Valt Aoi: The Battle for the Lost (Book 3!)

Ep 29: The Phantom Meanace

Closing her eyes Sasha thought back to the day when she and Free were battling last year, he had recently come back from the bulls and she remembered not being happy with him. In the last battle he had offered her some advice..

"Widen your stance to lower your center of gravity..."

Sasha widened her feet getting closer to the stadium.

"Really put your arms into it for more power. Pivot on the follow through..."

Stretching out her arms Sasha did a practice launch.

"If you're gonna use an angled launch don't wimp out, commit to it..."

And finally she angled her launcher bending her wrist.

"Let it Rip!"

This time she didn't try to avoid Fafnir instead she attacked as hard as she could. For a split second Free almost looked surprised but as soon as it came it went.

"You can't give in Free, I can't lose you. I know you Free and I know you're not like this! You're not some dark blader you're Free De La Hoya!"

Gaianon and Fafnir collided and both flew out of the stadium. They both landed simultaneously outside of the stadium.

Sasha was surprised, she knew Free could've easily beaten her but why did he throw the second battle when he could've easily beaten her?

It's because Free's actually listening!

Getting into her launching stance, Free did the same. Reaching deep down Sasha could feel the adrenaline and the power all around her. It was mesmerizing and yet exhilarating!

This feeling...

Opening her eyes she could feel the power all around her, it was electric and all around her. It was still mostly in the stadium, the air, but mostly in the bladers.

Across the stadium bladers in the crowd glowed like lights while their eyes and resonance glowed their respective color. Valt was blue, Lui was light blue, and Shu was red.

But looking across at Free there was this golden aura but it seemed darker with hints of purple. But there was something else, the energy around Free was going into him. Even the energy Phi was using at him.

Up in the stands Phi reached out his hand and Sasha could see Phi's dark power pulse and spread.

Then the vision was gone, all the power and energy was gone and everything was back to normal.

Free's mouth was in a small "o" but then turned into a straight line.

Sasha got into her launching stance but looking over at Free he stood there shaking. Sasha narrowed her eyes, she knew something was up.

Reaching for his face Free lowered his head and took off his mask. He held it out and let it clatter to the ground.

Slowly rising his head Sasha gasped.

His eyes glowed a dark brown/golden color while his veins were popping out.

Tilting his head his resonance began to take form. But there was something else.

Fafnir, a raging beast made out of pure energy stood behind his master but it was more ghostly, flickering and shifting, like it was a former shell of himself.

Sasha was afraid, very afraid, she had seen Free "power up" before but this was different. This was on a whole different level.

Free finally got into his launching stance while everyone counted down.

"Let it Rip!"

Focusing on Free, Sasha took every moment she could.

"I'm not gonna give up on you Free! Valt was there for Shu and I'll always be there for you! Because at the end of the day it's all about having fun!"

At the word "fun" Fafnir raced through Gaianon bursting it.

Sasha dropped to her knees in defeat as Free put his mask back on and walked offstage. Behind her Fafnir roared at Sasha and then disappeared.

Tears watered in her eyes, and her throat became dry. But the tears didn't fall, instead she wiped them away with her arm while she stood up.

Clenching her fists she looked up to see that Free wasn't off the stage just yet.

"You know what's sad...." Sasha started.

Free stopped just short of the exit.

"This kid came up to me the other day, he had this big grin on his face and he told me his name was Liam. But you know what he asked me: "Do you really know Free De La Hoya?" But thinking about all the fun times we had as a team...no a family. I wanted to say yes but then you just left and went missing...."

"Kris was devastated, she didn't come out of her office for a week and now you're back pretending like you don't even care. And you know what I said to Liam? "I used to know him." So you know what's sad? It's sad how you were such a big deal, even though you weren't world champion anymore,  everyone wanted to be like you and so did I, but now you're just gone.."

Free resumed his exit, not even reacting or saying a word.

Sasha let out a breath and walked offstage.

As she rode down the elevator, her thoughts swirled around in her head. But a particular stuck out: What if Free was too far gone?

A/N okay so out all all the battles I've written this one is definitely one of my favorites and one of my favorite chapters too. Anyways hope you guys enjoyed!