Bakugan Rising: The Secret Core Clash

Dan Kuso had faced countless battles before, but nothing matched the unusual tension filling the air that bright morning. The sky looked normal, the city buzzed in its usual rhythm, but deep inside his chest, a strange feeling pulsed like an alarm waiting to explode. Drago, standing on his shoulder in his compact form, sensed it too.

— “Dan, something is shifting in the Bakugan flows. I can feel a pull… almost like a heartbeat coming from underground.”

Dan frowned, tightening his gloves.

— “You mean another Core is awakening?”

— “Not awakening… clashing. Two energies colliding, trying to overpower each other.”

The idea alone made Dan’s stomach twist. A Core clash could mean instability, dimensional cracks, uncontrolled evolutions—things he had seen only in the most dangerous battles.

Before Dan could ask more, his Baku-watch beeped violently.

Rrrr-rrr-rrr!

The alert flashed red.

UNKNOWN ENERGY SURGE — LOCATION: RAYGATE CITY PLAZA

— “Drago… this is big.”
— “Then we waste no time.”

And they ran.

When Dan arrived at Raygate Plaza, he expected chaos. Instead, he found a single boy standing in the center, gripping a glowing sphere in his hands. Blue lightning shimmered around it like a cage.

The boy looked no older than Dan, maybe a little younger, with messy black hair and a determined expression carved deep into his face.

— “Hey!” Dan shouted, slowing down. “What’s going on? That energy—”

The boy snapped his head up. His eyes glowed faintly.

— “Stay back. I don’t need help.”

Dan blinked. He definitely wasn’t expecting attitude.

— “Dude, that thing is unstable! You’re going to blow this plaza up if you keep forcing it!”

— “I said stay back!” the boy growled.
His hands trembled as the sphere sparked violently.

Drago emerged into his true form, wings unfurling with a fiery aura.

— “Child, you are playing with power you do not understand.”

The boy’s Bakugan suddenly materialized beside him—a silver-scaled creature with a piercing gaze and swirling rings of energy around its body.

— “Cosmagon, shield mode!” the boy commanded.

Cosmagon stepped forward, placing itself between them and glowing brighter than before.

Dan raised both hands.

— “Alright, alright. Let’s calm down. Just tell me your name first.”

There was a moment of silence.

Finally…

— “My name is Lenix.”
His voice cracked slightly.
— “And I’m not trying to cause trouble. I’m trying to stop it.”

Dan exchanged a look with Drago.

— “Then help us understand. What is that Core?”

Lenix hesitated, his expression tightening as if fighting something inside him.

— “It’s called the Rift Core. It appeared near my home. And now…”
He pressed a shaking hand against his chest.
— “It’s linked to me.”

The Core flared again, nearly slipping from his grip. Cosmagon steadied him.

A sharp crack ripped through the air—
KA-SHHHHH!

A dark tear sliced open the sky above them.

Shadows leaked through like ink.

Dan shouted instinctively:
— “Lenix! What did you do!?”

Lenix screamed back, desperate:
— “I’m trying to contain it! But the Core is fighting me!”

Drago rose into the air, flames spiraling around him.

— “Dan! Something else is emerging!”

From that tear, a monstrous Bakugan descended—jagged armor, crimson streaks, razor-sharp limbs. Its roar shook the plaza.

Lenix’s eyes widened with terror.

— “That’s Riftbreaker! It followed the Core… it wants to absorb it!”

Dan clenched his fist.

— “Then we make sure it doesn’t.”

He threw his card with all his strength.

— “Gate card set!”
The ground pulsed.

— “Bakugan… BRAWL!”

Drago shot forward, transforming mid-air into his powerful form.

Lenix swallowed hard but followed.

— “Cosmagon, stand!”

Riftbreaker lunged with a screech so sharp it felt like needles stabbing through the air.

The battle erupted instantly.

Drago dodged the first strike, slamming his fiery tail against Riftbreaker’s jaw.

— “Dan, its armor is resisting my flames!”

— “Then go for the joints! Try to break its rhythm!”

Cosmagon blasted beams of rotating energy, but Riftbreaker’s claws whipped through them like smoke.

Lenix stumbled.

— “No! Cosmagon, shift pattern—use spiral compression!”

Cosmagon obeyed, focusing its energy into a swirling vortex that wrapped around one of Riftbreaker’s arms. It managed to hold it still for a moment.

But only a moment.

Riftbreaker tore free with a roar that rattled the buildings.

Lenix cried out, clutching his chest.

Dan saw it.

The Core was reacting—violently.

— “Lenix, what’s happening!?”

— “It’s pulling—too strong—”
He gasped, collapsing to one knee.

The Rift Core glowed dangerously bright.

Drago shouted mid-battle:

— “If the Core overloads, it will tear open more rifts!”

Dan sprinted to Lenix, grabbing his shoulders.

— “Listen to me! You’re not alone. Let me help you stabilize it.”

Lenix trembled.

— “You… you don’t even know me.”

— “I don’t have to. I know you’re fighting something you shouldn’t fight alone.”

A small, broken sound left Lenix’s throat.

— “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen…”

— “Then let’s fix it. Together.”

Drago and Cosmagon struggled against Riftbreaker’s relentless attacks, buying seconds—but not minutes.

Dan placed his hand over the Core.

A shockwave pushed him back, but he held on.

— “Lenix, breathe with me! Sync your energy with mine!”

They inhaled.
The Core pulsed.
They exhaled.
The Core dimmed slightly.

Lenix whispered:

— “It’s working… keep going…”

But Riftbreaker noticed the shift.

It turned toward them, charging with pure fury.

Drago roared:

— “Dan! Incoming!”

Cosmagon pushed its last strength into a protective barrier, just enough to slow Riftbreaker’s claws.

Dan shouted through the blast of wind:

— “Lenix! Now! Release the overload safely—push it through the ground!”

Lenix screamed, pouring every emotion into the Core.

A column of blue-white energy shot downward, dispersing into the earth like lightning branching underground.

Riftbreaker froze, its body destabilizing.

Cracks of light spread across it.

Then—
BOOOOOM!

It shattered into harmless fragments of fading energy.

Silence fell.

Only their heavy breathing remained.

Drago lowered himself gently.
Cosmagon collapsed, exhausted.
Lenix wiped tears from his cheeks.

Dan grinned softly.

— “Not bad for someone who told me to ‘stay back.’”

Lenix laughed weakly.

— “Yeah… guess I owe you an apology.”

— “You owe me a rematch someday. Not a fight like this,” Dan teased.
— “A real Bakugan battle.”

Lenix cracked a small smile.

— “Deal.”

Drago approached Cosmagon, nodding respectfully.

— “Your strength is remarkable, young Bakugan.”

Cosmagon replied with a tired but proud glow.

Dan stood up, stretching his arms.

— “Lenix, you’re not alone anymore. Whatever this Core is, we’ll protect it—and you.”

Lenix looked at the Core, now quiet and safe in his hands.

— “Then… I guess I finally have a team.”

The sun broke through the clouds overhead, warm and steady.

And for the first time that day, everything felt right.