"How could anyone justify what he just did?" an upset boy opened his bedroom door in a rather violent way.

"Joe…please you are not acting like yourself." a small white and pink ball called out from his shoulder.

Joe turned to his head to Wyvern, "It doesn't matter how I act…it's still not going to change the fact that all my other bakugan are now in the doom dimension…I've failed my own bakugan…"

Wyvern looked sternly at Joe, "Joe, listen to me, you did not fail anyone and by acting as if it's hopeless you are only failing yourself." She said this as Joe sat on the edge of his bed in the dark room, the moonlight coming from the window seeming to seep the life out of the objects around it.

Joe chuckled a dark, desperate, dry chuckle, "That's right…I am failing myself, because it is hopeless." Joe lowered his and covered his face with his hands. "It's as if he's already won…Naga, I mean. He has the number one brawler on his side and Masquerade just helps him become stronger. It's as if Masquerade has no weakness, he's invincible. And as for you Wyvern…you're stuck with me—"

"Don't say that!" Wyvern said, really to deny anything he was about to say.

"Why not? It's true, isn't it?" Joe said with honesty in his voice.

"Joe!" Wyvern gasped as if Joe done something done something naughty, "I don't ever want to hear you say that! I'm clearly here by choice…I'm not 'stuck' with anyone! There is no other brawler out there that I'd rather be with then you."

Joe looked up at Wyvern but remained silent from this confession, flattered by Wyvern's honestly but he continued trying to find some way to insult himself. He wasn't going to allow himself to feel any better.

"Joe?" Wyvern asked, concern once again for Joe's self-esteem.

"Just…how is it that the worst bad guy here found the best brawler on earth?" Joe asked, curious to why anyone would want to work for Naga anyway.

It was Wyvern this time that played the silent game.

"Wyvern?" Joe asked, thinking that she was silent because there was something she wasn't telling him. "Wyvern…what is it?"

"…Joe…" Wyvern said rather distantly.

"Yes?" Joe said, slightly impatient to find out what Wyvern had been hiding.

"When we battled Masquerade, I sensed…I sensed negative energy pulsing from him." Wyvern said, sounding as if she was just as confused about it as Joe was.

"What?" Joe stood up from his bed and almost tripped from the sudden movement. "Masquerade has…negative energy? Meaning he has the Silent core?" Joe intertwined his fingers into his hair, making it look like he was going to pull it out, in the moment's excitement.

"Well, yes, but the pulse of energy is very faint, I could barely catch it, so I was thinking…that maybe the core made Masquerade more powerful and strategic as a brawler, maybe the core is the thing that makes him better. Maybe he joined up with Naga because Naga promised him power and gave him some of the core. It would explain both the reason he works for Naga and the negative energy I sensed coming off of him." Wyvern explained, somewhat impressed by her own self.

"Wow!" Joe looked at Wyvern in admiration, "We just met Masquerade this afternoon but already you've come up with this great theory!" Joe smiled at Wyvern, happy that she didn't mind his weakness and could explain the reason for Masquerade being such a freaky good brawler.

"I'm sorry for not telling you this earlier…" Wyvern apologized.

"Don't worry about it, Wyvern," Joe returned to sitting on the edge of his bed, "You must've been frightened that your brother would have gone to the lengths of putting parts of the core into humans." Joe tried to emphasize for Wyvern but found himself completely unable too. It's not like he had an evil twin, or anything like that.

"I just…I didn't know you could put the core inside a human! Not even the most powerful bakugan can completely handle all of the core!" Wyvern felt as if she was way over her head, even though core energy was her specialty. The ability Masquerade brawled with just wasn't human. And maybe they have just found the reason way.

Joe felt frightened as his mind thought up ideas that he almost felt ashamed of, but he still felt that he needed to share his thoughts with Wyvern. As partners they should, at least, be able to tell each other the truth. "Wyvern…if giving a small portion of the core to a human makes them a better brawler…" Joe trailed off hoping that Wyvern would get his point without him having to say it.

"Forget it." Wyvern said sternly.

Joe was surprised by this instant and firm response. He thought that Wyvern would have at least thought about it before she said no. "But—"

"I had a feeling you would ask me something of that nature…but the answer is no…I can't just lower myself to Naga's level." Wyvern explained. The core could completely absorb bakugan, why in the world would she even give a part of it to a human?

"Wyvern…as partners we need to try and help each other become stronger." Joe pointed out honestly, interested in what would happen.

Wyvern was surprised by this. It seemed a bit…sly for what Joe would normally say. For a second she felt like Joe was trying to use their relationship to get what he wanted, but she soon tried to purge that thought from her mind. But Joe wouldn't do something like that…would he? "Joe…I'm not sure. If anything bad happened I would be responsible."

Joe tilted his head slightly downward, his eyes peering through his spiky bangs at Wyvern. "Whatever happens, I'll only blame myself. I just can't let it continue like this, I can't let other bakugan suffer the same fate as mine." Wyvern was surprised even further when she saw a single tear run down Joe's pale cheek.

I understand now, Joe, Wyvern thought as she sighed, For a second there I thought you had become greedy…but now I see you just want to do this for other people…as you usually do…Oh, Joe, sometimes you're too nice for your own good…but I am the same way…"Alright, then."

Joe's head snapped up to look at Wyvern through widened eyes, he quickly tried to wipe the small amounts of tears, hoping Wyvern did not see them.

Wyvern mentally sighed, I'm still not fully sure about this but if I know you, Joe, it's that you always work so that everything ends up ok…so I'm counting on you…good luck…partner.

It was a lovely day at the park, many smileing faces danced around as their favorite day of the year had come. Because the city was very ethnically mixed, the city had a general 'beginning of spring' parade in which all spring related holidays were acknowledged. Just think of any spring holiday and there would be a float or two about it. These floats would mostly be made by the churches that had the respected holidays. And all the adults and children got the day off, so the park was always crowded with parents and kids, happy to be able to spend time with their usually busy parents. Masquerade knew that this was a great opportunity to gain new, foolish minions. In his mind he thought if the different kinds of minions he liked and how they worked in his 'system'.

There were the ignorants, which Masquerade liked best because they were very easy to recruit and ended up as 'yes men', and every boss needs to have a couple of yes men so that he feels like he's always doing the right thing.

Then there were the normals, meaning they had average intelligence. Masquerade liked these ones the least, though they were the most common, because they were smart enough to question your ' unique' actions but too dumb to do anything much useful. They didn't cause much trouble, though, if they did mentally question some of your actions, they wouldn't really say anything and would just follow the crowd. If they verbally questioned your actions, well…that was merely correctable. Masquerade usually tried not to put too many normal in one group, afraid that if there are too many of them, they can band together and influence the ignorants to start a rebellion.

The smarts could do lots of useful work…but they were a bit harder to convert—I mean…'recruit'…there was usually one smart in charge of a group of normal and ignorants. Smarts may question your actions but since they end up in the middle of command, they don't get much action.

And last but not least the brilliants, these were the most capable and smart minions. They were put in charge of the smarts, almost at the top of command…only below Masquerade himself. The brilliants are the most likely to question your actions but they're easy to keep in control since they have to obey to your direct orders. Like the saying goes, 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer'. Masquerade made sure he was constantly aware of the brilliants, and he didn't trust a single one of them. Then again…Masquerade doesn't trust anyone, so there's really no use in saying that he doesn't trust a certain group of people.

But even though Masquerade was plunging his conscious mind with 'minion hunting' thoughts…he was secretly enjoying the beautiful day. Hey, bad guys can enjoy nice days once in a while, can't they? Well, Masquerade was enjoying the wonderful day until he heard the voice that sounded like nails on a blackboard to his ears.

"Hey, Masquerade! What's your ugly mug doing around this park?" a familiar, annoying, conceited brunette came running toward Masquerade, his peeps following hesitantly behind him.

Masquerade tried to ignore him by turning around and walking away. He constantly chanted in his mind, he's not worth the effort…he's not worth the effort…, and it was working, too, until Dan caught up with him.

Dan pointed a finger at Masquerade, "Hey, trash like you shouldn't be allowed in the park!"

This was a little too much for Masquerade. He snapped around toward Dan's direction and said, ever so politely, "Why don't you say that again, Dan, I didn't quite catch you…" A murderous aura surrounded Masquerade.

Dan cupped his hands around his mouth, and though they were only eight feet away he yelled "I said, TRASH LIKE YOU SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED INSIDE THE PARK!" Dan just couldn't get a hint sometimes…

You could actually hear the thump of Shun doing a face palm behind Dan. "Dan…he heard you, he's just challenging your nerve…which is a bit stupid since everyone already knows you have too much nerve…"

Dan, having selective hearing only heard 'challenge', 'nerve', and 'stupid', "Like I said, trash like you shouldn't be allowed in the park." Dan repeated for the third time, still pointing his finger at Masquerade.

Masquerade just sighed, "You know, they say that if you point a finger at someone, three of your own fingers are pointing back at you."

Dan looked down at his hand and realized that Masquerade was right. His pinky, ring, and middle finger were all pointing at him. Dan quickly put his hand down, "Yeah, well…I still don't think you should be allowed in this park…"

"Oh yeah? And why should I be banned from this park?" Masquerade put one hand on his hip and leaned toward it. The stance he took when he thought he was winning an argument.

"Because…because you're a bad guy! You only came here to get more minions!" Dan protested.

"And?" Masquerade said matter-of-factly.

"And…you shouldn't be allowed here!" an anger mark (anime popped vessel mark) appeared on Dan's forehead as he rose his fist.

"My, my, I see someone here likes double standards…are you sexist, too, Dan?" Masquerade said calmly. Even though Runo couldn't pick out any anger in Masquerade's voice, it still made her shiver. It reminded her of the calm before the storm, and she started to worry about Dan's safety…

Dan was officially pissed off. Masquerade's face was serious and his voice calm, when he would usually use his teasing tone and smirk while saying this. Dan was more pissed off by the fact Masquerade said something so blunt off-handedly. His smirk always meant he was looking for manipulative entertainment. Dan hated thinking that Masquerade was actually serious when he said this. "Sorry…I didn't quite catch that…" Dan said with an angry, grin-and-bare-it smile.

"Selective hearing, much?" Masquerade said, with a smirk this time.

"Alright, that's it!" Dan yelled as he rolled up one of his sleeves and started to come toward Masquerade.

Masquerade wasn't scared; this was what he was waiting for.

Shun sighed and grabbed both of Dan's arms, interlocking his elbows with Dan's. "He's not worth it, Dan." Shun didn't look at Dan when he said this but instead he gazed at Masquerade.

Masquerade noticed this but just shrugged it off, he didn't care about criticism. He was a villain, after all. He turned around and started to slowly walk away.

"Shun! Let me go! Even you want to see that creep learn a lesson about justice." Dan struggled under Shun and broke free and tried to catch up with Masquerade.

Masquerade instantly stopped at the sound of the last word. He slowly and eerily turned around and looked at Dan. Dan wasn't exactly sure why, maybe it was the wind, but he stopped and shivered.

"Justice…huh?" Masquerade asked as Dan continued to stand still. "Is that what you think you are, Dan? Justice?"

Dan stayed silent, he never thought he would actually hear Masquerade say that word.

Masquerade rushed toward Dan and pushed him down, but caught him by the ends of his jacket's collar before his hit the ground.

Dan's eyes widened as he looked up at Masquerade's frowning face. The birds stopped singing, the children stopped laughing, and the wind stopped dead. Dan didn't know why but all he could hear was Masquerade voice, his mind quieted everything else.

"So, Dan, that's how you think it is…it's like a game, isn't it? And it's all about who you think is right or wrong, isn't that right? And in this game, it's always the good guys who and the bad guys disappear." though Masquerade tried to make his voice calm, it seethed with utter murderous intent. Through the corner of Masquerade's eye he saw Shun take a step toward them. "And if one of your friend tries to help you, then they don't respect your manhood, or your ability to get out of trouble.

Hearing this, Shun took a step back, realizing that Masquerade was right. Dan had gotten himself into this mess and he should be the only one to try and get himself out of it.

"Well, guess what, Dan…this isn't a fucking game. Why can't you just go and your little games with other twelve-year-olds. Because you act as if this is fucking game…and that you're winning or that you're going to win because you're 'in the right' or because you're 'just'… because you're justice. But what made you think they you can just stroll in and point out what's right or wrong or who the bad guys are." Masquerade made a small, almost inaudible chuckle, but Dan who clearly see the movement of his shoulders, "You act as if there is such a thing as justice. Well here's a question, where's my justice?"

Dan really could think of nothing to say, he couldn't even think of moving as he watched take one hand off of his jacket Masquerade raise one of his fists above his head. It was as if Masquerade's words had chained Dan's body and rendered it helpless against the incoming attack.

"Well I'll tell you something…this isn't a stupid game, Dan…this is a little something called real life, and if you can't figure that out, then you should go back to school like a good little boy." Dan watched horrified as he saw Masquerade's fist come toward him…and stop a quarter of an inch away from his nose.

"Huh?" Dan said in surprise as he looked up at Masquerade's face…which was looking behind his shoulder. Apparently he had lost interest in Dan and was looking at something that must've held more importance. Dan was annoyed that Masquerade had lost interest in him mid-punch but was scared to re-attract his attention by trying to stand up. Instead he tried to focus on what Masquerade insisted on looking at.

Why do I sense…positive energy? But it can't be Wyvern…it's not as strong as the entire infinity core, Masquerade thought as he tried to focus in on the details of the black dot speeding toward him. Masquerade was so dumfounded by it that he even forgot he was holding Dan. (A/N: 'He forgot he was holding Dan'? Why does that sound like a line from a Dan x Masky fic? (which this is not, by the way. Sorry to disappoint you))

In a blink of an eye the 'black dot' had turned into a black-wearing person and had just slugged Masquerade in the face. As Masquerade flew and stumbled through the grass from the strength of this punch his first reaction was to hold on tight to his mask. He was glad it didn't fly completely off right in front of the brawlers…right in the middle of a public park…that would be very bad…

The former 'black dot' offered Dan a hand in standing up as Masquerade had let go of him when he was hit. As Dan looked up at his face, he became startled, the first thing his eyes met were this other person's eyes. And they were an intense amber that looked like burning gold, his pupils slightly slanted at the top and bottom like a cat's. His wild face was framed by medium-length, jet black hair, in a spiky pattern where the spike pointed downward and a little at the sides. If you looked further down you would notice the red collar hanging out at the bottom of his neck, just a plain red collar with a buckle. He was wearing a plain black T-shirt that seemed like a weird thing to wear on a bright, sunny day. He wore blackish-grey bootcut jeans and heavy duty black boots. Dan, in confusion, took his hand, which had a buckle bracelet matching his collar, and gave him a smile as a 'thanks'. The black-wearing person smiled in returned then turned to regard Masquerade. He pointed a finger at the heap lying on the grass, "Hey you!" he shouted rather rudely. "I'm here to challenge you to a brawl!"

Masquerade grabbed the rest of the dignity he had left and pushed myself up. "Oh yeah? And just who the hell are you?"

A smirk, a small one-sided smile, crossed his untamed face, "I'm your good twin."