Episode 29: Fiery Passion

[Noland Hardy]

(Ambience)

The Resistors and Terrorists entered the transporter Noland discovered to travel to Nero's main base. The entire process felt like it happened instantly once they made contact. On the other side, they appeared inside a large building starting directly at the entrance. The lights lined up on the walls illuminated because of their presence. Noland questioned the Terrorists if they were in the right location since they were having as much difficulty as everyone else finding the transporter when they were supposed to know where it was. Makoto told them all that remembering the exact spot of the device was not an easy thing to do when numerous battles have already dusted an already desolate wasteland. Akane then informed them all that the building they were in was the right place, but the coordinates for where they were supposed to be dropped off must have been tampered with as none of them have ever set foot in that sector. Daniel also made it known that the entire base was one of the many underground facilities that the government keeps hidden from the general public. Everyone ran through the gloomy hallways until they reached a flight of stairs. After climbing it and traversing through a narrow hallway, they arrived at a large circular room with three separate paths to the west, north, and east. Noland then wondered if the Terrorists found this room to be familiar to them, but they still didn't have an answer. Knowing that no one knew where they were going, Daniel suggested that all of them split up into groups of three so they can cover more ground that way, and if one group found the correct path, then they would alert the other two groups. 

When he said this, all of the Resistors looked at each other with concern. Allen voiced his disagreement with the plan simply because he did not want another situation where a group of them gets hunted down by Nero and made slaves to target their allies. Markus made a comparison between their fight against the Pack and Hydranoid while they separated to their fight against the Pack at full capacity; he claimed that they stood a chance of countering Nero's forces if they stayed together. Once again, Tank agreed with Markus, which caused him to silently tell him to not get used to it. Seiki's argument was that they were more than likely being watched considering a facility like this would be criminally mismanaged without cameras, and that taking too long strolling down there would give Nero more time to prepare for what's coming and make him even more of a threat than he already is. Tracy added on to her point by referencing their apparent lack of directions, so the only logical approach to finding him in a timely manner without getting lucky with the path all of them take the first time is if they branch out. Even though he knew he would piss people off by siding with the Terrorists with this decision, Noland communicated his desire for stopping Nero as soon as possible, and that splitting up was the only way they can ensure that happens. In the event that the path they choose is incorrect if they choose to stay together, Nero could fully adjust to the situation and even produce more Bakugan to fight by his side, making their entire group and reason for intrusion obsolete. He believed that everyone present was strong enough to handle themselves in the event of a battle, even showing respect to Akane for the way she handled the lead Belphenoid in the previous battle.

Allen was a bit hurt with his best friend siding with the Terrorists, but kept it hidden. He asked if that was really the safest option if Nero was to attack them if Seiki's point was credible. Noland held strong on his belief that what Daniel was proposing was the best thing to do since staying together through these dark paths was toying with luck, which is rare to have on their side, when none of them knew for sure where to go. With that settled, Noland agreed to it, but only if the Terrorists were not in a group together. Although he didn't reveal this, he didn't quite trust them either, and having all three of them out of his sight was something he'd rather not deal with in the enemy stronghold. Knowing that the three of them brought interesting abilities to the table, Allen, Markus, and Tank started to feel a little better about the decision, but was skeptical of Noland's behavior a bit. Daniel agreed to his terms without a doubt in his mind. Three groups were made based on the abilities that they had in order to compliment each other's strengths and weaknesses. For every two Resistors, there was a Terrorist accompanying them. The group that would go the West Wing consisted of Markus, Tracy, and Akane. 

After spending a few minutes traveling down some stairs and knocking out the workers that were there, the trio arrived at the West Wing. A variety of rooms were down there, but as Tracy soon discovered, there was not any other passage there that led to where they were supposed to go. She announced to Markus and Akane that they needed to turn back, but she didn't receive a response. Concerned, Tracy started searching all of the rooms that were down there until she found Markus gazing at a remote-like device encased in glass and reading the information that was recorded about it. Noticing her presence, Markus told her to see what he was seeing. When she looked, her jaw dropped at what the device in front of them was used for. She suspected it was something Nero used to control chipped people or Bakugan, but she was nowhere close with her assumption. The device was actually used to activate the infamous Eclipse Proton Charge, an explosive that utilizes attribute energies in way that would create triple nodes to have the power to literally rip the land apart with its explosion; however, in its dormant state, the bomb was really small. According to the description on the wall next to it, it was developed by a group of teenagers with the assistance of Bakugan who have defected from the United States and became affiliates with Terrorist organizations. Markus was very confused to find one down there since those type of weapons have been dormant for years now due to the overwhelming presence of Bakugan, but was more surprised to find out a bunch of teenagers were able to craft it. When Tracy asked what a weapon like that was doing in Nero's possession, Akane walked into the room and stared at it very closely.

Markus said that the explosive was taken offline when it was captured, but he couldn't remember who the people and Bakugan that were responsible for its creation were. Still, he was very uncomfortable with a weapon like that near someone like Nero and could only guess that it was stored in this building either as an exhibit if someone were to offer tours there or someone could be planning to use it on a later date. As soon as he said that, Akane broke the glass to get hands-on with the explosive. Tracy was shocked that the bomb was suddenly exposed, which prompted Markus to attempt to get Akane away from the explosive. He stopped in his approach when Akane caused the bomb to re-activate for a brief moment before she shut it down. Silently telling herself that it was still as shiny as it was years ago, Akane returned the bomb to its miniature size and stored it in her jacket pocket. Markus was flabbergasted at what he just saw and asked if there was a small chance that she wasn't one of the ones apart of its development. Akane answered sarcastically by asking him how did he think she became a Terrorist. She said that if they should fail in their mission, this would be her back-up plan. Tracy asked what the explosive was capable of doing. Akane's answer was that it was a bomb that used the triple node Skystar currently has access to in order to consume everything in its blast radius in a "sea of flames". Markus strongly objected to the use of such a weapon and ordered her to put it back on its resting place as that was not the proper procedure in dealing with an enemy like this as it placed everyone else within the area at risk too, obviously implying that the Pack were not the only inhabitants. She refused to return the bomb as it was rightfully hers and started walking back towards the West Wing's entrance. Markus promised that he was not going to allow her to leave the area with that weapon on her hands and immediately activated his BrawlX for battle. Due to this, the alarm system went off in anticipation of a Bakugan entering the area and sealed all of the exits. Tracy backed Markus in his challenge to Akane, who turned around to tell them that Nero had to be stopped one way or another, and that if they interfere with it, then they are the ones who are in support of the virus spreading.

(Boss Theme)

[Akane Huomoto]

Akane shakes her head disappointingly, "This little one is rightfully mine. It just so happen to be out of my reach at the time, so I'm reclaiming it." One of her hands were wielding the cards, the orders for Torahu to attack, while the other was in her jacket pocket, stroking the bomb that she was referring to. "If I'm going to have to fight you guys to reclaim what is rightfully mine," She makes a hand signal for her flaming feline to jump into battle and prepare for a series of oncoming attacks with the side of attacks that she would deliver herself when the time was right.

"Then so it be," Both Akane and Torahu said in unison, both narrowing their eyes at Markus and Tracy.

She takes out one of the cards and tosses it skillfully onto the ground. "And I get dibs on the gate~" The pyrus female hums playfully with a sly smile. "Are you sure you want to fight still? Not that I don't want to fight you guys are anything, I would love a good brawl sometime soon, now would work, but we're just fighting over something that's mine. If you look through the files behind the little one, I'm sure my name is right over it or something like that, a lame excuse to fight if you ask me."

"Well Akane's personality sure brightens up at the topic of explosives..." Torahu murmurs to herself mainly, awaiting her opponent's move along with the said terrorist.

[Markus Hederick]

Tragedy was a nice word when attempting to rationalize Akane's re-acquisition of an explosive powerful enough to erase all of them from existence. A bomb on such a powerful scale being in a Terrorist's hands made Markus way too uncomfortable than to worry about the threat Nero posed to them all. This was more of a problem than the Pack was since, according to Akane, the triple node it utilizes could have unmentionable effects on the environment aside from thousands of people being slaughtered in its wake. This made him appreciative of Nero for a bit that he didn't allow Akane to have access to it sooner; otherwise, it could have already been used. With his BrawlX already activated, Markus understood that this battle places the entire population in imminent danger if the bomb were to be detonated at any time, so when he grabbed Gargulion to prepare to throw him in, he did it as if it was his last. He made sure he informed Tank of the situation by sending him a message concerning what him and Tracy were about to do.

"Who would've thought that her of all people would be the most threatening criminal in her squad? I sure didn't see this one coming," Markus thought. He then started speaking out loud in response to his opponent's comments over the ownership of the bomb. "I'm pretty sure we already established who the bomb belonged to, dipshit. That's the problem here if you haven't realized that already. If my excuse for fighting a so-called 'ally' is lame, then your intelligence must be also. How can you fight us to reclaim something you just reclaimed? Seriously. Are you this jacked up?" Markus reeled his right arm back as he held Gargulion tight, and then threw him onto the battlefield to meet his opponent face to face for what probably will be the final time. "Play time's over, Akane! Let's end this! Bakugan brawl! Specter Gargulion stand!" The Darkus Bakugan opened in midair to assume its monster form. He stood ready in battle formation to handle whatever the feline has to throw at him.

"Tracy." Markus looked to his right at his partner for the battle, who was none other than Tracy White, the girl that Noland and Tank had somehow molded into a powerful Haos brawler that took the division by storm. He didn't understand how it happened that fast, and he didn't care. All that mattered was that the explosive created a dire circumstance that will involve their cooperation in order to make sure that the bomb is taken away from her at all costs. "I'm counting on you to have my back in this fight as I'll watch yours. Communication right now is key if we're going to make sure everyone on this continent survives. Are you ready?" Gargulion took flight and roared, signalling that he was ready to get this showdown started. "Better make this quick. That Bakugan disgusts me."

[Tracy White]

"Everything happened so fast..." Although taken by surprise by the sudden turn of events, a doomsday weapon such as this obviously wasn't okay with Tracy. She stood by Markus without a doubt in her mind to strip Akane of the bomb before it gets used. It was rather unfortunate that this truce didn't last until after Nero was dealt with since that's what they came to "No Man's Land" together for. She couldn't understand how or why Akane felt the need to do something that she must have known would betray their already questionable trust of each other. Trying to understand the reasoning behind the Terrorist's actions was futile though. The only thing her and Markus needed to understand was that there were plans to use a bomb to eradicate the Pack at the costs of everyone in the vicinity, which means all of them will be included in the massive death toll. Rewriting that plan was the only focus that should be thought about, and it didn't need an explanation. All it needed was execution.

"This is our one and only chance to make a difference in this situation before it becomes a bigger problem. Skystar, we need to be at the top of our game for this one. This is where it counts." Tracy activated her gauntlet to register for the battle. She took Skystar in her right hand and held it open as Skystar revealed her open ball form to speak to her one last time before blows were traded. "Your wish is my command. Let's get her!" Tracy nodded as Skystar closed her ball form. She gripped her in her hand, and threw her onto the battlefield alongside Markus' Gargulion. "Let's rock! Bakugan brawl! Haos Guardian Skystar stand!" She landed about a foot away from Gargulion's right side. When she stood, she gripped her staff and shouted, "With this staff, I will shine a light of hope across the planet to purify all evil!" Markus then made sure that they were both on the same page in regards to their teaming up. "We're ready, Marko. On your mark," Tracy responded.

[Akane Huomoto]

"You guys just seem a little upset at the fact I'm taking the little one with me. He is mine after all." Akane huffs as she crosses her arms, causing Torahu to roll her eyes. Yup, her partner loves her explosives. Possibly even more than the blue flaming kitty.

Torahu decided to leave that subject alone for the time being and focus on this fight. "Gee, well you're a nice bakugan," The feline growls sarcastically as she continues, "At this rate you're not going to get any girls. If you are looking for one that is. Just saying." Her tail flicks in anticipation. "If you guys aren't going to make the first move..."

"Then shall we?" Akane says to finish what Torahu had said and whips out her card, "Start this off with am explosion! Pyro Kaiser's Flames!"

With that said, the partner of the bomb terrorist shot off, quickly running around the place and leaving a trail of blue flames where she went. "Flames of the Fire Emperor, unlike normal fire, it has some rather astounding properties, the flames feed off of your energy. Nom nom nom." Torahu hums as she whizzes by for a few more seconds and stopping where she began. Now the field in front of her was a flaming blue mess, a grin sneaked up on her mouth. "I guess I like fire in the same way Akane likes her bombs."

[Markus Hederick]

Markus gazed at the fire around him by following its trail with his pupils. He was already speculative of the blue fire since it was supposed to be some variation of the regular fire Pyrus Bakugan are equipped with. Anything potentially hotter than Drago's flame should be eyed with considerable attention and handled in the safest manner possible. It was for this reason that he gladly listened to what Akane had to say about the flames as she basically told them what it was meant for aside from it being just for show. "Is that all it does?" Gargulion asked in bewilderment as he expected more from her. "I don't know why I thought you were going to do better than that with an ability like that, but whatever. That's just as useful as you thought you were." The energy sapping didn't seem to affect Gargulion as much. In fact, it was like it tickled him considering he was a Darkus Bakugan specializing in manipulating power to his own benefit.

"Gargulion, you know what to do," Markus called out as he activated an ability on his BrawlX. Gargulion began activating the ability as was commanded. "Soul Eater!" His body glowed in a dark aura that made him a siphon of energy. While remaining stationary in the air, he rapidly absorbed the energy around him and made it his own. The flames that once consumed his and Skystar's energy were now being sent right back to him with interest. As their power faded, so did the flame's intensity. It soon became what the ability actually meant to him: nothing. Considering that his opponent was agile, Markus did not feel like going in for a close range attack, so he let Tracy do the honors. "If you keep brawling like that, you'll just make disarming you easier than just complying with our demands. We KNOW you can do better than that pitiful performance," Markus gloated.

[Tracy White]

Tracy wasn't surprised that Markus was able to handle Akane's attack with ease. In fact, she already knew he was able to do so since he was able to hold his own against her and Seiki combined with relative ease; he was toying with them at times too, further hinting at his superiority over this opponent. But then they would have to take into account that Akane was holding back considerably to accommodate for Seiki lagging behind, which, against an opponent like Gargulion, makes it impossible to combat him by yourself in that situation since he'll just use the teammate as an obstacle for the other. That unknown factor coupled with the fact that Seiki usually didn't take too many things seriously was a scary fact to consider when facing her. "Markus, don't underestimate her too severely just yet. This is only the beginning. She's faster than Drago and has the fire power to match his own power, so be careful," Tracy warned.

She then pulled out an ability to pressure the Pyrus foe directly after Gargulion rendered the opposing attack useless. "Ability activate! Arc Caster!" Skystar's staff was charged with a steady concentration of Haos electricity that was high enough to allow a bubble-like shield to cover her entire body. She utilized the discs on her shoulders to lift herself off of the ground. She went high enough to have a good overlook of the arena, and then began her attack. "Take my word for it, Torahu. You won't see this one coming." In a quick turn of events, electricity began to meet at the staff's hilt. It performed a quick charge, and then a lightning bolt was cast from it that curved towards the floor below. This was done consecutively to rapidly zap her opponent as many times as she could without giving her any notice of where she was going to strike.

[Akane Huomoto]

"Okay okay, sheesh. No need to get so pushy about my fighting style and get your pants into a twist." Akane scoffs as she rolls her eyes as well. "Fine, if you want me to go all out, then so it be. Gate open!" The field glows a red-blue hue not overlapping to create purple, a combination of the pyrus attribute the feline had within her alongside the strange blue flames she possesses. "Ignis Grounds!"

Like before when she was holding back with the Ventus resistor tagging along, Torahu leaps into the air with the tip of her tail really lighting up with fire, and smashes into the ground, causing the place to become a field of chaos bursting with burning blue flames. This had restored the energy Tracy zapped out of her and lapped happily at the two opposing bakugans, slowly starting to drain their energy.

"Not done yet. I'm throwing these two in as well. Sol Spirit and Amaterasu."

The feline closes her double colored eyes and starts murmuring things under her breath. A darker colored version of her appeared due to the use of the dark, ever-lasting buring flames of Amaterasu, and mimicked the stance of Torahu. And both of them looked at the darkus and haos bakugan with a nasty glare and snarl, then spoke in sync. "Real or fake, the damage will still be pretty bad." And with that, the two launched themselves at both opponents with the fire blazing everywhere. It was almost as bad as being in a volcano, or worse, seeing how the flames were much better and useful than the old red-orange flames.

[Markus Hederick]

"Heh." Markus laughed a little at Akane's attitude. He thought it was funny seeing a childish response to his provoking speech in the form of this gate card. The card was powerful against him and Tracy, but the same could be said if it was used against Akane as well. "Ability activate! Reflective Stone!" Upon activation, Gargulion hardened his body to make his durability comparable to that of metallic glass. When he did this, he ceased flight and dropped to the floor as hard as could to literally shatter the gate card into pieces, sparing him and his ally from the all-consuming flames. He then valiantly rammed himself into both Torahu's to inflict heavy damage. The flames from her Amaterasu would likely trigger as a result of her clone being hit, but Markus didn't care considering Gargulion's fortification should be enough to avoid any hindrances to his stance in the battle. Plus, he essentially had a healer in the form of Tracy, so it didn't bother him one bit.

Reflective Stone also had another attribute to it that Markus slyly kept under wraps. Once the gate card was nullified, the technique automatically sets one of his own gates underneath in replacement of the one he broke. He didn't intend to activate the gate card right away, but he was definitely interested in making use of it later in case he needed it. The current state of the battle did not warrant its use, so he kept it closed, hoping that the time wouldn't come to where he actually needed to use it to save his skin. He then thought about what Tracy said to him regarding his underestimation of Akane. Back at the championship, Gargulion did make a comment to Noland about expecting more out of your opponents regardless of your own power, but this one was different. The problem in this situation was that Akane DESERVED to be underestimated. She never put herself out there at all. Everything she was doing was minuscule compared to what Daniel and Makoto were capable of. What made her so special that Tracy even said not to underestimate her? Did she know something he didn't?

He kept this on his mind as he dealt with the Terrorist. After charging through Torahu, Gargulion flung the tiger backwards into the wall. The penalty of this was the Amaterasu clone dispersing and passing the flames onto him, engulfing him in something that was supposedly an everlasting ordeal. "Is this supposed to hurt? I don't feel anything," Gargulion noticed. This was likely due to Reflective Stone already protecting him from being damaged by it. Before he got healed, as he was expecting, Markus decided to get some use out of his ailments. "This'll hurt you more than it'll hurt me. Ability activate! Cobble Reduction!" Gargulion generated a flurry of stones from his hands and had them revolve around him. He purposely made them pass through the flames on his body in order to infuse each of them with this special flame. He then sent them all towards Torahu to not only inflict cuts and bruises from the sharp ends and its toughness, but it would also give her the same treatment of the Amaterasu she gave him.

[Tracy White]

Tracy noticed that Markus was brawling as if he hardly needed any help. That may have been true to a certain extent, but she wasn't going to be known in this battle as the one who sat out and let him do all the work. She was still here beside him, so she was going to put in as much work as he did. It didn't matter how or when it happened. Tracy was going to get it done either way. "This makes me wonder how him and Tank got captured in the first placed..." Tracy thought to herself. Markus's move denied Akane the benefit from having both of them seared through the use of the gate card. Although Torahu stole some of their energy in the confusion, it wasn't anything compared to the combo attack she used with her two abilities. She saw this ability being used on the grueling path to "No Man's Land" and certainly wasn't a fan of having it used against her. Markus took one for the team by having Gargulion handle the flames and even use it in one of his own attacks.

"Well, that was nice of you, Gargulion. Maybe you two are lady's men after all," Skystar joked about the comment made about him earlier. She then pointed her staff towards Gargulion as Tracy activated an ability. "This should deal with the flames, Markus. Ability activate! Divine Protection!" Here was another buff granted by the famed healer of the team. Skystar's belt shifted to the Pyrus symbol to give her access to the Pyrus abilities. She placed a phoenix avatar above Gargulion's head to soak up all of the damage he was receiving from the hostile flames while generating a shield around him while this process was being carried out. She then returned her attention to the fallen Torahu and launched an offensive of her own. "Here we go! Ability activate! Sentinel Automation!"

The use of this ability required Skystar to return to the floor. The discs detached from her shoulders and became independent. They began heading on a set path towards Torahu in a rather unorthodox method. Before they went about doing this, Tracy activated another ability to make it even more threatening. "Here's a new one for you. Energy Dissection Blade!" Her staff shifted into a sword potent with electricity designed to disrupt entire bodies of its victims. She jumped on the disc on her left and took flight. As she was preparing to move towards Torahu, the other disc on her right swiftly moved in to assault the feline numerous times to give Skystar the opening she needed to leap off of her disc and hold the sword in a downward motion to stab her opponent on her way down.

[Akane Huomoto]

"Hm, that's it." Akane growls as she digs into her jacket pocket for that little something. "Here we go!~" She holds out the bomb she reclaimed, the whole reason why she was fighting to begin with. "Be good." The pyrus terrorist mumbles before kissing the bomb, reactivating it, and tossing it to her flaming partner.

"The bomb!" The tiger chirps, her painful physical condition not affecting her anymore as she focuses on the item being tossed to her, and catching it in her mouth gently. This is a bomb after all, and it could go off at any time if not handled with proper care. In a muffled manner she asks her partner, "Do I get to eat it?"

"Pffft, are you kidding me? Only if you want to have your stuff inside of you burst out then sure. go for it." Akane scoffs with a small grin on her mouth. "Just attach the little one on your back, and do it with caution."

Torahu makes an "Ooooooh..." noise as she turns around to tenderly attach the bomb to her back. It just kind... Clicked on. "So... Um... The bomb is on me..." Her double colored eyes look back at the said item to check on it's current state. "What now?"

"Let the little one do it's show. Just sit back and watch."

[Markus Hederick]

"So much for having fire power as strong as Drago's huh?" Markus was delighted to know that Akane's prowess was insignificant against both him and Tracy. They had subdued her pretty easily due to Torahu's inability to move a muscle after Skystar immobilized her, and the tiger had taken significant damage as a result of Gargulion's attack. Just when he thought it was over, Akane did the unthinkable. She took the bomb out of her pocket and activated it. When Markus saw this, a cloud of fear hovered over his head that quickly shifted his confidence into anger. The way she behaved with the bomb made Markus think she was crazier than he previously thought, but that was ignored when she had the audacity to throw it in the direction of Torahu. "No, no, no! Why would you ever think that was a good idea!?" Markus's concern was growing each second the bomb was airborne. Knowing that improperly handling of it might detonate it, Markus was truly afraid of having the bomb hit the floor after activation. Fortunately, and unfortunately, Torahu caught the explosive and placed it on her back. "Wow...what agility," Markus noticed.

"Oh...so that's what she was doing...we're in serious trouble now..." Gargulion noted. He understood that Torahu's methods were currently ineffective against the two of them, so Akane decided to cheat in battle by having Torahu act as the carrier of the bomb. This would make any further attacks very difficult to pull off without causing the active explosive to detonate. "If any of us hit Torahu the wrong way, then that'll spell the end for all of us. Even if we do manage to hit her in the right places, we still have to account for her landing improperly, which can also risk detonation. One object was enough to severely limit all of our attacking options...I really don't believe it," Markus narrated out loud. Gargulion remained attentive to the opponent despite the introduction of this fatal ploy to get them to surrender. "You do realize that you've just threatened every living organism in this area including yourself, right?"

[Akane Huomoto]

"Hm, I honestly have no problem with this." Akane hums as she places both of her hands into her jacket pockets. "A death by one of my master pieces is much better than being taken down by someone by the likes of you, don't cha think so Torahu?" She looks over to her flaming partner, who stole occasional glances at the bomb she had attached to herself.

"Erm. I would much rather die fighting in a battle," Her ears twitched as her tails wave in thought, not really paying attention to the battle seeing how now the darkus and haos bakugans didn't dare to get anywhere close to her, or harm her in fears of the bomb going off. Her dual colored eyes then shift over to look at Akane, who had that look of annoyance on her face. Most likely from what the feline said about her preference on how she wanted to die. "buuut I guess a bomb you made would work as well... So long as you don't purposely set it off yourself and have my insides splatter all over the place." Akane give a semi-satisfied shrug in response to what the blue pyrus bakugan had to say.

Torahu sits down and looks at the two opposing bakugans with bright cheerful eyes, "So so! What now? Are we going to continue playing? I was just starting to have some fun with your reflecting skills and all."

"Never mind that Torahu, we'll strike while the iron's hot." The pyrus terrorist pulls out another card, one that would surely burn her enemies to a crisp, or something close to that. "Remember to not have that bomb come onto any contact at all, or expect a fire show! Ability Activate, Dark Fire Flare!"

The tiger quickly responds by zooming to Gargulion and ramming into him followed by ramming into Skystar, careful to ram into them the right way so the bomb wouldn't go BOOM. The ramming re-activated the abilities to Torahu's favor, twice as powerful this time around. She moves back to her original spot, inhaling the nice aura of the blue flames she had back on her side. "Ahhh, now this feels nice."

[Markus Hederick]

"Unbelievable..." Markus found it very difficult to think that Akane was mentally sane after what she just did. It did do one good thing from her perspective though. The bomb made it nearly impossible for either him or Tracy to attack, and she used that opportunity to attack them. While this can be considered cheating in a way, it was no use mentioning that fact. Both Gargulion and Skystar have been damaged considerably by the direct impact, and it was only going to get worse from here. "No...I can't lose this one...not today..." Markus thought, reminiscing over his bludgeoned record since the start of the school year. "It took losing to Noland to realize what I've been doing wrong in terms of my battling. I've lost so many battles doing the wrong thing, but this is one battle that has everyone's life on the line. It's about time I've set my record straight." Akane's bomb trick would be hard to get around, but Markus had an idea. It was something he hadn't tried before, but due to the current circumstances, why not give it a shot?

"Gargulion! Front and center! We've got a bomb to defuse!" Markus called out to his Bakugan who was recovering from Torahu's attack. He simultaneously placed a card on his BrawlX as he was rising back to power. The card he had in mind was the most powerful card he had activated up to this point that should increase their chances of stopping Akane by nearly 40%. That was only if him and Tracy did this properly. "Don't be alarmed about this technique, Tracy. I'm only doing it to increase our defensive options and have a chance at beating Akane without making too much contact," Markus warned her. "Ability activate! Fusion Gargoyle!" When activated, Gargulion broke his body down into parts that started to revolve around his actual form, a green orb. In this form, he descended into Skystar and merged with her, which caused her armor to become fortified by Gargulion's artificial body and her powers strengthened via Gargulion's energy. "We call this one...BakuMutation," Gargulion joked from inside Skystar.

[Tracy White]

"How you can be crazy enough to be willing to commit suicide over losing a battle? That doesn't make any sense! Just put the bomb back in a deactivated state so we can stop this senseless fight! We don't want to do this, but you're forcing us to!" Tracy was alarmed at how fast Gargulion and Skystar were struck by Torahu. Skystar did take quite a hit from the tiger that sent her reeling, but she managed to regain her senses in a timely manner. The only thing that sort of screwed her grasp of the situation aside from the bomb threat was Markus's words about a certain card he was about to activate. "And what would that card be then, Markus?" Tracy was a bit irritated that Akane was unwilling to stop, so she had a little bit of skepticism for what Markus was planning to do. The technique he used was really surprising to her. In fact, it initially received rejection from Skystar when she saw Gargulion in his real form heading right for her. "No! What do you think you're doing! That's trespassing!"

Tracy was caught off guard by Gargulion's sudden entrance into Skystar's body. She quickly saw the changes that were made as the result of the fusion. Skystar gained access to Darkus as well as having her powers increased as a result of his energy. This power increase was seen through the dark yellow coloring of the aura around her body as well as the orb at the center of the staff's hilt radiating more than ever. In addition to that, her armor was now more effective in defending against attacks since it was blessed with Gargulion's durable body frame. "This should balance out our Bakugan really well to cover the majority of our weaknesses. That's even better than the idea you had at state...That's not meant to be an insult." Skystar looked all around her body to see what Gargulion had done to her. She appreciated the overall increase in power in all areas of combat, but she was still uncomfortable having him reside in her body, which definitely sounded weird. "Try anything weird in there, and you're gone. I don't care if it'll make us lose this fight either. It's my body, so we're playing by my rules, got it?"

After hearing Skystar lay down the law, Tracy pulled out an ability to make use of their new abilities. She was surprised to know that some of her cards changed as a result of the formation; some attacks she was already familiar with were influenced by Gargulion, which was a nice bonus from what she was able to see when scanning for attacks. "This one should do the trick. Ability activate! Roa Glowdown + Petrify!" Skystar pointed her staff upwards and shot an orb of light. It hovered over the entire area and began casting a light downwards. The light served two purposes. It had the properties of nullification that gradually reduced the size and intensity of the blue flames Torahu was basking in. It also served as a charge for what would end up being Gargulion's Petrify. The orb at the hilt became infused with this power. She pointed it towards Torahu and let it rip. Multiple large beams of light were shot in Torahu's direction that would encase her in stone on impact, allowing the bomb to be extracted with ease if successful.