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*crickets chirping*

Ahem. So.

Moving on!

WARNING! Violence later on in this chapter! Mentions of blood! Proceed with caution


"This just in," a reporter uttered from a television, "the famous corporation known as AAAnimus has mysteriously began drilling into the ground within Skate Park."

Each of the Brawlers paused, looking at the TV as the report unfolded. Dan leaned forward, studying the logo on the screen. Out of the corner of his eye, Dan saw Shun shoot him a suspicious look, but Dan shrugged, just as confused as anyone else.

"There was no preliminary report released prior to this sudden arrangement. The head of the corporation, Norman Dusk, only had this to say:"

A man popped onto the screen now, a microphone up in his face. In his business-formal attire, he looked coldly professional. He was middle-aged with stiff salt-and-pepper hair. His facial features were harsh, almost cruel, and his cold eyes completed the look.

Shun leaned forward, his expression betraying his piqued interest. Dan glanced over at Runo, who shot him a puzzled look and shrugged. He then turned to Julie, Marucho, and Alice, who were sitting nearby; they seemed engrossed in the TV.

"This is a restricted area to implement our special project. We have nothing to say, except that this area is forbidden to outsiders."

Dan saw Shun's jaw clench, watched the Ventus brawler's eyes flash angrily. He couldn't blame the ninja; whatever "special project" they were talking about must involve the exploitation of Bakugan for their personal gain.

Just thinking about it sends waves of anger in his chest, but Dan pushed it down to listen to the report.

"Why was there no preli -"

"I'm afraid that's all for now." His cold tone sent shivers down Dan's back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Marucho shoot him a worried look, but he kept his eyes glued to the TV.

The screen suddenly winked out. Dan turned to see Shun with the remote in his hand. Shun carefully placed it back onto the coffee table before turning to all the Brawlers. "Well," he began in a measured tone, "that was unexpected."

Marucho exhaled, almost carefully, and he leaned back in his seat, studying the blank TV screen. "Indeed."

Shun shot a significant look at Dan. "Dan? What did you do this time?"

Why are you asking me? Dan wanted to ask. Instead, he swallowed his pride down and shrugged slightly at Shun. If Shun thought he could rile up the Pyrus brawler, then he is sorely mistaken. "What makes you think I did this?" he asked lightly.

Shun narrowed his eyes at Dan, his mouth parting slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, Dan saw that Runo's eyes had also narrowed considerably, but he forced himself to ignore her as he stared calmly back at Shun.

"Well, I don't know, maybe the fact that you brawled with those same troublemakers yesterday that we did a week ago." Shun's tone eerily matched Dan's, but his eyes flashed dangerously.

Dan frowned, pondering on his words. "What does this have to do with AAAnimus?" he asked uneasily, his eyes flicking onto each of his friends. "They're just a bunch of troublemaking brawlers. . . right?" He knew what they were implying, but he didn't think they suspected. . . that.

At his words, all the Brawlers shifted, almost uneasily, which basically served as confirmation. Dan already knew what Shun was going to say when he spoke up. "We suspect that these same brawlers are somehow connected to AAAnimus."

Dan paused, regarding Shun's comment. In a way, it made sense; brawlers don't typically bother others repeatedly unless they want to prove something to others or. . . they're told to do so. Though it made sense logically, there was a drawback to Shun's statement.

"Is there any proof of this?"

Now the Brawlers did look a little embarrassed, some of them shooting Dan surprised looks. Only Shun and Runo narrowed their eyes at him. "Well. . . no. . ." Shun admitted hesitantly.

Dan considered this. If they didn't have proof, then there was no way to affirm what the Brawlers were suspecting. Though the logic makes sense, there was no evidence to back it up, as much as he wanted to believe it.

But there were more pressing matters to worry about.

For one, the drilling into the earth by AAAnimus!

Dan breathed out, running a hand through his hair. Drago popped back up on the young man's shoulder, unfolding again. "I say we focus on AAAnimus and their. . . special project, whatever it is," the Bakugan proposed. "Whatever they're up to, it can't be good."

Shun's frown deepened. "That's the problem. If these new brawlers are connected to AAAnimus, then they may cause trouble for us. They could even try to keep us from figuring out what they're planning."

Dan paused, considering Shun's words. That's. . . actually a good point. . .

"So what are we going to do?" Marucho looked up, almost beseechingly, at Shun. His expression caught Dan off-guard, and he frowned. He's never seen Marucho so desperate.

It must be getting really bad, if Marucho's desperate.

Shun tapped the bottom of his lip, thinking. Analyzing. "We can't approach them," he shot down. "And we can't make accusations in broad daylight. They have a lot of favor, and it would only give us a bad name if we even attempted, which would make it harder for us to find out what they're doing."

Dan sat back, thinking to himself. Around him, everyone was doing the same, with furrowed eyebrows and pensive expressions.

Dan silently chuckled to himself. This reminded him of those times when they sat and chatted on a computer together. His thoughts began turning again as he reminisced from their battles with Naga to when he was called away to New Vestroia to help the Resistance take out the Dimension Controllers.

Dan's thoughts narrowed down to the Dimension Controllers. He frowned. Wait. . .

What did they do with the first Dimension Controller? It was from Alpha City, but. . .

Wait.

Oh, wait. A. Second.

He realized there was a way to find out what AAAnimus was planning. Or, at least, see why they were interested in that specified area.

Shun had said that there was no way to approach them. But at night. . .

"I think I might have an idea," Dan supplied softly. Five heads snapped towards him, looks of surprise plastered on their faces. Dan kept his eyes firmly on Shun's, ignoring the heated stare that he felt Runo giving him.

Shun nodded once, the movement short and sharp. "Proceed."

Dan paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts up. He continued to look at Shun. "We can't approach them outright, true," he acknowledged, "but what if - if - we were able to, say, slip in when no one's noticing?" He couldn't help but grin cheekily. "Or maybe accidentally stumble on it in the dark?"

Shun's lips twitched, his eyes flashing with amusement and - Dan looked closer - was that unease? "I think," he began, "that is an excellent idea."

Runo's glare, coincidentally, turned from just a heated glare to a full-blown, concentrated laser.

Julie, on the other hand, seemed unable to sense the tension between the three Brawlers. "Great!" she gushed, standing suddenly and shooting towards Dan, startling him with the squeeze she gave him. He laughed awkwardly, pointedly ignoring Runo's laser-glare.

Shun nodded, a hint of approval in his eyes. "I think I'd like to set out tomorrow night."

"What, by yourself?" Runo pointed out, incredulous. The implication crashed down on Dan, and he turned, shocked towards the Ventus brawler. Shun nodded.

"Face it. I'm the only one who has had any stealth training around here." Dan opened his mouth, ready to contradict the ninja. After all, he had managed to disappear off the grid for a while.

As if sensing the Pyrus brawler's retort, Shun shot him a glare. "Going under a fake name does not count, Dan."

The young man addressed closed his mouth. A million retorts went through his head, but he had to concede that Shun had a point; he was the one who had the most experience with infiltrating largely-populous areas. "Fair point," he grunted.

Shun smirked, although Dan noted with confusion that it was strained. "Then it's been decided," he declared, turning towards the rest of the Brawlers. "I'll set out tomorrow night. Do some recon and scouting."

"Fantastic! I'll cook dinner tonight!" Julie winked at Shun before flouncing out of the room. Dan glanced at Shun to see a perplexed expression on the Ventus brawler's face.

Alice trailed after her, glancing back at Shun. "I'll, ah, help her." Dan could've sworn that Alice's face was lightly dusted with a tint of pink. With those words she was out of the room.

Dan turned towards Shun and was startled to find a small smile on the normally-stoic ninja. He glanced over to where Shun had been staring, which was the doorway where Alice had disappeared from.

Ah. Dan snickered, turning to Shun. The Ventus brawler started, glancing at Dan with a frown.

"What?"

"So. . . I see you and Alice have gotten quite close, eh?"

"Shut up."


He ran, ran as fast as he could, through the tunnels that intertwined with each other in the darkness. He didn't know where he was, and he didn't know how he ended up here. All he knows is that he had to get away from. . . he didn't know that either.

But he had to get away.

A deep, chilling laugh echoed through the channels, bouncing off the walls and leaving the hair on his neck standing straight up. A shiver inadvertently made its way down his spine, but he didn't slow. If anything, he only picked up his pace.

He's close.

He's close.

"Don't let him catch up to you," a voice whispered in his ear.

If anything, the eerie whisper spurred him to start sprinting through the tunnels. He didn't even know where he was going, but he didn't care.

As he tore through the various tunnels, not pausing for a moment to contemplate which tunnel to take, he heard a variety of voices coming from everywhere and nowhere, all around him and yet not at the same time. Disembodied voices that cried out, pleaded, screamed, sobbed.

He couldn't determine who, specifically, they were. All he knew was that they didn't belong to the same person whose chilling laugh had echoed through the chambers earlier; no, these voices were warmer, lacking the sadism of that laugh, and they were laced with pain, pain that he doubted the owner of the laugh could feel.

He halted, his heart crawling into his throat. He had reached the edge of a cliff. All along the edge, he somehow knew that every tunnel led to this area.

Escape was futile.

As he looked, he noted with some confusion the eerie, unnatural water-blue glow that was surely at the bottom of the cliffs. He didn't dare venture further, for his conscious was whispering it was a horrible idea.

There was a thud that sounded behind him. Somehow, he knew that it was his chaser. He turned and couldn't help but scream out.

His chaser was a cloaked figure, the hood shadowing his eyes. In the dimness of the cave system, red armor glinted. What was visible of his mouth twisted upwards into a sneer. "Well, well, well." He laughed the same deep, chilling laugh that turned the other's blood into ice. "You refused to cooperate, which made my job. . . harder." His eyes glinted with sadistic intent. "Lucky I found you in the end, eh?"

The other shook his head, backing away from the cloaked figure. "Who - who are you?"

Instead of answering, the cloaked figure drew a sword with a resounding SHANG! The other began shaking against his will, unconsciously backing away from the cloaked figure.

The cloaked figure paused after he drew the blade, which confused the other. Why wasn't he attacking?

The cloaked figure moved his arm so that the flat of the blade was visible to the other. "What do you see?"

As the other peered into the blade, he saw flashes of memories that he yearned to forget: his arrogance, his impatience, his brashness, his thirst for battle. Along with these, he saw the consequences of his actions: his Bakugan roaring about his carelessness, the devastation of several different arenas, and - most of all - his friends' hurt faces after learning he had left.

Guilt and shame surged within him, and he shook his head, trying to will away the memories and failing; the images were burned into his mind. "No. . ."

He looked up just as the cloaked figure charged. Eyes wide, he tried to dodge the blade, but he was too slow.

Metal slid through his abdomen, cutting through his body. Searing pain exploded in his being, and his limbs went lax against his will. He choked, blood clinging to the back of his throat and trickling out of his mouth.

The cloaked figure leaned forward, and for the first time, the other saw his eyes. His killer's eyes had a cold, hard glint in them that were filled with a sadistic pleasure as he watched his prey flail, his own blood strangling him.

His sadistic, red eyes met with wide red ones.

The cloaked figure's mouth twisted upwards in a cold, mirthless grin. He leaned forward until his lips were right next to the other's ear, sending a cold chill through the other's on-fire body.

"Say hello to Death for me, eh?"

With those words, he yanked his blade out and shoved the other.

The other, not in control of his own movements anymore, stumbled backwards. Warm blood flowed freely from the gruesome wound. The shock of seeing it happen made him unresponsive, left his body on autopilot.

Only when his foot tried to step on empty air did he realize what was happening. His hands flung out, perhaps out of habit, desperate for something to grasp.

There was nothing.

And he, Dan Kuso, fell screaming into the void.


Dan shot up, a silent scream tearing at his throat. He just sat there, panting, chest heaving for breath as he sat there.

He shut his eyes, reminding himself to breathe, just breathe.

But how could he, when he saw - no, felt his own death happen?

Shame crawled in his throat when he recalled all the shameful events that had occurred back when he had been a Brawler. All his brash, impulsive, reckless urges that had - on more than one occasion - nearly gotten his friends.

He sighed, twisting the sheet covers in his hand. A quick glance towards Drago revealed that the Bakugan hadn't woken. Good.

Dan swung his legs over the bed and stood, walking (a little unsteadily) towards the bathroom, shaking his head to clear the drowsiness.

Water splashed in the basin as he leaned over it, cupping water in his hand and throwing it over his face. It helped him wake up (and to wash away the sweat), but when he closed his eyes, the images were burnt into his mind now.

Dan opened his eyes and glanced back up wearily at the mirror.

And yelped.

What was staring back at him was not his reflection; it was another boy. This boy was quite a bit shorter than he was and didn't look old in the least; maybe about 10 years old, if Dan had to guess. The boy had on a red jacket with two pockets on both sides of his chest and a plain red shirt. A red streak ran through the hair that was swept to the side on his forehead. Brilliant blue eyes stared back at him, a mix of determination and curiosity.

Just as suddenly, when Dan blinked, the image was replaced by his exhausted self, the bags under his eyes painfully obvious, along with his horrendous case of bed hair.

He leaned against the wall behind him, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. He tried to tell himself it was nothing but a hallucination, nothing but his brain desperately trying to find refuge in sleep.

Still, there was one thought that continued to circulate through his mind, even as he stumbled back to his bed and lay there, staring at his ceiling.

What was that?


A/N Aaaannnndddd cut!

This chapter is a little shorter than most chapters - mostly because I wanted it to be, like, an interlude. Y'know?

I hope you liked that (violent) dream sequence! I hope I did well in this!

Also, I have a twitter, goshawk_north, where I do Minecraft, Bakugan, and Ninjago! If you want me to post updates about a story or whatever, just check it out!

(I don't have any updates on stories posted rn bc there's no one following me, so. . .)

Reviews and constructive criticism appreciated!