Bakugan: The Six Cores

Alice IV

Alice stood alongside the rest of her team mates in the training ground of headquarters. Shun was explaining how he and Kazeken would leave for Vestroia immediately to visit the Ninja Clan, Kazeken thinking that Shadowstriker may have been a former member, and that the clan could provide information about him.

'This could provide us with valuable insight into one of our opponents,' he argued.

'But if the Neo-Vexos do attack then we're going to be a man down,' Marucho retorted.

'If the Neo-Vexos attack then I have every confidence that you'll be able to fend them off. Do you not have the same confidence?'

'It's not a question of confidence, Shun, it's a matter of manpower.'

Alice did not want to intervene, but she felt compelled to say something. 'Please, you two, calm down. I think Shun's right that we need as much information as we can get, and you're not going to be gone too long, are you?'

'We will be back before the end of the day,' Shun replied.

'Then there's no real problem. We will still have the manpower to take on the Neo-Vexos on the off-chance they attack,' Alice reassured them.

Marucho sighed. 'Fine then. Just be quick, you two.'

'You know us, we work quickly.'

'Stay safe,' Alice requested. Shun nodded back in response.

With that, Kazeken opened up a portal to Vestroia and the two of them stepped through.

The team were silent for a minute. Eventually, a wordless consensus dictated that they prepare for an attack, and they all headed back towards the main atrium of the headquarters. Before they even got to the door of the training ground, however, Kato's voice came from Marucho's communicator watch.

'Master Marucho?'

'What is it, Kato?'

'The main computer is somehow receiving a transmission from an unknown source,' he explained.

'What do you mean?'

'Come and see for yourself, Master Marucho.'

'I'm on my way,' he replied, ending the communication with a button on the watch. 'Alice, Hikaru, I'd like you two to come with me. I can tell that this transmission, whatever it is, is important. It would be best for others to see it too. Sota and Kahori, you two keep a lookout.'

'Sure thing,' Sota replied, the two of them heading for a rooftop vantage point.

Alice followed Marucho with Hikaru to the underground computer mainframe. A room filled with computer banks, towers and panels, Marucho liked to call it "The Brain Room". Kato was waiting for them, and she listened attentively as Kato attempted to explain the situation again.

'Master Marucho, Alice, Hikaru. The computer has somehow received a written message, I say somehow because when I tried to trace the source of the message, it said that the message came from our own computer and was sent to itself. The content of the message is also quite disturbing.' Kato's moustache bristled with worry.

'Let me read it please, Kato,' Marucho requested, stepping up to a control panel with a visual display. He read it aloud so Alice and Hikaru could hear. '"Brawlers, this is the first battle. Send however many people you want to these two locations, and show us if you can match our power. If at either location somebody has failed to come by midday, one of us will destroy the stadium used for the tournament."' His voice trailed off at the end.