Tortured Soul

Chapter 4

Bang bang bang, Max hit the door with his fist even harder than before. There was still no answer and no sound from within the dojo. ‘Either Tyson’s still sound asleep or he’s already gone out’ Max thought. There was no way Tyson would be still asleep in the middle of the day, was there? Even Tyson couldn’t sleep that late right? ‘Who am I kidding, Tyson could sleep as an Olympic sport’. Max decided to head towards the BBA, maybe Tyson was already there and if he wasn’t he probably would be at some point. He turned and headed out of the dojo’s garden. What was with Tyson anyway? According to Hillary and the chief he seemed a bit off, maybe he was still coming to terms with what had happened this past year. That could be it, but then wouldn’t he talk to them about it? It wasn’t like Tyson to bottle up his feelings, in fact out of all of them, Tyson was the most vocal about how he felt. All Max had was second hand knowledge, he needed to see and talk to Tyson himself, then he’d be sure about what was wrong. A good beybattle, that’s what they needed, that always cheered them both up. He quickened his pace at the thought of battling Tyson, their last battle had been close but Tyson had managed to beat him.

“Not this time Tyson” Max said aloud, “this time it’s my turn!” Max’s step faltered, “maybe I should see if Hillary’s at home, walk her to the BBA. I’m sure she’s going there, it might be a nice gesture”. Max hesitated, ever since Hillary had hugged him yesterday he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Walking her home last night had been a little awkward at first but then they’d just started talking. It had been so natural just talking to her, she was so…He didn’t know how to describe her in one word, she’s kind, caring, sweet, cute. He stopped, frozen in place.

“Did I just think of Hillary as cute?” Max asked the world. The thought struck him like being hit by a cold flannel. “Oh no, I’ve got a crush on Hillary!” Max covered his face with his hands, took a deep breath and took his hands away. “So what, I like Hillary” he tried saying the words experimentally, “I like Hillary” he was growing in confidence now, “I LIKE HILLARY!” he shouted. A man was riding past on his bike, he heard Max’s declaration and as he past he looked at Max and said:

“Good for you, but maybe you should tell her”.

“I will” said Max “I’m gonna tell her”. He changed direction and headed towards Hillary’s house with new purpose. Tyson could wait, this was more important.

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Tyson awoke with a jump, he couldn’t remember where he was. Why was he sat in a chair? Why did his neck hurt and why couldn’t he move his hands to brush his hair from his face? Everything that had happened came back to him in a rush, a jumble of disjointed images that caused him to take a sudden breath.

“Ah Tyson, you’re awake at last. I was beginning to get worried that my men had caused some real damage.” The voice was in front of Tyson, it oozed over him and he felt it clinging to his clothes.

“What do you want Boris? Why did you bring me here?” Tyson asked the purple haired man stood before him.

“Why Tyson, I do believe you don’t appreciate the pains I went to just to get you here. You have caused me a lot of problems you know”. The purple haired man named Boris walked closer to the blue haired teen.

“My heart bleeds for you” Tyson said as sarcastically as he could under the circumstances. “If I’m this much trouble just let me go”.

“You still have a sense of humour I see, well we’ll just see what we can do about that”. Boris’s voice turned cold and Tyson could almost feel the darkness rolling towards him.

“What do you want Boris?” asked Tyson again.

“I have what I want” Boris replied “You! You Tyson are going to help me”.

“Never!” Tyson spat, “I will never help you Boris. After what you did to Tala, Brooklyn, Garland, Ming Ming and Crusher and what you tried to do to beyblading. Nothing you could say would make me want to help you.”

“You will change your mind Tyson, that I can guarantee. However, before then, we have some unfinished business you and I”. Boris stood next to Tyson, looming over him. “You nearly cost me everything, you cost me Bega but more than that, you cost me millions. That is something I cannot forgive”. Tyson looked up at the man next to him, then he smiled.

“It’s only money Boris, get over it!” Tyson said in an innocent tone of voice.

“Why you little…” Boris lost control, he balled up his fist and struck out at Tyson. The punch connected with Tyson’s face with such force that the chair Tyson was on shook and nearly fell over. Tyson was taken aback by the suddenness of the attack, he moved his jaw experimentally and although it hurt like hell it didn’t seem to be broken.

“You’re such a big man Boris, hitting a teenager while he’s tied to a chair. This must be a proud moment for you”. The anger in Tyson’s voice was laced with fear, he didn’t think Boris would actually hit him. He saw the man visibly hold himself back, take a deep breath and then turn to his men who had been standing and watching this whole time.

“Do not damage his hands, if he can’t pull a rip cord you will suffer. And nothing that will cause us to wait, I want to start the experiments tomorrow”. Boris turned to Tyson, “Well young man, I shall leave you in the care of these two gentlemen”. He walked away leaving Tyson staring at his back, his mouth open.

“BORIS” Tyson screamed, “GET BACK HERE. BORIS”. Tyson looked at the two men advancing on him, “So, fellas, could we talk about this? Maybe come to an understanding?” The two henchmen looked at him, their smiles were evil, they were looking forward to this. “So I’ll take that as a no then”. Tyson’s stomach knotted, this was gonna hurt.

When the first punch shattered his nose, he yelled out in pain but it was no good. Blood was running into his mouth and from his mouth and when he screamed, they just hit harder. Tears streamed down his cheeks but no sob escaped him, nobody was coming to save him, did anyone even know he was gone? ‘Oh God’ he thought ‘this hurts. Kai, I’m sorry I ran away. Guys, I’m sorry I wasn’t a better friend.’ Another punch was landed to his head, the sudden shock causing him to lose his train of thought. ‘I don’t think I’m ever getting out of here’ was the last thing he thought before the pain became too much.

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Kai awoke with a start, he had been dozing in the grass near the BBA. He often just sat back and gazed at the sky, watching as the clouds drifted overhead. He’d chosen this spot so he would know when Tyson arrived, then he could confront him about yesterday, find out what was wrong and help the bluenette get over it. He’d fallen asleep waiting and at first his dreams had been rather pleasant. Walking on a beach, hand in hand with the only person he knew he could ever love. Talking with them and laughing at jokes. Falling asleep in each other’s arms under a bright starry sky. Then the dreams had turned dark, silence that wasn’t silence, an atmosphere that felt evil somehow and pain. Oh the pain, it had ripped through him causing him to wake up so quickly. He wasn’t sure what the dream had meant but it had felt ominous, a portent of what was to come maybe. He was pulled out of his thoughts by a shout.

“TYSON, WHERE ARE YOU? I WANT A REMATCH!” Daichi was stood in the middle of all the beydishes, his hands cupped around his mouth. “TYSON”. Daichi’s hands fell to his sides and he sighed. “Where is that second rate blader anyway?”

“What’s going on?” Daichi jumped, he hadn’t even seen Kai coming and all of a sudden he was stood in front of him asking a question.

“Huh, Kai, where did you come from? How long were you standing there?” Asked Daichi hesitantly.

“That doesn’t matter, where’s Tyson?” Kai demanded.

“I don’t know, if I did do you think I’d be out here shouting for him?” Daichi asked.

“Has anyone seen him today?” Kai continued as if Daichi had said nothing. Kenny came out of the building in time to hear the question.

“Nobody’s seen him at all as far as I can tell” he answered. “Max was going to go by this morning but he hasn’t shown up yet either so I don’t know if he managed to talk to him or not”. Kenny stopped when he saw the questioning look on Kai’s face. “He was going to see if he could work out why Tyson’s been acting so weird”. Kenny supplied helpfully, “none of us could work it out so Max thought he’d give it a try”.

“I see” Kai said, slipping into his man of few words role.

“I wish one of them would hurry up and get here” Daichi complained “I wanna rematch with one of them”.

“Oh Daichi” sighed Kenny.

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Well, so far so good. Max had knocked on Hillary’s door and she had answered, now what?

“Hey Max, what can I do for you?” Hillary asked cheerfully.

“Um, Well, I thought you might like to walk down to the BBA with me” Max said a little quietly.

“Oh great, I was just about to head over there, it’ll be nice to have someone to talk to on the way. Let me just get my stuff” Hillary left the door open as she ran around getting all her stuff together. Max stood at the door taking deep breaths and listening to the sounds of Hillary moving around.

“Ok, you can do this Max” he said to the floor “nothing to worry about. It’ll be a piece of cake”.

“What will be?” Max’s head flew up at the sound of her voice. He hadn’t realised she was stood in front of him. “What will be a piece of cake?” Hillary asked again.

“Um, uhh, um I’ll tell you later.” Max stuttered.

“Ok”. Hillary pulled the door closed behind her and together they set off towards the BBA.