After walking for a while the group had fallen into silence causing Free and Lui to break into whispers leaving Drum and Delta to talk amongst themselves.

"I wonder what they're talking about." Drum whispered to Delta.

He shrugged and moved on but before he could leave Drum behind he ran past him towards Free and Lui.

"So what's our plan?"

Lui let out a sigh and turned back to the path while Free simply said: "They're all controlled by Theodore's machine, that's how we'll defeat them by shutting it off."

"If we do that we can free everyone!" Drum said, getting excited.

"And what about Valt?" Delta asked.

"We'll let Shu take care of that problem." Free said as they came up onto a clearing in the forest.

After hours of walking they had finally made it to the Snake Pit.

Free stiffened up and Lui's eyes darkened. The realization of what they were doing was starting to set in.

"We're here." Lui said.

On top of the hill stood Japan's Snake Pit looming over the landscape with its dark presence.

"I didn't even know this was here...."Delta said quietly.

"A lot of people don't know about this one." Free said quietly.

"How come?" Drum asked.

"This one is where Theodore trains his most powerful bladers that he doesn't want the world to know about." Free said looking up through the trees

"But it's also the smallest." Lui added.

"But I thought the one in Mexico was more driven towards his experiments and technology,"said Drum.

"True but if Theodore is going to hide anything or anyone it's here." Free said with his eyes narrowed.

Drum and Delta followed Free and Lui through the trees and up the hill, still managing to stick to the shadows the entire way.

But eventually Drum started falling behind causing the group to slow down but he wasn't the only one for even Delta and Lui were being weighed down but out of all of them Free seemed the least bothered.

"What is that?" Drum asked, sitting down on a log.

"What we're looking for." Free said.

After Drum was feeling a little bit better the group continued until they managed to sneak in thanks to Lui. Unlike the last Snake Pits this one wasn't as well guarded but did have multiple entrances but not all of them lead inside.

After getting inside the atmosphere immediately changed, reflecting the mood and feel of the place.

The walls were dark purple and the place was empty. The only noise was a silent hum. All of the doors were shut but the place was massive with a large catwalk overlooking multiple levels below.

"Where do we start?"

"The basement." Lui said, going over to the door marked with a sign indicating the stairs.

"Why not the elevator?" Delta asked.

"He has cameras everywhere so we can't risk it." Free said.

"You know for someone who's never been here before you guys sure know a lot about this place." Drum said as the group descended into the depths of the Snake Pit.

"That's because I have been here before." Lui said.

"WHAT?!" Drum practically screamed.

His response echoed through the Snake Pit.

"Run."

Sprinting down the stairs the group didn't look back until after slowing down a little they made it to the bottom.

Opening the door a large machine was in the center with tubes and wires extending into the ceiling connected by a catwalk stretching from side to side.

"I don't like this.." Delta muttered but before the group could go any further.

"Guys I don't.."

Drum almost fell into the depths of the Snake Pit.

"It's the machine he's not used to being exposed to this much dark power." Lui said.

"I'll destroy it."

"Do you always have to be so dramatic Hoya?" Lui said in pain.

Free could tell Delta and Lui were also being affected but didn't want to admit it.

Walking onto the catwalk Free was so determined for this to be over for everything to be back to normal. But the closer he got the worse his bad feeling about the whole situation increased.

But instead of stopping he held out his launcher, his resonance flaired up and his eyes glowed golden. Fafnir went flying and tore up the machine leaving it in shambles.

Drum stood up weak but stronger and the same happened for Delta and Lui.

"We did it." Drum said quietly as a smile grew.

But then came the laughter, it resonated throughout the room.

Trapdoors sent everyone falling deeper into the Snake Pit being separated from one another.

Free landed in a training room with the window sealed black. Looking around the only other thing was a stadium and a door.

Right on cue the door opened to reveal
Valt but not Lui or Drum.

Theodore instead showed up on a TV overhead wearing a cruel smile.

"Where are they?" Free said angrily.

"You're not in the position to make demands Free. They say you should never begin a negotiation without being prepared without knowing your alternatives to an agreement. I knew the other half of your little group was going to attack. Which is why I left Sasha escaping knowing one of you would come or a small group would."

Free's eyes widened as Brown Eye turned his power on him.

"The machine did control half of our army but Brown Eye and I control them now and he doesn't just control resonance he can also corrupt it just like Phi."

"But that's not why I need you." Theodore changed tones and Valt lightened his power on Free.

"Instead I need your title."

"Take it." Free said with his eyes glowing golden and his resonance flairing.

"So full of anger and impatience, but you know as do I that's not how it works, this battle will have two rounds as usual with title matches and besides, you didn't even let Sasa finish her story. I knew she would come crawling back to the rest of you and it was only a matter of time before I found out where you all were hiding." Theodore said while smiling darkly.