The Revenge of Runo

One: The Beginning

Summary: With a raging war going on, who can you trust among the tricks played against you? DanxRuno ShunxAlice JuliexBilly RenxFabia

All was quiet on Earth. Not a peep, not a squeak, and not even a croak could be heard throughout the quiet night. Across the universe on the unknown planet of Neathia was an entirely different story.

Crowds roared with excitement as six famous heroes made their way towards an ever elegant white castle; one pumping his fist in the air, his orange dreadlocks flying. Another smiled in awareness as some Neathians gave him disapproving looks. The young lady behind him picked up her pace to give him a reassuring smile, her navy blue hair flowing through the wind. A small boy gave a squeak of surprise as his long term friend threw him over his shoulders, his red glasses nearly falling off his face. The said friend cheered along with the crowd before stating his need for a large feast. The final hero shook his head at his friend's tactics though his topaz eyes shined with amusement.

As they entered the safe domain, the cheers became clearer to any outsider.

"To the Bakugan Battle Brawlers!" They chanted until dusk, when the guards quickly cleared the courtyard.

Inside, despite their cool outer appearances, the six heroes cheered with their fellow comrades; twice as loud, any listener would note.

"A toast to the future and what it holds!" Queen Serena exclaimed, raising her glass. "To the sunny days of tomorrow!"

The six teenagers sitting at the long table rose from their seats and raised their glasses along with the Neathian army.

"Now let us ravish our victory with this divine feast!" Serena announced, inviting everyone to eat. "Neathia knows you deserve it!"

The table erupted in cheers again before settling and digging into their meals.

Seventeen year old Shun Kazami eyed his best friend warily. "Dan, do you really have to pig out here?" The brunette grinned as he wiped his mouth.

"It's a party; we deserve it!" Dan Kuso protested. The pretty blue haired princess across from him nodded.

"Tomorrow we return to battling," Eighteen year old Fabia Sheen assured the ninja. "For now, we celebrate the fall of the Gundalians and the end of this wicked war!" Shun stared at her before glancing at his friend, sixteen year old Marucho Marukura, then eighteen year old Jake Vallory, before finally settling on his newest friend, seventeen year old Ren Krawler who nodded at him.

"Come on Shun!" Dan cried. "Live a little! If Alice was here, you would eat off the floor and get drunk if she wanted you to!"

Glaring at Dan and his unsaid blackmail usage, Shun smiled and agreed to celebrate. A few minutes later, he couldn't resist the need to retort to his friend's jib.

"Alice may have a way with words, but Runo has a way with her hands," He said softly, but loud enough for Dan to hear. To his satisfaction, Dan's cheeks tinted a light pink.

"Shut up," He muttered. Shun gave a small smug smile and continued to eat.

"Who are Runo and Alice?" Fabia asked, curious.

Before the two boys replied to the other Brawler's question, Ren smirked and remarked, "From the way their faces flushed at the mere mention of their names, I'm guessing very good friends?" Dan and Shun looked at the Gundalian with a look that was a mixture of horror and embarrassment. Marucho snickered to himself while Jake and Fabia watched in amusement as they sputtered a reply. Laughter rang through the light, airy castle. All seemed well.

XD

Across from Neathia was another planet; a much, much darker planet with a hungry desire for power. It used to be a powerful but peaceful planet…until it was overthrown by a power hungry king and was corrupted into a twisted world. The plans of the said king had been slowly unraveling for a while, and now it was close to complete destruction.

"Emperor Barodius?" Kazarina said, cautiously approaching her master and leader. "The young pests are fooling themselves for believing the war is over. We shall return and bask in glory, will we not?"

Barodius opened one eye and glanced at the four strong brawlers kneeling in front of him before sighing. "One of you useless pawns, go and fetch me a Rorn-a strong one. The rest of you, devise a plan to begin our next attack. That battle with the brawlers will not go unpunished." As Gill reluctantly left the room to retrieve the strong Gundalian alcohol, his companions bowed and left in the opposite direction.

"Kazarina, I vote you find a plan," Stoica immediately said. The Haos brawler gave him an accusing look.

"Why should I do your dirty work?" She snarled, walking ahead. The blonde grinned and picked up his pace, the other brawler behind him.

"Isn't it obvious?" Airzel replied. "Ever since that traitor Nurzak left, you've been Barodius' favorite. You have the respect and power he craves." Kazarina harrumphed, though her eyes expressed she was flattered.

"I'm listening," She said stiffly. "Any ideas in that empty skull of yours? How will we avenge the king?" Stoica looked meaningfully at her lab's doors.

"You're a mad scientist, aren't you?" He retorted making her growl. "Cook up a potion and find the brawlers' weaknesses!" Kazarina glared at him.

"Don't you think I tried that?" She snapped. "I've come up with nothing. Any potion capable of doing something useful always requires the brawler to drink it directly. I highly doubt they would take anything we give them, other than a brawl of course."

"There has to be something," Airzel insisted as they entered the lab. "Look at all these gadgets; they have to do something, right?" Kazarina slapped Stocia's hand as he reached out to grab a purple vial.

"Yes," She replied, pondering. "There is one invention I've been working on, but it's not quite ready yet. I'm afraid that it still has several glitches and requires much more work. I do not have enough hours in a day to complete it."

"We'll help!" Stoica volunteered immediately. Kazarina eyed him suspiciously.

"You will?" She asked slowly, as if in disbelief.

"We will?" Airzel raised an eyebrow. The Aquos brawler nodded his head vigorously.

"Yes," He replied. "We will!" Airzel shrugged and nodded in agreement. Kazarina, however, was still suspicious.

"What's in it for you?" She finally asked. Stoica smiled innocently.

"Can't a brawler help a teammate out?" He asked. Airzel scoffed at this. After a moment, Kazarina sighed.

"Oh, alright," She reluctantly agreed. "But absolutely no funny business; got it? Not even the brawlers would be able to save you from my 'accidental' lab experiment, clear?"

"Clear," Stoica agreed, grinning like a mad man. "Now, where do we begin?"

Several hours and "accidental" explosions later….

"It's finally done!" Kazarina exclaimed, her eyes wide and hair frazzled as she held up three containers of green, blue, and red liquid. "I finally finished the concoctions!"

"We finished the concoction," Stoica corrected. Airzel shot him a warning glance as the Haos brawler shot him a dirty look.

"You did nothing," She snapped. "Airzel and I did all the work while you goofed off like one of those ridiculous Earth monkeys!" The Aquos brawler had the decency to blush while Airzel snickered.

"So what now," Stoica grumbled, crossing his arms. "Do we wait until they sleep then drug Kuso and the others?" Kazarina gave a crazy looking smile.

"Oh, we're not giving these to the boys," She replied. Airzel and Stoica exchanged looks.

"We're not?" Airzel asked. Kazarina shook her head, her psychotic smile never wavering.

"If they're not drinking the drugs, then who is?" Stoica demanded. The Haos brawler leaned in, still smiling.

"Here's the plan."

"Julie!"

The silver haired cheerleader turned and saw her good friend, Katherine, racing towards her. "Hey Kat, what's up?"

The pretty redheaded girl paused to catch her breath. Finally she said, "I heard the newest juiciest rumor!" Julie cocked an eyebrow; no one heard gossip before she did.

"Really?"

Katherine nodded eagerly. "Want to hear it?"

The former Subterra brawler shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Okay ready? Dan Kuso has a girlfriend!"

Julie glanced at her friend as she took her geometry book out of her locker. "You just now figured that one out? That's old news." Like four years old new.

Katherine huffed before pulling out her phone and scrolling down a page. Her eyes lit up a second later and shoved it in Julie's face. "Yeah, but look at her! She's hideous!" Julie carefully took the phone from the fuming redhead and glanced at the picture. She recognized it immediately and gave back the phone. "Well?"

Julie dug through her bag. "Well…what?"

Katherine was clearly agitated. "Isn't she hideous? No way is this real; this loser must have photoshopped it to gather attention. I mean seriously, who could be friends with this chic-never mind being in a relationship with her." The cheerleader held up her own phone to show the exact same picture, except instead of just the two, all the Brawlers were in a group shot. Next to Runo, stood Julie herself.

"That 'hideous chic' happens to be my best friend," She said icily. Katherine's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. "You know Dan and Shun are my friends; don't you think I would know if he had a girlfriend?" Julie slammed her locker shut. "Just because the guy you obsess over is taken by another girl, it doesn't mean she's a bad person. In fact, Runo's one of the best people I know." Katherine was speechless and Julie crossed her arms.

"Before you make accusations about someone, how about you get to know them first? You told me I was a great and sweet person, never hurting a friend. You claim I'm the opposite of boy crazy. Did it ever occur to you that it's because I have a boyfriend of my own, back in Australia?" The redhead opened her mouth before shutting it again, letting Julie continue. "Did you know that four years ago, Runo and I would fight over Dan all the time? I knew he liked her, and she liked him, but I didn't give up because I thought I liked him too. That nearly cost me my friendship with Runo and Dan. Don't be stupid and do something you'll regret later on, Kat."

Julie looked into her friend's shocked blue eyes, sighing. "See you later, Katherine." She turned and started to walk away. The redhead glanced at her phone again before clicking the next page and sighing dreamily. Before she could do anything else though, Julie called out, "Don't start on Shun either, Kat; I'll have you know that the redhead in the picture is his girlfriend." She heard Katherine growl angrily and Julie knew she couldn't reach her friend.

The silver haired girl shook her head as she walked home. "Why does everything have to be so complicated? I thought my troubles were over when the Bakugan left. I guess they were the reason there were no troubles; maybe that's why Dan brawls, to get away from the world and all its troubles." Julie sighed longingly. "I wish I could get away like he does, escaping the world to bury your troubles with challenging brawls."

"You wish has been granted, girl."

Julie whipped around and instantly fell to the ground when her head crashed against something hard. A shadow passed over her and her body disappeared with Kazarina cackling.

"Ah ha!" Alice said in triumph as she grabbed her suitcase off the conveyor belt. "I got you!" The redheaded Russian girl was at the airport, about to call Runo and tell her of her arrival. She couldn't wait to catch up the fiery, younger Haos brawler. Suddenly a girl raced past her, shoving Alice and making her stumble in the progress.

"Sorry!" The girl called out before continuing to shove her way through the crowd. A large group of people seemed to be surrounding the television nearby. Alice, curious, made her way over as well.

"What's going on?" She asked. The boy in front of her turned around.

"Apparently a girl disappeared from her school grounds," He explained. "And according to the security footage, it was some alien girl that took the student." Alice mentally sighed; something that strange had to involve the Brawlers somehow. Creeping her way towards the front, she stood in front of one of the many monitors.

"…and it appears the kidnapper of this young girl, took off in thin air," The reporter was saying. "No trace whatsoever; people have reported similar things, like alien or hi-tech technology advanced beyond our level. If anyone sees this girl," A picture of the girl popped up and Alice's eyes widened in shock. "Please contact us at 832-928-0029." The redheaded girl grabbed her suitcase and immediately ran towards the airport's doors, now beyond paranoid.

There was no way someone-an alien-would take Julie unless they knew she was a major part of the Brawlers, who were always involved in something like this. Alice also knew that if these people went after Julie, then it was likely they would go after her and Runo as well. She had to warn her other friend, right away.

"I have to tell Runo before it's too late," The redhead muttered as she turned the corner. For some reason, it was completely empty. Then the lights flickered off, leaving Alice in total darkness. She fumbled to get her phone out of her pocket but then realized it was still off from the flight. "Great, now what?"

"Night-night," A voice whispered in her ear. Alice fell to the ground as someone pressed her pressure point, causing her to faint. From the shadows, out stepped a certain white haired Haos brawling Gundalian.

The low lights gave an extra creepy effect to her already disturbing smirk as she snapped her fingers, both females disappearing without a trace as the lights came back on.

Runo tiredly scrubbed the table as she eyed the remaining customers lounging in the corner. All teenagers like her, three male and two female. She recognized the blonde from school; how could she not when she kept being called "Diner Girl"?*

"Oh Diner Girl," She called out, her friends snickering as she did. "I need a refill." She held up her empty glass. "Or is that too complicated for the ugly beast you are?" Runo walked over, wiping her hands with the dishrag.

"Tiffany," She said quietly, a sign to anyone who knew her that she was getting just a bit angry. "The restaurant is closing; you and your friends will have to leave."

"Psh, whatever," Tiffany rolled her eyes as she and her gang stood. "This place is a total dump, anyways. Let's go guys." Runo's aquamarine eyes were fixed on the wall as they all pushed past her, hitting her shoulder with their own. She sighed, not noticing what Lee Yak was doing until she heard the bell. Then her eyes widened as her hands flew up to her bare neck.

"Lee," She yelled, storming out of her parents' café. Runo growled as several curses flew through her head when she didn't spot the gang, spinning on her heel and back into the café. "Dad," She called, tossing her apron on the counter. "I'm going to be right back."

Those punks stole my necklace. The blue haired girl fumed, curling her fists. It was a special necklace; it was the one Dan had given her for their two year anniversary. It was her most treasured possession. Now it's in the hands of that scumball, Lee.

"Oh Dan."

The thought of her boyfriend caused a pang in her heart. Yes, she was angry he had avoided telling her he was moving-never mind to another continent-but she was more upset by the fact they had never even said goodbye. He was always in Interspace with Shun and Marucho, leaving Runo and Alice just a bit miffed. Julie had called a few days ago, exclaiming the guys had gone to another planet to help save the Bakugan again.

"Of course he's helping the Bakugan," Runo had snorted. "I'd be surprised if he wasn't; with something like the Interspace running, trouble's sure to come a calling."

"You're not mad?" Julie had been surprised.

"No I'm furious," The blue haired girl had corrected, placing the order in front of the customer. "But I know it's just who Dan is; I have to accept that. Do I wish he didn't have to leave us in the dust, intentionally or not? No, but it's the way it is."

Julie was silent for a few minutes, static cackling over Runo's phone as she walked up to her room. "He hasn't called you, has he?" The cheerleader finally asked, her voice soft and sad. Runo froze on the stairs.

"No," She admitted. "Uh, Julie…I have to go."

"If it helps, I'll tear into him when they get back," Her friend had offered cheerfully. The blue haired girl laughed and they hung up.

Runo kicked a pebble absently as she walked down the street, the sun beginning to set now.

"Hey, get back here Dan," Runo yelled to her boyfriend, the two thirteen year olds racing down the darkening street. "Dan!" The brown haired boy turned and began running backwards, his face in a full out grin as he waved the treasure around.

"What's so important in here, Ru?" He teased. "Does your diary hold any dark secrets I should know about? I'm curious as to what my girly-friend is writing about…agh!" Dan let out a groan as she shrieked, frantically grabbing her diary as she jumped him.

"You're the worst," Runo muttered as they walked down the road side-by-side. Dan gave her a sheepish smile, hands on the back of neck.

"Sorry," He apologized. "Hey, want to see something really cool?" His girlfriend gave him a curious look.

"Will I like it?" She asked suspiciously.

"Yes," Dan promised and she gave a slight nod. He grinned and led her back to the park, near the big oak tree down the hill from the baseball field. It was their favorite spot in the park, nicknaming it 'Duno's Tree'. Runo had thought it was stupid, combining their names, but had come to love it.

Runo raised an eyebrow as he started climbing up the tree, struggling to hang onto the sturdy branch. When he looked down, an expectant look on his face, she sighed and began climbing up as well. He was wearing a smug grin. "Okay Kuso, what's so amazing you made me climb this tree?"

"Look," Dan replied, pointing out at the horizon. She turned and gasped at the beautiful sight that was the setting sun. It was too incredible for words. Runo returned to reality a few seconds later when he grasped her hand gently, his smile now more warm than smug. "Happy first anniversary, Runo." Her eyes widened as he dipped down, giving them their first kiss as a couple.

Runo watched the sun set from their branch, swinging her legs absently as the memory crossed her mind.

"Where is he?" Runo demanded, shoving Shun into the digital walls of the Interspace.

The ninja blinked; he hated that Runo could always catch him off guard these days. "I don't know where he is," Shun replied quietly and she released him, obviously still upset. "May I ask what he's done this time?"

Runo crossed her arms as she hissed, "He moved to Bayview without even telling me, that's what; how dare he pull something like that?" She glanced around the room, glaring daggers at anyone who dared to make eye contact. "I have to get back to the café; have fun."

"Did you want me to send on a message?"

"No, I'm going to beat him to a pulp after cursing him out in person," The irritated blue haired girl replied, storming away. Shun almost pitied his friend…almost.

Runo sighed as she walked back towards her parents' café. This had become a regular thing for her, usually strolling down memory lane after closing the café down. It was nice, until the emotions attached to the memories came back as well. Then everything either sucked or was awesome.

"God I miss you guys," She said quietly.

"Then why not join them?" A voice behind her snarled, snapping her fingers as the sparkling powder fell over the blue haired girl which resulted in her falling unconscious. Another snap and they disappeared.

Kazarina kneeled in front of her superior, eyes cast down. A small, smug smile was on her lips though as she said softly, "It is done, sire. The girls are ready."

"Very well," Emperor Barodius replied. "Proceed." His Haos brawler stood, walking to the three petrified girls. The other Gundalians watched from the sidelines. She snapped her fingers and dark clouds formed over each girl. A small, satisfied smirk crossed the emperor's lips.

"Excellent job," He said coolly and Kazarina grinned manically, the other Gundalians exchanging looks as they took turns eyeing their newest members.

Meanwhile on Neathia, three boys looked out the window with a shudder. They each dismissed the chill down their spines as the chilly breeze and closed the window, heading to their warm beds for a much needed rest. Shame for had they not done so, they would have surely seen the projected signs of Haos, Darkus, and Subterra shone in the night sky.

AN: This is the rewritten first chapter for Runo's Revenge, just in case you didn't get it.

AN 2: When writing Kazarina in this story, I will probably think of Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter. Just for future references.

*"Diner Girl" was originally from A Cinderella Story, starring Hilary Duff, so I do not own that.

I do not own Bakugan.