"Heya! Chapter 2!," Breezy says happily. "I can't wait!"
"Then get writing," Zennet says and rolls her eyes.
"Hush."
"Not 'shut up'," Shun asks cooly.
"I'm trying to watch my language."
"Good luck with that."
"SHUT UP!"
"Told you she wouldn't last," Dan whispers to Jake, both out of Breezyfeather's earshot.
ON WITH THE STORY
Dan dashed down the roads, his shoes making tapping noises against the pavement. It was not hard for him to run this far. He had run farther in the past and this was a piece of cake compared to when he was running from Centorrior and Druman. The thought evaporated as his destination came into view. The warehouses that had for the most part been destroyed in the last battle Dan and Spectra had had against each other.
Dan slowed down to a walk as he came upon the warehouse that had suffered the most damage. Looking at it now he realized that it was highly unlikely that Spectra would still be there. It had lost all usefulness now that it was in ruins. Dan's breathing slowed as he carefully picked his way through the rubble, keeping his eyes peeled for the two Vexos he knew might be lurking nearby. Several pieces of wood and metal fixtures lay discarded and dented on the the ground. The ground was uneven where Apollonir, Drago, and Helios had battled, and in some areas it was charred. Dan skirted those areas, carefully slipping around the broken walls.
The whole place seemed deserted, making Dan's spirits fall. He knew he had to get Drago motivated again fast or Drago would not want to return to battling at all in the future. Dan also knew that if he could convince a certain Vexos to help him, Drago would want to battle again. The only problem was that he didn't know where Spectra was.
Dan sighed, sitting down on the ground and crossing his legs to think. He rested his head against his right hand, his eyes trained on a cloud that looked like a Bakugan ball. He glanced at the watch his mother bought him when he returned from New Vestroia. 30 minutes. Dan wondered where he could find the leader of the Vexos, quickly ruling out all of the places he came up with.
"Where would he have gone after this?" Dan murmured, getting to his feet.
"Well this is certainly interesting. It appears we have a guest," came a sly voice from behind Dan. Dan's eyes widened and he gasped, whirling around. Standing there was just the person Dan was looking for.
"Ha! Speak of the devil," he smirked. "I was looking for you. Spectra."
"Hello, Dan Kuso," Gus regarded him coolly with a narrowed gaze.
"Are you looking for a rematch? I certainly don't see why, after you beat me, but if it's a battle you want it's a battle you'll get," Spectra said, pulling out his Gauntlet.
"I didn't come to battle," Dan said. "In fact, I came alone. Drago's not with me and he doesn't even know I'm here."
"Why would you come here then? To surrender? Even I know that's impossible," Gus said lowly.
"Of course I didn't come to surrender. The sun would explode sooner than I'd surrender to you and give you the satisfaction," Dan smirked.
"Then what is it you want?" Spectra asked. Dan breathed out, closing his eyes and then opening them a moment later.
"I've come to ask for your help."
Mira, Runo, Julie and Barron lounged on the couch at Dan's house, flipping through TV programs. Runo had originally given the remote to Barron, but seeing as he nearly broke it she took it back hurriedly. He had apologized repeatedly, pointing out that he was used to Vestal's more advanced technology and that he expected the remote to activate something more grand than the television, so kept pressing buttons until Runo snatched it from him.
"Ugh. There's nothing good on," Runo groaned, turning off the television. She leaned back against the couch, her blue pigtails brushing Julie's face.
"I was kinda interested in that program regarding animals on your planet," Mira said.
"Trust me. You don't want to watch that," Julie told her. "It's very boring. Within seconds they'll put you to sleep."
"Okay then," Mira said.
"Hey, how come Master Dan isn't back yet?" Barron asked. Suddenly, a red blur shot through the room, crashing into a vase and thus spilling water everywhere. Thankfully, the vase remained unbroken. They all gasped in surprise as Drago popped out of his ball.
"I haven't done that in a while," he grumbled. "Ouch."
"Drago? What are you doing back here?" Nemus asked.
"Where's Dan?" Runo questioned.
"Dan? Oh, he went off on his own again. He said he'd be back in an hour... well that was a while ago. You mean he's not here with you?" Drago exclaimed.
"No. He left with you and that was the last time we saw him," Mira reported.
"Do you think something happened to him?" Julie suggested worriedly.
"I hope not," Runo cried, getting to her feet. "Come on, let's look for him!"
"He's not wearing his Baku-pod is he?" Julie asked.
"His what? Does he have his Gauntlet?" Barron asked.
"Neither. Just that watch Mrs. Kuso gave him when we came back to Wardington," Drago said, feeling worry make his stomach clench.
"Of course," Runo groaned, walking to the door. "Where did he go when you last saw him?"
"Toward the warehouses," Drago said, dread seeping through his body. "You don't think he went looking for Spectra, do you?"
"He wouldn't be stupid enough to do that. Maybe he was just going in that direction for his run," Julie suggested.
"She's probably right," Mira agreed. "But if he's not back yet, he might have gotten into some kind of trouble with the Vexos. They are still in the area after all."
"Should we split up and look for him?" Barron asked Mira.
"I think that's a good idea. Hey, Mira, you go with Julie. I'll go with Runo, and Nemus, I trust you to look after Barron," Drago said. Barron started to protest but Nemus interrupted him.
"Not now, Barron."
"But I'm almost 13! I can take care of myself, Drago," Barron retorted.
"Runo, go get Dan's Gauntlet. That way we'll be able to find each other if we find Dan," Mira said. Runo nodded, dashing up the stairs to Dan's room, where she had lounged so many times before. His Pyrus Gauntlet and all his cards lay on his windowsill where he had dumped them after yesterday's battle. Runo quickly snatched up the Gauntlet and started out of the room, then turned and grabbed the cards.
"Just in case," she whispered to herself, putting them into Dan's old card holster that lay on his desk near his computer. She quickly placed the cards in it and tightened the belt the card case was on around her waist. Suddenly, she heard a shout from downstairs. She straightened in fear and whirled around, diving around the doorway and down the stairs, where she saw what looked like the creep that grabbed her. She gasped, landing with a thud at the foot of the stairs.
"What's he doing here?" she cried and Spectra looked at her, then she realized that his form was almost see through. She blinked in surprise.
"He's a hologram," Mira explained without looking at her. "Gus Grav has these little mechanical hornets that project images of whoever he tells it to. Spectra isn't actually here."
"Impressive, Mira," Spectra said slyly. Mira fidgeted, something that no one but Julie noticed. She remembered that day at the amusement park when Mira and Spectra had battled.
Who is he that made Mira so uneasy, Julie wondered, then looked back at Spectra's hologram.
"What do you want?" Barron asked with narrowed eyes. Runo's eyes were widened in nervousness and Mira was biting her lip. Julie just looked mad.
"Simple. I want a battle. Any one of you will do."
"Not Dan?" Mira challenged. Runo stared at her. What's she doing? Dan isn't here! If he finds that out he'll be looking for him, too.
"I know that Dan isn't with you, but I know where he is," Spectra bargained expressionlessly. They all gasped in surprise.
"Where is he?" Runo demanded, taking a step forward in anger.
"Beat me in a brawl and you'll find out," Spectra said. "If you accept my invitation, just follow the hornet. It'll lead you to where I am. If not, you could always scour the city until you come across him. Your choice."
The hologram faded and then vanished, and Mira grabbed the hornet. She looked at the others, who seemed uneasy. "It's the only lead we've got. I'm pretty sure we can win against him, if Barron and I fight," Mira said.
"We can fight, too, Mira," Runo said. "If you have a spare Haos Bakugan, and a spare Sub-Terra Bakugan, we can fight."
"You also need Gauntlets," Barron said.
"Not if we use a different type of card," Julie realized. "Runo, do you have a few extras of the field cards from when they fell from the sky?"
"Yeah, I do. At my house. Dan told me he locked his up in a case under his bed."
"Then go get them!"
"Wait, the cards that open up that dimensional field? The white one?" Mira asked.
"Yeah," Julie said while Runo ran upstairs. "I think that if you guys activate your gauntlets and if Runo and I open up the field, then we might be able to all do battle in one arena that we're all familiar with."
"Wow. I never thought of that," Mira said. She dug into her pocket and her eyes widened in triumph. "I still have those Bakugan that joined us after we beat the Dimension Controller at Alpha City!" She pulled them out of her pocket and realized, Yes! they were both Haos and Sub-Terra. She opened her hand and looked at the two, grinning when they popped out of their Bakugan balls. One of them was a Haos Hynoid and the other was Sub-Terra Rattleoid.
"Oooh, Ratteloid," Julie cried, picking up the Bakugan from Mira. "I haven't seen one of these guys in forever!"
"Did you just say Rattleoid?" Runo asked, boming back down the stairs with a few of Dan's cards. Her eyes widened when she saw Hynoid. "Oh no way! We used to battle with these Bakugan!"
"You did?" Barron asked, looking at them. "I thought you battled with Haos Tigrerra, and Julie battled with Sub-Terra Gorem."
"We did," Julie said. "But usually we tried to beat the bad guys without using our Guardian Bakugan. We had two other Bakugan before them. I used Hynoid and Rattleoid loads of times!"
"I used Hynoid a few times, and Wormquake, but not usually Rattleoid," Runo said thoughtfully. "This will be fun!"
"Hold it, everybody," Drago said. "We can't just go rushing in. We need a plan. Well, you need a plan."
"Yeah. First of all, we don't know if the Gauntlets and cards are going to synchronize like we hope," Barron pointed out.
"Barron's right. We can't just go rushing in without a plan either. Come on, lets think about this for a minute," Mira said. Then, Apollonir floated into the room.
"What's going on?" he asked, scanning the room. "Where's Dan, Drago?"
"Spectra knows but won't tell us unless we beat him in a brawl," Mira said bluntly.
"He what?" Apollonir cried.
"We're gonna fight, too," Runo said. "We've got the cards from when we first played."
"But do you have Bakugan?" Apollonir asked.
"Yeah," Julie grinned. "Sub-Terra Rattleoid and Haos Hynoid!" Apollonir was silent for a minute, then spoke again.
"You will need more powerful Bakugan to defeat Spectra. He almost took me down," he said. Runo and Julie looked at each other, then back at Apollonir.
"He's probably right," Barron said. Runo glanced at him and realized that his eyes were oddly shiny. She blinked and turned toward him. "Runo, I'm really sorry, but the last time I battled Spectra, I was using Haos Blade Tigrerra."
"Blade Tigrerra? You mean my Tigrerra?" Runo asked. Barron nodded sadly.
"I battled my hardest, believe me I did, but then Spectra was going to hit Nemus with his General Quasar ability, and Tigrerra- Tigrerra pushed him out of the way. She – took the hit for him," he choked out, the tears spilling over his eyelids. "And the power distance – it was more than five hundred. He took Tigrerra from me. I'm so sorry!"
"Tigrerra," Runo whispered. She closed her eyes for a moment, then reopened them and looked at Barron. "It's okay. You tried your hardest. And now we just have to get her back, and beating Spectra is the first step in doing that. You don't have time to mope around, Barron! Let's go give that guy a thrashing!"
Barron stared at her. "You're not mad?"
"Do you want me to be?" Barron stared at her, then grinned and wiped his eyes.
"Not really. You're right! Lets go kick some butt!"
"Runo, Julie, I believe its time you fought alongside the Bakugan you once fought against," Apollonir said. The two girls stared at him, then gasped as two Bakugan balls appeared out of the air in front of them. One was Haos, and one was Sub-Terra. And both looked familiar. When they popped out of their balls, it confirmed their suspicions.
"Haos Lars Lion!" Runo exclaimed in shock.
"Sub-Terra Clayf?" Julie yelped
"Two more of the Ancients!" Drago gasped. Mira and Barron just looked on, lost for words.
"Yes, Brawlers," Lars Lion said. "We are here to help you in your quest to find Dan."
"If he and Drago do not battle, then New Vestroia has little chance to be saved," Clayf announced. Drago felt nausea attack his stomach as it clenched at Clayf's words.
"We will help you with this battle, Brawlers," Lars Lion said. "And then you will travel back to New Vestroia with the help of Apollonir. You will find new guardian Bakugan for you there."
"Alright then," Runo said with a grin. She held up her hand and Lars Lion flew into it. Julie formed a cup with her two hands and Clayf landed there. "Let's go find Dan!"
"I couldn't have said it better myself," Lars Lion announced. Mira grinned and released the Hornet, then pulled on her boots and headed out the door. The others followed quickly, Runo attaching Dan's Gauntlet to her wrist. Dan, we're coming for you, Drago and Runo thought.
"Yay! Chapter 2: Complete!" Breezy exclaims happily, opening a Google Chrome browsing session. A voice plays through the speakers of her laptop.
"Those brats ditched us!"
"Either that or they're digging a pool!" (Angered yelling of random words that are impossible to decipher).
Runo shouts, "BREEZYFEATHER!" at the same time as Julie.
"Oops. Gotta run! Ren, you're in charge!"
"Why'd she pick you?" Dan asks.
"How should I know?" Ren retorts.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
