Episode 7: The Search Begins

[Noland Hardy]

Noland gave a sly smirk about Dante's move, knowing that he was definitely fast, but didn't hit as hard as his brawler's talking down on them seems like. "Does it look like I care who is doing what in this area?" Noland defiantly asked as he was unveiling two cards. "If you're so high up that you're referring to me as a lowly civilian, try sticking to your job rather than killing your own sister in cold blood. It doesn't take the president to detect bullshit. Murder is murder, regardless of where you stand in society." Drago returned to his feet, helped Gladion off of the ground, and did a couple of neck rolls before returning his attention to Dante. "I have to say...Daniel and Kuzuha may have done some terrible things, but at least this would have been off of their list," Drago mockingly compared.

"Double ability activate! Novia Edge plus Novia Charge!" Drago moved the end of his tail in front of him. He charged it with his energy, giving it a crimson color and tainting it with damaging electricity. With one swift motion, Drago flicked his tail in Dante's direction to detach his tail, sending it forward as if it was a ballistic projectile. While Drago's aim was important to hit someone, the ability also carried the benefit of tracking kinetic energy, meaning that it still has high target acquisition if the opponent moves. The evolution also gave him the ability to launch the thorns along his body as well; however, the homing capability was not applicable for them.

While they traveled through the air, they each became surrounded in a tornado-like stream due to Novia Charge's activation. This gave them extra penetration power, a key attribute that will be needed to contest Dante's sturdiness. "That should be enough of a distraction if his defense is better than the offense he just showed," Noland whispered to Tank. "Your move."

[Tank Stryker]

Gladion brushed off his cape after Drago helped him up and picked up his weapons. Silently, he gave Tank a nod before both of their eyes flashed blue. The two were now in each others' heads, improvising off of each others' thoughts and plans. This one was simple, though.

"Trust me, Hardy," Tank said with a smile, grabbing two cards from his pocket, "It won't matter if we outsmart him. Keep him distracted."

Noland gave a nod to Tank as he swiped the two cards through his BrawlX, who was staring Alex down. The cards shone a bright blue light before fading to their normal states. "That's a nice chariot," Tank taunted, "But I have a better one." Tank turned his head towards his Guardian, who in turn faced down Dante and launched into a sprint.

"Hit them hard, Gladon!" Tank shouted, holding up the BrawlX on his wrist, "Double ability activate! Weapon of the Gods - Apollo's Chariot plus Burning Cold!"

Gladion launched himself into the air, a spurt of fire coming from his feet to propel him higher until he was well above Dante. A bright light shone from a purple vortex, and a chariot pulled by two pegusi emerged, allowing Gladion to land in it. The two weapons he held began to crackle with elemental power, the scythe with fire and the claymore with ice. Gladion slashed the scythe, knowing that Dante would be distracted by Noland's attack, and appeared behind Dante, hitting his chariot with the scythe, setting the paladin bakugan's vehicle on fire with intense flames that could be said to be the elemental embodiment of the Pyrus attribute itself. Quickly flying off, Gladion made a midair u-turn to charge at the the now flaming chariot, slashing at Dante himself with the claymore. Unfortunately, Dante's battle abilities saw this coming and the paladin bakugan blocked the blade, only suffering a minor cut, but this was enough for the ability to take hold. Dante became swiftly coated in ice, ice so cold that it was nearly impossible to melt, immobilizing him and causing his chariot to crash. Gladion flew back up to a safe distance in the air, his weapons ready and still crackling with energy.

"According to Hardy over there," Tank called to Alex, pointing his thumb at Noland, "The bitch who runs the CIA now told us to come here to find a healer for a disease that is currently killing my girlfriend and numerous other people." Tank began to tear up a bit, the thought of losing Katherine penetrating into his mind. "Now," he continued, "I don't care what organization you're a part of or who you think you are, because I'm not here for you, or research, or ANY of this bullshit you seem to care about! I'm here to save the people I love, no matter the cost!" Tank balled his hands up into fists, and began to scream at Alex, "AND IF THAT MEANS I HAVE TO GO THROUGH YOU, I WILL! OR DIE FUCKING TRYING!"

Tank turned his tear streamed face to Noland, his emotions bubbling like a pot of boiling water. "Finish this guy off and let's go home," he said, solemnly, "I have people I care about who need me."

[Alex Andersen]

"Fact is...you will care..." Alex said coldly to Noland as Dragonoid and Gladion attempted to do a distraction-based attack on Dante which started to become annoying for Dante who didn't like the fact his attack was constantly being interrupted. Dante was taking tons of their attacks from front, side and back. It was critical situation to be attacked by two evolved Bakugans at once and it was not the first time it happened to Dante, so Alex knew that there was a possibility of losing which he couldn't afford at that point. "And what does interfering in elimination of a terrorist has to do with all sick people you care about? I don't see the link..." He also replied to Tank in cold manner. He was acting quite calm regarding two opponents and their comments and accusations, but there was one thing that pissed him off in that entire conversation.

"...Killing my sister in cold blood...Hmm...interesting..." Alex said impatiently as he pulled out a perfectly-white card that looked like snow reflecting the sunlight. He put it inside the gauntlet and continued with what he had to say. "...My sister died eleven years ago...the same way I will if I let this impostor live... She is not the first one...and certainly will not be the last one. I will continue eliminating them until they learn one lesson...I will not let myself or Dante die before all of them become just names in obituaries..."

His gauntlet flashed in white color activating another Dante's power they were not reveal up to this point. It was type of signature power Dante was using to distort time and space around him. Now that Dragonoid and Gladion went into attack against him they were close enough for his attack to work properly. "Knight Art: Váli Incursion!" This card had name of another deity; god of revenge. It allowed Dante to access mythical and ancient powers of mystical Norse mythology.
This caused Dante to create time crack in Gladion's ice. It started accelerating time in small radius around Dante making it like weeks instead of seconds have passed and this caused ice cage to disappear quickly.  Dante quickly grabbed Gladion by his arm. "Get out of my way!!" Dante yelled at Gladion and then tossed him towards Dragonoid making both of them collide and make an impact into a large pile of rocks.

"I had just enough of these games....won't all of you disgusting maggots just crawl back where you came from and die like you're supposed to?! I will never forgive you for what happened to them...To my master, Andrew. To Jennifer, Lydia and Daniel...my comrades Wolveride and Falcon...For their sake I will not let you live!!" Dante yelled at the girl and her angel Bakugan. He then charged into them while two Bakugans were immobilized. He generated his lance back and pointed it towards the girl ready to kill her.

"...You terrorist...you don't know what she meant to me...She was my final light in darkness. She was everything to me...And I failed her. I promised her that she would live, that she would see Daniel again, but because of my failure she is gone now." Alex said with a brief silence before continuing. "...I wouldn't have strength to look her in the eyes anymore...And you play with that...as this was a game..."

With enormous anger in his eyes he started yelling at the girl. "If your cursed money and fame are so important you need to take our lives away then don't mind me taking yours away. Try as many times as you like, but I won't die by your hands!!"

[Lydia Andersen]

Lydia was now kneeling on the ground in desperation that she was fighting her long-lost brother the entire time. Another painful fact was that he did not recognize her and he had mistaken her for an impostor that government sent. Even two people who came out of nowhere tried to stop Alex from attacking her, but they failed it once Dante got outside their trap and managed to immobilize them. Dante was now heading for her and Angelight with a charged lance.

Angelight was close to Lydia, but couldn't do anything against Dante anymore as state was not allowing her to do anything regarding that matter. She was very sad she couldn't help her traumatized brawler. Brawler that used to take care of her was in danger and she could not do anything at all. Tears were slowly sliding down her cheeks that he had to watch what was currently happening. Lydia noticed her partner's tears and that made her even more sad. If she was paying attention to the battle Angelight wouldn't get hurt and now it was too late.

Lydia slowly got back on her feet with lots of tears in her eyes and look between sad and angry. She looked at Dante and Alex and made a few steps forward much to Angelight's surprise. "If I can't convince you..." Lydia said quietly to Alex in a very sad and desperate tone.

In that moment Lydia's right eye flashed in violet color and green aura was released around her body. Green aura formed itself into a twister storming around Lydia who was still not removing that sad stare towards her frenzied brother. "...then I will!!" A dark high-pitched voice yelled from aura that was created around Lydia. "Complete Delete!" Voice yelled again and a silhouette of large bird surrounded in thunder appeared right before Dante charging right at him and making a powerful horizontal twister that hit the knight Bakugan who was not expecting such a comeback.
This attack slammed Dante against the ground and then launched him into the air just to slam him into a large rock pushing him further until rock was shattered into pieces.

Alex and Dante were visibly shocked by appearance of large bird who emerged out of the aura. During bird's manifestation Lydia was in trance and was not aware of anything that was happening on the battlefield at that moment. "It's been a long time, old friend..." Bird said to Dante who was getting out of the rubble. "You look awful as always..." Bird added sarcastically.
"Hey, kid..." Bird said to Alex. "...you look like hell... Ironic, isn't it?"

Bird then decided to skip that conversation and went straight to business. "...I'm sorry...for everything...Alex...Dante..." He then landed not too far from Dante and continued the conversation. "...I tried...But I couldn't fulfill what Andrew wished for...And now they are all gone...well, all except...her..." Bird said and used his right wing to point towards Lydia who was still in trance and was standing motionlessly. Bird looked very sad about something that happened and about something he failed to do in the past. "You know I'm not into sentimental crap and all that, so...let me get straight to the point...I appoint you to fulfill what I failed to do...You...you will fulfill master Andrew's wish...please..."

"...accept this gift I left waiting for you..." Bird said and then made a flash creating a magic circle in the air. Circle released some sort of energy blast that charged into Alex hitting him straight on. Alex was now surrounded in green aura similar to one Lydia had. "...and learn!!" Bird yelled as green energy started to pulse around both Alex and Lydia.

[Alex Andersen]

"...F-Falcon....." Alex said in sudden shock as he noticed his father's old good friend; Typhoon Falcon. It was a Bakugan given to Lydia the same day that fate of their family went into chaos. "...Falcon...you are...you are alive..." Alex was skipping whatever he was about to ask or state now that his mind went into shock. He didn't know what to say anymore, but even after eleven years he clearly recognized his father's fastest guardian Bakugan, Falcon. There was no doubt about it; large bird surrounded in dreadful thunders and with powers to cancel out any attack with its Complete Delete special ability his father used in direct assaults.

"I can't believe it. This IS power...unique to Falcon. There is no doubt about it." Dante said. He was in shock just as much as Alex was. They both observed large bird and surprisingly they were able to catch some of those words Falcon said. After Falcon mentioned wish that Alex's father, Andrew, asked Falcon to fulfill and pointed towards the girl standing in trance on the other side of the field Alex's face went pale and he was left speechless. He looked at the girl in disbelief, but then started to think about everything.

One detail that got to him was when girl's eye started glowing in violet color and was surrounded in green aura. Another detail was not a single one. Falcon shot magical stream of energy towards Alex and what was happening inside his head was almost making his brain fry.
Images of strange events were being poured into his brain and huge pain was being inflicted on his head; it seemed like a river of strange images was just spinning around him. He was trying to memorize what it meant, but it was all going too fast.
In the moment of strain he noticed a detail that brought chills to his spine. Detail he hoped he would have never have to see was now lying before his eyes; death.
Alex finally realized it...Falcon was not alive. Images he was pouring into his mind were exactly that; images of the day when Falcon died.

This view startled Alex. He was silent for a brief period of time. Torn apart by things he believed in and things he was seeing; brief moment of belief Falcon was finally back and realization that drowned that hope. Alex's eyes were filled with tears and his sight went to blur; he could barely follow what else was happening and what he was supposed to see, but even with all that answer started to become quite clear to him.
Last moments...picture of Falcon and a little girl crying...

Alex was now finally released from the green aura that caught him. He was too weak to move. Event after event, moment after moment...everything was poured inside his mind. Every picture, every tiny detail. Alex knelt on the ground and started hitting the ground with his fists. Falcon's image started to get more and more transparent as it was about to fade away. Large bird flew to the position where the girl was and has nearly vanished. In desperation, Alex tried running after Falcon. "You can't do this to me!! Please!!" He was begging Falcon not to leave again and startled in the middle of the ruined battlefield and fell on the ground.

Tears were running down his face as he was begging his old friend not to leave him once again. He looked up towards Falcon and rose his arm in attempt to grab Falcon and stop him, but it was about time he faced the fact...it was too late...

Alex looked at the girl who woke up from the trance and recognized a friendly face from eleven years ago. But then he remembered a promise he made eleven years ago. Thought of that brought more tears to his eyes knowing how hard he failed someone who meant that much to him. In shame, hoping he could escape her eyes Alex looked aside.

[Lydia Andersen]

"...hehe...idiot...you realize now, don't you?" Falcon was saying as his body started to vanish. Lydia already woke up from her trance and noticed herself in a completely different situation. Her dear Falcon, whom she hadn't seen in several years was floating right next to her with a smile on his face. That brought a little happiness to her weakened heart. On the other side of the field was her brother kneeling on the ground and crying while vainly trying to grab Falcon. Dante was standing besides Alex not making any attempts of attack and he was sadly staring at what seemed like last goodbye from Falcon. "...look after her for me, kid...you'd better..." Falcon said sarcastically with a hopeful expression on his face. As he was saying that his body was becoming more and more transparent until it was finally gone.

When she saw him disappear Lydia turned her look to the ground, but she wasn't crying. Last words she heard were very comforting. Even when not there Falcon was taking care of her. She knew that Falcon managed to convince Alex who was still on the ground in desperation. That brief moment after Falcon's departure was full of emotions. Lydia was looking at the ground for a few seconds and then turned to Alex.

She looked at him, but he was avoiding to look at her again after what just happened. Perhaps he was ashamed of what he tried to do or mad for some reason or maybe something else. Important thing was, she didn't care anymore. Within seconds she embraced her brother and put her head on his shoulder. "It's okay now...it's okay...I'm here now, Alex. No one is going to hurt you. Not anymore..." Lydia said through tears to Alex. Much to her brother's surprise she was not judging him for what he did. She was not thinking about anything else now. As a matter of fact, there was nothing else. No more.

"Falcon...thank you...I love you, Falcon..."

((Reunion Theme))

[Noland Hardy]

"That Bakugan...is seriously annoying!" Drago shouted as he shattered every object around himself and Gladion with a single roar. He started rushing towards Dante, turning rainbow-colored in the process in a last attempt to stop him, even if he had to place himself in mortal danger to prevent the killing of Lydia and her Bakugan. He stopped short of her when Angelight revealed her hidden powers, making him shut himself down in awe of what was happening. Seeing them reconcile was enough to not want to attack Dante anymore, but that still didn't cover up Alex's attitude, at least not for him and Noland. "I believe I speak for all of us when I say that this guy is the perfect example of what is wrong with every single armed official on this damned planet. They shoot first and never ask questions later," Noland sighed.

A static was then heard in the faint surroundings. The electric current Noland and Drago were already familiar with appeared around them all. "They're back..." The electricity merged into the ground to begin constructing Bakugan. The lifeless "No Man's Land" was the perfect setting to download a very familiar adversary: the Pack. A Belphenoid was created and spawned in front of them. "Aw come on! You've got to be kidding me!" Noland said to cry foul.

(Mini-Boss Theme)

"I assure you, Noland. This is VERY REAL," the Belphenoid promised as Asmodeus and Abbadon were downloaded into the area immediately after his resurrection. To top it all off, they were revived at the height of their power before they were destroyed, making their robotic characteristics the only difference in appearance from the previous battle. "Sick 'em, boys!" Asmodeus ordered. They started to multiply as the force became larger via the Hurranian continuously making them. "Westwall Gazer!" They immediately used their most powerful ability to destroy them all. Each triplet linked together to unleash giant beams of death and destruction from every possible direction they could think of.

"The Pack!" Drago braced himself for the worst once he laid his eyes on his late rival. Noland hastily put a card in play to counter before it was too late. "Put him to sleep, Drago! Ability activate! Nova Sentry!" Drago released two Nova Dragons from his body. They revolved around him and everyone else to place a transparent wall between them and the Pack. The laser beams were gradually absorbed by the avatars and were soon placed into Drago's custody, allowing him to use the stolen energy in any way he pleased. They then zipped through the opposition to defeat as many Pack members as possible before relocating back to Drago to expend the last of their energy.

"Great! Now, ability activate! Grand Destructor!" The avatars twirled around each other above his head to fuse together to turn it into a Nova Sentry, hence the ability's name. Drago then looked up, charged a giant fireball in his mouth, and shot it upwards. The blast he created fused with the sentry to amplify its size and potency. Before it had the opportunity to progress to its final stages, Noland and Drago powered up briefly using their special power, and sounded off in unison, "Maximum Rising!" The attack became just as colorful as Drago's body. This enhanced its power beyond the norm, which made the meteor-like streams the fireball dispersed into all the more devastating as each impact spread explosive chaos across the areas effortlessly.

[Tank Stryker]

Tank and Gladion watched Noland and Drago take out a huge chunk of the advancing army, feeling a combination of pride and not wanting to be shown up. Grabbing a card from his pocket, Tank swiped it through his BrawlX and held up his wrist.

"I thought we were done with these pricks!" Tank called out to Noland, his anger fueling him, "Regardless, I'm not gonna let you have all the fun! Fusion Ability, activate! Divine Favor!"

Taking the reigns of the chariot again, Gladion took to the skies, all of his weapons appearing around him for use. Taking the Bow of Artemis, Gladion dipped the arrows in the vat of Hydra poison with him and began firing. Shot after shot pierced members of the Pack, killing many fast but some slowly. Stopping the flurry for a bit, Gladion took the Claymore of Zeus and launched a lightning storm at the advancing enemies, disintegrating many before returning to the volley of arrows. Gladion continued his assault, but the remnants of the Pack kept approaching.

"There's too many!" Tank yelled to Noland, "Grab the girl and let's get out of here!"

[Lydia Andersen]

Dark creatures started emerging from the ground and they directed their attacks on everyone present there; Dragonoid, warrior-type Bakugan whose name seemed to be Gladion, then Dante and even Angelight. It was too high of a risk to have an emotional reunion in such harsh circumstances, so Angelight decided to make Lydia pull herself together. She took a free second to turn to Tank and angrily reply him. "You are not grabbing anything, ruffian."
She then took off to gain as much height as possible for an attack, but she had a problem with maneuvers since her wing was wounded and some part of her leg got dislocated. Angelight analyzed all dark Bakugans that emerged from the ground and her expression turned dark upon realizing what those were. "L-Lydia....it's the Pack...just as briefing said." Angelight said in haste to gain Lydia's attention as soon as possible.

Lydia did turn her attention to Angelight and when she heard the name 'Pack' all her attention was concentrated on that even though she had the most important event in her life just a few seconds ago. She calmly whispered to Alex. "I'm sorry...I don't like to do this." She then stood up and faced the threat that was standing before them; deadly Pack. "Angelight!!" Lydia yelled out as her laptop flashed revealing an ability being activated in Angelight's favor. Lydia's right eye started glowing in violet color and violet color surrounded Angelight as well. Violet color was revealing some sort of unusual power that started healing Angelight's leg and wing quickly and in less than 3 seconds scratches and wounds were miraculously gone as they were never there in the first place.

"Bakugan Switch!" Lydia yelled as her laptop's screen flashed. Angelight's body started glowing and was wrapped up in dark-purple energy before that energy was dispered all over the area. However, something happened to Angelight. Her appearance that reminded of an archangel was completely changed into a demonic appearance; a devil. "Darkus Devillin, stand!" Lydia yelled out and new calculations were made based on this new appearance of a Bakugan. But as her gauntlet calculated it seemed like it was a completely different Bakugan and not a transformation. "Skylar warned us about this...I'm sorry I have to hurt you..." Lydia said to the Pack who was mercilessly attacking them. "Special Ability, activate! Black Heart Shade!"
Her laptop screen flashed and some sort of energy was transferred into devil-girl's body.

"Alright, that's what I like. Time to put you kids back to sleep!!" Devil girl yelled out in a rude and vicious tone which was completely opposite of what Angelight seemed to be. Her arms started to turn into shadows and were expanding in every direction like countless tentacles of darkness. However, those were not tentacles. As soon as her arms turned into tentacle-like shadows devil girl launched those countless shadows at members of the Pack. Shadows were not doing any kind of barrage or an all-out attack like Dragonoid and Gladion did. Those were pinpoint-attacks directed no where else, but into skulls of Pack members. Like deadly spears shadows started impaling skulls of the Pack with amazing precision not missing a single member of the Pack who was in the close range. Before they could think of a defensive tactics majority of the Pack was already lying on the ground with their brains being completely shut down for eternity.

Lydia put her hand on her stomach once again. Even though she had to fight those monsters and was doing it pretty well she still had a lot of pain dealing with violence. Seeing all those Bakugans fighting she felt very sick to her stomach. "Ngh..." She mumbled something in pain.

[Alex Andersen]

Lydia suddenly whispered something to Alex and stood up to fight countless monsters that appeared out of nowhere. Alex was still caught in all those emotions that he could barely notice anything happen around him, but Dante sure caught his attention. "Alex, it's the Pack...get up..." Dante said quietly while pointing his lance towards incoming force of Pack members that were able to avoid devil-girl's shadow spears. Alex quickly got up ignoring all that had happened moments ago with Lydia and Falcon and Pack got his full attention. "We can leave this to Jason if you are not up for it..." Dante continued with a worried tone about his partner who was still recovering from all that happened.

Alex surprisingly smiled at what Dante had to say to him. "Hehe...do you think that lowly of me, Dante?" Alex replied to his partner's words and continued. "Don't you remember what happened a few weeks ago? We barely survived...and some didn't. Leaving these things like that wouldn't mean anything else, but another catastrophe."
Dante realized he forgot the fact that a few hundreds lives were lost in last several conflicts with terrorists back in Washington. If they left the Pack for anyone else to fight that would buy time for Pack to spread around and do more damage. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Isn't it obvious? Wiping this area clean in an instant would be a good start." Alex replied to his partner who just sighed at hearing that. "Here we go again."

"Special Ability, activate! Loki's Art: Storm Arrow!" Alex yelled while activating an ability card which switched out Dante's large shield and lance with a large bow with origins from god, Loki. He formed a few arrows in his hands and pointed them right towards one point which was completely empty; there were no Pack members there. "Your turn."
"Roger that. Achron Art: Martyr Sphere!" With that said Alex and Dante did something that was not to expect. Dante grabbed Alex in his right hand and tossed him at the area he was planning to shoot with arrows.

At that speed and force a normal human being could not have survived, but Alex simply soared through the air due to Dante's forceful throw. After landing behind lines of Pack Alex's body was surrounded by a blue orb. Name was Martyr Sphere. Force of that orb was working as an artificial gravity that started pulling the Pack towards Alex. This artificial gravity was selective and was only drawing Pack towards the sphere. In only a few seconds every single member of the Pack that was on the battlefield was now stuck on the large orb Alex formed around his body. "Root them out."

Dante then locked on near Alex's orb and fired three arrows simultaneously. Arrows struck the ground creating powerful blue and green thunder shocks that covered the entire area around Alex. Powerful shocking blows did multiple heavy continuous damage on the Pack as well as on the orb, but Alex did not seem to mind. After a few seconds lightning stopped and it was the end of Dante's attack. Bodies of the Pack were immobile now. They were still stuck on the orb, but were not moving. And another two or three seconds after their bodies visibly started turning into ash. All their bodies peeled off the orb and it seemed like they were never there to begin with. After that Dante landed and Martyr Sphere disappeared revealing Alex to be in the middle of the dust where Pack was slaughtered. There was no more Pack to be seen around them. They were all dead.

Alex sighed and immediately sat on the nearest rock in exhaustion. He was trying to clear his mind after all things that happened. Battle with his sister, reunion with her and then this unexpected revelation. Admiral reported there could be possible Pack survivors, but there sure was too many to consider it just a minor threat. "Will this day ever end?" Alex muttered to himself and leaned against a rock. "Haven't you forgotten something?" Dante asks from the distance.

[Tank Stryker]

Tank looked in awe at the scattered piles of ash that used to be the pack. Death and destruction reigned supreme in the No Man's Land, but Tank hadn't really thought much about that. Death wasn't a new experience to Tank, especially with the death of John being so fresh in his mind, but this was different. This... abomination of nature, this breaking of the boundaries of life and death, it sent Tank's mind spiraling out of control trying to make sense of what he has seen and fought. He thought about his friends, his family, about Katherine. Would Katherine turn into a mindless killing machine like the Pack? Why was he immune while his loved ones suffered? Time was running out, and Tank had nothing to show for his efforts. Nothing, except the girl. Tank walked over to Lydia, Gladion returning to ball form and flying back to his outstretched hand.

"You," Tank said, softly, pointing his finger at Lydia, "Why am I immune to this? What is this?"

"Tank," Gladion cautioned.

"No, Gladion!" Tank snapped back at his bakugan before turning his attention back to Lydia, "You are going to help us. You are going to tell us how the fuck we are supposed to get rid of this before it consumes every person that we love. I didn't come here to settle a sibling dispute. This has wasted time that WE DON'T HAVE."

Tank turned around to face Noland, "Grab her and let's go," he commanded, "I'm not waiting around any longer."

Tank began to walk away from No Man's Land and threw Gladion, releasing him from his ball form. Gladion picked Tank up and began walking back towards civilization. Tank's eyes were tearing up as he felt a sadness that no one should ever feel: the feeling of losing a loved one and failing to stop the loss. Tank pulled out his wallet and retrieved a picture of him and Katherine's graduation from the billfold, looking down longingly at it. Anger, sadness, and shame of not being able to save his loved ones flowed from Tank as he began to sob into the picture.

[Lydia Andersen]

By the time Tank gave Lydia a speech about their loved ones she already put her concentration on Alex, but this time without tears involved. They were already thru with that phase of their reunion and it did not seem they wanted bringing up the past anymore and were simply happy they were reunited once again. They started a small talk much to their Bakugans' surprise, but that air of reunion was broken by Resistor's sudden question and requests.

Lydia simply turned her concentration away from Alex towards Tank and gave him a strict and cold stare. She did not understand what Tank was talking about. From what she understood there was something he was immune to and apparently someone else wasn't...
There were many things said, but lack of information and Tank's attitude only worked contradictory to his cause pushing Lydia away. "I ensure you it is in your interest to keep your hands as far as possible." Lydia replied before continuing with what she had to say. She still had that cold stare set against Tank. "There is nothing I can do or tell you with information you gave me. I need to see it for myself." Despite her cold attitude towards Tank who gave her enough reason to refuse she looked at his desperate and sad face determined to do something about a desperate situation.
She closed her eyes and sighed before opening her eyes again. "...The fact you came here looking for me...among many capable doctors...It must be serious..."

She felt uneasy about going off with two Resistors, but letting people die when she could do anything about it was something completely unacceptable for her. "Alright...I will assist you..." She said while turning her look away from Resistors. "...as long as you keep your hands to yourself..."

Lydia turned to Alex and smiled mildly to him. "And you? Maybe you could join as well..." She said silently not wanting to be meddlesome to Alex right after she was reunited with him, but she still kept a mild smile on her face not wanting to be too formal to him either.

[Alex Andersen]

Alex did not mind Lydia helping a few people who were in such need and desperation they needed to look for one specific person. Lydia asked Alex if he would join her in that task she had to do, but he had an important task of his own and it was not something he could leave out. That task was closely related to their brother, Daniel. He had to go to Silver Knights' infamous prison, Power Cell, in order to make sure Daniel's body wouldn't be used for murder again. It was scheduled to happen once per week and it happened that Alex just recently received a message from Admiral Zenovia to abandon his post in No Mans Land and go back to the HQ.

He did not want to give excuses to Lydia after all that time they were separated, but telling her the truth might be even more painful. However, there was no point in lying to her about something important as that, so he decided to give her his brief thoughts about the situation.
"It's not that I don't want to. After all this time I wouldn't think twice about it, but..." Alex said with brief skipping in his tone. He was trying to explain it to her without being direct, but Dante was not going with that thought. "It's Daniel... We found out he was alive only a few weeks ago..." Dante continued speeding up what Alex was going to say in the first place. Alex gave Dante a stare of disagreement because he was going with direct method. However, since he already said what he said there was no point in being indirect anymore.

"But, it's not so good as it sounds..." Alex continued with more skipping in his voice. "Remember our father's old comrade? Professory Kyuki...he is a former Knight scientist responsible for... Daniel's situation..." He was still avoiding the point of what happened to Daniel, but Dante gave a pretty straight answer about it. "He put a chip in him. That thing controls Daniel's body now and uses it to commit genocide. Just like you and Alex, Daniel is capable of doing...whatever you humans would call this, but with that chip in the picture it can only mean more murder."
Dante was pretty direct about their problem. They already faced Daniel a few weeks ago and nearly got killed by his 'True Form' that brought both of them to their knees. They were not capable of stopping it with their powers, but had to play dirty to make it a victory.

"A few weeks ago we fought him for the first time...he nearly got us killed. 'True Form' or whatever he called it was way too powerful for us to handle...we had to use mind tricks to succeed. And even with that we weren't able to cure him. As it appears that chip shuts itself down temporarily after every loss leaving Daniel alone, but we simply can't track it down." Alex tried to explain from his own experience when facing Daniel's force for the first time. As it appeared that monster was charging up with time and that was why they needed to fight him every week to drain him out of energy. "So...I am trying to find some way to stop this, but until then I have no other option, but to defeat that thing every time it comes back...That is why...I can't join you now, Lydia. I have to do the procedure again." Alex said referring to his current duty of keeping an eye on Daniel and his constant obligation to keep on defeating the artificial intelligence controlling Daniel's body. Only way of stopping it temporarily was to beat it in battle, but yes, it was temporary. Procedure was about to begin and Alex was the only person allowed to do it and he received personal authorization from Admiral Zenovia.

[Noland Hardy]

Noland started looking at Alex if he was crazier than before the moment he made his goal of rescuing Daniel a priority. Every single hurdle they crashed into thanks to him was enough of a reason to strongly oppose Alex's desire to continue crossing his path even to the point of wanting to make sure that no one tampers with that kind of power. His final battle with Daniel was all he needed to see to know that anyone who tries to get to him is walking into a fiery furnace.

"You must be some kind of crazy if you think that battle is winnable in his current state," Noland boisterously interrupted. "Daniel is without a doubt the most lethal criminal on the planet right now, and you're talking about freeing him even though you already know you're going to lose every single time? Forget how you made it out alive. A brawler of your caliber couldn't even stop him even when he's mentally at his weakest. What does that tell you about him?"

"Daniel should be rendered powerless in his confinement anyway considering the Bakugan that's inhabiting his body is unable to use its full strength without straining the kid's body past his limits," Drago added, staring deep into Alex and Dante's souls to exaggerate his point. "Let's try pausing for the first time and considering how much damage his body is taking because you're aggravating the Bakugan by confronting it. What are you going to do when he dies because of it?"

"Sometimes, there is dark power that cannot be defeated regardless of how you feel about the enemy," Noland suggested, obviously implying something he shouldn't be saying. "I've seen what that Bakugan is capable of with a sadistic passion of slavery being one of its disgusting qualities. If there's a chance that it rises again, then I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure it stays down, regardless of anyone who thinks otherwise."

[Alex Andersen]

Alex was not that interested in what leader of Resistors had to say. It was a valid argument to think that monster could cause problems in the future if it was released, but that was exactly what Alex was fighting against. The entire procedure consisted of draining life force that monster used to activate its powers it stole from an ancient Bakugan. "Hmm...I couldn't stop him?" Alex asked rhetorically in a cold tone while giving a cold stare to Noland. "In case your level of grammar didn't let you figure it out this is not my first time fighting that monster. I have completed the procedure 3 times already." Alex replied coldly still not wanting to reveal everything that was happening inside the Power Cell of Silver Knights.

"As for harm done to Daniel's body... I don't know what you have seen when you fought him, but at this point Daniel only became his vessel... That thing can freely move outside his body now... He is not restrained by any limits of Daniel's body..." This fact was a dangerous one considering that the monster did not need Daniel's body anymore to transport him from place to place, but monster itself could use wide array of powers that it could not previously use due to limitations of Daniel's body. The fact that monster could survive outside of Daniel's body was a horror since it could now go all-out without fear to lose its precious vessel. Daniel became important for only one thing; carrying the microchip that monster so desperately protects.

"You haven't witnessed the full power of infamous Virus. If we don't keep on beating it then it will truly become invincible for anyone to defeat. By the time we find permanent solution we will just have to stick with this or kill Daniel...and you can assume I will not let that scenario happen." Dante already returned to his orb form and was sitting comfortably on Alex's left shoulder. Alex changed the subject comparing both his and Daniel's situation to situation of Noland and other Resistors. "You see...all darkness does not have to be destroyed... And while we're on about darkness... how about you then? There must be a sort of darkness inside you as well...darkness that can be saved."

"We don't know each other, but you can trust me on this one thing: I am not that big of a fool to let this world get torn apart because of my ideals and hopes. If I didn't know what to do, I would already be a statistic in the death book." With those words he had no more interest in keep their talk go. He made his point in what he was going to do and was not intending to make pointless talk any longer. He simply turned away from them and started walking in another direction. It was very simple to conclude where he was going and what he was going to do when he comes there. He was already getting in trouble by taking those 2-3 minutes to talk with Lydia and Resistors and couldn't afford losing any more time. One last time he turned back towards Lydia and gave her an encouraging look. "You do your best there, kid. And don't worry...We will see each other very soon." With those words he turned back to his original path.

As he walked away further and further to get picked up by a helicopter waiting for him he was thinking about everything that happened so far. After 11 years of despair and sadness he was again reunited with his brother and sister. Kids who were supposedly kidnapped and murdered by followers of professor Kyuki. At that time everything seemed perfect for him; to be finally reunited with his family, but things were not going completely to his favor. He already knew what Resistor leader said was partially truth and was leading to other conclusions Alex came up with. He was sure that there was a slim possibility of Virus escaping Daniel's body entirely. That would create chaos, but chance of that happening at current state of Virus was even ridiculous to consider. Alex was also afraid of negative effects of Daniel going outside the prison one day when Virus is defeated; will Daniel be able to get used to the world as it is now? Will he be able to get used to the situation as it is? With all those thoughts troubling him Alex closed his eyes and sighed loudly. After that he opened his eyes. He revealed his left eye glowing in blue color just as it used to during his last battle. But unlike before now even his right eye was glowing...not in blue, but in powerful crimson color...just like Daniel's.