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Post by Allen Silva on Jul 5, 2018 23:56:10 GMT -5
Allen had returned to the place where he was most comfortable. That was the weight room. He had a clear grasp on his maxes, so he wouldnt need a spotter. Of course, that didnt include his eternal partner, Gorem. Currently, Allen found himself almost zenlike as he worked on a sitting row machine. It was at nowhere near his max as it was just a warm up for the real workout, a rep to make sure he doesnt accidently destroy himself going too hard." You know Gorem, its strange."
" Whats strange?" The afformentioned subterra bakugan questioned his clearly distracted partner. It was his job to pull him back to reality if Allen ever started to daydream. Gorem had undergone a new evolution through the powers of Clayf getting added to his own. Gorem was now known as Crater Gorem, and had a clear magma influence in his design. He hadnt gotten the chance to flex his new power, but he felt stronger anyway.
" Everyone has gone back to the way things were before the Terrorists ever attacked. And although its for the best, it kind of feels wrong."
" What d'ya mean?"
" I dont know for sure, but it's almost as though everything we did just brought us full circle. Like we are all right back where we started."
" That may be true, but each and everyone of us has matured in some way." Gorem reminded Allen, in understanding of his plight." You have to remember that you guys are still kids. You have a life to live beyond the fight. Now you have a chance to live it again."
" Guess you're right..."
" I know I'm right. Now c'mon, lets go before you break the machine more."
Allen snapped back to reality, only to realize that he had slightly bent the machine. Granted, it wasnt broken to the point of failiure, but that was going to need a good hammering to fix." Yeah, I'll go tell coach about that."
"Thats been you're best idea all day."
" Hey, watch it."
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Post by Alana Cortese on Jul 16, 2018 14:21:07 GMT -5
Alana's eyes flung open as she felt the odd atmosphere of a forbidden place. It was a forest, one where people go to put themselves out of the misery they call life: the Suicide Forest. She started walking through there as if she knew where she was going. She then arrived at a tree with someone's name etched into it. It was a simple one to decipher: Karen.
"I've never told anyone about this... Seems you've learned a lot about me than I thought..." Karen's voice echoed throughout the forest. "I...came here once in an attempt to do the obvious. This was the tree I planned to hang myself on. I figured that using a family outing over here would be the perfect opportunity, but...the plan failed. Turns out there was someone from the CIA was monitoring the forest since they thought some deranged man was trafficking those he saved from killing themselves. That 'someone' is a person you know very well. Maybe she can help you like she did for me. Her name is..."
Alana was startled out of that sequence and woke up, revealing that it was a dream. She stood up with an alarmed expression on her face. She looked around to see Montai walking behind her.
"Nice timing. I was about to come wake you up," Montai stated.
"Where am I?" Alana wondered in a panic.
"CIA, but...you should remember that, right?"
"..."
"I see... Alana, your behavior is worrying me...A LOT. What's wrong?"
"It's Karen again... I don't know how or why, but I keep having these dreams where she's telling me something."
"Bothering Niko wouldn't be the best idea right now since she's on 'vacation', so I'll have to do. What are you seeing?"
"Everything...she showed me everything about herself, the most recent being how she tried to kill herself in Suicide Forest. She said a certain woman helped her."
"Me."
"What?"
"I did it. Eden got reports of vulnerable people like Karen being taken from the forest and sold off to trafficking organizations that either use them for sex or military options. The most popular choices for them were being suicide bombers or dancing boys."
"So...how does that involve the CIA? She told me that the person who helped her was from the CIA."
"I'm in the CIA NOW, but back then, I was in Eden. I was a sociologist, so I often looked at those type of situations for them. When I found the opportunity to work for one of my childhood best friends, I left."
"Since you said that... Was that a good decision, working with Vince? What if you two ever fought outside of work? What if you fought while on the job?"
"I know what you're getting at, and you're right. Fights between friends are often more devastating than the ones between people you don't care that much about, but at the same time, you know each other. That bond makes communication much easier, especially when you've known each other for over 20 years. No matter what Vince did, he always stayed true to what he believed in at the end of the day. As long as I saw that, our friendship was safe."
"Interesting..."
"I know, in your case, that one of the reasons why you're exiling yourself is because you're not sure what these friendships mean or where they're going. I think that Vince to me is what Allen is to you. He's probably the best friend you have right now. Noland? That's complicated. It's like Andrew. You know he means well, but...it's their past that troubles you. Am I right?"
"...Since we apparently have so much in common right now, how do you deal with that?"
"By not being stuck in the past. Noland is not the same person you met. We both know that; however, you still try to make him that person in your head. This is who he is right now. You're young, which I'm not anymore. You have so many things to experience. You shouldn't be hung up on one person, regardless of how important that person was to you. Life's too short for that. They're either good to have around or they're not. Live for you, not for anyone else. Understand?"
"...Yeah...I get it."
"Good. Now...I'm sorry, since you told me not to do this, but I told on you."
"You did what!?"
"Well, Lydia had already begun her work on Noland, and based on what she was getting from him, it sounded like you suffered from some things too. She already scheduled an appointment for you. You go to her, and it's like you'll never realize what affected you in the first place."
"That lady is a troll. She could put him and I in the same room for all I know."
"Which is exactly why you need to go." Montai handed her an appointment card for her to keep track of what was going on. "It's at this address at 5 P.M. tomorrow. Don't be late."
While they were having their conversation, Hydranoid was sitting around with his four heads hung down. He was clearly depressed about something.
"I wasn't good enough for her, man..." Hydranoid sobbed. "She destroyed me. She didn't give me a couple of seconds to process what she was doing to me. And the worst part was, she told everyone, and now they're trolling me with it!"
Horridian nodded to Hydranoid's complaints and placed a hand on his shoulder, comforting him in this time of grief. "I'm sure there's another one out there."
"No there isn't! She was the only one!"
"...Why am I the only guy here? Someone help me..."
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Post by Andrew Bullock on Jul 16, 2018 16:53:32 GMT -5
Andrew was casually working on Hades in his old space at the underground CIA base. He sighed, as he had something on his mind that he couldn't shake of. He started hearing footsteps not too long afterwards. Looking to his left and confirming who it was, he scoffed, hinting that whoever was coming was the reason why he was troubled.
"You know what? You and I need to have a serious talk," Montai began complaining. "WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE!?"
"Please, ask me that again, but make it a little louder. I couldn't hear that one at all," Andrew replied.
"Look, this is a place of business, not a laboratory. Go apply for a job and quit bumming around here!"
"How the hell am I supposed to do that? I'm a wanted criminal on two different planets!"
"Then go to prison! You can't be here anymore!"
Horridian entered the room a bit groggy. He was wiping his eyes, which means the commotion woke him up. "You know what I think?" he started.
"Shut up!"
"Shut up!"
Hearing both of them say that, Horridian huffed and puffed, and then excused himself from the room. "No one treats me right around here..."
"And people wonder why we're still not together."
"What...did...you...say...!?"
"What? You really think I don't know?"
"So...you mean you're not some oblivious asshole who kept me in the dark about this on purpose?"
"You're making it sound worse than it is."
"You think that's not a bad thing!?"
"Okay, okay. Look, imagine things from my perspective. You did some horrible things while you were influenced by a Dharaknoid-enhanced Doom Card, then you did even more horrible things that were necessary to combat the Hurranians. What sane person would entertain a relationship with a woman who wants no part of that?"
"Alright. I see your point. Now, will you please leave?"
"Under one condition."
"And what is that?"
"You have two choices. One, we can arrange for all of the evidence against my 'other self' to be erased so they're not being held against me IF I get prosecuted, or two, you tell the president to do for me what he did for Noland. What's your pleasure?"
"Alright...I understand what you're saying. This IS a really unfair situation for you..."
"So NOW you understand? You were shouting at me as if I was doing something wrong by being in here. You and this facility are the only safe havens that I have where I'm not presented with the choice to defend myself. So if your feelings for me are genuine, then it would make sense for you to be sympathetic at the very least rather than telling me to go to prison as if I'm this evil mastermind that can do nothing good for anyone."
"..."
"Look what you've done. I got all emotional for a second there. Do you need to bother me any longer? I'd rather get back to what I was doing so I can have some peace."
"..." Montai walked away from the situation, leaving Andrew to do whatever was keeping him sane for the moment. She returned to her office and got on the phone with someone. "Hello? Yes, Markus, I'm calling you. I need you to do something very illegal. You'll do it? Good."
Montai then went back to Andrew with a frustrated look on her face. "We went with option 1..."
"Hm...I didn't expect you to actually go through it. How is it being done?"
"Markus..."
"Makes sense. The CIA doesn't get implicated, and no one has to get killed. I like it."
"So...what will you do after he does it?"
"I'll come up with a way to pay him back since I know he'll be looking. There's a lot of things I discovered when I was trolling the Triad. But, on a serious note, I think I'll go back home to Pennsylvania first. The family's probably wondering what happened to me."
"Okay. Look, I'm sorry...about what I was saying earlier."
"You can make it up to me by training with me."
"Training? Me?"
"Let's face the facts, Montai. Right now, you and Horridian are not strong enough. That lazy mutt needs to be whipped into shape. I also need a guinea pig to test Hades' upgrades on whenever I need one. Also...it's for us...to catch up... you know?"
"Oh...um...Yeah, yeah. Good idea."
"Hmph...you're blushing."
"Problem?"
"...Not at all."
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Post by Deon Irvine on Jul 16, 2018 18:13:05 GMT -5
Deon was tucked away in the Smoky Mountains on Earth, which was somewhere they weren't supposed to be at. Contact with Earth right now was supposed to be minimal, unless their assistance was absolutely necessary. There was no such situation. Earth and Vestal were existing on their own terms right now, so why was a Spartan on Earth?
"This is a good training ground for the spring and summer storms, but...something feels like we're not here for that," Tyr figured out.
"The tribe's Ventus specialists always used the Smoky Mountains for training. You know who else I told about that who did the same?" Deon questioned.
"...Ahrangi."
"We found that bastard here wrestling with black bears in ball form. How lucky we were for him to end up with someone as useless as Makoto. If he were any better, he'd have fucked up my entire operation."
"Speaking of which..."
"I have a steady flow of hits made on Dasia. I'm almost tempted to take it, but...I'm more interested on who my clients are...and the pay from the Spartans is getting interesting..."
"So no more faking it to make it, then?"
"I might actually want to be a Spartan now. But first...we have a little problem that needs to be sorted out. Isn't that right, old friend, old pal?" As Deon said that, a lightning strike occurred near Deon's location. Makoto and Ahrangi appeared before them, bloodlusted and ready for battle.
"He looks upset..." Tyr noticed.
"Really? I couldn't tell. He always looks like that," Deon stated. "Alright. Let's get this over with. The sooner you leave me alone, the sooner I can start planning out my next move."
"...and believe me, Xavier's going to LOVE it..."
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Post by Noland Hardy on Jul 16, 2018 21:02:51 GMT -5
Noland was casually walking through a shopping center while he was thinking about something. As he did, there were numerous people around him that were trying to get his attention. There were plenty of girls trying to get at him, which was always good in Noland's eyes. The guys were trying to get Noland to train them. Not too bad, but that's whatever. Then there were the select few who tried to challenge Noland, thinking they were on his level. Noland exerted a small portion of his power in their presence, and the overconfident few withered away.
Once he was finished his public appearance for the day, Noland picked up on Kendrick's energy signature and zoomed to his position in what looked like an instant teleportation. The brothers sat down in the family room as if nothing strange happened.
"So...how was it? Was I right?" Kendrick asked.
"You were," Noland confirmed. They were talking about something important Vince left for them that Andrew didn't talk about too much. "Whenever you're ready, I'll take us there."
"Can I come too?" Sandra inquired, wanting to be included in whatever the boys found. "I know he only wants you two to know, but I can't help it. He never told me anything."
"Alright. Take a jacket. It might be cold up there."
"It might?"
"Well, I wouldn't know given what I am, but yeah, there's snow around there."
"Oh, right! Just a minute!"
"Ken, you have the statues?"
"Yep! All of them."
Noland and Kendrick walked into the kitchen to link up with Sandra who had just grabbed her jacket. Her and Kendrick laid hands on Noland as he carried them to the desired location. "Alright..." Noland took about three seconds to visualize where he needed to go, and then all three of them warped to the town of Coldfoot, a truckstop in Alaska. It was off the grid for sure.
"This way..." Noland led Kendrick and Sandra into the trees. They went through a couple of trees before encountering an invisible barrier. Noland and Kendrick tapped it at the same time, and then pulled Sandra with them so they could all get inside. When they got in, they saw a tiny house.
"Noland...what am I looking at...?" Sandra inquired, confused like never before.
"Dad's hideout," Noland answered. "Based on what he said in this whole scavenger hunt Kendrick and I were on, this is where he'd go whenever things got tense. It must've calmed him down. The view of the northern lights probably helped too." Without warning, Drago, Krakix, and Siege stood from their ball forms, as if the environment they were in doesn't allow ball forms to be active.
"It did..." Drago confirmed.
"So you knew about this the whole time?"
"Yes...Krakix and I both knew, but...there are certain things we shouldn't be saying. You understand, right?"
"Definitely," Noland understood. "Do you know what's in this house?"
"I don't know, but I could probably squeeze my head in there to check."
"Right...stupid question." Noland, Kendrick, and Sandra walked into the tiny house. Drago's energy was sufficient enough to power the entire place, so they saw everything. Noland saw a ladder that went upstairs and immediately went up there. Near the window seal, Noland found a picture of a woman that would look very familiar. "...Mom...?" he recognized.
"Hey, Noland! Whatever you did, you opened something!" Kendrick yelled out.
Noland took the picture back down the ladder to see whatever Kendrick found. "Hey, what's that?" Sandra took the picture and looked at from top to bottom. "Hm...I don't have this picture. Where did this happen...?" The picture showed the boys' mother with Vince in a canyon-like setting.
"Bakugan Canyon," Krakix blurted out. "That's where they found me."
"What else don't I know?"
"You probably don't want to know. Look at this." Kendrick opened a secret door that contained a small box. He took it out and placed it on the floor.
"What is that? A box?" Krakix asked.
"Seems Apollonir was secretive too. That wasn't there before," Drago clarified.
Kendrick opened the box to find three devices that looked like injectors. "Huh...this is weird. I didn't expect to see these in our hands. Civilians aren't supposed to know these exist."
"Well, apparently, you're an anomaly since you know about them."
"The three of us are now. You know how different AI personalities are sold for people to install in their gauntlets or BrawlX's? Well, these injectors contain AI that haven't gone through Raven Atlas' company, so they're truly in the black market. The military uses these to put the voices of squad leaders, drill sergeants, and even the general into their brawling devices so they always hear the higher-ups breathing down their necks."
Noland took one of the injectors and applied it to his BrawlX. When he did, the injector itself disintegrated. The BrawlX updated itself for a couple of seconds, then they were presented with a surprise.
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Post by Noland Hardy on Jul 16, 2018 22:33:00 GMT -5
"I knew you boys would solve my hunt. Good job," a familiar voice congratulated.
"Dad..." Noland recognized.
"Not too long after I got out of the Doom Dimension, I came up with the idea to put my voice on a BrawlX. I was originally going to tell you to pitch it to Ray Atlas so I could make even more money that...I probably didn't need, but I thought it was cool. Anyway, with this being installed, that confirms something. I died before I could tell you everything I was supposed to, so...to make up for that, I gave you three a cool voice to use for your brawling devices, and...a looooooong list of docs that you can listen to on your leisure."
"Where...did you find the time to do all of this?" Sandra wondered, knowing she wasn't going to get an answer.
"I'm going to play the first doc automatically so you get an idea of what I put in them. You can access these at any time you want to, so don't be too concerned if anything I say doesn't make sense the first time around. With that being said, let's get to it."
The three of them listened carefully for whenever it was going to start. It would take them by surprise, as it only took five seconds for the first doc to play. "Greetings, Master Blaze and company. This is Wavern. I decided to influence Vince's mind as he began the first of many conversations he wanted to have with you all, seeing as how I helped him develop this device to present to you. Now, I figured I'd start this myself since I need to come clean on a few things as well. I knew what was going to happen to your father way before it came to fruition. I saw this future when the Soldiers called on me the first time, which was right around the time you saved Earth from the first BT System pulse. I didn't assist them."
"You must understand that even godly beings have a natural order that must be followed. I must not interfere whenever something goes wrong. Genesis Dragonoid and I can only intervene when all other possible options by mortals are no longer satisfactory, and that's only if the civilization's survival is absolutely necessary. Sometimes, a civilization's collapse is better for the advancement of life in a particular area, just like the dinosaur's extinction made you all better off. I cannot guarantee that I will assist the next time I am called on, as your civilization's level is getting quite close to us ignoring you completely. I hope that you're not upset about this truth, as I am only doing what I am permitted to do."
The doc stopped right there. Noland nodded, and then walked outside. He looked up at the northern lights. Sandra and Kendrick followed him soon after. "So...this would mean that it WAS possible for us to win without them dying? I don't understand what the logic behind this is. If you knew we were going to lose the first time you were summoned, why didn't you just stop the Hurranians then?"
"...To increase your civilization's level of importance," the doc continued.
"What...?"
"Before now, your world only looked at us as myths. Only a select few knew that we were still watching. Just by us being there and doing what we did, we have ignited a spark in your civilization, one that encourages people to do better, because they CAN do better. All other options would've let your world continue down its path of self-destruction, which - let's not get it twisted - it's still on that path, but for the long-term health of Earth and the civilizations that surround it, they are only better off with how the battle turned out. Vince knew this for a long time too, because he was the only one I permitted to remember this exact conversation. In fact..."
"...I chose this, Noland...I told Wavern that this was the future I wanted," Vince's voice confirmed.
"...No...but why...? How could you do that?"
"I made this choice, because it was the only selfish one I could've made. This was the only future I could give you where you were looked at as a hero. It was also the only one where I knew there was a surefire way of getting you off of the battlefield. I have no way of telling if my plan worked or not, since I wasn't shown that far into time, but my only hope was that you would be able to look forward instead of constantly looking back. You don't need to worry about where I'm at anymore or whoever the next villain you're supposed to beat is. You can just worry about what Noland needs to do to make what matters most his. That's why I did all of this, and I know that, upon hearing this, you'll have feelings of anger and frustration that things could've been different, but don't be. Please, don't be mad at your father..."
"...for he died to save you all," Wavern finished.
"..."
"Noland, I'll admit something. As his mother, I couldn't be any more livid at what he chose to do, but...I'm still proud. I always taught him to do what he believed was the right thing to do. As sad as it is...he chose correctly. We're okay, Noland... We're all okay, and we can move forward, just like he said..."
"You know...I can only imagine what the rest of those messages must be like... This first one was a lot to take in," Kendrick expressed. "Dad did imply that some of these were not going to make sense the first time around. Maybe we will understand better in the future? I dunno, but what I'm getting from this is that Dad saved a lot more people than just us. I think we should give him a proper send-off. Is that cool?"
"...Yeah...you got it," Noland accepted. The three of them placed statues of the Legendary Soldiers in a circular formation, just like an attribute circle. A slightly larger statue of Vince was placed in the center. South of the circle was an engraving that said, "Gone, but not forgotten." Drago lit up each of the Legendary Soldiers in colored flames that matched with their attribute. He placed a Dextra cloak over Vince's statue.
"He always enjoyed watching the northern lights when he came here... Hope this view is good enough," Drago hoped.
"I think so," Noland agreed.
"So...what is the strongest civilian in history going to do now?" Krakix wondered.
"I dunno. You gave me a lot of good advice back then. Any ideas?"
"Oooo...uh...Siege, any ideas?"
"Oh, so NOW I get to speak?" Siege inquired.
"Um...I'm sorry?"
"If someone here could change me back to an Aquos Bakugan, that'd be nice. I miss when things were so simple. Now I'm Clear, and I have no idea what I'm doing."
"Sorry, pal. I got nothing."
"Figures...well then, how about we prepare young Kendrick to be a brawler? It's almost time."
"You're right. How about it, Ken? This time, just for fun. No more seriousness like it was before. Deal?"
"Deal!" Kendrick gladly accepted.
A silhouette of Vince and the Legendary Soldiers showed up above the memorial. They were all looking up at the sky, probably at the lights.
"I hope you're watching from somewhere, Dad. Gone, but...not forgotten," Noland concluded.
Vince's silhouette nodded as if he heard what Noland said; however, the silhouettes of the Legendary Soldiers nodded as well. In their eyes, they saw a faint presence of what appeared to be an orb traveling through space. Indeed, upon further inspection, there WAS an orb traveling through space, and a female's humming accompanied this presence as it passed through the cosmos to a very familiar destination...Earth.
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Post by Noland Hardy on Jul 16, 2018 23:23:39 GMT -5
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Battalix Dragonoid :: 2000G