"Change of Attribute! Subterra!" The blue skin of the humanoid chameleon, Preyas, changed colour to brown, in a bloom of hue, beginning from his chest and spreading throughout his body in a wave.
"Take that!" A small blond boy, dressed in a blue and white hoodie, blue shorts, and red glasses crowed, from his perch on Preyas' shoulder, "Now your Subterra Reactor boosts Preyas by 200G's!"
"Preyas power level at 700G's. Robotallion power level at 550G's. Preyas leading with 150G's."
"Now's our chance! Get him, Preyas!"
The chameleon Bakugan needed no second heeding, and charged, fists already drawn back, in anticipation of punching.
Watching from the commentator's box, were three figures: One, the smartly suited commentator, was busy shouting and cheering, and generally ignoring the other two: A bearded, self-important-looking man, along with a younger, slimmer male, with spiked blond hair, a long, white coat, and a blue, glass-looking mask, that disguised his face with the appearance of a pair of warped glasses. He had an arm looped about the bearded man's fat neck, a card in his hand, depicting an image of a dragon's skull, held so hard against the man's throat that it was starting to scratch uncomfortably.
"So, tell me, is your little enterprise going well?" There was venom in the masked man's voice. A promise that bad things awaited people who displeased him.
"Uh... It's progressing... Fairly, I suppose... But..." The bearded man got the impression he was being glared at, although he had no idea if his impression was correct.
"... But?"
The commentator, still shouting away, took a sideways glance at the pair. He wasn't getting good vibes from the other people in his box - Indeed, to all intents and purposes, it seemed rather like a hostage situation.
"The Bakugan Brawler's Resistance has been spotted in areas near here. It won't be long until they find us."
All he got in reply from the blond was a snort of derision. "Well, that's your problem, isn't it?" At that, he vanished, leaving behind no trace that he'd ever been there, but multi-hued sparks, and the ominous doom card, sneering up at the bearded man. A little gift. A reminder that he was never really alone. And, of course, a replacement for the current one in the system, to provide the audience with the violence to which they had become accustomed.
On the battlefield, struggling with the power-boosted Robotallion, Marucho was oblivious to the exchange that had taken place. He was really more concerned with making his opponent give up, before one of them got killed.
"Ability activate!" Marucho held a card in his hand, and Preyas dropped his hold of the robot Bakugan's fists, darting to one side as he did so, "Blue Stealth!"
With a grin, Preyas vanished from view, and the Robotallion, and it's master, who sat perched upon its earthy-hued shoulder, was left casting its gaze around, unsure what had just occurred.
But not for long!
Preyas' webbed foot soon reappeared - Slammed, hard, into the back of Robotallion's neck. The brown robot stumbled, barely catching its master in time. The boy in its hands was just seconds away from flat, crunchy death.
"Please, give up!" Marucho had decided that trying to get opponents to give up was a good plan: His first battle here hadn't gone so well, and he'd... Well, to put it bluntly, he'd killed a person. He'd been awfully sick that night - Even then, the mere thought made him queasy. Still, getting three out of five of his opponents to quit wasn't half bad, if he did say so himself.
Unfortunately, this person was proving to be quite tenacious: They responded with: "Ability activate! Chest Cannon!"
"Robotallion power level increase by 100G's. Preyas power level decrease by 100G's. Robotallion at 750G's. Preyas at 600G's." The voice from Marucho's Bakupod was, as ever, helpful. Not that Marucho could do much about it: Robotallion had Preyas pinned to the wall.
He was about to take a blast at point-blank range!
"Ability Activate! Whirlpool Switch!" All Marucho hoped he could do, at this point, was try to minimise damage. "This transfers 50G's from Robotallion to Preyas."
"Preyas at 650G's. Robotallion at 700G's."
Not enough. But as close as he could get, for the moment.
The flash of light and blast of heat between the two Bakugan was intense: Marucho clung to Preyas, feeling as if he were being scalded and blinded and burned to a crisp, all simultaneously.
He still got off better than Preyas, though: The chameleon Bakugan staggered when Robotallion let go of him (it had sustained injuries too: That's what you get for letting off energy cannons so close!), and slumped down against the arena wall.
There were bloodthirsty cries from the audience: They wanted to see Preyas smeared all over the arena, clearly.
"That guy..." Preyas gave a half-hearted grin to Marucho, who looked rather as if he might cry, "He's got a hot temper."
"Gate card! Set!"
A large card-shaped area appeared next to Preyas, courtesy of his brawler: There might have been little use in abilities at that moment, but that wasn't to say gate cards were of no use!
It was simply a matter of getting Preyas onto it...
-—–—–—-
"So what do you think, Skyress?"
The little green bird turned in Shun's palm, thinking for a moment. "I don't like it, but... If you think it's our best shot..."
Shun nodded, solemnly, "I do,"
"Then I'll give it a shot."
They sat in silence for a long while. Perhaps they were contemplating their situation. Perhaps their actions. In any case, there was no sound in the room for a long, long while.
The door, usually locked, creaked open. Much quieter a sound than the previous slamming, but it still managed to make Skyress and Shun jump. It was simply the guard who came with the food, however. The man set it on the floor, apparently not wanting to actually enter the room, before the door shut again, and the clicking of locks, and the rattle of chains was heard.
They ate, Shun periodically feeding Skyress small portions of the mushy grain that they were fed, mixed in as it was with vegetables Shun did not recognise, and something that may have been some kind of meat. When they were done, Shun propped the paper napkin they were given on the plate and tucked Skyress underneath.
"Do you remember the plan?"
"Yes, Shun."
Shun gave her a quick smile, before the guard, like clockwork, returned, the allotted time for eating having ended. The man picked up the tray, and Skyress along with it. And then, they were gone.
Shun just hoped Skyress would return before he got called out to fight again: Ravenoid and Monarus would only get him so far...
-—–—–—-
Preyas had reached the gate card, sure enough, although not under his own power: Robotallion had kicked and punched him, until he had fallen there. Marucho couldn't really complain, though: His Bakugan may have been beaten to an inch of his life (and with only 100G's remaining, too!), but he could carry out his plan, and that was the important thing.
"Gate card, open!" Marucho's voice was strained: No wonder, Robotallion continued to beat Preyas, "Quicksand Freeze! The Bakugan with the higher power level is caught!"
Just as Marucho had said, the brown robot was sinking, slowly, slowly, until it was up to its waist.
"Now, Ability Activate! Aqua Drops!"
"Preyas power level increase by 250G's. Preyas power level at 300G's." The male who stood on Robotallion sneered at this: Nowhere near Robotallion's 700G's!
Marucho was not fazed by this, however: With the power added to Preyas, the chameleon was able to stand, and, indeed, move off of the gate card, leaving Robotallion to continue fruitlessly pounding at the ground.
"Gate card, set!" The crowd seemed rather annoyed by this lack of violence and surplus of gate card hopping: some of them began to boo, and attempt to spit at Marucho and Preyas, although, since they had no hope of reaching them, the saliva simply hit people a few rows in front. "Gate card, open! Water Clone!"
Twin water spouts erupted either side of Preyas, and from them emerged a Bakugan that looked much like a blue horseshoe crab - Limulus, and from the other, a saurian tortoise, Juggernoid, of the same colour.
Now Marucho had all his pieces in place - By the effect of the gate card, neither a Limulus nor Juggernoid could attack, but that did not matter - He was loathe to use his next ability card, however. It was sure to mean Robotallion and his master did not survive...
"Please, surrender!" A final plea: Soon, the Quicksand Freeze would fade, and he'd be in the exact same position as he had been before he'd played it, only with two more spectators. The male with the robot Bakugan, however, as resolute. He would not surrender to a mere child!
"Then... Ability card, activate! Tidal Wave!"
A gigantic wave appeared, just in front of the three Aquos Bakugan, all of whom had struck the ground, as Marucho had declared his card. The Robotallion had only just struggled out of the ground, as the card holding him there had faded, moments before.
Too late!
The giant wave came crashing down on its head, and, when the arena had eventually drained, only pieces of Robotallion remained, scattered here and there. The man riding it was nowhere to be seen.
Marucho had own, once more, but he was beginning to feel that winning wasn't quite everything, anymore...
-—–—–—-
As one door closes, another one opens.
The same seemed to be true for Julie: Although her entrance and Marucho's exit were meticulously planned so that they did not pass each other, Julie had a feeling about the damp battlefield. There was something familiar about it. As quickly as this thought came, she dismissed it. That was not the thing she should be focussing on: She knew that, and yet, the more she wanted to concentrate, the more her mind turned to other things.
Her opponent was a strange one - A short boy with pink hair, and an arrogant smirk on his face. A Ventus brawler, judging by his clothes, and his Bakugan.
Julie drew her hand back, and prepared for a throw - Not too far - She still needed to get onto Gorem, but not so close to her that he might step on her.
"Ba-!"
"Julie! Get on!"
Runo had appeared, astride her white tiger Bakugan, with a strange card in her hand, in a burst of light. Nevertheless, Julie hurried to ride pillion.
"How did you get in here?"
To this, Runo merely shook the card in front of her friend's face, before the light from before appeared again, and engulfed them...
...
...
...And deposited them in the middle of a wasteland. Literally the middle of nowhere, really: No houses, no roads, no people, no plants. It was deader than Death Valley.
Well, apart from the two girls, and their Bakugan that had just appeared in it.
"Runo! Where are we!?"