Nightshade
Luna Nightshade, a lone wolf of a Darkus brawler, exited her final class for the day. She put her things away in her locker, put her homework in her backpack and left the building, as she was about to begin her trek across the city of Wardington, she paused when she heard a certain boastful Subterra brawler in the yard of the school call her name.
The hulk of a boy walked over to Luna, a disdainful grin on his face. "I saw you were climbing the ranks, care to see if you're as good as you say you are?"
Luna nodded, "I'll mop the floor with you, Shuji."
The boy laughed. "You can try!" Shuji took out a card, Luna following suit.
"Field, open!" Time seemed to freeze in place as they were transported to a sort of pocket dimension that was to be their battlefield. Luna acted first.
"Gate card set!" She threw down a gate card. "Bakugan brawl," The Darkus player threw her choice bakugan for the first round. "Bakugan stand!" The Serpenoid reverted from its spherical ball form to its true form; a gigantic black and purple, red eyed, Darkus serpent bakugan who released a hiss as it uncoiled itself, ready for a brawl. Luna's Bakupod registered it's G-Power at 350.
Shuji looked upon the bakugan with a smug look. "That's the best you got? Kinda sad. Bakugan brawl!" He threw a brown ball onto the gate card. "Bakugan stand!" The ball unfolded itself and glowed, expanding and taking on the form of a Subterra Mantris at 270 G-Power. "Ability activate! Slice Cutter!" The Subterra bakugan's bladed arms glowed and moved into an x shape, releasing a laser at Luna's serpenoid.
"Not so fast there, pal! Ability card activate! Night Veil!" Her Serpenoid was covered in a purple aura and rose 100G, the attack from Mantris was absorbed and the aura disappeared as Shuji's eyes widened in surprise.
"How'd you block that?! That should've wiped your bakugan right off the field!"
Luna grinned. "I have my ways. Gate card open!" Her Serpenoid rose 50 points and coiled around Mantris, squeezing until the Subterra bakugan returned to ball form and landed at Shuji's feet whilst it landed in Luna's hand. Shuji growled and tossed down a gate card, round two had begun as he rolled down a 300G Terrorclaw. Luna rolled down Nocturne, a Darkus Skyress and one of her two guardian bakugan.
The Skyress, in a flurry of feathers and gigantic wings, took to the air at 450G. Shuji wasted no time in opening his gate card, boosting Terrorclaw by a 150G and the battlefield turning into a desert complete with pyramids in the distance.
"Aw how cute, the little boy is trying to show off!" Luna chuckled, noting that Terrorclaw and Nocturne's power were the same level. "Time to raise the bar, Nocturne! Ability card activate! Purple Nobility; Deathly Shadows!" The Skyress' power doubled to 900G and she dove in for the final blow, whipping the Subterra bakugan right off the field with a whip from her razor sharp tail feathers.
Luna set the final gate card, if she won this round then the brawl would be over but if Shuji won this round the game would continue. The Darkus brawler tossed in her Wavern Nightmare, her second guardian bakugan. The wyvern stood and gave a shriek as she spread her wings, taking to the air. Shuji tossed down his Subterra Saurus, which stood at 320 G-Power, vastly underpowered compared to Nightmare's G-Power of 580.
"Why so quiet, boastful? You ain't squawking as loud as before. In fact, I don't hear anything beyond a few frustrated growls! How's it feel to have the floor mopped with ya?" Luna remarked snidely, if the boy thought he would escape his boasting unscathed he was horribly, horribly wrong.
He glared at her. "Ability card activate, Saurus Glow!" His bakugan let off an orange aura and charged, power rising as Luna sighed and thought "When will they learn?".
Luna waited until the Subterra bakugan was close to Nightmare, "Ability activate! Wall Lock!" Saurus lost his glowing aura and his power dropped back to it's base level as Shuji's jaw dropped. "Wall Lock nullifies your ability card!".
Nightmare headbutted the Saurus, sending it stumbling back and whipping it with her tail, defeating it and ending the match. Time started again when the battle dimension disappeared and they found themselves at the school, the only difference being Shuji's bakugan being at his feet, defeated.
Luna left, not needing to see all the looks of what used to be Shuji's little groupies. She was never gracious to the boastful, bratty, snotty or sheeplike people because those were the kinds of people she despised.
"How the mighty have fallen." She muttered under her breath, a grin worked its way up her face. "Not that he was ever mighty." She chuckled amusedly, walking home after Nightmare and Nocturne decided to hop up on her shoulder.
~-_.:\|/:._-~
Home
Once Luna arrived home, greeted her parents, did her homework and signed on the computer she received an odd request. It was Daniel Kuso- she had to stifle laughter at the unsuspecting boy's last name, seeing as he must not have realized what it meant in english- that was besides the point, he had requested a video chat. She knew this boy was a decent brawler but a very big irritation once he either started bragging or arguing.
With nothing she figured she could loose, she accepted the video chat and his face as well as room appeared on screen in a box showing his attribute on her screen. "Hiya, you're Luna, right?" He asked.
Nightmare leapt in front of the screen defensively. "Depends who's asking." Luna sighed and nudged the little bakugan away from the screen.
"Excuse her, she's just a bit worked up. Yeah, I'm Luna. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I'm Dan, from the battle brawlers and you might've heard of us. What I wanted to ask is if you wanted to join us as our official Darkus brawler!" He practically beamed as he spoke that last sentence.
"No, thanks," Dan's face fell. "I'm good." With nothing else to say and not wanting an awkward silence, Luna turned off the video feed and checked the rankings to see where she was at. Fortieth! Not bad at all!
"Hey guys we just reached-" Another request for a video chat came up, from the Kuso boy again. With a groan she accepted.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't-" She sighed exasperatedly. "Is a simple no not enough for you? I work alone."
"Says the girl with two guardian bakugan!" The boy pointed out, a triumphant grin apprearing on his face.
"I work well with bakugan, not humans." She shut off the video feed, not wanting to hear him again.
"I hate him already." Nightmare huffed.
Luna perked up. "Well guys, we've moved up to fortieth place!" Nocturne keened her approval atthe announcement and Nightmare brightened up.
Another request for a video chat came up, much to Luna's irritation. She accepted none the less. To her surprise, it wasn't Kuso but rather a masked brawler being talked about by many kids these days.
"Hello Luna, my name is Masquerade. I want you to meet me in the park at 11:00 Tonight." The video feed cut out as he closed the chat. Luna signed off and shut down her computer.
"We'd be disappointing to not show up, guys."
"Luna Nightshade, surely you jest?" if bakugan could drop their jaws in ball form, Nocturne would've done so.
Luna gave the skyress a slightly miffed look. "I'm serious and I'm going with or without you!" She grabbed her indigo double-buttoned coat, put it on and checked the clock as she sat back down. It was surprisingly 8:00 already.
"We can't just let you run off to meet the number one brawler, we're our own little team, we stick like glue!" Nightmare spoke up, eager to go. "Nocturne, tag with us? If things go ugly we'll need you!"
Nocturne hesitated for a moment. "Well it would be unlike myself to simply abandon you to the enemy..." Nightmare let her approval be known with a tackle-hug at the Skyress.
"Well, seeing as we have a good three hours, let's plan scenarios to have options." Luna's bakugan nodded their approval as she grabbed her Darkus Mantris to give Serpenoid a break.
~-_.:\|/:._-~
Three hours later
Her two guardian bakugan flew onto her shoulder as she pocketed Mantris and her cards. She made sure she knew where her parents were, her mom not yet home and her dad was in his office playing Doom. Judging by the volume of his game he wouldn't hear her sneak out.
Once she soundlessly locked the door behind her she trudged half way through Wardington city to the park,a well tended area for the locals to hang out in that was now bathed in the dim amber of street lamps.
At the center of the park, sitting on a bench near the fountain sat a blonde boy clad in a white trench coat, purple pants, black boots, a blue shirt and most notably of all, a tinted blue mask that left only his nose and mouth uncovered. His mouth formed a smirk when he spotted her and he stood up. "I thought you'd never come."
Luna ignored the indirect insult. "What'd you call me here for?"
"You, as I've noticed has as of late been climbing the ranks like a ladder, one hundred and seventeenth place to fortieth place within a month? Incredible." He said. Luna was beginning to get angry at him for not getting to the point she already saw. She stayed quiet.
"I want you to join me, but before I can I-"
"Let me stop you right there. I don't wanna be the main talk of everyone everywhere, I'm a Shadow in the crowd. I stay that way." Luna turned to leave, only to have her wrist grabbed. She spun around, spotting Masquerade as the owner of said hand. She tugged to free her wrist, only to find he had an iron grip on it.
"Well if you won't join, then we brawl." Masquerade pulled out a card. "I won't let you go if you won't brawl."
Luna snarled inwardly. "Fine. Then will you leave me alone?"
Masquerade smirked. "No promises."
"Dandy." Both brawlers raised their respective cards. "field open!" Time slowed around them as the world melted away, replaced by six swirling dimensions around them when the battlefield materialised.
"Doom card, set" He dropped a mysterious card. "Before we start, I'd like this battle to be one on one."
"But we're the only ones here!" Luna frowned in confusion. One on one? There was only the two of them. It was already one on one!
"One versus one. A one bakugan battle." The masked boy clarified. "Seeing as you're on the loosing end, you can toss the gate card."
Luna chuckled dryly. "How chivalrous of you. Gate card set!"
Both players raised their bakugan and tossed them onto the field. Masquerade's Hydranoid stood, a four legged Darkus beast. Luna's Wavern stood, ready for battle.
"Impressive bakugan! Shame the doom dimension is its final destination." Masquerade noted its appearance was very similar to his master's sister, Wavern.
"Don't doubt Nightmare; she packs a punch!" Luna grinned, "Ability card activate! Darkest Despair!" Nightmare rose to a jaw-dropping 1280 G-Power, soaring far above Hydranoid's meager 450G.
Masquerade's jaw for the first time in his life, dropped like a rock as all he could do was sputter like an old car as Nightmare dove in, knocking Hydranoid off the battlefield and into ball form as she returned to Luna in ball form, triumphant. Time started again as the dimension wold faded, the duo were back in reality.
"you believe me now?" Luna asked, watching Masquerade pick up his bakugan.
He nodded. "I've never seen such a powerful bakugan before." The boy seemed lost in thought as he raised another card and disappeared in a flash of light.
"Alright then? Huh. Well, time to go home." Luna shrugged, turned and walked home for some long deserved sleep.
~-_.:\|/:._-~
One month later
Luna sighed heavily. "What in the world happened this past month? I've been fighting these Doom crew people, that suddenly disbands. The Brawlers go missing, show up and everyone's bakugan have evolved and Alice was Masquerade this whole time? Who'd have known."
"Hey Luna, check the TV!" Nightmare beckoned, Luna saw the reporter was talking about some gigantic hole in the ocean near Wardington.
"OH SURE! LET'S JUST ADD TO THE LIST WHY DON'T WE- is that Dan and them? The heck are they doing!?" Marucho's helicopter flew in and the back opened, revealing the five brawlers inside who, much to Luna's surprise, jumped into the hole.
"Did they just...?" Nightmare gaped at the screen.
"Yes." came Nocturne's reply.
Hours later there was a giant roar of thunder outside. Luna ran to her window to see the sky, previously clear had gone a very dark colour. The portal suddenly reopened in the ocean. Was it Dan's team?
Much to everyone's dread, a white dragon rose from the portal, purple wings like a cape. It was Naga. Naga was here for the Infinity core.
"We need to get to Wavern, guys." Luna said. Both bakugan gave her a puzzled look. "I was told she had the infinity core, right? So if Dan's team is gone, put two and two together."
"It was a trap!" Nocturne exclaimed.
Luna nodded. "We gotta-" Her computer blared with a global message from Joe asking for everyone with a bakugan to take the battle to Naga. "Speak of the devil. You up for this guys?" The two nodded.
She got Joe on the video chat. "Joe! Be careful!" Before the boy could reply she shut off her computer, grabbed her bakugan and cards and bolted out of the house to his apartment building.
Halfway there a terrible current of purple electricity attacked her bakugan. They cried out in pain. Luna stopped dead in her tracks and looked down at their writhing forms. "Hang on guys, we're almost there." She continued on, arriving at her destination and scaling the stairs only to find Joe's apartment empty.
The electricity stopped, the two bakugan returned to her shoulder. "Maybe he went to Marucho's tower." Nightmare suggested.
"Let's go then!" Luna took off again, rushing down the stairs and to the tower in the center of the city, currently keeping some sort of forcefield activated around the city.
The Darkus brawler caught her breath in the elevator going up. "Who knew-" She panted, "-Running around the place could be so-" She panted again. "-EXHAUSTING?!"
"You were not the one getting shocked!" Nocturne protested.
"True, but still!" The elevator stopped at the indoor viewing balcony near the top, the door opened and Joe was inside, much to Luna's surprise, the Battle Brawlers were there.
All eyes turned to the opened door. "Look who it is! Luna, hey!" Dan waved to her.
"Yeah.. Anyways, what's going on?" Luna stepped into the room, her bakugan flew off her shoulder and greeted the other bakugan present.
"Naga laid a trap for us on Vestroia, he's at that big hole in the ocean with that nasty old Hal-G and his goons are on their way here now!" Runo said
"Rabeeder's closing in!" Joe announced.
"I'll take care of her!" Alice left with Alpha Hydranoid.
"Tayghen's at the forcefield!" Joe exclaimed, looking at his bakupod in surprise.
"Leave it to me!" Marucho grabbed Preyas and Angelo and ran out of the room, heading for the doc.
"I-" Joe's Wavern sounded very strained, being the one keeping the shield up was taking its toll. "I Can't hold it any longer!" She cut off the Infinity core's energy, stopping the feed of energy.
Joe looked at his bakupod again. "Guys, Hairadee's coming too, further north."
Shun nodded. "Me and Skyress'll deal with him!"
"Talk about a rough crowd, huh?" Luna nudged Nightmare amusedly, trying to lighten the mood. Out in the city a giant twister of fire appeared, out of it came Druman and Centorrior.
Luna gave a grim smile. "guess that's my cue?" She headed for the door.
"You're taking them on alone?" Dan gave her a confused look.
"I've got these two, I'll be fine. I won't need backup, focus on Wavern and not me!" She went outside and tossed her two bakugan in the air. "Bakugan stand!" The duo reverted to their true forms, Skyress and Wavern. "C'mon guys! We do this for all bakugan!" The girl hopped onto Nightmare's awaiting head and the three flew off, taking the battle to the two Darkus-Pyrus hybrids.
The trio's arrival was met with snickers. "Are you mortals so desperate you sent a little girl to defeat us?" The red reptilian with purple wings sneered.
"Druman, we are desperate, yes, however we shall triumph this day! No matter the cost!" Nocturne declared, sending him a sharp look of spite.
"Well seeing as you're so sure of yourself...Vortex Energy Drain!" Centorrior shot a magenta beam of electricity from his left hand, sending it into the sky as a forcefield that enveloped the surrounding area.
"They'll have to scrape you off the dirt, mortal!" Druman gave a wicked grin. "Vortex Dark Flame!" He formed a purple ball of electricity and fired it at the three.
"Ability activate! Darkus Fury!" Nightmare formed a gigantic ball of purple flame, sending it colliding into Druman's attack, obliterating it and sending it onwards.
The attribute hybrid's eyes narrowed. "Pyrus Reflector!" The eyes on his wings opened, creating a red orb around him that sent the indigo fire at Nocturne then faded.
"Ability card activate! Scattershot!" Nocturne fired purple projectiles from her wings that destroyed the blast.
"I feel like my power is being drained!" Nocturne groaned.
"Huh?" Luna mused for an explanation. "It must be Centorrior's forcefield!" Nightmare set Luna on the ground, slightly out of the way on a small hill nearby.
"Then we need to target him, but Druman's in the way!" Nightmare returned to the battlefield. "We need to distract him!"
Luna got an Idea. "Gate card set! Ability activate, Darkest Despair! Now Nightmare!" the wyvern dove in, aiming at Druman.
The hybrid laughed. "If you think-"
"Double ability activate! Primal Rush and Darkus fury!" Nightmare soared in power, forming the ball of fire three times its original size and firing point blank at Druman, sending him crashing into the forcefield.
"You'll pay for that!" Centorrior's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Vortex Dark Nova!" he shot a purple orb into the air from his spear, it hovered there for a brief moment before dispersion in multiple shots everywhere.
Nightmare managed to avoid the deadly barrage but Nocturne wasn't so lucky. The Skyress was struck multiple times and went down heavily.
"Nocturne! No!" Luna leapt off the little hill and ran to her bakugan. Nocturne was completely still. "Nocturne?! Say something! Anything!" The girl shook the bird's beak, hoping to stir her awake to no avail. "Nocturne..."
Luna turned her attention back to the battle, hoping Nocturne was merely out cold. "Vortex Dark Nova!" Another light was shot up and dispersed, striking the unfortunate remaining Darkus bakugan and sending her to the ground as well, Nightmare got back up with a growl.
Luna had only one ability card remaining, one she had never tested out. Testing time. "Nightmare! Dont you give up on me! We're not gonna fail! Ability activate! Darkest Nightmare!"
A violet circle of fire started at her feet and grew to a circle that enveloped her, growing in size until a pair of starry wings erupted from the blazing orb, the fire dispersed, revealing an non-evolved Dragonoid with a look of seething fury upon her starry features. She looked like a night sky in the form of a bakugan.
"Boosted Dragon plus melt flare!" The night bakugan created a fireball and launched it at Centorrior.
"Inferno shield!" The centaur wrapped himself in his cape.
"Shadow Wall!" Luna had a twister of blue and violet electricity surround her as she launched herself as high as Centorrior's barrier would allow before diving back down on his head, nullifying his cape protection and the impact causing him to drop the forcefield.
Druman awoke just as Luna destroyed Centorrior, flying up in the air for a moment then flinging himself into The starry bakugan, sending her sprawling back into human form on the ground.
He raised his foot above her. "Any last words?"
Luna got up, looking up at Druman, she smirked. "Sure I do!" The brawler started laughing, it was not a despairing laugh, it was maniacal, joyful, like someone had just told a funny joke. She'd realized something, maybe working with another wasn't so bad. Backup may have been nice.
He scowled. "What are you laughing at?!"
She gave him an amused grin. "You missed something."
"What could I have possibly m-"
Before the Pyrus-Darkus hybrid could reply, he was tackled by a bright purple blur that tackled him, both figures crashing into the ground. The form of purple took to the air. "That's what you missed!"
The purple form returned to indigo, magenta and red, revealing a Darkus Storm Skyress that gave Druman a look of utter contempt. "Say the word, Luna!"
The girl recognized the voice as Nocturne. "Nocturne? You evolved!"
The Storm Skyress beamed down at Luna happily. "When you realized you couldn't just go on without friends, I was allowed to evolve."
Nightmare rose from her place, joining Nocturne in the sky. "You look beautiful!"
Nocturne nodded her thanks and looked back at Druman, who was getting up. "Let us do this!"
"Druman! It ends here! Ability activate! Destruction Meteor Storm! Nocturne, do the honors and take out the trash would you?" The evolved bakugan flew high in the air and went rigid, straightening out into an offensive position, she seemed to catch fire, glowing a brilliant purple yet again as she dove back down.
The hybrid didn't seem to give up, he flew up towards the blazing bakugan as she fell. "You can't beat me!"
"Your end is here, Druman!" The Storm Skyress gave a screech as she struck him, maneuvering back up so she wouldn't hit the ground as Druman seemed to explode into a shower of light. Luna's bakugan returned to her, remaining in their true forms.
"Incredible you two, just freaking amazing!" Luna keened her approval.
"Well I-" A deafening explosion cut off Nightmare from her sentence, out of the smoke from the now destroyed tower, Naga stood, facing against Wavern.
"No! He found her!" Luna hopped onto Nocturne's offered wing and scrabbled up to her neck as the two bakugan took off, rushing after Naga. Dread rose in the bakugan and their human with every passing second. They saw Shun's Storm Skyress and Chan Lee's Fourtress go to defend Wavern but they were blown away by a massive wave of negative energy from the Silent core he'd absorbed.
Just as he was about to reach his sister Nightmare tackled him, both bakugan crashing to the ground and rolling around, trying to gain the upper hand.
"Ability activate! Primal Rush!" Luna figured that should hold. She looked at Joe and Alice, who were currently sitting on Wavern's head. "You three alright?"
Joe nodded, "Yeah, thanks. Hey! Did Nocturne evolve?"
"Yep! Long story short, we beat Druman and Centorrior." Before anyone could get another word in a roar of pain was heard from Nightmare below, Naga had tossed her aside carelessly and was currently blasting at her with massive waves of negative energy.
Luna leapt off Nocturne. "Ability activate! Darkest Nightmare!" The orb of purple fire enveloped her and grew in size, wings erupted from the fire and it dispersed as the human-turned-Dragonoid dove in for the attack. "Ability activate! Night veil!" A blanket of shadows covered Nightmare, shielding her from the ongoing energy waves as Luna and Nocturne dove in.
"Silent down!" Naga's negative energy wave got much more intense, the assaulting duo were blown away by the sheer force behind it. Nightmare soon followed as she collided with a nearby business complex.
Luna went back to her human form and blacked out.
~-_.:\|/:._-~
Later
She heard a voice calling her in the distance, it slowly got louder and after a moment she felt a ball hit her across the face.
"Wha-" She was tackle-hugged by her two Darkus bakugan, thankfully in ball form.
"We thought we wouldn't get to say goodbye."
Luna gave them a puzzled look. "Goodbye?" The two nodded.
"It is time for us to return to Vestroia. This time we cannot return." Nocturne explained grimly.
Luna gaped at them, "Why not? I thought we were at team, guys!" Her anger took over. "What happened to that?"
"For your world to become stable again all bakugan must go." Nocturne said.
"This is goodbye-"
"No." Luna hung her head.
"Huh?"
She gritted her teeth. "Don't say goodbye. We'll see each other again someday."
"Luna..."
Runo's father grabbed his camera. "How about a little souvenir, eh?" Everyone nodded and got their own photos of them with their bakugan. Luna faked the smile in hers, a mask that everything was fine.
Drago opened the portal to Vestroia.
"This is it guys!" Runo declared, clutching her bakugan in one hand. "This is our final brawl!"
Everyone beckoned their respective bakugan to their hand and readied them. "Bakugan, brawl!" They threw the spherical creatures into the portal.
As soon as it closed Luna walked away without a word, not even caring that the sky had returned to normal.
She was alone again.