Authors Note:
I do not own Bayblade Burst. Please support the official release.
"...get everything?" A voice roused me from my slumber.
"Yeah, we just got these mattresses left," another said. I tumbled to the floor in surprise. Where am I?
"Did you hear something? Maybe the stowaway?"
"Eh, it's probably nothing." I heard someone else walk towards them. I took that time to sneak away from the mattress. My first step was finding where this cargo ship was heading.
"Here's a bright idea," A new voice said. "How about you actually go over there and check if it is our extra passenger." Well shit. I sped up my escape.
"Ugh, fine." I could hear the footsteps getting closer. Welp, no choice now. Whirling around, I waited in anticipation. The worker came into view. Perfect. Rising with the speed of a praying mantis, I clamped the person's mouth shut.
"Wh-" I karate chopped him in the neck, causing them to go limp, and dragged him behind a crate. I could feel the light pain of an overstretched arm. Then again, it has been a couple of months since I practiced.
"Hey, Connor?" One of the two previous people called. "Did you see something?" They also began to walk toward my ambush spot. That's right, come here.
"Where the hell did you go?" I gripped his wrist and kicked him in the stomach, before melting back into the shadows of the cargo crates. Coughing, the worker collapsed from the pain. Carefully stepping over his body, I tried to retrace my steps when I had been previously running. I heard more snippets of conversation. The gleams of sunlight from the loading doors shone through. I tried to get a good look at the port the ship had pulled into. There was a sign in…Spanish? My school had a required Spanish class, so I was able to make out that I was in…Veracruz? So Free had been brought south, but how would I be able to find where he went next?
Then I remembered something special about Mexico. There had always been rumors about a mystery Beyblade group called the Snake Pit, a place that I wanted to cross off my blading bucket list. I was now very thankful that past me wrote down the coordinates from my dad's construction company.
Who knew a long trek through the jungle would be tiring? Sweat stains had appeared on my undershirt, having already taken off the hoodie. The zipline had been a nice way to cool down. Soon, the underbrush gave way to a clearing, similar to an ancient Mayan (Aztec?) ruin.
Except that there was a bey stadium in front of the entrance. I stepped towards the temple and the entrance when a voice from a hidden PA spoke.
"Do you wish to enter the Snake Pit?" A voice asked.
"Yes," I stated, with all the force of my lungs. Whoever ran the Snake Pit was looking for strength, and I had to show it. "I do."
"Then enter," The voice said, as the ancient stone opened to reveal a stainless steel elevator. Taking a tentative step, the doors closed immediately and the floor began to immediately descend. The fluorescent lights gave a sense of dystopia. When the elevator stopped, the steel doors opened to reveal a man with a black mask and silver eye holes.
"Welcome," he swung his arms out, beckoning into the lion's den. "Our director would like to meet you." Following the mystery person, I passed by bladers, even younger than me, working on the gym equipment, with metal training bands attached to every part of their body.
"How is this helping?" I asked.
"The Snake Pit has helped to enhance their bodies to prime form. Only then are they worthy of a bey."
"But, you don't become worthy of a bey, you work together to become worthy of each other." At least, that was what I observed. In Free, In Shu Kurenai… and Lui. They ignored my response.
"Enter," he ordered. We had stopped in front of an open door. Stepping through, I heard a familiarly chilling voice.
"So you've sought us out."
"If that helps you sleep at night," I scanned the room and saw a hallway to the right.
"You admire our facility," he stated.
"For its stupidity," I turned back to him to give a mockingly sweet smile. "But I must get going now." I broke into a run for the exit. I couldn't hear whatever his response was, but I had more pressing issues. Mainly trying to find Free.
I made a sharp left, blowing past other masked bladers.
"There is an intruder in the facility. All non-trainees should look for them. Thank you." The PA system announced. Said masked bladers began chasing after me. I dived into one of the many branching rooms. My chasers stormed past, which was convenient. I turned back around to find…five scientists standing up with not-so-friendly faces.
I rushed forward and punched the closest one in the stomach, then swept another's leg, causing him to crash to the floor, knocking him out. Something blunt smacked me in the back of the head. Spots swam through my eyes. I had to end this.
I sprung away from my immediate attackers and dived into one of the scientists cowering under the control panels. He clunked his head on the metal, passing out. He had been holding (luckily for me) a wrench.
I stood up, flipping the wrench in the air. The remaining three scientists slowly backed away before running away down the hallway. I waited for a few moments before sighing in relief. The adrenaline had mostly subsided, and my head was still throbbing from the attacks.
Then it got so much worse.
Free was very disoriented. Well, that was an understatement. It was more like he couldn't see, smell, or sense anything at all. He tried to stand up but didn't feel like he had any ground to push off of. But what was the point? It would be a lot easier to just fall asleep. The darkness had a strange allure to it. Why was he here? Does it matter?
His eyes drifted closed.
"Hey Free!" a voice called. The dark void was gone. He was back in…Spain? And…oh. He was at the portico he always trained at. And…he felt shorter.
"Free?" that same voice called again. "You good?"
"Umm yeah," Free saw the source of the words. "Jing?"
"Aren't going to, you know!" she exclaimed. "The headstand?"
"Oh," Free was at a loss for words. It was Jing he was sure of it, but she was eight years old again. "Sure." He took a deep breath, tensing up to brace for the headstand. The sky became earth as Free tipped upside down, only hearing his breathing. It was kinda peaceful. The breeze and the smell of the woods made it nice.
A bush along the treeline rustled. As Free looked up, he lost his balance. A shoo- he landed on his stomach, knocking out much of the air in his lungs. However, the ground felt way more soft and squishy than he remembered. Maybe it was the grass? A head of a deer entered his field of vision. Then it licked his face.
"Woah!" Jing's voice called. "That deer is so cute! And uh, could you move Free?"
"Yeah, sorry." Getting up, he glanced back at the deer. It stared at him curiously.
'What are you doing?' the deer seemed to ask. Free didn't know the answer himself. He had a goal before. Help BC Sol, the club that he loved, grow as a team and not as a person. But Jing…threw a wrench in those plans. He regretted cutting off contact with her, but there had been a point to that. It was so he could focus solely on himself and Fafnir. Free felt he focused better in isolation.
Jing had been his only true friend. Chris felt like…an older sister. BC Sol, while he loved it, was distant to him emotionally.
"Hey!" Jing tackled him from behind, causing both of them to tumble to the ground, with Jing landing on Free's back.
"Why did you…?"
"You looked confused. How else was I going to get your attention?"
"I guess," Free sighed. "I'm just not sure what to do anymore."
"Well, what were you trying to do before?"
"I wanted to help something grow, but it could only grow if I pushed it away."
"Did you try anything else?"
"...No."
"Then how did you know…you know." At that, Free didn't have an answer to that.
"I…assumed I guess," He tried to stand up, but the weight of his friend on his back caused them to roll in the grass, ending with them sprawled all over. Had he been wrong? Could he have chosen a different path?
" I know what you can do!" Jing exclaimed. "And I can't believe you didn't think of it."
"What?"
"Teach them," She turned to face him. "I learned a lot from you."
"How did yo-"
"I not actually here Free," Jing said uncharacteristic maturity for an 8-year-old. "We're in your head, and you're just imagining me."
"Huh," Free sighed. "You're probably right. But I'm too far down this road now."
"Well, you still have me!" She smiled.
"Guess I do."
"Ready to head back now?"
"Definitely. And thanks, Jing. For everything."
The first thing Free felt was something blocking his throat.
"Ughh…" Free tried to sit up but felt something around his waist.
Then he felt a warmth on his back. A familiar feeling.
"Jing?" he asked. It was a bit surreal to have just an adolescent of his best friend,
The response was a light snore. Well, that made things more complicated. Slowly extracting himself from her grasp, he took in the…lab? He could hear footsteps coming towards him.
Either way, they needed to get out of there.
"Jing?" Free shook her by the shoulders. She groaned in response.
"Five more minutes…Ghost Boy," Jing grumbled. Free wasn't amused.
So he slung the sleepy asian over his shoulder.
"Hey!" That woke his friend up. "Let me down!"
"Be quiet for a second," he hushed. Peering down the bare hallway, he could still hear the distant echoes of boots clanging on metal, but the path remained open.
"Can I get off?"
"Sure," He stated, gently setting Jing down.
"Ugh," she stretched her arms. "Why do I feel so sore?"
After Jing got back on her feet, the two of them sprinted down the left end of the hallway.
Right into a horde of masked bladers and scientists. Free took a slight step back, eyes narrowing. Jing tensed.
"So our guest is awake?" A voice in the back asked. The crowd parted like the Red Sea, revealing a tall man in a black outfit with purple and red stripes.
"Why does he sound familiar?" Jing asked. Free wasn't entirely sure what she was talking about, but that didn't matter at this point.
"We run?" He asked.
"Yep." The two young bladers turned tail and began sprinting away from the crowd of masked bladers.
"Stop them!" a voice called behind them. Free made another left, closely followed by Jing.
"Ya know," Jing said between breaths. "You haven't asked about this place or how we got here."
"Well," Free made a right. "I was just going to ask after we find a way out."
"...Why am I still surprised by your deadpan reactions?" Before Free could respond, the two were blinded by harsh light, causing them to stumble to a stop. Then the entrance slammed shut.
When the effects of the flash dissipated, Free took in the absurd size of the room. It was covered, not in the cold, flat metal, but in worn stone bricks, as if it were an ancient ruin.
"I've heard you wish to escape the Snake Pit." a voice echoed through the chamber. Neither he nor Jing answered. "To leave, you must defeat me."
"Who are you?" Jing asked.
A circular section of the floor slid open. A metal platform rose from the newly created opening, with another masked blader. However, Free could tell something was different about this one. He wore a white coat with gray edges over what Free could only describe as a black vest with colored metal plates.
That wasn't the unsettling thing about the newly arrived blader. The eyeholes of his mask were blood red, with the rest of the mask flaring out on top and behind his head. His aura, however, was unlike anything Free had ever observed.
His own aura felt like the calm before a storm, most of the time anyway.
Jing's aura radiated supreme confidence but was tempered and muted by doubt.
Valt's aura was an uncontrolled swirl of happiness and passion.
Lui's aura felt like a raging tornado, chaotic and unstoppable.
But the masked blader's aura felt like a cold freezer. Not devoid of ambition or fire, but very unsettling. He felt Jing shiver slightly.
"I am Red Eye," the stranger said. "And as I said, either of you must defeat me to have a chance of escaping."
"Hey Free?" Jing asked.
"Yeah?"
"I know getting out of this child endangerment facility is probably more important, but I kinda wanna take him on."
Free only smiled at her. While he too wanted to leave as quickly as possible, he could see the undeniable benefits Jing could gain from either winning or losing this battle. But unfortunately, someone else could see those same benefits.
"Thanks," Jing fist-bumped Free. Ashtem watched her walk her up to Red Eye through a one-way window. While he was annoyed that Project Requiem had been delayed, he was even more surprised by the reappearance of Red Eye. He was supposed to be on the second stage already. However, Ashtem wasn't complaining. He previously required a difficult opponent for Red Eye, as the other bladers at the Snake Pit fell behind him. Ashtem knew that Red Eye wouldn't move on to the third step of the project without battling competent bladers. It would be fun to see how the battle between Red Eye and Jing Zhang would play out.
A blading stadium rose from the floor between Red Eye and Jing.
"We need a ref," Red Eye said plainly.
"Sure," Free walked to the side of the stadium, eyeing Red Eye as he went. Ashtem was pleased with the data they had collected from the number one blader, even if it was disrupted. They would need to make some necessary adjustments to the housing chamber.
"Bladers on three!" Free extended his hand out. Both bladers took their launching stances.
"3!" Red Eye tensed.
"2!" Ashtem could feel the auras from both bladers crescendo.
"1!"
"Let it rip!" Both beys hit the stadium surface spinning. The head of the Snake Pit smiled. Spriggan was in counterclockwise mode. Red Eye was pulling out all the stops for this battle.
Spriggan and Wu Kong circled the stadium, missing each other by millimeters. Then Spriggan and Wu Kong hit the sides of the stadium.
"Go, Immortal Defense!" Jing yelled.
"Hmph," Red Eye acknowledged the move. Wu Kong now spiraled towards the center of the arena.
"Now, Spriggan!" Red Eye tapped into his aura, his eyeholes glowing a bright red. Fiery, orange light surrounded him. "Axe Launch!"
Legend Spriggan tilted to the left slightly, contacting the bey stadium with the rubber edge of its tip. Bursting into the center with newfound power, Spriggan slams Wu Kong out of its position and into the side of the arena.
"We won't be broken that easily! Wu Kong!" Now a golden red light engulfed Jing, turning her hair dark red. "Now push Spriggan against the wall!" Wu Kong circled the outer edge, closing in on Spriggan, as it retreated to the opposite side of the stadium to recover from its special move. With a crunch, the two balance type beys scrapped against each other.
Ashtem realized the only way this battle would end. He grit his teeth. Perhaps it had been too soon for Red Eye. Or Jing had grown at an unprecedented pace.
The pressure built up from being forced into the wall caused Spriggian to fly into the air nearing the stone bricks of the floor. But at the same time, Wu Kong was slowing, having lost too much stamina from Spriggian's attack.
"It's a tie," Free called. "Nice job." Ashtem sighed in relief. At least it had been a tie, rather than a ring-out finish.
Then Red Eye did something he wasn't expecting.
"You win," Red Eye stood with Spriggian in his hand. His facial features were decidedly neutral.
"What?" Jing looked up, having just pocketed her bey.
"You've earned a spot."
"A spot in what? Your burn book?"
"As a future blader I plan on defeating." He turned to Free. "Your friend has kept up her end of the deal. I will fulfill mine."
Jing glanced at Free curiously. He shrugged in return. A section of the stone wall opens up, revealing an exit.
"Follow me," Red Eye glared straight at Ashtem through the glass, before turning and taking the newly revealed path.
Ashtem grinned. His worries about Red Eye had been quelled. Now it was time for the next stage to begin. He activated his comms.
"Gold Eye," he said.
"Yes, Ashtem?"
"Have our head scientist reconfigure the housing chamber with the newly collected data."
"Of course. I will see to that immediately."
"One more thing." Ashtem stopped Gold Eye.
"Yes?"
"Make sure our visitors have a…challenging exit."