I do not own Bakugan Battle Brawlers

"What shall we do now princess?" asked Aranaut

Fabia had snuck back in to Bakugan Interspace, but this time she was staying towards the back passages in order to stay out of sight of the brawlers. For the time being at least

Fabia sighed as she leaned against the nearby wall "I don't know Aranaut. We can't go back to Neathia empty handed"

"Perhaps we should have taken Daniel's offer of assistance earlier" suggested Aranaut, thinking back to the other day

After Dan had treated them to frozen yogurt, he asked if Fabia was coming back to Neathia, to which she told him no. He then asked if she want him to stay with her and help

Drago then reminded Dan that captain Elright had wanted their assistance with something, and that it had sounded urgent

So, Fabia had seen him off, assuring him when he looked back at conflicted, that she would be fine on her own

Back to the present, she shook her head to the bakugan "No, it must have been pretty important for Elright to speak to them. We need to do this on our own" her voice sounding clipped

Thinking about what to do next, her thoughts kept drifting back to the brawlers. Her eyes becoming determined as she realised what needed to be done

"I know what we have to do now! We must get Dan's friends to switch to our side, to help us fight this battle Aranaut"

"So, tell me!"

Fabia's heat shot up in surprise, her mouth open as she jumped away from the wall she was leaning on and whirled around towards the speaker

"What the?!" Where did he come from? Both her and Aranaut thought as they came face to face with Shun

"So, it's you" her voice laced with distrust, she was weary in case it was a trap.

Shun kept a good distance between them, however he showed no signs of hostility towards her. His voice was calm and unwavering as he spoke to her

"I'd like… to hear your side of the story"

…

Huh?

"Oh man I was so close to winning. I had you on the ropes, but I blew it" yelled Jake as he was kneeling on the ground, he pounded his frustrations out on the stadium floor "This stinks!"

"Take it easy Jake"

The frustrated brawler to be looked up to Marucho, who only smiled in amusement at his antics

"You were doing really well, that intensity that you show on the football field, I can see you bringing it into the battle arena in a big way" the Aquos brawler watched the excitement showing on Jake's face as he was praised

"You still have a lot to learn, but you show great promise. And I think that one day you'll make a great addition to the bakugan battle brawlers"

Jake shot up in an instant, disbelief in his eyes as he heard what Marucho was saying. He pointing to himself in questioning

When Marucho nodded he started to dance in joy. Marucho giggled at his friend, until he saw the terror starting to shadow the footballer's face

"Wait! Wait a minute. You said one day I maybe, so does that mean that I'm not one yet?" panicked Jake

Marucho watched Jake's pacing as he continued to ramble, he tried to speak in order to calm him down. But Jake was too anxious to listen. Marucho stepped back in surprise, hands in the air, as Jake suddenly pointed at him

"Don't worry little dude, I'll make you proud! I'll prove that I have what it takes to show that I am worthy the battle brawler title" he exclaimed

Marucho smiled nervously as he replied to that statement "Um…Okay big guy" Little dude?

He was never so grateful in his life when Ren started calling him on the bakumeter. Quickly he answered it.

"What's up Ren?" he asked upon seeing the serious look on the Gundalian's face

"Our security systems have detected another breach from another Neathian agent"

"WHAT!"

Him and Jake quickly ran to the location that Ren gave them, to find the enemy agent – Mason Brown

"RAAAAAR!"

Julie had her head resting on her hands as sat on the bleachers, watching Jake's football practice. Geez she thought as the other guy got pummelled by him, from what Marucho told her about Jake's defeat yesterday, she thought that Jake would be crushed. But it was like a blaze has been set alight in him instead, Marucho had sounded really worried about him too. That's why she was here now, she promised him that she would speak to Jake. Although…. It's probably best to take out some of his energy on the field first, or rather his opponents first

(Some Time Later)

"hey Julie, what's up?" asked Jake as he walked up to the silverette

Julie smiled at him from her seat, and then got straight to the point

"Marucho said you battled yesterday" she watched as Jake's shoulder's slumped, his voice was gloomy as he spoke

"Yeah it was a disaster. I just wanted to prove myself as a brawler, if I had listened more to Marucho's teachings, It might have ended differently. I just want to be a better brawler, like you, Marucho and Shun. One that would make Dan proud"

Julie cocked her head to the side, eyes blinking in confusion "Dan? What do you want to him proud?" she asked him

Jake looked at her before realising. Looking at her sheepish whilst rubbing the back of his neck he answered her

"Oh yeah I never did tell you. You see Dan is the reason that I wanted to be a bakugan battle brawler"

"Wait! What?" recoiled Julie, almost falling backwards out of her seat, if she didn't catch herself. She looked back at Jake, her expression demanding answers "I thought you never met Dan before, so how is he the reason?"

Jake felt guilty, he was going to tell her sooner, but everything with getting his own bakugan and the alien war, he sort of…forgot

"Well it's kind of a long story, but me and my family used to live way out in the country on my grandfather's farm." "? What has that got to do wi—" "Will you just let me explain!" "Alright, alright, sheesh"

Upon making sure that Julie wouldn't interrupt again he continued "My family lived WAY out, we never had any neighbours or anything, it would take me hours to get to the closest school. After the bakugan came to earth, my dad manage to hook us up to the internet and that was how I discovered bakugan. My first video of them was of Dan battling that large white dragon, ever since I saw that I admired him, he was my hero"

Julie watched as Jake looked up at the sky, lost in his memories, pure awe on his face. He then looked to her; a grin plastered on his face

"This was when you went on holiday, but we had a game against another school, which we won of course" he gave a victory sign as he said that. "After the game, most people had gone home but I stayed to help with the clean-up" Jake took a deep breath before continuing

"On my way home I got jumped by some guys on the other team, they weren't too happy about losing. I was outnumbered, two of them held me down while the other guy pulled the punches" Both Jake and Julie scowled. Jake because he was remembering the incident, and Julie because someone had hurt one of her friends

"All of the sudden, the guy punching me stopped and one of the others holding me let go. I looked to see why, and there he was. Dan was beating them up, I got back to my senses and fought back with him. They then started shouting and the rest of their team came out of nowhere" Jake started chuckling

"Me and Dan started running, we manage to shake them off by hiding In the bushes. As we were catching her breath, he was asking me if I was okay, I told him I was fine. And then he ran off, it wasn't until I got home that I realised that it was him. And then you got back, and that's when the news report told about the car crash" the footballer started to hear sniffling and looked over to the girl next to him, he cringed as he watched the girl's shoulders shake, her head lowered

Julie's vision blurred as she looked at the ground, That is just so like Dan she smiled sadly her heart warmed by Jake's story. She brushed her tears away and looked back up to see Jake looking at her, his hand in the air not knowing what to do. She told him that she was fine, and laughed as Jake sighed in relief

"I want to be just like Dan" Jake finally said

"I know what you mean, I used to follow Dan around like a little lost puppy. I wanted to be a battle brawler, and I thought that meant being just like Dan, he was an awesome brawler no question about it" Julie admitted "But…"

Jake looked at her in surprise as she said 'but'

"His style of brawling wasn't the best way for everyone. His style is wild and impulsive, and that works for him but not for me" She saw that Jake was starting to get intrigued at her words, and when he asked her to go on she jumped to her feet, hands clasped behind her back as she told him

"Every brawler must find their own style"

Jake blinked at her, confusion across his face

"Think of it like this, you use strategy on the football field, success involves following your playbook. You need to adopt a similar approach inside of a battle arena"

She watched as Jake's eyes widened in realisation, she grinned and continued

"Your style needs to involve planning; you should be able to visualise every round of battle"

The cogs in Jake's mind started to spin faster as he was getting what Julie was saying

"Alright, visualise the attack"

He was ready

"Another agent? And you let Jake battle them"

"You should have seen them Shun; he was really determined to prove himself"

Shun leant against his bedroom door, his eyes curiously watching Fabia's every move as she wandered his living room. He kept the video screen off as he spoke to Marucho, claiming a little lie so his genius friend wouldn't get suspicious

"I take it that it didn't go so well then" he said bluntly. Marucho was silent before speaking, his voice hesitant

"…...Unfortunately, no. Jake didn't take it too well, the tough crowd didn't help either. I've asked Julie to have a word with him"

"If it's Julie, then Jake will be fine. Hey Marucho, I have to go, my grandfather is calling me" Shun said airy

"That's alright, see you when you come back" Marucho replied unconcerned

With that the call ended, Shun started walking towards Fabia, she had stopped to look at some of his pictures on the wall

She must have heard him coming as she turned her head slightly in his direction

"Are these the original battle brawlers then?" she asked pointing to the photo that taken after the defeat of Naga, when the bakugan had to return to New Vestroia

Shun only nodded his head as she looked to him for confirmation. At this she turned back to the picture. Shun watched as the bluenette lifted her hand close to it, hovering a finger over the faces of his friends. Recognition dawned on her face

"The red-haired girl must be Alice; I've already met you and Marucho. These two must be… Runo and… Julie? And this other boy must be Joe"

Shun inclined his head curiously, his mouth twitching slightly. Wondering how she knew their names and faces

"You seem to know more about us then we do about you" he casually remarked

Fabia turned to him, lifting her shoulder in a half shrug. Her expression soft as she gave him a half smile

"I only know what Dan told me, he talks nonstop about all of you and your adventures together" admitted the young Neathian, before she turned back to the photo

Shun watched as the bluenette's forehead creased and her lips turned into a frown

"He looks a lot happier back then…" she whispered softly, not knowing that Shun could hear her

He probably was happier than, and that's how he should be now harshly thought Shun, fists clenching briefly at his side. He quickly let out a harsh breath, before going back to his collected façade and looked to Fabia

"Why don't we skip the reminisce and talk about why we're really here. I want to know more about this war from your side, so why don't we start at the beginning. First things first: Who are you? All we know is your name but who are you really?" he probed

Fabia was impassive as she listened to him, before drawing a deep breath. "Very well" she monotonously replied before straightening her stance. Shun started to sense the air change around her, gone was the friendly non-threatening feel from before. Instead replaced by what seemed to be dignity

Fabia's eyes bored into him, as she held her head high. Speaking with an assertive tone she spoke

"My name is Fabia Sheen. Princess of Neathia"

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