Chapter 8 - Against Vexos

As the sun struck the sands, the black ship hovering in the air seemed to swallow all the light. The ship was like an embodiment of darkness; no light reflected off its surface, enveloping the surrounding area in shadow. Just ahead of this strange and high-tech ship stood a young man.

This young man with red spiky hair had his arms crossed over his chest, his sharp and piercing gaze directed at the ground.

Lying unconscious at his feet was a quite short boy barely reaching the height of his leg. The displeased expression on the man's face clearly reflected his disappointment in the boy.

The white Bakugan on his shoulder moved gracefully with the light breeze, chuckling a little. The Bakugan spoke in a flat way, "I'm disappointed." However, his following words carried a mocking undertone.

"I expected better from a world warrior. At least we can use him to catch the others, ha ha ha! Say goodbye to the sun."

Against the mocking tone of his Bakugan, the man only looked at the boy. The wind grew stronger, and sand began to swirl around them like a shroud. At that moment, they heard a sound.

VRUMMMM!

The young man's gaze quickly turned towards the source of the sound, and he spoke harshly, "What is that?" Then, as he realized what it was, he briefly fell silent and asked in astonishment, "A motorcycle?"

The small dot appearing on the horizon rapidly grew larger, and the roar of the motorcycle broke through the desert silence. The motorcycle sped forward, leaving the sands behind like a storm, and the rider skillfully skidded to a stop right in front of the young man. The sudden stop of the bike threw sand into the air.

From the rider's inner pocket came a voice complaining, "I'm dizzy, was it really necessary to speed up this much!?"

The rider responded with a smile, "Hey! He was almost boarding the ship. We made it in time. What more do you want?"

The voice from the inner pocket grudgingly accepted, "Alright, alright."

The motorcycle rider slowly took off her helmet, revealing her face. Or rather, part of her face. Long pink hair spread around under the influence of the wind. The red stripes replacing her eyes met the young man's gaze.

"Who are you?" the young man asked, his voice still harsh but now tinged with curiosity. The rider responded without hesitation.

"Volt, right? You can call me Siren," she said with an amused voice. Then, she made a victory sign towards Volt. Between her index and middle fingers appeared a pale Bakugan, even for a Haos, reflecting the sunlight

"I've come here to brawl you!" Siren declared resolutely.

As Siren started to dismount from her motorcycle, a strange expression appeared on Volt's face, a mix of surprise and slight mockery. He sighed and hoisted the boy on the ground onto his back.

"I don't have time to play with kids, brat," he said condescendingly.

Siren, without breaking eye contact with Volt, fully dismounted from her bike. In a provocative tone, she said, "I didn't know Vexos were such cowards," with a confident smile on her face.

Volt frowned slightly at Siren's challenge. At that moment, the voice of James, Siren's Bakugan, echoed.

"Weren't you losing to a boy who was almost passing out in the desert? What's the reason for this arrogance now?" he said to Volt, his voice filled with obvious mockery and criticism.

Volt seemed to get angry at these words but immediately calmed down by taking a deep breath. Before he could respond, his Bakugan on his shoulder took the initiative.

"Hehehe, you've misunderstood something!" the Bakugan chuckled. "We were just warming up! That boy was too weak for us to really fight!"

Volt sighed once more. Ignoring his Bakugan named Brontes entirely, he looked at Siren and then at James. He could see the determination of a warrior in them, even if he didn't understand their purpose...

"Do you want a fight? Very well," he said in a cold voice.

He tied the boy, Marucho, securely to the ship, ensuring he couldn't escape, and then turned back to them.

"If that's what you want, I'll give it to you," he said resolutely.

Brontes laughed once more on Volt's shoulder, but Volt was completely serious this time. He placed a gold-embroidered white card into his gauntlet, raising it to show. The card gleamed with the reflecting sunlight.

"Gauntlet..." Volt said with determination.

"Power Strike!"

Siren, with an amused expression, placed a card with bright purple patterns into her gauntlet. Similarly, she raised her gauntlet to show Volt and spoke excitedly:

"Gauntlet, Power Strike!"

The intersection point of the engravings on the cards began to glow. Volt's golden light and Siren's purple light shone brightly, illuminating the air around them sharply and creating dancing shadows on the desert sands.

Siren swiftly threw the card she held, which bore the Darkus emblem.

"Gate card set!"

Volt grabbed Brontes and threw him, shouting, "Let's finish this, Brontes!"

As soon as Brontes hit the ground, his ball form opened up, and a bright light covered the field. The light illuminated the desert, and Brontes' laughter echoed.

"Ha ha ha ha! Prepare to meet your doom, kid!"

As Brontes declared this with a tone of triumph, his clown-like face cut through the light. His face, which had a jester's grin, would be terrifying if not for his playful voice.

As the light dissipated, his body was revealed. The white metallic plates on his body reflected the sunlight. His purple claws took a fighting stance. The yellow orb on his chest glowed conspicuously in this reflection.

Siren looked at him, swallowing nervously. She still couldn't believe she had gotten involved in this. She remembered James' earlier words as she swallowed.

"You have to beat him in the fight. The most direct way to prove our worth is a battle!"

That was what they had to do. She looked at James and a tense smile appeared on her face.

"Let's do this, James, are you ready?"

James glanced at the system window. The status screen, previously optimized, was used to show both human and Bakugan stats.

However, the human stats seemed to have disappeared now. Only the Bakugan stats remained, and they were flickering,looking like a glitch. The golden-framed white system window's distortions were unsettling.

Still, James ignored this. He was already prepared. In a booming voice, he said:

"Let's finish this."

When Siren threw James, a haunting glow spread in the air. Despite being of a similar color, the sunlight made James' presence feel weaker.

The ball rolled, and as James' small form emerged, a pale light surrounded the environment. The light twisted into a whirlwind of silver flames, and from within this whirlwind came a stern voice.

"Stop laughing, clown."

Immediately, this pale light whirlwind split. The horn atop his head was what split it. His dragon-shaped head and fierce glowing white eyes were visible. Behind his head, small spines that accompanied his horn flared with silver flames.

When the light fully dispersed, the silver flames ran down to the tip of his tail. The growing and shrinking spines were striking but also disturbing.

His body bore purple patterns that seemed out of place. These faint patterns extended to the circular void on his chest, converging with the purple wedge inside the circular void.

His membrane-like white wings spread wide. They seemed to want to swallow the sun as they stretched out their presence. These protrusions could also be seen on the upper frames of his wing bones.

It was clear he looked like some kind of dragon. However, he stood firmly on two legs. His arms, independent of his wings, were abnormally long, reminding one that he was not human, but a monster.

His tail slammed into the ground, throwing sand into the air. Amid the sand, a silver gleam shone from the tip of his tail, sharp as a spear.

Finally, he roared. It was a herald of a great battle to come.