Chapter 20

A/N: MY FIRST STORY TO REACH TWENTY CHAPTERS! BOW DOWN TO ME AND MY AMAZING ACCOMPLISHMENT! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

damn I never thought I'd get this far. *Sigh*…I'm so freaking proud of myself…like, amazingly proud of myself…yep…heh heh…oh yes…and…101 REVIEWS BABY! YEAH! BOW DOWN TO ME! BOW!

Okay…I tried to keep Maskerado-kun in-characterish for this…and I think that I did a pretty good job of doing so…in the beginning. Then he just goes back to his good old OOCness…hey, I do

have my moments of in-character…ness. I do. Occasionally.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bakugan.

There had a been a small little part of her hoping that Dan would return. At the moment, he would have been the best kind of punching bag she could have. But she supposed that Masquerade was the next best thing…and after all…when life gives you lemons…

You squeeze them into the eyes of your enemies.

There was no warning cry or shout, even a look or subconscious action that would have warned him. One second she was staring at him, a blank expression on her face; the next, she was launching herself at him, hands outstretched and ready to gouge out his eyes, if she could get at them under that mask.

How he had managed it, Tigrerra would never know; he moved too fast for her mind to process what was happening. But somehow it was possible; he had a hand clamped over her mouth, an arm wrapped around her and crushing her back against his chest. He stumbled back just slightly from the impact of her attack, bumping up against the wall.

"I appreciate the warm welcome," he said dryly, tightening his arm as she struggled to break free. "You didn't have to go all out for me, really."

"MMFF!"

"Unhand her at once!" Tigrerra roared, rolling out of her dollhouse and clattering to the ground. Fast and furious, she barreled across the floorboards, crashing against Masquerade's foot.

The fact that he didn't appear to care about her attempt at all did not waver her determination and anger. She continued to roll towards him, only to bump off his foot and try again. He glanced down and watched her for a moment, amused, before getting annoyed.

Runo shouted out, still muffled, as he calmly kicked the Bakugan across the room. Tigrerra collided with the wall by the window, falling to the ground with a cry.

"How irksome," he commented coldly as Runo shoved against his arm, half-crazed. "Now, my dear, I've heard that you've been saying something about me that hurts my feelings."

As if you have any, she thought acidly, but she slowly stopped fighting against his iron-grip, confused by his tone. When he had visited her before, as her tutor, he had always been strangely friendly, satirical perhaps, but never had he sounded like this. Because now…he sounded like…

Her enemy.

"Do I have to remind you who exactly is currently the number one battle brawler in the world? Perhaps if we brawled, you would remember as you watch your Tigrerra being sent to the Doom Dimension." He chuckled, a dark and menacing sound that made the back of her neck tingle. "Or maybe, I could take out your precious Dan first…"

Dan?

"Oh sorry, did I upset you?" Masquerade sneered as she jerked her head up and down, trying to shake his hand off her mouth. "Worried about him? Want to warn him? Well, perhaps we won't have to come to that, as long as you admit that OW!"

He whipped his hand away from her mouth, staring at it, aghast.

"Did you just…bite me?!" How degrading.

Runo didn't bother answering that question. It was unimportant, compared to what else she had to say. "Yes! Get Dan! Get him!"

"…What?" Masquerade completely forgot about his bitten hand, trying to understand what she meant.

"Milady, you are being irrational!" Tigrerra had recovered, still on the other side of the room. "I know that you are rather furious at him, but that's no reason too…"

"It's plenty reason!" she snapped, stomping her foot and just barely avoiding her captor's. "That arrogant, big-headed, stupid, inconsiderate jerk deserves to be beaten, and beaten badly!"

"Wait a minute." Masquerade spun Runo around and gripped her shoulders tightly, staring at her intensely. "Are you saying you'd be happy if I battled Dan and beat him? You don't think…that he'd win?"

"Him? Win?" Runo barked out a harsh laugh. "As if! Nothing would make me happier than if he got what was coming to him!"

"Milady, you are being unreasonable…"

Tigrerra's voice trailed off as Masquerade unexpectedly laughed out loud, sounding relieved, and suddenly hugged Runo to his chest, nearly crushing her. (A/N: …Yep…that's kinda OOC…YAY FOR OOC! This world would be nothing without it's OOCness…I would be nothing without OOCness. I live on OOCness.) "Ha! I can't believe it…wait till Hydranoid hears about this, I knew he had to be wrong…"

All of a sudden, the room seemed to be very…hot. Perhaps it was just the blush spreading across Runo's cheeks…or perhaps her room had mysteriously been converted into the devil's personal living room. She sincerely hoped that it was the second option.

…Maybe the devil was also playing tricks with her mind while he was at it…

Blinking confusedly, Runo pushed herself away, breaking his grip on her. She stumbled backwards, turning her eyes down to the floor and clumsily spinning around to face the window. Moving as though in a drunken dream, she reached forward and hurriedly opened it up. Away, devil, away…I have no intention of burning up just so that you have a place to hang out…

The windowpanes opened up smoothly, followed by a crisp breeze…that was absolutely no help in cooling her fevered cheeks. Maybe the devil wouldn't be so easily pushed out…

She screwed her eyes shut, taking in a deep breath. Okay…she was going to count to ten, and then she was going to turn around. And when she did, Masquerade would be gone, a simple side-effect of her imminent dementia, and she could go on with her life…okay…one…two…

Screw that. She seriously didn't want to think about numbers of all things, not right now. Chances were that she would end up trying to throttle herself (and the devil too, while she was at it) if she was forced to be reminded of math anymore than she needed to be. So, she was just going to turn around so that she could see for herself that he wasn't there or had been previously hugging her…okay, she was ready…

Cautiously, she spun around on her heel, the wind tickling the back of her neck, and saw…complete and utter blackness. She'd forgotten to open her eyes. Right, sight was supposed to be helpful.

Very slowly, very carefully, she cracked an eyelid open. No good; the slit was too infinitesimal to be of any help whatsoever. She took a deep breath, summoning up all her courage. Why was it so hard, to make sure that the blonde wasn't really there? She was being stupid…all she had to do was open her eyes, it wasn't defusing a bomb or anything…okay…

She could have sworn that her eyelids would have creaked, she was opening them so slowly. But finally, after what felt like centuries, light was finally leaking through and piercing her pupils, and they were all the way open…

And looking upon nothing but the dusty floor and the wall opposite her.

A little party went off in her head, celebrating the fact that Masquerade wasn't there, never had been there, that he hadn't hugged her and she really was going crazy…

"That was awfully drawn out."

She yelped and jumped to the side, away from where she could have sworn she had imagined his voice. But it seemed that the premature party had left her head screwed up, and she ended up crashing into a warm body.

"You're blushing," he murmured, stepping forward in front of the window as she hurriedly straightened up and stepped back, trying her best to remain aloof (ultimately, she failed). For a moment, he was enveloped in the sunlight slanting through the window, an incorporeal shadow in her blinded eyes, almost…angelic. But the moment passed as her pupils adjusted to the sudden light, and he was once again a mere human.

Her scrambled brain wouldn't let her think up a reaction to his accusation; instead, she blurted out the first thing that somehow managed to survive the tornado ravaging her mind. "What're you doing here?!"

He didn't say anything at first, just stared at her in bemused silence. "Well…I had the intention of challenging you to a brawl…but…I don't think there's really any point to it now…"

"Why are you here?!"

The tips of his mouth turned down into a quizzical look. "I just told you…"

"No!" She threw her hands up into the air wildly, frustrated. "What are you doing here after…after what happened last time!"

"…Oh…right…"

"Leave at once, Masquerade!" Tigrerra said furiously, rolling by her mistress' foot as though she could somehow protect her. "You have no right to be here!"

"…Right…" Masquerade didn't seem to be capable of saying much else at the moment, wrapped up in the memories of his last visit as he was. "I…should just go…"

"YOU CREEP!"

He never had a chance to save himself; he stumbled back half a step as she lunged at him, pummeling her fists against his chest. She ignored the jolt of pain that flashed through her hands with the impact when they bounced off of something hard (A/N:Remember? He wears that metal thing under his jacket, as seen in episode Oh-My-God-One-Of-My-Faves 38? …He totally pulls it off, just so you know…totally…), just kept up her attack doggedly.

It was clear to Tigrerra that this was simply little more than a shock to the masked boy. He stood there in surprise, wincing slightly and trying to block her fists and grab onto her arms, but she would just rip them out of his grasp and ruthlessly continue, squeezing her eyes shut to stop any tears.

You creep…after that…what the hell, okay?! Just what the hell…I don't understand…

She still kept them close as a hand roughly grabbed her chin, yanking it up. She tensed for a moment, hesitated. That hesitation was just enough for a pair of lips to press against hers.

A/N: …Okay…my sister, Wynnie, would like to inform you all that if you don't review/beg me to keep going, she is going to, and I quote, 'dump gasoline in all your rooms, and when you're inside, light it up, lock the door and run.' Her words, not mine. Her other threat is, 'stick barbwire through your hearts, stick you on the wall, and dance in your blood while you scream'…she is slightly gruesome. I love her for it.

Anyways, important stuff; sequel is up, title "Love to Hate You, Hate to Love You". However, go to my profile for some juicy info concerning both this story and it's sequel.