Bakugan Battle Brawlers belongs to Sega Toys and Spin Masters.
Content warning for mildly disturbing imagery (nothing explicit, but it still worth mentioning) and implicit mentions of blood. It's all focused on the end of the chapter, and it starts at: "Leonidas opened his eyes to a clear starry night(...)" and ends at: "(...)and she is thrown onto unconsciousness again."
Leonidas said nothing as Zoe paced around aimlessly, her spark flitting as the sound of shuffling filled his surroundings, making the place she put him (shoulder, the other soul had said) very unstable and jumpy despite its soft cushioning.
Ever since their encounter, her spark continued to flit and fickle unstably as a sense of annoyance and mild anger seemed to radiate off of her and envelop him in an awkward sort of pressure, as if an invisible force was trying to hold him down and wish him gone.
"What troubles you, little beacon?" He asked for what he felt was the hundredth time, and, for what seemed to be the hundredth time, he was ignored once again.
Leonidas didn't know what to think. Despite his cold reception and treatment, he didn't regret this chain of events, but neither could he find the satisfaction he first felt when he felt the connection for the first time. His little beacon, though not cruel, angry or desperate like the remnants of the Doom Dimension still lingering deep in his core, was treating him with a clear level of disbelief, of innocent disdain. Leonidas felt looked down upon, and he quickly found that he hated the feeling.
He was unceremoniously thrown off his daydreaming when Zoe had suddenly stopped, his fall impeded by a warm, soft something bracing him comfortably, with a tiny gust through his body cluing him what his fate would have been.
[Sorry.] A voice, or perhaps, a sentiment, rung inside of his own thoughts. The Bakugan sighed once again, choosing not to answer.
The warm surface slowly started to move upwards, placing Leonidas cautiously onto a different platform, much softer than the one he had fell on, but far less comfortable, in his opinion. He moved around, feeling no boundaries, and allowed himself to become confused:
"What is this?" He asked, turning and prodding on the surface.
[Your bed.] Was the message he received.
His bed? Since when did he have something? What even was a bed?
"Why did you put me here?" he chose to question instead.
[Sleep.]
He could not narrow his eyes, but he did hope that their connection let her feel his exasperation:
"You are becoming frustrating to deal with." he hissed. "Speak clearly. I am fully capable of proper communication."
He felt a rush of hot air as his little beacon sighed, the previous waves of annoyance returning with incredible force.
[Sleep, rest, hibernate, whatever.] The thoughts returned, mildly condescending. [That thing you do when you feel tired and your body stops for a moment. Don't tell me Bakugan don't do that.]
Leonidas shifted, uncomfortable:
"We do not." In truth, he didn't know, but he wouldn't admit it.
[Well, tough luck, because I, a human, very much do.] Leonidas silently bristled at her emphasis on the word human, as if it was meant to symbolize something. [Since you can talk, think and whatnot, I'd felt bad to just shove you into a box and call it a day.]
"Oh? And the others are exempt from this treatment?" He prodded, unable to keep the anger in his voice.
[If they suddenly start talking or protest, maybe I'll change my mind.] She said, nonchalant. [Though not right away. I'm still figuring you out.]
Leonidas wanted to retort to that ridiculous statement, but was stopped at the feel of Other's spark coming closer to where they were, a strange feeling swirling within it. It stood within a considerable distance of its sister's when the soft noise of a knock reverberated through the air, and Zoe suddenly became very still, anger and frustration flitting through her spark as she seemed to weight her options:
"Zoe?" Other's voice echoed, softer than what Leonidas remembered.
The little beacon stood still, her spark twitchy and uncertain, but unmoving, as if tense. Leonidas honestly couldn't understand why, and couldn't help himself from huffing under his breath:
"Dad just called, he said he had to stay late in the hospital.", Other continued despite Zoe's silence, "I'm going to make dinner. Don't go to sleep without eating anything."
After the message, Other left once again, and Leonidas felt Zoe's soul change once again. Curiosity took over him when a strange weight washed over her, not oppressive of stifling, but heavy nonetheless, and he heard her take a deep breath and sigh.
[Look,] , she began, [I'm gonna be honest with you: I don't trust you, I didn't want to get roped into this mess, and the only reason I'm not throwing you out of this window and out of my life is because this whole thing is important to my brother.]
She didn't give him time to continue as her thoughts rung in his head.
[You are free to leave anytime, and I'll do my best not to be a grade A jerk to you, because honestly? I think you are as confused about this as I am.], Leonidas huffed at her choice of words, but let her continue, [You said I was the one who brought you here, so I'll take responsibility. But I'll be clear from the get-go: hurt me or anyone I care about and you'll become fish food.]
"New as I am in this world, I am not ignorant." Leonidas retorted "We are 'partners', you are one of the only foundations I have in this plane. Harming you would be counterproductive."
He could feel her focus on him, so he continued:
"Your distrust is understandable, little beacon, but your animosity towards me isn't. I meant what I stand, no soul shall be able to go against us so long as I am by your side, allow me to show you that I can hold my side of the bargain."
His little beacon didn't answer him, and he felt oddly spent, so he simply folded himself and let the subject drop, unresponsive as he felt her spark flitting and wary, briefly leaving his senses for a moment and returning as quickly, until he heard shuffling and felt Zoe's spark muffle itself to a low hum, falling to the edges of unconsciousness.
The walk back home was as awkward as it could get, with Zoe walking ahead of him, Leonidas resting on her shoulder, and refusing to even acknowledge her brother's existence. Alex, in turn, shuffled behind hesitantly, having already given up on bringing up any sort of conversational topic. The last time he did, he had earned a cold glare from his sister, and was promptly ignored.
When they finally reached home, Zoe slammed the door open and promptly walked to her room, making her brother wince of the loud bang that echoed over the otherwise empty house. He spent a few seconds staring towards the closed door, as if it would cause a change of heart over the person on the other side, before sighing heavily and lumbering over to the couch, collapsing onto it and holding a nearby pillow against his face, letting out a muffled scream of frustration.
As if wanting to add to his misery, Alex's phone began ringing a familiar tune, and the boy couldn't help but wince again as he fished the device out of his pocket and stared at the number calling him, hoping that it was anyone but the person who he thought it was.
No such luck. The ID "Dad" was displayed neatly over a rather old picture of his old man, the call button vibrating in tune with the ringtone under the touchscreen, as if taunting him. He took a deep breath, sliding over the screen to accept the call and putting the phone to his ear:
"Well, that was fast.", his father had said in lieu of a greeting, deep voice coated with amusement, "You usually only answer after my third call."
"The phone was in my pocket, of course I noticed you calling." Alex replied. "Besides, I didn't put it on silent this time. See? I am learning."
"That you are." His dad replied. "I'm calling to tell you and Zoe not to wait for me to come home."
Alex didn't know why he felt his throat closing and his eyes stinging a little. This was normal. Perks of having a parent working in a hospital:
"Did something happen?" He couldn't help but ask.
His father sighed heavily on the other side of the line:
"One of the patients dropped to critical condition and had a seizure. I was already assigned to perform a checkup, but now I have to stay together with the staff in order to make sure he is stabilized."
Alex nodded slowly, even though there was no one to see him, and swallowed a lump in his throat:
"Alright, I'll warn her." he said, keeping his voice even.
"By the way,", his father's voice rung out before Alex could hit "end call", "How was today like? Did she like the gift?"
Alex pursed his lips, breathed deeply, once, twice, then:
"She was beside herself." he said.
"Was she now?" His dad asked, but didn't press further, "I've got to go. Love you, kiddo, don't stay up too late, you and Zoe have school tomorrow."
"I won't. Love you too."
Alex had barely finished his sentence when his father hung up, and the boy let his arm slowly fall to his side and let his phone bounce against the cushion and lay face up. He allowed himself a few seconds before reluctantly getting up and going upstairs and towards his sister's room.
He heard her shuffling around her room, along with Leonidas's voice, muffled due to the hardwood of the door, speaking as if he was having a one-sided conversation. He sighed and knocked softly on the door, and kept himself from flinching as the sounds within the room immediately stopped:
"Zoe?" he called.
No answer.
"Dad just called, he said he had to stay late in the hospital." he continued, "I'm going to make dinner, don't go to sleep without eating anything."
Message given, he lumbered downstairs and towards the kitchen, picking up his phone halfway and unlocking it in order to set some ambient music to clear his mind. He stopped halfway at the sight of his lock screen, looking fondly at the image displayed on his phone.
The photo had been taken by his mom years ago, consisting of him and his sister making an absolute mess of their mother's old studio, the walls covered with half-baked attempts at drawings done in washable paint, the floor covered with tiny, colorful handprints and footprints. Amidst the scene of the crime, two little children, covered in paint, were laughing joyously in the middle of the chaos, and Alex couldn't help but smile fondly at the sight of his baby sister's boisterous laugh frozen in time.
It had been a long time since she had smiled like that.
Alex shook his head rather violently and locked his phone, deciding he could cook without music, and sped walk towards the kitchen, proceeding to set his phone on the counter and shuffle through the fridge, grumbling when he noticed he would have to make another trip to the grocery store tomorrow. In the end, he had settled for simply making grilled cheese for Zoe and himself, as well as briefly wondering if he should prepare something for his dad for when he got home and decided against it, simply making a new batch of coffee and setting it on the counter with a note. He pretended not to notice when Zoe stomped downstairs, picked her dinner and went back upstairs without a word.
Leonidas opened his eyes to a clear starry night, the full moon shining brightly above him, and immediately noticed something was wrong.
[Her eyes don't open. Or maybe they open, and she just can't see. Either way, Zoe knows this is not her.]
He tried to move his body, a weird mixture of too big and too small as a harsh smell washed over him and threatened to choke him.
[She was gargantuan, but she felt as if her body was empty. Around her, the strong smell of ozone filled the air.]
He tried to swallow whatever was clogging his throat, only to feel a sharp pain that tore at his very being, sharp and merciless, making him want to scream and thrash his body in vain. Something was tearing his neck open, cold and sharp and coated in blood. He tries to reach for it, but he is far too weak. He looks around, a constant ringing of mother, where is mother- in his head.
[Multiple voices whisper at her. Harsh, cruel, sad, desperate. They give her no mercy, no kindness. They tell her to kill, destroy, tear, survive, avenge us-]
Relief comes in the form of strong arms cradling him, protective and foreign as a voice rings out in the distance. He tries to see past the white shoulder blocking his view, and he can clearly see something, but his head hurts torturously at the thought of comprehending what he saw.
[She tries to move, but she is stiff, a newborn. When she opens her mouth, nothing comes out. Lightning crackles around her, and the pain coursing through her when she is hit by them more than once makes her want to scream. The voices don't stop, and she tries to breathe even when she can't.]
The creature holding him moves him so that he can face the creature directly, and although the face is clearer than the image behind it, Leonidas doesn't have it in himself to recognize it.
[It takes a while, but Zoe gets up. The voices seem satisfied, a twisted version of encouragement, as she throws her head back and roars. Lightning builds from her chest to throat and leaves from her mouth like a torrent, leaving behind the tingling sensation of electricity and the heavy smell of ozone.]
Though Leonidas feels his vision go blurry, he still sees the creature speak something to him, and he can't help but feel safe. He doesn't even want to move as the creature moves him so that they can stand at eye level. He is undisturbed as the creature's eyes widen, determined, and Leonidas fells numb to the glowing, blood-red, slit eyes, staring right at him-
[She heaves and savors the lingering feeling of power as the voices continue to ring around her, the cacophony slowly turning into a singular chant of Leonidas. Leonidas. You are Leonidas.]
His head hurt more than ever before, and suddenly he could no longer see and had control of something again. He thrashed and turned, the piercing feeling in his throat still lingering, and he curled as a scream rung in his head, the image of the blood-red eyes burned at the back of his mind amidst the void. Not knowing how to respond, he screams back to the void, and no voice comes out.
[She feels as the control of her body is ripped from her as she feels the ground leaving her (or rather, her leaving the ground). She opens her eyes, but she is not herself. Below her, she can see herself, tossing and turning in pain, and she screams as the pain afflicting her body reaches her. She sees her body scream in response, even though no sound comes out, and she is thrown onto unconsciousness again.]
I lived b*tch.