Episode 15: Rising Tensions

[Noland Hardy]

Still disgraced from his uneventful loss to Seiki, Deon was intent on figuring out why he was defeated by someone that was supposed to be the weakest link. Tyr thought they were better off considering that brawl's result to be a fluke and nothing more, but Deon was a bit hesitant to think that way. He made the jump to Earth during the weekdays to see how the planet was turning out, and he wasn't pleased with what he was seeing. He highly disagreed with the battle suits he saw the police wearing. He even became disgusted that they were flaunting them the way they did. Deon bravely walked up to the officers to scold them for using military-grade firepower to regulate their own civilians' behavior. 

The police recognized him as a Spartan right away. They advised Deon to mind his own business since nothing on Earth concerned him given that he resided in Vestal. Deon corrected them by saying that he was originally from Earth; he also said he shouldn't have to be from Earth to know when they were taking things to the extreme with law enforcement. The police told him a second time to go about his business. Deon refused once again. He asked if they were going to gun him down with a depraved heart just like they did to the same guy that was destroyed in front of Alana all because he was smart enough to see through their lies. He warned them that they'll only end up being destroyed quickly since history has shown that they were nothing without Vestal's technology. The battle suits were only a mask in his eyes, and once he broke through it, there would be nothing holding anyone back from telling it to their face.

A male and a female told him to stop before he took it any further. Before he knew it, two people stepped in between him and the police. Deon disregarded them completely until he heard them call him their son...

[Deon Irvine]

“It is amazing to see how much you have grown son....” The man said looking at Deon before the woman spoke. “Your almost as tall as Makoto now.........” After the mother said this both of them put their arms out to hug Deon. Deon however, simpily looked at Tyr before Tyr created a small wind while in ball form that made the parents stop and go back a few steps. “I don't want to be hugged” Deon said in a slight cold tone before being questioned. “Why not? You haven't seen us in years.....” The mother said trying to be strong the best she could. “If it was my Brothers and Sisters then yes I would hug them due to us being bonded by blood” Deon replied making the mother wanting t say more bt got stopped by the father. “Where were you, what were you doing and why did you leave us?” Was what the father said until he was given a look by Deon. “Why I left is not a consern. What should be why YOU havent left yet” Deon said with a bit more coldness coming through. His parents looked at each other before asking him why. “What do you mean Deon?” The mother said not waiting for her husband to ask.

“You want me to list the reasons? Fine, one... food is being produced that can rastically shortan your lifespan, two....climate destruction that results in air pollution, three...sea levels are rising and last of all the government swear to protect you but ends up killing you off anyway..” Deon said before looking at the Police before continuing, “And they find it a joke” Deon then pointed at the poilce at this point and decided to answer the other question his 'parents' said before. “As for where and what, I have been on vestal working as a htman for an underground organization. Yes I had to kill a lot of people to get a lot of money but when someone tried to pay me to commit regicide I crushed the underground organization myself.” Deon stated simply srugging of the last bit before remembering something. “Oh and that was the second time I found myself having to be responsible for someone else's downfall when they went after someone of importance” Deon said before saying no more.

[Deon Irvine]

Deon's parents looked at each other before looking back at Deon. “Would your parents be ok with this Deon? You not staying away from Makoto like they wanted.” The mother said before getting a siple look from Deon. “It was them that introduced me to Makoto in the first place, so it shouldn't be a problem as we all valused death equally.” Deon replied looking at his 'mother' before getting a reply from the father instead. “Why are you like this Deon? “ With that Deon shrugged it off before answering that new question.“Simple...... sometime people just have to die. That is one reason why I take pride in their death” Deon said before looking at the officier hearing a sound from them.

“Who do you think you are for deciding who lives or dies” One of the officiers said making Deon smile. “Now who is the one minding other people's buisness? Once you ask this country's police deapartment the same question and realise how stupid they atually are you then get a chance to me that question.” Deon said before continuing. “Oh and I one thing Officers..... put those suits away and use them correctly otherwise you'll be deprived of your usage forever.” Deon then began to walk away before stopping after hearing the officers speak again. “OnWhose Orders?!” One of them said before getting a small smile from Deon. “Dasia's...” And with that Deon left without saying goodbye to his 'parents' and decided to listern to them or the officers no longer.

[Xavier Turano]

Earth struggled with the idea of having that much power at their fingertips as they always have throughout their history. The way the battle suits were being used was not pleasing to the eye. What they used them for was a manner of control, not over the Hurranians like the suits were designed to do, but over their own people. It looked like the people were the disease and not the Hurranians. Vestal had a stark contrast to that atmosphere. Instead of ruling over people, the battle suits acted as a countermeasure against the Hurranians. It was Vestal's way of installing security throughout the planet. it was a way of being everywhere even when they couldn't, which explains why the Spartans have mostly been on Earth doing what they could do to strengthen their forces as they needed the most help.

Xavier had the power of administrator over the battle suits regardless of where they were alongside Dasia. This amount of power over one thing would inevitably lead to one becoming needy of information if one of the holders would ever call for a shutdown. That's exactly what Xavier did, except that he didn't know he was doing it; he was not made aware of what Deon had gone to Earth to do. He'd more than likely be upset if he were to find that out for himself. Luckily for him, he would get the chance to get the info he would want when talking with Dasia in her throne room.

"Hey, Dasia. So about these battle suits..." Xavier started.

[Dasia Turano]

"Probably the worst moral mistake we've ever made," Dasia finished.

Knowing that what Xavier was about to say was probably important, she knew interrupting him was quite rude, but this time, she couldn't help it. The battle suits have created a disease nearly on par with the Hurranians, and she was very pissed about it. "What those idiots are doing on Earth is using them on their own people. When the CIA held us hostage with the Resistors, we specifically agreed on a compromise to help them thin out the Hurranians, not kill their fellow human beings. To add even more of an insult to our intelligence, they're willingly pumping their own Bakugan with the Hurranians, and then they don't even use the battle suits on them!"

Dasia then got straight to what Xavier would have wanted to hear earlier. She paused to calm down a bit, and then softly said, "Hey. I'm sorry for not telling you this earlier, but I'm considering getting us out of that market. I sent Deon down there to pass on the warning. I'm expecting them not to follow it, so be prepared to cut down on the production."

[Xavier Turano]

Xavier was surprised to see his sister this angry. This was the angriest that she's ever been since the aftermath of that whole meeting. The red on her face easily depicted the mood she was in. He clearly didn't want to increase that anger, already having the last incident's reaction fresh in his mind. After hearing why she was angry, he didn't know whether to be angry himself or happy that someone else could finally experience her rage.

Regardless of what was being thought about then, Xavier's face was frozen in disappointment, anger, and most of all, confusion. The words "Deon" and "Earth" did not mix well in his mind. "Really? You sent that guy? Niko must have been taking another nap as usual if he was the only remaining option." Xavier laughed a little, not because he thought it was funny, but because he thought the warning was irrelevant. "If that wasn't a joke, then you may as well tell me to cease production for Earth entirely. Deon's not the type of guy to handle disagreements well. That's why he left the planet in the first place. Sending him there is like asking them to do the opposite of what you said. I'll be surprised if he doesn't punk at least one of them."

"That is if they don't know that he lost to Seiki for some...very odd reason..."

"On a more serious note, I came in here to ask a certain question. After all, since the suits have racked in a lot of money for us to use and having been trained by the Spartans, I think there's a reasonable step we can take to get us ready to battle at a moment's notice. It is what Father has asked us for after all..."

[Insidious]

"Seems Earth is more evil than Vestal is. Who would've guessed...?"

The subject Xavier was about to bring up proved to be very interesting to a certain person's ears. A masked individual - a very hilarious-looking masked individual - sat behind the throne without making his/her presence too obvious. The situation almost turned violent the last time when Dasia started making threats with her words and personal saber, but this time, all that had to be done was to listen for anything of importance. What was being discussed now was extremely important, especially the bit about Earth misbehaving as usual. As they started talking about it, he/she remained still and silent, ready to absorb more knowledge of someone that may or may not be an enemy.

"If the only Spartan on this planet is that blind girl, then this may turn out to be easier than last time..."

[Dasia Turano]

"Oh yeah..."

Dasia recalled the moment right before King Richard's exile where he told them to become brawlers at some point.

"That definitely would be a good thing. That masked troublemaker you mentioned before is still lurking around. We definitely will need more than these sabers to counter whatever it is if the battle suits don't do the job."

The fact that there were barely any living Bakugan on Vestal hit her hard. The activity of King Zenoheld three centuries ago surely made the Bakugan view them as untrustworthy even if hundreds of years have passed since then. Finding a Bakugan of the caliber that they require is a rarity at best. The most powerful ones must have surely become Hurranian by now. Krakix and Siege were definitely out of the question. Speaking of which...

"I'm sure you're not talking about making Krakix or Siege our guardians with that money since we still can't figure out a way to cure them. What exactly do you have in mind?" she asked.

[Xavier Turano]

Xavier shook his head in disgust that the masked individual Dasia was talking about came back into memory. He remembered his employees bugging him about the issue, but they never found the person. It definitely would be terrible if something were to happen.

"Yes, whoever is continuously giving the Royal Guard the slip surely must be a bad thing for everyone's safety. I'd rather see it destroyed in due time than wait around any longer," Xavier agreed. "In order for us to do that, we need to expand on Zenoheld's arsenal even more. This time, instead of a makeshift add-on for Bakugan, we should try to make the Bakugan ourselves."

In further explanation, "As you said, we can't use Krakix or Siege in their debilitated condition, and we don't have any other available Bakugan on this planet that hasn't already fell victim to the Hurranians. So, with your permission, we can give us an extra area of protection in case the Spartans or the Royal Guard are unable to shield us. Father had to battle as well despite the resources he had, so we must be ready too."

[Dasia Turano]

Dasia wasn't too thrilled at the idea of creating mechanical Bakugan. The battle suits was a risky venture itself, and the dealings with Earth confirmed her earlier suspicions. Bakugan, on the other hand, was an entirely different area of concern. The only mentionings of a Bakugan utilizing mechanical parts was the first and only Bakugan to be made a cyborg - the Helios that Zenoheld used personally - and the Farbros they deployed on their first contact with Earth. A Bakugan entirely mechanical was very complicated and expensive unlike their cyborg counterparts, so it was very controversial, especially when Farbros wasn't strong enough in their eyes.

"Well..." She felt slightly uncomfortable giving an answer to that question so soon, but she had no choice. Well, she probably did since the battle suits were currently doing their job, but as she said before, what if they don't? This was something she couldn't avoid thinking about. She had to make a decision. "Question..."

She proceeded to express her thoughts. "How could we be sure that the mechanical Bakugan will be strong enough this time? I wasn't a big fan of Farbros. We'll need more than big guns to take on certain enemies. Their needs to be more diversity in their capabilities rather than relying on the Hurranians to fill in that gap for us. Are you sure you can do that?"

[Xavier Turano]

Xavier chuckled a little when he heard Dasia express her distaste for Farbros. "You never were a fan of mechanical Bakugan anyway. You said so yourself ever since we first found out about those things," he revealed.

"This time, it'll be very different from just inserting weaponry in them just to say we're powerful. I have a specific direction I want to take in Farbros's successors. We can put in big weapons and so much more." Xavier pulled up a scan of all twelve brawlers of interest: all six Spartans and all six Resistors. Each one contained complicated listings of data that couldn't possibly be understood by anyone except for him and his workers. "We can make them stronger with these: the battle data of the Resistors and Spartans."

He thought of his words very carefully before he explained what this meant. He didn't want to confuse Dasia. She was the most important figure in this decision, so if anyone had to understand, it would be her. "All of the Spartan's BakuMeters recorded data from their dealings with the Resistors. What this means is each of them taught the system about what they're capable of doing just by taking part in a battle. This is exactly how they measure someone's battle capability to determine whether people qualify for nationals or anything of the sort. If we can inject this data into a mechanical Bakugan's CPU, they'll have the battle experience that they have, which makes us able to expand on their repertoire without compromising efficiency."

[Dasia Turano]

The situation was pretty clear for Dasia now. Xavier had a clear, outlined plan to make this possible. Other than not liking mechanicals in the first place, one thing she knew was certain by watching the Hurranians in action was that they had to learn first before they could operate; they couldn't replicate another Bakugan without getting to know their genetic code first. They wouldn't have to have that barrier this time. It sounded like Xavier would already give them the knowledge they need to surpass Farbros.

"I like it. You got yourself a deal, X," Dasia accepted. "Don't start production on them yet though. I want you to halt production on those battle suits and allocate your resources into making them correctly once I give the green light. I'd like to see what happens with Earth before we get started on them."

Before he went off to do what she asked of him, Dasia made sure he heard what she had to say to him last. "Hey, X...you've done a great job lately. I'm proud of you."

[Xavier Turano]

"Did...did we just agree on a project?"

Xavier was overly pleased with the mechanical Bakugan idea being approved for the most part. He would have to wait until Earth inevitably messes up again before he could do it, but that was okay with him. He'd probably experiment with it before she gives the okay anyway. That's just what he does.

"Understood." Xavier started walking away from the throne. As he was doing so, he received some recognition from Dasia. He gave in this time. He walked back to Dasia, pulled her towards him, and gave her a nice, long hug.

When he exited the throne room, Xavier had a sly smile on his face. "It's about time..." he said. "Now I can finally get those six out of my face..."

[Insidious]

He/she had to wait a little while after Xavier left the room for Dasia to leave as well. The person stood up to stretch after sitting in that uncomfortable position for that long. It was well worth the listen despite the unfavorable sitting posture. Certain things were heard that couldn't be unheard.

"So Krakix and Siege are here after all, huh?" The person clenched his/her fists upon figuring out the condition they were in. "Now I go from wanting to take them back to not wanting them back at all. What a waste..."

He/she started walking out of the throne room, prepared to jump out of the nearest window that could be found to avoid any conflict. Provided that they never get seen in the first place, that should be very easy. "I heard last time that the science team works in Gamma City. If the prince is going to be making them, that's where I need to be. Hopefully whatever he's making has the power to destroy them both before they return to Earth and make it to their prior owners before I do..."

[Noland Hardy]

Tracy was at her locker at the end of the day getting books she needed for homework or other assignments she had coming. When she opened it, a picture of herself, Noland and Tank from the state championships was taped on the top section of the locker. Looking at Noland made her a bit sad since she didn't see him as often as she would have liked to. She definitely expected to see him at training, but Noland's behavior gave the impression that he thought he was too good for practice even as the national champion; he didn't go to practice often. She was about to find out why too. Noland walked up to her at her locker, making her blush a little. He said that they needed to talk.

He led her to the training facilities where their coach was expecting them. To her surprise, the coach wasn't upset with Noland at all despite not showing up for practice. Noland asked Tracy if she was okay, having heard of her activity in combating the Huranians and the community. He also asked about Seiki. Tracy confirmed that they were doing alright. Being glad to hear that, Noland apologized to her for the way he behaved and what she had to go through because of the choices they've made. Tracy gave him her signature death hug and told him that she was the one that jumped to conclusions about him, so she should be the one that's sorry, which she was. She was just happy that they were on good terms again. As much as Noland didn't want to kill the mood, he had to break some very bad news to her.

Noland confessed to being busy with scouting the competition for anyone who was using Hurranians, hence why he wasn't at their practices. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was hanging out with Yita a lot in an attempt to hunt down as many brawlers in the state using them. He was able to get some of them busted, but they gave up because another subject would pop up as another gets caught, making his entire fight meaningless. He didn't care too much about knowing what they're up against any longer since they wouldn't have to; the proceedings for the season have been cancelled until further notice. The reason that was done was due to the amount of brawlers being caught with the material and the disturbing number of Bakugan that have died because of it. What made them pull the plug on the entire thing was that...Gladion was nearly killed in battle by someone who was using them, opening everyone's eyes very widely.

Highly concerned for Tank and Gladion's health, Tracy asked if they were okay. Noland regretted that he didn't know since Tank didn't want to talk about it; he considered it the worst battle he has ever had and doesn't want any memory of it living on. Even Markus started to become discouraged after watching what happened to Tank and heard rumors of the PBL considering cancellations as well. Tracy wondered if there was even a point in trying to bring the community together since everything is falling apart. Noland told her that it was really the only thing that could hold everyone together, so if there was anyone that didn't need to give up, it was her. It was likely that everyone else had run their course, so Tracy was their hope. This made Tracy blush extremely hard. Noland strictly told her to keep herself out of fights if possible since he didn't appreciate what went down with Baalenoid at all.

The coach interrupted them to tell Noland that he was being called out. Noland guessed if it was Damian. He had guessed right. Damian wanted him at FedEx Field so they could have their own little national championship to see which one of them deserved to be the champion. He compared his own achievements so far with Noland's; he took on an entire professional team full of cheaters by himself and won, battled the majority of the top 20 and beat them in one hit, and have also sent him and Allen on a downward spiral since scaring them both when tagged with Jamal while Noland hasn't really done anything. Tracy thought that Damian talked too much and that Noland didn't have to be goaded into accepting the battle. The coach regretfully said that he didn't have much of a choice since the battle was acknowledged by the BBBA and will be authorized despite the earlier cancellations since everyone, including the President of the United States, wants someone to finally shut Damian up.

This meant that if Noland refused to fight, he'd let the entire country down since Damian is going to continue talking. If he loses, the same result would happen. They weren't even sure if Damian losing would quiet him down, but they had to try. It was on Noland's orders. Right then and there, Tank called Noland and told him that he better teach that guy a lesson once and for all. Knowing that it had to be done, Noland accepted the challenge. He let Tracy know that he'd appreciate it if her and her cheerleaders would cheer him on and troll Damian while they were battling. She happily accepted his request.

The day finally comes to where Noland would face Damian in a heated battle. They both walked onto the field at the same time across from one another. They were ready to finally settle their score here and now.

(Mini-Boss Theme)