Bakugan Battle Squad

Prequel

Lightus: I don't own Bakugan

(Written by Newborn Hope as the co-writer of this story!)

"Tag! You're it!"
The garden was filled with innocent laughter of two young children as they ran around, playing and chasing swallow-tailed or Monarch butterflies. The fence of pansies encircling the garden was at the stage of full-bloom.
"I'm gonna catch you this time!"
"Nu-uh!"
"Uh-huh!"
"You can't race me and you know it!"
"Oh yeah? Then once I prove you wrong, I'm gonna tickle you so much that you wont be able to stop laughing forever!"
"Oohhh! Scary!"
Apparently, the two children weren't more than seven years old. But looking closely, one could see that they shared exactly the same physical features. Same height, same frame. What was more interesting was that their faces were exactly alike. Scattered raven bangs (albeit the fact that the girl had her already knee-length hair in a pony tail while the boy had shoulder length hair) flopping into their eyes as they roughly framed their cheeks and black eyes darker than the night sky that twinkled mischievously. Their olive complexion was flushed due to running so much.
"Ah-ha! Who's the winner now?!" The boy caught up to his playmate, holding her from around the waist as he started tickling her.
"Stop! Stop!" The young girl giggled uncontrollably as she tried in vain to free herself.
"Never!"
After a few minutes, the two plopped down on the grass in a heap of laughter, gazing at the clouds floating beyond the vast horizon.
"Lightus?"
"Yeah, Hope?" Black eyes moved to meet their reflection.
"Don't you wish things would always stay this way"
"Hope..."
"I wish...I wish we always stay like that...together...with each other." Hope was staring at the sky pensively.
"We will." Lightus turned towards his twin, "As long as we keep living."
"Why do I feel like time wont let us? That it'll separate you and me?"
"Hope..." Lightus had a determined look in his face as he grabbed his twin's hand, "I promise. As long as I'm alive, I'll never leave you."
And the canvas of sky had the competent brush strokes of an artist as pink, orange, red and gold was spread across the horizon.

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"Mom? Dad?" Her voice was quivering as she whispered brokenly.
"According to our resources, it is confirmed that approximately nine casualties have not survived the unfortunate fire accident at a local mall..."
Through the tears, her vision of the news caster was getting blurry.
"We will now announce the names of those people. May their souls rest in peace."
Biting her lip nervously, she turned towards the large plasma screen.
"Marian Johnson, Steven Ash-ford, Gary Wild, Gwen Sylvester, Aaron and Fleur Storm, Nicholas Walker..."
Her eyes widened drastically as the two names began to echo in her mind, chanting hauntingly.
'Aaron and Fleur Storm...'
'Aaron...'
'Fleur...'
'Storm...'
'AARON!'
'FLEUR!'
'STORM!'
She began to lose all her self-control, "MOM?! DAD?!" Her scream echoed with a deafening finality.
"Hope!"
Dimly, she was aware of someone holding her tight as she got hysteric, "MOM...DAD..."
"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...I came as soon as I got the news...Hope...mom and dad...they're happy now..." Lightus blinked away his own tears as he saw his twin's traumatized expression of pain.
Shaking violently in her brother's hold, she tried to muffle her sobs, "Why did they leave us...? HOW COULD THEY?!"
"I'm so sorry..." Lightus kept repeating the words, grabbing his sister protectively.
"They left us...all alone..."
"Alone..." Lightus heard the barely audible whisper, "No Hope...we're not alone." He turned her tear stained face to meet his eyes, "We still have each other..."
"I..." She suddenly gripped her brother's hand as if her life depended on it, "Don't leave me...I...I wont be able to live without you...my brother..."
"I wont. I promise." He stroked her hair gently, "I swear Hope...as long as I'm alive, I'll never leave you..."
And diamond stars twinkled on the velvet night sky as they bared witness to the sealed promise.

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"You left me too...didn't you?" She chuckled softly, gazing at the picture of a handsome teen, "Seems like you couldn't keep your promise after all."
"Hope?" A dark green and silver ball opened up.
"Yeah, Sky?" She quickly rubbed her eyes to get rid of crystalline droplets accumulating on the long eyelashes.
"Shouldn't you be asleep? You have a battle tomorrow morning." Sky Lark hopped over from the nightstand to where she was sitting on her bed.
"Had a dream." She knew she could always confide in her bakugan about everything.
"About him again?" Sky Lark glanced at the picture in his brawler's hand.
"Yeah."
"Want to talk about it?"
She shook her head with a sad smile, "Just...old memories from the past. No reason to dig 'em up again."
"Well..." Sky Lark jumped onto her pillow, "If you want an ear to listen, you know where to find me. I'll always be here by your side."
"Thanks Sky." She rested her head beside her bakugan, "I still don't know if I deserve it."
"You deserve to be happy."
"What if I'm not worth it?"
"You are worth more than you think."
"Sky..." Hope looked at her best friend, "He's teamed up with those brawlers. There's a chance I'll be facing off against him someday."
Sky Lark, having experience with his brawler remained silent as she poured her heart out.
"I don't think I'll be able to fight him. We're twins after all. What he feels, I feel it too. We depend on each other to stay alive. Yet here..." Her expression was depressed, "I don't want that to happen."
"You need to let him see your true face. Reveal your identity to him." Sky glanced at the black veil and her hoody. She always kept the hood of the wind breaker over her head and used the veil to conceal her face so that only her eyes would be visible. Her black fingerless gloves lied beside the said articles.
"I can't." Hope followed her bakugan's gaze, "If I do...he'll hate me forever."
"But what if he accepts you just the way you are?" Sky Lark objected.
"What if he doesn't?" She questioned back.
Sky Lark remained quiet.
"You know..." She shifted to gaze at the ceiling, "Life is a chess board. We play the game...and either we rule it out or admit defeat. Surrendering is not an option when you're this close to check-mate."
Sky was aware of his brawler's philosophical nature as he prodded, "And?"
"One wrong move...and you die. However, one right move...and you conquer victory."
"But you need to be sure of your next step in order to win the match, correct?"
"Yes. And I'll be damned if I lose this one."
"You do realize that you're risking your life in this game..." Sky Lark pointed out.
"It's the only thing I've got left to bet on." Black eyes held fierce determination.
As she was drifting off to sleep, she pictured him again.
'One day soon, brother...I swear I'm going to get you back.'

Lightus: Thanks Newborn Hope