Chapter 22

He didn't want to wake up but he knew he had to. For one thing he didn't like the feeling of helplessness. Kai wondered how long has he been out and where was he now. He fought through the fuzziness in his brain, trying to recall what had happened.

He was chased by Boris's lackeys...then...Carlos! That rat shot him with a tranquillizer bullet. So where the heck was he now?

He heard a moan and realized it had come from him.

"Ah, he's waking up." a very familiar voice said.

He recognized that voice. How could he not? After so many nights dreaming of the day Boris brought the innocent girl to the Abbey. He hated it. Kai forced his eyes open and lifted his throbbing head to look up at the man who made him the blader he was today. The man who taught him everything there is to Beyblading and to the harsh survivals of life. Yet there was no gratitude for this man. "Boris."

Boris grinned. "How nice of you to join us, young Kai."

As if I had a choice, Kai thought. Mentally, he put his training to use, expanding his senses to take in his surroundings. He realized they were in the second floored living room of his grandfather's mansion. The room overlooked the wide mansion gardens. Above them was a glass roof letting the fading sunshine spill in. Guards stood at every door that leads to the room. Escape would be hard. He tried moving his hands and cursed when he realized his hands were tied tightly behind his back.

"Welcome home, Kai." another voice said.

While he had been evaluating his situation, someone else that stepped into the room. Kai stared up at the man who has tried to control his life ever since he was a child. "Grandfather."

A guard moved forward to remove the cloak Voltaire shrugged off. The old man's gaze swept through the room and rested on his grandson. "It's been a long time, grandson." he nodded to Boris to leave him. Family matters had to be done personally.

Kai felt his stomach turned with disgust and anger. "You have no rights to call me your grandson anymore." he snapped.

Voltaire's eyes hardened with anger. "I have every right to do as I please once I dominate the world. And you, my grandson will help me achieve it whether you like it or not."

"You'll have to kill me first before I'll ever agree to help you." Kai said, looking away from his grandfather's grey eyes.

Voltaire's hand grabbed his chin and snapped his head up, forcing him to make eye contact. "I don't have to kill you, Kai. You're far too valuable. I could have you tortured."

Kai forced a laugh. "I'll never succumb to you."

Voltaire lifted an eyebrow as he released the teen and stepped back. "Really? We'll see what you'll say once we're through with your team."

The fear in the phoenix's eyes was clear even though he tried to hide it when Voltaire mentioned his team. It made Voltaire disgusted. He hated weaknesses. Especially in his own blood. It's obvious that the time Kai has spent with those weaklings have softened him. No matter. That'll be taken care of.

"Leave my team out of this." Kai gritted out. "This's between you and me."

Voltaire turned to pour himself a glass of wine. "How right you are, grandson. Of course unless you leave me no choice but to bring you team in as well."

Kai gritted his teeth together until his jaw hurt. "What do you want?"

"Need I tell you, grandson?" Voltaire grinned. "You're weak now, Kai. But not to worry. I'll soon make you the perfect blader you were meant to be. With the power of BioVolt's ultimate weapon combined with your skill as a blader, BioVolt would be undefeatable. Then nothing can stand in our way."

"I rather die!" Kai spatted.

Voltaire eyed him curiously. "Could all this fuss be about her instead?" he mused aloud. Has that girl gotten to him?

Her?There was no doubt who Voltaire was talking about.

"Could it be that she has changed you, Kai?" Voltaire muttered. "That girl's more of a pest than I expected her to be. And after so many years, this is the closest Boris has come to capturing her."

"What are you talking about?" Kai demanded, panic wrenching thorough him.

Voltaire looked down at him. "Well, it seems she has been keeping secrets from you, hasn't she? I wouldn't be so surprise if I were you, Kai. That girl has her way with people. She is...unattainable."

"Cut the bullshit!" Kai snapped. Yet he couldn't help but hope it wasn't as his sadist grandfather was telling him. God, please no...those dreams...

"It seems she has an effect on you." Voltaire observed. He studied Kai's tormented crimson eyes and dropped the final bomb. "Yes, Kai. Jade was from the Abbey like you."

The finality of his words hit the phoenix hard. "No."

"She belongs to us. The same way you do." Voltaire sneered. "Accept the fact, Kai. You belong to BioVolt."

Not bloody likely, Kai thought angrily as he struggled on his bonds.

Suddenly there was a loud crash of the glass roof breaking above them and a female figure leapt down, landing catlike as the glass scattered around her.

Voltaire stepped back gasping at her as she rosed. "You!"

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything." Jade said, her eyes not sharing her humor. Her eyes narrowed dangerously like a predator.

"Get her!" Voltaire ordered.

Guards rushed at her all at once. Almost easily, she dodged the first man who reached her and took him out with a kick. As he went down, she evaded another guard's punch and swept his legs out from under him. She kicked him in the face. The next attacker came from behind. She elbowed him in the face and fired a roundhouse kick at him. Someone grabbed her from front and she flipped on her back using her attacker's momentum against him to throw him off her. She planted her hands on the floor and flipped to her feet. Voltaire was backing away to the door letting his ever-reducing guards handle the intruder. She was besting all them with ease. Once she had taken down the last guard, she rushed to Kai, grabbing a piece of glass and used it to slice through Kai's bonds.

"Get out of here." she ordered.

"Not without you." he said, meeting her eyes.

"I'll be fine." she tore her gaze from him as more guards filled the room, armed with guns. Then again...maybe not.

Glancing at each other, both teens dashed to the wide glass windows and leapt through it as a rain of bullets followed. Glass sliced into them but they ignored the pain, landing in a roll to absorb the impact. Without loosing momentum, they were on their feet and sprinted through the garden as more guards fired at them. Kai led the way, dodging behind trees. He could hear Jade behind him then he heard her cry out softly. He glanced back, concern washing over him but she had already recovered and was keeping up with him. The six-foot wall surrounding the premises loomed ahead of them. With ease, they leapt over it and kept running as the guards gave chase.

Voltaire watched through the broken window, impressed by the damage one girl could do in a few minutes.

"They got away." Boris informed him. "What would you like us to do now, sir?"

"Call off the search. We don't need any more clues to the authorities of our presences here." Voltaire said.

"What about Kai and Jade?"

"We'll see them again. Besides...the damage has already been done."


They've lost them. Kai made sure, listening carefully, his body pressed against the alley wall and decided either they had lost the guards or they had been ordered to pull back. His grandfather wasn't dumb enough to inform the authorities that he was in Japan. He turned to the gasping girl next to him. He didn't know what to say to her.

She had kept from him the knowledge that she had come from the Abbey like him. She had betrayed their trust. His trust.

But...she had also saved his life today. She had helped them so many times, inside and outside the stadium.

Both his emotions clashed and cancelled out each other. His face was s mask of coldness.

She looked at him and saw the emotions conflicting in his eyes. Her own eyes saddened and for some reason it pained him. "I had to, Kai." she said softly.

"You could have told me." he said.

She started to get it. "I-." her words faded into a sharp gasp as she clutched her side and would have collapsed if Kai hadn't caught her.

"Jade, what's wrong?" he demanded urgently.

Her face was pale, wincing with every pained gasp and when she removed her hand from her side, there was blood on it.

"Oh no." she heard him say but his voice was fading just as her vision dimmed.

"Jade! Open your eyes!" he urged feeling her pulse. It was weak. Their clothes were stained with her blood. Her breathing became shallow coming out in soft weak gasps. Carefully he lifted her in his arms bridal style. "Jade!" he snapped, willing her eyes to open. "Stay with me!"

Kai...

"Stay with me!"

So tired...

Very weakly she opened her eyes just barely, forcing her eyes to bring Kai's face into focus. Worry sketched his face. "Kai..." she managed to whisper. "I...I'm...sorry..."

Then all she could remember was darkness.