Valt Aoi: The Battle for the Lost (Book 3!)

Ep 19: The Project

Phi walked down the hallway with his usual smirk on his face. But there was something off about his appearance.

Ever since Theodore helped Phi upgrade Phoenix, Phi had been distant with his own agenda. Lately things had been getting rather boring for the Lord of Destruction.

He knew he should've been training or preparing for the tournament but lately it seemed pointless...

Even toying with the corrupted bladers seemed boring.

To some people this tournament everything, to some this would make or break their career. But to others this could be potentially their last battle.

This usually was the last tournament for while, after the tournament bladers tended to take breaks or go back and spend time with their family.

Family. Phi chuckled at the word. It seemed so...foreign to him. Hyde, his own brother, had turned traitor against his cause. They were changing everything, and yet he had sided with Valt and Shu. He already had accepted their relationship was never going to be the way most sibling's were but in a small way it still hurt a little.

But right now Hyde was the least of his problems, walking into Theodore's office he was hunched over his desk typing on his computer.

"Phi, not who I was expecting considering you've been distant lately."

"I could say the same thing about you Theodore, you spend most days hunched over your computer answering emails and doing paperwork."

"What's wrong Phi? The only times you come in here are for when I need you or when you need me for something."

" I guess I've just been a little bored lately."

"Bored huh, I've got an idea. I was going to do this next week but why not now? You could help me move all my old gear from the old Snake Pit to here."

Something in Phi snapped, it was hard to believe this was the same man who nearly ruled over the blading world, the same world who taught Phi how to take control of other bladers resonance and yet the same man was doing paperwork?

"You see Theodore that's your problem, you're worrying to much about the little things when you should be..."

"No Phi that's your problem, you've been so focused on your own agenda lately you haven't seen the bigger picture. Bladers are starting to break free from your grip, bladers like Fubuki, Diago and Toko Aoi. If this keeps up they could potentially start and uprise. Our best weapon is our anytomity. Which is why when the tournament starts up no one will know who's who."

"True but the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. We need to find ways to crack Valt and Shu."

"Speaking of our power couple before I took care of the Count he informed me Valt had been having nightmares of us lately and of Red Eye."

"Interesting."

"Interesting indeed, it seems like Valt is starting to crack but out of all the bladers at BC Sol he's the hardest to get to. If he went missing then bladers from would rally behind his untimely demise. Meanwhile Shu Kurenai on the other hand is too smart for us, he fell for it once but he won't fall for it again."

"True, and then you have Lui Shirosagi, the wild card. I'm surprised Valt managed to get him on his side at all. I would've figured he would've stayed out of this."

Theodore went back to typing on the computer. Leaning to the side he looked Phi in the eye and asked: Why did you really come in here Phi? I know you aren't looking for a conversation considering you've been distant lately."

"Isn't it obvious?" Phi walked over to the power cord for Theodore's computer and he unplugged the outlet. The computer blacked out powering down. Paying attention to Phi something about him had changed, he seemed hungry. Hungry for power.

"You know Theodore we've be distant lately and I have been busy with my own schedule. I'll give you that but I can tell I'm not the only one...bored. We've both seemed to lost our way being cooped up here, this is a big place but it's easy to tell there's tension between us."

"What are you trying to say Phi?"

"What I'm saying is.... take Valt Aoi for example, we may think he's breaking now but we both know for a fact he'll come around later just when we least expect it. My point is Theodore, we can't be cracking just because of some group of kids in middle school we need to be on the same page, we need to be more unified, or synchronized."

Theodore still looked confused which only made him smile even more.

"I could use some help on a project I've been working on lately and with you being a former blader I could use your insight."

Theodore placed two of his fingers on the bridge of his nose squinting his eyes, his headache was beginning to worsen. Searching through his desk he pulled out drawers frantically until he found what he was looking for: a small orange bottle full of pills. His eyes started glowing blue. Opening the small bottle he took two pills easily swallowing them. Once they were gone Thedore had calmed down and his eyes had stopped glowing.

Phi made a mental note of all of this from the pill bottle to the panic attack, it seemed like Theodore was trying to hide something and that something had to do with those pills. But what?

"I'm going to go on a drive, maybe it'll go clear my head."

Getting up from his seat Theodore started to put on his coat, but as he reached for the door Phi didn't move, blocking the doorway.

Theodore let out a tired sigh, Phi may be the self proclaimed Lord of Destruction but despite how powerful he was, sometimes he acted like a child at times.

"Fine Phi, but only for a little bit."

"Trust me Theodore this'll be worth your time."

Leading Theodore down the hallway he stopped in front of a big metal door. Phi held out his wrist, on it was his own symbol for destruction. It marked every blader under his control. Including ones that didn't even know it.

The door glowed purple and opened slowly creaking with age. Theodore could tell this part of the Dread Tower hadn't been used in a very long time. Until now.

Stepping inside the temperature instantly changed and the mood became tense. The door shut behind the pair.

******

Walking out of the cold room the pair walked side by side.

"You know I've been bored for so long and things have been a little slow lately.  All I do is answer emails and do paperwork. I've almost forgotten about this feeling, but this...getting my hands dirty!"

Theodore balled his hands with excitement.

"It's so exhilarating, it's reminded me why I wanted to be a villain in the first place. You and I will rule this tournament and the blading world will fall to our knees with this little project of yours."

Phi nodded his head smiling.

"You were right Phi this what I've needed. No, this is what we've both needed; we needed to go back to our roots."

"Yes, which is why Valt Aoi has no clue what's coming. He may have faced the worlds best bladers but this will be no ordinary tournament and he has no clue what's coming."