A/N: As I continue to edit and revise my stories I will, when possible, replace the old, sloppy chapters with the new and freshly edited ones as soon as they are to my standards. You will see this note, along with possible variations of it, above all the chapters I have edited. Once all chapters are completely edited I will remove all author notes pertaining to the revision of the story.

Once again, they ran down various corridors in the spaceship. In the silence, Maya couldn't stop replaying the recent events over and over again in her mind. Everything stopped making sense to her. It was like up was down and down was up. One question kept running through her mind: what was Lokar talking about? Maya was so confused. Unknowingly, she tightly squeezed Nox's hand while trying to make sense of what happened.

Feeling Maya's grip tighten, Nox glanced down at Maya. Worry fluttered through her. The look of confusion and fear on the little girl's face pained Nox. It was more painful to see Maya distressed than it was to have been bashed around by Lokar during their battle. She frowned and kept her eyes forward. As heartbroken as she was, Nox had to get Maya to safety as quick as possible. She exhaled deeply. Every part of her body was still stinging with pain. It took so much effort to not cringe in agony. She wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and pass out. But Maya was her first priority. Maya was always first priority when it came down to it all. Once Maya is safe, then I can take care of myself, she vowed silently, I have to carry on no matter how bad I feel. I have to. For Maya…

They took a sharp turn down yet another corridor.

"N," Maya finally mumbled. "What was Lokar talking about?" She looked up at Nox. It was startling to see the concern and stress on her face. Maya couldn't help but remember the look of terror on Nox's face this morning. It was so alike to the expression she was wearing now.

"That doesn't matter right now," Nox answered briskly. She took a quick look behind her to make sure they weren't being followed. "What does matter is getting you to safety. We're almost near the Redakai Council." She kept her eyes forward and scanned the surroundings once more. "I can sense it," she added softly.

Whatever Lokar had been doing to block her senses was gone. It was like a cloud that had floated in front of the sun had finally drifted away. Clear of interference, she could tell exactly, well almost exactly, where Boaddai was. It gave her hope.

"How can you tell?" Maya glanced up at Nox. Her legs were getting tired and she nearly tripped over her own two feet.

"Well, very much like you I have an extrasensory ability. Yours will develop as you get older," she answered truthfully. The dried blood on her chin itched but she ignored it. She refused to wipe it away. She couldn't stand to see blood on her hands.

"Really?" Maya beamed.

Nox glanced down at the blue-haired girl. "Trust me," She smiled warmly. Then she took notice of their surroundings once more. The sting of pain was becoming stronger. She knew she was pushing herself too hard.

"You wouldn't have joined them, would you?" Maya asked skeptically. Her mind kept drifting back to the conversation Nox had with Lokar. To Maya, Nox seemed interested in what Lokar was saying. But she wasn't sure if that interest was feigned or true.

"No," she replied, "I'd never do that." She glanced around the hallway, assessing it as quickly as possible. It felt like they had gained some distance from Lokar and his E-Teens. Yet, something seemed off. It felt like a parasite was slowly draining the energy out of her. However, she brushed the feeling off. She assumed it was the adrenaline from her battle with Lokar wearing off. Unfortunately that drained and tired feeling increased with every step she took.

They traveled through the corridors in silence for a while once again. Finally they came to a halt outside a steal door. To the right was an access panel. Nox pressed on of the buttons hastily and the lock disengaged. The doors hissed as they slid open. Nox gently tugged Maya's arm to get her to run.

When they entered the large room, they noticed that a large window lined one of the exterior walls. Beyond the window was the vacuum known as space.

Just as they made it to the middle of the room, Nox came to an abrupt halt. It was so sudden that Maya hadn't had time register that Nox had stopped. Her arm was roughly yanked because she hadn't let go of Nox's hand.

"Hey!" Maya yelped. Her shoulder hurt. On instinct, she turned to yell at Nox but was stunned by what she saw. She watched Nox, who stood slightly doubled over, breathing heavily, for a brief second before speaking. "Nox?" she asked worriedly. "Are you alright?"

"Sorry…" Nox panted. Every breath hurt. She gave Maya a weak smile. "I… I just need to catch my breath…" her voice was shaky. It had occurred to her that she was definitely pushing her body beyond its limits.

"Okay," she nodded. After seeing Nox tired, Maya was suddenly aware of her own fatigue. It was like Nox's strength had kept Maya going and now that Nox had to take a break so did Maya.

After taking a moment to breathe, Maya took another look around the room. "Hey, look at that," she pointed to an orange planet that was in view. It had to be huge. After all, they were very far away from it and it still seemed like a giant.

The same skin crawling sensation of dread rushed over Nox.

"Maya," she stood up suddenly. It was so quick her body hadn't had time to adjust. Her vision was clouded by a fleeting storm of dizzying black spots. "We've got to get moving. Now!" Her senses told her that Lokar was getting closer to them. Too close for comfort. Once her head was clear, she grabbed Maya's hand and gently tugged it forward.

As they dashed for the other exit, another flash of bright-purple light appeared before them. Lokar emerged once more from the hazy fuzz of light. He wore an annoyed, tight lipped smile.

Nox and Maya skidded to a halt to avoid literally running into Lokar.

Behind them, there was another flash of bright blue light. Nox didn't have to turn around. She knew who it was. They were surrounded once more.

He shot Nox a surly look, "Did you really think you could outwit my all-knowing Kairu sense?" He took a few strides forward, closing the space between them. "You're very clever, Kenway, to think of using an attack like that. Not to mention your ability to deceive people. You almost had me fooled. Almost." He watched the desperation and distress flood Nox's face, he had the upper hand once more. He grinned and roughly commanded, "Get them."

Toby and his teammates immediately followed Lokar's orders. They grabbed both Nox and Maya by their arms to restrain them.

"Let me go!" Maya screamed, struggling to break free from Drew's grasp. Unfortunately Drew help a sturdy grip on Maya's arms.

Drew found Maya's struggles amusing and chuckled softly, "You can't get away. There's no point in struggling."

Lokar watched contently as Maya struggled about. He glanced at Nox and noted her unease. After making sure both Nox and Maya were restrained by his E-Teens, his posture changed. His chin was up, chest out, and shoulders back. He was in control now. He turned to face Nox. His cynical-half smile beaming down at Nox. "You're mine now," he sneered, "the both of you."

"Leave her alone!" Nox demanded, twisting about in an attempt to break free of Julie's and Toby's hold on her. She stared wide-eyed as she helplessly watched Maya writhe in fear.

"Get control of that one. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time," Lokar said sternly.

Julie put Nox in a headlock and Toby stood to the side, ready to interfere if Nox escaped. Toby watched as Julie attempted to initiate a chokehold. But Nox had tucked her chin in, making it harder to do so.

"Get off me," she croaked, attempting to throw Julie off.

Leaving Nox in the hands of Toby and Julie, Lokar glided over to Maya, who was still struggling for freedom

Out of the corner of her eye, Nox watched Lokar approaching Maya. "Get away from her!" her voice was strained as she twisted about in Julie's headlock.

"You're so protective of your friend. How sweet…" Julie growled in Nox's ear.

Toby continued to watch, preparing to interfere. It looked like Nox was gaining control of the situation and he didn't want to let her escape.

"You will soon understand why I need to do this," Lokar spoke softly to Maya. He cupped Maya's face with his dark grey-blue hand.

Maya trembled under Lokar's touch. She tried to stay as brave as possible but she couldn't. She was far too terrified.

The sight of Lokar cupping Maya's cheek as though he were a friend or gentle relative, sent Nox over the edge. Something inside of her snapped. She stood as straight as she could to gain some leverage and roughly slammed Julie into the closest wall.

Julie scrambled to regain her hold on Nox but before she could she felt something hard and pointy, perhaps an elbow, collide with her face. She was forced backwards and hit her head on the wall. She fell to her knees and covered her nose with her hand. Something warm and wet was coming from her nose.

Toby lunged at Nox. As Toby grabbed Nox's left arm, Nox yanked him closer to her and kneed him in the stomach. Toby crumpled to the floor in pain. She hit his sore ribs.

Free of any obstacles, Nox angrily clenched her fist together, red Kairu Energy swirling around her fist, then punched the air in Lokar's direction, firing a powerful blast of Kairu energy at him.

Witnessing the series of events out of the corner of his eye, Lokar saw the attack coming. He easily blocked it with a wave of his hand. "I thought you would have had enough of our previous battle," he laughed, turning to Nox. From what he could observe, her skills were being undermined by his attacks from earlier. Her reflexes definitely slowed down somewhat. "You risked hitting your friend with that attack," he said with feigned shock, glancing at Maya then back to Nox, "I must say, I'm rather disappointed."

"I have very good aim," she hissed. Her breaths were jagged and short. Every muscle in her body was tense.

"Toby, Julie," he ordered, "get rid of her." He shot Nox a surly look before turning his attention back on Maya.

Immediately Toby and Julie scrambled to their feet. "Yes, Master," they said in unison.

Julie wiped her bloody hand on her trousers and spat in Nox's direction.

"You're going to have to go through us first if you want to save your little friend," Toby frowned, trying his best to conceal his pain.

"Yeah," Julie spluttered, blood oozing from her nose and into her mouth.

Nox clenched her fist tightly when she came upon a devastating realization. She silently cursed herself for being so carless. Her lack of forethought put Maya in considerably more danger than ever. She never officially ended her previous battle with Lokar. That meant Toby and Julie didn't have to issue another challenge since they were within the vicinity when Lokar issued his Kairu Challenge. And since his challenge was still in effect, anyone of them could've attacked her and Maya at any point during their second encounter.

However, there was no time for regret. Toby and Julie had already pulled out their X-Readers and were ready to strike.

"Scarachnoz!" Toby channeled his Inner Kairu to transform into his signature monster; a spiderlike, humanoid monster. It had purple and white. The monster had six arms and two legs. On each hand the monster had three claw-like fingers.

"Knight Asp!" Julie turned into a large serpent like animal. It had the body and head of a snake but the torso of a human. Its body was covered in scales. Each hand was consisted of claw-like fingers. "You're going down, Kenway!" Julie hissed, "Anti-Matter Saws!" Two saw blades constructed of green Kairu energy manifested in her hands. She threw them at Nox like it was a shuriken.

The Saw blades left a trail of lingering light in their wake as they flew through the air. Nox instinctively sidestepped out of the way at the last second, the attack barely missing her neck by an inch. She felt the air rush by seconds after the attack past. Instead of hitting Nox, the attack hit the reinforced glass, the only thing separating them from the cold depths of space. Cracks started to etch themselves along the thick glass.

"Missed me," Nox taunted, trying to play it cool. However, it became extremely real to her that her previous encounter with Lokar affected her skills much more than she had originally thought. Normally she would've dodged the attack quicker.

Julie cursed under her breath.

Suddenly Nox heard the soft cracking of the glass from behind her. She glanced at the glass and muttered, "That can't be good…" Then took a few steps away from the backwards to distance herself from the weakened glass. Her eyes darted from her opponents to Maya.

Toby transformed back into his true physical form. He shot a look at Julie, who had also returned to her normal state, and then turned to his master. "Uh, Master Lokar, I think we have a problem…" he stuttered.

Drew had been watching the battle and stared wide-eyed at the cracking glass. He let go of Maya's arm and gaped at Julie. "Julie, what did you do?" he stuttered.

Lokar turned to look at the glass, assessed the situation, and then glared at Julie.

An alarm echoed throughout the spaceship and an electronic voice came over the loud speaker screeched, "Observation glass in Sector V damaged. Closing all air locks!"

Automatically the doors in the area were sealed, leaving them all trapped inside the room. They were left for dead.

Paralyzing fear swarmed through Julie as Lokar glided over to her. His face was twisted with pure rage, "I should leave you here for making such a foolish mistake." There was no denying that Lokar was mad. He nearly had what he wanted, but now he had another thing to deal with. He had hoped he that he would have been able to just grabbed Maya and left without the Redakai Council noticing until it was too late. But the alarm that was set off most certainly would have raised questions. He had no time for this.

"Master, please don't!" she begged.

He glared down at the frightened girl, almost as if he was trying to decide whether or not it would be best to leave her here.

While no one was paying attention, Nox silently made her way over to Maya. She grabbed the girl's arm and decided that desperate times called for desperate measures. Using the small amount of Inner Kairu she had left, she teleported herself and Maya out of the danger and closer to Boaddai. In a flash of blue light, they were gone.

Lokar glanced behind him, and saw that Nox and Maya had left. Rage burned with in him. He had thought that in Nox's weakened state, she would not have had the energy or strength to teleport out of here, forcing them to rely on him for help. Not only would it have been satisfying to have them beg for help but it would've been the perfect opportunity to stanch the girl and possibly the teenager, and then escape undetected with his E-Teens. His fury deepened at the thought of having to chase them down again.

"Need I mention that your mistake gave them the opportunity to escape?" His eyes were blazing with anger.

"I'm sorry, Master Lokar," she stuttered, lowering her head. Then a thought occurred to her. "Toby broke the Kairu Code of Honor earlier!" she nearly shouted.

Toby's eyes widened. He couldn't believe that Julie would through him under the bus like that. Toby felt as though something knocked the life out of him when he saw the way Lokar glared at him.

"Toby, is this true?" Lokar demanded. His eyes never waving from Toby's. It was like he was looking for something.

"That's not true, Master Lokar!" he stammered. "She's lying!"

Lokar did not respond. He only narrowed his eyes and continued to scowl.

More cracks chiseled themselves onto the glass. Time was running short

"No I'm not!" she fumed. "When he attempted to grab Maya, that Kenway girl got in his way. They escaped. He used a Kairu attack on a bystander because he was angry."

"I will deal with you in a second," Lokar scowled at Toby. He returned his attention back to Julie. "Considering how your loyalty to me during the tournament was exceptional," he began, still greatly annoyed, "and, after all, you did retrieve the data on the Kairu reserves… You have demonstrated yourself to be very useful and loyal. I reward those who prove they are loyal. I'll give you one more chance," Lokar sighed. "However, if you prove yourself to be any more incompetent, I will not hesitate to get rid of you."

Julie sighed with relief. "Thank you, Master." She bowed deeply to show her respect.

He smirked subtly as he watched his student bow. Then anger flooded his face once more. He quickly turned towards Toby, "You, on the other hand, have disappointed me one too many times. Not only have you failed me twice today, you broke the Kairu Code of Honor, and tried to deceive me about it. Did you mistake me for a fool? Did you think that my Kairu senses would not detect your dishonesty?"

All the confidence in Toby's body was drained. "But master, it was an honest mistake!" he plead, trying to cover up his actions.

"A mistake? It is the job of a Kairu Master to instruct his students under the Kairu Code of Honor. You can't expect me to believe that the Redakai Council, as incompetent as they are, neglected to teach you the code. Need I remind you that I also instruct you, along with my other students, under the very same Kairu Code of Honor? You insult my teachings by suggesting that I have failed to teach you the Kairu Code. However, if this was an 'honest mistake' as you would have me believe, it is one that will cost you dearly," Lokar frowned.

Toby knelt before Lokar, begging for forgiveness, "Master, please, it won't happen again!" His voice was waving with fear and his body trembled. His eyes were widened at the thought of death.

Lokar smiled maliciously, "No, it will not."

In a flash of bright-purple light, Lokar and his E-Teens were gone. Only Toby remained in the room.

"No!" he cried out, "Don't leave me to die here!"

Crack! The glass finally gave way and shattered from the overwhelming strength of the vacuum of space.

Toby let out a short, high pitched, blood curdling shriek of terror as he was violently sucked into the depths of space. His lungs burned for air. After floating around in space and attempting to breathe in the nonexistent air, he lost consciousness within thirty seconds. Just as his blood and other fluids in his body were painfully freezing and evaporating, a micrometeoroid punctured his right hip. It tore through his body rapidly before ripping through the flesh on his left side and piercing a hole through his X-Reader in his pocket. The screen shattered and a thin stream of Kairu Energy spilled out of it. The blue glow of Kairu Energy surrounded Toby, protecting his body form receiving any more damage. He was suffering from organ failures and was oxygen starved, but slightly alive thanks to the Kairu Energy.

His cold, nearly lifeless body silently drifted in space for a few seconds before it entered the gravitational field of the orange planet. When his body entered the atmosphere, the heat intensified by the passing seconds. It was too much for his, now semi-functional, X-Reader. It exploded due to the heat, tearing apart his left leg. The remaining Kairu energy flowed over his body, using his pretty-much-dead body as a host. Despite the energy creating a protective energy field around Toby's body, the Kairu Energy was spread too thin to protect his entire body. It flooded to his torso and head to protect the most vital organs. The outer most of his body began to burn off and evaporate without the protection of the Kairu Energy. The majority of his clothes had burned off by the time his body passed through the stratosphere. A good portion of his skin was scorched off as well.

Once his body crashed into the planet's surface, it made a small crater in the orange, dusty ground. The Kairu Energy began to flood through Toby's practically dead body. Blue light fluttered through and around him. It started to rejuvenate the damaged organs and parts of his body. Most of his major organs were repairing themselves quickly and efficiently. But the less vital organs remained in a critical state. Even the majority of his skin was still burned beyond repair.

He remained there, unconscious, dying slowly and painfully until a group of scavengers stumbled across Toby's mutilated body. One held up a hand, signaling the others to stop. He, most likely the leader, approached the body with caution. Carefully he examined the bloody mess that barely resembled a human. He took his staff and poked Toby's motionless body.

Nothing happened.

Again, the scavenger poked him.

Toby's left arm twitched, his blackened and scorched fingers trembling gently.

The scavenger turned to his group, determination blazing in his eyes that hid behind his goggles. He muttered an order through his breathing mask to the others.

One of them, most likely the second in command, pulled out a communication deceive of some kind. He spoke a series of grumbles and noises into the receiver. A crackling and scratchy response came through the device. Once he was done he returned the device to a clip on his belt. He nodded to his leader.

Immediately the group surrounded the body, trying to preserve it the best they could.

An eye fluttered open, bloodshot and murky. He spluttered incoherently, blood dribbling out of the corner of his mouth, before slowly closing his eye.

One of the subordinates bandaged the charred and jagged stump where Toby's left leg had been.

The wind became stronger. In the distance, they could see an approaching dust storm. They had to move quickly.

Rocks and other small pieces of debris flung themselves into Toby's opened wounds. He let out a soft, labored groan of agony.

The second in command muttered something frantically to his leader. It was almost like he was warning him about the dust storm that was dangerously closing in on them.

The leader nodded and pointed to the sky.

A spacecraft was coming into landing. It was a small, black and orange, and elegant. Too elegant and well taken care of for scavengers. It landed gently on the ground.

The scavengers placed Toby on the stretcher they had prepared and carried him over to the craft.

Once they were safe inside, the spacecraft took off. They left the planet and headed for destinations unknown to the scavengers.

The leader of the scavengers left to speak to the captain. The other scavengers remained in the cargo bay, watching as the crew took Toby to the sick bay.

The crew's medics immediately began to prepare to administer more efficient medical attention to the teen's body. Just as they were about to begin addressing the more severe wounds, Toby's eyes flickered open. His heart was racing, the machine they had him hooked up to beeped wildly. He jolted up right and screamed, blood spraying on everything. The medics tried to force him to lie down. However, Toby only resisted more. Dry, crusty blood and wet, fresh blood smeared arcos everything he touched. Suddenly he felt something pierce his neck. His muscles slowly became tired. Everything seemed to take considerably more effort to move. One of the medics grabbed Toby's marred shoulders and laid him down gently. Something was pressed against his face, an oxygen mask, covering his mouth and nose. Anesthetics and other gasses were pumped through the tube that was connected to the mask. He tried to shake off the device but his body would not let him. Slowly he drifted out of consciousness and into a resting state.

Now that Toby was unconscious they addressed the more serious wounds before moving on to the minor ones. Once they had taken care of the severed leg, they made their way to work on Toby's exposed muscle tissue. They cleaned the dust and rock from his bloodied burns. But he would not survive on his own. His body was too far damaged. They need something more…

While the medics were working on saving Toby, the scavenger's leader was talking to the captain. They made some sort of arrangement and shook hands. It wasn't long until they were preparing to enter the docking station of a larger spaceship.

A crew member offered the scavenger's leader and his captain a light-blue glowing drink.

The scavenger's leader accepted the drink and sat down across from the captain. He removed his breathing mask revealing a blue, scaly, and lipless mouth. He smiled at the captain as if to say, "Pleasure doing business with you."

The captain returned the smile.

They raised their classes to each other than both chugged the beverage.