SR: Har! Here's the next chapter people. We've got no school today so…party! Anyway, I nearly killed my brain trying to figure out where to go with this story. The final idea came with help from a comment left by Droopy. So if you like this chapter then you owe it to him/her.

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Tables Turned
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"Captain Tala, back to your chair." Brooklyn said slowly as he locked eyes with the other redhead. Tala looked around him before he took a step towards the chair. A hand on his shoulder stopped him and he turned to look at Rei who shook his head. "Captain? If you don't do as you're told then you condemn your friends to an untimely death."

Tala shrugged Rei's hand off and went to sit himself back down on the hard wooden chair.

"Alright Brooklyn, I'm sitting." He snapped. Brooklyn simply gave him a catty smile and an 'I-knew-you-would' look.

"Smart choice." He turned his attention back to his other captives before even bothering to tie Tala up "You again!" He yelled at Rei. Giving an almost inaudible growl he crossed the room to grab the neko-jinn but found his path blocked by very imposing Kai Hiwatari. Brooklyn glared at the prince before shrugging. "As you please." He smiled.

"As I please?" Kai's hand shot forward and grabbed Brooklyn's shirt collar. Leaning forward he pulled the boy's feet out from under him and let them both fall to the ground. Brooklyn is like a cat and cats always land on their feet. Pity Kais always land on Brooklyns.

"Get off me!" Brooklyn yelled as he tried to push the heavier fighter off of him but Kai refused to budge. Behind him he could hear Alderians drawing their weapons. The lack of any more sound was an indication that Mariah and Rei had taken up offensive positions and the guards were hesitating in attacking them.

"Tala, come here!" Kai yelled and the redhead jumped up to obey the order. "In my back pouch is a firechain bomb…I don't give a damn if you don't know what that is. Just get it!" He yelled at the confused look on Tala's face.

Tala flipped open Kai's pouch and pulled out the compact object.

"Ok. Go and pull all the clothes out off the dresser and put them all on top of the bomb. Go!" Tala hurried across the room and began yanking any form of clothing he could find out of the closet. By the time he was done a large pile of clothing lay on the floor with the bomb firmly snugged in the middle.

Kai winced as the sound of metal hitting metal reached his ears signaling that Rei and Mariah were now fighting with the Alderians. Speaking of the wretches…Kai looked down at Brooklyn who was glaring hatefully up at him.

Tala slid next to him. "It's done though I don't know why." He turned his attention to Brooklyn. "Mariah give me one of your knives." He yelled and the she-fighter obliged him by throwing one of her weapons by his foot. Tala picked the knife up. "Game over." He said to Brooklyn and got ready to bring the knife down but several long strings of curses from Kai stopped him. "What?"

"I have a better idea. He's better use to us alive. Think about it Tala, he's a valued soldier in the Alderian army. We could bargain with him." Kai said. Tala's blue eyes glimmered as he caught on to what Kai was implying. "Right, take him." Kai said and hauled both himself and Brooklyn upright before pushing the hateful redhead to Tala who twisted Brooklyn's arm behind his back and placed the knife at his throat.

"Fight and you're dead." He whispered.

"Listen up!" Kai's voice boomed loudly in the room causing everyone to stop their fighting. "Alderians, drop your weapons or we'll kill your Captain." Kai said and motioned to Brooklyn and Tala.

Glaring the Alderians dropped their weapons.

"Good." Kai said. "Now everyone in the closet." He pointed to the small thing which didn't look like it would be able to hold the fifteen odd soldiers that were being directed to go in there. None the less they marched into the confined space and held their heads high even when Mariah kicked the closet door shut.

"Kai, what're you playing at?" Rei asked as everyone looked at him expectantly, even Brooklyn, for an answer. Not bothering to answer Kai poked his head into the hallway and then exited the room only to soon return with a torch in his hand.

"Everyone out of the room." He said briskly. Tala and Brooklyn both understood what Kai was going to do since they knew about the bomb. Mariah and Rei had been to busy fighting to notice. "Move."

Tala grabbed some rope off of the wall and told Rei to tie Brooklyn's hands together.

"How am I supposed to climb down the rope if my hands are tied?" Brooklyn asked as he peered over the balcony edge.

"Don't worry about it…" Tala replied with a hint of amusement lacing his voice. "Me and Rei know what we're going to do."

Mariah and Rei had both clambered down the rope by the time Tala was done answering Brooklyn.

"Alright Tala. I'm ready." Rei called up. Brooklyn frowned and then his eyes widened in shock when his two feet left the balcony.

"What the heck do you think you're doing? Put me down." Brooklyn demanded but Tala paid him no heed. The Alderians face paled a bit as he realized what Tala intended on doing. "Don't you dare!" He yelled but it was to late and Tala tossed him off the balcony edge.

It was a short fall into Rei's waiting arms. If he wasn't so sure that he'd throw up then Brooklyn would have started cursing like a sailor. As it was he thought it best to keep his mouth closed.

Tala shimmied down the rope and ruffled Brooklyn's hair when he got to the ground. "See? That wasn't so bad."

"I-I-I hate you all!" He yelled and spat out curses that would have made Kano proud. Tala wrenched Brooklyn from Tala. He was going to attract a guard or something.

"Shut up or I'll kiss you." He snapped. Mariah would have made a lewd remark if it weren't for the fact that she was busy leaning against Rei from laughter. She was trying to stifle it but it still came out in the occasional burst or noise. Rei was trying to tell her to keep it down but it was hard since he was choking on his own laughter.

Brooklyn just scowled at each of them in turn.

"Quiet down there!" Kai hissed causing them all to look up. He disappeared from view for a moment and when he returned he didn't have the torch. The two-toned fighter nearly scrambled down the rope before running towards the side door. "I'd run fast…" They did.

Garland was walking down the castle halls towards Brooklyn's room to make a report on the most recent firechain attacks earlier in the day when he heard a dull thud.

Before he could contemplate the sound the entire world erupted into noise and fire. The silver-haired man was thrown backwards down the hall as Brooklyn's room door was smashed to pieces and fire licked out of the room.

Garland had enough sense to not stay lying on the floor in such a dangerous situation. Scrambling upright he grit his teeth at the firey chaos in front of him before retreating down the hall. Once at a safe distance he turned to look back.

Guards were rushing to the area from the sudden burst of noise and they clustered around Garland. The fighter was oblivious to this though as he stared down the hall. That had come straight from Brooklyn's room and there was no way anyone could have survived that at close range.

Returning to his senses he began barking out orders to the guards but he couldn't get rid of the thought that his friend was lying dead in the inferno.

Kai and Co.

They group ran as fast as they could towards the forest. Every now and then they would look back to see the damage they had caused with the bomb.

"When we get the castle back, you owe me a new room Kai." Tala said and turned to look at his prince who merely smirked in response. Brooklyn had been thrown unceremoniously over Kai's shoulder since he couldn't run to fast with his hands tied. He was yelling and screaming as his bright eyes fixated on the burning area of the castle. All those soldiers were now dead.

Loud cheers reached them as they refocused their attention to the forest, which was looming closer and closer. Outlaws and nobles alike were dancing and cheering as they got closer. Ozuma and Max high-fived each other and Suma had Enrique and Oliver in a hug that had both smaller fighters dangling in the air. Kano was leaning against a tree and looked bored but the smirk on his face showed he was pleased.

Shrill whistles could be heard as Set expressed his happiness on a well-done mission. Tundra was jumping up and down hugging Hilary and another outlaw at the same time. Overall everyone was cheering and yelling as they slowed to a halt.

"Way to go guys. You did it!" Max yelled and slapped Rei on the back.

"Good job, I'm guessing that explosion was your doing?" Set asked.

You guys are great and awes- what's he doing here?" Tundra said and pointed a slender finger at Brooklyn who had been redeposited on the ground and scowled at her.

"Well, we figured that it would be better if we kept him alive since we could use him as a trade or something." Rei said and this got him several nods of agreement.

"And if that doesn't work well then I'm sure Tala could think of another use for him." Mariah said laughing. Rei took off with laughter as well. Tala just shook his head and Brooklyn blushed an angry red. Kai and the rest of those present were left in the dark as to what was so funny.

Tala looked like he was going to say something when Suma swept him into a hug. "Good to see you again Captain."

"Suma…I can't breathe!" Tala managed to gasp out. The rest of the outlaws all gave their greetings to Tala. Max gave him a smile and a nod while Kano gave him a glare but then sighed and nodded. Set and Ozuma stuck their tongues out childishly.

"Nice to see you two again…" Tala replied dryly.

"Huh, whatever." Set replied. "C'mon, everyone back to camp. The sun's going to rise soon and we haven't slept yet. There's work to be done in the morning you know."

Everyone groaned except Brooklyn who seemed to have decided that no one present was worth talking to.

They trudged back to camp with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction settling in them. It wasn't so much that they had proven to the enemy that they were a threat but that they had proven to themselves that were a threat. That they could win.

The entire walk there Brooklyn was silent as he contemplated how he was going to escape. His green eyes narrowed slightly as Tala directed him to the tent he'd be staying in. To say that he wasn't overly comfortable with the other boy at the moment would be an understatement.

"Alright, you just keep quiet and don't move." Tala said as he shoved Brooklyn through the flaps of the tent. He considered running for a moment since he wasn't tied to the ground or anything but decided that he wouldn't get to far with his hands tied.

"How boring." Brooklyn said with a sigh. "And the day was going so well." He sat himself down on the makeshift bed and looked around the small tent. There wasn't anything in it except for the bed he was sitting on.

"Back." Tala said as he entered the tent with a bag underneath his arm. Brooklyn could also see the glint of a sword as Tala set the bag and other items on the ground.

"Where did you get the sword from? I disarmed you." Brooklyn asked.

"Yeah but when I was dealing with the outlaws, Set refused to let me use my own sword and instead gave me one of his spare ones. The difference in weight was enough to make me less of a threat. He never got rid of my sword though so I just went and reclaimed it." Tala answered.

"Right…"Brooklyn said. He gave a yelp of surprise when Tala yanked him off of the bed and onto the ground. "What the heck?"

"Just hold still. I need to make sure you don't run off during the night." Tala filled in as he began tying a complicated knot around Brooklyn's neck. Once that was done Tala tied the other end of the rope to his own wrist and then climbed into the bed. The rope left enough slack so that Tala could roll over in his sleep without dragging his captive with him but Brooklyn would have to keep close to the bed or risk suffocation.

"I really don't like you…" Brooklyn muttered angrily as he tried to make himself comfortable on the dirt floor.

"Don't care…" Tala muttered. "Just shut up and go to sleep." With a final tirade of curses, Brooklyn let slumber claim him.

SR: Mwah, not sure I liked this chapter but that's not the point of me leaving my comments here I suppose. I love all you people who reviewed me and I hope you keep doing so. Now review!