— This chapter is based off from Beyblade Metal Fusion: Episodes 20 (the first part) and 23 (the part where Yu loses to Ryuga)

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Doji and Ryuga made their way back inside the building with Zukira lagging behind as she quickly put on her mask and entered after them.

"Gingka Hagane, he's not worthy of being called a Blader, but a clown." Ryuga looked at L-Drago with a prideful smile.

"Yes, quite so." Doji pushed his glasses up his nose and made his way towards his desk, his back facing the two Bladers.

Zukira continued walking and reached for the doorknob, clearing her throat.

"I would like to have some rest. That battle was entertaining to watch, however, all that suspense and action made me feel quite drained." Zukira explained while letting out a yawn.

"Rest? It's not like you were the one battling." Ryuga snickered as he grabbed the corner of Zukira's coat and cleaned L-Drago with it.

"Says the one who woke up from a deep slumber himself," Zukira pulled down her mask and glared at him with threatening eyes, "and it's not like you nearly knocked me out with that dark move of yours." She whispered angrily and yanked her coat away.

"You got some guts to talk to me like that, Kira. Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" Ryuga's smirk faded to an aggressive frown, his dangerous aura looming over Zukira, and his hand balled into a fist.

Zukira glanced over her shoulder, thinking of another comeback to piss him off, but she didn't. Ryuga had a point, however. She wasn't the one battling and yet she couldn't help but feel exhausted after watching it. All that stress and suspense left her drained.

"Yeah yeah," She rolled her eyes (which Ryuga couldn't see), "the great Dragon Emperor who likes to scare off people who get in his way," she stated bluntly.

"Tsk, that's better, but," Ryuga took a step forward and towered over her, "if you ever cross the line," he towered over her, "I will show you where you stand."

"I'm standing on the ground tho?" Zukira spat back which caught Doji's attention.

"Now, now. It's not the time for petty arguments," Doji jumped in after seeing those two bickering. Doji sat down and clasped his hands. "We must proceed with the preparations for Battle Bladers just like Master Ryuga asked."

The word 'Battle Bladers' struck Zukira like an arrow as she recalled Ryuga mentioning it earlier. She shoved past him and went over to Doji.

"Wait, Mr.Doji. Could you please enlighten me on Battle Bladers?"

"Since when did you get so formal? I remember hearing that you were the most disrespectful little rat back in the-"

"Be. Quiet." She replied through her teeth just audible enough for Ryuga to hear.

Ryuga felt stunned hearing Zukira's voice become heavy, but he narrowed his eyes at her and scoffed.

"Battle Bladers," Doji turned around, "will be a tournament entirely held by us, the Dark Nebula and whoever receives 50,000 bey points will advance through the tournament. However," he took out a comb from his coat and brushed his yellow streak, "whoever gets through all the matches will have to face Master Ryuga in the final."

Zukira looked over to Ryuga who grinned maliciously upon hearing his name. A grin which she would describe as 'a grin with prideful eyes and evil mind.' 

"The Dark Nebula will also cooperate with the WBBA to make this event more advantageous to us and decide the battles later on." Doji added as he placed his comb back into his coat.

"Huh, I see. How interesting," Zukira went back, twisted the doorknob and opened the door, "I'll rest up now. Goodnight, Mr.Doji."

Zukira sprinted down the corridor and reached her room, shutting the door behind her and throwing her mask on the desk. She ran a hand through her hair and plopped onto the bed, her arms dangling off.

"That was a tiring day..." Zukira sighed and smiled to herself, relieved that she could now get some peace.

She closed her eyes, but remembered something which she had to do and groaned.

She got up with reluctance and hung her coat on the chair, taking a seat and opening the laptop which Doji gave to her as a 'welcome gift.' She switched on the laptop and began reviewing the notes she took on Storm Pegasus.

"Hmmm, WOAH! Storm Pegasus 105F is ALSO an attack type! How come I never noticed that?! And it has a rubber flat performance tip! Looks like I really wasn't myself during that battle..."

Zukira pressed a button and it showed a 3D version of Pegasus, its parts separated. She studied each of the part, scrolling down as she read through the information.

"Huh, so its fusion wheel represents three wings. That's almost similar to L-Drago except it has three dragons on its wheel." She told herself.

She opened the drawer and took out her notepad, quickly scribbling something down and putting it next Blazer which was already placed on the desk.

There was a knock on the door and Zukira sprung up, reaching out her hand for her mask. The door then opened with a thud! revealing none other than Ryuga himself.

For the love of Beyblades, does this guy NOT know how to respect my space and NOT BARGE IN?! Zukira stared at him and was about to say something, but she realised that Ryuga had the upper hand in this situation and remained silent.

"What?" she narrowed her eyes at him, "can't you see I'm busy right now?"

Ryuga smirked, "I knew that you wouldn't go and actually get some rest, you know," he leaned against the doorframe and eyed the laptop. "Did I interrupt your little research session then?"

Zukira rolled her eyes and looked back at the laptop screen, scrolling through once again.

"Anyways, Doji said that he'll be taking me somewhere to meet another Blader and he wants you to join him, so you better rest up," he turned around, "and don't disappoint."

Ryuga shut the door behind him, earning a groan from Zukira who smacked her head against  the desk.

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The helicopter flew over a wasteland and Zukira couldn't help but stare outside the window for the whole ride, wondering what kind of Blader would be here. She noticed the tall, rocky structures which she mistakenly thought were inactive volcanoes. The whole place was deserted with no form of life.

"We're almost there, Ryuga." Doji said.

"The Blader you want me to meet is really in a wasteland like this?" Ryuga asked while raising a brow.

"Merci has hacked into the computers from around the world and this is his location. He should prove useful to Dark Nebula," Doji smiled.

Zukira looked up in shock. Wait, so that's how Ryuga found out where I was! That computer system was able to track my location?! But that place was said to be nowhere in the maps!

"Which is also how we were able to find you, dear friend," Doji glanced over his shoulder.

Zukira gave a nod and looked outside the window again, now noticing the huge craters made on the ground.

"Huh," Ryuga's eyes widened for a moment seeing the craters.

Soon the helicopter landed on the ground with Doji getting off first and then Ryuga. Zukira got up and exited the copter, her long coat flowing with the wind.

She observed her surroundings; the blazing ball of fire dipping into the horizon, the peculiar place filled with craters and the strange silhouette of a kid in front of her.

Who's that? Zukira put a hand on her hip and stared.

Ryuga took a step forward, staring at the mysterious Blader which a suspicious look.

"There he is," Doji said. "Please, introduce yourself to Ryuga."

"HUH?!"

This Doji guy talks too much. Zukira glared at him. A little too much. She leaned against the copter with crossed arms, her eyes still glued on the Blader.

The Blader took out his launcher and attached his bey.

"Let it rip!"

He launched his bey towards an empty space covered in a green, fiery aura. The bey let out a beam of green light as the dust circled around it. It cleared out and revealed a crater the size of a bey arena.

Judging from its performance tip, that bey is a stamina-

Zukira's self-observation was interrupted by Ryuga's sudden laughter which he obviously let out in pure mockery. This guy is insane.

"THAT'S HOW YOU SAY HELLO?!" Ryuga exclaimed.

"Ryuga!" Doji 'scolded' him which had no effect on Ryuga whatsoever.

"Interesting! Well then, maybe I should be polite and return the greeting."

Ryuga's gauntlet opened to reveal Lightning L-Drago which he snatched up and attached it to his launcher.

"LET IT, RIP!"

With no hesitation, he released L-Drago who took form of the purple dragon headed towards the other bey.

"I'll waste no time and end this right now! Dark move."

Here he goes again. Zukira watched silently, but felt concerned about Ryuga using his Dark move against a kid.

"DRAGON EMPEROR SOARING BITE STRIKE!"

The sky transformed from a beautiful sunset to a dark, cloudy one as the beam of purple energy touched the sky. An orb of purple rose from the stadium and the three dragon heads came crashing down.

Zukira took a step back so that she was behind Doji, so she took off her mask and squinted her eyes a bit. L-Drago was pushing the other bey, Flame Libra, towards the ground, ultimately resulting in a stadium out.

"Awww!" The Blader pouted.

Ryuga retrieved his bey and gave a sadistic, proud smile. Zukira blinked, clearly trying to process what just happened.

Are my eyes deceiving me or did Ryuga just battle a kid, won and is acting all smug about it?! What's going on here?! Zukira looked over to Doji who had a smile creeping up on his face.

The dust around settled down, and the other Blader stared at the Dragon Emperor with his big, green eyes.

"So cool!" He smiled widely.

What? Just - WHAT? Did he just say THAT?? Is this kid okay? Where are his parents? Or is this the result of him being left alone in a deserted place with NO ONE by his side and make those CRATERS?! Zukira felt her left eye twitch and shook her head.

"Quite impressive power, don't you think?"

Zukira ignored Doji's question, her gaze fixated onto the little boy who was flapping his arms and approaching the helicopter while laughing. This didn't help improve Zukira's mood. She slammed her fist into the copter and stormed off to the other helicopter.

Doji raised a brow at the sudden aggression and took a right turn.

"My dear friend, what seems to be the matter?"

Zukira was just inside the copter when Doji approached her. She peered over her shoulder.

"Nothing, I would like to be alone right now." She requested and went inside, clearly not wanting to have any social interactions.

She sat down on one of the seats and took off her mask, leaning forward and pinching the bridge of her nose. Her reckless decision of joining the Organisation was downing onto her like waves crashing into the seaside. It was battle after battle and for some reason, Zukira couldn't catch a break despite her just watching. Her forehead began to hurt and placed her gloved hand on it.

She sat in that position for a few moments before lifting her head back up and letting out a sigh. She looked to her left and saw Ryuga sitting parallel to her with a smirk on his face.

Please tell me he's sitting in my copter and not the other way around.

"So, looks like you took Doji's words a little too seriously, huh?" He started.

"Doji's words?" That's when she remembered: 'Make yourself at home.'

"Oh. So, did I accidentally-"

"Yeah, you're in my copter right now, missy," he sneered and narrowed his eyes at her like she was some unwanted rag.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Zukira got up and pulled her vest down. "I'll be on my way no-"

Zukira staggered and held onto her seat as the helicopter took off without warning. She clutched her heart and stared at the ground.

"Sheesh! Right when I was about to get off."

Ryuga laughed, "It would've been fun to watch you fall. Maybe you would've been taught a lesson for shamelessly sitting in a place which belongs to someone else!"

"Says the one who battled with a little kid and took pride in winning against him. Find someone your own size, why don't cha?" Zukira shot back quickly, not wanting to argue with him again.

I can't believe I'm stuck with this guy for the rest of the ride.

Zukira let out a more disappointed sigh and placed her arms on the table, resting her head on them and dozed off.