Zukira stared at Phoenix in utter disbelief, her eyes widened. She watched as he flew out of sight with Tsubasa in his arms and craned her neck to catch a glimpse of Ryuga who bared his teeth in frustration.

"What a disgrace! The rat got away!"

Doji & Yu turned towards him, a flicker of panic flashing across their faces for a split moment before Yu jumped in.

"Hey, hey! Don't worry, Ryuga! You'll get to meet him in battle, so you can take your revenge from there," Yu gave a thumbs up, grinning widely.

Wait. Zukira raised a brow. Battle? As in...during the Battle Bladers? Is everything...preplanned?

"Tch," Ryuga shook his head, "what an amateur."

He raised his chin and locked eyes with Zukira's as though he were passing a silent message through. Without saying anything else, he turned around and flicked his white coat, walking away.

"Hey, Ryuga! Where are you going? I wanna come too!" Yu flapped his arms and followed the Dragon Emperor even though...he didn't appear enthusiastic about having company.

Doji followed Yu but stopped, turning his body towards the brunette, "Will you be joining us, dear friend?"

"Yes," she looked at the shimmering Blazer in her gloved hand, "but I would like to spend some time alone up here."

He gave a slight cocky smile, "Why yes," he pushed his glasses up his nose, "of course. I'll be on my way then."

The man then fully turned around and took the stairs, heading inside.

Zukira watched as he disappeared from sight, diverting her gaze to the sky once the chilly breeze began to blow. The stars were like little dots brushed on a black canvas using a toothbrush, scattered like mice. Moonlight illuminated the sky with its scarce glow, placing some of the dark clouds in the spotlight.

Her eyes were lost in the endless expanse of the night sky, and she couldn't help but feel a peculiar sense of nostalgia and emptiness altogether. It made her like that one person who had always felt out of place.

The odd one out.

She hadn't allowed herself to be reliant on someone for something as stupid as friendship. Ah, yes. She lost just about every friend because something had to happen and in this case, she had lost her very friend: Tsubasa.

"Oh, Tsubasa..." she muttered, her swirling hazel eyes stuck to the moon, "please be okay."

Blazer gave a low glow and flashed lowly; it was its way to help her out during this course of distress. A heavy feeling clouded her heart as though somebody placed a boulder on it, weighing her down. For the first time in her life,

she felt lost.

Why did this impact her so much?

A sigh escaped her lips, "We got a long day ahead of ourselves, Blazer," she peered down at the bey in her hand, "let's not waste our time and head back in. We don't want Doji second-guessing us now."

Taking one last glance from where Phoenix had taken off, Zukira twirled around, her trench coat billowing with the wind. She head downstairs and into the long, cold corridor which was a peaceful type of quiet. Opening the door, she switched the light on and placed Blazer next to DragonKnight, sullenly taking her coat off.

I must not let this affect me, I must remain steadfast and focused. She grabbed her journal and hopped onto her bed, opening up to a fresh new page. The silver threads bled through the window pane, draping the journal in its soft blue hue. With her thoughts not gathered, she just let her mind wander, scribbling down words which might not make sense to her later down the line, but she just poured out what her heart couldn't describe.

She felt her eyelids start to become heavy, but she was determined to get her thoughts on that page. Letting out a yawn, she set her pen down and closed her eyes.

Just a 5 minute nap then I'll go for training.

And so, she fell into deep slumber.



The Aubergine clouds swirled around her like tornadoes, clustering together like ants. Their walls blocked her surroundings so that there was nothing but those clouds moving around in a haphazard fashion. She placed a hand near her eyes and squinted them, attempting to catch a glance of anything which could help her find her path.

A low, menacing laugh sounded and she halted, so did the rampage of the clouds. She peered up to see the dark purple dragon spirit she was so used to seeing, towering over her with its mouth wide open. Chills crept up her spine like needles and backed off, her eyes wide as saucers.

From the shadows emerged its other two companions, the dragon taking its full form as the complete hydra. Her heart leapt to her throat as her breath got caught in her chest. Footsteps echoed, and her gaze was diverted towards the figure approaching her. It was Ryuga, but it wasn't exactly him.

There was a dragon-like look to him with those scary looking teeth and pointy ears.

"Ryuga?" she heard herself say, reaching a hand towards him.

The so-called Ryuga laughed gruffly and a ball of purple energy formed in his hand, striding towards her with malice. She backed off further, wanting to get away. The last thing she saw was a bright purple light and that nightmarish face in front of her.



"Zukira! Are you up yet?"

"Get lost, Ryuga!" she grumbled, draping the blanket over her head.

"It's not Ryuga; it's me, Yu!"

The brunette sat up straight, her eyes still heavy and hair strands sticking out from all directions. She blinked, her sleepy eyes squinted.

Yu entered the room, "Ah, you're up!" he stood at the edge of the bed, "uh...you don't look so good."

"Tell me about it," she mumbled, slipping her feet into her fuzzy slippers, struggling to open her hairs.

"You won't believe what happened. I was battling that crab guy and he tried to distract me with one of his lame stories, but guess what? I didn't let him sweep me away!"

"Uh-huh? Oh, that's nice..." Zukira continued brushing her hair, slow as a turtle.
Suddenly, an image of the nightmarish Ryuga flashed in her mind, and her eyes shot open. Her heart sped and let out a shaky breath.

What was that?

"Anyways," Yu grabbed Blazer from her desk, "c'mon! We got a long day ahead of us."

Zukira threw her head back and let out a loud groan.

--- This part is based off of Beyblade Metal Fusion Episode: 36

Zukira sat beside Yu, watching as he joyfully ate his ice cream.

"This is an outrage!" she heard Doji speak and moved her gaze towards him. "How was someone like this allowed to break in here?! What were the guards doing?"

"We're very sorry, sir!" a fearful voice apologized from the other end of the line.

"Thanks to you, the rat was able to escape," Doji clapped back.

"Whoa, no kidding! And I was ripped off from seeing the end of Ryuga's dark move," Yu rocked his ice cream sideways.

Believe me, you don't ever want to anticipate something like that. Zukira crossed her arms, flinching when the same image flashed in her mind but composed herself immediately.

"Hmm,"

An image of Phoenix appeared on the screen behind Doji who turned his seat towards it.

"This masked Phoenix, who could that mysterious Blader be?" Doji spoke.

Yu raised his hand, "All I know for sure is that he's not on our side, and he's big."

At least he doesn't look like my...long lost cousin. Zukira took a sigh of relief.

"We have a new enemy," Doji smirked, "if that's the case then us, Dark Nebula, must work on strengthening our forces immediately."

"No, no, we're doing okay! Our numbers have already increased, Doji!" Yu replied, his hand still in the air.

Zukira raised a brow, tilting her head.

"Increased you say? When did this happen?"

Yu shrugged and took a lick from his ice cream, "I told him to do something to prove himself to us, and you know what I mean? I'm a genius, yep! That's what I said."

"Calling yourself a genius? That's anew, Yu," Zukira joked.

"Hey! I did well too, you know," he pouted, crossing his arms.

Training Room C

Zukira let out a sigh as she entered the room, her footsteps bouncing off the walls. She walked towards one of the treadmills and set down her stuff on the bench next to it. Getting on, she flipped the switch and adjusted its speed so that it was in between, not too fast and not too slow. She was so focused on carrying out her routine that she was oblivious to the fact that a certain had also entered the room, watching her from afar. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed and studied her intently before he came up with something to annoy her.

He approached her, placing a hand on his hip and peering her up and down.

"Oh..! Hey.. Ryuga," Zukira glanced at him for a moment before looking ahead.

"Look at you working hard like the sore thumb you are," he taunted.

Zukira rolled her eyes and kept running, looking straight ahead.

Ryuga observed her for a few moments before pressing a button, discretely increasing the speed of the treadmill.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the brunette shot him a glare, indirectly warning him to back off.

"Nothing," he raised his hands in mid air but smirked again. "Just this,"

He pressed the button multiple times before the treadmill began to increase its speed at a concerning rate.

"Ryuga— RYUGA! STOP IT, I CAN'T KEEP UP!" Zukira increased her speed to keep up.

This is bad! I might even fall off at this rate. What's his goddamn problem?!

She looked left and right before standing on each side of the treadmill and slamming the 'Emergency stop' button and soon, the machine came to a halt. Zukira let out a sigh of relief and turned towards him, her brows furrowing.

"What is your problem?! Why were you trying to kill me?!" she clenched her fists.

Or are you just mad that you can't extract my power for your L-Drago?

"Kill you? Hmph," Ryuga sneered, smirking, "you take things way too seriously. Cheer up."

"Cheer up?! How can I cheer up when you just attempted to kill me?!"

Ryuga shrugged nonchalantly, "Not my fault you're such a sensitive crybaby, and...I believe this is yours?" he raised his hand which had Blazer in it.

She felt her heart leap till her throat and took a step forward but Ryuga pulled it back, "Ryuga."

He raised his arm in the air.

"You! What are you trying to convey?! That I'm short?! Well guess what, you're wrong!" she grabbed his arm and attempted to bring it down, but boy was his grin iron-strong.

Ryuga snickered, amused at her bewildered attitude, "You can try as hard as you can, but you'll never be at the same level as me, Kira. You're just not it."

"Well! Thank you for reminding me that, now give Blazer back!" she grabbed his clenched hand and attempted to pry her bey out of it.

After much struggle, she was successful in prying her bey out of his grasp and tucked it in her pocket.

"Really though, what gives?" her brows furrowed.

"What gives? Heh, do I need a reason to watch you get mad?"

"...I highly doubt that's the case but okay,"

She turned around, grabbed her stuff and brushed past him, pondering over why he's such a-

"Don't falter," his voice got all serious all of a sudden.

"What?"

"I won't repeat myself, but know that just because your little friend betrayed us, there's no need to waste your time crying over such a matter," he continued, without turning ti look at her.

She fell silent, processing his words.

He eventually turned towards her and stood in front of her, studying her close. His eyes narrowed as he crossed her arms.

"I'm watching you, Kira."

Doji's Office

Zukira made her way towards Doji's office after a much needed shower, letting out a sigh of relief at the relaxation she felt.

Upon reaching, she took a few moments to gather herself, put on her mask and knocked on the door.

No response.

She retracted her hand and carefully opened the door, spotting Yu sitting on the desk, engrossed in watching a battle in the background. Peering up, she saw Tobio fall on his knees, defeated.

—This part is based off of Beyblade Metal Fusion: Episode 36 (last few minutes)

"Listen, Capri. There are no walls that cannot be broken, I will prove it to you! Pegasus and I, we will prove it to you!" Gingka extended his hand, facing Pegasus towards Capri.

The crowd cheered after Gingka's response.

"What a huge upset, brought back from the break with one move, unbelievable. A big win for G-G-G-G-Gingka!" Blader DJ announced.

"Awesome, Gingka!"

"You defeated Captain Capri!"

And so, the bandana boy stood tall and proud, overjoyed about his victory.

Meanwhile, Captain Capri continued staring at the floor, his body twitching, "So this is the Gingka that Kyoya was talking about."

"Awww, Captain Capri look. Guess he's a big dud," Yu commented.

"On the contrary," Doji smirked, "he fulfilled his purpose quite well asa matter of fact."

"Huh?!" Yu and Zukira responded in unison.

"Gingka: the more power he gains, the better catch you'll become for Ryuga and L-Drago, hmm,"

Of course. Zukira clenched her fist. Doji never cared about his members in the first place and is willing to risk their lives to clear the path for Ryuga. This is getting worse, far worse. She glanced at Yu. What if he loses a match? I don't want him to suffer the same fate I- I have to do something, anything to help him get out of here.

"Let's just wait for the time money becomes even more delicious and then we feast on him at Battle Bladers!" Doji smirked.

"Hehe, good one!"

While Yu and Doji broke off into evil laughter, Zukira exited the room and head into one of the corridors. She took off her mask and covered her face with her hands, dazed and frustrated.

What is even going on anymore?