Episode 43: Hurranian Trigger

[Andrew Bullock]

Andrew was seething in rage. Vince was somehow managing to step up again. It was sickening. He had to force himself back to alignment using his dark power, speeding up his reflexes so that he could rebound quickly.

"To hell with you..." Andrew chopped at Vince's throat using his left hand. He then took Vince's left arm and pressed the wrist against his chest. He then bent. Pulling back violently down Vince's arm, Andrew was able to break the wrist. Andrew then linked his right arm with Vince's left as he wrapped around him to put him in a chokehold before he would go for a takedown.

Hades opened all three heads to fire an invisible pulse of energy. Soon, various dark balls of energy were rapidly shot out of them in a sporadic fashion, hitting anything it possibly could. These projectiles were linked with the Doom Dimension. Any body part that is struck by a projectile will be immediately banished to the Doom Dimension. This makes headshots extremely lethal. Should Apollonir be struck there, the battle will end instantly.

[Vince Hardy]

Apollonir had an idea of what Hades was using against him. To counter this, he chose to introduce his specialized Dextra fire that could combat this lethal nature of attacks.

"Maximum Pyrus!" Apollonir dispelled power increase he obtained earlier from Double Up so that this attack could be used on demand. He jumped above Hades' head using his athleticism. He did not want to deploy his wings, because doing so would be asking for one of those projectiles to hit them as they take up so much space. He unleashed the fierce Dextra- fire from his mouth that completely nullified the dimensional properties of the projectiles.

As for Vince, he let out a sharp-sounding cry of pain when his wrist was broken. While in the headlock, Vince was able to reach back behind him with his right elbow to hit Andrew near his eye. Once he was stunned, he pulled his left heel up behind up to hit Andrew in the genitals. He then spin-kicked Andrew across his face to send him reeling a good distance away.

Vince turned towards the downed Andrew. He kept looking down at him as he began approaching. While he did, he casually pulled his wrist back into place, almost like it was never broken.

[Andrew Bullock]

Hades tanked the Maximum Pyrus ability pretty well, except for the fact that it was dealt a huge amount of damage that was continuing to stack. The Dextra fire wasn't going to affect it internally though. The Inhibitor Release from early guarantees that it wouldn't have to worry about those side-effects anymore. Even though its body wouldn't be hampered by it, displacing its own body was still out of the question, because it would be instantly negated. No wonder why Apollonir could essentially match any foe there was.

Now that it baited Apollonir into getting rid of his invulnerability, Hades was going to ramp up the damage. Elongated claws grew on top of its existing ones. These had the same properties as the projectiles. It roared in unison with Andrew making a battle cry. They both headed towards their respective opponents with murder on their mind.

[Vince Hardy]

"Saiam Low!" Apollonir began to excrete energy from his body; however, unlike the previous times he used this ability, he targeted himself. The energy blanketed over the Switch Code shielding, as if he stacked it right on top of it for safekeeping. He did this for safety reasons. He assumed that Hades had the ability to displace itself from this dimension, so if it could do that, and Apollonir decided to shoot at him with this ability, he'd be a goner.

He also decided to rush Hades with that same intensity. Vince reluctantly followed suit, as he wasn't going to stand there and allow Andrew the opportunity to run him over.

When Apollonir got within touching distance of Hades, he zapped it with the Saiam Low energy. This froze the mechanical in its place. It was quickly starting to power down, both from an internal standpoint and the energy it was utilizing.

Similarly, Vince was getting ready to hammer Andrew. To his benefit, an energy stream from Apollonir's Saiam Low traveled all the way to Andrew and consumed him. Vince managed to shoulder charge him, trucking him completely.

[Andrew Bullock]

The tackle was so powerful that Andrew formed cracks on the floor with his back crashing on top of it. Andrew somehow managed to remain focused after being hit like that.

He flashed in a dark purple color so he could quickly swipe under Vince's legs using his own. This put Vince on his back as well. Andrew chose to play Vince's game. If Apollonir was going to interfere by attacking him, then Hades was about to do the same.

Hades revealed black markings along its wings. Before they opened, Hades began lashing out at Apollonir using its powerful tails. The spikes at the end of them made them more of a bludgeon. The marking retracted to unveil barrels. Out of these barrels came tether-like substances that were operated through a steady flow of electricity. These tethers wrapped around Apollonir and Vince, keeping them bound. The sawblades on its chest started to rev up. Both Vince and Appolonir were getting pulled in for their deserved dismemberment.

As Vince was being pulled towards Hades, Andrew continuously beat on Vince without any form of restraint.

[Vince Hardy]

Apollonir had just about enough of Hades by that point. He understood that Hades would eventually regenerate and regain the ability to use its dimensiokinetic abilities. Apollonir knew this, because the original Dragonoid's energy provided healing factor that was greater than his own. If Hades wasn't stopped now, the fight may escalate to a point where it could cause untold damage to the fabric of the dimension. It could potentially wipe it out altogether.

"Vince, I've never trusted anyone with this ability aside from the other Soldiers. You're going to be the first human," Apollonir announced. "Careful now. Be quick about picking me up."

Vince could hear Apollonir say this, despite his injuries. He decided to let this flow.

"Dragon Proudia!" Apollonir canceled the Switch Code automatically when using this ability. He converted his body into that of a trident. The bottom end of the weapon was Apollonir's tail. The design of the weapon's center was his scales. Finally, the trident part of the weapon drew inspiration from his horns, and the jewel embedded near the tip was from the one on Apollonir's chest.

The tip hit the floor when the trident fell to it. This released a pulse of energy that shook the entire facility, and even the entire country's ground. Vince was released from his shackles, enabling him to grab Andrew by the head and headbutt him to the nose.

Hades was pushed back by this force, so it wasn't close enough to be within reaching distance to the trident. Vince got up and ran towards it, stumbling a couple of times along the way. He unintentionally dove for the trident. As he grasped it, Apollonir's power was pouring through his body. He started to feel his injuries disappearing. This was the power of the greatest Bakugan someone could wield: Apollo's Hand.

"Strike the floor," Apollonir telepathically told him. Vince complied with this immediately. He stabbed the floor with the trident. The devastation commenced.

A circular outline of energy was surrounding the trident. It then expanded outward. Hades and Andrew were carried away like they were ragdolls. Furthermore, this energy burst knocked out the facility's power and threatened to disrupt the power grid across the country.

[Andrew Bullock]

The headbutt stunned Andrew for a bit. There may have been a hint of blood that came rushing down his nose afterwards. That was nothing compared to the loud gasp he made when he saw that Apollonir had altered his body to that of that trident. When he saw Vince take it, that's when he knew that he had fucked up.

"Ohhhh...shit..." Andrew sighed. Hades comically shook its heads to tell Vince NOT to do what he was about to do.

But it happened anyway...

Andrew and Hades did not fly back into any objects. Vince wouldn't allow them that luxury. There was a Doom Card on the field, so there was an obvious destination for both of them. Their individual portals opened up to send them on their way.

"Curse you!!!!!!" Andrew shouted. "I'll be back!! And when I come back, you're dead! You're all dead!"

[Vince Hardy]

Vince had emerged victorious and was about to send his rival - now mortal enemy - to the Doom Dimension. This would be the second time he gets sent there. Only the most stupid of fools would think that Andrew would repent after getting two strikes.

People often say that the key weakness to evil is kindness. Sandra, Vince's mother and Noland's grandmother, has even tried to communicate this to them. She even told him after it became apparent that him and Andrew were no longer on speaking terms. Being kind to this guy was basically telling him, "Here I am. Come kill me." All Vince could do when thinking about that was to shake his head. He had no idea what he was going to do with this scoundrel.

"Disengage..." Vince reluctantly commanded, holding out his hand to receive it. The Doom Card emerged from below. It shot straight up into Vince's hand. The portals to the Doom Dimension closed, sparing Andrew and Hades the paid trip.

[Andrew Bullock]

Andrew and Hades dropped to the floor very hard. The hard clanking sounds from Hades' downfall sent it back into ball form. The God's Tear was dropped from it as well. Andrew's life gauge could do nothing but submit to Apollonir's insane power. It dropped to zero as an offering, hoping that Apollonir chooses not to strike again.

"I knew you'd do it..." Andrew alleges as he slowly got up. He could only manage to stay on one knee until he got his bearings.

"I figured you would have liked to prolong our next meeting. I guess this means you've finally decided to silence me for good?"

[Vince Hardy]

"That's a good idea. It would make this situation a lot less stressful if you disappeared," Vince somewhat agreed. "But...it's a waste of time. It has nothing to do with our past either. I just prefer keeping you at arm's length like the child you are."

Vince felt a slight rumble on the trident as he held it. Apollonir was obviously communicating something to him.

"I need two minutes to get out of this form," he informed him. "Secure the God's Tear and we can get out of here."

Vince walked over to the God's Tear on the floor. He picked it up. He placed it into his pocket for safekeeping, at least for now anyway. He wonders how people even figured out those things existed in the first place. Humans would put their paws on anything nowadays.

"Listen, Andrew," Vince started. "We're grown men in our mid-thirties. Why are we doing this? I understand that you have some concern about how other people will receive you after what happened with your Doom Card, but that doesn't give you a reason to act so hostile. All we needed to do was have a discussion. It didn't have to come to this..."

[Andrew Bullock]

"Is that not what we did at the Silver Knights' HQ?" Andrew countered, and he was right. This discussion tactic did go into effect when he unintentionally encountered Maria on the battlefield. What she said about him when Kyuki revealed the true power of the BT System said it all.

"I was destined to lose anyway. Who would believe someone who has attempted genocide with the Pack? Who would trust someone who wants to keep their identity a secret? This was the only way that made sense. I'm dangerous either way," he concluded. "That should've been old news anyway. I don't know why you would bother bringing that up. This has nothing to do with me and my past. These Hurranians will run you over, and the sad thing is you could've put up a roadblock."

As he said that, Andrew heard a clanking sound coming from his old laboratory. Considering that he hadn't experimented on anything other than Hades, there was something coming that he had nothing do with. That could only mean there was one of two people coming towards them...

"Oh no..." Andrew gasped. "Vince! I don't care which way you go. Get out! Now!"

[Vince Hardy]

Vince looked in the direction of the way leading back to the hidden base. His eyes glowed in a rainbow color via Apollonir scanning the energy signature through his body. He quickly figured out who was coming.

"I hold more power in this form than I do in my actual body. There are drawbacks to this," Apollonir warned Vince. "I can't conjure any portals until I get out of this. In the meantime...you CANNOT let her get her hands on me or this key."

Vince shrugged. Even though he just took the Doom Card back out of the floor, he put it back in. This time, a barrier was formed at the entrance to the ruins. Vince then ran over to Hades, picked it up, and returned it to Andrew. He then tapped him gently with the trident to heal his injuries.

"You need to go as well," Vince added. "It'll be bad news if the Hurranians acquire your Hades or your dark power."

[Dasia Turano]

The scene panned to the feet of the approaching suspects. The one responsible for making the clanking noises had red outlines on its feet. This was obviously a mechanical Bakugan. There were three others. One had large, black feet, most likely that of a Bakugan. The other two were not Bakugan at all. One had shiny heels and the other had a radiant white design to it.

When the four figures approached the newly-created barrier, they stopped in their tracks to do something about it.

"Awwww. Someone doesn't want me in here?" a woman's voice asked. It was clear who it was. She playfully knocked on the Doom Dimension barrier. "Hello? Can I come in?"

[Andrew Bullock]

With his strength back, Andrew took Hades and tossed him on the floor. It opened in its monster form, but it was severely drained on its power. It was likely that either Apollonir's energy or the God's Tear could assist with speeding up the recharge time for Hades' dimensional transporter.

"Hades will get you out of here. Hurry up and heal it so the cooldown time for its equipment can be reset," Andrew told Vince. "You get what she wants as far away from here as possible, and I'll blow her up. It's a brilliant plan!"

"And I swear to God! If you say this is all my fault for bringing the key here, I'm kicking YOU in the balls," Andrew threatened.

[Vince Hardy]

Vince was complying with what Andrew was telling him. As he was doing so, he was more than happy to let Andrew know that what was about to happen was his responsibility.

"It IS your fault," Vince said anyway. "You didn't want to listen. We told you they were going to do this if one of us went for the BT System. Now she knows where it is thanks to you."

"Vince! I sense something awfully sinister about this one. She can breach this barrier!" Apollonir warned. "She must have absorbed power from someone capable of manipulating the dimensional properties of a Doom Dimension barrier or portal."

Vince immediately recognized that someone to be Maria. He had a hunch that she was shot by a biological weapon. Either someone didn't listen to what he said, or no one was able to detect any Hurranian presence in her body. He figured that he'd go with the latter option. Who wouldn't listen to him?

"Here she comes!" The sound of the barrier being torn open was heard. Vince tagged Hades with the trident to bestow some energy upon it.