Truth About Darkness Chapter 6: Meetings, a beyblade fanfic

A.C.: -Stares in disbelief- ...You know, when I started writing this chapter... this is not what I had intended... ehh... so how did I get 7000+ words? Last of the teaser-ish chapters are over I think... -gets a headache- a bit more romance in the next chapter so until then, enjoy...

Summary: The dark phoenix is amongst them once more. Between emotions, hormones, therapy, and all around domestication, the Neo Borg will discover the truth explanations behind one Hiwatari Kai's revival...

Warnings:Slashy themes, all around insanity? Structure, grammar, much mistakes. Un-Betaed, uke-Kai and possible/guaranteed oocness

Pairings: Yuriy/Kai, one-sided/mild Brooklyn/Kai, Takao/Kai, Boris/Kai(friendship)

He saw a cat hunting once. He saw how the cat's black body arched in midair as it pounced on an unsuspecting bird. How it quickly snapped the bird's neck and tore its wing into pieces with small but sharp fangs. He didn't know why but it disturbed him more than it should have.

After a grumpy Boris, insomniac Kai, and a hyperactive Ivan, the explanations were made on exactly what their employer demanded. Boris raised his hand sarcastically if there could be such a thing.

"Why the hell are we after again?"

Ivan fought the urge to slap his forehead. A grumpy Boris was often uncooperative, and it seemed that both he and Kai were suffering the effects of jetlag. The shortest member of the Neo Borg decided to cut to the chase.

"Fine, you want to know why we're after it? Because it concerns the Balcov Abbey, it contains information on us as the Blitzkreig and as Neo Borg." Boris snapped wide awake and Kai turned his face halfway looking askance at the short Russian. Ivan met the bluenette's gaze halfway with a glare, "And yes Kai, it does concern Kuro Suzaku."

Dressed in a thick woolen sweater and a pair of jeans not many would have connected the redhead to the genius blader of BEGA. Indeed, such celebrities seemed so unreal, too god like, to actually come down from their chariot of clouds and sun to mingle with the norm. But there he was in full view of everyone, Brooklyn feeding pigeons. The white and gray and black birds cooed as he spread the feed amongst them. A few children noticed this and ran between the flock laughing gaily.

Smiling, he crumpled the empty feedbag and tossed it in a trashcan. He then began to walk towards the wooded area a little past the grassy fields. The birds followed, passing from the feeding grounds and harassing children to beyond Brooklyn's reach. Far beyond the horizon and towards the slowly setting sun.

"I wonder..."

Smiling he tossed up a white and gray blade, it landed in the grass and leaves hidden from view. Brooklyn continued on walking.

'Knock, knock.'

"Done yet?" asked Boris bored as he tapped unnecessarily on the wall. The sound of jetting water stopped. The platinum haired Russian's hypersensitive ears picked up every single droplet of water that hit the floor.

"Yeah I'm done."

Kai came out, face wet and free of blue shark fins. His hair was too dripping with water; it had been dyed in an odd combination of black and brown to imitate an Asian who had highlighted their hair. He was wearing contacts, a shade of deep blue that reminded him of Sergei. Boris barked out a short laughter,

"Looks good on you, now move over so I can do mine." Kai shrugged over, shaking his head so the water fell on his shoulders. Boris noticed that Kai was still wearing his shirt even though it was half way soaked through and clinging to Kai's stomach like a second skin. Lips pressed into a thin line Boris went in to the bathroom carrying a bottle of hair dye and some black attire, he did not come out for a long time.

"Could be worse I suppose," sniffed Boris as he held back a sneeze. "They can afford the national guards to guard this place but they can't do a little spring cleaning every now and then..." Kai wiggled and twisted as they cut corners, pausing as some people walked beneath them chattering loudly.

"They can't fit in the ventilation," replied Kai amused as he observed the men fighting over some statistics on paper. When they disappeared from view, he twisted the screws until the lid came off with a groan. "And they're too lazy." Hugging the heavy lid close to himself, Kai jumped down landing quietly.

"Works for us I guess," shrugged the blond as he followed. They left the lid in the corner where it couldn't be easily be seen before running down the halls.

"This is it?"

Boris raised a brow,

"Too easy for you huh, what did you expect? We're not shooting a movie you know." Some furious typing as Kai sighed,

"It's... nothing... I thought..."

They accessed the database without much trouble and began downloading into a special CD Ivan had given them. Boris turned around to face the other,

"Yes?"

"The stairs," Kai replied, almost as if getting the words out of his mouth was a difficult process. "I... there was something wrong with them." They had glimpsed the main staircase while sneaking down the halls. Though they hadn't been seen, they deemed it unsafe to go that way and turned back.

"Stairs are stairs," Boris said slowly, almost as if he sensed where the conversation was going.

"There's something wrong with them."

The screen flickered and Boris turned back to type in a few more commands.

"Is it dangerous?" when Kai didn't reply Boris asked again. "Is it dangerous to us?" In the shadow's Kai's face tilted downwards.

"Yes."

"There's got to be something more to it than this." Muttered Salima as she frowned at the field of empty bey bowls. The wind picked up, swept across them all and caught the end of her leather jacket. Her blonde companion sat beside her, knees tucked under his chin.

"Why do you say that?" asked Jim shakily. The hospitalization of his best friend had taken toll; Jim hadn't been same since then. Salima put a reassuring hand on the small blonde's shoulders.

"Goki wasn't a world-class blader, but he wasn't a pushover either." She got up and walked down to a bright red dish and launched Cyber Driger into it. The white and gray blade spun idly in circles. "So, in order to put the big guy in such a state... A. The blader is world class." The blade gave a small jump to punctuate her words, "B. the guy or gal is no stranger to brute force... and there's always..." the blade jumped up and the redhead caught it in mid air. "Cyber Dranzer, the opponent must have to be a monster." She continued flatly, "and we have more than one suspect in Japan as I speak." She pictured the metallic bird, the flashing green eyes and blade like feathers.

"But Salima," Jim tried, "It could be something else, I mean... Takao would never let that happen." In terms of power and defense, there was precious little that could get through the metal armor of the digital bird. Takao as well as the other member of his ragtag team were one of the few that could take down the cyborg bit beast.

"Takao is human, he can't be everywhere!" Salima snapped, Jim flinched and drew back instinctively. Salima softened slightly at the sight. "You saw parts of the tournament. We all did, it was the only thing on TV when turned it on. They're strong... all of them, stronger than all of us put together." She shook her head, her full ponytail shaking thickly in the air.

"Don't you want to help Goki? If we got Cyber Dranzer back... maybe..." for the first time Salima's gray eyes wavered, revealing fear in its gray depths. Fear that she was wrong, fear that she would be rejected for one thing she thought she must do.

"What do we do?"

"Ouch,"

"Shit"

Their heads knocked against each other's and Kai fell back down on the floor.

"Get in a little deeper, I need some room."

"Alright." And Boris scooted further back in the ventilation.

"There they are!" Kai whirled around; perhaps the first syllables of a warning call forming on his lips as the bullets ripped through his slim body and buried themselves into the walls. Boris froze, hearing the crack of the gunshots but not being able to see. He held his head out of the vent long enough to see the broken form of the silver phoenix slumping against the wall.

"KAI!"

With a resounding crash, the navy mug with the glow-in-the-dark constellation of Virgo shattered on the floor. The wood absorbed the bitter coffee eagerly as Yuriy swore and tried to wipe it all up with a box of Kleenex. Swearing once again as he cut his finger on a broken fragment he suddenly realized someone was beside him helping.

"Are you alright sir?" the girl was pretty, in a vaguely vapid way. But the concern in her wide hazel eyes was so sincere that he found he couldn't quite brush her off.

"It's nothing," he muttered. His heart pounded wildly giving him a slight migraine. He gently pressed his palm over his chest. "It's nothing." Yuriy repeated dropping the last shard of the mug into her dustpan...

A pink crested falcon lunged out with her talons stretched forward. Her shrill scream stunned the men long enough for her to whip out the guns from their hands, a tempest of blue feathers scattering the guns across the floor. Her master jumped down behind her, a mask of twisted fury upon his normally impassive features. Boris opened his mouth, "Falborg...!"

"Stop" and everything burst into black flames leaving a trace of burnt grease and pieces of bloodied skin on the floor. Boris looked back at his fallen comrade, Falborg as a feathery mantle guarding him from the ebon flames. Kai's lips had turned black in the scorching air, and then back to red, till whatever darkness remaining on his face had disappeared completely.

A single bullet fell out of Kai's slightly parted mouth. It pinged and bounced on the floor before rolling towards Boris. Another dropped out but then no more. The remnants of Kai's blood crinkled and evaporated into the air. Kai looked down at himself seemingly stunned; he looked back up meeting Boris' startled eyes.

Kai's eyes flickered red, their eyes met and Boris could feel Falborg's presence retreating unconsciously. The eyes flickered violet to grey before finally settling on red. The silence was deafening.

"Bryan," hissed Kai suddenly, clutching at the multiple bullet wounds on his body. "We still have a mission to complete." Another bullet slipped passed the leather-clad fingers, it fell on the floor splashing red on the cold marble.

"Screw mission, Ivan… Ian," he hastily corrected, "didn't ask for us to be killed." The sky colored raptor eyed both wearily from her perch on Boris' shoulders before disappearing. "They shouldn't have found us in the first place."

"No, they shouldn't have." Said Kai blandly; putting on a blank front as he slung an arm around the taller's shoulders.

"The employer?" they began to walk down the hallway, mindful of the spots of soot where living, breathing humans had once stood, not wanting to dwell upon the odd hap penance.

"Perhaps..."

"Listen Hiwatari," Boris snapped, "I've put up with some weird shit till this point and I want to know what the hell's going on." They hurried past the corner towards where the stairs would be. "I know what you do in the bathroom and I want to know why. Jesus Kai even Ivan noticed it. Kai... we're you're family, you're the only thing we've got."

Shouts came down from the hallway. Boris began to half-pull, half-drag the silver banged teen, they bolted for the main stairs and found...

"Mention this to anyone and I will cut off your tongue before you can say Dranzer."

Kai smirked,

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"Well, well, well, it's party time..." Boris muttered. No doubt the brief images of Falborg were already on tape. He loaded up his hand gun, popping Falborg's bit into the butt of the gun and aiming at the eyes of a particularly ugly looking cyborg specimen.

"Wait," Kai swore colorfully before shoving his hands down his pockets and retrieving a gray pit. He held it out towards Boris temptingly. "No one knows I have him, use him." Boris shrugged taking Falborg back out and fingering the chip in Kai's palms. Already, too many had gathered at the foot of the stairs just waiting for their next move.

"Does he have a name?"

Boris pulled the trigger.

The blonde haired Russian's eyes bulged slightly at the unexpected force of impact. Apparently no one else had expected it either as they bounced off the sides of the speeding torpedo that was Kai's mysterious bit beast.

"Yuuya..." Kai whispered. The metallic bit beast roared. Its scream a hollow, ghastly, twisted echoes of the original. Where Suzaku and Kuro Suzaku had expressed grace as well as power in a delicate balance of dark and light, it seemed that the only thing that Cyber Dranzer was made for was emphasizing brute force.

"Come on," If they couldn't go down the only where to go was up. As the digital bird wreaked havoc ripping though metal like they were paper, Boris pulled Kai up the many stairs outlining the building, cursing whoever had made the designs and layout. Few floors up and a trail of corpses later Boris pried open the doors to an elevator, thanking whichever deity for keeping the elevator down stairs that day.

Without being told what to do, Kai latched onto a thick cord, Boris followed hanging on just above Kai and cut the opposite cord in two.

The effect was instantaneous; they were being rushed up the multiple floors as the elevator descended. They managed to leap off as the ascend slowed down with the crash of the elevator. Precariously balancing on the non-existent ledge, Boris pried the doors apart again, barely registering that they were on the 37th floor.

"Next trick," gasped out Kai as he got onto his feet, "none like that please."

Boris barked out a short laugh,

"Afraid of heights now are we?"

Kai seemed to have recovered sufficiently between the point in which he was shot and where they were faint against the floor, quite not believing they had held on to an elevator line up nearly 40 stories. He shot his platinum-turned-blonde friend a glare before reaching for the windows.

"Come on, we're up high enough. If we're lucky, they'll be too busy watching Yuuya to look up."

"Right." Sighed Boris eyeing Kai curiously, realizing that the subtle request for Boris to launch Falborg.

But then he hadn't seen Suzaku in a while... wait... what happened to Suzaku?

The bit powered bullet crashed through the window, all they saw was a pair of sky colored wings before talons carried them off into the sky.

The door opened and a hand shot out, grabbing Ivan's neck and holding him off the floor.

"Boris...! Eck!"

Ivan kicked the air but the blonde haired Russian showed no signs of relenting. Kai squeezed himself in through the doorway and watched their antics from the window, shifting the blinds a bit to look down the crowded highway.

"Boris, killing Ivan will not solve our problems."

"Sure it will," Boris snarled, but he let go and the short Russian landed with a loud 'thump' on the carpeted floor. "Mind telling me what that was all about?"

"It's not my fault ok? Someone overrode the system and...mmph!" Boris stuffed the CD in Ivan's mouth before brushing his hair back noticing the sticky blood and sweat and whatever that clung on to his blond hair. Ivan spat the CD out glaring at the falcon. "This is abuse you know."

"It's abuse to call us out without warning," countered Boris. Ivan pouted,

"You smell like blood, was it that bad?"

"Worse, but don't worry your little head off, the blood's not mine." Boris looked down at the huffy bluenette, "sorry, not dying anytime soon I'm afraid."

"What were you going to say Ivan?" asked Kai from his place by the window.

"Someone else infiltrated from the other side of the building, they set off the alarms."

"I didn't hear anything."

"Did you seriously think that they would set off something like fire alarms?" the worry disappeared from Ivan's tone. The short Russian was loading CD into his precious laptop to make copies.

"Hey it never hurts to hope, anything new out there Kai?"

"They escaped?"

"I see them..."

"Shall we proceed?"

"Yes, he's only..."

"Dammit Boris!"

The blonde Russian had bullied Kai onto a king sized bed and held him there, struggling to take off the holey shirt to assess the damage that had been done to the phoenix.

"I told you, I'm fine!"

"I don't care if your guardian bit beast is a fucking phoenix! People don't go walking around with bullets stuck in their body!"

Sound of tearing and the smooth expanse of Kai's stomach was laid bare in the air. Kai chuckled darkly at the stunned expression on Boris' face.

"Satisfied Boris?"

Lines of two phoenixes stretched across the stomach. One in the cloak of fiery red and the other in inverse colors of black racing for Kai's heart in a flurry of smoke and flames.

Two phoenixes rose from Kai's hips, necks arching and heads pointed away from each other. Their wings flared out magnificently, meeting in an elegant arch that continued to the middle of Kai's back. Their mouths open in a ceaseless scream, their only objective seemed to be to reach Kai's heart first. They were only up to barely above Kai's belly button, but knowing how much time had passed between the international beyblading tournaments till now... Boris knew it was only a matter of weeks before one of the spirits claimed hold of Kai's heart. Boris had a sinking feeling in his stomach that it wasn't going to be Suzaku.

His long fingers traced the scarlet lines, the long feathers and the finer gold crest. Saw how the eye seemed to be piercing through his very soul as he traced past the red and touched the darkness, felt the cold, withdrew briefly before continuing with Kai watching his every move.

He saw how the black lines spat purple and copper poison, even before he touched them, leaving greenish hue when the warmth had passed. He saw the newly healed slits of skin, all across Kuro Suzaku's neck as she made the pilgrimage to the heart of her host. His finger made its way toward the curve of her beak before Kai gave a small jerk and deterred him from completing the outline.

"Tell me the truth..."

'None of the half truth or sugar coated lies, I need the truth, and I don't have much time...'

Kai was smiling, a one with a sense of dementia creeping on to his face. The one they had all worn at least once in their lifetime.

The brunette Japanese-Russian leaned up, the small puffs of breath warm against the reddening shell Boris' ear.

"Afraid yet?"

"We have company," announced Kai quietly.

The light flickered, and then died. From the space between the blinds, they could all see, as far as their eyes allowed, how the lights on buildings went out one by one. Hair rose on Boris' back, and he looked up, eyes glowing like whirlpools of light in the darkness.

"We need to get out of here."

Ivan cursed as he dumped all essentials in his briefcase. Taking care to disconnect his laptop from the wires, he pried it open in half before taking out the hard drive and hastily put it in a zip lock bag. He then attempted to make the laptop look as whole as possible before holding up a gun.

"Where to?"

Boris shook his head, eyes devoid of the glow that was in there before.

"Away from here,"

"Our plane doesn't leave until tomorrow and even then we're on different flights." Kai quietly pointed out, tucking his bag in the crook of his arms.

"We don't have that much time."

"Falborg?" Asked Ivan though he already knew the answer. The beast spirit was too tired and even then it would be too dangerous to make such a journey.

"Not over this kind of distance."

"Do we have any contacts in America?"

Kai shook his head,

"None near enough."

Boris licked his lips nervously. He slung his faded gray bag over his shoulders and smirked at the younger two before him.

"Say Kai... when you said no more tricks..."

Kai ran down the hall bypassing other people who filled out in the hallway to see what all the commotion was about. A distant scream from the way he came from alerted him that his comrades have already made their escape, now to make his own. He tilted his head sideways; a bullet strays past his ear and shatters the window that seems miles away from him. Kai was glad, this was no game, and the glass wouldn't even crack if he threw all his weight and then some upon it. Amongst the gasps and shouts of horror, he dived through the broken glass to a freefall some dozens of stories off the ground.

He fell head first, body arching gracefully against the biting wind. He saw his feet pointed upwards and he saw a pair of green eyes staring at him unblinkingly from under a tattered but familiar hood. Yuuya caught him and set him down on the ground, in the distance he saw mini tornados forming from the clouds. He smirked and looked up, the shards of glass falling but never hitting him. He dashed off into the alleyway, moments later a giant shadow followed the trail of his scent.

The green eyed boy tails him but is soon lost in the vast concrete jungle he had run so hastily in to. He can't risk being seen, regrettable, but the boy would have to die. He aimed his gun between the cloaked shoulder blades but soon froze as the tip of a silver blade poked at his jaw.

A voice hissed into him hidden in the cloak of perfume and darkness.

"Unless you want me to cut off that nose of yours you will stay still." The voice positively drips with the threat of pain and dark seduction. The green eyed boy smiled grimly as he completed a perfect flip in midair and landed gracefully on his feet in front of him. The two had him cornered, Ivan backs into the wonderfully firm (if he had time to think about it) breasts of the girl with the knife. Both pairs of green eyes narrowed and the girl tightened her hold on the knife. The girl demanded again,

"Where is he?"

Ivan shrugged feeling self-conscious in such a vulnerable position. He raised his hand, slowly enough that the girl wouldn't perceive it as a threat, then he slammed his goggles down on his eyes earning an odd look from the green eyed boy.

"Hey, you guys have done such a great job so far; don't let me cramp your style huh?" he grinned cheekily as he heard the girl grit her teeth in anger. The boy held out his launcher, aiming it at the Russian's face.

"Just answer us and we won't hurt you, much."

"So you can sense the bit beasts can you?" the boy flinched at this remark but held his launcher steady. The knife pressed harder against his neck, not enough to draw blood but enough to offer him pain. Of course they wouldn't be able to find him, thought Ivan dryly. According to what Boris had been saying, the slate haired blader hadn't been using Suzaku since they had left Japan.

"I wouldn't waste my breath if I were you." The girl breathed into his ear, the green eye boy looked irate.

"Just kill him Miriam; no one will know if we dump him in a ditch somewhere."

How rude.

"Tell me," Ivan growled out trying to twist his neck out of the way. "Can you sense created bit beasts as well?" the girl's eyes widened as she quickly withdrew her hands as if she had been scalded.

"Joseph, run!" understanding dawned in the boy's eyes and he jumped towards the pipes above them as Miriam climbed the verandas. Ivan smiled, amused at the progression. In a violet lightning, a forked tongue whipped out to capture them both. Barely grazing their smooth skin with the venomous fangs before two other bit beasts jumped into the fray.

The wind was overpowering and all-consuming. In the eye of the storm he was invincible; no one could hurt him here, no one!

"So you're our employer?"

Boris was unimpressed as the bulky blond came charging into the sandstorm. The Russian simply spun out of the way and delivered a sharp kick to the man's stomach. A flash of light and Vortex Ape stood impassively over the crouched form of Dunga. Falborg made her own appearance, her presence strengthening the chaotic winds.

"The phoenix belongs to us."

"I can't find him!" hollered Ivan as he slammed his goggles down on his face. They had moved out of the eye of a tornado. He could still see some people, late in the discovery of the winds, dive into their cars. The sand polished the buildings and broke the glass, after being struck by an umpteenth glass Ivan dually noted they should head for cover. Tornados weren't common up this alley for sure.

"Good!" Boris hollered back, "If you can't find him, they can't either!" Ivan had to give Boris credit for somehow moving in the bitter wind with his eyes closed. The falcon tamer had stopped bothering to wipe his eye after grains of sand had lodged into them and began walking on instincts alone. But was that enough to find the final member of their group?

"Can't you do something?" They went into a building eliciting surprised gasps from frightened refugees. It was probably like a scene from a movie for them. The world was about to end and only a handful of protagonists willing to save the people from annihilation. In the background, the black-and-white TV announced that most of downtown had been evacuated and urged the remaining people to stay indoors.

"Like...?"

"This is so messed up," complained Ivan loudly as they sat down on a cushion wringing dust out of their ears. "I just know Yuriy and Sergei are going to chew us out, a tornado in New York? If I'm lucky maybe they'll just shoot me."

"Not us," Boris stressed, "Just you." But even the blond Russian had to admit that this mission had gone awry. They were not supposed to use their bit beasts, they had. They were not supposed cause a scene but they had abet indirectly on TV. And they were not supposed to lose Kai but... "I'm going to go look for him, stay here."

Ivan looked up at his older teammate tiredly,

"When will you be back?"

"When the storm stops."

Cyber Dranzer raked his talons across the feline's back, cutting from shoulder to tail in professional precision that left half the spine open in the air. The swift winds were confined to the downtown area and even then they were beginning to die. Here, away from prying eyes of panicked citizens of New York, they could fight without hiding. And Kai was willing to give them a hell of a fight and then some as a sort of a retribution for this day.

Flash Leopard screamed as purple and foamy liquid, a bit beast's blood, streamed out of the critical wound. Somewhere behind them Ozuma had fallen into his knees clutching his pulsing shoulder. Yuuya screeched in triumph and rocketed skywards before turning to dive. Kai snarled holding the other teen up by the collar before slamming him into the pavement.

"Why are you following me?"

"You're no longer fit to carry Suzaku; we're here to retrieve it."

"You have no right..."

With an odd groan of bending metal, Yuuya's wings folded beneath Flash Leopard's claws. The metal bird began to melt as the fire began to pour over him like dark waters when violet feline ran in furious circles around him. Distracted Kai turned to look at the metal phoenix in the circle of fire, he didn't notice Flash Leopard's approach until it was too late.

The blow flayed his back open. Ozuma quickly twisted out of Kai's grip and delivered a debilitating kick to the neck, effectively snapping the phoenix's head onto the pavement. Kai let out a choke before being slammed into the concrete by one of Flash Leopard's enormous paws. Black claws popped out on both side of his head to grind on the broken street, Kai snarled and spat blood but didn't move.

"Normally you shouldn't have felt anything from Flash Leopard, perhaps a little tear in your clothing but you... you're anything but normal aren't you?"

Kai winced as the long claws on either side of his head pushed him further into the dented concrete. The purple foam still flowed freely down the ebony fur dripping down onto his head along with traces of crimson flames. Yuuya screeched weakly from the back unable to free himself from the fires.

Green eyes narrowed in pleasure and the short teen began to close in on the duo.

"I see now, that's why your little fight with Zeo had such an effect on you. That's why in the last tournament you..."

"Shut up." Kai growled beneath the leopard's enormous paws. Ozuma's lips quirked upwards.

"Make me Hiwatari." The winds stirred once more, skating around Ozuma's ankles in bands of dusty ribbons before settling down. Kai snarled, hands itching reaching out to punch the shorter teen's face in. Just to wipe the all-knowing smirk from the bastard's face. A warning growl rumbled in Flash Leopard's chest but Kai paid no heed as Ozuma knelt down in front of him.

"You really don't learn do you?"

With an angry scream a feathered bullet slammed into the violet leopard's head and Ozuma was blown backwards with the sheer force of it. A hand pulled Kai out from the cracked impression in the concrete.

"Ivan was right; they can't sense artificial bit beasts." Said Boris matter of factly as Kai dusted himself off. "They should really pay attention to what's going on around them."

Falborg had driven the two into a corner. Flash Leopard was crouching weakly, too tired from the earlier fight with Cyber Dranzer. The child leader of the Saint Shields looked at the raptor unflinchingly. With a content groan Cyber Dranzer collapsed into nothingness.

"We need to get out of here, where's Ivan."

Boris shrugged, his shoulders rolling easily. The early fight with Dunga all but forgotten, he sauntered over towards a surprisingly undamaged payphone. Kai rolled his eyes, the other Russian was about to call collect, Ivan was going to have a fit. Watching Ozuma as Falborg stared him down Kai noticed a strange item clenched almost casually in the short teen's fingers. Something within him recoiled at the sight; the word 'danger' hammered his head. Bit beasts couldn't feel fear but they felt anxiety, and they knew danger.

"SUZAKU!"

The summon of the bit beast was like a beacon through the darkness. All across city, those who wielded bit beasts looked towards the city's edge as Suzaku shielded the three with one flap of her mighty wings. The odd trinket held in Ozuma's hand was knocked out and lost somewhere on the streets. Strange words formed on the green eyed teen's lips but with a resounding force, Suzaku had all but erased them. Falborg and Flash Leopard shook, Falborg let out an approving note before disappearing. The latter of the two whimpered in pain before melting away.

"Don't try anything funny," said Kai darkly, still reeling from the recoil of summoning his bit beast. "Or I'll set something even worse than Suzaku on you." Suzaku had assumed the same stance Falborg had taken just moments before. Falborg had been tired from her early battles, Suzaku was not, or if she did feel fatigue didn't show it through her vibrant plumage. Ozuma couldn't believe that Suzaku was in front of him and yet he couldn't seal her.

Boris placed a hand on Kai's shoulders and like magic the tension in his body left him. With a shaky voice Kai asked,

"Well?"

"We're going, the storms' almost gone anyways." Kai nodded and walked towards Ozuma, going through Suzaku's crimson tails. It was almost as if... Suzaku was being absorbed by the bluenette-turned-brunette. The clouds of burrowed into Kai's body and vanishing, the aquiline bit beast's head was the only thing visible and fading as Kai brought a gun down to Ozuma's stomach.

"This isn't over Hiwatari."

"Maybe not, but until next time here's a parting gift." And Kai shot the other teen in the stomach.

"They'll be looking for us, and probably all the flights are cancelled until they figure out just what happened." Announced Boris dramatically as they stood on the rooftop of some unnamed building. Behind him, Ivan was explaining the situation to Sergei and Yuriy alternatively, hopefully lessening their 'punishment' when they set foot down back in Japan. "Any ideas?"

Kai stuck open one eye. The red eyed teen was still mulling over using Suzaku against Ozuma.

"One,"

"I probably won't like it." Sighed Boris resignedly as he polished his gun.

"Probably not."

"Well let's have it."

Kai rolled his eyes skyward.

It wasn't much of a sensation as he was feeling. If he was feeling that is. Wait that didn't make sense at all... Ivan watched the short flags of black, shady things pass over his arms, complete series of loops before drafting upwards and floating down. He was pretty sure he was falling then... he wasn't. Really there was nothing to indicate that he was anywhere at all, he couldn't see anyone either though he was pretty sure Kai was next to him. Had he been a lesser man he would have had a breakdown at the sheer chaos of this place but then he had gotten far used to Wyborg, Boris, Kai, Yuriy, Falborg, Boris, Wolborg, Sergei, Boris, Seaborg, and etcetera to be shaken by a bit of shadows. Ok, more than a bit.

Then he fell, hard.

Kai and Boris landed on top of him.

There were precious few things in life that surprised Brooklyn, apparently, having two people appear out of the ceiling and landing on the floor by his feet wasn't one of them. Sadly, Garland had no such immunity to supernatural happenings and immediately jumped up into a defensive position.

"Ah Kai, how nice of you to join us. Hope your mission went well."

Boris twitched and Ivan groaned from underneath the pile. Not to say that the two taller Russians were heavy but they were lean, not thin, their muscles just so happened to weigh more than they looked.

"Kai, get off of me."

Kai ran a shaky hand through his brown and black hair before crawling off the prone form of his navy haired friend. Boris rubbed his eyes a few times before sitting up and finding out that he should have stayed down because the world seemed to have taken liking to spinning unnecessarily around him.

"Kai, Boris? Ivan? What are they doing here!"

"Borrowing a cup of sugar," replied Ivan sarcastically. "You guys were the closest."

Garland looked them up and down, taking in the nightmarish black attire and dyed hair.

"What have you guys been doing?"

"None of your business." Grunted Boris, "We should really get going."

Garland stood in front of the door way cocking his head and tapping his foot impatiently.

"I think not."

Ozuma winced as Miriam finished tying the bandages and threw the bloodied rag into a bin. Around them, the two other members of Saint Shields were also licking their wounds. Joseph in particular had carved in deeper lines in his arm to let the poison flow out. Miriam had done the same and was waiting for the bleeding to stop in between sucking some of it out.

"I can't believe we lost him." Spoke up Dunga loudly after he finished putting on a last band-aid. Miriam shot him a cool glare before washing down her leg with a bottle of water.

"So we can't sense artificial bit-beasts, looks like someone did their homework." Miriam tossed her head, letting her blue hair cascade down her back. She ran a hand through it once before tying it up into a high ponytail.

"We've never really been able to sense artificial bit-beasts, first time someone's taken an advantage of it though." Said Joseph carefully stitching up his wounds with surgical precision asserted his experience in the past with such results from battles. "It's a weakness; I'm not sure what to make of it."

"It's never been a problem before," Dunga pointed out brusquely. "Our target has always been the four constellations."

"Our target has always been the deities..." corrected Ozuma, shaking off Miriam's hands. "But if the artificial bit beasts make a stand against us..."

"We'll just beat em'" Dunga dismissed carelessly. "What's so frightening about a metal birdie?"

"The fact that we were not able to land a single hit on Blitzkreig for one." Replied Miriam dryly as she gave Ozuma's bandages a fierce tug. The black and red haired leader gave a pained grunt before throwing the bluenette a glare. Miriam gave him an innocent look over her shoulders before moving away to help her younger brother.

"We've always known that the Neo Borg were dangerous, didn't think they would interfere though."

"What about the Tri-generation of America? If we want to take back Genbu, it'll be a hassle getting through all of them."

"They're small fries compared to Neo Borg; didn't you see what happened in the international tournament held in Russia three years ago?"

"Not to mention Kai holds more than one bit beasts..."

"I believe," said Ozuma carefully, capturing the attention of his teammates. "We need a good look at those files Blitzkreig had so kindly dug up for us."

"Why?"

There was a flash of violet lightning. Dunga fell over backwards as the image of Flash Leopard swiped at his head, intending to knock his head off. The blond screamed but the enormous paw passed harmlessly through his shell-shocked face. The leopard bit beast mewed before returning to his bit.

"That's why," Ozuma pointed out when they all deemed that Dunga had not died of a sudden heart attack. "Artificial bit beasts were created for combat, as well as eluding our senses they have the ability to make contact with the real world, they can do harm to living things."

"And...?" Miriam raised her eyebrow intrigued.

"Flash Leopard was able to hit Kai." Ozuma concluded. The blue haired girl frowned, twirling a strand of hair between her fingers.

"So did Cerberus in the Japanese tournament."

"You're forgetting, just because those scientists revived him doesn't mean that Cerberus is artificial. And as you kindly pointed out Miriam, Kai was injured in that match." There was a grim look passed all around.

"But that's impossible," she sputtered, "bit beasts cannot harm humans, well technically the spinning tops could but not..."

"Which is why we're going to go find out. Joseph, wake Dunga up. We can't stay here for long."

The tension was thick enough for Takao to eat. Then Brooklyn decided to break the silence,

"Welcome back Kai." He said warmly and it was as if the play button had been pressed. Boris pushed Garland aside and went out the door; Ivan held his briefcase close and followed.

Kai stared at the ginger haired prodigy for a moment and let out a brief 'hn' before tossing him the black queen. He then followed his teammates out the door giving Garland a curt nod. Brooklyn's carefree smile turned into a slightly pensive, pleased one. He clutched the black queen tighter in his hand smelling the faint tang of blood and reveling in the heat of the phoenix that had touched it just moments before.

After being fussed over by maids, butlers, and teammates, after being chewed out by those certain teammates and being grounded for a month, they were allowed to go back to their rooms and 'reflect' on what they had done and so on. Not... Really...

Though they were exactly welcomed with hugs and kisses, both the blond and the redhead had to admit the seriousness of the situation when the Saint Shields was on Kai's case. Though they never met in person, the Neo Borg (minus Kai) had heard of the infamous sealers of bit beasts before.

Kai sighed, retying his bandages over his chest. He fingered his stomach momentarily before turning around at the sound of footsteps by the door.

"You're hurt," said Yuriy showing more worry in his voice than he had intended. Kai shrugged it off nonchalantly, giving the redhead an unreadable look before turning away. Yuriy grabbed his arm. Kai turned around slowly,

"Yuriy..." the aqua eyed Russian hesitated before tightening his grip.

"Walk with me."

With Yuriy insistently pulling on his wrist Kai had no choice but to follow the redhead, wherever they were headed. Now they were at the foot of the woods, going in deeper. Tumbling over upturned tree roots and fallen branches, the leisurely walk had turned into something else entirely. It was almost as if the blue eyed Russian had something else in mind, something to hide.

And suddenly, they stopped.

"Remember the last time we were out in the woods together? Back in Russia?" The random question threw Kai off guard. Yuriy's voice took on an almost affectionate tone, eyes dreamy and watching the shades of blue passing through the skeletal branches.

"How could I forget?" answered Kai dryly, wondering where all this was heading towards. "We were playing tag... and got lost thanks to you." Kai shivered at the memory of being buried alive in snow, before Yuriy had the decency to dig him out

"Is it my fault that I'm better at hide and seek than you?" Yuriy grinned the damned swaggering, self-mocking smile. Kai almost melted at the sight.

Almost, but not quite

"Come on, play with me. It'll be fun, and we won't get lost this time."

"I thought we were out here for a walk." Kai mentioned idly. He looked disinterestedly at his feet, until Yuriy stepped closer and lifted his chin up.

"?"

Warm lips covered his own, bare arms pressing into his spine. Hands roamed, wandered down towards his belt, beyond, between his thighs and up his stomach. He flushed scarlet as the kiss deepened further, their tongues locked in war as Yuriy's fingers twisted themselves in the tight black shirt Kai wore.

Kai did nothing to stop this. In fact, he encouraged it in his own quiet way by moving his smaller hands out of the way. Then they broke apart, Yuriy nipping the lower lips in parting and Kai suddenly realizing where they were and what they had done. Suddenly the chilly wind was nothing compared to the pit of ice that now lined his turning stomach. He froze, hands falling back towards his sides, gloves useless in the act that had just transpired.

"Tag, you're it."

He felt as if the crowing inside his head would never stop.

Ketsueki-Ken- yeaahh... I'm not that good at English so some parts WILL be confusing. Wait, scratch that, try all. -looks up- there's some Yuriykai see? -smiles innocently-

Kurosaisei- Thanks :P last time I checked I was in 11th... I think... but then I'm not quite sure because this country only has three years for highschool hmm.

kailover2006- keep reviewing :)

Mizuki hikari- thanks for the review

YuriyTalaIvanov- yeah I guess it was confusing... The 'cutting thing' and 'black queen thing' are explained in this chapter. Brooklyn somehow acquired Cyber Dranzer and had hidden it in the black queen chess piece before giving it to Kai. The 'cutting thing' is well hard to explain. Kai fears Kuro Suzaku in a way, (this will be explained in later chapters) so by cutting her, he feels that he can more or less control her.