A/N: Sorry for the late update guys. I tried to put up the chapters last night but the server was down. And I was feeling so tired last night, I couldn't really wait for it to work to put up the chapters. My grandmother had a heart attack earlier this week and she was hospitalized and I was busy taking care of her. Thankfully she is stable now and she got discharged today! So yeah, I'm in a mood for celebration. Which is why I will be putting up new chapters for FOUR fics! Isn't that awesome?

Now please without further ado, go ahead and enjoy!

Don't forget to review. ;)

A rough hand gripped the front of his T-shirt and jerked him along, pulling Syaoran through the long, pristine-looking hallways. His leg still hurt where he had been shot, and thus he could do nothing more than move his legs stiffly in an attempt to prevent himself from being dragged. All of a sudden, the pulling stopped as he was violently shoved forwards, before the chains connected to the manacles at his wrists were yanked outwards. The resulting jerk nearly pulled his arms out of their sockets. There was a loud clicking noise, followed by the whirring of gears, and he found suddenly that he could not move them, the chains having been pulled to their limit. The position was quite uncomfortable and in under a minute, his arms started hurting like hell.

He tried pulling at them to try and free himself, but found quickly enough that it was futile. There was another click and he heard a pair of careless footsteps approaching him. The person stopped right behind him, and despite him craning his neck as much as he could, he still could not see who the presence behind him was. However, he had had no trouble in identifying that second clicking noise as the unlocking of a switchblade.

He felt the knife's tip press at the back of his throat and Syaoran froze, all struggles ceasing as he awaited the next move on his captors part. For a second it dug into his flesh and Syaoran wordlessly wondered if they were going to stab him in the back before the pressure lessened somewhat. It hesitated for a moment before the knife slowly slid downwards, cutting through his shirt, letting his back become completely exposed to the chilly air.

Syaoran felt the person behind him give a derisive chuckle as he involuntarily began to shiver at the biting cold.

"Don't worry, brat," the gruff voice told him, "soon you'll be begging for the cold."

He heard something slosh behind him before a scalding hot liquid hit him full force in the back.

He let out an involuntary yelp as the pain registered. Not even five seconds had passed before he was once again drenched in the steaming hot, almost boiling water. This process was repeated a couple of times again before the presence moved away and despite his obvious discomfort, Syaoran's body tensed up, unsure of what to expect.

CRACK!

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a thin, snake-like black tip which slithered back towards the person behind him. The following sounds were an amalgamation of the whistling of the whip sailing through the air and the sharp slap of it meeting naked flesh.

"Argh!"

Fai let out a scream as the whip served to spread fire across his back once more.

Taking in slow, deliberate breaths, he tried blocking the pain, controlling his heartbeat and his racing thoughts in an attempt to tame his rabid mind. Whatever the hell they had put in him, he could feel it assaulting his nervous system, the poisonous drug burning his insides, making it harder and harder for him to control himself, his magic suppressed to the point of non-existence.

With another sharp crack that resonated in the air around him, the whip tore at his back, making him cry out once more.

The flogging went on for what seemed like hours to Fai and he was barely conscious by the time his captors decided to leave him alone. He felt the slow drip-drop of his blood as it flowed out of his wounded back, trailing down his soaked jeans and pooling about his bare feet on the floor.

Just before he had been brought to this chamber, they had rid him of all his clothes except for the pair of jeans he wore and a light t-shirt that he had been wearing underneath a rather warm leather jacket. They had even taken away his shoes and socks. He didn't really see the point of it all, but when he had been chained into place, a switchblade had been used to rob him of his t-shirt as well, leaving him slightly shivering in the cold, damp air.

Now, having lost all feeling in his cold, icy hands and feet, Fai struggled to stay awake, panting hard to bring air into his lungs. His vision dimmed around the edges as he hung somewhat limply from his bonds.

"Where are the others?" His captor's rough hand grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled it back so far that Fai was looking at the ceiling. "You know where the witch is hiding with her little club of heathenists. Where. Are. They?" each word was followed by a powerful jerk and felt some of his hair part with his scalp.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he answered as calmly as he could, and was rewarded by a punch in the ribs. He grunted in pain, knowing that that was definitely gonna leave a bruise.

"You'll be singing like a canary soon enough, Blondie." The man sneered, bringing his mouth closer to Fai's ear, jerking the latter's head very painfully as he said 'Blondie'. Fai heard a second person approach him and his body tensed up subconsciously. The newcomer pressed something cold to his neck, the metal- for that was what it felt like- lined up vertically with his throat, pressing against his Adam's apple as some collar-like contraption was tied around his neck. The man holding his hair let go of him, greatly relieving Fai, it was quite painful to have your neck pulled back that far.

Unfortunately for him, his relief was short lived since when he lowered his head to let it hang freely, something pointed with a sharp tip dug into his collar bone and the part of his throat just under his chin. Immediately, Fai pulled his head back, noting with relief that the pain subsided with this action.

Experimentally, Fai lowered his head once more, noticing that the metal tip dug into his flesh again. Not letting his frustration show on his face, Fai raised his head so that he was looking up at the ceiling.

His captors chuckled in sadistic mirth as they walked out of the room, letting the door shut with a loud bang. Making up random patterns on the ceiling to keep himself preoccupied and distracted from noticing his uncomfortable position, he idly wondered if Syaoran had been in the same position as him while he had been a captive here.

He let his thoughts drift from there, speculating what everyone else might be doing. Hoping Kurogane had managed to find help for Syaoran in time. Wondering if Mokona had been revived from its magical intoxication-induced coma. His reflections then wandered towards a group of magicians that he knew were hiding in a natural system of caves, deep underground.

What would they be doing right now? What about her? The one his captives had dubbed as 'witch'.

"Hyuu! What a beautiful world we have landed in this time." And indeed the world they had all landed in was a sight to behold, lush green gardens, beautiful marble buildings, wide cobbled streets with shimmering shields around many buildings.

"I don't know why you insist on making that stupid sound every time even though we all know you know how to whistle." Kurogane grumbled in annoyance.

"Well that's because this is more fun, Kuro-silly."

"Tch…" he looked away, observing their surrounding and appreciating the beauty that surrounded them. "Again with the stupid nicknames."

"Aww… don't be a sourpuss Kuro-grumpy." Fai teased with a laugh, "You know you love them."

"Whatever."

"Fai-san, Kurogane-san. I think we should get a change of clothes to better fit in." Syaoran suggested, noticing a group of teens walking past them on the other side of the street, throwing them weird looks.

"Hmm… you're right, we should do that. Although…"Fai frowned, feeling something amiss, "Where is Mokona?"

"Isn't it in your clothes?" Kurogane raised a brow.

"No, Mokona's not on me." Fai shook his head, looking around only to find the white bejeweled rabbit lying motionless on the ground near his feet.

"Mokona?" Fai picked the magical creature in his hands but it gave no response.

"What's wrong with it?" Syaoran approached him, worry for their little companion clearly showing on his face.

"I'm not sure but- oof!" Someone collided into Fai and sent him sprawling on the ground in a tangled mess of limbs with the person that had crashed into him.

"Umm… Miss, are you alright?" Syaoran asked as he helped her climb to her feet. Shaking her head a couple of times, she looked at him with unfocused eyes while Syaoran took in her appearance. "You're bleeding!" he exclaimed, noticing as blood began streaming down her face from a wound on her head hidden by her hair.

Civilians get off the streets! Civilians get off the streets! A Magi is on the loose!a booming voice announced in the distance and the girl's eyes widened in fear. Wrenching her arm free from Syaoran's grasp, she started running down the street.

"I think it would be best if we followed the girl," Kurogane suggested as Fai scooped up the unconscious Mokona.

"I agree." Fai nodded, taking off in the direction that the girl had raced off to, Syaoran and Kurogane right at his heels. A couple of streets away from the place that they had arrived in this world at, they came upon a strange sight. A group of cloaked men were attacking the girl using an amalgamation of ancient and modern weapons while a faltering shield of pure violet energy surrounded the girl. With each hit, the energy seemed to diffuse a bit more and the girl shrank further into herself.

"Should we help her?" Syaoran looked at his two companions.

"You there!" one of the cloaked men turned their attention towards them, "Get away from this location. This Magi is dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Fai's brow rose as he looked at the girl with hair a shade of purple so dark, it was almost black. Her violet eyes were darting around in fear like that of a cornered animal's and her pale skin was covered in bruises and cuts that still bled. "She doesn't look all that dangerous to me."

"What the…" the cloaked man started before backing away from Fai and the others in alarm.

"The Magi has accomplices!" he yelled at his partners, readying a weapon to aim and fire at Kurogane.

"I think the decision was taken out of our hands Syaoran-kun." Fai said calmly as he took up a fighting stance, magic crackling at the tip of his fingers.

"Idiot! You did that on purpose!" Kurogane growled as he summoned Ginryuu in a manner similar to Syaoran's. A few worlds back, when Mokona and Fai had been separated from the puppy-duo, Fai had decided to seal his sword back in Kurogane's hand so as to not leave the ninja weaponless should he find himself in a tough situation in the future.

" ~maybe I did…" Fai said in a sing song voice as he dodged a shot aimed at him before grinning at the red-eyed man. "But you can't say you weren't itching for a fight."

"…" Kurogane's only response was a wild grin gracing his features as he slashed at his opponent.

"Guess we don't really have a choice," Syaoran shrugged, summoning his own sword before racing forward.