A/N: An introduction to Tiamat and what she can do. Plus, her backstory of how she met Ryuga.

CHAPTER 3

DEAL WITH THE DEVIL

It had been six days since Ryuga had walked away from her.

Hikaru had retraced her route through the forest and had found her pickup truck at the point she had entered. She had immediately made for the nearest fuel station and had caught up on her work. Repairs were on schedule, and Chris was now an iconic figure around the world. The demolition crew had officially hired Masamune and King.

Since all Beyblade tournaments were cancelled for the foreseeable future, everyone had gone back to their business – Kyoya still wandered the African savanna, Aguma had resumed his role as the leader of the Beylin Fist, Tithi and Yuu had reunited with Yuu's parents and were currently in Israel, Yuki was studying the stars, Dynamis was reading the sky along with his girlfriend (no one had seen that coming), Gingka had returned to Koma village, and Kenta was still off-radar.

Hikaru was currently travelling through mountainous terrain, although these were much shorter than the one where she had been training a week earlier. As such, there was no snow. For the past three days, she had been camping out next to a lake. There were several ways to train in this area.

Aquario was tearing across the surface of the lake, with the performance tip in sharp mode, which made it all the more difficult. This exercise would improve concentration and speed. If she lost focus for even an instant, she'd have to dive into a hundred-foot-deep lake to retrieve her bey. (She knew it was a hundred feet for a reason, and also knew that the water pressure was unbearable for that same reason. Not to mention that she almost always ran out of air in the downward trip and had to cut it short.)

Her improvement had been astronomical. The mild climate had no negative effects on her body, and roasted fish were certainly much tastier. Her power had also increased by leaps and bounds and could easily tear through stone.

Hikaru finally recalled Aquario. The blue bey changed course and raced back towards Hikaru. She caught her bey in her palm and began to eat her lunch. She had actually managed to catch a rabbit earlier. A welcome break from over a month of having fish as her main course three meals a day.

Suddenly, in the distance, Hikaru saw a massive column of red, yellow, and white light shoot into the sky. She recognized that column of destruction.

Ryuga.

Half a minute later, she felt the shockwave travel through the Earth.

"Thirty seconds times five kilometers per second. One hundred and fifty kilometers." Hikaru thought to herself. Even at such a distance, his power had nearly knocked her off-balance, and the water in the lake had suddenly become turbulent.

Another seven minutes later, Hikaru heard the almighty explosion which caused birds to take flight. The roar of the dragon was terrible, but Hikaru remembered it being much, much worse.

Five more minutes later, something fell from the sky into the lake. Hikaru could see that it was a bey but couldn't see many details as it sank to the watery depths of the lake. She would have retrieved it herself had it not been for the unspoken blader code: No one could touch another's blade without their express consent. And as long as the blader came to retrieve their bey within seventy-two hours, the blade belonged to them. Touching another's blade without their permission was one of the most dishonorable acts a blader could possibly commit.

So she let the silver and blue bey sink, subconsciously noting its position. Its blader would arrive in a day or two. Given how the timing perfectly coincided with when Ryuga said he would return, and also the fact that Ryuga was the one who had caused that explosion, the bey probably belonged to the girl who was tagging along with him.

This raised more questions: Who was she? Why was she travelling with Ryuga? By looks, she was about nine years old, but aside from that, Hikaru couldn't remember much about her aside from her flaming hair.

"Questions for later."

Hikaru finished her lunch and lay down on the grass, staring at the sky. She was tempted to just pack everything and head in the opposite direction from where Ryuga was coming at top speed, but she knew that he could cross any distance on the planet in seconds. Also, 150 kilometers was a feasible two-day trip, meaning that Ryuga knew she was there, and moving camp would probably piss him off. While she would love to piss him off, incurring his wrath was not something she was willing to risk.

A few hours later, she started training again, Aquario zooming over ground and water at top speed with the hole flat performance tip. Since Aquario lacked weight, she needed to make up for the lack of brute strength with speed.

She was also going to have to get a couple of new parts the next time she found a bey store. Her performance tip was so far ahead of its time that even Ryuga used a similar version of it once he became a legendary blader. But her spin track was not doing her any favors, and her fusion wheel was a standard Storm. Even the Aquario energy ring provided little benefits aside from aerodynamics. She'd have to change the spin track and the fusion wheel. A Hyper fusion wheel wouldn't be too hard to come by, or if she got really lucky, she'd be able to get her hands on one of those extremely rare ones with incredible attack power.

She'd have to modify the energy ring herself, though. She would not abandon her constellation. The problem of her not knowing how to do that could wait until later.

Aquario smashed through boulders, turning them into pebbles, before racing through shallow water, kicking up a spray. The performance tip switched over to sharp mode and the bey began to skim over the lake.

And then Hikaru lost control. Right in the middle of the lake.

She groaned and began to remove her clothes. Well, at least she could get some training out of swimming. After all, when life gives you lemons, you might as well make lemonade out of them.

Hikaru's prediction turned out to be accurate when Ryuga and the girl appeared the next evening. Without preamble, both of them dived into the lake and began swimming across towards Hikaru. Halfway through, the girl went underwater for a good while, not resurfacing until Ryuga reached the shore on Hikaru's side. He walked out and immediately, steam began to rise off his body. By the time the girl reached the shore, he was completely dry. His clothes were either fixed or replaced, and he had gotten a new cape-coat hybrid. He also had a small bag which was quite well hidden by his cape-coat. His normal golden gauntlet had been replaced by a completely black one which covered his entire left forearm, forming a dragon's open mouth around his wrist.

Steam began to rise off the girl's figure as well, though not as quickly as Ryuga. The blue and white bey was clutched tightly in her hand, which was highly impressive. Not many could sense their beys with such precision, especially not at that age, and as far as she knew, no one could regulate their body temperature with that much accuracy – it was normally either bursting into flames or nothing at all.

Ryuga gave the girl a once-over and then turned to look at Hikaru and said nothing. The silence was deafening, unbroken until the girl finished drying herself.

"Fine," Hikaru said, giving in. "I'll let you train me."

"Excellent," Ryuga said, betraying no expression on his face or his tone. "The first step is for you to catch up to Tiamat." He said, nodding towards the girl, who was inspecting her bey for damage.

Now that Hikaru could actually look at the girl, several more details stood out – She couldn't have been more than ten years old. Her skin was tanned, but it was clear that it would normally be just a little lighter than Ryuga's skin tone. Her hair started off as blond, and then shifted towards crimson, and it nearly came down to her hips. Not much, considering that she was only about four feet tall. She carried a bag that was half as tall as she was, presumably waterproof since she just swam through a lake with it. She wore a simple gray t-shirt and shorts that came to just above her knees, showing an incredible lack of baby fat. While not very large, all of her visible muscles were way more toned than what was normal for a ten-year-old. Was this what Ryuga's training could do?

"As you are right now, you won't be able to keep up with us. Granted, you're in much better shape than Kenta was when he started following me, but I don't plan on slowing down this time. What were your original plans?" Ryuga asked. Hikaru still felt immensely terrified of him, all her instincts screaming at her to run, but she stood her ground and answered, trying not to waver.

"I was going to do power training in the desert. And switch out a few parts if I could."

Something flashed in Ryuga's eyes, something Hikaru could not discern.

"Here's your first lesson from me – Don't change any parts. If you feel that your bey is lacking, evolve it yourself, but it's too early for that. You have enough skill with your bey as it is. Your training with me begins in two months. I'm warning you – my training is not for the weak. You will die if you're not strong enough."

Hikaru shivered, the old terror running through her body. But honestly? She had expected and was prepared for much worse. She had expected something more along the lines of blood rituals, jumping in volcanoes, and soul sacrifices. Which again raised the question – could she have her soul taken away twice?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a bey being attached to a launcher. She turned to see the girl, Tiamat, take a wide stance, aiming at Ryuga.

"Battle me, Ryuga!" She said rather loudly.

"Hmh!" Ryuga made a sound of approval. His gauntlet glowed, lines of white light appearing against the black rock, before opening up to reveal L-Drago.

L-Drago had changed forms yet again. The energy ring was mostly gold, with an unearthly blue where the eyes and other markings were. The fusion wheel alternated between white and red. The red parts were bumpy while the white ones were smoother. Hikaru couldn't identify the difference in the performance tip and spin track, meaning this was a bey with a tip-switch mechanism, much like that of Pegasus and the previous L-Drago.

Ryuga expertly clipped L-Drago to his launcher, aiming right back at Tiamat. They both stood as if in a standoff for a few seconds.

"Let it Rip!" They both yelled simultaneously, without need for a countdown. Both beys charged at each other, but the difference was clear. While Tiamat's bey clearly had power and speed, it was nothing compared to L-Drago, which carved out a trench in the ground. The collision was instantaneous, flinging the silver bey into the air and knocking Hikaru off her feet. The silver bey splashed into the lake, but Tiamat was clearly not worried.

"Qilin!" She yelled, and her bey miraculously resurfaced, creating its personal whirlpool. She charged once more, undeterred.

Ryuga didn't hesitate to meet her attack on the surface of the lake. There was another collision, but nowhere near as severe as the first. Tiamat had pulled out of the attack at the last second, significantly dulling the impact. Her bey swerved around L-Drago, landing a volley of attacks which the much heavier bey could not react to, especially on water. Qilin had the clear advantage over L-Drago.

However, their expressions told a different story entirely. Ryuga had the smallest of smiles on his face, not at all worried as he kept his eyes on the battle with unwavering concentration. Tiamat, however, was gritting her teeth, with sweat running down her forehead. She was clearly on her toes, trying to do everything she could.

Hikaru could tell exactly how the battle would end based on their body language. Ryuga was just on an entirely different level, and they all knew it. Tiamat was still testing out different strategies, seeing if anything was effective. She knew she was going to lose, and kept attacking L-Drago viciously, but never using the same attack twice.

This wasn't a battle – This was a test – Tiamat was testing L-Drago's capabilities, looking for weaknesses. L-Drago's ability to steal power made prolonged contact a suicidal move. A head-on collision would surely backfire with L-Drago's superior power, and light hits would only give L-Drago more energy, aside from doing absolutely no damage. Attacking from above, below, at an angle….. Tiamat kept attacking. There had to be a chink in the dragon's armor.

With a burst of extra speed, L-Drago smashed into Qilin, and Tiamat knew that Ryuga was done going easy on her for the day. The battle would be over within thirty seconds. She just had to make sure it was thirty instead of five.

"Qilin! Special move: Ground Zero!"

The silver and blue bey began to glow, challenging the dragon in a head-on clash.

The explosion knocked Hikaru off her feet again, forcing her into reverse somersaults. The lake parted in half for a second, forming a canyon, before the walls of water crashed back into each other. Qilin was knocked back by L-Drago, which was completely unharmed.

"Not nearly enough," Ryuga said. "You'll have to do much better than that."

"Fine then," Tiamat growled, a silvery-gray aura enveloping her and her bey. "Blast Qilin, Ultimate move: Supernova!" She yelled. Ryuga's eyes widened as the creature burst forth. It had the body and horns of a deer, the tail of an ox, the hooves of a horse, and the head of a dragon. It glowed with silvery-gray light, identical to the aura surrounding Tiamat.

The Dragon Emperor rose from L-Drago as well. It was far bigger than Hikaru remembered and glowed like the sun.

The two dragon heads collided and fought for dominance. There was a massive explosion, blowing most of the lake's contents into oblivion, knocking down every single tree within a three-hundred-meter radius, and lifting Hikaru clear off the ground, throwing her into the side of her pickup truck, nearly cracking bones.

A few seconds after the explosion occurred, Hikaru felt the lake water starting to fall out of the sky, including the fish. The pseudo-rain lasted a few seconds, but the lake, which had a radius of at least 150 meters was now only half as deep as before, most of the water having been vaporized due to the explosion.

On the far side of the lake, a trench 10 meters in radius had been gouged out of the Earth, all the way to the nearest mountain, over 5 kilometers away, where the trench turned into a tunnel.

A miniature sun shot into Ryuga's awaiting hand. He caught L-Drago, placing it in his gauntlet. The lines appeared again, causing the black material to cover the bey. He stared at Tiamat, actually looking impressed. Hikaru knew she had to be mistaken, but she even noted an iota of pride in his expression.

"Ahahaha!" Ryuga laughed. "It's been a looong time since anyone has impressed me, Tiamat! An Ultimate move at nine years of age? If you polish up on that, I might actually have to fight you seriously! Kenta was one thing, but you! You are something else entirely! Go and get your bey. We'll start improving your ultimate move when you catch up!"

Tiamat was on her hands and knees, gasping for air. There were minor cuts all over her body, and a few of them were leaking blood. She looked up at Ryuga and nodded, struggling to get back on her feet. Once she did, she shakily began to walk towards the lake, strength returning with each step. She swam across the much smaller lake and began walking through the trench.

Ryuga turned his attention on Hikaru.

"For the next two months, just increase the power of your bey. Your physical strength is enough to survive my intense training. Try to at least summon a physical manifestation of your constellation, no matter how small it is. You need to connect to your bey that much at least. My training will handle the rest."

He turned around and began walking in the opposite direction from where Tiamat had gone to retrieve her bey.

"Oh, and one more thing. Park your car somewhere, you won't be needing it. Bring along the essentials only. Meaning no computers or mirrors or make-up kits."

"I need my laptop. I am the Head of Operations of the WBBA, after all." Ryuga raised an eyebrow.

"You? Head of Operations?"

"Well, it was either me or Ryo Hagane."

"Fair point. Bring your laptop along, then. I'll handle the battery problems." He said, and red lightning crackled across his skin for an instant. With that, he continued walking, jumping over fallen tree trunks. Within minutes, he was out of sight.

Hikaru looked at the state of her camp. Everything was thoroughly soaked, including her; a tree had barely missed her pickup truck, but it was still buried under a ton of branches; and her fire pit had been completely destroyed. Luckily, she had tethered her tent deep enough to prevent it from blown away, but unfortunately, the mud in the shallows had been blown all over it. She was so going to need to wash that.

Hikaru had her work cut out for her, having to deal with her ruined campsite and tent. All the wood in her vicinity had been soaked, but it dried quickly enough. Thanks to the hundreds of broken trees, finding dry leaves was a much easier task. Also, the explosion had already barbequed plenty of fish.

By focusing the last light of the setting sun on the driest leaf she could find, she started her fire, slowly adding more leaves, and then wood. Soon enough, she had a merry campfire going, and was reheating the bey-barbequed fish. They were surprisingly well-done, considering that they had been barbequed in the span of a single second. That should have just turned the outer portion to ash, keeping the inner part uncooked. But then again, this was the guy who had gone toe-to-toe with a guy who could have destroyed the world with a piece of metal and plastic the size of his hand.

Yeah, common sense and known science didn't apply to those guys.

But weren't they the very heights that Hikaru herself wanted to surpass?

This was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

Hikaru's train of depressing thoughts came to a halt as a soaked nine-year old walked up to her campfire, silently asking for permission. Hikaru nodded, and the younger girl walked so close to the fire that she was literally one step away from sitting in it. The flames were practically licking her skin, yet it seemed like she didn't notice.

Hikaru watched in silence as the younger girl held her own skewered fish over the flames. Her arms and legs had scratches and bruises all over them, but she showed no pain on her face. She ate her fish and then began polishing her bey in the firelight.

"How did you end up training with Ryuga?"

Hikaru had asked the question before she could stop herself. It had been nagging her for days – Why was someone a little over half Ryuga's age following him?

Tiamat looked up at Hikaru, staring at the older girl's eyes through the fire.

"Well, a few months ago, he showed up for a tournament in Babylonia," She said, simultaneously disassembling her bey. "I wasn't there, but I did catch it on TV. And somehow, I just knew. This was a guy who held the secret to gaining unimaginable power. So I forged my own bey and – "

"Wait, forged? As in you created al the individual parts?!" Hikaru interrupted incredulously.

"Well, not all of them. I had the coated sharp performance tip and a T125 spin track to begin with, but I made the blast fusion wheel, the Quilin energy ring, and the face bolt myself," Hikaru wasn't sure, but something felt off about that. "Then I came to Japan. I figured I'd find him if I focused hard enough. For a few months, I couldn't find him anywhere, but suddenly one day, he just appeared near a volcano. It took me a day, but I tracked him down."

Flashback.

Tiamat powered through the waist-high snow (for her), drawing closer to the energy. It was faint, but what little she could sense was extremely dangerous. She had to refrain from launching Blast Qilin and clearing out all the snow. Previous experiences had taught her that too much power could set off an avalanche.

"There." Qilin's voice whispered in her ear, directing her towards an absolutely normal patch of snow. She dug through it without question, and about two inches under the snow, she found what looked like a small, metallic dragon head. The moment she touched it, she felt an incredible amount of power flow through her, and some of the snow around her melted.

"This is it! Waaaaiit, if a part of L-Drago is here, then does that mean….?"

"112 meters. Cave. More."

Her speech with Qilin was broken, but it was still better than everyone else. No one else could talk to their constellation, let alone converse with them.

As usual, her constellation had guided her faithfully. She walked into the cave and found the barely responsive body of a teenaged boy. His body was scarred, and he held his broken bey in his hand, but even in his near-death state, his aura was unmistakable.

It was the aura of the Dragon Emperor, and it felt incredibly threatening, which was ironic, considering that he looked as though a tap to the forehead from her knuckles would kill him.

A wounded dragon, but a dragon nonetheless.

She quietly stepped out. Right now, Ryuga looked like maintaining consciousness took all of his strength. So her first priority had to be gathering food. There were animals around, although few and far between. Fish would be impossible to get in the frozen waters. Fruits would be minimal.

She hunted and foraged, and eventually ended up with nothing but roots. This had to be the most inhospitable mountain in the area, and of course Ryuga would end up here. She couldn't exactly move him either.

So she made her way back to the cave and set out once more to gather sticks and twigs for a fire. This job was much easier, since the subzero temperatures freeze-dried the dead trees.

Soon enough, she had a fire going, and was melting snow in a pan. She washed the roots, and then refilled the pan with more snow, and then added the roots. Random root soup was the best (and only) choice of food at the moment. Once enough of the root essence had drained into the water, she cooled the mixture a little and fed it to Ryuga. It was hard in his nearly unconscious state, but she managed.

The next day, Ryuga was conscious, and was forcing himself to his feet, his entire form engulfed in flames.

"Whoa!" Tiamat yelled. "You're not well enough to move yet! I'll get food if you want, just sit down!" Ryuga looked her dead in the eye.

"Nature's call," He said, and Tiamat blushed. "Catch some meat, preferably fish."

"How? The rivers are frozen over."

"Make a hole in the ice. The water pressure will handle the rest."

That day, Tiamat learned how to fish. Within an hour, she had caught ten decent-sized fish, and entered the cave. Ryuga was sitting against the cave wall, clearly exhausted. She quickly gathered dry wood, and using her bey, ignited the bonfire.

She was surprised at how much Ryuga ate. Eight fish disappeared down his throat, leaving only half the bones behind, but he didn't complain even when he clearly wanted more.

"Here," Tiamat said, holding out the fragment of L-Drago she had found the previous day. "This is probably yours."

Ryuga reached out and accepted it, his arm trembling from the effort. The moment the fragment came into contact with his skin, his posture improved a bit.

"Thank you."

A week passed before Ryuga could stand without the power of L-Drago. Then they moved camp to the inner part of the volcano. Tiamat had completely forgotten about the reason why she came to Japan to begin with because her concern for Ryuga had temporarily pushed the issue to the back of her mind. But now that he was well enough to sustain himself without issues, her desire to learn returned.

Thus, she had received her first lesson – summoning a physical manifestation of her constellation. Ryuga's eyes had widened significantly when she told him about creating her bey herself.

Ryuga's training was harsh beyond belief, but it was effective. Within two days, the manifestation of a Qilin danced through the air.

Training only intensified from there. Sometimes, Tiamat could see Ryuga looking at her longingly when she was doing bey training. Beyblading was the heart and soul for any serious blader. To be unable to do that…

For a month, he kept pushing her further and further. At the end of each training session, she was battered and bruised and exhausted to the point where she had to rely on Ryuga for food. Bit by bit, she learned more about him, including the Nemesis fiasco which had left him with a broken blade.

It was so worth it when her power carved out the earth in the center of the volcano. Ryuga looked pleased.

It took her another week to completely activate the volcano.

Then Ryuga launched what was left of L-Drago into the magma and threw in all the broken pieces they had managed to find. With an incredible surge of energy, L-Drago began to glow, the broken parts reattaching themselves, and the missing pieces being created from the magma itself.

"Wow! So that's the power of L-Drago?!"

The volcano rumbled, and L-Drago glowed even brighter.

"Not for long. With the combined power of the Earth and the Dragon Emperor, I will send L-Drago to the sun."

"What."

"I will take power from the sun itself. You should get away, or else the explosion will kill you."

Tiamat hesitated for a second before dashing off, leaving Ryuga alone. She slid down the snowy slopes and hid behind a tree. Ten seconds later, the mountain exploded, shaking her to her bones.

An hour later, the sun touched the Earth via a massive pillar of energy. And then he was in front of her, grinning like the madman he was, and his eyes now held purpose in them.

"Let's go," He said, and she could feel his voice resonate with power. "There is one last mistake I have to correct."

An instant later, she was engulfed by his power as it transported them.

Flashback End.

"So, what about you? How did you two meet?" Tiamat asked, reassembling her bey.

"He didn't tell you?"

"Nope. Whenever I ask, he gets this dark look and gets pissed off. I might have pushed him a little too far yesterday, and then Qilin ended up in the lake."

Hikaru sighed.

"That is a very long story, but since you're travelling with him, I suppose I should tell you. It all started when a star fell from the sky…."

A/N: Hikaru has joined the group. It is beginning.

Next Chapter: Out of the Frying Pan