The wind was a solid wall of noise. Kyoya's voice cut through it, sharp and mocking. He saw Kai standing silently, eyes fixed on the struggling Phoenix, and it fueled his arrogance.
"Didn't you speak nonsense before the battle!" Kyoya shouted, a grin splitting his face. "Where's all your arrogance, huh?" He didn't wait for a reply. He never did. He just kept pushing, his words meant to sting. "You're just going to be another loser. Another name crushed under Leone's power. Remember that."
At the end of his sentence, he threw his head back and laughed again. It was a wild, taunting sound, full of confidence. It was the laugh of someone who believed he had already won.
The tornado responded to his spirit. It grew more powerful with every second. The suction became stronger, pulling at everything in the factory. Larger pieces of debris—a broken wooden pallet, a twisted piece of piping—lifted off the ground and were sucked into the swirling mass. The howl was deafening. The goal was clear: to finally catch Phoenix, yank it off its path, and smash it against the walls of wind. It seemed like it wouldn't stop until Phoenix was thrown far away, broken and still.
Kai stood firm against the gale. His hands were clenched into tight fists at his sides. His knuckles were white. Even with a mind that is older than his years, Kyoya's words were a bit deep. The insults, the humiliation, the loud, grating laughter—it all fed a hot anger that rose in his chest. It was a simple, human reaction. He wanted to shout back. He wanted to order a reckless, direct charge just to wipe that smirk off Kyoya's face.
But he didn't. He swallowed the anger. He took a sharp, deep breath, the cold air hurting his lungs. If he acted rashly now, Phoenix would be defeated for sure. It would fly right into Kyoya's trap. He forced his fists to unclench. He forced his shoulders to relax. He had to think, not feel.
He calmed himself down, pushing the noisy anger to a quiet corner of his mind. He needed to think clearly. He focused on his Beyblade, on the connection he felt through the launcher grip in his hand. He called its name in his heart, not out loud. Phoenix.
In his mind, he replayed battles. Recent clashes. And then, clearly, he saw the final battle with Kenta. He saw the moment near the end, when Phoenix had done something strange. It hadn't just hit Kenta's Sagittario; it had seemed to pull at it, to suck away its spinning force, weakening it drastically just before the final blow.
If it can suck a Beyblade's spin… he thought.
He closed his eyes. The world of roaring wind and Kyoya's laughter faded. He found himself in a vast, dark space. It was silent and endless. And far in the distance, he saw it.
A bird. Immense in size. Its feathers were a deep, dark red, like old blood or burning coals. Each individual feather seemed to glow from within, pulsing with a soft light in the infinite dark. It was Phoenix. Its back was to him, wings folded, a monument of power and silence.
Kai felt a shock that went through his whole being. This wasn't a picture or a dream.This was real. This was the spirit of his Beyblade.
Then, slowly, the great bird began to turn its head. It looked over its shoulder, one immense, knowing eye fixing on Kai. The eye held no emotion, just ancient, deep power. It looked at him for a long, silent moment.
Kai wanted to speak, to ask a question, but no words came. Before he could even try, the vision blurred.
He snapped back to reality. The noise of the tornado assaulted his ears again. His body braced against the wind. But everything was different now. The idea that had been a fuzzy thought was now clear, sharp, and solid. It formed a direct path in his mind.
If Phoenix could absorb the spin energy of Sagittario… why not this? Why not the tornado itself? The tornado was just wild, chaotic spin energy created by Leone. It wasn't an attack to be blocked. It was power to be taken.
He opened his eyes. This time, a small, certain smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He had his direction. He knew what to do.
Kai's eyes swept back to the stadium. The scene was chaotic.His Phoenix was still spinning, but it was fighting for its life. It skittered and slid across the uneven concrete, forced into a tight, struggling orbit around the colossal tornado. Leone, in the calm eye of the storm, spun relentlessly, driving the whirlwind that was trying to consume its opponent.
The ground itself was proof of their power. When the battle started, it was just a flat, dusty factory floor. Now, it was a ruined arena. The fierce spins had scoured grooves and pits into the concrete. A network of fresh, shallow cracks radiated out from the center where Leone held court. Chips of stone and pebbles vibrated and danced. It had been transformed into a classic, brutal Bey Stadium, forged by their clashing energies in just a few short minutes.
Finally, he looked past the roaring tornado, past the flying debris. His gaze landed on Kyoya. The other boy had finally stopped his wild laughter, but a smug, victorious grin was still plastered on his face. He was panting slightly from the effort of maintaining the special move, but his eyes were bright with triumph. He thought it was over.And all of Kai's thoughts, his vision of the Phoenix, the forming of his plan, had taken only a second in real life.
Kai took a deep breath, filling his lungs to shout over the howling wind. He made sure his voice was loud, clear, and flat, cutting through the noise so Kyoya would hear every single word.
"Kyoya!" Kai yelled. "I wanted to see that smile of yours after this match." He paused, letting the words hang. "But regretfully, I won't get to see it. Because I am going to win. And I'm going to crush that wild beast of yours."
The grin vanished from Kyoya's face. Kyoya's head tilted. His smirk faded into a look of pure, offended disbelief. No one talked to him like that. No one. "What," he said, his voice dropping low and dangerous, "did you say?"
Kai didn't reply. He just met Kyoya's furious stare. And this time, Kai let a mocking smile touch his own lips. It was a small, cold thing, but it was full of intent. He didn't need words now.
Instead, he turned his spirit inward, to the connection he now felt so clearly. He focused everything—his will, his anger, his newfound understanding—into a single command. He shouted it with all the fighting power inside him.
"PHOENIX! NOW!"
In the stadium, Phoenix obeyed. Instead of resisting the pull, it used it. It changed its angle and shot forward, not away from the tornado, but on a fierce, direct line straight toward the heart of it—straight toward Leone. It was a suicidal charge.
The result was violent. The chaotic forces of the Gale Wall grabbed Phoenix and wrenched it. The attack trajectory was thrown off. Instead of hitting Leone, Phoenix was caught, lifted, and hurled upwards by the tremendous force of the whirlwind. It flew high into the air, spinning wildly, a dark speck against the broken ceiling of the factory.
Kyoya watched it fly. A wave of relief and contempt washed over him. He let out a short, harsh breath. "Looks like you spoke nonsense again," he called out, his tone almost regretful, as if disappointed by an easy win. "But you still got defeated by me. A flashy jump doesn't change anything."
Benkei and the others, still clinging to their pillar, whooped. "That's it! He's done for!" Benkei yelled.
But Kai's smile was still there. It hadn't wavered. He looked at Kyoya, utterly calm. "The match hasn't been decided yet, Kyoya."
"What are you talking about?" Kyoya snapped, confused and irritated. "Your Beyblade is already thrown in the air! It's finished!" As he spoke, he turned his head to follow Kai's gaze upward, toward the top of the tornado where Phoenix had vanished.
Then, his eyes widened. His jaw went slack.
Because Phoenix wasn't falling.
It was suspended high in the air, directly above the center of the storm. And it was still spinning—spinning furiously. The winds of the tornado, which were meant to destroy it, were now cradling it, giving it a platform of chaotic air. But it wasn't just the wind. Phoenix itself seemed to be generating its own stable rotation, a counter-spin that held it aloft. Its tip was pointed downward now, aimed like a spear directly at Leone, which spun safely in the calm eye of the storm below.
Kyoya could only stare. "How…?"
Kai didn't give him time to think. He raised his hand, his entire body tensed with focused energy. The vision of the dark red phoenix, opening its mouth, filled his mind. He gave the move its name, the idea that had formed in the connection with his Bey.
"SPECIAL MOVE…" he bellowed, the words echoing in the factory. "ABYSS DEVOURER!"
The effect was instant and terrifying.
A phantom image, vast and semi-transparent, flickered into existence around the spinning Phoenix in the air. It was the shape of a monstrous, majestic bird of dark fire. Its wings were spread, and its head was thrown back. Then, as Kai's command finished, the phantom bird's head snapped forward, its beak opening wide.
An inverse force erupted from it. Where Leone's move created a tornado that threw things out, Phoenix's move created a vacuum that pulled everything in.
It was like a hungry, pulling darkness
The mighty tornado, which had been spinning outwards and upwards, suddenly shuddered. Then, it began to collapse inward. It was being sucked in. The howling wind changed pitch, becoming a shriek of energy being forcibly drawn upward. Dust, debris, every loose object on the floor, was now pulled toward the hovering Phoenix instead of toward Leone.
Kyoya's triumph shattered into panic. "What is this?!" he screamed.
He looked at Leone. His unbeatable, immovable Leone. It trembled. Then, it began to slide. Inch by inch, it was dragged from its perfect, central position, its grip on the ground broken by the incredible suction from above. The very spin energy it had created to form the tornado was being ripped away and devoured.
It happened in less than three seconds. The entire, massive tornado was consumed, devoured by the Abyss Devourer. The air in the factory fell deathly quiet, stunned and still. All that was left was Leone, spinning weakly on the ground, and Phoenix, spinning like a vengeful star directly above it, surrounded by a fading, dark-red aura.
Kai didn't wait. He dropped his raised hand, pointing straight down. "ATTACK!"
Phoenix fell.
It was like a meteor strike. It screamed downward, a direct line from where it hung in the air, trailing a faint, red-black light like a burning tail. It became a fallen star, and its target was the center of Leone.
The impact was a colossal BOOM that shook the entire factory. A visible shockwave of force exploded outward from the stadium. It hit Kai and Kyoya like a physical wall. Both boys were thrown backward, their feet skidding across the dusty floor. Kai stumbled three steps back, bracing himself. Kyoya was flung back five, his arms wheeling for balance.
In the center of the stadium, a small cloud of concrete dust bloomed.
Then, a dark shape shot out of the dust cloud. It flew in a high, limp arc. It was Leone. It clattered onto the concrete floor, skidded past Kyoya's feet with a sharp, grating sound, and hit the base of the wall. It wobbled for a second and then lay still, its spin completely dead.
Silence.
Absolute, heavy silence.
The wind was gone.The noise was gone.
Kyoya stood frozen, staring down at his defeated Beyblade at his feet.He couldn't look up.
Across from him, Kai slowly straightened. He reached out his hand. The Phoenix Beyblade, obedient to the end, slowed its spin, lifted itself from the scarred concrete, and soared back through the air to snap neatly into his waiting palm. He closed his fingers around it, feeling its warm, pulsing energy. The match was over.
....
How is it?