Your POV 

As soon as Phi vanished from the clearing, I ran up to Free. "You can't possibly be thinking about battling that maniac!"

"(y/n)," he blinked. "You were here all along?"

I ignored him. "Phi is psycho. He will destroy your bey!"

"Are you saying that he's stronger than me?" Free said quietly.

"Of course not," I said impatiently. "I just...I just don't want you to charge recklessly in."

"I'm not Valt," he smiled dryly. "I'll be fine."

The dread began.

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He was not fine.

Struggling in the third round of the battle underneath the roof of El Astra with the score tied at one and Phi's new aura unlocked in dark swirls, Free was not fine. 

And then Geist Fafnir was broken into pieces by Phi's new move and cold demeanour, and Free could only watch in horror as his partner was annihilated. He was certainly not fine.

No way.

I tightly clutched onto the railings of the stands, not wanting to believe what was in front of me. I didn't want to believe in the flashing screens that declared Phi was the winner nor in Hanami's commentary. But it was reality. It was the truth.

"Hey, Free!" Valt yelled next to me. Without warning, he took off, grabbing my arm too as he dashed off.

Within a minute we had arrived on the arena, next to a quiet Free. He only clutched the pieces of Fafnir as his body shook.

"Oh, Free," murmured Valt. He then turned to Phi, anger radiating from him. "Is what you think blading's all about?"

"Destroy a bey is unforgivable!" I shouted at so-called 'Lord of Destruction'. "Everyone knows that, which is why I'm going to battle you now! Right here!"

Phi tilted his head upwards, as if he was evaluating whether or not to battle me. Eventually, he chuckled lowly, "It's not your turn yet."

"What?"

The white in Phi's eyes rapidly turned black. "I'm saving you for last."

"Then I'll battle you," Valt demanded.

Phi smirked. "Yes, I think you shall suffice. Next week, same time, same place. Please try to at least amuse me."

With that, he flicked his hair before walking off. I turned to Valt. "Why would you want to battle that maniac?"

"For the same reason you do," he shrugged. "(y/n), you know I'm strong."

"But...you're so reckless," I said softly, but even as I said it, I regretted it. That was the Valt in the past. 

Valt grinned. "Don't worry, I've matured! I'll be fine!"

The dread worsened.

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He was not fine.

Struggling against Phi who was even stronger than last time with the darkness taking his power to new heights, Valt was not fine.

And as Valt could only watch in fear as Valtryek, who was like a real life friend to him, got smashed into pieces for the second time in less than three months. 

No way.

I didn't want to believe in the reality that Valt's bey was utterly destroyed. But I knew it was true, and it angered me. I didn't need someone to drag me to the arena this time.

Within a minute I arrived, and without saying anything, I hugged Valt tightly as his body trembled as he could only clutch onto the fading parts of Valtryek. 

I locked eyes with Phi, who looked as if he had just beaten a boss in a video game that wasn't even remotely hard to defeat. It angered me even more. I promised myself I wouldn't get angry anymore, but some people deserve it. Phi deserves it more than anything.

"You monster," I addressed Phi. "Valt's already had his bey broken. How could you?"

He shrugged. "Why not?"

"Battle me."

"I told you, I'm saving you for last," Phi smiled a smile with no happiness whatsoever. "Now, who should be next?"

His eyes drifted through the crowds, looking at the different cameras that lead to different countries before landing on one with the words 'America' printed in bold on it.

All of a sudden, I knew what was going to happen before it did. No, no, no!

"Shu Kurenai," the words were spilling out of Phi's mouth before I could move. But maybe I couldn't move. I was frozen to the spot. "Dread Phoenix is hungry. It craves your destruction."

It shocked me how nonchalant Phi was about destroying beys. As if it was easy to him as waking up in the morning. I hated that, because the fear that had creeped in knew that it was easy to Phi. 

And then memories replayed in my head, memories of Lui Shirasagijo's threats that came to life, memories of the God Blader's Cup with an out of control Shu. 

"You," I interrupted Phi's speech, and then all eyes went to me and Valt. Without meaning for it to happen, my aura activated. "You will not destroy Shu's bey."

"Oh dear," he muttered. "We have a feisty girlfriend now, do we?"

"Hell yeah!"

Phi flicked his hair and began to walk off as usual before telling me the answer I already knew. "Defeat me first. Then I'll stop destroying beys."

He disappeared into the darkness of the exit. Sighing, I turned to Valt. "Will you be okay?"

"Of course," he grinned brightly, and I didn't doubt him. When Aiga had broken his bey, Valt was quick to recover. But then, Shu, on the other hand...that's one story I never want to repeat. "(y/n), I can tell by your expression. We're going to America, aren't we?"

"Yup. We're going to America."

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The day after Valt battled Aiga we left for America. Not only did we want to see Shu's battle, I wanted to talk privately to Shu too. Not to mention Valt came up with the idea that we should hold a meeting to strategize against Phi. 

Now we were in New York's busy airport. I stood on tip-toes, hoping to catch a glimpse of the albino over the sea of heads. As soon as I saw him, I couldn't contain myself.

"Shu!"

Even if we were meeting under dire circumstances, I was beyond excited and happy to see Shu. It had only been three weeks since I had last seen him, but it's felt like forever.

"(y/n)!" he grinned, and we hugged tightly. "It's so good to see you again."

"And me!" Valt piped up from besides me with a big grin as always. "You can't forget me and the rest of the gang."

The 'gang' that had arrived in America for Shu consisted of me, Valt, Aiga, Fubuki, Ranjiro and Kit. Usually Free would've come, but straight after he battled Phi he left to go on a training journey.

Speaking of training journeys, Aiga just came back from one. Usually I would want to battle Aiga with his newly improved skills, but we gathered here to talk about Phi.

"Come in," Shu ushered the group into two separate taxis. He sat in the passenger seat, and I couldn't help but feel disappointed that we weren't sitting together. That changed when he reached over and grabbed my hand, intertwining it with his as I blushed lightly. He addressed the taxi driver, "The Raging Bulls, please."

"So, how you've been?" asked Valt as we began to pull out of the airport, Shu, Valt, Kit and I in this taxi and the rest in the other.

"Fine," Shu smiled. "I should be asking how you've been, Valt. Having a two beys broken within three months must be pretty hard."

"I guess," Valt shrugged. "But, I don't know, I just feel like it's an opportunity for me to upgrade my bey if it breaks. Kinda like if you fall, it's a way to rise again, better than ever."

"I see," Kit nodded before recalling something. "That reminds me of something. Remember in the God Blader's Cup when Luinor was destroyed? Lui was laughing like crazy. He must've seen it like how Valt viewed it."

"I wish I had viewed my bey's breaking like that," Shu smiled sadly. I squeezed his hand and changed the topic.

"We haven't heard about Hyde for a while," I mentioned. "Do you think the rumors were true?"

"Most likely," Kit replied. "Phi's pretty powerful, so I wouldn't be surprised if he had the power to consume beys or something."

Valt snapped his fingers. "That's right. During my battle I felt something like as if the power was draining out of me."

"Free must've experienced that too, then," Shu mused. "Then that would mean that Phi has a bit of Hyde's, Valt's and Free's power. Wow."

"Maybe even Aiga!" I realized something. "Straight after my title match with Hyde, remember Phi challenged Aiga and broke his bey? Phi's rampage started then, not with Hyde!"

"It's possible that Phi might have Aiga's power too," Kit gasped. "And now he's targeting Shu!"

The car stopped, and we entered the Raging Bulls building, joining up with the rest of the group. Straight away we went to a board room which included a TV, each one of us taking a seat at the long meeting table, Shu's assistants providing us with coffee and snacks.

We started the meeting with explaining what we had talked about in the car. As expected, everyone was shocked, especially Aiga. He slammed his fist on the table angrily. "Phi has a part of my power? How dare he! Shu! You better destroy Phi!"

"I'm not sure about the 'destroy' part, but I certainly will defeat him," Shu chuckled lightly from besides me. He glanced around the table. "If any of you have any ideas, please feel free to speak up. This isn't just a battle of me battling Phi. It involves everyone, we all need to defeat Phi together."

"You're right," I grinned. 

Fubuki piped up from opposite of me. "We should focus on stopping his new move, Dread Crush."

The TV played the battle, putting Dread Crush on repeat. Aiga frowned. "Phi used that move against me too. It's really strong."

Everyone watched the repeating video in silence, thinking of ways to prevent Dread Crush.

Finally, Shu spoke up. "I think I have an idea. All I need to do is prevent Phi's attacks."

"Prevent Phi's attacks?" repeated Valt.

Shu nodded. "That's right. Phoenix's armor is one of the greatest weapons it has. I'm going to have to end the battle before it gets a chance to use its armor." At the end, his eyes glowed bright crimson.

"Aw, man," groaned Kit. "Red Eye?"

"Nope, not anymore," Valt said confidently.

I smiled. "Shu's grown beyond that stage of his life." I turned to face Shu. "But...can I talk to you? Privately?"

Valt stood up and exited the room, beckoning for the others to do the same. As soon as they left the door, I wrapped my arms around Shu's body, burying my face into his shoulder. "Please be safe battling against Phi. I know you're strong, it's just...I don't want to see you get hurt again!"

I wiped the tears that had just slipped out. "I believe in your strength and you. I really do. Please...please do your best. I believe in you."

Without waiting for an answer, I leaned forward again and interlocked my lips in his. 

When we broke up apart, he smiled and only said. "I'll be fine."

The dread felt like agony.

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i have an idea for a new shu book :)

word count: 1904