Siruba Tsubasa presents...

The Origins of the Innocence... a Bakugan Battle Brawlers and D. Gray-man crossover fanfic

Siruba Tsubasa does not own Bakugan Battle Brawlers or D. Gray-man... She does have her own bakugan now though.

Please R&R

The sky outside was dark as Marucho's plane took the brawlers back to Japan, on a lead to find Webmaster Joe. The glowing numbers on the clock read 1:50. It was late; even Kato was sleeping, having put the plane on autopilot. The brawlers had all gone to bed hours ago, and most, along with their bakugan, were asleep in the comfy beds on Marucho's plane. However, a certain pair of amber eyes remained open.

Shun tossed and turned in bed, unable to find sleep. In the bed beside his, Dan was asleep and snoring quite loudly. The newly evolved Drago and Skyress were both sleeping on the bedside table between the two beds. Shun closed his eyes and evened out his breathing, as if he was meditating, and tried to sleep once more, but the thoughts swirling around his head kept him awake. Heaving a sigh, he got out of bed silently and crept out of the room.

He was on a plane; he couldn't climb onto a roof and watch the moon like he usually did when he needed to sort out his thoughts, so he settled for watching the scenery pass by from the big windows in the living room on the plane.

"Way to go, Drago! You're the first bakugan to evolve!" Julie chirped.

"So cool!" Runo commented.

Drago's evolved… Once again, Shun pondered the question that had bothered him ever since he joined the brawlers. Should I tell them…? Shun gazed at the passing clouds, amber eyes reflecting the indecision in his mind. Dan…he'd definitely want to help. He won't be satisfied with just knowing that there was something that dangerous out there…he'll want to do something. The others won't approve of me doing this alone; they'll want to come...they'll want to help…and it'd be great if they could. And Drago's stronger now. Together, we could destroy more of those things than I can alone.

Shun had almost decided to tell the brawlers about those things and what he and Skyress had been doing when a thought struck him like a punch to the gut.

But what if Drago and the others can't do what Skyress can…If they can't…and they come…they'll be in danger! And I won't be able to protect them…

Shun stared out the windows for a while longer, weighing the pros and cons of telling the rest of the brawlers, before he decided that sitting there wasn't going to help him and returned to his room.

He had just stepped into the room when a shout from Dan caused him to freeze in his tracks. "No you don't, Masquerade!" Shun looked around, wondering if the masked brawler had somehow managed to sneak aboard Marucho's plane. "That's my pudding!" Shun bit his lip to keep from laughing. Of all the things that Dan could have dreamt about, he just had to dream about Masquerade stealing his pudding. As the teenage ninja watched his best friend sleep, mumbling things about crazy masked people stealing pudding in between snores, he came to a decision. There's no need to tell them. It's not like I can't take care of things. There's no need to bring them into such danger…there's no need to worry them with such matters. I'll take care of everything.

With a scream, Drago fell into the Doom Dimension. "Drago!" Dan screamed, and began running towards the bakugan.

"Dan!" Shun chased after the brunette, hoping to catch him before he did something stupid.

"Drago, no!" Dan leaped into the Doom Dimension after Drago, and Shun saw, within the depths of the portal, one of 'those things'…He instinctively reached for Skyress, but before he could do anything, a bullet flew out from one of those cannon-like structures, heading straight for Dan.

Amber eyes snapped open, and Shun woke with a gasp. Nightmare… It's just a nightmare…

"You know, I just can't believe you, Shun. Not telling anyone about your note from Masquerade?" Runo said as they searched for their bakugan among the tall grass. Shun shot her a glare. Runo straightened up and continued. "We're all supposed to work as a team and you're a part of it."

"Back off!" he snapped.

"'Scuse me? You're not so cool," Runo replied, nearly sneering. A fight would have broken out between the two if Marucho hadn't interrupted.

"Found them! I found them over here in the grass!" This was followed by a round of reprimanding their bakugan for running off on their own and assuring them that the battle for Vestroia is as much the brawlers' battle as it is the bakugans'. "Now you listen, best friends always stick together," Marucho said to Preyas. "And that goes for you as well, Shun," he added. Julie 'humph'ed angrily.

"That goes double for me," Runo said.

"If anyone's going to save Dan, we're going to go as a team." Marucho continued.

"Okay…But there's a real good chance we will never come back."

"Shun, cut the drama, would you?" Julie interjected. "We have to be positive about this. Whadd'ya say? I believe we at least give it a try."

"You sure?" Shun looked away, exasperated. Why are they so eager to join in what more likely than not is a suicide mission when I'm trying to keep them alive?

"We're all sure," Runo said firmly. Shun growled.

"Okay, I'm in," he said, giving them an awkward smile.

"Alright guys, fifty minutes to meet up with Masquerade," Marucho announced as he looked at his watch. "Oh, that doesn't give us much time, does it?"

Shun finished he talk with his grandfather quickly. The old man didn't mind his grandson spending a little more time at Marucho's place – at least, that's what he thought Shun was doing. Shun sat down on the couch and thought about the conversation from before. A team, huh… A part of a team… Shun wondered what Runo would do if she ever found out that there was something else he was doing behind their backs. He let out a bitter chuckle. She'd blow her top, probably.

"Something funny, Shun?" came Skyress' voice.

"Just that Runo would probably explode if she found out," he replied. He didn't have to elaborate; Skyress knew perfectly well he was talking about 'those things'.

"She might go easier on you if you tell them sometime soon, rather than let them find out on their own," the Ventus bakugan remarked.

Shun's eyes hardened. "I will not drag them into that, Skyress. It's too dangerous."

"More dangerous than going to the Doom Dimension?"

Shun did not answer, and the pair remained in silence until it was time to go meet up with Masquerade.

He was wandering in a forest, walking around aimlessly in this place that he sort-of recognized but couldn't quite remember. He paused slightly when he reached a clearing, standing at its edge and admiring the beauty of nature, and suddenly he knew where he was. He had fought – and defeated – one of 'those things' in this clearing. In fact, that one was the second one he fought, the one that showed him the true terror of 'those things' – the memory of the bird exploding into a shower of dust still sent shivers down his spine.

Speak of the devil and the devil shall come: a horde of 'those things' appeared out of nowhere. He backed away slightly; he had never had to fight against such great numbers before. But he still reached for Skyress, who was perched upon his shoulder. With a practiced throw, he tossed Skyress out as if he was brawling. "Ventus Storm Skyress, stand!" The green light that had erupted from the sphere faded to reveal Skyress in her true form.

With a start, he glanced around when he heard other voices join his own, and was surprised to find that he was not alone. Dan was there, with Drago already out and ready to fight, as was Runo, Marucho, Julie, Alice, and Joe. Dan grinned at him. "What are you waiting for?" he asked, then drew two ability cards from his pocket. "Boosted Ultima! Fire Tornado!" he yelled, activating them in quick succession. Shards of molten metal flew everywhere as one of 'those things' blew up.

He took out an ability card of his own and called out "Destruction Meteor Storm!" effectively destroying another one. Around him, the rest of the brawlers took out their ability cards and began vanquishing the rest of the group. It didn't take long until there was only one left.

And suddenly he was no longer part of the battle, but a spectator, watching the events in the clearing from the woods. Amber eyes widened in horror when he saw bullets flying from the thing, going straight for the brawlers. The air around them suddenly got colder as he realized that his legs were frozen in place, and that no matter how much he yelled, the brawlers didn't seem to hear a word.

He squeezed his eyes shut – he had not desire to see his friends' deaths – but it did nothing to block out the sounds or stop the mental images that were currently running through his head. His eyes opened just in time to see each and every one of the brawlers explode into dust. "No…no…" he murmured. He crumpled to the ground, tears streaming down his face.

"NOOO!"

Shun shot up in his bed, and gasped for breath. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to calm down his racing heart. A dream, it's only a dream… He had been toying with the idea to telling the brawlers before he had gone to sleep; perhaps it was just his overactive his mind playing out his worst fears. Or an omen…? A year ago, he would have scoffed at the idea of omen, but then again, a year ago, he would have also scoffed at the idea of people turning into murdering machines.

Shun walked over to the window and stared outside. The sight of the moon rising silently in the night sky always calmed him down. That'll never happen, he told himself firmly, it's not like I won't warn them about those bullets, not to mention, they've all gotten a lot stronger…and in Dan's case, stronger than me. If I can take care of it, surely they can. They'll be fine. But no matter what Shun told himself, the image of his friends dying haunted his thoughts. He looked up at the moon desperately, as if it'd give him an answer if he begged.

Mom…what should I do?

Thanks to all the people that are reading this, reviewing, putting it on story alerts, putting it on favorites, or a combination of the four listed above. I'd type out your names, but I have more pressing matters to get to...

Firstly, I'd like to apologize for not updating for a year. This chapter was a bit troublesome to begin with, add in a writer's block that was mostly a result of not living in the States anymore (which meant it wasn't going to go away easily), throw school into the mix and you end up with a chapter that took a year to write.

Next is the question of whether or not I should rewrite this story. When I first began this, I just started writing without any sort of a plan or outline in mind. So I don't have any idea what's going to happen in the next chapter, much less the ending, and then there's all those technical things that I skipped over in these first few chapters. So I want to start over with some guidelines about the story this time around, and hopefully give you guy longer, more professional sounding chapters than you've been dealing with. If I do rewrite, not much is going to change, it'll just be a little more organized. So keep what I have right now, or go for a rewrite? Give me your opinions in a review, please.

I also have some ideas and theories that'll make the things in this story somewhat plausible. If I'm not rewriting, I'll type it up and add it to whatever chapter I've got next. If I'm rewriting, I'll either put it as the first chapter or stick it in the middle somewhere after things get confusing enough to require its use. It's up to you guys what you want.

While you guys are reviewing and giving me advice, can someone come up with an explanation as to how Komui can be alive in the 21st century? I don't want to have to kill him off, but he's not an exorcist, so I can't use the same excuse that I'm using for them.

By the way, for the timeline in this chapter, the beginning takes place right before "Say it ain't so Joe" and ends during the time period in between "You Say You Want an Evolution" and "Behind the Mask of Masquerade".

So... review please? It'd be very much appreciated. And no flames please.