so sorry for the wait :(

btw, i have never watched any of the eps from here to ep 25 i think, so i'm bound to get the plot incorrect, i apologize

p.s y/n's gonna be a little annoyed this chapter, especially to a certain character, and its on purpose for the plot, not bc i hate that character

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Your POV 

Three days. 

Three days since I boarded the Battleship Cruise. It's certainly been more eventful than I would have imagined with the competitors apparently stumbling upon an abandoned ghost ship. Aiga even said that a ghost-like blader was lurking in the shadows, watching every blader's move.

I don't quite believe the story, but then again, I live in a world where metal toys can possess you. 

Anyways, the stalker blader that eerily reminded me of Naoki turned out to be Kyle Hakim, an arrogant person that was one of the hidden bladers for this tournament. His bey was Hazard Kerbeus K4 7 Atomic, and was a surprisingly decent blader.

Kyle has defeated both Ranjiro and Aiga, which is no easy feat. Yesterday those three and Xavier battled in a battle royale, only to have a draw. The battle was intense, though. All this battling is making me want to battle as well, especially three certain people. 

Kyle, Aiga and Phi. 

Kyle's giving me these dodgy feeling. There's something off about him, his mask and that iPad he's carrying around. I find it weird how nobody questions that. Either they're a bit dumb, or I'm just super judgmental. 

I've gathered that Kyle enjoys taunting bladers that are of lower skill than him. I hate when people do that, which makes me want to put him in his place once and for all. The same goes for Aiga. 

But I also do want to see Aiga's power. So far, I haven't seen any astonishing resonance or power from him that pushed him to defeat Lui. 

And then there's Phi. 

I know we're going to battle. I can feel it. And I know that it's going to be a tough battle as well. Not only does his bey have an outer rim, Phi has an extraordinary amount of power. And the problem is, he's hiding it from everyone. Something along the lines of, 'You aren't worthy enough'. 

When we're going to have that battle, I'm probably going to be completely in the dark with only a small amount of knowledge of Revive Phoenix. Not only that, there's something off about him. Similar to the vibe I'm getting from Kyle, but not the same. 

Phi's much more...sinister. 

His aura gives off dark waves that's extremely powerful. Not in a good way. His aura is familiar in a sickenly way. I can't remember where I've felt it before, but whenever I think about it, it gives me a terrible feeling.

The feeling of imprisonment, to be exact.

"(y/n)!" 

A loud, cheerful voice sliced through my thoughts. I instantly sat up in bed, all my thoughts draining away as my best friend since childhood entered my dorm. Annoyed that my thinking session was interrupted, I complained, "Valt! Why'd you have to be so loud?"

"You say it like it's a bad thing," Valt grinned, swatting away the insult. He plopped down on the foot of my bed, legs crossed. He examined me face, then a small frown instantly replaced his grin. "What's bugging ya?"

"What do you mean?" I feigned a happy expression, not wanting to trouble Valt. "I'm perfectly fine."

His frown deepened. "(y/n). We both know that's a lie."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair that was let down for once. It was annoying how Valt was so persistent in knowing my feelings, but it was comforting at the same time. "It's nothing big. Just thinking about the bladers, especially Phi. He just seems so...evil. And I mean like serious evil. Not like pranking evil. And his resonance is so powerful, I-I don't even know if I even can defeat him."

"You will. And why do you think that? About the evil thing, I mean?" Valt questioned me, some of his old cluelessness coming back. I almost smiled at that.

"I don't know, it's not like he's done anything to me so far," I replied exasperatedly. "I'm probably just being too cautious about the new generation. After all, they're stronger than I expected."

"You sound like an aged grandma," Valt chuckled, and I rolled my eyes playfully at this. "They're only three years younger than us. But yeah, I agree with you. On the Phi thing and the new generation. Phi seems sketchy as, but the new generation are stronger than I were are their age. Their resonance is impressive! They're gonna surpass us for sure!"

"Speak for yourself," I grinned. "I intend to be the best blader until I retire, and some newbie isn't going to take that away from me!" 

"That's not what you said a minute ago," Valt pointed out, a cheeky grin spreading across his face. I scowled playfully and opened my mouth to scold him when my phone starting buzzing from the bedside table. I picked the buzzing device up and checked the caller ID before answering the call. 

Shu <3

"Aww, Shu has a heart next to his name!" Valt commented, moving quickly to sit next to me. He pouted. "Do I have one?"

"Maybe," I smiled. I put the phone on speaker so Valt could hear as well. "Hey, Shu."

"Hey buddy!" Valt greeted chirpily. 

"Hey (y/n)," Shu's voice echoed throughout the room. "Oh, and Valt. How have you guys been?"

"I've been fine," replied the bluenette, before dropping his voice to a whisper with a mischievous tone that worried me. "Though, I can't say the same about (y/n). She's been nervous about how good the Turbo generation are and a little scared about Phi. Maybe you should come here to comfort her-"

"Enough Valt!" I interrupted, my cheeks hot from Valt's embarrassing words. He only gave me a toothy grin. This time, I leaned in to Valt to out of Shu's hearing to whispering threateningly, "Don't forget I've trained in martial arts!"

"Anyways-" I turned my attention back to the phone. "-ignore Valt. Don't listen to a word he says. I'm perfectly fine-"

"You should take her to the movies! Just you two-"

Valt was once again interrupted, this time by a pillow hurled into his face which threw him onto the carpeted floor playfully. My cheeks reddened again as both Shu and I scolded simultaneously, "Valt!"

"Moving on," I continued, ignoring to Valt's muffled insults. If he has the energy to call me a "How have you been?"

"The usual," was Shu's response. "Training, coaching, lots of paperwork to do." 

"Sounds fun," I said. "To you, anyways, not me. I would be a terrible owner."

"Like you're a terrible friend!" Valt's voice came out slightly muffled. The three of us laughed together in unison at Valt's remark. 

Suddenly, a beeping noise emitted from the phone. I raised my eyebrow curiously before Shu said sheepishly, "Sorry. I've got to go do some business stuff."

"Oh," I said disappointedly. We had barely talked at all. "Call again later?"

"I would say yes, but there's no need to have a call when we're just going to hang out all afternoon," Shu's tone was mysterious, leading my eyebrows to knit together. "Don't worry, you'll get it soon."

Before I could question him more, the call ended with a beep. Valt and I exchanged curious looks, confused as to why Shu would say that. Hang out all afternoon? What did he mean by that?

"Valt?" I called for the Valtryek blader. He quickly jumped onto the bed again. "Where exactly in the world are we right now?"

"Kris mentioned to me last night that we were just passing by the Massachusetts," Valt remembered, frowning as well. Suddenly, his frown disappeared as he realized something, eyes wide in shock and eyes shining with excitement. "(y/n)! We must be in New York now!"

"Oh!" Something Fubuki mentioned at the welcoming party resurfaced in my memory. "Fubuki did say that he was part of the Battleship Cruise! He must be the reason as to why we're here!"

Just as I said that, Ranjiro, Aiga and their entourage came waltzing into my room, grins on all their faces. I would have scolded all of them, if it wasn't for the news that they brought with them. Aiga crossed his arms, "Hurry up, you two! We're going to go look for Fubuki."

"Alright," I responded, quickly getting ready and stuffing Xcalius into my pocket. "Wow, you actually waited for us."

Aiga huffed, "I would've left you two sloths if Ranjiro didn't make me! Apparently it would be rude to not invite the manager of the Raging Bull's girlfriend or whatever."

My cheeks flushed for the third time today as I glared at the blonde. "Ranjiro!"

"Hey, don't blame me," Ranjiro chuckled nervously. "Brother told me that."

So Honcho's responsible, I narrowed my eyes, making a mental note to make it clear to stop teasing me. 

"Let's just go find Fubuki, come on!" complained Aiga loudly. "I would've left ages ago! We're wasting the free day we got off!"

The group headed for the door before walking towards the elevator. I jabbed in the 'up' button harshly, "Quit whining, Aiga! It's only two in the afternoon, we have ages!"

He only rolled his eyes before strolling into the elevator with everyone else. I scowled at him before entering. Aiga was starting to piss me off a little. Actually, a lot. All his whining and complaining and shouting is giving me a migraine.

Can't believe someone like him defeated Lui. 

Aiga's not worthy of being a good blader, I thought to myself angrily. He's annoying, he's rude, he's arrogant and he doesn't even try to acknowledge those with higher ranks than him. It's like he thinks he's the only one that's right, the only person that matters in this world. I scoffed silently at that.

And he's the one who has the skill to defeat Lui so quickly? 

Unbelievable. And extremely unfair. 

I had to work for years to accomplish that, yet some rookie is just handed that achievement without actually training. Utter nonsense. 

The doors opened and we entered the deck, but I paid little attention to that. All I could think about was how satisfying it would be to crush Aiga completely and eliminate him to obtain the title of world champion.

Wait. 

What?

Did I seriously just think that? I get that I'm annoyed at Aiga, but that...that was too far. What is wrong with me? I thought to myself, feeling a little disgusted. I sounded like a psycho. Not only that...I thought it like I meant it. 

And I know I meant it for a second. 

I let out a sigh, letting my eyes drift across the horizon of various buildings that made up New York as we exited the cruise. My eyes stopped when they came across a big building that I knew had contained a particular person. 

A smile subconsciously made its way onto my face.

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ik valt doesn't visit in the anime, but i want him here

The Raging Bulls. 

I glanced up in awe at the giant stone and glass building as we walked into the main training area. A rock climbing wall had been set up on the side wall, an a giant TV was hung opposite it. Several new training equipment occupied by many bladers were lined against the walls, ranging from treadmills to bicycles. 

Excited shouts and commands rang loudly across the whole center, coming from the upper floor which was where the main stadium laid. Two bladers were currently blading, eager grins and sweat on their faces. I smiled at the familiar sight of the person refereeing, white hair trailing down as his back faced us, unaware of our arrival. 

"Yo, Fubuki!" Aiga shouted loudly, waving to the blonde currently scaling the rock climbing wall. Majority of the people here looked at us and glared, silently judging us. Rolling my eyes, I glared back until they stopped looking. "Over here!"

Fubuki sighed and lowered himself back onto the ground floor, his shirt clinging tightly to his body from the sweat that covered him, a result of his training. I have no doubt that if Nika was here, she would be blushing madly. He grinned at the sight of us, looking more happy then I had met him before. "Hey everyone."

I ruffled his hair playfully, "Have you gotten stronger?"

"Heaps," Fubuki grinned before making eye contact with Aiga. "I'm going to defeat you, once and for all."

"Keep dreaming," Aiga grinned back, his competitive spirit getting fired up again. "I'll beat you in everything. Whaddaya say we have a rock climbing race before we have a battle?"

"I'm up for it," Fubuki tightened the harness across his wait and handed one to Aiga. 

"Don't forget about me!" Ranjiro chimed in, strapping on the harness as well. He grinned wickedly. "I'm gonna beat y'all."

Fubuki then added to Valt and I, "Why don't you talk to Shu? He's on the upper floor, but I suspect you already know that."

"Yeah," I admitted. I glanced at the shorter male besides me. "Let's go, Valt!"

Valt enthusiastically nodded as we made our way to the upper floor, at the same time the race between Fubuki, Ranjiro and Aiga commenced, Naru and the others cheering them both on.

I turned my attention to the upper floor. It was neat and simple, consisting of just a stadium as well as a TV. A couple of people had gathered around the stadium, eyes fixated on the battle in front of them just as it finished.

The winner grinned and picked up his bey, pride beaming from his face. The loser picked up the three pieces of his bey, disappointed but still grinning nonetheless. The referee ran a hand through his hair as he frowned and gazed at the loser of the battle, clearly thinking of a way to improve his skills. 

Shu was so distracted that he didn't notice Valt sneaking up on him. Or so I thought.

I watched in amusement from the sidelines as Valt made a big entrance, jumping out to the albino. The trainees in Raging Bulls gasped collectively, but Shu only closed his eyes and grinned before gripping Valt in a high handshake. 

Wow, Shu's so cool. 

Oh no, I sound like a fangirl, I shook those thoughts from my head. Instead of dreaming about Shu again, I walked up to Shu and Valt who were challenging each other. They never change, do they?

"...smash you next time," Valt droned on, fires blazing in his eyes. "Just you wait!"

"You wish," Shu grinned before catching sight of me. "Oh, hey (y/n)."

"Hi Shu," I smiled before feeling a blush making its way onto my face. What the heck? Keeping a straight face, I tried to think of anything but Shu. I shouldn't be getting those feelings. Not again. I don't have a crush on him anymore, so what's the matter with me? "Now I get what you meant. I'm so excited!"

"Yeah, me too!"

"So am I," Shu clasped his hands. "So, I took this afternoon off. What do you say for going to the mall? We can watch a movie, go to the arcade, shop, basically everything. It's up to you guys."

"Movies," Valt and I chorused instantly. I hastily added, "If that's alright by you?"

He smiled, "Of course. Now let's go, you'll meet up with the rest later."

Valt and I exchanged grins that bursted with excitement as Shu lead us to the parking lot, where a car with a chauffeur was parked. I felt continuous waves of happiness and excitement as I clambered into the backseat, sandwiched between my two best friends. 

This was going to be the first time in a very long time that we had an outing without beyblade, just the three of us having fun and laughing together. It sounded perfect to me. The car started moving and my grin only stretched wider. 

I can't wait. 

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sloppy ending, i know

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Word count: 2709