Episode 39: Usurp or Be Usurped

[Xavier Turano]

The head scientist looked back and forth between Dasia and Xavier. This was actually happening, and he couldn't believe it. "Um...this is stupid...we're going to lose. She could control Dryoid at any time she wants to, and she can predict what it's going to do. There's no possible way we could win this battle even if you take Boriates out of commission."

Once again, the head scientist was absolutely correct. This was a clear setup.

"Remove the Hurranian from Dryoid and fulfill your obligation to let me act on my own," Xavier commanded. "Once you completely open up and have nothing to hide, then I'll fight you. You want to see justice up close, so I'm going to show you exactly what that is, and you can't see it coming."

After proposing this ultimatum to Dasia, Xavier had one last thing to say to her. "I'm really sorry, Dasia..." he apologized. "I'm sorry that you became like this... You should have sought help..."

[Dasia Turano]

"Help? Help for what? There's nothing wrong with me," Dasia alleges. "You're right to be sorry though. You were always such a difficult little brother. I suppose I'll teach you something those Earthlings say, 'You never know what you have until it's gone.'"

Doing exactly what Xavier requested, Dasia extracted all traces of Hurranian presence from Dryoid. Relinquishing control of it was a dangerous thing to do, considering Dryoid may very well be the second strongest out of all of the mechanical Bakugan. Dasia was content combating it with Boriates though, hinting that there was some underlying tactic she has that could give her the edge.

The entire throne room then changed to an digital No Man's Land of sorts. It was just a wide open space. There was no cover to be had, nor did there seem to be any boundaries. This could also have been done to show that there was nothing either of them could hide behind anymore.

"Your conditions have been met. Let's begin then. Try not to hesitate, no matter what you do."

[Xavier Turano]

Dryoid turned to look down at Xavier. It gave him a thumbs up, signalling that it was ready to act on his wishes. The liveliness in this mechanical Bakugan seemed more real than the life Dasia lived. What an interesting turn of events.

"You've enslaved our people already. What is there to hesitate about? You're not my sister, not anymore." Xavier activated his BakuScanner for battle, something that he never really had to do before. All of that training the Spartans had given him had to come into play at some time. There's no better time than now.

"Statistically speaking, Dryoid should dismantle Boriates with ease, even with the latter's healing factor. The fighting style from Gladion is too advanced when paired with Gorem's defensive prowess...or does she have something up her sleeve?" the head scientist thought. Why wasn't she using Diablo instead? That was the question he couldn't wrap his head around.

(Brother vs Sister Theme)

[Dasia Turano]

Dasia activated her BakuScanner to follow Xavier's lead. Her device had performed the role of scanning the opposing Bakugan in the place of Diablo. Unquestionably, Dryoid posed enough of a challenge to be considered a candidate for the danger tier, but that could be misleading. Was it Dryoid's skill that made it dangerous, or did it really have the power to capitalize on that gift? More importantly, does Xavier have the capability of wielding Dryoid correctly?

All of these were important questions. They could determine who wins or loses. Dryoid was built to be a stronger combatant than Boriates, or...does Dasia want them to believe that?

"You're still my brother. That's all that matters right now," Dasia responded. "Ability activate! Prometheus Cannon!"

Boriates raised its left arm to unveil two barrels protruding from right above its wrist. Two balls of light were being charged at the end of the barrels. They developed into particle beams that were headed straight for Dryoid.

[Xavier Turano]

Xavier put his first ability into play the moment Boriates showed those cannons. Its destructive power was on par with Hades. There was no reason to eat any of those hits.

"Try this. Ability activate! Ray Blade!" Dryoid's gauntlets housed short swords that performed a role similar to daggers. Despite the size difference, their power was very deceptive. Just like it would easily cut through a Bakugan, it sliced its way through energy at the same rate.

That's why Dryoid never had to think about evading the Prometheus Cannon. All it had to do was draw these swords on its gauntlets and slice the beams themselves as they came in. The projectiles were easily dispersed into sparkles of light.

"Heh. No problem," Xavier confidently noticed.

[Dasia Turano]

"Good job. That confirms you have an idea of what you're doing," Dasia commends, or...was it really a compliment at all? It sounded sarcastic from a certain perspective, almost like she was toying with him to test his abilities...

"Now we'll make things more uncomfortable for you," Dasia announced ahead of her next attack. "Ability activate! Tempest Arrow!"

An adaption of Skystar's lightning spells, Tempest Arrow involved involved a rather complicated approach. It was unpredictable in the fact that it could be used in two ways. Either Boriates could aim for the sky to have aggressive lightning strikes created or it could fire at the enemy directly. It choose the former option: firing at the sky.

Using the same barrels from the previous ability, Boriates formed lightning bolts from within the barrels and shot them upwards. Dryoid would soon find himself bombarded in a field of lightning strikes that shaves away the victim's skin or protective covering, not to mention their power levels.

[Xavier Turano]

Dryoid looked above as it sensed an anomaly above them. It could see those lightning strikes coming before they were even formed.

"Yeah. I'm so uncomfortable," Xavier sarcastically fired back. The challenge wasn't even there yet. "Ability activate! Mars Shield!"

A brown, circular barrier surrounded Dryoid and the men that served as a solid covering against the elements. The beneficial part about this was that it was an adaptation of Gorem's Bound Barrier. It will come and go until it's broken, and if left untouched, it will progressively recharge itself to continuously push its durability back to its maximum.

"I was always the strongest one out of the two of us," Xavier reminded her. Dryoid charged for Boriates with both of its gauntlet swords criss-crossed in front of its face.

[Dasia Turano]

"That is true. You are the stronger brawler," Dasia openly admitted, "but I am the stronger tactician. Ability activate! Firebolt Axe!"

Boriates would now show off the capabilities it received from Siege, Elico, and Skystar, the ability to change its own attribute and adapting its weapons to benefit from the said change. While the change wouldn't show itself on its body like Elico and Siege would, it would show itself on the weapons themselves. It was just like the hilt on Skystar's scepter changing depending on her attribute.

The ability's name hinted that this would be a Pyrus ability, and that it was. This time, Boriates raised its right arm and had a double-sided axe protrude from it, both sides of it coming from each side of the arm. They were golden in appearance. There was a double white line that went straight across the weapon.

When Dryoid came in to strike, Boriates used this axe to guard against its advances. Coming into contact with this weapon would envelop anything it touches in golden fire that negatively affects the strength of the opposition.

[Xavier Turano]

Dryoid's Mars Shield automatically kicked in when the Firebolt Axe was revealed. It did not see Dryoid winning a clash against that monstrous weapon, so it took the fall for it. The barrier did not immediately go down though; it only cracked, but golden fire started smothering it that forced it to remain online until it went down. It also blinded Dryoid as a result, leaving it open to a devastating attack from Boriates if left unchecked.

"Ability activate! Land Shutter!" Dryoid withdrew its gauntlet swords temporarily. A digital imprint of energy surrounded Dryoid's right fist. It then punched the floor, forcefully destroying its own Mars Shield and shaking the area. Boriates was knocked off of its feet and had a hard impact on the floor.

Drawing on its gauntlet swords once again, Dryoid swung them rapidly to send lethal pulses of energy down range where it could cut straight into Boriates, albeit at a lesser extent than hitting it with the actual weapon.

[Dasia Turano]

Boriates looked stunned at the sudden interruption of its attack. Eyeing the dagger pulses sure didn't make the situation look any more terrible than it already was. The pulses themselves were enough to do the job. Physical contact with the blades was hardly necessary. That's what made Dryoid so dangerous.

"Slow your roll, X," Dasia warned him. "Ability activate! Odin Shield!"

The oval-shaped horn at the top of Boriates' head created an identically-shaped energy construct that expanded when launched. It cruised straight through Dryoid's pulses, nullifying them in the process. When it struck Dryoid, it stuck it to the construct. It lifted the warrior Bakugan into the air so it could dangle at its own misery.

"This will only hurt for a short while," Dasia alleges with the next offensive. The construct pulled Dryoid towards the recovered Boriates so it could be dealt a severe blow by the superior force of its Firebolt Axe.

[Xavier Turano]

Dryoid could barely move out of this trap. The only thing it could do was rely on the weapons it had hidden in the wrist gauntlets. They were the only tools that were readily available. That was all it would need to escape this death sentence.

"Take your own advice. I don't need you to comment on what I do in battle. I know what I'm doing," Xavier said to silence his sister. "Ability activate! Trance Sword!"

Opening up the wrist gauntlets, Dryoid shot a flurry of white-colored sabers that, when stuck in a target, inhibits the flow of power for an extended period of time, even more so if it remains stuck in the victim. Two of them struck the Odin Shield to disperse it, giving Dryoid enough time to land on the floor safely without having to crash into the flaming axe. The other were lodged into Boriates' axe and weapon barrels. This automatically nullified their powers.

This opening led to Dryoid smashing the axe using a downward kick, and then elbowing Boriates in the face to send it reeling on its back.

[Dasia Turano]

Dasia did not seem perturbed that Xavier was fending off her attacks with relative ease. It ultimately comes down to how they differ in terms of their brawling. Xavier is more serious. Dasia is more laid back. She doesn't particular care about beginnings. It was the end she was focused on.

"So you're saying that you do not want me to warn you of an incoming trap? That's strange. I thought that would be useful information to you, especially when I'm already fighting you at a handicap. I must pretend like I do not already know what you're going to do," Dasia revealed. "Ability activate! Bolt Shooter!"

With its two current weapons negated, Boriates retracted them. A minigun protruded from its right arm. It fires flesh-tearing bullets at a staggering 8,000 rounds-per-minute, making this attack extremely difficult to evade and/or to defend against. All hell was set loose against Dryoid.

[Xavier Turano]

Dryoid's power suit would be completely destroyed if it were to be stuck in the attack's path for three seconds or more. Evasion was necessary so the minigun could be stopped. Even defending against it would just let it chip away its options. Xavier was not in the business of allowing that to happen.

"Ability activate! Accel Speed!" Borrowing from Gladion's super-speed while utilizing Hermes' sandals, Dryoid used its thruster pack as a booster to help it reach those speeds. It was able to avoid the sheer amount of firepower being used, but it would have to close the gap if the minigun was going to be taken offline.

"What are you babbling about this time?" Xavier replied, getting sick of Dasia constantly looking down on him just because she is older and has more experience. Dryoid zipped around Boriates continuously until it managed to strike the former in the back, and then straight across the minigun to knock it completely off of its body.

[Dasia Turano]

"You haven't figured it out by now? I used these mechanical Bakugan during my attack at Echo City. I have had them reconfigured according to what we've now learned so far. Even your Dryoid has been improved in a lot of respects because of me," Dasia clarified. "Not only that, but the basic premise of Dryoid's arsenal has been known for a long time. After all, the person who actually made that for you has been infected for quite some time now. That's one of the reasons why that so-called test of yours failed to detect me."

Dasia started pressing buttons on her BakuScanner to show Xavier exactly what she was talking about in the realm of upgrades. Once she was done, the BakuScanner responded in a way to confirm her inputs.

"Command accepted. Boriates program update initiated. Custom Battle Ability is online."

The Custom Battle Ability was a completely overpowered version of Skystar's healing spells in conjunction with Siege's Universal Element capability. All six attributes were at work here, giving it identical healing factor to Drago's Switch Code, albeit not being as nearly effective as that form's power. It also served as a module that adapted Boriates to the changing conditions on the field, making it figuratively invincible and being able to combat any enemy on any front, even if it was a huge superpower like an Excedra.

"With that said, I believe I've given you enough information, so I'll quiet down a little. You need a bit more action from me, and I'm more than happy to grant you that request." Boriates used its fingertips to act as repair tools for the weapons contained in its body, even restoring the severed minigun. It hid all of its weapons as its armor turned completely golden.

[Xavier Turano]

Xavier quickly turned to look at the head scientist when Dasia made that claim. It definitely made sense.

"You...! You were slitting my throat the whole time!" Xavier ruthlessly blamed.

"Wh-what? I didn't know! I swear!" the head scientist alleges.

"How am I supposed to fight her now if she already knows what I'm going to do?"

Dryoid suddenly appeared there out of necessity. It automatically retracted its assault because it could not handle Boriates in the Custom Battle Ability state. It was way too powerful to be dealt with in the traditional sense. It knelt down beside Xavier and put its fist out, presumably to bump fists with Xavier.

Confused, Xavier bumped fists with Dryoid. This caused a menu to pop up on his BakuScanner's screen. What Xavier saw blew his mind.

"Dasia added...Axostriker's data to you...?" Dryoid gave a thumbs up in acknowledgement of this fact. With Axostriker being in the pool of its battle data, its armor and weapons could be modified on the fly when the basic configurations are inadequate.

"She can know, but she cannot win. You must believe in other possibilities," the machine commented on Xavier's worrying about Dasia's prior knowledge. Xavier slowly nodded at what Dryoid was conveying. He looked at his options on the screen. There were several options listed, but one caught his eye. He tapped it to trigger the configuration.

"Command accepted. Dryoid armor change confirmed. Equipping Coalition Armor."

The color of Dryoid's armor became more streamlined when every line across its body illuminated in a brown light. This armor's capabilities allowed it to have extended usage of fusion ability cards, which, by extension, surpasses Gladion's ability to use up to two fusion abilities. Dryoid then looked at Dasia and wagged its finger, telling her that her time at the top was coming to an end.