Here we go again!
Back to another chapter of Bakugan and I got a pretty interesting dynamic going on here that I think works really well!
So without further ado I hope you enjoy the chapter!
"Grrrr…come on! Where are they?!" In the country of Australia, in a rocky valley bordering a city, we find none other then the Subterra user of the Battle Brawlers Julie. She was currently waiting for her team to arrive on Marucho's plane. Yesterday after the Brawlers went to Michaels lab and learned about how he got to Vestroia as well as him becoming Hal-G and working with Masquerade, they called her and explained all the details of what they learned to the tanned girl as well as that they would be stopping by her neck of the woods to investigate Bakugan Valley. Julie decided it was a good idea to wait for them in the valley but…it turns out she would be waiting for longer than she would have liked. "Those guys are, like, in so much trouble!"
As if on cue, the wind started picking up and the sounds of engines were heard coming from up above. Julie's Bakugan partner, Subterra Gorem, turned towards the source of the sound and informed Julie, "They're here!"
Julie gasped as she turned around and saw Marucho's plane finally arriving and beginning to land. "It's about time!" Julie yelled as she ran after the plane, making sure she was at the place it landed. However this did end up causing her to be blown away a bit and land on her back, knocking Gorem off her shoulder as well. While Julie was irritated by this, her anger quickly subsided as she watched the door to the plan open and her friends and fellow battle brawlers to step out.
"We finally made it!" Dan smiled and cheered as he stretched out a bit. While Marucho's plane was nice and fancy and all, Dan much preferred being out in the fresh air where he could properly walk around.
"It appears we have," Drago commented from Dan's shoulder.
Meanwhile Lori immediately felt the Australia heat hit her and wiped some sweat that started to quickly form on her forehead. "Man…I literally didn't expect it to be this hot…" Lori panted a bit, wishing she brought some cooler stuff with her. It was even worse after going to a pretty cold place like Moscow. Just then Lori saw Haiku pull out and open up a gothic looking umbrella she brought to block out the sun in places just like this. "Got another one of those?"
"I only brought the one, sorry." Haiku apologized as Lori groaned, looks like the 17-year-old would just have to endure the heat.
Before anyone could say anything else, they saw Julie excitedly waving to them with a giant smile on her face. "Hey guys! You don't know how glad I am to see you! Welcome to the Bakugan Valley, the place I call home!" Julie then rushed forward and quickly enveloped Dan in a tight hug, quickly making the pyrus brawler feel uncomfortable and for Alice and Runo to start glaring at him. "It's especially nice to see you Dan."
"U-Uh…y-yeah you too…" Dan stuttered a bit as he tried to escape Julie's grasp. "Do you mind letting go of me now?"
"Nice to see you too Julie," Marucho said with an awkward smile.
"Good to see you haven't changed," Lincoln lightly chuckled with a sweat drop.
"Would you quit it already!" Runo yelled at Julie in irritation.
Just then Alice grabbed Dan's arm and, in a surprising feat of strength, managed to pull Dan away from Julie's grasp. "He asked you to let him go," Alice said firmly as she and Julie started glaring fiercely at each other.
"Ooooooo, I smell a cat fight!" Preyas let out as he watched Alice and Julie.
"Please try not to instigate conflict within the team Preyas," Kabukito told the aquos Bakugan from Haiku's shoulder, the darkus bakugan thankful for the shade her queen was providing.
"Heeeeeey, guys! You know what sounds great!" Quickly working on splitting the two girls, three if Runo started to get involved, up Lincoln quickly stepped in between them. "Doing what we came here to do in the first place! Sounds fun don't it?"
"Eh, watching two chicks fighting each other sounds pretty entertaining," Leonidas chuckled as Lincoln deadpanned at him. "Just being honest here,"
Julie then let out a sigh as she put her hands on her hips and gained her usual smile back, "I suppose you're right Lincoln. First off, welcome to my corner of the world! It's so nice to meet you all in the flesh!" Julie then walked up to Lincoln and examined his hair for a second before taking both of his hands into her own and giving him a big smile. "Wow! You really do have white hair too! It's not dyed, is it?"
Lincoln chuckled a bit as Julie's enthusiasm started to become contagious, he didn't even notice the stink eye Haiku started giving Julie. "Nope! All-natural white head!" Lincoln told Julie making the girl let out an excited laugh. "It's nice to meet someone else around my age that's the same."
"I know right! At first I thought me and my sister were the only ones like this!" Julie said, revealing she had a sister that also had white hair. "Me and you are totally, like, white hair buddies!"
"I guess we are," Lincoln smiled as Haiku started quietly growling.
"Can we please get back on track," Reaper growled, getting everyones attention as the bakugan was started to get tired of the little display going on. "Your friendship is making me stick to my stomach.
"Hpmh, fine whatever you little party pooper," Julie stuck her tongue out at Reaper, already getting a sour feeling from the bakugan. Past allegiance to Masquerade aside, Reaper just seemed to be a jerk through and through. Oh well, Julie supposed she could just spend some alone time with Dan and some quality time with her white-haired buddy later. "So we're looking for the infinity core right?"
"Yes, Lincoln said you told him about this place when you were looking for your own Bakugan partner." Shun explained to Julie who nodded in response, confirming it all. "You can take us through the caves you explored right?"
"Totally!" Julie confirmed with a hyped-up expression as she pointed out in the valley. "Just follow me guys! I'll get us there if a jiffy!"
Thankfully Julie wasn't wrong as it only took about a ten-minute hike from where they were to get to where the entrance of the caverns. However, to others it felt a lot longer due to the heat. And when they got there the view was absolutely stunning. It felt like some grand entrance to a temple with the canyon walls completely surrounding them aside from the spot they came from and rocky pillars lined up in front of the entrance. "Maaaaan…this place is ginormous." Dan commented as they all looked around. "Kinda creepy. It's like it's almost alive."
"This is where the infinity core lies." Drago said in a calm yet serious tone. One of the two cores that help sustain Vestroia could be in the very caves in front of them, there was no time to waste. "What we seek Daniel."
"It's down there somewhere, right Julie?" Dan asked the local Bakugan Valley expert.
"Oh yeah totally!" Julie said with a confident grin. "But I should tell you that I only made it in so far. In fact no ones made it to the very end of the caves before. There's a bunch of icky bats that usually chase you out."
"Wicked." Haiku said with a tiny grin.
"And hey maybe afterward me and you could have some alone time?" Julie asked with a flirty tone and grin, quickly making Dan nervous again. "I've been waiting for this forever! Isn't that right Gorem?"
"You have mentioned it to me before yes," Gorem stated from Julie's shoulder, back with the girl again after being knocked off earlier.
"Ah so you're Gorem," Lori commented as she leaned closer to Julie to get a better look at the Subterra Bakugan. "Julie's told us a lot about you, it's nice to finally get to the meet you in person."
"Julie's told us a great deal about you as well," Chrysopeon added on from Lori's shoulder as the lamia bakugan looked down at Gorem. "How you're a strong and powerful warrior with a soft and kind heart,"
"Julie…you're embarrassing me…" Gorem muttered as he briefly glowed red. Still, it was nice that Julie described like that to his friends.
"Awww, I just want all my friend to know what a great Bakugan you are," Julie said as she nuzzled Gorem against his cheek, making him blush brighter as everyone else laugh.
"As sweet as this is, I suggest we get moving," Skyress chimed in, causing Julie to cease giving Gorem more affection allowing him to finally start cooling down, "There will be time for proper introductions later I assure you,"
"She's right, the more time we dawdle out here the more chances we get Masquerade to get the jump on us," Leonidas stated as all the brawlers nodded in agreement. Time for hanging out and talking was for later, now was the time for action. "Let's go get this damn infinity core!"
"Right!" Lincoln and Dan said in unison.
The group then went forward and into the cave. Since Julie was the one whose been here before, she took the lead in getting the group through the caverns. Thankfully there were some lanterns at the entrance for anyone exploring the cave to use to help to provide light with Julie, Shun, and Lori being the ones to take them.
"It just seems to go on forever," Lori mentioned as she lost track of how long they've been walking. On the bright side the caves were a lot cooler then the outside so the oldest Loud sibling was no longer sweating like a pig. "And it feels like someones watching us…"
"You felt that too huh?" Marucho asked as he had goosebumps on his arms.
"Yes, I feel it as well…" Kabukito said in a serious tone. "It's just like when we were at Michael's lab but different."
"You said you're in touch with the spirit world right?" Haiku asked as she was aware of how connected to spirits Kabukito was. It's what even brought them together in the graveyard back at Royal Woods. "Can you feel the energy of the infinity core? If it's the core of vestroia then it should be connected with all the bakugan of vestroia both alive and dead based on how the minus energy of the silent core affected all of you correct? It should be the same with the Infinity core."
"While the cores energy can affect us, I'm afraid it's not that simple." Kabukito proceeded to give an in-depth explanation of how the silent core and the infinity core. "While you are correct in that both cores are connect to vestroia and all bakugan as they give balance to the world. Silence is negativity, and infinity is positivity. As sad as is it, it is easier for negativity to leak into someones heart then positivity. The energy the silent core is much stronger than the infinity core when they are separate, not to say that the infinity core is weak as its energy is able to keep the silent core in check and under control. But by itself, we would need to be in proximity with the infinity core or at least it's plus energy."
"But what about back at the lab?" Alice asked as she remembered how all the Bakugan, sans Leonidas, were affect by the Minus energy when they entered the lab. "Once we were all inside you were affected by the minus energy the silent core created."
"Truth be told, we were able to feel it when we entered the country." Chrysopeon revealed making all the humans gasp. None of the Bakugan denied this statement so it was most likely true. "It's just it was most potent in the lab. The minus energy has most leaked out in all direction and spreading fast."
"Whereas the infinity core can only spread so far without negative energy it can counter," Kabukito explained as she turned to Haiku's face. "I'm afraid I won't be any help in knowing which direction to go. All I can do is say that I do think this is where the infinity core lies, or at least lied before."
"Well for both our worlds sake, let's hope it's the former," Dan stated as he kept on going forward, but the pyrus brawler couldn't help but be a little disturbed by this information. If the minus energy of the silent core was able to spread throughout all of Moscow that quickly, then it wouldn't be long until it's affected all of earth and throws off the balance here. All the more reason to find the infinity core.
"Alright guys, I think we should go this way," Julie said as she pointed to the pathway on the right. After hearing the conversation, she was more determined then ever to lead her friend in the right direction. "I'm certain!"
"Oh great…" Runo muttered as she rolled her eyes. "Einstein thinks she knows."
"Hey come on lay off her Runo," Lincoln stated, not particularly liking Runo's attitude towards Julie. "She's the one that's been here before, she knows this place more than any of us,"
"Aaaaawww, thanks Lincy! At least I could count on my white-haired buddy to have my back!" Julie as she went next to Lincoln and put an arm around his shoulder, making Lincoln smile. "Just follow me and I'll get us to the infinity core no sweat!"
"Sounds good!" Lincoln said as the two white-heads shared a high five.
Meanwhile Haiku narrowed her eyes at the scene and silently growled. "Something wrong?" Shun, who was walking next to Haiku asked.
"It's…fine…" Haiku said after trying to calm herself down. So far Julie wasn't leading any good impressions on the goth girl. "Julie just…bugs me." Shun nodded in understanding, though he knew what this was really about. The ventus ninja decided it was best to stay quiet about it.
And so the group decided to keep going, thankfully they didn't run into any of the bats Julie mentioned, though Haiku wished they did, and it was a mostly a straight forward path with only about two turns to make. Unfortunately, they were forced to stop due to a…
"A deadend?!" Runo yelled in frustration was the group was blocked off by a stone wall. Runo fumed as she turned to Julie. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted Julie to lead us through here!"
"Hey!" Julie yelled as she glared at Runo. "What's that supposed to mean!?"
"It means we shouldn't have trusted the sense of direction of a big flirt!" Runo yelled right into Julie's case, making the white-haired girl lightly gasp. "First Dan, now Lincoln, I bet this whole thing was just an excuse to close to them wasn't it!"
"Hold on I was never flirting with Lincoln! I am totally not a flirt!" Julie claimed as both she, Lincoln, and Dan all gained red faces. Julie then smirked before she did a few poses to show off her body before commenting to Runo, "By the way, nice hair!"
"Hehe, someone pass the popcorn," Leonidas chuckled as he decided to enjoy the show.
Even Reaper seemed be enjoying the conflict of the two girls, "I guess humans can be entertaining afterall, hehe." The ex-partner to Masquerade laughed as he joined Leonidas in watching.
"Not helping!" Lincoln snapped to the Bakugan on his shoulders.
Meanwhile Runo's face went completely red with anger as Lori and Marucho had to hold Runo back from attacking Julie. "WHATEVER!" The blue haired girl yelled as she tried to escape Marucho and Lori's grasp. "JUST ADMIT YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHERE WE WERE GOING!"
"Everyone calm down!" Everyone suddenly shut up as Shun yelled and walked forward. They all watched as the ventus ninja went up to the wall that was blocking them and put his ear to it, lighting pounding on the stone. Once he got a feel for it, he nodded before turning to Lincoln and Dan. "Lincoln, Dan, I went you both to take an end of the wall and push it. Trust me."
Dan and Lincoln turned to each other with raised brows, but Dan decided to go with it and shrugged before going over to the right side and started pushing. Lincoln sighed but ultimately did the same as he started pushing against the left side. Shun got in front of the center part of the wall before stepping a few yards back. Once Shun was back up enough, he ran towards the wall and full speed before jumping out and extending his foot out to kick the very center of the wall with all his might.
Due to both the kick as well as Lincoln and Dan's pushing, the 'wall' suddenly collapsed forward revealing itself to not even be a wall but a stone door that blocked off the next room. And this next room was a far cry from the rest of the cave as the roof was covered in crystals that all produced a rainbow light that shine brightly. "Wooooow this is amazing," Julie said in a stunned tone as everyone looked up in awe. Everyone but Haiku who got her umbrella out again to block the light. "The light is perfect for makeup."
"This is the place!" Drago yelled out as he and all the other Bakugan glowed with their respective elemental color and they floated up to the center of the room.
All expect Leonidas who gained a firery black aura around him that spread across to Lincoln and Reaper, Reaper also not glowing like the rest of the Bakugan. "W-What the…" Lincoln let out as the black aura covered him.
"Hey what's going on?" Dan asked, him and the other brawlers failing to notice Lincoln's predicament. As all their Bakugan flew up to the ceiling, the brawlers were briefly blinding by an extremely bright light. And when they gained their sight back…they were no longer in the caves. They were all now floating above an area that had six distinct colored areas that looked distorded and were mixing into each other with a single spherical light in the middle of everything. "Woah! Whats going on?!" Lori yelled, not knowing what to make of this situation. Granted she wasn't alone as all the brawlers were floating around with her, all except for Alice and Lincoln.
Shun's eyes widened as he looked at the area below. The ventus ninja was easily able to deduce what they were seeing. "Is that…"
"Yes!" Drago said, explaining to everyone where they now were. "Our dimension."
"Vestroia…" Haiku said as she looked down with widened eyes. She could hardly believe it, they were seeing the bakugan's home world with their own eyes. Before anyone could saw anything else, they all glowed and disappeared again, all of them getting to see Vesroia closer up.
HAOS
Runo and Tigerra suddenly found themselves floating in an area with a bunch of floating crystals shining brightly. "Now what?" Runo asked as she looked around, also seeing that the world had streams of dark energy running through it, turning some of the crystals black.
"This is the world of Haos, where I was born," Tigerra explained to her human partner. "But it's…changed…"
AQOUS
"What happened here?" Marucho asked as he and Preyas found themselves floating in a world with large ice formations and floating pools and streams of water. But there were also streams of lava going around the world.
"Welcome to aqua town!" Preyas introduced Marucho to his home world. "But who rearranged the furniture?"
SUBTERRA
"Gorem? What's going on here?" Julie asked as she and her partner floating through a world fill with rocks and earth. But there were also various pools of lava as well as a giant black void in the sky emanating with white lightning.
"Our world!" Gorem cried out in distress. "It's morphing into…evil!"
VENTUS
"Ok…this is literally getting too freaky for me…" Lori commented as she and Shun found themselves floating in an area with violent wind storms and tornados being seen all over the place, heavy and large pieces of rock being swept up in all the tornado's.
"Don't worry Lori, I'm here with you." Chrysopeon reassured the oldest Loud sibling. "You will not be hurt here."
"Woah!" Shun yelled out as he a falconer flew towards him, but to his surprise the Bakugan flew right through him like he was a ghost.
"Chrysopeon is right Shun," Skyress reassured the boy. "We are merely observers here,"
PYRUS
"Ok Drago, wanna tell me what's going on here?" Dan asked as he and Drago found themselves floating through a world where flames where everywhere, along with green tornado's that kept scattering embers everywhere.
"Our worlds are colliding with each other," Drago explained why the world was so distorted and breaking into chaos. "They're shifting and collapsing upon one another."
"For real?" Dan asked, realizing things were worse than he thought. "It's all because of that creep Naga isn't it?!"
"I'm afraid so," Drago said in a grim tone.
DARKUS
"Vestroia is in a worse state then I thought," Haiku said as she floated through the realm of darkness. The world was all a giant dark void, but there were whirl pools of water and wind all over as well bright crystals floating around the space.
"Yes, if something is not done quick…then I fear the worse…" Kabukito said with a lowered head.
Haiku comforted her bakugan by holding her close, but there was something that Haiku couldn't help but notice. "Wait…shouldn't Lincoln be here as well?" Assuming the other brawlers also visited the home worlds of their bakugan partners respective elements, then Lincoln should be here in the Darkus world with her…right?
LINCOLN
But Lincoln wasn't in any of the attribute worlds. He wasn't even in Vestroia. But he was in a place that was connected with Vestroia…a place all Bakugan fear above all else. "W-What is this place…" Lincoln asked he looked around. The sky looked like an endless black abyss and the land around them looked like a lifeless field of gray rocks. And when Lincoln turned around, "AH!" Lincoln scream and fell to his butt as he saw a truly chilling a sight. A centipoid completely petrified in stone. "W-Where am I? Where's everyone else? Lori! Dan! Haiku! Julie! S-Shun!"
"I believe I know where we are…" Reaper said in a calm tone as he scanned around the area for a quick second. There was no denying it. "This is…The Doom Dimension."
Lincoln's blood ran cold. This…This was the doom dimension? Looking around more, Lincoln saw even more Bakugan reduced to stone statues. Falconers, Juggernoids, Tuskors, Siege's, Bakugans of all types. "But…But how did we get here?" Lincoln questioned, wanting to find a way out of this place asap. "Why are we here?"
"Hmmmm, before that flash of light I felt the positive energy of the infinity core…" Reaper began rationalizing the situation to Lincoln, "We are merely observers here, I can tell otherwise we would feel the negative affects of the doom dimension coursing through us all. So we're safe, and we shouldn't be here for long,"
Lincoln breathed out a sigh of relief at hearing this. "Well that's good to hear, but why are we observing the Doom Dimension?"
"…Assuming the others are experiencing what we are, I'm willing to bet that they are observing Vestroia in its collapsing state. If the affect the infinity core's energy had on them is anything to go by," Lincoln nodded and gestured for Reaper to go on. If they were observing a different dimension then it would make since that the others would too. "But if were in the Doom Dimension that means…"
"Means what?" Lincoln asked with a concerned tone.
"…So I was right." Reaper spoke as he turned to Leonidas. The whole time they were there, Leonidas was silent as he stared into the abyss that was the doom dimension's sky. "I knew that was something off about you from the start and this was it,"
"…" Leonidas was silent as he looked down, not being able to deny anything Reaper was saying.
"Leonidas?" Lincoln rose a brow at how his partner was acting. It…It almost reminded Lincoln of the time Leonidas got depressed after losing to Hydranoid. "What's he talking about?"
"If you don't tell him Leonidas, I will." Reaper stated firmly.
"…Kid…first off all…I'm sorry for not telling you sooner…I wasn't sure how you would react." Leonidas apologized to Lincoln in a solemn tone, a tone Lincoln's never heard from Leonidas before. Whatever this was…it was serious. "This is…where I'm from…"
Lincoln froze. That…He had to have heard that wrong. "What…do you mean?"
"…I was born here," Leonidas revealed, no hint of dishonesty in his voice one bit. "Right here in the doom dimension…"
Lincoln couldn't believe it. Leonidas…was really created here? In the bakugan equivalent of hell? How could this be? "I…I don't get it?" Lincoln stuttered as he shook his head, trying to grasp everything. "H-How could you have been created here? H-How did you get out?"
"I was born of the hate and despair of all the bakugan here in the Doom Dimension…" Leonidas began explaining how he came into existence. "All the bakugan here have met their demise, but they still held all their negative feelings and energy inside of them."
"Wait a minute…back at the lab you said you weren't affected by the minus energy," Lincoln started to piece things together in his head. "Is that why? Because you're essentially made of negative energy?"
"Yes, that's correct. I'm immune to its affects due to how I was created." Leonidas confirmed before going on. "When Naga took the Silent core, if caused a massive shift in the balance that's affected both of our worlds, and this one too. It must have awaked all the negative energy lying dormant in them and they all piled it together…and made me…"
"…So how'd you get out?" Lincoln asked once again, wanting to hear the whole story first before saying anything else. "I thought Bakugan couldn't get out of the doom dimension once they were inside."
"…I honestly don't know," Leonidas stated that this was even a mystery to him. "All I know was that I was created here and then…I was on earth and I met you."
"I see…" Lincoln muttered as he looked down.
"When I first came to earth, all I wanted was to take all the hate and anger I was made up of out on other bakugan," Leonidas further explained, deciding not to leave anything out. He was giving Lincoln the full truth about him. "It was all I could feel. Anger, hate, and despair…until I met you."
Lincoln was taken off guard as Leonidas said that. "Me?" Lincoln questioned with a raised brow. "What do you mean?"
"When I met you, you were…nice and kind…to an extremely annoying degree," Lincoln deadpanned at Leonidas first as the darkus bakugan went on. "But you showed me there was another way of living. A way that made me feel…happy. The others too, even Preyas as much as it kills me to say it, you all showed me I could make my own destiny and the negativity in me truly didn't defy who I was."
"…I'm glad," Lincoln smiled at his partner, surprising Leonidas quite a bit. "But how come you didn't tell me sooner?"
"I was afraid you would hate me if you learned the truth," Leonidas explained, making Lincoln frown a bit. He could never hate Leonidas, but he could understand his partners worries. "That you wouldn't wanna be partners anymore…"
"That's crazy! I don't care if you're from the doom dimension!" Lincoln claimed loud, a giant grin on the Loud boy's face. "You're my partner, my friend! You haven't given me a reason to distrust you so far and I'm not gonna start now. You've always been there for me through the good times and bad, the easiest brawls to the hardest, you even saved Reaper's life and he was one of our sworn enemies!"
"Hpmh…" Reaper huffed and looked away but didn't say anything to object.
"The point is, it doesn't matter where you came from or how you were made, what matters is the person you choose to be," Lincoln stated as he held his hand out. "I know who you are, one of the greatest friend I've ever had! And together with the rest of our friends, we'll make Naga, Hal-G, and Masquerade regret the day they ever crossed us!"
"Kid….heh, thanks," Leonidas said in a grateful tone as he floated down into Lincoln's hands. "Look, we'll tell the others about this too…except the mushy stuff. You tell them I said that and I'll deny the whole thing,"
"Whatever you say." Lincoln smirked at Leonidas as the world around them started to disappear. "Hey…what's going on?"
Before they knew it, the three were blinded by a bright light yet again.
Everyone groaned a bit as they found themselves back in the cave of bakugan valley. The intense glowing that was there earlier was gone and the energy of the infinity core had faded. "Could someone…explain what happened?" Alice asked as she was the only one from the group not to be wrapped away.
"Vestroia's collapsing…" Dan muttered while glaring at the ground.
"Things aren't looking to well there…" Lori added as she held Chrysopeon close to her for comfort.
As everyone discussed the matter, Haiku turned to Lincoln as the Loud boy dusted himself off, "Hey Lincoln," Haiku spoke up, getting his attention. "I was wondering, how come you didn't-"
RUMBLE!
Haiku cut herself off as everyone felt the room start to shake. Look up, they saw rocks falling from above as everything start caving him. "Ask me later! We gotta go!" Lincoln yelled as he grabbed Haiku's hand and raced out of the room. Similarly, Dan grabbed Alice's arm and dragged her out with the rest of the brawlers running close behind.
The group didn't stop for a second as the cave behind them collapsed, the brawlers having to move out of the way of a few falling rocks. But thankfully they were all able to make it to the exit without any injuries. But from the looks of things, they wouldn't be getting back in anytime soon. "Woah!" Marucho let out as he and everyone watched a bunch of boulders piled together and completely blocked the entrance. "That was a close one!"
"You said it Marucho," Dan agreed as the rest of the brawlers took deep breaths and tried to get their heart rates down.
"There's gotta be some connection between this valley and vestroia," Shun said as it obviously wasn't a coincidence that they viewed vestroia after exploring the depths of those caves. "And we've gotta find out what that is. Could be a portal to the bakugan world."
"Kabukito, did you sense any of the energy of the infinity core while we were in there?" Haiku asked her partner, knowing if there was even a bit of energy there her bakugan would have been the one to feel it.
"A little bit, but hardly any," Kabukito answers solemnly. "We likely caught the last bit of it before it faded away."
"Hm, so that means it was there at least, so we're on the right track," Lincoln stated with everyone else nodding in unison. "But where could it have gone? It's unlikely that Masquerade has it yet but that still leaves ton of places it could be…"
"Well whatever it is, we must find it fast," Drago said with complete urgency. "Vestroia is collapsing at an alarming rate, soon there will be no vestroia to save." As everyone looked down to take in the seriousness of the situation…
"HEY! What do you think you're all doing down there?!"
Suddenly a brand-new voice got everyones attention as they looked up and two people wearing black cloaks looking down at them from an upper part of the canyon.
"Huh?" Dan let out as the two cloaked figures jumped down to face the brawlers. "Who are you guys?"
"Organization 13 cosplayers?" Lincoln asked with a little smirk, getting a few snickers from the group.
The two cloaked figured didn't say anything and instead lowered their hoods and revealed their identities. Billy and Komba. As soon as she saw her childhood friend, Julie smiled and took a few steps forward. "Billy!" Julie cheered as Billy and Komba lightly glared at the brawlers. "What are you doing here?"
"I wasn't aware there were other people living in this remote environment." Marucho spoke up, surprised at seeing others around this area besides them.
"Oh yeah, the blonds one name is Billy." Julie explained to her friends, not noticing the looks on Billy and Komba's faces. "He's my childhood friend, as for the other one I can't say I know him but he looks kind of familiar."
"I believe that one is Komba O'Charlie," Marucho explained to his fellow brawlers who the kid with Billy was. "He's the 5th highest ranked Bakugan player in the world."
"Wonder what he's doing hanging around Julie's friends?" Lincoln questioned with a raised brow. There was something about this situation that he didn't like.
"Hey brawlers!" Billy yelled, getting all of their attention. "What are you doing way out here snooping around?"
All of the brawlers were caught off guard by this. What did Billy mean by that and why did we seem so…aggressive. "Say, you losers up for a game?" Komba asked with a grin as the two boys stripped their cloaks off completely…revealing the shooters of Masquerades pawns and the doom cards they had. "Well aren't you chumps?"
"The doom card!" Runo pointed out as all of the brawlers started glaring at the two.
"Billy! How could you join that creep?!" Julie asked, enraged at the fact that Billy would do something like that. She thought he was better than that.
"Because your friends here are wimps!" Billy claimed as he got ready to brawl.
"And we're gonna give them a lesson in Bakugan!" Komba added with a cocky grin. "So which one wants to lose first?"
"Why you little-" Before Dan could say something kids Komba's age shouldn't hear, Shun cut him off.
"This ones-" But similar to Dan, Shun was also cut off by Lincoln.
"All mine," Lincoln stepped up and equipped his launcher. "Leave the brat to me, I should be able to smoke him no problem." Lincoln then turned to Reaper and Leonidas and his shoulder and grin. "How about it, up for some goon thrashing?"
"Anytime, anywhere." Leonidas agreed with a chuckle.
"They won't know what him em," Reaper growled. Shun was taken off guard by Lincoln stepping up when he was about to, but he backed off and let Lincoln have this fight.
As Julie was trying to comprehend how Billy could turn over to the dark side, Lincoln placed a hand on her shoulder and looked down at her. "You with me Julie?" Lincoln asked with a calm tone, knowing how hard Julie must have been taking this. He remember what it was like for him when Lynn briefly joined Masquerade and when he thought Shun did.
Julie lightly gasped at first, but soon nodded with a fierce look on her face as she got up and glared at Billy. "You got it!" Julie said with determination as she took Lincoln's hand to help her up. "White-haired buddies stick together! Ya hear that, Billy! You're about to face your worst nightmare!"
"Oh team Albino, I'm so scared," Billy sarcastically said with a grin as both Lincoln and Julie glared daggers at him as they all took out their field cards.
"Bakugan Field Open!" They all said in unison as Komba's card glowed green, Billy and Julies brown, and Lincoln's purple as they were all taken to the battlefield.
"Doom Card set!" Right as the field open, Billy and Komba through down their doom cards and were ready to take all of their opponents bakugan into the doom dimension.
"Gate Card set!" The four battlers then through down all their gate cards with Lincoln's going in front of Billy, Julie's in front of Komba, Billy's in front of Lincoln's, and Komba's in front of Julie.
Billy then smirked as he grabbed one of his bakugan and got into a pitcher's position. "You ready to play?" He asked in a cocky town as he threw his bakugan towards his own gate card. "Bakugan Brawl! Subterra Hynoid stand!" Everyone watched as the hyena-like bakugan entered the battle with the baku-pod showing it had a power level of 310 G's. "So, think you're ready to take me on?"
"Yeah chumps," Komba snarked with his arms crossed behind his head. "Let's see if you got what it takes to battle the best."
"Grrrrr, I'll show you the best!" Julie yelled as she got ready to throw one of her bakugan in. But Lincoln stopped at by blocking her with an arm. "Huh, Lincoln?"
"Hang on a sec Julie, I think I gotta plan. I can already tell what Komba's deal is, he's just like my sister Lynn," Lincoln stated with a confident smile. "And you know Billy better than anyone, if we play smart we can handle these guys easily."
Julie thought about it before second before giving a confident smile and pumped-up fist. "Yeah! You're totally right Lincoln! So do you have a plan?" Lincoln nodded as he leaned close to Julie's ear. The girl was silent as Lincoln his plan to her with Julie soon gasping with an excited expression. "Oh my gosh! That's so totally genius!"
"Then let's get started!" Lincoln said as he loaded up his launcher and aimed it at his own gate card. "Bakugan Brawl! Darkus Monarus stand!" Billy and Komba watched as Lincoln Monarus came into battle with a power level of 330 G's. "I think we're ready for the big leagues alright."
"Ooooooo, a butterfly! I'm so scared!" Komba yelled out before laughing. "Man this is just too easy! Let me show you how it's done! Bakugan Brawl!" Komba then jumped up into the air as he shot a bakugan towards the card Monarus was on. "Ventus El Conder stand!" Lincoln smirked as the Aztec-like bakugan faced his Monarus with a power level of 340 G's.
"Alright Billy, get ready because here I come!" Julie yelled as she reared her arm back and aimed at Billy's card. "Bakugan Brawl! Tuskor stand!" Facing Billy's Hynoid was now a bakugan that largely resembled an elephant with red eyes.
"Adjusting power levels." The baku-pod said as Billy's gate card opened automatically due to it being a subterra attribute card and both bakugan on it having that attribute and boosting both of them by 100 G's, leaving Hynoid with a power level of 410 and Tuskor with 450 G's.
"Ha, that the best you got Julie?" Billy mocked, knowing he's got this in the bag and Julie's bakugan was in for a one-way trip to the doom dimension. "Ability Card Activate: Desert Thunder!" Suddenly the wind picked up on the gate card the subterra bakugan were on a cyclone of sand surrounded Hynoid as the bakugan started to run circles around Tuskor, leaving the elephant bakugan unable to keep up with its adversary.
"Hpmh, they fell for it," Julie said with a smirk as Lincoln held his hand out.
"Gate Card Open: Aquos Hazard!" Lincoln's gate card glowed brightly as Monarus and El Conder both gained a mostly blue color scheme as their attribute changed to aquos. "Hazard let's me change the attribute of all bakugan of the cards to my choosing, and right now I'm in an aquos mood."
"Seriously? That's the best you got? Totally lame man, I can beat that move in my sleep!" Komba boasted as he took out an ability card. "Ability Activate: Solar Blixis!"
…Nothing happened.
Komba and Billy's eyes widened as they saw Komba's ability card fail to have any sort of affect. "H-Hey!" Komba yelled as he shook his ability card to try and get it to work. "What's going on?!"
"Sorry but last I checked Solar Blixis is a ventus ability," Lincoln grinned, looks like his plan was working perfectly. "And aquos bakugan can't use ventus abilities!"
Komba growled at Lincoln first before smirking, "Whatever, not that it makes a difference." Komba confidently stated, knowing that El Conder still has 10 G's over Monarus. "You can't play your darkus abilities either and my El Conder still has more juice then your wittle butterfly."
"Wow, you really are just like Lynn, because that's not what I see." Lincoln smirked as he turned to Julie. "What do you think Julie?"
"I think that Monarus has way more power than that tiki freak," Julie grinned as she took out her own ability card. "Ability Activate: Combining water and earth!"
"What?!" Billy yelled in shock as he checked his baku-pod.
"Monarus and Tuskor power increase by 1-0-0 G's." The baku-pod said as it showed Monarus going up to 430 G's and Tuskor going up to 550 G's.
"Sick em!" Lincoln and Julie yelled in unison as Monarus kicked El Conder in the face with both its feet and Tuskor managed to grab Hynoid with its trunk before slamming it back down. Both Komba's and Billy's bakugan went back into ball form and landed at their feet at the exact same time.
Similarly, Monarus and Tuskor also went back to ball form and returned to Lincoln and Julie's hands respectively. "Say Linc we make a really good team!" Julie said as she turned to Lincoln with a smile, incredibly impressed that Lincoln's plan worked like a charm.
"Heck yeah we do!" Lincoln grinned as the two shared a high five. "Team white head for life!"
"Totally!" Julie nodded before turning to their opponents. "Hey Billy, not bad for a couple of Albino's huh?"
"Grrrr, shut it!" Billy yelled as he picked up his Hynoid. "This ain't over yet ya know!"
"Way to fall for their trap double digits," Komba said as he glared at Billy. "You got us both wiped out."
"Me?! You were the one that landed on the hazard gate card!" Billy yelled back at the little brat before grabbing a gate card. "I'll show you not to call me double digits! Gate Card set! Billy then threw his card down where Lincoln's used to be. "Bakugan Brawl! Wormquake stand!" With a roar, the giant worm-like bakugan dug itself into the ground. Billy then made a 'come on' gesture at Julie. "Come on Julie, your turn!"
As Julie growled, Lincoln put a hand to her shoulder to calm the girl down, "Don't let him get to you, it's what he wants." Lincoln told her as Julie took a deep breath to calm down. "It's obvious those two aren't used to working together, that'll be their downfall and what we should aim at."
"Ok, so what did you have in mind?" Julie asked, willing to go along with any plan Lincoln might have.
"Follow my lead. Gate Card set!" Lincoln then threw down a new gate card to the right of Julies. Lincoln then put Reaper in his hand and looked down at the darkus bakugan. "I need you for this one Reaper, ready to get into the brawl?"
"They won't know what hit em," Reaper growled as he closed up, ready to get into the swing of this.
"Alright then, here we go," Lincoln said as he loaded up Reaper into his launcher and aimed him at his new gate card. "Bakugan Brawl! Reaper stand!" Reaper then entered the brawl, twirling his scythe around as he made his entrance.
"Well, well, well, look at what we got here," Komba smirked as he looked up at Reaper, "The little traitor has come out to play."
Reaper immediately looked down at Komba, his eyes burning with rage. "I DID NOT BETRAY HIM! HE BETRAYED ME!" Reaper yelled, his voice booming throughout the battlefield, "And I will make him and his little lackey's pay with their blood!"
"Ok yikes," Lincoln let out as he rubbed his ears. "After this, reminds me to enroll him in therapy."
"Totally," Julie and Leonidas said in unison.
"Whatever you say, you escaped the doom dimension once but it won't happen again," Komba smirked as he jumped out and threw down his bakugan. "Bakugan brawl! Ventus Bee-Striker stand!" Landing Komba's down gate guard, everyone watched a ventus bakugan that resembled more of a hornet then a bee came onto the field with a power level of 350 G's. "Now who wants a piece of this?"
"I'll take some! Bakugan brawl!" Julie yelled as she threw a Bakugan towards Komba's gate card. "Rattleoid stand!" With a power level of 300's G's, Julie's rattlesnake-like bakugan hissed fiercely at Bee-Striker.
"Wow, you really are as dumb as you look," Komba stated, making Julie go red with anger. "Gate Card Open: Energy Merge!"
"Rattleoid power decrease to 2-0-0 G's," The baku-pod said as Bee-Striker proceeded to siphon power from Rattleoid. "Bee-Stricker power increase to 4-5-0 G's."
"So what're you gonna do about that huh?" Komba asked with a cocky smirk, there was no way any ability Julie could use would help her from this. "Say goodbye to your bakugan!"
"Hey Lincoln, mind lending a hand?" Julie asked her partner with a smirk.
"Not at all," Lincoln smirked as he pulled out an ability card. "Ability Activate: Darkus Gravity!"
"Here I come!" Leonidas yelled as he glowed and charged forward on his own towards Komba's gate card. With a powerful glow, Leonidas growled as he looked down at the wasp-like Bakugan that was tiny compared to Leonidas. Cracking his neck, Leonidas chuckled, "This is gonna be too good,"
"Hey wait a second you can't just do that!" Komba claimed as he glared at his opponents.
"With the Darkus Gravity card he can," Billy told Komba with a glare, "Guess you didn't think to look into that did ya?"
Komba growled at Billy and was about to yell at him until his baku-pod beeped. "Leonidas and Rattleoid combined power at 6-0-0 G's," The combined G power of the bakugan was too much for Bee-Stricker to take as Rattleoid lunged from below and bit the ventus bakugan's abdomen as Leonidas brought his fist together.
"Like squashing a bug!" Leonidas roared as he slammed his fists down at Bee-Stricker, making the bakugan revert to ball form and land at Komba's feet defeated. Leonidas and Rattleoid then turned back into balls and were caught by their respective brawlers.
"No! No! No!" Komba yelled out in frustration. "Not again!"
"Hmph, so much for being 5th place." Billy told Komba with a mocking tone and smirk. "And you mocked me for my rank,"
"I wouldn't be so quick to insult Billy," Lincoln yelled as he raised his hand in the air. "Gate Card Open: Warp Gate!"
The card Reaper was on glowed brightly, causing Billy to raise a brow. Why was he opening his gate card when only Reaper was on it? But then Billy's gate card started glowing as it suddenly disappeared with Wormquake appearing on Lincoln's card. "WHAT?!" Billy yelled out in shock. How did Lincoln do that?!
"Warp Gate's a special kind of gate card," Lincoln explained as he crossed his arms, Julie putting her hands on her hips as well. "It allows me to warp any bakugan on the field to it, oh and the gate card Warmquake is on is now gone so I'm afraid any tricks you were planning on using with it are useless. Reaper?"
"Hmph, this is too easy," Reaper mocked the opposing team as he raised up his scythe and slashed down at Wormquake, easily defeating the bakugan and sending it back to ball form at Billy's feet. "Remember this the next time you want to cross me," With that, Reaper turned back into ball form and landed in Lincoln's hands.
"Grrrrrr…" Billy growled as he gritted his teeth. This kid was making him look like a fool! He was supposed to the master of earth, the best subterra player in the world and this white-haired kid who wasn't even in the 50's was playing him like a fiddle. "How do they keep doing this?!"
"Uh, how about because you're hardly trying!" Komba yelled right into Billy's face, getting sick and tired of losing because of his partner. If he was by himself he'd already have all of Lincoln and Julie's bakugan sent to the doom dimension. "Seriously man get your head in the game!"
"How about you stop acting like a little know it all!" Billy yelled back as he got right into Komba's face. So far this kid has been nothing but a pain in the butt and Billy wished he was partnered with literally anyone but him now. "You're the one being all overconfident and cocky! How about you actually stop and think for once!?"
As the two kept yelling at each other, Lincoln and Julie just watched with amused expressions. "Heh, kids," Lincoln said while shaking his head.
"I know right," Julie laughed as she took out a gate card and got her opponents attention. "Hey ladies, how about you save the cat fight for later we got places we gotta be you know! Gate Card Set!" Julie then threw down her gate card in front of Lincoln before taking her rattleoid into her hand again. "Bakugan brawl!" With a hiss, Rattleoid rejoined the battle.
"That's it Julie! No more Mr. Nice Guy!" Billy yelled as he loaded his last Bakugan and number one partner into his shooter. "Bakugan Brawl! Cycloid stand!"
"Yeeeeeeeah!" Clycoid yelled as he finally joined the battle, ready to started taking down and sending other bakugan to the doom dimension. "Oh Cycloid see yummy bakugan for lunch!"
"Hmph, someones a loud mouth," Lincoln commented as he narrowed his eyes at Cycloid.
"You don't know the half of it," Julie muttered as she glared at the one-eyed bakugan. "Sorry Billy but I'm not afraid of one eyed overgrown freak of nature! Gate Card Open: Character!" After opening the gate card, Rattleoid's G power doubled to 600.
"Ability Activate!" But Billy was more then prepared for a move like that. "Left Giaganti!"
Cycloid let out a power cry as his left hand grew in size, allowing him to smash the gate card under him to pieces. "AAAAAAAAHHHH!" Julie yelled at seeing her gate card being nullified, "I forgot all about that move!"
"Left Giaganti negates character," The baku-pod stated as Rattleoids power level went back to normal.
"That's why I'm the subterra master! Now you're going down!" Billy yelled with a smirked as he looked up at his partner. "It's hammer time Cycloid!" Cycloid smirked and let out a yell as he slammed his hammer down at Rattleoid, a portal opening soon after and sending rattleoid to the doom dimension.
"Rattleoid!" Julie cried out in despair at seeing her bakugan be lost forever.
"No…" Lincoln let out before growling and turning to Billy. "Subterra master?! More like the master of jerks! Hope you're prepared to lose! And hard!" Lincoln then took out his last gate card and threw it down onto the field in front of Komba. "Gate Card Set!"
"Oooo, looks like we touched a nerve," Komba smirked as he loaded up his launcher with his own partner bakugan. "Sorry to say this but your winning streaks come to an end! Bakugan Brawl!" Komba then sent out his last bakugan towards Lincoln's gate card. "Harpus stand!"
"Ahahahah!" Harpus let out a wicked laugh as she came into the battle for all to see with a power level of 370 G's. "Is it time to play already? Hate to break it to ya, but this battle is pretty much over now!"
"Well, like Bakugan like brawler," Lincoln commented as he loaded up Reaper into his launcher and aimed at his own gate card. "Let's teach her a lesson Reaper, bakugan brawl! Reaper stand!"
"Get ready to meet your demise," Reaper growled out as he entered the battlefield again.
"Pffft, please what are you gonna do grandpa?" Harpus mocked as she flew around Reaper in circles to mock him. "Think those old bones can keep up with me?"
"I will pluck your wings insect!" Reaper threatened as he gripped his scythe tightly.
"Ability Activate: Feather Storm!" Komba was quick to power up Harpus with her signature ability, raising his partners level to 470 G's.
"This is gonna blow you away!" Harpus yelled as she fired a sphere of wind energy at Reaper.
"Gate Card Open: Quartet Battle!" Before Harpus' attack could land, Lincoln opened the gate card and created a barrier of light in between her and the darkus bakugan. "Sorry, but this battles on pause until four Bakugan are on the gate card." Lincoln then looked at Julie who was still upset over the loss of her Rattleoid. "Julie? You ready?"
Julie took a deep breath before putting on a brave look and nodded. "Yeah, I am," Julie said before bring Gorem up to her face. "Gorem?"
"I'm always here for you Julie," Gorem told her partner before closing up, ready to be sent into battle.
"Then let's do this!" Julie said as she gripped onto Gorem tightly before getting into his signature throwing position, kicking her foot up high. "Bakugan brawl!"
"Bakugan brawl!" Billy proceeded to shoot out Cycloid at the same time Julie threw out Gorem, both Subterra Bakugan landing on the Quartet Battle card and facing each other. Gorem was incredibly large, even by Bakugan standerds and resembled a large golem with a shield on his left arm and moss on his shoulders and forehead.
"Combing Power levels. Harpus and Cycloid add up to 8-4-0 G's." The baku-pod added up each side combined power levels. "Reaper and Gorem power add up to 7-5-0 G's."
"Heh, looks like we still have the power advantage, and just to make sure of that," Billy said as he brought out an ability card. "Ability Activate: Right Giganti!"
"Oh yeah!" Cycloid cheered as his right hand the hammer it held grew bigger, bring his power up by 100 G's. "Cycloid ready to smash it up!" Cycloid let out a battle cry as he charged at Gorem with his hammer raised up. "I ain't losing to you again big guy!"
But right as Gorem was about to bring up his shield up to block the hammer strikes…a hand caught the subterra bakugans hammer. "Sorry, but that songs outdated!" Leonidas yelled as he held back Cycloid.
"What?!" Billy yelled as he looked over to Lincoln and saw him holding an ability card.
"Sorry, couldn't resist using Darkus Gravity again," Lincoln smirked, glad he got Leonidas into the brawl just in time. "Leonidas just can't resist getting involved in brawls.
"Brawlers combined power level at 1-1-5-0 G's," The baku-pod added Leonidas' G's to their sides total.
"AAAAAAAAHHH!" Komba yelled, there was no way they could beat that power level. "YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!"
"Thanks Leonidas, I owe you one," Gorem said to the darkus bakugan in a grateful down.
"Heh, I'll put it on your tab." Leonidas chuckled as he ripped Cycloids hammer right from his hand and held it in a threatening manner. "Hehe, now this looks like it could hurt someone."
"Hehehe, o-ok let's not get too hasty now…" Cycloid said in an intimidated tone, not liking where this is going. "Now I know what you're thinking, 'should I hit him with is own hammer, and the answer may surprise you-"
SMACK!
Leonidas then brought the hammer down at Cycloid's head. "The answer is yes." Leonidas said in an extremely blunt tone. "And no, it's not surprising."
"Uh-oh…" Harpus gulped as her cocky attitude started to disappear. "I think I'm in trouble."
SMASH!
Gorem then brought his fist down on Harpus, instantly knocking her out. Harpus and Cycloid then returned to ball form and landed at Komba and Billy's feet respectively, the two top ten brawlers being defeated as the battlefield started to disappear. "Alright! We did it!" Julie cheered right as they were brought back into the real world. Julie then held her hand out to Billy, thinking he was back to his senses now. "That was fun, but thanks for coming around to your old self."
But to Julie's surprise, Billy just slapped Julie's hand away and glared at her. "Get off your high horse!" Billy yelled right into Julie's face, making her frown. "You just got lucky that's all."
"But…Billy…" Julie let out in a saddened tone as the other brawlers glared at her.
"You just wait, your bakugan are mine and-"
"SHUT UP!" To everyone's surprise and shock, Lincoln promptly shut Billy up by socking him right in the face with enough force to send Billy down onto his back and leaving him with a bruised cheek. "If you're gonna be like that then why don't you take your little bakugan back to the hole you crawled out of!"
This sudden burst of anger caught everyone, even Billy and Komba, off guard but most couldn't say they were against. "Wooooo!" Dan cheered with a grin, happy to see Billy get knocked off his feet like that. "Go Lincoln!"
"Join the dark side!" Runo yelled as she only wished she could have done that herself.
"One of us! One of us!" Both Leonidas and Reaper surprisingly yelled in unison.
"…Tch…whatever…" Billy grunted as he got up, holding his bruised and throbbing cheek before walking away without saying another word.
"See you chumps next time," Komba said before following Billy.
Once they were both gone, Lincoln took some heavy breaths before wincing and holding up the fist he used to punch Billy. "Geez punching really hurts…" He said before turning to Julie. "Hey Julie are you-"
Lincoln was then cut off by Julie enveloping Lincoln in a tight hug, burying his head into his shoulder with teary eyes. "Thank you…" Julie as she lightly cried after seeing what Billy has become.
Lincoln gave Julie a sad smile as he hugged her back and lightly patted her back, "We'll get him back, I promise." Lincoln reassured her as he let Julie cry into his shoulder. As much as Haiku wanted to be jealous at the sight, she couldn't be upset over Julie given the circumstances.
Meanwhile watching from the from the highest point in the area was none other then Marduk. The half-masked brawler narrowed his eyes as he gritted his teeth. "Knew those two were losers." He muttered before disappearing in a flash of light.
And so it begins!
The infinity core arc!
Time to go searching all over the world for hints of the whereabouts of the infinity core while running into some of the best battlers in the world! It's gonna be quite the ride!
And I really liked writing Julie and Lincoln together, the two totally have a really sweet friendship vibe and I'm excited to write more scenes with them.
So make sure you fav, follow, and leave a review and stay tuned for...
"No Guts No Glory"