Episode 6: My Control, My Say

[Nero Bullock]

Nero had recently brought Daniel to his residence after narrowly preventing his death from becoming reality. It wasn't your average house; in fact, it was not a house at all. What he was referring to as his home at the moment seemed like a gloomy underground complex filled with various rooms that each had their purpose. Such purposes include living quarters, battle arenas, utility and electricity room that housed all of the luxuries that were stolen, and Nero's personal favorite: the laboratory. Nero was walking back and forth around an injured Belphenoid he was tending to in the medical room as he was stretched across the floor waiting for the problems to be fixed; however, this process did not go without commentary from a disappointed Nero.

"Your injuries are more than I should handle. The dragonoid is powerful, but he isn't the one to blame completely. Your pride and recklessness have pushed my plans back, and has therefore ruined the schedule I had already prepared for us. That's a shame. I was not expecting for you to use Demon's Excavator this early," Nero began. "The consecutive healing is detrimental to your body in its current form. You were not ready to harness that kind of power. I made this clear to you prior to your confrontation with Drago, did I not?" He began walking back and forth in front of Belphenoid as he got into the mood to rant out loud about what he was thinking, and began to talk repeatedly without allowing any sort of input from the Bakugan. "Would it have been better for you to surrender or to shave off a couple of years from your lifespan in a battle that was already lost?"

Despite sounding disappointed, Nero actually started to smile a little as he began praising the Bakugan. "You haven't changed at all; you were always so proud of your power and your ability to cause genocide across multiple nations, yet you're stubborn. You refuse to listen to authority. The only two redeemable qualities about you is your apparent power and your die-hard personality. You are what we as Americans ought to be: people willing to do what is necessary for success." Nero approached Belphenoid's face and looked straight into his eyes and boldly declared, "Your disobedience won't extend to another day, mutt. You got away with it with your previous owner, but I refuse to allow you to make a fool out of me. Your privileges have been revoked." He clapped twice, and the mysterious Bakugan that aided him in rescuing Daniel appeared instantaneously, awaiting Nero's further orders. "Bring the kid here. We have some changes that are going to be made. The meeting is mandatory." With that said, the Bakugan transported to Daniel's living quarters to purposely disturb his nap and notifies him to make his way down to the "doctor's office".

[Daniel Andersen]

Daniel went to sleep earlier than usual; probably tired because of battle. Mysterious Bakugan who came to his aid with Nero appeared suddenly in his room and woke him up.
Bakugan explained what Nero wanted and then disappeared. Daniel walked slowly to his desk with a book in his hand and then sat down and started looking in the nearby wall. Then he put the book on the table; book was obviously a copy of Divine Comedy. 
Sakura in a ball form jumped on the desk asking Daniel: "Nero ordered you to come, didn't you just hear?......." 
Daniel looked at Sakura and then returned his look to the wall. Then he opened Divine Comedy on one page and quietly said to himself: "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here..."
Then he stood up again and put on his dark clothes, mask and cape and walked out of the room.
Sakura did not realize what he meant by that last sentence.

Daniel faced a long corridor that apparently leads to the laboratory where he was supposed to meet Nero. Corridor was pitch black; not even a track of light, but Daniel was still walking as it was a middle of a day. Silence in the corridor was so intense; not even a sound. 
A normal person would go nuts in matters of seconds, but Daniel was obviously enjoying the darkness and silence.  
When he came to a light part of the corridor he saw a couple of scientists. Most of them were moving away with an obvious fear and were avoiding an eye contact. 
Daniel reached the big door and pressed the button with a red exclamation mark. Doors opened and let Daniel in a big room full of control panels, biopsy desks and test tubes.

Nero was standing in the front of a big "glass tube" with Belphenoid in it floating in some green liquid. Daniel walked a bit closer and stopped while looking at Nero and then at Belphenoid.

[Nero Bullock]

Upon Daniel's arrival, Nero paused what he was doing and turned around to address him formally. "That's rather interesting apparel you have there, Mr. Andersen. It's rather too sadistic in my opinion; first impressions are lasting impressions you know," Nero stated as this was the first time he met Daniel in person. "Your reputation seems to precede you. My personnel forgot the basic rules of hospitality like a reasonable person would have shown to first time guests. I apologize for them. They're not really the sharpest tools in the shed."

Nero then smirked as he began to go into his next topic of discussion. "Your reputation is quite foul to my understanding. You've killed so many people prior to your defeat, and you come right of prison the same way you were in the past. I'm quite surprised they didn't try you for the death penalty. I commend you for lasting this long in such a hostile environment. It is a joy to be surrounded by the company of individuals who are dedicated to whatever they find pleasure in; that would be the case for everyone, but not everyone agrees with what everyone does." He then presented a question to Daniel in order to find out more about this unexplained behavior. "I'm curious about your motives, Daniel. Why are you a terrorist as the media claims? Why do you act this way?"

[Daniel Andersen]

Nero's question left Daniel speechless for a couple of seconds. No one on the "bright side" ever bothered to ask him such questions. All questions "normal people" asked were about his psychical state and counts of dead people and Bakugans.
"As a reward for saving my life I owe to tell you all" said Daniel in a cold tone.
"My reputation is well-known to all beings that inhabit this rock of humanity. No one ever understood my motives, but most of them did not bother themselves to ask...I was just an object for underpaid psychologists and other kinds of fools who thought they could understand me."

Daniel looked at Nero with a strict and confident look and started talking again with a cold tone.
"You want to know my motive? My motive is bring USA to its knees...They hide the truth behind the curtains while their fake puppet show fools naive people like Noland Hardy and his father.
They blindly follow the rules and consider themselves superior to us just because we live in shadows. Why do we live in shadows?...Because this nation refused to give us light at the edge of the tunnel...they chewed us and spitted us out when we were most vulnerable."

Then Daniel started talking in rage and wrath while his eyes started to change color into red.
"That is my motive! Government and all their blind puppets like Noland shall be brought to their knees and swallowed by darkness they created themselves. The first time I murdered was at the day when refused to pledge my sword to this government. They sent their agents to execute me so no one sees, but my loyal Bakugan saved my life and taken their lives along with lives of their Bakugan...And surprise, surprise...I was accused for a murder. I had to run, to hide and to defend myself in this lawless jungle made of stone. They kept sending their agents to kill me, but that unfortunate fate only came upon their lives..."

Nero could feel Daniel's evil, wrath and rage as he talked and emitted it.
"Now I devote myself to destroy the government and all those who represent it. I don't care about the rules and numbers of deaths they name all the time. When I finish my job they all shall be begging for mercy just as I did before embracing the darkness....They have no rights to live...to exist." said Daniel in cold and dark tone.
"You've heard my motive, Nero. Are you satisfied with it or it's not enough for you?" concluded Daniel with a dark tone and a question to Nero. As he spoke darkness rose in his mind and hearth. It was a horrible view to watch him talking like that, but Nero did not seemed to be horrified or anything. Room was filled with tension as Daniel was speaking. Even scientists stopped with their work and curiously gazed at Daniel and then at Nero awaiting his answer.

[Nero Bullock]

Nero was tempted to laugh at a little at Daniel's opening statement since it the approach was a bit misguided, but he kept himself from doing so in order to not be disrespectful; he could tell Daniel was deadly serious with his claims. There was a sense of truth to it, but some were a bit misguided. He felt like he needed to know more about his reason for existing. "Vengeance is your reason for fighting as it is Noland's. You two are quite similar," Nero noticed. "Your goal must be set higher than just the United States if government is truly your concern. Each form of government has their secrets; none of them are open about them. Our government is actually one of the least of our concern in terms of corruption. You will not find salvation on this planet or any other."

Daniel's mention of Noland by name caused Nero to assume that he was a nemesis, and it would be impossible to not suspect anything else considering Noland was the reason why Daniel ended up in jail. "I can tell there is some unresolved tension between you two. Noland is a VERY interesting subject," Nero stated rather creepily. "Both him and his father are two of the greatest brawlers I've ever seen with my own eyes...maybe even the most powerful on this side of the universe." He then presented another question to Daniel. "What makes you think they blindly followed the rules? They fought for what they believed in as you're doing now. If you were in their shoes, do you think they would say you're blindly chasing an impossible dream?"

[Daniel Andersen]

"It is easy for Noland to say that my dream is impossible; he won't question the rules he obeys, but he is going to question people like us. He and people like him don't care about our side of the story; we are all garbage to them. Did he ever ask me why did I kill? Did he ever ask me why is cherish the darkness more than light? No...He doesn't care...no one does." said Daniel with a wrathful look on his face while slowly walking around the laboratory.
"My goal seems to be foolish, but I never said it was the last of many goals I have. Taking down this government is just the beginning...As you have already said Noland is an interesting subject, but I don't think he is the one you should observe...That Dragonoid is the one. It is obvious to me that he has some sort of a secret power. There is no normal technique that could defeat Sakura that easily...Believe me, Sakura and I defeated many Legendary brawlers and taken their Bakugans, but Dragonoid seems to be something much different."
Daniel then stopped walking around and looked at Nero.
"That is why I need to remove Dragonoid from this chess game. It is obvious that Noland and Dragonoid could simply replace the whole defense system of this nation, so if they crumble it all shall crumble. They may try to send other defenders, but I've already told what happened to those before. You see...taking down this government...that is my goal, but...not the reason I live for...."
He didn't look very well while saying that last sentence. It looked like he had something on his mind that kept him disturbed and enraged.
"My brother and sister were taken away by those fools who call themselves defenders. I've been using Sakura's power to spy on the government for years in order to find those two, but I never managed to find them. THAT is the reason I live for; to find those two and to save them from government's claws. But government will never let me do that, so I have no other option, but to take it down. Noland will always be on the side of this government, so I have to dispose of him to have a clear path to success. After saving brother and sister I will show to this nation and to the rest of my world what I think about their governments and their secrets"

[Nero Bullock]

"Noland's notoriety started with a different Bakugan. He must be watched carefully as the outcome of a battle can change quite easily with his presence on the battlefield." Nero shook his head in disapproval of Daniel's thought process. "This is a weakness of yours. You do not give your opponents credit where credit is due; you underestimate him far too much. He bested you in combat before, and he wasn't in possession of that dragonoid at the time. He is as much of a threat as Drago is," Nero stated. "By what you said, I suppose I would have no need for you since Sakura is obviously the one with the power, but I don't think that's good logic. Everything isn't accomplished by just one."

Nero then turned back around and began inputting a certain code as he continued to talk to Daniel. "That actually leads to why I brought you here. It's clear that Noland and his accomplices are too much for just you. Your safety is pretty much compromised from the show you put on at his school." As much as he was disappointed in both him and Belphenoid for losing, Nero understood that they were up against impossible odds. "Changes must be made in order for long-term goals to be reached. As it stands, you are far too weak by yourself to do any significant damage."

[Daniel Andersen]

Daniel highly disagreed with Nero on the point that he was not strong enough to defeat Noland, but he wanted to keep his cold attitude.
"Too weak? Hmm...I guess you could say that, but consider this...Sakura and Belphenoid were able to fight several Bakugans alone and withstand enormous damage. The only problem was that I never expected Dragonoid to use such power. I did underestimate him, but making the same mistake twice would be foolish. I am positive that I could create enough power to take him out"
Still, Nero's words saying that Daniel was too weak to do any significant damage by himself displeased him a lot as he realized what was possible Nero's intention.
"I will probably be now teamed up with a bunch of clueless fools who don't even know what Bakugan is...What makes you think that bringing someone else would make a difference?"

White Bakugan ball appeared on Daniel's shoulder and opened observing the conversation between Daniel and Nero while scientists were speechlessly observing from the near with their test tubes and scripts scattered all over the place.

[Nero Bullock]

"I wouldn't place yourself on a high pedestal. You didn't have as much of an easy time when you faced the Master Blaze in battle. You utilized Belphenoid's genetic ability of summoning that great multitude, and that was done to break the stalemate. I was a little shocked when the majority were wiped out in that one attack, and both Sakura and Belphenoid were on the brink of death. It would be scary to wonder what would have happened if you didn't have that army there," Nero concluded. "Believe me. You cannot do this by yourself just as you couldn't manage your crime regime by yourself. You would be destroyed just as you would have been without my interference."

Nero had just finished inputting the code he was activating and began to explain what he was about to do. "Before I introduce you to your new buddies, there is one issue that we need to address." Nero placed his hand outwards and held it towards Belphenoid's tube. "Belphenoid has placed you on the radar of plenty law enforcement officials since they think you're responsible for the death of one teenager and the paralysis of the other. We both know Belphenoid jumped the gun on that incident; he was also responsible for the unfortunate passing of your comrades since he decided to cause the prison to collapse. We're going to put that to rest with this." Nero confirmed the code he entered and watched as a mechanism made its way into Belphenoid's tube and implanted a chip into its skin. Upon entry, an electric bolt began coursing through his body. "I'd rather not confuse you with the confusing details. All that matters is what its purpose is. It's a mind control device designed to force the victim to follow the will of the creator. In essence, I rob them of their free will and replace it with my own; they are extensions of me and what I desire."

Nero then began laughing at Belphenoid's fate as if he had been intending for this to happen all along. He then looked at Daniel with a sly look on his face and said, "This device can also be used on humans as well. I'd rather not use it, but you will kill yourself if you refuse the help I'm going to give you. To keep you alive, I must offer you some assistance. Weigh your options carefully. You either get teammates or I take control of you and give you teammates anyway. Make your choice."

[Daniel Andersen]

Daniel looked at Belphenoid's body being tormented by Nero's chip. That sort of act did not have any affection on Daniel as he had done much worse things. Still, he knew Nero was dead serious about implanting a chip into him if he refused to have teammates. He was just standing there for some time and then that white Bakugan ball on his shoulder whispered to him.
"Remember what you want, Daniel. Remember what you seek for."
After Bakugan ball whispered that Daniel snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Nero while his eyes turned red again.
"Despite I disagree that having teammates will make me any change in battle I still have my life I don't intend to lose to some chip implanted in my body. Still, I have a condition that you should consider as a reasonable one...If you send me a couple of idiots who don't even know how to brawl Noland won't be the one who will wipe them out in the battlefield; it will be me."
Daniel then looked back at Belphenoid and started talking again.
"Considering how powerful you are I don't think you would send me an army of weaklings, wouldn't you?" concluded Daniel with interest in his voice and gaze.

[Nero Bullock]

Nero raised an eyebrow at Daniel because of his audacity to tell him what the conditions will be. He presented what he thought about that notion softly while progressively steering towards a harsher approach. "It seems like no one bothered to teach you basic etiquette. That's such a disservice to you as a human being who doesn't know how to respect their authority. Lets get this straight now, Andersen. Your time as the boss is over; you work for me. When you were busy leading your crime regime, everything you said was done without any lip service. That is exactly what you're going to do here. What I say goes, and there will be nothing said except 'yes, sir'." Belphenoid's condition became stabilized after his injection and was ready for use. Nero disengaged the capsule containing Belphenoid and took him back in his ball form. "In other words, I don't care for your condition because it's non-existent. The only one who makes the criteria is me," Nero responded with a harsh tone.

In the midst of his mini-rant, he came up with an idea of the introduction instead of simply presenting them in a generic, boring method. "Montai," Nero called. A very attractive female scientist approached him at the sound of her name and was ready to do whatever he required. "We're going to the battle arena to create a diagnostic for Belphenoid's battle conditions. I need for you to monitor the battle data and check for any inconsistencies," Nero instructed. She replied by saying, "Yes, sir," and went on to serve her purpose. "Such a simple narrative, isn't it, Daniel?" Nero asked referencing the earlier comments.

Nero then proceeded to give him further instructions as to what was going to be happening. "We're going to have a team-building exercise," Nero suggested. "It will be you and your new teammates facing me. I'm excited to see the constant bickering and arguing that is sure to ensue in this next hour, and maybe you all might kill each other out of pure disgust for one another." He then started to be a little more serious with what he was saying after he let that comment slip out. "I want you all to surprise me and see if we can come to a compromise with this one. If you fail at this, Noland will be nigh invincible to you. Don't be late."

[Daniel Andersen]

Daniel wasn't too much worried about Nero's comment. He knew that he was going to do the job whether he got good or bad teammates. When Nero explained Daniel what to do he left the laboratory and headed to the dark and silent corridor where he saw a door with title "Training Room". He opened the door and faced a large room with several scientists holding their scripts and preparing the system. 
Daniel knew he was about to work together with his new teammates. Despite he hated that thought he knew he had to work with them unless he wanted a control chip in his body. Bakugan on his shoulder was observing the area with its bluish eyes.
Suddenly, Daniel noticed Nero on the other side of the field with a calm, but confident look on his face. He was waiting for Daniel's teammates to show up.
Two dark figures appeared from the shadows and stood by Daniel. He looked at both of them with a cold gaze and disgust and said with a dark tone in his voice: "It's time I see what they can do"
Then he pulled out a card that had "W" letter on it and a mysterious purple glow. He threw it swiftly at the field saying: "Gate Card, set!" 
Then he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a purple-glowing Sakura who was ready to fight. Other two also grabbed their Bakugans as well.
Daniel looked at Nero while his eyes turned crimson and said: "You want to see the power, Nero? I will show you the power!! Bakugan brawl! Darkus Sakura, go!"
Bakugan ball stood on the field and Sakura rose in her monster form. She grabbed her wand and created a mysterious mist all over the area with her wand. Then she looked at Daniel's teammates expecting their move.

[Nero Bullock]

Nero stood in his place in the arena and observed his three opponents walk through the door and take their places. A young male and female simultaneously entered and stood by Daniel with the intent to work together against their boss in combat. His two accomplices were Akane Huomoto, an easily provoked girl who struggled with life due to the lack of good parental figures, and Makoto Nakashima, a roughneck who abuses his free will by doing whatever he wanted to do for fun regardless of the results.

Following the summoning of Daniel's Sakura, the two threw in their Bakugan as well. Akane was equipped with a Pyrus Torahu, a bestial Bakugan who was uniquely covered in blue flames instead of the usual red. Makoto owned a Ventus Ahrangi, a muscular humanoid with four arms. Nero picked up Belphenoid from his pocket and began expressing his delight on his three opponents actually showing up. "Now that we're all in attendance, lets begin our little slaughterhouse of fun we have here. Belphenoid should prove to be much more of a challenge than before since he should be completely tamed at this juncture," Nero stated. "We'll see how much of a threat three wanted criminals pose to a single man. This will show whether or not the three of you are competent instead of just one person being ruled out. If one fails, you all fail, understood?" Nero then prepared to throw his Bakugan onto the field. "Lets begin! Bakugan brawl! Belphenoid stand!"



The Bakugan stood in its monster form and stared his three opponents down and boldly stated, "This'll only be a warm-up for the real challenge!" The battle commenced with Belphenoid facing three Bakugan at once under new leadership. Under Nero's control, Belphenoid was able to fight more efficiently and had his power more effective in combat with the absence of unnecessary recklessness, which was a common problem while Daniel had possession. He used his speed and power to constantly put pressure on each of his opponents without leaving an inch of an opportunity for a blindside attack, giving him the advantage early on. Eventually, the battle became more even as Daniel, Akane, and Makoto became comfortable with their respective roles and began working as a team rather quickly, which astonished Nero even though he was pleased with the outcome. They decided to use Makoto's Ahrangi as a tool for initiating the final blow by amplifying the effects of his Perfect Storm Combo ability, which caused him to pummel Belphenoid with a barrage of attacks such as a lariat and cobra strike, but Belphenoid was able to stop the attack by an unexpected, well-timed Shadow Twister, which sent a dark, spinning wave of energy that massively damaged the trio.

Nero began clapping before giving Belphenoid the command to end the battle on his BrawlX device. "The beginning was really sloppy, but you picked yourselves up and shaped this into a very engaging battle. I'm quite impressed at the progress you've made as a group since this is only your first time brawling alongside each other. Now we'll test your mettle against terrifying odds that are vast in size and power. Will you keep your composure and fight as a unit, or will you cower in fear and leave each other to the wolves? We'll find that out right now." Nero inputted a command on his BrawlX to force Belphenoid to unleash his army. He fired a kinetic bolt into the air to provide their entry; however, the plan seemed to backfire as the bolt struck Belphenoid by unexplained means and caused him to cry out in pain. "What...is...this...!?" hissed Belphenoid as he attempted to resist the power.

[Daniel Andersen]

Belphenoid was using a completely new battle-style which made Daniel surprised as he prepared for something completely else. Belphenoid was far more obedient than under Daniel's command; it seemed like that chip and Nero's authoritative attitude really worked.
Sakura, Torahu and Ahrangi were constantly pummeled with Belphenoid's special, dark techniques which were far more powerful than normal.
Daniel did not hide how surprised he was as he have never seen Belphenoid using such power.
Despite being against teamwork he decided to cooperate with Akane and Makoto after seeing they were quite good brawlers and not some fools as he imagined them.
Their teamwork paid off as they managed to do some damage on Belphenoid. 
After Belphenoid's last attack Nero activated Belphenoid's special tech. Daniel felt uneasy when he realized that he would have to face such a technique.

However...kinetic bolt that opens the portal to the army of darkness Bakugans hit Belphenoid instead of opening the gate. Daniel was even more surprised by that as Belphenoid cried in pain.
He simply couldn't understand if it was some Nero's tactic or some kind of a malfunction.
"W...What is happening to him, Sakura?!" said Daniel with an uneasy look on his face.
"I don't know...and I'm certain I don't want to find out..." responded Sakura.

[Nero Bullock]

Nero was shocked that the technique failed and placed Belphenoid at risk. The group of scientists that were under Montai's leadership were observing the battle data to determine what was happening to the Bakugan. While they were doing this, Nero began asking questions to remedy the panic taking place in the room. "What is his status?" Nero asked. Montai began observing the Bakugan and the information presented in the logs to come up with a conclusion; however, she really wasn't sure if what they had was correct. "Sir, Belphenoid is absorbing large quantities of energy. His power level is stable, and his condition is still green. I can't really rule out any problems according to this data..." Montai presented with a little bit of fear of Nero's anguish.

Nero then began to recall the research they have done and remembered their findings. "So what you actually want to say is you don't know? Fascinating," Nero said sarcastically. He then became considerably angry as he watched Belphenoid go through this. "I'll do a quick review of what 'I don't know' means in this situation. If Belphenoid is at risk of being destroyed, and you don't find anything, which was the sole reason why I asked you to come down here to watch, we can't fix him before he dies. If he dies, the plan is ruined. If the plan is ruined, you all can go straight back home and prepare to file for unemployment. So I'm going to ask again. What is his status?"

Before Montai could attempt a reply, Nero blurted out in surprise, "What's this?" Suddenly, two dark figures began to be visible to the human eye from where Belphenoid's body was. The figures appeared to be two Bakugan in their ball forms that landed on opposite sides with Belphenoid in the center. Once they hit the ground, they both stood with a violent aura surrounding their location. Both of them resembled Belphenoid in appearance, but seemed to be variations among anything else. One was capable of harnessing the full power of fire while the other seemed to be noisy.






Nero chuckled as he observed the two Bakugan that emerged from Belphenoid's body, and he almost went as far as to laugh uncontrollably. "Ah. So this is what you were doing all along, Belphenoid. The energy you've absorbed didn't harm you at all; in fact, you've actually absorbed enough of it to spawn those two," Nero said with a devious smile on his face. "Montai, what we've just witnessed was an evolution by the Preyas method. We would normally observe Bakugan evolve by a change of appearance and upgraded power, but there are some who favor a different approach; they use that power to spawn an entirely new Bakugan such as a Preyas. What's interesting to me is that Belphenoid did not just spawn one Bakugan, but blessed us with TWO."

On top of that good news, Montai had also noticed something very interesting about the bodily structure of the two newcomers. She was particularly interested in the effect Belphenoid has over those two considering the fact that a Preyas has a certain level of influence over its evolutionary line. "It would seem likely that Belphenoid can exert his authority over them and control them by himself. As long as he's this obedient, you're free to do whatever you want with them," she pointed out. "Thank you very much, Montai," Nero said in gratitude. He then turned his attention to his three "minions" and gave them further instruction. "Daniel, Makoto, and Akane, you all pass. I am extremely pleased with your progress and you will be put into action immediately. Please forgive me for only having three of you. Belphenoid has been really naughty lately and killed off some of my subjects. The spawning of Belphenoid's brethren has given me a rather interesting idea for an experiment I want you to conduct for me. Belphenoid, line yourselves up accordingly so they know who they're being assigned to."

Belphenoid walked in front of Daniel and had his two spawns stand in front of Makoto and Akane as well. Nero then walked beside the three and began to give instructions. "These three Bakugan will no longer be known as demons. They'll formally be known as 'The Pack', and you three shall lead them on the path they should go under my discretion. Belphenoid will be placed in your hands, Daniel, and I want you both to be the ones who assume the role of leader among all of you. Asmodeus, the screeching one, will be yours, Makoto; both of you have the versatility to match any opponent, therefore making you a perfect pair. Abbadon, the fiery one, will be placed under your control, Akane. You will spread your power of war and devastation through the fiery path you walk." As much as he would have liked to see them be set loose in public, Nero had to analyze them first so that proper precautions were taken before making the same mistake with Asmodeon and Abbadon as they did with Belphenoid. "Unfortunately, 'The Pack' must undergo some 'modifications' before they are ready to be deployed, so you will be on your own in the field until they are ready." Nero then ordered all of them to return to their ball forms to be returned to the lab for testing. Before that procedure was taken care of, he was going to do one last thing before he released them all for the day. "Before you all leave to have your fun, I want to give you all your assignments. I would like for these marked locations on your maps to have some activity. Yes, the 'Master Blaze' and the 'Iron Juggernaut' live around these locations, but we have to start in the more populated places first. If there aren't any questions, you may kindly escort yourself out the door," Nero commanded.