Next chapter is up! Read and enjoy!

Max slowly folded over, flushed cheeks hitting the ground hard, eyes closing. Two men slipped out from behind a wall, sniggering to themselves as they walked towards Max, knowing that he wasn't anything resembling a threat. As they got closer, the younger of the two squirmed uncomfortably.

"Baz, do we have to do this? He looks real sick." The older man, Baz punched the other one hard round the head.

"Soft-hearted moron! Listen," his voice dripped sarcasm. "These were our orders. There's a member of the Bladebreakers wandering round town on his own. Get him, without getting yourselves arrested. Now, then. The way I see it, any member of the Bladebreakers is dangerous. But this guy," he gestured towards the semi-conscious Max. "who can't tell down from up, why that makes our job a whole lot easier. Because, if this guy was fighting fit, we'd have a real hard time with him." The younger man looked doubtful.

"Are you sure?" he said, flexing his muscles defiantly. Baz laughed, a harsh, unfriendly sound.

"Yeah. I've seen this guy-"

"Why do you keep calling him "this guy"?" Baz hit his partner round the head again, knocking him flat.

"It's the rule, idiot! No names! Anyway, as I was saying, I've seen him blade before. He isn't part of a champion team for nothing. What did the boss say? Something to persuade them a bit better. This should work fine!" He shook himself and became businesslike, swinging Max up over his shoulder. "Hurry up." The two of them turned away, disappearing as quickly as they'd appeared.

Ray paused, staring at a spot on the ground. He sniffed the air suspiciously.

"What is it, Ray?" Hilary's tense voice broke his concentration.

"Oh, nothing, Hil." he said, forcing a half-smile onto his face as he turned away. Hilary frowned, not convinced. She swung around suddenly, alerted by a noise. All three of them listened intently, then relaxed.

"Tyson!" Ray breathed in relief. As their friend appeared round the corner, Hillary launched into a shrill tirade, which stopped in mid-word when she realised Tyson wasn't listening.

Tyson was nearly hysterical with panic and fear. He had spent an hour blundering round the town, running into random obstacles as they got in his way. Unfortunately, one of them had apparently been a lamp post, which accounted for the unnoticed black eye, and possibly the cut lip as well. As he made to run past them, Ray and Kenny grabbed him and forced him down, while Hilary stood in front of him and slapped him until his eyes lost their glazed look and got angry.

"Hilary, get off!" He hit her hand away. "Max?" he said hopefully. Kenny shook his head.

"No such luck, Tyson." Suddenly, Hilary's eyes widened and she slapped her forehead, hard.

"Oh my god, I am such an idiot!" she hissed fiercely. She grabbed Kenny. "Kenny. That thing you were showing us in the lounge earlier. Did you-"

"Attach it to Draciel? Yes!" Ray and Tyson watched in confused silence as Kenny set up his laptop, which, as usual, he'd brought with him, and started typing quickly. Hilary noticed their blank stares and sighed.

"Am I the only one who listens to Kenny?" she demanded. Wisely, no one answered.

Hilary sighed again.

"Okay, basically, Kenny attached a transmitter to Max's blade this morning."

"You mean..?"

"Kenny, in theory, could-"

"Tell us where Max is." finished Ray. He looped an arm round Tyson, just in time to stop the furious boy jumping on Kenny. Hilary scolded him shrilly.

"Tyson, I know you're worried about Max. We all are. But using our only hope of finding him as a punch-bag isn't going to help matters! Kenny, are you finished yet?" she snapped.

"Almost…yes! I've got a lock on Draciel's signal. Max…provided he's in the same place as his blade…should be…three blocks that way." Kenny pointed.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Tyson yelled.

Kai blearily opened his eyes. He rolled over and swore silently as the pain in his head tripled. It felt like someone was hitting him over the head with a mallet. Great! Fantastic! What a brilliant way to look after Sarah! Cutting himself short, he focused his eyes. A tearful, sulky Sarah looked back at him.

"Where Mac and Ty and Hilly and Pussy and Kenny!" she demanded fretfully. Kai braced himself and swung upright. He immediately retched and threw up into a conveniently placed rubbish bin. He reached for the pill-bottle and grabbed two, swallowing them hurriedly. He looked at Sarah again through the fog of pain in his head. She was clearly tired and close to crying again. Kai hadn't been sympathetic to anyone since he was tiny, but something told him he needed to try, and quickly.

Uncertainly, he reached out a hand towards her. Sensing that Kai was trying to comfort her, Sarah stopped whining and reached out her arms. Kai stared blankly. With an exasperated sigh, she crawled into his lap, pulling his arm around her. Kai looked down at the sleeping toddler in his lap. He wrapped both arms tightly around her, his headache slowly fading. Woken up by the movement, Sarah repeated her earlier question.

"Where friends and Ty?" Kai, feeling suddenly drowsy, leaned back on the cushions.

"I wish I knew, Sarah." The two of them closed their eyes and slept.

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