Title: Innocence
Author: PandaPjays
Chapter Title: Guilt
Rating: T
Warnings: See Chapter One
Disclaimer: See Chapter One
Author Note: Hi there! Sorry to keep you all waiting so long! Life kind of got in the way of everything and then there was a whole lotta writers block and now I'm sick so I really had no excuse to put it off any longer- so here is your chapter!
Just as a note, You have two things to thank for this chapter actually happening. Whitney Houston, and Frostie the Snowman /nods/. They kept me going with their happy tunes and love ballads. Sad, but true.
Also thankies to my buddy Cinta for proofreading this even though she has no idea what it's about.
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Ok! After that message from our sponsors, enjoy the chapter that you have long awaited.
Tala's eyes widened in horror as he watched his sister stagger backwards, clutching at the spreading red flower of blood on her shirt.
"Tahlia!" He yelled. He looked down at the gun he was holding and threw it as far away from himself as possible. He ran over to Tahlia forgetting for the moment that she was still pointing her gun at him.
He had never meant for this to happen. Why had he been pointing the gun at her in the first place? If he hadn't been doing that his sister wouldn't be staring at her own blood coating her hands.
Tahlia dropped her own gun, numbly. "W-what?" She asked softly, the truth of her own mortality hitting her like a rhinoceros in need of a visit from Weight Watchers. She swayed in her stance before overbalancing and beginning to fall sideways. She would have hit the ground if Tala hadn't caught her and lowered her gently to the ground.
"I'm so sorry." Tala told her, inwardly cringing at the inadequacy of his words. The last response that he was expecting was the one he received. Tahlia began to laugh, albeit painfully.
Tala frowned in confusion as he watched his sister's frame begin to shake with laughter. Her mirth was cut short when her whole body convulsed and she broke into a coughing fit.
Tahlia's nose wrinkled in distaste when her mouth began to taste of blood. "What are you sorry for? I would have done the same thing, given the chance." She told Tala truthfully. From what she could tell, Tala had shot her in her lung. She knew she was dying. Tahlia figured that she might as well be truthful about it. "Actually… I probably would have gloated a bit more…" She tried to squash down the panic trying to raise its ugly head inside of her. Despite her efforts she felt tears begin to fall out of her eyes and run down her cheeks.
Tala wiped her tears away. He had caused them. He had never wanted this. How could things have become so screwed up? "You'll be alright." He told he comfortingly. She had to be. He had to have time to stop her from hating the world. He had to have time to stop her from hating him.
Tahlia smirked and shook her head. "You know that's not true as much as I do." She laughed shortly. "Seems like you got the best of it again. I can never win, can I? Whenever things seem to be going my way you have to step in and ruin it all."
Tala shook his head. "No- I-"
"I know you didn't mean to. The fact remains that you did." Tahlia interrupted him. She laughed again, this time her chuckle turning into more of a gurgle as her lungs filled with blood.
Tala's eyes widened and he reached forward to touch his sister's cheek. "I'm sorry." He said simply. He wished he could think of something better or more meaningful but his mind was drawing a blank.
Tahlia closed her eyes, it was getting really hard for her to breathe and watching the world around her start to go dark was scaring her. It figures, she thoughts sadly, the one person I've sworn to hate is probably the only person who'll actually care when I'm gone. Still, she allowed herself to be comforted by her brother's touch as the last traces of life ebbed from her body.
Tala felt it as his sister's body fell limp. What have I done? He asked himself, backing away from Tahlia. What have I done?
He found no answer inside himself so he began looking around the room to find one. His eye's came to rest on Kai. It was only upon seeing his fellow Russian that he felt the weight of reality hit him. That, and his exhaustion.
He felt his body begin to shake uncontrollably. He tried to access his computer half to stop it. All he got, however, was an error message.
:Error. System resources at critical level. Permanent system shutdown imminent:
Tala gulped. He thought he'd have more time. Ever since that night with Dizzi he had been careful about accessing his inner computer. The 'resources' it was talking about was Tala's own body. Biovolt had never intended for Tala's computerisation to be permanent. Sadly, it had become so. Dizzi had told him that he could slow down the process by not accessing his computer half but he couldn't stop it. He guessed he had used his abilities so much this night that it was finally time for him to pay the price.
But first, he had one last thing he had to do.
Tala scanned the nearby tabletops to find a knife. He found one and snatched it up before beginning to walk over to Kai and Rei.
(-)
Tala's coming over here with a knife. That can't be good, can it? Maybe he's pissed that it was me who made him shoot Tahlia. Scratch that. He is pissed. I can't believe she's dead.
No. She can't be gone. It's not possible. She's probably just… napping! Yeah!
What the hell am I going on about? Napping? God I'm an idiot when I try. She's probably passed out from the pain. After I've escaped imminent death by way of Tala we have to get her to a hospital. Speaking of imminent death…
I stayed completely still, using my 'wild animal no eye contact' rule. I need to think to try and get out of here… No… Thinking is not going well at the moment… Plan B…
Do I have a plan B? Crap! I don't! Who the hell doesn't have a plan B? I have to- huh? Where's he going?
I watched in shock as Tala walked past me a few more steps to stand in front of Kai. He swayed in his stance and dropped to crouch in front of Kai to stabilise himself.
"Tala?" Kai asked quietly.
Tala didn't reply straight away, instead he leant forward to whisper in Kai's ear. I can't hear what he's saying. I'm just relieved that he's not trying to turn either Kai or I into imitations of Swiss cheese.
Kai nodded at what Tala was saying and looked at me. I shot him a questioning look in return but remained still. Kai told me that it was nothing but friendship between him and Tala. I believe him, I do. I just wish I knew what Tala was saying.
Tala pulled away from Kai and looked down long enough to cut his bonds. Then he looked back up at Kai and said something so quietly I'm sure that he was mouthing the words, not actually speaking them.
Tala leaned back toward Kai and kissed him gently on the cheek. He pulled away and smiled at Kai's shocked expression. "Goodbye." He said audibly.
Tala's eyes closed and he slumped forward on to Kai,
"Tala?" Kai asked tentatively, pushing the redhead off him to hold him up and shake him gently.
When he got no reaction, Kai sighed sadly and lay Tala down on the ground gently.
"What happened to him?" I asked Kai, turning around so he could cut the ties around my wrists. From what I can see Tala's still breathing, that has to be a good sign, right?
I sighed as Kai used the knife Tala had given him to release me. "Well? What happened?" I asked, turning around to face him.
Kai shook his head sadly, "I'll tell you later." He turned around to go and help someone else.
God I hate it when does stuff like this! Even before this whole debacle Kai was all 'I'll tell you later' when he didn't want to talk about something. Needless to say he never did end up telling me later. It's like a way of avoiding the question without anyone realising it. It's really annoying!
"What's really annoying?" Kai asked, confused.
Dammit! I must have said that last bit out loud.
"The way that you say 'I'll tell you later' when you have no intention of telling me later! Just tell me now! All I want to know is why Tala is unconscious on the ground!" I burst out.
Kai scowled. "You want to know why? You want to know WHY? Pick your reason. Because Biovolt decided to implant Tala with some sort of computer because they weren't confident they could beat a team I captained. Because they lost and Biovolt didn't feel like deactivating said computer. Because Tala knew all of this and still helped us! Your choice." He said angrily.
Kai's never angry. It's not one of those emotions that occur naturally in him. When he's pissed he doesn't show it. So why is he showing it now? He can't be really angry. He has to be… upset is the only thing I can think of at the moment. He's upset? Have to run with it.
"Is he going to be ok?" I asked Kai, walking around him to face him and reaching up to touch his cheek.
Kai moved away from my hand. "No." He said thickly, looking away from me back at the fallen body of his friend. "He told me that as soon as he became unconscious that he wouldn't wake up." Kai looked back at me.
God. I can't even describe his eyes at this moment. There are no tears in them, I don't think Kai has the ability to cry, but they speak a whole lot more then any tears could. It looks like his soul just told him that he wasn't good enough for it and then just left. It's like a mixture between dead, lost and a soul-tearing sadness in them.
"Kai…" I said, at a loss for words. I stepped forward to embrace him, holding him close to me and burying my head in his shoulder.
I don't know if that helped him or if he drew on some sort of inner strength because Kai straightened and looked over all of the Bladers we had to untie.
"Do you have a knife on you?" He asked me, gesturing to everyone else in the room.
I shook my head. "I can find one though." Kai nodded and turned to begin cutting the bonds of the nearest Blader, who happened to be Mariah of all people.
"Is this who you rejected me for?" Mariah asked as she stood up and moved her arms around, wincing as she moved them back around to her front.
I sighed and looked away from her. "I didn't reject you, Mari."
Her eyes narrowed at the use of her childhood nickname. "Sure as hell seems like it, Rei. Do you know why I always let you and only you call me that when we were growing up? Mar-i. Like how you were going to marry me some day. Guess not, huh?"
I tried to look her in the eyes but couldn't "I'm sorry." I said quietly.
"That's not going to fix anything." She spat.
"What else do you want? Saying that I'm sorry and meaning it is the only thing I can do for you. I don't want to and have never wanted to marry you and I'm pretty sure that you don't want to marry me either. If thinking that I rejected you and that I hate you makes you feel better then I don't care. Have fun. However, I still want to be your friend."
It's true. I know that she's angry, furious even, with me but I couldn't think of any other way I could tell her that I wanted to cancel our immanent wedding. People may think I'm brave but I'm not that brave. To be honest it took almost all of my courage to send that letter to her. Face to face? I'd be walking down an aisle right about now.
As much as that idea sounds so much more peaceful than the life and death situation we're in at the moment that is not where I want to be. I sighed and turned away from her to look for a knife.
"Nice to see that you care so much that you can't even face me."
I turned around with the knife I had picked up in my hand facing toward her.
"Rei…" She said nervously, looking at the knife in my hand
It was only then that I thought about what it looked like.
"Oh… No…" I said quickly turning the knife so it wasn't facing her. "I need to… cut," I said vaguely, walking past her to get to the nearest clump of Bladers that Kai hadn't already gotten to.
"You need to cut?" Oliver asked me, puzzled, as I cut the zip ties holding his arms together. "That's rather disturbing." He brought his arms out from behind himself and rubbed his wrists.
I rolled my eyes. "You know that's not what I meant."
Oliver smiled and nodded. "I know."
Thank God. At least there's one person who's treating me like a normal person instead of some traitorous freak who somehow managed to get Kai to believe him. I know the questions will probably come later but at least he's not trying to get them in now. We've got too much to do now.
I turned around to cut Enrique's wrists free. There was no mutter of thanks or anything from him… but then again… I guess it's better than what Kai's getting from Johnny at the moment. I don't even know half of those words… I doubt they're describing Kai in a nice way though.
Kai looked up at me and flashed me a small smile. I don't think he knows what half of those words mean either.
I straightened from freeing Enrique and looked across the room to see that everyone was standing up and rubbing their wrists to try and get feeling back in them. Wow. My 'talk' with Mariah must have taken longer than I thought. Either that or Kai works faster than I give him credit for.
It's probably the latter.
I noticed that there was a small circle forming around me.
Not one of those nice friendly circles filled with people. It's more a circle extending two metres in every direction around me of empty space where no one would step.
It's like a circle of exclusion with me the only member and no one brave enough to unexclude me. I feel like a leper.
Wait. Make that one person brave enough to stand with me. Kai.
He wrapped a warm arm around my waist and pulled me closer to his side. "Ok. Everyone listen up." He said loud enough for everyone to hear him over the quiet chatter that had broken out among everyone- mostly of the 'are you ok' variety.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to either look at Kai or to glare at me. A few were doing both alternately. I noticed that both Lee and Mariah were of that category
Kai nodded in satisfaction when he saw that everyone was silent. "As far as I can tell, no one here is really badly hurt, just shaken." He looked around at everyone, waiting to see if anyone contradicted him.
"Dude, look in the mirror- I call that a little more than 'shaken." Michael told him, glaring at me.
Kai turned to glare at him. "Yes, Rei did hit me. No, he didn't want to. I asked him to. You may notice that he's in worse shape than everyone in this room put together." He turned to face everyone in front of him. "Does anyone else have something idiotic to say or is it just this genius?" He asked, motioning toward Michael.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love this guy? Not only is he trying to defend me he's actually speaking to try and defend me.
One of these alone is amazing. Put them together? It's a miracle, an honest to God miracle.
"Please, you're not really telling me that you think he's got the worst of the injuries. Look at Tala. Do you really think you can defend him after what happened to him?" Johnny asked Kai.
Meep. I feel like a scrap of meat that's been left in the middle of a pack of wolves with the only thing protecting me being a really cranky vulture. Do wolves and vultures even live on the same continent? Either way I now have a really weird mental image of a vulture's body with Kai's head. Very surreal and damn Kai makes even a vulture's body look desirable. Random thought there. Don't particularly want to pursue that one. Could end up with some really scary mental image.
…Which I'm currently having. I do not need these images in my head. I'm young and innocent.
Ok, time to tune back into the real world where I'm not trying to capture Kai-vulture thing in order to ravish it.
…And back to reality.
I blinked and tuned back into what was happening around me. While I was out, Kai had managed to change the topic off me and on to more practical things. Like how we were going to get out of here.
"I know! We'll run outside, yelling like crazy, somehow overpower the guards with all of their weapons then make like hockey players and get the puck outta here."
I'm really hoping that someone other than Tyson is co-ordinating our escape plan.
Thankfully, Max decided to do what I'm sure everyone else in the room wanted to do. He stepped up and bapped Tyson over the head, hard.
"Owwww" Tyson complained, rubbing his head and glaring at Max.
Kai rolled his eyes. "What about you, Rei?" He asked, looking down at me.
I blinked. "Huh? What about me?" I asked intelligently.
"Well, you would know the most about what's waiting for us outside…" Kai prompted.
"Oh!" God I'm such a ditz. "Ok then…" I scanned the room, looking for inspiration… and weapons. "There's about fifty people out there. Most of them have a gun of some sort and all of them have had extensive training in hand to hand combat."
"Ook." Robert said slowly. "What do we have?"
"Three handguns and about twenty people, most of who can't tell the difference between a gun and a sandwich." I told him, honestly.
"Hey! I resent that!" Tyson said indignantly. "I wouldn't try to eat a gun."
"At least you haven't… yet." Kai told him. "The day will come."
Tyson glared at Kai but didn't say anything.
"Ok then!" I said brightly, trying to keep my mind off the scary odds. Who here knows how to use a gun well?" I raised my hand to start proceedings and watch as Kai and the Majestics did the same.
"Ok. There's six of us and three guns. Keep your hand up if you're prepared to hurt, or possibly kill people with said gun. That's what we're going to be doing to get out of here."
My hand remained up, as did Robert's and Johnny's. I could have predicted that.
"Ok." I nodded in satisfaction then turned to find the nearest gun. It was Tahlia's.
I gulped and began to make my way over to where she had fallen. I guess in a way me having to take Tahlia's gun is a good thing. I'm probably the only one who won't inflict some sort of major damage on her. I think being shot is enough pain to go through. We can deal with the rest later when we get her to hospital.
When I crouched down to pick up the gun she had dropped I looked over at Tahlia.
I can't see if she's breathing or not. Then again, if she's really hurt she's probably only barely breathing. I moved over to kneel beside where she was lying and touched her neck with two of my fingers, looking for a pulse the way I had been taught when I lived in my village. I can't find it. Dammit! I never seem to be able to find it when I need to. I moved my fingers, searching for the beat that would tell me that she was alive. I still can't find it! But it has to be in there somewhere. If it wasn't then Tahlia would be dead and she's not dead.
I know she can't be dead. It's not possible for her to dead. She's my age! She's my… I don't even know if I can call her my friend… She didn't mean what she said, did she? She was lying about faking being my friend wasn't she? You can't fake friendship. As far as I know it's not possible. She wasn't faking…
I was brought back into reality by a hand on my shoulder. "Rei?" Kai asked softly.
"She's not…She can't be…" I whispered, leaning back against Kai's legs. My fingers still tried to find the pulse that I knew was there.
Kai crouched down beside me and reached over to grab my hand and stop my actions. "She's dead, Rei." He said bluntly, but gently.
No. He's lying. She's not dead I need a chance to find out why she was acting the way she was acting. Why's Kai lying to me? I've already had Tahlia trying to lie to me about not being my friend now Kai has to join in? "No…" I whispered, shaking my head. "She's not dead. Don't lie to me. I've had enough of people lying to me." I said angrily. Despite my words I leant on Kai's shoulder, using him to stop me from collapsing.
Kai wrapped an arm around my shoulders and hugged me closer to him. "I'm not lying to you, Rei." He said quietly, kissing the top of me head.
No… he has to be lying. This can't be happening. If it were, it'd be all my fault. I was the one who joined Biovolt. I was the one who created this whole mess. It's all my fault. If it weren't for me Tahlia wouldn't be dead.
My breath caught in the back of my throat. She's dead. Tahlia's dead. I turned my head and buried it into Kai's neck. It's my fault that this is happening. It's my fault she's dead. It's my fault that Tala's collapsed over there and that Kai is so upset. It's all my fault.
Kai shook my shoulders gently. "Rei." He said quietly.
When I didn't reply he shook my shoulders a little bit harder. "Rei. Come on. You have to help us escape."
I sat up and looked at him. He's right… I can have time to collapse and die from all of this guilt later. At the moment I have to help everyone escape. Then I can die. I nodded and stood up, offering Kai a hand up.
Kai took my hand and used it to help himself up. "You ready?" He asked quietly.
"No. But let's do this anyway." I said, copying his earlier words.
He smirked and began walking back to the main group. "Yes. Let's."
I followed him back, carrying the gun that had taken me so long to retrieve and smiling softly. How the hell can Kai do that to me? A minute ago I was suffering from the worst guilt trip known to mankind. Now I still feel guilty… but it's in more manageable instalments- at least that's the only way I can think of to describe it.
I'm not complaining though.
When we got back to the group it seemed like they were a bit more organised. Someone had had the bright idea that our blades were- funnily enough- blade-like and therefore sharp. Not the best weapon in the world but definitely better than the alternative of hoping we could rugby tackle them to the ground.
I still don't like our chances but things are looking up.
"What else do we need?" Kai asked the general group looking for any semi-helpful suggestion.
"An idea of what we're doing might be helpful." Michael told him.
Kai rolled his eyes and turned to me. "Is there any way that we can see where everyone is?"
I frowned. I know there is… there has to be… "HA!" I said loudly, making everyone in the room who wasn't already looking at me turn to stare. "Uh…" I said turning red. Nice going me. Can't I learn how to count my blessings and keep people not looking at me? "You can see everything from the rooftop." I finished off.
Kai nodded. "Then we go to the roof." He looked toward Robert who was busily inspecting the gun he had picked up. "Robert", he said to get his attention.
"Hm?" He asked, pulling out the bullet clip to count how many shots he would have.
"Make sure that everyone has some type of weapon that they know how to use and that they don't kill each other while we're gone."
Robert snapped the clip back into place and looked up at Kai. He nodded. "Yes Sir."
Kai smirked and turned around to take my hand. "Where's the door to the roof?" He asked.
That's right! He was busy playing hospital fodder when I went up there the first time. I tightened my grip on his hand and began to lead him to the door that would take us to the roof. "You have a scary thing for power, you know that?" I asked him.
"Of course I do. When else am I going to get the chance to order around Robert and have him just agree?"
"Good point. Still, I would have picked Michael to boss around. That would have been a sight to see. Michael following your orders."
Kai shook his head. "Wouldn't happen. Michael's too pig headed to do anything if I asked him too. Even if it helped to save him.
"Huh? I heard my name." Speak of the Devil and he sends his advocate. Michael walked up to us.
"Talking about you not to you." Kai told him.
Before Michael could say anything else I opened the door that lead to the staircase leading to the roof and shut it behind Kai and me.
I began dragging Kai up the stairs. Why I'm in such a hurry really is beyond me. I'm just going to go with it though.
When we reached the top of the staircase I turned to Kai. He's not even out of breath! How come I feel like a newly initiated asthmatic and he's just standing there looking as desirable as usual? Life isn't fair.
"We going to stand here all day or go through that door?" He asked mildly.
"I-uh…" I said, completely forgetting why I turned around. I frowned as I heard a weird vibrating noise coming from the other side of the door. "Do you hear that?" I asked.
"Hear what?" Kai asked me, looking confused.
"It's like a thrumming vibrating noise…" I trailed off, unable to describe it anymore. It sounded vaguely familiar but I couldn't pick it.
"No…" Kai cocked his head "Wait… yes." He frowned. "It sounds like a helicopter." He looked at me, confused. "What the hell is a helicopter doing on the roof?"
I shrugged, and put my hand on the handle. "I guess we're about to find out."
Kai nodded. "On three."
"Three!" I said before he could begin counting. If we had waited any longer I don't think we would have been in time.
How right I was. I stepped on to the roof and shielded my face from the wind whipping in all directions. I squinted at the helicopter that was hovering just above my head. Standing at the door, looking down on me was Midget Man, holding on for dear life to the frame of the helicopter.
"NO!" I shouted, jumping to grab hold of one of the helicopters feet thingies- I have no idea what they're called. He can't get away!
The helicopter swung dangerously sideways at the sudden increase in weight. I really didn't think I was that heavy.
Tiny shouted something I couldn't hear. I'm guessing that it was in Russian because he looked too panicked to remember to speak in English. He tried to stamp on my fingers but I kept on hanging on. He can't escape. I need time to grind his sorry arse into the ground very slowly and painfully.
And all the while the helicopter was rising.
I only became aware of that little bit of information when my feet suddenly left the ground, leaving me hanging rather crazily on the side of a helicopter, trying to keep my grip while the small one tried to grind my fingers into oblivion. It was like some really bad Hollywood action scene minus the heroine and a few choice special effects.
Ouch! I don't think my fingers are coming back from this unscathed.
I felt a sudden weight around my waist. I looked down to see that Kai had done a flying leap to grab on to me. That was about all the time I had to register before the helicopter swung once again to the side. I thought I was heavy!
Tiny yelled and dived back into the compartment of the helicopter, trying to stay inside.
"REI! LET GO!" Kai yelled over the sound of the groaning helicopter. That is one skilled pilot- whoever is steering it. I think most people would have turned the helicopter into a flaming heap of scrap metal by now but somehow or another it was slowly righting itself.
"I CAN'T! HE'LL GET AWAY!" I yelled back at him, looking up to see if I could somehow pull us both up. To tell the truth I was barely holding on with our combined weights.
"EITHER HE'LL GET AWAY OR WE BOTH DIE AND HE'LL GET AWAY!"
I looked down at Kai. "WE CAN GET HIM."
He shook his head sadly. "NO, REI. WE CAN'T"
I looked past Kai and down on to the roof. We were a few metres above it now and almost about to fly over the road next to it. I either had to let go now or somehow find a way to get up and into the helicopter.
I took one look down at Kai and made my decision.
We dropped like two really heavy, really big stones. I hit the ground and rolled, wincing at the pain that shot through my entire body. Remind me not to do crazy stunts like that. There's a reason why I don't do them normally.
I looked across the roof to see Kai sprawled on the ground. "Kai!" I yelled, running over to where he was and falling beside him. "Kai! Are you ok?"
He groaned in response. "I've felt better." He told me.
I grinned and looked him over, he seemed to be ok.
…Except for the really weird angle his arm was resting at.
"Kai…" I said slowly. "Can you move your left arm?"
Kai frowned and opened his eyes. "What?" He looked down at the limp limb and groaned. "Crap."
"So glad to see that you're taking this so calmly." I told him.
"I can't feel it yet." He said. "Too much pain everywhere else." He frowned as he looked at it. "It looks really weird though." He sighed. "Ok, splint?" He asked me, looking around. "We have to get back to everyone else as soon as possible. I'd hate it if anyone else managed to escape."
Sometimes Kai scares me. Like full on spooky scares. He's just broken his arm trying to talk some sense into me and is now directing me around like nothing's wrong. It's really spooky weird.
I set about the task of looking for something vaguely splint-worthy.
(-)
"Kai? What happened?" Tyson asked us as we walked back into the main hallway, me supporting him.
"Fell out of a helicopter." He offered, grimacing. I'm guessing that the shock from getting the injury had worn off and now he was feeling it with interest.
"Rei?" Tyson asked me, looking confused.
"Long story."
"Vladovinsk tried to escape. We tried to stop him. We failed." Kai told him.
"…Apparently not that long." I said, frowning and looking down at the temporary splint I had put his arm in using a random piece of wood that had been laying on the roof and my hair wrap.
Kai smirked. "It's all in the summary."
"Of course it is." I said. "I don't like the look of that splint, it doesn't look like it'll hold."
"It only needs to hold until we can get out of here and into a hospital. I'll be fine, don't worry."
"Not an option."
"It is now." Kai told me sternly before wincing as another wave of pain came from his arm. "Seat?" He asked.
I nodded and led him to one of the chairs, carefully sitting him down. "Will you be ok?" I asked him.
"When I get painkillers I'll be fine." He told me honestly, leaning back into the char and closing his eyes. "Until then I'll just have to deal."
"Rei." Robert asked, tapping me on the shoulder.
I jumped and turned to face him. "Yeah?"
"If we're going we have to go now." He told me gently, looking back at Kai. "Did you guys manage to get a look at the people we need to attack?"
I sighed and nodded. Another of those things Kai had told me to do while I was splinting his arm. Have I mentioned how scared I am of Kai's ability to stay level headed in a crisis? It's useful though.
"Ok, there's-" I did a quick count "fifteen of us, not including Kai, and there's fifty of them so that's three of us to every ten of them."
Robert whistled. "On a scale of one to good odds that's definitely in the minuses."
I shrugged. "Can't be helped. What if we get into teams of three and set a goal for each of those teams to get ten?"
He nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Where are they all?"
"Everywhere around the building, all of them are spread out, about five metres apart." I told him.
Robert nodded. "Ok. How about I be the one to tell them about the plan? He got an awkward look on his face. "I… Don't really think that-"
"-They'll listen to me, let alone trust me?" I finished for him. When he nodded jerkily I smiled. "You're probably right."
He sighed. "I know."
I frowned, a though occurring to me. "Hey, why do you trust me?"
He shrugged. "I don't know why. I just get this feeling that you aren't out to take over the world."
I grinned. "Where would be the fun in that? When I take over the world I want to meet at least some resistance. My army of mutant killer chickens need some exercise."
He raised an eyebrow. "Mutant Killer Chickens?" He questioned.
I nodded seriously. "Never underestimate the chicken. They will help me take over the world one day."
I think it was only then that he twigged that I was joking. He face relaxed into a smile. "I'll be prepared." He assured me.
"No one's prepared for the imminent chicken take over." I told him as he walked away to go and inform everyone of the plan.
"Chickens?" Kai asked me, looking at me with one eye. "Why chickens?"
"Something someone said to me once…" I said sadly, remembering the 'worst case scenario' game I had been playing with Tahlia before we had arrived.
Kai nodded. "When the day comes for you to release your chicken army you can be sure that my army of seagulls will be there to stop you."
"Seagulls? Just plain seagulls?" I asked. "They'll be no match for my chickens."
"You've never seen a pack of enraged seagulls have you?"
I shook my head.
"It shows." Kai told me smirking and shutting his eyes again.
I grinned and turned to go and join the main group. Robert had just finished explaining what we were going to do and everyone was selecting their group.
"Rei!" Max called me over. "Our group?" I looked at him and Tyson, the latter of whom was looking at me suspiciously.
I guess that Max put him up to this. Also that they'd rather have me on their team than someone like… Johnny for example. I nodded and smiled. It's a step in the right direction, yes?
"Ok!" Robert said over the noise of everyone. "Remember that the whole name of the game is stealth. We're trying to get out of here with as little casualties as possible. Other than the ones we have already. Ten guards per group. They're all around the building and there are only two exits. The front one and the one at the back that opens on to the car park. The guards are trained to spot people like us so we have to be extra careful because they won't hesitate to shoot to kill."
"Way to inspire confidence, man!" Michael shouted from the back of the room.
"Did I ask for your input? I'm being honest. We have to be extraordinarily careful."
"Careful. Check. Can we go?" Michael asked him.
Robert ground his teeth looking like he wanted to shove the handle part of the gun he was holding up certain parts of the American's anatomy and twist. "Go." He said finally. "Good luck."
He turned and headed out toward the front door followed by the rest of his group, Oliver and Enrique.
"Front or back?" Tyson asked me.
"Back." I said decisively, that was the entrance I knew. Hopefully even though I spaced out when I went down the hallway I remember the way.
Tyson nodded. "Then let's go." He said, putting Dragoon into his launcher. Obviously he had wound the gear before I joined the merry little band.
I nodded then looked behind me at Kai, who still had his eyes closed, probably concentrating on dealing with pain.
Tyson followed my gaze. "We'll be fine." He told me, putting a hand on my shoulder.
I jumped at the touch. That was the first time Tyson had touched me since I left. "How do you know?" I asked him.
"Easy." He grinned. "I have to cream everyone again at the next world championships."
I rolled my eyes. "You have no modesty do you?"
"What's the use of modesty? I want everyone to know how good I am."
"Why does that Not surprise me?" Came Kai's amused voice.
"Because you know how good I am too! You just don't like to admit it."
Kai shook his head, an expression of amusement crossing his features before he looked at me.
You know how some people can communicate just by looking at each other? This was the first time it had happened to me. On some level of that look Kai was sending me messages like a foghorn blast they were that recognisable. Along the lines of 'Come back to me.' Or at least that's what I got out of it. I guess that everyone has different reactions to foghorns as well…
I nodded and trued to send my own eye message that I would. I don't know if it worked or not but Kai nodded and closed his eyes again.
I turned toward Tyson. "Ok. We're gone."
He nodded and we set off down the hallway and out to the car park.
When we left the entryway we immediately pressed ourselves against the wall, there was no sign of anyone. Anyone conscious, that is. There were a whole lot of Biovolt guards.
I didn't look hard enough to see if there was anyone I knew. I didn't want to know.
"This way." I whispered to Tyson and Max before running to my left. I was pretty sure that only one other team had come out this way. I just had to hope that they had gone right.
I heard the clatter of gunfire. So much for stealth. Oh well. I pulled Tyson behind the limo Tahlia and I had used to get here and pointed to a guard who was emerging from the trees surrounding the car park. I guess he's coming to see what happened to his buddies.
Tyson nodded, watching him by looking underneath the car. He signalled Max and me to position ourselves at the front and back of the vehicle.
I have no idea what he's up to. I just hope it's a good idea.
He held up three fingers then two… then one…
As one we launched our blades and sent them skidding across the floor of the car park.
Tyson's blade hit him first on the ankles, making him cry out in pain but be other wise unaffected. The impact of Draciel and Driger was slightly more spectacular, Draciel hitting him in his midriff and Driger hitting him in the forehead.
The guard fell backwards without another sound and lay still. I nodded in satisfaction. "One down."
We entered the tree line, running past the fallen guard. I didn't check to see if he was still alive. There was a lot of blood on him, though… NO- not thinking about it.
A surprised shout from one of the guards alerted us that we'd been spotted before the sound of gunfire began echoing around us. I pushed Max down and hit the ground beside him, trusting that Tyson had enough common sense to do the same.
I can't believe I just used Tyson and 'common sense' in the same sentence.
Despite my doubts I saw that he was lying beside me, looking at me in a silent 'what now?'
I grimaced as I remembered the gun that was tucked into my pants. What was I thinking? If I fired it they would know our exact location. Then it was bye-bye happy ending hello Mr Grim Reaper.
I peaked up to see that the guards shout had summoned about five others, all of whom were squinting into the darkness, trying to see us.
Then a brainwave hit. I stood up in full view of the guards who all promptly aimed their guns at me.
"Rei?" The central one, Alekzandr, asked me. "What's going on?"
"All hell has broken loose. Some of the captives escaped. Boris sent me and Tahlia out here to catch them." I said as I continued to advance forward toward them.
"There seems to be more than a few out here." Alekzandr said grumpily.
I shrugged as I reached them and stood in front of the giant guy. "Have you guys seen Tahlia? She walked off without me."
As expected, all of the guards stopped looking at me to look around the forest. What is it with people looking around for people someone asks after? If she was within sight wouldn't I have seen her? I mentally shrugged and used both of my legs to launch myself into the air while they were distracted.
I landed squarely on Alekzandr's face, making him crumple like… well something really crumpled looking. I bent my legs as I landed and, in the same movement, scooped up the semi-automatic that he had been holding.
I stood up and pulled the trigger, aiming at the four other guards who were only just turning around to see what was wrong.
They all did this really strange dance before falling down to the ground, still.
I stared down at them. So that's what it feels like to kill someone directly… I feel dirty inside. But I don't have the luxury to feel anything. I looked up at Tyson and Max who had stood up and were looking at me in a mixture or horror and admiration I'm guessing.
"That's six." I said as calmly as I could.
Tyson's eyes widened and he launched Dragoon up into the trees above my head. A figure fell out of it, clutching at his neck. "Seven."
I gulped and looked up. Tyson just saved my life… Tyson just saved my life… Ty- no don't have time for this.
I nodded. "Come on."
Tyson and Max nodded and we kept on running around the building. I stopped as we reached the boundary of the tree line and looked out at the facade of the building, in front of which had obviously been a big battle.
I looked at mass of people in front of the building and felt physically sick. The police had somehow or another found us and there were cars everywhere out the front. There were also bodies littered all over the ground- not all of them the bodies of the people who worked for Biovolt.
I caught a glimpse of pink hair underneath the fallen body of someone in a Biovolt uniform. I blinked and ran out on to the field, completely forgetting that I was in a Biovolt uniform.
A few shots rang out, probably from policemen; before Tyson also ran out shouting, "STOP! THAT'S REI!"
I don't think I've ever been more grateful to him before now. I knelt beside where Mariah was lying and pushed the guard off her carelessly, looking down at her and praying to God that she was alive. Just because I don't want to marry her doesn't mean I want her dead.
Freed from the weight of the guard's body she coughed and opened her eyes blearily.
"Oooouch." She complained.
I flopped back on to the ground in relief. Hopefully one day she'll forgive me. Or at least accept that I can't marry her. I'm in love with Kai.
"Rei?" Mr Dickinson asked me, picking his way through all of the people on the ground to come and stand beside me, looking down.
I grinned at the sight of him. "Hi Mr Dickinson."
"I take it that you're back then, my dear boy?"
I nodded. "I'm back." I told you I'd come back. I thought silently to Kai, wishing that he could hear me, before I blacked out.
Please tell me what you think!