Hello! Finally, this story is complete.

First, I am very sorry this exceeded the expected update window. I know I have been repeatedly delayed in my updates for various reasons mentioned in my profile page. I apologize sincerely for the wait.

Second, the age rating for this fic might change due to blood/violence depending on the reply I get from support. At the moment, after looking at various guidelines for movies and games, this will remain rated T (Age 13+). If anyone is for some reason uncomfortable with anything here, please pm me, as a favor to me, so that I may better assess the appropriate age rating and avoid future trouble.

Third, I must give a thank you to akin, Brillerai, Scarlette Shizuru and a real-life friend of mine who have been giving me support/reviews.

And now, on with the final chapter...

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

~ Insomnium ~

For a while, a veil of silence covers the darkened beach on which Kai and Ventus stood. Easily visible, like moonlight, is the soft, iridescent glow of Ventus' eyes. Kai stares back at them as Ventus makes his way out onto the sand from the grove. He stops some ways away from Kai.

"Where's Lux?" Kai asks.

Ventus simply remains silent and expressionless.

'Why is he staring like that…?' Kai notices his facial expression.

He then asks, "Did you plan this all along?"

Again, Ventus remains silent. He then takes out his beyblade and launcher. Realizing what he is about to do, Kai does the same and reaches for Dranzer. In mere seconds, sounds of clashing beyblades begin to fill the empty beach.

...

At the ruins atop the hill, Lok watches nonchalantly by the altar as Wyvynn and Zane spar with their blades before him. Earlier, Zane had failed to hit his target during his surprise attack and now Wyvynn is fully prepared to intercept him. Round and round he watches their blades spin, chasing each other and occasionally colliding into one another before bouncing back away.

Wyvynn, feeling somewhat betrayed and hurt by Zane's ruthlessness towards him, asks bluntly, "Zane, before we go on…tell me…tell me the reason why you refuse to even listen to me. What drives you to continue to support Lok's goal? What is it that you see in what Lok is offering you?"

"I am simply supporting the goal of the person whom I trust the most in this world." Zane replies calmly. "I care not for what he is offering because he has promised that his goals will not endanger my life. Hence, to me, all of the things you've said in regards to this world's treatment of us is without meaning; I don't care how others will treat or think of me."

Wyvynn looks at him shocked for just a moment but then acknowledges his words. "I see."

For a moment all three stand still and silent.

"And you, Lok?" Wyvynn turns to him. "I'm sure Zane must've mentioned the contents of that conversation I had with him. It's not impossible for you to fit into the current world so why do you want to destroy and recreate this world so badly still? What exactly do you have in mind?"

Lok turns to him coldly. "Yes, he did inform me of your little chat, albeit briefly. However, it's not really relevant to me..."

"What do you mean by 'not really relevant'?" Wyvynn asks.

Lok ponders for a moment. "How shall I make you understand...?"

"Just make your point." Wyvynn rushes him.

Lok takes his time to think. He then replies, "Well, for one, my reason for doing all this was never to fit in to begin with. It was merely something I told you and those dead fools over there to convince you three to comply with me."

Wyvynn did not appear pleased to hear that. "So you lied to me, Kull, and Sparky."

Lok nods.

Wyvynn, now quite angry, goes on, "And once we agreed with your goal, you proceeded to use us to escape, to evade our pursuers and to carry out the rest of your plan. However, when our usefulness ran out, you disposed of us however you saw fit or in whichever way was convenient. That about right?"

Lok raises an eyebrow in slight disgust. "That's a rather nasty way to put it; I prefer to call it a form of resourcefulness."

"Whatever!" Wyvynn loudly brushes his comment off. Enraged, he asks, "So what else? If your reason wasn't to fit in, then what was it? Is your goal even what you said it was?"

Lux opens her eyes slowly, having awoken due to the loud commotion.

Not paying mind to the girl who just woke up, Lok proceeds to answer the question. "My reasons are simple. I just wanted revenge, really."

"Revenge?" Wyvynn doesn't seem to believe him. He then asks, "Didn't you already accomplish that?"

"You mean that laboratory?" Lok says with amusement. "No, something so simple would never suffice."

"Laboratory…?" Lux repeats softly upon hearing it.

Zane turns to Lux, upon hearing her whisper.

"Then what?" Wyvynn asks. "What would suffice for you?"

"I want to claim the dream that those foolish scientists so cruelly and fervently sought after." Lok says with a hint of sadism in his voice.

"Their dream?" Wyvynn repeats.

"Do you know their reason for defiling our humanity and stripping us of our original place in this world?" Lok asks.

"Wasn't it to create soldiers with supernatural powers for world domination?" Wyvynn replies with a question.

Lok nods, "That's right."

"So I suppose you want to take over the world too now?" Wyvynn asks.

"No." Lok replies simply. "I've already done that, practically. Once Ventus returns from his task, the ritual will resume and I will ensure that there will be no more interruptions this time."

"What do you plan to do after?" Wyvynn asks.

"I plan to become a god on this planet and exterminate every last human being." Lok states menacingly.

"Why?" Wyvynn asks. "Why something so extreme?"

"That's simple." Lok smiles devilishly. "Despite Bizmark and Dr. Vaniard's inhumane actions, they were actually working towards a beneficial goal for humanity. Hence, I will work towards the opposite. I'll instead ensure that humanity will cease to exist."

"So you'll rule an empty world at the end just to accomplish that goal?" Wyvynn then comments, "That's kind of pathetic and sad at the same time."

"I beg to differ." Lok replies to that casually. He then turns to the girl on the ground some ways away from them both. "Besides, Lux would enjoy seeing the world of humans disappear too. The real Lux anyway…"

"Wha…?" Wyvynn turns to see Lux awake and staring at the two of them confused by the last statement.

Seeing his reaction, Lok goes on, "Oh right, I've almost forgotten. You've probably never interacted much with the girl before she had lost her memory so you know only the basics about her."

Wyvynn returns his attention to the silver haired demon.

"I have, however." He goes on. "We were kept in adjacent cells in the laboratory. She was such a nice young girl when she first arrived at the lab; she would treat everyone kindly and was the only one besides S.S. to see me as a 'person'. But all of that changed shortly after."

Lux sits frozen as a brief scene of her and Lok conversing through a crack in a thin, white wall flashes through her mind. She then winces as she begins to feel a growing pain in the back of her head.

"I watched her transform." Lok goes on to say as he watches Lux struggle with her increasingly painful headache. "With each painful trial we went through, she grew more resentful towards everything in the world and with each memory taken from her, she lost a piece of herself and consequently a piece of the kindness she once had. Finally, by the time Ventus broke her out of her cell, she was no different from an empty shell – no memories, no emotions. She was like an oversized doll except when placed into combat simulation."

Now, more fragments of her memory are returning. She can now recall some very brief scenes - her first encounter with Tala, the betrayal she felt when she was taken away to the lab, the sterile hallways of the place she had been taken to, being placed into a room filled with armed children of various ages, completing various computer programming exercises, being cuffed and held down onto a hard surface and being surrounded by surgeons. However, with each fragment she recalls, her headache grows proportionally and soon these same memory fragments that have returned also begins to disappear. Wyvynn watches her with concern as Zane and Lok remains cold and silent.

Lok then continues, this time speaking to Lux directly. "You may remember the times when they used us as guinea pigs for those enhancements. For example, like when they had to put those nanomachines into our bodies to maintain our lives after they royally messed up their theory regarding a crucial biochemical process…"

Lux begins to clutch her head in pain as some more of her memory attempts to return.

"…Or perhaps a memory of some of the training they had us do would have more impact. Like when we were forced to fight in those deathmatches…" Lok goes on.

"Stop it…" Wyvynn tells him, realizing that his words must be triggering something in the girl.

"…No wait! Why don't you try recalling that surgery you had on your back! If you take a peak in the mirror you'll even see the results!"

"That's enough!" Wyvynn tries to interrupt him. "Why are you saying all of that to her right now? You know how she'd react to that particular memory."

Lok replies to him, "I was merely trying to help her recover her memories. As someone who was there during the most emotionally impacting moments of her life, I can easily help her overcome the nanomachines that restrict what she can and cannot remember, after all."

"Well that was unasked for." Wyvynn faces him sternly.

"Oh?" Lok muses. "Does she not want to know about her past?"

The four are silent for a moment. In this time, Lux begins to calm down again, taking heavy breaths and leaning against the pillar she had been placed near.

"I think I've heard enough." Wyvynn finally says. "I don't think I care anymore about your motives or your reasoning. Not only have you been lying but you've even harmed those who had allied with you. You're no different from a madman."

"I'm hurt…" Lok responds in an uncaring tone. A moment later, his face twists into a sadistic grin. "…NOT!"

Wyvynn watches as Lok aims his already loaded Extend-type launcher at him. Reacting quickly, he sends his blade upwards off some nearby rubble and collides it hard into Lok's launcher in an attempt to knock it out of his hands. However, instead of causing the launcher to drop, a deep crack is made in the exterior of the gun-shaped launcher, causing it to begin cracking. Reacting to Wyvynn's actions, Zane sends his blade to attack Wyvynn's as it lands back on the stone platform, keeping it occupied again.

Lok watches as some pieces of his launcher falls to the ground. He curses and throws the thing aside, knowing that it is now unusable. He then turns to Zane, indicating to the launcher in his grip. "Lend me that."

Zane complies and hands him his launcher. All the while, he keeps his eyes on Wyvynn.

While Wyvynn, Zane and Lok begin their two on one match, Lux, who has now calmed down significantly stares at the broken launcher that had landed a little ways from her. A small, glowing, lavender fragment catches her eyes. As if called to it, she approaches the broken device and reaches a hand out to touch the glowing object.

...

Meanwhile, Tyson and Tala stand on an empty beach with the rest of their friends ready to receive Hilary and Kenny from the arriving lifeboat. Holding out a hand, Tyson helps Hilary and Kenny as they step off the inflatable boat while Tala takes hold of the small boat and drags it onto the sand.

"Did you set off the distress signal?" Tyson asks.

"Yeah but there's no guarantee anyone will find us." Kenny replies. "Don't forget that there's some kind of barrier surrounding this island that hides it from sight."

"Well, it's better than nothing at all." Max joins in. "Who knows, maybe they'll stumble pass the barrier like we did."

"Let's hope so…" Kenny looks worried. "Because if not we might be stuck here for a while since there's a good chance the boat got damaged when it hit that underwater rock."

"By the way, where are we?" Hilary asks, trying to look around in the dark.

"We seem to be on a beach." Max answers, now taking a few steps along the shore to explore his immediate surroundings with his flashlight. He then notices the shape of a familiar object some distance ahead barely illuminated by the scattered rays from the device in his hand. Pointing the flashlight in its direction, he recognizes it and calls to his friends, "Hey guys! Come and look what I found."

Tyson and the rest soon join him.

"That's the Alfhild's other boat!" Ray exclaims, recognizing it also.

"Which means Kai must have already made it here before us." Hilary summarizes.

"But where is he?" Daichi asks, looking around for him. "I don't see him."

Tyson scrambles onto the more or less in tact wreck and looks for Kai. Unable to find him, he reports, "He's not in here."

"And it looks like his boat crashed onto shore." Tala observes.

Bryan looks around with his flashlight. As he sweeps their new surroundings with the unfocused light, he spots something in a grove of trees and brings it to attention to the others. "Hey look!"

They turn in the direction he indicates to.

"There's a path leading further inland." Tyson notes as he climbs back off the tilted boat.

"More like further uphill…" Tala corrects him, squinting to see further down the path and spotting the silhouette of a peak.

Kenny thinks for a moment. "This island is fairly small. If that path leads anywhere, I think it will be to that temple that Wyvynn mentioned."

"Then do you think Kai went on ahead there?" Tyson asks.

"Probably." Kenny nods.

"Alright then, let's go!" Tyson begins up the path, leading the group forward.

...

Following his lead, the others join him in a dash upwards through the ancient grove. After a while of running, they get close to the end of the path and spot a large aircraft up ahead.

"It's that helicopter!" Daichi cries upon seeing it.

"Alright!" Ray enthusiastically exclaims. "I think we found them, guys."

Within moments, the group reaches the peak where a partially collapsed stone temple lies. The temple, consisting mainly of a stone platform surrounded by seven pillars and three altars, is decorated with the remnants of what appears to have once been a roof. At the very center are three figures, two of them clad in dark clothing and the third, a familiar lad with ice blue hair. Lux sits some ways from them against a pillar. Her expression is strangely blank and in her hand is a small glowing object.

"It's Lux and Wyvynn!" Tyson announces happily.

Lok, Zane and Wyvynn turn for a moment to the newcomers.

"But where's Kai?" Daichi asks, catching up.

"Tyson? …And the rest of you too?" Wyvynn responds to their arrival in surprise. He appears quite out of breath. "You all came…"

"Well duh! We weren't going to watch a friend get kidnapped and do nothing!" Tyson replies.

"You said it!" Max adds.

Lok briefly eyes Zane. Zane, noticing his gaze, in turn nods slightly to return the signal.

"Thanks, you guys!" Wyvynn responds with gratitude.

"So where's Kai?" Tyson asks.

"I woke up not too long ago and I haven't seen him." Wyvynn answers honestly. "Was he kidnapped too?"

"Well, no but we thought he came here earlier…" Hilary says.

"Ahem." Lok coughs to get their attention.

As Wyvynn is about to turn back to his two opponents, Zane, attacks his beyblade with a fury of assaults. Having been caught off guard and now struggling to avoid defeat, Wyvynn tries to evade the storm of attacks with little success.

Tyson and the others realize by now that their friend is caught in the middle of an unfair match of two against one. Noticing the sinister grin on Lok's face, Tyson shifts his attention to Lok's beyblade. His eyes follow it as it circles around the trio in the center using the fallen rubble from the former roof as a cover to avoid notice. When it reaches the point directly behind Wyvynn, Tyson realizes that Lok likely plans to attack him while his beyblade is occupied with Zane's.

"No way am I letting you do that, buddy!" Tyson mutters, to the surprise of some of the others near him who had not realized Lok's plan.

He readies his blade and launcher. Just as Lok's blade is about to launch from some sloped rubble and into Wyvynn, Tyson launches his blade somewhere along its trajectory. Hearing the loud sound behind him, Wyvynn turns to see both Lok's and Tyson's blades returning to the floor after their elastic collision in midair.

The three in battle return their attention to Tyson as Max and Ray applaud him for his deed.

"I owe you one!" Wyvynn tells him as Tyson runs onto the stone circle to join him.

"Hey, no sweat." Tyson tells him.

Lok and Zane stop for a moment, the former, visibly annoyed.

Taking advantage of the pause, Wyvynn informs Tyson, "You should be careful. Those guys are both using heavily modified beyblades. All modifications illegal of course."

"All the more reason you need me here." Tyson smirks.

"Hey, I'm not exactly mod-free either since I used to be one of them." Wyvynn tells him casually.

Kenny then notices the launcher in Wyvynn's grasp. Recalling the results of Judy's trials, he opens his laptop and begins a scan of the current match. Upon reading the angular velocity of Wyvynn's blade, he mumbles a nearly inaudible, "Oh no…"

Hilary, who had been beside Kenny asks, "What's wrong?"

Kenny turns to her, "Wyvynn's about to lose. And if I recall correctly about that launcher he's holding…"

"The Extend-type launcher?" Hilary notices it too now.

"What about it?" Daichi asks.

"Do you remember those results Judy sent us right before we left Japan?" Kenny asks him.

Hilary and the other members of the Bladebreakers nearby recall the information as Tala and his team look at Kenny confused.

"If I remember correctly, wasn't that launcher dangerous to its users?" Ray asks.

Kenny nods. "At least if the users are normal human beings."

"But Wyvynn's a Magnanimae." Hilary points out.

"That's exactly what I'm worried about. We have no clue what happens to them if they lose a match using that launcher." Kenny panics. "Of all the things I should've asked about, I forgot to ask about this the other night!"

"Well in that case, let's help him." Ray suggests.

"Yeah!" Max agrees.

Tala then looks over to Lux. Seeing as she is still sitting so still and expressionless, he suggests, "I think one of us should go check on Lux. Something seems wrong with her."

Hilary turns to her too. Noticing her current state, she nods, "I'll go."

The others nod as Max and Ray run to the center of the platform to join the fight.

"Leave, this to us." Max tells Wyvynn, taking a spot besides Tyson.

"You should go have a little rest." Ray tells him, arriving beside Max.

Wyvynn nods, recalling and retrieving his blade. He then begins heading in Kenny's direction. On his way, Hilary's voice catches his attention some ways away.

"Lux?" Hilary calls to the girl on the ground. "Hey, come on, say something. Lux?"

Lux does not respond but continues staring blankly as she had been since their arrival.

Tala and the others, who were near Kenny, notice the commotion too now and turn momentarily from Tyson, Max and Ray's battle. Concerned, Tala approaches her. Seeing him approach, Hilary looks to him with a somewhat pleading look as if asking for some help. Tala bends down beside her.

"Hey Lux," he shakes her gently, "What's wrong?"

Tala and Hilary wait for a response.

"Lux," Tala tries again.

This time however, Lux reacts slightly.

Wyvynn, who had been watching, now notices the small object in Lux's clutch. Realizing what it is, he pales.

"That's…" he begins.

Kenny turns to him, "What is it?"

Wyvynn is about to reply but stops as Lux stands up, turning to face Tala.

"Lux, you're okay!" Hilary reacts in relief.

However, that expression quickly fades as Lux takes out her silver blade. Tala and Hilary then watch as she proceeds to remove Elfe's bitchip from it before flinging the small object aside into the distance below the cliff.

"What are you…" Tala reacts surprised by her actions.

He is cut off when Lux attaches her blade to her launcher. She then points it at him with one hand while holding the small glowing object in the her other hand. In this time, her expression became cold and her posture, majestic.

In a cold voice, she states, "You are my enemy."

...

On a rocky beach under some seaside cliffs on the island, Kai and Ventus continue to exchange blows with their blades under the moonlight. Having been battling for a while now, the two of them have become quite exhausted. Their movements during their match have also led them a good distance away from the foot of the temple bound path.

Now at the brink of collapsing, Kai musters his energy into a final attack. He calls to his bitbeast, "Dranzer!"

The blue blade and the fiery phoenix it houses charge forward towards an equally tired out Ventus's Siegfried blade. The collision produces a few destructive shockwaves, causing some of the nearby rocky terrain to crumble and fall. For a few moments, nothing but the clash of the sea against the rocky coast and the faint spinning of the blades are heard. Both at their limits now, Kai and Ventus both kneel onto the ground, their blades equally worn out and wobbling.

After a while, Kai asks, panting, "Answer my question, Ventus."

An exhausted Ventus stares back at him silently.

"Did you plan this all along?" Kai asks. "And where's Lux?"

"I am under no obligation to answer your question regarding Lux." Ventus states calmly despite his worn stature. "However, since you persistently ask, I will tell you the following: I did not plan any of what I am currently doing. I am simply following the orders I was given."

"Orders?" Kai repeats.

"As the Knight, I am obligated to obey the command of the King should he exercise his power to choose me as his vassal." Ventus explains monotonously. "On the night of that video call, I had encountered Lok and he had chosen me to serve him as such."

"So you betrayed us?" Kai asks. "What happened to all those plans you had against him?"

"I did not really betray." Ventus says simply. "I am not acting of my own accord at the moment. As for my plans, they will not be carried out since Lok's power has compelled me to serve him."

"So you're just a puppet right now." Kai summarizes. He then asks, "Did you know you could become this way?"

Ventus nods.

For a while, they are silent again as neither had anything to say but at the same time lacked the strength to do anything in battle. Their blades simply spin weakly.

Kai then breaks the silence and asks. "There's one more thing I've been curious about."

Ventus wordlessly urges him to ask on.

"Why did you send Lux to Japan to begin with?" Kai asks. "When you freed her, why did you choose Japan of all countries?"

"I chose Japan because it was the place the organization backing Bizmark had the least influence." Ventus replies.

"An organization backing them up?" Kai asks.

"Yes." Ventus replies. "I did not know which one until recently. However, the data I obtained from their systems showed that their influence was minimum in your country so I sent her there with the hopes that it will be the safest place for her to be in."

"And which organization was it that was backing up the laboratory?" Kai asks.

"A German based company that rivals that of your family's." Ventus replies. "I've mentioned it to you once back at the estate in Sweden. It is my belief that the presence of your family's company was what limited their activities in Japan."

"The Schneifel Corporation?" Kai recalls the name.

Ventus nods.

Kai thinks for a moment. Although it is not surprising to him that his grandfather had made enemies, he was a little surprised that of all the organizations responsible, it'd be one with rivaling ties to that of his family's.

'If the Schneifel Corporation is a rivaling company to that of grandfather's, they must deal in military equipment as well.' Kai concludes. 'But that would mean that lab must somehow benefit a company specializing in weaponry. What did they hope to gain from those experiments?'

However, his thoughts are interrupted by some loud voices nearby. Kai looks up to the source of the yelling above the cliff.

"Lux, stop!" the somewhat faint but familiar voice of Tala calls.

'Lux…?' Kai processes. He then concludes, 'She must be at the top of that cliff…'

Noticing his shift in attention, Ventus gets up slowly from the ground.

Kai forces himself off the ground as well and tries to make a run for the path his boat had landed in front of on the shore. 'She's closeby…I have to find her…'

"Not so fast." Ventus stops him with his weakened but still spinning blade.

Kai glances back to him silently, in no condition to continue the battle.

"Lux, what's wrong with you, snap out of it!" Hilary yells above.

"Lux!" Tyson yells in a concerned tone. "What are you doing? What's wrong?"

Kai then hears sounds of fiercely clashing beyblades above them. He turns to Ventus angrily and growls. "What have you and that freak done with Lux?"

"To my knowledge, nothing has been done to influence or harm her. We had simply knocked her unconscious for a few hours" Ventus replies simply.

Kai eyes him for a moment with distrust. In the state Ventus seems to be in, there is no personal reason for him to lie but at the same time, he could probably be commanded to lie according to what he had just told him. Kai turns back up to the cliff for a moment as he listens to the sound of the beybattle occurring above.

"Lux, what's wrong?" Tala's voice sounds again, followed by a fury of sounds from rapidly clashing beyblades.

"At least answer us!" Another voice soon follows.

Deciding something must be very wrong up there, Kai, once again, tries to dash off to the path leading up to the cliff top. However, to his dismay, Ventus attempts again to stop him.

"Out of my way!" an enraged Kai shouts. He then summons Dranzer to back him up.

"I will not allow you to pass." Ventus states simply.

"Try and stop me!" Kai retorts. He then orders his bitbeast to use the technique he had been saving, "Dranzer, Plasma Phoenix Soul!"

White flames and a fiery, scarlet aura begin to surround Dranzer. As it grows brighter and brighter, Ventus shields his eyes and waits for the light to subside. When his vision is restored, before him is a nearly fully revitalized, blue blade. Kai himself also appears slightly more energetic than before.

Without hesitation, Kai slams his blade with renewed energy into Ventus's weakened one, effectively ending their battle in his victory. Deeming this enough, he retrieves Dranzer and runs off, without giving even a second look to Ventus who remains where he is.

...

Sprinting along the coast back to where he had landed before the grove, something glints on the moonlit beach and catches Kai's eyes. He stops momentarily and takes a closer look. Realizing that the object is a bitchip, he picks it up off the sand.

"Elfe?" Kai recognizes it.

'But what is it doing all the way out here?' he wonders.

Pocketing it for now, he resumes his dash and takes the path that Ventus had come from before.

...

Eventually spotting the helicopter that had visited the Alfhild's villa, he continues to charge upward, stopping only when he reached the end of the path. Upon making his landing on the stone platform of the temple, Kai hears a horrible shriek. He looks around on the temple ruins.

His friends stood in roughly groups of three scattered about his side of the stone platform. Their faces are filled with nearly uniform expressions of horror and shock. Across from them on the other side, a pink haired man gawks in equal awe as well. The source of their trauma, it would seem, is the one winged creature by the altars.

Due to having met the strange demon numerous times in his dreams and having been told of him nearly as frequently, Kai recognizes him immediately by appearance. However something is very different about him now than what he had dreamt. His face is partially covered in blood and the large scaly wing that once stuck out of his head hangs limply, as if about to fall off. He can also see the droplets drip down now, slowly staining the ancient stone pavement. Stuck in a pillar behind him is a familiar silver beyblade. Kai watches as he takes some steps back, clutching the hanging wing on his head in pure, physical agony.

Lok cries in pain. "No…someone…make this stop! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Do something about it…!"

"Lok…" Zane tries to approach him. He reaches out a hand to try to at least steady him but is slapped away violently.

As a result, before anyone could stop him, Lok falls over the edge of the cliff. He had stepped too far back without looking and the momentum from his slap had drove him even further back.

Zane reaches out to him to try to save him from his fall but fails, "Lok!"

A faint splash is heard.

Without a word, Zane removes his outer most layer and shoes before diving off the cliff as well.

There is now a moment of stillness and silence as those present take in what had just occurred. Wyvynn, having known the two previously is the first to step forward.

"I'm going to go look for those two." He tells his friends.

Tyson turns to him, "Wyvynn…"

"I know those two aren't the nicest people on earth." Wyvynn states. "Lok lied to me and is pretty much insane and both of them might not have thought of me as anything more than a tool, but I still did spend a good amount of time with them even if they weren't exactly good people."

They are still for a moment.

Wyvynn takes a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is, I don't feel right leaving those two alone when they need help right now."

Tyson steps up to him and pats him on the shoulder. "Well if you feel this way, we won't stop you."

"Thanks you guys." Wyvynn smiles. "For a moment, I thought you guys might get mad at me."

"Why would we?" Max smiles. "Just be careful, okay?"

"I will," Wyvynn nods. He then takes off by flight over the sea where Lok had fell.

The rest then turn to Lux who had stood still this entire time without much of any expression of shock or emotion over the ordeal. Although physically, her body is unharmed and appears completely normal, Kai could see the significant difference in her facial expression. There was not a trace of the innocent girl whom he had spent much of the past two months with. Instead, her expression is remarkably similar to the time when she had launched her beyblade for the first time in a practice match with Tyson.

Lux eyes her blade on the pillar for a moment and then turns to the blade belonging to Lok that had been left behind. Picking up the latter, which was conveniently closer, she attaches it to her launcher. After a quick cold glance towards Kai, she returns her attention to Tala.

"Lux, stop this!" Ray calls out to her as she aims her launcher at him again but she pays him no mind. He then notices Kai at the entrance to the temple platform. "Kai!"

The others now notice him here as well.

Kai turns from Lux to Ray and asks, "What's going on?"

"I don't know, but she's been sort of strange since we got here." Ray tells him.

"She tried to attack Tala when he went to check on her with Hilary." Kenny tells him.

Kai turns first to Tala who appears to be alright and then back to Lux who had briefly turned to him due to the commotion made by his presence. Their eyes meet but she remains calm.

"Lux…" he utters in an almost inaudible voice.

Seeing her this way made him feel a strange discomfort in his chest. Although not the first time he had seen her this way, it bothers him that she no longer reacts happily at the sight of him. What more, he also has no idea how to deal with this. Whereas he somewhat knew the cause of her last transformation, this time, he has not the slightest clue. From what he could see, she was no longer using the same launcher as before after all.

Kai is pulled out of his thoughts as a distant sound grows louder and closer. He and his friends look up to greet the bright front light of a helicopter flying overhead. It highlights the group on the temple platform for a moment, especially the uncaring Lux, before swerving away. Moments later, it turns again and begins to hover above the water some distance behind Lux.

"Is that…?" Tyson turns to where Lok's helicopter had been parked to see that it has not moved from there.

"Who could it be?" Max asks, puzzled.

"I don't know…" Kenny responds, equally clueless.

"Maybe they're responding to that distress signal you sent out." Daichi suggests.

Two more helicopters arrive moments later and practically surround the temple. All the while, Lux remains calm and still, aware but unbothered by the new helicopters' presence.

Kai then watches as the door of the first hovering helicopter behind Lux opens. Through the unfocused light of the other two aircrafts that allow him to see, he makes out a suited, knelt-down silhouette inside pointing something long in their direction. Squinting a little, he tries to make out what the long object is.

Soon realizing that the object pointed at them is some form of firearm, he freezes.

To be continued in the sequel...

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