Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade. If I did, I'd have to suffer with Robert's bad hair (sorry, Robert fans).
Claimer: I own (from this chapter): Haine.
MidnightBallad: This is the re-written version for 'Family Ties', and I changed the title also, because I saw it used a few times for chapter headings and such. Don't forget to review when you're finished, thanks! The original Family Ties will be deleted eventually, but not until the new version's off the ground. Enjoy chapter two!
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Hold my Hand
Chapter Two: Regardless of Warnings
Kai didn't care about what Neblina had said: he was not going back to the dojo straight away. Not yet, anyway. He had to find the Saint Shield's hideout, and maybe he could tell them about Ozuma. They would be in trouble too, if the spirit inside of Ozuma ran into them.
Kai knew where he was going. There was a huge abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town, and that's where the Saint Shields had to be. Hurrying through the rain, Kai sincerely wished he had brought Dranzer with him.
Whilst he went along, Kai's thoughts wondered back to his dream. There was something about it...as if it were not a dream, but more like a very old memory. And Kai yearned to know what it was about.
Sooner of later, Kai thought. Neblina will tell me.
Kai neared the end of the street. He could see the warehouse in the darkness, a lop-sided hunk of tin, which wrung with the noise of the rain slapping against it. Holding his breath, Kai bolted toward it, across the empty street, through an ankle-deep puddle, and straight toward the partly opened door of the warehouse.
Kai clenched his fist and beat upon the tin. 'Hello?' he shouted above the noise of rain on metal. 'Anyone home?'
Silence. Kai was beginning to hate the sound. So, he flexed his fingers and wrenched the door open. Rust fell from the roof and hinges of the door, and Kai stepped into the semi-dry warehouse.
It was a maze of metal staircases and platforms, save for one area in the middle, which had been cleared and fenced off with a few empty barrels of fuel. Sighing, Kai called, 'Hello? I need to talk to someone about Ozuma!'
Someone moved above Kai. Kai stepped back, craning his neck up to gaze at the upper levels of the warehouse. A pair of bright green eyes stared at him from above. 'Is that you, Kai?' came a scared voice.
'Yeah, it's me.' Kai answered. He knew who it was: it was Mariam (A/N: Correct my spelling if it's wrong).
The purple-haired girl came leaping from the upper level, landing before Kai with a loud thud. She looked at him with pure fear in her eyes.
'Ozuma just started to scream wildly, as if he weren't human, and then he took off all of a sudden,' Mariam whispered. 'The other two went to look for him.'
Kai frowned, nodding. 'I ran into him. Ozuma's...let's just say he's not himself. You're in danger here, you can't stay.'
Mariam spun her hair nervously around one finger. 'Did you see Josef out there?'
Kai shook his head. Personally, he couldn't care less about Mariam's team mates, but he didn't want to show it. Mariam pursed her lips, and nodded. 'Alright.' She looked at Kai strangely. 'Why are you out so late at night?'
'I...I couldn't sleep.' Kai lied. He could almost hear the crying of his dream in his head. 'I had to get some fresh air. Now let's go, I'm freezing my butt off.'
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Kai and Mariam left the warehouse in silence. The rain still poured down, but neither of the two tried too hard to stay dry. Kai was already soaked from his fight with Ozuma/Haine, and was also splattered with mud and other sorts of things that one would find on the streets.
'So...' Mariam said, trying to start up a conversation. 'Why are you really out here, Kai?'
Kai shoved his hands in his pockets. 'That's for me to know, and for you to find out?'
Mariam laughed softly to herself. 'If I guess what it is, will you tell me?'
Kai glanced sideways at Mariam. She was leaning forward, looking at his face, as if trying to bring a confession out of Kai. Kai smirked. 'Alright. If you can guess, I'll tell you.'
Mariam leant back. 'Okay then...was someone's snoring keeping you up?'
Kai grinned. It sounded like something Tyson would do – it was something Tyson would do. 'Nope, that's not it.'
'Okay,' Mariam said, gazing up at the rainy sky. 'How about...dreams?'
Kai paused through mid-step. He blinked at Mariam through his crimson eyes. 'Yeah.'
'Or are they nightmares?' Marian asked slowly. Kai went to answer, when he heard footsteps coming down the path toward them. Footsteps that were being dragged, as if the person were wounded. Heart beginning to race again, Kai grabbed Mariam by the wrist and stepped off the footpath into a patch of trees that separated the park from the main road.
'Be quiet, maybe he didn't see us.' Kai whispered to Mariam, who nodded and slunk back into the shadows. Kai watched her disappear, and then turned to look at the footpath.
With one leg dragging behind, Josef appeared through the rain. His face was scratched badly; he had been in a scuffle and lost. And his ankle was slightly twisted, and Kai could see the bruise forming beneath Josef's shoe.
'Josef!' Mariam whispered to herself, running out of the safety of the trees. 'What happened?'
'Mariam!' Kai objected in a coarse whisper. 'Get back in here!'
Josef collapsed on the ground, and Mariam caught him. Josef panted, 'Ozuma...we tried to help him. But there's something wrong with him. He's not human. Mariam – we have to get out of here.'
Kai stepped out of the shadows. Josef looked up at him, a small trickle of blood running down his cheek. 'Kai? Ozuma said he was looking for you...said –' Josef winced as Mariam touched his ankle slightly. 'He said that you have something that he wants.'
Kai knelt down in front of Josef. 'Like what?'
'Don't ask me!' Josef said breathlessly. 'But whatever it is, Ozuma wants is badly. He said he'd do anything...even kill your Beyblading team.'
Kai wavered with shock. It wasn't Mariam and Josef who were in trouble this time: it was Tyson and the others.
'Go to them, Kai.' Mariam said, helping Josef to his feet. 'We'll catch up later.'
Josef gave a grim nod. 'We've gotta find Dunga, too.'
Kai looked between the duo of the Saint Shields. 'Are you sure?'
'Positive.' Mariam said. 'Hurry up!'
Kai waved over his shoulder as he made for the dojo at a full pelt run.
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The dojo's lights were still out as Kai arrived. He ran up onto the veranda, shoes splashing water everywhere, and he took a firm grip on the handle of the sliding door. It was jammed shut.
'Damn it!' Kai muttered. 'Tyson! Max! Rei! Anyone?'
Silence. Complete, utter silence. Now Kai was beginning to worry. Holding his breath, Kai took the handle again and pulled –
The door slowly came open. When he stepped inside, Kai realised why it had been jammed tight. Hilary's still body was lying against it.
'Hilary?' Kai asked quietly, shaking the girl roughly. 'Are you okay?'
Hilary didn't move. Kai suddenly heard a soft laughter in the darkness of the room, and he shouted, 'Who's there?'
'You didn't listen to Neblina, did you?' came the familiar, dark voice of the possessed Ozuma. 'And now I have you alone again, and I can kill your friends at this moment –'
Kai gazed around the room. Every one of his friends were lying oddly on the ground, tangled in their beds or, like Hilary, slammed up against walls. There had been some hell of a fight here.
'What do you want from me!?' Kai said, his voice still raised.
Ozuma/Haine paused before he spoke. 'Do you know what my job is, Kai?'
Kai gritted his teeth. 'I have a feeling I'm about to find out.'
Ozuma/Haine appeared from the shadows, grinning mischievously and walking towards Kai – in return, Kai stepped back. 'In my former life, I was a thief and a liar. I sinned, simply; murder also. So when I arrived at the Gates of Hell, the Devil knew that I could help him. He sent me back to earth as a spirit to capture souls that he could use for...various purposes. The thing was, the person's soul had to be experiencing sorrow before I could steal it. This comes about to you, because you have been having nightmares of your sorrowful past.'
Kai's back hit the wall of the dojo. A tear of sweat ran down his face. 'So...you're going to kill me?' Kai asked in a hush.
Ozuma/Haine quickly wrapped a hand tightly around Kai's throat again, his hand ablaze with black fire. 'No, Kai. Worse – much worse.'
End Chapter Two
MidnightBallad: Sorry, I was supposed to put THIS chapter with the last one, but then I realised I'd wrote hardly any of it. Review if you will and tell me what you think.
I also have a very good thing to say (takes deep breath)...G-Revolution is out in Australia!!! And not on Foxtel/Cable either! Woohoo! (dances around stupidly). Aha, yay! I'm loving it (cheesy grin).