Saku P.O.V.

"I won, Mister Second Rank." I smirked. "Nice job Percy." My Bakugan, Darkus Pejorative gave a movement similar to a bow.

"Thank you, thank you." He said. Kaiyo, Vladitor, and Leonidas laughed. Marduk growled.

"How can you be so light-hearted after losing so many battles Vladitor?" He said.

"If you really want to know..." Vlad said thoughtfully, "I wasn't really trying." Marduk shook his head. "You've gotten soft."

"EXCUSE ME?" Vlad yelled.

"Aak! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Marduk said. This caused everyone else to giggle. Except Dustin. He's a stoic.

"Alright! We all passed the test! Now what?" Rikki asked.

"Truthfully, I have no idea." Kaiyo shrugged. I hit the back of her head. "Gah!"

"Baka!" I said. "You suck at being a leader."

"I can lead, I just need proof of where these guys are!"

"Well..." Peter spoke up. "If you let Halcyon and I borrow your computer, we could narrow down our search."

"You've been hangin' round Marucho a lot, huh? Great!" Kaiyo shoved the laptop into Peter's arms so fast, he nearly toppled over. "Oops." Rikki burst into laughter.

-time skip-

"Aah! How much longer?!" Kaiyo sounded extremely impatient.

"I agree." I said. Peter shot up.

"I found stuff on the Doom Squad!" He shouted. "They're everywhere! In the park, at the mall, in the library, heck, even at Runo's restaurant!"

"RUNO"S RESTAURANT?!" Both Kaiyo and Rikki shrieked. Okay, Rikki just yelled. She's not a very shrieky person. Now that I think about it, Kaiyo isn't either. I facepalmed.

"No duh." I heard Marduk say. I swatted his head. "Ow!"

"Only I can be sarcastic and get away with it, Okay?"

"We'll split into groups." Kaiyo said. "Marduk will go with Peter to the mall." The two of them stood up and headed for their destination.

"Sora, you go with Dustin to the library."

"Okay!" Sora immediately jumped up and ran for the door. Dustin nodded and left silently.

"Talk about enthusiasm." I muttered

"Saku, you go with Rikki, to the park. As for me, I'll tackle the restaurant. Alright troops, let's crank this up!"

"Hey why do you get to go alone?" I asked.

"Do you want to go alone?"

"Uh, no."

"Exactly."

No one's POV.

Kaiyo got to the restaurant a bit later than she should have. She spent the extra time buying gate cards at the shop, just in case. And there they were. The guy, Zero, was standing next to a guy wearing a cape. He had black gravity defying hair. This guy was...

"Ah, Kaiyo. So glad you could join us." Jiga O Kaeru said calmly. She grit her teeth. "Pull up a seat." Like any other stereotypical villain, Jiga was drinking coffee. How Runo did not notice that a suspicious character just showed up at the restaurant amazed her. She pulled the chair up from in front of him and narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Wardington City." He began. "Marvelous place, yes?" Kaiyo didn't answer. He looked at her through the bandages. "So 'to the point,' Kaiyo."

"What do you really want, Kaien?" She asked.

"Aw sheesh Kaiyo. Saw right through my disguise." He chuckled and began to unwrap the bandages. His eyes were a crimson red. Kaiyo put on a steely gaze. "Let's just say, I've been enlightened!"

"Enlightened by what?" She asked bluntly. Jiga smirked. He leaned closer to Kaiyo's face.

"Doom Nebula." He whispered. Her eyes widened.

"What?" She asked. Zero facepalmed internally. He hoped Kaiyo wouldn't say that, to spare such an innocent young girl the pain of the power the Doom Squad hoped to seal away.

"Let me show you." Jiga pulled out a Field Card.

"Now you're talking in words I understand!" Kaiyo whipped out her own Field Card. "Now!" She began.

"Bakugan field, open!"


"Ability Activate! Judgement Beam!" Jiga announced.

"LEO!" Kaiyo yelled as Leo was hit by a beam of molten silver. "AAUUGHHH!" She screamed in pain as she received the same punishment.

Kaiyo: 0 wins

Jiga: 3 wins

The world began spinning again. Jiga beckoned to Zero. Kaiyo fell to the floor. Leo dropped out of the air and hit the floor.

"Shame." Jiga said. "I would have liked to fight you full strength. No holding back next time, okay?" He said smoothly. Jiga teleported away, leaving Zero with the now defeated Kaiyo. He looked down at her, then left. Kaiyo grit her teeth.

"L-leo, you okay?" She whispered.

"Yeah." He grunted. Kaiyo closed her eyes.

"Dangit. Kaien..."

Marduk's POV.

"Sheesh. So I get stuck with the nerd." I grumbled. Peter glared at me.

"I prefer the term 'intellectual spark plug.'" He said.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." I said. "Let's just fight those Doom people and geddit over with. Where are they anyway." Then a person caught my eye. Wait a minute... that was... I pulled Peter's sleeve. "You. Come with me." I followed the guy into an empty hallway. There was the Doom Squad member. And there, next to him was...

"Alexander!" I called out. My adopted brother only glared at me coldly. The girl he was with regarded me with mild interest.

"So you're the new number three rank." She said. "I'm Charlotte."

"Alexander." I said shakily. "What are you doing?"

"I'm helping Void Nebula take over the world." He whispered. "Just like you and Vladitor, brother!" Charlotte had a small look of sadness in her eyes, but masked it with a smirk.

"Alexander, that's not funny." I said.

"I'm not joking, brother!" Alex said. I sighed.

"Fine. I guess I'll have to beat some sense into you!" I pulled out my Field Card. Alexander narrowed his eyes and took out his card. Charlotte and Peter pulled theirs out as well.

"Bakugan, Field, OPEN!"

"Gate card set!"

"Bakugan, Brawl!"


Kaiyo winced as she applied the bandages over her wounded hands. Leonidas was in ball form, resting on her bed.

"Heh. My hands look like they belong to a mummy." She remarked.

"This is no time to joke, Kaiyo." Leo said seriously. She sighed.

"Yeah." She turned over on her side. "What's happened to Kaien?"

"I don't know." Leonidas said. "Who is Kaien?"

"Kaien Masayoshi was my other mentor, next to Dan Kuso. Dan taught me the skills, Kaien basically took them and refined them." Kaiyo muttered. "Why would he do this? He's always told me to use my own strength. He would never do this."

"Doom Nebula." Leo said thoughtfully. "I never knew it was still here."

"You know about this?"

"Yes. Vladitor told me about it's power. He's seen what it can do Kaiyo. It tears apart your soul, and eventually your body, for both the user and the opponent. I should have taken his warning seriously."

"Well, there's nothing we can really do now." Kaiyo laughed. "Both of us are injured and dead tired."

"You should get some rest, Kaiyo." Leo said. "Human bodies are rather fragile."

"You calling me fragile?"

"Yes."

"Man, that's harsh."

"No problem." Leo snarked. At that point, the doorbell rang. Kaiyo slid down the stair rail and bust open the door. Dustin was supporting an almost unconscious Sora, Saku was helping Rikki get across the door frame.

"What happened to you guys?" Kaiyo asked in horror.

"Francis Gabon." Dustin said. "Ember. Doom Nebula." Surprisingly, Kaiyo found she understood what he meant. Francis Gabon must have been another one who accepted Doom Nebula. Ember must have been another one with him. But since Sora was still conscious, and had no physical wounds, Francis Gabon hadn't learned Doom Nebula's full potential yet, thank Wyvern.

"Gotcha. And you two?" She turned to Saku.

"Virid." Saku grit her teeth. "A guy called Virid, and another, Gale. Stupid...I'm so stupid..."

"Don't say that to yourself." Kaiyo scolded. "I'm sure Rikki knew what she wanted to do."

"Judging by your bandages, you ran into one too." Saku said. "Who was it?"

"The big bad himself, Ka-I mean-Jiga O Kaeru." Kaiyo winced. "Wait. Where's Marduk and Peter?"


"Judgement cyclone!" Alexander's Darkus Skyress shot a whirlwind of molten silver at Vladitor, who roared before returning to ball form. Marduk yelled out as well. Time began to move again.

"Marduk!" Peter shouted as his partner collapsed in pain. He glared at Alexander. "Look, I don't know who you are, or what you want, but he's your brother! You should have shown some pity!"

"No!" Marduk growled. "I don't need his pity." He glared at his younger brother. "You're not my brother."

"C'mon." Peter helped Marduk to his feet and slung an arm across his shoulder, half carrying half dragging him. "Let's get you to Kaiyo, I bet she'll fix you up."

"Fix me up? More like break me down more." Marduk snarked. Back at her house, Kaiyo sneezed.

"What in the BLAZES happened to you two?" Kaiyo demanded as Peter dumped the limp Marduk onto the sofa. Rikki was having her wrist bandaged by Dustin Sora was now unconscious and was laid out on a small couch.

"He met his brother." Peter explained.

"And I thought you and I were having problems, Vladitor." Leo said.

"Shut up, Mary Sue." Vladitor said grouchily.

"What did you just call me?"

"He called you a Mary Sue." Halcyon remarked. Maelstrom, Sora's bakugan, and Clandestine, Dustin's bakugan facepalmed. Renard, Rikki's bakugan, laughed.

"No seriously, what does that mean?" Leonidas asked confusedly.

"Alright, hand me that bandage, it looks like Dukey took a blow to the head. If you want guys, you should go home. Get rest."

"I can't!" Rikki yelled. "I'm pumped!"

"Rikki. Lemme put this in words you can understand in your state." Peter began. "Rest now, kick Doom Squad butt later."

"Now that makes total sense." Rikki got up. "Bye guys." Dustin picked up Sora and left. Peter left as well, making it just Kaiyo and Marduk.

"W-wait guys! Don't leave me here alone with him!" Kaiyo pointed at Marduk.

"I don't know whether to feel flattered or offended." He snarked.

"Shut up, you." Kaiyo threw the bandages at him. "You're the one with the head wounds."

"What happened to your hands?" Marduk asked concerned.

"Jiga O Kaeru did a Judgement—Hey, since when have you cared?"

"S-since you became my rival, duh!" Marduk said, turning over. "I'm the one who's supposed to beat you, not some other dude."

"You two sound like an old married couple." Saku remarked, coming back from the bathroom. "Right Percy?" Pejorative nodded.

"Shut up!" Marduk exclaimed.

"G-get outta here!" Kaiyo yelled.

"Alright, alright, don't get your pants in a knot." Saku said. "See ya. Vlad, Leo." Pejorative nodded at the two bakugan, who nodded back.

"Sheesh, Dukey, you gotta be careful." Kaiyo sighed.

"Says the one who got attacked by Jiga O Kaeru." Marduk snapped. "And quit calling my 'Dukey.' It gets on my nerves."

"Aw, c'mon, It's much easier to say."

"Nope."

"Sheesh. You're so uptight." Kaiyo sighed teasingly.

"Aren't you worried about the rest of our team?" Marduk asked. Kaiyo deadpanned at this. Then she sighed again.

"Yeah." She admitted. "I was wondering...maybe I should just do this by myself. You know, take on the Doom Squad. If I put my mind to it like Zero said..." Marduk stared at her. "What?"

"Are you BONKERS?" He asked grabbing her shoulders. "Listen. You dragged me into this mess, now I'm gonna have to help you organize it. Besides..." He trailed off. "EVeryone else would say the same."

Kaiyo pat him on the shoulder.

"Go home. Sleep. We've all had a tough day." She said. Marduk took her advice.

"See you." He said. She waved him off and shut the door.

Kaiyo's sleep, was once again disturbed. This time however, instead of Jiga, she saw a different being. It was dark purple with a silvery aura.

"Kaiyo Takarin..." It drawled in a raspy voice. "Next time...I will make sure you stay down!"

Kaiyo here! Things have taken a pretty ugly turn with this whole "Doom Nebula" thing. I hope everyone knows what they're getting themselves into. I don't want anyone else to get hurt. Either way, I can't afford to lose! Not with Kaien on the line! Let's crank this up! Go, Leonidas!