He knew this matchup was a mistake the moment Valt saw Phi.

A look Shu'd never seen crossed his face and he immediately wondered how anyone in Spain was going to live through Scary Valt.

Phi looked unconcerned, lazily flipping his hair and turning to the Chimera blader. How he was so calm in the middle of a forest, Shu didn't know. Anyone could easily arrange a murder here, and with it so far away from the city, an unmarked grave would be surprisingly easy to hide. How was he not scared?

"You want me to battle him?" the Phoenix sighed. "Shu, that's sad, even for you~"

Valt growled loudly. "I'm right here, Phi." His voice was altered slightly, sounding like three people speaking than just one. Creepy. "And I'm beating you four-zero, I promise."

"Really?" Phi smirked, flipping his hair. "You and what army?"

The blue-haired blader's eyes flashed again, and he snarled in a very un-Valt way. He didn't bother saying anything, just took Valtryek out and attached her to the launcher. "Shu."

His head snapped towards him, pale hand reaching for a shard of Storm Spryzen. "Yes?"

"Ref for us."

"Of course."

Phi sauntered forward, black bodysuit absorbing all light. "Oh, Shu~" he purred.

What." Shu let his tone twist into something cold and unforgiving. It was too easy to slip back into Red Eye's response patterns.

"I'd like to make this game a little more interesting. You up for it~"

"Depends. What are you offering." Snap out of it, snap out of it, snap out of it... He couldn't be Red Eye again. Focus...

"Aoi~ I think whoever wins this should get Shu~"

"WHAT?"

Their reactions exploded out at the same time, the Chimera blader covering his mouth at the outburst, Aoi's aura flaring up. If he wasn't ready to kill Phi earlier, he definitely was now.

"Well, it makes sense." His aura flashed in response to Valt's. "You want him. Free wants you."

"And what would you get out of it?" Brown eyes began glowing a dark blue, and his one voice gained gravity of some sort, like two other voices were chorusing with his.

"Amusement~"

Shu could believe it. Phi was just that guy.

Wait...

"I'm not a trophy!" he protested. "Don't even-"

"Challenge accepted," Valt roared. "I'm going to destroy you!"

"Excuse me?"

Phi laughed. "I'd love to see it~" He hummed lazily as he got into his launch stance. "Better live up to all the hype. I'd hate to have traveled this far to be disappointed."

"Bite me." The three voices lowered to something quieter and menacing. Terrifying to the point where Shu could imagine him in a mask and fitted armor and no remorse for anything. He would have to thank Free later, as painful as that was going to be.

If there was a later.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Go... shoot!"

From where he stood, Shu could note the new speed and agility of Valtryek. When it landed in the outer rim, it attacked the middle without any hesitation. Phoenix was already there, having landed dead center with flawless accuracy.

Huh. Looked like Phi learned some new tricks too.

An explosion issued from the center, throwing all three of them back. Shu hit a tree at a high speed and felt his body drop. Shit that hurt a lot.

The others apparently hit a tree, too, from the second and third thud, but they barely looked affected as he rushed back to the stadium. From the clashing noises, the beyblades were still going. And at a high speed, too.

Phi was already back, watching intently as Phoenix defended against attack after attack. "Break..."

Valtryek was repelled again.

"Now."

The armor was tossed up. On the next attack, Shu heard the click from Phoenix's beyblade, a low-pitched sound. First click. Valt was winning now. "Attack!"

Phoenix was repelled out of the center and went for the armor piece on the outer rim. The next thing it would do was hit a Revive Crush, and it was nearly impossible to get out of that. If he got to that, it was over.

The problem was, Valktryek was already there.

Shu blinked at the beyblades. What the actual-

Valt roared as his bey hit the armor, sending it straight at Phoenix and circling back around. He looked up at Phi, watching his expressionless face with a smirk. "Revive Crush."

Click.

Click.

Phoenix was thrown into the air, and the armor hit the blue beyblade. It hit the stadium edge and was sent into the air too.

The midair collision was enough to send them all to the ground. Again. Shu hissed, digging his heels into the ground and covering the back of his head.

A slightly higher pitched tone sang over the released power.

Clink.

Clink.

Clin...

Shing!

The light faded. Shu stood, the piece of Spryzen cutting into his hand. He hadn't even realized he was holding it. Maybe it was instinct, or the idiocracy of leaving Turbo Spryzen in the hotel room.

Then he looked at the aftermath, and gaped. So did Phi. "Valtryek with a burst finish. Score two-zero."

Valt didn't even cheer. All his emotion tells were dead silent as he scooped up his bey. Emotional void... just like Red Eye. Only one feeling right now, and his eyes revealed nothing but absolute concentration. Valt clicked it back to its starting position. Three clicks. It was a second away from a burst finish, and that was with that plan in action.

What were Phi's weaknesses from that? Not much, from that. Though Valt's speed to attack was impressive. No lag at all-

Lag?

Didn't it take a while for Phoenix to switch from defense to offense?

And wasn't that a weakness?

Damn, he'd been playing way too much Super Smash Bros. lately.

Phi laughed, shaking him back to the present. Laughed! "So that was your genius plan, then?" With a lazy, arrogant grin on his face, he picked up his beyblade, putting it together.

But leaving out the armor.

Perfect. Just perfect. Valt better have a backup plan or he was royally screwed. Brute force better not be his answer this ti-

That launch stance suggested otherwise.

"Oh, and if I win, I'm gonna kiss Shu again~" Phi sang, flipping his hair. "And I'll make sure to care for him, because you can't."

"I'm not a pet!"

"STAY AWAY FROM SHU, YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A PERSON!"

That was the closest Valt had ever come to swearing and it was scary. Very scary. Shu took a too-casual step back, and Phi smirked at that.

"Just launch already so I can destroy you."

That sounded more like Lui than Valt... He definitely had to thank Free for stopping him. Valt probably would have found the new Snake Pit within days and Shu would have never seen him again. Besides, with whatever motivation- revenge or whatever- Valt was feeling, he figured Valt was powerful enough right now to beat him.

"If you insist~"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Go... shoot!"

Shu gripped the piece of Spryzen tightly and got ready to drop and defend himself. Good thing, too, because when Phoenix landed directly on top of Valtryek, there was a huge explosion, along with several clicks. He couldn't tell which beyblades they were coming from.

The wind hit him like a sledgehammer and he dropped to his knees, digging his heels into the dirt and covering the back of his neck. He knew better than anyone how sharp beyblades were.

When the light and wind faded, Shu hesitated for a few seconds, making sure he wasn't about to get hit in the eye, and stood.

"WHAT THE-"

How were they still going? From the looks of the forge disc, each beyblade was halfway to a burst. Both Phi and Valt were staring at it with concentration. That was weird.

Valt always screamed when he battled. So why was he silent?
Despite not having its armor, Phoenix was flawlessly defending, and Valtryek was slowing down.

"Attack. Winged Launch." Valt didn't move at al, barely moved his mouth.

Valtryek rebounded off Phoenix with a loud clang and began to gain speed by bouncing off the stadium walls. It careened toward Phoenix and another light explosion threw them backwards. Sparks flicked into the air, and this time Shu hit the tree.

He groaned, feeling his body slide down the trunk. "Owww....." At least he wasn't the heatwave again. The cold clamminess throughout his body was much better than the heat, though, so he quit complaining at raced back over to the stadium.

Both beys were still spinning, and this time Phoenix was attacking. The counter was brutal, but one glimpse at the forge disc told him that it was one click away from bursting. So was Valtryek.

The red beyblade hit the wall, bounced up into the air, and crashed down on the edge of Valtryek's forge disc.

It wobbled towards the wall of the stadium.

And missed the wall, dropping out of bounds in the most unimpressive way ever.

Valt glared at the beyblade on the ground. It was halfway to bursting, and Phi sighed. "Aww, no burst? Oh well, I suppose cockroaches are resilient~"

"Ring out finish, score of two to one. AND DON'T CALL HIM A COCKROACH, BI-"

"I surrender."

Shu whipped toward the voice, and even his training couldn't stop the shake in his voice. "V-Valt?"

"I'm done. I didn't fulfil my promise." His brown eyes looked at the item in his hand. "Not to you, not to Valtryek. So... I lose." Valt laughed shakily. "Besides, I know it wouldn't even feel like a win anyways." He sighed and turned around. "See you guys later."

Shu reached out his hand to stop him, but a different hand was there before him. A paler one, long delicate fingers coupled with a black sleeve. A determined face with one ruby eye and one crystal blue. "Wait," Phi said.

Valt hesitated, not bothering to jolt his arm away. "What."

No question, just a cold comment. Something like what Free would do, what Lui would do... what Shu himself would say. Just not Valt. But here he was...

"Why wasn't it a win?"

He looked over his shoulder at the taller male. Phi tilted his head, like Free liked to do. He looked like a bird listening to an unfamiliar sound. Valt blinked once, then looked away.

"It still wouldn't matter."

Shu's breath hissed between his teeth, fighting to keep every thread of self-control. He knew the words coming next. Knew them because an enemy of his broke and poured the same words to him as a gift. He gave him that gift for just being there, for not abandoning him when he needed something to hold onto. What did Valt have?

Nothing anymore.

"Because four to zero isn't a win."

---

Oh, you thought the chapter was done, didn't you?

Well, fear not, your author's got more stuff planned! This is just a thing so you don't lose your spot if you have to leave the book for now.

You can thank me later ~uwu~

Phithephoenix, I think it was you who requested, your request is next chapter!!! Anyone else who wants to request can go ahead. I'm taking two more!

Anyways, let's continue!

---

"Salt Mine."

"Snowflake."

Of course he ran into the Dragon Blader. Honestly, he should have expected it. The forest was Free's area, he knew every single inch of this place. Walking through it, having a beybattle here, was probably a sure way to attract his attention.

Shit...

Shu noticed someone poking their pink head through the trees. Damn it, Kris. "What do you want?"

"I saw what happened," he said simply. Free's fluffy hair waved in the soft wind. His gold and green aura flared up and Shu felt his own crimson aura spark in return. "Good try. But you don't know Valt."

It was taking all his instincts to not stab him with Spryzen.

"Let him go, Shu." Free's eyes started to glow with his bey's wild spirit. "You don't deserve him. You keep hurting him, even when you're trying to help. Shu, you're not enough."

Well, fuck you too. Shu said as much, with a vulgar gesture to match. "Jealous, much?" His chest warmed with the emotion spike. He ignored it. "Stop trying to seperate us."

Free's bare arms tensed. The Dragon blader was nervous, and from the painful heat behind his eyes, his eyes were actually glowing. Again. Glowing, like they had when he was resonating with Requiem. Just... great...

Free glanced at his eyes again. "Requiem."

Was he able to read minds, or was the bastard just smart? Probably smarter than him, if he could actually figure out why the heat flashes were suddenly a thing. "I got rid of Requiem three years ago. I believe that is not the issue."

"You don't have your beyblade with you. Other than the Spryzen pieces."

Shit how did he see that? "I don't feel like talking about this."

"You want to prove you're good enough for Valt?" Free glared. "Talk."

"Make me."

Free didn't even blink. "Explain."

He was not getting out of this, was he? "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"Eyes."

Shu tried very hard not to stab the shit out of him. "Whatever. The heat flashes started maybe two years ago. I had received Turbo Spryzen a few months earlier. I woke up with my skin cracked and blood more or less pouring out of my left arm. I don't remember much from that day, except waking up in a blue room and sharp needles." He shuddered. "Needles. There's no point in them."

"No point," Free smirked. When Shu hesitated, wondering whether to flip him off or stab him, he rolled his hands, eyes impatient. "Keep going."

Shu had a brief flashback to Phi. "Fine, I guess I already told you too much, then. You use any of this against me, you are dead."

Free's eyes flickered back to black. He didn't even care. Ass.

"So... the next time it happened was when I saw Phi. It was at the park, and he approached me with the dread armor. He challenged me, and all I could feel was fire and really, really, angry. After he left, I couldn't breathe. I couldn't even see, it hurt so badly. Not until my heartbeat slowed down, at least. When I could focus again, I was faceup on a bench and I still have no idea how I ended up there. There wasn't even anyone around.

"I eventually figured out that emotions spikes are what trigger it. I can't make it stop at all." Shu scowled. "It's annoying, but I think there might be an upside. I accidentally incinerated part of my blanket, and I don't know how this is happening."

Free shook his head. "You should not be with Valt."

"This bullshit again?"

"I'd do anything to make sure he's safe."

The honest, if not cliche statement took Shu off guard. He was judging him for everything. Free wasn't Valt's mom! He wasn't allowed to do that!

"What if him being safe meant you leaving him?"

"Then I'd do it." The complete honesty in his eyes made him blink. All the heat drained out of his chest, and Shu almost relaxed.

Shit. Why was Free so god-damn perfect?

It would be so much easier if he was an asshole.

And hearing all of this again... Shu cared about Valt, too. He would do anything to keep him safe. Always. So Shu would do what he had to.

Maybe Free was right.

"I'm breaking up with him."

Free's head snapped up.

"When his emotions are more stable," Shu told him, "I'm going to break up with him. And when you are his boyfriend, you'd better make him happy. Or else I will hunt you down."

The Chimera blader shoved his pride away for a moment longer. "And... thank you for taking care of Valt."

Free was silent for a moment.

Then...

He smiled. Salt Mine De La Hoya just smiled! And it was sort of adorable, too. Even if he was sometimes scary.

"I'll make him happy," he promised.

That was all Shu heard before a tic.

The pink head emerged from the green. Kris.

With.

A.

Camera.

"Hehehe...." She held it up long enough for them to see the video button, then sprinted away.

"GET HER!"

---

So... ehehehhhh kinda ran out of ideas at this point, as you can kind of see. I was watching stuff when I was writing this, I'm sorry... But please tell me what you think, and again, I need two more requests before I finish this! 

Yee! Thank you guys, you're amazing! Thanks to justadiosaur~

Something random: My hair is now long enough and wild enough for me to genderbend Shu, if he had brown hair and no scar. Seriously, I can imitate the scar thing now!

Robin out peoplz!!!!!