Another day came and went in a snap, and Saiyna was, for one reason or another, restless. Something didn't feel quite right, and as the sun started to set, it aroused old senses and an alertness she had forgotten. The entire day, she like Kai had gone off to practice a new move. Since bit beasts could only know a maximum of 5 special attacks/defenses, she was replacing Kaalyian's Heat Wave Attack with the newest attack called the Sunspot Dark Inferno attack, a mix of Shadow and Fire elements. There was a lot of practicing involved in perfecting the technique, but Kaalyian and Saiyna were both patient and had very quickly mastered it. She started walking in the direction she had seen Kai go, following her instincts to find him.

Meanwhile, Kai was training like crazy as he had been all day, sharpening a new modus operandi that Dranzer had accidentally unleashed in a previous training session. Whatever the reason it appeared now, it must have been something that all Fire phoenixes shared, because Saiyna's Kaalyian already knew the Apocalypse Inferno Attack.

"Dranzer, Apocalypse Inferno!"

The cobalt blue blade was engulfed in a raging torrent of fire as it attacked the target cans in front of it, turning them into melted blobs of twisted aluminum. The attack was very draining, and the whole day's practice had left Kai with numerous injuries and he couldn't catch his breath.

"Aw, whatsamatter birdy, tired?" A familiar, mocking voice said.

Kai looked up and scowled.

"You…." He growled.

It was none other than Carlos and the rest of the Bladesharks. Kai picked up Dranzer and shot Carlos a death glare.

"What do you want?"

Carlos folded his arms and smirked.

"We're looking for your little girlfriend. I don't suppose you know where she is?"

"She's not my girlfriend, and I'm not telling you where Saiyna is." He retorted.

Carlos snickered and folded his arms. Behind him, Trevor, Casey and Stuart snickered at their former leader.

"You're really not in any position to be stubborn, considering you're outnumbered and outmatched."

Kai shot him a death glare.

"What would you want with Saiyna?"

"A beybattle is all. I still have a score to settle with that bitch for destroying my reputation."

Kai smirked.

"You had a reputation?" He snickered.

"When you left I attained a bit beast and took over as the leader. While you were off at your second world championships, Saiyna came into town and nearly destroyed my bit beast in front of every blader in Japan."

Kai raised an eyebrow.

"You'd better tell us where she is."

"A-HUM!" Someone said loudly behind them.

The Bladesharks turned around to see a very pissed-off looking Saiyna standing there, arms folded, and her golden-red eyes gleaming. Her white scarf was blowing out behind her the same way Kai's did. (Like Kai's in Season 1)

"Well, well. I didn't think you were actually stupid enough to get your kicks by threatening an injured blader." She growled.

"I still have a score to settle with you!" Carlos snapped back.

"Why? Because you and your stupid Gyrfalon was too weak for my Kaalyian?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Carlos scowled at her and whipped out his loaded launcher.

"You, me, right here right now!"

Saiyna rolled her eyes.

"Puh-leeze. You couldn't beat me then and you still can't."

Carlos smirked.

"We'll see about that."

Saiyna sighed and pulled out her blade.

"You're on."

"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIIIIIIIIIIIIPP!"

Both bladers let loose their blades, but to Saiyna's shock, Carlos' blade was shooting around all over the place, hitting Kaalyian with the same precision she did!

"What!"

Carlos laughed as someone walked up behind him. Saiyna's eyes widened, then narrowed in hatred.

"Boris. I should have known you would be up to something."

Boris smirked.

"Very good, Saiyna. I'm surprised you remembered me."

Saiyna narrowed her eyes in one of the most intense glares she could do.

Boris flinched slightly, but regained his composure and scowled.

"Boris made an offer we couldn't refuse. Now instead of being some underdog team, we're going to be in the tournament, and in exchange, we got new blades, bit beasts and moves." Carlos said with a smirk.

Kai glared at his former teammate and slotted Dranzer into his launcher just in case. Saiyna looked at Kaalyian.

"Kaalyian, attack!"

"Gaerhyx, attack!"

As Saiyna's black and red blade started darting around the arena, Gaerhyx went in for a frontal assault.

"Gaerhyx, now!"

The center of his blade started to glow green as a large falcon emerged, one almost identical to Gyrfalon. The falcon shrieked as it charged at Saiyna's blade, hitting her hard and making her yell out in pain as a long cut formed on her left arm, the same side as where Kaalyian had been hit.

"Kaalyian!"

The center of her blade glowed a furious red as the Fire phoenix emerged from its bit chip in all its glory, towering over Gaerhyx.

"Gaerhyx, Richter Scale Quake!"

"Kaalyian, Apocalypse Inferno!"

Both birds shrieked their war cries as they went tearing towards one another, Gaerhyx preparing an Earth attack as Kaalyian was surrounded by the inferno the attack was known for. The two birds clashed, Kaalyian taking a harder hit and getting knocked backwards. By now, Saiyna was sporting several cuts on her arms and face, but Saiyna being Saiyna, she was too stubborn to give in so easily.

"I'm warning you Carlos, back off now and it won't get ugly."

Carlos replied by laughing at her, mockingly and derisively.

"Gaerhyx, Tectonic Landslide full power!"

"Kaalyian! Superblaze Spiral!"

As the falcon reared up for the attack, Kaalyian was surrounded by a spiraling inundation of flames, creating a shield around the bit beast. But the only problem was that since the phoenix was protected, its mistress was now the target. Debris of rock and earth came flying at Saiyna, who put up her arms in the defensive position, bracing for impact.

As the attack neared, Kaalyian turned its head to see which direction the attack was heading, but the impending forces were not aimed at Kaalyian himself, but rather at his mistress! Kaalyian, helpless to defend its mistress without the dialogue command, shrieked as the attack hit Saiyna with full force, one piece of debris hitting her so hard as to send her into the air for a split second, one piece of rock causing her to spin mid-air before crashing down onto the ground front first, bleeding and wounded severely.

Badly weakened by the force of the attack, Saiyna managed to get to her hands and knees, panting and occasionally coughing up blood. Kaalyian was still spinning in the arena, too stubborn to give in.

"Hey boys, what say you we have a little fun with our old friend Kai?" Carlos said with a smirk.

Trevor, Casey and Stuart all snickered and advanced on Kai, who was too brutally injured from training to fight back and backed away until he was cornered into a tree trunk. Saiyna was helpless as the three ganged up on Kai, throwing punches and kicks without mercy until Kai fell to the ground, but they didn't stop there and kept on kicking him.

"Stop it." She growled weakly.

"What was that, weakling?" Carlos taunted.

"I said STOP IT!" She yelled as a raging inferno surrounded her, causing the air temperature to skyrocket as she got slowly to her feet. Fueled by rage, she charged at the three bastards hurting Kai and returned their beating with many times the force of what damage they had done. Kaalyian soared into the air, scaling up to its full size of up to 9 stories tall at full potential. The three Bladesharks retreated easily from Saiyna's wrath. She turned back to Kai, who lay sprawled out on the ground, and walked over to him, kneeling beside the other phoenix and taking him in her arms, cradling him protectively. She looked up from Kai up to Kaalyian, whose massive size was causing a drastic change in the sky-high air temperature.

"Kaalyian, just like we practiced! Sunspot Dark Inferno!"

Kaalyian threw back its head and emitted the most shrill, blood-chilling war cry anyone had ever heard as a massive inferno of red, gold and black flames came shooting out of its bit chip, surrounding the phoenix and its opponent. When it cleared, Gaerhyx's bit chip and blade had been reduced to a twisted blob of singed metal parts. The Bladesharks stared wide-eyed at Saiyna, who gently set Kai down and stepped menacingly closer, growling threateningly.

Kaalyian, protect Kai.

Without hesitation, Saiyna's phoenix shrank down to his mistress' size and stood in front of Kai, wings spread out to full span in a protective barrier between the badly-wounded Kai and the opponents. Boris narrowed his eyes at Saiyna, who shot back a fierce death glare, making the defeated Carlos flinch.

"You haven't seen the last of me."

Without another word, they left.

Still managing to stay conscious, Kai saw as Saiyna stepped closer to Boris and the Bladesharks in a threatening manner, and as Kaalyian scaled down and came over to him, spreading its wings like a shield to shelter him from harm. From his position lying on the ground, Kai could see Saiyna standing in front of him and Kaalyian, ready to fight, her slightly torn scarf flowing out gracefully behind her.

"You haven't seen the last of me." Boris growled before walking away with the team.

Saiyna's shoulders relaxed before she fell to her knees to the ground, then flat on her front with her head turned to one side. Kaalyian folded its wings and hopped over to its unconscious mistress, nudging her hand to try and revive her, being too weakened by the battle to heal her. Kai managed to reach his launcher, which lay by his shoulder, and pulled out Dranzer.

Dranzer… help me……

He felt a warmth go through him as his wounds were healed by Dranzer's flame. Revived by the rejuvenating forces of Fire, Kai got up off the ground and pocketed his blade and launcher, walking over to Saiyna and feeling her wrist for a pulse. Normal. Without another thought he turned her over and gently picked her up with one arm around her back and the other under her knees, same as she had done when Saiyna had come to his rescue at Boris' attempted rape. Looking down at the blader in his arms, he couldn't help but smile. Though her face was scratched and the black sharkfin marks on her face were smudged, she was still beautiful. Kaalyian cocked its head before retreating to her blade, which wobbled then ceased to spin. Kai managed to pick up Kaalyian with Saiyna still in his arms and carried her all the way back to the dojo. A note was pinned to the door.

Kai-
Gone to party w/ White Tigers. Be back late.
Tyson

Kai managed to open the door and slipped noiselessly inside. There was nobody there.

Good.

Kai went to his room and softly set Saiyna down on his bed. Without a moment's hesitation, he pulled a first aid kit out from underneath his bed and set to tending to her wounds.

Still weakened from the battle, Saiyna felt gentle hands moving over her injuries, the slight roughness of them being somewhat comforting. Her eyelids fluttered, and she looked to her side to see Kai bandaging up a long, deep cut on her arm. Seeming to feel her awake, Kai looked up as he finished cleaning up the lesion on her arm.

"Kai…. What happened?"

"You blacked out on the battlefield." He responded emphatically.

Saiyna said nothing as Kai continued tending her wounds. Neither phoenix said a word until Kai finished with bandaging Saiyna's abrasions up. She had never known that he had such a gentle touch, and it was sort of strange.

"Kai, how did those guys know you?" Saiyna asked in a slightly chary tone.

Kai sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"It's kind of a long story, but for a while I was the leader of a group called the Bladesharks." He explained briefly.

Saiyna didn't say anything, just looked at him when he started to stroke her hair. The plait her long hair was in had loosened considerably, making her bangs fall lower in her face. Outside, night had fallen on the city and looked ready for rain to come down.

"I guess you'll be spending the night here."

Saiyna shrugged and tried to sit up, succeeding with a bit of difficulty. While Kai went off to get ready for bed, Saiyna pulled off her scarf, shoes, jacket and gloves, letting her long hair down and using the sleeve of her jacket to wipe the black marks off her face. Kai came back a few minutes later wearing only his black boxers with the blue marks missing from his face as well. Saiyna still had on her dark blue cargoes and a black tank top. She made no comment about his choice of clothing but settled into the bed. Both blushed a little when they realized how small a double bed would make them pretty close together. Saiyna and Kai drifted off in a few moments.

Kai woke up again sometime later when he heard Saiyna murmuring in her sleep.

"Stop it…. Leave me alone….." She growled.

Kai rolled over to see her face contorted as if in pain, a cold sweat on her face. Without waking her, Kai pulled her closer in a way so that she was facing him. She seemed to ease at the feeling of his strong arms around her, but not entirely. Without really even thinking, he buried his face in her hair and lightly nuzzled her neck. Her expression returned to normal, and her fast breathing became easy and contented. Her eyes opened halfway.

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No." She responded sleepily before closing her eyes again, listening to his heartbeat.

Kai pulled her closer against his bare chest and eventually drifted off, contented knowing that Saiyna was in his arms.