Edit 08/24/09: Just cleaned some of the stuff up a bit and got rid of part of the A/N.

A/N: Okay, so this story includes a machine from another show called Time Mentors.

WARNING: Language, violence and gore...bet you didn't see that coming.

The Bladebreakers and the Demolition Boys were both hauled up together under one roof. Kai's roof, to be exact. The Demolition Boys always stayed with Kai when they weren't back home in Russia or traveling for various reasons.

Kai had long ago accepted it; the boys were like family anyway so as long as they paid to replace or repair what they broke, he didn't seem to mind their company.

The Bladebreakers were another matter.

After Kai and the gang had seen some horror movie Tala had insisted on, they had come home to a little surprise. The Bladebreakers. They had somehow managed to break into the house.

Unfortunately for them, they had left the door slightly ajar, tipping the others off to their company. Of course, Tala thinking it was a burglar pulled two of the machine guns out of the hall closet handing one to Bryan, Kai pulled a hand gun out of a table drawer against the wall, while Ian and Spencer readied their launchers.

Kai opened a circuit breaker box that was hidden behind a panel by the door and flipped a switch. The lights quickly went out and the manor was engulfed in darkness. There were a few muffled exclamations of surprise and several bumps and thuds.

Tala signaled that he and Bryan would take the front, Kai the middle, and Ian and Spencer the rear. They all nodded in understanding as Bryan cocked his gun, he was the type to shoot first; identify corpses later.

The noise had come from the front living room and they quickly and quietly made their way to the double door entrance. Kai dropped and rolled to the other side of the door way and Bryan crept to the other; Tala readied himself to dash in through the door and start shooting.

Kai looked to Bryan who gave a small nod to Tala. Kai peaked around the corner of the door frame to just make out four figures in the pale moon beams that shot through the window panes. Kai raised a hand signaling to the others to get ready.

He quickly dropped it, and Tala rushed in full force and let fly three shots into the darkness. And Kai and Bryan rushed in after him taking the sides and firing towards the figures, who ducked behind one of the couches. Ian and Spencer were back in the door frame, launchers at the ready.

Bryan continued to fire at the couch and the screaming and yelling started up again. Kai grabbed onto Bryan's shoulder.

"Stop," he ordered. "We both know I had that couch lined with Kevlar last year. Its no good," he whispered into his ear.

Bryan reluctantly lowered his gun with a growl. Tala took a step towards the couch. "You guys picked the wrong house," he sneered. "Forget about getting anything, except a few bullets in the head." Bryan smiled at the thought.

"T-Tala?" a frighten voice asked.

Kai stood there for a moment, he knew that voice. "Ray?" he asked pushing past Bryan. A raven haired head popped out from behind the couch. "Kai?" Ray asked eyes wide. "Yes. What the hell are you doing here?" he asked lowering the gun slightly.

He wouldn't shoot them, but he sure as hell intended to scare the shit out of them…if they hadn't already. The heads of Tyson, Max, and Kenny joined Ray's. Tyson, of course was the first to speak.

"What the hell?" he yelled angrily, all be it shaking slightly.

"You guys trying to kill us!?" Bryan once again raised his gun and trained it on Tyson's heard, who quickly shut his mouth.

"Like I asked before," Kai continued. "What are you doing here?"

Kenny was the one to answer. "We just came by t-to see y-you but no one was home. W-we were going to leave, but Tyson was hungry and said you'd have something so crawled through an open window, then let us in through the front s-so we could just wait in h-here for you." He stammered.

Kai nodded slightly as Max let out a nervous laugh "So now that that's all settled what do you say you guys lower your guns?"

.Bryan pouted at the fact he wouldn't be killing or injuring anyone tonight as Tala and Kai slowly lowered their guns and Ian and Spencer relaxed. The Bladebreakers made their way from behind the couch slowly, as if to not provoke the boys further.

"We're sorry we startled you," Ray smiled scratching the back of his head. Bryan rolled his eyes and continued to sulk while the others merely nodded. Bryan began kicking the floor, much to the annoyance of Kai.

"Look," Kai finally relented. "If you want to waste a couple rounds I don't care, but you're cleaning up after and paying for the damages."

The rest of the Bladebreakers looked confusedly at the other boys, as Tala merely shook his head and sighed grabbing Ian and hauling him out of the room.

"I suggest we take our leave," Kai said calmly to the other team before walking out with Spencer. The boys were confused yes, but the look on Bryan's face was enough to make them scramble out, pushing each other out of the way in their haste.

They made their way to the kitchen as the sounds of gun fire, shattering glass, and a cackling laugh met their ears. Tyson gulped and turned to Max who had gone a few shades paler.

"Where do you think they got all of those guns?" he asked. Max just shook his head. "They're probably illegal imports," supplied Kenny as they walked through into the kitchen to find the remaining members of the apposing team and Kai sitting around a large granite island in the center of the large room.

No one looked up and Ray sat himself on the counter and the rest of the team stood on either side of him leaning against the cold counter top. Kai looked to Ray and answered the unspoken question that lay in his eyes. "So, the reason we're here is to ask you a favour," Ray started only to be cut off by Kai.

"A favour? You're asking me of all people?" he scoffed.

He merely nodded. "Well you see; Tyson's grandfather and Hiro are going out of town for a few weeks and don't want us staying by ourselves. Normally we'd stay with Max and his mom, but right now Max was staying with us at the dojo seeing as his mom is in the U.S with the All Stars. So we were thinking, if it's not too much trouble; that we could…stay with you?" he asked wincing slightly.

The room was deathly quiet except for the still loud noise of gun fire and laughing. The first noise came in the form of a quietly choking Tala. They all looked to see if he was alright only to find him trying desperately, and failing to hold in his laughter. "You- you guys…w-want to stay with Kai? A-And you actually think he'd let you?" he finally choked out, gasping through his laughter.

Spencer and Ian too were laughing full blown now holding their sides as if to keep them from splitting. Bryan walked in and it was then they realized the gun fire had stopped.

"What's so funny?" he asked frowning as he resting the gun against his shoulder.

Ian was the first one to gain enough control to speak. " T-These guys think that Kai would actually let them s-stay here! With us!" He finally broke down and continued laughing. Bryan smirked slightly before letting out a short harsh laugh.

This all went on as Kai sat silently looking down at the table as if deep in thought. The other Bladebreakers looked as if they didn't get the joke, well all except for Ray and Kenny. Tyson finally spoke "I don't get it! Why wouldn't Kai let us stay with him?" he asked frowning.

"Maybe because he already has to deal with you during the week everyday!" Tala said.

"Sure he puts up with you, but trust me, most days when he comes home; he's not in the best of moods. I'm sure the holes in the wall Spencer has had to patch monthly can attest to that. And you think he'd want to live with you? Sure Ray's okay; even I can put up with him most of the time. The geek I don't know anything about, but you and Max? Tyson you're the most annoying self-centered idiot I know! And Max…frankly kid, you give me the creeps. It's like you're permanently on a sugar high. That's not normal, and truth be told it annoys the hell out of me," he finished.

Ray had a slight smile on his face, while Max and Tyson looked like fish out of water as they listened to Tala's brutal honesty. Kenny a.k.a "The Geek" seemed not to be effected; simply happy no one had anything bad to say about him.

A look then crossed his face "Oh, I'm not wanting to live here. No offence Kai, it's not that I wouldn't love to, but I'm staying at home with my family. I would ask the guys to stay with me, but you see my house simply isn't large enough to accommodate them all."

Kai 'hn'ed and left it at that. Kenny seemed to deem it appropriate to leave and after quickly saying goodbye to everyone left without a backwards glance but not before saying "Hilary, will probably be by tomorrow for training, I told her you guys were all staying here now." Tyson groaned at the thought of training while the others nodded.

"Kai, you're not seriously going to let them stay with us are you?" Bryan asked incredulously.

The Bladebreakers looked to him hopefully, and Kai simply nodded. "If it means I get to train the hell out of them with no one interfering, finally get Tyson's diet under control, and see if Max is naturally like that or if he secretly eats sugar twenty-four seven, then yes." Tyson looked torn between joy and fear at what Kai had just said but in the end went and hugged Max as they both cheered.

Ray thanked him repeatedly and bowed. As this went on Tala, Brian, Spencer, and Ian were having a little conference. "So how long do you give him?" Spencer asked the circle.

"A week at the most." Tala sighed.

Bryan thought for a minute "I'd say three, four days tops."

Ian 'hmm'ed as he thought of something."How many holes do you think he'll punch in the walls? I'd say…four."

Tala decided five, while Bryan chose seven, and Spencer six. "So," Tala smirked. "Want to make this a little interesting?" "A Bet? Sure." Bryan nodded. "But what's the prize and penalty?"

Spencer quickly piped up "Whoever wins gets a free punch at Tyson, whoever looses has to fix all those holes in the wall. I'm getting really tired of doing them all myself." He grumbled.

The others agreed and shook on it. Soon they would see just how far Kai could be pushed.

_______________________________________

One week, fifteen holes in the walls, one black eye, a shattered vase, and one dead squirrel later; Kai disappeared. Ray woke up early to find a note thrown carelessly onto the kitchen counter. It read:

Dear Tala, Bryan, and Ray,

Gone to Russia. Taken Spencer and Ian with me. Be back eventually. Tala, make sure

they still train, especially Tyson. You have permission to do anything you see fit. Bryan, aim for the legs so they can still Beyblade. Ray, if at all possible keep Tyson in line other wise Tala will train him until he can't move, which will only make it easier for Bryan to shoot him. Don't destroy my house.

Kai.

PS. Bryan I borrowed your mace the other day. It's in the dish washer all the squirrel blood should be off it by now. Also when I get back my living room had better be fixed. OR ELSE.

Ray shook his head as he replaced the note although, he hadn't expected Kai to last as long as he did.

Even if he'd punch all those holes in the wall, hit Tyson in the face, thrown a vase at Tyson's head, and apparently done something involving a squirrel and a mace that hadn't ended well for the poor creature.

Soon an indignant Tala discovered the note who quickly handed it off to an enraged Bryan. Both were disgusted at the thought of being left alone with the Bladebreakers. How could Kai do this to them?

If anything he should have left Spencer and Ian instead. But, slowly it dawned on Bryan as he reread the note Kai had left for them. They had more or less been given permission to torture the Bladebreakers or "train" them as Kai had so graciously put it. He had even given Bryan permission to use his guns.

Tala too, soon brightened to the idea as he realized just how much fun the next few weeks were going to be for them. Oh, if only the Bladebreakers knew what was in store for them.

Tyson had a rude awakening that morning as Tala delivered a swift hard punch to his stomach. It seemed Kai had pulled an escape taking the remainder of the Demolition Boys with him and leaving the twin demons behind.

But, at the same time he was a little relieved that Kai was no longer there to push him around and force him into certain rooms. The manor was huge and yet he'd only been aloud into the more common areas and his bedroom; this was the perfect chance to check out the rest of the house. He soon convinced a rather hesitant Max into joining his plan.

One down, three to go.

It had occurred to him that if Kai hadn't allowed him and the rest of the Bladebreakers to tour the house, Tala and Bryan had probably been sealed off from a majority of the rooms too; seeing as the two of them together had the destructive force of a gale force hurricane.

Convincing Ray turned out to be simple enough; he agreed to come along as long as they didn't break anything, stayed out of Kai's room, and left if a room seemed too private or personal.

"So are Tala and Bryan okay with this?" Ray asked as they headed towards the front living room where the sounds of hammers and staple guns could be heard.

"Well we haven't really asked them yet" Tyson admitted shyly.

"So…we're going to go ask them a question that they might find rather offensive, seeing as they might find it rude to pry into their "brother's" life and want to respect Kai's privacy; as they wield hammers, nails, stable guns, and saws?"

Tyson swallowed rather loudly, he hadn't thought of that.

But Ray simply shook his head and continued on towards the living room. The room itself was covered in dust as Bryan seemed to be installing a new window, and Tala hanging a new modern chandelier.

It seemed after about three days of construction the room was almost fully repaired. Tala jumped down from the latter he had been using as they walked through the door.

"Room's looking good," Max commented.

Tala made a 'hn' noise "Well it should. Bryan went a little over board. We even had to order new furniture, but that should arrive in the next few days. After the windows in we're done."

Ray nodded discreetly to Tyson who gave him a look as if to say 'why me?' but he gave him a shove. At this point both Tala and a stable gun holding Bryan were looking at them suspiciously.

"Well if…um you guys are done…we" Ray shot him a glare. "Well I, was wondering if you wanted to maybe explore around the house now that Kai's not here to kill us?" he asked nervously.

To the Bladebreakers great relief Bryan put down the stable gun and looked to Tala with a slight frown on his face.

"We actually haven't seen a lot of the house have we? And we've been staying here since he opened it back up." Tala nodded and looked as if he was deep in thought.

"That is true I suppose." Bryan nodded. "And now that Kai isn't here…we're free to do what we like. But at the same time…this could be crossing some lines we aren't meant to cross. Who knows what Kai's got around here that he doesn't want us to see?" Tala reasoned. Bryan smirked "Since when do we care about crossing the line, plus whatever Kai doesn't know won't kill him; at least in this sense."

Tyson turned to Max smirking "And you were worried."

They decided to explore the house after they ate lunch, just as they were finishing up the meal Ray had made Hilary walked in. Tyson groaned quietly.

"Sorry what was the Tyson?" she asked hands on her hips.

"Nothing, Hilary. I was just over come with relief…at your…being here?" he finished wincing slightly.

"Alright, why don't you take your foot out of your mouth now and tell me when we're doing this exploration thing?" Tyson eyed her for a moment wondering how she'd found out about their plans. "Ray called me." Damn how did she do that?

"It's magic Tyson." Did he just say that out loud? "Yes Tyson, you did." He looked around to find the rest of the group either smirking or out right laughing at him. Tala seemed to be choking somewhat on his forkful of salad.

"Whatever." He sighed.

Once the dishes had been put away they decided to start on the top floor and work their way down. Once they started wandering down the darkly painted always they realized there was way more rooms then they had expected.

They started at the top of the grand staircase that was open to the entrance hall and began opening random doors. Some rooms were empty while others were filled with boxes. They soon found a gallery filled with paintings, pieces of pottery and sculptures.

All of the pieces had then initials L.H on them, which Tala identified as the initials of Kai's mother. They spent quiet a long time in the gallery examining the pieces. Kai's mother had had a great talent for painting landscapes many of them Bryan said were of Russia.

"Hey guys look at this!" Max called towards the back of the huge room.

They found him standing in front of several paintings situated between two windows. In the paintings sat a young boy the ages seeming to vary from around two to four; one had him curled up on a couch fast asleep, another of him sitting in a pile of snow his face flushed in the cold, and another had him sitting on the lap of an man, who he was the spitting image of.

"Is that Kai?" Tyson asked incredulously. Tala nodded stepping closer to the paintings. Hilary followed.

"He's so…cute!" she squealed, Bryan wincing at the noise.

The paintings all had his mother's initials and years ranging from 1994 to 1996. (A/N: Kai's supposed to be 16 or that's what Wikipedia says so I have him present day 16, so he should have been born in '92) "This was a few months before this he came to the abbey," Tala said pointing towards the painting of Kai sitting in the snow labeled 1996.

"He showed up in early spring. His cell was a few down from mine and I saw them bring him in. A little of a year later I got transferred into the same cell. He looks exactly like I remember him; if not a lot happier and healthier looking I guess," he mused.

It was Ray who spoke first, "You mean he was four when he went to that place?"

Bryan nodded. "We'd had younger too. I know I can't remember anything other than the Abbey. I think I must have been there since I was born or really, really young. Same for you Tala, right?" "Yeah." They all stood there for a moment.

"Guys," Ray started. "I think this might have been one of those personal rooms we weren't meant to see."

They all agreed and left shutting the door firmly behind them, closing off all views of the beautiful pieces. Along that hallway they also discovered several weapons rooms.

"Okay, apparently Kai likes his weapons," Hilary said as they stepped into a third room with the walls covered in medieval style swords, knives, crossbows, and maces. Bryan seemed to be enjoying these rooms the most.

He picked up a crossbow and aimed it at Tyson experimentally. "This is a beauty. It's perfectly balanced," he said before replacing it and grabbing a mace from the wall and giving it a swing.

"Feel this Tala its great! He has seven different ones, and yet he always uses mine," he sighed.

Tala too stepped up and took the weapon from him giving it a swing. The Bladebreakers backed away at the sight of them both holding various sharp objects. Hell, they hated getting near them when they were cooking with knives, and now they were playing around with maces, crossbows, and swords?

"Um guys, why don't we get going?" Tyson asked nervously.

The Demolition Boys nodded vaguely as they continued their disturbing discussion about where the best places to hit for a quick kill. Max swallowed rather loudly as the boys put the weapons back with a look of longing.

"I'm so getting Kai to give me that crossbow, and one of those maces. They'll go great with that Iron Maiden I got for Christmas last year," They heard Bryan whisper to Tala behind them.

Hilary looked to Ray eyes wide as if to say "Holy shit". Ray nodded, and vaguely wondered who would have given Bryan an instrument of torture for Christmas of all holidays.

First where would you get it in the first place and second: who the hell in their right mind would give one to BRYAN?! It was just asking for trouble.

They soon discovered several large bathrooms that none of them had ever seen, a rather large library that Ray practically drooled over, a room filled with spare blade parts, many empty rooms, and a bowling alley.

"He has a freaking bowling alley in his house?" Tyson said jaw dropping.

"Apparently so," Ray said. "Doesn't look like he's ever used it though." He dragged his finger along a bench and it came away grey with dust.

"Kai doesn't bowl." Tala said nodding "Neither did Voltaire (Can you imagine him bowling?!), so it probably hasn't been used since this was his parent's house and even then most likely only for parties."

After about an hour there was only one room left. "Finally," Max breathed. "This place is huge. I mean did anyone count how many rooms there are, I lost count at forty-two."

Hilary laughed absent mindedly as she turned the knob, and opened the door. They all walked in to find themselves in a nicely painted bedroom. The walls were painted warm red and the room had several large windows open to a forested part of the back yard.

Tyson wandered over to a large door and opened it to find a huge closet filled with clothing and shoes. "Hey guys, look at this," Hilary said picking something up off of one of the bedside tables.

They all walked over to find a wedding portrait of Kai's parents, and their rings sitting on the table beside where it had been.

"Oh shit," Tala swore grabbing Bryan by the arm and backing up slowly.

Ray looked at him wondering what the problem was. "Tala?" he asked.

"Everybody. Out. Now." The Russian said emphasizing each word.

Hilary quickly replaced the photo grabbing Max and pulling him out, Ray doing the same with Tyson. Once everyone was out the red head quickly snapped the door shut. "Tala what's the matter?" Max asked concerned.

"Do you guys have any idea what that room was?" Tala whispered. Everyone except Bryan shook their head. "It was his parent's bedroom and by the looks of it he's left everything the way they left it."

Hilary immediately understood. It was one of the rooms Kai would have never wanted them to see and would probably kill them all for going into it.

"We never speak of this again. Got it?" The other fair haired Russian spat. The others nodded in agreement. They had no desire to infuriate a guy with three different rooms filled to the brim with weapons, a sharp tongue, and one hell of a temper.

The main floor had a large number of rooms as well, but most remained empty. The discovered a large ball room, four different sitting rooms and a small hall that led to a laundry room, the maid's quarters and a large wine cellar.

Tala made a mental note to go back to the cellar and try out some of Kai's selection. Max found one last door along he same hall, opening it he realized it led to the basement. "Hey guys! The basement's down here, lets check it out," he called to the group as he made his way down the long rickety staircase.

Tala made his way down the stairs, pushing Max none too gently out of the way so he could go down first. The others followed, Tyson with a slightly frightened look on his face.

"What Tyson, is the world champion scared of the dark?," Bryan sneered. "No!" he said indignantly, but clutching Ray's arm none the less as the neko-jin chuckled.

"Bryan just leave him be will you," Hilary asked shaking her head. The air in the basement was thick and musty. The entire room looked like a giant ink blot in the darkness.

Bryan 'hm'ed quietly. "This would have made dealing with that guy the other day a lot easier. Then I wouldn't have to deal with the mail man saying he heard screams coming from the house." Someone gulped loudly in the darkness.

Suddenly the entire room was thrown into light, shocking everyone's eyes except for Tala's; who stood by a concert wall, a light switch at his right hand. "Found the lights."

Ray looked around.

The basement was huge clearly stretching out under the entire house and even with the lights on the corners still fell into the shadows. Piles of boxes labeled in Russian were everywhere along with weirdly shaped silhouettes under white sheets giving the room a creepy feeling.

Tyson wandered deeper into the room flitting between the piles of boxes and objects under the sheets, occasionally pulled the white fabric off one sending a flurry of dust into the already dust filled air. Ray stared at what was uncovered.

While some were pieces of old furniture, others looked like they belonged in a laboratory. One piece looked like a chair used to strap people in during executions, while another looked to be a large tube filled with an odd translucent liquid.

Bryan had strolled over to this examining the tube's contents, while Tala, Max, and Hilary seemed to be looking over some paintings leaning against the wall. Tyson gave a shout from the far end of the basement and everyone quickly made their way over to see what the problem was. "Guys come here!" he shouted.

They found him sitting at what seemed to be a bizarre computer of sorts, a discarded sheet draped over the chair that he sat on in front of the thing.

"Tala what is that?" Max asked the red head.

"You expect me to know? Its some screwed up computer." He answered.

The thing really did look like a computer except for the many wires pouring out of it and the odd antenna sticking out of it. A metal tube rapped in wire seemed to glow slightly in the dark as it jutted out of a black box that was covered in wires that led back to the computer.

"It looks like something out of a sci-fi movie," Hilary commented. Tyson flipped a switch and the screen came to life.

"Welcome."

Tyson fell from his chair with a shout as Max shrieked and jumped onto Bryan who tripped under the blond, knocking over Tala, who grabbed Ray's sleeve, who wrapped his other arm around Hilary to steady himself but wound up dragging her down with him. "Ow." Came a voice from within the pile of arms and legs.

There was a growl from Bryan as he shoved the American off him and dusted off his pants. Tala got to his feet swearing colourfully as Ray picked himself and then Hilary up, apologizing to her repeatedly. Tyson sat on the floor, from where he had seen the whole domino affect; laughing as he held his sides.

"Shut up before I make you," spat Bryan. Tyson immediately shut his mouth and flung himself back into the chair.

"So," Tala coughed slightly, trying to regain his composure "Should we see what this thing can do besides say 'welcome'?" Everyone nodded, Max blushing slightly as he apologized to Bryan for jumping on him. The Russian merely glared at the scared boy as he imagined the different ways he could kill him.

The screen turned to a purple page with the words: Name, and Date written next to a bar of space to write in the required information. "So is it some weird kind of search engine?" Hilary wondered aloud as she made her way to stand behind Tyson's chair.

Tyson decided to type in something to see what would happen and off the top of his head wrote Kai Hiwatari in the section for the name and December 13th, 1997 into the space for the date. He clicked enter and continued staring at the screen wondering, just like the others what was going to happen.

The word 'processing' flitted across the screen and a strange whirling sound was emanating from the computer. The screen flooded to life again as what appeared to be a black and white movie played across it.

The film was of a young boy, he was leaning against the wall of what appeared to be a cell. The sounds of his labored breathing came from the speakers as his chest slowly rose and fell.

Ray found it terrible to think that such a young boy would be locked away like that, but what really disturbed him was the fact that the boy had clearly been beaten. Parts of his shirt were dark with blood and any skin that was exposed was littered with wounds, some freely bleeding and dark painful looking bruises.

His breathing was also shallow and irregular as he struggled for air.

"Oh my god!" breathed Hilary from beside him "The poor thing just look at him."

The only people who looked more disturbed then her were Tala and Bryan. They seemed to be casting worried glances at one another and whispering quietly in Russian.

"I wonder if I can zoom in, I want to see the kid better. He reminds me of someone." Tyson said.

Max stood there nodding in agreement, wondering why this film was under Kai's name.

(a/n: they're speaking in Russian, so its all in italics. From here on in if someone is speaking in a different language its all italics. Ok?) "If Kai finds out about this we are so screwed." Bryan nodded. "We're just lucky they're all such idiots, they can't even put two and two together." Tala looked to find Ray looking in their direction.

"Yeah… but, Kon's no idiot like the others, if anyone figures it out it'll be him and he'll go and tell the rest of the idiot brigade. And I don't think Kai would take too kindly to having to explain this…hell I don't want to have to explain this." Bryan grunted, and as someone who had grown to understand the 'language' of Bryan, Tala knew he agreed whole heartedly.

'They seem up to something' Ray thought as he looked over at the Russians who had lapsed into an uneasy silence. Tyson had started fooling around with the screen, seeing if he could enlarge the image while Hilary "advised" him on what to try.

There was something so familiar about the young boy on the screen, who sat with a glazed look in his eyes as he continued his struggle to breathe. It was like every time he came close to the answer, it slipped from his grasp; it was so frustrating.

"Maybe if I click onto the boy it'll zoom into him..." Tyson said. Hilary nodded "Might as well try it we've done everything short of calling Kenny."

He grabbed the mouse and double clicked on the figure of the young boy. Something odd happened. The figure of the boy seemed to fade into a white light and the computer began whirling loudly. Tyson jumped from his chair as he and Hilary backed away.

"Opps."

Wires began glowing and the screen started flashing as the boy's body disappeared from sight. A loud humming began and blue static began passing between the antennas. The basement's lights flickered then died as the long metal tube wrapped in wires began turning blue, as it began moving to point towards the basement wall.

Max latched onto Ray's arm squeezing it as the humming sound increased and the glowing continued. Suddenly, a beam of white came from the tip of the metal tube as the glowing reached its peak.

The beam hit the floor in front of the wall and slowly in the light appeared the silhouette of a small body.

The beam cut off and left them in complete darkness.

"Um…," began Tyson. "I guess it doesn't have a zoom option…OW!" Hilary slapped him as the lights came back to life.

"Well that's odd." Tala said staring at the computer that now had a count down on the screen.

"What do you think it's for?" Max asked as he detached himself from Ray. The Neko-jin stared at the screen 13 days 24 hours 54…53…52…51 seconds. "Hey…guys?" came Hilary's nervous voice.

They all turned to find her crouched before the spot where the beam had hit. They walked over as she stepped aside to reveal what was there.

It was the boy! 'How in the world…' wondered Ray as he stared down at the small figure of the still struggling to breathe and badly beaten little boy.

But, it wasn't just any boy that lay bleeding on the floor, his hair matted with blood and clothing ripped to shreds.

It was the boy from the paintings in the gallery.

It was Kai.