It was early in the morning and Free De La Hoya was training in the forest as usual. Except this was different, he was going against Phi.

Phi was a monster, no he was something else. Almost like he was otherworldly or something..

Whatever he was, Free knew he needed to battle him. If Free didn't win this would mean..

He wasn't strong enough.

He wasn't powerful enough.

He wasn't in control anymore.

Instead Free would be considered: weak, powerless, helpless, defenseless. Losing wasn't an option.

Phi had definitely been getting stronger in more ways than one.

He was in control, he moved Free's body just by moving his fingers. It was like Free was his puppet or something literally. But what Free couldn't understand was how Phi controlled him then.

How did he make him straighten up? How did he make Free move on his own? Was he possessed? Or was this something else?

Whatever the answer was, Free didn't care. Balancing on top of the ruins Free's veins were showing and his eyes were glowing gold. Right now he was in a state of power. His breathing was hoarse and it almost sounded like growling.

"There he is."

Those simple words and Free powered down. Using his strength he pushed off of the ruins and landed on the ground.

"Have you seen the message Phi sent this morning?"

Free shook his head, Valt took out the iPad and played the video.

In the video Phi was standing on top of the Dread Tower and as usually the sky was purple in the background.

"Hear me, for I am the Lord of Destruction."

Phi's appearance was different, instead of his usual red and gold top with dark red pants. On the video he wore a black bodysuit with red and white highlights. Overall he looked more creepy than usual.

"You see that Valt?"

"See what?"

"The resemblance between Phi's new appearance and Shu's old snake pit attire."

"You're right!" said Valt

"Behold my bey."

Phi showed his new bey to the camera and it gave off a strange twinkle.

"It has been reincarnated as Dread Phoenix."

"This is bad, really bad. Besides the creepy paint job it looks like it's absorbed Hades."

"The first bey that will fall by my hand will be Free De La Hoya's Geist Fafnir. Destruction is everything, for me it's what blading is truly about. Now bladers around the world may sit back and wait in anticipation for tomorrow's devastating battle."

Phi held out his hands and instead of heavenly glow, lighting and thunder were in the background. A shadow loomed over Phi creating an ominous mood.

Then after Phi's declaration Hanami gave details about the battle like its taking place at El Astro. As he was talking a picture with Free and Phi with a big versus in the middle was covering the screen.

"Talk about surprising huh? The guy said destruction means everything to him."

"He meant every word. He's pretty serious about destroying fafnir."

"But Free.."

"Phi challenged me instead of having a Title Match with you. Do you know why?"

"Well I know Phi isn't interested in being the champion."

"You're right but there's more, he wants to put in a show especially for you."

"A show?"

"Yes, he wants nothing more for you to watch me pathetically lose to him."

"No way."

"Destroying Beys isn't the only thing that brings him joy. He wants to see despair, hopelessness, and even suffering. He especially wants it from you and I. He wants to make an example out of us to show bladers that there's no hope of beating him."

"Seriously?"

Smiling Free put Fafnir in his launcher

"But we'll be fine, I don't really feel like losing to him."

Launching Fafnir, it speed around the stadium.

"That right, you've got this Free."

******

Fireworks exploding over El Astro, but inside it was a different story.

"And in the red corner..."

Free stood in the doorway, he created a shadow and as he moved so did that shadow.

"He's the winner of countless legendary battles. It's the blader that walks alone, Free De La Hoya!"

The crowd cheered as Free walked onto the stage. Everything seemed to fade away as Free neared the stadium. The only thing he was focusing on was Phi.

"For today's non title match..."

The referee's words even seemed far away.

Once the referee stopped talking both of the bladers got into their launching stances.

"Last time to bid farewell to your beloved bey."

"That won't be necessary Fafnir's not going anywhere."

Because we're winning this thing

"3..."

"2..."

"1..."

"Let it RIP!"

Both bladers launched their beys into the stadium. Spinning slow Fafnir took up the center while Phoenix rode on the rails.

Using the speed to its advantage it attacked Fafnir relentlessly while Fafnir absorbed the energy.

"Here it goes, Geist Spin."

The little dragon heads on Fafnir closed and now it was spinning faster than ever. Golden sparks few as the golden energy built up beneath Fafnir.

Colliding Phoenix's armor flew off, while Fafnir was still in its golden state. But the armor came back down and descended onto Fafnir. This was the move that's broken countless beys this was the:

"Dread Crush!"

Both of the pieces flew at Fafnir, trapping it. Just as Phi thought he had this in the bag he was wrong.

"Absorb Break!"

Fafnir absorbed the power and once again entered a golden state. In this state it flew across the stadium and it collided with Phoenix. Phi looked taken aback.

Both beys collided in a storm of red and golden sparks. Then Phoenix flew out of the stadium.

"Geist Fafnir, with a Ring Out Finish for one point."

The crowd cheered.

Turning around from the stadium Free lifted his hands from his sides, closed his eyes and focused.

His arms tended up and Free growled a little. Then turning around his eyes were glowing gold and he gave off a determined creepy smile.

Phi did the same returning the smile. Phi knew exactly what was going on and this was just the beginning.