The next day, Gold Eye went to check on Red Eye. The kid was awake, which he should be considering it was past 8AM, and was once again sitting on the ground, stretching. Would he make a habit out of it?

"Red Eye, how are you feeling?", Gold Eye asked the kid.

"Better", he smiled and stood up. "My head still hurts and my muscles are all sore, but I'm fine."

"Do you still have a fever?"

"I didn't check", the kid admitted. Gold Eye sighed.

"There should be a thermometer in the bathroom. Do you want me to look?"

Red Eye nodded. Of course, he wouldn't remember where it was, so even if he went to take a look, he wouldn't know where to start.

Gold Eye found it easily and took Red Eye's temperature. He was glad to see that Red Eye's fever was gone. They were both relieved.

"Still", Gold Eye said. "You should take it easy, at least today. We don't want it to come back."

Red Eye nodded. "Sure, but I'm allowed to at least minimally participate in training, right?"

Gold Eye raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, if you want. Did you have something particular in mind?"

Red Eye's smile was almost dangerous. His eyes flashed with something powerful, reckless and it made Gold Eye shiver. Red Eye had always had something in his eyes that was difficult to place, though yesterday and today it seemed stronger, but also more subtle, controlled and it did not make it any less scary.

"I just have to ask Silver Eye", Red Eye said, voice leveled but also subtly exited. What was the kid planning?

"Fine, but Ashram wants me to train with you today", Gold Eye said. "So whatever you're doing, you'll have to deal with me, too."

Red Eye smiled once more, happily it seemed. "That's the idea."

After that, they went and searched for Silver Eye. He was easy enough to find and Shu immediately asked him something. Silver Eye nodded.

"Yeah, I managed to find four of them, actually. I didn't know we had these kinds of things. What do you want to do with them?"

"We're going to train with them", Red Eye said, as if it was obvious. According to Silver Eye's look, however, it was not.

"How?"

"You'll see", Red Eye said. "First, we have to get everything set up, though. Do we have a bigger training room somewhere?"

Gold Eye nodded, curious about whatever training method Red Eye had come up with this time.

"I'll show you."

"Good. Then, let's get started."

They carried the boxes that Silver Eye had found to the bigger training room, one where people would actually be able to watch them if they wanted. Gold Eye was not that happy with the arrangement, but it would do. Next, they put up the things. 'Slack Line' Red Eye called them. Gold Eye wondered what he wanted with them.

"Okay, Shu, I'm ready", Silver Eye called. Red Eye smiled.

"I'm fine over here, too", he answered. "Gold Eye?"

"Yeah", he said. He was still caught up on Silver Eye calling Red Eye 'Shu'. That was not how it worked. This definitely wasn't how it was supposed to be. Gold Eye wanted to sink into a hole and never come out. At least there, he would not have to deal with all of this confusing stuff.

They had put up two Slack Lines parallelly, though far away from each other, so that no one would actually bother the other person. Red Eye jumped onto one of them and perfectly held his balance, even though the Slack Line seemed rather unstable. He smiled at them.

"As you can see, they are pretty unstable," he said. Gold Eye and Silver Eye both nodded, showing Red Eye that they were listening. Red Eye suddenly began walking around on it and continued speaking. "This is a perfect exercise for balance. You will both go onto one of the lines and as soon as you are more or less comfortable, we'll begin launching practice."

As this point, he paused. He seemed to think about something. All of a sudden, he jumped. He made a backflip and landed perfectly on the line, only taking a second to find his balance again.

"Huh", he muttered. "Can't believe that actually worked."

Gold Eye and Silver Eye stared at him in shock. Red Eye smiled.

"Don't worry, I won't ask you to do that", he assured them. Gold Eye did not want to tell him that they were more surprised at the fact that he didn't break his neck while attempting such a stunt. "Anyway, you might want to take your masks off for this. It will make it easier for you to balance and also hurt a little less when you fall."

When? Gold Eye was not looking forward to training. Not at all.

Red Eye jumped down and smiled again.

"Well, let's get started, shall we?"

Gold Eye and Silver Eye shared a look and then both mounted onto the Slack Lines. Gold Eye was surprised at how difficult it was. He could stand on it, sure, but if he made one wrong move, he knew he would fall. Silver Eye did not look any better.

"Are you both comfortable?", Red Eye asked. Gold Eye did not know how to answer.

"Fine", Silver Eye said. "Though, I'm not sure what this is supposed to accomplish, Shu."

"You'll see", Red Eye smiled. "I won't spoil the surprise."

Gold Eye did not know what Red Eye was planning and more and more he regretted letting the kid choose their training. This was not going to be fun, but Gold Eye would do what was necessary.

"Okay, so take your launchers and try to launch. You'll probably lose balance a few times, but don't worry. It takes a while to find your center."

They both nodded at Red Eye and carefully took out their launchers. Gold Eye took a deep breath and tried to launch. He failed miserably and fell. Red Eye didn't laugh or ignored him as Ashram might have done.

"Try to stay in your stance a while longer before launching", he advised. "That way, you can find a better starting stance."

Gold Eye nodded and got up again. There was no way he was going to give up after failing once. He would not have survived in the Snake Pit for as long as he had without the determination to keep going, even when it seemed impossible. Silver Eye seemed to have a similar thought and made himself ready to launch. Red Eye watched them with a smile.

They both launched over and over, failing over and over, and every time Red Eye would yell corrections at them or encouragement, or, when they seemed particularly angry and fed up, Red Eye would yell to 'take your balance' and the tone he would use would be enough to make them try again.

By the time Silver Eye managed to launch properly for the first time, they had missed lunch. Silver Eye was really proud of himself and Red Eye smiled.

"Good job", he praised as if they were just students. He was almost five years older than the kid. "I would suggest doing it a few more times and then we'll move on. Gold Eye, do you want to try again?"

Gold Eye nodded. He would not be bested by Silver Eye. He took his stance again, noting that it seemed much easier than before and breathed. In and out. Focus. He launched.

For the first time, Gold Eye did not fall. He stood there, as if he was on the ground, and he couldn't help but be amazed. It had worked!

"Great", Red Eye said, smiling with pride. "Now do it again."

The kid was worse than Ashram sometimes. 

Ashram wanted to see what his Bladers were up to. He'd heard from some younger ones that three of the Bladers had taken the biggest training room they had, and Ashram was curious as to why they would need it. The younger ones hadn't been too sure and Ashram preferred not to get any false information.

As he walked into the room, he heard Red Eye's voice carry through.

"Take your balance and focus! You already did it once, you can do it again!"

Now, Ashram was even more curious. He looked around and found the three of them.

Gold Eye and Silver Eye were on top of what appeared to be two tightropes and Red Eye was walking around them, again not wearing his uniform that was a problem, and correcting them. They were both doing launching practice on top of those things, it seemed.

Red Eye once again yelled. "Gold Eye, focus and take your time. Your stance needs to be stable otherwise you'll fail. Silver Eye, don't try to rush your launch, either. If you did it in a match, you'd lose a considerable amount of power."

Both Bladers nodded in understanding and tried again. They succeeded.

"Quite an interesting form of training you have there", Ashram said. Gold Eye and Silver Eye were startled and fell. Red Eye turned towards him with an impatient look.

"What do you want, sir?", he asked. It sounded suspiciously sarcastic coming from him.

"Oh, nothing in particular", He smirked at them. "Just curiosity, I would say."

Red Eye nodded and turned back to the two Bladers. "What are you waiting for, continue."

They both scrambled to get back up and do as Red Eye said. Interesting, that Red Eye had managed to get that much respect in such a short time.

Ashram went to stand next to Red Eye, who seemed a little tense. Maybe he'd remembered what Ashram could do if he was disrespectful? It was a possibility.

Red Eye corrected them less now. He was quieter, and only ever spoke when they were losing focus. Ashram found it interesting how much his presence seemed to change Red Eye's behavior.

"Okay, that's enough", Red Eye said. "Now come over here and launch your Beys."

He motioned the stadium and the two of them quickly made their way to it. They seemed to battle out with their stares who would go first. Silver Eye won.

He took his stance, breathed in and out, and launched. Ashram was surprised. The launch was perfectly timed, perfectly executed in both technique and power. Silver Eye's Bey spun beautifully in the stadium, balanced and focused. Silver Eye seemed shocked, Red Eye smiled proudly.

"Very good", he praised. "Gold Eye, you're up."

Gold Eye launched as well, just as controlled, just as perfect. His balance was great, something which surprised Ashram. He'd tried for years to get him to be more conscious of his balance, to be more patient in that regard. Red Eye had needed one day.

"Great job", Red Eye said once more. "As you can see, bettering your balance improves both control and overall technique. It is a training method that can be very benefiting to everyone and I hope you've noticed this."

They both nodded at Red Eye. They thanked him and then Ashram dismissed them. He wanted to talk to Red Eye.

"I'm surprised", he started, "You're quite the coach, aren't you?"

"In a manner of speaking", Red Eye politely replied.

"I see. Well, you've changed since my experiment, Red Eye. I do not remember you ever being so patient or so kind with your fellow Bladers. I wonder what caused such a drastic change of mind..."

"Well, that's for you to figure out, isn't it?", Red Eye said, sounding rather irritated. Ashram, once again, wondered if the kid had no self-preservation instincts at all.

"Red Eye, this is no way of talking to your superior", he scolded. Red Eye stood defiantly.

"Forgive me, sir, for not being on the greatest terms with a man who used me for his own sick experiments."

Ashram was starting to lose patience. It was amusing once in a while to be contradicted, yes, but Red Eye was going too far. He was still one of Ashram's Bladers. He should be acting accordingly.

"Red Eye", he warned. Red Eye didn't back down.

"What are you going to do? Throw me out into the jungle? I don't think so. I think that, at the moment, you need me more than I need you."

It wouldn't have been so infuriating to hear him say it if it hadn't been true. But, unfortunately, it was. Red Eye was right, and Ashram could do nothing about it. Ashram needed Red Eye for his experiments and he was his strongest Blader. If Red Eye decided to go away on his own there would be no one to stop him...

"I'm right, huh?", Red Eye said, a triumphant little smile on his face. "Do me a favor, and do not talk about this with others present. You'll only end up making it harder on yourself."

With that Red Eye left, without being dismissed, too, and Ashram stood there alone.

Red Eye was more dangerous than he thought. Powerful, intelligent, manipulative, if he so wished, and even Ashram had trouble competing with him at the moment. He had let his guard down and now Red Eye had the upper hand. This was getting out of control.

However, not matter how much Ashram knew he was playing with fire, he wanted to continue. See what Red Eye would do, how far the young Blader would go to get what he wanted. Maybe, Ashram could figure out his goal then.

This was a battle. A battle of wits, and Ashram found it had been way too long since he'd had one.

Show me, Red Eye, he thought. Show me what you're capable of and let's see who will end up victorious.

Ashram was looking forward to it more than he cared to admit.

Shu made his way to the room as quickly as he could and as soon as the door was closed, let himself slide down. It hadn't been the first time he'd been so disrespectful to Ashram, though it had usually been Alexander Gilten and even then, only after Shu had taken over the New York Bulls. It hadn't been the plan to make Ashram aware of what he was doing but well. Shu would have to deal with it now.

"You didn't really think you'd be able to play Red Eye's part, did you?", Requiem asked. "He is obedient, quiet, never shows any emotion besides irritation or boredom. Did you really think that you, a leader, a teacher, the kind little thing that you are, would be able to impersonate that?"

"I guess not", Shu admitted. "Though I had hoped I'd be able to hide a little better."

"Red Eye is not you", Requiem said. "You are much different from each other. Your strengths, your passions, your goals. Do not think it is easy to understand all of that with just the limited knowledge that you have, little one."

"I know", Shu answered. "I still wonder why he is doing what he's doing, why he did not want to live a life in the light. I've been here for two days and I am suffocating in this eternal darkness. I know that he and I are different. I guess I just didn't realize how much until now."

Requiem stayed quiet. All of that had made Shu think. Not only about his current predicament, but about Lean, too. Was he too gentle? Had he forgotten too much of the darkness to really understand what Lean was going through? How did one help someone who did not want any help?

Shu wanted to meet Red Eye. He wanted to talk to the other teenager, wanted to get to know him. For multiple reasons, of course, but also Shu's insatiable curiosity. He might be able to hide it, he wasn't like Valt or Aiga who didn't have any restraint when it came to asking people their opinion, but he was just as curious.

Was Red Eye really as cold as Requiem made him out to be? What were his true goals? Did he still have someone he considered a friend?

Shu sighed. He didn't know and there was no use wondering about it now. He should focus on the here and now, not on a situation that might never come to pass.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!", Shu called, and quickly stood up. He shouldn't sit in front of the door. Yellow Eye stepped in.

"Hey. Silver Eye sent me. You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

Shu noticed how hungry he was. He smiled gratefully.

"Yeah, I haven't yet. Is it that late already?"

"Yes", Yellow Eye said. "Everyone is the cafeteria. I think you should join us."

"Sure", Shu said, making his tone as soft and kind as possible. Beating Yellow Eye in a battle had maybe not been the best way to get him to understand a different kind of power. Well, Shu would just have to improvise. Again.

They walked to the cafeteria and Shu once again tried to remember the way. He was used to more light though, and was still immensely uncomfortable in complete darkness. The night before he'd woken up three times, each time panicking because the light wasn't enough to be able to see his own hand.

Shu had had a... difficult relationship with darkness since the Requiem Project. He'd usually let his blinds open or have a lamp on. In New York, he enjoyed the cloudless nights the most. The moon was high the sky with the stars and down on earth were the lights of the city. It was calming and had become very familiar. He missed his home. 

They soon arrived. Yellow Eye quickly led him to a table on a small platform, which had a wall between it and the rest of the cafeteria. As soon as he stepped up there, inside, he saw that a part of the wall was made of glass and they could see the kids through there. Shu was impressed.

"Someone has to keep an eye on the kids", Violet Eye said. "You're surprised?"

"A little", Shu admitted. Lying was no use anyway. The others laughed.

"Sit down and eat", Silver Eye said. "You haven't eaten since yesterday, have you?"

Shu shook his head. He had forgotten, actually. It was kind of a problem of his to forget important things like eating and drinking when he was too concentrated on his work. Oops.

The food was fine to Shu, though he noticed that whatever Red Eye must have done to himself, he must have forgotten to eat more than once, too. Shu would have to be more considerate. It was still nerve-wracking to be in some else's body, and he sometimes forgot when he wasn't paying attention. The two of them were so similar, of course they were, and it was easy to forget from time to time. Until he saw the scars. It was why Shu decided to wear long sleeves. For his peace of mind.

"So, I heard you're quite the acrobat, Shu", Black Eye started. The other's, except Silver Eye, gasped in shock. Shu smiled.

"I was just experimenting. I'm sure there are people who are much more capable than I am."

Shu had really just been experimenting. Being in Red Eye's body, he hadn't been sure whether he'd be capable of the same control he exhibited in his own. However, after trying out to walk on the Slack Line, he'd noticed that it didn't feel much harder. So, against his better judgement, he'd tried one of his tricks. It might look impressive, but for Shu's normal actions, this was tame. He wouldn't do it again, though. This might have been a struck of luck, after all.

"Acrobat? What did you do?", Azure Eye asked.

"Backflip on a Slack Line", Shu answered. The others were confused until Gold Eye sighed.

"It's similar to a tightrope, only worse."

That made everyone start asking questions. Shu was quite flustered. He didn't remember the Masked Bladers acting like this. Actually, he might just not have payed attention. He had to give them a chance. Something better than crazy experiments and constant babysitting. He would try his best.

That's the only thing he could do, after all.

That night, Shu stayed up. He couldn't fall asleep, so instead he got out a piece of paper and started sketching up a training menu for the masked Bladers. It would entail some of his more exotic training methods but it might make them more interested. He also had to do something about the other kids. A riot? Could he start one? Maybe.

He spun the pencil in his hand. He sighed.

I have to be careful, he thought. Ashram is onto me and I don't know how far he'll interfere. Then there's also the issue of time. I don't know long I could be here. I could leave tomorrow or stay a few more years. I need to make sure to adjust my plans according to that.

Shu shuddered at the thought of being stuck in the Snake Pit for years. How did Red Eye do it?

Shu stood up. He missed his window. Usually, when he was working and getting stuck somewhere, he went up to his window, in the summer even on his balcony, and would stare at the sky. Since he usually worked at night, he often admired the lights or the stars. The Snake Pit didn't allow for any of this.

No wonder they're all so stressed all the time.

Shu just decided to give up for the night. He needed to sleep anyway and what better time than now? It's not like it would change anything.

Hair fell into his face. He pushed it away. He had cut his hair short because he'd had enough of that for a while. Well. Shu searched for a brush and sat down on the bed. He noticed how tangled the hair was resolved to patiently untangle every single strand. It was strangely relaxing, to just sit there brushing out the long, silky hair.

When he was done, he went to change. There weren't too many clothes, mostly just variations of the Snake Pit uniform, which Shu would not wear, so he had to look around for a bit. He finally found a simple white shirt and grey pants and changed into them. He lied down in the bed.

It didn't take as long as he thought to fall asleep and the last conscious thoughts he had were of his students, his team, his friends. Of home.