Your POV 

The damp sand crunched underneath my shoes in a similar pattern as I walked across the beach. It was late at night, with the full moon out, radiating a kind of calm that could only be found from it. The stars twinkled ever so beautifully, casting helping the moon cast a glow onto the beach. 

White glinted off the crests of the waves as the crashed down onto the sand, emitting a distant, hushed roar. A soft breeze floated around, gently caressing my face. 

If it wasn't for the stadium, this scene might've been called romantic. Yet, here I was to battle. And with the person I was going to be with, this scene is definitely not romantic.

I clutched Xcalius tighter in my dominant hand, question whether or not I would need to use the dark power. But then a little voice spoke in my head again about how much I needed to use this dark power to protect. 

If you're not underneath the dark power, I'll go after one of your close friends. 

Those words kept on echoing inside my head. I don't want my friends to be affected by the darkness like I was. I have to do a wrong to make a right. Xcalius bursted as I clenched my fists even tighter in anger. 

With a swish of his red cloak, Phi approached the stadium. A big smirk was plastered onto his face as he twisted a lock of his white hair. 

"You know, it's rude to keep your guests waiting," I tapped my foot impatiently. "Especially when they could be in bed by now."

"I didn't expect you to actually come," he ignored me, looking more smug than ever. 

I felt the frustration building up inside of me. "Why wouldn't I come? Destroying you will be my utmost pleasure."

"Too bad you won't get to experience it," Phi sneered. 

"We'll see about that. Let's start. Two or three point system?"

"How considerate of you," his voice was low. 

I rolled my eyes, "Some people actually have manners, you know. Just answer the question."

"Two points," Phi flicked his hair. "That way when I burst you, you'll have no choice of making a comeback."

"You wish," I lifted my chin up and let the dark flames consume me in their powerful energy. Phi grinned wickedly in response and activated his golden aura. 

"That's right, show me your true power," he raised his arms in the air. "You've finally become a worthy opponent!"

"3 2 1!" we chanted, getting into our launching positions and tightening our grip. Phi's eyes gleamed with ruthlessness, and I only glowered in response. "Let it rip!"

With incredible force and speed, our beys launched simultaneously into the stadium. Phoenix instantly took the center while Xcalius zoomed outside.

Wasting no time, I shouted, "Go!"

Xcalius swerved into hit Phoenix, only to get reflected off without doing no damage. I growled, and Xcalius continued to swerve in to collide with Phoenix.

"More power," whispered Phi underneath his breath. "More darkness."

I shouted in determination, "Don't go wishing for your destruction like that!"

Xcalius's hits became more precise and powerful, and the wind became more restless around us. Again, the darkness started envelope me. I exhaled in ecstasy, knowing that with this power, there was no way I would lose. 

As Xcalius got hit back again, a pillar of darkness emitted from it. I let out a fierce battle cry as I sent my bey back again into the center, taking the outer ring off from Phoenix. It floated in the air, and in that second, I knew that Revival Crush was coming. 

I saw it break a bey. That won't ever happen to mine. The determination and anger building up inside of wanted to be unleashed more than ever. "Me and Xcalius...will triumph!"

Xcalius in the form of beast stood behind me, looking mighty and strong. It raised its sword, ready for battle. Phi muttered, "Don't underestimate me!"

His eyes widened, and darkness spread across, taking over everything except for the pupil. The aura coming from his bey switched to a lilac purple just as a dragon came flying out. It spread its wings and cocked its head back. The monster I had seen so many times in my dream.

"Sorry, but it's over," Phi said cockily. His eyes widened again, and the outer ring got enveloped in the same fire as he did. It looked like a meteor, coming down to rage destruction on the earth. And Xcalius was the earth. "Revival Crush!"

I gritted my teeth as all of the beys and pieces of beys met, each one lighted up in aura and carrying extreme force. I growled, and another wave of purple washed over me. My eyes were entirely white now, and lightning crackled out. 

The clash ended with both pieces of Phoenix being sent out skywards. Phi clenched his fists, but a smirk was still on his face. Phi lifted his arms into the air, where Phoenix the dragon was flying magnificently. 

With more speed, Phoenix launched itself towards Xcalius. The increasing speed lead to flames erupting from either side of the bey to flank it. I punched the air in front of my, breathing heavily and commanded, "Final Strike!"

Amongst the darkness surrounding Xcalius, its sword gleamed intimidatingly. As the beys joined once again shards of wind, light and lightning were thrown around the beach. I clenched my fists even tighter as the tension increased. Just keep pushing, Xcalius. 

burst

I let out a loud exhale of exhaustion as the clash came to an end. I grinned smugly when I spied the Phoenix being bursted in the air. The feeling of victory soared even more when I saw the shocked look on Phi's face. The four pieces of Phoenix laid on the sand, the proof of my victory.

"Yes!" I yelled loudly, putting Xcalius in my pocket, and my aura became a pillar once more. I stared, triumphantly, directly into Phi's eyes. "If you're going to be a villain, at least do it good."

As the darkness began to slip away, I felt as if I was floating. My eyes started to close. 

I won...

And then I collapsed before I could see Phi's smirk.

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Valt's POV 

Oh well, I'll just destroy it later.

I don't have time to answer losers like you. 

See ya, failure. 

I let out a sigh and flopped onto my bed. (y/n)'s words kept on echoing in my head. It was disturbing. And now she was missing from BC Sol. That, as well as the fact that my companion was in pieces, prevented me from getting any sleep. 

Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was (y/n), smothered in black and purple flames, her eyes burning with hatred. It was exactly like Shu's during his Red Eye days. Same with Aiga. Even though he wasn't affected as much as (y/n), he was still affected by the darkness. The last thing everyone needed was to have two newer versions of Red Eyes rampaging around. 

Speaking of Shu... 

"Should we tell Shu?" I asked. The blonde sitting on the couch put his hands behind his hair and laid down.

"Odds are, he probably already knows," Free said. "He always watches (y/n)'s matches."

The other blonde sitting on the chair to my right furrowed his eyebrows. "But he would probably prefer to hear about (y/n)'s new power from us, or even her herself."

"Well, that's not happening," I then explained what happened in the earlier phone call. "So it's probably up to us to tell him."

"Knowing Shu, he would probably drop everything and catch a flight to Spain as soon as he finds out," Fubuki said knowingly. Everyone chuckled in amusement. "But seriously, if he does know will he turn (y/n) back to good? I mean, she's scary when she's under the dark power, and she's the number one blader in the world, even better than Shu."

"But the thing is," Free spoke up. "She's not exactly like Shu in the God Blader's Cup. He was angry at everyone, not caring who he destroyed. (y/n) cares who she destroys. In fact, the whole reason why she probably turned bad isn't purely for power against everyone, but power against her enemies. We're her friends, so when we do battle her she wouldn't be underneath the dark power. It's going to be like it completely vanished."

"I know Shu will change her," I said firmly. 

Fubuki raised his eyebrows. "How do you know for sure?"

"Love cured darkness once," I reflected on how fierce and determined (y/n) was in the God Blader's Cup. "It can do it again. Just trust me."

bring bring bring

I glanced over at the vibrating device. Once seeing the name, I sat upright. "It's Shu."

"Answer it," Free said. I swiped and pressed the 'speaker' button. 

"Hey buddy," I greeted. "Guess you're here to talk about (y/n), right?"

"Yeah," Shu sighed on the other side of the line. "I tried to call her but I couldn't reach her."

"She's currently missing," Free called lazily from the couch. 

"WHAT?!"

I couldn't help but smile at Shu losing is usual under-control composure. "Calm down. She's probably just taking a stroll through the woods or training. If the clock passes midnight, that's when we'll go searching for her."

"Good. The last thing we need to happen is for (y/n) to drop off the face of the earth again."

Fubuki leaned over to speak into the phone, "Considering how concerned you are for her, I take it you're already on your way to the airport."

"Wrong," Shu said with amusement. "I'm in Spain."

"EH?!"

"A-Already?" stuttered Free for once.

"It's only been like a few hours since the battle!" exclaimed Fubuki in shock. "H-How-"

"But how did you pack all your clothes, training stuff, toiletries and food? Not to mention that that's physically impossible to get to Spain, on such short notice too!" I rambled. 

Shu laughed, "Well, I did it, so end of discussion. We need to concentrate on more pressing matters."

The light-heartened and happy atmosphere in the room disappeared when everyone began think about (y/n) and her battle with Aiga. "So, you saw the battle then?"

"Yeah," Shu sighed again. "It was...shocking. The way she reacted when your bey broke was terrifying, not to mention, so unlike her."

"We're going to save her," I said in determination. "We must."

"But the question is, how?" mused Shu. 

"Well," I looked towards the ground. "We were kinda hoping you had the answer."

"Actually, I don't think there is one right answer," Shu said thoughtfully. "When it comes to these sort of things, I think the best thing isn't to make up a strategy but rather to follow your instinct. Listen to your instinct and follow your heart, but bring your head with you."

If this wasn't said on such a grave circumstance, I would've laughed and joked about how Shu was turning into an old man. In the distance, an old grandfather clock in Kris's office chimed twelve times. 

"It's midnight," I noted, standing up. "I'll go find (y/n) myself, and try to figure it out what exactly is going in her head."

---------------------

Her eyes were closed, her fists clenched and clammy. She laid down on her back with her face to the stars. Despite the coldness of the night sweat trickled down her fore-head. I frowned, it was obvious that she was having a nightmare.

"(y/n)!" I called out to her, slapping her face lightly. In an instant she opened her eyes wearily, blinking the grogginess out. 

She sat up. "V-Valt?"

"It's me," I grinned. "You okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she asked, looking confused. Either the expression was genuine, or she was an excellent liar. Excitement dawned onto her. "Oh, guess what Valt? I just had a battle with Phi! And I won!"

"R-Really?"

To say I was shocked was an understatement. Just this morning (y/n) had been knocked out cold. She had just had a title battle, and had revealed her dark aura to the world. And to think she had just defeated the person who had the darkest aura in the world...did that mean that the amount of her darkness exceeded his? 

My pulse quickened with fear. And that wasn't even the worse thing. She was grinning at me with joy shining in her eyes, looking so...so normal. So unlike the person during her battle with Aiga. Instead of hatred, happiness radiated from her. 

Was it possible that she had defeated her biggest threat without even needing me, Shu and the others?

Part of me felt slightly sad that she didn't need our help. The other part of me thinks that that's stupid, and that I should be happy for (y/n). She may have obliterated the darkness hanging around her and Aiga, which would make sense as to why she seemed so different. 

But...I just wished she told me or at least Shu that she was going to battle against Phi. 

"Wow!" I managed another grin. "That's brilliant!"

"I know, right?" she said, grabbing my hand and pulling both of us up. Her eyes sparkled even more. "We should call Shu!"

"There's no need," my grin grew wider as some of (y/n)'s energy infected me. "He's in Spain right now! Maybe even at BC Sol!"

"Let's go!"

As we were running out from the beach, somebody unfamiliar called out our name.

"Valt! (y/n)!"

We turned to see a woman walking up to us. She had salmon pink hair in a side ponytail and inquisitive hazel eyes. She wore standard office clothing, comprising of an orange blouse tucked into a white skirt. In her hands were a note-pad to go with the pen tucked behind her ear. She introduced herself brightly, "Hi, my name is Ashley."

Ashley outstretched her hand to each one of us, which we shook.

"Hey," I greeted, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the formal exchange. "I'm Valt Ao-"

"Oh, I know that," she laughed. "and (y/n) (l/n). The reason I'm here is because of you, (y/n). I would like to know an answer to a question."

"Shoot," (y/n) replied. 

"The WBBA requested an interview for you," Ashley explained. "You've actually never done an interview before, despite being world champion twice. It would be extremely fitting too, considering that you just had a truly electric performance with Aiga Akabane, and everyone is completely in awe of you. Would you be able to do it?"

"Of course," (y/n) smiled. "It would be my utmost pleasure. Just as long as it's on Tuesday next week, at five o'clock."

I nearly choked hearing (y/n) talk so formally and act as if she was busy. Please, all she does is train all day and wander around in the woods!

As if hearing my thoughts, (y/n) elbowed me subtly as Ashley's head dipped; she was writing down (y/n)'s requirements. I show a quizzical look towards (y/n), to which she whispered, "I need to make myself seem professional and busy! I don't want people to know all I do all day is wander around the woods!"

"What was that?" Ashley asked, still writing. We both stood up straighter and glued arms to our sides. 

"N-Nothing!"

"Okay, glad that's settled," Ashley smiled. She leaned forward to (y/n) conspiratorially. "They're thinking of even putting you in a battle with a person of the Turbo 4."

Ashley then left, leaving those words ringing in both of us' heads. "Wow, an interview and a battle! You'll ace both!"

She smiled. "Of course I will. No matter who they are, I will crush my opponent, especially if they're part of the Turbo 4."

That's when I realize her smile was a smirk, and that she was still under the influence of darkness. 

--------------------

yay, another chapter done! btw, i'm so sorry, but for Christmas i'm going on a holiday for two weeks and i'm not allowed to bring my laptop (which i use to write), so probably no updates until January. i will be still on my notice boards, though. 

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Word count: 2681