The first battle immediately went to Free who registered himself to take it without any discussion with Valt or Lily.

The brunette assumed that him being captain and the number one blader let's him do things his way.

Even though he still had that aura of confidence,she felt like something was different. Something was amiss.

Like a calm river getting stirred up from a single drop of water.

"First outta the gate from BC Sol,the star of the team is about to show who burns the brightest!" Hanami announced as Free made his way towards the stage,the crowd cheering for the Golden Blader.

"And the other team goes with their captain as well,the brains of Top Wand,the mastermind himself,Heinrich!"

The crowd liked that.

"Lucky me,battling the number one blader in the whole world." Heinrich said,having a sort of grin on his face at the thought of facing off against Free of all people."This is such an honour."

Free let out an uninterested sort of sigh as he simply replied with a "huh." from Heinrich's modest statement to him.

Because he knew that THAT sentence was coming.

"So if I beat you,that would make me number one." Heinrich continued with a confident smile for his abilities to match the pro blader standing in front of him.

"IF you beat me." The emphasis on the "If".

"Now! We're ready to start the opening battle of the European league!" Hanami excitedly announced,receiving an ovation of screams from the bey fans seated at Al Astro.

As if on cue,Free drew out his launcher which seemingly made Valt awe with an amazed grunt. "Free took out his launcher!"

"Game one,first battle!" The referee cried out,both Free and Heinrich getting into their launching position.

Yet Heineich's previously confident demeanor was broken,stiffening in slight fear at the abnormal slight glowing of his opponent's eyes.

After the awaited countdown was said,both bladers drew their arms backwards,pulling the string cord at the same time as the two beys were launched into the gigantic stadium in front of the two.

Deain Fafnir,landed on the stadium ground with a silent thud before going at full speed to collide into Heinrich's bey,coming into quick contact before the causing the green-haired blader's bey to immediately burst in one hit.

That display of prowess made jaws drop as Valt and the others finally witness what the champion of beyblade can really do with just a launch of his bey after repeating at times and demonstrating back at BC Sol that he could take down anyone with just a simple flick of a wrist.

Free De La Hoya was indeed a tough contender.

"Drain Fafnir,with a Burst Finish! BC Sol wins with a score of two to zero!" The referee concluded.

"How did that even happen!?" Heinrich questioned,shock with how fast he lost the match which he believed her would have excel in.

"His incredible!" Valt said as Lily nodded in agreement."He really is."she added on,watching the golden haired male from his back,knowing full well she had to train and gain more experience in battle if she ever wanted to catch up to the boy she admired from behind.

"Very impressive,what a shame his on the wrong side,he'll come to us." Theodore confidently said to himself,letting out a smirk in the process.

"That was amazing!" Valt exclaimed,raising both of his hands to get a high five from his captain,however, Free simply walked back to the benches,ignoring the blue-haired before sitting on it,closing his eyes during the process.

"Its not over yet." He stated with a matter of fact.

Deciding to get Valt to go out for the next match,Free pointed a finger towards him while the overly excited blader let out a yell of joy before registering himself,heading straight towards the stadium after doing so.

Both Valt and Cuza exchanged their beys for a bey check,during that moment,Valtryek's partner decided to ask his friend about his sudden change in attitude from the day before.

"I don't get why your acting so different!" Valt inquired to which Cuza replied with a cold like."I don't know what you're talking about and I don't care." Completely different from his previous cheerful side when the two bladers first met."We hung out for like half a day! We're friends,remember?"

"Not right now."

"Man,just when you know a guy."

Once the bey check was over,both bladers took their places at the side of the stadium.

"Ultra attack and ultra stamina mode,which one would he go?" Valt asked in his string of thoughts,holding Valtryek which was locked onto his launcher.

"Valtryek is an attack type,ny best bet is to draw this out and wear it down,I'll go with Ultra Stamina mode."Cuza concluded in his thoughts,locking Alter Cognite onto his launcher.

"Game two,first battle!"

"Ready,set!"

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Let it rip!"

And off the beys went,flying into the stadium while Valt gasped in shock and awe over Cuza's unique backflip launch style.

"There it is! Cuza's backflip boost!" Hanami cried out.

Valttyek immediately went after Cognite with its Spring Attack but it barely grazed the balance type as it finally made its way to the centre of the stadium,securing it.

Once Cognite was in the centre,Valtryek  swooped in for another attack over and over again,however,Cuza's bey seemed completely unaffected by Valtryek's  continuous asasult.

Not even a scratch was made.

"Looks like Valtryek's starting to lose momentum!" Hanami commented when Valtryek started moving slower after hitting the side of the stadium before it headed back towards the powerful bey in the centre.

"No way you can stand up to Cognite in a match of Stamina!" Cuza assured in his bey's abilities when it came to stamina,giving out a bold statement.

"We're barely warmed up,charge!" Valt exclaimed,punching the air,encouraging his partner to strive on as Valtryek ricocheted itself off the wall,picking up a massive amount of speed which left Cuza astounded.

Once the attacked type Valtryek made one final clash with the silver coloured bey,it was knocked out of the centre before the two beys moved horizontally away from each other and completely stopped moving.

Making it a simultaneous survivor finish.

"That's the way to wear em down! Onto the next!" Rantaro who made his way to the blader's pit cheered,sending encouragement to his best friend.

Realising that he underestimated Valt and that he was a bigger threat than he thought of,Cuza decided to go with Alter Cognite's second mode,Ultra Attack.

And with that,the second battle begun.

"There it is! The other side of Alter Cognite,Ultra attack mode!"

Alter Cognite was like a whole different bey to which Silas commented that it was smooth and that its trajectory cannot even be tracked.

Kitt than added on that it has wicked power on the left and stamina on the right.

Both beys excelling in attack left furious sparks in their paths as Valtryek and Cognite finally made contact for the first time.

But,Cognite bounced back and somehow landed on top of the stadium side ledge,balancing on it like it was a tight rope,leaving many of BC Sol's members shock while Cuza did a handstand right next to his partner,giving out a satisfied chuckle and grin.

Suddenly,Cognite started moving.

"And now for the finale!" Cuza concluded,doing a simple stunt midair as Cognite jumped off the ledge and raced towards Valtryek with immense speed after the boost it had from being at a higher place from before.

Alter Cognite attacked Valtryek from the bottom,sending it flying before giving out a metallic burst sound in signs that it burst right next to Valt's  face.

"Alter Cognite wins the match with a burst finish! Game two goes to Top Wand with a score of two to zero!" The referee concluded.

Rantaro stood straight up jaw dropped while Lily stared at Valt,expressing tenderness towards her teammate who just suffered from a lost with her usual smile ridden face.

"From where I stand it seems the fate of BC Sol is riding on your shoulders,without you,I'm guessing that the whole team would implode." Free's thoughts interrupted by Theodore Glass's statement from their short and brief meeting.

When Valt made his way down from the stadium,he quickly apologised for losing the match.

Standing up from the bench,Lily raised a hand and patted his shoulder,a cheerful,carefree smile on her face."Don't worry! Just win the next time you face him."

Her expression changing to that of a soft,gentle one."No matter how hard it gets,never give up."

With that last thing said,she allowed her arm to return to her side before registering herself for Game Three.

"Your going next?" Valt asked

"Yup! Can't let our team captain carry the entire team!" The brunette replied with an easy going laugh,finally figuring out what her best friend was deep in thought about.

"Onto Game three! We have Lily Xu Adachi from BC Sol debuting for the first time and Rodrick Bazinet from Top Wand who is ready to put on a spectacular show!"

Standing opposite from each other,the bey stadium distancing them,Lily gazed towards the male dressed as a clown. She had always been afraid but this time was an exception because she wanted to win. She had to.

Breaking the silence,Lily decided to initiate a talk."You know,its kinda funny how I'm scared of clowns,but here I am,being your opponent." She laughed at the thought.

"It is so overrated. How someone face their fear and hope that that risk would work in their favour." Rodrick replied with a sigh,shaking his head in disappointment from what he had just heard. Wanting to continue,he was cut off.

"But it isn't overrated. Because not even you will prevent me from winning. I'll definitely win. " Lily proclaimed,her smile suddenly disappearing as her expression made a full 180° change.

The previous soft kind look in her eyes were replaced by those of both coldness and seriousness.

"Interesting,completely controlling her emotions perfectly to keep her level headed judgement,good technique." Theodore said to himself as he watched everything that was about to unfold from above.

"How creepy. What is she,some kind of spirit?!" Rodrick thought to himself,locking his bey onto his launcher as he cautiously watched the small figure of a blader take her launcher out before she made eye contact with him,her eyes glowing a slight gold like colour at the same time.

"Hold up,that abnormal glow,Heinrich said that he saw the same thing happening to Free during his own match." Rodrick recalled. "Is she related to Free De La Hoya in some way?" He questioned,locking his bey,Storm Spryzen onto his launcher while Lily locked Shoot Kunoichi on hers.

Before the countdown,Lily closed her eyes thinking about her strategy after she launches her partner,trying to come up with different plans just in case one failed.

But something disturbed her train of thoughts.

Or maybe someone.

More specifically,a blond boy with a streak of red,his facial expression having that same poker look.

Her face turned slight red from the thought.

She was not naive anymore,she was aware of her feelings towards her childhood friend whom she admired since young even till now.

He was the one she called "Rere".

Letting out a sigh,Lily went back to her previous demeanor,kicking him out of her thoughts and casting her feelings outside.

After all,it was irrelevant,a distraction from her goal and her reason for living.

"Loving someone romantically was a waste of time so why bother?"

Thx for reading! Sorry for the long wait and cringe you have once again just read^^; hope you enjoyed the chap and I'll see yall in the next one!Oh and any criticism and feedback  is appreciated!