Prologue: The Collision

[Fury]

Fury strolled on over to where his Mechtogan were playing with the child. He looked them over to conclude the whereabouts of the kid. Any idiot could guess whether or not Fury was happy about the kid's absence.

"..."

"What?" Coredegon confusingly asked.

"...What do you mean...'what'? What happened to the boy?..."

"Betadron was being a big meanie, so the kid ran," Slycerak interjected.

"...Makes a lot of sense, actually..." Fury accepted. "...The boy is the last of his kind... His fear of extinction...is what makes him an ideal candidate to be my carrier... If Betadron loses that...I will never forgive him..."

Suddenly, two dark meteorites were on course to crashing fifty meters in front of Fury. The splash damage from it didn't do any damage to Fury or the Mechtogan. What it did do was present them with Betadron's ugly face once again. He was at least kind enough to bring a beaten Vladitor who was glowing in a green color and had a broken axe.

"Come on, man... You have to give me a little more respect at least. We've known each other forever, literally," Betadron complained.

"...The boy...?" Fury requested.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got him. But, we had a deal, remember? We set this up 500 years ago."

"...I will not do that... It would make you slightly weaker..."

"Uh...Fury. It's your old pal here. We agreed to it, so..."

"...No..."

"Please?"

"He just told you no," Coredegon interrupted. He was swiftly attacked by a hate-infused swipe from Betadron that somehow had the size to dwarf even him. Coredegon was knocked on his back and nearly caused the other Mechtogan to topple over from being in the way. "...Ouch."

[Fury]

"...You just attacked my Mechtogan...the one who would be able to grant you the wish that you want..." Fury informed Betadron. "...Ask yourself... Why do you think you've stayed alive for so long after your brethren perished...? ...What do you think made you exempt from the claws of time...? ...Do you not think there would be a chance that your powers could work against you if THEY were here...?"

"Let's not kid ourselves, Fury! You're scared that I'd become stronger than you if I fed off of my brothers' hatred!" Betadron accused.

"...That's an intriguing question. Will you...? And then what will you attempt to do with that power...? Manipulate me again...? Lose miserably to Genesis Dragonoid and Wavern...again...? Get us banished...again...?"

"Yeah, man. You need to chill out," Mandibor suggested. "We're all trying to get out of here. We don't need YOU at the helm anymore. You get mad too easily and start doing stupid shit, just like you're doing RIGHT NOW."

"You've bullied me enough! Even when I was pulling your strings, I treated you with decency! I never spat on you and treated you like a special-needs dog! Yes, I got you in this mess, but don't act like you don't want to go back up there and teach that son of a bitch a lesson!"

"...We're going to lose though..."

"..." Betadron's power started to decrease in intensity, but...before it did... "Fetch." Betadron revealed the kid that was hiding in his his hair. He grabbed the boy with one of his wings, and then threw him far in an attempt to kill him.

This prompted Fury to immediately attack Betadron with a heavy punch. Betadron guarded against it and only moved back a couple of steps. Both of them started brawling while the Mechtogan were running off to catch the kid before he makes contact with the surface and dies. The heavily-injured Vladitor picked himself up and sprinted after his partner, surprisingly outpacing the Mechtogan.

[Darius Hardy]

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn. That man is movin'," Slycerak commented on Vladitor's speed. "That reminds me... Why are WE going after this kid anyway? Can't Coredegon just bring him back afterwards?"

"As long as the seal is active, then no. Our powers are suppressed, remember?" Coredegon admitted.

"WHAT!? Oh shit!! I forgot for like the millionth time!"

"We lie so that Betadron and the Legendary Soldiers didn't think they could kill us..." Mandibor clarified. 

"Betadron really has done it this time. This is about the fifth time he threw the kid for a hail mary," Exostriker sighed. "And he wonders why the kid always runs when he comes around."

Vladitor was able to catch up to the boy in a timely manner. He jumped up, turned around, and caught him with one hand to make the touchdown. He rolled over twice, then got back to his feet. He stumbled when he got back up though, possibly due to his injuries from Betadron.

"Yay! You did it, Vladitor!" the kid celebrated. "Come on! Let's break the seal and get out of here!" From the sounds of it, the kid had enough intelligence to deduce that being near Betadron and Fury for any longer was going to spell disaster. Vladitor kept running, but by he time he did, the Mechtogan were already catching up. It seemed like they took longer than Bakugan to reach top speed, but once they did, it was nearly impossible to avoid getting caught by them.

[Asuka Izumo]

After making a switch change of clothes Admiral Asuka left her quarters and headed towards the Arena. Using one of many Ares's capabilities she activated teleportation to reach 'renewed' professor Kyuki who was working on Cyber. After the incident that occurred on the other airship owned by Silver Knights Cyber was captured by Silver Knights and was under Kyuki's supervision. As a matter of fact, both him and Asuka prefer not to use that foul name anymore and rather call him by the actual one- Joseph Friedrich. Cyber was the creation of old 'Kyuki' and his former comrade in crime, Crimson. Asuka arrived to this area- she did not expect for Generals to be so slow, but it did not matter. She had business with Joseph who already left the room Cyber was in. 

 

"Doctor... report, please." Asuka requested. 

"Ugh... I have not said this in a long time, but this might be beyond me, Asuka." The man dressed in white lab coat spoke to the Admiral with her first name, disregarding any formalities towards her- that included salutations or anything. That sort of behavior is usually earned by long partnership or friendship, but it did not seem it was the case. He continued speaking. "Crimson and Beelzebub took this one too far... Damage will be permanent whatever we do. He has no memories of his own; he has false memories they implanted to infiltrate him among Silver Knights past the mind-reading abilities your Arch Priestess Kuzuha performs. He does not even know he is Cyber..." Man spoke. He sighed a couple of times with a pause clearly giving off he was not very happy with the results he was getting from whatever was happening to Cyber.  

"What do you propose?" Asuka asked. 

"Ahh... I don't fucking know anymore..." Man replied with another deep sigh of disappointment and disbelief. "He was implanted with memories following ideals of a 'perfect Silver Knight'. If I remove the 'Cyber' from him he will realize what he had done- that he was tool used for spying, hacking classified information away from government and then killing a number of innocents. And if we delete the memories of Cyber there will be a big hole in the gap. I could implant false memories so he wouldn't need to remember this, but... that is not right either in my opinion." Man said. He was not sure what to do with Cyber.  

For those who do not know Cyber's true identity is Kurt Redfield, one of 'weaker' Silver Knights who was merely a newbie with ideals of a perfect Knight. Honor, justice, salvation... He was a child of two terrorists who were killed and then he was taken away by Kyuki. Crimson used his Null Helios to erase memories of the child and Kyuki used his System to implant fake memories, fake ideals and fake personality into him. Arch Priestess Kuzuha has right to read minds of Silver Knights to a certain extent, but if spy himself believes he is a Silver Knight and has no intentions of causing harm then her power is useless. He was being used- he was Chrono Elite's eyes and ears that whole time. He thought he would be a hero and ended up being a villain. Eventually, combination of two powers caused a mutation in his body that created the 'Cyber' personality which became obedient to Kyuki and Crimson for... obvious reasons. With that personality involved and its perks such as drastic increase in intelligence he was not just a spy, but a powerful force for causing mayhem from the darkness. While he lacks combat capabilities and experience his ability to take advantage of any technology around him is alarming. Once he was defeated and captured Joseph has been wondering on how to fix him up...  

His whole life is fake... a lie...  

"In my opinion, maybe he would be better off dead. If I kill 'Cyber' he will find out... that will kill him mentally. His motivation of a Silver Knight is a lie... if I remove that he is just an empty shell. This is a matter of logic and ethics, but however you take it- it is not right... Look, red, just leave me to it- I need a drink and I'll think of something..." Joseph said to Asuka and then went to another room, probably cafeteria. 

This left Asuka visibly sad. However, she did not respond to it whatsoever. She simply turned to the Generals and the Knights' guests. "I am sorry you had to hear and see that." She said and then she proceeded to walk towards the Arena. The Arena was a small room filled with numerous capsules that appeared to made to contain humans inside them. If the system was anything similar to one of HQ then person needs to enter the capsule and they will enter virtual reality in which the combat will commence. There were small round slots for storing Bakugan orbs and it worked in similar fashion where it would link the brawler and their Bakugan. The system in HQ did not require capsules and slots though.  

"Virtual Reality Arena. Please, leave your Bakugan's orb in one of the designated slots." Asuka pointed towards the slots that were somewhat easy to miss or be mistaken for a decoration. "Brawlers are to enter the capsules and will be transferred to the virtual world." She informed. While she did not put any Bakugan orb in the slot she herself clicked a button on one of the capsules and simply entered it. Doors of the capsule did not close after that. Her eyes closed and then she went completely silent. 

[Kendrick Hardy]

"Amazing..." Kendrick marveled at the technology being used here. "I was guessing there were systems in place to prevent the powers of these super-powerful Bakugan from wrecking the ship from the inside. It seemed so advance that I was willing to believe that...but Virtual Reality... Man, this is so cool!"

"That's disappointing though... That means we can't watch up close..." Krakix deduced. "Oh well. So much for the experience. Guess we'll have to watch..."

"Phew..." Siege was more relieved to hear that than anyone else.

"Well, Noland, I'm rooting for you, but struggle for me, please. It makes it look more exciting," Kendrick advised.

[Noland Hardy]

"Heh...you're likely to get your wish this time, bro," Noland conceded. "Alright. Here we go. Drago?"

On Noland's cue, Drago went into ball form and put himself in the slot Asuka told him to go in. Noland went inside the capsule. "Ready," he signaled. He closed his eyes in anticipation of what would feel like a weird process. He wasn't used to this.

At this point, Noland could only assume that things were working the way he should. He heard the capsules close, but he didn't hear any noises. He decided to open his eyes ten second later. Only then could he see that something definitely changed. Him and Drago were now in a digital plain that has yet to change to an actual location. Three more seconds pass, and now they were in a grassy paradise that looked too pristine to be on Earth or Vestal.

It was almost like the particular place was from another world...

"Hm...okay then," Noland accepted. He saw Asuka standing across from him, so it was obvious that the time to battle was nigh. "So...uh...any special rules or anything I don't know about? I remember seeing a duel between Knights when I was around for the trial. They only fought until one of them was in a position to be killed or whatever. Is that what's going on here, or is it a straight-up fight?"

[Asuka Izumo]

"You will see." Asuka shortly replied.

Bright golden lights flashed before Noland's eyes before a pool of golden water. A large humanoid clad in shiny golden armor emerged from the golden pool which disappeared as soon as the humanoid completely materialized. Perhaps it was the first time these two have seen Ares aside from the fact they have seen him during the incident on the other airship. Drago was a Bakugan and he certainly could feel it now that situation was a lot calmer than before- Ares was definitely not a Bakugan. He was giving off that aura, but there were no readings on his power- the only clue was the aura which seemed oddly similar to... Maste's. Readings similar to Alex, Daniel and Lydia could be felt, but those similar to Maste were greatest in number. However, Maste was confirmed to be a Bakugan... a sort of a Bakugan. Perhaps Ares and her were similar somehow. The truth is- nobody knows that much of Asuka or Ares. Those with, at least, a glint of knowledge are Knights of high rank, top Eden operatives, Maste, Kyuki (Joseph) and several other individuals. 

Without hesitation Ares asked right away. "How long can you endure in your 100% form if you access it willingly and without need to overexert your body and mind?" The examination has not even started and, yet, Ares was questioning Drago about his top shape and form. He was aware that Drago was very powerful and could reach dangerous heights, but some of those heights were not safe for him and he could not reach them without overexerting his own body and potentially hurting himself. Ares was going to test how far he can go without need of using that and, if he deems necessary, he might help him release a bit more of that power into his general build allowing him to fight in even more difficult situation.

[Noland Hardy]

Now that Noland had the time to pay attention to Ares' appearance, he decided to look the knight over to see what he could find out. Unlike many of his previous fights over the past year, Noland was very attentive to what Ares was, because the mysteriousness of the aura emanating from Ares was concerning. It was very unfamiliar.

This factor got Noland's attention very easily. He'd dare say that he is excited to see what Asuka brings to the arena. Drago was as well. He got out of his robes into his monster form, and then walked forward slowly.

"Depends on who's in front of me," Drago plainly answered without giving a straight-up answer. This was the honest truth since that feeling of being at full power can change depending on how high the stakes are.

"It also depends on what your definition of a 'long time' means," Noland added. "We did everything our fathers told us to do, so we're in good shape. Whatever is 100% for us or however long we can remain there, you'll find out IF you get me to that point."

Noland calibrated his BrawlX to attune it for high-level combat. Recently, the company behind them did an update that warns holders of potentially dangerous power levels. This was done in response to what Noland did to Maurice last year. Noland only had the feature enabled since he didn't care too much about it to outright disable it. He did disable it for now, since it was pretty much a given that Asuka was at a high level. Why wouldn't she be, after all?

"Alright. Let's go," Noland signaled, ready for whatever 'test' Asuka was planning on giving out.

(Boss Theme)

[Asuka Izumo]

"Fair." Asuka shortly replied. "Test shall consist of multiple phases. I am not supposed to tell you everything that is expected from you in the tests." She explained.

The test Asuka and Ares had was not going to be as simple as normal tests when it comes to Bakugans' capabilities. First phase is the test of perception- how long it would take these two to detect something specific in the rubble of many things. In a situation where you would teach how to do it the rubble would, perhaps, be a handful of objects with one object that is worth of notice. In a situation where you are one of the top brawlers with natural abilities that can help you detect objects the rubble must be defined as something as large as a planet. And how convenient was that? 

Without announcement, distance between two sides began to grow and space between them began to expand. The space between them kept on growing and they could not even see each other anymore because the distance could be equivalent to one between South and North Pole. A faint spark formed on the tip of Ares's left index finger and it headed at ridiculous speed towards the very center of the distance. Spark exploded in the center and then something began forming... a round grayish object. It began to grow... and it kept on growing. Very quickly it grow to the point where both sides could see it from their distance and in about 129 seconds it grew to an overwhelming size... exact measurements of planet Earth. What Noland and Drago could see was power that was capable of giving birth to a new planet at will and that was what happened right there using Ares's capabilities. He owns power of the Cosmic Scepter which he momentarily does not have equipped- with that item equipped he would have been able to do this within 10 seconds instead of 129. 

Two could hear Asuka's voice from afar- perhaps it was telepathy or usage of virtual reality to their advantage. "First phase- perception. The planet you see is of exact size as Earth, but it is filled with vast amounts of rubble and trash... however, on this worthless planet there is one item that you need to find." She shortly explained. Hologram appeared in front of Noland and Drago depicting the item they were supposed to find. A beautiful golden ring with dragon-carvings in it- somehow the carvings' appearance reminds of... Drago and not just any Dragonoid. However, there were measurements involved- both of them could see it. It was a hologram in big size, but the actual item is about the same size as your average finger ring. "Take as much time as you need." Asuka spoke to the two from the other side.

It was a simple task, according to Asuka's abilities. There are no restrictions to what abilities could be used and in this specific situation it might be the easiest for Skystar and Maste to detect the ring with their abilities. For them, this test alone would probably be pointless. Even though Drago does not own abilities that precise it was going to be simple... relatively. Was it going to take long though? That was the real question. How hard and long can it be- to find a ring somewhere on a planet that is covered in rubble and trash? Phase did say 'perception' and not just 'search' which meant the ring was going to be in a place where it is relatively easy to find depending on how much one pays attention to their surroundings. "Good luck." She said.

[Noland Hardy]

"Aw man..." Noland groaned. He was hoping that they were going to get right to battling. These tests were the worst. "That ring could be anywhere..."

"Let's just go in there to see if we can find any clues," Drago suggested. "I'm not stressing over this. It's not like we're not going to graduate if we fail."

"Eh. Fair enough." Noland was picked up by Drago's tail and flung to his shoulder. Drago then "jumped" to the surface of the created planet. Almost instantly, Noland and Drgo felt an unfamiliar power radiating somewhere in the world. It was that feeling of...death.

"Uh..." Noland was slightly taken aback by Ares creating a planet where this already happened. Since there was nothing better to look for, Noland and Drago followed this ominous trail until they arrived at this planet's Silver Knight HQ, the same one that was overrun by the Hurranians back then.

Drago returned to his robed form so him and Noland could walk inside together. They looked around to see that there were corpses littering the once pristine floors. The scent of blood and decomposition tainted the breathing air. The only reason why Noland was able to walk through there without batting an eye was by suppressing his scent of smell; otherwise, he'd have quit right then and there.

"We're in the right place," Noland figured. "There's a strange energy signature... Not sure what it is."

"It feels...godly in a way. I'm not sure we ever felt anything like this before.." Drago noticed.

"It better be the real deal then, because I'm not trying to see too much of this." Noland could already tell that these weren't the same people from Earth, but they looked and felt real. This disturbed Noland to a degree, because as he walked deeper into the HQ, he came across the particular section where the Admirals conduct their office work. The entrance to that area was blocked by an automatic door, and it was offline. Noland zapped it using his bio-electricity to force it open. When he did, he had to step back a couple of steps to avoid a dead body dropping towards him.

"...Didn't see that..." Noland discovered the body to belong to...Asuka?

Stepping over it, he found another one. This one belonged to the late Admiral of Creation, Amagi. Nothing was important on him, so Noland passed him by as well. It wasn't until he found Maria's body that Noland became interested.

"You see that?" Drago wondered. There was a ring on Maria's finger. Noland knelt down and lifted Maria's left hand to inspect the ring that was on her ring finger. He hovered his palm over the ring to get a feel for the energy it was radiating. Sure enough, this was what they were chasing.

"Well...here it is..." Noland discovered. He removed the ring and held it on the palm of his hand. "Not sure why there's so many dead bodies here though..."

[Asuka Izumo]

Asuka and Ares were observing Noland and Drago from their starting position. Due to Ares's reign over the artificial planet he created out of thin air he gains benefit of monitoring every inch of it as if it was a palm of his own hand and share that benefit with anyone he links to. Asuka did not give any obvious sign, but she was slightly displeased.

"Hmm... somewhat problematic." Asuka muttered as she observed.

"A minor setback. While they are able to detect the power it, obviously, takes them time to do so." Ares replied with confidence.

"Fine. Next part of the test- combination of perception and reaction." Asuka informed.

"As you wish." Ares confirmed as his eyes released a glint of green.

Back on the artificial planet- Noland headed to retrieve the ring off the 'dead Maria's' finger. Once he did the second part of the test began. Ring began glowing with mesmerizing radiance and mixture of yellow and red. The intensity of radiance was quite something to steal away Noland's attention as well as Drago's considering how imposing it was- as if it contained more power than a Bakugan itself. However, the moment their attention was set on the ring and with the light obscuring the Admiral's dead body in front...

Maria's body moved on its own; with a sudden and unexpected leap she headed right for Noland's face. Her face pale, motions stiff and eyes lifeless- that was not Maria heading to scratch Noland's face with her nails; that was a living corpse. Whether he could notice before it reached him and whether he could avoid was yet to be known. Whether any of them could sense other corpses nearby making motions was questionable as well.

[Noland Hardy]

"...Not bad..." Whatever setup Ares had going here only gave Noland so much time to react to what was being put down. The ring itself was likely acting as a weapon against Noland and Drago's sensory abilities. Still, Noland knew what was going on as the only sense of his that was being pulled elsewhere was his sight.

He quickly fell backwards to make sure Maria didn't make contact with his face. He held himself up on his heels, which should be humanly impossible for Noland to do; however, his balance was clearly above human standards for reasons that anyone who knows who he is would understand.

He pointed his left index finger towards Maria as he saw her travel over him. This is where his bio-electricity came from to zap Maria high up into the air. She dropped back down a couple of feet away from him.

"If I had been two years younger, I don't know what I would've done against that. She was a scary woman that day..." Noland admitted. She's one of the very few opponents he ever feared.

He stood straight up only to find out that there was still company. Maria was not the first zombie and she certainly was not the last. He could hear different movements being made.

"Hm...I wonder if there's a Noland in here too. One that's not me, obviously," Noland wondered out loud.

"For someone who hates zombies almost as much as gators, you seem pretty calm about this..." Drago sighed.

"Ares won't let them get me though...Right...?"

[Asuka Izumo]

The zombie version of Maria swiftly regained balance upon being struck. She nimbly positioned herself on all fours like some sort of feral beast as she let out unnatural beastly roars at her prey. Behind the duo zombie version of Asuka began to move as well... though, for some reason she was an oddity among the group of zombies inside the room- while obviously in maddened state she was walking slowly on two legs without making any unhandy movements, apparently analyzing her prey carefully and taking two rapiers from the ground which were laying next to her body. Unlike others here her behavior was giving an air of intelligence rather than one of a mindless zombie. Perhaps she was not a zombie to begin with- she could have been a ghoul, but it still lacked proper explanation. She appeared to move with care.

The other zombies charged towards the duo mindlessly in aggressive attempts to grab them, scratch them and bite them. Some of them were on the sides and instead of running they opened their mouths wide and began spitting noxious acid towards Noland as well. 

Regardless of what they were seeing there this was a reaction/perception test. While zombies' relentless attack was merely an element of the test the actual point of the test was standing outside using the element of zombies as a rather aggressive distraction for what was about to happen. Ground around the Headquarters began to glow in pure golden color; representation of holy energy which was threatening to disintegrate the entire building- zombies and the Pyrus duo along with it. Whether the duo could notice before it was too late and escape the horde along with escaping the deadly radius was unknown.

[Noland Hardy]

"...I'm sorry?" Noland's view of Maria was almost changed from seeing here act like a ravenous beast. Asuka's body confronting him really made him gulp a little. "Um...help?"

"No... Help ME..." Drago responded. The zombies were coming for him as well.

"..." Noland sighed, then closed his eyes to hone in on what was going on in the environment. First, he wanted to know if there were anymore zombies outside of the Silver Knight HQ. While in the process of doing that, he felt something extremely odd. Something was surrounding the facility...

"Drago," Noland called out. He assumed his Gundalian form, then jumped straight up to cling to the ceiling when he was ambushed.

"I know," he acknowledged. He had some poisonous substance spat on him. This didn't affect him at all due to the Switch Code inherently guarding him from the substance. Drago then started smacking the horde around while Noland jumped from the ceiling to the exit to get out of the room.

While he was getting away, Noland was whistling to the steps of the zombies he was hearing all around him. He ran for about ten seconds before coming to the main lobby. He briefly looked around to reminisce on the past a little bit. He smiled, and then "jumped" out of the facility.

He appeared at Capitol Hill, the same place where he faced Emperor Barodius of Gundalia. Drago was there behind him, but Noland didn't have to turn around to know he was there. "You good?"

A golden light burst forth from miles away. It was a grand pillar of light that engulfed the Silver Knight HQ. Luckily, neither Noland and Drago were there. It almost looked like they were messing around in there until the last second.

"Yep," Drago acknowledged. "You?"

"Pretty good. There's a lot of history around here. Can't help but feel like I'm blessed in a way."

"All the while being cursed by a golden knight that seems to want us to die in here." Drago sounded sarcastic when saying this, so he was hoping Ares wasn't taking that comment seriously. Although, if he actually is trying to kill them, that'd be bad.

[Asuka Izumo]

Asuka observed the scene from far away using Ares's True-Sight. 

She thought it would be wise to give the situation some thought. It was somewhat expected as to what results of the examinations would be and there was no real necessity to go into obscene heights with it.  "It appears they can sense the glint, they are not disrupted by it to a level where their environment could become dangerous to them, they can sense the fluctuating energy and avoid in time... Their fate, in my eyes, depends on the final test." Asuka concluded.

"I second that." Ares acknowledged.

"Commence the final examination- summon the host of the golden sentinel." Asuka issued an order to Ares whose eyes released a faint glow of gold.

The pillar of light which surrounded the Headquarters began to faint until it lost all color and disappear leaving not a trace of the building or the undead. However, there were many undead in the area regardless of the fact- it appeared that entire planet was covered in zombies and they all, constantly, knew duo's location- they constantly kept charging towards them wherever they were. Though, the attention was not on the undead, but what the pillar of light gave birth to. It was a creature of gargantuan proportions- it had a resemblance of a massive butterfly. That was the creature this Resistor duo had an opportunity to see- Fallen Eden; creature brought from usage of advanced technologies along with usage of Maverick virus. On top of that, this one's wings had golden markings all over them meaning the creature was somehow changed and you could bet it was not just fashion that changed. It started heading towards the duo. On top its head was, what seemed like Cyber whose mask also had golden markings.

"This marks the final part of your examination. While the enemy has been weakened in certain parameters some others were increased instead. Your task is to destroy the creature.Best of luck." The duo could hear Asuka's voice in their head through Ares's channeling.