Chapter 2: Tell Me Everything Dan
Walking down the streets of Bayview, Kiara tried to keep Dan preoccupied by having him help her figure out the meal she would prepare for her family that night. She had to admit it wasn't the best plan she had ever thought of, but it was the only that she could do to keep Dan from feeling awkward on the streets. "What about sushi?" He suggested.
Okay, that almost made her want to slap him. "If I place a fish on the table in front of my cousin's I will never hear the end of it! So no, no fish!No sushi!" She cried.
"O…kay," Dan said taking a step back in surprise. Kiara signed.
"I'm sorry, it's just my cousin Sierra believes eating any creature from the ocean is a sin. One time, I put one small shrimp in my mouth and didn't hear the end of it for six months." She shuddered at the memory. Dan looked at the pop-up marble on his shoulder and burst into laughter.
"What?" "Nothing," he laughed. "It's just that this is the first time in five years that I've seen you say something so…spastic." He smiled at her with amusement.
"So?" She asked.
"It's nice. It's different from the calm and composed persona I'm used to seeing you wear every day." They continued walking a little further, passing a campaign billboard for their newly elected governor with the slogan Lib Tyrant: A Governor for the People plastered on it. As they turned, a huge red dome peaked out from the greenery of the trees surrounding it. They both halted.
Dozens of teenagers appeared and disappeared behind the wall of trees, colorful Bakugan spheres floating after them. This was not an uncommon site; millions of people from all over the world entered similar buildings like this one every hour. Once inside, they were brought to a room that transported them and their Bakugan to a virtual world by breaking down their molecule structure into a computer. There, the players could interact with each other and participate in battles which revealed their Bakugan's true form. It was a game, a real-life multiplayer game and for almost two years, one boy and his Bakugan had dominated the world with his friends' right behind him.
Those were the glory day, but now they were just memories for Dan and Drago, probably forever.
He tried to go forward towards the dome, but was stopped by a gentle tug on his arm. He looked and saw Kiara giving him a soft, girly smile. "Let's go this way," she pointed towards the marina that was to the right of the dome, and then gracefully pulled him behind her towards it and away from the dome. Normally he would have complained about not going to the dome, he loved that place, but he knew what would happen to them if they set one foot in there. He knew what would happen to Kiara, so he let her do as she pleased; it was better that way anyhow.
She hated it. She hated that they couldn't go near the dome. She hated the images that popped into her head of what would happen if they did. She lowered her head so her bangs covered her tearing eyes.
The street abruptly ended as they entered the marina's park. She let go of Dan's arm and rubbed her eyes, opening them to a blazing sun. On one side, the calm bay, whose boat produced waves reflected the light off of its surface. On the other side, calm grass fields that had a few bushes and trees. A huge cobblestone walkway was sandwiched in between them.
"Kiara…" he began.
"I… I couldn't. I couldn't let you walk through there and have people glare at you and judge you," she choked. "It would have been too much. I'm sorry." Dan stayed silent, which for him was strange. He wanted to reassure her that it was alright and he understood why she did it. Kiara, despite lacking a Bakugan partner, she always looked out for her friends, especially when they behaved arrogantly and didn't think about the consequences that came from their actions- when they weren't looking out for themselves.
He stared at his friend with sad eyes that drifted to his feet. He knew he had become a shell of his former self, and in only two months. The happy-go-lucky boy that everyone was used to having around was now distant and serious person; the only good things that were coming out of all this were that he had become more aware of surroundings and he was getting to see and know more about Kiara.
"This is so stupid," she continued. "You should not be fighting over stupid things. You're a team for crying out loud! You, Marucho, and Shun have always fought together as a team. Now they're telling me that their best friend and leader is a threat to that very team! What's with that? Dan, what's going on!?" Kiara didn't understand. But then, Dan wasn't sure that any one, not even Drago, could understand what he was going through. What she did know was that he was in trouble, but she didn't know why. However, as their team leader, he had to protect his team no matter what happened to him.
"I just want things to be normal again. I want you and Shun to partner up without Shun second guessing you." Dan looked at Drago for approval, if he was going to let anyone know about their plan it might as well be Kiara.
"Kiara, we have something to tell you that I think you should know." she looked at them.
"Even before all of this started, Dan and I were considering retiring from the league." Drago stated bluntly.
She blinked in disbelief, "What?"
"It's nothing personal Kiara," Dan intercepted. "It's just time for the next generation of brawler to take the stage," he grinned half-heartedly at her. "Besides, I, we, have nothing to prove anyway. I mean, I helped create the game Bakugan and I was the number one player in the league for two years. No one else can say that."
"Dan…"
"We had a good run Kiara, but let's face it, I could only play in the league until I was nineteen anyways." Kiara couldn't believe what she just heard, she didn't believe it. It sounded like Dan was giving up. Dan never gave up.
"But if you quiet now you'll lose Shun and Marucho's trust for good because what you're saying will only prove to them that you were hiding things from them. Don't you two see that?!"
If that's what it takes it takes to keep them safe. His eyes were serious, and his face showed an expression that was impossible to read. Kiara signed and took a few steps, then quickly turned on her heels and pretty much threw Dan into the bushes and forcing Drago to fly off his shoulder. She then took off in the opposite direction.
"Hey," Dan groaned.
"Dan, look." Drago hissed. He did. In the distance another boy with sleek black hair appeared with the crowd of people. She had caught his eye, but she had seen him first. Shun Kazami.
"Kiara," he called to her.
"Shun," she acted surprised to see him.
"What are doing?"
"I was on my way to the market and I just had to stop to look at the water," her voice was calm and casual; it was just another talk with a friend. "I have to go to the market to buy dinner for my cousins, who I have to watch every Friday this month because my parents are working in that gallery your dad is going to be in next month." Kiara knew that Shun was glad that she was back in town after she had gone on 'vacation' for a few weeks, but she also knew that the idea of her being the teams 'liaison' with Dan and siding with him in their fight did not sit well with him at all. He had been trying to get a date with her for weeks because of that very fact. "And what are you doing here?"
"I have to go to Bakugan Interspace to help stop some players from going out of control in battle, it's become really hard to control them since…" he stopped.
"I know," she said sympathetically. There was silence for a moment as if neither knew what to say. The longer it went, the heavier the reality of the matter seemed to them.
"Why did it turn out like this?" Kiara whispered suddenly. Shun looked at her, Dan watched from the brushes, shocked at her sudden change.
"What?"
"Dan is you best friend, he's been the leader of the team since you two created Bakugan five years ago, now you're telling me that Dan has suddenly become a threat to the very team that he has devoted his life too! Why? I don't understand…" Tears formed in her eyes, she was so confused about all of this. Shun's face filled with concern as the tears started to fall down her cheeks.
"You and Marucho turned on him because, one day, he had a breakdown in the middle of your tag team battle, right? Ever since, he's been distant and secretive towards you and as a result you're pretty much treating him like his the enemy. I know that you're worried about him and that you don't like secrets, but did you ever think that he kept those secrets to protect you?" She asked accusingly.
Shun reacted to her words defensively by grabbing her arm. "Dan is still our friend and we want to help him, but we can't because we don't know anything and he did tell us anything."
"So you kicked him off the team, marked him as a liability to the league, but you still call him your friend yet refuse to speak to him because he didn't tell you everything that goes on in his life, and for losing it one time." Shun was silent.
In a small spark of rage, she slapped Shun's hand away from her. All of this was happing because of miscommunication? "Tell me this," she choked. "Was taking Dan's place as team leader your way of helping him?" Her words were icy and full of hatred. Shun just stood there, totally stunned by what Kiara had just accused him of. When he did not respond to her immediately, she turned her back on him and ran as fast as she could from him.
Dan and Drago were just as speechless as their friend was. Never in all their lives had they ever heard Kiara say such things with such venom in her tone. Mentally slapping themselves back into reality, they managed to crawl out of the park without catching Shun's eye. Just as they got the edge of the park, they saw him leave the park, the shocked look still blazed on his face. Watching him go, Dan continued looking for his friend. He eventually found her sobbing on a bench near the entrance and sat down next to her. She didn't look at him.
"I said too much, didn't I?"
"Yeah," he whispered.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't stop myself," she sniffed. "You have nothing to be sorry for!" Drago suddenly stated, floating in front of her, "You're as much of a victim as we are and we are grateful to you for everything you have done for us."
She gave him a weak smile, "Thank you." She went quiet after that, as if waiting for herself to calm down. Looking at Dan, she knew that she still wanted someone-anyone- to tell her why things were the way they were, but decided to put it off until later. After a few minutes, she and Dan were waiting for the crosswalk sign to turn green, acting as if her argument with Shun had never happened.
"So I was thinking of serving pizza for dinner tonight," she told Drago as they walked across the street, oblivious to Dan who had lingered back behind them, staring at Kiara. She was beautiful. Her long brown hair covered her entire back to her waist when she wore it down-which was all the time-was complete with thick bangs that covered her forehead and two long, thick tendrils that framed each side of her face. Her skin was as flawless as ivory and pearl combined. And, of course, there were her eyes. Kiara's eyes were unlike any normal human beings, they were the darkest, richest brown eyes he had ever seen that seemed to possess a deep intelligence and understanding.
And yet…
They were also the largest, innocent, and the brightest eyes he had ever seen. It was ironic really, how eyes so dark could shine as bright as hers did, but it was true, and Dan had been kicking himself ever since for not realizing it sooner. Granted it wasn't really his fault, Kiara never did anything to enhance her appearance. Actually, she did everything to hide it! She wore baggy and boyish clothes, and never did anything draw attention to herself. Never the less Drago was right, they were grateful to her. She stood by them when no one else did; she believed and cried for them. She was a loyal friend who made his heart skip a beat when she smiled. It was moments like these that made him a little glad that what happened had happened. Still, he knew what had happened shouldn't have and he would eventually have to tell some about what he saw. But the truth was not even he understood what was happening, and he was determined to find out what he was fighting before anyone else got fully involved.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, he signed and stepped into the street just as Kiara stepped on to the sidewalk. The crosswalk was packed with pedestrians going one way or the other. Dan kept looking straight towards Kiara and hardly noticed those traveling in the opposite direction of him. Unfortunately, the worn tail of a black trench coat suddenly appeared out of the corner of his eye. Its wearer passed him and whispered softly into his ear, then continued walking and disappeared as fast as he had appeared.
It was him!
Dan froze, completely paralyzed. His heart stopped abruptly when he heard the man's voice. Color drained from his face and his eyes widened with horror. His senses were fading, just like before. The color black began to blur his vision and was consuming him in darkness. To making things worse, a car appeared out of nowhere and was hurdling down toward the intersection and showed no signs of stopping. Its horn didn't reach his ears, for they were too preoccupied with the words that man had said that were causing his mind to shut down.
"I'm coming for you!"
"Dan!"
Kiara looked back and screamed his name before breaking into a dead run towards him, Drago flying after her. A look of pure terror was blazoned on her face. Dan didn't move, he just stood there and stared at her until slipping into the darkness. He had no control over his mind now, and that was only the beginning of what was to come.
The speeding car was only seconds away from turning Dan into a hood ornament and he still wasn't responding to her. Drago was also yelling at Dan to get out of the way and for Kiara to hurry, but she knew at this rate she'd never reach him in time. There was another way though, there was something else she could do, but she couldn't. There were too many bystanders around. No, she had to save him, no matter what she had too!
Still running, she shut her eyes, she forcing her aura to slow the time around her, concentrating it so everything else worked in slow motion.
Time freeze.
Reopening them, she saw that the car was just inches away from Dan's body, but now so was she. Lifting both feet of the pavement she glided through the thin air, wrapped her arms around his waist, and soared passed the car's hood back into the bushes of the park. Her face smashed against Dan's upper stomach and chest, they tumbled in the leaves and shrubs as time caught up with her.
Without warning, she felt a strange vibration whip itself through her mind. Kiara flashed her eyes open to see that she was lying flat on her stomach in total darkness. She quickly looked around, Dan was no were to be seen. Getting to her feet, she looked down at her hands to see a light that was being emitted throughout her body, giving light to the darkness.
A chill ran down her spine, there was an overwhelmingly powerful evil in this place, which obviously meant she was not in the marina's park or even Earth for that matter. So, where was she?
This place- this dimension- was consumed by ominous black and red smog which covered the both the open sky and the ground. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Kiara noticed long, thin chains that appeared here and there in this empty space as far as the eye could see. They appeared in to be growing out of the ground and went upward every which way towards the sky and disappeared.
Footsteps and panting struck her ears. Beyond a few chains Dan ran past her, he didn't seem to see her. She tried to call out to him, but she then realized her words were mute and would not come out, all she could do was watch him run in the dark. She then tried to move forward to get to him but paused, for her legs would not separate, she couldn't move. Looking down to see a chain growing out of the ground and wrapping itself around her legs, she tried to pull it off but it wouldn't budge, much to her horror.
A shadowy figure suddenly jumped out from a cluster of chains in front of him. Dan screamed and tried to run in another direction, but the figure blocked his path.
"Who are you? Answer me!" He screamed at the figure that made no reply. In Dan's eyes, Kiara could see that he was complete terrified by this man. Not wanting an answer, Dan turned around and ran in the other direction. From where she stood, Kiara could not see the figures face; only that he wore a worn black trench coat. The figure raised his arm and pointed a large revolver at Dan. Kiara gasped and covered her eyes. Dan was still running.
Bang!
The color red appeared through the holes of her fingers; heart about to break, Kiara slowly dropped them from her eyes and looked up. The smog was gone, replaced by a bright red horizon where a red sky met a glowing white ground. The chains, however, still existed.
Seeing that her legs were still bound together, she tried to shift her body to loosen them. As she did, she noticed the ground ripple red under her. This was not earth; it was some kind of lake. Her heart dropped when she saw the color.
Blood?
Frantic, she glanced from side to side trying to locate Dan. She found him a few yards away from her. He had stopped his excessive running, his back facing her. The shadowy figure was nowhere in sight. Desperate to get his attention before the figure decided to return, Kiara began to hop up and down as much as she could to make tiny ripples on the solid liquid surface; praying that he would see the tiny waves under his feet. Sadly, the waves smoothed themselves out before they reached him. He still had no idea she was there.
"No," she heard, "No…not again! He did it again!" He took a step back and started to run again, Kiara looked to see something lying on the floor that had been concealed by her friend's body, her heart dropped. It was a man, bobbing out of the water's surface, dead. His eyes were as wide as she had ever seen. From what she could make out, he wore the robes of a priest.
Dan screamed. Turning her head, she saw he was being attacked. The straight chains that seemed to solely exist for dramatic affect began to move, snaking their ends away from the red sky and curling down to Dan's height, he still didn't stop running. As he quickly glanced over his shoulder, the chains shot out at him. Even as they coiled around his limbs and neck he still tried to get away. Dan tried to resist being pulled back by the restrains. He took one step forward and they hurled him backwards and downwards, towards the water. The chains were disappearing into the lake, sinking Dan in the process. Kiara couldn't move, couldn't speak, and now she was unable to breathe; all she could do was watch as her friend struggled to get away to his freedom, but to no avail.
"I'm coming for you!"
The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, its owner dark and serious. Kiara clasped her hands over her mouth, staring with more horror in her eyes than before at the reality in front of her. The moment he heard those words, Dan stopped struggling. It was as if those words had transformed him. His ankles began to sink into the water, Kiara screamed silently. She had no idea what was wrong with him, but the fear for her friend was spreading throughout her body.
This can't be real. It has to be a dream, a nightmare! This has to stop now, because if it doesn't… one of Kiara's greatest fears was being unable to protect the people she cared for. This was utter torture. Then, something inside her snapped. Dan's lifeless body flew down with the force of the chains and hit the surface. The water than began to absorb him.
"NOO!"
Her scream seemed to break through the sound barrier and erupted across the lake. The light around her burst and began consuming her and everything around her body. Dan turned his head at the noise to see a sudden bright light swallowing everything in its path. As it moved closer, the chains that bound him dissolved into dust even before the light touched them. When the light waved over him, a sense of relief and security came with it. The cold darkness, that he had seen one time too many, seemed nonexistent in this now beautiful place that had wrapped itself around him. It was a little surprising to him though. Of all the other times he had been here before this had never had happened before when he was in this state, but he didn't care. He just closed his eyes and let the light carry him away.
But, what had caused it?
BC x BBB
Kiara gasped. Opening her eyes she her head on top of Dan's chest and her person lying next to him. She quickly sat up; embarrassed.
Sunlight streamed through the trees around them as the sound of a steamboat horn filled the air. They were back in the park, surrounded by bushes. Dan was lying on the ground motionless, his face ghostly pale and his eyes shut tight.
"Kiara, are you alright?" Drago jumped at her the minute she got up, his voice frantic and his tiny wings flapping violently.
"Wha…what happened?" She put her hand on her head to keep it from spinning. What a nightmare. "You saved Dan," Drago exclaimed. "You managed to get to him in time and pulled him away to safety into the bushes. I caught up with you after you stopped rolling down the hill, but you were both unconscious when I arrived. I was afraid that you had a concussion from the fall."
"I was…unconscious?"
"For at least five minutes." Drago noted.
"Five minutes," Impossible. There was no way that was true. Everything she had heard, seen, felt… it was all so real, the images were still vivid in her mind. She was absolutely positive she had gone to another dimension, even though she was fully aware that she had not opened any dimensional gateways. And the time, Drago said they were unconscious for only five minutes, but it felt like an eternity. Now sitting there in disbelief, Kiara tried to make since of everything she had seen: the darkness, the body, Dan running…
Wait… Dan!
The moment she thought of him, Dan's breath returned to his body. He snapped his eyes open and lifted his upper body off the grass, panting.
Drago was quick to react to him. "It's okay Dan," he said trying to calm his partner. "It's okay."
It was far from okay, "Drago, he's back!"
"What?"
"I saw him! He's back and he's coming for me!" His voice was shaky and he was still pale, Drago knew what Dan was feeling, he also knew that the hotheaded human would hate himself later because of said feeling.
"Dan calm down!"
"I can't!" He grabbed his hair and started to rub it, "Ahh, I don't believe this I was so careful! I haven't had any nightmares or visions about him in days, I thought that…" his voice drifted, a mixer of frustrated anger and fear were in his eyes and tone. Kiara had never seen Dan like this, he was completely freaked out. But then, who wouldn't be. Not even she had seen visions that scary.
Wait…visions?!
That had to be it, the answer to so many questions. It was common knowledge that dreams and visions were a person's psychic energy tapping into time and space, or in this case the subconscious mind, and that humans shared this power with her kind. However, though there were few who could master these abilities, the humans' lack of in-depth understanding usually caused them to write it off as the brain's psyche reacting to something- which was true- yet nothing else.
This was more serious, Dan wasn't having normal versions. The only logical explanation Kiara could see was that something, no someone, had linked his subconscious mind to Dan's and was feeding him these nightmares and images.
That was it. Some powerful psychic had created a link with Dan and was manipulating his subconscious, trapping him in his own nightmare, which explained why everything felt so really and appeared as though they had gone to another dimension when it was nothing more than an illusion.
Kiara shivered. She had merely been an observer in there, but Dan…to have actually been apart of something like that was a terrifying thought. Any normal person probably would have gone mad in three days, but Dan had been enduring it for two months now. How was that possible? Was Dan a psychic too? No, the real question was why would someone want Dan to see…what he saw?
"Ahh I'm so sick of these stupid things!" Dan continued to complain to Drago throughout this thought process, he didn't even see Kiara was just a few feet away. "I know it sounds dumb Drago, but it feels so real. The darkness, the freaky shadow chains …Him." He looked at Drago, "I wish I knew what he wanted."
"Who's He?"
Dan's head snapped back at Kiara's voice, he had completely forgotten she was there. Oh man, he remembered being in the street, the sound of a car, and seeing Kiara's scared face. Now they were in the park. Kiara had saved him.
Looking at Kiara now, her long hair was tangled and had leaves and twigs sticking out of it. Her eyes were still frightened, but seemed to be pleading with him to answer.
No. "Uh, no one," he looked away, trying to be blunt. No she can't get involved. No one, especially her, can get involved.
Without warning, she grabbed his arm. "Dan, I saw it! Everything! The darkness, the dead priest, everything!" She screamed at him, her words shocked him.
"What! How- ?" He didn't say anything about the dead man being a priest, how did she know? Kiara narrowed her eyes and looked away.
"Dan," Drago spoke. "I think it's time we told Kiara everything." He spoke with concern, but knew it was time.
"No, Drago we…" He started to argue stubbornly but stopped when Kiara squeezed his arm.
"Dan…" She looked at him, causing their eyes to lock on to each other's gaze as she spoke, trapping his eyes in the lights in hers' that now flicked with determination.
"Dan," she said again, "Tell me everything."
