Episode 22: Divided, We Fall

[Noland Hardy]

Tracy had regularly checked in with Seiki in her guest room for close to a week, and she has still not woken up, just like Niko had predicted. While looking after her, Tracy regularly watched the news, having heard about the massacre Noland was responsible for in his Gundalian form. She watched as people cried for war against him and all who stood by him, even if it was a Resistor, Spartan, Sliver Knight, or Eden operative in the mix. The battles occurring because of a disconnection between them all was bad enough to deal with, especially when Tracy was nearly killed in one of them thanks to Baalenoid. Things were going to get really serious now. A Gundalian was a target now; there was nothing worse in the people's eyes than someone of that distinction. 

She stepped outside to think, not knowing what else to do to help the situation except for staying on the sidelines like she usually does. She approached an angry mob who threw mud at her using very disgusting words before charging for her just to prove she was on the wrong side. The opposing side - the one in defense of the Resistors - took charge and confronted the naysayers. It was another battle in the ongoing civil war. This time, it would be the bloodiest, and Tracy wanted nothing to do with it. She gave up trying to unite them; it was a useless endeavor in her eyes.

Then everything froze...

Tracy looked as everyone stopped in motion. Their Bakugan were frozen in their attack animations. Everyone was just a sitting duck except for her. Then she heard a voice...

It was a very calming one that asked her why she surrendered. Tracy was too bewildered by the flaunted power to offer a response. Skystar was forced out of her ball form into her monster form; this easily added on to her confusion. Skystar requested the identity of the voice, who was quite possibly causing this freeze. The surrounding area suddenly became a large vista with the sky in the background. The ground consisted of clouds that were somehow solid enough for someone to walk on. Light began falling down in the form of rain, continuously dripping like it was never going to stop. 

A blinding light beamed through the clouds as a Haos Bakugan came forth, ready to do what needed to be done.


(Boss Theme)

[Vince Hardy]

The Bakugan that descended was a beautiful sorceress sporting a glorious set of armor. Her landing was delayed on purpose, possibly for making her entrance grander. She wasn't in a rush to touch down on the ground, so she took her time. That time was used to look at Tracy and Skystar after everything that she has seen, and then she'll make her judgment.

"You asked, so I will show you," the Bakugan answered in response to the identity of the one using this power. "I am the Legendary Soldier of the light - Lars Lion. I fought for unity centuries ago, but all I see now is division...even among our very own."

She then pointed out the area they were in. "Vestroia is a shadow of its former self. The atmosphere becomes that much more depressing to breath in the more it cries for us, because of us, because of the way we interact with each other. We lack the ability to solve our problems by giving life; we must give death and destruction in order to make progress. It motivates our enemies, then it extends to us so that we become like our enemies to be an enemy to them. The entire cycle repeats itself, even to this day as I watch you go into every battle on our behalf."

Lars Lion snapped her fingers to surround a large part of the dimension in a large, circular wall entirely composed of an aurora. Without moving, she seemed capable of drawing a large rectangle around her that encompassed where she and Skystar were standing. She was basically inviting Tracy to use a gate card, but she wasn't going to make that remark unless they catch on.

"I find battles distasteful, but I want you to show me your valor," Lars Lion requested. "We'll see just how far you can go when you're all alone..."

[Tracy White]

"Legendary Soldier...?" Tracy acted like she was hard of hearing after Lars Lion revealed her title. Whether she heard correctly or not wasn't the issue; her power level was the only concern here, and Lars Lion definitely backed that one up nicely. If she wanted to call herself the strongest Haos Bakugan alive, she wouldn't be surprised.

"Lars Lion...I've heard that name before. I was never told what made you so important, but they said you were an exemplary candidate for the strongest Haos Bakugan, so much so that I and some others thought you were a myth." It seems Skystar wasn't so surprised either. She knelt down to give her respects before being challenged to a battle.

They paused for a moment. They each questioned themselves on why they were being challenged to a fight, especially since Lars Lion just admitted she was a pacifist. What was the goal? It was that last part that had them guessing...

"Just to see where we stand..."

"I accept."

Skystar came forward. She had her scepter in hand at all times and carefully watched Lars Lion. She didn't know what the soldier had in her arsenal, but she didn't want to find out the hard way. Tracy activated her BrawlX and got an ability ready to be played.

"Ability activate! Majestic Purge!" Skystar gathered a lot of energy in her scepter to be used as a directed energy weapon against Lars Lion. She quickly jumped into the air, using her shoulder discs as makeshift jetpacks. She pointed her scepter at Lars Lion and released the energy. Numerous light particles emerged from it to lunge at Skystar, intending to smother her in bursts that would repeat over and over again for a couple of seconds.

[Vince Hardy]

Lars Lion observed the particles Skystar launched and deemed them threatening, so she quickly got into battle-mode to resolve it.

"Valkyrie Barrier!" Her hands shone as she rose them above her head. A yellow barrier formed above her palms and expanded downwards in a circular motion until it hit the ground. What Skystar sent her way bounced off of the barrier without any hint of a power struggle. The series of detonations that resulted from the repelled attack was enough to send a hint of force across the horizon, but Lars Lion was unmoved.

"Even after all these years, I can never get the opening move right every time, so I usually just let the enemy attack me first or I'd get someone else to do it for me. Frosch usually tells me what I should do, but I'm still not very good at it. Still, it's nice to have that voice there to hold me accountable. Wouldn't you both agree?" She was apparently taking a jab at them for making that comment. Just like the gate card outlining, she didn't make a direct attempt to expose it.

"Victory Banner!" A scroll popped up in Lars Lion's hands. She rolled it out to reveal a blank space. It has yet to be filled out, but it soon will be, just as soon as Skystar makes her next move.

[Tracy White]

Skystar was surely not pleased by her attack being as useless as it was. That was the first time anyone put up a defense so powerful that their attacks would literally bounce off like they were nothing. Getting to Lars Lion was going to be tough.

"That's unreal..." Skystar was noticeably furious with the opening proceedings. She had a harder grip on her scepter than usual, showing that she was not very calm.

"Shake it off, Sky. We're just getting started," Tracy encouraged. "What is Lars Lion trying to say anyway...?"

Tracy then made her move. With a card in hand, she swiped it on her BrawlX, hoping to make a difference.

"Ability activate! Amplify Power!" This was a technique devised by Tracy herself, one that allows Skystar to imbue her scepter with an attribute energy that gives her certain benefits. This doesn't require her to switch attributes when doing this, allowing her to retain some skills designated to her specific attribute.

She chose to use Darkus, cloaking her scepter in a purple veil to represent this choice. She could now passively absorb power from anything she touches, and any attack that comes from it can now benefit from that buff. She was hoping this would be enough to counter Lars Lion's defenses just by sapping her strength.

"Here's your follow-up. Ability activate! Magical Sunburst!" Skystar's scepter bathed the entire area in a sea of twilight. All enemy Bakugan touched would have their powers immediately neutralized, decreased in favor of lowering their threat levels. The previous ability Skystar activated would also take effect by sapping away power levels.

[Vince Hardy]

Lars Lion telepathically wrote a command on her summoned scroll in Vestroian language as soon as she saw Skystar's weapon enhancement. All she had to do now was dispel it so it can take effect. She waited until Skystar's second ability in that transition to do just that. It shone brightly upon dispersion, bathing her in a translucent light that shielded her powers from ever being touched by the opposition. Needless to say, all she got out of that engagement was a darker light bath than usual.

"Clever use of the Darkus attribute. It seems you did learn something from your comrades. There just might be hope for you," Lars Lion graciously commended. "Unity is what made you strong. Now can you see it's importance in and out of battle?"

Lars Lion put her right hand forward and unleashed another ability. "Spirit Rune!" A blast with a smoke-like appearance was fired from her hand directly at Skystar, striking her in the center of her chest.

[Tracy White]

The impact didn't send Skystar very far. Ten meters was the exact distance she was sent back by, and it didn't appear like Lars Lion had hit her that hard. If the previous technique she used was anything to go by, what she was just hit with may have some strings attached. A white burn mark was etched onto her at the impact site, suggesting some type of power infusion.

"Dang. You're good," Skystar commended with Lars Lion having resisted two of her pushes without moving from that spot or feeling pressured.

"There she goes again with that talk. What is she saying?"

Tracy paused for a moment to think. It was a safe decision to regroup since their current way of brawling wasn't fazing the legend at all. What she was saying may mean something. Maybe Lars Lion wanted her to learn something. Maybe she wanted to mess with her mind to make the fight much easier with distractions in play.

Would Lars Lion really go that low though? No, Tracy didn't think so.

"Ability activate! Illumina: Strength!" Tracy put one of her Illumina spells in play to sport a supportive role in battle for herself. Skystar attempted to charge a small energy ball using her scepter as the conduit for the power, but it was dispelled the moment it was about to be cast.

"W-what...?" It must have been something Lars Lion did to her that caused it to happen. The previous attack must have formed some sort of blockage to her powers.

[Vince Hardy]

Lars Lion hummed a very happy tune when she watched Skystar fail to cast her spell, just as she expected would happen. "Don't be too alarmed about that. What I placed on you is just a momentary nuisance. You'll have some time before it gets burned off. It's all starting to fall into place anyway."

Lars Lion still did not move away from her location, implying that she was going to skip her turn for now.

"I've been watching you for some time. There were numerous moments where you felt powerless just like you are to me right now. Did you become insane by continuing to do things the same way or did you seek assistance elsewhere? That may help you become more of a threat to me."

Lars Lion was anticipating Skystar's next movement in case she understood where Lars Lion was going with this. She was prepared to not expect too much in case Tracy did not get it for a third time.

[Tracy White]

"You have...?"

Hearing Lars Lion say that made Tracy remember the all too familiar memories of her struggles in the brawling arena. Those same struggles translated to life outside of brawling as well. When she was down in the dumps and constantly told herself that there was no way to get better, she had help. When she thought there was nothing they could do to curb the Pack's growth, she had help.

That was an issue in a way. She didn't want to be that person who always had to rely on someone else. She wanted to do things on her own to show that she's capable. She wanted to prove her worth to everyone she knew. She wanted them to say that she could do things too.

"Guess calling you legendary is an understatement. You're not even trying to toy with me, but you are, even if you don't mean it," Skystar noticed, coming to terms with the power gap between herself and Lars Lion. Admitting it loudly wasn't really a problem when Lars Lion clearly knew what was going on here. They couldn't fool her. She already saw through them.

"I know where my help comes from, Lars Lion," Tracy answered, getting two cards ready. "It's just me right now, so I have to hold my own. That's what I've been working towards. Double ability activate! Soul Cleanse plus Arc Thunder!"

Soul Cleanse was the special ability Tracy keeps in reserve in case a debilitating condition is upon her. By Skystar bathing herself in a bright, cleansing light, she restores herself to full power, free of any hostile influences. As for Arc Thunder, she had to shift her belt to the Ventus attribute to make use of it to its fullest potential. She flooded the sky with torrential lightning bolts that were originally intended to strike the enemy down quickly, but that's not what she did. She struck herself with one of the bolts to disappear into the clouds, the Ventus power giving her the capability to do so. She can manually direct each bolt of lightning towards a designated location so that she can strike the enemy down herself in a flash.

This is what she did. She buffeted Lars Lion with dozens of bolts before aiming to crash right on top of her head to decapitate her.

[Vince Hardy]

Lars Lion had an innocent look on her face when she looked up at the impending doom Skystar was concocting for her. She didn't know why Skystar would target herself with the attack, but she knew that it wasn't to commit suicide. For this reason, she didn't bother putting up a defense against it. She looked to the future instead.

"I have no regrets." Lars Lion materialized a chrome bow on her left arm. "Prepare for the most powerful Haos ability, Sagittarius Arrow!"

Lars Lion conjured an energy arrow in her right hand, carefully lined it up with her bow, and shot it into the air. The projectile itself went unaffected by the lightning strikes; it repelled all of them instead, making them bounce off of it. The only thing that went untouched by the arrow as Skystar. She came tumbling down on top of Lars Lion, seemingly putting her out of commission.

The arrow dispersed once it got high enough. What was left of it were sparkles. They covered their area with a powerful life force that had enough potential to even raise the dead. This was proven to be enough to put Lars Lion back in her normal, healthy state without any signs of bruises or hiccups. Seven other Bakugan and brawlers came back along with her.

Little did Tracy know, those seven brawlers were actually the other Resistors and their Bakugan...including herself and Skystar.

"I have the power to raise the fallen and have them fight alongside me or anyone of my interests," Lars Lion explained while still pinned by Skystar. "You know them, don't you? They were tragically killed in battle. Do you want to know how that was possible?"

Drago appeared in front of Skystar almost instantly to repel her with an unsuspecting tail whack.

[Tracy White]

While Tracy was trying to remain confident in her abilities, she was surprised to see that they had actually hit Lars Lion and crippled her. It looked too good to be true, and it was. It quickly became obvious that it was done on purpose, and the appearance of all of the Resistors at once made them both freak. By the time they knew what hit them, Drago effortlessly sent Skystar across the field, refusing to give her time to adjust. Her scepter was knocked out of her hand in the process, landing a couple of inches away from her head.

By this time, Tracy was horrified by what she saw. Not only was she dealing with a Bakugan that could resurrect others, but she had to come face to face with the idea of them already being dead...including herself. It may have been too much to see all at once. She tried numerous times to form the words to make sense of the situation, but nothing worked. She fumbled on her words and ultimately said nothing.

"That's why you brought us here, right?" Skystar slowly rose to her feet by de-materializing her scepter so she could respawn it in her right hand. She was using it as a crutch to regain her senses after being blindsided. "Let me guess. This has something to do with what you said you wanted to see from me, you being curious about how far I could make it with it being just us."

[Vince Hardy]

Lars Lion picked herself up after Skystar was knocked off. She dusted herself off briefly just to give Skystar time to re-adjust so she can hear what must be said and see what needs to be presented. The pieces were aligning on schedule, just like she planned.

"Excellent. You're beginning to understand what this is all about," Lars Lion congratulated.

Lars Lion floated near the Resistors one at a time. She started with Noland and Drago first since they were the closest to her. "They remind me a lot of Apollonir. They're selfless attitude makes them exclude others out of fear of them getting hurt because they don't want harm to be brought to those that can't or shouldn't bear it. They could've used the help. They were unable to contest the Fifth Paladin directly with what they had. They met their end by Barodius and Dharak's hand."

Then she floated to Gorem and Allen. "He wants to protect rather than to be protected. He's got it all on his own shoulders. They prefer for you to just step back and let him take the heat for you. I see Clayf in them for that approach, but Clayf didn't die in the process of taking a bullet made for a certain girl in particular..."

Then to Alana. "It was for her... You have any idea on what happens when a person who doesn't have any noticeable values becomes close with people that do? They take after them. That's exactly what she did. She possesses both Noland and Allen's best and worst qualities, making her two times more likely to succumb to their faults more than them. It finally happened when one of the two gets put in a dire situation and she goes off on her own. She never came back..."

Then to Tank. "He wears his heart on his sleeve at all times. He lacks the ability to hold himself back when those emotions are triggered. As strong and level-headed as he claims to be, it couldn't mask his drive for vengeance against the Hurranians when they laid their hands on a certain person. Jumping the gun proved to be fatal for him when they caught him off guard with no one else watching."

Then to Markus. "There's a lot none of you know about him because he doesn't want you to know. He keeps a lot of emotional baggage bottled up. He doesn't want to feel sympathy or comfort from anyone. He wants you to look at his risings rather than his downfalls. There was one that he couldn't keep a secret: his love for a girl that he'd go to the grave for to defend without saying a word to anyone."

Then to Seiki. "Her inexperience made her a prime target for evil. She's emotionally fragile and an inexperienced fighter, giving her less ability to defend herself from experienced criminals. Allen and Markus weren't there to save her when she went after the Pack for revenge. It was just her, so she had to hold her own...remember?"

That copied statement served as a nice transition to the final person on the list, Tracy herself. "Do you notice a pattern yet? All of your friends lost their lives chasing after what was important to them, and none of them were at full power. Why? Because each result could've been different if they took the time to reach their hand out to someone else. It's a fools gambit to think anyone can be stronger by themselves in comparison to a good source of support. There's no shame in asking for help, because the power you have will never be greater than the power you have with each other."

[Tracy White]

That hit Tracy out of nowhere. What Lars Lion was saying to her was that she shouldn't be ashamed of someone else helping her if some people were doing well on their own. In battle, it's not about who she is on her own. It's about who she is with others around her. Life and death aren't going to care if you're by yourself or you're with others. One side is obviously stronger, and she had forgotten that bit of the equation trying to make herself seem...important...

"I never expected for the most powerful Haos ability to be a resurrection spell. That opened my eyes to who you are, Lars Lion," Tracy recognized with her head down a little because of disappointment, slowly rising it as things started to become more clear. "You're not the divide-and-conquer type like we've become."

"Shame on us...and even the rest of us as well..." Skystar added due to the recent mishaps separating a select portion of the Resistors.

"I wanted to be strong enough to hold my own weight in case I ever needed to. I didn't want to be that weak link that always had to rely on someone else's help to perform my role correctly when we've got guys like Noland, Allen, Tank, and Markus. I wanted to stand on my own feet like they could so I could be relied on instead of trusted at arms length because of where I was at with my training. I remember when Yita made fun of us when we were supporting Hydranoid that one time, so that may have gotten me complacent with just standing back and helping rather than me doing all the damage. I probably thought that way because whenever jobs were given out in our major battles or when we were gearing up for a competitive match, it was always on the lines of...you go do this, you go do that, and I'll be over here doing something. No...let's try this. How about all of us do this, then we go that, and then we'll go over here to do something, because...divided we fall, but united..."

"We stand!" Skystar stood strong and illuminated with a blinding ray of light. Tracy's BrawlX simultaneously glowed with a similar intensity, and so did a few of her cards - new ones to be exact.

"Ability activate! Mode Change: Seraph Form!" Skystar's shoulder discs dislodged themselves to move down her back. They stopped once they reached the middle, making that their new resting place for now. They flashed briefly until a new pair of angelic wings spread out. They were expansive, fluffy, and elegant enough to constantly keep its wielder in good health. A clone appeared alongside her in unison with the transformation. It was smaller in comparison to her, and she was more spectral than organic.

[Vince Hardy]

The image of Skystar's new power was reflected in Lars Lion's eyes. She smiled at it, showing no concern of what this could mean for the battle itself. Tracy has regained her sense of compassion for a unified front, so all that had to be done was to put it to the test.

"This new form of yours...it's as elegant as it is powerful," Lars Lion commended. "However..."

Lars Lion placed her left arm outward with her hand open, signalling her Resistor army to converge on top of Skystar. This was a great reinforcement to her pacifist nature as she's allowing her comrades to fight on her behalf rather than ripping Skystar to shreds.

"We have to find out what you've learned in battle form, don't we?" She conjured another arrow in her right hand, lined it up with her bow, and shot once more. This time, it split into seven different projectiles and went into each Resistor Bakugan. What this did was boost their capabilities a little bit. Not too little, but not too much either. It wasn't like they needed that kind of help given their history, but every G counts.

[Tracy White]

"Okay." As she saw the Resistor Bakugan beginning to make their move, the spectral clone that Skystar had next to her transitioned to a replica of Gladion. Because of this, Skystar materialized another scepter in her free hand, now making her dual wield staffs. "I'm ready."

Tracy was intently focused on what they were going to do next. They were facing seven Bakugan in addition to Lars Lion. They couldn't make any more mistakes nor could they be manipulated by Lars Lion's carefree battling style. If they were going to do something, they had to do it now. She had one of her new cards ready for her BrawlX to recognize. When they started moving, so did she.

"Here we go. Special ability activate! Mastery Stance!" Becoming more in tune with her power and the variety of ways in which she could use it, Skystar became a menace across all ranges. She became adaptive, a key trait that a cleric needs.

"Come on!" Skystar's confidence jettisoned upon realizing the possibilities that were available to her in this combat form. She used that to anticipate her next move when Ahio and Gargulion came for her, both firing off Tragic Hybrids and Gargoyle's Beams respectively. She repelled every shot with her scepters; each individual blast split into multiple pieces and spread out as they touched their hilts. This provoked Ahio to launch a Wilderness of Sadness attack to coat her with numerous thunderbolts. Skystar absorbed this energy into her scepters and zapped Ahio with it, eliminating her from the battle. Before Gargulion could respond correctly with his Shade Winger attack - him appearing behind her in an attempt to collapse, she caught him off guard by throwing the scepter in her left hand at him. A tether came from the hilt that wrapped Gargulion along with the scepter. It detonated, resulting in numerous light particles being scattered all over in addition to Gargulion's body being disintegrated.

Hydranoid didn't like that too much, so he bombed Skystar with multiple Death Trident shots. He purposely shot towards the ground so that she couldn't intercept them and to inflict splash damage.

"Frost Effect!" Piggybacking off of what Lars Lion casted on her earlier, Skystar did the same with her spectral Gladion ally. She had him fly into Hydranoid's being. Because Gladion was Aquos, she could use its power to affect Hydranoid. She preferred trying to smother him in any icy mist, slowing his movement.

Gladion found this to be a good opportunity to strike Skystar, so he tried to do so with his trusty warhammer, blessed to him by the god of war.

"Special ability activate! Counter Stance!" The spectral clone left Hydranoid's body and turned into a copy of Gorem. Her scepter was converted into a mace. She was also given a golden shield for her left arm, the Haos emblem being etched into the center of it. She took the impact of the hammer only to have a force equal to that burst out of the shield in an energy wave, narrowly upsetting Gladion's advances and taking him out.

"How's that?" Tracy questioned, feeling very upbeat after shrinking Lars Lion's forces.