A/N

FOR GOODNESS SAKE, WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?!

I want to know why all of my chapters are simply walls of gibberish. Seriously. This is not okay.

*Sigh* Okay, it should be fixed now. Carry on.

"We don't have to be defined by the things we did or didn't do in our past. Some people allow themselves to be controlled by regret. Maybe it's a regret, maybe it's not. It's merely something that happened. Get over it."

― Pittacus Lore, I Am Number Four

The day was shaping up to be one of the best Shun had seen in a while—and that wasn't just because of the weather. Being outside with the wind in his ears always had been something to lift his mood. Moving at a speed impossible to track, he was invisible. He had been doing it for so long it was second nature to just meld into the shadows, and even though he wasn't hiding in the dark, there was something thrilling in the action just the same. He was hiding in plain sight, and it made him feel invincible.

The kiss of the minty air on his cheeks and the cool feeling on the inside of his nostrils lifted his spirits to the highest they'd been since Dan disappeared. And with the anniversary of his mother's death falling so unfortunately in the middle of all that chaos, he had been having a worse time than most with the whole ordeal, with the exception of Julie, Runo and Marucho. His mood still wasn't great, but for once, he felt relatively peaceful.

But, as all things did, his peace came to an end. The city that had been on the horizon just a few minutes ago was rapidly growing larger, and Shun estimated that he was probably about a mile off. He slowed his pace down to a jog, hoping not to startle the citizens by just appearing out of thin air. When scouting for information, the subtle approach was usually the best, especially when it came to asking about people that many others, with good reason, feared.

Shun hadn't exactly been jumping at the prospect of going on scouting duty for Keith and Mira, especially with his ribs being as sore as they were (it felt like he was getting sucker-punched in the lower back with each movement), especially when he didn't exactly trust the two new brawlers Anubias and Sellon to head the teams to round up kids and extricate them from Bakugan Interspace, as Marucho had requested, but even he had to admit he needed a distraction. He wondered if he was simply overanalyzing the situation and that his stress was getting to him, but even still, something about the two didn't feel right. However, he knew he needed to get away from all the intensity for a while. It was really wearing on him; far more than he expected it to. He could feel some part of him slipping the more time he spent with his companions, and even more so when he spent time in Bakugan Interspace.

It was the same way he felt back then, when his only companion was his crotchety old grandfather.

The air on Displatis smelled of mint, almost as if the grass were really just some variation of the plant he knew on Earth. When he first came through the portal, he thought there was just a mint plant nearby, but now he knew that wasn't the case. Every breath felt chilled, and after running for so long, his throat and nostrils were almost numb. Shun liked it. It reminded him of a tea his mother used to make, and how her room always smelled like fresh mint sprigs.

It didn't take long for Shun to reach the city. It wasn't unlike Alpha City on New Vestroia, and he had to pass through a gate to gain entry. It was open, which was fortunate, and as he passed through, he tugged off the scarf woven around his face. He tucked it beneath his cape as he strode forward into the city.

Shun was noticed immediately. Vestals sitting at outdoor cafes fell silent, then started speaking to each other with hushed tones. They all pretended that they weren't watching him, but Shun could feel their stares and see them point out of the corner of his eye. He didn't make eye contact with them. He swept his gaze around the square, searching for anyone that looked as though they might know about the current events.

He found his candidate window-shopping at a bakery a little ways down the street. Dressed in a crisp, custom tailored suit was a man in his forties with thinning black hair. He clutched a shiny, leather suitcase in his left hand and was leaning back on his hips, eyeing the pastries with a sharp eye.

He was so engrossed in his observations that he didn't notice Shun approach until his shadow fell across him. He didn't jump, just glanced at Shun's reflection. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Excuse me, Sir, but you wouldn't happen to have seen my friends, would you?" Shun asked, keeping his shoulders relaxed and his expression neutral. The man turned to face him, a questioning look on his face. "They're young, about twenty one, I'd say."

"You're not from around here," the man said, ignoring Shun's question. His blue eyes searched his face curiously, a slight hint of suspicion lurking in their depths. "Are you from out of town?"

Shun kept his posture neutral, but frowned. "Yeah, something like that. You don't get visitors very often, I take it. I'm Shun. Shun Kazami." He stuck out a hand.

"Odin Harris," the man said, taking it. He seemed to warm up a bit at Shun's greeting and a bit of the hardness left his eyes, but not all of it. "Looking for friends, you say?"

"Yeah."

"They got names?"

"Mylene Farrow and Shadow Prove." Odin stared at him for a moment before giving a resigned sigh.

"Yeah, I've seen them. Gave everyone around here an awful fright when they waltzed into town. Even more so than the others."

"Others?"

"Yeah, the other Vexos." Shun's eyes widened.

"The other Vexos? You mean Lync and Volt?" His voice didn't give away his surprise.

"And Prince Hydron, too," Odin nodded. He gave Shun an inquisitive look. "You're friends, you said. Wouldn't they have told you that?"

"We haven't seen each other in a long time," Shun answered vaguely. "When did they arrive here?"

"Oh, a couple years ago, I'd say." Odin looked thoughtful. The topic of small-town gossip seemed to engage him, and all the hardness went out of his expression. "When they first showed up, everyone was surprised, even them. Apparently, no one on Vestal knows about our colony out here—which, in my opinion, is the best news we've gotten since we landed. But, you know." He lowered his voice. "No one was really keen on having Zenoheld's top supporters in town, no matter how many times they tried to assure us they weren't working for him anymore. And when Hydron showed up—ho boy—all hell pretty much broke loose."

Shun nodded in understanding. Even he was taken by surprise when Hydron started to help them in the fight against the Alternative. His track record didn't exactly speak in his favor. He was confused, though. Hadn't Hydron died in the explosion from the Alternative?

"Things have settled down now, though," Odin mused, glancing around at everyone on the street. Shun followed his gaze. Everyone had pretty much gone back to their business, but a few glances were still being cast his way.

"Any idea where I can find them?" Shun asked. Odin thought for a moment before a look of confusion crossed his features.

"You know, now that you've brought them up," he murmured, "I don't think I've seen them in a while. Normally, Hydron and Lync come down and get breakfast at the diner on Juno Street on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but I haven't seen them there in a while. And Mylene usually hangs out at the mayor's office, doing some sort of secretary work or something. But apparently, she hasn't shown up lately." Shun frowned.

"How long?"

"Hm…about three weeks, now that I think about it." Shun's frown deepened.

"Well that's an awfully strange coincidence," he muttered. Odin gave him a questioning look, but Shun didn't give him a chance to voice his concern. "Can you tell me where I can find the mayor's office?"

Shun supposed he was rather lucky to catch the mayor just as he was leaving his office to take his lunch break, but he didn't dwell on the thought for long.

"Excuse me," he said, stepping in front of the suited man. "Could I have a moment of your time?"

"Do you have an appointment?" the man asked. Shun took in the wrinkles above his eyebrows and the way his purple eyes were narrow with annoyance. He kept his expression even.

"No, I don't."

"Then I will have to decline. If you'll excuse me…" The man attempted to brush past him, but Shun was quick. He stepped right in his path again, drawing an irritated glare from the man.

"I'm sorry, but this is important. This concerns Mylene Farrow." The mayor froze and took a step back, scanning Shun's form with a scrutinizing glint in his eyes. Shun held his gaze.

"…Please," he said slowly, "step into my office, mister…?"

"Shun. Shun Kazami." He followed him past the secretary's desk, pretending not to see as she sank down in her chair. A twinge of guilt twisted in his stomach. He had probably scared her with the dark look on his face when he walked into the office. He noted the picture of a blue haired Vestal girl glaring at a silver haired young man with red eyes that was framed on the desk. Mylene and Shadow Prove. This secretary must have been a replacement.

"Ah, yes, I believe I recognize you now," said the mayor as he rounded his desk and sat. He motioned toward the pair of leather seats in front of the mahogany desk as Shun briefly took in the expensive furnishings. Shelves lined with antiques covered the walls and an elegant tapestry hung from the sleek amber paneling. It depicted a sea of vibrant magenta flowers beneath a blazing yellow sun, the same flowers he had seen in the field when he, Mira, Keith and Alice arrived.

"Shun Kazami," the mayor said, thoughtfully. His eyes were calmly suspicious, but not accusing. "Ventus Brawler, formerly ranked number one on Earth. Member of the Bakugan Battle Brawlers and the Bakugan Battle Brawlers Resistance. Am I correct?"

"Yes, you are," Shun replied, sitting. The mayor picked his lips and leaned forward, resting his chin on his clasped hands.

"If I'm not mistaken," he said slowly, "the Resistance and the Vexos were never exactly on the best of terms." Shun didn't say anything, and the mayor took his silence as an affirmation of the fact. "I see. Why should I give you any information concerning Miss Farrow if you intend to provoke her?"

"I'm not here to provoke her," Shun stated. "We were trying to save them when they were sucked through the Death Portal. But I don't see how it matters, as I hear they've been missing for a while."

The mayor watched him seriously, searching his face for any signs of malice. He found none; Shun was sure to keep his expression neutral. The man sighed. "Yes, unfortunately that is so."

"Do you have any idea where they might have gone?" He grimaced and a guilty look crossed his face. Shun narrowed his eyes.

"About three weeks ago," the mayor began, "a few of our watchmen noticed a glow coming from the eastern horizon. We were surprised, because our colony is the farthest east."

"There are others?"

"Four others. We all came out here to avoid Zenoheld's tyranny. We all knew the situation on Vestal was deteriorating. We decided to defer and move to some remote location, so we hijacked four of the seven intended colonization cities." Shun nodded in understanding. "Finding this place wasn't all that hard. I'm sure you've noticed how similar it is in appearance to New Vestroia? That's because it's a parallel world; it exists on a sort of skewed dimension.

"Anyway, we gave it a day and the lights were still there. So Mylene and her teammates, who are our appointed military faction, I suppose you could say, went to investigate. They haven't returned."

"Do you have any idea at all about the cause of the light?" Shun asked. The mayor sighed, sitting up and pulling a drawer in his desk open. He reached in and produced a Vestal communicator, which he turned on. A blank screen appeared, and after pressing a few buttons, a map glowed into being. Shun leaned in curiously.

"About five miles from here," he said, pointing at the screen, which featured a map of the surrounding area, "is an abandoned building." He clicked a button and an image of a building appeared. "It's huge. It can house about half of the population of this city comfortably. There's an automated kitchen and about three gymnasiums, one of which is about the size of what you would equate to a baseball field. There's even a laboratory somewhere in there, and dozens of other office rooms.

"Outside," he continued, pressing another button, "there are high powered lights." An image of a large field with lights Shun could only equate to prison grade dotting the area. Shun raised an eyebrow. The mayor noticed. "It's not a prison, but that building was designed to be a type of barracks for the Vestal army on New Vestroia. The lights were in case of attack." Shun nodded. "We believe that someone decided to use that facility for some purpose or another. We wanted to know why, as everything we do out here affects another city."

"Have the lights still been on at night?" Shun asked. The mayor nodded. "And Mylene and the others haven't come back?"

"No, they haven't," he replied, running a hand through his thinning hair. He sighed. "We haven't had any communication with them since they set out, and even though they have been accepted by some, not enough of our citizens are willing to risk their lives to go see if they're alright. Especially not after that other fellow showed up."

"Other fellow?"

"Yeah, kid in red. Blonde hair, really tall. He's got Volt Luster's physique, tall and brawny." Shun's eyes narrowed.

"What was his name?"

"I believe it was something along the lines of Seth or Sean or something."

"Sid?" The mayor's eyes lit up in recognition.

"Yeah, that was it." He frowned. "How did you know that?"

"Another friend of mine, I guess you could say," Shun replied.

The mayor nodded. "Would make sense, I suppose. Got along pretty well with the Vexos. Turns out he was a Pyrus brawler for some organization on his home planet. Didn't know of any other planets 'sides New Vestroia, Vestal, Displatis and Earth."

The ninja was quiet for a moment. "Those flowers," he nodded to the tapestry. "Are they the same as the ones all over the place outside the city?"

The mayor followed his gaze. "Yes," he said. "We planted them. Cyclamen."

"Seems like a lot of effort to beatify a landscape you never see." The mayor bristled a bit.

"They are there more as a cultural distinction than a landscaping decision."

Shun stood. "Would you mind pointing me in the direction of that facility?"

"You're going to go investigate?" The mayor stood as well, frowning in concern and appearing a bit surprised at the sudden change of subject. "I'm not sure that's a very good idea."

"Don't worry about me. You said it was East of here?" The mayor stared at him for a few seconds, as if sizing him up, before he sighed.

"Do you have one of these?" He gestured to the communicator. Shun pulled the one Mira gave him out of his pocket. The mayor picked his up and tapped a few buttons, and then the map appeared on Shun's floating screen. "That ought to tell you where to find it. There's a blueprint of the place on there, too, should you need it." He scratched his head, looking at Shun skeptically. "I hope you know what you're getting into, young man."

"Thanks for the information," Shun replied, stepping away from the chair. He reached out to grasp the mayor's hand and they shook, and then he nodded. "I think I'll take my leave now."

"Good luck," the mayor said, and then Shun was gone.

He was within an acre of the mysterious lighted building when he felt the familiar but no less unwelcome resistance of a trip wire against his right ankle. He didn't think twice before launching himself into the air.

His grunt was drowned out in the explosion that followed, one of such power that just the blast of hot air knocked him out of the air. He yelped in surprise, his carefully controlled jump quickly thrown off balance. Then he was falling, and righting himself was surprisingly hard with his intercostal muscles as bruised as the sparring partner of Bruce Lee.

He landed, ungracefully, in a crouch, twisting his ankle at an awkward angle beneath him. He winced, but rose to his feet immediately to take in the now flaming patch of cyclamen he had been walking through when he discovered the trip wire.

"Are you alright, Shun?" came Taylean's concerned voice. Shun noticed both he and Hawktor floating, nervously, by his head, but responding to them wasn't high on his priority list. He scanned the ground for anything else and came away with the knowledge that several more trip wires wired to death traps had been laid—four more, to be exact. They were arranged in a large pentagon around the open garage-like door leading into the building. Shun had set off the top of the shape, now leaving the others to form a trapezoid.

Another leap into the air revealed five other bombs—pipe bombs. They were crudely made, but clearly done by someone with a knowledge of what he was doing. From what he could see, they weren't wired to tripwires, but he didn't know if they were wired to motion sensors.

He landed more smoothly this time, carefully aimed away from the scorched earth of the first trap. He stood there for a moment, surveying the seemingly harmless stretch of ground before him.

What was in that building?

"What was that?" Hawktor asked. "Are you okay?" The question came more urgently this time. Shun had an urge to snap at him, but he reigned it in expertly. After all, he'd had years of practice with self control.

"Just fine," he replied curtly, walking forward. His cape and scarf, reminiscent to his days alone on New Vestroia, flapped in the breeze. Hawktor didn't fall for it.

"Shun, you are not 'fine'," he snapped back. "If you were 'fine', you'd talk to us!"

Shun eyed the nearest non-tripwired bomb tensely, with a trained eye. No timer, no motion sensor, but a small black box on the top. A receiver. He tensed.

This was a remote detonated bomb.

Someone was watching. Or was supposed to be watching, considering all of his limbs were still intact.

"Shun! Talk to us!" Taylean said insistently, pushing himself in Shun's face. Shun's eyes focused on him, but instead of showing understanding, they held only annoyance.

"I appreciate your concern," he forced out in a calm voice, "but this is not the best time to discuss this."

"Why?" Taylean demanded. Shun grit his teeth.

"Because that," he groused, pointing at the homemade pipe bomb, "is a remotely detonated bomb." His Bakugan fell silent at that, and even Shun couldn't deny the stab of smug satisfaction he felt when they quieted.

He considered disabling the devices. After looking at this one, he knew it would be relatively simple, as far as disabling bombs went. To a professional, anyway. Shun really only knew the basics. As a ninja, it was far more practical to get out of the line of fire than it was to spend precious time disabling an active charge.

Especially when time was something a ninja considered a precious asset.

He held out his hand, a signal the two Bakugan had gotten used to. They closed their balls and returned to him, and he held them tight in his fist. Then he leapt into the air again, clearing the entire rest of the field in a single jump.

He landed silently on the roof of the building, just above the garage door. He surveyed the roof quickly, discovering that, based on it's structure, it was likely that of a large room. One of the gymnasiums? he thought to himself. He turned then and stared down at the ground below, weighing his options and searching for video cameras and more trip wires.

Finding none, he dropped down, landing several feet to the right of the door. Shun pressed his back to the wall and stood up straight, then inched his way to a point where he could see inside.

His eyes widened. He recognized that person. How could he not, considering the circumstances under which they met?

"Ah, Shun. I didn't expect you to lose your temper so soon. And after something something so trivial, too."

And then a figure clad in red stepped into his line of vision.

"When they get to the end, you can't let that brat through. The rest of the bombs will be fine for the others; I don't really care what Kazarina has to say about Rin. Just don't let Dan through," Gill snarled.

"Yeah, yeah, I know the plan," growled the spiky-haired Gundalian, whose deep, guttural voice rubbed Shun the wrong way for a reason other than the obvious. "You sure about the bombs? One just went off."

"You probably hit the button on one in your incompetence." His accusation was biting, his tone one of scalding liquid metal. "Airzel, Stoica, let's go," snapped Gill. "I don't want to take any chances."

"Yes, sir," Airzel replied.

"I am going to kill that girl," Stoica growled, and the three stalked out of Shun's line of sight.

Maybe it had something to do with the coppery taste in Shun's mouth from where his tongue pierced his tongue, or maybe it was just from seeing Gill's crimson garb. He was well past the point of caring as the Gundalian's voice floated through his head.

"Remember, we hold nine lives in our hands. Or have you forgotten about Runo and Joe?"

Nine lives.

Runo. Joe. Mylene. Shadow. Lync. Volt. Hydron. Sid.

And Dan.

He had found Dan.

He was going to kill them, and if the red he was seeing was any indication of just how gruesome their murders would be, they had better watch out.

Uh…done for this chapter? Maybe? I think?

OH MY GOSH I HATE SHUN SO MUCH RIGHT NOW. HE IS A PAIN TO WRITE.

Uh…

Review!