Author Notes: This has to have been my favorite chapter I've written so far and that's why it took so long to update. So I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.

            Tala awoke to the all to familiar gloomy surrounding of his cell. Nothing within him didn't hurt from the usual beatings from Boris and Voltaire.

            What did I do? Why must I suffer when…No! This has nothing to do with him! It's not his fault I'm in this mess. I'm the one to blame.

            But Tala couldn't help but wonder why Kai was allowed to be happy and free, while his once best friend is stuck in a torture center.

            He seemed different once he left us for good. He seemed truly happy. Hmph, it figures. He said he'd never leave the Abbey. He was always saying how he was and that he wouldn't trade his life for anything. That sure didn't last long.

            But really Tala didn't want to hate Kai, because it was him who had taught Tala everything.

                                                            *Flashback*

            How'd I get stuck with such a loser? I bet he can't even beyblade! I shouldn't have to waste my time training some worthless nobody!

            "Tala let me introduce you to your roommate and trainee. You will treat him with high respect and teach him everything you know. While he is here you'll be held responsible for all of his actions. This is Kai Hitawari." Boris emphasized his last name.

           

            "You mean I have to train…" Tala shockingly said.

            "Yes you do. So I would suggest you watch yourself and him." Boris said before locking the two boys in the now cramped cell.

            Tala turned around and greeted his new roommate with a death glare. Kai only shrugged it off and plopped down on his thin mattress. Tala retreated to his side of the room and sat on his own mattress. Neither of them spoke or glanced at the other for an hour.  Curiosity about his new roommate finally overwhelmed Tala and caused him to spark a conversation.

            "Tell me this. Why is that the son of a rich and famous millionaire is in the worst pit hole in the world?"

            "I'm not his son."  Kai coldly spoke his first words to Tala.

            "Oh. Then what are you to him?" Tala inquired now more curious than ever.

            "I'm his grandson. Now what about you. Don't you have someone that should be watching? A mother or father?"

            "As far as I'm concerned, they're both dead to me." Tala bitterly responded.

            Any parent, who abandons their child to a place like this, doesn't deserve the title of parent.

           

            "And what about your parents. Don't they care that your new lifestyle is below a prisoners?" Tala continued with his questions.

            "Both of them died." Kai said frigidly.  It was obvious Voltaire had subjected Kai to the lessons he taught at the Abbey. Kai continued, "Both of them were murdered when I was young."

            "Murdered? By who?" Tala was beginning to take an interest in his new roommate.

            "Voltaire." Kai, who seemed mesmerized by the wall, answered.

            Both boys were now silent, each of them reflecting on their pasts and how they came to be where they are. They each wondered what obstacles lay ahead of them and how they would survive knowing that they were at the mercy of a killer. The two reached the same conclusion in the end. They'd have to rely on each other or probably die.

            "Listen. It doesn't matter what has happened to us in the past. Whether it was good or bad we have to move on and face the next thing head on." Tala stated. Kai nodded in agreement.

            "So my name is Tala." Tala outstretched his hand toward Kai.

            "I'm Kai." He said shaking Tala's hand. Though no other words were exchanged the rest of the night, it became clear to each of them that they had formed an unbreakable alliance. Tala and Kai had both discovered their first friendship in the most unlikely of places.

                                                *End Flashback*

            Tala now recovered on the same crummy bed that had once belonged to Kai. IT was left untouched by anyone and was still as clean as when Kai had left it.

           

            Of course that's no surprise, Kai never slept. Even during the hardest training sessions, he still wouldn't sleep for over four hours. I'll never understand how he did it.

                                                Flashback

            "That was an awesome beybattle!" Tala congratulated Kai on another one of their intense beybattle practices. The two of them always managed to sneak out after practice was over. They were inseparable.

            "Yea it was! I don't think I've ever seen us go at it that hard before." Kai excitedly said.

            "You know what we should do tonight? We should come back and practice more!" Tala happily said.

            Kai hesitated to answer his friend.  If we get caught, we're as good as dead. There is no doubt in my mind we'll get beat to the point of death. But as Kai looked at his best friend's eager face, he caved in and ignored his own reasoning.

            "Sure. I don't mind losing some sleep. I just hope it'll be worth it for you, considering how much I'm gonna cream you." Kai joked.

            "Funny, but I don't see how you could lose any sleep when you don't even sleep to begin with!" Tala laughed. Both boys were caught up in the excitement of their midnight adventure, that they failed to notice Boris trailing close enough to hear their conversation. And as the two boys entered their cell laughing, Boris snickered the entire way to the training room to await the unsuspecting boys.

                                              End Flashback

            That night was horrible. I'll never forget what happened. It was the perfect time for a midnight beybattle. A storm had quickly formed over the city and it stormed like never before. Lightening flashed and blinded anyone onlookers. Thunder could be heard miles away and shook the ground, much like an earthquake. The rain poured down on the roof and sent an eerie sound throughout the Abbey.

                       

                                                Flashback

            "Ha! What luck! No one will ever hear us over the storm. We couldn't have planned this better!" Tala spoke louder with each word just to prove himself right. The rain was coming down faster and harder with every minute. The looming storm only created a scarier atmosphere to Abbey.  But neither really cared when they entered the training room.             Tala ran across the arena and took his place while Kai assumed his own. Both of them readied themselves for the best beyblade they had ever fought.

"Ready! Let it ri-…" Both Tala and Kai stopped in complete shock when they saw Boris emerge from the shadows of the Abbey.

"Well, well, well. You both should know better than to be out past curfew. And believing no one would hear you, how stupidly naïve. You both should know that nothing happens in the Abbey without my knowledge. Or Voltaire's. And since he felt so left out, Voltaire thought up a special treat for you both." Boris evilly grinned.

            Tala and Kai silently walked toward their treat, both knowing that they would greatly dislike it.

            "I'm so sorry, Kai. This is all my fault. If I hadn't insisted upon coming, then we wouldn't be in this mess. I wouldn't blame you if he hate me right now." Tala half sobbed out the last sentence.

            "Hate you? How could I hate you? You're my best friend and believe me, nothing you do will ever change that. Plus it was just as much your fault as it was mine. I knew better than to sneak out and I should have said something about it." Kai remorsefully said.

            Both flashed a quick smile of forgiveness and understanding toward the other then braced themselves for what lay ahead.

            "Kai, Voltaire wishes to see you first." Boris grinned at Kai's misfortunate, but Kai remained his fearless self and walked confidently into his grandfather's office. Tala and Boris remained silently out in front of the door, each one hoping to hear a voice, but only receiving silence.

After a few minutes, Voltaire called to Boris, who walked into the office proud to be acknowledged and hoping to receive some reward. But when he returned, it was obvious he hadn't received anything but a lecture. He was clearly in a state of rage and Tala was practically the cause of it.

"You're going back to your cell, you little brat!" He yelled angrily and jerked Tala down the empty corridor. "For some reason Voltaire doesn't need to see you!" Boris threw Tala up against the wall and came face to face with him. "I don't know what your little buddy said to him, but you're getting off easy compared to what we have planned for him." Boris, in a rage, punched Tala's gut and sent him caving to the ground for air. He then tossed him into the cell without a second thought and proceeded to walk away.

             "What about Kai? What' s going to happen to him?" Tala asked holding his sore gut.

            "Hmph. He'll get what he deserves!" Boris laughed wickedly as he walked, pleased with the situation.

            Oh no! What have I done? I just abandoned my best friend to a murder and a psycho. The two of them will kill him. I have to find a way out of here!

            Tala tried every possible way he could think of to escape, but each one failed. Giving into failure, Tala plopped down on the floor to await his friend.

            I can't believe this. I'm the one who came up with the idea to sneak out and Kai is being punished. They're just waiting for me to crack before my punishment.  Tala began to doze off and eventually fell asleep on the cold stone floor.

                                                End Flashback

            Tala awoke in his own bed to a noise. Boris had evidently come to be positive he awoke for his training.

"Well I hope you got your rest, because after tomorrow, you won't be getting it! Don't worry though, you'll have plenty of time to rest today." Boris opened Tala's cell and yanked him up from his bed. Tala was dragged around till Boris and his reached a part of the Abbey he'd never seen before.

"Welcome to your new room. I hope you find everything you need in there." Boris sarcastically remarked as he threw Tala head on into the dark room.

Tala felt around to try and get his bearings. Above his head came a dim light, bright enough to illuminate a small portion of the cell.

It must still be night. The moon is never that bright in the day. So where the heck am I?

Tala walked from wall to wall, trying to find a doorknob or anything, but only came up with nothing.

           

How great. Boris, that psycho, locked me in a room with no doors and a window I can't reach.

           

Tala caving in to his severe injuries, rested below the window.

           

It's just like before…

                                    Flashback

"And don't you forget that!" Boris shouted to some unfortunate person. The shoutings echoed into Tala's ear and caused him to wake up.

What's he talking about? I haven't done anything.

Just then Tala's eyes caught sight of Boris's victim. It was Kai!

"Why don't you join your trainer now? I think you've caused him enough trouble now!" Boris said tossing Kai's bloody, limp body into the cell and walking away.

            "Kai? Kai! Can you hear me? Are you all right? What…" Tala stopped in midsentence when Kai attempted to sit up.

            "You shouldn't stand up. Just lay down all right? You've got enough injures." Tala sadly said, as Kai caved into exhaustion and passed out on his bed. The thin sheets soaked up the blood that had already seeped through Kai's clothes. His face had turned a ghastly white color from the large amount of blood he had lost.

            What am I going to do? If he doesn't stop bleeding he'll die.

            Tala grabbed all of the blankets from his own bed and wrapped them around Kai's life threatening injures. Within a matter a minutes a red dot formed and began to enlarge.

            He'll never live! He's going to die and it's all my fault.

            Tala dropped to his knees beside Kai and began to do something that he had been forbidden to do the day he arrived at the Abbey. Cry.

            A week later Kai was miraculously back to training with Tala. Neither one them spoke about training extra anymore. While the two were alone in their cold cell one night, Tala asked Kai a question.

            "Why did you take the blame for it that night?" Tala seriously asked.

            "What makes you think I took the blame? Who is to say that they didn't just assume it was me? Don't think I wouldn't deny you were involved. I tried to tell them, but they refused to believe me." Kai said.

            "You lie. I know you didn't do that. So why didn't you the them that it was all my idea!?" Tala fumed. But Kai rolled over and faced the wall.

            "Answer me! It was all my fault you were nearly killed! The least you could do is tell me why you covered for me?!" Tala yelled.

            "Because you're my friend." Kai said still facing the wall.

            "What?" Tala began to question his ears.

            "I said because you're my friend. As much as I hate the abuse they give me, I couldn't live with myself knowing I could have done something to protect you."

            "But it was my fault." Tala, shocked and guilt stricken, replied.

            "Yea maybe. But maybe it was my fault. Who know? But for now, can we just forget it? If you haven't noticed I'm trying to sleep."

            "Oh please. You wouldn't sleep if someone paid you too!" Tala said loudly, just too annoy him.

            "Hey I could sleep if I wanted to. It's just that you won't stop talking." Kai said more awake than ever.

            "Fine, if you're so intent on sleeping, I won't stop you. But after you answer this question."

            "Fine, whatever." Kai attempted to sound annoyed.

            "Why are we friends?" Tala asked.

            I've never had a friend in my life. But then Kai comes along and we become instant friends. It's not like I needed him or anything. I was just fine without our friendship before. So why do I need it now?

            "I don't know." Kai honestly answered. "But I do know you think way too much about this stuff. You need to lighten to up."

            "Oh great advice coming from someone like you. You'd probably fall apart if without that attitude of yours."

            "Okay smarty. I really know or care why were friends and personally it really doesn't matter to me. All I need to know is that we'll be friends."

            "Just to let you know, no matter what happens you'll always be my friend."