Zenoheld's Revenge: Annihilation: Remastered

by ariace613

Sequel to Alice in New Vestroia: Remastered. The remaster to the second arc of my story. A more robust story with better defined characters, and a more nuanced story line. It will sync up perfectly to the regular third installment of my story, as this is the last arc I will include in the remaster. I hope you enjoy.

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

XXX

Chapter 1: The Soldiers' Valiance

'The large park in Earth's Wardington City was as tranquil as it usually was. The clouds in the sky were few and far between, the temperature was comfortable, and the breeze was pleasant. People were strolling through the park's walkways, but not so many that it disturbed the peace in the environment.

Runo and Julie, two of the six humans that called themselves the Bakugan Battle Brawlers, were sitting together at one of the many benches that dotted Warrington Park. However, despite the pleasant nature of the area, the two of them were more worried than anything else.

"It's been a few days, now." Runo said, almost bitterly. "I wonder when Dan and Alice will be back."

"Shun and Marucho, too", Julie sniped, earning a chuckle from her friend. "But seriously, you've got to be patient. There's no way to know how long it'll take them to free New Vestroia. We just need to have faith."

As their conversation had implied, it had been almost a week since their friends had gone back to New Vestroia, to finish the Bakugan liberation that they'd started. Runo and Julie had both opted out of joining them, on account of not having a suitable Bakugan or enough experience in Vestal battling. They'd only have held their friends back as they were, and would've needed weeks of practice that wasn't logistically plausible. It was the sensible choice to stay behind.

But that only made waiting more suspenseful. Runo and Julie had an idea of what their friends were up against now. While that did lessen the fear that the anonymity created, it also increased the menace that the Vestal invasion invoked.

In short, the two girls were worried for their friends, and that was only made worse by the knowledge that they couldn't do anything to help.

"You're right, Julie." Despite the grounding their fear had, Runo chose to be optimistic about it. "I'm sure our friends are fighting with everything they've got to free Tigrerra, Gorem and all the other Bakugan. We just need to believe that they'll succeed."

Julie shrugged, an easygoing smile on her face. "Who knows? Maybe they're already done, and a Dimension Gate will open up right next to us, right now."

The Subterra battler chuckled at the absurd notion, with the Haos one softly laughing a moment later. It had only been a few days. The campaign to free the Bakugan should probably last far into the upcoming weeks.

So their shock was almost palpable when, with a sound like the crack of thunder, a circular portal opened up right next to them. Peering into the portal let them see a dark tunnel that they couldn't see the end of, with the circumference of the entrance crackling with energy.

"... So, this is actually happening. I guess I'm prophetic now." Even in the shock of the moment, Julie couldn't help but make a crack about it.

'Dan?' Runo reached hand out toward the portal, hoping it was transporting who they hoped it was. And, fortunately, their hopes would be confirmed.

The first being to emerge from the portal was exactly the person Runo most hoped it was. Clad in a red and white jacket, one that was admittedly scuffed up, and smiling a wide grin upon seeing Runo, was Dan Kuso himself. Immediately after exiting the portal, he took a couple steps to approach Runo.

"Sorry for making you wait, Runo." Dan grinned at the bluenette. The Pyrus battler put a hand inside his pocket, taking out a single, marble sized object. A white colored and yellow marked Bakugan ball. "But you don't have to worry anymore."

Gingerly, Runo took the Bakugan from Dan, smiling with relief. "Tigrerra."

The ball popped open, revealing a Bakugan that Runo knew better than any other: her closest Bakugan partner, Haos Blade Tigrerra. "It's been so long, Runo. It's so good to see you again."

"Yeah. It's good to know you're safe." Runo nodded, a grateful smile on her face. Then, she returned her gaze to Dan. "You actually did it, Dan. You brought her back."

Dan smiled good naturedly. "It was a team effort." He might have said more, but Runo interrupted him by embracing him in a right hug. A big that Dan quickly returned. "It's good to be back, Runo."

The next people to exit the portal, in that order, would be Alice, Shun and Marucho. All of them physically relaxed upon returning to their home planet.

"You're all back!" Exuberant, Julie charged Alice and put her in a hug. "It's been so long!"

"Hasn't it only been a few days?", Alice asked, genuinely confused. It was possible for there to be a temporal irregularity between dimensions, so a few days on New Vestroia might be longer on Earth.

"Yeah, but it felt like forever!", Julie replied cheerily. "So, if everyone's back, then I guess we've done it, right?"

"Right." Like Dan had earlier with Runo, Alice quickly brought out a brown and orange Bakugan from her pocket. "Julie?"

Smiling widely, Julie accepted the Subterra Attributed Bakugan. "Gorem!"

The Bakugan opened up, Subterra Hammer Gorem being just as eager to reunite with Julie as Julie was. "It's been far too long, old friend."

"You actually did it!" Julie looked over the group. "You saved all of New Vestroia, didn't you?"

"Yeah." Shun confirmed it with a nod. "Looking back, I still can't believe it only took a few days."

"Maybe, but those last few days were the most intense ones of the entire campaign!", Marucho countered.

"I'm going to want some details about that", Runo said, glaring intently at Dan. "You didn't get into too much trouble again, right?"

"I'll share the details, don't worry", Dan assured her, rubbing the back of his neck. However, he knew well just how much trouble he'd got in. And what it cost.

It must've been shown somewhere, because Runo started looking concerned herself. Looking for anything amiss, she looked over the group once again, noting the Bakugan they had with them. Shun had Skyress and another Ventus Bakugan she hadn't seen before. Marucho possessed both of the Preyas brothers, as well as another unfamiliar Bakugan. Alice had both Hydranoid and Leonidas. But she didn't see any sign of Dan's partner.

"Is Drago okay?", Runo asked. Her eyes went wide. "Did he have to stay in New Vestroia?"

Dan winced, as if he'd been pained by the question. "More than that. Drago… he had to reassimilate with the Perfect Core. I don't think we'll ever battle together again, Runo."

Runo then felt awful for asking such an insensitive question, knowing that she had likely just poured salt on a fresh wound. "Dan, I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Dan smiled once more, and Runo could tell if was still sincere. "Drago assured me that he had no regrets, so I won't regret it either. If I could do it all over again… well, I think we made the right choices."

The group started like that for a long time, just going over what had transpired on New Vestroia. And, just like that, the tranquil environment in Wardington Park became even more genuine.'

XXX

Six months after the Bakugan Battle Brawlers had their fateful reunion, the team hadn't disassembled or gone back to their normal lives. As far as they knew, the Vestal ruling class was still very much a threat, substantiated by what their Vestal allies could tell them. That meant that, unless the unexpected happened, King Zenoheld's reprisal against the Brawlers was all but inevitable.

They couldn't rest on their laurels, and they couldn't afford to lower their guard. As such, they had to begin their training in earnest. They had to be as prepared as possible for King Zenoheld to attack, backed by Prince Hydron, the loyal Vexos battlers, and whatever mechanical Bakugan that Professor Clay engineered for them to fight with.

At that time, that meant large scale group training exercises for the human Brawlers, taking place in a large field nearby Alice's home. And "group training exercises" was basically a euphemism for "five sided battle royale," with Runo, Julie, Marucho, Shun and Alice all participating. Dan, due to his lack of a Bakugan, served as an impartial observer for the training sessions.

At the moment, though, only two of them were actually battling; the rest were taking a break from the intense training. The two exceptions to that rule were Shun Kazami, Ventus specialist of the team, and Alice Gehabich, the resident master of Darkus.

Beyond being on the same team, though, the two had a few other things in common. One of those similarities was the fact that they both had two primary Bakugan to regularly utilize in battle. And they were both using their traditionally weaker Bakugan for this exercise.

That meant the two combatants were Ventus Ingram, a quasi humanoid with bird like claws for fingers and toes, soft with six green feathered wings, facing Darkus Leonidas, a savage looking purple dragon that fought as fiercely as it looked like it would.

Shun Kazami pressed a button on the gauntlet strapped to his arm, holding an ability card in the other hand. Once the gauntlet's compartment opened up, Shun placed the card inside and locked it closed. The gauntlet glowed green to signify the ability's successful activation. "Ability Activate! Shadow Split!"

Pausing for only a fraction of a second to get his technique ready, Ingram soon took off straight upwards, and into the air. His six wings carried him up with an incredible speed. Even during his flight up, Ingram's body started glowing green.

Leonidas spread his wings out and ascended after him in chase, his claws outstretched and ready to strike. However, he wouldn't get the chance to get Ingram that time.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Ingram's form blurred out, until four copies of Ingram's body appeared, flying in four different directions. It was all but impossible for Leonidas to tell which was which by sight alone.

Alice didn't waste a moment in thought, knowing a way to handle the situation. Her gauntlet accepted her ability card within moments. "Ability Activate! Delta Twister!"

"Grrr…." Snarling angrily, Leonidas became encased in an aura of purple energy. However, it took several seconds before that aura would manifest into an actual attack in and of itself. Once it was ready, however, the Darkus power expanded into a large energy twister that sent waves of energy all over the area.

The energy waves caught up to the four Ingram duplicates within moments. Whichever ones were mere copies would dematerialize by the high pressure of the attack. Surprisingly, all four of them were taken out, disappearing into a puff of smoke.

"Where'd he go?", Leonidas questioned, trying to see outside his tornado to search for his opponent. However, that only left him wide open when Ingram revealed himself right below Leonidas, landing a hard uppercut in the process.

"GAH!" Angered, Leonidas crashed to the ground on his feet, the tornado dissipating without his power funneling it. Ingram floated down just above Leonidas, giving the Darkus Bakugan a harsh state in the process.

"Yield, Leonidas." Ingram raised a fist, ready to strike.

"Tch." Leonidas scoffed, before looking aside. "Fine, fine." His body glowed purple, shrinking down to a ball small enough to hold with human hands, then shot back to Alice. Ingram also shrank down to ball form, returning to Shun.

Alice shook her head, embarrassed with herself. "That was way too slow. Too sloppy. It gave Ingram the chance to slip by unnoticed."

"You're telling me!?" Leonidas raged at the criticism he saw as uncalled for. "You made the wrong call. You should've had me nullify the ability!"

"Area of effect attacks should've been just as capable of neutralizing that duplication", Alice explained her decision. "That would've left your nullification cards for subsequent attacks."

"Great plan, genius." Leonidas's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Too bad that it failed."

Alice sighed. "I think it's clear that we're still out of sync."

"That much was obvious, unfortunately." Shun walked over to his teammate. "It has a noticeable effect in battle."

Ingram's ball opened up on Shun's shoulder, signifying his desire to speak. "How long has it been since we started working on this? Six months?"

"Yeah, ever since we got back", Dan replied from his spot. He smiled, trying to find a positive in this. "Hey, at least Alice and Leonidas are trying. Leo didn't even want to battle with Alice at all, at first. This is progress."

"Not enough progress." Hydranoid spoke on Alice's right shoulder. "We have no idea when Zenoheld's Vexos might attack us. We need to be ready to battle, and Leonidas can't help us fight the Vexos off if he can't battle properly with Alice."

"I know, you multi headed lizard." In his annoyance, Leonidas either forgot or ignored the fact that he was as much of a lizard that Hydranoid was. "It's easier to criticize over it than to actually get it done."

"Leonidas." Alice bowed her head. "I know I really hurt you back then, and I've apologized so many times over it. But we have to move on."

Leonidas growled, but didn't say anything in reply.

During the brief time Alice had spent on Earth during her efforts to free New Vestroia, she'd made a choice that severely damaged Leonidas's trust in her as a battling partner, and that had affected their ability to brawl together. As Dan said, they were improving their synchronicity, but not by much. Not by enough.

It had been easy for Alice to craft a bond with Leonidas at the beginning. After what had transpired on Earth, the bond was strained near the breaking point, and hanging together by only a thread. It was proving a far more difficult challenge for Alice to repair that bond.

"I'm sure you'll get better at working together." Marucho said, having approached the group alongside Runo and Julie. "You've already demonstrated great progress up till now. If you keep it up, I'm positive that you'll be tip top battling partners again before you even realize it!" He made a thumb's up signal with his right hand.

"At least you never got up to any 'throw each other into river phases'." Runo looked pointedly at Dan when she said this.

"Hey!" Dan flushed at the accusation. "I didn't know what I was doing back then! You can't hold that against me!"

"Wait." Leonidas looked Dan in the eye. If the detail could be shown in his ball form, Leonidas would've looked incredulous. "You actually threw Drago into a river? I thought that was just a far-fetched joke story!"

"No, it really happened." Dan looked so sincere, Leonidas actually believed him. "It was right after I first fought Masquerade." He gestured to Alice, who shrugged in seeming indifference. "Drago and I were fighting his first lackey, some punk called Rikimaru, and we couldn't agree on how to take the guy on. It… it got too many Bakugan sent to the Doom Dimension, and Drago barely won by the skin of his teeth. Once the battle was over… I couldn't accept that I was wrong about it all, and threw Drago into the river."

"Sounds childish", Leonidas chided.

"It was, but I found Drago later and apologized about it." Dan gained a faraway look. "I didn't deserve it, but Drago still forgave me. He gave me another chance. That was the real start of our partnership." He turned his look to Leonidas. "You don't have to forgive Alice, but who knows what could happen if you do. Just think about it."

Leonidas was as silent as everyone else for a few moments, thinking over Dan's advice with intense scrutiny. After a while, he sighed. "You're a lot smarter than you're given credit for, Kuso."

"Nah, I've just been through a lot with Drago." Dan waved the praise away.

"Yeah, yeah." Leonidas looked back to Alice. "I can't promise it'll be instant, but… I'll try to trust you again."

Alice smiled thankfully. "I'm glad. I won't betray your trust again."

"Okay then!" All of a sudden, Julie wrapped her left arm around Alice's neck. "If we're done with the dramatic heart to heart, let's get back to training!"

"Alice", Hydranoid spoke up once more. "If you don't mind, may I take part in the next round?"

Alice smiled. "It's no problem at all. Leonidas should take a break."

The group of humans, along with their battle partners, soon initiated another training battle. They'd work as hard as they could to prepare for the day the Vestal royalty would strike again. They had to succeed. No matter the risk.

XXX

While the humans among the Battle Brawlers chose to prepare entirely by training with their Bakugan, the other half, composed of Vestals themselves, devoted some of their preparations to a more erudite method. That is, by examining their Bakugan with machines to figure out how best to improve their battle ability, and then training in that specific manner.

The one who took the lead in that project was Keith Clay, who was formerly known as Spectra Phantom of the Vexos. However, the red cloak and mask that had defined Spectra's appearance were both nowhere to be seen, his getup replaced with a red button down jacket with several pockets, a white shirt underneath, and dark brown pants. His mask had no replacement, his blue eyes openly displayed, and blonde dyeing in his hair was grown out to the tips, the natural pink reclaiming its place.

Working alongside Keith was Gus Grav, also formerly of the Vexos. And, like Keith, Gus had discarded the outfit that he'd worn as part of Zenoheld's team. Instead, all Gus wore was a black jumpsuit with several gray linings.

The establishment the two were utilizing was one that had been adapted specifically for analyzing Bakugan. Ironically, the previous owner of it was Professor Clay, Keith's father, who'd abandoned Vestal alongside Zenoheld. It was also the same lab that Keith had worked in before the New Vestroia colonization, so he was familiar with the layout and machinery.

None of the rest of the team were currently inside the laboratory, as they had no experience in studying Bakugan physiology. The only other Vestal in the room, or compound at all, was a lean and fit gray uniformed man that stared at the two expectantly. He was an officer that worked for Vestal's new government, tasked with making sure Zenoheld's former associates didn't try anything nefarious.

Not that it was strictly necessary. Both Keith and Gus had been tagged with high tech tracking devices by that same Vestal government as another aspect of their parole, so they couldn't exactly move about discreetly. Still, Keith understood the reasoning behind the choice, given what he had done, and Gus respected Keith's judgment of the situation. As such, neither had objected to the ruling.

At the current time, the two were examining the battle data of all the Bakugan the Vestal Battle Brawlers used, in order to determine how best to progress their development. While this was an area of study that both of them had a great deal of expertise and experience in, Keith had come to realize that they had taken it way too far. Their last attempt was to genetically engineer Helios, Keith's Bakugan dating back to when he was Spectra, with genetic strands from Drago's body to gain the ultimate power. It was even partially successful, having caused Helios to evolve into Spire Helios. However, Spectra had been defeated in the last step, causing him to realize that he would never have actually been able to succeed. He'd chosen to resume his identity as Keith after that.

Still, going too far in the field only meant the two were overqualified for their chosen task, as long as they respected the limits of moderation and refused to cross that line again.

"Let's review the information we've gathered, Gus." Keith decided for the duo. "As well as suggestions for maximum gain."

"As you wish, sir." Gus bowed his head, showing the same level of deference to Keith as he did from the time he was called Spectra. "First, Pyrus Spire Helios." An image of the red and black dragonic Bakugan appeared on the screen in front of the two. "Attack power, defensive prowess, aerial mobility and energy capacity are all at unheard of levels for living Bakugan. The power provided by the Chaos Ability X infusion serves as a final, unbeatable trump card when it's necessary."

"It isn't unbeatable." Keith had to correct the assessment.

"Yes." Gus frowned, knowing his boss was right. "Also, Helios's former connection to New Vestroia's Perfect Core has been fully severed, so he can't utilize its power anymore."

"Perhaps it's for the best", Keith offered.

Gus looked flabbergasted. "How so? Less power means we're more vulnerable to Zenoheld."

"If Helios's connection to the Core was maintained, it would've had a drastic impact on New Vestroia." Keith felt free to explain himself. "If real power is more easily gained while protecting something important to you, perhaps there is something in New Vestroia worth safeguarding. If so, then I can't have its destruction."

Gus's frown deepened, but he didn't object any further. "If you say so." He was highly skeptical, but tried to keep it hidden. "In any case, a byproduct of tampering with Helios's genetic makeup has seemed to affect his evolutionary development. It's been months, but I haven't recorded any improvement."

"That's highly unfortunate." Keith frowned as well. "Could we have compromised Helios's ability to evolve naturally?"

"It seems to be the most likely possibility, sir." Gus looked down, sympathetic for the plight of Keith's Bakugan. "I apologize for being the bearer of bad news, but the only way for Helios to progress any further will be through unnatural means."

Helios, who was listening silently in Keith's pocket, growled low at the proposal. He'd already underdone one artificial evolution, and it was the most painful thing he'd ever experienced. It would take a lot for him to willingly submit to a similar procedure.

Understanding Helios without a single word needing to be spoken, Keith looked pointedly at Gus. "If that's a suggestion for our course of action, I suggest we table that as a last resort option. We've tampered enough with Helios's biology."

Gus blinked, confused at Keith's reply, before nodding his head in agreement. "Alright. Let's just move on to the other Bakugan." He waved his hand, and Helios's image was replaced with that of a heavily armored humanoid, the helmet adorned with viking horns. "My own Bakugan, Subterra Premo Vulcan. His defensive abilities are near the peak, and it's his most notable aspect. However, offensive powers are largely limited to using the armored gauntlets, and it's cost us in battle before. I suggest condition training to enhance Vulcan's attack capabilities."

"An apt analysis, Gus." Keith nodded his approval. "Although, there is also merit in training up Vulcan's defense instead, so he'd be an unbreakable armor that could endure anything. What do you think?"

Gus internally grimaced. Despite the months that had passed, he didn't fully appreciate the transition that his master had undergone. He wasn't as commanding as he once was, and Gus knew that was entirely by design. Gus just wasn't comfortable with their alerted dynamic. But he knew he'd have to deal with it, at least for now.

They were interrupted when repeated knocking came from the doorway, disrupting the two. "Hey! We're coming in!" It was the voice of Ace Grit. And, like he'd announced, the door opened to admit him, Baron Leltoy, and Mira Clay. The other three Vestals that had joined the ranks of the Brawlers.

Keith smiled thinly as he saw Mira. "Hello, sister."

"Hey", Mira replied, her tone even cooler than liquid nitrogen.

"We just came by to check up on your work." Baron spoke with a cheery grin.

Ace shrugged. "More like we wanted to ensure you weren't doing anything nefarious under our noses." He glanced at the officer that had been overseeing them. "So, what are they up to?"

"If they are doing anything suspicious, I couldn't tell." The gray uniformed officer answered Ace without turning his gaze. "They're been going over Bakugan data."

"We were just about to get to our analysis of Wilda, Nemus, Brontes and Percival." Keith listed off the Bakugan the other three had. "So you're obviously more than welcome to listen in."

And thus, the group began their mass briefing session, their own preparations for the exiled king's return well underway. Even as their minds were occupied with the information on their Bakugan, the same question lurked in all their minds:

Where exactly was the former King Zenoheld?

XXX

'Vestal's royal courtyard was engulfed in pure and utter chaos. The courtyard surrounded the Mother Palace, the largest and most ornate structure on the surface of Vestal's northern hemisphere and home to the royal family. And considering that Vestal was essentially a single, massive city that was filled with skyscrapers, that said much about the size of the Palace. The decorations were similarly impressive, gleaming gold whenever the sunlight touched it.

The area surrounding it should have been a regal garden, adorned with the largest concentration of vegetation on the planet and blessed with a silence not afforded to many other places on the overpopulated world. Now, however, the regale and quiet were metaphorically butchered by a mass of protestors that have been raging around for weeks, almost several months by now.

And King Zenoheld despised them. He loathed those crowds as much as it was physically possible to loathe such nameless insects that should know their place, but denied it and bit back. His eyes were locked on the crowd, glaring hatefully at the mass from the other side of a window, on a high floor in the Palace. In fact, everything about his tight posture and deep scowl denoted the rage he felt.

He glared at the insects that dared to protest. No, more than that. This was no minor, harmless protest. They were revolting, trying to usurp his rule. He was their legal and rightful ruler, and they chose to rebel against him. It was unacceptable. And yet, there was little he could do to stop them.

It had all started the day word had been leaked, widespread, to the people about the Bakugan's intelligence. Beforehand, the people were told that the creatures were little more than beasts, with barely enough mind to them to follow basic commands. The people therefore relished in watching and commanding Bakugan as they fought against each other in flashy gladiatorial battles. More than that, no one objected when it was announced that Prince Hydron would be establishing a colony on their homeworld; in fact, they were ecstatic that true progress to fix the overpopulation crisis was being made. No longer was any of that the case, however.

One day, information had been leaked from the Vestal colonies on the Bakugan homeworld of New Vestroia, the ones that Zenoheld's son Hydron managed. The information detailed the truth about the Bakugan: they were highly intelligent, to the point of speech. They were a naturally peaceful people, having been forced to fight each other for the Vestal people's amusement.

Zenoheld was furious that his son had allowed such knowledge to fall into the hands of the colonists. Everyone in Zenoheld's inner circle had acknowledged that, if that would happen, the effects wouldn't just complicate the New Vestroia occupation to the point of near total unsustainability. It would also incur a severe backlash from the populace on Vestal.

But to himself, in hindsight, Zenoheld now admitted their projections had been notably underselling the possible repercussions. The situation was far worse than anyone had predicted it could be.

Once it was common knowledge that Bakugan were intelligent and sentient, on par with the Vestals, and that the royal family had actively attempted to quash that information, public opinion of King Zenoheld and Prince Hydron shifted dramatically and swiftly. Those on the power floors, the miserable slums of Vestal, had a target to project the rage their dirty lives had developed within them. Even those who lived higher up on Vestal, who had relatively more comfortable lives, denounced the royalty on both legal and moral grounds.

The legal issue aggravated Zenoheld weeks before the protests could be fully organized. In recognizing that the Bakugan were sentient life, capable of higher thought, representatives from the people had pointed out how Vestal's law forbade the enslavement of such beings. Even if the Bakugan weren't citizens of the Vestal Empire, it was against the law for anyone to force them into work, especially without appropriate compensation. That effectively outlawed Bakugan battling in its entirety.

Meaning, by sponsoring the battling while retaining full knowledge of their intelligence, the Vestal royalty had violated a core tenet of their own law, outwardly, in such a large scale it was impossible for the people to ignore it.

Zenoheld's reaction, however, only made the situation worse. His response was to alter that law to allow the actions the royal family had undertaken. However, the people refused to permit a precedent for such a gross change of civil law. Especially when it concerned the matter of actively enslaving sentient lifeforms. That was when the revolts began.

Crowds were gathering all over the planet, protesting the royal family's actions regarding the Bakugan. But they were especially concentrated on the area surrounding the Mother Palace, the people demanding to be seen, heard and recognized.

At first, Zenoheld's legion of guards stationed at the Mother Palace deterred the more weak willed among the rioters, and forcibly kept away the more daring among them. What began was a slow contest of attrition, as it seemed a sizable portion of Vestal's entire population was pressing their numbers on the more disciplined soldiers. Eventually, due to the sheer quantity pushing against them, the guard had to fall back closer to the Mother Palace and cede some of the courtyard to the rioters. Said rioters then proceeded to damage the gardens, and defile the walkways with written demands that Zenoheld pull back the New Vestroia colonies. A few days after that, the guard had to retreat even closer to the Palace, and the crowds repeated their reactions.

Now, though, the guards had ceded the entire courtyard to the insatiable people, retreating inside the Palace itself to fortify it as much as possible. There was no longer any ground to surrender to these insurrectionists. Nowhere left to run, and nowhere left to hide.

Zenoheld's problems weren't even limited to the angry mob outside. With each passing day, more and more of his supposedly loyal soldiers either turned in their resignations, or actively went AWOL to defect to the enemy. That had played a large role as to why the guards had to give up so much ground to the rioters. Zenoheld didn't know how many of them left over the treatment of the Bakugan or were too disheartened by witnessing the rage of the people they were supposed to protect, projected at them. And he didn't even care that much about which it was, either. They betrayed him by leaving, revoking another resource from Zenoheld's disposal in the process, and that was ultimately what actually mattered. By leaving, they diminished his manpower and left him further unable to force away the endless mob outside. The soldiers that left earned a special hatred from Zenoheld, having actively shirked their sworn duty to him, though it was impotent without a follow through or enforcement.

Theoretically speaking, Zenoheld could have retreated from this situation simply by utilizing dimensional transportation technology to take him somewhere else on Vestal, eliminating the threat these rebels posed. Practically speaking, however, the Mother Palace was his seat of power and most fortifiable location; it was smarter in the long run just to remain in this entrenched position and maintain his throne. Besides, these riots were happening simultaneously throughout the Vestal Empire. Nowhere on Vestal was safe enough to actually justify running away from the Palace.

King Zenoheld's introspection was brought to an end, however, when he heard a knock sound from the doorway leading from the room to the hallway. Zenoheld sighed, knowing no one would dare interrupt him, especially after considering his recent volatility, unless it was an urgent and important matter.

"Enter." King Zenoheld didn't bother restraining the anger in his voice.

The door slowly opened, and a man dressed in the uniform of Zenoheld's guard hesitantly stepped inside. When the king turned to look at the man, Zenoheld recognized him as his secretary, and that he was somewhat intimidated by Zenoheld's angered tone.

"I apologize for disturbing you, King Zenoheld. Please accept my severest apologies." The secretary bent his upper body in a bow, clutching a tablet to his chest while he did so.

Zenoheld nodded at the respect given to him. With his influence waning, it was admittedly nice to still have such loyal attendants. "You may rise."

The loyal servant rose, standing at full height. "We've received a message from a group that apparently denotes themselves as 'the Vestal Representation.' It was passed to the guard by an envoy from the rioters." He reached out with his arms, offering the tablet to the royal.

Zenoheld accepted the tablet, barely paying his secretary any mind. He merely fumed at anyone having the gall of calling themselves a 'representation' of his people. It was a direct insult and mockery to his right to rule them!

His rage only grew more intense as he read the message within the tablet, formatted as digitized text:

'We are the Vestal Representation, chosen by the people to champion the true ideals of the populace, not what the royal family declares their ideals should be. By the authority of the people we represent, the citizens of planet Vestal, we find King Zenoheld, Prince Hydron and all who serve them guilty of corruption and enslaving intelligent life forms over their treatment of the Bakugan. Furthermore, by the will of the Vestal people, we declare the royal family and their servants to be traitors to Vestal and therefore abolish their government. The former King Zenoheld is henceforth demanded to submit himself to incarceration and prosecution for his crimes.'

As Zenoheld finished reading the brief but to the point message, his anger grew so much it seemed to loop back to calm. "The nerve of them. Declaring themselves a rival government… no, not a rival. A replacement government. They're even openly demanding my surrender." His fist tightened. "Damn that foolish boy, Hydron. If he had been competent enough, none of this ever would've happened at all."

"Do you have any orders for us, your Majesty?" The servant lowered his head once more in submission. "Your loyal servants will obey."

Zenoheld kept silent for a while. As angry as he was at this so-called Representation, he couldn't challenge them right now. They clearly had the backing of the people, and his army wasn't strong enough to force them to back down. Contesting them with what he had wouldn't work. Even staying where he was wouldn't help in the long run. Eventually, the people outside would break in, leaving truly no other choice but to surrender to them.

As distasteful as it was, King Zenoheld only had one option.

"We have no choice." Zenoheld's words inspired trepidation in the listening servant. "We must retreat from Vestal and regroup. We can only retake the Empire after consolidating the power we have remaining." Zenoheld looked at the secretary. "Inform the command center to begin takeoff procedures for the Mother Palace."

"Yes, sire." The man bowed lower, before rising up, turning around and exiting the room. He closed the door behind him, leaving Zenoheld the room and returning the ruler to his thoughts.

Zenoheld cursed the bind this Representation placed on him. Even though he acknowledged retreating as the best option available to him at the time, it would be seen by the people as an active abdication of the government. Which, in turn, would only give the Representation more public approval and even some legitimacy to their claim to government. He'd be put in an even worse position than the one he was already in.

Even so, Zenoheld knew he couldn't afford to go to war with most of the population. Not with the depleting manpower he had to work with. Not to mention that actually engaging in conflict would only put him in a worse light in the eyes of the people, and subsequently risk the destabilization of his entire Empire more so than it already is. No, retreating was the best choice. The only choice available to him, really.

But that didn't mean he liked it. In fact, he'd be cursing Hydron's failures for creating this escalating domino effect in the first place. More than that, he would henceforth concentrate his efforts on taking revenge against the ones truly responsible for taking his world from him.

The Battle Brawlers. A group of earthling interlopers who had done their best to spread the word about the Bakugan as far as they could, actively ruining everything they could in the process. They forced Hydron to his last resorts in order to preserve the occupation of New Vestroia, and Zenoheld doubted it would last much longer. And they had turned a once loyal population against their King.

As Zenoheld felt the Mother Palace shake with the force of a moderately severe earthquake, taking comfort in the knowledge that the rocket system incorporated within the structure was at play, he started to plan out his next move. His deliberation continued up to and beyond the time the Palace rose up, blasting off into the upper atmosphere of the planet.

Given his sudden depletion of resources, Zenoheld knew that he couldn't keep what he had separated any longer. Meaning, he would have to collect the personnel still loyal to him in New Vestroia. He would contact them as soon as the Mother Palace could escape Vestal's solar system, and call them to rendezvous with the Palace as soon as he could.

Professor Clay and his subordinates in Vestal's science division would be absolutely essential to Zenoheld if he ever wanted to revive his rule. Now that he lost his hold on the people, it would be up to Clay's ingenuity and innovation to create an arsenal to take vengeance on the Battle Brawlers and retake Vestal. Their mechanical Bakugan projects were developing stronger and stronger units the more Clay could develop the project, and those machines would be instrumental in combating other Bakugan.

The people of secondary importance were the Vexos battlers that Hydron had gathered. While the Bakugan they used were inferior to Clay's creations, that team comprised Vestal's strongest battlers. Once they could get their hands on Clay's masterpieces, they'd be able to crush anything.

Finally, there was the newly dethroned Prince Hydron himself. While Zenoheld blamed his offspring, at least somewhat, for this disaster Zenoheld recognized the cunning plan that had worked against the Prince. Hydron still had a degree of actual competence, one that Zenoheld could no longer afford to waste on his rage and selfish indulgence. Hydron would have to prove himself useful, however.

When Zenoheld next looked out the window, he saw the infinite blackness of space, dotted by the small lights of the infinite stars. They'd left Vestal's orbit, probably not to return for quite some time. The only objects to be clearly seen were the small fleet of Vestal Destroyers, space traveling warships that made up Vestal's navy, surrounding the mobile Palace in escort.

Resigned to what was happening, Zenoheld left the observation room to initiate a communication with New Vestroia. It was time to inform his foolish son of the full weight of his failures, and call him back to the Mother Palace.'

XXX

Even reminiscing about that day still put Zenoheld in a disagreeable mood. Even now, when it was several months in the past, he didn't like to recall it. Yet Zenoheld had no choice, as the events of that day had defined every moment afterwards of Zenoheld's life.

Despite Zenoheld sitting on a regal throne, wearing an overly ornate royal cloak while his son and four of his Vexos were on a knee and bowing their heads, that day reminded the man that he was not King. Not anymore. Not after those Brawlers stole his throne and people right out from under him.

But Zenoheld couldn't waste time by merely experiencing his rage, as both time and anger were precious resources that he couldn't afford to waste. Now that he had so much fewer resources, he had to use what he had very sparingly.

Zenoheld scrutinized the five individuals kneeling before him in a merciless gaze. These were the most elite Bakugan battlers still loyal to him, the ones he would utilize the most in his upcoming plans of attack.

The most familiar to him was, of course, Hydron. Zenoheld's son, the heir that would claim whatever Zenoheld left behind. Whether that was the whole Vestal Empire or simply a vengeful vendetta against its people, however, was now up in the air and would be decided on the success of the upcoming operations.

In the months that passed Zenoheld's forced retreat from Vestal, he grew less angry over Hydron's failure and more despondent.

He couldn't really blame Hydron for the information leaking. Not when the Brawlers exposed the secret right after a highly televised battle, where almost the entirety of the New Vestroia occupation was watching simultaneously. Given the speed of which information could travel, most of the people were made aware before Hydron or Zenoheld could even think up how to contain it. That wasn't Hydron's fault.

In theory, however, Zenoheld could blame Hydron for losing control of the Dimension Controller devices in Alpha and Beta cities, as well as the destruction of Gamma City's Controller, given the level of control Hydron had in the colonies. However, those were ultimately small losses when Hydron could still fall back on the Dimension Controller within Ves Palace. And he couldn't blame Ves Palace's destruction on Hydron; the fault laid with a cunning treason from within Hydron's ranks.

While Zenoheld wasn't angry with his child anymore, he was detached. He knew that, if his line was to survive, Hydron would had to have been an exceptional individual. One that could solve numerous of Vestal's problems with minimal resource expenditure. However, Hydron wasn't exceptional. He was competent, and that just wasn't enough.

Kneeling behind Hydron were the four Vexos that had remained loyal to him. While noting there were four, not the six there should've been, Zenoheld laid a portion of rage at the traitorous Spectra Phantom and Gus Grav. The defection of his two most prominent battlers would make the coming fights far more difficult.

Shadow Prove. The son of two of Zenoheld's more useful advisers, two who had retreated to the Representation to serve the Vestal people. However, Zenoheld wouldn't blame the child for his parents' betrayal.

On his own merits, however, Shadow had long been a wild child and unreliable maverick. However, his mood now showed none of that. Ever since the Vexos had arrived at the Mother Palace from their retreat from New Vestroia, though, he hadn't exercised any of that recklessness. In fact, Shadow had been almost deathly calm, and his cold fury seemed to almost match Zenoheld's own anger. And Zenoheld was grateful for it. A focused Shadow Prove was infinitely more useful than an uncontrollable one.

Beside Shadow was Lync Volan. Among the team, Zenoheld considered Lync to be the least impressive. He was undoubtedly one of the strongest of his Attribute, but Zenoheld internally disputed Lync's claim of total supremacy in his chosen Ventus Attribute. Especially since it was at least partially luck and coincidence that saw him inducted as the Ventus specialist of the Vexos.

Lync's battling record wasn't even that impressive. He'd sported a long list of lost battles against the Battle Brawlers, and was even recognized by his teammates as their weak link. This was all despite the fact that he was the first of the team to be given a mechanical Bakugan by Professor Clay. Sometimes, a better tool couldn't make up for mediocrity. Zenoheld could only how the preparation and training of the last few months had sharpened Lync's edge.

Next was Volt Luster. Although his battling record was only slightly more impressive than Lync's, Zenoheld didn't mind it as much. The main reason for this was that, beyond Volt being more physically imposing, he also took his job far more seriously. The bulky battler was a no nonsense individual, something that Zenoheld had a great deal of respect for. And Volt was marginally more successful in battles than Lync, so there was that at least.

Lastly, there was Mylene Farrow. The only female to ever be a part of the Vexos, and one of the more deadly ones. Aside from Spectra and Gus, who had left and were considered traitors, Mylene was largely regarded as the most competent battler of the Vexos by both Zenoheld and the people. However, unlike the other two, Mylene seemed genuinely loyal to the throne. At least, she was too loyal to openly betray them. There was always that.

"You've summoned us, father?" Hydron spoke up for the group, socially outranking the others in the Mother Palace's command structure.

"Indeed I have, boy." Hydron flinched at the gruff tone Zenoheld used to address him. "I'll get to it soon, but we're still waiting for someone."

Obediently, the five subordinates went silent and kept their heads down, as they patiently awaited the arrival of the last individual of this meeting. Zenoheld was not as patient, but he kept his cool regardless.

Eventually, another man entered the large throne room, walking at a pace just short of running in order to address Zenoheld. After bypassing the line of Vexos, Professor Clay knelt down on Hydron's right. "I apologize for making you wait, your Highness."

"Hm." Zenoheld made an upwards gesture with his right hand, wordlessly allowing the six of them to rise up. "You had a progress report, did you not? Go on, out with it."

"At once." Clay bowed with his waist, before standing straight and drawing a device from his pocket. The next moment, the device lit up, projecting a large green hologram in front of Zenoheld's throne.

Zenoheld inspected the hologram, which was actually more of a blueprint. It detailed a Vestal warship that resembled the Vestal Destroyer to a very large degree, with a few exceptions. The most notable was that the size was over thrice the proportions of a Destroyer. The second most notable was the gaping cannon that shot out from the nose of the vessel, as well as a line of smaller cannons lining both sides of the vehicle.

"After several months, by utilizing the parts taken from deconstructed Vestal Destroyers, I've finally succeeded in creating a vessel of even greater power." Clay raised his right arm, gesturing at the hologram. "King Zenoheld, I am pleased to report that the construction of the vessel you've dubbed the Vestal Annihilator is finally complete."

Zenoheld nodded. "I'm pleased. You've done well, Clay."

"Pardon me, father." Hydron addressed his father, earning a sigh and wave of permission from him. "What exactly is the Vestal Annihilator? A new flagship of ours?"

"More than that, Prince Hydron." Clay answered the question in Zenoheld's stead. "It is to be our ultimate weapon. The spear with which will force the Representation to surrender the planet they've stolen back to King Zenoheld." He pointed to the cannon in the center. "That cannon, when fully charged, will be able to unleash an energy attack powerful enough to blast through a planetary body."

"Hmm." Hydron smirked. He never thought that power would be used directly against Vestal, but it could definitely be used to frighten them to submission. It was a bold choice, but he approved.

None of the Vexos were too worried about the machine's existence, save one. Volt Luster had to force himself not to gasp in shock, only widening his eyes to show his true feelings. Luckily for him, no one caught it, and he regained control of himself rather quickly.

"Impressive." That was Mylene's initial reaction. "You said it was that powerful, if it was fully charged. What's the power source you're using?"

"Unfortunately, Mylene, you've realized the flaw in the design." Clay sighed in resignation. "Currently, I don't believe the technology to generate the necessary energy for the primary weapon actually exists. At least, not in a small enough size to be a feasible power source."

"So, we've got a big gun that doesn't have any bullets?" Lync summed it up. "Lame."

"Is there a solution?" Shadow asked the question in a hollow voice.

"I wouldn't be here if there wasn't." Clay smiled, offering the good news to the rest. "While it's technologically impossible to generate that level of energy, we can instead use the high levels of energy contained in powerful creatures. Bakugan, to be more precise." His smile fell as he detailed the bad news. "Unfortunately, if we use the life force of too many Bakugan, the many different energy signatures may destabilize the cannon before it can be used. So it's advisable to use as few Bakugan to charge it as possible."

"So, who're the unlucky Bakugan we're going to drain dry?" Lync tightened his fist. "The Brawlers' pets? I'm aching for a rematch."

Hydron shook his head. "Father, I'd advise against following Lync's opinion. The last thing we need is to alert the Brawlers before our ultimate weapon is fully operational."

"Besides, we'd only get enough power from them if we take the power from nearly all their Bakugan." Clay sighed. "That may be enough numbers to destabilize the Annihilator. However, I've identified the six Bakugan that, together, can charge the Annihilator with almost no risk of destabilization." He waved his hand, and an image of six cloaked and masked figures replaced the Annihilator's hologram. "They're known as the Six Ancient Soldier Bakugan: Pyrus Apollonir, Aquos Frosch, Haos Lars Lion, Ventus Oberus, Subterra Clayf, and Darkus Exedra. Their superpower Attribute energies will be sufficient fuel for the Annihilator, I've already confirmed it."

"Yes, yes." Zenoheld waved it away. "You've told me all of this already. Can you reach them, Clay? I've been told they're hard to make contact with."

"Indeed I have." Clay displayed a proud smile. "While it was a difficult project, I believe my team has cracked the correct frequency to reach the Ancient Soldiers. Should we send the correct message, they'll undoubtedly come running to face us."

"Then we crush them?", asked Shadow.

Zenoheld chuckled and shook his head. "No. The Vexos will serve as a remotely necessary secondary plan, should the initial plan go awry." He rose from his throne. "I will face them alone. Professor Clay, my Bakugan?"

"As you wish, your Highness." Clay took a metallic red ball out from his pocket, walked over to Zenoheld, and submitted it without complaint. "It is a true masterpiece of battle, with offensive powers, defensive capabilities and backup protocols at the very limit of what I could engineer. I used the data gathered from the most powerful Bakugan I had access to in order to create it, including Alpha Hydranoid, Neo Dragonoid and Helios. Mechanical Bakugan Pyrus Farbros is at your disposal, my king."

"An impressive resume, Professor", King Zenoheld said as he examined the inactive mechanical Bakugan. "I wonder, though, if its power can live up to your boasting." He began walking away from his throne, discarding his green cape to walk more freely in a black, gold trimmed, military uniform. "Only the heat of battle will be able to prove or disprove your claims, Professor Clay. For your sake, I hope it's the former."

XXX

Only a short time later, Clay issued a message in New Vestroia's direction, using the frequency his team had calculated to be the correct one to draw the attention of the Ancient Warriors. As it turned out, the calculations were all correct.

Although the numerous Bakugan were oblivious to the message playing out, only feeling and disregarding the light vibrations it kicked up, the sound traveled all the way to the Perfect Core of New Vestroia.

In that usually unassailable location, six differently colored lights surrounding the ethereal Perfect Core flickered and brightened in reaction to the frequency. After a moment, the lights expanded, revealing the cloaked forms of the Six Ancient Soldier Bakugan.

"Ancient ones?" From within the Perfect Core, the voice of a valiant hero echoed. The Perfect Dragonoid, often nicknamed Drago. The Bakugan that was responsible for saving the very Core of this planet from being corrupted, multiple times now.

And yet, the message that Clay had issued was discreet enough that Drago couldn't discern it. And, when Drago saw the Soldiers react to it, he couldn't help but feel confused and concerned. "What have you awakened, my friends?"

"Do you not hear it, Drago?", asked Frosch, the Aquos Soldier. His masked form was that of a feeble staff carrying man, with a blue cloak and a long silver beard. Frosch was regarded as the wisest of the six.

"No. I hear nothing out of the ordinary." Drago had to specify to that degree because, since he was the Perfect Core, he constantly heard many things across New Vestroia. Yet he heard nothing that would cause the veteran Bakugan such worry.

"It appears that a man calling himself King Zenoheld is issuing a battle challenge to us." The informant of that statement was Pyrus Soldier Apollonir, who was disguised as a stock male form, cloaked in red and orange. He was the leader of the Soldiers.

"Zenoheld is apparently declaring war against the entire Bakugan people, demanding we Soldiers face him ourselves as their representatives, either to surrender to his will or fight in futility." Haos Soldier Lars Lion paraphrased from the message in incredulity. Her form was a white and yellow cloaked female humanoid, except with more elven ears than the others. Among the Soldiers, she was the best at support and recovery. "He's given coordinates for his chosen battleground."

The Perfect Core seemed to dim as Drago went deep into thought. "Zenoheld. I know that name." He didn't sound pleased. "From what I can recall, he orchestrated the Vestal attack on New Vestroia. Though I believe he's been ousted from the Vestal throne after the occupation left."

"He finished by declaring that, should we refuse to surrender and fail to defeat him in combat, he will destroy… he will destroy New Vestroia, and all the Bakugan who live there." Ventus Soldier Oberus, normally a collected being, was in a slightly worried tone when she relayed the last section. Her masked form was a small woman, cloaked in different shades of green. Within the six, she was recognized as the most precise in her attacks.

"It's impossible. No one can wipe away this entire planet." Subterra Soldier Clayf was adamantly sure of this. His masked form was that of an older male, wearing a beige and brown cloak, sitting in a chair of rock. He was known as the most durable and physically powerful Soldier. "It has to be a bluff. Either that, or the man has gone insane."

"I would advise you not to underestimate Vestal technology." Drago was solemn. "They can transform an impossible situation into the most plausible outcome of an event."

"Wise words, Drago. Especially considering your experience with the Vestals." Darkus Soldier Exedra commended the Core's wisdom. His cloaked form was shaped like a taller and leaner man, dressed in purple robes and black armor. He was known as the single most powerful of the Soldiers.

"So, what is your suggestion, Drago?" Lars Lion picked up the discussion. "Go to accept the challenge Zenoheld issued?"

"Hm." Drago seemed to think it over. "In my experience, the royal family employed many blindside moves and ambush tactics. This could be some kind of trap."

"But if the challenge is genuine, we can't just ignore it." Oberus argued. "If Zenoheld can follow through on his threat, our refusal to show up would condemn New Vestroia to destruction!"

"The conundrum is whether or not the risk that this is a trap outweighs the risk that Zenoheld is actually capable of destroying New Vestroia." Frosch advised the others. "That should be the metric to use in deciding our next course of action."

"If it's more likely that this is a trick, we stay here." Clayf added. "If it's more likely Zenoheld is honest, we must destroy his weapon. What say you, Drago?"

"Between the mechanical Bakugan and the Dimension Controllers, I'd be a fool to say it's impossible for Vestal technology." Drago offered his opinion once more. "But to destroy an entire planet… in my opinion, it's more likely to be a trap."

"Irrelevant." Exedra spoke up, causing the others to turn to him. "Even if this is truly just a trap based on deceit, we are the Soldiers of Vestroia. Zenoheld has declared war against the Bakugan, it is thus our solemn duty to defend them, to crush whatever he has in store without mercy."

"A fair point." Apollonir agreed. "Besides, even if there is but a miniscule possibility that Zenoheld has told the truth, we cannot ignore it. There is little choice in the matter."

"Be cautious and be wary, ancient ones." Drago's light shone more brightly. "I cannot protect you from the enemy. Especially if your battle takes you away from New Vestroia. All I can do is warn you to beware Zenoheld."

"We'll take your warning into account", Apollonir replied. "But we must act. You drove Zenoheld's influence off New Vestroia. It's our turn now."

"Good luck." That was all Drago had left to say to the elder Bakugan, who disappeared in flashes of their respective colored light, leaving Drago to himself in the void.

XXX

When the Six Legendary Soldiers of Vestroia appeared once again, they found themselves on the surface of a gray, moon sized rock. From what they could both see and sense, no larger planet was anywhere nearby, especially not one capable of maintaining life. In short, they were in the celestial middle of nowhere.

What they could sense, however, was the advanced technology both on and orbiting the surface of the surface. There were two main structures on the rock, one being a three story tall, white colored observatory with large windows on the top floor. The second structure was an eight floor high spire jutting off the surface behind them.

Finally, up above the disguised Bakugan was an incredibly large spaceship. While they recognized the basic shape as identical to the ships that had accompanied the Vestal colony cities, it was several times larger than those. The color was all black, and there was a massive cannon in the center.

"So you've chosen to accept my challenge, relics." The taunt, given in the voice of a weathered older man, drew the attention of the six Bakugan to a humanoid standing right in front of the observatory. King Zenoheld, dressed in a padded red jumpsuit with black armor on the chest and shoulders. "I was worried you would ignore me."

"So you are Zenoheld, then?", Frosch asked. "The former King of Vestal with the gall to declare war on the entire Bakugan race?"

"How dare you declare war against a people whose only crime is defending themselves against your attack?" Oberus was outraged over Zenoheld's brazen actions.

"This isn't about New Vestroia", Zenoheld growled. "The Bakugan ousted me from my rightful throne over Vestal. That is the reason for my war."

"The Vestal people overthrew you, not the Bakugan." Lars Lion countered Zenoheld's claims. "They correctly judged you an immoral leader over your actions with the Bakugan. Any involvement of the Bakugan was indirect, at best."

"You have no one but yourself to blame." Clayf resolutely said. "That you blame your own victims is deplorable."

"Do you even think you can win?", Exedra judged. "Are you arrogant enough to think you can defeat the entire Bakugan race?"

"It is not arrogance if I can back up my claims." Zenoheld raised his right hand upwards, pointing at the starship above. "That is the machine that will wipe New Vestroia from the universe, along with every Bakugan on it. My ultimate weapon. The Vestal Annihilator."

"I see." Apollonir's eyes went red for a moment, using a form of clairvoyance to examine the ship as best he could from his location. Within seconds, he was finished. And he laughed. "Ha ha ha! So it was nothing but a bluff after all." The red light in his eyes died down, and he glared at Zenoheld. "That machine doesn't have the power needed to destroy New Vestroia. I know."

"You're correct. For now, at least." Zenoheld smirked with the right side of his mouth. "That's where you come in, of course. Your life force energies will be the power source of the Annihilator's weapons system."

"And you expect us to simply die, just to power your machine with our life forces?" Apollonir replied incredulously.

"Not at all." Zenoheld locked a blank and red gauntlet onto his left arm. "As you can see, I've come ready to battle."

"You're either desperate to the point of delusion, or absurdly arrogant, if you think you can defeat all six of us alone." Frosch insulted the man.

"Like I said, it's not arrogance if I can back it up." Zenoheld's grin was confident. "You are nothing but antique relics that can be easily smashed by the modern mechanical Bakugan."

"You speak as if we are going to allow such a battle." Lars Lion judgmentally spoke. "Why would we even allow you the chance? If your machine isn't operational, we have nothing to gain and everything to lose."

"It's simple." Zenoheld pointed to the tower behind them. "That spire is sending out a signal that prevents anyone from escaping this asteroid using dimensional travel. It won't stop anyone from entering this location, but no one can leave through dimensional travel. You're trapped here." None of the Soldiers replied, realizing that it was true. Despite their efforts, they couldn't transport themselves away. Zenoheld, therefore, chose to continue with his pitch. "If you surrender your power without a fight, you can have my assurance that New Vestroia will be spared from my wrath. Should I have to take them by force, I fully intend to destroy your homeworld."

The six Soldiers didn't even spare a moment's consideration for the ultimatum. "We're not foolish enough to trust the word of a ruler ousted for immorality." Oberus answered. "You'd just as likely attack New Vestroia anyway."

"As such, we won't allow you a victory." Clayf declared, as he and all of his allies began to glow with power. "We'll destroy whatever mechanical abomination you unleash upon us, and then your empty shell of an Annihilator."

"You overestimate yourselves, Ancient Warriors." Zenoheld brought a power card up and placed it within his gauntlet. "Once I destroy you all and take your power to fuel my ultimate weapon, I'll be the one mocking your arrogance, over the specks of dust I'll have turned you into! Gauntlet, Power Strike!" The gauntlet set out a nigh invisible shockwave that encompassed a wide area, preparing it as a battlefield. "Gate Card, set!" Unlike most battlers, who'd swipe their hands to build momentum in throwing the card, Zenoheld utilized a slot specially built into his gauntlet to ready his card. The Gate Card landed on the ground and expanded throughout the field.

"Prepare yourselves." Exedra advised his fellows. "His audacity is astounding, but we do not know the capabilities of his fighter."

"Then I'll show you!" Similarly to the Gate Card, instead of throwing his Bakugan, Zenoheld loaded it into and launched it out of his gauntlet through a specialized compartment. "Behold my penultimate weapon! Bakugan, brawl! Pyrus Farbros, stand!"

The Bakugan landed on the Gate Card and popped open, revealing an intricately crafted form that was far more complex than any living Bakugan. Then, the form glowed red, summoning the mechanical Bakugan's battling form.

The Bakugan's form superficially resembled a dragon's form, up to and excluding the point any of its finer details could be made out. The form was too rigid and box-like to be anything biological, including thin and red limbs, tail, neck and gray head connected to a barely thicker body. The kneecaps were replaced with small barrels, as if they were cannons. The head had three rows of green lines for eyes. Each of the two shoulders had attached a massive three fingered claw, the yellow claws attached to a gray base, with a red outer shell. There were several yellow spots on its chest, as well as two small yellow horns atop the head.

Farbros: 800

"A feeble attempt to mimic a Dragonoid." Apollonir spoke dismissively of the robot. "Come, my friends. Let us instruct this man on the true power of the Bakugan!"

All six of them shone brightly in their respective Attribute colors, until their robes and masks all collapsed to the ground, as if whatever was inside vanished. All that was left were six glowing Bakugan balls that gently landed on the ground, calling forth their battling forms in a hexagonal formation.

Standing at the rear guard of the unit was Darkus Exedra. Despite speaking with one voice, he had a total of eight serpentine heads, each one with dark purple scales, purple underbelly and two red horns. The serpentine necks converged at a dark purple base, which continued on a a single serpentine tail with a purple underbelly. Right below the spot that the necks converged was a large mouth covered by a set of large, sharp teeth.

On Exedra's left was Aquos Frosch. Frosch's appearance was mostly that of a Bakugan sized frog. His skin was mostly a blue-purple color, with the back colored a more standard blue. Over his eyes were orange eyebrows that curled up. There were also numerous designs on his back colored lighter blue. Frosch let out a large croak as he appeared.

On Exedra's right was Haos Lars Lion. Not much had changed, contrasting her robed form with her battling form. Her form itself was that of a large humanoid woman with pale yellow skin. She wore silver armor on her upper chest and shoulders, as well as a silver helmet with a line of spikes at the top. The rest of her outfit was a flowing white robe with yellow designs.

In front of Lars Lion was Subterra Clayf. Clayf was a somewhat humanoid figure, taking several differences into account beyond the sheer size. Between his upper body and legs was a large oval shaped platform, almost as tall as his legs and wider than any other part of his body. His form resembled that of a golem, one much larger than any other Bakugan present. In his right hand was a surat as tall as him, with the top being a circular axe with a reflective material at the center.

In front of Frosch was Ventus Oberus. Her head was that of a large bird, and was disproportionately large for the rest of her body. Besides the head, the rest of the body was a mass of several butterfly wings. Most of her body was a pale green, with some yellow designs on the beak and wings, and a darker green on the top of the beak and lining the wings.

Finally, acting as the vanguard of the group was Pyrus Apollonir. Beyond the lizard-like hands, feet and head, his form was mostly humanoid. The scales on his chest, legs, back and head were orange, the scales on his waist, thighs, tail and neck were red. His tail ended in an orange ending with a beige blade. His chest hosted a small, red diamond to concentrate his power. Finally, he had a total of eight thin wings, mostly beige with a red lining and claws at the top, that had folded in on themselves.

The six Bakugan stood together, all facing off against Zenoheld's mechanical abomination. Farbros's only response to their arrival was the lighting up of its green eyes, examining its new opposition.

(Apollonir: 500, Oberus: 500, Clayf: 500, Frosch: 500, Lars Lion: 500, Exedra: 500)=3000

Farbros: 800

"So… those are the battling forms of the Six Ancient Soldiers." As Zenoheld mused this, he brought a hand up to his ear. "Professor Clay, give me a diagnostic on Farbros."

"At once, King Zenoheld." Clay's voice came through on Zenoheld's earpiece. "Between weaponry and the central intelligence, Farbros's systems are all fully operational. FARBAS system is online and ready to be utilized at a moment's notice. However, I cannot predict the extent to which live combat will affect this diagnosis."

"Good enough." Zenoheld brought out two ability cards and placed them within his gauntlet. "Let's see how you weathered fools stand up to the power of my penultimate weapon! Double Ability Activate! Twin Horn Pulsar, plus Fire Spartan!"

Farbros quickly went into action to complete the programs set out by its battler. The two large claws on its shoulders shifted to face forward, revealing that each one had three holes hidden in the metal. Within moments, red light appeared in the six total holes, and red lasers shot out to blast the six Bakugan.

At the same time, a more chaotic light formed from within Farbros's knee cannons. Identical bursts of flame shot from each of the two, revealing the barrels to actually be two flamethrowers. The flames surged ahead on a near identical path to the six lasers.

(Apollonir: 500, Oberus: 500-400=100, Clayf: 500-300=200, Frosch: 200, Lars Lion: 500, Exedra: 500)=2300

Farbros: 800+400+300=1500

The Six Ancient Soldiers were all frantic to get out of the way however they could. Apollonir and Oberus dodged the lasers through their wings, Lars Lion and Clayf leaned out of the way of the flames, Frosch ducked to evade a laser, and Exedra parted his area of necks to keep a laser from impacting. Once Farbros ceased its attacks, they fell back in formation.

"He's already executing consecutive attacks. We mustn't hold ourselves back." Apollonir's eyes glowed red. He spread out his eight wings and ascended above his peers. "Now! Maximum Revolution!" Apollonir's body began to light up, a red aura engulfing him. As the glow remained, it became brighter and brighter, until it was impossible to ignore. However, it didn't have any further effect on Apollonir.

Then, the other Ancient Soldiers developed a reaction to Apollonir's aura. Auras of similar power, different only in colors that spanned all six attributes, appeared on the rest of them. With all six of them glowing with elemental power, their collective strength was suddenly boosted tremendously.

Farbros responded to the increase in power the opponents underwent in the way it was best prepared to: unleashing another round of the same attacks. It's claws were the barrels for another six lasers, and the flamethrowers on its knees shot two more torrents of orange flames. This time, however, the Soldiers were ready for it.

Clayf slammed the butt of his staff against the ground, cracking the hard surface as he began his attack. "Gravity Barrier!" An orange energy appeared at the top of his staff, spreading out and ahead to encircle all six of the living Bakugan. Then, dust and small rocks scattered on the nearby ground converged on the energy, almost merging into a single large piece of rock, meant only to serve as a barrier against Farbros's attacks. Between the flames, which weren't focused enough to break through, and the lasers, which were simply deflected off the dust, the barrier managed to defend from everything Farbros unleashed.

(Apollonir: 500+200=700, Oberus: 100+200+400=700, Clayf: 200+200+300+200=900, Frosch: 500+200=700, Lars Lion: 500+200=700, Exedra: 500+200=700)=4400

Farbros: 1500-700=800

Zenoheld was displeased at how easily his attack had been negated. "Tell me what happened, Clay. Now!"

"Apollonir's ability gave a small power boost to all of his allies." Clay reported it swiftly. "That allowed Clayf the speed to nullify Farbros's attacks in time."

Zenoheld's attention was drawn back to the battle, however, when he saw luminescent green emerge from within the rock barrier.

Oberus, flying above the debris to get a clear shot on Farbros, began to flap her butterfly wings forward. "Blast Storm!" When her wings swung forward, they sent out several small, but incredibly quick, bursts of green wind against Farbros.

(Apollonir: 700, Oberus: 700+200=900, Clayf: 900, Frosch: 700, Lars Lion: 700, Exedra: 700)=4600

Farbros: 800-200=600

Once Oberus's wind bursts impacted Farbros, they did so with the power of a small hurricane's winds. Although it wasn't powerful enough to knock the machine to the ground, or even force it to take a step backwards, it did leave several skid marks on Farbros's metal casing.

"You call that an attack?!" Almost insulted by such an inferior attack used against his weapon, Zenoheld brought another card into his gauntlet. "I'll show you ignorant fools a proper attack! Ability Activate! Hyper Cell!"

Farbros opened its metal mouth, which was the initial action to execute the next attack. Light red energy started to amass within Farbros's mouth, growing in size and becoming more and more erratic as the energy built up. Soon, it startled crackling as bolts of power escaped from the condensed orb.

Oberus, having the clearest view of the energy, was also the first to recognize its danger. She quickly descended back behind Clay's barrier, trying to protect herself as best she could. However, she knew Clayf's efforts wouldn't withstand the attack. "Everyone, get down!"

Not a moment later, the energy Farbros charged up was unleashed in a single blast. The red energy sailed across the battlefield and quickly impacted the debris barrier between Farbros and its enemies.

(Apollonir: 700-500=200, Oberus: 900-500=400, Clayf: 900-500=400, Frosch: 700-500=200, Lars Lion: 700-500=200, Exedra: 700-500=200)=1600

Farbros: 600+500=1100

As Oberus has both expected and feared, Clayf's barrier didn't hold up for long against Farbros's attack. It only took a few moments for the intense red beam to start melting its way through the debris, leaving molten rock in its wake.

"I… can't hold it!" Clayf grunted and strained, but he could barely slow down the laser's advance. Even worse, the heat of the laser was spreading cracks throughout his barrier.

"Then allow me to take over." Lars Lion raised both arms straight up, with her palms wide open. "Valkyrie Barrier!" A pulse of yellow energy shot from her hands, ascending straight upwards until it reached a certain elevation. Once at that point, the Haos energy expanded, creating a translucent yellow dome that covered the Soldiers behind Clayf's failing wall.

(Apollonir: 200, Oberus: 400, Clayf: 400, Frosch: 200, Lars Lion: 200, Exedra: 200)=1600

Farbros: 1100-400=700

Moments after Lars Lion had erected her barrier, Clayf's own defense finally caved in. The rocks that made up the defensive aspects shattered to dust, and all the soar was blown away by the intense power.

However, Zenoheld's Bakugan was again impeded, this time by the Valkyrie Barrier. The red energy caused ripples to form throughout Lars Lion's dome, but it didn't give in the same way Clay's barrier did.

"How annoying." Zenoheld growled at how the Soldiers' response to his attack was to create another shield. It was elementary tactics, even he could tell that with his nonexistent experience as a Bakugan battler. "I expected more from Bakugan as well renowned as you."

As Farbros ceased its energy attack, Lars Lion replied by dropping her shield and giving her allies another opportunity to attack. Frosch leapt to his side to bypass the others with his upcoming attack, and Exedra uncoiled his tail.

"How about this, you old man? Aquos Cyclone!" Frosch's amphibian mouth opened up wide, and a circular torrent of water came gushing out and started making its way towards Farbros.

"Graviton Wizard!" Exedra bellowed out his own attack. The large mouth at the top of his converged point, which was previously covered up by teeth, opened up. A single large, yellow eye was revealed within, right before it started glowing purple. After a moment to charge up the power, that energy belched out an impressive amount of violet flames to strike Farbros.

(Apollonir: 200, Oberus: 400, Clayf: 400, Frosch: 200+200=400, Lars Lion: 200, Exedra: 200)=1800

Farbros: 700-100-400=200

Despite its decreased power level, Farbros didn't make any attempt to evade the coming attacks. Frosch's water torrent slammed against him with the force of a tidal wave, yet it didn't move Farbros at all. Once it was over, Exedra's Darkus flames blasted the mech, surrounding it in purple fire. However, the next moment, it dissipated, leaving behind only minor scorch marks on Farbros's frame.

"So, those attacks aren't enough to damage your machine." Apollonir surmised the situation. Despite how ineffective everything had been up till now, he had no semblance of worry in his tone.

"Professor Clay, how is Farbros holding up?", Zenoheld asked.

"Despite the battle leaving some marks on the outside, overall damage is minimal. I would round it to 4 percent." Clay reported the data with expedience. "At this rate, we may not even be able to test out the FARBAS system in action."

"Predictable defenses, and pitifully weak counterattacks." Zenoheld chided his opponents in a patronizing tone. "This is truly disappointing. In the end, you're nothing but cockroaches with hard shells and weak bites. And you'd even gotten my hopes up with Apollonir's starting move. How did you gain any level of notoriety with that meager level of ability?"

"Why don't we show you, Zenoheld!" Apollonir arched his back backwards, rearing up his head before lurching forward with flames in his maw. "Maximum Pyrus!" The flames shot out in a continuous blast, controlled yet searing hot. And Farbros was right in its sights.

(Apollonir: 200+200=400, Oberus: 400, Clayf: 400, Frosch: 400, Lars Lion: 200, Exedra: 200)=2000

Farbros: 200

Zenoheld stared blankly at the flames, not even acknowledging them as a legitimate threat to his Farbros. "... this is pathetic." It wasn't even a taunt anymore. Zenoheld was truly done with the lackluster display the Soldiers had put on thus far, and therefore chose to end the battle as quickly as he could. As such, he loaded in his next card at that time. "Ability Activate! Twin Horn Phaser!"

Like Farbros's Twin Horn Pulsar, this attack utilized the claws attached to Farbros's shoulders. However, instead of shifting forwards, the claws instead remained in the same position. Identical orbs of red power formed in the empty space between the claws, then blasted out in expanding rays of energy.

(Apollonir: 400-400=0, Oberus: 400-400=0, Clayf: 400-400=0, Frosch: 400-400=0, Lars Lion: 200-400=0, Exedra: 200-400=0)=0

Farbros: 200+400=600

One of Farbros's energy blasts crossed paths with the flames that Apollonir had shot out. Not only was Apollonir's attack bested, it was bested without even putting up a fight. The red energy just went on their way towards the Ancient Soldiers.

That would be put to a stop, however, soon after Frosch opened his mouth again. "Don't count us out yet, old man. Aquos Bubble!" Several large bubbles came flying out of his mouth, moving to intercept the energy heading their way. As the first bubbles made contact with the red energy, they quickly swelled up in size and popped, eliminating portions of the energy with them. Then, the next bubbles had the exact same effect, as did the next. After a few seconds, Farbros's attack had been entirely neutralized.

(Apollonir: 400, Oberus: 400, Clayf: 400, Frosch: 400, Lars Lion: 200, Exedra: 200)=2000

Farbros: 200

"So you nullified my ability." Zenoheld sneered. "Despite your lackluster abilities, your persistence is unexpected."

"It's strange." Clay mused audibly. "For the holders of the Attribute energies we need, these Bakugan aren't all that powerful. Their abilities are much more underwhelming than I've calculated."

"Null Dimension!" Exedra's sixteen eyes, two for each of his eight hydra heads, all glowed purple as he activated his ability. The large yellow eye in his chest started to emit a thick purple fog, which expanded and spread throughout the battlefield. Within an instant, it covered the area of the Six Ancient Soldiers, obscuring them from sight, and it kept expanding beyond that.

(Apollonir: 400, Oberus: 400, Clayf: 400, Frosch: 400, Lars Lion: 200, Exedra: 200+400=600)=2400

Farbros: 200

"That won't help you." Zenoheld locked in another card, his expression deadpan. "Time to end this farce of a battle. Ability Activate! Hellion Breath!"

Farbros's mouth opened up once more to unleash another attack. However, this time it wasn't the red energy that characterized almost every attack up till now. It was a high pressure blast of invisible wind.

The winds blew apart Exedra's dark meat with barely any resistance, going on to blast all six of the Soldiers at once. The pressure and heat of the attack was to such an extent, it cracked the ground beneath them.

(Apollonir: 400÷2=200, Oberus: 400÷2=200, Clayf: 400÷2=200, Frosch: 400÷2=200, Lars Lion: 200÷2=100, Exedra: 600÷2=300)=1200

Farbros: 200+1200=1400

The six Bakugan had to cover up just to withstand the winds, but it was an intense struggle. "Gah! What is this?", Apollonir demanded.

"Hellion Breath will siphon half of your power levels and give it to Farbros." Zenoheld explained his attack without hesitation. "Also, it blocks you from using any abilities!" Using such an ability at that point was tactically admitting that Zenoheld had had enough of the battle. He just wanted to finish it.

Unfortunately, he hadn't given his opponents the respect that they deserved, nor had he realized that yet. He was about to be shown that in a very frank manner.

"You are incorrect." Zenoheld showed surprise when Exedra countermanded him. The hydra was no longer struggling, and he continued to emit his purple mists. The winds that were so effective at dissipating them before were no longer effective, and the mist expanded once more to touch all the Soldiers. "That may be the power of your ability, but Null Dimension prevents any attempts to block abilities."

"What?!", Zenoheld questioned. "You're bluffing. You haven't shown such power throughout this battle!"

"We were withholding ourselves. We will no longer do this." Lars Lion raised her right hand, pointing it directly upwards. "Sagittarius Arrow!"

Yellow energy formed from Lars Lion's raised arm, which quickly consolidated into a bow, complete with an energy drawstring and arrow. Lars Lion's left hand drew back the arrow, until the drawstring went taut. Then, she released the arrow into the sky. The arrow in midair exploded within a second, scattering dust on all the Ancient Soldiers.

Each of the six Warriors, upon making contact with the dust, glowed faintly with their Attribute colors. Their posture straightened up as the vitality Farbros's attacks stole from them was returned.

(Apollonir: 200+300=500, Oberus: 200+300=500, Clayf: 200+300=500, Frosch: 200+300=500, Lars Lion: 100+400=500, Exedra: 300+200=500)=3000

Farbros: 1400

Zenoheld's eyes widened. "You recovered your strength and vitality."

"You sound surprised." Apollonir challenged the older Vestal. "Did you think we were truly only as strong as we'd demonstrated up till now?" When Zenoheld merely growled in reaction, Apollonir continued. "We are the Six Ancient Soldiers of Vestroia, and that requires both strength and intelligence. You underestimate us at your own peril, you fool."

"What are you saying?!", Zenoheld demanded. He didn't appreciate being on the defensive.

"We've spent this entire battle examining what we were up against." Lars Lion took it up from there. "Both the machine and you."

"Your mechanical Bakugan is strong. Stronger than we could've anticipated. Stronger than any one of us." Frosch detailed what the group inferred. "But that could only defeat us in the hands of a competent battler. You aren't even at a novice level."

"Now, let's get back to the battle. We will be fighting at full strength from here on." With that declaration, Apollonir's red diamond started to shine brightly, and a light appeared within his maw. "Burst Nova!" He opened his mouth, revealing the flames gathering within, and released another flame based attack at Farbros's direction. However, instead of a stream of flames, it was a condensed fireball, one the size of Apollonir's chest.

(Apollonir: 500+500=1000, Oberus: 500, Clayf: 500, Frosch: 500, Lars Lion: 500, Exedra: 500)=3500

Farbros: 1400

Like it did with all the previous attacks, Farbros made no effort to evade Apollonir's fireball. Instead, it moved to accept the attack head on. However, when the fireball came crashing against Farbros, the result was far different to the previous times.

Instead of withstanding the attack with barely a scorch mark, the fireball actually forced Farbros back a step with its momentum. And, when it exploded, Farbros was left with several severe burn marks.

Zenoheld was shocked. "So they were holding back, all this time. Clay, give me a report!"

"Highness, Farbros has taken a total of 15 percent damage. It was only 4 percent before that attack struck!" Clay sounded panicked, and Zenoheld could hear it in his tone. "If that's the true extent of their powers, this battle may be far more difficult than I've originally expected."

"So they deliberately held back to assess their opposition." Zenoheld's eyes narrowed as he prepared his next ability. "Looking down on me. They'll pay for this insult. Ability Activate! Garland Claw!"

Farbros, needing no recovery time against Apollonir's more impressive fireball, got into action again. His claws shifted forward, aiming at the Ancient Soldiers. However, this time they shot away from Farbros, connected to the metal dragon only by thick metallic tethers. The claws crackled with red lightning as they neared their targets.

(Apollonir: 1000, Oberus: 500, Clayf: 500, Frosch: 500, Lars Lion: 500, Exedra: 500)=3500

Farbros: 1400+300=1700

"We won't just let you attack us again." Oberus's eyes glowed green. "We're done holding back. Tempest Riot!" Her large break opened up between the light green and dark green parts, and extremely powerful green winds were expended from her mouth. The Ventus attack met the high speed claws incoming, and were powerful enough to just knock them away from their course.

Frosch chose to attack next, his eyes shining blue. "Squall Burst!" Several droplets of water, formed from the moisture in the air, collected around Frosch in the size of droplets and rose up in the air. At first, they remained stationary, but they shot out faster than bullets once Frosch gave the signal.

Two of the water bursts connected with the deflected claws, piercing straight through both of them at once as if they were mere paper. The tethered claws promptly exploded afterwards, leaving behind nothing for Farbros to utilize as its weapon.

The other droplets went in Farbros's direction, piercing through its chest and knees. With the mechanics in the legs no longer functioning, due to the droplets breaking the joints, Farbros subsequently collapsed to the ground.

(Apollonir: 1000, Oberus: 500, Clayf: 500, Frosch: 500+300=800, Lars Lion: 500, Exedra: 500)=3800

Farbros: 1700-500-300=900

Zenoheld scowled at the enemy Bakugan. "You're not cockroaches that aren't able to fight back. I'll give you that much." He extended his right arm out towards the field. "Gate Card Open! Forcement Enemy!"

The card that Zenoheld had set at the very start of the round finally became active, the large rectangle glowing a blinding white. As the card remained in effect, Farbros became encased in a thick red aura. Within moments, it stood back up, as if the power boost reinforced its compromised joints.

(Apollonir: 1000, Oberus: 500, Clayf: 500, Frosch: 800, Lars Lion: 500, Exedra: 500)=3800

Farbros: 900+600=1500

"Forcement Enemy will increase Farbros's power in direct proportion to the number of enemies you are facing. A well thought out choice, my king." Clay sounded sincere in his complement. "However, you should be aware that Farbros has sustained 39 percent damage. You may have to activate the FARBAS system soon."

"I'll keep that in mind." After replying to Clay, Zenoheld returned his attention to the battlefield. Just in time to see Clayf heft up his large staff.

"Atomic Brave!", Clayf boomed. An orange aura began to appear around his body. The glow was faint at first, but the light grew brighter and more opaque by the second. Within moments, it became incredibly dense and powerful.

(Apollonir: 1000, Oberus: 500, Clayf: 500+700=1200, Frosch: 800, Lars Lion: 500, Exedra: 500)=4500

Farbros: 1500

"Clayf's power level was increased by the same amount of power that Farbros's level is boosted from base level." Clay relayed the data. "It seems the Warriors have even more specialized abilities."

"They keep increasing their power." Zenoheld glowered at his infuriatingly resilient enemies.

"I shall go next." Exedra's eyes started to glow purple. "Apllonir, I'll need to borrow your strength. Lars Lion, may you assist her once I'm done?" After receiving confirmation by form of nodding from both, Exedra executed his attack. "Final Wizard!"

Apollonir's form began to stiffen up, his body softly landing on the ground as he lost control. The next moment, all of his radiant colors faded away to gray. Within moments, he'd turned entirely to stone.

Exedra, on the other hand, absorbed all the power that was siphoned away from Apollonir. His form glowed with a harsh purple light, which flared as erratically as a bonfire. The aura caused the Gate Card to crack, then shatter and cancel its effects on Farbros. Farbros collapsed once more.

"I will aid you, Apollonir." Lars Lion aimed her right hand at Apollonir's petrified form. "True Radiance!" A host of white particles shot from Lars Lion's form and connected with the stone that had encased Apollonir's body. Immediately upon contact, that stone seemed to melt away as power was returned to the Soldiers' leader. Even more so, he started to glow with a white aura.

(Apollonir: 1000-1000+500(×2)=1000, Oberus: 500, Clayf: 1200, Frosch: 800, Lars Lion: 500, Exedra: 500+1000+100=1600)=5600

Farbros: 1500-600=900

"Your ultimate resurrection ability." Apollonir bowed his head in gratitude. "You brought me to double my base level. My thanks."

"It's no issue." Lars Lion canceled the particles, with them having done their job. "Let's finish this now!" She raised her hand at an upwards slant, making a hand motion to simulate holding an object. "Astral Blade!" More yellow light appeared in an erratic line, stemming from Lars Lion's hand as if it was a stick. Once the energy appeared, it solidified and slightly changed its shape into a longsword made of Haos energy. After aiming the blade's tip at the downed Farbros, the sword shot out towards out like an oversized arrow.

Clayf hefted up his ax, rearing it back in preparation to throw it. "Great Ax!" Utilizing all the strength his gigantic body possessed, he threw his ax at Farbros. The ax spun through the air at a terribly quick rotation speed as it neared Farbros, right after Lars Lion's sword.

With its knees nonfunctional, all Farbros could do was hold itself up with its arms. However, when Lars Lion's blade pierced through its right elbow, and Clayf's ax slashed through the left one, the mechanical Bakugan had no recourse but to fully collapse, no longer able to move anything but its head and tail.

Clayf held out a hand to his ax, which was boomeranging back to him, and caught it expertly. "He's down. Go!"

"Leave it to me!" Oberus's butterfly wings suddenly folded in behind her, and she propelled herself forward of the formation. "Cyclone Impact!" Her body shone in a dark green aura that was both dense and powerful, and her speed in flying through the air was increased tenfold. Within no time at all, she struck through Farbros's back, leaving a mark of slashed metal across the metal Bakugan.

(Apollonir: 1000, Oberus: 500+300=800, Clayf: 1200+400=1600, Frosch: 800, Lars Lion: 500+500=1000, Exedra: 1600)=6800

Farbros: 900-300=600

Oberus speedily flew back to the others, wary of any possible counterattacks Zenoheld might try. "It's astounding that Zenoheld's Bakugan is still in the fight at all."

"That's merely a matter of craftsmanship and engineering." Frosch countered. "It's irrelevant in Zenoheld's hands."

"Your Highness! Farbros has sustained extensive damage to all battle systems!" Clay alerted the royal. "There's no more time!"

"I understand." Zenoheld brought another card up to his gauntlet, preparing to lead it inside his gauntlet.

Once that was done, though, the marks left behind by Oberus exploded, creating a large blast with Farbros in the direct epicenter. The explosion was powerful enough to rock the ground and unsettle the Warriors, but they all relaxed at the sight of the mechanical Bakugan's obvious defeat.

Their expectations would be diverted, however, as the blast continued to expand, and eventually dissipate. Instead of seeing Farbros utterly debilitated, or even already in ball form, they saw Farbros glowing an increasingly bright red.

"Total system damage to Farbros unit is at 82%. Damage level red." The group heard an automated male voice sound out from Farbros.

"It can speak?", Clayf questioned.

"Activating main body recovery system." Farbros's automated voice continued on. Then, the glowing Farbros began to self repair its own body, using its own aura as a substitute material. All the scorch marks and scrapes scored throughout the body were undone within a second. Beyond that, even the most severe damage was quick to be repaired. The knee and elbow joints were soon restored to full integrity. Even the large gash in the back was undone. Farbros stood up, fully operational and even stronger than before.

(Apollonir: 1000, Oberus: 800, Clayf: 1600, Frosch: 800, Lars Lion: 1000, Exedra: 1600)=6800

Farbros: 600+2200=2800

"He recovered all of the damage we dealt!" Exedra exclaimed their collective surprise.

"But how could that be possible?", Lars Lion questioned in astonishment.

"Ability, FARBAS XM." The glow in Zenoheld's gauntlet was slowly fading away. "You'll need a lot more power than that to win this battle."

"With that, I can confirm the full functionality of the FARBAS XM system", Clay reported through Zenoheld's earpiece. "The effectiveness of the recovery program has met my calculated specifications. And Farbros's systems can easily handle increased power levels, also as I've calculated. This concludes Farbros's field test."

"Excellent, Clay." Zenoheld grinned. "It's about time. I almost thought you were loafing around."

"I'd never dawdle on the job." Clay spoke seriously to his boss. "More to the point, I suggest conducting a field test for the Assail system to finish off these opponents. Do I have your permission to launch the pod?"

"Heh. Go ahead, Clay." Zenoheld's grin faded a bit. "I've grown weary of this battle myself."

"Very good. I'm initiating the Assail Formation protocol now."

The next thing that drew the attention of the Ancient Warriors was a sudden, unexpected movement coming from high above them. Looking up, they saw that the Vestal Annihilator had just launched a gray, box shaped probe so large, it dwarfed even Clayf in size. And it was descending straight towards the battlefield.

"Incoming! The vessel is launching an attack!", Oberus forewarned.

"No, it's something else." Frosch kept his gaze on Farbros. "Look at the mech!"

The others directed their attention back to Farbros, expecting an attack to be coming their way. Instead, they were just in time to see its trail slap the ground, and rockets from the back propel Farbros upwards to intercept the pod. As soon as they got near enough to each other, the pod ejected from the Annihilator had split apart into smaller devices, which proceeded to attach themselves to Farbros's frame.

Farbros's legs and arms were covered by limbs far bulkier, colored gray up to the joints, and red beyond that. The feet were flat squares, complete with two orange toes that folded out. The hands were Farbros's shoulder claws, repositioned for the new form. The shoulders were, instead, reinforced with a far larger gray armor, connected to each other above Farbros's head. At the top of the mech, four large cannons were deployed, aiming straight forward.

"What a large machine you've built", Clayf deadpanned. "Size alone won't be enough." Still, the sheer size of what they were up against had an effect on him. He refused to look away from the reinforced Farbros for even a moment.

Farbros landed back on the ground, kicking up a large dust cloud with the impact. As soon as the dust settled, a compartment within its right heel, just the right size to allow a humanoid entry, opened up. When Zenoheld entered it, the compartment closed. Zenoheld would then be brought inside the behemoth's metal chest, which would include a functional control system for it.

"Allow me to introduce Assail Farbros! The true expression of my penultimate weapon!", Zenoheld brazenly declared.

(Apollonir: 1000, Oberus: 800, Clayf: 1600, Frosch: 800, Lars Lion: 1000, Exedra: 1600)=6800

Assail Farbros: 7000

"What a behemoth!" Exedra growled in challenge. "And its power level has risen exponentially, too."

"That's no Bakugan. It's a mobile battle station!" Apollonir took a step away from the opponent. He gnashed his teeth in snarling. "Everyone, we must combine our power! We don't have much time!"

"Agreed. We can't show that behemoth to strike!", Frosch stated.

"Take our power, Apollonir!" Lars Lion agreed with Apollonir's plan.

All six of the Warriors began to shine their Attribute colors, an energy hue encasing them all. Within moments, all of the auras were expelled from their Bakugan, and merged together on Apollonir's form.

For that brief moment, Apllonir glowed with the multicolored power of all six of the elemental Attributes, and his small chest diamond glowed to reflect that fact. Then, after a moment, he put the power to use. "Take this, Zenoheld! Infinity Waiver!" All the energy gathered within Apollonir then shot out in a massive blast, larger in size than Apollonir's whole body, aiming right for Assail Farbros.

(Apollonir: 1000+300=1300, Oberus: 800+300=1100, Clayf: 1600+300=1900, Frosch: 800+300=1100, Lars Lion: 1000+300=1300, Exedra: 1600+300=1900)=8600

Assail Farbros: 7000

"That won't be enough." Sitting in a chair within Assail Farbros's control center, Zenoheld slid an ability card into the green holographic board. The card glowed red, activated as well as if Zenoheld had used his gauntlet. "Ability Activate! Shadow Crowley!"

The four cannons hefted above Farbros's head in the Assail Formation all began to emit red light from the barrels. At once, all four of them shot out identically sized energy beams in direct opposition to the multicolored blast sent against Assail Farbros.

The opposing energies met at the center of the battlefield, making contact with each other with explosive power. As the two beams continued to keep each other at bay, the point of collision became a point where a sphere of conflicting energies formed and grew.

(Apollonir: 1300-400=900, Oberus: 1100-400=700, Clayf: 1900-400=1500, Frosch: 1100-400=700, Lars Lion: 1300-400=900, Exedra: 1900-400=1500)=6200

Assail Farbros: 7000

Apollonir fought to break the stalemate with Assail Farbros, using all the power the others had given him, along with every scrap of his own power. However, despite his powerful attack, it was all he could do to hold off Zenoheld's offense. And eventually, his body fell to fatigue from overexertion, and he was forced to cancel his multicolored blast. "I put everything into that…"

The four red cannon blasts sailed past the Ancient Warriors, their very proximity scorching them as they passed by. As they struck the ground behind them, they kicked up large red explosions.

"It seems I missed that attack. I'll need to work on properly piloting this station. Good thing my victory is assured." Zenoheld's voice rang out from Assail Farbros's form. "You were correct before, Ancient Warriors. I can't beat you in strategy or skill. But I don't have to! Heh!" He let out a short chuckle. "I've got the power to make your expertise meaningless. But your example has taught me well on how to properly battle. Thank you for that."

"We're not through yet." Oberus flew ahead of Apollonir. "Try and recover. Let us buy you some time, Apollonir." The other Warriors followed Oberus's lead in placing themselves in front of Apollonir.

"Thank you." Apollonir bowed his head in thanks.

"There's no need to thank us." Exedra's eight different mouths opened up, their jaws unhinged while doing so, and started to fill up with identically proportioned purple fire. "Nebulous Flare!" He then proceeded to expel streams of the purple fire from each mouth, which converged together into a single blast of intensified fire, a darker color than before.

"Gravity Quake!" Clayf quickly smashed his ax into the ground, cracking through it, leaving a gash in the earth, and breaking free several large portions of the earth. Those loose rocks soon glowed in Clayf's orange, Subterra power, as he sent them to smash against Zenoheld's penultimate weapon.

"You've already lost this battle." With that brazen declaration, Zenoheld undoubtedly put another ability into action. "Ability Activate! Shiny Oricalcum!"

With those words, Assail Farbros unleashed its full power. There wasn't even a moment to process before the gigantic mechanical Bakugan started emitting numerous omnidirectional red waves of power, intense enough to equate Assail Farbros to a bona fide natural disaster.

Exedra's Darkus fire was deflected by the first wave Farbros unleashed, and even that fire dissipated under the pressure. The rocks manipulated by Clayf were knocked away, as if they were sand crumbs against a tidal wave. That left the Warriors with nothing else to fall back on.

When the waves fell upon the legendary champions, all they could do was tell in pain and try to endure.

(Apollonir: 900-300=600, Oberus: 700-300=400, Clayf: 1500-300=1200, Frosch: 700-300=400, Lars Lion: 900-300=600, Exedra: 1500-300-500=700)=3900

Assail Farbros: 7000+500=7500

"Our abilities were nullified!", Clayf proclaimed.

"So… much… power…", Oberus panted.

The blast wave spread throughout the field, causing disruption and destruction on the level of a natural disaster. Even far away, it was able to reduce large rocks to dust. Yet it was the area the Six Ancient Soldiers were at that was most affected.

"No… not yet!" Somehow, under the immense pressure Assail Farbros was exerting, Apollonir managed to get off an ability. "Dispel Roa!" His multiple wings spread out to their full wingspan for a brief instant, just enough for them to be seen covered in a bright red light. The light then intensified a hundred fold, encompassing the entire battlefield.

When the red light faded, the states of every combatant had changed. Even though only moments prior they were under attack, the six living Bakugan were physically unscathed. Assail Farbros was also undamaged, but his form had lost a large portion of its power, and its attack was no longer in operation.

(Apollonir: 500, Oberus: 500, Clayf: 500, Frosch: 500, Lars Lion: 500, Exedra: 500)=3000

Assail Farbros: 5000

"You reduced everyone to their base power level." Zenoheld almost sounded impressed.

Apollonir, panting, fell to his knees. The other Soldiers were hardly any better. Despite their physical damage being erased, they still felt the overwhelming fatigue of the battle. And that was an advantage that Zenoheld would be more than willing to make use of.

"We can't sustain this for much longer." Apollonir looked around frantically. "We cannot allow Zenoheld to defeat us!"

Being the one with the sharpest eyesight, Oberus noticed movement from behind them. When she figured out the source, her eyes widened, and she slumped in relief. "Everyone!"

The other Warriors looked behind them, seeing what Oberus had noticed. And yet Zenoheld, who was focused on finishing the battle, remained blind to it in those few, crucial moments. "That last ditch effort has only bought you a few seconds! Ability Activate! Meteor Driver!"

The four cannons at the top of Assail Farbros, in a manner very reminiscent of the Shadow Crowley ability, began to fill up in red energy. However this time, the four armaments seemed to slightly shift to aim directly at Apollonir. However, the blasts would likely wipe out all six of the Warriors at once. Then, Zenoheld's behemoth unleashed four large red beams all at once

(Apollonir: 500-500=0, Oberus: 500, Clayf: 500, Frosch: 500, Lars Lion: 500, Exedra: 500)=2500

Assail Farbros: 5000+500=5500

However, the Ancient Warriors weren't going to simply stay and be wiped out. Not that time. Instead, they flashed their Attribute colors at an increasing level of brightness.

"We won't allow you to possess our Attribute energies", Frosch said as a parting remark. "Farewell." Then, the six of them vanished into thin air.

The four beams blasted through the area they once were, burning a path of scorched earth and singed air. But none of that mattered to Zenoheld.

"They escaped?! How?!", Zenoheld demanded. "The tower should've kept them here!" At a glance, though, he realized the answer to that query.

The tall tower that had been interfering in dimensional travel had collapsed. It seemed the bottom floors had given way to a powerful force, causing the upper floors to fall down as gravity destroyed the tower, and the effect it had on the area.

"How did that happen?", Zenoheld then questioned, only to realize the damage had to have been recent. The only thing he could think of that would have destroyed the tower was Assail Farbros's Shiny Oricalcum, meaning that they'd taken advantage of his slight blunder. But to have realized that in the mere seconds they'd had… "Clay! Track them!"

"I'm already on it." Instead of merely being a voice on his ear, being inside Assail Farbros gave Zenoheld the benefit of having a holoscreen communication directly with the scientist. "We're fortunate the Ancient Warriors used so much of their power in this battle. I've recorded a complete analysis of each of their energy signatures, so I can track them no matter where they go."

"Very good." Zenoheld grinned, pleased with his subordinate's apparent competence. "The Vexos will hunt them down, one by one, and take their power by force. They can't run or hide for long."

XXX

When the Soldiers were done retreating, they found themselves in a continuous white void, with an invisible platform holding them up. Even though they were in their robed forms to conserve their power, all they could see, besides each other, was an endless white abyss.

"We're in between dimensions", Apollonir realized. "It seems we didn't have the power to fully transport ourselves back to New Vestroia." They were too weak, and Apollonir acknowledged it. The strength that they'd relied on for so long had abandoned them this time.

"That Bakugan was strong. Too strong." Oberus sighed. The power was the only factor that led to their defeat. Zenoheld was both inexperienced and lacking in talent. But the mechanical Bakugan he used was so overwhelmingly powerful, it still was enough to put them in this situation. "I can feel it. We don't have much time."

Showing off the grounding on that claim, the Attribute symbols included within each of their robes forms began shining an erratic and broken light.

"That energy wave utilized by that weapon dealt so much damage", said Lars Lion somberly. "Even Apollonir's best efforts couldn't reverse it." If she didn't know better, she'd be criticizing herself for her own inability to heal the damage dealt. But she knew the level of carnage that was unleashed on them was beyond her ability to heal.

"We must ensure our life forces are adequately protected", Exedra stated. "We have to assume Zenoheld will track us down eventually." Small snarling noises could be heard from within his cloak as he vented. As the strongest individual within the Six Ancient Soldiers, he raged at their collective failure to defeat a single opponent. Especially one so unskilled and inexperienced.

"We can't fend him off again." Clayf chafed at admitting it, but it couldn't be denied. He doubted that the prolonged battle had so much as a scratch of lasting impact on Farbros. Them, on the other hand… "We're not at full strength. We'd be demolished if he found us."

"If we can no longer guard our Attribute energies, we'll have to find others who can", Frosch said, quickly devising the best plan to thwart Zenoheld's plans for the Annihilator. They could not allow that weapon to become fully operational, so that meant accepting drastic measures. "I think we can agree there's only one real option."

"... agreed", Apollonir said after a moment of silence. "Very well. We'll contact them."

Another moment of silence passed as the six entities spread out their consciences, searching for the specific beings they needed to contact. After a moment, their bodies viewed with their Attribute colors as they exerted their wills to bring forth their chosen champions…

XXX

The collective call of the Soldiers caused a reaction for six individual sets of Bakugan and battlers, across two different worlds between two different dimensions.

Back at Keith's lab in Vestal, three of them could be found in one place. The other three could be found at the forested area on Earth that was serving as a Bakugan training ground. In an instant, the twelve individuals phased out of the reality of their dimension, being pulled in between dimensions before they could even register something was happening.

"Whoa!" Baron Leltoy exclaimed his surprise, registering that all he could see was a seemingly endless white, and five others that he recognized.

"What are you guys doing here?" Mira Clay asked, seeing the humans among them. "And where's Ace? He was right next to me a moment ago."

"Gus isn't here, either." Keith looked around warily, but there was no sign of whoever or whatever had transported them.

"Considering our surroundings, I think it's fair to assume we've been transported somewhere." Marucho tried looking around for clues, but there was nothing to see.

"There's a pattern to who's been summoned, though." Alice looked over the five other humanoids there. "One to represent each attribute. And…." After searching her pockets to confirm herself, she finished her thought. "I don't have Hydranoid or Legionoid with me, just Leonidas."

After everyone had checked, it was confirmed that they only had one Bakugan with them: Baron possessed Nemus, Marucho still had Elfin and Shun only possessed Ingram. And no Trap Bakugan could be found among any of them.

After that, Shun noted a visual disturbance in the perpetual white. "Something's coming."

After everyone looked where Shun was looking, they saw the white part like a fog, and six humanoid figures emerged.

"The Six Ancient Warriors." Shun recognized the group, even in their cloaked form. "It's been a long time since we last met."

"I wish this could've been under better terms", Apollonir admitted, speaking for the rest. "But there's no more time. We need your help."

XXX

Well, people! I have finally returned with the first installment of Zenoheld's Revenge: Annihilation: Remastered! I certainly hope your patience hasn't been dragged out for too long. Also hope the writing quality hasn't degraded in your eyes. Also, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! 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; I'll almost definitely respond to them. Until next time, goodbye!