Late in the morning Shu and Kris had returned and had retreated into Kris's office meanwhile walking through the empty halls was Valt Aoi.

Like always, Valt had slept in missing Kris and Shu's arrival late in the night along with some other things. But this time it was because of Theodore, plaguing his dreams every night. It was always something whether it was Phi, Theodore or even Red Eye something was always haunting him and his dreams.

Passing Kris's office Valt stopped at the mention of his name, crouching down and putting his ear against the door.

"Have you noticed anything going on with Valt, Sasha?"

"I mean he has been pretty distant lately like he's in his own world or something but not really angry or mean like you described earlier. Why?"

Standing up from the couch Shu looked at Sasha straight in the eye.

"Theodore's up to something, just because he's in jail doesn't mean he's done and he's not going to stop until he gets what he wants. There's something Valt is hiding from us and we think it may have to do with Theodore."

"But Valt can't be corrupted.....right?"

"We don't know." Shu said quietly.

"So what if he shows up with more Snake Pit bladers, I say we just beat them all!"

"It's not just the Snake Pit bladers Aiger, this time he's going to be ready for us." Shu said.

"But we've already defeated Phi, who else could Theodore be talking about?" Fubuki asked.

"Brown Eye." Shu said.

The room quieted down.

"Wait who's Brown Eye again?" Sasha asked.

Everyone turned to Shu.

"I don't know, there's been lots of names going around the Snake Pit before but I've never heard of him before."

"Or her!" Sasha interrupted.

"Or her."

"So what does Valt have to do with this again?" Aiger asked.

"The way Theodore was talking to him hasn't set well with me since then, there's something going on between them and we need to find out what it is."

"Maybe Theodore was just scaring Valt?"

"No this is something else, Valt knew what Theodore was talking about..."

"We do need to keep in mind this is Valt we're talking about and he would never join Theodore under any circumstances."

"I know I know Kris, I just.....I really hope it's not the obvious."

Backing away from the door Shu's last words echoed in his mind: "I really hope it's not the obvious."

******

After meeting with Kris, Shu, Fubuki, Ranjiro, and Aiger. Sasha made her way down to the gym where Valt was. With most of the bladers still on the camping trip Sasha had remained behind to help with chores and train.

Walking into the gym Valt's back was to Sasha as he launched Valtryek, nobody else was in the gym since it was nice outside for training but there was something off about him.

Instead of confronting Valt, Sasha stood off to the side watching him launch.

To Sasha Valt had seemed to be in his own world these days, rebuffing at attempts of group practices or conversation in general. Not angrily, not like he was upset by any of them, more like he was in a completely different place, worrying, reflecting, and seeing something completely different. A few times though he had snapped at them but it wasn't anything too serious.

But now watching Valt from a distance she could see what Shu was saying, his eyes seemed to have a hollowness to them as they were looking at something far away and a shadow had fallen over him as his resonance flaired.

But unlike the battles from before Valt's resonance was darker but there was something else.

Behind Valt the shadow was beginning to take shape into something that didn't look like Valtryek.

Gathering her courage Sasha slowly walked over to Valt who was so immersed in launching he didn't even notice her.

"Valt are you okay?"

Picking up Valtryek his resonance died down, the color in his eyes returned, and the shadow Sasha had seen was now gone, replaced with his own.

"Yeah, I was just finishing up some launches, why?"

There was a bit of uncertainty in his voice but letting it slide for the moment Sasha continued.

"Aiger, Ranjiro and Fubuki are here by the way their plane landed a couple of hours ago oh and Fubuki said he wanted to talk to you later when you had the chance."

"Oh okay." He said relaxing.

Going back to launching Sasha walked out of the gym but glancing over her shoulder at Valt one more time before leaving.

Shu was right there is something going on with him...

******

A few hours later after Valt's training session Fubuki made his way into the forest to talk to Valt, he had a feeling he knew what was going on with him but he just wanted to make sure it wasn't corruption.

After all Valt was the one who had managed to snap Free and Shu out of it and even Phi for a moment without him who would be able to stop Theodore or any corrupted blader?

Which was why Kris had put Fubuki up to this along with Shu, that and Fubuki was curious for himself to see what was going on with him.

Ducking under a branch Fubuki made his way deeper into the forest until he found the clearing Valt had been talking about earlier.

Valt stood over the stadium right as he launched Valtryek, sending it speeding around the stadium.

"Valtryek's gotten even faster since the last tournament." Fubuki said, sitting down on the steps.

As Valtryek slowed down Valt picked it up and sat down next to Fubuki.

"It sure is quiet out here huh?"

"Yeah it's good for focusing on training."

Looking over at Valt he seemed to be distracted in his own little world as he watched the trees sway in the wind.

"So how have things been in Japan?" He asked, still not looking at Fubuki.

"Good, just quiet is all. Ranjiro and Aiger have been pretty busy training lately which is why we came here to take a break."

"And Toko?"

"He's been pretty busy lately ever since he took over for the Bey Club but they're doing well."

"That's good."

Sitting in silence Fubuki didn't know what to say if anything Valt didn't seem to be corrupted just more distant than anything.