Hello, good people! Welcome to the return of GreyNirvana! This story is very similar to another story that I've done in the past (and another that I deleted after losing the files for), in that it is a rewrite of something that I (and many others) feel could have been done better. I've been meaning to do this for quite some time, now, and have just now gotten back my inspiration. If people like this, I will continue it. That being said, enjoy the show!
Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge
Prologue
"Welcome, brawlers, to the biggest online sensation since WoW! Bakugan Interspace!" came the sound of an announcer over the intercom, speaking at a million miles per minute. Various shots of humans, Gundalians, Neathians, and Vestals battling flashed across screens, as hundreds of them traveled throughout the space.
A young adult marveled at the sight.
For the first time, he thought, we can all come here to have a good time.
He saw his own face flash across the leaderboards, at which point a few people turned towards him.
"Hey! Dan! Sign my Baku-meter!" came one voice.
"Battle me!" came another.
Dan chuckled a little and sighed. "Alright, one at a time."
A small red marble hopped up onto his shoulder and opened into a dragon-like figure.
"Look up there," it said in a deep baritone voice. Next to Dan's mugshot was another one, a white haired Gundalian, wearing a 'Sorry, I'm SWAG' snapback, along with a pair of sunglasses. The bulletin showed that he and Dan, the top two, had a match scheduled in a few minutes to celebrate the one year anniversary of the closed beta release of Bakugan Interspace to multiple worlds. Today, the open beta was finally a reality, and anyone from any world could access the game.
"We're gonna have our work cut out for us, aren't we, buddy?" Dan said with a slight smirk. His Bakugan simply laughed.
"We have a million fans rooting for us. We'll do fine," came the reply. Dan beamed and typed in a password onto his Baku-meter, opening up a doorway in front of him.
As he stepped in, a whole new world came to life around him; a stadium built for millions of people surrounded a deep forest environment that was covered in mist. Nothing showed through the clouds.
"Bit of an advantage to a Darkus brawler, huh?" Dan remarked.
"Speak of the devil," his Bakugan replied.
Across the field, the Gundalian came into view, waving out to the audience.
"What's good, bros?!" he exclaimed, receiving cheers from his fans. He then turned to face Dan. "Nice to finally scrabble with you! I won't beat you too bad!"
Dan shook his head a little. "Don't worry, you won't."
He readied a card.
"The Battlefront Style match between Dan Kuso and Xavier Arks will now... Commence!" came the announcer's voice.
"Gate card, set!" Dan exclaimed as he threw his card out onto the field, a red shock wave extending from the spot where it landed. "Bakugan... brawl!"
He launched his Bakugan onto the field, where a fiery tornado shot up from it upon opening. A humanoid red dragon appeared in the midst of the vortex, its eyes glowing emerald green, a blue diamond on its chest shining brightly.
"Stand, Pyrus Titanium Dragonoid!"
The crowd went wild at the sight. Dan wiggled his eyebrows at his opponent, who shrugged and grinned.
"You call that showing off?" Xavier called across the field. "Bakugan, brawl!" Xavier threw out a black marble into the field, landing it a few hundred yards away from the Dragonoid. "Darkus Horridian, stand!"
The marble exploded in a flash of purple, with black smoke pouring out from the burst of energy. A pair of eyes appeared, followed by two more. Clawed fists stuck out from the smoke, and howling echoed throughout the entire stadium. The smoke finally cleared to reveal a three headed wolf, snarling with all three mouths. The crowd erupted again, anxious to see the brawl begin.
Both Bakugan stood at 1200G.
"Give him hell, Drago!" Dan exclaimed.
"You bet," Drago replied.
Dan nodded and held up a card. "Ability, activate! Titanium Hummer!"
Drago glowed red and his wings shrunk into his back, gaining an extra 300G.
"Ability, activate! Hades Aura!" Xavier exclaimed, holding up his own card. Horridian began to glow purple and gained 300G, as well. The two brawlers and their Bakugan locked eyes.
"Attack!" Dan and Xavier yelled. Drago and Horridian charged towards each other, exchanging blow for blow in the battlefield. Horridian chomped at Drago's neck, and Drago countered by grabbing Horridian by the throat and throwing him a ways. The wolf simply got back up and pounced again.
...
The Brawlers sat around in their private quarters within Bakugan Interspace.
"It's good to be home, am I right?" Dan said as he lay back in his recliner.
"You said it, Dan the Man," replied Jake as he lounged on a couch.
"It's going to take a lot to get this place running properly again, though," Marucho joined in as he sat at the table. "Lots of people were scared off during this past year."
...
"Gate card, open!" Dan ordered as Horridian was still in midair. "Pyrus Reactor!"
Fiery vortexes appeared all around the battlefield, blowing the fog away and lighting the whole arena up. 300G was added to Drago's power level, and he rammed his fist into one of Horridian's faces as it reached him. Howling in pain, Horridian flew back and reverted into ball form as Xavier's life gauge went down by sixty percent.
Drago folded his arms, then reverted into a ball and flew into Dan's hand, the fire disappearing from the field. Dan beamed at him. "Great job, let's keep it up!"
"Nice shot!" Xavier called out. "Now, it's my turn. Gate card, set!"
Xavier threw his gate card out across the field, where a purple shock wave extended to the ends of the arena. "Bakugan, brawl! Horridian, stand!"
Horridian made its entrance and stared down at Dan and Drago. They nodded at each other, and Drago folded back up.
"Bakugan, brawl! Drago, stand!" Dan exclaimed, throwing Drago to be opposite Horridian. "Ability, activate! Revolutional!"
300G was transferred from Horridian to Drago, who flew up high into the sky as several amplifiers lined up between him and the wolf. He readied himself, then sent a fiery blast straight down. It picked up speed as it traveled closer to Horridian, as well as power.
"Ability, activate! End Gardner Alpha!" Xavier ordered. The fog grew darker, becoming an eerie midnight purple. The blast from Drago landed in a grand fireworks display in the middle of the mist.
"Gotcha!" Dan exclaimed. Then, his expression fell as he heard three distinct howls echo throughout the stadium. "Huh?"
Suddenly, a single-headed wolf launched up out of the mist and attacked Drago, knocking him out of the sky. Drago managed to throw the wolf off of him, but he was quickly attacked from behind by a second one. He roared in frustration, now trying to keep up with three separate opponents.
"End Gardner Alpha. It cuts Horridian's power level into thirds... But the pack becomes three times as fast," Xavier explained with a smirk. A check on the battle status showed three Horridian's, each at 300G.
"That wasn't your brightest idea, buddy," Dan remarked. "Ability, activate! Dragon Force Striker!"
Drago was surrounded by a red aura, and his eyes began to glow bright green. He spread his wings, and lightning started to fill the area, arcing towards all three wolves. 200G was taken from all of them, and 600G was added to Drago.
…
"Ren and I had a dream, back when Bakugan Interspace was still in its early stages. A dream that someday, people of both our worlds could come here to battle," Marucho recalled. "Maybe now that everything is over, that dream can finally come true!"
"If anyone can do it, it's you, Marucho," Dan replied.
"My question is, how will we get people back in here?" Shun joined in, leaning against a wall.
...
"Gate card, open! Energy merge!"
Drago's ability was interrupted as energy started flowing from him into the three Horridians. 1200G was sapped from his power level and 400G was added to each separate wolf.
"Now, join back together!" Xavier commanded. Horridian became whole once more, standing at 1500G. "Charge him!"
Dan barely had time to react. "Ability, activate! Titanium Screen!"
Drago gained 400G power, setting him at 1300G, but Horridian rammed into him, sending him flying back into ball form towards Dan, whose life gauge went down by forty percent. Dan furrowed his brow and picked up his Bakugan as Xavier caught his own. The crowd went wild, cheering and screaming.
"Next one decides it, hmm?" Xavier said with a smirk, running two fingers along the bone on his cheek. Dan sneered a little at him.
"Gate card, set!" he called out, throwing down his card. "Bakugan, brawl! Drago, stand!"
"Bakugan, brawl! Horridian, stand!"
"Ability, activate!" the two battlers called out in unison.
"Core Buster!"
"Deadly Nightmare!"
Bursts of purple and red energy slammed into each other, lighting up the entire stadium in a spectacular lights show. The two Bakugan tied at 1600G, and neither showed any sign of tiring.
…
"With the most awesome, intense, explosive battles ever!" Jake answered. Dan nodded and grinned.
"The Brawlers were the top tier battlers before! A lot has changed over the months, but we can get that title back and keep it! We're the best team ever when it comes to Bakugan, and nobody can take us down!" Dan exclaimed.
"In that case, let's promise to ourselves to be the best we can be, and make Interspace the best it can be, too!" Marucho said, beaming.
...
"Gate card, open! Land pressure!" Dan ordered as Horridian slammed down into the ground, rendered immobile. "Ability, activate! Wonder Superior!"
Xavier smirked as the gem on Drago's chest began to glow bright blue, and a whole chain of amplifiers appeared, pointing towards Horrdian. "That's right..."
500G was transferred from Horridian to Drago. Dan smirked, knowing he had won.
"Ability, activate! Silent Snap!"
Suddenly, an explosion of white energy surged from Drago's gem, deactivating the ability, as he was thrust down to the ground by a surge of gravity. Simultaneously, Horridian got back up, snarling, his power level restored, along with an extra 300G.
"What? How did you do that?!" Dan cried out, staring helplessly at his partner.
"The ability Silent Snap deactivates all ability cards used by the opponent, as well as reflecting the abilities of the gate card. On top of that, it adds 300G to Horridian's power level," Xavier explained, barely able to contain a grin. "However, it can only be activated if the opponent's Bakugan has a 1000G or higher advantage on your own."
"How did you get a card like that?" Dan murmured, barely audible to anyone but him. It dawned on him that it didn't matter how the card had gotten there, only that it had been used.
"Finish him, Horridian!" Xavier commanded. Horridian pounced towards Drago and started a flurry of swipes and chomps.
"Hang in there, Drago!" Dan called out, trying to figure out a way to come back. His mind blanked.
"I'm sorry, Dan," Drago finally said after enduring as much of the onslaught as he could. He reverted back into ball form and landed at Dan's feet, Dan's life gauge falling to zero.
"And with that, Xavier wins the battle and claims the number one spot in Interspace!" the announcer called out as Xavier caught his Bakugan and his fans cheered at the top of their lungs.
"Don't worry, we still love you, Dan!"
"Don't feel bad, Drago!"
Words from passing fans were barely audible to the duo as they sat around staring at the leaderboard, hours after the battle had ended. Dan's face now showed on the number two spot, with Xavier beaming at number one.
Dan felt a hand on his shoulder.
"You alright, Dan the Man?" came a familiar voice.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking," Dan replied.
"That was a cheap card he pulled, you should have won that," Jake said, trying to cheer up his friend.
"It doesn't matter that I should have won. I didn't win. I let everyone down."
"Maybe you just need to sleep on it, man," Jake replied. "You'll be able to get that spot back. But moping around won't fix anything."
"I know. I'll get over it, I should probably head back home anyways," Dan said, standing up and pushing in a code on his Baku-meter. "Thanks, Jake."
Dan fizzled away as he logged out, leaving Jake to stare at the spot where he was before.
Xavier stepped into his team's private quarters in Interspace and slapped his snapback down onto a counter. "Tell me again why I have to dress like a swagfag."
"Nobody will suspect that you're up to anything besides harmless debauchery like this," came the reply from a redheaded girl reclining in front of a television. "It's hard enough for people here to trust Gundalians, especially ones who walk around in their real skin."
"You're lucky you don't have to use a disguise to fit in. Tell me, how is it that Vestals not only look almost exactly like humans, but also just so happen to speak similar languages without having to use a translator?" Xavier inquired, rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses.
"Maybe there really is a god," the girl replied, before breaking into a smirk.
"Careful with the religion jokes, you never know who you might offend," Xavier said back, also starting to smirk as he sat down.
"Oh, whatever. Now that you've beaten Dan, Team Crypt is finally on top. Now we can start stirring up a little chaos..."
"Are you okay, Drago?" Dan asked as he lay awake in bed.
"I've had worse. Still, I feel like I've felt that energy before..." Drago trailed off.
"What?" Dan sat up and raised an eyebrow.
"Horridian's power seemed familiar, but I don't remember where from," Drago responded.
"Maybe it's just you," Dan replied. "We can look into it later. Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"Today really opened my eyes to something I've been dreading," Dan said with a sigh. "Maybe it's time for us to let someone else have the spotlight."
"Are you sure, Dan? The team won't be very happy to hear that," Drago remarked.
"I know, but we've been number one for years! I'm nineteen, Drago!" Dan exclaimed. "It's hard to admit, but I think it may be the right thing."
"Have you thought about this, Dan?"
"I have, Drago. Tomorrow, I'll challenge Xavier one more time. If we win, we'll keep playing. If not... We'll find something else to do with our lives," Dan said definitively.
"Alright," Drago replied. "No matter what happens, I'll always be right beside you."
"I know you will."
Thanks for reading! Let me know if you enjoyed, and I just might continue this story.