Wow, look at the reviews I've got! That's amazing! Thanks a lot guys! I hope I'm not updating too slow 'cause the last thing I wanna do is make my readers wait ages for an update.

Keep all the reviews coming, as this is the highest number of reviews I've ever had for only three chapters. My Internet connection isn't working very well, it keeps disconnecting me before I can post a chapter so please bear with me!

A Life not worth living

Chapter 4 – Following the footsteps of the devil

"I can't believe this, I just can't believe this…" whispered Tyson. He was tending to what he could of Max'x injuries. Ray was helping him and Kenny had gone downstairs to phone an ambulance. Max's Uncle had managed to escape and Kai had gone looking for him. Kenny came back into the room.

"An ambulance is on its way. Want me to get a blanket or something?"

"Yeah, better keep him warm until it arrives" Kenny nodded at Tyson and walked back out again. Tyson turned and looked at Ray who hadn't said a word since Max lost consciousness. He placed a hand on the older teen's shoulder. "He'll be all right, don't worry. We came just in time"

"Still, he knew what was happening and didn't tell me the complete truth. I never knew he was being beaten so badly…"

"None of us did, don't blame yourself. Max must have a good reason for not telling us" Ray sighed and looked at Tyson.

"He did" Tyson gave him a confused look.

"He did?"

"Yeah, earlier on in your kitchen. Before you came in telling us about Kai and Kenny's match he told me that he couldn't tell us what was really going on because we would get hurt by whoever was hurting him"

"Ray why didn't you say something?"

"Because Max asked me not to tell anyone until he thought you guys were ready to know" Tyson looked at his beaten friend lying before him and then closed his eyes. They heard the front door open and people coming up the stairs. Paramedics came into the room and saw the young boy on the floor.

"Christ, what happened here!" said the first. A second came up behind him.

"Sorry boys I'm gonna have to ask you to move" Tyson and Ray went and sat on the bed as two more came in along with three police officers. Kenny came in without a blanket and was made to sit on the bed as well. They were questioned as to what had happened and were allowed to go to the hospital and wait for Max.

"Wait sir, what about the man that did this to Max? Aren't you going to send officers to look for him?" asked Tyson.

"I'm afraid we can't do anything until we investigate this house and question the young boy who was attacked"

"But he nearly killed my best friend and…"

"I'm sorry young man but until someone helps us identify the culprit there's nothing we can do" The policeman left the room and Tyson sat back down on the bed.

"Cops are useless…" he mumbled.

"At least he's gonna try Tyson, it takes time to solve a crime" said Kenny. They were cut sort but a sudden outburst from Ray who had just punched the wall in anger.

"Hey, dude take a chill pill"

"Tyson I'm not in the mood for playing games. That bastard, excuse me, is out there, probably pleased with himself while Max has to be taken to hospital. I'm not having it and I'm going looking for him" He walked towards the doorway but stopped when Tyson blocked.

"Kai is already out there after him. I think it's best we just go with the police to the hospital, we don't need anyone else getting hurt or disappearing after a madman" Ray sighed.

"I suppose so…"

Max's Uncle had lead Kai to an abandoned warehouse about 5 miles from where they found Max. The half-drunk man staggered into the rotting building and disappeared into the dark. Kai secretly followed him inside. Only the lights in the streets outside gave light to the old building and inside was extremely dark. Large puddles had softened the ground and water dripped from the ceiling. Kai looked up to find several floors leading higher up into more darkness.

A coughing noise a few floors up told Kai where to go and he slowly crept upwards. As he came to the third floor a light shone from behind a cracked wall. As he walked round the wall he came across a small room covered in newspaper clippings…

"…of us" he whispered. Hundreds of newspaper clippings from the past two years were all about the same thing: the Bladebreakers. Each one either had a small column on them or pictures of the whole team. They all had their heads circled, apart from Kenny, and they were numbered. Max had a one beside him, Tyson had a four, Ray had a three and Kai had a two.

"What do they mean?" he thought aloud, running his had over the numbered heads.

"You've been put in the order that I want you" The teen looked round at the man he had been following. He walked towards the young boy but Kai just backed away from him. "Aww, ya scared? Good" His voice was slurred slightly from the alcohol he had consumed earlier.

"Why did you do that to Max? Who are you?" The man just laughed. "I'm asking you a question, answer me!"

"Ooo, not very patient are we?" He took a seat from beside him and sat down. "You wanna know?"

"If you don't mind"

"Ever since that little waste of space was born all my brother ever did was talk about how great he was. He never came to see me anymore, always forgot to phone me or come out for a drink with me, and when he did remember it was always, ' I can't because I need to look after Max' What about me? My brother and I always did things together until that little shit came along"

"So when you had to look after you decided to beat him because his own dad wanted to spend time with him?" Kai's eyes widened as what had just been said sunk in. "Wait, that means…"

"Slow aren't ya?"

"You asshole!" The man laughed and stood up.

"Now, see that?" He pointed to the numbered picture. "Max was number one, now whose number two?" An evil smile creeped onto his face. The younger teen growled at him and then tried to run for it. He got past the flying chair that was thrown at him but he didn't get past the two large hands that grabbed him from behind and threw him into a pillar. Kai's blade fell out of his pocket and the man picked it up, throwing it out the window. Before he even had a chance to get up he was pinned to the ground.

"Now" said the slurred voice, "Let's have some fun"

Ray, Tyson and Kenny sat in the waiting room. They had been there for three hours now and were getting restless. Kenny had fallen asleep on the chairs, Tyson had been sitting and walking about and, well doing anything that would keep him from being bored. Ray had been sitting in the same seat for the whole three hours, saying nothing. A doctor came out of the nearby room and walked towards them.

"You three must be real good friends to this boy if you stayed for the whole three hours"

"He's our best friend and we don't plan on leaving until we know how he is" Tyson walked up to the doctor. He sighed at Tyson and nodded his head, indicating for them to follow him. Kenny was left sleeping on the chairs. "We've put him in a dim room as too much light may give him a headache and cause dizziness" They went into the room that the doctor had just come out of. It was dark and only a small lamp lit the room.

"Please don't stay too long as we need to let him sleep" The boys nodded as the doctor left the room. Max was sitting up slightly and smiled when they came in.

"Hey buddy, how ya feeling?" asked Tyson.

"Sore and tired"

"I'm not surprised," added Ray as he sat on the end of the bed.

"You're not the only one who's tired, Kenny fell asleep while we waited outside for you" said Tyson. Max gave a small laugh.

"Max, why didn't you tell us how serious this was?"

"Ray, I told you before, I didn't want you guys to get hurt"

"But who was the man that did this to you?" asked Tyson. Max sighed and looked at his hands.

"It was my Uncle" He closed his eyes as he heard the gasps from his friends. "He's always hated me and I've never known why exactly"

"Don't worry bud, with us around he'll never lay a finger on you again" said Ray.

"Thanks guys" The door opened and Kenny walked in with Dizzi in hand.

"Guys look at this" He opened the laptop and pointed to a map of the town where a little red dot was flashing. "That's Dranzer's energy which means that's where Kai has gone"

"What do you mean Dranzer's energy? Where's Kai?" asked Max.

"He went after your Uncle after we stopped him and we didn't know where they went" stated Ray.

"But, he's five miles from here"

"Kenny, come with me" said Tyson.

"What? I can't walk that far!"

"It's not that far, you're just lazy"

"I am not!"

"Then prove it by coming with me"

"Fine! Ray can you look after Dizzi please!" He threw the laptop on Ray's lap and ran out after Tyson.

"Um, sure" Max laughed as his friends exited the room in less than two seconds.

"They always know how to put on a show even when they're not trying" both boys laughed. The doctor came back in.

"Max what did you say to them?" The young boy just shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry but I'm afraid you're gonna have to leave now" the doctor said to Ray.

"No wait, can Ray stay here with me? I feel better when I'm with my friends"

"Ok then, if it helps. But only he can stay with you"

"That's all right. I only need one friend" The doctor walked back out again, shutting the door. Max turned to Ray.

"I don't want to be by myself tonight"

"I wasn't planning on leaving anyway. The doc would have had to drag me out" They both laughed again, enjoying each other's company.

"TYSON I'M NOT AN OLYMPIC ATHLETE, WAIT UP!" shouted Kenny. Tyson ignored his friend and ran around the street corner where he finally stopped. Kenny ran round the corner and into the back of Tyson, knocking them both to the ground.

"Nice one Chief"

"Sorry" They stood up and looked down the street. "This is where Kai's blade should be"

"And hopefully Kai himself" added Tyson. They proceeded down the dark street until a large building appeared across the street. It looked abandoned and creepy in the night. "Think it's over there?"

"I hope not!" Kenny followed Tyson across the road anyway and then something red caught his eye. "Look over there" A small, red glow emitted from the grass and they ran to it.

"Dranzer" Tyson picked it up and looked at the shiny object in his hand. "Maybe Kai's in there" He went to walk to the warehouse but Kenny stopped him.

"If Kai's in there then that may mean Max's Uncle could be in there as well. If that's the case then we should get the police here as soon as possible" Tyson sighed and clutched the blade.

"All right. Come on chief!" He ran back the way they came, determined to help catch the man that hurt his best friend.

"Not again! Tyson…TYSON WAIT UP!"

Kai tried moving but it was no use, his hands had been tied too tightly. Max's Uncle laughed as he watched the teen try to move.

"You're pathetic, but I guess you'll have to do until I get Max back" Suddenly faint shouting was heard outside. He walked over to the window and looked past the grounds to the street. "Well, well, well what do we have here?" He smiled and looked at his prisoner. "Looks like your friends have come to save you" He picked up the shorter male and carried him to the window so he could look.

Kai's eyes widened as he saw Tyson and Kenny below. Did they know where he was? Guys please find me, he thought. Then he remembered that his blade had been thrown down there. Come on Dranzer let them know where you are. His eyes were drawn to a small red glow not far from where his friends were standing. He saw them run over and pick up his blade.

"That's your stupid bit thingy isn't it?" His head was pulled back so the man could whisper in his ear. "If they find us because of you're little bird then you won't live to see the light of day!" he hissed. They watched as Tyson went to run in but Kenny stopped him. His heart sank as he watched them run back the way they came. Kenny's voice was heard echoing through the night.

"…TYSON WAIT UP!" No, he thought, don't leave me. He went to shout until, suddenly, he was thrown to the floor and a hand wrapped its self around his neck.

"Because of you we were almost discovered!" He suddenly grinned. "So, I'm gonna do to you what I did to the little blond shit that you call your friend" The young teen felt a hand crawl up his leg and he started to panic. He couldn't move and cried out when his neck was bitten. He began to cry as the hand began to remove his trousers…

Know what the best thing about writing fics like these? GETTING TO TORMENT THE READERS WITH CLIFFYS!!!!!!!!

Just kidding, I think it makes a story more intense if you put in a few cliffys. Anyway keep the reviews coming and if you have any ideas as to what you want to read in this story then let me know! SEE YA UNTIL NEXT TIME!