//Ghost.// Valt × Shu: Beyblade Burst God

Chapter 06: i've changed.

Shu's phone rings throughout the empty apartment. He looks over at it curiously and walks over to check the number. His breath hitches in his throat and his hand freezes over the phone once he sees Valt's name pop up onto the screen.

Shu looks over at his bedside table, at the mask resting against it. His words ring throughout his head.

"You need to forget all of your friends; leave them behind, especially that small child with the annoyingly strong power."

Shu sighs before hesitantly picking up the ringing phone, cradling it in his pale hands. 'Valt,' Shu thinks, 'what are you thinking...? And after so long?'

She accepts the call and brings the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" Shu flinches at his raspy voice.

"Shu...." he hears a whisper of his name.

Silence.

"I'M SO SORRY, SHU!!" The albino holds the phone away from his ear as Valt's voice echoes throughout the room and he starts sputtering apologies. Shu tries to calm the blue-haired boy down.

"It's alright, Valt." Shu sweatdrops.

"Nuh-huh. It's so not! I ignored all of your calls and text messages and FaceTime! If you did that to me, I would die-!"

"VALT." Shu interrupts, "Breath."

After a few deep breaths, Valt asks, "Where are you?"

The crimson-eyed boy raises an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Just tell me!"

Shu hesitates, not sure if he should tell Valt about the Snake Pit. "I'm at that country."

"What country?"

"You know, the certain country that I'm staying at."

"That doesn't make any sense," Valt mumbles. "What state?"

"That one state that's a state." Shu can hear Valt groan in annoyance.

"Common, Shu! Where are you?"

"I...can't tell you..." Shu says in a small voice.

"Why not?" Valt whines, and Shu can hear a pang of worry in his voice.

"Sorry, Valt. But things have changed."

"W-what do you mean changed?!"

"Bye, Valt.."

"Wait! Shu-!"

Shu presses the end button and the dial tone reaches Valt's ear. The albino stares at his phone before it vibrates in his hand. Valt's name pops up onto the screen once again but Shu turns his phone off and tosses it on his nightstand, picking up the mask. The red eyes glare at him in almost an enchanting way. 'That's right, things have really changed. And Valt can't be here, I already risked everything just talking to him. I'm a new person now, ever since that day...'

//flashback//

Shu watches in horror as Spryzen is thrown into the air and bursts into three pieces, clattering to the stadium floor.

Free smirks at the defeated albino and picks up his still spinning beyblade.

"You are strong but you lack something," Free comments before walking away, his footsteps echoing through Shu's head.

Shu drops to his knees. His white-silvery hair casts shadows over his crimson eyes and face. Pale hands curl into fists on the cold tile floor, teeth grinding together in frustration and anger, even a tinge of sadness at his defeat.

The figure behind him, Theodore Glass, steps forward. "So, will you accept my offer?" the man asks.

Free's taunting face flitters in front of Shu's vision and the only thought that crosses his mind in that moment is to win, no matter what.

"I will do anything to become stronger," Shu declares.

The man smirks and starts to walk away.

"Follow me, then."

///////////

Shu can't help but frown as he is led through different corridors, the twists and turns making his head spin. He finally stops in front of a giant door and walks inside. He can't help but admire the surrounding labratory as he follows Theodore into an open room.

Screens line around the walls and Shu raises an eyebrow to it all. "What is this place?" Shu asks.

"This is the Snake Pit. Though this is only a small portion, there is more to it, much more," he says. "This is where you will grow stronger. But, first things first." The man stands in the center of the room and a platform emerges from the floor. On it is a gray mask. It has red highlights along the top spiky parts and a black symbol in the center. To Shu, the nose piece makes it almost look like a sparrow. But the most redeeming quality about it is the shining red eyes glaring at him almost in an enchanting way.

"If you wish to grow strong, than you will need to leave everything behind." Theodore crosses his arms behind his back. "Even your friends, even someone you love."

Shu hesitates at his last words. 'Leave Valt behind, maybe even forever. I will no longer see him, I won't even be able to contact him.'

"They are not your true friends; you don't have any and you never did." Shu flinches at the harsh words. "They are only your weakness, something of a worthless inconvenience that needs to be erased.

So, what will it be?"

Shu stares at the mask, uncertainty flickering like a flame before vanishing completely as he makes his mind up.

Shu reachs a hand out and grabs it. He holds it up and the mask fits perfectly on his head. Shu's vision is casted into a tinted red color. The man smirks.

"Shu Kurenai is gone," he says. "You will now and forever be known as 'Red Eye'."

Shu nods and his red eyes flicker dangerously. 'This is the end of me,' Shu thinks. 'It is time to start over, I have to completely erase him from my mind. I see so clearly now; Valt has only been holding me back. I would have beaten Lui back in the Championships, but Valt was a mere weakness, an illusion.'

Shu agrees to all of this, although a small voice in the back of his mind screams at him to turn back, to leave this sketchy man behind and continue loving Valt. He ignores it.

//flashback end//

Shu scowls at the mask, at his new identity and façade. 'Over these past two weeks I've gotten stronger, I know I'll be able to beat Lui soon.'

The crimson-eyed blader places the mask back at its post and he lays back on his bed. 'I will beat Lui, no matter what it takes...'