Kai watched, his hands in his pockets. He could feel it in his gut. A kind of… waiting. The Phoenix wasn't just a piece of metal. It was waiting for his signal. It was soaking up every little hit from Kenta's Bey, letting Sagittario wear itself out, showing Kenta just how big the gap between them really was. It was showing him how weak his attacks were.
A slow smile spread on Kai's face. This was enough playing around. He shifted his stance, his legs going a little apart. He brought one hand out of his pocket and raised it, pointing straight at the stadium. His fingers were relaxed, his gesture clear.
"Attack now, Phoenix."
He said it, loud and clear over the noise of the spins. But the power in his voice was absolute.
Across the stadium, Kenta's eyes went wide. He felt a chill. "Sagittario, get back!" he screamed, panic edging his voice. "Don't take the hit head-on! Move!"
It was a smart move. If you can't block, you try to dodge, or at least turn so the blow only grazes you. His Bey started to pull away, trying to zigzag, to build some distance.
Kenta clenched his fists, shouting at Kai. "The game's not over until I win!"
Kai's smile stayed, just a little one. He almost liked Kenta's spirit. The kid had a fire. But this wasn't the future Kenta, the one with the evolved Bey and real experience. This Kenta was still just a passionate kid. He was miles away from being a real opponent.
The crowd was loving it. The commentator's voice blared from the speakers, hyping up the sudden shift. "Kenta's on the defensive! Kai's finally made his move! What will the Phoenix do?!"
Then, the Phoenix moved.
One second it was a dark, spinning disc in the center. The next, it was a black and crimson streak. It didn't zigzag or dance around. It shot in a dead-straight line, impossibly fast, like a comet locked onto its target. There was no fancy trick. It was pure, brutal speed.
Sagittario tried to swerve. It was already moving, trying to get away. But the Phoenix was just too fast. It adjusted its course in a blink, closing the distance in less than a heartbeat.
CRASH!
The sound was a heavy, final thwump, like a hammer hitting a tin can. The two Beys connected for a split second.
Sagittario was launched. It flew straight up out of the Beystadium like it had been fired from a cannon, tumbling end over end in a sad, slow arc. It cleared the plastic rim entirely and landed with a series of clatters on the concrete floor outside the ring, where it spun down to a complete, silent stop.
The whole stadium seemed to suck in a breath at once.
The wild cheers and the commentator's frantic voice cut off abruptly. There was a second of stunned silence. You could hear the wind, the buzzing of the overhead lights. Everyone was just staring at the lone Phoenix, which was now slowing its spin gracefully back to the center of the stadium, its low hum the only sound.
Kenta stood frozen, his launcher dangling from his hand, his mouth open. He just stared at his Bey, lying still on the ground far outside the battle zone.
Then, the referee snapped out of it. He swung his arm towards Kai. "RING-OUT FINISH! One point goes to Kai!"
The announcement broke the spell. The crowd erupted into noise again, but it was different now. Before it was excited cheers; now it was louder, mixed with shock and awe.
Kai raised his hand, his palm open, facing the Beystadium. As if it understood, the Phoenix finished its last few spins and then, with a smooth little hop, it jumped straight out of the plastic bowl and landed perfectly in the center of his waiting hand. It was warm, like a stone that had been sitting in the sun. The heat from its incredible spin slowly faded against his skin.
He looked over at Kenta. The kid with the green hair was walking slowly, his shoulders slumped in defeat, to pick up his Sagittario. It had stopped spinning completely, just lying still on the concrete floor outside the ring. The first round was over, and it hadn't even been close.
"Competitors, take a five-minute break before the second round!" the referee announced.
This was a standard three-point match. If you won the first two rounds straight, you won the whole match. More importantly, you took your opponent's Bey Points. That's what everyone was really fighting for. Bey Points were like a currency for Bladers. You earned them by winning official matches like this one. If you saved up enough points, you could enter bigger, more important tournaments. The ultimate goal was to get enough points to qualify for the World Championships. This local tournament was just a tiny first step on that ladder.
Kai turned and walked away from the main stadium floor. He pushed through a door marked "Competitors Only" and into a small, plain side room. It was quiet in here, the roar of the crowd muffled to a dull rumble. The room had a few plastic chairs, a table with some paper cups, and a water cooler in the corner.
He walked over to the cooler, filled a white cup with cold water, and drank it all in one go. The match was really easy for him. It wasn't even a challenge. The Phoenix had done exactly what he knew it could do. Kenta was trying hard, but he was outmatched in every way—power, speed, stamina. There was nothing Kenta could do about it.
He tossed the crumpled cup into a trash can. There was nothing to do now but wait. He leaned against the wall, folding his arms. His eyes drifted to a cheap plastic clock hanging on the opposite wall. The second hand ticked forward with a loud, slow click. Click. Click. Click.
He watched it, counting the seconds in his head. He wasn't nervous or excited. He was just waiting for the time to pass so he could go back out there and finish this. He could picture Kenta in another room, probably frantically checking his Beyblade for damage, trying to pep himself up, telling himself he could still win.
Kai knew he couldn't. The second round would be the same as the first. Maybe even faster. The Phoenix's spin was immortal. Kenta's will was already cracking. It was simple math.
The minute hand on the clock jumped forward with a loud thunk. Four minutes left. Kai closed his eyes for a moment to calm his racing thought.
…
The five-minute break ended. The speaker above the stadium crackled back to life. "Alright, everyone! Let's begin the second and possibly final round!"
The voice faded, and two doors on opposite sides of the arena floor opened. Kai walked out from his side. He moved slowly, without any rush. There was a calm certainty to his walk, like someone who already knew exactly how this would end. He didn't look at the cheering crowd. His eyes were on the stadium ahead.
From the other side, Kenta emerged. He was clenching his Sagittario so tightly in his right hand that his knuckles were white. His mind was racing. He had been so close to winning this whole tournament. He'd beaten everyone else. Then, out of nowhere, this guy Kai showed up. He'd risen through the brackets like a comet, not losing a single match. Now he stood as a huge, final wall between Kenta and the trophy. And that Beyblade of his, the Phoenix… it didn't make sense. It felt like it was absorbing Sagittario's spin, draining its energy with every touch. But Kenta shook his head, trying to clear the doubt. No matter what, he thought, forcing the belief into his heart. I will try my best to win this match.
They reached their starting positions on opposite sides of the plastic stadium. Their eyes locked across the distance. Kenta was different this time. The lively, shouting energy from the first round was gone. His face was set in a look of deep, quiet focus. He was thinking, not just fighting.
Kai looked at him and recognized the change. A small, faint smile touched his lips. "The result is still going to be the same, Kenta," he said, his voice carrying easily over the short space.
"We'll see, Kai," Kenta shot back, his voice steady.
Kai just gave that same slight smile. He took his stance, bending his knees a little. He slotted the ripcord into his launcher, two fingers resting on the grip. Kenta mirrored him. The referee's arm went up.
"1… 2… 3! LET IT RIP!"
Their voices rang out together.
Two streaks of light and metal shot into the stadium. This time, they didn't hold back. They flew directly at each other and met in the center with a brutal, spark-spitting CRASH before bouncing apart and beginning their orbits.
Kenta's eyes were laser-focused, tracking his green Bey. He saw the Phoenix doing the same thing as before: holding the center, spinning with that low, unchanging hum, waiting. He could almost feel it trying to drain Sagittario's energy just by being near it. Not this time, he thought. He had spent the whole break thinking of a way around this.
"Go, Sagittario!" he commanded, not with a yell, but with a sharp, tactical order.
Kai watched as Sagittario came in. But its approach was different. It was lower, much lower, its attack ring almost scraping the stadium floor. For the first time since arriving in this world, a tiny, cold flicker of panic shot through Kai's stomach. He hadn't expected Kenta to come up with something new. He'd thought the kid would just try harder at the same thing.
But Kai didn't let it show on his face.He remembered the system said: the Phoenix had an immortal spin. As long as his will to win didn't break, the Bey wouldn't either. "Go, Phoenix," he said, his voice still calm. "Let's see what he's got." He sent the Phoenix forward to meet the attack head-on and see what this new technique was.
In the stadium, the two Beys closed in fast. The Phoenix descended, ready to clash. Sagittario, skimming the floor, looked like it was going to slam into the Phoenix's side.
Then, Kenta made his move.
"NOW!" he shouted.
The tip of Sagittario, which was pressed against the stadium floor, suddenly flexed. It used the pressure to bounce straight upward like a spring. It wasn't aiming for the Phoenix's side anymore. It was shooting directly up, targeting the Phoenix's underbelly—its most vulnerable part, where the spin engine was housed, far from its heavy attack ring.
THWACK!
The hit was perfect. The upward strike caught the Phoenix completely by surprise, lifting it clean off the stadium floor. The dark Bey was launched into the air, spinning wildly several feet above the plastic bowl.
The entire crowd gasped. The air was sucked out of the room. Every person leaned forward, eyes wide. The commentator's microphone picked up a sharp inhale, then nothing. For a second, there was only the sound of Sagittario's victorious hum from the stadium and the faint whir of the Phoenix, out of place in the air.
Kenta's heart leaped. It worked!
Kai's eyes followed his Bey as it flew through the air. His mind, which had been panicked just a second before, went completely clear. All that was left was a sharp focus. He could feel the Phoenix was still spinning powerfully in the air. It was in a bad spot, but it hadn't been defeated. He wouldn't let it be.
As he watched it fall, an idea clicked into place. He remembered every Beyblade battle he'd ever seen in his past life. This idea formed more clearly in his mind:Of a Beyblade that strikes from above, using the speed and weight of its own fall, hits with much more force. The Phoenix wasn't out of the fight—it was just getting into a new position, building up momentum as it dropped.
This was the moment. He didn't shout, but his voice was firm and clear, cutting through the noise of the stadium. "Phoenix," he commanded. "Attack now."
It was as if the Bey heard him. In mid-air, the Phoenix seemed to right itself. It stopped tumbling. Its spin stabilized. Then, its attack ring tilted downward, aiming itself like the head of an arrow. It wasn't just falling. It was driving itself down, transforming its own height and momentum into a weapon.
It became a black and crimson comet, screaming down from above.
Kenta's triumphant smile vanished. "Sagittario, dodge!" he screamed, but it was too late.
The falling Phoenix wasn't aiming where Sagittario was; it was aiming where it would be. There was no time to move.
BOOM.
The impact was huge. The Phoenix slammed down directly onto Sagittario with the full force of its aerial descent. A shower of white sparks exploded across the stadium. Sagittario was hammered straight down, then catapulted out of the stadium in a blur of green. It hit the concrete floor with a clatter and skidded to a stop, dead silent.
The Phoenix, meanwhile, landed back in the center of the stadium. It wobbled for just a moment—a single, shaky oscillation—before its spin settled back into that familiar, relentless, low hum. It had won. Again.
Kenta stared. He didn't move. He just looked at his defeated Bey, lying still on the ground. Then, his legs gave out. He fell to his knees, the shock and disappointment hitting him all at once. He hadn't just lost. His best move, his clever plan, had been used against him in a way he never imagined.
The silence broke. The crowd finally erupted, the cheers louder than ever, a wave of sound crashing over the stadium. The commentator found his voice, yelling into the microphone. "UNBELIEVABLE! A COUNTER FROM MID-AIR! THE WINNER, AND THE CHAMPION OF THIS LOCAL TOURNAMENT, IS… KAI!"
Kai walked forward, his hand raised. The Phoenix jumped once more, landing snugly in his waiting palm, warm and victorious.
.....
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