"And now for chapter 7. Who says I should stick with Dan and Mira and the others for this one?" Breezy calls

"Me!" Julie yells.

"Me!" Alice says.

"I'm up for it," Ace grins.

"Sure," Shun says quietly.

"Yeah!" Dan cries.

"Okay then." Breezyfeather swings her golf club at Dan.

"Hey!"

"What?"

"What was that for?"

"I got bored."

"..."

"..."

"STOP ENDING IN AN AWKWARD SILENCE!"

ON WITH THE STORY!

Dan sighed, leaning back on his bed. Thoughts of Runo being at the mercy of the Vexos and Hydron swirled around his head light a cloud of gnats. Or mosquitoes. He couldn't make them go away, and he could turn them into something positive to ease his worry. He could try to slap at them, to swat them away, but in the end all of his efforts would have been wasted. So he let them assault him, each nerve racking image of Runo being tortured or starved or even killed stabbing him in the chest. He could try to ignore them, to convince himself that he was just fantasizing worst possible outcomes, but the mosquito would bite him again, pulling him back into another gruesome fear provoking nightmare. Each one would lead to another like it, each one connected by thin spider web like strands, until the one he was on at that second was completely different from the one his consciousness had conjured five minutes ago.

After a little while, he wondered, suddenly, if the Vexos had figured out about Runo's powers, like Ace had suggested. And of course, that thought led to another, bringing him back to the conversation that Dan, The Resistance, and four of the Original Battle Brawlers had shared. And then he remembered when Mira had walked in, and the shock that he and the rest of them had shared.

"Mira?" Dan exclaimed. Mira was standing there in the doorway of the control room, one arm clasped around her elbow and shifting her weight from foot to foot. She was biting her lip nervously, her eyes darting from face to face. She had an air of defiance about her, as if daring the Resistance and the Brawlers to come and challenge her. For a moment, no one spoke out of shock. The atmosphere in the room seemed to be frozen in time. No one moved.

Finally, Julie broke the silence.

"Mira! What are you doing here?" That seemed to snap everyone out of it and Dan narrowed his eyes at her. Ace's lip curled while Shun looked at her evenly. Marucho and Barron looked from Mira to Dan and Ace, clearly nervous. Masquerade was silent. Mira shifted uncomfortably, then walked forward.

"Look, I never meant to betray you. Spectra is my brother. I wanted to see if I could change him back to my brother. But it didn't work, and then they took Runo to Alpha City-"

"Runo?" Dan gasped.

"You saw Runo?" Alice asked, Masquerade retreating back inside her.

"Is she okay?" Julie demanded. Mira blinked, looking around.

"How did you know that she had been kidnapped by Spectra and Gus?" she asked.

"Why do you think the girls are here?" Dr. Micheal asked. Mira jumped.

"Dr. Micheal?"

"Mira, what are you doing back here?" Barron asked. Mira sighed.

"Okay, I guess I'll start from the beginning."

"Please do," Ace said with narrowed eyes. Mira looked at him sadly and took a deep breath, then began.

"Okay, so I was in my room one night and I went to the bathroom, and then I heard someone knock on the door. I thought it was Spectra so I got out of the bathroom and I was shocked to see Runo sitting there on the floor looking shocked. We stared at each other for a while and eventually we spoke so I got her to tell me what had happened."

"What happened?" Dan demanded. Mira looked at him and continued.

"She said that she called the police and Spectra and Gus kidnapped her. It was pretty brief but she said she was able to spray Gus with pepper spray," she said. She looked at Dan. "What's pepper spray?" Dan stared at her, then surprised her by cracking up. The others stared at him as he laughed, then Julie giggled and joined in.

"What's so funny?" Ace asked.

"It's... nothing, really," Dan panted. "It's just that, a few months ago Runo got really ticked off at me, so she suddenly pulled pepper spray out of her pocket and sprayed me in the eyes. Boy did it burn!"

"Pepper spray is this stuff that human girls will carry around when they become a teenager to ward of creepers," Drago explained. "I guess Gus fit that description." There was amusement in his voice and Mira blinked at him.

"Anyway, this morning, Runo and I had to go to eat breakfast with the Vexos. And Runo was being defiant, and Spectra finally lost his temper when Runo poured a jug of water on Lync's head, so he walked up behind Runo's chair and tipped it. She ended up with a nice cut on her leg and I took her back to our room." Mira heard Dan mutter a rather rude name which she assumed was directed at Spectra. "Professor Clay showed up and said that he was going to care for Runo from now on, so we decided we'd try to break out, and I powered up my Gauntlet and started using Wilda to break us out. Shadow stopped us though, and Spectra got a hold of Runo and she ordered me to go. I didn't want to but she screamed at me so I did. She told me to find you guys and get help. So Wilda and I fled and found you guys here."

"Where is Runo now?" Shun asked.

"Well, Gama City was basically destroyed, so probably Ves Palace," Mira said, looking at her feet. Her arms were now crossed across her chest and she looked up. "I'm sorry. I wanted to save her, but Alpha City was crumbling. I have no doubt that Spectra was able to get them all out. She's probably safe."

"That's good to hear," Dr. Micheal said.

"Yeah, it is," Marucho murmured. "But if she's in Ves Palace, won't it be harder to save her?"

"That's a good point," Alice murmured. "But..."

"Hey, Shun has his Ninja Skills," Dan said. "Julie has magic skates! We're all got powers and our Bakugan! How hard can it be to break into there and save our friend?"

"It's pretty hard, Dan," Ace spoke up. They all turned to face him. His face was hardened and he looked angry. Dan blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"Getting into Ves Palace is very hard. They have a very very advanced security system." A screen popped up in the trailer. It was obviously a diagram of some sort. "Ves Palace." Ace glared at it as he pointed to a few areas. "I managed to steal these schematics from a security guard when we were raiding Alpha City. It shows perfectly the types of security Ves Palace has and where. Plus, it's automatically updated. So whenever the secutiry system changes, I'll know."

Then Ace went on to explain how each section of the system worked and what would be where, and an approximation on where they were keeping Runo. "The security was tightened around this sector today," Ace told them, pointing to a series of hallways. "More specifically, ten minutes ago. Mira, how long did it take you to get here from Gama City?"

"I dunno, maybe 20 minutes?" Mira said.

"Hm..."

"Does that mean that Runo is going to be put in that area?" Julie asked.

"It's quiet possible," Marucho said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Ace, would it be at all possible for Dr. Micheal, Alice, you and I to go over this data and see if there are any other places where the defense may have been tightened?"

"Sure, Marucho," Ace said. "We can do that now, if you want."

"Okay!" Marucho exclaimed.

"Mira, come on outside," Dan said. "Julie and Shun were practicing with her skates. I wanna try out my crystal thing here." He held up his red gem. Mira nodded, smiling.

"So you're not mad at me?"

"Nah. You just wanted to find your brother. It's fine," Dan smiled. Mira grinned back at him and followed him outside.

Dan winced, remembering the bruise he had gotten from trying to jump on Julie's roller skate road. It seemed only Shun could, for when he picked up Dan and tried to get him to stand on it he fell right through and onto his shoulder. He would have to work on that.

However, the crystal that Barron had given him was amazing! When he had said, "Pyrus, Activate!" the way Barron told him to, suddenly he was surrounded by fire. It had swirled around him, encasing him, even though it didn't so much as singe his clothes. Then, he found that he had wings of fire licking at his back, in the shape of diamonds like his crystal, which had decided to hang from a chain around his neck. The fire around him vanished but the wings stayed and allowed him to fly through the air.

Shun found a similar effect when he called out, "Ventus Activate!" He didn't have wings, but the wind sure did blow around him. He seemed to be even more stealthy, and his gem rested on the back of his hand.

Julie's brown gem had enveloped her in brown, earthy energy and the smell of freshly cut grass. It had rested over her heart on a chain like Dan. Her roller skates performed more efficiently and when she moved her hand a certain way, a rock could jump up from the ground and shoot forward. Shun sure had one heck of a training session.

Alice hadn't tried her gem since her run in with Masquerade, and neither had Marucho, but Dan knew that whatever happened to them must be rather interesting.

And then his thoughts drifted back to Runo once more. Runo. The girl he had met when he was so young, and he had never even dreamed back then that he would end up with her being his girl friend. She had been such a whiny little girl, with a good arm but a terrible swing. She couldn't hit the ball with the bat for her life! Dan grinned a little at that. The memory of her spinning on the plate in her pink dress was enough to lift his spirits for a moment. She had fallen in the dirt and Dan had laughed, and then the game continued, him hitting every ball she threw and her missing every ball he threw. It had been hilarious.

Dan knew that if he ever brought that up with her she would hit him or something. He had brought it up with her once and never dared to again because of the bruising she had given him. If he got her back he might just bring it up to see her back to normal again. Wait, "if"? When. When he got her back. He told himself that he would get her back. He would get her back if it was the last thing he did. He would save her.

I have to buy her a Christmas present, was his next entirely random thought. He gasped, sitting up from where he had been lying on his bed. A Christmas Present! It was only a few days until Christmas! How could he forget?

"Daniel? What's wrong?" Drago asked. Dan glanced at his Bakugan partner in distress.

"Runo! Christmas! I have to get her a Christmas present!" he cried. Drago stared at him.

"Daniel, shouldn't you wait until you save her from the Vexos before worrying about a Christmas present?" Drago asked.

"What are you, crazy?" Dan exclaimed. "I have to get her a gift! If I don't I won't be a very good boyfriend!"

"Oh so you finally admitted that you're her boyfriend," Drago said with a hint of amusement. Dan stared at Drago.

"Is that really what you're focusing on, Drago? My personal love life?" Dan couldn't believe it. His face started to heat up against his will and Drago laughed.

"You never cease to amuse me, human," he said. Dan's face got even redder as the Bakugan laughed. Finally, Dan looked away, still blushing.

"So... um... do you have any... gift ideas for Runo?" he asked quietly. Drago fell silent as he looked at his brawler. His face was blushing bright red as he looked away. "I want to get her something... special for this Christmas... I guess to make up for letting her get captured..."

"You want to make it up to her?" Drago asked.

"Well, yeah," Dan said, looking back at his Bakugan. "I mean, if you let your girlfriend get kidnapped wouldn't you want to say you're sorry?"

"I guess so," Drago said. Dan guessed that he was thinking about Wavyrn and felt a pang of guilt. It wasn't fair that Drago had to be ripped away from the one he loved. Dan knew that for sure. He know understood some of the pain that he must have went through when he killed her.

"I wanna get her something that she'll like a lot..." Dan murmured.

"Well what does she like?" Drago asked.

"Well I know she likes brawling," Dan said. "She liked the color orange... why the heck does she like orange anyway? Um... her favorite food is Liver Kabobs, she's a tomboy and doesn't like dresses very much... she was telling Julie a few months ago that she needed some new hair ties... um... well I guess that Spectra took her Pepper Spray, didn't he? hm... Oh she needs a Gauntlet to battle in New Vestroia!"

"So you're going to get her a Gauntlet?" Drago asked.

"Sure, that would be a great gift for Runo!" Dan cried.

"Oh, you really don't know anything about girls do you, Dan?" a voice muttered. Dan and Drago jumped.

"Huh?" Drago asked, turning. Dan blinked, catching sight of Julie standing in the door way. She was wearing her roller skates and now she skated into the room.

"Julie?" Dan asked, standing up.

"Oh Dan," she smiled. "You wanna get Runo a gift for Christmas?"

"Huh? You were eavesdropping?" Dan exclaimed. Julie glared at him.

"No I wasn't eavesdropping! I just happened to hear you say that you wanted to get a gift for Runo and I wanted to know what you were thinking about getting her! And besides, I'm her best friend! If anyone knows what to get Runo for Christmas, it's me," she grinned.

"Okay then, Julie," Dan smiled. "What do you think I should get her?"

"Well, didn't you already say some things that you thought Runo would like?" Julie asked, sitting down on the bed. Dan sat down next to her, Drago resting on his shoulder.

"I thought a Gauntlet would be good for her," Dan said. Julie sighed.

"No, Dan. Sure, she wants a Gauntlet, but do you really think that that's a good 'I'm Sorry' gift?"

"Well... now that I think about it... I guess not," Dan said slowly, looking away.

"Mhm," Julie said. "What else did you say that she wanted?"

"Well, maybe a new set of hair ties," Dan mumbled. "But I don't even know where to get hair ties on Earth, let alone here."

"Oh Dan come on! You can ask one of the others where the nearest town is," Julie exclaimed. Dan looked at her and sighed.

"Fine. But if I'm going shopping for things for Runo, you're coming with me, Julie."

"What?" she cried. "But I don't know anything about Vestal money!"

"Well neither do I! We're gonna have to borrow some from Mira and the others," Dan muttered. "And besides, you're a girl so you know what sort of thing would be good for Runo."

"Ugh, fine Danny," Julie scowled. Then her face brightened. "Ooooh this will be fun!"

"Oh boy," Drago muttered.

"Okay then Julie, meet me at the top of the trailer at midnight," Dan said. "Then we can get to the nearest town and stuff. We'll find the best store for Runo and then go in there when it opens in the morning. Sound good?"

"Sure thing, Dan!" Julie said, getting up. "I'll ask Ace how Vestal Currency works. And later you should ask Barron for a map of the nearest cities and towns. Just say you're worried about them relocating Runo."

"Wow Julie, you're really smart," Dan exclaimed. "I didn't know you had a knack for making plans."

"Lets just say that when you hang with Runo you learn a thing or two," Julie grinned, skating out the door. Dan blinked after her and looked at Drago.

"Looks like we're going on a Moonlight Mission," he grinned.

"Hm. That took WAY less time than I thought it would to write that chapter," Breezy says, staring at the screen. "Considering I started that at the mall around 4:30... well actually that was in the passenger seat of my dad's car... ugh never mind. But I started it today. Normally it takes me a day or two."

"That's because you're normally overloaded by homework," Shun says. "And that chapter is shorter than normal."

"Hm. That's true. Ugh. Anyway, chapter... whatever number we're on, done!"