Chapter 41 - First Match... Huh?

"Ability active! Cursed Feathers!"

<Power Boost: Darkus Xayah's G-Power increased by +100.>

In the center of a black field stood a dark brown mantis. It flailed its razor-like limbs around menacingly, its yellow eyes glowing eerily in the darkness. Its stooped, uncomfortable posture revealed that it was tense and alert.

The brawler who was supposed to guide it was clearly panicked. With difficulty, he tried to insert the card into his gauntlet. But dozens of feathers from the darkness savagely pierced the brown mantis!

Unable to withstand the successive feather blows any longer, the mantis made a weird noise and turned into a ball.

Siren 480 LP | Brawler 0 LP

The darkness dissipated as she was clearly defeated his opponent quickly, and the brawler's bakugan rolled pathetically on the ground as Xayah was returned to Siren's hand. It was a clear victory!

"An-And unsurprisingly, Siren is the winner!"

Even the announcer was surprised, even though he said so. Still, he recovered quickly and they began to analyze the situation. With Siren's name on everyone's lips, there was a natural noise pollution.

Siren, however, ignored them and sighed.

"Should I try not to use the gate card next time?"

Xayah replied, ball-shaped:

"Underestimating the enemy never ends well."

As the column descended and made its way back to the waiting room, Siren nodded at Xayah's words.

"You are absolutely right."

Then she paused and continued with a 'but'.

"They are still very amateurish. I can't imagine how they got into such an elite tournament. I think it's okay to take it slow."

Xayah, however, merely sighed and refrained from commenting. Even if Siren was right about the ease, she had experienced how much trouble too much arrogance could cause. That's why she was uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, as Siren returned, a new announcement was heard shortly afterwards. James was next in line, and agai, he was not exactly a household name.

James came out of the waiting room, walking with his hands in his pockets as if nothing was wrong. The long ridges protruding from his elbows made him look like he was doing some kind of weird cosplay. Only James would know that they were part of his body.

It was inevitable that James and Siren would meet on the road. They looked at each other. James couldn't see Siren's eyes through the mask, but she could see his black eyes clearly, rippling with silver sparkles like the currents in the sea.

Still, it didn't matter. After a brief glance, Siren nodded approvingly and smiled. James also nodded slightly with a smile on his face. Then he started walking towards the pitch.

Fox couldn't resist asking as James walked silently.

[What the hell was that?]

James put his index finger to his lips before explaining, warning Fox.

"Shh!"

He then spoke in low frustration:

"I really think sometimes your senses aren't working properly, what do you think?"

Fox's mumbling was heard in his mind for a moment.

[Hmm... Competition?]

James grinned.

"Exactly. It's basically a greeting, but it's also a way of saying 'I beat you, you're next'."

Fox responded with a slight sneer:

[I think you're just giving too much meaning to it.]

James laughed but didn't argue. Whatever had happened, his morale was pretty high at the moment.

"Whatever it is, I'm going to crush everyone in any way I can."

With that thought, he stepped onto the pitch. As the column rose as usual, the announcer's announcement filled his ears.

"First up for the second challenge of the tournament, James, the light of Moonlight!"

There were many cheers and applause and James looked around with a fake smile. Everyone here was so happy and excited. They were unaware of James' struggle to survive, or rather, to remain a vestal.

He felt weird thinking about it. Then he shook his head from side to side. He saw no need to think any further. He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he missed the announcer's introduction of the other.

He glanced at him as he put his card in her glove. He didn't feel the need to look at his appearance. He was no different from an ordinary vestal. The only thing he noticed was the color of the glove. The outline and the color scheme covering the keys were shades of orange to light brown. James could therefore easily identify him as a Subterra user.

Meanwhile, of course, his hand was not idle. He too had inserted his activation card. They took turns speaking.

"Gauntlet, power strike!"

"Gauntlet, power strike!"

With that, the activation cards flashed. This signaled the start of the match.

Subterra Brawler: 500 Life Points | James: 500 Life Points

His opponent threw his gate card. As the card with Subterra's properties sank to the ground, casting a light brownish glow across the field, the petty brawler threw his bakugan.

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand! Smash the rocks, Subterra Falconeer!"

The thrown bakugan opened to reveal a kind of birdman.

Its wings were the first to attract attention. A feather fell from its dark brown bird wings to the ground. It was strong and big enough to lift his body. Immediately after it, its body stood out, its light brown and dark brown feathers blending together.

Its belly and legs had light brown feathers. Between its legs, which could probably be seen as the Bakugan's private parts, was completely covered with dark brown hair. Its feet were like bird claws. The knees had small ridges.

<Subterra Falconeer>

<G-Power: 340>

Seeing all this, James' first thought was that this was Ravenoid without armor. Then he sighed and gripped Hammersaur tightly. He kept his eyes on the target and threw it.

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand! Darkus Hammersaur!"

Hammersaur came out with its usual roar. It assumed a fighting stance as it stared savagely at its target.

<Subterra Falconeer> | <Darkus Hammersaur>

<G-Power: 340> | <G-Power: 420>

Seeing the G-Power difference between them, the brawler panicked and used a skill card.

"Ability active! Frame Stone! Gate card open! Subterra reactor!"

<Power Boost: Subterra Falconeer +200 G-Power>

As soon as the ability card was activated, the hair on Falconeer's body became rock-like in hardness, and its claws turned into equally hard rock claws.

When the Gate card activated, many pillars of rock rose from the ground. Through these pillars of rock, Falconeer quickly dived into Hammersaur with its rock claws!

It was a good move. But James reacted quickly, knowing that something like this would happen.

"Roll right, dodge! Double ability activated: Crush Hurricane + Dark Mirror!"

<Power Transfer: Darkus Hammersaur +200 G-Power>

As Hammersaur dodged Falconeer's attack by rolling to the right at James' command, purple particles flew from Falconeer towards Hammersaur. Hammersaur suddenly disappeared from sight as his gauntlets glowed with a powerful purple glow.

Falconeer looked left and right in astonishment at the sudden disappearance and his partner, the brawler, was no different.

"What is this ability!?"

James, equally bewildered, said:

"I haven't the faintest idea!"

With that, Hammersaur appeared right behind Falconeer and punched exactly at the intersection of their wings!

As a result of the brawler's carelessness and the delay in his reaction, Falconeer let out a pitiful scream and transformed into ball form!

Hammersaur strangely didn't make a sound as it was flung away, falling towards the brawler, and back into ball form, returning to James.

Subterra Brawler: 220 Life Points | James: 500 Life Points

Seeing the life bar falling at a pitiful pace, James smiled with satisfaction. He ignored all the cheering and praise from the announcer as he picked up his pass.

He was about to throw it...

"I'm leaving!"

The brawler's sudden request to withdraw left him standing there.