First off, I'm soo sorry that I haven't updated in such a long time. You could almost say I had a mini writers block. *bows a hundred times* but I'm back! And I made sure this chapter is super lengthy as an apology for being so tardy. :3
Disclaimer: I do not own Bakugan or any of the characters mentioned. :D
Now on with the story! :D
A week later:-
"Ohmygosh, Julie! Are you serious? Tell me you are not kidding here!" *pause* "NO way! And you didn't even tell me!" *pause* "nuh uh, don't call it a surprise! You hid a secret from me! How could you!" *pause*"okay then! Alright, bye!"
Runo finally hung up the telephone after practically screeching into the poor device for what seemed like two hours. It was obvious in her voice that she was ecstatic about something and she literally started shaking, unable to contain the excitement. She let out a small squeal before shouting "ALICE! COME UP HERE RIGHT NOW! EMERGENCY!" and breaking into another louder squeal.
The redhead, who had been merrily washing the dishes, almost dropped a newly washed cup as she heard Runo shout and suddenly her face paled horribly. Emergency? A million thoughts rushed into the girl's mind about what could've happened, before she ran up to their sleeping quarters in the speed of light.
"What happened Runo?! What is it?!" she expected to see the bluenette to be in some kind of trauma, but the sight of an overly excited and happy-jumping Runo confused her.
"Oh Alice! Youwon'tbelieveit!It'sJulie!ShecametoJapantoday!Shedidn'teventellus!Shewantedtosurpriseus!OMGOMGAndguesswhat!Shejusttoldmethatareallycute guyfromherschoolaskedherouta ndshesaidyes!canyoubelieveit!imsohappyforherthaticanthelp butsquealoutloud!"
The girl panted as she looked at Alice, with expectant eyes waiting for a reply, but all the older girl did was arch an eyebrow.
"uh… Runo, sorry but, I did not understand a word of that you said"
The bluenette slapped her forehead. She took a deep breath before calmly and slowly, explaining it to the redhead again.
"Julie came to Japan today morning, and she didn't tell us 'cause she thought it would be a surprise for us!" Alice's eyes widened and she appeared shocked for a moment.
"Really?! Oh my god, that's great! We'll finally get to meet her!" Alice was beaming while Runo giggled.
"I know right! And she also told me that she was asked out by a really cute guy from her school! And she said yes!"
The girls soon found themselves engaged in a deep talk about boys and crushes, all the pending house chores forgotten, until Runo's telephone started to ring for the second time that day.
"Oh my god! It's 5:40! We were talking for so long!" Runo squealed before quickly answering phone. "Hello? Oh hi Marucho!" *pause* "Really? Tomorrow?" *pause* "oh my god… is it something bad?" *pause* "Everybody's gonna be there?" *pause* "Alright, I'll tell Alice as well. Thanks Marucho, bye. See you tomorrow!"
She sighed and looked at Alice. "Marucho's gonna send his butler to pick us up tomorrow after school. He said he found something really suspicious about Masquerade and that the rest of the team would be there as well." Alice frowned pondering about the masked blonde. Suspicious?
"I wonder what it could've been." She mumbled, as she tried to think of different situations, but she quickly snapped out of it as her eyes landed on the clock. "Oh no! It's almost 6! Customers are gonna come and I'm not even done with the dishes! Runo, could you help me out?"
"Of course" she replied, rushing out of the room with Alice following. The two girls worked in silence as they washed a seemingly never-ending pile of dishes and Alice's mind suddenly wandered off to the day she told Runo about that kiss incident. She had told the younger girl (or rather lied, after much practice, that is) that she was taking a stroll in the park and didn't notice a boy walking in her direction; they collided and she fell on him and their lips met. That was the story Runo held on for now and of course she hadn't forgotten to shower Alice with questions about the boy.
Was he cute? – Yeah, kind of, I guess.
What colour was his hair? – Blonde.
What did he wear? – Uh… white shirt and blue jeans.
What colour were his eyes? – Uh… I'm not so sure if I noticed…
Did he talk to you? What was his voice like? - … He didn't say anything…
What was the kiss like? Was it nice? – Runo! What in the world are you asking!
Alice shivered at the thought. She was not going to kiss anybody again in a long, long time. She sighed. How would Runo and the others react if they found out that I kissed our worst possible enemy? Or worse, how would grandfather react?! She sighed again as she thought about the scientist… She missed him so much… she had a very strong intuition that he must have been transported by that thing in his lab. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, thinking about the day he went missing, three and a half months ago.
"Alice, what do you think about Masquerade?" the redhead snapped out of her thoughts at Runo's words. "Huh?"
"I mean, why do you think he is being such a jerk? He could've been a normal kid just like us for all we know. Why can't he act normal though? Sometimes it infuriates me, what exactly is his problem?"
Alice raised an eyebrow as she took in what the bluenette had said. Now that she thought about it, why hadn't she seen things in that way? Maybe... just maybe, he was also a normal teenager with normal emotions deep inside his cold self, just like anybody else. "I… don't know…" She looked down at the last plate on the sink before grabbing it. "Maybe he had a bad past or something? Or maybe he just … likes being rude and being in power? … I don't know" She shrugged.
"You know what? I think his problem is that he is an absolutely conceited idiot who thinks that he is the greatest bakugan brawler ever. His pride got into his head" Runo face imitated that of a stuck-up, arrogant expression and Alice burst out laughing, tears brimming in her eyes. "Oh god, Runo! That was priceless!" She burst out into another fit of laughter, and Runo followed suit.
They didn't know how time had passed but soon enough, they heard the first customer of the evening entering the restaurant. Runo immediately rushed out to welcome them in and Alice heard the sound of Runo's parents joining the bluenette.
-x-X-x-
"Hal-G." An arrogant, masculine voice called out in a dark room, merely lit by a lone computer screen. His reply was a sudden materializing of a green-skinned, human figure, wearing a dark purple cloak. "Masquerade. How are my plans going? Master Naga is getting weaker and impatient as we speak!" he spat the words out with venom, as though a threat. But the blonde simply frowned and turned to face the creature.
"Your plans, need a little time to be put into action. I just found that the sixth member of the Brawlers arrived in Japan today."
"So? What does that have to do with my flawless pla-"
"It has everything to do with your plans, unless you do not want perfect results." Masquerade silenced him before continuing. "It is obvious that once all six are united, they'd try to devise a plan. At this point, it would be rather foolish to launch individual attacks on them. It would do no harm."
"So then what do you propose, oh wise one?" Hal-G mocked humbleness.
Old bat… Masquerade cursed in his head, but his lips crept up into a smirk. "Spy"
"That's exactly what you are doing now, Masquerade! You're spying them through every possible way. What more spying could you possibly do?" The green-skinned man was getting aggravated now.
"Spying up close" Hal-Gs eyes lit up in surprise and his lips dramatically broke into a sinister grin; Masquerade smirked in satisfaction.
"And how do you intend to do that?"
Masquerade pulled out something the size of half a pea from his pocket, resembling two flat square pieces of metal. "Does this ring a bell?" he exclaimed, as the mad scientist took a closer look at the two strips of metal and suddenly, his eyes widened as realization struck him.
"Of course! My Spyr'cod-3XZ! My very first nano-technology! My very first miniature sound recorder! Now why hadn't I thought of that? Where did you find it? It's simple and very, very useful but it is one of my most evil inventions!" He broke into a loud fit of maniacal laughter and Masquerade grinned wickedly, his eyes gleaming with pure lust for evil, behind his mask.
"But how are you going to place this on a brawler's body? You can't just walk up there and stick it on them."
Oh yes I can… Masquerade grinned thinking about a certain gullible redhead. "That is something you don't have to worry. I have everything planned."
"Very well, I shall inform Master Naga about the sudden change of plans. And make sure you hurry up. By the rate of the things you are doing recently, I'm starting to have doubts, if you really are faithful to your Master."
The blonde lost it. "Shut up old man!" but there wasn't anybody in the room anymore, except himself. He gritted his teeth and glared at the spot where the mad scientist was a few minutes ago. He snapped and pursed his lips, before his signature smirk crawled onto his face. The brawlers will go down; even if it means that I have to get a little 'intimate' with that red-haired girl again.
His mind randomly wandered off to his weird dreams and how he had recently found that he couldn't remember anything before he decided to work for Naga. He could only remember a three months detail from sixteen years of his life.
-x-X-x-
The weather forecast for Monday was supposed to be sunny, but all Alice could see above her head was thick, dark grey clouds. She groaned silently as she walked to the grocery store, carrying a large basket and some change. There had been a handful of customers and the Misaki's found that they were well out of milk; funny how majority of the orders were for hot chocolate.
The road was cacophonously empty and Alice shivered silently as she made her way; not because it was a bit chilly, but because she was scared. Not a soul in sight and Alice was sure she'd faint if she continued any further. She was relieved when she saw her destination just a few meters away, but immediately realized, with wide eyes, that she'd have to cover the same route back. Fortunately, she remembered a shortcut which Mrs. Misaki was talking about the other day, and hoped that it wouldn't be as uncanny.
Bad choice
Now the shortcut back was a deathly quiet alley and there were nothing but eerie old trees surrounding her and a stony disheveled road. A very bad choice; she could already feel chills running down her spine as she walked through. She tried to comfort herself saying she didn't have much distance to cover, that she'd reach back in no time. She remained unaware of a pair of eyes, among the wild mass of trees that stalked her every movement, as though she was a prey.
A low chuckle rang in her ears and Alice almost had her heart stop for a moment. The terrified girl turned around, slowly, tightening the grip on her basket. Her face paled as she found nobody around her and she further tightened her death grip on her basket. Scared out of her wits, she turned back, continuing her journey when she suddenly bumped in to something or rather someone.
"Boo!" The person smirked
Adrenaline pulsated through her veins as she suddenly dropped her basket and let out a blood-curdling shriek. The stranger suddenly grabbed her and placed a forceful hand on her mouth and successfully stopped her from screaming. She blinked back newly formed tears and struggled against the guy, before a familiar voice echoed through her ears.
"Would you stop squirming? You're messing up my clothes" The girl stopped abruptly and turned her head upwards to catch a glimpse of an ever-familiar mask and her eyes widened.
Masquerade!?
He let her go once he made sure that she regained her wits and Alice cringed back in embarrassment.
"Masquerade! What are you doing here?!"
He smirked. "Nothing at all, Alice. I was bored and just decided to check upon my favourite brawler." His voice had that menacing edge to it and Alice suddenly feared for her life. "Tsk I'd say you're quite amusing when terrified, so vulnerable" He cooed as he inched closer and tucked a stray strand of the petrified girl's hair behind her ear.
He chuckled and Alice felt chills run down her spine for the second time that day.
Oh god…
Wait. Why was she acting like a deer caught in the headlights? He could be fooling with her for all she knew. She tried to put up a brave front.
"What do you want Masquerade?" She eyed suspiciously and picked up her basket from the ground. One moment this and the next moment, she was pinned against a tree, the basket thrown somewhere he couldn't care less about. He held both her arms with a single hand and used his other to cup her cheeks. His hands were as cold as metal, she noted and he smirked at her.
"Getting brave are we? Well, to answer your question, I wanted to try something." He liked it this way. She was all vulnerable and her eyes gave him the exact reaction he wanted while his remained hidden. Alice's lips quivered as she stared up at the masked blonde, a new kind of fear engulfing her; her stomach felt ticklish at that moment as she realized their sudden proximity.
Without a warning, he crushed his lips against hers and for a moment, she forgot how to breathe. Her face turned multiple shades of scarlet and fresh tears brimmed around her eyes as she realized her attempts to break away were futile. She felt his ice-cold hands move from her cheeks to the back of her neck and she shut her eyes close. A minute later, she found herself kissing him back with equal force, when all of a sudden he pulled away.
She could still feel his cold hands around her neck and she reached a hand out to soothe down her tingling skin, only to be caught by Masquerade's icy hands.
"Look at me" He demanded and she followed, trying to look through his glass mask, although she was simply staring back at her own reflection. He kissed her again, gently, and she closed her eyes, but this time she felt weightless, as though she was flying. When she opened her eyes, she was standing in front of the restaurant, with the basket in her hands and Masquerade right beside her. He suddenly pulled her chin up.
"By the way, you look pretty when you blush" and he vanished just like that, with a fall of sparkles.
Wh-what just happened?
Alice touched her lips and suddenly her face turned from pink to red to purple to white.
I … I kissed him again!
The redhead was sure she wouldn't be able to sleep that night.
-x-X-x-
Masquerade sat on his bed as his mind replayed over the recent happenings. He was confused. Why did he do that? Why did he kiss her twice? Once was part of the plan. It was a distraction to stick the Spyr'cod-3XZ on the back of her neck. But why in the world did he kiss her twice?!
He unexpectedly had a splitting head ache, worse than twenty bullets driven through his brain and clutched his head in his arms. Suddenly an unknown, old man's voice echoed through his head.
'Promise me, that if you'll ever find her, you'll keep her safe.'
He didn't know why but he suddenly felt that he shouldn't have used her in that way.
-x-X-x-
Cliffhanger! XD sorry again! Julie's back! Marucho has found something suspicious and Masquerade doesn't remember a thing about his past! This is going somewhere *dropping hints* XD
But for now… I'd really make my day if you'd post a review and maybe point out any flaws that I'd have made. I'd also take it as a sign that I am forgiven for being so tardy… *hides from death glares* :S
And again, constructive criticism much approved! :D and please look forward to chapter 5! :D