"Shu, Shu, Shu, Shu, Shu!" Valt looked around at his friends, who had all started chanting Shu's name. He smiled. He was sure that Shu was going to win, but something bothered him. When Valt had gone back to Japan to fix Valtryek he had run into Orochi Ginba. His words reverberated in his head. "Something was off about Aiger's sound when he battled you. I could almost hear something else under there. Something that sounded exactly like the sound of Phi and Phoenix. Be careful around them, Valt. There is something going on here, and I don't like the sound of it at all." That had been stuck in Valts head for a very long time, but now that he saw Aiger, he was sure that he had been freed from his dark resonance. And he had total faith that Shu would be able to defeat Phi, and end whatever darkness roiled inside him, right here and now. By now the chanting had been picked up by the whole stadium.
"Thanks guys," Valt said, then he joined in on the chanting.
"SHU! SHU! SHU! SHU! SHU! SHU! SHU!"
"Second Battle," the ref announced.
"Now as the battle comes to a close, all shall know true despair!" Phi roared, resonance flowing around him, dark and malevolent. Shu got into launching position, resonance growing around him as well, but his was bright and fiery, the exact opposite of Phi's.
"He's using his clockwise Attack mode," Fubuki noted.
"Go Shu, TAKE HIM DOWN!" Aiger yelled.
"Ready, set, 3, 2, 1, LET IT RIP!"
Shu and Phi both launched at full power, sending Spryzen and Phoenix charging at each other, with Spryzen bearing its turbo blades. Both beys attacked with a vengeance, neither giving an inch.
"Ooh yah! The second battle has started off with two powerful launches! Both beys spring right to it with a fierce clash! These bladers are battling at full throttle!" Hanami announced. Spryzen and Phoenix clashed, sending each other careening to opposite sides of the stadium. Phoenix tilted to the side, the edge of its tip hitting the stadium.
"Go, unleash your Dread Break!" Phi ordered. Phoenix became coated in dark resonance, and spun back around to hit Spryzen. They met head on, and Spryzen went flying. It banged against the side of the stadium, then recovered.
"Aaarhh! This match belongs to us!" Shu yelled, his resonance growing around him like flames.
"DO IT SHU! KEEP GOING!" Valt yelled. Shu was so close! If he just attacked Phoenix at full power Valt was sure it would burst.
"Now Spryzen! END IT WITH TURBO COUNTER BREAK!" Spryzen shot toward Phoenix and they collided, flying off in opposite directions, outside the boundaries of the stadium. Spryzen hit the ground a second before Phoenix. Valt bit his lip. Shu and Phi were tied now. This was exactly what happened with Free. He'd been able to get a ring out finish, but Phi had evened out the scores, and in the next battle, Fafnir broke. But Shu had been so close to bursting Phoenix in both matches, he should have the next match in the bag. Right?
"There's no way…." Aiger trailed off.
"This is bogus," Capn' scoffed, sounding almost exactly like Honcho that it almost made Valt smile. A sound from the stadium drew his attention back to the battle. Shu was panting, while Phi was speaking.
"This increases your destruction value tenfold," Phi said, malevolence radiating off him in waves.
"I've had enough! I'll risk everything to defeat you in the 3rd round! I'm going to crush you!"
Resonance flowed around Shu, as strong as ever.
"Third battle."
Shu adjusted Spryzen's tip, and fixed his launcher accordingly.
"He's going for the Counterclockwise Stamina mode!"
"Given that Dread Phoenix is a Defense type, Stamina's going to have the advantage," Kit added.
"Shu's not leaving anything to chance," Valt said.
"Ready set, 3, 2, 2, LET IT RIP!"
"Oh all right! We're heating things back up now in the 3rd battle!" Hanami yelled.
Dread Phoenix made a beeline straight to the center, and Spryzen followed, attacking it in a very Rush Launch-like move.
"It's feeding time! Feast Phoenix!"
Spryzen kept up the attacks, but Phoenix managed to escape. They both looped around the stadium, and the moment they crashed, Phoenix's armor flew off!
"And Phoenix's armor has been blown off!"
"That's exactly what Phi wanted to happen," Valt said grimly.
Back in the stadium Phoenix crashed into its discarded armor, while Phi shouted out the move Dread Cannon. The armor rapidly hit Spryzen, trapping it in the middle of the stadium, unable to escape and taking damage by the second.
"Shu! Get Spryzen out of there!" Valt yelled. This was what had happened with Free! Fafnir had shattered because of a clincher move with Phoenix and its armor. The same thing couldn't happen to Shu and Spryzen! Shu roared, his voice urging Spryzen to escape.
"So, you still persist," Phi's voice sent chills down Valt's spine, and with his words, everything went greyscale. A dark cloud gathered around Phi, and it started spreading, straight toward Shu!
"I must give you my compliments, for entertaining me so. When I crush you all that will remain is dust!" Phi's eyes glowed with a malicious light, as the darkness crept closer to Shu, like a malevolent cloud. Valt gasped. The last time he had seen grayscale was during his battle with Shu in the finals, but it hadn't been like this! Spryzen had shown up behind Shu, its corrupted presence hanging over his friend, but there hadn't been any dark inky stuff! Down below Shu was looking around frantically at the shadow that was surrounding him, his red eyes standing out in the gray world. In a second he disappeared, completely engulfed. The sound of his scream reached up to the stands reverberating in Valt's ears. In the stadium, Spryzen began to wobble, cracks appearing in its energy layer as its owner howled in pain. Valt sat, horrified, as Phi smirked and Shu screamed and Sprzen got closer and closer to breaking.
"Valt! We have to help them!" a voice yelled from the back of his mind. A voice he knew well. Valtryek!
"Yes! We will! ARAHHH!" Resonance flowed around him, bright in the gray world. He'd been able to help Shu before, and he would help his friend again. Valt focused, trying to move his resonance like Phi had been able to do. Beside him he heard shouts of pure willpower and he saw Aiger, Cap'n', Fubuki, and Kit glowing with resonance as well. Valt smiled, he had always been stronger with his friends by his side. Together they focused, and their combined resonance began to move outward, dissipating the Phi induced grayspace. As the grayspace vanished the shadows that had engulfed Shu began to glow from the inside. A fist broke through, and Shu's familiar resonance flowed out, evaporating the darkness and putting an end to the grayspace. The minute the grayspace disappeared, Spryzen stopped wobbling, and, using Phoenix's armor, ricocheted out of the trap.
"Now Spryzen! Turbo Spryzen Whip!"
Spryzen surged toward Phoenix, and hit it, driving the bey against the stadium wall.
"Again Spryzen! Shatter it completely!"
Spryzen didn't stop shoving Phoenix against the wall, instead its blades glowed with the power of Turbo Spryzen Whip, hitting it with even more strength.
"Phoenix! Escape!" Phi ordered, but there was nothing his bey could do. Phoenix was a defense type, and for all its power, most of its moves were with the help of its armor.
Then
A crack
The sound of a bey bursting.
The clank of more than 3 pieces falling.
The pieces
Of Phoenix.
"Uhh, Turbo Spryzen, with a burst finish! Points standing 3 to 1, Shu Kurenai is the winner!"
Phi stood up and left without a sound, leaving the shattered pieces of his beyblade behind him. Shu picked up Spryzen and left as well.
Valt sat there. Stunned. Phoenix, broken. By Shu and Spryzen. Fubuki, Cap'n' and Aiger were celebrating Shu's win, but Kit wasn't. Just like him, Kit had been there the last time Shu had broken a bey. When he was Red Eye. Valt was not naturally a worrier, but at that moment, he felt very worried for his friend.
Valt was walking through the hallways, looking for Shu. He found him sitting on a bench, staring at the floor.
"Hey, congrats on the win! Are you feeling.. okay?" he asked, sitting down next to his friend. Shu stood up, his hair obscuring his face, and walked away. Valt's eyes widened, and he chased after him.
"Shu! You can talk to me!" he placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, smiling. He felt Shu quivering under his hand, but Shu didn't say anything.
"It's fine, I get it. You needed to defeat Phi, and the only way to stop his corruption was to break Phoenix. Besides, the way you handled that battle was awesome! Spryzen went Vroom Kablow and Shmee Woosh-"
"STOP! We're not friends! You don't have the right to pretend you know how I'm feeling, so GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Shu snarled, throwing off his hand. Valt stumbled back, and saw Shu's eyes for the first time since he broke Phoenix. He saw something then, something that he had hoped he would never see again, especially not on Shu's face. It was the same look Aiger had had. And Phi, Hyde, all of them. It was the corrupted gaze, the same eyes that had glared at him during the International Blading Tournament 2 years ago. The look of Red Eye.
"Shu?" he breathed. Shu gasped, then gripped his face with his hands, covering his eyes. Then he looked up, and Valt felt relief rush over him.
"I'm so sorry, Valt, I don't know what got into me. I just- I mean- Breaking Phoenix brought back memories I'd rather forget. But it's fine, I'm fine," Shu smiled, a small smile, but it was there.
"No prob! Can-" the sound of his stomach rumbling interrupted what he had been about to say. "Hehe, everyone is hosting a party to celebrate your win, do you think you could make some spaghetti?"
Shu laughed. "Come on, let's go."
Valt walked off with his friend, and thought about what he had seen in Shu's eyes. It must have been a trick of the light.