Hitoshi narrowed his eyes at the score, 2/0 and a tie... BEGA was winning of course. Yet Takao was his brother, he could probably make the last two scores count...

'Takao isn't the only one who could have done it'

Hitoshi shook his head,

But, there was always a 'but' wasn't there? Unless Takao fully sees how Brooklyn battles he was at a disadvantage... it never had stopped the Dragoon blader of course but now Hitoshi was thinking he shouldn't have kicked Kai out...

'Too late' his treacherous mind whispered, 'too late to fix what it could have been...'

"Something worrying you Hitoshi?" he whirled around to be faced to face with the former dictator of the abbey.

"Nothing sir, just wondering who Takao will choose as the one to fight in the fourth round." Balcov nodded understandingly then said,

"But it doesn't matter either way does it?" startled Hitoshi looked up at the purple haired Russian.

"Sir?" Balcov chuckled all-knowingly patting Hitoshi on the back.

"Come now, everyone knows that you are here for your brother..." his black eyes twinkled maliciously as he looked into Hitoshi's red shades. "And I'm sure Brooklyn will be more than a match for him." And as quietly as he came he left leaving the older Kinomaya paused over the keyboard and the flashing screens.

"Ch..." he grunted pulling up a file of Kai Hiwatari, "you have no idea how right you are." Skimming the said Russians profile he muttered, "Perhaps I was wrong about you Kai."

-

Dizzy and stumbling Kai walked through the shadows avoiding the sun. The battle should have started by now; he should go to watch but... The hood slipped from his head revealing extensive damage dealt to his face. One could only imagine what was done to the rest of the body.

Quietly slipping the hood back on Kai pressed a finger to his right eye, noticing the sticky red that came off when he brought his fingers to light. Boundaries of his vision growing blurry he sat down near a pile of garbage not minding the smell too much as the sun blazed overhead.

'You've been a bad boy Kai... I think you need to be punished'

Something crawled up his legs and he instantly reacted barely missing by mere centimeters as soon as he figured out that it was a cat and not his former trainer. With a hiss the cat scampers away leaving him disoriented leaning against the dirty brick wall.

He spent a good deal of that morning sitting in the alley way covered by a thin cloak he managed to pilfer off, and now... he was seeing hell again...

'Just focus, your objectives and goals are within your reach, focus and you'll see...'

The sun sank and the tide of crowds shifted like the grains of sand through an hourglass. As the day ended he heard, somehow managed to see, the first two rounds go to BEGA.

'Every touch burns me... you know that as well as me Kai!'

How Gaia Dragoon Metal Spike was beaten by a certain bipolar personality bitch aliased MingMing. He chocked, to think that once he had thought that the redhead gnome was good enough... one reason why he had left trusting the midget enough to not mess things up.

And Ray even with the power of Drigger Metal Slash... simply not good enough... so where had all those times training to be the best gone? He winced as the rough edges of cracked stone broke into the scratches on his back.

Now the pressure for victory would fall upon Max's shoulders, he could just envision the blonde uncertain as how to go on.

'No please, grandfather don't!'

As soon as the battle ended between Moses and Ray he left the alleys of the city square, just as he came unnoticed...

'You have a mission Kai...'

Humans could be so ignorant at times. There he was sticking out like a sore thumb wearing the gritty cloak in the midst of the pack of people. Or perhaps there had been so many strange things occurring lately they did not simply care.

'Failure is not an option'

Hn, they had not even cared. Just how many people had laid out their lives being the support, being the ladders for the so called champions to climb up to their glory. Was that all he was? Just another step?

'Why did you come back Kai? There's nothing for you here, only pain... and perhaps a moment of relief if you stay on top.'

Weak fall to the strong, they nurture them...

Teach them...

'You can make a difference; you don't have to stay...'

Thus they are ignored...

That's what happened to me wasn't it?

'Don't you ever get tired of being right?'

He had in a twisted way, trained Takao to the very best he could be. Without him there would have been no fire to fuel, no desire to become great. He had trained Takao, for them, for his brother, and inevitably for himself.

Pupils will always surpass their masters.

'Click'

He was quickly forgotten, another face discarded to make room for the new.

'You shouldn't have come back Hiwatari'

But this is only the second was it not?

And they say third is the charmer...

"Yuriy..."

Seconds crawl on by like hours, minutes drag by like years.

And yet the images did not die away...

If anything, they became frighteningly accurate as everyday objects warped into pieces of nightmares.

Replay of hell yet again...

Of being slammed into a wall bruising him black and blue

His resistance grew stronger yet the visions did not fade

His first nightmare wasn't about monsters under the bed, in the closet, loosing parents, loosing family, loosing friends, loosing a match... it was Voltaire..

He could feel touch him, stroke him, rub against him, do unspeakable things with his teammates. Such relief he had felt when the man had been convicted of enough crimes to land him in prison for perhaps the rest of his life.

He recalled every fiery kiss burning their way down the length of his body... He could explain vividly about how their fingers had snaked up their way to his thighs... they never took away their innocence outright, but it never stopped them from chipping it away to nothingness.

Pity...

'Focus'

He faced the stadium but did not go in... What was there to do except trust Max enough to do what is needed to be done, so instead he headed in the opposite direction. And still, no one notices him as he walks by...

'You shove it in their mouths and blow their brains out, any questions?'

So immersed in finer points of minor details that he had forgotten, he had forgotten why he was to lose to Takao in the international tournament, why he had to abandon Yuriy, Boris and Sergei in their moments of defeat, why he had to turn himself over to BEGA in order to infiltrate further into their organization.

Objective: Take out Balcov

-

"Good job Max." chorused the bladders all around him as soon as Max walked off the stadium after a handshake with Mystel. He had tied with the other blond securing some hope that they would make it through, all that was left was to pray that Takao could succeed as well.

"Ahh shucks, it was nothing." The blonde winked walking towards his teammates. "It was all thanks to Rick." He slapped the white haired bladers ass receiving random gasps from everyone. Rick blushed scarlet, which normally would have been impossible due to his tan but he managed to do it. Michael grinned,

"So..." knowing what the captain of the American team was going to say Rick flushed crimson again though this time it was more likely from anger than embarrassment.

"Get your mind out of the gutter Michael, or I'll do it for you!" he growled. And soon he and Michael were engaged in their regular verbal sparring with everyone watching them.

"Well... now we know things are back to normal." Sighed Emily, the orange haired girl looked up at the scoreboards where it announced in bold lettering 2-0. "...I hope Takao can pull this off."