Title: Innocence

Author: PandaPjays

Chapter Title: The Awakening

Rating: T

Warnings: See First Chapter

Disclaimer: See First Chapter

Author Note: I love reviews! Reviews are the best thing ever to have been invented! Thanks again to animeobsession for editing. And thanks to Lainyisme for making me sit down and write

Ouch.

Why does my entire body feel like a really big, painful bruise? I'm sure there has to be a reason. Did I fall off a random cliff or… oh that's right.

I think I liked being unconscious better.

Hey wait! Maybe that was all a dream and I'm feeling like this because… well actually I can't think of a reason that I'd be like this but I'm sure Tyson or someone will tell me what happened. And it'll have absolutely nothing to do with Biovolt or insane green-haired guys who have an ego the size of a truck and a fist to match it.

"Glad to see that you're finally awake."

Or I could be in a room in Biovolt recovering from my injuries caused by said insane green-haired guy.

I cracked open my eyes. The red-haired girl was sitting beside my bed. Tahlia, I remembered. I shut my eyes again and willed for her to go away and that I would open my eyes and see that I was in Australia again.

I opened my eyes again. No such luck. Dammit!

And now she's staring at me strangely. Hasn't she ever heard that it's not polite to stare? Oh wait. We're in Biovolt. She probably wouldn't know good manners if they bit her.

"How long have I been out?"

"About two days give or take. I haven't really been paying attention."

At my frown she looked indignant. "What? I was told to stay with you till you woke up! I was more concerned with how fast my bum was going numb than with the passing of time!"

I sat up and looked around me. We were in a shoebox of a room. It was stark white and had a vaguely hospital-like smell about it. The only pieces of furniture in it were the bed I had been lying on and a metal chair that did not look comfortable. There was something about the room that made me feel uneasy.

"You've been here for the past two days?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, so have you," she replied while picking at a loose thread on the bottom of the grey jumper she was wearing. Her dark red hair was cut at the shoulder and she was wearing completely grey clothing. It seemed she didn't share her brother's taste for bright clothes. Wait up… her brother?

I know that she told me that her brother was Tala but I still don't believe it. I mean, sure, they look scarily alike with the red hair and blue eyes but heaps of people look like that. And, anyway, her eyes were a lot darker than Tala's ice blue ones. They kind of looked like blue cat fur. Why do they call it blue anyway? It's more of a grey than anything else but there is a definite hint of blue in the colour. Wait up, what's she doing?

While I had been rambling to myself about cat fur of all things, Tahlia had pressed a button on a hidden panel and had returned to her seat. A hidden door hissed open and three medical-types walked into the room.

That's what was bothering me about the room! Before it opened I couldn't see a door! How did Tahlia get food and water while she was waiting for me to wake up? Did she even get them?

Medical type #1 turned to Tahlia and told her that she could leave. She shot me a sympathetic look before she left the room. Why did that smile make me even more nervous?

Medical type #1 spun around to face me and walked over to my bed. "I'm Dr. Lanzalius and these two are Ivan and Rita. We're just going to be doing a quick check-up to make sure you're fine after that beating you took."

So they wait until after someone has handed me my butt on a platter to do a check-up? Their logic obviously doesn't resemble our Earth-logic.

They went through the entire routine- checking my eyes, ears, mouth etc. I just let them. There really was no point arguing with them.

Eventually they stopped fussing around me and left the room. That was weird. I was expecting something a little bit more sinister like needles and suchfor…

Dr Lanzalius walked into the room with a gigantic syringe in has hands. I knew it! I have bad karma.

"Now I'm just going to take a sample of your blood ok? We've never had a neko-jin here before and we want to have a look at it."

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate needles? It's not the actual needle it's the thought. The mere thought of a piece of metal piercing your skin and going into a vein to… I'm not going to think about that. I'm just going to hold out my arm and let the nice Doctor do his thing.

I held out my arm and he smiled and dabbed a cotton bud soaked in alcohol in the crook of my arm. Why can't he just get it over with? Can't he see I'm about to hyperventilate? I hate needles. They're painful and bad and… OUCH!

Give me no warning what don't you? It's not like Rei needs to know if you're about to shove something into his arm. Why trouble his poor overloaded brain with useless information like that?

Dr Lanzalius pulled out the needle filled with my blood and absently patted me on the head. "Ok, I'll leave you to it then."

With that he left the room, taking my blood with him.

I shook my head sharply, trying to stop it from feeling so light. That movement made the room spin slightly. Did I mention how much I hate needles? Whoever created them was pure evil. Kind of like Biovolt except worse- if that's possible.

Tahlia walked in the room. "Are you ok?" she asked, putting a hand on my shoulder. "The doctors here can be a little bit… eager."

I studied her eyes, trying to get some meaning out of that statement but couldn't find any. Just as well, really. I didn't particularly want to know what she meant.

I managed to smile at her and she grinned. "That's good then. How about we go and get some food? I'm starving."

She grabbed my non-needled ((Is that even a word?)) arm and dragged me out into the corridor. She began to lead me through a dizzying amount of corridors all the while speaking.

"When those doctors came in and told me to leave I was really frightened for you. I'm so glad they didn't hurt you… they didn't did they?"

I shook my head as I started to trot to keep up. Tahlia was about my height but she must have had longer legs or something. I didn't think it was possible to move this fast while still walking.

"Well, that's good. Anyway, as I was saying I left and went to get a drink- I am so glad that you woke up when you did I was starting to feel like a desert. When was the last time you ate?" She asked me as she pushed through a door with the number '316' labelled on it.

"Uh… I ate plane food when I was coming here."

"Well that's hardly food is it? Plane food's more what's left after the real food is taken out and given to first class. Grab a plate and help yourself" With that she dropped my arm and walked over to a stack of plates taking one before going to inspect what was on offer.

I stared around the room. It looked almost exactly like a cafeteria like in those American high school movies that Hilary loves to make us watch. It even had the rather cranky looking cafeteria lady with her ladle of green slop that may have been peas in a past life.

I took a plate and went to load up on food. I really was starving. If what Tahlia said was true I hadn't eaten for a very long time. It takes about two days to fly from Australia to Moscow and I only managed to get one in-flight meal because of that scary old lady. Then it took me about a day to find Biovolt. And I've been unconscious for two days give or take. Needless to say I could feel my stomach trying to digest itself.

With my plate full I looked around the room for Tahlia. I still haven't figured out if I can trust her but she's my only hope of surviving.

She was sitting at a table by herself. She beckoned for me to come and sit with her and I complied. She can't be that bad can she? She seems a lot more relaxed than her brother. That just sounds weird. Tahlia is Tala's sister. Hey! Look at that Tahlia and Tala. I don't think their parents were very imaginative.

She grinned at me. "Sit down and dig in. After we finish eating I have to take you to training." I gave her an incredulous look. "I know you just woke up and all but you can't let that stop you from performing to the best of your ability. It's against the rules here to slack off and you really don't want to break the rules."

"Right."

We finished eating in silence. When we were both done she took hold of my arm again and began to lead me through corridors again. We stopped outside of a door marked '556' and she turned to me, letting go of my arm.

"Ok, I have to go now but remember what I told you about breaking the rules. You don't want to find out why you don't want to be punished. It's bad so don't find out ok? Now anyway, the guy that you're going in to see is called Lieutenant Vladovinsk but just call him Sir. Do whatever he says without question and you should be ok, ok? Good luck." She patted me on the shoulder before walking off, leaving me to walk into the room by myself.

She seems pretty adamant about the 'don't get punished' rule. I guess she's speaking from painful experience. Painful experience that I don't particularly want to have. Ok Rule number one- don't break the rules. Rule number two- if you are an idiot and ignore rule number one don't get caught.

Ok here we go. I pushed through the door and came face to face with one of the scariest people I have ever met.

He was about half my size and had brown hair that was cut in a buzz-cut. He was wearing enormous sunglasses so I couldn't see his eyes. Who wears sunglasses indoors? I know it's good to be sunsmart and all but that's just ridiculous. Does he think he'll get radiation poisoning from the light bulbs?

Wait… this is Biovolt. I wouldn't put it past them.

He was wearing what looked like army reliefs. Is that what they're called? Well anyway was wearing that green patchy looking uniform that army guys wear. He somehow made his entire ensemble look really menacing. I guess this must be the infamous Lieutenant Vladovinsk.

"You're Rei Kon?" He asked. I could feel his glare piercing though those sunglasses. I think I found out who Kai learned his death glare from.

I gulped and nodded. I didn't trust my voice.

GAH! OOF! Can anyone else see those stars or is that just me?

A head came into view above me. Above me? What just happened? I can remember nodding and… scary military guy. He must have hooked his leg behind mine and tripped me over. Why would he do a thing like that?

"That's 'Yes, sir' you got me?"

I started to nod again before remembering and squeaking out a "Yes, Sir."

He nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Good. Ok get up and let's get on with the real work."

Why did I not like the sound of that?

I scrambled to my feet and followed him deeper into the room. From what I could see the room wasn't anything special. It just looked like a basic gym, really. Sure there were small differences like that firing range that we were heading towards…what?

Firing range? When was that in the plan? That means guns and guns are bad. I'm sure that wasn't part of the deal. Wait, I didn't have a deal! Why did I come here? I am so stupid. Good job Rei. Let's go to an evil organisation and use a gun! Isn't that a good idea?

While I was mentally kicking myself we had come to a stop at the front of the firing range.

"I was told that you're pretty much an expert at Beyblading- well you beat Bryan, anyway- such a disappointment that boy- so I've decided to increase your skills in other areas before we refine your skills in that one." He produced a handgun and held it out to me. "Firearms is one of those skills." He shook the gun, trying to draw my attention to it. He needn't have bothered. I was staring at it- willing it to go away. "Take it, boy! It's not going to hurt you!"

I shook my head wordlessly. I refused to take that gun. It was against all of my instincts.

"I'm going to give you one last chance to take it."

I locked my hands behind my back. There go both rules for survival. I hope Tahlia was over exaggerating about the punishment issue. If not I may regret this.

I didn't even see his hand as he reached up to slap me. I heard the thud before the pain registered in my brain. The evil midget had used the hand that was holding the gun and the metal had cut my check. Not that he needed the metal to give his hit extra strength or anything. I think he could take down an ox with a good right hook if he set his mind to it.

I cupped my cheek and felt a steady trickle of blood begin to fall from it. Ouch! I turned my head to glare at him.

He had the nerve to smirk at me. "Have you changed your mind? Or do I have to give you another lesson in disobeying me?"

I decided not to answer. I was too concerned with the skull splitting headache that was developing behind my eyes.

He gave me a grim smile. "You're too stubborn for your own good."

He moved like he was going to hit me on my other cheek and I blocked it but at the last second he reversed the directed and drove his fist into my stomach.

I doubled over, winded, and he jerked up his knee into my face. I did a rather impressive flip before landing painfully on my back. Or at least it would have been rather impressive if it weren't me doing the flip.

I think this guy is a midget-demon from Hell. Maybe I should just take the damn gun. It won't really matter if I don't shoot it at people will it?

I rolled over and stood up shakily. He leered at me. "Had enough?"

I gave him my best Kai-glare and held out my hand for the gun. He smirked and handed it to me. "Thought you might have"

I held the gun awkwardly, trying to touch as little of the metal as possible. It just felt wrong.

The Lieutenant snorted and adjusted my grip until I was holding it properly with a finger on the trigger. "Hold it properly or you're more likely to hurt someone accidentally."

He moved me until I stood in front of a target and gave me headphones and safety goggles before donning his own. "Ok, aim for the dot in the middle of that target."

I looked to where he was pointing and blanched. The target was shaped like a person. It had a white dot roughly in the middle. I guess that was the target he wanted me to hit.

I started to line up my shot when midget-devil put a hand on my shoulder. "How about we make this more interesting? We keep going with this little exercise until you can hit that target ten times in a row. For each time that you miss you will be punished. Ok? Ok."

I sighed and began to aim again when another touch on my shoulder made me turn to him again.

"You might want to take off the safety"

I think I hate this guy.

I lifted up the gun yet again after flicking off the safety switch and tried to aim. The gun was a comfortable weight in my hands. It was strange. I've never held one of these in my life.

I squeezed the trigger with my eyes closed. The bullet went wild and didn't even make the target move let alone hit it in the centre. Midget-man took a pen from his pocket and made a mark on his hand. I know I hate this guy.

I tried three more times unsuccessfully until it finally clicked. The weight was semi-familiar because it was about the same as the weight of my launcher. Maybe if I pretend that I'm launching Driger I might have a bit more success.

Well, it's worth a try, anyway.

I aimed the gun carefully and tried to focus like I would have to if I were trying to launch Driger. I pulled the trigger.

And was rewarded with the sight of the target sporting a lovely new hole in the centre. Score!

I kept on using that technique until I had finished shooting all ten targets. I was quite proud of myself. I turned to Lieutenant Vladovinsk and smirked at him. Bad move.

He smirked back at me and held up his hand with four marks on it.

Maybe if I ran really, really fast he won't be able to catch me. I doubt it though. Maybe I should just stay here and hope that he feels sorry for me. I hope puppy-dog eyes affect him. They're my only hope.

And they're failing miserably.

The evil demon-midget advanced on me. I tried to remain as still as possible. It's not a good idea to move quickly when wild animals are concerned.

The first blow hit me on my temple. I went flying across the room to hit the retaining wall I was standing at only a few minutes ago thinking I'd beaten him.

I began to see spots in my vision and was only vaguely aware of the slamming noise as someone ran into the room.

"Stop it! He did what you wanted! Leave him alone!"

I know that voice! Tahlia to the rescue again? She's like a redheaded angel of vengeance.

Lieutenant Vladovinsk grunted and spoke in rapid Russian to her.

She replied in the same language while making furious hand gestures. He threw up his hands and stalked out of the room grumbling to himself.

Tahlia ran over to where I was. "Are you ok? I knew I shouldn't have left you alone with him. He's horrible isn't he? I'll get some doctors to carry you back to your room ok?" With that she ran out of the room again.

I guess she's not that bad after all. I think I can trust her at least, I thought as I slipped into unconsciousness.

------

Tahlia hung up the phone she had used to call the doctors. She sighed and straightened her clothes before she set off down the hall. She had walked this route so many times she was positive she could do it in her sleep. Finding the door she was looking for she slipped inside without bothering to knock.

"How's our little Rei doing?" the figure sitting behind the desk asked.

"He's a little bit unconscious at the moment, Mr. Boris, Sir. But I think he has begun to trust me."

"Tahlia, my dear, how many times have I told you just to call me Boris?"

"Sorry… Boris"

"Now was that so hard? I'm glad he trusts you. Make sure that you are the only one he trusts and that you have the most influence over him."

"Yes Boris."

"Oh, and Tahlia?"

"Yes?"

"Make sure you're there when he wakes up…again. He seems to be making a habit of collapsing after each training session, isn't he?"

"Yes Boris"

"There's a good girl. Ok, run along."

Tahlia turned and left the room, intending to head straight for the room that Rei was being kept in.

Boris chuckled to himself.

Soon, Rei, you'll be working for me willingly- whether you like it or not.

/pants/ That was a huge chapter. I beat my record by over 1000 words. Please tell me what you think of the latest installment.