From Depths We Rise

by Insane Dominator

1 year has passed since Dan and the Battle Brawlers saved the universe, and when things were serene, a new group of Bakugan players are sent to New Vestroia when a dimensional interference forces them to meet each other. Caught in the crossfire with aliens seeking resources, Luke, Abis Omega, and new friends must fight using unlikely odds if they're to save all from extinction.

9. Field Experiment

Fingers glided over a holographic keyboard a few inches above its actual board. The projected screen in front of Jade were showing a number of diagnostics and words he was being careful as to synchronize to the best of his abilities. His eyes shifted left and right, ascertaining every ounce of information he could've gotten and converted by a few tiny buttons. He took a single second to look down at Atmos, seeing him in ball form. Although, it looked like he was observing humbly. Jade resumed his work.

'If we're going to make it further ahead…we'll be requiring changes for the better.' He thought.

The screens in front of him were all paneling either off to the side loading material, or in some cases showing pie charts with moving hands to show calibration. With it changing as of recently, he pressed a button next to him.

"Shawn, how are those modifications coming along?" He asked aloud.

"They're pretty steady. They shouldn't take too long now." Shawn's voice said over the intercom. He was, in actuality, in another part of the Trailer, on the underside of it to be more precise. He had a toolbox beside him that was in one of the closets of the convertible that came in emergency fixes. Using a wrench, he twisted another bolt into the centerpiece behind one of the huge tires.

"Good. Should the projection to the wheels' conversion be increased? You can tell me if I'm not applying all that much." Jase said.

Pulling away to rub his arm over his forehead to wipe sweat off, Shawn smirked. "Don't be so humble, come on. You're keeping it as stable as it is. We should have it ready soon. I'm on the last wheel."

"Understood."

Verias was popped open, watching Shawn wok on the rudders that he was installing to the wheels. Shawn had long since explained what he was doing, and Verias was in no position to do anything to help. Really, his chance was to stay quiet and spot his partner in case something happened.

Further away from the Trailer, the remainder of the group was sitting around idly. The two had been working on it for a long time now, and all the waiting was grating Luke's nerves.

"How much longer is this going to take?" Luke groaned tiredly on a rock. "My brain is going to die before I do if this keeps up."

"Bare some patience if you can, Luke." Esther said.

"But they've been at it all morning. Seriously, why are they doing this again?" he testified.

Abis Omega popped open on the ground. "Don't ask me. I'm just as clueless as you humans."

"They said that in order to get to Troposphere, we'll have to cross over a large mass of sea." Esther explained, turning back towards the Trailer. "But due to circumstances, the Trailer isn't fully designed for oversea voyage."

"So they're trying to fix it up?" Atchibee guessed on her shoulder. "That's pretty ingenious to me."

Esther grinned. "You're not the only one, Atchibee. I'm just as shocked that Jade managed to operate the Trailer diagnostics that fast. And Shawn's surprisingly well with mechanics, too."

Luke shrugged like it was no big deal. "Why are you all so shocked? Shawn's always been good with tools." He spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. "When he isn't around, he's usually off doing mechanic stuff."

Esther looked at Luke with shock. "Oh? So Shawn's a mechanic for a living?"

"Self-taught, last I checked." Luke laid back on the flat rock, arms behind his head as the sun beamed down on his face. "But seriously, is it really supposed to take this long? I feel like I'm dying of boredom here."

"Yeah, they've been working on that thing all morning." Maggie chimed in. She wasn't too far away, dangling her feet as she sat on a higher rock looking towards the sky with a bored expression. "Are they even taking breaks?"

"This is alien technology they're meddling with. We should probably respect their space. They know what they're doing better than we do." Esther said.

Luke sighed once more. "Fine…"

Esther turned towards Shuji next. "Shuji."

The Subterra battler was in the shade with one leg out, and an arm resting on the knee. He turned towards Esther. "Yeah, what? We're ready?"

Esther shook her head. "No, I was wondering. How's Fly Beetle?"

Shuji looked at her with confusion. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"You both did a lot of battling yesterday, didn't you? I would imagine Fly Beetle would still be feeling a lot of exhaustion. After all, you did beat one of Rogue Zero, didn't you? That must have taken a lot out of you."

In a way, she wasn't wrong. Shuji was still feeling some recoil after those last two battles in the colosseum. He was honestly too pooped to even get up right now with how sore he felt. But he looked towards Fly Beetle, who was still in a ball in his palm. The Bakugan had been really quiet for awhile now, but that was because he was probably still recovering. But like Shuji, he was tough.

He looked back towards her, showing a frown. "Don't sweat it. The big guy's doing just fine."

"Funny, by 'sweat' and 'big guy', do you mean you?" Maggie chirped.

Shuji zipped back on his feet, showing a tick mark. "SAY WHAT?! YOU COME OVER HERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE, YOU LITTLE PIPSQUEAK!"

Maggie did her best to suppress a childish chuckle.

Jelldon looked towards Maggie with confusion. "Are humans that sensitive about their own weight?"

Maggie winked as she pointed a finger skywards. "Well some more than others. It's all in the self-esteem."

"HEY! I HAVE SELF-ESTEEM!" Shuji's shrieks were in the background.

Maggie leaned in towards Jelldon, giving him a more motherly chiding facial expression. "But remember~, if there's one thing no one ever does, it's to tell or ask a woman about her weight."

"Oh…why's that?"

"Because if they do, then a meteor comes straight down and obliterates them of course!" she happily lied.

"EEK! I'm sorry!" Jelldon cowered into ball form once again, causing Maggie to laugh at his silliness.

"Oh don't be dramatic, Jelldon." She eased up, cupping her gloved hands together and scooping up Jelldon. "But really though, people who ask or mock a woman's weight is a bad and sensitive object we don't cross. So try not to say anything about that to girls, okay?"

Jelldon popped back open in her hands. "Okay…" Out of wonder, his green eye bent down, and then back up. "Maggie, am I fat?"

The Pyrus girl laughed loudly. As she let out her amusement, the 10-year-old poked Jelldon square in the face. "Of course not, silly. You're perfect just the way you are. That's what we humans consider as accepting one another."

Meanwhile, Luke was still laying back against the rock that had been his cushion for the longest time now. His annoyance was being drowned out by a thought that had been clouding his head ever since the disappearance of Thermosphere yesterday. The sun was beating over his head, but his green eyes were squinted as he tried to look. But what he saw wasn't the sun, but he saw the figment of heat that was Hyper Dragonoid. Thinking back harder, that heat and that power the forbidden card did was dangerously insane, even for something like him. He was so lost in thought that everything else drowned out around him.

His attention went back towards the fight, how Goblinball and Hyper Dragonoid were completely putting Abis Omega at his mercy. He hardly got a few good blows in at all. It was just sad now that he thought about. 'What am I doing? Am I even strong enough to pull this off?' He questioned himself. 'All that power, and I just shook in my boots like a frightened kid. God, how the hell am I supposed to get home if I'm just gonna feel that way again?' He was beginning to look strained as he put a hand over his eyes, shielding himself from blinding rays and into darkness.

'If I want to get home again…I have to get stronger.'

That sentence from last night rang in his head over and over again like church bells. He had to get home; he didn't have any security on some alien planet. Of course that isn't to say that he didn't have help along the way. He probably would still be in the forest far, far away lying in mud dead on his face if it weren't for his allies.

Abis Omega popped open beside him again, looking up at his partner in thinking. "Hey." He didn't get answer. "Hey." He said more forcibly.

Luke snapped out of his thoughts and lifted his hand. With a disgusted look, he turned towards Abis Omega. "What do you want? Can't you see that I'm thinking here?" he scolded.

Abis could see the resentment in Luke's eyes. Not to him personally, but the way he sounded, and acted as of last night, he could feel that Luke was taking this blow rather hard. "…tch, nothing." He turned away. "Just thought we could talk to pass time or something, but you're really that stubborn…"

Luke's face pouted. "Hey, I'm not stubborn, okay? I'm just…it's complicated."

"Yeah, yeah. You humans have always been so complicated."

Luke turned towards the sun again, eyes shut with arms behind his head. "Yeah well takes one to know one. It's not like I'm that complicated. I don't even know what you are exactly."

Abis Omega snickered. "Well then I guess we're in agreement. We're both hard at reading other species."

Luke fell quiet as he stared somberly into the darkness that was his eyelids. The sun continued to brighten the rock shimmering across the land, but otherwise his head was still shrouded in black. "…those Rogue Zero guys…how do we get around them…?"

In his murmuring, Abis Omega heard the faintest of his morbid tone. The Bakugan looked ahead in silence, he, too, questioning his own inferior strength.

"Hey guys, come see this!" Shawn's loud shout was what broke the tension at long last. Luke shot up and looked towards him in shock.

"Shawn? Is it done yet?" he sounded so hopeful.

Shawn nodded with a smile. "Well why don't you come and see for yourself."

"Alright!" Luke shot off his rock and made way in a hurry back towards the Trailer. Not far behind, a cheering Maggie scuttled back with haste.

"Yaa~y!"

"Looks like we'll be getting back on track then." Esther said, following behind.

Shuji shot to his feet with a great shout up to the air. "Yeah! Now we're talking! Let's go kick some butt!" He made way in a hurry pass Esther, scuttling like Luke and the excited Maggie.

Esther snickered. "Such energy."

"Is maturity estrange for your culture?" Esther questioned.

In a matter of a few minutes, Luke and the gang were all standing before the Trailer in it's locomotive form. Standing in front of them was Jase, who had arms behind his back and giving the group the attention they needed. Once settled in, he began. "I trust that you've all had plenty of time to rest now. Since the modifications are now complete, we can begin the next phase of our mission."

Luke crossed his arms with another pout. "Okay, but why did you make us wait outside this whole time? Seriously, it's hot!"

"My apologies. I figured it should've been more sufficient if he had to work on whatever interior designs we had. But it's better to have been out of sight rather than out of mind, right?" His counterpoint left Luke to pout lower in place, giving a grim scribble over his head out of annoyance. "Now then, before we begin, I must warn you that since we haven't run any official tests on the Trailer's modifications, we'll have to tread lightly. That means we'll have to keep our pace stable if not slow so as to short out whatever power we may have converted."

"So then how long until we reach Troposphere you think?" Shawn questioned.

Jase adjusted his glasses. "Shouldn't be too long. A matter of a few days. If we reach island stops along the way, we can use that to our advantage and get whatever resources possible for the Trailer and ourselves while we're at it."

Maggie pumped her fists. "So what are these modifications you've made?"

Jase smirked. "Well…that would be telling now, would it?"

"Aw, you're no fun!" she pouted.

Shuji rest his hands behind his arms. "Hey, as long as we're heading somewhere, we may as well get it over with."

"I'm all for that." Fly Beetle said.

"I agree. With all do respect, Colonel, shouldn't we proceed?" Esther insinuated.

Jase nodded. "You're right. We'll save the details for when we're on the road." He stepped off towards the side, allowing passage into the ship. "Now then, you can all finally enter. Staying out here in the sun must've been so dreadful to you." He feigned just the right amount of tease and sarcasm, much to the annoyance of Luke.

The heir stomped his way, muttering incoherently unused language by nobles. He was preceded with his colleagues filing into the Trailer, with a snickering Jase to enter last. Once everyone was inside, they all worked their way towards the front down the hall, getting to the head of the Trailer.

Sitting in the driver's seat, Jase gave a serious look. "Alright, let's go!"

"Right!" Everyone shouted.

The wheels of the convertible whistled and grinded loudly as the Trailer took off towards west.

---

They thus began their trek once more. They were making steady progress within the hours' time. Jase said that the energy was minimized to where it would slow them down some, but so far, the Trailer was as fast as ever. It was like Jase to pull legs in such ways.

For as long as it's ever been, it's been nothing but a wasteland left and right. They haven't seen any sign of green for a while, and that's irregular, if not disturbing.

"We shouldn't be too far now." Jase looked up at the holographic map above his head. The red dot with sonar breaching everywhere indicated their position heading towards somewhere with blue in the left side of the map. "We're reaching the sea very soon."

"You think there's a beach?" Maggie questioned with a hopeful smile.

"I don't think we'll have the luxury this time around. Sorry, Maggie." Esther apologized.

Despite the disappointment, the pigtail-wearing girl smiled. "I know. It's just something I've always wanted to see."

"You've never been to the beach before, Maggie?" Shawn asked, surprised.

Maggie shook her head. "Nope. I've always stayed in one place my whole life. Besides…" She turned, modestly looking away. "It's not like we could've afford much of a trip anyway."

"What does that mean?" Jelldon asked. He looked towards his fellow Bakugan, who had curious expressions as he did.

"I say we just leave that up to interpretation." Verias figured. He wasn't that dumb, but he'd rather not dwell too deep in personal matters.

Luke sat back in his seat, arms folded behind his head again. "Well that sure sounds like a bummer. What's so great about staying in one spot your whole life?"

Shawn grinned at him, having a hand to his hip. "Gee, I wonder why's that?" he hummed. "Sounds like pot calling the kettle black if you ask me."

"Hey!"

"That's right. You only lived in your mansion grounds, haven't you Luke?" Esther recalled what Shawn explained to her and Jase back in Thermosphere. "You haven't much of the outside world then."

Luke nonchalantly looked away from her. "So what of it? It's not like it matters at this point."

"Maybe not, but I bet you'll feel something when we get to the ocean." Shawn said.

"The ocean you say?" Atchibee questioned. She turned towards Abis Omega. "Abis, sorry for asking, but aren't Bakugan like your species best suited around there?"

The sea serpent looked towards his friend in his own question. "What kind of a question is that?" He looked towards the holographic map of the deep blue. "I mean, I guess I know where you're coming from this, but it's not like I have to be in the ocean. My kind just happens to live in any bodies of water, not that I personally been to the sea myself."

"Oh, I see." Atchibee turned away. "Sorry for bringing it up."

"It's fine, don't worry about it."

Atmos turned towards Jelldon. "I don't mean to be rude, Jelldon, but does your Aquos species happen to swim?"

Jelldon's eyes went up a little. "Oh, that? Well yeah, usually the Aquos version of every attribute lives near water. I mean I usually don't, but I can breathe and swim underwater if I really wanted to."

"I see, so it's more of a preference thing."

"Why so curious, Atmos? Ever asked other of your species if they could ever fly?" Verias asked.

"It's not exactly that typical, you see. The only other attributes my species takes up are Haos, Subterra, and Pyrus. Usually some Atmos like to live in flocks, but most usually stay on their own. I don't go throwing arbitrary questions so needlessly like half-minded fools do."

For some reason, another wave went up Luke's spine.

"But I'll be fair. Abis Omega out of water isn't all that common for me. Sorry if I'm coming off as so judgmental on you."

Abis Omega shook his head. "Don't be. But since we're all asking questions here, has your kind ever been fond of water, Fly Beetle?"

The Subterra Bakugan looked up at his friends with wonder. "I guess so, but Aquos Fly Beetle are the water hoarders. I just spend my time in the forest. I rather not dispute over territory."

"Well, guess we'll all have an experience with the sea then." Atchibee said.

Luke looked over his shoulder, staring at Jase. "Hey, are we there yet?" he whined.

Jase was keeping a steady course onwards, frowning. "We should be getting into view right now. Everyone look ahead."

The whole group looked forward and out the windows of the Trailer. They all got close as to where the Bakugan hopped onto the windowsill to get a look. Up ahead, they were seeing bits of green. The green was grassy, with several palm trees. It was like an oasis almost that stretched for miles over the horizon.

Luke leaned into the glass. "Green?"

"The water during the storms can sometimes wash up, allowing plants to fertilize and grow." Jase explained. "It's just a small stretch before we reach the sea from here."

"Oh yeah! Now we're talking!" Shuji shouted excitedly.

The group went driving into grassy terrain, but due to reasons, and potential Bakugan inhabiting the shorelines, they had to take it nice and easy. As the Trailer slowly moved about forward, bushes and shrubs were brushed to the side, including a few Aquos Abis Omega, some Jelldon, Juggernoid, even some Stug. With Bakugan clearing, the path began to open up beyond a small palm tree line straight ahead. They passed through it, the land shockingly going from hard rock, to dirt in the woods, to sand.

"There it is."

Maggie's eyes widened at the sight. "Oh wow! So big!"

Luke stared ahead, his own eyes widening in shock. "So…that's the sea…"

The ocean was grand. It was nothing but waves constantly sliding up and down the sand back into the waters. Beyond that, the sun was shimmering down on the oceanic water that went for miles on end. Far along, it was sheer blue everywhere.

"Looks like we're closing in." Esther said in seriousness, unaffected by the beauty of the sea.

Shawn nodded. "Sure looks like it. Ready to fire that new trick up, Jase?"

The Ventus battler nodded. "It would be an honor. I ask that everyone get to their seats. This may get bumpy."

Everyone did as told and rushed into the five other seats available. They got in their respective chairs and braced themselves as they closed in on the open waters ahead. The Trailer roared as it suddenly picked up speed, driving into the sea at full throttle.

"We're in!" Shawn shouted.

"Right! Activating rudder conversion!" Jase commanded with an authority that made everyone silence, it was no wonder he was a Colonel. He pressed buttons with just a few fingers in a span of a few seconds, and the next thing that happened, the whole Trailer suddenly jerked.

"Woah!" Maggie lurched. "What was that?"

Jase smirked.

As the Trailer began to go deeper out to the ocean water, the many tires began to shift on the sides. The many counted tires that were buoyant were slowly tilting and shifting to the bottom of the Trailer, with half of each tire sticking out to the sides. The inner spokes of each tire started to alter their shapes as well, the inner, sharper rudders starting to lower out and down the replace the spoke. Once locked in place, the rudders turned and began to spin, projecting the Trailer upwards. The group inside was doing their best to stay stable while everything got all rocky; even Shuji was practically hugging his console to stay alive.

The whole Trailer was rocking with the waves, but the many wheels were propelling water around and backwards around the convertible. The entire domain was officially on the move again, roaming through the open seas like some sort of yacht.

"Modification: Sea Travel…" Jase's eyes showed with his shimmering glasses, narrowed with a seriousness. "Complete."

Esther stood up, looking ahead to realize they weren't sinking. "We've actually done it."

Shuji was clutching his teeth tight before soon stopping. His eyes opened, blinking a few times. "Huh? We're not drowning…?"

"Surprised?" Shawn teased. "Now you see why we took so long."

Luke went wide-eyed once more as he got out of his seat. He raced straight for the edge of the window, looking out to see the mainland behind them. They had to be at least 200 meters out by now. "This is…" He looked down, seeing the seawater brush up against the Trailer, yet it only shrunk back as the tires showed again. "They really did it…this is the sea…"

Esther approached Luke from behind, seeing him in awe. "It's not a bad view, is it?"

Shocked, he turned around to see Esther. "Oh, uh, not really…"

Esther smiled in sincerity. "I think you'll like it, once you get used to it."

"Now then…" Jase pressed a few more buttons on the holographic keyboard. On top of the entire Trailer, the railing meant for it in stationary mode jutted up, acting as a guard. Now it looked like a real ship, at least from the side. "What do you say we all take a breather and enjoy the ocean view?"

Maggie gasped excitedly and turned back towards Jase. "Wow, Jase! This is so cool! You're so awesome!"

Jase smirked. "Well, I don't know about 'cool', but thanks for the appreciation, Maggie."

Shawn raised a brow. "Well someone sure looks like he's having a glory day."

"Yeah right, it was your mechanic stuff anyways that did the trick, right Shawn?" Luke inquired defensively.

Shawn looked towards his best friend with surprise. "Hey now, taking sides with me, are you? Better hope the Colonel doesn't care for favoritism."

Luke looked at him dumbly. "What's that mean? It was a fact."

"Well, in any case, we're off to Troposphere, and that's what's important." Esther said, getting the group back on track. "Still, thank you both."

"Sure."

Jase adjusted his glasses with a smile. "Don't mention it."

The transformed Trailer ventured onwards through the oceanic waters, heading farther out west to where the adventure was to take them.

---

Ariella sat with one leg over the other as she was sitting in her chair at a round, blue table. The table was fading into a bright center with a medium-sized quos symbol imprinted on it. Dead center was her Clawcer, still closed and black all over. "To think we've lost this much space." She sullied, tapping her index finger constantly against the table's edge. "What a waste."

Around her were five other tables with their respective positions, forming the circle for the attributes, which were imprinted respectively. However, the only ones accounted for were herself and Hendrix.

Hendrix sat diagonally across from her, leaning back with arms crossed. Like her, Rafflesian was in the center of his table. He had eyes shut as Ariella continued with her monologue.

"We've come all this way just to find powerful Bakugan, and then what? To realize that their potential has been wasted on these 'things' that Cesar has made." Her eyes narrowed in disgust. "If we're going to succeed in this operation, we're going to need more field results and to keep this city's core intact." She looked around, seeing that herself and Hendrix were the only ones present. "Where is Maximus?"

"He is busy within the city." Hendrix explained. "Apparently he got an important errand to run."

Ariella's eyes narrowed. "And I take it that Xander tagged along with him?"

"Yes."

The Aquos woman sighed. She figured Xander would be anywhere with Maximus; the bully is the loyal dog to the demon. She of was more allured to another disturbing fact, and that was Maximus. Normally, the Darkus leader wouldn't be doing much of anything other than biding time or watching other people make a mess of themselves. If he had an 'important errand', she could only guess it had to do with humans who interfered with their plans. She could go on for minutes on end about the annoyance she felt for…everything, but that wouldn't change much.

"Then where is Killian?"

"He was given permission to monitor the lab in Cesar's place."

Ariella's brow raised. "What's that? Are you saying Cesar is out somewhere?"

Her threatening curiosity didn't deter Hendrix in the slightest. "Field tests."

"Of what? I hope that it doesn't involve the project he's been working on. Because last I checked, wasn't it supposed to be for a couple more days perhaps?"

Hendrix' facial expression refused to shift. "If you're that curious, then go ask him yourself."

"Why? Aren't you curious?" Ariella insinuated rudely.

"My business is my own concern. You mind your space, as I do mine. Mind that's how respect is made."

Ariella glared daggers at Hendrix' calm backlash. She always felt the need to know, and she would get as many of any 20 questions out there answered. But Hendrix was the opposite. He hardly asks questions, and that's what's annoying. Refusing to deal with his philosophy, she snatched up her Clawcer and departed from her round table.

Hendrix looked back down towards his Rafflesian. He was still quiet ever since the transformation, but he still felt empathy for the results. "Respect for another's life and decisions is biased. We all think we have the power to decide our own believes…but in the end, we follow another's path to destiny."

---

Troposphere's city wasn't much like Thermosphere in the slightest. While Thermosphere had cultural and otherworldly schematics of towers and buildings, Thermosphere had a little more futuristic feel towards it. Instead of a high wall like the other city had as a border, this one had no border, but instead it sat at the base of a large reservoir of water. Flowing waterfalls dove down from far inlands into banks beyond the city as it laid on a massive, green island. The few rivers that ran through the city were flowing with freshwater from the land itself. All around, citizens were seen looking lively and happy, with some people even seen with Bakugan ready to battle one another on dirt battlefields with trees full of life bordering, and rivers along the side.

Roaming through the street crowd, two figures proceeded calmly like nothing was happening. They passed over another block just after a group of car-sized hovercrafts with lids shut carrying families and individuals inside passed. A closer inspecting showed that it was Maximus and Xander, both looking around with frowns.

"Gotta say, the location was a nice one." Maximus said, his tone showing modest surprise.

"With all do respect, why are we out here again?" Xander reasoned. "Shouldn't we be back at the base gathering data."

"Leave that be. You ask why, Xander? Why not?" Maximus smiled as he passed over an arch metallic bridge through another moat of water. It arched over the passage of aquatic hovercrafts as they went both ways. "The air isn't half bad, and unlike Cesar, I could use a little fresh air."

Xander smirked with a snort. "Sure as hell can guess Ariella could use some of that as well I take it."

"We need to look around and inspect the changes to this city have been made specifically. If what Cesar did is true, then the results should be most gratifying. Our world could really use freshwater like this you know." He went on with his henchman following over the arched bridge. "I'm going to go over the energy output and compare it to the recent week of before."

"I'm sure Cesar's been able to do all that."

"That he has, but we need to be sure. If all else fails…we at least need a little souvenir other than Bakugan, right?" the smirk on Maximus' face widened, albeit with intense mystery.

Xander frowned as he went along. "Sir?"

"What is it?"

"Should we inform him?"

Maximus knew what he was talking about, but he did not like to press the matter further than that. He, too, frowned, but in deep pondering as he turned back ahead. "Not even." His statement was sheer cold, it was like the air around the two was getting chillier by the second, catching Xander by shock. "You heard him. When the time is right, we will discuss it further. Now tell me, has he been willing to show his face just yet?"

Xander hung his head in shame. He fell silent as his leader's powerful retort.

Maximus' deranged dark eyes were beneath his shaggy, unkempt hair, but it was clear he seemed to be less relaxed than before. "I'd rather not look like a disappointment again. Failure just annoys me…more than anything."

The two continued to walk through the city, the sounds of waterfalls and rivers flowing drowning out their conversation from the rest of their race.

---

The Trailer mowed through the seawater, flowing waves behind its bulk. With its dexterity and train-like look, one could've mistaken it for a sea train moving at stable speeds with no signs of stop.

Several fingers ran across another solid keyboard, punching in another code. In front of Jase, several holographic panels were created, projecting in a filed order. The first image showed Hendrix, with his background being brown, and his Rafflesian popped open in a closer image comparison.

"Hey, what's that?" Maggie questioned.

Jase turned to look at his colleagues. "I'm glad you asked, Maggie. Now that I finally had time to spare on our little trip, I was able to create profiles to better understand our opponents thus far." He turned to look back up towards the filed projections. "As you can see, I organized the members thus far, to better understand them."

Luke slouched forward in his seat, looking unimpressed. "Is this school again?"

"Well, better safe than sorry." Shawn said. "But I think this'll help us in the long run, I suppose."

"Sounds boring to me." Shuji earned a glare from Esther, making a bead of sweat fall from his head. "…but then again, I don't mind a round of education or so!" he nervously exclaimed.

"Good." Jase tapped the keyboard once more, making all five panels show themselves in a pentagon fashion of all the Rogue Zero members thus far. "From what we know, the enemy is what's known or referred to as 'Rogue Zero'. From what we've seen and took into consideration, they've been harboring Bakugan from New Vestroia, in order to elaborate forbidden techniques to otherwise expand and enlarge their capacity for high levels of power." The projections changed, revealing video footages of the varied Bakugan that were expelling energy during the battles they had in Thermosphere. "While their overall objective is still unclear, what we can deuce is that it involves the power of needing Bakugan if they are willing to come thus far for them."

Maggie tilted her head. "But why come to New Vestroia of all places? Don't a lot of Bakugan live on Earth now?"

"Maybe, but some rather stay in open space. Catch the herd and you still get some stragglers." Shawn said.

Esther furrowed her brow as she put a hand to her chin. "But wait…Earth has Bakugan with power levels of around 600 Gs, at least according to the statistics that I read. Why come to a place where the power levels are almost twice as lower?"

"Yeah, sounds like a waste to me." Luke said.

Jase adjusted his glasses. "Well let's put this into perspective. Over the recent years, I've heard of some Bakugan having originated from more than just New Vestroia. Supposedly, they also derived from two other planets within another realm."

Shuji's eyes widened. "What? You serious?"

"Absolutely. Thankfully, with accordance to those who battled in Bakugan Interspace, and with research from the Battle Brawlers that have been relayed via network channels, we can say that most if not all the Bakugan on Earth had once been from the planets Gundalia, and Neathia."

"So then, our planet's species never went anywhere?" Jelldon pieced together.

Shawn put his hand towards his chin. "Yeah, now I think I get it."

"Get what? Spill it!" Luke demanded.

Shawn turned towards Luke. "Well, let's put it like this: If you separate one species of animal from the others, odds of it having to survive have to be low. So over time, they adapt; evolve in a way."

"That is precisely my point." Jase refocused. "Evidently, the alien Bakugan of those two planets have evolved to where perhaps their structures aren't compatible with these forbidden cards, or perhaps they've evolved so well that they are immune, leaving them at a constant. As opposed to New Vestroia, where Bakugan had originated, and are in primitive statures."

Luke's brow furrowed as the explanation went on. Bit by bit, he was just getting all the more frustrated. With that last sentence, he clutched his head. "GAH! Come on, guys! Fill me in here! What's really going on already?!"

Esther shot the irritated man a leer. "The New Vestroia Bakugan DNA isn't fixed like the ones on our planet, Luke. They're weaker in power, but they can unlock greater potential with those cards."

Luke's eyes widened. "You mean like a forced evolution, or something?"

"Exactly." Jase said. "Of course, these cards used on them seem to have created drawbacks to the Bakugan used on them. For example, their overall power has increased, but their bodies are still adjusting to the power. As an added shocker, their wills seem to have been depleted."

Maggie's face feel. "So then they're like puppets?"

"A bit extreme, but that's as simple as it can get."

Shuji crossed his arms and raised a brow. "So I think I get it. So they came to here because they wanted weaker Bakugan to surpass these already tough ones?"

"Yes. Very blunt of you Shuji." Jase smirked. "I'm surprised that after the fighting your brain still works just fine."

Shuji snapped up his seat. "You wanna eat a knuckle sandwich?!"

"But that still doesn't fix something right." Esther said, keeping the subject going. "Were we transported on accident, or was this on purpose?"

"Maybe it's this 'destiny' people keep talking about." Maggie chimed.

"Don't kid yourself! That stuff's a load of crap!" Luke huffed.

"It was a dimensional error, I suspect." Jase said. "Sometimes wavelengths expand too far when not calculated, and at that same time can pick up on other wavelengths from familiar reaches. Odds are that due to Bakugan always transporting themselves, there was a dimensional disturbance that stretched to Earth."

Esther looked down at her feet. "That would explain some aspects to that logic."

Jase turned back towards the holographic chart. He pressed on Hendrix's profile expanding the image to overlap the others. He cleared his throat before beginning another follow-up. "In accordance to Rogue Zero's introduction, I've conducted their profiles. The first one is known as Hendrix. He's the Subterra battler of Rogue Zero. He is a very quelled person. From what I've seen personally, he bears respect and only confronts if there is a must. His Bakugan is Subterra Rafflesian."

Maggie shot Shuji a mischievous smirk. "Maybe you can learn a thing or two about calm and respectable, Shuji." She teased.

Shuji growled with a fat line of a mouth. A tick mark was wide on his head as he glared at the smirking Maggie.

The panel swiped to the side, showing Ariella's profile next. "Next we have Ariella. She's known as the Aquos battler for their team. She's a rude and very arrogant person. If push comes to shove, she takes her might for granted but doesn't hesitate to bare her fangs at anyone. Her Bakugan is Aquos Clawcer."

Shawn's eyes narrowed at her. He recalled her all too well, and he didn't seem pleased.

"Yeah, yeah. We know those two already. Can't we get to the new stuff now?" Luke groaned.

The next panel showed Killian. "Now we move onto our newest findings, the three new members we've deduced. This one is Killian, and he is the Ventus battler for Rogue Zero. From what Maggie and Shuji have forwarded, Killian is a mellow person, but his battling skills are no less than sublime. A hard worker, and yet a fair fighter unlike Ariella. His Bakugan is Ventus Moskeeto."

Shuji and Fly Beetle stared at the monitor before them. They recalled how tough Killian was back when they had to fight him. It them every ounce of power they had, and they still barely held onto their raspy breaths.

The screen then showed Xander. "Next, we have the second-in-command of Rogue Zero. This one is Xander, the Pyrus battler, and the right-hand of Rogue Zero itself. He's devious and cruel, but nevertheless a very dangerous and bright opponent. We shouldn't turn a blind eye towards him if we ever see him again. His Bakugan is Pyrus Hyper Dragonoid."

"His abilities were dangerous enough when we had to stand up." Atchibee reminded. "His power level was always so high."

Esther's eyes narrowed. "It left a bitter taste in my mouth."

Te last panel showed Maximus. Upon the look of the devious smirk he carried, Luke jerked upright in his feet. His lips parted as he stared at him.

"And finally, we have the head of Rogue Zero. The Darkus battler, Maximus Rogue. He bears a cruel and cold battle demeanor and enjoys seeing his opponents try and entertain his love for power and battles. His Bakugan is Darkus Goblinball."

Along with Luke's glare at the bewildering face, Abis Omega was staring at the screen as well. The Aquos Bakugan looked quietly in an unsound manner while Luke's fists began to ball weakly.

"And that's all we got?" Shawn questioned.

Jase swiped all the projections away, making the green light fade. "For now, that's the information we have to work with."

"That Ariella girl sounds really bossy." Maggie puffed her cheeks. "Just you wait, I'll stop that witch!"

"Bold words, but can you back them up?" Jase teasingly challenged.

Maggie pumped her fists. "Yeah! Because Jelldon's not as weak as he was before! He can fry her crab and serve it with butter!"

Jelldon cringed at the thought, stinging and frying hard crabs when he can see himself getting pinched into a squishy pile made him less than amused. "Uh, can we vote on that…?"

"So now that we know who the enemy is, shouldn't we devise a strategy?" Verias asked the group.

"Now hold on a second." Shawn insisted. He turned towards Luke. "Luke, Esther."

"Yes?"

"Heh?"

"You said that Hendrix and Ariella took six Bakugan that night, didn't they?" He looked back towards Jase. "So then why were there only five that we've seen so far?"

Esther folded her arms beneath her ample buxom. "That's a good question."

"From the sounds of it, it must've underwent that forbidden transformation as well." Atchibee foretold.

"And if that's also the case, then where could it have been hiding all this time?" Atmos wondered.

The group tried to think, but a red siren was going off on the screen behind Jase. Everyone gasped and turned towards it yet again, looking up to see a red signature heading their way.

"W-what's that now?" Jelldon asked.

"An unknown object is closing in from the direction we're heading into." Jase said. "Everyone, get ready."

Maggie, Shawn, and Esther all showed serious faces for what was to come. Shuji and Luke bared slight surprise from this reveal, and Jase was emotionless.

In a hurry, everyone hurried up towards the top of the Trailer. A latch opened upwards and flipped, enabling Luke to get up first. Once up the ladder, he sat his feet on the flat top of the convertible as it stopped in place. Everyone else soon followed him, looking around to see where the threat was coming from.

"Where is it?" Luke questioned.

Confused enough, they all heard a cackling laughter from above. Looking up, they saw someone that was starting to descend. He had one leg crossed over the other and his arms on the armrests of a enchanted white chair with gold edging and deeply refined. The bottom of said chair was black and circular, with green energy filters all around the outer rims to help it defy gravity. The man's face was all too recognizable, at least to Rogue Zero. He adorned a long-sleeved white coat with yellow fur-lined cuffs and shoulders. The collar was high and tall, yellow and exceptionally spiky. All over the coat were purple leopard-like spots to give it pizzazz. He wore white pants and gloves, and adorned black classy shoes as well.

The figure laughed long and loudly, until he at last descended on the far side of the Trailer, facing west while everyone else faced east. "Ah, I see we have ourselves a fully live stock amongst our little dessert table. Welcome, you primitive pe-"

"Oh, wow! He's got a flying chair!"

Maggie's shout completely broke the man's sentence. He nearly floored if it wasn't for him flying. He straightened back up with a clutched fist. "I had the audacity to come and show you my face myself and that's the first thing that comes out of your mouths?!" he bellowed. "You little peabrains don't know an entrance when you see one!"

Jase stepped up, giving a frown towards the scientist. "My apologies for my colleague here. As you can imagine, children can rattle the mind of adults who don't have patience."

The scientist smirked as he adjusted his glasses, shimmering white light. "Hmhm~, be as it may, you're all here, and that's what I enjoy to see."

Luke stepped up, staring him in the eyes. "Who are you?!"

He frowned. "What a vulgar question. I am not 'you', and yet you ask who I am." He smirked as he waved a hand through his hair on the right side of his face. "I suppose I can leave you to a few hints. Tell me, have you been enjoying your time here with my little toys?"

"'Toys'?" Shuji reiterated.

Esther gasped in shock, her eyes widened. "Wait, you mean Bakugan?"

The scientist raised his arms high to the sky. "Haa~, so they can catch on! I thought you weren't as bright, but I guess that goes to show when you work so hard on a genius they may make a mistake from time to time."

"A genius? Toys? What the heck is going on?" Luke demanded.

The scientist put a hand to his stomach and bowed in his seat. "Allow me to grace you with my presence. Call me Cesar Ventriliqua, otherwise, the remarkable genius of Rogue Zero!" he pompously announced.

Maggie gasped. "Rogue Zero?!"

Jase's eyes narrowed. "So there was a sixth member."

Cesar smirked. "Right again. I trust that I've kept you interested in my little tricks that I keep coming up with."

Shawn's fists balled as Verias stood on his shoulder. "So then you're the one who…" he grunted. "You…"

Cesar's smirk turned ambitious. "Ah, yes~! I've left you stupefied again! Hahahahahahaha! It was I who used my miraculous and extraordinary talents to crack to code to customize the forbidden cards! All that you have seen with Rogue Zero…that power; that pure strength; that evolution of abilities! That…was all my…GENIU~S!" He laughed maniacally throughout the air, going on and on as everyone else was left to process what he was saying. Or the most part, they looked puzzled more with his attitude.

"So this guy's the brains or something I guess?" Shuji deadpanned.

"A rather unimpressive exaggeration to say the least." Jase said.

Cesar once again picked up on Jase's insult, almost flooring again. "Whaaat?! How dare you mock my beautiful art!" he yelled in anger. "You dare say that I'm unimpressive in your eyes, but then again, who's the ones looking down on who here?"

"That depends." Jase smiled.

Cesar glared at Jase for a moment before deciding to allow the matter to fast. "…hmph. Primitive cockroaches getting under my skin." He adjusted his glasses, once again smiling. "So you're the ones that were caught up in this little excursion we undertook, is it? My apologies, that was a mistake on my part. I hope the calibration didn't pick up on anything else out there."

Maggie pieced it together. "So then you teleported us here?"

Cesar sighed. "You blind? If it'll make you happy, then yes, it was I who did all that!"

"Sounds rather upfront when you're speaking of all these things you've done." Jase said. "Is this intentional or are you gloating?"

Again, Cesar grew annoyed. "Gnnngh! Are you saying that my works do not interest you?!"

"No, they do. But you don't."

For the umpteenth time, Cesar nearly floored. His head hung with his upper body sulking some. "Guhh…"

Luke sweat-dropped. "For someone who sounds like a mad scientist, he sure has a fragile ego…"

Cesar began to lowly chuckle. He raised his head, showing a smirk as his chuckling grew some more. "Now I think I get why the others have been too incompetent to truly put you down in the first place." He muttered. "It's because their mouths run equally as loud as your own that hardly any work can get done." He zoomed in to get in front of everyone; it was surprising how fast his chair could move. He gave the stink eye to Luke, humming some as he moved to Esther. He moved around swiftly with each character, giving them closeup inspections. The only one who wasn't moved at all or disturbed in any way was Jase. Once he got around to evaluating them all, the man backed off, getting back to the east and on the other end of the Trailer.

He rested his cheek against his wrist, smirking amusingly. "Just as I thought."

"Thought what, exactly?" Shawn asked.

"I've been keeping track all the way from Troposphere, about the abilities used, the levels of power the Bakugan have unleashed, I've even obtained and memorized the copies of your battles from time to time. It's amazing how such potential Bakugan end up with entertaining humans. Perhaps that's why the Chaos Abilities haven't been acknowledged by my colleagues yet, because not even I can take you seriously with your performance." He again laughed loudly through the air, cackling laughter for the group to hear.

Luke's glare hardened, he was getting pissed at this guy's mocking. "You…!"

"Hey, we've come this far! Don't be so mean!" Maggie yelled.

"Yeah! We'll send you packing, punk!" Shuji threatened.

Cesar stopped his laughing and looked down once more. "Well, as degrading as you are, you're a very entertaining group. You've actually caught my attention you did."

Esther's guard lowered in wonder. "What do you want?"

"Don't be so threatening. I didn't come here to drown you or anything. I've merely come to see what you have to offer. In other words, let's say that I'm piqued of what your skills are and I want to see for myself what it is you've got."

The group eased up a bit, but not to where they felt safe. They were glad to know he wasn't here to destroy them, but the fact that he still wanted to fight them was still sending red flags into the air.

"And that's why you came out here?" Jase asked.

Cesar humbly nodded. "That is all. Now…which of you would like to be my little guinea pig?"

Shawn stood his ground, returning a leer towards the scientist. "I don't like this one bit."

"Yes, it sounds like a trap." Esther determined.

Jase frowned. "Agreed. This unsound impression has been rather bothersome…however, he is still an enemy, and when you meet your enemy, it is an obligation to beat them however you can if you wish to gain lead."

Cesar smirked. "Ah, someone who speaks with the wisdom of a chess player! And yet the tongue of a simpleton…" his eyes drew towards someone who stood out, someone who had red hair. "You there, Luke, was it perhaps?"

Luke grew shocked.

"You're the one who has the Abis Omega, right? You know, if you battle with me out here, you'll have the homefield advantage, consider it a handy handicap. What do you say?"

Luke's brow furrowed as he was caught with his guard unnerved again. "I…I…" he looked down, trying to contemplate.

"In a way, he's not wrong, Luke." Jase said.

"He's right. We're out here in the ocean. Abis Omega can surprise his Bakugan if possible. We'll need any advantage we can to win, you know that." Shawn stated.

Luke looked towards them both, shocked. "But I thought you said it was a trap."

Jase adjusted his glasses. "Perhaps, but we're not forcing you to. You can back out now if you wish. It's your decision to make."

"Sounds like a sudden weight to drop, don't you think, Jelldon?" Maggie asked her Pyrus Bakugan.

The small Bakugan on her shoulder remained stationary. "Please don't pick me, please don't pick me…" he chanted in mumbles.

"Luke…" Esther stayed quiet as she watched him struggle with the decision.

Luke knew there wasn't much time to make a choice, but in truth, making decisions was far from his strongpoints, although he himself thought he was doing decently thus far. Sure he wasn't all that great, but if he could handle a few rounds with a Clawcer and Rafflesian, then maybe he had a chance here.

He hesitated for a moment, but chose to advance accordingly a step before everybody else. Cesar watched with a raised brow as his opponent stepped before him. He seemed rather piqued by the serious expression Luke had on his face.

"…if we battle you, you'll still go away, right?" he bargained.

Cesar bowed. "That's all I ask."

Luke grunted beneath his very throat. As he faced against Cesar, he could've felt some odd sensation befall him. It wasn't so much crippling as it was palpitating. He could feel it even from here, the Bakugan he had ready for him. 'Is his Bakugan a transformed one like the other two? This is…' He shook his head, trying to get the negative thoughts out. 'It's just one. If I can take just one on, maybe that'll get us stronger.' He looked down at his hand, seeing Abis Omega still in ball form and looking rather neutral, and yet he could feel he was ready. With affirmation, he looked ahead, raising a fist. "Okay, if it's just one of you, then let's go!" he shouted.

"Splendid!" Cesar rejoiced. With another cackling laughter, the chair flowed backwards off the stationary Trailer and out towards the sea. Reaching far eastward, Cesar stopped several meters away, a nice battle distance while Luke ran to the edge of the Trailer's top, ready to do battle.

Luke: 100% Cesar: 100%

"You sure about this?" Verias questioned.

"Luke just might have a shot. It's slim, but a possibility if he plays his cards right." She watched Luke get ready, the sea breeze shifting his coat. 'But that's what troubles me the most…'

"This should be interesting." Shawn said.

"Indeed." Jase agreed.

Cesar left his hands loose with his exaggerating gesticulation. "At last, a test subject to bear witness to my Bakugan. Prepare yourself…Gate Card, set!" Setting the field up first, Cesar inserted a card into a small slot in the left armrest. The card shot out of the front of the armrest when a slot popped open, shooting it in a slant onto the surface. The yellow shockwave stretched out far, leveling all the water that was causing large waves. The ocean within the perimeter of the invisible field was calm and tranquil, like a glistening pond.

"And now, to reveal the results of my beautiful work to you…" he narrowed his eyes as he held up as Bakugan in his gloved right hand. From what could've been seen, it had many sides towards it, with surprisingly less black than what many had figured. He dropped his Bakugan into an open capsule in his armrest, and the ball shot forward out of the small tube that funneled straight ahead. "Bakugan, brawl! Bakugan, stand!"

The Bakugan shot out, plopping several times before opening on so many sides. The eyes glowed and it enveloped in a bright light, creating a bright and stunning gleam that made everyone cover up.

Esther used her forearms to shield from the light. "This light…!"

"What's this power I feel?!" Atchibee exclaimed.

Luke looked ahead with shock as Cesar laughed aloud. "Meet my newly enhanced Bakugan…Haos Freezer!"

Standing up was a squid-like Bakugan. The Haos Bakugan's head was a low cylindrical head with the forehead and top being nothing but glass, which in turn covered its revealing brain. Its front had a dull red triangle upside down, with a similar but smaller one on the back. The eyes were a dull purple, ad it had on a breathing mask, like it was ventilating something. It had six tentacles that held it up, with yellow scales on the upper parts of the tentacles. The whole upper body was entirely black, as well as the segments above the upper tentacle scales. The entire upper half was that shade of black that knew it was mutated, and yet the tentacles' white creamy color still remained. The Haos Bakugan released a powerful shout as its many tentacles wiggled about.

Cesar chuckled as light refracted off his glasses again. "Isn't he beautiful? What glorious animalistic nature having been turned to raw genius!" he yelled as he lifted his arms higher. "Behold my Bakugan, with a brain to match his equally competent mind! A brain to meet the grand scheme of my own intellect!" he laughed once again, his ego again leaving a foul impression on the group.

"Well, at least someone is full of it today." Maggie said.

"A Bakugan with that big of a brain capacity, he says." Verias reiterated. "Sounds like trouble all over."

Shawn crossed his arms. "Well we can't do anything more than watch. Luke will have to just solve this one on his own." He watched as Luke looked at his opponent wearily. 'Luke, better be careful. Are you sure you can handle this…?'

"Go get 'em already, would ya?!" Shuji enforced, giving an uppercut to the air. "Turn that squid into sushi!"

Fly Beetle turned towards him. "You can't eat a Bakugan! What's wrong with you?!"

Shuji raised a brow to the Bakugan on his shoulder. "Huh? Haven't you heard of a joke?"

"The joke here is that we're about to see a squid and serpent tussle. How's that for fish fry?" he retorted, but the joke left Shuji with a blank and groaning expression.

Luke held up his Bakugan, ready for battle. "Okay then, let's do this Abis Omega." He spoke uneasily.

"Right!" The Aquos Bakugan feel silent as he was thrown to battle.

"Bakugan, brawl!" Luke threw him in. "Bakugan, stand! Aquos Abis Omega!"

Abis Omega appeared in a blue light before he miraculously vanished. Moments later, the calm Gate Card water suddenly splashed with Abis Omega slithering skyward with a loud hiss. His whole body slipped out of the water, standing on top of it like Freezer was.

Cesar raised a brow. "Flashy."

Abis Omega: 350 Freezer: 450

Abis Omega let out a loud snarling roar to stake his domain on the battlefield, ensuring his intimidation method against Freezer. The Bakugan gave a diminutive screech back in retort.

"I see territories have been waged here." Cesar smirked.

Abis Omega hunched his serpentine body about and dove head first back into the water. He dove straight beneath, his whole body disappearing into the blue yonder. Underwater, Abis Omega's entire body was stretched out as he went swimming through the ocean towards Freezer.

Freezer did absolutely nothing as the water around was abnormally calm before spouting in front. Abis Omega sprung out and went skywards, surrounded by sprays of water as he went for the attack downwards.

"Such inexperience." Cesar teased, holding up his yellow Bakumeter. "Ability, activate! Freeze Jail!"

Freezer motioned one of his tentacles towards the descending Abis Omega, where yellow shockwaves dispersed towards him and faded. As Abis Omega was but a few meters before the ripples, he stopped completely in place, along with the sprays of water all around.

"What?!" Luke gasped.

Cesar chuckled. "Behold, the power of Freezer! Quite the name betrothed for a Bakugan, wouldn't you imagine? With Freeze Jail, Freezer is able to stop time around the opponent, and that prevents them from activating nay abilities."

Freezer's eyes glowed a bright yellow before returning to dull again. The Haos Bakugan ushered its tentacle forward, smacking Abis Omega's face while he was still frozen in place. The harsh whip to the face sent him backwards, flipping to where the head smacked first into the water. Upon landing with a splash, Abis glowed bright blue and morphed to ball form, shooting back to Luke's side as he looked stupefied.

Luke: 80%

"What the…?"

Freezer went to ball form next, returning to Cesar's hand with a smirk on his lips. "Was that all?"

"He didn't even give Luke a chance to attack once." Maggie said.

"Seems this opponent is able to thwart abilities before they can even begin." Jade said, analyzing what happened. "What will Luke counter with this time?"

Esther remained quiet as she inspected Luke's movements. She knew something was wrong, she just did. Luke was decent when they battled together, but that last blow was out of there. She would've used an ability to start off, but Luke didn't.

Luke bent down and picked up his Bakugan. "We're not done yet!" he assured loudly.

"I hope you're as strong in spirit as you are words, boy. Because from what I've seen, you're not even worth a rookie's time." Cesar mocked. "Now, care to show some more of your skills towards me?"

Luke grunted in annoyance. He had to get the advantage fast, but he didn't know how. 'I gotta get as much power as possible! Maybe that'll work!' He threw his Gate Card next. "Gate Card, set!" His card sent a shockwave out towards the even sea again, allowing it to settle once more. "Bakugan, brawl! Abis Omega, stand!"

Once more, Abis Omega stood on the water rather than come up from before.

"Very well then, let us commence the next experiment." Cesar locked Freezer into the capsule on his armrest and watched him shoot. "Bakugan, brawl! Freezer, stand!"

Like Abis Omega, the Haos Bakugan arose once again.

Abis Omega: 350 Freezer: 450

"This time, we'll show you what we've got!" Luke exclaimed.

Cesar seemed delighted. "Good. I'm hoping to see some fight before this gets disappointing for me."

'I have to get the advantage now!' he swiped his arm out to the battlefield. "Gate Card, open! Aquos Reactor!" The Gate Card beneath Abis Omega and Freezer thus opened up, and as insinuated, the Aquos Reactor Gate Card showed. It then disappeared, blending into the ocean as geysers of water spouted around Abis Omega. His body gained a blue outline as he roared outwards.

Abis Omega: 350 (+200) = 550 Freezer: 450

With Abis Omega surrounded by an intense veil of water at his base, he was ready to attack. "This time, things are going to be different!"

"Oh really?" Cesar challenged with his Bakumeter up. "More fangs bared, yet little to make pf it. Tell me, are you familiar with reverse psychology?"

Luke blinked for a second, putting his hands to his sides. "Yeah, uh…isn't that like turning their thoughts against them or something?"

"Or in this case, one's assets." An ability card revealed itself. "Allow me to demonstrate…Ability, activate! Plot Twist!"

The eyes of Freezer shined brightly. The rays of the tallow energy he gave off began to expel yellow misty ripples from below, echoing throughout the Gate Card space. As they passed beneath Abis Omega. When they did, the blue aura that was his power turned dark blue, making his long, loose body strained and uncomfortable.

Abis Omega: 550 (-200 -200) = 150 Freezer: 450

"Hey, what's wrong?!" Luke worried.

"Nothing to a good story like a Plot Twist, wouldn't you say?" Cesar mused. "Plot Twist enables the Gate Card to turn into a negative, thus decreasing your power."

Freezer's many arms arose, and they all shot out towards Abis Omega. As the serpent strained, the tentacles wrapped around his body, hoisting him over Freezer's head with no way to move anything than his aching head. Luke looked horrified as he was once again losing ground.

"Abis Omega!"

"Your dull sense of battle shall cost you greatly, child." Cesar mused. "I wonder what shall you do for your precious Bakugan." He snickered as he watched Abis Omega strain and hiss in the grip of Freezer.

The Aquos Bakugan craned his head weakly towards Luke, showing his orange eyes. "Do something…!" he insisted.

"Hey, I'm thinking, alright?! Just hang on!" Luke retorted. He raised his Bakumeter, finally showing off his abilities now. "Let's try this! Double ability, activate! Sea Helix, plus Fin Melee!"

Abis continued to ache until his orange eyes opened again. He roared up to the air, where seconds later, a vortex of water enveloped him and Freezer from below.

Abis Omega: 150 (+100 +200) = 450 Freezer: 450 (-100) = 350

The spinning helix of water constantly splashed against the arms of Freezer, causing him to get uncomfortable. As he strained and struggled, the Bakugan didn't realize that Abis Omega was already broken free and elsewhere. As the watery vortex faded away, the sprays of water were everywhere, and Freezer looked back up to find Abis Omega directly above, his body upside down. The lower half swung downwards, bringing the streaking blue tail around and slashing diagonally into Freezer. The attack made him scowl weakly.

"Yeah! That's the way to do it!" Shuji encouraged.

"That was a decent counter." Jase admitted. "But…will it be enough?"

Luke punched the air in a hurry. "Get him, Abis Omega!" As commanded, the Bakugan hissed at Freezer again before lunging at him. He slipped around the body and began to constrict about him. The long, long body held Freezer in place, but the Bakugan still seemed rather quelled despite the constriction it was suffering from.

"Take this!" Abis Omega opened his mouth, shooting down at Freezer's face.

Cesar showed nothing but a grin. "Careful, you might chip a tooth. Ability, activate! Brain Freeze!" From the dull red triangle on Freezer's forehead, a bright yellow light fired. Abis Omega dove right into it, earning himself a surprisingly cold jet blast that sent him flying skywards and freeing Freezer.

Abis Omega: 450 Freezer: 350 (+200) = 550

"What the-?!" Luke was at a loss for words at how he lost ground again.

"You should've watched and kept your distance." Cesar mocked. "Perhaps maybe you should instead be more observant of what your opponent throws at you, then maybe you will find the right ability to counter with."

Abis Omega fell downwards, splashing once again into the water. This time, he sunk deep, descending deeper like a rock.

Luke looked down at the water and back up towards his opponent. "Damnit…"

"Luke!" Esther called out, getting him to look back at her. "Don't hesitate! Think about what you're doing!"

Luke gave her an annoyed expression. "Hey, I said I was trying, alright?!" He looked back ahead, facing Cesar and his Freezer. Seeing his Bakugan, it looked like not much damage was done on him at all. "Man, this bites…I gotta sneak attack him somehow." He mumbled. He looked back down towards the water, seeing as how Abis Omega was still within its depths. "Maybe we can try this…" He lifted his Bakumeter, signaling yet another ability. "Ability, activate! Osmosis!"

Underwater, Abis Omega stirred and faced the surface. His body faded into the water, camouflaging for a surprise attack.

Abis Omega: 450 Freezer: 550 (-200) = 350

Cesar kept his head up and smirked. "Ah~, I see you're finally getting used to the sea being your friend. Not a bad show." He turned his head left and right. "Now where oh where could you be…?" He appeared particularly interested in where this could go.

Freezer screeched out as it looked down. Using his head, the Bakugan was trying to make sense of the opponent. Unfortunately, it wasn't loving swell for it as its masked face only breathed in air. The smell wasn't so cleansing underwater. Moments later, the water beneath Freezer spouted, shooting the invisible Abis Omega into a ram that sent him soaring onto his back in the water. The camouflaged creature arched his long body back into the water with a meek splash, still unable to be seen.

The splash made Cesar move his chair away, scooting back some before regaining. He looked back ahead with his smirk showing pleasure, but there were hints that he was getting ego-statistical. "So it's true what you said. This is more entertaining than before. I like it!"

"With the water reflecting the sun, and Abis Omega camouflaged, Luke may have found a way to keep his opponent unsound." Shawn said.

"Then let's see how he fares with the next stage." Verias said. "This is a strong opponent he's facing, right?"

Cesar showed another ability card. "Time to show some evolved power, shall we?" He raised his arm high with pride. "Ability, activate! Haos Force!"

Luke blinked. "Haos Force?" He thought back to Goblinball when Maximus used the Darkus Force. That was scary, but now he was getting worried.

Freezer growled low as power began to surge into his triangle on top. His entire forehead generated a lot of yellow static that surged into his triangle, making him groan and crane up a little. A small sphere of yellow was seen, but then it began to rapidly pulsate, getting bigger and bigger, convulsing some all along the way with a high frequency.

"Now…scope him out!"

Freezer unleashed a loud shout, looking down and firing a bright yellow plasma beam that bored through the water. Spouts of water went from either side as its great ray went left to right, pulsing through a sweep everywhere.

Abis Omega: 450 Freezer: 350 (+300) = 650

Beneath the surface, Abis Omega's camouflaged self showed. He bent out of the way of the bright ray and tried to swim away as the beam went about. He swam constantly, serpentine all about to evade the obliterating light wave.

"Abis!" Luke showed. "Get away!"

Abis avoided another powerful sweep of the attack from the side, barely missing his side fin. He looked up with a shout. "What do you think I'm doing down here?!"

"You can run, but you can't hide." Cesar motioned his arm forward, ordering for Freezer to fire down as hard as possible to where he heard Abis' shout from below. It went at a 45 Degree angle downwards, shooting now directly and closing in on him.

Luke's eyes narrowed as he growled menacingly. "Gnnngh…then we'll stop hiding! Ability activate, Dry World!"

Abis Omega: 450 (+200) = 650 Freezer: 650 (-200) = 450

Abis remained in place underwater as the blast hurried towards him. Suddenly the water began to swirl and distort into a vacuum all around him, stopping the yellow blast from reaching him. Cesar raised a brow as he watched the water within the Gate Card zone swirl about. It kept funneling about, making a large-scale swirling vortex that shrunk inwards like a pit. The pit of water continued depressing until it reached Freezer, stopping just before him. The Haos Bakugan looked up as Abis Omega arose in a large blue sphere of seawater that held his body in it.

"I see…" Cesar leered.

"So Luke's drawing out his best card here then?" Shawn figured.

Jase nodded. "Good. This should give him an edge if he falls fortunate this round."

"You go, Abis Omega!" Maggie jumped for joy.

Within the air, the blue sphere of water went shooting down at Freezer, with Abis Omega inside roaring loudly. He went flying with so much velocity that it looked like he wasn't going to stop. Freezer countered by aiming another concentrated light blast from his triangle. It bolted skywards, but this time, the light beam was absorbed by the water, making it ripple but only slow it down a little.

"We're winning this and getting back home!" Luke announced.

"Oh~, so you're in this venture to get back home you say?" Cesar insinuated. "How vexing. And here I pegged you wanted to 'stop' us. You humans truly do confuse me."

Luke's fists balled. "You…!"

Freezer stopped his blast of light upon the thoughts of Cesar and allow Abis Omega to come closer. "Ability activate, Cool Breath!" Freezer instead scowled as he unleashed a deep, white haze from the filter on his mouth. The cool cloud went up towards Abis Omega as he boldly charged in on the cloud, thinking nothing would stop him. That was a huge mistake.

As the cloud of white haze dissipated, it revealed the mist it had created was causing vapor to crystalize. The air between Luke and Cesar began to rapidly cool as proof of the dispersing crystals. Slowly, as the cloud dissipated, it revealed a massive sphere of ice floating in the middle of the air, unable to move. Inside, the can see Abis Omega frozen with a neutral look of anger on it.

"Abis!" Luke panicked.

Abis Omega: 650 (-200) = 450 Freezer: 450

"Talk about chilling out." Shuji said.

Shawn looked towards him like he grew a second head. "Damn, now that was just as cold as the ice itself."

Jase adjusted his glasses. "Seems Abis has been put on thin ice."

Maggie couldn't find anything to say at the moment, but she was giggling at the joked being made. They were rich in her books.

"Focus guys!" Esther chastised.

"With Cool Breath, you lose 200 Gs, and on top of that, you cannot activate any abilities while you're frozen." Cesar informed.

"Seriously?!" Luke snapped.

Cesar shrugged. "Blame our own lack of genius." He raised his Bakumeter. "Ability, activate! Brain Freeze!"

Freezer snarled again as the dull red triangle flashed again. In the next instance, a bright yellow plasma beam went up like a speeding comet, crashing into the ice sphere. Upon impact, the ice shattered into shards, like glass breaking against a baseball's impact. Within the center, Abis Omega was freed and felt the shock through the sphere. Too great to handle, he screamed upwards in agony before turning blue and morphing to ball form.

Luke was once again at a loss for words as the blue sphere plopped towards his feet. As his life gauge went down to 40%. As he stood there watching his Bakugan taking another blunder, his patience and hopes were beginning to plummet.

Freezer returned to Cesar's hand, caught without even trying. "So then I take it that was your best move, or do you have more tricks you wish to try out? This is quite the show either way."

"This guy…" Shawn growled.

"He's just playing with Luke like silly putty!" Maggie chimed angrily before turning towards Esther. "Hey, Esther, shouldn't we do something?"

She had no idea how badly Esther wanted to do something about the fight. By all means, it was a fair fight thus far, and even though Freezer was stronger, Abis shouldn't have lost so easily. Really, the fault lied within the person, but she couldn't place that into words. She looked ahead with a straight face in silence, hoping for the best.

"Luke seems to be in a tight spot." Atmos said.

"So it would seem." Jase evaluated. "If Luke's able to hold it together, he may have a chance at a comeback. Shuji had himself a breakthrough, did he not?"

"Huh, you mean against that Elico kid? Yeah, talk about a real butt-biter. I'd be toast if it weren't for Fly Beetle." Shuji looked towards Fly Beetle, who looked at him in return.

"That's the case of stability. At least you get the picture, I hope so that is." Jase looked back towards Luke. "Although, Luke's picture seems to be a puzzling one."

"Then it's up to Abis Omega to hang on, right?" Jelldon asked. "I mean, I'd try harder if Maggie encouraged me."

Hearing this made the girl nuzzle her Bakugan. "Aw~, that's so sweet of you! Thank you!"

"Luke…" Esther murmured.

Luke picked up Abis Omega again, this time looking down at the Bakugan instead of the battler before him. "This is bad…he's so strong." He looked back Cesar, seeing him rest his cheek against his knuckles in amusement. "How am I going to win this?"

"You thinking over there?" Cesar called out.

"Huh?"

"What's the matter? Aren't you the type to see fights through to the end, or is it just your big bad buddy who surprised Killian? If so, maybe I should fight him instead."

"Hey, who're you calling big?!" Shuji fumed from afar.

Cesar chuckled. "Well, no matter. So, are you willing to see through to the end?"

Luke glared ahead, in his palm was Abis Omega, and even he could feel the deep contemplation of his battle partner. He turned in his ball towards Luke to see him stone-faced with a deep frown. As he looked towards Cesar's eyes, he could feel his senses going nuts.

---

Swords clashed against one another, emitting powerful sparks that quickly faded. Once again, the swords clashed, grinding against the other, with one sword greatly overpowering and swaying one sword to the side.

Riaan fully turned Luke's sword to the side, leaving him open to slash. The chest barely got Luke's chest, nipping a shed into the shirt before he fell on his bottom. "Gah!" he gagged. He grunted in pain before he heard the sound of shimmering steel. Looking up, he saw that a sword was right at his nose. Another inch and he'd be poked between the eyes. His eyes trailed up towards his master, seeing him frown.

"Aw man, I thought I'd last longer that time." Luke sighed as he got up.

"That was less prolong as the last round." Riaan said. "But you are improving. Just give it some more time."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." He looked ready to fight, but in his eyes, he was looking tired. This didn't go unnoticed by his sensei.

"What's wrong? You tired already?"

Luke shook his head. "No, not at all!" He raised his blade to set up for combat. "Let's go again, Master!"

"If you say so."

"Trust me, I can keep going!" He crouched, poised to strike.

"Then why does it look like you want to give in?"

Luke stopped cold in his tracks. When he looked down, he noticed that his feet weren't moving. After so many rounds of unable to beat Riaan, he wasn't even keeping up. He's been doing this for years, yet Riaan acted like he invented swordsmanship. It was like a soldier facing his own king who was all powerful. There's always a way to beat someone, but in terms of skill, he just wasn't cutting it as well as he thought.

Riaan could see the ill-resolve in Luke's eyes. It only made him close his eyes. "Your self-doubt will only hinder you, you know."

Luke looked back towards him. "But you're a lot better than me, Master Riaan."

"And how do you think I got to be at this level? If I showed weakness to an opponent, do you think they'd pity me or run me through?" He sat the bottom of his blade at the base of his feet. "Honor doesn't win battles, Luke. Your very own strength derives from the will of your ambition. So what if I'm the stronger one, it doesn't mean you shouldn't go down trying, right?"

Luke still didn't seem very dependable at the moment. He was glad Shawn was out working today, otherwise he'd have something to put into this conversation.

"There's no shame in running from battle, but running doesn't mean you've run away from your foe's own points you can compare with, but you also run from what you stand for. What if it was a loved one they had bargained, or if it were Shawn's life at stake. Would you fight to end there?"

"Of course I would!" Luke shouted defensively. "They're important to me, obviously!"

"Then if you're that serious, treat every battle like that until you accomplish your goal. Even if it's a spar, that doesn't mean you can ever give in to a stronger and more skilled opponent." Riaan closed his eyes, lowering his head. "My family – my home – it's constantly in peril…"

Luke gave his master a raised brow. "Your home is that bad in shape?"

Riaan opened and looked towards Luke again. "Yes. My home is always changing, and so many of my friends, my loved ones, and even my own kin had suffered incredulously. If I ran from a fight, then who would take my place? You only get so many chances in certain battles, Luke, but if you're that determined to do anything for a cause, then don't hesitate even for a second to take the first chance at that opening." He picked up his large sword, holding it in readiness to fight on. "You may be weaker, but rather than think lowly of yourself, use that; use your ambition for a reason to get stronger. When I pick up my sword, I challenge those who dare to stand in the way of my home's sake. Luke, at some point in your life, you will have to know which fights you know you can run from and try again later, or have one way and fight to the end. That is your judgement to carry out." He went at Luke again, slashing horizontally. "HRAH!"

---

'Fighting for a reason…' The words of his master echoed through his head, making his motors turn again and again. He looked towards Abis Omega and back at Cesar, seeing his malicious smirk. 'This guy is strong, really strong. Maybe…I'm a little weaker, but if he just came here to watch, what's he really fighting for?'

"Well, I'm waiting." Cesar said. He's noticed that Luke was quiet for some time, and it was honestly starting to grate his brain cells.

Luke spread his legs apart showing his face to the opponent. "You may be strong…" His eyes narrowed. "But I won't quit!"

Cesar continued looking amused. "Oh?"

"I didn't become a good swordsman by laying down my blade every time I practiced with my master. Even when he was a lot better than me, giving it my all with every day he was around was what got me to now. I may still be new to Bakugan and stuff, but I can still beat you!" He held Abis Omega in his palm. "I will stop Troposphere and make my master proud!"

"Luke." Esther looked at him, completely surprised by the sudden conviction he carried.

He swiped his arm to the side. "When I return to earth, I won't be the coward who gave up after some close fights! No, I'm going to go back as someone who tried rather than quiver like a scared dog! So come at me!"

Shuji recoiled with a raised brow. "Woah. What's gotten into him all of a sudden?"

"Seems as though he's found some strength to go on." Jase grinned. "This should be interesting."

"Go, Luke!" Maggie cheered.

"Uh…yeah! Go get 'em Abis!" Jelldon followed.

Shawn smirked. "Looks like Luke's got some bite in him yet."

"Looks like it." Verias said in a neutral tone.

"Let's just see if he can stick with it for as long as he can this battle."

Esther remained silent. She could see that even though Luke wasn't as committed to their problem, he looked like he meant business this time around. It was still fragmented and uninsured, but for the most part he looked like he was willing to fight to the end for a cause and the lives at stake. She could feel the sea breeze shift her hair.

Cesar looked at Luke with another raised brow. 'So this is what is called 'Human Conviction', is it? It seems he's gotten a sense of confidence to think or perceive any power increase. But…' His expression soured to one of sneering. 'Even humanity can't keep up in a world where science and life in uncontainable.' "Very well then, so be it! Gate Card, set!" He inserted a card into his armrest, which shot outwards towards the water. Once again, a yellow shockwave leveled the water. "Bakugan, brawl!" Freezer shot out of the armrest slot. "Freezer, stand!"

'I'm going to show Master Riaan what he's taught me. I'll beat this guy and prove I have what I takes to save the Bakugan!' "Abis Omega, let's hit them as hard we can! Bakugan, brawl!"

Once again, both Bakugan entered battle, each sneering and howling at the other.

Abis Omega: 350 Freezer: 450

"If you really intend to do your best in defeating Rogue Zero, then by all means, come at me with all that you've got." Cesar had one leg over the other, his chin high and glasses once again blocked out by the sun. "It'll be…most satisfying results then."

Luke's eyes narrowed. "NOW GO!" At his command, Abis Omega sprung across the ocean water, moving in an arch at Freezer. "Ability, activate! Sea Helix!" As Abis shot like a jet head-first, his nose expelled a spinning helix of water around him. The veil of water expanded to envelop and trail along with his body outwards. He slammed into Freezer, yet the Haos Bakugan didn't budge from his spot, even as Abis Omega attempted to push a little more. Their power levels swapped, making Abis Omega 450 and Freezer 350.

"You'll have to do better than that." Cesar enforced. "Ability, activate! Brain Freeze!" Freezer again fired a beam of yellow energy that enveloped Abis Omega's head. The Aquos Bakugan was shoved away incredulously as his opponent's power level went up to 550.

Luke's glare narrowed. "Oh no you don't…!" He raised his Bakumeter. "Ability, activate! Dry World!"

Abis grunted as he swayed his head left and right in agony, but eventually he managed to stabilize as the water beneath him suddenly exploded. A wall of water arose between him and the blast, leaving him momentarily blind to Freezer. Both Cesar and Freezer looked up to get a good look at Abis as the water wall dissipated, revealing him in a huge sphere of water from the sea directly below. Where he was previously, there was an open pit of water funneling downwards without any fill.

Abis Omega: 450 (+200) = 650 Freezer: 550 (-200) = 350

The shimmering orb of water blocked out the sun, giving the impression of an eclipse. "Are you sure about what you're doing?" Cesar taunted.

Luke showed yet another ability. "Yeah, we're gonna beat you as hard as possible! Ability activate, Osmosis!"

As Abis Omega dove down with his sphere of water enveloping him, his diamonds began to camouflage. His remaining body faded in with the water. In fact, with the sun reacting off the water, Abis Omega's ability made the whole veil of water vanish. It was like it turned invisible.

As Freezer's power level dropped to 150, there was a very off, reflective light coming his way down. Before he could react, a massive, wet, heavy force crashed into his face, sending him smashing into the watery battlefield. Waves splashed everywhere as Abis revealed himself and the Dry World upon the blow. "HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS?!"

Maggie and Jelldon flinched at the powerful impact. "Oh! Now that's gotta hurt…" the girl muttered.

"Yeah…yeesh…"

"That was a good move, combining his most efficient attack with Osmosis." Atchibee acknowledged.

Esther nodded. "Yes, it was." She had to admit, she would've had to use Scan Blaze or Scare Flash to get around that. Using that would've definitely hurt her Bakugan big time.

Luke pumped a fist. "Alright!"

On the other side of the battlefield, Cesar was seen with his head down, his frown apparent. Granted, it was just the start of the round in a way, but nevertheless, it felt rather odd that he was getting the best of in just an invisible blow like that. It may have not been all that strong, but seeing Freezer slowly getting back up while the sphere around Abis popped left a shadow over his eyes. As water filled the hole and Abis slithered back down, the Bakugan were once again at a standoff. Abis didn't waste time in getting his tail around and overhead, hitting the forehead with another tail swing. The smack made Freezer grunt and recoil. Abis yelled loudly as he brought his tail from the opposite end and smacked the side, sending Freezer leaning towards the side. He then brought his head back and began to camouflage once more. With an invisible force, he rammed head-on into Freezer between the eyes, making him lean back and nearly fall over in recoil. Abis was giving it his all, doing his absolute best and striking whatever he can. He didn't want to lose either.

As he watched his Bakugan taking blow after blow, one final invisible tail smack to the side sent Freezer a few slithers back. That was the final insult. "Admirable…" the professor muttered within his shadowed bangs. "So conviction really is this strong then…interesting…" He looked up, the bangs remove to reveal his eyes having a dull annoyance towards them. "But not interesting enough."

He pulled up his Bakumeter, showing one more ability. The ability card looked all too familiar to the group. They began to feel their nerves crawl upon seeing the core-like center it had.

"That card…" Shawn muttered. Everyone else beside him had varied gasps or serious turns of frowns. Luke's confidence was halted by the sight of the card.

"I take it that you know what this is then, don't you?" Cesar's eyes were once again quelled, but they had a dark smug towards them. "Then I also take it that you have seen the varied abilities the others demonstrated back in Thermosphere. Now…" the card glowed. "Allow me to show you mine…"

Luke looked panicked as he had a bad feeling once more. "Abis, look out!"

Fading out of his invisibility, the aquatic serpent looked ahead to see a dark yellow aura slow glow around Freezer. The Bakugan had his head forward, looking to be ignoring the injuries sustained from Abis' constant strikes. The purple eyes were illuminating a bright glow as it stared coldly – as cold as the juice that kept his brain intact.

Cesar raised his arm up slowly, the ability shining brightly. "Let's see if human spirit…can stop this! Ability activate…Experiment-X!"

For a moment nothing seemed to have happened. The group remained silent and highly patient in their own anxiety. The air fell silent, silent as a grave. No sea breeze. No waves. Nothing but the hollow sounds of one's breathing.

And that's when a loud heart pulse reverberated, getting Maggie to hitch in her breath.

Jelldon was sitting quietly in her cupped palms. "Oh no…"

Esther and the others feel silent as Luke balled his fists. He was beginning to shudder again as he stepped a foot back.

The purple core appeared on Freezer's forehead. The purple chords stretched around his body starting in an X formation and entangling around the body. The Bakugan was petrified in place, and it looked like nothing was happening until the four chords shot at high speed from the body at Abis Omega. The Aquos Bakugan gasped and began to move, but was instantly grabbed by the neck. Upon contact, it felt like someone was trying to singe his throat, it was burning. And if that wasn't bad enough, three more snared his body. The tail end, and two more on the midsection, held him in place and unable to move. The Bakugan ached incredulously as he could feel each pointed end clutching his scales.

"Abis!" Luke panicked.

Cesar's eyes narrowed. "Do it."

Freezer growled low. His entire body became a dull yellow light that was being absorbed into the chords. The yellow transmitted along and up each chord in a spiral up towards the purple core. There, the core shined a bright light, one that hummed vibrantly. The energy then began to race along the chords stretched out towards Abis Omega, where they started to creep and burn along his skin.

Abis' eyes shuddered as he could feel his mind going numb. The energy, not only sizzling, but he was beginning to feel a gradual pain flare. All his mojo, all that temporary confidence, it was all gone. He felt nothing. He tasted nothing. He even smelled nothing. His body only convulsed as Freezer was groaning as he poured his strength of forbidden power into the chord.

Luke was trying to find a way around, but something was wrong. He put his hands on his head, his teeth gritting as he tried to find a solution, but the stress of immobility was straining again. His heart was beginning to rapidly increase once again, and it wasn't making him feel any less strain than he was.

"Boo."

With a gasp, Luke looked at Cesar. He smirked as he saw his face full of fear.

"I see. I see…you can handle a situation only so much until you have to stare something as silly as a forbidden ability. Frankly, I'm surprised you're cringing. Your pals over there seem to feel the same way, and yet you exemplify it the most…how vulgar." To show what he meant, Luke turned around to see the others staring ahead at the power. They all looked unnerved at what they were feeling, but Esther and Jase were doing the best at glaring daggers instead and maintaining calm. Luke, however, was looking like a frightened child; even more than Maggie.

Abis strained loudly, as though he were suffocating. Freezer, however, was looking like was rejuvenated, in a way supposedly if growling louder meant something.

Abis Omega: 650 (-500) = 150 Freezer: 150 (+500) = 650

"Experiment-X. I've devised this ability for Freezer specifically. You know the brain can process pain, right? Well imagine if you were able to numb that lobe, and instead transfer that pain and your own power to a healthier opponent. Imagine yourself, just convulsing as your very strength is leeched, while injections burn at the skin and nerves, making all the pain the Freezer has felt fall upon you!" Cesar laughed maliciously at the sky, his hour of victory at hand.

Abis Omega continued to strain and turn his body about, but alas he wasn't going to get anywhere with the burning sensations on his body. "Abis!" Even as Luke called out to him, the serpent was unresponsive. The feeling of the pain he has dealt was too great.

The chords soon completed transferring the energy and power levels, the convulsing energy Abis was feeling within that moment started to ease as the glowing chords around Freezer and Abis evaporated into thin air. With the restraints finally off, Abis Omega could finally move, but his serpentine body was barely laying on the flat sea, hardly able to even lift the heavy head. Slowly, but ever so surely, the head and neck began to rise up, hissing loudly at the healthier-looking Bakugan, who seemed less in pain than the serpent.

Abis slowly attempted to use his strength to continue on, but he was so tired. His tail felt as light and limp as paper, but it's all he could really use. He shot a tired glance at Luke, who was still staring ahead like he saw a the grossest horror movie. He saw that his partner's confidence, all that talk of sticking through to the end…it bared little fruit. And all it did was hurt them, and it cost them bad.

Cesar smirked in delight. "We done? Freezer." With a snap of his fingers, Freezer responded and brought a tentacle back, ready to swing.

With a hitch in his breath, the scared Luke shot his wrist high. "Ability, activate! Fin Melee!"

Abis Omega went back to 350, his original power level. He limply brought his tailfin around and went for one last ditch strike, but the tentacle snaked through, deflecting the tail and slamming against the lower jaw of Abis with a brutal thud. Luke watched in horror and despair as Abis Omega yelled weakly as his whole body began to falter sideways and slunk downwards like a tower falling. He fully thudded on his side with a loud splash, laying there before Freezer in defeat.

Cesar scoffed with a smirk. "It, is done."

Abis Omega went to ball form, shooting back towards Luke's feet. Luke felt his knees getting weak as his shuddering green eyes finally shut tight with angst.

Luke: 0%

"Luke!" Esther hurried towards his side, kneeling beside and putting a hand to his back. "Are you alright?!"

Atchibee flew off her shoulder, fluttering down to get beside Abis Omega's closed form. "Abis, can you hear me?" She turned towards Esther. "I think he's out."

Maggie's shoulders slumped. "Aw man~…"

Shawn grinned despondently. "Well it could've been worse I suppose."

Jase adjusted his glasses again. "That's putting it mildly. Luke was successful enough to prevent Abis Omega from being taken by using Fin Melee. At least they went down fighting…though I'd hardly call this a fight."

Shuji stepped ahead. "Hm? Is he okay…?"

Esther noticed how Luke was getting heavier. She watched as Luke slumped towards his side, as though he had lost strength. "LUKE!" She seized him in a hurry, grabbing his arm and supporting him over her shoulder. She looked at him worriedly as she saw that his eyes were closed. "Luke…"

A cackling laughter was heard from afar, getting everyone to look back at the sea. They saw Cesar holding Freezer in his fingers with a bright smile. "So this is what Rogue Zero has been dealing with? I'm not sure whether to be thankful or disappointed in what a wonderful it has been to meet you all in person. I now see that we had nothing to worry about." He looked down towards Luke. "Because if you carry about people like him…then my precious Bakugan truly will feel cheated."

"You bastard!" Shawn snapped.

The chair arose in the air, with Cesar resting both arms now. "I commend you all for coming this far, but now that you have seen my brilliance in person, ask yourselves this: Do I really have a chance?"

Jase's eyes narrowed at the revolting behavior that Cesar was spilling from his mouth. "…" In silence, he stepped up, frowning. "…then consider this our retort, if you will: What am I doing?"

"Huh?" Cesar's face twisted with wonder, soon to ball up a fist in rage. "What a naïve question! Of course I know what I'm doing! I'm making New Vestroia Bakugan the greatest species to be used!"

"The why waste your time here then? Ask yourself that."

Cesar's eyes narrowed with a smirk. He slowly leaned back in his seat, relaxing once more. "…I have very much enjoyed our battle today, Luke. You may have tried, I'll say that." He raised his arms towards the sky. "But alas, my genius has outwitted your strength!" he exclaimed with satisfaction.

"There he goes again." Maggie groaned. "Does this guy talk to himself much?"

"If you all wish to forge ahead, know that far west, 103 miles, there shall be the second core that you wish to reverse. It lies within Troposphere. Dare to come and stop us, but knowing what you'll be up against, I advise you think hard if you should really continue interfering. This shall be the last warning that we give you. If you still wish to save your precious Bakugan, Rogue Zero will be waiting…" his body began to fade, as well as his chair. "…until we meet again…supposedly…" With that last remark, Cesar teleported away fully, leaving nothing behind. The oceanic water beneath returned to normal, swaying left and right in large bumps.

The group looked on with serious looks on their faces as the last revealed battler of Rogue Zero had revealed himself, and it looked like they bit off more than they could chew. They were all silent as graves as they turned towards the other, trying to make sense of the final warning and the devastating loss Luke suffered.

Esther continued to support Luke, her expression as serious as could be for the unconscious man. "Luke…"

"Seems he's passed out from stress." Shawn said before he started for her. "Hey Shuji, can you give me a hand?"

"Huh? Oh, uh…sure."

The two men walked on over and retrieved Luke from Esther. They each hoisted an arm over their shoulders and began to slowly walk him over. "Okay, nice and easy…" Shawn carefully guided Luke back to the ship's opening, leaving Maggie, Esther, Jase, and their Bakugan left.

Maggie turned towards Jase. "Man, that was just sucky."

Jase nodded. "Well it can't be helped now. What's done is done."

"Still…" Esther looked down at her feet, processing the sound of the ocean waves flowing. "Even with the ocean…Luke wasn't into the battle."

"I doubt he ever was."

"Colonel…"

Jase adjusted his glasses. "This is a critical time we have upon our hands. If Luke's resolve isn't on par with all of ours, then he's best served as a handicap. Now I'm not above discarded unwanted materials to the sea or anything…"

"Hey, don't be mean!" Maggie snapped. "He looked like he did his best in that last round!"

Jase looked down at her. "Yes, and I concede to that…but how did you feel when those abilities came out?"

Maggie went to say something, but she fell short of a rebuttal. Having lost the maturity round, she crossed her arms and pouted away.

"I think we should drop it here." Atmos advised.

"Agreed." Jase started for the opening. "We'll regroup on this matter once we're inside. If we stay out here too long, we might get scurvies." He smirked.

"Eek! No, I don't want that!" Maggie scuttled in a hurry towards the opening. "Hurry, Esther!"

"O-oh! Coming!" Esther took one more look out towards the sea, her blue eyes matching the illustrious blue in the atmosphere. Hardly any clouds, and yet the two suns beamed down so brightly that it was making everything feel swell, even if it was a bad time. "Let's go, Atchibee." She cupped her Bakugan and followed Maggie back into the Trailer.

---

Within the rebound base of Rogue Zero, the group was idly in the lounge once again, but only in accordance to the demand Maximus gave out as he ventured back from his little reconnaissance. Once situated, the group was doing whatever they saw to occupy their time at their respective tables forming the circle. All their Bakugan were in the center, and Killian recently had joined the group.

As the Ventus battler sat down in his seat, he got a conspicuous glare from Ariella. "So where have you been, Killian?" she hummed in feigned curiosity. "You know it's not often Cesar asks someone to enter the lab at no discretion."

Killian eased in his seat as he sat Moskeeto down to face him. He looked towards her and shrugged with no sound.

"Well?"

Xander snorted at Ariella's nosiness. "Lay off the guy, would ya? He just did a favor, must you pick at him all the time?"

Ariella leered at him next. "I'm just worried that our plans won't be on schedule, that's all."

"At ease." Maximus said. "You have nothing to worry about."

"And why's that…?"

Maximus smirked as he looked in the direction of where the door was. The sturdy white door unlocked and slid open, allowing Cesar to reveal himself with a triumphant grin. Immediately, Ariella stood up.

"There you are! Where have you been?!" she interrogated.

Cesar's glasses adjusted as he approached his spot beside Maximus. "Why, whatever do you mean? I was sure you would've known considering that the lab's been closed all day."

"And yet you still allowed Killian to be your little guard dog." She looked at Killian, who wasn't looking at all interested. "So tell me, where have you been?" she asked again in a slower, more menacing – if not demanding – tone.

Cesar smirked maliciously, snickering at her own retort. "Why, I was just out in the field of course!" he exclaimed with a flamboyant pride. "I find it hard to believe such a rambunctious group of human misfits caused you so much trouble. They weren't all that as they were cramped up to be to my standards."

Ariella's eyes widened at the reason. "You mean…"

Hendrix slowly hummed as he folded his arms.

"Either they lacked what I perceived was the otherworldly strength we feed off of, or perhaps my genius was too good for them to handle." He shrugged. "Oh well, I got the results I needed for my Freezer, and that's what matters."

"You were supposed to be finishing up on our new project!" Ariella snapped.

"Idiot!" Cesar scolded back, getting Ariella to reel back in her seat. "The self-assembly project doesn't operate as long as there's a capable being who is able to manualize it. Now tell me, other than Killian, can I trust you to give me a report every hour on the progress and not touch unwanted fingers on my buttons?" Ariella grunted in her seat. "As I thought. Killian, thank you once more."

Killian nodded. "Just doing as you asked, Doc."

Cesar smirked back Maximus. "The errand was a success. Shall I be obliged to resuming the project?"

Maximus nodded beneath his hood. "Why so committed, Cesar? You've done a great deal in proving they can be put in their place. Why don't you take the time tonight to get some sleep?"

Cesar snickered. "How generous of you, Maximus…however, my calling is for the research…and to that I dare say I shall do plenty upon dusk!" he boldly said.

"Suite yourself." He decided to change the subject. "By the way, I double checked the samples and the energy you've been recording. Was the results that different than from what we thought?"

Cesar folded his fingers, looking at his Freezer in the center of his table. "And more…"

"This will benefit our home then." Hendrix spoke. "Our water source should be greatly enriched thanks to this refined sample you've sent back."

"So now we move onto the next phase of our plan, yes?" Xander questioned.

"Yes. It's now our turn to enact. Let's make this city last for as long as we can, understood?" Maximus smirked, and beside him, Xander, Ariella, and Cesar all grinned. Killian and Hendrix both sat back and frowned, but they understood full well of the concept at hand. They all sat in place as their six Bakugan were exemplifying their respective auras, signifying their bodily increase in ambition with their masters.

---

Inside the Trailer, Luke was lying down in bed. He was stirring incredulously to where he looked like he was having a nightmare or something. He opened his eyes with a sudden gasp, sitting upright in shock. He blinked several times, his vision as hazy as a fog. "What…happened…?" His mind abruptly flashed an image of Freezer attacking Abis Omega. He gasped again out of shock. He looked around, seeing as how he was once again stuck in his bed. "Wait! What happened?! Where am I?!"

"You're up, I see…" a voice said.

Luke's head turned towards the entrance to the hall. To his surprise, he saw that it was Shawn with arms folded and leaning against the framing. "Shawn?"

Shawn ventured closer towards Luke. "You were out for some time. I was starting to think that you were going to sleep throughout the whole night." He stopped in front of his bunk, sitting a hand on his hip. "But then I remembered that you're the restless type of guy. Glad you're up now."

Luke looked down at his knees, putting a hand on his head. He looked somberly as he tried to remember what was happening, but he only recalled the face of Cesar and the heartbeat he felt when the forbidden ability was launched. The sad look on his face deepened further as he looked down. "I still lost, didn't I…?"

Shawn gave his friends a despondent grin. "Yeah, you got your butt handed to ya pretty bad."

Luke's fists began to ball tight on his knees. "After everything that Master Riaan taught me, even when I tried to fight harder than I have ever done…it still wasn't enough."

Shawn shrugged. "Well it could be worse, I suppose. Look on the bright side, at least Cesar kept his word and departed after you passed out."

"I…passed out?"

Shawn looked away and ran his gloved hand through his head next. "Yeah, seems the shock was a bit much for you to handle, Luke. Guess the power must've been a bit much for you to handle." Luke sulked further. "Hey, don't look so bad. So maybe there was a slipup this time, okay? You just weren't thinking all the way through."

"It's not just that." Luke rebuffed. "I…I wasn't strong enough to stand up to my word. That power…it crippled me…why…?" When Luke looked down at his hand, he could see that it wasn't even close to steady. With every flash of that scary power, his trembling only tightened. He gritted his teeth in frustration, a shadow over his eyes. "Damnit…"

Shawn frowned at his friend's lack of strength, though he didn't hold anything against him. Even he felt the way he did, but there are some lessons that are best taught the hard way.

Maggie dashed to the open room's entrance, showing surprise. "Shawn, is Luke up yet?!" she worriedly asked. Preceding her was Shuji and Esther, both at the entrance to the door.

"Hey, looks like sleeping beauty over there just woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Shuji joked.

Esther advanced into the room, standing a good distance from the bed. She looked down at Luke with a frown. "How are you feeling, Luke?"

Luke looked down at his knees once again, grunting low. "Been better." He pouted.

"You had us worried, you know?" Maggie scolded. "It was one thing you had us on our toes the whole time, but not waking up at the right time would've meant I'd had to slap you awake!"

Luke again looked away in shame.

"Anyways, what's going on?" Shawn asked Esther. "Are the modifications holding up okay?"

Esther turned towards him. "For the most part. The mileage has been rough, but we've come across a discovery."

"What's that mean?" Luke asked, adverting from his sulk.

"It means we're steering into an island passage. Jase asked us to get ready. We should be there soon."

Maggie stretched overhead. "Alright! A little island vacation!"

Shuji yawned as loud as possible as he turned away. "As long as we don't sleep on rocks I guess."

Esther turned towards Luke. "You should come too, Luke."

"R-right!" Luke swerved his feet and hopped onto the floor. On his feet again, he made way out the door, with Shawn in tow.

The Trailer continued to sail along accordingly, slowly trekking towards the sunset in the distance. Just in the distance, though looking small, they saw a mass of land with a beach alcove. It was ideal for concealing themselves, and a nice place to harbor away for a while. Jase steered the Trailer towards it, treading water as it darkened over the island's tall shadow.

---

Here's another chapter for you guys! I went on the darker cliffhanger than one of anticipation like I did before, following Luke's crippling defeat. So as you've seen, when battling solo, Luke's terrible and has little skills. I thought also using a flashback could also benefit and show more of how Luke looks up to Riaan, but alas, his lack of skills didn't help against the now-revealed final member of Rogue Zero, the Haos battler Cesar and his Bakugan, Freezer.

I was honestly worried I wouldn't be able to get this story updated in time. I was having Tim Hortons and Tropical Smoothie for breakfast when I came home to start up my laptop and it wasn't functioning properly. I had to give it some space and shut it down like twice before it operated again, though I'm keeping a watchful eye on it.

So, as usual, let me know what you thought about this chapter and if the contents left an impact on you. Until next time!