Chapter Text
Ellen finally recognized the Bakugan before her, now that Dan 1 had said its name.
Dharak stood tall before them, eyes locked on Dan 1 and tail waving behind it. To everyone else, this was a cool new Bakugan that could help them in their fight. To Ellen, it was the reemergence of one of the strongest Bakugan in history and the payoff to ten years of work.
To Ren, it was the return of a demon from his past. The sight of this creature brought back all sorts of traumatic memories of the Gundalian-Neathian war, and the atrocities that Dharak had committed in the name of conquest. These memories are why he walked up and grabbed Dan 1 by the collar, staring daggers into him.
“Are you insane?” he growled. “Of all the Bakugan you could have brought back, you chose HIM?”
“Well, sorta,” said Dan 1. “Lemme tell you why --”
“I don’t want to hear it! That thing has taken countless lives, on both sides! After everything Dharak has put us through, you really just brought him back?!”
Dan 1 was getting annoyed, and he pushed Ren’s hands off of him. “Look, if it’s really bothering you this much, you can battle him. He’s not the same Dharak we knew. If I give you this battle, would you be willing to listen?”
Everyone else was bewildered by what was happening. Shun 1 and Marucho understood where Ren was coming from, as they had fought in the war as well, but they were more willing to understand what Dan 1 had done here. Ellen was curious as well, although she had never met the previous Dharak.
Ren was still furious with this turn of events, but he ultimately backed off and pulled out a black marble. “If I win, you get rid of that thing. It’s caused us enough misery.” Dharak snarled at that remark before reverting to ball form and leaping into Dan 1’s hand.
Everyone cleared a space in the meadow, and the two fighters set out their Gate Cards. The sight of Dan 1 wielding a Darkus Bakugan was something none of them had ever thought they’d see, but here he was, sending out Dharak against Ren’s winged knight Linehalt.
Evidently, Linehalt shared in his partner’s trauma. “You dare show your face before me again, Dharak?!” Dharak’s eyes darted all over the place, looking around in utter confusion. He was so bewildered by Linehalt’s aggression towards him that he couldn’t even block an incoming attack from him.
As Linehalt landed hit after hit, Dharak’s confusion began to turn to panic, and Dan 1 noticed. “Hey Dharak, you trust me, right?”
Dharak turned to look at Dan 1, blocking the attacks from Linehalt with his wing. Both Ren and Linehalt expected to hear Dharak’s signature booming voice, and only Dan 1 wasn’t surprised when Dharak only nodded, not a word leaving his mouth.
“Then you gotta fight back. Why do you think I gave you so long in that incubation tank? You’re already very strong, we just have to put that power to good use! And don’t let that guy’s insults get to you, he’s mistaking you for someone else!”
For a moment, it almost looked like Dharak was smiling at Dan 1. He then pushed Linehalt back with the wing he was blocking with, shocking Linehalt with the amount of power he already had. Dan 1 then raised an Ability Card, and Ellen, who was standing behind Dan 1 and could see his card, was surprised that she couldn’t recognize it.
“ABILITY ACTIVATE: UMBRAL WAVER!”
Dharak opened his mouth as the inside of it began growing darker and darker. After a few seconds, the inside of his mouth was pitch black. As Linehalt spread his wings to fly out of the way, a pillar of pure darkness poured out of Dharak’s mouth. Linehalt kept flying as Dharak moved the beam to follow him, very nearly hitting the cabin and the other brawlers in the process.
Meanwhile, Drago 2 emerged in Bakugan form and started looking around in confusion. The Awesome Brawlers were confused by the sight of Drago 2 talking to himself, their confusion increasing when Drago 2’s eyes were surrounded with golden fire.
Back in the fight, Dharak noticed that he nearly hit some of the Misfits and closed his mouth. However, he had not shut off the beam, and little wisps of darkness slipped out between his teeth.
“Here’s a tip, Dharak,” said Dan 1. “Don’t feel like you have to fire the attack immediately when it’s ready. Wait until you have a clear shot, or until you can predict the enemy’s movements, and fire it then. Try it now. Wait patiently until you find the pattern in his flying.”
Dharak continued to hold his fire, watching as Linehalt flew around him. Ren recognized this look in Dharak’s eyes, having seen it on the battlefield many times before. He was planning something, and he couldn’t allow that.
“ABILITY ACTIVATE: DARK SABER!”
A sword of glowing amethyst energy formed in Linehalt’s hands as he flew straight towards Dharak. The dark dragon saw his opening and opened his mouth, unleashing the beam in Linehalt’s face. Unfortunately, Linehalt managed to dodge out of the way just in time to avoid the attack and slashed Dharak with the blade.
Linehalt landed behind Dharak, who shrieked in pain from the attack. Dan 1 ran over to him, looking up at this massive beast like a consoling parent. “It’s okay, buddy,” he said. “It won’t always work, and you might take hits every now and then, but you gotta grit your teeth and stand up for yourself, okay? Once you can take some good hits, then we can worry about dishing them back.”
Ren was appalled to see Dharak nodding in understanding. “What the hell are you doing, Dan?”
“I’m teaching him good sportsmanship.”
“How can you expect to teach this monster good sportsmanship? It’s a genocidal dictator! It doesn’t care about good sportsmanship --”
He was cut off by Dan 1 marching over to him and slapping him across the face. Everyone stopped at the sight of that, including Linehalt and Dharak. For the first time in over a decade, Dan 1 was pissed.
“Listen to me,” said Dan 1, “and listen closely. I’ve been humoring this because I know what you’ve been through, but I have to draw the line now. Let me be as clear as I can; this is LITERALLY not the same Dharak. You’re projecting your feelings about a dead Bakugan onto a literal baby. He can’t even talk yet, and you’re calling him a monster.”
“Why would you reincarnate him? You remember what Dragonoid Colossus told us about his kind, they’re naturally programmed to be the most evil Bakugan in existence!”
“And how much of that is because everyone keeps telling them that’s what they’re supposed to be? If you were told your whole life that you were predestined to be evil, you’d start believing it after a while. I want to see if it’s possible to raise a Dharak and make it good, because the Dharak line deserves a representative that doesn’t make them look like pure evil.”
Ren was shocked to find that he had no rebuttal to Dan 1’s argument. His logic was sound, and as much as he hated to admit it, there was a chance that this could work. Not only that, but Dan 1’s assessment about Dharak’s true nature hit particularly close to home for Ren. Linehalt had been branded as a Dark Bakugan, an entity of pure evil, but he had learned to use his forbidden power for good.
“How do you know this will work?” Ren finally said. “How do you know that Dharak won’t become the monster that his predecessors were?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I don’t see any reason not to try. We have a chance to change history here, and maybe even a secret weapon to help us stop Leonidas and Vladitor. Barodius wasted this power by turning Dharak into a monster, but imagine how great it would be to have him on our side.”
It felt like ages before Ren could give an answer. “I don’t like this, not one bit, but I trust you.”
“That’s the spirit!” Dan 1 patted Ren on the back, his spirits lifted.
“So, what about this battle?”
Dan 1’s only response was to smile and raise an Ability Card.
“ABILITY ACTIVATE: TENEBROUS SURGE!”
Dharak’s wings erupted with amethyst lightning, much of which hit Linehalt directly. The knight was caught completely off guard, and as the lightning overwhelmed him, he reverted to ball form. Ren turned around to see Dan 1 snickering mischievously.
“You sneaky little…” said Ren, laughing with him. All these years, and Dan 1 was still the cheeky bastard he had always been.
“If you two are done with this little debate,” said Ellen, “you might wanna hear this.”
Dharak reverted to ball form and flew to Dan 1’s hand as he and Ren moved towards the group. What they saw in the center made them greatly concerned.
Drago 2 was sitting in the meadow, hands on his head and a horrified expression on his face. “What happened, Drago?” said Dan 2.
“It’s Vladitor,” said Drago 2. “He’s attacking our Vestroia.”
With that, Drago 2 told them all about what Pyravian had shown him in her last minutes. The story left many of them horrified, least of which the Awesome Brawlers. Dan 2 especially looked like he had received the worst news of his life, and while he was barely holding himself together, the dam was cracking quickly.
Dans 1 and 3 moved towards their counterpart, almost instinctively pulling him into a three-way hug. They may have not known Pyravian, but in that moment they felt exactly what Dan 2 was feeling. As the rest of the Awesome Brawlers joined in, the dam burst.
Ellen waited for things to calm down before approaching the group. “I'm sorry for your loss, but unfortunately now's not the time to mope. Since we know where Vladitor went, we can also safely guess that Leonidas is on Vestroia 3. The portal cards should be able to take us there, as long as you've been there before.”
Dan 2 walked over to her, a look of rageful determination on his face. “You guys go to Leonidas,” he said. “We need to take our Vestroia back, or at least get the surviving Bakugan off world. They won't last long with Hanoj out.”
“Good idea, but you'll need backup. We'll split into two groups; one group goes with me to talk to Leonidas, the other goes with Dan 2 to Vestroia 2.”
The Misfit Clan, as well as Dan 1, Runo, Mira and Spectra went with Ellen, and almost everyone else went with Dan 2. Shun 1 was the only one that wasn't in either group.
“If you don't mind, Ellen,” he said, “I need to go down to New Vestroia. There's someone I need to find if we're gonna stop Vladitor for good.”
“And who's that?”
“Did you notice that I didn't have a Bakugan going into the operation? It wouldn't have made a difference then, but I'm sure the one I have in mind can help with this. Afterwards, I'll go to Vestroia 2.”
“Good call, but you'll need to go with someone who's been to Vestroia 2 for the portal cards to work.”
Shun 2 volunteered, and Ellen gave him a portal card for when they were done. She gave Dan 2 five portal cards in total, accounting for how many Bakugan could populate Vestroia 2 and the duration of each portal.
“Make it as quick and quiet an operation as you can,” she said. “Even if you can take Hanoj down, you're nowhere near strong enough to face Vladitor alone. Be very, VERY careful.”
With that, two new portals were opened in the meadow. The two Shuns used the main Sanctuary portal to get to New Vestroia, Dan 2 and the gang were getting ready to become freedom fighters, and Dan 1 was crossing his fingers and hoping that Leonidas was willing to talk.
