Chapter 14

I slowly opened my eyes, groggily sitting up. Upon doing so, I was greeted by my friends' warm welcome. Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced through my arm. I immediately grasped it, only to feel bandages. 'What's going on?' I thought as I looked around, sluggishly realizing that I was in a room in Shun's house.

"Mark, are you…are you fine?" Alice asked as her lips trembled

"Yes…I'm just…fine…"

"We already know Masquerade's story, as well as Syphile's," Shun then said.

"Now, don't you think it's time to fill in the gaps?" Masquerade continued.

I just stared blankly at them.

"Come on guys! He just got up; he's not yet ready to answer your questions!" Julie scolded them as she 'accidentally' hit my wounded arm.

"YEEEOOOUUUUCCCCHHH!!!!!"

"Errr…oops?"

After a while…

"Alright…all fixed up," Syphile said as she leaned back and stretched her arms

I looked at the other's expression towards my sister and noticed that they're surprised that the Syphile they saw last night and the one before them are one and same.

"So, ready?" Masquerade asked again.

"Yes," I replied. "The memories have just returned to me. Shall we begin?"

'If there's another way to tell this, I will take it. But, I guess it's time that I got this over with the secret that burdened me with for so long. I just hope that after this, they'll still accept us as their friends' I said to myself

"Ready when you are," they replied with enthusiasm.

"The Nashida clan practiced forbidden arts. None knew about this but one other clan, their brother clan. They were betrayed and thus, were branded mavericks by the early government. Ever since, they kept a grudge against all, especially to whom they trusted as an ally. Years passed, and they are still doing the forbidden. This time, it's genetic manipulation."

"So, you mean to say that they're into cloning?" Joe asked.

"Not quite. They would inject certain characteristics of animals into some of their own offspring at early age. They would do anything in order to achieve their goal. Revenge to all the people…"

"How could they do such things?! I mean, look! They're doing it to their own children!" Julie cried as she clung into Dan, who already had Runo hugging him.

I then saw Chan embracing Joe. He, in return, tried his best to comfort her.

"Wrath has blinded our ancestor's visions towards the world. As he said…they would do anything in order to achieve their goal," Syphile replied as she shamefully bowed her head

"Ahem…shall I continue?" I asked.

They all nodded in agreement, eager to get to the bottom of this.

"Then, the sky rained with cards. Seeing this as the prediction that would bring them salvation, they gathered the few remaining children and placed them in a chamber. The clan then created something akin to Dr. Michael's device. They placed the chambers near the device and activated it at the same time Naga absorbed the Silent core. This, of course, resulted into the exposure of the children to negative energy, one of which is I. Most of the children showed exceptional skills, except one, Syphile. The only change in her was her hair color. Thus, they banished her out to see what she is capable of. They even went as far as having a bunch of thugs abduct her. Yet, she still showed no exceptional skill. I, being unchanged, was assigned to keep an eye for her, the one they called 'flawed'. What did they not know, she possessed the greatest change. Inside her lived another entity, one that knew nothing but hatred. Slowly, it grew and took over her body."

"So, the Nashida clan planned all of this?" Masquerade inquired.

"No. They never expected the turn of events. The restoration of the cores killed nearly all of their experiments. Only we survived. They then never saw her again," I said as I pointed at Syphile.

"What about…you know…him?" Alice slowly asked.

"Ah, yes… him, Dezyn." I saw traces of fear and anger as I spoke his name.

"Why'd you suddenly asked?! I mean, come on!" Runo yelled

Everyone stared at her for the sudden outburst.

"You don't know what happened when we looked for Alice, didn't you?" Shun answered back

"Why? What's to know about him? He already killed and raped numerous…"

"Maybe you have forgotten who his host was" Masquerade calmly replied. "Furthermore, it was Dezyn who saved Alice last night"

"Oh… sorry, it's just…whenever I hear his name…"

"It is fine; I already expected that sooner or later," I responded. "As I was saying, Dezyn was created as a last resort to get their revenge. Having no other possible host, they took me and planted the beast within me. They succeeded in bringing him to life, but he is kept in a chamber for containment."

"It all makes sense now," Shun stated as he bowed his head.

"Why?" Dan asked.

"During Syphile's stay here, she mentioned…"

"Syphile stayed here? Why didn't we know?" Chan asked, curious.

"Ehhh….Shun hasn't told you yet? I'll tell; he found me in the forest wandering alone. He took me and I stayed here until I took over the mansion," Syphile readily answered.

"To put it briefly, yes, that's what happened. Anyway, she mentioned being cast out by her birth family, which is the Nashida clan. A friend took her and she stayed with Masquerade until his defeat, causing him to vanish. His surrogate brother, Mark, was taken and turned into Dezyn. Before she left, the lawyer said that the clan was murdered and the only evidence is that the killer dons a black, hooded cloak. Dezyn probably escaped the chamber and killed all of them. "

"When we entered the green door," Marucho interrupted, "we saw what looked like a lab with one chamber broken. Is that…"

"Yes, that's where the experiments were conducted and held," I said in response. "You guys just fought and won an ancient battle dating back to the Tokugawa era. The battle one clan silently initiated against all."

"You mentioned that the Nashida had a brother clan…can you tell us what the clan's name is?" Shun requested as he remembered my words earlier.

Only a few of us knew this. Now, I think it's time to reveal the secret…since I'm the last one alive who knows of this.

"Are you sure that you want to know…Cousin?"

End chapter 14: Links (Mark)

I don't own Bakugan. Also, all the events here are purely fictional.