//------------------------------// // Truth Revealed // Story: Bakugan EQG // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Everyone was completely frozen at the sight before them, as what they were seeing just wasn't something their brains could process. A few seconds ago, their sworn enemy Phantom had been standing in front of them. He had been in a real state after the intense battle he had had against Flash. Then, he removed his glasses and suddenly, he transformed into someone else entirely. Someone who couldn't be him, because she had been up in the stands the entire time. "Derpy?" Flash asked one of his closest friends, who looked just as confused as they were. "What's...what's going on?" He looked up at the stands and sure enough, Derpy was standing right there. Her friends turned to her and had the same shocked expression Flash had, whilst Derpy looked like the sky had just turned pink. "That...can't be me," she stated. Down on the field, the other Derpy was still standing there. Flash was about to ask who she really was, but then noticed something about her eyes. They were completely blank. As if she was in some kind of trance. "Derpy?" Then, the girl's head turned towards the stands and as soon as they made eye contact with her lookalike, something happened. The Derpy in the stands gasped as she staggered backwards, clutching her head. "What's...happening!?" Her eyes then shot open and she let out a scream, scaring the others who staggered back. Her body then glowed. "Derpy!" Lyra cried, as Derpy's body suddenly disintegrated. "What the heck's going on?" Heath asked as the light that had once been her body began to condense and create a new form, a Bakugan Ability Card. Said card flew into the air and down into the battlefield, shooting towards Derpy who held out a hand and caught the card without even trying. As soon as the card touched her fingers, the light the card was giving off shot into her skin and radiated around her body until it completely vanished. When it did, Derpy's eyes returned to normal. "What?" She asked, lowering her arm and looking around. "What's going on?" She looked up at the stands, "wasn't I just...up there?" "Derpy?" Flash asked calmly, "what's going on?" "I...I don't know," Derpy truly looked like she was about to have a mental breakdown. Tears appeared in her eyes as she clutched her head, "I remember watching the battle. I remember Phantom taking off his glasses and becoming...me." She looked up at Flash, "what am I?" "You...were my valuable puppet." Everyone turned towards the voice, the lot of them gasping at the sight of Sombra. "You!" Flash cried, rushing forward to shield Derpy. "What did you do to her?" Sombra simply smiled back. "Me?" He asked, "I didn't do anything. What happened to your friend was just a simple act of fate. It was her destiny to become Phantom." He then took something out, a Bakugan ball that looked like nothing any of them had ever seen. "And to work under Lucifer and I." Everyone's eyes went wide, "that's Lucifer?" Leonidas asked. "So," Nimue hummed, "the one responsible for all of this has finally shown himself." The white Bakugan opened up, "yes. It is I, Lucifer the White. Future ruler of both Bakugan and Humans." He stared down at the terrified girl, "but to accomplish that destiny, I had to acquire power. And to do that, I needed an underling that could take the power I needed. That's where you came in." "But..." Derpy fell to her knees, "I don't understand. I...I would never do this. I would never help you." "Maybe not consciously," Lucifer chuckled. "But you have always had a great desire to be more than what you are. Even as a child, you would constantly strive to do whatever you could to be seen as a useful individual that others would want around. But it never happened. Again and again, you would mess up or a stint of bad luck would ruin it. Those who looked upon you would simply see you as nothing more than a nuisance. At least...that's what you believed." Derpy looked down in shame, Flash turning to her. "Don't listen to him. That's not true." "But it is," Derpy nodded. "I've never been useful. No matter what I did, I always found a way to mess the most basic of tasks up." She started crying, "I'm pathetic. I knew that, but I didn't want others to feel sorry for me. So I pretended to be a total ditz in not noticing when I messed up." "And that's how Phantom was born," Sombra told her. "All the negative emotions you suppressed, built up over time and hid away at the back of your subconscious. Eventually, an entirely knew personality was born from it. Fast asleep, just waiting for something to snap it awake." "And that something was me," Lucifer chuckled as Derpy shook her head. "Don't you remember my dear. The day we met. The day the real you was born." Derpy tried to fight it, but as she heard Lucifer's voice new memories began to form. Memories of the time she worked at Dark Industries. Derpy was riding the elevator up to one of the main floors. So far, nothing had gone wrong and Derpy hadn't been yelled at, caused an accident or even spilled coffee on someone. It was a pretty good day. But when the elevator opened, she pushed the cart out only to noticed something on the floor. It was a key card, which every employee had to indicate where they could go. She picked it up and took a closer look, realising whoever it belonged do must be someone high up given the access level printed on it. She stared at it curiously for a few moments, then shrugged before placing it into her pocket with intent of putting it in the lost and found later. She spent the next hour or so delivery the mail until her cart was empty, the girl heading back to the elevator. Pushing the cart inside, she took out her key card and swiped the scanner to indicate the floor she was meant to be on. It was only after she did this that she realised she had used the wrong card, having accidently used the one she had found earlier. The doors had already closed and the lift began to descend, meaning the only way out was to wait until it came to a stop and leave instantly. She prayed nobody would notice the elevator or plan on using it whilst she was inside, Derpy knowing that being caught in a restricted area would likely get her in serious trouble. She pulled out her key card and prepared to scan it the moment the doors opened. But as soon as the ding of the doors opening filled her ears, it was quickly replaced with another sound. It was the sound of many tools and people working, which caused her curiosity to overpower her logic, the young girl desperately wanting to know what this restricted section was doing. She only planned on taking a quick look, but as soon as she did she was gobsmacked by the sight of it. A giant ship, with hundreds of workers doing different types of tests, standing in the middle of a hanger the size of a baseball field. She slowly stepped out and as soon as she did, she had to leap behind a bunch of boxes so one of the scientists didn't see her as they walked by. All thought of leaving the place left her mind as she sneaked around the lab, hiding behind different objects as she tried to get a better look at the ship. She then heard the sound of something falling and looked over to see someone on top of the ship had dropped a box, spilling the content over the edge of the ship. The content, as it turned out, were a bunch of strange balls that bounced along the floor, all different colours. One of the black and purple balls rolled over to Derpy, who picked it up to look over. "What is this thing?" She asked before the ball suddenly shot open, the girl barely holding back a gasp when it took the shape of...she couldn't be sure but it had a lion face on it. "Weird. But...kind of cute." But as she said that, she heard movement to her left and saw someone step up next to the line of boxes she hid behind. All they had to do was turn their head and they would see her. Derpy, without thinking, jumped out from behind the boxes and looked around until she spotted a door. Hoping it might be a hallway out, she rushed over to it and thanked heaven it was unlocked. She stepped inside and to her displeasure, found it was actually some kind of office. "No," she sighed whilst realising she was trapped. She looked around and found another door, but that only led to a bathroom. When she decided to try and sneak back to the elevator, the doorknob began to jangle as someone tried to open it. She gasped and before it could open, she leapt into the bathroom and closed the door right as the other one opened. She silently prayed whoever it was didn't need to bathroom and would leave quickly. But then she heard the sound of a desk chair being moved and sat on. As she did, she heard a voice. "Mr Sombra." "How goes the study?" Another man asked, the first speaking back. "We have no idea what material this ship is made from, what powered it or how it managed to get down into this underground cavern. All we do know is that it's giving off and energy reading unlike anything we've seen before. Whatever's powering it, it could revolutionise the energy industry." "I see. And the spheres inside the ship. How many have you registered." "There are thousands, possible millions of them inside the ship. We have yet to properly register them all and determine what they're supposed to be, but there is something strange. The few we've run tests on have proven to have...life signs." "Is that so?" "Yes sir. We're not sure how that's possible, but everything we've done has confirmed it. Whatever these ball things are, they're a life form." "Keep up the good work. I want to be notified the second you find out anything else." Derpy heard the first man leave, the girl's curiosity once again getting the better of her as she reached out and slowly opened the door a slight crack. Gazing out into the office, she spotted a man sitting at a desk and instantly recognised him as the head of Dark Industries: Sombra. The man sat at his desk, appearing to be thinking of something. He then opened a draw and took something out, placing it on the desk and staring it down. "Soon my friend. Soon we'll find a way to revive you. Even if it requires destroying all those Bakugan in the ship." "Bakugan?" Derpy raised an eyebrow, then took out the ball she had gotten earlier. "Is that what you are?" She continued to watch as Sombra stared at the item he had put on the desk, Derpy still unable to tell what it was. After a few more minutes, he got up and left the room but kept the item on the desk. She sighed in relief, but then flinched at the sound of the door being locked. "No, no, no, no!" She rushed out of the bathroom and grabbed the knob, trying to open the door but finding it was indeed locked. "Ahhh," she moaned. She turned to look at the office, trying to see if there was anything she could use to open the door. But then her eyes fell on the desk and at the item Sombra had placed on it. A glass box with something inside of it. It was a Bakugan, but not like the ones she had seen outside. This one was a pale white, looking like someone had drained all the colour out of it. But as Derpy stared at it longer and longer, she couldn't help feeling a strange sense coming off of it. "Come closer." Her head shot up and she looked around, absolutely sure she had just heard someone whisper something. "Come closer, and be embraced by my power. Let it flow through you." "Who said that?" She asked, spinning around and walking backwards. She eventually hit the table and when she did, her hand landed right besides the Bakugan. Then it happened. The white Bakugan unleashed a bright light that flowed through the glass and into the girl's hand. She gasped when she felt this and looked around, seeing the light crawling up her arm. She cried out and swung her arm around, but the light stayed locked on and refused to let go. "NO!" She screamed as the light enveloped more and more of her body, "WHAT'S HAPPENING!" Soon her entire body was consumed and she let out a high pitched scream, which was heard by everyone outside the office. A minute later, Sombra threw the door open and rushed inside. But what he found in the office wasn't a scared mailroom girl, but a figure who would one day be feared throughout the Bakugan world. "Who are you?" He asked as the spectated teen turned towards him and let out a chuckle. "My name...is Phantom." "You became my loyal follower," Lucifer told them. "And to keep you from having memory gaps and causing your conscious to fight back against your Phantom persona, Sombra and I created a card that could make a perfect copy of you and transfer all its newly made memories into you afterwards." "So you started working for us," Sombra stated. "Whenever your Phantom personality took over, your copy would take your place and act just like you. This freed you to do everything you needed to do in order to further our goals." "I...I'm starting to remember," Derpy whispered as the memories came back. Everything she did as Phantom. All the people she brawled, all the pain she caused. Taking control of the Rainbooms, stealing their Bakugan and losing to Sombra and Lucifer. It all came flooding back. "NOOOOOO!" "Yes!" Sombra laughed, "you were our perfect little minion." "Until Ragnaroid freed your Phantom personality from my influence," Lucifer stated. "But even after that, you continued to be of use to me. Especially now that you've acquired the Darkus Attribute Energy that remains of Vestroia." "That Darkus Energy is mine!" Everyone turned to see Ragnaroid as he floated up into the air, the Bakugan having been silent since his defeat by Leonidas. "I may have lost to you before, but things are different now." He started glowing and suddenly shot into the air, exploding into a cloud of dark mist. Flash grabbed Derpy and pulled her to the side of the battlefield, as Ragnaroid somehow appeared in his true form within it. Everyone in the stadium screamed and many headed for the exit, whilst Sombra simply stood there with Lucifer not looking at all worried. "Prepare to be taken down, once and for all!" He roared whilst snapping his metal claws. However, Sombra simply smirked before pressing something on his wrist watch. A clicking sound filled the area, as several slots in the wall opened up before unleashing a bunch of gun barrel-like machines. Those machines then fired a beam of light at Ragnaroid, hitting the Darkus Bakugan before he could stop them. "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed in agony, as the energy formed a sphere around him. "What...is...happening?" "A little something I designed a while back for just such an occasion," Sombra chuckled. "When I learned the two of you were going to brawl, I quickly had them installed in all the battlefields to make sure I got you." "What are you doing to him?" Flash yelled as Ragnaroid continued to roar in pain, whilst the others watched. "Look!" Garuda yelled, "something's being pulled out of him!" And sure enough, a strange purple mist was slowly being drawn from the Bakugan. As it was, five other Bakugan felt something pulse within them. Their Attribute Energies. "Sombra's draining the Darkus Energy out of him," Leonidas realised. They watched as the sphere filled with more and more of the Attribute Energy, leaving Ragnaroid weaker and weaker. "But if that happens-" "RAAAAAAAAAAH!" Ragnaroid let out one last roar before he suddenly reverted back to ball form and began to fall towards the ground, Derpy gasping as she rushed forward. She didn't know what compelled her, but she leapt forward and managed to catch the Bakugan before he hit the ground. "Ragnaroid!" She pushed herself to her knees, "are you okay?" "My...power," he moaned. "They...took my power." Derpy looked up and sure enough, the lasers was still trapping the Darkus Energy within the sphere. Sombra chuckled as he grabbed Lucifer and pulled him back, everyone gasping when they realised what he was up to. "NO!" Leonidas cried, but Sombra threw the White One forward and into the energy. As he did, the guns stopped firing and the Darkus Energy was free to be absorbed by him. Everyone watched as Lucifer was surrounded by the light, which began to spiral around him. In a flash, he morphed into his child-like true form. The albino Bakugan then began to absorb the Darkus Energy and as he did, his body body began to glow purple before he started growing larger and larger. He grew bulkier and his wings became longer. His hair grew longer and armor began to appear within the silhouette. As he changed, laughter filled the stadium and the light finally began to die down to reveal Lucifer's new form. He looked like a young adult instead of a child, his skin still pale white. But now his hair was longer and purple in colour, whilst he now wore black armor over a purple bodysuit. In the center of his chest armour was a circle with the Darkus Symbol in it. He started beating his wings and as he did, the six angelic limbs began to moult as the feathers fell from them. As they did, they revealed a bunch of demonic bat-wings hidden beneath them. His formerly human hands began to turn bony and his fingernails began to extend into claw-like appendages. And from out of his hair, a pair of horns extended to give him a serious devil appearance. "No way," Rainbow whispered. "He evolved." "Not just that," Twilight whispered. "He managed to shed his White One form. He's a Darkus Bakugan now." Lucifer smiled as he looked his new body over, as he once again started chuckling. "Finally. I've missed this. The power of an actual Attribute flowing through me." He licked his lips as he turned his attention back to them, "but it's not enough." He held out his new claws, pointing them in Flash's direction. "I will add Haos to the mix, then go to the rest of your friends." Flash stepped backwards as Leonidas prepared for a fight, the others doing the same. But before they could, Lucifer suddenly flinched and cried out. "AUGH!" He clutched his stomach as a purple glow suddenly appeared around him, pulsing brighter and dimmer by the second. "What's...happening?" "Lucifer!" Sombra cried. "I...I can't contain the Darkus Attribute!" He cried, as his body's light grew brighter. "No other choice!" He suddenly transformed back into ball form and flew towards Sombra, the man catching it and glaring at the children. "This isn't over." He pressed something on his watch and the lights in the stadium suddenly switched off, blinding the teens and making them cry out. A few moments later, the lights came back on and they looked back at where Sombra was. However, the man and Lucifer were gone. "No!" Soarin cried, "they got away." "Our one chance to whack him!" Rainbow moaned. Pinkie turned to Twilight, "what happened? Why did Lucifer suddenly start crying out in pain?" Twilight tried to think, coming to the only conclusion she could think of. "Being a White One must have meant that he couldn't properly synchronise with the energy right away. It'll take time for his new body to adjust to the power." Spike leapt onto her shoulder. "How long do you think that'll give us?" "Not long," Gaia told him. "Which is obviously why he fled. He knows that if he were to battle now, he would lose control of the energy. But if he manages to get his body in sync with that energy..." "We'll be dead meat," Wukong finished. "Great. Just great. We gotta find him and fast." The others nodded and turned back to the field, spotting Flash and Leonidas still staring at the spot Sombra had been. But then they noticed someone was missing. "Where's Derpy?" Lyra cried, worrying the others as they looked around and found no trace of the girl. "She must have run off with Sombra!" Rainbow cried. "Why would she do that?" Fluttershy asked. "She was working with him," Applejack pointed out. "No!" Lyra told them, "she wasn't working with him. It was Phantom that worked with him. Derpy..." She didn't know what to say. The whole, Derpy being Phantom thing was still insane to her. "Derpy." Outside the stadium, the young girl ran as fast as she could. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew she had to get as far away from everyone as possible. "I'm sorry," she told nobody in particular. "I'M SORRY!" Her voice echoed out through the area of the city, worrying everyone who heard it as she ran through the street. The BakuFighters and Rainbooms were back in the stadium's main foyer, all of them looking around but seeing no sign of Derpy. "She's nowhere in sight!" Rainbow cried, "any idea where she might be?" They all shook their heads as Lyra took out her phone and called her. But no matter how many times she tried to ring her, nobody picked up. Bonnie tried her BakuColar, but like her phone she got no answer. "Where is she?" "She must be feeling guilty," Flash told them. "Derpy's a good person, and learning she was actually Phantom isn't gonna make her feel great." He looked down in shame, "it's not like we were subtle about how much we hated her other personality." They all frowned at this, realising they were right. "Hopefully she'll come around and realise we don't blame her for what Phantom did," Twilight rubbed her arm as a few others nodded. "So what do we do now?" Soarin asked, "Lucifer has the Darkus Energy and it's clear he plans on getting the other Energies from us." He turned to them, "we have to hit him before he hits us." They all nodded, knowing they only had a limited window of opportunity before Lucifer was ready to battle once again. "Then let's find him and Sombra and taken them down!" Leonidas roared. "YEAH!" The others cried, throwing their fists into the air. Lucifer had a lot to pay for, destroying Vestroia, stealing the ark, turning Bakugan into mindless drones and turning Derpy into Phantom. No matter what, he and Sombra would pay for the pain and suffering they had caused. But what they didn't know, is that Lucifer was prepared for this situation. Back at Dark Industries, the two in question rod the elevator up to Sombra's office. Lucifer was in Sombra's hand, his ball form looking pretty much the same despite now being a mix of black and purple. The ball also glowed, the pulsing light filling the elevator as Lucifer groaned and growled. "How long will it be until you've successfully synchronised with the Darkus Energy?" Sombra asked him. "To long," Lucifer cried. "If I take my true form, the power will be even less controllable." "So what do you plan to do?" He asked, sitting down and turning to look out the window. "With Phantom gone, we have nobody that can possibly slow them down long enough to buy you the time." "Don't be so sure," Lucifer chuckled. "Distributing all those Bakugan may have been to gather energy for my awakening and empowerment, but now that the Darkus Energy is powering me I can us them and the gathered energy to another use." He glowed once again, only this time it wasn't pulsing like before. "Take me up to the roof." Sombra raised an eyebrow at this, but picked up the Bakugan and headed for the elevator. They rode it up and onto the roof, which looked over the entire city. "How many Bakugan do you think are in this city alone?" Lucifer asked, "hundred thousand. Maybe more?" "Hard to say," Sombra agreed. "Why do you ask?" "Because from this moment forward...all those Bakugan will rampage." With that, the light glowing off of him exploded and shot straight up into the air. Once it was high enough, the shot outwards and began to form a dome that slowly encased the entire city. "Bakugan...RISE!" Back with our heroes, they were all making plans to attack Dark Industries and stop Lucifer. But as they made their way through the park, they stopped when they noticed the dome appearing. "What is that?" Flash asked, the others shrugging unsure. Then, when the dome completely encased the city, the Bakugan all started glowing their respective colours. "Wow!" Leonidas shivered, the other Bakugan doing the same. "That was weird." "What was?" Flash asked. "I almost went into my true form. Had to consciously keep myself from transforming." "Same," Spike told him. "It's like we're in a battlefield." "Huh," Twilight looked up towards the sky, "do you think...that dome might be-" "HEY!" They heard a voice cry out, making them turn to see a couple of kids. "What's happening to my Bakugan." He was holding an Aquos Bakugan and it was glowing blue, making the others tense up with what they had just heard their partners say. Then, the Bakugan floated into the air and shot towards the sky. "HEY!" It got a good ten meters up before it suddenly exploded into a burst of blue light, which took shape and then faded to reveal an Aquos Abis Omega. The serpent let out a hiss as it turned towards its owner, who looked shocked by the sight of his Bakugan out in the real world. Then that shock turned to horror when the snake lifted its tail and looked like it was about to slam it down onto the kids. "LOOK OUT!" Flash rushed towards them as Leonidas leapt off his shoulder, a flash of golden light marking his transformation. As Flash tackled the kids seconds before the tail smashed into them, Haos Supreme Leonidas flew in and grabbed the Bakugan by the neck. "Not today!" He roared before throwing Abis Omega away from the humans, the snake hissing as it was knocked through several trees. "What's going on!?" The kid cried as Leonidas charged after the snake. "I don't know," Flash told him. "But try and recall your Bakugan!" He nodded and started typing into his BakuColar, but nothing happened. "I'm not getting a signal!" He cried, whilst Abis Omega tried to snap at Leonidas. The dragon grabbed it by the mouth and slapped it shut, the Aquos Bakugan crying out from its mouth. "Flash, give me something that'll let me take this thing down!" "Got it!" Flash took out an Ability Card and held it up. "Ability, Activate!" Leo raised his arm as his claws were surrounded by light, "Mega Claw!" He slashed at Abis Omega and the serpent cried out as it was knocked backwards and suddenly reverted back to ball form. The kid rushed over to his fallen Bakugan, as Leonidas returned to ball form. He picked it up and looked it over, seeing it didn't appear damaged. "It's fine. But why'd it attack like that?" "Who knows," Flash told him. "But I'm willing to bet this dome has something to do with it," Twilight stated. "It's turning the whole city into a battlefield like environment, which is why the Bakugan could transform." "This has to be Lucifer's doing!" Lyra stated. "He did this but...why?" "To distract us," Nimue guessed. "He knows he wouldn't stand a chance right now, so he's using the Bakugan he handed out as an obstacle." As soon as she said that, a new light caught their attention. They all looked over at the source of it and gasped when a Ventus Ravenoid appeared in the sky just outside the park. "Another one!" "We got this!" Soarin cried as he and Garuda rushed off in its direction "Hey!" Rainbow went after him, "wait for me!" They ran as fast as they could towards the Ravenoid and as their friends were about to follow, another flash for light made them look over and see a Subterra Mantris a mile or so away. A Haos Fear Ripper also appeared, along with a Pyrus Gargonoid and a Darkus Griffin. "Great!" Heath cried, "more of them are appearing." "We can't let them do any damage!" Flash told them. "Everyone, split up and let's take these things down!" "Right!" They all yelled as they rushed off towards one of the appearing Bakugan, with more of them appearing by the minute. The only one who stayed where she was was Twilight, who turned towards the kids Flash had just saved. "You should go home and try and stay out of trouble." "But we wanna help!" The kid with the Abis Omega cried, putting that Bakugan away and taking out a Pyrus one. "You have another Bakugan?" Twilight asked, the kid nodding. "That's strange. Why didn't it come alive like your other one." "This one wouldn't attack me!" The kid explained, "he's my best friend." Her eyes went wide, "we've battled loads of times. We're a team!" Twilight, thinking about what he just said, turned to Spike and remembered what the others had said about needing to consciously stop from transforming. Then an idea popped into her head. "How long have you had your Abis Omega?" The kid looked confused. "I just got it yesterday. Why?" Twilight continued to think about what she had just heard and then turned to Spike, who looked at her in confusion. "What's wrong?" "I think I know how Lucifer's doing this!" With that, she rushed off towards one of the Bakugan and started typing into her BakuColar. "Guys!" She put them on teamspeak, "I've got it!" "Got what?" "What's happening. Lucifer is using Bakugan that are still under his control. He probably thinks that's every Bakugan except those belonging to us, but it's not. The kid had another Bakugan that didn't activate and I'm betting there are more Bakugan that are fighting against what he's doing for one reason. Even if they can't talk like ours, the Bakugan have become attached to their human partners. And that attachment is allowing them to throw off Lucifer's dark aura." Lyra, who was battling the Fear Ripper with Nimue, put the pieces together. "So any Bakugan that still has this dark aura on them will be under Lucifer's control?" "And won't be able to fight against the command he's giving them," Twilight finished. "But I'm willing to bet if we beat them, that dark aura will be able to be undone. Just like when you guys saved us when Phantom was controlling us." "Then I guess we've got a lot of battling to do," Flash told her as he and Leonidas met with the Mantris and began their battle. The others agreed as they continued their matches, knowing this was gonna be a long day. Three days later. The city was a very different place from what it had been three days ago. Many buildings had been damaged and knocked down, cars and other vehicles littered the streets and there was barely anyone around. But there were plenty of Bakugan who were constantly appearing one after another. On one of the streets, Trail Blazer and Misty Vail were running through the town looking for their children. "FLASH!" Trail cried, "Flash, where are you?" "Scootaloo!" Misty cried, "please come out!" The two came to a stop, catching their breath as they continued to panic. Ever since the insanity had started three days ago, they had been out searching for their children. It was times like this they wish they had decided to splurge on giving them phones. "Where are they?" "We'll find them," Trail assured her. As he said that, a TV on a nearby building switched on. It was a miracle power was still on in the city, but since it was the news was constantly working to keep people up to date. "It's been chaos here in Canterlot," the reported on the screen stated as she rode in a news chopper. "Everywhere you look, devastation and destruction are in full view." As she said that, a flash of light signalled the arrival of a red humanoid bird monster. It squawked as it flew towards the chopper, everyone terrified they were about to watch them getting eaten. But in that moment, a white, yellow and purple dragon suddenly appeared between the chopper and the bird. He grabbed the bird and pushed it back, the chopper safe as it threw the giant poultry towards the ground where a blue woman was waiting to slam a golden staff into it. "As you can see, the terrible battles that started three days ago continue to rage. Whenever two of these creature finish a fight, another two appear some place else in the city." The screen changed to show other sections of the city, where many different monsters could be seen duking it out. "Ever since the mysterious energy dome appeared over the city, people have been attempting to get away without any luck." It then showed a road that was blocked off by the dome's wall, where a car was driving forward and attempting to break through the energy. But all that happened was the front of the car got a lot shorter. "We really are trapped," Misty whispered as Trail pulled her into a hug. "We'll get out," he told her. "After we find our children. "Wait, is there someone riding that dragon?" They looked back towards the screen, the news having returned to the fight, as the camera zoomed in on the dragon they had seen before, allowing them to see someone standing on the shoulder of the beast. That someone happened to turn towards the camera and showed his face, revealing someone who caused the grown up's hearts to stop "FLASH!" Sure enough, it was Flash that was riding a giant dragon and battling against the large bird person. "What's going on?" "I don't know," Trail frowned. "But it's clear our son has been keeping something from us." In that moment, a bright flash of light made them look around to see a giant blue elephant appear in the streets ahead of them. The creature saw the two and looked ready to start charging, the adults turning to run. But as they did, they saw a giant green bird, brown suited man and white mermaid monster rushing from the other direction. Trail pulled Misty close, hoping to try and shield her. But the three new monsters simply rushed past them before the elephant let out a cry of pain. They spun around and in doing so, they saw the bird strike the elephant with its wing as the man threw a kick into its chest and the mermaid struck it with its tail. The elephant was thrown backwards and exploded into blue light, the pair barely seeing a blue sphere fall to the ground. "Alright!" They then heard a voice call out from atop the bird. One that they recognised. They looked up and saw a girl riding on the bird's back. A girl they recognised. "SCOOTALOO!" The girl looked around and went wide-eyed, having just no realised who the people she had saved was. "Oh...hey mom and dad." Her parents stared at her, then at the monster she was riding. They then noticed Sweetie Belle and Applebloom riding the other two monsters. "So...I'm guessing you've got questions." They nodded, "um...can Flash be the one to answer them. He's the one who got me into this game." Flash watched as Nimue managed to knock the Falconeer back to ball form, the Bakugan falling to the ground. But no sooner did this happen, that several flashes made him look up and see a bunch of Atchibee appearing. "Great!" Flash cried as he took out a card. "Ability, Activate!" It glowed along with Leonidas' entire body, "TURBO OVERDRIVE!" Leonidas shot forward at incredible speed, morphing into a stream of golden light that shot from one Atchibee to the next. As it did, the insects exploded and reverted back to ball form. Leonidas came to a stop behind the last one as it changed back, both he and Flash panting. As they did, Flash's BakuColar beeped. "Flash!" Twilight called out, "You guys have been battling for over six hours now. You need a break." "We can still keep going," Flash assured her. But in that moment, a Subterra Wormquake shot out of the ground before firing a blast of sand in their direction. The pair didn't have time to dodge or block, both bracing themselves. However, they were suddenly saved by Terraspin and Rainbow. "Yeah!" Terraspin cried as he unleashed a tornado that pushed the sand away, Rainbow turning to them. "We got this! You guys go rest." It wasn't just him Rainbow was talking too, for as Nimue dodged a Pyrus Saurus' attack Lepusinge bounced into view and kicked the dinosaur away. Fluttershy turned to Lyra, "go." Lyra nodded and though it took a bit more convincing, Flash and Leo also agreed to head back to base. Said base was, in fact, the Bakugan Stadium. There, their Bakugan returned to ball form and they headed inside to find the rest of the BakuFighters and their partners resting. They were all mentally exhausted, having been battling on and off against the controlled Bakugan for three days. The Rainbooms were all out doing the same, but they wouldn't be able to last much longer. "We can't keep doing this!" Lyra told them as she sat down and took a drink Bonnie offered her. "Even if we're able to stop every Bakugan that appears, eventually the city's gonna run out of food. And even if that wasn't an issue, the more time we spend doing this the more time Lucifer has to gain control of his power." "And it's only a matter of time before someone gets caught in the crossfire," Heath pointed out. "Then what are we waiting for?" Soarin asked, "let's get to Dark Industries and end this." "But is it really a good idea?" Bonnie asked. "He was able to drain Ragnaroid without battling him. What if he does the same to our Bakugan and takes the Attribute Energies." "Ragnaroid was weak from his battle with Leonidas," Gaia told her. "As long as we stay strong and don't overexert ourselves, he shouldn't be able to take our Attribute Energies." "She's right," Garuda agreed. "And out of all the Bakugan in the city, the five of us have the best chance at stopping him." The other Bakugan nodded. "Then what are we waiting for," Leonidas turned towards the doorway. "Let's go pay him a visit." The BakuFighters all nodded and rushed outside, the Bakugan taking their true forms with Flash, Heath and Soarin taking to the air. Nimue and Gaia carried their partners as they rushed through the street, heading in the direction of Dark Industries. Flash sent a message to Twilight, telling her what they were planning. She told them to be careful and that they had the right idea, promising to keep the street-level Bakugan under control until they dealt with Lucifer. The five made their way through the city. But then, a flash of light revealed a Haos Hynoid that began running through the streets. Luckily, it was no match of Gaia who managed to kick him into the air and revert him back to ball form. But then another flash occurred, this one revealing a Subterra Anchorsaurus. Wukong took this one, surfing down towards it and summoned his staff. He knocked it in the head before using the staff to trip it up, whilst Nimue rushed over and used her staff to summon a whirlpool that sucked the reptile up and reverted it back to ball form. As they got closer and closer to the building, they found themselves running into more and more wild Bakugan. They weren't hard to deal with, but every one cost them precious time. Slowly, they got within range of Dark Industries. From his office in the now deserted skyscraper, Sombra spotted Leonidas and the other Bakugan approaching the building. Frowning, he turned to Lucifer. "They're coming." "I know," he explained. "I can sense them. Their Attribute Energies are like beacons to them." He was still pulsing with light, the Darkus Energy still not fully under his control. "What do we do?" Sombra asked, "if you battle them-" "Patience," Lucifer assured him. "I am not without a backup plan. Do you have them?" Sombra nodded and took out twelve Bakugan, two of each attribute, and placed them on the desk. "Now," Lucifer got into the middle of the circle, "it's time I created some minions worthy enough to serve me." With that, the light began to flow from him and wrap around the other Bakugan. Sombra watched as the twelve began to glow like Lucifer, then floated into the air. Deciding to lend a hand, he pressed a few buttons on his keyboard and activated a very special program. Flash looked at the building he and Leonidas were flying too, Garuda and Wukong flying besides him as Gaia and Nimue ran through the streets below. "This is it guys. We go in, take Lucifer down and end this once and for all." "RIGHT!" They agreed, as Leonidas surged ahead and aimed for the top of the building. But as they did, the building started glowing. "Huh?" They both asked until they noticed the light shooting out and forming an energy dome around the skyscraper. "That can't be good!" And as soon as Leonidas entered the dome, he suddenly glowed before quickly reverting back to ball form. "WHAT!?" He cried before hearing Flash begin to scream, "FLASH!" He fell too, Flash managing to grab him but this didn't slow them down. "FLASH!" His friends cried out as Flash got closer and closer to the ground. "Stay out of the light!" Flash yelled back, the four Bakugan pulling back before entering the dome. Garuda then glided down and landed on the ground before him. "Hang on!" Soarin cried as the Ventus Bakugan started beating his wings, causing an up-draft that hit Flash and began to slow him down. And when he was a few feet from the ground, Gaia reached into the dome and managed to grab him. She felt herself about to revert back, but quickly pulled her hand out before she did and placed the two on the ground. The others landed, the Bakugan putting their partners on the ground. "What was that?" Bonnie asked, as Flash dusted himself off. "I don't know," Flash told him. "Leo?" "When I flew inside, somehow I ended up reverting back to ball form." He moved his body and hoped up and down, "I think I'll be able to transform back to normal now." "But you'll revert back once you're in the dome," Gaia told him. "I could feel the same thing happen when I grabbed you. We'll all go to ball form if we step into this dome." "What does that mean?" Heath asked. "It means we can't just fly up to the top floor," Lyra explained. They turned towards the entrance of the building, Soarin letting out a sigh as he stepped forwards. "Looks like we're taking the stairs." The others nodded as as their Bakugan returned to normal, they began to make their way towards the doors. "Get ready," Flash told them. "We have no idea what Sombra has waiting for us in there." They nodded and stepped inside, bracing themselves for an attack. Back inside, Sombra stared down at the teens at the foot of his building. He then turned to his desk where Lucifer was still doing something to the other Bakugan. The light continued to flow around them as they started spinning, going faster and faster before they split off into groups of two. Each pair, no two the same attribute, began spinning around one another as they drew closer and closer and eventually, they touched and were consumed by the light. In a flash, twelve suddenly became six and they continued glowing and spinning in the air. Sombra looked through the light and saw that each Bakugan was a mixture of the two attribute colours that had been paired off together. The Bakugan floated to the ground, landing on the desk as the light faded. Lucifer panted, looking exhausted due to the effort he had just expended. "It is done. My new warriors are born." Sombra nodded before looking at his screen, seeing the five teens appearing in the lobby. "Good. There's not a moment to waste."