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'Confirmed master Marucho was here 15 minutes 47 seconds ago'
"Bummer, we just missed him"
Shun, Jake and Fabia had entered the meeting room following their search for Marucho after he ran off after Ren
Shun sighed, he knew Marucho wouldn't have taken Ren's betrayal well…but…
Fabia nibbled on her bottom lip, then she spoke her voice was heavy with guilt "I apologise, I feel like this is my fault"
Shun shook his head before going to reassure her "Don't be. It was the truth, he needed to hear it"
Jake looked between the two as he said "I think we all need to hear it, from the beginning this time"
Fabia nodded, and the three of them went to sit at around the table and chairs in the middle of the room
Once everyone was settled Fabia told her story
Elsewhere in Bakugan Interspace
Marucho stood in the middle of the arena, waiting as he watched Ren come out of the portal
"So, you remembered that paging Mr Brown was our secret code for when we needed to meet in an emergency" he said as he gave the Gundalian a smile
After searching everywhere for Ren but being unable to find him. Marucho remembered the emergency protocol they set up together. And he hoped that Ren would remember it too
"I knew you wouldn't forget and that you'd come" he exclaimed
Ren's mouth curved into a smile as he reassured the short blond "I couldn't ignore an emergency call"
Marucho chuckled, but it sounded off as if there was something holding him back. His tone apprehensive as he spoke
"I think we have some unfinished business"
Ren closed his eyes briefly as he gave a slight nod. The smile on his face faltering slightly
"Yeah, I know we do"
'Bakugan field open!'
Back with the Brawlers
"On my home planet of Neathia, Neathians and bakugan lived together in peace for generations. But one day, hostile forces from the neighbouring planet of Gundalia invaded our cities using their bakugan"
"So, Ren lied to us about the Neathians being the invaders, damn. I bet he was lying about everything else too" groaned Jake as he leant back in his chair
Shun nodded in confirmation, and then turned to Fabia motioning for her to continue with her story
"Sadly, the Neathian army had no choice but to use their bakugan for…defence. Unfortunately, because we have never battled before, we were no match for the Gundalians, it didn't take long for them to gain the upper hand and force us to our knees"
The Neathian princess had tried to keep her tone as controlled as possible, however she could not keep a bitter tone out of it. The bluenette looked at her hands resting on the table, taking a deep breath to calm herself before looking back to the two boys in front of her
"So, in one final desperate attempt to save our people from enslavement, My sister, Queen Serena of Neathia, ordered me to send an urgent S.O.S message to all the worlds across every dimension"
Jake looked at her with his jaw slack, awe in the voice as he spoke "Woah you're the queen's little sis!"
Giving the red head a withering look, Shun scolded him for interrupting
"That's why she goes by the title 'princess' Jake. Now focus on the story"
Leaning back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other. Shun thought back to the time when Drago had first defeated the original digital clones that they had encountered, he started to speak up his thoughts to the others
"Back when we received the unknown data, it contained a mysterious melody as well, we didn't know what it had to do with the data at the time. Well it turned out to be princess Fabia's distress signal"
Aranaut who had been sitting by Fabia's hands throughout the explanation nodded. "Yes. We sent it in hopes of finding powerful bakugan and their battlers to help us in our fight. Once you defeated our digital clones a message with crucial battle data was relayed back to us on Neathia"
A look of uncertainty crossed Fabia's face, as she started to fiddle with the strap of her bakumeter. Hesitantly she spoke
"Ah, that's….kind of where…it gets a bit complicated"
The raven-haired ninja narrowed his eyes at her, What do you mean complicated? He thought as a bad feeling rose within him, the nervous princess quickly spoke that others barely grasped the last sentence
"The bakugan who defeated the digital clones, being Drago…wasalreadyinGundaliasgrasp"
Shun put a hand to his face, a headache starting to form
Only you, only you can get yourself captured by hostile aliens Dan
"Yikes…but how did Dan and Drago end up in Gundalia in the first place?" questioned Jake
Fabia lifted her shoulder in a half shrug as she replied back to him "We don't really know, when I asked them even, they themselves didn't know. Dan just said that one minute they were on earth, the next they were on Gundalia. Truthfully the only reason we found them was during an infiltration mission"
The princess then turned to Shun, her eyes flickered with reservation as she spoke to him, her voice sounding sincere
"The reason I came to ask for your help was for both Neathia and Dan, he couldn't battle the Gundalians by himself it was starting to take its toll on him. But Dan didn't want you to get any of you involved, so… I came here, going behind his back to ask for your help" she gave the ventus brawler a small apologetic bow with her head as she finished speaking to him
He let out a quick sigh, before giving the girl a dismissive wave of his hand "You shouldn't worry about it" he said, his voice empathetic. He then gave a small huff in amusement "Dan has always been like that; he constantly tries to shoulder all of his problems on his own. He tried to leave everyone behind when going to New Vestroia too, he didn't want to involve us, but as you can see it never worked out that way. That's just his way of protecting others" he told her, slightly shaking his head at his best friends' personality
Fabia smiled and laughed in agreement "In the short time that I've known him that certainly seems to be the case"
Getting back to the seriousness at hand Shun frowned "Unfortunately for us, Ren arrived before you did. Before we knew any better, he had us believing his lies and we ended up taking the Gundalians side in the conflict"
Jake huffed in anger "I can't believe Ren had us all fooled, he made total chumps out of us" he said as he buried his head in his hands
"Yes, he was a very convincing liar, even I believed him" bitterly murmured Shun whilst he inwardly seethed with rage directed to the traitor. He fooled all of us, but what is worse is that he Marucho and took advantage of their friendship. No one gets away with using my friends like that
Back to Marucho and Ren's Battle
"Ability activate – Heal Blue!"
Marucho yelled out as the anger of his friend's betrayal rolled through him
"I thought that you and I were supposed to be really good friends Ren"
"Yeah we were! Ability activate – Bolting Vibra!"
Marucho clenched his jaw as Akwimos got attacked
"If that's true, then how could you possibly deceive me like that. Tell me!"
Ren grimaced, pushing away the pang of guilt he retorted back to the upset aquos brawler. "It wasn't supposed to happen"
Marucho's body tensed, teeth gritting as he wordlessly activated an ability card
Fabia, Jake and Shun
Jake looked to the door sadly "I hope Marucho is okay, he's been gone a long time. Maybe we should go after him" he suggested
"Wait a minute"
Jake and Fabia looked at Shun in surprise at the apathetic tone in his words. They watched as he stood from his chair to lean over and activate the computer table. He started typing quickly and screenshots popped onto the screen
Jake and Fabia shot up from their chairs and leaned over to look, shock on their features
"Well this could get interesting" commented Fabia
Both Shun and Jake agreed
'Ren's life force forty percent'
The two ran into the battle arena, to find the other two still battling. Marucho looked back to them briefly to acknowledge them, before focusing back to the battle
Jake looked at the score board, "Woah they're tied" he murmured
"This next round will decide it for sure" said Shun
The three of them went to the safety of the stands to watch, Marucho seemed to be struggling with the battle
"Ren is battling really hard" observed Shun
Jake raised a fist up in frustration "That dude has no heart. Not only did he betray little Maruch, but he's rubbing his face in it"
Ren looked down as he gritted his teeth. I have to do this; my people are counting on me he thought as he activated his battle gear
"Battle gear boost!"
Marucho remained stoic as he activated his own battle gear
"Gate card open — Power Depth"
"I suppose you think you're clever using a command card, that sucks up 500 points from the opponents power level. But I have to you, I AM NOT IMPRESSED" snarled REN as he activated his battle gear ability
Marucho glared at Ren "I can't believe you Ren, I treated you like a brother and you stabbed me in the back, I'll never make that mistake again" he declared
Ren glowered back at him, as he tried to reason with the upset brawler
"It wasn't supposed to be personal, there are things at stake here that you wouldn't understand"
Marucho's fists clenched tight at his sides
"And what about Dan? How was lying to us about him not personal" he spat
Ren's face froze still, he shut his eyes as let out a small sigh. When he opened them, he pinned Marucho a frosty look, his voice held no remorse as he spoke
"Sacrifices have to be made for the greater good Marucho"
Numbness infused Marucho's body, his widened as he heard those words. He lowered his head as his body shook
"I trusted you Ren"
Ren gasped in shock at the icy tone of Marucho's voices, it was the first time he'd ever heard Marucho sound like that. The aquos brawler glared at him with newfound anger
"The brawlers welcomed you into their family! Battle gear ability activate — Gigarth Hydrizer"
The two bakugan fired their weapons at each other
'Ren's life force zero'
The brawlers ran down to Marucho's side, just in time to hear Ren start speaking to him
"I knew you were good Marucho, but I had no idea you were that good" he praised with a small smile
Ren's bakugan suddenly jumped onto his shoulder and started to speak
"You got lucky today, but it will not happen again"
Jake jumped in surprise "Woah, did that bakugan just speak" everyone just ignored him as Ren turned serious
"Marucho, we can still be friends. Leave the brawlers and come with us" he urged
Shun tensed alongside Fabia, they were both ready to intervene should the Gundalian try anything. Ren watched them wearily
"You must take me for a fool, if you think that I would ever go with you"
Ren looked at the aquos brawler in surprise
Marucho gave the Gundalian a hard stare as he his vision started to blur
"I would never leave my family for a dishonest poser like you, you got me! "he yelled. Letting the tears, he could no longer hold back flow down his cheeks
Ren lowered his head down in disappointment, when he held it up again his face was expressionless and his voice emotionless
"Very well, as of now our friendship is completely over Marucho" he told him as his body started to glow
The brawlers stepped back in shock as Ren transformed before them into his true form
"So, this is how. You really look" said Shun
Ren gave them all a hard stare as he spoke harshly
"The next time we meet, we will be enemies"
The Gundalian quickly teleported away, Shun tried to grab him but had just missed him
Ren…
The Next Day
Shun, Fabia and Jake found themselves sitting in the meeting room again, nothing but awkward silence surrounded them., as they all thought of the previous day's events
Jake looked at the door with worry, after the battle Marucho went straight home and no one has heard from him since
"I guess little Maruch is taking it pretty hard isn't he" he lamented
Shun inclined his head, his chin resting on his hand that were propped by his elbows on the table
"Yeah, he's been hiding in his house ever since" he said
Fabia lowered her gaze as she heard this
Maybe I should go check on him thought Jake
But just as he was about to get up, the doors to the room opened. And in came Marucho who was….smiling?
"I finally did it!"
The three of them blinked at the blonde confused by his happy mood
"Uh…finally did what Marucho?" Asked Shun
Marucho grinned as he touched his bakumeter to materialise Akwimos
Shun tilted his head to the side, bewilderment in his eyes
"I don't understand, what's the big deal about Akwimos?"
Marucho beamed at the question "Just take a listen" he said as he poked the digital bakugan
"Cool as the rule dude"
They watched in awe as the clone made jerking movements and talked
"Cool! How did you get him to talk?" questioned a mesmerised Jake
Marucho went to take a seat next to Fabia and explained "Ever since you mentioned how real bakugan speak, I've been working on a speech program for the digital ones"
Shun watched in amusement until he noticed something
"Why does he keep saying the same phrase over and over" he asked the young genius
"I programmed him to have a laidback personality, and this is what the speech generator came up with randomly"
Jake chuckled before turning to Marucho "Well it looks like you're in better spirits buddy"
Marucho grinned "Well we have Gundalians to fight, I can't stay depressed forever" he said. The blonde boy then noticed how quiet Fabia was and looked over to her, she seemed worried
"You're awfully quiet Fabia, what's the matter?" He asked her
Fabia gave a small jerk of her head in surprise, having been caught up in her own thoughts
"Oh, it's nothing" she mumbled quietly
Marucho urges her to speak by calling her name again
Fabia sighed as her gaze went to her lap, she spoke her thoughts out to them
"Sometimes I worry if you guys really believe me" bringing her eyes back to their faces, she blurted out "After being deceived by Ren how could you extend your trust so easily? Surely you guys must have a lot of doubts about me"
The three guys locked eyes with each other before turning back to the princess smiling reassurances to her. Marucho was the first to speak
"Don't worry about it, we trust you"
Surprise overtook Fabia's features at the response, Shun went on to explain their reasons to her
"When we saw how angry you got about bakugan being used for war, we knew you felt the same way we did"
Fabia looked to him; her expression guarded as she wasn't fully sure to believe him
"We're on the same side" the ninja told her in earnest
Fabia's face lit up, finally seeing that they were telling the truth, and she exclaimed out "Yes! We are"
Fabia then reached into her jumpsuit's pocket to put something onto the table
"I think it's the time to give you these"
The three boys stared in surprise
"Woah! Are these new bakugan!" Exclaimed Jake
"Meet aquos Akwimos, ventus Hawktor and subterra Coredem" the bakugan popped open as the princess introduced them
"These are the original bakugan"
Shun looked at Fabia, his expression serious "Are you sure?" He questioned her
Fabia smiled at him as she assured him "Of course, I brought them here from Neathia"
Jake started bouncing on his feet as happiness surged through him "Just what I always wanted. Awesome, real bakugan!"
The others laughed along with him. The three bakugan then proceeded to jump up and meet their future partners
Shun smiled to Hawktor as he introduced himself "Hello there, I'm Shun"
"Woah! You're a ninja?" Shun tilted his head at the sudden comment "That's right" he said, Shun watched as the bakugan started to babble away. Ha ha, he certainly is talkative
Jake started sweating with nervousness as he stammered his introduction to Coredem, but his anxiety melted away as Coredem spoke to him, and he was back to his jubilant self
Marucho bowed in politeness as he greeted Akwimos, the bakugan wasn't all that far off from the personality he imagined for the clone version
Fabia watched them all with warmth, as Aranaut leapt on her shoulder. "They're getting along better than I thought they would" he said to her
"I'm glad it did, I thought these bakugan would work well with them based on what Dan had told me" she replied
"Enjoy Bakugan Interspace while you can, it will be a while before you see the inside of it again"
The brawlers laughed with their new partners as they watched Marucho teach Akwimos how to be relaxed
The joy turned to confusion however as their bodies started to glow and they felt a tugging sensation
They soon found themselves no longer in the meeting room, but instead at the entrance of Bakugan Interspace
Marucho cried out "We've just been forced out of Bakugan Interspace! But how?"
"Allow me to explain"
The brawlers looked to their bakumeters as Ren showed up on the video feed and sneered at them
"At this moment Bakugan Interspace is now under my sole control"
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