Response to reviews:

TopGun1986: Not really (like, Darkus Nillious) unless I get Magnus Black in here (which I won't, but I may for a future story). I prefer to keep the Bakugan with their respective partners at all times; with the Battle Brawlers, though, I get more creative freedom since they don't even exist in the Battle Planet world, and therefore I can just do whatever I want with them.

ploiuiu: I'm glad you liked the dream! What do you think about it, exactly? Like, any theories or anything? / I have quite a bit in store for Danny-boy here, and I plan on showing it to my dear readers! / I don't know what the true layout of the Bakugan HQ is XD, but just assume that Shun's far from Dan's room / Yeah, he's definitely. . . learned some stuff in the 3 years he's been gone. . .

Enjoy!


Dan stumbled into the dining room, his eyes heavy from a fitful night of sleep.

Marucho was the first to greet him, although he did so with a concerned expression. "Dan? Are you okay?"

Dan stared at him, his brain too sluggish to process Marucho's words at first. Once he realized what Marucho had said, he shook his head in an attempt to clear it. "Why. . . wouldn't I be?"

Marucho frowned again, his eyes flicking over to something Dan couldn't see. Suddenly, Shun was right next to him. Dan nearly jumped out of his skin at the Ventus brawler's sudden appearance.

When he turned his head, he could see the ninja's worried frown. "Are you sure?" he asked. "You look as though you haven't slept in years."

Dan's weary, exhausted brain took too long to process the Ventus brawler's words. It felt as though time was moving too slowly for him, and everything outside of his little time bubble was going ultra fast.

A cool hand gripped his chin, jerking his head up and forcing his eyes to meet Shun's eyes. His eyebrows were furrowed. Dan suddenly realized that he hadn't answered Shun's question. He blinked blearily, trying to focus his vision on the Ventus brawler. "Ah. . ."

A new, unfamiliar voice sounded behind Shun. "Is there something wrong with him?"

Shun released him and stepped away, leaving Dan staggering back. He shook his head again, pressing a hand to his right eye, before glancing in the general direction where the voice had sounded.

The owner of the voice appeared to be a girl (she was the only one sitting in the general vicinity). Her heritage seemed to be of Asian descent, based on her facial features and dark hair. She wore a teal leather jacket with the Ventus symbol imprinted on the left side of her chest, with a white shirt underneath and yoga pants. She glanced curiously at him from startingly-green eyes.

Now that Dan had the time to look, he realized that everyone - even other faces he wasn't familiar with - was seated at the table. There was Jaxon, who was glaring at him from the far end of the table. Another Asian-looking kid, with a black-and-blue-striped jacket hanging almost carelessly on his body, was regarding him with sharp interest.

A third kid who was dressed in black everything (even his hair was black!) was quietly talking to Alice, his eyes flickering up to Dan every so often. His features were stoic, his expression unreadable.

A sandy-haired, bright eyed kid with an orange baseball cap turned backwards and a loose brown sweatshirt shot Dan an unimpressed stare before turning back to his conversation with another kid, who was dressed in a plain white hoodie. The way the latter glared at Dan reminded him a little of Runo.

Chan Lee and Joe Brown were sitting together, talking in low voices; Chan was grinning, and Joe was chuckling softly. Julio, Billy, and Julie were discussing something amongst themselves, with Billy cackling after the Haos brawler had said something. Marucho and Klaus von Hertz were chatting with each other, possibly about Aquos stuff (which Dan probably wouldn't understand anyways).

Runo seemed to be looking anywhere except at Dan; for some reason, her actions sent a pang through Dan's chest. At the same time, he knew he deserved it, leaving Runo like that as he traversed to another town.

Shun turned towards the girl in the teal jacket, confirming Dan's suspicions. "There's nothing wrong with him," Shun replied, sounding slightly annoyed. "He probably didn't sleep well or something."

The teal-wearing girl didn't look fazed by Shun's tone. Either she had heard enough to have gotten used to it, or she chose to ignore it.

Dan blinked slowly at the girl before casting his gaze on the four other kids whose names he didn't know. "Um." He looked at Shun. "Who're. . . they?"

Shun looked startled for a moment. "Oh, I forgot that I hadn't introduced you to them yet." He gestured to the girl he had been facing. "This is Feng, the Ventus recruit. Then that's -" He gestured towards the blue-dressed boy. "- Shinto, the Aquos recruit."

Shinto jerked his head down in a nod, his eyes regarding the Pyrus brawler. "Pleasure to meet you."

"The one in black is Kurgo," Shun continued. "He's our Darkus recruit."

The newest Darkus recruit nodded a little more smoothly than Shinto had. "Kuso."

"The guy in the orange cap is Killian," Shun added, "and the kid in the white hoodie is Fyero."

" 'Sup?" Killian saluted with two fingers lazily. Fyero merely stared at Dan with narrowed eyes, which unsettled the latter.

Mostly because the Haos brawler's stare was reminiscent of Runo's glare.

Shun studied Dan for a moment. "Are you okay?"

Dan blinked at him again at the sudden shift in the topic, his brain struggling to keep up with what was happening. Once his brain processed Shun's words, Dan waved off the ninja. "Just a dream I had." He found a seat that was seated between Marucho and Alice and plopped down into it, helping himself to some juice and sausages.

Shun blinked before he frowned. "A dream?"

At this point, Dan's brain began to function a little bit better, finally waking itself of the stupor that drowsiness brings. The Pyrus brawler nodded. "Yeah." Then he frowned, realizing that the gist of the dream had faded into the back of his mind.

He tried to recall the details of the dream that had woken him that night. It was all a blur, and his trip to the bathroom seemed more of a distant dream than reality. He tried his hardest to recall the scenes that had disturbed his peaceful sleep. . .

A flash of a whirling blade piercing his stomach.

Dan flinched involuntarily, nearly spilling the juice in the cup he had in his hand. Marucho and Alice paused in their respective conversations to shoot Dan concerned looks. "Dan?" Alice laid a gentle hand on Dan's arm (a flash of lightning, the grip on his arm tightening almost painfully). "Are you - ?"

"I'm fine," Dan replied aloud, slanting his eyes away from Marucho's curious gaze and Alice's concerned look. He could feel Shun's frowning gaze penetrating him, but he kept his eyes on his plate. Suddenly, the sausages didn't look as appetizing as when he had stepped in.

He stood suddenly, feeling his chair being knocked behind him. He could feel everyone's startled eyes on him, but he didn't meet any of them. He mumbled an excuse as he hurried out of the dining room, feeling the burning gazes of each of the Brawlers.

His feet carried him away from the oppressive gazes of other people. Dan didn't know where he was heading, just that he needed to get away to be alone.

The Pyrus brawler suddenly realized that he was lingering outside a set of doors; at some point he was unaware of, his feet had halted, leaving Dan in this area.

He leaned against the wall next to the doors, closing his eyes and reminding himself to breathe, just breathe.

Now that he was alone, he could dwell on his confusing thoughts, the ones that continued whispering and bugging and (in some cases) shouting in his face.

Drago suddenly rolled out and unfolded. "Dan?" A note of worry entered his voice. "Are you. . . alright?"

Dan paused, considering the dragonoid's question. On the one hand, he could tell Drago anything; he knew he could trust his partner. Drago was the one thing that stayed consistent throughout those 3 years he stayed away from the Brawlers.

On the other hand. . .

The details of the dream still spooked him. He recalled all the dreams he's had previously, from Drago's transformation to Apollonir's offer, and so forth. They had all pertained to events that had eventually happened.

If he told them all of the dream. . . then they would either start worrying excessively over him, or they would brush it off as if it were unimportant.

But he knew it was important; he felt it deep in his bones, felt it nagging at his soul and snuffing out any other thought.

But he didn't want the Brawlers to worry about someone who would so callously abandon them.

And so he decided what he wanted to do.

Dan shrugged slightly. "I could be better." Even his voice sounded hollow to him, as if all his emotion had been sucked out of him.

Drago turned his plastic body towards Dan. "Do you want to. . . talk about it?"

Dan shook his head. "No," he sighed, resting his head against the wall. "I think I need to. . . figure it out myself."

Drago was silent for a moment. Even with the dragonoid's new plastic form, Dan could still feel the Bakugan's gaze boring into him, as if wondering if Dan was lying to him.

Just when Dan thought that Drago was going to call him out, Drago answered, albeit carefully, "Okay. I trust you."

Dan's eyes shot open in surprise, and the Pyrus brawler shot the Bakugan a wide-eyed look. "Wait, really?"

Drago bobbed his tiny head before the movement slowed. "Unless you want me to -"

"No, no, it's okay." Dan let his head relax against the wall and closed his eyes. "I just thought that you would push a little bit more."

"Hmph."

With those words, human and Bakugan fell silent. Within the silence, Dan was left to nothing but his thoughts on the dream, as well as the reflection he had seen in the mirror when he tried to soothe his restless mind.

Alone with his thoughts.

How ironic.


"Let's see what you're really made of!" Jaxon brandished his own Bakugan.

Dan stared at Jaxon, now wondering how he got into this position.

Then the memories came back to him.

By the time he returned to the dining room, all of the Brawlers had finished their food and had dispersed to their activities.

All but one.

Dan had stared at Jaxon, who was glaring back with a dark expression. Before the red-eyed man could say anything, Jaxon was in his face. "So," he had hissed. "You think you're better than me?"

Dan frowned, confused at the teen's sudden change in demeanor. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me," Jaxon growled, taking a step forward. Dan automatically took a step back. "I've seen the way they act around you. They trust you more than they do me." He narrowed his eyes at Dan. "So what is it that they see in you that they don't in me?"

Dan fought down the urge to spit an insult towards the other Pyrus brawler, although it was so hard, considering how petty the teen was being. "I don't know," Dan answered, allowing only a hint of hostility in his tone. "Why don't you ask them yourself?"

A wrong move.

Jaxon just about exploded in Dan's face. "YOU DARE LOOK DOWN ON ME, THE GREATEST PYRUS BRAWLER IN THE WORLD?!" he roared.

"More like the greatest bragger in the world," Dan muttered. As soon as the words slipped out of his mouth, he wanted to beat himself. Idiot, idiot, IDIOT.

Do you want him to be your enemy?

Jaxon narrowed his eyes, looking at Dan with a murderous glare. For a second, Dan actually thought that Jaxon would attempt a murder, right there and then.

Then the teen turned away. "Brawl," he spat. "Ten minutes."

Before Dan could even blink, Jaxon was gone.

And here he was now, facing off against the petty Pyrus brawler.

"Bakugan -" Dan's head snapped up at Jaxon's proclamation. "- brawl!

"Gillator, stand!"

A flash of red light, and then a huge, reptilian creature leaped to life. If an alligator had been crossed with a wolf, then it would look like this Bakugan that Dan was laying eyes on; with a reptilian snout and scales, along with a hunched back and strong, powerful legs, it was quite the sight to behold. It arched its back. "Ready to take you down!" he growled.

"Pyrus Gillator: 800 B-power."

Dan flicked Drago in the air before reeling his arm back. "Bakugan, brawl!"

His partner flew out of his hand, clattering towards a red BakuCore. "Drago. . ." Drago halted on the BakuCore before unfolding. "Stand!"

"Rrrraauuuugghhh!" A tornado of fire whirled to life before Drago snapped his wings outward, dissipating the firestorm.

Movement flickered at the edge of Dan's eye, and he turned to see three recruits sitting in the stands: Kurgo the Darkus Brawler, Shinto the Aquos Brawler, and Feng the Ventus Brawler. While Shinto and Feng wore looks of intrigue, Kurgo looked distinctly nervous, his eyes darting from Dan to something else. Following his gaze, Dan saw that Kurgo was looking at Jaxon.

Dan frowned to himself. Why? There was nothing to be nervous about, as far as Dan could see. Jaxon may be akin to an arrogant, petulant child, but there was nothing dangerous about him.

Then again, Dan mused to himself, if he beat Jaxon. . .

But there was no time to think about it; he had to focus on the battle. He turned his attention back to the battle just as Jaxon flicked out a card. "Ability activate!" he shouted. "Lava Lash!"

A tendril of fire curled out of Gillator's mouth, and the Bakugan snapped his head to the side. The whip of fire snapped around Drago's leg, eliciting a roar of pain from the winged Bakugan and causing him to crash.

"Drago!"

"Pyrus Gillator Ultra: 1050 B-power. Pyrus Dragonoid Ultra: 900 B-power."

"I'm not done yet!" Jaxon whipped out another card. "Ability activate! Lava Spray!"

Gillator inhaled deeply before his breath exploded out of his mouth in a spew of liquid fire. Drago leaped into the air, although his tail was singed, causing the dragonoid to falter slightly in the air.

"Gillator Ultra now at: 1150 B-power."

I gotta do something fast, before Drago's toast! Dan whipped out a card. This should do the trick! "Ability activate!" He held the card up. "Firestorm!"

Drago launched himself into the air and threw his head back before fire burst from his mouth. A huge blast shot up close to the fireproof ceiling before exploding into raining fire.

"Dragonoid Ultra now at: 1200 B-power."

"Agh!" Fire rained down on Gillator, who thrashed in agony as the white-hot embers made contact with his skin.

"Gillator Ultra now at: 1000 B-power."

"NO!" Dan started slightly at the shout and turned as Jaxon brandished another card; the look in the other's eyes was nothing he's ever seen; it was a mix of hatred and murderous intent, an inferno of raging emotions that were all concentrated towards Dan.

For the first time in a long time, Dan was truly afraid for his own life.

"Never," Jaxon snarled. "I will never be defeated by someone as low as you." He lifted the card in his hand. "Ability activate! Flame Wave!"

"Gillator Ultra now at: 1600 B-power."

Dan stared at his BakuPod in dismay. How was he gonna be able to beat an enemy as powerful as that?

A wave of liquid fire formed in front of Drago's reptilian opponent, building higher and higher until it was about to crash down on them.

"Ability activate!" Dan crowed, flicking out a card in a desperate attempt to keep Drago from being harmed. "Pyrus Heat Shield!"

A huge, hexagonal shield formed right in front of both Drago and Dan just as the Flame Wave crashed over them. Even though Dan could feel the intense heat radiating off of the ability effect, the shield didn't budge an inch, effectively keeping the lava from incinerating him and Drago.

When the wave finally subsided, the shields cracked before disappearing in a flurry of red sparks. Dan checked his BakuPod: Gillator was at 1600 while Drago was also at 1600.

Man, this is a close battle. "You okay, Drago?"

"Yeah, thanks to your quick thinking." Drago turned his head towards the human. Dan thought he saw a glimmer of gratitude. "Thank you. . . partner."

Dan chanced a glance at Jaxon and was nearly knocked off his feet from the force of Jaxon's glare. "No," Jaxon snarled. "I will not be beaten by you!"

Dan bit down on an insult that had formed on his tongue and instead tossed a card in the air. "Drago! Ability activate!"

"Twisting Inferno!"

Drago breathed in deeply opening his maw wide and unleashing a whirling spew of fire towards the reptilian Bakugan. Dan watched, awed, as the head of the blast transformed into a silhouette of a dragon's head as it sped towards Gillator.

The explosion was mighty, the tremors enough to nearly knock Dan to the ground. When the dust cleared, there stood Jaxon with Gillator in ball form at his feet. As his head was tilted down, Dan couldn't see the teen's expression.

Drago disappeared in a flash of red light, dropping into Dan's palm. What was going to happen now? he wondered. He doubted that Jaxon would take the loss particularly gracefully, especially since he had been bragging that he was the best. Dan glanced back up and balked.

A fire of rage and hatred had ignited in Jaxon's dark expression. His eyes were shadowed, making him look absolutely murderous. Dan noticed that the teen's right fist had curled tightly. "No." Jaxon spoke so quietly that Dan almost didn't catch it.

"Jaxon?" Dan tentatively approached the teen. The latter's head remained bowed, and he was shaking in a way that concerned the red-eyed man. "Hey, Jaxon, are you all -"

"NO!"

Pain exploded in Dan's face.

He stumbled away from Jaxon with a strangled yelp of pain, his hand automatically coming up to his mouth. He could taste the familiar copper tang of blood as his lips and nose throbbed heatedly.

A fist slammed into Dan's ribcage, causing the older Pyrus brawler to collapse into a ball on the floor, automatically covering his neck as blows rained down on him.

A punch to the head. A kick to his ribs. A vicious hammerfist to his temples. Jolts of agony shot through him as Jaxon landed blow by blow, leaving him unable to see in the haze of pain except for a dark, rainy night.

Lightning flashed, illuminating the sky. Still, he could only see the silhouettes of the gang in front of him, particularly the leader. Even so, the leader's grin was still discernible, even in the stormy night.

He couldn't help but shiver at the leader's cold, amused tone. "We'll show you what happens when you decide to pick a fight with us." He could hear the leader's sadistic grin stretched wider. "Ain't that right, gang?"

Cue rowdy laughter. Dan curled even more inwards, hating the feel of helplessness that plagued him. He hated it, hated how he couldn't defend himself, hated the fear and the hatred that overwhelmed him yet left him unable to change anything about his situation.

The leader gestured to a particular gang member. "Finish the boy off," he commanded coldly.

The gang member flicked out a ball. Dan's stomach dropped with dread. It couldn't be. . .

But it was.

The gang member reeled his arm back -

And a hand slammed down onto Dan's shoulder.

The Pyrus brawler took a second to realize that someone was screaming. A beat later, Dan realized that he was the one who was screaming.

"DAN!"

"Kuso? Kuso! Snap out of it!"

Dan finally heeded the voice, halting the stream of noise that had poured from his mouth. For a moment, he lay there, panting (who knew that screaming could take up so much breath?) and trying to breathe, just breathe, you're okay.

He lifted his head weakly, regarding the owner of the voice. ". . . Kurgo?"

The Darkus brawler offered Dan a twitch of his lips, although he looked kinda spooked. Disturbed.

Dan suddenly realized that blows were no longer raining down on him. He looked over to see Shinto and Feng who, impressively, managed to restrain the frothing-at-the-mouth teen who was still trying to get to Dan.

A shudder went down his spine. Lightning flashed in his mind, but Dan forcefully shoved it away and stood, albeit slightly shakily.

Kurgo was studying him with a hint of concern. "You good there?"

Drago rolled out onto Dan's shoulder and popped open. "Yes, are you alright?" A dark note entered his tone. "When I get my hands on that boy. . ."

"I'm fine, Drago," Dan quickly assured him. "Just a little. . ." Dan paused. What should he say that would effectively convey how he felt? ". . . shaken up."

Drago hummed skeptically, but before he could say anything, the doors to the BakuTrain Simulators opened, and in rushed Shun, Runo, and Alice. "We heard a commotion! What was -" Shun halted, eyes wide, as he took in the scene of Jaxon being restrained by Shinto and Feng, and Kurgo standing next to Dan, who was very sure that he looked severely beaten up.

Shun strolled over to Kurgo. "What happened here?" he demanded.

Feng spoke. "Lil' Jaxon here -" She jerked her head towards the Pyrus brawler, who snarled at her nickname. "- decided it would just be grand to attack Kuso over there."

Shun's eyes narrowed. He was in front of Jaxon in an instant, grabbing the Pyrus brawler's chin and yanking it up. "Is it true?" the ninja growled.

Jaxon only stared back with defiant eyes.

Dan jumped as someone laid a hand on his shoulder. He whirled to see Alice, who was regarding him concernedly. "We should take you to the medical bay to look at your bruises and cuts," she offered. "Come with me."

As Dan reluctantly trailed after the red-haired girl, he brushed past Runo. For an instant, they locked eyes with each other. In her emerald-green eyes, Dan saw shock in them, as well as a mix of other emotions he couldn't decipher.

He wanted to say something, anything, but the words were caught in his throat and he could only stare helplessly at her.

Then the moment broke as soon as he stepped through the doors.

Away from Jaxon.

Away from the memories.

Away from his thoughts.

Away from Runo.


A/N I just want to let everyone know that THIS IS NOT A DanxShun STORY!

Shun is acting overly protective of Dan right now because Dan had just gotten back into his life after 3 years, only for Shun to realize that Dan isn't the same as he was before. Obviously, if your best friend had changed to the point of being drastically different, you would also probably be a little protective of them, especially if someone makes remarks about it.

RTQC: If you were to choose a Bakugan (any, be it from Bakugan Battle Brawlers or Bakugan Battle Planet), which would you choose as your partner?

I would choose Aquos Hydranoid from Battle Planet, mostly because it's the only, like, actually good native-Aquos Bakugan XD

I hope y'all enjoyed! Please be sure to leave constructive criticism and reviews!

Stay safe!