I really have to apologise for the huge wait with this chapter, I hade a bit of writers block with this, but it's all gone now (hopefully) and I'm trying to work quite a bit on this story seeing as it's getting to the important parts.

I do hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Ten

Tala stood in the empty classroom long after it had been evacuated, just staring at the shards of broken glass reflecting the red-gold light of the setting sun. The rays hit the glass at an odd angle, blinding him momentarily. Tala winced and looked away, discovering then that he was no longer alone in the room.

            "Shouldn't you be with your boyfriend?" he asked Max dryly.

            Max shrugged. "Kenny's still restoring order with everyone, along with Wyatt and Hilary. They're spreading around a story that there's a group of terrorists out for revenge on the Bladebreakres for some reason."

            "Not far from the truth."

            "Any good lie has some degree of reality in it," Max grinned. "It's easier to make a story believable that way. People have their suspicions though, with Tyson gone and you and Bryan suddenly showing up."

            "I guess we're not the only ones who haven't forgotten Biovolt." Tala turned back to the broken windows. "How is Mr. Dickinson taking everything?"

            "As he usually does, calmly, collected. He understands why you haven't yet reported to him though."

            Tala closed his eyes at this comment. As soon as he'd made sure everything was all right in the classroom, he raced down to where Kai said he and Bryan were: they were close to the main gates. He'd stayed with them, making sure that Bryan was stable until the ambulance arrived. Mr. Dickinson had arrived just after, but he'd taken one look at Tala's face and wisely not said a word. Kai, too, he left alone. The boy was close to shock with everything that had happened.

            "I should go see him," Tala murmured.

            "You can go see him when we all do. We're meeting over at the hospital tomorrow. Kenny has already told him everything about today and he didn't want to disturb us any more."

            Tala nodded, hesitating as he asked, "Bryan's in surgery now then?" Max nodded. "Good. And Rei?"

            "He's not as critical as Bryan, but they were getting him in as soon as possible as well." Max looked away. "It only seems like yesterday when we last saw him in the hospital. Guess things never calm down once you're famous, or have made some powerful enemies huh?" He grinned, trying to lighten the mood.

            "I guess." Tala wanted no part of that though. "So everyone else is fine then?"

            "Thanks to you I guess. No major trauma."

            "We should head back then." Tala moved slowly to the door of the room.

            "Tala?" Max called out softly, stopping him. "Do you think everything will be okay?"

            Tala didn't turn around. "No, as things are now everything will probably get worse before it gets better. It always does." He walked out, leaving Max staring despairingly out the broken window as he had done just before.

*           *           *

Wyatt looked in the sterile white room and almost backed out seeing Kai there, but seeing the completely blank and disconsolate look on his face, he walked in and sat beside him in a hard plastic chair.

            "It's not your fault you know," he offered weakly.

            "Actually it is," Kai replied in a harsh voice. He sounded like he'd been crying the whole night as he watched Rei recover from his surgery. "Maybe not Rei's wound itself, but this situation. It's all because of me, they wanted me and we played right into that."

            "So Ian and Spencer have come to see you then?"

            Kai shook his head. "I got a visit from Robert. I would have preferred seeing Johnny to him right now," he added darkly. Shaking his head, he ignored Wyatt's curious look. "We'll wait for the others to arrive. They brought Bryan in just a few minutes ago." He gestured to the other bed with the curtains drawn.

            "How is he?"

            "Alive, just. I overheard them talking. He flat-lined at one point. I haven't had the heart to tell Tala that part yet, the guy's worse than I am when it comes to his team." Kai knew he was starting to babble a bit, but it was easier to bring himself back from his dark thoughts by clinging to something normal, like talking. "Pierced the edge of his lung and almost hit his heart. If he weren't in such good physical condition he would have died. It was stupid of him to rush at them like he did, but then again Bryan's always been one for the straightforward attacking moves, hates holding back and hesitating."

            "Kai …" Wyatt bit his lip then looked away, seeing that Kai wasn't really paying attention to the fact that he was there. He waited for someone else to arrive. He didn't know how to deal with this sort of thing, it seemed so unreal, yet these guys put up with these sort of bizarre situations all the time. They were quite amazing, even if the risks were great.

            Wyatt glanced up at Rei's bed and felt tears form in his eyes. He hated seeing friends in pain and Rei was certainly a friend in his eyes, and hopefully he might have been more. He just wished he could have done more, wished that the situation was different.

            "Do you want me to get you something?" Wyatt finally asked quietly once the silence had gotten too much.

            Kai blinked and looked up at him then shook his head slowly.

            "Okay." Wyatt edged out of the room and leaned against the wall beside the door once he'd exited the room. He sighed miserably then moved down the hall towards the cafeteria. This was all too much to handle right now, he just wanted things to go back to how they were.

            He'd always been a hopeless dreamer.

            "But then again, I'd always wished that I could meet the Bladebreakers," Wyatt mused. "Perhaps not all my dreams are so far out of reach." Wyatt smiled softly. "After all, the Bladebreakers themselves proved that nothing is impossible and that you can get what you wish for."

            Feeling slightly more optimistic, Wyatt continued on to the cafeteria, not letting any negative thoughts bother him no matter how hard they tried. What everyone needed now was positive ideas and thoughts. They would get through this and get Tyson back and everything would be all right.

            "Yeah," Wyatt reassured himself. "Everything will be better, I'm sure of it."

            "Don't you think your optimism is slightly misplaced considering the situation?" Wyatt jumped, slightly startled that he hadn't noticed Hilary standing beside him.

            "What … How … What do you mean?" Wyatt narrowed his eyes. "Having a positive outlook isn't a bad thing you know."

            Hilary shrugged. "I guess not, I just wished that everyone else had your attitude."

            Wyatt nodded sadly. "I know what you mean, Kai's so depressed about everything, he's blaming himself. I still haven't seen Tala since before, but Max said that he's not doing so well either. The others look like they're struggling not to cry. This is hard on everyone, but I can't be like that, if just one person is positive about the situation then I know it will rub off. We're going to get Tyson back and Rei and Bryan will be just fine, it's not impossible for us to deal with this situation and turn it around you know."

            Hilary stared at Wyatt in surprise then she smiled. "You're right. If they won't snap out of this funk and make things happen then we'll just have to give them all a bit of a push. Come on!" Hilary grabbed his arm, her face set in a determined mask. Now that she was fired up, there would be nothing stopping Hilary from taking control and making sure that things were done right. Wyatt had seen this happen in school and would have been kicking himself if he didn't know that the others needed something like Hilary to stir them up.

            Still he wished she didn't have to pull on his arm so hard.

*           *           *

Kai looked up as the door opened again, not really taking much notice of anything, the movement more of a formality than anything else. However as he saw all the people walking into the room, some looking annoyed, others bemused, he actually tried to focus properly.

            "Tala?" he finally asked in confusion once the redhead came through.

            Tala glared at something behind him. "Blame her."

            Her? Kai looked around and saw Hilary walking in once everyone else had entered the room. He blinked in surprise then looked at Wyatt beside her, the boy smiling sheepishly. "What's going on?"

            "We're planning a rescue that's what," Hilary informed him. "Now, before that, I need to know just what is going on so I can take everything into account when making plans."

            "What?" Tala stared at her in confusion.

            "You cannot simply include yourself in such a manner," Robert told her coldly.

            "Hey, I'm involved whether you want me in or not, I helped out, I'm entitled to know just why I helped with the lies and saving people. Besides," she paused, her face expressing a deep sadness, "I have some personal involvement as well."

            "Still," Robert continued, "you cannot think —"

            "She stays," Kai cut in quietly. Everyone stared at him.

            "Kai?" Max asked curiously.

            "She stays. Last I recall I was in charge of operations here, so what I say goes." He ignored the looks from his team and the Majestics and shared a glance with Hilary. She smiled brightly at him.

            "Thank you Kai. Now, could someone please just inform me of what you all know. I am assuming that this has something to do with that Biovolt thingy? Those guys taking control of children and such?" She glanced at Tala and the other members of the Demolition Boys. "That's why you're here right?"

            "I thought you didn't know anything about Beyblading," Kenny muttered.

            "Just because I don't pay attention to that stupid game doesn't mean I'm completely unaware of anything going on in the world Kenny," she snapped back. "The BBA isn't just a sporting organization, nor was Biovolt, they're both quite renowned in many other areas of society. Something has been going on for years with the two of them."

            "That's right," Kai told her. "We were sent here to investigate and take down Biovolt and to help guard against possible attacks they might make against others." He looked over at Ian and Spencer. "You called before?"

            Spencer nodded. "We found a few files. They were encoded and it wasn't until we were in the plane over that I was able to completely decipher it. We played completely into their hands. They were ready for any opportunity to strike against you Kai."

            "Me?"

            Spencer nodded. "They were making threats against Smithwright, but the minute you showed up they changed their plans. They'd been planning since the downfall for your inevitable intervention and were able to adapt any situation to take you into account. That's what they did here, they threw you off the trail for a bit and were able to watch for the perfect time to strike."

            "They were after me," Kai breathed, his eyes wide. "That's why they took Tyson … they knew everything." He ran his fingers through his hair, looking extremely distressed. "I can't do this," he whispered. "It's just too much … he was taken because of me. It's all my fault, everything."

            While most in the room watched in pain or shock  at Kai's broken actions, one person snorted. "Get over yourself Kai," Hilary snapped. "Do you really think that everything revolves around you? Taking the blame for everything then refusing to do anything about it all wasn't something I thought you'd do, but then maybe I was wrong about the kind of person you were."

            "Hilary!" Kenny bit his lip, looking extremely nervous as Kai glared at the girl. "Maybe you shouldn't have said that."

            Hilary returned Kai's glare. "And why not? It's true. Tyson so deserves someone better than you Kai, you're giving up without a fight. I know the difference between a battle you can win and lose but I'm starting to regret I gave up on ours so early. Had I known what a weakling you were I wouldn't have let him go."

            Kai stood up. "You think you can do something better?"

            "Anything's better than giving up."

            "I'm not giving up on him."

            "Then just what do you call that? Wallowing in misery and self-pity until it's too late to do anything?" She scoffed. "And you're supposed to be some world champion. There is a way to win this if you're able to look past yourself and consider things unless you're too afraid to risk yourself for someone else."

            "I'd do anything for Tyson."

            "Prove it." Hilary crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Kai, waiting for a reply.

            There was a pause before a weak voice said, "You know they're probably using him as bait." Everyone turned to the bed and stared at Rei as he sat up, wincing at the effort it took.

            "Rei." Kai moved to his side and helped him sit up properly.

            Rei stared at him and shook his head. "Come on Kai, I know you're rattled, but think about things a bit more okay? Tyson's strong and he's valuable, they wouldn't be able to hurt him. Biovolt's after you so he's obviously there as bait and you guys probably have enough information to find out where they are, which most likely wouldn't be too far. They have bases all over the world."

            "They did, you mean," Johnny jumped in. "We all took quite a few down and took in quite a few members too."

            "Exactly," Rei continued to explain calmly. "There's only a few places they could go now, not to mention they're desperate. Tyson's worth so much more as a hostage than a corpse, but so are you. You're their main focus and we can use that to our advantage now."

            "I can't afford to screw up Rei," Kai whispered to his friend.

            "You haven't yet."

            "What do you call this then?"

            "Not your fault. Honestly, is it really your problem that you're so good that everyone wants you?" Rei grinned playfully and Kai glared at him, a few others chuckled at the comment. "Come on Kai, don't let things rattle you now, Tyson's waiting for you to help him out, we can't disappoint him by doing nothing."

            Kai nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

            "How come you listen to him and not me?" Hilary asked, pouting.

            "I think most people tend to listen to their best friends over their romantic rivals," Max whispered loudly to her, causing a few more laughs. The atmosphere in the room was lightening and people were starting to think a bit more positively

            "All right," Kai looked over at everyone. "We collate any information and we'll have to look through all your files, Robert, to find possible locations for a base, then we think of possible strategies.  I want a plan done by tonight then we move out."

            "Great!"  Hilary searched through the backpack she brought with her and pulled out a few things. "I'll write things down and make sure you all stay focused, they don't call me the Organisation Queen for nothing!"

            "Remind me never to ask Hilary to help schedule our training sessions," Max whispered to Kai, moving over to see how Rei was. "And just remember, you wanted her here." Watching how she bossed everyone around and took over almost completely Max knew that Kai was probably regretting including her in this. But by the look of things, they'd certainly have a plan at the end of this.

            "Are you sure about this Kai?" Tala asked as he joined Max, standing beside him.

            Kai nodded. "Yeah."

            "Guess even you can be wrong Tala," Max commented with a grin. Tala glared at him before moving away to help with planning. Max chuckled then grabbed Kai's hand. "Come on, let's go help out too."

AN: Hope you all liked that chapter. I can't say when I'll have the next one out, but let's all cross out fingers and hope it won't be as long a wait as the last one ^_^;

Laters.