NOTE: Welcome to a new chapter! Sorry, this took too long, or did it? I'm not sure.
I'm looking forward to writing this tournament since we'll be getting lots of good development between our two main characters Yuji and Leonidas.
Trust me, we'll be getting crazy high G powers as this story goes on. Especially with Leonidas and Vladitor.
Review and Enjoy!
Chapter 5: Leonidas Roar!
Leonidas watched silently as Yuji did repeated stretches in his room. The youth was dressed in his white hoodie with yellow lines going down the arms and blue shorts that went past his knees. "What is it that you are doing?" Leonidas asked.
"Stretching!" Yuji answered, stretching his legs.
"Why?"
"Today is brawling day!" Yuji finished his stretches and walked over to his partner. "Are you ready, Leonidas?"
"Hm. I am always prepared to crush my opponents beyond recognition!" Leonidas exclaimed, fire in his eyes.
Yuji chuckled nervously. "Well, I don't think we need to go that far. But I'm glad you're excited!"
"If you aren't prepared to defeat your opponent with everything you have, then you have already lost the battle," Leonidas said.
Yuji didn't exactly know how to feel about that. He was planning to give it everything he had, but this was all mostly for fun. There was no need to take everything so seriously. "At least try to have fun, alright?"
Leonidas didn't respond to it, so Yuji had to take that as a yes. "Welp, we should head on over to the Bakugan Store," Yuji told him as he grabbed his deck.
Leonidas did perk up at that. "Why? Shouldn't we head to our desired battle place?"
"Ah, there are still some questions I want to ask Alice. We still have some time before the tournament officially starts." Yuji said. Then a small blush appeared on his face. "I also wanted to ask her if she wanted to come watch me battle. Or maybe that's too selfish! Pretty sure all of the Battle Brawlers are going to be there, so she might just be with them the entire time! Asking her will probably be a bad idea anyway! Might as well save myself the embarrassment…haha…" Yuji broke down his own confidence. Looking over to his partner, the Bakugan was just staring at him silently.
Though the Bakugan couldn't show facial expressions, Yuji still felt as if Leonidas was giving him pity.
"L-Let's just go…"
"Hm…there's an extreme lack of noise," Leonidas mentions from Yuji's shoulder.
"Yeah, Mom took Serena shopping. She'll be dropped off at the stadium before the tournament stops," Yuji answered.
The human and Bakugan duo entered the Bakugan store, finding Alice cleaning off the counters and cases. Hearing the electronic doors open, Alice turned to them. "Yuji! It's good to see you!"
Yuji blushed at Alice's bright smile. "Y-yeah, it's good to see you too!"
Alice placed her cleaning supplies down to walk over to them, she smiled at Leonidas. "And it's good to see you as well, Leonidas."
He didn't respond, which didn't bother her at all. "Heh, reminds me a bit of Drago when Dan first met him." Alice turned her attention back to Yuji. "What can I help you two with?"
"I wanted to ask you about the tournament actually. I've been wondering how it works exactly, since brawling involves entering another dimension and time stops over here on Earth. Wouldn't it take too long for everyone to go one at a time?" Yuji asked.
"Right, I should've explained that to you before. You see, the tournament arena was specifically designed to contain the alternate dimension that brawls take place in. There are multiple areas for the rounds, so battles can happen simultaneously and for the spectators to watch them," Alice answered.
"Woah, how is that even possible? Containing a completely different dimension?" Yuji asked, intrigued.
"Oh well…I don't understand the complete logistics of it. But my grandfather helped put it all together."
"Your grandpa sounds like a really smart guy," Yuji smiled earnestly.
Alice felt herself blushing slightly at the way he smiled. "O-oh, well. I'm sure my grandfather will be happy to hear that when I tell him!" She tried to hide her blush.
The two stood there awkwardly for a moment, staring at each other, not knowing how to either end the conversation or continue it. Yuji decided to try and take some sort of initiative. "W-well, that was all I wanted to ask. I should head over to the stadium…"
"Y-yes..! You should…"
Yuji turned around to walk out, disappointed that he couldn't work up the courage to ask Alice to accompany him to the tournament.
Leonidas was content with leaving it all at that, desiring to go and enter battle instead of dealing with teenage drama. That was until certain words replayed from the night prior.
"Hey, Leo! If Yuji ever backs down from doing something, like battling or even talking to a girl. Just give him a good kick in the face, because I might not always be there to kick him into gear!"
"I'm going to regret this…" Leonidas sighed mentally. Curling back into a ball, Leonidas propelled himself into the wall, bouncing off of it and flying directly into Yuji's forehead.
"OW!" Yuji recoiled back, clutching his forehead. Leonidas rolled on the floor, groaning from the action as well.
Alice rushed to his side to check on him. "Oh no! Are you okay, Yuji?"
"Y-yeah, I don't know what just hit me…" Yuji hadn't seen Leonidas move, since he was too preoccupied with his thoughts.
"Let me see your forehead."
"I-I'm fine-"
She gently moved his hand away from his forehead to inspect it. Her close proximity had the boy's face bright red from embarrassment. Alice noticed a small red spot on his forehead, but it didn't seem like anything bad. "Well, other than that red spot, I don't see anything wrong."
"T-thanks, Alice," Yuji said.
"No problem. You should probably get going now," She said, leaving to get back to her cleaning. With her back now to him, her face was bright red as well. "Why did I get so close!?"
"Hey, Alice!"
"Hm?"
Yuji fidgeted in his spot. "I actually wanted to ask if you would like to accompany me to the tournament. To…ya know…watch me brawl." He still hated how selfish he sounded. "B-but I'd understand if you don't want to! Your friends will obviously be there and you'd be too focused watching them and-"
"I'd love to go."
"Oh, I knew this would be a bad idea-wait what?" Yuji blinked, shocked.
Alice stepped closer. "I said, I'd like to go there with you, Yuji." Alice then paused once she realized how that sounded. "I-I mean! There won't be anyone coming to the store on such short notice anyway! I was going to close up after I was done cleaning anyway!"
Within his mind, Yuji was jumping up and down like a monkey in a jungle gym. "G-great!"
"I'll just put the cleaning supplies away, close up the shop, and we can head on out!" Alice turned away to do just that.
Yuji stood in place; star struck that Alice agreed to his selfish request. Leonidas jumped back onto his shoulder. "I can't believe she agreed, Leonidas…"
"Hm."
"You don't care, do you?"
"Hm."
"...I'll take that as a no."
"Woah! This place is huge!" Yuji exclaimed.
"All of the competitors need to fit after all," Alice giggled.
The building in front of them was the size of a football stadium, a mixture of dark blue and white. All over the building were posters of a multitude of different Bakugan and promotional brawlers. A large crowd of children and adults alike were filtering in and out of the stadium.
"Have you never seen a stadium before, Yuji?" Alice asked.
"Ah, not at all, other than pictures online. Our old town was more rural, so we had open fields to play sports in rather than stadiums," Yuji explained.
Alice giggled. "This week has been a lot of firsts for you, hasn't it?"
"Too many. My stress levels are through the roof," Yuji grumbled.
"And that's why you should have as much fun as possible. This is a tournament, so give it your all!" Alice tried to cheer him up.
"Thanks," Yuji grinned.
"YUJI!"
Both teenagers turned around to see Serena and Serenity Shujin approaching the two. Noticing Alice standing next to Yuji, Serena ran up to the teen and gave her a hug. "Alice!"
Alice had to adjust her balance from the sudden hug. "Hello, Serena. I see you're full of energy today." Alice returned the hug.
"Of course, I'm going to kick Yuji's butt today!"
"Why me!?"
"Serena, calm down," Serenity's stern tone made the little girl control herself. The Shujin matriarch then turned her attention to the teenagers.
"Yuji, do you mind introducing me to your friend here?" Serenity motioned to Alice.
"A-ah, right. Mom, this is Alice. Alice, this is my mom," Yuji introduced the two.
"Serenity Shujin, nice to meet you," Serenity held out her hand.
"Alice Gehabich," Alice took the handshake. Serenity scanned Alice up and down before smiling at her son.
"What a nice girl you've met, Yuji. You better marry her quickly before someone else catches her attention."
"M-Marry!?" Yuji shrieks, his entire body turned red. Alice was frozen in place, too embarrassed to say anything back. Serena was laughing at their predicament enjoying the free show.
"I'm just joking," Serenity rolls her eyes. Her son was way too easy to mess with sometimes.
Yuji tried to regain some semblance of dignity back after being thoroughly embarrassed by his mother. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you here, mom?"
"What? I can't watch my kids compete in a tournament. Your father would've joined us, but he had to take over someone's shift this morning," Serenity said.
"Sorry, I just didn't expect it," Yuji rubbed the back of his head.
"Don't sweat it too much, sweetheart. Just do your best," Serenity placed a kiss on his forehead, embarrassing him even further. Her light blue eyes then shifted to Leonidas. "You too, Leonidas." She placed a soft kiss onto the Bakugan.
Leonidas burned from the show of affection, not used to it at all.
Serena glanced over at Alice, who was searching around the area. "What's wrong, Alice?"
"Oh, I'm just looking around for my friends. We all agreed to meet up at the entrance. I wonder what could be taking them," Alice worried.
"I'm sure they're fine-"
"GANG WAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!"
"Huh-GAAAAAHHHH!"
The three ladies watched as a red figure crashed directly into Yuji, sending both of them flying into the stadium. Leonidas flew through the air, landing onto Serena's open palm.
"Oh, my goodness! Yuji, are you okay!?" Alice hurried into the building. Serena and Serenity weren't far behind her to check up on Yuji.
"Ugh…what hit me?" Yuji groaned.
"D-Dan!?"
"Dan?" Yuji looked over to see Dan lying right on top of him. The leader of the Battle Brawlers had swirls in his eyes from the sudden crash.
Dan shook his head to get his wits back together. "Hm? Yuji? And Alice too?"
Serena placed a hand on her hips. "What am I? Chop Liver?"
Dan and Yuji climbed back to their feet. "I didn't forget about you, Serena." Dan ruffled her hair, much to the girl's annoyance. The Pyrus Brawler looks over to Serenity. "And you are…?"
"Their mother."
"Oh, uh, sorry for running into your son," Dan apologized.
"It's fine. Just don't do it again," Her smile carried the threat, which sent a chill down Dan's spine.
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
Yuji brushed off the dust on his pants. "So, what's the hurry, Dan?"
The Pyrus Brawler laughed nervously. "I kinda…uh…forgot to register for this tournament!"
"..."
The only one who wasn't shocked was Alice, used to this kind of behavior from Dan. "I reminded you plenty of times, Dan. So had the others," Alice said.
Dan lifted his hands to defend himself. "I know! I know! I was just busy with other stuff!"
"And by other stuff, he means he was too focused on stuffing his face," Drago ascended from Dan's jacket pocket.
"Drago!" Dan hissed.
"Drago!" Serena happily cooed.
"Oh, they really do talk. Leonidas hasn't spoken at all even though Yuji said he does," Serenity gasped. The Haos Bakugan sweat dropped after hearing that.
Dan tilted his head at that. "Leonidas? Who's that?"
Yuji took Leonidas from Serena's hand. "Leonidas is my partner! Kinda like you and Drago," Yuji showed off his partner to the Pyrus Brawler and Bakugan.
"Nice to meet ya, Leonidas," Dan grinned.
Leonidas didn't respond.
"Hello, Leonidas-" Drago stopped on a dime as a small amount of bloodlust was sent his way. What confused him even more was that all of that bloodlust was coming straight from Leonidas.
Dan immediately felt that something was wrong. "Drago? Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah. I'm fine, Daniel," Drago shook his head.
Yuji stared down at Leonidas, his partner had curled himself back up, meaning that he wasn't interested in any more conversation. Not that he had participated in the first place.
Alice cleared her throat. "Maybe, we should hurry to the registration, so that Dan can compete?"
Her reminder had snapped Dan back into reality. "Crap! We're gonna miss it!" Dan took off at the speed of light to register himself.
"Does he even know where he's going?" Serena asked.
"Nope."
"Not a clue."
"He seems a little…clueless."
"We better go catch up with him," Alice suggested. They all agreed and went to go find Dan.
REGISTRATION FOR THE STANDARD TOURNAMENT HAS NOW CLOSED!
"Gyaaahhh!" Dan dropped to the floor dramatically after seeing the announcement appear on the computer screen. The others sweat dropped at Dan's dramatics, Alice shaking her head as if this was natural.
"Looks like you'll be sitting this one out, Dan," Alice said.
Dan cried as he pounded his fist against the desk. "This isn't fair at all!"
"How is it not fair?" Serena asked.
"Because it's all Runo's fault!"
Yuji was about to speak up when someone pushed past him. The person was a girl around his age with light blue hair tied into pigtails. She's wearing a yellow midriff t-shirt with light red straps that expose her shoulders and a short white skirt with a pink belt. Her legs were covered with orange and white striped knee socks and brown shoes.
Yuji was about to say something to her for the rude gesture, but Alice quickly covered his mouth. Shaking her head to not interfere with what was about to happen.
"And how exactly is it Runo's fault?" The girl asked.
"She tempted me with those double cheeseburgers this morning! If she hadn't then I would've gotten here earlier!"
The girl nodded her head, a cartoonish tick mark popped up on her head.
Yuji could've sworn that the room increased in temperature.
"I see, but let me ask you one thing…" She grabbed the collar of his jacket and yanked him back from the computers. Turning him around to face her, Dan's face paled considerably as he saw the anger in Runo's eyes.
"R-Runo!?" Dan squeaked.
"WHO'S THE IDIOT THAT WASTED ALL HIS TIME IN THE FIRST PLACE!?" Runo roared into his face, making Dan shrink down. "IF YOU WEREN'T SO BUSY STUFFING YOUR FACE WITH FOOD YOU STILL HAVEN'T PAID FOR THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!" Dan was on his knees, head lowered as Runo continued to scold him.
"That's Runo from the Battle Brawlers…!" Yuji squeaked. Her anger wasn't even directed at him and even he was afraid.
"Yup, that's Runo. This is usually how things between them go," Alice sighed.
"Is she his girlfriend or something?" Serena asked.
"They're…figuring that out," Alice shrugged.
When Runo finally stopped yelling at him to take some breaths, she finally realized that there were other people there watching her. A massive blush appeared on her face, Runo quickly turned around to introduce herself. "S-sorry you had to see all of that! My name is Runo Misaki! I'm a friend of Dan and Alice!"
A small white Bakugan flew out of the pouch attached to her skirt. The Bakugan opened up to introduce herself. "And my name is Tigrerra, Runo's guardian. It is nice to meet you."
Yuji and his family bowed in greeting. "My name is Yuji. This is my little sister Serena and my mother."
Alice tilted her head. "When did you get here, Runo? We didn't see you at the entrance," Alice said.
"I got here earlier with Marucho, since I knew a certain idiot would get here late," Runo sent a glare at Dan.
"Tch. I don't always arrive late to things," Dan mumbled.
Runo rolled her eyes, looking at the whole group. "We should probably head over to the main area. They're about to announce the bracket, I was just coming to find Dan for that exact reason."
Dan continued to grumble under his breath at being left out of the fun, while Drago could only sigh at Dan's immaturity.
Runo glanced around the main room, and the whole group found some open seats in the auditorium to take. "I can't seem to find Marucho. Maybe we should call him?"
"Yeah, though I'm sure he's fine. This place is crowded, so he must've found somewhere else to sit," Dan said.
"I'm sure we'll find him. If you and Marucho are in the tournament, then it shouldn't be too difficult to find him later," Yuji reassured them.
Runo smiled, agreeing with him. "You're right. Though, I still want to check up on him." Runo tried to dial Marucho's number.
Serena gasped as the screens began to light up. "Look! It's starting!"
On the screen was the bracket for the Standard Tournament, large enough for everyone in the auditorium to see. Yuji, Serena, and Runo searched around for their names.
"Oh! I found mine!" Serena bounced, excited.
"I see my name," Runo said.
"Found Marucho's name," Dan grinned.
Yuji felt a bit envious of not finding his match. He squinted his eyes a bit harder until he finally spotted his name. Looking to the right a bit he also made out the name of his opponent. It was-
"YOU!"
Yuji and the others jumped at the sudden shout, looking over to see Shuji and Akira strutting over to them. "I can't believe my luck to face you in the first round, kid!" Shuji grinned.
"Shuji…!" Yuji growled.
Dan stood up to stare down Shuji. "Get lost, Shuji. Nobody wants to hear your whining."
"Shut up, Dan! I didn't see your name on the bracket! Got scared or something!?"
"Nope. I just forgot!" Dan answered, proudly.
"Why are you suddenly proud of that!?" Runo smacked him on the head.
"Tch, stay out of the way if you aren't even brawling." Shuji turned his attention back to Yuji. "I'm gonna enjoy getting my revenge. I'll embarrass you in front of everyone here and show them that I'm the greatest!"
"Yeah!" Akira backed him up.
Serena wanted to say something snarky, but Yuji got up from his seat, and got right into Shuji's face. "I'm not scared of you, Shuji. Unlike last time I have my own Bakugan with me. We'll beat you fair and square."
Shuji growled, upset that he wasn't intimating Yuji like he did last time. "We'll see if you're still that confident when the tournament starts!" Shuji turned away to get himself ready. Akira glanced at Serena, before sticking his tongue out at her.
Serena returned the gesture.
"Who was that?" Serenity asked.
"Just some bully who tried to scare us when we first moved here. Yuji kicked his butt though! It was his first brawl ever too!" Serena proudly retold.
Yuji blushed. "I-It wasn't much of anything. I wouldn't have won if Dan wasn't helping me."
Dan shook his head. "Hey, all of that was still you. I just explained how the game works, you still made the necessary calls to win the battle. And now you get to show Shuji just how much you've grown."
"While I haven't gotten to know you well enough yet. I don't doubt that you can beat Shuji, but if you do lose then that gives more material to make fun of Dan with," Runo smirked.
"Huh!? There's no way my student is going to lose!" Dan argued.
"...Student?" The Shujin family sweat dropped.
Alice shook her head as Dan and Runo collapsed into another argument between each other. She turned them out to talk to Yuji. "Just remember to do your best, Yuji."
A small blush lit up Yuji's cheeks. "T-thanks, Alice!"
"You too, Leonidas," Alice said to the Bakugan.
Leonidas stared at her before slowly nodding his head.
"Aw, he's warming up!" Serena giggled.
Leonidas immediately closed himself back up.
"Meanie!" Serena hissed, childishly.
Alice glanced at her watch. "Matches are going to start soon. You guys should head to the waiting rooms."
"Right. Let's go, Serena," Yuji said.
"I know," The little girl followed her brother.
"Good luck!" Serenity waved to her kids.
Runo followed after them. "We'll probably run into Marucho. I'll let you know when we do," She told Alice and Dan.
"Good luck, Runo!"
"Don't lose the first round!"
"SHUT UP!" Runo roared at Dan.
Yuji watched one of the computer screens in the waiting room as Serena's first round battle had just ended. Since his match was the last one, it was just him and Leonidas in the room. When they had arrived at the waiting room Marucho was still nowhere to be found. It worried Runo greatly that they couldn't find her friend.
"Focus up, Yuji."
Yuji left his thoughts to glance down at Leonidas. "What do you mean?"
"Our battle is coming up and you're focused on needless things. Focus so that I may crush whoever stands in my way," Leonidas explained.
Yuji sighed. "You don't need to get so serious about it, Leonidas. This is all for fun."
"My desire for battle against other Bakugan takes precedence over this 'fun' you always bring up," The Bakugan replied.
"What is your deal? You keep bringing up how you want to crush Bakugan in battle. It's like you hate them all or something," Yuji said, getting a bit annoyed. He was finding it difficult to understand Leonidas' singular focus on fighting.
Before their conversation could continue an announcement came through the intercom, alerting them that their match was about to start.
"We can continue this later. For now, let's battle!" Leonidas curled back up.
Yuji frowned, reaching for his partner. A small part of him hesitated for a second before grabbing Leonidas and stepping out of the door.
Yuji stepped into one of the rings designed for the tournament. It was large enough for more than two people to stand in with several cameras placed inside for the spectators to watch the match. The door across the ring opened up revealing Shuji, grinning confidently. "Time for the humiliation to begin!" Shuji raised his Gate Card.
Yuji glared at him, lifting up his Gate Card. "Yeah, for you!"
"FIELD OPEN!"
Serena and Runo were now back in the auditorium with the others to watch Yuji's match. Serena was bouncing in her seat, cheering for her big brother to win. Both girls had won their matches with relative ease.
"You got this, Yuji," Dan smirked.
When the light died down, Yuji found the alternate dimension to look extremely different. Instead of the blank void he had gotten accustomed to, both he and Shuji found themselves standing in some kind of an arena with four different stands placed on the opposite corners. The floor had the 6 different attribute symbols engraved on the black surface of the arena.
"Yup, I still have to get used to this," Yuji sighed.
"Focus up, kid! It's time to brawl!" Shuji's annoying voice filtered into his ears.
"Yeah yeah! Let's get to it!"
"GATE CARD, SET!" Both Brawlers tossed down their Gate Cards to initiate the battle.
"I'll get this started! Bakugan brawl!" Shuji tossed out his Bakugan. The ball rolled onto his Gate Card. "Bakugan, stand!"
A goldish brown light illuminated the field as a giant crab-like Bakugan rose with a mighty shrill cry.
Subterra Terrorclaw: 270 Gs!
Yuji wasn't scared in the slightest as Shuji's Terrorclaw loomed over him. Glancing over to his shoulder, Yuji allowed a cocky smirk to grace his lips. "You ready to make your debut, partner?"
"I am ready to cut loose!" Leonidas exclaimed.
Gripping his partner in his palm, Yuji pulled back his arm. "Bakugan brawl!" Yuji sent Leonidas flying onto the battlefield, Leonidas rolled down right in front of Terrorclaw. "Leonidas, stand!"
A golden ray of light exploded to life, almost blinding everyone watching. A large creature came flying out of the light, flapping its wings loudly. The creature had three horns, two over his ears and one in the middle of his muzzle. He has three toes on each foot and three fingers on each hand. His long tail ends in an arrow, which wrapped around Terrorclaw's head and carried the Subterra Bakugan into the air.
The tail unwrapped itself from the Bakugan's head, before anyone could register what was happening, a white and gold fist smashed Terrorclaw's face in, knocking the crab-like Bakugan into the ground. The dragon landed down in front of the Terrorclaw, raising its hands into the air and brutally smashing his fists into the Terrorclaw's body. The crab cried out in pain as punches were rained down onto its body repeatedly without any sense of remorse until it finally gave out.
Terrorclaw disappeared back into ball form in a bright flash of light, dropping down right back to Shuji's feet.
The dragon reared back its head and released an ear-piercing roar that shook the entire stage, even the stadium in the other world could sense the power that the dragon was emitting.
Everyone sat there frozen at the events that had just transpired. Either terrified or baffled by the instant act of brutality that was demonstrated in front of them.
The only other noise came from the Baku Watches beeping. A female robotic voice echoed for everyone to hear.
Haos Leonidas: 340 Gs!
Chapter End
NOTE: More reactions to Leonidas will be featured in the next chapter.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and the interactions between characters. I had to figure out some way for everyone to watch the battle, because it honestly confused me how the Brawlers knew of Leonidas' brutal battling style if time outside of the brawl is frozen. To be honest, the game's plot isn't entirely too thought out but that's not too bad.
Originally, I was going to have Dan explain how the tournament worked to Yuji but realized that I could get some development between him, and Alice done. Also, Alice just has a better sense of how things work than Dan.
I couldn't go as brutal as I wanted to at first with Leonidas, because then Yuji would have too difficult of a time trying to justify and prove Leonidas innocence.
Marucho is fine. He'll make his appearance soon.
I needed a reason for Dan to not participate in this tournament since he doesn't in the game. So, I made him blow it off until he ended up missing it.
Have a great day!