[All right, Tess' emotions get a little out of control on this one!] 

Media: Hyoma

"I beg your pardon?" I screeched. "Where the hell is my brother?"

"I don't know," Kato snapped back, irritation seeping through his words. I gritted my teeth, slamming the phone down on the table before realizing my mistake, and slid it into my pocket. 

Shaun was missing. 

Skidding to a stop just before the stairs so I didn't trip and happen to break open my head, I eyed the broken Aries at the bottom of the steps. 

An Aries, much like my brother, who owned a Poison Aries. And the broken beyblade just happened to be a shattered Poison Aries.

My mind was racing. Panic had bubbled up in my throat, wrapping long, gangly claws around my windpipe and constricted me. 

The loud thud in my ears only became more evident as I stood there, attempting to come up with any positive possibilities. 

Shaun. Missing. Broken beyblade, same as Shaun's. Dark Nebula. Kidnapping. Saki case. Letter. Meeting. Gone. Riyui. Oh my god.

Those words replayed around my head, like a song stuck in my mind. Shaun. Missing. Broken beyblade, same as Shaun's. Dark Nebula. Kidnapping. Saki case. Letter. Meeting. Gone. Riyui. Shaun. Missing. Broken beyblade, same as Shaun's. Dark Nebula. Kidnapping. Saki case. Letter. Meeting. Gone. Riyui. Shaun, missing, broken beyblade, same as Shaun's, Dark Nebula, kidnapping, Saki case, letter, meeting, gone, Riyui. ShaunmissingbrokebeybladesameasShaun'sDarkNebulakidnappingSakicaselettermeetinggoneRiyui.

The words slowly merged together, repeating itself. I could imagine the gears in my head moving, just like the ones on a broken recorder. 

My breath hitched. No. Impossible. Shaun would never allow them to take him willingly.

"There's signs of struggle."

Kato had said that.

I fell down the three steps, landing with a thump on the ground. My knees scraped against the concrete, ripping skin as I collapsed onto my knees. "You... They... Took him away from me..."

My head was pounding, and I dragged my wrist across the pavement, pain flashing up the limb. Everything hurt.

"Damn them. Damn them. Damn them to hell..."

My labored breathing was the only thing I heard as I just sat there, leaning over the pavement, hair hanging in my face. 

The phone in my pocket vibrated, and quivered repeatedly. The voice was muffled, but there was no doubt they were attempting to get to me.

With slow movements, I extracted it out of my pocket and held it to my ear. "...Hello?"

"Tess?"

The sound of Riyui caused me to relax, even in the slightest. 

"Look," she continued. "I know you're panicking because Shaun's missing. He'll be okay, alright?"

No, it's not. One of the organizations in Japan might have my brother. 

"Your boss already sent out a search team. As careless as he is towards you, he actually likes Shaun."

"... we have another thing in common, don't we?" It took me a few moments to find my voice. "A missing sibling."

"Like I said before, Tess," Riyui reminded me. "We don't even know if Shaun's 'missing'. Who knows, maybe he went home."

Yeah, that's it. My brother had a fit and threw the office up in a ruckus, then went home to cool down.

My mind grabbed wildly for any possibility besides the kidnapping one, and I found myself breathing easier, calmer. 

When I staggered to my feet, about to stumble towards my house (I didn't even know where I was, so good luck with that) when she once again stopped me. "Tess, no. Grayson's already been deployed to go to your house. Mr. Rehn's assigned you to go get Kyoya Tategami."

At his name, my gut rolled around, burning up as if hit by fever. 

"... that's because... he used to be a part of the Dark Nebula, right?"

"Yes. Kato is contacting Tsubasa Otori right now, actually. Hopefully, you'll be able to get through Kyoya." 

I attempted to focus my thoughts on getting to Kyoya as I gathered the bits, pieces, and the remains of Poison Aries, my hands evidently shaking against the background of the worn pavement. 

Minutes ticked by as I walked. I didn't feel. I didn't hear. I didn't see as I just focused on putting one foot in front of another.

... I'm dependent. 

That is all I am. 

The amount of time that passed was unknown. But after wandering for a good amount of it, I spotted the forest-green hair (although, a lot shorter then I expected) and a mop of curly silver. 

"... Kyoya?"

The two turned. The green-haired wasn't Kyoya- it was a short boy, with similar-colored hair that curled at the nape of his neck, and large brown eyes peered up at me. 

"Uh... I'm not... Kyoya...!"

"Of course not," I dead-panned. "... I just don't know who you are."

"I'm Kenta," the little boy pointed at himself. "And that's Hyoma."

I dragged my gaze from Kenta's face to look at Hyoma. "Oh, you were in that competition earlier today, yeah?"

"Yes," Hyoma nodded. "You were too, isn't that right, Tess?"

I nodded. Pretend like everything's okay. "You know Kyoya Tategami, right?"

The smaller one of the two frowned. "Kyoya? Uh... I don't know him on a personal level, since he calls himself a lone lion and all, but-"

Hyoma cut him off. "Do you need him? He actually passed by about an hour ago." 

"Damn," I hissed.

"I'm sorry, but did you say something?" He asked politely. 

"No, it's nothing. Thanks."

With that, I turned on my heel, but not before calling over my shoulder. "Which way did he go in?"

Kenta pointed towards their right, and I bolted down the street. 

"... she seems more of an oddball then you were when we first met."

The silver-haired male nudged Kenta in the side with his elbow. "Hey. That was a test." 

I just ran. My knees hurt from repeatedly overextending it, and the ripped skin from before was really beginning to take a toll on me. 

That was before I finally spotted a head of gravity-defying hair poking up in the crowd. Kyoya was much taller then most people his age- with his hair, anyway. His dim clothing was also had a very big contrast against the neon colored shops. 

"... Kyoya!"

At his name, the Leone blader turned. I came to a stop before him, panting as I tried to regain my breath. With my hands resting on my knees to brace myself, I only hoped that he wouldn't leave while I was recovering.

"... I need... to ask you... something?"

Straightening, I stared right into his blue, cat-like eyes. Those eyes glared right back at me, challenging me to back down, daring me to run away. 

"What?"

"You used to be in the Dark Nebula... right?"

He noticeably stiffened. It was small, yeah, but it was enough for me to take a hint. "Oh, bad memories, I see."

"Not really," he replied gruffly, regaining his composure. "Like I said before, what the hell do you want?"

"Look. I'm gonna be blunt, I need my brother back. And the Dark Nebula took him. Can you lead me to their headquarters."

Kyoya paused, tilting his head to look at the sky before he answered. "It's been a long time since I've last been there. I'd say two or three months, and I never really tried to memorize the way there."

"So, you'll come?"

He gave me a smirk. "I never said that." 

"Bast-"

"Besides," Kyoya cut me off. "I still have a price to pay for Doji." 

A/N~ So I don't really like this chapter, it just... unnerves me. The writing is sloppy, I'm tired and cold, and I might rewrite it when the days come around to edit this thing. But I gotta finish it first, so might as well just write. 

Yeah, isn't the best, so I understand if it makes you cringe. Either way, I hoped you enjoyed... somehow. Oh, Lion's Pride is at twenty chapters and 2K reads! Thank you very much for reading this Beyblade fanfiction.

~Rio