Restless

Normal POV

Ren was just in the control room back in Bakugan Interspace. He was setting up a new plan that would make sure that the Brawlers would stay out. This plan would also prevent the Brawlers from saving any more kids. The Emperor needed plenty of additions for his army in order to weaken the Neathians in the war and claim the Sacred Orb. This plan was going to work perfectly and Ren wasn't going to leave it to rest.

He literally wasn't. Ren was so focused on the plan that he hadn't slept in a few days. He knew he should get some rest, but he couldn't stop. He needed to make the plan work. The plan was to set up alarms that would go off whenever the Brawlers would enter Bakugan Interspace and then teleporters would instantly send them back out. It was a good plan and Ren had to have complete concentration on it.

Sid walked in with a to-go cup of coffee and saw that Ren was still in the control room. "You've been working on your "perfect" plan, again?" he asked, grinning.

"Not again," Ren replied, not taking his eyes off the computer as he pressed some buttons. "I never stopped."

"Never?" Sid repeated, noticing that, even though the room as quite dark, Ren had grey circles around his eyes. "Just out of curiosity, when was the last time you got any sleep?"

"I don't know. 2, 3 days. Something like that."

"You do realise that if you keep this up, you're going to go crazy, right?"

Ren didn't answer as he was just blocking Sid out. Sid walked up to Ren and grabbed both of his wrists. "Barodius wants to see you tomorrow and you need to get some sleep."

"I've got plenty of time," Ren said. "More than enough to –"

"Trust me, Ren," Sid interrupted. "Get some sleep. No one wants to hear you talk about computers or something. And I'm really sure the Emperor doesn't either."

Ren struggled against Sid's grip around his wrists, but Sid was a lot stronger than him so it did him no good. And from lack of sleep, Ren was too tired to break free. "Just let me go," he ordered. "I'm almost finished."

"You can finish the plan later," Sid said.

"No, it can't wait," Ren countered, still struggling. "Let me go."

Sid sighed and released Ren's wrists. "Fine," he said.

"Thank you," Ren said and then continued with what he was doing on the computer.

But the truth is, Sid wasn't going to give up that easily. He had a plot set out in his head.

Sid sat in a nearby chair and turned it round, so that Ren couldn't see what he was doing. Sid took a small bag from his jacket pocket and poured some of the grainy sleeping dust into the coffee. He replaced the lid and shook the cup to mix the dink.

Sid stood up and said, "You know, you're so focused on your big plan that you're going to need something to keep you awake." He set the cup on the table right in front of Ren.

Ren stopped typing. "What is it?"

"Coffee," Sid replied briefly.

"I thought you said that I needed some sleep," Ren reminded him.

"I did. But then, I realised that you need to finish this first to make sure the Brawlers don't interfere. After all, the plan has to be perfect. Drink this." Sid lifted the cup and gave it to Ren. "It'll help."

Ren took a small sip of the coffee, and coughed at the aftertaste, obviously disgusted. "Tastes like it's made of sawdust," he said.

"That's what it's supposed to taste like," Sid pointed out. He wasn't let the plan go unfinished. "Keep drinking. You get used to the taste after a little while."

Ren took another sip of the coffee, pressed a few buttons, took another sip and so on.

Suddenly, Ren started to wobble and quickly rested the cup on the table. He placed his hand on his forehead, moved away from the table and passed out. He was about fall on to the floor, but Sid caught him.

Sid grinned as he noticed that his plan had worked. "Sorry, Ren," he said. "But you're not going to see the Emperor like this."

Sid lifted Ren's arm over his shoulder and then lifted him up entirely. Sid then walked out of the control room with Ren over his shoulder. Lena was outside in the hallway. She walked up to Ren and asked, "It worked?"

"Like a charm," Sid replied with a smile and then strolled down the corridor.

Once they got to Ren's room, Sid placed him on the bed. Ren should be out for around 9 hours, maybe 10, so that should be enough rest for him.

Sid then left the room and walked down the corridor.