Title: Innocence
Author: PandaPjays
Chapter Title: The Test
Rating: T
Warnings: See Chapter One
Disclaimer: See Chapter One
Author Note: /Raises coffee cup to all reviewers/ Thank you so much /drinks coffee/
Anyway, Sorry that this chapter took so long I was going for weekly updates but it looks like bi-weekly is go.
Oh! And also a big thankyou to JuliansGIrl who put up with my whining about a lack of team name and even tried to help me figure out one. And also needs to learn to play chess so I don't thrash her again next time we play.
"WAKE UP!"
What the-huh? My eyes shot open to see Tahlia standing over me.
"When I said you could sleep for a little while I meant a little while. At the risk of a bad pun, it was meant to be a catnap! You've been asleep for almost a day! If you don't hurry up you'll be late for the meeting."
I'm sure that she's making sense in her own world. Thankfully, I don't live on that planet. I shut my eyes again and buried my face into the pillow. "Go 'way" I muttered, sleepily.
I heard Tahlia sigh and begin to walk away. Thank God. I let my body relax again as sleep began to take over.
ARGH!
I think I hate her.
"Are you awake now?" She asked innocently, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Yeah, thanks to you and a freezing bucket of water. How is it possible to get water that cold? I mean, seriously, that was one degree off being ice!
I glared at her from my position, still huddling into my now wet blankets.
"Guess you are, then. Come on. We have to go now. Get changed into some dry clothes and hurry up. We're late already."
Saying that, she walked out of the room and shut the door, leaving me to search for clothes. Finding them, I began to pull them on, still wondering why she had woken me up.
I know that she had to have some reason to throw freezing cold water on me for a reason. She said something about a meeting. Did I have a meeting that I needed to be at? If I did then I can't remember it.
Meeting… meeting with…? Midget? No. If it were a meeting with Midget she wouldn't have let me sleep. She would have just given me more caffeine- or anything else that would keep me awake. I think I'm becoming immune to caffeine- a miracle in itself.
So who would the meeting be with? Apart from Tiny and Tahlia I don't talk to anyone else… The only other person I can think of is Boris…
BORIS! CRAP! MY MEETING'S WITH BORIS!
GAH! I have to hurry up! I'm late! I scrambled into the rest of my clothes and flung open the door before pelting down the corridor.
"Uh… Rei?"
I ignored Tahlia's voice as I ran past her. I didn't even want to think of the punishment for keeping the head of Biovolt waiting for a long time. I was in enough trouble as it was.
"REI, STOP!"
"WHAT!" I yelled over my shoulder at Tahlia. What did she want? Every second that I wasted talking to her was another second that Boris had to think of a suitable punishment for tardiness.
"Boris's room is down that way." She told me; pointing down a corridor I'd run past.
Oh.
This would have been one of those times that I wouldn't have minded the floor swallowing me. Or maybe I could just disappear.
Sadly, neither of those things happened. Red with embarrassment, I started running down the hall Tahlia had pointed down. The sound of another pair of feet running told me that the redhead was right behind me.
I turned my head toward her. "Why'd you let me sleep so late?"
She scowled as we rounded a corner. "I tried waking you up a few times. You just refused to wake up. And, anyway, you were exhausted. I think that Boris would prefer you to be a few minutes late and be coherent rather than on time and dozing off after a few words."
We stopped at the turnoff to the corridor Boris's room was in and caught our breath before walking down the last stretch of hallway.
I opened the door to Boris's room and stepped gingerly inside with Tahlia following right behind me.
"You're late." A cold voice told us from behind the desk at the end of the room.
"I'm sorry, sir. It was my fault. I lost track of time. Did we keep you waiting long?" Tahlia asked him, keeping her voice level and emotionless.
I stared at her. Did she just take the blame for our lateness? But it was my fault. If I hadn't overslept we would have been on time.
"I will see you later so we can talk about your inability to read a clock, Tahlia." Boris told her, coldly.
I opened my mouth to protest but was silenced with a glare from Tahlia. I shot her a confused look before shutting my mouth and facing Boris again.
"So I guess that you're wondering why I called you here?" Boris asked, after a moment of silence.
I stayed silent. Better to not say anything then say something you regret- right? "I'm going to take your silence as a yes then, am I?" Boris asked dangerously.
"Yes, Sir." I told him, not meeting his eyes. It's not a good idea to make eye contact with wild animals. I think that the head of an insanely evil organisation that could have you dipped in a vat of hot oil and served for dinner counts.
"Good, good." He said, relaxing into his chair and smiling in what he thought was a friendly way.
It says a lot about a person when their face has forgotten how to smile.
Boris gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. "Please, sit."
We moved forward and sat in the seats offered to us. God, they were comfortable! I felt like I was being swallowed by the cushioniness of it. Cushioniness… Now there's a word that I would like to see in a dictionary one day…
"Rei? Are you going to answer me or keep sitting there with a stupid grin on your face?"
Don't tell me I spaced out again. Oops, He's looking a tad angry now. Probably should answer him.
"Rei? I can only assume that you've been struck deaf and blind suddenly but some as-of-yet unknown disease."
Definitely should answer him.
"Huh? Uh… Sorry… No disease… Was distracted by the chair… It's very comfortable."
Both Boris and Tahlia stared at me.
"…Sir?" I finished off weakly. I could almost smell the punishment coming.
"Right. Report to Lieutenant Vladovinsk after this meeting. I'm sure that an extra training session will help that attention span of yours."
I suppressed a sigh. "Yes sir." I could tell I was not going to enjoy myself. Any extra time with Midget was a bad time.
"Are you ready to listen now?"
"Yes Sir."
"Good. Glad to hear it. Anyway, as I was saying, the BBA have announced a tournament."
The BBA announced a tournament? They do tournaments? Well, I guess the Worlds are a kind of tournament. Still, never thought of them as the type to hold a tournament for no reason whatsoever… weird.
"Rei, judging by the look on your face your attention seems to have wandered yet again. I would appreciate it if you paid attention to me."
"I'm sorry, Sir" I answered him, looking down at my hands. Why was I finding it so hard to stay on task?
"As I was saying, they've announced a tournament. I want you to enter it, Rei. Tahlia has told me and I have seen for myself that you are an excellent blader. You just need to pass one more test before I will be sure that you are ready."
Another test? They have another test? I think I've been tested-out. Short of anal-probing, I think they've done everything possible.
"What do you want me to do?" I asked him, looking up to meet his eyes. It bloody well better not be anal-probing.
"Prove that you're than the best, of course. It's what you've been working towards all this time. I would be very disappointed if you failed.
Very disappointed, meaning that if I fail I'll probably spend the remainder of my much-shortened life in a broom closet with a cobra?
"Yes sir, who must I defeat?"
Boris smirked and gestured to the redhead sitting beside me.
"Rei, meet your opponent."
I turned and gaped at Tahlia. She was the person I had to beat? Why hadn't she said anything? She didn't seem surprised at all. Did she know what this was about? How could she? I thought she was my friend. I guess I was wrong…
Tahlia nodded at Boris before turning to me. "You won't beat me easily." She warned me in a flat voice.
No. She must have been under orders not to say anything. It'll all be cleared up when we have a chance to talk alone. I just hope that we get that chance soon. I searched her eyes and saw a faint glimmer of regret in them. She didn't want to do this.
"You will face each other tomorrow morning. Until then, I have to speak to Tahlia about timekeeping. Rei, I believe you have an appointment with the Lieutenant. You will find him in the dining hall. Don't be late for the second time today."
I nodded and rose from the chair. "Yes, Sir," I answered Boris before turning and leaving the room.
------
Tahlia sighed as the door clicked shut behind Rei. "I'm sorry for our lateness. The suppressants combined with his training schedule were taking their toll on him. If he didn't have some sleep he probably would have collapsed."
Boris waved away the apology with one hand. "It's quite alright. You only gave me an excuse to keep you here so I could talk to you. How is Rei going? Do you think he will be ready for tomorrow?"
Tahlia nodded. "I'm sure that he will be."
"Remember you cannot go easy on him. He has to be able to beat you if he is going to be of any use to us."
"Of course." Tahlia inclined her head. "He will only win if he deserves to."
Boris smirked at the girl in front of him. "That is what I want to hear."
"Do you want me for anything else?" She enquired.
"Oh, yes. I want you to start lowering his dosage of the suppressant. The crucial stage is over. It's safe for him to be able to remember the people from his past life. He should still remain with us. That, and I want him to be able to remember his old friends if they meet at the tournament. Don't take him off it all at once though. If he remembers too much too fast there would be… dire consequences for his sanity if that happened."
"Yes, Sir."
"Boris."
"Yes, Boris."
Boris nodded in satisfaction. "Ok. I have to go to another meeting now- I trust that you can make your own way out?"
Tahlia nodded and stood up. "I shall see you tomorrow?"
"Yes. If either if you are late I will hold you personally responsible."
Tahlia nodded again before turning and leaving the room.
Once outside, she began to make her way toward the laboratories. She needed to replenish her supply of the memory suppressant she had been using on Rei.
The suppressant had been developed and refined in Biovolt. When Boris had talked about how taking Rei off the drug completely was dangerous he had been speaking in complete honesty.
One of the advantages of having a secret lab that wasn't monitored by any government body was that no one questioned the lab's right to use humans as test subjects.
Tahlia smirked at that thought as she rounded a corner to stand in front of the laboratory door. Maybe after she had done this she could visit Biovolt's homegrown lab-rats?
The redhead's smirk turned to a grin. She had a feeling that she would be seeing her older brother very soon. Maybe visiting them wasn't such a bad idea.
------
"Concentrate!" I dimly heard Midget's voice yell at me. I was two busy watching the fist hurtling toward my face to take much notice of him. I ducked under the fist and caught the arm attached to it, using the momentum of the arm to swing myself around and hook my leg around my assailant's, bringing him to the ground.
I glared down at him. It was the same guy who had beaten me to a little bit of jelly on my first day here. It was nice being able to exact revenge.
He glared back at me and stood up before crouching into a fighting pose. "Let's see you do that again, kitty-cat."
ARGH! I hate it when people call me cat-names.
"Alekzandr! I told you that there would be no talking throughout this training session!" Midget yelled at him, before making his way over and sweeping Alekzandr's legs out from underneath him. He glared into the green haired boy's brown eyes.
"Do not speak again. Do you understand me?"
Alekzandr nodded. Midget snarled and stamped on the boy's stomach, making him yelp in pain. "Address me properly!"
"Y-yes, S-Sir" I heard him gasp out before he lost consciousness.
Midget growled as he looked down at Alekzandr. "Pitiful." He turned his gaze to me and nodded. "Congratulations. As a reward for winning you may leave early. I hear that you have a big day tomorrow. This will probably be the last time we see each other. Good bye."
"Yes, Sir. Thankyou, Sir." I replied before making my way out of the room. Good riddance to bad rubbish. He was actually semi-nice to me back there. I wonder what was up? Probably just had some really nice lunch or something.
------
Lieutenant Il'ya Vladovinsk sighed as he watched the end of Rei's hair disappear past the door. As much as he hated to think it he was going to miss the Chinese boy. It had been comforting knowing that he could do anything he wanted to the boy and Rei would fight back. Very unlike his other pupils who were so used to taking orders and doing what they were told.
Il'ya sighed again and sat on the floor, waiting for Alekzandr to regain consciousness. Until Rei had come along Alekzandr had been his best student. Now he would only ever be compared to the neko-jin. Instead of learning new techniques and mastering them he would be forever trying to equal Rei, the best student that Il'ya had ever taught.
Il'ya had yet to decide if that was a good or a bad thing.
"Sir?" Alekzandr's eyes fluttered open as he regained consciousness. "Are we to train more because of my failure?"
Il'ya shook his head as he looked down at the green haired boy. "No. Go to the infirmary and get your wounds seen to. We will continue training tomorrow."
Alekzandr struggled to his feet and bowed to the much shorter man sitting in front of him, wincing at the pain the movement caused. "Yes, Sir."
Il'ya watched Alekzandr leave the room, clutching his stomach that Il'ya had stamped on only a half hour before. Alekzandr would not be angry with anyone other than himself for that pain.
Alekzandr did not know how to resent others and he was weaker for it.
------
I lay on my bed and tried to fall asleep. Instead of having the nice peace of sleep envelope me I kept asking myself questions. Where was Tahlia? Why had she been forced to not tell me anything? And most importantly. Why was Midget being nice?
That last question was to one that plagued me the most. He had almost seemed… proud. The entire time I've known him he's been nothing but a tyrant. Like Napoleon… in stature at least… and Russian… It's just strange and unnatural.
"Rei? Are you awake?"
I opened my eyes and glared at the redhead standing above me for the second time that day.
She looked hurt and took a step back. "I'm sorry. I just… Don't worry about it." She said finally before starting to walk down the hallway, away from my room.
I sprang out of bed and ran after her, catching her wrist in my hand. "What? What the hell was that all about in Boris's office?" I demanded.
She sighed and expertly twisted her wrist, leaving my hand with nothing but air to hold. "I was coming to apologise. I was told not to tell you – ok? It's not like I wanted it to turn out like this."
I sighed and leaned against the wall. "But it did. Do we have to fight tomorrow?" I asked her, hoping for an alternative.
"Yes. And you have to beat me. If you don't we're both screwed. You, because you'll probably have an untimely demise in a back alley somewhere. Me, because I won't have a team mate."
I gaped at her. "Is that all you care about? That you won't have a team mate?"
"Of course not! It just came out like that. And before you ask no, I can't let you win. Boris will be watching and he'll know if I'm holding back. You just have to be better than me, ok?"
I nodded slowly. She seemed different. More… preoccupied.
"Good. Now that that's settled you need sleep. You have a big day tomorrow."
"No bigger than yours." I reminded her.
I was rewarded with a grin. "Ok then. If I get some sleep, you get some sleep. Deal?"
"Deal."
(-)
I woke up with my head already buzzing with random thoughts. I shook my head trying to clear it. Instead I very clearly saw a semi-familiar face in my minds eye. I knew that I knew him. How could I forget someone with hair like that? How could I fail to remember those markings on his face? Most importantly, how could I forget those piercing crimson eyes? And yet I had. I knew that I knew him but couldn't put my finger on why.
Then I remembered. He had been one of the holographic people they had made me fight a few days ago. What was his name? I can't remember it… K- something. It was short… KAI! Why the hell could I see Kai's face?
As soon as I had figured out who he was Kai disappeared from my minds eye. I shook my head and began to get dressed. It wouldn't do for me to be distracted today. Any other day, maybe. But not today.
Speaking of which. I have to be in the practice arena in… I checked the clock. CRAP! 10 MINUTES!
I ran around my room, pulling on random clothes before realising that even worse than being late was looking late. With that thought in mind I began to pull clothes on in a slightly gentler way, trying to calm myself down by telling myself that the clock was obviously wrong and I hadn't just slept for eleven hours.
I half-walked half-ran out of my room once I had clothes on and had applied that blasted mascara Tahlia always forced me to wear. I knew that, even today, if I turned up without it on she would frogmarch me to the nearest bathroom and put it on herself.
I tried to stop my left eye from tearing as I ran. In my haste I had stabbed myself with the wand. Why the hell didn't they come with warnings?
I saw the doors of the practice hall just ahead of me and I sped up. If I was lucky I wouldn't be late. But only if I was very lucky.
I held out my hand to push open the door and continued to run. My hand hit the door with a dull thump and I skidded through to meet the shocked gazes of Tahlia and some random scientific type. I looked around and gulped as I met the glare of Boris. Once he was sure he had my attention he looked up and pointedly checked the clock above my head.
I turned around and looked at it. OH MY GOD! I'M ON TIME!
"So glad to see that you have joined us Rei." He said in a tone that suggested anything but. "Now that everyone's here, shall we begin?"
The scientific-type nodded his head and turned to Tahlia and I. "Please stand on one of the platforms." He instructed indicating to two red patches in the ground about 10 metres apart. "Preferably not the same one." He added as both Tahlia and I began to head toward the one that was furthest away.
I sighed and took my place on the closest one. When Tahlia had reached the other platform the ground lurched beneath me. I looked down in panic thinking that it was an earthquake before I realised that the red platform I was standing on was beginning to rise. When it had reached about ten metres off the ground the platform stopped moving suddenly, making me lose my balance and do a face plant into the red surface.
I sat up and glared at Tahlia who was doing her best to keep a straight face. So much for natural neko-jin grace.
"This battle will have no time limit and the only rule is that your blades must not leave this room. The person whose blade stops spinning first loses." The scientific-type yelled from the ground before leaving the room with Boris presumably to watch our match from another room.
Sure enough, Boris's voice soon crackled over a speaker.
"3…"
I settled into a comfortable standing position and reached behind my back to find my launcher, which I had tucked into the back of my pants.
"2…"
I pulled it out and stuck my hand into my pocket, pulled out Driger. Feeling his familiar weight in my hand, I quickly attached him to my launcher.
"1…"
I inserted the ripcord and spared a quick glance over to Tahlia who was doing the same, an expression of fierce concentration on her face.
"LET IT RIP!"
I pulled on the ripcord savagely and watched in satisfaction as Driger flew off my launcher to land perfectly in the centre of the room. I smirked; my accuracy had really improved since I had come here.
My smirk turned to a scowl as a light blue blade flew into Driger, making it do a flip before landing on its base, wobbling slightly.
"REI! Concentrate!" I heard Tahlia yell at me. Why do people tell you to concentrate anyway? It only distracts you.
Nevertheless, I focused my attention on the battle taking place below me. In short, Tahlia's blade was whaling on me. I could barely see it, it was moving so fast. Deciding that two could play that game, I made Driger begin to speed up by circling the room.
When I judged that he had reached his maximum speed I left him to continue circling the room as a little white blur. I started to search the floor for Tahlia's blade.
My eyes widened in shock as I saw it just sitting in the middle of the room, a sitting duck for my attack. What's she up to?
I mentally shrugged and contacted Driger again. I pointed out Tahlia's blade to him and I felt the tiger agree with my plan. Hopefully, we could get the blue blade to stop spinning with one attack.
"GO DRIGER!" I yelled, signaling him to stop circling the room and head toward Tahlia's blade. "GATLING CLAW!" I shouted to him.
I felt it as Driger took some of my energy to use the attack. Although my bit beast was strong, he could not manage an entire battle running on his own steam, not if he wanted to survive. We had worked out how he could siphon off some of my energy very soon after I had received him. It allowed him to keep battling for much longer periods of time.
"KIRIEN!" I heard Tahlia shout at her blade. In answer, a bright light shone out of it and the faint image of a blue, black and white bird rose above it. "FLYING CURL!"
I watched Kirien intently, trying to figure out what it would do. I trusted Driger to counter attack whatever happened but still, I was interested.
Driger's blade glowed with a bright light as well and the image of a running tiger appeared above it.
The tiger pounced at the bird, claws outstretched, trying to catch it. At the last minute the bird ducked behind the feline and dug her claws into his back, making Driger yowl in pain.
I felt a searing pain in my back as well. One disadvantage of sharing our energy was that we also shared pain. I gasped and automatically felt my back, feeling for the gouges I knew were there. What met my hands was clean, unbroken skin. We shared pain but not the physical markings of it. I scowled and focused my attention back on the game, ignoring the pain still burning my back.
The tiger had managed to turn and swipe the bird off his back and had pinned her down. The bird struggled against her captor by raking her sharp claws up and down the tiger's fore paws.
I felt each and every tiny nick that she made on Driger's legs like she was doing it to my own hands. Growling, I ignored the pain and watched as the tiger shifted his weight so he only rested on three feet instead of four, bring his fourth claw above his head to deliver the killing blow.
The tiger brought his claw down at lightning speed. I shut my eyes as the claw connected with the birds head, not wanting to see the result. When I opened my eyes again, both spirits had disappeared and only one blade was still spinning.
I grinned as I saw the familiar spinning form of Driger next to the still one of Tahlia's blade, Kirien.
I looked at the redhead on the opposite platform. Or at least tried to look at her. The red platform was empty. I looked down at our blades again to see that Tahlia had reached them and picked up hers.
"Are you crazy?" I shouted down at her as I felt the platforms begin to lower. "You could have been killed! Or broken you legs or something else!"
Tahlia frowned at that thought and sat down on the floor cradling her blade.
"I don't care. I had to make sure she was alright." She said so quietly that I wouldn't have heard it if I hadn't had extra sensitive ears.
When the platform was a metre above the ground I jumped off it and ran to where she was sitting, recalling Driger to my hand as I did so. "Is she?" I asked as I crouched down beside Tahlia.
The redhead looked up at me and gave me a wet grin. "She will be." She popped the bit chip out of the blade and showed it to me. "Isn't she beautiful? I've had her for years. This is the first time we've lost."
I stared at the bird pictured on the chip. "What is she?" I asked, trying to ignore the tears running down Tahlia's face. If I had said anything about them both she and I would be embarrassed and it would be uncomfortable for both of us. It was better just to pretend it wasn't happening.
"Kiri's a bluejay." She replied, before the sound of an opening door drew her attention. She quickly wiped her eyes with her sleeve before standing and turning to face Boris. "I tried my best, Sir. Rei beat me because he was stronger, not because I let him."
Boris nodded absently. "Yes, yes. I saw it all." He turned to Rei. "That truly was an excellent bit of blading there. You should be proud."
I frowned. I know I won but Tahlia deserved a bit more than that brush-off. I smoothed out my expression before replying. "Thank-you, Sir."
Boris gave me an almost-smile, like the one he had given both Tahlia and I the day before in his office. It was more a stretching of muscles than a smile.
"Welcome to Biovolt's new team. Revolution Reloaded."
Please Tell me what you think.