Emotionless Tomorrows

Rim: I finally get to work on the second to last chapter. I think I’ve procrastinated too much, and if I want to get this thing finished by the end of the year, I think I better kick my ass in gear.

Kanzaki: You’re right about that. So how about you stop wasting time and start the next chapter already?

Rim: Fine, since you’re being so nice about it. Here you go my readers, the next chapter in my great story.

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The telephone rang once again as Tala made his way towards it; at least he was until Ian sprang up out of the middle of no where and snatched the phone from its base then placed it to his ear.

“Hello?” Ian looked at Tala standing a few feet away from him, a huge grin breaking on the teen’s face at having reached the phone before the older man.

“You know Ian…I don’t know how you did that, but next time you pop your short ass up out of nowhere, you might get punted somewhere. Ian’s eyes twinkled with mischief as he walked over to Tala holding the phone out to him. Tala’s brows arched questioningly as he took the phone.

“Some guy’s looking for you,” Ian said, beginning to walk away. When he was far enough out of reach, he tilted his head back, the look within his dark eyes glowing. “Don’t tell me that you’re starting a hotline or something because I don’t think that Bryan is going to appreciate you selling yourself to other men behind his back.”

“What did you just say to me?!” Tala yelling, making a grab for the small teen that dashed out the room with a hysterical laugh.

Growling under his breath to kill the boy at a later time, Tala’s attention turned back to the phone in his hand and the person on the other end. Considering that there were only two people who would be calling, Tala was going to place his money that he was finally receiving a call from Sarutobi. The nervousness which ran rampant throughout his body earlier came back full swing.

Placing the phone to his ear, Tala could distinguish the sound of cars in the background. “Hello?”

“Tala, it’s me, Sarutobi,” the butler replied on the other end of the phone. A lump in Tala’s throat formed from the nervousness jumping around in the pit of his stomach.

“Is it time?” Tala asked, gripping the phone in his hand.

“Yeah,” Sarutobi stated. “I’m outside your hotel at a nearby pay phone. I was wondering if you would come on down so I can discuss the plan with you. I don’t want to say too much over the phone.”

“Sure, I understand. I’ll be right down,” Tala said. “I’ll see you in a minute.”

“All right.”

Hanging up the phone, Tala was about to exit the room when he found a pair of eyes watching him. From the doorway Bryan was giving him a stern look. He had no idea what was on his friend’s mind, but Tala knew that look all too well. People use to think it was associated to Bryan being pissed off; many times it was considered a scowl of hate, but that was far from the truth.

Bryan only got that look when he was worried or thinking. Figuring Bryan’s mind was working out the seriousness of the upcoming escapade Tala was about to get into, the red head approached the slate haired male.

“Be careful Tala,” Bryan stated.

“I know that,” Tala said in return.

“No, really be careful, I’m starting to have a weird feeling about this,” Bryan shook his head.

“Is my paranoia finally wearing off on you?” Tala teased lightly.

“Funny, sorry, but you’ve yet to rub off on me.”

“Damn, just when I thought I was making some progress.”

“Stop being a damn comedian and get your ass out of here, you have something that you need to do that’s more important than standing around with me.”

“I needed that little laugh,” Tala admitted. “I’m nervous as hell about this.”

“It doesn’t surprise me, so many things can go wrong,” Bryan commented.

“Please, don’t say things like that. Things like that are ominous,” Tala shook his head.

“You know I don’t mean any harm when I say this. I’m just giving you the heads up. It’s better to prepare for the worst than be blindsided by it,” Bryan voiced. Knowing that Bryan was right in saying that, Tala brushed away the nervousness, staring straight faced at his childhood companion.

“Is this feeling coming from the butler?” Tala questioned.

“No, you have nothing to worry about that. I’m sure you would have noticed something like that long before I would,” Bryan commented. “The feeling I’m getting is from the situation period. Be careful.”

“If something does happen to me, Bryan. I want you to do whatever you have to and inform the Bladebreakers also. The main objective is to get Tyson to safety and away from Kai. If it’s by any means necessary, then do it,” Tala ordered.

“I’ll do what’s necessary,” Bryan promised.

“Thanks Bryan,” Tala smiled slowly, then left the room to go back to his bedroom. Once there, Tala went about the necessary steps he would need to leave. Halfway through the process, Tala came across a picture of Tyson amongst his things. Whether by coincidence or some sort of omen, Tala paused, rubbing his thumb over the item in his hand. Before he knew what he was doing, a wordless Russian prayer was mouthed as he set the picture aside to finish getting ready.

Once done, Tala headed out of his room, Spencer and Ian were in the living room. The two Demolition Boys turned their heads towards Tala as he headed for the door.

“I’m going out for a while, I’ll be back soon,” Tala told them, wondering if this was going to be the last time anyone would see him alive. Berating himself for that thought, he shook his head clear of all negative thinking. He had to do this or things would only end with the worst case scenario: Tyson dead. There was no other way around this.

“Out to make some money now?” Ian joked. “When I told Bryan a few minutes ago what you were planning to do, he got one of his looks. You are so in big trouble if he catches you going out, so you better hurry. I know he’s around here somewhere.”

“Remind me to hot glue your mouth shut when I come back,” Tala glared.

“You can try but I don’t think it will keep Ian’s mouth shut,” Spencer spoke up as Ian gaped at the tall blond. Tala laughed at the comment, adding to Ian’s indignation over what his friend said.

“You might be right there Spencer,” Tala nodded, exiting the room. Standing on the other side of the door, he listened to Ian arguing with Spencer. A smile formed on Tala’s face thinking about how oblivious to the world those two really were. Even though they all grew up in the abbey together, Tala knew for certain that the true horror of what was out there laid blind in their eyes. He wanted Tyson to be like that also. Hell, they all did but sometimes life never turned out that way.

Heading downstairs, the red head thought about Tyson and what he was going to be doing in the next hour. There was still the problem however when Tyson was out of Kai’s reach, that Kai was going to come after Tyson as long as he lived. It made Tala feel sorry for the dual haired bluenette his rest could not be taken from his past. By the time Tala reached where Sarutobi was waiting for him, Tala knew that Bryan’s feeling was on the mark. He was going to have to watch this play out carefully. The ending however was going to be anything but happy for all involved.

“Tala?” Sarutobi didn’t like the face the red head was wearing as he walked up. It was way too ominous. “Are you having second thoughts over this?”

“No,” Tala shook his head. “It just came to mind…this is going to end in tragedy no matter how you look at it. Kai will come after Tyson until he’s dead or Tyson is. And the amount of people who die in the wake of this is no concern for Kai.”

“I know…” Sarutobi agreed. “But if we don’t do anything, worst scenarios will arise.”

“It’s a no win situation all around…you can never get use to them no matter how often they happen to you,” Tala said. “Let’s get going.”

“All right,” Sarutobi said, nodding.

“So, what was your plan anyway?” Tala question the butler, following him to a car parked down the street from the pay phone.

“I planned to take Tyson from the house, escorting the both of you to see a doctor that has been turning a blind eye on this situation for a while. However what Kai doesn’t know is that I’ve managed to get the doctor to help me. He’s going to cooperate in whatever way he can,” Sarutobi explained.

“Why now?” Tala raised a brow.

“Recently, Kai killed his only daughter while the doctor was away,” Sarutobi said softly. “She was a doctor Kai brought in to help some time ago once he beat Tyson after coming back from your welcoming party. The doctor didn’t know when he said someone from his office was going to attend to Tyson that his daughter was going to be the one chosen for the job. He told me he can not forgive Kai for what he’s done.”

“Wraith is a powerful presence when you’re playing with fire this way,” Tala shook his head. “Continue Sarutobi so I know what to expect and not. Do you think Kai will just trust you and not come along to make sure about your whereabouts? We both know he’s not foolish to release Tyson’s into your custody without a safeguard.”

“I’ve thought about that also, and I’m not going to disagree. There’s a gun in the car under the seat. If I have to shoot him, I’m prepared to. Maybe drive to some remote area and do it, then dump his body were it won’t be found for days.”

“Where will I be?”

“Hiding in the car. Kai never allows Tyson to ride in anything but a limo when he’s not with Kai in public. The glass of the windows is reinforced so people can’t see what’s going on inside the limo. There’s room in the front where you can hide with me. If I drive to an area where there aren’t a lot of people and nobody will see us, we can take Kai by surprised and kill him,” Sarutobi thought.

“Sounds like the only thing we have to worry about, is Kai anticipating your plan,” Tala finally said after digesting what was told to him.

“It will work out…it has to,” Sarutobi assured. Tala said nothing after that. He hoped that Sarutobi was right and it worked out. He would rather it ended peacefully than with his hands full of discordant wisps. He was never one for messy endings.

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Sarutobi entered the giant mansion after telling Tala to wait for him in the car, and to only come looking for him if he did not return with Tyson within ten minutes. Standing in the large entrance listening to the sounds of silence; it was an eerie, the sort of silence where you could literally hear a pin drop. Sarutobi shuddered at the thought it was the silence of the dead.

Pushing the thoughts out of his head and calling it an overactive imagination, the butler started up the stairs towards Tyson’s bedroom. The other servants were probably somewhere else in the mansion. If Kai was around they were staying out of his way, like most tended to do. Being that Kai was so unpredictable, being caught in his line of vision only meant trouble for the individual.

“Stop wishing bad,” Sarutobi muttered to himself, making up the long flight of stairs and walking down to Tyson’s bedroom. As he entered the room, he was forced back out of it in fear. Blood splattered the walls in the form of macabre paint decorating the room as a side show horror portrait. The stench of gun smoke clouded the air. The bodies of his sister and another maid were sprawled on the floor.

Kai calmly sat on the bed with Tyson in his arms unconscious. Of course it could have been due to the indistinct wound under the heavy bleeding that had to do with the bluenette's unconsciousness. Kai looked up hearing Sarutobi, his eyes the eyes of a mad man. Hellish red eyes danced in fascination at the fear consuming the butler.

“Nice of you to join my party, Sarutobi. As you see…” Kai waved his hand, holding a handgun in it, around to the chaos. “I couldn’t wait for you to get back to start the festivities. Well now that you’re here, how about we have a little fun?”

“How could you Master Kai?” Sarutobi whispered.

“You brought this on him,” Kai shrugged nonchalantly. “I know all about your plans to sweep Tyson away from me with the help from that bastard of a person I once foolishly considered a comrade I see that Tala didn't want anything else to do with you. I guess I'll be a little easier on him since he's not as dumb as I thought.”

“Silba...” Sarutobi's eyes shined in grief at his sister's body on the ground, murdered in cold blood. He was too late to save her, too late to make a difference before more people had been hurt by this mad man.

“Mourning over your sister, I see? She tried to save Tyson, if that matters anything to you. But as you can see from just how dead she is, she failed at her task. It's such a shame, she was how old again? I do believe only nineteen? Such a short life to live, not having experienced the joys of this world, isn't that right, Sarutobi?” Kai smirked.

“You monster!” Sarutobi growled. “I hope you go to hell and suffer for this!”

“Let's really get out how you feel about me,” Kai laughed. “What else have you been holding in? Maybe you should tell Tyson how much you love him before I send him to hell with me. Oh wait, that's going to be difficult seeing as how the little whore is unconscious. Maybe when we're in hell together, I'll tell him for you.”

“Why Master Kai?” Sarutobi shouted.

“Because I can,” Kai replied simply, pointing the gun at Sarutobi. “So do you have any last words before I blow your head off?”

“Don't do this, it's not too late to get you help,” Sarutobi pleaded, hoping to stall long enough that Kai would believe he had all the time in the world to kill him. Maybe if he pulled Kai into a false sense of security, he might have a chance to wait Kai out until Tala came to see if everything was all right. If the red head was smart as he suspected, Tala would also bring the gun hidden in the car along with him.

“Don't do this? I can still get help? How cliched of you to stall in hopes you can talk me into a sense of security before using a hidden weapon to disarm me, and take Tyson away,” Kai laughed, cocking back the hammer of the gun. “Did you really believe that was going to work?”

Sarutobi dodged behind the wall beside the door as a shot was fired into the hallway, nearly nicking him. Pulling himself further away from the entrance, another shot was soon fired after, spraying chunks of wood and plaster from the door frame in all different directions. Kneeling on the ground, another shot littered plaster onto Sarutobi as a bullet punched through the wall. A few seconds passed without a shot, the young man was about to get up when another shot torn through the wall. That was closely followed by more shots that whizzed over his head.

The air was still singed hot when Sarutobi made it to his feet when the shots ceased more than ten seconds. The echo of the previous shots made the air resonate, his ears ringing still. Listening for signs of Kai cocking back another round, he could only distinguish silence. Peering around the corner of the door hesitantly, Sarutobi found his insane master reloading the gun for more rounds. Without a second thought, Sarutobi rushed into the room. Kai looked up, finding he missed killing the butler and sneered at the dark haired young man.

Snapping the barrel back into place, Kai took aim unexpectedly at Tyson. Coming to a fearful halt in his tracks, Sarutobi saw the triumphant feign ploy. Kai immediately redirected his aim at Sarutobi who tried to dodge to the left in hopes of Kai misfiring. Kai fired, nevertheless the bullet found its mark as a blinding white pain slammed through the butler. The force of the bullet caused the butler to stumble back, losing his equilibrium. Trying to blink away the pain, Sarutobi tried to grasp his surroundings, fighting back a wave of nausea and hoping to get back to his feet before Kai shot him again. Somewhere in his pain cluttered mind, he swore he heard Kai reloading again.

Fighting to sit up, pain swept throughout the butler's body rampantly. Gasping for air, the taste of cooper filled his throat which was beginning to close up in panic. Choking, Sarutobi turned his head to spit of the substance clogging his throat, only to have more well up. Losing the battle quickly, Sarutobi's mind screamed that he let everyone down. Scanning the area, the butler found Kai moving from the bed, gun in hand.

Making his way over to Sarutobi, Kai's eyes flickered with the intent to murder. His body ridged with excitement. The butler knew as his master mouth moved that only words of mockery at his failed attempt to free Tyson escaped his lips. Watching Kai cock back the hammer of the 32mm with a displaced sense of being from the pain, he awaited his death.

The loud blast of a gun clawed at the butler's hearing, though no more pain rippled through him. Fascinatingly enough, Kai staggered back, dropping the gun as a red stain started coloring his shoulder. Kai's eyes flared, turning away from Sarutobi at something new. Another gun blast deafened Sarutobi who barely acknowledged Kai crumpling to the ground somewhere nearby. The only thought before he blacked out completely was he had stalled enough.

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Rim: All right, this chapter is out the way, and now I shall move on to the next chapter without saying to much to save me some time to get this story over with finally.

Akito: Let's see how long it takes you to finish the next chapter.

Rim: Shush...