"Each new chapter of our lives requests an old part of us to fall and a new part of us to rise"

- Jenna Galbut

---

The days inside the lab, being experimented, was an unpleasant blur — a fleeting dream, in his mind. From the exact meaning of the concept, he became a lab rat, he lost his privacy, dignity and everything that made him human. Inside the lab, under the sinister gaze of those scientists, he was only a subject matter, a disposable creature. The only person that kept standing by his side was Norman. He was there, holding onto his hand whenever the pain overwhelmed him. Whenever he felt the room was too dark, too small. In those claustrophobic nights, the male sat by a chair listening to him rambling about his life back in Beigoma. Not a word or a sigh of annoyance escaped as he listened. Shu didn't know what he would've done without Norman by his side.

His schedule was jam packed. The day started with the same gooey breakfast and a shot to his arm. He didn't know what it did, nor he questioned knowing there would be no answers waiting his way. It was the only time of the day Norman left his side. Shu wondered whether Norman knew about this specific shot but casted the thought away. He probably did. They were monitoring every single move.

After breakfast he was given two hours for practice. Shu launched his bey to the stadium, watching it spin around. There was no enthusiasm pumping up his adrenaline. No sense of joy. He just watched it and picked it up when it came to a stop and repeated the motion over and over again until someone said the time was up. Beyblade had become a part of a monotonous routine. He faced the two hours in his apathy.

After practice he was guided to the VR room where he was trained to move in a virtual environment without exhausting his body much. The first days were the worst. It was a slow process, the scientists said but they had little time and had to rush him through it. Shu felt nauseated, staring at those bright colours and hideous creatures charging at him. Most of the time, he lost his sleep because of these visual creations. Hallucinations became a part of his life, nightmares — a daily routine.

Then after a quick lunch, he was shepherded to the worst part of the day. The pain tolerance. He wondered whether this could break him. Tear his mind apart that he goes insane with no point of return. During his first times, he screamed till his throat was bloody. His limbs shaking, strained tears moist on his cheeks. But he grew to tolerate it. You ask for help over and over and when there's no helping hand to aid you, you grow numb. No one is there, you know and succumb to this inevitable pain like this is your fate. Shu felt the emotions — happiness, sadness, pain, everything washing away from his mind until apathy became his personality.

Only Norman was there to help him through this gruelling course. His presence was like a faint thread that kept him on the surface, the tiny splinters of emotions still humming in the edge of his mind. If it was severed, Shu knew he would fall. Fall deep into that abyss and he will break. No one will be able to pick up the pieces.

There was no calendar in his room, but when Rin came in with her files cradled in his arms, he knew they were going along with the real thing — the Requiem Project that kept every single scientist in this cold, hollow space on their toes. Shu slipped out of the bed, the cold breeze of the air conditioning in the hallways slipping through his hospital gown, chilling his bare skin. He followed her through a different corridor and entered a room. Larger than most of the rooms he had seen here and eerie.

The translucent light emanated from the long tubes on the sides of the wall. The high roof was uneven giving it an aura of a natural cave. Shu's crimson eyes darted across a plethora of screens in the middle of it, facing a massive cylinder, a glass panel attached to the front. The screen was drawing lines of green and blue with dots of incomprehensible coding. Shu gave up on trying to understand the complicated numbers. "That's where you would be when the project is taking place," Rin said, pointing at the cylinder. Shu noticed the colourful wires, one corner attached to the main processor — the server computer of the computer network, the other end disappearing from the back of the machine.

"In there?" Shu asked uncertainly.

"Yes," She confirmed, walking to it. Shu followed, watching her as she knocked on the sturdy glass on the front. "We'd be constantly checking your heart beat, blood pressure while you're in the VR. You need not to worry about a thing."

Shu gave her a forced smile. He had lots of worries. "Okay."

"A special Snakepit uniform is created just for this. It will have different ports to connect the wires which will keep you safe while you're in the world created by our scientists. But remember, as I said the world is not fixed. It will change according to your mindset and you will have to face your fears. That's something we can't predict. So I have no idea what you will face while you're there."

Shu gulped. "So, you mean it's like me walking through my own mind?"

She smiled, "Yes, exactly like that." Sensing his fear, she turned to him. Her cold hand pressed over his locks as she talked. "Don't worry. It's your mind, you can control it. Okay?"

It was in these times Shu wondered who she actually was. The sinister scientist who wanted to experiment his body or the warm woman who cared about him as a child. Probably the former, but a man can hope.

"Get him into the uniform."

A man walked up to them. His dishevelled hair, the dark patches under his eyes revealing the nights of toil working on this project. All this effort, all this intelligence accumulated to achieve this single goal. Shu followed him towards a smaller square room. He watched as the man plucked it from the hanger and handed it to him. He swayed in his long legs for a while, silently wondering if he should stay. "I can do this by myself." Shu interrupted his thoughts. He needed the privacy. He needed a moment with himself before walking back in.

The man nodded, "Okay." He shot a quick glance over his shoulder before he opened the steel door. "Good luck."

It was just two words. Barely audible. But Shu nodded, glad. The one or two snippets of kindness mattered to him. He was deprived of people with humanity, he had to cling to hope. He couldn't get disappointed by everyone. That would be the breakthrough. He didn't want to become the villain.

He pulled the hospital gown over his head. The thin material easily slipped out leaving him bare and exposed to the coldness inside the room. Shu studied his body, traced his finger along the scar on his side — a dried brown. The back of his elbows, still a bruised red from the end of the needle sinking to his skin, drawing out blood samples one after another.

After stealing as much time as he could, Shu finally started dressing. The ports and the small processor attached to his jumper was a dead weight on his back. He adjusted his white sleeveless coat, the long coat tails trailing behind him. After pulling on his long boots, he looked down at himself, ready in his uniform, his battle gear or whatever this was going to be for the next couple of hours.

A knock on the door. Rin's voice. "Are you ready?"

Shu smoothed some imaginary wrinkles over and spoke, "Yes, I am." He walked out of the room with resolve. He was guided towards the massive cylinder. Shu inhaled deeply before stepping in. A light green liquid splashing in as the door hissed to a close. He was finally trapped within this small space.

The sense of paranoia clung to the back of his mind despite the knowledge the liquid wouldn't harm his breathing. The perfluorocarbon was measured for the correct amount of oxygen and altered so that no long-term effects would be acted upon his body. Rin had been walking him through all this information the past few days, making sure he understood he stayed relaxed and calm. The liquid rose up and swallowed him whole. Shu could feel the rush in his ears popping for the pressure. He allowed himself to breathe and slipped his eyes to a close the moment the metal doors outlining the glass panel slid to a shut, sealing him inside this cylinder with nothing but the ports — the wires pulsing with lights.

At first there was silence. A prolonged, hushed silence. Shu was standing on a field covered with snow. He looked around, his gaze studying the blinding whiteness. He extended his palm as snowflakes fluttered around him, dancing to a faint breeze. The sky was dark. No clouds. No stars. Just nothing. It was a black canvas, dotted with white as the snowflakes descended from the skies.

Shu turned around as a loud thud broke the silence. Where there were snow fields before, now there was a massive door. Decorated in red, outlined with gold as it shone in the dead darkness. It was the decision of his subconscious to walk through that door. A part of his mind knew this was the depth of his mind. The path towards the gravitating centre that kept his fears, insecurities locked deep inside them. He was charging right at it. With nothing but his bare hands and hammering heart.

He stepped into the heightened cold. The wind biting to his skin, sharp and merciless. Puffed breaths escaping his dry lips. Shu gasped, doubling down. Hand clutching his stomach. Head pounding in agony. An incoherent static replaced his vision as he tried to take another gruelling step forwards before his knees buckled underneath him. The snow went up in a cloud of smoke as he gasped for breath.

The ground thundered underneath him. Shu snapped his head up and squinted, focusing his vision for the coming onslaught when it appeared. A dragon. Frosted blue, elegant scales shining against the chalky white. His breath caught in his throat as the massive impact sent him flying backward, landing face first on the cold snow. Shu groaned, tasting the iron in his mouth. The snow underneath painted a dotted red. His laugh echoed. Shu wanted to sink into this torturous blanket of splinters and frost.

"Fuck you," He groaned, pulling himself up on his palms.

He pushed into his knees, focusing all his energy. This was his mind. He was in control. Not Lui. Not Luinor. Not anyone else. He raised his palm, willing for the weapons that had been in his dreams. The sacred weapons of the god of flames, the luminous axe that glinted in bright crimson.

His scar burned, sending a flare of pain across the right side of his face as he charged. Screaming in agony, determination, a mix of all the emotions which were buried deep inside.

He hated losing.

He hated being so fucking helpless.

He was going to murder these fears.

The axe slid like butter as Lui's image alongside Luinor dissolved into the thin air. Adrenaline pumped through his veins. His crimson eyes transformed into something sadistic. When Fafnir came next, he was more than ready. He needed to clear this, and he was going to make the Requiem project a success.

One after another, rival after rival. Shu felt the sweat forming on his brow, his breath nothing more than a quick puff of air. His muscles ached from exerting, his eyes blurry from staring into the brightened forms of the beys standing upon his way.

Another door.

Shu pushed it open thinking how accurate the whole space was. The VR was created in an exquisite way, if Shu didn't know better he'd believe everything was true. Every single action elicited a similar reaction and all his fears, worries were pushed back as he started to enjoy. It felt like he was inside the gameplay, levelling up.

Shu stepped into the room. Mirrors. Long, short, square, round mirrors on the walls around him. There was not a hint of a wall, every space was covered with his reflection. Him as a child, him as a toddler, him starting beyblade. It was like staring right at a video tape of his life. The ups and downs, his parents, the forgotten memories he didn't want to revoke. It was a virtual space of memory. A trick of his mind. He knew the rest of the world, the scientists outside couldn't see this. Their screens were filled with statistics, his heart rate, blood pressure. He was here seeing all this magic of his mind. How the memories have accumulated in this room.

He hesitantly reached for one of them. His white fingers barely grazed the even, cold surface of the mirror. The kid in it smiled at him. A toothy grin with two missing front teeth, sporting a dark blue sweater and jeans. He remembered the day, it was the day before Christmas. They were out shopping for their relatives.

Another memory, him again. Curled on top of his covers under the darkness of his room back in Japan. Silent tears streaming down his face. There was no date attached, no time mentioned, but Shu knew exactly what this was about. It was the day he left and disappeared.

Shu sighed inwardly, searching through the pictures, collecting the fragments of memories until the mirrors darkened. The mirrors shrunk for nothingness, popping out of his sight like fireworks. The room was now pristine except for the one remaining mirror. His own reflection stared back at him for a solid second before the face twisted. A maniac smile blooming over the lips of this stranger.

"Power," Shu could hear the chant, feel the devouring hunger in his gut. The yearning, the unquenchable thirst for something amiss. It was the power of Spryzen, swirling deep within him. It was resonating around the room — reverberating in his mind.

The mirror replaced the giant beast in front of him. The creature, holding onto the axe of Spryzen, his free hand extended towards him. Shu's eyes shifted from his face — the golden brows staring down at him — to his face.

And so, as he was supposed to. As his mind kept tempting him. Just as everyone told him to, he accepted the hand. The bond with legend Spryzen — that faint thread of comfort — was severed as he gave in and succumbed himself to this darkness. This endless abyss of voices and power and all the rest of it that came along.

He was thrown back into the loop of fights. Various beys he had encountered throughout the course of his career as a blader was now in front of him, standing against him in their naked glamour. The beasts roared as Shu slid his axe around, getting the hang of sweeping the weapon around.

Then in a blink of light, he was there.

His best friend.

His other half.

The person who had stuck through him all night long when things got tough. The friend who's always offered him a hand to stand up. Get back on his feet. The bey which was familiar to him as his own. The same one he held in his hand when Valt recklessly jumped around, not wanting to harm it in any way. Shu stared at Valtryek gleaming in blue. Suddenly, the axe was heavier in his arms. The exhaustion has settled in. His limbs were shaking. Or rather he didn't want to do it. He didn't want to harm this bey.

"Shu!" A voice cut off his thoughts. Shu blinked as the white walls of his apartment back in Beigoma came into focus around him. The smell of the Spaghetti filling the room, the sizzle of the pan the only sound around. Shu's blinked, confused.

Why was he here?

Valt scooped a spoonful of the food and chomped down. His hazel eyes danced with excited glee. He had always loved what he had to offer. And Shu was never shy when it came to Valt. Shu was himself when he was around him. "Huh?"

"You spaced out for a second," Valt grinned, another spoonful on his hand. He offered it to Shu. "This is super good!" The male was saying, "You should try."

"What do you want?" A voice hollered. Gruff. Dominating. Shu's vision blurred, Valt's image in front of him fading. The albino reached out, his fingers touching nothing but the air in front of him when the truth crashed upon him. The weight of that question.

"What do you want?"

The memories of Lui, the losses, the humiliation pressed from all the sides, clouding his judgement, pressing him into the little cellar inside his mind. "Power," He answered the invisible voice. That was it. He needed power. Power that would surge through his veins. Power that would let him crumble his foes into dust. "This is what I need."

Valtryek was again there in front of him. His limbs moved forward before his mind could comprehend. Valtryek was in pieces and so was his mind. For the first time in his life, he felt the intrusion. The invasion of his privacy. His mind didn't feel like his anymore. It was violated by this new voice, chanting over and over the desires. Power. Inside him, Shu could feel it growing. A different person. A separate soul yearning for power and was ready to obliterate anything in their path to do so.

---

Norman and Theodore watched from outside. The pained groans, the agonised screams filled their ears. None of them seem to stop, none of them saw the need to stop. The warning alerts popped on screens one after another — angry red dots blinking along like the sirens of an ambulance. Rin was beside them, her eyes shining with excitement as she studied the computer charts. Boss was also there, half of the Snakepit was. They couldn't hear the whistles of torment, and the lurking gloom in the room, all they could hear was the trumpets of victory as the doors hissed open. The main computer screen spitted out the words, PROJECT SUCCESS, in big green block letters.

Shu stumbled forward, hacking, coughing and retching as he landed roughly to the open floor in front of him. His clothes dripping wet, his bangs a splattering of water. The albino hissed, trying to push himself up on his palms. Theodore was already taking a step when the Boss put his hand up, stopping him mid-action. He strided to Shu and crouched beside the shaking child. Reaching out to clear the long bangs blocking his vision. "Fantastic."

Shu looked up, Theodore could see the puzzled expression before it slid into an apathetic scowl. "Your performance was exquisite," He continued, his words sinking in. A compartment of the machine slid open revealing the magnificent mixture of gold, red and white. The new Spryzen.

Shu stared, surprised, scared, ecstatic. He couldn't place a finger as to which feeling was prominent. But it was all there. A vehement chaos of everything. Boss placed a firm hand on his elbow and pulled him up. The exhaustion washed away as he cradled his bey on his palm. He created this. The chaos inside his mind created this. He couldn't shake off the unrelenting image that kept popping in his mind. He wanted to strip it off of his mind. This wasn't supposed to be. He had forgotten half the memories of those days but now they were back. The tormenting demons of the past. Shu wasn't quite sure if this bey was worth going through his troubles. He was already missing his old mate, Legend Spryzen.