A/N: OMG OMG OMG OMG I MADE IT. THANK GOD. I MADE IT BEFORE THE DEADLINE. *goes off to celebrate* Now I don't have to worry about updating for a while~ Phew!
Anyway, I am TERRIBLY sorry for taking so long with this. I actually crammed most of this chapter just an hour or two ago, so it might be a bit crappy. School is so stressful sometimes...I tried to make it long-ish as an apology. But I don't think it's that very long...OTL
Review after, please?
Chapter 5 – Long Morning
The awkward silence that filled the room was suffocating...even if the food was good. The twelve chibi brawlers, three girl brawlers, one Gale, and one Spectra were sitting all together in the dining area. Not saying a single word. Just eating the food that the younger teen was able to whip up from the remaining resources they had left. Frankly, the blond was already fine with the cereal, but whatever Gale did, it was so good that he got a bowl anyway. And he savored every scoop of the porridge...thing. Even if porridge is peasant food (or so Ace says...even though he's also eating it).
Even with that, everyone was kind of glancing at a certain bluenette glaring at a certain (beat-up) brunette who was trying his best not to return the gaze back at her. The occasional slurps could be heard as the seconds dragged on and on..."Runo, you're going to give Dan a heart attack, seriously." Gale finally muttered as he stood up with his empty container.
"It's his fault for leaving us in the dark." she replied without even taking her eyes off of the chibi Pyrus brawler. "H-how is it my fault?" he shot back but failed to act the least bit confident. "You think I would've known that this-" he gestured at his small body. "-would've happen to us?"
"But it's not just this time. Ever since you left to Vestroia again, I barely-"
"Sorry to interrupt, but shouldn't we focus on something more important? Like getting you guys getting back to normal?" the crimson-haired boy cut in; sounding a little concerned. Everyone fell silent and was staring right at him which made him uncomfortable. "Err, well, I'm actually surprised that it hasn't been brought up...don't tell me...it slipped your minds?" some of them exchanged glances; a mixture of confusion and slight nervousness filled the air. "It is...a little strange..." Volt suddenly replied; his higher ten-year-old voice didn't mask the seriousness in his tone. "The entire time, it never really seemed to be a problem."
"Wike, it was almost normal." Baron finished with a thoughtful expression.
Spectra had the same expression as the four-year-old now; wondering if the trap he designed altered much more than their physical appearance. "I was expecting to leave them like this for a while, but I didn't think something like this would happen." the older teen stood up and walked towards the door. "I'm going to the Mother Palace-" he announced to them. "-and I need someone to come along with me."
Before anyone else could say anything, it was Hydron that spoke up first. "I'll go...if it helps me get out of this form as soon as possible."
"Alright then." Gale muttered. "While I clean up, all of you guys prepare. Runo, Julie, Alice, you help them out too. We're headed to the mansion since I doubt I can keep you here without a bigger space."
"Cool! I can't wait!" Dan piped up; excited. Most of them were the same; others didn't seem as hyper, but they were smiling anyway.
"That settles it then. I'll be dropping by later, Spectra, once we're done moving."
He nodded once. "Fine. Let's go, Hydron."
-o-
"Woaaah..." some of the chibis said in unison as they stared at the huge building. "Gale, I know your parents are loaded, influential and all that, but I didn't think it would be so...big."
"Haha, well, it just so happens that he likes large houses, Dan. Most of these rooms here actually either contain something terribly random or a bedroom. My dad tells him to find a better way to spend his money like donating to the poor or even setting up an organization for the environment, but he won't listen. I dunno whether to call that selfish or he just wants to spend it on himself. It's kind of-"
Julie suddenly nudged the boy. "Gale, they already went in." she told him while giggling. He couldn't help but blush from embarrassment. "Really? Oh god, I was rambling again." he then walked briskly to the entrance and went inside. The first thing he noticed was not how enormous the lobby room was, but the sole person that was standing there...apparently polishing a vase. He looked older than the redhead, and he seemed so deep in concentration with his work that the teen's voice made him jump. "Gah, don't scare me like that!" he shouted with a purely shocked look. His short blue hair covered his forehead but not his bright green eyes, and it took a few seconds for Gale to register that he was wearing what looked like a black tux with white gloves. "...are you a butler?"
He smiled. "That's right...well, sort of. I'm trying to gain what someone would call life experience since my boss says that I have too little of it."
"...life experience?" he repeated; a little surprised that he doesn't seem to be joking. "And how old are you?"
"Eighteen. You?"
"Fifteen." the two were silent for one second. "Weird that we said our ages first rather than our names...mine is Gale Hissori, by the way."
"Hissori? Oh, so you're the kid that the master was talking about...anyway, I'm Tadashi Kihara. Nice to finally meet you."
"Same here." so this was the guy he was talking about. Well, maybe Dan and the others are the 'life experience' he needs. "Hey, didn't you see any kids run by?"
"Kids?" he looked around and frowned when he saw shoeprints on the carpet leading to one of the many stairways in the mansion. Mumbling something along the lines of 'I can't believe I didn't notice them' as he walked pass the younger male to the bottom of the stairs. Once he was there, he simply looked up as if hesitating, and then turned back to the only other person in the room. "Looks like we're going hunting."
"I guess it's unavoidable...wait a minute." the crimson-haired boy glanced behind him and was surprised that there wasn't anyone else there. "Where did Runo, Julie, and Alice go?"
"Wait, you brought girls with you?"
"Err, yeah..?" he didn't like the flash of excitement on Tadashi's face. "W-we should really find the others. I doubt they'll get in trouble so we'll look for them later."
"Whatever you say, Hissori." he said with a shrug, though he seemed to be bummed that they won't try finding the girl brawlers first.
-o-
Meanwhile, Spectra and Hydron were walking towards the blond's ship parked in the Mother Palace (which said teen hoped wasn't damaged when they sort of crashed in to Gale's backyard). Most of his equipment was there, and making a scanner big enough for Hydron to fit in should only take an hour or so (thanks to his now small size). When they finally reached the ship and went inside, the Pyrus brawler thought he heard a loud shout coming from the isolation chamber...where he had trapped the Resistance and shocked them to their current state. Confused, he told Hydron to stay put in the cockpit and went down there to see what was wrong. When he finally reached there and opened the door, he was hit by what felt like fourteen stones that were thrown at him. Only these stones could talk, and they were sphere-shaped. Either way, he was knocked back from the force (and surprise) and fell on the ground with a hard 'thud'. "We're finally out!" Leonidas cried in happiness. "I told you smashing the door would work!"
Drago groaned. "It didn't open because of that."
"We're still out. That's good enough." Nemus said; attempting to stop them from arguing before they really did.
"Can all of you get off me?" all of them were shocked to see the teen right under them with an annoyed face. They immediately got off and floated around him, making some sort of circle. Helios just went back to being perched on said guy's shoulder.
"Where are the Resistance, Spectra?" Ingram suddenly questioned.
"Safe. They're with Gale, so there's no need to be concerned about them."
"Gale?" the Ventus Bakugan repeated; his wary tone hadn't disappeared yet.
"It's alright, Ingram." Drago told him. "I know him; he is one of Dan's friends. If they're in his hands, there really is nothing to worry about."
"What about the Vexos?" Wilda asked.
"Also with Gale. They don't seem to be causing too much trouble in their current condition, anyhow."
"I wanna check on Marucho to see if he's really okay." Elfin muttered while flying ahead. The others soon followed, also expressing worried comments about their partners. The only ones that stayed behind were Leonidas and Dryoid, the latter one surprised the blond. "Aren't you going to your master?" he asked it. The Subterra Bakugan didn't reply, as usual, but it seemed to know that Hydron was nearby.
"Hey, so, what are you doing here anyway, Spectra? I know this is your ship and all, but what about the other brawlers?" the Haos Bakugan asked as he floated right beside him. "Trying to solve the problem?"
"You could say that."
Leonidas didn't like the vague answer. "That's why you went back to the scene of the crime, eh?"
"Persistent, aren't you?" if Bakugans could smile, he would've done so. "I only went down here because I heard something."
"Yeah, whatever. So...do you know what made them become tiny?"
"I have yet to find out."
"I'm surprised that you're actually trying to help them out. Aren't you like the bad guy?"
"One more question and I'll kill you for being so irritating." Helios scowled. Leonidas didn't seem fazed by the threat, but he decided to shut up anyway.
After a while, they finally got back to where Hydron was. A seemingly happy Dryoid immediately went to his partner and stayed on his shoulder, and Leonidas chose to look for the other Bakugan in case they got out. The next hour was filled with a lot of work...Spectra doing most of it, but Hydron helped out some when he needed a hand. When it was done, all the Subterra brawler had to do now was to stand on the new scanner they made, and the blond did the rest.
-o-
At the same time, that full hour was filled with a lot of discoveries in the mansion...
The chibis all split up, opening all unlocked doors and peeking at each one of them. Shun's first door was apparently his last one in his search because it opened to a massage chair room. Without hesitating, the ravenette ran towards any chair, jumped on it, and let the machine do the rest.
Dan on the other hand found a bunch of rooms that didn't really made any sense. The first was...a bunny room. "Ew...it smells in here." the brunette looked around and saw a small white colored bunny with red eyes staring at him. Seeing that it won't really hurt him, the seven-year-old went inside (while pinching his nose) before he heard more footsteps approaching him. Well, they weren't actually footsteps...more like fifty bunnies also staring at him. "..."
He was lucky to get out there alive.
Mira found a hot spring, but someone beat here there, apparently. "Mylene?"
"...what? Can't bad guys also have a break?" she replied with her already in the water and everything. "Yeah, I guess. Can I join you?"
"I don't see why not."
Lync and Volt stumbled upon a room with nothing but a big couch with a big flat screen TV. The room was connected to something else though, and when they looked in to that, they found a huge theater with musical instruments of all kinds standing there collecting dust. They decided to try out the TV afterwards.
Gus opened a door in to a library...and frankly, it took him no more than a second to decide whether to check it out or close it. He did the latter.
Marucho and Ace found an indoor garden with exotic plants everywhere. It was like a rainbow's colors were splashed on to this place, because some flowers looked like they were hybrids, but the Aquos brawler wasn't very sure. "Careful, Ace, there's a Raflesia nearby."
"Raflesia? What the heck is that?"
"The stinkiest flower in the world, I think."
They couldn't escape its evil stench in the end.
Shadow seemed to be happy with his find. "A room filled with money! It's like a dream come true!"
And Baron...well, he found a guest bedroom. The youngest brawler immediately slept in it.
As for the three girl brawlers, they're just outside admiring the garden behind the mansion.
"Tadashi, how big is this mansion?"
"Well if you're planning to go through every door in here, that's going to take you maybe five hours to finish them all."
"Are you serious?"
"Very. I know, I've tried." Gale groaned. "Looks like we better get searching then."