Valt's POV
After the unwelcome interruption from the so-called Emperor and his gang, I took a small break from my mission. I walked a few blocks until I found a quiet alleyway that seemed free of gang activity, taking a moment to lean against a wall and catch my breath.

My mind was reeling as I recounted what had happened. I hadn't meant to reveal myself in such a way to them - I don't even think that they were worthy of witnessing the power of Lightning. But then that Kurt guy said those four words; said them in a way that made it sound like he could tell me anything and nothing would happen. I just got so angry at him, and his cowardly gang, that knowing that I had an ability that could easily put them in their place became way too tempting.

Pressing my shaking hands to my sides, I took a deep, cleansing breath. That had just been a fluke, a glitch. It wouldn't happen again.

Nevertheless, I couldn't afford to lose focus on my mission. I had to face Shu, sooner or later; like ripping off a bandage.

I didn't realize that my eyes were closed until something blew into my face and I opened them to see a mosaic of black and white. Pulling away my temporary mask, I saw that it was a newspaper from a few days ago. There was a blaring headline at the top: First Three Bladers For International Blader's Cup Been Announced!!

International Blader's Cup? That was a new one. Even though I was technically no longer a legally licensed blader, my interest was peaked. Scrolling through the story, I found the names of the first participants. A shock ran through my system when I saw Shu's name on the list. It couldn't have been more perfect; now I knew exactly where to find him! But my excitement was short lived when I saw another familiar name on the list.

A name that brought back memories that made me grind my teeth.

On second thought, maybe I could delay the outcome of my mission just a little longer...

No One's POV
Lui Shirosagi. The White Dragon King. The Winter Knight. Five-Time Champion of Japan's National Beyblading Tournament.

Who now had a new nickname: Lord of the Bored.

His gut had told him that it would be a bad idea to come to the USA a week before the International Blader's Cup had officially started, but his mind had been excited at the prospect of getting a chance to battle Shu Kurenai once again. He'd heard that the albino blader had gotten a new bey and was stronger than ever. Being the Blue Shark he was, he had been bent on testing that theory.

But ever since he had arrived, the infamous "Red Eye" had confined himself to his training quarters and had refused all of Lui's attempts to get him to battle - that included baiting, sending threatening messages to his room, and banging on his door.

Goddamn recluse.

As of right now, he was in his own training quarters passing the time by launching Luinor into the stadium over and over again. Normally he preferred to practice alone - less shrimpy excuses for bladers to bug him - but knowing that there was a blader in the immediate vicinity that could possibly give him a challenge, right down the hall from him in fact, irritated him more than he cared to say. The thought made him grit his teeth and put more muscle into his launch, causing him to send Luinor careening across the stadium floor.

"Luinor's going to break if you keep pushing it like that," A voice said suddenly, startling the flaming blue haired blader. Whipping around, his feathered boa flying, he discovered a total stranger leaning against the wall with their arms crossed, dressed in a ridiculous trench coat and an even more ridiculous mask. (I'm running out of descriptive words for his entrance.)

"Who the hell are you?" Lui growled as Luinor slowly spun to a stop in the stadium, sensing its master's annoyance.

That seemed to disappoint his visitor. They uncrossed their arms and stepped away from the wall to approach him. "Ah, come on, Lui," They coaxed, like the two were old friends. All it served to do was creep Lui out of his wits, and he stepped back from the stranger. "Can't you figure out who I am? Can't you recognize an old friend?"

"Number one: I don't have friends; number two: I don't know anyone who wears trench coats, so how would I know who you are?" Lui listed, fixing his visitor with a glare. "Number three: why would I want to guess who you are; number four: GET OUT, YA CREEP." He finished with a flourished point towards the door.

"COME ON, Lui," The stranger said again, a note of annoyance creeping into their own voice. "I've done my research. I know that when you battled Red Eye, you figured out he was really Shu Kurenai before any of the witnesses did. So if you could see through a simple mask, surely you can see through a mask and a hood." They stopped a few feet from him and crossed their arms again. "So come on Lui - who am I?"

Lui grit his teeth until he could hear them clack in his mouth. "I already told you, I DON'T KNOW!" He growled.

"WHO AM I, LUI?!" They shouted, now sounding desperate.

Lui himself was desperate - desperate to get rid of this creep. "FINE!" He exclaimed, throwing up his arms in exasperation. "You wanna know who I think you are? I think you're that annoying little brat, Valt Aoi! He was hyper and persistent, just like you!" Satisfied with his claim, he turned away and crossed his own arms. "If this little guessing game is all you came in here for, you can leave now."

For some reason, his answer only seemed to irritate the stranger even further. "That might be who I am, but how can you be sure?" They hissed; their fingers looked like they were strangling the blood out of their arms. "Look deeper, Lui - WHO AM I?"

"ENOUGH!" Lui yelled, stumbling backwards. This guy was getting creepier by the minute. "I'm done with your game - leave before I call security!"

"Just one more guess, please!" They resorted to begging, one hand reaching out to clasp his arm.

"SIT THE FUCK DOWN!!" Lui screamed, wrenching his arm away from their grasp.

The stranger stumbled back at his outburst, seemingly surprised. They turned away and stumbled away a few steps, almost as if in a trance. Lui was feeling victorious, thinking he had finally scared away his harasser. But then they spoke again, and he realized they had something else in mind.

"You're the second person to say that to me," They murmured, almost giddily. "However, the last person who did so soon regretted doing it. Just like you're about to." A hand lifted up to their mask. "You were close enough with the first guess, Valt Aoi. But I have a feeling that I'm something worse." They tugged their mask down around their neck, revealing a familiar red birthmark. Lui realized that his hunch had been correct just as the voice, that of which was no longer disguised by what he guessed was a modulator, began to sing:

(Start video at 1:18)

Lui's back hurt like hell from pushed against it so roughly, but he paid the pain no heed. All he could pay attention to was the glowing boy in front of him. He had been right: it had been Valt Aoi under the mask. But when the blue haired blader was disguised, he had also been right about the fact that it wasn't really him. Something had definitely happened since the last time the two met.

Question was: what the hell happened?

The display of blinding blue electricity flashed in front of his eyes for what seemed like an hour. Then it slowly dimmed until it was like nothing happened. The lights in the room returned to normal. Valt's longer hair stopped levitating off of his face. His eyes stopped glowing that horrid turquoise. But when he focused on Lui's face again, the flame haired blader would have preferred the glowing eyes over the dull expression the usually annoying boy gave him.

"Now do you get it, Lui?" He asked breathlessly. " I asked you who I was because you knew that Red Eye was Shu before anyone else; I thought you could tell me who I was, really. You were right when you guessed that it was me. But you were wrong when you said that it was only me." He leaned closer until Lui could practically smell the desperation on his breath - it was rancid. "So tell me, Lui... who am I?"

The Winter Knight was rattled beyond his wits, but he wouldn't let this pipsqueak have the satisfaction of knowing that he could scare the Top Blader in the World. "You wanna know what I see you as?" He hissed - the other boy's gloved hands were still pressed uncomfortably against his chest. "You really want to know?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know," Valt replied with equal bitterness.

"I see you as a monster," Lui told him plainly, struggling slightly against his hold. "A monster that goes around, thinking that it can just show its true colors, and people will either accept it or run away from it. A beast that wields lightning like it's its only friend."

Valt was quiet for a moment. His expression was placid, calculating, then a sad grin graced his features. "That's the answer I'd hoped that you wouldn't say," He told Lui softly. "But I guess it was the answer I knew was true." He finally let go of Lui, though the other blader thought it best to stay at the wall. "You know, Lui, I'm not usually one for grudges; it's against my principles, being a fellow blader and all. You can't really enjoy a battle if you have a grudge against a person, right?" He laughed, but it was pathetic. "In this case, though, I think I can make an exception."

Lui tensed. "What grudge could you have against me?" Though deep inside himself, he was wondering should I really be asking that question? He had a lot of enemies.

"It was because of you that he left Japan," Valt seethed, his eyes turning dangerous. "Because you broke Spryzen, he felt that he had to leave in order to become stronger. However, you weren't the one that gave him his mask and his new personality, so I can't exactly blame you for everything. But still... you are one of the people that took him away from me. In a way, you are also to blame for my new life - because you made him leave, I felt that I had to get stronger in order to catch up to him, which turned me into...THIS." He held his gloved hands out and allowed a spark to escape from his palms, causing Lui to flinch. "That is something I cannot forgive."

Lui didn't have to ask who he meant. The guy in question was right down the hall.

At the other boy's silence, Valt took that as his cue to leave. He walked away from the wall until he was right below the AC vent - which was probably how he got in. Before he made any move to open the vent, he paused and took one last look at Lui. "You were right, ya know," He said softly, all of his former anger gone. "Right now, it feels like lightning is my only friend." His eyes flashed turquoise once more.

Jumping up, he held onto the ceiling with one hand and removed the vent cover with the other. Quickly moving the hand on the ceiling, he transitioned it so it was hanging inside the vent, then pulled himself in, reapplying the vent cover behind him.

Lui slowly slid down the wall, paying no attention to the sharp pain of the scabs he reopened. He was in shock - yes, he admitted it - but it wasn't the fact that one of his rivals decided to pay him a visit. No, it wasn't the fact he could somehow bend the laws of the universe.

It was the fact that seeing that power felt... familiar.

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2087 words.

I must say, this Comic Draw turned out a lot better than the last one. I'm especially proud of my improvement with the lightning effects.

And once again, I'm sorry about taking so long with this update. School has been so crazy, and there are so many things that my mom wants me to paint for her. Plus, so many writers on Wattpad are going hiatus that whenever I see an update, I read it when I can.

I'll try to get the next update out sooner than this, but it's going to be another Comic Draw update, so it'll still take a while. But here's to trying!

Besumidori
LoveyMango
_MidnightAce_

Check this out and tell me what you think!