Double-edged sword

The danger

"You want to do what?" Norman asked Ashram. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

"I want to visit New York City and the Bulls. Is that such a strange thing, Gold Eye?"

Norman shook his head. "No, of course not. It's just... you haven't been there for a while. You've mostly let Red Eye handle everything. So I'm just wondering..."

Ashram was just putting on his necktie. Norman sat in the back of the room, watching. Ashram trusted him, so Norman was the only one who really knew about his plans. For now. It seemed as if Ashram had a lot of trust in Brown Eye as well, though.

"You know how teenagers are, Gold Eye." Ashram chuckled. "They are stubborn and always want to do their own thing. Red Eye is no exception. And he is in a position of power. Reminding him of authority might help in the long run."

If only you knew, Norman thought, wanting to shake his head. He's been abusing his power for a while. Abusing of it to get rid of you.

Norman didn't say a word as Ashram walked away from the mirror to take his jacket from the chair. Ashram didn't put it on immediately.

"Then again, Red Eye has always had a stubborn streak, hasn't he?"

Norman didn't say anything. It was true. Anyone who knew Red Eye could attest that. He was stubborn, powerful, manipulative and smart. A dangerous combination. Norman still wondered what Ashram had been thinking, giving someone as unpredictable as Red Eye the reins of one of the most powerful Beyblade teams in the world.

It was like asking to be betrayed.

"How long will you be gone?" Norman asked.

"It depends," Ashram said, smirk ever present on his face. He was so sure of himself. Always. "It's really up to Red Eye. I'm just going to be observing him for a while. Seeing how he leads the team, how his Bladers act with him. You must have noticed how he is in interviews, right?"

"What do you mean?"

Ashram looked in the mirror again, watching Norman only from the corner of his eyes. He trusted Norman, but Ashram was a prudent man, nonetheless. It was why the WBBA had never noticed anything amiss with the charismatic and involved man, even though he had given up his team. It was why Ashram had taken care to build up his empire before carefully trapping every important WBBA official in his web.

"He smiles often, don't you think? He praises his Bladers, he shows engagement and a leadership ability that makes people often forget how he got his position in the first place. It's almost... deliberate."

Norman gulped. Ashram didn't pay much attention.

"Then there's also the issue with his training methods. You must have noticed how he speaks about training. He is open, experimentative. You'd almost think he was openly denouncing the Snake Pit's way of doing things."

"Surely he has just been trying to keep his cover?" Norman tried to reason.

"Perhaps." Ashram shrugged. It was a strange movement to see on him. "But there is also the possibility that he has been getting... ideas."

Norman felt a chill run down his spine. The pause Ashram had made, the way he was trying to talk around the topic. He wanted Red Eye gone. Or, at the very least, not at the top of the New York Bulls anymore.

"What if he doesn't do as you want?" Norman dared to ask. Ashram's smirk seemed to get impossibly wide.

"Well, then he'll have to learn his lesson, won't he?"