Sorry about this chapter being so late, my head in other places till someone reminded me to post this.
Just wanted to finish this before I handle an assignment, but I was able to upload two chapters without issue. I'm praying I can get this done with, handle that, and get to my 2 Friday uploads. Admittedly, this chapter came out a little shorter than the norm and being the least…well, unique of what I've created up till this point, but considering that they have the same goals as the canon Resistance has, and I want to have the same characters(not the Earth ones, Dan and Co. will not be making appearances), that was bound to happen. Still, they've been changed enough that while some things will be the same, others will be very different.
Chapter 10: Elfin
Night had fallen over New Vestroia as with the purple star-filled sky, the two bright, distant, and yet so close stars, and the cyan moon to their backs; it would be a night that many would call as mesmerizing as they would say it was alien. But it wasn't a quiet night as passing over the moon's image was a dark shape, one which to any Bakugan would hide in any nooks and crannies they could find, watched on with fear for they knew that shape, if not in person then by word of mouth.
That was no natural phenomenon; instead, it was a Vestal Destroyer, and this one, in particular, was the flagship of the Vexos, their primary means of transport across their colonized world when they couldn't use their personal ships or teleportation.
Inside, the ship's mood was anything but jovial as Mylene stood at the bridge, guards flanking her sides as she looked at the palm of her hand where she held 3 Aquos Bakugan-her Bakugan…but not anymore.
"What useless, Bakugan," She dismissed them, terrifying them as they pleaded for mercy from her, but they would find it would help them as much as it did the last and those that would follow. "Begging won't save you. I demand strength, and you lack that. Be gone." She dropped them onto the floating table, the Bakugan opening up and trying to flee. Still, it wouldn't save them as the floor opened up, and the table vanished into it, taking the Bakugan with them.
Closing up just as fast, one wouldn't even know the hole existed. "Now that I've cleaned out the trash, I think it's time I go out and get some useful Bakugan." She turned to walk off, shooting an annoyed look at one of the guards who stood nearly as still as the status that their prince kept as trophies.
"Don't just stand there; prepare for my departure, you fools." She ordered as a few broke ranks to make it happen. Come the morning, she'll make her trip, and should she happen to find herself in the area where Volt's intelligence put the Resistance…well, it wouldn't be going against Spectra's orders if she was forced to battle them, now would it?
The following morning, under the forest's protective canopy, the resistance members had gathered their base. Along with them were Zero and Mira's bikes, which the two sat on. "Are you sure about this?" Baron asked, his concern clear as day on his face.
"It's a little risky." Ace agreed.
"Look, the terrain up ahead is treacherous. It would be a bad idea if we took our entire base through it blind," Mira told them, as this hadn't just been some random decision.
"She's right," Zero sided with her as Mira put on her riding goggles to keep dust and debris out of her eyes. "It would be better if, as scout ahead, we can find the best route and report back."
"But wouldn't it be best if all of us went?" Baron asked as they would be left waiting here until both came back.
"And who would protect the base? Besides, neither of you have rides." Zero replied that they could ride with them, but that didn't answer the first issue. The Vexos were a crafty opponent, and they had the chance; Zero wouldn't put it past them to sabotage their base or plant some sort of virus into its systems.
"If that's what you want." Baron backed down.
"Less of a want and more a requirement. So, I'll take route 3; it'll keep me close to the water through, though hopefully, it's not marshlands." Zero stated as he pressed a button on his gauntlet, showing off the map he had downloaded for this trip. Mira doing the same.
"Yeah, it's not like the Mobile Base can't handle it, but it would be best if we don't push our luck. I'll take route 5, which is more forested and would provide better cover, but we don't know what's in the underbrush." She stated. However, Zero picked up on how eager she seemed to take that route.
Ace sighed as if he wouldn't fight them on this. Besides, the sooner they left, the sooner they returned. "All right, remember, send a signal every 30 minutes so we'll know if something's up."
"Understood. Be safe, Mira." Zero returned his bike, which caused Mira to let out a quick laugh.
"I should be telling you that!" Mira clapped back, as he needed to remember who was both the better brawler and rider. She didn't need that head of his getting too big for his helmet.
"Hmf, you'll find I have the devil's luck with me." Zero's tone implied he was smirking as she flashed a smile and took off. Zero waited a few moments before he turned his bike, released the bike, and went on his merry way. As he had called out, his route had plenty of water, mainly small creaks and streams, which his bike could handle well enough, even if his boots and pants were getting covered in splashes and mud.
But not even 20 minutes into his ride, he noticed a change. While it was still green, and the map said this area was moist all year around, there wasn't nearly as much water as before. As he drove by, he saw what looked to be dried-up rivers and streams. It only got worse when he crossed out of the forest and found himself in a flat, dry plain with sparse grass and shrubs, with the only trees to his rear.
"Was there a reason you picked this route?" Juggernoid asked after they continued in silence.
"An Aquos Bakugan's bound to want to stay close to the water; if I take this route, it has a higher chance of meeting her." Zero replied, keeping his attention on what was in front of him before his 'Devil's luck' decided he should hit a small hole and get thrown off his bike.
"The Bakugan Wavern talked about?" Sirenoid asked, she and the elder Juggernoid being the only ones he had brought with, having left the rest at the base, which was just another reason he wished for Ace and Baron to remain close.
"Yes, a Bakugan who she would know and would be an associate to a friend of hers is bound to be valuable…but that just means that the Vexos could also be after them," Zero replied, which led to some caution between them, though Sirenoid was more of the angry variety.
"Would they even know to look for her? Wavern didn't say that they had anything particularly special." Juggernoid asked.
"It's better to be safe than sorry. I've taken risks and assumptions in the past without merit and paid for them. I won't repeat that," Zero replied.
"Good, so focus on what's before you before we crash." Sirenoid reminded him before he got lost in his thoughts.
"Well, at least the ride's better than I thought it would," As he feared, they hit a hole he barely saw coming, but it only sent a painful jolt through his spine from his butt. Taking a breath to clear his irritation, he brought them to a stop so that he could make the check-in call. "But it's still long before I can call this a proper cross-country cruiser."
"Just don't get too close to that one, Lelouch," Sirenoid warned.
"Because she's a Vestal?" Juggernoid asked, to which the Songtress scoffed.
"Because she's hiding something. Don't tell me someone as paranoid and perceptive as you didn't notice." She challenged both, Lelouch having sent the message via his gauntlet, looked at Juggernoid.
He didn't keep Sirenoid waiting long. "It's hard not to notice with her; her argument with Ace seemed less about facts and more about emotion, and it was not just because she's dedicated to freeing the Bakugan."
"What do you think it was about?" Juggernoid asked. He had tried speaking with Wilda about it, but he was a crafty one and never gave up more than crumbs, not even a piece of a slice.
"I have some theories, but nothing concrete about it. But it will be a challenge to learn more when I refuse to show my face to them…for now anyway." Zero stated, pausing as he started to start the bike, get off it, and look around the area.
Sirenoid gasped. "You mean-!"
"I wish to test them, see just how far they're go, how much I can rely on them. If it's enough, then they'll learn. But till then, it makes asking questions difficult as Ace is inherently confrontational and would only cause needless arguments about it. Baron's too much of a child to blurt it out without being tricked, and Mira?" Zero didn't need to finish for them both to understand what he left.
Sirenoid sighed but didn't fight him on this. She had trusted him up until now, so she could give him the benefit of continued trust on this, though she was not too sure about it. "I see your point; these Vestal aren't going to be easy nuts to crack."
"We'll just have to play it close and steady. Besides, look at the bright side; they don't seem to be problematic allies." Juggernoid served as the voice of optimism for these two jaded youths, but Zero was only half listening as he continued to look around. Under the mask, his eyes narrowed.
"Was this on the map?" He asked them, to which both paused to recall what they had seen when the Resistance had first looked over the region's maps.
"It was, but I thought it would be smaller than this." Juggernoid volunteered; even wetlands had dry spots, but never this…vast. Without their tracks and the sun, he couldn't tell which direction they came from.
"I've heard of these lands; it shouldn't be so barren out here." Sirenoid's tone carried intense worry for the place.
"What could have caused it? It's not like the Vestals are going out of their way to extract much from the planet." Zero asked, as the Vestals, unlike the Britannians, were interested in New Vestroia as a planet to house parts of their overflowing population, with the Bakugan's subjugation being a cruel side benefit. They had no major mineral or resource extraction sites, at least none that were publicly known.
As terrible as it was, they worked to keep their presence minimal and mainly stayed in cities that could handle their own needs.
Sirenoid didn't see it like that. Maybe by his Earth logic, that would make sense, but her world wasn't like his own. "My world has a delicate ecosystem, Lelouch. Bakugan makes up critical parts of it across the chain, and with most of them reduced to this, it leaves serious gaps."
Bakugan weren't just the main animal and predator here, but greater parts of the world. Pyrus Bakugan, through competitions and battles, put out heat, which affected temperatures across the planet; Aquos Bakugan affected water in all its forms; Haos brought forth light that could benefit plants; Subterra turned up the earth, creating valleys and destroyed mountains as they pleased.
It wasn't just them but all members of the Bakugan, and all six attributes added something to the system on which her world had run for hundreds of millennia. If she had to compare it to how his world worked, it would be like if the Vestals took away warm summers, shortened rainy seasons, tampered with geo activity, and even altered how plants the world over grew.
Zero hummed, kneeling and feeling the soil quality. He found it didn't clump but broke apart between his fingers at the slightest force, flowing back onto the ground like water. "This soil…it's far too brittle. We were in a forest not too long ago, and I can see one up ahead, but you'll think this region hasn't seen rainfall and proper vegetation in weeks, no months."
"I've heard talk from other vestals about weird storms even before you arrived," Juggernoid noted, which only made Zero worry more as he had read up on the weather and its causes and effects and such after Narita.
"Wonderful, so we should consider the maps not completely accurate. Then it was a wise move to scout to find a better track," Zero stated, pulling his map out on his gauntlet, making the region a dry spot before returning to his bike. "Come on, let's get going; we can take a break in that forest and look for her while we're at it."
Riding another hour, he stopped to send two more messages to the others and update the map he had saved. It was a little past the 20-minute mark since his last check-in when he spotted something in the distance: a large patch of green.
Speeding up, he found that he had found the other part of the wetlands. Not even a few minutes into it, he found several points of water, from large puddles to a couple of streams casually flowing through. Hearing birds flying overhead, he decided to stop and explore on foot.
"Well, if we're going to find someone here, this would be a good place to look." Zero asked.
"Do we even know who we're looking for?" Juggeroid asked as Zero walked about the place, finding a small dirt path through the forest.
"I believe that Wavern said her name was-!" Zero yelped as his foot was caught in a rope that went taut around his ankle and pulled him upwards. The masked man had no chance to fight it as he was nearly flung into a tree, only for the rope to pull him back and leave him dangling upside down.
"Zero!" Sirenoid, who had been knocked off him by the surprise, yelled at him.
"You okay?" Juggernoid was the same.
"Just peachy. I can't believe it. I have to be losing my touch from not actively fearing for my life. I would have never fallen for such a cheap trap before." Zero grumbled. He would have had better tact, but his nerves were a tad bit frayed after his embarrassment. The fact that he reminded him of his failure to find food for Euphemia and himself only made it all the more embarrassing, as he had used a similar trap that caught nothing.
"How…are we going to get you down from there?" Juggernoid asked. They looked at the branch he was being hung by. It was pretty high up and would take them a while to get there, and that left out whatever knot tied it.
"I have a knife; just give me a moment." Zero reached for his side, pulling out a large survival knife and cursing how little he'd improved. He grunted as he strained his core muscles to perform a hanging sit-up. Quickly grabbing the rope, he started cutting at it. As he did so, a figure approached along the branch.
"Oh, what do we have here? You don't look like a rabbit?" the Aquos Bakugo asked, though Zero felt she was making fun of him.
"Is that so? Well, I'll surely get some bunny ears added to the helmet next time." He shot back as he continued to cut away at the rope, feeling it weakening with each move against it.
"Was this trap your work, child?" Sirenoid demanded, to which the unknown Bakugan made a show of thinking about it.
"Thought it was pretty obvious, lady. Say, I don't recognize you two; you new here?" She answered their question and immediately shot out one of her own.
"We're just passing through; we're looking for someone," Juggernoid replied, wanting to keep things cordial between them.
"And who would that be?" She asked the trio, a dangerous tone in her voice as Zero managed to cut through the rope enough that his weight did the rest. He fell into his back with a pained grunt, lucky that he kept hold of his knife as he didn't want to explain to the others how he got slashed or stabbed.
Getting his feet under himself, he brushed himself off as he looked towards the mischievous Bakugan.
"We're looking for a Bakugan by the name of Elfin." He told her, as there was no sense in being completely secretive about it. If this was a Vexos trap, he doubted they would let it last this long.
However, his choice to be open drew a pause from the Bakugan. While she lacked a face for him to read as he would humans and vestals, he had spent enough time around Bakugan to know when one was on edge. "…How would you three know that name?" She demanded, which drew some confusion, though only fed into a little idea Lelouch just developed.
"We heard it from a…respectable figure," Sirenoid stated, but their host wasn't satisfied with that.
"Does this respectable figure have a name? I can't just tell you stuff when you're some shady-looking strangers." She pointed out.
"Shady?" Juggernoid asked, to which Sirenoid gestured toward their masked human. Of course this Bakugan was uneasy around them, as far as she knew, he was just another vestal here looking for Bakugan.
"We heard it from a figure that all Bakugo respect and love. She claimed a friend of hers had someone close to them by that name in the area." Zero replied, as he wasn't sure he could just drop Wavern's name, especially as that would lead to questions of when and how he would know about her, much less have spoken to what was the closest thing to a Goddess that the Bakugan had.
"A close friend, but the only one who…" The Bakugan seemed confused by the response, as there weren't many Bakugan that others could be known to respect and love, and they would have needed to know someone who knew her. But she could only think of one, said Bakugan, someone who she admired and cared for greatly: Preyas. "You can't seriously be talking about Wavern, could you?"
Well, that settled things with her. "Why don't we find a spot to sit so we can talk first?" Juggernoid suggested, as he also felt that Zero would want a spot where he could clean the dirt off his clothing.
"Fine, but no funny business. I have plenty more traps I can lead you into." She threatened as she turned and jumped off the branch, landing on another one and waddling off.
"And how would you know they'll work?" Zero asked her, to which she laughed at his expense.
"The first one did, didn't it?"
Finding a spot by a clear body of water, they managed to get through introductions and explain why they were there, both as members of the Resistance and because of a message from Wavern, who is the reason Zero was even there, though they kept out the parts about him being human.
"Oh, that makes a little more sense. Why the mask, though? You like being the smooth and mysterious type?" Elfin asked them as Zero finished cleaning his cape.
"I have my reasons, but why would you remain here? If you wish to search for Preyas, you won't have much luck here." Zero turned things on her as he put his cape back on.
"Someone has to look after the Wontu," Elfin replied.
"Wontu?" Juggernoid asked, to which she gestured towards the bushes, where some Bakugan had been quietly watching them. She then pointed to a tree where they saw more of them. She kept pointing them out, and they saw it was the same type of Bakugan each time.
"They're the Bakugan who reside here. They aren't fighters; Preyas and I used to protect them together, but then…well, he up and vanished." Elfin looked down at that, a feeling they understood as it must be painful for a close friend to vanish.
"You have any idea why he would do that? I can't just see one of the 6 Fighting Bakugan just abandoning them and you without a pretty darn good reason." Juggernoid asked as while he had heard tales of how…eccentric Preyas could be, no one ever questioned his character or resolve. The fact he had been aiding Elfin to protect the rest of the Bakugan even after the vestal invasion only proved that.
"My best guess…he felt like he needed somewhere else. We heard rumors that some of the other Fighting Bakugan were taken, so maybe he went to help or confirm it, I don't know." Elfin replied, her saddened tone only making Zero think back to Kallen and the last time they spoke. To Suzaku, Milly, Shirley, Rivalz, and Nina…to his sister.
Kallen might put two and two together, considering Lelouch Lamperouage went missing at the same time as Zero, and she did once have suspicions about him, but the rest? What would they think? How did they take his sudden disappearance?
"I can't imagine that it's been easy for you…" Zero stated, to which Elfin turned to him.
"Maybe he's like you, right?" she suggested, having heard his story about how he had just been some regular person with his own goals and mission but swooped into this because he couldn't stand by as evil occurred. It reminded her of her Preyas, as while he was more of a comedic charmer than the mysterious brooding fella Zero was, she knew he would have made the same choice.
"That doesn't make it any easier when I consider what I've left behind; for me, it was sudden, unexplained. I heard Wavern's voice in a time of crisis, and she pleaded for my help. To provide such, I left all that I knew with barely a goodbye." Zero sighed, as he had tried not thinking about it in the over a month he'd been here, but he couldn't go a single night without wondering who was taking care of Nunnally; what did they tell her about his fate?
He so badly wished to return to rush things and make it back in record time. He even contemplated demanding that Wavern return him now, as he figured a being with a soul like hers wouldn't force him to stay…but each time he had that thought, he came back to the same thing: Could he even look at his sister if he abandoned the Bakugan? What would she think of him if he did?
He knew his answer, and thus, he never so much as breathed his true thoughts to another, much less voiced them outside the confines of his mind.
"Hm, well, if you're loved ones are anything like me, they'll be sure to kick you in the butt for making them worry before giving you a big hug," Elfin stated.
"I know of one person that wouldn't be against violence…" He hoped Kallen didn't decide on it, but he made a mental note to keep his distance from her until he was sure of it. Returning to the topic, he stood and turned to their host. "That is either here or there, Elfin. Will you come with us? Wavern was worried for you, probably because Preyas is worried for you."
"I can't just leave; who'll care for the Wontu?" Elfin asked, gesturing towards the entire forest and its many inhabitants.
"They could come with us. It's true that we need to fight Bakugan, but our mission is, first and foremost, to restore our kind to their stolen glory. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind having a few more around." Juggernoid suggested though Elfin didn't look convinced.
"There's a little more than just a few."
"We can make the space if need be; one of them can give up their room and bunk with another." Sirenoid offered one of the other's rooms, which, while it would be amusing, probably caused more issues than it was worth. Still, they couldn't just let them stay here, nor when they wished for Elfin to join them.
He offered his hand to her. "Come with us, Elfin. We'll protect the Bakugan and search for Preyas and the other Fighting Bakugan together." Elfin looked at it, thinking the offer over. While she had been waiting, she couldn't deny that Zero was shaping up to be the type of partner she would want—tall, smooth, confident, and caring. If only he was a jokester like Preyas, it would be a perfect match.
But…could she get anything done if she remained here? Before she could decide, they heard the sound of a jet engine overhead, followed by a familiar shadow.
"What was that?" Juggenoid asked as Zero looked up. While the colors were different, he recognized that design immediately.
"Trouble." He started as he turned to rush off, Elfin chasing after him as she had a bad feeling about that, as it could only mean one thing if Zero was this worried about it.
Flying at a low speed over the forest, Mylene stood atop her transport as it did its job and sucked up any Bakugan that happened to be below her. "There better be a few powerful Bakugans here." Mylene tapped her finger on her forearms, her arms crossed.
"Halt and retreat at once, Vexos!" She paused as she looked towards a tall rock formation where a figure she had never seen but recognized all the same. "If you don't, you'll have to answer to me!" Zero's voice boomed over the wind and roar of her engines, but he wasn't alone as he had a Bakugan at his side, another one than what Volt reported.
"Give me back those Bakugan, you creep!" Elfin yelled at her.
"Oh, it looks like my day won't be a bore after all." Mylene smiled and turned to face him, keeping her head above him so she could look down at him as someone standing should.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? The pitiful Resistance's latest member? Was one defeat against us not enough." She taunted him, though Zero didn't flinch like that Baron brat did or get needlessly angry like Ace. No, he was more like their leader, Mira, as he kept his cool. Another feature that matched Volt's report.
"Bold words for someone who hasn't defeated me." Zero shot back at him, to which she scoffed.
"Please, if Volt you handle you, it would be child's play for me." She was 2nd in command in the Vexos for a reason, but she would ignore his insolence and focus on that new Bakugan; it didn't match the Sirenoid Volt reported he had or any of the Bakugan he used against Shalta. "And you even have a little Bakugan with a big mouth. I wonder if she's any better than these ones."
She held up a handful of Bakugan she just captured, and even from where they stood a ways from her, Zero and company could hear them crying out for help, which only got Elfin's blood boiling.
"Leave them alone, you witch! The Wontu aren't warrior Bakugan!" Elfin yelled at the Vexos Aquos brawler.
"You're right, they're not. I have no need for the weak." She tossed them aside as one would a rock that they happened to pick up. Such a sight, such callous disregard for a living being based on something like strength, only made Lelouch remember the world he left, the empire he vowed to burn to the ground, and his father's words that day when he confronted him.
"Strength? Is that all you care for?" He asked, though he already knew the answer as he pulled out his gauntlet and strapped it to his forearm. "If you want to see true strength, then allow me to humble you, Mylene."
"You serious?" Mylene laughed at the demand but pulled out her battle gauntlet all the same. Spectre was being too slow. If this Zero character could be bested by Volt, then she would have no issue with it. Well, I can't turn down the chance to capture that Sirenoid from you and put her to good use."
Zero shifted, his head moving like a water cobra about to strike. "You'll find that to be harder than picking off those weaker than you."
The next chapter will be out April 24th
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