— This chapter is based off of Beyblade Metal Fusion: Episode 26 ~ Zee

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The matches to qualify for Battle Bladers had begun and Bladers were involved in battles left and right, gathering up those bey points with a burning determination. One battle after another, Bladers were gaining points and moving to the next round. Everyone was determined to snatch those 50,000 bey points and earn a spot in Battle Bladers.

Zukira stared at her laptop as she watched a battle go down and cheers erupted once a winner was decided. She sighed and closed the laptop, leaning against her seat and looking at the ceiling with a glum look.

It's such a shame I can't participate, but it's for my own good.

Zukira picked up Blazer and held it towards the light, its shiny surface gleaming. She could feel the emptiness inside her. How much she wanted to run to the rooftop and launch her bey into the endless expanse of the sky, but now she was like a caged bird with nowhere to fly.

She groaned and got up, tying her hair into a ponytail and walking out of her room. It was just another day in the Organisation and there was nothing new, except the fact that Zukira now had someone to talk to: Yu. However, even he would sometimes run off and battle the Dark Nebula members for 'fun' and hanging around Ryuga was simply out of the question.

Zukira had no other choice but to head towards where Doji was. She took a turn and reached a closed door. She took in a deep breath, putting on her mask and entered the room. She saw Doji sitting on a table and in front of him was a screen which was showing the recent battle taking place, with multiple TV screens on both sides. There were also 3 people on each side operating a computer and gathering data.

"Hmm? Oh, welcome, dear friend!" Doji swivelled his seat and welcomed her with open arms.

Zukira nodded in acknowledgement and stood beside Doji's table. She observed the screens and the employees operating them, feeling the cool blast of air from the air conditioner hitting her face and shivered. She eyed the bottle of orange juice and looked at the screen in front of her.

"Hmmm, it doesn't seem that there's any new recruits worthy of the Dark Nebula in this tournament at all. Shame." Doji said, resting his chin on his fists.

Zukira didn't say anything. She noticed Yu appear and waved at him which he returned before turning towards the screen as well.

"I'm bored. Are these tournaments still going on, Doji?" Yu looked at him, "come onnn! Let's just start the Battle Bladers already."

"No, we cannot do that," Doji replied, "These tournaments are absolutely necessary so we can gather the strongest Bladers. In order to satisfy L-Drago's dark power, we need to find the strongest opponents possible. The stronger the Bladers who participate in Battle Bladers are, the happier Ryuga will be."

Zukira felt a chill go down her spine.

The happier Ryuga will be? So I was right. Zukira kept watching the ongoing battle. Battle Bladers is being held for the sole purpose to feed L-Drago with as much power as possible to claim its title as 'the strongest.'

"The 50,000 bey points needed to qualify for the Battle Bladers are proof that they are a worthy opponent for Ryuga. The challenge matches will weed out the weaker Bladers, so we only end up with the strongest."

"Hmmm," Yu grumbled and side-eyed Doji.

"You want to see Ryuga defeat strong opponents, don't you?"

"Of course, but I uh..." Yu turned towards the screen once again, "do I really have to wait a whole three months for the Battle Bladers to start? I'm just so tired of waiting!"

"All you can do is cross your fingers and hope that an opponent strong enough to satisfy L-Drago appears sooner." Doji raised his glass as if he were giving a toast.

"Oh, that won't work. My fingers hurt because I've had them crossed so long."

Zukira snickered but immediately covered it with a cough.

Dang, this kid sure has some pretty good comebacks.

She went over and stood beside Yu, patting his back and secretly giving him a thumbs up at which Yu giggled. He returned to watching the battle without a care in the world. Zukira leaned against the wall and tilted her head to the side.

It was truly a miracle when I told Ryuga not to tell Doji that I'm a Blader and he actually listened because now look, this twisted man is hunting for stronger Bladers and is planning on taking away the power they earned after years of training. She let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness I won't be part of Battle Bladers anytime soon.

Her attention diverted when Blader DJ began to exclaim once again.

"Amazing! Stopping the powerful Rock Orso in its track with his bear-like power in one single strike is Tsuuubasa!"

After a few moments, Tsubasa called his special move 'metal wing smash' and sent Rock Orso out of the stadium. He had won the free-for-all Battle Bladers' final match.

Zukira stared in awe as Tsubasa appeared on the screen, a victorious smile on his face.

"He defeated one of our Dark Nebula expert Bladers with such ease," Doji leaned forwards, "interesting, isn't that wonderful, my dear friends? I've been waiting for a talent like him to appear for ages and ages."

"Certainly, Mr.Doji." Zukira rolled her eyes.

"You just got lucky, Doji." Yu replied.

"MERCI!"

"Bonjour. Hello, Master!" Merci greeted.

"Gather information on him right away. His birthplace, his height and his weight, everything from his battle history to his favourite food."

"Understood, Master."

"More importantly," Yu interrupted with both hands on his hips.

"What is it?" Doji said abruptly.

"You get it, right? That he knew all along that Orso was with the Dark Nebula and came to pick a fight? A fight with the Dark Nebula, you get it?"

"Hmm, yes, of course I get it." Doji looked at Tsubasa a studious gaze.

Zukira looked at the Dark Nebula symbol on the wall and back at Tsubasa.

The holder of Earth Eagle which is another Defense type bey, Tsubasa and the way Doji wants to acquire everything about him? Even his favourite food? Zukira felt her stomach be tied into knots. But most importantly, just who is this guy?

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Nighttime had rolled over and Yu had ran off once again, leaving behind Zukira with Doji who was summoned to his office to give an overview of her stay so far. She hated being alone with Doji, solely because he gave her the creeps, but she stood next to him (at a distance) and kept both hands behind her back, standing stiff as a soldier.

"My stay here so far has been lovely. I appreciate how my needs are fulfilled and I have also adjusted here rather quickly. However, it seems that some of the others don't take a liking for me despite me being a bey engineer only, but that doesn't matter. As long as my services are satisfying Dark Nebula and Ryuga, nothing else holds any value to me." Zukira picked on her glove and ran a hand through her hair.

"That's absolutely wonderful. I am delighted to hear your response and as for the others, I'll make sure that they don't aggravate your stay here. All you have to do is keep working hard and help us in achieving our ultimate goal."

D i n g !

Doji looked at his computer, causing Zukira to lean in and take a look at what Doji was seeing. There was a picture of Tsubasa and right below it was a picture of his bey, with the words "No Data" written besides both pictures.

"Tsubasa, the bey he uses is Earth Eagle. Defensive with a wide performance tip. This is all fairly standard, however-" Doji commented, but was interrupted by Merci.

"A few weeks ago, he was in a challenge match for the first time and took second place after losing to Mossier Mr.Gingka. All other information about the background is unknown."

Zukira observed the look on Doji's face and leaned back. Uh oh, he doesn't look so pleased.

"That report is unacceptable, Merci! With our Dark Nebula top-notch information network, you should be able to gather something more concrete."

"Forgive me, Master!"

Doji swivelled his seat and looked outside the window.

Zukira, too, looked outside and noticed the cranes working on what appeared to be a bey stadium.

Is that the stadium for Battle Bladers or what? I really need to figure out these things on my own or from Ryuga.

"Who in the world is this character?" Doji gripped his glass, "this - Tsubasa."

A red block with the word 'A L E R T ' flashed on Doji's computer which caught Zukira's eye. She tapped his shoulder and he looked at the screen.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Ah, that is-" Merci spoke.

"Tsubasa! Oh."

"I will send out the elite squad at once." Merci said.

"There is no need for that. He's taken the trouble to come here on his own. Let's see what he wants."

"Mr.Doji, Tsubasa just-" Zukira looked up and saw him in the room, immediately falling quiet at his sudden appearance, glaring at him with her arms crossed.

"Well, well, well. Welcome! How very kind of you to come all this way to pay us a personal visit, Tsubasa." Doji began.

"I know you've been sniffing around to find out about me, so I've come to introduce myself." Tsubasa replied with a calm smile.

Huh, he's seems like a smart fellow. How impressive. Zukira thought.

"Why are you trying to go up the Dark Nebula Organisation?"

"Go up against? The reason I defeated Orso in that tournament was to show my skills." Tsubasa replied.

"Your skills?"

"I want you to buy my skills, for as high a price as possible."

Zukira kept staring at this mysterious person. How did he have the courage to step up to Doji like that? How did he do it? After a few more words, Doji approved to make Tsubasa a member of the Organisation after he cleared a test, a test of defeating the three Kumari brothers.

The battle started with the Kumari brothers attacking Earth Eagle at once, but the battle was short lived. Eagle made one swift move which sent all three beys out of the stadium and Tsubasa's next opponent happened to be Yu.

So much for being bored then. A stamina type bey and a defense type bey up against each other. Let's see how this one turns out. Zukira watched the battle with great interest and was fully focused, not daring to look away even for a moment.

What caught Zukira's attention was how easily Eagle was able to move around even after Libra had turned the stadium into sandy soil. Eagle clashed into Libra a couple of times, causing it to wobble after it moved away.

"You called me a little boy again!" Yu stomped his foot, "stop calling me that! My name is Yu! Get it straight!"

The same green beam of light shone through Libra, ripping through the ceiling and reaching for the sky. Doji covered his ears, with Merck's voice fading. Zukira made a defensive stance and squinted her eyes a bit. She saw Tsubasa stand on the railing of the circular ceiling and gasped.

"And now for my special move: EAGLE METAL WING SMASH!"

The beam of light from Libra disappeared and at the end, it was decided: a tie, for both beys had stopped spinning.

Zukira shook her head in disappointment. She was so eager to see the outcome of such a heated battle, but was met with a tie. She walked out of the room as rain poured down the stadium.

Huh, Blazer's favourite weather. Such a shame I wasn't the one battling. Zukira took off her mask and rubbed her neck.

She had just entered the hallway when she sensed a presence of dark energy flowing in the air and immediately felt her chest tighten up when Ryuga appeared.

"Oh, hey, Ryuga." She greeted casually, but from the inside, she felt oddly disturbed.

Ryuga said nothing, but he had that maniacal smile plastered on his face and him covered in the flame-y aura. He approached the brunette and stopped in front of her, narrowing his eyes at her.

"I see that you're out of that little hideout of yours for once." Ryuga said.

"Oh my goodness, you're absolutely right! I didn't even know that," she clapped and frowned, "now tell me. What do you want? It's rather obvious to me that whenever you need something, you approach me like some evil merchant." Zukira crossed her arms.

"Hmm. Enough of that," he leaned his head inwards, "tomorrow night, you and I, battle."

Zukira's heart raced as sweat began to form on her face. She felt the hairs on her neck stick up and rubbed her wrist.

"Another one?" She asked rather baffled.

"What do you mean another one? Our previous one was sadly interrupted, and I didn't even get to see that hidden surprise you were so eager to show me."

Zukira clenched her teeth and tightened her jaw. She could feel the venom and its bitterness flowing through his smile.

"Cut the trash, Ryuga. If you think I'm going to run away before our battle starts, then I'll say it here and now,"

She took a few steps forward so that the two Bladers were standing face to face. She looked into Ryuga's eyes and raised her brows.

"I accept your challenge."