If I owned Bakugan, well then Alice AND Runo would have been given much more significant roles in New Vestroia and Gundalian Invaders. Which by the way I haven't seen yet…SO my dear readers, you guys do the math…:)

Devil's Wind, Angel's Link

crystal-mist

Chapter 10

The time Shun spent with Alice had been strange. How was it that she could bring herself to even look at someone like him?

The cab wound through the streets and it stopped in front of a massive building…It seemed a bit old though.

Shun was on guard there was something about this place that just made it feel, now what was the word? Yes, Malicious. He could sense at least a dozen people in the vicinity, but he pushed his worry aside for a bit. This was Alice's grandfather's place…

When the doors opened there were various men clad in dark suits who stood on either side of the doorway. Shun looked at each one of them suspiciously. There was just something wrong about this.

Shun and Alice got into the elevator and when they got off they were once again greeted by men with Black suits on…But this time there was this difference, they had weapons in their hands…

Their lips were twisted into intimidating smirks and dark glasses covered their eyes…

Shun stood in front of Alice and unsheathed a sword. (wonder where he kept that one.)

One of the men shot a bullet in his direction but with one smooth slash of his sword the bullet was neatly slashed out of the way. The men were clearly impressed.

The lights were turned off, it was still light outside so it did nothing much to the lighting. The elevator was shut down. There was no way Alice could escape through that way now.

"An ambush." Muttered Shun almost emotionlessly.

His eyes glinted in the decisiveness of an assassin's.

It was about time for the angel to witness the utter malice of the devil.

With his hand he took out a dagger. A click sounded from the blade in his hand and a chain like material escaped it.

He flicked it to the side. There was nothing but a flash, but soon after it recoiled two men on the left hand side fell upon their knees groaning in pain, blood dripping from their chests…

Shun stood their unfazed and Alice had her palm positioned over her mouth.

The men charged towards Shun.

Shun however took out each one of them ruthlessly… Slashing first right then left and leaving the men fatally wounded. His every movement was slick, precise and smooth as he slashed his way through the men.

Alice had no idea that he was so deadly.

It occurred to Shun that he could probably ask Alice to close her eyes to avoid her seeing all this killing… All this violence and bloodshed might be too much for her too handle. But she needed to; she needed to witness his mercilessness. She had to see that someone as dangerous as him did not even deserve to hold onto her angelic hand let alone be the object of her affection.

If she was a pure white dove then he was the spiteful vulture that dug its wretched claws into the flesh of its innocent victim. He was a real nasty work of art. And they…they just did not belong together…SHE needed to realize that.

Alice's hands were trembling as she gazed at the blood spilling on the ground. She pressed her palm closer to her face as the agonizing screams and groans reached her eardrums.

"Shun…" Tears slid down her pale cheeks as she looked at the mounds of motionless bodies.

The room was soon empty save for the bodies lying on the ground and the blood that drenched the cold tiled floor.

Shun's blades were drenched in blood and so wee his clothes. Sure, he had taken out all those men no problem, but he got himself injured in the process. He used his jacket to wipe the blood off his face.

"We need to find a way out." He muttered to Alice without even turning around.

It hurt him to think that she would see him in a new light now. She might even despise him. But that was all for her own good.

Alice nodded and followed Shun out of a door. She carefully stepped around the numerous men on the floor.

Just as she was about to reach the entrance one of the hands on the floor caught hold of her leg. She shrieked as the man stuck his dagger into her ankle.

Shun was soon there and with a single powerful kick sent the body hurtling at a wall. His golden eyes were lifeless as he glared at the man. Without another word he bent down and slickly pulled the dagger out of Alice's ankle. He did it fast enough so that she would only feel a second's worth of pain.

He then threw the dagger to the side and led the way out through a door.

Alice gazed at him through her soft brown eyes. He was a lean mean killing machine. She followed him, limping a little. But she could still trust him, right? He would still protect her, right? But at what price would it come? If it was to be achieved by the deaths of so many people then was the end result worth it all?

They made their way through door after door and hallway after hallway and the whole place seemed to be deserted. Alice wished that she could at least walk beside Shun and not trail after him like this. Seeing his back like this made her feel lonely; it was like he was drifting away from her grasp little by little.

Sure, his killing spree had frightened her but there was still this insane part of her heart that did not want to loose Shun. She wanted to hold on to him with every fiber of her being. But the question was, would they survive this attack? And more importantly; would he let her breach into his heart?

They soon came to a huge room with a huge chair in the middle of it…

The chair creaked as it spun around and revealed the face of 'Death Claw'. Ace looked at the duo with a grin on his face.

"Well, well Devil's Wind, you made it after all. I thought that you went soft after all these years. I mean, you let a girl interfere in your 'work'." muttered Death Claw in a sinister tone.

"Shut your mouth… Where's the way out of this damned place?" asked Shun just as menacingly.

"Oh now, you've just arrived. What a meeting among rivals without some 'entertainment'?"

"Will you tell me the way out or should I force it out of you, Ace?"

"It's 'Death Claw' to you…" said the green haired man as he stood up from his comfortable seat. "I see that you are drenched with blood…A favourable sign, so you did not loose all your skill now did you?" saying this he then turned to Alice who stood in a far end of the room behind Shun. "Hello, how are you? Are your fingers healed my dear?"

Alice unconsciously took a step backwards, she hated this man. Her mind probed to their previous meeting and she raised her hand to her left shoulder where the engraving of Death Claw's symbol, was still there. Apparently he had used some chemical on that dagger so that 'imprint' would be permanent.

"It's a pity though Devil's wind. I'll have to kill you….And shame on you, you really didn't kill any of those men down there, did you? You just injured them, you were reluctant to finish off mere pawns…Pathetic indeed…I feel it shameful just to call you a 'rival' now."

Ace took steps towards Shun, his grey eyes shining with disgust… He unsheathed two swords. He fought two-sword style. And he wielded them skillfully indeed.

Shun took out his blood drenched sword and his precious dagger that had the deadly sharp chains on it.

The two men were then immersed in an all out battle. A battle on the principle of 'Fight to the death'.

A man with a dagger had sneaked up on Alice and held it positioned on her throat.

"Let's make this bout interesting." muttered Death Claw. "Every time you get knocked flat to the floor the princess gets hurt."

"Let her go…"

"Aw now where would he fun be if I did that?" sniggered the green-haired Death Claw as he kept slashing out at Shun. "Alright I'll give you a concession. The moment I defeat you, birdie goes bye bye."

All Alice could make out were the sparks and clangs that came from colliding metal. Every other movement was fast and too confusing to watch. There was a flurry of black and green as they continued their struggle for survival; two highly-skilled assassins who saw their newly found –clashing- ideals almost condescending.

For those who have some time on their hands, please read what's given below, or at least read only the italics in the parenthesis. ((

As a very wise person said in an anime-"There are no such things as co-incidences, only the inevitable." Have you ever heard that one? That phrase really made me think… And then I went into one of my strange pondering-states…The result of all that thinking? I wrote something so strange… here it is.

((The lives of people are interconnected like numerous threads in a knot and the tug of one thread affects the other, as is the consequence of our actions. And thus the cycle of time is set underway. A labyrinth of interconnected threads that resembles webs envelops us…And human beings are caught in midst of all these knots that twist and turn about. Humans are the centre of the maze or perhaps merely a puppet in the hands of another. And thus, life goes on relentlessly, waiting for no one and the merciless tide of time ebbs away at the banks of futility.))

Thanks to all of you for your support and reading the strange string of words above.

Please continue to support me…

Thank you guys…and before I forget.

Please REVIEW.