Chapter 14
A/N: After New Vestroia, the Bakugan series has not focused much on what happened on Planet Vestal after King Zenoheld's death. Spectra and Mira do show up again later in the series, but aside from some cutscenes in the end of the Japanese version of New Vestroia (which will not be considered canon for this fic), we have no idea at all of what happened on Planet Vestal.
Though Lost Luster will mainly focus on Volt and his travels through Kanto, some chapters, like this one, will take place on Planet Vestal. However, what happens on Vestal will ultimately intersect with Volt's story.
Any names you don't recognize are most likely my own invention.
Now without further ado, enjoy the chapter!
The Vestal Destroyer
29 Ananeosis, 20 Zenoheld
Keith Clay sometimes could not believe just how dramatically his life had changed. In the space of a year, he'd gone from leading the Vexos under the name "Spectra Phantom" to returning home as the newest member of the Bakugan Battle Brawlers Resistance.
After the Resistance's latest battle, he'd wanted to return to Vestal as soon as possible, but the remaining members had convinced him to slowly cruise back to Vestal instead so that they could take a well-deserved rest. Thus Keith was on the bridge, listening to the hum of the engines as they led the ship towards its destination.
Standing by Keith's side was his best friend, Gus Grav, who, at five-foot-six, was only two inches shorter than Keith if one did not include Keith's spiky hair. Gus had long aquamarine hair that went down to his shoulders, and wore an orange jacket over a dark gray shirt, dark gray pants with a white flame pattern on the sides, and brown boots.
Like Keith, Gus was also formerly of the Vexos. He was Keith's best friend since childhood, and could always be counted on to be right at Keith's side, so much so that the other Vexos would often call him Spectra's lapdog. It didn't help that Gus had been referring to Keith as "Master" since an incident a few years ago.
"Master Spectra?" Gus asked.
"Please, just call me 'Keith'," the other man replied. "Spectra doesn't exist anymore."
"My apologies. Master Keith, you seem lost in thought."
"Well, Gus, I feel lost. When I was a Vexos, I thought that I had everything figured out. It seemed so easy: Create the ultimate Bakugan, use it to take down Hydron and Zenoheld, and become king of Vestal. But now that all this with the Alternative has happened, I have absolutely no idea where we should go from here. The Vexos are as good as disbanded, and who knows what's waiting for us on Vestal?"
Gus was about to respond when a juvenile voice broke the silence:
"How much longer until we get to Vestal, Keith? I'm just so stoked to tell all my siblings just how hard we kicked Zenoheld's butt!"
Keith turned around towards the source of the voice: Baron Leltoy, the Haos brawler of the Bakugan Brawler Resistance.
Though Baron was only twelve years old, one would not guess it by looking at him: standing at five-foot-six and sporting a muscular frame, the pink-haired Vestal could easily pass as being the same age as nineteen-year-old Keith.
Baron was in his usual outfit: a white vest over a brown sleeveless shirt, white pants, and cyan boots.
"We'll get there when we get there," Keith replied. "We could've been there already if you all hadn't insisted on taking our time so that you could sleep."
"And whose fault was that, huh?" Baron retorted. "You're lucky that it wasn't yet bedtime where Alice lives, or else we wouldn't have been able to show up yesterday and save your sorry behind!"
"Well, in my opinion, Master Spectra—er, Master Keith—had excellent timing," Gus cut in. "Had he waited for the next day, we might not even be having this conversation at this point."
During the previous day, the Resistance had planned to attack the Vestal Motherpalace after getting a good night's sleep. However, Keith, eager to face off against King Zenoheld, decided to go ahead by himself that night aboard the Vestal Destroyer, accompanied only by his Guardian Bakugan, Pyrus Helios MK2. It took the intervention of the human scientist Michael Gehabich and his granddaughter Alice to transport the remaining Resistance members to a planetoid near where the Motherpalace had been located.
Keith had only barely managed to hold off Zenoheld's Bakugan, Pyrus Assail Farbros, during his late-night confrontation with the king, and that only because Gus had escaped the Motherpalace's dungeons and aided in the brawl. But during the brawl, the two teenage Vestals had witnessed the activation of the Alternative Weapon System, a massive battleship with enough power to destroy entire planets.
"As much as I hate to admit it, Gus, you and the little squirt both have a point," said Keith. "The Destroyer's powerful, but we all know that the Alternative could have blown it up with one shot. If the Brawlers hadn't shown up when they did…"
"Exactly, Keith! How could you have been so stupid? So selfish?" Mira Clay, Keith's sister and leader of the Bakugan Brawlers Resistance, had just entered the room. Mira stood at five-foot-four, and had orange hair and blue eyes. She wore a silver coat, which reached barely halfway down her back, over a close-fitting burgundy jumpsuit and white boots.
Accompanying Mira was Ace Grit, the remaining member of the Resistance. Ace stood at five-foot-five and had light-blue hair. He wore a long-sleeved purple shirt, pants that were a deeper shade of purple than his shirt, and black boots.
"We planned on confronting Zenoheld together, and you just rush into battle alone like that?" Mira exclaimed. "Do you have any idea how scared I was? What if you had ended up blown to pieces? I could have lost both my father and my brother in that battle!" Professor Clay, the inventor of the Mechanical Bakugan, and father of both Keith and Mira, had been aboard the Alternative Weapon System when it exploded at the end of the battle.
Keith went over to Mira. He looked down at his sister, whose eyes were starting to well up with tears, and wrapped an arm around her. "There, there, now, Mira. It's all right. It's all over now."
"Don't lie to us, Keith," Ace said. "You and I both know that even though the battle against Zenoheld is over, things are far from all right. I don't know what you may have been expecting, but I'd take brawling over politics any day."
"Politics?" Baron asked, a blank expression on his face.
"Well, yeah," Ace replied. "For one thing, who knows what the government looks like now? When we last left Vestal, Regent Xenia was barely holding on to power. On top of that, I highly doubt that having the entire Bakugan Battle Brawlers Resistance, and two former Vexos, coming back home on the Vexos flagship would do anyone any favors.
"In other words, we're a political firestorm waiting to happen."
At that moment, warning sirens blared throughout the Destroyer. Wormholes opened up kilometers ahead, and two white spaceships one and a half times the Destroyer's length emerged from them. The ships' designs were similar to that of the Destroyer, but the size and color difference indicated that they weren't from the same fleet. Each ship's prow prominently displayed the Royal Family's coat of arms: a flying gold eagle clutching the planet Vestal in its talons, all over a starscape.
A console beeped, signaling a transmission. When Keith accepted the call, a holographic viewscreen appeared in front of the bridge's windshield. On screen was a male Vestal in his late teens, with spiky amber hair and auburn eyes. He was seated in the captain's chair of one of the massive battleships.
"Count Demophilus," Keith said. "To what do I owe the honor?"
"I should be asking you that question, Spectra," Demophilus spat. "What do you think you're doing here, sauntering so casually into Vestal space? You could have at least transported directly there through a wormhole—though I would have had you shot down at the first sign of aggression anyway. Perhaps I should thank you for saving me the trouble of starting a fight for the entire planet to see.
"And by the way, Spectra, it's 'Margrave Demophilus' now."
"I'm sorry to hear that, milord," Keith answered. "From what I know, Margrave Medus was a good man."
Demophilus bowed his head briefly. "He was. Not that you'd know anything about it, Vexos."
Immediately, the non-Vexos occupants of the Vestal Destroyer began dematerializing, to everyone's great surprise.
"What's going on here?" Gus cried out.
"That's 'what's going on here, milord' to you, lapdog," Demophilus retorted. "And isn't it obvious? I'm removing your hostages." As the Resistance members finished dematerializing, Demophilus loudly cleared his throat and continued in an officious tone: "Keith Clay, a.k.a. Spectra Phantom, in the name of Her Highness Princess Regent Xenia, you are under arrest for treason against the Crown and for the conversion of the HMS Vestal Destroyer.
"Gus Grav, you are under arrest for being an accomplice to those same crimes.
"Now shut down your engines and submit to our escort, or else I will be happily obliged to have these ships open fire upon you."
Another viewscreen opened beside the one showing Margrave Demophilus, this one showing Mira struggling with a black-haired female Vestal. "Your Highness, wait!" Mira cried.
"Explain this outburst!" Demophilus ordered.
From off-screen, a male voice ordered, "Step aside, both of you!" The scuffling Vestals broke apart and made way for a man in his late forties with platinum-colored hair.
"My apologies, milord," the man said. "After the Resistance transported onto the ship, Ms. Clay somehow slipped free of the guards and reached the communications console."
"Actually, it is I who should be apologizing to Ms. Clay for that sudden transport. Please, let her have the conn, Captain," Demophilus replied.
"Yes, milord," the captain said.
As the captain let Mira take her place in front of the communications console, Demophilus ordered to one of his officers, "Lock on to the Destroyer. If Spectra makes even one false move, obliterate that ship."
"Yes, milord," the officer replied.
"Ms. Clay, please pardon the sudden change of atmosphere; I wanted to remove you from the clutches of those Vexos right away," said Demophilus, returning his attention to her. "You're perfectly safe now. You're aboard the Phylax, one of the flagships of the Royal Family. I am on her sister ship, the Phalanx."
"Your Highness—"
"I'm flattered, but that won't get you anywhere," Demophilus interrupted. "Unless and until both King Zenoheld and Prince Hydron are dead (may the Goddess speed that day!), my proper address is still 'milord.'"
"But that's exactly it, Your Highness," Mira replied. "King Zenoheld and Prince Hydron are dead."
Demophilus' jaw dropped noticeably.
"Goddess rest both their souls," the captain murmured behind them. Other officers also bowed their heads respectfully.
Before long, though, Demophilus regained his composure. "You must not be the tactical genius whom I've heard about, Spectra. Did you actually think you could saunter back here after assassinating King Zenoheld—Resistance hostages in tow, no less—and claim the throne of Vestal for yourself amidst the confusion from his departure? Of the many reasons for someone like you to come back to Vestal, I must admit this is one of the more ambitious ones. Not to mention the most idiotic."
"Pardon my forwardness, Your Highness, but you completely misunderstand the situation," Mira interjected.
"Is that so?" Demophilus answered. "Then please, enlighten me."
"Keith and Gus no longer pose any threat to Vestal, Your Highness," she explained. "In fact, they are the newest members of the Bakugan Battle Brawlers Resistance. That is why we were on the Vestal Destroyer, not because Keith took us all hostage."
"I would be greatly relieved, albeit perplexed, if that proves to be the case," Demophilus said. "Unfortunately, I cannot just take your word for it. How do I know you haven't somehow been brainwashed or otherwise coerced into saying that? If you and your comrades would please follow Captain Thureos' officers to the medical bay, I'd greatly appreciate it. I want to make sure that you have not been tampered with at all before I bring you to see the regent."
"Yes, milord," Mira replied.
"Captain Thureos, see that they make it to the medbay without incident," Demophilus ordered.
The platinum-haired man returned to the screen. "Yes, milord," the man assented. "Phylax out." The viewscreen then shut off.
"And that leaves us with you, Spectra," Demophilus said. "Since your ship is still intact, it seems that you're not a complete idiot. That's good. Now that I have your hostages under my care, you'd best pray to Vesta that I find no signs of injury on them. And if, let's say, you have some kind of kill switch installed in them, I'd highly suggest that you reconsider even threatening to trip it: if they die, I open fire."
"But Your Highness, my sister is telling the truth: the Resistance members are my comrades, not my hostages," Keith replied. "And besides, if I wanted to pose a threat to Vestal, I would have come in by wormhole, weapons at the ready, as you yourself just said not too long ago. Yet here I am, 'sauntering in' as you put it, weapons offline: an easy target for the royal fleet."
"If your intentions are indeed honorable, which I sincerely doubt, that will be made clear in due time," Demophilus answered. "Until then, you can start by heeding my previous order: Power down your engines and submit to our escort. You are still under arrest."
"Roger that, Phalanx," Keith groused. He began inputting the shutdown code. "Powering down engines … now." With the last keystroke, a series of low hums could be heard throughout the ship as the engines shut down.
"Wise choice, Destroyer," said Demophilus. "Phalanx out."
"This is an outrage, Master Spectra!" Gus exclaimed, forgetting in his anger to refer to his friend as "Keith." "We just saved Vestal from utter destruction, and this is the thanks we get?"
"Calm down, Gus," said Keith. "Think about it from their point of view. Remember, we only just beat King Zenoheld, so of course they have no idea what we've done yet. And the last they heard of us, we were defectors from the Vexos and desirous of the crown.
"And besides, if Mira's really going to be a guest of the regent, then we might just have a great opportunity waiting for us. The only thing I don't understand is how my sister ended up getting the regent's attention."
The two royal battleships each took a position alongside the Destroyer and deployed tractor beams to lock it in place. Afterwards, they carried the ship towards planet Vestal.
Some time later, as the convoy approached Vestal, the Phalanx hailed the Destroyer again.
"Vestal Destroyer, you may now re-engage your engines and prepare to land," Demophilus said. "Captain Xiphos is having your appointed flight path and landing coordinates transmitted to you as we speak. Deviate from it, and we will open fire.
"But I do have some good news for you. Our medical staff has ascertained that the Resistance is indeed free of any chemical or mechanical tampering.
"I'm quite disappointed, actually. I would have thought that someone like you, who turned his own Bakugan into a cyborg, would have had no qualms against installing some kind of failsafe in his hostages' bodies."
Keith decided not to honor Demophilus' taunts with a response. "Coordinates received, Phalanx. Readying engines. Destroyer out."
The landing zone was a fairly secluded spot, usually far from the hustle and bustle of the Vestal capital. In the west, the summer palace of Princess Xenia—now Princess Regent Xenia—dominated the otherwise tranquil skyline. However, word had spread that the infamous Vestal Destroyer had been spotted approaching Vestal—and escorted by no less than the royal flagships Phalanx and Phylax. Some of the more resourceful denizens of planet Vestal managed to calculate the Destroyer's trajectory, and before long, a crowd of Vestals had congregated by the landing pad, so much so that additional law enforcement officers had to be called in to keep the crowds at bay.
When the three ships landed and the Destroyer's loading ramp lowered, a group of royal guards entered the ship. Minutes later, a pair of them left, a handcuffed Keith in between them.
After the transmission from the Phalanx, Keith had changed back into the garb of Spectra Phantom, as the populace did not know his true identity. Keith was now wearing a red domino mask over his eyes, had his long blond hair cover the left eye, and wore a long red jacket that went down to his shoes. Black fur made up the collar of the jacket, and more black fur also ringed the waist. Underneath the jacket, he wore a brown dress shirt, a gold belt, brown pants, and brown boots.
Behind the trio, a handcuffed Gus followed, himself also flanked by two guards.
When the crowd caught sight of Spectra and Gus, all pandemonium broke loose. The officers had their hands full trying to keep back the crowd, which was ever threatening to break over them like a wave.
Despite the distance, Keith could hear snatches of dialogue:
"Vexos scum! I hope they throw the book at you!"
"You're so cool, Spectra! I've watched all your brawls!"
"Did you run out of Bakugan to brainwash? You never should have shown your face back on Vestal!"
A group of girls were heard cheering: "SPECTRA! SPECTRA! SPECTRA! SPECTRA!"
A reporter had somehow made her way to the front of the crowd. Microphone pointed at Gus, she cried out, "Mr. Grav! Mr. Grav! Planetary Enquirer. People want to know: What do you have to say about rumors of a relationship between you and Mr. Phantom?"
An old man yelled, "Why didn't you stay with your 'king', Vexos?"
A young man retorted, "Show some respect! Spectra's worth more than ten of you!"
"You're so HOT, Gus!" cried a woman in the crowd.
"Marry me once you get out of the dungeons?" exclaimed another.
A minute after Keith, Gus, and their entourage entered a hovercar, which quickly sped away, Mira, Baron, and Ace exited the Phylax and were soon escorted by the remaining royal guards. The crowd roared all the more at the sight of the famous Bakugan Brawlers Resistance, though the noise was not exclusively of acclaim.
"Hey, guards! Are you blind? Those are the criminals!"
"Three cheers for the heroes of Vestroia!"
"Welcome home!"
"Ace, I saw the vid of your brawl in Alpha City. You're so awesome!"
"Marry me, Baron!"
"TRAITORS! REBELS!"
"Shut up, you idiot! All hail Queen Xenia!"
"Those rebels are the reason that we have a mere regent in power! Long live the King!"
"Both of you shut up! We can't trust Zenoheld, we can't trust his sister, and we definitely can't trust any of these self-proclaimed nobles!"
"Ms. Clay! Ms. Clay! Planetary Enquirer. What do you have to say about rumors that Spectra Phantom is actually a long-lost distant relative of yours?"
Amidst the noise, the Resistance continued on their way to the hovercar that would escort them to Regent Xenia's nearby palace.
Once Mira, Baron, and Ace arrived at the palace, the guards escorted them to Xenia's audience chamber. Keith and Gus had been taken elsewhere.
The entrance to Xenia's audience chamber was a massive set of double doors, the royal coat of arms emblazoned across the pair. The audience chamber itself was a marvel. It was a massive room with stained-glass windows and marble floors that bore the royal coat of arms. The walls led up to a retractable arched ceiling, which was currently open to allow for a view of the sky. Two lines of ornately-decorated pillars going lengthwise down the room divided it into three sections, the middle section considerably wider than the other two. The doors, which had a guard at each side of them, were in the middle of one of the long sides of the room. A guard stood at each corner of the room, and at the end of the room that was to the left as one entered the door was a velvet-lined dais, where the throne stood.
With her fair skin and large blue eyes, Princess Regent Xenia Alethina Hestia-Epipuron looked younger than her age of forty-three. Cyan hair a few shades darker than her dress flowed halfway down her back, with the exception of two rope braids around the sides of her head. The dress itself had flecks of silver that sparkled in direct light, mimicking the silver tiara.
Her son, Margrave Demophilus Alexandros Epipuron, stood to her right, wearing a spotless blue-and-silver dress uniform and a steel-gray fur cape. Rather than mimic his mother's serene smile, he had schooled his features into an impassive mask.
"Welcome, Ms. Clay," Xenia said. "I have heard many things about the exploits of you and the members of your Bakugan Brawlers Resistance. It seems that you and your friends have caused my brother and nephew quite some consternation."
"Your Majesty?" Mira replied, unsure of how to answer.
"No need to be afraid, Ms. Clay. I, too, was appalled at the things that my brother had done to the inhabitants of New Vestroia. Our people need space to expand, true, but despite what some in the nobility still think, I agree with you that enslaving an entire species was not the way to gain that space."
"I am pleased to hear that, Your Majesty."
"My son gave me some very puzzling news. I hear that you actually arrived aboard the Vestal Destroyer alongside Spectra Phantom and Gus Grav. How did this happen? Did the Vexos harm you in any way?"
"No, Your Majesty. As I said to Margrave Demophilus, Keith and Gus are now members of the Resistance. They had long abandoned the Vexos since even before King Zenoheld fled the planet, though they have not joined the Resistance until recently."
"Mr. Leltoy," Xenia said, "is Ms. Clay telling the truth? Know that you are safely under my protection; the Vexos cannot harm you here."
"She's not lying, Your Majesty," Baron answered. "Keith's one of us now, and you know that wherever Keith goes, Gus follows."
"And what of the other Vexos?" Xenia asked.
"We don't know for sure," Mira replied.
Xenia rose an eyebrow, but did not push the matter. Instead she said, "So, I take it that the intelligence you had received as to my brother's ambitions has borne fruit. What has happened since you last left Vestal?"
Mira gasped. "How did you know about our intelligence?"
Xenia chuckled. "It was I who gave you that intelligence on King Zenoheld's intentions. You may have thought that it was just a bunch of rumors, but I deliberately let that information slip."
"What?!"
"Unfortunately, I know my brother. Though he is skilled at feigning benevolence when needs be, he is a very proud man. He does not like to retreat, and whenever he is made to, he always returns with a vengeance."
"You understate things, mother!" Demophilus interjected. "Even you could not have avoided hearing the increasingly angry transmissions from the Motherpalace. He was even threatening to destroy the planet in his latest ones! What kind of king would threaten to annihilate his own people?"
Xenia sighed. "That is true. On that topic, did Zenoheld ever have the capability to make good on such a threat, Ms. Clay?"
"Unfortunately, he did," Mira answered. "But please allow me to start from the beginning, Your Majesty."
"Proceed."
"After King Zenoheld fled from Vestal, we learned that he was concocting a new plan to take over New Vestroia: the Bakugan Termination System. It was a machine that would have been able to kill every Bakugan within a six-thousand-kilometer radius. It was actually with the help of Spectra, as well as a group of Earthlings called the Bakugan Battle Brawlers, that we managed to destroy the BT System. Afterwards, Spectra and Gus joined the Resistance.
"But after we destroyed the BT System, King Zenoheld came up with something even more devastating: the Alternative Weapon System."
"Alternative Weapon System?" Demophilus asked.
"Yes, Your Highness," she confirmed. "A massive battleship capable of destroying the entire planet Vestal from orbit. Just hours ago, we confronted this superweapon in a massive battle.
"However, the battle was not without its casualties. We don't know why, but Prince Hydron hindered King Zenoheld from fleeing the Alternative as it was readying to self-destruct." Mira bowed her head. "Thus it is my unfortunate duty to report that both King Zenoheld and Prince Hydron are now dead."
A/N: You may have noticed that the heading in this chapter only shows the Vestal date, just as the heading in the beginning of Chapter 6 showed only the Gregorian date. Whenever a scene takes place only among Vestals or only among Earthlings, the date will be exclusively in the native calendar. A link to the document setting the two calendars side-by-side is on my profile.