A/N Well I tell you one thing, I sure feel old. 18 years of age. And I'll be approaching my 5th anniversary of fanfiction writing this October.

Ya know I went through my fav authors list today and I was shocked. Shocked and a bit appalled. Three writers that I had liked had deleted their stories but left their accounts up with a zero. One said their stories were so horrible that they apologized for their work! Stating that it was the action of a young girl who didn't know any better.

You want to know something?

Dual Dimensions was the product of a 14 year old girl, on her way to high school who didn't know better. Every story that came after that was the same.

I've grown and matured, as a writer, as a person, but I've also had troubles. I recognize that it can be hard to put so much effort into this and get what seems to be so little back.

I've met many authors and people here. Some I met on a single bakugan forum my freshman year, and I met the guy who would be my first boyfriend, my first ex, and a good friend of mine. I met whatever-my-name-is-XD who left because the haters couldn't stop hating on a girl so talented it pains me to think she won't be coming back. I looked up to Clonegirl who I believed could write Masky even better than I could. But she left, growing weary of writing for a series that didn't speak to her anymore. And then apparently growing weary of writing for any series anymore.

I've met many wonderful artistic people who've put so much effort into their fanfiction and then watchd as they just… faded away. As the spark died. I understand that many moved on to bigger and better things, but some of them, left behind their fans who still cling to hope of an update. And others took their works down entirely the stories forever lost.

But I've met many newer younger writers, some who still like bakugan, and were my age when I started.

So I've decided, that every so often, I'll try to recognize a new writer in our community. I actually have a list of 3 young writers already who I am very excited about them joining us!

So keep an eye out for the next chapter of DD or The Mighty Fall, and I'll direct you to them and their stories.

Chapter 2

Masquerade felt like he was going to be sick, his hands started to shake minutely. The fist that had hit the wall began to loosen as he shook, he slumped with his side pressed against the wall ignoring the clattering sound of his cards falling to the ground.

'I can't brawl,' The words echoed in his head as he looked blankly at the wall beside him before he let himself slide to the floor. 'Everything I've worked for, all the deeds I did, all for nothing?!" As soon as he hit the floor he curled up on himself wrapping his arms around himself as he pressed his head into his knees. He worked his jaw as he fought to quench the feelings rising inside him.

"Masquerade?" Masquerade blinked as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He slowly lifted his head to look up at Jet, concern etched over her face, her eyebrows furrowed. "Are you okay?" She said softly.

Masquerade gave a sharp snort of laughter. "Oh I'm just peachy Jet!" He snarled scowling gritting his teeth as he felt the tightness in his throat worsen. "I just found out that I can't take part in the one thing that gave my life meaning!" He shouted. "What the hell am I without brawling?!" He said slamming his fist into the ground.

"Masquerade-" Jet began tightening her grip on his shoulder but Masquerade shrugged her off as he felt a sob rising up which he struggled to hold back.

"I'm nothing!" He said his body seeming to slump his hands unclenching as he rested back against the wall, his head hitting the wall making sparks of pain lance through his head though Masquerade paid it no mind. He looked at her and choked out. "I'm nothing."

Jet stared at him and then her eyes narrowed as she knelt down beside him, Masquerade remaining unmoved slumped against the wall head tilted back his breathing quick. Jet wrapped her arms around him from the side making the blond blink as Jet hugged him.

"You're not nothing," She said gently hugging him tightly. "You're Masquerade,"

Masquerade snorted. "That's right." He said dully. "I'm the best brawler," His head lowered. "Naga's right hand man and the most hated kid on the planet." He said closing his eyes. "Take away my brawling, and you're left with the most hated kid on the planet."

Jet released him and shifted so she was in front of him. She placed her hands on his shoulders, Masquerade opening one eye eyeing her. Jet smiled softly. "I don't hate you." She said. "Julie doesn't hate you, nor does Jenny, and neither does Mike." Her smile broadened. "That's four kids that don't hate you."

Masquerade just shrugged. "And what about the million other kids who might not mind seeing me dead?"

Jet pulled back from him looking aghast. "They wouldn't want to see you dead!" She cried. "Masquerade you have to-"

"Have to what? Get a hold of myself?!" Masquerade snarled glaring at her his mask glinting brightly. "I don't have any part of myself left to get a hold of!" He spat then with a jerk of his head that made him feel sick he said quietly. "Just go away Jet, I want to be alone."

"Masquerade-" Jet said imploringly to which Masquerade responded with moving forwards and shoving her away from him making the girl cry out as she fell backwards and landed on her back.

"Just go!" He snapped turning himself so his side was resting entirely on the wall. "I want to be alone." He said.

He could hear Jet picking herself back up. The girl dusting herself off. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He could see her battered blue jeans standing a few feet away. Her feet shifted side to side a bit, as the seconds ticked by. For what felt like eternity for Masquerade the girl walked out. The door shutting with a bang.

Once he was alone, Masquerade did the one thing he had sworn he wouldn't do ever again.

He buried his masked face in his hands and broke down.

/-/

"Haha! I win again!"

Beyond Masquerade's hospital room, where the number 1 was falling from grace. Another kid was getting shot down.

At the brawling park by the fountain, two kids had just reappeared from their recent brawl. One kid, a black haired kid with a crazy hair style threw back his head and burst out laugh hands on his hips. Across from the laughing black haired kid a much smaller boy lowered his head and looked down at his feet and the blue bakugan ball that lay there waiting for him to pick it up.

Christopher sighed as he knelt down and picked it up his bottom lip quivering slightly. He looked up as the kid approached tossing his three bakugan balls in one hand.

"ha ha, that's 3 times in a row I beat you this week," Travis said with a sneer as he caught his bakugan. "Wanna make it an even four tomorrow?"

Christopher pushed back tears as he shook his head. "I don't know." He mumbled lowering his eyes. He yelped as Travis grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him up so they were eye to eye, Travis crouching slightly.

Raising his clenched fist he brought it so that it was mere centimeters from Christophers cheek, "Oh yeah, well my little friend here says you'll show up," He said with a soft war cry punching Christopher lightly on the cheek the littler kid tensing up. "So you'd better be here, or we'll engage in a different kind of brawl." He said with a laugh releasing Christopher and letting him drop.

Christopher hit the ground with a whump the boy grunting in pain, as Travis shoved his hands in his pockets whistling as he walked away head held high in victory.

Christopher sniffled as he reached out to pick up the bakugan he'd dropped again, eyes tearing up as he looked down at his juggernoid, his favorite bakugan. "I hate losing." He sniffed as he clenched his fist around Juggernoid. "I hate it so much." He whimpered. "Why can't I win?"

/-/

Jet sighed as the door to Masquerade's hospital door clicked closed behind her, the girl stepping away from the door before she let her back hit the wall, and she slumped against it eyes staring blankly ahead.

'Masquerade's in a bad place right now,' She glanced off to the side watching a few nurses pass by in the hallway. 'It probably doesn't help that he lost the one thing that truly distinguished him from Alice.' She lowered her eyes. 'Poor guy.'

"Man this sucks." Skylord said popping open on Jet's shoulder. "I mean, did you see his face, he was like totally out of it."

Reaper popped open on Jet's other shoulder. "If you ask me, he had this coming, I just wish it'd happened sooner." He remarked.

Jet frowned. "Reaper, he's very injured, the fact that he can't read the cards means he has brain damage, likely in the linguistic center of his brain."

"Or, it could be connected to the whole him forgetting bakugan talked." Skylord suggested.

Jet frowned. "That is a possibility." She murmured grabbing her chin. "But the machine was supposed to take only memories…" She muttered.

"Machine?" Reaper echoed.

"Yeah what machine? Masky never mentioned a machine." Skylord said rocking to one side.

Jet sighed. "I suppose I can tell you guys, so Sky you remember how I told you that I'm not from this world, and in my world we have a show that sort of features the people and events of this world?"

Skylord nodded while Reaper jumped.

"What?! You never mentioned such a thing to me!" He said sounding shocked.

Jet sighed eyebrows furrowing. "It kind of got forgotten in the confusion of everything that's happened since I got you Reaper. Sorry, anyways you and well the brawlers, Masquerade and a few other people of this world are characters in a show back in my world. So I kind of knew what wass going to happen," Her eyes narrowed. "How-"

"Then you know what's going to happen next?" Reaper said sounding alarmed. "What happens? Does Naga win, do the brawlers win? Does Masquerade get his? Do-" Jet grabbed him and forced him closed silencing him. She waited a moment before releasing him and Reaper slowly popped back open.

"If you'd let me finish, I was about to say the events have changed." Jet said placing him back on her shoulder as she folded her arms across her chest. "For starters, you weren't supposed to escape the doom dimension, Preyas was supposed to fight Marucho not be rescued by Sky and Fireblick, Masquerade wasn't supposed to get attacked by aliens, and he most certainly wasn't supposed to lose his ability to brawl!" Jet sighed. "So at this point I really can't predict anything anymore because everything's changed too much and new events are popping up in place of events that were supposed to happen."

There was silence for a moment Reaper twitching slightly. Jet and Skylord exchanging worried glances before Reaper let out an aggravated cry of rage.

"I wasn't supposed to escape the doom dimension?!" Reaper cried jumping up and down in agitation. "What madness is that?"

Jet shrugged. "You weren't important to the plot." She said simply.

Reaper went very very still at that seemingly gaping at Jet standing stiff and unmoving.

Skylord eyed him a moment before she bobbed her head thoughtfully. "So anyways, now that's been explained, you were saying, about the machine." She turned to look at Jet.

Jet narrowed her eyes. "It was in a spin off story of Bakugan." She said. "It was called Bakugan the Evo Tournament." She said. "Masquerade was in all of one panel." She added face falling slightly as Skylord flopped over on her side groaning, Reaper unfreezing to do the same.

"The machine, Jet?" Skylord pressed flapping her wings rapidly as she righted herself.

Jet blinked and then she nodded. "The machine, oh right! Anyways as the title stated it was a story about the evo tournament, which is basically a tournament designed to help orchestrate a bakugan's evolution. Particularly the evolution of one bakugan." Jet narrowed her eyes. "Mecha Chamelia."

"Chamelia?" Reaper echoed. "Master banished the last one in existence to the doom dimension at least several months ago!" He said. "How did she get it back?"

"She didn't." Jet said frowning. "It's a mechanical replacement, hence why its called Mecha Chamelia and not just Chamelia. "

Reaper nodded. "Ah, I see."

"Is that the machine?" Skylord asked. "But how could a bakugan cause so much brain damage?"

"Well if someone chucks you guys hard enough-" Jet began smiling slightly her two bakugan sighing.

"Lady Jet!" Reaper said. "Surely you jest! We could cause pain and prove to be a distraction, this is true, but we could not possibly cause brain damage to the extent that Masquerade received." He said jumping up and down. "So what really happened."

Jet sighed. "Right, see the machine is what's speeding up M. Chamelia's evolution." She said "It draws in several gs from the bakugan at the start of a brawl during the evo tournament. The winner of the brawl gets the gs back, but the loser has their gs added to the pot stored within the machine before getting added to the victor's power at the end of the tournament."

"Whoa, that's gotta be a lot of gs." Skylord said wings twitching. "I can see why that would speed up evolution."

Jet shrugged. "Well it's about 5 or so gs, which depending on the number of participants could lead to the pot being anywhere from 100 gs to be added, to say 160 gs, possibly even 200 gs."

"That could still be large enough for some bakugan to top hydranoid." Reaper remarked. "Any bakugan over 350 gs, could easily draw even, and if they continued to participate they could greatly surpass him." He mused.

"So was that why Masquerade was hurt? He got his ass whipped and his mind just shut down?" Skylord suggested.

"As amusing as the idea is, it is unlikely, Masquerade is nothing if not composed." Reaper said.

Jet tilted her head to the side. "It is a possibility. But I have a different theory." Her bakugan turned to focus on her. Jet's eyebrow furrowing as she closed her eyes. "See the machine doesn't just suck in g-power. It sucks up the bakugan's self, as well as the brawlers memories of them being anything but lifeless toys." Jet bit her lower lip. "And if a bakugan gets too close to the machine, or it participates in the tournament enough, they lose their whole identity, they become nothing more than soulless toys for the children to play with."

Reaper and Skylord stiffened. "WHAT?!" They shouted making Jet wince.

"Thanks, I didn't need my eardrums anyways." She said as she rubbed her right ear wincing slightly. Then growing serious she nodded. "Yes, so you're left with bakugan who have no souls and kids who don't even realize that their bakugan were alive to begin with." Her two bakugan shuddered in horror. Jet swallowed. "My guess is Masquerade got too close to the machine, and maybe" She clenched and unclenched her left hand at her side. "Maybe, he lost the brawl with the machine active, but what I think… Is that they just activated the machine with him in close proximity, taking Hydranoid's soul and putting Masquerade in the position he's at presently."

"Could it do that?" Reaper asked rocking to the side.

Jet tilted her head. "Considering all the recent head trauma he's been through, and the fact he didn't immediately recall that bakugan weren't really toys, its highly likely the machine took his knowledge of how to read the ability cards as well. It can take memories, so why not our internal ability to translate the cards?" She said.

Her bakugan were silent both of them looking at each other and at Jet.

"So now what do we do?" Reaper asked.

Jet opened her mouth to answer when she saw Jenny rushing over towards her, a graying man with a lab coat following after her.

"Jet!" Jenny cried waving, "I managed to get the doctor," she said gesturing to the man beside her. Then expression sombering she asked. "how is he?"

Jet frowned. "He's… Okay. He winces a lot like his head is hurting him, and well aside from that he's mostly okay." She decided she'd leave out the 'didn't remember bakugan could talk' or the 'can't read his ability cards anymore'. While there was a slim possibility it was rooted in another problem she didn't want the doctor to confine Masquerade to the hospital any more than necessary. Unless it turned out Masquerade couldn't read normal English, in which case yeah there was something wrong with his head besides whatever the machine had done.

The Doctor nodded. "Was he able to tell you what happened?"

Jet shook her head. "He doesn't remember."

The Doctor frowned. "That is troubling we should-"

There was the sound of something hitting the ground and smashing, followed by a loud crashing noise from Masquerade's room.

"What in the world-" The Doctor said turning and throwing open the door, Jet and Jenny right behind him the two pushing past him into the room.

They gaped as the curtains on the hospital window billowed out wildly in the sudden wind that was in the room, the window shattered with only a few shards remaining.

Jet and Jenny rushed over to the window the two taking care not to step on any broken glass as they peered out the window.

"Thank god we're on the first floor." Jenny muttered as she spotted the ground just a few feet away from the window. "Else he could've been badly hurt."

Jet nodded. "But what is he up to?" She wondered aloud taking a step back raising a hand to grab her chin. "Where could he possibly be going?" She muttered as her eyes swept the room stepping back to get a better look. She paused when something snapped and crunched under her foot. Frowning she moved forwards and looked down, eyes widening.

"No." She whispered as she crouched beside the object on the ground. Tears pricked her eyes as she realized the gravity of the situation a hand shakily reaching out to touch the broken glass, before her hand stopping several inches above it. Swallowing heavily she pulled her hand back holding back tears.

Jenny walked over to her eyes widening. "But that's-why would he?" She looked confused alternating between looking at Jet and at the broken object on the ground.

Jet sniffled a few tears sliding down her face. "I don't know," She whispered raising her hands to her face and covering her eyes shaking her head. "I really don't know."

In the middle of the room, smashed into several pieces with the headband stubbornly clinging to a few tiny shards…was Masquerade's mask.

A/N: Oh no Masky!

Anyways, that's all I've got for now, so enjoy, and please tell me what you think.

Also, let me remind you that while I feel bad that people have given up, I do understand when people are busy, and that they can't update all the time, so please be understanding all, I do have college which is very important and a lot harder than high school was.

So anyways, here's the newest chapter, review, tell me what you think and what you predict is going to happen next.