Okay, I'm back again this week with another chapter! Not much to say, except: Enjoy! Oh, and free virtual cupcakes for everyone because this is chapter 10!

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the semifinals of the Wild Card for the Beyblade World Championships! Are you ready to see some epic battles?"

The crowd cheered.

"I think this is the biggest crowd we've had yet." Maru commented.

"Well, Chryasor is the team for practically all of Europe." Arashi said.

"True, but wasn't Raging Fang the team for Africa?" Ren spoke up.

"Africa has a bit less time for sports, and it's huge. Fewer people could afford to see the team battle in the first place, partially because of travel." Arashi replied.

"One more thing-" Ren began, but she was interrupted by the European DJ.

"Will the first two bladers please step up to the stadium?"

"I'll go!" Ren volunteered, spotting Destiny stepping up to the stadium. The blonde leapt over the rail and bolted for the stadium before any of her teammates could stop her.

"Well, I guess she's up first then." Arashi said, sweatdropping.

"And from our own Team Chryasor, we have the team leader, Miss Destiny Heart!" DJ announced.

The crowd cheered as the red-and-black-haired teen stepped up to the stadium, waving.

"And from Japan's Team Galaxy Flame, we have the sub member, Ren Kurenai!"

Much to Ren's apparent anger, the crowd started booing.

"Hey! What gives?" Ren asked, looking around at the crowd.

"Would all of you shut up?" Destiny yelled suddenly. "Look, these guys came a long way to battle us, so at least show some respect! If you're not going to cheer, then keep your mouths shut!"

Much to the surprise of the two teams, the crowd fell silent.

"Thanks." Ren said as she raised her launcher.

"Don't mention it. Now, let's battle!" Destiny smirked, raising her launcher.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Let it Rip!"

"Phoenix!"

"Virgo!"

Sparks flew as the two beys made contact in the center of the stadium, reflecting in the brown eyes of both girls as they stared each other down across the stadium.

"Virgo, Storming Assault!" Destiny called, creating a fog in the stadium that shrouded everything from view.

"Phoenix!" Ren exclaimed, panicking as she lost sight of her silver and gold bey, but hearing Virgo's assault.

"Ren! Blow the fog away with fire!" Shinobu called.

"Phoenix, Molten Wing!" Ren ordered, her bey bursting into flames that soon cleared the fog.

"Impressive." Destiny said. "But it ends here. Virgo!"

Ren tensed and held her breath, waiting for her opponent to make her move.

"Musical Trap!" Destiny ordered.

"Phoenix! Move!" Ren called as her bey froze in place.

"How is she doing that?" Maru wondered, pulling out her laptop.

"A trick worthy of Chryasor's team leader." Arashi smirked. "Julian Konzern has played similar tricks before."

"You get all of this information directly from Gingka Hagane himself, don't you?" Shinobu asked.

Arashi turned to his cream-haired teammate with a raised eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Last night, Ren and Destiny met Gingka outside the mansion, and he said that you were working with him." Shinobu replied.

"What?!" Maru and Isamu looked shocked.

"So?" Arashi said coldly.

"So that's how you know all of this stuff about the famous bladers we've been meeting. You didn't research it, Gingka told you. I'd dare say that he even told you we would be meeting them all."

"And if he did?" Arashi narrowed his eyes.

"Where is Zero?" Shinobu asked.

"I can't answer that." Arashi replied, turning away.

"Why not?" Shinobu challenged.

Arashi turned back to face Shinobu, his eyes blazing. "You'll find out sooner if you quit asking." he snarled, then regained his emotionless mask as he turned back to watch the battle.

"Virgo, Thorny Pass!" Destiny called, sending spikes flying at Ren's helpless bey.

"Phoenix!" Ren shielded her face as an explosion filled the air, sending Phoenix flying out of the stadium.

"Phoenix, stadium out! Chryasor takes the first round!" DJ announced, much to the crowd's excitement.

"That was a great battle, Ren!" Destiny called as Ren picked up Phoenix from the stadium floor.

"Yeah, it was, i guess." Ren said, then grinned. "I guess it makes sense that you won, since you're Chryasor's team leader and I'm just the sub for Galaxy Flame."

"You're a good sub though." Destiny complimented as she rejoined her teammates.

"Thanks." Ren muttered as she walked back to the rest of Galaxy Flame.

"Will the next two bladers please step up to the stadium?" DJ asked.

"Arashi, come with me." Shinobu ordered.

"Why?" Arashi asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Just come." Shinobu said, leading the way to the stadium. Arashi sighed and followed.

"And it looks like Galaxy Flame wants a team battle! Will Chryasor accept?" DJ turned to the European team, who were huddling.

"Jonah, Maristela, i think you guys should go." Destiny said.

"I work on my own, thank you." Maristela snarled.

"Maristela." a deep voice said from behind the team.

"What?" Maristela sighed.

"Go with him. He'll need your help."

"But you never worked with anyone, big brother."

"Go!" Ryuga snarled, his golden eyes flashing out of the shadows at his dark-eyed sister.

"Fine, fine, I'm going." Maristela threw her hands up in defeat and headed for the stadium, followed closely by Jonah.

"Ladies and gentlemen, from our Team Chryasor, we have Maristela Kishatu and Jonah Cross! And their opponents for this match are Arashi Hikou and Shinobu Hiryuin! With blazing heat underneath calm masks on both sides, this will be a match to remember!" DJ announced.

"I will not go down easily, I'm warning you. As the younger sister of a Legendary Blader, I will not lose!" Maristela growled.

"I can't lose either." Arashi muttered. "There's a Legendary Blader counting on me to win." the bluenette looked up, past his opponents, into the shadows behind Destiny and Dennis, straight into Ryuga's eyes. He maintained eye contact for a few seconds before smirking and raising his launcher.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Let it Rip!"

"Stealth Dragon Ninja and i will end this battle quickly." Maristela said coldly, although her eyes were blazing with her own heated spirit.

"Dragon Ninja, Stealth Ninja Attack!" Maristela ordered, as her bey unleashed a heavy barrage attack on Arashi's Chimera.

"Two can play at that game. Salamander! Phantom Fire Shot!" Shinobu called, as his bey suddenly multiplied and attacked Jonah's bey.

"Helios! Blaze Burst!" Jonah called, enveloping the stadium in flames.

"Chimera!" Arashi called, breaking away from Dragon Ninja's attacks to circle the stadium rapidly.

"Salamander!" Shinobu called, his eyes widening as Helios's heat began cracking his bey.

"Chimera, Triple Storming Fire!" Arashi called, creating a ring of black and purple flames around Helios's special move, which shrank in size.

"What?!" everyone was shocked. Ryuga narrowed his eyes suspiciously as Helios's flames went out completely. An explosion marked the collisions between Chimera, Helios, Salamander, and Dragon Ninja, causing the four bladers to shield their faces.

"Good thing I've been recording Arashi's battles and sending the videos to Madoka, that was amazing!" Maru exclaimed as the dust began to settle.

"How?" Shinobu demanded, turning to Arashi. "You've used that move before, but it's never done that. That's no mere copy of Zero's Burning Uppercut."

"That's the true power of Triple Storming Fire. It was never intended to be a copy of Zero's move, and i created it before Zero created Burning Uppercut." Arashi replied, narrowing his eyes.

"But, did that end it?" Ren asked.

"Chimera!" Arashi called, as his bey leapt out of the stadium and soared high into the air.

"Chimera is still spinning!" Isamu exclaimed.

"But what about Salamander and the others?" Maru wondered aloud.

"Helios, Final Blaze!" Jonah called, notifying the entire stadium that his bey was also still in the game.

"Salamander!" The startled cry from Shinobu came as Helios blasted Salamander with a burst of flames.

"Ultimate Dragon Destruction!" Maristela called, following Arashi out of the stadium and diving for Salamander.

"Break free, Salamander! Run hard!" Shinobu called, panicking.

"Chimera, Constellation Tornado Strike!" Arashi called suddenly, as a silver and black streak shot down out of the sky, causing a huge explosion in the stadium.

"Whoa!" the remaining members of the two teams yelled in surprise and fright as fragments of the stadium flew at them.

"Get behind me!" Dennis and Isamu yelled at the same time, stepping in front of their female teammates in an attempt to protect them.

"What's going on here?!" Madoka and Benkei said as they stepped up behind Isamu, Ren, and Maru.

"Chief! Manager! What are you doing here?" Maru asked.

"Well, you sent us all those videos of the battles, and we've been watching them on TV, and something just didn't seem right, so we came here. Who's battling?" Madoka asked as the dust began to clear.

The first to appear out of the dust was Jonah, scrambling to his feet and panting. After a few seconds of looking around rather frantically, he sighed, bent down, and picked up the motionless Helios from the ground.

"Helios, sleep out! Due to the fact that there is no longer a stadium, there cannot be a stadium out!" DJ announced.

"Oh, i think there can!" Maristela crowed triumphantly, pointing to Salamander, which was embedded in the wall high above the stands.

"Salamander!" Shinobu exclaimed, shocked.

"I assume this counts as being out?" Arashi smirked triumphantly as he stood and held up Dragon Ninja, tossing it to a glaring Maristela.

"Helios, Salamander, and Dragon Ninja are out! That leaves only Chimera to be found!" DJ said, peering into the still-settling dust.

"Oh, that much is easy." Arashi grinned, pointing as a breeze picked up and swirled the dust away to reveal Chimera wobbling in the center, but still spinning.

"And Chimera is still spinning! The second match goes to Galaxy Flame!" DJ announced as Arashi retrieved his bey.

"Arashi! That was amazing!" Isamu called.

Arashi turned and grinned at his brother before fainting.

"Gahh! Arashi!" Isamu panicked and leapt over the rail between him and the destroyed stadium.

"Due to the destroyed stadium and condition of one of the bladers, we will return to this Wild Card match at the same time tomorrow." DJ announced.

"Is he okay?" Madoka asked, kneeling down next to Arashi moments after Isamu reached him.

"He's just exhausted. Oh, you big idiot." Isamu chuckled, tears of relief falling from his eyes as he hugged the unconscious Arashi.

"Let's get him to a bed where he can rest." Benkei said, carefully picking up the bluenette.

"Alright, Isamu." Ren said a couple of hours later once they were all seated on the lawn at the Konzern mansion.

"Hmm?" Isamu looked at the blonde inquisitively.

"We need to talk, because I'm sure you've heard about this, and if you haven't, then Arashi's been keeping a huge secret from everyone, including you." Ren continued.

Isamu blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Me and Destiny met Gingka last night, late, outside, on that balcony. He mentioned Arashi's name." Ren replied.

"Wait, you met Gingka?" Madoka was suddenly very interested. "Was he alright? What did he say?"

"Calm down Madoka, I'm sure they'll explain." Benkei said.

"I guess i should start from the beginning." Ren sighed, and began narrating the details of what she and Chryasor's team leader had seen the night before.

"So that's why Zero hasn't come back, but why did Gingka run?" Madoka muttered once Ren had finished.

"I don't know." Ren replied.

"Maybe he doesn't want to be seen either. Remember the reason he left Metal Bey City in the first place?" Benkei spoke up.

"Yeah, because he was tired of always being followed and interviewed, so he stepped out of the spotlight, promising to return…" Madoka trailed off.

"And it's not time yet." Arashi's voice said from behind the group, which whirled in surprise.

"You're up already?!" Isamu exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Madoka demanded.

"Gingka didn't show himself, he hasn't returned, and he ran from Ren because it isn't time for him to return yet." Arashi replied calmly, turning away. "And it's as simple as that." the bluenette finished, starting to head back to the house.

"Wait a second." Ren said, causing Arashi to stop in his tracks and glance back at her.

"Last night, i asked Gingka how he would know when to bring Zero back, and he said your name. What does that mean?"

Arashi turned back to the group, a look of uncertainty appearing on his face for a few moments before fading.

"Simply that i am his eyes in the tournament. That's all." he replied after a few moments before turning away again and stalking back to the mansion.

Gingka: Okay, so basically, I'm hiding, and Arashi's supposed to keep me updated on things in the tournament?

Me: Pretty much. Next chapter: Finale of the battle with Chryasor!