"Hey Sandra!" Sandra awoke the next morning to see Dan running into the park. Sandra leaped down out of the tree with Leonidas while Kyoya stayed on his branch, watching Dan through narrowed eyes.
"Hey Dan. What's up?" Sandra greeted.
"The tournament is coming up. Are you ready?" Dan asked.
"Of course! I'm not going to miss this," Sandra replied. "I hope we can make it to the finals."
"I've got to tell you, Sandra, your skills are impressive," Dan commented.
"Thanks, but you and the other Battle Brawlers are truly amazing. You're the heroes out there," Sandra replied.
"Thanks," Dan said. He then blinked, as if he had an idea. "Hey! I got it! If you beat me in this next tournament I'll make you an official Battle Brawler. How does that sound?"
"Are you serious?" Sandra asked. "Ok!"
"Yeah, but don't think it's going to be easy," Dan said, a competitive look in his eyes. "Me and Drago are going to go all out!"
"Bring it on, Dan! Leonidas and I are always up for a challenge," Sandra replied, returning his look.
Dan then glanced up at Kyoya, who was still watching him. "Uh...who's your friend?" Dan asked.
"That's Kyoya. He's my boyfriend. Don't feel bad when he looks at you like that though. He looks at everybody like that," Sandra explained. She then looked up at Kyoya. "You can come down here, you know. Dan doesn't bite."
Kyoya just grunted and turned away, not coming down.
"Not much of a talker is he?" Dan commented. "Just like Leonidas."
"Kyoya prefers to be alone above everything else. Once he gets to know you he's a little better but I wouldn't hold your breath," Sandra replied. "The only one that he ever really wants to be around is me."
"Of course," Dan said, laughing a little.
"Like you don't like someone," Sandra murmured under her breath. She then raised her voice so Dan could hear her. "I'll see you at the tournament later, Dan."
"See you there, Sandra!" Dan said as he waved goodbye and left.
"Let's win this one too, Leonidas!" Sandra said, smiling at her partner.
Sandra stood in front of Dan. Kyoya stayed off to the side, not wanting to talk to Dan. Sandra knew that Kyoya didn't trust everybody here yet but now he had to. Sandra had defeated Dan and won the tournament, making her an official Battle Brawler.
"Whoa! I'm impressed!" Dan said in surprise.
"So I'm in right? I'm a Battle Brawler?" Sandra questioned, hardly being able to contain her excitement.
"You bet!" Dan replied, holding out his hand. "And that means we're teammates!" Sandra smiled and shook his hand.
"Teammates? What a joke!"
Sandra and Dan glanced around. That voice...
Suddenly Marduk and Masquerade appeared on opposite sides of the arena. Dan glared at Masquerade and Sandra narrowed her eyes, staring at Marduk.
"Marduk and Masquerade?" Sandra commented in surprise.
"What are you creeps doing here?" Dan demanded.
"I figured it was about time we settled things," Masquerade sneered.
"You want a piece of me? Come and get it!" Dan retorted.
"Save it for the Ultimate Battle Tournament," Masquerade said.
"You don't stand a chance, Brawlers," Marduk sneered, his arms crossed and an evil smirk on his face.
"Hey!" Sandra snapped. "You're not the champs until you beat me and Leonidas first!"
Marduk's smile vanished and he uncrossed his arms. "I'll enjoy making you eat those words!" With that the two vanished. Dan and Sandra turned to each other.
"Looks like it's a showdown," Dan said darkly.
"Good! Let's teach them a lesson, Leonidas!" Sandra said, determination rising inside her.
The Battle Brawlers all stood in a room. Kyoya leaned against the wall, away from everybody else. Sandra sighed. Guess he's not warmed up to everybody yet.
"It looks like Marduk and Masquerade are working together now," Shun commented.
"So who is this Marduk dude anyway?" Dan asked.
"I heard he used to be a decent Bakugan player with a rep for playing dirty," Marucho answered. "He became obsessed with winning. He started to use dirty tactics in battle and ended up being despised by all the other players who faced him. My sources say his best friend and tag-team partner betrayed him, and all of his Bakugan were sent to the Doom Dimension. He's had a grudge on anything related to Bakugan ever since."
"Ok, I get that, but how'd he hook up with Vladitor?" Runo asked.
"I don't know exactly. According to Skyress, Vladitor was a Bakugan who had incredible powers and tried to use them to dominate Vestroia," Shun explained.
"Yes, legend has it that he nearly succeeded, but the power of the Silent and Infinity Cores were used to banish him to the Doom Dimension," Marucho added. "When Naga stole the Silent Core, he was freed."
"In other words, Marduk and Vladitor want payback," Dan said, darkly.
Sandra blinked. "I don't know. I think there's more to it."
"What do you mean?" Julie asked.
"I think that deep down even Marduk loves Bakugan," Sandra answered. "Why else would he go out of his way to battle in a tournament?"
"Maybe, but that fact is that those two have declared war on all Bakugan," Shun replied.
"Don't worry. If Leonidas beat him once, he can beat him again, right?" Runo pointed out.
"I guess," Shun agreed. "But that assumes we can trust Leonidas."
Leonidas and Drago sat on the table in the center of the room. "I trust Leonidas," Drago piped up.
"Drago, I was born in the Doom Dimension, and until I came here I hated all Bakugan. Even so you trust me?" Leonidas reminded him, sounding a little surprised.
"Regardless of the past you have you're on our side. That is reason enough to trust you," Drago replied.
Sandra smiled. "So it's official. We're all a team now. Let's take Marduk down!"
"You said it. The fate of all Bakugan is in our hands," Dan said. Everybody nodded before heading out. Sandra stood watching them go. She then looked at Kyoya. He had a look on his face that Sandra couldn't quite identify.
"You ok, Kyoya?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go," Kyoya headed out of the room and Sandra, feeling confused, followed him.
Please R&R :)
