In a cell on Vestal:
Luna, a girl with honey blond hair blue gray eyes wearing a bright yellow t-shirt, jeans and black sneakers, frowned as she looked to Masquerade. "Where are we?" Shun's cousin asked the masked brawler.
Masquerade didn't say anything as he tested the chains that encased his wrists. "I'm not sure." He admitted scowling at the fact that he wasn't sure. "But I can say for certain, we're not on Earth anymore."
"Oh you've got that right." A chuckle sounded from a shadowy corner of the cell and the two looked up to see another masked blond. Although this one looking like he had killed a whole flock of crows to make the lining on his coat. "You're in my kingdom now." He said with a sneer. "Cower in fear, at the might of King Spectra." Spectra said with a laugh
Luna raised an eyebrow and looked sideways at Masquerade and mouthed. 'Is this guy crazy?' Masquerade shifted his shoulders his shackles rattling at the moment before the masked blonde looked towards Spectra.
"Do you have any idea who I am?" Masquerade questioned.
Spectra snorted as he leaned down towards Masquerade. "My prisoner, and that's all that-"
He was cut off by a loud boom, and the door to the cell being blown off its hinges and falling forwards crushing the 'king' underneath it.
"Whoops!" Tyler said rushing into the cell and looking down gulping as he took in the scattered feathers the squashed coat and the growing puddle of red. "My bad."
"Cut!"
The cameras swivel away from the scene to show a brunette girl wearing black capris, sunglasses and a purple my little pony princess luna shirt, with a black cap on her head sighing as she buried her face in her hands sinking low into her director's chair.
"Tyler, I was trying to write something to show my appreciation for Brightcloud0915's work Bakugan: Opposites in New Vestroia! And then you had to go and squash birdbrain like a bug!" JetravenEx said rising from her chair and walking over to her wayward OC.
"Uh… Sorry boss." Tyler said swallowing slightly as Luna shook her head.
"You're in trouble now." Brightcloud's OC remarked as crew members unshackled her and Masquerade and helped them to their feet.
"Shut up newbie." Tyler said.
"Shut up Tyler." JetravenEx said flatly stepping forwards so there were only inches between them and jabbing a finger at his chest. "I am very disappointed in you. What are you even doing here?"
"Mike told me that Aidan told him that there's a conflict in your schedule in getting the Spectra and Masky brawl underway." Tyler said quickly.
"What conflict!" JetravenEx said. "Its summer, I don't need to rush anything, Aidan should know that."
"Well m'am…" Tyler rubbed his head sheepishly as in the background crewmembers lifted the door off the squashed birdbrain, wincing at the sight of the very squished Spectra. "You're going on vacation and-"
"What should we do about him?" one of the crewmembers asked JetravenEx.
"Oh just take him to the infirmary he'll sit out a chapter and he should be good as new." JetravenEx called to them waving them off as the crewmembers put Spectra on a stretcher and wheeled him out. Turning back to Tyler she said. "What was your excuse again."
"You're going on vacation starting Monday and you won't be back till Friday afternoon."
JetravenEx frowned. "Ah," Her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "That is a fair point. Very well." She whistled and clapped her hands. "Boys! Set the scenes! Prep the charries! We're going to perform Chapter 58 of Dual Dimensions today!"
Cheers erupted from the crew members as they hurried about to set up the hospital scenes.
"And since its on such short notice I'd best text brightcloud0915 to send me a disclaimer." JetravenEx said whipping out her old flip phone.
"You have a flip?" Tyler said in disbelief.
"I'd shut up, or a certain wayward OC will find this flip flipping into his forehead." JetravenEx warned as she began to text brightcloud.
JetravenEx: Hey Brightcloud0915, I know I didn't ask you for one earlier, but I'm in a bit of a bind so disclaimer?
Brightcloud0915: Uh, sure?
JetravenEx: Its super easy, just txt me JetravenEx doesn't own bakugan, blah blah blah.
Brightcloud0915: Okay? JetravenEx doesn't own bakugan.
JetravenEx:Thankies now I've got a chapter to put on.
JetravenEx shut her phone with a snap and clapped her hands. "Come on lets get this show on the road." She called to the crewmen.
"Uh, boss?" Tyler ventured reaching a hand to poke his creator/boss/slave driver.
"Oh, Tyler… Right, don't expect any cameos for a good long while." JetravenEx said waving her hand dismissively as she watched the crew finish setting up the scenes and preparing the cast for the chapter.
"What?!" Tyler cried eyes wide.
"Shut up!" JetravenEx said slapping a hand over his mouth lifting a finger to her mouth as she pointed towards the fully set up scene in front of them. "The shows starting…"
Tyler looked down as he edged away as JetravenEx plopped down into her chair and grabbed her megaphone that just appeared.
"Okay people, places places!" JetravenEx said as the characters moved into position. Then with a grin she jabbed a finger at the scene and shouted "ACTION!"
Chapter 58
"You guys have Masquerade?!" Marucho shouted as he gaped at the two girls sitting in the hospital room. Julie and Jewls nodded their heads vigorously to the three brawlers who had just arrived several minutes ago. Dan had his arms crossed and was looking at them with an expression that said he didn't fully buy it, while Alice frowned slightly.
"Yeah! We like brought him here after those weird people attacked him!" Jewls said. "He's like really out of it cuz he got a concussion or something." She added.
Dan tensed up a little. "Was a guy with black hair and amber eyes with them?"
Jewls raised an eyebrow and glanced at Julie. "Uh, we didn't actually see them, you'll have to ask either Mike and Jenny when they get back."
"Who's Mike?" Alice asked.
Jewls opened her mouth to speak when the door opened behind Dan, Alice and Marucho and Jet, Mike and Jenny entered.
"That'd be me." Mike said shoving his hands into the pocket of his hoodie. "I'm Mike Pasters." He nodded to Jet. "I'm one of Jet's friends."
Dan's expression brightened some at the sight of Jet. "It's good to see you're all right." He said to her.
Jet smiled slightly and nodded. "Its good to see you're okay too." She said.
"What happened to you Jet?" Marucho asked. "All Julie was able to tell us was that you had been hospitalized for something."
Dan's expression darkened. "Did that masked freak hurt you?" He asked reaching out to grasp Jet's shoulders. "Because if he did I'll-" He paused when Jet pulled back.
"He didn't hurt me, he saved me and Julie." Jet said as she pulled down her left sleeve slightly revealing the bandages that were wrapped around her shoulder area. Everyone besides Julie gasped in shock at the bandages.
"Jet, Jet what happened?" Mike asked as he leaned over and inspected the bandages swallowing slightly.
Jet edged away from them lifting her sleeve and covering up her shoulder. "Bi-" She stopped herself and glanced towards Julie. The other girl met her eyes for a moment before she lowered them to gaze blankly at the floor. A flash of pity rushed through Jet as she saw how pained Julie's eyes were. Billy's betrayal was still a very sore spot for Julie. Taking a deep breath and letting it out Jet looked at them all.
"Billy stabbed me in the shoulder." Jet said simply.
Silence crashed down upon the group as they looked at her. Dan's mouth opened and closed for a moment before the pyrus brawler finally got his vocal chords to move.
"What? It wasn't…"
"Masquerade?" Jet finished looking towards Dan with narrowed eyes. "No, in fact you can thank him for me and Julie standing here mostly safe and sound." She said harshly her fists clenched.
Dan was taken aback by Jet's response. Her shoulders were squared like she was bracing for an attack and her eyes were narrowed and the barest glimmers of rage sneaking about those blue depths.
The pyrus brawler frowned. "Okay then, but we still need to find out what he knows." Dan said he clenched his fists slightly. "Shun's been hurt real bad." He said lowering his head as gasps sounded from the assembled group. "And apparently he was after Masquerade." He turned to Mike who cocked his head to the side. "You said you fought them, did you see a black haired guy with amber eyes."
Mike's eyebrows furrowed as he looked off to the side chewing his lip. "Hmm… Yeah I do recall a jerk that looked like that with that crazy chick." He said tapping his chin. "He was really aggressive, he tried to charge at me, Masquerade and Jenny when they were on the verge of losing to Hydrogator's Tidal Wave." He said.
"Do you know where they went after you guys beat them?" Dan pressed moving closer to Mike.
Mike held up his hands. "I honestly don't know. I'm sorry but, all I know is after they lost they disappeared promising Masquerade that it wasn't over. After that Masquerade pretty much passed out from a concussion and we had to bring him here to try and regroup after all the craziness." Mike said.
Dan frowned and headed towards the door. "Then there's just one solution," He said opening the door and heading out into the hallway. Everyone looked at one another before they headed out after him as well. "Where's Masquerade's room?" He asked looking to the girls and Mike.
Jenny looked to Jet, who looked away. Julie and Jewls looked to Mike who heaved a sigh.
"It's this way." The brunette said heading down the hall, everyone else trailing slowly behind him.
"I can't believe that these guys were able to not only hurt Shun but even Masquerade!" Marucho said quietly to Alice as they followed Dan and Mike.
Alice nodded. "Indeed, it's very worrying." She said biting her lip as she grasped her arm with one hand. "Especially if Dan goes through with his plan to use Masquerade as bait to lure them back to us."
Marucho gulped. "Dan-Dan doesn't really plan to do that does he?" He said shakily looking at Alice imploringly but the red head was looking anywhere but at Marucho.
"After Shun was hurt Dan seems to have become more… angry." Alice ventured she glanced towards the pyrus brawler. Dan's fists were clenched and his jaw was set. Skyress and Drago perched on his shoulders neither twitching nor moving to signify any sort of conversation, both too absorbed with their own thoughts as they neared where their enemy was being held.
"Yeah," Marucho said sadly frowning.
"He blames Masquerade for this." Alice added as Mike halted in front of a door. "I hope he doesn't do anything too rash."
"Me too." Marucho whispered as the others began to surround the door.
Julie, Jewls and Jenny looked uncertain, and Jet was looking straight ahead though Marucho could see some sweat gathering around her brow and the slight tremble of her leg signifying the girl was either nervous or anxious.
Dan was glaring at the door, and Mike was looking at it impassively.
"Well this is his room, we left him here to rest, and nothing seems out of the ordinary." Mike said.
"Lets just get in there and talk to him already." Dan said as he grabbed the handle and pushed the door open, everyone surging forwards to get a look. Dan sucked in a breath. "What the heck?!" He said eyes wide and his fists clenching to the point his knuckles were turning white.
In the back Jet heaved a sigh of relief.
The hospital room was completely empty, barren of any sign that the masked blond had been there beside the rumpled bedsheets on the hospital bed.
/-/
A flash of light erupted in the masked brawlers room back at the mansion hidden in the woods. The light faded into a few sparkles descending slowly to the ground leaving one weary masked brawler in their wake.
Masquerade groaned as he flopped back onto his bed and lifted a hand to cover his face. He winced slightly as his mask dug slightly into his face. "I am so glad we're not dealing with those annoying brawlers right now." He murmured.
Hydranoid rolled out of his pocket and rolled onto the pillow beside the masked brawlers head. "Do you think they'll realize that Jet assisted with your escape?" The bakugan asked.
Masquerade shrugged his shoulders as he held up Jet's DT by his face. "I doubt it, they're not the brightest. The only ones who might put it together is Mike or Jenny." He removed his arm from his face heaving a sigh. "And Jenny won't tell because she seems to actually care about me, and Mike won't tell me because he seems to have a thing for Jet." He smirked slightly. "Though that may make him more disagreeable towards me, revealing that Jet helped me would only cause trouble for Jet. Thus straining his and Jet's relationship further." Masquerade smirked slightly before he winced as a jolt of pain erupted from his head.
"I see, well that is very good news master." Hydranoid said. "But what shall we do now?"
Masquerade sighed as he rolled over and lay on his side. "You can do whatever you'd like," He said waving his hand dismissively before letting it drop on his bed beside him. "I howeveram going to get some rest. Heaven knows I need it."
Hydranoid dipped his head. "Of course master, I will leave you be." He said folding up and rolling off the bed and out through the door that was opened just slightly.
Once the bakugan was gone Masquerade heaved a sigh and rolled back onto his back and put his arms behind his head.
"What a mess this has become…" He muttered. "Who knew my plan would blow up like this…" He sighed. "Oh well, can't do anything about it now… Besides…" He closed his eyes and smiled slightly as he pictured a certain female darkus brawler in his mind. "It isn't all bad…" He chuckled softly before he drifted off to sleep.
/-/
Aidan got up the next day at 5 in the morning. He grabbed his messenger bag from the closet slipped his lapop into its reinforced case and put it in his bag. Then he grabbed every bakugan in his possession and hurled them into his bag.
He headed over to his drawers and fished around before he pulled out another glasses case.
"Just in case." He murmured to himself before he tossed it into his bag. Then he frowned and looked towards his bag.
So far he'd packed his laptop, his bakugan, a spare pair of glasses in case his broke. But what else should he pack?
He didn't want to pack too much as it would weigh him down. But he wanted to be prepared. Then again what does one pack in preparation for going to another dimension? Should he bring a good wad of cash? Would his money even work there…
"Urgh! There needs to be a guide for this…" He paused a thought crossing his mind before he hurried over to his tall bookshelf packed full of books. He raised his hand running his fingers over the spines as he searched through it for the book he sought.
"Aha!" He said as he snatched out a small beat up paperback that had been wedged between two hard cover books. He grinned as he opened 'The Hitchikers guide to the Galaxy' "Surely there must be some sort of advice that can pertain to this."
After spending several minutes thumbing through the pages and marking several things here and there Aidan heaved a sigh.
"Well so far all I can say for certain is that I'd best pack a towel… And that 42 is the answer to everything…" Aidan closed the book and looked at the cover. "Hmm, perhaps once I get there I'll take a bit more time to analyze it for more helpful advice, but for now bringing a towel and the number 42 should serve me well enough." He nodded to himself tossing the book into his bag before he went into the bathroom to get ready and choose what towel he would be bringing along with him for this journey.
When he returned to his room he was carrying a light blue towel and his toothbrush.
After all he couldn't allow his dental hygiene to falter while he was away in this alternate world. It was best to be prepared for everything.
He also decided it'd be best to take some money just to be safe, so he snagged a hundred dollar bill from his money stash hidden within his pillow case and shoved it in his bag as well.
Sighing he sat down and grabbed his shoes and began to put them on mentally running his mind through anything else he might need when he caught sight of something green sitting on his bed.
Pausing in putting his shoes on he lifted his head to look at the green object and his eyebrows furrowed.
It was the green stuffed dinosaur, Dino, that he'd given Jet when they were just kids. It was a memento to happier times, and against his better judgment Aidan found himself reaching out and grabbing the toy.
Aidan frowned. "I can't bring it with, what if it gets lost, or dirty or damaged?" He muttered tossing the toy back onto his bed as he put his other shoe on and rose to his feet.
"Right then, lets go." He said slinging his messenger bag across his shoulder wincing as it dug in for a moment before he got used to it. Then he headed quickly out of his room, the door shutting behind with a click. The clock in his room declaring it to be 7 in the morning with shiny blue lights that illuminated a good portion of his bedside table and cast a glow over the abandoned stuffed dino, its blue light reflected in its black bead eyes.
Then the door was thrown back open, Aidan catching it just before it banged against the wall and woke up the whole house.
"This is so stupid.." He muttered to himself as he went back to his bed and snatched the toy off the bed. "But you're coming with me." He said gripping the toy in his hand as he headed out of his room and shut the door as quietly as he could behind him.
Once Aidan was out of his house with his gray winter jacket on with his white and red hat covering his head did he pause to look down at the stuffed dinosaur with its mouth hanging open and its black eyes reflecting Aidan's face back at him.
"You're my promise that I'm going to reunite with my friends." He said before he shoved the toy in his bag and zipped it up before he slipped on his red and white knit mittens and shoved his hands into his pockets. Then he lifted his head fixing his gaze on the tower in the center of the city which was partially swallowed up by the clouds hanging low from the sky above.
"All right, Sears Tower," Aidan took in a deep breath and let it out his breath appearing cloudy in the cold world outside. "Here I come." He said before he set off to the tower, and to the strange dimension that lay beyond.
A/N:
Okay seriously don't ask where the disclaimer came from, I just read Brightcloud's story and I was like imagine what fun I could have with this as the intro to one of my chapters. And lo and behold that intro was born.
And don't feel bad for Tyler, he wasn't going to appear until after the Masquerade vs Spectra fight anyways.
Tyler: What?! *gets brained with a flip phone*
JetravenEx: Oh Tyler you poor thing! You'd best sit out a few chapters to nurse that concussion of yours!
Tyler: *swirly eyed* uhhhhh
JetravenEx: Anyways, yes I am going on vacation for 5 days meaning limited computer access meaning limited updates hence the rush on this chapter. I will do my best to have 59 out tomorrow before but I might not be able to pull it off.
Tyler: But I really wanna get back into the story… so if you like me… please.. review…. Ugghhh *passes out*
Jetravenex: *jerks thumb in tyler's direction* what he said, just please review guys I need them for food. All my money went into paying for all the imaginary crew men you saw in the intro.