Robin:

"Twentieth battle!"

Sweat soaked her hair and clothes as Robin held her launcher in front of her. Her body shook, and her ears had an incredibly annoying ringing sound. It felt like a hammer was striking the inside of her head over and over and over, so in short, she felt like death and looked even worse. She looked at the two stadiums in front of her and tried to figure out which one was real.

A dull thud startled her out of her daze. It was... Lui. His left knee hit the ground and his shoulders shook with a coughing fit.

"Forfeit?" Robin suggested innocently.

He scowled at her, gasping for breath. "Never."

Robin's arms trembled when she lifted her launcher.

"Sync!"

She took a slow breath and tried to clear her mind. If she was feeling this bad, her only consolation was Lui was probably worse.

Focus, Ramos mumbled. So we can get this over with, because I'm dying. Actually dying.

She honestly looked like she was, and that rid her head of all distractions. Of everything else, she needed to win this for Phoenix.

"Three!"

"Two!" Robin shut her eyes, spun and jumped.

"One!" She felt the spirit of Phoenix merge with her own. Robin raised her arms and shrieked her challenge.

Her scorched throat crackled painfully as she yelled with everyone else, "Let it... rip!"

Phoenix dropped into the stadium and quickly gained speed. If Robin could draw out this match, because right now Phoenix had slightly more energy, they had a chance at a burst finish.

She rolled away from Lui's attack and summoned fire. The stadium tilted strangely back and forth before Robin understood that she was dizzy. That never happened, ever.

Fire burned in her hands, and she set the ground around Lui alight, with the hopes he would stay there. After the humiliation of nearly collapsing, she probably should have known better.

He lunged through the flames, ignorant of the little glowing knives that pierced his skin, and tackled her. This time, Robin twisted and landed on her stomach, and Lui toppled off her. She thought she was in the clear before he laughed. Blue fire was clawing its way up her left arm, burning the skin and muscle, though it hadn't hit her bones yet.

She shrieked in anger, trying to give more energy to Phoenix, who was currently circling around the ice dragon.

An idea suddenly struck her and she froze, giving Lui and advantage. The dragon over there kept the ice element, but he was using fire. How bad could using water be, exactly?

Going against the grain was usually a bad idea, but she was out of options, Lui was three times as experienced with his power than she was that one spell. There had to be another way.

Then, another idea.

She had read the series, A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering Of Shadows, and The Conjuring Of Light a gazillion times. Deliliah, in Shadows, had used both fire and water to great effect. As it was unlikely that her opponent had ever read these, as she had to translate them from English, she just might have a chance.

You are the ocean's grey waves, destined to seek--

Lui punched her in the stomach. She cried out, but focused all her strength on what needed to be done. Screw the injuries. She had faced down Yugo before. How scary could this be?

Life beyond the shores, just out of reach!

There would be no stuttering and no shown weakness.

Yet the waters ever change, flowing like time

The path is yours to climb.

She disconnected from Phoenix as fast as she could, unwilling to injure the already mostly injured beyblade. Water, pure water created from the atoms in the room, lashed out at him. Finally, this fight was feeling more familiar. Robin had no earthly idea how to use anything but the emotions and beyblade, but Azura could use this power.

Lui tried to combat with fire, burning the edges of her hair, but it was doused fast enough that it did no damage. At the same time, she finished the spell.

There is no mistake, no accident

When you think the final nail is in

Think again,

Don't be surprised, I will still

Rise.

Two elements. Barely anyone had the control it took to do this. Robin sure didn't, so she attached the fire to-

Dodge!

She got out of the way just in time, a storm of fire burning it's way across the stage. Robin quickly doused it before it could come back around and hit her. She briefly searched the audience again, since Xander's intense emotions had collapsed into a duller line. The next person was

Yugo.

Slight jealousy, a ton of excitement, helplessness, etc. God, he was a total minefield usually, but incredibly helpful now. She figured she should thank him after this.

And ignore the powers for now, work on the physical part of this.

Robin tripped him as he stepped forwards for another attack, and Lui went down hard on his stomach. She quickly knelt on his back and choked him again. This time she used water in his face. He wouldn't drown... probably.

Okay, he might drown, but she could stop him from dying. If she wanted to.

Which she didn't. Not really.

That's when Robin noticed the symbol on his shoulder as the fire on his head sputtered out. It was barely noticeable, a slight discoloration. But it was definitely what she thought, and completely natural.

When she was tired, she was extremely easily distracted. And when she was distracted, bad things tended to happen.

The mark curved upwards in a half-circle, arcing outwards at the half-circle point. At the bottom, a line pointed down for a bout a centimeter before tapering off in a point. In the half circle, a teardrop mark dominated the center. She had played with him when they were younger and never seen it. She'd tried to throw him into a wall twice, and even spat on him one and never seen that mark on Lui. But Robin knew what it was, and any Fire Emblem fan knew as well.

In English, the Brand of the Exalt.

It was a Fire Emblem thing, so she doubted many people had noticed it, let alone understood. Honestly, until Super Smash Bros Ultimate came out, barely anyone knew what that was. But that was besides the point.

 But just like that, she remembered her conversation with Gabe. How she wasn't supposed to be here, how the world was going to be destroyed.

If Robin was going with that metaphor, that made her actually Robin. This more or less screwed up timelines forever, which was defined as bad.

But the Brand of the Exalt in the game was good, right? So... could he possibly be the good guy in all of this?

She pulled the water away from his face and stepped backward, her whole body shivering. Lui got up slowly, scowling at her. Robin extinguished the fire. It was taking too much of her energy, and she couldn't deal with that right now.

She could afford this loss, maybe. Maybe this moment would save everyone. Besides, her happiness wasn't worth the world.

And she didn't have the energy to keep going.

The moment Robin collapsed, Phoenix burst. I'm sorry.

I don't know if that was the right or wrong move, but as long as you're alright, Phoenix told her, I don't care. As long as you're safe.

Dimly, she heard Lui yelling at her. "You gave up!" he roared. "Get up! I want a rematch!" His voice lost power as he thudded to the ground. "G-get up... right now... plea--"

Her only regret about that match was that she didn't get to hear Lui finish that word. Him saying please would be a victory in her book.

--

"Robin, you'd better wake up right now!" The voice, undoubtedly male was tinged with panic. "Wake up, wake up!"

Something cold dropped on her face, and Robin mumbled and opened her eyes. They felt too sticky, and everything was too cold and too hot at the same time. Her surroundings were too blurry, but she could make out that she was at the beyblading building.

Daigo was scowling at her. "That has got to be the dumbest thing you've ever done!"

Stay positive so they don't have to worry. This was my risk, they shouldn't have to suffer.

She shrugged, though it hurt her shoulders. "In all honesty, it probably was." Robin looked at him more carefully, wiping away the stickiness with a too-heavy hand. "So where the heck am I and did anyone get a video of Lui saying please?"

Two facepalms could be heard at the same time. The Aoi twins. "We didn't,"Toko said. Nika picked up the sentence. "They had a healer on standby, you know that."

Oh, yeah. I forgot.

"They healed your physical wounds, but you'll be super tired for a million years after this," they finished together. "So will Rise Phoenix."

"So you're basically completely healed now," Daigo continued, wrapping her in a hug. "Don't ever scare me like that again, got it? You had burns everywhere-- it was terrifying!"

She sat up and had a sudden instinct to scratch him behind his ears, and did that. He purred adorably. "Don't get me off track, Robin! That was--"

She shone her flashlight at the ground, and he hissed and tried to bat it with his tail. Nika and Robin awed at how cute he was.

"STOP IT DAIGO ISN'T YOUR PET!" Valt yelled suddenly, breaking the tension. Robin stood up. Stay positive. They shouldn't worry.

"Sorry," she laughed.

"You feeling okay?" Shu checked. "You were pretty close to beating that shark. And then you faceplanted."

And that certainly made her feel so great. Thanks, big bro. And if you were wondering, that's sarcasm.

"Noted," she replied cheerfully instead of swearing. "Now, since I'm alive again, can we get ice cream? We should celebrate that half of us are in the semi's!"

The attention was taken off her for a moment, which made her relax.

Honcho, who was holding Wakiya's hand, nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! It's on Goldilocks!"

Wakiya looked up and seemed quite amused. At least he was doing better. The emotions coming off him about an hour ago were pretty severe. She would have used him to power the fire, but he was a bit too terrifying. "Yeah. I'll buy, since I'm more loaded than you simpletons."

"Who you calling a simpleton?!"

"You, of course." A smirk graced his face.

Robin gave a smile. Thanks to Valt, they could brush off anything.

--

"Ice cream!!!" the Sonic yelled, shoving his spoon into the Rocky Road flavor and eating as fast as Sonically possible.

Shu shook his head in amusement. They were at the Kurenai apartment. Robin had brought out her console so everyone could play afterwards, and Shu had gone to the store and bought three buckets of ice cream. Because Valt.

The albino sighed in an amused way as he watched Valt eat."You're going to get a--"

Valt's face turned pale. "OH MY GOD, WHY IS IT SO FREAKING COLD!"

Shu gave him a teasing look as he took a bite of the vanilla. Why vanilla? There were so many other flavors, but he chose vanilla.. "I told you s--" He froze. A muscle twitched. The alibino shut his eyes and put his head in his hands.

The mini Sonic burst out laughing. "You were saying?"

"It's not funny!"

"It is," Wakiya added, subtly stealing the rest of Rantaro's ice cream.

"Agreed," Daigo said. He swatted the blonde's hand.

Robin sat in silence, reviewing the seconds up to her defeat. Did she give up, or was that the extent of her power? She was sure a few seconds more would have been enough! Either her body was too weak, or her mind was too pathetic.

Flash.

"I wouldn't mind a warm-up round." He sneered at her, doubting her strength. She knew he hated her because she was a Kurenai, but him knowing her true name would not affect her in any way. She had to win.

Flash.

Lui dropped to one knee, shoulders shaking as a coughing fit gripped him. She was so close, and even though she felt like death, Robin was not going to lose. Robin wanted to win to put him in his place.

Flash.

The Brand of the Exalt, which stunned her. Robin had fought to win this, but gave up at the last minute because of one little sign and a conversation with Gabe that she hadn't finished. Phoenix chimed as she burst, and the little power left in her body fled, gone because her will to win was gone.

Flash.

Robin brought this on herself because she was too pathetic.

"Robin!"

Her head snapped up from her hands. Daigo was shaking her. Apparently, he thought it was just a brain freeze too. "Hey," he said. "Someone wants to talk to you." He made a face, loathing the idea of her leaving. "He's by the door."

She turned around and immediately saw Gabe. He was standing in the hallway, looking majorly uncomfortable. Robin got up and went over.

He was the first to speak. "Thank you for--"

"Explain. Right now." Her voice was ice cold, and even though it made her head spin, she summoned fire threateningly. "I lost big, and it's all your fault. So you'd better tell me."

Clearly trying to keep calm, he talked quickly. "So, Andi knows who both of you are supposed to be. You ever heard of immortals?"

She snorted. "You mean that song?"Seeing his look, she sighed impatiently and doused the fire. "Yes, I get it. Of course I know what that is."

"Well, you and Andi were supposed to be immortal. She was supposed to be a person named Hartes. Their gender was nonspecified in her research. You... you were either her brother or sister. The God of Destruction."

How can I fulfill my said destiny, Robin wondered, suddenly needing to hold back tears, if I can't even fulfill my revenge? How can I destroy the world when I can't even destroy the one who deserves destroying?

And why would someone so strong really be someone so weak?

"To save the world, you have to become Phi."

---

That one thing that makes my announcements understandable!

So, I chose Phi so I could go to a Turbo story if  I felt like it.  The fandom says Phi is male, but it's not like anyone checked. And I can just mess up the backstory a little if I need to. And as to the things Phi did, like destroying beys, you'll find out how she does if I ever make and finish a sequel.

Thank you for reading this far!

Like, vote, comment! Ty!

Robin out!