3. One for Sorrow
Shun crawled through the cold metal passages of the ventilation network in endless circles for an endless amount of time, hopelessly lost. Though he tried to remain calm and collected, the tight space and the prospect of never finding Alice was beginning to make him panic. Shun screwed his eyes up, attempting to relax his tensed muscles, and concentrate on Alice's rescue. He was, for once, so engrossed with trying to calm himself down, he didn't notice the sound of tiny footsteps getting louder and louder. Not until the bird was nearly touching him did the ninja notice.
A magpie stood in front of Shun.
A magpie with cold, blue eyes.
The bird stared at the ninja for what seemed an age for both parties, then, simply turned around, and headed back in the direction in which it had come, however, when it was around halfway, it stopped, and looked back at Shun, who had remained still throughout the encounter - paralysed with the oddity of the situation. This didn't please the bird, apparently, since it fixed Shun with an icy eye, and let out a shriek that sounded like a mangled attempt at a word. Only when the ninja moved in the bird's direction, did it continue walking. Shun was confused at this - He had only encountered one bird that would willingly brave the dark, echoing confines of the ventilation systems of buildings, and that had been Skyress, when Alice had dropped a favourite necklace into it. And stranger still, this bird seemed to be leading him someplace, though he could only guess where to. Futile though it may have been, the ninja hoped he was being led to Alice.
For what seemed to be hours, Shun and the magpie travelled through mile after mile of steel shafts, with the only vaguely adrenaline-pumping moment when the bird had caught the attention of security personnel, and all they had done was bang on the shaft and shout, though this didn't seem to faze the magpie, whohad waited for them to stop, and then merely moved on, Shun following behind like a duckling after his mother.
As he crawled, Shun thought about the other brawlers. Surely they had not braved the building again? He certainly hoped not - They really didn't need to be making a big fuss, especially if it got the police involved. He didn't doubt their ability to lie their way out of situations, after all, they had done it plenty of times before, but this time the enemy wasn't a giant dragon from a different dimension. For all they knew, they could be up against the most powerful people in the world, and they didn't have the bakugan to back them up. They were just a bunch of children now. Children with a history perhaps, children who had some standing, at least. But children they were, and children are much easier to silence than adults...
Shun was broken from his reverie by the harsh shrieking of his guide, followed by a swift peck to the face when he failed to pay attention in time. "Ouch! What?" He hissed at the bird, holding a hand up to the cut on his cheek. The bird flicked its tail impatiently, and tapped a claw on the grating it was standing on. Shun peered through the bars, and saw a grey room below, with four grey walls, off-white carpet, and tables filled with chemicals all around. Shun frowned. What was so special about this room? He studied the scene below harder, and made out the corner of something, just hidden under a table. A cage? Yes, a cube-ish thing made of metal. Definitely a cage. And in the cage? He could make out some sort of pale appendages within the confines of the cage. Fingers? Looked like it. Shun didn't hesitate. Ripping the grate out of the shaft with a mad surge of strength, Shun leapt down beside the cage, and fiddled with the lock, then pulled the contents of the cage up and into his arms. A girl with a yellow dress, like she was draped in a shaft of sun. A girl with orange hair, like soothing waves of auburn. Alice.
Shun looked up. There appeared to be no-one around, asides from Alice, and the bird. Speaking of which, the bird looked slightly limp. Almost as if it were dead? But surely that was impossible? Shun told himself, firmly, that there must be some other explanation, because the magpie had been alive and well just seconds before. He looked up, and saw his own eyes staring back at him, reflected in a blue, Perspex mask. "Masquerade."
The blonde smiled, "Pleased to see you too Shun, I see you found Alice?"
Shun did not return the smile, "What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Never did trust me, did you?" Masquerade's smile faded into his usual expressionless state, "But you followed that bird there... Tell me, did you really think that a mere animal would have the good grace to help you rescue Alice? Were you really that foolish?" He laughed, a cold sound that stung Shun's ears as if they had been chapped by a winter breeze.
Shun looked at the floor for a while, then looked back at Masquerade, who was becoming a little see-through, for reasons the ninja could only guess at. "So it was you possessing the magpie? What about Dan? Him too?"
Masquerade's smile returned, "Ah, that's the Shun I knew. Always the smart one." "Why? What's the point?" Shun could hear faint footsteps now, he should make this quick.
The masked blonde shook his head slowly, "Shun... Shun... Shun, surely you should have known - You are not the only one who cares about Alice."
Shun didn't reply, but made his way quickly to the door of the room, wrenched it open, and broke into a run down the hallway. Masquerade followed - He had heard the footsteps too, but unlike Shun, he wasn't worried in the least. It wasn't like Alice's kidnappers could do much with a spirit.
Shun clattered down stairs and sprinted down hallways, much of his natural speed and agility lost with carrying Alice. He burst through another well polished door, and was making his way across the reception area of the building, on the ground floor, when he saw black shapes edging his vision. A quick glance sideways revealed them to be thick-bodied security types, yammering away on radios and staring at him with mean, deep-set eyes. Throwing caution to the wind, Shun made a last burst of speed, causing his muscles to scream out in agony, and a stumble that could have got Alice and himself captured, if the receptionist - A smart looking brunette, with blue eyes and red-rimmed glasses, had not began screaming in pain, coughing up blood, then proceeded to slump down on her desk. Now more than a little scared, Shun clawed his way back onto his painful feet, and hauled Alice out of the building, the screaming ringing in his ears. It appeared he had misjudged his old friend, Masquerade. It looked like he was a lot scarier than he had previously thought.
Alice opened her eyes to see the open sky, and Shun, who was sweating and looked as if he was going to drop dead from sheer exhaustion.
"Shun?" She whispered, not wanting to make him jump. He gazed down at her, wishing he wasn't so damn tired so he could enjoy his perfect moment properly - Alice, in his arms, with no-one else around. He set her down on a wooden bench, and then sat next to her. For a moment, no words passed between them, until Alice whispered again: "Thank you, Shun."
Meanwhile, back in the building that had once hidden Alice within its murky depths, now held a certain masked spirit captive. The trap hadn't been particularly complex either - They had cast some sort of circle with runes in the floor, under the carpet, and when he stepped on it to leave the building, it had caught him like a tiger in a tiger trap. He paced, walking in slow circles, glancing at the woman in the room every so often - He guessed she was the one who wanted him captive, with the way her eyes looked hungrily at him, the way a dog does a bone. She had been there when they moved him. It had been planned for some time, apparently, since the section of floor that trapped him had been easily removed, and carried to a room, also littered with graffiti like runes. Masquerade glared at the woman, and spat at her, a snarl half-hidden under his mask. The woman continued gazing unflinchingly at him, even as he planned a hopefully gory downfall for her. "Masquerade."
The same 'greeting' that Shun had delivered stopped Masquerade in his tracks. "What?" He glared at her, fuming.
"I expect you're wondering why you're here?" The woman's voice was calm. She was in control, and loving every second of it.
The masked blonde laughed bitterly, "Why don't you indulge me? I can see you're just dying to."
The woman turned sharply on her smart black heels, and walked to the door, "You're going to help us save the world Masquerade."
He resumed his pacing. "Save the world? How pathetic." Masquerade slowly cracked a grin, "Now why would I want to do that?"