Alice in New Vestroia: Remastered

by ariace613

This is my first story, "Alice in New Vestroia" as a deluxe version. Better battles. Denser story. An alternate version that still works with my other stories.

14. Chapter 14

Well, I'm glad to be back, and I really hope I didn't take too much time for your preferences. I honestly think I've got a good pace here, and I'm writing as quickly as I can. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bakugan or the characters.

XXX

Chapter 14: Liberation: Plan Alpha

Mira and Baron were both on their way from their personal waiting room, heading towards their pillar in the battle arena. And both of them were incredibly perturbed by what they had seen in the last battle.

Strike one, the fact that there even was a battle. Alice was supposed to bow out of the battle and join Shun's group, not engage Spectra Phantom in combat.

"Still," Mira had mused, "those two worked up some pretty high power levels. That's ultimately going to work to our overall benefit. No real downside, either, in the final accounting. Why wasn't that the plan from the start?"

Strike two, Spectra's possession of a mechanical Bakugan. They thought Altair was the only mechanical combatant the Vexos had access to. Metalfencer's introduction had worrying implications on just what kinds of resources the Vexos were in possession of.

And, strike three: just what was going in with Alice during the battle? Until the middle of the third round, she was acting like a completely different person. In fact, if she wasn't battling alongside the singularly loyal Hydranoid, who'd never battle alongside anyone but Alice, they'd be convinced they were watching an imposter going up against Spectra.

But then, Alice returned to her usual disposition, and that reassured the two Vestals. And it was always her battling skill; no one else could stand up against Spectra like that.

That just left one question. What was going on with her? What was going on in general?

Strikeout.

"What do we do now?", Baron asked as they reached the elevator to their battling platform.

"We stick to the plan", Mira directed. "Honestly, Alice's little tangent didn't damage the plan that much. We're still on track for our part. We just need to follow through."

Baron nodded, accepting the answer. "I guess that makes sense", he said.

' "We're getting off topic." Alice held her hand up, reasserting control of the conversation. "From this moment, this is an emergency meeting. The plan is flawed beyond the point of using it as it is. So we need to change it. Radically."

"Do you have anything in mind?", Shun asked.

Alice pondered the question, her brain going a thousand miles a second. It was the only option; their plan had to be revamped down to the objective. "We need to know more information", she decided. "Mira, tell me everything you know about the Dimension Controllers. We can't destroy them, but we need to ensure they can't affect all the Bakugan in New Vestroia, outside the cities." Her eyes lit up. "Is there any way to reduce the affected area of the Dimension Controllers?"

Mira put a hand to chin, thinking hard. "No. The effect range is set to maximum. It's full range, or shutdown - wait, that's not right." She grinned. "There is one thing, an emergency contingency. The controller can be overridden to lower the range, in reaction to critical power loss."

"Power loss?", Marucho bemoaned. "Our plan was to overload the Controllers! We'll have to make a completely new plan!"

Alice's train of thought sped all the way up to ten thousand miles a mile. "Not necessarily." She glanced over at Mira. "What, exactly, is the contingency for an excess of energy?"

"The Controller would forcibly expel the excess energy", came Mira's immediate response. "To a point, of course. Exceed that point, and it blows up. That was the original plan."

"That's promising", Alice said. A glint in her eye.

"You've got an idea", Dan guessed.

"We can follow the bare bones of the original plan", Alice said. "Infiltrate the compound and the tournament, and crank up the power up to the Controller's absolute threshold, and avoid blowing the Controller." She glanced over to Shun. "Shun, your infiltration team will have to step up their timetable. You and Marucho will need to be there by the time Mira and Baron start really upping the power. Once it starts expelling energy, you'll have to trick the Dimension Controller into releasing a lot more power than it needed to."

"And, once the energy is depleted, the Dimension Controller will reduce its range to the borders of the city", Mira added.

"And then, we'll manually set that as the new standard", Alice finished. "The Bakugan outside will be secure."

Mira nodded excitedly. "That's a good plan. Assuming you can get past the firewalls to manipulate the software, I think it'll work."

Dan raised his hand. "Yeah, great plan, but how are we supposed to free the hundreds of Bakugan already inside the city?"

"Convince the people to give them up", Alice said.

"And how do we do that?", Dan asked.

Alice and Shun shared a look. They already had a plan for that, and it was another part of the plan that needn't be changed. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it", Shun decided. "For now, Mira. Baron. Your job hasn't changed. You're to enter the tag battles and generate as much battle energy as possible. Just try dragging the Vexos battle out for as long as possible."

Baron gave Shun an honest and unironically executed salute. "I won't let you down, Masters!" '

Baron frowned, as he fully processed the upcoming fight. "We'll be fighting Lync and Volt in a tag battle, where they're at their best. We don't have any backup, and they've got the edge on power. That means we're at a disadvantage. It'll be a trick to purposefully drag the battle out, let alone win the battle."

Mira was honestly impressed with Baron's assessment of their enemy. It was easy to forget, with how many times he lost his composure in excited tangents about the Brawlers, but he was still an above average battler himself. Baron's success in their previous battle was only further proof of that. "Good point, Baron."

As Mira vocalized the words, the elevator began to rise. The two saw the daylight above them, steadily growing as they were elevated to the battlefield proper.

"What's the plan?", Baron asked, knowing they were running out of time.

Mira furrowed her brows for a moment, before relaxing. "We can't worry about how long our battle takes. Considering how powerful the Vexos are, going full strength would be our best option for lengthening the battle. If we hold back at all against them, it would mean a quick loss."

Baron nodded. "Right. It's the best we can do. Let's win this!"

"Shun and the others will pull through", Mira promised, reassuring herself as much as Baron. "Their part in the plan hasn't changed, either. They'll do their part; we just have to worry about ours."

"And it's about to start." Baron gestured to the top of the elevator tunnel. "We've arrived at the battlefield."

It was true. Even as Baron was talking, the elevator finished its ascent, rising Baron and Mira to the top of a battle platform pillar. There was only one other pillar, occupied by the duo of Lync and Volt.

Lync was standing at a slight slant, his trademark smirk on full display. He didn't make a sound, but his swagger was so exaggerated, noise wasn't even needed to make Mira and Baron feel taunted.

By contrast, Volt was expressionless to a near fault. He stood straight as a ruler, his bulky arms crossed. His face was neutrally straight, with a hard look in his eyes.

"Yup. Just like I thought." Mira took her gauntlet and latched it onto her left forearm. "They're not uneasy at all. They must be really confident about the battle."

And they had every right to be. Last time the Vexos had taken these rebels on in a full scale engagement, it was a resounding Vexos victory. Only Alice and Dan had managed to subvert a low into a blanket draw. Even Shun lost.

And Lync and Volt weren't facing the champions of the opposing side. If they were standing opposite Alice, or Dan, or even Shun, they'd be worried. Even Marucho shared the same level of battling experience of the previous three.

But Mira Clay and Baron Leltoy? They were the least experienced. The weakest. The easiest to fell. It might not even be worth going full-on.

"And, here we are!" As always, the announcer began his pregame commentary. "In the wake of the most historic single battle in Vestal's Bakugan battling history, we're up to another Vexos challenge! On the defending team, we've got the Vexos's tag team experts, Lync and Volt!"

Lync immediately started waving his right hand to the crowd, not even waiting for their inevitable applause.

And the applause did come. Countless people in the crowd let their wordless cries go, in addition to random exclamations of "Lync", "Volt" and "Vexos." But the volume wasn't anywhere near the level it had been previously in the day.

Lync basked in the adoration, but Volt's thoughts went wild for a moment. 'The people have always been much louder when the Vexos showed up', he thought. 'Are they just burned out from all the craziness today? Or did Alice beating Spectra have this much of an impact on their opinion on the Vexos?'

"And now, the challenger team!" The announcer began yet again. "I'm starting to think new blood as rising stars is today's theme, because here we've got two more! Despite a lack of on the record battling, these two have plowed through the tag team tournament without much issue! Give it up for Mira and Baron!"

And the crowd's reaction was renewed. A deafening cheer came from every corner of the stands. A veritable wall of sound, praising Mira and Baron.

Lync stood, his raised hand jerking in shock. The cheer he received was clearly surpassed by the adoration the opposing side received. That never happened. The Vexos were always crowd favorites.

Volt lowered his head, resigned to the facts. 'The people really have cooled their opinion of the Vexos.'

That was bad; very, very bad. The only reason the royal family got away with giving the Vexos so much authority was because of their universal popularity. If that popularity was subverted, by insurgents no less, it would leave both the Vexos and the royal family with much less room to maneuver.

'Is this how fragile our stance is?', Volt wondered. 'Were we that dependent on Spectra's invincibility? What will happen now that it's gone?' No way to know.

And Volt had a feeling that, even with how poorly the day had gone already, it was about to get a lot worse.

XXX

Deep inside the Alpha City compound, Shun, Dan and Marucho were rushing through the hallways as quickly as possible. They dashed down the halls for what seemed like miles, weaving an intricate path through the building.

Dan was breathing hard; even when Shun was carrying Marucho on his back, he was a lot more fit than Dan. Dan was in shape, but there was a difference between in shape and inhuman. Shun was inhuman.

"How much… further?", Dan heaved desperately.

Marucho, who was already holding the hologram projector, took a look at the map with it. "We're there", he replied. "Take the next right, and it's down the hall."

Shun slowed his pace to a quarter of his full speed, stalling just long enough to get Marucho off his back, before returning to his full speed. "I'll take care of any guards." If there was any room that would be officially guarded, it would be the control room of Alpha City's Dimension Controller.

And those guards had to be taken out quickly, before they could get a chance to raise an alarm. That was Shun's job.

As a ninja in training, with years of hand to hand combat experience, Shun was the most seasoned combatant they had. The most capable of dealing with Alpha City's security in case things got physical.

As he followed that logic to its conclusion, Shun wasn't surprised at all to see that as he turned the corner, there were four guards between him and the entrance to the control room. Each one was in the standard green uniform and wielded a stun baton. They were all standing casually, one even leaning his back against the wall. None of them expected to actually be assailed, when they posted so deeply inside the complex.

Their expectations were shattered as Shun charged them at full speed.

One of the guards gasped, pointing at Shun. "Who the hell-!"

That's all any of them could get out before Shun was upon them. Within two seconds, all four of them had their batons wrested away from them. Another three seconds, Shun hand-chopped them on the back of their necks, and the four guards passed out.

Shun corrected his stance into a straight one, just as Dan and Marucho barreled through the hallway and caught up to Shun.

Dan whistled as he saw the aftermath of Shun's handiwork. "Four guards, and they were armed? Man, Shun, you're a fast worker."

"We don't have time to waste." Shun began prodding at once of the downed guards, picking up a distinct plastic rectangle. "This key card should get us through the door."

And it did. All Shun had to do was raise it near the door, and it slid open.

The control room was a circular, dimly lit chamber. The actual controls were at a pillar at the center of the chamber, with glowing controls and several levers and switches. There weren't any guards inside, the coast was clear.

Shun nodded to Dan, gestured to the guards, and then gestured to the other side of the door. Dan nodded back, and each one hefted two guards by their arms and dragged them into the control room. As Marucho went inside behind them, the door closed after he entered.

"All right, Marucho", Shun said. "We got you inside. Our part's over."

"I'll take it from here", Marucho agreed. The most critical part of the plan had begun.

XXX

"Without further ado… battle begin!"

Between the four battlers of Lync, Baron, Volt and Mira, the foremost of the list drew his Gate Card first. He sported a near openly malicious sneer. "I'll get this party started! Gate Card, set!"

As the Gate Card landed and deployed on the Geithner, the two pairs of battlers stared each other down with intense glares.

"Ready to throw down, Baron and Mira?", Lync prodded. "Cause I am! Bakugan, brawl!" The already feared green and silver Bakugan ball shot onto the field. "Ventus Altair, stand!"

A flash of green energy and a rush of wind later, and the mechanical Altair rose from the ground and onto the field. He let out a metallic screech so grating on the ears, Mira and Baron actually cringed, as did the crowd.

"That's the mechanical Bakugan", Mira said.

Volt was quick to back up his partner. "Bakugan, brawl!" He threw Brontes on with an exaggerated pitch. "Bakugan, stand! Haos Brontes!"

Moments later, the lean body of Brontes rose beside Altair, cackling maniacally all the while. Despite the light and warmth of the arena, the inane laughter sent a chill down the spines of Mira and Baron.

"Well, would you look at that?", the announcer yelled. "Looks like Lync and Volt have some new Bakugan with them! Strong ones, too!"

"Ready, Baron?", Mira asked, raising Wilda to throw.

"Yup!", Baron answered, getting ready to throw Nemus himself.

"Bakugan, brawl!" The two launched their Bakugan at once. "Bakugan, stand!"

"Haos Nemus!"

"Subterra Wilda!"

The two allied Bakugan rose up instantly upon landing on the ground. And then the two Bakugan tensed up and got ready for battle. Wilda raised up both of his hands and closed them into fists. Nemus hefted his staff diagonally, wielding it in an aggressive manner.

(Wilda: 450, Nemus: 450)=900

(Altair: 500, Brontes: 500)=1000

'We have to hit hard and fast, before they can react!' Mira's thought was joined with her loading a duo of cards. "Double Ability Activate! Volcano Hammer, plus Power Winder!"

Multiple pores on each of Wilda's feet began to exhale clouds of steam, as a form of propulsion system. Wilda crouched down and leapt high in the air in a very exaggerated fashion, and succeeded in catching a lot of air for his bulky form. He raised his fists to maximize the impact as he descended towards Altair.

As he descended, Wilda's body began to emit several waves of orange Subterra energy, coming from his chest. The most potent part of the waves was the part directed in Brontes's direction; the attack was obviously meant for the jester. Still, Altair shifted in reaction to the unfocused parts of the waves, which only grew stronger with Wilda's descent.

(Wilda: 450+200=650, Nemus: 450)=1100

(Altair: 500-200=300, Brontes: 500-200=300)=600

Volt didn't bother with any kind of sassy remark. He just locked and loaded an ability card. "Ability Activate! Maniactus Magical!"

Brontes began to glow a glittering aura of yellow, giving him a marginal amount of power. Some of that energy leaked out, either jumping up to Wilda's body or the area immediately around him.

The energy reached Wilda, somehow counteracting his momentum and changing the course of his downward descent. He landed at the center of the field with a loud crash.

Similarly, the yellow energy counteracted Wilda's own energy waves. The Subterra attack was preempted and neutralized before Wilda could even conceive it.

(Wilda: 650-200=450, Nemus: 450)=900

(Altair: 300+200=500, Brontes: 300+200+200=700)=1200

Lync grinned an insane grin, gleeful of the carnage already. "Gate Card Open! Ventus Reactor! And plus, this! Ability Activate! Thunder Booster!"

Two things happened at nearly the exact same time. First, the Gate Card below suddenly surrendered itself to a number of brutal green tornados. Altair rose in elevation, screeching its deathly machine screech.

Second, Altair's body began to glow green once again, except it was a far stronger hue than before. It intensified so much, bolts of green electricity sparked off in all directions. Altair's visor lit up a bright purple, and it let out another screech. The lightning became even more frequent and focused. After a few moments of that, the voltage suddenly became directed at the nearby Wilda.

(Wilda: 450-300=150, Nemus: 450)=600

(Altair: 500+200+300=1000, Brontes: 700)=1700

"Wilda!", Mira called in distress. There wasn't any way for Wilda to evade the lightning. Especially after Brontes stunned him.

Baron thrust his arm, loaded gauntlet and all, straight forward. "Ability Activate! Shade Ring!"

Nemus gripped his staff with both hands. The staff began to light up, forming a circle of light yellow energy. The light grew brighter and brighter as the energy charged up to critical levels.

The green lightning arcing towards Wilda suddenly stalled, just before striking the Subterra Bakugan. The bolts redirected themselves, surging straight into Nemus's energy circle. The yellow light only intensified in power.

Then, Nemus pointed his staff forward. All of the energy shot out at Altair, in powerful yellow bolts. It was Altair's own attack, redirected back at him.

(Wilda: 150+300=450, Nemus: 450+300=750)=1200

(Altair: 1000-300-300=400, Brontes: 700)=1100

The lightning struck the mechanical avian. Altair screeched loudly as redirected lightning surged through its circuits. The bolts kept sparking up even after the initial surge.

Lync growled in anger. "Oh, that's how it is?" He readied another card, as did Volt. "Fine, let's play hardball! Ability Activate! Spinal Saucer!"

"Ability Activate! Desert Python!"

Altair let out a loud screech, the pitch high and sound mechanized. The base of each wing began to glow a green outline, which grew brighter every passing moment. After a few moments of charging up the attack, a pair of halos of green energy dropped from Altair's wings, remaining in their place a few feet below.

As Altair readied his green halos, Brontes opened his right hand and forced some of his power through the limb. He formed a single energy halo of his own, except in yellow Haos power.

A second later, Altair screeched again, which seemingly prompted the two halos into movement. Brontes, similarly, flung his own ring like a Frisbee. They shot through the air, Altair's centering onto the bulky Wilda, and Brontes's aiming for Nemus.

(Wilda: 450, Nemus: 750)=1200

(Altair: 400+200=600, Brontes: 700+200=900)=1500

Faster than anyone could've predicted, Wilda's feet started exhuming steam, propelling him to slight levitation over the flat earth. The propulsion appears him to retreat to Nemus's side of the field, temporarily outpacing Altair's rings. Yet the green halos simply shifted course and went after him again.

Once again, it was Baron who fished out the counter move to the enemy offensive. "Ability Activate! Spark Roa!"

Nemus lifted his staff up as high as he could over Wilda and himself. The end of the staff shined a divine yellow light, which quickly formed into an energy shield shaped like a sun. The shield expanded more and more, until it was large enough to safely protect both the caster and his ally, without losing any of its brightness.

The three rings impacted the shield, slicing through it enough to embed themselves within Nemus's energy. Yet none of them could fully slash through, and they all simply remained stuck.

(Wilda: 450, Nemus: 750+300=1050)=1500

(Altair: 600, Brontes: 900-300=600)=1200

"Mira, go!", Baron said.

Mira acquiesced, loading a single ability within her gauntlet. "Wilda and I will attack without disrupting our defense, Baron. Ability Activate! Ground Detonator!"

Wilda then raised up his right leg, stomping the ground hard. The ground rumbled as Wilda's power rushed through it. Starting where Wilda was, large rock spikes shot out of the ground, forming a path distinctly to Brontes.

(Wilda: 450+200=650, Nemus: 1050)=1700

(Altair: 600, Brontes: 600-200=400)=1000

Mira glared ahead as Wilda unleashed his destructive power. An image of Drake appeared in her head. 'I'll show that idiot how much of a spear Wilda and I can be.'

Lync chuckled at how Brontes was so clearly targeted. "Looks like you're in a bit of a bind, buddy."

"Want to do something about it?", Volt asked. He wasn't aggravated by Lync's sniping, but he was annoyed, and it showed in his tone.

Lync grinned madly as he loaded two abilities inside his gauntlet. "Sure, why not? Double Ability Activate! Mega Shield, plus Thunder Fire!"

Altair glowered at the incoming energy orbs, moving too fast for the android to evade. Instead, Altair remained stationary, but his body began to glow green with Ventus power. The entirety of the charged energy then focused ahead of Altair, consolidating into a large barrier of interconnected green hexagons.

The green barrier expanded far enough to impede the path of Wilda's earthen spikes. When the spikes connected with the green energy, they slanted, unable to pierce or shatter them.

Then, Altair's body tilted upward and revealed his underbelly exposed to Wilda and Nemus. Immediately afterward, Altair's tail pointed at Nemus, reaching underneath Altair's barrier, and crackled with bolts of charging green lightning.

"Shock them, Altair!", Lync cheered.

Then, Altair cawed its mechanical screech, the tail blasting out a concentrated bolt of green lightning at the staff-armed Haos Bakugan. The lightning struck the star-shaped barrier of Spark Roa, which was still up. But the green energy quickly began to decompose the yellow energy and bring down that shield.

(Wilda: 650, Nemus: 1050-200=850)=1500

(Altair: 600+200+200=1000, Brontes: 400)=1400

Moments later, the Spark Roa shield completely broke apart. As Altair's lightning flickered out, Nemus was forced to withstand the last bolts without any barrier to shield him. The lightning brought him down to his knees, but he remained on the field.

"Nemus!", Baron yelled.

Volt was quick to action, activating an ability of his own. "Ability Activate! Darkus Scythe!"

Brontes opened his right hand, chuckling sinisterly even as he was dragged into a barrage of Wilda's energy orbs. Purple energy appeared near Brontes's right, consolidating into a large scythe with a black handle and jagged purple blade.

Brontes took hold of the new weapon with both hands, lifted it overhead, then leapt at Wilda to slash him down. With his lean body carrying him through the air, he reached Wilda in a matter of moments, and brought the Darkus blade down.

Wilda covered up with his right arm, but the scythe still scored a cut in the rock-like skin. The cut was shallow, but the mark still glowed purple and was prevalent.

"Wilda!", Mira exclaimed in distress.

(Wilda: 650-200=450, Nemus: 850-200=650)=1100

(Altair: 1000, Brontes: 400)=1400

"Just look at that! Baron and Mira are certainly holding their own, but it looks like the Vexos have them on the defensive. Can Lync and Volt finish this round in victory, though? Will they win it all here? Or will they be upended? Only time will tell!"

"It's clear how this battle will end out", Volt remarked, not missing a beat in activating another ability. "Ability Activate! Darkus Howl Trigger!"

Brontes tilted his head to the side, just enough to assess Nemus's exact position. His right hand let go of the scythe, aiming directly at Nemus.

Baron balled his fist. Nemus was still too winded from Altair's Thunder Fire to get up, much less attempt a defense or evasion.

A concentrated wave of purple energy shot out of Brontes's hand, shooting towards Nemus. Once it reached Nemus, it pushed him with such force that Nemus's grip on his staff was the only thing keeping him upright.

(Wilda: 450, Nemus: 650-200=450)=900

(Altair: 1000, Brontes: 400)=1400

"Our Bakugan are stronger and have higher limits than yours. We're significantly more experienced than you. And we've got the home field advantage." Volt listed off the edges he and Lync had, without any shred of arrogance. He was simply detailing the situation.

Lync, though, wasn't subscribing to that kind of humility. "What he's saying is that you don't stand a chance! Thunder Booster!"

Altair's body began to glow green once again, except it was a far stronger hue than before. It intensified so much, bolts of green electricity sparked off in all directions. Altair's visor lit up a bright purple, and it let out another screech. The lightning became even more frequent and focused. After a few moments of that, the voltage shot straight ahead, aiming for Wilda and Nemus together.

(Wilda: 450-150=300, Nemus: 450-150=300)=600

(Altair: 1000+300=1300, Brontes: 400)=1700

"And now, I'll take those Bakugan of yours", Lync gloated. "That's what happens when you tango with the Vexos."

"That's what you think", Mira countered, loading up one more card. "You're wrong, and we're here to prove it! Ability Activate! Molten Rock!"

Even as Altair's lightning surged towards him and Nemus, Wilda stepped forward to make himself the primary target. With every passing moment, his body heated up more and more. Within seconds, he was so heated, his body was glowing red, and steam was billowing out of every pore on his body in abundance.

The heat quickly spread to the earth all around Wilda, and that began glowing red hot as well. Within moments, the earth around Wilda erupted into a geyser of lava, surrounding Wilda without causing him any distress.

(Wilda: 300+150+200=650, Nemus: 300+150=450)=1100

(Altair: 1300-300-200=800, Brontes: 400)=1200

With the heat causing him great discomfort, Brontes backed away from Wilda and Nemus, returning to his side to minimize his exposure to the heat. Nemus, strangely, seemed unaffected by the heat. And Altair completely disregarded it, as its melting point was far higher than what the lava was reaching.

The lightning struck the lava pillar, surging through every molecule of the molten earth and only intensifying as Altair forced more and more power into his attack. Eventually, Altair had to stop, and the lava receded to show Wilda no worse for wear.

"How?!", Lync shrieked.

Mira, for once, gave Lync a cheeky grin. "Don't you know basic science? Lava is just molten earth, and earth is an excellent conductor of electricity. We took every watt Altair dished out and protected our side from it all."

"Nemus, go! Now!" Baron disagreed out his own ability, and placed it within his gauntlet. "Ability Activate! Bolting Arrow!"

Nemus's eyes glowed yellow as he felt a rush of determination. 'Baron… I won't let you down!' He stood up, slowly but surely. When he finally stood back up, not bending at all, Nemus raised his hand to the hole at the end and conjured up a bowstring and arrow of light energy. Pulling back the energy arrow, he aimed at the ground between Altair and Brontes.

Making sure his aim was true, Nemus let go and let his arrow fly. The arrow struck the ground, with a Vexos Bakugan on either side of it. And then the arrow exploded, releasing a hemisphere of yellow energy.

(Wilda: 650, Nemus: 450)=1100

(Altair: 800÷2=400, Brontes: 400÷2=200)=600

The yellow hemisphere reached Brontes and Altair at the same time, propelling them away painfully. Suddenly devoid of power, Brontes collapsed, and Altair's elevation lowered to nearly null.

A few moments passed, and neither Brontes or Altair could or would move. They stayed still as statues as the very last of their stamina depleted. A second later, and Brontes collapsed on his face, and Altair's levitation failed with it crashing to the ground.

The two Vexos Bakugan glowed their respective Attribute colors, and shrunk down the ball form. Brontes shot back to Volt, and Altair returned to Lync, both in clear defeat.

Lync: 50%

Volt: 50%

Nemus heaved a sigh of relief, then he and Wilda sheep down themselves before returning to their battlers' hands. Baron and Mira caught their respective Bakugan with victorious grins.

"We got them?", Baron asked. "That wasn't as tough as I thought."

"That's because they weren't going as hard as they were before." Mira left no room for argument. "They were fighting a lot harder last time."

Baron was confused, if not openly concerned. "But… Why would they hold back? What would they get from it?"

"Either they're playing up the crowd for a bigger show, or they actually underestimated us after such a complete victory in the outskirts." Mira held up the hand holding Wilda. "Either way, we can't expect lightning to strike twice. Whichever it is, they'll know better and start fighting full force in round two."

On the other side, Lync and Volt watched as their enemies had a small strategy session. "Well, they're definitely bringing their A-game today. Aren't they, Volt?"

"I wouldn't expect anything less", Volt confessed. "But they're still holding something back. And so are we."

"Well, would you look at that! Baron and Mira managed to turn the battle around with a perfectly coordinated counterattack, achieving victory in round one! Lync and Volt still have their work cut out for them!"

The crowd roared with renewed enthusiasm, excited at the intense battle they saw, and eager for more. It didn't even begin to compare to the last battle, but it was still a great site in its own right.

Lync grimaced and placed a hand to the right ear, the one facing the announcer. "You know, I saw Alice use Hydranoid to shut these people up, and I thought she'd completely lost it. But, now that I'm here, I remember how annoying these people can get. And now, I'm revising my opinion."

"It doesn't matter", Volt remarked. "They think they're watching a show now. We'll give them a real show next round."

XXX

Alice was sitting down in a special V.I.P. viewing chamber, looking down at the battle with an optimal angle for observing the battle. It was complete with comfortable seating, holographic recordings of previous tournament battles, even a well-stocked snack bar.

It was the room awarded to a winner of the single tournament who'd won the Vexos challenge, meant to be a small taste of the privilege granted if they joined up with the Vexos.

Not that Alice had any intention of taking advantage of that opportunity. But she'd take the privilege in the time she had.

On a wall to the side, Alice could see a holographic screen, with pictures of all the victors of the Vexos challenge; those who had won in the singles division and gone on to defeat a Vexos. It was a dreadfully short list of pictures: Gus Grav and herself, with the mask and everything.

The masked image stared right into Alice, reminding her of everything that happened in the last battle. All the painful memories, triumphs subverted by her knowledge of how easily Spectra had manipulated her. It was too much. She had to look away.

"Hydranoid… Leonidas…." Tears formed in Alice's eye. "I'm so sorry. I failed you both."

"What are you talking about, Alice?", Hydranoid asked. "We defeated Spectra. You forced out his influence. We won."

"But we almost lost, too." She voted her head in shame. "Spectra got in my head so easily, and he conquered it just as readily. With just a few words, he changed my personality on a fundamental level, and I dragged you along with me." Alice buried her face in her hands. "I'm so weak! Spectra only lost his hold because he underestimated me! If he didn't, I'd still be dancing to his tune and betraying all of our friends. Again!"

Leonidas jumped off from Alice's shoulder and bonked against Alice's temple. Alice uncovered her face to look at her Bakugan.

"Enough with the 'woe is me' routine", he snapped. "You overcame him. He didn't lose control because he underestimated you; he lost control because you're tougher than his best. So end this little pity party of yours!"

"You don't get it!", Alice shot back. "When I was Masquerade, I lost entire hours of every day. Then I started losing entire days of every week. And then, at Masquerade's last month, I was only aware of four days! And all that time I missed, I was doing terrible things!" A shudder rippled through her body. "And it almost happened again! I almost lost to my darker half again."

"But you didn't", Hydranoid said softly. It garnered Alice's attention as effectively as Leonidas's direct approach. "You're different now from how you were then. That's why you regained control."

Alice stayed silent. She had a feeling what Hydranoid was talking about, but she wanted to hear it from a different voice.

"That darker part of you wasn't closed away from you this time. Malice didn't have enough ground in your mind to fend you off for long because of that. You managed to exploit the flaws in her mindset and return because of that." Hydranoid floated up and moved directly in front of his battler, forcing Alice to look him in the eye. "You're strong, Alice. Stronger than Malice. Stronger than Masquerade. Because you are whole, and the whole will always be greater than a part of who you are. Spectra has nothing on you."

Alice nodded, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. "Speaking of Spectra…" she leaned forward, starting down at Mira, discussing something with Baron in between the rounds of the battle. "You saw the man under the mask, right?"

"Yeah, we did." It was Leonidas who answered. "Same olive skin on most of these Vestals, blue eyes that honestly looked kinda familiar… and the rest of his face looked familiar too…"

"Because we saw that face before", Hydranoid deadpanned. "He's Keith Clay. Mira's brother."

"Oh… right." At the very least, Leonidas had the decency to sound embarrassed. "Didn't think he'd be that important, honestly."

"You purposefully forgot Mira's brother?" Alice fixed Leonidas with a soft glare.

"Well… uh…", Leonidas stammered. "You can't expect me to remember every nobody-"

"Mira's. Brother."

"Okay! I'm sorry!"

Hydranoid chuckled at the antics of his teammates, but he chose to intercede regardless. "Shall we inform the others of this once we all reconvene?"

Alice sighed, and pursed her lips. "I don't know", she admitted. "On one hand, it seems obvious. It's best to keep the team informed on who we're up against, and if anyone deserves to know about Keith, it's Mira."

Neither Hydranoid nor Leonidas spoke. They let Alice explain her reasoning.

Alice gave her partners a grateful look before continuing. "On the other hand, however…." She shook her head. "Mira idolizes her brother. Even though all she knows is that Keith abandoned her and their father after learning the truth about the Bakugan, she convinced herself that he chose to fight for their freedom."

Of course, the truth was comically easy to piece together now. That truth lit a fire of raw ambition in Keith, and he strove to rise to the top and leave behind everything holding him back. Rather than become better by that realization, he became worse. He became Spectra.

"Mira's already lost her father and boyfriend to the Vexos. If we told her that her brother was Hydron's overly ambitious right hand, and the one that turned Ace against her… her confidence and morale might never recover."

"Is it even our right to keep that information to ourselves, though?", Hydranoid asked. It was more a respectful suggestion than any kind of real protest.

Alice shrugged. "In a way, it's not our secret to tell. We found out through an accident; Spectra didn't willingly entrust his identity to us."

"And why do we care about the privacy of the enemy?", Leonidas growled. "If anyone can use Spectra's true identity against him, it'll be Mira. So what if she becomes less useful afterwards?"

Alice shook her head violently. "I don't know", she said. "We'll let Shun know, first and foremost. We'll make the final decision on whether to tell the rest together."

"Like hiding away our battle with Spectra in the Alpha City controller plan?", Leonidas questioned. "You and Shun decide what secrets the rest are let in on?"

"It's a similar logic to that", Alice agreed. And honestly, that made the thought of keeping the secret more bearable. It seemed like this sort of thing did become easier with repetition.

And Alice wasn't sure what to think about that.

XXX

"Gate Card, set!" It was Mira that sent down the Gate Card for the second round. She and Baron stood tensed as the card landed and expanded, in preparation for the battle.

Mira nodded to Baron, who instantly nodded back. One after the other, they launched their Bakugan straight onto the set card. "Bakugan, brawl! Bakugan, stand!"

"Subterra Wilda!"

"Haos Nemus!"

Subsequently, Wilda and Nemus rose back up, returning to the battlefield. They glared down on the Vexos, awaiting their responses to the quick actions.

Lync and Volt watched the opening move, betraying nothing but confidence. Lync gave off an overly wide grin, and even the stoic Volt asked himself a small grin.

"So Volt, you think they've figured out we were holding back last round?", Lync asked. It was loud enough for Mira and Baron to clearly hear them.

"I'd be surprised if they didn't", Volt replied. "Ready to get serious?"

"Of course!"

"Bakugan, brawl! Bakugan, stand!" The Vexos duo sent in their own primary Bakugan, to combat Wilda and Nemus.

"Ventus Altair!"

"Haos Brontes!"

And with that, Altair and Brontes both rose up as well. Their opening cries of a low mechanical wail and a maniacal chuckle synergized unexpectedly well, forming an eerily creepy noise.

Wilda: 450, Nemus: 450

Altair: 500, Brontes: 500

Brontes was the one to make the opening attack of the round. Without waiting for any kind of ability, he charged ahead at breakneck speeds. As he neared Nemus, closer and closer, his insane chuckle evolved into a mad cackle.

Baron quickly fished out his own reaction to the aggressive attack. "Nemus, time to bunker down! Double Ability Activate! Raven Lore, plus Pyra Might - Skid Roa!"

First off, Nemus began to glow a dim yellow light. Then, yellow energy of much brighter intensity began spiraling around Nemus, circling him until it reached the top of his staff.

Then, Nemus took a step forward and raised his staff as high as he could, high above himself and Wilda. The design at the tip began shining a bright yellow light, channeling all of the power charged up before, and then charging even more. All of the energy extended downwards, forming a pyramid of light energy surrounding himself and Wilda.

Wilda: 450, Nemus: 450+100+200=750

Altair: 500, Brontes: 500-100=400

Brontes was so close to the newly constructed pyramid, he ran right into it. The powerful barrier forced him backward, with the shield undamaged. Brontes tried to punch the barrier, with a similar consequence.

"Nice try." Volt's impassive remark was accompanied with an activated ability. "Ability Activate! Maniactus Magical!"

With an overabundance of enthusiasm, Brontes slapped down the pyramid with both hands. Brontes began to glow a glittering aura of yellow, giving him a marginal amount of power. Some of that energy leaked out, imbuing itself within Nemus's own pyramid.

Although visually, the two shades of yellow only brightened each other, it didn't take long at all for the pyramid to start dimming, then fracturing with several stress lines. The stress lines grew larger and larger, then the pyramid shattered into numerous pieces.

Wilda: 450, Nemus: 750-300=450

Altair: 500, Brontes: 400+100+200=700

Brontes's grin was as wide as ever, but it suddenly seemed more menacing to Nemus. He balked his hand into a fist, and slammed it down to punch Nemus.

Nemus blocked the hand with his own staff, managing to fully reflect the damage. But he still backed away behind Wilda.

"Mira, we need some cover!", Baron said.

"On it", Mira promised. Her hand reached out ahead, at an upward slant. "Gate Card Open! Subterra Reactor!"

A moment passed, and nothing happened. No earthen pillars rose up. Nor was there any trademark earthquake.

Volt grinned. "Bad timing. With Maniactus Magical activated, your Gate Card is useless."

"Then I'll try this!", Mira replied, an ability in her gauntlet instead. "Ability Activate! Ground Borting!"

Wilda raised his right leg high into the air, then stomping it down. The trembling of the earth resulted, followed by the raising of a massive earthen barrier, completely isolating the two sides.

Once again, Brontes found himself on a different side of a wall than his enemies. This time, he didn't have Maniactus Magical available to undo this damage.

Wilda: 450+400=850, Nemus: 450

Altair: 500, Brontes: 700

"Hit them, Baron!", Mira directed.

It was really more of an order than anything else; but Baron responded well enough. He loaded in his own ability to follow up on the opportunity Mira gave him. "Ability Activate! Shining Force!"

Nemus gripped his staff with both hands and raised it at a slant, aimed above the wall in front of him. The tip of the spear blasted an intensified orb of bright yellow energy in the direction the staff pointed. The angle the orb was shot at allowed it to easily clear the wall that Wilda erected.

After it was released from the staff and cleared the wall, the orb continued its ascent for a few seconds before it began to arc downwards, finally centering onto Altair with incredible velocity.

Wilda: 850, Nemus: 450+400=850

Altair: 500, Brontes: 700

"Yeah, nice try, kiddo." Lync sneered, activating his own ability to counter Baron's own attack. "How'd you like a repeat of Altair's… Thunder Fire!"

Altair didn't waste any time in executing the attack, tilting its body upward and making his underbelly exposed to the yellow orb overhead. Immediately afterward, Altair's tail pointed at the attack and crackled with bolts of charging green lightning.

Then, Altair cawed its mechanical screech, the tail blasting out a concentrated bolt of green lightning at Nemus's own attack. The two colors of energy collided explosively, with both of them neutralizing each other instantly.

Wilda: 850, Nemus: 850-200=650

Altair: 500+200=700, Brontes: 700

"Like you've got a chance against our kind of power!", Lync gloated. "You don't have anything on us!"

"We've got numbers." Mira shared a look with Baron, and the two sent up their Bakugan Traps. As they landed on the ground, the spiked ball and cube opened up, summoning the beings they contained.

"Haos Piercian!"

"Subterra Baliton!"

Within moments, the large brick-like Piercian rose, hefting his shielded arms to prepare for any kind of opponent attack. And Baliton also appeared, baring his teeth aggressively at Altair and Brontes.

Lync examined both of the Trap Bakugan, appraising each of them. Then, he gave a reaction. That reaction was uproarious laughter. "Oh. You've got the numbers, huh? That's rich." His jeer was obviously sarcastic. He and Volt both fished out objects of their own. "That's quite literally yesterday's news. It's a new day, and now, we've got numbers to match!" Lync flung out a spherical object with gusto, aiming for the area above Altair. "Mechanical Ventus Wired! Stand!"

A flash of green light later, and another Ventus Bakugan rose up. It resembled Altair in every way: with a green and silver color scheme, simple mechanical wings, and purple eyes. It's body was much smaller than Altair's, little more than wings and a break, with a small body to connect it.

"A mechanical Bakugan Trap", Mira deduced. "Just as we thought."

Baron nodded. "Why couldn't we be wrong, this one time?"

Volt nodded and acted, flinging his new Trap down to Brontes's side. "Bakugan Trap, Haos Dynamo! Stand!"

The mechanical device stood once it got the ground, and a giant mech formed to back up Brontes. The android had six different arachnid legs, all connected to a circular base. That same base was corrected to a long mechanical neck and a white head with two green eyes, and a "mouth" of three red triangles.

(Wilda: 850, Baliton: 350)=1200, (Nemus: 650, Piercian: 350)=1000

(Altair: 700, Wired: 400)=1100, (Brontes: 700, Dynamo: 400)=1100

"And after an intense exchange of combat, everyone has sent in a Bakugan Trap! Seems like things are getting pretty good, aren't they?!"

Lync sneered at the announcer's interruption, yet it didn't stall his loading of his ability. "Let's take Wired for a little test drive! Ability Activate! Shower Harpoon!"

Wired didn't move at all, but the ability still initiated regardless. Two large orbs of green energy shot from its wings, one orb per wing, and flew straight upwards without any kind of angle.

When the pair of orbs were both high enough, they broke apart into a vast array of lasers, blasting apart and aiming for Wilda, Nemus and their backup.

The wall that Wilda had erected was still there, ready to block the attack, but the lasers crashed into it and blew up. The relentless explosions resulted in the steady chipping away of the wall, until there was nothing left to stand in the Vexos's way.

Mira gasped. "Wired is just a Trap, and it has that kind of firepower?!"

Volt nodded, seeing his momentarily vulnerable enemies for what they were, then locking two abilities inside his gauntlet. "Double Ability Activate! Sub Dimension, plus Darkus Howl Trigger!"

Without any obstruction between it and the enemy, Dynamo turned its head to stare directly at Wilda. It's eyes began to flash yellow with the processing of the ability.

A pulse of purple colored energy shot out from Dynamo's mouth and reached Wilda within two seconds. A second later, and Wilda was completely encased in a hazy dark purple sphere. The haze was so thick, Wilda's form was completely obscured from outside view, and he couldn't see anything beyond that haze.

Wilda couldn't help but feel shaky; the longer he was within the haze, the weaker he felt. The sphere had radically reduced his power level and endurance.

Brontes, meanwhile, outstretched both hands directly forward, aiming for Nemus once again with his Darkus ability. A concentrated wave of purple energy shot out both of Brontes's hands, shooting towards Nemus. Using both hands to channel the attack, the pulse wave was double the strength, and it covered a far greater range.

Nemus had much more stamina than the last time Brontes had used that trick on him, but he was unable to evade it's increased range. He simply had to crouch as the wave rolled over him. Only his stance had kept him from being knocked over; he still was forced to take two steps back to prevent that.

(Wilda: 850-300=550, Baliton: 350)=900, (Nemus: 650-200=450, Piercian: 350)=800

(Altair: 700, Wired: 400+200=600)=1300, (Brontes: 700, Dynamo: 400)=1100

"And the Vexos pull off some amazing coordination! Lync destroyed Mira's defenses, and Volt seized the opportunity to dish out some punishment!"

"Brontes, go!", Volt directed.

Brontes was happy to oblige, firing off more waves of his Darkus Howl Trigger. He was aiming for all four enemies now; though their power wouldn't drop, they'd still be greatly hampered by his Darkus power.

"If we try to block, Lync may just bring it down again", Baron said.

"Then we'll go on the attack." Mira forced two cards inside her gauntlet. "Double Ability Activate! Clay Roller, plus Volcano Hammer!"

Baliton curled his body up into a large spiked ball, sharp enough to dig into the dirt. Then, he began to roll himself over to the enemy, pickup up speed faster than a snowball rolling downhill.

Wilda continued the attack, with multiple pores on each of Wilda's feet began to exhale clouds of steam, as a form of propulsion system. Wilda crouched down and leapt high in the air in a very exaggerated fashion, and succeeded in catching a lot of air for his bulky form. The purple sphere wrapped around him proved to be little more than a mere fog in material, as he broke through it without any issues at all.

Wilda raised his fists to maximize the impact as he descended towards Brontes and Dynamo, the same exact targets as Baliton's.

(Wilda: 550+200=750, Baliton: 350+200=550)=1300, (Nemus: 450, Piercian: 350)=800

(Altair: 700, Wired: 600)=1300, (Brontes: 700-200=500, Dynamo: 400-200=200)=700

Wilda and Baliton both impacted Brontes's Darkus waves directly. They were held back for a moment, before their momentum allowed them to crash through and continue their course.

"Head on attack? Are you sure that's a good idea?", Volt asked, not unkindly. He doesn't seem concerned that his attack was so easily beaten.

"Seems to be working so far", Mira retorted.

Volt flashed a small half grin. "Maybe", he conceded. "But, as I've just demonstrated, Brontes has a limited affinity for the Darkus Attribute. Enough to use standard Darkus abilities, like this one." The mentioned card flashed purple within his gauntlet. "Ability Activate! Double Dimension!"

Brontes kept his present stance - upright with both hands open and outstretched. Another wave of Darkus power rushed out from his body, comprising of wind more than dark energy. The effect was more subtle, but no less effective.

As soon as the wave reached Baliton and Wilda, the two were instantly diverted from their course. Baliton was forcibly uncurled into his standard form, and Wilda began crashing straight down.

The worst part was that Wilda's descent would have him crash right on top of Baliton.

(Wilda: 750-200=500, Baliton: 550-200=350)=900, (Nemus: 450, Piercian: 350)=800

(Altair: 700, Wired: 600)=1300, (Brontes: 500+200=700, Dynamo: 200+200=400)=1100

Realizing where Wilda was crashing a moment too late, Mira quickly rushed for an ability, but she was far too late. "No!"

When Wilda hit Baliton, the former was struck by piercing spikes, and the latter nearly flattened by massive weight. The result was the same for both: they forward orange and reverted back to ball form. Then, they shot back to Mira.

Mira: 60%

Baron's eyes widened as he realized Mira's forces were down. He was alone against the Vexos. Again.

He couldn't help but remember the last time this happened. Tigrerra's loss still left him racked with guilt. But right now, he wasn't scared. He refused to allow any more of his friends to fall. He felt rage.

"I won't let you take away anyone else!", he roared, bringing out two more ability cards. "Double Ability Activate! Haos Bunker, plus Ancient Glow!"

Piercian angled his shields in a particular angle, as they how'd and transitioned into oversized circular mirrors. The mirrors allowed Nemus to see Altair and Wired.

"With Haos Bunker, Piercian will transfer power from each of my opponents, and then divide that power between himself and Nemus." Baron held up four fingers with his right hand. "And since there's four of you, that's a lot of power. Nemus, brawl!"

Nemus held up his staff once more, lighting up the design at the end with every one of strength he had available to muster. Considering the power Piercian has given him, that was a lot. Once he was ready, he shot the energy directly at Piercian's shields. The mirrors picked up the light, and somehow focused it, turning it into two hyper intensified beams, one for each targeted enemy.

(Nemus: 450+200+200+200=1050, Piercian: 350+200+200=750)=1800

(Altair: 700-200=500, Wired: 600-200-200=200)=700, (Brontes: 700-200=500, Dynamo: 400-200=200)=700

"Oh, looks like I'm Baron's favorite", Lync jeered. "Trying to target the weak link?" He chuckled at his own joke. "Weak link. That's funny. Now, Altair, Wired! Do it!"

Acting instantly, Wired began to alter its own body. It's wings folded inwards, and it flipped itself upside down. Without any issue, Wired flew on top of Altair, where the tail met with body, and clicked itself into that part of Altair's body.

"They fused?!" Baron was incredulous.

(Nemus: 1050, Piercian: 750)=1800

Meta Altair: 1250, (Brontes: 500, Dynamo: 200)=700

"They also gained a lot of power", Lync added. "Altair and Wired are a lot more powerful together than separate. Fused, they generate power at almost double the rate. I call it Meta Altair!" Two abilities locked inside his gauntlet. "But enough about that. Double Ability Activate! Spinal Saucer, plus Shock Cannon!"

Meta Altair let out a loud screech, the pitch high and sound mechanized. The base of each wing began to glow a green outline, which grew brighter every passing moment. After a few moments of charging up the attack, a pair of halos of green energy dropped from Meta Altair's wings, remaining in their place a few feet below.

Moments later, the green hoops shot ahead, each one going up against Nemus's enhanced energy blasts. Surprisingly, the impact resulted in the yellow beams being split in half by the artificial Ventus energy.

Lync chuckled madly. "Now, to wipe you out!" He outstretched his left arm, the one holding the gauntlet, and aimed it at the opposing Bakugan. At the nose of Lync's gauntlet, a green holographic targeting screen showed up. The targeting software locked onto the four opponents, transmitting the data to Meta Altair.

Meta Altair's mouth opened up wide, charging the largest amount of green energy yet. The intensity of the energy buildup became so great, Meta Altair's entire body started glowing with the charge.

Having a much greater ability to build up charge than Altair on its own, the attack was ready in mere moments. Meta Altair released the energy in an explosive green laser, large enough to dwarf a Bakugan in size. When Altair's blast connected to the bisected Haos beams, the yellow energy quickly disappeared, as if it evaporated, under the intensity of Meta Altair's own attack.

(Nemus: 1050, Piercian: 750)=1800

Meta Altair: 1250+200+500=1950

With their final attack decimated, there were no options left for Nemus or Piercian. The monumental green blast consumed them both instantly, and within moments, their spherical and cube forms shot out of the green energy and landed at Baron's feet.

Baron: 70%

Once Meta Altair shut down its attack, it let out a loud and almost deliberate screech, before reverting to Altair and Wired's smaller forms. It was quickly followed up by Brontes and Dynamo. All four shot to the Vexos, who caught them with triumphant grins.

Mira gasped as she realized something. "Meta Altair was still operational after that?"

"What do you mean?", Baron asked.

"Last battle, Altair's charge was a lot easier to deplete. A single shot from that Shock Cannon and it was all but deactivated…." Mira's eyes widened with a realization. "It's Wired! It has to be. Wired's additional power generators are compensating for Altair's deficiencies. That's why they're designed to link up."

"Do we have a plan?", Baron asked, nervously. "Altair's gotta be slower and more bulky once he connects to Wired. Can we use that?"

"We just might." Mira shot Baron an agreeing nod. "We've got a job to do. This fight's not over yet."

XXX

Marucho stood at the sole computer inside the control room, eyes locked on the holographic screen and fingers flying over the keyboards. Beads of sweat were trickling down his face, formed from the mentally exhausting task he was doing.

The holographic screen was displaying numerous lines of code, flying past faster than anyone could read them. Every control or lever was glowing, just enough for Marucho to see what he was doing.

Dan and Shun were at Marucho's back, facing the door they'd gone through. They kept up fighting stances, ready in case any guards came barreling through.

Dan took the risk of looking away, too glance back at Marucho. "Any luck?"

"Not at all", Marucho responded quickly. "I've surmised that Professor Clay is the only one that has full access to the Dimension Controllers, and so I'll have to guess his own passcode. But it's not easy. He's too smart to make that code anything simple, so don't this the easy way is out of the question. So I'll have to get this done the longer way."

"Skip the techno-babble", Dan said.

"That's what I'm trying to do", Marucho deadpanned. "Now please let me work before-"

Marucho was cut off when the terminal let out a high pitched whine. The lines of code disappeared, replaced by a single line of red Vestal.

"What does that say?", Dan asked.

A quick check with Marucho's device, which was retrofitted with a Vestal translator by Baron, gave the answer.

"Access denied", Marucho said somberly. "There has to be a way past this. What am I missing?"

"Marucho", Shun said. "You said Clay is the only one who could unlock this thing. What about Prince Hydron?"

"Prince Hydron?", Marucho asked.

"I mean, it only makes sense", Elfin chimed in. "Isn't he in control of everything?"

"Yeah…", said Marucho, deep in thought. "He is. You're brilliant!" His hands started typing rapidly once again. "Of course. I was overthinking this whole situation!"

"Will you gain command of the Controller in time?", Shun inquired.

"Yes, I believe so", Marucho assured Shun.

Shun seemed satisfied with that. "Alright. Keep it up."

With Marucho at steady work, and Shun and Dan providing security, things were looking good on their end.

XXX

"Gate Card, set!" Volt was the one to launch the third card of the battle. He held Brontes and Dynamo both in his single hand, then threw them down. "Bakugan, brawl!"

In an instant, Brontes and Dynamo materialized on the ground. The slim jester's cackle was as terrifying as ever.

"Face it. You guys are toast!", Lync gloated, throwing up his two spheres at once. "Bakugan, brawl! Altair, Wired, stand! Combine!"

The two spheres failed through the air, opening up without touching the ground. The two connected while still in opened balls, then they both glowed green. The two materialized as Meta Altair, which cawed its metallic screech.

Mere moments later, Baron and Mira responded to the Vexos's aggression by launching their own Bakugan with one hand, and their Traps with the other. "Bakugan, brawl!"

"Nemus, Piercian!"

"Wilda, Baliton!"

"STAND!"

And then, the four Bakugan all rose up opposite the Vexos. Wilda and Nemus stood slightly ahead of Piercian and Baliton, forming an initial defensive line.

(Wilda: 450, Baliton: 350, Nemus: 450, Piercian: 350)=1600

(Meta Altair: 1450, Brontes: 500, Dynamo: 400)=2350

Starting off the round, Volt reached his hand as far forward as he could. "Gate Card Open! Haos Reactor!"

The card set only an instance prior glowed a bright yellow. The area above the battlefield gave way to ethereal yellow and white clouds, with small bolts of yellow lightning crackling within the clouds.

Brontes and Dynamo glowed bright yellow in reaction to the card and gained a large amount of power, much to Brontes's glee, but so did Nemus and Piercian.

(Wilda: 450, Baliton: 350, Nemus: 450+300=750, Piercian: 350+300=650)=2200

(Meta Altair: 1450, Brontes: 500+300=800, Dynamo: 400+300=700)=2950

"Why use a Haos Reactor when we've got as many Haos Bakugan as they do?", Baron asked. His subsequent gasp of realization was loud. "Unless…"

"You know, I'm getting a bit tired of this little battle", Lync remarked, holding up an ability card. "Hey Volt? What do you say we wrap this up?" He placed his selected card inside his gauntlet.

Volt grunted, loading in his own ability. "That's the plan. Ability Activate! Mania World!"

Brontes stood still for a moment, but his body was reacting to the card. After a pulse of energy, like a heartbeat of a hundred time's the volume, rang out, a harsh and bright yellow aura encased him.

"Ability Activate! Shock Cannon!" Lync's announcement was hooked by his pointing the nose of his gauntlet at the enemy. A green holographic targeting screen appeared, transmitting the data to Meta Altair.

Meta Altair's mouth opened up wide, charging the largest amount of green energy yet. The intensity of the energy buildup became so great, Meta Altair's entire body started glowing with the charge.

(Wilda: 450-100=350, Baliton: 350-100=250, Nemus: 750-300-100=350, Piercian: 650-300-100=250)=1200

(Meta Altair: 1450+500=1950, Brontes: 800+800=1600, Dynamo: 700)=4250

"Over 4000?!", Mira exclaimed. "Are they actively trying to one-up the last battle? That's insane!"

"Oh, I'm really going to enjoy watching this", Lync jeered. "Fire the Shock Cannon!"

"Brontes, go!", Volt added.

Meta Altair released the energy in an explosive green laser, large enough to dwarf a Bakugan in size. It shredded the air, threatening to overcome all four of the Brawlers' Bakugan.

Brontes, in the exact same moment, stretched both hands forward at the enemy Bakugan. All of the massive power he'd accumulated blasted ahead, rolling over the entire battlefield like a tsunami wave over a smooth beach. Yet the harshest part was undoubtedly heading towards Wilda, Nemus and their Trap allies.

"What are we even supposed to do against that?", Mira demanded.

Baron stood still for a brief second, then shot a fierce grin. "Nemus and I can handle this", he promised with a single card. "Hey, Volt! Thanks for using your best card early! This one's for you!"

"What are you talking about, kid?", Volt asked.

"You'll see." Baron locked his card in place. "Ability Activate! Copycat: Mania World!"

Nemus quickly raised up both hands, the right carrying the staff, both in the air. And then, in a mirror image of Brontes's ability, he became encased in a cloak of harsh yellow energy, pulsating with great volume.

A moment later, Nemus waved his staff forward. The asked energy shot out in a raging wave, countering both Meta Altair's blast and Brontes's own energy wave.

(Wilda: 350, Baliton: 250, Nemus: 350+600=950, Piercian: 250)=1800

(Meta Altair: 1950-1050-100=800, Brontes: 1600-1100-100=400, Dynamo: 700-300-100=300)=1500

Volt sneered. "He used our own power against us!"

Nemus's energy provided a nearly impenetrable barrier against Meta Altair's Shock Cannon, and it severely weakened Brontes's original version. Yet it kept going.

"Good going, Baron. Now it's our turn!" Mira placed a single ability inside her gauntlet. "Ability Activate! Ground Borting!"

Wilda raised his right leg high into the air, then stomping it down. The trembling of the earth resulted, followed by the raising of a massive earthen barrier, completely isolating the two sides.

Brontes's weakened energy blast collided with Wilda's earthen wall with considerable force. At full power, it would've torn through the rock and dirt impeding it. As it was, the obstacle forced the wave to disperse harmlessly.

(Wilda: 350+400=750, Baliton: 250, Nemus: 950, Piercian: 250)=2200

(Meta Altair: 800, Brontes: 400, Dynamo: 300)=1500

"This is getting ridiculous!", Lync raged. "Why aren't they stomped yet!? Double Ability Activate! Thunder Fire plus Thunder Booster!"

Meta Altair started to caw once again, the draining of Shock Cannon not even showing the automaton down. His body began to generate massive amounts of green voltage. The electricity was most centered on the tail and the chest, resulting in a double pronged lightning storm.

(Wilda: 750-200=550, Baliton: 250, Nemus: 950-300=650, Piercian: 250)=1700

(Meta Altair: 800+200+300=1300, Brontes: 400, Dynamo: 300)=2000

The lightning kept charging up until the bolts started surging out of control. Only then did Meta Altair release all of the amassed electricity - aiming straight at Wilda's earthen wall. Rock and dirt stood little chance against the concentrated lightning bolts. Within the blink of an eye, the lightning completely shredded the wall, and kept going toward all the Bakugan it was safeguarding.

But Mira was ready with another card. "Baliton, front and center!", she directed. "Ability Activate! Heavy Assail!"

Baliton curled his body up into a large spiked ball, sharp enough to dig into the dirt, and remained unmoving. Then, his body began to shine with a distinctly metallic sheen, until his entire spiked exterior was coated in a metal casing.

(Wilda: 550, Baliton: 250+300=550, Nemus: 650, Piercian: 250)=2000

(Meta Altair: 1300, Brontes: 400, Dynamo: 300)=2000

Meta Altair's lightning surged into Baliton. His metal coat absorbed nearly every bolt, protecting his shoes at his own expense. Every bolt he absorbed caused him greater damage.

"Baliton can keep that up forever", Baron said. "Nemus, let's lighten his load a bit! Ability Activate! Shade Ring!"

"Not so fast!", Volt countered, providing an ability of his own. "Maniactus Magical!"

Before Nemus could even begin to execute his ability, Brontes snapped to action. The clown kept both hands outstretched forwards, and a sudden rush of glittering yellow energy rushed out.

Nemus didn't get a single moment to ready his reflective ability before Brontes's power made contact with him. The little energy he had formed dissipated without issue.

(Wilda: 550, Baliton: 550, Nemus: 650, Piercian: 250)=2000

(Meta Altair: 1300, Brontes: 400+200=600, Dynamo: 300)=2200

Brontes allowed himself a malicious chuckle, before Haos energy rushed out of him multiple pulses, expanding just enough to affect all for enemy Bakugan at once. The pulse waves pushed them all back, but none of them were too heavily affected.

With the enemy focused on recovery, Volt had ample time to load in his follow up. "Double Ability Activate! Gillian Cords, plus Darkus Scythe!"

For the first time in the round, Dynamo made a move. His mechanized had moved to aim at Wilda. Once locked in, the red triangles on the head glowed bright yellow, before blasting or bursts of yellow lasers at Wilda.

The lasers connected with the Subterra titan, knocking him almost as far back as the room of the battlefield. After being blasted backwards, Wilda very nearly collapsed.

Volt nodded in approval. "Brontes, now!", he directed.

Brontes opened his right hand, chuckling sinisterly even as he was dragged into a barrage of Wilda's energy orbs. Purple energy appeared near Brontes's right, consolidating into a large scythe with a black handle and jagged purple blade.

(Wilda: 550-200=350, Baliton: 550-200=350, Nemus: 650-200=450, Piercian: 250-200=50)=1200

(Meta Altair: 1300, Brontes: 600, Dynamo: 300+200=500)=2400

Brontes kept up his menacing laugh, blatantly showing off by twirling his scythe with his right hand. He began a leisurely pace towards the enemy, walking without a care in the world.

"I guess it's up to me to make some cover." Lync quickly snapped two cards into place. "Sure. Let's just get this over with! Double Ability Activate! Spinal Saucer plus Shower Harpoon!"

Meta Altair let out a loud screech, the pitch high and sound mechanized. The base of each wing began to glow a green outline, which grew brighter every passing moment. After a few moments of charging up the attack, a pair of halos of green energy dropped from Meta Altair's wings, remaining in their place a few feet below. Then, the halos shot through the air, on a path to the enemy.

Moments later, two large orbs of green energy shot from Meta Altair's lower half and flew straight upwards without any kind of angle. When the pair of orbs were both high enough, they broke apart into a vast array of lasers, blasting apart and aiming for Wilda, Nemus and their backup.

(Wilda: 350, Baliton: 350, Nemus: 450, Piercian: 50)=1200

(Meta Altair: 1300+200+200=1700, Brontes: 600, Dynamo: 500)=2800

With Meta Altair's vast firepower to back him up, Brontes gripped his scythe with both hands and began a forward charge. The scythe blade was raised to slash down, and Nemus was the chosen target.

Baron watched with increasing horror as the amalgamation of Brontes and Meta Altair's full power was unleashed against Nemus. 'Is this it?'

But Mira was still able to flesh out an ability of her own. "Wilda, go! Ability Activate! Clay Wall!"

Wilda raised up one leg as high as he could, tilting over to make it difficult to balance on his other leg. When he finally stomped the foot onto the ground, it created a large rumble that shook the earth.

Far ahead of Wilda - in between Nemus and the Vexos, actually - another earthen wall rose up to impede the Vexos. The combination of Meta Altair's lasers and Brontes's scythe sliced and blasted into the wall, leaving it scorched and slashed up in numerous places. Yet the attacks stopped there.

(Wilda: 350+200=550, Baliton: 350, Nemus: 450, Piercian: 50)=1400

(Meta Altair: 1700-800=900, Brontes: 600-100=500, Dynamo: 500-100=400)=1800

"Another rock wall", Lync jeered. "When are you going to stop playing defense and actually fight?! I'm tired of this battle, so stop hiding behind your shields and lose like good little insects!"

Baron took a deep breath to calm down. "Now I get it", he said. "We're wearing them down. The longer this battle goes on, the more desperate they get."

"Exactly." Mira nodded in confirmation. "We'll go on the attack soon."

"If this is about defense, I've got the perfect thing." Baron's gauntlet flashed with another ability. "Piercian, you're up! Ability Activate! Eternal Cocoon!"

Although his power was as minimized as possible, Piercian showed no doubt as he calmly stepped ahead of Nemus. Then, his whole body began to shine yellow and morph, his very figure altering to execute the ability.

Piercian morphed into a gigantic shield, royal blue in color, the base belt a large rectangle and supported by two half-circle shields on either side.

"Okay. We're ready!" Baron gave Mira a thumbs up.

Volt didn't give any vocal signs of aggravation, but his eyes made it clear. "Enough. Brontes, stop them right there!" He locked his ability in place. "Ability Activate! Jeer Frontier!"

Brontes extended his right hand, forcing out his own wave of yellow energy, which pulsed through the air at incredible speeds. As he was exponentially closer to the enemy than the rest of his allies, it reached the frontrunner Piercian within half a second.

But that's where it stopped. The yellow energy connected with the shield where it should've passed over and through it. And then, it dissipated into a useless yellow glitter.

Volt's face slackened. "That should've shut down your abilities!"

"Sorry. That's my fault." Baron grinned at his success. "As long as Piercian's Eternal Cocoon is active, you won't get anything past him!"

"It can't be!", Lync gasped.

"Oh, it is", Baron replied. "You don't believe me? Go ahead and try us!"

Lync snarled, pulling out two abilities of his own, but Volt caught his arm. "What?"

"It won't work", Volt said. "Save it for when that shield goes down."

"Not gonna happen!" Both Baron and Mira had both selected and loaded in a duo of abilities. "Ready?"

"Yup!", Mira confirmed.

"Double Ability, Activate!"

"Apollon Head plus Iron Plate!"

"Ancient Glow plus Corona Hole!"

Baliton finally uncurled from his metallic ball, reverting to his more bestial form in preparation for the attack. He snarled, eyeing Meta Altair with the ferocity of an animal. All of his spikes shot off his four legged body, revealing that they were connected to Baliton by thick ropes.

All of the spikes overshot Meta Altair, allowing the ropes to wrap around the conjoined Bakugan enough to completely entangle him. Baliton snarled again, before slowly reeling in the lines, dragging Meta Altair along with them.

At the same time, Wilda glowed an orange outline for an incredibly brief moment. The outline flickered out, but the ability was already in effect.

Out of nowhere, Brontes's feet stiffened up. From the ground below him, a metallic costing rose up through his body, freezing up Brontes along the way. The metal coating stopped at Brontes's waist but the damage was already extensive.

Volt's entire figure slackened. "Brontes… without movement, we're weakened."

"Nemus, we're up! Let's finish this!", Baron called out.

Nemus took a hold of his staff with both hands, aiming the tip at the Vexos Bakugan. The sun design at the end filled up with a large amount of Haos energy. The energy was two slightly different shades of yellow, indicating that two different abilities were charging simultaneously.

(Wilda: 550, Baliton: 350+200=550, Nemus: 450+200=650, Piercian: 50)=1800

(Meta Altair: 900-200-300=400, Brontes: 500-200=300, Dynamo: 400)=1100

Lync's eyes widened, the pupils minimized. "Get out of there, Altair!"

Meta Altair tried to comply, straining its wings and propellers to fly in an evasive pattern. But Baliton's weight prevented that, and his strength continually tugged the mechanical Bakugan towards him.

Brontes was obviously unable to try any kind of evasion, with the legs petrified and glowed to the ground. Dynamo offspring itself ahead of Brontes to shield him, but it wouldn't last long.

Seeing all three opponents, Nemus finally deployed his attack. The dual energy shot out of his staff in a fused attack, heading for all three at once.

Meta Altair and Dynamo disputed audibly when Nemus's blast overcame them; Brontes let out a pathetic wail. All three of them shrunk down within a few seconds of being caught in the blast, and they all returned to the Vexos in utter defeat.

Volt: 0%

Lync: 0%

"And it's over… for the second time today, the Vexos were shown up by tournament newcomers. Baron and Mira have clutched victory in the tag team tournament with a hard fought contest!"

Baron and Mira caught their Bakugan as they returned to them. Then, they focused their attention on the crowd, who were giving them all the praise in the world.

Baron finally let out his breath, a tired grin on his face. "I wasn't sure we'd be able to pull it off", he said. "Think the others had enough time?"

"We can only hope", Mira replied, just as tiredly. "We gave them as much time as we could."

XXX

Back in the control room, Marucho was wrapping up with his work in the console.

"Hey you done? I think the battle's over", Dan asked, a hologram of the fight being projected from a device in his hand. "Mira and Baron won, by the way."

"They did great", Marucho said absent-mindedly. "And yeah. I'm in."

Just in time, the screen of the console flashed a new alert in Vestal writing. Marucho was able to have it translated as: "Warning. Power storage at 195% capacity. Suggestion: Power expulsion to stabilize storage."

"Checkmate." Typing in a few commands to seize the opportunity, Marucho smirked all the while. "If Mira's right, the storage usually has 80% capacity, and it busts at 200%. So let's expel some energy." He chuckled. "Just more than it recommends."

The commands went through and were executed, due to the access Marucho had gained in the systems. The control room shook a barely noticeable amount as massive amounts of energy shot out of the Dimension Controller, high above the control room.

Just then, the computer gave Marucho another alert. "Warning. Dimension Controller at 15% capacity. Unable to maintain current energy field. Resizing…"

"We've done it", Shun said. "Now, lock it down. Do whatever you have to do. Just make sure it won't be undone."

"Already done", Marucho affirmed. "I changed everything about accessing this account, and I de-authorized the others. Hydron's access is good for something."

"Then we should get out of here", Drago said. "The longer we remain here, the worse off we are."

"Right", the others replied.

XXX

Alice stood at the base of an elevator to a battling platform, waiting for two people to come by before it could rise. It was time for the tournament's awards ceremony and, if everything went to plan, the finishing touch to their plan.

'That is, if everything else went to plan', Alice internally corrected. Spectra's influence had very nearly cost them her part in the plan. Yet she succeeded, and she knew that Mira and Baron won their battle; she could only hope the others were just as successful.

"Hey!"

Alice averted her attending forward, where Mira and Baron were rushing towards her. "Good to see you both", she greeted.

"Wait… that's it?" Mira was unrepentantly incredulous. " 'Good to see you'? Just a standard greeting?! What are you even doing here?!"

Alice blushed embarrassedly, remembering that Mira and Baron had no way to be clued in on her real part of the plan. They still thought she was supposed to bow out of the Vexos challenge. And anyone who had a faint knowledge of Alice would be confused at how she acted in her battle against Spectra. "I'll explain later. We don't have much time right now."

Baron nodded. "You're right, Master." He gave a thumbs up. "Still, that battle against Spectra was great. Thanks for getting him back for Tigrerra."

Alice felt a rush of empathy as she engendered that Baron had a personal stake in Spectra's loss. He'd lost Tigrerra to that masked menace. "I'm glad I could give you some closure."

"The battle was hard fought", Hydranoid acknowledged, providing his testimony of the conflict. "Helios was a truly powerful enemy, and Spectra directed him well."

But Spectra's mention pulled Alice's thoughts to her previous realization: the man behind that menacing mask. As she remembered how Spectra wore Keith's face, she couldn't help but ponder whether to tell Mira, and if so, whether to tell the others. She couldn't figure it out.

"Alice?"

Alice's mind returned to the forefront, and she realized her gaze had absent-mindedly shifted to Mira's direction. "Sorry", she apologized.

Before any of them could say any more, the elevator finally started moving up, raising the three towards their awards ceremony.

"Showtime", Leonidas said, chuckling. "This'll be good."

"Is there something we should know?", Nemus asked.

"It'll make sense when it happens." That was all the explanation Leonidas offered, and neither Alice or Hydranoid added anything.

Then, the elevator reached its peak, and the three friends were greeted by the loud and adoring populace of Alpha City.

"Here they are, people! Three battlers who have claimed victory from our well known Vexos champions! Our new tag team champions, Mira and Baron. And, of course, the singles division champion who triumphed over Spectra Phantom himself, Malice!"

As every one of their names were mentioned, the crowd roared out the spoken name.

The announcer himself was on the platform with them, on the rim that wouldn't defend as part of the elevator. He held two gold-looking trophies in each hand, with the microphone attached to his face.

"Baron, Mira. Congratulations on defeating Lync and Volt in a tag team battle!" The announcer walked over to the duo and handed over one of the trophies, which Mira deigned to accept. She gave him an acknowledging nod. "As the tag team champions, you are now given the chance to accept tournament winner challenges, instead of the Vexos you've defeated. Do you accept?"

It barely took a second for the two Vestals to emphatically shake their heads. The crowd was less enthusiastic with their replies, but they still seemed to respect their decision.

"Very well." The announcer moved over. Although he was supposed to be impartial, anyone with eyes could see the increasing spring in his step as he neared Alice. "And here she is! The unknown battler who outdid our best and strongest while in his element. The battle who used Alpha Hydranoid himself, a Bakugan that's all but legendary in his own right! The new Darkus master! MALICE!"

The crowd went wild for the umpteenth time as Alice was presented with the trophy. She accepted it readily, taking it in her left arm.

"As you all know, the winner of the singles division's Vexos challenge is evaluated on whether they could join the Vexos. And, after careful consideration, it's been determined that Malice has more than earned such an offer!" The announcer presented Alice with a microphone. "So, what will it be? Will you take Shadow Prove's Darkus position on the Vexos?"

Alice took the microphone; it would be useful in the coming moments. "I refuse." Before the crowd could voice any reaction, Alice began speaking again. "But I do have more to say."

The whole crowd was silent. Their new champion had earned their attention, at the very least.

Alice squatted down to put down her trophy, standing back up to address everyone. "All throughout this tournament, you've been calling me 'mysterious,' 'masked,' and 'unknown.' That changes now." She swiftly took off her mask, giving the cameras around her a good look at her. "I helped form the very planet we're on right now. I helped Hydranoid get to the level he's currently at. My name is Alice Gehabich, and I've come to unmask the royal family and Vexos for who they really are."

A collective gasp came from the crowd. Any other day, and their reaction would've been more profound. But after seeing Cycloid, then Hydranoid, this was truly not that much of a shock.

Knowing he had their undivided attention, Alice kept going. "I don't know all the stories you've heard about the Bakugan Battle Brawlers, but I'm here to say most of them are accurate. That includes the fact that the Bakugan are an intelligent and sentient species. The Vestal Empire hasn't colonized New Vestroia; they've conquered it in an unprovoked attack. They enslaved its indigenous people, and had you do the same."

"And, for all those who don't trust me at my word, hear and believe. Hydranoid?"

Hydranoid's ball form hopped onto Alice's right shoulder and popped open. Alice moved her mic to share it with Hydranoid, and he took the opportunity.

"Hear me, Vestals!", Hydranoid bellowed. The crowd went deathly silent with his aggressive announcement. "I am Alpha Hydranoid, former servant of Masquerade, current and forever partner to Alice. And you have all been deceived by your rulers and their Vexos champions into enslaving my kind by the hundreds."

"I call you all now to correct this error. Send the Bakugan you possess out of the city. Give them a chance to escape. And for all those who refuse, who still choose to support your tyrants, you mark us as enemies. Bring it on."

The bubble that the Vestal people had been kept in was fully popped. The stories of Earth were all true. The Brawlers were here, actively calling them out. And the royal family had been all but tried and convicted in horrible crimes.

Even as this went on, all the Bakugan in the range of Alpha City's Dimension Controller suddenly found their bindings disappear, except for the Bakugan in the city itself. Scores of the native Bakugan all returned to normal, taking back their lands and homes.

The plan was a total success. The reclamation of New Vestroia had begun.

XXX

And that's the chapter. I hope you enjoyed! If you did, be sure to follow or favorite the story. If you want to say anything, feel free to leave a review or PM me. Before I go, responses:

SkylanderZilla: Yes, yes he will. He just never had a chance to blast a mechanical Bakugan with that venom. Give it time.

Plasma Dragon 312: "Spectra stood limply, unable to move even to retrieve his Bakugan, and observed his opponent catching her own Bakugan." That's the exact quote of Spectra's immediate reaction to his loss. I honestly don't know what you're talking about.

marianoaiello6: forgive me for not replying in your primary language, but considering my whole story is English, it should be fine. Anyway, what you said is entirely possible. Can't say more without spoiling things.

Until next time, goodbye!