Episode 28: What I've Lived For

[Dasia Turano]

Dasia glared at the head scientist when he returned his attention to her. She was very unhappy with the outburst. "First of all, don't get any ideas. Second, I told you not to let him suspect anything!"

"But you didn't tell me not to erase the history. He's smart enough to know what was being viewed on their regardless if I did it or not. There are ways to check that stuff out."

"I would have taken the flak for Diablo, but I told you to put the spider down there for a reason. It's supposed to be a secret, dummy! If you didn't do what you just did, X would have attacked us both!"

"You should have just killed him if he was that much of a threat to you."

"What!?"

"He's too smart. He's going to foil our plans. Your problem is that you love him too much. If you would have killed him now, we'd have him now, and then we could make his mind do whatever we pleased. We'd be unstoppable."

Dasia glared at the head scientist. She expressed a high degree of killing intent based on the look on her face. "You think you know better than I do?"

The head scientist started to experience a minor seizure as punishment. His eyes experienced sudden, rapid movements in combination with his unnerving muscle spasms. He fell to the ground when it all ended.

"Let's just make sure we're clear. He stays alive and free from any kind of infection. If one nano touches his skin, I'll wipe you out instantly. He's my brother. I love him, and I'm not letting you do anything to him!" She started walking back to her throne after getting riled up over this pest. "Show yourself out before I throw you out. You can forget about that date too. That's really sad though. I preferred you over Jamal, but I'll settle for less just to piss you off even more. Ta-ta."

Following his departure, Dasia conducted her business with Dryoid and Boriates. Dryoid had what she desired to see, so she stood in front of it to receive it. "Please? And thank you." Dryoid aimed his wrist blaster towards the floor in front of them and shot a red orb that appeared to be a Bakugan's ball form. When it stood, a mechanical dragonoid in a humanoid posture stood there, motionless and awaiting Dasia's acceptance.

"Hm...let's see...so this is a body made with the data from Krakix, Drago, and Helios..."

"You're correct, ma'am." Openly defying Dasia's orders, he came right back into the throne room.

"Why are you still here!?"

"Because...I acted like a jerk to you. I know you're angry with me, and I'm sorry..."

"Hm...for a man who claims to have feelings for me, you sure have a hard time paying attention to mine. That's too bad. I may have some forgiveness for you...that's if you tell me what this Diablo is."

"Uh...right. So...Diablo is what I decided to call it. It looks like an upgraded Farbros from how it looks because we used the latter as a basis for what Diablo was going to look like. The only substantial difference between what Diablo has that Farbros didn't have from a general perspective is the more flesh-like look thanks to the battle armor from Krakix; you'd almost confuse it for a real life Bakugan if you didn't know it was mechanical. There are some specific features that makes this one the greatest of any mechanical creation."

"Yeah...it does look a bit like Dryoid in a way... Hm...okay. What kind of features do you speak of?"

"Diablo is capable of running on geothermal energy thanks to Helios' data. It can harness that energy for sustainability and empowering its capabilities across the board. It is also possible to supercharge this energy to give it enough power to combat foes like Drago and Helios in case they use their enhancements. Krakix's data also allows that energy to show up on its body to replicate Helios' Layers. Drago's healing ability from his power-up has led to the development of a system called FARBAS, a healing module that will instantly repair any damage no matter how big or small."

"Wow...Xavier was right. You do deserve a raise," Dasia replied in shock and awe of what kind of power was hidden inside that Bakugan.

"That sounds good and all, but..."

"But what?"

"It's not complete. The data from Drago and Helios shows that there is power in them that they either haven't used in front of us or don't know about yet. Diablo was built with those factors in mind so that when the time comes, it can be modified to better fit in line with whatever they're hiding. Until then, this is the best we can do."

"Now you have me feeling sad that I told you to give me an incomplete product. I'm sorry." Dasia gave the head scientist a warm hug before finishing the proceedings. "Alright. I think that's enough for today. Take tomorrow off. Xavier as well. You both deserve it."

"Yes, ma'am. And thank you." He walked out of the throne room and momentarily blushed while remembering the hug he was just given step-by-step until the memory was suddenly erased from his head. He looked around in confusion until remembering that he had to report to Xavier about the results of testing Dasia for an infection.

[Xavier Turano]

Xavier was back at the lab deleting all records of MAC Spider and Diablo, just as the head scientist requested of him. As soon as he finished, he got back up, spaced out, and then resumed about his daily activity before he discovered what had happened with the two mechanical Bakugan made without permission.

"Sir," the head scientist calls out as he walks out into their outside laboratory as they've established, hopefully still remembering that part.

"Ah. You're back. So what came up with the test?"

"Negative."

"Really? Then what were my parents talking about?"

"Beats me. I'm just glad that we confirmed it to be nonsense and that we're all still safe and sound."

"...Something about this just doesn't make sense...but I don't know what it is..."

"By the way, I'm sorry if I sounded like I suspected the queen of any treachery. I just wanted to be safe. Having someone infected is one thing, but a Hurranian ruling over an entire planet is leagues beyond trouble."

"Don't apologize. That's why you're still here. You're the only one who actually gets it, maybe even better than the Spartans. You are what most of them should have been. It's a shame we don't have more people like you, especially me. I could use more friends that are the exact same."

"Heh. Thank you, sir. I'd do it even if it were the Spartans if you asked me to. I'm only here to serve, as they should be too."

Xavier shook his hand proudly after that moment. Knowing that there was someone there who had his back reassured him that everything was okay, even though it really wasn't behind the scenes.

[Damian Knight]

Damian entered Charlie Town, his and Jamal's home, or former home to be exact. It was a very rural town lacking in any major industrialization. There were the usual places you'd find like little grocery stores, pharmacies, and bars. It was nothing to extravagant. If you wanted to find stores on the level of Earth's Walmart, Wegmans, or anything of the sort, you had to clear out of town; you weren't getting it in Charlie Town.

Since Damian was highly feared on the streets, no one dared to mess with him. Just by him being back, people started clearing the streets so they wouldn't get in his way. Damian couldn't prevent himself from cracking a smile that his return was so heartwarming.

It doesn't take him long to arrive at the doorstep of his residence within the inner workings of the town. He knocked on the door three times before someone came to answer. Whoever it was looked through the peephole and saw it was him. No one was too pleased about that.

"Oh...it's you again? You actually came back?"

"I'm more shocked about that than you'll ever be," Damian answered.

"Well, what do you want? You're not coming in here."

"Do you prefer me to burn this into even more of a shamble so that it won't matter if you're standing there or not? I'm sure the Hurranians would love to see you hosting an open house."

"Why would you even care about mentioning that? You're never over here to deal with them. Jamal is the one who does all the work."

"You're assuming that I care about that. I'm just making sure you're aware of the cards on the table. Play wisely. I don't have any more patience left to deal with you in a civil manner."

The person reluctantly opened the door and revealed himself to be a bigger version of Damian himself, making the older male his father. Damian walks inside the house and notices that it reeks of cigarette smoke, a costly penalty of his parents' bad habit. He walks into the family room and sees his mother, bruised on the lip and swelling under her left eye. Helios was having a great time laughing at her misery, and Damian would have laughed too if it didn't get old for him.

"Ah. That's almost as bad as the one Helios and I have. You're going to have to try a little bit harder next time, maybe ask him to hit you a few more times without resistance. I heard that works really well."

"Why is he here?" she yelled.

"What a question. You're subjecting me to smoke I never asked to inhale. Leaving would be best, wouldn't it? I'm surprised I came up with that idea before you could."

"You know, I was much more mobile back then. Had a very fit body too, but then you showed up..."

"Please. Tell me more."

"If I had known my body would be sacrificed giving birth to you, I would've aborted you within the first three months."

"Damn. You just matched your husband in intensity with the comments. That's almost just as bad as him nearly killing me when I was younger. I'm actually impressed. You've come a long way and made it nowhere."

Damian left the residence at that point. When he got back outside, he summoned Helios in front of him and was ready to let Helios just do what he wanted to do to that cursed place.

[Damian Knight]

"No, Damian! Helios! Stop!!"

Damian's act was interrupted by a girl's scream. He looked east and found her standing there. "Don't kill them!" she shouts. Damian recognized her immediately, but the comment that flew out of his mouth wasn't very nice.

"She's still alive...what a wonder..." Damian said silently as she approached him.

"This isn't like you..."

"You don't know anything about me, Ebony. Go away."

"I know that you have a heart, Damian. You risked your life for me..."

"That's nice. I'm not your mistake or assassination target though. You're an innocent girl who has always tried to chase after me by passing messages to me through Jamal hoping that I would come back for you. I've already understood you loud and clear."

"Then you know why you can't do this..."

Damian pulled his shirt off to show her the permanent mark that was left on his chest. She never saw it, because Damian had never shown it before. Ebony was nearly speechless that it was really that bad for him.

"I'll put an even bigger mark like this on your body and leave you for dead. I'll taunt you while you're down about how you should've died from that disease you had and how stupid you are for believing that anyone would like you. How does that sound? Are you going to be all smiles then? Are you going to turn the other way and just forget that I exist?"

"..."

"I thought so. And that's just one instance of me striking you down compared to the entire time it's happened to me while I've been alive. How could you possibly understand me if you couldn't even answer me for that one hypothetical? It's ridiculous."

Damian and Helios disobeyed Ebony's wishes. Helios merely touched the structure with a fingernail and it was overwhelmed with flames. Ebony had a close-up view of the act.

"Thank Jamal for giving me sound advice. I didn't keep that one bottled up any longer. I let all of those years of anger out. You have nothing to keep nagging at me for anymore. It's done and over with." Damian then boarded Helios and flew off into the distance, leaving Charlie Town's residents' bewildered at his parents' sudden deaths.

[Noland Hardy]