Chapter 42------Sacrifice
"Let's review this again."
The group were huddled around a table in a café. Ozuma scanned his surroundings; no one within earshot. He resumed, "The front guards change every four hours," the group glanced at the doors of DAICHI ENTERPRISES. Sure enough, two burly-looking men stood by the doorway, "the next one at ten pm. The time interval between the switch is five minutes, that's all you've got." He looked at Miriam who nodded her head.
"Once you're in, I'll disable the cameras on floors five and six. Wait for the guard to move from his post and then enter the restricted area. The guards in the building rotate their shifts within five minute intervals so be careful to move within the limit. Get to the control room on the same floor and disable the security and defence system with this. –hands her a CD- It'll activate once it's installed and destroy the system. Remove the disk and meet us at the stairs of B1. You've got thirty minutes to do all this from the time you enter the building."
"But won't they find out something's wrong once everything goes hay-wire?" Joseph questioned.
"They will, that's why we gotta keep our guard up. Anyway, we rescue Mai during the entire hubbub. Joseph and Dunga, you'll cover us. The police would've arrived by that time so they'd have to deal with them while we escape through the west-side exit, a backdoor which leads to the alley behind the entrance to the subway. Reita will be waiting for us there. Everyone knows what to do?"
They all nodded. Ozuma took a sip of his coke; all that talking had made his throat dry.
"The police know right?" Miriam questioned.
He put down his glass, "I told Reita to give them a call fifteen minutes before eleven. He's supposed to instruct them to be here at eleven thirty but I doubt they'll listen. You know those people, they're sure to rush here and bust in just like that. We've gotta get out before eleven fifteen the most."
"So now we wait?"
"Yup, now we wait…"
-Fast forward, DAICHI Building-
"How's she holding up?"
"So far so good. Initiating DNA-lock sequence." The man's fingers raced on the control board and finally punched the 'start' button.
The fluid in the tank bubbled. On her wrist, a pale blue liquid was pumped up the tube and into her body. The girl flinched, she could feel it. What were they doing to her? She wanted to know! She wanted to fight back! But somehow she couldn't move, somehow her body wasn't responding, it didn't feel like waking up at all…
The scientists analysed the monitor in front, her DNA structure was magnified to show the reaction. A part of her DNA turned a grey colour, then switched between blue to grey a few times before settling down on blue.
"She's fighting it," one of them commented. He turned the knob up to thirty percent when—
The security alarm rang throughout the building. In the lab, the lights flashed red, the computer was jammed, the DNA image had been invaded by blue squares which eventually filled the whole screen and the doors went berserk, sliding open and shut, open and shut. The scientists were frantic as their heads scanned every direction for danger.
"WHAT'S GOING ON?"
"MY EXPERIMENT!"
Suddenly! Four teenagers appeared at the door, "Miriam! Get the tank!"
The girl obeyed and launched Sharkrash at the tank; the blue blade knocked against the glass, leaving a small crack. "USE ABYSS FIRE!" The blade made a sharp turn on the floor and raced towards the tank; it leapt up and banged onto the glass. A crackling sound was heard as the crack spread out over the glass. Little by little, -crack- -crack- -crack- till suddenly! The glass shattered and a whole stream of water burst from the tank.
Miriam's job was done but the others weren't granted such an easy task. Joseph, Dunga and Ozuma were tearing down the place with their blades and it didn't help that the people had called for back-up.
"GET THEM!"
"MIRIAM! GET HER OUTTA HERE! WE'LL CATCH UP LATER!" Ozuma shouted over the alarm as he fought back a guard. "FLASH LEOPARD!"
Mai coughed persistently as the water drained out of the tank. She felt someone snap off the tubes on her wrists and ankles and wrap an arm around her shoulder.
"Mai, can you walk?"
Someone was talking to her but she could barely recognise the voice. Her body felt heavy, it if weren't for whoever was holding her, she would've collapsed on the floor. "-cough- -cough- Levian –cough- Levian wa doko?" She spoke as if something furry was blocking her throat.
"DUNGA! GET HER BEYBLADE! JOSPEH CAN'T HOLD UP MUCH LONGER!" Miriam ordered as she worriedly glanced at her brother. Joseph had used Vanishing Moot to create a defence shield surrounding the area they were in, protecting them from the fire and neutrino blasters. The boy was struggling and she knew they had to act quickly. "SHARKRASH! HELP FLASH LEOPARD!" Both blades set off to deal with the other guards, setting everything ablaze so as to immobilise them.
Dunga came back a few seconds later, "GOT IT! LET'S GO!" Joseph recalled his beyblade and Dunga ran out of the lab with Mai on his back; Miriam and Ozuma following closely behind them.
"FLASH LEOPARD! CROSS FIRE!"
"USE ABYSS FIRE, SHARKRASH!"
They commanded in unison. Both Flash Leopard and Sharkrash encircled the entrance of the lab, spinning so fast that they raced up against the wall and the ceiling, creating a wall of fire in between them and the guards.
"LET'S GO LET'S GO!"
-Granger residence-
The telephone rang and Tyson quickly answered it. The others crowded around him to see if it was news about Mai.
"Moshi moshi, Tyson desu. …What? You've found Mai?" The boys became alert at the sound of Mai's name.
"They found Mai? Where?" Rei pestered but Tyson raised a hand, signalling for him to keep quiet as he listened to the details on the phone. The boys watched as the bluenette nodded his head. Once, twice and then put down the receiver.
"She's at the DAICHI Building in Ikebukuro. Let's go!" They raced out of the living room, calling out to tell Grampa G where they were headed before running out the door…
-Back to Ozuma and gang-
"Hurry!" Joseph slammed the door behind them as the last person emerged into the alley.
"OZUMA!" Ozuma spotted a red car; Reita was standing next to it, waving.
They got to the car as fast as they could.
"Man! What happened to her?" Reita opened the door so that Dunga could push Mai into the car.
"She's bleeding!" Miriam cried as she noticed a red flower blooming on Mai's dress. (It's those plain hospital dresses that you wear, NOT the ones with the back exposed mind you :D) "Get me a cloth or something!"
"Use your bandana!" Joseph pointed out.
"Get in quick! We'll get her to a hospital!" Reita started the car.
"No! Take us to the warehouse." Ozuma objected.
"Whatever! Just hurry! Before the police come!"
The rest got in and the red car drove away from the scene…
-Tyson and gang-
Max paid the cab driver, slammed the door and ran to join his team mates. They were standing at the foot of a building on fire. The firemen were all over the place trying to subdue the orange monster as its flamed hands grabbed at concrete and wood.
Tyson spotted the inspector among the chaos and ran up to him, "So? Where's Mai?"
"We're still looking for her."
"You mean she's still in the building? Trapped in the FIRE?" Max looked alarmed.
"We don't know yet. The firemen are still looking."
"Sounna…" Hilary watched as the lower part of the building burned. 'Mai could be in there…' She shook her head slowly, refusing to believe the possibility. "No, she has to be alive! She has to!"
"Hilary…" Tyson took her hand in his.
"They HAVE to find her! They can't let her die!" Her eyes were frantic and her grip on Tyson's hand tightened.
The boy pulled her into a hug, "It's okay. They'll find her… We're all praying."
The group watched as the fire devoured the building piece by piece…
-Saint shields-
Mai was panting as Miriam tightened the cloth around her shoulder, "There. That should do it." She tucked in the excess cloth. "Feel better?"
Mai didn't reply, she continued huffing and puffing, beads of sweat dotted her forehead. Concerned, Miriam placed a hand on the girl's forehead. "She's running a fever. Take her to the hospital!"
"We'll treat her at the warehouse."
"We don't have the medicine! The pendant alone is not enough to cure her! She needs proper help!" The girl argued with her leader.
"If we take her to the hospital, the police will know where she is! I didn't go through all this trouble to lose my catch all right? I'm NOT letting her go!"
"SHIKATANAI YO! (It can't be helped)" She retorted. "If we lose her, we lose everything!"
The boy glared at her through the rear-view mirror and turned away. Miriam had a point, but it would mean that they'd have to give up Mai. 'And after all this, she wants us to just hand Mai over to them? No way!' He thought. 'I didn't risk my butt for nothing!'
'"If we lose her, we lose everything!"' Ozuma thought about what she had said. They could always capture her again right? It was just that this time, they had to give up the prize. But they could always claim it back someday? 'Argh! But when? HOW?'
"FINE! Take her to the hospital!" Ozuma spat. He hated doing it but he couldn't afford to let Mai die. He needed her to accomplish what they had set out to do: prevent Eden's resurrection.
"Hopsital, warehouse. Which is it?" Reita sounded irritated.
"Hospital…"
-Fast forward-
The Bladebreakers, Kenny and Hilary raced towards the emergency wing. 'Mai! Mai's alive!' They all thought. But alas! When they turned the corner, they were met with bad news…not to mention bad company.
"You! What're you doing here?" Tyson sneered as he gazed upon Ozuma.
"Whaddya think?" The boy pushed himself off the wall, "Don't want our precious Mai to die now, do we?"
"TE ME! (Why you!)" Kai slammed Ozuma against the wall, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MAI?" Ozuma gritted his teeth in anger, 'This guy had no right!'
"LAY YOUR HANDS OFF OZUMA!" The blond giant shoved Kai away and Ozuma fell out of his grasp, rubbing his neck to remove the choking feeling Kai had inflicted on him.
The slate-haired captain was about to throw a punch at Dunga when Miriam came between the two. "ENOUGH! We're in a hospital for goodness sake!" She glared at the two and both boys reluctantly backed down. "I'll explain the situation with Mai but first you guys sit down. ALL OF YOU!"
The teenagers filled up the benches, the Bladebreakers sat on one side while the Saint shields occupied the other. Neither of them made eye contact with the other except for Miriam.
"So…how is she?" Rei asked awkwardly. After a brawl like that, neither of them knew how to respond appropriately.
"She's still in surgery."
"IN SURGERY?" Max exclaimed.
"Let me finish." Max sat back down in his seat and Miriam continued, "She was wounded on her shoulder when we tried to rescue her. We got here as fast as we could but she blacked out in the car. She had lost a lot of blood, not to mention she had a high fever, so they rushed her to emergency once we arrived."
"Rescue her? You weren't the ones who kidnapped her?" Rei questioned.
"Hah! We would've if it weren't for little miss compassion over here." Miriam and Rei threw a dirty look at Ozuma. "She was the one who insisted on taking Mai to the hospital. You're lucky one of us gave a damn about saving that Zeelan."
"Watch it, Ozuma! Unless you wanna take it outside?" Tyson threatened.
"Go ahead! I've been looking forward to thrashing your blade!" Ozuma instigated.
"YOU COCKY BAST—" But Hilary held Tyson back.
"Will you guys just stop it? The both of you! Get out of here if you're not gonna comply with the hospital rules!" Hilary shouted; she had lost her patience with them. "Some of us are worried about Mai and unless your bickering is gonna MAKE the situation any better; I suggested you leave if you can't shut up!"
"I suggest you ALL leave." A man dressed in green attire walked through the doors of the surgery hall. An abrupt silence fell over the teens as they turned to see who it was that spoke.
"How is Mai? Is she all right?" Kenny asked.
The man pulled off his rubber gloves and pulled down his face mask. "She'll be all right. –Everyone sighed with relief- We've removed the glass and stitched the wound but she's lost a lot of blood so she won't be waking up any time soon. We need to keep her here for a night to monitor her condition."
"Can we see her?"
"I'm afraid not. She needs to rest and you people are making far too much noise. I suggest you remain in the waiting lounge for the time being. We'll call you once everything's done. Oh, could you send someone to fill in her particulars at the nurse's counter while you're headed there?"
"Yeah, sure."
The surgeon nodded and pushed past the flapping doors, disappearing down the hallway.
The rest of them headed towards the waiting lounge. Surprisingly, the Saint shields went in another direction.
"Where're you guys going?" Max had a puzzled look on his face.
"We've already lost our quarry. No use hanging around right?" Joseph replied smugly and turned to follow his clan.
Just then! Miriam remembered something. "Dunga, the beyblade." She took the crystal blade and caught up with the Bladebreakers.
"Tyson!"
The boy spun around at the sound of his name. Miriam put her had out, Mai's blade rested on her palm. "Return this to her."
"Thanks…" He looked down at the beyblade in his hand, "Hey Miriam!" The girl turned around. "It was Mai's Grandfather wasn't it?"
She dropped her gaze to the floor, thinking, and then looked up at Tyson. "Yeah, it was…"
"MIRIAM!" Ozuma called and the girl ran off to catch up with the rest of her team.
'Mai's Grandfather…' Tyson thought as he stared at the bit-beast in the centre of the blade.
I'm so sorry i took too long to update this. I'm kinda searching for inspiration right now, something that will inspire me to create the wonderful storyline. But sadly, this muse wil have to wait cos exams are nearing. The next chapt is gonna take awhile but please review ok? Please PLEASE?