NOTE: Welcome back! I managed to get this done between homework, so I hope you guys like it!

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Chapter 19: Vengeful Promise

Runo could remember the last time she was in a hospital. Her father had fallen off of a high ladder and broke one of his arms. She could vividly picture the fear and panic on her mother's face as the doctors examined the damage done to his limb. The small Runo Misaki thought that her father was going to die, too young to understand that the damaged limb wasn't that serious. But her father reassured her anyway with gentle words that he'd recover quickly and that nothing bad would happen. And he was right, after a month his arm was back to normal.

That incident was painful, but the wound healed just as quickly as it arrived…

…This time, however…as she stood outside Dan's hospital room…as she watched his parents fret over their injured son and his guardian Bakugan…

…The wound just wouldn't close.

"My lady…" Tigrerra spoke up from her shoulder. "I promise you…we'll get to the bottom of this and find the one's responsible to make them pay!" The Haos Bakugan's warrior spirit burned with determination.

Runo's fingers pressed further into the door's glass window, her eyes darkening at the promise of revenge. "It's fine, Tigrerra." The calmness in Runo's voice injected a sense of unease inside of Tigrerra. The Bakugan stared at her partner, watching as the girl's aura started twisting ever so slightly.

"My lady…?"

Runo's eyes closed as she continued to speak. "I'm already aware of who it was that caused this."

His eyes slowly opened, the leader of the Battle Brawlers could barely see the person in front of him but his mind could only think of one thing. "L…Leonidas…"

"W-what?" Runo sputtered.

"Leo…nidas…and Y-Yuji…t-they…" He couldn't muster the strength to finish and lost consciousness once more.

When Runo's eyes opened a dark, vengeful malice surged from within her pupils. The Haos Brawler pushed away from the hospital room's door, marching down the hall. Doctors and patients alike moved out of the way, fearful of the teenager's furious aura.

Tigrerra watched her partner with apprehensive fear. The feline warrior wasn't fearful of anything that could happen to herself, but she was terrified of what Runo would do. The teenager's aura usually held a soft fierceness to it, but now it was twisting into something else. Something that was more jagged and black.

"Tigrerra."

"Yes, my lady?"

Runo looked up towards the sky, glaring at the perfect sunny weather that contrasted the wound in her heart. "I'll make them pay…" Tears started descending her cheeks slowly. "I swear it."

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Yuji looked down at his phone, seeing that he had several missed calls from Serena. Considering that he was still on his date(?) with Alice at the moment he wasn't in the mood to deal with her shenanigans at the moment. He silenced his phone, stuffing it back into his pocket.

"Is everything okay?" Alice asked, gaining his attention.

"Nah, it's just Serena calling me. She probably misplaced her house keys again or something."

"Wouldn't that be a cause for concern?" Alice looked slightly worried.

"Not really, since we always keep a spare key outside. But knowing Serena she'll likely forget that tidbit of information and break into the house." Yuji realized, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Maybe I should head back home to check."

"N-no!" Alice acted quickly, grabbing Yuji's hand. Her action surprised them both, causing the teens to stare at each other with wide eyes. "U-uh…I-I mean…!" Alice blushed and released his hand to put her own behind her back. "I-I'm sure Serena won't do anything too drastic! And you weren't sure what her calls were about anyway, right? S-so, let's just enjoy the rest of our outing!"

"S-sure." Yuji nodded his head with a stutter. He was kinda glad that Leonidas was minding his own business inside of his hoodie's pocket. The last thing he needed right now was an inappropriate dumb comment to interrupt them.

Alice decided to take advantage of her bold actions by taking Yuji's hand again, thankful that the boy didn't seem to look creeped out by it. "C'mon! We're close to the Bakugan store!"

"But it's closed today, right? Since you're not working right now." Yuji reminded her.

"Well, yes, but I have the keys, so I can enter the shop whenever I want." Alice responded by showing him the keys to the building. The two quickened their pace towards the shop, a little embarrassed by the way people were glancing at their public display.

"A-any particular reason? I mean, I guess I could get some new cards and Bakugan for the next tournament-"

"That's not it." Alice stopped him. She couldn't see it, since she wasn't looking at him as she led him towards the store, but she could feel his confused stare. "T-there's something that I want to talk to you about."

"Couldn't we just do it now?"

She shook her head. "No, it would be best to do it where we have some privacy. The store is just where I can guarantee that nobody will get in our way."

Yuji didn't say anything as he thought about Alice's words. "She wants to tell me something?" He thought back to their conversation at the parlor, specifically Alice's sadden expression at the mention of a date. "Does she…does she want to-"

"We're here." Alice dragged him out of his thoughts. The two teens stood in front of the Bakugan shop. Alice released his hand to pull out her keys, walking towards the door to unlock it.

"FOUND YOU!"

"What?!" Alice and Yuji turned around. Surprise found its way to their faces as they stared at the heaving Runo. The Haos Brawler's hair was frazzled from the heat, sweat pouring down her body from all of the running she had done. However, the strangest part about Runo was the absolute look of hatred she was throwing at Yuji. "R-Runo…?!" Alice worried for her friend.

"Get away from him, Alice!" Runo exclaimed.

The way she spoke unsettled the two, who were very concerned at the moment. Alice didn't move from Yuji's side. "Runo, are you okay? Maybe we should go inside-"

"NO! I refuse to go anywhere with that-that-that monster!" Runo pointed an accusational finger at Yuji.

"M-monster?!" Yuji stepped back in shock. Leonidas woke up, floating out of his pocket to see what was going on.

"Yuji? Alice? The loud girl? What's going on?" Leonidas asked.

"Don't act like you don't know! Trying to act like you're ignorant to the situation!" Runo spat roughly.

"My lady, please calm-"

"Not now, Tigrerra!" Runo shushed her partner. "I'm not letting those bastards get away with what they've done!"

Yuji, while still utterly confused, wasn't going to just roll over. He stepped forward, hoping to defuse the situation. "Look! I don't know what you're talking about, but I haven't done anything! I've been with Alice all day!"

Runo's fist shook with bubbling fury.

His eyes slowly opened, the leader of the Battle Brawlers could barely see the person in front of him but his mind could only think of one thing. "L…Leonidas…"

"W-what?" Runo sputtered.

"Leo…nidas…and Y-Yuji…t-they…" He couldn't muster the strength to finish and lost consciousness once more.

"As if…! You expect me to believe that! People like you would say anything if it means not taking responsibility for your actions!" Runo yelled.

Alice had enough of Runo's undeserved rant and stepped next to Yuji. "Runo! I don't know what's gotten into you, but you need to stop! Needlessly attacking Yuji and Leonidas without even explaining what you're blaming them for is wrong! You're better than this!"

Runo didn't say anything immediately, but her blank face left everyone unsettled. A soft chuckle escaped her lips before exploding into a full blown laughter, but there was no humor behind it. Suddenly she snapped her head back down to snarl nastily at the two. "Of course…! Of course you'd take his side over your own friends!" Runo stomped forward.

Alice took a step back with a sharp gasp. "R-Runo…?"

"Ever since he came to this town he's all you've been thinking about! Your innocent dorky boyfriend who can't do ANYTHING wrong!" Runo's shout caused Alice to stumble back. She would've fallen over if Yuji hadn't caught her.

"RUNO!" Tigrerra reprimanded. "BEHAVE YOURSELF!" Her partner was getting dangerously close to saying things she may not be able to take back.

"WHY?! WHEN IT'S HIS FAULT DAN IS IN A COMA!" Runo shouted.

"WHAT?!" The other three cried, utterly baffled by the news.

"D-Dan is…" Alice felt like she was going to pass out.

"No way…" Yuji muttered. Leonidas kept himself quiet as if several thoughts were running through his head.

Runo's anger turned back to Yuji and the others. "Don't act like you don't know! You're the ones responsible for doing that to him and Drago!"

Yuji, holding Alice close as if to protect her, glared at Runo. "I would never hurt Dan or Drago like that! How could you even say something like that?!"

Runo clicked her tongue, rolling her eyes to show that she didn't believe him. "Please! We all know how battle hungry that dragon of yours is! We all know how much he hates other Bakugan! And we all know that he wants nothing more than to get revenge on Drago for humiliating him!"

"Drago…lost?" Leonidas spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. Though he was in his smaller form, Yuji could see the look of betrayal on his partner's face.

"Stop pretending that you don't know anything! Nobody else could've possibly done that to Dan! Not even Masquerade has gone that far!" Runo didn't buy their 'act'. "Dan and Drago wouldn't…they wouldn't have…not even to him." Tears were threatening to fall from Runo's face.

"Runo…" Alice murmured. Her friend's words had hurt her, but she still couldn't help but feel terrible for the Haos Brawler. "Why, Runo? Why do you think Leonidas and Yuji would do such a thing?"

"Why?" Runo repeated the word. "Because since the moment they arrived everything's been going wrong! I told you all how dangerous they are! That we'd regret not taking Leonidas away, but NO!" Alice flinched back again. "You and Dan just insisted that everything would be fine AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED! They showed their true colors and you can't even see the truth, because of your own little feelings!" Runo's eyes shifted right at Yuji. "If only you never came to Wardington, then none of this would've happened! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

"RUNO! ENOUGH!" Tigrerra's ferocious roar forced Runo to shut her mouth, however the damage had already been dealt. The Haos warrior turned to see the stunned and heartbroken look on Alice's face. Yuji's head was lowered, his bangs keeping his eyes covered.

Yuji's head was a mess at the moment. Just a few minutes ago he was having the time of his life with Alice, enjoying his day. But during that time something terrible had happened, and he was completely ignorant about it.

His mentor was in danger and he had no idea.

His friend was in pain and he couldn't even help him.

Yuji released Alice, allowing her to stand on her own feet. His eyes were still covered by his bangs, but the two-tournament champion stepped forward. Alice stared at the boy of her affections, wondering just what was going through his head. Leonidas could feel his partner's emotions, something similar was going through him as well.

Runo, though silent, continued to glare hatefully at the two. She was ready to dismiss whatever excuse was about to fly out of the boy's mou-

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Runo, Tigrerra, and Alice blinked at him.

"I-I can't take responsibility for what happened to Dan and Drago, because it wasn't me who hurt them." Runo's hateful stare intensified. "But I'm sorry that I couldn't be there to help them. As their student and friend I should've stood by their side to support them. I'm sorry about what has happened, because I know that out of everyone here you're the one who is hurting the most."

Runo froze in her spot as his words sunk in.

Yuji raised his head, allowing the furious Battle Brawler to see the determination shining in his eyes. "I swear that I'll find the one's responsible and make them pay for what they've done!"

Doubt.

That was the disgusting feeling that made its way into Runo's head as she stared at the young man in front of her. The way he talked, the way he moved, and the way he shined so brightly felt so much like Dan. It hurt.

It hurt.

IT HURT.

Runo gripped her head as if fighting against the thoughts that tried to invade her sense of justice. "I-I-I won't fall for it! I won't let you trick me…I won't be tricked!" Runo's aura began to change color, its pure white aura was shifting to a nasiter color. Tigrerra frowned heavily as she observed this change in her partner.

Alice nervously stepped forward. "Runo, it's not a trick! Yuji-"

"NO!" Runo stumbled back. "I-I can't listen to you anymore!" Runo spat with strain in her voice. She glared angrily at Yuji as she made her declaration. "You can say all the pretty words you want, but I know you're guilty! At the tournament, for the whole world to see, I'll expose you two for the monsters you really are!" Runo turned and sprinted away from the shop, still gripping her own head.

"RUNO, WAIT-" Alice was prevented from chasing after Runo by Yuji grabbing her wrist. "Yuji?!"

"Let her go, Alice. I'm sorry, but I think we need to give her some time." Yuji said.

"But…but she…she said all those things. I can't believe she…" Alice covered her mouth to fight back her own choked sobs. "Dan and Drago too…" She continued to cry. She then felt a pair of arms wrap around her, bringing her into another body. Alice looked to see that Yuji was hugging her, causing the Russian girl to blush. "Y-Yuji?"

"I know this is hard for you too. So, I'll be your shoulder to lean on, okay?" Yuji smiled softly. As prepared as he was, Yuji was not ready for the torrent of waterfalls that escaped Alice as she buried her face into his chest and released the most painful cry he's ever heard.

Leonidas watched the scene silently as he mulled over everything they've learned in the past few minutes. Someone had defeated Dan and Drago, the only two who have ever managed to defeat himself and Yuji. Drago was the strongest opponent he's ever faced. Drago had promised that he wouldn't lose to anyone until they had their rematch, But he broke it.

Someone had taken that victory from him.

Unimaginable rage surged from within the dragon as Alice continued to cry loudly in the background. Leonidas stared at the skies above with one single thing on his mind:

"I'll find you and crush you! And I'll defeat every Bakugan that gets in my way until our time comes!"

Chapter End

NOTE: We haven't had an emotional chapter in a while, have we? Sorry to all the Runo fans, I promise that I don't hate her. She's just an easy tool to use. We got the preliminary stuff out of the way, so next chapter will be the start of the tournament.

Runo is a very emotional person, especially when it comes to the people she cares about. Any sense of reason that could possibly tell her she's wrong is ignored. The idea that Yuji and Leonidas weren't the ones to hurt Dan and Drago means that whoever it was is out there somewhere walking free. It hurts her too much to even accept that, so she's going with all she really does know.

Yuji got some mature moments and Leonidas is PISSED. I cannot wait to write the confrontation between him and Valditor. It's gonna be awesome!

See you guys next time!