Before Shu would have the time to battle Phi the rest of the battles of their group still had to happen with Zac going against Drum and Joshua battling Cuza.

Like the rest of the groups, at this point bladers were either dropping out of the tournament and leaving or they were staying to see how it all ended. With Hyde dropping out and Clio leaving that meant like yesterday there was less time to practice.

Which is why Valt was training despite everything that had just happened. Training usually helped him take his mind off of everything but for whatever reason he just couldn't focus.

No matter how well he launched he still felt like it wasn't enough to beat someone like Phi.

Launching again his mind drifted.

Valt had managed to make it to the finals but at the same time so had Free. Which meant there was only one spot left for either Shu or Phi. If Phi made it then Valt would have to face both Phi and Free, but if Shu beat Phi then Valt and Shu would face Free. But at the same time Phi could just take over Free.

Launching again Valtryek sped all over the stadium bumping into the walls and flew into the air.

Standing in the doorway Fubuki caught Valtryek.

"Fubuki what are you doing here?"

Fubuki threw Valtryek back to Valt, Valt stumbled trying to catch it but somehow miraculously didn't fall.

"The better question is why we're here."

Fubui moved away from the doorway revealing Sasha and Aiger.

Sasha held up her bey and so did Aiger and Fubuki.

"We're here to help you train! We've all been talking and now that you're in the finals we figured we would help you train since I've battled Free before and Aiger and Fubuki have beaten Phi." Sasha said.

"Yeah, we'll help you simulate a battle against Phi." Aiger added.

"I know we don't have those expensive headsets Theodore has but I hope this will be fine."

Valt nodded his head smiling.

"You're on!" Valt said, holding out his own bey.

******

Valt was hunched over out of breath looking back at everyone else. Fubuki was tired not trying to show it while Sasha was on the ground and Aiger was fine.

"One more time!"

Holding out Valtryek, a hint of golden energy showed itself grabbing Fubuki's attention. He sat up and narrowed his eyes.

"Sasha take a break, let Aiger and I handle this on our own."

Looking over at Aiger they both nodded their hands while going over to the stadium meanwhile Sasha had sat down to watch the battle.

"3...2...1...Let it Rip!"

Forenous took the center while Achilles and Valtryek were on the outside. Coming into the center Valtryek tried to attack but was thrown off by Achilles instead. Following its trajectory Forenous followed from behind attacking as well.

Between the two of them Valtryek was being thrown into the air with no time to recover.

"When battling Phi he wants to make you think you're nothing like he's beneath everyone. He will manipulate your emotions and power in any way he can to keep you from winning." Fubuki said.

Finally Valtryek had managed to catch a break starting to slow down.

"Tsunami Drift!"

"Turbo Whip."

Forenous and Achilles held Valtryek trapped in the center.

"You've got to get your head in the game Valt!"

On the other side of the stadium Valt was struggling with his eyes closed, his golden power was flickering on and off.

"I know but..I'm scared!"

"I know you are but I also know you can beat him, Phi has weakness and we just have to find it."

"You're right."

Pushing away Forenous and Achilles, Valtryek recovered, speeding up along the outside.

You can't rise to the top if you don't find your limits and push them...But you have to start recognizing where you draw your strength from, Valt. You always talk about the fun you're having. That's the key.

"Now Valtryek! You know what to do!"

Summoning Valtryek, Valt unleashed his golden power letting it go into the battle.

When they collided the winds was too much for Fubuki and Aiger knocking them both back.

Once Fubuki recovered he looked at Valt to see his eyes glowing golden and fixated on the battle.

"I get it now."

Standing up Fubuki pulled Aiger off the ground

"We have to finish this!" Fubuki yelled.

Aiger nodded his head.

"Turbo Whip!"

"Ultra Tsunami Drift!"

In the center Forenous and Achilles trapped Valtryek in the center.

Looking up from the battle Fubuki took note of Valt's golden power growing like the other day a shadow had grow over his body but his eyes were golden. Above him Valtryek could be seen with a mixture of blue and golden power.

"Turbo Valtryek Whip!"

Lighting up along with Forenous and Achilles Valtryek pushed them back with Valt unleashing his war cry.

Both Forenous and Achilles flew out of the stadium from the wind meanwhile Valtryek was still in the stadium.

Leaning over into the stadium Fubuki looked down, covering his face, in the stadium Valtryek was now glowing golden like it was in some sort of state.

But before he could investigate it more he was flung back but another gust of wind, and electric energy went into the air causing a blackout in the training room.

After the lights went out the golden resonance faded away and Valt hunched over out of breath his eyes were back to normal and the backup generator caused the lights to come back on.

"WOW! That was awesome!"Aiger said breaking up the awkward silence.

"Yeah." Fubuki said, trying to find words.

Despite everything Valt fell over and started laughing.

"That was a lot of fun."

Fubuki held out his hand, Valt grabbed it and Fubuki pulled him up.

"I caught it all on camera." Sasha got up from the chair to show Valt.

They all huddled together watching everything.

"I think that's enough for today." Fubuki said.

"Yeah I'm beat besides Shu and Phi's battle is coming up I want to see who wins."

Aiger took off with Fubuki following.

"You coming Valt?"

"Yeah in a minute."

Once Sasha was gone Valt replayed the video watching himself unleashing his power.

******

"I know what you're doing Phi."

Shu stood across the stadium from Phi who was already building up his power, Shu was doing the same letting his own build up.

"Serious are we?"

At the word we Phi sent a shockwave of his power at Shu knocking him backwards.

"You're feeding off of them, your army. You don't just take over them you feed off of your resonance."

"And you still think you can win? In the end everyone will fall, besides it's only a matter of time."

"We'll see about that." Shu said getting into his own launching stance.

"You should feel honored you've lasted this long but your journey ends now."

Phi flipped his hair getting into his own launching stance.

"3...2...1...Let it Rip!"

Phoenix took the center while Spryzen went on the offensive unleashing a bombard of attacks.

"Turbo Spryzen Whip!"

The side of Spryzen lit up clashing with Phoenix but Phoenix simply sat back brushing off all the attacks.

"I know what you're doing Shu, you're holding back but you're not going to win like that."

With one final attack Phoenix rebounded perfectly speeding around the stadium.

But Spryzen on the other hand came back down, slowing down a little.

"Then why are you waiting Phi? If you're so above everyone then why are you holding back too?"

Phi looked back up at Shu with a new attitude, his eyes were glowing black and he had a murderous look in his eye. He pointed a long shaking finger straight at Shu.

Shu stiffened up feeling the force of Phi's power.

"Don't you dare forget who's in charge here. I am your Lord! Your God! and I will destroy you and Valt."

Glancing back down at the stadium Shu saw that Spryzen still had a little bit more power.

Letting his power build back up he fought the pain summoning his power

"Turbo Spryzen Whip!"

"I don't think so, that trick might've worked for Lui but I know what you're doing."

As Spryzen was coming down to attack Phoenix came out of nowhere trapping Spryzen against the wall.

"Get out of there Spryzen!"
Spryzen pushed Phoenix a little but Phoenix was too strong.

"What a shame I expected more from the legendary Shu Kurenai but even if you do manage to beat me Valt is next and I'll make sure to tortue him every step of the way."

A tiny crack emerged on the energy layer .

"Spryzen NOW!"

Summoning Spryzen Phi did the same.

Pushing back on Phoenix Spryzen held its ground.

"Phoenix spread your wings!"

Phoenix came back pushing Spryzen toward the wall and into the air coming back down it landed by Shu's feet.

Picking up Spryzen the pieces fell apart in his hand.

That was almost a burst...

Looking back up at Phi, he wore an amused expression somehow knowing what had almost happened.

Shu clenched his fists getting into his launching position.

"3...2...1...Let it Rip!"

This time they both collided in the center unleashing a storm of electric power. Over and over they both fought for the center with neither of them back down.

"Dread Break."

Phoenix lit up turning purple and heading straight for Spryzen.

"Turbo Spryzen Whip!"

Colliding in the center they were both thrown back hitting the side of the stadium wall. Wobbling the came back down to the center starting to slow down.

"Hang in there Spryzen!"

Hitting each other they both slowed down simultaneously, looking at the ref he decided to consult the replay. On screen everyone watched with a heavy breath but the winner was clear, Phi had won.

Shu gritted his teeth clenching his fists.

Phi only watched with an amused expression.

"I get it now, you could've easily won a long time ago but instead you're seeing how this plays out. You want us to watch us pathetically try and save everyone only to have you beat us. The reason why you haven't turned us is because we're your entrainment."

Looking back at Phi, Shu's eyes were glowing red and Spryzen could barely be seen behind him.

"Look who decided to show up now. I was almost growing bored. I give you props on figuring it out but you're luck won't last forever and eventually it'll run out. And when it does..."

Phi's eyes darkened and a large Phoenix appeared letting out a low anger inhumane noise.

"I'll be there to destroy everything."

Holding out his launcher Shu did the same with a determined look.

"3...2...1...Let it Rip!"

This time Spryzen came flying in pushing Phoenix to the stadium wall.

"Nice try Shu but you can't resist forever."

Looking up from the battle everything turned onto a grayscale, with the only colors being their glowing eyes. Around Phi his dark power started crawling towards Shu. A long black tentacle grabbed his ankle and then his hands.

Phi's dark power held him to the ground as Phi appeared in front of him.

"This is my world Shu, I will destroy everything and with the world reborn in my fire I will rebuild."

"You're crazy." Shu spat.

"And you're weak."

Closing his eyes Shu tapped into his power fighting against Phi's dark power. The flames burnt the tentacles sending them back to Phi.

"Don't assume you'll be able to beat me easily."

The color came returned and they were both back in the arena.

Phoenix was now pushing Spryzen to wall over and over. As Spryzen bounced off the wall Phoenix was there pushing it back at the wall again.

Just when Phi thought he had him Spryzen came flying back causing Phoenix's armor to come off and out of the stadium.

"Tubro Spryzen Whip!"

"Phoenix Break!"

As Spryzen and Phoenix collided in the middle a white light came out of the stadium blinding everyone. Shu covered his eyes as the sparks went flying.

On one side of the stadium was an orange and red light while on the other was the purple fighting each other for control.

"My, my I wasn't expecting this kind of power from you."

After another second or two they both went flying into the air and time seemed to slow down. They both bursted and time sped back up again.

They both looked to the referee with an unsure expression.

"Who won?" They both said.

Shu looked back at Phi glaring while Phi only smiled amusingly back.

"Simultaneous burst finish! No points awarded."

And that's how it started. No matter how many battles went on from there they all ended in the same way.

Even when one of them thought they had the upper hand things still ended the same way and eventually they both started losing energy.

As more battles went on they both grew more tired and out of breath. As each battle past everyone grew more unsure of who was going to win.

"Turbo Spryzen Whip!"

"Phoenix Break!"

Once again they collided but were both thrown out of the stadium over and over and over.

And each time they both asked who had won but the referee never awarded any more points. And that's how it went whether it was bursts, ring outs, or survivor finishes the battles dragged on and on.

30th battle!

62 battle!

97 battle!

126 battle!

Shu easily lost track to the numbers but he still didn't give up.

I've just got to remember why I'm doing this...

Looking back up at the stands Shu looked at Valt and smilied.

Meanwhile Phi was't going to let this go on, he was tired and his power was drained but he wasn't going to let someone like Shu beat him especially with everything on the line.

"3...2...1...Let it Rip!"

Spryzen went flying into the center and so did Phoenix.

But as soon as they made contact they both bursted.

Picking up their pieces Phi and Shu got ready for another battle.

But before they could the referee held out his hands stopping them both.

The crowd silenced and a heavy dread hung in the air.

"Because this is the most amount of ties we've ever had in a tournament you may both be allowed to move on but you both will face someone else and not each other."

The crowd cheered and Valt, Sasha and the rest of BC Sol came running onstage congratulating Shu. Confetti covered the room as everyone cheered.

But the good mood was immediately ruined as everyone turned to look at Phi.

"You may have been spared this time Shu but don't think I'll go so easily on Valt."

"We'll see about that." Shu said with a smile.

"Yeah, we're not scared of you!" Sasha added.

"Oh you should be."

Phi held out his hand and everyone struggled on the ground.

Everyone except for Valt.

Looking at Phi his eyes were glowing golden and Valtryek could barely be seen.

Phi started chuckling and not long after that his chuckling turned into straight up outrageous laughter like he was a maniac.

His power died down and his eyes turned back to the normal and the Phoenix disappeared.

"What makes you think you can control that golden power of yours long enough to stop me? I've seen what you've done with that power. And we both know you still can't control it well enough. You've already hurt your friends who'll be next?"

And with that Phi walked offstage planting a seed of doubt in Valt's head.