Episode 2: Target Acquired

[Noland Hardy]

After Farbros's confrontation with Noland, an image of a laboratory popped into the scene with a gentle, female voice acknowledging the procedure to be finished following the mild period of silence. The person controlling the mechanical Bakugan appeared to be Vestal's prince, Xavier Turano. The Vestals now had concrete data to conclude that the late King Richard's information on a Dragonoid-wielding brawler was accurate minus the person walking alongside him into battle. With all of this information in his pocket, Xavier took an anticipated trip to his sister's throne room to relay what he has accomplished.

(Ambience)

[Xavier Turano]

Xavier had a serious look on his face - business-wise - as he was walking through the prestigious hallways of Vestal's Motherpalace. His Ipad-like tablet, slim in design and easily collapsible into a pocket-sized cube that happened to be in his left hand, carried the data recorded on their terminals during Farbros's tussle with the Resistors; the data's origins were disposed of rather quickly to avoid contamination via the Hurranian that somehow latched onto the mechanical before it left for Earth. He didn't want to think about the reasons for its compromise at the time since they were very close to ensuring they don't have to worry anymore provided that they get Noland and Drago to start cooperating after what they've seen. Regardless of their attitude, the first step, finding them, was made, and the rest can now be taken.

On his way to the throne room, he received a message from one of his associates in Gamma City that had a video in it. He played it to watch an update on their ventures in finding a way to remove the Hurranians from an infected victim. The two Bakugan, a samurai and a warrior, were briefly shown on the screen to show that progress was being made. He closed that message upon the intake of another. This time, it was from the Royal Guard, and they mentioned some of the citizens showing concern of a mysterious individual lurking around the city.

Already having enough on his plate from the Dragonoid incident, Xavier pushed them to the side. He arrived in the throne room and saw his sister casually sitting there. Her appearance had looked like she had just got her hair done, not that he was paying any attention to it. The guards knelt down to show respect as he climbed the stairs. Once he got in front of her, he delivered the goods. "Here you go," he signaled as he handed the cube to her.

[Dasia Turano]

Dasia sighed loudly when Xavier walked in front of her and was very short with her. This reaction seemed premeditated, almost like this behavior has been going on far longer than just this instance. "Hey, Dasia. How are you today? I haven't gotten the chance to check on you since I've used every trick available to avoid you on and off for the past...four years. Oh, and you look very lovely with your new hairdo. I'm really sorry for not noticing as much as I did when we were younger. I love you so much," she said, obviously implying that she wanted her brother to say these things. "Doesn't that sound so much better than just handing me info all the time and just walking away? We used to be so much closer...and now we're not..."

Dasia started tapping her bright, beige heels as she thought about why she was being neglected by her brother, which was a very annoying tactic that irritates some of the guards and even Xavier to some extent. "Is there something I'm doing wrong, X? Am I being a bad sister? Or..." She didn't want to bring this topic into the discussion, but she did so anyway just to see what type of reaction she can get out of him. "...Is Dad's decision getting in the way of our bond?"

[Xavier Turano]

Xavier was very non-emotional about Dasia's rant up until the part where their father was mentioned. When King Richard was referenced, he gave her a noticeable glare, explicitly showing that he wasn't happy about it at all. "Yes. You are doing something wrong, something VERY WRONG," he answered. "You and I are no longer the prince and princess that were sheltered by their parents for most of their lives. You are now the queen, and I'm your right hand. We have responsibilities to the people that is bigger than you, him, and our relationship. That's our current standing in the present, so focusing on how things were in the past is futile and is getting more distracting every time you bring it up."

In an attempt to prevent himself from actually answering Dasia's question concerning Richard's decision to make Dasia queen instead of making him king, Xavier got straight back to the issue at hand: The Hurranians. "You'll have more than enough time for compliments and movie nights once we're installed in their network, unless we get straight to the point and focus on the enemy now so that our future is secure."

[Dasia Turano]

The guards purposely ignored their banter as if they heard it plenty of times before. They knew the exact outcome of it too, so looking to see what was going to happen to Xavier for talking like that was useless.

"..." Dasia was speechless after what she heard, which made it obvious that she was feeling very sad because of Xavier putting her down like that. She took the cube out of his hands and tapped the bright light in the center so it would open up. Xavier had it set to the film taken of Farbros's battle with three of the most well-known Resistors. When she realized what was going on, she was angry about his actions.

"I told you not to fight whoever had the Dragonoid..." she growled. Her reaction was very understandable since the whole point of sending Farbros over there was to locate the Dragonoid rather than fill him with lead. She watched the film to the end where Farbros was disposed of accordingly due to its infection, and there was information on Noland and his allies uploaded in document format to the device for her to look at. "That's two out of three things I wanted that got done...new record..."

[Xavier Turano]

"Surely you must understand that improvisations had to be made due to our ignorance of their similarities to our ancestors, namely their hostile upbringing. Our one earthling friend didn't seem to be so cooperative with that information. Even then, they would have blown me up without retaliation even if we knew about their territorial behavior. The various countries on that planet do not take too kindly to foreign objects, especially the ones from a place called Russia," Xavier stated to excuse his deviance, something he usually doesn't do. "You can say I made an effort this time...at least."

After getting through his excuses, Xavier shifted the point of conversation to their main point of interest. "As for the Dragonoid...." He quickly recalled what he had read about him, and progressively relayed the facts. "I'm not really sure what Father had in mind when he mentioned the 'hero' who wielded the Dragonoid. Emperor Barodius, Gundalia's emperor, was defeated on two occasions by the father and son. He made it seem like its brawler would have cooperated without objection as if he knew whoever it was on a decent level, but I'm afraid that kindness may have long since passed away. His kid brawls with the Dragonoid now, but there's definitely a 'could have been' scenario here. The father may have seen how threatening the Hurranians are, but him - Noland - he's too stubborn to see the symptoms of his own cancer."

Suddenly, after he made that comment, one of the guards coughed in the room. It sounded like they made a desperate attempt to keep themselves from laughing. It was an attempt that wiped the monotone look off of Xavier's face and replaced it with a more agonizing frown. His glare matched its ferociousness. He didn't have to turn around to make his anger known to everyone in the room, including Dasia.

"To the one who thinks anything I just said about the decaying state of our race is funny..." He slowly turned around to face the guards. He pointed directly at the start of the steps below him. "Tell us all what's so funny, right here, right now."

The guard next to the offender didn't waste any time in snitching. The woman pushed the man out in the center walkway. His heart sank when standing in front of the very unhappy siblings. Before Xavier could say anything to him, another guard came to his brother's defense. "Leave it to the royal whore to sell us out one at a time," he insulted. "Let me tell you something right now. What he was laughing at isn't funny. How are you going to call someone else stubborn, and I have to hear you treat my queen like crap every time you walk in here? I'm tired of this. Someone needs to teach you-"

"Both of you are fired," Xavier interrupted. "Now leave before I decide to let you join the sexually-addictive prisoners in the slammer."

"Ha!" The guard that spoke out of turn definitely thought what he said was funny this time. "The wannabe king thinks he has the power to fire me. We serve her, not you; your protection is only guaranteed because of her. Don't get it twisted, baby boy."

[Dasia Turano]

"The joke's on you, mister. He does have the power to do that through me. He is my right hand after all," Dasia reminded him. "You must have gotten it twisted if you thought you'd disrespect my brother right in front of me and think there wouldn't be any consequences. In case you've forgotten or were too drunk on laughter to think properly, I wasn't an only child. There is me, and there's X. You were instructed to guard US, not just me. You saying that only exposed your lack of care towards his well-being and my caring for him; therefore, his ruling stands. You're both out of here; however, you're going to do more than just get out of my palace."

Dasia then casually commanded the guards blocking the entrance to move by telling them to, "Arrest him, please."

"W-wait! Your Highness-"

"I hold a very high level of disgust for those who would ever crack a smile or get a kick out of any detail surrounding the monsters that took our loved ones away from us so soon," she interrupted. "But you...I hold a very special feeling of hatred for those who devalue the life of another simply for someone else's position, especially when it comes to him. To imply that you would not be guarding a brother without my presence shows that you are incapable of protecting anything, much less care for anyone else like a reasonable person. Now I'm going to be the someone that teaches you a lesson by handing you over to the men downstairs. Perhaps while they make you laugh when they have you all to themselves, you will learn what it's like to really have blank meaning on someone else's condition, and you'll see what's truly promised..."

The guards seized him and blurred out his speech by covering his mouth, making his pleas for a reconsideration inaudible. "I'd like everyone else to follow them out. I want us to be alone for right now." With that said, the room was eventually clear, leaving only her and Xavier to talk as it should have been.

"I should be thanking you for going against my order in a way," she realized while getting back on topic. "I think Dragoonior was the only other possibility since that's also a Dragonoid. Noland's Dragonoid is more special though. It's exactly what Father said he would be like. That last ability he used to beat Farbros made him glow like Appolonir did, didn't it?"

[Xavier Turano]

"What they fail to understand is that this is business as usual. Mental toughness is vital to preserve what we have left; distractions are one of the primary ways for us to cause our own deaths without the Hurranians having to do much work. Maybe you think I'm too serious, but someone has to be..."

Xavier turned back around to establish eye contact with his sister once again, ensuring that his expression was absent from the grief of dealing with guards who should have never been assigned to protect them anyway. "There's no doubt," Xavier directly confirmed. "I'd argue that Drago is the same Dragonoid that was sent out of Vestroia by Appolonir before the Legendary Soldiers fired the Bakugan Termination System. He clearly recognized the Hurranian that was with Farbros and was very aware of the threat they posed to their society. The amount of fear and concern in his voice when he saw it could only be developed by personal experience.

Xavier then cracked a smile as if he was getting ready to propose something that would be to his favor. "You won't like me saying this, but it can't be helped. This is the way forward. Appolonir may not ever appear again," he suggested quietly. "Drago, on the other hand, is a healthy Bakugan that may as well be Appolonir at this point of the search. All we need to do is find the-"

[Dasia Turano]

"Do not attempt to tell me to give up looking for him," Dasia warned rather rudely. "Their flames may be identical, but only one of them owns or knows where the BT System is. Drago is not that Dragonoid."

Dasia also replicated the same look on Xavier's face. She had her own side of the argument to add into the mix, and it definitely wasn't looking in Noland and Drago's direction the same way his was. "You can call it a hunch, but if the story Father told us was 100% accurate, then we have no concrete proof of either its destruction or relocation. The best thing that we know is that it wasn't there when the planet was being repopulated. Something happened to it, and I bet one of the soldiers played a part in it. I'm confident that they still have it since it'd be criminal to dispose of a weapon that powerful when you have enemies like the Dharaknoid lurking around to cause trouble."

"We'll never truly know unless we find Appolonir himself and ask him, or..." Dasia paused for a moment to signal a much darker turnaround that she didn't seemingly agree with, but had to mention it for necessity's sake. "I don't really like all of this technology that Zenoheld was using, but...if there's still data left from it all...I guess you could...make it...?"

[Xavier Turano]

Xavier's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets when Dasia suggested that he and his team remake a weapon that caused war to break out just by the mentioning of its development. "Yeah...no...." he instantly refused. "Unless you'd be willing to become as tyrannical as Zenoheld to unfairly gather the necessary funds that'll destroy our economy and be comfortable with starting the next great war of the universe when word gets out that its being made, there's zero chances of us ever going down that road UNLESS they actually destroyed the weapon, which, in agreement with you, they couldn't have."

"Usually I'm the one suggesting that type of idea...What's wrong with this woman today?"

"So I'm guessing that if my focus on Drago is one-sided due to the possibility of him not knowing as much as we want him to know, you have an idea of where to find Appolonir, or even know if he's still around along with the rest of his crew, right?" he rightfully asked. "I could be wrong. Maybe Appolonir wouldn't want the only other Bakugan that could use the weapon to know its location even though the story implied that he had great faith in the young one. That's why we're here conducting these experiments: to find the truth. So if you believe in Appolonir that much, how do we find him?"

[Dasia Turano]

"Gosh..." Dasia was beginning to realize just how nerve-wracking this planning process really was. Xavier's results in his viewpoint in comparison to hers didn't help her point either since Drago's existence contributed to his credibility greatly while Appolonir has yet to make an appearance ever since he was missing in action from the end of the war.

"Xavier...listen..." Dasia rose to her feet and placed her hands on Xavier's shoulders with the intention of making sure he didn't miss a single moment of this interaction. "I know you might think I'm crazy for believing in Appolonir more than Drago as of right now. It's just that my idea seems to be safer for everyone involved since we won't have to cut corners, which carries a lot of risks, especially in your pursuit of Noland and Drago that could start conflict that we don't need. I don't have an answer for where Appolonir is right now, but I'm not really confident that I trust-"

"Pardon my interruption, your Highness," one of the guards said as she barged into the throne room uninvited, completely throwing Dasia off in terms of what she was about to say.

"Yes?" Dasia asked, looking past Xavier to address the guard.

"The science team requests Prince Turano's presence in Gamma City regarding the state of the infections they've informed him about earlier," she says.

"Noted. He'll be over there shortly. Pass the news."

The guard went back to her daily routine outside of the door while making sure she did exactly what Dasia requested. In turn, Dasia faced Xavier and said, "We'll have to talk about this later. Love you. Stay out of trouble."

[Xavier Turano]

Before Xavier departed from her, he thought about what Dasia was about to say to him. It seemed like she was about to tell him that she didn't trust him concerning his activity. That would be the most logical prediction of what she could have said considering her implication that he's the risk taker while she's being very conservative in her approach. The only other being she could have targeted with that comment was Drago, but that would be impossible since there's no way Drago would do wrong in the instance his world would be destroyed by the Hurranians. It was him that she was pointing at. He knew this, but didn't say a word to counter it.

"Yeah. Okay," Xavier acknowledged as he helped himself to the door. "...Love you too..."

There were numerous ways to access Gamma City, the underground city that housed Vestal's research facilities. Each access point was by elevator, and one of them was conveniently located in the basement of the Mother Palace. As Xavier was going there, Yita jumped in his way and asked him what him and Dasia talked about. Xavier told her it was none of her business, making her pout a little. He instructed her to make sure the Spartans were gathered in one place by the time he got back since he has a job for them. After leaving her, Xavier got down to the basement, boarded the elevator, and was on his way. He thought heavily about how his relationship with Dasia would be affected by what he was doing on his way down.

[Dasia Turano]

"It must have been boring for Father to have to sit in here all day and do nothing. It's sometimes hard to stay awake throughout all of this. I need a nap."

Dasia wistfully stepped down from the stairs leading up to her throne. She thought about what she was intending to say to Xavier, and she didn't feel good about it. "I know he's smart enough to know what I was really about to tell him. I'm such a terrible sister," she thought. "I should have worded that differently. It's not that I don't trust him. He just overextends himself too much, and it often leads to rash decision-making that's going to put some serious pressure on all of us. He's already getting into fights with the Resistors. I want them to help us, not hate us."

"Do you also need my help in telling you when to shut your mouth before saying too much?" a hooded figure who was somehow walking alongside her asked while masking his/her actual voice and appearance.

"It seems the citizens were right. You don't have any manners," she noticed, not questioning how the individual slipped in there in the first place. "What are you here for? I'm tired, but my guards aren't."

What occurred after that remains a mystery...at least for now.

[Xavier Turano]

"I apologize for interrupting your other work, sir," the head scientist atoned.

"Never mind that. I needed to get away anyway. No harm done."

"Not until you see what we have to show you..."

Xavier walked with the scientist to cylinder-shaped room where the same two Bakugan displayed on the video from earlier were being examined due to the Hurranians infecting them. "They look worse up close than they do on the screen..." Xavier quickly noticed in an attempt to not think about what was happening to them too much. "It's a sad sight to see these two Bakugan being eternally tortured by this pestilence. It's sickening..."

"Certainly, sir." The team braced themselves to deliver a piece of bad news to Xavier as if he didn't already have enough negativity in his life to deal with. "We are still unable to reverse the damage they have done to Krakix and Siege."

"Guys, relax," Xavier ordered as he uncomfortably felt the uneasiness in everyone's posture. "Just explain to me what's going on here. Why can't you reverse the assimilation?"

"It's just...not possible," he said, trembling in uncertainty and fear. One of the rookies approached Xavier, and directly spoke to him for the first time. "We had to kill someone."

Suddenly, Xavier's demeanor changed from feeling tense of the stressful atmosphere to a concerned leader who had lost control over his own domain. "Alright." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He attempted to tell himself that this wasn't happening, but he knew being in denial would just make him build up his emotions until they inevitably explode. He didn't want that to happen so soon. He looked at the entire team of scientists to see if he could search for an answer, and he was wondering who was going to give it to him. "You summoned me here to tell me something. If you're not going to give me the entire truth, then we'll all be on our way as if nothing happened, and then you can try to sweet talk my sister into not driving all of you further into the ground for keeping someone's death hidden. You can't just do that; you have to speak up."

Having already proven to be a bad example for everyone else as a leader, the head scientist responded with, "Sir, we really need to cancel this project. This is way too dangerous and I think-"

"Just. Tell. Me. What. Happened. Now."

He gulped, not in fear of Xavier, but of what the Bakugan are going through and of what happened to the person they had to kill. "We had wanted to observe their bodies with a microscope to see if we could get any further insight about what these Hurranians actually are, but we couldn't figure out how to get close enough without risking infection."

"So the idiot that actually accepted that proposal got too close. The Hurranians got him or her, so you were forced to destroy their body in accordance to the procedure..."

"It was a male, sir. I tried to tell him not do it, but he wouldn't listen."

"None of you were ever authorized to do that anyway."

"With all due respect, sir, you disobey orders from Queen Turano every day."

"That's irrelevant! You can't be flexible in this area! These Hurranians aren't toys! They're going to get you killed!" He sighed to calm down as he was starting to yell. He shook his head constantly that someone lost their life over something so stupid. "You can tell me how you killed him later for the sake of a report. I don't want to know right now. You at least discovered something from this grave mistake, right?" The head scientist hands him a photo. He lays eyes on it, but is puzzled at what he sees. "A mechanical spider...?"

"Expected something different, sir?"

"I could have told you we were losing to damn spiders. That came with the story. You didn't have to get someone killed to figure that out..."

"We were able to properly picture how an assimilation would take place with an actual model rather than an account of someone who was not living during their initial surfacing."

"What?"

"They proactively bite into their target, which they're easily able to do since they're impossible to detect with the naked eye. Much like the toxin from a venomous spider out in the wild, the Hurranian injects data into the body in the form of a virus that dominates any immune system. The virus constantly grows stronger in the victim, continuously devouring genetic material."

"That's nearly identical to..."

"Cancer? Of course. And just like it, even if it's destroyed, it leaves its mark, which makes it difficult for either Krakix or Siege to see any substantial improvements over time considering their genetic material is being assimilated into the Hurranian network for their uses. Unlike this disease, they're somehow able to perform an identical process on deceased flesh to produce the same effects. It's very disturbing how something like this could have been created..."

"It's more disturbing to figure out how to destroy them..."

[Dasia Turano]

Dasia walked out of her throne room with a beam-like blade drawn. She quietly yawned while getting ready to walk to her room for some rest. She was unaware that she still had an active weapon in her left hand. Only a few steps were taken before Jamal Armstrong approached her on his daily routine of complementing her beauty and asking her out on a date. Too tired to see that one coming, Dasia was stunned and didn't respond to him at all, not even with a sign that she actually appreciated any of the kind gestures. Damian then shoved him out of the way and asked her why she had her sword out. Dasia then realized that herself, quickly put it away, and insisted that nothing was wrong with a very embarrassed look on her face.

Her exhaustion wore off temporarily with the realization that her Spartans were present in the palace when she didn't ask for them. She asked them why all of them were there since she didn't have any assignments available that would require their assistance. Deon dodged the question and noticed that she looked drained. Niko suggested that a nice, long nap would do her some good and then implied that she wanted one herself. Dasia told them all not to care about that. Roxy asked if this was a sign that they should all go home, making Yita hum the word lazy out of nowhere, annoying her greatly. Dasia said that it would be a great idea, not knowing that Xavier was the one who called them.