Hey everyone! Here again with the last chapter of Bakugan for the cycle. For the cycle, not overall. Just making sure everyone's clear on that we still got a lot to go with this.
Anyway, I changed things up a bit from the original episode to make things more interesting and not all copy pasty so I hope you all like it!
It's been a few hours since the battle against Billy and Komba. The realization that one of Julie's childhood friends was on the side of Masquerade still fresh on their minds, as well as the fact that he didn't go back to normal after they beat him like all of Masquerades other goons. It was clear that Masquerade had a tighter grip on Billy as well as Komba for that matter. Combine all that with the fact that they still had no idea where to go looking for the Infinity Core left the situation rather dire.
Currently all the brawlers, sans Julie, were all back in Marucho's ship having dinner provided by Kato. However, Dan was the only one actually enjoying dinner and stuffing his face. Everyone else had rather somber looks on them as they either didn't touch their food, or just took a few small bits and some drinks of their juice. "Wow that's really good!" Dan said after quickly clearing his plate, the pyrus user not reading the mood of the room. "Kato, can I have seconds?"
After chugging down his juice, Dan took a look around and saw everyone not touching their plates. "Uh guys, you're not eating?" Dan pointed out, confused as to why everyone's not enjoying this absolutely delicious feast.
"We're literally not hungry…" Lori said in a saddened tone as she lightly poked her food with a fork.
"Someone's missing…" Runo stated in a similar tone to Lori. "Julie…" Dan finally realized why everyone was in such a down mood and looked down himself, feeling bad for Julie and what she went through today.
"Julie must feel terrible…" Tigrerra said in a sympathetic tone.
"Of course she does," Drago stated, understanding how Julie feels as he too has seen many of his fellow Bakugan turn to the dark side.
"I can't believe that Masquerade…" Dan growled out in an angry tone, feeling more hatred for the masked brawler than ever. "Turning one of Julie's childhood friends into on of his battling lackeys, he's asking for it!"
"I know how you feel Dan but we can't start acting irrationally, that's just what Masquerade wants. Just like when he tried to turn Lynn against us, he's trying to get into our heads." Lincoln stated as he fully understood what Julie was going to, he even spent the next half hour after the battle comforting Julie. Lincoln then put a hand to his chin and tried to piece together something. "But what I wanna know is why Billy and Komba didn't snap out of it once we beat them. It happened with all the other guys under his control so why not those two? Reaper, you know?"
"When Masquerade recruited people, he usually used the power of the doom card to allow negative energy into them, allowing him to control them," Reaper explained as all the brawlers looked at the darkus bakugan, hoping he might have a way to snap Billy out of Masquerades control. "When you all defeated the battlers under his influence, you essentially knocked the negative energy out of them and their bakugan. If Billy and Komba were still the same after we beat them, then that means there's a lot more negative energy in them that needs to be knocked out, so they were exposed to something with a lot more minus power then the doom card."
"So essentially we would need to beat them multiple times in order to expel the negative energy from their bodies?" Haiku asked, summarizing Reaper's explanation.
"Quite possibly," Reaper said as he looked to Haiku. "Assuming the negative energy hasn't taken a complete hold of them."
"So we need to beat them again before that can happen," Alice stated, everyone nodding in agreement.
"It shouldn't be too hard," Leonidas said as he rolled towards the middle of the table to get everyone's attention. "After all…it's clear they're following us."
The feeling in the room turned grim as Leonidas stated that, most of the brawlers giving Leonidas a shocked looked. Wondering why he said something like that. However, Shun nodded in complete agreement with Lincoln's partner. "So you noticed it too huh?" Shun asked as all heads then turned to him. "Bit of a coincidence they followed us all the way here huh?"
"Well…we know Masquerade is looking for the infinity core," Lori stated, trying to give a proper reasoning as to why Billy and Komba showed up exactly where they were. "So they probably heard about this place too, and it literally makes even more sense considering Billy's on there side now. He could have told Masquerade about this place." Shun was quiet but nodded at Lori's explanation. But still, something was off.
"Ok looks guys, I think we can all agree that today was really rough," Marucho spoke up, trying his best to put on a smile on his face. "How about we finish dinner and get some sleep, we need all our energy for tomorrow after all."
Everyone looked around at each with unsure looks on their faces. But ultimately, they agreed to it as they were quite exhausted from everything that's happened today as well as the current conversation. So after enjoying their dinner, the brawlers all went to their rooms to enjoy some shut-eye.
THE NEXT MORNING
"Alright gang, there's no time to waste we're burning daylight," Dan said as he opened up the door to the plane. Time was even more of the essence and they needed to investigate more of the canyon to see if there were any hints of the infinity core here. The caves they explored the other day had completely collapse but that still left a lot of the canyon to be traversed. "The more time we spend here gives Masquerade more chances to take the infinity core for himself."
"Alright, just slow your roll Dan," Runo grumbled in an irritated tone. She understood why Dan was being so hasty but considering a lot of them just woke up they would like the chance to actually wake up first. "Gosh don't you ever slow down?"
"Ok everyone, let's all just calm down," Marucho spoke up before an argument could break out. A temperamental Dan and a tired Runo made for a really nasty combination that Marucho didn't wanna see clash. "It'd be better if we searched with clear heads."
"Marucho's right guys, we shouldn't rush ourselves." Lincoln pointed out before rubbing his eyes and letting out a yawn. The Loud boy clearly still a bit tired himself. "We need clear and steady mines if we're gonna look for the infinity core."
"Actually Lincoln, I need to talk to you about something," Lincoln's eyes widened as Shun spoke up, the ventus ninja leaning on the wall next to the door. Lincoln lightly narrowed his eyes at Shun, wondering what he could possibly want to talk about right now when they have a mission. "This is regarding something important brought up last night, I need you to hear me out on this please."
"…" Lincoln was silent as he looked down, his mind conflicted on what to do. On one hand, he knew Shun wasn't the type of guy who would waste time on something especially when it came to the current situation. But on the other, Lincoln was still bitter with Shun and didn't really wanna give him anytime.
"Hey," suddenly a hand was place on Lincoln's shoulder as he looked to see Haiku giving him a nod. "I think you should hear him out."
"She's right kid," Leonidas agreed with the goth girl as him and Reaper floated over to her. "We'll go with the others to search the canyon, you and Shun do what you need to do hear."
Lincoln was once again silent before lowering his head and sighing, nodding his head. "Alright," Haiku gave him a small smile as Leonidas and Reaper landed on her shoulders. Soon enough, all the other brawlers left to search the canyon leaving Lincoln and Shun alone. "So…what is it Shun?"
"Remember last night, when Leonidas said that Masquerade might be following us?" Shun asked with Lincoln nodding, remembering how much tension it caused when his partner brought it up and when Shun agreed. "Lori made some good pointed about why Billy and Komba would be here, but it's strange they showed up exactly as we left the caves."
"Yeah that is kind of…strange…" Lincoln had to admit, something was really suspicious like that. He could buy Masquerades goons exploring around here for the same reasons they were, but to show up right after they finished exploring the cave Julie led them to was a bit to much of a coincidence. "But what are you getting out."
"…I think we have a mole," Shun revealed with a series look and tone.
Lincoln flinched after hearing this…was Shun implying someone on the team wasn't who they said they were? "Hold on, are you saying one of our friends is a spy?" Lincoln asked as he quickly glared at Shun for making such a series accusation. "Shun I swear you-"
"No not one of us," Shun stated, surprising Lincoln a bit and making him raise a brow. If Shun didn't mean one of the brawlers then who did he met. "But it's someone who pretty much knows where we are at all times."
"…Oh my God…is it Kato?" Lincoln asked as he briefly glanced at the door leading to the cockpit of the plane. "Why are butlers always evil?"
But Shun just shook his head, denying this. "No not Kato," Before Lincoln could ask who it was, Shun looked around to make sure no one else was listening before leaning close to Lincoln's ear and whispering something into it. Lincoln's eyes widened in response as Shun pulled away. "That's my theory."
"Woah…it…does actually make a lot of sense," Lincoln put his hand to his head as he tried to process all of it. Given all the evidence…if there was a spy they certainly fit the bill. "So…what do we do about it?"
"First off, we need to be absolutely sure they're following us," Shun explained as he started walking towards another room in the plane, Lincoln following close behind. "I have an idea on how we could prove this,"
About an hour later, Lincoln and Shun were in the navigation room in the ship that essentially acted like a giant GPS that could zero in on locations from all over the world. Shun was on it as he looked around the country for another canyon they could use for his little plan. After finding a suitable area, Shun got on his baku-pod and called up Dan. "Dan we need to talk know," Shun told the Pyrus user in a serious tone, Lincoln staying silent as he leaned against the wall and let Shun do his thing. "It's important."
"Did you and Lincoln find something?" Dan asked, urging to hear some good news after an hour of blinding searching the valley they were in and finding nothing but rocks and more rocks.
"Yes we did,"Shun confirmed as he looked up at the computer at the location he picked out to test his theory. "There's a large canyon about 100 kilometers west from where you are, it's very similar to the one that's in Bakugan valley."
"Really?" Dan asked in an intrigued tone. Any new lead was a good one and Dan thankfully didn't question anything and was immediately on board for investigating. "We'll meet you at the plane."
With that Dan hung up, now all that's left to do is wait and see. "So we'll finally see if you're right about this Shun," Skyress said from Shun's shoulder, the ventus bakugan hearing everyone Sun told Lincoln. "If we are being spied on, we need to prepared for a trap."
"Well if I can handle Luan's April Fools day I can handle an ambush from another of Masquerade's goons," Lincoln said confidently as he crossed his arms. "Bring it on,"
"You mean like the year you ended up with a bucket stuck on your foot?" Shun asked Lincoln with a smirk, the ventus ninja couldn't help but take a small jab as he remembered a few of Luan's prank-apocalypse. "Well I'm sure you make our opponent laugh themselves into submission if you did that again,"
Lincoln then narrowed his eyes at Shun before smirking and remembering something himself. "Or maybe we can get Luan to use that hair remover on you again," Lincoln brought up making Shun's eyes widen. "Tell me Shun, how much of that hair right now is extensions?"
"…" Lincoln and Shun were silent at first as they glared into each other's eyes, the tension seemingly thick…until the two started laughing. "Hahahaha!" Both boys couldn't help but laugh at their old memories of embarrassment together.
But all good things came to an end as, after a minute, the two stopped laughing as they looked at each other again and lowered their heads. Lincoln then left the room as Shun sighed, Skyress simply watching the whole scene silently. 'Well I suppose it's a start,' Skyress had hopes that the two would reconcile sooner or later.
Lincoln left the navigation room with his head lowered. That was probably the happiest moment he's had with Shun in a long time. But as soon as he came to enjoy himself being around his old friend, the bad memories popped up and ruined it. The wounds Shun left on him still feeling fresh. Lincoln really did want things to go back to normal between them but…he wasn't sure how.
"LINCOLN!"
"AH!" Lincoln suddenly whelped out as he was suddenly tackled into a tight hug. Looking, he saw it was none other then Julie clinging onto him tightly and giggling widely. "J-Julie? What are you doing here?"
"What? Did you guys think I was just gonna sit home and wallow while you and the others are there saving the world? No way!" Julie said with a giant smile as she separated from Lincoln a little, but still had one arm around him. Despite what Lincoln was just feeling mere seconds ago, Julie's enthusiasm proved to be extremely contagious as Lincoln found himself smiling and being happy at seeing the white-haired girl. "I'm part of the team so you better believe I'm coming along!"
"So…you're not upset about Billy anymore?" Lincoln asked, a bit unsure that Julie was 100% alright after everything that happened yesterday.
"No way!" Julie told Lincoln as she got in front of him and pumped her fist up. "Like I said I'm not just mope this whole time! I gotta get up and go! Go! Go!" Lincoln smiled and laughed a little, looks like Julie was indeed ready to go just like she said. The subterra brawler then looked Lincoln right in the eye and held her hand out for a high five. "Besides, with my white-haired buddy around I can handle anything!"
Lincoln blinked a few times in surprise before grinning wild and slapping his hand against Julie's. "Totally!" He smiled as Julie giggled and smiled brightly.
"So from now on I'm looking on the bright side of life!" Julie stated as she rose up her arm and pointed upwards. "Now is there any food here I'm like totally starving!"
"Yeah sure!" Lincoln nodded as he led her to the kitchen. "Come on I can make ya something."
After a while, the other brawlers returned so they could take off to the canyon Shun told them about. All the brawlers were glad to see Julie back to her old self and quickly got her set up in the girl's room along with Alice, Runo, Lori, and Haiku. Granted Haiku wasn't to fond of Julie being in the same room as her due to her constant enthusiasm and such but the goth would just have to deal with it.
Thankfully it didn't take long to get to their new location, after only a little over an hour of flying, Kato announced they would be landing at their location soon. "Woohoo! Land-Ho guys!" Preyas jumped up and down in excitement. "Almost there with plenty of daylight to spare!"
"I can't wait!" Dan cheered with an eager smile on his face, acting like an excited kid on a road trip. "This is so exciting!"
"Whatever we find I hope we don't run into any trouble," Alice said in a worried tone. If this place was like Bakugan Valley like Shun said, then it's likely that others would be searching this area as well. "I hope we don't run into any more of Masquerades allies."
"Same here," Runo spoke up as Dan looked over to her. "We don't wanna any surprises."
Dan's enthusiasm faded as he nodded in agreement with Runo, "Yeah you're right," The pyrus brawler admitted as he put a hand to his chin. "Man, I still don't get how his gang keeps showing up wherever we go. How do they do that?"
"Yeah, it's just like what Leonidas said last night," Shun spoke up in a serious tone, getting all eyes on him. "It's more then possible someone is spying on us,"
"Maybe it's just a coincidence," Julie said, not knowing about the conversation the rest of the brawlers had last night.
"No, I don't believe it is." Kabukito stated as she jumped off Haiku's shoulder and onto the table. "Both Billy and Komba showed up exactly after we explored the caves of the valley. And I believe they were following us even before that. Truth be told, after we visited Michaels lab I felt as though we were being watched the whole time."
Everyone gasped at this information as Haiku looked down at her partner. "Why didn't you tell us Kabukito?" It seemed weird that the bakugan wouldn't tell them about this information.
"I didn't wanna worry you all in case it turned out to be nothing," Kabukito explained to her queen in a serious tone. "But after all the evidence…I should have told you. Please forgive me my queen, I won't hide anything from you all again."
"It's alright Kabukito," Haiku reassured her partner as she picked the darkus bakugan up. "I understand your concerns, at least we know what's going on now."
"It's why me and Shun decided to bring you guys here," Lincoln revealed, making all the brawlers raise an eyebrow. Decided? Shun said he and Lincoln found the canyon they were going to because of how similar it was to Bakugan Valley and might hold the infinity core. Lincoln looked to Shun who nodded, silently saying it was ok to tell everyone what they planned. "So truth be told…me and Shun only told you guys about this area to see if a theory Shun has was true."
"Wait what?!" Dan yelled, quickly getting angry by this statement. So this canyon they were going to was just some random canyon then? "You guys lied to us?!"
"Calm down Dan," Drago quickly floated in front of Dan's face to try and calm him down, "Let's here them out, I'm sure they have a good reason for this."
"We do," Shun confirmed as everyone looked to him. "If I'm right about this and who the spy is, then there should be on of Masquerades goons waiting for us at that canyon."
"So who do you think the spy is Shun?" Lori asked with a raised brow before gasping dramatically. "Oh my gosh, you don't think it's literally one of us is it?"
"You sayin there's a traitor among us?!" Dan yelled only for Drago to stay in front of him.
"No not here, but there's one more person that knows of our where-abouts…" Shun explained as everyone was silent and waited for Shun to say who he thought the spy was. But Dan quickly gasped as he soon came to same conclusion Shun came to himself earlier today…
"Web-Master Joe."
All the other brawlers, except for Lincoln and Haiku, gasped as the Bakugan looked at their respective partners confused. "Lori, who is this Web-Master Joe?" Chrysopeon asked in a confused tone. She's never heard Lori or anyone mention someone like that before.
"Yes, I'm curious about that as well," Haiku stated as she looked at Lincoln. "Is he another friend of yours?"
"Well…I wouldn't say that…" Lincoln said as he scratched his chin.
"Joe manages our website," Lori explained to Haiku and all the bakugan who Joe was. Honestly Lori couldn't believe she or anyone else didn't realize this sooner, it was so obvious now that she thought about it. "He literally keeps track of everything we do,"
"We only know him by the handle he goes by," Runo explained as much as she could, really a lot about Joe was a mystery to them as well. "We hardly know anything about him. We've never seen him and we don't even know where he lives. But he knows everything about the Bakugan Battle Brawlers."
"Sounds kinda creepy if ya ask me," Preyas stated, it looks like his friends have an internet stalker.
"He does do a really good job managing the website," Marucho explained as he was impressed with Joe's skill in doing something like that. Considering the bakugan website has tons of chat rooms and the leader board, it takes a lot to keep a handle on everything going on in it. "But we've never heard anything from him online or in the chatroom at all."
"And as a webmaster he can monitor all online activity whenever he wants," Shun stated his reasoning for why he thinks Joe would be Masquerades spy. It all adds up from all information about him being a mystery as well as how easily it would be for him to keep tabs on the brawlers.
"Say Reaper," Lori spoke up as she looked at Masquerades ex-partner. "Has Masquerade ever mentioned someone named Joe before,"
"Hmmmmm…I can't recall…" Reaper revealed to everyone after thinking long and hard about it. Despite his time with Masquerade, he can't think of a single time Masquerade has ever interacted with or even talked about someone named Joe. "But Masquerade did use a computer to monitor all the bakugan he's given to the battlers he's controlled and keep tabs on them. And if this Joe also keeps tabs on all of you through the internet, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for their to be a connection between the two."
"And if it is true, we gotta be ready for when we land," Haiku told everyone in a serious tone. "Last time we ran into the tenth and fifth-best Bakugan players in the world, who knows who might show up this time,"
"And if someone does show up, it'll prove we are being spied on," Julie added with a firm nod.
"Attention everyone," The brawlers were forced to put their conversation on hold as Kato spoke to them through the intercom. "Please take your seats, we're going to land soon," Everyone looked at each and nodded, preparing themselves for whoever they may face.
Once they landed, it was now clear as day that this place wasn't at all like Bakugan valley. The rock formations and structures were completely different, and there weren't any caves to be found. It was just a lifeless field of nothingness. But…they weren't alone here.
"Hahahaha!" Suddenly the sound of a female laugh got all of their attention. Looking up, they saw a figure in a black cloak, similar to the ones Billy and Komba were wearing, looking down at them from one of the rock pillars. "So you brawlers finally showed up?"
"It looks like we were right," Lincoln said as he narrowed his eyes at the figure. They were being spied on, and all signs pointed to web-master Joe.
"Alright creep just come down and show yourself!" Dan yelled as he glared up at the figure. "We know you're one of Masquerades henchmen so don't bother hiding your face!"
"Hmph, eager aren't we?" The figure grinned as she flipped down and stripped off her cloak, revealing her identity. "My name is Chan Lee!" She landed in a perfect pose as she got into a pose that showed she was ready for a fight, "Let me show you…the power of the third-best bakugan player!"
Everyone gasped at this information. In front of them was the person considered to be the third-best player in the world, "That's pretty close to the top…" Marucho commented with a nervous bead of sweat going down his head. "She must be really good!"
"So Masquerade must be recruiting only the best players then," Shun commented as he remembered Billy and Komba were also in the top ten, same as him.
"Still not number one though," Lincoln commented before turning around, not intimidated by Chan Lee at all. "Come on guys let's go,"
Chan Lee's eyes widened as she watched the group take Lincoln's lead and walking away from Chan Lee, "Hey wait a minute!" Chan Lee tried to stop them from just leaving. What did they think they were doing?! They can't just ditch her after she challenged them! "You can't just leave, stay here and fight like a man!"
"Sorry, but we don't have time to waste with you," Julie stated as she glared at the Asian girl.
"We only came here to prove we were being spied on," Shun stated as he narrowed his eyes at Chan Lee. "And the fact that you're here proves it all, we got what we came for,"
"See ya, literally wouldn't wanna be ya," Lori waved and spoke to Chan Lee in a mocking tone as she and her friends started walking away.
Chan Lee growled as the group was just about to leave her. They only showed up to see if her and the others were following her and weren't even gonna give her the light of day for a battle! This wouldn't stand! But…what could she do? Yeah she was a good martial artist but if she did try to get physical she wasn't sure that she could handle all of them by herself, especially when it came to Shun who looks to be something who knew martial arts like herself. It seemed hopeless for her until…
"Leaving so soon?"
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
"Alice!" Dan yelled out in concern after hearing her scream. All of the brawlers quickly looked and saw a sight that made from freeze. They saw a face they hadn't seen since the day Lincoln, Dan, Runo, Lori, and Haiku all visited Marucho's house…Marduk. But seeing him wasn't what made them freeze like they were, it was the fact that Marduk was holding a dagger up to Alice's neck…
"D-Dan…" Alice let out in a shaky tone, her blood feeling like it has gone cold as she was held hostage.
"Come on, don't leave so soon," Marduk said to the brawlers with a smirk on his face with his other arm around Alice's waist to make sure she wouldn't be able to escape. "No one likes a party pooper."
"You!" Lincoln yelled out, remembering Marduk very well during his battle with him, Jenny, and Jewls. "Let Alice go right now!"
"Certainly," Marduk's smirk twisted into a sick grin as he laid down one condition for him releasing Alice. "As soon as one of you gives the karate kid over there a battle. I wanna make sure she's actually got some skills unlike those other two losers,"
"COWARD!" Leonidas roared in outrage, Marduk stooping this low to get a battle out of them. Does he have no sense in honor?!
"It's called strategy," Marduk explained as all the brawlers, especially Dan, glared daggers at him. It took all of Dan's will power not to charge at Marduk and thrash him for what he's doing. "Now I'll say it again, one of you battle here…or I'll be painting this canyon red." To empathize his point, he held the dagger closer to Alice's neck, making the girl gulp and struggle not to panic.
"STOP!" Dan yelled out in complete rage as he stepped up. "IF YOU WANT A BATTLE I'LL GIVE YOU ONE! JUST LET HER GO!"
"Hmph, I knew you'd see things my way." Chan Lee grinned as she and Dan took out their field cards. "Hope you're ready to lose,"
"As if," Dan growled through his teeth as both of their cards glowed red.
"Bakugan Field Open!" Both pyrus brawlers yelled out in unison as the bakugan field appeared around the both of them and them alone.
"You're gonna regret doing that ya know," Dan growled out towards Chan Lee, who only smirked in response as they both took out their gate cards. "You ain't getting no mercy from me sister!"
"Oh please, this'll be nothing but a walk in the park," Chan Lee said with nothing but confidence in her voice. She wasn't ranked third in the entire world for nothing, Dan was nothing but small fry compared to her. She'll send his precious Drago to the doom dimension with ease. "Why not put your money where your mouth is?"
Dan growled as he and Chan Lee threw out their gate cards at the exact same time. "Gate Card set!" The two yelled in unison as they threw their gate cards in front of each other.
'Alright Dan, you got this,' Dan thought to himself as he started forming plans in his head. He needed to take this fight seriously, not only was he facing the third best player in the world, but Alice was being held hostage. No way he could mess this up for his, Drago's, and her sake. 'I think I got a good strategy I can use here, should be able to clean her clock in no time flat!'
"Alright! Let's get this show on the road!" Dan yelled out confidentially as he loaded up a bakugan into his launcher. He knew everything he wanted to do, if Chan Lee was as cocky as Billy and Kombo were in their battle as Lincoln told him, then this should be a breeze. "Bakugan Brawl! Mantris stand!" Chan Lee smirked as she watched as Dan sent out a Pyrus Mantris onto his own gate card with a power level of 330 G's each.
"Hmph, an interesting first choice, but let's see if you can beat this! Bakugan Brawl!" Chan Lee then launched out her own bakugan on the card Mantris was on, ready to start sending all of Dan's bakugan to the doom dimension. "Manion stand!" With a power level of 350 G's, Chan Lee's Pyrus Manion stared down Dan's Mantris.
With Chan Lee sending in her first bakugan, Dan put his plan into action. "Gate Card Open: Triple Battle!" As soon as the gate card opened, a barrier of light was put up between Mantris and Manion, preventing them from battling until a third bakugan joined the battle.
"You set a trip. A triple battle card huh?" Chan Lee must admit, she was intrigued with whatever Dan might be planning. "You better choose your next bakugan carefully pal."
"Alright Dan, I'm ready!" Drago spoke up, ready to hop in and help Matris defeat Manion. "Send me in!"
"No not yet," Surprisingly, Dan denied Drago's request as he had something different in mind. Dan's learned from his past mistakes, he can't rely on brute force to try and win. He's gotta think smart and plan things according. And the plan he did have didn't involve Drago, at least not yet. "I wanna try something first. This strategy should work!" Dan then threw down another gate card right next to his triple battle card and loaded up his shooter with another bakugan…and aimed it at the new gate card. "Bakugan brawl! Pyrus Siege stand!"
Chan Lee's eyes widened in surprise as she witness Dan put down his Siege, which had a power level of 340 G's, on the new gate card instead of his triple battle card. "What is he doing?" Chan Lee muttered to herself, finding this whole thing very interesting but also kind of just plain stupid. "If I throw down a bakugan on the triple battle gate card, then your Mantris will get a one-way trip to the doom dimension." Dan said nothing and simply narrowed his eyes at Chan Lee, the girl simply letting out a chuckle in response to his look. "Fine then, if that's what you want."
Ready to take an easy win, Chan Lee loaded up her launcher and sent out her Pyrus Warius, which had a power level of 320 G's, onto the battlefield along with her Manion. Chan Lee smirked, thinking that it was lights out for Mantris, but before her bakugan could attack Dan quickly pulled out an ability card. "Ability Activate: Sling Blazer!" Chan Lee gasped as Mantris let out a roar as its wings opened up, the mantis-like bakugan picking up her Manion and carrying it over to the card Siege was on. "Sling Blazer is an ability only Mantris has, it allows it drag the bakugan to the card adjacent to it!" Chan Lee gasped as Manion was dropped onto the same card as Siege, with Mantris returning to its own gate card and quickly defeating her Warius, making he bakugan fall to her feet. "And let's add on more shall we? Gate Card Open: Energy Merge!"
The gate card Siege and Manion were on glowed as power siphoned over from Manion to Seige. "Energy Merge brings Manion down to 2-5-0 G's." The baku-pod explained as Siege took 100 G's from Manion. "Siege power increase to 4-4-0 G's."
"Oh no you don't!" Not about to let two of her bakugan fall at once, Chan Lee quickly pulled out a gate card to put a stop to Dan's plan. "Ability Activate: Back Fire!" Chan Lee's ability card then caught fire as she threw it towards the card Siege and Manion was on, the fire spreading all over the card and nullifying it.
"Oh no!" Dan gasped out as he checked his baku-pod.
"Gate Card nullified, power levels returning to normal," The baku-pod showed Manion's power going back to 350 G's and Siege going down to its original 340 G's. With Manion having the power advantage of 10 G's, it was able to pounce at Siege and quickly take it out, Dan having to watch as his bakugan was sucked into the doom dimension.
"Siege no!" Dan yelled in sadness, sadness that quickly turned to anger as he turned to Chan Lee and gave her a glare while growling. "That little…"
"Calm down Dan, it was a good strategy, and you were at least able to defeat her Warius," Drago quickly stepped in and calmed Dan down as Manion turned back to ball form and returned to Chan Lee's hand. "Simply focus on defeating her remaining bakugan, you caught her off guard once and you can do it again."
"Hmph, alright I'll admit you had me there for a second." Chan Lee commented as she looked at Dan with a challenging grin. "I really wasn't expecting that from you. But I'm not playing games here either, so if you really wanna beat me you better step it up a notch."
"Fine then, better yet, I'll step it up two notches!" Dan yelled as he loaded up his shooter again and aimed at Chan Lee's gate card. "Bakugan brawl! Mantris stand!"
"Sorry but your little bug's getting squashed this time," Chan Lee stated as she loaded up her launcher again, knowing this bakugan will be able to take down out easily. "Bakugan Brawl! Fourtress stand!" Dan's eyes widened at bit as he witness Chan Lee's multi-face partner come into battle.
"Woah, never seen a bakugan like that before," Dan commented as he looked over Fourtress, the bakugan kinda creeping him out a bit. The large power level of 370 G's didn't make it any better either. "Gives me the willies,"
"Don't let his appearance fool you, Dan, this one could be tough," Drago quickly warned Dan that this bakugan could be bad news. He's heard of this one before and it makes sense why Chan Lee would rank so high with a bakugan like that at her side. "Fourtress is a very dangerous opponent, be careful."
"Gotcha Drago, but don't worry. I already have a plan," Dan stated as he pulled out the perfect ability card to take down Fourtress with. "I'll smoke em with this ability cards and it'll be lights out for that circus freak!"
"Not quite," Chan Lee was more than prepared for this as she took out her own ability card and played it first. "Ability Activate: Face of Grief!" With an echoing sound, Dan watched as Fourtress' head rotated to show a sad face.
"Woah his face changed!" Dan yelled out as Fourtress put his upper hands to his head and started dancing around in a drunken and ridiculous matter.
"Oh I Fourtress will take any hope you have of winning this battle away!" Fourtress yelled out in a high-pitched and sad tone as he continued to dance around. "It's so sad! You won't be able to win this at all!"
"Grief-stricken Fourtress makes all your abilities useless," Chan Lee explained as a red glow covered Dan's ability card, preventing him from using it.
"Hey no fair!" Dan yelled as he waved his ability card around in a desperate attempt to make it work. "You can't just do that."
"Oh I can't believe how sad it is! You can't do anything!" Fourtress continued to dance around as he got closer to Mantris, the multi-faced bakugan flipping onto his hands as he got in front of the bug-like bakugan. "You can't use your abilities so I guess there's only one place for you to go!"
With Fourtress delivering two powerful kicks to Mantris, Dan watched as another one of his bakugan was sent to the doom dimension. "No! Mantris!" Dan yelled out as he looked down with clenched fist. "Not again…"
"Fourtress is annoying and he's powerful," Drago said in a grim tone as Fourtress' face went back rotated back to its neutral one before he returned to Chan Lee's hand in ball form. "He has three different strengths. Sorry, happiness, and anger. All in one body."
"Talk about split personality." Dan couldn't help but make a quip about it.
"You haven't seen anything yet, my Fourtress is the strongest pyrus bakugan there is," Chan Lee bragged as she threw another gate card onto the field in the place where her old one was. "Now all that's left is to take down your precious Drago."
"That's what you think…" Dan muttered through his teeth. He couldn't lose his partner. No way, and no how. "Drago…"
"Don't worry Dan, I'll be fine," Drago reassured his partner in a calm tone. The situation was dire…but they couldn't lose hope now. "Send me in, I know we can win."
"…Yeah…you're right!" The fire in Dan's spirit quickly returned as he grabbed his partner and loaded him up in the shooter. "We just have to give it everything we got! I know you can do it Drago! Bakugan Brawl! Drago stand!"
"Roooooooooooooooar!" Drago let out a mighty roar as he landed on Chan Lee's gate card, flying up high and showing he wasn't gonna back down now.
"Hmph, so I finally get to see this Drago for myself. Nothing special really but hey, should be fun watching him go down," Chan Lee stated with a sick smirk, Dan growling in response, as she loaded up her launcher again. "Bakugan brawl! Manion stand!"
"Alright Drago, no way are we gonna let this thing take us down," Dan stated as Chan Lee's Manion came into battle, her bakugan being 10 G's more powerful than Drago. "Ability Activate!"
"Boosted Dragon!" Drago yelled as he started to glow red as his power level increased to 440 G's.
"Now I got you," With her victory sealed, Chan Lee held out her hand and opened her gate card. "Gate Card Open: Energy Mimic!"
"Manion power increase by 1-0-0 G's." The baku-pod said as it showed Manion's G's raising by the exact amount Drago's did.
"What?!" Dan yelled out as he watched the change. "But how?!"
"Energy mimic is a gate that that lets me raise my bakugan's G's by the same amount you did," Chan Lee explained as Manion flew towards Drago, intent on sending Dan's partner to the doom dimension once and for all. "Sorry Dan, but this game is over."
"NOOOOO!" Dan reached for his partner, wanting to do anything to prevent Drago from being sent to the doom dimension. "DRAGO!"
As Drago watched as Manion charged at him with the intent to deliver the final blow, he suddenly felt a fire building up inside of him. Drago's red glow started to intensify as he let out another roar and bashed Manion with his own head, knocking his opponent back to the ground. "I WON'T BE BROUGHT DOWN YET!" Drago roared out as he glowed even brighter.
"What?!" Chan Lee gasped out at the turn of events. Her bakugan clearly had the higher power level, so how was Drago fighting back. "That's not…possible!" Her baku-pod then beeped, alerting Chan Lee of something and when she checked, she was shocked by what she saw.
"Drago power advantage by 1-0 G's." The baku-pod explained as it showed that Drago had suddenly increased in power by 20 G's, bringing him up to 460 G's. Chan Lee was unable to do anything as Drago fired a massive ball of fire at Manion and defeated it, Chan Lee's bakugan landing at her feet.
"I don't get it…" Chan Lee couldn't believe what she just witnessed. It should have been impossible. "How did we increase his G's even higher without using another ability card?"
Drago then returned to ball form himself and landed in Dan's hand, Dan mentally noting how warm Drago felt right now. "Drago, I thought you were a goner for sure." While Dan was incredibly relieved that Drago was still with him, he couldn't help but wonder what happened out there. "What the heck just happened? I didn't do anything from here and Boosted Dragon should have only increased you to 440 G's."
"I don't know Dan but my bodies burning up!" Drago yelled out, almost as if he was in pain, as he continued to glow and even shake while in Dan's hand. "I'M REALLY HOT!"
"Really hot?" Dan asked in a worried tone, feeling for himself just how heated up Drago was right now. Almost like Drago was getting a fever. "Think you're gonna make it?"
"Yes…yes…I'll be fine…" Drago breathed heavily for a few moments in an attempt to try and get his temperature down. Thankfully it worked as Drago stopped glowing and Dan was able to feel his partner going back to a normal temperature. "Don't worry…I'm starting to cool down now."
"Nice one, I guess you're just burning for a victory that's all." Dan put on a small and relieved smile as he took out his last gate card and threw it down onto the field. "Let's bring it home buddy, no way we can lose now. Time for the grand finale." Dan then loaded Drago up in his shooter, determined to take down Chan Lee and show her what he and Drago were made of. "Bakugan brawl!"
"You're mine!" Chan Lee yelled as she shot out her own partner at the same time as Dan. Drago let out a roar as he faced down Fourtress, the two Pyrus bakugan more than ready to take the other down.
With Drago's power at 440 thanks to boosted dragon, that extra 20 G's now gone as Drago cooled down, Dan opened his gate card to raise Drago's power higher. "Gate Card Open!" Dan yelled out as the gate card glowed as Drago felt energy flowing through him. "Fiery Vengeance!"
"Drago power increase by 1-0-0 G's." The baku-pod showed Drago's power increasing to 540 G's.
"Fiery vengeance is a gate card that raises a bakugans power level by 50 G's for every one of my own defeated bakugan," Dan explained as Drago roared, his power now far surpassing Fourtress. "Consider this as Mantris and Siege giving Drago one last helping hand."
"Aw how sweet," Chan Lee said in an arrogant tone as she held up her own ability card. "As touching as that is, I can assure you that Drago will be seeing them really soon. Now watch as I turn up to heat because if Drago felt hot before then he hasn't felt anything like this yet. Ability Activate: Face of Rage!"
Fourtress rose up his arms and briefly covered his face, but when his face was revealed again his face had changed to one that showed pure rage with sharp teeth and glowing pure green eyes. "I am Fourtress!" Fourtress announced, his voice now incredibly deep and intimidating. "My roaring flames of rage burn down anything that stands my way! And I set my sights on you!"
Fourtress then pulled out his four swords as the baku-pod showed the ability take effect. "Fourtress power increase to 4-7-0 G's." The baku-pod then showed Drago being lowered by the same amount. "Drago power decrease by 1-0-0 G's. Fourtress advantage by 3-0 G's."
"He'll need a miracle to beat me this time," Chan Lee smirking, thinking she's finally won this.
"Face my flames!" Fourtress yelled as he swung his flaming swords in Drago's direction, sending out fiery projectiles that sent Drago down to the ground. With his opponent down, Fourtress crossed all of his swords together in a circle pattern. "Now it's time to finish you off! Behold my flames of rage!" A powerful ball of fire was created in the center of all the swords, once it was charged Fourtress fired a powerful beam of fire right at Drago.
"Drago!" Dan yelled as he ran towards his partner, not caring about the flames that were covering the battlefield. "Drago no!"
Chan Lee simply grinned at the sight, watching as a large explosion occurred where Drago was. "It's over," Chan Lee said in a victorious tone. It was a bit bumpier than she thought, but she knew her victory was assured. And now Drago and Dan were no more. But before she could celebrate and gloat, the ground started shaking, taking her by surprise. But what surprised her even more…was Drago flying out of the fire with Dan safely on his forehead.
"We're not done yet!" Dan yelled at Chan Lee with a smirk.
"What?" Chan Lee gasped; this was impossible. There's no way Drago should be ok after all of that. "But how? Fourtress hit them with all his rage how did they survive? Is this some sort of trick?"
"No trick, we're still in this game?" Dan stated, showing he and Drago weren't backing down. They've come so far; no way were they gonna throw in the towel after everything they've been through. "Drago's really hot under the collar, those flames were ice cold compared to him!"
"Dan say the word and I'll light up the battlefield." Drago said, ready to put an end to this.
"No! Stay back!" Chan Lee yelled with a hint of fear in her voice. How did these two just keep taking everything she throws at them? "You can't beat me!"
"Alright, now it's our turn to play," Dan grinned as he pulled out his last ability card, the one that would let them win it all. "I'll throw this ability card right on top of boosted dragon and we can give them a show they'll never forget!"
"I'm ready when you are Dan!" Drago told his partner, getting rather excited about this. "Let's show them what happens when they threaten one of our comrades!"
"Couldn't have said it better myself!" Dan yelled as Drago fired a blast of fire towards Fourtress, Dan throwing his ability card into the fire. "Fusion Ability Activate: Melt Flare!" After throwing the ability into Drago's attack, Chan Lee and Fourtress watched as the attack seemed to grow ten times bigger and more powerful.
"A fusion ability?!" Chan Lee yelled, not even suspecting for a second Dan had one of those up his sleeves. Fourtress tried to fight back and sent another blast of his Flames of Fury at Drago, but it wasn't even a contest. With the fusion ability raising Drago's power to 550 G's, Drago's attack easily overpowered Fourtress' leaving the multi-faced bakugan to be consumed by the flames.
"This is what happened when you mess with the Bakugan Battle Brawlers!" Dan yelled as Fourtress was sent back into ball form to Chan Lee's feet.
"NOOOOO!" Chan Lee yelled in disbelief at her loss.
"Heh, that's showing her." Dan couldn't help but let a goofy grin come to his face. "Ya know…I don't think I ever wanna come down from here." Unfortunately for Dan, he would have to as the battlefield started disappearing around them and-
"AAAAHH!" Dan yelled out as he fell to the ground, Drago landing next to his head. Thankfully when he returned to the real world he was only a few feet off the ground so it didn't hurt that much. "Well that sure killed the mood…"
"Dan!" Alice yelled out before looking behind her and seeing that Marduk was gone. Looking forward, she breathed a massive sigh of relief at the dagger also being gone. "Oh thank goodness…"
"Alice?" Dan let out as his eyes went directly to the ginger-haired girl, ignoring all the looks and questioned from his friends. "Alice!" Dan wasted no time in getting on his legs and running towards Alice and giving her a big hug. "Thank goodness you're ok!"
"E-Eep!" Alice let out cutely, being taken off guard from the hug. While her face glowed brightly, she quickly relaxed into it and hugged Dan back. "Thanks…"
"Hmph…" Julie puffed out her cheeks in annoyance as she watched Dan give Alice all the attention. But seeing as Alice was just held hostage, she'd give the ginger-haired girl this…at least this one time.
"Um, Dan? Did ya hear me?" Lincoln asked with a raised brow. "What happened? Did you win?"
"Huh?" Dan let out before smirking and turning towards everyone else while still keeping an arm around Alice. "What do you think?"
"No way!" Runo let out in disbelief. "No way you beat her,"
"She was literally the third-best player in the world!" Lori let out in an impressed tone. To think Dan's come so far as to be able to beat them on his own.
"But where'd they go?" Leonidas growled out, wanting to kick Marduk's ass into next week after what he did. "Hmph, retreating. Like I said, total cowards."
"Don't worry Leo, we'll get them next time!" Julie reassured Lincoln's partner before smiling widely and putting an arm around both Runo and Haiku, pulling them close to her. "But for now, we should totally celebrate Danny's victory!"
"Grrrr…" Haiku lightly growled at Julie both touching her and pulling her into a side hug. But on the bright side, it did give Haiku the opportunity to do something she's been wanting to do since she met Julie yesterday. Sneakily taking a pair of scissors out of her pocket, Haiku quickly snipped off some of Julie's hair without her or anyone else noticing, the goth quickly putting both in her pockets.
"So that's it," Shun spoke up in a serious tone, getting everyone's attention. "We know who's responsible for giving away our location."
Marucho nodded as everyone also came to an agreement, it was all but proved at this point. "Web-Master Joe, it has to be him. He's the only one who has access to our website and all our communications."
"Joe…" Runo let out as she glared at the ground.
"I wonder where he is right now," Alice said as she looked up at the sky.
Now the brawlers had two missions. Find the infinity core and find Joe.
LATER THAT NIGHT
It was now 2 in the morning on most of the brawlers and Kato were all sound asleep. They weren't in the air as they decided they would work out where to go next in the morning. For now, they all needed their rest for whatever may come. Or in Marucho's case, a glass of water as he was seen exiting his room and heading towards the kitchen. "So thirsty…" Marucho muttered with his eyes barely opened.
But as he headed towards the kitchen, his eyes opened up a little more as he noticed a light coming from the main room and what he saw…quickly woke up him completely as goosebumps covered his whole body. "Hmmmmmm-hm…Hmmmmm-hm…Hmmmmm-hm," Sitting on the main couch with a small desk lamp next to her was Haiku who was currently sewing together a doll…a doll that looked disturbingly like Julie complete with hair that looked exactly liked the subterra brawlers.
"Haiku…" Marucho let out in a bit of a scared tone, the goth girl turning to him with her usual blank face. "What…W-What are you doing?"
"Sewing a new doll for my collection," Haiku answered as she continued sewing the doll.
"Is that a…voodoo doll?" Marucho asked, hearing from Dan how Haiku seemingly had a box full of them. Haiku simply nodded, making Marucho gulp nervously. "You don't…have one of me do you?"
"…" Haiku was simply silent as she looked into Marucho's eyes, slowing sewing her Julie doll together.
"…On second thought I'm not that thirsty…" Marucho let out as he sped walk back to his room, leaving Haiku alone once more.
"Almost done," Haiku whispered to herself as she looked into the buttoned eyes of the doll.
Welp, with three chapters of Bakugan and Star completed, it's time to move onto the next cycle.
So, everyone look forward to three chapters of FTZ as well as a whole new story. I'm quite excited for it and I'm sure it'll be something you guys love as well.
And hey, since I've been in a good mood lately, maybe I'll throw in a little something extra. Just to show you I'm a nice guy ;)
But you'll just have to wait and see.
For now, remember to fav, follow, and leave a review and stay tuned from when this story returns with...
"The City of Love"