Chapter 15
A/N: Nyaaaaaaaaah…kyaaaaaaaaaaah…PUDDING!!!! I have a sudden craving for chocolate pudding…among all of my other cravings…so many cravings, so little me…such a sad, sad world…
And I'm funny? And I rock? *totally flattered* Aw, you peoples rule. Totally rule. All of you, every single one. *passes out chocolates* Love yalls!
CloneGirl: I tried to think of someone else to bring in to say the disclaimer for me, other than Maskerado-kun…but I couldn't think of anyone else, although there is a plethora of choices. So…MASKERADO-KUN!!!! ^.^
Masquerade: Whatever. CloneGirl does not any rights to Bakugan whatsoever.
CloneGirl: …Whoa…that was awfully quick and easy…you didn't fight or anything…or sic a mob of lawyers on me…perhaps…you're suddenly grateful to me for thinking up this wonderful pairing, aren't you! ^.^
Masquerade: …No. I just don't feel like arguing with you. If anything, I hate you more. Because of you, Hydranoid won't LEAVE ME ALONE!
Hydranoid: TELL ME!!! TELL ME!!! TELL MEEEEEEE!!!!!!
Masquerade: *dropkicks nosy Bakugan into Doom Dimension*
CloneGirl: …You know that he isn't really in the Doom Dimension? That he still has to appear in the story?
Masquerade: …Damn.
He was slowly being driven insane with this constant curiosity.
For the last week and a half, Hydranoid had been relentlessly pounding Masquerade for at least a hint about what had happened, something that was terrible enough to make the boy stop his visits with the Brawler girl. All to no avail.
He…had…to know…
Hydranoid had never before considered himself to this incredibly inquisitive, inquisitive to the point of madness. But this was an entirely different situation. With Masquerade troubled…it could possibly hinder Naga's plans…not to mention that the boy was being almost tantalizingly secretive, with the strange way he reacted whenever the Brawler girl was even whispered about now.
Finally, the Darkus Bakugan had decided that it was time to use desperate measures, probably the most desperate and demeaning measures he would ever take. Thank goodness Masquerade didn't keep a very close watch on his dimensional transporter…
* * * * * * * * * * *
The last week had been…unsettling for the Haos Bakugan, to say the least. And she blamed Masquerade for all of it.
If he had never offered to tutor Runo, he never would have gotten close to her mistress. If he had never gotten close to her, Tigrerra never would have felt obligated to tell the other Brawlers about it, Runo never would have asked him to help her with her dancing. And if he had never got her as riled up as he did…then the 'incident' never would have happened.
For the last week and a half, Runo had been…a mess. Giving Tigrerra the cold shoulder, never sleeping (and when she did she always woke up within minutes in a cold, panicked sweat), and the math mark that had seen a chance of being salvaged could only be as hopelessly doomed as before.
At least tonight seemed to better for the blue haired girl. Nights spent staring up at the ceiling had finally caught up to her, and she was sleeping, with a wondrous peace upon her face, something Tigrerra was glad to see. Perhaps Runo was finally putting the whole thing behind her, and the Haos Bakugan could forget her fears of Runo possibly having…
No, she refused to think of it. Because it was the impossible. Unthinkable. Unheard of, and…wrong. Very wrong. Very, very, very, extremely wrong.
She watched her mistress from her little dollhouse, the peaceful rise and fall of her chest, the blissful little smile on her face as she had hopefully happy dreams. It seemed she had finally decided to forget this whole ordeal, not let it get to her…and it didn't seem like Masquerade would be returning to trouble her any more…
It was at that moment that a bright light, blinding in the former darkness, interrupted Tigrerra's thoughts. A light that, for some reason, reminded Tigrerra of the same light used with Masquerade's transporter…
"Ninth try's the charm, I suppose," a voice muttered, a familiar, dark hiss of a voice, and a black and purple ball rolled off a glowing white card, which later dimmed. Hydranoid.
He seemed to realize he was right across from a very awake Tigrerra. They stared at each other, too surprised to think of what to do, only awakened out of their reverie when Alice muttered something and rolled over.
"What are you doing here, Hydranoid?!" Tigrerra asked loudly, causing her mistress and her friend to shift and mutter in their sleep. "Leave at once!"
"Just wait," Hydranoid whispered furiously, glancing at the girls anxiously. "I'm not here for a fight."
"What?" Tigrerra said in surprise, taken aback. "Then…what am I thinking, RUNO!"
"Shut up!" Hydranoid hopped up and down anxiously, as Runo stirred, then stilled. "I just want to…to ask you something!" How low he had sunk, to be asking this of an enemy. Disgraceful for someone like him.
"Very likely, Hydranoid," Tigrerra snarled, slowly backing away from the Darkus Bakugan. "What would you have to ask of me?"
…Disgraceful as it was…he had to know. "I simply wish to know what had happened when Masquerade was last here, that is all."
"…" Tigrerra stared at him, confused. "What? Did Masquerade not tell you? Does he not tell you anything?" The idea of a human not confiding in his Bakugan was alien to her…
"He…he does tell me a lot of…things," Hydranoid muttered defensively, hoping that she wouldn't see through the lie. "It's just…he didn't tell me anything about this. All I know is that he's been…acting…weird…"
Tigrerra continued to stare at him, not without hostility. "And you expect me to tell you?"
"Well…yes…yes I do…"
"Then you have no hope," Tigrerra said haughtily, turning away from him. "I intend to tell you nothing."
"What?!" Hydranoid rolled around to face her, with an evil, demanding glare. "I demand that you tell me! Do you not know what I have been through this last week?!"
"And do you not know what I have been through this week, all thanks to your master?" Tigrerra shot back, rolling away from the Darkus Bakugan again. "Not to mention the stress that Masquerade has put upon milady?"
Before Hydranoid could offer a retort, Runo stirred and mumbled something. They both went still, and Tigrerra waited for her mistress to begin her subconscious mutters, those whispers about Dan that came every night…
"Hmm…Masquerade…"
The silence was that of shock, surprised and pressing as Runo continued to ramble sleepily and blissfully, this time under her breath. Tigrerra couldn't think of what to say or to think, except that Runo must have, to put it bluntly, gone insane.
It was Hydranoid who finally broke the silence, rather smugly. "Stress, huh? Oh yes, she seems to be very stressed right now, doesn't she…" His voice trailed off, then returned with a triumphant tone to it as he realized what this had to mean. "It is hormonal! What ever happened, it was related to hormones somehow! I'm right, aren't I?!"
"Of course not," Tigrerra snapped back stiffly. Something in her voice, however, very heavily suggested otherwise.
Hydranoid would have patted himself on his back, if it were possible. "Ha, I was right all along! And Masquerade thought that he could convince…me otherwise…" His triumph slowly turned to horror as he finally clued in on yet another meaning for this. "This means that…that he is…he is falling in love with the Brawler girl! No!"
Tigrerra was about to answer this with shock, demand to know why Hydranoid was so sure that Masquerade was 'falling in love' with her mistress and then try to deny it, say that it was too terrible and forbidden to be true. But the tone of his voice conflicted with her pride. "What do you mean by 'no'? Are you suggesting that my milady isn't…good enough for Masquerade?"
"Of course," Hydranoid answered, not without a certain measure of arrogance. "My master deserves more than some measly Brawler girl, especially one such as her." Somehow, he forgot to mention how this supposed 'relationship' could end up ruining Naga's plans…
"Is that what you think?" Tigrerra said, just as arrogantly. There was no way she would allow this…this thing, as she now chose to think of him as, degrade her mistress in any way. "For your information, milady is good enough for any male, including Masquerade. In fact, she better than all of them and deserves far, far more."
"Oh please," Hydranoid snarled. "You and your 'lady' should be grateful that my master regards her with such grace."
"She has no such need to be grateful! It is obviously Masquerade who is smitten with her!" Tigrerra barely noticed how she was now supporting the possibility of Masquerade loving Runo, indignant as she was, and barely noticed that she had forgotten her suspicion for many of Masquerade's actions. "Why…why other reason would he be so gracious to her?"
"Well…I believe it is the Brawler girl who appears to be dreaming about my master. Does this not seem as though it is her who is smitten?"
"Runo is not dreaming about him…in that way. You simply…misunderstand." That was the worst excuse that she had ever come up with.
As was expected, Hydranoid scoffed at the possibility. "Oh, and I suppose you could tell me why your mistress would be whispering about my master with such…bliss in her voice?"
Tigrerra found herself without a response that would salvage 'Runo's' pride, or rather the Haos Bakugan's pride. Instead, she was forced to respond with a simple, "Hmph."
"Nothing else to say, eh?" Hydranoid sneered, his euphoria very clear. "Well, I'd say that this proves it. It is the Brawler girl who is in love with my master, whereas Masquerade is simply far too good for her."
"Wrong. Masquerade is the one who is infatuated. Milady, meanwhile, has no feelings for him in the least," she corrected snippily.
"Is that so? Well then…why don't we make a little deal?"
"A deal?" Tigrerra said warily, forgetting her pride for a brief moment. "What do you mean by a deal?"
"I prove that you are wrong, completely wrong, and that I am right. And then this little matter will be settled.
If it had been Runo agreeing to something like this, Tigrerra would have fought against it, say that nothing good could come of it, as she had already said so many times. It might have occurred to her to take her own advice…but no. The pride had returned within an instant. "Or perhaps I will be the one to prove that it is I who is correct," she growled.
Hydranoid laughed harshly. "Oh, so confident you are. Fine then. I shall prove to you that I am right, and then you will pay for your rudeness to me."
Before Tigrerra could react to this, Hydranoid had rolled back onto the card that he had arrived on earlier and vanished with a brief flash of light.
She made a vow to herself at that moment, a vow opposite to that of what Hydranoid was making to himself. To make sure that Masquerade had for sure fallen in love with Runo, while making sure that she fell out of it.
The things that pride makes people and Bakugan alike do…
A/N: Yep…now for some strange reason I have Tigrerra and Hydranoid playing some sort of twisted version of a match-maker. How I'm gonna make that work…hmm…guess I'll sleep on it…now I have no idea how I'm going to make it all work. Fah…being the genius that I am (as if), I shall figure something out. JUST WAIT!!!!!