Episode 38: Markus, The Phantom Blade

[Noland Hardy]

One day after the tournament, Roxy returned to Earth to spend time with Markus. She somehow found him looking through his unoccupied house as he was making sure it wasn't robbed. Markus questioned her on how she knew he was there, but then he remembered that this was the same house he lived in when he met Roxy initially. This led Roxy into asking about his family's condition, but Markus brushed over it since he didn't know. Roxy then dragged him to a mall since it has been years since she has been to one.

During the outing, Roxy got the opportunity to hear about what Markus' life was like over the past couple of years. Markus never wondered about hers for obvious reasons, having heard enough during their battle. Roxy did tell him that things have been very hectic back on Vestal since there is a warrant for Damian's arrest for the murder of his own parents. No one has been able to find out where he went, not even Jamal who had been campaigning to get Dasia to drop the charges. Markus thought it was well-deserved.

Throughout the day, they were shopping, eating, and even taking photos in a photo booth where Roxy willingly kissed Markus by surprise. When they step out of it, Markus was a bit too shocked to move. That would prove to be a mistake. Out of nowhere, a spider web encased Markus and Roxy. The static field coming from it prevented either of them from moving or allowing Gargulion or Aquarius to stand, leaving them at the mercy of the mechanical Bakugan responsible for this: MAC Spider. The mechanical descended from the ceiling so it could wrap both of them up. 

Markus awoke thanks to the arrival of the masked person from before, the one with the Hades. He frantically looked around and noticed that Roxy was missing and asked the person where she was taken. The response he was given was a bit disgruntling because he forgot to show gratitude from being broken out. The masked person noticed a dimensional anomaly near the mall and wanted to see what it was about, having known about the mechanical Bakugan from before. He/she said that they went back to Vestal where she will most likely be killed in accordance to Kyuki's decree. 

Hades opened a rift - using the same coordinates as MAC Spider used - within the mall so the masked person could chase after them. Having no other choice, Markus went along for the ride without permission. They arrived in Echo City, Vestal's corporate capital that they've recently started repopulating. Within the confines of that location, two more dimensional portals were opened. One spat out Vince and two Legendary Soldiers: Apollonir and Oberus. The other had Daniel, who had detected the dimensional travel, show up inside the city. All four brawlers saw one foe standing across from them on a rooftop: the other masked person. 

(Boss Theme: 1st stage) 

[Vengeance]

This was a very unexpected turn of events. There were more people here than originally anticipated. Two extra brawlers decided to become apart of this destiny of destruction. The least this masked person could do was keep them entertained for now while some other business is carried out, especially since what's being done now is none of their business anyway.

"Oh...I see. The Resistor is here to save his girlfriend, the masked one is here to destroy us, the legend is keeping an eye on this masked one, and the assassin is here for revenge for what we did to his brother. How bothersome," he/she said, looking down upon them all from a rooftop. "I do not think this is very fair for you to be here when we don't want to see you yet. The four of you are not on the schedule, so I highly suggest for you to excuse yourselves or we will step out of bounds as well. Here comes your warning. Orbital Strike Zone!"

Slipstream targeted all four brawlers from space. It fired a particle beam powerful enough to engulf all of them in a burning explosion.

[Vince Hardy]

This masked person seemed to know a lot about Vince if he/she was able to make a correct guess as to why he was present. He/she was also right that what was going on here was none of his business. That didn't dissuade Vince from seeing the high threat level of the person in front of him.

Apollonir didn't seem fazed by the threat at all. When Slipstream launched that attack from space, he waited until the attack got within a couple of meters from them before dispersing it way too easily with expansive wingset.

"Oberus, do you see whatever just did that?" Apollonir questioned the Ventus Soldier.

"Mhm."

"Take it down."

Oberus got within range of this opposing masked individual. As she launched herself into the sky to prepare to go into space, her start created a sonic boom which, added onto by Oberus' power, had a green wave of force travel in all directions.

"Is there any warning that could act as a better deterrence?" Vince wondered, not that he was going to heed it anyway.

[Vengeance]

"Hm...that will be a problem..." Oberus was likely to be a serious issue for Slipstream. She could even be Slipstream's cryptonite. He/she did not try to stop the Legendary Soldier from going up there. It was already too late to impede her progress.

"I do not intend to warn you again, Mister. I thought sparing Markus from his penalty and keeping Daniel out of our grasp would be a good enough deterrence for you. I suppose it wasn't an adequate warning. Very well then. I shall see to it that you are entertained until we are ready to commence with their due process."

He/she activated his/her BakuMeter. With the press of a button, Slipstream had ordered a particular mechanical Bakugan to their location. It arrived in a beam of light shot down from the sky.

"I want to test the capabilities of this Bakugan here to see if there is anything I need to touch up on. Enter, Pyrus Diablo." This mechanical Dragonoid had the DNA of Drago, Helios, and Krakix. That alone spoke of the untold power it has. All that was necessary was for its power to be unleashed.

"Scanning..." The unit scanned all four brawlers to get a read on their power levels. "Scan complete. Running diagnostics..." While not a definitive way of calculating whether Diablo was going to win or not, it was useful to see their rate of survival. "Warning. Threat level high. Recommend immediate action."

[Daniel Andersen]

Daniel makes a step forward looking Diablo up and down.
It looks like a dangerous toy so Daniel assumes straight away it will be a tough fight. But he would not come in the first place if he was afraid of the mentioned toughness.
On the other hand, Markus literally jumped into this without thought; he is a tough brawler, but he did not prepare himself for an upcoming surprises that await him in this hell.

White Bakugan orb sits on Daniel's left shoulder. It jumps off and goes several meters forward where it lands on the ground. Flash of light covers the battlefield and another massive mechanical Bakugan emerges; this time it is a mechanical wolf armed to the teeth with missiles, lasers and blades. Despite its orb's color color of his body in monster form is black; it is a Darkus Bakugan who used to be Haos in the past- orb color is what has not changed.
Wolveride's origins still remain a secret to many; a wolf Bakugan whose injury forced Daniel's father to ask for Kyuki's help. Kyuki mechanized Wolveride without chipping him (big mistake) and gave it to Daniel's father. At the time Kyuki was a Silver Knight. Thanks to the latest updates in Silver Knights' technologies they were able to upgrade Wolveride's body to an overwhelming level where he can hold his own against Valiant Strive.

Daniel turns his gaze towards Markus. "You've got more important things to worry about." He says in a dark tone. "We are buying you time- use it well." Kuzuha says from Daniel's right shoulder.

Kuzuha is not fighting this time. Considering this is a completely new enemy she is not familiar with its moves and cannot adapt her tactics. Therefore, she will simply observe and then use opponent's data for her own arsenal. And if this opponent is as powerful as it seems it could give Kuzuha a lot of power. But until then Wolveride, who is a moving fortress of a Bakugan will keep enemy at bay.

[Vince Hardy]

"Apollonir," Vince called out on cue with Daniel's acceptance of this battle, "can you locate this girl?"

Apollonir turned his head slightly to acknowledge that he heard this request. It didn't really seem all that hard to do since so little things in this large city had as much energy as Bakugan, mechanical or not.

"I can," Apollonir answered, "and I did. This spider contraption is still moving. We can reach it quickly if we're careful."

"Right. Markus, strap up. We're moving."

[Markus Hederick]

"On it." Markus threw Gargulion into play. He boarded Gargulion and was prepared to fly on demand. He had no intentions on fighting Diablo since its only purpose would be to waste his time. It would be a shame to look back on this event and say that someone was killed because of some idiot running around in a mask stalling for time. He can't say he wouldn't be tempted to allow it just to blow that thing up. Attempting to hold him hostage by his penalty while Roxy was getting hauled off somewhere was despicable.

"It's going to look really bad on us if you die to this thing. Watch his back, Kuzuha. They want him. They want him bad," Gargulion reminded the sorceress. Everyone there knew Daniel was at high risk, so they all hoped that Daniel knew what he was doing.

"I appreciate this, Daniel. Stay alive, and don't hold back. I will do the same," Markus said back to Daniel.

With their mission set, Markus and Vince jetted off on their respective Bakugan. Gargulion was lagging behind Apollonir though, some of it having to do with him leading the way. They stayed low to the ground in case a round from Slipstream bypasses Oberus and wants to swat them out of the sky.

[Insidious]

This masked person was conflicted. Vince was here to steal his/her thunder. Slipstream was supposed to be destroyed by Hades. That was one of the key reasons why he/she spent a lot of time configuring Hades to the point where it could engage the planetary defense system. Hades would get sent up there to try and fight over who gets the kill, but there was a problem: Daniel. It was undeniable that Daniel could handle himself in this fight, but destroying Diablo will not guarantee that he actually wins. If it was an ordinary mechanical, this would be a walk in the park. These were Hurranians they were facing. Things could spawn at any minute.

"I'm a bit annoyed that my plans will have to change drastically now that all of you are inhabiting this area," this masked person said. There were obvious implications that he/she wanted to level this place, but it can't be done unless those three brawlers and their Bakugan leave the area. They had to be left alive for everyone's sake.

"This Bakugan you are about to face has at least Drago and Helios apart of it from what I can see. You'll attract a lot of attention from the other mechanical Bakugan, which is good for me. I will be the one to destroy them, but I will be keeping an eye on you. Good luck, or good riddance, hopefully not." He/she boarded Hades. The mechanical Hydra boosted upwards to hover over the city. It immediately started shooting towards the city streets as nearby Hurranian forces began to converge on this hotspot.

[Vengeance]

The threat level had surely gone down since Daniel was the only brawler left standing in front of Diablo. Daniel would surely remain a high-tier threat, but it wouldn't be as severe as it was with everyone together in one spot.

"Secondary targets diverted. Primary target acquired. Commence destruction of the primary target," Diablo signaled, maybe even ordered from how it sounded.

Disregarding everyone else's departure as a minor nuisance, the masked person gave Daniel the attention that he had been eagerly waiting for. "Ability activate! Radiation Charger!"

Starting off with a rather lethal ability, Diablo's frame was coated in energy intentionally leaked out of its power source. This energy was radioactive in the sense that exposure would result in the immediate burning away of the unfortunate souls that comes across this ability. In addition to coating its frame in this energy to dissuade attackers from coming too close, Diablo can also launch this as a heat-wave like pulse at Wolverride to corrode his parts from the inside.

[Daniel Andersen]

Now that everyone else is gone Daniel can do his job properly.
He knows that along with other three brawlers he could do a quick work of this mechanical Bakugan, but that would only waste their time. Considering his abilities he could have gone there to look for the Spartan and leave Markus and Vince to kill this machine; he is a sneaky one after all. However, it seems more appropriate if Markus does the job- it is his friend after all.

The way that ability was used makes it easy for Wolveride to get rid of it. One of his normal attacks includes 'cold fire' breath which dispels abilities such as the one used by the masked person. Wolveride roars loudly and fiercely letting out a river of cold flames that soar towards the mechanical flying tin can.
Flames spread before getting close and surround Diablo wrapping and his coat up in veil of mesmerizing blue. And before masked person realizes it blue flames eat away the radioactive coat from Diablo's body leaving him defenseless.
If they intend to play a defensive game based on non-solid defense then they might as well pack up and leave since Wolveride's debuff abilities specialize in neutralizing non-solid defense. And if opponents get a brain and use solid defense he will be happy to burrow through it with his drill-missiles.

[Vengeance]

Diablo's sensors were still focused on the objective at hand despite Wolveride's nullification of that ability. Even the mechanicals cold not be swayed that easily.

"Ah. So you're the quiet type, huh? So mysterious," the masked person noted. "Please forgive me for how easy it was for you to do that. I'm admittedly still inexperienced with this Bakugan. Any of the other ones that we have would be more suitable, but this is supposed to be the strongest one despite being incomplete, at least from what I'm told."

Telling Daniel that was a bit deceptive on the masked person's part. Was Diablo incomplete? Yes. Did that mean it didn't have the tools to destroy him? Absolutely not. Toying with this Wolveride Bakugan would see where everything is going right and wrong. That is what he/she said was the goal from the beginning when Diablo was summoned here.

"Ability activate! Kinetic Burn!" Diablo's shoulder claws looked downwards to develop a fire ball, one in each one. They released it into the ground where they became wildfires. Both of them started moving on their own, growing in intensity and speed as the flames became bigger and more volatile. They moved throughout the city at a breakneck pace to become powerful enough on their own to severely injure most of the Bakugan the Hurranians have on record.

"Ability activate! Flaming Tumult!" Diablo opened its mouth to release a great deal of napalm from his mouth to coat Wolveride's area with. It also spread some throughout the city. This was dangerous for Daniel for two reasons.

One: Kinetic Burn's properties allows its flames to spread onto whatever is near them and develop into Kinetic Burn's themselves. Two: The napalm would surely make its spread easier than Daniel's willingness to keep quiet. Once the wildfires reached a larger side, which only took five seconds from the time Kinetic Burn was used, it converged on Daniel and Wolveride from his left and to his right with plenty more to come from the emergence of several flame disasters from around the buildings.

[Daniel Andersen]

"And you are a noisy one, I suppose?" Daniel silently replies to what the masked person said. Unlike Alex, Daniel and Lydia are more about getting the job done than conversation. If they want to say something they will, but mainly they keep their opinions and comments to themselves. But the way Alex talks in battle is irritating even to Daniel; the amount of 'not giving a damn' that Alex has goes over 9000.

"Ability activate! Screeching Moonlight!" This ability can be used for different purposes and it makes Wolveride look like Pack's Asmodeus. Having mechanical lungs definitely can help one in turning them into sound-based weapon. Wolveride opens up his mouth and several other hatches.
With the power given by this ability all those release extremely loud and annoying screeches that become unbearable instantly as cast.
Kuzuha creates a tiny barrier around herself and Daniel to mute this sound, so they would not have to listen to it- not like Daniel cares, this whole situations is one big noisy mess.

Screeches combined with cursed ability card Daniel used create distortions all over the battlefield. Diablo's massive attack that was sent at them is also caught in the screeching distortion and it soon starts 'dancing' uncontrollably until it extinguishes like a soaked candle. Distortions get a hold of Diablo as well, but as Wolveride used them defensively they do not damage Diablo. They instantly remove all buffs from Diablo's body and then disappear at the moment Wolveride started screeching. It takes both brawlers back to square one.

[Vengeance]

"Noisy?" The masked person shook his/her head. "I find it incredibly boring to just be straightforward in a fight. Talking creates a much more interesting atmosphere than the battle just being about violence. I'm merely doing you a favor."

He/she recognized that Wolveride's defensive maneuvers were surprisingly effective against Diablo. The only issue in his strategy was that it was playing into Diablo's hands. Diablo was growing steadily, much to the misfortune of its opponent.

"Threat level changed," Diablo recognized. "Hostile is presently at mid-level range of power. Odds of winning has increased by 45%. Remain humble and maintain control."

"Ability activate! Hellion Breath!" Diablo amassed some power into its mouth before unleashing a hot breath of air at Wolveride. The napalm on the enemy's side of the field amplified this attack's power and set them ablaze. Wolveride's power usage has been effectively sliced in half by being hit by this attack, preventing it from using the majority of its abilities altogether.

Diablo took off towards the flaming Wolveride. It flew through the air in a zig-zag formation as it closed the distance.

[Daniel Andersen]

Daniel could not care less about this 'conversation'.
Last thing he needs is another person rambling about their opinions on the battlefield; Daniel had plenty of those in the past and they weren't very delightful.
His main focus lies on the battlefield and, in all truth, this battle is not much more than sheer violence that is needless in its nature and caused by no one else, but these maniacs.
"Suit yourself." He replies silently.

"Ability activate! Vindicator!" This is a triple-utility card. It has three differently-classified effects that give one Bakugan quite a lot of space for imagination that can be placed into strategy.

With activation of first, defensive effect, Wolveride's body flashes giving him unimaginable defensive force. He effortlessly blocks Diablo's incoming assault without moving an inch backwards. That is where second, support effect, applies. Wolveride's body flashes again and flames that coated him suddenly turn blue not harming his body anymore; he turned them into 'cold flames' that are one of weapons. Now that they are in his control he spreads them and catches Diablo on fire doing the same thing to the dragon that was done to him.
And finally, third effect, a.k.a. customization; allows Daniel's card to take one property from another card he has. And for this moment he chooses 'Sub-Zero Moonlight' ability.

Property of Sub-Zero Moonlight is simple. Wolveride effortlessly pushes Diablo, who is still coated in blue fire, back and then opens his mouth. Since Diablo is very close this is beyond perfect. He fires a cold breath and hits Diablo who makes a few three-sixties in the air before crash landing near its controller.

[Vengeance]

The masked person clapped when Daniel repelled Diablo. No one was sure if it was genuine or out of pity. "Nice one. You better just be getting started. Ability activate! FARBAS EX!"

"FARBAS system activated. Repairing 15% frame damage and counting," Diablo recognized as it returned to its feet. Catching it on fire would stack up the damage over time, so it was best to get rid of it before it became more serious. A crimson light flashed all over its frame. The flames faded away easily, and Diablo's body appeared to not have a single scratch on it.

An added bonus from this FARBAS ability was that it could take two things it has seen throughout the battle and adapt them to its base form. It held out both of his hands. His right hand held the red flames from Kinetic Burn. The left hand held the blue flames from Wolveride's special ability of being able to eat through power. It smashed the two forces together to make it appear as a spectral orb that entered its body, empowering it with both techniques.

"I'd be careful now if I were you. The path is getting more narrow," the masked person warned Daniel.