I know that his chapter is really late, but I've been kinda slowing down on my writing. It's fun to write stuff, and I enjoy having people who read it, but it's still tiring. I can't imagine what people who write without a show to aid them go through. Anyways, enjoy, and stay healthy!
Devices that control Bakugan. Great in theory, horrid in practice. And they're becoming all the more common as we continue forward. This is only compounded by the number of Negative Shifters I've seen. I don't know how many are out there, but I can only assume that they have the numbers to completely swarm us. The only question is why haven't they?
Reality Shift, fight for the Light
Order follows Entropy, Creation after Destruction
Chaos is following, we're the only ones
We've got the power to oppose, to save it all
We stand for what's right, through the plight
Stand against Entropy, and the enemies that be
Wynton and Trox stared down their opponent, both sides having gotten in a few attacks. Trox charged up his next attack. "Sonic Uproar!" He called. He fired his attack at his opponent, defeating it. The Bakugan rolled to its brawler's feet.
"Good job, Trox!" Called Wynton. Lia walked up.
"That makes us three for three!" She said. Shun followed behind her. Their three opponents walked up.
"The Awesome Ones are awesome!" Said one of the kids. He held out his hand, and Wynton shook it.
"Yeah, totally awesome." Said another. "We really want to thank you guys."
"What for?" Asked Wynton.
"If it wasn't for you, we'd still be playing by the Exit's unfair battle rules!"
"Now we don't have to worry about losing our Bakugan just because we lost a battle."
"Yeah! Thank you Awesome Ones." All three present smiled.
"Dan would've loved to hear that." Said Wynton. "Plus, he'd take credit."
"Don't forget Atom." Said Shun. "If he could've, I'm certain he would've been glad to take part in this." Lightning barked in agreement, and the group laughed.
"Speaking of Dan, where is he?" Asked Lia. "He's usually here by now."
"Sorry to keep you waiting." The group turned to see Dan.
"Uh, Dan?" Asked Lia. He walked up.
"What are you guys doing?" He stopped walking a few feet away from the group. "You shouldn't be wasting your time battling a bunch of amateurs, you know." Wynton, Lia, and Shun gasped.
"Uh, we should probably get going." Said one of the kids.
"Yeah, our parents probably want to know where we are."
"See you later, Awesome Ones!" The three kids started walking away. Lia glared at Dan.
"Studio D, now." She stated.
I folded up my work clothes as the group walked in. "Hey guys! How'd the battles go?" The group didn't respond, and simply gathered around Dan as he sat down. "I'm guessing something's going on." I walked over to them.
"That was really rude." Said Shun to Dan.
"You can't say things like that, Dan." Added Wynton.
"We just made friends with those kids by battling." Finished Lia. Dan slammed his hands on the table, then stood up.
"Listen up! From now on, the Awesome Ones will not make friends with any other teams, no matter how nice they are."
"Huh?" Asked the other three.
"This is an interesting turn of events." I muttered.
"That's not like Dan." Whispered Leo.
"That's ridiculous." Replied Lia.
"The more we battle other people, the more we risk really damaging our Bakugan. Have you forgotten how much danger we've already put them through?" Our past opponents came to mind.
"True, but," said Wynton.
"We need to look at everyone around us as an enemy, and only an enemy."
"I get what you're worried about, Dan," started Shun, "but that's not"
"Then we're agreed. If not, feel free to leave the Awesome Ones." I shook my head.
"Now hold on." Everyone turned to me, except Dan. "I get not wanting to risk our Bakugan, believe me, I do." A few memories came back, and I shivered. "But, I can guarantee you that looking at everyone as an enemy will not be helpful. I know that there's something out there that's just waiting to"
"But you don't." Countered Dan. "From everything you've told us, you don't know too much about this world, and you're always comparing it to what you claim was here before." Dan turned and took a step, kicking Lightning's food bowl. "Hm? What's this gross bowl doing here?"
"Hey! That's Lightning's dish, you know that!" Said Wynton. Lightning growled a little, then barked at Dan. He grimaced.
"Dumb dog!" He muttered. He looked back at the others. "That reminds me, I've been thinking. I don't particularly like having a dog on our team." We were all stunned into silence from that one.
"What?" Asked Lia. "But Lightning is one of us!" Dan looked back at Lightning, who was still growling, then turned away and brushed his hair back with his hand.
"We'll see." He walked away, Lightning continuing to growl at him. He left.
"Uh, okay, what's up with Dan?" Asked Wynton.
"I don't know, but it's not cool at all." Stated Lia. "Keep it up, Dan, and I'll delete your profile."
"Seriously?" Asked Shun.
"That's harsh." Added Wynton. I shook my head.
"There's no way that's Dan, right?" I wondered. I thought back on what he said. "I may not know this Bakugan Reality like the back of my hand, but I do know that there is always some kind of evil just waiting to be unleashed." Lightning suddenly ran out the door. I turned to the others. "Something's wrong here, I just can't figure out what."
Dan was walking down a sidewalk, musing to himself. "Man, this mission is bogus." Behind him was Lightning, moving as stealthily as possible. Dan walked to a door and entered a building. Lightning walked up to the door, then grunted in annoyance. He looked around a bit before spotting a vent.
Dan entered a room and the door closed behind him. Kravitz turned to him. "Yikes, you really do look just like Dan Kouzo!"
"Yeah, don't remind me." Kravitz turned back to look at her monitor.
"The plan is moving along perfectly here too." In the ducts, Lightning was following their voices.
"Why couldn't I have impersonated someone cool? I'd rather be anybody than Dan."
"Well, it wasn't that easy on this end either. It took a lot of work to get him here without raising any suspicions."
"He totally fell for it." Lightning watched through a grate in the air ducts, and whimpered. Dan looked at a wall of one way glass to see Dan wearing some Virtual Reality goggles.
"Oh wow! Awesome! That seems so real!" Dan lifted the goggles. Lightning barked a little at the sight. "Real," he put the goggles back on, "unreal. Real," The Dan looking at him turned away.
"I can't believe I have to pretend to be him." He reached up to the side of his head and pressed something, dropping the illusion and showing that he was actually Magnus. Lightning growled as Kravitz turned to him.
"Well, you've got to keep up the impression so you can break up the Awesome Ones. The real Dan will simply stay distracted by his virtual battles." Magnus scoffed.
"Yeah yeah, I know the drill." He turned away and started walking. Kravitz stood up and followed him.
"Haha! Yeah!" Said Dan, looking into his Virtual Reality. "Oh, hello creepy! Get ready for my super duper powerful miracle crazy attack!" Dan punched the air, then raised his arms.
"If you defeat 100 opponents, you will win a trip to our virtual resort." Lightning banged against the grate a bit, before popping it out and falling down. He landed hard, but got back up and shook it off before running over to the one way glass. Lightning pounded on it, trying to get Dan's attention, but couldn't.
Lia pulled back her chair to see a hat on it. "What? Okay, what's with the hat on my chair?" she grabbed it and pulled it away to reveal a large frog. It croaked at her, and she suddenly screamed. She slammed the hat back down on it, concealing it again. "And who hides a frog under one?!" She ran to the railing.
"What are you on about?" Asked Wynton, taking off his headphones. The rest of us looked at her.
"Your frog prank was awesome, Wynton." Said Magnus, disguised again as Dan.
"I knew it was you, Wynton!"
"Guh, I didn't do it, honestly!" Retorted Wynton. Shun noticed something as he went through his tablet.
"Lia, I've asked you a hundred times not to put me in any of the online videos!"
"And I didn't." Replied Lia. Shun watched a video showing him.
"But it says you're the one who posted it!" Wynton grabbed a box and opened it up. He slowly pulled out a damaged machine.
"No!" He yelled. "I finally finished my souped up Pie Throwing Machine Model 2, and someone totally wrecked it!" Wynton looked to the side and noticed that something else had come out of the box. "Huh?" He picked it up. "Whose pen is this? Isn't this yours, Shun?"
"So what if it is?!" He asked. He looked at Lia. "Lia! The videos?"
"I'm waiting for Wynton to apologize to me." She replied.
"Guys, calm down!" I called. "Lia, just get to work deleting the videos. Wynton, even if it wasn't you, at least go up there and take the frog off her chair. Shun, see if you can start cleaning off the pen from Wynton's machine." Everyone looked at me like I was crazy.
"But, I didn't upload those videos." Said Lia.
"I never put a frog on her chair." Added Wynton.
"And I wouldn't even know how to damage his machine." Finished Shun. I shook my head.
"Look, even if you guys didn't do those things, if you help to make it right, it'll all work out in the end." I looked around a shelf. "And, also, has anybody seen my cards? I can't seem to find them."
"I think I saw Lightning with them earlier." Said Magnus. I continued facing away from them, and smiled to myself.
"Got ya." I thought. My cards were in my pocket. "I've had my suspicions, 'Dan', and now you've proven them." Magnus turned back towards the others, and gave a small laugh.
"We have a problem. We can't trust our enemies, or our friends."
"All right!" Said Dan, having defeated another opponent.
"You've made it past 99 opponents. Only one more to go." Lightning looked away from Dan, knowing it was a lost cause for now. He whimpered, then took off.
"This is just sad." Said Magnus. "Wynton's always playing pranks, Lia puts up videos without asking, Shun tries to act all cool and stuff, and Atom is always being a know-it-all."
"I would never pull a prank that hurt my friend's feelings." Countered Wynton.
"I did not post those videos!" Reiterated Lia.
"And I never try to act cool at all." Mentioned Shun.
"I may be a know-it-all," I started, "but I never lord it over you guys. I just try to help out with what I do know."
"It's okay." Said Magnus. "The fact of the matter is, we'll never really understand each other." The others sighed.
"This ought to be interesting." I thought.
"What is this imposter planning?" Whispered Leo.
"There really isn't a point in being a battle team in the first place." Said Magnus. "I really think the Awesome Ones should just break up." We all looked at him, surprised.
"Congratulations!" Said a computerized voice. "You have defeated 100 opponents." Dan opened his eyes and looked around at the virtual resort.
"What a beautiful beach! And the sea! And the dancing! Wow!" Dan started dancing as well. "I live to dance!"
"Well it's decided then, we're done here." Said Magnus. Lightning ran in, barking up a storm. We all looked at him as he started barking at Magnus. As he did, he started trying to charade what he was saying.
"What is it?" Asked Wynton. "Do you want to have a Bakugan battle?" Lightning continued barking.
"Great idea!" Said Lia. "Things have been getting way too tense in here. Let's all go have a battle!" Shun nodded.
"Good call, Lia!" Agreed Wynton. "Come on, Dan." I thought for a moment.
"I don't, uh, no thanks." Said Magnus. Lia grabbed his shirt.
"Come on Dan, this is happening!"
"I, I'm sleepy!" I looked at Shun and Wynton before we all left.
"I had my suspicions." I said. "And now, I do believe I know the answer. Let's go." We followed after Lia and headed towards the arena, Magnus trying every excuse he could think of to get out of it. However, it wasn't long before we were facing each other down, ready to go.
"Bakugan" started Shun, with Lightning barking in tandem.
"Brawl!" Finished Lia and Wynton. Nobody threw out a Bakugan, and Lia turned to Magnus.
"Dan! We're brawling over here! Did you notice?" Magnus didn't look at her.
"I'm gonna take a little time out."
"You're really not acting like yourself today, Dan." Said Wynton. "You're usually the first one to roll out." Magnus recoiled at that.
"That's true. You've been acting weird all day." Added Shun.
"Uhm." Said Magnus.
"Have you been eating at that cheapo burrito stand again?" Asked Wynton. Magnus gasped.
"Yeah! Give us one of your over the top speeches." Said Lia. "Please?"
"One of the super positive ones!" Added Wynton.
"With jokes of course." Finished Shun. I smiled, knowing that the fake was trapped.
"Nobody can match Dan with what comes out of his mouth." I thought.
"So, you want jokes, huh?" Asked Magnus.
"Yes! Jokes!" Said the other three.
"I, don't, know any jokes, okay!" Sputtered Magnus.
"Since when?" Asked Shun.
"That's just weird." Agreed Lia. Wynton put his hand on Magnus's shoulder.
"Get a grip, okay buddy?" Magnus smacked Wynton's hand away.
"Don't touch me!" He reared back. "Forget the jokes and just battle! Got it!?" I stepped forward.
"Before we do, perhaps you could explain something?" I pulled my cards out of my pocket. "Why would you lie to me about where my cards went? Attempting to pin the blame on Lightning was what told me you weren't Dan!" Magnus prepared himself.
"Bakugan, Brawl!" Within moments, Nillious was out and ready to battle.
"Dan! Isn't that Magnus's Bakugan?" Asked Wynton.
"That's not Dan, and now I know who it is." I said. Magnus pressed something on the side of his head, dropping his disguise.
"And now, the joke is over!" I aimed my hand at him, but the dark symbol didn't light up.
"No Negative Shifter?" I wondered. "Must've been really going under cover."
"What?!" Asked the others. Lightning barked.
Kravitz screeched to a stop in her car. "What in the!" She had a monitor to keep tabs on Magnus. "The fool revealed his identity?!"
Lightning brawled out first against Nillious, sending out Howlcore. "Fine with me!" Said Magnus. "Let's start with the puppies! Path of Darkness!" Nillious vanished into darkness, and Lightning barked. He reappeared behind Howlcore and attacked, sending him to the ground a little ways away. The others had their unique responses to that.
"Man, that guy's really good." Said Wynton, worried.
"Please, don't make me laugh." I said. "In terms of bad guys, he's amongst the bottom 10%." All four of us readied up.
"Bakugan, Brawl!" Said the others.
"Gate Card, Set!" I yelled. "Bakugan, Brawl! Bakugan, Stand! Rise Haos Leonidas!" All four rose up, ready to go.
"Ha. Fly high, Nillious!" Nillious vanished, then began reappearing all over the place before vanishing again.
"Where is he?" Asked Lia. I focused on the battle, trying to find a pattern.
"There!" Said Shun. "Aquos Blast!" Hydrous fired at Nillious, only for him to vanish again to make the attack hit Gorthion.
"Gorthion!" Called Lia.
"Strike!" Yelled Hydrous. Nillious appeared next to him and attacked, sending him back.
"It was an accident, Lia." Said Shun.
"I know, it's okay Shun." Lia frowned.
"You okay?" Asked Hydrous.
"Yeah." Replied Gorthion. "That one stung though." Magnus laughed.
"Why don't you guys give up this battle already?" He asked. I continued focusing.
"That frog prank from before was all you, wasn't it?!" Accused Lia.
"You wrecked my Pie Thrower!" Added Wynton.
"You posted that video!" Finished Shun. Nillious attacked Trox, and I figured out the pattern.
"Don't give up yet, Trox!" Called Wynton.
"Leo! On your six!" Leo turned around just as Nillious appeared behind him, landing a hit before Nillious vanished again. Magnus grabbed a core and threw it.
"Darkus Blast!" He yelled. Nillious stopped teleporting around, and fired the attack, battering everyone.
"He's so powerful!" Said Shun. I grit my teeth.
"If only we had access to Leo's evolutions." I muttered. "He wouldn't stand a chance against Omega, much less anything further!"
"You four are no match for Nillious!" Said Magnus. "Even when you use all your Bakugan at once! That's why keeping your little team together is completely pointless!"
"We'll see about that!" Said Wynton.
"Buckle up, we're going to show you how strong a team can be!" Agreed Lia.
"Let's do this thing!" Finished Shun. I pulled out a few cards.
"Ready to show him how wrong he is when you guys are!"
"Bodyguard!" Grunted Gorthion, blocking the attack. "Now!"
"On it!" Said Trox.
"We've got this!" Added Hydrous.
"Let's go!" Finished Leo.
"Ability Activate!" I called. "Alpha Blaster!" Trox and Hydrous charged forward.
"Sonic" started Trox.
"Blast!" Finished Hydrous.
"What's this?" Asked Magnus. All three fired their attacks, and they combined as they approached Nillious. "You weaklings!" Magnus threw another core. "Reflection!" Nillious put one head forward to absorb the attack.
"Ability Activate!" I called. "Aero Split!" Leo split in two, the second one being Ventus. The Ventus one flew forward quickly as Nillious finished absorbing the attack.
"We're not done yet, Magnus!" Said Wynton.
"I'll send you all flying!" Responded Magnus. Nillious prepared to fire the attack back.
Kravitz opened her trunk. "Unbelievable." She looked at the big red button in her trunk. "Huh. This will end it!" She put both her hands on it and shoved it down, activating the device. A beam of energy shot out and struck Nillious, quickly sending his power down until he reverted to ball form.
"What the?" Asked Magnus. The other Bakugan stopped moving, just as surprised.
"Ok, that's enough!" We all turned to see Kravitz nearby.
"And just who are you?" Asked Lia. Magnus glared at her.
"What are you doing, Kravitz?"
"The plan was to break up the Awesome Ones. Do you remember that, Magnus? Instead, you brought them closer together as a team. What were you thinking exactly? The plan failed. Retreat!" Magnus growled.
"You somehow escaped your fate this time." He stated. "Next time, I'll defeat all of you, including Dan Kouzo." He followed Kravitz away from us.
"Well, that was something." I turned to the others. "I did have a back-up, just in case. The one Gate Card I still have is also a reflector, which would allow me to send an attack back at someone."
"Yeah, I don't think that's important right now." Said Lia. "We should head back to Studio D."
"Sure thing." Agreed Wynton.
"I'm back you guys!" Yelled Dan, just after the rest of us had gotten in. "And guess what! I won a hundred battles in a row and I got to go on a Tropical Vacation!"
"Huh?" We all asked.
"Okay, I'm not an expert in aviation, but isn't that kinda impossible?" I asked. Dan started dancing.
"You battled a hundred brawlers on a vacation?" Asked Lia.
"Yep!" Replied Dan. "I mean, it was in Virtual Reality, but still."
"That there is definitely the real Dan." Said Wynton.
"Yep, not a cool bone in this entire body." Agreed Lia.
"That's him." Finished Shun. I shook my head.
"Please, nobody else has the capability to say half of the stuff he just did. I don't need anything else to know that's him."
"Come on guys! Dance with me!" Lightning barked, which got the others laughing. "Yeah!" I looked out the window.
"We need to be on an even higher guard now." I thought.
Well, we sniffed out a fake, but who knows what'll happen if someone else gets a fake in their place? I doubt that it won't be harder to discern. And then there's Magnus's Negative Shifter. I don't know why it wasn't with him, but whatever the reason, I'm terrified. The damage that they can cause, I can only hope that I can find it before it's too late.
