Up on the screen: That is the real Azura. 

On a seperate note, next chapter, Robin will learn something all too surprising this round, something that makes her nickname so true to the people who know Fire Emblem Awakening.

--

Daigo:

Valt burst into hysterics about his wonderful beybread as soon as he got the call. Daigo sighed and focused on the problem at hand. "So it's very likely Jynn put this up. I'll go ask him."

Robin made a face. "Yeah, people would definitely admit to that."

He smiled, one of the scary ones that made people look away quickly. "You're forgetting. I can tell when you're lying. I'll know."

She shrugged. "Alright, just be careful. If you come back with a guardian spirit, I'm gonna be freaked out."

The blondes started disassembling the laser, so he assumed that was his cue to go away.

--

He found Jynn just outside of the stadium area. He was sitting on one of the benches, leaning against the white wall of the building. "Hey."

The kid looked him in the eyes sleepily. "Hey," he greeted, sitting down. For the most part, he seemed calm, not like the freaky Jynn with 323 guardian spirits they'd seen before. Daigo carefully turned his Descendant power on. He really hoped Jynn was in a good mood right now, or things might go south for him.

So how do I ask him? Daigo wondered. It's not like I can say, "did you cheat?" He settled on something different. "There was a laser that hit your opponent's eyes earlier, causing the shaky launch," he said carefully. "My friends just found it. Do you know anything about it?"

Anger crossed Jynn's strange features. He glared at Daigo, getting to his feet. "You think I put a laser there?" he snarled, bloodshot eyes targeting him. Mist began to swirl around him, and the neko heard voices shrieking around it. "I would never! I got here by winning fair! How would I be able to get even close to beating Shu if I didn't?"

He wasn't often scared; on the contrary, he was normally the one who scared people. But Daigo wasn't the kid with the dead eyes and the icy monotone voice. He didn't summon spirits at a moment's notice. Nor did he ever have such unrestrained rage flowing across his face. Even though he could give a few scary smiles, his heart was rarely in it. Scaring people just worked to his advantage part of the time. Jynn had mastered the fine art of instilling pure terror. He took an instinctive step back, hands trembling slightly. Only Doomscizor saved him from sensibly running the other way.

Calm down. It's not that scary, see? He's just a powerful kid in an ugly hat.

His breath came back easier and Daigo started disassembling Jynn's loath-filled tirade. Daigo had heard nothing but truth in his voice, and his power agreed. He was still pretty scared, but Doomscizor was right. "Do you know who did?"

Calm came back to his face and Jynn's spirits disappeared. Daigo's body relaxed, adrenaline leaving him. The scary kid sighed, sitting back down on the bench and leaning his head against the wall. "I do not. But where did you find it?"

"The left corner in the back of the stands."

Jynn frowned. "You want the blue guy."

"The blue guy?" Daigo had no clue what he was talking about. He could be talking about a blue-skinned person, a person with blue eyes, blue hair, anything. "Be more specific."

"I can't. Stuff doesn't stay in my head." Jynn curled up on the bench, reminding Daigo this terrifyingly powerful guy was just a kid still. "Sorry I can't be helpful."

Daigo shook his head. "No, you've helped me a lot. Thank you." He inclined his head respectfully and left. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief once he was inside the cold building. When he found the others, he gave Robin a pissed-off look, then turned towards the whole group. "Next time," he said quietly, "You deal with that."

Robin laughed. "Understood. Anyways, we're headed to Valt's house to figure out the beybread thing."

Wakiya approached them, holding up the disassembled laser. "No. First, we're headed to where I traced this."

Honcho and Valt gaped at him, along with Daigo. "You're a tech whiz?"

He folded his arms and tilted his head up arrogantly. "What can I say? I am a man of many talents."

"Man is stretching it," Robin muttered

"What'd you say, fool?!" Tick marks framed his face.

"Enough already," Shu said quietly. "If you figured it out, find the person. Please. I have a feeling they're specifically targeting us."

If there was one thing Daigo had learned, it was to never mess around when Shu said please.

***

After a few minutes of Wakiya's tracking, they came across Naoki. He was sitting at a cafe, so naturally Valt ran and went to buy something.

Daigo didn't really like the guy. He was too familiar with Robin, and was too calm for his liking. Daigo could never tell what he was thinking, power or no power.

Robin, apparently, didn't share his reservations. She moved forwards happily and started speaking with him.

"Hello!" she said cheerfully, glancing at Wakiya. He tapped his phone and nodded.

"Hello to you too, Miss Kurenai," he said politely, turning off his tablet. "May I help you?"

Daigo scowled. The little-- no way Robin falls for that.

"Actually, yes," she replied, voice shyer than usual. She tilted her head a clasped her hands together in an adorable gesture. "I was kind of wondering from when we met earlier-- what was your glasses doing? It looked like it was glowing. So cool!"

He smiled, evidently pleased with the attention. I want to kill him. "Of course. See, I was recording you to check your data. Your improvement rate from the first time you officially bladed to now. Also, to add to my search to make the best beyblade. It's quite complicated."

Any guy who used the word "quite" to impress a girl deserved the worst punishment. Besides, it wouldn't affect Robin in any way. He doubted she even knew how to flirt or what it was.

Or maybe she was falling for it. The white haired girl bounced up and down, hair fluttering along at a slower pace. "No way! You're so amazing!"

He inclined his head politely. "Well, I try."

Robin unclasped her hands and opened her eyes. She curiously peered at his glasses, their noses almost touching. A flustered look came over Naoki, then she leaned back and he was calm again. "Your glasses are really awesome," she cheered. " You have so many talents other than beyblading! What else can you do?"

Now Daigo understood what was going on, understood the look Wakiya gave her and the subtle gesture to his phone.

"Well, I can make fully functional robots in less than an hour," he replied. "And I perfected a flash-bang method in the tiniest of my robots. Using a mirror system and voice/motion activation sensors, it delivers an incredible light."

Robin stepped back, gave Wakiya a nod. She gave a hopeful look, eyelashes lowering. "I found something just like that today, but it was all ruined. Could you take a look at it for me?"

He stood up, set his tablet down on the table. Probably due to Robin's influence, he was totally oblivious to the obvious clues of what was happening. "Of course, miss."

Robin's face colored adorably as she handed it over. Even though he knew this wasn't real, jealousy snapped through them like a rubber band. "What do you think?" she asked, eyelashes fluttering.

He took it, examined the sides. "Quite amazing. This is actually my prototype. I forgot to get it from the stands earlier today, with your spectacular performance."

"So it's yours?"

"Yes. I can activate it from my tablet, which I modified myself." He blinked, body shuddering a little. His emotion changed from slightly flustered to angry and annoyed. "Wait... did you just..."

"Exactly." Robin's voice had changed abruptly from adorably innocent to cold and conniving. "My power allowed me to manipulate your already strong emotions. Confidence and fondness are quite powerful emotions." She flashed him a snake's smile. Daigo shivered. God, that's amazing, how she changed so fast. Guess that's how she survived getting money that way. Her power, coupled with her skills at reading people, made her extremely formidable. "So... you got a reason for shooting the laser at Shu? And don't go backing out." She casually tied her hoodie around her waist. "Wakiya was recording."

No panic was on his face, and Daigo didn't need another power to tell he wasn't afraid. More like impressed, but annoyed if he was reading it right. "Of course. I told you, to gather data, and who better to gather it from than the most diverse group of bladers around? If I had tried Lui Shirosagi, he would have found the camera in seconds and busted it open. I just needed to perfect my unbeatable strategy. I did, too."

Valt, who had apparently come back some time ago, tilted his head. "So you messed up Shu's map for data? We could have just helped you directly, you know."

"Of course not. People and beyblades, though both living, are great for experiments. Never fear, though. I've almost made a breakthrough. For science, you know."

Just then, his tablet rang. A voice issued from it. "No more beybread."

He growled slightly, jumping backwards. "Did you just hack my tablet?!"

Wakiya waved his phone around. "Can't beat the best!" he announced. Honcho threw his arms around him.

"You're the best," he announced.

"Definitely," the blonde agreed.

Valt glared. "Both beyblades and humans shouldn't be used as pawns! That's just cruel! And so's taking my beybread!"

"Why don't you and Valt just beybattle?" Robin suggested. "It'll prove who's right, and no, I'm not messing with your head, Naoki. If your master strategy wins, you got good data and proved you're right. If Valt wins, it'll prove he's right, and you'd better stop with the sabotaging."

Naoki shrugged lazily. "Fair enough."

***

They both arrived at the beypark quickly. Daigo, seriously not liking this guy, said, "Before we start, how old are you?"

"Fifteen."

That meant Robin was about four years younger, and he had a crush on her. Robin had managed to play it her way, but he hated that she even used that stupid strategy. To prevent himself from launching a stone at him, Daigo turned to Valt. "Hey. You ready?"

For once, he wasn't bouncing up and down. Valt probably realized how much was riding on him. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Naoki knelt for his launch and tapped his glasses, starting the recording. "My strategy is absolute. You can't beat me."

Robin laughed. "Everything's beatable in some way, what's the difference with yours?"

She's playing his insecurities, Doomscizor said. If my evil counterpart had been that genius, all of Japan would be under his control.

"It is!" The scientist said it to reassure himself as much as Robin. "My beyblade can switch between attack and defense mode if I turn the driver!" He stopped talking, glared daggers at her. "STOP DOING THAT!"

"Once you stop falling for it, I will."

"That's not fair!" Valt protested. "Just because he did that, doesn't mean he deserves to be manipulated!"

Robin scowled. "He totally does, but whatever. Don't forget that little part about the BEYBREAD!"

"Still."

Daigo intervened. "I agree. You said it was an abuse of power, but look what you're doing."

Robin deflated, making him feel bad. "Okay. Sorry."

He noticed she didn't apologize to Naoki, but Valt jumped in first. "Can we start already?!"

Honcho was ref, probably because he was the least biased. That wasn't saying much. "Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Let it... rip!"

Valt and Naoki launched in unison, but he noted how Valt's hands twitched toward his bag. Usually his beybread supply was in there.

"Flash Launch!" Valt yelled. Daigo yowled and jumped a good twenty feet back. That noise was the worst thing he'd ever heard, and that was saying a lot.

Naoki seemed affected by the sound, too, as he flinched and got hit by the launch. Nepstrius crashed against the wall and hit the stadium ground again. "You can't beat me like that. Along with Robin, I've been analyzing all of you for your improvement. You are the most improved, but fairly predictable. And right now, you're fighting at a hundred percent power." He smiled and adjusted his glasses the same way Pokemon Clement did. "Nepstrius! Attack mode!"

It crashed around the stadium, knocking Valtryek to the very outer rim of the bowl with a well timed brush.

The bluenette gasped. "No way! Hang in there, Valkyrie!"

Naoki flinched back and gasped when the darker winged beyblade came streaking towards him. "Impossible! The readings say... a thousand percent?"

Sensing a sudden surge of energy, he noticed Valt's hands clench tightly, and his left hand grasped for the beybread bag. Daigo's eyes widened imperceptibly as he understood. That's the.. No way. No way he just used a Revive Function.

Doomscizor smiled. Oh yes he just did.

A whisper of wind flickered past him, brushing his shoulder-length hair around him. Really, he was going to have to cut it. A flicker of determination flew through his chest, and sensing Robin's presence, turned around. Azura's eyes were closed, hands clasped to her chest and amulet, whispering words quietly.

"Ten thousand percent?" Naoki scowled. "Alright. Use secret weapon. Spin counterclockwise."

The two beys collided in a flurry of sparks, broke apart, and crashed again. A burst of wind and light threw most of them backwards, bar Shu and the currently blading pair.

Noaki's bey burst.

Valt threw his hands in the air and cheered. "YEESSSS!!!! I WON! THIS IS AMAZING!"

Honcho grinned, throwing his fan out to fully extended. "Nepstrius burst. Valt wins!"

Even Shu, who hadn't said a word the whole time, smiled at this.

By contrast, Naoki wasn't smiling at all. He slumped to the ground, holding the three broken pieces in his hand. Daigo could feel his misery about losing, and more importantly, his strategy cracking to pieces with his bey. A slight flicker of pity whispered through him, and he quickly checked to make sure it wasn't Robin before heading over.

"Hey, Naoki."

Surprised, the ocean haired high-schooler looked up. "Yes?" His voice trembled slightly. "Are you going to rub it in? It's clear you don't like me."

Daigo briefly contemplated doing just that before dismissing the idea. He could play with his emotions just as well as Robin, but it was a cruel punishment. "Later. First, Valt's right. You could just ask people to help your research. And why the beybread call thing?"

The guy probably decided there was no point in lying. "T-to get real results. And I was just curious if your friend would perform better or worse without beybread."

At least that made sense. "So you won't sabotage anyone anymore."

"No. I lost. Spinning counterclockwise should have created friction, which in turn should have pushed your friend's beyblade out of the stadium. No data I have supports what happened."

That's because both Valkyrie and Robin was helping.

Naoki sighed, getting to his feet and wiping grass of his lab coat. "I'm being foolish. My study wasn't worth anything. I may as well delete it."

Self pity was a bad look on anyone, but deleting his hard work for who-knows-how-many-years seemed a fitting punishment for having a crush on Robin.

Before the high-schooler could press the hard reset button on his tablet, Valt ran at Sonic speed and snatched the tablet out of his hands. "Don't!"

Everyone looked up, curious.

"You've worked so hard on it, how can you bear to throw it all away? You said it was for science. Use it to help someone else, instead of just messing with people. That's what science is for, isn't it?"

Such wisdom coming from Valt was extremely rare, and everyone had learned to treasure those moments. The scientist didn't seem much different. He stared at the bluenette, trying to decide if he was right. Evidently, Valt was, because he nodded and stood up. "Thank you, Valt Aoi. I guess I owe you one. Also an apology, so I'm really sorry about almost messing up your match, Shu."

Shu had no reaction other than a slight inclination of his head.

Daigo coughed and nudged Robin. She glared at him. "What?"

He whispered loudly, "Apologize..."

"No."

There was no point in arguing with her.

***

The next day, everyone was ready for the next matches. Valt was bouncing up and down, anxiously polishing Valkyrie and running through mental exercises. Wakiya was stretching and throwing punches at a bag he hung up. For a spoiled kid, he really knew how to improvise. Robin was twitching like a rabbit caught in the headlights. He sympathized with her because he knew how much she wanted Gabe. Even more than she wanted to beat Lui, his Robin wanted to beat Gabe. Especially since he was a good person who beat her.

He actually felt relaxed because he wasn't up. Clearly Honcho felt the same.

Toko, Nika, and Ryota popped up beside them, Ukyo right next to the eight-year olds. Apparently, he had been teaching them the skills. Daigo would have been annoyed if he wasn't glad for Ryota. He had always had a hard time making friends. "Xander's warming up, as is Gabe," Nika and Toko said in unison.

"And Lui's pulling this weird bungee whip somewhere in here," Ryota added. "Looks like a giant launcher. His beyblade's rude. He said a lot of words the people in the movies you watched do."

He was grateful for the info, which everyone else in the Beigoma Academy heard, but appalled. "Why were you listening to the movies?"

He smiled, all innocence. "Maybe because it had a lot of se---"

Ukyo covered his mouth, horrified. "What have you been teaching him?"

"Nothing!" he protested.

"NEXT ROUND!!!" Hanami bellowed. "The refs randomly selected cards! We have our matchups!"

The crowd instantly quieted, looking at the screens. Animated cards danced across the TV. "Valt Aoi versus... Xander Shakadera!!!"

The crowd cheered, and the two grinned at each other. Daigo could tell neither was afraid, just pure excited. That's so them.

More cards. "Gabe Brunei versus... Zac The Sunshine!!!"

Robin scowled at the screen, and he gave her a hug. Toko awwed.

"Shu Kurenai versus..." the screen flashed purple. "Wakiya Murasaki!"

Daigo paled. He knew exactly who was left from these, and everyone else did too. Of all the foul luck. Robin's streak ends here.

"Robin Kurenai versus Lui Shirosagi!!!"

---

So... cliffhanger much?

I know. I'm rude AF. But that's why I'm writing. Anyways, It's going to take forever to write all of these, so I'll either write every battle as a chapter or Robin's battle seperately.

Thank you for reading this! Vote for Daigo's protectiveness and Valt's innocence!

Robin out!