A.N.: Hi people!^_^ Despite the fact that I still need one more review for chapter 3 I have decided to make an exception and post the next chapter anyway.^_^ But, mind you, I will not, I repeat, will NOT, post the next chapter until I get 15 reviews for this one. Sorry, but I do like answering reviews…^_^'…

So, aside from the rise of the review rate(if that's what it is called) enjoy reading chapter 4!^_^

Disclaimer:

Me: Time for the disclaimer!^_^

Masquerade: I told you that I will not say it.

Me: Awww, come on Masquerade, I made sure that you are in this chapter most of the time.

Masquerade: That is true….Oh, alright – Lady Avotil doesn't own Bakugan.

Me: Thank you!^_^

Chapter 4: The lessons and Dawn

Alice was very distracted the next day, thinking about her first lesson with Masquerade, and could hardly wait for school to end. The moment the bell signaling the end of the last hour rang she was the first one out of the classroom and she patiently went back to her grandfather's mansion with Sarah and Bella. After lunch Alice went with her two best friends to the edge of the forest and the moment she couldn't see them anymore in the dense forest she hurried back inside and went up to her room.

When Alice opened the door of her room she took one look inside and stayed there for god knows how many minutes staring at who was lying on her bed there – Masquerade, in all his glory, was lounging on her bed with an air of confidence as if it was his own room. He looked up and smiled as he saw the red haired teenager standing in the door way looking at him.

"You know…it's rude to stare at people, Alice. Now how long are you still going to stand there? We have a lesson!" the masked boy asked the Russian girl, effectively snapping her out of her trans-like state.

"I…uh…nothing. I just didn't expect you to be here, that's all" she answered and blushed slightly at his remark about her staring.

"So, how are we going to do this thing with the lessons?" she questioned her tutor(she refused to think of him as a teacher), remembering his words that he was going to think of something.

In response to her question Masquerade simply smiled, stood up and extended his hand towards her urging her to take it with a nod of his head. The red head slowly took his hand and when she did a bright light surrounded her and the blond haired boy. When Alice opened her eyes again she immediately closed and reopened them.

"To answer your question, my dear Alice, we will simply go to a location that no one knows and we shall have our lessons there. Well, this is that location and I assure you that no one even has an idea that this place exists" the masked boy said as he let go of her hand and looked at his guest's confused and lost look. Deciding that it would be best if his "student" calmed down and looked around the place, he went over to a desk with a computer on it, sat down on the chair in front of it and started clicking and typing.

Meanwhile Alice was still slightly confused as to where she was, but she was 100% sure that this was not her room. The walls were made out of stone bricks and different kinds of masks adorned them. There was a stairway to the far left corner of the room that led to a door. The Russian girl decided that there was nothing more to see and so she turned around and started walking towards Masquerade who she found had moved to sit in front of a desk and was typing something. When she was close enough to look over his shoulder she only saw a black window with row after row of numbers and the blond villain kept typing more numbers as if he were….writing a sequence or coding something? She would have to ask him later on.

"If you are done watching me type rows and rows of numbers, I suggest that you sit down on the chair next to me" he suddenly said whilst finishing typing a last few numbers. Surprised, Alice looked to her left and saw that there was indeed a chair there that she hadn't seen before. Doing as she was told the teenage girl sat down.

The spiked-haired boy slowly turned towards her. Not liking the sudden silence that followed the Russian girl decided to ask him the question that first came to her mind at the moment.

"How old are you?" Alice suddenly asked and her question obviously threw Masquerade off guard.

"Why do you ask that?" he confusedly inquired of her in turn.

"Uh, well, because of your mask your face isn't really visible and your entire life is basically a mystery and I just wondered…how old you were?" she answered, still shocked that she would ask him that. 'Now that I think of it, there isn't really anything I know about him except that he is a Darkus brawler and sometimes uses unknown cards in battle'.

"If I answer your question, will you answer one of mine?" he carefully proposed this with a small smile on his face. The red haired girl knew that normally she wouldn't agree to something like that, but the person that was Masquerade had started to intrigue her too much to loose such a precious opportunity.

"Sure" she confidently replied, slightly shrugging her shoulders to show him that she didn't mind at all. The blonde's smile grew a bit more as he heard her answer.

"Alright. I am 17 years old. Now here is my question – when were you born?" he questioned her whilst tilting his head slightly to the side.

"I was born on the 3rd November 1993(now it's September 16th 2009)" the teenage girl answered.

"So that means that now you are 15" he concluded.

"Yup" was her short reply.

"Well, what do you say to this – before each of our lessons we ask each other one question about ourselves" he offered the idea to the red headed Russian girl next to him.

"How about three questions instead of one" she tried to bargain, hoping to get more information about the mysterious boy that way.

"Two or no questions at all" he returned.

"Deal" the red head quickly said – two questions were less than three but better than none at all.

"Deal" the blond teenager agreed and put out a hand. Alice had made yet another deal with Masquerade in less than two days. However, since those deals were beneficial to Alice and in general she didn't really consider that a bad thing.

"Alright. Then that means that I get to ask you another question – why do you live with your grandfather and not with your parents?" he inquired – it had been something he had always wondered ever since he had started watching the Brawlers. He noticed at his question that her smile had turned into a frown – it seemed that he had managed to touch a nerve.

"Usually I'd prefer to not answer this question, but since we made a deal I guess that I have no choice" she looked up at him and into his eyes – or at least where she imagined that his eyes were behind the mask "My parents died in a car crash when I was only 5 years old. I was in it as well and I just managed to survive with the only reminder of it being a scar on my left shoulder. Ever since then I've lived with my grandfather"

That was not the answer Masquerade had expected – a divorce maybe, but never a car crash. He could not imagine such a nice and a bit shy girl like Alice to grow up without any parents. It reminded him a bit of his own life. 'Except that I turned out differently, didn't I?' he thought as he prepared himself for the red heads question.

"Now it's my turn – if you live alone, then why?" she asked, cleverly combining two questions in one.

"Clever girl, aren't you? Yes, I live alone and the reason is that I ran away from my parents when I was 11 – my father was almost always drunk and my mother was no better because she took drugs. I decided to leave that madhouse I called my home and so I took some of my father's money and bought a train ticket to the closest relatives I had – my aunt and uncle. They were kinder and much more normal than my parents but that didn't mean that I opened myself up to them. I finished my education 2 years earlier than the others at the age of 16 because I was on an equal level with the 12th graders – a genius of sorts, if you will. So here I am now, at the age of 17, alone and in possession of a mansion that my dear father left me when he died a few months ago from alcoholic poisoning" he answered with practically no emotion at all.

Alice didn't quite know how to feel after this revelation, but she knew one thing – Masquerade had had no one who loved him during his childhood and that surely somehow affected his life. Feeling a bit sorry for him she put a hand on his shoulder, gently squeezed it and smiled a bit as if to say 'It's alright – you are not alone' and Masquerade slightly smiled back at her.

"Now, shall we start with what we are actually here for?" he said in a sort of cheerful way "I think that we should start with the basics and unless you have a question you will not interrupt me, okay?" he asked as he looked at her, waiting for an answer.

"Okay – let's start!" Alice enthusiastically agreed. If she could have seen through the mask she would have seen the blond teenager's eyes roll.

"Alright. First off, the Darkus attribute is, as you probably already know, a more offensive than defensive attribute. It concentrates mainly on attack and that in turn means that usually the defenses are poor – that is why most brawlers choose attributes other than Darkus. To be a successful Darkus player you have to first be a successful strategist to cover up that weakness. Also, in every single battle you have to have a Plan A, a Plan B and even a Plan C ready! You have to think ahead of your opponent, or in some cases opponents, by at least 4-5 steps and know all your Bakugan in and out by heart – their strong points as well as their weaknesses" the blond Darkus player started to explain as he activated the battle simulation he had just finished.

And so Alice's lessons continued – five times a week(every Monday to Friday) and little by little she understood how to use her natural talent and she also got to see more of Masquerade's friendlier side and get to know more about his life as well, just as he got to know more about her.

After a month of taking lessons from Masquerade the red headed Russian girl decided that she was ready to start her brawling "career". For that purpose she had taken Masquerade as an example and specially put together an outfit and, of course, it also had a mask.

Her outfit consisted of a black jacket with wide sleeves – the left one rolled up until just above the elbow – a V-necked, dark purple T-Shirt beneath it and black baggy jeans that were tucked into a pair of black, almost knee-high boots. She wore fingerless, black gloves with three red stripes that almost reached her elbows and on the left wrist – a custom-made black Bakupod with red at the edges. The mask was a dark green color with golden decorative swirls on the edges and it not only covered the upper half of her face, but it also covered her nose because it had a beak of sorts(imagine Ace's mask from the New Vestroia episode where he battles in that arena). To be definitely sure that no one would recognize her she would put her long, red hair into a ponytail and her brawler name would be Dawn.

Alice was very proud of her new outfit, but if she were to really remain incognito she would have to also brawl outside of Russia. After several hours of thinking, the only idea she could come up with was to go to Masquerade and ask him if she could borrow his dimensional transporter card from time to time or better yet – ask him if he had another one. The chances of him agreeing were slim and those of him having a second one – even slimmer. But she had to try and so the red haired girl waited patiently for their next lesson to come. Finally it came and the teenage girl decided to ask him.

"Do you have a second dimensional transporter card?" she inquired and despite his mask Alice could see that he was surprised by her question.

"Yes, I have a second one that I keep in case I loose the first one. Here is my question – why do you ask?" he replied and it was difficult for him not to notice how the girl had brightened up when he told her about the reserve dimensional transporter card.

"I ask because I think that I am ready and so I want to start my way as a Darkus brawler and to do that I would need to brawl and since I don't want anyone to know yet that I have started to brawl I need to brawl outside of Russia and to do that and not become suspicious I need your dimensional transporter card and so I asked you if you had one" she answered in one breath.

Masquerade's smile had grown and almost become a grin when Alice told him why she had asked him that. 'So, you decided that you are ready to show the world the person you really are' he thought as he remembered the first time he and Alice had brawled – she was a different person when she was on the playing field.

"If I agree to give you the second dimensional transporter card for your use, then our lessons will end. Well? Your answer?" he questioned her – he wanted to see if she really wanted to brawl. If she did, then she would answer his question without even thinking about it for a second. If she did hesitate, then she wasn't ready yet.

"Alright" came her answer immediately although he did see that she did so reluctantly. It was true that he had come to like and even enjoy their little lessons – apparently just as she had. When they were here they weren't mortal enemies – she as part of the Brawlers and he as Naga's minion – they were something like friends.

"Very well. Here is the second card" the blond teenager told her as he pulled open one of the desk's drawers and took out a card from it "To use it you either just imagine the place where you want to be or you imagine the address and then the card will take you there. If you want to bring someone along with you then they will have to hold on to you. Got it?" he explained to her and gave her the card.

"Thank you so much – for everything" she said and then she did something Masquerade hadn't expected her to do – she hugged him. He was so shocked that he didn't know what to do and just stood still.

"You know….when someone hugs you, Masquerade, you usually hug them back" she told him, almost perfectly imitating the tone he had used when he had said almost the exact same thing just before their first lesson. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her and they stood there like this for some time. To his surprise, the blond teenager didn't mind doing it and even liked it.

When they separated Alice extended her hand "I hope that we'll meet again someday, Masquerade, and then we'll see if I can beat you", a smile on her face. The blond boy took her hand "I hope that we'll someday meet again too, Alice. But there is no chance that you'll beat me" he replied, a smile on his face as well. The blond boy suddenly let go of her hand and started to run towards the stairs leading to the door.

"Wait a minute! I want to give you something before you go and start your journey. I'll be right back!" he shouted as he went up the few stairs, opened the door and ran through it.

Alice could only tilt her head to the side, confused by his sudden departure. Shrugging her shoulders she went to her chair in front of the desk, sat down on it and patiently waited for him. After what seemed like hours, but were only a few minutes the teenager came back with a small, wooden, black box with fine purple decorations in his hands. Stopping in front of the red haired girl he extended his hands and Alice took the box. When she looked up from it she saw Masquerade looking at her with a friendly smirk on his face.

"I decided that since you were my student of sorts I would give you a "graduation" gift, so to say. But" he told her, holding up a finger as she was about to open the clasp of the lid of the box "you are not allowed to open it until you go back home".

The hand that was just about to open the box went back to holding it on the side and Alice looked up at the spiked-haired teenager in front of her again, a slightly annoyed or maybe peeved look in her eyes.

"Just to see if you understood what I said I want you to use the dimensional transporter card and transport us to your room" he said, gently grabbing her left wrist as Alice held the box in her left hand and lifted the dimensional transporter card to the level of her face with the other one. She closed her eyes and clearly imagined her room. The moment she did that a blinding bright light surrounded her and Masquerade. After the light died down she dared to open her eyes again and found to her great joy that they were indeed in her room.

"I have to go now. Good bye, Alice. Until we meet again" the blond teenager said before he disappeared in a rain of sparkly stuff. Alice couldn't believe it – this was so typical of him. Making grand entrances or exits. But she still couldn't figure out how he did that without getting the card out. 'I definitely have got to learn how to do that' she thought to herself as she put the DT card(I got tired of constantly writing "dimensional transporter"…-_-'…) on her bed and carefully opened the box. What was inside completely surprised her – it was a collection of Darkus Bakugan. She counted them quickly – 24! Masquerade had given her 24 Darkus Bakugan! She couldn't believe it. Alice looked at her open window and quietly said "Thank you".

Unbeknownst to her a certain masked, blond haired teenager was sitting on the tree next to her window. "You're welcome", he said, smiled and then vanished in a rain of sparkles.

After lying on her bed in deep thought Alice decided to call Sarah and Bella on their Bakupods. She wanted to surprise them and hopefully ask them something as well.

"Yo girls! Can you come back to the mansion? I want to tell you, and then ask you, something very important. See ya soon!" she recorded the video and then quickly sent it to their Bakupods.

Not more than 15 minutes later she heard them enter the house and run up the stairs to her room. They practically threw open her door and a panting Bella asked "We got your message and came as quickly as we could. Where's the emergency?" When the black-haired girl looked up again she saw that Alice was trying, and failing, to hold her laughter.

"I'm sorry if you got worried. There's no emergency. I just wanted to tell you something – I have decided to brawl. Not as me though – in a different outfit and a mask. I don't want anyone to recognize me. So…this was what I wanted to tell you. What I wanted to ask you is if you want to be my accomplices of sorts, my left and right hand, my fellow brawlers?" Alice announced and then nervously asked her two best friends – would they say yes and join her or would they refuse and she would brawl alone?

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting for Alice, but was only a few seconds in reality, Alice found herself in a big hug from both skater girls.

"Choking…not breathing…" she said and they immediately let her go and started to laugh.

"It's about time you decided to brawl! Of course we'll join you, right Bella?" Sarah said and looked at her friend who was grinning.

"Definitely! Besides, I like the idea of brawling as someone else and with a disguise and a mask. So count me in. I still have my mask from last year's carnival party we had at school" Bella joyously answered.

"Yeah, me too. I mean, after all the hard searching I went through to find it I couldn't just simply throw it away. We just have to come up with a new outfit and we are ready to go!" Sarah added.

"But Alice, if you are going to brawl then you'll have to get Bakugan and cards and it would probably be good to know which is your attribute" Bella pointed out to her red headed friend who simply…smirked? 'That's unusual for Alice. She never smirks…unless she knows something….

"Don't tell me you…" the dark haired brawler didn't even finish the sentence when Alice pulled out one of her desk's drawers and took out a neatly piled stack of…Bakugan cards? 'Alright, so she has the cards, but she doesn't have any…Bakugan'. After the cards the red haired girl had taken a small, black and purple box and opened it to show them an impressive collection of Darkus Bakugan.

Alice was enjoying this a lot. Both her friends stared at the cards and Bakugan disbelievingly – especially the Bakugan.

"Darkus? You chose the Darkus attribute, Alice? Why?" Sarah asked, carefully observing the rows of black and purple spheres in the box.

"Because it's my attribute – I am a natural at it" was Alice's answer as a small smile appeared on her face.

"How can you know that?" Bella inquired, curious as to how her friend knew this and how she had gotten all those Darkus Bakugan.

"I just do. And before you ask, I am 100% sure of it" was her reply.

"And what about the Bakugan? Where did you get them?" Bella continued questioning her friend.

"Let's just say that it is a gift from a friend of mine" the teenage girl answered. 'They'll never know it was from Masquerade…Actually, I'm not even sure they have heard of him before' she thought as she carefully put down the box and closed it again.

"So, girls, how about we start tomorrow in France?" Alice asked her two best friends who looked at her as if she was insane.

"Uh…Alice, we are in Russia and you want us to go to France to just…brawl?" Sarah slowly asked her friend, worried for her sanity.

"Yes, I know that. That's why we are going to use this dimensional transporter card grandfather Michael created – it can get you anywhere you want if you just think about the place or the address. Like if I want to get from here to Paris, I could easily do it within a few seconds.

Bella and Sarah looked at each other and slowly both started to smile and then they looked at Alice.

"Well, what are we waiting for then?!" they both said at the same time before starting to laugh. Shortly after all three of them were laughing and were thrilled at the idea of brawling in another country.

Whilst laughing with her friends Alice only thought one thing – 'My journey will soon start' and with that thought she went to bed that evening, thinking about France and brawling there together with her two best friends after school tomorrow.