Dai: So, it took me a while to come up with believable power levels, and now for the hard part... actual battling.

Verity: Nothing owned here.

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Alice walked through the town, thinking about where the others would be. She had decided she would look for Dan, and that was final. No matter what kind of mental torture would be in store for her.

"I can do this. Trust me. After all, you know what happened when Marduk took over the world." To most, she would have sounded crazy talking to herself like that. Of course, the two Darkus Bakugan on her shoulder knew better than that.

"Yeah, yeah," Reaper muttered. "The Doom Dimension opened, you realized exactly what had been happening to you for a while, and I became your Guardian Bakugan."

"And this is why Masquerade got rid of you."

Reaper and Hydranoid quickly descended into a squabble, just like always. Hydranoid had been upset that he needed to evolve again, Reaper was glad to be actually relevant, and it all went downhill from there. Far downhill.

Alice ignored the two. Her partner and Masquerade's had never really gotten along, because Reaper was a bit sore over having been replaced. Especially given that it had happened within a week. It got boring after a while.

Moving Hydranoid to her pocket for safety reasons, she hurried off to look for Mark and the others.

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Mark, Shun, and Runo were currently weighing their options. Assuming find Dan or lose him were options. Skyress, Drago, and Leo pitched opinions from time to time, mostly not in Dan's favor.

"Guys!"

"Alice, what are you doing here?"

"We heard Dan had gone missing, and we want to help."

"We?" Mark noticed a Darkus Bakugan on her shoulder. "Oh, you found a partner."

Leo noticed the other Bakugan and wandered over. "Hello, Reaper."

"Leonidas."

"You know each other?"

"You could say that." Mark decided against questioning him. If it was important, he'd be told later.

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By later, that meant once the others were out of earshot. "Let me guess... you're wondering how I know Reaper."

"Yeah."

"Well, you see, in the old timeline I ran into Reaper in the Doom Dimension, and we didn't exactly hit it off. He wanted protection from those wishing for revenge, and I was upset after constantly running across new arrivals, and... well... you know how I was never the most sociable Bakugan."

"Why would others be out for revenge?"

"That's the thing. You see, Reaper was Masquerade's first Guardian Bakugan. He was more or less abandoned by his partner after a bad loss."

"Actually... do you think this has something to do with why Alice is never around at the same time as Masquerade?"

"I'd bet on it."

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A while later, the group had left the town behind them for no reason other than to discuss the options, when the enemy chose to appear at a surprisingly convient moment.

"Hey. You're friends of that Pyrus user, aren't you? Dan, was it?"

"Who are you? Tell us how you know Dan!"

The boy appeared, laughing. "Yeah, he was an easy fight. My friends didn't even break a sweat."

"Taiki! What are you doing?"

"You know him?"

Runo was uncomfortable. "He's a distant cousin of mine, and goes to my old school. He uses Haos as well, and is quite the jerk."

"Now, now, where is that family loyalty?"

"Just tell me what you did to Dan."

"Not unless one of you can beat me. Just as a warning, I came across quite the powerful Bakugan recently."

Mark stepped up. "No problem."

"Field open!"

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Mark examined his opponent. All he knew about Taiki was that he used Haos, and that he had apparently come across a new Bakugan.

The new Bakugan part was hardly a surprise. The game had started a long time ago, and Mark and Leo were still finding new friends. However, it sounded like this was a powerful fighter, which narrowed down the options. Although Bakugan kept on getting more powerful, some kinds stopped growing as quickly earlier than others.

For example, Leo just kept on getting stronger, while his Juggernoid had stopped growing significantly quite a long time ago. Either this Bakugan ahd already reached peak preformance, or it was like Leo and grew rapidly no matter what.

Maybe it was best to start off with a weaker choice. After all, none of this seemed to involve the Doom Dimension at all, making taking risks safer. Somewhat.

"Bakugan Brawl! Centipoid, Stand!" Which meant throwing out his weakest by far. With only 330 G Power, he didn't expect much.

"Bakugan Brawl! Tuskor, Stand!" So maybe Juggernoid would have handled it better. Oh, well. There was a reason he was known for impossible victories. Besides that, he knew exactly how to play the game. He was no longer the same boy Shuji and Akira had bullied in the other timeline. And he could do anything. The fact that it was his Gate Card helped.

"Gate Card, open! Black Hole!" [Centipoid: 330-480] [Tuskor: 380-430]

Taiki's jaw dropped as the bug crushed the elephant. Apparently he was a bigger is better type. Of course, being extremely overconfident, to the point of reminding Mark of Dan, he shrugged it off.

"You only won because of that Gate Card. But I knew your Attribute from the start."

"Correction. Runo told you about me."

Taiki was deflated for a moment, before looking back up. "Either way, you won't win on my home field."

"We'll see about that. Bakugan Brawl! Mantris, Stand!" 350 G Power wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst either.

"Bakugan Brawl! Terrorclaw, Stand!" At any rate, it was better than 270.

"Now, Gate Card, open! Friendly Fire!" Now it was a bad thing. Maybe.

"I doubt you can stand up to us now!"

Mark smiled. "Actually, I think I can. Ability Card, activate! Slice Cutter!" [Terrorclaw: 370-320] Mantris proceeded to defeat Terrorclaw. "You like the big, intimidating Bakugan, don't you?"

Taiki nodded. "Yeah, and the next one will destroy you!"

"Really? Have you heard of my main Bakugan?"

"Of course! It seems to be my biggest worry If I want to become number one!" Which would be no surprise. Mark could honestly reach the top spot if he felt like it, but it never seemed like a good idea. Besides, in terms of keeping the timeline running smoothly, Leo was being kept out of the spotlight, and had about the same amount of power as when they first met.

Of course, one would question bothering with the timeline anymore, due to the simple reason that he had changed many things simply by being a Brawler from the start.

"Which is why I have an idea. Give you an incentive to win this."

"I'm listening."

"Simple. My new Bakugan against your Leonidas. If you win, you get her. I win, I take Leonidas. Deal?"

"Mark, this is a bad idea."

"Deal."

"Mark, what are you doing?" Leo panicked.

"Don't worry, Leo. We got this. Don't forget we still have two Ability Cards, even if we take his Gate Card. And we only need one."

"Alright then."

"Bakugan Brawl! Leo, Stand!" 340 G Power was hardly the best they could do. Staying on the down low was the only reason that power level wasn't any higher.

"Bakugan Brawl! Tigrerra, Stand!" Okay, so maybe it was useless to try to make the timeline run smoothly anymore. Obviously something had happened to make Taiki meet Tigrerra before Runo did.

"Gate Card, open! River Styx!" [Leo: 340-460] [Tigrerra: 340-440]

"Ability Card, activate! Crystal Fang!" [Tigrerra: 440-520] "Good luck topping this!"

"I don't need luck. Ability Card, activate! Alpha Blaster!" [Leo: 460-660] Needless to say, Tigrerra was utterly flattened.

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Mark walked up to Taiki. "Nice job."

Taiki glared at Tigrerra. "Dumb Bakugan! It was your fault we lost!"

TIgrerra was shocked. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you said you were strong! And you lost, which means that they have to know that their friend is imprisoned in an abandoned building near the construction site!" He picked her up and threw her over to Mark. "You want her so bad, you can have her!"

After Taiki stomped away, Runo went to Mark. "What did he give you?"

"One of his Bakugan. I'm not one for Haos, though. You want her?"

So, in the end, Runo and Tigrerra were still partners. Now, the real question was, just what awaited them near the construction site?

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Dai: So, G Power levels will slowly increase throughout the story, and Taiki will show up again.

Vee-Vee: Do you see the pattern with the Bakugan Taiki used?