RTC: Hey people! I'm still feeling untalkative. (Is that even a word?) Anyway, just a few questions before I get on with the chapter. Does anyone know Kai's mom's name? And how much longer can you guys put up with me and this fic?

Kai: She just had to ask, didn't she? I hope this ends soon, then I can have my freedom back!

RTC: Hey! That's mean! (Pouts.)

Kai: Aren't you a little too old to do that?

RTC: Shut up.

Tyson: Hey! Anyone got food?

Daichi: Yeah, I want food!

Kai: And I thought RTC was annoying. (Drags them off.)

RTC: What are you going to do with them! Answer me! Don't ignore me! (Anime vein pop.)

Max: We'll do the disclaimer now before she goes postal on us.

Ray: Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade as previously stated.

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Tala's News

Ray's POV

It's been two whole days since Lizzie was admitted to the hospital and she still hasn't woken up. Apparently, Tala has been spying on Voltaire and he has some big news so he's coming here. They wanted me to leave the hospital for a bit and come to the airport with them, but I wanted to be here for Lizzie, even though everyone says it's not good for me. The beeping on the heart monitor started sounding different, and from my experience, I knew that meant that Lizzie was regaining consciousness. Her eyes opened slowly and it took her a moment to focus on me.

"Ray, I'm sorry," she said. "I know you're going to ask me why I didn't come to you for help, right? Well, I've already relapsed once, and medical science was running out of options even then. I just wanted to be normal and live outside the hospital for a few more months. Can you blame me?"

"No, I guess I can't. But there is one option left. The last time you got sick, I wasn't around to help you. There is one more option, it could save you, but it could also kill you. The choice is all yours."

"What is it? A bone marrow transplant? Ray, i don't know. It could hurt you too because of your diabetes."

"It can't do that much damage to me. I'm worried about you. You do realize you're in the I.C.U. You don't have to decide right now, we can wait a few weeks if you need that much time," I said, trying to reassure her. Just then, a doctor entered and started disconnecting some tubes and machines.

"We're going to move you on to the oncology floor, they're better suited to deal with this," he said.

A few hours later, Lizzie was settled in to a room on the oncology floor. "Man, I hate this place," she said.

"I know, but what can you do?"

"Do the others know yet?" Lizzie asked.

"No, I told them that it was your business and that you had to tell them. They're currently at the airport because Tala is flying in. And they'll want to see you, so get ready with your speech."

"Can't you tell them for me?"

"No."

"Fine," she said and mock-pouted.

Tala's POV

"Yo, Tala! Over here!" someone yelled. That could only be Tyson. I looked around and saw him standing with most of the team. Kari had told me that Ray's sister was sick and that he was staying at the hospital with her.

"Hey," I replied.

"Is that all your stuff?" Kari asked.

"Yeah, I don't want to be waiting to pick up stuff, so I just pack a carry on. Come on, we'd better hurry. The sooner you know what's going on, the better."

"Alright, let's go," Kai ordered. He didn't look himself, but I knew better than to ask him what was wrong because he'd never tell. We got to the house where the out of town members of the team stayed and found the answering machine blinking. Kai pushed a few buttons and Ray's voice came out.

"Guys, Lizzie finally woke up. They moved her out of the I.C.U. and I just thought I'd fill you in. You can visit if you want. Okay, I'd get back to Lizzie now, bye."

"Well, that's good," Max said.

"Should we go over there now?" Kari asked, looking at me.

"Might as well, Ray needs to know this stuff too," I replied. We got to the hospital and found the room where Lizzie was currently placed. I was not looking forward to going inside. Ever since my hospitalization, I felt ill at ease inside them. We walked inside and I saw Lizzie for the first time. She was tiny, or maybe that was just because she was so skinny, she looked like she had been beat up, there were that many bruises and she looked pained. Something was troubling her. Ray was just sitting quietly next to the bed. She opened her cat like eyes upon hearing us enter.

"Hi," she mumbled.

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" Hilary asked.

"Not really, but then, I haven't been okay in a while."

"So, what's wrong?" Kai asked, surprising me by actually sounding like he cared.

"You'd better tell me what's going on with Voltaire first," she said, with a sly smile.

"Okay, I'll spill. Voltaire has built a new abbey-type facility in Moscow. His main goal is to train a whole new group to 'replace' us. He then wants this group to come after us, attack us, steal our bitbeasts so they can be used as evil pawns in his army, kill us so that we're out of the way and can't stop him and finally use his bladers and bitbeasts to take over the world. Just the musings of your average senior citizen, ain't it?" I said sarcastically.

"We can't let that happen." Kari stated with fire in her eyes. "We can't let other kids be hurt and tortured the way we were. But the question is, how do we stop him?"

"Well, the way I see it, we have two choices. One, we can multiply our training by ten and become stronger than his army or two, we infiltrate his base and destroy the thing from the inside out," Kai said.

"You mean as in going inside that abbey that has an insane lunatic in charge? Knowing that he could kill you? What is the matter with you Kai Hitawari! That is beyond insane!" Hilary ranted.

"We'll stick to the first plan for now. Relax, Hilary," Kari said, shooting a look at her brother that said 'don't even think about it'. "One confession down, one to go. Lizzie?"

Lizzie's POV

The moment I dreaded has finally arrived. I never thought I'd actually have to tell anyone, so I didn't know how to break it to them. I hated how people always backed off the second I told them, as if it were contagious.

"When I was nine, we had no idea why I started having the same symptoms I'm having now. Bruises, being really tired all the time, blood not clotting and stuff. At first, we just blamed them on gymnastics and left it at that. But that was not the answer. I just got sicker and sicker and I was dragged off to the doctor, who immediately had me hospitalized to run some tests.

The tests came back with bad news. I was diagnosed with leukemia, a type of cancer. I ended up in a big hospital in a city two ours away from home, since our hospital couldn't take care of me. The only people who came to visit were my family and one really close friend named Suzi. The rest of my friends dumped me." I had to stop; the memories were getting too intense to take. My head started pounding. I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Ray.

"Go, on, tell them the rest."

"Life was lonely, and since I was so far from home, my family couldn't be there around the clock. So I turned to my room mate, Tara. She had a brain tumor, but she understood the horrors of cancer, she was someone I could talk to. Eventually, we both went into remission, and went home, to two different cities, 3 hours apart. I thought that was the end of it, the end of fear, the end of nightmares, and the end of the hospital. I was wrong. Tara relapsed about a year and a half later. The doctors tried to save her, but she died anyway. It was scary seeing her so scared, because she was always a happy and optimistic person. I was devastated. I couldn't accept the fact that one of my best friends was gone. Things got worse when I too relapsed. They wanted to do a bone marrow transplant, but I needed a compatible donor, like Ray, but he had left town and was off training with you guys.

They managed to get me back into remission, thankfully, and this time, I truly thought it was over. Ray was home, I was better, I got a baby sister, what could go wrong? A few months past and the one year anniversary of Tara's death was approaching. Suzi and I decided to take a train to the cemetery where she was buried. We never got there. The train went off the tracks and several people were killed. Including Suzi. I had to watch the rescuers pull her mangled body out."

"Is that why you won't get on a train?" Max asked.

"Yes, but how did you realize that?" I asked through my tears.

He smiled. "The very first time we met you, you freaked out when you mentioned that you're class was on a train trip and Ray said you were depressed. I just put two and two together."

"Oh. I see. Well, now, I've relapsed again. It's always harder to get someone into a second remission and even harder for a third. Most people don't get a forth one. The doctor's want to do a bone marrow transplant now, but I don't know," I said hesitantly.

"Why not?" Tyson asked. I might have been a bit annoyed with all the questions, but I cared more that they hadn't left and were still supporting me.

"It's risky for one. I mean they have to kill off my immune system, which means I could get sick quite easily. I'll have to be put in isolation, which is never fun. And they're going to have to take some of Ray's marrow and that worries me because-"

Ray cut me off, "Because you're being paranoid. A lot of people have donated bone marrow and nothing's happened to them."

"Yeah, but they weren't sick, were they?" I countered.

"I'm not made of glass. Anyway, you don't have to make this choice right now. Think about it, okay?" Ray advised. They all stayed a while longer, talking about me and Voltaire's new plan. I fell asleep and when I woke up, it was three in the morning, according to the clock in my room. Ray couldn't stay overnight because he had left Daichi in charge of Lynn, and knowing Daichi, he might fall asleep. I never liked making the hard choices. But then who does? And with this choice on my chest, I couldn't sleep, so I wandered around the oncology floor. At one door, I heard sobbing.

"I'm sorry, Mama," came a little girl's voice. "I don't want to leave you and Daddy."

"Oh, Sweetie, it's not your fault," the mother replied. "Just know that Daddy and I love you very much."

"I'm so tired," the girl said and then there was the sound of the heart monitor stopped. The girl had died. Just like I would if I didn't choose to do something. But then, was life worth living anymore? What did I have left? My two best friends were gone, my mom, was who knows where, possibly dead. I had made up my mind. I crawled back into bed and fell into a deep sleep.

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RTC: I hope you guys enjoyed that. And I hope it wasn't too emotional or 'pointless'. Anyway, I have to go find out what Kai did to Tyson and Daichi. Kai! Where are you? (Runs off.)

Ray: You'll have to excuse her; she's a bit too hyper right now.

Hilary: Yeah, no kidding. Bye guys!