Hello, peoples. Glad to see ya here again. I'm not going to waist anymore time in the ol' intros. So, here's chapter nine. Enjoy!
Kai - Disclaimer: Told you before. She doesn't own it. From now on, don't be stupid and start asking questions like that.
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Ray shook his head as he stared into Drigger's bit chip. The few weeks that they had for training in street-blading had already come and gone. Tonight, at sunset, they were to meet the Cobra Blades and have their battle. If they won, Derrick would be alright and back with Kai, and the team would leave them alone, but if they lost, the four legendary bit beasts would be taken away, and Kai would die. The tiger sighed. The odds weren't very good.
"Ray?" a voice asked quietly.
Ray turned around from his sitting place on the dojo porch. Cody stood in the doorway, leaning on the frame, his sandy hair swishing to one side in the breeze. The younger teen had been with them for the whole three weeks after Derrick had been taken. He had helped train Kai to become better, and even started helping them in their strategies and movements, where the Majestics kind of lacked in. His green eyes bored into Ray's own golden as they gazed at each other in the noon sunlight.
"Yeah, Cody? What is it?" the tiger asked, standing up while placing Drigger in his pocket.
The younger boy just shook his head. "It's nothing. I was just wondering where you were. Kai had left earlier to try out his new attack ring, and the others are off somewhere in town. I was just wondering if you wanted some company?"
Ray just looked at him. At first, the tiger had been suspicious of the boy, but after a while - and a lot of thinking - this boy could be trusted. Kai trusted him a lot. So, why shouldn't they? Either way, the boy had done a lot for them, and he seemed to be getting the butt end of the entire situation as much as they were. The older teen smiled. "Sure, Cody. You want to go do something, or what?" he asked, striding over.
The green-eyed boy shook his head. "I was just wanting to talk, to tell the truth." He sighed. "I had a feeling that you really wanted to know about what happened to make Cobra hate Kai so much, and who Jason really is. I thought that this would be a good time to tell you, but you have to promise not to say anything to anyone else."
Ray stared at him. Cody had said in the beginning that he couldn't tell anyone anything about Cobra or Jason or the reason why they wanted their bit beasts. So, what was going on? "I thought that you couldn't tell us?" he asked as they strode outside and sat beside the pond, underneath the great tree.
Cody shook his head. "I did say that, but I did leave something out. I can tell only one person everything, but it cannot be said anymore to anyone by either myself or the person I tell. I thought about telling Kai, but I decided against it. He practically knows already anyway. So, why tell him something that's not going to help him?" He looked at Ray a moment, the green eyes sparkling in the sunlight. "So, out of all the people involved, I figured that you would be the best candidate, but you can't tell anyone. Not Tyson, Max, Kenney, or even Kai. Not even the Majestics. It cannot be spoken again." He paused a minute to gaze in the water. "So, will you hear the story?"
Ray nodded, finding a comfortable position on the ground. He figured that they were going to be there a while.
"Okay. I guess it all happened back at the Abby where we all had met. Kai and my brother Keith were cell mates at the time and quickly became friends. After all, who else was there? Anyway, soon Keith introduced Kai to us, and he and I hit it off as well. But, Cobra didn't trust him. He didn't trust many people back then. The only person he did have faith in was Jason, his best friend. Anyway, we all would meet in the practice arena along with Kai's brother Derrick, who was only there for a short time. We would battle against each other. Hide from Boris and Voltair. Sneak out and walk around town. Soon, we started getting into street-blading. It was the newest thing back then. Kai loved it. He and Keith both. They were quick in learning the basics and did their best to teach us." Cody sighed, remembering.
"It went on for about a year. In that time, Kai and Keith became best friends. Always doing things together. One time, though, they had a little fight about Cobra and Jason. It seemed that the two had ganged up on a boy named Tala, who - I guess - was one of Kai's friends, and Kai had stepped in. They had roughed him up pretty badly, making it to where Kai's shoulder was shot for the rest of the year.
"Keith didn't believe Kai when he told him. So, they got into a heated argument that diminished when Kai had run off to the woods. After a while, Keith told me what had happened. I told him that I was there, and that the event did happen, that Kai had been telling the truth." He shook his head, pausing. "Keith was so upset after that and followed Kai into the woods to straighten things out. Eventually, they came back, friends again. About a month later, was when the main event transpired.
"Jason had asked Keith to come and help him with a street-blading move that he was working on. Boris had taken Kai away earlier, though none of us knew that but Keith. Boris had Kai secretly ambushed on the way to the practice arena. While that was going on, Cobra and I decided to see what was keeping Jason and Keith, when we ran into Derrick and started talking. Little did we know, Kai had won against his assailants, and he was now rushing towards where Keith and Jason were street-blading. Kai got there just as soon as Jason stuck a large dagger in my brother's stomach. I could hear Kai's scream from the other side of the building." He shuddered at the thought. "We rushed there only to see Kai holding Keith in his arms, bawling his eyes out, with Jason standing over them with a triumphant look on his face, dagger in hand with blood still dripping from it. Cobra was furious and started yelling at Jason. We all knew that the guy had killed my older brother, but according to Cobra, it wasn't all his fault. As soon as he stuck the dagger in Jason, supposedly killing him, he turned to Kai, who was still holding Keith and crying. Cobra advanced on him, threatening to kill him, and accusing Kai of not being there to protect Keith. He told Kai that he was Keith's best friend and should have been there with him. That the whole thing was Kai's fault. Of course, Kai was going into shock at the time . . . and it didn't help matters that Cobra was accusing him for killing his best friend. So, after I calmed Cobra down and Derrick had taken Kai away from Keith's body, we tried to get Kai to talk to us and tell us what happened."
He looked up at the tiger, eyes wide with tears at the edges. "I'd never seen Kai like that. His eyes were distant from the world, and he kept crying, saying that he was sorry. Voltair, then, threw all of us out of the Abby. Derrick and I took Kai to Mr. Dickenson right away without Voltair knowing. The old man tried to help Kai, but there was nothing that he could do. It took a long while - I think it was close to a year - for Kai to tell us what happened in coherent sentences. That was when he started becoming cold and withdrawn from others. He doesn't want to hurt anyone or even be hurt himself anymore. He also still blames himself for Keith's death, no matter how much Derrick and I try and convince him otherwise."
Ray listened as the story came to an end. He shook his head, tears at the corners of his eyes, wanting to fall. He knew that something bad had happened because Kenney had talked to Mr. Dickenson, but he didn't know that Kai still felt the same way that he did back then. "So," he started, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat, "why does Cobra and Jason want our bit beasts?"
Cody shook his head and moved his gaze to one of the pond fish swimming close to the surface of the water. "Jason came around about a few months ago. At first, Cobra thought that it was all a dream, but after a while, we found out that he was still alive. He said that he wanted to make it up to Cobra. He said that he found a way to bring Keith back to life, and it had something to do with the four sacred bit beasts of legend. It took some research, but we found out that you all - the Bladebreakers - attained those bit beasts. So, when Cobra found out that Kai was one of the members, he quickly agreed. He would do anything if it had an end result of some sort of pain for Kai." He shook his head again. "And the reason why Derrick's in the middle of this as well is because Kai entrusted Black Dranzer to him. According to the spell, Black Dranzer was the symbol for the darkness of death. So, they needed him to start the ritual, but Derrick wouldn't give it up without some sort of fight. So, Jason placed a cobra mark on his side to keep him quiet, and the reason why I'm with you now instead of Derrick was because Kai found out about the mark. So, that's why everything's happening. I just wish Cobra would just accept the fact that Keith's dead and that Jason killed him, and Kai was not to blame for anything." He sighed. "But he won't listen to me. I know that Jason's not wanting to bring Keith back, and I just wonder what he's really up to . . ."
Ray nodded, understanding what was happening. "Don't worry, Cody. Jason won't even get the chance to do anything. We'll win against him. No matter what, we will not lose," he said confidently.
Cody smiled and nodded, completely believing the teen before him. He knew that Ray had been the right person to talk to.
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It was sunset.
Kai fidgeted in his seat on a broken part of the building that they were in. Cobra had told them to meet them in an old, abandoned machine factory on the outskirts of town. So, there they were, waiting impatiently for their opponents. The phoenix looked over at Cody as the younger boy paced back and forth in front of a broken down sewing machine that sat maybe two feet taller than the teen.
Kai sighed, trying to calm himself down. Everything was going to be alright. He had faith in his team and even Zeo. Not to mention, if anything happened, the Majestics were there to help out. Tyson stood next to them with Max close by, talking quietly with the knights. The phoenix shook his head. If he had faith in his team, then why couldn't he stop shaking?
Ray noticed his captain's tense conditions and walked over, leaving Kenney to go and talk with the others. Hillary, with much persuasion from all of them, had stayed home. Thankfully. "Kai, you alright?" he asked, sitting beside the phoenix.
Kai looked up at him and just stared into his golden eyes. After a minute, the older teen nodded. "Yeah, Ray. I'm fine. Just a little worried is all."
The tiger nodded himself. "I know you don't want anything bad to happen to us, Kai, but just believe that we can win, and we will. No more time for doubts. It's kinda too late for that." He smiled as a small, forced one appeared on his captain's handsome face.
Cody looked at the two on the busted doorframe before jerking his head to the side as voices reached his sensitive ears. Cobra and his team, along with Jason, were coming in the front door.
Kai saw this and stood up with Ray right beside him. Tyson and the others stopped talking and turned their gazes to the oncoming team.
"Well, Kai, it seems as though you really do listen to instructions," Cobra said tauntingly.
"Where's my brother?" Kai replied, paying no attention to the older boy's remark.
Cobra smirked and snapped his fingers. Two men came up from behind him, bearing a weak form in-between them. Derrick stood, suspended by the two, breathing heavily and barely able to stay awake.
Kai's eyes widened at the sight, his body shaking for fear of his brother. Derrick wouldn't be able to hang on much longer. They had to make this battle quick.
Cobra's smirk got wider, seeing his old enemy's reaction. "Kai, it seems that I've heard that you have been both good and bad. As payment for being so well-behaved, here's your brother." He snapped again, and Derrick's limp form was thrown only to be caught by the phoenix himself.
Kai laid Derrick on the ground, his head in his lap. The older teen ran his hand along his brother's neck, noticing the still hissing cobra that sat close to his windpipe. His body shook in anger, and he had to clench his fist to try and stop it.
"And for your impudence, I will place another mark on one of your teammates," Cobra continued, causing Kai's head to snap up in alarm.
The phoenix stood up as Cobra pointed towards Ray, who stood there dumbfounded. "You-"
"Cobra, don't punish them for my misbehaving," Kai interrupted, stepping in front of the tiger protectively. "Put the snake on me. Place it as close to my neck as you will. Just don't touch my friends." Kai's voice was soft and low, but his posture stood rigid and ready for anything that would come his way.
Cobra stood staring at him in disbelief for a moment. He shook his head. "You're willing to put a cobra ink on your body in order to save your so-called friends?" Kai nodded, causing the older teen to laugh out loud bitterly. "You will put your life out on the line for them, but you wouldn't even do it for my brother, your best friend!" he snarled.
Kai flinched but shook his head. "No, I tried to get to Keith in time-"
"SAVE IT!" Cobra cried. He strode over to the tall teen and growled, muttering an incantation under his breath. "Fine, Kai. If this is really what you want. Then who am I to deny you?" He placed his hand firmly in the middle of Kai's chest. Muttering the last incantation, he felt a pulse race through his arm and into his enemy.
Kai's breath caught in his throat as the pain made itself known. When Cobra stepped back from him, Kai wrapped his arms around that same spot in pain.
"Kai!" Ray called as the phoenix fell to the floor on his knees. Kai sat huddled over as the enfolding sensation took its toll. His breathing came in short gasps as he struggled to get some air into his straining lungs. The tiger knelt next to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Now, to start this little shindig," Jason said, stepping forward as the phoenix on the floor looked up. He pointed to Tyson and Zeo, then to Ray and Max. "Tag-team match. First is the dragon and the youngest. Then it's the tiger and the turtle. Lastly it will be the phoenix and anyone he chooses."
"Any objections will be taken into consideration, but don't think that it'll have any effect on our decisions," Cobra said nonchalantly.
Kai sucked in a deep breath before getting slowly to his feet. Ray reached out and wrapped his hands around the phoenix's arms, steadying the boy. Kai stood there breathing heavily and glaring at the team in front of him. "It doesn't seem like we have much of a choice," he said quietly and gasped as the snake on his chest slithered upwards.
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Well, that's that for this chappie. I'm on another writer's block on all of my stories except my Abduction story. Which is DONE!!!!!!!!!! D. O. N. E. DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kai - Ok. How about you just end the fic?
. . . Whatever . . . . Mr. Sourpuss . . . .
Kai - What?
Nothing. Read and Review, Viewers!