The Bakugan Battle Brawlers in:
Faction Confusion

The Badlands facility sat as the night clouds were covering the sky. Thunder could be heard roaring in the distance. "Well isn't that a bad omen?" After Andreas voiced his view of the situation. He was joined by Lola and Dwayne. He had Isolde's gauntlet equipped to his arm.

"Would it kill ya, to be positive for once?" Lola said jabbing his ribs.

"Well If I was positive and it got us killed, then what?" he calmly asked.

Lola shook her head and glanced at Dwayne. "Seriously? This guy is supposed to lead us?" Dwayne silently shrugged his shoulders.

"So." Lola threw her arms over her head. "What's the plan, leader?"

"There is a transport coming soon, we will board the outside of it. We use it to sneak inside the facility, as soon as we get inside, we find the control center and we then purge all the data that they have on their catalysts, Experiment K. All of it! I'll try to perform a complete data purge."

"And how long will that take?" Lola asked.

"Hopefully not long. Once all the data is gone, we locate the emergency shut-down switch. Disabling their defenses and their Mechanical Bakugan. Then I use the facility's equipment to unleash a high pitched soundwave to enrage as many Rogue Bakugan as possible. They wreak havoc on the facility and we escape, without being seen." After we get out, they won't know how their data was taken." he also looked up into the sky. "As for the security cameras, we'll need to somehow avoid them. If we are caught, then our plan will fall apart. But they won't be difficult to spot."

"Waaaait!" they looked back to see Tammy following behind them with a backpack of her own. "I wanna come with you guys!"

Andreas rolled his eyes. "This is a plan that requires us to be sneaky and fast, we can't afford to have dead weight."

Tammy's eyes glistened and she had tears hanging off the edges of her eyes. "Whoa… rude much."

He let out a sigh in response then walked to Tammy and put his hand on her shoulder. "This is very dangerous, I know Lola and Dwayne can handle themselves if we should have to fight. I don't know about you."

Tammy held up her black pawed hands that had claws at the end of them. "I can too, handle myself!" she revealed her claws that were also on her cat paws that acted as her feet. "I-I just want to finally pull my weight around here!"

A defeated sigh escaped from Andreas's lips. "Fine… you can come with. Just try and keep up."

"Thanks." She genuinely smiled and her black tail gently brushed past Andreas's arm. "Sorry! Force of habit."

"Whatever, just remember what I said…"

The four were on a cliff-face that over-looked the facility. They all waited for the ship to pass overhead above them.

"Um… how will we get on it?" Lola asked. "Last time I checked, only one of us can sort of fly."

Andreas dug into his bag and pulled out a glowing green sticky bomb. "This pulse bomb wouldn't be enough to shut down the facility, but it should shut down a supply transport," he said. "You'd be surprised how many of these things they have in the prison. They must really be afraid of someone hacking their mechanical Bakugan." They could see the transport flying towards them. It was hovering close to the ground. The Fabregan pulled the pin off the sticky bomb and tossed it. The ship passed over them and it threatened to blow them off.

They could hear beeping from the device and as soon as it detonated, there was a bluish-green pulse explosive that went off under the ship. As soon as it happened, it was powering down to the ground. Its thrusters were struggling to keep it above the ground. Alarms were blaring off inside the cockpit.

"What's going on!?" one of the pilots asked.

"Prepare for impact!" the ship had crashed into the dry ground of the Badlands, kicking up dust everywhere. It was still in one piece, however. The pilots quickly unbuckled their seat-belts. "Right, we need to start up the emergency batteries."

"I'll start the procedure."

Back on the cliff face. Andreas looked satisfied. "Right, it will take more than half an hour for them to activate battery backup. We've got to get close to that ship and get on board, sneakily."

"Right behind you!" Lola said.

Andreas led the four down to where the ship had crashed, hoping to use it to get into the facility.


Meanwhile, on Gundalia, Maia looked out at the Fabregan city that was quickly being built. She thought back to her encounter with Baron a day before.

She watched at Baron halted on his heel and nervously looked at her. "U-um… hi?"

Maia immediately raised her gauntlet while glaring at the Vestal. "You have ten seconds!" she said as Liaru sat on her shoulder.

Baron held his hands up. "Hold on! Hold on! I'm not here to fight!" he noticed her Gundalian eyes. "I need to find the Gundalian Prisoners!"

She kept an angered gaze on him. "You do realize I helped put them there. I'm with the Fabregans now."

"But why?" Baron asked. "Aren't you Gundalian too?"

Maia looked away. "You wouldn't understand."

"What do you mean?" he questioned.

"Why should I explain everything about myself to you!" she exclaimed. She shook her head. "I have no time for this!" she raised her gauntlet. But she thought back to what Lumagrowl told her about her past. "I'm not in the mood to fight you." she lowered her arm. "Do whatever you want, but be quiet about it!"

Baron walked past her. "Thanks!"

Maia looked away. "A word of advice, don't stick around. Take your friends and leave the planet. The High Council aren't to be messed with." she continued on her way after giving Baron something to think about.

Maia was sat in her room and she looked out. 'I'm not going to find that person by just sitting here!' she got up, picked up Liaru, and eyed her. "You're coming with me, I'm going back to Fabrega before the city is complete, and the tower portal gets shut down!" she slung on her backpack. 'If that kid can tell me what happened to me, then I'll decide on what to do.'

She left her room and she walked out into the room where the scientists and engineers sat as they operated the portal. She saw it was off, and she glared at some of the operators. "You there, activate the portal!"

"But... I'm not authorized to-"

Liaru leaped off her shoulder. "What do mean 'not authorized'!" she angrily exclaimed.

"Y-you see, only Maximus had the order to open and close the portal, we only open it for supplies."

Maia slammed her hand on the table. "I don't have time for this! Open that portal, or I'm gonna tell Maximus that you ignored a direct order!"

One of the scientists then reached for the phone. "I am going to need to confirm this to Maximus myself." Maia grabbed his arm. "W-what are you doing!?"

"I'm done playing games!" Liaru, nearly reading Maia's mind had stood on her shoulder. "Unless you want Liaru to turn this room into a demolition area, you will open that portal!" she roared.

Two scientists had placed a key into two key-ways, which shone a red light in between them. Then one person had pulled a lever on the other side of the room which activated the portal which would lead to Vestige City. Maia looked at the insides of the dimensional portal and refused to look back. She leaped in and disappeared into the other side. Leaving the workers extremely perplexed.

"Should we let Maximus know?"

"Only if he asks, I don't want him getting mad from one of us asking stupid questions."


Deep into the night, Utopia City looked far from the paradise, its name hinted at. Buildings were still on fire, and firefighters were having a really tough time putting out the blazes. The hospital was filling up with casualties from the carnage.

The halls were filled with the voices of panicking and crying. While others were asking where their missing family members were.

One of the many casualties was a girl who was involved in that battle that brought the city to ruin. She was lying on the bed while unconscious, a white shirt was over her top half since her other one was torn. She was hooked up to machines that let them know that she was stable.

"Are you sure she's going to be ok!?" Cera asked, sounding pretty frustrated. The nurse with a clipboard tried to assure her.

"Yes, the wound she took was bad, but she didn't lose so much blood for it to be life-threatening. We tried to stitch the wound, it will close after a while, but she needs to avoid any strenuous movement. If the wound reopens, it could be bad."

"Isn't there anything you can use to speed up the healing process!?"

The nurse gave a sad nod. "There is… but Utopia City's medical supplies aren't on the same level as other Fabregan Cities. Normally, we had enough to take care of the sick and injured… but now with so many casualties. I'm not sure if we have the supplies to treat everyone." Cera eyed her sleeping friend and remembered the moment where she hit the ground after Daro had sliced her. Luckily help arrived in time and was able to drag her off to the hospital before the wound could get worse.

Cera could then hear the sounds of grunting coming from the bed. "Akira?" the girl was slowly opening her eyes, and from the way they shut back closed, she could still feel the pain going through her stomach, though it was much less compared to when the hot saber struck her.

"Ow…" she muttered.

She could feel Cera taking her hand. "It's ok, I'm here!" her emerald eyes revealed themselves and she could see a teary-eyed Cera looking down at her.

"Cera?"

"Thank God! I'm so glad you're awake!" she turned to the nurse. "Could we please have some privacy?" the nurse nodded and left the room. Leaving only the pair of them inside.

"What happened?" Akira asked.

"That monster! He cut you!" she then gave a fierce look to Akira. "Idiot! Why did you attack him when you did!?"

Tears fell down the sides of Akira's eyes. "I was scared… scared I was going to lose Radion-" she gasped and her eyes grew wide. "Radion?! Where's Radion!?" she tried getting up but Cera forced her onto her back.

"The trade… to get Radion, Heros, and Daro said that Zavanna would have to come with them. She agreed… she's long gone… As for Radion, I told her to fly back tell the others to come here. It's just us for now."

Akira sniffled and fresh tears were rolling down her face. "This is all my fault!" she remembered when she hastily decided to bring Zavanna to them alone, Cameron made the offer to come with, but he shut her down. "If the others came with, or even if Cameron came with… we would have had one more on our side… this wouldn't have happened. I wouldn't be hurt, and Zavanna would still-" Akira went quiet and she started to sob lightly. "This is all my fault…" she looked down. "I failed the entire team…"

"Hey! I was there, too! I lost as well."

"But if I didn't go in like that… you might have forced a third round."

"Akira… Radion is your partner, I don't fault you for charging in like that. If you thought you would lose her forever then…"

"Zavanna probably hates me by now… and I know Cameron hates me as well." she lay her head down. "I don't know what my sister or Radion saw in me… I'm just… stupid…"

Cera had no idea what to say that could bring Akira out of this spiral she was going down. She didn't have the social expertise to handle this kind of thing. So she did the only thing that she could, she tightened her grip on Akira's hand.

"Akira… just know… I'm not mad at you. If you need me, then I'll stick by your side."

Akira took her hand away from Cera's and looked away from her. "I'm sorry, but the last thing I need right now is company. I… have a lot of things to process, a lot of things to think about."

Cera grew worried, but she wouldn't get anything out of Akira at that moment. She was depressed, that much was certain. The heartbreak with Cameron, how she bottled her emotions, plus the despair from nearly losing Radion. She just looked defeated, maybe even broken, a far cry to the girl she had gotten along with. Maybe it was getting to be too much for her. Akira was a shell of her former self, and Cera didn't know how to get her back.

"C-can I at least get you anything?" Akira shook her head and proceeded to stare out the window… into the city that was falling apart. Cera made sure to close the blinds, Akira didn't need any more despair entering her mind. "I'll be back to check on you ok."

"Sure…" Akira swiftly replied, not facing her.

Cera proceeded to leave the room, and once she closed the door she slid her back on the wall and sat down on the hospital floor.

"How is she?" she saw Bones and Shino looking down at her.

Lunaris sat on Cera's shoulder. "I wish I had a good answer… she's different…"

"Akira… she's in a dark place right now… and I don't know if I can snap her out of it without making things worse. I'm so useless!"

"Don't say that Cera! I know you did all that you could." Lunaris countered.

"I could have done more. I convinced Akira to let me come, we should have taken the whole team." Cera stood up and faced Bones. "Bones, I need you to be very honest with me. Did we ever stand a chance against the Fabregans?"

Bones let out a sigh. "I'll be honest… I was hopeful that you would be the ones to stop all this. And since you were chosen by Draconoid, I had no doubt… but… hope can only get you so far.

"And without Zavanna, we can't do the ceremony… just perfect!" Shino said.

Cera let out a sad sigh. "I-I don't know what to do anymore."

"Cera!" Lunaris exclaimed. "No, I won't allow you to spiral! Remember who you are! There is a way. We can figure out a plan once the others get here! It's not all over!"

"Right…"

Bones looked out the window. "Things are falling apart, everywhere I look… and yet… nothing I say or do will fix this… I have to make sure the recovery efforts in the city continue." He looked down at Cera. "Get up, if you are going to be here. You at least have to make yourself useful!" he said, in a serious tone that she'd never heard come from Bones before. "There are still people out there that are trapped in homes or are lost. Families are separated. Will you help?"

With Akira in her state, she wouldn't listen to anyone. So what should she do? Sit around and do nothing? No that wasn't going to sit right with her. She knew what it was like to lose people she loved, the fact that others were out there experiencing the same broke her nearly icy heart. But if she could prevent that, then it would be the effort she would put in. She stood up to her feet and looked at Bones with a serious expression. "Where can Lunaris and I help?"


Elsewhere in Vestige City, Darius was walking through the halls of the Vestige City facility, wearing a tight, long-sleeved blue shirt and he was winking at any woman who he passed. Even pointing two finger guns at two young scientists and one of them fainted, luckily her friend was able to catch her.

His partner had leaped on his shoulder and growled at him. "Aw c'mon Spinark. I'm just having a little fun! Whatever mission Yurina has, I'm looking forward to it." the Bakugan let out a growling hiss. "Yeah, yeah, I get It. You want to 'hunt', and you will. Hopefully when you're on this mission."

He got to Yurina's room in the facility and he knocked three times. After this, the door opened automatically and he walked in to see Yurina looking out at the dark, rainy atmosphere of Vestige City. "Hey, Yurina. I made it!"

"Glad you could. We're going on a mission to take Gundalia's neighbor, Neathia. But we're expecting trouble. Nothing that we can't handle. We're going to take Dan, Marucho, and Julie to invade it."

"What about Xaramesi? Don't we wanna take her on the assault."

Yurina didn't turn to face him still. "About that… Xaramesi left. She's decided to do her own thing. But we can't focus on her now."

"Ah, that's a shame! She was really hot, and I really think she was warming up to me!" he said throwing his arms behind his back.

"And we can't recondition her," Yurina added. "Experiment K, makes Alursians lose their minds and go feral. But perhaps her Fabregan half can prevent that."

Darius looked uneasy. "Eh, I dunno. Xaramesi isn't going to be anywhere near herself when reconditioned. And her personality is part of her charm."

Yurina nodded, still not turning around. "Yes, that much is true. But I have a sneaky suspicion that she might decide to do something. Something that will be detrimental to my cause."

"So what do we do?"

"Our top priority is taking Neathia, but at the same time. We need to watch out for what she might do. Oh and get this, she's hanging out with Phoenix."

"Phoenix? That little twerp? Heh, I had no idea. But why?"

"Who knows, but if you find them at any moment. You know what to do."

Darius nodded. "Yeah, I got it. But I can still go out on the town, right?"

"Just don't stay up too late, we need you prepared and ready for tomorrow. Until then, have fun."

"You hear that Spinark, time to head to the night club!" the Bakugan closed himself and hissed at him. "Fine, I'll leave you at home. Sheesh, you're no fun." he walked out of Yurina's room, leaving the woman to think, particularly about Xaramesi.

"-they should at least have the freedom to believe what they want, even if it is despicable! At least they have the freedom to choose their path,"

Yurina turned around. 'You'd choose to let people discriminate and antagonize you just because they can? I had no idea you were such a doormat, Xaramesi.' She could hear beeping coming from the room in her computer and she could see that the tracker on Metal Almos was heading back to the city. 'You really want to do this, huh?'

She looked at a sleeping Kyubis who lay on her nightstand on a red jewelry pillow. "Kyubis dear. It seems Xaramesi didn't listen. It's time to take her down." she grabbed and looked at her.

"So Xaramesi is an enemy now? Such a shame. She had so much promise."

Yurina left the room and was tracking Almos on her gauntlet as he got closer to the city.


Almos was flying through the clouds towards Vestige City on top of him was just Phoenix and his expression was deathly serious. "This plan better work."

Back at the farmhouse, Phoenix and Xaramesi were watching the sunset of the blue Fabregan sun. "When I think that one day, we won't be able to see this beautiful sunset anymore. It kills me inside."

Phoenix looked at it as well, he never appreciated its beauty before. Then again he was never into appreciating the little things in life... "Right, we agreed that we'll try to get Aurea to help us."

"But as soon as we get close to the city, that tracker will let Yurina know we are coming," Xaramesi said.

"Right, then I'll head into the city on Almos… alone! You sneak in on Boreanta, staying close to the ground and out of their radar. Once Yurina sees me, she'll try to fight me no doubt, then you sneak in, use your charm to get Aurea on our side."

"Phoenix! No!" she grabbed his arm. "That's suicide! Yurina has never lost a battle since she was drafted into the High Council."

Phoenix smirked. "Then I guess I'll be the first to beat her!"

"She'll crush you… no offense. I'm not doubting your battling skills, but… I can't… NO!" she tightly gripped his arm. "I won't lose you!"

"Then you better get Aurea on our side and quick!" he stood up and Xaramesi stood with him.

Xaramesi's bangs hid her eyes. "Phoenix… what's this really about? Why are you taking this risk?"

Phoenix chuckled. "Heh, maybe I'm just angry!"

"Angry?"

"Yeah, all I ever wanted was to battle with the Royal Guard. I had a sense of pride laying down my skills to serve. Following orders without question. I had aspirations of joining the High Council one day." he said. "It was my dream to finally get to where you are… but the High Council took that away from me. Tossed me out like I was trash to them, saying that there are better Ventus battlers than me. I became a liability…" Xaramesi gave him a sad look. "Maybe I'm still trying to prove that they were wrong to kick me out. That I would have been useful. If I fight Yurina and win heh. That will show them!"

"Phoenix…" she gave him a look that showed how much she pitied him. "You don't have to prove anything to anyone!"

"You're wrong. I've said a lot of reprehensible things to you. Things that I haven't apologized truly apologized for. So Xaramesi I'm-"

"Just stop!" Xaramesi sternly said. "Just stop it already."

"What is it?"

"You always think you have to prove you're worthy. Like you thought I couldn't possibly want to help you out of the goodness from my own heart because you weren't 'worthy'. Why must you prove yourself to others? Why can't you be good enough!? Even now, you still want to prove to the high council that you're worth it! What's up with that!?"

Phoenix let his arms fall to his side. "It's how I was raised… you can't get something from nothing. You want something, you have to earn it! It doesn't matter if you 'tried your best' it's pointless if it isn't perfect. There is no 'good enough' with me. It's either you're worthy or you're a disgrace. And if I can't prove that what the High Council did what a mistake, then what am I? What will people say when they utter my name?"

Xaramesi looked away after learning this. "I-I don't know what to say. That's not a nice way to live, Phoenix. A life like that is impossible to maintain. You can't impress every single time, no one is perfect. And no one should expect perfection every single time. I mean look at me… I'm far from perfect but I don't care. I'm happy with myself. Phoenix, if you hunt endlessly for perfection, you'll never be happy. Because you will always be chasing this metaphorical goal that isn't realistic. You've got to sit back for once and take a look around once in a while. You have no idea how much you're missing out on."

Phoenix looked to be thinking. "Xaramesi… if we make it out of this."

"When we make it out of this." she corrected.

"Fine… when we make it out of this, and Fabrega is saved, I guess I'll travel the planet, see all this stuff that I've apparently been missing. But if I go, will you come with me?" he was surprised when Xaramesi hugged him from the side, putting her cheek on his.

"Of course, Phoenix!"

'She's doing it again!' he thought as a blush appeared on his cheeks. 'Will I ever get used to this?'

He was within the city limits and he could see the night lights from above. 'Hmm, I've never seen Vestige City from this view before. The city somehow looks different, more active. Are these the little things that Xaramesi keeps talking about?' down on one of the building's rooftops, Yurina looked directly at him with her mask over her face. 'Right…' "Almos, down!" Almos hovered down to the building and when they were close to the rooftop he transformed to his ball form and Phoenix landed on his left foot and right knee while landing a fist on the ground.

"Where is she?" Yurina asked.

Phoenix chuckled. "I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Fine… play dumb." She dropped her mask on to the ground. "I've got nothing to hide anymore," she revealed the Reversion, Fox symbol on her wrist. Her foxy ears appeared and so did her trio of tails. "Once I defeat you, I will find Xaramesi, and stop her from whatever she's planning! Once I tear that Bakugan apart, you better hope that your girlfriend isn't doing anything to piss me off!"

Phoenix glared at her. "She's not my girlfriend! But my goal is beating you! Because I've got to prove something to myself." he raised his gauntlet. "I'll crush the High Council, starting with you!"

Yurina's fox symbol shone bright red and Phoenix's gauntlet power card shone bright green. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to? Heh, I may be a fox, but when you learn about who I am. It will blow your mind!"

"You done talking?" she asked. "Let's get this started!" he held up a gate card and tossed it down onto the roof of the building. "Gate Card Set!" a huge green sheen spread across the building's rooftop. "Bakugan Brawl! Metal Almos Stand!" the silver and green Bakugan stood and he flew up into the air. He let out a loud screech that drew the attention of the citizens below.

Yurina looked forward and winked at him. She put her mask back on, making her Alursian features disappear, and covered her Reversion symbol with her gauntlet. "Since we're going to have an audience, I better keep up appearances." there were floating cameras that were recording them. "Bakugan Brawl! She threw in her white Bakugan which rolled onto the rooftop. "Kyubis stand!" Kyubis had leaped onto the rooftop and looked incredibly focused as she gave a sharp look to Phoenix and Almos. "Oh, and smile for the camera~!"

Kyubis: 700 / Metal Almos: 900

'Don't underestimate her, that's probably what she's counting on with her lower power, level. I just have to shut her down fast.' he threw his hand forward. "Gate Card open!" his first move was to open the command card and Yurina hummed behind her mask. "Power Containment!" the command card revealed herself while and a gray outline surrounded Kyubis as she felt off and was shaking her knees slightly.

"This is new," Yurina said, not feeling worried in the slightest.

"This is Power Containment, any of the opposing Bakugan with a power level of lower than 850 won't be able to activate any of their abilities!"

"So you've made an effort to cage me and Kyubis this early on? I'm quite surprised actually."

Phoenix didn't pay attention to her words and just stuck to his battle, as he leaped on top of Almos. "Ability Activate, Hailing Destruction!" Phoenix held his gauntlet up high and Almos flew high. He ejected the javelin-guns from the tail-edge of his wings and they surrounded him and they were firing bright green lasers burst at the vulnerable Kyubis. This was damaging the rooftop that both she and Yurina were standing on, creating a dust cloud. 600Gs was instantly added to Almos.

Kyubis: 700 / Metal Almos: 900(+600)= 1500

When the dust cleared, Kyubis could still be seen standing with some bruises on her body indicating that she just sat and took the attack.

"Can't say I didn't see that coming." he tapped the neck of his Bakugan. "Almos, we're not done!" he placed another ability into his gauntlet. "I have to take her down while she's stuck! Ability Activate, Zephyr Javelins!" the card shone bright green which made the javelin-guns flip over to their sharp ends and all eight of them shot forward, right at the still Kyubis who hadn't moved. The eight sharp points had gone through Kyubis one at a time, pushing her closer and closer to the edge. Finally, the last one hit, and this was enough to send her off the rooftop and was falling towards the city center. Her power fell by 550, putting her at a power level of 150Gs.

Citizens were screaming as they watched Kyubis fall. Many people cleared the way as she fell into a fountain that was right in the middle of the business district. Yurina had leaped off and her robe was flapping in the air as she fell. Kyubis caught her by standing up. Once Yurina was on her feet, she leaped off Kyubis and addressed the citizens.

"People, do not worry. Kyubis and I are alright, but you must leave as soon as possible. We have a traitor among us!" she pointed at Phoenix and Metal Almos. "Phoenix has decided to betray us and has invaded with some of his allies, but do not worry. As the leader of the High Council, I shall protect this wonderful city!"

Almos flew closer to the ground, the wind from his wings had blown against the people. "What's your game, Yurina?" he asked.

"No game here, I should be asking you that. But since you are threatening all these good people. I have no choice but to stop holding back!" she had white flames surrounding her body. Her fox-tails reappeared but there were nine of them with her fox ears appearing. She threw off her mask that revealed her green fox eyes with a fang sticking out of her mouth. Kyubis found her power level increasing by 200Gs.

Kyubis: 150(+200)= 350 / Metal Almos: 1500

Phoenix glared right at her. 'She couldn't use any abilities, so she found a reason to shift into her Reversion Form.'

"Clear the way people! This could get really, really rough!"

Phoenix growled. "Ability Activate, Triple Strike!" Almos flew up and created two duplicates of himself and flew down towards Kyubis. The ability transferred 300 between them.

Kyubis: 350(-300)= 50 / Metal Almos: 1500(+300)= 1800

Two Almoses were speeding down to Kyubis, and the watching crowd was terrified as they all saw how low Kyubis' power level was.

Kyubis had stood still while white flames were still surrounding her body. She staggered back while two of the Almoses struck her and when the original Almos was speeding to her, she glared.

A Reversion Ability card was in Yurina's gauntlet. "That's right, get closer! Reversion Ability Activate, Katana Foxtrot!" A ring of eight fireballs surrounded Kyubis and she fired them straight at the charging Almos who was stopped in its tracks and was screeching as the flames covered his body. But in the air, Yurina was falling towards Almos while she had a red Katana blade by her side. Yurina slashed right through Almos as green electric sparks were leaving his body. Kyubis added 500Gs to himself while 950 was taken away from Almos.

Kyubis: 50(+500)= 550 / Metal Almos: 1800(-950)= 850

Phoenix was thinking about his next move, he couldn't use Static hurricane because the watching civilians might just get sucked into it. So he swapped it for another ability. "Almos, keep up the pressure. "Ability Activate, Impaling Bullet!" the javelin-guns had reattached themselves to his wings. His beak was surrounded in a silver aura and he flew right at Kyubis. Instantly 400Gs were transferred between the two.

Kyubis: 550(-400)= 150 / Metal Almos: 850(+400)= 1250

Almos screeched as he got closer and closer to Kyubis. The white fire around her flared up as Yurina fired up another ability. Yurina shook her head. "You can throw all the abilities you want at us, but it won't matter. Kyubis can take everything you throw at her."

Almos shot himself through Kyubis who only growled in response and he leaped up to a tall building despite taking the huge hit.

Phoenix was hoping it would at least knock Kyubis out of her Reversion Form. But she still stood tall. Yurina giggled in response. "So is it my turn yet?" she asked as there was a reversion ability in her gauntlet. "Reversion Ability, Activate! Celestial Clash!" piercing through the stormy sky there were meteors surrounded by white fire that were falling towards the city and they were aimed at Phoenix and Metal Almos.

"Damn…" the citizens were looking up in horror. He watched in a similar, feared fashion as there was a big change in power level.

Kyubis: 150(+500)= 650 / Metal Almos: 1250(-1000)= 250

"Almos, the construction area! Head there!" Almos flew there with Phoenix on his back and the meteors followed him. When Phoenix and Almos got to the area, they saw the meteors above them. He started typing on his gauntlet. "Ok, Isolde… lets hope you worked out the kinks for this!" when he was finished typing there was a green, emerald, and black gear that was built. He snatched it from his gauntlet and looked up at Almos. "Ok Almos, catch this! Assault Gear Defendtrix Prime, Destroy!" he tossed it up to his partner, and it fused to his ball form.

On top of Metal Almos, there was a second set of solid metal wings that extended to the same length as his regular wings. There were white shoulder cannons that stretched outward. The new Assault gear added 100 to Metal Almos, putting him at 350Gs

The meteors were getting closer and he pointed upwards at them. "We're taking them on, Almos!" he placed a brand new ability into the card. "Assault Gear Ability Activate, Beam Rifle!" the twin cannons powered up and were powering up a white, green beam and Almos fired them at the meteors. The lasers had sliced right through the meteors turning them into small fiery rocks that rained all over the construction area.

Kyubis: 650 / Metal Almos: 250(+700)= 950

'Ok… at least no one got hurt.' Yurina landed on one of the construction beams on one of the construction towers. He glared at her.

"You know… I didn't expect you to last this well against me," she admitted. "Hmm, let's see how far you will go?" she pulled out a normal ability card. "We're out of range of your gate card, so my abilities should work just fine now. Sooo how do you like my Burning Demise!?" she formed her arms in a circular motion and fired a stream of white fire down at Almos.

Almos took the damage and he screeching as he lost 300Gs from his power level.

Kyubis: 650(+400)= 1050 / Metal Almos: 950(-300)= 650

Almos was screeching as he landed on his talons as he was surrounded by a continuous burning, white fire. "Almos… what's wrong?"

"I'd be careful with how you throw abilities. Because Burning Demise will not only do damage, but it will take away 300Gs every time you use an ability." Phoenix clenched his fist.

"Of course this wasn't going to be easy. I knew that coming into this, but I mean what I said. I am going to beat you!" he saw Kyubis finally joining them into the construction site. Phoenix smirked. "Almos up!" Phoenix leaped on Almos and he flew up high into the air. Once he was high in the sky, he looked down at the construction site. "Assault Gear Ability Activate! Pulse Bomber!" Phoenix looked down at the entire site and out of the wings were a pair of metal attachments that were powering up a pair of large white, green accented orbs with green electricity surrounding them. Phoenix looked down at the construction site. "Take down the site! FIRE!" Phoenix fired the two bombs down to the site where they instantly detonated and the entire construction site was taken down and twisted steel and rubble fell all over Yurina. The ability had taken 500 from Kyubis while adding 600 to himself.

Kyubis: 1050(-500)= 550 / Metal Almos: 650(+600)= 1250

They looked down at the broken site and the dust made it hard to see into the site. But when the dust cleared he could see a fiery aura as the dust cleared. Yurina had a card in her gauntlet and she glared at Phoenix. "Explosion Guard!" she said as she panted. "Makes me and Kyubis immune to all attacks for a short time." Phoenix glared down at her and fire surrounded Almos as it was in pain. He quickly lost 300Gs which put him down to 950Gs.

He saw Kyubis leaping up towards them. "Ability Activate, Meteor Foxtrot!" Kyubis's tails were surrounded by fire and she had eight fireballs around her.

Kyubis: 550 / Metal Almos: 950(-500)= 450

Phoenix though was properly prepared. "Ability Activate, Charge Cycle!" electric bolts were surrounding Almos as the turbines inside him fired up. Metal Almos was able to quickly evade the flaming fireballs which exploded in the sky.

"Haha, you're taking this seriously!" Yurina exclaimed. "That eager to impress your girlfriend, huh?"

Phoenix just kept his serious expression. 'Just keep talking…' he watched as Metal Almos made back the 500Gs he lost but once again the white flames took 300 from his power level.

Kyubis: 550 / Metal Almos: 450(+500 -300)= 650

Almos was still powered by Charge Cycle as Kyubis landed on the mountain of scrap that was made by Almos' Assault Gear. 'Now's the perfect time to do it!' Another card was placed in his gauntlet. "Ability Activate, Static Hurricane!" Almos flapped his wings and a dark, green electrified hurricane was generated right in the middle of the newly made scrap yard. Kyubis and Yurina were being dragged into the hurricane along with all the construction metal. Kyubis was having her feet dragged as she angrily roared, trying to keep out of it.

Kyubis: 550(-100)= 450 / Metal Almos: 650(+100 - 300)= 450

As Kyubis was sucked in, Yurina followed as well and Phoenix was watching the area very carefully and was watching for any flash of red. 'I have to make sure that I stall a bit, that Explosion Guard makes it impossible to knock her out.'

The hurricane was slowing in intensity and there was an explosion of energy at Yurina was flying up at Phoenix and Almos. "Vulpine Blaze!" Yurina flew high above both Phoenix and Almos while she used her Reversion Ability. White flames were surrounding her and she extended her arms and fired three orbs of white fire at Phoenix and Kyubis.

Kyubis: 450(+450)= 900 / Metal Almos: 450(-450)= 0

Because his power level hit zero the glowing eyes of Almos had lost their shine as he was powering down. The flames had hit him and there was an explosion in the air, causing black smoke to appear in the air.

A powered down Almos was falling from the sky and he crashed down into the muddy ground below. After hitting the ground, Almos retreated to his ball form and he landed beside Phoenix how looked hurt from the impact. He slowly got up to see Kyubis and Yurina land across from him. His life gauge had dropped down to 10%. He picked up Almos and the Assault Gear and stood up to face his opponent.

"I gotta say Phoenix, that was quite impressive!" she complimented. "Without Explosion Guard, I think you very well could have beaten me. Hihi." Phoenix only remained silent. "I know you're only trying to buy time for whatever Xaramesi is doing." Phoenix didn't speak as he stayed firm. "Heh, at least you're not crying like a baby when you lose. Maybe Daro could learn a thing or two from you. Hey! I just had a thought, with Xaramesi leaving the High Council, a Ventus space just opened up~!" she sang.

"Yeah, but I use a Mechanical Bakugan, pretty notorious for not being capable of Reversion." Phoenix countered.

"Doesn't matter, you've done so well to keep up with me! I know Aurea kicked you out of the Royal Guard, but I supersede her. I can get you in the High Council today! Is that something you want?"

Phoenix loosened his grip. Yurina was offering the end goal of his dream. Being a part of the High Council was his dream as he told Xaramesi earlier that day. But Xaramesi's earlier words rang in his head. "I won't lose you!" He closed his eyes and planted his pants in his pockets. "Why is it that you know… the exact buttons to push?" he asked. "But you're right, being a part of the High Council is nothing short of a dream for me."

"Then why are we wasting our time out here? You can help me! You see, I want what Xaramesi wants too. My vision just has zero-tolerance for discrimination." she said. "Fabregans and Alursians working together. If you join me, that vision can become a reality. You can work with me, and towards a better world for Xaramesi. Can you really say 'No' to this?"

Phoenix had a weary look at her. "You're right, I really can't say no to this." he saw a smile on Yurina's face. "However… Xaramesi was right not to trust you. You've kept your true identity a secret from everyone else. What else could you be hiding?" he said. "And if I agree to this. I know how it ends. I'm gonna have to pay the piper, and somehow, someway, I'm going to pay for this."

Yurina glared at him. "Wow… you're really smitten, aren't you? You have nothing to lose by joining me!"

Phoenix held up Almos. "You're wrong. I lose Xaramesi's trust, which I've come to value more as the days go by… Which I never saw coming to be honest." he swung his gauntlet. "So, I choose to follow Xaramesi."

"She's naive, she can't accept the realism of the situation. Sacrifices have to be made, the horrid need to be expunged. Why can't you understand that you blind fool!?"

"I understand plenty! And that is you're not to be trusted!" he exclaimed. "Now are you done with your recruitment segment?"

"Phoenix… you're making a big mistake…"

"Oh, I know. The old me would have joined you before you even finished the sentence… but." he thought back to Xaramesi's smiling face, and there was a tinge of red under his cheeks. 'Dammit! The old me would want to kill me now. But then again, I'd hate the old me just as much.' "I guess I'm just a fool like Xaramesi! So I'll keep fighting, I guess."

Yurina held a gate card. "Aww someone's in love~! You and Xaramesi could live happily in my world, but if you get in my way. I'm going to have to take you both down."

"Heh, if you want to get to Xaramesi, you have to go through me. And believe me, I may lose… but I'll go down kicking and screaming!"

Kyubis then growled at Phoenix as she didn't turn to her ball form thanks to her Reversion Power. So the duty fell to Phoenix to start the battle. "Bakugan Brawl!" after tossing in Almos he stood and hovered in the air.

From her office, Aurea watched the second round between Phoenix and Yurina start, she watched through binoculars. 'That idiot! He's as good as dead!'

"Aurea!" she turned around to see Xaramesi inside her office.

"Xaramesi?" she had a genuine look of shock on her face. "What are you doing back? You shouldn't be here!"

Xaramesi stood her ground in her office. "You know Fabrega is on borrowed time. I need your help to save it!"

Aurea turned away from her. "There is no saving Fabrega," she replied. "Our only hope is finding a new home. Which is what we are working on!"

The younger girl swiped her hand in defiance. "Forget it, just forcefully taking places from a planet is just awful!"

She gave a glare to Xaramesi. "Yes, you made that very clear the last time you were here. My question is: Why are you here now!?"

"Because if there is anyone who can help me. It's you! There has to be a way to save Fabrega!"

Aurea calmed herself. "Listen, we tried that, but there is no way to save Fabrega. We tried offering our Reversion energy to Draconoid, but nothing happened! So I have no idea what to do! Right now there is a project in the works called the 'Arc'. It can transport mass residents of Fabrega across planets and dimensions, and to our new homes."

"You mean from the homes we take!"

"We can't terraform from scratch, and we're not going to New Vestroia! The Vestals tried that and look what happened..."

"Aurea… is this what you want?" Xaramesi asked.

"It doesn't matter what I want! I am doing what is best for our people! Restoring Fabrega isn't going to happen, so I am going for the next best thing. The Arc will save as many people as possible!"

"But…" Xaramesi was thinking about the situation if there truly wasn't a way to keep Fabrega from ruin. Then what could she do? Aurea tentatively walked closer to Xaramesi. "This is a hard choice, I know… but sometimes, it can't work out the way we want. If we want to survive as a species, we need to adapt."

Xaramesi backed away slightly, still not wanting to get close to Aurea. "When you say 'we' as a species. Does that include Alursians?"

As much as Aurea wanted to get in Xaramesi's good books it went against her moral code to lie to someone she considered important to her. "The King… isn't in favor of Alursians entering the arc."

"WHAT!?" Xaramesi roared, one that sounded closer to a leopard as she bared her fangs.

"It's out of my hands at the moment. That's why I want to speed this up. If the invaded planets are finished ahead of schedule, and more arcs are built, them, combined with the tower-portal system. We can save everyone."

Xaramesi glared at her. "You and I both know how he feels about Alursians. He will never change his mind on this!" there was thunder roaring outside as Xaramesi went silent. "I wouldn't be allowed on the arc, would I?" when Aurea went silent and broke eye contact, Xaramesi had her answer. "I'm out of here!" she turned around.

"Xaramesi! Wait!" Aurea managed to stop her from leaving her office. "I'm sure I can get you on the arc."

"And what about my mother?! Is the King fine with splitting a family just to sate his own disgusting agenda!? What about Zaria? What about Sakuya? All the other Alursians that have done no wrong and contributed to society. Are they just going to be left to die!?"

Aurea held Xaramesi's shoulders. "That's why I'm working on the project as fast as I can. If I can transport enough people by the time the disaster rolls in, we might have time to save them all."

Xaramesi looked away from her and she pushed her hands off of her. "But he'll leave them. Just like he made it impossible to live on Alursia, he'll leave those he doesn't like on a dying planet!" she turned back around. "It's clear you don't… or can't help me… and if I do nothing, innocent people will die."

"That is a sad reality, but I am trying to make sure as many people get out of this as possible!"

"It won't be enough… it will never be enough!" she turned around. "Yurina has the power to stop all this, right? She's the leader of the High Council, so that's gotta mean something!" she watched Phoenix struggling to keep up with Yurina and her Kyubis. "I'm going to convince Yurina to help me! She must know about a way that we haven't tried yet!"

"You'll never convince, Yurina. I know her longer than you do."

Xaramesi shook her head. "So you say, but she's hiding something… something from all of us! And if I have to fight her to get her to help us… then so be it!" she ran down the hall through to the elevator to help Phoenix.

Aurea took a heavy seat on her chair. "Xaramesi, for your sake… and the lives of everyone. I hope you find a way."

As Xaramesi sprinted through the halls she was saw something peculiar. In the lobby of the building, she could see Heros and Daro with the latter lifting an unconscious person with white hair. She hid on the upper floor and listened in to their conversation.

"So what does the white hair have to do with her connection to Draconoid?" Daro asked.

"Apparently all proxies of Draconoid have white hair, why Yurina wants her is a different reason altogether."

"And that is?"

Heros shook his head. "I'd rather not say, that is Yurina's business. We'll just leave her in the prison for now so she can't escape."

They both took the elevator to the underground prison and after Xaramesi heard their conversation, she might just have her next course of action. She thought back to Phoenix who was still holding off Yurina.

'Sorry, Phoenix… I'm gonna need you to hold off Yurina for a little while longer.' Xaramesi had made a bee-line for the stairs. As she ran down, Maia was watching her and she had a curious look on her face.


Out in the Badlands, the pilots of the downed ship had managed to successfully charge the batteries and the co-pilot was getting into the jet. "Right, the backup batteries had charged up the engines, we should be good to go."

"What do you think caused that?"

"No idea, hopefully, they will inspect the jet tomorrow morning before heading out for another supply run." they were pressing buttons, flipping switches to fire up the engines and they whirred to life.

Outside, the four were going to hitch a ride as Dwayne and Lola occupied the top while Andreas was standing on the rear wing of the jet, near the flap. He was wearing gloves that magnetically kept him on the jet. Tammy leaped onto the same piece of wing, next to him. "Hold onto something!" Tammy got on all fours, extended her claws, and dug into the metal skin of the jet.

It took off and was flying to the facility that was close by. Lola hung on as tight as she could and Dwayne stuck behind her. Ready to catch her should she lose her grip. The double doors opened up and the transport jet looked to slowly fly through a tunnel with yellow illuminating light. Once it got to the end, the jet was slowly descending to the hangar floor.

Once the engines were shutting off, the pilots exited the jet. "Come on, let's report to the bosses, then get a good night's sleep." they walked out of the quiet hangar and once they knew they were alone the four silently dropped onto the floor.

Andreas looked around, trying to survey the area to see if they should be worried about any cameras. He could see none in their view. "Ok, this way," he whispered. Their main goal was to find the control room, but without any map of the area, they were going in blind. So they had to guess where the room was. And they needed to do it fast before they were spotted.

They had come across a few locked doors, one open door was a broom closet. They entered it and shut the door to discuss their next move.

"We can't explore as one group, we need a better plan. Maybe we should split up. There are two wings we can explore. Dwayne you and Lola take the West Wing. Tammy and I will take the East Wing."

"What if we come across that shut down switch before getting to the control room?" Lola asked.

"Then mark it in your head, we'll need that if we want to escape without drawing suspicious to ourselves. And if you have to knock someone out, could you at least hide the body to not draw suspicion?"

"Heh, do I look like a silent assassin. But whatever, I'll do it. Just make sure if you find the thing, just do it as quickly as possible. I don't want to be here any longer than you do."

"Right, then let's move." He handed Lola an ear communicator, use these only if you find the console or you've been spotted and are in trouble." After Lola gave him the nod, they all split off to their assigned wings. Though Dwayne tapped Andreas's arm and tilted his head towards Tammy. "I'll keep Tammy safe, ok. You two just worry about your path, got it." the bat Alusrian nodded before he followed after Lola. He eyed the black cat Alursian. "Ready to go?"

"Uh-huh. Thanks for allowing me to come with, Leader."

"Don't thank me just yet, and just call me Andreas ok."

"Sure… Andreas." she ended while smiling at him. She followed his lead as they continued through the East Wing.

Lola and Dwayne were slowly, sneaking through the western wing of the facility. As they passed through, they could see that there were Bakugan that were sedated in shiny bright blue liquid. Many of them were of different species, and they were missing various limbs as they were looking to replace them with cybernetic parts.

Lola stuck close to Dwayne who was eyeing the ceiling, just to watch out for any cameras. "Dwayne? You think we're any closer to that room." Dwayne's response was a shoulder shrug. "Let's just hurry and find this thing." this place is giving me the creeps. Dwayne had suddenly had grabbed Lola and pulled her behind one of the containers of what looked like a Haos Bee Striker. He made a 'shush' motion by putting his index finger above his lips.

"Yeah, straight from the leader of the High Council herself, they want a Pyrus Reversion Catalyst." one scientist said as he walked with another while holding a notepad.

"What are the High Council planning this time?"

"No clue, but do you want to disobey her? I heard that if you see her face, it will be the last thing you ever see before she kills you."

"Well we should ready the device to make the transport the catalyst." the other scientist nodded and they continued on their way.

"I'll load the data to create the catalyst. Apparently, it's a Dragonoid, so we'd have to edit the DNA code slightly so it can merge with its user."

"What the heck is a Reversion Catalyst." Dwayne shrugged his shoulder, and he motioned that the two should follow him. "Why?" he jabbed his thumb to the hurt Bakugan around him and Lola figured he meant that the Catalyst could be used to hurt another Bakugan. "Uuugh! Fiiiine!" she sneakily stuck herself behind Dwayne who was following after the scientists.

Andreas was sticking to the shadows while Tammy stayed close behind. The halls were brightly lit with blue lighting, they were approaching what looked like a room that was marked 'server room'. Andreas pointed at the room and Tammy nodded. When they got closer, they could see that there was a guard, armed with a throwing javelin in his hand. The server room was behind a door and before the door was a path that split into a 'T' The guard was patrolling that section.

"Andreas… I can leap on the walls and get to him quickly," she whispered.

"Yeah, but can you take him out? Because if you can't then I don't think you can last in combat with him." he then had an idea. "Distract him, then I'll quickly take him out."

"U-um… are you sure!?" she asked the top half of her head, turning blue out of fear.

Andreas looked right at her. "I'll be right behind you. If you can get his attention quickly, then I'll quickly put him to sleep." she nodded. "Just make sure his back is to me." Tammy nodded though she still looked scared. "Look, if something goes wrong, I'll improvise." he then attempted a smile. "Just trust me, your leader is on top of it." Tammy gave him a serious nod and she began sneaking to the guard. 'Holy Kishu, that actually worked!' he thought. He watched Tammy slowly approaching the guard, Andreas slowly followed making sure that he'd strike fast when he saw Tammy.

Tammy's feline eyes grew from slits to cover the rest of her iris. Her tail was slowly whipping the air. It looked as if she was stalking prey. She got on all fours, leaped forward, shot off the wall next to her and she scratched the guard in the face, leaving behind a three-clawed cat scratch on the left side of his cheek.

"WHAT THE-!" he could see Tammy's eyes glowing as she was prone in a defensive stance, ready to leap should he attack her. "H-how did this animal get in here!?" he felt the scratches on his face. "That's it!" he raised his bladed spear. "I'll scar you worse than you-" he was grabbed from behind and felt pressure around his neck. His legs were trying to get the mystery person off of him, but the grip only tightened. His eyes were beginning to roll to the back of his head, his legs buckled and he fell to his backside.

Andreas huffed as he lifted the unconscious body over his shoulder. "Whoa… you ok?" Tammy gave him a silent thumbs-up. "Ok, I'm going to dump the body somewhere, if anyone else finds an unconscious guard, they will alert the entire facility." Further down the hall, the two found a trash chute that was big enough for him to fit through. He pushed the body down the chute keeping it out of the public view. "Ugh… I need to work out more…" he motioned for Tammy to follow him.

They arrived at the door and Andreas got to the keypad. "Ugh, I'd try to break the keypad, but that might trigger an alarm."

Tammy patted his shoulder and pointed to a ventilation shaft. "Maybe that vent can lead to the room. If I can get inside, I can open it from the inside."

Andreas then took her hand and handed her a device that looked like a grenade. "It's a gas grenade, throw it into the room when you find it to put out any guards. When the smoke clears. You get inside and open it from the other side."

"Ok."

"And make sure you don't waste it. I only have one of these."

"I'll use it wisely!" she said.

"Ok, you be careful in there."

Tammy blushed and turned away from him. "I will." she turned around, leaped up to hold onto the vent. She ripped off the vent cover and crawled inside.

Andreas leaned against the wall. 'Heh, perhaps bringing her along wasn't such a bad idea.'

Over in the West Wing, Lola and Dwayne found themselves stalking the scientist who had prepared the Catalyst that Yurina intended for Dan and Drago. It was inside a metal suitcase and he was moving down the hall towards a room that would launch the rocket to Vestige City. That rocket was designed to deliver the payload.

Once they found he was alone in the room when he was setting up the rocket, Dwayne nodded to Lola and he opened and Lola quickly covered her ears. A loud screech had startled the scientist and he dropped the suitcase. Lola appeared from her hiding place and she swung her foot across his face, making him lose his footing and fall to the ground. After this Lola stood over him and knocked him out.

"Oh right, Andreas said we need to hide these people right?"

The next moment, both Lola and Dwayne were lifting his limp body and they pushed him into the closet that sat in the room. They closed it and locked it so the door wouldn't fly open. "Right…"

They both looked over the suitcase. Dwayne had his fingers on the latches that would open it. Lola nodded and Dwayne unlocked the clasps which made an audible click. They could see two injections inside. They were both red liquids and were bubbling. One syringe was bigger than the other. Hinting that one was for the partner and the other was for the Bakugan.

"The heck is this stuff?" Lola thought for a moment. "Wanna steal it?" Dwayne shrugged again and Lola closed the suitcase. "Right, I don't think we can find that control room, so let's see if we can find that emergency shut down switch!"

The duo left the room but not before Dwayne had ripped a security camera off the wall that nearly spotted them.

Inside the server room, two technicians were working the night shift. They could hear rattling in the vents again. "What the heck is that?" one of them asked.

"Probably rats again. I wouldn't worry."

"Ugh. I hate rats! They give me the creeps!" he said while feeling uncomfortable. "We should call an exterminator."

"Or a cat Alursian." they both laughed at their racist joke and at that moment, a click was heard and a metal chunk was dropped into the room through the vent. It hit the ground. "What is this?" the grenade started to let out green smoke and once the gas-filled their lungs the technicians had collapsed to the ground.

After the gas faded. Tammy punched open the vent and crawled out, she saw the man who made the joke about cat Alursians and she kicked him in the stomach out of anger. She ran over to the door and pressed the button. The door opened and Andreas walked in. "Thanks, Tammy." he walked inside and the door closed behind them. "You stand guard by the door."

She nodded and stood by the side of the door. Andreas then got to the console and he looked at Isolde's gauntlet. "Ok, let's hope this thing you made works, Isolde." He looked at the gauntlet and he saw an extendable cable from the side. He pulled on it and he plugged it into the main computer and a black and green popup appeared and it said. 'Uploading Daemon…'

"So what should happen?" Tammy asked.

"Isolde's 'Daemon', he calls it. What it does is that it destroys all the data in the system that it can find. And it also cripples the system so that it can be permanently locked. Even if someone can get back into it. The data will not be recoverable… so I'm told."

"Your friend is a computer whiz, huh?"

"Uh… he's just an incredible engineer. He could make his own mechanical Bakugan from scratch if he wanted to."

"How long do you think it will take before all the data is gone."

Andreas sighed. "Nearly half an hour." he sat down on one of the chairs.

Tammy decided to take the chair next to him. "Well, we're going to be here for a while… maybe we can talk. Get to know each other?"

"Fine, so start talking. What got you arrested?"

Tammy looked away with a blush. "I tried raiding a hospital to steal medical supplies for my grandpa. I… don't even know if he's alive right now. I'm even scared to go back home only to find out he's gone."

"Why did you have to steal supplies?" he asked.

"The hospital wouldn't keep him in for very long because of…" she gestured to her face which highlighted her cat features. "This… so I stole everything that looked like they could help him, I was caught and arrested."

Andreas turned away from her. "Tammy, I don't know what to say."

"I was always told that Fabregans are nothing but bigoted, selfish, snakes." Tammy folded her arms. "I'm glad they aren't all like that."

Andreas thought back to Zavanna and how sweet she was to everyone, even if they weren't human."No, they aren't… but I used to be. Now I don't care about much of anything anymore."

Tammy rolled her chair closer to him. "Don't say that! What about your family?"

"I'd rather not go back to my big family with my tail between my legs. Plus, I'm kind of a fugitive so that won't go down well."

"So what will you do?"

Andreas let out a sigh. "Who knows…? I don't know what to do next if this plan works. We put a dent in the High Council's operations, but… What's the point?"

"The point is to fight for what's right!" Tammy said. "Right...?"

Andreas leaned back into his chair. "Tammy, the only reason I wanted to do this was to stick it to the Royal Guard for sticking me in prison. There is no 'greater cause' I'm fighting for. I've got nothing to do anymore. All I can do is just run to avoid being put back in a jail cell."

"But… isn't there anything you want at least?"

"The only thing I had going for me was my fiancee, and she's gone and decided to be with a human." Tammy tilted her head. "Even though I had feelings for her, I realized this too late. Now she's gone." he looked up at the ceiling. "So yeah… I don't know what's next for me."

Tammy put her furred hand on top of Andreas's hand, startling him a bit. "Maybe there is something out there for you."

Andreas slowly took his hand back. "No offense, Tammy; I'm sure you're a great girl… more tolerable than Lola. But I'm not looking for that right now." Tammy looked away while blushing, Andreas stood up from his chair. "I'm going to stand guard by the door. Let me know the progress of the hack." She nodded at him but looked saddened by his rejection


Back at the rainy outskirts of Vestige City, Almos was hovering in the air as he managed to dodge three fireballs that were thrown at it. Phoenix was still holding onto the Bakugan. "Heh, you managed to avoid my Howling Blaze. Why do you continue to impress me?"

Kyubis: 700(+250)= 950 / Metal Almos: 900(-250)= 650

"This may surprise you, but I'm not trying to get in your good books here!" he threw his gauntlet up, while a card was inside it. "Ability Activate, Static Hurricane!" the electrified hurricane formed on the ground again after Almos flapped his wings. Though this time while Kyubis held her ground, Yurina herself got sucked in.

"Yurina!"

Kyubis: 950(-100)= 850 / Metal Almos: 650(+100)= 750

Phoenix saw this and figured that he had his best chance since Kyubis was distracted by Yurina getting dragged into the hurricane. "We need to make this fast! Double Ability Activate!" he slotted two ability cards into his gauntlet and the internal systems of Almos were firing up quickly. "Charge Cycle, plus Impaling Bullet!" Metal Almos remained in the air as the turbines fired up and there were green arcs of electricity surrounding him. His beak turned silver and he shot down, folded his wings, and was heading straight for Kyubis who stood her ground.

Kyubis: 850(-400)= 450 / Metal Almos: 750(+400 +500)= 1650

Kyubis rolled back into the twisted metal, feeling pain. Next to both Phoenix and Almos, the wind tornado exploded as flames exploded out from the center. Yurina shot out of it and was heading towards both Phoenix and Almos. "Burning Demise!" Yurina exclaimed as she waved her hands in a circle and shot large white flames towards Phoenix and Almos. She added 400 to herself while taking 300 away from Phoenix.

Kyubis: 450(+400)= 850 / Metal Almos: 1650(-300)= 1350

"Not this time!" Phoenix directed Almos to shoot up into the sky and he did, narrowly avoiding the white-hot fire directed at them. "You were definitely going to use that attack again since it worked so well against us last time. So I made sure that we could dodge it with Charge Cycle," he explained.

Yurina smirked. "Someone's learning, I honestly wish you'd take my offer."

"And be indebted to you? No thank you. I think I'd rather take my chances with Draconoid." Phoenix made sure to watch Yurina carefully, she could attack as well, so it was effectively a two on one. But he faced all her attacks last time, so all he figured was to make sure he wasn't blind-sided. But since he had the higher power level… "Almos, attack!" the mechanical bird swooped down to attack Yurina and Kyubis.

"Still have a lot to learn. Gate Card Open, Super Pyrus!" the command card opened and Phoenix was surprised when he took a look at their new power levels.

Kyubis: 1350 / Metal Almos: 850

Kyubis headbutted Almos, stunning the bird and throwing Phoenix off and he rolled into the mud. "I just did a switcheroo of our power levels," Yurina briefly explained as she stood over Phoenix. "Still want to keep fighting?" they both heard a screech, and that was Almos, shooting himself upwards away from Kyubis.

"Does that answer your question?" he asked. Yurina angrily stepped to him.

"You're actually starting to annoy me…" she started to seethe as the fire was surrounding her. "Meteor Foxtrot!" Yurina shot up into the sky like a rocket and in the air. The flames grew out and there was a ring of eight fireballs and they rained down all over the field. They both exploded around Almos and Phoenix. Almos' power level dropped down by 500Gs.

Kyubis: 1350 / Metal Almos: 850(-500)= 350

Phoenix watched two of the fireballs come down towards him. He put a card in his gauntlet and there was a bright green, thin beam saber that shot out of his gauntlet and he used the blade to slice through the flames, to make sure he couldn't get burned. The flames danced around his skin as they sliced fireballs exploded around him.

"Ooh…" Yurina looked down while she was slowly floating back to the surface. "Looks like someone came prepared." Once she landed on her feet she could see Phoenix panting. "C'mon Phoenix, I know the only thing holding you back is Xaramesi. Look at you, you've lasted this long with me, in my Reversion Form! Look, she'll come around eventually."

"What… you think my world revolves around her?"

"Doesn't it?"

"No… but there are lots of people that can't leave the planet… How do you think the farmers are going to grow their food…? Oh wait, you're just going to steal the planet's resources aren't you." Yurina shrugged. "I thought it was hopeless too, and while you seem reasonable… I can't trust you. I'd rather do this Xaramesi's way."

She shook her head. "You're a fool… then again love blinds us all so…"

"Rather be a fool than a puppet!" he threw up his Assault Gear to Almos and it then fused with his ball form. Once the Assault Gear was attached. Phoenix leaped up onto him and he hovered up in the air. Metal Almos's power increased by 100Gs 'No matter what… I'm going to be wasting an ability. She still has to activate Explosion Guard.'

Kyubis: 1350 / Metal Almos: 350(+100)= 450

"Ok, here we go, Ability Activate, Hailing Destruction!" the eight Javelin-guns deployed from his wing edges and they all circled Phoenix and he fired them down at Kyubis. She was running around the area, dodging the rapid-fire green beams with Yurina on her back. Almos's power increased by 600 which put him at 1050.

"Get ready, Kyubis! Ability Activate, Soul Extinction!" a purple, fiery aura surrounded the both of them and Yurina leaped off of Kyubis and she flew through the air. Then suddenly a white ghastly form of herself shot up to both Phoenix and Almos. The impact had reeled Almos in the sky. After this 650Gs were added to Kyubis's power level.

Kyubis: 1350(+650)= 2000 / Metal Almos: 1050

"Keep it steady Almos…" to his right he saw Kyubis' ghastly figure speeding towards them. "DIVE!" Almos's turbines fired up and he shot down to the ground, avoiding Kyubis' ghost figure. "I'm running out of abilities…" his gauntlet powered up with another ability. "This is too much, Fusion Ability Activate! Flurry Blast!" the Javelin Guns stayed in the air and the beams were turning white and they all shot down thick energy lines down to Kyubis and they were incinerating the ground they hit. Kyubis was able to avoid the blasts, and so was Yurina. Almos's power was increased by 700Gs after it fired down to them.

Kyubis: 2000 / Metal Almos: 1050(+700)= 1750

The beams were tracking their movements and one of them was about to run through Yurina. She managed to leap out of the way. She looked up Almos speeding down towards the pair of them. "Ability Activate, Triple Strike!" After Almos was close to the ground, Phoenix leaped off and Almos created two duplicates of himself and they were all speeding to Kyubis. His power level increased by 300 putting Almos at 2050Gs while Kyubis was at 1700Gs.

"RAAAH!" Phoenix sprinted to Yurina, an act that shocked her and she blocked Phoenix's slash with her claws.

"Whoa! What gives!?"

"You threw fireballs at me earlier, and since you're distracted." Kyubis was struggling to keep track of the Almoses. He kicked Yurina in her gut and he quickly placed another card in his gauntlet. "Assault Gear Ability Activate, Pulse Bomber!" the three Almoses had extended their wing cannons and they charged up white/green energy bombs and they dropped them down onto Kyubis creating a tremendous explosion of green energy kicking up dry mud into the air.

Kyubis: 1700(-500)= 1200 / Metal Almos: 2050(+600)= 2600

Yurina slid back as her claws were still blocking Phoenix's strike. "Now Almos!" Almos swooped down and dragged his claws across Kyubis' midsection and this drew three lines claw marks of blood. Yurina grunted in pain. 'The angrier I make her, the more she might-' she slashed Phoenix's shirt with her claws, tearing the black fabric and drawing some blood.

"Know your place! You don't even have a Reversion Form you scrub!" She had two abilities lined up for her next attack. "Double Ability Activate! Comet Crash!" she launched up with orange comet trails following her. Both of them shot through the clouds and there was an explosion behind them. Both Yurina and Kyubis were falling to the ground while surrounded by fire and five comets were falling along-side them. 400Gs was transferred between the two Bakugan

Kyubis: 1200(+400)= 1600 / Metal Almos: 2600(-400)= 2200

As she fell, she prepared the second ability to add to it. And this card had a different design to the rest of her other cards. "Plus Fusion Ability Kitsune Correlation!" she exclaimed. Suddenly the flames turned blue and the flames had a slight watery tint to them.

Phoenix saw that Kyubis' attribute changed to Aquos. "Did she change to Aquos?" they also saw her power level increased by 600Gs

Kyubis: 1600(+600)= 2200 / Metal Almos: 2200

Phoenix pointed upwards at the attack. 'This is going to hurt… really badly!' "Almos! We're taking them head-on!" he flew up into the air and he readied his gauntlet blade. There also looked to be an ability in Phoenix's gauntlet and the Javelin-guns had flipped over and revealed their spear tipped points, they flew along-side Almos.

"AAAAHHHHHH!" both Phoenix, Yurina, and their Bakugan had crashed into each other and there was a tremendous explosion, making gray smoke high in the air. The shock-wave from the attack had shattered windows in the area. The sound of the impact echoed in the air. There was a figure that fell to the mud and a big splash was made. The sound of a Bakugan going back to its ball form was heard. When the smoke cleared, there was a white Bakugan on the ground while Yurina was laying flat on her stomach.

Kyubis: 2200(-550)=1650 / Metal Almos: 2200

"REEEEEEE!" Almos landed hard on the ground and Phoenix got off and was panting with tears in his outfit. His glasses were broken and he angrily tossed them aside.

"Good thing I activated Zephyr Javelins at the last minute huh?" he said as he limped forward.

Yurina clenched her mud-filled hands before she got up. Her life gauge fell to 45%. She was knocked out of her Reversion form and took a deep breath. Yurina picked up Kyubis from the mud.

Phoenix kept his focus but decided to poke at her a bit. "Nothing to say?" he asked.

"I've got nothing to say to you…"

He nodded and prepared a gate card. "Fine, then let's end this!" he tossed in the Gate Card and it spread a green rectangular energy sheen across the already demolished field. "Bakugan Brawl! Metal Almos stand!" Almos stood and hovered in the air and roared.

Yurina looked down at Kyubis. "We are done messing around…" she angrily said.

"Yes… let's make this quick!" she closed herself allowing Yurina to snatch her out of the air. "Bakugan Brawl! Kyubis Stand!" Kyubis stood up tall and let out an angered growl. She was suddenly had white flames covering her and Yurina quickly changed into her Reversion Form. "And Phoenix… the next time Xaramesi sees you again, you will be in a body bag!" she calmly said.

Down in the underground lobby to the underground prison. Xaramesi was hiding in the shadows and saw Daro and Heros leaving the area, but Heros felt like he sensed something.

"Hey, old man! What's the hold-up?"

Xaramesi hid again. "Hmm… I thought I sensed a familiar presence." he looked back and saw there was a single entrance to the prison facility. There was a thick door that was guarded by a guard with a laser rifle. After turning to the guard he spoke. "Keep watch, something isn't right." he nodded and when they took the elevator Xaramesi remained in her hiding place.

"What are you up to?"

"GAH!" Xaramesi's mouth was instantly covered by a hand and Maia placed a shushing motion over her mouth with her single finger. "Maia… what are you doing down here?" she whispered.

"Long story… but what are you trying to do down here?"

"Ok, this is also a long story… but Fabrega is going to be destroyed, and the way to stop it has something to do with Draconoid! Apparently, this white haired girl knows something about Draconoid, and Daro and Heros imprisoned her." Xaramesi then looked to Maia. "But what are you doing here?"

Maia stood up. "Just wait here…" she got up and to the guard.

"Hey! You're not supposed to GUH!" Maia elbowed him in the nose, dazing him, and threw her knee into his gut. After this, he fell over. She chopped his neck so he wouldn't be able to call for help. "There…" she was about to go in but Xaramesi stopped her.

"Maia… I need you to do me a big favor…"

Maia nodded. "You're my roommate, I guess we gotta stick together. But after that, you owe me a favor." Xaramesi nodded at Maia's request. "Ok, what is it?"


Before long, Andreas was sitting at the door while Tammy watched the hack with a bored expression, though she did look down since Andreas rejected her. But she was glad he wasn't going to string her along when the feelings weren't there. Her ears twitched and turned to the door.

"Andreas… someone is coming!"

Andreas called her over to the door and they both stood on either side. They heard that the door was trying to be opened from the other side. When Tammy saw Andreas nod to her, she nodded back to him, telling him that she was ready. Andreas put his hand on the door sensor and the automatic door slid open. Andreas had his fists prepared while Tammy extended her claws while she hissed.

They both were looking at the terrified faces of Lola and Dwayne. "Whoa there. What's got you two on edge!?" Lola exclaimed. Tammy and Andreas dragged them inside and the door closed.

"So… did you two find the shut-down switch?"

"Nope… but we found something else." she showed them the suitcase with the Reversion Catalyst. "We think this is a Pyrus Reversion Catalyst. So what do you think Leader?"

Andreas sighed. "I think we should destroy it."

"What… but we could sell it, think about how much money we could make!"

"I'd rather not have something like this in circulation! If the Royal Guard are after this, then We should get rid of it!" Dwayne nodded, agreeing with him.

"Aww… what a waste!" she closed the suitcase and gave it to Andreas.

"I'll figure a way to safely destroy this thing later." there was beeping coming from the computer that was connected to the mainframe. It notified the user, showing a warning that Data Integrity was compromised.

Andreas took back Isolde's gauntlet. "Well, that's their data wiped. Now we need to call the Rouge Bakugan." And he saw a Bakugan panic button on the side of the room and it said. 'Press in-case of Bakugan attack.' Andreas was sitting at one of the mainframe computers and he found a setting to adjust the range of the sonic disruptor. He shot it to its max setting and max volume. He turned to Lola, Tammy, and Dwayne. "You three might want to cover your ears." they did and he walked over the emergency button and pressed it. Suddenly they all could hear a very high pitched scream that made their eardrums want to burst.

The screeching sound could be heard from all over the Badlands. In various spots in the area, there were dark Bakugan that were growling from annoyance as the high pitched whistle was piercing their ears and overloading their senses. They screamed and others covered their ears with their limbs if they could. Some were already sprinting to the source of the ear-splitting wave and the others started to follow. They were all heading towards the facility in a stampede fashion. Four groups of Rouge Bakugan were shooting forward towards the facility.

Back inside. The sound had stopped, allowing Andreas's Alurisan allies to uncover their ears. "Well did it work?" Lola asked.

Andreas was leaning down to one of the downed technicians. "I think I have a plan to find that switch." he back slapped the face of the man who was slowly waking up. He groaned slightly and looked up at four strange figures he has never seen before. Though he was quick to recognize Andreas.

"Y-you're Andreas… shouldn't you be in jail!?"

"Obviously, I broke out." he lifted him. "But I'm not in the mood for small talk, I want you to tell me where the shut down switch it for the security system it. Don't help us and I'll have my friends here decide your fate. He then could see Tammy glaring at him, her cat eyes were slightly glowing in the light. He made the joke about Cat Alursians earlier so it was no surprise why she glared daggers at him.

"Gah, ok, ok! Just make her stop staring at me!"

Andreas looked at Tammy. "Take it easy on him." she gave a nod and turned around. "Now the switch?" he stood up.

"Y-yes… it's in the security lounge!" they could feel the ground rumbling beneath them as the stampeding Bakugan were getting closer and closer. "W-what is that!?"

Andreas lifted the man over his shoulder. "Lead the way… or else."

"Ok, ok! It's this way."

"Do we really gotta bring the dead weight?"

The security lounge was filled with couches and security uniforms. There was one security guard who was adjusting his laser rifle. The door slid open and he was startled. "W-WHOA!"

"HELP ME!" the technician yelled. Lola and Tammy ran in and incapacitated the guard, bringing him down to his knees with a kick to the gut and left leg. Lola smacked the back of his neck. His head bounced off the ground and there was drool falling from his mouth as he lost consciousness.

Andreas glared at the twitchy technician. "Seriously… where's the switch!?"

He pointed out a lever that was behind a glass panel. "Over there!?" Lola ran to it, and she broke the glass by using her elbow.

"Time to shut down those stupid mechs!" she pulled the lever down and the switch, the second she did a signal was sent all over the base that was shorting out all the mechanical Bakugan that would have automatically countered the Rouge Bakugan, as well as shutting down any security turrets and targeting systems.

"Okay… I did what you asked. Now let me go!"

Andreas thought about it. "Hmm, actually you know what? You're coming with us!"

"W-what!?" the man, as well as Tammy and Lola, exclaimed.

"Think about it, we have already been seen. When people are interviewed. It's only a matter of time before they identify us. So just in case, they come after us, it would be useful to have a hostage."

Dwayne thought about is and he sweetly nodded and gave a thumbs-up. "HUH!?" Lola exclaimed, her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

Andreas looked at Lola. "Think about it, if we are going to be fugitives, the least we need is some leverage so we don't get completely massacred." Lola nodded in agreement. "Right time to leave." He dug his hand into one of his pockets and he pulled out a white Bakugan with yellow accents and some silver on his going only the spine.

"What is that?" Lola asked.

"One of the Bakugan they kept in the prison. The internal tracker is disabled so they won't be chasing us." he tossed it out. "Here goes! Arminx stand!" the Haos Bakugan stood and it was a standing Armadillo Bakugan, with thick steel arms with sharp claws. And there were yellow spikes along the spine of his back. "Alright, Arminx mind rolling us out of here?" Arminx held all of them and Andreas placed a card into the gauntlet and it shone yellow. "Ability Activate, Rolling Terra!" He pointed to the wall. "Go through the wall!"

Outside the base, there was an explosion, outside the west wall the wall exploded and Arminx was rolling out while avoiding the stampeding Rouge Bakugan. He managed to get avoid them easily and he managed to get clear of them.

Arminx then rolled up to a cliff face that overlooked the facility. He uncurled himself and allowed his passengers off. Andreas, Lola, and Dwayne shook themselves off while Tammy lazed around dizzily with swirls in her eyes.

"Oh that was somethin'…" the cat-girl said in her dazed state, but crucially she was about to step off the cliff, but Andreas quickly grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her towards him, holding her in what felt like a hug that made Tammy blush.

"Be careful next time…" he said. He let go of her and she looked down and away from him.

"Y-yeah… thanks, Andreas…"

Lola held the scared technician they kidnapped. "So, what do we do with him?"

Andreas looked to see the facility being destroyed by stampeding, raging, Rouge Bakugan. There were screams heard from the base as many escape pods were shooting into the air away from the facility.

"Right… I have no idea what to do next… so there's only one thing to do." he turned around and bent down to the scientist. "Ok pencil-neck. The fastest way to Valhalla City?"

The man suddenly went pale. "T-the capital… what do you want there?"

"We're going to pay the king a visit." he simply said.

"No… you're crazy!?"

Andreas chuckled. "Heh, maybe I am… but I've got a crew that would love to storm the capital."

Lola pumped her fist in the air. "Alright! We're finally taking the capital!"

Their leader however shook his head. "No, we're not going to completely go in and completely wreck the place. I'm not the second coming of Ran-Seki."

"So… what do you plan to do there?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, let's establish something first." he looked at Lola, Dwayne, and Tammy. "You all have been treated unfairly for far too long, and the King has played a big hand in that. He won't let go of his power so easily. So I'm banking on the power of the people."

"Meaning?"

"I'll get most of the population on our side. We deliver a message, get people behind us. Ran-Seki wanted to destroy, so maybe instead of that, we unite instead. If enough people see how much of a complete jerk the king is. They'll want him to step down, and if he doesn't then we'll use force."

Dwayne clapped his hands as he instantly supported the plan. "Hold on, what if the Fabregan citizens don't want to help us?" Lola asked.

Andreas's kept his regular frown. "Then it would seem you would be right about us."

"I-Is this going to work?" Tammy asked.

"As I said before… we have no way of knowing, but no one should have to steal just to get by… or worse, steal just to get medical attention," he said. Looking directly at Tammy as her story seemed to have sparked something in him. "This is a big risk, I'll reveal the plan to the others tomorrow." Arminx returned to Andreas's hand and he clenched his fist. "We should all get some rest. Lola, mind carrying this guy?"

Lola lifted him over his shoulder. "If he starts being annoying, you won't mind if I drop him a few times would you?" the man got scared.

"Take it easy, the man was probably just doing his job, no need to make him any more uncomfortable. And he probably has a family, so at the very least, don't give him a hard time."

"Ugh… fine, let's go, dead weight."

"Ah, be gentle!"

Dwayne followed after him leaving just Andreas and Tammy. "So… you're really doing this huh?"

Andreas sighed. "I'm really got nothing left to lose, you guys on the other hand… if something isn't done about the Fabregan leadership, then you guys and even your kids will continue to get mistreated. So I'll present the mistreatment you guys face to the general public. If they don't care, then we really are monsters. If they do… then we have a fighting chance."

"I never thought a Fabregan would be so… caring…" Tammy said, which caused Andreas to become embarrassed at the 'caring' statement.

"L-look… there are Earthlings here looking to revive Draconoid, if all goes well, we'll have their help too. Don't get me wrong, I'm not the bleeding heart type. But to just sit and do nothing, or in my case, sit and do nothing while contributing to the mistreatment is unforgivable. I've come to realize Alursians are just people like us, and nothing will change overnight, and forcing change won't do anything either. So we get the people on our side and hope that they make the same decision I did."

"Andreas…" Tammy said longingly as she looked at him. She continued to admire him more and more the longer she got to know him.

"We better get out of here, it's going to get cold soon since we're in the desert."

"Right behind you!" but Andreas then put his hand on top of Tammy's and released Arminx from his grip and into Tammy's hand. "A-are you sure?" Andreas gave her a serious nod

"If you want to fight, then you're going to need some help."

Tammy took Arminx and formed a fist and held it to her chest while her cat eyes shook with determination. "I won't let you down!" Andreas then rubbed Tammy's head.

"Look, I'm not a general you have to impress here. I'm a fugitive like all of you trying to make sense of all this. We're going to Eden-Valhalla City, home of the Fabregan Elite, we're going to need some help. If it comes down to force, then better to have a Bakugan than to not."

"It's like we're a small army or something." she joked.

"She says this after I just said I'm not a general." he started leaving her. "Come, unless you want to freeze to death."

"Coming~!"


There were three Almos' speeding to the ground where Yurina and Kyubis were standing below. The effect of Triple Strike was about to be felt by Yurina and Kyubis.

Kyubis: 700(-300)= 400 / Metal Almos: 900(+300)= 1200

"Together Kyubis! Meteor Foxtrot!" Eight fireballs surrounded the pair of them as the Almoses was falling towards them. "Now!" the fired three fireballs into the air, only one of the Almoses was taken down as it exploded. The remaining two made sure to avoid any fireballs as Almos's power level was brought down by 500, putting him at 700Gs.

Yurina leaped off of Kyubis and threw up an ability. "You want me, Come and get me! Ability Activate, Explosion Guard!"

Kyubis: 400(+100)= 500 / Metal Almos: 700

The two remaining Almoses had clashed with Kyubis who took the attack of both of them and headbutted one of them back. It quickly faded away and he had a fiery aura surrounding him on top of the white fire from his Reversion Energy. Phoenix could see Yurina sprinting to the pair of them.

"Reversion Ability Activate, Katana Foxtrot!" Yurina had a red katana blade appeared by her side while eight fireballs surrounded her. She leaped up and was aiming to fall onto Phoenix. The fireballs first crashed into Almos, causing damage. She fell on top of Almos, swinging her blade down on Phoenix. He blocked with his gauntlet blade and he was getting pushed down.

He stepped back and ducked under her blade that was about to take his head off. But she knocked him off with the butt of her sword and he lost his balance and fell off of Almos. The mud broke his fall but heard Yurina landing beside him. Her red Katana was above her head and he could see her menacing frame as thunder roared behind her. "Just remember. I warned you not to get in my way! And I gave you multiple chances to join me. Too bad your heart is going to get you killed today!" she raised her blade.

"Looks like I was in way over my head… I hope I bought her enough time!" he shut his eyes and waited for the inevitable.

"RRRROOAAAARRRRRR!"

The Fox Alursian was run over by a giant lion's paw she rolled on her sides and slid into a battle stance. "You!?" she saw someone extending a hand to Phoenix.

"Get up!" she firmly said. He immediately accepted her hand and was brought back up to his feet. The giant lion's paw was revealed to be Liaru, his partner, Maia let go of Phoenix's hand after he was helped up.

"Will the surprises never end?" Yurina rhetorically asked. "You should be on Gundalia!"

Maia glared at her. "You're right… but unlike Maximus… I'm not a puppet! Plus… I have some questions for you!"

"I think the time for questions is over. If you're going to help this scrub, then you'll suffer the same fate at him!"

Maia glared at her. "Not a chance, since I was created to be a weapon! Something you forgot to tell me!" Almos flew down to Liaru and Maia's side. "You've lasted this long, I thought I'd be picking up a body by now," she said while she turned to Phoenix.

"You were about to…" Phoenix replied.

"Heh, you should have seen how worried Xaramesi was!" she cheekily said.

"Thanks for getting me out of that."

"Oh please, this just means both you and Xaramesi owe me a favor."

They both turned to the angry Yurina as the white fire flared around her. "Well, you better hope we live through this so you can cash in." Phoenix and Maia stood their ground as they faced their foxy adversary who was looking more focused and furious than ever.


Xaramesi was walking through the prison and she could hear crying in the background. Since the other cells she passed were empty, she followed the sobbing and when she got to one of the holding cells, she saw the same white-haired girl from before. "Hello?" she gently called out. The girl lifted her face, revealing herself to the hybrid. "W-whoa… Zavanna!?" she gasped.

"X-Xaramesi…!?" the girl exclaimed in shock as her tears stained her cheeks. "What are you doing here?"

"I'll explain later, but I need you to tell me everything you know about Draconoid because if you don't Fabrega and everyone on it will be doomed. Do that, and I'll get you out of here!"

"B-but aren't you in the High Council? Won't you get in trouble?"

"Nah… turns out being in the High Council isn't as cracked up to be," she said while nervously scratching the back of her head. "Now… please… tell me everything you know. I'm not sure how long Fabrega has."

"So you know about it too." Zavanna sat up to her knees and let out a sigh. "Where do I start?"


Oh yeah, I don't want to jinx it, but I feel I've been on a good rhythm with updates as of late. Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. And let me know what you think in the reviews and I'll see you in the next update.