"And on this glorious day in Greece, Italy, we're about to have our next battle of the World Championships! And mama mia, is this crowd excited!"

"Remember, they're most likely to go as far as throw things at you guys," Masamune said, as Team Shadowhunters walked down the hallway to their team stage. "I tried to put them at ease yesterday at the interview panel, but... there could still be those select few out there."

"You did what you could, Masamune. Don't beat yourself up," Toby spoke up. "Besides... I'm pretty sure we can handle anything they throw at us."

"Hopefully," Tyler said, as he typed away at a small tablet in his hands. "The first battle is Tithi and Nero... Hey, little man."

Tithi yelped, and looked up from where he stood behind Chris, eyes wide.

Tyler knelt down, "Come here."

Tithi scampered over, and Tyler showed Tithi his tablet. An image of a Bey was on the screen.

"This is Hellfire Furie," Tyler said. "Or, your opponent for today. It's a high attack and stamina type, with little defensive power. It's weakest point is its performance tip. It's pointed, and in order for it to spin, it needs to stay sharp. If you dent or chip it even a little, Furie's balance is thrown off and it's spin slows, so it can balance... You know what to do?"

"Hit the performance tip?" Tithi asked, blinking.

Tyler grinned, and ruffled the kid's hair, "You got it. Also... don't let the crowd intimidate you. Let it rile you up so you enjoy the battle, alright?"

Tithi nodded, "O-okay... I'll try. There's so many people here..."

"Let's introduce our first battle of the day!" The EU DJ got their attention, "From Team Rinascinta... Give it up for the one, the only... Nerooooo Konzern!"

The crowd erupted as Nero walked down to his side of the stadium, waving at the crowd with a grin.

"Ugh, showoff," Christina muttered.

"And from the American team... Tithiiii Habeneroooo!"

Tithi eeped and hid behind Tyler as the crowd began to jeer, "Ty-ty! I- I don't like this!"

Tyler frowned, and knelt again, "Hey... kid... it's alright. Remember, they're just doing it to unnerve you."

"It's working," Chris said, dryly.

"Tithi!" On his side of the stadium, Nero called. Everyone looked at him, "Come on down! I promise, if you get down here, I'll give you a battle you won't forget!"

Tithi peeked around Tyler's leg, staring at Nero.

Nero grinned, and waved, "I promise! If you just come on down, you and I will have a fun battle!"

"Fun?" Tithi questioned, then smiled. He jumped up and down, "Yay! A fun battle! I love fun battles! I wanna have a fun battle!"

The American team sweatdropped as Tithi suddenly jumped over the rail, waving his arms and hopping as he made his way to the Bey stadium.

"Eh, alright then," The EU DJ even seemed confused. "Now that we have our Bladers... Let's get started! Three!"

"Two!" Nero and Tithi readied themselves.

"One! Let it rip!"

Quetzecoahtl and Furie landed in the stadium on the opposite sides of their Bladers. For a moment, they were silent, staring each other down.

Then, Nero smirked, "Furie! Hit him hard!"

Tithi squealed, "Run, Quetzecoahtl!"

"Run, huh? Don't you know you can't run from a raging fire?"

"I may not be able to run, but I can fly! Quetzecoahtl!"

The golden Bey shot up the side of the stadium, flying high into the air.

Nero grinned, "There we go! You're good kid, but so am I!" He widened his stance, "Furie! Special Move, Ring of Fire!"

"Ascent Spark!" Tithi cried, as his Bey's spirit appeared it the air.

Furie picked up speed, and a literal ring of fire appeared on the edge of the stadium.

"I'm tempted to start singing," Christina commented. "I fell into a burning ring of fire-"

"Please don't," Chris begged, making his sister giggle.

"That fire is only a mirage... right?" Toby asked.

"Um..." Tyler tapped on his tablet, "... No. Furie is creating enough friction between the metal of his performance tip and the ground to cause literal flames! Tithi, be careful!"

As Quetzecoahtl slammed into the ground, the ring of flames shrank down, surrounding the snake like beast. It roared in fear and anger, a loud collision happening as the two special moves slammed together.

Once the light, smoke, and dust had cleared...

"Mama Mia!" The EU DJ exclaimed, "Even after that admirable show of power, both Beys are still spinning!"

"What?!" Christina, Toby, and Masamune shouted.

"Nero managed to withstand Tithi's special move?" Masamune asked.

"He can hold his own against a Legendary Blader!" Christina exclaimed.

"Just how powerful is this guy?" Toby demanded.

"Um... he just took a direct hit from Quetzecoahtl and his power isn't down but by six percent," Tyler said.

"WHAT?!" Everyone screamed.


"Hmph, those fools have no clue what they got into by challenging Nero to a battle," Luke scoffed, crossing his arms. Across the arena, he, King, Jasmine, and Sophie could hear the American team demanding answers from Tyler.

"What do you mean, dude?" King asked.

"Nero's powerful... I mean, even before Julian gave Nero his Bey, there wasn't a lot that could contain his energy," Lucas said, and sat down on the bench behind him. He leaned back, arms propped up on the backrest, "Nero has a lot of energy... Julian and I have discussed it, actually. Julian thinks it's because he spent so much of his childhood in that asylum, and that Nero never really knows what to do with all of that energy, because anything and everything in containment is... something that deserves to be punished. I can understand that, with the things my father put me through."

"What are you saying, Luke?" Jasmine blinked.

"So long as Nero has a lot of energy, he's going to have a lot of power behind his attacks," Luke smirked. "And you know how he keeps his energy levels up or down?"

"How?" Everyone asked, except Sophie. She already knew the answer to this question.

Luke grinned, "By battling or not battling... and his last battle was over a month ago, during the qualifiers... Before that... his longest streak was a week and a half, and he completely destroyed his oppoenent without having to pull out a special move."

King and Jasmine looked at each other, then back at Nero, who was still locked in battle with Tithi.

Suddenly, they were very much worried for the young Legendary Blader's sake.


"Hahah! This is fun! I'm having fun!" Tithi giggled, jumping up and down, "Oh, you're so fun to battle with! I don't want this battle to ever end!"

Nero sweatdropped a little, "Well, kid... I'm, uh, sorry to say, it's gonna have to. We gotta let the others battle too."

"I know," Tithi sighed, sadly.

"But," Nero grinned. "It's not like we can't have fun while we can. What do you say we give this crowd a show?"

Tithi smiled, happily, "Okay! I should warn you though- I'm gonna beat you!"

Love to see you try, Nero snickered to himself. "Alright kid... if you say so."

Apparently, Tithi didn't hear him, because he cried, "Alright Quetzecoathl! Ascent Spark!"

Furie? We've held back on the kid, but... Lets not use the same old move. We don't want to give this kid nightmares, but even our defense isn't strong enough to withstand that attack. How about... we pull out a new move? Nero thought.

In response, his Bey pulsed a crimson red, and began to whisk around the stadium at blazing speeds...

Literally. Streaks of fire was left in Furie's wake as she soared around the stadium. In the air, Quetzacoathl paused, and the snake god appeared, before beginning a rapid descent.

Nero sweated a little; he didn't have much time.

Anytime now...

All at once, it clicked in Nero's mind. The stadium was on literal fire, and Furie was gathering the flames up into a ball around her. In the flames, Nero could see her spirit:

With a cry, a red woman in black armour burst forth, sporting bat wings and wild, snake like hair.

Literal snake like hair- her hair was made of snakes.

"Special Move!" Nero shouted, "Hellfire Blast!"

Furie's spirit inhaled, flames surrounding her, before she unleashed a torrent of flames from her mouth.

Quetzacoathl roared in surprise, and a flash of white light had the entire crowd shielding their eyes.

When the light and noise cleared, everyone heard the telltale sound of a clink! as a Bey hit the concrete ground.

Nero hid a smirk under his raised arm.

"Aw, man!" He heard Tithi cry, "I lost!"

"And Nero Konzern wins the first battle of this EXPLOSIVE round!" The EU DJ yelled, and the crowd erupted into cheers.

"Hey, kid," Nero called as Tithi crouched down to pick up his fallen Bey. Furie flew back into Nero's palm, and he grinned, "You did good. That was a fun battle."

Tithi grinned, "Thanks mister! I had fun too! I hope we can one day have more battles together!"

Nero chuckled and turned away, "Yeah kid... me too."

"And we move on to battle number two! Mama mia, this is going to be a good one! From Team Rinascinta, we have the Legendary Blader of Mars... King!"

The crowd cheered as King ran out.

"And from Team Shadowhunters, we have... Chris Cadelle!"

Chris walked out, calm and collected, and with a sure smirk on his face.

"Hm, Orion..." Jasmine mused as she clicked away at her computer, "I know King has battled Chris before, but he still needs to be aware of that ball bearing feature of Orion. If that Bey can spin forever, King's best chance is to get Orion into the air and attack from below."

"Three!" The DJ called.

"Well, it's not like he can't manage it... We all know how King gets in battle," Nero shrugged.

"Two!" The Bladers readied themselves.

"And this may actually turn into a battle where they both exchange blows, instead of Chris just allowing Orion to spin there," Luke stepped up.

"Let's not forget the winner of this battle decides on if you battle or not," Sophie said. "One! Let it rip!"

Luke shrugged, "If I do, I do. If I don't... I don't."

The group's attention was drawn to the battle as, right off the bat, both Bladers called out their special moves.

"I'm gonna make sure you actually battle here, Chris!" King shouted with a grin, "I don't want a repeat of Beyster Island! VariAres! Sword of Ares!"

"Bring it on, King!" Chris called back, "I'm ready for you! Orion! Barnard's Loop!"

"And right off the bat, both Bladers pull out their signature moves, showing each other that niether are playing around! With the prospect of moving on to the next round of the World Championships, the stakes have never been higher!" The EU DJ's voice was heard over the crashing sound as both Beys traded high power attacks.

"After all, the last time the EU and Americans did battle, the EU got disqualified! The EU is looking to earn that glory back, and the Americans are looking to prove themselves as honorable Bladers!"

"Orion!" Chris called, and Orion shot forwards, slamming into VariAres.

"Hah! Nice try, buddy!" King yelled, as Ares shifted into defense mode, spun around the stadium, and slammed into Orion from behind, "But it'll take a lot more than that to beat me!"

Chris stepped back, growling in frustration as Orion landed on the edge of the stadium.

"Go now, Ares!" King yelled.

"Orion!"

Both Beys crashed hard in the middle of the stadium, sending up a shockwave and dust, along with a pillar of white light.

"Ah! I'm getting fired up! You've figured out what it's like to really battle again, huh, Chris! Ahhh!" King shouted, his Blader's spirit surrounding him, as his hair went from blue, to white.

"What do you expect King? It's been a while since we battled!" Chris grinned back, "Come on, Orion! Let's win this!"

"I don't think so! I'm going to! The EU is moving on!" King yelled, "Ares! Special Move!"

"We'll see! Orion! Special Move!"

"Sword of Ares!"

"Hunter's Barrage!"

Both Bey spirits appeared in the air. Red lightning flew down from the heavens, attracted to the war god's sword. Magenta light was fired at the god, and, in shock, everyone watched as the god was pushed back... farther and farther-

"Ares! No!"

The EU team barely ducked in time as a red flash flew by them and slammed into the entrance of the hallway behind them. They watched in shock as VariAres fell to the concrete, no longer spinning.

"And Chris wins it! The second battle goes to the American team!"

"Well, Luke... I guess that means you'll be getting you time to shine after all," Nero smirked.

Lucas sighed, though he didn't sound happy about it.


"His Bey is Snowstorm Khione... it's an attack type, with high defense as well," Tyler tapped away at his tablet. "Mainly known as a water type, but it's subtype is ice... Your Bey, though, is Wild Nieth. High defense and stamina type, with being mainly known as a nature type..."

"You lost me at 'water type', and 'nature type'," Christina blinked at the older man.

Tyler tilted his head, "Haven't you ever noticed that every Bey seems to control a certain element? Like, okay, example- Masamune has lightning, King has lightning, Chris has this weird space stuff, Nero has fire, Tithi has light, and-"

"Okay, okay, I get it... huh, I never have noticed that," Christina frowned.

"Yeah. Anyways... this will be a battle, for sure. You both have defensive Beys, but defense is primarily on your side... I'd go into the battle in defensive mode, if I were you," Tyler suggested.

"What do you know about Bey battling?" Chris blinked curiously.

Masamune snickered, catching the others' attention, "Oh... he knows a lot. Where do you think I learned how to beyblade?"

Tyler rolled his eyes, and tapped something on his tablet, "Good thing you're not going in a teamwork battle... otherwise, I'm pretty sure you'd be done before you could blink. Even though his first battle record goes back to last summer, all tournaments after that Festival of Warriors shows that Lucas isn't a force to be messed with alone either. Huh... it looks like he follows his brother's 3 second thing, except he uses a 3 hit version of it. It seems it only takes him 3 hits to get his opponent a stadium out."

Christina leaned over, watching the video clips Tyler had pulled up. She watched for a moment, before her lips curled into a smirk.

"Well... if he's gonna copy his brother... then I'm going to copy mine. That redhead won't know what hit him when I'm done."


What could this possibly mean for Lucas? O.o

Yeah, another update sooner than normal. mainly because I skipped class today and got it done. Why did I skip class you may ask? … personal reasons, along with the fact if I had stayed in English, I would have had a break down. So, I skipped, came back home, and finished this one.

I hope you'll be kind enough to leave a review!