Chapter 14 - Against Mylene (2)

As Mylene snapped out of her momentary shock, her brow furrowed in frustration. She had acted carelessly, like an amateur, neglecting even to activate the gate card out of sheer arrogance. The moment these thoughts crossed her mind, her cold expression twisted into one of anger.

Gripping Elico tightly, she snarled at him in rage. "Can't you do anything right? Even with a clear power difference, you still couldn't catch a lizard?!"

Although it was obviously her own failure and lack of direction, Elico bowed his head respectfully and murmured, "I apologize, ma'am."

Mylene let out a sharp "Hmph!" and, in a harsh tone, warned, "Don't let this happen again, or… I'll throw you away, too."

Witnessing this exchange, Siren and James exchanged glances. If their looks could form words, they would have said: "What a messed-up woman."

They gave each other a subtle nod in silent agreement. Then James, seeing the pained expression on the tightly squeezed Elico, whispered: 

"I pity you, Elico. Your loyalty is being wasted on the wrong hands."

Mylene's glare snapped onto James, filled with scorn. Fury burned in her eyes as she released her grip on Elico and gave James a cold, bitter laugh. 

"And who do you think you are to speak such nonsense, you worthless Bakugan? You're nothing but a weapon."

James chuckled, but his laughter was cold and cutting. 

"To some, soldiers are just weapons to be used by generals. Employees are just money machines to their employers. But no good general treats their soldiers as mere tools. And no employer mistreats the machine that prints their wealth."

He leaped into the air, transforming into his ball form mid-flight. As he hovered, he added in a grave, almost condemning tone, "Bad leaders like you only meet one end—a miserable one." 

The words carried the weight of something James remembered. In the future, Mylene would dig her own grave by executing a suicide attack, dying for nothing. Reflecting on her cruel behavior, James felt only anger. 

Though his sudden rage caught Siren off guard, she too found Mylene's attitude infuriating. As she caught James mid-air, she snapped: 

"If you think you can win by treating your partner badly, then you're a fool!"

For the first time, Siren's usual playful demeanor gave way to something serious. Mylene noticed the shift, but to her, it was laughable. She threw her head back and laughed mockingly.

"A soldier? Mistreatment? Ha! How childish. How idiotic! Everyone has their place. A slave's only purpose is to obey their master."

She gave them both a condescending look, as if they were the biggest fools she'd ever seen. Then, after a brief pause, she added, "And slaves who fail to obey… well, they deserve to be thrown away."

Mylene's harsh, merciless demeanor was a perfect reflection of the man she followed—King Zenoheld. Both Siren and James knew firsthand how ruthless he could be. His philosophy mirrored the same coldhearted cruelty: treating intelligent beings like Bakugan as nothing more than tools to be controlled and discarded.

The thought stirred a deep rage in both Siren and James. However, they weren't here to get lost in petty arguments. They had their own reasons for being here—and supporting the Vexos wasn't one of them. It was purely for their own interests.

Rather than continue the exchange, Siren silently threw her gate card, letting it land with a faint glow. 

"I won't waste any more time arguing about this," she said, her voice still playful but now tinged with a sharp, mocking edge. She didn't even try to hide her anger. 

As the gate card sunk into the ground with a burst of purple light, Siren smirked. "Now then, let us show you the difference between a slave and a true partner. Let's finish this." 

James, returning to ball form, rumbled confidently: 

"Leave it to me!" 

Siren caught him and hurled him forward.

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!"

James emerged mid-air, wings spread wide as he hovered gracefully. "Let's end this," he muttered, the three glowing slices on his chest pulsing with vibrant light.

Mylene responded immediately, throwing her Bakugan. "Crush them, Elico!" she barked. Elico opened and landed gracefully, standing on the surface of the water with perfect balance. 

With his arms crossed over his chest, Elico glared at James and declared resolutely: 

"This time, I won't hold back."

James exhaled, shaking his head slowly. "I still don't get it… How can you stay loyal to someone who treats you so badly?"

Despite himself, he felt pity for Elico. In James's eyes, Mylene was perhaps the worst partner a Bakugan could have. Yet Elico's unwavering loyalty, despite the abuse, was both bizarre and tragic.

James's pitying expression made Elico frown in frustration. Although anger flickered in Elico's eyes, he kept his composure. Then, to James's surprise, Elico's form began to shift. His colors, once fluid like water, changed to the solid tones of earth, reflecting an unshakable resolve.

Elico's skin turned a pale yellow, while metallic, drill-shaped protrusions sprouted from his shoulders. His gauntlets, knee guards, and shoulder pads took on a bright orange hue, and a small, drill-like horn emerged on his forehead.

The armor on his chest and legs darkened to brown, unmistakably signaling his transformation into Subterra. Even the claws on his arms were reshaped into drills.

<Darkus Broken Hydranoid> | <Subterra Elico> 

<G-Power: 500> | <G-Power: 500>

James blinked in surprise but quickly adjusted, pulling back to maintain distance. At that moment, Mylene slotted an ability card into her gauntlet, a cruel smile spreading across her face.

"Did you really think you could run? Ability activate: Arculus!"

Elico began spinning like a vortex, gathering stones and debris from the ground. The swirling mass formed a cyclone, growing larger and fiercer with each passing second.

<G-Power Drop: Darkus Broken Hydranoid's G-Power -100.> 

As rocks hurtled toward him, James flew backward, dodging swiftly. Siren responded just as fast, slotting her own ability card.

"Gate card open! Darkus Reactor! Also… Ability activate: Argentinum!"

With her command, James's body glimmered with a silver glow. 

<G-Power Transfer: +100 G-Power to Darkus Broken Hydranoid, -100 from Subterra Elico.> 

<G-Power Boost: Darkus Broken Hydranoid +100.> 

James's body shimmered not only with silver light but also with ominous purple patterns across his form, giving him an eerie, neon-like glow. Without hesitation, he soared toward the cyclone and threw a powerful punch downward.

But to his surprise, his fist struck nothing. The vortex collapsed under the impact, but it was empty!

<All G-Power reset to base levels.>

As the rocks tumbled back to the ground, James scanned his surroundings, puzzled. His mind raced, trying to recall Elico's abilities. There was one he hadn't seen in action before—a special move unique to Subterra.

Before Siren could piece it together, Mylene's laugh echoed across the field. Seeing Siren's momentary confusion delighted her to no end.

"Hah! Gaia Loose is active! It's over, little girl. Finish it, Elico!"

With a burst of force, Elico shot out from beneath the water like a spinning drill, surrounded by a whirlwind of water, stone, and earth. His sudden launch took Siren by surprise, leaving her little time to react.

But James had already noticed. And instead of dodging, he flew straight at the attack, fist-first!

His glowing silver punch collided with Elico's rotating drill. The impact sent James flying backward, reverting to his ball form mid-air. Elico emerged from the clash, shedding the earth and stone fragments that encased him, but his expression was one of clear dissatisfaction.

Without a word, Elico returned to ball form and rolled back to Mylene. As Siren caught James, she scowled at the smug look on Mylene's face. It annoyed her to no end.

After checking to make sure James was okay, Siren asked, "Why didn't you dodge?"

James's response was almost a whisper. 

"His ability nullifies other abilities. The best move was to survive the turn without wasting anything."

What James had realized was a crucial lesson from experience. In Bakugan battles, there was no limit on ability card use, but spamming them recklessly was a mistake. Each ability drained energy, and recovering it could take up to half a turn—or sometimes the entire match.

Using game-ending abilities like Gaia Loose came at a cost: they could only be used once. 

Even though Mylene had won the round, the Life Points remained unchanged—because their stats were perfectly even.

As they prepared for the next turn, a fierce determination burned in Siren's unseen eyes beneath her visor. She understood James's logic, but that didn't change the fact—she was itching to crush Mylene.

And with the new ability card James had unlocked, Siren was certain they would.