Well, since it has been a while since the last update, I made this one really long. I had something else to say, but I can't remember what it is so we're movin' on.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bakugan. Sigh. Oh, and I also don't own Evil Iguana Productions, which inspired this idea.
Spinach, Radish, Shakers
Baron pedaled swiftly down the hill on Dan's bike, rapidly gaining speed. His white communicator, clipped to his waist, beeped for the thirtieth time that day. He pushed himself faster, ignoring the danger in his actions. He didn't let the fact that he had zero experience when it came to earthly transportation stop him. To him, this was an emergency. He leaped off the bike before it had even stopped, tossing it against a nearby tree.
"Alright, so I got called over for a backup situation," he explained to himself as he scanned the empty city park for the fiery brunette. Dan had convinced Baron that pretending to be police officers would be a fun, since all earth kids did it at some point. In fact, Dan had taken it so far as to involve their other friends, who, unfortunately for them, didn't know they were playing, too.
The violet-haired Vestal racked his brain for the other piece of information Dan had given him. He paced in front of a tall, leafy tree. "Oh!" he shouted out loud. "Possible tree-racing, that's right, so we're going to check that out."
Apparently, "tree-racing" had been a real problem in that part of the neighborhood lately and according to Dan, they had been doing a good job of settling it down. Of course, when Dan said tree-racing, he meant racing in the trees themselves.
"Officer Dan," Baron greeted, finally spotting him and strolling with a well-feigned casualness.
"Baron," he replied curtly, scribbling furiously on a small notepad.
"What do we have?" Baron surveyed the scene, not noting anything unusual about the warm evening. He didn't even see the alleged suspects.
Dan flipped one page back, clearing his throat confidently. "Well, I caught the suspects going 98 in a 35 zone."
Now, whether he was talking miles, meters, or acres was unknown to everyone except Dan.
"That's a little over the speed limit," Baron remarked nonchalantly.
Dan nodded, adding, "They were flying, and I started following them. After five or six trees, because they were trying to run, I finally got them pulled over. I've got them handcuffed on the other side of this tree."
Baron raised his eyebrows at this, impressed that Dan had gone as far as to apprehend the suspects. Dan was not the "Master" for nothing.
"I started searching their pockets, and I found some illegal substances. The first thing I found was some radishes, and the second was something new. I'm not familiar with these." Dan held up a neatly labeled can. "It's called Popeye. I'm not exactly sure what that is; I'm not familiar with that name."
The buff Vestal examined the can carefully. The picture on the label featured a sailor with anatomically incorrect muscles. "You know, this looks like your normal drug. It's probably just some new kids making new names for it."
"I don't want any new stuff on the street. I'm hoping it's just a new name for something old. But it's very apparent that they're on something."
The lead cop walked around an aging tree, pulling a flashlight out of his pocket and shining it into the faces of the delinquents, although the sun had yet to set.
A copper-haired girl squinted up at him. "That's very bright, Dan," Alice remarked quietly. Her normally pristine outfit was smudged with faint traces of dirt, and her warm eyes were clouded over in confusion.
"What's with the light, Dan?" Shun asked, annoyed. His hands were tied behind his back to prevent him from performing any dangerous ninja moves that might help him escape authority.
"Do you understand why I've got you pulled over, why I've got you handcuffed right now?" Dan asked seriously, ignoring his question.
"No, we don't," Shun seethed. "This is absolutely ridiculous." His frown almost looked like a pout, and Alice would have found it cute had Dan not looked so absurdly stern.
"Tree-racing," Dan answered calmly.
"Tree-racing is illegal," Baron added.
"Very illegal."
"If you're not in NASCAR, you're not allowed to race. Period."
"What about ninja training?" Shun asked, just wanting to continue his training. He'd brought Alice along to show her a day in the life of a modern-day ninja, and she'd eagerly agreed, but then again, they weren't expecting Dan to pull another one of his stunts.
"Ninja training?" Baron repeated, before mimicking the arrogant show the Pyrus Brawler was putting on. "I don't care what this is called."
"It's ninja training," Shun repeated slowly. "I'm a ninja, and I train."
"We could call it Bakugan training for all I care, and we will not have it in this town."
Shun and Alice exchanged weary looks. It wasn't going to be easy to get out of this one. Dan was taking himself way too seriously.
"You know what else is illegal?" Dan continued, holding up his notepad. "I've got a list here of all the things you've been doing tonight."
"But Dan, we've done nothing wrong," Alice insisted, staring up at the two boys whose forms blocked out the sun. She tugged futilely against the plastic handcuffs that were beginning to dig into her wrists.
"First off, going 98 in a 35, that is a jailable offense. I should have you arrested right now, and I should confiscate your ninja materials."
"But if you don't go practice, you don't get better," Shun stated, trying to stay calm. He subtly pulled on his handcuffs.
"You're not supposed to be racing in the first place!" Baron reprimanded, shaking his head in disappointment. "Racing is over in this neighborhood."
"It is done," Dan added. "Second, I don't know if I should count this as littering or depositing injurious material on a walkway, but I caught them—" he paused "—throwing radishes out from the trees. It appeared to be an attempt to run other people off the path."
"Radishes, guys?" Baron repeated, disbelieving.
"Ninjas have to pack provisions," Alice explained, not bothering to mention that Shun was indeed using them as projectiles.
"It's not our fault they get hit," Shun argued.
"Oh, it is your fault!" Dan shouted. "There has been an injury. There is a Mr. von Hertzen on the way to the hospital right now—"
"You got him, Shun," Alice murmured, in a tone that suggested she was trying to be upset, but a small grin broke through. Shun smirked, internally daring Klaus to attempt to steal his woman again.
"You did get him, and he's on the way to the hospital right now with some serious injuries," Baron conceded, crossing his arms in a strict manner.
"Well, then he shouldn't have gotten hit," the dark-haired teen mumbled.
Dan studiously ignored his comment, tapping his list with a chewed pencil. He eyed Shun and Alice warily before writing something down. "Also, possession of controlled substances." He motioned for Baron to get the can. "What is this? This Popeye, is this yours?"
"Yes, that is ours," Alice responded carefully.
"This is your Popeye." Dan reiterated. "You understand that this is illegal?"
"It's just spinach, Dan. How is spinach—"
Dan cut his friend off. "These are leaves, Shun. Illegal."
"But it's healthy, and it makes us go faster. Spinach is full of calcium that makes bones grow. "
"Oh, yeah, I bet they make you grow," Dan replied sarcastically, making a face at the offending can and chucking it at his partner.
Baron straightened, taking a cue from his Master and arrogantly interrogating them. "I bet they make you go faster. A little bit of acid would make you go faster. You want acid, huh? Maybe some crack? Some PSP? Tylenol? Maybe a little bit of Nyquil? How about some chloroform, you guys want cholo—"
Dan tapped him on the shoulder, shaking his head. "My bad," Baron apologized.
"I'll take care of this, Officer Baron." Dan leaned close to Shun, angry sparks practically flying between them. "I bet they make you go faster. A little bit of acid would make you go faster. You want acid, huh? Maybe some crack? Some PSP? Tylenol? Maybe a little bit of Nyquil?"
Shun lunged forward, and the younger boys flinched, before remembering he was tied up. The officers shared a smirk.
"Also, along with having this in your procession, you're training under the influence of these drugs, which is not only dangerous to yourselves, but to others around you."
"We do nothing wrong. We're just training," Shun sighed. Again he jerked at the handcuffs, feeling restless until the Russian gently leaned against his shoulder. The ninja relaxed instantly, but Dan continued to tempt his self-control.
"I hope you people are proud of yourselves," Baron concluded frigidly.
"Well, I don't want this to be a rising problem. Obviously, I'm going to have to take you two into the station." Dan remarked, more to himself, though Shun's eyes narrowed dangerously upon catching the sentence. Dan had never bested him in physical feats, and if he thought he was going to be able to drag Shun anywhere, boy was he wrong.
The flimsy plastic around his wrists snapped with one strong jerk of his arms. Baron and Dan eyed each other frantically, and Shun took the opportunity to jet in the opposite direction. He clearly knew that Alice was still back there, but all he wanted to do was wear Dan out. Once the Pyrus Brawler was exhausted, he'd double back and save her from the Vestal. Besides, it's not like Baron could do much without Dan, anyway.
"Run, Shun!" Alice shouted, leaping to her feet as Dan raced after his older friend. Baron fidgeted with something in his pocket, glancing uncertainly at the calm girl before him. He pulled out a white shaker, examining it in confusion.
"Baron?" she asked tentatively. "What exactly is the shaker for?"
The bulky boy shrugged. "I'm not sure, Master Alice. Master—I mean, Officer Dan said it was a Taser. He didn't tell me what it was for, though." Alice gave him a sympathetic smile. "Do you know what it's for, Master Alice?"
She shook her head nervously. "No, I don't, Baron."
"Oh." Disappointment laced his usually cheery voice, but a grin broke through quickly, his eyes gleaming. "Do you think Master Shun will teach me how to break handcuffs?"
"Um…sure…"
---
Dan smiled brightly as the cool Japanese breeze drifted through his messy brown locks. Not surprisingly, his legs ached from all the running he'd done the day before. His face contorted into an annoyed grimaced, recalling the five blocks he'd had to run before Shun had even begun to slow down. The spry ninja had then returned to the park and munched on those dreaded spinach leaves, and Dan swore that Shun totally bulked up by doing so. Those things were steroids, and Shun had the nerve to call them healthy!
Still, yesterday's events weren't about to rain on his parade. He was just getting into the groove of being a policeman, and Baron was just gaining a newfound respect for Dan's imagination. Anything that boosted Dan's ego was worth definitely worth the brunette's time.
Today's mission: Respond to a breaking and entering call that happened to be the third one reported in this neighborhood this week. It might be gang-related, so he sent Officer Baron to deal with the distressed owner, while Dan patrolled the outside for suspicious activity.
The area he was guarding was the more sophisticated part of town, the go-to place to find all the multimillionaires in Japan. Marucho inhabited this part of town, as did a certain German aristocrat for part of the year.
He found the appropriate abode, and Dan entered through the grand front doors, which happened to be open. Baron appeared to be in deep conversation with the owner of the lavish house, but Dan made his presence known, pulling out his handy dandy notebook.
"I'm Officer Dan, I'll be helping with the investigation."
"You guys aren't police officers," Klaus deadpanned, and the brunette noticed a glint of irritation in his emerald eyes. He also caught the rather obvious lump on his temple, a result of yesterday's radish incident.
"We are!" Baron insisted, and Klaus appraised them for a moment before sighing. Daniel and his friend couldn't make thing worse, right?
"Fine. Thank you for coming, officers. My name is Mr. von Hertzen. Call me Klaus."
"Alright, Klaus, so what happened?" Dan asked.
The refined man gestured toward Baron and he eagerly volunteered to share the story. "Okay, so basically, someone broke into his house and started messing around with his things, throwing them everywhere. I think it might be related to that string of burglary calls."
Dan nodded. "Right, just hitting up the area, one by one."
"We were just about to go into the details. He was here when it happened; he witnessed it."
"Alright, go ahead and tell what happened."
Klaus glanced at the expensive watch on his wrist, as if he didn't have time to waste on trivial things such as details. "I was in my sitting room, enjoying a book when I heard a disturbance coming from my fox room. I instantly contemplated the source of the—"
"W-wait, I'm sorry," Dan interrupted. "You have a fox room?"
"Like a room full of live foxes?" Baron added.
"I wouldn't have a room full of dead foxes," Klaus answered bitingly.
"Do you have a permit for that?" Dan asked. "To have wild animals in your home, that is."
"They are not wild animals. In fact, they are an endangered species."
"You know what? I've got a feeling that as long as the foxes don't leave the fox room, then it's okay." Baron decided, receiving an approving nod from his superior.
"So what happened in the fox room?" Dan asked.
"Well," Klaus began, furrowing his bow and wincing. "I arrive at my fox room, and there's a small green rabble-rouser picking up my foxes and throwing them across the room."
"He was hurling your foxes?"
"Do you doubt my words? He was picking them up and throwing them, that little green man!"
"That's cruelty to animals," Baron remarked, motioning for Dan to write that down. "It was a little green man, huh? When you say little, how little do you mean?"
They started improvising with their hands how tall the intruder was.
"That seems to be between four six, and six one," Dan concluded, jotting it down. "That's his average green height. What happened after he was hurling your foxes?"
"Well, he's finished with my foxes, and then he strolls into my hallway. He starts smashing my clay pots with his sword. The little green menace—"
"With a sword?" they both repeated incredulously.
"He's armed and dangerous," Baron reiterated. "He didn't swing at you?"
"He didn't dare come near me. He was too busy swinging at my pots, breaking everything."
Dan took note of that, crudely sketching out a misshapen sword and showing it to Klaus. "Did the sword look like that?"
He shrugged, then nodded. "They were clay average clay pots. They were Euro pots."
"Was he trying to get to these Euros that were in there?" Dan asked, feeling a breakthrough in the case.
"He was breaking my pots to get to my Euros!" Klaus accused wildly.
"What's a Euro?" Baron asked in confusion.
"Excuse me?" Klaus interjected, affronted. "Euros! They're currency."
"Currency? Okay, so we'll be looking at the currency exchange rate…" Baron trailed off as Klaus interrupted him firmly.
"You see, one euro equals 135 Japanese yen or one point five American Dollars. It's simple math."
"Klaus," Dan began. "I have a question for you, just out of curiosity. Why do you keep Euros in clay pots?"
"Where do you keep your Euros, officer?" Klaus retaliated.
"I don't have any Euros," Dan answered, confused.
A loud smashing sound was heard coming from the hallway over. Three pairs of eyes darted toward the scene, and the officers quickly made up their way into the hall. A small, hooded figure within the average green height zone glanced at them and quickly bolted for the door. They chased him into the elaborately decorated garden with Klaus in hot pursuit.
"There he is! Klaus!" Dan shouted. "There he is! Oh, radish, he just threw a radish!"
Baron, using his superior height and strength, locked his arms around the trespasser. He pulled out two shakers, using one had to point them both at his hostage.
"What, you like the Taser? You like it, huh?" Baron threatened.
"Uh, Klaus, you stay right there," Dan commanded, leading him to a bench. "Baron, Baron, what did I tell you?"
"Don't do that," he lamented, loosening his grip on the kid.
"Put the Tasers down. First, find out if he has any paraphernalia on him, and I'll go calm down Klaus."
Baron settled the kid onto the grass. He pulled down his hood, revealing a young African boy with large, round eyes.
The millionaire stared at the offender with disdain. Dan approached cautiously, not sure whether Klaus would lash out at him or not. "We're gonna go sit down and have a little chat with this kid here. He's just a young boy, and you need to stay right there."
Klaus nodded, and Dan returned to Baron, who was looking over some notes. "I hate to see a kid going the wrong side of the path," the brunette muttered to himself.
"Are you real proud of yourself, buddy?" Dan questioned viciously, vaguely recognizing his face. Komba.
"It's a shame," Baron pitched in. "What has the youth of this generation come to, doing drugs all the time?"
"Let me ask you a question, little green man," Baron said. "Have you ever heard of D.A.R.E.?"
"D.A.R.E." Dan repeated. "Drugs are…"
"…really expensive." Baron finished.
"D-A-R-E. Is that why you're breaking in and stealing this educated man's Euros?"
"So you can pay for your crack?" Baron guessed.
"You know what, you should have attempted D.A.R.E." Dan advised, though it was too late. "Do you know who didn't attempt D.A.R.E.?" he paused. "Julie Makimoto."
"It's true," Baron repeated.
"I die a little bit every time I see her eat leaves." Dan remembered. "Disgusting."
Dan looked over and saw Klaus getting agitated. He left Baron to talk to Komba, reminding him not to use the Tasers again.
"Now I'm just going to ask you a few more questions, and then you'll be on your way. How long have you been living here?" Dan asked a simple question first, to ease Klaus into a more stable mood.
"Every summer for five years."
"In those five years, have you ever been involved in any gangs?"
"No, of course not. I have not been involved in any gangs nor any other violent act," Klaus admitted truthfully.
"No enemies?"
"No," Klaus responded quickly.
"I need to know if you're lying." Dan warned, jotting down all the important information in his notebook.
"Klaus does not lie," he answered.
"'Klaus does not lie.' I'll write that down. Now is it Klaus with a K like Kyle?"
He nodded. "It's German."
"So you've not made any enemies. You don't know of anyone who would hire a kid to break in?"
Klaus pondered this question for a moment, the obvious answer standing out in his mind. He would bet his entire fortune that Shun Kazami, ninja extraordinaire, had something to do with this. Although he wouldn't consider the stoic Brawler an enemy, he did think he had a reason or two for exacting revenge.
"There is one person."
"And that would be?"
His answer died on his lips as Baron strode over with a confused expression on his face.
"Where's Komba?" Dan wondered aloud.
"We reached an understanding," Baron replied, smiling widely.
"You let the perpetrator go?" Klaus cried indignantly.
Baron nodded, not losing the bright grin. "Yep, but it's okay because tomorrow I'm learning how to break handcuffs."
Originally I Komba was going to be captured along with Shun, but I decided Alice would be a better fit for this story. This is the longest chapter for this story to date…
Anyway, leave a review and let me know that my long, sleep-deprived hours were worth it!
Cocoacharm15