A/N: Phew, College is rough and its only been 2 weeks. Anyways felt like now was a good time to update. And since I can lets address all those reviews shall we?
Jodie: Sorry its not Hydron, interesting thought though
Antex: I kind of considered Masky to be the king of the bakugan game, butttttt I guess that's not a universal concept
Breezy: 1. Not dead, kinda want him alive still. Need him and Julie to work stuff out. So no not dead, I did say his chest was rising and falling. That was to show he was still alive. And Dan did get around to calling 911 so he'll live… I think.
2. Hmmmmmmm is it masky or is it not, is he under mind control or is he not? Hmmm XD and no its not Zenet, or Trent, or Victor.
3. Yeah that was because I forgot to delete the first one, when I was writing through it I realized I was doing a lot more telling than showing because I have a whole ton of trouble fitting so many characters in one go so I kinda told stuff in the beginning and then realized that was bad but wanted to use the description later which I did but I forgot to delete the first one… whoops.
4. Well I thought with all the references to Masky and Spectra trying to dethrone each other, and Masky being number one, and I know I made references to me viewing masky as the king… *glances around* didn't I? Crap. Well when I go back and edit DD I will be sure to up those references. Or use something else.
5. We will find out right now,
is an evil bastard and we all know it. But lying about how everything went to paint yourself in the noblest of lights? Psh, Dan why didn't you realize he was full of crap earlier?
7. Well I don't know why actually I just like having Runo be a bitch, makes my life writing the BBB's easier. If need be I have an explain away for her bad attitude that I'll use later. Otherwise… Wait what am I saying of course Runo was a bitch in Season 1 you just didn't notice, I'm not writing her slightly OOC at all.
GG: Has Masky gone crazy? Maybe….. And that was about Billy getting cut up by somebody who wrote 'Long Live the King' for some reason
Animeluvr: I know right! It's so unfair. My poor poor Masky.
ARandomfellow: If people saw that coming then they'd have to be mind readers, I didn't even see that coming and I'm writing this!
S1erra107: Bloody yes. Very Bloody.
So that answers all present questions for now. So well crap here's my dilemma, go to the brawlers or go to jet. Shoot myself in the head because im sick of writing all 5 brawlers plus mike, plus viki, plus spectra, plus gus…. I need to split these guys up soon or I will shoot myself.
Seriously its so hard to write everyone. Its like oh crap this person hasn't said anything, this person said way too much, where is this person…. Gahhhh so hard to write big groups. I hate it.
So since I'm fed up with that no brawlers this chapter. *throws back head* THANK GOD!
Anyways, since there has been little to no Jet time.
What time is it!
Mike: Since you already said it above its tacky.
JEtravenex: Shut up
Skylord: You know you haven't done the disclaimer in a while
Jetravenex: I've used a disclaimer for at least 60 of these chapters, most likely more. They get that I don't own bakugan.
Skylord: It's more of a reminder that you don't own bakugan.
Jetravenex: *sniff* that's the truth of the matter, I can't make this decent series awesome. T.T
Skylord: Anyways
OC Jet: Anyways.
Both: ON WITH OUR FREAKING CHAPTER!
Chapter 68
Jet was running through Wardington City her feet smacking against the ground as she pumped her arms. Breathing hard blue eyes narrowed as she focused her gaze solely on the street in front of her. The world around her blurring out of focus as she run, people and obstacles blurs of color that'd appear in her path that Jet would smoothly avoid without slowing her pace, or turning her head. She continued to run as she came upon a street.
Slowing down minutely she craned her head to the left and to the right before shooting across the clear street. She leaned forwards a little lengthening her strides pouring on speed, her baggy black shorts she wore swishing as she ran. Her well used trainers protesting against the sudden unforgiving use they were forced to go through.
But that all didn't matter, none of that registered in Jet's mind as the girl narrowed her eyes lifting her right wrist to glance at her watch, seeing how much time had passed. Her lips twitched downwards as the seconds number continued to go up beside the black 42 on the left of her watch.
'42 minutes' Jet thought as she pumped her arms even harder forcing her legs even faster. 'Just 3 minutes before I have to start cooling down.' She pulled a face before pushing even harder her breathing coming out harsher and harsher as she continued to ramp up her speed till she was going full out. As if the faster she ran she would somehow outrun the clock.
Jet was a cross country runner, and one with a coach who had a very strict training regime. And who'd made sure that the act of cooling down was drilled into all the runners brains right along with pushing their limits farther and farther.
But the last thing Jet wanted to do was slow down. Because slowing down meant that she had to recognize the obstacles rather than dodge around them oblivious to their existence or what they were. Once she slowed down she'd have to think about Viki's betrayal of her trust, she'd have to worry about what had become of Masquerade after Spectra had got the drop on him, have to wonder what she was going to do now that she'd walked out on the brawlers.
If only she could run forever, just run and run and run and never ever stop. Never have to care about anything else but avoiding the obstacles in her way, and just be oblivious.
But as her watch chimed and Jet slowly let up on her brutal pace coming back to herself. Her chest rising and falling rapidly as she nearly doubled over her body crying foul against being pushed so hard, did Jet realize she just couldn't run away forever. She glanced back over her shoulder turning slightly frowning as she realized she was in shadow.
Running away didn't erase the problems, and eventually.
Jet turned fully around and craned her neck up blinking up at the massive building before her. Almost as tall as the Sears back home, but so very different. She lowered her eyes feeling her stomach clench as a wave of homesickness washed over her.
The problems would catch up with her.
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Jet was shuffling her way moving her feet in a jogging motion that was only a bit slower than a walking pace. Her head was bent down as she went glancing at the ground to make sure she avoided any cracks that her shoes could catch on and send her tumbling. However as she neared her destination she raised her head to look up at the large white and pink mansion that was nestled in the center of a long line of mansions and wealthy homes. It seemed Jet kept moving from one castle to another.
After ditching the brawlers Jet had gone to the only other place where she knew she'd be welcomed and she was very grateful for that. Jenny and Jewls were surprisingly more empathetic than Jet had imagined. When Jet had arrived at their doorstep at midday without any call or warning of her arrival they had happily taken her in, and helped her with her amenities. Just like they had when she and Viki had first arrived. She smiled bitterly at the thought of her friend.
Masquerade wasn't the only thing that bastard Spectra had taken from her.
She slowed to a walk and straightened up heaving a shaky sigh clenching and unclenching her fists as she turned towards the mansion blinking in surprise as she saw Jenny standing out there with Skylord floating beside her head. Jet frowned as she noted how pale the girl looked and how she was wringing her hands. But when she caught Jet watching she hastily put her hands to her sides as Jet walked over to them.
"What's up?" Jet asked tilting her head to the side Skylord flying over to her Reaper at her side. The two looked at each other saying nothing. Jet frowned and looked at Jenny.
"There's, something you need to see." Jenny said as she went inside.
Jet swallowed as she tried to think what it could be that had Jenny so worried. She tensed as the thought of someone maybe being dead jumped to her mind. But Jenny didn't look like she'd been crying, so someone must've gotten hurt. Badly. Again.
Now that Jet thought about it as she walked through the hallway following Jenny into the living room taking not of Jewls who was seated on the couch across from a large flat screen tv. Bad injuries for the characters of the bakugan universe was becoming quite commonplace since she and her friends had arrived in this world. It almost made her feel a little guilty. Even though she hadn't caused them herself, she was beginning to wonder if them arriving in this world had inadvertently caused things to get worse for its inhabitants.
"Uh Jet?" Jenny said waving a hand in front of Jet's face making the girl jump and snap her head to look at Jenny. Jenny frowned slightly. "You were staring at the wall, are you all right?"
Jet nodded. "Yeah just zoned out a second there," She glanced at the TV "What is it you wanted to-" She trailed off as she took in the sight squinting her eyes slightly. Where she was standing there was a bit of glare falling on the screen and the image was fairly dark, but she could see the bright orange of Billy's in the right part of the screen that didn't have as much of a glare. Moving to the side until the glare began to dissipate did Jet's jaw drop.
It was apparently a newscast that Jenny and Jewls had been watching, the breaking news sign in the lower right corner explained why the two pop stars would have ended up on a news report as macabre as what was being shown.
The newscaster was talking in the background as images were scrolled through. But the main one they focused on was the image of Billy lying next to words written in crimson, which Jet assumed was his blood. She cringed up at the sight of the massive 'x' shaped cut in his chest that split up his white shirt under his orange jacket, and then at the red liquid that stained the shirt, the jacket and the concrete where his body lay upon.
"Who could've done this, and why?" Jet muttered glancing away from the body to look at the words squinting her eyes at the words she walked closer to get a better look just as the image cut back to the newscaster making Jet curse and draw back scowling. She turned and moved to join Jewls on the couch the girl scooching over to the far right side to make room for Jet who plopped down in the middle, Jenny sitting down on Jet's left.
'The victim is confirmed to be one Billy Gilbert who was visiting Wardington from his hometown Bayview, we have received the news that the victim was rushed to the hospital after a 911 call was received from the same young man who was found unconscious besides him.' Jet stiffened as a picture of Dan's face appeared on the screen the image taken from a school picture day or something official like that where the boy was missing some of his fire. 'Paramedics rushed both boys to the Wardington Hospital 5 minutes after the call. Word so far has told us that while Gilbert is still in critical but is moving towards being stabilized, while Kuso is still unconscious although he is stable.'
"Well that's a relief." Jet muttered. Although she hadn't liked Dan in the beginning because she'd been dumb and had only seen him as the idiot she'd perceived him to be from the show. But after being around Dan for a bit she'd come to realize that he wasn't as dumb as she'd thought he was. He did genuinely care about the wellbeing of his brawlers, especially considering how torn up he'd been about Shun being stuck in the hospital after he'd been attacked. Granted, Jet was still upset with the brawlers for sending Spectra after Masquerade, Dan had argued against it at first, and it had seemed like he'd more caved to the other brawlers demands which put him in a bit more of a favorable light than some of the other brawlers.
"Yeah, neither of them died." Jenny said nodding.
Jewls frowned. "Yeah that's great and all but who the heck decided to go and cut that guy up in the first place, and why was Dan there?" She asked.
Jet frowned tilting her head to the side. A sinking feeling gathered in her stomach. After she'd woken up in the hospital after her encounter with Billy in Masquerade's mansion Julie had recounted to her how violent Masquerade had gotten to Billy.
Was this Masquerade's doing?
But if it was why? Why go do something so crazy, so insane, so so cruel. It just didn't add up, he'd done nice things, like protecting her from Billy and then releasing Julie from his clutches. Although the others referenced instances Masquerade had done some evil, she just didn't get the sense that he was so much of a monster to go and cut up someone and write a message in blood.
'Speaking of the message in blood,' Jet thought as the newscaster brought up the image of the message in blood, white lines drawn where Billy's body had been lying. Jet squinted at the image.
"Are you able to pause this image?" Jet asked leaning forwards in her seat studying the image.
Jewls blinked but nodded grabbing the remote from where it sat on the table beside her. She pointed it at the screen and hit the pause button the image freezing on the screen.
Jet nodded. "Thanks." She said before she focused on the words. "Long live the king?" She muttered eyes narrowing.
'King? But no ones a king here, especially not Billy or Dan. Is this Spectra's doing? His way of stating that he's won and he's taking over and his attack on Billy is just a way to muddy the waters and make people think Masquerade did it?' Jet thought tapping her chin.
"Yeah but who's a king?" Skylord said irritably. "And what's the point of attacking Billy and Dan, I don't understand!"
"Well, a king is a high ranking position," Reaper said. "It's often used in a symbolic way referencing the person who's on top of everyone, or the leader in charge. Perhaps its symbolic rather than referring to an actual king."
That made Jet grimace, because Masquerade could be considered the 'king' of the bakugan game. Or Naga. Jet felt her stomach plummet. What if this was Masquerade acting on Naga's orders, and the 'king' the message referred to was Naga?
"I've got nothing." Jet said deciding to not voice her thoughts. She'd rather not cause Jenny or Jewls to panick when she had very little to go on. Though she really hoped it was Spectra. It sounded like him. The victim very well could've been Dan from the start, but Billy had been unfortunately caught in the crossfire, or had been attacked and planted there from the start to make it seem that Masquerade, who had probably cause to attack the blond, had done it. If only the message wasn't so irritatingly cryptic. It made her glad it was just season 1 of bakugan they were stuck in, there'd be even more possibilities for what the message could stand for in the later seasons.
"Yeah I don't get it either." Jenny said frowning softly sitting back in her seat tapping her chin. "But I get the feeling its important."
"Yeah its only written in a guys blood, it only might somewhat be important." Jewls said sarcastically throwing her hands in the air before bringing them back down crossing her arms frowning. "Can we like change the channel cause this is making me feel, really sick." She said.
Jet sat back looking at the picture than glancing at the other girls. "I think we should go to the hospital." She said.
Jenny blinked and turned to look at Jet. "You think so why?"
Jet pushed herself to her feet. "Well, if Billy recovers and wakes up he might be able to tell us something, same with Dan." She glanced at the two. "I mean if you guys don't want to come you don't have to. But I figured that the brawlers would appreciate the support as they deal with another one of their own ending up in the hospital."
Jenny smiled softly. "you know I'm always with you Jet." She said rising slowly to her feet. "What about you Jewls."
Jewls sighed and looked longingly at the TV before she sighed and shook herself and jumped to her feet smiling. "Uh, yeah I'm in, can't believe you guys thought I'd let you go support them without me!"
Jet smiled. "Glad to have you on board-"
She was cut off as suddenly the lights flashed wildly in the room making the two pop stars cry out in a alarm. Jet blinked as the lights flickered the lamp besides the couch making a popping sound as several sparks popped out from the outlet it was plugged into.
The TV screen scrolled through random images that rolled along the screen like wave after wave of colors and images. The lights began to flash brighter and brighter the pop stars moving closer together in fear hugging each other. They flinched as the lights popped and sparks erupted from the outlets. Jet kept close to them glancing around trying to figure out if there was any possible escape route. In the background she could hear a faint sound. Narrowing her eyes Jet looked around wildly eyes setting on the windows. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of the windows beginning to crack.
"Get down!" Jet cried grabbing the two girls and pushing them down onto the couch throwing herself on top of them as the windows shattered with a loud crash. Jet cried out in pain as a few jagged edges of glasses got embedded in her arms and in her back as she threw up her arms around her head to keep them from getting her face.
The girls stayed like that piled upon each other on the couch until the sounds of sparking, crashing, cracking and shattering began to dull to a minimal cacophony.
Soft chuckling made Jet stiffen up. She moved to get up but a hand grabbed onto the back of her neck pushing her face into the cushion and keeping her from getting up off Jenny and Jewls.
Jet shuddered trying to reach behind her but the hand tightened threateningly around the back of her neck, and Jet stilled up. She didn't like that hand there, right on the back of her neck, where if enough force was applied could not just kill her but paralyze her.
The attacker seemed to sense her unease at having her back to them because she could feel their other hand almost playfully run down the ridges of her spin plucking out the glass from her back chuckling as Jet winced.
"Who the hell are you." Jet demanded her voice muffled by the cushion. She could feel Jenny and Jewls struggling underneath her.
Suddenly the hand was gone and the back of Jet's shirt grabbed. "Why I'm hurt Jet." Jet's eyes widening in horror at the voice, barely having a chance to react before the attacker wrenched her off Jenny and Jewls and spun her around to face them.
Jet's heart sunk as she was forced to stare back at the reflection of her eyes, take in the slightly bloodied white coat, the purple pants, oh no.
Masquerade grinned as he cupped Jet's chin tilting her head up. "Miss me sweetheart?"
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A/N: Well that just happened.
All right so initially this update was supposed to happen on the same day however because DD has always been a bit of a fussy updater…. Unlike my other stories who end up buried under tons of random clutter in the brain. DD did not want to be updated on the same day and after being in College for just short of 2 weeks, I know that updating will be EXTREMELY troublesome. But I guess I'll figure out something.
Although bit of good news (hopefully). There were things in DD's first arc that I had wanted to write but just couldn't find anywhere to fit in. So I will be coming out with a spin off story 'The Mighty Fall' (Title is pulled from the fall out boy song because when I was thinking about the story the song's chorus came to mind and that was that. So yeah 'The Mighty Fall' will be a spin off of DD basically taking place before the big Masquerade vs. Spectra brawl in DD and will feature various events I had wanted to include in DD but couldn't quite fit. It also features elements from 'Bakugan: the Evo tournament' and it focuses fairly heavily on Masquerade x Jet. If you guys are interested, please let me know and I'll put out the first chapter of that fairly soon. It'll be a side story I'll work on on the side more if I need to take a break from DD's pace, because really I've noticed a huge change in tone that I kinda want to alter a bit. I'm not saying The Mighty Fall's gonna be all sunshine and rainbows… Cause actually it might be even more brutal at times than DD was. Oops.
But really DD's gotten a whole crap ton faster, like I was going through older chapters and they all had a much slower pace, but now I feel like as we near the end it's a flat out sprint to the ending of arc 1. Which it is I guess because you guys want it updated and I want to have it done so I can take a break and focus on college.
So The Mighty Fall is a break from the breakneck speed to just enjoy things a little more. But don't expect it to be too slow. Cause lets face it, I'm JetravenEx, there's only a minimum speed limit for me.
But anyways well Masquerade's very much not gone.
What's going to happen to Jet? Will we have her be Masquerade's slave again?! *le gasp*
What's Masquerade's deal? He's gone from smexy badass villain to a freaking psychopath. Holy CRACKERS!
And then there's birdbrain lying all over the place.
And now both Dan and Shun are in the hospital.
And shit's about to go down.
WOOHOOO! Who's excited.
Not me, I've got HW to do.
Which I'm off to do.
Enjoy this chapter and REVIEW!
REVIEW or heaven knows when I'll actually manage to update.