Chapter 20: Double Down
(Intro) (Battle Force 10 updated with Grace and Destina)
An eclipse was covering up the sun as Battle Force 10 was driving towards the next Stormshock. "Stay double frosty, guys. Sage says those solar flares can do nasty stuff to our engines." Vert said. "Solar activity peak level counter siding with portal energy." Sage said through the com-link. "Guess that explains my rear axle telemetry acting a bit dodgy." Stanford said, having problems with his Reverb. "Caution. Battle Zone may also be affected." Sage warned. The team crossed into the Stormshock just as the eclipse covered the sun.
The team crossed through the portal and entered a greenish desert Battle Zone. "Looks like your standard alien desert to me." Spinner said. "Don't be fooled by appearances, Spinner. There's often trouble when things look…standard." Iguanarox said. "Everyone, make some dust. Find us a key." Olivia said. "You guys go on. I'm gonna see what's wrong with my axle." Stanford said. "I'll pull back too. Give him some cover." Iguanarox said. "Me too. We'll catch up with you later." Grace said as she, Stanford and Iguanarox pulled off from the team. "Zoom, time for some altitude. Find that key." Olivia said. "Aerial recon coming up." Zoom said. He drove the Chopper up a stone mountain and went into glider-mode.
Unfortunately, he was spotted by Kalus and Sauron. But they appeared to look different than usual. Their armors were all shiny and polished. And Kalus' crossbow was on his left arm instead of the right. Seeing their chance to strike, they drove off.
Meanwhile, Stanford popped open his trunk to check his axle. "Oh, I see the problem." He said. "Is it serious, Stanford?" Grace asked. "No. Just need to repair the manual servo." Stanford said as he started to fix his axle. Just then, Iguanarox smelled a scent in the air. "What is it?" Grace asked. "I smell something. It feels familiar, but very…different." Iguanarox said. Just then, Kalus and Sauron drove towards them, getting their attention. They stopped in front of the 3 Battle Force 10 members, sword and crossbow ready. "Kalus and Sauron!" Grace exclaimed in shock, even though she hadn't met them in person, but the team told her about them and showed her some pictures of them. "I thought I smelled something familiar." Iguanarox said with a glare. "Well? What are you 2 waiting for?" Stanford asked, confused. "Even though you humans want to destroy our worlds, we cannot attack unarmed warriors." Kalus said. "It is against our code of honor to attack someone when they're unarmed." Sauron said. "Code of honor? Who are you 2 and what have you done with Kalus and Sauron?" Stanford asked in confusion. "And you 3 aren't acting like members of the evil Battle Force 10." Sauron said. "Especially you, my traitorous old master." Kalus said, glaring at Iguanarox.
"Mount your vehicles and let us battle as honor dictates." Kalus demanded. "Yes. So that we may grant you all a warrior's death." Sauron added. "Get the team on the comms. There's something strange going on here." Iguanarox said to Stanford and Grace. "Guys, Kalus and Sauron have us in their crosshairs, but they're being…honorable. Please advise." Stanford said through the com-link. "Honorable? That's weird." Rayona said. "We're on our way." Vert said. The team turned around and headed back to where Stanford, Iguanarox and Grace were. "It's gotta be a trap." Olivia said as they scanned Kalus and Sauron. "Isn't Kalus' crossbow usually on his right arm?" Agura asked. "And their armor looks all brand-new." Talia said. "Typical Battle Force 10, refusing to choose the Vandal Code to settle our differences like gentlemen." Kalus said. "Yes, it is highly dishonorable and just plain rude." Sauron said. "A Vandal gentleman? And a Dweller who demands honor? In what world?" Sherman asked with a scoff. "Maybe in this world. Sage said the Battle Zone could be affected." Vert said. "That would also include versions of our enemies." Olivia said. "Captain Kalus, Lord Sauron, wait, please." Vert said as the team surrounded Kalus and Sauron. Stanford, Iguanarox and Grace hopped back to their vehicles and prepared for battle. "Captain Kalus, Lord Sauron!" Vert called as he and Olivia exited their vehicles. "We'd like to speak with you. We've come unarmed." He said. "Uh, what are they doing?" Grace asked in confusion. "Vert, Olivia, we got them surrounded! What're you doing?!" Agura asked. "Playing a hunch we're about to wish we never had." Vert said. "Just cover us, but stay back." Olivia said. Kalus and Sauron leapt off their rides. "What kind of trickery is this?" Kalus asked. "You distract us while your team attack us from behind?" Sauron asked. Vert gestured his hand, telling Stanford, Iguanarox and Grace to stand down. "You ordered your team to stay back." Kalus said with surprise. "We did. And where are your teams?" Olivia asked. "You know very well what happened to them!" Sauron exclaimed. Kalus then sniffed Vert and Olivia. "Or do you?" He said, realizing that they weren't who he thought they were.
Meanwhile, Zoom located the Battle Key floating over a mini mountain. "Looks like a job for the Tangler." He said before turning around to head back to the others.
Back with the team, Vert and Olivia figured it out. "It's not Kalus!" Vert said. "And not Sauron!" Olivia added. "Uh, how many talking ligers with crossbows are there riding around in gold chariots?" Agura asked. "And how many elves are there driving around with fantasy-themed motorcycles?" Rayona asked. Just then, Zoom returned. "Just did a fly-by on the Battle Key." He reported until he noticed Kalus and Sauron. "Oh! And we're not whipping liger and elf butts why?" He asked in confusion. "Somehow those solar rays must've connected us to a dimension exactly opposite our own." Sherman said, running calculations with the eclipse effects. "With good Vandals and Dwellers. Wicked." Stanford said. "Never thought I'd actually see the day where Kalus is actually…nice." Iguanarox said, feeling his brain hurt. "So, where's the rest of your teams?" Vert asked. "My good friends, Hatch, Sever, Krocomodo, Griz, Raptor, Rattlia and my beloved mate Tigress were eliminated long ago." Kalus said with sorrow. "The same with my friends, Fidget, Krongo, Fury and Druilla. Eliminated in battle." Sauron said, mourning the loss of his good friends. "By who?" Olivia asked. "By them." Kalus said, pointing out into the desert. Just then, 13 dark and familiar vehicles appeared and started driving towards the team. "Those look just like our rides!" Sherman said. "Only darker and dirtier." Talia said in disgust. "Normally, it's between us and that Battle Force 10, which exists to conquer peaceful worlds." Kalus said.
Each member of this Negative Battle Force 10 was more darker, pale-skinned and each had their selected marks under their left eyes. "Well, what do we have here?" Nega Vert asked. "Not only have we found Kalus and Sauron, but we've also found us some familiar faces." Nega Olivia said. "They look like us, but they're so clean." Nega Stanford said. "Not after I'm done with them." Nega Zoom said. "I wanna smash them into teeny tiny bits." Nega Sherman said. "Wow, Sherm, that was nearly a complete sentence." Nega Spinner said. "Oh, you boys are like so immature." Nega Agura said. "Smash, smash, smash!" Nega Talia exclaimed. "Someone needs to work on their vocabulary." Nega Ivan said. "It's gonna get really toxic around here." Nega Rayona said. Nega Horace just spoke and cursed in Ukrainian. "Talia's not the only one with speech problems." Nega Iguanarox said. "Zug will destroy little lookalikes." Nega Zug said. "You say that about everything." Nega Grace said. "Shut your traps! First, we get the key, then we play." Nega Vert said. The Nega Battle Force 10 cheered, whooped and cackled.
"Whoa. Doppelganger dudes have really got their fight on." Spinner said with worry. "What's the plan, Vert?" Grace asked. "We can't let them get the key. What do you need, Zoom?" Vert asked. "Battle Key's on the side of a mini mountain. Gonna need Agura." Zoom said. "Nothing's out of my reach." Agura said. "Agura, go for the key. Everyone else on defense. Let's roll!" Vert said. As the 2 teams drove towards each other. The present Battle Force 10 glared at their Nega counterparts. "Looks like those goodie-goodies are gonna get in our way!" Nega Spinner exclaimed. "Split up! Take them one-on-one!" Nega Vert ordered. "Finally, something we agree on!" Nega Olivia exclaimed.
As the Nega Battle Force 10 split up, Nega Vert activated his blades and clashed with Vert. Olivia and Nega Olivia bashed into each other. "Hello, ugly." Nega Olivia said. "Look who's talking." Olivia said in disgust. The Cortez brothers faced off against their Nega counterparts. "These guys don't stand a chance against our awesomeness." Nega Sherman said. "Looks like it's you and me against…you and me." Sherman said, weirded out a bit. "We may need therapy after this." Spinner said. "Hit 'em with our special move." Nega Spinner said. Nega Sherman fired one of their maces. "So predictable." Sherman said. "Spin?" Spinner activated their own maces and deflected their Nega version's. As the 2 Busters clashed, Zoom and Nega Zoom drove up behind them. "Spinner, I could use some height on this creep!" Zoom called. "One Chopper going up." Spinner said, activating the ramps. "Ugh! Make yourselves useful for once and lower your ramps." Nega Zoom ordered, rudely. "Can't you do anything for yourself?!" Nega Spinner exclaimed as he activated their ramps. The 2 Zooms drove up the ramps and activated their gliders. Just then, they started fighting Muay Thai style. "Lots of aggression, but your technique is sloppy." Zoom said. "I'm embarrassed that they call you Zoom." Nega Zoom mocked. Nega Talia attempted to smash Talia with her spiked pom-poms. "SMASH, SMASH, SMASH!" She exclaimed. "Oh, okay. You wanna smash? Let's smash." Talia said as she activated her own spiked pom-poms and smashed Nega Talia with them. Nega Rayona chased after Rayona, spewing poisonous gas from her Steaming Wok. "Let's see how you like a little whiff of this." She said. As Rayona tried to stay ahead of her Nega counterpart, she saw Nega Ivan coming right at her, aiming at her with flare cannons. "Time for an old favorite." She said, mixing up her fog mixture and covering herself up in it. "Not good enough." Nega Ivan said, firing his flares into the fog. But the flares hit Nega Rayona's toxic gas, causing it to blow up. The Steaming Wok blew into the air and crashed on top of Nega Ivan. "Nice shooting, idiot." Nega Rayona said, rudely.
Iguanarox and Nega Iguanarox fired their spines at each other. "So, even my alternate self besides humans instead of helping his Vandal brethren." Iguanarox said. "Please. They ceased to be my brethren when Kalus took my title as Vandal Warlord! I ruled over the Vandals with ruthlessness and power. But Kalus challenged me, declaring that Vandal can be more by following the path of honor! So, after Kalus defeated me, they cast me out!" Nega Iguanarox explained. "So, you found this Nega Battle Force 10, joined their ranks and vowed to destroy Vandal for their betrayal." Iguanarox guessed. "Smarter than you look." Nega Iguanarox said as they continued firing spines at each other. "Maybe. But I'm not like you. I didn't join with my Battle Force 10 to be their little pet lizard." Iguanarox said. Nega Iguanarox snarled at that and fired all his spines at once. Iguanarox dodged each one before turning around. "Gotcha." He said as he fired one of his own spines at Nega Iguanarox's tires and flipped him right over. Grace was riding as fast as she could as Nega Grace and Nega Horace chased her. Nega Horace fired his lasers, but Grace dodged them with ease. "Can you not shoot straight?!" Nega Grace exclaimed. Nega Horace shouted and cursed at her in Ukrainian. "Whatever. I'll deal with her myself." Nega Grace said as she sped up. Just then, Grace saw Nega Zug driving towards her. She thought of an idea and waited. As Nega Zug was about to bash into her, Grace turned her tires sideways, activated her boosters and drove off to the right. Nega Grace, Nega Horace and Nega Zug screamed before they crashed into each other.
As Agura drove, she spotted the mini mountain and the Battle Key up ahead as Zoom and Nega Zoom flew overhead. But as she started to climb the mini mountain, something grabbed her. She looked behind to see Nega Agura grabbing her. As Nega Agura climbed onto her as she continued climbing, Agura was almost blasted. She looked down to see Nega Stanford using his sonic cannons. "Stanford, think you can do something about your you?" She asked. "Worth a shot. Hey, ugly me!" Stanford called. Nega Stanford turned towards him and fired his sonic blasts, sending Stanford into the air. Stanford activated his own sonic cannons and fired back. But Nega Stanford dodged the blasts by leaping his own Reverb. The 2 Stanfords continued to fire at each as they flew through the air. "Well, at least I got your attention." Stanford said as he drove off with Nega Stanford following him. Kalus and Sauron watched at how honorably Battle Force 10 fought against their Nega counterparts. "They fight with true honor, Kalus. We must assist them if we are to win." Sauron said. "Agreed. Follow me." Kalus said as he leads.
Meanwhile, Vert continued to fight his Nega counterpart. "You may look like me…but you don't drive like me." Nega Vert said as he started driving donuts around Vert. "I hope not. You're burning out your gearbox, lead foot." Vert said. He bashed into Nega Vert before chasing after him.
Meanwhile, Battle Force 10 continued fighting their Nega counterparts. Olivia and Nega Olivia were neck-and-neck with their Jetrays. "Face it! You can't out-speed me!" Nega Olivia exclaimed. "Maybe. But there's one thing I can do that you can't." Olivia said. "And what's that?" Nega Olivia asked. Just then, there was a hissing in her Jetray. She looked over her shoulder and saw Serpentina hissing and baring her fangs. She screamed before Serpentina coiled around her throat, causing her to lose control and crash into a mountain. Serpentina slithered out of Nega Olivia's Jetray and slithered back to her Olivia's Jetray. "Battle Force 10, we have one major advantage over these phonies. Use your Zodiac powers." Olivia said through the com-link.
The Nega Cortez brothers prepared their hammers. "Somebody's about to get schooled. Remedial Zodiac now in session." Spinner said as the Buster activated their hammers and clashed with the Nega Cortez brothers'. Just then, the Nega Cortez brothers fired their mace and hooked onto the Buster. "Bad move for you." Sherman said as Spinner got out and grabbed the chain. Nega Sherman and Nega Spinner were confused. Just then, Spinner used his Zodiac strength to whip the Nega Buster around and around by the chain. "Asta la vista, posers!" He exclaimed before tossing the Buster away, landing and crashing it on Nega Rayona and Nega Ivan. "Nice toss, big bro." Sherman said as Spinner got back in.
Meanwhile, Agura and Nega Agura were claw-fighting over the Battle Key. "Claws off!" Agura exclaimed. "You're so mean!" Nega Agura exclaimed. "I'm also a mistress of plants." Agura said. She motioned her right arm and suddenly, roots sprouted out of the ground and snatched Nega Agura's Tangler. "What the?!" Nega Agura exclaimed in shock before the roots pulled her off the mini mountain and threw her away.
Meanwhile, as Nega Stanford continued chasing and blasting at him, Stanford focused his power and telekinetically broke the sonic cannons off of Nega Stanford's Reverb. "My cannons!" Nega Stanford exclaimed. "Head's up, you guys!" Stanford called. He telekinetically tossed the sonic cannons to Kalus and Sauron, who were right nearby. Kalus and Sauron caught them and used them to blast Nega Zug, Nega Grace and Nega Horace, who were chasing Grace. "Thanks, guys. Now for a little washout." Grace said. She used her powers to conjure a big wave and sent it towards Nega Iguanarox and Nega Talia, washing them away. "Now it's my turn." Zoom said. He conjured his aura bow, formed an aura arrow and fired it at Nega Zoom, knocking him out of the sky, but he landed safely. "Who needs that?! I'm out of here!" Nega Zoom exclaimed before driving off. "Yeah, forget this! Let's blow this stand!" Nega Ivan exclaimed as he followed. "Party's over! We'll let you clean up the mess." Nega Spinner said as he and the rest of Nega Battle Force 10 drove off.
"Oh, man. We beat them silly and sold them stretchers." Spinner said. "Thanks to a little extra help from a Vandal and a Dweller." Agura said. "It is our honor to fight alongside such noble warriors." Kalus said. "And to kick some wicked Battle Force backside." Sauron said. The team all cheered. "Wait. Where's Vert?" Olivia asked, noticing that her brother wasn't with them.
Meanwhile, as Vert continued to clash with Nega Vert, they drove inside a cave. "You can run, but you can't hide." Vert said. Nega Vert just chuckled as he seemingly drove into a dead end. "Well, lookalike, looks like you're trapped." Vert said. But Nega Vert smiled sinisterly as suddenly, the rest of Nega Battle Force 10 surrounded Vert. "Am I?" Nega Vert mocked. Vert could only glare at his evil lookalike, seeing no way out.
Later, Nega Battle Force 10 tied Vert up and hung him over Nega Vert's Saber, with the chainsaw active. "So, that's what I look like if I was a loser." Nega Vert said. "I'm the loser? My team's got the Battle Key and you're hiding in a cave with the bonehead brothers." Vert said. "Why didn't we gag him?" Nega Spinner asked. "We ran out of rope, bonehead." Nega Sherman said, poking his brother's head. They soon started slap-fighting. "ENOUGH!" Nega Vert exclaimed, making them stop. But Nega Sherman got one more slap in. "Attention, goodie-good BF10, you want your boy back in one piece, hand over the Battle Key." Nega Vert demanded through the com-link. "Hey, non-loser me, A. we're inside a mountain. B. they'd never make that swap. The mission comes before the man the way we roll." Vert said. Nega Vert grunted at that, until he got an idea. "In that case, guess I'll have to walk right up and take that Battle Key from them." He said. "Untie Mr. Opposite." Nega Spinner and Nega Sherman walked up to untie Vert.
Meanwhile, the team was trying to contact Vert. "Come in, Vert. We scored the key and we've got to get back to Earth and lock this Zone down." Agura said, trying to reach Vert on the com-link. "What if sealing the portal to Earth doesn't seal the portal to our home world?" Kalus asked. "He has a point. Our alliance has enemies too. We need the key." Sauron said. "Hey, hey, hey. What if locking it on your side doesn't keep the creeps out of our sandbox?" Spinner asked. Just then, the team saw the Saber returning. "Good. Vert's back. He'll know what to do." Talia said. But it wasn't Vert. It was Nega Vert, all cleaned up and wiping his mark from under his left eye to complete his disguise. "Sorry, guys. Chased one of those Loser 10s into a cave. Doesn't take a genius to know your com-link won't work inside a mountain." Nega Vert said. Just then, he noticed the Battle Key on the Tangler. "Battle Key. Sweet. Might be safer on my ride." He was about to walk over, but Kalus and Sauron stepped in the way. "Not so fast. Our world has as much right to that key as yours." Kalus said. "Back off, cat boy. And take your pointy-eared lackey with you." Nega Vert insulted. "Whoa, Vert! Same side, remember? Maybe Sage and TRINA can make a copy so we can each have one." Agura suggested. "Hey, yeah. If anyone can copy one of these babies, it's a Sentient who helped build the Multiverse." Sherman said. "And with the help of TRINA, it'll be a cinch." Rayona said. "There's a surviving Sentient on your world?" Kalus asked in surprise. "2 of them, actually. We uncovered the second one when I joined the team." Grace said. "We must meet them." Kalus said. "Agreed." Sauron agreed. Nega Vert looked at the team, who were looking at him. "Uh, okay. I guess." He said. "Who'd have thought we'd ever be taking our arch enemies to Earth?" Spinner asked. "Yeah. Life's funny." Nega Vert said, chuckling.
Olivia, Stanford, Zoom and Iguanarox kept staring at Nega Vert suspiciously, knowing that he wasn't their Vert. "You can smell it too, huh?" Olivia asked to the former Vandal Warlord. "Yes, indeed. And it's all bad." Iguanarox said. "I sense it too. He's not our Vert." Stanford said. "Yeah. His aura's all kinds of bad news." Zoom said. "We all know the truth. That's not my brother." Olivia said as she glared at Nega Vert for posing her brother. "What do we do?" Stanford asked. "We wait until we get back to base. Then we tell the team and prepare a trap." Olivia said.
Meanwhile, Nega Sherman hung Vert, in his casual outfit, back over the Saber's chainsaw. "You got first watch." Nega Spinner said. But Nega Sherman punched him. "I tied him up and I'm bigger than you. You watch him." He said. As they argued, Vert used his fire powers to burn the ropes off his wrists. He untied the rope from his legs and swung safely away from the chainsaw and landed safely. The Nega Cortez brothers were too busy arguing to even notice as he snuck into the Saber. "Opposite. Gas on the left, brake on the right." He said.
Meanwhile, as the team returned to Earth, they brought Kalus and Sauron into the Hub and introduced them to Sage, TRINA, Destina and the others. "We did not expect you to be blue. In our world, Sentients are red." Kalus said. "As are our allies in the Sark. And we have never met a Sentient that's…purple." Sauron added. "Nor did we expect a race of good Vandals or good Dwellers. Highly intriguing." Sage said. "Very." TRINA said. "So, can you duplicate the Battle Key?" Agura asked. "We shall search the Mobi's databanks for information." Sage said as she, TRINA and Destina walked to the elevator. "But duplicating the key may not be our greatest challenge." TRINA said. "She's right. If the solar activity ends, you may not be able to locate this portal again. Even with the key." Destina said before the elevator went down, leaving the team to their thoughts. "So, this is the Hub. Which is actually bigger than the town up there." Spinner said. "Our enemies, your opposites, are sure to have something similar. We should study this." Kalus said. "Agreed. The more we know of your base, the better we can get an edge on our enemies, your opposites." Sauron added. "Good thought. Why don't I show you 2 around the base? The rest of you, go topside and grab a doughnut." Nega Vert said. "I thought we were on a Stage 2 Alert because of the whole-" Agura tried to say. "Sage, TRINA and Destina are on that. Go on, skate. You earned it." Nega Vert said. "Come on, guys. Vert knows best." Olivia said as she, Stanford, Zoom and Iguanarox walked away. The others were confused, but followed. But as Nega Vert left, Kalus noticed Olivia giving him hand signals. He recognized her gestures and nodded before he and Sauron followed Nega Vert.
Once they were out of earshot, Olivia told the team the truth. "What? You're saying that's the evil Vert from the Battle Zone?" Spinner asked in shock. "Yes. I could immediately tell that it wasn't him. As could Stanford, Zoom and Iguanarox." Olivia said. "So, our Vert's still in that Battle Zone." Ivan said. "And we just brought his evil counterpart into our home." Rayona said. "So, what do we do now?" Grace asked with worry. "I already informed Kalus and Sauron about evil Vert's intentions." Olivia said. "And we overheard everything through your com-links, team." Sage said through the com-link. "Kalus informed me as Sage gave me the frequency for your com-links." Sauron said through the com-link. "Now we need to plan out our trap before evil Vert gets away with the key. And here's how we're going to do it." Olivia said as she explained the plan.
Meanwhile, back in the Battle Zone, Nega Spinner and Nega Sherman tried to decide who gets first watch with a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. Nega Sherman picked rock and Nega Spinner picked paper. "Ha-ha! Rock smashes claw." Nega Sherman boasted, thinking he won. "This isn't a claw, you bumblenard! It's paper! Paper wraps rock!" Nega Spinner exclaimed. "Nah uh, booger-head. Rocks break through paper. Like when you put a bunch of them in a bag." Nega Sherman said. Just then, Vert drove right past them with the Saber. "Whoa. The boss ain't gonna like that at all." Nega Spinner said. Nega Sherman tackled him and they started fighting. During this, Vert escaped the cave. "Battle Force 10! Olivia, Agura, Sherman, Iguanarox! Does anybody read me? Come in!" He exclaimed, trying to call them on the com-link.
Meanwhile, back in the Hub, Nega Vert snuck his way towards the Battle Key Vault. He hid against the wall as Sage and TRINA exited. He snuck inside and grabbed the Battle Key, cackling. "Loser Force 10! The key belongs to me!" He boasted. Just then, Sage, TRINA, Kalus and Sauron walked in. "Oh, hey, guys. Pretty cool place we have here, huh?" He asked, trying to keep up the act. "News flash. You're not fooling us, fake-o." TRINA said. "We know the real you." Kalus growled, smelling Nega Vert's scent. "Hand over the key." Sauron said with a glare. Nega Vert glared at them, knowing his cover was out now.
"Vert, give us the Battle Key." Sage demanded. "Come on, Sage. Don't you know your own boyfriend?" Nega Vert asked innocently. "I would not know. Say something only Vert would say to me." Sage said. "Really? Why say something when you know it's gonna be true? Come on. You know it's me, babe." Nega Vert said. Sage got angry at that. "Take him." She ordered. Kalus and Sauron prepared to grab him, but Nega Vert fought through them and pushed past Sage and TRINA, escaping with the key. Sage quickly recovered and got on the com-link. "Olivia, the plan's in effect." She said.
Nega Vert got in the Saber and rode out of the Deployment Station. "Those losers are the only thing between me and crushing this world?" He said sarcastically, chuckling sinisterly. But as he drove out onto the Salt Flats, he skidded to a stop as the team stood in his way. "Epic fail, dude!" Zoom exclaimed. "When did you know?" Nega Vert grumbled. "We've been onto you ever since you showed up back in the Battle Zone." Stanford said. "Stanford, Zoom, Iguanarox and I told the team after you let us flake out." Olivia said with an angry glare. "Yeah. Letting us flake out on a Stage 2 Alert to pig out on pastries?" Spinner asked with sarcasm. "Our Vert always puts the mission first. Despite it being a drag sometimes." Horace said. "And babe was not the name our Vert calls Sage." Talia said. "And the only doughnuts I do is with tire tracks." Zoom said as he put on his helmet. "Get him!" Iguanarox exclaimed. As Nega Vert started driving away, the team drove after him.
Meanwhile, back in the Battle Zone, as Vert managed to get out of the cave, the Nega Cortez brothers chased after him. "Hey, everybody, my big dopey brother just let the boss' Saber get jacked!" Nega Spinner exclaimed. "Douse it, peewee! That other Vert's using it to get away!" Nega Sherman exclaimed. "Come on. Where's the portal?" Vert muttered as he tried to find the portal, but couldn't find it. "Very bad." As he looked behind and saw the Buster chasing him, he stopped in his tracks to prepare to fight. But then, the rest of Nega Battle Force 10 showed up. "Oh boy." Just then, he noticed a canyon nearby and drove into it.
Meanwhile, back in the Salt Flats, Agura and Grace chased after Nega Vert. But then, Nega Vert activated the Saber's blades and spun towards them. They quickly got out of the way, dodging his attack. But then, he saw the others coming towards him. Sherman and Spinner fired their mace and Iguanarox fired his spines. But Nega Vert steered the Saber to the side and sliced up the weapons. He steered around the team, but they continued their pursuit. "Dimensional balance waning. If the solar activity ends, our Vert maybe stuck in the parallel universe forever." Sage said through the com-link. "She's right. You have to stop the evil Vert and get our Vert back quickly." TRINA said. Nega Vert chuckled sinisterly at that. Just then, Kalus and Sauron rode out from the Deployment Station, surprising him. "ENOUGH!" Kalus roared as he fired an arrow from his crossbow. The arrow pierced through the Saber's windshield and released a gas, which put Nega Vert to sleep. Kalus and Sauron grinned as the Saber came to a stop.
Meanwhile, back in the Battle Zone, as Vert drove deeper into the canyon, the Nega Battle Force 10 was right on his tail. When he reached a dead-end, he knew it was time to face them. "Come on. Let me get a closer look at you." He said. "Got him cornered against the wall!" Nega Spinner exclaimed. "I got him cornered! I'm driving!" Nega Sherman exclaimed. "Bad shocks, grinding gears, trashed tires. Who does your maintenance?" Vert asked as he got out of the Saber. "What's he doing?!" Nega Ivan asked. "He just left the Saber. But why?" Nega Iguanarox said in confusion. "SMASH!" Nega Talia shrieked. "Zug agree! Destroy him!" Nega Zug exclaimed. Just then, as they drove towards him, Vert charged up his Zodiac powers. The Nega Battle Force 10 became shocked. Horace quietly cursed in Ukrainian. Vert gave a shout as he blasted them with his cosmic fire blasts, knocking them all down. "First rule when dealing with a Zodiac Guardian. Don't." He said as he got back into the Saber and drove off, firing one more blast at the canyon, causing a rockslide and trapping the Nega Battle Force 10.
Meanwhile, back in the Salt Flats, Kalus placed the sleeping Nega Vert inside his Fangore. "Solar interference is ending. Time is running out. You must save Vert." Sage said urgently through the com-link with worry for her beloved. "But what about the Battle Key? Can you girls make a copy?" Olivia asked. "I'm afraid we've looked through everything within the Mobi's databanks. But we can't copy the Battle Key." Destina said through the com-link with sadness. "You can't?" Agura asked. "Then I guess we won't be able to return to our world to protect our homes." Kalus said. "Wait. There is another way." Destina said. "What's that?" Zoom asked. "Olivia, as Zodiac Ophiuchus, you possess a rare ability that enables you and your fellow Zodiac Guardians to travel through a realm known as the Astral Realm." Destina explained. "Whoa! I can do that?" Olivia asked in surprise as she looked at her hands. "Yes. But you must rescue Vert from the Battle Zone first. Time's almost up for the solar effects." Destina said. "She is right. We must move." Kalus said. The team got into their vehicles and used the Battle Key to reopen the portal, allowing them to cross through.
Meanwhile, in the Battle Zone, Vert continued searching for the portal back to Earth. "Come on, show me a portal." He said with desperation. Just then, he saw the team in the distance, but couldn't tell if it was them or the Nega BF10 due to the sunlight. "You guys again." He grumbled, activating the Saber's weapons. As he leapt towards them, the light cleared, revealing the team's bright clean colors. "Vert!" Olivia called. Vert saw that it was them and pulled his attack away, flying over the team before landing. "Dial down the sharp pointy things, would you?! Or we might consider keeping your evil cous." Agura said, gesturing to the still sleeping Nega Vert. Vert laughed at that.
Later, Kalus brought Nega Vert to his Saber. "Your twin here should have quite the surprise when my Vandal Puffer gas wears off." Kalus said. "And it couldn't happen to a nicer counterpart." Sauron said. "Captain Kalus, Lord Sauron, best of luck with your future battles." Vert said, shaking hands with Kalus and Sauron. "And you with yours, Vert Wheeler, Zodiac Aries." Kalus said. "Yes. But now we must return to our home world." Sauron said. "And where this key will not only keep our homeland safe, but remind us of our newfound alliance against the dark forces." Kalus said. "To victory!" They cheered simultaneously. The team waved goodbye to their new friends as they drove off, opened the portal to their world and crossed through before sealing it.
Just then, the team heard a rumbling sound nearby. "I bought us some time. But our doubles are gonna dig their way out in 20 minutes." Vert said. "Let's blow this popsicle stand." Spinner said. "But the solar effects have already ended. How're we gonna get back to our Earth?" Vert asked. "Leave that to me, bro." Olivia said. She closed her eyes, raised her hands and opened an amaranth portal. "What the?! How did you do that?!" Vert asked in shock. "It's my newest Zodiac power. Destina told me about it. While we couldn't copy the Battle Key, I'm able to open portals to a place called the Astral Realm." Olivia explained. "Whoa." Vert said in awe. "And this way, we can go visit Kalus and Sauron whenever we need their help." Olivia added. But as everyone started hopping back into their vehicles, Vert turned his attention back to Nega Vert, who was still asleep. "I think I want something to remember him by. And I think he should have something of mine." He said to Agura, gesturing to his shirt. This made Agura grin as she knows what her leader meant.
Later, as Nega Vert started to wake up and recover, he saw a blurry image. He rubbed his eyes and saw his teammates. "It's the goody-goody Vert." Nega Spinner said. "What?" Nega Vert asked in confusion. "The shirt says it all!" Nega Spinner exclaimed. Nega Vert saw that he was wearing Vert's t-shirt. "No! It's not my shirt! I'm not him! I'm me! Ask me anything!" He cried. "Okay. How's this feel?" Nega Sherman asked as he held up his fist. Nega Vert gasped before he got punched. Nega Battle Force 10 piled onto him and started beating him up.
Meanwhile, the team crossed through the portal and entered the Astral Realm for the first time. It looked like a vast pink, purple, white, pale orange, red and violet void with strange bubbles floating everywhere. The team was in awe as they gazed into the vast infinity of the realm. "This is so beautiful." Stanford said. "I may not remember, but I never knew how wonderful this place was." Grace said. "What're those weird bubbles?" Horace asked as he watched them floating by. "I think those are windows to other universes. If we glimpse into them, we can see into other universes." Olivia said. "Let's take some time and take a glimpse before we head back." Vert said. The team split up, each picked a bubble and took a glimpse at one of the many universes beyond their own.
Vert gazed into his bubble and saw 2 kids, both half-Japanese and half-white, riding a dragon beast creature and a giant blue spider creature. They were followed by a bright orange and scarlet 2015 Prototype H-24 car that transformed into a female robot. "Whoa. Those are amazing." Vert said. Suddenly, the image came to a vision where 5 giant creatures joined in a massive battle against a massive planet-sized robot. "Whoa. That does not look cool." Vert said.
Olivia gazed into her bubble and saw a land where ponies, unicorns, Pegasus, dragons and other creatures lived together in happiness and harmony. "Wow. Look at that. They all look so happy." Olivia said. Suddenly, the scene switched to a blue goat creature with a familiar look of evil gathering some evil forces and prepared to cover the world in shadow. "I guess even in other universes, there's none shy from evil." Olivia said.
Agura gazed into her bubble and saw a girl in a ladybug-themed suit and a boy in a cat-themed suit fighting against supervillains, joined by friends in superhero suits with themes of a fox, turtle, bee, peacock, dragon, rabbit, monkey, snake, horse, pig, tiger, rooster, ox, mouse, goat and dog. They were joined by a group of different colored ghost heroes in battling an army of ghosts. "Wow. Look at this crazy team of heroes. Really cool." Agura said.
Sherman and Spinner gazed into their bubble and saw a teenage boy dressed like a pirate wielding a pirate sword with a talking skull. He was joined by a fish princess, a Viking with a jet wing, a little green alien in a yellow exo-skeleton and a ghost boy, all riding on a high-tech intelligent pirate ship. Together, they battle an army of skeleton pirates. "Wow, Sherm, look at them go." Spinner said. "I guess a lot of good heroes start out young." Sherman said.
Stanford gazed into his bubble and saw a group of armored people riding different colored dragons and using the power of different elements to fight bad guys. "Whoa. People riding…dragons. That is so amazing." Stanford said.
Zoom gazed into his bubble and saw a bunch of different colored heroes using martial arts to fight against evil forces of monsters, mutants and aliens. "Wow. Look at them go. Looks like my kind of place." Zoom said.
Talia gazed into her bubble and saw a red-haired fairy girl, a blonde fairy boy and a moth creature leading a group of people, fairies and creatures against a giant zombie man and powerful evil beings. "Whoa. Look at them. Way to rally the team." Talia said.
Rayona gazed into her bubble and saw a girl transform into a green humanoid girl with tiger stripes. The scene switched to the 2 girls fighting alongside a bunch of people and different creatures against a bunch of alien creatures. "Whoa. A world where you can transform into creatures and meet them in person? That's gotta be the coolest thing I've ever seen." Rayona said.
Ivan gazed into his bubble and saw a young boy and 3 teenage girls dressed like cavemen. They each had these stones and used them to summon strange dinosaur creatures to fight against a bunch of robots. "Wow. I've only seen pictures of dinosaurs, but these don't look like anything I've seen in the books." Ivan said.
Horace gazed into his bubble and saw a group of armored superheroes fighting criminals in an American-Japanese-styled city. "Whoa. I've never seen such heroes like this. Except maybe in a cartoon. And the city. Amazing." Horace said.
Iguanarox gazed into his bubble and saw the world of Slugterra, filled with slugs, trolls and mole people. "So, that's where they got their slugs. Fascinating." Iguanarox said in awe.
Zug gazed into his bubble and saw a world that's completely sky. People were flying on skimmers with wings and using crystal powered weapons. "Amazing. Crystal weapons, flying vehicles. This look like wondrous land." Zug said.
Grace gazed into her bubble and saw a big castle, roamed by giant robotic lions. "Wow! Giant robot lions? That's got to be the most amazing thing I've ever seen." Grace said. The bubble then showed a vision of 2 teenage boys; one with brown hair, blue eyes and tan skin and the other with black mullet hair, violet eyes and fair skin. They both wore an orange and white uniforms and were sitting together on top of a building rooftop. "Oh. Who are these boys?" Grace asked as she reached out. But as she touched the bubble, it popped. "Oops. I hope that wasn't too important." She said, unaware of what popping the bubble just caused.
Suddenly, in that universe, the boys were suddenly knocked down by an unseen energy pulse. "Ow! What was that?!" The brown-haired boy asked in shock. "I don't know. That was weird." The mullet-haired boy said with surprise.
Later, the team all gathered around. "Well, team, I hope you all enjoyed getting a glimpse at the different universes in this realm." Vert said. The team agreed that they did enjoy themselves. "Alright, everyone, let's head home." Olivia said. She opened a portal back to Earth and the team crossed through.
As the team returned to the Hub, they drove into the Deployment Station. "Vert!" Sage cried as she, TRINA and Destina rushed over to the team as they exited their vehicles. Sage embraced Vert into a tight emotional hug, which he returned. "Is it really you?" She asked. "It's me, Blueberry." Vert said. Sage sighed happily as she let her tears fall, happy that it was really Vert. "Blueberry?" Spinner asked. "That was Aries' cute nickname for Sage back in the day. Even after all these years, he still remembered it." Destina said.
Later, the team gathered as Destina told some info about the Astral Realm. "So, not only does the Astral Realm connect other universes, but it also connects pasts and alternate timelines." She explained. "So, if we spot a bubble that shows an alternate version of us, that's an alternate timeline?" Stanford asked. "Exactly. And each timeline has completely different variations of you." Destina explained. The team was in awe at that. "The Astral Realm also contains memories, including those of your past lives." Destina said. "Wow. That's really deep." Zoom said. "Uh, where's Vert and Sage?" Grace asked, noticing Vert and Sage weren't with them.
Meanwhile, Vert and Sage were outside on the garage roof, looking out at the night sky. Just then, Vert noticed a sad look on Sage's face. "Are you okay?" He asked. "I was scared, Vert." Sage said. "Scared?" Vert repeated. "Yes. Scared of losing you again. I already lost my beloved Aries once before. I've been alone for 100,000 years, waiting for you to come back to me. I couldn't live with myself if I had lost you again." Sage said, beginning to cry. Vert brought her into a comforting hug. "You will never lose me. I promise you this, Sage. No matter what happens, I will always find a way back to you." He said. "I know. I love you, Vert." Sage said. Vert kissed her, sealing their love.
Wow! Tell me that was amazing. During a solar eclipse, Battle Force 10 crossed into a Battle Zone where they met good versions of Kalus and Sauron, and went up against evil versions of themselves. When Nega Vert attempted to steal the Battle Key by switching places with Vert, Olivia and the others quickly saw through the switch and stopped him. When Kalus and Sauron returned to their home with the Battle Key, with the solar eclipse ended, Olivia brought the team home through the Astral Realm, a realm where you can glimpse through bubbles into other universes. But what new surprises will Battle Force 10 encounter next? Will they ever journey through the Astral Realm again? Leave a review if you'd like.
Special thanks to FoxyKhai0209 for the Astral Realm.