A/N: Welcome to the first chapter of a Bakugan story I got the idea for whilst I was on a forced 13-day vacation from my computer. The story will be set a little after the start of season 1, right after the Battle Brawlers all get their partners (Dan-Drago, Runo-Tigrerra, Shun-Skyress, Marucho-Preyas, Julie-Gorem). There will be a few AU twists to the storyline that will be self-apparent as they come up.
Summary: When a new Brawler moves into the neighborhood after the Brawlers hear a tale of a mythical Brawler, the Battle Brawlers become suspicious, especially when they find out the new guy uses the same Attribute of Bakugan as the mythical Brawler (Pyrus), they do some investigating with help from Alice. What happens when not only do they make shocking discoveries about the new guy, but Alice inexplicably develops a close bond with him? How will this new boy's presence in Wardington influence the world of Bakugan?
Pairings: OC/Alice, Billy/Julie, Dan/Runo, Shun/Chan Lee, Marucho/Nene. Now, without further ado, here's the first chapter of Bakugan: The Pyrus Chronicles, but first I've asked Alice to do this chapter's disclaimer! Hit it Alice!
Alice: Of course. The author, sithlorde1988, doesn't own Bakugan or any of the affliated characters, save his OC Joshua, but he accepts reality as it is.
SL88: Thanks, Alice! NOW here's chapter 1!
Bakugan Battle Brawlers: The Pyrus Chronicles
Chapter 1: Prologue
(Intro, narrated by Dan)
My whole world changed one day when all these random cards started raining down everywhere. At first they seemed harmless enough, so a bunch of these kids invented this cool new game. That's when we realized these cards weren't so harmless after all. They were packed with incredible powers from another world. My name is Dan, and together with my friends Runo, Marucho, Julie, not to mention Mr. Hot Shot himself, Shun, and Alice, we are (accompanied by Runo, Marucho, Julie, Shun and Alice) the Bakugan Battle Brawlers! Bakugan, one goal, two worlds!
What are you gonna do
The odds are stacked against you
Backed against the wall
Gotta give it your all
This is the final stand
The power's in your hand
Two worlds collide on the inside
You gotta fight for what's right
Before it's gone, gone, gone
This is Bakugan!
(end intro)
One day in the town of Wardington, a group of kids created a new game called Bakugan from a bunch of cards that rained down from the sky. It was harmless enough at first, but after awhile the Brawlers (people who played the game of Bakugan) realized it wasn't what it seemed and that Bakugan were more than they appeared, when the Bakugan came to life, and in some cases started talking. This outbreak of talking Bakugan prompted a group of six kids to take up the crusade of protecting the game of Bakugan, and more importantly, of saving the Bakugan's homeworld, known as Vestroia: Dan Kuso, Runo Misaki, Shun Kazami, Marucho Marakura, Julie Makimoto, and Alice Gehabich would go on to call themselves the Bakugan Battle Brawlers.
For a brief time, all was peaceful in Wardington, until in the world of Vestroia, a Bakugan named Naga infiltrated his way to the centermost part of Vestroia, where he found himself face to face with a pair of cores. He then tried to seize the cores for himself, but what he didn't expect was that he wouldn't have enough positive energy to counteract the negative energies of the cores, and thus he was sucked into one of the cores, and an influx of evil energy pervaded outward, warping the minds of the Bakugan and some of the humans on Earth, causing the creation of an evil Brawler called Masquerade, and another called Hal-G (who was a human that crossed over into Vestroia with help from another human).
What Naga was not aware of, however, was that by doing this, he also awakened the other two guardian Bakugan of the core, and managed to release a Bakugan from the Doom Dimension that was possibly deadlier than anyone could imagine. At the same time that Masquerade and Hal-G were created another masked human entered the competitive Bakugan circuit using his arsenal of incredible Pyrus Bakugan. Little was known of the person save for that it was a boy, and he went by the moniker Pyrex, as a nod to his high skill levels with Pyrus Bakugan.
Meanwhile, several months after Pyrex left Vestroia and successfully returned to the real world, the group known as the Bakugan Battle Brawlers were gathered in one room, to hear a legend that Drago wanted to tell Dan and the other Brawlers. Once they were all in the room, Drago turned to the Brawlers.
"Welcome, Dan and friends. I hope you're comfortable, because the story I'm about to tell you is very long so you could be here for several hours listening, so if you have anything you need to do, you should probably do it now, unless it can wait until after my story is finished. So is everyone ready?" Drago asked the Battle Brawlers, who nodded as one.
"Excellent! The story goes like this. Once, a long time ago, a dark and demonic Bakugan by the name of Vladitor was on the rampage and threatened to destroy the very balance of Vestroia, so a trio of dragon Bakugan had to join their powers together and confront Vladitor as a team, and after a lengthy sacrifice, they succeeded in sealing Vladitor away in the Doom Dimension, wherein he sat and plotted his revenge on the Bakugan who sealed him away. One day about 2 weeks after the 3 guardian dragons sealed Vladitor away, a human washed up in Vestroia, and after a very intense fight that nearly ended in defeat for the human, one of the guardians awakened, and seeing the purity in the human's heart, partnered with him and defeated the Bakugan who threatened to kill the human. From that point on the human, who the dragon Bakugan later learned was called Pyrex, and the dragon Bakugan, who was revealed to be Leonidas, became partners, and with Leonidas' help, Pyrex escaped Vestroia and returned to the real world, where he went into hiding, but would occasionally emerge and with help from Leonidas help out people who were in trouble, occasionally beating Brawlers who would challenge him, and after awhile because most people haven't seen him in some time, they think he could be a myth," Drago said, as the Brawlers looked confused.
"But Drago, if he's just a myth, why tell us about him?" Marucho asked.
"Because I've heard rumors that suggest he is in fact NOT a myth, but a real Brawler," Drago replied.
"Oh yeah, Drago? What rumors would those be?" Dan asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, for starters, I heard that he went up against Masquerade and won with just his Leonidas," Drago replied, making all the Brawlers gasp at this.
"Are you serious, Drago? He sounds like one tough Brawler! And he seems to be on our side if he's against Masquerade," Dan said with a smirk.
"Maybe so, but the fact that he's said to be a powerful Pyrus user could make him hard for you to beat, Daniel," Drago retorted, as Dan gaped.
"Really, Drago? Now I know I want to battle him! Don't you think it would be a good idea to challenge him to test our strength?" Dan said excitedly.
"Dan, hold on a second! How would we even be able to find him, let alone challenge him if no one's heard from him or seen him in some time?" Shun interjected calmly. Dan facepalmed at this.
"Ugh, I didn't think of that. That is a problem," Dan said.
"If it helps, Dan, I can run a search on my computer for powerful Pyrus users and try to filter him out for you," Marucho interjected.
"Yes, do that, Marucho," Dan replied.
"Milady, do you think maybe that new boy that moved to town could have something to do with this?" Tigrerra asked Runo, causing the other Battle Brawlers, as well as the Bakugan to face her.
"New boy? Runo, what is Tigrerra talking about?" Dan asked Runo.
"I have no idea, unless she's talking about the new boy who just started at our school, Dan," Runo replied.
"Oh, that Kusanagi kid? I didn't get to see him since the teacher threw me out of class for forgetting my homework again," Dan admitted sheepishly. Runo facepalmed at that, as did the other Battle Brawlers.
"DAN! You know you have to keep up with your homework so you don't get detention, and thus are able to maintain leadership of the Battle Brawlers yet you're slacking like it doesn't bother you. But i'm telling you now, get your act in gear! Got it?" Shun snapped. Dan rolled his eyes at Shun.
"Yes, MOM, I got it. I'll do my homework from now on, alright?" Dan said.
"Daniel, be nice. They're just trying to help you," Drago interjected.
"Ugh, ok fine. Sorry guys," Dan said in irritation.
"That's okay, I guess," Shun replied.
"So moving on, what can you tell us about this Kusanagi kid, Runo?" Marucho asked.
"Besides the fact that he's about our age, not much since he seems to hang out by himself. But, oddly enough, I think I saw him with some Bakugan, so that leads me to believe he's a Brawler," Runo answered Marucho.
"Hey, Marucho, maybe he's some chump who always gets burned, since he's always playing with fire. Am i right?" Preyas said, as everyone facepalmed at Preyas' comment.
"Preyas, if that was a joke, it was not very funny," Gorem retorted to Preyas.
"Sorry," Preyas said. A thought then occured to the Brawlers.
"Where would we find this Kusanagi boy? And better question, why haven't we seen Alice anywhere?" Julie asked, something none of the other Brawlers had an answer to.
(Meanwhile, in an alley on the other side of Wardington)
"erk, Wh-Where am I? Hello? Is anyone there?" a voice called out from inside an abandoned alleyway, or more specifically from one of the dumpsters in said alleyway, as the lid to one of the dumpsters lifted to show a petite redheaded girl slowly climbing out of the dumpster but not familiar with her surroundings.
"Why, my dear, you are exactly where I want you to be," a mocking voice answered the girl.
"Who said that? Who's there?" the girl asked the voice.
"My name is Marduk, and you are in an abandoned alley on the backstreets of Wardington," Marduk said to the girl.
"Wh-what do you want from me?" the girl asked.
"Simple, I'm going to torture you until you tell me what I want to know," Marduk jeered at the girl, who shuddered.
"And what exactly did you want to know?" the girl asked as she was having her face lowered to the ground while Marduk raised back his fist to strike.
"I seek knowledge of the whereabouts of the brawler Masquerade, and I've been led to believe you're the one to see for that information, Alice Gehabich," Marduk jeered at the girl who was revealed to be Alice, a friend of the Bakugan Battle Brawlers.
"And what makes you think I'd have any knowledge of that creep?" Alice asked.
"Because, Alice, if the rumors are true, you'd be closer to Masquerade than anyone else," Marduk sneered.
"What do you mean by that?" Alice asked
"Exactly what I said. Now will you tell me what I want to know, or will I have to beat the information out of you?" Marduk asked, as he slammed his fist into the middle of Alice's back, causing the petite redhead to let out a shriek of pain, and had her face been visible, tears would clearly have been visible in her brown eyes.
"I told you, I don't know anything Marduk! So why are you wasting your time torturing me?" Alice said through her pain.
"Because, I believe you know more than you're letting on my dear. Now tell me the truth! Where is Masquerade?" Marduk asked as he made to slap her in the face, but before his slap could connect, a flash of red was seen and Marduk was knocked back a couple inches.
"You never learn, do you, you scumbag? How many times do I have to teach you not to mess with innocent people, especially if said innocent is a girl? That's just low even for you Marduk," the figure that saved Alice jeered. From the sitting position Alice had struggled to get herself into, and through her tears, Alice could only make out a red cloak, a shot of brown hair with the odd blonde and black streak, and a medium-pale pointed chin, all complimented by a red mask concealing his face, though she did notice his black pants underneath the cloak, since his ankles were visible, as were his red and black street shoes with black laces. Alice's hero then pulled up his solid black fingerless gloves as he turned to face Marduk.
"You can't leave well enough alone, can you...Pyrex?" Marduk snapped.
"Not if well enough involves you torturing a sweet innocent girl like her," Pyrex snapped, pulling out what looked to Alice like a Bakugan gate card.
"Are you challenging me to a battle?" Marduk jeered.
"But of course. What's the matter? Scared I'll beat you?" Pyrex retorted mockingly.
"Not on your life, Hothead! Bring it on," Marduk said as he pulled out his own card. Pyrex then took a couple steps back so Alice could lean on him as he turned to face Marduk, and flipped up his card.
"BAKUGAN! Field, OPEN," Marduk and Pyrex said as both Brawlers turned the field to a Bakugan arena.
(Start of Brawl)
(Bakugan left: Pyrex-3, Marduk-3)
"I'll start this game off if you don't mind! Gate Card! Set," Marduk said as he set down another Gate Card. He then put a ball in his hand.
"Bakugan! Brawl," Marduk said as he threw the ball which landed on the card.
"Darkus Stinglash, Stand," Marduk said as Stinglash stood on the gate card.
"Bakugan recognized. Darkus Stinglash enters battle at 330 G's," The computerized voice of the field spoke.
"Looks like it's my turn," Pyrex remarked as he palmed a Bakugan.
"Bakugan Brawl! Pyrus Manion, stand," Pyrex said as he threw Pyrus Manion onto the field as it landed in the same gate card as Stinglash.
"Battle detected. Caluclating scores. Advantage Manion by 20 G's," The computerized voice said.
"Not for long! Ability Card, Activate! Abdomination Evolution! With this, your Bakugan is powered down by 250 G's as Stinglash is increased by the same amount," Marduk jeered.
"Calculating new scores! Manion at 100 G's, Stinglash at 580 G's," The computerized voice said.
"Oh, crap, this isn't good," Pyrex thought, as Stinglash attacked and destroyed Manion with his tail, sending him back to Pyrex in ball form.
(Victories: Marduk-1/3, Pyrex-0/3)
(Bakugan left: Marduk-3 Pyrex-2)
"Let's try this again, shall we? Gate Card, set! Now, Bakugan Brawl! Pyrus Siege, stand," Pyrex said as he threw Pyrus Siege onto the Gate card he'd set.
"My turn. Bakugan Brawl! Darkus Laserman, stand," Marduk said as Laserman stood on the Gate Card.
"Calculating scores. Advantage Laserman by 10 G's," The computerized voice said.
"Ability Card, Activate! Fire Sword! This card jacks Siege's points up by 100 G's," Pyrex said as he activated an ability card.
"Calculating scores. Advantage now Siege," The computerized voice said. Siege then attacked with a flaming blade, taking down Laserman, and sending him back to Marduk in ball form.
(Victories: Pyrex-1/3, Marduk-1/3)
(Bakugan left: Pyrex-2, Marduk-2)
"Back to me, then," Marduk said as he set a new Gate Card on the field.
"Gate Card, set! Bakugan Brawl! Darkus Stinglash, Stand," Marduk said as he threw Stinglash onto the Gate Card.
"My turn! Bakugan, Brawl! Pyrus Siege, Stand," Pyrex said as Siege stood on his Gate Card.
"Calculating scores! New battle Detected! Advantage Siege by 30 G's," the computerized voice said.
"Allow me to fix that. Gate Card, OPEN! Darkus Normal," Marduk said as Stinglash's power went up.
"Counter Ability Activate! Fire Shield! With this, your Gate Card is negated, and Siege's power goes up 90 G's," Pyrex said.
"Calculating new scores! Stinglash at 330 G's! Siege at 450 G's!" The computerized voice said. Siege then rushed forward and smashed his shield into Stinglash, defeating it and sending it back to Marduk in ball form.
(Victories: Pyrex-2/3, Marduk-1/3)
(Bakugan Left: Pyrex-2, Marduk-1)
"Let's finish this up, shall we? Gate Card, Set! Bakugan, Brawl! Bakugan Stand! Pyrus Siege, stand," Pyrex said as he threw Siege onto the newly opened Gate Card.
"My turn! I can't believe I'm reduced to this, but I have no other choice, you're my only hope, Vladitor! Bakugan brawl! Bakugan, Stand! Darkus Vladitor, stand," Marduk said as he threw Vladitor onto the field.
"Pyrex, be careful! That's the evil Bakugan I told you about! He is NOT to be taken lightly," a voice said from on Pyrex's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Leo, I'm being careful of him," Pyrex said to the voice which he named Leo.
"Calculating scores! Advantage, Siege by 20 G's," the computerized voice said.
"Shame you don't heed that lizard's advice. Ability Card Activate! Dark Sphere Impact," Marduk said.
"Power surge detected! Vladitor now up to 540 G's. Siege still only at 360 G's," the computerized voice said.
"Finish it now, Vladitor," Marduk commanded.
"At once! Dark Sphere Impact! Take this," Vladitor said as he fired an orb out of his hand, hitting Siege and sending it back to Pyrex in ball form.
(Victories: Pyrex-2/3, Marduk 2/3)
(Bakugan left: Pyrex-1, Marduk 1)
"Well, this is it, Leo. It's up to win us this Brawl," Pyrex said.
"I will do my best to bring us victory, partner," Leo replied.
"My turn! Gate Card, SET! Bakugan Brawl! Bakugan, Stand! Darkus Vladitor, Stand," Marduk said as he threw Vladitor back onto the field.
"Let's do this! Bakugan Brawl! Bakugan Stand! Pyrus Leonidas, stand," Pyrex said as he threw Leo out onto the field. As he did this, Alice managed to get a look at the battle finally and only managed to get one coherent thought out.
"Is that-?" Alice thought before slumping over unconscious. Pyrex turned, saw her passed out and knew he had to finish this battle up quickly.
"New battle detected! Calculating battle scores! Both Bakugan tied at 340 G's," the computerized voice said.
"Are you ready, Leo?" Pyrex asked.
"Always," Leonidas replied.
"So, we meet again, Leonidas," Vladitor jeered.
"That is true, but are you so sure this time will be any different from the last time we fought?" Leonidas retorted.
"Confident, aren't you? Let's see who's stronger! Dark Sphere Impact," Vladitor said as he powered up.
"Ability Card Activate," Pyrex said.
"Alpha Blaster! Have some of this," Leonidas replied as his power jumped up by 200 G's and Vladitor powered down by 50 G's.
"Re-calculating scores! Leonidas now in lead with 540 G's versus Vladitor's 490 G's," the computerized voice said as Leonidas charged up a burst of energy in his mouth.
"Ha! Time to finish this, Vladitor! Alpha Blaster! Eat this," Leonidas said as he fired the energy burst at Vladitor.
"Curses! Don't think this will be the last you've seen of me, the mighty Vladitor! I will return," Vladitor sneered as he was hit by the blast and sent back to Marduk in ball form.
(Victories: Pyrex-3/3, Marduk-2/3)
(Bakugan Left: Pyrex-1, Marduk-0)
After Vladitor landed at Marduk's feet in ball form, Marduk turned to Pyrex.
"Damn you Pyrex! You may have won this time, but I will be back! You can count on it," Marduk sneered as he vanished in a flash of light.
"Whatever you say, Marduk. I'll take you on anytime, anyplace," Pyrex grumbled. He then saw Alice unconscious on the ground.
"Oh, my! She needs help," Leonidas commented.
"You're absolutely right, Leo. Let's get her to my place so I can get Mom's help in healing her," Pyrex said as he picked Alice up and gently rested her against his chest so he could move, and started running towards his house. As he ran, Alice briefly stirred, looked around, and realized she was in Pyrex's arms, but passed back out before she could do anything about it, burying her face in his shoulder in the process.
Pyrex felt Alice shift in his arms, but didn't break his pace, though behind his mask you could see a faint smile cross his face that she trusted him, but he focused himself on getting her to finally got her to his house where he laid her down gently on the couch, went upstairs, changed out of his cloak and removed his mask, which revealed him to be Joshua Kusanagi, the new kid that Runo and Dan were talking about. He also placed Leonidas in the pocket of his cloak.
"Aw, but why do I always have to go into the cloak when you change out of your Pyrex identity, Joshua?" Leonidas asked.
"Because Leo, you're too easily recognizable to not connect me to Pyrex, and at this point I just don't feel the time is right to let people know that I'm Pyrex," Joshua replied to Leo.
Joshua then changed into a black muscle sleeveless wife beater shirt with red stripes along it, then put on a red short sleeve T-shirt over it, followed by a pair of black Dickies jeans with a black belt, and finished up the look with his usual black and white BK sneakers, with black laces. He then put his silver cross pendant over his head and around his neck which was held up by a stainless steel chain. He then followed up by putting on his black knit beanie with black stripes as he switched his black fingerless gloves with red leather fingerless gloves. After doing all that, Joshua walked over to the next room.
"Hey mom, you awake?" Joshua called. He heard movement, before his mother came out.
"Joshua, you're home early. Is something wrong?" Joshua's mother asked.
"Not with me, but I found an injured person on the side of the road near our house and I thought she needed medical attention, and since you're a nurse, i figured maybe you could help?" Joshua asked. His mother broke into a knowing smile at her son, knowing that he had already developed a crush, though he himself was unaware of it. She then turned to her son.
"Take me to the injured girl," Joshua's mother said. Joshua then led her downstairs to the couch where Alice laid unconscious and in pain.
"Oh, my! This girl looks bad. What exactly happened to her?" Joshua's mother asked.
"From what I could see, the guy I had to chase off of her had hit her in the back before I got there and was about to slap her when I intervened. Though the idea that anyone could strike such an innocent girl makes me sick, nevermind abuse her. The guy was lucky all I did was scare him off," Joshua grumbled. Joshua's mother smirked at the faint blush that had subconsciously spread on Joshua's cheeks when he'd called the girl innocent.
"That's horrible! Did you at least catch her name?" Joshua's mother asked.
"Sadly, I did not, since by the time I'd finished with the asshole who'd beat her up, she was already passed out," Joshua said. Joshua's mother frowned, but decided to worry about that after they'd healed the girl.
"Well, for now, go up into the attic and fetch the first-aid kit, would you son?" Joshua's mother asked.
"Yes, mother," Joshua said as he headed up to the attic to fetch the requested kit. As he did this, his mother ran a diagnostic on Alice.
"Broken back, brusing, fatigue, oh my this one's been through it, hasn't she?" Alicia, Joshua's mother, tut-tutted to herself. Joshua then came back into the room with the requested first aid kit, and Joshua's mother started to tend to Alice's back and injuries. After awhile, she came up feeling satisfied with her work.
"Well, the poor dear's going to need a good night's sleep, but she should be fine in the morning. I can't believe how bruised up her back was when I applied the cream on it," Joshua's mother said to Joshua, who scowled and knew the next time he saw Marduk, that the Darkus user would be in for a world of hurt for hurting the innocent girl in front of him that way.
"I quite agree, Mother. So, we can let her sleep on the couch, and I'll sleep on the loveseat so if she wakes up in the night and needs anything, I'll be right nearby," Joshua suggested. Alicia looked at her son, but nodded.
"You're probably right, son. Someone will need to be nearby if she wakes up so we can apply the pain relief cream on her back again. That and she needs to be observed in case she aggravates her back again as it's very sensitive, and she's lucky whoever hit her didn't paralyze her from the force of the impact. So I think I can trust you to behave professionally with this young lady," Alicia said, giving her son a stern look. Joshua nodded.
"Yes, mom. I wouldn't dream of taking advantage of this girl when she's in so much pain. That's just not professional, nor would it be very honorable of me to do something like that," Joshua said.
"Well, you'd better run along and go play while Alice gets her rest, son, since you won't be much help to her standing here. Besides, I'll keep an eye on her while you play," Alicia said to her son.
"OK, mom. I trust you'll take good care of her. Besides I think I'm going to go see if anyone recognizes her description so we can get her name at least, and possibly find out if she has any friends since I imagine if she does, they'll be worried sick. I mean I know I'd be if I had a friend like her," Joshua said as he took off to do just that. After that, Alicia turned to the young lady.
"I wonder if you realize how lucky you are that my son found you, my dear. He truly is a sweet boy, who thinks of others before himself. I just wish I knew who you were so I could let your family know you were okay," Alicia said to Alice who was unconscious, but didn't look like she was in pain anymore.
(meanwhile, at Dan's house)
"So, let me get this straight, there was a Brawl between two masked Brawlers on the outskirts of town earlier, and a girl was injured prior to the brawl, but one of the Brawlers saved her and took her to his house?" Dan said to Shun, who had gone out to look for Alice with Skyress earlier.
"Yes, and from what I heard, and this is where it gets weird, one of the Brawlers was named Pyrex, and the other was Marduk," Shun said, causing Dan, Julie, Runo and Marucho all to gasp in recognition at the name Pyrex.
"So then Pyrex is real! And if I'm right about the description of the girl, that's Alice he saved," Marucho said, surprising Dan and Shun.
"What makes you so sure, Marucho?" Shun asked.
"Simple. By my calculations, Alice is the only girl in our town with red hair and brown eyes. So by that logic, the girl Pyrex saved must have been Alice," Marucho replied, shocking Shun with his use of logic.
"OK then, so by your logic, Alice is at Pyrex's house, presumably unconscious? Well, can't say I don't enjoy the challenge of getting her back," Dan said. Shun and Marucho nodded in agreement. Runo, however frowned in thought.
"You said Pyrex's house is on the outskirts?" Runo asked.
"Yeah, that's what they said. Why?" Shun replied.
"Because, that new kid Joshua Kusanagi lives on the outskirts of Wardington supposedly," Runo said.
"Hmm, that's interesting...I wonder if Joshua knows anything about Pyrex," Dan mused.
"Or, and this is probably a long shot, what if Joshua WAS Pyrex?" Julie ventured. Dan, Shun and Marucho all whipped around to face her at this.
"What do you mean, Julie?" Marucho asked.
"Simple. Runo, didn't you say Joshua uses Pyrus Bakugan?" Julie asked.
"Um, I dunno, didn't see them long enough to identify what element they were. But, I can tell you for sure there was no dragon-looking Bakugan among them," Runo said.
"So there you go, Julie. That's why Joshua couldn't possibly be Pyrex," Shun said.
"I suppose you're right," Julie conceded.
"Still, it might be worth looking into to find out if he at least knows anything about Alice," Runo remarked, something the Brawlers agreed to. So they set off to find Alice, right as Joshua arrived at the Wardington Park looking for anyone who knew anything about Alice. As he did this, the Brawlers arrived at the Park and bumped into Joshua.
"Hey you, kid! Are you Joshua Kusanagi?" Runo asked Joshua.
"That's me. And you're Runo Misaki from school, am I right?" Joshua asked. Runo gaped.
"That's correct, but how did you know my name?" Runo asked Joshua.
"Simple, I recongized you from one of my classes," Joshua explained.
"OK, that said, have you seen a girl, about so tall (here Runo motioned with her hands), has red hair and brown eyes?" Runo asked Joshua who frowned but then grinned.
"I think I have, since I found a girl very close to that description passed out in the alley by my house, looking beaten up and badly bruised, like someone had slammed their fist down hard onto her back right in the middle, and frankly they were lucky they didn't paralyze her," Joshua said, nearly grumbling the last. Runo gasped, then turned to Dan.
"Oh wow, it sounds like Alice is worse off than I thought, if she was that badly beat up," Runo remarked.
"Did you happen to see who did it?" Shun demanded in a tone of voice that shocked Dan, Julie, Marucho and Runo, but especially shocked Joshua.
"And you are...?" Joshua asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry, where are my manners? My name is Shun Kazami," Shun said, extending his hand, which Joshua shook.
"Nice to meet you, Shun. And to answer your question, yes, it was this really evil-looking boy who was white-haired and was wearing spiked gloves, and was about to beat the girl I found in order to get some information or other out of her, until I stepped in and drove him back by beating him in a Bakugan battle," Joshua replied.
"You play Bakugan?" Dan asked.
"You're Dan Kuso, correct? I heard about you-always forgets his homework and is thus often in trouble unintentionally. And to answer your question, yes I play Bakugan," Joshua replied.
"Why don't we play a friendly game right now?" Dan asked. Joshua, Runo and Julie all glared at Dan for his insensitive comment.
"What?" Dan asked when he realized everyone was staring at him.
"Besides the fact I don't have time for that right now, why would you want to play Bakugan when a girl's injured and needs help, plus I was trying to find this girl's friends (if she has any) to try and find out what her name was since she was unconscious when I found her," Joshua replied to Dan.
"That makes sense. What was the information that the bully was trying to beat out of the girl?" Marucho asked.
"From what I heard, it was something to do with some brawler or other. I think the guy mentioned the name Masquerade, if that means anything?" Joshua said, making Dan, Shun, Marucho, Runo and Julie all gasp.
"Are you sure he said Masquerade?" Dan asked Joshua.
"Yeah, positive. I heard that name quite clearly with my own ears. Why? Is he a bad guy or something?" Joshua replied in confusion. Dan swore under his breath.
"Yes, he is. Masquerade is a creep who enjoys taking players' Bakugan and sending them to the Doom Dimension. That and he's out to help a being called Naga get the Silent Core so he can take over the world," Dan replied, causing Joshua to scowl as he could tell he wouldn't like this Masquerade person.
"Well, I guess that being said, I should give you my address so you can come and see the girl I saved for yourselves and tell me if you know her," Joshua said to the Brawlers, who nodded in agreement. After Joshua handed them his address, he turned to address the Battle Brawlers.
"Well it was nice meeting you all, but I should probably get back home since my mom's keeping an eye on the girl I rescued," Joshua said. He then turned around and ran home to check on his mother and the girl he rescued.
No sooner than he got home, however, did his mother run up to him.
"Joshua, I'm glad you're back. We have a slight problem. Alice, the girl you rescued woke up while you were gone, but doesn't believe me when I say you saved her," Alicia said to Joshua, who smirked.
"Leave it to me," Joshua replied as he went inside to where Alice was sitting up and looking at Joshua.
"Are you okay?" Joshua asked Alice. When she replied, her answer shocked him.
"Yes, I am, thanks for asking...Pyrex,"
end chapter 1
A/N: And thus ends chapter 1! I apologize for it being slightly shorter than my usual standards, but I wanted to get it out! And I'll start work on chapter 2 after I'm done so have no fear of that! So what do you think of the story so far? Good? Not so good? Feel free to let me know in a review how I'm doing! This is for now going to be my main focus with regard to stories. So enjoy the story!
-sithlorde1988