Dan, who should normally be the only one, was heading towards James, the boss monster of the game they were playing, with a man he had never seen before!
Ryuu stood out in his black coat. He had a sharp gaze and a serious demeanor, different from the others. Also, anyone who looked carefully could see the paranoia in his gaze and the nervousness in his expression.
It was clear that he wanted to get this over with in a hurry and relax. When James' lizard-like eyes behind the blue visor met Ryuu's, they just froze where they were.
Tension, worry, fear... James could easily see it in Ryuu's eyes. How? He felt the same way. Who was Ryuu? He didn't have the slightest idea. He was a man who shouldn't exist here. Why was he here? And… who was he?
When Ryuu saw his eyes, he suddenly found himself in the same moment he had used Leonidas in the first real battle. Those eyes... They were just as fierce as they had been then. It made him tense up, and the fact that it was in a human almost made him certain of one thing.
Of course, the other security guard was not idle during this stare session. He quickly pulled out his shock baton and shouted at Dan to surrender. But with a nimble maneuver, Dan managed to trip the oncoming security guard and knock him down.
Ryuu and James were brought to their senses by the sound of the fall. James had a shock baton in one hand, just like the security guard. He was holding it tightly and standing right in front of the door.
His eyes flashed with anger as his nervousness and anxiety turned to rage. A few thorns protruded from his back and a menacing, monstrous voice emerged from his throat:
"Dan Kuso, Neo Dragonoid, and the unknown man. Stop trying in vain, you can't get in here!"
James swung the shock baton menacingly. If they got too close, he would knock them both out with a quick maneuver. He could have done it easily, but he took his time, curious only about the identity and purpose of this nameless man.
Dan and Drago blinked in surprise. Dan asked in surprise:
"Huh? How do you know my name?"
Drago paused instead of asking anything because of the feelings he was feeling. He was silent as he looked meaningfully at James with his emerald eyes. James' presence was very familiar. But he couldn't place where it was familiar from.
James grinned. He spoke in a mocking tone:
"I know everything about you, what you have done and will do. Your whole adventure. You must miss the Wyvern very much, don't you, Drago?"
Drago flapped his wings angrily as if he'd been hit over the head with a fake pitying expression.
"What are you talking about? Where did you-"
James interrupted him.
"It doesn't matter at this stage. You want to blow up the controllers and I won't let you."
As he said this, his gaze hardened and he turned to Ryuu with a serious expression on his face.
"The real question here is who you are. Who are you... You?"
Up until this point, James had thought that the plot, the main story's protagonist, would be his biggest obstacle, but his senses were clearly telling him that it was this nameless man in front of him instead. He needed to know his identity. The sense of danger was warning him more than ever.
Ryuu was having similar thoughts. Was he a reincarnator or not? How much knowledge did he have?
To find out and measure it, he answered mysteriously:
"Someone who knows about giant robots born from bakugan."
If the other person was like him, he should have been shocked or reacted similarly. That's why he looked at James after he said that.
James looked at him without understanding. It had to be remembered that even if Bakugan was supposedly the last thing he had watched, his memories up to the second season were like glass right now.
He didn't understand what Ryuu was talking about. Or rather, he couldn't put much thought into it. But James was sure from the way he spoke that he was just like him.
Of course he expected something like this. If the power that reincarnated him or sent him here worked like a corporation, he wouldn't be the only one experiencing it. There had to be others like him.
And that was exactly what he was here for. Shock pointed his baton at Ryuu.
"I don't know what you're talking about, I don't care. A month... If you don't blow this place up for a month, I can stay human."
His words were sounding more and more monstrous. The position he was in right now was extremely delicate. They were in a place that transmitted stored energy upwards. Naturally, there were minimal leaks.
Because of this, a white aura was seeping around him from his most prominent emotion, anger. Fox warned him to calm down, but he didn't care.
What mattered was now, present.
Ryuu wondered if he had been wrong all this time, observing James' reactions. But there wasn't much time to think.
Drago shouted in shock at what he realized:
"What the hell are you!? You're not a Bakugan, nor a vestal."
James, for his part, was running out of patience, even though every time he won was in his favor. Quickly subduing the changeling might have been the best option.
Speaking of the changeling, what was the security guard who was supposed to be with him doing?
He looked down casually to see him lying unconscious on the floor and sighed. Really, they were so useless even though they were adults.
Dan asked Drago what had happened in the meantime. Drago, for the first time, hesitated to say. He couldn't even believe his own perceptions. He wasn't a Bakugan. But… he wasn't a Vestal too. Drago's question was flatly ignored by James.
What was this thing and what was his purpose? Could his words be trusted? So many unanswerable questions had popped up in his mind. But if there was one thing Drago knew, it was that they had to get through this place now.
And at that very moment, James suddenly disappeared.
This sudden disappearance stunned Ryuu and Daniel. But then, as if realizing something, Ryuu suddenly turned around and grabbed the space just behind Daniel's neck.
It was fast and almost as if he saw an attack coming from there.
Ryuu was holding the electric part of the Shock baton with a glove when James appeared!
James was stunned as his speed was detected for the first time!
In his current form, James was a being beyond superhuman. It was very difficult for bakugan in their current form to perceive him, let alone human perceptions.
And what was this now?
Daniel pushed himself forward a few steps in fear and looked at the scene behind him.
"What the hell is going on!?"
Ryuu grinned, ignoring Daniel.
"I have no idea what's going on, freak. But the thing I trust most in this life is my intuition."
Ryuu wanted to live an ordinary life, but he also paradoxically wanted to be involved in a thousand and one things in the world he came from, so he had trained himself as much as possible in various activities such as martial arts and swimming.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was in the fittest and ideal form a human being could be. Not muscular, of course, but acceptable enough.
Taking advantage of James' momentary confusion, Ryuu shouted in pain.
"Daniel, run for the door, it's up to you."
Ryuu had grabbed a pair of electrically insulated gloves to protect him in case he was treacherously shocked from behind, but that still didn't stop him from being in pain. His arms were already going numb.
This brought Daniel to his senses, unsure of what to do. He wanted to help, but in that moment he realized that his presence could do nothing but harm.
Even though Daniel could put himself in a stupid situation many times, and he was stupid in some ways, he was not actually that stupid. He gritted his teeth and ran for the door, telling him to just hang on!
James realized this and in his panic, he dropped the shock baton without bothering to save it and disappeared. Even though he disappeared, he was moving forward in afterimages and an ominous trail of white light could be seen immediately following him.
The shock baton closed as it fell to the ground with a loud thud. This sound was, of course, easily ignored by the commotion in the background.
Ryuu did not lose track of James' subsequent movements for a moment. He hurriedly commanded the system:
"System, load abilities, now!"
With that command, his arms and legs suddenly swelled madly. An air similar to what James had felt, but much more chaotic, filled his arms and legs. The sleeves of his black coat and pants were ripped to shreds, exposing veins of purple energy flowing through his arms and legs.
Ryuu screamed in pain as the veins throbbed. It felt like his veins, his fibers, his bones were being ripped apart. He already knew it would feel like this. Yet he hadn't hesitated for a moment to use it. It was the only way to save his partner Leonidas. They had to bring down the damn system here!
It hurt so bad. It hurt so bad that his screams of pain were the most distinct sound Ryuu could hear!
Purple particles surrounded Ryuu, accompanying his screams. It wasn't as solid a layer as James' white aura. Unlike his unnaturally freaky aura, Ryuu felt much more Bakugan.
Yet this Bakugan-like aura was ironically much more chaotic than James' aura.
James, meanwhile, had arrived behind Dan in less than a quarter of a second. He swung his fist, overflowing with demonic white aura, at Dan with as little force as possible. It wasn't to kill him. Only to eliminate him.
James' fist, covered in ominous white, was about to slam into Dan with shockwave-like speed when it was suddenly blocked by a palm!
Boom!
His fist was quickly grasped. James looked at the blocking Ryuu with widened eyes.
Even Ryuu's eyes were now glowing with purple particles. His presence felt like a creature. There were many swollen veins visible and his skin was getting darker and darker.
At first, James considered the possibility that he was a half-bakugan like himself but then dismissed the possibility. Fox had clearly used words to indicate that he was one of a kind and he trusted her.
"What… what are you!?"
The question came out of James's throat like a growl. Someone interfering in his business, someone using superhuman strength... This couldn't be an ordinary person. It made much more sense that it was a reincarnator like him!
Ryuu spat blood in James' face as he grinned.
"That's none of your business."
Ryuu laughed as a flaming orb of purple and black particles appeared in his other hand. James had one eye on Daniel at this moment and his heart pounded with panic when he realized he was almost at the door!
James pulled his hand away with all his might and Ryuu's fingers were quickly severed with the speed of the pull. Blood and fingers flew into the air!
James turned his attention away from Ryuu and focused completely on Dan. He was going to try to reach Dan with a big jump, using the power from his feet.
He powered up his feet and was about to take off when...
He realized he had missed something. While his senses kept alerting him, what he had missed was the orb of purple particle flame Ryuu had created.
And when he realized it, he couldn't react. He was hit in the stomach by a ball of flame that grew and grew!
He tried to jump to escape, but the ball of flame grew larger and larger and completely covered James, and there was an accompanying explosion.
KABOOOM!
The winds picked up and smoke rose as if a bomb had exploded! Daniel was already at the door, but before he could get in, he stood dumbfounded.
What he was watching was so blood-curdling... so inhuman... Daniel couldn't move.
Drago's cries for Daniel's name were the most distinct sound through the smoke, dust, and dirt.
The flames, a mixture of purple and black, were still burning all around. As the dust dispersed, the flame breezes became more and more pronounced. It was such a destructive force that it ravaged the area.
When the dust cleared, an exhausted Ryuu was the first to emerge. Black blood flowed madly from the burst veins in his arms and legs. The black blood soaked Ryuu like mucus, and it was hard to understand how he could even stand.
Daniel shouted:
"Ryuu!"
Ryuu coughed and barely turned his head towards Daniel. When he moved to run towards him, he immediately shouted:
"Go!!!"
Daniel paused at that. He couldn't leave his friend like this. He might die if he left him like this! But at that moment Ryuu's gaze: it was so pleading...
Dan's stubbornness was broken. It was the first time Daniel had ever so meekly done as he was told. Besides, if he rescued the Bakugans, he and Drago could easily go somewhere for help!
With that thought in mind, he rushed through the door. As soon as the automatic door opened and closed with difficulty...
A pair of white lights were seen through the billowing smoke and purple flames burning on the ground.