Siren was, as usual, the center of attention as she made her way home. She was usually quite happy about that, but now… she felt an uneasiness that she couldn't understand. She was hesitant, her steps were slow.
Should she go to the restaurant? Or… maybe she should not?
Siren had always trusted her intuition, even in her conversation with Xayah, and she had never been wrong. If she felt an uneasiness, then something was wrong. She was almost certain of that.
So, when she finally decided that she would not rest until she went to the restaurant to see for herself, she heard a voice.
"Siren, Siren!"
Xayah barely came to her senses at the second shout. She looked around absentmindedly. When she realized it was Xayah, she stopped and asked:
"Is something wrong?"
When she said this, she paused in surprise. She saw a flash of a purple ball in her inner pocket. At first, it looked like it had happened to Xayah. However, all the bakugans in her pocket began to glow. The purple and a few different colored bakugans mixed in between were glowing with their own attribute colors!
With that, she could hear many voices.
"Free at last!"
"Vestal girl, let us out."
"Finally!"
She asked in surprise when she heard the voices:
"What's going on!?"
Before Siren could answer, the bakugans in her pocket popped out one by one. Xayah's hurried voice answered.
"Hurry and throw me out, Siren! We are finally getting our freedom."
Siren hurriedly picked up Xayah and threw her. Immediately after, she threw the ones she couldn't get out of her pocket. When she threw them all, Siren saw a visual feast.
All kinds of bakugans appeared, some in the air, some on the ground. From Siege, who appeared as a noble knight, to Verias, who appeared in black fur, wielding a club and spinning around and around, all kinds of bakugans could be seen. But the most noticeable detail would be that they were all humanoid.
Siren found the humanoid bakugans more interesting, so she always filled her quota with them. Of course, there were other bakugans too. Haos Atchibee, for example, with its mesmerizing wings, carrying a terrifying scythe where its hands should be. Ventus Fly Beetle, looking strange but powerful. And more…
The most fascinating and impressive of all was, obviously, Xayah. Black enough to absorb the light of day, but with a wing design so mesmerizing that it was revealed by the embroidery of its feathers.
When Xayah appeared, there were surprised cries. Siren was utterly bewildered and confused. Was this the source of her feeling of discomfort? Had the power restraining them been removed?
Still, she shook her head from side to side and refused. Xayah gave a concerned smile as she looked at Siren.
"Finally... I can stand like this freely finally."
As she flexed her muscles, the other bakugans were trying to recover. A variety of them had appeared and shocked the vestals. Each of them was talking to their partners-vestals, preventing them from having an accident.
Xayah and the other bakugans thanked Siren for kindly taking care of them. Unlike the others, Xayah was already aware that they were intelligent creatures. Although she didn't help them, she didn't mistreat them either.
A small thanks was more than appropriate for the fact that she took more than enough care of them all. When it was Xayah's turn last, she held out her hand.
"You remember what I told you, right?"
Xayah had a sad smile on her face. Siren was a good friend and partner, but their goals were very different. When she had the opportunity she was looking for, now was the time for them to part.
Siren, on the other hand, had a sad expression on her face. Fortunately, the mask helped to hide it for the most part.
"You said that when you reached your freedom... this partnership would end. I remember."
She took Xayah's large hand in her own small one and stepped on it. Xayah lifted her up and sat her on her shoulder, letting her look around from his point of view. Then she murmured sadly:
"That was fun. You are a good vestal, Esther."
Siren could hear the sadness in her voice at their parting, but Xayah was clear and determined. As sad as Siren was, there was almost nothing they could do.
Unlike her, many vestals were in shock. The Bakugans were soothing them in a very humane way. It was a very peaceful scene, big monsters talking to tiny vestals.
What could disturb that? Couldn't it? What could?
For some reason Xayah wondered about that for a moment, then a specific name came to mind and she frowned. She hadn't told Siren yet, but what had happened to 'him'? She had questions about that… being. Had he lost control?
Just as she wondered that, there was a scream - no, a roar - coming from the side of the arena. It was a roar of pain and anguish and a kind of rebellion against the injustice done to him. It didn't sound like a full roar. It was like a man and a dragon singing the same painful song. These sounds, heard at the same time, were ear-splitting and frightening.
Siren was stunned. The human part of the voice was very familiar, but too distorted to make out who it was. Still, Siren knew only one name that sounded familiar.
"Isn't that... James' voice?"
She was filled with curiosity and concern for her friend. Xayah hesitated for a moment. It was dangerous. It was certainly not wise to take risks, but Xayah was just as curious as Siren. Biting her lower lip, she spoke:
"Let's go and take a look at this. Hold on tight!"
With that, Siren and Xayah flew forward with curiosity. Clinging tightly to Xayah's neck, Siren could feel things spinning rapidly. It took her a while to get used to being on top of him.
But what she saw next stunned both Siren and Xayah.
What they saw was a dragon-like creature. The light reflected on its silver scales, giving anyone the illusion of a flawed elegance. But a much closer look revealed just how deplorable and horrible the situation was.
The first thing that stood out was its arms. They were abnormally long and large. Muscles like those of a gorilla were visible. At the elbow, they could see a protrusion like a long, sharp knife. It was followed by a series of small ridges. Glitches could be seen on his arms above the elbow. It was as if it was a game character it wasn't supposed to be.
Its left hand - no, its claw - was pressed to the ground. Long, sharp ivory-colored fingernails could be seen. At the end of these nails, there were some glitches.
Its right hand was in the air and formed into a fist. It was bent at an angle facing the ground. It stood ready to strike the ground and ominous white flames radiated from it. Its ominousness could be felt from a glance. Although this bakugan looked like Haos, it was clearly not Haos.
Flames like the ominous white flames on its right hand could also be seen through its eye sockets. These raging flames, which made even the pupil of the eye invisible, were ominously emanating from the eye sockets!
Its face was completely transformed into a dragon's head. The protrusions on its spine had gradually diminished until they reached the top of his head. Each of the ridges was like sharp thorns. But some of them were glitched as they came towards his head and did not look like thorns at all.
Steam was coming out of the mouth of this dragon-like beast. The vapor would glitch in the air and disappear.
Its tail, covered with ridges, wriggled in the air like a snake. As a result of the writhing, the tip of the tail camped in the air like a camper and went tangent to a building.
Xayah and Siren were stunned by what they saw! Just... what was this thing? No one had expected anything like this.
As everyone stood dumbfounded, the dragon-like beast stopped instead of slamming its right hand on the ground. It turned its head towards Xayah and roared again! This time, the roar was much more beastly. The human scream subsided.
All of Xayah's fur stood on end. This was as real as it was metaphorical. Her wing, with its feathers, became a barbed shield to protect both Siren and herself.
The vibrations that accompanied the beast's scream carried a power that was hard to comprehend. The ground cracked and all the glass shattered! Xayah only took a step back. This was subtle, but not that powerful.
Xayah was surprised but quickly regained her attention. This creature was wild and aggressive. It was a threat to both the bakugan and the vestals around.
Even though she didn't like vestals very much, she had to protect them for Siren. With this in mind, she quickly threw her feathers to cut around it!
Well, her throw was successful because this dragon-like beast did not even move. The flames in its hand were extinguished, but the other ones in its eyes grew much fiercer, and the veins in its body twitched uncomfortably as they grew fiercer.
For a moment, however, the silver flames turned purple. But then it disappeared without a trace. It flicked the ground with its tail and suddenly dashed towards Xayah!
It was fast and powerful, but not too powerful for Xayah. In fact, it was… pathetic. She dodged it quickly by pulling back. But the impact of the blow would have hit a building. Seeing it, Subterra Verias parried the claw blow with its long and sturdy club.
Subterra Verias shouted as it pushed the claw away, making monkey-like noises:
"Ua! Ua! Calm down, my friend! Why are you acting like that?"
At this moment, Xayah's voice was heard:
"That thing is not a bakugan... That thing is a freak. Everybody, be careful! We need to get that thing out of this city."
Xayah said these words after landing Siren in a safe place and took the lead. Subterra Verias, not fully understanding the situation, made monkey noises once again and pushed the dragon-like beast a little further.
And, particularly at this moment, brown particles from Subterra Verias began to enter the dragon-like beast. The dragon-like beast's mouth closed and opened. It was as if it was saying something. But unfortunately, it was impossible to understand.
His muscles clenched and he roared in pain as he pressed his claw even harder. As he gripped it with his right paw, he reached out with his left paw to grab it and grabbed it!
Subterra Verias suddenly shouted:
"Ua! I'm losing something inside me! Help! Stoneskin!"
Subterra Verias' brown fur was completely covered with gray stones and filled with power. But along with it, the brown particle that came out increased greatly and began to flow into the dragon-like beast!
Everyone else looked strange when they saw this. Xayah didn't know what was happening and hesitated whether to make a move or not, but finally, she leaped into the air and quickly shot out dozens of feathers!
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The feathers he threw glowed with purple particles and hit the dragon-like beast, which did not even attempt to retreat!
After the feathers hit each other, the dragon-like beast roared once more. Its roar had an anguished tone as if it was begging for relief from its pain. But with it, its pressure on Verias increased. The feathers that hit seemed to sink deep. Gray blood flowed down where the feathers had pierced.
Which was weird. Normally the blood of bakugan would be red, like that of humans and even vestals.
At this moment several more Bakugan came and tried to block it. One grabbed it in the stomach. Others grabbed its arms and legs.
"Stop it!"
Someone shouted.
"Viik! What is your purpose?"
Another questioned.
Despite all the pressure and pain, purple and brown particles were entering the body of the dragon-like beast. Green, blue, and white particles also entered from the bakugan holding it, but they paled in comparison to the brown.
Each time it entered his body, the white flames in its eyes and protrusions would flare up and the glitches would increase.
Eventually, Verias's Stoneskin ability began to disintegrate as the pressure increased. Their efforts to hold him back were pointless. As they grew weaker by the second, the dragon-like beast grew stronger by the second.
Verias took a few steps back as its claws applied more pressure. The dragon-like beast swung his tail swiftly, and the tail swipe hit its body and completely shattered its ability!
There was an opening as the disintegration caught everyone off guard.
As Verias was dumbfounded by the shattering of its ability, the dragon-like beast grabbed the two stupid bakugan and threw it over him, sinking two rows of shark-like, shiny teeth into the stick and tearing it apart with a crunching sound!
As it bit down, the brown particles that made up the stick were consumed by the dragon-like beast. As it was consumed, the dragon-like beast grew in size, and its neck elongated. In the black ring on its chest, the brown slice appeared like an illusion.
Meanwhile, despite the other bakugan's attempts to slow it down and block it with various abilities, the beast attacked with even greater ferocity, grabbing the panicked Verias by the throat and lifting him into the air.
Staring into the eye sockets, which were bursting with white flames, a panicked and frightened Verias tried his best.
But as the brown particles were consumed, its strength diminished. As its strength diminished, its movements weakened. Everyone with a long-range attack tried to attack the beast, but it did not care or pay any attention to this and focused all its attention on Verias.
Finally, there was a muffled groan, and Verias... was completely shattered into brown particles.
Verias just died, helplessly.
As everyone was shocked by the absurdity of the situation, the head of the dragon-like beast slowly lowered towards the bakugan holding it. A growl and an uncomfortable steam escaped from its mouth.
Without any deliberate meaning, the same thought crossed everyone's minds, if only for a moment. Who was next?