Even in the anime I felt this episode jumped around a lot, so I decided to add locational cues to assist in not saying the word meanwhile every 5 seconds. Want extra fun? Imagine the Law & Order, Special Victims Unit sound every time you read one. Enjoy!

7:15AM: Noboru Residence

Leonidas split open immediately, an ear piercing sound disturbing him from his slumber. He quickly cast his gaze across the terrain, attempting to find its source. "What… WHO IS THAT-"

Leonidas ceased his defensive formation, realizing where he was as his memory played catch up. He was in Greyson's "bedroom", sitting on the "windowsill", this was the alien terrain. And the noise, a repeating, incessant tone. Leonidas looked over to where it originated, seeing the screen on a rectangular shaped box light up. "Alarm…" he mumbled, reading the text despite its long distance relative to the Bakugans size. He continued watching as Greyson reached out and took hold of the box, pressing a button on it and causing the noise to cease. Grey brought the box, which he would later learn was called a phone, toward his face, tapping his thumb against it, the screen reacting to his inputs. Greyson continued this for about thirty second before finally getting out of bed, stretching and glancing toward Leonidas, who quickly shut his Subterra ball form closed in response. Grey stared for a moment before shrugging, dismissing what he thought he saw, and exiting the room. "Good morning Grey." a more feminine voice came. "Mornin' Mom, hey Dad." he heard Greyson respond. The conversation quickly devolved into smalltalk, Leonidas ceasing to eavesdrop as his mind wandered elsewhere. These creatures seemed incredibly social, contrasting the only behavior he knew; Violence.

"Yeah, he's a bit… Edgy though…" Leonidas heard, speculating as to what this word meant.

7:29AM: Hikari Residence

Yui had just finished serving her two little sister's breakfast when her phone vibrated on the counter, making an interesting noise as it repeatedly collided with the surface numerous times. She scooped up the cellular device, which had a cyan casing, and pushed the power button, taking a sip of her coffee as the phones screen came to life. "Hey, where should I meet you?" the message read, Yui quickly typing up a reply. "Just inside the lobby should be fine, I just need to walk my sisters to school and then I'll come." was the response she composed. About half a minute later the reply came: "Okay :)".

8:25AM: Wardington Composite

"Still hasn't said a word huh?" Kai asked, struggling to insert a straw into the correct spot of a juice box. "Nope. Unless you count slightly angry sounding grunts as an answer, then in which case… You know." Grey said, observing Leonidas, who was sitting in his hand in ball form, clamped closed. "i mean, if I was launched out of a magic white light and made a dent in a concrete fountain on the way out, i'd probably not be so inclined on conversation." Yama reasoned, taking Kai's juice box and impaling the straw into its side before handing it back to him. "He seemed pretty talkative during our encounter with Shuji yesterday, he seemed to enjoy it actually." Grey replied, returning the Bakugan to a small felt satchel he used to store his beasts. "Enjoyed is an… Interesting word for what happened…" Kai responded, drinking his juice contently.

"Hallo!" came a familiar voice in a familiar tone. The trio looked up to see Yui walking toward them, accompanied by a girl they didn't recognize. "Brawlers…" Yui began, motioning to her accompaniment. "This is Alice, she's a transfer student!". Alice stepped forward, giving a light wave. "Hello!" she said, smiling toward the group.

Alice wore a green top and white shorts, covered in part by an open yellow dress, accompanied by a red wristband on her left arm and shoes matching the palette of her outfit. "It's nice to meet you all." she continued, standing next to Yui. Her hair was auburn, almost orange, left to flow behind her. "Hey, my name's Greyson!" Grey said, returning the wave. "Name's Kai." the tall one continued, drinking from the sideways juice box. "i'm yama." the shortest of the bunch concluded. "We call ourselves the Battle Brawlers." Yui boasted, putting her hands on her hips. "Alice here is also into Bakugan.". "Well, I'm not really into battling, but I have done a bunch of research into Bakugan." Alice corrected, joining her hands in front of her. "Research huh." Grey wondered before a thought entered his mind. "Hey Alice, have you ever seen a Bakugan like this before?" he asked, showing the still subterra Leonidas to her. Alice kneeled slightly, observing the sphere. "No, I don't think so…" she responded. "Do you know what it's name is?". "Yeah, Leonidas." Greyson replied. "He can actually talk, like speak actual words I mean.". "A talking Bakugan?" Alice wondered aloud, her thought process being shattered by the sound of the school bell going off.

"BUNG BUNG BUNG BUNG"

"No, I've never heard of a Bakugan like that before… Sorry." Alice said, her smile faltering. "Meh, don't worry about it." Grey said, picking up his bag as the brawlers readied to part to their classes. "Plenty of time to crack this knucklehead." he continued, starting to walk off alongside Kai and Yama. "Later Yui, Alice.". "See ya guys!" Yui replied, guiding Alice to her next class.

3:09PM [Technically]: Wardington Composite [Also Technically]

"Ability Activate: Theta Claw!"

Leonidas continued his stranglehold on the Darkus Juggernoid's head, using his clawed feet to restraint the Bakugan in place as the energy from Grey's ability card shifted to his own appendages. His claws extended under a view of aqua energy, his attribute having previously changed to match one of Shuji's previous cards, the brawler having switched his attribute to Aquos to negate a Groundbreaker. "HAHAHAHA" Leonidas cackled, driving his newly weaponized claws into the opponent Juggernoid's shell, piercing it, causing the Bakugan to roar in pain. Leon wasted no time, using his grip on the Juggernoid to pick it up via the force provided by his wings, flipping the Darkus Bakugan around and sending it flying toward Shuji. The Bakugan was seemingly about to crush him, but it quickly returned to its sphere form before impact, a small black and purple ball bouncing on the ground near him.

"AND THAT'S A RING OUT, S-AQUOS LEONIDAS IS THE WINNER!" Yama announced, gesturing to the last Bakugan left standing, who quickly returned to ball form. "That was… Brutal bro!" Kai said to Greyson, who caught Leonidas in his hand. "He's really aggressive isn't he?" Alice noted, looking at Leonidas' newly blue ball form. Leonidas was indeed able to switch attributes, though not in the way some Aquos Bakugan were rumoured to be able to. Instead, Leo's attribute switches were more permanent, not changing back to normal after a battle concluded, as if the changes were not so much him altering just his attribute, but something else entirely. "Yeah." Greyson responded, the field collapsing as reality returned to normal, the school atrium replacing the white terrain and elemental skylight. "Only time he speaks is during battles too…". "he seemed to be having a little bit too much fun there…" Yama noted, walking over toward the group. "I mean, he did win." Grey replied, looking down at the closed bluish sphere. "Didn't you, yeah, yes you did!" he continued, talking to Leonidas as if he was a child. "Grrrrrr, cease!" he muttered, clearly irritated by Greyson's tone of voice. "Hey guys, we got a word out of him!" Kai joked, sticking his hands into his pockets. "What are you guys doing now?" he asked, looking at the dissipating student body. "I was gonna show Alice around town." Yui replied, looking to her new companion, who smiled and nodded in response. "i'm gonna head home." Yama said, putting his megaphone into his bag and zipping it closed. "Same here." Grey said, pocketing the Aquos Leonidas. "Same bros." Kai replied, adjusting the strap on his bag.

"See y'all around!"

"See ya later!"

"bye."

5:07PM: Wardington Park

"And this is the place where Greyson found Leonidas yesterday." Yui said, gesturing toward the fountain, which still had a dent in it from Leonidas' impact. Yui had been giving Alice a guided tour of Wardington, electing to do so as she was also responsible for her room and board. The two had been all over town, and soon they ended up in the park where yesterday's brawl introduced them to Leonidas' ferocity. "Did he make that dent?" Alice asked, pointing toward a warp in the concrete fountains rim. Yui look over to where Alice was pointing, stopping for a second. "I… Don't think so?" she replied, genuinely unsure. If a Bakugan hit concrete at the amount of force necessary to make that kind of dent, it was doubtful if they would live to tell the tail. Nevertheless, the two continued walking along, eventually happening upon a small brick structure; a bathroom to be exact. "Hey, is it alright if I just pop in here for a second?" Alice asked, motioning toward the building. "Sure, no problem. I'll wait out here." Yui replied, her companion heading into the bathroom. Yui quickly pulled out her phone, scrolling through her social media as people tend to do. She felt the hairs on her neck stand up all of a sudden, a strong breeze blowing through the area, sending leaves cascading across the ground. A coldness grew within her, a sense that something wasn't right. Yui knew what she had to do.

She zipped up her hoodie.

Yui continued scrolling through her feed even as the wind continued to blow with force, completely unaware of the presence near her. She glanced up for a moment, noticing the figure standing there, taking her by surprise.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed, jumping. A person had seemingly materialized close to her, and was standing there ominously, their blonde hair spiked upward and their eyes covered by a mask. Their outfit consisted of what seemed to be a short sleeved lab coat with various belts and studs across it, paired with a pair of purple trousers and black boots. "Yui Hiraki, was it?" the figure asked, a field card flipping out of his sleeve and into his hand. "Y-yeah, what's it to you?" she responded, unnerved at the enigmatic man's arrival. The figure raised his gate card, holding it out in front of himself and grinning. "Oh, so you wanna battle huh?" Yui asked, pulling her own field card in response. "F-fine then, I'll take you on!" she said, raising her own field card.

"BAKUGAN, FIELD OPEN!"

The attribute wheel quickly formed beneath the brawlers as time began to slow around them, the two disappearing into the Bakugan field, ready to brawl.

5:11PM: Wardington Park

Reality returned to normal, Yui collapsing onto her knees. "T-terror…" she mumbled as the field fully collapsed and time returned to its normal flow, stunned by what she had witnessed. Her opponent only chuckled, grinning sickly before beginning to walk away. "I didn't catch your name…" Yui called, looking up at the figure. "I never said it." he responded. "Call me Masquerade.". Yui's head sank, her body feeling heavy.

Alice pushed open the door to the bathroom, walking outside. "I'm back, sorry if I took a while-". She paused for a moment before immediately running over to her friend.

"Yui, are you okay?"

6:26PM: Noboru Residence

Kai and Yama had already joined in on the video call, eager to see what Greyson had prepared. Grey was at his desk, having promised the brawlers that he had finally developed a method for getting Leonidas to speak outside of battle. Kai and Yama starred on intently as Grey brought out the weapons that would end Leo's silence once and for all. "Behold!" Greyson announced theatrically, presenting the still Darkus Leonidas and, a toothbrush. "grey, that is a toothbrush." Yama responded, incapable of seeing the genius of the all attribute brawler.

"No, it is The Lance of Silence's Demise!"

"no, it's a toothbrush."

"LANCE OF SILENCE'S DEMISE!"

"Grey, do you wanna play MineKraft or is this gonna go on for a while?" Kai inquired, sipping on his drink. "Alright alright, watch." Grey replied, moving Leonidas in front of his with one hand and moving the toothbrush with the other, starting to brush the Bakugan. "Grrrrrh." was the initial given response, but Greyson continued, winking at the webcam and increasing the intensity of his brushing. "Hmmmph, cease…" Leonidas mumbled, raising Yama and Kai's interest in the manner. Grey began brushing the Darkus Bakugan even faster now.

"No, stop, Gah, THAT TICKLES, CEASE, STOP IT, STAHP!"

By now the trio of boys were all laughing, Leonidas still refusing to open his ball form, his protests muffled in a way that anyone with a heart would find funny. "OKAY, okay!" he said, giving in and popping open. "I'll speak, just stop with that awful, awful device.". "Yeah, screw Krest Pro Health, amirite boys?" Kai joked, getting a laugh out of Yama. Grey was about to continue his interrogation of the Darkus Bakugan when Yui joined the call. "Oh hey Yui-" Grey began, pausing when he saw her face. She looked empty, like she had been crying almost. "Oh jesus, Yui, are you okay?" Kai inquired, peering closer at the screen. "S-something…" she began, quite. "yui, speak up please…" Yama requested meekly, also worried.

"S-something happened when we were at the park…"

6:42PM: Noboru Residence

Yui had explained everything that had happened, the park, the figure, the events of the brawl, and how she had lost her Pyrus Terrorclaw to the enigmatic brawler.

"So Terrorclaw was just sucked into a portal?" Greyson inquired, his hand on his chin as he concentrated. "Yeah…" Yui replied, looking somewhat better. She took a sip of the tea Alice had made, it doing wonders to calm her down. "It's not just Terrorclaw being sucked away that's bothering me… That portal was just so… It felt like it was evil.". "and you didn't get terrorclaw back after the brawl?" Yama asked, seemingly taking notes. "No… He's just… Gone…" she replied, Alice trying to comfort her. "Well this bites, nobody should be able to just come out and take peoples Bakugan like that!" Grey said, raising his voice a little. "yui, if you don't mind me asking, what did you say the guys name was?" Yama asked. "Oh, it was… Masquerade, yeah." Yui said, finishing the tea. "Sounds French…" Kai said. "I don't speak French." Grey added. "Yui." Yama began.

"You aren't alone."

"What do you mean?" Yui asked, looking up with renewed interest. "well i searched up masquerade and there are brawlers everywhere saying basically the same thing that you just said; masked creep stole my Bakugan, masquerade took my Falconeer, french baguette-face stole robbed me…" Yama relayed, looking back into his webcam. "whoever this guy is, he's targeting everyone.". "Well we can't just let some masked maniac go around terrorizing people and stealing their Bakugan!" Kai said, slamming his hand into his desk. "Yeah, especially not when they attacked one of our friends!" Grey added. "Did someone seriously call him a baguette-face?" Alice mumbled from the background, confused.

"I SAY WE FIGHT HIM!"

Grey looked over, Leonidas' ball form open and the creature inside angry. "I AGREE WITH THE MURDERBALL!" Yama yelled, also getting riled up. "Alright then Brawlers! Let's take this creep down!" Grey said, making a fist.

"Erm, how do you plan on doing that?" Alice interjected, standing slightly behind Yui on her webcam. "Well, she does have a point…" Yui added after a moment of silence. "We don't know where Masquerade is.". "Les set a trap then." Kai proposed, interlocking his fingers and stretching. "Lure 'em out.". "How are we gonna do that?" Yui asked, now fully engaged with the proposed operation. "internet's a beautiful place yui." Yama said, typing away on his keyboard. "All we need is bait."

Everyone in the web call looked toward Grey. "I seem to have the small feeling that I'm going to be playing that part…" he said, sighing.

8:18PM: Noboru Residence

"Heys Masquerade, how's about a lil' battle, huh?" Grey said into the webcam. "Awww." Alice said aloud. "It is kinda cute." Yui added, frustrating Greyson. "It shouldn't be cute, it should be threatening, agh!" he yelled, trying to think of some other way of articulating the taunt.

"This is pointless…" Leonidas mumbled, rolling along the desk in his ball form. "You should just hunt him down yourself and face him one on one.". Greyson looked down at the darkus Bakugan, who popped open and looked up to match his gaze. "That sounds like an awful idea!" Grey responded, sitting himself into his chair and spinning around. "Traps can fail, force tends not to." Leonidas replied, prompting Greyson to right himself. "You know what your problem is?" he began, standing up and walking toward the desk. "You're coming at this as a fighter whose never lost a fight and is used to being overpowered. At some point you're going to face an opponent too strong to beat with brute force and you're going to have to learn to use strategy." he concluded, standing over Leonidas. "Fat chance…" the draconian mumbled before Greyson promptly scooped him up, grabbed the Lance of Silence's Demise, and began brushing the lizard, who protested audibly. "Maybe if I put on an accent it would be better…" Grey wondered aloud, ignoring Leonidas' demands to be put down or for the brush to be moved slightly to the right.

1:37AM: #$# *$# #*'! #*$ *&

"Hey Masquerade, I'm challenging you to a brawl! If I win, you stop running around stealing people's Bakugan! Meet me under the bridge on Palmdale Avenue at 5:00, that is if you're brave enough to show up and face my one of a kind Bakugan!"

Masquerade smirked behind the screen of his monitor, it being the only light source in the room. "This might actually be fun…" he noted, the monitor's recording reflecting off of his mask.

5:00PM: Palmdale Underbridge

The brawlers all moved as a single unit, traveling along the underside of the bridge where the railroad track once ran through. Greyson, Kai, and Yama had headed toward the brawling site, Yui and Alice remaining away from the fight; they didn't want her doing anything rash, as she was prone to do. She also had a job, an added layer of complication. Some might have mistaken them for a gang, an oddly varied one at that. As they got closer to their destination, Kai called something out, seeing someone in the distance. "There's one, no, two people, dead ahead." he said, pointing toward the two figures down the way. "did masquerade bring backup?" Yama asked, unable to see as far ahead as Kai. "I don't think… Oh dear christ…". Greyson and Yama quickly also picked up the pieces based on the colours of the figures ahead of them, yellow with a hint of orange and tan, and a smaller one, mainly in green. "It's Shuji…" Grey mumbled, knowing this meant trouble for their operation.

"Hey nerds!" Shuji called as the brawlers approached. "Guess Masquerade isn't coming huh?". "Shuji, get lost." Kai said, his unwavering voice almost intimidating the bully. "No way man, not until I get revenge on this punk for defeating my Bakugan!" he yelled back, pointing at Greyson (who had a look of complete and utter disinterest on his face). "Shuji, I would rather elect literally anyone else on the planet fight you right now instead of me." he said, resting his hands in the pockets of his track pants.

"I can help with that!" a familiar voice came from behind Shuji and Akira. The two parted, revealing Yui to be standing behind them, decked out in her brawling gear. "Yui!" the brawlers exclaimed as she walked between Shuji and Akira toward them, spinning around and facing the former. "i thought you were at home…" Yama said. "I'm getting my pathos one way or another." she responded, pulling out a field card. "I accept your challenge Shuji!". Shuji, who was dumbfounded at this turn of events, quickly reoriented himself. "Fine then, first I'll beat the blonde brawler, then I'll take down Grey Hair and his pet lizard!" he responded, pulling a field card of his own. Greyson was tempted to stop Yui, but something told him not to. Besides, if Yui won the brawl, he wouldn't have to battle Shuji, a win win scenario. The two brawlers had their field cards ready. She quickly glanced back at him, looking for a response. Grey nodded; permission to engage; granted.

"BAKUGAN, FIELD OPEN!"

Grey walked forward as reality began to warp, putting a hand on Yui's shoulder, causing her to glance back. "Yui…" he began, time slowing further as the sounds of automobiles were distorted and overpowered. "Kick his as-" Grey's voice was drowned out by the field formation, but Yui got the picture. She nodded as the field fully materialized, dirty ground and a concrete ceiling replaced by flat white terrain and a multicoloured sky.

"GATE CARD, SET!"

Two gate cards went flying across the field, landing at the opposite extremes of each other and expanding, bridging the gap between Yui and Shuji. Both brawlers quickly selected their next Bakugan, warey of each others actions. Shuji was the first to act, quickly tossing up a Bakugan.

"BAKUGAN, BRAWL!"

A ventus sphere shot out, landing on Yui's gate card closest to Shuji, bouncing to a stop and opening. Falconeer's eyes glowed for a moment as a torrent of wind came spiraling upward, the Bakugan's battle form rising up within the tempest. The windstorm dissipated, revealing the flying Bakugan, hovering majestically above the terrain and glaring down at Yui, who grinned back. "My turn!" she yelled, pulling out another gate card and launching it. "Gate Card Set!" she continued, the card landing and expanding next to her existing one where the ventus Falconeer currently resided. Yui then took hold of a red sphere, arching her hand back and launching it.

"Bakugan Brawl!"

"Hynoid Stand!" was her next line, the Bakugan popping open and its eyes glowing, a ring of fire forming around it as it converted into its battle form. The Pyrus Hynoid pulled itself out of the ground, standing on its hind legs and howling. "Nice try!" Shuji mocked, pulling out an ability card.

"ABILITY CARD ACTIVATE: JUMP OVER!"

A hurricane of ventus wind rapidly formed around Falconeer, the funnel snaking its way into the air and pointing to the gate card beside it. The ventus creature quickly flew up the wind tunnel, emerging on Hynoid's gate card high above the Pyrus Bakugan. "You thought you could escape my Falconeer huh?" Shuji remarked, smirking.

"Gate Card Open! Lock Gravity!"

The smirk was quickly wiped off of Shuji's face as the gate card beneath Hynoid began glowing. Falconeer, previously airborne, was immediately rocketed toward the ground as its effects took hold; Lock Gravity's effect being that it grounds all Bakugan on the gate card to ground combat. The ventus Bakugan quickly slammed into the terrain as Hynoid prepared to attack, glancing at Yui preparing her next card.

"Ability Activate! Jackal Strike!"

Hynoid immediately charged forward, his claws glowing with pyrus energy, extending to form sharp knives. Falconeer managed to stand up for a moment, but did not have enough time to perceive the threat and counter it, the Pyrus Bakugan slashing it with his flaming claws, causing Falconer to return back to ball form near instantly, shooting back at Shuji. "What was that? I didn't quite hear you!" Yui mocked, watching as Hynoid howled, proud of his victory before he returned to his brawler in ball form. Shuji growled in response, irritated. "Oh yeah, you think you're so tough, try this on for size!" he yelled, pulling out a second Bakugan.

"BAKUGAN, BRAWL!"

A ventus Gargonoid shot out, landing on Shuji's card just ahead of Yui, popping open and vanishing into a similar gust as before. The Bakugan emerged, its gargoyle like features true to its name, staring down at Yui in expectation of fear. Yui shivered for a moment before looking down at the Hynoid in her hand. "You did great!" she said, nuzzling the open Bakugan for a moment before returning him to her belt, revealing her next beast in the form of a Haos sphere, reeling her arm back in preparation to launch.

"Bakugan Brawl!"

Yui's own Falconeer went flying out toward Gargonoid's card, landing with a bounce and opening, a hurricane of light emerging from its landing zone instead of one of wind. The Bakugan vanished into this vortex of Haos power, emerging as it dissipated in an elegant battle form. "Falconeer, stand! Take him down!" the Haos Pyrus brawler yelled, pointing a hand toward Shuji's Bakugan. Falconeer obeyed, quickly beginning to propel herself toward Shuji's ventus beast.

"Ventus Gargonoid 250 g's, Haos Falconeer 240 g's." were the current readings according to Yui's bakupod. She glanced at Shuji for a moment, a look of concern crossing her face. "Is he gonna…" Yui began, being interrupted as Shuji initiated his counter attack.

"Hahaha, GOTCHA! ABILITY CARD ACTIVATE: SPIRIT WIND!"

Gargonoid swung both its arms forth, a violent gust of ominous wind blowing forth, quickly making contact with Falconeer, weakening the Bakugan. Falconeer's gpower began to drop, with Shuji's bakupod quickly updating him on the result of his ability, his own Bakugan already making an aerial advance. "Haos Falconeer power decrease to 140 g's" it chimed, its owner not bothering to look down at it. Shuji, despite being slightly more cautious due to his previous error, was not one to learn from mistakes, taunting her with a typical: "Ha, what trick are you gonna pull now little girl-" before being once again interrupted, Gargonoid still charging at Falconeer.

"Ability Activate! Haos Switch!" Yui roared, raising both her hands up, a card in one and another Haos Bakugan in another. The card glowed, it's power jumping over to Falconeer, who immediately returned to ball form upon contact, zipping back as Yui's second Haos sphere shot out to her Bakugan's previous position. Haos Saurus stood, rather flew, into existence in a kicking position, its massive foot poised directly at the advancing Gargonoid, whose last thought before contact was likely along the lines of: "awww damn it-". Saurus collided with the ventus Bakugan, it's mass and weight compared to Gargonoid's quickly driving the pair into the terrain, the two smashing into the ground as Saurus essentially surfed the smaller Bakugan through the metaphorical dirt before eventually grinding to a halt, Shuji stumbling in shock at what had just occurred. Saurus looked down at its opponent, still conscious despite the previous event, raising his massive foot as if to stomp the Ventus creature.

"Stay down…"

Grey quickly glanced down at his pocket, assuming what he had just heard was from Leonidas, but thought against it after a moment; that voice was deeper than his own Bakugan's, much more gruff. "Somethin' wrong?" Kai asked without looking away from the brawl. "No, just thought I heard someone say something…" Grey responded, watching as the Gargonoid returned to its ball form, causing the Saurus above to stumble slightly as its centre of gravity was thrown off. Kai heard it as well, but quickly lost the thought as Saurus secured its victory, pounding its chest with one hand. "Don't get cocky or it's gonna get rocky Shuji!" Yui yelled, catching her Bakugan as it returned in ball form. "Bro, you just lost again!" Akira mentioned loudly, seemingly surprised. "Dang it, she's too smart!" Shuji responded, angry at his double loss. "She's using strategy!" his brother responded. "So?". "Disrupt it!" Akira exclaimed, clearly the smarter of the duo. "Oooooh… Right!" Shuji replied, it taking a slightly odd amount of time for him to catch up with the program. Yui was quite confident meanwhile, having her strategy planned out in her head, holding her Hynoid and Saurus in her hand, the two seemingly pulling toward each other. This fight was on her card assuming Shuji didn't put down another, and Yui estimated that she could win rather handily. She readied herself, reeling an arm back and preparing to throw.

"Bakugan Brawl: Saurus Stand!"

The Haos Rhino shot out onto the gate card, popping open on impact, a circle of light blinding the area as it concealed the stand. Saurus rose up from the impact zone, letting out a roar before staring forward, not at Shuji mind you, prepared for combat. "Oh yeah?" he replied, taking Saurus' seeming lack of notice of him as an insult. "Take this!" Shuji continued, quickly launching his final ventus Bakugan at the gate card, it mimicking the impact opening of Saurus, a windstorm whipping up as the Robotallion stood, staring down its Haos opponent with dead serious eyes. The two warriors glared at each other for a moment, the field silent for a time before combat restarted, Yui opening the gate card, which glowed in a Pyrus light.

"Gate Card Open-"

"NICE TRY!" Shuji interrupted, pulling a card of his own.

"ABILITY ACTIVATE: STORMBREAKER!"

The Ventus Robotallion was quickly immersed in a field of green energy, beginning to raise its arms above its head, hands in fists as wind energy blew around the Bakugans arms like small hurricanes. The Bakugan quickly swung them down, the gate card cracking upon contact with these projectiles, shattering like a mirror soon after. "Haos Saurus 280 g's, Ventus Robotallion 300 g's." Yui's bakupod chimed, its owner glancing down at it slightly unnerved. Shuji was tempted beyond belief to gloat, but something told him to restrain himself, the brawler instead engaging the next step of his plan without any initial snark. "Robotallion, Charge!" Yui's opponent yelled, aggressively motioning toward the opposing Bakugan. Robotallion obeyed, lowering itself and barreling toward Saurus, long blades extending from each of its wrists, swaying back and forth as the Bakugan charged. "Not yet…" Yui mumbled, her fists closed tightly as she seemed to study both Robotallion and Shuji at the same time, searching for something.

Robotallion quickly swung its wrist blades upward and it jumped at Saurus, swinging them back down toward the Bakugan's shoulders, the Haos foe catching the blades in its hands, holding them back it his hands despite the Ventus Bakugans application of force. Robotallion was up 20 g's on Saurus, meaning something had to change in order for Yui to turn the battle around. Saurus, the more experienced of the two fighters, quickly rotated one of its wrists inward, shattering the thin blade it was holding back, to the surprise of Robotallion. The rhino took this to its advantage, quickly forming its hand into a fist around the break away blade and socking its opponent in the face with it, causing it to stumble further, thus allowing Yui's beast to begin bending the other wrist blade, attempting to snap the flexible weapon off as it did the previous one. Robotallion did not take this in stride however, quickly roundhousing Saurus in the jaw with the leg parallel to the hand that was now missing its blade, sending the Haos Bakugan stumbling back. His Ventus counterpart continued his assault, quickly swinging its remaining blade toward the Bakugans shoulder, making a straight slash mark into the Bakugans armour before the blade stopped in its tracks, stuck. Shuji laughed, smashing his knuckles together; the battle was his, at least as he saw it anyway. He glared toward his opposing brawler, who he saw mumble something, both of her hands in fists with the backs facing forward. Saurus was struggling, boxing Robotallion across the face several times in an attempt to force a temporary retreat, partly succeeding as the Ventus Bakugan backed up momentarily, dazed due to the repetitive pummelling of said face. Saurus collapsed onto one knee, slamming a fist into the ground to support itself. He felt the roughness of combat catch up with him, the impacts setting in. His shoulder ached, his hands slashed, his ankles felt like they were on fire. His Ventus opponent righted itself, marching over toward its foe, wavering slightly as if it felt Saurus may receive a second win. Alas, he remained still, Robotallion stopping in front of him and raising his arm blade.

"Ability Activate: Hynoid Strike!"

Saurus fully lowered himself in his kneeling position as Yui's Pyrus Hynoid ran up behind him. The Bakugan used Saurus' muscled back as a launchpad, ejecting himself off of his Haos ally using his powered hind legs, flying at Robotallion. Hynoid dug his flaming claws into his Ventus foe, who was completely unprepared for the attack as it was forced into the terrain, the Pyrus fighter beginning to violently slash as his foe, claws moving at blinding speeds, dents and slash marks forming in Robotallion's steel skin seemingly out of nowhere. Bolts of what could best be described as Pyrus Lightning shot down from around Hynoid, further damaging the Ventus Bakugan. "Wha… WHAT?" Shuji exclaimed, quickly looking to his bakupod for further information. "Ventus Robotallion 250 g's., Hynoid Saurus combined gpower 630 g's." it reported, Shuji quickly looking back up as he fumbled for a counter attack, only to see he was too late.

A small cloud of dust and debris had formed around the spot of Hynoid's assault, the raining firebolts of his previous attack kicking up a storm during their respective impacts. Robotallion was heard letting out one last pained gasp before its audible return to ball form was heard, a green Bakugan ball shooting out from the wreckage and hitting Shuji directly in the forehead, causing him to stumble. Grabbing the impact pointing with his palm, Shuji looked up once again, the cloud dissipated; the Hynoid and Saurus stood alongside each other, marveling at their victory. "I… I just…" Shuji began, staring as Saurus ruffled the fur on Hynoid's head before they both returned to ball form, a wave of white overpowering all of his of senses.

"hooONK HONK!"

The noises of reality returning to its normal state was never not weird, but nobody paid attention to the sound of cars and trucks driving above them returning to their usual state. Instead, the brawlers quickly came up behind Yui, celebrating her victory, while Shuji simply stared downward at his Robotallion. "Dude, you lost again?" Akira asked in a mix of shock and amazement, Yui's final combination attack giving him something to remember. Shuji's bewilderment quickly turned to distress upon hearing this. "Shut up Akira!" he screamed, kicking Robotallion away like a child would break a toy in rage. "I'm going home to Mommy!" he continued, turning and running out of the underpass, his wailes still heard even after he had left. "See ya later dudes!" Akira yelled back as he ran after Shuji, leading the brawlers to stand there in confusion.

"Huh…" Grey said. "he left the robotallion here." Yama added, motioning to the Ventus Bakugan which had landed in the dirt in front of them. "Poor dude." Kai said, walking through the brawlers and going to pick up the disused Bakugan. "He's gonna probably have switched his attribute by the end of the week, so uh…" he began, interrupted by Yui. "If he doesn't ask for it back, I guess you should keep it?" she said, looking up for a moment from her two Bakugan stars in her hands. "Alright, so while Yui's victory was pretty darn cool…" Grey began, Yui beaming with pride. "The masked Frenchman didn't show up at all, and we still have no clue where he is…" he continued, everyone's post battle dopamine boost quickly wearing off. "that is true…" Yama noted, scratching his chin. "Well that bitessss…" Kai began, his voice trailing off as he turned back to face the brawlers.

"That wall wasn't there before." he said, pointing.

Everyone turned around. They then paused.

"That was not there before." Grey echoed.

"nore was that doorway…" Yama added, also shocked.

It was indeed true. Where there was once a degree of open space below the freeway, floored by dirt, a wall now stood, a darkened doorway placed within it. It couldn't have been there before, the brawlers had walked directly through where it stood in order to arrive in their current location. "What on Earth…" Yui began before a sound interrupted her, her soul leaving her body for a moment as a bad memory resurfaced with it.

"Hehehehe…" a voice came, everyone honing in on the sound coming from the darkened door frame, blackness behind it. While Kai and Grey stared forward, both somewhat scared, Yama quickly looked beside himself to Yui, who was frozen like a statue. "yui are you…?" he began. "That's him." she said, her voice lacking any emotion. Her hands were in fists around her Bakugan, her eyes baring directly forward, fear in them. She was legitimately terrified, her prideful spirit provided by her flawless victory taken.

A figure appeared in the darkness, the brawlers all frightened by the silhouette for a moment as it didn't appear to resemble a human at first, its head covered in upward shooting spikes. The figure stepped into the light, the group equally on edge even as they realized he was a homo sapien, decked out in what Yui had described. White coat, blonde spiked hair, a combination of a snail shell and a hair dryer on his wrist, and a mask that covered his eyes.

"Greyson Noboru, I take it?" he asked, his voice surprisingly polite for someone who had been described as a kidnapper by Yui and countless others.

"Yeah…" he responded, slightly unnerved. "Who the heck are you?".

"Call me Masquerade." the figure responded, placing an open hand to his chest, bowing his head slightly. Everyone was still on guard; if Yui's display was anything to go by, this man might as well have been a serial killer. "Masquerade?" Yama began, Grey noting a subtle accent shift in his voice.

"c'est toi qui a pris le Bakugan de notre ami, je le prends?" he continued.

"Oui, c'est vrai dans un sens." Masquerade responded.

"I don't speak French…" Grey mumbled, a hand on his card deck holster located the boys hip. "Yama can speak French, what the heck, since when?" he thought, attempting to conceal the thoughts on his face. "Seems convenient for this situation.".

"Greyson, I understand you wish to battle." the enigmatic figure asked, flipping a card seemingly out of his wrist. "Yeah… Yeah Masquerade! We're here to stop you from stealing any more Bakugan!" Grey reposted, quickly pulling his field card in front of himself. "Hehehe… As you wish." he responded, raising his own.

"Let us begin monsieur."

"I TOLD YOU I DON'T SPEAK FRENCH!"

Both of the brawlers quickly raised their field cards, Kai, Yama, and Yui stepping back to give Grey some space. They had agreed he'd be the one to fight Masquerade; he had the strongest Bakugan out of all of them in the form of Leonidas, and also tended to be the most adaptable of the crew. The others found themselves preoccupied anyway, Yui seeming to be somewhere between dead on the inside and having an anxiety attack.

"BAKUGAN, FIELD OPEN!"

Time began to slow in a similar matter to how it did previously, sounds warping as the temporal flow grinded to a halt. Leonidas, hearing the commotion outside of his resting place, quickly stuck his head out of Grey's pocket, viewing the slowing field formation, but seeing something much more interesting in view. On the french guy's, whatever his name was, shoulder, a darkly coloured Bakugan sat, seething with rageful energy. He returned Leo's gaze, the two fighters almost reading each other as the terrain adjusted to a brawling environment.

"... Something ain't right..."

Leonidas' mumbles, despite being against his usual predatory and aggressive nature, went unnoticed by the wider crowd, the field having finished its formation, white terrain and elemental skies fully formed over the previously dull backdrop. Grey quickly pulled his first gate card just as Masquerade pulled theirs, both of them prepared to throw.

"Gate Card Set!"

"Gate Card Set."

Something made Grey flinch a little as he threw his card, it matching velocity with Masquerade's as the two bypassed each other to their respective landing zones. He had an aura of seriousness about him, like this was his job and not something he did for fun. Nevertheless, Greyson focused as the two gate cards expanded, the distance between himself and his foe as he took hold of his Bakugan, noticing Masquerade pull out another card. It looked different to a gate card, and having no Bakugan on the field yet prevented him from activating abilities. The masked man instead dropped the card, it slowly floating down and embedding a point of itself into the ground, glowing a purple light as it slid into the white terrain. "Your move." he said, seemingly looking at Grey behind the mask. "Oh you are all kinds of weird…" Greyson responded, preparing to launch his beast into battle, feeling a light shaking in his pocket, probably Leonidas sleeping.

"Bakugan Brawl!"

The Pyrus Serpenoid shot out toward the gate card opposite to Grey, landing as he yelled; "Bakugan Stand!", opening as if the saying was an instruction. A ring of fire opened around the fire snake as its eyes glowed, the flames roaring up to conceal its formation. Two coils of the organism's body rose, seemingly spinning and the Pyrus Bakugan slithered into an attack position, the flames subsiding as the Bakugans stand was complete. Serpenoid had his head lowered, almost nobally, looking down at Masquerade and ready to pounce on anything he might throw. Masquerade in counter raised his right arm, armed with the enigmatic object strapped to it coloured in darkus themes, and prepared himself.

"Bakugan Brawl."

Masquerade quickly lowered his right hand as a dark sphere shot out from the object, Grey immediately identifying it as a Bakugan shooter, taking a moment to ridicule himself for not thinking of that earlier. The projectile did not travel far, bouncing across the gate card Serpenoid found himself on and slowing, popping along the terrain a few times before opening. The Darkus Bakugan on the inside eyes glowed as a swirl of dark energy arose from its landing point, almost like a typhoon as a black silhouette grew within, red eyes glaring at its opponents. The vortex vanished in under a second, Serpenoid adjusting its gaze upward toward his foe. He carried a scythe, an aura of death surrounding him. "Oh thas all kinds a' creepy!" Kai noted, Greyson quickly looking to his bakupod.

"Pyrus Serpenoid 240 g's, Darkus Reaper 370 g's."

"Okay." Grey said, processing the data laid before him. "His Reaper has a gpower of 370, that outclasses even Leonidas by 30. Assuming he doesn't use any other strategies I can win 3 rounds pretty easily, but his Bakugan is Darkus which means he'll likely rely on strategy disruption and his beast's high base power to win.". Greyson, upon reading over the facts in his head, decided to go with his original strategy and adapt on the fly, quickly shooting his hand out, he initiated his next move.

"Gate Card Open: Serpenoid!"

The card below the angel of death and the snake of something or other quickly glowed in a red light, columns of fire shooting upward in all directions as its effects took hold. It was a character card, which quickly did its work of doubling the gpower of the Bakugan assigned to it, Serpenoid's energy doubling swiftly as fire continued to roar across the terrain. Despite the confidence assigned with its power, Serpenoid trembled for a moment at Reaper, not so much physically intimidated as one would expect. The Bakugan's instincts were screaming at it to run, hide, nothing within its brain told it to fight aside from itself, he found this curious. Nevertheless Serpenoid pounced at Reaper, nimbly navigating toward him through the fire and the flames, snaking up to him and chomping onto its foes' leg, who let out a cry, rather a grunt, of protest to this action. He continued, the Pyrus Bakugan coiling its body around the Darkus Reaper, applying an incredible amount of pressure. "Pyrus Serpenoid power increase to 480 g's, Darkus Reaper 370 g's." Greyson's bakupod chimed, the owner confident yet wearing of the increase of over 100 gpower. Reaper remained incredibly calm during this time, almost letting Serpenoid coil him like a child would cuddle a puppy (though with significantly more force and a higher chance of the animal's eyes going flying out of their sockets from the pressure). Greyson then glanced to Masquerade, who, with a card in hand, raised his arm above his head, presenting it as it activated.

"Dimension 4."

The card in the frenchman's hand glowed in a Darkus energy that smelled of dread, its effects taking hold immediately. The gate card's effects ceased, the fire on the field quickly blowed out by what seemed to be wind produced by the card. Serpenoid immediately felt the toll of the ability, losing its strength rapidly in a way that was quite physically observable. "What is that?" Grey questioned, his arms covering his face from the wind and debris blown by said wind generated by Dimension 4, glancing down at his bakupod in the meantime. "Character Card Nullified, Serpenoid gpower decrease to 240 g's, Darkus Reaper 370 g's." it read, the audio unhearable in the tempest. Grey mumbled something profane out of a mix of frustration and fear, the gust dying down slightly as he established his visual on the brawl.

Serpenoid still held the upper hand, his coiling actions on Reaper unbroken and the Bakugan's scythe rendered unusable as his arms were trapped within. The Pyrus snake didn't let its guard down however, sensing that his opponents power was greater than his own. Serpenoid glanced back at Grey, head unmoving as he feigned focusing on the Darkus Bakugan in his grip. His brawler nodded, knowing his opponent's warrior could break free at any time, pulling an ability card and activating it with haste.

"Ability Activate: Fire Wall!"

A ring of fire roared up from the terrain around Serpenoid and Reaper, the latter feeling the burning almost immediately at the wall of flame reached a height far exceeding his own. The flaming barrier stood for a moment before it began to close around the Bakugan duo, Serpenoid increasing its grip slightly as Reaper showed some small sign of weakness, the former gaining confidence in his ability to take the Darkus Bakugan down. Serpenoid raised its stinger from the coil, posting it for a stabbing attack at his foe while his brawler consulted his bakupod for guidance. "Pyrus Serpenoid 240 g's, Darkus Reaper 320 g's." it chimed, the cogs in Greyson's head turning like turbines as he ran the scenario through his head. "Okay, so, Reaper's gpower is still higher than my own Bakugan's, but Serpenoid currently has the more tactically superior location. Okay. Reaper is also likely somewhat spent due to being coiled for so long, meaning Serpenoid's stamina is also higher. Okay. Masquerade has already-" his train of thought trailed off as he observed his opposing brawler's movement, the masked maniac turning sideways a little and grinning. "What is he…" Grey began before being interrupted.

Masquerade quickly raised his arm upward, pointing a flared out hand toward his Bakugan.

"Reaper." he said simply.

Reaper responded, hunching over for a moment as his muscles seemingly flared.

"Get off me insect!"

Reaper quickly flexed and spread his arms outward, immediately breaking Serpenoid's coil as if it was nothing, the Pyrus Bakugan hissing in pain as its body was momentarily forcefully contorted. "HE CAN TALK-" Yama exclaimed, his surprise mirrored by everyone else of that side of the fight before he trailed off. Reaper immediately took his scythe in an attack position, rearing it above his head and roaring; "YOU'RE DONE ANIMAL!". Serpenoid barely had a moment to react, nore did Greyson, before Reaper swung the blade down and across the snake's underbelly, a red glowing mark appearing, time seemingly stunned.

And then came the noise. The horrid noise.

Originating from behind the brawlers, it sounded as if the very code of reality itself had undergone a horrid mutation. Grey hadn't even fully turned before his heart stopped for a moment, his eyes showing his fear. The rest of the team did the same. Yama starred, Yui went borderline catatonic, Kai attempted to hide his own sense of dread and comfort her.

Reality broke apart in squares, revealing a shady violet portal behind them, a suction effect taking hold immediately that was several magnitudes more powerful than what Dimension 4 had previously offered. Grey glanced back, his eyes further dilating as he watched in horror, Serpenoid being pulled across the field, his already injured hide being dragged across the terrain toward the portal.

"SERPENOID, NO!" he roared.

"NO, DON'T LET HIM-"

But it was too late.

Serpenoid, still injured from a red slash mark across his hide, went flying into the portal, Grey's heart still stopped as the Bakugan vanished into it in a matter of seconds. The portal quickly began to close, squares of the field returning like building blocks before the portal completely ceased to exist. Yet he continued staring at where it had once been, his brain not even registering his friends, Yui crying, Kai's confusion, Yama's pure dumbfoundment, the sense of dread within him, produced by the portal, it overpowered everything.

"Greyson."

Serpenoid was gone, his cries of pain echoing in his head.

"Greyson!"

The dread, the portal. He felt as if his heart stopped beating. It felt like it had.

"GREYSON LISTEN TO ME!"

Grey's heart began doing its job once more as the thunderous voice near him finally made contact with his brain. Greyson looked to the side, a near spherical blue object floating beside him coming into view, it taking a moment for his eyes to adjust enough for him to see it.

It was Leonidas.

"What… What the hell was that?" Grey asked, still confused and unsure of who to ask for an explanation. Leonidas was silent for a moment, the Bakugan's Aquos head looking down for a moment before answering. "That… The trenchcoat opened a gate to the Doom Dimension." Leo responded almost plainly, his voice ghostly in contrast to his typically aggressive tone. "What?" Greyson responded, not entirely purged of the dread energy the portal had created. "What the hell is the Doom Dimension and-" he stopped himself. Serpenoid. He was gone.

"The… The Doom Dimension is our Hell." Leonidas began, his voice now completely out of tune from usual. "At least with how you seem to use the word… It's where Bakugan go to die, there is no escape, just void and emptiness…". "And that "French" freak found a way to open that which should not be!" he concluded, the aggressive tone returning to his voice as his anger once again manifested, this time against Masquerade and his still standing Reaper. Greyson also looked forward toward his opponents, the still towering Reaper finally closing, the fact that it was capable of speech now subconsciously buried in the back of his mind as the Bakugan shot back to its brawler, who caught it calmly.

"HEY, YOU BETTER GIVE SERPENOID BACK!" Grey roared, legitimate rage filling his voice. "YUI'S TERRORCLAW'S ALSO UNDER THAT!" Kai added, still holding the now full scale emotion mess that was the brawler in question. Masquerade simply made a mocking shrug in response, grinning slightly as he did so. "Sorry, but those Bakugan are gone forever. I couldn't get them back even if I wanted to." he said, his voice calm in contrast to the instability present within everyone of the opposing side. Greyson growled in response, a strange contrast as Leonidas was the one to then take initiative. "Greyson." he said, catching his brawlers attention. "W-You need to be careful, it seems like any Bakugan that lose while whatever he put down is in effect are goners…". "Right… Gotta be careful." Grey responded, going for his cards. "Greyson."

"Yeah?"

"Use me."

"Leonidas I…" he started, trying to figure out how to articulate his concern. "You were shaking earlier, you know about this stuff… You're scared.". "I'M NOT-… I'm the strongest warrior you have, I have the best chance of taking down whatever other monstrosity he throws out." Leonidas responded, dead serious. "I…" Grey began before realizing his Bakugan was probably correct, Masquerade pretty clearly had powerful Bakugan up his sleeve, and it was probably a smart move to use his strongest against his opponents. "Alright…" he said, reaching out to grab Leonidas out of the air, pausing just beforehand. "Don't get sent to Baku-hell." "Count on it." Leo responded as Grey's hand closed around him, the brawler quickly calculating his next move, pulling a gate card in preparation for his next strategy.

"Gate Card Set!"

A gate card flew out, landing next to Masquerade's card and the previously last gate card on the field, expanding to the side of it to full size. Grey studied Masquerade for a moment, unable to discern any visible indicators from his thought process. Nevertheless, Greyson gripped Leonidas tightly in his hand before arching his hand back, and launching the still Aquos Bakugan into the fray.

"Bakugan Brawl!"

Leonidas' ball form shot out with a perfect mix of fury and grace, hitting the gate card and opening on impact, the terrain around the blue being turning to water as Leo's still Aquos ball form lowered into it, his stand taking place submerged. With a massive splash Leonidas emerged from the gate card, rocketing upward to display a furious roar before slamming down into the now hardened ground, leaving a light impact crater in his wake. Leonidas stood, glaring forward with his claws in attack position, his blue Aquos hide shining and he snarled toward Masquerade, emanating pure rage.

"Oh." Masquerade vocalized, surprised by the turn of events. Not only had his opponent thrown out a Bakugan he had never seen before, but one of differing attribute as well. Masquerade peered curiously at him, even he was able to sense the ferocity behind those eyes, as was Reaper. His brawler had also deployed him onto his own card, as if they knew that he would be surprised by the strange Bakugan and would want to investigate. "He seems friendly. And his brawler is deploying some strategy as well" Masquerade said calmly. "No matter. I look forward to fighting him." Reaper responded, clamping closed into ball form as Masquerade went to load him into his shooter. "And send him to do the Doom Dimension?" his brawler inquired. "Yes." he responded, a sadistic pleasure in his voice. Masquerade chuckled lightly before resuming his serious disposition, raising his shooter arm above himself for a moment before lowering it, firing Reaper into battle.

"Bakugan brawl."

Reaper shot out of the shooter and onto Leonidas' gate card, bouncing a few times before popping open, eyes glowing. A familiar vortex of darkness swirled up, Leonidas unflinching as Reaper's black silhouette slowly rose out of the hurricane, his glowing red eyes visible and glaring through. The typhoon of Darkus energy dissipated, leaving its previous inhabitant floating in the air via seemingly no propulsion from his wings.

"What the hell are you?" Reaper asked, sounding as if he was disgusted by the mere sight of Leonidas. "I could ask you the same question boney." he responded, the Darkus Bakugan indeed slightly intimidated not only by the rage in Leo's voice, but his unwavering in the face of a stronger opponent. Also… Had he just insulted him? Grey meanwhile, quickly consulted his bakupod, knowing how dangerous Reaper was. "Aquos Leonidas 340 g's, Darkus Reaper 370 g's." it chimed, Grey gaining some confidence in a power difference significantly less grand than the previous fight. "Alright, let's do this…" he said to himself, selecting an ability card while trying to ignore a shaky voice.

"A-Ability Activate: Theta Claw!"

Leonidas felt energy from the ability card channel to his claws, the sharp appendages growing even morso as they extended with a blue energy. He raised them forward, lowering himself as he prepared to charge at Reaper, still airborne. Leonidas bent his knees, his wings in an upward position, his eyes observing Reaper's weapon, transferring data to his predatory brain on what direction he may attack from. Leonidas prepared his attack, meanwhile Reaper knew exactly what to do. The Aquos thing would charge him, he would counter, and the monstrosity would be sent to the Doom Dimension. There was some part of him however saying that may not be the case, and he indeed hoped it would be true; Reaper wanted the fight to last.

Leonidas crouched down further, ready to pounce at his Darkus foe when ready, his claws still glowing in a blue light. Reaper kept defensive, gripping his signature scythe in both hands, ready for an attack by his Aquos opponent.

There was silence.

And then Leonidas pounced.

Reaper quickly swung his scythe forward, but it found no target, the Darkus Bakugan quickly realizing his foe was nowhere within his sight. He quickly glanced around, holding his weapon ready to swing once he established a visual. "Where did…" Reaper began before the realization of where the creature was hit him. He looked down.

But it was too late.

Leonidas met Reaper at eye level, the dragon's bloodshot predatory eyes gazing into Reaper's surprised yet dead ones, the latter making out a smirk on his foe before the attack hit him. Aquos Leonidas made four vertical slash marks across Reaper's torso, threading the needle of space between the Darkus Bakugan's body, arms, and scythe, making use of Theta Claw as he rose.

"Wh-" Reaper sputtered, dumbfounded.

"Payback!" Leonidas responded before he rocketed upward, performing a backflip mid air before preparing to rocket back down.

"Aquos Leonidas 390 g's, Darkus Reaper 320 g's." Grey's bakupod chimed, its user more focused on the fight then anything. "Finish this quick Leo…" he mumbled before his gaze rapidly switched to Masquerade, as did his Bakugan's as the Darkus brawler presented a glowing card in his hand, his arm held above his head.

"Double Dimension."

Cracks immediately formed on Leonidas' claw extensions, with the Theta Claws shattering a moment later, the owner's hands wincing as the energy rapidly dispersed into tiny particles that soon disintegrated into nothing. The Aquos predator, switching his focus onto his foe below him, managed to catch a glimpse as the quad slash wounds he had inflicted earlier seemingly reversed through time, seemingly disappearing completely from his angle, causing him to waver. Double Dimension did it's doubtful duty drastically well, nullifying seemingly ALL of the effects of Leonidas' previous attack. A similar gust of wind blew from the point of origin, but all the major players of the fight remained still, except for the occasional wing movement from Leonidas, assisting in keeping him airborne.

"Aquos Leonidas 340 g's, Darkus Reaper 370 g's."

Reaper slowly looked up at his opponent, his eyes thinned to a glare, his scythe gripped firmly in his hand.

"Now you've pissed me off." he said plainly, the anger behind his voice something different to Leonidas, who simply grinned at the statement.

"Bring it Boney!"

Reaper grunted before his movements instantly switched, his wings propelling him upward as he swung his weapon's blade down, prepared to swing at the target he was rocketing toward. Leonidas quickly rotated himself around, using his wings to deliver a burst of thrust, sending him flying toward Reaper, his focus seemingly directed directly forward. But it was not. Out of his peripheral vision he could see Greyson, his figure somewhat blurred due to Leonidas' lack of focus, yet the Bakugan could still make out his brawlers general actions, raising his hand and saying the words he hoped he'd hear.

"Ability Activate:-"

"Textbook."

The card is Grey's hand glowed in a blue light as its energy zipped toward Leonidas' wings near instantaneously, the words "Rho Gun" being quite audible across the field as the tips of Leo's wings charged up with power. His Darkus opponent also noticed this, quickly attempting a course correction to dodge the incoming projectile.

He had assumed there would only be one anyway.

A burst of three lasers fired from each wingtip, all fired in a slightly diverging firing arc, all of them flying at Reaper and his course adjustment path.

The first round of shots missed entirely.

The second round had one shot make contact, destabilizing the target.

The third round had both land successfully.

Reaper continued rocketing upward, sensing Double Dimension's effects fading as he attempted to right himself from Rho Guns impact, glancing at his brawler momentarily, who seemed more flustered than himself. "He just nullified a nullification ability." Masquerade observed, seemingly taken out of tune with the fight. "Idiot-" Reaper began, stopping as he felt a massive pain in his torso, glaring down to see four slash marks forming up from his stomach to the top of his sternum, barely able to stifle an audible signal of his pain, his mind removed from the fight for a moment before something else entered it.

Laughing. No. Cackling.

And it was coming from above.

Reaper glanced upward to see his opponent still rushing down at him, blue Theta Claws extended once more, and a beast that was laughing. No. Cackling with childlike joy of what was about to occur. His claws glowed vividly in blue light, soaring toward him since they were reactivated when Double Dimension was nullified.

"Damn it, NO-"

But it was too late.

Reaper was unable to raise his polearm in time, with Leonidas quickly slamming a closed fist into it, causing its user to let go. At the same moment, Leo's second claw came slashing downward across the Darkus Bakugan's already brutalized chest, an audible zing heard as he did so, still cackling maniacally, matching Reaper's eyes. He was enjoying this. The angel of death didn't even have a moment to curse at his foe, instead falling back slightly before his body began to disintegrate.

Leonidas had won.

Reaper returned to ball form, shooting back at Masquerade but falling short, bouncing along the quickly evaporating gate card as if even the laws to his own physics had been drained. Masquerade crouched slightly to catch him before standing back up. Reaper had not been defeated before, a fact that echoed behind his bland face as he looked at Leonidas, finally calming down from his cackling and returning to his own ball form, the gate card beneath him fully shattering after.

"Interesting."

Leonidas shot back toward Greyson, who caught him with relative ease, grinning all the while. "Yeah! How'd you like that Masquerade?" he yelled toward his opponent, bouncing like an excited child. "Nice!" Kai added, his grip on Yui being lessened. "He won…" she said, a smile slowly taking over her face, her sense of fear and dread evaporating like the gate card had before them. "He can be beaten!". "yeah grey! take him down!" Yama added, shoving a fist into the air in excitement. Greyson smiled before shifting his focus to Leonidas, who was in ball form in his hands. "You did amazing. Ready to finish the job?" he said, not so much smiling at the Bakugan as he was grinning. Leonidas popped open his Aquos sphere, looking up at his brawler.

"I'm gonna destroy him!"

"Heck yeah you are!"

On the other side of the battle field, Masquerade and Reaper were having a similar conversation, though the context and content of it were quite different. It… Wasn't really a similar conversation.

"I lost…"

"Yes."

"I… I lost."

"Yes."

"I lost!"

"Are you done, Reaper?"

The Bakugan looked up at his master, cupped within their hands. Losing wasn't a familiar concept to Reaper, his battle technique and power usually enough to pretty handily end most fights. This was different. "Your strategy mainly relied on you having higher base gpower and nullifying any attempt made by an opponent to strike you. It's natural that something as simple as that would be able to be disrupted itself." Masquerade explained, looking back up toward the other brawlers. "Granted… This Bakugan is different.". "It has something… A savage ferocity, a fighting spirit like my own…" Reaper responded, trying to make sense of his current situation.

"Sounds like you have some admiration for our foe." Masquerade implied.

"Yes… I want to fight it's again, see it's full potential…" Reaper replied.

"Very well." Masquerade said, closing one of his hands around Reaper and preparing to load him into his shooter. Chances are his opponent would likely use the Aquos Bakugan again on the prospect that it had previously won against Reaper. Additionally, this fight was on Masquerade's own gate card. Assuming Leonidas couldn't disable those, the battle was his. He clicked the top of the shooter closed, Reaper encased inside, and raised his arm above his head, holding it for a few moments before dropping his arm forward, the Bakugan shooting out.

"Bakugan brawl."

Reaper bounced a few times along the gate card before popping open, the Darkus vortex making yet another appearance as the Bakugan stood. He looked down at his enemies as he rose up through the hurricane of dark energy, no fear in either of them this time. Grey quickly tossed Leonidas in the air once, catching him and then arching his arm back. "Let's do this Leonidas!" he roared, throwing his arm forward and his projectile along with it. Leonidas' ball form shot out, arcing through the air and landing in place, opening on impact even before Reaper had finished his own stand. The terrain below him once again turned to liquid as his form sunk down, blue light shining out of the water. Leonidas emerged seconds later with a splash, his battle form primed as he took to the air, matching Reaper's altitude as his Darkus tornado began to dissipate.

"Well-" Reaper began, interrupted immediately.

The Aquos creature launched itself at Reaper before he could even finish his stand, the Darkus typhoon still dissipating as Leonidas smashed into his foe with his shoulder, driving him downward toward the terrain. The Darkus opponent quickly realized the situation, gripping his scythe and preparing to drive it into his foe's back. "Pathetic-" he began, before he was cut off once again as his Aquos opponent pushed Reaper ahead of his flight path before quickly turning and planting his foot into the Darkus warrior's torso, driving him flying into the ground. Leonidas quickly arrested his momentum using his wings, scanning the area to find his foe planted into the ground. Reaper shook his head, gripping it with one hand and looking up toward his attacker, who was grinning wildly. "A blitzkrieg… A suitable tactic…" Reaper said, partly interrupted as he coughed to remove some of the debris from his lungs. "I don't speak French." Leonidas responded, eyes narrow and mouth grinning. Reaper laughed for a moment before looking back to his brawler, nodding. Masquerade made no action to respond to the provider of this prompt, instead launching his hand forward, open palm facing toward the battlefield.

"Gate card open: Joker's Wild."

The terrain of the battle began glowing in a purple light, the Aquos combatant immediately feeling a cold shiver travel up his spine as his instincts began roaring at him. The gate card beneath the fighters glowed in a purple light, Leonidas' body itself feeling a sense of dread and destruction that only a dark card like this could provide.

"Joker's Wild makes it so that the side with a Darkus Bakugan wins automatically." Masquerade said plainly, seeing Leonidas' grinning face turn to a panicked, no, conerned expression bringing a smile to his own.

But then he stopped.

Click

"Switch!"

Masquerade looked over to Greyson, who had a hand facing forward Leonidas in a finger gun, just having concluded snapping it. Leonidas glanced back for a moment as the visual and auditory information almost jumped over his mind amid everything else.

"Switch"

He knew exactly what to do.

Leonidas quickly crossed his arms over his chest as his wings lowered him to the ground, his standing claws gripping into the glowing terrain, his massive wings coiling around him as a glow seemingly began within his wing barrier. A purple light grew within, rapidly overpowering the light of the gate card as a low murmur was heard. This murmur quickly turned into a savage roar, as Leonidas swung his arms and wings outward, the colour of his hide rapidly began to change, the Aquos blues shifting as his hide turned black, purple tones overtaking his horns, wings, and other areas as his underside shifted to a grey colour. Leonidas quickly clamped his claws shut, an audible crack heard. He was ready.

"What…" Reaper mumbled as he moved to stand up.

"Interesting." Masquerade commented, gripping his chin with his hand the way an intellectual would.

The glowing card beneath them finally attempted to activate. Joker's Wild was an amazing card, but it's windup time but it easy to nullify, or in this case, glitch. The card glowed with an increased intensity before it seemingly paused, almost shifting for a moment the way a malfunctioning computer screen would, and then ceased to glow, the original gate card pattern appearing below them in a faded tone.

"Very interesting indeed." Masquerade added, further examining the now dead gate card. "So do you know any other words in English aside from variations of interesting or?" Kai asked loudly, being seemingly the only person on the field who could hear the Darkus brawlers intense commentary. Grey chuckled for a moment before resuming his serious posture, taking hold of Leonidas' last remaining ability card. "Alright Leo, let's finish this!" he roared to his Bakugan, getting a stern nod and grunt in return. "Reaper. End them." Masquerade commanded similarly, pulling his Bakugan's own last ability. "Yes master!" he responded, swinging his scythe into an attack stance. Both brawlers raised their cards, their corresponding Bakugan ready to attack.

"Ability Activate: Alpha Blaster!"

"Ability Activate: Reaper of the Chaos."

Leonidas' muzzled began crackling with electricity as Reaper's scythe blade extended via a purple light, becoming longer and sharper than before. Greyson quickly consulted his bakupod, knowing this fight would be down to the razor sharp teeth.

"Darkus Leonidas power increase to 540 g's, Darkus Reaper power increase to 570 g's."

"Okay… Reaper's attack is pretty clearly melee based, and Alpha Blaster works best from range. If Reaper hits Leonidas with his scythe, we're done, if Leonidas manages a hit on Reaper, he's done…" Greyson mumbled, knowing that the chances of Leo winning were not that grand. Granted, the Bakugan had pulled some tricks out before, and he was hoping that his own Darkus monster would use a trump card and finish Reaper off.

Leonidas finished charging the electrical energy within his muzzle just as Reaper's weapon finished its own transformation, the blade now longer and much, much more horrifying. Leo lowered his head, muzzle pointed forward as he prepared to fire, knowing Reaper would likely attempt a dodge.

Reaper charged.

Leonidas fired the Alpha Blaster out of his muzzle at high velocity, the beam of energy rushing forward directly toward his incoming opponent. It seemingly made contact from his own perspective, dismay rushing his mind as his Darkus foe sideswiped the projectile and continued propelling forward, the angel of death's wing smoking lightly. The Alpha Blaster projectile ended, Leonidas backing and preparing to launch a second, muzzle crackling with electricity as Reaper continued his charge. The Darkus draconian cocked his head once again, attempting a different strategy; rapidly opening and closing his teeth, leading to a burst fire of Alpha Blaster's beam, essentially peppering his foe in an attempt to slow his charge. Reaper skillfully attempted to dodge the incoming stream of multiple smaller projectiles, each of which exploded upon contact with the terrain.

One made contact.

Reaper disappeared in a shroud of debris for a moment, Leonidas cocking his head up slightly, unsure as to whether or not the blast had defeated his opponent.

It didn't.

Reaper came flying out of the debris cloud like a twister, his entire body spinning like a sideways top as his scythe turned into a small hurricane of death. Despite looking worse for wear than before, wings and armour now slightly cindering, he wasn't out of the fight yet. His foe attempted to jump back, but was incapable of building such speed in time, the Chaos Scythe making a slash mark across Leonidas' underside, almost causing the Bakugan to stumble as his balance was warped. But he didn't. As Reaper righted himself in an attempted for a second slash attack, his foe planted a clawed foot into the terrain behind him, stabilizing himself for a moment as his senses quickly fed him the latest information of the battle. Reaper, now righted, attempted a sideways slashing motion at his opponent, who quickly grabbed the length of the scythe and arrested its momentum, the two fighters meeting face to face for a moment. "You…" Reaper began, Leonidas quickly charging his horn toward Reapers facing, it sliding off the top and cracking the armour of his faceplate in an awkward headbutt. Leonidas had no time for words, his brain giving him only a battleplan:

Disarm. Break. Kill.

Reaper rapidly retalitated, quickly kicking Leonidas in the gut, an impact worsened by the previous slash to that area. Leo roared in pain, yet he did not let his grip of the scythe lose, instead attempting to transfer the kicking motion into one of his own. He quickly ejecting himself off the ground, using the polearm as a grounding point for a flip as he spun over it, and delivered a planter kick directly into Reaper's still cracked skull. His dark enemy collapsed under the pressure, Leonidas quickly wrestling the scythe off him as he ejected himself into the air, away from the dust cloud his kick had delivered.

Disarm.

He rapidly looked down at the weapon before him, without a second thought of instead using it himself, he quickly raised it above a bent knee. Leonidas swung the polearm down over it, the weapon shattering near the blade, its previously glowing sharp end rapidly dissipating into its normal layered form.

Break.

Leonidas quickly tightened his grasp on the length of the scythe, arching the handle backward and launching it down at the debris cloud, aiming for Reaper incase he hadn't yet been destroyed, as had the case been before. He then took hold of the blade in one of his claws, putting it ahead of him as he reoriented himself, his wings then shooting him downward at the debris field, the Bakugan disappearing into it.

"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHLK"

Kill.

That sound was not one of a simple victory, Greyson and Masquerade both knew that. Someone in the fight had gotten slashed, and only the dust cloud's rate of dissipation would reveal who it was. "Leo?! Are you okay?!" his brawler yelled, taking a moment to glance toward his enemy brawler, who simply stood there, as if waiting for a train instead of waiting to see if his Bakugan had just been defeated. The debris cloud continued to dissipate, the brawlers just barely making out the silhouette of one, no, two creatures, contorted into some borderline unrecognisable position.

Greyson heard something, breathing definitely, a sort of panting a dog would perform when hot or exhausted.

The cloud cleared more, now the full scope of the battle finale seen by all sides.

"Oh dear christ…" Kai mumbled.

"No, oh god." Yui echoed, burying her face into Kai's coat.

"that's…" Yama began, at a loss for words.

"Leo…" Greyson said simply, a light pain striking his stomach as he saw what had happened.

Leonidas was standing, hunching over Reaper, both of his claws holding the scythe's blade, which was embedded into where the Darkus Bakugan's collar bone would be if it was human. Similarly, Reaper held the length of the scythe upward, the polearm's endpoint sharpened due to how his foe had snapped it. The handle was pointed upwards, traveling through Leonidas' torso area, and coming out the other side, bypassing all natural armour he had. Leonidas was panting, holding on to his battle form despite his wounds, small tesla arcs dancing across his muzzle occasionally. Reaper was also breathing, though in a much quieter manner, also preserving energy in an attempt to stay in the battle despite his injuries. This backward and forward of just breathing went on for a while, nobody saying anything during the time. A minute of silence must have passed before Reaper broke it.

"Your… Name…?" Reaper asked between breathes, his grip on the polearm handle still strong, yet he made no further attempts to drive it into his opponent.

"Leo… Leonidas." Leonidas responded, claws still affixed to the weapons blade, using it more so as a support at this point then a weapon.

"Reaper…" he added, feeling it was only fitting to put in his own introduction. "It… Was a difficult fight… You are a… Strong… Warrior Leonidas." he continued, talking draining more of his energy than he thought. Leonidas simply grinned in response, laughing a little before ceasing, attempting not to cough up whatever fluids were inside him onto his enemy.

"I look forward… To our next battle." the angel of death concluded, letting go of the polearm as his hands fell limp, his energy almost completely diminished. "Yeah…" Leonidas began, hardly noticing a building white glow all around them.

"Me too."

Greyson opened his eyes, not sure what to expect when the white glow had overpowered his vision, forcing him to shut them in order to avoid going blind. They adjusted to the darker environment quickly, Grey noticing the lack of a field and the softness of the terrain. They were back under the tunnel, the sounds of cars and freighters above them grounding everyone back into reality.

"We're… We're back…" Greyson said, squinting slightly as his senses adjusted to the busy sounds of Wardington. "Wait… LEO?!" he said, switching his tone as his eyes darted, looking for his Bakugan.

"Errrgh…"

Greyson looked downward, seeing the now Darkus ball form of Leonidas sitting in the dirt. "Oh thank god…" he said breathless, quickly running over and crouching, gently scooping up his beast in his hands and brushing the dirt off.

"I spared him for you." a voice came, Grey looking up from his crouching position to see Masquerade, already holding the closed ball form of Reaper in his hand. "It would be a shame to let a Bakugan like that waste away in the Doom Dimension." he continued, turning and walking toward the tunnel in the magically formed wall from before.

"I think we all know that's crap!" Kai said loudly, taking a step forward, Masquerade turning slightly, the slick grin on his face lowering slightly. "You were not in control of that situation, we all saw that!" he continued, the grin on the frenchmans face fully wiped off.

"Yeah, y-you didn't know who was gonna win!" Yui added, also taking a step forward. "your Bakugan almost lost despite having a gpower advantage and more combat experience, that scares you!" Yama concluded, joining his peers. Masquerade sighed for a moment, placing Reaper upon his shoulder before turning and walking toward the tunnel. "Au revoir Greyson Noboru." he said, entering the darkness of the tunnel and disappearing within.

"Hey, wait!" Grey began, trying to think of what to say next, pausing for a few seconds. "Grey?" Kai prompted, the person in question turning to look at him. "When did you give him your full name?" he asked, cocking his head to the side slightly. There was a moment of silence as the cogs in Greyson's mind turned before he charged.

"YOU GET BACK HERE MARMALADE!" Greyson roared, charging into the tunnel, ignoring everyone's warnings to "stop" and "wait!". "Kid, WAIT!" a voice came from within his hand, muffled as he entered the dark tunnel, no lighting within it whatsoever.

"HOW'D YOU KNOW MY NAME, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS, WHO ARE YOU-

"THUD"

A few moments of silence passed, Yama, Yui, and Kai all stopping in their tracks, fearing for what might have happened to their friend.

"I've hit a wall!"

"He's hit a wall!"

This news came to the relief of everyone, Grey stumbling out of the tunnel, Leonidas floating near him. "I hit a wall…" he repeated, holding his nose and praying it wouldn't start bleeding, a thought slightly dampened by its comparison to the battle finale from earlier. "He got away…" Kai said, sounding slightly disheartened. "Yeah… Magic Magic-squerade they should call him…" Grey responded, looking up after noticing Yui's face. "Yui, are you-" he began before he was interrupted by her, Yui hugging him tightly and crying. "Grey I'm sorry!" he cried, holding her friend. "You didn't get Terrorclaw back, you lost Serpenoid, you-"

"Hey now, hey!" he replied, taking hold of Yui's shoulders and stabilizing her. "Sure, Terrorclaw and Serpenoid are gone, and thats…"

"Crappy?" Kai asked.

"Yeah, crappy… But it doesn't matter! We're gonna get them back!" Greyson continued, looking into the eyes of his friend. "R-really?" Yui asked, wiping her face with her sleeve. "Yeah… Yeah! We're gonna take down that masked maniac and get our- NO, ALL OF THE BAKUGAN HE TOOK BACK!" Greyson said, Yui seeing a fire burning in his eyes. "Hell yeah we are!" Kai added, stepping beside Yui and gripping her shoulder. "YES, OR WE AREN'T THE BAKUGAN BATTLE BRAWLERS!" Yama roared, also joining the crew. "Y-yeah… Yeah! Let's do it!" Yui said, the sadness in her replaced by passion.

"Yeah, together we're gonna take Masquerade down!" Greyson roared, shoving a fist into the air.

"YEAH" everyone echoed, doing the same.

"The walls gone by the way." Kai added plainly.

"WAIT, WHAT-

12:41AM: Noboru Residence

Leonidas was jolted from his rest, not by a loud exterior sound, but from the messages his sleeping mind was showing him. He popped open, only then noticing the shaking, the horrible shaking. Leonidas arrested him, stopping it in a matter of seconds before looking out the window, having been previously sleeping on the windowsill as he did the night before, thinking as he viewed the stars.

"You know you talk in your sleep."

Leonidas spun around, looking toward the source of the noise. Greyson was sitting on his bed, holding his knees close to his chest, looking at the Darkus Bakugan with a mix of concern and curiosity. Leonidas quickly spun away, closing his form off slightly as he stared down at the windowsil's surface.

"How'd you know about the Doom Dimension?" Grey asked, resting his chin on his knees as he continued looking at the Bakugan. "I…" Leonidas began, trailing off quickly after, further turning away from Greyson. "You can tell me Leo." the brawler responded. "I trust you.". Leonidas turned slightly, his eye just barely able to make out Greyson's form. "Trust." he thought, his predatory brain unable to make emotional sense of this. "The Doom Dimension, it's… I know it because…" Leonidas began once again, incapable of getting his thoughts straight. He felt vulnerable, a sensation his instincts told him to get rid of. Leonidas clapped shut with a snap, clamping into his ball form with a grunt. Grey sighed, unsure of what he was expecting the result of this conversation to be, instead thinking of what he should say next.

"My offer still stands… Goodnight Leo."

Leonidas made out the sounds of some rustling fabric before silenced once again overtook the room. He thought about what Greyson said; his offer still stands…

7:15AM: Noboru Residence

Grey woke up, quickly moving to silence the repetitive sound of his phone alarm. He switched it off, picked up the device, and made a quick browse of a few applications before putting it back down, then sitting up in bed before standing onto the floor. He was about to walk forward when something stopped him, a presence.

Greyson looked behind him, seeing a small purple and black sphere noticeably closer than he previously remembered.

And Now a Preview of Next Week's Episode: Reckless Endangerment

"No one hurts the Darkness Pupper on my watch!"

So I thought the first episode was long at 30 pages of a google doc. This was 37. Yay. It took longer than episode 1 to write as well, and I'm not entirely happy in how Yui essentially dominates Shuji during the fight, but I feel like it fits (Dan did score a flawless victory in his battle). The next episode will likely be A LOT shorter due to the content of the anime episode, and the story finally starts to branch off during it, so I'm excited to start writing. I'm also going to attempt to give each brawler their own battle style based on their attribute (picture how Yui used Haos Saurus as support for a Pyrus Hynoid sweeper). Until next week, enjoy!

This is Leo Four, signing off.