The mood was dire, in the Battle Brawler's HQ.

After Spectra had expunged the hack that had allowed Thalia to control the systems in the city, they had all checked the CCTV footage in the area. A single camera had been able to capture the moment when Thalia's face mask broke, revealing the person hidden behind it.

"That is Runo," Joe cried in shock. "I can't believe it."

"It doesn't make any sense," Aranaut cried. "Mistress Runo wouldn't do something like this. She might have a temper, but she's a good person. And what's with that Bakugan, looking almost exactly like Mistress Tigrerra? Well...in the face, anyway."

"That's what Tigrerra used to look like," Joe replied. "Before she evolved. Just like how Skyreign looks like how Skyress was before she evolved. And from what the others told us, the other Rugenga have Bakugan that look like Hydranoid and Drago, back when they were in their first forms."

"So what are they?" Moondancer asked. "Is it possible whatever happened to them, turned them evil?"

"I don't know," Mira sighed. "If it did, it must have also given Marucho a growth spurt. And if something did turn them evil, did it also make the Bakugan revert back to their base forms? If so, why? There's so many questions left unanswered." The others agreed, wishing they had at least one answer.

"So what happens now?" Flash asked.

"Well," Spectra spoke up. "We completed the scan on your dimensional background energy. Now it's just a matter of locating the world with the same dimensional energy signature. But that could take a while. For now, you should all get some rest. You've been through a lot since getting here." They didn't like the idea of just going to bed, but they knew they didn't have much of a choice.

Kato, the butler, soon arrived and showed them all to the rooms they would be staying in.

Said rooms weren't as large as the ones they had at the castle, but they were just as luxurious. And as Flash jumped onto the large bed, Leonidas leapt onto a nearby table and spun open. "Not bad. I could get used to living in this kind of luxury."

Don't get too excited," Flash told him. "Hopefully, we'll be back in Equestria soon. And even more hopefully, we'll deal with the Rugenga and be heading back home once that's done." Leonidas nodded, as the pair of them started to relax.

Flash soon got up and removed his jacket, also finding some spare sleep clothing of multiple sizes in the nearby closet.

Once he was dressed in some comfortable sleepwear, he headed back to his bed and really got to relax. But before he could fall to sleep, he heard a knock and looked up to see the door open before Twilight stepped inside.

She was dressed in a blue nightdress and looked a little sheepish. "Hey. Is it okay if I sleep in here tonight?" Flash smiled and nodded, moving over to let her lay down beside him. "Thanks. That bed in there is so big, there's no way I'd be able to sleep in it."

"No problem," Flash sighed as he put his arm around her. Leo decided to leap away from the bed and landed on the windowsill on the far side of the room. This allowed the pair to hold one another, Twilight having removed her glasses to hold him tight. "Been a while since we got to do this."

"Yeah," Twilight smiled. "I'm sorry I caused us to come here."

"It's not your fault. And at least we learned some more about the Rugenga. And when we get back to Vestroia, I'm sure Spectra and the others will come with us. With their help, those creeps won't stand a chance." Twilight smiled and snuggled closer to him, as Flash's mind wandered back to Equestria and Vestroia.

Even though the Rugenga were down three members, the remaining three were just as dangerous. There was no telling what kind of trouble they could cause. Flash could only hope they would return home before they did anything serious that their friends would have to clear up.

The next day.

Within his lab, Beck was working on the device to open another breach.

Using what he could find, he managed to rework the device and smiled as he connected a computer up to it. "This should do it." He typed at the computer, as it ran a diagnostic on the device. As he did, Predator floated above him.

"We good?" He asked. "How long until we can open a portal?"

Beck checked the results and smiled, nodding as he did so. "Yes. The results are in. We're heading to Equestria." Predator cheered, as he headed out of the lab and made his way through the base until they arrived at the bridge.

Kiyrah and Azalea were both in there with their Bakugan, the two turning to him as he walked in carrying the device. "Is that what I think it is?" Azalea asked, looking giddy as she pushed herself up out of her seat.

Beck chuckled, as he held the device up. "If you think it's our way into Equestria, you're right. With this, we'll be able to open a stable portal into that world."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Kiyrah asked. "Using that thing when the dimensional wall was stable is one thing. But we have no idea what that incident did to the space between worlds. What if you use that thing and it rips a massive hole in the dimension. I want to rule these worlds, not have them crash into one another."

"Relax," Beck told her. "I've made sure nothing like that could happen. The portals we make will be stable."

"How long will they last?" Hydread asked. "If they only stay open for a short time, we won't be able to do much before getting stranded in Equestria."

"I already thought about that." Beck held up his Baku-Bracer. "I'm going to implant a new beacon system into our Bracers, that'll connect to this device. So long as one of us is here to use it, they can open a portal to the exact location the beacon is coming from."

"Nice" Azalea smirked. "Alright. So who's gonna try it out first?"

"I made it," Beck stated. "I have every confidence it'll work perfectly. But just in case something unexpected happens, I'll be the one to test it out first. One of you two can head there afterwards, so long as the other remains behind." But as he said that, the computers beeped to alert them of something.

Kiyrah headed over to it and checked, nodding as she did. "Looks like you won't need to use it. A breach just opened up."

"Perfect," Beck laughed. "You were concerned about this, so you can use that portal and I'll use this one. We'll hit two areas simultaneously. That'll force the Defenders to split their focus and we'll be able to do more damage." Kiyrah nodded, but Azalea slumped.

"That means I have to stay behind? No fair. Goliath and I want the chance to crush some Defender Bakugan. Ain't that right, Golly."

"I am anxious to battle," Goliath agreed. "But I'm also fine with staying behind if they need us to." Azalea huffed, but nodded as Beck and Kiyrah made preparations to head out. Soon, the Defenders wouldn't know what hit them.

Back in Equestria, everyone was in the castle library. Princess Twilight was with them, trying to find anything on dimensional communication.

"If we can find a spell to let me contact Sunset and the others, we can find out if they made it to the other world. And if they didn't, we might be able to bring them back to this world." The others were in agreement, all hoping they made it back home. But they also knew there was a chance they had been thrown to some unknown universe made of blenders or something.

Dragonia had been working to establish a connection with Leonidas, but it was a slow process. And they needed as many aces in the hole as possible. Even though the Rugenga were down three members, that didn't make them any less dangerous.

Amazon suddenly pushed a bunch of scrolls out of a kite-shaped hold in a shelf and caused a bunch of dust to be released, the Aquos Bakugan accidentally breathing it in before he started sniffing. "Ah...ah...ah...CHOO!" He accidently blasted snot all over the scrolls, which Lyra was about to pick up.

"Ew!" Lyra pulled her hand away and glared at Amazon, who sniffed as a sweatdrop appeared on his head.

"Sorry. All these dusty books are really killing me with my allergies. Why do we have to look through all these boring things? Dragonia's gonna find a way to contact Leo."

"She's gonna try," Twilight told him. "But Dragonia's power isn't at its fullest right now. Even if she manages to locate Leonidas, opening a portal to him could drain a lot of her power. Power she might need in the future. It's best if we find a way to transport them back here ourselves."

"Can't we just use the dimensional transporter?" Gunstinger asked.

"We've never used it to go anywhere except Vestroia and Equestria," Twilight replied. "Besides, the transporter works by tapping into the natural connection between worlds. A connection formed when the Guardians brought the Bakugan here. That connection doesn't exist between Equestria and wherever the others ended up. Our only hope to find them, is to open a portal ourselves. That's our best chance."

"Fine," Amazon sighed as Lyra picked a scroll up by the edges with two fingers.

She threw it at Twilight, who simply caught it in her magic to keep from touching the snot covered scroll. After performing a quick drying spell, she unfurled it and started reading. "Nothing here. Maybe there's a way to combine several spells in order to create a way to track and transport them all."

Soarin frowned, as he carried a stack of books over to her. "I don't know much about magic. But is that actually safe?"

"Of course it...is. Um..." Twilight used her magic to lift the books and flick them open. "Creating new spells from old ones is something a lot of ancient Unicorns did. Magic used to be very simple, only able to do simple things. But when it was discovered one could combine magic, a whole new realm of possibilities was born. Fusing two relatively simple spells into something more advanced, then fusing that spell with another advanced spell. And so on and so on, until anything becomes possible."

"Still sounds kind of dangerous," Soarin told her. "Twilight...the other Twilight, thought she knew what she was doing when she opened that portal. And that caused this whole mess."

Princess Twilight chuckled. "No insult to your friend. But I've got a better understanding of all this stuff. The whole reason I was able to become an alicorn princess, was because I managed to complete a spell that the greatest wizard of all time couldn't finish. I know what I'm doing."

"If you say so," Braeburn frowned before handing her another book.

But before Twilight could try and read it, the Defender's Baku-Bracers all beeped and they realised their homework would have to wait. Twilight put the book down and flew over to them, her horn glowing as she enveloped them all in her magic and teleported them into the control hub.

"Where's the breach?" Soarin asked, but Rosemary frowned as she worked on it.

"I'm unsure where it is in Vestroia. The sensors there are still suffering from what happened before." They frowned, as the holographic map appeared and showed when the breach was located in Equestria. "It's about a mile or two away from the Crystal Empire."

"The Crystal Empire?" Twilight looked worried. "Shining...Cadance."

"Looks like we've got no choice," Soarin stated. "We'll have to warp to this place and head to the breach from there." They nodded, only for another alarm to go off. "Now what?"

Rosemary and the others managed to quickly locate the reason for the second alarm and were shocked. "Another breach is forming."

"What?" Celestia looked shocked, "two? There's never been two breaches open at the same time."

"Until now," Lyra frowned. "Could it be because of what happened before? Maybe the other Twilight's actions, weakened the dimensional barrier."

"It's possible," Twilight agreed. "But does that mean more breaches could open at the same time."

"A'h say we focus on these ones for now," Braeburn stated. "Where's the other breach open at?" The controllers managed to pinpoint the Equestrian exit and highlighted it on the map, their eyes going wide when they saw the exact location.

Manehatten was the biggest city in Equestria, being almost twice the size of Canterlot and having roughly four times as many buildings. The place was so jam packed, it was impossible to walk down a street without bumping into somepony.

The city was built upon a large peninsula of Equestria, with the ocean on either side of the city. North of that peninsula was a giant plot of land that meant the water between them formed a large bay area, with a bridge connecting the tip of the peninsula to the mainland. This made the city a perfect port city, with ships from all over sailing in to distribute its goods.

Within the city, ponies and Bakugan were living their busy lives whilst keeping a watchful eye out for the Rugenga.

A breach had occurred a while back and both the Ventus and Subterra Rugenga, had used it to attack the city and capture several Bakugan. The damage had been repaired, but the sting was still fresh in everyone's hearts.

So when the Bakugan suddenly felt a sensation they recognised, they all began to worry. "A breach is forming!" A Darkus Bakugan yelled, making everyone begin to panic.

The ponies asked where the breach was and all the Bakugan pointed out towards the bay, where a shimmer was located. And that shimmer quickly opened to create a full portal to Vestroia, which the ponies and Bakugan new could mean the Rugenga would arrive. And they did.

A transport flew out of it and moved towards the mainland, Beck inside ready to do some serious damage.

"Manehatten," Beck chuckled. "Azalea said it looked like a pretty fun place to be. We'll have to see what fun things they have, once we're finished making this place ours."

"Oh yeah," Predator laughed. "I can't wait to see what good food they have here. We can gorge ourselves stupid, once all the Bakugan and Ponies are under thumb." Beck nodded, only to suddenly get a signal coming from the mainland.

"Transporter signal," he told his partner. "Looks like the ponies realised we made it through the portal. This should be fun." He flew in that direction, as a light could be seen on one of the streets next to the water's edge.

From out of it, Braeburn appeared and the Earth Pony looked up at the ship. As he did, he remembered what he and the others had agreed to.

Moments ago.

"Manehatten?" Twilight asked, seeing the portal's location was within the city itself. She remembered the last time that had happened and it hadn't been good. "I hope Rarity didn't decide to take a trip there."

"What's the plan?" Amazon asked. "Do we go to this new one, because it's in the city? Or to that Crystal Empire place?"

"We can't leave one place unprotected," Valkyria stated. "Our only option is to split up and go to both places."

"So two of us go to the Crystal Empire and the other four go to Manehatten?" Gunstinger asked. "Or the other way around?"

"No," Celestia replied. "One team goes to Manehatten. Another goes to the Crystal Empire. And the third stays here." That statement surprised them, but Celestia quickly explained. "Those two portals might be the only ones to open right now. But we don't know that for sure."

Twilight nodded. "A third might open."

"And if that happens, somepony needs to go and protect it. And I can only pray that a fourth doesn't open." The Defenders all nodded. They weren't sure if the portals would open more regularly now, but they had to keep Equestria safe. No matter what.

Now.

The ship flew low until it was right above the water and came to a stop, the top opening with Beck standing up to stare at him. "Beck!" Braeburn growled. "How the heck did you get to the portal so quickly?"

"It's quite easy, when you're the one who made the breach."

Braeburn's eyes widened, as he realised why two portals had opened at the same time. "You opened your own breach?" Beck smirked, the cowboy realising things might have just gotten a whole lot more difficult. If the Rugenga could open their own portals, it meant they could come and go from Vestroia whenever they wanted.

"Scared?" Beck asked, "you should be. Now that you don't have the advantage of reaching the breach before us, this world will fall."

"Not gonna happen!" Gunstinger told him. "You might have come to Equestria, but you won't go any further than that. You'll have to get through us, if you want to do anything here."

"Why, that's exactly what I plan on doing." As Beck said that, Predator floated up.

"So these are the Defenders," the Aquos Bakugan chuckled. "I have to say, they don't look like much. Shouldn't take us too long to wash them away and get back to work." The other two frowned, as they realised this must have been Beck's true partner. If that was true, it meant this was going to be a tough battle.

Braeburn checked his Baku-Bracer and set it to scan the surrounding area, as he looked around and saw that there were a bunch of ponies running out of nearby buildings in an attempt to get away. He had to be careful. If he activated his field, he would cause them to all feel pain and be unable to move.

"There's somethin' a'h want to know before we do this!" Braeburn stated. "Why? You've never told us why the heck ya'h so eager ta make all the Bakugan yours. What possible reason could ya'h have, for attacking Vestroia and Equestria?"

Beck chuckled. "For us, it's a matter of survival. If we don't make the Bakugan ours, we will simply cease to exist. Either we take their energy for ourselves, or our lives will simply end pitifully." Braeburn and Gunstinger frowned, unsure what he meant by that. Why would their lives end without the Bakugan?

"That makes no sense."

"It makes all the sense in the world," Beck stated. "To us at least. You might not be able to understand, but that's your problem and not mine. Now if we're done talking, let's get this over with."

"Wait," Braeburn cried. "There has ta be another way. A'h sure if ya'h just explained the issue, we'd be able to find a way ta help ya'h."

"It's too late for that," Predator stated. "This is our only chance, now stop stalling and let's get brawling."

Agreed!" Beck activated the Baku-Bracer and Braeburn did the same, making sure to keep the field from only covering the water and the now empty area of the bay. The field was soon established and the power-ups appeared, both of them glaring at each other as their life gauges appeared. "LET'S BRAWL!"

Beck: 100%
Braeburn: 100%

As soon as the match began, Braeburn took out a card and threw it. "Gate Card...SET!" The card hit the water and exploded, as Braeburn leapt into the air. "Bakugan...BRAWL!" He threw his partner forward and hit several power-ups before landing on the ground. "Gunstinger...STAND!" The Bakugan spun open and a tornado of sand exploded out of him, covering their side of the battlefield before exploding to reveal the snake cowboy.

"Let's go!" He hissed, his tail blaster ready to fire as the power-ups kicked in.

Gunstinger: 720Gs

Beck chuckled, as he held up a Bakugan. "It's finally time, my friend. Let's do this." The transport flew up as he threw it. "Bakugan...BRAWL!" The Aquos Bakugan sailed through the air, hitting several power-ups before landing on the water. "Bakugan...STAND!"

The other two watched, as the Bakugan popped open and the water beneath it exploded upwards into a water column.

The pair flinched, as water began to rain down from the top of the spout. And within it, a dark figure appeared. "Allow me to introduce...Aquos Predator!" The water exploded off the Bakugan and revealed its true form.

It was a strange lizard-like Bakugan, whose body was a mix of dark purple, blue and black. Its main body was a dark purple colour, but it had dark blue armor running down its arms, sides, the front of its legs and feet. It had a strange collar around its neck, that looked like black fish fins coming out the top of its blue and black helmet that surrounded its entire neck and shoulders. Only the front of its head and neck were uncovered by this.

Black fins were coming out the sides of its arms, with black spikes sticking out its elbows and black knee-pads on its legs. Its stomach was dark blue and covered in tiny black spikes, which also ran down the sides of its arms and legs.

The lizard jumped forward and landed on the water, standing on its surface without issue whilst taking a Spider-Man pose. "Hello there," he said in a creepy way. "So nice to eat ya'h." He cackled, his long tongue sticking out before he snapped his teeth together.

Predator: 530Gs
Gunstinger: 730Gs

Braeburn and Gunstinger frowned, as the power-ups kicked in and Predator's power rose.

Predator: 780Gs
Gunstinger: 730Gs

Before Braeburn could try and activate his own ability, Beck managed to swipe a card first. "Ability, Activate!" Predator thrust his hands forward and water exploded out from under him. "Hydro Cage!" The water flew down and slammed into Gunstinger, making him cry out as it formed a large sphere he was trapped within.

Predator: 780Gs
Gunstinger: 580Gs

Gunstinger began to panic, as he felt himself running out of breath. If he didn't do something quick, he was gonna drown and revert back to ball form.

But Braeburn managed to swipe a card before that happened. "Ability, Activate!" Gunstinger pointed his tail towards the edge of the water sphere, "Quickdraw Sand Shot!"

Predator: 780Gs
Gunstinger: 880Gs

Sand exploded out of his tail and struck the water, ripping through whatever was keeping it from escaping. The water exploded out the whole and Gunstinger fell out with it, quickly pointing his gun towards Predator and firing again.

Predator hissed, as the attack slammed into him over and over again. But Beck quickly swiped a card. "Ability, Activate!" Predator leapt back and started moving his hands in a strange way, "Aqua Ninja!"

"Now you see me..." Suddenly, he completely vanished. "Now you don't."

"No way," Braeburn cried, as he and Gunstinger tried to see where he went. But he was completely gone. And before either of them could think of a way to find him, something suddenly slammed into Gunstinger from behind.

"GYAH!" He cried, crashing into the ground as he heard Predator's annoying cackle.

Predator: 930Gs
Gunstinger: 730Gs

Gunstinger pushed himself up, but suddenly felt himself getting punched by something he couldn't see. And when he tried to blast where the punch had come from, he missed. "Not there," Predator laughed before the snake was kicked again. He tried to sweep his tail, but it didn't work. "Not there either." Another punch and when Gunstinger fired randomly, he still missed. "Oh, so close."

"This is infuriating!" Gunstinger growled. Braeburn frowned, only to then realise what he had to do.

"Double Ability, Activate!" Predator was rushing towards Gunstinger, completely invisible. But before he could land another punch, the sand that had been scattered by Gunstinger's entrance and attacks exploded upwards and forward a tornado around the cowboy. "Sand Barrier, Plus Rattle Break!"

Predator couldn't stop in time and slammed into the barrier, making him hiss as his invisible body became covered in sand. "Augh!" He couldn't stay invisible, allowing Gunstinger to spot him.

Predator: 780Gs
Gunstinger: 1080Gs

He raised his rattle arm and charged, breaking through the tornado and throwing his attack forward. It slammed into Predator and knocked him backwards, the Aquos Bakugan hissing as he was thrown backwards into the water.

"YES!" Braeburn cheered, hoping that would be enough to know Predator down. But beck just chuckled.

"Don't get cocky." He swiped a card. "Ability, Activate!" Suddenly, the water exploded upwards and swirled around. "Blue Tornado!" The swirling vortex arched around and shot towards Gunstinger, slamming into him before he could avoid it.

"Augh!" He cried, feeling his Rattle Break deactivate.

Predator: 780Gs
Gunstinger: 880Gs

Predator then swam into the tornado, following it as it curved down towards Gunstinger. But as he reached the Subterra Bakugan, he tried to deal a kick only to get blocked by his snake arm. "That's not enough!" He cried, pushing Predator away as the tornado exploded.

Braeburn then pointed towards the ground. "Gate Card, OPEN!" The ground began to glow, as stone pillars suddenly grew out of it. "Subterra Reactor!"

Predator: 780Gs
Gunstinger: 1080Gs

The stone pillars also grew out of the water, giving Predator less room to run and swim around. "Now I got you!" Gunstinger started firing, knowing that this was his best chance to knock him down.

Predator started jumping around, leaping off the water and using the pillars to bounce off or hide behind. "It ain't gonna be that easy to beat me!" Predator then leapt out from behind a pillar and as he did, his body suddenly started glowing. "Attribute...Change!" The light flew off him and when it did, it revealed his body was now a mix of brown, black and dark orange. "SUBTERRA!"

He landed in front of Gunstinger, as the Subterra Reactor powered him up.

Predator: 980Gs
Gunstinger: 1080Gs

"No way!" Gunstinger cried, as Braeburn realised what had happened.

"He's an attribute changer, like Amazon!" It was then that Beck swiped a card.

"Ability, Activate!" Predator suddenly shot forward, his entire body glowing brown. "Slumping Missile!" Predator threw his fist forward and transformed into a brown glowing projectile.

Predator: 1280Gs
Gunstinger: 1080Gs

And before Gunstinger could react, the projectile smashed into him at high speed and he let out a roar as he was thrown backwards. The cowboy cried out, as he was thrown backwards and reverted back to ball form. "NO!" Braeburn cried, his partner landing at his feet whilst his life gauge dropped. "A'h can't believe it."

Beck: 100%
Braeburn: 60%

Predator returned to Beck and the man chuckled, as Braeburn picked Gunstinger up. "Now you see the true power of my partner Bakugan." Braeburn glared at him. "What will you do now? You could barely stand up to me whenever I used normal Bakugan. How will you fare against me now that I'm at full power."

Braeburn said nothing, remembering all the times he had battled Beck in the past.

Though it had only been a few times, each fight ended with Braeburn losing whilst barely keeping his partner from being taken. And that was when Beck wasn't using this extra strong Bakugan. "Braeburn." He looked down, as Gunstinger spun open and looked up at him. "Don't listen to him. We can still win this thing."

"How?" Braeburn asked. "Against that kinda strength-"

"Strength isn't everything," Gunstinger told him. "We've faced bigger challenges than these bozos before. We were able to defeat Hydread and Skyreign. This guy's no different."

"Maybe," Braeburn frowned. "But we had Soarin's help last time. Now we're on our own."

"We're not on our own," Gunstinger assured him. "Don't forget. We have each other." Braeburn smiled at this. "We've had one another's backs since the day we met. You remember?" How could he forget. It was one of the strangest yet best days of the Earth Pony's life.

It had just been another day in Appaloosa.

Braeburn was heading out to the orchard, ready to pick a bunch of apples with the help of the buffalo and the rest of his town's ponies. The harvest had been good this year and he was sure the apple pies they made, were gonna be the best ones yet.

However, in that moment, a bright flash of light suddenly caught his attention.

He and the other citizens turned in the direction of Canterlot, where the light was coming from. And as they did, that light flew towards them in the sky. Many ponies were terrified, fearing it might be the return of Discord or another ancient evil. But as the light flew over them in a strange wave, something happened.

From out of the wave, a bunch of strange multicoloured balls began to fall and rained down on them.

Some thought it might be hail, though that seemed impossible in their climate. And as they reached the ground, some landed on the roofs of buildings and bounced off them. Others simply hit the ground, the ponies and buffalo moving to avoid them landing on their heads.

One hit the ground and rolled in the dust until it came to a stop at Braeburn's hooves, the pony looking down and seeing the ball. "What is this?" He reached down and picked it up, being careful in case it was hot or exploded.

Once he had it in hand, he held it up to get a better look. But he had never seen anything like it before.

"What are you?" Suddenly, the ball twitched. He was shocked, but didn't drop it. He kept staring at it until the ball sprang open, spinning around until it took a completely different shape.

"Wha...where am I?" Braeburn's eyes widened, as he realised whatever this thing was could talk.

"Um...Appaloosa."

"Appaloosa?" The creature looked around, "what happened? I was in Vestroia. Then...I can't quite remember."

"Vestroia?" Braeburn was utterly lost, but he could tell this little guy was confused and needed help. "Don't worry. Whatever happened, ya'h safe." He looked around and saw the others beginning to investigate the other balls, which all sprang open to reveal they were also alive. "If ya'h don't mind my askin'? Who are you? What are ya'h?"

"My name is Gunstinger," the ball creature replied. "I'm a Bakugan from Vestroia. And I think I was somehow sent out of my dimension and thrown into yours."

"Gunstinger," he tipped his hat. "A'm Braeburn. And a'h don't know much about this whole dimension and Bakugan stuff. But if ya'h need a place ta stay until ya'h figure all this out, Appaloosa is the place for ya'h."

"Really? You'd let me stay here? Even though we've only just met."

"Sure. A'h can't very well just turn ya'll away. Ya'h lost and don't know what ta do? It wouldn't be right to make ya'h leave until ya'h get ya'h bearings."

"Thank you," Gunstinger nodded. "You are clearly strong in character. I won't forget this kindness."

"And I haven't," Gunstinger told him. "You have always been a caring and strong individual. It's what I admire about you. When you decided to help us Bakugan get our home back, I knew I could trust you."

"Gunstinger," Braeburn smiled. "Thank you. But havin' a strong character, might not be enough ta help us beat these guys."

"I don't believe that," Gunstinger stated. "So long as we stick together and fight with everything we have, we'll find a way to overcome whatever powers and tricks they use against us. But we won't be able to win unless you believe we can win. Now, do you believe we can win?"

Braeburn frowned, trying to say it but having trouble. "Maybe."

"DO YOU BELIEVE WE CAN WIN!?" Gunstinger yelled, making him jump and almost forget what he was worried about.

"YES!" Braeburn yelled back, "a'h believe we can win!"

"Then let's do this!" Gunstinger rolled himself back up, whilst Beck seemed to have been waiting for them to finish their little talk.

"Are you done?" He asked, taking out a card as he did so. "Good. I was starting to get bored. Now that that's out of the way, it's time to finish you two off once and for all. "Gate Card...SET!" He threw the card and when it hit the water, it exploded as the transport flew up.

Meanwhile, Braeburn ran towards the edge of the pier before leaping up. "Bakugan...BRAWL!" They threw their partners, hitting the power-ups before landing on the ground and water. "Bakugan...STAND!"

Tornadoes of water and sand exploded upwards and from it, the two Bakugan appeared with the power-ups kicking in.

Predator: 730Gs
Gunstinger: 680Gs

As Braeburn landed, Beck quickly swiped his card. "Ability, Activate!" Once again, Predator moved his hands around like a guy doing a card trick. "Aqua Ninja!"

"Bye bye!" He vanished and Gunstinger went on guard, keeping an eye out for any sign he might be around. And suddenly a splashing sound made him look around and see wet footprints rushing towards him. "GOTCHA!" Predator punched him in the face, knocking him back.

Predator: 880Gs
Gunstinger: 530Gs

He grunted and hit the ground, but managed to push himself back up. "No. I got you!"

"Ability, Activate!" Gunstinger raised his tail and followed the footprints, as they tried to make their way back to the water. "Quickdraw Sand Shot!" He fired at the prints and struck something in the back, Predator hissing as he appeared.

Predator: 880Gs
Gunstinger: 830Gs

He didn't seem injured, however, and managed to dive into the water as Beck swiped a card. "Ability, Activate!" Water exploded out and struck Gunstinger. "Hydro Cage!" Once again, Gunstinger found himself in a large sphere of water. One he had trouble getting out of.

Predator: 880Gs
Gunstinger: 680Gs

This sphere was bigger, so he couldn't reach the edges. And when he tried to blast sand from where he was, it was stopped by the water around him. 'Not good.'

"Hang on!" Braeburn yelled, as he threw something into the air. "Come, Bakugan Trap!" The oddly shaped Bakugan unfolded, "Subterra Buffaload!" The Bakugan glowed and began to transform, the light flying over to Gunstinger and taking form.

The large bovine let out a snort, as it turned towards the water sphere and charged.

Predator: 880Gs
Gunstinger+Buffaload: 1000Gs

It rammed its head into the sphere and burst it, freeing Gunstinger. But as it did, Predator leapt out of the water.

"Ability, Activate!" Predator slapped his hands down on the water and two spouts shot out of it. "Blue Tornado!" The water vortexes shot towards the pair, ready to take their power away. But Braeburn was ready.

"Double Ability, Activate!" Buffaload fired sand out of the holes on its horn. "Sand Screen, plus Rattle Break!" The sand formed a barrier, which the water struck only to be stopped. Doing this caused the sand to clump up and form a solid mould, which Gunstinger slithered up and leapt off.

Predator: 880Gs
Gunstinger+Buffaload: 1200Gs

"Raaaaah!" He swung his rattle down towards Predator, as Buffaload ran through the sand structure and grabbed the end of his tail.

Predator barely managed to avoid getting hit by the rattle, leaping over and landing on the pier. Buffaload then pulled Gunstinger back, keeping him from falling into the water. And as they did, Predator began to glow again.

"Here I go! Attribute...Change!" The light exploded off of him, revealing his dark blue body was now purple with light purple armor. "DARKUS!"

Braeburn frowned. "A'h was expecting Pyrus. But a'h guess the attribute depends on the Bakugan."

"That's right!" Beck stated. "And now, time to really make you suffer. He pointed to the ground. "Gate Card, OPEN!" The ground glowed before turning purple, the light flying into Braeburn's Bakugan and causing them to cry out in pain. "Envious Thief!" The light completely surrounded the two before flying off towards Predator. "This Gate Card causes the power level of a stronger opponent to drop to that of my Darkus Bakugan. Then it pumps Predator up by the amount you lost. Essentially swapping their power levels."

Predator: 1200Gs
Gunstinger+Buffaload: 880Gs

Predator laughed, as he charged at the pair. "NOW I GOT YOU!" With that, he started throwing punches wildly at the two Bakugan. His arms were nothing but a flurry of motion, both Gunstinger and Buffaload crying out as they were assaulted again and again.

"GUYS!" Braeburn cried, quickly taking out a card. "Gotta stop this!" As he said that, Gunstinger leapt in front of Buffaload and started taking the worst of the attacks.

"DO IT!" He cried, as Buffaload staggered back.

"Ability, Activate!" Braeburn swiped the card and Buffaload let out a large snort, then jumped onto his back feet. "Quaking Charge!" He slammed his hooves into the ground and caused the ground to shake, resulting in the Gate Card cracking about and shattering.

This caused the power swap that had occurred to reverse, as Predator tried to punch Gunstinger again.

But the snake cowboy managed to catch his fist before it made contact, his snake hand's mouth holding him by the wrist. "That's enough of that."

Predator: 880Gs
Gunstinger+Buffaload: 1200Gs

"Raaah!" Gunstinger threw Predator away, then fired several sand shots towards him. Predator hissed, as he shielded himself from the attacks. And as he landed, Buffaload charged ready to take him down. "Wait!" Gunstinger cried, but the Trap Bakugan was still charged up from his ability and needed to attack.

Predator chuckled, as Beck swiped a card. "Ability, Activate!" Predator ran forward, as black water started swirling around his leg. "Maelstrom Kick!" Suddenly, seconds before Buffaload could ram into him, Predator leapt into the air and did a forward spin.

Gunstinger tried to blast him with sand, but missed as Predator spun around and swung his water covered foot down on Buffaload's head.

The Trap Bakugan let out a moan, as the impact knocked it downwards and made it crash into the ground.

Predator: 1080Gs
Gunstinger+Buffaload: 1000Gs

Predator then spun around again and smashed his tail into Buffaload, knocking the bovine flying as it suddenly reverted back to ball form. "Buffaload!" Braeburn cried, rushing over to get him as Gunstinger slithered forward.

Beck: 100%
Braeburn: 44%

Gunstinger fired at Predator, but the lizard simply backhanded the sand shots away thanks Gunstinger's significant power loss.

Predator: 1080Gs
Gunstinger: 680Gs

He charged at Gunstinger, ready to deal another water covered kick at him. But Braeburn was ready. "Double Ability, Activate!" The sand around them shot towards Gunstinger and surrounded him. "Sand Barrier, plus Mercury Fang!"

Predator kicked the sand and flinched, feeling the water getting blown away. Then, before he could pull back, Gunstinger's snake arm shot out and bit into his leg. "Hey!" He cried, leaping back as his power dropped.

Predator: 780Gs
Gunstinger: 880Gs

Predator growled, as the sand disappeared. Gunstinger then started slithering to a safe distance, as he fired his sand blaster at Predator.

Predator dodged, his leg stinging but nothing he couldn't endure. However, as he ran, he could feel the venom coursing through him and taking more power from him every few seconds.

Predator: 720Gs
Gunstinger: 880Gs

He jumped up, avoiding another sand shot as he flew towards Gunstinger and tried to hit him with his tail. But Gunstinger dodged and swung his rattle around, Predator avoided it before spinning around and throwing a kick at him. Gunstinger raised his snake arm and blocked it, as more and more of Predator's power was drained away.

Predator: 690Gs
Gunstinger: 880Gs

But as Gunstinger pushed him away and prepared to blast him with sand, Beck swiped a card. "Ability, Activate!" Predator vanished again. "Predatory Strike!"

Predator: 990Gs
Gunstinger: 880Gs

Gunstinger searched for Predator's footsteps, as the ground was now covered in sand, spotting some and firing. But Predator managed to avoid it before leaping up and slamming an invisible tail into him. "Gyah!" He was thrown backwards, but managed to stay up as Braeburn tried to end this.

"Fusion Ability, ACTIVATE!" Gunstinger raised his rattle arm before it started shaking, "Rattling Sand Shootout!"

Predator: 960Gs
Gunstinger: 1380Gs

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He thrust his rattle down into the ground, causing a massive wall of sand to explode upwards. And after he pointed his tail into the wall, he fired more sand into it. This resulted in the two sand streams to mix and explode towards the spot Predator had just been, forming a sand hurricane that slammed into him.

"GYAH!" He cried, as his body became visible again. But the attack had only clipped him, leaving the Bakugan ready to keep going. And as he landed, Beck swiped his own card.

"Fusion Ability, Activate!" Predator once again went invisible, the chameleon running around the giant wall that had formed. As he did, the claws on his fingers tripled in size. "Poison Striker!"

Predator: 1460Gs
Gunstinger: 1380Gs

Before Gunstinger could spot his sandy footprints, he leapt up and used a nearby building to propel himself towards the Subterra Bakugan. And by the time he reappeared, he was already too close for Gunstinger to stop.

"RAAAAAH!" He stabbed his claws, which suddenly glowed purple, into Gunstinger and made him cry out.

He kicked away from Gunstinger, as the stand wall collapsed. At the same time, Predator's body glowed and he reverted back to his Aquos form.

Gunstinger gripped his chest, panting as he glared at Predator. He raised his gun tail, ready to fire, but couldn't.

Suddenly, Gunstinger let out a cry as purple lightning sparked around him. Braeburn gasped, as he checked his Baku-Bracer. And to his horror, Gunstinger's power went down.

Predator: 1450Gs
Gunstinger: 1330Gs

"Don't tell me!"

"You're not the only one with toxic Abilities," Beck laughed. Predator quickly rushed forward and body checked Gunstinger, knocking him down as the lizard ran towards the edge of the pier and leapt off onto the water. "And my poison is much more potent.

Braeburn frowned and took out a card, but Beck was quicker. "Ability, Activate!" He swiped it before throwing the card into the air, the card exploding above them both and making the two Bakugan glow. "Neo Refrain!"

Braeburn tried to swipe his card, but it wasn't activating. "What's going on?"

"Neo Refrain. It blocks every Bakugan from activating an Ability for a short time." Braeburn's eyes widened, as he looked down and saw Gunstinger lose more and more power.

Predator: 1420Gs
Gunstinger: 1180Gs

"It's over!" Predator told him, raising his hands. "YOU LOSE!" He slapped both onto the water and doing so caused a massive wave to explode up behind him, Braeburn and Gunstinger's eyes going wide.

"BRAEBURN!" Gunstinger slithered over to him and picked his partner up, attempting to escape as the wave approached. But it was just too fast and before either of them could do anything, it slammed into them both and they were swept away.

Both cried out, as they were rolled around and around in the water. The wave slammed into the nearby buildings and did some serious damage to them, whilst Gunstinger couldn't hold on any longer and was forced back into ball form.

Beck: 100% (Winner)
Braeburn: 0%

As the water retracted back into the ocean, Predator returned to Beck as he flew overhead. He flew around, smiling as he saw the damage that had been done to that part of the city. And amongst the wreckage, floating in a small puddle, Braeburn was laid out with his hat floating beside him.

Beck chuckled, as he looked out at the city all around him. The ponies who hadn't been able to evacuate, along with all the Bakugan, were his for the taking. "This is Beck," he opened a channel. "Manehatten is ours."

Author's Note

Happy New Years Eve. Shame we'll be ending the year on a bit of a downer for our heroes. But I'm sure things will get better for them soon. Maybe. Let me know what you think.