Back on time this week! XD So, this chapter holds the final round of the Wild Card! Will Galaxy Flame win it, or will Cosmic Starlight get a second chance at facing Mortem Rio? Guess you'll just have to find out! Enjoy!

"Masamune! King! Long time no see, you guys!"

"Well, if it isn't Madoka and Benkei!" King exclaimed, standing proudly next to Masamune and Team Cosmic Starlight as Madoka and Benkei walked up with Team Galaxy Flame.

"What are you guys doing here? Did Gingka ask you to keep an eye on Galaxy Flame?" Masamune asked.

Madoka blinked in surprise. "No, we just came to see them and cheer them on, why?"

"Gingka told us to watch out for the DNA team, and asked us to keep an eye on Cosmic Starlight here and protect them if needed." King replied. "I'm surprised that he didn't tell you about it."

"Well, i saw him last night, but he didn't mention protecting the team at all. He did mention that he wanted them to protect themselves though." Madoka said.

"He's waiting in the shadows just in case though." Arashi spoke up. "Gingka is always watching for a DNA attack, and when the attack comes, he'll be ready."

"You seem quite confident in your statement." King commented.

"I am Gingka's eyes in the tournament." Arashi replied calmly.

"I see." King said.

"Anyway, these are your opponents for the next round." Masamune said, gesturing to the four young bladers standing just behind him.

"Nice to meet you." Benkei said.

"I am Ilirise, team leader." Ilirise said, twirling a strand of her platinum blonde hair around her finger..

"Melanie, first regular." Melanie said from King's shadow.

"Morgan Blue, second regular." Morgan said.

"Katrina Arnest, sub, but you can call me Kat." Katrina said.

"It's an honor to face you in this next round." Shinobu spoke up. "I am Shinobu Hiryuin, first regular."

"Arashi Hikou, team leader." Arashi said quietly.

"Isamu Hikou, second regular. Nice to meet you!" Isamu said.

"Ren Kurenai, sub, but don't underestimate my power!" Ren exclaimed.

"Well, let's get over to your hotel and then we can hang out for a bit before the match, shall we?" Masamune suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Madoka said.

A couple of hours later, the group found themselves down by the pool at Galaxy Flame's hotel. Most of them were in their swimsuits and swim trunks, with the exception, as usual, of Arashi and Isamu. Arashi had stubbornly resisted the pleas of the others to join them at the pool, and had dragged a complaining Isamu off to go train elsewhere.

The girls were soon enjoying a game of Marco Polo in the pool, while the boys occupied themselves with chasing each other across the pool area.

"Let it Rip!"

An argument between King and Masamune soon sparked a battle between the two, distracting the girls from their game and directing everyone's attention to the clashing of VariAres and Blitz Striker on the ground next to the pool.

"Are you two still trying to decide who's the true self-proclaimed number one blader?" Madoka laughed, leaning on the edge of the pool to watch.

"Nope, this time we're settling a tie from an eating contest that we had before you guys got here. Of course we're still trying to decide who's the number one blader here!" King exclaimed sarcastically.

"Striker!"

"VariAres!"

"Kyahh!"

"Whoa!"

Everyone shielded their faces as an explosion occurred, blowing away a couple of umbrellas.

"Hah! Not this time, Masamune!"

"Oh yeah? Then take this! Striker, Flash of Lightning!"

"Ares, King of Thunder Sword!"

"Chimera, Triple Storming Fire!"

"What?!" Everyone was shocked at Arashi's sudden entrance into the battle as an explosion occurred.

"Arashi, what are you doing?" Ren asked.

"Yeah, who are you to interfere with our battle, even if you are working for Gingka?!" Masamune yelled.

"If you don't start getting ready now, we'll all be late for the match. That is all." Arashi replied from the top of the nearby steps as he lowered his launcher.

"Huh?" Masamune turned and looked at the clock behind him. "Oh, so we would. Let's get going then."

"We can settle this later." King sighed, catching VariAres out of the air and heading for the steps.

"Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to see who will become the Wild Card for the Beyblade World Championships?" DJ asked.

The crowd cheered in excitement as the two teams stepped into the brightly-lit stadium.

"Where's Melanie?" Isamu asked in confusion, looking across the stadium.

"She's in the shadows of the hallway." Arashi replied.

"Who's up first?" Ren asked.

"I say we challenge them to a double tag-team battle like we did with Raging Fang, and get this done quickly." Isamu suggested.

"That sounds good to me. Arashi?" Shinobu turned to the bluenette.

"Isamu, let's go." Arashi replied, heading for the stadium.

"So, they want a tag-team battle, huh?" Ilirise said. "In that case, Morgan, you're with me."

"Right." Morgan said, following his teammate to the stadium.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like we have a tag team battle on our hands! Please give it up for Ilirise and Morgan, from our Team Cosmic Starlight, and their opponents, Arashi and Isamu, from Team Galaxy Flame!" DJ announced.

"We will end this quickly, and take the Wild Card spot so that we can repay Mortem Rio for our defeat in the second round." Ilirise said.

"Mortem Rio. The DNA team, i assume." Arashi said coldly.

"They're the ones who knocked you out?" Isamu said.

"In two single-blader rounds. That will not happen again." Morgan said.

"You forget that you have to get past us first, and we came to this tournament to defeat the DNA team." Arashi replied, raising his launcher.

"On the contrary, you will have to get past us first if you want to face Mortem Rio." Ilirise said, raising her launcher as Morgan and Isamu did likewise.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Let it Rip!"

"Take them out quickly, Chione! Special move: Frost Storm!" Ilirise called out the moment her bey's performance tip had touched the stadium floor.

"Isamu?!" Arashi called.

"On it! Kerbecs, Tri-Flame Strike!" Isamu called, using his steady ring of flames to counter the unpredictable shards of ice that Ilirise's Chione was throwing out.

"So, it's just you and me left then, huh?" Morgan called as his emerald eyes locked with Arashi's.

"Clearly. Chimera!"

Morgan grinned. "Scorpion, Fading Claw!"

"Chimera, Snake Bite Attack!" Arashi called as Scorpion disappeared.

"Where did it go?" Isamu panicked.

"Hey! Your battle is with me." Ilirise called, continuing to fire ice at Kerbecs.

"Ice won't break through my flames! Run hard, Kerbecs!" Isamu called, charging his opponent.

"Now!" Arashi called the moment Scorpion appeared to attack.

"How?!" Morgan exclaimed as Chimera blocked Scorpion's attack and sent it flying across the stadium.

Arashi looked up from the stadium with a triumphant smirk.

"Disappearing is a rather impressive trick, but the bey has to reappear sometime, and the most logical place is right next to its opponent for an attack. I've seen that trick before, and i know how to counter it." he replied.

"Very well then, try this! Scorpion, Super Stab Attack!"

Scorpion recovered from Chimera's previous attack and charged Arashi's silver and black bey, slamming into it with great force and shoving it up the stadium wall towards one of the pockets.

"Arashi!" Isamu exclaimed.

"You focus on Chione, I have this one!" Arashi exclaimed, as Chimera stopped moving and pushed against Scorpion.

"Not on my watch!" Morgan called. "Scorpion, Poison Fury!"

"Break away, Chimera!" Arashi called, right as Scorpion attacked with its claws.

"You won't escape!" Morgan called, as Scorpion gave chase.

"Watch me!" Arashi smirked. "Do it now, Chimera!"

"Follow him, Kerbecs!" Isamu called.

"Chione, Icicle Barrage!" Ilirise ordered.

"Now!" the Hikous said in sync, as both their beys leapt at nearly the same time and bounced off the edge of the stadium, with Isamu's Kerbecs following right behind Arashi's Chimera.

"Joint special move!" the two brothers called, as the creatures from both their beys appeared in the sky with a menacing roar.

"Whoa!" Shinobu and the rest of Team Galaxy Flame, plus Madoka and Benkei, were stunned.

"Triple-Headed Monster Strike!"

"Chione, Ice Prism!" Ilirise called, as her bey became engulfed in a shield of energy.

"Scorpion, Fading Claw!"

An enormous explosion filled the air, forcing everyone in the stands to shield their faces from the flying dust and debris. The cloud of dust soon settled to reveal Isamu sitting on the ground with his back against the wall, a look of shock implanted into his face at the explosion he had just caused. Morgan soon pushed over the overturned platform that he had been standing on, and climbed out from under it. Ilirise managed to untangle her limbs and stand up, having landed nearly with her teammates. Arashi was a few feet in front of Isamu, feet planted wide apart and one hand on the ground, with skid marks in front of him that lined up perfectly with his feet.

"These bladers have completely destroyed the stadium! Now the only question is, did that explosion determine the outcome of the battle?" DJ asked.

"That was impressive. They have a lot of power, that's for sure." Benkei commented.

"Yeah, but how in the world did they figure out how to jump out of the stadium?! I thought that was impossible!" King exclaimed.

"Apparently it's not." Madoka replied.

"Arashi figured it out first, and Isamu managed to copy him in the last round, as you saw yesterday." Maru said, half-turning to look at the group behind her.

"This entire team has been full of surprises from the start." Madoka commented.

"I'll say, because Arashi's power has nearly doubled since he first showed up!"

"What?!" Madoka leaned over to look as Maru held up her laptop. "He's been busy training then, and it's been working."

"He's been doing something that works better than my training?! How is that possible?!" Benkei exclaimed.

"Chione!" Ilirise's startled cry snapped the group out of their conversation and back to the battle in front of them.

"Chione, sleep out! Ladies and gentlemen, unless one of the Hikous' beys has stopped spinning as well, Galaxy Flame seems to have taken it!" DJ announced.

"Chimera!" Arashi called, clearing the remaining dust to reveal a heavily wobbling pair of beys: Chimera and Kerbecs. Morgan picked up his motionless Scorpio from the ground with a sigh.

"And Galaxy Flame sweeps the first round! Ladies and gentlemen, we will return in one hour after the damaged stadium has been replaced!" DJ announced as Arashi and Isamu retrieved their beys.

"Good job guys!" Madoka and Benkei cheered.

"You put up a great fight." Arashi commented, stepping over next to Ilirise and Morgan with Isamu at his side.

"Thank you. You guys did great as well. I was not expecting such a level of skill to be able to jump out of the stadium like that. It was an honor to battle you." Ilirise replied, extending a hand towards Arashi, who hesitated for a moment before taking it.

The crowd cheered as the two team leaders politely shook hands before returning to their teams.

"Good sportsmanship. One of my favorite things to see." Benkei commented.

"Yeah, it makes every tournament so much nicer to watch." Madoka replied.

"Talk about it. Don't get cocky too soon though, because Cosmic Starlight is going to take the next round." Masamune declared.

"Count on it." King added.

"Oh, we'll see about that." Arashi smirked, overhearing the two.

One hour later, the two teams returned, determination in the eyes of all eight bladers. Over the break, they had agreed to have a second tag team battle, despite the fact that a win by Cosmic Starlight would put them in a slight predicament for the third match. However, Benkei relieved their fear by recalling what had happened between Gan Gan Galaxy and Wild Fang in the original World Championships, a story which had helped them decide that, should Cosmic Starlight take the next match, their third battle would be a mixture of the two groups battling in the first two matches.

"Go get them, Shinobu, Ren!" Isamu called as the other two members of Galaxy Flame made their way to the stadium.

"Take them by storm, Mel, Kat!" Ilirise called before sitting down with a sigh.

"And good luck." Morgan said quietly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, looks like we have another exciting tag team battle on the floor today! Please give it up for Melanie and Katrina from Cosmic Starlight, and their opponents, Shinobu and Ren from Galaxy Flame!"

The crowd cheered as the four bladers stepped up to the stadium.

"Better be ready kiddies, because i like to suck the blood of my opponents when they lose!" Melanie said as soon as she reached the stadium.

"W-what?! That's just weird." Ren said.

"Vampire or not, we won't lose." Shinobu said calmly, although Melanie's statement had clearly unnerved him a bit.

"No matter who wins or loses, this will be a great battle! Bladers ready? Three!" DJ began as the group raised their launchers.

"Two!"

"One!"

"Let it Rip!"

"Go now, Salamander!"

"Run hard, Phoenix!"

Shinobu and Ren immediately created a formation, barreling around the stadium together, with Shinobu creating a ring of illusions on the outside while Ren walled him out with flames on the inside.

"Salamander, Blazing Ring Shot!"

"Phoenix, Molten Wing!"

"Nightmare, Lovely Death!"

"Tigress, Flame Sensor!"

Katrina and Melanie quickly responded. Much to Shinobu's surprise, Katrina ordered her Tigress to jump over Ren's Phoenix and enter the path of his Salamander, effectively stopping the real bey in its tracks and almost forcing it out through the pocket. Meanwhile, Melanie's Nightmare bey attacked Ren's Phoenix, and both beys were sent flying.

"I can detect which bey is the real one with Flame Sensor. Any special move using quick movements or illusions won't work on me at all!" Katrina explained to a stunned Shinobu.

"So i see. Impressive." Shinobu said. "Evidently i highly underestimated your skills."

"Apparently." Katrina grinned. "So come on then, show me what you've got!"

"Gladly." Shinobu grinned. "Salamander!"

Instantly, the silver and orange bey darted to the center of the stadium and spun steadily in place.

"Oh, so is your plan to use the superior stamina of your balance-type Salamander to outlast my attack-type Tigress?" Katrina guessed.

"For starters." Shinobu replied.

"Oh, i do apologize, but i have something to counter that strategy as well." Katrina said. "Tigress, Jungle Star!"

Shinobu growled as Tigress unleashed a heavy barrage attack on Salamander, creating a star pattern in flames on the stadium as it did so.

"Salamander!" Shinobu quickly dodged, causing Salamander to disappear as Tigress charged again.

"Flame Sensor is still going! Tigress!" Katrina called, as her bey turned around and slammed into Salamander, sending it flying.

"Nightmare, Lovely Death!"

"Phoenix, Molten Wing!"

Ren and Melanie were still going at it in a heated battle. Both only had one special move, and both had used that move at least five times in the duration of the battle so far, causing them to be at a standstill.

"Okay, this is starting to get old." Ren said as her silver and gold bey landed in front of her once again after being blown back by Nightmare's special move.

"No kidding." Melanie replied with a sigh as her bey also landed in front of her.

"This battle is going to take a while." Isamu commented, standing at the rail that separated him and Arashi from the rest of the stadium.

"Apparently." Arashi replied, uncrossing his arms and standing up. Isamu stepped slightly to the side as Arashi stepped forwards, placing his hands on the rail and leaning against it.

"Shinobu, Ren!"

"Huh?" The two fire bladers half-turned to look at Arashi.

"You have to work together! Ren, that standstill isn't getting you anywhere, and Shinobu, you seem to have met an opponent who is the perfect person to stop your Salamander in its tracks. There is only one way to combat this opponent, and that is to work together!" Arashi shouted across the stadium. "This is a tag team battle, so act like it's one!"

"Right!" Shinobu and Ren replied, turning back to the battle.

"Smart move on Arashi's part." Benkei commented.

"But it won't be enough." King smirked.

"We'll see." Madoka replied.

"Salamander!"

"Phoenix!"

"Nightmare!"

"Tigress!"

"Ren, target Nightmare. I can't take out Tigress, Katrina knows exactly how to stop me." Shinobu muttered under his breath.

"Got it." Ren replied.

"Melanie, go for Salamander. I can beat him, and you were at a standstill with Phoenix anyway." Katrina said.

"Huh, normally i wouldn't listen to you because you're the sub, but for this time, i will." Melanie said.

"Salamander, Blazing Ring Shot!"

"Phoenix, Molten Wing!"

"Nightmare, Lovely Death!"

"Tigress, Lava Blast!"

The four bladers shielded their faces as an explosion occurred.

"Get down!" Arashi yelled, pushing Isamu down as two beys slammed into the top of the doorway behind them, nearly hitting them both.

"Whoa!" Morgan and Ilirise ducked as a third bey hit the wall behind them.

"Three beys have been thrown out of the stadium! The question is, where is the fourth, and is it still spinning?" DJ asked as the dust began to settle.

"Salamander is over here!" Morgan called, pulling the silver and orange bey out of the wall behind him.

Shinobu clenched his fist and growled in frustration under his breath.

"Guys? Which two beys are over there?" Katrina called nervously as Isamu climbed onto Arashi's shoulders and pulled the two beys out of the wall.

"Nightmare and Tigress!" the bluenette reported after glancing at the beys.

"That leaves only Phoenix to be found! But where is that fiery bird?" DJ asked.

"Yeah! I win!" Ren called triumphantly as she caught sight of her bey, still spinning in the settling dust.

A collective gasp rose up from everyone else in the stadium.

"And, with Phoenix still going, Galaxy Flame takes the match!"

"Good job guys." Katrina sighed.

"Here you go." Isamu said, running over and handing Tigress and Nightmare back to their owners, with Arashi close behind him..

"Thank you." Shinobu said as Morgan walked over and handed Salamander to him, with Ilirise close behind him..

"Ladies and gentlemen!" DJ said once the two teams had shaken each others' hands and congratulated each other. "With their win in the second match of this round, Galaxy Flame has now become the Wild Card for the Beyblade World Championships! Congratulations, Team Galaxy Flame!"

The crowd cheered.

"Yeah! We did it!" Isamu and Ren shouted, high-fiving each other as Shinobu and Arashi smirked.

"And, with their position as the Wild Card, let's see who they will be facing next!" DJ pointed dramatically at the screen as a familiar group of bladers appeared.

"So, it's them." Arashi smirked.

"You know what team that is?" Ilirise sid.

"They took us out in the first round." Shinobu replied.

"Ladies and gentlemen, for the second time in this tournament, prepare yourselves for Galaxy Flame vs. Sheng Zai Shili! Whatever happens, this will be an epic rematch!"

So, obviously, the next chapter will again be showing Sheng Zai Shili facing Galaxy Flame. That battle also happens to be the finals of this block of the World Championships, meaning that it's the very last one before they face Mortem Rio. Which team will get the chance to take down the DNA? You'll find out next time, as i begin to wrap this storyline up!