Chapter 2.
The Dodged Bullet. Bryan's Luck.

Sent to gather their belongings, the two teammates isolated themselves into Tyson's bedroom with agent Z standing outside. The atmosphere in the room was unbearably quiet and neither of the two really knew what to say to each other as they loaded their gear into separate bags.

It was strange to know that they wouldn't each other again for a long time. Secretly, it bothered Kai to know that they wouldn't recognise each other if they did cross paths on their individual missions.

'What if we shoot each other? Or what if he blows my cover!? For fuuuuck sake, Tyson.'

Still, the pair would briefly sneak a peek at the other to ensure that the other wasn't cracking from the pressure that was now piling up onto their shoulders.

However, the silence didn't last for long.

When Tyson finished packing his luggage, he stretched out the tension in his figure by reaching his arms towards the ceiling. "So, this is some pretty serious stuff, huh?" He announced out the blue.

"You are treading into dangerous waters. Make sure that you take care of yourself, Tyson."

The concerned captain's words were meaningful, but Tyson was more interested in hearing the story behind this mess. He reached out his hand to offer it as a handshake, but naturally, Kai stubbornly declined and continued to pack his bag.

"Oh c'mon Kai. We both can take care of ourselves. But seriously, now that we are alone without any of the team around to overhear us. Why don't you tell me about what happened!? I'll always have your back, Kai. You're my best friend."

No response.

"Kai, I'll nag you better than Hilar has ever done. In fact, I will do it until you tare your own navy blue locks out. So, what happened on that day when you were caught overhearing the traffick trade?"

Even though it clearly pained Kai to discuss the delicate subject, Tyson refused to back down without at least putting up a fight. He was determined to figure just exactly what had happened that day. Tyson wanted to know EVERYTHING!

The Hiwatari forcefully zipped up his bag and shot the Granger a gritted teeth glare. Kai didn't see any reason to discuss this with his rival, especially as Tyson wasn't going to absorb any of Kai's gentle warnings. Tyson was adamant about his decision and this only frustrated the captain even more.

'Then again, if I explain to him what happened, he might just change his mind. Plus, Tyson does need an eye-opener to make him understand just how dangerous this mission will be.'~

"Fine, but you better listen to every little detail that I tell you because I am not going to repeat myself." Kai cleared his throat and then placed himself onto the edge of the bed, "It all started when the team and I went shopping in the city centre. We were approached by this blader."

"If I win, the loser must switch places with me in life." The rogued figure aims their launcher towards the Blitzkrieg Boys. A bloodthirsty grin was smeared across his wide mouth. "So, who will it be?"

"Take a hike, kid. You are not worthy of our time." The red-haired leader didn't hesitate, he clearly didn't have an ounce of mercy left within him. He turned his back to the child and held his head high. "We have a championship final to train for."

"Oh, believe me, I know that. I also know that you have had a hard time in Russia. But where I come from, 'kids' like me would give their right arm to have been in your shoes."

The dark tone of voice coming from the boy continued to send a shiver down Kai's spine. It was so cold and thirsty that it almost reminded him of what it was like to endure the abbey days all over again. So many of his past opponents would communicate with him in that same tone, and at this point, Kai was willing to do anything to end this awkward scenario.

Bryan straightened up. He released a low growl under his heavy breath, "What did you just say? You little shit."

Alarmed by his teammate's reaction, Spencer raised out his arm to block Bryan's path to the stranger. "He's trying to get a reaction out of us all on purpose. Ignore him, and focus on the tournament." The blond reminded in a cool and calm manner. He wasn't the slightest bothered by this unpredictable situation.

"Nobody cares." Tala fired back un-emotionally, "So, go away and do something more valuable with your time because the Blitzkrieg Boys will destroy you, your blade and then we will finish you off by shattering your spirit."

Even though the intruder was impressed with the fact that he'd been able to snatch the entire team's attention for this long, the boy wasn't ready to back down as of yet. He casually walked up to Tala's figure and he poked his loaded launcher into his spine.

"Go on then. Let's see if you can break me because if you don't then my trafficker will kill me."

'Trafficker!? Are you fucking kidding me?! This blader belongs to someone else? But why? What is the purpose behind this? And why is this rat picking a fight with us? Does his trafficker want to absorb us too?'

Many suspicious questions bounced around inside Kai's anxious mind. It was so overwhelming that his head would begin to throb aggressively. In fact, it was so uncomfortable that Kai's figure would twitch with nerves at the thought of what this child just may have been through to become the blader that he is today. It almost reminded him of someone.

Slowly the Hiwatari shifted his crimson eyes over to his captain and he waited for his response.

"I said buzz off. We want nothing to do with-"

"I'll take you on." Bryan eagerly interrupted, "And I will take on your trafficker too."

"Pft, he won't be joining us, for security reasons. However, he can't wait to meet you, Bryan. I bet he would break you better than that abbey did."

'How does he know so much about the abbey!?' Kai was absorbing everything. 'Did his traffick circle do business with Boris in the past? Surely not, Russian boys threw themselves at Boris' feet because they wanted to be powerful. However, nobody knows what happened to those boys who were deemed as worthless. I have a feeling that this boy may know the missing link here. After all, he speaks like he's personally been in that abbey himself.'~

Spencer's eyebrows shot up towards his hairline. "You took the words right out of my mouth. Ha, but I think you will do a good job of cleaning up this mess, Bryan." He then followed the boys turning head to acknowledge that there was a shady gentleman who was sat in a cafe window.

"Fine. But you can't blade here. So I suggest we go somewhere else." Kai perked up from in the background, "What about the local park that's nearby?"

'What a clever fucker, he's dragging the boy away from the trafficker's view.' Tala nodded and nudged his head into the direction in which they had to walk, "But before we go anywhere, what's your name, kid?" He asked as he spared the boy a look over his shoulder.

"I'll tell you my name after I bring down your measly teammate." The stranger lowered his launcher to signal that he was willing to participate in this wise move. "Just so you know Bryan, I am going to give this fight my everything."

"Wow, he is really good at the trash talk." Bryan sarcastically waved off the weak insult. "Let's go and get this over with. Junior here will miss his hourly beating otherwise."

"Oh, pft, Boris used to give us one of those every half an hour." Tala bounced off his teammate and he swallowed the pain that was building up inside his chest. "The park is a 5 minute walk from here."

The short stroll dragged, but once they arrived at the park, nobody wasted any time. The two were so ferocious in the dish that a crowd had started to form and this was the perfect cover for the trafficker to mix within.

But the boy's rampage soon came to an end when Bryan had finished toying with him; the electric blade flew out of the dish and skipped across the ground to stop near his owner's feet. The crowd cheered on their winner and the sounds of applause filled the air.

It was distracting, especially as Bryan was more interested in following the boy's frightened eyes.

"He's going to kill me." The boy's breath ran short when he finally caught a glimpse of the shady man in the crowd. "There he is. I have to get out of here."

Without warning, the boy abandoned his blade and made a run for it. He shoved his way through the crowds and disappeared into the city. But instead of following the young chap, Bryan went into the opposite direction to chase down the trafficker.

"You might frighten that child! But you don't frighten me!" The silver-haired male shouted at the top of his lungs, with his face reddening with anger. "You better hope that I don't catch you because I WILL kill you. I'm going to make sure that you will not hurt another child again!"

Now shaken by the threat, the man turns down an alleyway to encounter a dead end. Once he realises that there is now no way to escape, he decides to reflect Bryan's threat by pulling out a loaded gun.

"Well, I better kill you first then, hadn't I?"

The thick Russian accent stunned Bryan for a moment. But that didn't stop him from dodging the bullet, Bryan charged to the trafficker and tackled him down onto the ground. Naturally, the gun skipped had across the ground, making it temporarily unreachable.

With so much rage overriding all sense of his self-control, Bryan placed his large palms over the pale man's face and he sealed it tightly. "It looks like you're about to meet Satan, so say hi for me." Bryan lifted his wrist and then bounced the traffickers head against the ground.

CRACK!~

There was so much force in the action that the trafficker's skull had almost shattered. But the traumatising sound was iced over by the sound of the piercing scream which erupted from inside the trafficker's lungs.

"PLEASE! STOP! I BEG OF YOU!"

"No." Hissed Bryan with his eyes widened pupils glaring into the man's broken soul, "I won't stop."

BANG!~

"Uh!" Bryan's heart stopped when a faint breeze brushed past his cheek. "No!"

Light splutters of blood splashed onto his face, and his now numbed hand somehow had managed to gain a hole.

Dumb-folded by what had just happened in the last split second, Bryan noticed that the trafficker was no longer screaming nor breathing – he was dead. He raised his hand to conclude that a bullet had penetrated through his hand to kill off the trafficker.

"Fuck." He gasped and crawled away from the fresh corpse. "What is going on here!?"

At the other end of Bey-City, Tala and the rest of the team were chasing the young boy. The fit men dodged the distractions of the city streets like stuntmen who were acting out a scene for an upcoming blockbuster. They danced around the busy roads, dodged pedestrians and swung around lampposts.

But there was always one set back in which the team couldn't always avoid – their fans.

"I miss being invisible to everyone." Tala thought out loud as a girl latched onto him. He stopped in his tracks and tried to squirm free from the fangirl. "This really is not the time or the place! Urgh! I'll catch up!"

"We know you will." Spencer chuckled under his breath and redirected his head back to the street. "Shit, I have lost the kid and Kai. Oh no."

A few blocks ahead, Kai was unstoppable. "Kid! Stop! You don't have to run anymore!" He called out in a softer tone.

"No! They will catch me if I stop! They did last time!" The tearful boy replied, running like his life is depending on it. "I can't stop!"

"Urgh." In an attempt to stop the blader, Kai reached out his hand and caught hold of the boys hood. "I won't let them hurt you if you stop!"

Unaware of a dent in the pathway, Kai's feet lost balance and he stumbled down onto the ground, losing the boy. He released the boy and placed down his palms onto the ground to soften his crash. But once recovered, Kai, gazed up to see that a vehicle had pulled up at an upcoming pedestrian crossing. Two men rushed out the van and forced the blader into the van.

"No!" Blurted Kai in frustration, "KID!"

"For goodness sake." Cursed Spencer under his breath. He'd finally caught up to witness the end of this mess. "The boy must have been worth a hefty sum if they have collected him in such a way."

"I don't care!" Kai quickly loaded his launcher to aim it for the vehicle that was disappearing into the distance, "They're not having him!"

"Kai! No!" Their captain who had just arrived on the scene, dived on to his teammate to stop him from launching his blade. "You will be putting too many lives in danger if you launch Dranzer in the middle of a road."

"Tala! Kai!" Spencer's jaw flew towards the floor. "Oh no."

Now shattered with disappointment because the vehicle had now vanished from their sight. Kai raised his hand to lash the back of his palm across Tala's flushed face. "Don't ever tell me what to do again." He warned in temper and dismantled his launcher.

'I could have saved that boy.'~

"Kai. I was simply doing you a favour." Tala snarled and shot him a disgusted glare. "We are all devastated about the kid, but we cannot let ourselves fall into that dangerous loop. It's too risky."

Another loud growl of frustration filled the air and Kai's muscles tensed so tight that his skin almost tore. "I can't fucking believe this." He grunted to himself.

Kai had purposely ignored his captains rosy cheeked death glare because he didn't care about Tala's wisdom right now. If anything, Kai just wanted to save that young lad, so he could give him the freedom that he rightfully deserved.

'This isn't over! Not by a long shot!'~

A/N: Thank you so much for the feedback and support guys, I really appreciate it, especially as it's my first long-term story that I have written for such a long time. Happy Pride Month and take it easy! - Granger~

P.S:
I have quit tumblr completely because I want to spend more of my time in the real world. I've never enjoyed life so much, so I want to make the most of this moment. Anyhow! If anyone wants me, they will have to message me on here – I will always be around :).