This is the first part of the climax:D Next chapter it all goes tits up:D I can't wait to write it. Maybe you can guess what's going to happen, maybe you can't. There's not long to go until the conclusion of which there are still a possible two, may three endings. I'm thinking of doing a couple of chapters of alternate endings but I don't know if I'll have the time to do them. Anyway, enjoy this chapter and reviews would be awefully nice:D

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade

Chapter 14

Max half carried, half dragged Kai into their hideout after two hours of straight ducking in and out of shadows. The streets were in an uproar after the attempt on Brooklyn Kingston's life with soldiers hellbent on arresting the culprits. Kingston wanted them alive so he could have the pleasure of delivering their sentence himself. They had very nearly been caught out a few times, since, in their masquerade outfits, they hardly blended into the streets of the lower class. Luckily, years of sneaking around the streets after dark had honed their skills and made such a journey back home almost effortless. Almost because there were at least seven soldiers who were lying unconscious in various allies.

When they staggered into the common room, they saw that everyone was on edge and restless. They all looked up at them hopefully but immediately sensed something had gone wrong. Max helped Kai over to the couch where he started to regain his awareness, realising the need to grasp hold of the situation. Not just for his sake but for the sake of everyone around him.

"What happened?" Garnet asked. Her voice was wobbling. "You didn't kill him, did you?"

Kai shook his head. With difficulty he uttered two words of explanation: "we failed."

"Failed?" Tyson repeated slowly. Kai nodded. "Well, where's Hiro? Did you get split up?"

Max put a hand on his friend's back. "Maybe you should sit down."

Tyson looked at Max and Kai and shook his head fearfully. "No. No, no, no." He raked his hands through his hair. "No, you're lying. You have to be lying. Hiro can't be...He's not! He's not!" Tyson grabbed Kai by his jacket and shook him. "How could you let this happen? Why didn't you look out for him? Why didn't you make sure he was okay?"

"Max," Garnet said gently. "This isn't Kai's fault. It was an accident, wasn't it? There was nothing you could do about it." Kai and Max were both silent. She swallowed hard. "Wasn't there?"

"I didn't mean for this to happen. It was a mistake."

Garnet's voice thickened ever more. "Kai, what do you mean by its a mistake? What happened?"

"I wasn't there when I was supposed to be. I...I was with some one."

"With someone?" Garnet repeated again. "What the hell do you mean you were with some one?"

"I want to hear it from Max's point of view," Ray said quietly.

They all looked at Max who avoided all of their gazes. He was more than uncomfortable with this situation for he knew that when they found out the truth Kai would be lucky if survived the reaction, especially since Tyson was looking at him murderously. It was a look that Max had never seen from his best friend and he was more than a little worried about how this situation was going to unfurl. He looked at them all and knew that they weren't going to back down.

"Look, remember that you guys weren't there, okay. You know what we planning to do, right? Hiro was going to shoot Kingston with Kai and I keeping him in his sight all night to distract Mystel and Garland. Well, before I explain this anymore there's one thing you need to know. Hilary's been having an affair. With Kai." They all gasped in a way that would be comical if it hadn't been for the seriousness of the situation.

"How could you?" Tala hissed at Kai, who avoided all their glares. "You knew how important she was to us and you've been risking her life and your own all this time! You didn't even tell us about it. How long have you been sneaking about around our backs?"

"Since I was shot."

"All that time? Kai you're an idiot. A selfish idiot." Tala's eyes burned into Kai and he felt them like a fire on his body that wouldn't be put out. "I want to hear the rest Max. God help you Kai if we hear what we think we're going to hear."

Max looked nervous again. "Well, when it came to Hiro making his move Kai was nowhere to be seen. Mariah found me and asked where he was and obviously I didn't know. She then asked if I'd seen Hilary and I'd noticed she's sneaked out to the balcony. From that, Mariah knew that was where Kai was."

"You mean Mariah knew?" Ray asked.

"Obviously. She's been helping them sneak around. Well, help them not be caught, I suppose is a better way to put it. Anyway we went out to the balcony and saw the two of them together. Then an argument happened since Hilary didn't want us to kill Kingston. I think she had her own agenda at hand and our plan was ruining that. In the end it was resolved but it was too late. Hiro had revealed himself and Mystel quickly unarmed him by shooting his hand." He glanced at Tyson to see how he was taking it. Not well. Not well at all. His hands clenched on his knees and his jaw was set hard. "Then Kingston shot him executioner style. He didn't stand a chance."

Slowly Tyson got up and walked across to Kai. No one stopped him. They only watched as he punched him square in the jaw. Kai flinched but said nothing. He could taste the blood in his mouth from the smarting blow. He didn't blame Tyson. If it helped him any he could take another shot. Then another. Hell, he could keep going all night.

"You," he whispered, "killed my brother. You weren't there when he needed you and its your fault he's dead. I'll never forgive you for it."

Garnet looked at Kai with tears in her eyes. "Please tell me that its not true. Tell me that it didn't happen like that."

"I'm a lot of things, Garnet, but I'm not a liar. What Max said is true, though I have to admit its a very sweetened up version. What I've done is even worse than he's making out. I...I don't know what to say." He looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry would never cut it. I shouldn't be alive when Hiro's dead."

Tala looked at him sadly. "How can you expect us to follow you now? As a leader you have to be selfless and you've betrayed us all by risking your life just so you can have another fling with a girl you barely know."

"I don't barely know her and it's not a fling. Believe it or not we're in love," Kai replied quietly.

"In love," Tyson scoffed, hate clear in his voice. "You mean to tell me that my brother's dead because you think you're in love?"

"Maybe you are and maybe you aren't but that's not the issue at hand," Tala said sorrowfully. "As a leader you have to be self sacrificing and because you couldn't do that a man we all care about and respect is dead. Tyson's lost a brother, Garnet's lost a cousin, we've all lost a friend and the country's lost a vital member of the Resistance. Do you really think we can work under you now, knowing that we're only second in line to a girl who you don't even have a future with?"

"You don't understand. You don't feel what we feel. No one could possibly know."

Tala shook his head. "You're acting like you're the only man who's ever been in love. You've not. Many people have to have made sacrifices and you couldn't even sacrifice one night. So what are we going to do? I think I speak for everyone when I say none of us can respect you as a leader now." There were a few grunts of agreement. "So what do we do now?"

"I'll stand down," Kai said. "You're right. I don't even respect myself as a leader. So I'm giving it over to you. Tala, you can lead the Resistance. You've more than proved yourself as ready." He put a hand on his doubting shoulder. "You may not believe it but I believe in you. Besides, what choice do we have?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I can barely look at you after what I've done. I'm leaving the Resistance. I'm leaving you. I don't know what I'll do or where I'll go but I can't stay."

All of them looked at each other bar Tyson. Kai took some comfort that they were objecting to the idea. Not that it mattered. He had a plan forming on the edge of his mind that he couldn't tell them and he knew he had to go anyway. Tyson wouldn't live under the same roof as him and he owed it to him not to make his life anymore difficult that what it already was.

"But," Kenny murmured, "without you there isn't a Resistance. Whenever people think of us, its your face they picture. It's you that Kingston wants to hang. They'll never take us seriously without you. If you're not with us, we're just a gang again."

"Wake up!" Tyson cried. "We are just a gang again. We have been so for the last six weeks. This was our final chance to take out Kingston and we didn't because Kai chose to fuck a girl over saving the life of one of his friends. With some one like that to lead us its no wonder we've fallen so badly." Tyson looked at Kai and for the first time Kai met him. He was crying. From the eyes that looked at him so murderously were tears. "I once wanted to be like you, Kai. I thought you were the greatest man alive. Nothing was more important to you than us, than the Resistance. How wrong I was. Now I can think of nothing worse than being you."

With a final venomous look, Tyson retreated to his room. An eerie silence fell over them all. Neither of them had ever felt quiet like this before. In the air hung guilt, blame, sorrow, hate. No one looked at the other person but remained in their own reverie of thought. Each had had a picture of what would have happened at the ball but nothing had ever been like like. No one imagine – good or bad – that it would turn out like this.

Eventually Kai stood up. With a heavy sigh, he said, "I'm going to gather some of my things together. I suggest everyone goes to bed and gets as good a sleep as possible. I'll be gone by the time you wake up. I won't bother saying good bye since I don't think a lot of you will want to hear it."

"You don't have to go you know." Max looked at Ray, Tala and Kenny: people he thought would agree with him. "You can stay here. You've let us down, yeah. You've betrayed us, yeah. But we'll forgive you. Maybe not for a while but it will come eventually."

Kai said nothing but shook his head. He was at his room when Tala pulled on his shoulder. "I can't-"

"Don't!" Kai whispered harshly. "Don't, Tala. Don't be afraid to lead them. They want you to. Live up to expectations for once in you life instead of always staying in some one's shadow." He slipped inside his room and shut the door firmly behind him, standing with his back against it. He heard Tala linger outside for a few minutes and eventually walked away. Only then he dared breathe a sigh of relief. He slid down the door and brought his legs up to his knees. He had meant every word about what he'd said about leaving. He fully intended to leave but what he didn't have was a plan in which to do so. It was there but he couldn't make sense of it. Where would he go? He had no idea. Who would he turn to? He had no one.

Only one thing was certain. He had to do something to make amends, if amends were even possible. He had to carry on his work with the late Resistance, get support again. He could do it. He was Kai Hiwatari, infamous in many countries and not just his own. He could be the spokesperson. That would be how to bring Kingston down. There only just over a month left before he married Hilary. Before that he wouldn't have the proper means to fight other countries. Kai had affiliates with France, Germany and Scotland due to his family name. If he could meet with them he could surely convince them for his help. After all, it would be countries like these Kingston would target once he was ruler. When that happened there would be no hope for them. He would have the means and firepower to take over every country in the world. He would have total domination.

Kai couldn't allow that, wouldn't allow that. He owed it to everyone he had ever met, ever known, ever loved. There was still fight left in him and he would use it until the bitter end, however soon that would be.

It had been a rough night for Brooklyn. A horribly rough night. He hadn't retired to his chamber until well after four in the morning. No word had been received about Hiwatari's capture and with a bitterness that still tasted in his mouth he had to admit that he'd been outsmarted yet again. Angrily he knew that if it hadn't been for Mystel the mistake would have cost him his life. It was sheer luck that was why he was breathing today. Not skill, not talent but luck. Even he had been afraid when Hiro had revealed his identity. He had tasted real fear and he hadn't liked it. At that moment he had truly believed he was going to die. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, knowing that your time had come. Everything that you had done wrong, everything you hadn't done...

He banged his first against the table and looked at the crack he'd made. He wished it was Kai Hiwatari's skull beneath his fist. He had been humiliated again. Hiwatari had gotten into his own house, attended his own party, fooled him into thinking he was an ally with his disguise, had him treating him like a well respected guest and then, to top everything off, his partner had almost succeeded in assassinating him.

Well he had failed. He had failed and now he would get his revenge. Kai Hiwatari was going to pay for everything he'd done. Not with his life but with his freedom, spirit and sanity. The things he was going to do to Hiwatari were going to drive him mad and his words could be marked.

"Are you okay?" Mystel asked casually, knowing what the answer would be.

Brooklyn looked at him from the corner of his eyes. "No, I am not okay. I want Hiwatari and I want him alive and I want him now. I will paint this town with his blood, then give him transfusions to keep him alive while I do it. Do you understand?"

Mystel shrugged. "Sure. You hate the prick. I hate him too. How do you suppose you find him sine you're making it sound so simple?"

"I interrogate his mole."

Garland quirked an eyebrow. It was the closest to excitement he would get. "His mole? Do you know who he is?"

"Yeah," Mystel agreed. "I mean I had my suspicions but now I'm not sure."

The red haired man grinned. "We all had our suspicions. For a while we even suspected each other. Funny how Hiwatari was working from inside when he wasn't even here. But I ask you. Just how did they get in?"

"Somehow they got invitations," Mystel provided doubtfully.

"Exactly," Brooklyn grinned even more widely, almost manically. "Do you know who gave out the invitations?"

"Hilary," they both answered.

He chuckled maliciously. "No, not exactly. There was another person involved. In fact, she organised pretty much everything from putting the idea in Hilary's head to even inviting Max Tate, Hiro Granger and Kai Hiwatari. In fact, I recall that she disappeared shortly afterwards whilst Tate and Hiwatari were escaping." He went into his desk and took out a file. "Funny thing is, I hadn't pieced it together until this morning. It was quite by chance that I discovered it. I was studying Hiwatari's family tree out of interest. Mainly I was interested at looking at Hiro Granger's." He pushed the file over to Mystel and Garland who opened it and their eyes widened in surprise. "Exactly boys, though she doesn't use that name now. I pieced it together once I found that out and realised it all made sense, why they were always one step ahead of us. You never noticed the servants in the background because you tend to forget they're real people. You just assume that meals are served or rooms are cleaned. Well this one's real enough. We may know her as Chiang but her real name is Mariah Hiwatari and she's been spying on us ever since she started here."

"B-but she's Hilary's best friend. Her only friend. What are you going to do?"

Mystel frowned. This wasn't good for Hilary and he had a bad feeling that not everything was as black and white as Brooklyn seemed to think it was. Things were starting to piece together but it was a whole different jigsaw to the one Brooklyn was completing. He had the image of a mole on his whereas Mystel had a secret photograph of which only two people knew about. He was thinking it might be three now if his suspicions were correct. After all, stopping Hiro shouldn't have been as easy as it had been last night. Something had gone wrong. Some one hadn't done what they were suppose to do and he'd noticed Hilary had been absent from the entire scene.

"I've not decided yet. A little interrogation first, I think. Then I'll make up my mind. Hilary's attachment to her may dissolve when she finds out about her true character. All of us say nothing to her until we've had a little talk with Mariah." He nodded to Mystel and Garland. "Perhaps you two could bring the little snake in here. Be as persuasive as you need to be but for God's sake don't let Hilary know."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Garland asked.

"Be creative," Brooklyn replied dismissively.

Mariah knew there was something wrong the minute she opened her room door and saw Mystel and Garland standing together with their arms folded together like henchmen of some mafia boss. She tried to smile a blasé smile but found it faltering. It was in their eyes that something was wrong and it was she who was concerned.

"Is something the matter?" She asked them with confidence she didn't feel.

Garland smirked and Mystel refused to meet her eyes. "Mr. Kingston wants to see you. Now." The latter's voice was calm, collected and chilling.

She smiled brightly. "I imagine he wants to ask eye witnesses about last night. Just give me two seconds and I'll be right there."

She attempted to close the door but Garland stuck a foot in it. "Now." Before she could react Garland's hand struck out and grabbed her, the other one slipping over her mouth before she could scream. "Make any noise and I'll gut you like a fish right here."

Her eyes slipped to Mystel pleadingly but he pretended not to see it. Instead he looked up and down the corridors while they quickly dragged her to the board room. Her mind raced faster than she could make out and she knew that she wasn't going to see the light of day again. It was over for her. She had no idea how she'd been found out but she had. Now they would want to know what she knew. The fight in her stopped and so did the struggle. If what lay ahead of her was what she thought it was then she was going to need all her fight and strength. She had information and they were going to want it.

Brooklyn was placidity waiting on her arrival with his arms folded on the desk. Mariah saw that he had a Glock sitting in front of him and the safety wasn't on. A cold sweat broke out over her body.

"Please take a seat, Miss Hiwatari," he said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Taking control of her breathing she did so. She didn't want him to see how scared she was. He handed Garland a file who handed it to her. Her fingers trembled as she took it. "You've been very clever up until this point. In fact, if luck hadn't been on my side I'd never have figured it out."

"It seems lucks been on your side quite a lot lately. Wasn't it pure luck that saved you life last night? We had you once, Kingston and we'll have you again," she spat, rising from her chair. Garland put a firm hand on her shoulder and pushed her down again.

"That'll be a 'we' minus you," Brooklyn replied calmly, smiling at the sheer hate in her eyes. "You see we're hardly going to let you spy on us any longer." He laced his fingers under his chin and leaned towards her. "However, we are willing to make a little bargain with you. If you tell us what you know then you'll have your life. You'll be a prisoner here, obviously, but you can continue living the same life you have, fully pardoned." She was about to answer but he held a finger up. "Don't forget that if you decline this very generous offer, we'll use other methods to get what we want."

"Show me what you've got!" She hissed.

Brooklyn nodded, clearly pleased. "Take her down to the prisons, will you? Let's see if we can't change her mind."

Her heart hadn't stopped beating since the night before. Sleep hadn't came to her easily either and still she was in a panic. Brooklyn hadn't been killed and now he was after Kai with a vengeance stronger than ever. She didn't even know if he was alright, had no way of knowing until she met him. The hours were dragging in so slowly, what had been six felt like six hundred. Even looking at the clock it seemed to tick slower. She'd never wanted to see him so badly. It was not knowing if he was alive or dead that was getting to her. She knew Brooklyn had been busy all day but she didn't know what with. To make things all the more worse she hadn't seen Mariah around either. It would have settled her mind dramatically if she'd been able just to chatter with her. However, she was nowhere to be found. That wasn't something that should give cause for concern but something about it just didn't settle with Hilary at all. Maybe it was because of all the madness that had happened over the past day.

She couldn't believe how foolish she had been. How foolish they'd both been. She felt partly responsible for that man's death. If she had only just let Kai carry out the job he'd been given none of it would have happened. However, things might have turned out differently. There was no guarantee that Kai and his friends would have made it out alive anyway. There were still soldiers who would have been attacking them plus Mystel and Garland would want revenge. She truly believed that for what could have happened they all got off lightly. A man was dead and she felt terribly for it but she couldn't help but take relief that it hadn't been her man. It hadn't been Kai.

Her man...The very thought of it made her want to laugh. She doubted if he would ever be her man more than she'd be his girl. No, she thought not. Things were never to end that way. Life was just like that. The things you really want from the depths of your heart you never get. You only seem to get what you think you want, not what you know you want. It was a sad truth that seemed to have echoed throughout all her life. Not just hers, she was sure.

"You seem lost," a voice called to her from somewhere in reality. Slightly alarmed, she turned around and saw Brooklyn behind her. She hadn't even heard him come into her bedroom. Distracted by her thoughts, she smiled. He didn't smile back. There was something wrong. She sensed it immediately. He was hiding something from her. "I just thought I'd see how you were. You seemed pretty shook up after last night."

She smiled ruefully "Well its not every day there's a shoot up in your house and a man gets killed in front of your guests."

"Well the man was a criminal. He had to be killed. It was either him or me."

"Him or me..." Hilary repeated. "Is that the way you want to live our your life?"

"What do you mean?"

Hilary sighed. "Can't you see why they're doing it? Don't you hear your people? They're suffering." She looked at him sadly. "You really don't realise, do you? Why do you think there's a Resistance and why do you think your public adores them? Don't you get it? If they weren't treated so badly then they wouldn't look for something better. You may not want to hear this but I'm going to tell you anyway. You're not a patch on King Stanley. Maybe you're army's stronger but your relationship with your people's pathetic in comparison. They fear you. They don't respect you they fear you."

Brooklyn wanted to scoff but kept it in. Hilary obviously felt strongly about this and he didn't want to put his foot somewhere it shouldn't be. There were some things she just didn't understand. "Are you telling me that if I changed the way I ruled there would be no Resistance? Please don't be so naive. They want me dead because of the way I killed most of their parents and the way I ruined their lives."

"Yes but the majority of the population don't have such grudges. They just want to have the lives they once had. The poor don't want to be poor anymore. The middle class don't want to have to struggle to make ends meet. If you can do that for them then they'll never want to remove you from the throne." She paused for a moment. "Why did you do that to those people? The Resistance I mean. How can you live bearing that burden?"

For a fleeting second he couldn't meet her eye. "I'm sorry for it now, don't get me wrong but I was mad with power. I wanted it all and I didn't think of the consequences. Don't you think I lie awake at night thinking over all the wrongs I've done?"

"How long has this been going on for?"

"Not long since I started to love you," he admitted almost shyly.

Hilary was taken aback. "You...You love me?"

He got down on one knee. "Yes, I do. What's more I want to propose. Marry me, Hilary. Be my wife and my queen."

"I am going to be your wife and queen."

"Yes but mean it when you say yes. Not only will we be married but we'll rule together. You obviously own the heart of our country and you'll know how to treat out citizens the way they should be. I don't. My forte's war, defense and laws enforcement. Together we'll be the best monarchy this country's ever known."

"I don't know what to say..." She said quietly.

"Yes would be a start," he prompted.

"Then...yes." She curtsied. "It would be my honor."

The happiness on his face surprised her. The sheer delight and pleasure was unexpected. He kissed her on the mouth quickly but she didn't return it. She didn't have it in her to do it. "You have no idea how happy that makes me."

"Oh, I think I have an idea," she murmured and wrapped her arms around her body.

He left her then to fall back into her reverie. This time she had more thoughts to contend with. She should be happy. Her plan had succeeded. She'd made a man fall in love with her. She had changed his ways. So why did she feel so terrible? She'd heard before that guilt was only the fear of the consequence but she didn't believe it. She didn't fear what would happen to her if Brooklyn was ever to find out the truth but she did feel her stomach line up in knots for what she had led him to believe. He loved her and he thought she loved him back. She had more or less told him she did. What had she reduced him to? A fool in love. Brooklyn, the feared ruler, was now just a lovefool because of her.

Pity washed over her for him. He had eaten everything up like a starving dog and believed every word, every touch, every look. How could she keep playing along with this charade for the rest of her life? She knew that she would never love Brooklyn. She cared for him but she would never return the feelings she had led him to believe she had and in return had for himself. There was only one man she would ever love but at what price? The more they kept being together the more danger they were of being found out and the more she was at risk of ruining everything she had built with Brooklyn. She had her chance now. She wasn't in this for herself. She just wanted a better future for her people. The lives of so many was worth the happiness of one.

She looked into her mirror and saw she was crying. Although she couldn't feel her tears, couldn't feel anything, she knew what she had to do. She would meet Kai tonight but they would never meet again. Her heart broke at the very thought of it but she put it aside, locked her feelings in a box. She had to be strong now. This was her chance to do something that mattered and with so much at stake she had to do what she could. She wasn't strong, she wasn't smart, she wasn't a fighter. This was the only thing she was capable of and despite the sacrifices she would do it. For the greater of her people.

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