The Bakugan City Tournament has come to a close. While all brawlers fought hard and well, it came to an explosive finale with Caleb taking the victory and the title of champion. Word has spread throughout the city, being the top story on the local news networks, while also being spread across the world, and to the stars.
Jayden is sitting at his desk in his bedroom, and Beowulf hangs out by the windowsill. Jayden is casually watching the Tv with his legs up on the desk, while Beowulf looks out the window.
The Tv is broadcasting an interview between Julie, and another of the network's anchors. "You know Julie, I shouldn't be surprised that the tournament would bring out some of this city's best Brawlers, but last night, I couldn't stop watching the footage. I wish I was there in person for that last battle."
"Like, I know. I wish I was in the audience just so Gorem and I could have a better look," Julie replies, being her usual cheerful self. "The fight itself, I don't think many people were expecting that ending. It was like something from a noir movie."
"And you have some history with one of these brawlers, correct?"
"Yes. Caleb. He used to be a friend of mine. He was a champion back then as well. He even took on some of the best brawlers I know, even me." Julie describes in vague detail her past with Caleb. "He was a cheerful guy back then. Which was great because his partner, Leonidas, needed a total attitude adjustment."
"And what are your thoughts on the other brawler, Jayden Thornwood?"
"That guy? I think as a brawler he has a lot of potentials to go far in this game. I can see him being top 10 in the leader board, maybe 5," Julie pauses for a moment before continuing, "As a person however, I think he needs to figure out if he actually wants to be the aloof bad boy. I'm sure he just needs some…"
Jayden grabs the remote to mute the Tv, "Is there really nothing else on? They've been playing this interview since last night." Jayden leans back in his chair, kicking himself away from the desk.
"I'm not surprised. It was big news. I've seen the blog posts with recordings from the audience," Beowulf replies, still with his focus out the window, "Seems like our battle was quite the show for some people. I know I enjoyed my time against Leonidas. His power was incredible, it was…, something."
"I know, I know. I saw a few posts on that too. Funny enough, I also saw some posts of people worried about your condition from after the fight," Jayden remarks, "I had to use a burner account to say that you've recovered. Seems you've got more fans than me."
"Uh, isn't that something" Beowulf gives him a none response. Jayden takes notice of his partner's absent-minded behavior, "Wolfie?"
Jayden pushes himself in the chair towards him, "There must be something really interesting outside for you to be so focused," he hovers over Beowulf, "It's not another squirrel, right?"
"I…I'd like to go out for some air, if it's alright with you," Beowulf turns to face Jayden, "I need to talk to someone."
"Are you sure you're feeling up to it? You're looking better than you did yesterday, but that was still a hard fight for you," Jayden is obviously concerned for his partner.
"Of course. I won't be out for long, so don't worry. I'll be back before dark. I just need to meet with someone," Beowulf turns back to the window, and starts to jump at the glass.
Jayden grabs the handle, and opens the window for him, "If you're not back by the time the street lamps come on, I'll come looking for you."
Beowulf leaps out of the gap in the window, and falls to the ground, landing in a bush. Jayden keeps a lookout for his partner, watching them leave the bush, and travel out the front gate, and down the road.
Leaving the window open, Jayden sits back in his chair. At that moment his computer monitor lights up, followed by an audible ding. Jayden turns and kicks himself back to the desk to find a notification on his desktop. He opens it to see an email has been sent to him.
"Hi Jayden, I'm sorry for the delayed email. I wasn't feeling well so I went to bed early, and missed your match. I saw it this morning, and you did great. Even if you didn't win the tournament, I'm still very impressed by you. You should feel proud. Give my best to Beowulf, I hope he's feeling much better after the battle."
The email was sent by an online pen pal that Jayden made shortly after moving to Bakugan City. His face lights up as he reads the email, his leg shaking with excitement.
"She saw my fight! Get in!" Jayden pulls his keyboard out and starts to write a reply to her email, "Hey Luci. I'm glad you saw my fight, it was a tough road, but both Beowulf and I were able to pull through. And don't worry about Beowulf, he's doing much better after a night of sleep." Jayden replies right away with his email, unable to remove the cheerful grin that is wrapped around his lips.
Sometimes has passed. A good distance away, Caleb is home resting after his victory. Lounging in his bedroom, he lays on top of the covers of his bed. His light snoring can be faintly heard in the room.
Leonidas sits in front of the tv. He is fixated on the recording of his battle with Beowulf from the other day. While the volume is off, he is completely engaged in the battle, seeing how he and Beowulf traded blows. He is quiet as he watches over it all, mostly paying attention to how he fought back when they stopped using ability cards.
The silence and Leonidas's concentration are occasionally broken by the sounds of Caleb's snoring as he curls up with his pillow on the bed, holding it like a child would a stuffed animal. Leonidas silently judges his partner, shaking his whole body before looking back at the TV screen.
Leonidas's attention is pulled away from the screen when he hits something tapping against the window. He tries to ignore it, forcing his gaze to remain on the TV screen. The tapping on the glass continues. Leonidas goes to find the source. He bites down on the certain to the best of his capabilities while in his spherical form, and pulls the curtains aside.
Hanging from the curtains, he is surprised to find the culprit that disturbed his screen time. Beowulf sits on the edge of the windowsill. He keeps jumping at the window, hitting his body against the glass. "You?" Leonidas asks with a muffled tone. He drops down from the curtain and lands on the sill. "What are you doing here?"
He can faintly hear Beowulf as he tries to speak through the glass, "I came here to talk. Is now a good time?" Leonidas stands there staring out at Beowulf through the window, not saying or doing anything in response to Beowulf's question.
"Hello? Can you hear me?" Beowulf tries to communicate with the Bakugan, resorting to flinging himself into the glass again. Leonidas finally does something, "Hang on!" He scoots over to a row of buttons by the window. He tries pushing them to mixed results, the window opening in the wrong position, the blinds descending then ascending once again. Leonidas finally finds the right button. The window opens sideways, allowing Beowulf to enter.
"Ah, good. Thank you. I promise, I'm just here to talk. I wanted to…," Beowulf is silenced by Leonidas hushing him, "Caleb is asleep. He gets moody when you wake him. Let's go to the roof. We'll have privacy up there." Leonidas jumps out the window, and Beowulf follows behind. The former leads them up a makeshift spiral staircase up onto the roof, away from anyone else.
All of this was in aid of Leonidas stalling his talk with Beowulf. Concerned about the reason why Beowulf came to talk with him. Leonidas leads him to the middle of the roof and mentally prepares himself for what will be asked of him. He takes in a deep breath before speaking, "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Right. I wanted to see if you were alright after our battle," Leonidas is taken off guard by Beowulf's reply. He turns to face the other Bakugan, "Come again?" Beowulf comes closer, "Our battle. It was by far one of the toughest I've ever been in. Undoubtedly the biggest challenge I've fasted since teaming up with Jayden. I wanted to see how you are holding up."
"...Oh, I see," Leonidas turns away from Beowulf, not expecting Beowulf to be here out of concern for his wellbeing. "I'm…I'm fine. I won that battle, remember? You were worse for wear at the end of the fight. If anyone should be worried about the other's wellbeing, it should be me."
"Oh. I appreciate your concern for my health, but I assure you, I'm fine. But thank you for worrying," Beowulf gets the wrong idea from what Leonidas just said.
"That's not what I…, never mind. Was that all you wanted to talk about?" Leonidas turns red from embarrassment, although it's hard to tell as they're already red as a Pyrus Bakugan.
"Partly, I was more interested in your strength," Beowulf comes up behind Leonidas, "When it was just us out there squaring off, we appeared evenly matched." Beowulf goes on to continue after leaving a pause for dramatic effect, "I've been in many battles in my life, not just on Earth, but on our home Vestrioa too. And I know when someone is holding back."
Leonidas remains quiet. He doesn't say anything to Beowulf's assumption, leaving the open air to be filled with an awkward silence between the two.
"Or maybe I'm wrong," Beowulf speaks up again. "Tell me I'm wrong, and I'll apologize."
Leonidas waits a little longer before breaking his silence, "It's true." He turns to face Beowulf, "In that battle between us, I was indeed holding back against you."
Beowulf is now the one that's silent. He barely says anything outside of a short, "Oh."
"I'm sorry if that offends you, given how you play yourself off as the noble warrior type. But I'm built differently from the likes of you and other Bakugan," Leonidas turns away facing off the roof into the city before him. "You wouldn't understand."
Beowulf moves so he's standing beside the dragon Bakugan, "Then explain it to me in a way that I can. Help me to understand you."
Leonidas lets out a hard sigh, "I…I am a monster. I never had a mother or a father. I never had a true place to call home." Leonidas lifts his head to look to the sky, "I wasn't born. I was made in the Doom Dimension. When we Bakugan first arrived on Earth, I was a late arrival, only here because of a fiendish plot. For so long, I craved nothing but a senseless battle. While I always had Caleb by my side upon coming to Earth, I was always seen by others as a relentless force. An unfeeling being. A monster."
Leonidas lowers his gaze, "While I had those that believed in me. Those that looked out for me to become better, allowing me to evolve. I still feel those urges to unleash everything in me. So yes. I held back against you. I beat you using just a portion of my true strength because I don't want to lose everything I have now." Leonidas ends his monologue, leaving them in total silence.
Leonidas stands there, staring at the rooftops beneath him. Beowulf doesn't make a sound. Leonidas starts to think that the wolf has already left him to his solitude.
Beowulf moves closer to Leonidas, "You shouldn't think so negatively of yourself, Leonidas. You're far more than the monster you claim yourself to be."
Leonidas gives a sarcastic laugh at Beowulf's words, "Do you think you would still say that if you saw who I used to be?"
"I've already seen who you are. I've seen more than enough to know who you are," Beowulf confidently rebuttals Leonidas's claim. "A monster wouldn't have picked me up when I fell to the ground. A monster would have taken the chance to kick me while I was down, and got in a few good shots. Yet you…you picked me back up to be on a level with you, and allowed me to fight on an even plain."
Leonidas remains unspoken for a full minute, leaving the two in pure silence. The silence is suddenly broken by Leonidas laughing, "You really are the overly trusting type, aren't you?"
Beowulf scoffs a bit, "I wouldn't go that far. I'm a warrior carved and sculpted on the battlefield. This is coming from years of one-on-one combat between me and strong opponents. While I used to fight for survival in our…in my home of Vestroia. I've been able to leave fairly peacefully on New Vestroia. Since then, I now choose to fight to better myself for the next one. I promised to find an opponent stronger than me, and improve until I beat them."
"So what you're saying is…," Leonidas starts to get at what Beowulf is trying to say. "I have my eyes set on surpassing you to prove myself. If that means helping you to come to terms with who you are, then so be it."
Beowulf turns to walk away. Leonidas turns to watch them leave, "Was that all you wanted to talk about?"
"Of course. I wanted to check the health of my rival. As well as declare war on you," Beowulf turns to face them again, "We will fight again. I swear it." Beowulf waddles towards the staircase, "I have to go now. Jayden worries when I'm out too long."
Leonidas watches them leave. He comes to the edge of the roof to see his head down the road back ho,e, keeping his eye on them before they're out of sight.
It doesn't take too long for Beowulf to return home. He comes in through the open window in Jayden's bedroom. He leaps into the room to find Jayden sitting at his computer desk breathing heavily with his face pale white.
"Jayden? What's the matter? Did you fall for another one of those…what you call them, rick rolls again?" Beowulf leaps from the sill to the bed, before landing on Jayden's shoulder.
"It's not that. It's my online penpal, Luci. She…she…she's…," Beowulf has to wait patiently for Jayden to come out with it. "She's coming to Bakugan City for a visit!" Jayden springs to his feet, knocking his partner off his shoulders. "And she wants to meet me!" Beowulf lays on his back, and rolls over to his side, "...humans."