Okay, so this update is a week late, and I really don't have a very valid explanation for it. I was just procrastinating. So, sorry, and here's the next chapter! Hopefully I can also manage to finish both the next chapter for the new Stormflight and the next chapter for Aftermath of Nemesis, but I can't really promise that I will. Anyway, enjoy!

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the second round of the Wild Card matches, being held right here in the middle of the beautiful city of Cairo, Egypt!"

"Heh, took them long enough to start." Kyoya smirked from underneath his hooded cloak at the top of the stands.

"You seem more excited about this than usual." Nile remarked, half-turning to look at the Leone blader.

"We trained this team for a long time. It's only natural that we should be excited to watch them battle." Demure said.

"I've only got one question though." Nile said.

"Hmm?" Kyoya turned to his teammate.

"Where is Gingka? You'd think he'd be here, with all of the times that he chattered on and on about his young protégé." Nile said.

"He's here." Kyoya smirked, returning his attention to the stadium.

"Where? I don't see him, and that's very unusual." Demure spoke up.

"Don't expect to see him until after the tournament. He said he'd be here, but wouldn't be showing himself until later." Kyoya replied.

"Now, let's introduce the two teams that will be battling it out today, clashing for the chance to move on to the next round of the Wild Card!" DJ announced as the crowd cheered.

"First up: they may be a small team, but they're representing a whole continent! Give it up for the African representative team, Team Raging Fang!"

The crowd cheered even louder as Raging Fang walked out. One girl with black hair facepalmed and smacked a black-haired boy on the back as he turned too early and walked right into the wall of the hallway. The other girl of the team, another black-haired girl, immediately rushed over to make sure her teammate was alright.

"And the team that is from the country defending its number one title in these championships, please give a warm welcome to the Japanese representative team, Team Galaxy Flame!"

The crowd cheered, although it was not as loud as before, and mostly out of politeness.

Kyoya narrowed his eyes in surprise, peering at every member of Galaxy Flame.

"Is something wrong?" Demure asked, his sharp eyes catching his teammate's expression.

"He's not there."

"Who, Gingka?"

"No, of course not. I meant his protégé that he's always rambling about. He's not down there."

"How do you know that?"

"Gingka described him to me once. I don't see a kid with black hair, or anything remotely close to black, for that matter." Kyoya growled.

"Think something happened? We did get that call with the info about the DNA last night." Nile commented.

Kyoya shook his head. "Impossible. There are still four members down there."

"Perhaps they sent a replacement?"

"No, that's not likely. We would have heard about it." Kyoya narrowed his eyes.

"Legendary Blader alert." Arashi muttered under his breath, catching sight of the cloaked group in the stands.

"Huh?" Isamu and Ren glanced up, and, after a few moments of scanning the crowd, found Kyoya.

"Whoa! Isn't that Kyoya?" Isamu asked.

"Yes." Arashi replied, returning his attention to the stadium in front of them.

"Cool! Hey, we've been seeing a Legendary Blader in pretty much every country that we've been to!" Ren commented.

"Yeah, that's true! I wonder why? Have we just been happening to be holding the tournament where they are?" Isamu asked.

Arashi shrugged. "Whatever is going on, they're here. I doubt that they would miss an opportunity to watch the next generation of bladers rise to the spotlight."

"That would be logical, but we need to decide who's going first, and quickly." Shinobu said, spotting a tall boy with dark brown hair heading towards the stadium.

"And Raging Fang has sent their team leader, Blake Stone! Meanwhile, Galaxy Flame is holding a quick conference! They'd better get a blader over here quick!" DJ announced.

"Team leader? Arashi, you want to take him?" Shinobu asked.

Arashi shrugged. "What if we do a double tag-team battle?"

"Double tag-team?" Shinobu glanced at his teammate and raised an eyebrow.

"Isamu, let's go." Arashi said, turning and calmly walking down the stairs towards the stadium.

"Coming!" Isamu called.

Blake raised an eyebrow as the Hikous approached.

"We challenge you to two tag-team battles." Arashi said calmly once he and Isamu reached the stadium.

Blake narrowed his eyes at the two and half-turned to his team, who nodded.

"Morgana, come on." Blake ordered, waving his sister over.

Morgana quickly ran over, looking slightly nervous until she had reached the stadium.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a tag-team battle right off the start! It's Arashi and Isamu Hikou verses Blake and Morgana Stone! Let's get this party started, shall we?" DJ said, then began the countdown.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Let it Rip!"

"Go, Kerbecs!" Isamu called, sending his bey flying at both of the opposing beys, while Arashi hung back.

"Serpiente!" Morgana called, her bey swiftly dodging Isamu's attack, while Blake charged Chimera.

"Attack together! Chimera!"

"Kerbecs!"

Both of the Hikous' beys clashed with Blake's bey at the same time, causing an explosion. When the dust cleared, all four beys were still spinning, as Morgana had joined the attack and blocked Kerbecs at the last second.

"Lynx. Fire Strike." Blake ordered.

"Serpiente, Melodic Serpent!" Morgana said, following her brother's lead.

"Chimera, Horn Toss Uppercut!"

"Kerbecs, Triflame Strike!"

A second explosion filled the air.

"They're quite strong." Nile commented.

"They're carrying the hopes of their whole country, and that includes Gingka. There's just one thing I don't quite get though." Demure said, peering into the stadium.

"What's that?" Kyoya asked.

"Chimera. Its movement doesn't make sense with its parts. It looks like a stamina type, but it acts like an attack type." Demure replied.

"Well, that's logical." Kyoya muttered.

"How is that logical?" Nile raised an eyebrow at his teammate.

Kyoya turned to the orange and brown-haired blader and grinned.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Nile and Demure rolled their eyes, then leaned in as Kyoya motioned them to come closer. Their eyes widened in surprise as Kyoya whispered something in their ears, then they leaned back and grinned.

"Genius." Nile said.

"Exactly." Kyoya smirked, returning his attention to the battle, where a third explosion was marking the exchange of Arashi's Chimera and Blake's Lynx.

"Chimera!" Arashi roared.

"Arashi's slower than normal." Maru commented.

"Huh?" Shinobu and Ren leaned over the young mechanic's shoulder to look.

"Oh! That's it!" Maru exclaimed.

"What?"

"Arashi! Serpiente is creating a stronger than normal air pressure, and it's causing all of the other beys to slow down!" Maru called.

"So that's what's going on! Chimera!"

"Lynx, Cosmic Flame Fury."

"Fly, Chimera!"

The rest of Galaxy Flame stared as the black and silver bey barreled towards the center of the stadium, dipping one side down as it got closer, then suddenly flipping into the air and jumping towards the top edge of the stadium.

"That's it? That's how he did it?" Ren exclaimed as Chimera bounced off of the edge of the stadium, ricocheted off to the other side and bounced off it, then used the momentum to propel itself into the air.

"Chimera! Constellation Tornado Strike!" Arashi called.

"Kerbecs, Triflame Strike!" Isamu snapped out of his shock and sent his own bey barreling for Morgana's Serpiente.

"Morgana!" Blake exclaimed, stepping in front of his sister to shield her from the resulting explosion. Arashi and Isamu, meanwhile, dove off their platform to dodge the pieces of debris that were flying at them as a result of the explosion.

"They blew up the stadium!" Demure exclaimed, his sharp eyes catching sight of the shattered stadium through the settling dust.

"They have power. Of course they blew up the stadium. Me and Gingka did, after all." Kyoya replied as the Hikous and the Stones picked themselves up off the ground, peering into the dust in an attempt to find their beys.

"Chimera and Lynx, stadium out!" DJ called, catching sight of the two beys lying motionless behind their bladers. Lynx was heavily cracked as Blake calmly walked over and picked it up., then returned to his teammates, leaving Morgana to find out if her bey was spinning.

"Arashi…" Isamu muttered, looking over at his brother as the older bluenette quickly reached his bey, picked it up, and slipped it into his pocket with a speed almost unnatural for his normally calm nature.

"Did you see that?" Maru asked.

"See what?" Shinobu said, turning to the pink-haired girl.

"That flickering motion around Chimera, it was weird!" Maru exclaimed.

"Flickering?" Ren raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. That's just one more thing that Arashi will have to explain now. Hopefully it's not from damage to his bey." Maru replied.

"And Serpiente has stopped spinning, while Kerbecs is barely spinning! Galaxy Flame takes the first round!" DJ announced.

"We're up." Shinobu said, stepping out of their team box and nearly brushing shoulders with Arashi as the bluenette returned to his team. Ren followed, congratulating Isamu on the way to the stadium, which was soon replaced.

Kyoya growled.

"What is it, Kyoya?" Demure asked.

"Africa can't lose to Japan again! I will not lose to Gingka!" Kyoya muttered.

"They trained hard. We didn't expect attacks from above like that. Plus, just because Raging Fang loses to Galaxy Flame doesn't mean that you've lost to Gingka." Nile replied.

"You don't understand!" Kyoya snarled, causing his teammates to nearly jump out of their skins.

"Don't understand what?" Demure asked cautiously.

Kyoya stood and pointed at the group of bladers readying themselves in the stadium below.

"Those two teams are more than just teams representing their country. They're representing the combined efforts of the last seven years to rebuild the world of Beyblade, representing the efforts that we have ourselves put into their lives to get them to this point. I personally trained Raging Fang, although I had your guys' help, and Gingka, although he has been doing it from behind the scenes, has trained Galaxy Flame. To both of us, this is more than just a match in the World Championships to see which team, which country, is stronger. This is a match to see who has the better training, who is truly stronger as a blader."

Nile chuckled. "You two just turn everything into a competition, don't you?"

Kyoya grinned. "I have to beat him at something, don't I?"

"Don't you already beat him at weightlifting and rock climbing?" Demure asked.

"Yeah, but I meant something that actually involves our beys, not our physical strength." Kyoya replied, sitting back down.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Let it Rip!"

"And they're off! Will Shinobu and Ren win this round and sweep the match, or will the duo of Keo and Caroline be able to stop them?" DJ asked.

"Panther!"

"Yin!"

"Salamander!"

"Phoenix!"

Almost instantly, Salamander disappeared, while Phoenix burst into flames as Ren and Shinobu initiated their special moves in an attempt to end the match quickly.

"Phoenix, Molten Wing!"

"Salamander, Soul Ring Assault!"

"Panther, Magma Claws!" Keo called.

"Yin, Solar Flash!" Caroline ordered.

The stadium was instantly filled with a blinding light, as Salamander's ring of flames clashed with Panther's claws, and Phoenix lashed out at Yin with its talons.

"Keep going!" the four bladers called to their beys, as an explosion filled the air. Everyone in the stands shielded their faces with their arms for a few seconds, until the noise faded for a few seconds. The moment they began to lower their arms, a second explosion occurred.

"Keep it up, Salamander!"

"Panther, Flame Mirage!"

"Phoenix!"

"Yin, Solar Ingram!"

"A perfect combination!" Demure exclaimed as the copies of Salamander and Panther darted through each other, while Yin flipped Phoenix into the air and leapt after it, attacking repeatedly.

"And how is that?" Kyoya asked, although he mostly knew the answer.

"Well, since Keo's special move can backfire in a tag team battle, Caroline's idea to use her aerial move is brilliant, because there will be a very low chance that Yin will come in contact with Panther's special move that way. It's practically a win-win strategy for our side, and they seem to have Galaxy Flame at their mercy." Demure said.

"Break away, Shinobu, Ren!" Maru called.

"Phoenix, Molten Wing!" Ren called again in a desperate attempt to break away from Yin's constant assaults.

"You think a move patterned the same way as my own will stop me?" Shinobu challenged as he faced Keo across the stadium.

"There is still a difference between our attacks." Keo informed.

"And that is?" Shinobu narrowed his eyes.

"Mine will actually affect yours if you hit the illusions. Panther!"

"Salamander!"

"Soul Ring Assault!"

"Get him!"

"Kyahh!"

All four bladers yelled as two separate explosions, one in midair and one down in the stadium, ripped through the air.

"It's over." Demure said as the dust began to settle.

"Well, who won?" Kyoya said, gripping the back of the seat in front of him.

"Can't quite make it out yet… Only one bey is spinning, and it's…" Demure trailed off as he peered into the settling dust.

"It's what?" Nile demanded.

"Silver and orange." Demure reported.

"So it's not Panther, because that bey is silver and red." Nile mused.

"It's Salamander. Raging Fang's run in the tournament is over." Demure sighed.

Kyoya growled and stormed out of the stands.

Later that night, the Leone wielder and his two teammates met outside the hotel where Galaxy Flame was staying.

"I knew that you guys would come."

Kyoya glanced up and smirked. "Long time no see, Hagane."

Gingka grinned from his position leaning against the rail of a balcony above their heads.

"Oh come on, it hasn't been all that long."

"Phone calls and video chats don't count." Kyoya retorted.

"Okay, but it still hasn't been that long. I was here two years ago, remember?"

"And you got stuck in that stupid sand trap that we set for you." Kyoya grinned while Nile and Demure snickered at the memory.

Gingka frowned. "Hey, that wasn't funny!"

"Yes it was." Kyoya smirked, crossing his arms.

"No, it wasn't!" Gingka shouted.

All four bladers suddenly froze as the lights of the room right next to Gingka's flicked on, and a shadow moved towards the sliding glass door.

"Make yourselves scarce." Demure hissed, diving into a bush nearby.

"Your fault, Hagane." Kyoya snarled as he scrambled up a small tree to hide in the branches, while Nile joined Demure in the bushes.

"You started it." Gingka muttered, diving for cover behind a deck chair mere moments before Shinobu appeared on the balcony next to him.

"Shinobu? Did you hear that?" Ren called from the balcony next to Shinobu's.

"Yeah, it sounded like someone yelling. I heard talking a few moments before." Shinobu replied, peering out into the darkness. Gingka and Kyoya tensed and held their breaths.

"It was probably nothing," Maru said, "But I'll check." the young mechanic disappeared inside for her laptop, and soon returned, scanning the bushes.

"There's someone in the tree!" she exclaimed.

"What? Show yourself!" Shinobu demanded, sounding nervous.

Kyoya sighed a poked his head out of the tree, much to the surprise of the three youngsters.

"Can't a guy sleep in a tree if he wants?" he growled, trying his best to sound half-asleep.

"Oh, s-sorry. We heard yelling." Ren stuttered.

"Stupid birds." Kyoya muttered, disappearing back into the branches while Gingka clapped his hands over his mouth to hide a snicker.

"Birds?" Shinobu, Ren, and Maru looked at each other and sweatdropped.