Heart of Steel (Beyblade Shogun Steel/Kyoya)

Chapter 9 - Phantom-Phoenix

'Alright, everyone,' Benkei spoke to Zyro, Ren, Shinobu and Maru who were at a bey park ready to begin their training. 'Today we have two very special guests, so you have to work even harder! Welcome, Kira and Chris!'

The two Legendary Bladers walked to Benkei and smiled at the young teens.

'Kira, are you going to train with us?' Ren asked noticing the lady was wearing sportswear.

'Yes, I will!' the red-haired blader confirmed before Benkei told them to begin running around the park.

'Do we really have to run today?' Zyro asked annoyed.

'Of course!' Kira said. 'It is crucial to be in shape if you want to be a good blader. All of the strongest bladers exercised frequently. Gingka Hagane, Dashan Wang, Ace Stone...'

'Ace was your brother, right?' the blue-eyed young blader asked confused. If they were siblings, shouldn't they have the same last name? 'Then why is his last name different than yours?'

Benkei and Chris tensed up. Kira didn't like it when people asked her things about Ace, and his death's anniversary was close, so the lady was more sensitive. Fortunately, she reacted well to Zyro's questions.

'That's because we were both WBBA agents and when on missions and training we are addressed by our last name and it was a little confusing to have to agents with the same name, so Ace changed his. Of course, when we're on very delicate missions we use our code names.'

'What was your code name?' Ren asked full of curiosity in her amber eyes.

'I had only one code name since I only took part on one special mission and it was iK,' Kira smiled. 'The "K" stood for Kira and the "i" for inside agent. And now, let's run or Benkei will get mad at us.'

Zyro was surprised to see the CEO was still in perfect physical shape and endured all Benkei's exercises well.

'Now it's time to battle!' the big man said.

'Yes! Finally,' Zyro exclaimed.

'But before that, we need to talk about Synchrome,' Kira's voice was heard. 'What is the key to Synchrome?'

The bladers remained silent. They were afraid to give the lady the wrong answer.

'The Blader's spirit?' Zyro replied a little uncertain.

'Wrong,' Kira said. 'The key is the bond between the two bladers. A Synchrome Bey is powerful because of the bond between those who created it. With no bond, there is no power. However, the bond isn't everything. You need strength, training and spirit to win. You already have the spirit and the bond, so we are going to work on your strength and training.'

'But how? The Unabara brothers are not here,' Zyro said.

If they were going to improve their Synchrome abilities and strengths, they needed to do it while battling another Synchrome bey.

'Well, I have Phoenix with me, and Chris brought his Phantom Orion,' Kira explained as Chris showed the teens his Beyblade that was an evolution of his Phantom Orion B:D.

It was an elegant beyblade with a purple warrior wheel that matched perfectly its lighter elemental wheel. It was still a Stamina type, but it was clear that this new Orion had a lot more attack power.

'Shouldn't it be Orion Phantom?' Maru asked as she analysed the beyblade and realized the Warrior Wheel was named Phantom and the Element Wheel was an Orion one.

'Yeah... but that doesn't sound good, does it?' Kira said. 'Anyway, we are going to combine our Beys and create Phantom-Phoenix.'

Zyro and Shinobu were a little scared while the two girls couldn't be more pumped. It was going to be extremely interesting to see a Synchrome that joined two Legendary Beyblades.

'Don't worry, we're not expecting you to win,' Chris commented with a smile.

'The goal here is to help you get used to these battles and improve your skills and also to make you understand the importance of the bond between you two. The stronger the bond, the stronger you'll be,' Kira explained. 'Your friendship is the key. Yoshio and Kira are nothing but colleagues. There is no bond there. You must use that in your advantage.'

'Does that mean a Synchrome between you and Kyoya will be even stronger than Phantom-Phoenix?' Ren asked a little indiscreet question.

'Yes,' the lady confirmed. 'Now, let's began our training.'

The two Legendary Bladers got their Synchrome Beyblade ready while Shinobu and Zyro did the same. The combination between the blood-red colour of Phoenix' Warrior wheel and the deep purple of Orion's was extremely beautiful and mesmerizing. That Synchrome bey looked fierce and strong.

Soon, they launched their beys and the training battle began.

'First things first,' Kira spoke, 'spot your opponent's weakness. I've already spotted yours - lack of concentration.'

As she said that, Phantom-Phoenix attacked Salamander-Ifrit.

'Second, develop a simple strategy based on that weakness,' Kira's Synchrome bey kept on attacking Salamander-Ifrit not giving Zyro a chance to counterattack. 'And then you win!'

With those words, Salamander-Ifrit was sent flying into the sky. Everyone was shocked, including Benkei.

'But... how?' Shinobu spoke with confusion in his light green eyes.

'Zyro was distracted. You need to focus in order to win. And you need to believe you can win,' Kira explained. 'Now, focus and try again.'

Zyro got his beyblade and launched it at Phantom-Phoenix again. This time he was more focused and attacked the bey successfully. Unfortunately, the red and purple beyblade was too fast and agile. Sometimes the two young bladers couldn't even see it moving.

However, Phantom-Phoenix speed wasn't the only thing making it hard for Zyro and Shinobu to win. The bond between Kira and Chris was extremely strong as well and the two Legendary Bladers seemed to be able to read each other's mind. They were one.

That was it! Zyro and his friend needed to be one! Just like their beyblades had become one, they needed to be one as well.

They trained for a while and Salamander-Ifrit lost every battle against Phantom-Phoenix. However, he had learnt something in the end, and he was going to use what he had learned in that battle against Kira and Yoshio.

'One for all, all for one,' the red-haired blader said with a smile when the training was over.

'We are strong, we are one!' Ren added with enthusiasm remembering the song Blood Tears used to play.

'Exactly! That is the spirit!'

'Will you see our battle?' Zyro asked Kira full of curiosity.

Kira Hayama had already spoken to Tsubasa and Madoka and they already had a place and date for the battle. It was important for the young Blader and Shinobu that the lady was there with them.

'Unfortunately, I won't be able to go. I already have something planned and I really can't cancel that,' she told them before looking at her watch. 'And now we really need to get going! Duty calls!'

'Thank you for coming!!!' Benkei exclaimed.

Chris and the lady walked away from the young bladers to leave the park. When they were almost getting to the stairs, Kira heard Ren calling her name. She stopped and looked back to see the blonde girl running in her direction.

'Do you think we could battle sometime?' she asked with a sparkle in her eyes.

'Of course, we can!' Kira said with a big smile.

Suddenly, Ren wrapped her arms around the lady and thanked her.

'You're the best, Kira!!!' she said before letting go of the Legendary Blader.

Kira smiled and then left with Chris. When they were getting in the car, the blond man spoke.

'I see you have a big fan right there!'

'I think she is more than just a fan,' Kira confessed.