Chapter 2
Here is Zero's backstory. I spent more time working on this then I thought I would. I hope you all like it.
In a flash of multi colored light, Zero appeared in a snow covered forest, Leonidas and Chamelia each on a shoulder.
"So where are we now?" Leonidas asked.
"This would be where we are currently staying." Chamelia answered.
Ignoring the conversation on his shoulders, Zero continued to walk through the forest, quickly finding himself in front of a small home. The boy opened the door and walked inside. "Hey Alice, I'm back." He called inside.
After a moment an orange haired girl in a green and yellow dress came into the room. "Oh, Zero, you're back." She began. "Were you in Grandfather's lab again?"
"Uh, yeah" He lied. He didn't like lying to Alice, but he couldn't really tell her that he had blackmailed her crossdressing alter ego to give him a magic trading card that allowed him to teleport all over the world. Hell, that sounded crazy and stupid to him and he was there when it happened. "Wasn't able to figure any of that stuff out though. That's stuffs all so far beyond me, I feel like a moron"
"You shouldn't think of yourself like that, Zero." Alice scolded.
"Uh, yeah, sorry?" He said awkwardly. He never really got why Alice would scold him over things like that. It's not like was doing anything wrong. It's the truth, why sugar coat it. "So…" Zero started, not sure about what to say.
"I recommend that you get use to these awkward silences now Leonidas." Chamelia said from his shoulder. "They happen somewhat often."
"Hey!" Zero yelled at his bakugan.
"Is that so?" Leonidas asked. "How irritating."
"Shut it lizard!" Zero responded irritably.
Alice took notice of the Haos bakugan. "Oh Zero, who's this? I don't recognize him."
The boy looked at the orange haired girl. "Oh, that's Leonidas, Chamelia and I found him earlier."
"Oh, did he come out of the dimensional transporter like you did?"
"Um, yeah, he did. We're not really sure why though." The Amber eyed boy answered.
"Dimensional what?" Leonidas began. "What are you talking about? When you found me, I was-".
"-very confused." Chamelia finished for her new comrade. She then jumped over to Zero's other shoulder and whispered to the Haos bakugan. "I will explain the situation to you later."
"Oh, well it's nice to meet you Leonidas. A friend of Zero is a friend of mine. I'm Alice" Alice introduced herself.
"Well you seem to have better manners then my new partner." Leonidas claimed.
"Whatever" Zero said irritably. to his bakugan. "Anyway, I'm gonna go relax for a bit." Zero said as he began walking away. "Feel free to get me up if you need anything."
"Oh, alright then. Have a pleasant rest." Alice said.
"Yeah, yeah, later." He waved her off as he proceeded to his room. After closing the door behind him, Zero sat down on his bed.
Leonidas and Chamelia jumped off of his shoulder.
"So you two going to explain to me what all that was about?" Leonidas asked. "Why'd you lie to that girl?"
"I know it seems strange, but there is a reason." Chamelia assured him.
Zero nodded. "You see, it all started about a month ago."
*One Month Ago*
A boy woke up in a lab, his back flat cold metallic ground. After sitting up, the boy looked around. "Okay," he began, "Where the heck am I?". He stood up. "How the hell did I get here." He put his hand to his chin in thought. "Alright, let me just backtrack and I should get something." He surmised. "First of all, This morning, I was…..Next question. I should be in….Alright, let's try this one more time. My name is…..Well shit, I might be in actual trouble here." The boy realized that he couldn't even remember his own name let alone what was going on. "And why the hell is it so cold." He hugged himself to contain heat. The boy then noticed his clothing, or lack of clothing. The boy was currently only wearing a pair of black baggy pants and a white tea shirt. "No wonder I'm freezing. Maybe someone outside can tell me what's going on." He boy walked up the the large doors and was about to open them when he was interrupted by a voice.
"Hey, this is private property you know." The boy turned around to see a guy with blonde hair that stood straight up and an odd mask. "I'm gonna have to ask you to leave." The blonde spoke with arrogant tone that annoyed boy off for some reason.
"Ah sorry?" The boy asked in confusion and annoyance. "I was just trying to find someone to talk to. No need to be a jerk about it."
The masked boy's voice turned serious. "I was actually trying to be polite. I'm not asking again. Leave."
"And what if I don't feel like it?" The boy countered. In all honesty he wanted to leave, however , this guy was annoying him and the boy had not intention of giving him the satisfaction.
"Hmm, very well, a bakugan battle it is then." The masked boy too out a small black and purple sphere.
"Bakugan?" The boy asked in confusion. Something about that word sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. "And that is…"
"Are you telling me that you don't know how to battle?" The masked man laughed. "Man, what a loser you are! A total zero! This is going to be fast."
"Why you little-!" The nameless boy was about to walk over and clock the guy. However, before he could, he heard a voice.
"Please wait!" A feminine voice came from the amnesiac's pocket. A white ball jumped out from the bronze skinned boy's pocket and landed on his shoulder.
"What the hell…" The boy muttered out. He had no idea how long that had been in his pocket.
The ball opened up to reveal something resembling a pure white lizard on the inside. "We don't seek confrontation." She spoke.
"It's a little late for that." The blonde boy said. "So you do have a bakugan, well then, let's do this.
I'll make it quick."
"Wait, I am very lost here." Zero said, clearly confused.
"My Lord, I'm sorry but I must listen to me at the moment." The bakugan said.
The boy however had other priorities"Wait, "Your lord"? Is that suppose to be me? Also, what the heck's a bakugan? And most importantly, how long have you been in my pocket!? What the hell!?"
"Are you gonna start or what?" Asked the blonde guy as he pulled a card out of his pocket.
"My Lord, I need you to pull the gate card out your pocket." the bakugan responded.
"Uh alright" While the boy had no idea what was going on. The little white creature seemed to understand the situation. Weighing his options, the boy decided that he didn't really have anything to lose by listen to it. He reached into his pocket a pulled out a card. He looked at the card oddly. 'I really should have checked my pockets earlier.' He thought to himself. "So is this what you were talking about?" He asked the creature on his shoulder.
"Finally, you got your gate card out." The masked person said. He flipped the card around. "Now Feild, open!" A violet light came from his card.
The amnesiac boy decided to copy the other's movements. He turned the card. "Uh, field open?" His card glowed white light.
When the light died down, the black haired boy found himself in an multicolored space, bordered only with a white floor.
"Whoa…." He started. "This is...trippy."
"So, are you ready?" The masked guy began as he held the card he had pulled out earlier in his hand.
"Not really, but I don't think you actually care." The nameless boy said as he held his card in a similar position to his opponent.
"Alright then," The masked boy said. "Gate card set!" He threw the card towards the floor. The card then expanded on the surface.
"Follow his action my Lord." The white creature on his shoulder said.
"Hm, set!" The boy through that card down. It landed opposite of the masked boys card and expanded as well. "This is getting weirder."
"Doom Card, set." The masked boy took a card with a demonic skull design on it and dropped it on the ground. The card sunk into the ground like it was water. "You know, I never got your name earlier." He said.
"I never got your's either." The boy said.
"Masquerade" the blonde boy said. "Now I believe it's your turn."
The boy thought for a moment. "..Well you called me "a Zero" earlier, I guess that will work." The now named Zero stated.
"Well then "Zero", I hope your ready to lose your bakugan." Masquerade said as he pulled a black and purple sphere out of his pocket. "Bakugan brawl!" He threw the bakugan onto his gate card. "Wormquake, stand!" The bakugan opened and shined a bright violet light. As the light faded, in the sphere's place was a giant worm-like like creature.
Darkus Wormquake coming in at 330 Gs
"HOLY SHIT!" Zero exclaimed. "The fuck just happened!?"
"Hm, so this is your first bakugan battle." The blonde judged by the boy's reaction. "I'll take that into account as I crush you. Now, it's your turn." The masked boy finished.
"Uuuuhhhh, yeah…" Zero said, looking at the opposing bakugan in awe. He turned his head towards the bakugan on his shoulder. "Okay, so what the hell do I do? That thing's freaking huge." He asked in general confusion.
"I need you throw me onto the gatecard like Masquerade just did." She stated.
"Alright." Zero began as he grabbed her form. "I can do that." He tossed her at the same gate card that Masquerade tossed his bakugan too.
"Not that one!" She screamed mid air, but it was too late. As she landed on the gatecard, she was covered in a bright white light. As the light died down, it showed a giant chameleon like creature.
Unknown bakugan coming in at 350 Gs. No other data available.
"An unregistered bakugan?" Masquerade began."Interesting, but it doesn't matter. Gate card open!" The card below the two bakugan lit up.
Character gate card activated. Wormquake power level doubled Wormquake power level now resting at 660 Gs.
"Now Wormquake, take them out!" Masquerade ordered. The darkus bakugan charged at the white one. It tackled its opponent, causing the reptilian bakugan to fly through the air before landing harshly on its back.
"Gah!" The lizard like bakugan exclaimed as she landed.
"Hey, you okay?" Zero asked in mild concern.
"There is no need to worry about me my lord." She stood up and growled. "Though it seems that I must take this opponent seriously." She suddenly glowed with a white light that covered the field. When the light died down, in the white bakugan's place stood a second Darkus Wormquake.
"What the-?" Masquerade's said, in confusion.
Unknown bakugan replaced by Darkus Wormquake. Power level doubled due to gate card. New Darkus Wormquake power level is now at 700 Gs.
The new wormquake moved towards its look alike. Masquerade's bakugan tried to intercept it, but before it could, the new wormquake wrapped itself around its opponent. The stronger wormquake squeezed its adversary. It squeezed tighter and tighter until, Masquerade's bakugan fell limp. The new Wormquake let go and the original Wormquake was sucked into some kind of dark portal.
Zero looked at the white bakugan in his hand in awe. "Okay, so, uhh, care to explain what you just did?" He asked.
"That, my lord, would be my special ability." The bakugan began. "I can transform my appearance, attribute, and name to match whatever bakugan is on the field. Your opponent used a character card, which only affected bakugan with the name Wormquake, do I transformed myself into Wormquake to gain the same power boost as his bakugan." She explained.
"Okay, I got maybe half of that, but it's still seemed awesome." Zero stated.
"So are you gonna get on with this are are you just wasting both our time?" Masquerade asked indignantly.
"Now it is your turn my Lord." The bakugan stated. "You make the first move."
"Alright then." Zero said as he grabbed her and threw her at the gatecard. Once landing, she opened up to reveal her true form.
Unknown Bakugan coming in at 350 Gs.
"Now it's my turn." Masquerade began "Go, Darkus Serpenoid!" He threw another black and purple bakugan to the gate card. One it reached their, it opened up and changed into a giant snake.
Darkus Serpenoid coming in a 320 Gs.
"I'll start this off." Masquerade said. "Ability card activate. Snake Burrow."
Serpenoid dug underground, hiding itself from view.
Darkus Serpenoid +150 Gs. Now sitting at 470 Gs.
The white bakugan looked around, trying to predict where Serpenoid would come from.
Suddenly, Serpenoid shot out of the ground behind the whot bakugan and wrapped itself around it. It tightened itself.
"Gah!" She screamed as she began getting choked out.
"Oh shit." Zero said as he Began searching through his pockets. "Come one, you had a ball monster and a trading card, give me something." He then felt something in one of the pockets and pulled it out. He looked at it and smiled. " This will work. Ability card activate! White Light!"
The white bakugan glowed brightly. With an invisible pulse of energy, the serpent bakugan was blown off it.
Unknown Bakugan +200 Gs for a total of 550 Gs.
Zero's bakugan went to end it.
"I don't think so!" Masquerade said as he pulled out a card. Ability card activate. Deadly Fang!"
Serpenoid fangs extended and flowed a harsh purple light. The darkus bakugan then jumped at the white bakugan.
Darkus Serpenoid +100 Gs. Now resting at 570 Gs.
Serpenoid latched onto it's opponent and constricted itself around her. The darkus bakugan then dug it's elongated fangs into its neck.
"Ahhh!" The white bakugan screamed.
Unknown Bakugan power level dropping. 540 Gs. 530 Gs. 510 Gs. 480 Gs.
His bakugan's power level dropped and Zero was beginning to panic. "Shit this isn't good." He then remembered something that Masquerade did in the previous battle. "Gate card open!"
The gate card glowed with white light.
Flat Power Activated, Bakugan power levels now returning to base. Unknown bakugan coming in at 350 Gs. Darkus Serpenoid coming in at 320 Gs.
The white bakugan shook the snake off of it. It then stomped on Serpenoid's head, ending the battle.
Another one of those portals appeared and sucked Serpenoid into it. The white bakugan flew back to her partner.
"Okay, what did I just do?" Zero asked.
"That gate card was Flat Power. It returns all bakugan back to their base power levels." the white bakugan explained.
"Oh, okay." Zero said. "Also, what was with that weird portal thing earlier. It seems to like, eat the loser or something."
"That was a pathway to the doom dimension." The bakugan stated. "The doom dimension is basically-"
"Yeah, I can pretty much guess from the name." Zero cut her off. "Speaking of names, I never got yours."
"Oh, pardon me." She said while bowing her head, which in her Ball State was pretty much her entire body, apologetically. "My name is Chamelia."
"Nice to meet you." Zero said to the bakugan.
"You two done over there?" Masquerade asked, grabbing the duo's attention. His voice was harsh. He was obviously irritated.
"You've been lucky up to this point kid, but now your starting to piss me off!" Masquerade said angrily.
"Gatecard set!" Masquerade threw down a gatecard
"Bakugan brawl!" He threw another black and purple ball at the gatecard.
"Darkus Laserman stand!"
Darkus Laserman entering the battle at 360 Gs.
"Okay, I think I'm getting a handle on this." Zero stated. He grabbed Chamelia and threw her onto the gate card. "Bakugan brawl!" Chamelia opened up and grew to full size." Chamelia stand!"
Chamelia entering the battle at 350 Gs
"Gate card Activate! Energy Merge!" The gate card below the two bakugan shined. Masquerade announced. "This takes 100 Gs from you bakugan and adds them to mine."
Chamelia -100 Gs now sitting at 250 Gs.
Darkus Laserman +100 Gs. Now sitting at 460 Gs.
Now Laserman, destroy!" Masquerade ordered.
The darkus bakugan followed his command as it began charging energy in it's cannons.
"Not so fast!" Zero announced. "Ability Card Activate! Quiet White!"
Chamelia power level returning to base. Total power now at 350 Gs.
Chamelia's form faded away until it was completely gone.
Laserman still fired its cannons, but they hit nothing.
"What!?" Masquerade exclaimed in frustration. "The hell happened to your Bakugan!"
Honestly, Zero was just as confused as his opponent was. All he did was pull a random card out of his pocket and say its name. He then thought of something. "Give me a minute." Zero looked at the card he had just used and read the description. ""Quiet White: returns bakugan to base level and turns bakugan invisible." Yeah that works." He said.
"Whatever!" The blonde declared. That won't be enough! Ability Card Activate! Infrared!"
Darkus Laserman +100 Gs for a total of 560 Gs.
The opening on Laserman's mask turned red. And its cannons focus on Chamelia's invisible form.
"As you can probably guess, Infrared gives Laserman Infrared vision. He can see your bakugan as clear as day." the mask wearing boy stated. "Now Laserman, take them out!"
Laserman began charging the cannons again.
"Not so fast! Ability card Activate! Empty Cry!"
Chamelia +250 Gs. Total power now at 600 Gs.
Chamelia turned visible again. The fin's on either side of her head opened up and she release an ear piercing shriek.
Laserman seemed to stop moving.
"I'm not done yet!" Masquerade announced. "Ability card activate! Darkus Cannon!"
Nothing happened
"What the-" Masquerade began, confused. "Why isn't anything happening!?"
"Empty Cry has the bonus effect of temporarily paralyzing any other bakugan on the field, preventing abilities from being activated."Zero explained.
"No way!" The mask wearing boy exclaimed.
"Yes, way! Now Chamelia finish this!" Zero order. His bakugan obliged him. She released another ear piercing scream directly at the opposing bakugan. Laserman was blown back, getting sucked into the doom dimension.
"D-DAMMIT!" Masquerade said as he was blown back.
Chamelia returned to ball form and flew back the Zero. The world around them then faded way, revealing the lab they were in earlier.
"So, I guess I win." Zero looked at Masquerade, who was now lying on the ground. "So, what now?" He asked.
There was no response.
"Hey, you hear me?" Zero spoke again, slightly louder this time.
Still, silence.
Chamelia jumped on his shoulder. "We should probably make sure that he is alright." She stated.
"Y-Yeah" He said, slightly afraid that he had seriously hurt the guy. He walked up to Masquerade. His mask was lying a few feet behind him, allowing Zero to finally get a good look at his face. It was surprisingly….feminine.
Then something strange happened. Masquerade's hair turned from blond to orange and fell out of its spiky style into a more relaxed shape. The clothing changed to. The purple pants and white coat transformed into a yellow dress over white shirts, and a green blouse.
By then end of the transformation he-she looked surprisingly different.
"Okay, what?" Zero asked no one in particular.
"I will not lie to you my lord, I am not sure myself."
Zero looked at the girl. "You know, a part of me just want to leave her here and get on my way,"
"My Lord!" Chamelia exclaimed incredulously.
"buuuut my conscience doesn't really agree. Besides, I have no idea what's going on and she might have answers." Zero stated. He sat down. "So, I think our best option is to wait for her to wake up. Hopefully it doesn't take too long.
As if responding to Zero's words, the girl's eyes slowly opened. She sat up and looked around. Eventually, she saw Zero.
"Hey" He said with a small wave.
"AH!" She exclaimed as she scooted back a bit. "W-Who are you?" She asked nervously.
'Does she not remember?' The boy thought to himself. 'Well, I guess I should just play along until I figure out what's going on.' "Hey, I'm Zero, and uh, what's your name?" He asked.
"...I'm Alice" She said after a moment.
"Well, Alice, I woke up next the thing over there." He pointed to the big machine in the center of the room.
"The dimensional transporter?" She questioned.
"I...guess" Zero responded, just going with it. "Anyway I woke up over there and you were unconscious over here." He explained.
"Unconscious?" She looked around. "I don't even remember…." Her eyes widened, as if realizing something. "I'm sorry, I must have blacked out again." She said.
"Again? Does...that happen a lot?" He asked slowly. If turning Alice turning into Masquerade was a normal thing, well Zero didn't really know how to take that.
The girl looked down sadly. "It's been happening more often lately. I'm not sure why"
"...Well, that probably sucks." Zero stated, not sure what to say. "So, any idea how to get me back where ever I came from?" He asked
She shook her head. "I'm sorry. My grandfather created it. I have no idea how it works." The girl apologized.
"That's fine" Zero began. He reached a hand out to the girl. She grabbed it and Zero helped her stand up. "So where can I find your grandfather?" He asked.
Alice's expression suddenly turned sad again. "My grandfather...has been missing for the past few weeks."
'Shit' Zero thought to himself. "Sooooo, any suggestions?" He asked. Zero serious had no idea what to do. If this girl couldnt help him, then he'd probably just end up wandering around until he found someone that could.
"Well, I suppose you can stay here." The girl offered.
"Seriously?" He asked.
Alice nodded. "It was my grandfather's invention that brought you here in the first place. Giving you a place to stay is the least I can do." She said.
"Well, thanks." He said with a smile. "Oh, one more thing." He began.
"Yes, what would that be?" She asked.
"Where the heck are we."
*A few days later*
Zero had accommodated well to living with Alice.
Right now, Zero was simply sitting down on the couch, a magazine in his hand. He was about to turned the page when he heard the door to Alice's room open. Zero looked over.
Wordlessly, the orange haired girl walked into the room
"Hey Alice, whats up?" Zero asked.
The girl didn't respond. Silently, she took out a mask. Placing it on her face, the girl's appearance changed. Suddenly, Masquerade stood in her place.
"So I was right, it would happen again." Zero said.
"So what are you gonna do now?" Masquerade asked. "You know my secret."
"Me? I'm not gonna do anything." Zero started. He walked over to the blonde. "You see, I have a feeling that you don't want anyone to know that our possessing the body of a teenage girl, and, quite honestly, I have no idea what i would even due with this information. So you stay out of my way, and I'll stay out of your's." Zero extended his hand. "We have a deal?"
Masquerade looked at Zero's hand for a moment before shaking it. "Fine". He let go and walked to the other side of the room. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do." He pulled out a single card. The card glowed with a rainbow light. The light then enveloped Masquerade and in a flash, he was gone.
Zero simply stared at the spot where Masquerade had occupied a moment ago.
Chamelia jump out of Zero's pocket and landed on his shoulder. "What are your thoughts My Lord?" Chamelia asked.
"...My thoughts are 'I want that card'." He stated
*Present*
"So after I convinced him to give me one of his teleporting cards, I teleported around a bit, brawled a couple more people and got a few more bakugan." Zero explained.
Leonidas stayed silent for a moment. "So the reason your lying is-"
Zero cut him off."Alice was already pretty shaken up about her black outs.I figured that telling her that she cross dresses and spends her free time sending bakugan to what is essentially bakugan hell probably wouldn't help. Plus, from what I can tell, she doesn't have any control over it, so telling her would accomplish nothing more them freaking her out."
"In his own way, my lord is just ring to spare her feeling. In the short time he has known her, he has grown close to Lady Alice. Chamelia stated.
"Drop it" Zero glared at the white bakugan.
"Whatever," Leonidas stated. He looked up at Zero. So your like me, you have no idea where your from or why your here either."
Zero nodded. Pretty much" He agreed. So lets try figuring out who we are together, alright?" He offered.
"...Alright then, we have a deal." Leonidas nodded.
Just to make it clear, that was before Masquerade got Hydranoid or Reaper, so he didn't have any particular strong bakugan yet.
I get that the battle might have been kinda boring, but only having one bakugan meant that Zero could only activate so many ability cards.