And now the recovery phase from losing Bakugan. I think this is one of the longest chapters I've ever written at a total of 13 pages. Anyways, enjoy!
Friends have been lost. Realities as well. But that does not mean we will give up the fight! We will continue on to protect as many as we can, no matter where they are! But we will also fight for everybody we've lost so far!
Powers locked away inside
Step up to give the gift of divine
There is no knowing what we face
But we know it to be unsafe
The time now to find
Our guiding light
And save everything that is known
To protect our home
Everybody stared at Syark. "Is that even a question?" Asked Dan. "We need to save the last shreds of Bakugan! Without them, I don't even want to think about it."
"Yeah!" Said Ashia. "We need to save our home!"
"Are you sure?" Asked Syark. "I'm not certain about how anybody can stop a Realital Ripple."
"We'll find a way!" Said Marucho. He looked at the group. "We've got some of the brightest minds from around Realities in here! Surely we can figure something out!"
"I like his spirit." Said Ford. "What do you think, Fiddleford?"
"I say we give it one hootenanny of a try!" Said McGucket.
"Okay then." Said Syark. He looked at the Commander.
"Set course for Invasion Core."
"On it, sir." Syark set up a path and got the Matrix ready. "We're on our way. It'll take us about three hours to get there."
"How fast is that ripple going?" Asked Cameron.
"The ripple is going very fast, but as we exist outside of common laws of physics, we can exceed the speed of light."
"Uh, what's the speed of light?" Asked Cameron.
"Just ignore him." Said Akira. "He's hopeless."
"Well, we're on our way. Let's figure out what we can do to stop the ripple." Said Ford.
Atom felt nothing, nothing except falling. He looked around. "Where am I?" He asked. "Who am I?" He held his head. "I can't remember anything." He felt something in his hand. "What's this?" He looked at the object in his hand, seeing a small ball. "Why do I feel like this is important?" He put the ball into his pocket and looked around. He saw practically nothing. "But seriously, where am I?" Ahead of him a light shone, and he rushed right into it. "What the?" When the light faded, he saw many different colored lines. He looked around again. "Seriously, where am I? Where can I get some answers? Who am I? What am I? What is this place?" One Reality glowed brightly. "Is that where I can get answers? I guess I'll give it a shot." He went towards the Reality.
Cassie looked around, clutching her book tightly. She too had been deposited by a portal. "Where am I? Who am I? Why do I feel like I know something important, but can't remember it?" She held her head. "Something is very, very wrong, but I just can't remember what! Where the heck am I? Hello? Anybody there who could help me?" A Reality started to glow. "Is that where the answers to my questions are?" She went towards it.
"With Bakugan destroyed, we will have more power." Said the Destruction. "As darkness overtakes light, our power grows."
"So what is our next move?" Asked Spectra.
"We must get to Digimon as fast as possible to destroy it quickly. But there are more defensive Realities that we must destroy."
"We'll get right on it!" Said Bill.
"No." Said the Destruction. "I have another idea. We will use the Digimon that we have with us." The Destruction gestured towards Vexos Dragonomon.
"Him?" Asked Spectra.
"Yes, him." Said the Destruction. "He is a Digimon attuned to darkness and destruction. Who would be better for taking down Digimon Realities?"
"Can't argue that!" Said Bill. "So, when does he head out?"
"Soon."
Shun walked into the training room to see Dan. "Dan, we need to talk."
"Not right now, Shun." Said Dan. "I'm about to beat Spectra again!" What Dan was seeing was Drago standing against Vexos Dragonoid, after Spectra had played the Attribute changing abilities.
"Ability Activate!" Said Spectra. "Neo Legend X!" He threw the card.
"Not this time." Said Dan. "Ready Drago?"
"You know it!"
"Ability Activate! Fusion Shield!" Drago created his shield and put it in front of Vexos Dragonomon. The card tried to go through, but was stopped. "Yes! Go for it! Ability Activate! Dragon Astral!" Drago fired at Vexos Dragonomon, defeating him. Spectra vanished.
Training Terminated. Dan got out of the VR system.
"What's up?" Asked Dan.
"We need to figure out what we're going to do, you know, if we actually beat the Destruction. Where will we go?"
"I dunno." Said Dan. "Probably just wander the Realities, like the Shifters. Maybe even visit their home Reality." Shun smiled. "But there's something I just can't get off my mind." Shun's smiled turned into a frown.
"What is it?"
"It's this sense of despair, like I know that my time is coming to an end." Dan looked away. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm scared of what's coming." He looked at Shun again. "You know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I do." Said Shun. "And I feel like I'm going to go next."
"Why's that?"
"Well, do you remember what the Destruction said? About how we would fade when the Realities that power us fade?"
"Yeah."
"Everybody else, they vanished because Bakugan went down. But we remain. You got power from Yu-Gi-Oh, when you helped Hanabi. Marucho got power from Pokémon when he helped Daniel. But me, the only thing I've got left is Teressmon. And she's a DigiBakugan. She's part Digimon and part Bakugan. And if Digimon is going next, then that means I'm the next to go." Dan thought for a second. "Dan, if I'm right, all of us could be gone soon."
"I know Shun, you don't have to say it." Said Dan. "That's why we've gotta stop the Destruction, before he destroys any more Realities!" Shun smiled again.
"Why did I ever doubt your fighting spirit?" He asked. "So, mind if I join you with training?"
"Not at all."
"Just don't slow us down." Said Drago.
"I'm more worried about you slowing us down." Replied Shun.
"So, what do we have?" Asked Ford.
"Well, I don't have any brilliant ideas." Said McGucket. "There are too many unknown variables. Realital Fabric, the nature of the ripple. I just can't work it all out!"
"Well, what if we substitute our Universal Fabric for the Realital Fabric? It's possible that they're the same."
"Yeah, but possibilities and theories can only go so far. If we get any of these calculations wrong, we'll end up boosting this ripple and possibly destroy more Realities."
"Then we better figure it out."
Azion hit a wall. "I can't believe that we just lost like that! Against that kind of power, how are we supposed to defend any of the other Realities?"
"Azion, you need to calm down." Said Tom. "If we can't keep our heads straight, we'll never stop him."
"You sound like Atom." Said Chaos. Azion sighed.
"Atom's gone." He said. "We can't hope that he'll come back at the perfect time, like last time. We just can't rely on him right now. You heard him just before he got sent away. He asked who the freaking Destruction is! He's gone."
"I suppose you're right." Said Chaos. He got up from his seat and Vladitor floated up to his shoulder. "But that doesn't mean we can wallow in our own self pity. I'm going to see if I can help out anywhere, get my mind off things." He left the room. Azion and Tom looked at each other.
"We can't focus on the past. It's the one thing we can't change, no matter how powerful we are." Said Tom.
Azion sighed. "I know." He walked to the door and Pyreon jumped onto his shoulder. "I'm going to the training room." Dragonomon followed him out. Tom sighed.
"What are we going to do?" He asked.
The Neo Battle Brawlers sat around a table. "So, if this is our last day, what do you guys want to do?" Asked Cameron.
"I still want to fight for what's right." Said Garfield. "Even if we would've vanished, we should've gone to protect Digimon. Who knows how many more will vanish before we get there?"
"He's right." Said Akira. "We should've protected others instead of ourselves."
"Whatever the case, we've chosen our path." Said Jayden. "I say we see it through to the end."
"Besides, what can we do against the Destruction?" Asked Aquafibian. "I don't know about you guys, but I don't think we can face him."
"What are you talking about?" Asked Radion. "Of course we can beat him!"
"I still don't like our odds." Said Blazeon. "I'd rather face off against the Fabregans again than do this. At least then we had a good chance."
"We've gotta play with the hand we've been dealt." Said Akira.
Marucho was wandering the halls when he came across Takato. "Hey, Takato." Takato looked at him.
"Hey Marucho." He said. "So, what's it like being one of the last of your Reality? I have a feeling the rest of us are going to find out pretty quickly." Marucho shook his head.
"Don't talk like that! We've got it bad enough already!" He thought about Takato's question. "But, to answer your question, I guess lonely. I mean, there's still Dan, and Shun. Then there's Azion, Chaos, Tom. Atom and Cassie, wherever they are." He sighed. Takato looked at him.
"Come on Marucho, cheer up. You've still got more friends around, right?" Marucho didn't look at him. "You've got me, Rika, Henry, Suzie, Ryo, Kazu, Kenta, Stan, Ford, McGucket, Mabel, Dipper, Soos, Wendy, Robbie, Pacifica, Gideon. You've got the remaining Bakugan, the Digimon. We're all in this together." Marucho looked at him. "Trust me, it can be far, far worse than it is." Marucho smiled.
"Yeah, you're right!"
Rika sat alone in a room. Renamon appeared inside of it. Rika sighed. "I don't want to talk right now, Renamon."
"I think you need to." Replied Renamon. Rika looked away from her partner. "You're scared of what might come, aren't you?" Rika didn't reply. "We all are. You don't need to hide it." Rika turned away from Renamon. "Fine. We'll talk about this later." Renamon vanished.
The rest of the tamers were exploring the Infinity Matrix. "Come on guys!" Said Kazu. "If we're going to vanish, we might as well make the most of it before we do!"
"Yeah, but could you slow down?" Asked Kenta. "We all want to know every nook and cranny of this place, but we've gotta focus on the big picture here."
"He's right, you know." Said Henry. Kazu sighed.
"Yeah, I know. But this just takes my mind off the fact, you know? I kinda don't want to stare death in the face."
"Yeah, I can understand that." Said Ryo. "Alright, let's keep exploring for a little while."
Andrew stared at Cindy, then moved his hand. He grabbed his piece on the board and moved it. Hanabi, Yuri, Daniel and Cam watched intently. Cindy looked down at the checkerboard, and moved her piece, capturing the rest of Andrew's. "Dang it!" He yelled. "How the heck are you so good at this?"
"Practice." Said Cindy as she removed his pieces.
"And I was so close, too."
"No you weren't." Said Yuri. "I got next game!"
"I'm going to go find something for us to sit down on." Said Cam. "My legs are tired." She walked off.
"Brother, dear, please don't break anything while we're gone, okay?" Hanabi followed Cam. Yuri sat down across from Cindy.
"Set 'em up! Come on, let's go!"
"My, who's the enthusiastic one to lose." Taunted Cindy. She set up the game. Daniel turned at Andrew.
"So, what do you think of the whole 'we lost a Reality' thing?" Andrew looked at him.
"You have no idea how upset I am. We lost the Bakugan Reality, the one Reality I knew best. I'm just lucky me and Magnatron didn't vanish with it."
"That's probably because we're from Reality One, right?" Asked Daniel. "I mean, that's where most of us are from, right?" Andrew stared at him.
"That, that's not a connection I had made before." He thought for a second. "I guess that makes sense." Hanabi and Cam came back.
"We found some chairs." Said Cam. She helped Hanabi set them up. Yuri and Cindy began playing, and Cindy quickly trounced him.
"Wait, what?" Asked Yuri as Cindy captured his pieces. "How did you" he shook his head. "You win. Good game!" He shook Cindy's hand.
"Okay, who's next?" Asked Cindy.
"I'll go." Said Daniel. "But I choose the game."
"Choose your arena then." A small, floating screen appeared in front of Daniel, listing several dozen games. The checkerboard vanished.
"Hm, let's see here." Daniel quickly looked through and found the game he wanted. He tapped it, and two decks of Magic the Gathering cards appeared on the table.
"Magic the Gathering?" Asked Cindy.
"It's a game I played a lot back home. I know that there's a whole Reality about it out there, somewhere, but it doesn't change the game!" He tapped his deck as he sat down, pulling up another screen. He selected his colors and his cards, then shuffled his deck. Cindy placed her hand on hers, shuffling hers. They drew their cards and Daniel went first. Andrew watched them.
"What is that game?" Asked Hanabi.
"It's called Magic the Gathering." Said Andrew. "Think of it as a more complicated version of Yu-Gi-Oh."
"More complicated?" Asked Yuri. "Impossible!"
"Really? Just watch." Yuri looked back to see both Daniel and Cindy with lots of cards on their boards. Cindy played another card, and turned some of her cards. Daniel turned some of his, and payed a card. Cindy played another, followed by Daniel. The two kept at it, until Cindy ran out of cards to turn. Daniel smiled, then discarded his cards, except his first one. Cindy did the same, but discarded all of them.
"What just happened?"
"It's called the stack." Said Andrew. "Think of it as a turn order, but on one person's turn. It goes from the top down, resolving at each step." Yuri looked at him.
"Okay, maybe it's slightly more complicated." Daniel turned some of his cards sideways, and Cindy looked up at him.
"Fine. You win." She stood up. "Good game."
"And here I thought she'd never lose." Said Cam. "I guess I'm up."
"Not so fast." Said Hanabi. "I think I would like to try this Magic the Gathering." She sat down across from Daniel.
"A new challenger approaches." He said. "Good luck." He shuffled his deck, as did Hanabi, and started playing.
Everybody from Gravity Falls, except Ford and McGucket, were sitting in a room together. Soos blew a bubble in the gum he was chewing, and popped it. "So, what's the plan dudes?"
Dipper sighed. "I don't think there is a plan yet." Mabel flopped her face onto the table.
"Why does the Destruction have to be such a butt?" She mumbled.
"I guess that's just what he's like." Said Wendy. Robbie turned away.
"I can't stand all this misery. I'm leaving." He walked out the room.
"I wish I never came out here." Said Gideon. "There's nothing except heartbreak and sorrow."
"That's the way lots of places are." Said Pacifica. "I guess I just never realized it." Stan turned around.
"What we need is a new plan." He said. "And I think I have one." Dipper straightened up.
"What if we could figure out the Destruction's biggest weakness?" He asked.
"I was about to" started Stan.
"Yeah!" Said Mabel, getting up. "That's a great idea! But how?"
"Will you guys"
"We'd need some sort of research to figure it out." Said Wendy. "Who would have that?"
"That's what I'm trying to"
"Ford wouldn't have it." Said Gideon. "He's not much more knowledgeable than we are."
"Could I have your attention for just one second?!" Yelled Stan. Everybody in the room looked at him.
"Yeah, what's up?" Asked Pacifica.
"I know of one thing here we could consult." Said Stan. "Do any of you remember the book Cassie carried when we first left the Reality?" Dipper and Mabel nodded. "That might have something."
"It might." Agreed Dipper. "But that's assuming we knew where it was. Last I knew, Cassie had it on her."
"And we have no idea where she could be." Said Mabel.
Cassie reached the Reality. "Okay, I'm here, now what?" The Reality glowed brightly and Cassie could swear she heard a voice.
"Remember."
Cassie looked around. "Who said that?"
"Remember."
"Where are you?" Cassie looked back at the Reality, only to feel herself get pushed in. "What's going on?" She felt like she was falling again, then landed on her feet. She looked around, seeing several cabins. "Where am I?" Someone walked up.
"Are you okay?" The person had gray eyes, like storm clouds. "Who are you? You just seemed to fall from the sky, and yet you're unharmed. More than that, you're in here."
"Wh-who am I?" Asked Cassie. She held her head. "That's something I wish I knew. I can't remember anything, at least, nothing except a searing pain before everything went blank." Someone else walked up.
"Hey Annabeth, who's this?" Asked the new person.
"If she doesn't know who she is, how am I supposed to know who she is?" Asked Annabeth.
"Well, where did she come from?"
"I don't know that either."
"Who are you?" Asked Cassie. Annabeth and the other guy stopped arguing.
"Me?" Asked the guy. "Well, I suppose that you should know that, if nothing else. I'm Percy." He looked at Cassie. "Now then, who are you? Surely you must remember something, right?" Cassie held her head again.
"No, nothing. I can't remember who I am." Percy and Annabeth looked at each other.
"You don't think" started Percy.
"No, I don't think the gods would do that trick again." Said Annabeth. "But it does make me wonder." She looked back at Cassie. "I think I have an idea. Follow me."
"Follow you where?"
"Somewhere where we might be able to get your memories back."
"Sir, we're approaching the Reality." Said Syark.
"Okay then." Said the Commander. "Has anybody come up with any ideas for how to stop the ripple?" He looked back at Ford and McGucket to see them still working. "I guess not."
"There are just too many variables." Said Ford. "If we get even one wrong, we won't be able to stop it." The Commander sighed.
"I wish I could say we had all the information you need, but we don't. Just as nobody truly knows what Universes are made of, we don't know what Between Realities is made of."
"You'd need someone who actually knows how to combine Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity into one single theory, who also knows anything you need to know about astrology." Said Syark. "But even the most brilliant minds across all Realities don't know that stuff. The closest people we got are actually you two."
"Thanks for that bit of pressure." Said Ford. He thought for a second. "Is there anybody here who could help us?" The Commander shook his head.
"We have nobody who researched that in their home Reality." Ford looked down, then up.
"Home Reality." He said. "Of course!"
"What'd ya think of?" Asked McGucket.
"It's a long shot, but it might just work!" Said Ford. "We're going to need the Neo Battle Brawlers, though."
"I think we can work with that." Said the Commander. "Syark?"
"On it, sir."
"So, what is this place?" Asked Atom. He looked around, then back at the Reality. "I feel like I know this place, but I just can't place it."
"Remember." Atom heard the same voice Cassie did.
"Who are you?" He asked. "Where are you?"
"Remember."
"Remember?" Asked Atom. "Remember what?" He looked back at the Reality, and felt himself get pushed in. "What the?" He was blinded. When he could see again, he saw a large castle. He looked to the left and right, seeing massive pillars, reaching for it. In front of him was a large gate. He turned around, seeing the ruins of a town. "Where am I?" Something walked in front of him. It looked like a giant robot. It looked at him, then its eye began to glow. A point of light appeared on Atom. "What the?" The robot charged up its attack. Atom looked around quickly for a way to escape, and saw a ledge. He ran over to it, then jumped. Below him was a river, which he fell into. He got whisked away by the current and the robot didn't give chase. "What was that?" He looked at the beach not too far away, and swam towards it. He crawled onto the beach, then flipped onto his back. "Where the heck could I be that has gigantic robots firing lasers?" A horse whinnied nearby. Atom looked at the source to see two horses, with passengers. One of them got off.
"Are you okay?" She asked. Atom just looked at her blankly. "Sorry about that. Not all the guardians are clear of Ganon's control yet. We've been trying to find them, but." She shrugged.
"Ganon?" Asked Atom. "Guardians?" He held his head. "I can't remember anything."
"Oh dear." Said the girl. "This might be a small problem." She looked at the guy. "Link, can you help me get him up?" Link got off his horse and walked over to them. He and the girl reached down and got Atom back on his feet. Link looked up to the bridge Atom had jumped off of and saw the Guardian. It saw him, and took aim. He stepped away from Atom and the girl.
"What's he doing?" Asked Atom.
"Don't worry." Said the girl. "He's trained with this sort of stuff." Link grabbed the shield on his back, and held it up. The energy finished gathering and the Guardian fired. Link thrust his shield forward and out, deflecting it back at the Guardian. It got stuck in the eye, and shut down. It exploded. Link put his shield away and looked back at Atom and the girl. "I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Zelda. He's Link."
"Zelda? Link?" Asked Atom. He held his head again. "I feel like I remember something, but when I try to reach for it, I can't grasp it." Zelda looked at Link, who shrugged.
"Link, didn't you have a similar problem when you woke up?" Asked Zelda. Link nodded. "How'd you solve it?" Link pointed at the thing on Zelda's belt, and she grabbed it. She handed it to Link, who tapped it and swiped it. He showed it to Zelda. "The pictures I took?" Link nodded. Zelda looked back at Atom. "Okay, so what can you remember? Anything?" Atom thought for a moment.
"I can only remember a little bit. Coming here, almost being blasted by the robot, jumping into this river, meeting you."
"What do you mean, coming here?" Asked Zelda.
"Well, I was kinda in a place surrounded by lines, all different colors. But I heard a voice, telling me to remember." Atom sighed. "That's all I know." Link and Zelda looked at each other, then back at Atom.
"I think we need to take you somewhere. Come on." Link and Zelda began walking, followed by Atom. The horses followed.
"Okay, so I think I've figured out a way to stop the ripple." Said Ford. "It's all about using the energy from the Reality itself."
"How so?" Asked Garfield.
"The ripple is attuned for destruction of Bakugan." Explained Ford. "So if we change it to create with Bakugan instead"
"It might not do anything when it passes our home!" Finished Ashia. "Perfect!"
"Now, I will say that the plan isn't flawless." Said Ford. "Anybody who does this may face their end." The group looked at him.
"The end?" Asked Cameron. "The end of what?"
"I think he means everything." Said Akira.
"I'm afraid so." Said Ford. "The ripple is travelling at extremely high speeds. If we hit it even a millisecond too late, it'll be too late."
"Then let's just go and hit it now." Said Jayden. "It couldn't be that hard to stop it, right?"
"Wrong." Said Ford. "If we hit it too early, it'll have too much energy and we won't be able to stop it. This is a delicate process, and it needs to happen at the exact right time. If we miss that window," he didn't have to explain.
"Well, where is said window?" Asked Cera. Ford sighed.
"About five feet from the reality." He said.
"Five feet?" Asked Blazeon. "That's it?!"
"I'm afraid so." Said Ford. "That's the only time where its energy crosses the threshold between too powerful and too weak before it hits the Reality. That's why it's so critical that we get the timing right." That brought a silence to the room.
"Well, if that's all we got." Said Ashia. "Then we need to try!"
"She's right." Said Cameron. "If we don't try, then why did we choose to head back? If nothing else, it'll at least give me the impression that we tried something before we vanished."
"If you two are doing it, then I guess I should join in as well." Said Jayden. "One last hurrah, right?"
"This will be our only chance." Said Garfield. "I'm willing to take it. After all, Reality Shifters always beat the odds, right?"
"But odds like this may not be beatable." Said Ford. He sighed. "This is going to be nearly impossible. And there's only one way we could do it, that would even give us a shot." He looked at the Neo Battle Brawlers. "All six of you will have to use your most powerful abilities at the exact same time. If even one of you is the tiniest fraction of a second late, game over." He looked down. "I'll give you some time to think it over."
Annabeth led Cassie up to a cabin. "Okay, this is the place."
"What do you mean?" Asked Cassie.
"This is the Hypnos cabin. If anything can help you regain your memories, it's the people inside. Come on." She led Cassie inside.
"I'll wait out here." Said Percy. Once inside, Cassie felt very tired. She yawned.
"Why do I feel so sleepy?" She asked.
"It's just the cabin." Said Annabeth. She yawned. "It affects everybody." She walked up to one of the beds. "Clovis, wake up." She said. The person on the bed didn't move. Annabeth shook him. "Clovis, don't make try any harder."
"Five more minutes." Mumbled Clovis.
"Remember Jason?" Asked Annabeth. Clovis looked at her. "We've got something similar." Clovis sat up.
"Okay." He said, yawning. "What do you need?" Annabeth pointed at Cassie.
"She just appeared today out of nowhere, with no memory at all. It's to the point where she doesn't even remember her own name." Clovis closed his eyes, as if in thought. Annabeth and Cassie waited a bit, until Clovis started snoring. Annabeth sighed, and started snapping her fingers. Clovis woke back up. "Figure anything out?"
"Well, I suppose we could try to draw her memories out, like we did with Jason. But if her memories were taken by a god or goddess, well, it wouldn't have much of an effect."
"Uh, can I ask a question?" Asked Cassie.
"What's up?" Asked Annabeth.
"What are gods and goddesses?" Annabeth nearly fell over.
"I'll get to work." Said Clovis. "I doubt it's any god or goddess's work." He pointed to a chair. "Okay, sit down there." Cassie did as she was told. "Okay, now I'm just going to make you fall asleep. With that, I should be able to recover your memories. Understand?" Cassie nodded, and Clovis put his hand on her head. She felt very tired, and felt her eyes closing. Clovis snapped his fingers, and Cassie fell asleep. To her, a few moments passed before she woke up. She heard Clovis talking. "Well, I wasn't able to get much, but I was able to get a few things." He looked at her. "Okay, so what's your name?" Cassie thought for a second.
"My name is Cassie." She said. Clovis looked at Annabeth.
"See? Now, I wasn't able to get everything, but I think I got enough for her to remember on her own." He yawned, and Annabeth yawned as well. Cassie didn't. Annabeth looked at her.
"That's strange." She said.
"What?" Asked Cassie.
"Well, when Clovis yawns, everybody around him yawns."
"That's a problem for another day." Said Clovis. He walked back over to his bed. "I'm going back to sleep. Talk to you guys later." When his head hit his pillow, he started snoring. Annabeth looked at Cassie.
"Well, now that we know something about you, we should be able to figure out the rest. Come on, let's get out of here." Annabeth led Cassie out of the cabin. As soon as she got out, her weariness went away. Percy looked at them.
"So, how'd it go?" He asked.
"We at least managed to get her name figured out." Said Annabeth. "Her name is Cassie." Percy smiled.
"Glad to hear it." He said. He looked at Cassie. "So, do you remember anything else?" Cassie thought for a moment, then realized something. She gasped.
"My book!" She said. "Where, where is it?" Percy looked at her in confusion.
"What's so important about a book?" He asked.
"I'm not sure." Said Cassie. "But I feel like I need to have it." Annabeth looked at Percy.
"Don't look at me!" He said. "I don't know where it is." Cassie looked up and saw something.
"Uh, you might want to move." She said. Percy looked up and saw the same thing Cassie did. Then, something fell out of it, landing on him. It fell to the ground as Percy held his head.
"Ow." That was all he could mutter.
"My book!" Said Cassie. She grabbed it. Annabeth looked at her.
"She sure is strange." She thought. "But something tells me there's more to her than I can see." Cassie opened the book and Annabeth took notice of the image on its cover. "That's a symbol I don't recognize." She thought for a moment. "Maybe Carter and Sadie would know it."
Azion walked into the training room to see Dan and Shun. "What're you guys doing?" Asked Azion.
"Just doing a bit of training." Said Dan. "Ability Activate! Dragon Astral!"
"Want to join in?" Asked Shun. "There's room for at least two more."
"I suppose." Said Azion. He jumped up onto one of the stations and got set up. Dragonomon and Pyreon joined him. What they saw when they got in was Mag Mel and Razenoid. "What's the current state?"
"It's not too bad." Said Dan. "It's actually a big stalemate. Think you could tip the balance?"
"On it." Said Azion. "Ready guys?"
"Throw me in." Said Pyreon.
"I'm ready to join the fray!" Said Dragonomon. Azion smiled and grabbed Pyreon.
"Bakugan, Brawl! Bakugan, Stand! Rise Pyrus Pyrokinetic Pyreon! Join the fray Dragonomon!"
"You still need more help?" Asked Mag Mel. "Pitiful. Ability Activate. Flash Eclipse."
"Ability Activate!" Said Azion. "Infernium Shield!" Pyreon blocked the attack. "You'll have to try harder than that!"
"Let's go Drago!" Said Dan. "Ability Activate! Dragon Over Cannon!" Drago fired at Razenoid, striking him hard.
"Let's go Teressmon!" Said Shun. "DigiAbility Activate!" Teressmon's arms generated some flames. "Fire Welder!" Teressmon dashed in and sliced up Razenoid.
"Ready Dragonomon?" Asked Azion.
"You know it!" Azion grabbed his Digivice. He brought it to his chest.
"Biomerge, Activate!" He and Dragonomon combined. "Fusion Spear!" Fusion Dragonomon threw a spear right at Razenoid, smashing through him.
"Time to finish it!" Said Dan. "Ability Activate! Dragon Eternal Force!" Drago fired upon Razenoid, defeating him. The simulation ended, leaving all of them in a blank, white plane. Azion and Dragonomon split apart. Dan and Shun high fived as he walked up.
"Think I could talk to you guys?" Asked Azion.
"Sure." Said Dan. "One moment." He turned away. "Pause!" He yelled. The white plane rippled before settling.
Training Run simulation paused. Call Unpause when ready to continue. Dan looked back at Azion.
"What's up?"
"It's about what happened, and what's going to happen."
"Aw man, not this again." Said Dan. "I already talked about it with Shun."
"What I'm going to say is probably different from what Shun talked to you about." Azion sighed. "It's actually mostly about those we have already lost. Not the friends and families, but the power we had fighting with us. With them gone, we're weakened."
"Dude, we might be weakened, but doesn't mean we should stop fighting." Said Dan. "What would Atom say if he was here, huh? He's probably say that"
"That Reality Shifters always beat the odds." Finished Azion. "I know. But his odds are far to great to beat. He has no memory, he's travelling the infinite Realities without any help, any knowledge, anything. He'd have to get astronomically lucky to even surmount any of those things." He sighed. "I just wish I knew what was going on."
"We all do." Said Dan. "But we have to trust that he'll pull through."
Atom was having a hard time keeping up with Link and Zelda. "How much further is this place?" He asked.
"Not too much further." Said Zelda. She pointed ahead. "You see that hill?" Atom nodded. "It's at the top." Atom groaned.
"Even thought I can't remember anything, I don't think I've ever done this much walking before." They continued walking. "So, where am I anyways? You never answered that question." Zelda sighed.
"You're in the land of Hyrule." She said.
"Hyrule?" Asked Atom. He closed his eyes and began thinking. Something jolted in his mind. "Hyrule." He thought. He gasped. Zelda and Link looked at him. "I just remembered something!" Link and Zelda looked at each other, then back to him.
"Well don't keep us in suspense." Said Zelda.
"I will say that I don't know how I know this, but I know that you used to be Princess Zelda, and that Link is the Goddess's chosen one to combat Ganon with the legendary blade of evil's bane, the Master Sword." Atom thought again. "But that's only part of the story. There are legends from ages past about other events such as what happened here, although with different circumstances." Zelda looked at him.
"That's quite a lot of information." She said. "It almost makes me think there's far more to you than I thought there was." She thought for a second. "We'll have to see later. Anyways, we need to get to the research lab. Purah will probably be able to help."
"Purah?" Asked Atom. "The Hateno Research Lab? That's where we're going?"
"How did you know?" Asked Zelda.
"I, I don't know." Said Atom. "Every time you say a name, something just clicks in my head. Purah is the head of the Hateno Research Lab, which was used to aid Link with stopping Ganon. She developed her own runes for the Sheikah Slate, and actually tested some of them. However, one of them deaged her to about six, where she remains today. In actuality, it's pretty amazing what she's been able to do." Atom shook his head. "How do I know this?"
"That's something I'd like to know myself." Said Zelda. "There's something about you that's different from everybody else. We know you're not Hylian, nor are you Goron, Zoran, or Gerudo. And odds are against you being Sheikah. So that does beg the question." She looked at him again as they continued to walk. "What are you?" Atom looked at her.
"That's a question I want answered too."
Our forces are weakened, our friends lost. We're fighting to protect the last Reality that still bears Bakugan in it, but our chances of succeeding are astronomically small. We will have less than a second to hit it, but if we hit it too early or too late, we will fail. Odds are against us, but when are they not? But no matter the result here, the destruction will continue.
Quite the dilemma, isn't it? How lucky will everybody get? That's for an RNG to decide! We'll see what happens. Till next time, readers!