"Somedays life is a great adventure, other days it's an uncomfortable necessity before sleep"

Atticus

---

Valt feared if he put his feet on the floor, he would drown. It was not the nerves of the day — he was excited about the international tournament — it was the incomprehensible changes around him. The change of his best friend, the sudden derailed friendship, most of all, the fact that he was just hours away from seeing him face to face again. Not as Kurenai Shu, but as Red Eye. A person, an alter ego created by the sheer want for power — that's what they said anyway.

The truth was, Valt couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe it was his best friend. The person whom he attended to the annual firework festivals back home, eating cotton candy as they waited by their favourite spot to get the clear view of the sky bursting with colours. The person who had the kindest heart in the world and was there for him all the time. Even when things get incredibly tough. He was just there, reassuring everything would be okay.

But now, Valt just didn't know who that person was.

It was terrifying.

"Valt, are you ready?" Honcho entered his room with a bright grin. He had been upbeat, trying to be positive for his crest-fallen best friend. Valt knew he was worrying, both about Shu and him.

Valt nodded, "Yeah." They had arrived at the Hotel yesterday night, everyone brimming with the contagious energy of the upcoming tournament. Valt had run into some trouble with a Beyblade group underground but it was fun. The thought of Shu had slipped his mind. But as he woke up this morning, readying himself for the opening tournament, his stomach churning returned. Nervous energy collected upon his brow, breaking down as a sheen of sweat.

The thought of seeing Shu again hadn't been this frightening ever before.

They walked past the clusters of bladers together in their excitement. When Valt made his way to the waiting rooms, he could hear the loud buzzing of the crowd outside. The nervous energy collected upon him slowly dissolved as the familiar excitement filled his gut. Though the circumstances were bizarre, he loved Beyblade and Valt knew Shu loved it too. Beyblade connected them together, the strength their friendship carried was one of the results of the things they went through together.

"Valt Aoi?" One of the staff members rushed in, breaking his thoughts. Valt spun on his heel.

"That's me."

"Right!" She smiled, tapping on her tablet for a few seconds before hurrying him towards a side door in the waiting room. "Off you go, everyone is waiting to see you."

Valt let himself be swallowed into the storm of bright lights illuminating the stage. The rest of the bladers participating were already there. When Valt walked down the stage and took his spot, he let his eyes brush past his best friend. The tightened grip of Valtryek reminding him why he was here. He would talk to Shu later. Maybe all this is a huge misunderstanding.

---

Shu knew he was coming before his name was announced. Kurt Baratier, a man who had fallen out of everyone's radar years ago as he started feasting in the underground world of beyblade. A man who has so many victories under his belt that no one was sure whether he had ever lost one of his matches.

He walked into the stage with the pride of a lion walking towards a pack of sheep. They had used Shu to lure him out of his caved world. He had wreaked havoc in his kingdom using his bey, single handedly bringing the bladers to their knees. He hadn't enjoyed that, the force he had to use, the desperation in those eyes. They weren't weak but under the power he had gained, they were nothing. It was as simple as that.

Shu directly stared at Kurt as he took his position at the end of the line. The latter didn't shy away from his gaze, there was a sadistic, almost predatory sense to the glare. Shu knew he was coming for him.

He broke his stare only when Theodore Glass walked out the stage after giving his speech officially. It had been a while since he had seen him in a full suit— playing his part as the manager of Raging Bulls. Seeing him like this, it was easy to imagine everything in a different life. A life where he didn't have to go through the Snakepit. A world where Theodore Glass didn't have to desperately seek for peace. A world where Beyblade is just another fun game, not a commercialised web of hell where people sucked out money.

The crowd seemed to get restless in the stands as their invisible murmurs penetrated the silence. Shu exhaled deeply, feeling his skin tingling with the sensation. Despite everything, he was excited.

The God Blader's Cup had finally started.

---

Shu walked down the corridor heading towards the training rooms, deep in thought. After the success of the Requiem project, he didn't receive any information from Norman or Theodore how to proceed. But everyday without fail Theodore managed to bring the doctor — someone specialised in this field who has studied requiem projects thoroughly — to monitor his body. Shu knew the procedure the man had to go through simply in order to bring the man secretly over thousands of haunting eyes watching every move from the corners. He was grateful for everything, the care, the attention. But the slow progress of the case made him wonder if they had arrived at a dead end.

Both sides; the Snake Pit and the FBI seemed to be in a timeout of sorts.

"Surround him!" A voice jerked the albino out of his thoughts. He looked up, frowning — annoyed — at the sudden interruption. It was just as he predicted by the stern gaze of the man, Kurt was back to make his move on him.

The man was tall. Heck, he was taller than Shu could ever be. The younger found himself ticked off by the massive presence. He should be scared, terrified even, but the fact that he had a number of training rounds to go through and little time to spare irritated him. Or maybe he was just grumpy because of the restless sleep. He wished the dark bags underneath his eyes were not getting more visible by the day.

"Red Eye," He cooed in mock admiration, leaning down. "I missed you yesterday when you visited my kingdom unannounced."

Shu met his gaze with an unbounding glare. He wasn't in the mood for a conversation. Kurt kept talking and Shu kept darting his eyes across the circle to look for an opening. He didn't want to make a scene. The boss had strictly advised him to lie low and do his job. He wasn't even supposed to get in- A shrill cry of a bird.

Shu looked up, unable to hide his surprise as Carl — whom Shu met at the World League — came dashing at the group, stumbling them backward. "Hands off!" Valt cried, charging to the scene like the knight in shining armour. In any other time, Shu would've embraced the warm feeling of being cared for, protected. He always admired Valt for the strength he offered as his friend. But he had accepted the fate where he was supposed to turn his back to this sole person who had been there for him all his life. So, when he ignored Valt's calls and marched down the corridor to the elevator, he wasn't surprised by his own behaviour, but rather apathetic.

His emotions had been dimmed since the moment he went through the Requiem Project. "Hey Shu!" Valt's cheery voice again. They were all standing in front of the elevator doors. Shu's eyes scanned the display panel on top of the doors, his mind counting the numbers, agitation filling his gut.

He didn't trust himself around his friends. Though acting, and pushing them away came naturally, he still couldn't trust himself not to break down if circumstances led to it. "How have you been?"

Shu kept his silence, unconsciously tapping his fingers against his jumpsuit, waiting for the doors to open. Valt sighed, "Uh, well, we're in the same group dude, isn't that awesome?"

Yes, it is, Shu thought as the elevator doors parted offering him a way of salvation. No words were spoken as Shu entered, none when the elevator doors kissed close. Shu looked at the monotonous grey in front of him, speaking the words to the solitary air of the claustrophobic space.

"I'm looking forward to battling you, Valt. I really am."

---

Lucas shouldn't be here in his room. He should be at the WBBA watching Shu battle — both his demons and well, literally the bey battle — He owed the kid at least that much. But here he was, sitting inside his hotel room, a steaming mug of coffee resting on the study table he had personally requested, leafing through numerous files, some of their papers falling apart in dusty flakes.

It was terrifying how the Requiem project had killed over twenty kids over the course of time.

"Jesus christ," He said, massaging his temples, surrendering himself to a small brake as he brought the mug to his lips. Theodore had finally snuck out some good material which will — or will not — cause a breakthrough of the case they were handling. Lucas had joined the FBI five years ago. He was a diligent officer, reading through case files and collecting clues striking to the heart of the investigation. But this time it was different.

Unlike the other times where their suspects had forms, a trail of evidence — mostly bank transactions and whatnot — this time everything was practically anonymous. They knew nothing about a single identity, all the transactions were made via the dark web, the thor browsers messing up the connection so they couldn't track their IP addresses. Even with the case filed in his hands — a treasure trove of evidence — he knew if they brought this case to the court, it would end in failure. They didn't have a solid suspect, not a single file elaborated on the names behind these crimes. All of them were created in a way that these things seemed to happen out of thin air.

No suspects.

No predators.

No persons of interest.

Just a massive blackhole where the information should be.

Lucas set down the mug and turned his attention back to the file of survivors. There were only a few, four to be specific. Four survivors from dozens of kids who didn't have much luck. But the first two were already deceased despite being survivors. Lucas scanned the pages, ignoring the pictures on the top of the pages — the victims, two kids around Shu's age wearing masks so it was impossible to identify them —but to his dismay, the man found no reason behind their death. It was like they had dropped dead and that was it. Not a single person to do a follow up and search for the reason.

Or they were deliberately keeping the information away.

Lucas scanned the page of the third person. He was still alive and well as the record stated. And Lucas knew for a fact he was alive because of his code name; Jeff the Killer, the left hand man of the root of this calamity. A boy no more than sixteen, touched by the darkness of blood, three deaths under his belt. The picture on the top of the page was blurry, but Lucas knew this kid was a blader. Would he ever be able to recognize this person if he saw him without a mask?

Lucas could never know.

His eyes wandered to the last survivor, the newly added pages gleaming in white as Shu's masked face stared back at him. Lucas dropped his head to his palms, groaning. He didn't want to think of a future where this kid — Shu Kurenai — is a killer. He was too innocent and his conscience would never forgive him if something was to happen to the boy. They dragged him into this.

Lucas stood, stretching his arms, his eyes wandered into the clock hanging by the wall. The first matches should already be over. He shook his head, stacking the files into a neat pile before walking out of his room. Turning the lock, he made his way discreetly through the hallways towards the WBBA building. After going through those haunting experiments, he wanted some fresh air. More than that, he wanted to know if Shu was doing alright. His first match should be over, and he wasn't sure the albino would be alright. For all he knew, the force of the requiem could be vicious despite how many efforts they put to save someone from its evil hold.