Day 28.
The intercom crackled at 0545.
"Kai. Isolation Chamber 3. Now."
Doji's voice. No explanation.
Kai dressed. Left Gumball sleeping. Walked through grey corridors following illuminated arrows.
The chamber door was solid steel. No window. Just a small slot at the bottom for food—if they decided to give any.
Doji waited outside. Holding a tablet. Clinical. Detached.
"Inside," he said.
Kai stopped at the threshold. Looked at the darkness beyond.
"How long?"
"Until you're ready."
Not an answer. Typical.
Kai stepped through.
The door sealed behind him with a pneumatic hiss. Lock engaged.
Complete darkness. Complete silence.
The absence was absolute.
***
At first, it was almost peaceful.
No instructor barking orders. No weights to lift. No one to fight.
Just... nothing.
Kai sat. Back against what he assumed was a wall. Could've been floor. Hard to tell in the pitch black.
His breathing was the only sound. In. Out. Steady rhythm.
How long has it been? Five minutes? Ten?
No way to know.
He closed his eyes—not that it made a difference—and tried to settle in.
They want to see if I can handle this. Fine. I'll handle it.
Time passed.
His mind started filling the void. Creating problems where none existed.
What if they don't let me out?
What if this is the test—seeing how long until I break?
What if Gumball needs me?
The thoughts circled. Obsessive. Relentless.
Stop. This is what they want.
But knowing that didn't make it stop.
More time passed. Minutes? Hours?
His hands found each other in the darkness. Gripped tight.
The absence of Black Dranzer hit harder here. No pulse to anchor to. No connection to ground himself with.
Just him. Alone. In nothing.
This is what it was like before. Before the beyblade. Before the power.
Just... empty.
The realization settled cold in his chest.
I hate this.
More time. Endless time.
His mind invented sensations. Phantom touches. Temperature shifts that weren't real. Sounds that didn't exist.
None of it was real.
Breathe. Just breathe.
At some point—impossible to measure—the panic started.
Real panic. Not logical. Not controllable.
His chest tightened. Breathing quickened. The darkness pressed down like physical weight.
Get out. Need to get out. NOW.
He stood. Felt for the door. Found it.
Pounded once.
No response.
LET ME OUT.
Silence answered.
He slid back down. Forced himself to breathe.
This is training. Just training. They'll let me out.
Eventually.
Right?
The doubt crept in.
More time passed.
His thoughts became fragmented. Non-linear.
Black Dranzer. Where is it?
Gumball. Is he okay?
How long has it been?
Am I breathing normally?
What if I'm not?
What if—
STOP.
He forced the spiral down. Focused on something real.
His heartbeat. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Steady. Constant. Real.
This is all I have. Just this.
He focused on that rhythm. Let everything else fade.
The panic slowly receded.
Time continued its meaningless flow.
At some point—he had no idea when—something shifted.
Not external. Internal.
The panic was gone. Not suppressed. Just... absent.
The darkness wasn't pressing anymore. It was just... there.
This is what emptiness feels like.
This is what I was trying to fill with power.
But emptiness isn't the enemy.
It's just... space.
Space that can be filled. Or not.
Either way—it's just space.
The understanding settled over him like a blanket.
I don't need to fight this.
I just need to exist in it.
He sat there. Breathing. Existing.
No panic. No fear. No need to fill the void.
Just... being.
More time passed. How much? Impossible to say.
Then—
Light.
Sudden. Blinding. Stabbing through his closed eyelids.
Kai raised his hand. Shielding his eyes.
The door stood open. Doji silhouetted against harsh brightness.
"Forty-eight hours," he said. Voice clinical. Like reporting data. "Most break after twelve. Some hallucinate. Some beg."
He paused. Examined Kai with those cold eyes.
"You did neither. Good."
Kai stood slowly. Legs stiff. Vision adjusting.
Doji handed him a water bottle. "Drink. Then follow me."
***
The equipment room was small. Single table. Single light overhead.
Black Dranzer sat on the metal surface.
The pulse hit immediately. Even from across the room.
Kai stopped breathing.
There.
"You've earned it back," Doji said. "Twenty-eight days physical conditioning. Forty-eight hours mental conditioning. You passed both."
Kai walked forward. Each step deliberate.
Reached out.
His fingers touched warm metal.
The connection slammed back into place.
Not gradual. Not gentle.
Instant.
Warmth flooded his hand, his arm, his chest. Like circulation returning to a frozen limb. Like drowning and suddenly breaking the surface.
He'd forgotten how whole it felt.
"Missed me?" he whispered.
Black Dranzer pulsed stronger. Almost eager.
Yes.
Doji watched the reunion with clinical interest. "Attachment confirmed. Good. That means the resonance is stable."
He turned. "Training room. Now. Let's see what twenty-eight days apart has done."
***
The stadium was reinforced. Military-grade barriers. Walls thick enough to contain explosions.
"Launch," Doji commanded. "Full power. No restraint."
Kai attached Black Dranzer to the modified launcher they'd given him. Felt the weight. The balance.
Raised it.
Felt the cold rising. Not fought. Not feared.
Welcomed.
"Three! Two! One! Let it rip!"
Black Dranzer hit the center and—
Everything exploded.
Dark Resonance didn't leak.
It detonated.
His eyes bled crimson instantly. No transition. Just grey to red like flipping a switch.
Purple aura manifested around him—wild, crackling, barely contained.
Behind him—the phoenix tore through reality.
Incomplete. Jagged. But MASSIVE.
Wings spreading darkness that devoured light. Feathers like black glass—some translucent, some solid, all sharp enough to cut.
Eyes burning crimson. Beak curved cruel.
The pressure filled the room.
Black Dranzer carved through the practice target like it was made of paper. Gouged deep into the reinforced wall. Metal shrieking. Sparks flying.
Power flooded Kai. Pure. Overwhelming.
God, I missed this.
"ENOUGH."
Doji's voice cut through.
Kai gritted his teeth. Grabbed control.
DOWN.
The aura resisted. Wanted to keep burning.
"I SAID DOWN."
It took everything to force it back. Every ounce of will earned through isolation.
The flames died. Eyes shifted back—crimson bleeding to grey. The phoenix dissolved.
Kai breathed hard. Hands trembling slightly.
Doji examined the damage. The gouges. The melted metal.
"Excessive," he said. Then smiled slightly. "But better controlled than your first attempt here. The separation refined your connection."
He gestured to the exit. "Rest today. Tomorrow—we push harder."
***
The next weeks blurred into systematic progression.
Not the mindless brutality of the first month. Something more deliberate. More structured.
Building on the foundation they'd broken him down to create.
Week 5.
"Five opponents. Simultaneous."
Kai stood in the center. Five Dark Nebula members surrounding him.
"Three! Two! One! Let it rip!"
Six beyblades launched.
Black Dranzer moved like a predator. One opponent eliminated in thirty seconds. Two in a minute.
The remaining three coordinated. Attacked together.
Kai felt it. The cold rising.
Not yet.
He didn't need Dark Resonance for this.
Black Dranzer eliminated the fourth through pure technique. The fifth through superior rotation control.
Victory without the power-up.
The instructor made notes. "Four minutes twelve seconds. Adequate."
But Kai saw it in her eyes. Surprise. Maybe respect.
He was getting better without needing to rely on the phoenix.
Week 6.
The mirror showed changes.
Leaner. Harder. Scars from training accumulated like tally marks.
His face looked older. Sharper. Eyes sunken deeper.
He touched his reflection. Cold glass under scarred fingers.
"Still me," he said aloud.
The reflection stared back. Didn't answer.
Week 7.
Seven opponents. Then ten. Then fifteen.
Each battle pushed him further. Tested limits. Forced adaptation.
Dark Resonance became smoother. The activation less explosive. More controlled.
Eyes shifting crimson as naturally as breathing. The aura manifesting without the wild crackling instability.
The phoenix remained incomplete. Jagged. But growing more solid each time.
Progress.
Week 8. Late evening.
Kai returned to quarters. Exhausted. Bruises from sparring darkening his ribs.
Gumball was on the bed. Watching him with those wide blue eyes.
Kai sat on the floor. Didn't approach. Didn't want to frighten him again.
The kitten stood. Stretched.
Walked to the edge of the bed.
Kai held his breath.
Gumball jumped down. Padded across the floor slowly.
Stopped an arm's length away. Stared.
Then—
Walked forward. Pressed his small head against Kai's knee. Purred.
Something in Kai's chest cracked.
He reached out slowly. Stroked Gumball's head with scarred fingers.
The kitten purred louder. Climbed into his lap. Curled into a tight ball of warmth.
Trusting. Completely.
Kai closed his eyes. Felt the vibration against his chest.
"I haven't lost everything," he whispered.
Gumball's purr intensified.
Not yet.
***
Week 9.
Elite Combat Evaluation.
"Reiji," the instructor announced. "Two support members."
Kai entered the stadium. Three opponents waited.
Two standard elites—competent but unremarkable.
And Reiji.
Purple hair. Lean build. Predatory smile. Eyes that enjoyed hurting people.
"Well, well," Reiji said. Voice smooth like poison. "The tournament brat. Heard you've been making noise down here."
He raised his launcher. Poison Serpent gleaming purple and black.
"Let's see if the rumors are true."
Kai said nothing. Just raised his launcher.
"Scared?" Reiji's smile widened. "Smart. You should be."
"Three! Two! One! Let it rip!"
Four beyblades launched.
Black Dranzer eliminated the first support in twenty seconds. Clean impact. Perfect angle. The bey flew out of the stadium before the blader could react.
The second lasted forty seconds. Tried a special move. Black Dranzer interrupted it mid-activation. The bey shattered against the stadium wall.
Just Reiji.
His smile didn't falter. "Now we're talking."
Poison Serpent circled. Fast. Erratic. Unpredictable movement patterns.
Experienced. Dangerous.
"Venom Strike!"
The serpent's avatar manifested above the beyblade.
Massive. Multiple heads rising from a single body—five distinct serpent heads, each moving independently. Fangs dripping poison that sizzled where it touched concrete.
Each head could attack from a different angle simultaneously.
Impressive.
Black Dranzer dodged. Countered. But Poison Serpent was slippery. Fast.
Reiji laughed. "What's wrong? Thought you were supposed to be the Bladebreaker. The monster everyone's scared of."
Another strike. Another dodge.
"Come on. SHOW ME."
The taunt landed.
Kai's eyes shifted.
Grey to crimson.
"You want to see?" His voice came out colder than intended. "Fine."
"Dark Resonance."
The aura exploded outward. Purple flames wreathing Black Dranzer.
The phoenix manifested—larger than before, more solid. Wings spreading. Eyes burning.
Reiji's smile faltered. Just for a second.
"There it is," he breathed.
Black Dranzer launched skyward. The phoenix followed.
Poison Serpent's five heads struck simultaneously from different angles.
The phoenix's claws slashed through them.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
The serpent's avatar shattered like glass. Fragments dissolving into nothing.
Black Dranzer descended.
"Soul Drain."
The fusion wheel darkened. Space distorted inward around it—reality bending toward the beyblade like water circling a drain.
Poison Serpent tried to retreat.
Too slow.
Contact.
The rotation drained instantly. Poison Serpent wobbled. Slowed.
Stopped.
Then exploded into fragments.
Silence.
The phoenix screeched once. Victorious.
Kai pulled back. The aura faded. Eyes shifted to grey.
He looked at Reiji.
The older blader stared at the fragments of his beyblade. At his empty launcher.
His smile was completely gone. Replaced by something Kai recognized.
Fear.
"What..." Reiji's voice was quiet. Shaken. "What are you?"
Kai didn't answer. Just turned away.
Exactly what they made me.
***
Week 10.
Doji led him to a chamber he'd never seen before.
The door opened to freezing air. Breath instantly visible. Temperature well below zero.
Inside—ice coating every surface. Frost patterns spreading across walls like frozen veins.
In the center: iron pillar. Five meters in diameter. Solid steel.
"Your final test," Doji said. "Break it. Twelve hours. Survive the cold."
The door locked behind him.
Kai stood alone. Already shivering.
He looked at the pillar. At the ice. At the impossible task.
"Twelve hours," he said aloud. Voice echoing in the frozen chamber. "All or nothing."
He activated Dark Resonance immediately. Not for power. For warmth. The flames keeping hypothermia at bay.
Launched Black Dranzer.
Hour 1.
Progress: quarter-inch deep into five meters of solid steel.
His fingers were already numb despite the flames. The cold was relentless.
This is going to take everything.
Hour 3.
Progress: one foot.
His movements were mechanical now. Launch. Retrieve. Launch. No thought. Just repetition.
Dark Resonance flickered. Hard to maintain focus while freezing.
Keep moving. Stop and you die.
Hour 6.
Progress: three feet.
Halfway.
Kai's hands were so numb he could barely feel the launcher. Operating on muscle memory alone.
Vision blurring. Body begging to stop. To sleep.
Can't. Sleep here means death.
Hour 9.
Progress: four feet ten inches.
Two inches remaining.
Kai fell to one knee. Body shutting down. Dark Resonance flickering weakly.
Almost. Just... almost.
He tried to stand. Couldn't.
GET UP.
His legs wouldn't cooperate.
Black Dranzer clattered to the ice beside him. Stopped spinning.
No. Not like this.
He grabbed the beyblade with frozen fingers. Held it against his chest.
"We've come too far," he said through chattering teeth. "Done too much. I'm not dying in a freezer after surviving everything else."
The beyblade pulsed weakly.
Together.
Kai pulled everything. Every reserve. Every fragment of will.
Dark Resonance didn't just activate.
It ignited.
The aura exploded outward. Purple flames turning white-hot from sheer intensity.
The phoenix manifested.
Not incomplete. Not jagged.
WHOLE. SOLID. MASSIVE.
Wings filling the entire chamber. Feathers sharp as razors. Eyes burning like stars.
The creature opened its beak and screeched.
Kai raised his launcher with trembling hands. Barely conscious.
"VOLCANO EMISSION!"
Black Dranzer launched with everything he had.
The phoenix dove.
The flames weren't red. Weren't orange.
White. Plasma-hot.
The iron didn't crack.
It MELTED.
The pillar collapsed. Metal turning to liquid.
The phoenix spread its wings. Complete. Victorious.
Then faded.
Kai collapsed face-first onto ice.
Darkness took him.
***
He woke in medical bay.
White lights. Sterile smell. Bandages on his hands and arms.
Doji stood beside the bed. Holding equipment.
Modified launcher. Dark Nebula insignia. Military-grade materials.
"Eleven hours," Doji said. Clinical. "Complete structural vaporization. Full avatar manifestation."
He set the equipment on the table.
"Congratulations. You passed."
***
The final weeks were refinement.
AI training. Adaptive algorithms learning his patterns. Evolving. Forcing him to adapt in return.
Twenty opponents. Twenty-five. Thirty.
Dark Resonance became instinct. Activation as natural as breathing.
Ten thousand launches. Ten thousand battles.
The weapon was forged.
***
Day 89. Evening.
Kai sat on the floor. Gumball curled in his lap. Purring loudly.
He stroked the kitten's head. Felt soft fur under scarred fingers.
Three months.
He looked at his hands. Changed. Harder. Tools for violence.
Looked at Gumball. Innocent. Trusting.
"At least I still have you," he said quietly.
The kitten purred louder. Pressed his head against Kai's palm.
He closed his eyes.
Tomorrow would come. Bring whatever it brought.
Tonight—this was enough.
***
Day 90.
The alarm screamed. Red lights strobing. Sirens wailing.
Doji's voice over intercom—cold, commanding:
"Intruders detected. Sector 7. Multiple targets. Armed with beyblades. They've breached inner security."
Pause.
"Kai. Eliminate them."
Not a request. An order.
Kai stood. Grabbed Black Dranzer. The modified launcher. His gear.
Looked at Gumball.
The kitten watched with wide eyes. Sensing danger.
He grabbed the carrier. Placed Gumball inside gently.
"Coming with me. Safer than leaving you here."
The kitten meowed once. Trusting.
Kai walked toward Sector 7.
Each step—the cold rose. Eyes shifted. Grey to crimson.
Aura manifesting. Controlled. Ready.
Behind him—wings spreading. The phoenix forming.
He turned the corner.
Voices ahead. Beyblade clashes. Then silence.
Two figures emerged from smoke.
Spiky brown-red hair. Blue Pegasus headband. Determined eyes
Wild green hair. Army green coat with ripped sleeves over a black shirt. Fierce grin.
Gingka Hagane. Kyoya Tategami.
They saw him. Stopped.
Kai released a controlled pulse of Dark Resonance.
The lights flickered. Temperature dropped.
Gingka stepped forward. "Who are you?"
Kyoya's eyes narrowed. Recognition flickering. " You "
Kai raised his launcher. Black Dranzer pulsed.
The phoenix manifested. Wings spreading to fill the corridor.
"Kai Hiwatari."
Gingka's expression hardened. "You're with Dark Nebula."
"I'm here. That's all you need to know."
Kyoya's grin widened. "Good enough for me. Let's see what you can do."
He raised his launcher.
Gingka did the same. "Three! Two! One!"
Kai's eyes burned crimson.
"Let it rip!"
Three beyblades launched.
The corridor erupted.
End Chapter 13