Episode 2: Road of Sacrifices

[Sir Rafe]

"...Oh my word..." Rafe gasped. When Rafe saw that their power detecting equipment was getting forced offline from whatever Noland and Drago were doing, he couldn't react any other way.

"..." Wolfurio rested his arms and laid down his Lanzato as he stared at this display in awe. "...What do you even do against power like that...?"

"I-I dunno... He was powerful enough before, but now... I'm starting to think this man is a god..." Rafe glued his eyes to whatever this development was. It looked and felt too important to miss out on.

[Fabia Sheen]

"...Is...that okay to have on Neathia...?" Fabia nervously asked out loud. From what it felt like, the planet could easily destabilize from this explosion of raw power. Indeed, that's what started to happen.

The planet itself was starting to have distortions in reality form in the sky. Natural disasters were beginning to form. The clouds have all fled to who knows where.

"Hm..." Aranaut was doing his best to scan Drago's threat level using his visor, but when he attempted to, his visor started to crack. That's when he involuntarily stepped backwards, which is something he never did... Ever. "..."

"..." Fabia was lost for words. She couldn't dare to guess whether or not this power wasn't going to get used against them. She could only hope...

[Markus Hederick]

"Markus...you getting this...?" Gargulion asked him. Markus was recording the whole thing on his BrawlX to make sure there was visual evidence of this happening. He knows Noland and Lydia would love to have this handy.

"Yeah..." he answered.

"What is this...?" Betadron nervously questioned.

"Apollonir never showed it to you?" Markus asked with a smirk.

"He had this...?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. Should've done your research. After all, it was supposed to be 'bloody easy.'"

"You just stay right there and take what's about to happen to you, alright? Nah. Who am I kidding? You won't listen." Gargulion took aim at Betadron and zapped him with pure light. In doing so, he froze Betadron in the position he was in. Now, he had nothing to do or say to what Drago was about to hit him with.

[Noland Hardy]

Noland's body went unchanged as far as the physical features go. The only noticeable difference was that his skin had a fiery texture to it. If one could look very closely at him, they'll see that the skin is little wavy. This wasn't his actual skin doing this. It was the energy that was flowing through his body.

Drago's appearance was more vicious. His color scheme was crimson rather than the usual red for Pyrus. His aura was similar to his Duality aura in that a thin energy outlined his entire body. The only difference here was that there was a noticeable buzzing noise coming from the aura itself, like someone would be sliced just by coming into contact with it.

Drago held out his left hand and opened it. He let out an undetectable force that pulled Betadron out of the portal. He yanked the demon by his neck and squeezed very hard.

"Is this the power...of a child?" Drago sternly asked in Betadron's face. He also had a godly-sounding voice, like it wasn't his own... "Go on... Say it again... Say it!" Drago started to squeeze even harder. Betadron attempted to hit Drago using his wings, but they did no damage...

"Know your place...and never attempt to challenge the Dragonoid line again..." Noland ordered him. Drago unleashed a hellish blaze of absolute power that engulfed Betadron entirely. He was sent right back through the portal and into the Doom Dimension to be annihilated before his plan could start. Yes...Drago ended up destroying the demon in one attack... Just one.

Noland then pointed through the portal and snapped his fingers. What this meant was unknown at the time. For now, the portal destabilized due to Drago's overwhelming power, so it closed.

[Fury]

Fury was strolling along through the Doom Dimension without a care in the world after that confrontation with the gods. He was minding his own business until he accidentally tripped and faceplanted on the ground.

He took his time getting back up. He looked behind him and saw an unconscious Betadron lying there. Apparently, he had to have reformed somehow after being obliterated...

"...Won't even ask...I know what happened... You got cocky..." Fury sighed. "...Thanks to you...the ancient bastard just gave power to the Sacred Orb... Now we're stuck here for longer... You had one job..."

Fury hoisted Betadron on his shoulders and kept walking in the darkened wilderness.

[Markus Hederick]

Markus was clapping at the whole situation. He didn't care how someone took care of that bastard. Just when someone did in one of the most brutal and uncaring ways possible, it was satisfying.

"Nicely done, man," Markus commended. "You might be getting the hang of this. Last time, you said you went berserk. You're a lot calmer now compared to the last one. You feel the same way?"

Gargulion was monitoring the two of them to be absolutely sure that they weren't going to turn around and bust all of them the same way. All he knows is that they went berserk. Whether or not they're evil is something they have to find out right now...

"You good, Drago?" Gargulion checked.

[Noland Hardy]

"..." Noland and Drago were unresponsive for a couple of seconds after Markus and Gargulion checked on them. They were standing completely still like statues. There was one peculiar sound coming from their bodies that wasn't related to the buzzing noises coming from their aura.

"...The Ultimate Warrior Gene...contains our bloodline... a faint godly whisper said.

A flame then went down Noland and Drago's bodies that ended the power-up altogether. Noland was wide-eyed. This time, he was well aware that 'something' had happened...

"There goes that feeling again..." Noland started. "One second, I sense that guy coming through a portal, and then the next second, it's all over. What the hell is going on here?"

"I didn't hurt anyone, did I?" Drago asked with a concerned tone.

[Markus Hederick]

Markus stopped recording right there. This was plenty of evidence to pass on to Lydia. As a bonus, there was certain words being used that could help them decipher what is truly going on with this whole power-up.

"Yeah, whoever the bad guy was, you hurt him real bad," Gargulion answered. "Guess you weren't kidding when you said you remembered nothing from the first one..."

"Maybe it is an alter ego like what you had with your dark power, or...it could be 'someone' or 'something' inside of you," Markus theorized. "Something said your Ultimate Warrior Gene contains your bloodline... Not sure what that means, but whatever it is could be telling us what's causing these outbursts to happen and why. I've never come across anything like that in my studies, so...can't really help you there. I got it all on tape though."

[Tracy White]

"That's great and all, but, if I could just lay down somewhere, that'd be nice," Tracy complained out of nowhere. "I'm starting to feel sick..."

"Yeah...I don't feel so good either..." Skystar concurred. "I'd like to know what's going on here...and why does Tracy have that lipstick on?"

"What lipsti- Oh..." Tracy gasped after looking at herself from the reflection off of Skystar's armor. "Hey...Noland...how much is Lydia charging?"

"My magic is very imbalanced right now... I'm not sure if I can cast a simple heal to get us out of this rut. I'm also feeling very numb too... Did someone hit me?"

[Fabia Sheen]

"We'll need to get them some medical attention immediately. Ordinary healing won't fix what just happened. It won't be long before she turns to the dark side again," Aranaut spoke up. "Please, come with us. Our Queen knows about dark magic and how to help someone who is struggling with it. I'm sure there's a reward waiting for you all as well."

The group moved into the Neathian capital to head to the castle, the one the Neathians call 'Sanctum.'

(Sanctum)

Due to how dire the situation was, Fabia and Rafe wasted no time in getting the Resistors to the Queen. An elegant, more mature looking version of Fabia was examining Tracy and Skystar in the medical wing of Sanctum. She had them in a trance. Their eyes were closed, and their minds were clear.

"Hm...seems like none of you were exaggerating. This DOES look bad... I suppose I should tell you about my power before you can trust anything I say..." the Queen sighed. "While Neathians do specialize in physical activity, we do have some affinity for magic as well. Queens of Neathia have always had the most potent magical ability. As a result, we often get many followers. Some of them could not handle the fact that it is a lot more difficult to maintain control of magic power than ordinary bodily activities. Legend has it that those who lost control of themselves to the darkness became Gundalians, and it resulted in their monstrous special abilities that either benefit or curse them...like one fellow over there that has radioactive energy flowing through his veins..."

"Whether or not you believe that legend is none of my concern, but the legend communicates one simple truth: every magical power has a PRICE. Your friend's White Arts have consequences that are insignificant, but the Dark Arts are a different story. No matter what type of magic it is, using something of that nature requires you to give something up. I am very concerned for your friend, because she seems like a very nice individual, and they suffer the most from using magic like that."

"I will restore the balance to her magical power, but...I cannot remove any penalties she might incur from the dark magic. That is one fight that she will have to win on her own. I apologize."

[Noland Hardy]

"...So...it's what happened to me...but worse..." Noland sighed after hearing the Queen explain everything. "...I'm so sorry, Tracy..."

"It was bound to happen eventually," the Queen shared. "Think of it as a rite of passage. You know Lars Lion visited my great-grandmother once when she struggled with this?"

"...The more you know..." Drago sighed. They didn't tell them anything...

"I am Queen Serena, by the way. It's an honor to finally meet the current Legendary Soldiers."

"Wait...you know?"

"Of course. You all radiate with the same energy that the other ones did. What happened?"

"They sacrificed themselves to save us from the BT System...including you all as well..."

"BT System...?"

"There was an enemy who tried to take over all sentient life in the universe, especially the Bakugan. The BT System was a doomsday weapon meant to eradicate us all in an instant," Drago explained.

"Good thing that it failed... But, to be honest, I was actually watching the entire battle. I have divination capabilities, so I figured I might as well see what's going on from a safe place. Heh heh heh."

"Oh... Thanks for that."

"Speaking of which...I am very upset about what I was hearing about Rafe being held hostage on Gundalia...? That's sickening... I think I should call him right now."

[Rashad]

The Emperor's face came up on a screen in the room the gang were all in. They could all see his smug expression when he was fully aware of why the Queen was calling him.

"Yes?" he plainly asked.

"You know why I'm calling," Serena answered. "How and why? Explain."

"Your Knight was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I figured since you know so much, someone would've told you that."

"Don't get like that with me. You're the one who imprisoned one of my Knights against his will knowing full well who he was."

"There's people from all over the multiverse popping up. It could've been a different Rafe for all I know. I didn't want to take any chances. I have enough to worry about with Killian potentially killing everyone due to his radiation."

"You know... We could help him... We don't need to keep treating him like a monster..."

"Whether you like it or not, his abilities are too dangerous. He constantly complains about the Neathians. His head is stuck in the past. I'd rather not, but we'll discuss this another time when there's no one else around." Since the Emperor noticed that...

"Redeemer, at your earliest convenience, would you mind coming back here with your brother? During our pleasant encounter earlier, I was uncovering something that I found quite disturbing. It's related to what I was telling your brother about as it relates to what happened between our fathers. It's important that you see for yourself..."

[Noland Hardy]

"Hm..." Noland pondered. He was thinking of some smart remark to reply with. It was something along the lines of, "Will I get captured when I make it there like you did Kendrick?". It was the perfect time to do so, but he wasn't accomplishing anything by saying it.

"We haven't recovered enough to use Genesis Display again..." Drago notified Noland. It was their only method of locating Allen and Tank since they weren't on Gundalia or Neathia. The godly ability took its toll on them after repeated "jumps"."We still need 30 minutes..."

Now, Noland was constantly thinking about the state of the Legendary Soldiers as a whole. Tracy and Skystar are incapacitated for right now, and she is their healer. That's a huge blow to them right now with Tank nowhere to be found. Without Allen here, Noland could feel that he was taking too much on his shoulders. He was going all over the universe trying to find the answers, and he was getting disappointed every time.

"...Alright..." Noland accepted. "Markus, how are you feeling?"

[Markus Hederick]

"Stressed out like you wouldn't believe," Markus answered. He wasn't being that much of a worrywart about Tracy's condition, but things were starting to pile up. Any ordinary person would've snapped by now, but...for what it's worth, at least he can claim to be one of the special ones in this multiversal collapse.

"We ALL are..." Gargulion noticed. Yes, that included Noland and Drago themselves. Gargulion could feel their uneasiness. They were being attacked at the worst possible time. It would get to anyone.

"Honestly...we're about to reach our limit with this planet hopping thing," Markus admitted. "This is the first time we've used that power to travel anywhere outside of Earth. Our method isn't where it needs to be just yet. Skystar's potions won't do enough to help us recover."

"In other words...the next time I use it, I'm going back to Earth," Gargulion clarified.

[Noland Hardy]

"Makes sense," Drago concurred. "You could take Nero and Hades back with you so they can fix whatever's wrong, and - if it ever becomes necessary - he could travel through the universe to find us if something else were to happen. Gorem and Gladion are still out there, so once I recover, I'm going after them."

"We'll just use the Emperor's message as a way to burn time until then," Noland insisted.

"I assume you have a way of getting to Gundalia considering you were the ones who brought Rafe back?" Queen Serena wondered.

"We do," Noland simply replied, not revealing the exact methods behind some of his powers. "Thanks for asking, and thanks again for what you're doing for Tracy and Skystar."

"You're very welcome," Serena happily accepted. "You and the rest of the Legendary Soldiers are always welcome here. If there's anything we can do to assist you, please don't hesitate to ask us. Lars Lion says the same as well; she wanted me to tell you that when I saw their successors."

"..." When Noland heard that, he momentarily thought back to when his dad's message played out when he found his hideout in Alaska. The details surrounding the painful truth of him and the Legendary Soldiers knowing about their impending demises pounded in his head like a migraine. It was annoying to remember that again. It was even more annoying to know that they had encountered the Neathians without anyone else knowing about it. Sure, it wasn't anyone's business, but the secrecy extended to the existence of Betadron as well. This was less than stellar.

Noland simply nodded and walked away. Drago followed shortly after.

"If another 'secret' pops up in front of me like Betadron...it's going to take the gods to keep me from wasting everything..." Noland thought to himself. Whether or not he was actually serious was debatable...