The Bakugan Battle Brawlers in:
Under Siege
Inside the Neathian palace, there was an empty room where Kimiko had been sleeping, the morning sun was over her closed eyes. Her eyelids fluttered as she slowly opened them. She slowly rose out of the sheets and tried to figure out where she was.
Her head comically looked all around the room, and she remembered that she was on Neathia. She thought back to the battle she and Fabia had with Shun and Xaramesi, in which she managed to hold her own against the both of them. She even managed to achieve her Reversion form - though with the catalyst of a forbidden card. Still, it counted for her.
"I trust you slept well?" she turned to Lycanine who stood on her nightstand.
"Hey, Lykie. Yeah… slept ok. Best sleep I've had in a while." she answered while rubbing her eyes.
"You deserved it, your efforts have prevented the Fabregans from taking Neathia. And forced them into retreat."
Kimiko blushed and turned away. "Aww… I didn't do much." she thought back to what it was like for her to transform into that powerful form. She even gave Xaramesi a run for her money during that battle and looked to have defeated her. "I can use Reversion! EEEEEE!" she squealed as her cheeks reddened.
The door to her room opened and she saw a castle knight walk into the room with a composed posture to him. "Miss Kimiko?"
"Huh… yeah that's me," she answered.
"Queen Fabia is requesting your presence in the throne room," he said.
She then noticed she was in a nightgown. "Right… I'll go get changed, she then remembered that her old clothes were torn up because of her Reversion Form. Um… you wouldn't happen to have any other clothes I can use, would you?"
…
Kimiko had walked in through the rising door that showed the throne room, she was dressed in a Castle Knight Uniform which was white with brown accents for her Subterra Attribute, but the clothing was cut off at her lower arms and below her knees to accommodate any transformation into her Reversion form.
After entering the throne room, she could see Queen Fabia as well as a couple of other Castle Knights standing by what looked like a large table that looked like it was a simulation of a small battlefield.
"Kimiko." Fabia greeted. The other Castle Knights had bowed to her briefly. "On behalf of the people of Neathia, we thank you for your help."
The Fabregan girl giggled and awkwardly scratched her cheek. "I… um… I just had to do something you know."
"You've definitely proven your strength," Fabia said, but the smile quickly disappeared from her face. "Unfortunately, our neighbors, Gundalia have fallen to the Fabregans."
"Really?! W-well we need to do something!" Kimiko exclaimed with a scared expression on her face.
"Precisely." they all heard. Entering the room was Spectra, behind him, he had Mira, Ace, Baron, and Gus.
"Spectra!" Kimiko happily cried.
"So… I take it you have a plan?" Fabia asked as she stood up from her throne.
"We plan to lead an assault team to head to Gundalia to take the Fabregans down as quickly as possible."
Baron had clenched his fist. "Nemus and I can head to Gundalia and take care of business!"
Kimiko was looking out to the peaceful cities of Neathia, their pristine white cities would have been taken over, or worse had she not dug deep into the power that both she and Lykie had. "I'm going too!" she exclaimed.
Spectra turned his face to her, his serious tone not changing. "You're serious? Are you sure about this?"
Kimiko looked at her palm and closed her fist. "I've gotten so much stronger now, I'm not scared anymore… plus…" she looked up at all of them. "For some reason, that Forbidden Card allowed me to gain a Reversion Form."
"WHAT?!" Gus exclaimed in shock.
"Interesting." Spectra droned, not sharing the shock of his longest ally. "Perhaps it is true that only particular Bakugan can achieve that feat." He theorized. "The card may have… accelerated the process to Reversion."
"Whatever the case is, I'm going there." she thought back to her battle with Shun and Xaramesi, even when she went into combat with Xaramesi herself. "If I have the power to make a difference, to change the world for the better… You can be so sure I'll use it!" Baron walked up to her and he gave her a cheery smile.
"Way to get psyched, little girl!"
"Then count me in, too." Ace said. "I feel like you're going to need some backup if you're going to head into their territory that they just took over."
"But… if I know the Fabregans… they might come back. I don't think they will give up on Neathia." Kimiko said.
"You leave them to me and Gus," Spectra said. "In case you forgot, the two of us managed to hold off Aurea and Dan on our first tour of Fabrega."
Fabia gasped to herself in shock. "Wait… you fought Dan?" she asked.
"Yes… a bit of a throwback to the old days. But that's actually why we're here. The original Battle Brawlers have been taken in by some kind of hypnosis and at the moment are battling for the Fabregans."
Fabia thought back to why Shun was fighting for them. "So that why Shun was…" she thought to herself.
"So what do we do now?" Mira asked.
"After we take back Gundalia, we'll return to Fabrega to finish what we started!" Spectra said. He then turned to Queen Fabia. "But if this is going to work, we'll need the full support of the Neathian army."
"Understood!" Fabia said with a serious tone in her voice. "You will have our knight's full support!"
"Perfect." Spectra turned on his heel and the eye in his purple mask shone. "Let's move, we've got work to do. While the others are on Gundalia, we will defend Neathia in case they get any ideas."
…
Down on Gundalia, there was a wide expanse of empty land. A wolf/fox Bakugan was leading both Maia and Liaru who were still in their Reversion forms.
"You said you want to know about your past, don't you?" he asked as he sat down on the ground. Maia gave a serious nod, Liaru stood next to her in solidarity. "Fine, you see. You were never born. Rather you were artificially created. As a Gundalian Super Soldier."
"So… I am nothing but a creation…" Maia sadly said to herself.
"That is right," Lumagrowl said. "You were made to be able to be strong enough to even beat Emperor Barodius. He used to be the Emperor of Gundalia."
"Uh-huh."
"Kazarina wanted to rule at Barodius' side, and her knowledge on Bakugan and evolution was second to none. She could even hypnotize anyone into doing her bidding."
"If I was… made? Then what happened? Is Kazarina, really dead?"
Lumagrowl had leered at her slightly. "Yes… I buried her body. Since then I have traveled this planet by myself for years." he then loosened his glare when he saw Liaru glaring at him. "Back to you, you were a secret project that was coming along nicely, but there were… complications. Kazarina was killed and well, those that were in charge of the project with her had to hide evidence of your existence. In short, the remaining Fabregans that were loyal to Barodius tried to kill you." Maia let out a shocked gasp. "But your partner saved you."
"You mean Liaru?" he nodded, which made Maia turn to her partner. "Liaru… what happened?"
"I couldn't let them hurt you. So I fought them off while you were still in your pod," he said. "I realized Gundalia wouldn't be safe for us anymore. So I got you out, got the both of us to Earth where you could live a normal life." Liaru then looked at Lumagrowl. "I am sorry about Kazarina."
"Your apology means nothing, Liaru. Especially after coming this late." he looked to the pair of them. "There I told you about your past, what you decide to do from now on is up to you." they both watched Lumagrowl walk and disappear into the dark haze in the distance.
"I pity him," Liaru said. "He must have been lost all these years. If I know anything about Lumagrowl, it's that he was loyal to and only to Kazarina. So he's just been aimlessly roaming Gundalia."
Maia looked out into the distance, and she could feel the Reversion power still around her. "What do we do? I don't know anymore."
"That is your decision to make, but know that I will be behind you, no matter what choice you make, Hikari."
"Once you're back to your normal form… you're not going to be your normal self, what could be doing that?"
"I do not know. But know that I trust you," he said.
"Well… I think I know what I want to do. I am going to bring you back to normal, then I'll figure things out from there." She let the yellow sparkles leak off her body and into the sky and Liaru had reverted to his Haos/Pyrus hybrid form and he then turned to his ball form and landed on Maia's palm. "Garfield Quinn…" she remembered that he was the battler that Venus wanted her to find. "How do I even find him?"
She could hear a notification sound coming from her gauntlet. "H-hello?" she answered.
"Where are you!?" she heard Andreas yell to her. "You should be here defending the outpost, once the tower has completed construction, we can be able to use it to travel between here and the homeland! That's is why it is important we defend it with our lives."
"R-right. I'll be there soon." after Maximus hung up, she looked up into the dark sky. 'I want to know the truth! And only Yurina will know.'
Early morning on a beach in the Fabregan Wilds, Radion and Lunaris with their partners were flying through the air. A few moments later, they flew close to the ground where they kicked up sand and water. They were aiming to reach Utopia City in order to take Zavanna back with them.
"How much longer do you think we will be?" Akira impatiently asked as she sat on Radion's back.
"Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to take a bit of a break. Our Bakugan were flying all night." Cera suggested.
"Agreed!" Radion chirped. "My wings are starting to ache."
"We can't stop," Akira said in defiance. "Not when there is so much to lose. If something happened to Zavanna… Cameron would never forgive me. Uh... I mean US!" she quickly corrected.
"I understand, but pushing our Bakugan too far would only weaken them if we need to battle," Cera said before facing Akira while she knelt on Lunaris. "Besides, Cameron doesn't have a grudging bone in his body." She saw Akira dart away. "Do you care more about saving Zavanna, or more about your 'friendship' with Cameron?" she asked.
"Cera…p-please don't make me answer that." there was a bead of silence over them and Akira only eyed the passing ground beneath them.
"You're lucky that Zavanna is just as oblivious as Cameron is. If not more-so."
"He isn't… he figured out my feelings, and he still chose her."
"So… you're angry as him for this?"
Akira let out a tired sigh. "I'm not angry at him, at least I'm not right now."
"You're angry at Zavanna then?"
"Radion, stop!" Radion suddenly floated to half in the air, which prompted Lunaris to do the same thing.
"By all means, you can keep running from this, but it will eat you up if you don't deal with it." Cera sternly said. "I know you're about to bite my head off, and we can keep playing therapist till we get to Utopia City. But if you don't sort out this 'crush war' you have with Zavanna, your instincts will. And trust me if that happens, you might not have Cameron's friendship to hold on to for much longer."
Akira looked on at the rising blue sun of Fabrega, she tried to think about anything else besides her constant heartbreak that got her in this mess. "Ugh… why did I wait so long!?" She turned back to Cera who was waiting for a response. "Maybe we should take a bit of a break."
They both landed on the ground and Lunaris and Radion had turned to their ball forms. She let out a deep sigh and Cera walked close to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Um… there, there?"
Akira chuckled in response. "You're not good at this comforting people, are you?"
Cera folded her arms. "Would you rather I make you feel worse?"
"I don't know if it is possible to feel worse than I already am. My head is all over the place, ugh." she sat down and crossed her legs and closed her eyes. "We have bigger things to worry about." They could both hear snoring and they could see Radion snoring in her closed ball form.
"How… disgraceful…" Lunaris teased.
"I think it's cute, she only snores when she's really out of it," Akira noted. "I really hope that at least Zavanna is ok. I can't be angry at her, she's a lot braver than I am. And yet she seemed so meek."
Back on Gundalia, inside the Fabregan tower that was being constructed, Shun was meditating in his room and as he did, he kept seeing a fog inside his head. He got up off the ground and stood. "Shun." He turned to his partner Skyress who was sitting on the nightstand of his room. "Are you feeling all right?"
He let out a sigh. "Yes, but I'm not sure about Maximus. Yurina said he was supposed to help me with my Reversion. But all he's done is avoid me." he walked around the outside and eyed the Tower that the Fabregans were constructing for fast transportation between both Gundalia and Fabrega. "I guess all I have to do is defend this thing."
Elsewhere, Maximus was in his quarters and he was going over what looked like data on what looked like a projected monitor with a keyboard in front of him. His partner rolled onto his table. His smartphone was on the side of the table and it started vibrating. He could see that the person calling him decided to keep their identity secret. "Who is this?" he asked after he answered. He could hear the voice on the other line speak to him. "So you know who I am. Am I supposed to be impressed?" After another bead of silence filled the room as the mystery person spoke to Maximus "You don't say… fine. And how am I supposed to trust you?" His partner Prismanta rolled onto the table to hear the conversation. "I see. All right then. I will make the necessary preparations." The phone suddenly hung up and Maximus let out a sigh before putting his hands in his pockets.
"Something wrong?" Prismanta asked.
"No, just something that we should watch out for," he said. "I need to head to the lab to check on something." He left his room and headed down to the ground floor of the tower.
Outside, watching the tower from a far distance was Ace, Baron, and Kimiko. Ace looked at the structure with Vestal styled goggles. He zoomed in to see the tower constructing itself as it rose higher into the sky.
"So what is that?" Ace asked looking at Kimiko.
"Well, that's a Fabregan base tower. They mostly construct them after finding an empty plot of land to build a city over. It's a fast way to get resources back and forth, from the tower to a city of Fabrega and in reverse. That's how most new cities are formed." she looked away in slight shame. "Though I guess it can be used for invasions too."
"Ha, not if we smash it!" Baron confidently said.
"Well, I can guarantee that at least one member of the High Council will be there," she said. "And we may run into the hypnotized Battle Brawlers again."
Ace's partner, Percival stood on his shoulder. "So, do we have a plan?"
"Other than smash it?" Baron asked.
Kimiko was in thought. "Or, we could use it quickly transport to Fabrega and continue the fight." she thought about it. "Think about it, we can take down Fabrega on two fronts. Spectra can attack from his end and the three of us can use the tower to get to Fabrega and attack any other forces that are on the other side."
"I like her plan!" Baron said with a smile.
"Right… but Fabia said we need to find Ren. Any idea where he would be?" Ace asked.
"If he put up any sort of a fight and they found him tough to beat, then there is a good chance he's been reconditioned by now," Kimiko said. This means there is a good chance we will be fighting him. If not, then he'll likely be imprisoned somewhere in the tower along with any others that were captured."
"So how are we going to do this?"
Kimiko smirked. "I'll cause a huge ruckus!" she said. "After I get their attention, you go and find the prisoners and get them out of the tower."
"That's stupid!" Ace reprimanded. "You're going to get beaten if you take on their battlers by yourself."
"Hey! I've got a Reversion Form buddy! I can hold them off for long. That's why you two need to be fast with the prisoners!" she said getting in his face. "I can hold them off, you can trust me to do that!"
"Well, she did help Fabia prevent Neathia from being taken over," Baron noted.
Kimiko smiled at Baron. "See, he knows what he's talking about! I'll be fine, you have to trust me on this."
Lycanine popped open on her shoulder. "I can personally vouch for her. You can count on both of us."
"Right, as soon as I get their attention. You go around and get to the prisoners, they have to be somewhere in the tower." she was about to slide down the hill to get to the tower. "Wish me luck~!" she sang as she slid down on her backside.
Ace lightly punched Baron's shoulder. "You and Nemus go and find the prisoners. I am going to back up our friend there."
"But we agreed she could do it alone."
"Yeah, but what if she loses and get reconditioned. That's something we can't risk. We're not capable of Reversion like her so we can't afford to let her lose." Baron gave a serious nod after hearing Ace's reasoning. "Find the prisoners as quick as you can, because I feel we're going to need a lot of help once we start battling."
"Got it, Ace! I'll make sure I'm fast!" they both hi-fived each other. And Ace followed after Kimiko while Baron was sneakily standing by waiting for Kimiko to make her move.
…
Kimiko stood at the base of the tower and she looked up, she cleared her throat and cupped her hands over her mouth. "HEY! HIGH COUNCIL JERKS!" she yelled. "You want me!? I'm right here!?" Lycanine had a large drop of sweat going down his side.
"Perhaps a better method would have been better…" he thought.
Suddenly there were guards that surrounded Kimiko and they had their spears pointed at her. "Whoops, should have expected that." Suddenly one of the guards had flashed a hologram of Maximus in front of her. "Maximus?"
"Enki? I didn't expect to be dealing with one of our traitors today."
"And I was hoping not to deal with a smug jerk! Why don't you come out here so I can teach you a lesson!? Or are you too scared to deal with me yourself!"
Maximus chuckled to himself. "Why should I waste my energy on you? You're just a fly, not worthy of my time. I've already sent my other battlers to deal with you."
She could see Shun landing close to the guards after he grappled down from one of the floors of the tower with a rope and hook. "Shun again? I've already fought against him on Neathia. You're going to have to bring a whole lot better if you wanna play around with me anymore." However, she could see Ren walking right up to Shun and he had black Fabregan-eye rings in his eyes. "Right… that's better I guess…" she said.
"Shun, Ren. Take care of this trash so I can get back to my work." the hologram had shut off and the guards made way for both Shun and Ren.
"Looks like I have to fight the both of you! No big deal! Ha-Ha-Ha!" she laughed albeit it was a laugh that revealed her nerves were kicking in.
"And it looks like your mouth got you into trouble." she heard. She could see Ace fighting through a couple of guards as he moved to her side.
"Ace?"
"Did you really think I was going to let you just pull off this mission of yours by yourself? Taking on a couple of battlers by yourself? That's suicide even if you have a Reversion Form."
Kimiko chuckled nervously. "Hehe, sorry about the bravado back there."
She saw Ace equipping his gauntlet onto his arm. "Are you going to just stand there? Because they already look rearing to go."
"Right!" Kimiko quickly equipped hers.
After both Ren and Shun equipped their gauntlets, Ren eyed Linehalt with his pupils. "Linehalt?"
"Yes… our forbidden power. I have not forgotten." He stated. "I shall not hold back in this encounter." he watched Shun equipping his gauntlet.
All four of them held their gauntlets up as they had begun the battle simultaneously. "Gauntlet Power Strike!" their gauntlets activated, letting out their elemental glows, and their life gauges had filled up.
Ren was first to throw in his partner. "Bakugan Brawl!" he tossed in Linehalt who popped open with spinning dark energy rotating around his ball form.
Shun followed as he tossed in Skyress. "Don't hold back Skyress!" both Bakugan stood as Linehalt stood on the ground while Skyress had hovered above him.
"Guess it's our turn now!" Kimiko said as she kissed Lycanine while he was still open in his ball form. "Good luck out there!"
"With you by my side! I don't need luck!" he closed his ball form and allowed for Kimiko to grab him and she tossed him into the battlefield.
"Bakugan Brawl! Lykie stand!" Lycanine took a hard step as he stood on the ground beneath him. He growled as he faced the hypnotized Skyress and Linehalt.
"We're up, Ace!" Percival said while hovering near Ace's face. He was grabbed and Ace grinned.
"Bakugan Brawl! Percival Stand!" he was thrown in and he landed on the ground while taking a battle stance.
Linehalt: 900 / Storm Skyress: 750
Lycanine: 700 / Knight Percival: 700
Right after their power levels were displayed, Kimiko had smirked at the opponents in front of her. "So who wants to start?"
"Not like I need your permission!" Ren exclaimed as he forced a card into his new Fabregan Gauntlet. "Ability Activate, Bolting Vibra!" Linehalt had flowed up and purple electricity had discharged from his wings and they sped to Lycanine. This had immediately taken 300 away from Lycanine, putting him down to 400Gs.
Kimiko held up a card and remained confident. "Get ready Lykie! Ability Activate! Ground Voltage!" Lycanine's orange glowing joints shone purple and he stomped the ground hard to make a purple electrical hemisphere spread from his legs. The growing electrical pulse had managed to neutralize the electrical attack that was thrown his way, as both attacks canceled each other out. 250Gs were transferred between the two.
Lycanine: 650 / Linehalt: 650
"Let's turn up the heat, Lykie! Ability Activate! Eruption Pillar!" Lycanine had punched his right paw to the ground and pillars of lava were shooting out in a line towards both Skyress and Linehalt. Immediately, 450Gs was added to Lycanine's power level. Which landed him at 1100Gs.
Ren remained calm and had a card in his gauntlet. "Ability Activate, Darkness Blizzard!" Linehalt flew up and flapped his wings, creating purple blizzard winds that froze the erupting lava in its tracks, turning it into solid rock. After the ability was nullified, Lycanine's power dropped back down to 650.
The Gundalian glanced back at Shun who simply nodded. "Ability Activate, Whirlwind Lightning Sword!" Skyress flew up high, her wings shone bluish-green and were blasting bright green energy pellets from them that were heading for the vulnerable Lycanine. 300Gs were transferred between the two.
Lycanine: 350 / Storm Skyress: 1050
"Uh-oh!" Percival quickly stood in front of Lycanine.
"Ace!"
"I know!" Ace exclaimed as he put an ability into his gauntlet. "Ability Activate! Bind Shield!" A large, purple shield appeared in Percival's left hand and he used it to block the energy pellets that were speeding to Lycanine while adding 300Gs to himself in the process.
Linehalt: 650 / Storm Skyress: 1050
Lycanine: 350 / Knight Percival: 1000
"Let's see you block this!" Shun said. "Ability Activate, Destruction Meteor Storm!" Skyress was covered in greenish-white flames as she flew high up into the air before shooting back down to the duo of Lycanine and Percival. Skyress and Percival transferred 400 between themselves, putting Skyress at 1450 and Percival down at 600.
"Make way Percival!" Kimiko yelled as she had two abilities in her gauntlet. "Double Ability Activate! Hydraulic Flight, plus Doom Impulse!" Lycanine was covered in a magma aura and his metal, four-edged wings had emerged from his back and the thrusters had ignited and he flew up into the air to meet the descending Skyress.
Lycanine: 350 (+ 400 + 600) = 1350 / Storm Skyress: 1450 (- 400) = 1050
Both Bakugan had clashed in the sky and they created a loud explosion which made everyone cover their eyes. Out of the black clouds, Skyress was seen falling as she had taken the worst of that exchange.
"Oh no, Skyress!" she hit the ground hard and had soot marks on her body.
"Quickly, take them out Linehalt!" Ren said as he pointed towards Percival. "Ability Activate! Razen Breaker!" Linehalt had electricity covering the top half of his body as the green crystals were firing pulses of dark purple lightning from them to the vulnerable Percival." This put Linehalt up to 1050Gs.
"Hah, you call that lightning? This is lightning! Ability Activate, Stray Thunder!" bright purple electricity had built up in Percival's one finger and he aimed it at Linehalt and he fired it.
Both lightning attacks met in the middle and were letting out powerful pulses that were fighting against each other, but since Stray Thunder added 300 to Percival, his power level had succeeded Linehalt's and his lightning attack beat out Linehalt's shocking the opposing Darkus Bakugan in an electrical surge.
Linehalt: 1050 / Storm Skyress: 1050
Lycanine: 1350 / Knight Percival: 1300
"Heh, looks like we got them on the ropes!" Kimiko exclaimed.
Shun only remained silent as he placed another ability into his gauntlet. "Ability Activate, Sky Meteor Flare!" Skyress was shot up into the air and white flams covered her body. She expanded the flames which transitioned into a white flare that exploded in the air. Both Percival and Lycanine were blinded by the flare, each of them losing 450Gs while Skyress added 450 to herself.
Storm Skyress: 1500
Lycanine: 900 / Knight Percival: 850
Ren held up his gauntlet and took advantage of the blinded Lycanine and Percival. "Now's our chance, Double Ability Activate! Dark Saber-" Linehalt flew up and a purple beam-saber shot out from his right hand. "-plus Twist Bow!"
Linehalt was high in the air and he the saber around his hand turned into an energy ring and he tossed it towards the duo of Lycanine and Percival. Dark Saber sapped 300 from Lycanine while Twist Bow took 200 from the pair of them.
Linehalt: 1050
Lycanine: 900(-300 -200)= 400 / Knight Percival: 850(-200)= 650
Kimiko had extended her hand. "Lykie get in front of Percival! I've got a plan!" she held her gauntlet up high. "Ability Activate, Steel Sheen!" After Lycanine had stepped in front of Percival a fiery silver aura covered his body. His power increased by 400 putting him up to 800. Once the Twist Bow got close, he bit down on it, making it shatter into dark purple shards. It also had the added effect of nullifying the effects of Twist Bow entirely.
Linehalt: 1050 / Storm Skyress: 1500
Lycanine: 800(+200)= 1000 / Knight Percival: 650(+200)= 850
"Time to end this, Percival! Ability Activate! Dain Sleif!" Knight Percival rose his hand and streaks of bright purple thunder had materialized a purple sword in his hand with a gold-colored hilt. He had 300Gs added to his power level and he leaped up to the sky to meet with Linehalt. His power had ascended to 1150 "Time for a fusion ability of my own, Fusion Ability Activate! Vermilion!" his sword had bright purple energy surrounding it as he moved to strike Linehalt. As soon he clashed with Linehalt's Dark Saber, 200Gs was taken from Linehalt thanks to Vermillion, which put him down to 850.
As they hovered in the air, Skyress was lying in wait, ready to strike them down. "It's time, Skyress! Ability Activate, Valiant Fang - Soar Green Destruction!" her tail feathers opened up and a bluish-green energy beam fired from it and it was speeding to the unknowing Percival.
"Percival!" Ace fearfully yelled as he saw 500Gs being added to Storm Skyress.
Linehalt: 1050 / Storm Skyress: 2000
Lycanine: 1000 / Knight Percival: 1150
"GO Lykie!" Kimiko yelled as he activated his mechanical wings and flew right into the path of the attack.
Ace looked to Kimiko with a perplexed expression. "Are you crazy!? You're going to let your Bakugan take such a hit?"
"Not without a plan I won't!" she retorted as she threw two Reversion Ability Cards into her gauntlet. "Double Reversion Ability Activate! Anubis Charge!" Lycanine growled and his entire body was covered in a spiky red aura. His orange fur turned black and his white stripes turned orange. He boosted towards Skyress' attack and he looked to be cutting through the green energy beam that Skyress was firing.
"WHAT!?" Both Shun and Skyress exclaimed as they watched his power increase by 750 to reach 1750Gs.
"Oh and we're not done yet! Plus, Reversion Ability - Osiris Bravery!" there was a black aura that formed over the red aura and his eyes turned red everyone on the field watched in astonishment/horror that another 750Gs was added to Lycanine's power level!"
"Like that?" Kimiko smugly asked. "Osiris Bravery doubles the effect of any of my abilities! So it's time for a double dose of your medicine, Shun!"
Storm Skyress: 2000 / Lycanine: 2500
Lycanine continued to fly through Skyress' beam and he crashed right into her while still powered up and there was an explosion of bright green energy in the sky that boomed far over the entire area.
Skyress was descending to the ground while covered in her own bluish-green flames. She was covered in a bright green aura and returned to Shun's side while his gauntlet had shown that his life gauge had fallen down to 50%.
"Hey Ace, you want to end this already?" Kimiko asked.
He chuckled. "Don't get cocky, kid! Ability Activate, Geor Gunner!" the heads on the sides of Percival's shoulders had opened their maws and bright purple energy orbs powered up inside them as they faced the same direction as Percival. He powered up the same energy in his mouth. All three heads fired a fiery, pink mass of energy from their mouths and it covered Linehalt as he was being forced back by the attack. 500 was added to Percival's power level.
Linehalt: 1050 / Knight Percival: 1150(+500)= 1650
As Linehalt was consumed by the attack he shrunk down to his ball form after a mass of dark energy covered him. He bounced on the ground and his life gauge fell down to 40%.
Both Percival and Lycanine had flown back to their partners' grasps after their victory. "And that's how you get the job done!" Kimiko said with a wink.
"Great, one more victory and we'll be one step closer to shutting this place down!" Ace exclaimed.
They heard footsteps walking past the myriad of guards that surrounded them. "Out of my way you worthless Peons!" they both saw Maximus walking onto the field and he only glanced at Shun and Ren with a disgusted look on his face. "I seriously can't believe I have to do all this myself," he said to himself. "Get up, Ren!" he said as he looked forward. "Utilize that Hidden Power of yours. I want these pests away from my tower!"
Kimiko gave a serious glance after Maximus walked onto the scene. "Ok Ace, this guy is bad news. He's Maximus of the High Council and a big deal back home."
"You think we can beat him?"Ace asked.
Kimiko looked around. "Well, I'm honestly not sure… I've never fought him before."
"But what can we do? It's three on two?"
"Let's hope Baron can be fast!" she took out a gate card. "We've got to try and stall for time!" she tossed in her gate card which let out a brown pulsing sheen. "Bring it on!" she said to the three opponents. "Bakugan Brawl!" she tossed in Lycanine and he stood hard on the ground. "Let's shred them, Lykie!"
"Bakugan Brawl! Stand Darkus Percival!" Percival stood and folded his arms.
Maximus looked forward while not looking at Ren and Shun. "We don't accept failure. Fight, and don't get in my way!" he looked at Prismanta. "That goes for you too, Prismanta. Don't hold back."
"Of course, master."
Shun and Ren threw in Skyress and Linehart and they quickly stood on the battlefield. Maximus had Prismanta in between his fingers. "Bakugan Brawl!" Prismanta rolled on the field. "Prismanta, Stand!" Prismanta stood on the field and she swung her right arm blade.
Linehart: 900 / Storm Skyress: 750 / Prismanta: 850
Lycanine: 700 / Knight Percival: 700
"You are in way over your head, you parasite!" Maximus said. "I'll squash you like the gnat you are!"
Kimiko shivered to herself, and Lycanine noticed as he darted his pupils to him. "Kimiko, don't worry… You can do this!"
"Yeah… I can do this!"
Baron meanwhile was deep within the tower and he was sprinting through the rooms in the underground floor. Since Maximus was kept busy, dealing with Kimiko and Ace, with the guards standing outside, he basically ran through the tower unopposed.
"I wish we had a map of this place!" Baron said as his Bakugan, Nemus was on his shoulder.
"Well, it makes sense that the prison would be in the lower floor of the tower. Either way, we need to keep going!" Though when he turned into another hall, he saw Maia staring at him with her Liaru on her shoulder. He halted on his heel and he nervously waved at her. "U-um… hi?"
Maia lowered her eyebrows to fashion a glare at him. "You have ten seconds!" she said as she raised her gauntlet.
Elsewhere, inside Aurea's office. She was looking at a monitor that had various locations on Earth. She got a call, and she swiftly answered. "Speak," she said right before Yurina spoke on the other end.
"Hi Aurea~! How are the invasion plans coming?"
Aurea let out a sigh. "It's like solving a complicated puzzle. Unfortunately, I don't have all the pieces in front of me."
"Ah, you'll get it eventually. I believe in you. Do you know where Xaramesi is? I can't seem to find her."
The woman then sunk deeper into her chair. "You're going to want to sit down for this."
"Um~ okay!"
"Xaramesi quit."
There was a brief silence as if Yurina was waiting for Aurea to tell her that she was kidding about what she said. "Right… you're not kidding. Why? What happened?"
"She found out the truth." was all Aurea said. "She wasn't a fan of the invasion, said she felt as if she was being used."
"Didn't you put your job on the line for her?"
"I did… and at the end of the day… she was just another weapon, another soldier. She had her own ambitions... To one day see a world where Fabregans and Alursians will get along. So I let her quit, if she wants that ambition, she should be free to pursue it."
An audible sigh was heard on the other end of the call. "You've put us in a bad position, Aurea."
"Xaramesi wouldn't fight well on low morale. It's what's better for her. It is what I owe her for everything I've done for her."
"You're going soft, Aurea. Listen, keep the invasion plan in the back of your mind. Just make sure you keep our reconditioned battlers in line. Try not to get attached this time?"
Yurina hung up and Aurea remained seated on her chair. "I probably deserved that," she said before getting up off the chair. "I don't believe Yurina pulled rank like that before… oh well."
She stood up and Servavi stared at her as the woman had thrown her jacket over herself. "What are you going to do?"
"What else? I have a duty to do and I must stick to it." she picked Servavi off the table and could hear a hum coming from her partner. "Something wrong?"
"No… just something on my mind," Servavi said. "Nothing important."
Near the base of the tower, Skyress could be seen hovering in the sky as she looked down at the four other Bakugan involved in the battle. "Now Skyress! Ability Activate, Sky Meteor Flare!" Skyress covered herself in bright white fire and it resulted in a bright explosion of light that made a glare that was bright enough to force both Percival and Lycanine to close their eyes.
The result of the attack had taken 450Gs each from both Lycanine and Percival while adding 450 to herself.
Linehart: 900 / Storm Skyress: 750(+450)= 1200 / Prismanta: 850
Lycanine: 700(-450)= 250 / Knight Percival: 700(-450)= 250
While they were blinded, this opened the door for both Ren and Maximus. "I will incinerate you, like the trash you are! Ability Activate, Dichroic Deception!" Prismanta was sprinting at Lycanine while she was splitting herself into numerous clones made of light.
Ace threw his gauntlet up as his Percival stood in front of Lycanine. "You're going to need to do better than that! Double Ability Activate, Dain Sleif plus Bind Shield!" Knight Percival raised his hand in the air as bright purple lightning filled the air. His sword materialized and so did his shield in his other, as he stood in a defensive stance. Percival's abilities managed to add 300 to his power level twice while taking 300 from Prismanta.
Knight Percival: 850 / Prismanta: 550
"Fool, you thought I was done?" Maximus threw up his gauntlet. "Your Vestillian strength means nothing! Ability Activate, Prism Sword!" Prismanta's blade arms had shone before the runes on them shone blue. Her clones were still rushing towards him. "I'll be taking that three-hundred back now!" 300Gs was quickly transferred between the two. Putting Percival at 550 and putting Prismanta back to her base level of 850.
"Kimiko, you've got to do something!" Lycanine said.
"Ugh, I'm on it! Ability Activate, Eruption Pillar!" Lycanine threw his paw down on the ground forcing pillars of lava to shoot forward in a line to try and slow down Prismanta. Some of the clones had held back and Percival leaped up and spotted the real one. Lycanine's power was brought up to 650Gs thanks to the power increase of 450.
Linehart: 900 / Storm Skyress: 1200 / Prismanta: 850
Lycanine: 700 / Knight Percival: 550
"Ace! There!" he exclaimed pointing down at the real one.
"Loud and clear! I'm ending this! Ability Activate, Geor Gunner!" the shoulder heads on Percival's sides had primed themselves and so did Percival himself as he prepared to fire his energy flames. He opened his maw and the blasts combined to make a pink stream of bright flames speed toward the Prismantas. 500Gs was added to Percival and he was put at 1050Gs. The resulting explosion shook the ground and Ace smirked. "Looks like we took him down a peg!"
Suddenly, Prismanta shot out from the smoke and clashed blades with Percival who was still in the air, shocking Ace. "Foolish Vestal. If you thought that was even close to defeating me, then you are in way over your head!"
"While they are distracted!" Ren exclaimed as his gauntlet had activated an ability. "Ability Activate, Dark Javelin!" Linehalt had materialized a trident from thin air, and he sprinted to Lycanine. The attack managed to transfer 400Gs between them.
Linehart: 1300 / Lycanine: 300
The trident was letting out dark purple bolts of electricity. "I've got to hold them off a little longer! Ability Activate, Ground Voltage!" the glowing joints of Lycanine had turned purple from orange. He stomped on the ground making a purple electrical hemisphere spread from his legs. The electricity had engulfed Linehalt making him stop in his tracks. The power transfer wasn't a lot as it only transferred 250Gs between them.
Linehart: 1050 / Lycanine: 550
"What happened!? I can't move!" Linehalt exclaimed.
"That's the point!" Kimiko exclaimed. "Ability Activate, Doom Impulse!" Lycanine was covered in a magma aura and he was speeding to the vulnerable Linehalt. His power was increased to 1150Gs. "I got you!" At the same time, Linehalt's power fell to 800.
Suddenly Skyress had flown in front of Lycanine's path. "That's what you think. Shun!"
Shun threw a card into his gauntlet. "Ability Activate! Destruction Meteor Storm!" Skyress covered herself in bright green flames and flew towards the oncoming Lycanine. Unluckily for Kimiko, the ability transferred 400Gs between them.
Linehart: 800 / Storm Skyress: 1600 / Prismanta: 850
Lycanine: 750 / Knight Percival: 1050
Both made contact and the explosion sent Lycanine flying back and he slid on the dirt. "Lykie!" Kimiko yelled. "Darn. I have to go into my Reversion form!" Kimiko then closed her eyes and tried to shift into Lycanine's powerful form, but as she thought about it… nothing was happening. She couldn't feel that sensation anywhere. "What…?" Lycanine stood up after taking the attack.
"Kimiko, don't just stand there!"
"R-right!" she put another card in her gauntlet. "Let's try this! Ability Activate, Hydraulic Flight!" Lycanine's mechanical wings activated and he flew up into the sky and when he was high enough he glared down at Skyress. Skyress had lost 400Gs as it was taken and added to Lycanine's power level.
Storm Skyress: 1200 / Lycanine: 1150
"Ok Lykie, don't hold back! Ability Activate, Volcanic Hail!" Lycanine glared down at Skyress as his mouth filled up with magma.
"I never do!" he opened his mouth and pellets of dried magma were shooting down to Skyress. Her power level had dipped down by 650Gs which put her at 550.
Skyress was planning to avoid it but Ren had a better idea. "Linehalt, Ability Activate, Darkness Blizzard!" Linehalt flapped his wings making cold, dark winds blow away the dried magma shards, nullifying the ability, putting Skyress back at 1200.
"Are you kidding me!?" Kimiko exclaimed as her pupils shrank. "Ace!?" she saw that Percival was still holding back Prismanta.
"A little busy here!" Ace yelled as Percival had blocked a sword strike from Prismanta with his shield. Percival parried another sword strike which sent Prismanta sliding down to her heels. "Get ready Percival, Fusion Ability Activate, Deathly Karbia!" Percival had swung his pink glowing sword in the shape of an X and a bright purple X energy wave was speeding to Prismanta. They transferred a further 200Gs between them.
Prismanta: 650 / Knight Percival: 1250
"Don't make me laugh you pathetic insect!" Maximus said with a smirk.
"For someone about to lose, you sure talk a lot!" Ace said.
Maximus remained quiet as the X energy wave had slashed through Prismanta and while she was weakened, she remained standing. Ace and Percival were surprised. "Me? Lose? Perish the thought. You see, when you are in the High Council, you don't just 'lose'. Unlike the rest of you trash! We hold ourselves to a much, much higher standard. It is that nature why we are superior to the rest of you!"
"Oh save it!" Ace exclaimed. "You're just a pawn! You're not even the real threat!"
"Pawn… that is appropriate actually. You see a pawn's duty is to protect their King, and that is what I will do by taking your Bakugan!" he threw a card into his gauntlet. "I am through playing games! You will pay for intruding on our operations! Ability Activate, Spectrum Blast!" Prismanta aimed her blade arm at Percival and it fired a rainbow-colored electric pulse at the floating Darkus Bakugan.
He tried to block it, but the electrical energy engulfed him and his shield, meaning he was taking the full brunt of the attack. He screamed as he felt every jolt going through his body.
"Percival!" he watched at 600 was added to Prismanta but 400 was taken from Percival. He fell back to the ground and struggled to find his way back to his feet.
Linehart: 800 / Storm Skyress: 1200 / Prismanta: 1250
Lycanine: 750 / Knight Percival: 850
Ace turned to Kimiko. "Can't you use that Reversion you keep talking about?!"
Kimiko eyed her hands. "I'm trying!" she cried. "I've been thinking hard about it. The last time I used Reversion I-" she remembered it was through a Forbidden Card that Spectra made. "…It was through a forbidden card… I didn't even do it myself… and the card disappeared after that…"
"So it turns out you weren't worthy of Reversion huh. Not surprising actually, but that puts you below those human children. And you call yourself a Fabregan?"
"Shut up!" Kimiko exclaimed. "It doesn't matter, I'm much stronger now. I'll make sure to shut you up!"
Maximus let out a confident smirk. "Then, by all means, do your worst. If you even can that is!"
"Ability Activate!" they were all shocked to hear a new voice join the battle. "Sparkly Arrow!" they could see a bright orb of light speeding to Prismanta who was unable to dodge the projectile. She slashed through it with her arm blade but still took the brunt of the attack.
They could all another Haos Bakugan joining the fray - Saint Nemus and on his shoulder was his partner, Baron.
"Baron! What are you doing here!?" Ace asked. "What about the plan?"
"It's all taken care of! Now we just have to beat these guys and destroy the tower for good!"
Linehart: 800 / Storm Skyress: 1200 / Prismanta: 1250
Lycanine: 750 / Knight Percival: 850 / Saint Nemus: 700
Kimiko extended her hand forward. "Gate Card Open! Freeze Enemy!" Linehart, Storm Skyress, and Prismanta were frozen on the field and they were unable to move. "Yes, we got them!"
While the three were frozen in place, Maximus was growling to himself. Ren on the other hand could see that the green jewel on Linehalt's chest was pulsing slightly. He saw that as a sign and he started to concentrate. The energy around him was building. Even though Linehalt was frozen stiff, his power had gone up by 200, putting him at 1000Gs.
As the energy continued to surround his body, he started the process of borrowing Linehalt's power, making his appearance change. The others gasped at seeing this display of power. The white reflection of light produced by the angelic wings was almost blinding. He raised his gauntlet and they could all see a Fabregan Styled Reversion Ability Card being set. "Reversion Ability Activate, Poseidon's curse!" He summoned a three tipped spear with an open yellow eye near the center. After conjuring the trident he leaped up high and threw it down into the ground and as soon as he did there were large spiderweb cracks that spread through the command card. Kimiko gasped in horror, the cracks got wider and eventually the card shattered, releasing the three opposing Bakugan from their frozen prison.
"Together!" Ren exclaimed as Linehalt got up and glared at his foes.
"Yes!" They both aimed their tridents at them and the tips, as well as the bright yellow orbs surrounding their bodies, were covered in green energy. The tips and the orbs fired green beams of light towards the others. The ability managed to take 450Gs away from everyone on the opposing team while adding 800 to Linehalt.
Linehart: 1600 / Storm Skyress: 1200 / Prismanta: 1250
Lycanine: 300 / Knight Percival: 400 / Saint Nemus: 250
"Kimiko!" Lycanine exclaimed as he ran towards the raging beams.
"Ok, this is going to sting, but… Ability Activate, Steel Sheen!" Lycanine had dug his paws into the ground beneath him and a fiery silver aura covered him. The beams were pelting him but they were being deflected off of him. And because of this, Lycanine was protected. As he had 400Gs added to himself.
Linehart: 1600 / Storm Skyress: 1200 / Prismanta: 1250
Lycanine: 700 / Knight Percival: 400 / Saint Nemus: 250
"W-wait… I was supposed to nullify your ability!" Kimiko exclaimed.
"Not in that form, you can't!" Maximus said. "That's the power of Reversion, they can't be stopped easily by regular Bakugan abilities, unless that Bakugan is already otherworldly powerful… but yours isn't is it!"
Percival tried to block it with his shield and Nemus got ready for Baron to use an ability. "We've got this Nemus! Ability Activate, Pyramid Shield!" Nemus raised his staff and a translucent pyramid of yellow light surrounded both him and Percival as they stood together. The green beams of light were pelting them, leaving cracks all over the light barrier. 200Gs was transferred between Linehalt and Nemus. Bringing Nemus up to 450 while putting Linehart down only to 1400.
Even Lycanine was being forced back by the beams and Maximus smiled. "You two Vestals are done! Ability Activate! Light Dispersion!" Prismanta had floated up and reflective lights of red, blue, and yellow spread out from her body and the lights fell over Nemus' Pyramid Shield and it suddenly faded away. Leaving both Bakugan open to attack.
"Huh!? What happened!?" Baron asked.
"Light Dispersion nullifies any Pyrus, Aquos, and Haos abilities used by the opponents."
Linehart: 1400(+200)= 1600 / Storm Skyress: 1200 / Prismanta: 1250(+200)= 1450
Lycanine: 700 / Knight Percival: 400 / Saint Nemus: 450(-200)= 250
"Any last words before we claim your Bakugan as ours?" Maximus asked.
Kimiko fell to her knees almost in defeat as she was praying... begging for Lycanine's Reversion powers to come to her. 'Why! Please... not like this!'
Suddenly there was a green glint in the sky soon after, green energy missiles were raining down onto Linehart, Skyress, and Prismanta. They exploded down on all of them. After this, there was a tremendous orange beam that fell down and engulfed all of them.
Maximus was not amused by the interruption. "Who dares-" they all looked up to see. Both Plitheon and Avior floating above them in the air, with Plitheon having his battle gear equipped. Jesse and Mason were on their Bakugan. "The Prisoners!? How did they-"
"Ah, did someone call for an encore!?" Jesse asked with a dramatic flair.
"Don't get too comfortable, you'll be back in your cells, soon enough," Maximus said. He smirked at Baron, Kimiko Ace. "And you three will join them."
The ground suddenly shook and they saw Sabator roaring loudly with his Battle Gear - Chompixx already equipped. Nurzak stood on top of him with an ability ready to go."Battle Gear Ability Activate, Chamber Land Breaker!" the scythes of Sabator had slammed into the ground which shook the entire area and sent two-lined shockwaves to the group which made a dust cover that blinded them.
"We gotta get out of here!" Baron exclaimed. "They are distracted!"
Ace glanced at him. "No need to tell me twice!"
When the dust cleared, Maximus, Ren, and Shun could see that they were running with their Bakugan and were already far from the tower thanks to the dust cover giving them a headstart. "Heh. Vermin always run away so quickly…" Maximus said as he had a smile on his face.
"Should we go after them?" Shun asked.
"Why bother? They will either leave Gundalia… or come back to retaliate. Either way, why shouldn't we waste resources to go after them. They don't have the firepower to defeat us in battle, not to mention there are other battlers on Fabrega that can help us if need be. We have the high ground, all we need to do is watch our backs." After this, he thought for a moment. "How did the prisoners even escape? This is bothersome!"
As they watched their attackers leave, Maia viewed the retreat from atop her Bakugan Liaru. She gazed down slightly her eyes reflected a sort of sadness.
Elsewhere within the Fabregan labs of Vestige City, there were scientists that were working finishing repairs to Almos. "Ok… that should do it, I should inform Aurea of the completed repairs."
"Well, I heard that Aurea is unavailable at the moment. She's locked herself in her office. I'm not sure what's going on, but I think something's up with the High Council." another one of the scientists said.
"You really gonna question your superiors? Just do as they say, Yurina got on my case the other day. I know she's nice and stuff, but she's scarily nice… if you know what that means. Like no one even knows what is under that mask."
The doors to the lab opened and they saw Xaramesi walking into the room. "Heeeey~!" she greeted.
"O-oh! Xaramesi. What do you need?"
"Almos… Aurea sent me."
"B-but, wouldn't she have told us?" he asked.
Xaramesi got closer into the man's personal space. "Listen, it's urgent. Almos is being transferred into my ownership. That's why Aurea sent me, she wanted me to collect him soon!"
"Oh, well if you say so. And you are a part of the High Council so... You see, Almos' repairs are practically completed. We were going to test the new systems but-"
"No time! Where is it!" One of the scientists had then shrunk Almos into his ball form and he presented it to her. "Ah, thanks. Now I gotta go. Toodles!" she sped off down the hall. Leaving the scientists in a confused state.
After this, Xaramesi was sprinting through the halls in an attempt to leave the base as quickly as she could before Aurea or even Yurina could notice her presence."Whoa, that was easier than I thought! Now to call Phoenix!"
…
Phoenix was waiting at the Vestige City Train Station and he sat down on one of the benches and he heard his phone ringing, he saw that it was Xaramesi. He was quick to answer. "Well, did you get it?"
"It's sitting in my hand as we speak. I'll meet you in about ten minutes."
"Yeah, you told me to wait here. Any word on where we're going?"
He could hear a fake hum from Xaramesi. "It's going to be a surprise! Since I'm out of a job, I've got a lot of free time."
Phoenix let out a sigh. "You're not the only one on the unemployment list, you know. But…" Phoenix looked up. "I'm not sure what we can do… Can we even stop what's happening to Fabrega? Maybe we should leave while we can, I hear Vestal is a nice place."
"No, we're not leaving! Fabrega is my home. I can't just leave my home to die… without trying to save it."
Phoenix let out a sigh. "Right… maybe… Let's do it this way. When Aurea told you about… everything. What exactly did she say?"
"She mentioned that Draconoid is growing weaker and weaker. And when she does… then I think Fabrega will fall apart. That's why the King wanted to invade other worlds."
Phoenix thought for a moment. "So Draconoid is the key… We'll need to talk more about this, just get out of there while you're still not caught."
"Right, byeeee~. And Phoenix… thanks for helping me out…"
Phoenix scratched the back of his head. "Look, this is just me returning the favor. You've helped me when it didn't benefit you. So it's only right to do the same for you."
"Heh… I don't know how to respond to that. Thanks… Also don't give up so easily, there is a way. I just know it! See you later~!"
After hanging up. Phoenix let out a sigh as he sat on the station bench as a train had stopped by there. He could see a bunch of people leaving the train, many of them looked to be on their daily work commute, but he also saw little kids being accompanied by their parents. Among the children was something unthinkable, he could see a Tiger alursian talking with a little girl that was Fabregan, and they looked to be enjoying their conversation while their parents sat by and watched them with smiles on their faces.
'And these poor people don't know what's coming…' he muttered to himself. "Fine… she wants to save the world… then I'll fully help her."
The day was coming to an end as the sun was setting over the horizon on the seas of Utopia City. Overlooking this view from a cliff was the High Council Member, Heros. His dotted black eyes looked down at the city.
"Utopia City… one of the few places that Alursians and Fabregans can live together in perfect harmony…" he muttered. "The perfect place for the proxy to hide."
He heard footsteps and it was revealed that Daro walked to his side. "So when do we find her? I want to end her for good! She was lucky to escape Cybertross's wrath the last time."
"Patience, Daro," he said in a calm fashion. "This requires precision. She won't be easy to defeat. Draconoid chose her, so she must have a lot of heart and spirit. I am sure she will have a backup by her side."
"So!?" they both heard as the Reconditioned Zenet Surrow stood behind them. "Old guy here already told me the plan." Zenet suddenly shapeshifted to look exactly like Akira. "I'll just pretend to be one of her friends. After that, we knock her out. Then we're outta here! No one will ever know."
Daro folded his arms. "What is the point of bringing extra firepower if we aren't going to use it!?"
Sitting on a rock behind them was Lena Isis, she adjusted her glasses. "Sometimes, sheer power and brute force shouldn't be the prime option. We don't need to tear this town asunder just to find one person."
"Tch!" he looked away in disgust. "No one asked you, Gundalian!"
Heros stood up and turned to face them. "Calm down…" he told them and he picked up his stick. "Escaping here without battle is the best conclusion to our plan. But of course, we have our Bakugan with us in case battle is unavoidable. Is that ok to you, Daro?"
Daro looked down at the city below. "Look at those fools. Fabregans should be fraternizing with those animals. We should put them in their place."
Heros shook his head. "Daro, not the time and place. Remember that." he turned to Zenet. "Zenet, if you may." her pale blue Fabregan eye rings shone as she turned around to head down to the city first, still disguised at Akira. The rest of us shall shadow her and once she has brought the betrayer to a secluded location, we will take her." he then eyed Daro. Please don't engage in unnecessary violence. Our goal is to capture, not to destroy."
Daro only fashioned a glare at his superior, but never-the-less he silently complied.
Somewhere in the wilds, Andreas led his group which consisted of Isolde, Vesta, and a bunch of other Alursians such as Rogue, Lola, and Dwayne that had escaped from the prison. Many of the Alusrians fled but some decided to stick with Andreas. They were watching the sunset over the horizon, and in the distance, they could see what looked like a factory.
Andreas looked to be tracking it on his gauntlet. "There." he pointed it out. "That's where we're going."
"What's that?" Lola asked, joining him at the front.
"That's the facility that I've been looking for. This is where Catalysts for Bakugan are being created. If we want to strike a blow to the Royal Guard, then taking out this facility would be a start." He turned around. "Last chance to back out now, there could be a trap waiting for us. This plan might not work."
Lola smirked as she put her hands on her hips. "Heh, you helped us escape the previously inescapable prison. And you destroyed it no less! Why would we leave you now? You might be Fabregan, but your plans rock!"
Vesta stepped forward. "You've managed to get us this far, right? If we can strike a blow to the Fabregans, I don't see why we shouldn't take it."
Isolde chuckled. "Ya know I'm not goin' anywhere."
Rogue walked up to Andreas and placed his hand on his shoulder. "You can't make us leave now, kid." the rhino Alursian said. "I know you feel like you've got nothing to lose… but you're alive, and you've got people behind you. And if you die, we won't know where to turn." Phoenix looked out in the distance. "Still don't want to talk about the girl?"
"Not really, no." he turned to the others. "We'll camp here for the night. Then tomorrow we'll attack the facility. Anything you want to sort out, do it tonight. Because tomorrow, there's no turning back."
…
Andreas continued to look out into the distance. His eyes could barely stay open as he was trying to fight off the temptation of sleep. He turned around to meet Rogue who had just finished pitching up the tents.
"You alright there, leader?"
Phoenix tiredly turned around. "Yeah… yeah, I'm fine," he answered with a yawn.
"You don't have to punish yourself with no sleep you know. You don't deserve that." Andreas remained silent. "Did she really mean that much to you?"
Andreas shook his head. "We were arranged to be married. We were eventually going to be together, so I never really heard her feelings cause... well we were going to be together anyway. I guess I only realized how much I felt for her when she found someone else. And this guy… ugh… let's just say she really knows how to pick them. But he's reliable I guess. It is true what they say. You never know what you have until it's gone."
"Hmm. Most arranged marriages never work out anyway. Maybe it's for the best, you might discover someone who can complete in ways you never thought possible. Or maybe take this time to better yourself and find who you are. You'd rather figure yourself out than have someone you care about to do it for you." The silence continued to linger until Rogue got back up. "Well… I'll let that thought stir. Sleep on what I told you, I'm sure that in the long run, this will be good for you." he walked back to the others.
After sitting there for a while, he looked at his fist which was clenched. "Who knew a brute like him could be right on so much. Now's not the time to think about that! Cameron can have her if he wants. I've got more pressing matters to attend to."
A/N: Hey guys, glad I got this to you before the year ended. Thanks for sticking with me through all this. I hope you guys are keeping yourselves safe out there. Also a long while back I changed the Age Rating for this fic from K+ to T originally because I felt I was pushing the limits on a K+ rating and didn't want to get the story taken down, but I was inspired to add some edge to my writing. So that's why there was slight cursing and blood in a few previous chapters. Anyway, hope you can understand. And I'll see you guys in 2021 hopefully very soon. Later.
