Bakugan: Precious Memories

Chapter 10: Tournament pt 2; MudaMan VS DarkHope

At MudaMan's command, the battles had begun. Which ever team of the 4 present would get the chance to fight them. Aya, Aubrey, Jamie, and Wokko steam rolled through the other 3 teams. The battles ended rather quickly. But now their true challenge faced them. Destroyer 4. "Team Kara, go to your waiting rooms. Your battles with Destroyer 4 will begin in a couple of hours." The official said. They did so, congratulating each other on making it this far. While the Official was deciding matches, a raspy voice called to him. "Offical." The Official turned to see who was calling to him. The figure stepped forward to reveal MudaMan. "A-ah. MudaMan. It's a pleasure to see you." The Official stammered. "Believe me the pleasure's all mine. I have something to ask of you. A favor if you will. If it's no trouble of course." MudaMan said. "Yes sir. What is it?" MudaMan smirked. "In our upcoming match against Team Kara, I'd like to battle DarkHope." MudaMan said, a grin spreading across his face. "Huh? Um...ok sir. Your battle will be with DarkHope. If you're interested, his real name is Aya Mono." The Official said. MudaMan bowed in thanks. "Thank you kindly, Official." He said, and as suddenly as he appeared, he was gone. Meanwhile...
Aya sat in the waiting room thinking to himself. Thinking about strategies, thinking about his deck, thinking about the possible outcomes. To be a Darkus player is to strike like a shadow. Swift, and unseen. He was also looking up who Destroyer 4 was as this was the first time he had heard of them. They're a group of 4 brawlers who have taken tournament after tournament time and time again. MudaMan is their leader and he's easily one of the best Darkus brawlers, second only to Masquerade. He may not have a talking bakugan, but that means nothing when seeing his battle prowess. "Aya." He heard his Dragonoid call. Pulling him out of his clip, he held the Dragonoid to his face to look at his partner. "Yeah Dragonoid? What's up?" Aya asked. "I was thinking about something. Remember the battle we had with those two magicians? When your rage took over?" Aya thought for a moment. He did remember and while he had been curious about it, he didn't give it too much thought. Ever since Mary passed, he had always noticed this...burning in him when he battled. It wasn't the passion of Bakugan or the fire of battle. It was something else. Rage? No it felt like more than that. However, until that battle, it always just stayed bottled up. It never erupted. It almost exploded during the battle with Aubrey at her house, but the battle ended too quickly. Plus, it was just Aubrey. He thought after making friends with Jamie and Wokko the burning would go away or at least subside. Even during their casual practice battles where they would have fun, the burning persisted. He never told his friends as he didn't want to worry them, but it was concerning to him. "Yeah...yeah I know what you're talking about. Why?" Aya asked. "When that happened, I gained a significant power boost. I was able to beat two bakugan that had extreme odds against us." Dragonoid said. "Yeah. We did. Thank God. What's your point?" Dragonoid paused for a moment. "If we can figure out how to use that on a whim and control it, we can use your rage to our advantage." Aya flinched for a moment. While true it would be useful considering the boost in power, how would he manage to do that? To unleash the burning in him to power his Bakugan on command and still remain in control? It didn't seem impossible, but definitely improbable. "I don't know, Dragonoid. I mean you have a point, it could provide an advantage. But...well...it seems unlikely. I don't know what happened when I did it and even then I barely remember it. It just seems...improbable you know?" Aya said. "I understand but as you have said yourself we need as much advantage we can get. Destroyer 4 is extremely powerful. Even Ryakee, who's the weakest member is still extremely powerful and could beat you easily. I know it's not something you're entirely comfortable with, but I'm asking you to try. Try to use it." Dragonoid said, closing after. Aya paused for a moment, then clutched his partner in his fist. "Alright. I'll try to explode." Aya murmured as he walked toward the doorway. A while later it was time for the pairings to be decide. "ALLLLLLLRIGHT LADIES AND GENTLEBRAWLERS! WELCOME TO THE FINAL MATCHES OF OUR EXCITING TOURNAMENT! FOR OUR TEAMS WE HAVE THE UNDERDOG NEWBIES WHO QUICKLY MADE THEIR WAY UP THE RANKS, TEAAAAM KARAAAAAA! AND THE CHAMPION TEAM YOU ALL KNOW AND LOVE, DESTROYER FOOOOOUUUURRR!" The crowd went wild as the teams were revealed. "Prepare yourselves for anything." Jamie said to the other three, to which they replied with a nod. "Let's get ready for our firsy battle! The first pairing is..." the screen flickered as the pairing was shown. "MUDAMAN VS DARKHOPE!" The crowd cheered as MudaMan smirked and leapt onto the arena. Aubrey, Jamie, and Wokko flinched and shuttered. "This is bad, Aya! He's the most powerful of their members!" Aubrey said with worry. "Just forfeit, we can afford a loss." Jamie said. Aya said nothing as he began ascending the arena stairs. "Explode..." he mumbled. The two darkus brawlers faced each other down. "Well met, DarkHope! Let us have an exciting battle!" MudaMan said in an excited tone. Aya replied with silence, and pulled out his Tournament-Modified Field Card. The Company behind these tournaments made special field cards which allow the audience in the stands to enter the field to watch the battles. "Straight to business hm? I can respect that." MudMan responded by pulling out his own field card. "READY? GET SET! ROUND 1 BEGIN!" The Announcer shouted. "BAKUGAN TOURNAMENT FIELD OPEN!" The two brawlers commanded. The circle of attributes spun around below them as the field opened itself. The tournament field was modified to have the seats surround the playing field but being protected from Bakugan attacks by a barrier. "GATE CARD SET!" The two shouted as they threw their gate cards. The cards glowed purple as they expanded signifying that both were Darkus brawlers. "I always make it a habit to let the underdogs go first. You are no exception. Go ahead DarkHope!" MudaMan said with grin. "BAKUGAN BRAWL! MANTRIS STAND!" Mantris screeched as it stood on Aya's card. MudaMan smirked. "Let's have some fun! GATE CARD SET! BAKUGAN BRAWL! GO LASERMAN!" MudaMan called. Aya jolted a bit, seeing as Laserman was once his partner Bakugan. However, he knew Laserman was a common bakugan among Darkus brawlers. Wasn't even the same g-power. MudaMan's Laserman was 450g. 50 more than Aya's. Shaking this off Aya readied his second Bakugan. "Wait Aya!" Dragonoid flew up to meet his partner's gaze. "What?" Aya asked impatiently. "Something's off about the positioning of his cards and bakugan. Dragonoid let out a slight gasp. "Screw it I'm going for it." "AYA WAIT-" Dragonoid was too late. "BAKUGAN BRAWL! HYNOID STAND!" Hynoid roared at Laserman as a battle started. Or so it seemed. "KICK HIS ASS AYA!" Aubrey yelled from the side. MudaMan smirked. "ABILITY CARD ACTIVATE! TRACTOR BEAM!"