Yay, this is a much better size! Let's see what you lot think of it...
Ray backed off, amber eyes fear-filled slits in his white face, canines bared. The Hilary-thing leered at him. "Well, hello, Ray!" Its voice was a cross between Hillary's and a snake's, Ray decided, soft and deceiving. He watched, paralysed as it strutted over to him, talking as it went. "Bet you're wondering who I am eh? I would be too, if I were you. Which I'm not, thank God! I'm not Hilary either. I'm…let's say, the dark side of Hillary. Yes, that'll do for a beginner." It was pleased with this phrase and repeated it a couple of times. When it reached Ray, it bent down and grabbed his hand, squeezing and twisting it cruelly. Ray heard something that sounded like his voice say, "H-Hilary, get off!" Even the pain felt like it belonged to someone else. The thing loved that, though. It put its face close to Ray's and hissed at him triumphantly.

Kai groaned softly and tried to roll over, the pain in his head so intense he had to bite back vomit. He needed to get up, Ray and Hilary were in danger…

"Oh, it's no use you calling to your pathetic little friend. She won't be able to answer you. She's taken a comfy back seat, where she can see everything, but can't do a thing about it!" It laughed uproariously, but stopped suddenly and turned around, alerted by a muffled curse. Ray felt a sudden surge of admiration. He knew what a bad concussion was like, yet Kai had fought it off, knowing when his team needed him. With a hiss of anger, the Hilary-thing walked quickly over to him and placed a hand on his head. "Ah, Kai!" it hissed. "Bit too much of a know-it-all for your own good, you are. Oh well, this shouldn't take long!" It started to push down, digging its fingers into the wound on Kai's head, twisting, slowly, painfully. Kai tried to grab its wrist, but it wriggled easily out of the way, punching him viciously. As Kai slumped, unconscious and bleeding, onto the ground, Ray finally stopped being scared. As his emotions flooded back, he found himself tensing, angry, ready to spring. He got control of himself. It was vitally important that that…thing didn't realise he could move. So, ignoring the excruciating pain in his hand, he steadied himself, and waited for the perfect opportunity.

"That thing" was walking, if you could call it that, round a bit, obviously enjoying being in control. It moved as if it didn't know how human muscles worked, sometimes on all fours, sometimes on two feet, stumbling like a drunk. Ray listened intently, wondering why it was speaking so quietly, yet with such obvious relish. Then he realised, and his blood boiled with anger. It was insulting Hilary, swearing and gesturing obscenely. "Heh, she's a b b. Weak, puny, insignificant, is it any wonder she hooked up with this bunch of louts! She should be glad I'm here!" it laughed. Ray knew it was goading him, but he couldn't care less. He couldn't hear anything over the roaring of blood in his ears. Slowly but surely, berserk rage was welling up inside him. How dare that…creature say those things about Hilary! By the time the thing got to "louts!", Ray was up and silently stalking it, face twisted with anger, unaware of anything except his lust for a fight. As it finished its speech, Ray walked up behind it, footsteps softer than a cat's, eyes narrowed, every sense on a knife-edge. Then he sprang. Forgetting that it was Hilary, he went at it with everything, and for a minute, there was utter chaos as the two of them rolled frantically around on the grass, tearing at each other, biting, kicking, punching. Ray came out of his rage to find himself pinning "the thing" to the ground with his blade raised, pointed straight at its heart. Driger was more than powerful enough to do the job, but…

"That's right, Ray." the thing hissed, confident now that the light of madness had died from Ray's eyes, "You can't kill me. Because if you do, you'll kill your precious friend too. Or did you forget that?" it finished sarcastically. Ray mentally drew back, his thoughts racing. It was right, he couldn't harm it. But Hilary was still in there, somewhere. He just had to bring her back somehow… Whilst he was racking his brain, the creature below him had been trying to wriggle out of the way. Finding Ray's vice-like grip unbreakable, it tried to rear up. Ray's mind cleared in a flash and he leaned forwards.

Without thinking, he pulled his head down and kissed Hilary fiercely, biting her lip, filling both their mouths with warm, salty blood. Ignoring it, Ray pressed Hilary closer to him, pressing his lips painfully onto hers. Sitting up warily, not noticing the blood trickling down his bruised lips, he gently touched Hilary's closed eyes. They opened shakily, to show terror, guilt, worry, shock and…something else? Ray shrugged mentally. Who cared? Hilary was back! He tentatively stretched out his arms, Hilary reached up to them, and the two of them hugged and cried with relief and shock.

"Ray, I'm so sorry…" whispered Hilary, gently reaching out to touch Ray's deepest cut. Ray flinched slightly, placing a hand on hers.

"Ssh, Hil, it's OK." Hilary yawned widely, suddenly incredibly tired. Through a haze, she saw Ray get up and stumble away, obviously meaning to check on Kai. But he was equally exhausted, and slowly crumpled to the ground in sleep. Hilary yawned again and closed her eyes.

All of a sudden, Hilary felt herself being slapped round the face. She opened her eyes slowly and found herself confronted by Max's worried face.

"Hilary! Hilary! Can you hear me?" he was saying, scared.

"Huh? Max? What are you doing here?" Hilary whispered, confused. "You're supposed to stay at the hotel…"

Tyson ran up to them. Max took him aside for a second.

"How's Ray?"

"Fine. Awake." Tyson said, not meeting Max's eyes. Max grabbed him by the arm, sea-blue eyes fierce.

"Tyson, bud, what aren't you telling me?" Tyson turned to Hilary, muttering out the corner of his mouth. "It's nothing. Nothing much. Just his hand. You can go and check if you don't believe me."

"No need." Max said, seeing Ray come slowly out from behind a tree and stagger towards them.His hair had somehow come out from the wrap he kept it in, and was hanging over his face. He nodded his head towards the older boy, and Tyson ran off to help Ray along. Explanations could wait until Ray and Hilary were more with it, he thought, trying to ignore the fact that he'd torn three of his stitches out on the way here. Hilary was more alert now and suddenly noticed someone was missing.

"Where's Kenny?" she asked. Max swallowed.

"He's back at Tyson's, calling for an ambulance." he said, hoping Hilary wouldn't blow up at him. She narrowed her eyes, now fully awake, and said sharply,

"Ambulance? OK, Max. Wait until Ray gets here and then you and Tyson had better do some explaining!" Max sighed. Yup, Hilary was definitely OK! Ray and Tyson suddenly appeared, Ray sitting down with a crash, one of his hands buried in his pocket. He looked exhausted and was covered in cuts and bruises, some worryingly deep, but brightened up a bit when he saw Hilary. They wriggled over until they were sitting next to each other. Max's quick eyes saw that Ray never removed his hand from his pocket.

"Ray, what happened to your-" He was cut off in midsentence as Ray raised his head warningly. It didn't take a genius to interpret that look, Max thought. Not in front of Hilary. Suddenly, Tyson had a thought.

"Um, guys…" he said slowly. "Where's Kai?" Tyson and Max looked quickly at Hilary and Ray. Both went visibly paler and Ray's voice was shaky as he answered.

"Over there…somewhere…" He pointed towards another area of the woods. Mystified, Max and Tyson ran over and stopped dead, struggling not to throw up, horrified at what they saw.

Kai was slumped, unconscious, against a tree. The back of his head was black with congealed blood, and looked like a broken eggshell. His face was deathly white, making the four triangles on his face glow a sickly shade of dark blue. Only the shallow rise and fall of his chest confirmed he was still alive. Ray staggered up, and stood beside Max, face drawn and pale.

"Do me a favour, you two. Don't let Hilary see this. I'll explain about everything later, OK?" Max nodded. He knew when it was best to keep your mouth shut. But, boy, there was going to be a whole lot of explaining to do when this was sorted out! He dimly heard Tyson crawling into the bushes to throw up. He heard another thump, closer this time. Looking behind him, he saw Ray sitting on the ground, eyes closed, shaking. Behind him was Hilary, doing much the same thing. Questions raced through Max's head. Had she seen Kai? No. So, what was making them act like this? Shock? They did have a lot to explain! Did he remember to bring those blankets along? He swung a rucksack off his shoulders, and started rummaging through it. Pulling out two large, thick blankets, he wrapped the other two in them. Ray's hand was in the way, so he gently pulled it out of his pocket. Stared. Then swallowed quickly, forcing down nausea. The hand was swollen and bruised, with bone splinters sticking out everywhere, the flesh torn and bloody. Carefully, he covered it up with the blanket, glad that nobody could see his face, and dug his brand-new mobile phone out of his pocket.

Should've done this ages ago, he thought, furious with himself. Kai needs a hospital soon, or he's a goner. They all need medical attention. He dialled Kenny's number. "Come on, come on, pick up already!" he hissed. Finally, he heard an answering crackle.

"Kenny. Where are you?" he snapped. "Coming? Good. Also, don't eat anything, unless you really want to see the colour of half-digested food. What? Yes it is that bad! Well, tell them to hurry up!" Tyson stopped in mid-vomit with surprise. Max was never, ever this irritable! He crawled out from behind the bush just in time see Max's knees give way and the blond blader crumple to the floor.

Max was breathing raggedly, as the adrenaline that had been powering him slowly drained away, and his body painfully reminded him that, only a week ago, it was him who'd been carried off in the ambulance, plus, he'd torn at least three stitches on the way here. Oh well, he thought dazedly, at least I know why they said not to overexert myself.

"Max! Max! Are you OK?" Max slowly turned his head to see Tyson looking, scared, down at him.

"I'm…fine, Ty. J-Just tired, that's all…" His voice trailed away. Even talking used up too much energy. He'd be fine once he had a kip… Max's eyes fluttered shut. Trying desperately not to throw up as he noticed the blood coming from the torn stitches, Tyson turned away, his mind racing. Now what? Until Kenny and the paramedics got here, he was the only functioning blader left. There had to be something he could do… Well, he could always try to wake up Ray or Hilary… No use trying Max, he thought. He won't wake up for a while. And Kai… No, don't think about Kai, do not think about Kai. Feeling better now he had a plan, Tyson walked quickly over to Ray and reached out to shake his shoulder. Just as his hand was about to touch Ray's arm, someone yelled out;

"No! Don't touch him!" The ambulance crew raced up the hill and stopped next to Tyson.

"Tyson!" panted Kenny. "Where's Max?" Tyson jerked his head backwards. Kenny's face went white as he saw the apparently unconscious Max lying on the ground. "W-What happened?" he gasped.

"It's OK, Kenny," Tyson said soothingly. "He just tired himself out, that's all."

"Oh, alright." Kenny said, slightly reassured. "Where's Kai?"

"What?"

"Well, Hilary and Ray are over there," Kenny said, gesturing over to where the other two were being gently helped to their feet and onto stretchers. "Max is there, and you're here, so…" He trailed off as Tyson looked away. When he spoke, his voice was so quiet Kenny had to strain to hear it, and he had gone slightly green.

"He's behind those trees. It's…not a pretty sight."

"Where?" With a sigh, Tyson stood up and beckoned for the ambulance crew to follow him. He peeled back a layer of vines to reveal Kai's slumped body, looked for a couple of seconds, then ran to the bushes and tried to throw up. But after throwing up so much earlier, he had nothing left; all he could manage was gagging helplessly, the burning taste of stomach acid filling his mouth. He was vaguely aware of the ambulance crew loading Kai onto a stretcher, then somebody was tugging at his arm. It was Kenny.

"Um, Tyson, they say they don't have enough men to get Max home as well, so, um, they were wondering…"

"Yeah, sure, Chief. I'll carry him." Tyson stood up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He walked over to Max and with a little help from Kenny, loaded the sleeping boy on to his back.

"What happened?"

"I don't know." Tyson said shortly.

"You sure you'll be OK?" asked Kenny, anxiously.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Let's get this show on the road!" And Tyson strode off.


Corny ending,I know, but it is Tyson! Please review!