HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you all soooooooooo much! Thank you for all those great reviews, some of them made me just laugh so hard.

*starts slightly hyperventilating* Please let this live up to expectations, please let this live up to expectations, pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaasssssse let this live up to expectations . . .

Well, though it to me a while to get this post up, I have improved! Instead of six months, it's only been like, two and half! :) Hooray! *happy dance*

Again, thanks to all the readers and repliers. I'm approaching a thousand hits!

I hope this chapter sounds okay. Most of it was written in my delirium at 2:00 a.m. Ah, the life of a writer . . . Also, I'm afraid the action sequences might feel a little dry. Let me know and give me suggestions, please!

I don't own Bakuganess. Please enjoy this chapter!

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"Never again!" Dan shouted plopping down into a chair and slamming his head onto the table in front of it. "I will never be a waiter again, Runo!"

Runo walked out from the kitchen, which was connected to the rooms her family lived in. Her hair was back in it's pigtails and she was wearing a pretty yellow sundress with a flower on the skirt her mom had embroidered. She was also wearing tall, brown boots.

Runo leaned against his table and smirked. "Waiting tables too tough for you?"

Dan looked up at her and stuck his tongue out and put his head back down, trying to hide his blush. He didn't want her to know how beautiful he thought she looked.

"Well, you got off lucky tonight," Runo said. "We keep having to close earlier and earlier, thanks to the king's new curfews."

"It's all those damn thieves fault!" Runo's dad shouted as he walked into the room, slamming his fist onto the nearest table. Dan heard Runo gasped. He looked up at her face, her expression showing both fear and concern.

"Dad . . ." Runo said. She started walking towards him, but he started shouting again.

"Every night there's another robbery in this city!" Runo winced and stepped back to the table. "And the king's men, they do nothing about it! I swear they're as bad as the thieves themselves. And this Shun character, the rumors about him . . ."

Shun. Dan hated to think about someone so close to him in his past. They had always been so close.

Dan lifted up his head and asked, "What kind of rumors?"

Runo's father shook his head and started walking back to the kitchen. "Just ridiculous things. Stuff like he can be in two places at once, or like he works for the king to create a bigger need for his protection. Some even say he can control the wind."

Runo turned around and glared suddenly at Dan. He gave her a sheepish grin. "We have to talk!" she shouted, grabbing his ear and dragging him upstairs. She dragged him to an empty room and slammed the door shut.

Pushing him down onto the bed, she hissed, "Can Shun control the wind?"

"Uh . . ."

"Dan!" she groaned. She slammed her hands into her eyes and groaned.

"Look, who cares? So he can control the wind, what's the big deal?," Dan asked

Runo turned around and crossed her arms. "You didn't tell me, that's the big deal."

"Shun's powers don't mean anything to us. It doesn't have anything to do with ours," Dan assured her. "But Runo, what was going on with your dad earlier?"

Runo turned back around, still glaring at him. "He gets mad sometimes, okay? It happens to everyone."

Dan stood up and put his hand on her shoulder. "You seemed pretty freaked out about it," he said gently.

Runo pulled her shoulder away. "I need to go check on the guests," she said quietly, leaving the room. Dan groaned and fell back on the bed, wishing he could get through to her.

Runo walked down the hall, her thoughts drifting back to the oranged haired girl she had met earlier. Did she know her? Runo could swear she did. Runo walked down the hallway and up the next set of stairs. Three doors down on the left was the girl's room. Runo walked up to it, debating whether to see her. Runo lifted her fist, about to knock, when she heard something at the other end of the hall.

The window was open. Runo thought she had heard footsteps, but nothing could get in through a window on the third floor, right? She slowly walked over to the window, stuck her head out, and looked around. She couldn't see anything. Runo shrugged her shoulders and closed the windows, figuring it was nothing. Runo turned back around and started walking back down the hall. Suddenly, a hand clamped over her mouth and an arm wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides.

Point of View Change: Shun!

Shun landed easily on the roof of the Harvest's Eye, the other nine thieves following. He turned around and looked to Sora. Their eyes met and he nodded to her. She nodded back. She and three other thieves secured their ropes to the roof and began propelling down the side of the building. Their mission was to take out the first floor and begin working up, while Shun and three others started working their way down. Shun looked to two of the men, Akito and Jin, and nodded to them as well. They jumped began propelling down the roof next, going to secure the stables.

Shun pulled his cloak up over his mouth and nose and secured his own rope. He slid down to a third floor window and took out a small metal object, quickly breaking the lock and opening the window. He jumped through and landed on the wood floor just as a blue-haired girl was coming up the stairs. Shun leaned out the window and motioned to the others to stay on the roof. Then he quickly stepped into the adjoining hallway, pressing his back up against the wall.

It was too late, the girl had seen something. Shun tried to slow his breathing and remain perfectly still and quiet as the girl came and looked out the window, obviously didn't see the thieves, and closed it.

Shun saw the others sliding down to the window. Quickly, he ran up behind the girl and wrapped his arms around her, stopping her mouth so she couldn't scream. She still tried and struggled against him, but Shun held her tight.

"Come on!" he shouted to the others. One of them opened the window and they swung into the hallway. A blast of light suddenly erupted against Shun, forcing him to let go of the girl and slamming him into the wall. He climbed back to his feet quickly, facing her. She turned to him, two balls of light glowing in either hand. Shun pulled out his double swords, ready to fight her. His eyes glanced to the other three thieves. The faces showed slightly shocked expressions, but they were already used to Shun's powers, though he couldn't say he wasn't shocked himself.

"Go," he ordered. They nodded and ran passed the girl, who kept her eyes focused on Shun. She held her arms out in front of her and blasted balls of light at him. Shun rolled out of the way and came at her from the side. He brought the first sword down on her shoulder, but she created a bubble of light around her. Shun's swords bounced off the bubble, forcing him to stumble back a few steps.

As the bubble disappeared, Shun created a blast of wind, accidentally sending the girl flying straight into the glass. She cried out as the glass shattered and she began to fall. Shun gasped and jumped forward grabbing her hand pulling her back into the hallway. Her back was bloody and their could be glass in it.

Sora could do first aid better than anyone Shun had met. "I'll get help for you, just wait-" Shun started to say. Suddenly, a sword came at his head. Shun tilted his head to the side quickly, the sword stabbing into the wall. Shun found himself face to face with a much older version of the Dan he remembered. Shun glanced down at the bloody girl he was holding. Obviously, it looked like he had done this to her on purpose.

This doesn't look good.

Point of View Change: Dan!

"Runo?" Dan asked, sitting up on the bed. Someone had knocked on the door. He got up from the bed, so glad she had come back. "Runo, look, I didn't mean to make you mad, I just-" Dan said as he opened the door, but stopped. It wasn't Runo. Instead, an orange haired girl in a green dress was standing there.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry!" he said, feeling flustered about his mistake. He reached his arm up over his shoulder and scratched the back of his neck. "I thought you were someone else. But anyway, it's good to see you again."

The girl titled her head, a curious look on her face. "So you do think we've met before?" she said, sounding half like she was just thinking out loud.

"Uh, yeah of course!" Dan said, not wanting to admit he'd forgot when or where.

She smiled at him and said, "So what's my name?"

Dan's eyes grew wide. "Um. . . uh?" he said, trying to remember her name. The girl's smile grew wide and she let out a laugh. He smiled as well, getting the feeling she thought he was funny, not stupid.

"Alice," she said. "And you're . . . Marucho?" she guessed, remembering the names on the list.

"No, Dan," he said, a little confused by this Alice.

"Ah!" she said, smiling again, apparently proud of herself. "I'm so glad I found you!"

"What?" he asked, confused again. Suddenly, yelling and shouting erupted from the lower level. They heard a lot of smashing and what sounded like a fight.

"What was that?" Alice asked, sounding scared.

"I don't know," Dan said, his voice serious. He drew his sword out and added, "But I'm going to find out."

Dan started running to the stairs, but quickly realized Alice was following him. "You stay here," he told her, not wanting her to get hurt.

She shook her head. "We'll make a good team. Trust me."

Dan wanted to protest, but if every girl in the world was like Runo, he figured there would be no point. The pair raced down the stairs and into the bar part of the inn. Two woman and two men dress in dark cloaks were fighting Runo's parents. One of the women was tying up Runo's mother while the other woman and one of the men were fighting her father who was using a steak knife from the kitchen. The other man was ransacking the place, looking for money.

Alice gasped as Dan ran at the two thieves fighting Runo's father. He slashed at the man's ribs, but he blocked Dan's sword with his own. The man brought his sword around towards Dan's shoulder, but Dan quickly blocked it, pushed the thief's sword out to the side, and bashed him on the head with the broad side of his sword. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Alice pulled two fans out of her dress, getting ready to fight. She ran towards the man looting the inn. He pulled out several throwing knives, chucking them at the girl. Alice moved out of the way, quickly and easily. She had been in many fights before. Her mind was fully switched into offense mode. Taking one side of each of her fans, she flicked her wrist, fanning out her weapons, revealing they were razor sharp. The man fired another knife at her. She blocked it with her fan, knocking it to the ground. Running up to him, she used her fans to knock his arms out of the way, cutting into his wrists. She brought her knee up quickly into his stomach, causing him to bend over in pain. She spun around behind him, grabbing the ropes from his belt and tying him up so he couldn't fight anyone else.

"Watch it!" she heard Dan yell and heard two swords colliding behind her. She spun around to see Dan fighting with the last thief standing, one of the women. Runo's father had handled the other woman and was untying his wife. Dan slammed his sword into the thief's, throwing her off balance. Alice ran up to her, closing one of the fans. She used the other to block her sword, stepping behind the woman and stabbing the closed fan into her chest, tripping her backwards and sending her to the ground.

She started getting up, but Dan stepped up, putting the point of his sword at her throat. There was anger in his eyes, anger that someone had threatened people so close to him. But he couldn't bring himself to kill this woman. Death wasn't in him. He had promised himself he would never be a killer, no matter how much hate he felt.

Alice ran around the thief, took the rest of her ropes and tied her up too. She could understand Dan's aversion to killing. She had never liked it either.

"Where's Runo?" her mother asked, worry in her voice.

"She was checking on the guests . . ." Dan said. Upstairs, they started to hear more yelling and fighing. He looked to Alice, and asked, "You coming?" She nodded. They ran back up the stairs, Runo's father following them.

On the second floor they found three more thieves threatening the other guests. Dan's eyes scanned the fighting, but he didn't see Runo anywhere. "We don't have time for this!" Dan shouted out of frustration. "We need to find Runo!"

Alice fanned out her weapons with a sharp sound. "You go find her. We'll handle this!" she told him.

Dan and Alice ran through the crowd of fighting guests and thieves, Alice spinning around Dan with her fans, using them to knock away blows and to guarantee he would make it to the next set of stairs. "You gonna be okay here?" he called back to her as he started running up the stairs. A thief ran at Alice, trying to stab her with his sword. She blocked it with one fan, spun around him, and stabbed him in the head with the blunt side of the other fan, closed. "I'll be fine," she assured him.

Dan heard glass breaking as he ran up the stairs. Runo! Dan stopped and starred. Runo was bloody and unconscious in Shun's arms. Dan felt that same anger growing stronger than before. He gripped his sword and ran at Shun, stabbing right for his head. Shun moved his head out of the way just in time, Dan's sword stabbing into the wood. They stared at each other, Dan's face full of anger, Shun's face an expression he couldn't read.

Slowly, Shun stepped away and laid Runo down on her side. He slowly drew his swords back out as Dan pulled his out of the wall. They stared at each other, memories of their past together rising back to the surface. Their former friendship, and how betrayed they both felt, it seemed as if all their feelings were spilling out here and now.

Dan acted first, throwing all his weight into a blow at Shun's shoulder. Shun stepped out of the way, forcing Dan to step passed him. He swung one of his swords around Dan's back to try to attempt a blow from behind. Dan ducked down, the sword sailing over his back, leaving Shun open. Dan twisted around to face him again, all the rage in him focusing into fire. A ball formed in Dan's hand. He shot it directly at Shun, hitting a blow. Shun, stumbled back and clutched his hand to the burn in his chest.

Shun got back to his feet, spun around once to gather momentum, and sent two blasts of air out of his swords. It was Dan's turn to fall back. He flew down the hall, landing flat on his back. Shun took one sword in both hands and ran to Dan, bringing the sword point down on him as hard as he could. Dan rolled out of the way quickly and pulled himself back to his feet, despite the pain running through his spine. He grabbed his sword once again and jumped at Shun, trying to bring a blow down on top of him. Shun formed an X with his swords and blocked it, but Dan landed a kick in his ribs under his swords. Shun was knocked back a step, but his stance was studier now, prepared for hard blows. He stepped up once again, spinning around with his swords and trying to strike Dan time after time. Dan started stepping back and blocking the blows with his sword, getting pushed down the hall until he was once again at the stairs. He knew he couldn't fight Shun while going down stairs. He had to think of something.

Dan pushed against his sword hard as he blocked Shun's, trying to throw him off. It worked, their sword's hitting at the right time to send Shun back several steps. Dan gathered his energy and sent a blast of fire at Shun. Shun quickly conjured wind up in front of himself to counteract the fire, but, though he suffered no blows, he flew all the way back to the end of the hall. He took control of the fall and landed back in a fighting stance.

The fighters faced each other now, both breathing heavily and sweating dripping down their foreheads. They were tired and they both knew they couldn't go too many more rounds like this. They had to take the other one out fast. Preparing themselves, they both ran at each other, swords in hand, to try to take the other one out in one last blow.

At that last second before they collided, a wall of darkness appeared in between them. Their swords bounced off the wall. They both blinked at stared at each other's silhouette, which they could just see through the wall.

"Stop it, you guys!" a girl shouted from the stairs. Dan turned around to see Alice standing there, a ball of darkness covering each hand. The darkness faded away, Shun looking past Dan to see the beautiful orange haired girl he had seen earlier. "We're not suppose to be fighting each other!" Alice told them.

"Alice, stay out of this!" Dan shouted, eager to finish the fight.

"Don't talk to her that way!" Shun shouted back, immediately feeling defensive over this girl.

Alice gasped suddenly and shouted, "Runo!" She ran passed the boys to the motionless, bloody girl laying on the ground. Alice got down on the knees and lifted Runo into her arms, paying no attention to the blood spilling on her dress. She looked over her shoulder to the boys and shouted them, "Guys, where can we find first aid supplies?"

Shun remembered Sora, and Dan though of Runo's mother, who was also excellent with first aid. "Here, I now where to get some help," Shun said, turning to run down the stairs.

"Yeah, me too," Dan added, following him.

Alice looked down at the girl in her arms. Her eyes were opening slowly, just barely cracking open. She didn't know if she could hear her, but Alice said, "Don't worry, you're going to be okay," just as Runo's eyes fell closed again.

I started writing this like last Friday and today is Sunday. This feels . . . really long. Oh god, that's what she said. Please excuse me, I need to get my mind out of the gutter. ;) Well, I hope this all sounds okay and I hope you enjoyed it!

It was a little hard for me to decide if Alice would be a kick-ass fighter or not, or if she would be more of a wisdom person like in the show, but I decided in my fanfic, she could be both. :)

Next chapter: Our first look at Masquerade and Marucho! Don't you worry, Marucho dearest. In my story, you are fifteen, and unlike the actual show creators, I will let you go through puberty and grow past two feet! I'll try to get that up soon. (Don't all roll your eyes at once!) Thanks!

P.S. I changed my name to NeverEnding Sky, but I'm not totally sold on it, so could people please give me opinions on whether they liked xXx Nevermore xXx better? You don't have to, just asking. Thanks. :)