//------------------------------// // Guardians of Vestroia // Story: Bakugan EQG // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Several days had passed since Flash's battle against Phantom. In that time, the Rainbooms had all been released from hospital, though their parents were still worried about them going out on their own after what had happened. Meanwhile, the BakuFighters had been trying to avoid the battle stadium. Flash and Leonidas hadn't battled since Ragnaroid had defeated them, the two appearing crushed. "Come on guys," Derpy told them as she and the BakuFighters sat around a table at a cafe a mile or so away from the stadium. "You can't let this loss get you down. You've gotta pick yourselves up, get pumped and start brawling again. You're never gonna beat Phantom if you don't train." "Sorry Derpy," Lyra sighed. "It's kinda hard to get excited after what happened." Heath nodded. "Flash and Leonidas were the strongest brawlers we have and they weren't able to beat Phantom and Ragnaroid. What hope do we have?" They looked down at their Bakugan, who were also feeling down after seeing how powerful Ragnaroid had become. His base power was now double some of their's. How could they compete against that? "I just feel bad for the Rainbooms," Bonnie sighed. They all remembered when they had returned the girl's Bakugan to them. They had been excited at first, but when they realised what had happened they all broke down. Pinkie, Fluttershy and even Rainbow had started crying. Many of them feared their friends would never talk again. Over at the battle stadium, Rainbow and Applejack were tag-brawling against Trixie and Thunderlane. Their opponents were using Trickstar and Ingram, whilst Rainbow and Applejack had a Falconeer and Tuskor out. "Ability, Activate!" Thunderlane held up his card as it glowed, with Ingram suddenly becoming wrapped in a tornado. "Cyclonic Strike Shot!" The tornado exploded and propelled Ingram forward, the Bakugan having morphed into its bird form, then struck Falconeer. The bird squawked in pain before it was reverted back to ball form, falling to the ground as Trickstar charged at Tuskor. "Ability, Activate!" The magician Bakugan pulled out a bunch of playing cards, "Trump Strike!" It threw the cards and they slammed into the elephant, exploding and reverting it back to ball form as well. "Ouch!" The announcer cried, "that had to hurt. These girls just can't seem to get it started today." The Rainbooms watching knew he was right. Rainbow and Applejack just weren't bringing their A game to this match. As Trixie threw a Gate Card, Rainbow and Applejack pulled out their partners. But as their opponents threw out Trickstar and Ingram, they found they couldn't throw them in. After everything that had happened, their partners talking and becoming true friends with them, neither had it in them to use Fenroar and Terraspin in the feral state they would both be in when battling. Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy all felt the same. If they saw their partners acting like feral animals, it would likely break their heart. The BakuFighters all sighed as they tried to enjoy the drinks they had ordered. But none of them were really in the mood for sweet treats, especially with Phantom and Ragnaroid still on the loose. The Bakugan were also down in the dumps. "What do we do?" Garuda asked. "We've trained and we've trained, but we haven't been able to evolve yet." Nimue nodded nodded. "And even if we do evolve, Ragnaroid's already way ahead of us. Even if we're able to catch up, he might evolve again before we can hope to beat him. And then there's Lucifer. He won't stay hidden forever. Eventually, he'll show up and we'll have two problems to deal with." "It all feels so overwhelming," Gaia sighed. They all looked down, contemplating their possible fate. But then Wukong looked up. "Hey, we can't think like that." He started jumping up and down, "if we think we can't win then there's no way we can. We gotta start thinking positively." "I'm all for positive thinking," Garuda told him. "But how can we possibly match up to the power Ragnaroid showed us." Wukong thought for a moment, then started jumping up and down. "We'll take him on together. He can't stop all of us at once." "He beat the Rainbooms all at once," Heath told him. "And that was when he was un-evolved." Wukong turned to him. "Bro, you're bumming everyone out. Remember, positive thinking. You'd be amazed what it can do." But nobody felt like being positive at that moment. Instead, Flash picked himself up off the table as Leonidas leapt onto his shoulder. "Where are you going?" "I'm gonna go clear my head," Flash told them. "I'll see you guys later." With that, he was gone and the others all frowned. "I guess Flash is taking the situation worse than anybody," Derpy sighed. "He promised the Rainbooms he'd beat Phantom," Soarin told her. "So losing to him and failing to get Spike back, the real Spike, must sting a lot." "His confidence has been shaken," Nimue told them. "And until he can get it back, he won't be able to brawl like he did before." Flash and Leo walked in silence, the two thinking back to the Brawl with Phantom. Their battle had started out looking so even, but as soon as Ragnaroid appeared they were completely overpowered. "I'm sorry Flash," Leonidas told him. Flash looked at him in shock, "if only I'd been stronger. We could have beaten them." Flash frowned, but then held his finger up and patted the Bakugan on the head. "It's not your fault. We both did our very best." He sighed, "it just wasn't good enough." He looked up at the sky, "but that begs the question. Where do we go from here? We've trained and trained as hard as we could, but it wasn't enough. So how are we supposed to get stronger now?" Flash wished the answer could just appear, but he knew that wasn't likely to happen. Oh, how wrong he was. In another dimension, the six armoured individuals stared at the light showing the BakuFighters. The one in white spoke up, "they have yet to bounce back after what has happened." The one in brown turned to her, "a heavy loss is sure to shake anyone's confidence. Do not forget how often we felt we could not accomplish our goal when we first started." "We must find a way to restore their confidence," the one in green stated. "They need to get up and try again," the one in red proclaimed. "They just need another victory to get themselves back into the groove." "Trying without confidence is just dumb luck," the one in black told him. "The time may have come to realise we have made a mistake in the ones we've chosen." "Nonsssssssense," the one in blue cried. "Up until now, they have proven themselvesssss time and time again. We sssssshouldn't give up on them after one ssssssetback." "Time is running out," White proclaimed. "Phantom and Ragnaroid grow more and more powerful with each passing day. If they cannot overcome this, then we must intervene." "What do you suggest?" Green asked. "We do not have the power to battle against Ragnaroid ourselves. If you recall, that is why we chose them in the first place." "I mean we must make ourselves known to them," White explained. "We chose not to reveal our intentions so they and their partners could form a true bond as friends and not just as battle partners. And now that time has passed. I'm confident if they meet us now, it won't affect how they see one another." "So you wish to talk to them," Orange stated. "Then what? Tell them to get over their issues and keep training?" "Training isn't enough," White told them. "It's possible their Bakugan can not evolve the way Leonidas and Ragnaroid can. The time of natural evolution may have ended with the last generation. But they can still evolve, with the right conditions." She brought up her hand and in a flash, an orb of yellow light appeared. "You can't be sssssserious?" Blue asked her. "You wish to give them the Haos Energy?" "I wish to give Flash and Leonidas this energy," White replied. "As for the others..." She simply looked at them all, and one by one they each summoned an orb of their colour. "These Attribute Energies are all that is left of Vestroia," Green pointed out. "Simply handing them over would be foolish." "We may have chosen them," Orange stated. "But that does not make them worthy of these. They each possess limits that are holding them back. If we were to give these to them, those limits would be heightened and possibly make them less powerful." White thought about this, then seemed to remember something. "In the distant past, during the time of the Perfect Dragonoid, humans were made partners of Bakugan during a time of crisis. In order to help them grow strong enough to overcome that crisis, those humans were put through trials in order to face the demons that plague them." She looked towards her compatriot, "I say we test them as well. Give them the chance to prove themselves." The others looked at one another, appearing intrigued by this suggestion. After a few seconds, they turned back to white before Black spoke up. "You make an excellent selection." "Yesssss," Blue agreed, "we will tesssst them. If they can overcome what it holding them back, we will agree to let them have the Attribute Energies." "But if they should fail," Green began before White spoke up. "I am positive they will not fail. I have seen how the human spirit can overcome almost any limitation. These tests will not be easy and push them to the breaking point, but if they can find the strength to overcome them then we will bare witness to the birth of Vestroia's mightiest heroes." "One small problem," Red pointed out. "We still have the confidence issue. How do we know they'll even agree to go through these tests." "We did no chose quitters as our champions," White explained. "When push comes to shove, they will stand up once again and fight." She turned to look at Flash and Leonidas through the viewing light, her expressionless staring hard at the pair. "I am sure of it." That night, Flash was asleep in his room with Leonidas on his windowsill. The teen rolled around, letting out groans and moans as he did so. He hadn't been able to get much sleep over the last few days. Every time he tried, he found himself having the same dream again and again. He was back in the battle against Phantom and things were going the exact same way as before. "And now," he held up a card. "Your pet lizard will fall. Fusion Ability, Activate!" Ragnaroid raised his claws as the gun barrels extended and began to glow. "Gaze of the Abyss." The attack struck Leonidas and made him roar in pain. "LEO!" Flash cried as his partner returned to ball form. But instead of falling to the floor, he flew over to Phantom. "NO!" "Pathetic!" Phantom chuckled before throwing Leonidas into the air, allowing Ragnaroid to swallow him. Flash cried out again, feeling like he was gonna break. But then, something happened. A sudden orb of light filled the space and then exploded, spreading the light around and causing everything except Flash to disappear. "What?" Flash asked, blinded by the light but getting used to it. He suddenly found himself floating in a white void, the teen terrified by what was going on. "This is freaky." "FLASH!" He spun around, only to see Leonidas in his true form floating behind him. "Leo!" Flash cried, as more figures appeared from the light. "Garuda?" He cried seeing the bird Bakugan, then saw the others. "Nimue, Gaia, Wukong. What's going on?" "Flash!" He looked around to see Lyra and all the other BakuFighters, standing in front of their Bakugan. "What's happening?" "This is one freaky dream," Heath gulped as Soarin looked at him. "But I'm the one dreaming this." Everyone else looked at him like he was crazy, even the Bakugan looking confused. Flash was about to ask what the heck was going on, but in that moment another flash of light occurred in the distance. They looked around and saw a mix of red, blue, green, brown and yellow light appear. "Do not be afraid," a feminine voice called out to them. "That voice," Leonidas whispered. "I know that voice." He couldn't quite figure out where he remembered it from, but he was sure he had hard it before. "BakuFighters," the voice continued, "are you giving up?" They looked confused at this, "do you wish to end your quest to stop Phantom and those wishing to cause pain and misery? Or will you stand once again and fight, no matter what you may face?" "I...I don't know," Flash asked. "Phantom...he's so much stronger than us." He frowned before giving the light a serious look, "no! I don't wanna give up." The others looked at him, "not if that means letting Phantom have free reign to hurt anyone he wants. I won't let that happen! He may have beaten me, but I'm still standing. And as long as I can stand, I can fight!" The others looked at one another, then smiled and nodded before turning back to the light. "Us too," Soarin cried with the others agreeing. "And us," Leonidas declared for the Bakugan. "Ragnaroid isn't unbeatable. He was stopped before and we can find a way to stop him again." "Then come to this place tomorrow," the voice replied as the light exploded. In the blink of an eye, the lot of them found they were back in Canterlot. Only now they were near the large river that ran through the city, on a back near the draw bridge that ran over it. That was all they got to see before the light blinded them all. "Ahhhh!" Flash cried, sitting up in his bed as Leonidas popped open. "Flash!" He turned to him, "did you see that?" "The dream?" Flash asked, Leonidas nodding. "White void with the rest of our friends, talking to a weird voice that asked us if we're giving up against Phantom?" Leo nodded again, "I don't think that was a dream bud." Sure enough, his BakuColar started beeping and he quickly answered it. "Flash!" Soarin's voice called out, "I know this might be crazy, but-" "Did I have a strange dream where we're all in a white void?" Flash asked, with Soarin going quiet. "If that was your question then the answer is yes." "We need to get in touch with the others," Soarin told him. "Someone's summoning us." "And it would be rude to say no to their invite," Flash smirked. For some reason, all the anger he had felt about losing to Phantom had died down. It wasn't completely gone, but he realised now that sulking about it wouldn't solve anything. "I'll call Lyra and Bonnie. You get in contact with Heath." "Got it!" Soarin agreed before hanging up. As Flash began searching for Lyra's name in his call list, Leonidas spoke to him. "You sure you want to keep going? Even after how we lost?" Flash smirked and looked back at him. "When I was little, my dad taught me to ride my bike. I was terrible. I kept falling over, or crashing, or falling over as I crashed. But no matter how badly I fell, my dad told me it was okay. As long as I keep getting back up, I didn't fail. I learned. And eventually, all those mishaps helped me realise the best way to ride my bike. It's the same here." He held out his hand and Leonidas jumped into it. "We might have failed to beat Ragnaroid before, but we've still got a chance to beat him next time. You with me?" "Always," Leonidas told him. Flash smirked and started messaging the others, all the while Leo looked out the window. "That voice. Where do I know it from?" He tried to think, but he kept coming up blank. Until a memory surged through his head like a bullet train. "Wait, that time." He remembered back before he had a body, back when he was just an angry spirit that had been thrown from the Doom Dimension. He had thought he was doomed, until the voice called out to him. "Could it really be them?" The next day. As soon as Flash was awake the next day, he was up and out the door before Scootaloo or his parents could ask where he was going. He quickly grabbed his bike and raced towards the area he had seen in his dream. Heath, Lyra and Bonnie had all confirmed having the same dream, the BakuFighters realising they needed to go there. As he shot down the street towards the busier area of the city, he got a call from his BakuColar an carefully answered it. "Flash?" It was Twilight, "Lyra said you guys are being summoned." "Yeah," Flash nodded as her swerved around a corner, "I don't know who but I get the feeling we can trust them." "Well we're coming too," Twilight explained. "I already contacted the rest of the Rainbooms and we're on our way." "Okay," Flash nodded, "I guess I'll see you there." Flash hung up as Leonidas carefully stuck his head out his pocket. "You sure letting Twilight and the others come is a good idea? We have no idea if this is a trap or not. Letting Twilight and the others be there might allow whoever's setting this up to take us down if we're not careful." "I don't think this is a trap," Flash told him. "Call it a hunch, but I get the feeling whoever this is is on our side." They continued to discuss this as they entered the city and eventually, they arrived at the riverbank and spotted the bridge a ways off. They appeared to be the first ones there, Flash pulling up to a stop on his bike as looking around for any sign of his friends. He let out a sigh and headed down the back, sitting on the grass waiting for them to show up. Heath arrived fifteen minutes later on his board, with Applejack and Rarity arriving not soon after. Lyra and Bonnie arrived together with Twilight and Pinkie just behind them. "Is that everyone?" Twilight asked as they grouped up. "We're still waiting on Soarin," Flash explained. "Rainbow and Fluttershy aren't here either." "What about Derpy?" Twilight asked, Lyra turning to her. "I called her, but she said she had to work today." This made them frown at Derpy missing out, as Twilight stepped over to Flash who was currently skimming rocks. "You okay?" She asked, Flash stopping mid skim and turning to her. "I know your lose against Phantom was hard." "Yeah," Flash nodded, "It was. But I can't let that get me down. Derpy was right. Being moppy doesn't help anyone. I gotta pick myself up and keep pushing if I wanna beat Phantom." Twilight nodded as Flash skimmed his rock, "I'm sorry about Spike. I wish I could have won him back for you. If I did, maybe he'd still...you know." Twilight nodded, "I'm not giving up hope. I don't care how long it takes, I'll find a way to bring him back to his full strength." Flash smiled and nodded. "And I'll help in any way I can." Twilight smiled back at this as they heard someone call out. "Hey!" They looked around to see Soarin, Rainbow and Fluttershy approaching after stepping off the bridge, "we the last ones here?" "Looks like it," Flash told him. The eleven teens and their Bakugan all grouped up and looked around the place, "see anything that might be a clue to why we were called here?" "Nothing," Lyra sighed. "I wonder why this place was chosen." "It's possible whoever called you wanted to do it someplace with not a lot of people around," Twilight guessed. "You all found this place, so it's obvious you all knew where it was." The BakuFighters nodded, having all walked by this area quite a few times. "So they wanted to talk to us away from the public eye?" Bonnie asked, Twilight shrugging and replying that it was just a theory. "Well," Rainbow crossed her arms, "whoever it is better show up soon. I hate waiting around for-AHHH!" She cried out as a bright light suddenly exploded between them, blinding the lot of them and forcing them all to step back. "What is that?" Applejack cried, as Rarity took out a pair of sunglasses. But even after putting them on, the light was still too bright to see through. "Are we under attack?" Fluttershy cried, as Pinkie tried to get closer. But doing so caused the light to heat up her skin, the girl feeling like she was standing next to an oven. "Hot!" She cried as she stepped backwards, the rest of the Rainbooms doing the same. But the BakuFighters didn't feel any heat and instead, they felt an overwhelming urge to move towards the light. Like a moth to the flame, their feet began to move without them think. One by one, they moved closer and closer to it. "Flash!" Twilight cried, seeing him move. She reached out to grab him, but he was out of reach and she couldn't bare to get any closer. When the five were all close enough, they reached out and touched the source of the light. This caused them to snap out of the trance they had been under, only now realising what they were doing. But before they could try and pull back, the light source grew larger and completely enveloped them. They all cried out as they tried to escape, but they couldn't move. And in the blink of an eye, the light suddenly vanished and the Rainbooms were able to open their eyes. They looked around, blinking the spots from their eyes, and were shocked see the BakuFighters were gone as well. "FLASH!" Twilight screamed, all of them fearing for their friend's fates. When Flash opened his eyes, he found he was someplace unlike anywhere he had seen before. He was in a vast open wasteland surrounded by rocks of varying sizes and shapes. Of in the distance, he could see what appeared to be a forest with several unusual shaped and coloured trees. "Where are we?" Soarin asked as they all looked around, with all the Bakugan except Leo gasping. "This is...Vestroia," Gaia realised. "Vestroia?" Bonnie asked, "your home." "I wasn't expecting it to be so rocky," Heath frowned as Wukong leapt onto his head. "This is just a small section of it," he told him. "Your planet's not one biome. Look over there," he gestured to the forest. "That place is all nice and lush. Perfect place for a Bakugan to live." Heath nodded as Lyra moved over to one of the rocks. "But how are we here?" She asked, placing her hand on the rock. "I thought Vestroia was destroyed. "Yes," Nimue nodded, "it doesn't make any sense." "Maybe it wasn't destroyed," Garuda suggested. "We were all sent to earth when the planet was breaking apart, so it could be that it somehow found a way to survive." "I am afraid that isn't the case." Everyone jumped at the unknown female voice, the lot of them looking around and getting ready for a fight. "This is merely an illusion of our old home. We hoped seeing it again would put you all in a more talkative mood." "We're already in a talkative mood," Flash told the voice. "Weird dreams, voices in our heads and a light that suddenly transports us to an illusion of a destroyed world. Safe to say we have some questions we'd like answered." The others all nodded, "so why don't we cut the theatrics. Who are you, where are you and why did you summon us here?" The reply was a mild famine chuckle. "Straight to the point with no beating around the bush. That sounds like you, Flash." The teen frowned, wondering how they knew his name. "Very well. We will accommodate your demands." Suddenly, a woman in white armour appeared before them. "I am Haos Dragonia." Before anyone could say anything, a figure in orange and brown amour appeared to her right. "I am known as Subterra Trojan." A figure in flame patterned armour appeared besides him, "Pyrus Salamandra is my name." A small woman in green armour, sitting on a cloud, appeared next to him, "I am Ventus Zephyria." A tall individual in blue armour, carrying a snake-headed staff, appeared to her right. "Call me Aquosssssss Seadranoid." A final figure in black fur-covered armour appeared between the blue and white figures, completing the circle that surrounded them. "And you my refer to me as Darkus Regulus." "No way," Wukong cried. "The Legendary Guardians of Vestroia," Nimue gasped as the others went wide-eyed. "The Bakugan that beat Lucifer and Ragnaroid the last time?" Soarin asked, getting a nod from the other Bakugan. "You already know of us," Dragonia chuckled. "Good. That will save us time." "You're the ones that sent the Bakugan to our world, right?" Flash asked, the Guardians turning to one another. "We want to know why the Bakugan went from being evacuated to being sold by Dark Industries. Did you give Sombra the Bakugan or something?" "Absolutely not," Trojan announced. "We would never allow our people to become mere playthings, even if many of you humans have proven to respect them." The other Guardians nodded, as Dragonia stepped forward. "The fact is, we never intended for the Bakugan to be sent to your world. When we evacuated Vestroia, we intended to find a world that could accept the Bakugan as refuges. That might have been your world had we been able to contact your world's leaders, but there are many other worlds that would have been much better suited for our new home. However, events outside our control occurred that forced our worlds to collide." "What events?" Bonnie asked. "Lucifer," Zephyria proclaimed as the others frowned. "We managed to evacuate Vestroia and open a portal to multiple other worlds. We planned to journey from world to world, deciding which one would be the most willing to accommodate our people as equals. To keep them safe, we created a pair of ships we could use to transport the Bakugan through space." "Why two ships?" Heath asked, "why not one big ship." "You have any idea how big a ship that could carry that many Bakugan would be?" Salamandra asked, "we'd never be able to control the thing." Heath nodded in understanding as Regulus continued. "Once every Bakugan was loaded onto them, we opened the portal and began to escape. We managed to get away as Vestroia was destroyed, sending out a shockwave that we were able to ride away from the explosion on. However, that was when it happened." The Six Guardians were flying through a tunnel of light in their armoured forms, the two arcs each being controlled by three of them. "We're almost clear of the blast," Regulus told the others. "I can't believe we allowed Vestroia to be destroyed," Zephyria looked down in shame. "We failed in our duty." The others also looked down in shame, but Dragonia turned to them. "We haven't failed yet. Vestroia might be gone, but it was never just a place." She looked down at the arc she was protecting and placed a hand on it. "The Bakugan that called it home are as much Vestroia as the planet itself. As long as they survive, so does Vestroia." The Guardians let this information sink in and nodded, realising they were right. "This isn't the first time Vestroia was brought to ruin. Others found a way to restore it once. And so can we. We just need time." "Until then..." Seadranoid stated. "...we must find a sssssuitable place the Bakugan can remain sssssafe. A world that will accept them asssss equals." "I know of a place," Dragonia assured him. "There are four other worlds out there with Bakugan. Hopefully, the millennia that has passed since the last time I was there hasn't changed them that much." The other five wondered what she meant, but before they could ask Zephyria sensed something. "What's that?" She looked behind herself, just in time to see something flying at them. "Look out!" The others turned and saw a ball of white flying forwards, but couldn't react in time to protect themselves. Zephyria was the first to be slammed by the small orb, knocking her flying away from her arm. Regulus and Trojan was also knocked away, the arc they were guiding flying loose. "NO!" Dragonia cried as the ball landed on the arc before something happened. It unleashed a powerful shockwave that struck the Guardians and their arc, sending they all flying in the opposite direction. "This can't be happening," Dragonia whispered as the second arc flew off and then out of the dimensional tunnel. "We do not know what happened to the arc after that," Dragonia finished the tale. "Somehow it got into the hands of the one you call Sombra," Trojan explained. "Most definitely, he is working alongside Lucifer. We, meanwhile, were thrown into another world and had no idea where the arc had been sent. It took months of searching, but we eventually found the arc in this world and discovered the fate of the Bakugan." "We're sorry," Lyra sighed. "We thought they were just toys. If we had known..." "You cannot be blamed for your ignorance," Dragonia exclaimed. "Lucifer must have known you humans would realise Bakugan weren't toys if they could talk, which is likely way he suppressed their consciousness and made them act purely on their instincts. Something we're thankful we were able to start undoing." "You undid it?" Flash asked. Dragonia nodded, "do you remember the day you found Leonidas?" Flash nodded, "the light that unleashed him was our power. We combined the last of our strength to undo the dark power Lucifer contaminated the Bakugan with. Over time, they slowly began to awaken." "Wait," Leonidas flew up to Dragonia. "The light that awakened the Bakugan was you. So if I came out of that light...were you the ones that gave me to Flash?" This was a shock to them, but they realised it made sense. And if they gave Flash Leonidas... "Yes," Dragonia chuckled as she looked him over. "I am happy to see how much you've grown Leonidas. You've certain come a long way since I found you." "You found me?" Leonidas asked. Dragonia nodded again. "When Lucifer destroyed Vestroia, the Doom Dimension was ripped apart as well. Most of it still exists, but the rest was thrown into the void between worlds. That includes you. Whilst searching for Lucifer and the arc, I discovered your spirit wandering through the void. I realised what you were and where you came from, making me fear you could be something even more dangerous than Lucifer." "I see," Leonidas looked down in shame. "But then I realised that just because you were from the Doom Dimension, that didn't mean you were destined for evil. I believed that with the right influence, you could be a great force for good. So I chose to take your spirit into my body, sharing my own Haos energy with you. This allowed you to form a body of your own and be granted the Haos Attribute." Everyone who heard this were amazed, glad they finally knew how Leonidas came into being. and then Flash realised something. "Wait," he stepped forward and look between the two Haos Bakugan. "If you did that, doesn't that mean you're technically Leonidas' mom." Leonidas turned to him in shock, whilst Dragonia chuckled. "I guess I am. And I guess I should thank you for taking such good care of my son. Despite a rather rough start, you two have proven you were the right one to entrust Leonidas with." "Why did you entrust him with me?" Leonidas asked, "I'm grateful you did. But why?" "And were you the ones that gave us to our partners as well?" Garuda asked, the other Bakugan all wondering the same thing. The Guardians turned to one another and nodded, all agreeing to tell them. "Yes," Trojan announced, "we are the ones that entrusted you with the Bakugan from the other Arc. We had no other choice but to do so." "Why?" Wukong asked, "why give us to humans we've never met?" "We had no other choice," Salamandra explained. "Defeating and sealing Ragnaroid, transforming the Bakugan into balls and storing them into a pair of arcs, opening a dimensional portal, getting attacked by Lucifer and thrown into another world, searching multiple dimensions and freeing the Bakugan under Lucifer's control. After all that, the power we had left was practically nothing. It's taken us this long to regain enough strength to battle just once or twice." "So that's it," Nimue nodded. "You didn't have the power to fight for the Bakugan, so you had the choose others to do it." Seadranoid nodded. "Each of usssss searched the remaining arc for a Bakugan of our attribute, who we believed had great potential. We then sssssearched and found humans that could not only work well with that Bakugan, but help them grow sssstronger. Those became our champions." "Us," Bonnie turned to Trojan, "you chose us to be your champions." Trojan nodded as Flash looked around. "Wait," he turned to Regulus, "where's your champion. There are six of you and five of us, so we're missing one." "I did not choose a Bakugan," Regulus explained. "None of the Darkus Bakugan we were holding had the qualities I was looking for in a champion. When we arrived here, I searched for Darkus Bakugan and Brawlers to make my Champion. But none of them had what I was looking for." "I see," Nimue nodded in understanding. As she did, Lyra suddenly remembered something. "Wait, you freed the Bakugan from Lucifer's control and woke them up." They nodded, "then please help our friends." The others looked shocked at this, but then realised what she was getting at. "Yeah," Flash looked back at Dragonia, "our friends. The Rainbooms-" "We know," Dragonia nodded. "We saw what happened to them. We wish we could help, but we have to conserve our power for what is to come. I'm sure they'll awaken on their own once again." The BakuFighters looked down, the hope they had been feeling crumbling. Until... "I will do it." They turned to Regulus in shock, "I will not be participating in the tests. So I will help them. They will need all the help they can get, so I will free them." Before they could say anything else, Regulus clapped his hands together and created a ball of energy. It then shot into the air, disappearing in the blink of an eye. The Rainbooms were still at the riverbank, trying to figure out what the heck was going on. "See anything?" Twilight asked from the top of the bank. They shook their heads, none of them seeing a thing. "Flash," she whispered, "where are you?" Then, out of nowhere, a purple ball of light appeared in front of them. "Wow!" Rainbow leapt back, "what's that?" They didn't get a chance to answer, as the ball exploded into six beams of light that shot towards each of them. More specifically, they shot towards the areas they kept their Bakugan. "My goodness!" Rarity gasped as the lights struck their Bakugan, the lot taking them out and watching as they glowed. Twilight had a small hope that she knew what this was, and as the light died down she got confirmation when the ball popped open. "Twilight?" Spike's voice was like music to her ears, the girl's eyes filling with tears as the other Bakugan began to open up. "SPIKE!" She pulled him closer to hug, the others doing the same to their partners. "I never thought I'd get to hear your voice again." She pulled back, "are you okay?" "Yeah," he nodded, "but what happened to us. The last I remember...I lost to Ragnaroid." Twilight patted him on the head. "It's okay," she assured him. "You're okay now. And I think you were helped by Flash and the other BakuFighters." She looked up at the sky, a smile on her lips. "Flash, wherever you are, thank you." She didn't know why, but she just knew they were the ones responsible for this. Back with BakuFighters and Guardians, Regulus lowered his arms. "It is done. Your friend's Bakugan have all been awakened again." He staggered, but managed to stay upright. "You okay?" Flash asked, Regulus nodding. "I'm fine. Just need a day of two to regain my strength." "So Spike and the others are all back to normal?" Lyra asked, with Regulus nodding as the BakuFighters cheered. But as they did, Heath remembered something. "Wait, what was that about a test?" The others realised he was right, the lot focusing back on the Guardians as they all got serious again. "We granted each of you your Bakugan," Dragonia explained. "Hoping the lot of you would be able to work together and fight against Lucifer and his minions, which you have. And whilst you have won many victories and even allowed one of your Bakugan to evolve, Ragnaroid continues to grow more powerful. He has even been able to evolve whilst the rest of you remain un-evolved." "Are you saying we failed?" Soarin asked. "Of course not," Zephyria shook her head. "But we are running out of time. Every day, Lucifer grows more and more powerful. Meanwhile you all remain the same." "We've been trying," Garuda told her. "We've trained as hard as we can. We must be getting close to evolving." "I'm afraid that might not be possible," Trojan told him. "Tell me, how many Bakugan aside from Leonidas and Ragnaroid have you seen evolve?" The Bakugan had no answer, since they had never seen another Bakugan evolve. "That's what we thought. It's possible the age of natural evolution is over. We each descend from Bakugan of the first era, which is why we and the Bakugan we spawn all have the ability to evolve on our own. But it's likely the newer generation of Bakugan, which you all belong too, no longer have that ability." "So you're saying we can't get stronger," Gaia sighed. "Well that sucks!" Wukong groaned. "There's more that you're not telling us," Garuda stated. "This test, is it the key to help us evolve?" "But she said you couldn't evolve," Soarin told him. "Naturally evolve," Seadranoid hissed. "But there isssss a way. Bakugan have been known to evolve when acquiring an energy sssssource. The Perfect Dragonoid became that by absorbing the Silent and Infinity Cores. And we have sssssomething almost as powerful." Each of them held up a hand and when they did, something appeared in them. They were six strange looking orbs, each filled with the light of their respective attributes. The BakuFighters didn't know what they were, but they knew they were powerful. They could feel the energy flowing from them. "These are the six Attribute Energies of Vestroia," Dragonia explained. "Attribute Energies?" Flash asked. Dragonia nodded. "Vestroia was a world made up of those six energies, with the Bakugan that it birth being created from a tiny spark of them. When the Perfect Core was destroyed, the planet's energies de-stabilised and split apart. "Most of that energy was lost," Salamandra explained. "But we were able to collect enough to form these orbs, which each hold great amounts of power." "Enough power to allow you to evolve," Zephyria explained. "Awesome!" Heath cheered. "We'll beat Phantom for sure with those." "Who said we intended to give them to you," Trojan told him. "These orbs are all that remain of Vestroia. They can't simply be given away like candy on Halloween." The BakuFighters frowned, until Zephyria spoke up. "But we will give you the chance to earn them." That caught their attention and made them look up, as Dragonia continued to explain. "We each selected you, not just for the comparability you possessed with our chosen Bakugan, but also because you yourselves have great potential within you. However, you are each being held back from reaching that potential by obstacles you each possess. Unless you can overcome these obstacles, you will not be able to grow stronger. That is why we have devised these tests, in a hopes of you breaking through your limits. Succeed and you will earn the Attribute Energies and allow your partners to evolve. Fail...and you must step down from this conflict and allow us to take over." The BakuFighters all shared a look, the lot of them smiling at the prospect of what was being offered. They could pass some silly little test. "Be warned," Seadranoid told them. "Succeeding in these trials will not be easy. And if you cannot overcome the obstacles you hold, you may end up succumbing to them and being broken...either physically or mentally." "This chance should not be taken lightly," Salamandra told them. Flash stepped forward, "Ragnaroid and Lucifer destroyed your world. They may find a way to do the same to ours if they're not stopped. If passing these tests are the only way to beat them, then I'm in!" "So am I!" Soarin cried. "Me too!" Lyra nodded. "Count me in!" Heath smirked. "Can't let you guys have all the fun," Bonnie smiled. Their Bakugan all nodded, knowing their partners would be able to handle whatever the Guardians threw at them. "Very well," Dragonia nodded before a beam of light appeared in front of each BakuFighter that went up into the sky. "Then step into this light, and your test will begin." They nodded before turning to one another. "We can do this," Flash told them. "No matter what we face, even if we're on our own, we can still support each other and come out the other side." They all agreed as Flash held out a hand, "let's show these guys they weren't mistaken in choosing us." "YEAH!" They all cried as they slapped their hands on his, with the Bakugan jumping on top. "Bakugan," they threw their hands up, "BRAWL!" The Bakugan shot into the air and landed on their partners heads, the five teens all turning to the light and stepping forwards. As each one stepped into the light, they found themselves being blinded as their bodies morphed into blobs of light. The blobs shot up the light tunnels, as five of the Guardians flicked away. Regulus was the only one left, the Darkus Bakugan looking up as the light beams vanished. "Good luck BakuFighters. You will need it for what is to come." He turned away and summoned a ball of light, allowing him to see into the human world. "And what will you do?" He asked, staring at the figure in the light. That figure was Phantom, the Darkus Brawler's location unclear. But wherever he was, he would soon find himself up against a powerful opponent.