever happens to the members. Yes, that's why I'm in a frenzy, worrying about Kai even… Or am I wrong? Or-
'Calm down, master. You'll affect the rate of your recovery if you continue to panic.'
Wolborg had a point. But… 'How can I calm down at a time like this! Something's wrong, Wolborg! I know it. I feel it in my bones as cliché as it sounds. Something bad is going to happen. I need to get out of here now!'
'I am sorry, master. But I am helpless-'
'In what way? Helping me regain consciousness or whatever that's wrong?' I demanded harshly. I was strangely on my last tethers, any longer I would snap. This was so unusual of me. I knew that. But I… I had the feeling that somebody, Kai, would die if I didn't wake up in time.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
Wolborg evaded my question. Instead, the wolf spirit replied solemnly, 'Dranzer wishes to speak with you. She is coming soon.'
What? Dranzer wanted to speak to me? For what? I was sure she could sense that something was wrong with Kai. Why would she come to see me when obviously Kai needed her presence a lot more than I did? Then there was a flash of red and Dranzer appeared.
And I was taken aback.
Totally.
Dranzer looked nothing like she was during her battles. As much as I'd never outright admit that Dranzer was a majestic and beautiful phoenix (especially in front of Kai), I knew I had thought that throughout the time I had seen the phoenix. Her eyes especially were the most entrancing things about the spirit beast; the fire in them was always burning in a luminescent reddish-gold. But now, she looked a pale shadow of her usual battle form. The flames in her eyes were barely visible… and the wounds on her body… I don't even know where to begin to describe them. She also looked hazy… like she wasn't really here. And lastly, the glowing red aura surrounding Dranzer was faint and it seemed to be diminishing by the second.
'Dranzer? W-What, no, why are you here? Kai needs you now,' I managed out; still getting over my shock at seeing the state Dranzer was in.
'Kai has a message for you. That is why I am here,' the phoenix spirit responded in a soft, cooing voice that was tinged with sorrow.
'A message? For me?' I repeated incredulously. Kai had something to tell me. Of all people. At this critical moment. Wha? This was unreal.
'Yes,' Dranzer affirmed with a nod of her head. Then she continued sadly, 'Kai apologizes for his unfaithfulness to the team. He knows it is now too late to make amends… Lastly, he wants you to wake up in time to see Boris' downfall… for him.'
For him.
Why couldn't he- Wait a minute. No, this isn't happening. Nonononono… I refuse to believe it. Kai's not going to die… is he? He can't! It takes a lot more to take him down, and a hell lot more to take him out. He's not going to die. I looked desperately to Dranzer for reassurance, that Kai was only being pessimistic about his situation. I had no idea why, but I was frantic with worry and disbelief. Something that had been suppressed and hidden for so long seemed to have suddenly sprung out from inside of me.
'Kai gave his all against Brooklyn. He gave everything, and laid everything on the line,' Wolborg replied instead of Dranzer. For some reason, the red phoenix seemed to be unable to look me in the eye. 'Whether he won or lost, the outcome would have been the same.'
This is one big nightmare. I swear to whoever's up there that I hate comas forever. Not only am I losing precious time in this semi-vegetative state, I'm going to lose a friend too? This is not good. Not good at all. 'Tell me you're lying… tell me this is all a joke,' I practically pleaded, looking at both spirits with disbelieving eyes. They had to be lying. Or else they were looking too deep into the matter. Kai would come out fine. He'd been through the Abbey; he'd survived Black Dranzer, for heaven's sakes! He and his team saved the world once! He was trying to save the world again! Right now! He was a good person; he couldn't die so early on
I'm freaking out, my usually calm composure was totally cracked and broken. I didn't even know why. And for some reason, I don't quite care about that now.
'Kai instructs me to save you, Tala,' Dranzer cut through my thoughts with her soft voice.
Save me. Phoenixes, they have the power to…
Oh no, no, no. Kai was not going to play the hero and sacrifice himself this time. I'm perfectly fine, just in this damned coma. I'll recover on my own. I will. I don't care if I don't see Boris' downfall personally, though it would be nice. I'd definitely hear about it. I'll bet that Tyson and the rest would come bouncing in and have a great hallelujah in the ward and disregard everything the doctors and nurses say. I will still know aboutit, see? In fact, I quite look forward to hearing the doctors' and nurses' exasperation with the whole bunch of Beybladers. It'll be amusing to say the least.
Dranzer spread her wings and suddenly everything around me became a bright reddish-orange. I started to feel a growing heat in my chest. Damn. 'Dranzer! Don't! I'm perfectly fine. Save Kai instead! I know he needs you right now.'
'I cannot disobey my master.'
'This is life and death, damn it! It's not a bey battle! If you don't go back, Kai… Kai might not make it!' I cried out exasperatedly. Bit-beasts have been known to defy a master's commands. Couldn't Dranzer do that now? Through this warmth, I could feel a lingering cold somewhere. It felt like another life source was dying out somewhere at the same moment, simultaneously… Kai! He was growing weaker by the second.I had to make Dranzer stop this. But how could I get it through to her? Kai needed her more than I did. He was going to die; he was going to leave this world forever if she didn't save him instead of me. God! How can I make her see my way?
I took deep breaths to calm myself, all the while aware that Dranzer was doing something to save me. I'd need all my wits and all sorts of persuasive techniques in mind to try and change Dranzer's mind.
'Do not try to change my mind. I know what I have to do,' Dranzer admonished sternly. Then in a gentler tone, she said, 'This may hurt. Goodbye Tala. Wolborg.'
The phoenix then flew into the air, giving a last cry of triumph or sadness, I couldn't tell, before turning into a glowing reddish-gold orb of pure, flaming energy. The orb hovered in mid-air for a few seconds and I watched it apprehensively, wondering what Dranzer was going to do. A beam of energy shot out from it and was aiming straight towards my chest. I had no time to dodge the beam and it struck me. I could feel the energy streaming into my body and pulsating through my veins and arteries. The warmth inside of me started to turn into a searing heat and I could feel my fingertips tingling. I've got to stop this. Damn it! Kai needs to be rescued more than I!
'Look at this, Tala…' a cooing voice resounded from all around me.
Instantaneously, images flashed in front of my eyes and thoughts that didn't belong to me entered my head…
'I did it. I've defeated Brooklyn…' Kai thought as he made his way towards the tunnel that led to the locker rooms. He was thoroughly exhausted. Only the will and the need not to show any weakness in front of his teammates before Tyson's crucial and deciding match kept him going. He knew he could've called for Ray to help him – he was that energy-less – but that would worry them. And it would affect Tyson's concentration…
No. He couldn't do that.
Kai continued to limp unsteadily into the tunnel that seemed so dark and endless. His footsteps echoed eerily against the walls. Each slow step made pain shoot up his weary body that was covered with countless cuts sustained from the battle and his knees were threatening to give any moment. He could barely keep himself upright and his body screamed at him to just fall to the ground to rest. The battle against Brooklyn was intense. The most intense one he ever had… and probably the last one he would ever have as a professional Beyblader.
He could feel that he was about to lose Dranzer and very possibly his own life too. But it didn't really matter now; he had done what he could to stop Boris, though he was regretful that Dranzer had to be dragged down into the mess he could've prevented. She should have left when she could… She had so many opportunities…
'If only I had stopped Garland from injuring Tala,' the slate-haired boy berated himself mentally as his steps became gradually slower and the time taken for him to move another foot considerably lengthened. 'If only I could apologize to him personally…' But Kai knew it was impossible. He doubted that he could even make it to the locker room. The tunnel was starting to morph into an endless swirl of gray and black with flashing white. He blinked to clear the hallucination. However, his vision was just as blurry.
If that were the only regret he had, it probably would've been easier for him to leave without a word. But it wasn't. He owned the Bladebreakers quite a bit too. They had tolerated him to some extent two years back when they had first formed the team. They had saved him from death on the thin ice of Baikal Lake. They encouraged him not to give up during his battle against Zeo and also after he had lost Dranzer… They believed in him even after he had betrayed them, even when he felt he didn't deserve their friendship and forgiveness.
After all, he had been alone for so long, he was almost used to it… He had also forgotten about Balkov Abbey until that Russian World Championships. But the friendships made then in the stone walls of the Abbey had become very strained… So the Bladebreakers were really the last sunshine in his frigid life.
The more he thought about it, the more it was becoming difficult to breathe properly. Kai paused, urging himself mentally to move on. The locker room wasn't much further; he knew it. But could he actually make it? He took another step forward, but it was too much for his body. As his vision swirled, his knees gave in and he collapsed onto the floor, head bowed, breaths coming in gasps and pants. He slumped against the cold, almost callous-like metallic wall, thoroughly washed out.
Kai didn't bother to try getting up. 'This is it. The beginning of my end,' he thought grimly yet with hints of cynicism. He was mocking his ending. The great Kai Hiwatari… coming to such an end… An end caused by somebody he hadn't even heard of at the start of the World Championships, and somebody he had actually managed to defeat. His opponents would probably be happy; they wouldn't have to face him anymore. A bitter smile twisted his lips before it changed into a sad one…
How he wished that he could've expressed his gratitude to the BBA Revolutions for showing him that there was more to the world he had thought… How he wished that he had treated his fellow Blitzkrieg Boys' better instead of being so cold and distant towards them… They were his friends after all. They all had a past together… How he wished to know right now that Tala would wake up to see Boris' plans fail… even if he himself couldn't…
Tala was the one who took the initiative to confront BEGA, although it was a rash decision. The Blitzkrieg Boys' captain deserved to see what he was fighting for succeed. He had to see it. Kai knew it was his fault that Tala ended up in a coma… He had to make sure Tala would be able to see it…
It was the last thing he could do for… for his friend…
'Dranzer! Stop it… Stop it! Go back to Kai…' I cried out as the images stopped momentarily. I was seeing and hearing through Kai's perspective and… and he…
Kai, you are an idiot! I'm fine down here. And it's not your fault that I'm in a coma! And though you were cold to us, didn't teat us that well, etcetera, etcetera, we didn't do much better in treating you well or anything! We were basically just teammates that had to work together because there wasn't much choice for either of us. It's not totally your fault that it turned out this way! You don't have to apologize! If you do, I'd have to apologize to you too! We own each other equally!
I wanted Kai to know all these right now. I wanted him to call back Dranzer. Let Dranzer save him, not me! I… I…
Sudden warmth alerted him to Dranzer's presence. Kai looked up to see the majestic phoenix hovering above him, large wings providing him warmth in an environment that felt unusually cold… It was freezing him up. Yes. Dranzer… She could save Tala… She was a phoenix; she could resurrect and resuscitate people from the dead…
'Master, but you-'
'Save Tala. This is an order.'
Dranzer cast him a sorrowful and forlorn look, cooing sadly. It made him feel all the guiltier. He was once again bring harm to another of his closest friends… He refused to think of Dranzer as just a tool, unlike how he did two years ago. Dranzer had stuck by him through thick and thin, and now… now he was practically asking her to die. He would've told her to leave him right now if he had the choice… but he had to make sure Tala would awake…
God, he was a horrible master. Dranzer should've chosen someone else. Someone who would value her and take good care of her. He had done neither. He had given her up for Black Dranzer; he hadn't been able to protect her – twice. And now… this. He was unworthy of being able to command such a great sacred spirit. Yet she always stuck by him… Why didn't she ever want to leave? She would've been much better off.
'You are a great master,' Dranzer objected, wrapping her wings gently around him, holding him in a last embrace.
'I'll miss you Dranzer…' Kai whispered. 'And I'll miss the BBA Revolutions too…' Glancing up at Dranzer, his mouth curved upwards in a sad, resigned smile. "It's just like me, just like me to leave without any notice, isn't it? I've always been like that, haven't I? And now, I'm going to leave once more and nobody will know until I'm gone… I've always suffered silently…"
A glistening teardrop tinged with reddish-gold landed on his hand and it stayed there, in a perfectly round droplet. Sadness rippled in waves from the great phoenix. Not bothering to look at Dranzer, for he knew he could not bear to do so, Kai told his bit-beast, his friend, as forcefully as he could, in his most authoritative voice he could muster, "Go now, Dranzer."
With a last sorrowful cry, Dranzer disappeared with a flap of her large wings, leaving him feeling cold once more. Kai raised his head upwards, and the air seemed to be shimmering and moving visibly. Faces formed in front of his eyes…
A mop of disheveled red hair… Large cheerful green eyes in a wink… A cheeky and happy smile… The newest addition to BBA Revolution… Master of the second Dragon…
'Daichi…'
Long black hair tied in a long tail… A ying-yang symbol on a red bandana… Golden, feline-like eyes… A smile on the usually serious face… The White Tiger master…
'Ray…'
Blond hair… Large innocent blue eyes… An ever so friendly and cheerful smile for everyone… The ever-optimistic one of the team… The master of the Black Turtle…
'Max…'
Large glasses… Messy brown hair… Eyes that so far, nobody had ever seen… The ever-analytical one…
'Kenny…'
A red and blue cap worn backwards… Spiky, navy-blue hair… Dark auburn eyes that twinkled with joy and the prospect of a challenge… A wide and sincere smile… A thumbs up… The best of the best… The Blue Dragon master…
'Tyson…'
With the same smile on his face, he spoke to them although he knew they weren't there. "Thank you… guys… for always sticking… by me… for accepting me… I won't be able to… to see you succeed, but… but I believe… in you… I'm sorry… for leaving… without another word… But this, this… is goodbye Daichi, Ray, Max… Kenny… and, Tyson…"
His strength was leaving him rapidly and keeping his eyes open was becoming increasingly difficult. He gave in to the temptation of sleeping, perhaps forever. His amethyst eyes shut gently, a tiny smile still curving his lips. It was worth it. The battle was worth it. He had done his best to set things right… Now he could rest… finally…
'Goodbye… Tala… my friend…' he thought silently before darkness enveloped him.
The visions faded away with an indescribable certainty. No, this… this… couldn't be true… It, it just couldn't be! But for some indefinable reason, I knew… This was the end of Kai. But I can't accept this… I, I just can't. But it's real. Reality is cruel. I learnt that long ago, since the tender age of five… But now, the lesson has done a turnaround from my wretched past and slapped me harshly in the face once more… Everything inside of me was turning numb as the last bits of Dranzer's energy was being transferred into me.
The image of a phoenix appeared in my mind.
Dranzer…
Another image, one of a tall slate-haired teenage boy dressed in a deep purple jacket with a long trailing scarf appeared next.
Kai…
The two images alternated… increasing in speed and frequency… They started to blend and merge… slowly… Soon, I couldn't differentiate them anymore… It wasn't only Dranzer. It was Kai too who had given me the power to awake. The two were almost one being, like Wolborg and I… Taking away Dranzer equaled to killing off Kai from the inside. And I… I had indirectly killed him…
Now, I finally understood why I was so frantic about Kai before… I had finally realized, after so long, that I actually still treated Kai as my friend. Deep down inside, hidden by many barriers of self-denial and feigned dislike. Like I've said before, this is the irony of realizations. They only happen in life-threatening situations… when you've lost something, someone… Kai is my friend. And… he had said that I was his friend too… But this, these realizations have happened all too late. Why couldn't we have seen this earlier? Why?
For god knows how long, I felt that strange prickling feeling down my spine connected to crying. I haven't shed a tear in ages; I can't remember when I last did. The Abbey had trained it out of me… forced it out of me. But now, the unfamiliar action of crying was hitting me full force after so long. The Abbey had done a good job in instilling that crying was one for the weak and I despised it as such. I tried to control them but to little effect.
Finally, I couldn't help but let the tears overflow. They trickled down my face, leaving a wet streak. I didn't bother to wipe them away. These tears were for both Kai and Dranzer…
"I… I'm so sorry…"
Wolborg licked my hand gently, but I barely felt the comforting gesture. As the tears trickled down, memories from the past resurfaced…
Two young boys playing in the snow… laughing… joking… having snowball fights…
A lilac-haired boy pushing a shorter and younger purple-haired boy face down into the thick snow… A brunet, redhead and a blue-haired boy watching… amused smiles on their faces… carefree… happiness…
A blue-haired boy quietly giving care and concern to an injured redhead… tending to the wounds… the tenderness… the unspoken comfort felt…
I felt the last of Dranzer's energy zap into me and the numbness that had already begun increased even more. More memories came pouring out from a repressed corner of my memory box… Black spots were starting to eat away my vision and as everything went black, one last image was left imprinted my mind:
Two gloved hands in a firm handshake.
Novia Korsakov was a nurse in the hospital. Currently, it was time for her to change shifts. But as she was passing Ward 546, she suddenly felt compelled to check up on the patient inside. And she wasn't even a nurse in charge of that particular ward. However, she knew who was the patient, the famous Russian Beyblader Tala Ivanov. And she knew the general reason why he had landed in the hospital. Almost everyone in the hospital did. She wondered why she had a feeling that she had to go inside the ward. But the feeling was overwhelmingly strong and she gave into it and opened the door.
From the doorway, nothing seemed wrong with the redhead lying on the bed that was surrounded by much medical equipment. Numerous bandages covered the youth's body and face. However, some invisible force drew her closer to the bed. It was then when she realized that tears had eked out of the redhead's closed eyelids and were trailing down his pale skin.
Novia was surprised. There hadn't been anyone in the ward… only an old man, Mr. Dickinson, who was checking on the teenager and then watching a Bey Battle in the room. Her gaze never quite wavered from the tears as she stood there deep in thought… Why? Why is he crying? There has to be some stimuli.
Suddenly, Novia noticed that the beeping sounds were becoming increasingly irregular. Remembering the past conversations she had with her colleagues, she knew that the teen's condition had been stable for about a week now and there were no detected complications. Worried about the sudden strange occurrence, she hurriedly checked the readings and was greatly appalled to find out that his heart rate was falling rapidly. This was very, very serious.
Without further ado, Novia dashed out of the ward to call the doctor-in-charge, mentally thanking whichever deity that had guided her into the ward.
"This is so sudden," Dr. Hirota murmured to himself, as he and the nurses frantically tried to find out what was wrong with the red-haired youth. The youth had been doing fine, he had even been starting to recover slowly. Everyone was puzzled by the cause of his sudden deterioration to the brink of death. What was worse was that the friends of the teen were watching them work with hawk-like gazes that threatened to burn a hole in their heads. The gazes were flaming, scarily so… but their eyes were frigid. But whenever the two pairs of eyes flicked to the redhead on the bed, worry would show through.
"What's wrong with you people? Aren't you supposed to be the best of them all?" Bryan finally snapped at the nurses in the ward.
He was stressed out enough when Tala was in a coma, wondering when his friend and team captain would awake, whether Tala would actually make it. At least then he was assured that Tala was in a stable condition, so there was still hope. But now, for some unknown reason that not even the doctors could figure out, Tala was heading towards the jaws of death once more. Just like when he was first admitted to the hospital. The pressure was getting to Bryan and starting to leak. He was ready to take it out on the doctors if not for Spencer's restraining hand on his shoulder.
"It'll do Tala no good if you decide to mutilate the medical staff," Spencer admonished in a whisper though his eyes never left the bed. He too was sick with worry and his anger was simmering just below destruction line. But he had to keep a lid on it no matter how hard it was. If he lost it, Bryan would most definitely lose it too, and be totally destructive. Spencer couldn't quite blame Bryan actually. He felt like shaking the doctors until their bones rattled in their body… What the hell went wrong? Why couldn't they frigging figure it out?
Mr. Dickinson cast a sympathetic glance at the two Blitzkrieg Boys though neither youth noticed it. His gaze then turned back to Tala, though he could barely see the red-haired Russian. Tala was blocked by many of the nurses and machinery that surrounded the bed. He had earlier been in the ward, watching Kai's battle against Brooklyn, and Tala had been fine. Mr. Dickinson knew he was no expert in medicine, but he, for one, knew that there had to be a reason for this sudden deterioration… and he was half-inclined to believe that it wasn't because of the doctor's error in the medical report… The thought was quite interesting, and Mr. Dickinson was about to further think about it when:
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP…
Everything seemed to stop for a second.
Bryan felt his heartbeat hitch for a split second before it increased rapidly. No. That wasn't… that wasn't the sound of-
"His heart has stopped beating, doctor!" a nurse cried out.
Bryan let out a growl.
Spencer tightened his hold on Bryan's shoulder and his emotions.
Mr. Dickinson clutched his walking stick unsteadily with both hands.
"We need to-" Dr. Hirota started when he was stopped short by what was happening to the body of the teenager.
Eyes everywhere widened.
A thin layer of reddish-gold aura had suddenly formed around Tala. It shimmered just slightly above his skin, creating an almost fiery, ethereal look. The temperature of the ward also increasing. None of the medical personnel could understand what was happening to Tala, but the two Blitzkrieg Boys and Mr. Dickinson found the coloring of the aura and the corresponding temperature change especially familiar.
"D-Dranzer?" Spencer asked in a whisper to nobody in particular as he stared at Tala. His feet automatically moved to take him closer to the bed where the heat was the most intense. He saw Bryan follow him from the corners of his vision. The doctors and nurses didn't do anything to stop them.
The medical personnel were too awestruck and mesmerized by the appearance of the aura. It was something supernatural… that medical science definitely couldn't explain… The sudden increase in room temperature did nothing to shake them out of their trance too.
"I don't believe this…" Bryan muttered after a few minutes, blinking once to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Maybe he should pinch himself. The machine monitoring Tala's heart rate was starting to move again. He glanced at Spencer and his belief was confirmed:
Nope. He wasn't hallucinating.
He turned his gray eyes back to the redhead. The aura around Tala was now slowly fading away and the heat was becoming more bearable. Bryan decided that, for once, he was truly happy about Kai's existence.
This change in both temperature and Tala's condition brought back life to the medical staff, effectively shaking them out of their trance. The nurses were murmuring to themselves about a miracle (some even looked like they were about to cry) and the doctor was happy enough that the two other teenagers didn't look like they were about to kill. To kill him would be more specific.
Mr. Dickinson let out a sigh of relief, feeling that all his leg muscles had gone lax. Tala had made it… somehow. He was willing to bet that Dranzer had helped in it.
They were then even more surprised when they heard:
"Tala? You're awake!"
What in the world was this? A welcoming back party? I had just woken up, really woken up, and I find myself looking up with one eye at a surprised but immensely relieved Bryan and Spencer. Then sounds of quiet weeping alerted me to the presence of a sudden increase in nurses in the ward. What? And the doctor looked extremely relieved too… Oh and so did Mr. Dickinson, though he bordered a bit more towards the happy side.
"W-What… happened?" I asked, my voice sounding cracked.
Must be from the lack of use.
"This is truly a miracle," the doctor muttered. And I turned my eye that wasn't covered by… probably bandages… to look at him, silently demanding for an answer. I guess I still retained some of my ability to scare people even in this state for the doctor replied promptly.
"Your heart rate had suddenly fallen and we were trying our best to stabilize your condition. Then your heart completely stopped beating. It was then when, when this strange reddish-gold aura surrounded you and minutes later, your heart started to beat again and you woke up!"
Reddish-gold aura…
Isn't that like… like…?
Dranzer…
Kai…
Kai!
"W-where… is Kai?"
No response.
"W-where is he?"
Yay! Chapter 2 is done! Well, the next chapter will be the epilogue, it's a pretty short story. I may be having a sequel, I don't know about that yet. Well, the main reason about writing this story was to try to explain, in my own version,why at the end of Episode 48 of G-Rev, tears came out of Tala's eye... Yup. Hope you liked it!
Anyway, a big thank you to Chibi-Lothlen and AngeLhearteD who reviewed! You two are the best Blitzkrieg Boys writers I've ever found!
carzla
