NOTE: Sorry for the wait. When it comes to the Doom Card in the game, I assumed that the developers didn't want to try implementing it into the game, so it was ignored. I will explain the Doom Card once Masquerade and Marduk actually get involved with the plot.

Marduk's backstory will be fleshed out a bit more in this story.

Enjoy and Review

Chapter 11: I Am Nothing

"Maybe, you could add this Gate Card to your deck? It gives 80 Gs to all Bakugan on the card that matches your attribute?" Alice held up the card.

"Uh huh." Yuji nodded his head.

"Or instead, you could use the Additional Task command card? The last Bakugan to be placed on the Gate Card is sent back to the player and forces them to send out a different Bakugan. It could help you deal with any powerful Bakugan you might face."

"Uh huh."

"Then there's the Energy Merge Gate Card. It transfers 100 Gs from the last Bakuguan to stand on the card to the first one."

"Uh huh."

"You could use a swap Gs Ability Card. I know you don't have one of those."

"Uh huh."

"Runo and I are madly in love and are going to run off to get married tomorrow."

"Uh huh."

"Serena kissed Akira."

"WHAT!?" Yuji screamed, his eyes bulging comically at Alice. He grabbed her by her shoulders, shaking the Russian girl. "She's too young for that sort of thing! Serena still thinks that Santa gives the bad kids live grenades!"

"I'm sorry, she thinks what?"

"Mom still has to stop Serena from asking for literal weapons whenever we go to visit mall Santa!"

"Eh, Yuji?"

"There's no way that I can allow Serena to get a boyfriend! She'll kill him!"

"You're more worried about the life of the potential boyfriend rather than Serena herself…" Alice sweatdropped. She reached over, yanking on Yuji's hoodie, and forcing her fellow teenager back down into the seat. "Yuji, I was lying."

"Eh… really?"

"Yes."

"So, Serena didn't kiss Akira?"

"Trust me, your sister is more likely to punch him in the face rather than anything like that."

Yuji slowly nodded his head, knowing that is something that his sister is more likely to do. "T-then why did you say that?"

"Because I've been trying to help you put together a new deck for the tag tournament with Dan and you've been ignoring me the entire time." Alice explained. She was really looking forward to spending this morning with Yuji to put together this new deck before he had to meet up with Dan later on, but the boy had been so out of it the entire time. "It honestly feels like I'm just wasting my breath here."

Thankfully, the boy had enough sense to look regretful. "S-sorry, Alice. I-I've just had a lot on my mind since yesterday."

"It's about Leonidas, isn't it?" Alice was correct as always. The boy of her admiration had a terrible poker face, wearing his emotions pretty clearly on his sleeves. Yuji's face twisted into frustration; he took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Yeah… since losing to Dan yesterday Leonidas hasn't spoken at all. He's just been unresponsive to Serena and me." Yuji explained.

"Is it really much different than how he was initially?" Alice asked.

Yuji nodded his head. "At least back when we first met, he'd talk to me. But he's just been curled up on my desk since." Yuji's eyes were downcast, staring at the clean floor. His reflection stared back at him, and the sight of his depressed face made him sick to his stomach. "Maybe, it's my fault."

"It's not your fault, Yuji-" She tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but Yuji moved away from her before she could.

"IT IS! If I was a better partner… if I was smarter and stronger then we would've won at the end! I'm… I'm just not strong enough." Yuji stressed out.

From within the pockets of Yuji's hoodie, Leonidas stirred slightly after hearing Yuji's defeated tone.

"Then grow stronger."

Yuji whipped around to stare at Alice, he gasped at the determined look on her face. Not once since meeting her had she looked so beautiful and fierce. "You're upset at your own weakness and failures? Then get strong enough to overcome it!"

"But how…?"

"I can't give you those answers, Yuji. That's just something that you and Leonidas have to figure out together." The shop owner gathered together Yuji's deck case and shoved it into his chest. "And Dan is waiting for you two, to help you guys figure out that answer. So, you better not keep him waiting."

Yuji grabbed his deck case, staring at Alice with a dumbfounded look. The lack of reaction from him made the shop owner feel a little self-conscious, especially since the two were so close to each other. A small blush appeared on her cheeks, her hands twiddling together. "W-what's wrong?"

Her question snapped him out of his stupor. "N-nothing, Alice! J-just… Thank you for helping me."

"No worries, what are friends for?" Alice smiled.

"No way, Dan!"

"C'mon, Shuji! Be a pal!" Dan laughed. He was standing across from Shuji and Akira, who had been at the park for a while.

"Like, hell I'm your pal!" Shuji roared, forcing Dan to back up a bit. "Why should I bother wasting my weekend to help you and your stupid student!?"

"Because it's for a good cause and you're a good guy?"

"Hell no!"

"Yeah, I figured." Dan shrugged. "Still, I need you to help me out here."

"I already refused!"

Akira rolled his eyes at his big brother, he really wanted a shot at Yuji and Dan. "C'mon, Shuji! Don't you want to get payback against that upstart punk?"

"Of course, I do!" Shuji exclaimed. "But there's no way I'm going to get treated like some tutorial battle again!"

"That's what you're upset about!?" Akira cried.

Dan rolled his eyes at the larger boy. "Shuji, you're the only guy I could possibly think of for this."

"As some test dummy!"

"I mean, sure, this would be Yuji's first time doing a tag battle, but there's also a lot in it for you!" Dan argued.

"What is that?" Shuji asked.

"You and Akira will be working together, and if you guys win then Yuji still learns how to do a tag battle and you get bragging rights. I know you still want that rematch against me." Dan dangled the bait right in front of Shuji. He could see the larger boy's eyes light up at the proposal.

"Bragging rights?"

"Yup."

"Sweet! Then get ready, Dan! I'm gonna rock your world!" Shuji exclaimed.

"Woah, man. Take me out to dinner first."

"I DIDN'T MEAN LIKE THAT!" Shuji roared, blushing madly.

"So, when is that upstart supposed to get here?" Akira asked.

Dan looked at his watch. "Eh, right about now."

"I'm here!" The three looked up to see Yuji running down the park steps. The boy huffed slightly, indicating that he was running all the way over here. "I… I made it."

"D-did you run all the way here?" Dan asked.

"I-I don't have a bike…"

"Huh, would've figured you had a bike."

"Serena has a bike."

"Then why didn't you use it?"

"Because she booby traps it."

"Why does she-"

"NO!" Akira's shout grabbed their attention. "We're not here to talk about that brat! We're here to brawl!" He then stopped, taking a quick scan of the park. "She's not here, is she?"

"No, mom is taking her out for a hair appointment." Yuji answered.

"Good." Akira sighed in relief.

Dan folded his arms. "Akira is right though; we should get this tutorial battle started!"

"I KNEW IT!"

Dan and Yuji ignored Shuji's shout as if he wasn't there. "You doing good, bro?" Dan asked, then noticed that Leonidas wasn't on his shoulder. "Where's Leonidas?"

Yuji reached into his pockets, bringing out his closed off partner. "He's… not really in the mood."

Drago, who had been quietly watching this entire time, hummed as he stared at Leonidas. The Pyrus Dragonoid had a slight feeling that he knew what was troubling Leonidas, all he could hope was that it didn't damper his ability to battle.

"Leonidas not jumping at the chance to battle? Now, that's weird." Dan said. "Maybe he's just hungry?"

"I doubt it, Daniel." Drago sighed.

"Enough stalling, Dan!" Shuji and Akira whipped out their Gate Cards. "Let's brawl!"

Yuji panicked. "W-wait, I don't even know the rules for a tag battle yet!"

Dan slapped his hand against Yuji's back, eliciting a sharp yelp. "No problems, student of mine! Just like with your first ever brawl, I'll explain it as we go!" Dan pulled out his Gate Card.

Yuji sighed, not feeling so certain about this. He took one last look at Leonidas before taking out his own Gate Card. "I guess so…"

"FIELD OPEN!"

Now that the four of them were in the alternate dimension, Yuji turned to his wise and honorable sensei. "So, how do we start this?" Yuji asked.

"Just like in a normal match, we all set down our Gate Cards." Dan explained.

"All of us together?"

"Yep!"

Yuji looked over his deck, and he reached for a good starting card. "Alright then. GATE CARD, SET!" He and the other three shouted. His and Dan's cards flew down next to one another, while the brothers were below theirs. "What's next?"

Dan holds up a finger. "This is where team battles are different from normal battles. Unlike in normal battles where the game ends once you've run out of three Bakugan, in a team battle the game ends once a team has won three Gate Cards."

"I'm guessing this is to ensure that the game doesn't drag on too long, right?" Yuji asked.

"You guessed it!"

"Are you two done talking over there or are we gonna get started!?" Shuji yelled, impatiently.

"Hold your horses, Shuji!" Dan yelled back, rolling his eyes. The Pyrus Brawler turned to his teammate. "Our team gets the first turn, so you wanna go first?"

"Sure!" Yuji replied. He was also getting pretty anxious to get the game started, he didn't want to let Dan down. Yuji hoped that he could count on Leonidas for this battle, because his partner was necessary if they're going to win. The newbie took out his first Bakugan and tossed it out. "Bakugan, brawl!" He sent it right towards his own Gate Card. "Bakugan, stand!"

The Bakugan that erupted from the bright light was a large crab-like creature. It has two large, strong and sharp pincers with six legs.

Haos Terrorclaw: 270 Gs!

"A Terrorclaw? And with 270 Gs to boot! Nice, bro." Dan complimented him.

Yuji blushed from the praise. "Alice, helped me put a whole new deck together and I didn't really take a look at what she put in there."

"What? Too busy staring into her eyes?" Dan teased, making his student blush.

"W-w-w-w-w-w-what!?" Yuji stammered.

"I really don't think this is the time, Daniel." Drago said, sternly. Dan waved off Drago's words, rolling his eyes.

"Just having fun."

Shuji growled as he watched the two talk as if he wasn't there. He hated that they seemingly weren't taking the battle seriously at all. "I-I'll show you to treat me like a joke!"

"Uh? You okay, bro?" Akira asked, a little nervous of his brother.

"Just fine, Akira. In fact, I'm about to teach this newbie a real lesson!" Shuji took out his Bakugan. "Bakugan, brawl!" He tossed it out towards Yuji's Terrorclaw. "Bakugan, stand!"

A brown and yellow scorpion-like Bakugan stood across Terrorclaw. The Subterra Stinglash hissed dangerously at the Terrorclaw, who snapped its claws at it.

Subterra Stinglash: 210 Gs!

"Just 210? Not gonna do much like that." Dan said.

"Just watch, loser! Ability Activate! Desert Thunder!" Shuji tossed his Ability Card into the air. The card touched the ground beneath the two Bakugan, turning the landscape into a sandy desert. "This ability increases my Stinglash's power by 100 Gs!"

Subterra Stinglash: 210 Gs to 310 Gs!

"Now my Stinglash has more than enough power to-"

"Ability Activate! Negative!"

"Eh?"

Subterra Stinglash: 310 Gs to 210 Gs!

Dan whistled at the smart play. "A negation card? Nice! Didn't think you realized those existed yet!"

Yuji rubbed the back of his neck. "I-I didn't. Alice must've realized that I was getting cornered too much by high G-Power and tossed it into my deck to counter them." Yuji was going to give Alice a big thanks once he saw her again.

"Well, yeah. If you had that back when we battled, then you might've won in the end!" Dan laughed, proudly. Unknown to the rest of them, Leonidas shook slightly from Dan's words.

Terrorclaw grabbed Stinglash by its head, squeezing the scorpion Bakugan to crush its skull like a grape. The pressure became too much, forcing the Subterra Bakugan back to ball form, rolling down by Shuji's feet.

"W-w-what…" Shuji gaped at how easily he was beaten back.

Shuji and Akira - 0

Dan and Yuji - 1

"And that's how we'll be keeping count of the Gate Cards." Dan and Yuji looked down at their watches.

"But it's just getting three cards. What's so hard about keeping track of it?" Yuji asked.

"You never know how complicated it can get sometimes. Best to have a way to let us know how far along in the game we are." Dan explained.

"Especially for Dan. He needs all the help he can get." Drago added.

"Hey! No insulting me in front of my student!" Dan yelled at his partner.

Yuji smiled at the two as they bickered back and forth. His eyes trailed down to Leonidas, who hadn't said anything the entire time. Nor has he been excited about the prospect of battling against anyone today. "Leonidas…"

Dan huffed at Drago before pulling out another Bakugan. "Anyway, it's my turn now! Bakugan, brawl!" He tossed it towards one of the Gate Cards. "Bakugan, stand!" His Griffon roared to life from the red light, growling at the two humans who stood across from him.

Pyrus Griffon: 230 Gs!

"You better not mess this up, Akira!"

Akira rolled his eyes at his big brother. The younger boy was starting to realize just how much of a sore loser Shuji was and it was starting to get annoying. "Yeah, yeah! I got this! Bakugan, brawl!" Akira tossed out his own Subterra Bakugan.

Subterra Juggernoid: 200 Gs!

The brown tortoise Bakugan stomped its feet as it stood across from the red and white Griffon. Akira raised his hand, happy that Dan decided to attack on his Gate Card. "Gate Card, open!" The light revealed Akira's Gate Card to be an Attribute Card.

Subterra Juggernoid: 200 Gs to 280 Gs!

Dan smirked. "Nice, Akira! But, not nice enough!" The Pyrus Brawler whipped out an Ability Card. "Ability Activate! Fire Tornado!" He tossed the card towards Griffon, it swirled around the beast-like Bakugan, creating a fire tornado. The flames burned the Juggernoid, causing it to lose some of its power.

Subterra Juggernoid: 280 Gs to 180 Gs!

Pyrus Griffon: 230 Gs to 330 Gs!

Griffon dashed through the tornado, slamming its paws into the jaw of Juggernoid. The turtle Bakugan groaned in pain before returning to ball form. Dan caught his Bakugan, while Akira picked his up off the ground.

Shuji and Akira - 0

Dan and Yuji - 2

"Heh, nothing to it!" Dan puffed his chest.

"Six out of ten." Drago scored.

"What!? That was totally a full score!" Dan argued.

On the other side of the field, Shuji was glaring down at his little brother. "Good going, Akira! Now they're even closer to winning!"

Akira matched back with his own glare, shocking his brother. "They wouldn't be in the lead if you hadn't rushed in like an idiot!"

"Idiot!? Who are you calling an idiot, pipsqueak!?"

"YOU!"

"Uh oh. Looks like they're having some issues, huh?" Dan said, a bit concerned.

"Yes, but they aren't the only ones." Drago said.

"What?" Dan looked at his partner. Drago turned to their left, Dan followed and saw Yuji looking at Leonidas. Dan could see a look of pure disbelief on Yuji's face after hearing what his partner had just said.

"L-Leonidas… what are you talking about?" Yuji stuttered.

"I will not battle."

"But why!?"

His partner didn't answer, leaving Yuji in stunned silence. "L-Leonidas doesn't want to battle…? Is this my fault?"

"Hey, Yuji."

Yuji turned to Dan, who was giving him a concerned look. "Are you guys good?" The Haos brawler didn't know how to answer that question. He truly wanted nothing more than to reply with 'yes' and that everything was okay. But that would be a lie, because everything wasn't okay. His partner-his best friend-refused to battle.

Everything was terrible and Yuji wasn't sure how to fix it.

The rest of the battle was a blur to Yuji, his mind was too occupied by the horrible state of Leonidas to even bother focusing on the rest of the battle. Leaving it all to Dan to finish it up and end the battle with their victory.

Shuji stomped his foot on the ground like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum after they returned back to Earth. The Subterra brawler was growling in anger, pointing his finger at the duo that had won. "Argh! I can't believe I lost to you two again! Just wait till the Tag-Team Tournament! We'll totally-"

"Nope."

"-beat you-wait what?" Shuji turned to his little brother.

"Find someone else to team up with! I don't wanna work with someone who can't listen to strategy and blames others for his screw ups!" Akira yelled.

"Why you little…!" Shuji grinds his teeth. "Is this how you treat your big brother!?"

"You being my brother doesn't change the fact that I'm going to find a different teammate!" Akira stormed off.

"Fine! See if I care! Have fun trying to find a partner!" Shuji yelled at his little brother. He was going to turn away too, but then saw Akira walking back over to him. Shuji looked smugly at his little brother. "Changed your mind, huh?"

"No… mom had said that we have to get home together, remember?"

"Oh… right."

The two quickly left the park in awkward silence, leaving Dan and Yuji alone. The Pyrus Brawler glanced at his student then back to his partner. "I guess whatever's going on with Leonidas is more serious than we thought."

"Yes, Dan. It seems so."

Yuji held Leonidas carefully in his hands. "Leonidas, talk to me. What's wrong? We're partners, so we talk to each other when something is wrong. We can't be acting like this if we want to win our future battles-"

"I will battle no longer."

Stunned silence followed Leonidas' declaration, nobody present could believe the words that were just spoken. Especially Yuji, who had known Leonidas to be a battling maniac since the moment they first met. "Why?" Yuji asked, weakly.

"If I am not the strongest, then I will not battle."

…

…

…

Several emotions could be seen running through Yuji's face. A slight chill could be felt running through the park. Dan was slightly afraid by Yuji's silence, wondering just what the boy was going to say to his partner.

"Are you kidding me?"

"What?" Leonidas opened himself to look at Yuji. His eyes widened as he saw an emotion that he never thought he'd see cross Yuji's face.

Yuji stared down at his partner with pure anger, an emotion that he rarely ever brought out to the open. But the words Leonidas just spat at him jabbed a nerve inside of him. "You're going to give up like that!? Just because you lost to Drago!? SO WHAT!? IT'S JUST ONE LOSS-"

"IF I CANNOT WIN, THEN I AM NOTHING!"

…

"Then what about me? I thought after all that's happened that you wouldn't be so focused on just you… but maybe I was wrong. You're still only focused on yourself and not our partnership…" Yuji could feel his tears building up. "Maybe, the others were right… maybe we're not-"

"YUJI!" Dan stopped him before he could finish that sentence. The student turned to his teacher, staring into Dan's eyes. "I know what you were about to say, and trust me you really don't want to finish that." Dan watched as Yuji's breathing slowed down a bit before wiping his eyes with his sleeves.

As that happened Drago curled into a ball, then bashed himself into Leonidas, knocking the Bakugan away from the humans. Drago quickly gave chase after Leonidas, while Yuji could only look confused.

"W-what!? W-why did Drago-"

"Don't worry about that, Yuji. Let's just get you something to drink to calm down." Dan pushed the boy to the park's exit, then turned his head to where Drago and Leonidas had gone. "You got this, buddy."

Leonidas' roll came to a stop by the park's fountain. The Haos dragon opened up, glaring angrily at the Pyrus dragonoid. "Why did you-"

"What is wrong with you, Leonidas!?" Drago's question stopped Leonidas cold.

"W-what are you-"

"Your obsession with power and strength is a problem! Is that all that matters to you!? Do you even truly care about Yuji!?" Drago exclaimed.

"Of course, I care about Yuji! How dare you even suggest that!?" Leonidas growled, ferociously. He slammed his horn against Drago's both Bakugan pushing against one another. "He is my partner!"

"And how exactly do you view partnership, Leonidas!? A partner is your equal, a confidant, a friend!" Drago pushed Leonidas back. "However, you don't seem to see Yuji as anything like that! Didn't he call you his best friend!?"

Leonidas grunted from the force of Drago's shove. "Best friend… ARGH!" Leonidas screamed, charging against the red dragon. "I don't even know what that means!"

Drago staggered slightly. "Y-you don't…?"

"Yes, I don't know! Yuji says a lot of things that I don't understand, but what I do understand is that partners are a means to grow stronger! Not whatever it is you just said!" Leonidas shouted back.

Drago grunted slightly, putting more strength into his body. "You only see Yuji as a source of strength?" His question had caught the Haos dragon off guard, giving Drago the chance to send Leonidas tumbling back towards the edge. Drago didn't attempt to advance or keep the fight going, since it seemed that Leonidas was starting to calm down.

"I-I…" Leonidas tried to contemplate the right words. "N-no… I… I don't think I do."

"Why are you so obsessed with being the strongest, Leonidas?" Drago asked again.

This time Leonidas decided to answer. "I-It's my drive, my reason to live. If I am not the strongest… then I have nothing left."

"Why?"

"I-I don't know."

Drago waddled next to Leonidas. "Leonidas, let me tell you a story." His fellow dragon turned slightly to look at him. "Back when I was in Vestroia, I was the strongest Bakugan in the Pyrus space. No one was able to stand up to me and I refused to listen to anyone or anything that stood before me. To me, power was everything."

"Power is everything."

"Wrong." Drago gave him a disapproving look. "I was young and foolish back then, unable to see the true meanings that life held for me. One day, two non-Pyrus Bakugan appeared in the Pyrus space, they weren't of any attribute I had seen before. I wanted them to leave, but they didn't listen to me and stayed. Over time, I started to find myself coming back to see them again and again. Especially one of them, who I had grown attached to." Drago's voice had grown soft as he recalled the memories of his past.

"Who was this?" Leonidas asked. "Were they like a partner?"

"Yes… but not the kind of partner like Dan and I or you and Yuji." Drago answered. "She was someone important to me." His voice grew sad as a certain event replayed in his mind. "But, I wasn't strong enough to protect her or stop the tragedy that befell Vestroia."

Leonidas gave him a confused look. "But you were the strongest! You had power! How could you have possibly failed!?"

"Because, power alone isn't everything. Ever since meeting Dan and the others I've learned that lesson in strides. She is part of the reason why I am determined to continue my quest to save Vestroia and stop the same fate from befalling Earth."

"With what strength? You've already failed before."

"Yes, but back then I was alone. But now I have the rest of the Battle Brawlers by my side to save our world and Earth. A new power that I had lacked before and plan to strengthen as long as I still draw breath."

"And what power could that possibly be?"

Drago looked Leonidas straight in the eyes and answered with confidence. "A power between friends."

Chapter End

NOTE: I want to remind you all that Leonidas is like 2 weeks old. He doesn't understand the most basic of things besides punching. Which explains a lot of his behavior when you remember he's the Bakugan equivalent of a child. He lost once, got mad, and gave up like a child would.

Yes, I think it was obvious who Drago was talking about there. I know the ending probably seemed cheesy, but it's the truth that it's the trust between friends which strengthens all of the Bakugan. Leonidas just doesn't understand what any of that means just yet.

The tutorial battle was like that least important part of this chapter, sorry if you were looking forward to it. But it's a freaking tutorial battle. As long as the rules are clear to understand, then it's fine and Yuji gets how it all works.

Leonidas won't be battling for a bit, because he's still trying to understand everything. It won't be super dragged out, so don't worry about that.

Do note that Yuji and Leonidas never had an argument before this. No relationship is perfect, not even theirs.

Dan and Yuji's side of things will be shown next chapter.

Also, this is the first chapter that Serena doesn't appear in. She's mentioned, but she doesn't make an appearance at all. Wow... I didn't realize that as I was writing this chapter.

Have a great day!