The Vexos Chronicles
Part I: Lost Luster
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction. Pokémon belongs to Nintendo and the Pokémon Company; Bakugan: Battle Brawlers belongs to TMS Entertainment, Spin Master, and Sega Toys. I do not own Pokémon, Bakugan, or anything belonging to their respective franchises.
Thanks go to Storme Hawk and eatpraylove for betaing.
Prologue
Vestal Motherpalace, Throne Room
26th Day of the Month Ananeosis, in the 20th Year of the Reign of King Zenoheld (26 Ananeosis, 20 Zenoheld)
Anticipation was in the air as the Vexos, servants of the Vestal Royal Family and formerly planet Vestal's elite Bakugan brawling team, knelt before King Zenoheld. Hours ago, they had beheld plans for an awe-inspiring battleship with the power to cow any rebellion on planet Vestal and lead Zenoheld towards his goal of conquering all dimensions.
Earlier that year, King Zenoheld had conquered the planet of New Vestroia, the homeworld of a species known as "Bakugan." From there, the Vestals had tamed the Bakugan race, deriving entertainment from the spectacle of Bakugan brawls. However, a group of Earthlings, Vestals, and Bakugan calling themselves the "Bakugan Brawler Resistance" eventually wrenched New Vestroia from Vestal rule.
During the conquest of New Vestroia, the Royal Family had told the populace of planet Vestal that Bakugan were savage, unintelligent animals. But once the Vestal people learned that Bakugan were actually sapient beings, their rapidly growing outrage forced the Royal Family and the Vexos to flee the planet.
Thus it was no surprise that the Vexos had now been summoned to the throne room of the spaceborne Vestal Motherpalace; they were to receive instructions on where they would fit into the king's bid to reclaim his throne.
In the rear of the throne room was a high dais, upon which was the throne where King Zenoheld was currently seated. Standing in front of the dais was his son, Crown Prince Hydron. The Vexos were knelt in a line before the dais.
As one looked towards the throne, Volt Luster was at the far left of the line. Volt had a muscular physique, peach hair, and stood a few inches short of six feet tall. His mainly-white uniform marked him as the Haos brawler of the Vexos.
To Volt's right was Shadow Prove, who was a few inches shorter than Volt and had wild silver hair. He was the Vexos' Darkus brawler, as evidenced by his dark-colored uniform.
To Shadow's right was Mylene Farrow—the Vexos' Aquos brawler, as evidenced by her blue uniform. She was formerly second-in-command of the Vexos before King Zenoheld and Prince Hydron assumed direct command of the team.
At the far right of the line was Lync Volan, whose green uniform marked him as the team's Ventus brawler. Standing a few inches over five feet, the pink-haired sixteen-year-old was the shortest and youngest of the Vexos.
"Time to make those involved with the destruction of the BT System pay for their crimes with the lethal powers of Professor Clay's Alternative Weapon System!" Zenoheld declared, sure of his triumph.
"Alternative?" Mylene wondered.
This system must be that battleship we saw the blueprints for earlier today, Volt thought.
The "BT System" — short for "Bakugan Termination System" — was a machine designed to eliminate all Bakugan within a six-thousand-kilometer radius, which Zenoheld deployed after the Resistance had freed New Vestroia. But the Resistance had gone on to foil his revenge plot by destroying the BT System before the king's plans could come to fruition.
Presumably, the king's new machine would not suffer such a fate.
Zenoheld continued, "When it's completed, we will harness enough power to destroy Vestal and Earth! We'll be able to annihilate every living thing that dares to oppose us! We will be unstoppable!" He punctuated his pronouncement with a sweeping arm gesture normally reserved for addressing large crowds.
"Cuckoo, cuckoo," Shadow said at what he thought was a low volume.
"Quiet! He'll hear you!" Mylene scolded.
Fortunately for Shadow, Zenoheld didn't notice, continuing: "They will all weep such bitter tears once they feel the full force of my mighty wrath!"
"Excuse me, sire," Volt interjected.
"Hmm?" The king didn't take kindly to being interrupted.
"The original plan was to get revenge against the Brawlers who got us kicked out of Vestal," Volt said. "But this new mission of yours is wrong. It involves the destruction of innocents. It's not cool to punish people who did nothing to harm us; I won't do it!"
"Just stop it!" Mylene hissed.
"How dare you question me!" Zenoheld growled.
"Disloyal scum!" Prince Hydron exclaimed. He immediately struck Volt, making him fall flat on his back. "You're a soldier, Volt, not a policymaker. All you need to do is be quiet and take orders, like a good little doggy."
Volt's eyes narrowed and he clenched his jaw at the statement, but the only sound that came from the Vexos member was a barely audible growl.
Later that day, Volt went to the Motherpalace's transporter room, a canvas bag over his shoulder.
When Volt entered, however, he did a double-take upon seeing Mylene there waiting for him.
"Do not be foolish, Volt," she said. "You and I both know that he cannot be stopped when he gets like this."
"And you're OK to just sit by and let it happen?" Volt asked.
"I'm not saying I agree with him. I'm just saying that it's pointless to try and stop him; he's too powerful. Too crazy."
"Maybe so, but still, I can't be a part of this."
"You know what will happen if you leave."
"Humph." Without another word, Volt headed for the transporter.
"Take care of yourself, Volt. Every move you make from now on, you'll have to be looking over your shoulder."
"Yeah, I know." Stepping on the transporter pad, Volt dematerialized, to be transported to his home on planet Vestal.
Now standing alone in the transporter room, Mylene said quietly, "Good luck, friend."
Back in the throne room, King Zenoheld received a report from a security technician that Volt had left the Motherpalace. After telling the technician that the transport was unauthorized, Zenoheld summoned the remaining Vexos back to the throne room. Once they arrived, Zenoheld told them of the situation and chastised Mylene for not stopping Volt.
Still infuriated, the king said, "I just can't believe that insubordinate fool! Hydron!"
"Sire," replied the prince.
"One of your dogs has broken free of his leash! Take care of it! Immediately!"
"Of course, sir."
Volt had managed to run away from the Vestal Motherpalace, returning to his hometown of Varemed on the surface of Vestal. However, as promised, Zenoheld did not intend for Volt to flee unopposed. Each Vexos' brawling gauntlet had a tracking device that allowed them to pinpoint each other's locations. It was this technology that allowed Prince Hydron to catch up with the wayward Haos brawler.
"So, was it a bittersweet homecoming for you, Volt?" Hydron asked after he caught up with Volt. "This place is even worse than when you left it."
"Still, many people call it home," Volt replied. "Good people, who I can't stand by and watch you destroy. This ends here, Hydron."
"Does this mean that you're leaving the Vexos? I'm the one who pulled you out of this stinkhole, and this is how you repay me? You've got a funny way of showing loyalty, Volt."
"I'm grateful for all you've done for me. But I just can't follow you blindly without question anymore!"
"You know, I've always hated that self-righteous attitude of yours!" Hydron then strapped on his Gauntlet.
"OK, Hydron. So you want to battle me, then? That's fine!" Volt said, strapping his own Gauntlet onto his arm.
"Gauntlet, Power Strike!" the two said in unison. The command triggered the start of a Bakugan brawl, which took place within a pocket dimension where time stood still.
After the first round of the brawl, Volt was ahead of Hydron, 500 Life Points to 300. Hydron was brawling with Subterra Dryoid, a brown, humanoid Mechanical Bakugan that resembled a ninja. Volt, however, was using Haos Boriates, a white-and-gold samurai-like Mechanical Bakugan whose height dwarfed Dryoid's.
During the second round of the brawl, Dryoid had failed to land a hit on Boriates, while Boriates had taken advantage of its superior size to knock Dryoid onto its back.
"Stay down and walk away," Volt warned. "Otherwise, this ends in tears for you. You just can't win this thing!"
"Silence, you!" Hydron roared. "Dryoid, get up!"
The ninja-like Bakugan lifted itself to a sitting position.
"OK, then," Volt said in a resigned tone of voice.
Dryoid staggered to its feet.
"You're going down this time!" Hydron exclaimed. "Ability, activate: Trance Sword!"
Dryoid shot kunai-shaped energy bolts from slits above its wrists at Boriates. However, the bolts failed to make an impact against Boriates' defenses. Boriates threw a jab at the ninja, who deftly dodged it.
"Ability, activate," Hydron ordered, "Knuckle Vulcan."
Brass knuckles fitted themselves onto Dryoid's fists. Dryoid then shot lasers from the brass knuckles, which proved just as useless as the kunai shots from before. Boriates charged at the ninja and stomped it off-balance. The samurai Bakugan then launched the ninja into the air with a massive uppercut. Dryoid landed to the ground headfirst.
"Dryoid, get up! Right now!" Hydron ordered.
"Your boy is nearly down for the count, Hydron," Volt said. "Ability, activate: Prometheus Cannon!"
Two gun barrels extended from a box on Boriates' left arm. Boriates then aimed at Dryoid, who was within point-blank range. Yellow balls of energy formed at the ends of the gun barrels as the Prometheus Cannon charged its attack.
"Defend yourself with Mars Shield!" Hydron ordered.
The Prometheus Cannon fired.
When the dust cleared, Dryoid was in a kneeling position, surrounded by a brown energy shield; the Mars Shield had completely protected Dryoid from the Prometheus Cannon blast.
"Defensive moves won't save you!" Volt said. "Ability, activate: Olympus Cannon!"
At Volt's order, the Prometheus Cannon extended and its barrels separated, making it look like a rail gun. Sparks danced between and within the gun barrels as the Cannon armed itself.
"Finish him!" Volt ordered.
The Olympus cannon fired, completely overwhelming the Mars Shield and Dryoid.
"Dryoid, no!" Hydron cried out.
"Hydron life force, zero," said a voice from Hydron's Gauntlet. The brawl was over.
But as the pocket dimension dissolved and the smoke cleared, Boriates still stood tall, instead of returning to ball form as was usually the case at the end of a brawl.
"I told you before, Hydron," Volt warned. "Battling, to me, is about survival."
The six-story-tall Bakugan began to advance towards the prince, who cowered before the giant.
Boriates raised its fist.
"You're finished, Hydron!" Volt exclaimed.
Boriates brought down its fist, and Hydron braced himself for the fatal blow…
…only to be shocked as it struck the ground mere centimeters in front of Hydron. While the prince, now on his behind, trembled at the near-death experience, Boriates then shrank back to the size of a marble and returned to Volt's hand.
"Leave now. I never want to see your face again," Volt ordered. He then turned his back on Hydron and headed towards his home.
Hydron, however, would not tolerate Volt's insubordination. Did Volt actually think that he, a mere servant, could disregard King Zenoheld, leave the Vexos, and even threaten the crown prince, with no consequences at all? To make his point, Hydron deployed one of the most heinous devices ever conceived by Vestal science: the Death Bomb. Once a Vestal was caught inside the event horizon of the vortex that it created, there was no escape.
Volt stopped in his tracks when the Death Bomb rolled before his feet. When the device activated, Volt cried out in surprise to see his feet sinking into the vortex.
As the ex-Vexos vainly tried to wriggle free of the vortex, Hydron said, "I sentence you to an eternity, Volt, in the far reaches of the dimension!"
"This isn't over, Hydron!" Volt said as he sank further in. "I promise you, one day, you will pay for all the pain and misery that you've brought upon the innocents of the world!"
"SILENCE!" Hydron exclaimed, the only part of Volt now visible being his still-glaring eyes. "Enjoy your suffering!"
Unlike the interdimensional portals created by Vestal ships, which were bright tunnels, the Death Bomb's vortex was overwhelmingly dark, as if the victim were about to become a giant monster's snack. Whoever had designed the Death Bomb certainly knew how to make even the voyage seem like a foray into hell.
No one has ever heard what lies on the other side of a Death Bomb's vortex, Volt thought. But Hydron had better mark my words; justice will find him soon enough.
As for me, I'd better prepare for whatever suffering Prince Hydron has in store for me. He better have sent me to some remote planet in some backwater galaxy, because otherwise, he will not have seen the last of me!
A/N: And thus begins my rewrite of Lost Luster. If you've read the original version, prepare for quite a few changes this time around! And if you're new to the story, welcome! You're in for a great read!
To those who've read the old version, no spoilers in the reviews, please! (You're likely to be wrong.)
All the dialogue in this prologue is from the Bakugan: New Vestroia episode Volt's Revolt. Volt's internal monologue and the transition scene at the end, though, are all my idea.