Hey, sorry for the really long wait. Fanfiction was having a service error and wouldn't let my upload this new chapter, so I had to wait. Of course, I managed to add a little in the time I had to wait.

Note to you; This is where the story starts pulling together, and connects start getting made. Hope something in here answers your questions!

Note to RES; I edited this one myself.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Damp warmth was tugged away from Kevin so quickly that he didn't know what had happened until he was pulled into a sitting position. He groaned openly, squeezing his eyes shut even tighter and numbly trying to push away from the large hands holding onto his shirt collar. Although he was using as much energy as he could, he barely lifted his hands to grip the closed fists of the large man.

"Listen, ya' little shit. If you try anything stupid in the presence of the boss, I'll personally smack you until your face bleeds. Got that?" The voice was low and threatening, and scared Kevin enough for him to open his eyes. As it was, Kevin's eyelids were heavy and his vision was slightly blured. He felt hot and cold at the same time and could feel himself start to shiver again, but he still found it in himself to nod.

The man holding him up dropped him back onto the couch and walked away from the sofa, but Kevin didn't try to keep track of where he was once the sound of his footsteps grew distant. His eyes fell closed and was about to fall asleep again when he felt someone next to him. Slowly, he cracked his eyelids open and rolled his head to the side. A man sat besides the sofa, dressed neatly in a familiar suit, his mustache and spectacles covering a face Kevin knew all too well. His eyebrows narrowed slightly as he started up at the man, who gazed down on him with a blank expression.

After a moment of shock and disbelief, Kevin uttered the only thing he could.

"No…"

-x-x-x-

"One-oh-two? Goodness, get some Tylenol into that kid before he overheats." The woman with crow black hair said to the man who had just burst into the room with the news.

"Hear that Rei? A fever of a hundred and two. I wonder how he went about getting a fever that bad, that quickly?" She murmured, her gaze shifting over to Rei. The neko-jin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. She's only trying to get me angry, and I won't let her. He thought this over and over again, wringing his wrists and grinding his teeth. The room fell quiet again as the woman exchanged a word with the man who had entered. Kai watched her do this closely, trying to hear what he could of the conversation.

"… bringing helicopters in… asking what we want… give up some of the hostages…" Kai could only pick up scraps, but from the sound of it, their captors were preparing to make a move. He pulled himself up onto his knees and cleared his throat openly, claiming the attention of the woman who had started this all.

"I hate to break up the conversation, but if you don't tell me your name, I guarantee you none of us will cooperate." He said evenly, earning a few worried glares from the other hostages.

"Not even at gunpoint?" The woman asked curiously after a pause. Kai nodded.

"Well if I must I must. My name is Victoria Slade." She stated bluntly. Something shifted in the air of the room as the hostages all bartered surprised looks.

"... That easily?" Tyson uttered, bewildered at how simply the woman had finally stated her name.

"Yes, Tyson. It's about time you know my name after all. Besides, I've been allowed to go visit my sweetie, so I'm in a good mood. Tanner, watch that one. He knows we can't shoot him." She finished the small speech by snapping an order at the man beside her, and strode out of the room, leaving the hostages with four armed men.

A long silence followed, where no one wanted to say anything. What was there to say? It wasn't an occasion where you would introduce yourself and sit down to tea. But still, Kai was feeling friendly and with that emotion, he knew he could worm his way into a pocket of information or two.

"Tanner, eh? First of last name?" He asked slowly, drawing the guards attention away from the others and onto himself.

"Shut up, or I'll shut you up." Came the mans bitter reply.

"But you can't shoot me."

"What are you getting at-" The man begin to speak, his voice annoyed and threatening, but he didn't have the chance to notice Kai's foot heading directly towards him until it connected hard where the sun would never dare to shine, crippling the guard on impact. The rest was a complete blur, as Kai grabbed the gun right out of the mans hand and spun around, pulling the trigger the second he was facing the other three guards.

Three rounds fired off, and each of the guards fell over. One dead, two wounded badly. The hostages in the middle of the room stared at Kai in shock before Rei jumped up, first to realize what had happened.

"Come on, all of you, now! Before more come!" He barked, forcing recognition into the others. They all stood and darted towards the doorway behind Kai, who leaned out into the hallway. There was a pause before the sound of a gun firing shattered the air, along with part of the doorframe besides Kai, which exploded as the bullet hit it. Kai dove back into the room and quickly checked the gun for ammunition before cocking it and holding it at the ready.

"Kai, did you see how many there were?" Kenny squeaked, his voice horrified but excited at the same time.

"Three, maybe more." He growled, pushing forwards and leaning out the doorway before firing off two rounds.

"Make that one." He corrected.

"Kai, how did you do that?!" Tyson cried, shock ringing through his words.

"Magic. Now get behind me!"

-x-x-x-

"What was that?!" Hilary cried, jumping up. Her heart pounded and a lump formed in her throat. Before her, Gary tightened his grip on the makeshift bow. Emily whimpered. She felt so pathetic; No weapon, no planned attack… She felt more weak then she ever had, and she hated it.

"Gary, let me!" She blurted. He turned to face her, a little bewildered.

"I have training in archery, my grandfather was a professional!" She cried hurriedly. Just as Gary was about to reply, the door to the room flew open and a woman with a large build burst in.

"Hey!" She shouted as her eyes fell upon Gary. Her armed raised up, and her finger tightened around the trigger, sending a bullet flying through the air and into Gary's shoulder. He roared in pain and fell back behind the bed where Emily and Hilary were crouching. The arrow and bow fell besides Emily as another bullet was fired. Suddenly, she knew what she had to do.

Scooping the bow into her hands, she set the arrow and pulled it back, taking a deep breath and bracing herself. In a swift movement, she sat upright, aiming quickly and letting go of the arrow. It flew a moment, the edge wobbling slightly as it went, before sinking into the woman's side. She yelled in pain, the gun slipping from her fingers, before falling to the ground, unable to move without the thick arrow striking pain through her body.

"E-Emily?" Hilary stuttered, shocked by what had just happened. A pause shook through the air before Emily looked towards the other girl, eyes burning and teeth clenched.

"Close the door and lock it, we're not going anywhere anytime soon."

-x-x-x-

"What about those rich dudes?"

"… The Majestics?"

"Yeah, where are they?"

"They left."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because they have lawyers and rich parents that could get them home. We don't."

"That sucks."

Mariah nodded, moving quickly down the alleyway with the others. She kept up the conversation with Mohan, trying not to think of the others in the hotel. It had been fifteen minutes, and they were so close to the resort that Mariah could see the blue and red lights reflecting off the icy surfaces of the alley.

"Well, at least they're safe…"

"True. But, aren't you jealous?"

"… Yeah. Really jealous."

"We're here." Ripple stated from the front, crouching down behind a dumpster as Lee, Mariah, and Mohan gathered around him.

"Listen, we don't know how ta' get in. Dat mean's we gotta improvise and shit."

"… Right. There should be an entrance towards the back that would be used as a fire escape, so we'll head in that way. Lee and Ripple first, Snakelock and Mariah, then me."

"Baby." Ripple mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Shut up, I am not. Okay, ready? Our entrance should be right…" Mohan leaned forwards, sweeping his gaze across the side of the building. His glances slid to the end of his nose before he spotted what here was looking for.

"There." He lifted his finger and pointed towards it before pushing his glassed back on his nose. Mariah and Lee peered around the corner of the dumpster to see for themselves.

A plain white door lit by a single light hanging above it, surrounded by stuffed black trash bags and crushed boxes.

"Okay then…" Lee murmured. The group of five stood, darting towards the door and stopping as Snakelock crouched down before it. He slid something into the lock that looked like a twisted coat hanger, and then something else that looked like a disfigured paperclip, and pressed his ear to the door just below the handle. A pause followed before a sturdy click brought a smile to his face. With pride beaming on his expression, he turned the rusted knob and pushed the door open slowly for further effect.

The group shuffled through it quickly and stopped, leaning their heads back and staring up the stairwell. The staircase wound around the small area, which shot up about forty stories. The middle of the stairwell was empty, and Lee could see all the way up to that top.

"Our room is on which floor?" Lee asked, exasperated.

-x-x-x-

Kai rationed his breaths, closing his eyes and clenching his teeth before leaning out of the doorway again, aiming the gun and letting off three rounds. Eddie had gathered the guns from the other guards, and while two of the weapons were placed next to Kai – who was crouching in the doorway – Rei held onto one tightly, ready to shoot Victoria Slade through the heart the second the chance presented itself.

"Rei," Kai hissed, "I need your help. There are four of them and they're each taking cover in a doorway like we are."

"And how am I supposed to help?!" Rei hissed bitterly.

"Well... anyone here ever play Ghost Recon?" An uneasy pause followed.

"Yeah, I have." Michael mumbled. Kai slid one of the free guns towards him.

"Go at it. Just remember, you can't re-spawn." He said, narrowing his eyes. Michael cleared his throat, and bit his lip. He had never fired a hand gun, only a rifle when he had gone hunting with his father.

"I… I can't." He said shakily. Kai rolled his eyes.

"You have too. That, or we all die." Kai growled before rolling forwards and shooting again.

"Got one!" He hissed victoriously, ignoring the unsure Michael.

"Come on, Mike. Do it for Emily." Steven breathed. Eddie nodded in agreement.

"You can do it." Max whispered. The sound of the enemy firing brought Michaels head around. He narrowed his eyes and nodded slowly, before biting his lip again and leaning out the doorway. He fired two shots, hitting one of the men twice before he pulled back into the doorway.

"Good." Kai said, smiling strongly. "Now remember the golden rule; one bullet per bad guy."

-x-x-x-

"You see, my dear boy, you were the original hostage because if things went wrong, I wouldn't loose one of my more profitable beybladers. Plus, you have more fans then you think. We would be getting sympathy notes from all over the world because of you."

Kevin lay in shock, not sure if what he was hearing was a dream or not.

"That's right, sweetie. So don't take this the wrong way."

"Victoria, please; fetch me something to drink, would you?

The woman nodded. "Yes sir." She turned on her heal, black hair flicking behind her, and moved off into another room of the suite. All around the room stood women that looked much like her, with black hair. Some had small black moles on their upper lips, while others had bright red lips from to much lipstick. From the sofa, Kevin squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head weakly.

"… Why? After all this time, why?"

"I've been doing it for a while, you and your friends just haven't been involved. Different things, separate jobs… You could call me a crime boss, if you wanted, though I'd be far richer then any crime boss around."

Kevin winced inwardly and bit his tongue until he tasted blood. All his life, there had been people he was truly afraid of. His uncle, who used to hit him when his parents weren't around. Chen, who had bullied Kevin though out his childhood. But never him. Never this man, who had always been there and supported him and his friends.

Never Stanley Dickenson.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

xChewy; I think it's time someone made that fat old man a bad guy.

Kevin; Apparently.

Rei; Stop with the emo moody crap, that Kai's department not mine!

Michael; Dude. I just killed someone.

xChewy; Did you know anything about him?

Michael; Well, not but…

xChewy; Then we're all good.

Rei; :emo corner:

Kai; Hey, that's MY corner! OUT!

Side note; Yay for Ghost Recon 2:D