"I feel like a secret agent..."

Jin and Naoki had made it into the concert hall, thanks to one of Naoki's robots creating a diversion. Turns out, having a robot that can shoot a gun can help. Thankfully, it only fired blanks, but it still sounded enough like a gunshot to cause every single security guard to go running for the sound.

"Well, I feel like a mad scientist," Naoki says. He slips his tablet back into it's case and sneaks in through the front door. "Remind me why I'm assisting Valt in this endeavor again?"

"For the sake of science..." Jin presses his back against the wall and looks around. "The coast is clear... I think..."

Naoki peers around a corner. "You're correct. Now, we have to be quiet."

"Shhh..." Jin smiles. "We have to be vewy, vewy quiet... We're hunting wabbits."

Naoki gives him a look. "That's some sort of reference, I know it."

"Looney Tunes..."

"I knew it was from something. Now please, be quiet. The last thing I want is to get caught." Naoki looks around another corner. "I don't know where Zac's dressing room is. I've never been to any of his performances."

"I don't know either... I don't listen to pop music..." Jin peeks around the corner, too. He lowers his voice even quieter. "Is that a guard...?"

Naoki stares ahead. "I believe that is."

"What're we gonna do...?"

"We have to create some sort of diversion." The gears in Naoki's brain begin turning. "I wish I had some sort of movie to reference to. I've never sneaked anywhere."

Jin giggles. "Sneaked..."

"What? That's the grammatically correct past participle."

Jin grins, and giggles again.

"I don't see how that's humorous in any way."

Jin grins and looks at the guard again. "I don't know what we're gonna do..."

"I'm thinking."

"That's scary..."

"What is?"

"You're thinking... you're a scary person..."

Naoki looks at Jin. Jin's mouth is hanging open, revealing his pointed teeth. His amber eyes are staring straight ahead at the guard. His hand is gripping the wall so tightly that Jin's bones look like they want to rip free from their joints. His skin is so pale that they blend in with the white wall. Jin reaches a hand up and removes his hood, revealing his black hair.

"You're calling me scary," Naoki says.

Jin grins.

Naoki shakes his head. "Why are we talking about this? We have more important matters to focus on. For example, what are we going to do about that guard?"

Jin looks around. His eyes land on a clock, a painting, the light...

Lights.

Wow that's bright.

Jin squints. His eyes flicker around some more. There's a rug over the carpet in the hallway, there's a desk, and on it is a pot of petunias.

Petunias.

Jin stares. He's allergic to those.

Suddenly, his throat feels scratchy. His eyes start to water, and his nose starts to itch. He feels that horrible feeling of a sneeze coming.

Naoki turns on his tablet. There has to be something on the Internet that he can reference. How does one create a diversion? He honestly has no clue. He's never had to do that before, unless faking a phone call from Valt's mom counts. Even so, he wasn't trying to sneak anywhere at that time.

"ACHOO!"

Naoki jumps a foot in the air. He turns around and looks at Jin, who's currently wiping his nose on his sweatshirt.

"Jin!" Naoki whisper-shouts.

"I'm sorry... I couldn't help it..."

The guard had clearly heard that. He's now walking over to them. Naoki stands up from his crouch. "Run," he orders.

They take off running down the hallway, with a security guard chasing after them. They run all the way to the actual concert hall, where the stage is located. They run across the stage and dive down a staircase underneath it.

"There's the dressing room!" Naoki says. "Let's go!"

They run inside. They shut the door behind them and lock it. They both press their backs against it, knowing full well it won't do anything. It's a pull door from the outside. If the security guard opens it, they'll both fall.

"It's dark in here..." Jin says.

Naoki feels along the wall. He eventually finds the lightswitch and flicks it on. Suddenly, a crime scene lights up before them. There's bags on the floor, covering what you could only assume were the bodies of the Superstars. Blood stains the floor, along with some powder that Naoki doesn't recognize. There's also pieces of what appears to be broken glass.

"Wow..." Jin says.

"I don't think 'wow' is the appropriate term to use here." Naoki walks over and knees on the ground, trying to avoid soaking his lab coat in blood. He starts feeling the powder. "This is paint," he concludes. He then grabs a piece of what he thought was broken glass. "And this isn't glass." He flicks it with his fingernail, and bites it. "Plastic. Definitely plastic. But from what?" He looks around some more, and finds a metal ring on the ground. "Huh. This is a forge disk, from a Beyblade."

"What disk is it...?" Jin had taken the liberty of pulling the bags off the bodies and examining them for no reason other than he felt like it.

"Nine, I believe. I'd recognize it anywhere. No other Bey seems to have this layer." He looks at the plastic bits and pieces, and then at the forget disk in his hand. "Someone smashed a Beyblade while they were attacking the Superstars."

Naoki continues analyzing the pieces of plastic. He keeps looking at everything, and finding more plastic bits. He wishes he could put them back together, but doing so would take ages. He'll just have to draw his conclusion from what he can see. The forge disk Nine, for one thing. Only one Bey seems to have that disk, and it's Lost Luinor. He examines the plastic pieces, and it all adds up. The coloring, the design that he can still picture, the disk. He starts typing things into his tablet. He's onto this case now, and he'll solve it before even the professionals.

"Hey, Naoki...?"

Naoki doesn't bother looking up from his tablet. "Yes, Jin?"

"If you're dead... you wouldn't have a pulse... right...?"

"Yes."

"Then how come... he has a pulse...?"

Naoki looks up from his tablet. "What?"

Jin is kneeling in front of Mick. He's holding Mick's wrist, and using his pointer and middle fingers to feel the vein. He looks over at Naoki. "He has a pulse..."

"That's impossible." Naoki crawls over, not even caring about the blood he's getting on his clothes anymore. He feels Mick's pulse for himself. "What? No way. I... I feel a pulse."

"I told you... I wonder if the others... have pulses...?"

They check the other two Superstars, and sure enough, they have pulses, too. Naoki stares in complete wonder. "How are they still alive? They should've bled out by now."

"I don't know... we should call Valt and them... let them know..." Jin feels their pulses again, just to make sure what he's feeling is real. Then again, if Naoki felt it too, it had to be real. There's no way it's a figment of Jin's imagination.

"You're right." Naoki looks around the room. "We should probably get out of here first."

"Yeah..."

Jin and Naoki stand up. Naoki looks around the room one final time. They peek out of the dressing room and down the hallway. The guard is nowhere to be found. They sneak along through the hallway, just in case there's something that can detect them.

*

Meanwhile, Valt, Rantaro, Shu, and Daigo make their way toward the Supreme Four hideout. Shu is leading the group, since he's the only one who knows exactly where he's going. You'd figure that, since they've been there so many times, they'd know exactly where the hideout is located. But no, they decide that they trust Shu's leadership more than their own sense of direction.

Valt walks beside Shu, their strides mirroring each other.

"Lui sure is leading us on a wild goose chase," Shu mutters. "Then again, you wouldn't expect him to make it easy for us."

Valt sighs. "This is still my fault."

"No, it's not. Stop blaming yourself for this. This isn't your fault, Valt. Lui's the one to blame here."

Valt stares at his best friend. Shu looks angry. His eyes are narrow as he runs forward. His fists and jaw are clenched. He looks like he's ready to fight. He looks like he's ready to kill. Valt turns and looks ahead, too. Shu keeps telling him not to blame himself, but Valt can't help but do so. This whole thing wouldn't have started had Valt not spied on the Supreme Four that night on the roof, had Valt not agreed to go through the initiation and join them. This whole thing could've been avoided had Valt simply walked away.

Valt sighs again. Shu shoots a glance over at him. He knows the way Valt feels. In honesty, Shu feels like he's the one to blame for all of this. He just had to save Valt, even when Valt wasn't in trouble. He didn't think Valt was capable of saving himself, when he clearly was. Shu himself sighs in response.

Rantaro looks back at the two of them. What's with all this sighing? He can't figure it out. He doesn't know what has the two of them in such sour moods, besides the fact that Lui's still running around wreaking havoc on everyone and everything. Rantaro himself sighs just thinking about it.

Wakiya... Rantaro shakes his head. Wakiya's fine. Sure he's kind of a zombie, and a bit weaker than he should be, but he's alive. At least, Rantaro hopes that Wyvron can keep Wakiya alive until they can think of a better solution.

Rantaro smacks himself. Why does he care so much about Wakiya? They hate each other, they argue all the time, Wakiya's a spoiled rich brat. So why does Rantaro feel so worried about him? Why does Rantaro hope that Wakiya's alright? Why did Rantaro feel the need to give Wakiya a hug when he came back?

Because they're friends. That's why. They argue all the time, they act like they hate each other, but in reality, it's not fighting. It's friendly teasing. It's picking a fight just because it's funny when Wakiya gets mad. It's teasing Wakiya about his affluent origins because Rantaro's jealous he wasn't raised with that much money. It's picking on Wakiya because Rantaro knows that it doesn't hurt his feelings. They aren't hurting each other at all. In fact, they're secretly having fun.

It took this long to realize it, but he doesn't hate Wakiya. He never has, and he never will. They're friends. Best friends, in fact. And that's why Rantaro can't stop thinking about whether or not Wakiya's okay.

Daigo looks at all of them. What's with all the sighing? Why did Rantaro just hit himself across the face? Everyone's going nuts. Daigo checks his phone. There's still no update from Naoki and Jin, or Ken and Ben. Hopefully one comes soon.

Daigo jumps when his phone rings in his hand. Speak of the devil...

"What's up?" Daigo answers.

"That's not the proper way to answer a phone," A voice answers. "It's Naoki calling. I have a few pieces of information for you."

Daigo looks at everyone. "We've got an update from Naoki," he says. He puts the phone on speaker, and they all stop running. They gather in a circle around the phone. "What information do you have?"

"For one thing, I found traces of broken plastic. Based on what I could do without technology's aid, it's pieces of a Beyblade. There was a forge disk with it, Nine. That forge disk combined with the colors of the plastic leads me to the conclusion that it's Lost Luinor. Someone smashed it while they were beating the Superstars. Either that or the Superstars were already dead, and someone else came and broke Luinor." Naoki takes a breath. "Speaking of the Superstars, Jin and I discovered that all three of them still have pulses. I have no clue how that's even remotely possible. Even if being hit with a hammer numerous times didn't kill them, they certainly would've died from exsanguination."

That word made all of their eyes widen. "Huh?" Rantaro says. "Could you dumb that down please?"

Naoki takes another breath and sighs. "Even if being beaten to death didn't kill them, they would've bled to death by now."

"You could've just said that first," Rantaro mutters.

Apparently Jin took the phone, because the next voice isn't Naoki's. "They're still alive... somehow... Naoki and I didn't know what to do... we just left them there..."

Naoki takes the phone back. "Hopefully someone will find them and realize that they're still living and take them to a hospital. Until then, Jin and I aren't sure how to handle that situation. We know that Luinor is possibly broken, and that those three celebrities are still alive. I will warn you all, though, the Superstars in the condition we found them probably won't survive much longer."

Shu speaks up. "Did you find any evidence against Lui?"

"Unfortunately, no. There wasn't much evidence there to collect. The murder weapon, or what we can assume is the murder weapon, is missing. The police detectives probably have it in their possession. We can only hope that Lui used that to kill them, and that his fingerprints are still on it. Either way, I hope that the information I could provide is useful."

"I'm sure it will be," Daigo says. "Thanks, Naoki. Thanks, Jin."

"Is there anything else you need from us?"

They all shoot quick glances at each other. "No, I think that's all we needed from you," Shu says. "Head back to the Estate, though. We'll all meet back there once this is over and discuss what we found."

"Roger that..." Jin says. "Heh... I've always wanted to say that..."

That's how the call ends. The four boys look at each other again, and then continue to run. They head down the trail of the woods, and then venture off the trail toward the Supreme Four hideout.

"If Lui's not here," Shu says, "Then he's at the WBBA. Either that or I'm way off-base and he's somewhere completely different, but I highly doubt that. Lui's smart, sure, but he's very predictable."

They arrive at the hideout. Then, they stand in front of one thing again.

"GODDAMMIT! I FORGOT ABOUT THE DAMN DOOR AGAIN!" Shu shouts. He throws a punch at the door, as if he can break it down. Shu continues punching it repeatedly. Everyone stands back in horror, until they hear one thing.

Shu's crying.

All of their eyes widen. Valt walks over to his friend and puts a hand on his back. "It's... it's okay, Shu," Valt says.

Shu looks at Valt. He blinks, and tears fall out of his red eyes.

Valt stares back at him. "It's just a door. We can get through it."

Shu turns away. "It's not just the door. It's this whole thing. It feels like we keep hitting dead-ends. Lui's too good. There's no way we can win this."

Rantaro walks over. "Lui's one mind. We're a whole bunch of minds grouped together."

Daigo steps over, too. "And Lui can only see from his point of view. We have four different viewpoints just now to work with. We have six more in other places, too. If anything, Shu, we have the advantage. There's no way Lui can win against all of us."

Valt smiles. "Friends forever! Remember?"

Shu looks at all of them. Despite their encouraging words, Shu is still doubting their ability to win this fight. He looks at the door again. "Well, then, let's put those minds to use. What should we do? How are we gonna get through this door?"

"Let's try what Hoji did," Rantaro says. He walks over to the door, and knocks on it.

There's dead silence in response. Rantaro steps back. "Well, that didn't-"

The door opens.

Xander's standing there.

Everyone jumps, and looks up. He's so tall... you definitely wouldn't want to get on his bad side. And considering he's siding with Lui right now, every single one of them is on Xander's bad side.

"Well, there's one thing we were looking for," Rantaro says.

"If you're looking for Lui, he's not here," Xander says.

He sounds different. He looks different. Everything about Xander seems wrong, off. He's not smiling. He's not laughing. He's not even carrying himself the same way. Usually he stands with his legs shoulder-width apart, his hands on his hips, as if he's trying to take up as much space as possible. Right now, his hands are at his sides. His legs are as close together as they can possibly get. The light in his eyes is completely gone.

He really has lost his freedom.

Shu steps forward. "We're not just looking for Lui. We were looking for you, too."

Xander scoffs. "Me? Why?"

"Because you're our friend," Valt says.

"I'm not your friend anymore."

Valt and Shu both look hurt by that statement. They look at each other. "We need to get Xcalius and break it," Shu whispers.

Valt nods. He looks at Xander and holds out Valtryek. "Let's battle. If I win, you tell me where Lui is, and you give me your Bey."

Xander blinks. "You want Xcalius? What for?"

Shu steps forward. "Because we need it."

Xander looks back and forth between the two of them. He shoots a glance at the clock. "It's already three-thirty. Wow."

"Yeah it is," Valt says. "That means the Blading Hour is already halfway over. So, is it a deal or not?"

Xander pulls Xcalius out of his pocket. "Deal."

He steps aside, and the four Bey Club members walk into the Supreme Four's hideout for the third time. Valt and Xander stand on opposite sides of the stadium. Rantaro steps between them to ref.

"Three point battle," Rantaro declares. "Ready, set!"

"Three! Two! One! Let it rip!"

The battle begins. Shu watches the whole thing intently. Valt can't afford to lose. They need to break Xander's Bey, they need Xander on their side. And if Naoki is right and the Superstars are still alive, then they need the power of the Supreme Four to heal them. They also still need to get Zac out of prison, and in order to do that, they need evidence against Lui, proof that Lui killed Freddy, Bowie, and Mick. They know that Zac would never hurt his teammates, but the police can't let him go based on that alone. They need concrete evidence, hard facts. And the Bey Club has no way to get those, currently.

They need a confession, that's what they need. They need Lui to admit to his crimes. They need Lui to turn himself in. That's what they need. But there's no way that Lui would ever do that.

"Xeno Xcalius! Burst finish!" Rantaro declares. Shu snaps to attention. So Xander won the first battle. That's okay. Valt still has a chance.

Valt stares at his Bey after he snaps it back together. Valtryek, we have to win this! I'm sorry! I'm not focusing enough! I'll focus more.

I'll do the same, Valt, Valtryek responds.

Valt smiles. "Let's do this, partner."

"Second battle!" Rantaro says. "Ready, set!"

"Three! Two! One! Let it rip!"

The second battle begins. Shu's thoughts wander again. Zac's in prison... there's no way Zac is handling that well. Shu's mind wanders to Wakiya, for some reason. Lui killed him... Lui flat-out murdered him in cold blood, just like he did to the Superstars, and just like he did to Gabe. The only difference is that they managed to bring Wakiya back, somehow. There's no way that Wakiya's Bey can keep him alive for more than a day. Wakiya is so weak right now anyway, it wouldn't surprise Shu if the he died again soon. Shu sighs. He doesn't want to think about it. At the very least, Wyvron can keep Wakiya alive until they find a new heart for him.

But where would they get that? The only thought that Shu has is Lui. Once they kill Lui, they'll take his heart and give it to someone who deserves it. Shu then scoffs. If Lui has a heart, that'll be a shocker.

"Victory Valtryek! Burst finish!" Rantaro declares. "Valt gets two points!"

"Yes!" Valt grabs his Bey. "Great job, partner. Now let's finish this."

Yes, Valt. Let's finish this together.

Valt smiles, and puts his Bey back on the launcher.

Xander is silent. He doesn't say a word as he puts his Bey back together. He twists it back onto the launcher and resumes his launching position. He's dead silent, staring at Valt blankly the entire time.

"Third battle!" Rantaro says. "Ready, set!"

"Three! Two! One! Let it rip!"

They launch again. Now Shu is staring at Xander. What's running through his mind right now? Shu wishes he knew. The thoughts in Xander's head probably aren't even his. It's probably Lui, telepathically communicating with him. The "thoughts" in Xander's head are simply things that Lui is telling him to think.

Xander really did give up his freedom. He's not even allowed to think what he wants to when the Blading Hour comes.

Shu watches the battle. He watches the Beys crash into each other. He winces at each contact, willing Valt to win. Spryzen supports you, Valtryek. Shu thinks. Just like I support Valt. He watches Xcalius attack, and he watches that attack miss. Valtryek is fast, too fast. Shu smiles.

A final strike. Valtryek knocks Xcalius clear out of the stadium. Rantaro jumps a foot in the air and shouts at the top of his lungs. "That's game! Valtryek wins!"

"YES!" Valt jumps in the air. He grabs his Bey and slips it back into it's holder.

Xander falls to his knees. He starts muttering something under his breath. He grabs his Bey and holds it out to Valt. "Take it," he says. "Now."

Valt takes Xander's Bey out of his hands.

"I know what you're gonna do with it," Xander says. He's speaking at the speed of light. "I know you're gonna break it so do it. Do it. Now. Hurry."

Valt's eyes widen. "Xander, what-"

"DO IT!"

Valt jumps and hands Xcalius to Shu. Shu isn't entirely sure how to break it, since he doesn't have a hammer or anything with him.

Xander is clutching his head, and leaning forward. "DO IT! NOW!"

Shu bursts it. He throws the top layer to the ground, and crushes it under his foot. He watches it crack, and with a final stomp, it breaks in two.

"GAAAAH!" Xander clutches his chest like he's having a heart attack. He grunts and groans. He falls forward, until he's laying there, curled up into a ball. He lets out a final agonizing shriek, and then silence.

Everyone stares in fear, wondering if they killed him.

Then, Xander stands up. He takes a few deep breaths, and then looks at Valt and Shu. He flashes a bright, Xander grin.

"Thanks," he says.

Valt and Shu's eyes widen. "XANDER!" Valt screams, running over and throwing his arms around him. After a moment, Shu does the same thing.

"Thank God. I thought I killed you!" Shu says.

Xander ruffles his hair. "I'm fine. Actually, I'm better than fine."

Rantaro and Daigo both sigh with relief. "Man, that was terrifying," Rantaro says.

Xander laughs. "It's good to be back."

The friends finally stop hugging after a few minutes. Shu stares down at his Beyblade, which si still in his hands. That's what happens when you break a Bey? Shu takes a deep breath. Should he break Spryzen? What if it kills him? Sure, it didn't kill Xander, but Shu is way smaller than him.

"Hey, Xander?" Shu says. "What did it feel like, when we broke it?"

"What did it feel like?" Xander chuckles. "Well, painful, first of all. It's power was being ripped out of me and all. Then it felt painful again, because it was giving back what it stole from me. All of those memories from before I was in the Supreme Four just came back out of nowhere. I was just remembering childhood things, and it kinda hurt emotionally. But once it's over, it's totally fine. I feel like... me again."

Shu stares at Spryzen. He then sticks it back in his pocket. He'll break it later.

If he breaks it at all.

"So, we haven't heard from Ken and Ben yet," Shu says. "Naoki called earlier to say that they found what they think is broken bits of Luinor, and that the Superstars still have pulses, meaning they're still immortal. I think we should get to them and heal them before anything else. While we're doing that, we'll wait around for a call from Ken. We can't exactly do anything to get Zac out of jail yet; we need concrete evidence against Lui first."

"Okay, Superstars. Let's go," Rantaro says. Though, in his mind, he'd rather go see if Wakiya's still alive. He sighs. He would've stayed with Hoji had he realized how much he'd worry.

They take off sprinting out of the woods. They run as fast as they can to where the concert hall is. By the time they get there, it's already three fifty-five.

"There's no way we can heal them in time!" Shu shouts.

"Oh yeah there is!" Xander says, running even faster somehow. He shoves his way past the guards and through the hallways. Shu's eyes widen, but he keeps running and follows Xander all the way to the dressing room.

"Three fifty-eight!" Shu says.

Xander rips the body bags off of the Superstars. He starts healing their wounds as fast as he can, which isn't very fast. Shu jumps in to help, and so does Valt. Daigo joins in, and so does Rantaro. Soon enough, all four of them are trying as hard as they can to heal the Superstars before the Blading Hour ends.

"Three fifty-nine!" Shu shouts, staring at the clock. "And... four!"

"DAMMIT!" Rantaro says. "We were a little too late."

They only managed to heal one of them: Freddy. Freddy sits up right when four o'clock strikes. He looks around, confused at what he's seeing.

"What... where am I? What am I doing in Zac's dressing room?" He looks at Shu, and Xander, and Valt, and Daigo, and Rantaro. "Why are you here?"

Shu swallows. They shouldn't have bothered to heal any of them. "You were... sorta dead, but not really."

Freddy sighs. "Not the first time that's happened... wait. Where are the others?"

Shu looks down. He then forces his eyes back up and looks at Xander. Xander bites his lip so hard he makes it bleed. He looks around the room. "Uh..."

Freddy looks around. He sees Mick on his left, and Bowie on his right. "Wait... what?" He stares at them in shock and terror. "No, no!"

"We only had time to heal one of you," Shu says.

"No, no, Zac always heals all three of us, at the same time! Wait, where's Zac?! Don't tell me he's dead, too!"

"They aren't dead!" Daigo says. "Mick and Bowie both have pulses. They aren't quite dead yet. As for Zac, well, he's... he's in jail. They think he killed you three."

"Zac would never do that!" Freddy looks back and forth at Mick and Bowie in a frenzy. "You... why did you heal me?"

"Because... we got to you first," Shu says. "That's it."

"You shouldn't have healed me! You shouldn't have healed any of us if you couldn't heal all of us!"

"We weren't thinking of that," Xander says. "We just wanted to bring you guys back. We thought we could make it."

Freddy's breathing is heavy and shaky. "I can't just... I can't just leave my teammates like this. They're... they're my brothers."

The four others look at each other again. They can't think of anything they can do. "We're sorry, Freddy," Valt says. "We were just trying to help."

Freddy takes a breath. "I know. I know what you were trying to do." Freddy grabs Mick's wrist in one hand and Bowie's in the other. "Maybe... maybe since we both have Zac's power, maybe... maybe I can... maybe I can bring them back..."

"It's worth a shot," Rantaro says.

Meanwhile, Shu looks at the forge disk on the ground. That's definitely Luinor's disk, and it's the only part of the Bey that isn't shattered. He starts inspecting the pieces of plastic, trying to determine if it really truly is Luinor. Shu can't detect any residue of the spirit within the top layer, but the plastic's color definitely looks like Luinor's.

"Come on, come on," Freddy whispers. "Please, don't leave me..."

Xander crawls over to another of the Superstars, Mick. He tries to use any power he has left to heal them, but it's completely pointless. The Blading Hour is over, and his Bey has been broken. The residual power he had left is completely gone now. He looks over at Shu. Shu seems busy. He then looks at Valt.

"You still have Valtryek's power," he says. "Maybe you can heal them, even though the Blading Hour is up."

Valt swallows. He crawls over to where Mick is. It's so gruesome... Valt gags just looking at the damage that the hammer had done. He shuts his eyes and holds out his hands.

Valtryek, he thinks. I know I'm asking a lot of you right now, but we need your help. We can't just let Freddy be miserable and alone. The others have to be healed.

I know. You can't stand to watch others suffer. I can't either. Valtryek responds. I'll do what I can, but I might need your help with this.

How can I help?

There's a moment's pause. You need to focus. The Superstars have a bond. Focus on those bonds. Those bonds are what gives me strength. Our bond gives me strength.

Valt smiles. You got it, partner.

Meanwhile, Shu keeps inspecting the plastic. "Xander."

"Hmm?" Xander looks over. "What is it?"

"Does this look like the real Luinor to you?"

Xander crawls over and kneels next to Shu. He starts looking at the forge disk, first. "Well, that's definitely Nine, so that's definitely Luinor's forge disk. As for the other layers, well... I can't tell."

"I don't see any residue of Luinor's Bey Spirit." Shu looks at him. "You'd figure that you'd still be able to detect that the spirit was in the Bey."

"I see what you mean, but that's definitely Luinor's forge disk. No other Bey has that disk. You'd know it the second you laid eyes on it."

"Yeah..."

Shu is still suspicious, nonetheless.

Valt focuses as hard as he can. They have to heal, their bond is too strong for Freddy to be alone. He shuts his eyes and thinks about them. They're always together, never apart. You never see one Superstar without the others, that's how close they are. They can't be separated, alive or in death. If one's alive, the others have to be, too. Which means that Bowie and Mick have to be conscious, or else that bond will be ruined.

They have to be together, just like me and my friends, Valt thinks.

"Freddy? What happened?"

Valt's eyes snap open. Mick and Bowie are sitting up. They're conscious again.

Valt's eyes light up. He looks down at Valtryek. "We did it," Valt says.

Yes, we did.

Valt smiles. "Thanks, Valtyrek."

No, Valt. Thank you.

Freddy throws his arms around his teammates. They look confused, but they hug him back. Soon enough, the three Superstars are in a giant group hug, and once Freddy explains what happened, their group hug gets even tighter.

Everyone's watching them, even Shu. He can't help it. The bond they share, how much they care about each other, you can't help but love them.

Soon enough, Valt joins their hug. Rantaro next, then Daigo. Xander shrugs and hugs them all. Shu is the last to join.

"Aw, cute. But you all should be dead."

Everyone freezes. Then, they all gradually stop hugging. Shu glares at the doorway. Standing there, barefoot in a Nike shirt and jeans, is Lui.

"I take it you didn't have time to change?" Shu asks.

Lui shrugs. He has more important things on his mind. He stares at Freddy, Bowie, and Mick. "How are they alive? Did you heal them?"

Valt stands up. "I healed them."

Lui's eyes widen. He then smirks. "I'm actually impressed. I didn't think you were that powerful yet."

"My bond with Valtryek is strong."

"I knew that much. I'm not stupid." Lui walks over and picks up the forge disk off the floor. "Speaking of 'not stupid', did you all really think I'd be dumb enough to leave the real Luinor for Zac to break?" Lui reaches into his pocket. He pulls out the top layer of the real Luinor, and the tip. He snaps his Bey back together and holds it in his hand.

"So you wanted Zac to break it," Shu says.

"Of course I did." Lui stares at his Bey. "I had to frame him. I left a replica of Luinor, because I knew Zac would be dying to break it. He smashed it with the hammer, just like I predicted, and the stage manager saw him. There's a reason I chose to beat them to death instead of just, I dunno, doing something normal like stabbing them."

Shu stands up. "You're sick."

"Yeah, I am. So what?" Lui looks at Xander. "I see they broke Xcalius, huh?"

Xander stands up. "Yeah. I'm free from you, now."

Lui shrugs. "I really don't care. If you're not with me, you're against me. It's as simple as that."

Rantaro stands up. "Luinor's next on our list of Beys to shatter."

"Good luck with that." Lui looks down at his Bey again. "I'm not one to let go of Luinor so easily."

Valt steps forward. He almost asks Lui to battle for it. He then thinks better of it. He knows he can't beat Lui. He doesn't want to risk whatever Lui has in store for him if he loses.

Shu, however, looks at all of them. "I haven't beaten Lui by myself yet," Shu says. "But maybe, if all of us take him on at once, we can beat him."

The Superstars were cowering in the corner of the room, inspecting each other for any injuries that were left, and overall just hugging each other and crying. Xander doesn't have a Bey anymore, so he simply goes over to the Superstars to protect them in case Lui decided to try anything.

Lui isn't interested in them, though.

Valt, Rantaro, and Daigo all shoot glances at each other. Four against one? Lui would be up for it, they know that for a fact.

Rantaro steps forward. "I'm in."

Daigo joins him. "I'm in, too."

Valt looks at them. "If they're in, I'm in."

Lui grins. "Great."

Shu steps forward. "If we win, you hand over Luinor. And you know exactly what we're gonna do to it."

Valt steps forward. " And , you have to confess to the police what you did, so they'll let Zac free."

Lui looks at his Bey. He then looks back up at them. Confess? Who does Valt think he is? "Fine," he snaps. "But if I win, you hand over Spryzen." Lui's eyes flicker to Valt. "And Valtyrek."

Valt's eyes widen. "W-what? I'm not even in the Supreme Four!"

"Yeah, but you're definitely powerful, and I don't like that." Lui looks at them. "So, is it a deal?"

"Deal," Shu says without asking Valt.

Valt looks down at Valtryek. He has to win now. He doesn't want to give his partner up, and he certainly doesn't want Lui to break it.

"Valtryek," Valt whispers. "What are we gonna do?"

That answer's obvious, Valt, Valtryek's voice says. We're going to win.

Valt's eyes widen. He then smirks. "Heck yeah."

Lui looks at the clock and sighs. "Sadly, the Blading Hour is gone. I'd rather battle when it's fresh. And since you're all so happy that the Superstars are alive again, I think I'll leave you alone for a night. Meet me at the WBBA tomorrow, on the roof."

Lui turns and leaves the room.

Everyone looks at each other. "We have to train," They all say at the same time.

Xander looks at them. "I'll take these three somewhere where they'll be safe," Xander says. "Just in case Lui isn't planning on leaving them alone."

"Fine by us. We're heading back to Wakiya's estate," Shu says. "Call us if anything bad happens."

Xander nods.

They all leave the concert hall and part ways. Eventually, the main four make it back to the estate. Ken and Ben are there, waiting, when they get back. Naoki and Jin are there, too. Jin is asleep on the couch, with his head resting on Naoki's leg. Naoki is completely absorbed in his tablet. Ben is looking over at Naoki and growling. Ken is simply sitting there, looking at the other couch across from his.

On that other couch is Hoji. Laying next to him is Wakiya. Rantaro immediately runs for Wakiya.

"Wakiya, how are you feeling?" Rantaro asks.

Wakiya's eyes slowly open. They're half lidded, like Wakiya is exhausted. Wakiya's face perfectly answers Rantaro's question.

"Did you guys find Gabe's body?" Shu asks Ken and Ben.

Ken and Ben shake their heads.

"It's nowhere to be found," Ken says through Keru.

"We looked everywhere," he adds through Besu.

Ben nods along, as if to say, 'Ken's telling the truth.'

"We managed to heal the Superstars. They're alive and conscious again," Shu says. "As for Lui, we ran into him while we were there. We have a battle with him planned for tomorrow night on the roof of the WBBA."

Naoki looks up from his tablet and grins. "Oh, perfect. I've been working on a guaranteed way to win against Lui."

"You have?" Valt gets excited. "Perfect! I wonder if it'll work!"

"Oh, it'll work." Naoki grins. "I've been perfecting it. There's no way it'll fail."

Shu looks at Naoki. "It better work. We can't afford to lose."

"You won't lose. Come on. We need to go practice."

Naoki stands up, forgetting Jin is laying on his lap. Jin rolls off and lands on the ground.

"Eugh!"

Naoki's eyes widen. "Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry, Jin."

"I'm fine..." Jin stands up and sways. "Where are you going?"

"To the training room here. I need to show them my guaranteed way to win against Lui."

"Cool... I'll come watch..."

Naoki and Jin walk out of the room. Shu, Daigo, and Valt follow. Eventually, Ken and Ben decide to go with them, because watching a Beyblade Battle sounds entertaining.

Rantaro, however, stays upstairs. He's still kneeling in front of the couch that Wakiya's laying on.

"I just... Wyvron will keep you alive until we can find a better way," Rantaro says.

Wakiya reaches his hand out. It lands on Rantaro's shoulder. "I know..." He says. His voice is barely audible, and he takes a deep breath after saying those two words. That tells Rantaro one thing: Wakiya can barely even breathe.

"I don't know what that better way is, but... we'll figure it out. Trust me, Wakiya, we'll take Lui down, and once we do, we'll make sure that you're-"

"Stop..." Wakiya's hand falls off Rantaro's shoulder, and hangs limp over the side of the couch. "I know..."

Rantaro sighs. "Sorry, I'm rambling. I'm just... I'm worried."

Wakiya smiles. "Aw... you're worried about me...? You do... care..."

"Shut up." Rantaro sits in front of the couch. He stares at the TV screen, which is currently blank. He then remembers it's just after four in the morning. "Hey, we should get some sleep."

"Yeah..."

Wakiya shifts into a more comfortable position. Hoji stands up, and finds a blanket. He drapes it over his friend, and then realizes something.

"Do you want your bed?" he asks.

"No..." Wakiya takes a deep breath. "My bed... smells like death..."

Hoji shakes his head rapidly. "Oh, right. Sorry."

"Don't apologize... you say sorry... way too much..."

"Sorry." Hoji then covers his mouth.

Rantaro chuckles. Wakiya smiles and shuts his eyes. "I don't like... resting... but I... have to..."

"Save your breath, Wakiya," Hoji says. "Try not to talk too much."

Wakiya takes a few deep breaths. He then rolls over, facing away from Rantaro.

Rantaro leans back against the couch. He stares at the blank TV screen. He should probably go downstairs with the others, but he finds that he doesn't want to leave Wakiya up here alone. Wait, Wakiya isn't alone! Hoji is up here with him! But still, Rantaro doesn't want to go. He doesn't want to leave Wakiya's side, and he can't figure out why.

Eventually, Rantaro forces himself to stand. He has to go practice. After all, he's in this battle, too. He stops, and turns to look at Wakiya again. He walks over and sees that Wakiya's hair tie is still in. He gently takes it out of Wakiya's hair and sets it on the coffee table. He then leaves the room, and heads downstairs where the training is taking place.