Silvan Arrow: Holy cow, how long has it been since I updated this story?

Eri: Far too long…

Raina: Yeah, I have a score to settle here!

Eri: Not to mention your readers are probably ready to kill you.

Silvan Arrow: Eep! Please don't kill me! I'm just an overworked college student!

Eri: How about doing the disclaimer so we can get on with this chapter?

Silvan Arrow: That's a great idea! You two take care of that!

Raina: You've got to be kidding me…

Eri: I actually think she's serious.

Raina: Grr…fine…

Eri and Raina: Silvan Arrow does not own Beyblade or any of its characters. She just owns her OCs, like us.

Silvan Arrow: Thanks!

Eri and Raina: You're not welcome!

Silvan Arrow: O-kay…while I figure out what my OCs have against doing disclaimers, here's chapter 19! Enjoy!

Chapter 19: Blaze of Glory

The waiting is always the hardest part.

At least, that's what they say.

Right now, Eri was certainly starting to believe in those unnamed, metaphorical individuals known as "they." Her heart was hammering in her chest, though her outer expression portrayed calm and tranquility. That was why she was here, in the darkest, most secluded underground hallway of the stadium. She was sitting cross-legged against the cold stone wall, with her hands on her knees and her eyes closed. She had first picked up this habit before sparring sessions in her Tae Kwon Do classes. She would visualize her kicks and punches in her head before stepping into the ring. But this time, she wasn't visualizing martial arts moves. All she could see in her mind's eye was her beyblade clashing with Raina's in the highest-stakes battle of her life.

Eri, have I ever told you about how I came to be a sacred spirit? Pyrix asked, breaking into her mistress' meditations.

Eri's eyes opened and widened in surprise. She had assumed Pyrix had always been a sacred spirit. 'No, you haven't…'

Then I shall explain. Originally, I was part of a pack of grey wolves that lived deep in the forests of Yellowstone National Park. Life was never easy. Sometimes hunting was poor, and other times we had to flee human intrusion into our territory, but, no matter what, we still had each other. We were a family.

But then…one night, a wildfire blazed through the forest that was our home. Pyrix's tone suddenly turned bitter. While the rest of my pack hurried to move the alpha pair's young pups to safety, I turned tail and fled, too frightened to do anything other than save my own skin. But in my panicked flight, a burning tree fell on top of me, snuffing out the fire of my life. Her voice softened to barely above a whisper as she got lost in a distant memory from a past life. My dying breaths were filled with regret over my cowardice, and my heart cried out for a chance to make amends for failing my pack in the time of their greatest need.

Eri was now listening with rapt attention, captivated by the story told by an ancient voice that had transcended time and death. I can't explain what happened next, but somehow my spirit was reincarnated into a sentient being of fire, the very force that had ended my physical life. I vowed to use this new body and these new powers to bring life where once they had brought death. I searched for days and finally found my pack, but they fled in terror at the sight of me. They did not recognize me.

And so I wandered aimlessly for years, bereft of a pack, concealing my presence so no one else would see me and flee in terror. For decades I wandered without a purpose, until the day I felt the cry of a soul in pain, a heart calling out to mine. That's how I found you, broken and bleeding by Xhaiden's cruel hand. You were the first one to see me and not fear, so I vowed to stand by your side and protect you as much as it was in my power to do so.

Eri sat and pondered what Pyrix had said for several long seconds. 'Why are you telling me all this now?' she asked, her mental voice barely above a whisper.

Because I want you to know that the vow I swore on that day still holds true now, Pyrix replied resolutely. You are my pack now. You are my family. Raina and Dregore are daunting opponents, and I know you always try to take everything on your own shoulders. The only way we can overcome them is by fighting together.

A sudden memory flashed through Eri's mind like a punch in the gut, and she winced slightly. 'Oh…you're referring back to when we fought White Tiger X… I shut you out when you were trying to help me control my anger.'

…Yes, Pyrix finally replied. She didn't need to say anything else. Eri knew Pyrix well enough that that one word conveyed all the emotion and meaning required.

Eri sighed and looked down at her hands, which were clasped in her lap. 'I'm sorry… I never apologized for that. And you're right. I can't do that again if we're going to stand a chance of beating Raina.'

The tranquil mood that had settled over mistress and bit beast was interrupted abruptly by a fierce guttural snarl from Pyrix. Eri knew without asking who could elicit such a violent, out-of-character response from the normally tenderhearted and gentle bit beast. She looked up with a cold, blank mask on her face as Xhaiden stepped around the corner, his steel-toed boots making a steady cadence against the silence of the cold stone hallway.

"Somehow I knew I would find you here, Eri," Xhaiden stated, feigning innocence. "It's amazing how little people change over the years."

"I agree," Eri replied calmly. Her eyes narrowed. "You're just as cold-hearted and despicable as ever."

"Still a free-thinker I see," Xhaiden mused. "That was the one quality that made you less than ideal as one of my top soldiers. Raina, on the other hand, has embraced her destiny under my rule. I'm looking forward to watching her finish you off." He paused, and then added as an afterthought, "Of course, I could just do that myself and save a lot of time and trouble." He pulled his pistol out from under his jacket and pointed it at Eri's head.

Eri smirked, not flinching an inch. "Heh, is that supposed to scare me?"

Xhaiden smirked in reply. "I'm just reminding you of the stakes that are riding on this match." He clicked off the safety.

Pyrix snarled louder and tensed, ready to break free of her restraints and attack. Eri clamped down firmly with her mental barriers to keep the bit beast in check. "I know you won't shoot, and you know you won't shoot."

Xhaiden's smirk widened, taking on a wicked, sadistic attitude. "And how would you know something like that?" His finger moved to the trigger.

Eri shrugged nonchalantly, as if she were carrying on a normal conversation rather than staring her own death in the face. "Because you want more than anything to see me suffer at the hands of your most powerful soldier. Simply shooting me would be too painless. Besides, how would it look if I didn't show up for the battle and the police found my body here? Someone might suspect foul play."

A pregnant pause ensued, with neither individual moving. Finally, Xhaiden broke the silence. "Heh, you may be insolent and free-thinking, but you're still as crafty as ever." He flicked on the safety and concealed his pistol beneath the folds of his jacket. As he turned to leave, he called back over his shoulder, "I'll let Raina take care of settling our differences."

Once the sound of Xhaiden's footfalls had faded into silence, Eri breathed a silent sigh of relief. In her mind, Pyrix slowly relaxed and lowered her guard.

'They really need to install metal detectors in this place…'

It's all right, Master Tala. Xhaiden has left.

Tala slowly reactivated the safety on his launcher and detached his beyblade, careful not to make any noise that Eri could hear. He peered around the corner once more to see her still sitting against the wall. He watched her for several long moments, as if keeping her in his sight would ensure her safety.

Master, perhaps we should leave them be.

'Why, has Pyrix sensed your presence?'

If she has, she's keeping it to herself.

'Then I see no reason not to stay.' Understanding emanated from Wolborg across the link of their bond. Tala couldn't do anything to stop the impending battle between Eri and Raina, but he could watch over her and give her the peace she so desperately needed until then.

"At long last we've finally come down to the last battle in this exciting semi-final round!" DJ Jazzman shouted into his microphone, eliciting an early round of applause from an audience that was literally gasping in anticipation of this final battle. "Currently the Temporal Knights and Omega Platoon are deadlocked with one win apiece, so now it all comes down to one final showdown between their captains to decide who brings it home! Will Eri's strong, steady battling style be enough to claim victory for her team? Or will Raina's raw power and fiery temper prove too hot to handle? And now…let's give it up for our two competitors!"

An even louder round of applause broke out as Eri and Raina stepped up to the dish. Their gazes were locked, watching each other's every move, down to the slightest twitch of a muscle, like two predators sizing each other up before a fight to the death. The tension between them was so intense it was almost palpable. However, DJ Jazzman, who stood right next to them, and the audience were completely oblivious to that inner battle in light of the physical one that was about to take place.

DJ Jazzman's voice brought Eri and Raina out of their mental tug-of-war as they took notice of the dish. "As you can see, Mr. Dickenson and the BBA officials decided to make some changes to the dish in light of the intensity of the past two matches. Instead of replacing the destroyed dish with a new one, we decided to enlarge it to give your beyblades more room to unleash their full power!"

'Geez, he wasn't kidding,' Eri thought. The previous two beybattles had utterly destroyed all remnants of a dish and created a small crater in the concrete foundation that supported the beystadium area. Instead of filling it in and installing a new dish, the maintenance crew had expanded and shaped the crater so it was smooth and easily twice the size of a regular dish.

"Heh…this is going to be even more fun that I thought," Raina remarked with a smirk, glancing up at Eri, who glared back resolutely.

"Let's get this third and final battle underway! Bladers, assume your launch positions!" Eri attached Pyrix to her launcher and slid back into her launch stance as Raina did the same. Eri instinctively reached out to Pyrix through their bond, anchoring herself in her bit beast's soothing reassurances.

"3…"

Eri and Raina gripped their launchers tighter.

"2…"

'This is it, Pyrix…'

'Today you die, Eri.'

"1…"

"LET IT RIP!!!!"

"Pyrix!"

"Dregore!"

The two beyblades, one black and one crimson, ignited with flames and clashed in mid-air, sending a heated shockwave through the stadium, before landing in the dish to circle each other menacingly.

"Wow, both Eri and Raina are out to prove something today! They are already pushing their beyblades to the limit!" DJ Jazzman shouted in excitement.

"I see no need to draw out the suspense. Dregore, attack!" Raina ordered. Her beyblade picked up speed furiously and cut across the dish in its eagerness to chase down its opponent.

"I couldn't agree more. Pyrix, counter!" Eri retaliated. Pyrix mirrored Dregore's quick movement and met his advance in the middle of the dish. The two beyblades traded vicious blows, grinding and tearing into each other, until the stench of burning metal filled the air around the dish.

For several long minutes, the two beyblades were evenly matched. They dashed in, attacked in a series of blows almost too quick for the eye to follow, retreated, circled to pick up speed, and flung themselves at each other all over again.

"Heh, this is no fun. I say we make your last battle more interesting," Raina remarked. Her beyblade retreated and picked up torque as it spun in place. "Dregore, attack!" A shiver ran down Eri's spine at the sudden swell of power as Dregore materialized from a shaft of fiery red light and pinned her with his lethal gaze, like he was staring down his prey. He flung his head back and gave a thunderous roar.

"Pyrix, now!" Eri commanded. Blazing light burst from the bit chip of her beyblade as Pyrix took shape from behind a wall of flames. She howled a challenge to Dregore and crouched, ready to spring, a steady stream of guttural snarls erupting from her chest.

The two bit beasts sprang simultaneously, and the force of the collision drove the wind out of Eri's lungs like a brick in the gut and sent Pyrix reeling. Waves of brutality and single-minded bloodlust battered Eri's senses, which she realized were coming from Dregore. This was not a bit beast that toyed with its prey before finishing it, like Nithhogr had been. Dregore was going for the kill immediately. He lunged for Pyrix again with a ferocity that seemed to surprise even Raina, as if he knew the wolf was the reason Eri had lived after he had so soundly defeated her all those years ago.

Eri, we need to stop him now before his rage takes over completely and we have no strength to fight back, Pyrix said urgently.

'You got it,' Eri replied tersely. "Ethereal Flames!" she commanded, calling upon her special attack.

"Heh, you think that cheap trick will work on Dregore?" Raina taunted. "Let me show you how it's done. Magma Explosion!"

Geysers of lava met with rings of fire in a blazing tempest. As the smoke cleared, both bit beasts were still standing, but Dregore's attack seemed to have drawn more blood. The gold armor protecting Pyrix's chest was cracked, and her posture was slouched as if the force of the attacks had drained all of her energy. Dregore, however, wasn't done with his prey.

"Pyrix, hang in there!" Eri shouted to her bit beast as she continued to grapple with Dregore. The manticore managed to close his maw around Pyrix's left front leg, and, with a sickening CRACK, snapped the delicate bones like they were twigs. Eri cried out in agony, echoing Pyrix's heart-rending wails, and clutched her left arm as if it were her limb that had been broken instead of Pyrix's.

The sound of sadistic laughter reached Eri's ears, and she looked up to lock eyes with Raina. "This is just too funny! It's so much more enjoyable to watch you squirm. I'm quite glad I didn't finish you off earlier when I had the chance."

"What…are you…talking about?" Eri ground out between her teeth, trying to hold back the pain.

Raina gave her a perplexed, disbelieving look. "You mean you don't know after all this time? You remember the cloaked assassin that came after you in your sleep?" Eri didn't reply. Of course she remembered. She also knew that Pyrix had ensured that whoever it was would never be able to come after her again. "The idiot your precious bit beast caught was just a decoy." Raina narrowed her eyes, and her expression turned from amused to lethal. "The real assassin was me."

At that statement, the mental barriers that Eri had so carefully reconstructed to keep her anger in check shattered like glass struck by a sledgehammer. White-hot fury raged inside her like a wild beast as her gaze took on the look of a murderer. "…You!" she ground out between her teeth. It was the only word her tongue was capable of forming, but that one single word spoke volumes. Eri had been living a relatively quiet, peaceful existence for the past several years, free of Xhaiden's terror, until that one night when one of his elite assassins had broken into her house and tried to terminate her in her sleep. Because of that incident, Eri and her teammates had been suddenly thrust back into the world of hellish nightmares that they thought they had left behind all those years ago.

All the pain they had gone through since then…

Because of that one night…

Because of one person…

Because of her.

Just then, Pyrix's consciousness flooded Eri's, clamping down on the raging beast that was her anger with sheer brute force, desperately trying to prevent a re-hash of their battle against Rei. Eri, you must control yourself!

Instead of her mistress calming in response to her words, Pyrix's presence actually stoked the fire burning within Eri's heart. 'Did you know about this?!' she demanded. Pyrix fell silent, but she could not prevent threads of guilt from leaking across their bond. 'WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!' she lashed out, each mentally shouted word falling like a hammer blow. The beast that was her anger reared in defiance, and Pyrix gave a pained yelp as she was flung out of Eri's consciousness.

I did not realize my error until it was too late. Raina was wearing one of the decoy's cloaks to confuse the scents. I hid the knowledge from you because I did not want to see you react the way you are now… Pyrix replied remorsefully.

Despite the blazing inferno of anger rampaging in her mind, a small corner of Eri's consciousness still clung to reality. Rage and reason fought for control in Eri's mind even as her beyblade fought for control of the battle. Memories of her previous battles flitted through her mind in a tangled mess: her wins in the qualifying matches, her victory against Romero, her heart-wrenching loss to Garland, her disastrous match against Rei that ended in a hollow victory all because of her rage. Her mind lingered on that last battle as her heart clenched in fear. She nearly lost herself that day, would have lost herself if Tala hadn't been there.

'Tala…'

At the thought of him, that small, sane corner of her mind roared to life and slammed down brutally on the beast that was her rage like a steel trap, forcing it into submission and extinguishing its flames.

Eri let out a breath she didn't even realize she had been holding as the angry red in her vision suddenly cleared and she came back to reality. Well done, Eri… Pyrix crooned.

'Thanks… I just hope it's not too little too late,' Eri replied just before Dregore slammed into Pyrix again and a fresh wave of pain wracked her body, causing her to grit her teeth so she wouldn't give Raina the pleasure of hearing her scream.

Meanwhile, up in the stands, Tala was a complete wreck. His every instinct was screaming at him to charge down to the stadium all guns ablaze and set Wolborg on Raina in all his icy rage for visiting such pain and torment on Eri. And Wolborg wasn't helping his master's mental stability either. Seeing Pyrix in pain had aroused his protective instincts as well. He paced restlessly in Tala's mind, edgy and just barely contained. He constantly bared his teeth and growled low in his throat, and power swirled around him in the form of clouds of ice crystals.

Kai gave Tala a sympathetic look, which went completely unnoticed by the redhead. He understood some of what his captain was going through. He had needed to forcibly restrain himself from using Dranzer to fry Alannah to a crisp for what she had done to Sonja, but Kai knew it was even worse for Tala because he had Wolborg's instincts merging with and amplifying his own. Tala's knuckles were completely white from the death grip he had on the armrests of his chair, and every muscle in his body was locked as hard as steel, which was a testament to the effort required to keep himself under control.

"All right, enough mysteries. Where are you taking me?"

A lazy smile broke out across Brooklyn's face, which was mirrored by the carefree look in his eyes. "You sure ask a lot of questions," he remarked.

"No, I've been asking the same single question for the past five minutes and still haven't gotten an answer," Alannah groused, crossing her arms over her chest even while she kept pace with the orange-haired prodigy.

Brooklyn's smile widened, which only served to infuriate Alannah even more. "You know, you don't have to come if you don't want to."

"I would have left already, but I would probably get even more lost than I already am," Alannah growled. While running from Xhaiden, she had turned random corners without stopping to think about finding her way back. Now, as she continued to follow Brooklyn through the twisted labyrinth of halls underneath the stadium, she knew she would never find her way back to the surface alone.

And what frustrated her the most was that she had to admit this weakness to Brooklyn.

Of course, Alannah's constant rants didn't faze Brooklyn in the least. In fact, he was secretly glad to see her expressing any emotion, even if it was anger for the moment. It at least gave him hope that the rest of her emotions would follow in time.

Just as Alannah was getting ready to complain again, Brooklyn came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the hall. "We're here."

Alannah took stock of their surroundings. It looked exactly the same as all the other dimly lit stone halls in this place. "Huh? What do you mean by 'here'? And what are we doing here anyway?"

Brooklyn turned to face Alannah and indicated the left-hand wall with a wave of his hand. "I suppose you could say we're here on a rescue mission." Alannah looked closer at the wall he was waving at, and she finally noticed the door that blended in almost perfectly with the surrounding masonry.

A loud CLICK echoed through the stagnant air as Brooklyn extended the sidearms of his crossbow launcher and attached Zeus. He moved to the opposite side of the hallway and faced the door. "You might want to stand back," he said to Alannah. She quickly stepped to the side just before Brooklyn launched Zeus at the door. The resulting BANG echoed throughout the network of stone halls and kicked up a cloud of dust that had Alannah doubled over coughing.

As the dust cleared, Alannah sensed Brooklyn at her side and felt him place a hand on her back. "Are you okay?"

Alannah took a deep breath to clear her lungs and straightened. "Yeah…I'm fine." She looked over at the door and noticed that the lock and doorknob had been blasted off. She followed, curious, as Brooklyn pushed the door open with an eerie creak and walked inside. The small stone room was pitch-black, and it took her eyes a moment to adjust. However, the sight before her made her gasp in horror.

Sitting against the far wall, her wrists bound above her head by iron manacles, was Ramona.

The Swiss blader opened her eyes and raised her head weakly as the sound of approaching footsteps reached her ears. However, even that simple movement made the fresh welts across her back throb in protest. Apparently Xhaiden hadn't been satisfied with her performance in the last round, even though she had won, and had seen fit to punish her for her "failure."

"…Who's there?" Ramona croaked. The two figures moved closer, and, to her surprise, she recognized both of them. "…Alannah? Brooklyn? What…"

"Shh…don't try to talk yet," Brooklyn advised as he knelt beside the frail girl and pulled a skeleton key out of his pocket. Within seconds, he had picked the locks and freed her wrists of the restraining manacles. "There, that should do it." He stood up and held out his hand, just like he had done for Alannah. "Come on. It's time to go."

Ramona regarded his hand suspiciously, not trusting his motives, and glanced over at Alannah. Her teammate gave an affirmative nod. Gathering her strength, Ramona reached out with trembling fingers and took Brooklyn's hand.

Back in the stadium, the battle between Raina and Eri raged on with no end in sight. "Dregore, take them down now!" Raina called savagely. Dregore roared and leaped for Pyrix, his beyblade covered in flames.

"Watch out, Pyrix!" Eri cried just before Raina's beyblade dealt a brutal slam to Eri's and sent it crashing into the wall of the dish, kicking up a cloud of smoke. When the dust cleared, a whole section of the wall of the dish had been obliterated, like a bite had been taken out of it, and Pyrix was spinning in the middle of that gap, inches away from a stadium out. Eri, on the other hand, looked to be moments away from collapsing. Her arms were crossed protectively in front of her head and covered in freshly bleeding cuts. The rubble from the destroyed section of the dish was scattered in front of her, as if she had blocked all of it with her arms to prevent a fatal blow to her head or chest. Eri groaned as the sudden rush of adrenaline left her system and her body caught up with the fact that it was wounded and in pain. Above her, Pyrix's legs trembled from the effort required just to stay on her feet, which was even more difficult because she couldn't put any weight on her broken left foreleg.

"I can't believe that! Raina purposefully made Dregore crash into the dish so she could aim all that rubble at Eri! If that's not a foul, I don't know what is!" Nakia exclaimed to no one in particular.

The officials cannot do anything about it, I'm afraid, Uskadu replied. Raina was very shrewd by using that dust cloud to hide any foul play.

Nakia sighed, knowing her bit beast was right. She glanced down at Sonja, who was still lying on the bench unconscious. 'I just wish there was something more I could do…'

"Heh…you are such a fool, Eri," Raina taunted. "Your whole team is a bunch of fools, but you are by far the worst. You all think you can become stronger by forming bonds with your bit beasts, but all it does is handicap your performance in battle. How are you supposed to fight when you feel the same pain as your bit beast?" Eri didn't respond. In fact, she couldn't respond. The pain was so great that it took all of her mental willpower to keep it in check. "And of all your teammates, you feel your bit beast's pain more than the other three put together! You think it makes you strong, but in reality it makes you weak. I, on the other hand, have become so powerful on my own that I don't need any sort of bond with Dregore."

"And how…do you think…he feels about that?" Eri rasped between breaths.

"Oh that's easy. He doesn't," Raina replied simply. "Xhaiden took care of that a long time ago. He erased all of Dregore's emotions except his hatred and bloodlust, which makes him the ideal weapon for battle." As if responding to her words, Dregore crouched lower and snarled menacingly, baring his teeth. "And now I will show you what I mean." Raina's beyblade picked up torque and began giving off waves of sweltering heat. "Magma Explosion!"

'What?! She's using it again?!' Eri thought desperately, but the rest of her thoughts were drowned out by Dregore's ear-splitting roar. Jets of molten hot magma spewed upwards from the cracks already present in the dish and made a beeline for Pyrix and Eri. She didn't have enough strength to call upon her final attack, which only left one option. "Volcanic Refuge!" Eri called desperately, throwing whatever energy she had left into her defensive technique. Pyrix howled and called up jets of lava as well, which circled her in a protective barrier just before Dregore's attack made contact. The resulting explosion sent up a cloud of soot, smoke, and ash that blanketed the entire stadium, completely hiding the dish from view.

Eri was the first to reappear from the cloud of smog. The raw power of the collision between the two bit beasts had pushed her several feet back from the dish and forced her to her knees. Her arms were once again crossed in front of her head and painted red from her blood. Pyrix emerged from the cloud next and looked to be on the verge of collapse. Raina and Dregore, however, looked completely unfazed.

Eri's breath came in ragged gasps as she struggled desperately to draw enough air into her lungs. 'Is this really how it's going to end? Have we come this far just to fail at the very last moment?' Her vision started to go blurry, and her body shivered from blood loss and shock. And the pain. Oh, the pain was more than she could bear. Her entire body throbbed with it, breathed it, was it.

'I can't… The pain…is too much… I'm sorry, everyone…' Eri whispered with her thoughts as her eyelids drifted shut in resignation of her fate.

"ERI!!!!"

Eri's eyes flew open at the sound of three familiar voices calling her name in unison. She turned her head around, and her eyes about bulged out of her sockets at the first person she saw.

Hina was standing in front of the bench, her face and arms still covered in bandages. Spencer stood by her side with an arm around her waist and one of her arms slung across his shoulders to help support her weight. "You can do it, Eri! Don't give up!" she shouted.

Nakia was on her feet as well on Hina's other side. She cupped her hands around her mouth and exclaimed, "Yeah, show Raina who's boss!"

Eri's gaze fell on the last person with disbelief as Sonja also stood beside her teammates. "We all believe in you Eri because you've never let us down before," she stated simply with a reassuring smile.

"You guys…" Eri trailed off, overwhelmed by a sudden rush of emotion. She happened to glance up near the top of the stands to see Brooklyn standing behind a railing, flanked on either side by Alannah and Ramona. Her eyes locked with the prodigy for a brief moment, and he gave her an encouraging nod.

A sudden wave of cold rushed through Eri's body, starting at the center and radiating outwards to her arms and legs, numbing her pain. The relief was instantaneous, like taking a plunge into a pool on a hot summer day. A husky male voice sounded in her mind. Don't forget, Tala and I are with you as well, Wolborg reminded her gently. Eri felt Wolborg extend the same cooling relief to Pyrix, and her trembling stopped as he softly stole away her pain.

Eri's eyes fell on Tala last, and he held her gaze for several long moments. He didn't cheer or shout out encouragement. It just wasn't in his character. But that didn't matter. The way he looked at her, with so much support, concern, and love, was enough to assure her that, yes, even he believed in her and that she wasn't alone.

'Wait…' Eri's heart stalled for one long, agonizing beat. 'I'm not alone…' The truth finally took root in her heart, shattering the mirror of lies that had been reflected in her actions for so many years. 'I've never been alone, not even during those hellish years in Xhaiden's Abbey, because I had Pyrix and my teammates by my side. Which means…' She turned back to stare at Raina with renewed determination. '…I'm certainly not alone in this battle either.' A smirk appeared on her face.

"Heh…what's so funny?" Raina taunted. "Have you finally decided to call it quits and accept your fate?"

Eri's smirk widened. "Actually, I was just thinking that I almost feel sorry for you," she replied as she staggered to her feet, "because for all your boasting, you have still doomed yourself to lose this battle because you're alone."

Raina's glare turned savage. "Why you…!" Her rage peaked in a split second as something snapped in the back of her mind. "I'LL KILL YOU!!!!!" All at once, the mental barriers she had maintained for years to keep Dregore in check shattered, and all that suppressed power ignited around him in a raging inferno as he reared back on his hind legs, flung his head to the sky, and bellowed a savage war cry, his wings outspread.

'Pyrix, are you prepared to put everything on the line, right here, right now?' Eri asked.

Pyrix knew full well what Eri was asking, but she didn't hesitate in her response. Always, Eri. Always…

'Then let's finish this once and for all…together.'

Eri's hands clenched into fists at her side, and a red aura ignited around her body that blazed like fire, though it did not burn her skin. She poured out every last ounce of strength and determination left in her soul, drawing from the support she felt from those dear to her, and sent that energy straight to Pyrix. Fresh waves of red-hot power swirled around her in a hypnotic dance, and she threw her head to the sky in an ear-splitting howl at the same time that she placed her once-broken leg firmly on the ground. The tufts of flame around her paws and the fire that made up her tail blazed stronger than ever.

Seeing Eri and Pyrix come back so strongly sent Raina over the top. "I'll send you to your grave! Dregore! HELLFIRE BARRAGE!!!!"

Dregore leaped into the sky with a vicious roar, blazing like the reincarnation of the volcano. He spewed fireballs from his mouth the size of his body that rained down towards Eri and Pyrix.

"This ends now! OBLIVION INFERNO!!!!" Pyrix charged straight up into Dregore's deadly rain with her own battle cry, shrouded in fire that burned like the sun. To everyone's surprise and Raina's horror, Pyrix absorbed each of Dregore's fireballs into her own blazing aura to stoke her attack. The wolf and manticore lunged for each other's throats with tooth and claw as their beyblades, also cloaked in flames, charged for one final blow.

The resulting collision and explosion sent up a swirling column of fire that reached heavenward to the ceiling. Before it could reach the top, however, all the emergency sprinklers on the ceiling kicked on, bathing the stadium with a steady mist and clearing the caustic smoke.

DJ Jazzman staggered back to the dish in time to view the results of that final clash of metal, bit beasts, and wills. The dish and its concrete foundation were destroyed beyond hope of repair; the only places still intact were the scant square feet where the two competitors still stood. Pyrix and Dregore were nowhere to be seen, having completely exhausted their power.

The sound of a beyblade spinning broke through the sound of falling water, and a familiar red beyblade appeared from the last wisps of smoke in front of its mistress. Raina stood frozen in disbelief as she stared first at her unmoving beyblade and then at the person standing across from her who had, in spite of everything she had thrown at her, escaped death once again.

Eri closed her eyes and tilted her head upwards to welcome the cooling water. A smiled worked its way across her lips as an expression of serenity and peace settled across her face.

Then Eri's legs buckled, and she sank to her knees before falling face first to the ground…

…at the very same instant that her beyblade and bit chip shattered.

End chapter 19

Author's Note: Whew…I think I need to catch my breath after that one! I hope that last battle scene was satisfactory. I tried to make it really exciting without being completely over the top, so please let me know what you think of it.

And now for…an IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

I have re-posted chapter 1 of this story with some extra scenes that I think do a better job of kicking off the story, setting up the conflict, and introducing the Temporal Knights before they all meet up in Russia. To be honest, I was never fully satisfied with chapter 1 when I posted it the first time, but now I think it's a lot better. My writing style has been changing and hopefully improving as I have continued this story, so I think I'm at a point now where I can go back and really make some beneficial changes to the first chapter. I highly encourage everyone to go back and at least read the new stuff and tell me if you think it works.

All right, enough chitchat out of me. Please leave a review and tell me what you thought of this chapter! Take care, everyone!