Title: Innocence

Author: PandaPjays

Chapter Title: Self Destruction

Rating: T

Warnings: See Chapter One

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

Author Note: Hello and welcome to the next chapter! I'm dedicating this entire chapter to animeobsession because she is awesomely awesome and I miss her heaps because she's all the way in England lucky thing that she is.

Now for some bad news- because of an unfortunate incident with a telephone and the MSN noise I am banned from the internet for two weeks. Which means no updates for said two weeks- also by the time I am back I shall be even more insane than normal because I will be in withdrawal so be warned.

Rei blinked. He was sure that he hadn't heard about this part of the plan. He couldn't have spaced out that much, surely? The neko-jin threw a glance over his shoulder at Tahlia. She didn't seem surprised at all- but then again, she had been the one to signal them to come in.

A very short, very familiar figure made his way to the front of the pack of Biovolt flunkies. He pulled off his mask to reveal his face.

"Lieutenant Vladovinsk- so glad that you could join us." Boris told him, smirking.

"Anytime, Sir." He replied. He looked around at all of the people in the room then looked back at Boris. "What do you want me to do with them?"

"Ah, yes." Boris smirked. "Lieutenant, meet Biovolt's newest recruits."

The vertically challenged man looked around at the people in the room with an appraising eyebrow raised. "They look problematic", he said, noticing all of the scowls and expressions of barely suppressed rage on the gathered bladers faces.

Tyson stood up with a growl, ignoring Max's hand on his arm trying to pull him back down. "What the hell do you mean by that? We aren't your new recruits! We aren't your new anything! I would never work for you and your lot- unlike Rei I can tell the difference between good and bad. I choose good. The only problematic people here is you! Get-" Tyson's rant was cut short by a black-clad figure coming up behind him and hitting him over the head.

Tyson slumped forward on to the table. Max's eyes widened. "Tyson!" He pulled the fallen teen off the table and into his arms before shooting an uncharacteristic glare at the person who had caused Tyson's ailment.

The person pulled off his mask and shook out his long, dark green hair before smirking at Max.

"Thank you, Alekzandr", Boris said, preventing any further confrontation between the American and the Russian. He waved his hand dismissively at the gathering. "Tie them up. If anyone resists do the same as Alekzandr."

"Rei." Tahlia called, getting his attention before throwing the neko-jin a packet of zip-lock ties. "Help out", She said before pulling out her own bag of ties and moving over to the Bladebreakers table where Alekzandr was busy fastening Max's hands behind his back.

Rei blinked as he caught the packet. What did Tahlia want him to do with these? Everyone in the building seemed to be taken care of. He looked down at the figure sprawled in front of him. Everyone except Kai.

Why did it have to be Kai? Rei sighed. The Gods of Karma were against him, of this, he was sure. It was all punishments for bad deeds that he had committed in a past life.

Kai frowned in confusion as Rei bent down over him. He had spaced out in the past few minutes trying to regain his breath. He didn't understand why Rei had switched sides to work for Biovolt but he sure as hell didn't like it. Hot mascara or not, Kai preferred it when Rei had been his.

On his team that is… Rei was never his – that would be… What would be so wrong about it? A part of his mind asked him. Kai had no answer for it.

While Kai had been pondering, Rei had managed to take hold of both of the Russian's hands and bring them around to his back. The neko-jin was busy trying to figure out the complicated mechanics of the zip lock when Kai realised what was happening.

Kai tried to move his arms back to a comfortable position but was stopped by Rei's iron grip. The Russian frowned and tried to twist his wrists enough to make Rei let go of them.

He stopped when he felt a warm presence beside his head, hovering just beside his ear. Kai shivered slightly when he felt Rei's breath in his ear as he whispered. "Don't fight me. If you do then I have to do the same thing that Alekzandr did to Tyson and I don't want to hurt you."

Kai thought about his sore neck from when Rei had coathangered him. "Could have fooled me." He whispered back furiously, angry both at Rei for changing sides and at himself for not stopping the neko-jin.

Rei smiled sadly behind Kai's back and pulled the tie around the Russian's wrists tight before standing up. Knowing Kai, he would be blaming himself. Rei wished that he could tell his former captain that it wasn't his fault and that Rei was the one that couldn't understand that Kai loved Tala- but he couldn't. Instead he moved to stand beside Boris and watched as Alekzandr forced Kai to stand and walk to the centre of the room where the other bound bladers were seated on the ground.

Alekzandr smiled cruelly before kicking Kai behind the knees- making his legs give way. Kai fell to the ground with a grunt as the air left his lungs yet again. He sat up, breathing deeply to replenish his oxygen supply and glared at the green haired youth standing above him. Alekzandr merely smirked before walking back to stand beside Vladovinsk.

"Gavrie, Sacha. Take your squads and go guard outside", ordered the tiny man. About half of the black-clad troops peeled away from the main group and filed outside. The rest of the troops formed a loose circle around the room, leaving only Boris, Tahlia, Rei, Alekzandr, Vladovinsk and the captured bladers in the main body of the room.

Tahlia walked over to her brother and nudged him with her foot. When he didn't make a response she pouted before wiping the expression off her face and turning to Boris, emotionless mask in place. "He's non-responsive." She said as flatly as possible.

"Make him responsive, then." Boris told her irritably. He hadn't planned on Tala's reaction to the news about his team. "He asked me a question. It is my duty to explain the answer as fully and completely as possible. Not to mention that you did all that hard work preparing his answer."

Tahlia nodded and reached for her brother's arm. Finding the pressure points, she pressed them and waited for the section of Tala's skin to rise. When it had risen fully, Tahlia attached a small machine to the port and pressed a red button on the machine.

The machine made a small high-pitched noise as it powered up. Tala's body jolted as an electric current travelled through his system. Thing packs quite a punch, Tahlia thought as she watched her brother's body convulse.

:Circuitry Interference detected. Stand-by Disabled:

Tala gasped as his ice blue eyes shot open. He tried to sit up but was prevented from doing so by Tahlia's hand on his chest. Tala's eye's widened as he tried to sit up again but was still stopped by the small pressure of Tahlia's hand.

I should be able to not only sit up but also throw her across the room! What's wron- oh… I remember… Tala blinked as he adjusted to his surroundings and stopped struggling.

"Glad to see that you've joined the world of the living." Tahlia told her brother. She picked up the machine and 'accidentally' hit the red button again.

The small noise that the machine made was the only warning that Tala got before a second electric current ran through his body. Tala gasped in pain before gritting his teeth and willing it out of his body.

Tahlia put on a voice of fake concern. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did that hurt?"

Tala glared at her but remained silent and still on the ground. Whatever Tahlia was going to do she would do whether he fought against her or not. One way would be more satisfying while the other would be less painful.

Tala knew that he could easily overpower everyone in and outside of the hall but he didn't like the cost that his actions would incur. He wasn't ready to pay that price. Not yet.

"Good to see that you are awake, Tala. Your sister went though a lot of trouble to make you a surprise, I'd hate to see her efforts go to waste," Boris smirked at the redhead on the ground.

Tahlia yanked the small machine out of the port on Tala's arm and shut it roughly, making him wince in pain. "Aw! Did I hurt you?" She asked in a sickeningly sweet voice. Tahlia took hold of Tala's collar and, with a grunt of effort, hoisted him to his feet, where he remained, swaying. "Come now Brother-dear. I have the most wonderful surprise for you!" She took Tala's hand and yanked on it, forcing Tala to follow her. She led him into a small room in the back of the hall and shut the door behind them.

Rei blinked. That had been quick. Tala was awake – Thank God. That meant less of a guilt trip for him. But now Tahlia had dragged him into a room and Rei had no idea why.

I'm sure I would have remembered this if it were mentioned in Boris's overview of the night. Rei sighed. No more spacing out for me.

(-)

Tahlia forced Tala to sit down in one of the numerous chairs in what appeared to be a conference room of some sort.

"Why the hell am I here, Tahlia? You know what's happening to me. You know that I'm not of any use to you. So why am I here?"

"Can't I just want to spend time with my darling brother?"

"No."

Tahlia pouted. "That's not very nice of you."

"You aren't very nice so I think it evens out. Look, you don't like me- and I hate you so just show me what you're going to show me and then I don't care what you do."

Tahlia scowled and snatched a videotape off the table that took up most of the floor space in the room. "You'd think that you'd be grateful. Biovolt organised this whole dinner for you. We even made sure that the BBA didn't get a whiff of it so they won't know where to find you so we can have you all to ourselves."

"You mean that you can have everyone else to yourselves. I think we've covered that I can't help you in any way. Now just turn on the damn tape and let's get this over and done with." Tala kept his face emotionless but was inwardly dancing around and giving himself mental high-fives. He had managed to not only sound brave in the face of adversity but had pissed off Tahlia in the process. My God I'm good.

Tahlia shoved the videotape into the tape player, scowling; she hated her brother- well… she always had- but especially hated him now. She turned on the television and crossed the room to turn off the lights before pointing the remote at the television and pressing play.

An image of Tahlia appeared on the screen. She looked like she was holding the camera and pointing it at herself.

"Hello, brother-dear."

The TV-Tahlia smirked. "I was just thinking about you and so I decided that I would answer one of the first questions that I know you'll ask when we see each other again." The screen of the TV went black and white words began to flash on the screen.

'What happened to your team?'

The black screen faded back into Tahlia's smirking face. "I'm right, aren't I? You're so predictable. Anyway, here's your answer."

The shot changed into a blurred picture of a door. The camera zoomed in on the plaque on the door and focussed. The sign read 'Medical Testing Quarters'

Tala's eyes widened. He had known that this was where they had ended up – not only because of what Boris had said but because Tala knew Biovolt. Even Spencer, who had won his match, and Ian who hadn't fought, would be punished. It was Biovolt's take on teamwork.

The door on the screen was opened by a hand to reveal a long hallway with doors placed evenly along the walls. At the end of the hallway was a large wooden plaque. Tala swallowed nervously. He knew that plaque well – quite a few of his friends had ended up with their names on it.

That plaque was the only proof that anyone who had died while in the clutches of Biovolt had ever existed. When Tala had been brought to Biovolt, any and all paperwork concerning his existence had been destroyed. The same was true for everyone else. Children were brought into the institute because no one cared about them. Half of them didn't even have a last name. If this was the case they were given one. Balcov. It helped to feed Boris's sick father fantasy.

The camera began to move inexorably toward the plaque at the end of the hall.

Tala couldn't prevent a small "No!" from escaping his lips. If the camera kept on moving toward that plaque it must mean that one or more of his team had died because of a mistake he had made.

The Camera, having reached its destination, zoomed in at the bottom of the very long list of names.

'B A L C O V , S P E N C E R'

Tala shut his eyes, feeling waves of sadness; guilt and grief wash over him. Not Spencer. Out of all of the Demolition Boys, Spencer had been the father-like figure. Spencer had been the one who comforted them when Boris had been particularly harsh – which was all of the time. For all of that, he still hadn't been saved from Biovolt.

Tala forced himself out of thoughts of Spencer to focus on the screen in front of him again. He owed it to the rest of his team to find out their fates.

The camera began to move again. This time it headed toward one of the doors situated in the wall. Tahlia's voice filtered through the speaker's on the television. "We can't go into this room. He's a bit… how shall we say? Violent? But thankfully we do have a window to check up on him.

The camera zoomed in on a small sign on the door.

'B A L C O V , I A N'

Tala leaned forward in his seat, interested in the fate of his smaller teammate despite himself and despite the foreboding Tahlia's speech had given him

A hand appeared on the screen and reached toward a small window in the door and opened it. The camera zoomed in on the opening, revealing a small white room with a bed bolted to the floor as it's only furniture.

In the corner of the room was a small hunched figure on the ground. Ian looked up at the camera and looked down hurriedly, bringing his hand up to his mouth and gnawing at his already terribly bitten nails.

"Gee, he doesn't look too happy, does he?" The on-screen Tahlia asked. "I wonder what would happen if I did this."

The camera shook as a loud thump from Tahlia hitting the door reverberated through the room. Ian jumped and covered his ears. "NO!" He shouted. He half uncovered his ears and stood up when he heard that the noise still echoed throughout the room. "Shut UP!" He yelled, despairingly. He ran at the door. When he reached it he hit at it, trying to stop the noise. He cried in misery as the noise from his actions echoed through the room.

Tahlia shut the window – blocking out any and all noise that Ian created. The camera then spun around to face Tahlia again. "That was fun wasn't it? Rei really should be thankful for Ian's contribution to science- you know. Rei might be in the same state as Ian because of the homegrown memory drugs they both took. We learned a lot from Ian and now they work like a charm! Anyway, now let's take you to see Bryan, hey?"

The camera moved away from Tahlia and began to move down the hallway toward another door. The door had a small plaque on it saying

'K U S N E T O V , B R Y A N'

Tahlia opened the door and stepped inside. The room that appeared on the screen had a bed surrounded by medical equipment. Lying on the bed was a very familiar lavender-haired figure.

Bryan was pale- paler than Tala had ever seen him. Tala reached out to the television, trying to touch the seemingly comatose teen. This was a bigger blow to him than Ian or Spencer combined had been. Bryan had been the one that Tala had been closest to in their team. Hell, Tala had been the only one Bryan would talk to without insulting them or physically harming them.

I can't take much more of this Tala thought as he forced himself to continue watching the screen.

The camera was circling Bryan's still form. "It seems that medical testing didn't really agree with Bryan." The camera zoomed in on the Russian's calm face. "The doctors say that it would be a miracle if he ever woke up and even if he did he'd be a vegetable."

The camera zoomed out to show all of the medical equipment around Bryan. "It seems like such as waste, really. All of this medical equipment is here to keep an empty shell alive. Bryan isn't of any use to us anymore. So I guess it really isn't gong to matter to anyone if I do this-" Saying that, the camera zoomed in on the plug giving power to the machines keeping Bryan alive. A hand, presumably Tahlia's came into the shot and gripped the plug.

Tala felt his eyes misting over with tears. No! He thought sadly as he watched his sister's hand tighten on the plug.

Tala looked away from the screen but heard the small noise of the plug being taken out. It wasn't possible. Bryan couldn't be… dead.

His entire system revolted at that notion. It just wasn't possible. Tala felt a slow overwhelming pain begin to take over his body. No. He couldn't let Biovolt win like this. He reached for a switch inside himself that he never thought that he would reach for. For all intents and purposes it was an 'off' switch. It created the same effect as the information overload he had experienced earlier except for one crucial difference. This was voluntary.

Tala glanced at the television with Bryan's body lying on the bed and hit the switch.

:System Shutdown. Vital Systems Only:

Tala shut his eyes and fell against the back of his chair as all consciousness and awareness left his body for the second time that night.

(-)

Boris smiled sardonically as Tala and Tahlia left the room. He turned back to Lieutenant Vladovinsk. "Get the memory suppressant pills and set them out on that table." He indicated to a table in plain view of the bladers.

The other man nodded. "Yes, Sir." He gestured for two of the troops from Biovolt to join him and then left the building.

Boris then turned to his literally captive audience "Are we comfortable now? I hope so because If I know any of you, which I do by the way," He said this glaring at Kai, "You're going to be here for a very, very long time."

Vladovinsk came back into the hallway carrying several bottles of pills. He set them out on the table Boris had indicated to earlier. The two other Biovolt people walked in, one carrying more bottles of pills and the other carrying a large plastic keg of water and paper cups.

"You see", Boris continued, "You can all get out of here right now if you wanted to. All you have to do is take one of these pills and then you can leave. But knowing how stubborn you all are, we're going to be here for a while. Luckily, I've got time. And food. And water. These are things which you won't have while you are under my care.

Robert opened his mouth to say something but was stopped by Boris holding up his hand. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Talking has its… consequences. And yes- I do intend to starve you into submission. Underhanded – yes. Effective – also yes. Oh and no there is nothing harmful in those pills. They aren't poisonous. It would be a very poor judgement on my behalf if I were to harm or even kill my newest recruits.

Boris pulled a chair from one of the tables and sat down, making himself comfortable. He knew that he would be sitting that for quite some time. He also knew that, eventually, he would have a battalion of new bladers working for him. After the success of Rei's stint on the memory drugs, Boris had doubled the dosage and added a sedative to the pill form of it. When someone took the pill they would be able to walk out of the room before they collapsed. They'd then wake up in Biovolt with a severe case of 'amnesia' caused by a training session that they had participated in. This training session would be one of the many that they had experienced since their parents had abandoned them at a young age.

At least that's what they would be told. Depriving their bodies of food and water would only increase the effectiveness and absorption rate of the drug.

Boris smirked. His plan was foolproof.

The door that connected the hallway to the conference room opened and Tahlia's back appeared. She backed out of the doorway, dragging Tala's deadweight to a position beside the door. She leaned his body against the wall, giving him the appearance of sitting up.

Kai's eyes widened at the appearance of his friend. "Again? What did you do to him? For Christ's Sake, Boris. Isn't it enough that you've got Rei? Isn't it enough that you've got all of us here? Do you have to keep on hurting Tala? My God, you're pathetic."

Boris glared at Kai. "Excuse me?" he said, dangerously.

Kai snorted, "You're excused. It must really have cut you up when we beat you in the Worlds. Your precious team lost so now you're taking it out on Tala. Mature. Real mature, Boris."

Boris glared at Kai, white lipped. "Alekzandr." He spat out. "Please teach Kai the consequences for speaking out of turn." Kai opened his mouth to retort. "OUT of my sight! I don't want to look at him."

Alekzandr began to move forward but was stopped by Rei's hand on his elbow. "I'll do it." The neko-jin told him quietly, looking to Bros for permission. Boris nodded his consent and Rei moved over to Kai and picked him up roughly before pushing him into the room that Tahlia and Tala had just vacated. Rei shut the door with a bang.

Outside the door Tala sat, slumped. A message began to flash in his mind.

:Improper Shutdown Detected. Rebooting now:

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