NOTE: Welcome back! Makes me happy that you guys are enjoying the story, so I hope this chapter is to your liking again. Poor Alice and it just doesn't get better for her here.
Chapter 14: I'll Fight for You
Before the Tournament:
Akira kicked a discarded can on the ground, stuffing his hands in his pocket. The young boy was in a bit of a dilemma. After that practice tag battle with Dan and Yuji, he had gotten into a fight with his older brother Shuji.
It's not like the two of them have never been in an argument before, they're brothers, fights are bound to happen because of stupid stuff all the time. However, this one had felt different than the ones before. He was used to working side by side with his brother, they were a dynamic duo, the top dogs of this town!
Well…only when their little sister wasn't involved. She always gets her way, no matter what.
It was only after those Shujins had moved into town that his brother had started acting differently. He became more aggressive, more loud, and a big mean jerk! Like, he understood that he was upset about losing to the newbie but that was no reason to be a freaking jerk to him.
Blaming him for their loss when the big doofus just kept making terrible plays, totally unbelievable! "Ugh, stupid!" Akira yelled, frustrated. He thought back to the other day when they had gotten home from the park.
"Good luck finding another partner, Akira! Sis, isn't gonna want to tag up with you and you don't have any other friends either! Face it, you're nothing without me."
"...I'm not nothing." Akira muttered, staring at the park fountain. In his head, he could make out his brother's reflection in the fountain's water, mocking him endlessly. Anger etched its way into him and he smacked the water repeatedly. "Shut up!"
"That's public property, ya know!"
Turning around in a flash, Akira found himself staring face-to-face with Serena Shujin, the blue haired annoyance was way too close to his face. Blushing at the proximity, Akira pushed her away with his wet hands.
"Hey!" Serena yelped, not expecting to get pushed. She looked down and felt the wet handprints on her bright red sundress. "You little jerk! This dress was new!" Serena hissed at him.
"Who cares about your stupid dress!? It's not like you look that good in it anyway!" Akira shot back.
Serena gasped, taking offense to that. "Why you little-wait you think I look good?" She backtracked, recognizing that he sorta complimented her.
The boy's face turned into a bright tomato. "W-w-what!? Heck no! Why would I think a loser like you would ever look good!"
"Me!? A loser!?" Serena got right back into his face. "Who's the shorty that lost to me and my brother, huh!?" A shit eating grin manifested when she saw him tense up, knowing full well that she had him beat. Leaning in closer, she prodded his chest. "C'mon, shorty~. Answer the question~."
Growling like an animal with his face ruby red, Akira pushed away from her. "Just leave me alone, okay! Why do you always have to be so freaking annoying!? You and brother should just buzz off!" Akira ranted.
Serena stopped smiling, slightly taken aback by Akira's emotions. She had noticed his weird behavior upon reaching the park, but just thought he was doing dumb boy things. Seems like there's more going on than she knows. "Are you okay?"
Akira side eyed her with a small glare. "What's it to you?"
"I don't know, just never seen you upset before." Serena responded.
"Yeah, well, you don't know me. I'm more than Shuji's bratty little brother, okay." Akira muttered under his breath, turning away from her.
Serena knew she could be an annoying loudmouth, kids back in her old town would tell her that constantly. But the girl had the intelligence to know when she'd go over the line and when it wasn't the time for jokes. In the time she's known Akira she couldn't say that he was her most favorite person in the world. But, he was the only other person her age here that she found enjoyment tormenting and the fact that he fights back makes her happy.
It's never fun if someone doesn't fight back against her jokes.
Like Yuji!
Serena walked up to his side, watching his gaze as he stared down into his reflection. "I can't say that I know what's wrong with you. But whatever it is, you shouldn't focus so much on it, ya know?"
He shifted his eyes to her. "Are you trying to cheer me up?"
"Nope! Couldn't care less if your panties are all twisted up!" She turned, huffing.
"I don't wear panties!"
"Ew! I didn't need to know that information."
"I didn't mean like that!" Akira exclaimed; his face was red once more. "Ugh! You're still so freaking annoying!"
Serena grinned. "You still thinking about it?"
"Huh?"
"Like I said, stop focusing on all the bad stuff, okay? Whatever's bothering you is something you can focus on later! For now, you should just be thinking about whatever makes you happy!" Serena explained.
Akira mulled over her words. "Think about what makes me happy? Well… I guess, Bakugan makes me happy."
"Really? Good! Glad you agree!" Serena patted him on the shoulder.
"Agree? Agree to what?" Akira asked, growing worried.
"To be my teammate in the tag tournament!"
"I never agreed to that!"
"It's not like you have anyone else to team up with, right?" Serena hit him where it hurt, reminding the boy that he truly had nobody else to choose from.
Well, two could play at that game.
"Neither do you! Your brother is too busy hanging out with Dan!" Akira exclaimed.
Instead of getting upset, Serena's smile reached a terrifying level of creepy. "Exactly, which is why we're going to team up and teach our stupid older brothers that being idiots was a big mistake!"
When he tried to break free from her grip, the hands on his shoulders only tightened. He kept struggling for several more minutes until eventually giving up. "I don't have much of a choice, huh?"
"Nope!"
"...Fine."
"Oh yeah! Team Serena is going to win this thing!"
"As if we're naming it something stupid like that!"
"What was that you, stupid-looking shorty!?"
Present Day:
Shaking the troublesome memory from his thoughts, Akira readjusted the cloak he was wearing. These had been Serena's idea to keep their identities a surprise from their brothers in hopes of making them regret their actions. The Subterra boy found it dumb, since anyone with a brain would figure out their identities in less than a second. Serena wasn't particularly quiet or subtle when it came to presenting herself around others.
They were lucky that their first match went pretty smoothly, even with their constant arguing throughout it. The two had spent the morning before the tournament had started to really think up strategies to handle their powerful opposition. Akira had suggested the two head over to the store to strengthen their decks, but Serena had shut the idea down instantly. Saying that their surprise would be ruined, because Alice wouldn't be capable of lying to her brother's face. So, they had to make do with what they currently had.
Noise to his side brought his attention to the object of his troubles, the blue haired Shujin was mowing down a bag of hot chips. Realizing that she was being stared at, the girl gave him a small glare. "What? I'm hungry."
"Can you at least try not to embarrass yourself?"
"So, a lady like myself can't indulge in her own snacks?"
"The last thing you could ever possibly be is a 'lady'." Akira spat, earning him a slap on the head from the Shujin girl.
"You should eat something too, shorty. I don't need you ruining low on energy during our next match." Serena advised, wiping away the crumbs on her hands.
Akira rolled his eyes. "I'm not hungry and I'm not going to get tired." Getting up from his seat, the boy walked away. "I gotta use the bathroom."
Huffing with annoyance and impatience, Serena still couldn't figure out what was troubling him. Even though she told him not to worry about his troubles so much, it wasn't very easy for him to do. Scratching her head at the dilemma in front of her, Serena tried to think of a way to help him focus better, but they all involved hitting him over the head with a comically large object. Probably not what he needed at the moment.
BEEP! BEEP!
Looking down at her watch, Serena saw that the next round of matches was finally decided on. Once she saw who their opponents would be, a sick smile spread across her lips.
Shuji and Nene vs Cloaked Duo
"The first idiot brother to face our wrath will be Shuji, huh? Sweet!" She then looked at who his partner is, a bit confused by her. "Who the heck is that squirt?"
"My little sister, Nene." Akira answered, returning from the bathroom.
Serena gaped at him, turned back to her watch, and then back to him. "Your little sister!?"
"Yup, and she's way better at brawling than me and Shuji."
"Okay, well, I mean that part isn't exactly difficult."
"SHUT UP!"
"H-hey, Alice…you look great!" Yuji nervously laughed as he sat next to his friend. The two were seated in the audience since Yuji and Dan had already finished their match and won. When the two found the rest of the group, Dan couldn't stop himself from laughing at the sight of Alice, while Yuji tried his best to say something.
Alice was currently dressed head to toe in JJ Dolls merchandise. Her standard outfit had been switched out for a white T-shirt with JJ DOLLS printed on the front, and her shorts had been swapped for a pink short skirt that almost reached her mid thighs. She had star-shaped sunglasses on her face and a glow bead necklace around her neck. Down by her feet were multiple bags of CDs, likely JJ Dolls' albums.
It was obvious to anyone that the Russian girl was beyond humiliated to be seen in such attire and her friends' teasing wasn't helping one bit. So, Yuji was hoping that he could help her feel just a bit better. "I-I mean, I know this isn't how you'd usually dress but you're making it work!"
She stared at him. "Yuji."
"Y-yes?"
"Stop talking."
"Yes, ma'am…" Yuji lowered his head and stopped talking.
Dan, who still found all of this hilarious, looked at Alice again. "Why not just change clothes if you hate this so much?"
"I can't." Alice replied, tensely. "They took my clothes and handed me all of this after saying that my normal outfit was bland. It was either this or nothing at all…" Her face grew hot red.
"I-I think you look great tho!" Yuji spoke up again.
Alice placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling sweetly at him. "Yuji, I appreciate it, but stop trying."
Marucho grabbed one of the CDs. "What are you planning to do with the CDs, Alice? If you don't want them then I could-."
"I'm burning them." Alice's resolute answer had shut down any potential argument Marucho could make.
"At least it's not me this time." Runo muttered. She looked up and noticed that the next match was about to start. "Seems it's time, guys."
Yuji tapped his phone, trying to contact his little sister, but she still wasn't picking up. "I still can't get into contact with Serena. Just where did she go?"
Alice hummed in thought. "Knowing her…she's probably up to something."
"Hopefully, nothing that will end with the stadium on fire. Her setting the school's gym on fire was enough of a headache for Mom and Dad." His statement brought concerned stares from everyone present, who were now questioning if leaving Serena alone was ever a good idea.
Nene, a little girl with reddish hair tied into three pigtails, dressed in a white top with a pink bow and blue skirt, stared at her opponents. Being the smarter one of her two brothers, it didn't take her long to figure out that one of the cloaked figures in front of her was her brother. The buck tooth was more than enough of a clue. His partner was obviously female, but she had no idea what kind of person she was.
"Who are you two losers?" Shuji asked, not realizing one was his little brother. Nene sighed, used to this sense of incompetence from him.
"Heh! Guess, your brain is too small to figure it out!" Serena mocked him.
"What was that, punk!?" Shuji growled.
The two nodded to one another before removing their cloaks, revealing their identities to everyone. "Surprise, surprise, peasants! It's Serena and her sidekick!"
"Who are you referring to as a sidekick!?" Akira yelled.
The Brawlers and Yuji stared at the screen with blank expressions. Yuji proceeded to groan into his hands. "Goddammit…"
Shuji growled at the sight of his little brother. "Akira! You're really going to be teaming up with this little brat!? I thought you hated her!"
Akira scoffed at his brother. "I don't hate her, but she at least doesn't act like an idiot and blame others for his losses!"
"An idiot!?" Shuji cried. "That's it, you little punk! I'm gonna enjoy beating you black and blue!"
Nene rolled her eyes. "Can you two shut up for once!? Your constant arguing is giving me a headache!"
"S-sorry, Nene…"
"Besides, I'm interested to see what your partner can do, Akira." Nene turned to Serena. "Though, I doubt she has skills good enough to contend with me."
"Eh?" Serena glared at the little girl. "What was that, midget?"
Nene grinned. "I'm saying that this match will be over in 5 minutes, because there's no way that you or Akira will stand a chance against me!"
"Don't you mean 'us', Nene?"
"Shut it."
"Y-yes, ma'am."
Serena looked at the little girl with disgust. "You siblings are all the same, nothing but annoying brats."
"LOOK WHO'S TALKING!" The three of them yelled at her.
Shuji whipped out his card. "Whatever! There's only one way to decide this anyway!" The other three followed suit, whipping out their own Gate Cards.
"FIELD OPEN!"
Akira flinched as a spray of water came down on their side of the field. He watched as his Subterra Saurus was utterly dominated by his sister's Ventus Ravenoid. Akira picked his Bakugan up off the ground and glared at his smirking sister. "Lucky shot."
Shuji & Nene - 2
Serena & Akira - 2
"Just give it up, Akira. You can't win this battle." Nene said, arrogantly. The middle child just growled angrily at her, wanting to prove her wrong.
Serena, unbothered by their squabble, pulled out a Gate Card. "Blah, blah, blah! How about you play the game instead using your poor trash talking skills! GATE CARD, SET!" She tossed the card down onto the field. "Bakugan brawl!" Her Aquos Robotallion rolled onto her newly set card. "Bakugan, stand!" Aquos Robotallion stood proudly, looming over the other two brawlers. The field's effects started to kick in.
Aquos Robotallion: 200 Gs to 220 Gs!
Shuji laughed at her. "As if something like that is gonna be an issue for me-"
"Watch it, Shuji!" Nene cut him off. "Considering that she already beat you before, don't engage her in a fight. It's very likely that she has a trap laid out for you and I."
Shuji fought back against his little sister's order. "I have a little trap of my own to deal with that smart mou-"
"Shuji!" Nene's eyes resembled a ferocious predator as she glared at her brother. The oldest of the kids there buckled in fear.
"Y-y-yes, Nene!"
"Good." Her happy facade returned. "Go land on my Gate Card. We'll bait Akira over there and get another point from him."
Now THAT order sounded like something he wanted. "I can work with that! Bakugan, brawl!" He tossed his Bakugan over to his sister's Gate Card. "Bakugan, stand!"
Growing to full size from the blue glow was an Aquos Stinglash, the scorpion-like Bakugan hissed ferociously at the smaller duo.
Aquos Stinglash: 230 Gs to 250 Gs!
Serena stuck her tongue out at the bigger boy. "What's wrong!? You chicken!?"
"No way, brat-"
"Bwah! Bwah! Bwah!" Serena started making chicken noises to piss him off.
"Just you wait, brat! You'll get yours soon!" Shuji shouted at her. He turned to his little brother. "C'mon, Akira! It's your turn now or are you scared that I'll beat you black and blue!?"
Akira's body shook with anger as his brother's voice reverberated in his head. "Shut up! I'll beat you down here! Bakugan, brawl!" He tossed his next Bakugan towards Shuji's. "Bakugan, stand!" His Subterra Centipoid hissed at the enemy Bakugan with malice matching its user.
Subterra Centipoid: 200 Gs!
"Heh, weak!" Shuji called out.
"I'll show you weak! Ability Activate-"
"Gate Card, open!" Nene interrupted Akira. "Cheering Battle!"
"What!?" Akira gasped. It clicked a little too late that he had walked right into a trap.
Nene grinned, holding up her own Bakugan. "That's my Gate Card, remember? Thanks to Cheering Battle's effect, I'm allowed to toss another Bakugan into battle." She tossed out her signature Bakugan. "Bakugan, brawl! Bakugan, stand!"
Ventus Ravenoid: 260 Gs!
Ravenoid and Stinglash: 510 Gs!
Akira felt his stomach drop as he stared down at the two massively powerful Bakugan, ready to beat down on his Centipoid unless he did something. Looking at his deck, he grabbed an ability he was sure would work. "Ability Activate! Desert Hole!" The Gate Card below began to change into a sandy desert for Centipoid to escape through.
"Ability Activate! Negative!" Nene activated her ability in response. The sandy hole disappeared, preventing Centipoid from escaping. The young girl felt a sense of satisfaction from seeing her brother's flabbergasted look. "It negates any ability's activation. You really should've seen that one coming, Akira."
"Hehe, yeah! Guess, you're not much on your own, huh Akira?" Shuji added, laughing loudly. "Face it, shortstack! You're nothing without me!"
"Enough, Shuji." Nene glared at him, shutting the teen up. She turned back to the battle. "Now finish it, Ravenoid!"
"You too, Stinglash!" Shuji ordered.
Akira lowered his head in defeat, knowing that all his efforts amounted to awarding his opponents their victory. Shuji's victorious laughter ringing endlessly in his head over and over and over and over and over and over and-
"GATE CARD, OPEN!"
Akira whipped his head at Serena, who he realized had been way too quiet up to this point. The girl's eyes still showed determination to win even when they were about to be put at a heavy disadvantage.
"Warp Gate!" Serena called out, revealing exactly what her Gate Card was. "It allows me to teleport Bakugan from one Gate Card to another! And I'm sending my Robotallion over to your battle!" Her Aquos Robotallian jumped from her Gate Card to the ongoing battle to join forces with her teammate.
Robotallian and Centipoid: 420 Gs!
"Hey! What's the big idea getting in the middle of our family problems!?" Shuji yelled at Serena.
"Quiet, idiot!" Serena retaliated, clearly pissed off. "I don't care what the issues are, but as a big brother you should be ashamed of yourself!"
"What!?"
"To yell at your own little brother, telling him that he's nothing without you is downright wrong!" Serena realized what exactly had been plaguing Akira this entire time, and it pissed her off that someone would actually say things like this to their own brother. "Yuji would never ever think about saying anything hurtful like that to me! No matter how many times I get on his nerves or mess up!"
"And what's it to you, brat!? This isn't your problem!?" Shuji argued.
"You're wrong, he's my teammate-my partner! Which means all of his problems are now mine as well!" Serena's words resonated with Akira, making his heart beat a bit faster. "As his teammate I have no choice but to get involved in his issues! And if he can't fight them on his own then I'll fight for him! Because, that's what it means to be partners!"
Akira stared at Serena, absolutely mesmerized by her in both appearance and voice. "You…"
She turned to him, giving him a sweet smile. "Isn't that right, Akira?"
"You said my name…?" Since meeting the girl she had never once called him by name. To hear her do so was both strange and enticing. But not only that, she just defended him when he was at his lowest, something that not even his siblings did much of. What was even stranger was that the more he stared at her face the more he found himself blushing up a storm.
Nene allowed a small smile in response to Serena's speech, but the only thing Shuji was feeling was uncontrollable rage. "If you want to act so big like your joke of a brother, then try this! Ability Activate!"
Nene's eyes grew wide, realizing that her brother was about to do something stupid. "Shuji, wait!"
"Abyss Ruler! Increasing my Bakugan's power by 100 Gs, making sure that you have no chance of matching our power!" Shuji wasted his ability card, laughing up another storm.
Aquos Stinglash: 250 Gs to 350 Gs!
"Are you sure about that?" Serena asked, grinning.
"What?"
"Ability Activate! Aquos Swap!" Serena declared, shocking the older boy. "Finally, my turn to properly use one of these things!" She gushed happily. "With this ability, if my Bakugan shares the Aquos attribute with my opponent's Bakugan, then our G-Power is swapped!"
Aquos Stinglash: 350 Gs to 220 Gs!
Aquos Robotallian: 220 Gs to 350 Gs!
"Oh, crap…!" Shuji gulped.
"Good going, you idiot!" Nene smacked him on the leg.
Reaching out, Serena grabbed Akira's hand, making the boy's face even brighter. "Ready to kick their tails?"
"Y-y-yeah!" Akira stuttered, before regaining his composure. "Let's finish this! Go, Centipoid!"
"Finish them off, Robotallian!"
Centipoid circled Stinglash, before entangling itself around the scorpion Bakugan. Centipoid began crushing Stinglash with everything it had, causing it to scream in pain. Robotallian grabbed Ravenoid out of the air before bashing it down onto Stinglash. With them both down Robotallian powered up its chest blasters, blasting the two out of the field.
"OH YEAH!" Serena celebrated their victory over Nene's team. "That's one older brother down and one more to go!"
"We really beat Nene…" Akira was a bit surprised by that. He never thought he'd be in a situation where he'd beat his little sister.
"No fair! I can't believe they managed to outplay us like that! I lost to Akira and that brat!" Shuji whined like a little kid.
Nene rolled her eyes at him. "Well, maybe they wouldn't have if you didn't act like an impatient idiot and waste that last ability!" She yelled at him, causing him to flinch. "Think before you leap instead of just assuming you can power yourself out of every situation!" Leaving her oldest brother with that, Nene walked over to the victorious duo.
Serena saw her coming, and smirked. "Something you need, shortstack?"
"Yes, Smurfette-"
"What did you just call me?"
"-I want to ask how you came up with that strategy at the end." Nene ignored the fact that she was interrupted.
Glaring at the small girl, Serena decided to ignore the insult for now. "It was easy really, I knew you two would be gunning for Akira. So, I just set down Warp Gate and waited for you guys to fall into place."
"You're saying that you had all of that planned out in your head?" Nene asked, not believing it at all.
"Obviously or else Akira would've been screwed." Serena responded, completely serious. The two girls stared each other down for a few more moments, making Akira slightly nervous of what might happen.
Thankfully Nene relented. "Fine. I'll believe you this time, but I would like a rematch in the future, Smurfette." She held out her hand for Serena to shake.
The youngest Shujin returned the handshake. "Refer to me as a Smurf again, and I'll be more than happy to kick you across the room."
"Hm, I like your attitude." Nene smiled. "Maybe you are a good match for my brother."
"Eh?" Both stared at her blankly.
"Good luck with your relationship!" Nene said teasingly, turning away from the blushing duo. "Shuji! Take me home right now!" She ordered her oldest sibling.
"W-w-w-w-we're not in a relationship!" The two finally found their voice.
"As if I'd be attracted to this bucktoothed shorty!"
"As if I'd be attracted to this loudmouth smurf!"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!?" The two roared at one another, escalating into another shouting match of name calling. It wouldn't be until Yuji and the others found them that they'd stop screaming at each other.
Chapter End
NOTE: I hope you guys enjoyed the battle and chapter. I'm not sure if this chapter counted as light-hearted considering the struggle of Akira here, but yeah. I'm also hoping that Akira and Serena weren't too annoying, they struggle to get converse without breaking into an argument, though there is a level of understanding between them that allows them to work together.
I guess it's kinda like Dan and Runo when you look at it that way.
Since Serena hadn't done much in the story up to this point, I figured now was a good time to let her have some shine.
The inclusion of Nene may've been a surprise, hopefully she was done well to your liking. Most of her attitude is just her getting tired of the constant arguing between Shuji and Akira, and she's obviously happy that Akira's moving out of Shuji's shadow.
Serena will now be referred to as a Smurfette by some people...and me.
I'm not the proudest of these tag matches, I'm much better with 1v1s. They are much easier to manage and keep track of.
Have a great day!