Episode 48: Truth and Tribulation

[Daniel Andersen]

"Scarlet Moonlight." Kuzuha called out.

Her body glowed in red. A giant moon-like orb spawned in the middle of the room and began to glow in red, illuminating the entire room. "Hmph... inexperienced in use of Keys? You talk a lot, old monster." Kuzuha said to the creature. Unlike everyone in here Kuzuha was more experienced and knowledgeable with three mentioned keys than their users themselves. Kuzuha spent a lot of time meditating, learning and experimenting with knowledge she gained from Deathcrown and Daniel's powers. In several years she learned how to use control those powers properly- she is not their owner and cannot use them to the fullest, but she knows more about them than Kyuki himself... all that Kyuki has are two counterfeits that make his power very similar to ones of Second and Perfect Key, but true knowledge is something he never obtained. "I have spent years with Daniel... I have been taught the ways of this power. You are just a mere human who likes to play god. Learn your place, insect." Kuzuha said in a threatening tone and then gave a command.

"Take it away..." Kuzuha said.

Moon orb exploded and splattered remains of the creature glowed in red. Then all ally Bakugans in the room began to glow red. Suddenly, their bodies began to regenerate at rapid speed and they gained healing bonus- if someone heals them it will multiply the healing. Scarlet Moonlight is ability that belongs to Second Key- it absorbs a random number of traits from multiple opponents (it can be 1-10 traits) and gives all of those to allies while opponents are unable to use them or negate this without using multiple negations... similar concept was with Angelic Crystal. This made creature unable to regenerate rapidly... it will regenerate, but slowly. Quite a show Kuzuha put up for the monster- she might be able to turn the tables with power she took from Daniel.

[Prof.Dr.Kyuki]

As said, creature regenerated slowly. It was quick enough to be dangerous but it was also slow. Power of Second Key was not superior to one of Perfect Key so regeneration could not be entirely nullified. Creature soon reformed and was not happy with the fact that a mere Bakugan could use original powers when he longed for creating his own for so long... But it was not shocking. Those who belonged to Sakura race were exceptionally talented at adapting, learning and teaching- Kuzuha is no exception. "You are beginning to get on my nerves, wench." Creature said. One thing that bothered it was the fact that mind-control does not work on Kuzuha anymore and it is naturally impossible to chip or mind-control a member of Sakura race in high-tiers or one that belongs to a royal line... Kuzuha is a daughter of the Queen of her race so she got an early bonus without evolving multiple times. "This is why I aimed to capture you. For a little meaningless Bakugan your knowledge and capabilities are vast. To embody other Bakugans in full powers, copy their powers without falloff, use advanced alchemy to change one element in another... And to be able to learn to control a Second Key... without books, without mechanics or anything given to you... Quite fascinating. Such a shame I cannot add you to my collection- once I fix Traqdrach I will send him to kidnap a few of your kind from Vestroia." Creature said.

It then began to spawn those odd letters around and look to target both Andrew and Jennifer and then Kuzuha since they were the closest. And Kuzuha appeared to be the biggest threat, which was unexpected even for the creature. It expected Alex to become a threat if there ever was one, but for Kuzuha- could not have think of such ridiculous outcome. She should be a priority to kill. "Death State!" Creature said and launched those letters in order to stick them to enemies' bodies. Death State is Second Key's ability which makes death as one's natural state causing live beings to just die instantly without allowing them to struggle or anything- body of an enemy thinks death is something it should be happening and executes it on the spot. That was going to happen to these three if someone was not to do something.

[Markus Hederick]

"You know, Clayf, some of us in here would actually be hurt by you landing on top of us," Frosch complained as he was laid out on the floor.

"That sounds like a personal problem," Clayf countered. He wasn't that bothered, because he didn't have any enhancements on his body worth mentioning. As for Frosch, he did have his Liquid Compulsion state active, and he was internally storing a time-altering ability which had just been taken away from him. Clayf will fix that no problem.

"Meridian Boost!" Clayf gathered some brown-colored energy in his hands and hit the floor with it. Doing so restored everyone back to the height of his power in the more recent times, returning him back to full size without Frosch having to gather some more water. This was important, because Frosch had casted a secret art a moment ago. Now everyone had their powers back. The time-altering capability was now restored to Frosch as well. As a benefit, it grants him the ability to parry the next three hits he takes. Helping someone out had its bonuses.

"Thanks a lot," Frosch thanked. "Now...for the creature's attack..."

"I got it," Markus volunteered. "Ability activate! Absolute Effect!" With Skystar's spirit companion changed to Dante, she could utilize his moves. She targeted all of the letters the creature launched. A bluish ball of light, surrounded by three revolving fires, was launched towards the letters. It then split outward. All of the orbs converged onto the letters to make them not exist in the physical world. Because they didn't exist, they could not make contact with the intended victims. They passed right on through.

"That's IF you get the chance to fix it," Markus interjected. "Ability activate! Paladin Stance!" Skystar exchanged her scepter for a nice pair of weapons: a lance and a shield. She pointed both weapons towards the creature. They shot projectiles in unison, a laser-type stream of energy from the lance and a multiple bursts that were shaped exactly like the shield. Contact with the creature will steadily dissolve its energy the longer it suffers.

"Ability activate! Frame Infusion!" Gargulion gathered the powers of Darkus and Haos, and then clashed them together. When he did, two orbs of energy left his hands and revolved above his head before entering his body. Now, Gargulion was setting up to inflict massive damage onto the creature with an attack that may be above the scale of simple health regeneration.

[Tank Stryker]

Tank was trying to follow all the action. The Legendary Soldiers were doing just fine over there. Deep down, Tank didn't want to be up there, because this bastard would just regenerate from anything that they throw at him. Luckily for all of them, Tank had an ability that could work under the condition that the people they use this on are aware of how the power could be used.

Now that they have confirmed that at least two people on their side knows how to apply their powers, Tank can get to work.

"Ability activate! Relic of the Gods - Owl of Athena!" A portal opened in front of Gladion's hands. Out of it came a snow-white owl. Gladion allowed it to land on his shoulder.

"This'll be easy now," Gladion commented on the current battle. The owl locked on to Alex and analyzed his abilities. Because Athena is the goddess of war, this owl can analyze a characteristic of someone and determine how to best use it to defeat their enemy. What Gladion saw completely changed the landscape of the current battle and made the Legendary Soldiers' participation in this highly necessary for this plan to work.

"Hey, Andersen, I've got an idea," Tank called out to him. "Here!" Gladion released the owl to fly over to Alex. The information for how to beat the doctor was being relayed to him telepathically. "You're welcome in advance!"

[Prof.Dr.Kyuki]

“Time Lord!” Creature calls out. 

Using this ability creature becomes capable of manipulating time according to its own will. At current level that power cannot go very far, but it can aid one briefly. Creature affects its own time and makes its own body count as something non-existent in timeline. Attacks go through its body and reach the walls destroying them in process. Time-manipulation is owned by Perfect Key and makes things like Lydia naturally superior to others- her body does not age quicker but evolves quicker. Her body began experiencing changes that suggest evolution took place… and it appears that her body is already several centuries ahead of the rest of humanity when it comes to evolution. Manipulation over time is very fascinating but manipulation over evolution’s progress is more important. It is something entirely new… not even Kyuki, Hurranians or Bakugans can replicate something so delicate- a process that has been going on since the beginning of time.  

“Unstoppable Mayhem!” Creature named. This ability is perfect when in combination with Time Lord because it can multiply damage by thousands. With a movement forward Time Lord accelerates time by 2 seconds allowing the creature to move right towards Skystar. It grabs Skystar by her head and teleports towards Gargulion who was grabbed by his head as well. Skystar was thrown into a wall and then Gargulion was thrown on top of her. Attack was followed by multiple spirit arms forming around the creature. Creature and arms began to beat two Bakugans at super speed. After giving them a painful treatment creature appeared behind Gladion. He was grabbed by his head from behind before creature proceeded to grind his face against the floor creating a bloody trail. Gladion was then tossed into the ceiling where crater was formed and Gladion got stuck in there. 


Creature then turned to Alex. It was not going to allow him execute anything with information he was given.

[Markus Hederick]

This creature was violent and eager to prove his superiority over all of them. It was apparent. It doesn't even feel the need to address any of them by looks or by words. It thinks there's nothing they can do with its regenerative powers. While that is true to an extent, there is one lesson Markus learned during the course of his career.

NEVER underestimate anyone, no matter how big you get.

"Ability activate! Annihilator Gargoyle!" This was one of the most powerful abilities Markus has EVER used. The combination of Haos and Darkus brings two energies together that are antiparticles of each other, which can only mean one thing: annihilation.

The arms that were beating them to death were completely destroyed by the revolving masses of orbs that were infused with the power of light and darkness. They were moving so fast that it appeared like it was a singular disc of destruction, but only the inexperienced eyes would perceive it to be that way.

"Hey, Gladion. Are you just going to let this guy do you like that?" Gargulion provoked.

"Ability activate! Attack Retainer!" Skystar's scepter autonomously reacted to the attacks that were used against her. She targeted the time-skip ability to be specific. That form of attack will no longer work against her, as the spell will force her body to memorize the form of maneuver and allow it to respond accordingly if it gets used again. This will enable her to move normally like time wasn't affected should it occur one more time.

"Tank, want to help me kick this guy's ass?" Markus proposed.

[Tank Stryker]

"Ha! I thought you'd never ask!" Tank gleefully responded, now fired up by this creature's pompous demeanor.

"Are you just going to stand there and let him attack us?" Gladion retorted. To be fair, Gargulion should have stopped that attack, because Gladion was in the middle of declaring an ability himself.

"Ability activate! Gorgon Eyes!" While Gladion was still lodged on the ceiling, his pupils became green. With it, he was able to fire a focused beam out of his eyes towards the creature, turning it to stone instantly. This was much stronger than the process upheld through Aegis, so the creature would not break out of it as quick as it would have. As an added bonus, this is also a passive ability, so Gladion can potentially continue doing this later on.

Tank wasn't done either. There was plenty more where that came from.

"Markus, chain your attack with mine!" Tank called out. "Ability activate! Weapon of the Gods - Forge of Vulcan!" Gladion was now starting to branch out into his own tier of power. If Markus wanted to get technical with his abilities by creating his own power to match that of superior foes, then there's nothing saying Tank can't do the same. After all, he pretty much copied Tank from his use of his frames anyway.

Gladion fell from the ceiling. As he did, a circular symbol was outlined halfway to the ground. When Gladion passed through it, he was given a piece of equipment: cestus. These battle gloves fitted nicely on Gladion's hands. There was a hidden factor to this though. Any weapon given to him by Vulcan's forge can have the properties of any ancient hero, God, Titan, etc. Considering the creature wanted to be tough, the power of Herculus was bestowed upon these gloves, effectively making Gladion the Mike Tyson of Bakugan.

"Time to ruin shit!" Gladion rushed towards the creature's back and laid a clean punch there, nearly causing it to unnaturally bend so its head could reach its legs. Gladion then performed a spinning backfist to hit it towards Gargulion. Gargulion finished off the chain by bombarding it with endless volleys of light and darkness energy that should do a lot of damage, even by the creature's standards. Sure, it might not kill it, but it was decent nonetheless.

"This guy has some hacks, so watch out!" Tank made sure Markus knew.

[Prof.Dr.Kyuki]

"Hmph..." Creature muttered. Its body exploded into countless bits of white dust. Dust was blown away and towards Gladion. Some of that dust got into Gladion's eyes as well. The remaining bits of dust reformed into the creature while those in Gladion's eyes began to burn Bakugan's eyes intensely as if they were exposed to gallons of acid- his sight became foggy and pain even began to affect his other senses making it too difficult to orient. "Hand of Absolution!" Creature said and then struck Gladion with his left palm creating an extreme shock in enemy's body and mind; like an electric shock that affects both body and soul- horrible feeling indeed combined with the pain caused by creature's dust. Enemy's muscles spasm intensely and begin to pop causing sudden internal bleeding all over the insides of one's body; even their hearts and after a few seconds even their brain will be affected.  Creature then slammed Gladion in his neck sending him flying far into a wall.

Creature flashed and teleported in front of Gargulion seconds after. Considering that Bakugan's nature, arcane elements would be highly effective and painful. "Eyes of Arcane!" Creature said and its eyes flashed during gaze set on Gargulion. At that moment enemy's mind went blank and he froze and in the same time unbearable pain began to surge through his body without him being able to move or anything causing the suffering to be far more unbearable. And then Gargulion's body was set on fire; like a vampire touched by sunlight his body's reaction to arcane arts was obvious and gruesome. His skin was turning into ash under the intensity of arcane flame. Once that happened one orb appeared on top of each palm of the monster. Creature put them together creating an orb of light and darkness that would dissolve both of these enemies at once. He released it and it exploded unleashing a rain of light and darkness towards both enemies.

[Tank Stryker]

Tank was barely startled over this creature's response to their attacks. He was already in the process of getting an ability ready. To him, this was no different from the pros. Their opponent is powerful, but the only difference here is that the opponent wants to kill them. Fat chance that's going to happen though.

"Ability activate! Remnants of the Titans - Sickle of Saturn!" Time slowed down drastically to prepare for the grand entrance of this mythical weapon. The black scythe was dropped into Gladion's hands from a portal that appeared above his head.

"Not gonna happen, punk!" Gladion blindly swiped the axe so it could lodge into the wall he was stuck in. When he did this, a warp field was extended across the entire battle space. Everyone was frozen in time, except for Gladion and Tank. In about five seconds, Tank snapped his fingers, and time resumed normally. The only difference was that Gladion was standing in the same place he was when he had initially smacked the creature towards Gargulion, not affected by anything the creature did whatsoever. Gargulion was still in the same place as well. The reason why was simple: the power of Saturn had just erased what the creature did from the time stream, so it never took place.

"See? I can do that bullshit too," Tank spat at the creature's use of time manipulation, as if it's use of it was all that special. "You think having all of that power is something? I have high quality in several gods. It's going to take a lot more than cowardly tricks like blinding Gladion to take us down!"

Gladion then decided to throw the scythe towards Gargulion. In the process, it sliced through the creature's abdomen, spilling a lot of blood in the process. "Catch!" Gladion signaled.

[Markus Hederick]

Gargulion was in healthy condition from Gladion's surprising ability. When they fought, Gladion only used it to erase one of his frames from time, but now, he could utilize it to where he can erase several attacks from the time stream as well. It would seem like Gladion has done his training since then.

Joke's on him though. Gargulion also did his.

"Got it," Gargulion received. He caught the scythe on its handle. It was time to go to work.

"Nice!" Markus complimented. "Now, ability activate! Spirit Essence!" Gargulion hovered his free hand over the scythe to make it tremble with his power. Soon, an entirely new scythe emerged from the weapon, completely ethereal in nature. He then threw the original scythe back towards Gladion, splitting the creature's back open in the process. Gladion caught the scythe, as it was now time for a combo attack.

"Ability activate! Spirit Slash!" Gargulion's scythe lit up in a green aura as did Gladion's. The two rivals began slashing the air to send arcs of energy towards each other. This allowed them to continuously decapitate the creature a little bit ahead of its health regeneration. Thanks to Frosch's secret art, none of them would hurt each other from the arc slashes, because they couldn't injure each other through friendly fire.

That could only mean that the rivals saw each other as allies again...

"You can boast about your kill count all you want. Try doing that to someone who gives a damn. I'm not one of them," Markus asserted. "You scared many Silver Knights, but the joke's on you. Tank and I aren't Silver Knights. We're pros trying to make a difference. We're Resistors. You can be as much of a psycho bitch to these souls as the next enemy, but you always made one big mistake along the way. You've underestimated our power far too often, and that's going to be your downfall, no matter how much fear you think you're stirring up."

[Prof.Dr.Kyuki]

Creature exploded again turning its body into dust.

This time it has not gone for either one of these two with any dust but it went towards the ceiling where it reformed without the previous wounds. "Overconfidence is a flimsy shield." Creature responded to what Markus said. Creature clapped creating an enormous distortion around itself and with another clap it forced the distortion upon both Gladion and Gargulion. Both their bodies were caught in a brutal vibration and began vibrating themselves so violently they could feel as if they were being torn apart. Their bodies were experiencing pressure- as if their insides were being pressed between heavy objects. This is a 3-stage ability owned by Lydia, the Perfect Key- she could not use it because she never trained her power and feared she would kill someone by accident with it, but this monster had no problem using it. Without proper owner it was not doing so well, but it was still doing something. Name is The End. First stage of the ability is immobilizing the enemies; the vibration and pressure was not done for nothing- bodies of both enemies were practically frozen. Second stage is burst. Both their bodies were exposed to super-violent vibrations that they could feel their muscle tissue being torn apart and internal bleeding intensify... with that sight going foggy and concentration drop.

Third stage... erase from existence. Not kill. Erase. One simply ceases to exist with no means of countering it after being affected or being brought back. It is like formatting a hard drive. Creature created a white orb on top of its left palm. "One bases his power of knowledge and others on physical strength and luck... You do not fear me because you have nothing to lose. One who fearlessly steps into battle is either insane or has nothing to keep him here." Creature said to Markus. That was a reference to Markus losing both his family and his girlfriend- so in a way, it was not incorrect. Despite the fact that Markus 'overcame' the obstacles he certainly has not overcome those deaths- no matter how much he hides it. It can be seen from the way he talks, from his tone, posture, fighting strategies... for an untrained eye those mean nothing, but here one can say a lot from just looking at the opponent and listening to them. "You have fists, but lack eyes and ears- if you end up surviving consider that." Creature said. Was it a puzzle or a coded way to say something? Have fists but lack eyes and ears. Did it mean Markus was more focused on 'charging forward' instead of listening to others? Or did it mean something else? The way creature implied Markus surviving this encounter... was it going to spare him or was it beginning to realize there was a probability of loss? 

Both Gladion and Gargulion were surrounded by energetic force fields; the process of erasing them was only going to take a few seconds from the point of activation.

[Maria Zenovia]

"Abyssal Juggernaut!" Maria named as she played the ability.

This was a unique ability for Misfortune 13 while over 50% of the maximum power. Going over 50% is only possible with genuine will of original brawler's thoughts and of a Bakugan- if Hurranians had this power back when Maria fought Resistors while being in control she could have used Golden Tyrant and potentially destroyed not only them but Asuka and Ares as well. Abyssal Juggernaut is an ability that overloads each head with total of six attribute charges on each and then unleashes them one by one on each head. This way thirteen heads launch six attribute warheads and form into one giant Dextra mix that explodes and causes massive damage. "There will be no 'if'!" Hydra yelled. She launched thirteen Pyrus blasts at the creature making a huge explosion that pushed it away and disrupted its ability canceling the deletion process. Aquos blasts followed right after than causing creature's body to freeze and be constantly damaged by 'Blood Ice' effect attached. Ventus followed pushing creature back and slowing down its body's movements. Haos caused massive decrease in offense and defense; 70%. Subterra caused its body to receive double the original damage from future attacks. And, finally, Darkus dealth massive damage based on what previous 5 attributes did; combination with Subterra doubled it and splattered the creature across the room. It quickly regenerated but that attack disrupted it by a lot.

"Nature of Beast!" Maria activated another ability.

Hydra's body began flashing in different attribute colors. Most left head went for creature's right arm bitting it, right head went for left hand. Then two next heads went for right and left legs. Middle head impaled its stomach and then bit it. Nature of Beast is an ability that puts Hydra in a short status of 30 seconds where she gains increased attack, speed and defense by 200%. When it expires enemy automatically takes massive damage if it was hit. And it got hit, so it was a wait. "I cannot defeat him- without using Golden Tyrant it is impossible. Such risk cannot be taken with so many humans around... I have made peace with my inability to defeat one person who took everything I loved away from me... One thing I can do- make sure someone else does the job; as long as he is gone it will be fine." Maria thought. Whatever she does she always losses- no matter her power. She was not 'born perfect' like Asuka and does not have 'power of existence' like Ares... Defeating Kyuki would be one win in the book she would certainly be pleased with- even if it is done by someone else. And she knows who that someone is... Daniel is gone; he cannot use his power. Lydia is not in state where she can fight. Only one left is...

"Alex... would you do me a favor? You are the only one left with... Achron power. I have to ask of you to use it." Maria said. 

"Your power- First Key; can defeat two keys at once if used properly. Especially against someone who uses two keys that do not belong to him..." Hydra informed.

"I'll hold him off as much as I can... Then you'll have to strike." Maria said. One could notice stumbling in her tone. She was getting very tired. That wound she had from Kyuki's creations mixed with a knife stab from controlled Sylvia was really getting to her. Medicaments were not as effective anymore and she was struggling to keep concentrated.

[Prof.Dr.Kyuki]

"That won't work!" Creature exclaimed.

Its body began to flash intensely as if it was charging with energy- which was the case, as a matter of fact. Energy was released in form of multiple shockwaves coming directly from its body and hitting Hydra's heads and forcing them to let go. Once all of them let go creature began to regenerate again and it slashed with its right hand. Slash produced an arc blade wave that struck Hydra's body pushing her back a few meters and preventing her from using anything temporarily. "Kid does not even know how to use his powers. Why do you think he'd stand a chance against two stronger forms of power?" Creature said. It began forming orbs on top of its palms; white orb on top of its left palm and black orb on top of its right palm. It brought them together fusing them into an unstable orb of light and darkness.

"His power is way too complex for anyone to understand. You think this kid can suddenly gain access to it and defeat me? It'd take years of work and dedication for such thing." Creature said and then tossed the chaotic orb towards Hydra hitting her and capturing her inside a violent tornado consisting of both light and darkness. Hydra was being pushed around and hurt constantly by that attack- she could not defend herself from it and was taking some heavy damage. Chaos this creature could produce was not a joke for anybody- even an Admiral would have to think twice before engaging it.

[Maria Zenovia]

"Even for you, isn't it?" Maria asked. She already knew the answer to that one. "Power way too complex for anyone- even for you, professor..." She added and took a card from her pocket rising it into the air. "Ability activate! Abyssal Cannonade!" This ability was going to give that creature a lesson about what Maria and Hydra thought about 'god privilege'- ability was not called 'abyssal' just for the cool name or to scare the enemies; aside from physical damage, which is enormous, this ability damages emotions, mental state, psychical operations, consciousness etc. In other words, when this ability hits someone it turns them into a physical and mental cripple; they become a crazy person, a cripple and gain a mental disability... That was a powerful tool against overly strong enemies- since she could use that type of ability multiple times it would eventually leave marks that not even negating or healing can fix. Very good in a long run but not useless either in a single use.

Hydra rapidly began shooting multi-attribute warheads towards the creature. At the speed she gave it, there were over 39 warheads in a second and attack was not stopping. Each warhead collided with the creature tearing its body apart and negatively affecting its mentality, among many other things. "Alex, you've heard that, haven't you?" Maria asked her Knight. "Only the original user can properly learn and tame the power- to those who do not belong under its knowledge will be hidden in darkness... you have to concentrate! I am giving you all the time you need!" Maria explained as Hydra continued to bombard the creature with rapidly-fired warheads. She apparently knew much more about this than Andersen family themselves; no wonder since Advent are allied to Achron. 

[Prof.Dr.Kyuki]

"I have researched these powers for long enough..." Creature said. It was being bombarded by a powerful attack Hydra used, but far from being massively damaged. With her abilities, monster such as Misfortune 13 is capable to stand up to a god and destroy it. Even though creature had godly power it was far from being immune against her- that was why it had to struggle against her ability. Especially because some of her abilities specialize in devouring what is transcendental. "... someone of your intelligence claims there is 'another way'?" Creature spoke to Maria in a manner that was a mixture of mockery and anger. The fact that it possessed superior intellect in comparison to Maria and everyone in there combined made it furious considering someone like Maria thought she knew better. If this creature could not discover secrets of Achron then none of the present here would ever be able to.

"This kid had 18 years to learn. He declined. And you think he can obtain such power without any knowledge on how to awaken or use it? You are a bigger fool than I could have ever thought." Creature insulted and then it began focusing energy inside its body while being bombarded. Damage from the warheads was getting progressively lower with this movement and now was time for a counterattack. "Between Order and Darkness!" Creature called out. One massive dark orb appeared on Hydra's left and one on her right. Two orbs collided against Hydra and exploded. Their energies began to fuse together forming countless waves of light and darkness which eventually formed into a chaotic cage keeping Hydra inside and doing heavy damage to her every 2 seconds.