Talk a Little More

the laboratory

      Samuru kept running until he reached the abandoned factory There, he quietly sneaked in. A man was waiting for him.

         The man looked around his father's age. He was tall with brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing jeans and a grey T-shirt.

        "I thought you would just come in normally, boy," the man said. "If you were really interested in what I was doing, you wouldn't worry about sneaking in."

          Samuru thought for a moment. He wanted to tell that man to give him back Dravise and leave them alone, but he knew that it would be best to get on his good side until he sees Dravise and has a chance to get him back.

             "There's another b-daman player," Samuru said. "If he saw me comming in here, he would have followed me. I wanted to make sure that didn't happen."

           "I see," the man said. "Well, welcome to my laboratory, Samuru."

          "How do you know my name?" Samuru asked. "I never met you before."

        "I've been spying on crossfire tournaments hoping to find someone who feels the same way about B-daman as I do," the man said. "That's when I saw how you treated your b-daman and I thought that you could be the perfect assistant for me."

        Samuru was shocked hearing that. He didn't think that he treated Dravise that badly. But then he thought about all the times he told Dravise to be quiet, and he suddenly felt guilty. That's in the past, Samuru told himself. I'm here to make it right. He forced himself to hide how he felt. In order to save Dravise, he had to pretend to be fine with the plan.

        "What's your name?" Samuru asked.

          "You can call me Professor Branerof," the man said. "Come, and I will show you how I remove the ability to speak from B-daman."

        Samuru followed Professor Branerof to another room. There, he saw Dravise in a machine.

      "The machine is taking a the b-animal out of the b-daman," Professor Branerof said. "That will, of course, take out the B-daman's will."

        "Take out the B-daman's will?" Samuru asked. "I just thought you were taking away the b-daman's voice."

       "Well, if you're going to do something, you have to go all the way," Professor Branerof said. "I'm sure a  smart, serious person like yourself understands that. But don't worry. I'm making sure enough of the b-daman's will goes into special gear to still allow special shots to be made."

    Samuru studied the machine. There was a display on it that read 30%. "What does the percentage mean?" he asked.

     "It's how much of the B-animal is extracted," Professor Branerof explained. "When the number is under fifty, that means that the b-daman could still regain his b-animal."

      "So that means something could still happen that would allow him to regain his ability to talk, right?" Samuru asked.

        "No," Professor Branerof answered. "Usually, fifteen percent is the limit that b-daman do not recover the ability to talk. Why do you ask?"

           Samuru thought quickly. If he doesn't think of a good reason quickly, his cover would be blown. He still had to pretend to agree with the Professor.

          "Dravise is an annoying b-daman," Samuru replied. "I wanted to be sure that I did not have to worry about him regaining his ability to talk."

       'I see," Professor Branerof said, "Well, now you know you have nothing to worry about. Now, why don't you take notes on how the b-daman seems to be reacting to the machine while I check on some things." He handed Samuru a pen and a notebook.

          Samuru sat down and pretended to take notes while watching Professor Branerof. When the Professor's back was turned, he pulled out his cell phone and played his ring tone.

           Professor Branerof turned around, and Samuru put his phone to his ear. "What do you want?" Samuru asked. "I can't talk right now. No, I'm not at the abandoned factory. I'm at home doing homework. Now leave me alone." He pretended to hang up and put the phone down.

              "Who was that?" professor Banerof asked suspiciously. 

                "Another B-shot," Samuru said. "He claims to have seen me come here. What should I do, Professor?"

                "Just stay here," Professor Banerof said. "I'll  handle it." With that, he left.

                 Samuru wasted no time. He ran to the machine and pulled Dravise out of it. His eyes were still open, which was a good sign. Then, he remembered about what Professor Branerof said about the B-daman's ability to speak. "Dravise, can you hear me?" Samuru said. "Say something. Please." However, no sound came from the B-daman.

      Tears formed in Samuru's eyes. "Dravise! Say something! Please! I'm sorry for every time I told you that you talked too much."

         He didn't notice Professor Branerof coming down the stairs. "You lied to me," the Professor said. "Too bad you didn't get very far. Now, give me the B-daman or else."