I received another review:

Guest on August 19th: Thanks for your feedback. Until I wrote it, I didn't see Will joining the Vexos. But doing so was far more convenient for what I have in store.

Enjoy Chapter 10.

Will watched Gus walk into the room, he had been told to wait. Will watched as Gus spoke to the other five Vexos. He was no longer dressed in his Resistance outfit, Will had changed into a unique outfit: a black long-sleeved shirt, black gloves, black pants and boots, and a cape that went almost fully around his body connected to a black hooded shoulder piece with black cloth that can be pulled up to his nose.

Gus gestured toward him, Will's signal to move into the light and next to Gus. Will did so and pulled off his hood. He looked at each face, Mylene's face scrunched up, Lync's mouth was agape, Volt's brow furrowed, Spectra smiled slightly, and Shadow's eyes were wide.

"What does this mean for me!" Shadow complained.

"It means you are no longer the top Darkus Brawler," Spectra laughed quietly. "Please reset and hand over your gauntlet."

"NO!" Shadow yelled and flailed. "I am the best Darkus Brawler! ME! ME! ME! ME!"

"I'll duel you for that position," Will calmly announced, speaking at last.

"Only if I get to use my new toy!"

"Yes you may," Spectra inclined his head. "And Gus, have the guards prepare two regular gauntlets." Gus nodded and left.

"Two?" Shadow questioned.

"Yes, you and Will must be on equal footing," Spectra explained. "Is there a problem?"

"No," Shadow grumbled, looking away. What a baby.

Ace threw a rock at the tree again. That ass Will had left her for Gus, Gus of all people. It was almost as though Gus was spitting in her eye. First he almost takes her Bakugan, now, he's taking her boyfriend.

Ace blinked. Boyfriend? What had prompted that? When had Will ever reciprocated her feelings? When had he ever made it known that he liked her? That didn't matter, Will had left her and the team after mercilessly taking Gus's Bakugan.

Will activated his gauntlet, calmly slipping the card in. He had been given the low-down on how power transitions work in the Vexos. The champion goes first, there are no life forces, you can only use your most powerful Bakugan, and it ends when either the challenger or the champion takes their opponent's Bakugan. Will had a feeling this wasn't going to be easy.

"Gate Card, Set!" The Vestal yelled. "Bakugan Brawl! Darkus Hades, Stand!" The Bakugan ball had a large head, two large wings, and two smaller heads. The Bakugan itself looked exactly like Hydranoid. Had Shadow taken Hydranoid and changed the ball form? No, that's improbable, Gus had told him that Prince Hydron had bronzed Skyress, Hydranoid, Gorem, Tigrerra, and Preyas.

"Leo, stand," Will ordered. "Ability, activate: Tau Twister." Leonidas Power Level 4-5-0 G's. Hades Power Level 4-0-0 G's. Leo created a tornado around himself, causing Not-Hydranoid to fly into the tornado. When the Bakugan was finally launched out of the tornado, there were many scales missing. This was definitely not Hydranoid.

"Ability, Activate!" Shadow yelled. "Death Trident!" Hades charged up a ball of bright pink energy in each mouth. Will had seen the energy that Hydranoid uses too many times, and that was not it. Hades Power Level 4-0-0 G's. Leonidas Power Level 1-5-0 G's.

"Double ability, activate," Will commanded. "Omicron Orb, plus Epsilon Enhancer." Leo gathered a large ball of purple energy in his hands and launched it. Leonidas Power Level 5-5-0 G's. The purple orb slammed into the pink stream, pushing it until no more resistance was met.

"Ah!" Shadow screamed as the orb slammed into Hades' chest. "Ability, Activate: Destroy Vanish!" The Bakugan had lost more scales, revealing metal underneath. It launched out little wires, drawing Leo in.

"No need to be gentle, Leo," Will reminded his Bakugan. "Ability, activate: Alpha Blaster."

"Excellent choice, Will," Leo complimented. He rose into the air, dragging Hades with him. Leo charged the ball of energy in his mouth, and fired the stream of purple, vaporizing the scales on its heads. Leonidas Power Level 7-5-0 G's. Hades released its grip on Leo, falling to the ground.

"Get up!" Shadow shouted. "Get up! Get up!"

"Ability, activate," Will commanded. "Tau Twister." Will watched as Hades was sucked into Leo's tornado, ripping off all scales and showing the full mechanical Bakugan; it was mostly silver, with black and purple accents. Leonidas Power Level 7-5-0 G's. Hades Power Level 2-0-0 G's. Both Bakugan flew into Will's hand once the tornado ceased.

Will saw Shadow fall to his knees, beaten. His usually animated face was blank, the spark of insanity in his eyes was now a fire. Will put his right arm diagonally across his own torso, bowing respectfully to Shadow. It wouldn't be right to just beat him and walk away. Will straightened and walked off, handing the regular gauntlet to the guard who held out his hand for it. He walked to the Vexos conference room, taking his place across from Spectra. Will fell to one knee, prepared for any question the Vexos gave him.

"Have you taken Shadow's Bakugan?" Spectra asked ceremoniously.

Will held up Hades.

"Do you pledge your services to Prince Hydron and King Zenoheld?"

"I do."

"And do you promise to protect the Vestal people?"

"I do."

"Then I name you to the Vexos, the most elite of all brawlers, as top Darkus Brawler." The center of the floor rose, a holder for each attribute was present, but the only one with a gauntlet was Darkus. Will stood and walked to his new gauntlet, taking it and equipping it to his right forearm. When he activated it, it gave him eight options: enhance Gate Cards, enhance Ability Cards, enhance defense of life force, enhance damage life forces of others take, increase Bakugan defense, increase Bakugan attack, increase Bakugan base power, increase Bakugan agility.

Will tapped the seventh option, increasing Leo's base power level to 550, and increasing Hades' power back to 600. Will walked back to his place with his head down, hood covering his face. Will smiled.

They hadn't left yet, hoping that Will might come back. Ace didn't need to give much convincing as to why. Mira walked back to where Gus's ship had been. Nobody could believe that Will left, and she was no exception. Mira already found the Aquos Gauntlet Will left behind, but a few feet away she saw Will's jacket. He must have taken it off on the ship. Mira knelt next to the jacket and flipped it over. Besides dirt, inside were the Bakugan Will had convinced to join him, including Angelo/Diablo and Tripod Theta.

"Thank you," Angelo said. "We have a message from Will."

"Yep," Diablo agreed. "He said that he couldn't leave without a clean conscience, so he only took Leo."

"Wow," Mira responded. "Here, come with me." She held her hands out and each Bakugan jumped into her hands. Mira looked around, for what, she didn't know. She saw a glimmer of sunlight on the ground. She walked toward it and picked up a locket.

The locket was silver with a rather long chain. She opened it and saw a picture of Will, Leo, and, she assumed it was Alice, around some sort of snowman. They looked like Will had just made a joke so bad it made her laugh. Mira wanted to throw it, but instead she put it with the Bakugan. Mira brought them all into the tank and put the Bakugan in her collection. She brought the locket to Dan's room and put it on Will's old dresser. Mira sighed and shook her head, why'd he leave that behind?

Will walked into his quarters, he had taken to keeping his hood up. He locked the door behind himself. He pulled his hood down and removed his shoulder piece. Will pulled out of his pocket the second piece of Alpha City's controller that Ace had given him. He was going to make good use of this.

"Sir, there's an urgent message from Spectra," A guard from outside called. Will reapplied his cape and slid the crystal back into his pocket.

"Put it through," Will ordered. Spectra's image appeared as a hologram.

"Prince Hydron has asked me to send you against the Resistance, don't fail. Take the Dragonoid if you can."

"Yes, Spectra," Will bowed his head. The image disappeared before Will unlocked and exited his room. Will put his hood back up, he wasn't going to go easy on them.

Will flew his new Darkus ship. It was nice, but he would have appreciated it more if his mission wasn't so… wrong. Will didn't think he could do this, but now was not the time for debate. The tank was heading towards him. He landed, giving the tank plenty of time to stop. His hood was already up, the cloth was pulled to the bridge of his nose, the only part of him that was visible were his eyes. Will stared out of the cockpit, watching the tank, waiting for it to stop. He readied his gauntlet and a special ability card.

Will opened the cockpit, exiting the ship slowly. He walked up to the now gathered Resistance. Will waited for them to speak first. He didn't need to wait long.

"Will?" Ace asked. Will pointed at Dan and raised his gauntlet.

"I think he wants to battle, me?" Dan questioned, looking around. "Well it's your funeral, buddy." Will and Dan activated their gauntlets at the same time. Will set the Gate first, Darkus Reactor of course. He rolled Hades onto the card silently. The Mechanical Bakugan rose in all its glory, but Will's focus was on Dan. Dan would open with Burning Dragon and Burning Tornado, but they would be in vain against Hades' moves.

"Bakugan Brawl!" Dan yelled. "Drago, Stand!" Will activated Photon Tail. Hades' tails maneuvered and fired at Drago. Hades Power Level 6-0-0 G's. Neo Dragonoid Power Level 1-0-0 G's.

"Ability, Activate!" Dan shouted. "Fire Tornado!" Drago created a tornado of flame around himself, taking the laser blasts directly. Drago Power Level 2-0-0 G's. Hades Power Level 5-0-0 G's. Drago returned to ball form at Dan's feet. Will caught Hades. Dan Life Force: 80%.

"Gate Card, Set!" Dan yelled. "Drago, Stand!" Will rolled Leo onto the card. Leo immediately flew at Drago, slashing with claws. "Ability, Activate: Burning Tornado!"

Leo flew away as Drago burst into a fiery tornado. Neo Dragonoid Power Level 6-0-0 G's. Leonidas Power Level 3-5-0 G's.

Will activated Omicron Orb, Alpha Blaster, and Epsilon Enhancer. Leo flew into the air and gathered an orb on front of his chest, he fired it and then charged the power in his mouth, firing that into the orb, causing it to explode in front of Drago. Leonidas Power Level 9-5-0 G's.

"Ability, Activate!" Dan yelled. "Strike Dragon!" Drago released waves of white energy specked with color at Leo. Neo Dragonoid Power Level 1-0-0-0 G's. Leonidas Power Level 5-5-0 G's.

Will activated a new ability, Iota Ions. Leo gathered his dark aura and sent dark waves at Drago, the two sets of waves colliding with each other. Leonidas and Neo Dragonoid Power Levels Equal.

This battle was lasting too long, but he didn't want to overload Leo. Will took out a special card and threw it at Drago. The card flew past Drago's head, distracting him enough to allow Leo an opening to strike. The card landed with Drago at Dan's feet. Dan Life Force: 0

Will's job here was complete.

Dan stood there watching as Will climbed back into his ship. He bent down and picked up Drago and the card Will threw. The card had the Darkus symbol on it. Why wasn't the card activated? Dan turned it over and saw writing, Will's handwriting.

"Guys," Dan called in disbelief as he read the card:

BBR,

V monitoring coms. Only way to contact, apologies. Meet at the following coordinates in 5 days, only send 2. Sorry for the scare. Thought you might not want me back. Try to understand.

-W

Please leave a review, let me know how you want the meeting to go.