Drip…

The sound of a droplets splashing echoed in a dark void. The black area was thick with a thick, blue sea that reflected the dark sky.

Drip…

Another echo of droplets rung Luke's ears. He weakly stirred and fluttered his eyes open. Feeling something cool pressed against his cheek, his eyes shot open and he sat up. He kneeled on the water and looked around awkwardly. 'Where am I…? Wait a minute…am I dead?' He shook his head, trying to alleviate the oncoming doubts. 'No, not yet…I don't feel anything. Is that part of being dead?' He befuddled himself there for a moment. To distract his questions, he looked at the black realm around him. 'Hold on…do I know this place?'

He somehow found the strength to stand. When fully stood he didn't feel the pain he would have when he fought Luka, Esther, and Riaan from before. He subconsciously clutched his side for security though. The landscape looked very familiar, much like the abyss of one's psyche. Maybe this was his psyche.

'Wait, hold on. This is my mind…' The realization made him have another epiphany. 'Huh…it's been a while since I've been to something like this. Why does it feel so strange to me?'

"…ales…in stone…lies…"

A faint echo went off in the void that made him look around shocked. 'Did I just hear something…?'

"Six worlds…spark…revolution…'

Luke furrowed his brow. He didn't know what exactly, but his instincts were telling him something about this felt vaguely familiar. He looked down at his reflection in the water; it wasn't coming from there. He looked ahead and steeled himself. He couldn't drown in questions. Unlike before, he was resolute. He started his strides across the water, his footsteps rippling the still blue sea. As he walked onwards towards the voice, he noticed the darkness around him taking shape of walls. He turned left and saw stalagmite sticking out of the water. He couldn't see the bottom.

"…valor behind…man…rising dragon…"

He stopped for a moment as the voice was seemingly clearer. 'It's coming from ahead, no doubt about that…' He noticed his reflection rippling beneath. Upon looking down, he saw his vision vanish as something large and blue was surfacing. Slowly rising beneath, Abis arose with Luke on his head. "Abis?! Where did you come from?!"

The Aquos Bakugan said nothing, he just stared ahead like a warning. He seemed deeply focused on something that made Luke face forward at a light that gleamed ahead of them at end.

"Two souls…blinded by darkness…make a stand…"

Luke and Abis chose to not question themselves, but rather diverted themselves towards the cause. The serpent slowly slithered across the water towards this echoing light. A tingling sensation crawled up their skin as they drew near. Luke's brow furrowed as he heard the feminine echo turning solid towards the light's end.

'This feeling…I know it it…I have to…' Luke paused. 'Wait a minute, isn't this…?'

Abis' eyes sharpened. He suddenly jerked in realization as well. Luke was completely unprepared as the rainbow light at the end reached out towards him, making them cover up as everything went white.

"…and carry his brethren to the end of diversity."

Luke exhaled as he started opening his eyes. It was a weak start, but slowly his green pupils were seeing a softer light. He blinked several times, his face scrunched from the fatigue he felt. "What…happened…?"

"He's awake! Thank goodness!"

Luke turned his head towards the noise. To his mild surprise he found Esther and Alice watching over him. "Esther…Alice…?"

Esther turned towards the latter. "Alice, hurry. Tell everyone he's awake."

Alice confidently nodded. "Right, okay!" She turned and rushed out of the sliding doors, making a hard right just as they slide back shut behind her.

"Guys…? What is it?" Luke meekly grimaced. His body was feeling sore, but oddly enough, in a good way. His ligaments were feeling loose and his sore spots were all numb. "Why's my body feel like I was steamrolled over…?"

Esther turned towards him worriedly. "Stay still. You shouldn't move around too much. The anesthesia is barely wearing off on you."

"Anesthesia?" He felt something off about his lower body. As he sat up, he removed the covers off his torso to reveal his black shirt. When he reached down to see his wound, he found bandages wrapped around and the pain gone. 'My wound's healing…wait, if it's not hurting anymore, then-!' He shot a glance at Esther. "Esther, what happened?"

Esther closed her eyes and retained a calm composition. "After Riaan and Hades Pillars left, you collapsed all of a sudden." She frowned heavily. "Your wounds were grievous. It took us everything we had to get you treated before it got worse. I was so worried of what happened."

Luke took in what Esther said and looked down at his sheets. "I…collapsed?" It took a minute for him to realize what happened. The last thing he remembered was coughing blood and a thud. After that it was a blank. "I guess that explains these bandages then…" he looked around the room, barely recognizing the contents. "So, where are we?"

"We're back in the Trailer. You were unconscious for 3 days."

Luke almost jumped out of bed at that comment. His heart thumped so harshly he swore the color returned to his face. "…t-three days…" He looked down at his sheets again, a distraught expression showing. He started balling his fists and kept his composure reasonably well…though he still felt disappointed with what lead him to be out of commission for this long. "…damnit."

"Luke…"

The doors suddenly pried open, making them turn to see Alice rush back in with everyone following behind her. She in particular showed the most concern.

"Guys." Luke gasped in disbelief.

"Thank goodness. You're finally awake, Luke." Alice thoughtfully smiled. "We were all getting worried for you."

"You gave us a real scare there." Maggie pouted brashly. "And here I thought you were above making us wait on you last. Not smart, Luke."

"Yeah, what she said." Shuji grunted. "Good to see you're up now, but did you seriously have to nap that long? Jeez."

"Yeah, and here I thought Shuji was the lazy one." Maggie teasingly smirked. Shuji in turn grew a tick mark at her expense and chuckles.

"You little brat, you…!"

Jase kept his trademark blank stare on the group. "About time. I was about to think I would have to cast you up. You wouldn't be too fit being a mummy now, would you?"

Shawn calmly walked up towards Luke's bedside, smiling compassionately down onto him. "How're you feeling?"

Luke looked down at his stomach, contemplative on how to explain himself. At least he didn't feel any pain anymore. "I think I'm okay…" He jerked up at a realization. "Wait…you guys know?"

Esther frowned as she stepped off to the side, revealing Jase. "Jase told us everything."

"Jase…"

The Ventus Battler prodded his glasses. "Truth be told, I didn't have a choice. Shuji threatened to kick my kneecaps open, not that it wouldn't have mattered." He shot a look at Shuji, who growled antagonistic daggers at him. "At any rate, it was to preserve your health. I hope you are comprehensive about this, Luke…still, I apologize."

Luke mournfully frowned. "I see…well I guess it was bound to happen eventually, huh?" In his musings, a harsh punch to his shoulder nearly did him over. "Ow!" He looked up at his bedside. "Shawn?"

The look in Shawn's eyes were a complete 180. Luke felt his blood stop for a moment when he saw the annoyance on his face shown clear as day. "You bastard! Why didn't you tell us you were injured before?!" he yelled.

"Shawn…!" Luke recoiled, but he didn't put up a fight. In his heart he actually expected this kind of reaction from his close friends. Still, it did hurt some to get scolded at, but it was his fault. Jase warned him. "…you're right, I probably should've told you guys."

Shawn stepped back and crossed his arms. "Geez…"

"That still doesn't make it okay you know." Maggie quipped. "What could've happened if we didn't know before? If you didn't tell us before, when were you gonna tell us even?"

"Don't think I'm that dumb to think we should've had some right to know or something." Shuji snarled, walking towards Luke. "Look pal, we did this for Esther and all, but we didn't need a handicap weighing us back. I should've knocked your teeth in while you were still out for how stupid you were."

"Shuji." Shawn quipped, his tone hinting awareness.

Aware of what he just said, Shuji turned around, fists balling. "Sorry. It's just…damnit why do you have to make me worry so much for a bunch of idiots like you?!"

Luke's expression softened. He could see Shuji did care…just in a rough way. "I didn't think it was that important to you, Shuji."

Shuji sniffled and turned away. "Whatever."

"Luke…" He turned towards Alice, who had a balled fist to her chest. "Please don't think we pity you, we don't. We're just really worried about you is all. We understand why you did what you did; it was for all of us, including Esther, wasn't it? You were worried that if we turned back because of you, you'd feel responsible for holding us back from saving her."

Luke gazed down mournfully. Alice hit it right on the nose. He didn't want to keep himself from being a burden like he did. Still, he knew there had to be more to what's being said.

"You were willing to give up your life if it meant you guys could bring back someone you all called a friend. That's a very courageous thing to do, Luke…" She walked up to his side, looking down at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "But please, consider your friends' feelings in the choices you make from now on. I'm speaking to you as your friend, Luke. And as your friend, I wanna see you all make it through this…together. Hydranoid and I are supporting you all the way, we're in this as much as you are…so please, stay well."

"Alice…" Luke smiled softly, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "I'm sorry, I don't think I'll be able to make promises that I don't think I'll be able to keep…but I'll keep trying. It's the least that I can do. Sorry to put you guys through all that."

Esther looked down at Luke, her head raised with a judgmental expression. She seemed dead serious and spiteful on him that it made him worry, but he didn't flinch. Eventually she sighed and turned away, her eyes closing with her folded hands softening.

"Okay…we accept your apology." She said softly. "But please…don't you ever hide anything from me again."

Luke grinned. "…yeah, okay."

"You're such a hopeless idiot…" Esther sighed.

Maggie's demeanor turned to a relaxed one. "Glad that's over with. Man, what a nightmare that was."

"I believe the nightmare is just beginning, Maggie." Jase foreshadowed. "Now Luke, if you're able to stand, I advise you take a shower…we have quite a bit to discuss that I believe you would want to hear us out."

Luke nodded. "Got it."

Shawn walked over towards him, helping him up. "Here, I'll give ya a hand." He helped Luke get out of his bed, supporting his left arms over his shoulder with his back.

"Shawn…thank you…" Luke murmured.

"Hey stupid, save your strength to stand in the shower, alright?" a smile tugged on Shawn's lips. "I don't wanna be the one to pick you up if you aren't wearing a towel."

As they exited the room towards the bathroom, they made a left turn towards the door. Behind their backs, Luka was outside the room leaning against the wall, Brontes on his shoulder as they watched Luke's back.

The shower water turned off, allowing residual drips to splatter onto the drain. Luke stepped out of the shower to dry off and to relax his muscles. He made sure to keep his movements to a minimum since he was still wrapping up on healing. He was sure he would have to change his bandages soon as well since they were wrapped around him for a few days. As he had a towel wrapped around his torso, he looked into the mirror at his reflection. He knew he couldn't stare at himself for that long, not that he wanted to admire how he looked to begin with. He was more engrossed with everything that's been taken in, how his friends understood him, but at the same time he knew the consequences for being selfish.

"Hey, Abis. You okay, man?" Luke asked.

In the faucet sink, there was a small pool of hot water that Abis' ball form floated in. He curled up and popped open again at Luke. "I could be asking you that. We were out for a while, weren't we?"

"You too, huh? Right, we both pushed ourselves pretty far this time. Guess this is what we get." He started undoing his towel, going for a fresh set of his attire. He started with his ocean blue boxers. "But I guess we got off easy."

"Yeah, that's one way of putting it." Abis floated on his back in the water, floating aimlessly as he stared at the white ceiling. "…hey, Luke."

"Yeah?" Luke turned his head as he was applying his pants next.

"You know, believe it or not, I think I get what the others were saying. But…you're my partner, Luke. I support you, you know that…but, you know-"

Luke sighed. His black shirt was being tucked into his pants as he faced away. "I know, Abis. I think looking back at it now, if that were you…maybe I'd do the same thing. You're my friend after all, I wanna see us get as far as we can if it meant saving everyone else."

"Heh, but nobody said what we did wasn't the truth. We've made our choices and decisions and followed through to them. That's what we believed in. That's just how we're dealing with our lives."

"…yeah." Luke paused as his jacket was back on. It was clean and had no blood stains on it. "Either way, I can't say that I'm proud of what I did…but I'm grateful." He looked at him and smiled. "Because we got through together, didn't we? Abis, you're a good friend and Bakugan…thanks for putting up with someone selfish like me."

Abis sneered. "Hey, what are partners for?"

Luke smiled at him. "Yeah. Hey, I guess that's how we learned to battle this well if we were able to keep up with Riaan and Hades Pillars this far." He pulled him out of the hot water. "Alright, let's go. I'm sure Atchibee and the others are wanting to see us."

"Agreed."

Outside the bathroom, Luka and Brontes were leaning against the other end of the wall. They heard everything, including the appreciation in their voices. He had a low brow disposition, but Luka didn't know what to say, let alone how to say such things. He just listened.

"Isn't that all just lovey-dovey." Brontes chimed. "Man and his pet truly is a beautiful relationship. Why don't we ever do that, Luka?"

"Shut up." He murmured. "That's not our priority here. It's to stop Riaan and his plans for good."

"But still, never kills to try and have a little fun along the way, wouldn't you say, dear friend?"

"I never said we're friends. We're partners…we've made that clear when we met. Don't forget every cooperation starts on a foundation. Besides…" His toes tapped along lightly against the wall. "You're doing this for someone you've lost, right? I'm no replacement…but we need each other. Bear with that."

The door to the bathroom slid open. Luka looked at Luke and Abis on his shoulder as he came out fully clothed. The two locked eyes for a moment, with their Bakugan on Luke's left shoulder, and Brontes on Luka's right. It was like looking into a mirror.

Before the awkwardness settled in between them, Luke managed to sway in a comment. "Sorry, were you waiting too long?"

"No. I was told it would be appreciative for someone to watch his back." Luka stated. Though, in his mindset, it wasn't an entire lie. It wasn't that he was worried about Luke or anything. He was still new to this whole 'friendship' thing. But at least he was trying. "You got your rest, so you ready to see what's happening?"

Luke frowned in seriousness. "I have a pretty good idea." He turned towards the hall. "C'mon, let's go." He started towards the elevator, but he stopped to look back at Luka. "Oh, and Luka…" he paused, giving him a meek smile. "Thank you…for everything."

In a moment of fluster, Luka furrowed his brow and turned away huffing. "Just get going." Luke and Abis looked at each other in acceptance and walked onwards, leaving Luka with his little pout. "Damn dreck, why's he so naïve?" He turned towards Brontes, who smirked at him. "What?"

"Someone's looking happy~." The clown chimed.

"Shut it!" He clutched his ball form and snarled with light pink in the cheeks. "Honestly…" He followed Luke towards the elevator to go towards the bridge.

The elevator doors opened, allowing everyone to meet them at the second floor, or rather, the bridge. Luke and Luka stepped out to meet them.

"Sure took you long enough. Better hope you didn't use all the hot water again." Maggie chimed.

Jase held his studious posture. "Now then, if everyone is all set, we have guests whom you should see."

Luke and Abis walked up towards the deck, allowing Jase to step off to the side for them to see. They looked down, and they both looked shocked to say the least.

"W-wait a minute! Aren't those-!"

On the lower-half of the deck surrounding the primary round table, there were four figures that seemed to be talking with each other. Down below there was Shun, Marucho, Gunz. And lastly, someone whom Luke recognized as the last-minute savior from before.

Dan and Drago turned around and saw everyone present, including Luke. "Oh, yeah. It's you guys. You're awake now?"

Luke's eyes widened at the sight. 'The Battle Brawlers…they're here…' He backed up from the balcony and looked towards the others expectantly. "

"Dan Kuso and his friends made their way towards Gundalia just a little while ago during the battle." Jase explained. "They're part of the reason as to why we're still here, and how Riaan's forces sustained a few rankings dismembered."

"They said they wanted to talk to us a little more once we're all on our feet." Shawn walked past Luke, harshly patting his back. "Now buck up, we've got some company."

Quickly gathering his bearings, Luke focused on getting down the sides of the stairs and used the railings to support himself. He managed to work his way down easily and found solid footing to walk towards the Battle Brawlers. Once he caught up with everyone, the near-dozen humans were all jumbled together to discuss.

"Sure took you long enough." Shun said coolly, though there was a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"Shun, and Marucho. And…Gunz, was it?" Luke looked towards the last mentioned for confirmation. Gunz nodded. He turned towards Dan. "And I guess that makes you…Dan, right?"

Dan smiled. "Yup, that's me pal. So, you're the guy the others were telling me about huh?" He reached his hand out. "Pleasure to meet ya."

Luke awkwardly looked at Dan's hand to see the right hand was outstretched. Luke reached out his left hand, but flinched at the awkwardness. "Sorry, I'm kinda lefthanded."

Dan adjusted his left arm and reached out his left hand to shake with Luke's to compensate. "Hey, no sweat. No skin off my bones I guess." As he pulled back, he turned towards Drago. "Hey Drago, He doesn't look too bad, don't you think?"

Drago floated by Dan's side, nodding. "Yeah, you can say that." He turned towards Abis Omega. "It's an honor to meet you."

Abis, retaining his redeemed composure, kept a straight head, neither showing pride nor concede. "Yeah, same here…" he paused. "Thank you, for what happened before. We were…in a rough situation."

"Don't mention it. We're just glad we came when we did." He turned towards the other Bakugan. "To all of you. We've heard a lot from Shun and Mira about what's happened to New Vestroia, how you all sacrificed so much to help those in need. We owe you a great deal."

Jelldon bashfully curled up in ball form. "Hehe, oh, stop…you're gonna make me blush…" he giggled.

"No need for that, Jelldon." Atmos quipped.

"It's nothing to thank us for. We did it of our own accord, Fusion Dragonoid." Atchibee said politely. "I trust that you're here under similar circumstances as well, right?"

"Yeah, you can say that." Drago turned to Dan. "Right, Dan?"

The leader of the Battle Brawlers nodded. "Yeah, big time. Still, I gotta say…I wasn't expecting a lot of familiar faces. Especially you, Shuji. Long time no see. Looks like you're hanging about I guess."

Shuji's eye twitched. "Yeah, sure…"

Dan turned towards Alice. "And Alice, you and Hydranoid came back. I thought your brawling days were behind you, now that Masquerade is…"

Alice humbly grinned. "Yes, I know…but I came here of my own reasons too. I couldn't just sit by knowing I could've been a help in any way. Actually…" she turned towards the others. "If you wanna give me a reason, it's because these guys. They inspired me to see this through. How am I supposed to live with myself knowing that my friends fought so hard while I couldn't even try?"

"Alice, we didn't mean to…" Marucho stepped up, but he was unable to finish.

"So you turned your back on what I said and went with them regardless, huh?" Shun said accusingly. "You know, we were worried about you, too. What could've happened if you weren't with us? Huh?"

Alice shook her head. "No, Shun. You're mistaken. These guys, they actually know what they're doing. I've seen it for myself. They're willing to risk everything for everyone close to them. They're not as helpless as you think."

Luke smiled softly at Alice's defense. "Thanks, Alice…"

Shawn put a hand to his hip. "Hey, hate to break the news to you guys, but I don't think right now's the time for us to start debating who's on what side."

Verias popped open on his shoulder. "Shawn's right. We've got a situation we're in right now."

Jase turned towards Luke. "Luke, you were in a coma for 3 days. There's some news that you need to hear."

"Like what…?"

The Trailer suddenly began vibrating at a large magnitude. It was enough to almost knock everyone off their feet at the sounds of crumbling and explosions that reigned around. It took a minute for it all to settle before all that was left were faint echoes.

"An earthquake?" Luke pondered.

Luka turned away. "Look out that thing you call a window and you'll get a good reason why."

Luke chose not to question and made way back up towards the upper deck. Once he got a better viewpoint, he realized what Luka meant. He stared with shrunken eyes at the vicious sight.

The Trailer was sitting on a high, flat perch that was along Gundalian mountains still in tact. The high vantage point showed the miles on end of Gundalian ground, bare, cracked, and masses if open fissures and mountains of jagged, pale crust. In the distance, there were large holes that opened up to space. There were depressed formations that gave way to a dull shade of sun that could make dust and what seemed like Devil Miasma fizzing in these fissures. And it didn't stop there. In the distance, the echoes came from another part of Gundalia's crust, which had just crumbled into a mound of earth to look like a mountain like other formations far apart.

The littered wasteland gave Luke an uneasy chill. He stood there, taking in the grizzly, familiar scenery that was bringing him back to unpleasant memories. "Abis…this is…like Interacia…"

Abis stared blankly on his shoulder, unable to come up with words. "Is this…Gundalia even?"

"Riaan's influence due to Empyrean's amplification effects has caused the planet to steady its own collapsing speed. At this rate, it's at a faster rate compared to what happened on Vestal." Jase explained. "Our battle with Armagedoid has also brought some negative effects to the planet's instability. Physical attributes such as the layout crumbled by the shockwaves. Because of this, there were many casualties for the Gundalians."

"All those poor people…" Maggie looked down, mourning for the lives that were crumbled and crushed. They came here to try and save them, but the exact opposite happened.

Shawn and Shuji looked down in distaste. They didn't wanna think about the dead Gundalians they saw when they returned to the surface. It still stung a little seeing spears in heads. They had a pretty good idea of whom did that.

Luke looked away, his displeasure showing. "I think I'm going to be sick…."

"We knew it wouldn't turn out the way we wanted, Luke." Esther consoled. "The Gundalians weren't aware of this destruction, not until we came here to warn them about it. At least, with this information, they can find solace knowing what's happening."

Luke looked down in distress. He didn't know whether to make heads or tails to what Esther implied. But he knew people should be aware of the cause. Who knows, maybe they'll be able to get the Gundlians rallied to fight harder…if there were any.

He looked up at the others. "That's right! Whatever happened to Ren? Did he and the others make it out?" He didn't know if it was something he should've asked, or if it's something he wants to know. But he still felt obligated to some extent.

Jaakor opened on the table in front of the Battle Brawlers. "Ren and his friends are in stable condition. They were brought to first-aid after we rescued them. However, their former base was destroyed by the time we've arrived. It was crushed by rubble."

"We've managed to find a secure place as a substitute." Skytruss stated. "Don't worry, they're still alive."

Orbeum waddled up. "But Ren especially was beaten up bad. Whatever happened to him and the Prime Minister left them dazed. I don't think they'll be up for a while."

Luka looked towards Luke to see how he would react. Rom what he was reading, he could see Luke's displeasure, but also hints of relief that his new friends were still alive. But he knew better than to be optimistic with how unstable Gundalia has been growing now. He retained silence in consolidation.

"Where are they now?" Maggie asked. She was particularly worried about Zenet, but she didn't want to look too selfish at this time.

"They're in a small shelter just a little over. We've scrounged for whatever medical resources to spare them." Shun explained. He turned his head towards the windows as a shadow overcast them. They all saw what looked like a massive wyvern descending down. "And it's them."

They all took to themselves outside to watch the large shadow drop down. Upon landing, the ground tremored slightly. Avior lowered his head, revealing Mason and Lena jumping off his head. There seemed to be another person there as well, but he was on Avior's back rather than the head. They all watched the two walk up and stand in front of Avior at the confrontation.

Mason and Lena stood idly as Marucho spoke. "So, what's the status? Is everything okay now?"

Lena huffed as she positioned her spectacles with her finger. "Well, for the time being, it seems we've managed to organize everything within the Capital City."

"She means to say that things are dying down." Mason interrupted.

Avior grunted in annoyance. "Hmph, speak for yourselves. Plitheon's loquacious caws are ringing in my ears."

"No one asked you, wise guy." Mason backlashed whimsically.

"That's right. How're you all holding up? I heard you guys suffered injuries against the Interacian Army." Esther commented.

Mason twisted his heel about, raising his head. "Tch, yeah. We got our butts handed to us good that time." He shifted his head at her. "But our numbers took a bigger hit than we did. Don't ask how many though, the toll it took on old Nurzak has left him pretty down."

Maggie frowned. "Is he gonna be okay? I mean, at least Gundalia isn't completely gone."

"We appreciate your sentiments." Lena paused. "But as much as we'd like that, someone else would like to have a word with you guys."

To answer her question, the sound of a thud got everyone to look past them and saw a familiar man slide off Avior's back. The third individual's feet turned as he had several bandages and a cast over his left arm. Overall, he looked to be in rough shape.

"Ren!" Marucho was the first to rush up to him. He saw how he used Avior's heel to support himself. "Ren, what are you doing here…?"

Ren looked down at his human comrade, his expression softening. "Marucho, hey."

Mason snorted as he crossed his arms. "Hey, don't look at us. It wasn't our idea to bring him."

"He was absolutely insistent on seeing you guys this time, despite our clear warnings of his health." Lena inserted. "How stubborn he is."

Shawn crossed his arms and smirked. "Oh trust me, we know all about that, don't we?" At that moment, everyone shifted glances at Luke. The Aquos battler gnashed his teeth and turned away impishly.

"Ren, long time no see there man." Dan greeted.

Ren gave his old friend a smile. "Dan. Shun. Marucho. It's good to see you guys back." He turned towards Gunz. "You as well, thanks."

Despite not knowing Ren, Gunz chose to let it slide. He didn't deserve to be talked back to, he felt it. "Yeah pal, don't sweat it." He paused. "You sure you can move like that?"

"This?" Ren looked at his arm; more accurately the shoulder that had the bandages. "Yeah, don't worry. I just need a little more time and it'll be back up to speed. And my leg's a lot better now, see?" To demonstrate his boast, Ren stood straight up without hesitation. Though as he tried stepping he lurched. "Gngh!"

"Easy, Ren!" Marucho insisted.

Ren backed off and sighed. "You're right. Guess I took things for granted there…" He looked down at the ground, his gaze darkening. "But…that's exactly what that Zion guy was trying to tell me, wasn't it? Because of that, now not just myself paid for that price, but now all of Gundalia…guys, I'm really sorry, for putting you through all this…I've failed."

Dan frowned. He can most certainly empathize with Ren's despair. Seeing Ren on the verge of tears was something that stung him, but he had to be strong and reassure him. He walked up and placed a hand on his good shoulder. "Don't be. Ren. You guys did what you could…now you just leave them to us."

"Dan…"

"Besides, even though the place is still torn apart, at least you're still alive. You guys can come up with a plan while we track down that Riaan creep for ya."

"That is a promise." Drago assured. "We have to avenge those who have fought valiantly…and the ones who've fallen during the process. It's too soon to give up hope."

Ren was still downcasted. He looked to be contemplative about what Dan and Drago were pointing out. But, as much as he appreciated their support, that wasn't enough to stop the images of Zoon usurping him and Linehalt. It was more than just the physical wounds that inflicted him, it was also the mental wounds. The words Zion spoke before were still fresh.

"It's people like you that I hate to have alive…the kind that do not learn from their mistakes; those who believe they know what's best, and think they can do what's best, but they don't have the power, nor the experience to do so. You say that you've been in wars before, so tell me, did you intend to kill me when you've found an opening? Or were you just going to have that old man over there take the brunt of it all?"

Ren was grievously disappointed. Not just himself, but for what he believed in. What Zion said wasn't far from what was reality. In war, people die. If he actually had the slightest bet of taking down Zion, he'd have to fight back…and possibly try to kill him. But he didn't. Beat the Bakugan and win. That was the overall fate decided. But that was between Bakugan. Against humans and others, they don't hear a bell.

His fists balled tighter, his frustrations rising. "Listen, Dan…"

Dan raised a brow. "Yeah?"

"You better be careful with what you say, alright? I'm just saying this as a warning. Those guys we faced, they're not like Mag Mel. They didn't come here to take over and wipe us out. Their plan is something greater. If you wanna win this, you have to be on your guard. Because I don't want you guys making the same mistakes we've made…so please, make sure you guys know what you're doing."

Dan looked back towards the Battle Brawlers in confusion. He didn't fully understand what he was saying, but in a symbolic sense, he could comprehend it. They've fought enemies like Naga, Zenoheld, Barodius, and Mag Mel, and Mechtavius Destroyer. All of them were ferociously powerful in their own right. He knew this foe had to eb tough if he could turn an entire planet's geography to crumbled remains. "Yeah, sure thing." He said in a serious tone.

Ren turned towards Jase and his group. "So, what are you guys going to be doing?"

Jase turned away, prodding his glasses up. "We'll be returning back to Earth. We were informed the conditions were growing much worse then it did a week ago. We'll have to layout all the data we have as well for us to come to an understanding."

"Alright then." He turned towards Luke and Luka. "And Luke."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you guys. When you see them again…give them one for me, alright?"

Luke confidently nodded. "You got it."

Lena hummed. "I believe it's time that we returned to the others."

Ren faced her. "You're right. The Prime Minister needs us there." He gave the others one last nod. "Don't worry about a thing, we'll be just fine. It's just like you said, Maggie, we'll work something out. Until we're properly back on our feet, we'll build whatever we can until we're ready to strike back. We can't go down without a fight."

"We wouldn't expect that any other way." Shun agreed.

"Take care, Ren." Marucho smiled.

He gave the shorter human a soft smile. "Yeah, same here." He and the others hopped back onto Avior as the wyvern made way back towards the Gundalian Capital…whatever was left of it that is.

As Avior sailed off, the others looked on as they watched another one of their new comrades sailed off into their dying world. First it was Keith and Gus, and then Preyas and the other Bakugan…now Ren and the Gundalians. Just how many more have to bear with these conditions?

"I think it's about time we get going." Shawn advised.

"You're right. We have to get back and relay what we can." Esther prompted.

"Very well then. I'll mobilize the Trailer for takeoff." Jase glanced over at the Battle Brawlers. "And I can trust you guys will lend your support as well?"

Drago floated right by Dan. "Of course. I'll set a course for headquarters. We can gather everything we have there and talk it all out with one another."

Luka huffed. "Then what are you guys standing around for? Shouldn't you have done that already instead of talk here then?"

"Somebody's a little impatient~." Brontes teasingly giggled.

"Guess we should go then." Fly Beetle opted.

"Got that right." Shuji agreed.

Everyone got into the Trailer and up towards the deck. With everyone accounted for, Luke and the others took their respective seats while the Battle Brawlers took the lower deck seating area. Jase set up functions and the Trailer started rumbling again. It wasn't an earthquake this time. The whole thing started transforming towards tank mode.

Luka stood off to the side of Luke's seat, giving him a passive glance. Luke looked over his shoulder and made eye contact with Luka for a brief moment before Luka fiercely turned away. Luke casually grinned and resumed his focus.

Watching the scene, Alice smiled softly. She turned towards Esther, who did the same and grinned softly at these changes and progressions made.

"Alright Drago, you ready?" Dan asked.

On top the Trailer's head, Drago nodded. "I'm ready." He focused his energy throughout his body and his eyes glowed bright rainbow colors. In his vision, he was getting a mental picture of the Battle Brawlers HQ. Once he was all set, he grunted as his horn shot a thin laser outwards, spreading into a distortion that transformed into a Dimensional Portal large enough for the Trailer to fit through.

Dan punched outwards. "Next stop: Earth!"

Everyone steeled themselves as the Trailer began making its way across Gundalian ground. Maggie, as well as Jelldon, were looking through the windows to give one more passive glance at the dark planet collapsing around them. Shawn crossed his arms and glared daggers. Shuji kept a furrowed brow as he knew it wasn't over. With the exception of everyone else being straightforward, Luka and Brontes took one look at everyone around him. These were people he was bounded to work with.

"Hmph."

With that small huff of air, the Trailer vanished through the portal, with it closing behind to leave Gundalia.

Interacia was in a complete overhaul. Compared to what used to be the hills and flatlands created after the crust had completely collapsed, it was now molded into a natural landscape. It had stable ground, as well as high cliffs that overlooked the blue water that flowed from high points of rivers that came from nearby mountains. The planet's changes were drastic, but otherwise smooth and calibrated.

However, amongst the dirt and minerals, glowing green minerals were apart of the ground now. Near rivers, and even in the dark trenches below, where Abis Omega and other Aquos Bakugan swam freely, these glowing rocks brightened the darkness. They were only a fraction of the contents that were acquired from Gundalia. And now, it is also here that these minerals were accompanied by other matters.

It wasn't just the minerals that had been copied. Throughout the land, there had been much less Bakugan from New Vestroia. Wild Atmos were flying away as Ventus Farakspin were sweeping the skies. Along the ground, Spidaro and Nastix of various attributes were roaming about, minding their own business. Along the shorelines of some sandy shores, there were a few Aquos Gren that were napping, whereas deeper within the water, several Megarus were breaching and hissing.

Gundalian Bakugan were everywhere, but that wasn't the worst of it. All of them had black coats with magenta accents primarily over their bodies. It was a sign of Riaan's so-called 'enhancements, not that anybody was aware, nor cared since they were to remain in their cities, otherwise retain on the roads that were created by metal railings, allowing futuristic cars to zoom pass each other across the green hills and forests below.

In Solaris, the city was no longer surrounded by darkness. Rather, it was casted into a scenery with a variety of futuristic and modern closures. Beyond the walls that bordered the city, there was greenery and blossoming wildlife, the soil as fertile and rich as New Vestroia to give the plants the shine they deserve.

On the balcony of his massive tower to overlook the domain, Riaan stood with Armagedoid on his shoulder to overlook the whole view. They were so high up now they could see past the city limits and towards the massive pillars that resembled canyons with greenery atop of them. They could even see the green minerals on the sides. The sight seemed to appease them.

"This is what progression is all about." Riaan spoke philosophically. "Armagedoid, look around you. Do you see the changes that are happening because of our plan?"

"I do, Master."

"The fertilization of New Vestroia. The ethnicity and diverse designs of Earth's architect. The technology of Vestal. And now, the power and putridness that was Gundalia. With the last planet we've come across, the number of Gundalian species we've had on this planet is overrunning the New Vestroia inhabitance…heh, suppose that's part of natural selection." He looked towards the skies. "The unification of all these worlds in coming together. The resonance we've had with the crumbling world that you've seen before is no more. The plague we've once had, is now being fumigated…we're nearly there, my friend."

Armagedoid fell silent as he looked out at the scenery. It wasn't that he wasn't engrossed in what his master was saying. He was with him the whole way. His mother tried to seal him – maybe destroy him. It was his personal mission to show the universe he mattered just as much. But, lately, he was thinking about something. His recent encounter with Dan and Drago was leaving him to be desired. He sensed a lot of power from them…a very familiar power.

Riaan, of course, wasn't fooled in the slightest. "Are you still wrapped around your meeting with Drago, Armagedoid?"

The black dragon turned sharply. "M-Master. I…"

"It's fine. It's natural for you to be worried about these things." He gave him a reassuring look. "In terms of power, Fusion Dragonoid upholds the greatest attributed power granted to him by Eve herself. She gave him that power after Dharak was defeated."

"I see…"

"But you know, that new power came with complications as well. Unlike you Armagedoid, Eve never explained her powers towards Drago. She never told…rather, she never realized the faults that her powers would result in. In doing so, you can say she indirectly almost destroyed Earth. I'm sure you're familiar with the original Dragonoid and Dharaknoid, right?"

Armagedoid promptly nodded. "Yes. I saw it with my own eyes…mother split them apart, and created different worlds…was she afraid of what happened if they found each other?"

"Evidently, Drago and Dharak, the descendants of those Bakugan, did in fact find their ways towards each other. I can't say that it ended fairly, but when one beat the other, to the victor went the spoils: Uncontrollable power. And the loser was to be banished and sealed…only, she had no idea how strong her actions would have an impact. What she sought for peace nearly brought destruction. She may have saved Dan and Drago afterwards, but did she apologize for it? No." He turned away, eyes closing. "But listen, Armagedoid. Though Drago does have the powers of Eve herself, that doesn't mean he's unstoppable. You also have my powers as well…no, I'm sorry. They're your powers. You are your own Bakugan, entitled to your own strength. It is up to you to decide how to proceed. You're not entitled like Drago feels like he must be."

Armagedoid lowered his head. "Thank you, Master…you're right. I am my own Bakugan. I have powers that can help unify our worlds, and that is my decision to make. If the Dragonoid does not see to that…"

Riaan smirked. "Then let it be so."

A holographic screen suddenly appeared beside him, showcasing Galilea's face. "Your eminence." She greeted.

"Yes, Galilea. Is there something you wish to share?" he prompted, containing a stern tone. "I was having a moment."

"My sincerest apologies. But I wanted to inform you first-hand. The Empyrean's refinements are on their final stages."

"Very well then. Right on schedule. I suppose that will suffice for a reason." Relaxing, he turned towards the screen. "Now then, rendezvous with the rest of Hades Pillars. Have Cyrus and Zion be alert first, and then have them reconvene in the war room. We will hold a meeting as the modifications take into place. Understood?"

"Alright." Galilea but her lower lip as she faded out of sight. The screen disappeared from Riaan's view as he walked back towards the corridor.

"Armagedoid, will you be accompanying me?"

The Darkus Bakugan floated behind Riaan's back, perching onto his shoulder. "Yes. I am ready."

In the tower's lower chambers, the main room with the six attributed symbols in the center shined. Teleporting atop them was Hades Pillars, all at the same time. The inner circles were left alone, no doubt from the absence of their attributed inferiors. Nobody noticed the frown Galilea had looking at the Ventus symbol that was empty her best worker. They all dropped to a knee as Riaan teleported in the center core, facing Cyrus with a serious disposition. He looked around, seeing all of his underlings bowed and ready to be given orders. "I trust you all have done your shares of the deeds given. That's good." He raised his head. "Now then, are we ready to proceed?"

"What is it that you seek, sire?" Cyrus said eerily.

Riaan humbly grinned. He was going to enjoy this last trip. "We have successfully extracted everything from the necessary planets we've been to. Earth. New Vestroia. Vestal. And now Gundalia. That now leaves us with one more planet left…" He swiped his arm, showing a holographic screen of a planet that looked a lot like Earth. Everyone turned towards the projection.

"Hmph, finally, something that doesn't look dull." Amina huffed.

"Your highness, is that…?" Galilea trailed off.

Riaan eyed the planet. Not just him, but Armagedoid was looking just as ready. The room emanated a series of bright networks that illuminated the room.

The Trailer had returned to Earth, and from the looks of it, the atmosphere was anywhere that wasn't clean. All throughout Bakugan City, there were several piles of debris and cracked buildings, no doubt from fissures and earthquakes that happened earlier and refused to let up. In the parks, the water was getting to be like dull pond water, and salty to where even waterfowl couldn't stay too long. No one was out, and there was no sign of Bakugan either. It was a disgusting sight to behold.

Holding in their expressions, the Trailer parked on the Battle Brawler's HQ top and were brought inside by Kato. The butler had a cloth over his mouth as he stepped out to keep his lungs in tact. He showed everyone inside, where they went directly towards the lab.

When the lab doors opened, the first two faces they saw inside were Mira and Julie. The two girls turned around from the holographic monitor in the center of the lab containing various pictures of the world and news to see their all-too-familiar guests.

"There you guys are! Where the heck have you been?!" Julie lashed out.

Surprised by her outburst, Luke stopped to take in everything. "Mira. And Julie, too."

Julie took notice of Alice almost instantly. With a gasp, she rushed for her and wrapped her in a big hug. "Alice! Girl, there you are! You had me worried sick, you know?!"

"Julie." Alice was caught off guard by her old friend's embrace. It took her a moment for her to process before she chose to smile. "I'm sorry for making you guys worry."

Julie pulled away. "You better be! Do you have any idea what's been going on?! It's madness!"

Shuji stuck a pinky into his ear. "Geez, can you be any louder? We just got back, don't blow our heads off."

Mira shot a look at Luke's group before choosing to focus on her Battle Brawler friends. "So, how's Gundalia then? Was the information we gathered accurate?"

"Well…" Dan didn't know how to say it in words. He had to put it carefully so that it didn't sound like a complete blunder. "Gundalia's…in bad shape. That creep Riaan git there before we did. Ren and the others were in a tight spot before we had to help them out. So, how's things here then?"

Mira stepped off towards the side. "See for yourselves."

The others looked past her to get a better visual of the pictures and ongoing videos about the planet's condition. On many of the bulletins, there were diagrams of magenta energy that was spreading like roots beneath the mantle, and many others showing wilted pines, and caved-in mountains in the American region. The air shown in the big cities, much like London, and places like Japan all had dusty air and almost all the populace walking around with masks over their noses and mouths.

"…and by the end of next week, the Amazon's waters would be all but polluted. It's roughly estimated that 90% of all its species will be contaminated and extinct." The newswoman at a desk spoke. "In recent events, we've been given an update by our head of this ongoing investigation, Mira Clay." The screen showed Mira and Julie's faces. "Along with former Battle Brawler and roaming reporter, Julie Makimoto, the news about our planet's infection caused by the threat known as Riaan and his extraterrestrial energy, is continuing to slowly infect the rest of the world. Citizens are to be continued to heed to the advisement of the safety regulations, and to remain indoors as treated as a Level 3 emergency. This is an international security measure that is to be followed; if you are to head outside, please do take caution. Safety masks are a recommendation for the toxicity increase in the polluted areas as followed…"

As the report went on, everyone's attention was on the many frames of the world. Wildlife was growing rancid if the birds flying away meant anything. Sinkholes in the middle of large lakes left the water to drain towards the lower regions of the world, leaving dried pits and bones. Just seeing all this worldwide destruction was enough to make Shuji's skin crawl, but he knew better than to panic. Everyone did.

Luka crossed his arms at the gruesome sight. He seemed the most disturbed.

"We were able to hold our end and told everyone about Riaan and his plan. We're doing everything we can to ensure as many people are saved as possible until the calamities shorten." Mira looked up at the screen's catastrophes. "But, as you can see, the rate of which these natural disasters are happening are rapidly spontaneous. It'll only get worse from here."

There was a knock at the door at that instance. All their attention went towards Kato, who returned to them. "Pardon my intrusion, young masters. I hope that I am not interrupting."

"What is it, Kato?" Shun asked.

"We have a visitor. I believe that she was worried about you all." He stepped off to the side. "Right this way, young miss."

Stepping into the lab, they all turned their eyes and ears at the young woman who had stepped in. She was a light-skinned girl with bright blue hair that was in two ponytails with flat ends. She had large green eyes and had a skirt, a short-sleeve blue vest with a red tie. Her arrival stunned half the people there.

"Wait, is that…?" Marucho trailed off in shock. Shun and Gunz fell quiet for a short time.

The girl looked around the room, her eyes immediately casting onto Dan. "Dan!" She made a rush for him, stopping in front of him. "I heard you were back!" She looked at Julie, and Mira. "Julie…Mira…"

"Runo!" With a squeal of joy, Julie jumped and hugged her old friend. "I missed you so much, you're okay!"

"Guys, you're okay!" Runo shared the sentimental hug. "I was so worried about you guys! And Alice, I heard you went missing a short time ago, is that true?"

Alice nervously scratched her cheek. "Well, i-it's a little complicated, you see…"

She lastly turned towards Dan, their eyes meeting. "Dan…" She smiled softly with a fist to her chest. "You're back…"

Dan softly smiled. "Yeah, Runo. Sorry."

Runo was so happy to see him, but that was no excuse to her. She huffed and turned away. "…Hmph! Well you sure couldn't have picked a better time, ya know!"

Dan flinched. "Ouch! Okay, I get it. My bad…" He looked at everyone gathered around them, even Luke's group. "Well now, it looks like the whole gang is here. Never thought we'd have so many familiar faces again in one place." He rammed his fist into his palm. "Alright then, with of us here, now we can get down to business!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Dan." Shun looked back at Jase. "You guys, you all went to Gundalia. You voluntarily put yourselves in harm's way. If you have anything to say about what you saw, we need as much of the information as we can."

Julie waved a tape recorder in the air. "Yeah! The people have a right to know!"

Runo nodded. "Yeah, mind filling me in?"

They all turned towards each other and had unanimous looks on them. Luka didn't seem to uphold any objections either as Luke shot a look at him. It looked like everyone is in agreement. Jase stepped forward. "By all means, we're in full cooperation. But I should warn you, you may be overwhelmed at first…" At the last second, he turned towards Shawn. "Shawn, would like to detail for us?"

"Wait, seriously?! Why's it always come to me?!" he flabbergasted.

"Because you're the only one who doesn't make it hard for people to understand." Maggie deadpanned.

Shawn groaned irritably, shaking his head. "I swear…alright, here's what's happened…"

Everyone was in full attention at the monitors in front of them. The Battle Brawlers stood adjacent with Luke's group as Jase had his Bakumeter data on the board. It detailed the planet of Gundalia through Riaan's infection in one screen, and many others showed the details and statistics of Hades Pillars and their Bakugan. They all were at a loss for what to say, especially the Battle Brawlers.

"So that's them. That's Hades Pillars." Shun immediately recognized the faces of Lucia and Magnus. He even shared a glance at Zion's screen in recollection of the knives he nearly dodged.

"I can't believe those power levels." Marucho gawked, seeing the gauges of Raptorix and Snapzoid far above the charts. Literally. "Their power really exceeded 8000?"

"Unbelievable." Drago awed.

"Yeah dude, that's crazy." Dan spoke. "How the heck are these guys that strong?"

"They obviously have much stronger and effective forbidden abilities taken after their inferiors Luke and the others encountered on Vestal." Mira explained. "Their Bakugan's base levels are generally average for Gundalia, but it seems they were somehow biologically enhanced with far greater durability to withstand this kind of force."

"But wouldn't that kind of power kill any Bakugan? I'm so confused here." Radizen drooped his head.

Roxtor spoke gibberish again.

"Yeah, I know it's a lot to take in, Roxtor. I just find it ridiculous how these guys took out an entire planet in just a few days."

"It was a calculated strike." Marucho said, stepping up. "We remember seeing that psychic on New Vestroia. If she could see into the future, she must've been able to set up counters for Riaan's forces to be ready for."

"Not only that, but they were also armed as well." Alice warned. She recalled Zion nearly killing her back in the canyons. "They have members who take battling seriously."

"But that's not the worst of it." Mira got everyone's attention by sliding all the panels off to the side to make room for an expanded footage of Riaan and Armagedoid. "Our biggest problem…is this. Riaan, and his Bakugan, Armagedoid."

The room fell silent at the picture. Nobody said anything, but a serious tension swamped their minds. They all could see clearly the power level and the abilities used. The video footage Jase took had numbers and statistics that were immeasurable. It made even Alice frown.

"This is a Bakugan that was created by Riaan directly. In other words, the two share a direct connection with each other and their powers." Mira showed a video screen, showing Armagedoid fighting Luke's group single-handedly. "Just as how Riaan is considered the so-called father of Bakugan, Armagedoid is granted the power to seemingly manipulate other Bakugan as well."

"That would be it's Necromancer Ability." Jase noted.

Maggie raised a brow. "But Riaan's powers use negative energy, right? If Hydranoid and our Bakugan built up a tolerance to all of it, how did he gain control?"

"It was like my body wasn't under my control." Hydranoid popped open on Alice's shoulder. "It had nothing to do with negative energy. I would've felt it then, but I was still conscious. It was an act of puppetry."

"That's gonna be a problem then if he can use turn ourselves against each other." Gunz warranted. "So let me get this straight, we've got these bad guys are dead set on infecting worlds, and they're lead by someone who has a powerful Bakugan that's just like him."

"Well, as basic as one can put it at least." Mira sighed.

Luka crossed his arms, glaring at the screen. His stare was so intense it was like he was trying to combust the projection screen. Brontes gave him a look. "You trying to set the image in fire or something?"

"No. Something else. Take a closer look."

Everyone looked back at the battle playing; the screen duplicated to reveal Riaan's swordsman ship. "What about it?" Radizen prompted.

"See that? What is it that Riaan and Armagedoid are doing?" They all fell silent to see what Luka was trying to point out. They all watched the battle with him absorbing attacks, and taking Fly Beetle and Verias' barrage. Even then, not many caught on.

But someone did. "I get it." Esther said.

"So you see it, too? About time." He adverted towards the lower-halves of them. "That entire time, the whole battle we've fought, Riaan and Armagedoid didn't move from their spots. They stayed in the same area."

"I see…" Jase put a hand to his chin. "Normally in battle, Bakugan generally have to move around. It's the same with people with warfare. It's natural for them to dodge attacks that threaten them." He looked back at the screen. "However, it seems that they withstood their ground, even with our combined efforts."

"They're that strong…" Shawn grunted.

They all watched the battle progressed as Armagedoid was blowing everyone away individually. The way he countered everybody and nearly blew them off their feet like they were nothing was something staggering. Shuji had to suppress a grunt when he and Fly Beetle watched Armagedoid's attack pulverize their defenses.

The Battle Brawlers were in complete silence as they saw Armagedoid and Riaan repel everything they threw; throwing Luke and Luka around – despite the former being injured. Esther and Shawn didn't fair well either despite their skills either. Dan and Drago watched intently as the Bakugan's shockwaves spread violently throughout all Gundalia.

"I've never seen a Bakugan's power level undergo that much pressure before." Marucho worried. "How in the heck did he create such a Bakugan anyway?"

"That's not important right now." Shun clarified, shooting a glance at the others. "So…are you guys satisfied?"

Luke and the others looked at Shun with expectant gazes.

"I warned you guys something like this might happen. Now look what's happened. Ren and the others are in trouble, and you guys nearly lost your lives if Dan and Drago hadn't intervened. Didn't you remember what we talked about before this whole mess started, or did you forget just so you could prove us wrong?"

Marucho walked in front of him nervously. "Hey, c'mon Shun. No need to lash out."

"Yeah, lighten up." Dan furrowed his brow. "Sure it was a close call. But they still got far, didn't they?"

"Dan, listen." Shun's tone was dead serious. "We know you just got back, but this is serious. The fate of Gundalia and all Bakugan is on the line. There isn't any room for trial and error." He turned towards Alice. "And Alice, I thought I told you to watch over them. What happened?"

"Shun…" Alice looked crestfallen at her friend's attitude, but truthfully she expected this.

Before Shun went on, Luke cut in. "Hey, don't put down Alice because of something we decided for ourselves. She has nothing to do with this."

Shun gave him a cold stare. "That so? Well I've heard Hades Pillars was targeting her and took your friend instead. That's the whole reason you were bedridden, wasn't it?"

Luke was about to defend himself until Maggie simmered in front. "Where do you get off calling us out on our hard work?" she backlashed. "And besides, what exactly did we do wrong? Steal your credit?!"

Shun was about to counter before Shuji stepped in with crossed arms.

"Listen pal, nobody made you the boss of us, alright? We're just as involved in this as you, so don't treat us like we don't know anything, alright? You guys may be the Battle Brawlers, and I got my butt handed to ya, but do I seriously look like the kind of guy who just ups and quits on ya?"

"Shuji…" Dan was taken back by Shuji's backbone. 'Man, he's really different. Something must've happened with him no doubt.'

Gunz stepped up with crossed. "We're not saying that. We're saying that maybe you should've spoken about that to us first. Maybe then we could've changed the plans."

"Oh, how I wonder about that." Jase chimed in, earning everyone's ears. "After all, what would a bunch of 'inexperienced and weak' battlers have that the Battle Brawlers would give up their dignity for, or as you've quote it?"

"What?" Gunz flinched.

"Hmph. Sounds like you're not giving those guys over there enough credit." A voice called from the side.

They all turned towards the sound, revelaing Luka against the wall with Brontes with crossed arms. He seemed far from appealed with the berating, but they were stunned no less with his intrusion.

"Luka?" Luke pondered.

"Wait, wasn't he that guy on Vestal?" Radizen pondered.

"Yeah, what's he doing here?" Marucho questioned.

Luke picked himself up from the wall and sauntered over in between. "Hmph, honestly, I thought the same thing, too. 'What could a bunch of reckless idiots do that I should take on as my own responsibility?'. You guys are treating it like it's supposed to be your problem that you're taking it out on them because they got involved." He shot each of the Brawlers a glare, save for Alice who was spared the berating. "I don't know if you don't notice, but you should be at least smart enough to know if they're at least some help, then you should probably take it. You said that you barely survived Hades Pillars, right?"

Before Shun could answer, Luka turned towards Luke and the group. "Well these guys did the same thing several times, and got away with their lives. Even with Mobile Assault Vehicles waged against them. Just because we don't share the same experience, doesn't mean we can still wrap our head around a situation and adapt to it. And besides, last I checked, they made more progress than you did. You've spent all this time waiting for your so-called leader to come back that you disregarded everything, even the priority of Gundalia."

No one wasn't able to say anything. Luka was laying it all out to defend them. Even Alice was touched. Luka made eye contact with her.

"And your friend over went with them because you pushed her away. I did the same thing too with these guys, now look." He gave Shun a cold, stern glare. "Maybe you should know you're place before telling someone how to live the way they want to."

Radizen suddenly floated in front of him. "Now wait a minute, whoever said that we told them what to do?"

Brontes sat on Luka's shoulder with a cynical smile. "What's the matter, afraid someone's gonna smack your talk back with a racket? Then consider yourself served!"

Radizen bounced in midair angrily. "Oh, now you just made me mad, punk! You wanna take this outside?!"

"Hey, can we all just calm down and get along?!" Marucho got between the Brawlers and Luka, whose glares were as sharp as knives. It hurt Marucho just looking directly at Shun and Luka. It looked like they were ready to fight.

After a minute of processing Luka's retort, Shun scoffed. "Hmph, you could've fooled me with all that. We don't know what they're capable of."

"More than you, we can say that." Brontes chimed.

Drago floated beside Dan. "Dan, this is getting out of control."

"I know, Drago." Dan frowned. "Honestly, I can't say that I know them well either. I mean it's only been a couple days, but still…"

"Maybe you should say something." Runo advised.

The air in the room was tense with two opposing sides. No one said anything, but it was clear by their differences in experience that there was a gap in them. There were so many variables regarding experience; there was physical, and mental, and reflexes, reaction, etc. The more Shun and Gunz looked them down, the more Luke and Luka shot the same glares back. They were tempted to show them, but everyone knew better than to pick a pointless fight. They all knew this wasn't the time to throw Bakugan and insults at each other, and Shun realized this.

"You know it's hard to trust if you don't do as you're told." Shun said, his tone hinting dismissal. "But, if you guys say you can take it, don't expect us to keep up with you. Same goes with us."

"We know." Luke stated.

Julie rushed in between them. "Hey~, guys!" she clapped her hands together and smiled wide. "Now listen, this is no time for doom and gloom. Shun~, c'mon, let's give these guys a break. They've been through a lot." She perked up. "I've got an idea! Let's have a little dinner! That'll break the tension, right?"

Maggie smiled wide. "Dinner? You mean with fancy meals?!" Her eyes sparkled with delight, her mouth watering in the thoughts of fancy dishes to taste.

Shawn rubbed the back of his head. "I haven't eaten in ages. Sure, I guess I can eat."

"It's felt like ages since I ate anything! Deal me in!" Maggie cheered.

Runo nervously chuckled. "Sure, alright." She turned to Dan. "This is for me coming as well, right?"

"Yeah, sure thing." Dan smiled at everyone. He could see Maggie jumping and Luke's group talking amongst each other. "Besides…we could probably use a break."

Later that evening, under the dark, cold night, it was still foul and shivering with the planet using some of its heating, but only some. Yet inside the Battle Brawler HQ, everyone was gathered around a large buffet table with a large abundance of food spreads that Kato worked on. Runo helped where she could, and Shawn helped prepare in some areas, too. With the food spread out, they all dug in.

Maggie's cheeks were as stuffed as squirrels, her face scrunched in delight. "Mmmm! So good~!" she squealed. "Man. Jelldon, sometimes I wish you guys could eat. I swear this is the best!"

Jelldon watched his partner eat, an underlying nervousness returning. "Heh heh. Eh, I-I'm okay…" He slowly turned around, his ball form forming a sweatdrop. He was getting flashes of seeing that poor fish getting cut up back in Maggie's kitchen. He still gets nightmares about that.

"So you guys alerted Ren about the situation just before it happened?" Shun sat adjacent from Shawn, who had told them a little about their adventures and what happened on Gundalia. The others sat right by, looking and talking with each other while enjoying the meal.

"Yeah, it wasn't too bad at first." Shawn admitted awkwardly. "Actually, it was Alice who held down the front with Ren. She's the one who came through."

Alice flinched and nervously looked away. "O-oh, no. It wasn't like that!" she gulped. "I-I mean you guys did good, too. You drove off their leaders and everything…"

"So, Shuji, heard you finally settled on an attribute." Dan spoke to his old foe casually. He turned towards Stag Fly Beetle. "That your partner?"

Fly Beetle moved his horn back and forth. "What's up?"

Shuji scoffed, crossing his arms smugly. "Heh, yeah that's him alright. Guy's tougher than you think." He pointed a thumb to himself. "Guess where he gets that from?"

Maggie impishly smirked. "More like where you got it from." She corrected, earning a leer from Shuji.

Luke and Esther sat right by each other. They looked over, seeing everyone seemingly calming down since then. They could see Runo and Julie talking about something, whereas Gunz and Jase were having some form of conversation. Though from the confusion on Gunz' face it was more Jase leading on, leaving Reptak to calm him down and for Atmos to remain as the deterrent between them. They looked over and saw Radizen and the other Bakugan grouped together and making some light conversation with Verias and Brontes; the clown wickedly joking nearly caused Radizen to jump at him if not for Roxtor holding him back. And it seemed Hydranoid and Atchibee were becoming comfortable with each other with Abis off to the side. They all looked relatively calm, despite the circumstances that brought them here.

"It looks like everyone's getting along." Esther softly smiled.

Luke nodded smoothly. "Yeah, sure does." He noticed her eyes shifting awkwardly away. "What is it? Not hungry?"

"No, nothing like that." She meekly said. She took a moment to clear her throat. "Listen, Luke…I just…wanted to say thank you. You know…for what you and everyone did for me…really, I don't deserve to sit here with you guys, not after the trouble that's happened?"

Luke raised a brow. In hindsight, he knew how Esther felt. He felt the same way after Thermosphere…but that was a long time ago. He sat his fork down and smiled at sighed. "Don't be…I know that feeling, too." He looked down impishly. "I caused a lot of trouble, too. But that didn't stop me from doing what I needed to."

Esther's sheepish expression softened. "You're right. I already apologized to the others. It's not easy living with guilt, but it's nice to share it with others who care about you."

"You can say that again." Luke snickered.

Esther looked down at his stomach. "How's your wound doing?"

He looked at his abdomen and back at her. "This? It's doing a lot better. Thanks. Jase said I should be in shape by tomorrow."

Esther softly smiled. "Good. We'll be counting on you and Abis Omega…" her eyes narrowed on him. "And we're gonna make sure you keeping living this out, like we promised."

As they were talking, they were forgetting for a moment that Luka was sitting right besides Luke. He wasn't too familiar with being all go-to with the whole 'caring' gimmick, but of anything, this was all something he didn't have time to take in. Looking around, everyone was talking about matters and other stories; heck, even Brontes seemed to be throwing some good jokes in that made Hydranoid huff. When he looked over, he saw Maggie waving her arms and around and jabbing the air as she exaggerated the battles she's had on Gundalia. He saw Jase with his trademark grin as he calmly cut into a sliver of steak with his knife. He seemed to have the most class compared to everyone else. Even Alice looked like she was having un catching up with Dan and the others. For a brief moment, this was a feeling that made his insides a little fuzzy. He thought he was coming down with something.

They were all on this big quest that had brought them together like this. Shouldn't they be focused on getting to the next planet? Or maybe, shouldn't they be coming up with a strategy first? It's what he would be doing. It's what he felt like they should do. But as much as he felt that way, why would he be ruining such a peaceful moment? That's it! Peace! This was what Luka was feeling right now. It had to be. Peace.

Luke was about to pick up his spoon to dwell on the creamy soup in front of him, but his eye caught Luka's blank stare around him. "Hey, you okay?"

Barely catching wind, he snapped back towards Luke. He gnashed his teeth together. "Hmph…don't worry, I'm just fine."

Luke blinked. He knew at times like this he had to pay close attention; it was starting to become a bad habit really. He saw how his eyes were glancing at the happy faces across the table. He even noticed by Luka was shuffling in his seat like he wanted to get out. "Luka…" he glanced away. "Do you…not like being around people that much?"

Luka gave him a deep leer. "Don't be stupid. I can handle myself around people just fine." He glanced away. "It's just…unsettling is all."

Luke felt like questioning, but he had to consider Luka's position on the matter. "You feel like we should be stopping Riaan, too, right?"

"Heh, look who has the big picture."

Luke humbly grinned. "I think we all feel that way. We all wanna save our homes just like you do."

Luka grunted. "Then why are we sitting here? We've waited long enough for you to heal. What's the point of all this?"

There was a distaste in Luka's tone that Luke immediately caught wind of. Thankfully Luka's tone wasn't loud enough to cause an uproar, but it was still loud enough to cause him to almost flinch.

He looked away, thinking o what to say to him. When he found the words, he returned with a serious look. "It's called a family dinner. It's where everybody can sit down together and just talk and relax. People do it all the time."

Luka glanced away. "Hmph, maybe most people. Or did you forget my parents and family worked and died when I was young?"

"I never said that I forgot. Look, I'm sorry about your family. But…well…don't you think we're close enough to be like that?"

"What are you saying?" Luka showed genuine confusion.

"Look, I still have a mom and dad, and I still miss them. They're family to me." He looked at Abis in front of him. "But Abis is like the comrade I've never had." He turned towards Shawn, who was passing a cake slice to Maggie, who nearly jumped out of her seat in glee. "And Shawn's like a brother who stuck with me my whole life. Maggie. Shuji. Jase, even Alice. We all care about each other. You saw how we risked everything and stuck together. So, if things are gonna get bad from here on, the least we can do is enjoy the time we have left. Look around, this is everybody here."

Luka took one more look around the table. He saw an and Runo smiling at the other. It's been so long since they've seen each other, and Julie came between with a camera and took a big selfie.

He looked down at his plate with a furrowed brow. "Family…"

Luke nudged his arm bashfully. "It won't kill you just to loosen up just for a short while. Besides, it's been ages since we've had anything to eat."

"Hey. Shuji. Remember when all we had to eat were those groceries you had in that plastic bag?" Maggie chimed at the Subterra battler.

Shuji crossed his arms. "Really? Heh, almost forgot about that."

"Sounds like you guys barely get by." Dan said. "How'd you manage that anyway?"

Maggie answered with a shrug. "We don't really know. Just luck I guess." She musingly giggled. "But hey, this was all worth it! Now. Let's stop the chitchat and fill our stomachs!"

"You said it, pipsqueak. Chow time!" Shuji opened his mouth wide, snacking on a large chicken leg.

Luka fell quiet at the display. He wasn't too certain how to say it, let alone process it. But by watching, he learned how to react. He looked at Luke. "Listen, Luke…"

"Yeah?" Luka cleared his throat. He turned away, unable to look him directly in the eye. Luke could've sworn he saw his eyes shift everywhere warily. He had a tint of pink in his cheeks as he hesitated.

"Could you…pass the salt?"

"Okay, sure." He grinned as he gave Luka the salt. "Here you go."

Luka struggled to reach for it, but eventually he was able to procure it. He gave Luke a stern look. "Thanks." He salted the slab of meat on his plate and started cutting it up.

As Luke and Luka were getting along, Esther watched the whole scene with a soft smile growing.

…

Night had soon fallen onto Earth. With the hazy night sky, the waxing crescent moon was bleak and blurry, casting a cold light onto everything. Inside the Trailer, Luke and his posse were up on the observation deck overlooking the view of the city.

"The wind chill is supposed to be below freezing point tonight. The climate patterns are completely scattered and spontaneous at this point." Jase deduced, turning towards everyone else. "It'll more than likely result in more weather phenomenon like this, with the atmosphere becoming less stable."

Shawn crossed his arms. "Yeah, heard that Egypt's starting to get snow."

"It'll be just like when Vestroia and Earth were merging, only it'll become much more violent."

The ground around them started quaking again. The rattling of the atmosphere was so great that everyone had to hold onto something. The shaking proceeded on for a few more minutes until it finally settled down.

"Everyone okay?" Luke asked.

Esther slouched back up. "Yes, we're fine." She looked outside, seeing dust clouds in the distance. "Such destruction…"

Atchibee opened on her shoulder. "Perhaps it's best we all try to get some rest."

"Atchibee's right. We need to get ready for tomorrow." Shawn said. "The Battle Brawlers wanted to talk with us about some more things." He put a hand to his chin. "Sounds pretty fishy."

'Fish?' Abis, Atchibee, Verias, and Jelldon all flinched at the word. It sent a chill down their…spines? If Jelldon had one of course.

"We should turn in. We need as much energy for tomorrow if we're going to be going any further." Jase noted.

With that, everyone went to their own rooms.

Sitting back on his bed, Shuji looked at the ceiling. He looked to be lost in thought about something, but it was hard to pinpoint what.

"Hey, Fly Beetle." Shuji murmured.

Beside him, Fly Beetle's ball form popped open. "What's happening?"

His dark eyes casted a little more upwards. "Tell me, what do you think about all this?" he paused. "And when I mean all 'this', I don't mean like the whole Riaan bastard and his posse destroying our worlds. I mean, like…Dan and the Battle Brawlers. You think they're really gonna let us pitch in?"

Fly Beetle lifted his horn. "…really, I don't know. But better safe than sorry. They tried holding us back because they didn't see us as equals. Should that really matter?"

"Hmph, guess you're right." He closed his eyes. He thought about the other time before when Luke chose to go despite the Brawlers knowing better. "Hate to pick a fight with them now…" he smirked. "But I'd give anything a chance to show those guys up just once."

"Better be careful with what you wish for."

Shuji turned his head towards the door, seeing his roommate enter. "Jase?" He processed his warning and huffed. "Yeah, I know that already. Just saying what's on my mind is all."

Jase walked towards his bed, standing right beside it. "Supposed now's better to get things out in the open." He glanced at the window beside Shuji that overlooked Bakugan City's lights. They were still bright, but he wasn't sure for how long. "You know, Shuji, to be rather rank, I…can't necessarily disagree with you."

Shuji paused and looked at Jase.

"Since this whole adventure began, I thought it'd be best to rely on the most minimal people possible. And on New Vestroia, our small numbers were efficient enough…but, looking back at it now, I find it so foolhardy to believe people who have shared the same experience as us would be overprotective of us. Suppose we're all the same."

Shuji raised a brow. "You speaking as a soldier, or a person?"

"Yes."

Shuji sighed. "Geez."

He went over and sat on the side of his bed. "But in any case, since arriving to other planets, many have given themselves for the cause, and sure enough we've handled resistance. Don't just chop a tree down without knowing it's dead, as some might say. You may have started out as an oaf Shuji, but I've become more…tolerable of you as well as Luke. Don't think of others who think they're superior of you. You're stubborn that way that you stand to try otherwise."

His words touched Shuji. The way he made him almost smile if it wasn't for him turning away sheepishly. "Yeah, whatever…" He looked over his shoulder. "You know something, Jase? You talk too much."

Jase smirked. He turned in and got into his bedspread. He took his glasses off and rested his head along the pillow, with Atmos included. Shuji soon fell sleep with Fly Beetle shortly after.

…

In Maggie and Esther's room, a loud sigh echoed.

"Man, I'm stuffed! I haven't eaten like that in a long time!" Maggie blissfully cheered.

Esther grinned and nodded. "That sure was a lot of food. We've been going on short and moderate portions for so long now. It's a good thing we've gained a tolerance."

"Maybe you did because you drink a lot of milk." Maggie eyed Esther's globes that were her breasts. "Seriously, how do they get that big?"

Esther covered her chest while stammering away. "T-that doesn't have anything to do with what I'm talking about!"

Maggie waved her off dismissively. "I know, I know." She giggled. "You're just fun to tease sometimes, you know that?" There was a short pause as Maggie smiled. "Hey, Esther?"

"Yes, Maggie-?!" She felt her body stir as a weight wrapped itself around her waist. Blinking once, she slowly looked down and saw Maggie at her stomach, smiling sincerely as she embraced her. She was almost speechless.

"We've missed you, Esther…" She dug her head deeper into her chest. "Please, don't you worry me or that idiot Luke ever again. That's his habit."

Esther was at a loss for what to say. She looked at Maggie at the sincerity of her words. Normally she can be witty or 'maturely spontaneous' with jokes, but this was flat-out happiness and relief she was feeling. Unable to fight it, she embraced her back.

"I won't. Promise."

Atchibee turned towards Jelldon. "Jelldon, have you seen Alice or Hydranoid?"

"Them? Uh, I think they said they were gonna be sleeping in the HQ downstairs tonight." He answered.

"I see…" Atchibee turned towards Esther and Maggie hugging. If she had a smile at the girls relishing their company. "Suppose that's best for now…"

…

"Seems like everyone had a swell time tonight." Shawn pulled his shirt off on one end of the room opposite of Luke. "Never thought I'd saw Maggie eat that much before."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Luke undid the few buttons that kept his blue coat around him. "I think I almost puked from eating too much there." He found a nearby rack along the wall close to the door. He walked towards it, hanging up his coat while Shawn's fencer was hanging beside it. "You know, it's kinda strange."

Shawn looked back. "What do you mean?"

"It's just…we've met so many people. A lot of people that I never knew had a lot of sides to themselves. We've seen from pretty good people, and others who were pretty selfish to the end." His thoughts imagined Opal and Adam. "And it's because of them that we've learned how to handle ourselves better."

Shawn sat on his bed and smiled at Luke's words. "Yeah, you can't be wrong there. Never thought I'd see Luka open up like that, that's for sure."

Luke turned and smiled back. "I'm sure it'll work out. We've made it this far because we've coped with all different kinds of people hanging around us. Speaking of which…" He looked left and right, seeing no sight of Luka anywhere. "Where is he?"

"Maybe he got held up by something." Abis figured. "Should we go check?"

Verias shook his head. "I wouldn't worry, he and Brontes are capable."

Abis lowered his head. "Guess you're right."

Inside the Battle Brawler HQ, a door opened to the restrooms. Glad in a nightgown, Alice had Hydranoid on her shoulder as they walked towards the dark hallway.

'The others must have turned in already. We'll have to be really quiet on our way back.' She hurried down the hall back towards the room she, Runo, Julie, and Mira were all sharing for the night. She left just as the girls were all chitchatting about stuff. She shook her head and sighed. 'Who am I kidding? Julie's probably so excited that she might fall asleep while talking.'

She giggled to herself at the thought.

"Hm?" Hydranoid raised his main head.

"Hydranoid, what is it?" Alice whispered. She turned towards the hallway, but it was still too dark to see. Her brow furrowed. "Is…someone there?"

She waited for an answer to who was coming their way. As a figure closed in, she almost jumped at the sight of a familiar redhead with green eyes.

"Ah! Luke?!" She calmed down, realizing it was someone else who had those attributes. "Oh, it's…you."

Meters away, Luka stood opposite and saw Alice. "What's the matter? Can't sleep?"

Alice shook her head. "Uh, no, not really. I was just…finding my way back is all." She paused. "So what are you doing here? I thought you were Luke for a moment."

Brontes jumped on Luka's shoulder. "What's the matter? Do you need him for the boogeyman under your bed~?" he cackled.

Alice flinched at the accusation with panic in her eyes. "N-no! It's not like that! Really!"

"Don't listen to Alto Brontes." Luka scoffed. "He's just a jester with a habit of clowning around. You asked what I was doing here, right? I was just finding my way back to the others atop." He gnashed his teeth angrily. "But this place is so big, geez. And here I thought the Empyrean on Gundalia was bad enough!"

Alice blinked before she started giggling.

"What's so funny?"

"It's nothing. It's just that, you weren't the first person to believe that. Marucho's family is pretty wealthy. Back in Wardington, his house was as tall as a skyscraper. Would you almost believe me that a decorative room was a bathroom?" she giggled again.

Luka lowered his head. "Hmph, sounds like Amina could use a little brother if he's that loaded. Which way is up?"

Alice turned in the opposite direction of the hall. "It's straight down this hall. There's a small stairway that leads to another floor. On the left immediately should be an elevator."

"Thank you. Sorry for wasting your time." He bowed.

"It's no trouble, really." Alice and Luka passed each other, their shoulders almost connecting. As they parted, Alice stopped in her tracks while Luka pressed on. "Listen, Luka…"

Luka stopped.

"I…just wanted to say…thank you. For back at when we were in a corner. I would've been hurt if it wasn't for you." She turned to face him. "Listen, I may not know you very well, but I can tell you're a good person at heart. Everyone clearly knows you enough to know you're not just in this for yourself." She smiled softly. "So please, keep helping people."

Luka stayed silent, taking in what Alice said. He looked down at the ground, barely seeing his feet in the little light available. A small rumble was heard from the distance, but that didn't last long. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Yeah…"

Alice smiled and turned away.

"What do you think of them?"

Alice stopped and walked back. "Excuse me? What did you say?"

"About that idiot Luke, and his friends…what do you think of them?"

Alice put a hand to her chest, unsure of how to appropriately respond. "W-where is this coming from? I'm not sure what you're-"

"Just answer the question already." He deadpanned.

Alice flinched again. "Okay…" she put a hand to her chin. "Well, where do I begin…?" She glanced at a wall nearby as a focal point. She wasn't sure where Luka was going, or what the point of explaining this to him at a time like this meant. But she knew he had his reasons, and judging from what she knew about him so far, he had a very good one to ask her of all people.

With a breath of relief, she finally found the words. "Well…they definitely weren't what I was expecting, I can tell you that." She thought about the not-so-subtle way the Trailer got through the Dimensional Transporter. "Out of all the places to show up, it was at my grandfather's lab back from a mission to save us all that we weren't aware of. They're all so different, yet they worked so well together to have survived this long."

Luka didn't answer, instead he listened intently on how Alice continued.

"Shawn, I appreciate the supportive person he is. He really stays by those suffering, and he doesn't waver as easily as anybody else. He's genuine. And there's Shuji. He could be a little easy to tease, but he's strong to push through. He stands his ground and really looks out for those who accepted him the way he is. Maggie's a little sweetheart. She's funny and can act well around adults, too. For someone so young, she's truly brave…just like her Bakugan. Jase is really smart. He's not all that easy to read like the others; in fact I still can't be sure I read him well at all…but he really believes in everyone, and they don't let him down. To tell the truth, I think he's their biggest fans." She thought about two people at once in her head. "And I think…that Luke and Esther…they're probably the most relatable people I could ever know up to today. They both are so strong to be willing to risk themselves for another. The dedication they showed back on Gundalia made it clear they will never let the other go so easily. Esther's genuinely kind when she isn't isolating herself. And Luke, he's done so much wrong in his past that I reminded me of my time as Masquerade. I wanted to believe that I should fight it; that I'm okay with moving on…but Luke taught me to deal with my past-self, and I should be grateful and learn from it to bring me to a new day. I think that if I learned anything from him, it's that no matter what puts you down, you should always stand back up until the very end. And with what's going on right now, I don't expect any of them to hold back."

Luka stood in silence at Alice expressing herself over them. From the way it sounded, it felt like she owed so much to Luke specifically. He thought it was uncomfortable, but accepted it.

"So…I guess you can say that I think of them as my friends who never gave up on me, or each other." She looked down with a soft smile, remembering her old brawling days. "They reminded me of what it's like to be alive and accepting again."

The answer was clear to Luka. He got what he needed. He huffed and sighed low. "…I see." He glanced back. "Thank you for telling me."

"No, no really. Thank you, Luka." She placed a hand to her chest. "Honestly, it just feels good to let these feelings out. We've all had our fair share of struggles that it's hard keeping yourself together. But I feel better now."

Luka half-grinned. "Hmph…maybe you should tell them that in person. You know this is a fight to the death, they could die still. Would you still fight?"

Alice reaffirmed her serious look. "If that happened, it would make the fight all the more meaningful. All those who died have to be made up for by us."

He was quiet before he started his way. "Goodnight, Alice."

As he left unexpectedly, Alice was left alone. She turned away, sighing in relief. The tension she had before was gone…for now. "Hydranoid, let's go back to the others…and tell them all about our adventures."

"Sure, Alice. I'd like that." He agreed. The two walked down the hallway back towards the bedrooms, leaving the hall in silence.

The atmosphere was quiet. Pitch-black hung in the air like a pointless, eternal void. Riaan stood what could've been the core of this darkness, eyes shut in patience. He and Armagedoid were dead silent as they focused their energy they've conserved for a short time. The timing was nigh.

"Zion…"

In another area designated away from him and Hades Pillars, Zion kneeled with his polearm in hand. He was shrouded into the darkness with the platoon kneeling at the voice.

"…are we all set?" Riaan's voice rang in his Bakumeter.

"Yes, sire." His glare hardened with envy. "Always."

Riaan shot a glance towards his front. Cyrus stood proudly with hands behind his back between Amina and Lucia. Galilea and Magnus weren't too far either as they faced forward. With Riaan's back spared an empty seat, he knew what will happen.

"Very well then. You know what to do…" Around the chamber, networks of bright blue connected to Riaan. His body radiated a strong, bright aura that swiftly engulfed the room. "Hades Pillars. My men…today, we make our final destination: Neathia! Launch, Empyrean Beta!"

The room flickered several time, then suddenly, everything was enveloped in a blinding flare.

Neathia, a realm of classy, pure light and serenity. A planet that looked much like Earth and New Vestroia. Land formation of smooth cliffs and forests. Crystal clean water flowed in streams through forests to the no-man's land far away. Chrome formations of rock and crystals stuck out everywhere. Even the cities and capital of Neathia was governed with an entire city of chrome with a massive spiraling tower in the center.

Daybreak was nearly upon them, but already someone was up and couldn't sleep. Her heels cluttered along as she walked out towards the balcony to overlook her beloved Neathian home. This woman was rather young for her age, and had blue hair with pure green eyes. She adorned bright cream and yellow robes with a slim silver band on her forehead to showcase her title.

This was Fabia Sheen. Queen Fabia these days.

"My queen." Fabia turned her head towards the voice. She was relieved to see that ot was a Haos bakugan floating by the door. She smiled softly at him.

"Oh, hey Aranaut." She greeted.

"What's the matter? Can't you sleep?" He floated towards her side, overlooking the city with her.

Fabia turned towards the city, shaking her head. "I guess. We've been working hard trying to rebuild Neathia. It's amazing what we've been able to accomplish after so long."

"Yes, I can't disagree with you there, my queen." He paused. "A lot of time has passed since then. You think Dan and the Brawlers are doing well?"

Fabia softly hummed. "I'm sure they're fine. Besides, my guess, Dan and Drago are doing their best as well…we still owe them a great debt. The least we can do, is keep moving forward."

In the distance, a bright glow shaded part of the horizon. They both turned and watched the rays beginning to illuminate the atmosphere.

"Look, Aranaut, the sun's rising."

Aranaut was dead silent. He watched the sunrise with a growing sense of insecurity. He watched as the rays spread across Neathia, magenta networks seeping through the ground; even towards the palace. That's when a magnitude started picking up.

The sudden quake throbbed the land, bringing about alarms all throughout the palace. Sirens were going off as Neathians all over the capital awakening to these strange noises and vibrations.

"What's happening?!" Rushing through the palace, Captain Elright rushed into the system room, where two Neathian soldiers were typing into the screens to reveal large red pulses that quickly took over the screen. "What's the status?!"

"Sir, we have an unidentified signature expanding rapidly as we speak!" one of the soldiers shouted. "It's taking over the entire surface as we speak!"

"What?! Let me see!"

The other solider pressed a button and formatted a holographic projection. On a smaller screen besides the seismic reading, it showed an inner layout of the planet. It showed from the point directly above, it had root-like magenta energy that was traveling at an alarming rate to cover the planet's insides.

Elright's eyes twitched at what he witnessed. "This is…" Before the words could escape, a harsh tremor pulsed from afar. The main screen suddenly flared red to show an outrageous energy spike. Elright backpedaled and ran out the door and down the hall towards Fabia's chambers. "Queen Fabia!"

Fabia quickly turned around to see her loyal captain. "Captain Elright!"

Elright gnashed his teeth. "My queen, something terribly wrong! We're being invaded!"

"By what?!"

Their answer came when a dark shadow flew right over their heads. They all looked up and saw a large Haos Longfly that hissed high over the domain. The strangest part of it was that it was black with magenta coating allover it, and had a Haos Zukanator attached to it, but the yellow was black to accommodate it.

They all looked out in the distance, seeing the light fade to a weak sunrise. The magnitude continued to pulse as the glow across the rocky horizon was being replaced by a sinister magenta. They could large silhouettes that spread through land and air.

"Queen Fabia, we must act now!" Aranaut insisted.

Fabia managed to get over her initial shock. She turned towards Elright to give word. "Captain Elright, we need to procure the safety of the citizens first. Move all of them under the palace. After that, dispatch your most capable soldiers. Have Rafe and Paige accompany you to the frontlines."

Elright straightened. "Of course, your highness!" He turned and rushed back inside. "All Castle Knights, prepare for battle!"

Fabia felt a shadow fly right over her. She looked up and saw more Bakugan that reigned over the sky as dawn shined at last. Only its rays were magenta, and not as warm as she had thought. 'What's going on here? Where is this all coming from?'

Farther out from Neathia's main city, a chrome crystal hutted out from a rock, but it slowly started to turn magenta. The rock it had as a stepping stool slowly crumbled away as small fissures ran across the ground with magenta lights resonating. All this lead up to Zion, who walked ahead with his battle axe in hand. Behind him, the platoon of armed Interacians followed in orderly fashion, now some holding energy staves that was copied and refined from being on Gundalia. They had sabers and daggers, and many other weapons like machine guns at the ready. And it wasn't just them who had these gear-ups. Following behind, the Interacian Bakugan had black and magenta coatings on them, with Twin Destructor and Zukanator laced to their backs.

However, there was something new to this development. Most, if not all, the Bakugan had something else they were in: Vehicles. The ground broke apart as there were several to dozens of Impalaton that crawled across the wasteland with Bakugan who had cannons ready. Koptorix and Hurrix spun high in the air and had grounded Bakugan assist the aerial Bakugan who didn't need Mobile Assault Vehicles to get around. In the far back, there were Bakugan who didn't have Battlegear, but instead had massive seats and cannons for long-range destruction.

Zion walked away from the magenta pillar behind, which started taking shape into something peculiar, much like a tower. The vague shape was covering a large mass of the ground in a circular fashion that spread over a large radius.

He glared ahead, seeing white-robed knights in the distance heading his way. A malicious glare hardened as his blade raised to shed red.

On Earth, the sun was barely rising. The wind chill from last night had left frost around the Trailer that glistened against the sunrise.

Stirring from his slumber, Luka's eyes opened. He sat up and looked around the room. He saw Luke sleeping on his side, looking so peaceful as he slept and deemed about something. Shawn was the same way, only he looked more casual than adorable. Shaking his head, Luka got up from the makeshift bed that was folded into wall, much like what the others guests along the Trailer had used.

Quietly, he got up and left the room. He looked around the hall to find no one else was there. He went closer towards the windowsill, seeing the outside worlds as the sun was rising.

Now that he had time to look at it, Earth wasn't that bad. There were mountains in the far distance of Bakugan City, oddly enough they had white caps after last night's chill. That actually explained why it was so cold. He looked down at the less-than-engineered city to see people wearing warm clothing on Bakugan like Longfly who were more than willing to help them get around. He hasn't seen this kind o reciprocatively relationships before. Normally he'd see Bakugan like the rare Gundalian ones on Interacia lugging around the wealthy and privileged.

The events of last night reflected in his head. He's never felt so relaxed before that it was s foreign to him. As he stared at his reflection, his brow furrowed.

And there you stand,

So brave and with a guiding hand.

It was there when,

You stood and declared like a valiant man.

The enigmatic yet melodic voice got Luka's attention. 'What's that voice? It's so…' He turned towards the elevator, hearing its melodic chimes go down its void. 'The deck?'

There you laid in your sleep,

Dreaming of a future so deep.

With one eye open,

You begin to see the lives around reopen.

He rushed over to the elevator and went inside. Upon entering, he felt the echoes rush into his ear. They were so soft, and pure that it was serene. He soon opened the doors upon stopping. When he walked out. He was shocked at what he saw.

It was but a yesterday,

When we were in such dark and woe.

We had but one way,

And that was to never say no.

There she was, Esther. She standing in front of the Trailer's main deck where Jase would be. She stood tall and proudly as the sunrise's light shined upon her face at last. It's been so long since she's been in the darkness. Feeling the purity of warmth as she vocalized made it all worthwhile.

But then you opened our eyes,

With your talks of new dreams.

We search for the skies,

And there we saw the light of a new dawn.

Luka said nothing, but he knew this wasn't the time. He just allowed her to finish her song.

The black that was but the past,

It went by so fast.

We race towards the new dawn,

Forever moving to a future so vast.

Once the song concluded, there was a distilled silence that hung in the air. The deck's two people present said nothing, but instead the warm silence brought a closure to Luka as he stared at Esther's back.

Esther sighed in relief. She turned around and held back her surprise at Luka's appearance. "Luka."

Luka said nothing. He had to ascertain composure first before he gave a serious face. "You're up early."

"Yes, I am." Esther looked back at the sunrise, paying no heed as Luka joined her side. "It's strange. To think that being on Gundalia for so long would make you yearn for the sun again. It's felt like forever since I've last seen a light as bright as this."

Luka looked at Esther, then back at the sunrise. "…yeah. You've all been in darkness for a long time. It's only natural you'd feel a craving for this feeling."

Esther turned to him, half-grinning. "I suppose that's true…and you as well, don't you?"

Luka grunted, but chose to not say anything.

"It's okay to desire closure. The darkness can be its own comfort if you want it to be. If you like to be isolated, and to feel like you want it, that's fine." She paused to look back at the sun. "But it's always nice to have some light shed on your darkness, even if you think it doesn't help, it'll help you see your way through."

Luka lowered his head. "Hmph, for a Darkus battler, you speak of light too openly. Maybe you should've been Haos."

"That so?" Esther mused, looking down at Atchibee's closed ball form. "It's okay…even Darkus has a bright side to it. Even Darkus Bakugan can embrace the light. Embracing things that you're vulnerable to, it's what will help you realize what kind of person you are."

Luka looked at her then towards the ground. He thought back to what Alice said last night; why he could still see her soft smile when she confessed how she felt better with what she's done in the past, much like Luke has.

He looked down at Brontes in his grip, his face showing that same stern look. Yet his eyes still spoke of a light softness in them. He recomposed himself and faced the sun with determination.

"It's sunrise. Wake the others, and meet the Battle Brawlers in the lab."

Esther nodded. "Yeah, sure thing." She watched Luka turn and walk back towards the elevator, his face hidden away by his shadow. As the doors shut, Esther felt a smile cross her lips as she looked towards the sun again. 'Even my darkness…was given a light. Thank you, everyone.'

As the elevator went down smoothly, Luka stood with his head down to not show a small twitch at the corner of his lips.

Early morning had come, it was time to begin. Luke's group and the Battle Brawlers, along with Luka, Alice, and Runo, were all present in front of Mira to accommodate their battle plans.

"Okay, is everyone all here?" Mira announced.

Marucho looked around and noticed someone missing. "Huh? Hey, where's Julie?"

"She said that she'll be back shortly. Said that she had to go get something important." Mira sighed.

"I hope she's okay out there." Dan pondered.

Drago popped onto his shoulder. "This is Julie we're talking about, Dan. Nothing keeps her down for very long. She'll be back."

Mira chose to refocus on the assessment. "Now, then, let's go over what we have so far." She returned to the monitors to type into them. Around her, several screens popped up linked by diagrams of several planets with magenta in them that were filling their insides. There were screens off to the side that showcased Hades Pillars, with all of the charts and enemies connected to Riaan's picture. "Now then, let's start from the beginning. From what we know, this creature named Riaan in the so-called 'lost father' of all Bakugan. He has the power to replicate DNA of life with connections to the planet itself. However, it seems there are side effects to this." She held up a remote and flipped to a news screen that was zoomed in to show a lightning storm that flashed violently. Everyone flinched when they saw a bolt violently come down on the Great Wall of China, strong enough to burst a small part of the rocky fort. "The side effects are that while he is replicating that life, he is actually refining it at the cost of the host planet's energy. It makes him a super planetary parasite. To help him in his cause, he has an elite force called Hades Pillars, who use the powers of Riaan's forbidden enhancements to make their Bakugan tolerate power levels and abilities that are on an incredulous scale."

"They're no joke. We've seen them in action." Shun testified. "Their battling is dead serious and calculative."

Shawn raised a brow. "Don't forget they're armed as well. That guy who attacked Ren for example."

"So then…these guys are all around super brawlers?" Runo pondered.

"You can say that." Mira changed the screens to enlarge Riaan, with a holographic 3D view of Armagedoid's ball form. "And to make it all worse, he has the help of a Bakugan called Armagedoid. Like Riaan, it has an unbelievable power to control and absorb any Bakugan's strength to make it his own."

Gunz glanced at the others. "Hey, you guys fought that thing, right? How bad was it?"

Jase used a finger to jut up his glasses, cascading light. "It's a disturbing feeling, to say the least."

Mira continued by swiping away the icons to show four tabs open, each showing a different planet's energy. "And right here, we have the listed planets that have been infected by him. So far, we have Earth, New Vestroia, Vestal, and recently, Gundalia. And judging by the intervals between each strike, we're seeing a massive alteration period." She turned towards Luke's group. "A few months ago, you guys were sent to New Vestroia, the first victim after Riaan's supposed long stay on Earth. On Earth, he must have not had an evolve stasis or something to help him accelerate his powers."

Luka stepped in promptly. "That's because he didn't have cores or technology to enhance himself fast enough to completely replicate a life."

"Luka." Luke muttered. Luka continued.

"He had Cesar structure these city cores in New Vestroia's two cities, which were the base of what is now Empyrean. It works on an experience basis."

"I see. So he's adapting and accelerating from his cores infused with his powers." Mira looked down, but she got back on tsk. "Anyways, with each interval, the strike time is drastically shortened. It took years for Earth, and New Vestroia's invasion happened a few months ago. And just about two weeks ago, it was Vestal, and just a week later, it was Gundalia."

"What's that mean?" Radizen pondered.

"She's trying to say that he could have already processed the details of the recent planet already and moved onto the next." Jaakor answered.

Shun clutched his forearms tight as his brow furrowed. "And that could also mean…that he might be finishing mobilizing his army and striking as we speak."

"But how can we be so sure?" Alice wondered.

"Well, let's look at what we have…" Mira clipped her remote, another tab opening to show planets lined up with arrows leading up to the last planet with a question mark. "This is the time between each one, and it's halved with each visit. If Riaan and his so-called Armagedoid are processing at this level, it means their powers must almost be at full peak."

Drago lowered his head. "The planets infected are all going to crumble at the same time, right? It would make sense to accelerate with each one."

"This is getting weird." Radizen grunted.

Roxtor spoke gibberish.

"Which also means…" Dan raised his fist. "That our friends are running out of time on Neathia if they're what's left. Guys, we need to track these guys, and quick. We'll need to set out to see if Fabia's okay."

The Brawlers looked at each other and seemed to be in agreement. They didn't have anything else to go on unfortunately, so this was the best course of action.

"There's just one problem." Mira intervened. "Remember how we got a distress signal from Vestal at the time? Well Gundalia wasn't able to give one. Which means that Riaan's powers or his technology is blocking out other radio waves given by technology."

Drago lifted himself into the air. "I can make us a portal large enough to carry all of us there. Like Dan said, if they thought that much ahead, then we need to act as fast as we can before it's too late."

Dan smiled. "Well then, guess that's how it is then. You guys ready?" He looked towards Luke's group, wondering what they'll say.

Luka was sitting against the projection screen, arms crossed. "Hmph, like you had to ask such a ridiculous question. Did you forget what we said yesterday?"

Shun got Dan's attention with his look. "Dan, are you sure about this? This is another battle we're getting into. And these guys are…"

"Hey! Before you continue, let me say that we're not some immature kids, bub!" Maggie backlashed. "I may be 10-years-old, but I've held my own."

Shawn politely raised his hand. "I'd stop there if I were you. She's persistent."

Gunz furrowed his brow. "If you guys say so. Reptak?"

"Well…I guess if they were able to hold out this long." The Haos Bakugan spoke calmly. "Besides, I think we might need the extra hands now that I think about it."

"Hear that? We're cool." Dan casually smiled at them. "Listen, maybe we're just a little paranoid with all this forbidden power and all, but if you guys were able to get by them to save your friend, guess that can be helpful."

Luke scratche his cheek with his index finger. He wasn't sure whether to take it as a compliment or another insult, but from Dan's tone he was trying to empathize with them. "Thanks…"

"I hope you understand. We're not doing this by your accords." Jase reprimanded them.

"We know that. Just don't get in our way if it becomes too much." Shun dismissed.

Alice watched them all interact about the joint plan in mind. She was worried, especially after what happened the past few interactions they've had. But now she seemed awfully relaxed. 'Thank goodness, it looks like we're starting to come to an understanding.'

She looked over to her right and had eye contact with Luka. Their eyes meeting brought Alice back to last night. She had such high confidence in both her friends, including Luke's group. She looked at Hydranoid, then back at the gathering.

"So then, we better get ready now if we're gonna save Neathia while we're at it." Dan's tone was a dead serious one. "We need as much help as we can. He turned towards Alice. "Alice, you coming? Alice?"

The room's audience turned towards Alice, who was looking a little spacey as she looked at the monitors. She was staring specifically at the wilderness as all the plants in a random forest were dying. She had to play her part somehow if she can.

"Guys, I've made up my mind." She confidently said. "Hydranoid and I, we're going to stay here for the time being."

This news stunned everyone there, especially Luke and Esther.

"What?!" Maggie and Jelldon yelped in unison.

Jase said nothing. He had a good hunch this was her intentions.

"What's the big idea?" Shuji squinted accusingly. "Something going on here?"

Alice waved nervously at him. "No, Shuji, it's not the reason you think." She froze to come up with the words needed. "Listen, guys. With everyone we know in danger, someone has to stay behind and make sure that as many people get saved as we can. Besides…I'm worried about my grandfather. He must be worried sick about me."

Dan blinked, putting a wrist to his hip. "Yeah, I guess so…"

"And besides…" she held up her teleportation card. "If by reading the monitors here, I can teleport to any place I need to in order to get those people out." She smiled sincerely. "We're all worried about our friends and loved ones, but we're all so focused on the enemy that we can't save our home. At the very least, we should try."

The room was silent as everyone looked at each other worriedly, but they knew better than to argue. The screens above showed snow coming down hard along Hawaii, and tornadoes were raging along the Rocky Mountains in America. They were seeing the wildlife getting into turmoil, and that would lead to destruction for the people.

Shawn sighed heavily and rubbed his head. "Geez, and here we thought we make the stupid decisions."

Jase stepped forward, looking Alice directly in the eye. "Alice, do keep in mind that you can't save everyone…"

Alice nodded. "I know."

"That said, don't think that just because you're not there doesn't mean it'll be your fault. Do as you please, you don't let it deter us from our objective."

"It won't promise." She looked towards Luke and Marucho. "Luke. Marucho. If anything goes wrong, would it be okay if I can use your guys' homes?"

Marucho nodded. "Of course."

Luka smiled. "My Mom and Dad will understand. They'll support you if you mention me." He paused for a moment to think about them. 'I wonder how they're doing?'

"Right, and Mira and I will hold down the fort and alert the people." Runo said.

Abis popped open on Luke's shoulder. "Well, guess we should get going then."

With no time left to waste, Luke nodded. "Yeah."

Everyone was soon loaded up on the Trailer, the whole machine already set in tank mode. The Battle Brawlers were already inside, with Drago ready to make the portal. Outside, Luke and the others were boarding the Trailer's top hatch.

Suddenly the doors to the building flew open, revealing Julie. "GUYS! WAIT! DON'T FORGET ME~!"

Shuji looked back in surprise. "What the…?!"

"What's she got going?" Shawn wondered.

Julie hastily caught up, panting heavily. She had to run a whole bunch of stairs to reach them, and she wasn't the only one. Her local cameraman, a guy with shaggy brown hair with a huge camera, had come along. "I'm coming too!" she declared.

"What?" Maggie questioned.

"The people need to see first-hand what's causing all this. And as a reporter, it is my job to make sure that everyone sees it with their own eyes!"

Jase looked at Julie, but chose to not opt against it. "Just try not to zoom-in too close…you may just break your lens."

Julie winked. "No promises!"

Nearby, Alice was talking to Luke, Esther, and Luka. They all looked a little sad, but didn't fight it. "Sure you wanna do this?" Luke asked.

"I'm sure. Hydranoid and I need to hold the fort down while you guys do your part." She smiled.

"And don't worry, we'll know what's happening because Julie's coming along to report everything." Runo turned to Julie. "Julie, you be careful, got it?"

"Right-O! Now, move it!" She ushered the cameraman down the hatch, which resulted in a painful thud. Something had to have broken, and it wasn't the camera. Julie hopped in next. "Hey guys~! Don't forget me!"

"Uh…she's something alright." Abis murmured.

"Yeah…" Luke decided to focus on Alice. "Alice, thank you for everything. We'll do everything we can to stop Hades Pillars and Riaan this time. Promise."

"I know you will. And Esther…" She met her gaze, winking. "Make sure you keep a closer eye on Luke for me, will you?"

"Alice…" Luke whimpered impishly.

Esther softly smiled at her. "I will."

"Good." She walked up to them, embracing them in a soft but warm hug over her shoulders. The sudden gesture surprised them, but they quickly got over it. "Good luck to you guys."

Luke and Esther didn't say anything. They looked at each other over her shoulders and smiled. They both returned the embrace and allowed for a moment to pass them.

"Hey, we're ready! You guys better get going!" Shawn from the Trailer's hatch.

Luke and Esther parted from Alice, with Luke speaking. "That's our que. See ya around."

Alice watched them take off for the latch with nothing to hold them back. Meanwhile, one person was still there that got her attention. She looked over at Luka, who gave her a subtle leer before deciding to turn away towards the Trailer.

"And Luka." He stopped when Alice called out to him. "…do your best."

Luka didn't look back, but he chose to accommodate. "…yeah. You too." He hopped onto the Trailer, getting into the hatch last. Once it shut, everyone was all set and the coordinates were locked on.

"Alright everyone! Next stop: Neathia!" Dan shouted. "Drago!"

"On it!" His eyes glimmered rainbow once more. With a hard grunt, he projected a beam from his horns that went outwards towards the open. The portal reopened, enabling them to get there without machine signals.

Jase pressed functions on his seat, ending with a push of a button. The home of the little castaways began morphing its tank mode, projecting its thruster to fly once more.

"I hope none of you get motion sickness." Jase spoke sarcastically.

The Trailer's thrusters ignited. Everyone inside stayed in their seats as the vehicles started sailing off the HQ's top, heading right for the portal. Luka and the Battle Brawlers – plus Julie and the cameraman – were all hanging onto the lower deck as the bumpy ride had only just begun.

The portal soon closed, leaving a blank space. Mira, Runo, and Alice looked up as a cold breeze passed them.

'Guys…do your best. All of you!'

As the Trailer traveled through the dimensional rift, it remained on its steady course. It wasn't a long jump from memory, but they had to be ready.

"Alright guys! First thing's first! When we land, I gotta make a big scoop of the planet!" Julie declared.

"Mira made sure the camera was functionable. We had to hook it up using the same signals we used to contact Klaus on Vestal, so it should reach back home." Marucho explained.

"Hard to believe we're heading back to Neathia, Dan." Shun stated. "It's been some time since we've seen Fabia and Linus in person."

"Yup." Dan's tongue was short and too the point. He knew what was at stake. He couldn't afford to get sidetracked as the exit was in view. "Here we go, guys! Get set!"

"All hands on deck!" Maggie shouted.

Shawn nervously grinned. "This isn't a pirate ship…"

"But we've got a big crew." Verias chimed.

"Suppose that's true."

Luke and Luka said nothing, the latter leaning against the wall to watch Luke's back. He looked at Brontes one more time, recalling about yesterday morning. He contained a brief sneer as he straightened his posture as the light came into view.

The Trailer sailed towards the blinding rays, crossing to the other side in a silent flare…

"Castle Knights! Attack!"

At that order, the frontlines charged with Neathian soldiers throwing in their Haos Bakugan. Yellow and white spheres landed on the ground, sprouting Haos Longfly, Fangoid, and even Haos Nastix and Lumitroid that were supposed to be good. The Castle Knights and their Bakugan charged into battle against the Interacian Bakugan with attacks immediately on the offense.

A random Interacian soldier threw a Gate Card out to the open, which faded to dark purple. "Gate Card, open! Freeze Enemy!"

The Gate Card shined, immediately paralyzing the enemy Bakugan. The Longfly that were ready to rain down along with its grounded brethren were unable to respond to their bodies either stopped by time, or gravity taking them down.

"Fire!" Several Interacian Bakugan calculatedly fired their Mobile Assault Vehicle attacks. Magenta bombs and laserbeams blazed across the atmosphere into the standstill Neathian Bakugan. They were helpless as a bright large erupted and exploded across the horizon's wake. Erupting blasts brought Neathian soldiers off their feet and onto their backs; some were knocked out almost immediately by the shockwaves.

Elright saw the devastation as he was using his sleeve to cover. The shockwaves brewed about, but he managed to maintain his stance. 'Such power! All those in one shot?!'

The smoke dissipated, but in lace of the fallen Bakugan, there was an appendage of gathered rubies to look like a wing. The wings spread wide as a draconic sharp-edged head prodded out with a snarl.

One of the Neathians still standing, Linus, wiped dirt off his cheek with his sleeve and glared ahead. "Time to fight back…Rubanoid!"

The ruby dragon let out a roar that dispelled the dust around him, showing his true form. "Let's bring the hurt!"

"Ability, activate! Joule Deeper!" Rubanoid opened his maw wide, releasing a red energy beam that shot across the ground in front of the frontlines. The attack turned into a large explosion that erupted earth and obscured the vicinity. Linus and Rubanoid snarled as they expected their forces to have taken a hit.

"Chaos Vibro!"

A grizzly shockwave tore across the ground, tearing through the dust waves and spread across the ground. The pulse wave closed in on Rubanoid and Linus, the dragon using his wing to shield his partner while he took the full brunt of the shockwaves.

"Stay strong, Rubanoid!" Linus screamed.

The bombardment didn't stop as through the shockwaves of the random Impalaton, several other Impalaton had magenta streaks and beams shoot lasers, while Zukanator and Twin Destructor rained fire down. The earth was completely turned over as the blast wave intensified.

"Boulderon!"

"Wolfurio!"

Just as the shockwaves were about to make impact, two Bakugan slid in front. One was a Subterra Bakugan resembling a golem, and another Haos Bakugan that was deeply accented with armor to resemble a spartan. Both generated shields from their bodies that expanded outwards and layered over the other. The blast waves raced around the shields that saved Linus and Rubanoid. They stared in slight shock as the waves simmered away, revealing the land around them seared in dust and destroyed rock that quickly crumbled to loose grains.

Linus quickly caught onto it. "Rafe! Paige!"

In front of him, there were two people that stood side-by-side; one with slim purple eyes, and one with the feral Gundalian eyes. The Neathian had a bowl-cut blue hair, while the Gundalian had short purple hair with a camouflage tanktop.

"Are you alright, Linus?" Rafe asked.

"Don't worry, these creeps aren't going anywhere except into the ground!" Paige aggressively declared.

Linus smiled. "Nice timing, guys."

Rafe's Bakugan, Wolfurio, looked ahead. "Here they come!"

The enemy Bakugan were advancing, unleashing relentless fire power that spread across the Neathian land. The cannons in the far back found an opening through the aerial fire created by Longfly and aimed dart-like blows that seared through the air into a Neathian Haos Longfly. The arrow bolted clean through its gut, leaving the poor Bakugan immobile and hissed in shock before its body turned to light particles.

"No~!" Its partner shouted. He was so in shock he didn't notice a shadow looming over him. When he turned around, something sharp came down.

A short scream rattled the battlefield as the sound of blood splattered, staining the dulling earth.

"Men! Keep pushing!" Elright insisted. "Go!"

As he conducted everyone ahead, the Castle Knights had no choice but to engage in battle themselves. As their Bakugan were being taken down, they had to charge with weapons in hand, but the relentless barrage by Mobile Assault vehicles and the Twin Destructor fire made it nee impossible to get anywhere near without being blown to oblivion. Some of the soldiers who had the guts automatically lost them when they were blown to oblivion by shockwaves too strong. The lucky ones were blown past Elright as he kneeled to stand his ground.

'The shield generators aren't operable anymore. And we didn't even sense them coming. Worst of all, it looks like they've got some Gundalian Bakugan and equipment on them. What's all this about?!'

"AAAH!"

The sound of a bloody scream got everyone's attention. They all turned towards an opening in the shockwaves and fire to see a blade slathered in Neathian blood. It jerked out of the dead Neathian soldier, who laid amongst several other brethren around him that were covered in red. The sight horrified Elright and the others.

"Wha…no…" Elright was stunned.

Rafe gnashed his teeth, swallowing a lump. "Look!"

Everyone saw the culprit walk over a dead corpse like a steppingstone, disregarding the writhe the others had. Explosions raged behind Zion as he bloodthirsty, cold dead stare was dead set on the four battlers nearby.

"This one looks strong." Rubanoid defensively told.

Linus clutched his fists. "I know. Something's definitely not right about this guy…"

Elright stood with Rafe, Paige, Linus, and their Bakugan as they all snarled at Zion. The bloody menace held his polearm with the axe blade up as he saw the ill-confidence on all their faces. "Show me your guts, Neathians…" The blade turned to refract sunlight. "Unless you wanna use them to stop me."

The Neathian Capital behind the crystal wall that defined their home was in a panic. The ground kept shaking, which resulted in structures becoming unstable. Citizens were being evacuated as kids and even young adults were in a hectic panic over what was going on. Castle Knights were evacuating them to beneath the palace as others ran up ahead to aid in the fighting.

"Aranaut, what's the status?!" Fabia shouted. She was currently on her Bakugan's shoulder. He stood in full form to overlook all the citizens getting to safety.

"The evacuation is near complete, my queen."

Another explosion shook the ground again, causing Fabia to hold onto Aranaut's side. The rumbling caused smaller Neathian children to cringe in fear.

Fabia uncovered and gasped. Over her head, she saw that several Longfly with Zukanator and Twin Destructor were already on the move with battlers on their backs. They shot gunfire and intense beams that raced in opposite directions of the city. Everything chrome within their path was reduced to oblivion.

'Where is all this destruction coming from? Not even a Gundalian can make this kind of assault this aggressively. Something's really wrong here…!'

In the far distance, back towards behind enemy lines, the Bakugan were all fighting, but a random, massive cannon that was used to kill several other Bakugan already had its long-range aim set on the Neathian walls. It was quick to charge, and once set, its tip shined bright magenta before unleashing a large, piercing beam that shot clean through the battlefield past everyone and towards the wall.

The sound of thunder was heard and drew closer. Fabia looked around, completely bewildered with this wonder. "Wait, do you hear that…?"

Aranaut turned towards the sound, getting a bad feeling. "…my queen! Get down!"

Catching it in the nick of time, Aranaut kneeled and shielded Fabia as the chrome wall to the city was pulverized by intense magenta energy. The large ray continued over Aranaut and blitzed through the city, severing and destroying buildings in its path. Chrome turned to oblivion before the particles collapsed and turned to smoke that bloomed skywards.

Fabia was cupped in Aranaut's hands, but even she was in shock. Aranaut didn't have the words either. They only heard explosions around them and above as gunfire from a Twin destructor Longfly was aiming for them.

"Aranaut, look out!" Fabia screamed.

Aranaut was in shock that he couldn't move. He covered Fabia as the cover fire rained on his back. The beams were hitting him, but he was standing his ground to cover his beloved queen.

"Aranaut! We have to get out of here!" Fabia insisted.

The Longfly and its battler atop was directed into Fabia and Aranaut. "Slid Pointer!" The Longfly continued its gunfire as the slim tail end had the stinger prod out and aim for the head.

"ARANAUT! LOOK OUT!"

Time slowed down as Aranaut attempted to turn around. All he saw in his visor as an incoming yellow stinger that was close to piercing his face…

A red beam blazed across the sky, darting right into the Longfly's side. The Bakugan reverted to ball form in an instant whereas its brawler was forced off and slammed into the ground.

"What…?"

The sounds of a draconic roar raged in the skies, when Fabia and Aranaut looked up, they saw an unidentified massive vehicle flying through the air, leaving a draconic creature to hover over Neathia.

"My queen…" Aranaut trailed off. Even he was at a loss for what to say.

Fabia's pupils shrank. She thought she'd recognize the dragon that was high in the skies. She was completely speechless.

On his shoulder, the brawler showed an ability through his Bakumeter. "Ability, activate! Dragon Astral!" The dragon opened his maw, showing a flare cOncentarted in his mouth. Once ready, he launched a straight beam into the air at several Longfly and Ziperator. The beam suddenly dispersed into several meteors that exploded upon impact. The Bakugan, no matter how equipped they were, were reverted to ball form.

He touched down on the ground next to Aranaut, with his battler dropping to the ground. He looked down at a stunned Fabia, a smile on his face. "Long time no see, Fabia."

Fabia breathlessly gasped. "Is that…you Dan?"

"Yeah, it me."

Fabia blinked. Another explosion happened close by, but she wasn't concerned about that. She looked around, seeing buildings and chrome everywhere. So much destruction in a matter of minutes, and she wasn't sure why Dan was here. But this had to be a sign.

"Dan…what's going on?" she asked.

"We don't exactly have a lot of time to explain. We need to help get these creeps away from the city, right?"

"Dan and I can handle the ones from the air. The rest of the forces are coming from the east, we'll be over there." Drago told them.

Assessing the situation, Fabia nodded. "Understood. I'll have to stay here and make sure my people stay as safe as possible. It's my job as the queen, you understand that, don't you?"

Dan nodded at the compliance met. "Sure thing. Drago…" His Bakugan's hand reached down to lift him up to his shoulder again. "Let's go! The others need us now more than ever!"

"You've read my mind, Dan!" Drago let out a high-pitched roar as he jettisoned into the atmosphere.

…

The Trailer sailed over the skies, seeing the many Bakugan that were coming from below. The air writhed in cannon fodder as the Neathians down below were engaged in a one-sided war. They all saw long-range cannon fire blazing across the battlefield that decimated the landscape.

"He's already here!" Maggie chirped.

"This is bad, we won't be able to make a landing like this." Shawn deterred.

"The Trailer in fact has an auto-pilot function. I thought you should be aware of that." Jase announced. "It can fly on its own and make its own landing, but we'll need to cover it if we can."

"So what does that mean?" Marucho questioned. "What are you guys gonna do?"

Shuji beamed. "Heh, just roll with it, kid. Gotta learn the hard way how we roll."

"What?"

"That works for me!" Julie interrupted. "We can get the video footage at this angle a lot better!" Beside her, the teenage cameraman nodded while zooming in on the battlefield. The lens could see a magenta explosion that emanated a dust cloud.

Luka started immediately for the hatch. "Then what are we doing here? You guys wanna have a chance or what?"

Luke nodded in agreement. "You're right." He looked towards Esther, who was looking serious as well. He faced Shawn, then Shun and Gunz, who were all set. "…okay. Let's get down there then!"

…

"Is this all you're worth?"

Zion's testimony directed towards his inferior opponents in front of him. Rubanoid had his Destrakon Gear setup already, and Haos Raptorix, Boulderon, and Wolfurio were all looking very much shaken. A few knives were scattered around the enemies' feet as they were all barely bleeding from the cut and blood they were shedding. There were several missed blows, but they all were barely keeping up with Snapzoid and Zion's relentless physical onslaught. And worst of all, Zion looked far from satisfied.

"This…this is unbelievable…" Rafe uttered.

"All those blows…and he's seriously still going strong." Paige grunted. "Really strong."

Zion huffed at his opponents' remarks. "You speak so low of yourselves. I suppose all Neathians are of low self-esteem. No wonder why this is boring."

Elright, having taken offense to that, snarled. "We're not done yet! Ability, activate! Hyat Spinner!" Raptorix spun after Snapzoid, becoming a tornado of lightning that close in fast.

Zion held up his Bakumeter, showcasing an ability. "Eel Shockdown!" Snapzoid unleashed his tentacles that stretched towards Raptorix. They tangled around the Bakugan, stopping his spin completely. Harsh red voltage electrocuted him harshly, flashing in the air repeatedly until was too much. The Haos Bakugan fell to the ground, slamming in front of Elright.

"Raptorix! No!"

"Captain Elright, sir! Look out!" Linus warned.

Elright turned to find a polearm heading his way. He meekly turned and was unable to fully block as the polearm pierced his gut. A stabbing, bleeding pain exceeded his cries of anguish as he fell over onto his side.

"CAPTAIN, NO!" Rafe screamed in horror.

Wolfurio turned angrily towards the killer. "You're gonna pay for that one!"

"That goes double for me." Rubanoid huffed.

Paige ran over to check on him. "Captain Elright, hey! Say something!" She nudged him, but it only led to his blood seeping. He grunted as he had to clutch it tighter to hold the pain in.

"Hmph, missed his vital."

Paige turned angrily at Zion's sneer. Her eyes showed anger at his actions. "You bald-headed creep! I'm gonna make you eat that spear like you crave it! You're not getting away with this, ya hear?!"

Zion looked maliciously at Paige and the others still able. He didn't need to look anywhere else. His focus was set on them. He wanted to see them at their desperation. And he had a way of doing so.

"You know, lasse…you wouldn't be the only one to say something like that." He started low. "In fact, I believe your little Gundalian allies said something along those lines."

Paige froze on the spot. Did she hear him right? Her home was just mentioned, and she was stationed on Neathia this entire time. She was completely confused at the implication, but that didn't stop the bad feeling that was crawling up her spine.

"Gundalia?" Boulderon hinted. He looked at Rubanoid, who was just as suspicious about their home world.

"You…what did you just say?" Paige stepped closer. "Say that again! What did you just say?!"

"Paige!" Rafe tried calming her down, but he was swatted away by her muscular arm.

"Tell me!" She had a seething spite in her eyes, pleading to know what happened. She wasn't going to have it either way.

Zion chose to oblige the girl's request, his eyes still unwavering as he adjusted his stance with his axe blade attaching to the next polearm. "The same thing that we did to your beloved allies, is precisely what you're going to feel."

Paige felt her heart nearly jump out of her chest. She turned towards Elright to see his bleeding figure and unable to stand. She was starting to get the picture, and it was causing her breathing to escalate. Her body started shaking as her fists clutched brightly. Her sharp teeth gnashed at the growing angst swelling up inside.

"Paige…" Rafe didn't know what to say. He looked at Zion harshly. "What do you mean by that?! Tell us!"

Zion said nothing. His blood-stained blade howled as a passing wind was sliced nonchalantly.

Her blood boiling, Paige was unable to contain herself as her heels dug into earth as she charged for Zion. "YOU MONSTER~!" She cried at the top of her lungs. "TELL ME WHAT YOU DID!"

"No!" Linus reached out, but he was too far from her.

Paige charge recklessly after Zion with the intent to kill, screaming violently at the top of her lungs. "Yes. That's what I want to see." Time slowed down as the distance between them was closing dramatically. He lifted his Bakumeter, readying a Forbidden Ability. "I want to see you at your best…for you to see it burn."

At the same time, the ground started steaming as Snapzoid was snarling low. A hot aura engulfed him as a bright purple core surged and links chords all around the body, compressing flares into a single point and causing a tremor beneath. The ground was starting to erupt in steam and fire around Zion. A sight that alarmed the Castle Knights around.

'This power…where did this monstrous strength come from?!' Linus looked in horror.

Rubanoid wasn't going down without a fight. His Destrakon Gear's several head unleashed a barrage of red beams that seared through the air at Snapzoid. However, the impact dissipated before it could faze it. "Impossible!"

"Now…" Zion's eyes widened. "Burn!"

Snapzoid expelled a roar to the skies, his ear-splitting screech unleashing fiery, molten flares in a pillar that exploded cindering blazes everywhere. The attack quickly swallowed Raptorix, Boulderon, Wolfurio, and Rubanoid; the jewel dragon's Battlegear being melted away in the roar.

Paige didn't see anything but white. The harsh flares rushed at her and her allies. All they saw were flames and a madman's death stare before they all were blown off their feet. The Bakugan all reverted to ball form, their bodies and even ball forms smoking from the blazes. Even as they fell to the melted earth, they were gaining more char spots while the Castle Knights everywhere around were either burnt alive, or were blown away with harsh burns. Rafe, Linus, and Elright were all included. And Paige was found with her arms seared to where the epidermis was almost completely burnt away. The pain she was in was unimaginable. Her blood painted her face from the cuts that opened wider. She was so out of it, she couldn't even hear. Ringing was all that was met.

Explosions kept raging in the far distance. Neathian Bakugan were being taken down in numbers so great, they didn't have a chance to offer themselves up. They didn't have a choice. The Neathian Army laid everywhere, either unconscious…or dead by blood or burns.

A shadow cast over Paige. She was unresponsive due to shock as Zion used his heel to turn her over to look her dead in the eye. "It's your kind of people, who doesn't fully understand are whom this reality if filled with. Those who seek to act and preserve themselves and their pride. Let me tell you…did your pride and honor save your allies…or you?"

Paige couldn't hear him, but from what her blurry vision saw, Zion was mocking her. She would've yelled back if she could, but she was too weak. She wasn't able. She failed.

With a scoff, Zion raised his blade to finish her head first.

CLANG!

A harsh sweep of a blade caused him to slide off of Paige and close to his still active Snapzoid. He felt a swifter – brighter – sweep of a blade that he deflected at the last second. He swung his blade, deterring whoever did that. Two sets of feet slid back to cover the fallen Neathians.

Zion got a good look at who it was…his smirk returned. "Well, well…"

Rafe weakly opened an eye at what was happening. "What…?"

Luke and Luka stood side-by-side, blades up to defend against Zion and Snapzoid. Their glares were dead serious and focused solemnly on him.

"Let's go, guys!"

Off to the distance, the Battle Brawlers and their Bakugan raced into the fray. Not far behind them, the others with their Bakugan out were all sailing into battle against the enemy forces. The help has arrived.

"Brontes." Luka told.

The jester sneered cutely as his eyes shined on his ball form. A white light engulfed him, then they enveloped Rafe, Paige, Linus, and Elright. They all teleported from sight, leaving the field clear for them to focus on their foe.

"Don't worry, they were teleported within the city limits." Luka explained.

"I tried to be gentle." Brontes chimed. "…just a little."

"That's good. Now…" Abis turned towards Zion. "I believe we owe someone a score to settle."

Luka braced his blade. "Zion."

The Pyrus Hades Pillars member looked at his two adversaries, explosions and the enemy Bakugan making counterattacks. Jaakor unleashed green beams from his knuckles while Reptak fired yellow energy spheres from his arm braces at enemy lines, resulting in explosions. The shadow of Fusion Dragonoid rained overhead as he dropped into battle with his friends. As Dan readied the charge off in the distance, Zion was taking in everything. Once he processed it, he took in a long breath and stood in place.

"…hmph. I've been yearning to see what you fellas can do."

Luke and Luka braced themselves.

"My blade yearns for your thrill that you gave me back on Gundalia, Luke. Show me what your blades can do that words cannot…" His eyes widened, his chin rising. "And leave me at least a scar to walk away with!"

"Let's go everyone!" Dan declared, fist raised. "Let's save Neathia!"

As the initial battle for Neathia had begun, chrome continued to slowly turn to dark magenta. Rock started crumbling, along with the wildlife soon to come. But this would only be the beginning.

Inside a room decorated with magenta chrome with black networks running through all the edges, Riaan and Hades Pillars watched casually through the monitor that was in the center of the room. The room they were in was also ovular in shape, and had a lot of windows with no glass, much like the Empyrean on Vestal. They could get a clear view of the battle happening miles away just by looking out towards west.

As the sunlight illuminated the magenta-layered room and shined around through its opening, the black networks shined brightly in bright blue colors, connected to Riaan as he sat on his throne. He watched Zion as he was about to battle Luke and Luka, a smile on his face.

"So, Zion…" he folded his fingers over the other. "I'm curious…just how far you'll go for you to make them see the truth?"

Zion raised his blade, slashing with bloody intent.

Well, this wasn't the start I thought would come down, but here's the Neathia Arc's start. I was hoping to get Zion VS Luke & Luka in before I ended it, but as soon as I saw my word count reach 20K by the time the settings changed to Neathia, I had to make a cutoff. So, no official battle this chapter, but at least I setup the frontline battle for next chapter. This means of course my plans will be longer, but I'm okay with that as long as I can get this story in the right direction.

So yeah, I took Lice out for this arc, but don't kill me, she'll be back soon. That is a guarantee. Meanwhile, I got a good focus set on Luka and Alto Brontes, and we have Julie to show Earth what the fights are going on about. Let's see how far I'm able to take this story in this direction, shall we?

Let me know what you think and how I'm handling this Neathia Arc so far! Feedback and detailed reviews are always appreciated! Thanks guys!