Normal POV
'I can't believe Ren just betrayed Marucho like that!' cried Dan. He paced around their main meeting room while the others sat at the table. Ren had finally admitted his betrayal and even showed his true appearance, the former seeming to break poor little Marucho's heart.
'He must be taking it pretty hard,' said Jake.
'Yeah, he's been hiding out in his house ever since,' said Shun. 'I tried going over to talk to him but Kato said that he was busy.'
'He's not the only one. I went over to Lyra's to see if she was ok after I told her about Ren,' started Rin.
'Well why did you go and do that?' asked Dan.
'Dan, Lyra was kinda Ren's girlfriend. Of all people, she should get to know too. Anyway, I went over to her place and her mom said she wasn't home. I told her to have Lyra call me when she should but still nothing.'
'Maybe she's just off somewhere doing some thinking,' said Shun, putting his hand on his girlfriend's shoulder to console her on her friend's disappearance.
'No, I checked to see if she logged of Interspace and it says she's still online, but there's no sign of her anywhere! You don't think that…'Rin started, worrying that Lyra may have been kidnapped like other children.
'I'm sure Lyra's fine, she's a tough girl. You have nothing to worry about,'
'Maybe I should go check on him,' said Dan.
'Wait, Dan. I don't think that's a good idea,' said Shun, standing up to stop Dan from leaving.
'Don't you care about your friend!' shouted Dan.
'Of course he does, but maybe Marucho just needs some time to himself,' said Rin.
'And how would you know? You haven't known Marucho as long as I have!' shouted Dan.
Rin stared at him with sorry eyes.
'I'm sorry, it's just…' Dan started apologizing.
Just then, the door opened and Marucho walked in with a big smile on his face. 'I finally did it!'
'Did what?' asked Dan. Everyone was shocked at the suddenly optimistic Marucho, who, not but hours ago, had been depressed about Ren's betrayal.
'Check this out!' Marucho pressed some buttons on his Bakupod and the clone Akwimos appeared.
'Akwimos?' asked Drago opening onto the table along with Nightwing.
'I don't understand, what's the big deal about Akwimos?' asked Shun.
'Just listen.'
All of a sudden, Akwimos began speaking. 'Cool is the rule, dude.'
'Whoa! When did Akwimos learn to talk?' asked Dan, amazed at the talking clone.
'Well ever since Jake mentioned that only real Bakugan can talk, I've been working on a speech function for the synthetic Bakugan.' Marucho was beaming with pride at the success of his latest invention.
'Cool is the rule, dude.' Akwimos kept saying the same thing as it followed Drago and Nightwing around.
'Why does he keep following us?' asked Nightwing.
'Go away!' cried Drago, trying to get away from Akwimos.
'How come he keeps saying the same thing?' asked Shun.
'Well I programmed him to have a laid back personality and I only had enough time to input one line of speech. Besides, I just couldn't wait to show you guys!'
'Well it looks like you're feeling much better Marucho. We were all worried about you,' said Rin.
'Well, we have Gundalians to fight and I can't do that if I stay depressed.' Marucho noticed that Fabia wasn't speaking. 'You seem awful quiet, Fabia. Is something wrong?'
'Huh?' Fabia looked up at Dan in surprise. She was obviously lost in her thoughts. 'Oh, it's nothing.'
'C'mon, you can tell us anything,' said Dan.
Fabia didn't speak.
'Fabia, we're your friends. Tell us what's wrong,' said Rin.
'Well, I still wonder if you guys actually believe me.'
'Huh?'
'After being tricked by Ren's convincing story, how can you extend your trust to me so easily? You must have some doubts about me.'
'Don't worry Fabia. We trust you,' said Dan. 'When we saw the way you got angry about Bakugan being used in war, we knew you felt the same way we did.'
'Yeah, you remind me of our friend Mira. She's a Vestal, like me. When she found out that the Bakugan were living, intelligent creatures, she never stopped fighting to free them' said Rin.
'Yeah, Rin's right. You are a lot like Mira,' agreed Marucho.
'This Mira must be very brave and strong. I would like to meet her one day,' said Fabia.
'We're on the same side Fabia.' Dan smiled, reassuring her.
Fabia smiled. 'Yes, we are. Thank you!' Fabia reached into her pocket and pulled out three Bakugan. 'I think it's about time I give you these: Aquos Akwimos, Ventus Hawktor and Subterra Coredem.' Each Bakugan opened up when Fabia said their name. 'These are the original Bakugan from which your clones were made from.'
'Are you sure?' asked Shun.
'Of course, I brought them from Neathia just for you guys.'
'Yes! This is exactly what I've wanted!' cried Jake. 'Man, this is the moment I've been waiting for! A real Bakugan! I bet you guys clicked with your Bakugan the minute you guys met!' he said to Rin and Dan.
'Well actually, Drago was a little reluctant to work with me when we first met,' said Dan.
'Yes, remember when you threw me into a river after we argued?'
'Hey! I came back to get you!'
'What about you Rin? Did you get along with Nightwing when you first met?' asked Drago.
'Actually, Nightwing and I couldn't stand each other when we first met.'
'Yeah, remember those days?' asked Nightwing.
'No kidding, when you'd try and hit me in the head?'
'And when you tried to throw me into the wall?'
'That was one time and it was an accident!'
'Yeah, but you threw me very hard!'
'Well the point is now we're inseparable,' said Rin.
Hawktor flew over and landed on Shun's shoulder.
'Hello there, I'm Shun,' he greeted.
'Oh, you're the ninja, right?' asked Hawktor.
'That's right.'
'That's excellent! Maybe you can help me with my stealth attacks. I'm usually more forward with my attacks but I hear the subtle way is usually a better approach.'
'Uh…ok,' said Shun.
'Looks like you've got yourself a fan,' said Rin, elbowing Shun.
'Uh…my name's…uh…Jake,' stuttered Jake.
'Jake, that's a strong name. Pleased to meet you.'
'Man! It's so great to meet the real Coredem!' Jake's nervous demeanor was suddenly replaced with a wide smile.
'My name is Marucho. It's nice to meet you.'
'What's up little man? Fist bump!' Marucho instantly stepped back. He sounded just like the voice Marucho programmed with the clone Akwimos!
'Uh, ok.' Marucho held up his fist and Akwimos hit it with his own. All of a sudden the clone Akwimos came in, still saying 'Cool is the rule, dude.'
'Hm, 'cool is the rule'? Sounds tight, you mind if I start using it?' asked Akwimos.
'Be my guest!'
'Check this out: 'Cool is the rule, dude!'' said Akwimos, pushing the clone out of the way.
'Um, guys I hate to spoil the nice meetings we're having, but take a look at this.' Rin brought up video camera footage on the computer.
'Ren!' Marucho said with a hint of anger in his voice when his eyes landed on Ren.
Ren was walking about Interspace with his teammates that posed as Neathian moles, Sid, Lena, Mason, Jesse and Zenet. They stood in front of a pair of kids who suddenly disappeared!
'Did you see that?' cried Dan.
'Those kids just disappeared,' said Jake.
'He's taking them back to Gundalia to brainwash them to fight for Gundalia,' said Fabia.
'Let's go!' Dan ran out the door.
Ren's POV
By Emperor Barodius' and Kazarina's orders I set out gathering as many unsuspecting kids as I could to take back to Gundalia.
'So who's next?' I called out.
'Ren, hold it!' I turned around and saw the brawlers coming my way, Princess Fabia joining them. I couldn't help but feel a wave of guilt wash over me when I saw Marucho…my closest friend. Well, I guess I wasn't allowed to call him that anymore.
'You've got some nerve showing your face around here!' Dan shouted. Dan was confident, which was a good thing. But he was too confident.
I was too focused on Marucho. Just the other day I had lost my best friend and told him that we were now enemies.
'You've got no business here, you got that?' Dan's incessant yelling forced me out of my thoughts. I looked back at Marucho. No doubt the expression on his face showed obvious support of Dan's statement.
'Sorry but I don't have time for you guys,' I said, leaving.
Normal POV
'Get back here!' cried Dan as Ren and his crew began walking away. Dan stepped forward to stop Ren from leaving. All of a sudden a girl and boy jumped in the way, preventing Dan from moving forward.
'If you want to get to Ren you have to defeat us.' Said the girl with brown hair dressed in blue and light purple.
'But I doubt you'll be able to.' Said the boy with dark green hair wearing bright green clothes.
'Huh? What are you talking about? Why are you helping them?' asked Dan.
'Wait, I recognize you two: you're Taylor and Casey!' cried Marucho.
'You know them?' asked Dan.
'Yeah, they're some of our best brawlers!' replied Marucho.
'Go ahead and do your thing guys, we'll come back for you a little later,' said Sid.
Fabia's eyes shot up at what Side said. 'Come back later? Something strange is going on here, Aranaut.'
'Strange how?' asked Aranaut, popping open on her shoulder.
'I'm not sure, I just have a feeling that they're up to something…' she said as Ren left with Zenet, Lena and Jesse while Sid and Mason stayed behind with Taylor and Casey. She turned back to Aranaut. 'I think you and I need to follow Ren.'
'Get out of our way! We don't want to fight you!' cried Dan.
'Sorry, but we can't let you interfere with Master Ren.' Said Casey.
'Master Ren?' asked Dan.
'It sounds like they've been brainwashed!' cried Shun.
'Well how do you un-brainwash them?' asked Rin.
'Maybe if we beat them, we can snap them out of it,' said Dan.
Rin noticed that Fabia was slowly sneaking away. 'Fabia? Where are you going?'
'I'm going to follow Ren. He's up to something, I just know it!'
'I'm coming with you! The guys will be fine, let's go!'
Ren's POV
I left Sid and Mason in charge of distracting the brawlers. I had another part of my plan and I needed them out of the way. We finally made it to the central control room of Interspace where I would put this plan into motion.
'I want you two to stand guard out here,' I said to Jesse and Zenet. 'If anyone tries to get in, especially the brawlers, you know what to do.'
'Aw man! Why do Sid and Mason get to have all the fun and we have to keep guard?' whined Zenet.
'Hopefully the curtain will not fall on our performance early,' said Jesse in his usual stage talk.
'Whatever, just stand guard out here,' I said one more time, entering the control room with Lena. I made my way over to the terminal and began putting my plan into motion. Lena stood to my right while I was busy. I brought up videos of the brawlers in battle with Sid and Mason and the two kids we had brainwashed earlier today. I knew I'd have to be finished this by the time they were done their battles, otherwise I may not get another chance.
'Enjoy Bakugan Interspace while you can Brawlers…' I said out loud.
'It looks like we've got some mice running around,' said Lena. She pointed to another video showing Fabia and Rin running through Interspace.
'Great, the girls,' I said, glaring at them. I couldn't help it. Both those girls along with Shun played a part in ruining my perfect plan! 'It doesn't matter. By the time they find us, we'll be done.' I continued working as many of the windows I had open changed from green to red.
All of a sudden, I couldn't help but let my thoughts wander over to Sora. I hadn't seen her at all since she battled me and I lost. I wanted to try and convince her to stay with me, that we could still be together…but who was I kidding? I was even willing to show her my true form but it was probably better for her to remember me the way she knew me…
'Um, Lena, do you mind standing over there? I can't work with you over my shoulder like this…' I lied. I needed her away from the terminal so she couldn't see what I was doing.
'Hmph, if you want to find your little girlfriend you can go ahead and do it. I don't care about what you do in your personal life.' Lena was good, very good. I said nothing to her as she complied with my request.
I immediately looked Sora up on the system. Her photo popped up along with her two Bakugan and their stats. She was online! I quickly began a search for her in Interspace…but she was nowhere to be found. That didn't make sense. If she was online, she'd have to be in Interspace somewhere, right? But if she wasn't here…
Oh no!
'You're not going to find her,' said Lena.
'What do you mean?' I asked, glaring my eyes are her.
'Even if you did, what do you think she's going to do? Accept you with open arms after you lied to her? I hate to break it to you, Ren, but you're the bad guy…and bad guys don't get the girl,' she said, pushing up her glasses making them reflect against the light in the way that made her look frightening.
'Where is she?' I asked in the angriest tone I could muster. There was only one way to leave Interspace but still be stated as online…so it was either a Neathian…or a Gundalian.
'Why don't you ask Sid? I'm sure he'd love to tell you all about it. Now hurry up and finish the job,' she said.
Sid? I should've known! He never liked me and he would do anything to get to me!
'Hurry up! You can look for your girlfriend later. The Brawlers have already won their battles,' cried Lena. 'Nicky needs your help!'
'You don't think I know that! Just give me a second…There, this should do it,' I said, pressing a final button. Now the Brawlers wouldn't be able to interfere.
Normal POV
All of a sudden, Marucho, Fabia, Shun and Rin were teleported out of Bakugan Interspace and returned to the access terminals.
'What just happened?' cried Rin.
'We just got kicked out of Bakugan Interspace, but how is that possible?' cried Marucho.
'Why don't you let me explain?' Everyone looked at their Bakupods and saw Ren.
'Ren!' cried Marucho.
'I knew he was up to something!' cried Fabia.
'Who's that boy behind him?' Questioned Rin seeing a boy in his mid-twenties behind Ren.
'As of now, Bakugan Interspace is under my control. Your move, Brawlers.'
