Chapter 42 - Battle Begins

James's grunts could be heard in the waiting room.

"But why? Why did three people give up in a row? And the last time, the match hadn't even started!"

He didn't understand how these vestals with nothing to lose could lose the will to fight. But if he had thought about it, he would undoubtedly have agreed. Who would want to play a game they could lose and not enjoy?

Of course, the real reason for his anger was not that he could not continue his struggle. It was the fact that their surrender had won them no SPs or modules from their struggle so far! This made him feel like he was completely wasting his time.

As he cursed angrily, the number of people in the waiting room dwindled considerably. Marucho had unsurprisingly lost and was just waiting in a corner. No one tried to approach him, as he seemed depressed by the loss.

Being completely ignored was the opportunity Marucho was looking for. James knew this but said nothing. He had seen for himself how tight the control was. He couldn't make a move until everyone was gone.

Daron was at the match now. It would probably be a few more matches before James' turn came. So he was just grumbling.

[James, think of it this way. Would you do something that you wouldn't enjoy, that you didn't have to do?]

"I would at least give it a try."

At this moment, he heard the voice of Siren, whose existence he had forgotten:

"I'd try it too, it has to be tried anyway."

Siren, who was sitting right next to James, who suffered from the same condition, started to complain.

"No matter how terrible the opponent, isn't that the thrill of the fight? To achieve the impossible! The satisfaction of trying to defeat the strong... That's what makes a brawler a brawler!"

As Siren lamented, she remembered how she felt when she saw Helios and her face fell for a moment. James noticed it, but ignored it and agreed with her:

"I agree, it's not the winning that's fun, it's the fight itself."

Even though he said that, in a funny way, winning meant everything to him. He laughed at the contradiction between what he said and what he had to say. As a result, Siren looked at him strangely. Then she nodded her head in agreement:

"Exactly. We're going into the finals without having playing a proper match."

James nodded in agreement. The numbers had dwindled so much that James had easily secured his place in the semifinals. By his estimation, he was going into his last battle before the final, but he wasn't even excited about it.

James looked at Siren and asked:

"Maybe they won't be drawn then, what do you think?"

Siren nodded her head in agreement and replied hopefully:

"I hope so."

And just then an announcement was heard:

"Miss Siren and Mr. James, you are waiting in the arena."

With that, the two looked at each other in surprise.

""Huh?""

Of course, Siren was expecting the match. But she thought it would happen directly in the final match. She didn't expect it to happen a few matches before the final!

James had even forgotten from talking to Siren that sooner or later he would have to battle her!

James stood up, shaking his head from side to side. After a brief glance at Siren, he spoke with a slight sneer:

"You're not going to back down after all we've talked about, right?"

Siren stood up laughing.

"Just don't be the one to back down."

James grinned.

"Not a chance."

"Looks like the newbie has his sights set too high."

"Didn't this newbie surprise everyone, including you? Why shouldn't I surprise you now?"

While they were talking to each other in this way, they left and started walking towards the pitch. When they arrived, their conversation suddenly stopped. They both left on the road that curved in different directions.

As he walked, he put his hand in his pants pockets. He was excited but his expression was very serious. He was taking slow steps. The silver sparkles in his eyes shone in contrast to his serious expression. The brightness of the sparkles betrayed the seriousness of his face and inevitably betrayed his excitement.

Ahead he could see the entrance to the field. Step by step, he muttered. 

"Do you think I can win?"

It was an extremely serious question. In his last battle with the last ranked player, he had come from behind to win. Could he do the same now? He didn't think he had undergone that big of a change and naturally he wasn't confident.

And Fox responded to him in a brutal way:

[I can't say for sure, she's a girl who's on the up and up, and you know very little about her gameplay. However… she knows almost everything about your gameplay.]

These words made him feel as if cold water had been poured over his head. The sparkle faded from his eyes and his face took on a depressed expression that was impossible to hide. Just as James was about to ask something, Fox continued:

[But of course, you're a miracle worker. You don't think the sparkles in your eyes are for no reason, do you? Yeah, even if it's my fault, you're the biggest bug in the universe. Because of that, I can say with certainty: You will win!]

He stopped walking as the conversation continued. A very strange expression appeared on his face. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Fox was almost bragging about her mistake!

He stood like that for a moment and then slowly grinned. His eyes flashed with a menacing silver glint. He could have said many words, but he swallowed them all. He brought the hand with the Gauntlet to his head and laughed:

"Hah! You are very motivating, really. The fact that you can say that so easily..."

Meanwhile, he kept moving forward. The light outside began to catch his eyes, but he ignored it. He blinked and squinted a few times so that he could see the audience, the announcer and of course his opponent waiting for him.

In the meantime, he spoke softly and lowered his hand.

"So annoying."

Siren put her hand to her chin and looked thoughtful as she waited for him. He didn't know what she was thinking, but her pink lips curled upwards when she noticed him.

As their pillars slowly rose upwards, the announcer introduced the two brawlers.

"Today's contestants are ranked players who have made a name for themselves! Both are known for their back-to-back victories and, more interestingly, they both use the same attribute. Darkus players James and Siren!"

James and Siren both grinned and looked at each other as they placed their activation cards in their gauntlets. They could hear neither the announcer's speeches nor the supportive comments of the audience, which had now become a murmur.

At that moment, they were both waiting for the start. Just looking at the lower half of Siren's face, it was obvious that she was excited. James didn't even bother hiding it anymore.

Both of them - especially Siren - had been waiting for this encounter and the moment had finally arrived. They were going to do their best!

Siren licked her lips. Secretly hoping that this match would be worth the wait, the announcer's voice thundered in her ears:

"Then there is no need to wait any longer. Let the match begin!"

And with that, almost simultaneously, they set up and shouted.

"Gauntlet, power strike!"

"Gauntlet, power strike!"

At that moment, James could have sworn that time slowed down for a moment. But when he shook his head from side to side and saw that everyone was behaving in the same way as they should, he realized that it was just him.

Siren: 500 Life Points | James: 500 Life Points

Siren took the first round and threw the gate card.

"Gate card, ready!"

He made a wary face as he saw the Darkus-themed card sink to the ground and spread out. If it was a reactor card, it was completely meaningless to both of them. But if it was a command card...

He sighed. Meanwhile, Siren leaned forward slightly. She pulled back her right arm holding her bakugan and threw it!

The bakugan spun at a rapid acceleration, bouncing off the hard ground, and then Siren's voice was heard:

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand! Darkus Stinglash!"

There was no need to say much. Stinglash's top half descended backwards and opened. It appeared to have a small, golden spike in the shape of a ball. It had black forelegs and a few golden embroidery around what could be considered its purple head.

Of course, this was quickly obscured by the purple glow and something much larger was revealed.

The clearest description at first sight would be a scorpion with a deep black and purple design. It had four legs on each side. Its sharp pincers were just in front of its legs. The large scorpion tail was easily recognizable, extending all the way back to Stinglash's face.

It had a human-like face. The red orb that seemed to be embedded in its forehead was striking. Its golden yellow eyes looked around ferociously. As its claws opened and closed, a sound could be heard, like the clash of metal against metal.

James glanced at it and then his gauntlet.

<Darkus Stinglash>

 <G-Power: 400>

He shrugged, although it was surprising that it was a different number than he remembered. As it was, he had a large arsenal. He had collected the bakugans of most, if not all, of those he had defeated. But unfortunately, he only had two bakugans with the Darkus attribute.

James sighed. His decision was clear.

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand! Darkus Hammersaur!"

His opponent didn't say anything extra, so he didn't need to. With his usual no-frills, no-strange gestures throw, he threw his bakugan towards the ground and it opened instantly.

"Grawl!"

Hammersaur roared as it emerged, clapping its gauntlets together in its iconic gesture. Its roar unexpectedly caused Stinglash to take a few steps back.

Siren immediately glanced down at her gauntlet.

 <Darkus Stinglash> | <Darkus Hammersaur>

 <G-Power: 400> | <G-Power: 420> 

After looking at her gauntlet, Siren placed her ability card without waiting!

"Ability card active: Crystalline Shell!"

<Power Boost: Darkus Stinglash +100 G-Power increased.>

Stinglash's body suddenly became completely covered in crystallized, purple particles! It's covered right down to the stinger on its tail, and its stinger has a much more noticeable sheen. The same with its claws.

Without even receiving a command from Siren, it attacked as if the ability had been used!

As its feet pounded the ground, it extended its left claw towards Hammersaur's leg and tried to grab it.

Hammersaur didn't flinch and punched it with its fist. James, anticipating Hammersaur's thoughts at that moment, quickly inserted his ability card.

"Ability card active: Crush Hurricane!"

<Power Transfer: Darkus Hammersaur +100 G-Power>

The purple shimmering armor, not unlike the outer shell covering its body, shattered into pieces the moment the fist and pincer collided!

With a clear G-Power advantage, Stinglash took a few steps back as Hammersaur rushed towards it. Its gauntlets glowed with purple light!

Stinglash, sensing the threat coming at it at speed, continued to step backwards as Siren raised her hand slightly.

The Hammersaur leapt nimbly into the air and was about to pass it over its outer shell when suddenly the ground began to glow white!

"Gate card open! Equalize! When this card is activated, the G-Power values of both bakugas are balanced in favor of the weaker side, regardless of the situation."

<Power Drop: Darkus Hammersaur -100 G-Power>

As its fist slammed into Stinglash's outer shell, the purple particles on its gloves disappeared!

Stinglash took advantage of its failed move and quickly tried to stab the stinger in its tail.

By the time James saw the attack coming, he had already placed his double ability card.

"Not so fast! Double ability card active: Dark Mirror + Bonecrushing Cyclone!"

<Power Transfer: Darkus Hammersaur +100 G-Power>

<Power Boost: Darkus Hammersaur +100 G-Power>

With this combined use of abilities, it was suddenly covered in purple particles and quickly sank into the darkness of the moving tail like sinking into quicksand, quickly dodging the tail attack!

The red stripes on Siren's mask glowed. Sensing that her mask had slipped a little, Siren quickly reached for it and straightened it. Meanwhile, Stinglash was frantically attacking around the area.

James, in one swift movement, said one word.

"Now!"

The moment he shouted it as if it heard him, a sudden kick from the ground landed on Stinglash's stomach! Coming from its foot, which was glowing with purple particles, the kick swirled like a typhoon and hit Stinglash, throwing it into the air!

As a scorpion, it was probably the underside that it couldn't pay the most attention to. It made a strange sound of pain as it rose upwards. Although it didn't appear to have taken any external damage, it was clear that it had been hurt and defeated. After that, it transformed into its ball form and fell down next to Siren.

Siren: 300 Life Points | James: 500 Life Points

***

Hello. I'm so much happy today. I watch Five Night's At Freddy's Movie and I like it! Did you watch it too? Do you like it? Don't forget to write your opinion! And if nothing happens, I'll post a chapter every day until this battle is over, I hope you like it.