From Depths We Rise

by Insane Dominator

1 year has passed since Dan and the Battle Brawlers saved the universe, and when things were serene, a new group of Bakugan players are sent to New Vestroia when a dimensional interference forces them to meet each other. Caught in the crossfire with aliens seeking resources, Luke, Abis Omega, and new friends must fight using unlikely odds if they're to save all from extinction.

11. Unexpected Rendezvous

Luke's head shriveled left and right. His senses were beginning to fade from black once again. As his eyes were finally beginning to contract light, his throat emitted a weak, distasteful hum.

"Hey, he's coming to!" a gasping voice shouted. With the heels scurrying off, it sounded like a little girl.

"Gnnnngh…Maggie…?" The voice ringing serious notes, he tried to come around, and at last his eyes opened. Those narrow green orbs were now of dull inquiry as he took notice of his surroundings. Slowly looking left and right with his eyes, he noticed the familiar sanctum that was his bunk. "What the hell? How did I get here?" As he began to sit up, felt something on his forehead, it was rather cold. He reached up and pulled it off. Seeing as how it was a cloth, he looked even more conspicuous than before.

The sound of a figure popping open came from the side. "Looks like you're awake." The male voice said.

The voice rung in a familiar sense on Luke's head. When he turned to see who was responsible for it, he saw an open blue Bakugan on the nightstand beside him. "You?"

"You sure took your time snoozing on the job." Abis Omega teased unamusingly. "How do you fall asleep standing up?"

Luke's brow furrowed in anger. "Hey, I didn't, okay?! I…what did happen, exactly?" He looked towards the ceiling as he raised his brow. He tried to think of what it was that caused him to lose consciousness, but nothing seemed to make sense. "When those sparks touched me…"

The door to the room slid open, revealing the whole team accounted for. Luke's attention drew away from his inquiry as they all stared at him.

"Guys?"

Shuji folded his arms as he cockily smirked. "Well it looks like sleeping beauty finally woke up from her sweet dreams." He scoffed.

Jase stepped into the room, arms folded behind his back in formality. "Sorry to disturb you, are you feeling alright?" He inquired. "You surprised us with your abrupt collapse. I'd imagine that you are still feeling out of it, are you not?"

Luke furrowed his brow for the second time now. "I'm fine, sheesh."

Maggie hummed as she pointed her finger to her lower lip. "You sure didn't look the part. You had a little fever going. You were stirring so much I worried what kinds of things you saw in your sleep."

"I…had a fever?" He found it odd why he had a cloth on his head when he came to, now he knew why.

Jase adjusted his glasses. "Most likely it was from exhaustion. Shawn told us everything o what you two did last night in regards to training. That kind of behavior, while it is necessary, isn't to be stretched too far."

"Yeah Luke, you pass out too much. You know that?" Maggie irritably huffed.

Luke looked defiant. "No I don't!" He angrily rebuffed, but stepping in front of him was Esther. She had that look of someone who seemed to be angry, but worried all the same. But behind that cold mask that was a face, it was hard for Luke to see directly what he was looking into.

"You passed out from a heat stroke after the first night here, and then you fell unconscious earlier from shock. Now, this time is from exertion. Luke…you surprise me, but not in a good way."

Luke looked down at his knees, his gaze falling to one of guilt over the trouble that's been caused. "…sorry." He huffed.

"It's fine. But please, try and be more careful from now on."

"I know."

Shawn rubbed the back of his head as he made way towards his bunk. From the look on his face, he seemed like he was going to fall over. "Guess I'm partly to blame myself." He groaned loudly as he slowly sat on his bunk. "Maybe training throughout the night wasn't our greatest moment. Maybe we should've stopped sooner."

Luke, however, seemed to protest. "Hey, don't say that! I thought it was worth it!"

"Well in any case, we're leaving the island right now. I'm afraid that during your period of rest, we had to pace ourselves quicker to manage ourselves for what might come." Jase informed. "My apologies if you feel cheated."

Maggie had her hands to her hips as she beamed. "Well that's what Mr. Compensation gets for pushing his luck."

Shuji chuckled. "But hey, I think it's fair. He had all night and didn't even invite us." He held up a balled fist with a cynical smirk. "Well I say this: The next time you pull something like that, I'll let my fist do the talking!"

Luke looked away in shame and annoyance. He didn't want to bother himself by wasting his breath on something as annoying as Shuji.

"According to our trajectory, we should be leaving in a few minutes. With ample timing, we should be able to find Troposphere in a matter of hours. Our rudders are fully operational, so don't worry about slack Luke…you seem to have an affinity for that." He smirked before turning back towards the hallway. Following him was a grunting Shuji, next pursued by a frolicking Maggie. As the Pyrus battler hummed along the way, there was a small break before Esther chose to exit.

The Darkus battler stopped at the doorway, staring forward it seems, when really her blue eyes were glancing back. "…you keep overdoing things, against everything, against everyone, and that causes a lot of problems for us." She scolded. "But…you try. You try really hard, and what you showed in your fight really proved it. Keep trying." With that, she departed from the room, heading down towards the others.

Luke looked at the doorway without hesitation. He thought about Esther's works and kept an inquired expression. "What the heck was that about?" He looked towards Abis Omega, who just casually turned towards the window.

"Don't ask me, I don't know about human affairs?"

"Human what?"

Shawn leaned back in his seat, sighing as his chin was up. "Well you can't win them all." He quietly said. "But I think the others are right. We should get some more sleep before we reach Troposphere."

"Yeah, I guess…" Luke's expression remained a constant, even as he sat back in his bunk. This of course didn't go unnoticed by the blonde on the other side of the room.

"What's wrong? Troubled?"

Luke shot Shawn a look. "Shawn…would you believe me if I told you of something really weird?"

He shrugged. "You're gullible, Luke, but nothing's weirder than what we've been through. What's up?"

"There's…I don't know what to think of it. Ever since I came to this planet, I kept having these weird…dreams."

Abis turned towards him. "Huh? You mean the ones like before Thermosphere?"

"Yes! Those ones! Exactly!" Luke excitedly stated.

The Aquos Bakugan turned away, his head looking down. "Huh…you know, now that you mention it, I did feel something tingly as you were asleep. Maybe you might be onto something."

"Really?"

"Well hey, don't ask me. I'm just as confused as you are. It could be my head doing all the talking than my actual brain. Maybe taking this one step at a time will do us a favor in helping out with these dreams you keep yammering on about."

Shawn put a hand to his chin, looking down with narrow eyes. "You keep having odd dreams? Then what was this one about?"

Luke swerved onto his bed, laying himself flat on his back as he looked tiredly at the ceiling. "Let's see...there was this really strange purple fog that pulled me in. When I got to the center, there was this really freaky sphere. It was static and had these six balls that kept bouncing inside of it. I think those could be attributes."

"Attributes?" Verias asked. He looked towards Shawn, and like him, he showed equal wonder.

"What even stranger was that the energy it gave off was completely crazy. My heart is still racing just thinking about it. I had no idea what it was, but I know when I think it has something to do with Bakugan."

Shawn looked down at the ground with wonder. Now he knew Luke explained a lot of crazy dreams before, but he's never heard anything like this before. He's heard of dreams like Luke making the world's biggest pancake, or slaying a dragon with a godly sword, those kinds of fantasies…but this – and considering the anomalies they had to endure – really did pique his interests this time. But looking at Luke now, he knew thinking too hard on it won't help. It was best to take a siesta for the time being. "Well, that's something to keep in mind. Look, I think we need to take into consideration what we still have to do. I know this is all weird Luke, but if it's that freaky, then we'll keep it in mind." He laid down in his bunk. "But for now, let's try and sleep."

As Shawn's eyes shut and his slumber began to pile on, Verias and Abis Omega looked towards the other and chose to agree. Verias closed and went to sleep, and Abis remained up as he watched Luke try to sleep. Looking at his partner again, he sighed and closed into ball form, napping like the others. Luke turned over, sleeping on his side and thinking of Shawn's words. He could bookmark it…for now that is.

As his eyes closed and he tried to sleep, his thoughts were beginning to silence. But not before one last thought came to mind. 'I swear, something's going on. I can feel it.'

---

Killian sat idly on his black leathered chair, supposedly cozy given how he hunched a little and seemed so into the screen he was looking into on his desk. Unlike Cesar, who worked in the lab almost all the time, the Ventus battler was less frequent with his own electronics. Although the real reason he was on it today was to check his message board.

Killian,

How have you been? I trust everything is well with your mission. So I've heard of the incident revolving around Thermosphere, and I can say that I'm a little upset over that.

Killian frowned at that part. Whoever gave him the message must have meant something if they could make him falter as such.

But for the most part, I hope to see you work it out soon. Please be safe. It's not easy without my favorite hard worker around. Don't do anything drastic, or I'll have to yell at you. Nothing personal.

Be safe.

A grin tugged on the corner of Killian's lip. He seemed quite pleased to see that while questions and concerns have escalated, he was still getting compensation for his hard work. Who doesn't love compensation. If he got the message from someone, then the odds that the others got their own as well…then again, they wouldn't be anywhere near lighthearted as his. Considering himself lucky would be an understatement.

Licking his dry lips from slight anticipation to whom sent his message, he forced his palm into his knuckles, cracking them before he flexed his fingers. "Okay, what to say next…? How about-"

The door abruptly slid open, revealing Xander as he frowned placidly. He looked over to see Killian whipping his head to him like he'd done something wrong. "Killi-"

"I WASN'T WRITING ANYTHING!" he snapped, covering his holographic monitor with his torso. "IT WAS SOCIETY! IT'S ALWAYS MESSED UP!"

Xander looked at him wide-eyed, a bead of sweat dripping down from the back of his head. "Uh…okay…?" He chose to dismiss whatever it was that Killian was up to in favor of the reason he came to him to begin him. "Anyways, you finished?"

Slowly feeling the temperature of his flustered form settling back to basic level, Killian slumped into his seat again, turning in the chair to face the Pyrus co-leader of the group. He raised an inquired brow of his own. "Uh…" He shot a quick look at his screen and back. "…sure. What's up?"

He nudged towards the hallway. "Get up. Maximus wants us to meet with the others."

"Got it."

Xander turned and walked out of the door. Killian reached for the monitor and physically swiped it back into the console it visualized from. He chose to save the reply for a later period as he went back to business with his team and friends. That matter could always be visited whenever the job was done. As the two walked out to the hallway towards the elevator, Xander grinned.

"Oh, and by the way…if you're going to grovel over your 'girlfriend', at least try to make it look like you're not."

"Shut up! You know nothing!" Killian defended.

The two stepped into the elevator, the door starting to close. "You're a hopeless man, you know that?"

"Silence you."

His Moskeeto hissed in what sounded like a scoff.

"Oh sure, rub it in." Killian sulked.

---

The elevator door slid open, allowing passage for the Pyrus and Ventus battlers of the team to reconvene at the six attributed tables that made the circle. Everyone except Maximus was account for, and Cesar used his own chair rather than the ones present for his own means. Once established, Killian and Xander placed their Bakugan in the center of their tables and took their seats with the rest of the group.

Hendrix's arms were folded as he leaned back and looked down. Ariella had her fingers folded beneath her chin, whereas Cesar had his folded and resting one his crossed leg; likewise with Killian, except the crossed leg. Xander seemed unamused but otherwise spoke of nothing as they awaited for their leader.

"Sorry for the wait…" The familiar voice was followed by the lights in the room going off for a moment. It was all completely black for a short period of time. "I trust everyone's had some rest." The voice echoed through the darkness, but none of their spines shivered. When the lights turned back on, they revealed Maximus Rogue in his hood, grinning meekly. "Now we can begin."

"Hmph. Flashy much?" Ariella mused in a huff of her own.

Cesar adjusted his own set of glasses as he darkly smirked at the leader beside him. "What a coincidental timing you have. I was just finishing up on those final touches you've been getting me to do."

Maximus seemed unfazed. "Couldn't be helped. That was just pure coincidence."

Killian said nothing to back up Cesar. Truthfully, he knew from the sound of Cesar's voice he showed annoyance. He did as well. Just when he was going to reply to someone he found important. But rather than add commentary, he leaned forward and curled his knuckles to support his cheek.

"Whatever." Cesar shrugged. "Suppose patience is a virtue for a genius."

"Must everything be about you?" Ariella sniped.

"What's the business here?" Hendrix questioned, getting everyone around the six tables to focus back on the task at hand.

Maximus smirked at Hendrix's voice of reason. "Well I'm glad you cared to ask, my friend. As you know we have an agenda that's to be wrapping up soon. Cesar was kind enough for me to inspect the aquatic samples that have been collected. It looks to me that we have picked the right planet with the most vibrant of water. Much better than Earth's water. That was the problem arising."

Xander shot his nose to the ceiling. "Blame those humans for tantalizing their own supply. Seriously, how can they even swim in the stuff they contaminate?"

Maximus snickered. "My thoughts exactly. We've been over this water crisis before, but thanks to us and our efforts, I think that we'll hold over just fine."

"Frankly, I'm surprised that stuff can get inside our water." Ariella admitted. "Quite erroneous if you ask me."

"It'd call it far from erroneous." Hendrix pointed out. "All these changes that are happening are of a direct result of the mutations that have been going on throughout the air and water. It's natural that drawbacks at this point are common."

"As common as our recent blunder?" Xander hummed. Hendrix paid no heed to his ally's banter as he narrowed his eye is a disdained scoff.

"So since we have the water ordeal underway, what's our next plan?" Killian asked. "Are we going to keep Troposphere here?"

Maximus chuckled at the question, as though it was a naïve one. "Well it wouldn't be surprising if I said it was too soon to head back…" Then came another surprise to the group. He looked calmly at them as his grin slowly molded into a serious frown. "…but that will have to be held off for the time being. We seem to have another matter that needs our attention."

The others looked at him like they were getting the message. They could feel something coming from him that made them perk their heads up. They all watched as Maximus stood up from his seat, slowly turning towards the elevator shaft.

They all felt an odd presence resonate from the elevator as it went down. It closed in on them, carrying something inside that they could feel from their seats.

"We seem to have found ourselves a visitor…and right on time."

The elevator door opened, and Rogue Zero stood up upon seeing the person in their sights.

---

The seawater spread for miles upon all around; there was no sign of land ever since the Trailer began its trek once again towards Troposphere. They had to remain on course, and this time, they weren't looking for pitstops. They now had something important out of the way, and with renewed confidence, they were looking forward to what could be an even challenge.

"Uuuugh, are we there yet?" Maggie moaned irritably, sitting back in her seat with arms behind her head. "We've been sailing for hours. And we've already lost Shuji at this point." She shot a look at the seat beside her.

Beside the seat next to her, Shuji was present and accounted for. He was in the same laid-back position as her…only he was fast asleep. He was out, and his open-mouth snoring dictated he wasn't going anywhere.

"He's been out for a few hours now." Fly Beetle informed. "I tried poking him, but he's sawing logs."

"Well…" Jase adjusted his glasses. "We could always throw him overboard. I'm sure that wakeup call would help."

"A crude joke, don't you think?" Atmos retorted.

"Sorry, couldn't be helped."

Atmos sighed at his partner.

"We should be there soon, right, Colonel?" Esther asked. She looked towards the holographic screen ahead of her, displaying a miniature map with them closing in on a massive landmark. "It looks like we're nearing the shoreline, but it's hard to tell if it's all hard land or island sand."

Atchibee craned her head up towards the screen. "If you're implying a rocky shoreline, then I guess that would make it hard for us to get on land."

"Troposphere rests on the very brink of the landmark. The odds of it residing on a rocky shoreline wouldn't be likely." Jase reasoned. "There could be tidal pools and reservoirs of water that could build up over time from storms and trap it. It would require a nonpermeable spot if it resides that close to the seas."

Maggie raised a brow as she looked up at the ceiling. "Hmmm…you mean like a fortress?"

"But wouldn't that mean security?" Jelldon inquired.

"Most likely. But we can't be too sure as of this moment." Esther stated. "The sun's waning away. We should be closing in at any given time now."

As the group thought about their numerous possibilities of Troposphere and security, the door behind them slid open, revealing Luke and Shawn. The latter opened wide and yawned out loud as his arms stretched up and down. Shawn, however, seemed calmer about his approach to the group.

"Man, that was a crazy sleep I had. I thought I slept through the whole day." Luke admitted.

"If you did that, you'd be groggier than you usually are." Shawn inclined.

Esther turned to see the two walk in. "You're awake." She said flatly.

"I trust that you slept well." Jase spoke.

Shawn nodded as he started walking pass them. "Yeah, it wasn't all that bad. A little bumpy, but sleeping on a cruise ship was more refreshing than I thought."

Jase grinned. "Well I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Luke walked pass everyone, looking out at the sea ahead. "Huh? Are we still nowhere near the place? How long were we out for?"

Maggie sighed loudly. "Geez Luke, not even a minute up and you're asking questions again? You need to relax, mister."

"Hey, shut up!" Luke retorted.

The shouting made the snoring of Shuji snort like a pig, his eyes blinking open. "H-huh…? What-dessert already? But I just ate…" His mumblings began to dwindle into loud snorts, in which got everyone's attention. They all looked at Shuji as he snorted himself awake, eyes wide. "H-huh? What happened?!" He looked around confusedly, trying to make sense of his surroundings.

"Well it looks like someone finally got up." Fly Beetle said. "Luke and Shawn slept hard, but man can you sleep."

Shuji shot a glare at his Bakugan. Clearly he wasn't 30 seconds into awakening and he was already angry.

"Yeah, Shuji. Where were you?" Maggie teased. "You were all like 'ZzzzzZZZZzzz…oh yeah, right there…' and a lot more like 'ZZZZzzzzz…throw the beach ball here, babe…' and a lot more of this 'ZZzzzZZZ…oh yeah? Well I look better with that hat on'. A little too happy in la-la land?" She teased, mimicking a few of the many things Shuji had said in his sleep.

Shuji's face began to heat up from embarrassment. "Hey! I don't say that!"

"You did." Esther deadpanned. Jase nodded beside her in conformation.

"That's not helping!" Shuji shrieked, before pointing at Luke and Shawn. "Well at least I'm sensible to get enough sleep unlike these guys!" he defended.

While Shawn seemed unfazed, Luke balled a fist with a tick mark. "Hey, who are you calling insensible?! At least I don't look like a fool all the time!"

Shuji raised his own fist. "Oh yeah? Well I'm not a jerk who doesn't go sleeping on jobs!"

"Those were all me passing out, and you know that doesn't count!"

"It counts when you get us messed up in that mess! You better not have wasted all our rations again, otherwise I'm feeding ya a mouthful of shoes!"

"Hey, I saved some for a few of us until we get there!"

"A 'few'?!"

As the two grumpy members of the group went on profusely about their pointless argument, the others watched from the sidelines as they were having tick marks over their heads, beating rapidly without stopping. "Can they go back to sleep already?" Maggie questioned.

"You're not the only one who wishes that." Jelldon hoped.

"Relax, they just got some energy are their power naps." Jase informed. "Let them settle matters like all children do and wait for them to cool off."

Shawn put a hand to his hip, meekly smiling. "Of course…" Beside him, Esther offered no input, if the grieving sigh meant anything.

Shuji and Luke glared daggers at the other. Both sleepy men were ready to go at it, but like children would normally do, they shifted away and crossed their arms. "Hmph!" Both pouted. It was clear they'd rather dismiss the ideals of tussling and use their experience to instead conserve their strength for when it was needed.

"Whatever, fine. I'm sorry, okay?" Luke apologized, still refusing to look away.

Shuji glared at him with a raised brow. "Yeah, yeah. I know." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Man, why did I have to wake to this?" he muttered to himself.

Maggie abruptly pointed between them, facing outwards. "Hey guys, look out there!"

"What is it?" Esther raised her head. Looking out, she seemed a little surprised at the sight.

Shawn looked out next. Jase saw as well; both had blank expressions yet knew what it was they felt was no different than from anyone else. Luke and Shuji followed Maggie's pointing and looked ahead. To their own disbelief, they were actually seeing a small line along the horizon as the sun was waning in said direction.

"Is that…?" Shuji trailed off as he looked on.

Luke was at a loss for words. He slowly turned towards the windows and began to make way down the stairs. As if subconscious, he was remote as he marched down the steps to the front of the windows. As he marveled at the incoming of land, his Bakugan bounced to the windowsill and popped open.

"Well I'll be."

Following behind, everyone else began to march down the steps as well. Maggie instantly rushed beside Luke with widened eyes, aweing as much as he was. Jelldon popped open on the windowsill, startled in his own awe. As the humans came together and looked ahead, the Bakugan popped open and stared out at their destination.

Shawn grinned. "Not a bad view."

"Indeed." Jase noted. "That is the understatement yet."

Esther's eyes narrowed. "We're nearly there."

"So that's a continent from out here?" Luke looked out farther, seeing within the dying sun rays the enigmatic view of a whole, shrouded line as thin as could be, but it was so far out still that it would take them forever to get to it. The rays of the sun were dying right over it, illuminating its high shores with prestige.

Shuji folded his arms and smirked. "Man, what a view."

Maggie bumped his arm. "Oh, still wish you were sleeping through all this, huh? Huh?"

Shuji craned his head and gave her an intimidating stink eye. She blew him a raspberry in return.

The radar showed a large red point straight ahead of them, but their icon was moving so slow up towards it, meaning they still had a ways to go. "We shouldn't be too far away now. We should be there within the hour." Jase took liberties to getting back to his seat up the stairs. Once sitting, he had a serious gaze fixed forward. "Everyone, take to your positions, we'll be needing to stay sharp within that time period."

"Alright!" Maggie chimed as she hurried towards her seat next. She went up and hopped into her cozy seat. Shuji was next, then Shawn.

Esther took a longer period of time as she stared out at the sunset. As enjoyable as it was and the feeling of this awe, she knew it was unnecessary. She instead looked towards Luke, who was gazing ahead like a child preparing for the biggest spelling test of his life. She noticed that his fists were balled, indicating his rise of aggression. It was like seeing Luke was finally getting serious, and really, she got the picture.

After getting hammered constantly by Rogue Zero and that last blunder, it was no wonder why Luke stayed up all night sharpening his skills. And now that he was caught up on rest, he now had the mindset to get back at them and keep up his part of the bargain.

"Luke…"

He glared coldly at the coastline, knowing full well who was there. "Rogue Zero…"

Abis Omega leered with his orange eyes fixed on the prize. "Not this time."

The Trailer sailed onwards, getting the group even closer to the next half of the wild ride that was to unfold.

---

The domain in which the city laid on was of a massive flat rock, which was supposedly a rounded or rather tall domain until the city itself appeared out of nowhere. With the land sitting on the island at the basin of where many of large, massive, inland waterfall ruled; it was freshwater streams all throughout it, coursing to every inch of its futuristic qualities. Even at the base of the green island, there were indications of streams and waterways manually carved thanks to the city being transported. It itself had become a reservoir.

The Trailer roamed through the now dark waters of the New Vestroia night sky. It sailed quietly as it closed in on the rock and treaded weak trails of water behind. Essentially, everything and everyone so far was operating under the cover of night.

Luke looked through the window, his eyes squinting through the darkness. "That really it?"

"It looks like a city on an island." Esther commented. "Surprising."

"Well this is a new one." Shawn spoke, standing on the other side of Luke. "Looks like we were off about the whole thing after all."

"This land looks more like those…what is it you humans say…a 'resort'?" Verias questioned.

Shawn looked at him. "Yeah, something like that." He looked ahead. "But I doubt this will be a luxurious vacation."

Maggie sulked forward with a sigh. "Man, now that I think about it, maybe we could've spent just a little more time there."

"Well, you can always swim back there." Jase mused. "Be warned, we didn't back lifejackets."

"Well that's a shame, because if push comes to shove, we might actually need them." Shawn huffed.

Shuji crossed his arms as he looked out ahead at the incoming city as well. "Huh, so wait, are they basically daring us to come inside? No walls, no drawbridges…just a bunch of freakish buildings on a massive rock! What's so special about that?"

"Shuji…the Earth's continents are massive rocks." Esther pointed out.

"You know what I mean!"

Atmos popped open beside Jase. "So what do you propose we do for entry?"

Jase kept moving the vehicle dead ahead without needing to stop. "Well, there aren't any hiding spots around here, and the Trailer can't stay unguarded around these waterfalls. The water level isn't very settling around here. The best and most likely of aspects is to use the cover of darkness and find an open way to hide out for a short while."

Maggie put her hand over her forehead to leer ahead. "That's a big city. It looks as big as Thermosphere."

"True, but it also doesn't seem as diverse. It looks more…single-handed." Esther commented.

Shawn put his hand to his chin. "That's true. All those buildings look like they have a chrome feel, you think?" Even from his vision, the buildings weren't of any casual or monarch designs. It was more or less of the same element, which was a bizarre blue chrome like some of those high and thin towers in Thermosphere. The question was why so many, and why that brand? "It looks a lot like gray and bright blue. Maybe light refraction can help us blend in?"

"That doesn't even make sense." Luke protested. "You're saying if we look just as shiny as everyone else, we'd fit in? We don't even know what these things are."

"Yeah, besides, they aren't that dimwitted." Abis snorted. For some reason, Luke felt an indirect blow had been dealt.

Jase looked long and hard at the incoming city. They knew that it was more than likely some ruse and they could be walking right into it. But then again, it could be an open city and they may just be overthinking it. The Trailer didn't have any camouflage technology in it, so blending in wasn't the right choice. Ultimately, as they drew closer, he knew they had to push through. His brown eyes glared daggers as he pulled up a lever, getting the Trailer's engines to run on full throttle.

The sudden increase in speed caught Luke and the others by surprise. The weight of gravity made a shift, but only to make Luke step back, as to where Shuji lost balance completely and fell on his side.

"Ow!" the Subterra battler whined.

"Everyone, listen up!" Jase exclaimed. "Since our options have been weighed, we will be climbing our way up."

Luke turned back towards him like he was lost. "Wait, we'll be what?!"

"You mean with our bare hands?!" Shuji exclaimed. He was still getting up, but the shock made it so that he was already on his hands.

"Not exactly. We'll climb the waterways using the Trailer." He clarified, making Shuji feel a sigh of relief wash over him. "We'll go full throttle. That should give us the jolt we need to fight the current. Once there, we should be just on the border of the city's territory. We shall require a stable landmark to at least make sure we can park the Trailer and then venture by foot"

"Okay then." Esther said. "If that's your intent, then I shall support it. Luke?"

Luke swiped his arm. "Let's do it already!"

Jase nodded in understanding. "Right. Everyone, to your seats! This can get bumpy…"

Everyone rushed back to their seats, scuttling and scrambling to where they could to find their positions. They hurried and jumped in, whereas Shuji practically fell into his seat. With everyone – technically – back in their seats and ready, belts were buckled, and the throttle was picked up further. The entire vehicle was almost flying at massive speed with all its weight against the tide.

"Hope you all packed swim trunks…because this is going to get rough!"

With that, Jase pressed the lever even harder than before. The entire craft went shooting to the base of the waterfall going down the side of the island. The whole thing was bumping up and down, and Maggie was holding Jelldon and yelled out, as did Shuji. Both screamed like little girls as they charged at the waterfall with everything they had. Finally, the flinching came when it reached the uneven slope.

The whole convertible began to slant up the large river. It was surprisingly grand, but nevertheless something that was able to fit its size. It was a tremendous island after all they sat on. The Trailer began to fight back against the current that was trying to plunder it into the sea. If they lost any means of power, they'd lose momentum and slide back down. Or in worse case, fall to their deaths. The last option was a no-go.

The group kept climbing. The Trailer was using everything it had to fight against the water pressure it was racing against. It was rumbling so much from the sprays of water against the windowsill that rippled off it. Everyone was maintained in their seats and staying as hopeful as possible…if Maggie and Shuji's screams from the speed and situation were muted.

Jase glared up as he was already at maximum power. He could see the waves getting less and less resistant, but he didn't let up. "Just a little more…"

"Colonel!" Esther exclaimed.

"This is going to be close!" Atchibee shouted.

Finally, after a massive few minutes of slowly tussling through the streams, the Trailer finally breached over the waterfall. It went so high up that it almost looked like it went flying. Everyone inside was almost up straight like a rocket launch that it made them almost jolt out of their seats. With one massive bump and rock into the water, the splash down made it clear that Jase made it through. The Trailer kept mowing through the stream, thankfully with the water being of less pressure.

"…alright, we should be within the safe zone." Jase confirmed.

Shuji and Maggie slumped forward in their seats, their mouths all gurgly and eyes like white balls. "That was so scary…" they both mumbled.

"D-D-D-D-Di-did we…die?" Jelldon shakily opened, his green eyes catching a glimpse of anything but heavenly radiance. "…oh."

"That actually worked?!" Fly Beetle shouted. "Well I'll be!"

"WHAT THE HELL MAN?! WHAT WAS ALL THAT FOR?!" Shuji lashed out at Jase angrily. "WERE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?!"

Jase kept an unemotional face as he adjusted his glasses. "If I wanted to kill you, wouldn't you believe that you'd be dead right now?" His speculation wasn't wrong, but the tone he portrayed made him sound like he didn't feel at all guilty of the prospect. It only made Shuji turn and sulk in despairing aura.

"Why me…?" he grimaced.

Unlike Shuji, Maggie quickly got over her shock. She was breathing in and out, shaking her head repeatedly to try and make sense of what happened. "…wait. Was that like a roller coaster ride?" she asked. "Nobody told me how scary it would be! It was so cool!"

Unlike her, however, Jelldon fell over. "Uuugh…" Apparently someone wasn't as amused with the thrill ride still.

"That was…something alright." Shawn was also at a loss for words.

Esther nodded calmly. "Luke, are you okay?" She looked over towards Luke, who was staring ahead with his own shock evident.

"Did…that just…"

"Jeez! You humans really are insane!" Abis Omega shouted. "…I like it!"

"Alright Now let us find land!" Jase declared.

The Trailer kept mowing through the water, getting just mere hundreds of feet away from the city's limits. There was even a barbed fence in the water to indicate its perimeter. He gradually reduced power and had the Trailer slowly cease its spinning of rudders and drift off towards the shore. It wasn't slippery, but there was some traction to where they could get it onboard. Once Jase operated its switches and functions, the Trailer once again morphed into its land mode. The wheels turned outwards and the spindles began to turn. The many wheels fought the rocky surface and gave the contraption several more jerks, again making Shuji and Maggie wish they didn't have lunch. Once on land, the Trailer made it to the side of the last building that bordered the city. It was maneuvered to the side and rested, where it transformed once again, this time into its observatory form.

"Why are we converting this time?" Luke asked.

"To at least make it so we don't stand out entirely, that's my guess." Shawn speculated.

"That's correct." Jase answered again before standing. "Now, if you all would like, we can finally get on with sightseeing."

"Already?!" Shuji, Maggie, and Jelldon shrieked.

"Oh come on, man! Not cool!" Shuji wailed. "WAAAAAH!" His wail of distraught was so loud that it could've been heard all throughout the skies.

---

The city was surprisingly quiet at night. Unlike Thermosphere, where it was hustling and bustling constantly to no end, the nighttime atmosphere accompanied by the large moon had many theorize that it could very well be a rise in water. And they were right. With the few cosmic moons in the sky, the sea level at the base of the island was notably a few feet higher, and the "streets" being open waterways had notably more space than its sidewalks. The filter systems that they worked with were supposedly unable to keep the levels in check because it was lined up almost perfectly with the lamented sidewalk. People would rather not like that.

As the group silently walked through the open streets of the city, they noticed how the water's rippling lights refracted off the light blue chrome of each buildings. In fact, down deep in the aquatic streets, one could even see bright lights installed, like waterparks would when the sun gets low.

Taking all of this into account, the team could certainly feel the city being as odd as possible, but at the same time, it was appealing. You never see hovercrafts nor watercrafts as bountiful as the ones parked or anchored like cars or bikes.

Shuji looked over, seeing just how high up the whole street worth of water was. "Man, look how high that water is. It's like it's gonna flood over."

"That's quite the understatement." Shawn spoke. "But it explains why there hasn't been that many people out."

"On Earth, the moon's gravity makes high tide and low tide, whereas in the sun, the water is normally at a constant. The principle must wok the same here on New Vestroia." Jase figured.

"So then that makes it all the more risky at night to travel along the sidewalks." Esther figured.

"Exactly. So unless you'd rather enjoy a good swim, keep yourselves way from the edge."

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Maggie followed behind more closely now more than ever. She didn't look like she was ready for a swim.

Luke carried on with arms behind his head, with a nonchalant expression plastered on his face. "What's the deal in this location anyway? Kinda lame if you ask me."

Esther walked behind him, still showing no care or empathy to commentary. "This is a selection unlike anything I've seen." She admitted.

Atchibee moved up to her shoulder, popping open. "I can't say this doesn't surprise me. The last city we've been to sat a pretty high bar, as you humans say?"

"But I think this one takes the cake." Abis Omega scoffed. "If I weren't like this, maybe I'd fit right in."

"Given the conditions, you probably could." Jase agreed. "Now then, onto more of vital matters at hand. I believe we have ourselves a fair ordeal to work with. Given our expertise and experience from last time, it would benefit all of us if we split up once more."

"Are you sure this time?" Shawn questioned. He recalled what happened the last time they divided up. He most certainly didn't appreciate the rude awakening he and Maggie got against those two boys. Of course it wasn't that big of a deal, but the thought still implied.

"Well I say we gotta get us some food and water. I'm starving." Shuji said.

"No surprise. When you sleep all day, you get a little hungry." Maggie teased. For the umpteenth time today, Shuji was ticked off, with what could've seen the biggest tick mark on anyone's head.

"GGNNNNGH…! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS PICK ON ME?! WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU SHORT STACK?! HUH?! HUH?!" he bellowed in place.

Shawn glanced back, his gaze seemingly uncaring. "That's a good question, but can you handle the answer I wonder?" He chimed.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

A bead of sweat came from Fly Beetle. "Hey, uh, Shuji? I'd hate to be the one to do this to you…but I think, maybe, you should keep your voice down?" With that note, Shuji instantly clamed up, covering his mouth from his outburst.

"I think Shawn has a point." Verias said. "Rogue Zero said they would be waiting for us here. Wouldn't it make more sense to stay together as a group for numbers sake?"

Jase walked along, adjusting his glasses. From his low humming, he appeared to be thinking. "Well, that would be fine if you're willing to draw attention to yourself. I'm not suggesting that we scatter, merely we should divide and meet up with resources."

Luke facepalmed himself. "Ugh, man, somebody just make up their mind!"

"We're trying, Luke. If we could grasp the situation more, then we'd be able to figure this out." Esther said.

"Then why didn't we rethink this back on the Trailer?!"

"Well it's not easy to think so calmly of a plan of action when you're using your life as a bargain when against giant waterfalls."

Luke looked away, refusing to acknowledge nor offer his own rebuttal against Esther's. She wasn't wrong, but she didn't have to sound so blunt or cold about it. It was clear her own patience was at an end. He sighed heavily as he sulked forward. "Man, what a pain this adventure is turning out to be…"

The group pressed on, having chosen to stay together after the final decision being made by Jase. Explaining from experience, they all chose to remain as a group and stay quiet. As they trudged on through the thin sidewalks, they came to a corner, where they saw thin bridges that were surprisingly made up of arched stone going over the rivers. They were like overhead sidewalks one might say.

"They even have ways over so that people can cross streets." Maggie awed.

"How overwhelming." Jase grinned with just the right amount of vague to shroud any interest.

"So which way to the markets you think?" Shuji questioned. "I wouldn't think of going the whole way forward. It'll be like going through the mall."

Luke raised a brow. "A mall? Are they really that big?" He looked towards Shawn for answers on that, but the Haos battler simply shrugged.

"In any case, what's important is that we find resources. If we're close to the markets at this time, hopefully they're still open." Esther figured.

"And around there, we can get any leads of information." Atchibee said.

"Hopefully about Rogue Zero." Fly Beetle said.

"It'll be the same as before in Thermosphere." Atmos confirmed. "Only this time, we just need to stay together."

Luke walked dead ahead, lazily rolling his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. We know that." His steps took him closer to the corner. "We're not that dumb like last time I checked. We got a better grasp of the situation now, so we can-!" It was so fast that not even Luke could've kept track. Blindsided, Luke was cut off from his trail and found himself falling backwards. The shocked Aquos battler was losing momentum fast, even as time slowed down. However, within that window, the still timeframe that lapsed showed the distill picture of Luke slowly falling backwards, while a figure with bright red hair as long as Esther's intercepted, running pass him.

Luke's green eyes saw the deep green glare the figure with a skin tone as porcelain as his own. It was bewildering seeing the man in a black cap and cloak as he powered on.

Time sped up again, the caped man zipping swiftly while Luke fell onto his bottom. "Oof!" He leaned back in his shock as the swift redhead beamed across the path over towards the other side of the bridge.

"Luke!" The shout came from Esther as she and the others finally caught up to him. The Aquos battler got up on his own terms, slowly coming around as he turned and saw the shocked look on Esther's face.

"H-huh?"

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah…yeah." He slowly turned towards the person to was running off over the bridge. His brows furrowed as he vanished from sight over its pinnacle. For some reason he couldn't explain, that guy's glare felt odd, but not in a good way. And the way he moved, it was like resolution. It was wondrous.

Shawn followed Luke's gaze up the bridge to see the man gone. "What was that all about?" he questioned.

"Yeah, he almost steamrolled over Luke." Maggie said. "That wouldn't have been pretty."

Getting annoyed, Shuji furrowed his own brows. "That's what you get when you don't look both ways, moron."

Luke, however, didn't seem to mind them. In fact, he looked ahead at the bridge like it was supposed to be a gateway somewhere. He couldn't explain it, but every fiber in his body was telling him something was up. This was a very strange feeling for him to have, and he wasn't sure if he should really listen to it or not. Then again, he had trouble listening anyway.

Finally conceding, he narrowed his eyes and started for the bridge path. "Hey!" he yelled as he bolted for the guy. "Come back here!"

"Luke, wait up!" Abis Omega followed his supposed partner towards the scene afoot.

"What the-?! Hey! What are you doing, you dunce!" Shuji fumed. "You can't just leave us here like this!"

"I think he might be onto something." Esther guessed.

"Huh?"

"Maybe that guy might know something about Rogue Zero here. That's my guess." Shawn speculated.

"You think so?" Maggie wondered.

"Well it looks like Luke might have the right idea, but perhaps we should pursuit." He reached out in front of him. "Hurry!"

"Right!" Esther hurriedly led everyone in the direction Luke carelessly ran into. They all rushed on without having to worry about someone else on their backs, but the last one to follow them was none other than Shawn.

He stood still for a moment, remaining silent as he looked ahead with a grieving sigh. "Luke…you just keep pushing buttons, don't you?" he sarcastically sneered before darting off with the others.

---

The figure darted alongside an alleyway, bolting with his boots barely getting much of anywhere without having to touch stone. On the occasion, he tapped alongside the course of a few puddles. The ripples quickly faded as did his lead.

"Hey~! You!" Far back, just barely in view, another figure was running as fast as possible. Luke hurried along to follow the guy, his teeth gritting as he bolted faster than before. "Damnit, is that guy even listening to me?" he muttered to himself.

Finally, he passed the puddle just twenty seconds after the guy did. At least he knew what pace he was going now. He pushed on as fast as he possibly could, getting faster with his arms going forward and back very fast, his legs picking up as he closed in on the guy.

"I got questions for you!"

Rather than listen to the voice that has been following him, the figure suddenly turned into the alleyway on his left. Luke turned and followed him soon after. He saw the figure deepen his pacing to where he was almost like a ninja. Luke was having trouble keeping up. Nevertheless, he wanted to get information on Rogue Zero, and he's willing to do whatever it took to get it. Once more, the guy took another turn towards his left, which Luke followed. Then a right, and that's where Luke saw him head into the opening of the city. He had wide eyes at how he stopped so abruptly, but that didn't stop him from closing his gap.

Meanwhile, the redhead in question stopped carefully, where he found himself at the opening of the alley. He frowned heavily as he slowly stepped out, his boot tapping fine, smooth white on what looked like reflective plates on the ground, very much like a nice restaurant or a mall indeed. Once paced out enough, he slowly made way towards the balcony railing, which had eccentric silverfish carvings for supports. He looked around, his head turning left, and then right all the way to get any leads or visuals. Once right, his green eyes gazed down to something in the front of a regular blue but also extravagant domain.

"So this is where you are…?"

"Hey~! You!"

The voice from behind alarmed the unknown caped individual. Gasping in surprise, he just now realized the redheaded individual tailing him. Mentally cursing himself, he evacuated and darted away from the scene. Luke bolted out of the alley mere seconds after he left, his head turning to face the escaping person.

"Man…what's the guy's deal…?" He panted. "Is he…in a rush…to get somewhere…?"

The sound of chattering came from somewhere, getting him to be dragged out of his chasing. His eyes widened as he turned about at the small chattering that he was hearing. Upon speculation, he began to look around, mainly downwards. "Huh?" His attention cast down towards something – or rather someone – in front of an abode that had a very eccentric design to it.

Out of the many chrome houses, this one was generously larger, and on top of which, it was characterized by a bizarre rose-like top, with the center having a skylight. But it was who was in front of the house that Luke was paying attention to.

"What the...?" Getting closer towards the balcony, he leaned over to gaze downwards. The person that was standing in front of the group of people was someone all too familiar. His pupils shrunk in shock and shuddered as his lips parted.

"Luke!" A voice came from behind him, following his path. Finally caught up, Abis Omega floated behind him. "What the heck? You could've given us a better heads up or something?" However, he got no nonchalant reply from his partner. "Huh?" He got around him, noticing his stare was fixed away. "Luke? Hey, you okay?" His eyes followed the direction Luke's gaze was fixed on. Abis was more inclined with shock of his own as he also gasped from the sight.

The people chatting in front of the building was none other than all of Rogue Zero. The six battlers of different attributes were looking with mixed emotions as they stood before someone with spiked up black hair and magenta eyes. His red cape held Luke's family crest, of which sparked some deep similarities that made the two feel something off.

"Rogue Zero?" Abis gasped. "They really are here." His attention thus turned towards the man in front of them, conversing with a frown on his face. "But who's that?"

Luke's mouth barely moved, but within the few syllables, his mind was racing like that of a jackrabbit. 'It's him…is it really him? Master…'

The person standing before Rogue Zero paid close attention as the hooded Maximus smirked. "Well then I guess it's a deal then." He said.

The person nodded. "So it would appear." He reached his hand out, shaking hands with the claws of Maximus' gauntlet. "I didn't mean for my sudden intrusion to be so dramatic. No hard feelings."

"Consider it your blessing in disguise." Maximus sneered. "If wat you seek is home, then we may have just found the right way…"

"Hey! Master Riaan~!" A voiced yelled out from close by.

The person in question heard the all too familiar voice, but du to the echo it carried it was hard to tell who it was specifically. Riaan and Rogue Zero looked about cautiously., the latter being the case.

"Someone's here." Riaan said. He looked ahead towards Rogue Zero, who finally chose to back off out of secrecy. He watched them retreat back behind the door, all of them staring darkly at him.

"Talk about unfortunate timing. We'll talk about this some other time." In the most casual tone ever, Maximus bid Riaan farewell as the door dropped a bright blue shield that stopped a third of the way, then expelled another, and then a third to fully fit. Then another set of doors slid over it, these being a solid white.

Riaan stood in front of the door, slightly shocked at how fast Rogue Zero acted due to security. He frowned before the door as the voice called out to him again. "Hey! Master Riaan! Up here!" Following the voice out of curiosity this time, the man looked up towards the ramp that led to the balcony of some second-level departments. To his immeasurable surprise, he saw a wide smile from a certain someone with red hair.

"Is that…Luke?"

Luke scuttled down the ramp, with his Bakugan following behind. He rushed down the ramp to where he was at a high enough point to jump over the railing and onto the street that had no water, just solid white ground. He rushed over in front, constantly shouting "Master Riaan" over and over. He seemed generously excited as he finally reunited with someone.

"Master Riaan, it really is you! You made it!" he chirped excitedly. "It's you! Isn't it?!"

"Luke…you've actually made it." Riaan said, showing less enthusiasm. It was hard to show what it was that he was trying to feel, but for the most part he seemed flabbergasted.

Abis Omega watched from nearby, seeing Luke so energetic in front of someone of great importance it seemed. "'Master'?" he questioned.

Soon enough, the second level was where his friends popped out of. They all followed along and managed to catch up. They tagged each other and looked left and right. It was Maggie who pointed out the scene below them, getting them all to see Luke in front of someone.

"Luke…" Esther said.

"Looks like he's stopped now." Jase spoke. "Thankfully.

"But who is that right there?" Atchibee questioned.

Shawn immediately went into his own shock as he looked ahead. He seemed mildly astonished as opposed to the overwhelming joy Luke was giving off. Like him, he was startled by the person he was looking towards. "Master…Riaan?"

Seeing other faces, the confused man looked up to see his pseudo-pupil. "Shawn?"

---

With all of the confusion, the group finally chose to retire for the time being. They, along with Riaan, ventured back towards the Trailer. It was there that Riaan began to settle in and understand the concept.

"I see. So this is what you've been using for shelter." He looked around the control panels, observing and looking at the many holographic screens that each seat had. In total, it equaled six. His hand grazed the texture of the nearby table, though his fingers had knight-like gauntlets; he still felt the coziness it carried.

"I know, right?! We can't believe it was just lying around!" Luke happily exclaimed. "Man was it a lucky break for us!"

Shawn snickered. "What's lucky break here is that you led us all the way to Master Riaan was, Luke. If that ain't luck I don't know what is."

"True." He laughed. "But Master Riaan, you won't believe all the crazy stuff that happened to us! It turns out we weren't the only ones enveloped in that light!"

"So I can see." He looked at all the new faces, grinning. "I take it that you're the ones that were sent here like we were, right?"

Maggie nodded. "Sure are! So then that makes you this so-called 'Master' Luke keeps rambling on about?"

Riaan chuckled. "Guilty is charged. But allow me to introduce myself." He took a single step back, bowing his head towards the group. "Riaan of the Revolutia Family Guard, at your service."

"Maggie Deering." Maggie gesture to her shoulder. "And meet Pyrus Jelldon."

"Hello."

"Esther Conland. And this is Darkus Atchibee."

Shuji pointed a thumb to himself. "Name's Shuji. I gots me here a Subterra Fly Beetle."

"What's up?"

Jase bowed back. "Jase Mercury, I serve as the Colonel of the B.I.F UK Division."

Atmos bowed next. "Ventus Atmos, pleased to meet your acquaintance."

"Ah, so another man experienced in warfare and training." Riaan reached his arm out, shaking it with the Colonel. "Please, Colonel, the honor is all mine."

Jase grinned. "Your candor is certainly appreciated."

Esther stepped up. "Pardon me for asking, but is it true that you were sent here by the same light that enveloped us all?"

Riaan put his hand towards his chin, frowning as he thought deeply. "Hmm, well it wouldn't be accurate to say that I was teleported."

"What?" Luke questioned.

"Teleportation revolves around the usage of bending space to shortened and exaggerated levels. Our technology has yet to fully grasp simulations such as those without the use of transporting dimensional gates. In other words, what we all went through wasn't teleportation. It was a shift through time and space, a rift jump, as I like to call it."

Shuji folded his arms, humming in his own way. "Uhh…"

"I kinda like teleporting. Sorry." Maggie shrugged.

Luke balled a fist before the two. "Hey, you can't just disown Master Riaan like that-" He was cut off once again when Riaan put his hand up, gesturing his need to stand down.

"At ease, Luke. Everyone is free to express themselves as they see fit. You have your way, as we all do ours."

"But your way is much easier." He complained.

Shawn chose to change the subject. "So let me handle this. You were taken all the way over to this side of the planet, while Luke and I ended up closer together. Something bout that doesn't add up…"

"Must be sporadic." Esther figured. "There was probably a slim to even chance we'd all be evenly spread out. Guess your master was the outlier in all this." She shot another look at Riaan, who looked humbly back.

"That could explain a few things." Jase said. "Shawn and I encountered each other just outside of Thermosphere. You and Luke met in the forest, did you not? Those two locations were of miles apart. I wouldn't have been that surprised if someone really was all the way out here."

"Uuuugh, so much traveling…" Maggie groaned, slumping back into her seat.

"Well I'm glad someone found something special." Shuji exaggerated with great annoyance. "Can we get on with business now?"

"Luke, what is he talking about?" Riaan asked.

The redhead looked towards him with wide eys. "You don't know? We found out the reason why we got sent here."

"You don't say."

Shawn nodded. "It's gonna sound farfetched, but just bear with us." He closed his eyes, keeping his own set of arms folded as he tried to detail the best he could. "…the reason ho and why we came here wasn't to find you." Riaan maintained whatever shock he had. "In fact, we weren't sure if you were here or not. We've been on wits end with a certain group of people that have taken over New Vestroia."

Riaan blinked. "Taken over, you say?"

"Have you noticed how the Bakugan have their ball forms?" Esther asked. "It wasn't always like that. Unfortunately, this city and one that came before it had manually handled distressing signals that overpowered the Bakugan, turning them back into spheres and using the energy to supply their own power."

Maggie nodded. "Uh-huh, and that's not even the half of it! There's this really scary group of freaky people who have been terrorizing us ever since they saw us!"

"And freaky doesn't even begin to cover it." Jelldon shriveled at what he had to endure. He could still recall the darkness of Goblinball's forbidden ability.

"They call themselves 'Rogue Zero'." Jase said. "Does the name ring any bells?"

Master Riaan put his hand to his chin. He seemed generously calm despite the circumstances that made an uneasy feeling crawl up his spine. "Rogue Zero…? Well isn't that a coincidence. So then they're pegged as criminals to your eyes then?"

Esther's glare hardened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sounds like you're playing dumb." Abis Omega huffed.

"Abis!" Luke snapped.

"C'mon, Luke. Don't tell me you didn't pay attention either. You and I both saw him, and who they were wasn't any good news. Face it, you've met Rogue Zero there, didn't you?" He barked so accusingly, and the others felt a great alarm go off. The females gasped, while Shuji raised a brow. Jase and Shawn shred equal surprise, and Luke looked completely speechless.

"He…what?" Esther shot another look at Riaan. Clearly she didn't like where this was going.

"You're kidding! You mean you actually met those creeps?!" Shuji snapped.

Riaan looked modestly shocked at the lack of empathy he was getting from meeting the people. "I'll hold consideration to your definition of 'creeps', but tell me, what is it that they do to you?"

"You wouldn't believe it!" Luke shouted. "First they steal wild Bakugan, then they make them into creepy and crazy monsters! They also get this insane power boost, and I think they're in pain because of it."

Riaan's eyes narrowed. "Forbidden cards?"

"You're sounding awfully curious about all this, Riaan." Jase retorted. "Have you been familiar with this terminology before?"

His brow furrowed. "Colonel Jase, I assure you, I had no knowledge of this part of Rogue Zero. As far as how they have perceived me as, they offered no malice since my arrival here in this domain that they call 'Troposphere'."

His curiosity peaked. "And why is that you think?"

"My guess is as good as yours. However, I believe presentation was the key here. When I arrived here almost a week ago, you can say that things were…complicated. It was not have been all that wise of me to do, but I figured if I came in contact with someone who at least had some idea, then maybe I would be able to reverse all this."

"You mean you were going to try and send us back yourself?" Shawn questioned in shock.

"Well as far as intentions go, you can say that. However, it wasn't all that simple. Keeping a low profile hasn't been my strongest point. Eventually though, I was able to get contact with someone of Rogue Zero. We agreed to a meet up and we spoke. At the time, however, he was the only one here."

Esther's eyes narrowed, "Cesar."

"Yes. As you can imagine, I had a lot of questions thrown at me. You could imagine how compulsive he was; I could've sworn he wanted to dissect me. However, after coming off subtly of how I came to be, the man was willing to offer myself a…compromise."

"A 'compromise'?" Luke parroted.

"You see, I didn't intend to pry too deep at the time. Until recently did I learn of these forbidden tactics that they used on Bakugan. I wasn't reprehensible in how I spoke aloud when I enacted another conversation with Cesar, but we soon came to a deal, and that deal has come to pass."

"What kind of deal do you mean?" Maggie questioned.

Riaan turned away from the group, stepping downwards towards the windows. "Well, as it turns out, Cesar and Rogue Zero are able and can more than likely bring up enough power to generate enough of a distortion that can get back to home. They were going to send me home."

The others were flabbergasted to say the least, dumbfounded probably was a better word at the time, but alas it didn't change what it was that overcame the others was immeasurable.

"They were WHAT?!" Shuji snapped.

"Y-you're kidding! You mean they can actually do that?!" Maggie stammered.

He nodded. "That's that they've accomplished."

Esther put a hand to her chin. "So they were really going to send you back home willingly? That sure does sound farfetched."

"Believe it or not, that was the agreement that Rogue Zero offered me…that is, until you all happened to show up. Now it appears that measures have been taken to make sure it's clear for me to go back."

Luke realized the mistake he's made. When he blabbed out Riaan's name, he gave away his location, and that only made things a lot more complicated. "I…I didn't know…"

"It's fine, Luke. You weren't aware." Riaan insisted, but he sure didn't seem to be as lighthearted as before. "In situations you aren't familiar with, you're best to observe than take action. Sometimes jeopardy can be as drastic as the precautions taken. Make sure you don't forget that principle."

"Right. I'm sorry."

"That being said, you surprise me Luke. I'm honestly impressed you've made it this far. Being in your mansion with your family all this time, I was worrying if the real world would make you stammer. Forgive me for having any ill faith."

Luke sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, snickering with a smile. "Aw, it was nothing, Master! But…" His face began to fall, his frown starting to form.

"Hm? What is it, Luke?"

Luke looked back up towards him, a rather uneased frown forming into apology. "Master…forgive me for this…but I don't think Mother or Father will appreciate what I've done. I…" He looked over towards Abis Omega, who was sitting on the table beside him. "…I had to use Bakugan to get by."

Riaan looked over towards Abis Omega, frowning his own way. He offered no glare, and no retorting sneers. Rather, his looks were that of intrigue, far from the way Luke viewed him as. He looked back at Luke like he stole money from him or something.

"I know you taught me to hold a sword as well…but things have been getting scary around here. You were right when the world was dangerous…but I'm doing my beast! I swear I am!" Luke assured loudly. "I just wish…that it was enough to please you."

A silence filled the domain. Master Riaan approached Luke as his head was down. Once close enough, he was but arm's reach away. "Luke…" He reached over, putting his hand on Luke's shoulder. The shocked boy jerked up to look at his master.

"It's fine. I understand completely. I won't hold anything against you. You did what you had to do in order to make it this far. To that, you have my privileged respects. Well done."

Luke sheepishly looked up to him. "Thank you."

He turned towards Abis Omega next. "And I take it that this is the Bakugan that you had to use?"

Luke faced his partner and beamed with pride. "Right! We've came a long ways, but here we are! Master Riaan, meet Abis Omega!"

The Aquos Bakugan nodded his long head. "So you're Luke's master I take it." He looked towards the scabbard that Riaan had on his side. "Huh, now it all makes sense where Luke got his sword skills from. How interesting."

Riaan stepped in front of Abis Omega. Once close enough, he dropped to a knee, bowing his head in respects. The Bakugan, as well as everyone else, was shocked at the display. "I thank you greatly for being there for Luke, brave Abis Omega. You have my deepest sympathy. I am sorry for any behavior that Luke may have exhibited during his time with you."

"M-Master Riaan!" Luke shrieked in embarrassment.

Abis, while uncomfortable, took the situation in stride. "Oh, uh…it was no trouble, really…but please, don't mention it." He groaned. "Seriously, don't."

Riaan got back up to his feet. "We'll explain this to your parents in do time…but I have to ask you Luke, what are you going to do now that you're this far?"

Luke went wide-eyed. The question was so sudden that it made him drop his guard completely. For the most part, he did what he wanted to do: Find Master Riaan. That much was achieved. But something else felt off, something that conflicted him incredulously. Ever since last night's training montage, he was crazily intense to getting back at Rogue Zero, but also so he could prove himself to his master. Now that he was here, he wasn't sure exactly what to do. He got flustered and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"W-well I-"

"Well in where I stand…" Shawn approached the duo. "I say we should stay."

"Shawn?" Luke gasped.

"Ah, Shawn. That's quit the surprise coming from you." Riaan said. "But why?"

Shawn gave him a serious look. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we found you, Master Riaan, but we've came this far because of the principle of helping those who are defenseless. You taught us that, did you not?"

He looked humbled. "I suppose…"

"Then I say we help you out first. I know that we came this far for your sake, but after what's been happening, we need to rethink this. I'd rather not feel guilt from leaving this place as it is."

"Shawn."

"I'm all for that." Shuji protested. "I mean I'm sure my sis and my mom are gonna kill me, but if I'm going back, I actually wanna feel accomplished, right Fly Beetle?"

The insect shrugged. "Sure."

"Our apologies, but I agree with Shuji and Shawn." Esther said. "For the time being, I say we keep our course."

"Yeah! For my little Jelly-Welly!" Maggie declared, holding up Jelldon in her clutches.

Jase adjusted his glasses. "So then, sir Riaan, what do you insist is the verdict?"

There was an uneasy feeling in the air. The silence carried by the sword and martial master of Luke's home looked back at him as he still seemed unsure. While he was a little disappointed in the choices being made, this wasn't going part of the plan in his mindset. He looked back at the vehicle's interior, paneling from right to left. He seemed to be fixated on something. After a short period preceded by a sigh, he finally relented to his own conclusion.

Looking away, he down at the ground, shaking his head. "You know your parents would be very disappointed, Luke."

Luke turned away, looking shamed. "Master, I…"

"I know you came a long way, but even I have my own priorities too. Look, I very am appreciated, and very proud of what it is that you're doing good here. You've been giving it your all with the combined efforts of Bakugan, haven't you? That alone is hope for the Revolutia family to open up to Bakugan." He turned back towards Luke. "But I can still see that there is much improvement to be done. If this group is as treacherous as you say there are, then my priority is clear. I need to get you and Shawn home first."

The whole room and team looked shocked at the decision the superior had made on the spot.

"Say what?!" Maggie snapped.

"You're gonna go back with them?!" Shuji stammered. "Not cool."

"Not just them, but all of you." Riaan said. "It won't feel right leaving four other humans behind in a dangerous situation such as this."

Shawn furrowed his brow. "Master…"

"That's a bold claim you're making." Esther pointed out. "But what if we said otherwise?"

"Y-yeah Master." Luke stuttered, trying to find a good enough reason to reason with his superior. "I mean, w-we can't just leave the Bakugan like those. And plus, I trained really hard to come this way! We can't just leave it like this?"

Riaan looked at Luke. Instantly he backed away out of shocked. "Is that so? Then perhaps you have also considered this your one and possibly only shot at getting home?"

Luke blinked. "W-well, no, but…"

"Listen well, Luke. All of you. This may seem selfish, and it's every right to be as such, but when you stop to think about it, what other option is there? It may be true that Cesar was accountable for those errors, but it's because of that we're here. This was a one-way trip, and it may very well be that way if we pass this chance up." He shot an expectant look towards Luke. "I'm not asking you to fully abandon your resolve here. I'm implying that this may very well be our only chance at getting home. With those resources we have, we can make a more suitable plan if needed."

Esther's glare seemed to have lightened, but it was still piercing. "That's still running."

"Maybe in your eyes, but may I ask how well are you surviving out here?"

The group began to feel their heads stir in wonder over his question. Okay, maybe they only got lucky out of rations and the filtered water they were able to make of it all, but alas it doesn't change that surviving out here has been very demanding of their skills. Shuji and Maggie were beginning to think of their siblings and mother.

"But what about us?" Atchibee retorted. "Surely you can't truly leave this mess unsolved."

"Yeah, sorry buddy, but we all came a little too far to just be pulled out of the job." Fly Beetle huffed.

Riaan took a moment to collect himself. "If we don't agree to something, then this won't get anywhere with our situation."

From the growing friction the group was feeling, a pair of boots stepped forward. They belonged to Jase. "If I may ask, what do we hope to gain if we do in fact head to Earth once again?" he questioned. "I imagine you would have something in mind for us then, would you not?" His eyes narrowed into a quiet and ominous leer. "Because if the mission doesn't get accomplished, then I wouldn't think this would look good on our resumes."

Riaan lowered his head. "Luke is one matter that is my priority. The main reason I suggest we coax the Rogue Zero to allow us back to Earth is so that I can keep Luke safe as before. I'd be disgracing my own line of work if I allowed him to get anywhere near he wasn't allowed to trek."

"Master!" a flustered Luke roared.

"…however, Jase was it?" he continued. "I understand what you are saying. You proclaimed you are a Colonel, are you not? Well then as a head of security, and a head of protecting the Bakugan, we must find it within ourselves to carry out this obligation we have to our homes, but we can't do that without a plan and the resources to provide it."

Shawn narrowed his eyes as he began to rethink of his master's choice of wisdom. "Hmm…I think I get what you are saying…"

"Don't think too hard about this. Think about what's best for yourselves. You want to help your partners with this world, do you not? The least you can do is take a break from all the hard work that you've done. This Rogue Zero sounds like they've done a number on you. Fighting on such one-track minds will lead you to crashing."

Esther's leer didn't waver. "That's an askew strategy. You're saying fake Rogue Zero by leaving and then come back with the right force?"

"In a sense."

The plan seemed sound to be making sense at this point. Even though it was still questionable, it was still just the six of them, with just standard Bakugan. If they could get back to Earth, getting as far as people like the Battle Brawlers if they're fortunate, then maybe they would bare a chance to ambush Rogue Zero entirely. But still, to be leaving on such short circumstances felt so wrong; even Atmos was feeling a foul taste in his beak from the thought.

As Abis thought deeply, a redheaded person looked up with a frown. "Well…okay then." Luke agreed.

"What?" Abis gasped.

"Luke?" Esther questioned in shock.

"Wait, are you serious?" Shawn staggered.

"Look, I know it's a freaky decision, okay?" He looked towards Riaan, giving a serious expression. "But if Master Riaan really thinks this will work, then I doubt it'll fail. If it'll get everything off my back, then I'm all for it."

Riaan nodded. "I see you still trust my judgement, Luke." He turned away from him, facing the others with a deep frown. "But can you trust your own judgement?"

"I…what?" He rubbed the side of his head in confusion. "Master Riaan, what was this about playing riddles on me, you know I hate that."

His eyes didn't falter. "So be it. I'm just doing what's best for you, Luke."

The others soon began to show signs of relenting. Shawn put his hands to his hips and sighed heavily. Esther looked away with no desire to look at Luke. Shuji was rubbing his own head, just trying to understand what it was that he wanted to do. Maggie didn't change. Jase lowered his head, adjusted his glasses.

"…well then if that's your case, then you have my consent." Jase said dryly. "I'll be sure to let the B.I.F be informed of this. If we are able to be of service, then we can dispatch an elite team to handle this predicament, but only if push comes to shove."

"That's the Colonel for ya, always ahead of the game!" Maggie smiled.

Riaan nodded. "Then it's decided. I'll try and sway Rogue Zero to bring you all to Earth with me. They'll let their guard down and keep up their agenda. Then, once we have gathered the forces, we'll backtrack towards New Vestroia with our Bakugan and stop them."

"Alright!" Luke pumped a fist. "This is gonna be so sweet! Look out, Rogue Zero, because you won't know what hit ya!"

As the Trailer was parked and sat on the edge of the city territory, the whole mechanism was being watched. On a rounded dome of blue chrome, a silhouette of a figure on black was standing upright. His arms were folded like he was unimpressed. The one thing that was certain, with the lights of the riverbanks and all, the reflecting light showed his deep, searing frown.

---

The nighttime sky was crisp with its planets and stars shimmering in cosmic disarray. Every now and again, it would constantly flash specks of supernovas far away, dying stars that lit up the night in a brilliant show. Some consider it beautiful, others could consider it symbolic, but each twinkle was a second closer to the future of a possibility everyone wanted to mold for themselves. This was the time.

Standing in front of the same spot as before, Riaan stood before the sealed doorway, with everyone else standing behind him in silence. He looked up at the entrance's top, giving it a serious frown.

"Maximus Rogue."

When the name was spoken, it was met with silence. In a few moments, there was a very bizarre and distorted voice that was echoing about. "Yes…" The distorted tone began to condense as bright sparkles began to take shape in front of everyone. They all kept their cool – to and degree in Luke and Shuji's case – as the ions and the light began to refract, slowly making a transparent figment of the hooded leader of the bane of the group's existence. "What is it?"

Now in view, Shuji gasped at the sight of the man. "Wait…that's him?"

Jase nodded. "You were topside when we all encountered this man. It's no surprise you don't recognize him, Shuji. Who you see before you is Maximus, the Darkus battler of this organization. I believe the dossier that I have made back on the Trailer is your reference tool."

Shuji shot another distinguished look at the hologram of the person. Now that he got a better look of him, he did look the part of a bad guy. A little too like one in some cases. But nevertheless, it didn't stop the uneasy feeling crawling up Shuji's back. This guy was the real deal, no joke about that.

Luke's glare hardened upon seeing the visual projection of the man. He started to feel his own nerves crawl, but in contrast to Shuji's his was more of growing distaste. Even under that hood, those insane dark eyes continued to tantalize him.

"So it looks like you've come back." Maximus said. He took notice of the figures behind Riaan, making his own surprise show. If one could see under the hood, they would be seeing a raised brow. "…and I see you've brought some guests." He spoke dryly.

Ignoring the testimony that might ensue, Riaan stepped up to the shorter, younger individual. "Maximus Rogue, I've come at this time to offer my own condoning of the bargain we have made."

"Is that so?" He sounded intrigued.

"Yes. We wish to have a word of negotiation." He offered his right hand out, palm facing up. "If it's on your time, we'd like to make an offer."

Maximus stayed completely still. The hooded villain of this tale had his chin still had his chin down as he glared daggers at everyone. As he lifted his head, his dark eyes were revealed. Everyone behind Riaan began to get on edge as they could feel the malice rise from around them, yet Jase was the one who, like Riaan, was completely unemotional.

With an ominous squint, the impish creature started to look glee. "How very interesting." He slowly raised his hand. "Very well then, let's see what you have to say."

The fingers snapped, making a subtle echo throughout the airspace. Everyone then and there began to slowly grow transparent, startling the vast majority of them.

"Gah! My hand!" Shuji looked down at his arm. "My arm!" he looked down at his body. "Ah! Are they turning us into ghosts?! I', not ready to die yet!"

"Relax. It's just teleportation." Jase explained, staying in one place. "Just stay calm."

"Oh this again!" Maggie chimed. "Alright, everyone hold on~!" Beside her shoulder, Jelldon clamped onto his carefree partner the best he could.

Shawn and Esther stayed as quiet and as calm as their bodies transported from the ground up. Slowly, everyone else, even the panicking Shuji, was transported. Luke kept a serious gaze on his face as he balled his fists. As he glared green eyes at the hooded mischief, he was challenging the demon, but he seemed to be more amused than intimidated.

Everyone vanished in a bright flash. The spot where they once were was enveloped in white, where they couldn't even feel the ground beneath them for a moment. Once the light faded, they were covered up, shielding their eyes from that bright flash. Luke was the first to recover, raising his hand towards the ceiling as bright lights beamed down.

Shuji kept a frozen position, standing on one leg and arms out in a silly posture like that of a wuss. His one eye opened up, seeing that he wasn't in heaven…not yet at least. Slowly ascertaining caution, he eased his body and looked left and right. "Where are we…? We're not dead?"

"I'm afraid not, Shuji." Jase said impishly. "Sorry to dampen your dreams."

Shuji growled angrily at the Ventus battler but chose to keep comments on mute.

"Where are we?" Esther looked all around her, as did Maggie and the others. They all took note of their surroundings having a more whitish tone to it, like it was some lab. The whole domain was rectangular in space, with black along the ceiling and dozens of round lights in two rows going all the way down. The walls were essentially white, yet they had varied accents of black in green stains that went horizontally all the way to the other side of the vast and large room. Below them, there was even black plates on the edges of green plates, very much like a path that carried to the sealed white door away from them.

Turning around in curiosity, Maggie looked forward. What she saw made her gasp in astonishment. "Look, up there!" She pointed dead ahead.

"Huh?" Luke and the others followed her finger, tracing to the source of her shock. There on the other side of the room stood six figures, all grouped together with their own postures and expressions. They were all too familiar to the startled group.

"Rogue Zero!" Esther snapped.

"I had a funny feeling they would be here." Shawn grunted.

Cesar darkly smirked. "Ah, so it seems you've chosen to follow me after all. I believe a congrats are in order."

"Not the way I see it." Ariella denied. "If you ask me, this could be our blessing in disguise."

Hendrix and Killian offered no input. They booth stood there watching with arms folded as they seemed nonchalant.

Shuji balled his raised fists. "It's those creeps!"

Fly Beetle popped open on his shoulder. "We heard they were there. So they made us come to them instead of coming to us."

Maximus chuckled. "On the contrary. We simply invited you." He defended before starting to pace forward a few slow strides. "But I guess it really doesn't matter to you since you're more than a little worked up it seems. Can't really blame you though. I'm sure there's a good reason you chose to be handed over to us so willingly."

"Like we'd ever do that to you bullies!" Maggie retorted.

Maximus feigned shock as he pressed his fingertips on his chest. "Bully? Why, what a strong word, silly girl. I just think you'd hurt my feelings. Am I really that cruel?" He facetiously smirked.

"That's debatable." Esther sniped.

Maximus snickered at the mischief that's been going about in the air. He could feel their nerves tighten. He didn't have to think too hard to hear the tightening of muscles, and the beating of hearts only intensified from his own presence. Just being in the same room with inferiors was making him all the more excited.

Before matters could drown in the uncomfortable air, Riaan stepped forward. "Shall we get on with this then?"

"Maximus." Xander insinuated.

Hearing his tone, the cynical man chose to relent. "Very well then." He raised his chin, making sure his eyes could've been seen if others tried hard enough. "So then, in what way do you intend to offer a new negotiation?"

Riaan stepped off to the side, allowing the group to be presented. "These right here are fellow humans of whom you accidentally brought to this world, are they not?"

Maximus scrunched his index finger and thumb against his chin, grinding his weak facial hair. "Hmmm…yes, I do seem to recall that certain error brought up by my associate." Coincidentally, Cesar snickered like it wasn't a dilemma at all.

"And according to what they have told me, they have been a rather troublesome ordeal with you."

Maximus shrugged. "Can't complain there I suppose."

"But, in light of this, I feel there is something else that must be settled here. From what I've also heard, there has been a scuffle back and forth between you two. I, myself, am wanting to bring an end to that."

"Is this so?" Maximus sounded intrigued. "And in what way are you offering yourself in place of these…nuisances?"

"Why you…!" Luke wanted to rush at Maximus with a vicious frenzy, but alas he was halted by Esther when she placed her hand on her shoulder. He looked back to her in rage, but she simply shook her head. He submitted and looked back ahead.

"My acquaintances here have made it their own personal mission to stop you and your operations, whatever they are consisted of that is. I am aware of these traits and factors, but I won't call it a fault if that means anything."

"It makes it sound more of a guilt trip the way you put it."

"So it may. In spite of that, my friends here have found it rather tedious since they have arrived here in this world. You can imagine what it was that they have been through. Hygiene itself is one issue."

"Hey!" Shuji rebuffed. Even though it was true, Riaan didn't have to be so blunt about it.

"But allow me to say when I cam speak for all of us when this is technically a fault in which you are held accountable for. That fact alone is ample for you to sway to the course when I suggest you fulfill this request, and allow us passage back to our home."

The testimony made Ariella raise a brow. "What's this? Are you implying you wish to take these cockroaches with you?"

"If that is how you see it, yes."

She scoffed. "Pardon me for this, but I think that's a rather foolish request." She sniped snobbishly. "I don't see how and why we could ever allow troublemakers like them to just walk away and pretend like this never happened?"

"Ariella." Hendrix said beside her. She shot a look towards the calm person, seeing his arms folded and looking rather intimidating.

"Hm, my associate does bring up a fair verdict." Maximus said. "Now that I think about it, they weren't so kind in having infiltrated our little space a few days ago. They went as far as make the whole thing malfunction. That's ample reason for them to be given denial. Such disrespect can only be met with such demand after all."

"You were the ones who messed with the Bakugan to begin with." Abis Omega barked up. "Quit acting so nonchalant and just fess up ya freak."

Xander stepped up. "Watch your tongue you oversized belt strap. You really want to ask a favor with a tone like that?"

Abis Omega grunted in anger. Xander seemed to be delighted.

"Patience, Xander." Maximus defended. "These are negotiations, now why don't you set an example and hold your own tongue. We wouldn't want to set off unwanted flares, do we?" To his sinuate, Xander looked down in shame and backed off. He faced the group once more. "Sorry about that, my friend here can be a little defensive. Now where were we?"

Esther took a step forward, leering at Maximus with subtle intent. "It was your team's actions that have caused a great change in Bakugan and us alike, but they are far from being compensated. There's retribution amongst this melee."

"So you say?"

"Allow me." Jase was the next to step up. Once he stood before the group be volunteered for, he bowed his head. "Rogue Zero, I can concede to you having a distinct grasp on New Vestroia, but this will not go unanswered. If you are of chivalry and fair play, then I think you are willing to respond to my plea this one time."

"Maximus scoffed. "Don't make me laugh. I don't find begging for mercy bountiful."

"How humble." He raised his head. "We have indeed shared a more than unyielding dispute between us, but would it make more sense by logic that if we were deported back to our realm, we would be out of your way, just as you wanted?"

"If you're implying this as a willing surrender, then there's a last request twist to this. I'm familiar with how all this works."

"Rolling right off the tongue I see."

The leader folded his arms. "So we'd get you out of the way, and we can resume our routines then. You'd be back home, with those six Bakugan you have as survivors. When I say that out loud, it sounds like you're surviving a war. Okay, what is it that you'd want in return for this?"

"The reversion of us Bakugan to our forms." Verias proposed.

"And in accordance to what we agreed on, you also be willing to leave Earth alone." Riaan reiterated. "We all can go home, and everyone gets what they want. It's a win-win, wouldn't it?"

Rogue Zero as a whole looked at each other with inquired brows. Maximus can see the varied looks on their faces. When he saw Ariella, she looked thoroughly opposed, not that it was a surprise. Cesar looked mildly amused by all this negotiating. Killian and Hendrix looked ahead with expressions stern, but Killian did show some relenting to this arrangement. When he finally looked towards Xander, he could see it was all based on his judgement. Maximus thus faced the group again, having a rather maniacal sense of wonder as he pictured how they must feel. Tired; hungry; not much water; and they must be smelling bad at that. Taking all these opinions into the matter, the leader began to chuckle low. It began to slowly grow, becoming a short, hysterical laughter. Everyone on Luke's team seemed shocked at it, making them feel less sound than ever. Once it began to settle, the breaths in between each laugh was labored. Inhale, and then exhale. Silence soon fell for that second, raptured in the claws of suspense – in which case was Maximus' response. "Well I can't say this hasn't been eventful. You've actually been the little spark in this night. I was beginning to think things wouldn't ever get this interesting." He wickedly smirked. "Alright. You've convinced me. You and those little parasites can go home."

Maggie inhaled excitedly. "Really?!"

"Wow, no kidding!" Shuji gasped.

"What can I say? After seeing you all like this, it's like there's a point having you around. Cesar made it clear you guys weren't such a hassle."

Cesar chuckled.

"We'll accept the terms. You all can hitch on the ride home with Riaan. You can even take your Bakugan. In return, we'll be sure to allow the Bakugan to revert back to their original forms."

"And you swear on this?" Esther questioned.

"Trust me sweetheart, I am nothing if not a man among principles."

Luke smiled wide. "Alright! Master Riaan, I knew this would work! We're actually going home!"

Riaan looked back at his pupil, his own smile as subtle as his approach to the negotiation. "Yes Luke, it appears so."

''Master Riaan'?' Killian wondered.

"But…" Everyone stopped their little celebration when Maximus added that word. "My associate Ariella does bring up some sort of leverage to cover this little 'dispute' we've been having. Some of us here just aren't going to allow this to happen. Of course I don't have qualms…but really, what choice is there? I'll abide by this deal…if you can defeat me in battle that is." He wickedly smirked.

"You what?" Esther sniped.

Jase's eyes narrowed. "So there was that loophole he found out. Clever, I'll give him that…unfortunately."

Luke stepped in front of the group, raising his anger spike as he faced Maximus. "Hey! That's not part of the deal! You're just making stuff up!" he accused.

"On the contrary, I think this is the fairest way to settle a dispute between two battlers." Maximus argued. "You have a Bakugan, I have a Bakugan; we have two sides of the argument. I think you know by now where this all leads to, my young friend."

Luke's fists balled tighter than before, so much that they were shaking.

"It's the most basic way to settle this. If you win, then we'll concede to your desires. You can go home and we'll fulfill the bargain placed. But if you lose, then only Riaan shall be deported safe and sound. The rest of you will just have to keep playing cat and mouse. That's where this stands."

Riaan looked at Maximus with a disappointing stare. He lowered his shoulders and gave a grieving sigh. "Should've known you'd try something like this." He huffed. "Alright then, you have yourself an agreement."

"Master?!" Luke gasped. Everyone else looked towards him with the same shock he did.

"Excellent." With a snap of Riaan's fingers, Cesar began to press a few keys on his controller. As the buttons worked their magic, there was a massive rectangular gateway just several meters behind them. It had a black frame engraved into the wall. It sat on the top of a shimmering gray porcelain staircase that arched all around it. The few flights of stairs also had the green and black plates that led all the way towards the portal, which was starting to slowly glow and gain energy.

"This portal is generated from the energy we have been able to gather so far on our stay here in Troposphere." Maximus explained. "It's only enough for one jump, that's all we can spare for this place. If you want to enter, just beat me. Of course, I wouldn't try pulling any tricks out of my hat if I were you. One wrong move, and Cesar will shut it off. You want a clean fight…then by all means. Just don't try to aim terribly like you did before."

Shuji's glare narrowed. "Smart mouth."

"Looks like we have to play their game then." Shawn grimaced.

"So it would seem." Jase added half-heartedly.

Ariella snickered. She looked like she was going to enjoy this. The rest of Rogue Zero, however, waited expectantly for what might happen.

Luke glared daggers at Maximus, like he had committed the biggest crime there was. He grimaced heavily with no recourse and no means of backing down, and why should he? There he was, just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the gateway to home, and there was his nemesis that was just tormenting him. For the briefest of moments, he felt his heart pulse when he stared at Maximus.

BA-DUMP!

The pulsing of his heart drowned him out. His thoughts raced to the battle they had, how that last ability made him quiver. Even now, his hands were shaking, so he balled them up and began to shake that very thought out. 'No, don't be a coward. This isn't like last time! I know what I'm doing now. I trained all night for this moment, that means as long as I think, I can still beat him, even with that power. And besides…' He looked back towards the man beside him. 'This can be much shot at proving myself.'

Maximus stood in place so long he thought he was turning to stone. "Well? I'm waiting."

Swallowing one last lump, Luke's face grew serious and he stepped forward. "Fine! You want a battle? Then bring it!"

Maximus sneered as he smirked wide.

"Luke?" Esther gasped.

"Well, isn't this a surprise." Jase said, amused by the standing ovation.

Shawn approached his friend with a worried frown. "You sure about this, Luke?"

The Aquos battler turned towards him with a balled fist. "This is our only shot at getting home! I didn't spend all that time doing nothing! I have to prove that I can beat these guys! Besides, Master Riaan's watching me. With him here, I can show just how skilled of a battler I've become."

The reasons themselves were of selfish intention, but it wasn't for Jase to think so critically. In fact, he smirked at Luke trying. "Why not? I see no problem with this."

"Say what?" Shuji exasperated.

"Are you sure about all this? I mean wouldn't you and Esther be a better match?" Maggie questioned.

Esther turned towards Luke. "It's fine with me." The others looked towards her like she was going mad. "Luke's trained hard for this. I'm sure even he knows what to do. We should see what he can do. Just be careful."

"Thanks." Luke stepped up, giving a serious expression as he grabbed his Abis Omega. The Bakugan and battler combo stood before the group, ready to take action. "Don't worry, Master Riaan, I won't let you down."

Riaan spoke of nothing. He instead watched with interest as Luke volunteered so eagerly against an unarmed person. It wasn't sword against sword, but Bakugan. This was a loophole, but in a way, something nothing to scoff at.

Maximus snickered as his opponent stepped forward. He reached for his hood, revealing his shaggy head again with a smile. "So be it."

Maximus: 100% Luke: 100%

"Then let's get this started, shall we? Gate Card, set!" Swiping his arm, Maximus threw the Gate Card in between them. The purple shockwave went along the ground, adding into nothing. He held up his hand, containing a misty black creature in ball form. "Time to come out and play. Bakugan, brawl! Goblinball, stand!"

Thrown out into battle, Globlinball's sphere opened. Unleashed in a dark purple radiant glow, strong winds picked up, making Maggie hold down her dress, and the others covered up. Luke grunted as he also covered up, but glared ahead as Goblinball arose into battle, giving a grotesque growl.

"Well, now it's your turn."

Luke narrowed his eyes in challenge. "Okay then, you're on! Bakugan, brawl! Abis Omega, stand!"

His own ball thrown out, he popped out in a blue light. Swerving from arches and into a serpentine upwards, Abis Omega howled. He flexed his fins with his head hunched in intimidation.

Goblinball: 500 Abis Omega: 350

Cesar chuckled in delight. "I can sense the little power increase from before…" He tapped his keyboard, showing a visualized holographic monitor of Goblinball's stats against Abis Omega's. "But even so, it won't be but a moment's time. I bet Maximus will take his sweet time just drawing out Goblinball's power." He fell silent after, snickering in potential of the battle to be waged.

"This won't be like last time we fought. I guarantee!" Abis menacingly sneered.

"That's right, so you better watch out!" Luke exasperated.

Maximus again scoffed. "Ha. Big words, but let's see you back them up." He challenged.

"Okay then." Before Luke made a move, he stood in place, taking a deep breath. He breathed in deep, and then exhaled the air out of his lungs. With his calm starting to unfold thanks to Riaan's training, he was able to focus. His eyes then opened, his green orbs glinting with a fire inside. "Let's go! Ability, activate! Fin Melee!"

Abis Omega roared as he slunk ahead. He serpentine across the ground over towards Goblinball, keeping low and stealthy. Once close enough, he slipped upwards in an S shape. With distance closed, and his power level climbing to 550, his tail came around in a blue streak.

Maximus snickered. "Please. Ability activate, Shadow Crunch!" The fangs of Goblinball glowed a dark purple for a moment, having anti-power built up. Once the tail came around, the mouth closed on it, snapping on the attack hard. Abis Omega reeled his head back, maw opened wide as he felt a great surge of pain.

Goblinball: 500 Abis Omega: 550 (-200) = 350

"Hang in there, Abis Omega!" Luke encouraged. To his response, Abis Omega closed his maw, gritting his fangs to fight the pain.

"Please, that was as predictable as before. Is there anything else you care to share?" Maximus inquired rudely.

Luke glared ahead. "Yeah, my counter! Abis, get ready!" He pulled up his blue Bakumeter, flashing an ability card. "Ability activate, Dry World!"

As Abis powered through the pain, he leered at Goblinball. Moments later, a misty eruption from out of nowhere enveloped the two. The mist fumed and droplets of water started to dampen the ground, much like a waxed floor having been moped. Everyone watched as the sizzling of the water arose. Once high enough, the mist cloud evaporated, soon revealing Abis Omega and Goblinball in a sphere of water high above everyone's heads.

Goblinball: 500 (-200) = 300 Abis Omega: 350 (+200) = 550

"Now we got you." Luke muttered, swiping his arm. "Let's go!"

Abis Omega hissed inside his watery territory. He dove straight down in an arch on top of Goblinball's head, the headbutt slamming into a small shock that made the Darkus Bakugan feel great recoil. He lost his grip on Abis Omega's tail, freeing him to allow mobility and maneuver around him. Once Goblinball was able to recover, he saw Abis swerving his tail dead ahead, smacking him across the face in great shock.

"Oh! That's gotta hurt." Maggie flinched.

"The water is Abis Omega's territory." Jase explained. "When underwater, Goblinball may still have power, but he can't possibly maneuver as well as Abis Omega can. A good call by Luke."

"Yeah. Luke's been thinking ahead since last night." Shawn explained. "I'm sure he knows what he's doing right now."

Abis passed Goblinball again, hitting him across his side and swam on. He came round the other side next and rammed him again, bobbing him around like some boat hitting a buoy. Abis kept up the barrage for a few more times, wearing down Goblinball as he can't move well.

After a while, Maximus began to grow tired. "Tch, nicely played. But let's see how you fir against this! Ability activate, Darkus Impact!" Goblinball's eye began to glow a deep, dark multitude of colors. Once charged, the power and frequency was what made Abis Omega stop in his next shot as bolting into him.

"Huh?"

Goblinball unleashed a blistering dark laser from his eye shooting at his foe with deadly force.

Goblinball: 300 (+300) = 600 Abis Omega: 550

The beam barely missed Abis as he swerved around it. It went out of the globe of water, beaming into the ground. Thankfully the plating was Bakuganproof, so the attack didn't harm it at all. It went grazing up beside the group, forcing them to take evasive maneuvers. Goblinball turned his head as Abis Omega kept dodging. The Darkus Bakugan kept turning his eye and glance, the purple laser following all throughout the watery domain. Abis Omega tried as hard as possible to avoid a direct assault, but another beam blasted against his side, causing him to halt in his tracks.

"Be careful!" Luke warned.

Maximus snickered. "Too easy."

Goblinball fired again, this time making sure he didn't miss. The attack closed in as sharp as an arrow, and Abis Omega hurried himself to lean back with eyes shut as it passed just mere inches away from his scaled. It went skyward and again beamed out the dome. With that final blow, the water finally dissipated. Droplets of water rained down as Abis Omega and Goblinball were freed from the other's attack.

Both descended to the ground, having been extra shin7 due to the splatters of water.

"Gate Card, open!" Maximus reached out, making the field glow. "Enemy Down!" the field beneath shimmered brightly, and Abis Omega began to feel a white aura envelop him from the ground up. His very strength was fading.

Xander smirked. "This will be too easy."

"I wouldn't count on it!" Luke defied, startling Xander. "Abis Omega, let's try this one out! Double ability, activate! Aquos Ripple, plus Fusion Ability, Blue Mega!"

Maximus frowned. "Hm?"

Abis strained to move. In fact, he was lowering to the ground as calmly as possible. Once low enough, he gave out a loud hiss towards the opponent. Instead of transparent blue ripples expelling outwards, wave-like shockwaves rippled from his body. The first ripple made the Gate Card shatter as it traveled across it. It made pieces of the Gate Card travel with it, heading right towards Goblinball. The attack's large blue walls reached the goblin and shoved him back, and the card's fragments passed him as well.

Goblinball: 600 (-100) = 500 Abis Omega: 550 (+200) = 750

Goblinball screamed as he was pushed back by the rippling bright blue shockwaves running beneath. The quaking was making him unbalanced, leaving him open.

"Here's a little pick-me-up for ya!" Abis Omega batted his tail in a wave heading right up towards Goblinball. When it reached him, the tail snapped up, lashing Goblinball high into the tail. The impact made the Bakugan holler out in pain before turning into a purple sphere, shooting right at Maximus' feet.

"Yeah, bull's eye!" Luke cheered.

Maximus: 50%

Goblinball rolled to Maximus' feet gently. Once stopped, the battler looked ahead, seemingly smirking. "Hmph, not bad."

Abis Omega returned to Luke's hand, a cocky smirk on his face. "Thanks. We've been practicing."

"So it would seem."

Luke's group looked overjoyed at the sudden first round victory Luke managed to snag. Even Shuji was gaping in his dumbfounded disbelief. Maggie went wide-eyed and jumped up. "Alright! Yeah! Wait a go, Luke!" she cheered.

"He turned a defensive ability into an offensive one using a Fusion Ability. That's impressive." Jase turned towards Shawn. "Was that another trick you picked up on last night."

Shawn crossed his arms with a grin. "Yeah. Luke's been straining just to turn defense into offense. We've found a few ways to do that, but this is the most effective way. He seems mighty proud of it, too."

Esther nodded in approval. "Let's just hope he can keep this up. If he uses those tricks, then maybe we can pull this off."

"Well Aquos is known for having usage of trickery." The one who commentated was Riaan, who was seen with a grin on his face, obviously amused and surprised by Luke's abilities shown. "It's true that Aquos isn't the strongest of the attributes. In contrast, it's known to be very underrated, as opposed to Darkus and Pyrus, which are the top contenders of strength. But Aquos may lack in strength, it makes up for in tricks and turning power into their own."

Shawn put a hand to his hip, smirking. "Well Luke's always been a troublemaker."

The master chuckled. "That he has."

On the other side of the battlefield, Rogue Zero had their own surprise. As opposed to Killian, who watched ever so casually, Cesar was raising a brow. "My goodness, what is this?" he feigned shock, looking down at his charts and data. "Why this can't be right."

"Heh, that's what you get for trusting those charts and data of yours." Ariella retorted. "But make no mistake, that fool just got lucky is all."

Hendrix growled low as he kept his arms folded. He showed no shock of his own as he instead watched in subtlety.

Xander took a step towards Maximus as he picked up his Bakugan. "Maximus…"

Having his Bakugan in hand, he looked down at Goblinball with a frown. "It's fine. Don't trouble yourself over something so trivial." He looked up at Luke again, seeing him already picking out a Gate Card. "That kid just surprised me is all, but make no mistake…it won't happen again."

"That one was for Master Riaan." Luke stated. "Now this one is for me! Gate Card, set!" He threw the card out to the middle of the battlefield, where it faded into a ripple. "Bakugan, brawl! Abis Omega, stand!"

Once more in a blue light, Abis Omega arose into battle, his power level standing at 350.

"Bakugan…brawl! Goblinball, stand!" Maximus threw his Bakugan, which popped and glowed into a purple light. Emerging was Goblinball, glaring devilishly and mute. He stood at 500.

Maximus showed his Bakumeter, smirking as an ability of his showed. "Allow me to show you the door. Ability activate, Shadow Snatch!" Goblinball's shadow began to blacken and stretch out. It reached for Abis Omega, leaping off the plated ground and dividing into streams of thick, cold shadows that snagged Abis by the neck and around the body. He was even hoisted up by these shadows. Maximus chuckled at his opponent's misfortune.

Goblinball: 500 (+200) = 700 Abis Omega: 350 (-200) = 150

Abis strained as he was struggling to move, but found it to be of no use. "Anything else you care to try that'll get you out of that mess?" The Darkus opponent challenged.

Luke's eyes narrowed. "Then how about this?" He held up his Bakumeter, showing another set of abilities. "Double ability, activate! Sea Helix, plus Diamond Shower!"

Abis opened his maw once more, expelling a loud shriek as he looked up. A helix of water shot up around him, veiling him from anything that was in his path.

"Hm? What is he doing now?" Xander asked. Maximus offered no input.

Suddenly, the helix of water spiraled outwards, erupting with shining blue energy diamonds from Abis Omega's body. The attack went in a spiral that cut through the thick shadows like knives, creating a cyclone of water that spun outwards with blue diamonds in it for greater force. It crashed and grazed about against Goblinball, forcing the Bakugan to use his arms to cover up. But even with the armor, he was still getting pushed back.

Goblinball: 700 (-100 -200) = 400 Abis Omega: 150 (+100 +200) = 450

Goblinball kept getting pushed back, but Maximus wasn't having any of it. "So it seems you've got some bite with your bark, but so do we! Ability, activate!" He showed another ability as his voice had hints of rile in it. "Irate Eye!" Goblinball's eye showed itself as he was still covering up. The Bakugan glared ahead as his dull pupil dilated. Unleashed was a solid purple beam that drilled itself into the water, boring right through heading towards the freed Abis Omega.

Goblinball: 400 Abis Omega: 450 (-200) = 250

"Ability, activate! Coil Guard!" Luke defended. Abis Omega coiled up into tight, dense coils and wrapped around himself. He braced himself as the beam reached him, maintaining a guard as the purple ray enveloped him.

Goblinball: 400 Abis Omega: 250 (+200 +100) = 550

Abis grunted as he endured the attack, purple enveloping him. He remained steadfast for as long as he tried, and he did so until the very end. The beam let up, and he uncoiled in a pinch. "Is that all?" he exasperated.

Goblinball remained in place, weakly snorting in disgust over his adversary.

"Well, well. Seems like someone has quite the boast." Maximus smirked. "Well then, Luke, it seems you really are a pest."

Luke tried to ignore the commentary and gritted his teeth together. 'I've already used up some pretty good abilities this time around. If I try another double ability, I might tire out Abis Omega too early. Gotta pull up this then…' He swiped his arm to the side. "Gate Card, open! Hate Gate!"

The Gate Card beneath them began to glow once more, this time for benefits. Abis Omega reeled his head up, expelling a loud roar as an empowering blue aura enveloped his whole body.

Goblinball: 400 Abis Omega: 550 (+500) = 1050

"Woah! Their power level just shot up big time!" Maggie shrieked.

"That's the trick to Hate Gate." Jase said. "It's a Command Card where the Bakugan's power level goes up 100 Gs for each ability that has been used so far this round, no matter whose side it's on."

"So it's like Forcement Wind and Forcement Enemy, only with abilities." Shawn described.

"In a way."

Luke reached his arm out, letting Abis know he could attack. "Go!" With his signal, Abis Omega, still in the bright blue aura, went serpentine away at Goblinball, who remained stationary like a zombie.

Maximus held up his wrist, this time showing two abilities. "Double ability, activate! Darkus Force, plus Darkus Slave!"

Goblinball: 400 (+300) = 700 Abis Omega: 1050 (-400) = 650

From his wings, several barrages of pink-purple discs shot like bullets at Abis Omega. And from the mouth, a grizzly spherical darkness erupted in the form of a ball. The two attacks raced into him, creating a powerful force that made Abis go wide-eyed. The impact was imminent as Abis erupted in a cloud of smoke, screaming loudly as the barrage of saucers belted him, and the sphere of darkness erupted in dark winds.

"Abis!" Luke shrieked through the winds. He resumed covering up as the winds kept going, easing only as the smoke showed itself.

From the base of the smoke cloud, Abis Omega toppled out in ball form, rolling to Luke's front. His life gauge fell to 90%. By all means, even though that blow was hard, it was a lucky break for Luke.

"Oh, that's gotta hurt." Maggie grimaced.

"Damn, talk about a bad break." Shawn said.

Esther kept a stern look as she continued facing the battle unfolding. "Relax. Luke didn't lose by much. He can still pull ahead…he just needs to keep digging deep."

Maximus caught his Bakugan and smirked. "Now then, how was that for a show? I think it's time we set up the stage for the next act, don't you think?"

Luke picked up Abis Omega, glaring up to where he seemed repulsed by the behavior shown. "You…!"

"Luke!" The voice snapped Luke out of his growing angst. When he turned around, he saw that it was his master who spoke to him. He was frowning in a serious tone. "You mustn't lose focus. Think about what you're doing, and then act upon the information given. You can do that, can you?"

Luke gazed at him like the information itself was second-nature. "Uh, yeah, I can." He said it in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Then show me. Keep your calm, and ready for the next round."

"Okay!" Taking a deep breath in and then out, Luke began to calm, just as his master trained him to do. He readied himself and prepared as Maximus pulled out his Gate Card.

"This should finish it." Maximus looked towards his team, in which some grunted, and some smirked. He threw it out and watched it dissipate into a shockwave across the ground. "Bakugan, brawl! Goblinball, stand!"

"Bakugan, brawl!"

Following Goblinball's rise, Abis Omega swerved up and faced him once more.

Goblinball: 500 Abis Omega: 350

"I'm starting to get bored. Are you sure you're stronger than what Cesar estimated? Because so far I'm far from truly impressed."

'Gotta stay calm. I can do this! Master Riaan helped me so far, so now I have to show him just how much harder I can work now that I have a Bakugan!' Luke raised his left wrist, getting an ability up. "Ability, activate! Dry World!" Once more, Abis Omega raised his head and hollered aloud. His body once again expelled a burst of mist that spread, but didn't get too far as it was sucked back into a vacuum that surged into a spiraling tower. It went all the way up, eventually dissipating when the globe of water containing Abis Omega in it was realized.

Goblinball: 500 (-200) = 300 Abis Omega: 350 (+200) = 550

Luke reached out with deep authority. "Take him out! Now!"

"No need to tell me twice!" The sea serpent hissed in a loud, shrieking tone that reverberated throughout the water. It remotely sped into Goblinball, who was far from willing to move. In fact, the Bakugan looked like it was waiting.

Maximus snickered as he could feel a sensation crawl up his spine. He knew from some sense of intrigue that he knew what it was that Goblinball wanted. "Well I guess we should be showing them we mean business then, shall we?"

Goblinball opened his mouth wider, expelling a large, deep shriek outward as Abis kept charging in.

Even as he was bolting, Abis Omega himself was feeling his scales crawl as the air shuddered. His speed slowed down some, making him lose momentum in the process.

Maximus smirked as he pulled up his dark purple Bakumeter. From the hologram that showed it was a card with the bright purple core in its center. Everyone who was starting to feel the room get cold all of a sudden knew what was gonna happen.

"That card…" Esther grunted.

"Not that crazy thing again!" Shuji panicked.

Jase's eyes narrowed. "This is bad."

Shawn balled his fists, looking ahead with gritting teeth. In the front of it all, Luke was standing completely still. Just looking at the card, he could feel his heart palpitate.

Maximus raised his arm slowly, drawing up a slow, cold dark arch with its rise up. "Ability activate…Phantom-X!" The card high in his wrist shined a bright light, acting like a beacon that glistened and showered rays of radiance in negative fashion.

Only the light wasn't warm; it was cold.

A purple core appeared on Goblinball, shimmering like the card that it resorted from. Four chords with hashes in them expelled from each of the four corners, enveloping Goblinball all over. He was groaning weakly as he could feel his own tendons and body parts feel the compression. As the chords dissipated, fading into his body, the eyeball dilated.

Luke's shock once again arose in his gasp.

Goblinball's glare made a pulse wave beat through the atmosphere. Abis Omega instantly lost momentum as he felt an odd gravity keep him in place. The serpent was in momentary shock at first before he began to realize what it was that was to come down. Before he had the chance to take action, it was too late.

"…no…" Luke murmured.

"GRRAAAAHHH!" Goblinball made the entire room shudder from the sheer force he was giving off. The high-pitched shriek was making everyone feel sonic frequencies flow everywhere, causing Luke and the group to cover up. Black, distorted waves began to ripple outwards from the Bakugan. They were pitch-black, with segments of violet, purple, and indigo like spooky wisps. The omnidirectional wave of dense, suffocating energy reached Abis Omega, making his watery vessel ripple until it burst like a bubble. The Bakugan shrieked loudly as he was carried away into the waves of cold darkness, sending him flying back.

"ABIS!" Luke watched in horror as his Bakugan was blown away like a dust bunny.

"GAH!" Abis fell to the ground with a harsh thud on his side. He laid in a loose shamble of coils as the dark waves continued to pulsate, nudging him in his weakened state.

Goblinball: 300 Abis Omega: 550 (-500) = 50

"Did you really think that a little improvement would be enough to overcome forbidden abilities?" Maximus asked through the rippling black distortion around Goblinball. "I'll admit you seem to be putting up a better fight than before, but deep down, I can still taste your fear. It's sweeter than sugar." He cynically snickered at Luke's expense. He could definitely feel the atmosphere getting colder, and he was savoring it. It was exactly as he wanted it to be.

Everyone on the opposite side was having other dilemmas of their own. Jase, Esther, Shawn, and Shuji were trying to maintain their ground as best as possible, but Maggie was holding onto Jelldon, who was shuddering in his ball form, obviously from darkness.

'Such power…' Riaan uncovered himself, looking ahead to see the condition of Luke. 'Is this the power that Luke and the others have been trying to fight against this whole time?'

Luke was petrified in place. His feet, as much as they would've deemed to be so, weren't capable of moving. He couldn't even feel them right now. All that could've been felt were two things: Cold, and his own heartbeat. Both rushed through his veins, like venom that wasn't going away. His teeth gritted as he glared ahead with uncertainty, watching as Abis Omega swayed and tried to get up. Slowly, his balled fists were beginning to tighten, his arms starting to shake. "No…I can't cower…I can't cower…" He muttered to himself.

Abis Omega arched in a striking snake position, keeping his guard at Goblinball. He wasn't able to make an offense, but he refused to lose like this.

"I trained for this. I can't give up yet. Not in front of Master Riaan. I have to stay strong…I can think through this…but how?!"

Maximus raised his fingers, snapping them again. "Gate Card, open. Dry Delta!"

The Gate Card beneath finally revealed itself. It shimmered within the darkness that was the sea of energy continuing to expel. Abis Omega glanced down at the card below, the energy it was expelling suddenly making his damp skin immediately dry out. "What's happening?" He looked all over his body, seeing the filament of dense blue becoming a dry blue, almost crusty. The inside of Abis' mouth even felt dry.

"Sorry, my friend, but I just sealed off your Aquos abilities."

"You what?!" Luke snapped. "You can't do that!"

"All's fair in love and war…that is what you humans say, do you?" Maximus paused to see the exasperated look on Luke's face. He can see him distressing with a small step back. He was cornered, battered, and now all that was left was to finish this in one blow. "Looks like you'll be enjoying your little stay here, hope you found it lovely with your time here…ability activate, Darkus Force!"

The waves of darkness Goblinball was emitting finally subsided, and instead it morphed its remaining energy into a spherical force of compressed darkness that shot across the ground at Abis Omega.

Goblinball: 300 (+300) = 600 Abis Omega: 50

"Oh no…LUKE!" Esther shrieked out.

Luke and Abis Omega looked in horror as they were paralyzed from all over; not just from the abilities, but from the overwhelming odds they fell right into, again. With no abilities to use, and their power too weak, they could only stare with shock as the atmosphere before them ignited in purple.

"Bakugan, brawl!"

The voice was followed by a white sphere being thrown above the group's heads. They all looked and watched as the white sphere bolted onwards pass Luke. It made way in front of Abis Omega, landing in front of the attack and expelling a bright yellow light.

"Huh?!" Luke and Abis gasped again in shock as the light became yellow instead of purple heading their way.

The black sphere met a pair of purple hands. The grunt of what sounded like a larger creature in the light was what stood in between Abis and his demise. The Aquos Bakugan looked in shock as a silhouette took the blow for him, but due to the force and brightness it was hard to tell what it was. All that he could make out was that it seemed humanoid in shape.

"What's that?!" Xander gasped.

Ariella stepped up, looking annoyed. "Who's interrupting here?!"

The bright force that was the expulsion of darkness kept pushing, but a pair of feet didn't move. The attack was stopped cold as four arms were pushed in front, fending quite well against the odds.

"Everyone looked around them to see who or what was responsible, but Maggie immediately turned around and spotted something. She hurriedly pointed at it. "Look!"

Everyone turned to where she was pointing at, getting a glimpse at the culprit. They looked shocked to say the least, but Riaan was the one to show a calm disposition.

His eyes narrowed as he stared at the savior.

"Who's the guy who-?!" Luke whipped around angrily, but the anger subsided almost instantly when he realized who it was that he was looking towards.

Fra towards the entrance, someone was standing there with his fists balled. He stood tall and with an authoritative vibe coming off him. He was glaring a narrow, green glare straight at the battle, watching as his Bakugan took centerfield now. Aside from his boots and black cape as before, the rest of him was now revealed as he stepped forward.

Luke looked exasperated once more. "You're…"

Walking up, the figure adorned black shoulder pauldrons that doubled as a high collar up to his neck, both outlined in yellow. He sported a black tunic beneath the pauldrons, which had brick-like gray edging outwards, like old-fashion castle walls that went down to the elbows. Even there it was covered by high-sleeve black gloves with golden and yellow accents engraved onto them. The tunic was tucked beneath a bright orange belt that had enough space to let it stick out beneath just a few inches; in a way, very similar to Jase's uniform. However, the whole ensembles was covered by an armor-like black cloth all over the front of the body and running down all the way to knees. Engraved in the cloth was gray outlining and a dark yellow accented center with an orange, bulbous, core-like center. His dark gray pants were tucked into his high-thigh boots, which were of the same design as his long gloves. They went up like leggings all the way above the knee, and yet the iron fronts had red carvings in front like flower petals. But the face was all too familiar to Luke, and as far as what was on his side, the scabbard was clear as crystal, even though it looked like a silicon tube.

Shawn blinked in surprise. "Wait, hold up. Aren't you…"

"That's the guy who pushed Luke out of the way!" Maggie chirped.

"But what is he doing here?" Esther questioned.

Still standing far behind them, the guy in question swiped his arm. As if on command, his Bakugan swiped his four arms, fully stopping the attack. Within the dark embers that flared about, an odd but enigmatic flare was around the Bakugan in question. Looking dead ahead, his Bakugan was tall and primarily white. He had purple accents all over his body, and a gyro-like center with a yellow core. The same core was in the chest area, where purple aligned from either side. The two horns he had were pointed upwards, and he had blue-green lipstick and a wicked smile. His eyes were a red dot around for green arrows, oddly enough, but the most bizarre things was that he had four thin arms with purple hands.

"He stopped it!" Luke gasped.

Maximus looked ahead with a frown, clearly showing his lack of amusement. "And who might you be this time? You know it'd rude to enter someone else's battle without warning."

The man glared daggers at them all. "Rogue Zero, nobody is going anywhere." He declared. He pulled up his left wrist, revealing an ability. "Ability, activate! Wizard Proxy!"

The Bakugan cackled a joker-like snicker as he put his four hands in front. He began to move them around in a hypnotic fashion, slowly creating a golden borealis that enveloped the atmosphere around them. The borealis was like an anchor that was rendering Goblinball to feel his power decline, while the Bakugan in front of Abis was gaining power. Goblinball went back down to 300, while the Bakugan itself shot up from 600 to 900.

"You!" The man shouted towards Luke. "Don't just stand there, attack!"

Luke, on the other hand, was still feeling surprised. "Wait, hold up! Who the heck are you?!"

"Do you wanna spent this time asking questions, or do you want to save your Bakugan?"

The reasoning wasn't one-sided, but the overall agenda was sublime to those who were aware of the merit it had. There was a battle going on, and Luke realized that. He looked ahead at Abis and back at the man. "I can't. The Gate Card is blocking me."

The man closed in eye, allowing his thoughts to process for a moment. "…fine. Get ready!" He pulled his wrist up, showing an ability that glowed yellow. "Ability activate, Black Gates!"

The Bakugan in question stopped moving his fingers and hands to control the borealis, instead focusing on making a yellow energy that formed into a scythe with a yellow blade. Two hands gripped the blade, lifting it up high before sundering it towards the ground. The Gate Card glowing shattered to pieces, nullifying its effects.

"Huh…?" The dry feeling Abis Omega once had was starting to fade away. When he looked back down, he saw that his pale skin was gone. "My powers are back…"

The man looked back towards Luke. "Alright, now go!"

"Hey, don't tell me what I already don't know, alright?!" Luke snapped. "Oh forget it, we'll deal with this creep first! Ability, activate! Diamond Shower!" With his own strength renewed, Abis Omega focused on the opponent at hand and roared out. A funnel of blue energy diamonds expelled from his body, shooting right for Goblinball. As it traveled, his power level dropped from 300 to 100, while Abis shot up to 250.

Maximus frowned even more serious than before. "Goblinball, shut off their lights!" At his response, the Darkus Bakugan growled. "Double ability, activate! Darkus Force, plus Darkus Impact!"

Goblinball again generated a high-powered sphere of darkness, but this time it had an even bigger concentration of energy coming from the eye. As his power level bolted up towards 700, he unleashed a powerful beam from his eye, which again shuddered the land with deep magnitude. The laser thrust into the sphere, pushing it forward into a speeding meteor of darkness that darted clean through the funnel. The impact broke the sound barrier at it ripped all the way through Abis Omega's attack, meeting him and his shock.

The horrendous blow enveloped Abis on a powerful eruption as before, rattling the ground and making a horrendous black cloud erupt into the atmosphere. To everyone's sheer shock, Abis morphed into a blue ball within it, rolling back to Luke's feet as he stared in utter disbelief.

Luke: 0%

"Luke!" Esther worried.

The unknown man grunted in annoyance. "Ugh, this is what I get for helping those pathetic…alright, let's get this over with!" He swiped his arm again. "Go!"

The smoke stack still bellowing continued fuming, until an invisible force blew it all away. It was replaced by the tall clown Bakugan that laughed in a cackling manner. He seemed more than ready to comply.

Maximus scoffed mildly. "Ha. Well things seemed to have gotten even more interesting. But tell me, who are you again? I don't think we've met."

The man looked entirely unfazed by the question. "Figure that out for yourself."

"What?"

Though still in shock over his abrupt loss, Luke looked up at him with growing confusion. "Hey, just what the heck?! What did you even just do?!"

The man shot a glare at Luke, forcing him to back off. "Blame yourself for being so weak. I'll handle this problem myself." He raised his arm, showing an ability. "Alright, let's do what we came here to do! Ability activate, Sprite Glow!"

As the ability activated, the Bakugan's four hands expanded their fingers. Forming in them were four large glowing ring-like discs that were handled with ease. He crossed all his arms, ready to swing them, just as Goblinball's power level dropped from 700 to 400.

Maximus grunted in annoyance, his patience igniting sparks that made him reach his arm out. "Goblinball! Let's tussle!" Once again, his Bakumeter showed an ability. "Ability activate, Phantom-X!"

Maggie eyes widened. "Say what?!"

"The same ability? Has he lost it?" Shawn exasperated.

Riaan's eyes narrowed in disgust. "Such madness."

"Are you crazy?!" Luke snapped. "What the heck are you doing?! Using it once is bad enough, but this is just insane! Stop this!"

"I don't take orders from lower lifeforms, humans." Maximus boasted, the dark, demented look in his small onyx eyes showed just what lengths he was getting to just for results. "Now, make them suffer!"

Once again, a bright purple core formed on Goblinball's forehead. Slowly, the chords started to unwind and tangle into him, engraving deep into the Bakugan's muscles. His dull, dense eye was still for a moment, before a rapid pulse like that of a heartbeat thumped again. The eye sharpened as a dark aura began to surround him.

Ignoring how cold the temperature was starting to get, the Bakugan and the battler shot glares dead ahead. "Do it!" He shouted.

The Haos Bakugan cackled a laughter as he threw three rings at once, all spinning right into Goblinball. As they closed in, Goblinball,'s mouth widened, expelling a black field of suffering energy as before. The two attacks and their masses collided in the center, battling it out in white sparks reigning between for supremacy. The unknown attacker and Maximus both held up serious fronts as they looked for ways around, but both sides looked surprisingly even. However, it perceived that way only for a short while.

Goblinball's dull yet sharp eye was straining, as was the rest of the body. However, he was still pushing to the best of his abilities. He refused to lose; that was the mindset right now. That's what he felt Maximus was telling him, and even though his tendons were getting sire this time, he wasn't going to go down.

As the attacks continued to fight off, the white sparks in between them crackled energetically. They expanded in a radius that made a few bolts run wild, some of which nearing both sides.

"The energy is becoming unstable." Jase deduced.

Esther held her ground despite any mental protests. "This is bad."

"This is crazy, man!" Shuji shuddered on one leg, wincing away. "What the heck is even happening?!"

Riaan maintained his calm disposition. He observed carefully as everything around him was shuddering from the powerful pressure erupting. He offered no input, nor the words needed to describe what it was exactly that was going down.

Eventually, however, the shockwaves of the two attacks finally dissipated. The lapse in the attacks finally caused both to collapse, making a strong blow in all directions. The atmosphere boomed and forced Maximus to cross both arms in front as his clothes shifted. The other guys were hanging the best they could, keeping themselves as up as possible. Some, like Maggie and Shuji, completely fell over from the winds.

"Not yet." The guy growled. "Now!"

On command, the Haos Bakugan threw the last Sprite Glow in his one arm. The thrown sphere went beaming onwards at Goblinball, who was looking unable to move. He was open, but shockingly, the saucer went right over him, shocking everyone. He traced it overhead, watching it fly pass him.

"What?!" Maximus exclaimed.

"Hmph, looks like poor aim to me." Xander scoffed.

The guy smirked.

The Sprite Glow continued onwards over Rogue Zero's head. They all turned and watched it make way towards the one unexpected part that was the man's goal the whole time: The gateway. When it reached its fame, there was a bright explosion that enveloped a fraction of the contraption's corner. Smoke bellowed from it, alarming everyone.

"HYAAAAH! NO! NOT MY HARD WORK!" Cesar despaired. Maximus gritted his teeth at the folly played out.

The whole contraption began to crackle electricity, shooting random jolts even at the staircase. The swirling center it had was beginning to flicker on and off for a few seconds, until finally it shut down completely. Another part of the frame burst into smoke, pieces of it chipping off before the staircase.

"That was his real aim all along?" Ariella questioned. "How did we not see this?!"

Hendrix leered at the broken equipment, his frown as deep as moon craters themselves. He grunted in annoyance at the follow of their own actions.

"NOOooooo~!" Cesar cringed in despair. "That took me forever to get the frequency and calibers right! It's gonna take me at least two weeks now out of my precious time! GAAAH!"

"Then use this time to say your prayers." The man reached out, ushering his Bakugan to close in on Goblinball. He swiftly appeared in the blink of an eye in front of the exhausted Goblinball, who turned back in time to see his adversary mere feet from him.

"Crap!" Maximus snapped.

"Ability activate, Shining Nightmare!" Growing from the Bakugan's two outer arms, yellow energy molded into silver blades with bright edging. The Bakugan hollered out a loud laughter as he slashed only one arm diagonally, slicing into Goblinball with a trail of yellow. The Bakugan let out a strained groan as the slash passed him, his body becoming a purple sphere and shooting back towards Maximus' feet.

Maximus: 0%

"No way! Impossible!" Xander exclaimed. "This had gotta be foul play right here!"

Shuji sat up, looking ahead with shock. "Heh?! Wait, what just happened?!"

Maggie sat up on her knees, confused as much as Shuji was. "Uhh…"

"Looks to me there's been a change in pace around here." Jase stated, shooting a glance at the guy who was still behind as he caught his Bakugan with no problem. "Whatever's happened is clear of one thing…someone here got what they wanted."

Esther turned and shot a look at the man. "What was this all about?" she sniped.

There was so much confusion going about that it wasn't even funny. Luke was on his feet once more as he looked left and right. On his right was Rogue Zero and their ticket home, and on one side was someone who just showed up out of nowhere and stole the show. It's suffice to say that after looking back and forth several times that he was looking antsy. "Wait, somebody hold the phone here! W-what the heck just happened here?! Who are you, and why in the hell did you just do all that?!"

The man in question turned his head away, giving no cares or damn to it all. "Hmph, consider yourselves lucky…" He looked at Luke again. "Well, some of you."

"Why you…!"

Riaan shot his own look, but this one of anger. "Do you have any idea on what you have just done?" he growled. "You jeopardized our goal here."

The man shot his own look back. "Like it matters now. I did what I came here to do, so take it or leave it."

The master's eyes narrowed. "You arrogant…"

"Save it. We should get out of here while we still can." He advised. He pulled up his Bakugan again, who opened from ball form. "Now, do it."

Luke gasped in surprise. "Wait!" He reached out towards him, but as he did, a strange, enigmatic energy started to expel from the Bakugan in the possession. Before Luke could ask his question, everything for him suddenly turned white. His gasp was hardly audible when the white flash even made him feel light.

The bright flash vanished, minimizing into a small twinkling speck that diminished into nothing in front of Rogue Zero. Once again, the space was occupied by them alone.

"They…vanished?" Killian questioned.

"They couldn't have gotten far." Hendrix guessed. "That energy level felt much too weak to allow such a jump."

Ariella furrowed her brow. "Great, just when things were finally going our way. Some amateur swoops in and meddles in our affairs, and now what?" She turned her attention towards the smoking frame of the dimension gate. "All this for nothing more than less than what we have. This was a terrible idea."

Hendrix narrowed his own vision, grunting in agreement.

Cesar put his hand on his head in despondency. "Ah~, what am I going to do with this mess? That material didn't come cheap you know." He looked towards his armrest, inserting several functions into its keys. On its small monitor, it showed statistics and an overall spherical view of the island. A radar system transmitted on the screen, reverberating outwards. "Those misfits most certainly couldn't have gotten far. When we find them and make them pay, why I have I right mind to-"

"No, not yet."

The group turned towards Maximus, staring at him with complete shock. What they could've heard would've set off many errors in judgements, but luckily he pressed on. "Sure they may have succeeded to some extent…but their one-way ticket home is no more. I wouldn't call this a complete setback…not yet at least."

"But Maximus, sir-" Xander wanted to intrude, but he was cut off when his hand arose. Instantly he silenced once more.

"I know how you feel, but this was nothing more than coincidence. Consider them lucky. We'll give them this one last break. Because after tonight, the hunt is on." His frown began to rise into a smirk, one that showed devilish intent. "Looks like you'll have to run some more tests, Cesar, because I feel a little challenge stirring."

---

Somewhere in the alleys of Troposphere, there was utter darkness, not even late nighters out battling or doing any ambiguous deals. In the midst of the black, there was a small speck, which twinkled and grew. It eventually expanded into a bright flash, hurriedly fading to reveal the group that was "successful" with their escape.

With all of them accounted for, they took a moment to realize what happened, and that they were now in a new location. Shuji looked around swiftly, while others took the hint more subtly.

"There. We should be good for the time being." The person said.

Esther faced him with question. "Was that teleportation?"

"You can call it that. My Bakugan has a strong sense of magic. That's where his strength lies." He studiously turned away. "But that's my business."

"Thanks for your assistance." Jase said, facing him with arms behind his head. "But if I can speak for all of us, your arrival was most…complex."

"Yeah, that was super freaky with what you just did!" Maggie chimed. "You just swooped in and POW!"

Riaan stepped forward, looking disappointed. "But you also destroyed our way home." He scorned. "Was your intention that the whole time?"

He looked away. "I already told you, I have my reasons."

The next person to step up was Luke, and he was looking mad. "Now wait just a second!"

He looked back at the fellow redhead. "What is it now?"

"How can you be so cool with all this?! You can't just talk back to my master like that, and I most certainly didn't ask for your help back there! What made you think you should've stuck your nose in where it didn't belong?!"

The person, looking disinterested, looked away. "Pot calling the kettle black. Last I checked, you were doing just that; sticking your noses where they didn't belong. Now look at yourselves, you're pretty much dead meat to Rogue Zero now after your little 'negotiations' went under. Besides, last I checked as well, if it wasn't for me, your Bakugan would've been tender snake."

Luke gritted his teeth at the adversary, if not ally. Honestly, nobody was sure about what it was about this guy, but his demeanor was cold, colder than ice itself. He certainly didn't seem like a pleasure, but the fact was he saved Luke, and that alone made him a hero in question.

"Just…what are you?"

"I'm an avenger, and that's all you need to know." He began to walk off into the alley. "Stay out of my way. If you catch yourself in Rogue Zero's sights, don't expect a green card."

"Then I suppose you'll take a rain check then?" Jase smirked. The person ignored the comment and kept walking into the darkness, like he was deaf to the world behind him. Of course to Jase that was a no.

As he walked off, Luke reached out hopelessly, wanting the answers to all his questions and concerns, but it was futile. Through it all, there wasn't anything he could do this time…just like last time either. Not only did he flunk again and lose in a morbid fashion, but he was barely saved by some half-hearted guy who also snatched their chances of following through with Master Riaan's plan. All that time, and this was the result. It was leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

Shuji stood up beside Esther, looking enigmatically at the alley. "Okay, I'll bite…" his vision squinted. "Something really messed up is happening here."

She nodded. "Yes, and I have a feeling it's just beginning."

The silence fell in like a bottomless pit that met its bottom. The tension on this accursed night only rendered the group all the more perplexed with what to do, but they knew for certain that this fight just got a lot more interesting.

---

Chapter 11, and as usual, I put in so many words that you guys probably fell unconscious or half-asleep a third of the way through. I still hoped that this chapter sufficed in terms of plot in comparison to the last one. That last one was more of a training chapter, but this time around, Luke has definitely shown some signs of improvement, as hinted in his first-round win. Of course I still made Maximus ultimate baddie and that much intimidating. And this chapter also made two very keen points made: Master Riaan has finally been found, and a new player has entered the game, and he's playing by his own rules.

For those who were able to figure out his Haos Bakugan partner, don't even say it. There's an explanation to all this and a brief history when it comes to fruition, but just sit tight until then.

I wanted to get this out sooner, but this upcoming weekend I'm gonna be MEGA busy with my work. Holidays are hell, so I'll be working all weekend, including Easter, and last weekend was long hours and no fanfic. So this was my only length. Plus there's another reason why this took a while. A few things happened; for one thing, I helped my family set up a new gym in the basement, so I'm trying to get fit as possible and not just sit on my bed, desk, or sofa writing; and secondly, I've been distracting myself as much as possible. My grandma is having heart surgery, and she already had to endure colon cancer. I'm worrying a great deal, so I'm all over the place with panics and trying t find incentives to keep me from getting anxious over my family matters. Still, she said she would be okay, but hopes for my grandma!

So I'll hop over towards The Contender's Ascent now and try to get an update there. I'll get that up and get back here, but my pace will be sporadic as I said. I'll still try and be as fast as possible, but no guarantees. So reviews are very much appreciated, and let me know what your thoughts were.