Edit: This firt part of the author's note was meant for my p a t reon, was in a rush to post this yesterday and forget to remove it.

Now, I am following an altered plan for this story as, unlike with my other stuff, with chapter notes lined out for each chapter, there's more than just a list of plot and character points I have for the separate acts. This one, as you can imagine, would be similar to the earlier episodes of Bakugan mixed in with New Vestroia as, unlike the cast there, Lelouch is very much a newbie to all this, with some rules and lore changed, so I would advise those that know Bakugan don't completely zone out when characters explain stuff.

Chapter 2: A New Brawler

Among the dark storm clouds where the winds were strong and lightning reigned, sat a city-no, floated a grand palace. One that would make even Pendragon Imperial Palace seem like little more than a summer villa. Its grand spires, towers, and domes dominated its construction with bright colors and lights, creating an artificial star in the storm-filled sky with nothing but the very stars above comparable to it. A hubristic castle befitting the prince, who called it home.

The prince sat in his throne room, his many servants and security absent, as he wished for a moment alone to gather his thoughts and enjoy a nice cup of tea. However, his mood worsened with this storm, which had developed out of nowhere. Still, he didn't let his confusion and anger show, as that wouldn't be fitting for a man of his social rank. Even if he was alone, he wouldn't lose his cool.

So, to calm himself at least a little, he slowly finished his tea; only when his fine ivory cup was empty did he finally contact someone about the situation.

Tapping the control panel on his armrest, purposely designed to blend into it, a holo screen appeared a little before him. On it was a man wearing a red masquerade mask, with wild blonde hair and a red coat decorated with black feathers.

"You called, my prince?" The man on the other end replied, having bowed with his hand on his chest in respect.

"Spectre, this sudden storm is most distressing. Where did it come from?" The prince asked, getting straight to the point.

"There seems to be a disturbance with the Infinity core, but I believe it will pass shortly," Spectre replied, though the prince was surprised. The Infinity core had long been understood to be the docile, reliable of the planet's two corps. But he shrugged. What could be expected from such a savage world?

"I see, I don't like thunder, Spectre. I don't like surprises either. Let's hope that your belief turns into reality." He told his subordinate.

Wavern's response was tinged with such a deep affection, and pride seemed to be the strongest emotions Lelouch could hear, but also grief and hate, though there was shame underlying all of it. A shame that Lelouch would compare to what Suzaku felt about himself, though he couldn't tell why she would feel such a thing. Did she play a role in the coming plight he would see? Or was it just because she believed feeling hatred towards those who enslaved her people was a bad thing.

He was curious, but she appeared to be having a moment, so as they got closer to the light, he didn't push things. Getting to the end, Lelouch prepared for the worst and was still surprised. Wavern was a dragon, at least her proper form was, and he expected to see more of that, but instead, he was dropped in an alley, the buildings on either side of him being tall enough that he couldn't see much of the sky.

It didn't seem to be a busy part of town either. While incredibly clean, there wasn't much vehicle or foot traffic to be heard or seen. What was more important was that Wavern wasn't with him, ball form or otherwise.

"Wavern, where are you? Where did you take me?" He looked around but couldn't see her, even with the light dim.

"Please calm yourself, Zero. I am never far from you." Wavern's voice rang in his head, stopping him from rushing about like an idiot.

"And yet, I don't see you," Lelouch stated, though a little calmer than before.

"Did you see me before I appeared to you on Earth? As my…I suppose the closest human word would be 'champion.' We do not need to share the same physical space to communicate; our thoughts are sufficient." She replied though Lelouch's eyes narrowed.

"So, you're reading my mind?" He asked, remembering Mao and all the trouble the insane mind reader gave him. He was an incredibly persistent threat; even after he was shot to pieces, he still managed to live and return to challenge him, threatening Nunnally's life and the lives of every student at Ashford all because he was obsessed with a woman who had rejected him.

When he dealt with him a second time, he made sure that the body was incinerated, just in case he somehow found a means to survive both being mute and being shot in the neck at close range.

Wavern, perhaps detecting this irritation and paranoia, chose to address it: "Only the surface-level thoughts. Rest assured that I will never violate your privacy by looking any deeper, much like I trust that you won't look deeper into my mind."

Lelouch's frown didn't clear, though when he focused on her voice, intending to hear her thoughts, he found that he very much could. Typically, he would have gone deeper to learn more about her and about this dimension to better his position, but once more, he found the idea of crossing that line…repulsive.

'A deal built on mutual trust, then? ' he thought, rather than speaking, and Wavern seemed to hear it loud and clear. "I think I'll prefer to speak my end of things, at least when we're…I'm alone." He switched back to speaking, as just thinking his responses felt weird, making it hard to separate voice from thought.

"Whatever makes you comfortable. As for what is your follow-up question, I'm not physically present because I can't be. It took a considerable portion of my power to accomplish my prior actions. And in the city, my powers are even weaker. I can offer you more aid as you travel beyond its walls, but while you walk within, you will need to handle things independently."

Lelouch leaned on the wall, humming in contemplation. "A setback, but not an unreasonable one. If you could have handled this yourself, you wouldn't have whisked me away from my dimension." Crossing his arms, he looked up toward the sky, though now that he was paying attention to it, he could see it wasn't quite the right shade.

Dismissing that as a consequence of being in an alien world, Lelouch was just happy that he could breathe here. "Now, if I'm to accomplish my tasks, I would need information."

"That I can provide. You're currently in one of the invaders-Vestal cities called Beta City. It's one of 3 they brought to my world from wherever they came." Wavern explained to him, though something stuck out to him.

"Brought?" Lelouch asked. How could one bring a city? The supplies, manpower, and expertise to create one, maybe, but an entire city?

"Yes, they're quite advanced and could send fully built and occupied cities to my world. As a result, in the 4 years they've been here, they've hardly needed to build up more."

"What my father would give for technology like that," Lelouch muttered. Britannia already had a habit of destroying cities in their wars and building settlements to their fashion sense atop the ashes. But that was a process that took years. If they could just set up pre-built cities, surely, they would be even more destructive.

However, if the cities arrived here as they were, with so little change since it gave him a clue. "I'm assuming these cities also house the device or method used to weaken you people and turn them into balls?"

"Yes, shortly after they arrived, all the Bakugan were forced into the weakened state you saw me as. And as if that wasn't a humiliation enough, most were captured and forced to perform…or worse." Wavern's words were grave, tinged with horror and dejection.

"Perform, as in shows?" Lelouch asked, but a pit in his stomach formed, telling him it was far worse.

"If only. No, they force my kind to fight against one another for entertainment. Those who participate are called 'Brawlers'. Only during one of these brawls can we return to our true forms, but those involved can't fight back." She explained, with Lelouch imagining such. People have always made animals fight one another. If other Bakugan were like her, then on some level, he could see the appeal in making dragons fight.

But even things like dog fights were barbaric; to make sentient creatures battle for entertainment, risking life and limb was just cruel, an evil act with no excuse or defense.

One that Britannia had been trying to bring back as he had the displeasure, at times, of attending his gambling matches in larger clubs which had live entertainment, a popular one was bare-knuckle boxing between Elevens, where matches rarely ended like how one would expect, but instead could be till one or both were simply too injured and exhausted to continue.

"Why? I saw your form and how easily you handled things." Lelouch asked as if they were being made to fight for entertainment; it couldn't be in their weakened forms. Did they have cages for them? But what cage could contain such creatures even if Wavern was an outlier? Even just a 10th of her power must have been overwhelming.

"We can't because as the…property of the brawlers, the poor Bakugan forced to participate can only act as they wish, robbed of all autonomy; they can't even speak or plead. Though I fear that even if they could, most would simply refuse to listen." Wavern had been forced to see it dozens, hundreds, thousands of times. Each hurting as much as the first, with her being unable to step in, to offer hope, salvation. Even when those who stood against them…even when Dra…

Lelouch, hearing that, immediately reached for his left eye, where his geass lay dormant but always close and ready to be used. He had experience robbing others of their free will, but it was against enemies, those who deserved it, for a greater purpose than just what these people were doing.

Somehow, that just felt like an excuse. "It's no better than forcing slaves to battle." Lelouch shook his head, this wasn't the time for self-introspection. "Then it should be simply then. While I find ways to counter or deactivate whatever methods are keeping the Bakugan imprisoned, I can just steal the Bakugan from any brawlers I find."

"That won't work." Wavern stopped all plans to use his geass to just people to hand over their Bakugan. "As much as I wish it would, you couldn't accomplish it. So long as a Bakugan has an owner, they'll always return to them…whether they like it. However, you can gain them should you claim victory in a brawl."

"So, to save Bakugan from brawls, I need to participate in them?" he asked himself, smiling even though he was disgusted. How fitting, even in another dimension, I must use the methods of evil to combat evil."

"I do not see it like that, Zero. You might cloak yourself in darkness, but you are not a servant of it. As long as you remain good at your core, many Bakugan will be willing to aid you in your mission." Lelouch would have called her words worthless platitudes, but it seemed like there was something to her as he felt taken by those words, which settled in his heart and radiated an odd sort of warmth.

Then, for lack of better words, he felt their connection jolt, as now her words came through scratchy and with a strange static. "This is all I can say. I've used the last of my power to pass you knowledge of their language, but you should refrain from letting them see your eyes, for their eyes look different, and you'll immediately stick out."

As she said that, Lelouch felt like a memory; no series of memories were being unlocked in his head. Wavern was sending him the knowledge, no doubt. But he couldn't thank her as he felt the connection cut.

No, it was still there. He could feel it, but he couldn't hear her voice anymore. 'If their eyes are the only things that are different, then I can manage that, ' he thought to himself. Looking around the alley, he saw a path that led deeper into it. He could take that, but that left one issue: his current attire.

He could steal something to blend in from a store if he found one, or even just geass people into handing him articles of theirs, but he would need to find a means to carry his costume, and that left out the mask. Looking at it, he winced a little when he saw its interior condition. 'Looks like, for now, you'll need to take the backseat.'

If nothing else, Lelouch found that it wasn't too challenging to navigate, as the city's layout was uncomfortable, similar to the Tokyo settlement, with Lelouch pondering if they had 2nd class citizens as well but leaving that for later.

He had to stick to the shadows, but even then, from what he could see on the streets as time passed, another thing it shared with the Tokyo settlement was how…artificial it all was. It was a pre-built city, and that would affect urban planning, but the place had so little life to the Tokyo he had seen; that statement carried more weight as Lelouch realized as he traveled that the sky wasn't a weird color because of an alien atmosphere, but because they were in a dorm.

Lelouch spent a while trying to understand that, but he would need to think about it later.

From the shadows, he watched the city to learn more; his newly gained knowledge of their language made it easier to read signs and understand chatter from people. People seemed to be living in good spirits, the place was clean and well-organized, and there seemed to be plenty of things to do.

'If this place reminds me more of the Tokyo Settlement, I might kill someone.' He thought to himself as he traveled, the day going on till night fell. Only then did he take to walking down the now empty streets, keeping an eye out for anyone that could spot him as he could geass someone to just forget that he was seen, but he couldn't be reckless and overly rely on it. He didn't have the Black Knights here; he didn't have weapons or a base. He didn't even know much about the Vestals.

He would need to correct that and fast.

However, as he walked, he came across a building with people hanging around outside of it. One didn't need as much experience as he did with the seedier side of the settlement to understand that this was not the most law-abiding spot. However, criminals always find a means to know a lot.

"Well, if this place is so much like home, maybe they have a game like chess," Lelouch smirked, abandoning his cope and mask, the most recognizable parts of his costume, and approached the place.

"Evening, gentlemen. Tell me, do you have any games to play? I'm feeling fortunate." He asked the two standing out front, angling his face so that his eyes wouldn't be seen by the two grown men who looked at him, his attire, and finally at one another.

"Alban!" Everyone in the club winced when the door opened, and an irate man entered. The middle-aged green-haired man scowled as he scanned the place until, at one of the Novo tables, he spotted the target of his ire. "There you are, I've been looking for you!" He marched over, Lelouch smiling and calm even as the man marched in a rage.

"Lycon, it's been a while. You didn't need to look far, I'm always around these parts, you know. Came for your 9th rematch?" Lelouch, or as these people knew him, Alban Ganymede asked. He had managed well enough for himself, the gambling den being a spot he frequented a lot. With the earnings of that first match, he bought some clothing that suited the local fashions.

That included a vestal pair of sunglasses, though they looked more like the visors that his Black Knights would have worn. With that being one of the first things he bought, no one had seen him without them.

To them, he was just some runaway son of a wealthy but emotionally absent father; Lelouch loved it when lies were based on truths.

"You damn cheater, like I'll be that dumb." The now-identified Lycon yelled back at him, though Lelouch wasn't surprised. He was one of the security guards who first met him when he arrived. H had thought he was an easy mark, especially when Lelouch admitted that he didn't know how to play the game of Novo. However, he found it similar to poker with the rules explained to him.

And after that…well, he hadn't lost a match yet, betting for anything he wished, whether money, his new bike, or information. The biggest had been the reason behind the Vestal's presence on the planet, to begin with.

According to those he encountered, Bakugan cards—numbering in the tens of thousands—fell from the sky years ago as if from some flying ship. From these cards emerged the Bakugan, compacted in ball forms. People quickly discovered they could fight, and Bakugan brawling soon became a popular sport, the biggest in the world. While youths embraced it as entertainment, King Zenoheld's government sought answers: what were these creatures, where had they come from, and why had they appeared?

This was around four years ago, and it grabbed Lelouch's interest. Dimensional time, at least in theory, could be complex, but if time here matched Earth's, the Bakugan's arrival aligned with a series of natural disasters on Earth that forced even Britannia to pause its wars. If the two events were linked, it was yet another mystery to solve.

The Vestals, however, were focused on overpopulation, and after discovering New Vestroia's suitability for life, they swiftly colonized it. Beta City alone housed over 50 million Vestals, while Alpha City's population exceeded 70 million—all within just three years.

This information might have come quicker if his Geass worked, as his commands failed despite feeling the switch in his mind and seeing the symbol manifest. His early attempts to compel others were subtle enough to avoid suspicion, but the repeated failures were undeniable, and while he had theories as to why, he had nothing that could remedy it.

With his Geass disabled and Wavern absent, Lelouch had to proceed carefully. As Wavern had warned, obtaining Bakugan was no simple task. He tried betting and even theft, but no one would bet their Bakugan, and theft just failed as they'd quickly teleport back to their owners. Yet, luck hadn't entirely abandoned him—he still had his wits. "Cheater? That's a serious accusation. I haven't cheated in a single match I've played here. It's just been a lucky streak." Lelouch continued to smile, leaning into his seat, loving how easy it was to rile this man up, he could give Tamaki a run for his money.

"For an entire week?" Lycon looked ready to jump over the table and throttle him then and there.

"A fortunate streak." Lelouch insisted. It wasn't the wisest, but it was an excellent way to goad people into matches against him. He wondered what Lycon would wager this time around. He had already purchased a gauntlet and some info books on brawling.

"No, I'm not playing your game. Instead, you'll play mine." The man stepped aside, and a younger man, or more accurately, a teen, stepped up. Like the older of the two, he had green hair but a much more arrogant look. "This is my cousin, Bycon."

Lelouch rolled his eyes at that naming convention within their family, not that they could see it with his visor. In turn, the newly introduced Bycon looked him over, his arrogant gaze only growing. "So you're the guy getting Ly over here all riled up. I gotta say, I thought you'd be taller."

Lelouch's smile didn't change, though he crossed his legs, pulling his arms up as he looked the brat over. They might be close in age, but he could tell from his eyes that he was just like everyone else at Ashford, living in an entirely different world to him. Such a divide between them made Bycon's belief in superiority over him laughable. "And yet, he ran and got you to replace him. Well, I don't really care all that much. But if you want to play-"

"Nope! Unlike you, I respect the law about minors, not gambling. But I will show you a lesson." He pulled out something from behind his back, a green-themed Bakugan gauntlet, and with it out, the arrogance mixed with eagerness. "So how about it, a Bakugan battle."

Lelouch blinked in surprise before he matched his prey's enthusiasm. He had learned plenty while he was here, but truthfully, he had gotten bored of cleaning house in this pathetic little club after the 3rd day. This would be an excellent chance to experience a duel.

"Dear little Bycon, you've just made my day." He uncrossed his legs and stood up, smirking a little when he was a head taller than his cocky opponent. "I accept. Let's head to an arena; the faster we do, the sooner I'll leave you in the dust."

"I almost wish we waited; that way, we could have a bigger audience, " Bycon said, the two standing on opposite ends of the arena, one of the smaller ones the city had for Bakugan battles. To the side, most of the club guests were present, as a brawl was always a spectacle. Lycon was especially loud in his cheering for his cousin to 'teach him a lesson'.

"So you say, now shall we get started?" Bycon's eye twitched at Alban's disinterest in this.

"Eager to lose?" Bycon tried again, only for the older teen to smirk.

"Why don't you defeat me and find out?" Alban asked as he attached his Bakugan gauntlet to his right forearm. The device was slightly larger than his opponents and themed around the color blue.

"Oh, you're so going down!" Bycon followed his example. The two pulled out the activation cards as their gauntlets opened up, allowing both to place them. This powering up the gauntlets caused the arena to pick them up.

"Gauntlet Power Strike!" Both called out as the battle commenced, with Lycon taking the initiative.

"Gate card, set!" He threw a gate card onto the field, where it landed in the middle, bursting into light, which expanded to cover the entire field. With a cocky smirk, he pulled out his first Bakugo. "Bakugo brawl, show him what you can do, Ventus Atmos!"

Coming fourth in a burst of light and wind, Alban observed the falcon-like Bakugan, which, while not anywhere close to Wavern's size, was still far larger than any bird on Earth. Attached to its wings were six deadly blades, no doubt for swift and clean strikes.

Taking to the air, the Bakugan couldn't fly too high as their arena was one of the smaller ones with a ceiling. A glance at his gauntlet told him that his opponent had a G-power score of 350, not a bad start.

"Well, aren't you going to throw down your Bakugan? I thought you were in a hurry, getting cold feet?" Bycon yelled at him, trying to goad him, but Alban was more amused than anything else. Impossible, it might be. Was there a link between this family and Tamaki?

"My, someone must have places to be. But if you want to lose faster, then I won't argue." Alban pulled out one of his Bakugan. "Bakugan brawl! Rise, Aquos Juggernoid." Alban called as he threw his Bakugan onto the field, and with a flash of blue light, the creature returned to its proper form, a giant turtle whose shell appeared first before its legs and head came out right before it landed. Its G-power level was 330.

"What the heck is that? Don't you know how to count? If you want to lose so bad, let's speed things up! Gate card, activate! Ventus reactor!" Bycon commanded, with the gate card activating, winds forming from nothing, buffeting both of them, though the Ventus brawler looked much more comfortable with them. The field turning into what it must have been like to be inside a raging storm gave Atmos a sizable boast, 200 Gs, bringing its total power to 550.

"Go, Atmos. Blow these two losers away!" The bird let out a screech as it raced towards Alban's Juggernoid, which hunkered down to remain in place but only made an easy mark. His Bakugan gave him a glance, to which Alban nodded.

"What a predictable response! " Alban said as he pulled out a card and slotted it into his gauntlet. "Ability activate! Dive Mirage!" He held his gauntlet up as his card within it glowed. The power turned the field to water, allowing Alban's Juggernoid to dive into it.

"Like that will save you." Lycon bragged as his Bakugan dived into the water without fear, but its speed dropped too much. "What the? Why did-" He looked at his gauntlet and saw that his Bakugan's power level was decreased by how.

Alban smiled, wondering when his foe would notice. "Dive Mirage doesn't turn the field to battle into water for some quick evasion of attacks, but it also nullifies the gate card." With that done, while the bird was still capable of giving chase, its speed, and power were much lower, even his Juggernoid a fighting chance as while big and bulky, as an Aquos creature, it had an easier time swimming around.

"So what? You think one trick will win you the battle, water or not, I'll still beat you!" Bycon yelled as he pulled out an ability card of his own. "Ability card, activate! Typhoon Chase!" Once more, Atmos's form started glowing as it beat its wings in the water. It created massive underwater currents that smacked into Juggernoid, throwing it around as the bird came in for the finishing blow as its dazed and out-of-control opponent.

"Ability activate!" Alban was ready, a card slotted into his gauntlet. "Water Refrain." With his call, his Juggernoid's body started to emit blue waves that, when they contacted the incoming Atmos, once more saw its glow fade.

"What now?" Bycon asked, grinding his teeth.

"There goes your ability card. And to claim victory, ability activate! Depth Tornado!" Alban went on the attack, his Bakugan letting out a mighty groan as it retreated into its shell, which started rapidly spinning in the water, creating a tornado that started to suck in struggling Atmos. Lycon looked at his gauntlet in worry as his Bakugan's power had dropped back to 350 again, while Juggernoid's had risen to 430.

"Ability-!" He had to fix this and fast, but Alban laughed at his attempt.

"It's useless. So long as Water Refrain's active, you can't use ability cards for 60 seconds." He told him, as the boy realized that the waves of blue didn't cease. With that realization, Alban smiled. "And you won't last even 10."

True to his assessment, less than 10 seconds later, despite struggling to escape and return to the air, the Bakugan was sucked into the tornado and battered by the waters and, even worse, the spinning form of Jugggernoid. It couldn't stand up to such a beating and was defeated, ending the round as Lycon's life gauge dropped by over half.

"What are you doing, Lycon? Show him what you can do!" Bycon yelled from the side as the rest watched in awe and anticipation to see more of this match between someone with a proven track record and this dark underdog.

"I'm working on it!" Bycon yelled back before glaring at his opponent, who merely shrugged, though Alban was now smirking.

"Don't get upset with me, kid. You were the one who asked for this. But since you went first, I'll lead this round." He pulled out his own Gate card, which was blue and white.

"Gate card, set!" He threw it onto the field, where, like the one before, it expanded to cover the entire surface before vanishing. "Bakugan, Brawl! Rise, Aquos Juggernoid." Following that, he brought the same Bakugan.

"You're sending it out again? Well, I'm not falling for the same trick twice! Bakugan, brawl!" Bycon yelled as he pulled out another Bakugan, swearing that he would have claimed that first math if it hadn't gone easy. "Show them what we can do, Ventus Atchibee!"

Landing, the Bakugan that was released looked like a giant moth, or, as Lelouch thought, a butterfly that had come out of the cacoon when it was still in metamorphosis. It had four wings, two arms, and a large body that ended with a long tail. Two wings had eyeball patterns with their large insect legs barbed, tiny spikes on the top and sides of their legs, and massive spikes on the bottom.

Alban looked at the gauntlet, seeing that, like the last Bakugan his opponent had sent it, it had a higher G power score, at 400 to his Juggernoid's 330. And just like last time, that difference in power will only work in his favor. "Gate card, open! Quartet Battle."

Alban commanded, with his gate card turning bright white, much to the confusion of his foe who was about to ask, but Alban beat him to it. "Before you ask, we must send another Bakugan into the field. Surface and battle, Aqous Clawcer." From his side, his second Bakugo was forced to take the field, the same was true for his opponent. Meeting the return of his Atmos, Alban's second Bakugo was a crab-like Bakugan whose right claw was much bigger than its right one.

His opponent was still confused by this move. So, too, was the audience, as with two Bakugan on the field, their G-power was shared. With Lycon's Bakugan having a higher power lever, their combined score was 750, while Alban's Bakugan combined score was 730.

"Double Ability, activate! Aqous and Ventus correlation and Water Refrain" Alban kept the surprises coming as now the entire crowd was left shocked as the visor wearing two slotted in two ability cards into his gauntlet, with their combined light being multi-colored and much brighter than before.

"Again? Wait, how can you even use double abilities? You've never battled before!" Lycon yelled as that was impossible. A successful double ability was a move that took hours to even understand despite its appearance. How did a total newbie who only got into Bakugan days earlier figure that out?

Alban smirked, even as the familiar pulse of blue light locked out Lycon's ability to change the battle, which, when combined with that correlation, saw his opponent's power jump 100 a piece; the final number was nearly 200 points higher than his!

"True, but that doesn't mean I haven't observed and practiced, or did you think I would agree to a battle without knowing how?" He asked if the game was so popular and if it was odd that someone could learn its rules and gameplay through observation and quiet study.

Oh, to be young, it was a blessing…and also a curse his smirk shook Lycon as it was like gaping into the maw of a shark about to take a bite out of you. "And for your arrogance, let the cold depths take you; take them!"

Alban's two Bakugan followed that order, charring the two Bakugan as Clawcer leaped into the air, its size proving to be too little an obstacle as he struck out Atmos, the bird letting out a cry of pain as it was sent crashing down while Juggernoid groaned once more, retracting its limbs and head before starting to spin and launching itself at Atchibee which tried to dodge the attack, only to get blindsided by Clawcer, sending it right into Juggernoid which scored a direct hit, sending the bug type Bakugan into the downed Atmos.

Both Bakugan were defeated on impact, with Lycon buffeted by the winds kicked up from the crash.

"Power loss detected. Victory goes to Alban Ganymede." Their gauntlets AI informed that Lycon's remaining life gauge fell away so fast that if he could have negative points, he would have.

"I can't believe it…I lost?" Lycon asked as the two defeated Bakugo, returning to ball form. He rolled on the floor and fell to his knees in shock before anger took him. Lycon turned that towards his dumbfounded cousin. "Bycon, you tool! You told me he would be easy!"

As the older man tried to explain himself, Alban couldn't help but chuckle.

"So, you only fought me because you thought you would win? What a weak thing to say." He told him as he turned to leave the arena, but his opponent wasn't about to just let sleeping dogs lay.

"Get back here! I want a rematch?" He yelled, pissed off that he, someone whose been at this for 2 years and even managed to place in the top 1000 Brawlers in Beta City, could be defeated like it was nothing.

Alban stopped but didn't turn to face him. The younger teen could still hear the condescension on his lips. "Rematch? All right, I'll give you one…tomorrow. Frankly, there's only so much foolishness I can tolerate in a day. Who knows, maybe you'll last longer than two rounds tomorrow." With that, he left, the screaming and insults from Lycon fading into the back. He found himself alone as he walked through the arena's hallways.

"It was a good match, Alban." A voice spoke up, and his Juggernoid came up from his side. The Bakugan felt respected and safe enough with him to freely converse, something the old Bakugan appreciated.

Alban, on the other hand, didn't share his good spirits. "Not good enough. I was trying to overpower him and rescue his Bakugan."

"It was your first real battle. The fact that you won with such ease is impressive enough. We can refine our skills later." His Clawcer added, the younger of the two Bakugan, that she was more cautious, and even now, Lelouch suspected she was watching his every move to ensure he was genuine.

"Yes, and I feel we'll have plenty of chances to do just that." Alban mused, as with so many people watching. It was only a matter of time before he had even more duels sent his way.

The next chapter will be out on Jaunaury 16th.

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