Bakugan: The Pyrex Chronicles

by sithlorde1988

A reboot of another of my older stories, in this case Bakugan: The Pyrus Chronicles. What happens when, shortly after a new Brawler moves to Wardington, Drago sees Masquerade battling a mysterious masked Brawler that he'd believed to be a legend? And what if this Brawler ends up joining the Battle Brawlers? How will this affect the show? Read to find out! More info in chapter 1!

3. Double Trouble! Enter the JJ Dolls!

A/N: sithlorde1988 here with another chapter of Bakugan: The Pyrex Chronicles! I know it's been a bit since I last updated, but I have a total of 5 fics currently getting updated as of this point (though at least one of those fics is actually close to being done) so I have plenty to shuffle between! Anyways that said, per usual, I, sithlorde1988, do NOT own Bakugan (both the show and the video games) or any characters used therein (save of course for Rubedo and Pyrex who are my OCs that I added to the story). The ones that DO own Bakugan know who they are and all credit goes to them! That said, on with chapter 3!

Chapter 3- Double Trouble in Wardington! Marucho and Julie's Tag Challenge!

(intro plays)

(Marucho's house, with the Brawlers)

"Soo, now what? I know we're still in the middle of a sleepover and all, but now that I've battled Dan, what else did we have planned to do?" Rubedo asked conversationally after the hype of Dan beating him in a battle had worn off. Alice giggled at Rubedo's question from next to him.

"That's easy. Now we play more games. I think Marucho mentioned either Truth or Dare or possibly Spin the Bottle as options?" Alice said, blushing a slight bit at the thought of the latter of the two games she mentioned. Marucho nodded to Alice's remark.

"That's correct, Alice. I considered Seven Minutes in Heaven as well, but ruled it out because I didn't want both Dan and possibly Rubedo beating me up if I did suggest it." Marucho said as Rubedo felt the need to frown at Marucho's statement.

"Let's get something straight right now, Marucho. I might've been annoyed if you'd suggested that game, but I'd NEVER have beaten you up! I only do that to people who deserve it, such as bullies or creepers! You however do not deserve that! So please don't make such inaccurate and frankly hurtful assumptions about me, Marucho. Unlike Dan, I actually think before I act most of the time." Rubedo said, ignoring Dan epically facefaulting to the floor at Rubedo's shot at him and both Runo and Julie huffing at his remark.

"I'M NOT/HE'S NOT IMPULSIVE!" Dan and Julie said simultaneously, blinking at their turn at being synchronized, then both of them facefaulted after Alice giggled at the duo's antics. As for Rubedo, Marucho and Shun, they laughed at the duo's plight while Runo crossed her arms and huffed in jealousy of Julie speaking up at the same time as Dan.

"Gee, I wonder if that's why Runo always acts so jealous of you and Dan?" Alice asked Julie teasingly making Julie once again facefault at the question while Dan roll his eyes.

"Very funny, Alice. Both Julie and Runo are nice girls, but again I'm just their friend. Maybe when we're all older, I'll end up with one of them, but I'm in no hurry to get to that point. Besides, who knows if both of them will still have crushes on me when we're older?" Dan pointed out, making Shun and Rubedo both blink in surprise at how calmly Dan's response had been stated. Marucho nodded his agreement to Dan's remark.

"Well said, Dan! In the spirit of fairness, we'll put it to a vote. Anyone who wants to play Truth or Dare, raise your hand." Marucho said as he and Shun were the only two raising their hands.

"Those who want to play Spin the Bottle?" Marucho said as Runo, Julie, and a pink-faced Alice raised their hands.

"And those abstaining due to not having a preference one way or the other?" Marucho said as both Dan and Rubedo raised their hands, not really caring which game was played.

"Looks like Spin the Bottle it is. However, since Rubedo did point out none of us are older than 15, we'll have a slight variation made on the rules. Firstly, if a male spins the bottle and lands on another male, they can choose to just do a handshake over a hug or a kiss for that turn. Similarly, if a female lands on a female, they can choose to opt for a handshake if they really don't want to either hug or kiss the other female. Secondly, in place of the usual kissing whoever the bottle lands on, hugs can be substituted unless the two involved actually want to kiss in which case it can be a kiss on the cheek, and not necessarily a kiss on the lips." Marucho explained as both Dan AND Rubedo facefaulted at this. After they'd gotten up, Marucho kept speaking as if nothing had happened.

"Lastly, if you spin the bottle and it doesn't land on someone you want, you CAN choose to re-spin it and try again, BUT you can only do it once per turn and only a total of 3 times over the game. After that, you have to live with your choice or you're out. Last one standing wins. Any questions?" Marucho asked as both Dan and Rubedo huffed but shook their heads. The girls were too busy giggling at the looks on their faces to have any questions and Shun politely shook his head in the negative. Marucho nodded.

"Very well, let's begin. Since Dan beat Rubedo in their battle, Dan goes first." Marucho said, ignoring Rubedo's unamused eye roll at Marucho's reminder of Dan beating him. Dan nodded, going up to the bottle and giving it a good spin. Whether it be by chance, because Dan wasn't good at spinning, or it was meant to happen, the bottle wound up pointing squarely at Runo when it'd finished spinning to Dan's shock and Runo's mixed shock, glee and embarrassment. Dan rolled his eyes at this but shrugged, walked over, and gave Runo a quick peck on the cheek for the sake of at least somewhat following the rules, with the result both he and Runo went red while Julie huffed slightly, Shun and Marucho laughed, and Rubedo and Alice exchanged amused smirks.

"OK, so going in the order of our scores from the 2 truths 1 lie game previously, Rubedo's next." Marucho said as Rubedo shrugged and gave the bottle a spin, the result of which was the bottle taking a long time to stop before finally coming to a halt pointing right at Alice. Alice blushed as she realized the bottle was pointed at her but smiled as Rubedo walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her while pressing a kiss to Alice's cheek, pulling away afterwards as both he and Alice went red-faced, amidst giggles from Runo and Julie, smirks from Shun and Marucho, and a friendly clap on the shoulder from Dan.

"That being said, since there was a 4-way tie for 3rd, we'll go in alphabetical order from here meaning Alice is next." Rubedo said as Alice spun the bottle, and though she and Rubedo half expected it to land on Rubedo, it instead landed on Shun, to both Alice and Shun's shock. After a brief pause, Alice decided to give Shun a hug, passing up on kissing him on the cheek. Unbeknownst to her or the other Brawlers, Shun's face went slightly red at the close contact with Alice though he did his best to hide it.

"Julie's next." Marucho said as Julie smiled and gave the bottle a spin. Surprisingly, Julie would be the first to make her bottle land on someone of the same gender as her when it ended up landing on Runo, making both girls get embarrassed before deciding to just do a quick hug.

"Now it's my turn to spin." Marucho said giving the bottle a spin. Perhaps by chance or because he was much shorter than the other Brawlers, his spin didn't go very far but went around enough to count, eventually landing on a surprised Julie. Both Julie and Marucho blinked at this but exchanged a quick and chaste hug before breaking apart, causing Alice and Runo to giggle at the two while Rubedo and Dan laughed at how pink Marucho's face was in embarrassment. Shun just crossed his arms with a small smirk.

"Shun, your turn to spin." Marucho said as Shun nodded, walking over to give the bottle a spin. When it stopped, Rubedo could be seen frowning slightly as it was pointed between him and Alice, making Marucho blink.

"I'll say re-spin that Shun." Marucho said as Shun did so, and this time Rubedo frowned more as it landed clearly on Alice. Alice went a bit pink in surprise at this but didn't make a move to protest as Shun walked over and surprised not only himself, but both Rubedo and Alice by giving Alice a kiss on the cheek and then a hug, walking away while Alice's eyes went slightly wide at what Shun did while Rubedo frowned. Both Dan and Marucho exchanged surprised looks at this while Runo and Julie giggled at the look on Alice's face. Seeing the tension from Shun's turn, Marucho turned to Runo.

"Your turn finally, Runo. After you go, that'll wrap up the first round." Marucho said as Runo smiled, eagerly spinning the bottle. However, because of how vigorously she'd spun it, it overshot and ended up pointing not at Dan, but at a confused Rubedo, making Rubedo and Alice both blink in confusion, though the latter also huffed under her breath slightly, Dan breathe a silent sigh of relief, Julie to giggle at Runo's expression and Marucho to laugh at the mis-fired spin. Runo for her part simply facefaulted.

"I think I'll use my re-spin on this one. No offense Rubedo, but you weren't who I was hoping to get on that spin." Runo said, making Alice smile as Rubedo facefaulted a bit at being the first one to cause a re-spin while Dan, Shun and Marucho laughed at Rubedo's reaction while Julie giggled at how fast Runo played her one per round re-spin. After Runo did her re-spin, the bottle once again missed Dan. But this time, it ended up landing on a surprised Alice. Julie giggled at the look on Runo's face while Shun, Marucho and Dan laughed at the blinking and pink-faced Alice.

Rubedo smirked at the pouty expression on Runo's face, Alice herself went pink in embarrassment at how much she was getting either pointed to or being involved in the game and Runo fell over in exasperation at failing once again to get Dan. Sighing, Runo reluctantly walked over and hugged Alice, before smirking mischievously and playfully mashing her lips against Alice's cheek, walking off with a giggle as Alice did a silent gasp of surprise at Runo kissing her cheek while Shun, Dan and Marucho all facefaulted at what they'd seen, Rubedo went oddly red-faced at the sight of a cheek kiss between girls, and Julie giggled at the shocked look on Alice's face as well as at Rubedo's red face.

(Remaining re-spins: Alice/Rubedo/Dan/Shun/Marucho/Julie-3 Runo-2)

After that the next few rounds played out, with everyone using at least one of their remaining re-spins (aside from Rubedo who seemed to be having deceptively good luck with the bottle in that he managed to get it to land on Alice nearly every time, and then causing at least three more re-spins to be used up by bottles landing on him in addition to Alice managing to get Rubedo in at least two of the few rounds that followed after the first round.)

Then it eventually came back around to Alice's turn once more, as everyone except Rubedo was on their last re-spin while Rubedo had two, having had to use one the previous round after his spin landed on Runo, partly as payback for her using a re-spin on him and partly because he'd rather not touch Runo or Julie more than he had to. Alice spun the bottle, and actually gasped aloud as the bottle just overshot Rubedo and pointed to Dan. Alice frowned briefly but sighed, reluctantly wrapping her arms around Dan in a brief hug, but deciding to forego the cheek kiss.

Runo and Rubedo both breathed sighs of relief that Alice skipped out on kissing Dan on the cheek, as did Shun, though he just smirked not wanting to let his thoughts show. Marucho and Julie giggled at how innocent the byplay between Alice and Dan was. Julie went up to take her turn, spinning the bottle carefully. When it stopped, Julie giggled and stuck her tongue out playfully at Runo because the bottle landed on Dan, who Julie eagerly ran over to hug and then proceeded to kiss Dan on the cheek, making Dan and Runo facefault as a result of this while Shun, Marucho and Rubedo laughed at the synchronicity between Dan and Runo while Alice giggled and Runo huffed after she got up off the ground while Dan got embarrassed.

After that, a few more spins went had, with the eventual results that both Runo and Julie used their final re-spins in failed attempts to get their spins to point to Dan, only for them to instead point to Shun (for both girls) while Rubedo wound up having to play his second re-spin when his bottle went horribly off-course and ended up pointing at Marucho, making Rubedo have to reluctantly surrender his second re-spin to try and at least get a girl, which luck would favor him on as his re-spin would end up pointing once again to Alice. A few spins later, Dan and Shun used their last re-spins (ironically enough to avoid spins pointed at each other) before Marucho used his last re-spin after the spin ended up pointing to Dan, having to eat the L on the next spin when it pointed to Shun. Marucho and Shun exchanged a reluctant handshake after that.

After a bunch more rounds, in which Rubedo managed to land on Alice several more times, Runo and Julie got Dan twice each, and Shun even managed to get Alice once, the first elimination of the game finally occurred, but despite what the odds would suggest, it would actually be Shun who was that boot as his spin landed on Dan once again and he refused to go near him. After that, a few more spins were exchanged during which Alice finally ended up using her last re-spin as her bottle ended up pointing to Julie. Her re-spin would be much more in her favor as she finally managed to get her bottle to point to Rubedo, something it'd not done all game.

Alice eagerly sat in Rubedo's lap, planting an eager and happy kiss on his cheek as she put her arms around him, resting on him while kissing his cheek, before they separated looking red-faced, amidst giggles from Runo and Julie, laughs from Shun and Marucho, and Dan clapping Rubedo once again on the shoulder with a wink. A few more spins went by and eventually the final re-spin, which was Rubedo's, was used as he managed to get his bottle to point to Dan. He then re-spun and smiled as the bottle managed to land on Alice, who blushed prettily as Rubedo once again pecked her on the cheek while hugging her.

After a couple dozen more spins, both Marucho and Dan got taken out of the game when they both landed on Rubedo making Rubedo blink at being able to cause two simultaneous eliminations. Not long after, Runo and Julie also got eliminated when both landed on Rubedo and Alice respectively, making Rubedo and Alice blink at each other as they realized they were the last two in the game.

"What do you think, should we just call it a draw and agree to share the win on this, Alice? Because I don't see either of us refusing to hug/kiss the other anytime soon if at all. Unless you'd rather have the win, in which case I don't mind bowing out to let you have this one since Dan and I each already got a win in other games." Rubedo said to Alice who smiled.

"I'm okay with calling a draw since I win either way since it's just us two left. Unless Marucho would rather us battle it out?" Alice replied, leaning her head on Rubedo's shoulder contentedly. Marucho shrugged.

"I don't care if you two want to call it a draw. Might save us some time and a lot of back and forth kisses between you two." Marucho said shrugging, as Julie and Runo giggled at Alice's reaction to her and Rubedo calling a draw while Shun huffed a bit under his breath, realizing he probably should just settle for being Alice's friend, since he was nearly positive she was smitten with Rubedo even if she won't admit to it, and vice versa. Dan smirked as he looked at Rubedo.

"Y'know, for as much as you two were all over each other in that game, should we just figure you two are together already? Or were you two hamming it up for the game?" Dan asked Rubedo, who promptly proceeded to do an epic facefault at Dan's teasing question, only just missing landing on Alice's chest and lap, instead hitting the ground. Alice for her part, turned pink with embarrassment before she turned to Dan.

"Not funny, Dan! And I don't think you have room to tease Rubedo about he and I having chemistry when you're the one who has TWO girls crushing on you." Alice said rolling her eyes, ignoring the triple facefault that followed from Dan, Julie and Runo at her response. Shun and Marucho both just sat in the corner, doubled over laughing at the mass facefaulting taking place. After a bit, Rubedo got to his feet and rolled his eyes at Dan.

"You're funny, Dan. Remind me to say that to YOU if we do this game again and that happens with you and either Runo or Julie, if not both. After all, who's to say you couldn't somehow end up with the both of them if you all were so inclined?" Rubedo joked, causing Dan, Julie and Runo to once again facefault at Rubedo's joke. Alice giggled at Rubedo's reply to Dan's joke.

"Besides, isn't that OUR business to decide how we feel about each other?" Alice asked making Rubedo shrug.

"Makes sense to me. I don't know about you Alice, but I for one am in no hurry to rush into anything. I'm quite content just being your friend for now and letting things play out at their own pace." Rubedo said happily to Alice.

"That being said, now that Spin the Bottle is over, I suppose now we can head back to my room and figure out what to do next." Marucho said as for the first time since before they'd went to pick up Rubedo, one of their Bakugan spoke up, in this case Preyas.

"Why don't we fill the new guy in on that legend Drago told you guys earlier?" Preyas asked the Brawlers, who blinked at the question while Rubedo turned to face Marucho.

"I see you have a talking Bakugan, Marucho. I've heard of that before, but I didn't think you all would have talking Bakugan of your own, but thinking about it, I should've suspected as much since I'm pretty sure I heard Drago talking when Dan and I brawled earlier. I take it all of you, other than Alice who has no Bakugan, also have talking Bakugan?" Rubedo asked the other Brawlers after aiming the first part of his statement towards Marucho. As one, they all nodded.

"Preyas DOES raise a good point, surprisingly." Drago said from Dan's shoulder, ignoring the indignant "HEY!" of offense that came from Preyas at Drago's remark.

"If you're going to be one of the Battle Brawlers, Rubedo, I suppose you should be let in on the legend of Pyrex that I told the others earlier." Drago said, and it took everything Rubedo had to keep his expression neutral and unreadable at the name Drago dropped. In his head however, he was shocked. 'Dammit all to hell!' Rubedo cursed soundly in his head at Drago's mention of the name Pyrex. 'HOW does Drago know THAT name? I've been careful NOT to let it be known for years! Granted, that last fight with Masquerade probably drew attention to that name but it couldn't be avoided.' Rubedo thought to himself. Alice saw Rubedo blanch slightly at the mention of Pyrex but otherwise not react. Alice giggled at Rubedo's expression before getting his attention.

"I take it you've heard of him?" Alice said to Rubedo with a smile. He nodded.

"Of course I have. Who hasn't heard of Pyrex? Supposedly they say he's a defender of the innocent who has some of the strongest Pyrus Bakugan to ever be used by a Brawler. Some say he was just a rumor someone thought up one day, but I had NO clue he was a legend! That's news to me. I only heard the name from someone in an internet chatroom." Rubedo said in genuine shock, not aware there was a legend about Pyrex. Drago nodded.

"Oh, there is indeed a legend. Forgive us for our lack of manners, though. I'm Pyrus Dragonoid. The one who took offense to what was meant as a compliment for him is Aquos Preyas. The other Bakugan who haven't spoken up yet are Haos Tigrerra, Subterra Gorem and Ventus Skyress." Drago said, introducing himself and the other Bakugan to Rubedo who nodded respectfully.

"I see. Well, it's nice to meet you all. I bet you guys got really lucky when you found talking Bakugan. Most people think the concept of talking Bakugan is a bunch of hogwash, but I say anyone who thinks that is full of it. If there's such a thing as Pyrex and Leondias, then there dang sure is such a thing as talking Bakugan." Rubedo said to the Brawlers with a smile.

"It's more like they found us for the most part, honestly." Marucho said with a nod. Shun scoffed.

"Let's be fair, some of us got them as gifts. Others happened to stumble across their talking Bakugan. It's really a mixed bag when you think about it." Shun said to Rubedo, before smirking.

"I see you don't have a talking Bakugan of your own yet, Rubedo." Shun said to Rubedo who blinked at Shun's comment.

"Nope, I certainly don't have one of those yet. But you know what they say about saving the best things for last." Rubedo said as he confirmed Shun's statement. 'Technically, he's NOT wrong. I don't have a talking Bakugan, but my alter-ego does.' Rubedo thought to himself, knowing he wasn't entirely lying by going along with Shun's assumption. The group then headed to Marucho's bedroom again. Conveniently, the seating arrangements were around the same as they were the last time they sat in Marucho's room, with the only difference being that Shun found himself taking a seat on the bed on Alice's opposite side, causing Rubedo to give Shun an inquiring glance.

Shun just shrugged. After everyone was comfortable, Drago recounted the story of Pyrex that he'd told the Brawlers the other day while Rubedo listened with rapt attention, taking in every detail. However, Rubedo only just barely managed to avoid his eyes going wide at the mention of Leonidas, realizing he and his partner were going to have to have words later on when they were alone about keeping things from each other. After the legend, Rubedo blinked as he took it all in.

"So basically, this Pyrex is one of the first to play Bakugan and go to Vestroia. And he proved himself to such a degree that one of the Six Soldiers took a liking to him and gave some of his own power unto him. And from there, another of that soldier's apprentices actually also took a liking to Pyrex, and made himself Pyrex's partner, and the two became legends by defeating this Vladitor that Drago spoke of. Do I have that about right?" Rubedo said as he summed up the legend. The Brawlers nodded.

"One more thing we should mention to you, Rubedo. The last time Pyrex was spotted, it was in town battling our enemy, Masquerade. He's a jerk who goes around stealing other people's Bakugan and sending them to the Doom Dimension with no mercy or remorse. And to make matters worse, once a Bakugan is sent to the Doom Dimension, they can never come back, EVER. So Masquerade is VERY bad news." Dan said to Rubedo who nodded.

"I can get that. Back where I used to live, I knew a couple of people who lost their Bakugan to the Doom Dimension thanks to Masquerade so he sure as heck isn't any friend to me. I've heard stories from other brawlers, and they give me the creeps. As far as I'm concerned, the sooner someone can actually put an end to that maniac, the better." Rubedo said determinedly as he crossed his arms. The other Brawlers smiled at his reaction.

"Well, you look like you'll make a really good Brawler, Rubedo. All you're missing is your own talking Bakugan, but it's not really a requirement to be a Brawler. Otherwise Alice wouldn't be a Brawler." Dan said teasingly as Marucho, Julie and Runo blinked at his comment while Rubedo, Shun and Alice frowned at Dan's remark.

"Should it matter if she does or doesn't have Bakugan if she's here to help? As far as I'm concerned, Alice is just as much a Brawler as any of us and definitely one of us." Rubedo said in Alice's defense, as Shun nodded his agreement while Alice smiled at Rubedo's comment in her defense and then nodded to him.

"Thank you, Rubedo. Nice to know you care. And Dan, that wasn't funny." Alice said pouting at Dan's joke, as Rubedo gently put a comforting arm around Alice, who smiled and leaned into the comfort, ignoring Julie and Runo's giggles from next to her as well as Marucho's laughter at both the closeness between her and Rubedo as well as Shun's face which had clear jealousy on it despite him not trying to show it. After a bit, Runo spoke up.

"As much as watching you two like that is cute, was that all we needed to fill Rubedo in on?" Runo asked Marucho and Shun, who shrugged.

"I can't think of anything else to tell him. So unless any of the Bakugan can think of anything to add, I'd say Rubedo's pretty well up to speed." Marucho said and the Bakugan all shrugged, not being able to think of anything. Well, not at first at least. After a bit, Gorem spoke up having had a thought.

"Does he know about Doom Cards already?" Gorem asked, as Rubedo turned to face Gorem at his question.

"Are they from the Doom Dimension? That'd be my guess since they're called Doom Cards." Rubedo replied to Gorem.

"That's partially correct, Rubedo. However, they're more specifically the way that Masquerade and his minions/hired help send Bakugan to the Doom Dimension after beating them." Drago explained to Rubedo. Dan then smirked before speaking up.

"Heh, Pyrex is lucky he's a really wicked battler or else he might've lost at least one Bakugan that way! Too bad we don't know who he is." Dan said, making Rubedo blanch a bit as his body went slightly rigid for a split second, which went unnoticed by almost all the Brawlers, with the exceptions of Shun and Alice who noticed the change in Rubedo's body language.

'And for good reason.' Rubedo internally sweated.

'With my luck, if they knew who Pyrex really was under that mask, I'm not sure HOW they'd react. And having just made friends with them, I'd rather not lose them so soon over something like that, especially Alice. I think out of them all, she'd be the one I'd be hardest pressed to handle losing. But that's just my opinion. As long as they don't figure out that he's me, I should be fine. Granted, I'll probably have to be the one to tell them myself if or when the time comes, but only then. And hopefully when that time comes, they'll understand I'm keeping this from them for their own protection.' Rubedo thought to himself, lost in his own train of thought.

'Because if Masquerade himself is so hell-bent on getting rid of me, I don't want to think about what he'd try to do to the Brawlers if he knew I was one of them, much less the extremes he'd go to in order to eliminate us all. So it's really for their own protection I keep my secret to myself for the time being. I just hope they can forgive me when the time comes for all to be revealed.' Rubedo thought to himself, not seeing Alice giving him an appraising/curious look while he was lost in thought, nor did he notice Shun glancing at him in intrigue. Julie and Runo giggled.

"Well, now that that's done, I suppose now would be the time for Truth or Dare, since that was the other game you suggested Marucho." Julie said to Marucho. Marucho blinked before looking at the clock.

"Maybe in a bit, Julie. For now, we should sort out sleeping arrangements for when it comes time for bed." Marucho replied.

"So I'm guessing it's not as simple as guys in one room and girls in the other?" Dan asked, ignoring the simultaneous facefaults from Alice, Runo and Julie at his question.

"Ordinarily you'd be correct Dan, but my parents only allocated us the one guest room, and there's only like 4 beds in the room so most of us will have to pair up with one of us having a bad to themselves." Marucho said. Both Shun and Dan blanched at this comment while it was Rubedo's turn to facefault at Marucho's explanation.

"In that case, wouldn't it be fairest to either draw straws or something to decide who gets the single bed?" Rubedo suggested after getting back up. Marucho blinked but nodded.

"Good idea, Rubedo. Since there's 7 of us, I propose we draw rocks, 6 black and 1 red, and whoever draws the red rock gets a bed to themselves while the other six sort out who shares with who from there. Anyone disagree?" Marucho said. No one disagreed, and Rubedo even nodded his approval of Marucho's idea. Shun then left and quickly returned with the required rocks, which Marucho put in a bag which each brawler took turns pulling from, starting with Dan and ending with Julie. Once everyone had pulled and picked a rock, the closed fists opened up, and it would end up being Shun who drew the red rock and got a bed to himself, to his slight disappointment. As for the other six, Marucho had an idea. He quickly wrote each of the six people's names on a slip of paper and threw them into a spare bag he found.

"I propose that now myself and Rubedo each pick a name out of this hat and whoever we pick will share a bed with us while the two who aren't picked will by default have to share a bed together. I'll go first for this if Rubedo doesn't mind?" Marucho said with an inquiring look to Rubedo.

"That's fine with me. It's your house Marucho." Rubedo said. Marucho nodded, reached into the hat, and pulled out a name. It was with only slightly shocked eyes he flipped over the paper he'd grabbed to show he'd pulled Julie, making her pout a bit that she didn't get to share with Dan, but still accepted sharing with Marucho with a nod. Rubedo shrugged, as he grabbed a name from the hat, keeping it in his closed fist.

'This is a big pull. Not that I have a preference, but I'd really rather not have to share a bed with Dan or Runo since I don't feel like hearing Runo pout which she would regardless of which of them I pulled. Of course, by process of elimination that would only leave Alice as a viable choice so maybe I should just take what I can get?' Rubedo thought to himself, suddenly doubtful of Marucho's idea but going along with it anyways. He then opened his fist to read the name he pulled and his eyes went wide when he looked at the slip he'd pulled.

Going a bit red in the face, he simply flipped his slip over to reveal that by some crazy chance he'd actually pulled Alice's name. Alice's mouth fell open in a wide 'O' of surprise when she saw her name in Rubedo's hand, while Runo squealed at seeing this, running over to practically tackle-hug a shocked Dan, making them both facefault as a result when she realized it meant she was sharing with Dan, causing Julie to huff a bit but accept that Runo had gotten him fair and square this time. As for Alice, she simply smiled at Rubedo.

"Imagine that. How lucky for us that you pulled my name from that hat, don't you think?" Alice said with a shy smile. Rubedo nodded.

"Honestly, yeah it kinda is. Both because you'd have been my ideal pick, and because I think we can both agree that we'd both not hear the end of it had I managed to pull Dan or Runo from that hat, if for no other reason than Runo probably would've pouted something fierce if not outright had a slight tantrum had I pulled either her or Dan. Besides, we both saw how quickly she tackle-hugged Dan when she realized she got him for a bed partner. If that doesn't scream her being smitten with him, I don't know what else does." Rubedo replied with a smirk, ignoring the twin facefaults of Runo and Dan behind him at his comment and the huff that accompanied said facefaults from Runo.

"That's true. Besides, I think it worked out for the best this way. I mean, can you see Shun as the bed-sharing type? I think it worked out for the best he got the bed to himself. But that's just my opinion. And besides, I think these are the least disruptive arrangements to come by honestly." Alice said giggling as she heard Runo huff nearby from Rubedo's comment, while ignoring the facefault from Shun at her comment about him.

"Honestly, I'm just as glad that it went the way it did since I think in all honesty, Julie was probably the best pull I could've hoped for given I wasn't much trying to share a bed with one of the guys, and I have the feeling that it might've been too awkward had I pulled Runo or Alice's names for various reasons, so I think I got lucky enough with my pull." Marucho said after a bit of pondering of his pull. Julie just smiled at Marucho's explanation.

"At least you're not upset that you pulled me, so that's something. Mind you're no Dan, but that's fine I suppose. I mean, it could be worse. I could've been pulled by Rubedo instead. He's nice enough and all, but not really sure I want to share a bed with him. Um, no offense, Rubedo." Julie said, oblivious to the simultaneous facefaults from Rubedo and Alice at her comment, though after the former helped the latter up, he waved off the comment.

"While I don't agree with you using me as an example like that, I take no offense from your statement Julie." Rubedo said, not seeing both Runo and Alice roll their eyes at Julie's comment for different reasons. For Runo, it was because she was over Julie constantly hinting about how she sees herself as better for Dan than Runo herself could be, while Alice didn't agree with Julie basically suggesting that Rubedo wasn't a good enough choice to share with, though she was just as happy that she ended up sharing with him instead. As for Dan, once he finally got himself free of Runo, he laughed at Rubedo's predicament.

"That looks pretty rough, man. I can't imagine having girls griping over how suitable or not you are as a bed partner." Dan said with a laugh, not seeing both Julie and Runo huff a bit at how dismissive Dan was being of the current situation. While all this was going down, the Brawlers' partner Bakugan were gathered in a corner for a discussion of their own.

"Humans can be confusing sometimes. Not sure I'll ever get them." Tigrerra said, while Skyress and Preyas nodded agreement to her comment.

"Agreed, Tigerra! But at least our partners are good people so it's not a big deal, right?" Preyas said casually.

"That's a rather foolish outlook, Preyas." Skyress gently scolded the Aquos Bakugan, causing him to splutter.

"While you are correct, not ALL humans are like the Brawlers. Like the Bakugan, there are both good AND bad humans. And to be perfectly honest with you, I get the feeling there's more to Rubedo than meets the eye, though I'm not sure exactly why I think that. But nevertheless my instinct tells me so." Skyress said making Gorem, Preyas AND Tigrerra blink at her statement while Drago nodded agreement with Skyress.

"I agree with Skyress. Perhaps it's something to keep an eye on in the future, but for now I'm sure whatever it is, we'll find out about it when the time is right so I wouldn't worry about it overmuch, Skyress. And Tigrerra, I don't think any of us will ever fully get humans." Drago said casually. Dan chuckled, having heard the Bakugan's conversation.

"Chill out, Drago. Not even us humans get humans sometimes so no need to stress on it. We're just weird like that." Dan said calmly to Drago who blinked but nodded to Dan's point.

"Fair enough, Dan." Drago replied. Not long after that, the group had enough time for one quick game of Truth or Dare which didn't last very long as suffice it to say while the Brawlers might be good at Bakugan and various games, being creative with dares and/or truths wasn't one of the groups' strong points with the exceptions of Alice and Rubedo who seemed to be reasonably talented at making up dares, and everyone was at least marginally good at the 'Truth' aspect of 'Truth or Dare'.

However, it takes more than two capable players to make a game interesting, so the game ended fairly quickly. After that, the groups decided to change into their nightwear since it made more sense than sleeping in their usual outfits before all settling into their assigned sleeping pairs and settling down for the night, and with the exceptions of Alice and Rubedo who stayed awake a bit, the group fell asleep pretty much instantly.

As for Rubedo and Alice, they both laid on their seperate sides of the bed staring at the ceiling lost in their thoughts. For Rubedo it was once again pondering the day's events and subconsciously questioning how he'd lucked out to find such good friends as he did in the Brawlers while Alice was sorting through her own thoughts on the day's events and more specifically her complex thoughts on Rubedo in particular. Eventually after a bit, even they drifted off to sleep. For awhile, all that could be heard in the room was the sounds of gentle breathing as the Brawlers slumbered peacefully, each having various dreams, most pleasant/sweet in nature, though some would have less pleasant dreams than others.

(In Alice's dream, Alice's POV)

I found myself looking around in a room that I remembered only too well despite only having been in it a few times that I can recall. It was my grandfather's laboratory. And oddly enough he was smiling as I stood next to him.

"Behold, Alice! I've found a way to create a gate to other dimensions! Imagine the possibilities this could have for scientific advancement and even the betterment of mankind! The possibilities are endless!" My grandfather had said, and I'd smiled in pride at his accomplishment.

"Well done, Grandfather! There's a reason you're the scientist of the family after all!" I said proudly. However, what neither he OR I could have foreseen was him leaving the room for a bit, only for his machine to grow a bit unstable on his return, causing a massive shaking before a massive explosion of blue light could be seen. Eventually everything went black, though not before an oddly ominous laughing sound could be heard in the blackness.

(Back in the waking world, neutral POV)

After a bit, Alice sat up in her bed, blinking as she recalled her all too vivid nightmare while looking around to see if she'd woken anyone up, which as far as she could tell she hadn't, prompting her to breathe a silent sigh of relief, though what she didn't realize was her sitting upright shifted the bed enough to make Rubedo stir a bit, one eye cracking open to look up sleepily at Alice before Rubedo sat up with a quiet yawn.

"Why're you awake, Alice? Everything okay?" Rubedo asked groggily but quietly. Alice turned to him, smiling slightly.

"I'm fine. Just a bit of a bad dream is all. Sorry if I woke you." Alice said to Rubedo who smiled at her.

"It's okay. No shame in being woken up by a bad dream, after all. I'm sure everyone's had to deal with that at least once in their lifetime. So don't feel bad about it at all. I'm here to listen though if you want to talk about it however, Alice." Rubedo said quietly yet calmly, hoping to reassure Alice. Alice only just resisted the urge to giggle, remembering that the other Brawlers were techincally still asleep.

"Honestly, it was more confusing than anything. Though I guess I can say it was about my grandfather seeing as it was the day of an accident he and I were caught in. He'd just finished constructing a portal to another dimension, and was getting ready to test it. I recall he had to leave the room briefly, but then when he returned the machine had become unstable before the room around us exploded in a burst of both midnight blue and sickly indigo light, but that was where the nightmare ended. As if that wasn't bad enough, I heard an ominous sounding evil laugh in the background as everything had went black, which is when I woke up." Alice said to Rubedo, making Rubedo frown as he noticed that there were unshed tears in Alice's brown eyes. Rubedo sighed silently, gently using a finger to dry the tears from Alice's eyes, before gently pressing a kiss to her cheek reassuringly as he gently put his arms around her.

"That sounds rough. I'm sorry to hear you went through that. But you're safe and that's what matters, Alice. And no one's gonna hurt you here." Rubedo said quietly as he smiled at Alice who blushed a tiny bit as she felt Rubedo's lips on her cheek again, smiling at how gently his lips felt. 'Why is everything about him so gentle?' Alice found herself thinking happily.

"Thank you, Rubedo. This feels really nice." Alice said quietly, subconsciously snuggling into Rubedo's arms as he held her close gently. Rubedo felt his face heat up a bit as Alice snuggled into him.

"I agree. Something about this just feels right. I can't quite put my finger on why, but it does." Rubedo said. Alice smiled happily as Rubedo spoke.

"Mm-hmm. Is it bad I just want to lay here like this, and enjoy being in your arms?" Alice asked quietly and shyly. Rubedo smiled, gently running his fingers through Alice's hair.

"Absolutely not, it just makes you you. Besides, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy this too. But then what self-respecting guy wouldn't enjoy holding a beautiful girl in his arms?" Rubedo said quietly with a smile, blushing slightly as he realized what he'd said. Alice smiled shyly at Rubedo's compliment.

"So you think I'm beautiful then?" Alice asked happily and quietly. Rather than verbally acknowledge her, Rubedo settled for shyly nodding, while being glad it was dark enough that Alice couldn't see how red his face had gotten after he'd called her beautiful. Alice smiled at Rubedo, shyly pressing a kiss to his cheek by way of thanks.

"Thank you for the compliment. It means a lot." Alice said, happily nuzzling into Rubedo's chest, allowing herself to take in the scent of the body spray Rubedo had used while he grabbed his stuff before coming over for the sleepover (Axe Phoenix body spray as it turned out), making Rubedo go a bit red while keeping his arms safely around Alice's waist, holding her close to him. For a bit, the two just laid there silently before Alice quietly spoke up.

"Is it bad I almost wish we could do this more often?" Alice quietly asked Rubedo who blinked at the question before smiling.

"Again, not at all. It just means we enjoy each other's touch and possibly each other's company. For now, we can just take comfort in that. Maybe later down the line, it could mean us becoming something more but as we literally only just met today, I don't think now is the right time for that discussion." Rubedo said quietly, not seeing Alice blush next to him at his comment.

"I suppose for now let's just enjoy being in each others' arms like this while we can." Alice said quietly and Rubedo nodded, the two just laying in each other's embrace quietly until they eventually both drifted back off to sleep.

(A few hours later)

Julie sat up, noticing that it was now light outside while stretching herself out in a semi-catlike fashion as she got up. Feeling curious, she looked around before blinking and then getting a devious idea, she pulled out a camera she'd brought along on a whim and looked at the other beds, giggling when she saw Runo sprawled out in a catlike fashion with a hugely contented smile on her face as her head rested on Dan's shoulder, Dan being unaware of a thing as he continued peacefully dozing. Despite her huffing, Julie giggled as she snapped several pictures of Dan and Runo.

She then moved over to the other bed, where her jaw actually dropped slightly as she saw Rubedo and Alice both smiling contentedly, the latter's head rested on the former's chest while the former's head was on top of the latter's. If not for the fact she could just see a pajama-clad leg poking from under the blankets and a hint of nightgown on Alice's shoulders she might have blanched, but instead she smirked and snapped several photos, giggling despite herself at how cute the two looked together. She left Shun alone as he didn't really rate an embarrassing photo.

Unfortunately for Julie, she giggled a bit louder than she'd thought, causing Rubedo's eyes to once again open up a bit sleepily, frowning as he looked up to see Julie holding a camera as she stood over him and Alice. Unfortunately for him, because he was holding Alice in his arms, Rubedo couldn't get to his feet fast enough to snatch the camera from Julie so she was able to walk off giggling while he settled for grumbling under his breath about perky morning people as he laid back down letting himself just hold Alice close to him, smiling contentedly at that. However, Rubedo's grumbling had the unintended effect of waking up Alice who smiled up at him as she saw Rubedo smiling down at her.

"You're up early." Alice said to Rubedo with a quiet giggle. Rubedo nodded.

"Normally I wouldn't be, but someone thought it'd be funny to stand over our bed and snap pictures of us, probably to try and embarrass us with." Rubedo said huffily, making Alice frown.

"Really? Who would do that?" Alice asked Rubedo who sighed.

"Unless I was seeing things, I'm pretty sure it was Julie. Who knew she had such a mischievous side?" Rubedo said with a shrug. Alice giggled.

"That's actually par for the course with her. I recall one time she snapped an embarrassing picture of Marucho and Dan holding each other after a scary ride, and both Runo and I were cracking up at the looks on their faces while they chased Julie around to get the pictures back. It was hilarious." Alice said smiling. Rubedo smirked.

"Rather like I might have done just now had I not remembered I was holding you and didn't want to accidentally drop you while getting up." Rubedo said smiling. Alice then blinked.

"Wait, when you say 'embarrassing photos', do you mean like she might've taken photos of us snuggled together?" Alice asked as she blanched. Rubedo shrugged before nodding.

"More than likely." Rubedo said as Alice frowned. She then gently wiggled out of Rubedo's arms.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get that camera back so I can smash it before she develops that film." Alice said. Rubedo laughed at that despite himself.

"Just try not to rough her up TOO badly if you have to beat her up for the camera, since I don't think we need the others looking at you weirdly." Rubedo joked as Alice nodded before walking towards where Julie was trying to tuck away her camera, frowning at her.

"You can give me that camera right now or I can take it from you and then smash it. Let that be a lesson to you for trying to take embarrassing photos of me." Alice said in a very unamused tone. Julie blinked at Alice.

"Oh come on, it was just a joke. Besides, I also got embarrassing photos of Dan and Runo on here too, so do you really want to destroy those?" Julie replied. Alice frowned at that reply but reluctantly nodded.

"I guess that makes sense. However, you have to give me the photos you took of me and Rubedo once you develop that film. Otherwise no deal." Alice said as Julie shrugged before nodding.

"All right, fine. I'll give you back the photos of you and your new 'boyfriend' since you don't seem to want them getting out." Julie said teasingly as Alice frowned at that.

"He and I are just friends for now! So knock off the boyfriend comments!" Alice said huffily as Julie giggled.

"That wasn't a denial though." Julie said. Alice facefaulted at that comment.

"Just keep the photos to yourself for now." Alice said huffily before walking back over to the bed she shared with Rubedo where she could see him trying not to laugh, having heard her give Julie a good dressing down. She sat down next to him.

"Sheesh, Julie's a handful sometimes." Alice said shrugging as Rubedo nodded.

"That seems to be the case for most of the Brawlers though, to be fair. Like I think of us all, only Marucho and maybe Shun haven't had at least one moment where they were being difficult or a handful. Though I say maybe for the latter since he did have that odd moment where he almost seemed jealous of us." Rubedo said calmly making Alice nod. However, before Alice could reply, a muffled cry of surprise could be heard, prompting both Alice AND Rubedo to turn their heads in time to see a shocked Dan sitting up.

As he did so, Dan was blinking as he saw Runo snuggled into him as she dozed on, making him go a bit red as he found himself subconsciously (and internally!) admitting that Runo was kinda cute when she slept, a thought that made him blink slightly in surprise when it registered with him. As for Runo, she just wrapped her arms around Dan, continuing to doze.

\However, if you were just close enough you could just make out a sleepy mutter of 'mine!' coming from Runo's mouth, almost as if she were talking in her sleep. Perhaps despite this, both Julie and Alice giggled as they saw the look on Dan's face. Because they both forgot to check their volume when giggling, their giggles managed to wake up both Marucho and Shun who frowned sleepily as they looked around eventually rubbing their eyes sleepily as they sat up.

"Why is there so much giggling this early?" Shun asked groggily, being the first of the two to wake up enough to speak. Rubedo turned to Shun.

"Sorry if the girls woke you. Apparently they found Runo basically spooning Dan to be really funny. Though if I had to guess, I don't think Dan feels that way." Rubedo said grinning. Shun blinked at Rubedo's comment before turning towards Dan and having to put his knuckle in his mouth so he wouldn't burst out laughing at the look on Dan's face as Runo was almost possessively cuddled up to him. Marucho finally found his voice at that point.

"So by my calculations, does that mean that those two might be more mutual than we first thought?" Marucho asked innocently making both Shun and Rubedo actually chuckle at the question while Dan somehow managed to facefault while being cuddled by Runo, who managed not to be shifted or woken up by the facefault, making Alice and Julie giggle at Dan's predicament while Rubedo smirked, both amused at Dan's plight and impressed he hadn't woken Runo up while facefaulting.

"That's certainly ONE way to put it, Marucho." Rubedo said nodding in agreement to Marucho's question.

"Yes well that way sucks honestly." Dan said pouting slightly from where he was sitting up while still somehow having Runo snuggled up to him even as he pouted.

"This from the guy who could easily have gently slid out from under Runo if he'd wanted to. Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much." Rubedo pointed out with a smirk, making Alice and Julie once again giggle, Shun and Marucho chuckle and Dan to frown at Rubedo's response.

"Hmph, not my fault Runo manages to be cute when she's sleeping. I guarantee you you'd be in a similar predicament had it been Alice doing that to you anyways, Rubedo." Dan shot back making it be Rubedo's turn to facefault while Julie giggled at Rubedo's expression, Shun and Marucho laughed at Rubedo's response and Alice huffed at Dan dragging her into the conversation like that.

"Not funny, Dan!" Alice said now a bit red-faced though. The reason for her red face was both because of Dan suggesting she would behave towards Rubedo in any sort of similar way to how Runo behaved towards Dan, and also because due to how her reply had been a bit louder than she meant it to be, Runo finally woke up, blinking her eyes as she slowly sat up, yawning as she stretched a bit while getting up.

As a result of this, Dan found himself quite glad that Runo had changed into a much more modest nightgown the night before since he had the feeling he'd have gotten quite the unintended eyeful had she been in her usual outfit. This of course had the result of Marucho, Shun and Rubedo laughing at Dan's face while Alice giggled at Dan's red face and Julie just huffed a bit but smiled regardless.

"Umm, why is everyone else already awake? Was I really the last one up?" Runo asked, stretching her arms out as she yawned a bit, blinking as her left hand hit something soft and firm. Turning to look, Runo's eyes went wide as her face went bright red as she realized her hand had unintentionally touched Dan's bicep as she was stretching, making Julie and Alice giggle at the look on Runo's face, while Shun, Marucho and Rubedo laughed at the shocked expression on Dan's face as he felt Runo feeling his bicep, and Dan just blinked in shock at Runo touching his arm. Runo however gave a quiet 'eep' of embarrassment, as Dan smiled at her.

"Aw c'mon Runo, I know it was an accident that that happened. And besides, given how tightly you were wrapped around me this morning, I'm not surprised you ended up touching my arm. Besides, it could've been worse." Dan said trying to cheer Runo up a bit. Needless to say, it didn't work nearly as well as Dan had hoped.

"Not helping Dan. And I don't think I want to know how that could've been worse." Runo said flushing. Dan smiled at Runo.

"Sorry. But for real, you were kinda holding me pretty close. And yes I could've easily wiggled out of it, but I found myself oddly reluctant to do so. This might sound a tad awkward, but you do look oddly cute when you're sleeping Runo." Dan said sheepishly, his face going red at his admission, making Rubedo smirk at Dan actually trying to be nice to Runo.

Meanwhile, both Shun and Marucho laughed at how red-faced Dan had gotten while Julie pouted at Dan being complimentary to Runo. As for Runo, she smiled a bit, blinking in shock at what Dan had said to her before finally smiling and turning to playfully stick her tongue out at Julie who immediately facefaulted at the childish action before Runo turned back to Dan.

"Thank you, Dan. I didn't know you watched me sleep, but thank you just the same for the compliment." Runo said, and this time it was Dan's turn to once again facefault, making Rubedo, Marucho and Shun laugh at Dan's reaction while Alice and Runo giggled at the pouting expression on Julie's face. After that, the Brawlers went to get cleaned up and dressed for the day, changing back into their preferred outfits (which had conveniently been laundered overnight by Kato) after which they gathered in Marucho's backyard. Once there, the Brawlers exchanged looks.

"So, what's our plans for the day?" Marucho asked the others. Runo and Alice shrugged.

"Ordinarily we'd be having to work at my family's cafe, but as Alice and I have the day off, we're not sure yet." Runo said. Shun frowned a bit.

"Unfortunately, my grandpa will probably want me back at home helping with the dojo. So that'll probably be my plans eventually." Shun said reluctantly. Rubedo shrugged.

"I don't think I really have any plans though I probably will have to make my way home at some point since I'd rather not have my mom worrying about me as she tends to do. Otherwise I think my day is completely open." Rubedo remarked with a shrug. Alice smiled at how offhandedly Rubedo mentioned his plans.

"If I'm being honest, we should be keeping our eyes peeled in case Masquerade or one of his goons are sighted. After all, as Battle Brawlers it's our job to make sure he doesn't get away with his evil plans." Dan said as he smirked while crossing his arms. Julie smiled as she nodded to Dan's statement.

"And this is why you're the leader, Dan! You're the man!" Julie said in a very fangirl-like manner. Runo and Rubedo rolled their eyes at Julie's statement though for different reasons. (For Runo, she was annoyed with Julie being so obvious in her interest in Dan while Rubedo was annoyed with how one-track Dan's mind could be. While he agreed that Masquerade was a problem, he didn't think every waking second had to be dedicated to taking him out.) After that, Marucho nodded.

"So it sounds like at least a couple of you will have to head home at some point today while others are more open in their schedules, if I have that correct." Marucho said as the others nodded. Alice smiled as she had a thought. She then turned to Rubedo.

"Since it seems like our schedules are both rather clear, aside from you having to check in at home, maybe we can go hang out after this. Possibly even turn it into a chance to show you the sights of Wardington since you've not lived here long." Alice said to Rubedo who seemed to actually contemplate Alice's suggestion. After a bit he nodded.

"I'd like that. But didn't I hear Runo say something about you staying with her while you're here since you don't actually live here?" Rubedo asked Alice who nodded.

"Yeah, that's true. Normally I live by myself in Russia. But I'm here for awhile staying with Runo at her request." Alice said smiling. Rubedo nodded then had an idea as he turned to Dan.

"Hey Dan, why don't you and Runo join us when we go exploring the town? I'm sure as people who've lived here awhile you two know a lot of the good sights to see. Plus this gives Runo a chance to say you asked her to hang out if you ask her to join us." Rubedo suggested as Dan facefaulted at the mention of him and Runo, as did Julie at the suggestion that Dan should ask Runo to do something with him. Shun just shrugged at the interactions while Marucho nodded. As for Runo, she smiled at Rubedo's suggestion.

"I like that idea, Rubedo. And you'd be quite right that we know a LOT of the good sights to see. Do any of the rest of you want to come with?" Runo asked Marucho, Shun and Julie, the latter of the three frowning and crossing her arms with a pout while the former two shrugged.

"By my calculations this could be an interesting experience for us so I'll join in. I think Shun said he had to get home though so I don't think he can join us for this. And I have no idea if Julie has to get home or not." Marucho said as Kato walked into the room at that moment.

"Pardon the interruption, Young Master, but apparently Miss Julie's parents called and informed your parents that they'd be out of town for a few days so they asked if Julie could remain here until their return and your parents already agreed so Miss Julie is staying here for awhile longer it seems." Kato said making both Marucho AND Julie facefault at the surprise reveal of Julie staying with Marucho for a few days. Rubedo chuckled at the double facefaults.

"Well, looks like Julie has no reason not to come along as well. Unless she'd rather stay here for whatever reason?" Rubedo said with a smirk as Julie shrugged.

"Fair point. I guess I'm in too." Julie said. After a while of hanging around, Shun was eventually airlifted back to his dojo by Kato before the others rode into town in the limo, making a brief stop off at Rubedo's house so he could check in with his mom and let her know he was okay. After he did that, he went up to his room to change out his outfit, which might have been a good thing given he found a notification waiting for him on his computer, specifically on the Brawlers network profile for his Pyrex persona/alter-ego. Rubedo blinked as he saw this. 'This can't be anything good.' Rubedo thought to himself as he opened his profile. He opened the messaging function to reveal a video message having been sent to him, the sender being simply labeled as 'Unknown'. Rubedo frowned at this.

'Okay, this really isn't good at all. The only thing I get on this profile are challenges, and even then 90% of the time those are from a certain mask-wearing lunatic.' Rubedo thought to himself as he clicked on the video file, watching quietly as the video began.

The video opened up to a figure standing in a dark room, the only light coming from a cigar in the man's (apparently the figure was male though Rubedo chalked his ability to figure that out up to the decent night-vision he's gotten as a result of a lot of brawling in dimly-lit areas) right hand.

"Hello there, 'Pyrex', if that's really who I'm speaking to." The man began, in a gravelly yet oily voice.

"Not really good with introductions, but you can call me 'Torch'. See, word on the grapevine is that you're something of a hotshot on the circuit. Been trying to find you for a while, basically see if you're the real deal. You don't make it easy for people to find you. You could at least leave a forward address." The now-named Torch stopped, exhaling a long stream of cigar smoke as Rubedo's eyes narrowed at the recording. 'Like I'd be that effing stupid to do that! Not much of an alter-ego if I did that!' Rubedo grumbled in his head as the recording continued.

"So, a certain...acquaintance of mine has set up a little... playdate we can call it for the both of us. I think you know the stakes. Let's see if you're the real thing. I look forward to...hunting you. Ciao." Torch finished with a casual salute as the screen went dark.

'Torch...can't say that name rings a bell.' Rubedo said to himself quietly, now deep in thought after the recording had finished. "Still, I think it does sound somewhat famiilar. From the sounds of it, he sounds like a gun for hire, or perhaps more accurately in this case a 'Brawler for hire'. I've heard that mercenaries are becoming more frequent in the global brawling community.

It also doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that Torch's 'acquaintance' as he called them is more than likely Masquerade. Either way, if Masquerade recruited him to battle me specifically, this guy is more than likely trouble. Guess I don't have a choice but to bring the ensemble along. Hopefully Leonidas doesn't cause any problems by making noise while in my bag or I might have more questions to answer than I feel like answering at this time." Rubedo mused to himself quietly.

Making a split decision, Rubedo grabbed his bag, grabbed his alter-ego's outfit, tucked it into said bag carefully then made his way back down to the limo. After that, the group went to the mall, as Marucho had reasoned it'd be a good starting point to explore the town, which the girls VERY quickly agreed with! Once at the mall, the group got inside, before making a decision to split up into pairs.

Perhaps by chance, the pairs were the same as the ones picked the night before, meaning Alice/Rubedo, Julie/Marucho, and Dan/Runo. After that, Alice and Julie decided to go explore up on the third floor while Runo and Dan took the second floor, leaving Alice and Rubedo with the ground floor. The group then went in their own separate directions.

(With Marucho and Julie)

"Why did we pick the third floor again?" Julie asked, confused by the decision she and Marucho had made. Marucho smiled.

"Simple. By my calculations, it's easiest to start at the top, and the third floor is as close to the top as we can get so we can then work our way down towards the ground floor. Plus we're close to the roof so we have an easy place to go if we end up being challenged to a battle." Marucho explained. Julie blinked at Marucho's question before nodding.

"That makes sense. I suppose let's go pick a store and look around inside of it." Julie said shrugging. Marucho nodded. After a bit, the duo found a Bakugan store, and went in to do some shopping. After a bit, they heard a commotion from outside and saw a group of people gathered outside of the store they'd gone into. Once they came back out, Marucho and Julie frowned at the sudden crowd. But they wouldn't stay confused for long as they managed to get to the front of the crowd, only to gape as they saw a pair of females at the front pandering to the crowd. Julie blinked at the two.

"Have we seen these two somewhere before?" Julie asked Marucho, who promptly facefaulted at Julie's question.

"Don't you know who they are?! That's Jenny and Jewls of the JJ Dolls, or one of the most successful pop star duos of recent times! They're also pretty highly-ranked Bakugan players! I'm surprised you've not heard of them considering I would've guessed you and Runo both listen to their music given that seems to be the type of stuff you're into." Marucho said to Julie who shrugged.

"Eh, never really heard of them honestly. Are they any good?" Julie asked, as Marucho once again facefaulted.

"What part of 'one of the most successful pop star duos of recent times' didn't you understand Julie?! By my calculations, they're so good they have tons of fans, myself and Dan included!" Marucho said with a grin and this time it was Julie who facefaulted at the mention of Dan being a fan of the duo.

"Please tell me Dan's only a fan of them, and that he doesn't have a crush on either of them." Julie said to Marucho, a begging look in her eyes.

"I wish I could tell you that, but I'd be lying since I don't know for a fact that that's the case, Julie. But as far as I can tell he's just a fan of theirs. Besides I think he doesn't even like any girl that way right now. Granted he was kinda complimentary to Runo this morning, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything." Marucho said uncertainly making Julie frown.

"Is that so?! In that case, I say we challenge these hussies and stomp them before they get any ideas about making a move on Dan! Not to mention they have no business even thinking they can make a move on the Battle Brawlers! We'll show them." Julie said with a huff making Marucho once again facefault, this one managing to catch the attention of the two females on stage as the brown-haired girl looked at her green-haired bandmate.

"Correct me if I'm wrong Jewls, but isn't that two of the Battle Brawlers over there?" the brown-haired girl asked the now-named Jewls.

"I think you're right Jenny! Why don't we challenge them? After all, we were asked to battle the Brawlers as I recall. And the JJ Dolls don't back down from a request. So let's go get them, girlfriend!" Jewls replied to the now-named Jenny. The two then walked over to Marucho and Julie.

"Are you two members of the Battle Brawlers?" Jenny asked Marucho and Julie, the former of which looked up wide-eyed as he realized Jenny was talking to them.

"That's correct. I'm Marucho, and she's Julie. It's an honor to meet the famous JJ Dolls in person! I'm a huge fan!" Marucho said looking star-struck, making Julie once again facefault at Marucho's apparent hero worship. Jewls smirked at Julie.

"Chill out, girlfriend! There's plenty of us for everyone! So no need to freak like that." Jewls said with a giggle as she helped a huffing Julie up.

"Hmph, like I need to be told to chill out by you! Let's get one thing straight right now! If you're looking to land yourselves male Battle Brawlers for hook ups, look elsewhere! All of the male Battle Brawlers are either taken, too young for you or likely not interested in girls so you're outta luck." Julie said snottily making Jenny and Jewls blink.

"Do you seriously think we're here to ask one of the male Battle Brawlers out?! If so you're insane! Sure, from what Jenny and I've seen, some of you are kinda cute, but I know for a fact that at least two of your males are already spoken for, and possibly one of them by more than one girl! That's not the type of drama the JJ Dolls want any part of! But if you're so insistent on humiliating yourself, I suppose we can oblige you in a quick Tag Battle, that is if your little friend there can stop giving us goo goo eyes long enough to have a proper battle with us? Us two against you two!" Jewls said arrogantly as she threw a challenge down to Julie and Marucho, the former of which crossed her arms confidently. Marucho blinked.

"So us two against you two? Unreal! I'm in!" Marucho said as he and Julie grabbed their Field Cards, Jenny and Jewls doing the same.

"FIELD, OPEN!" all four battlers cried out as time stopped for everything else around them (including the four other Brawlers that were exploring the rest of the mall) while the four battlers were sent to the battlefield.

(Remaining Bakugan: Julie/Marucho-6/6 Jenny/Jewls-6/6 Remaining Gate Cards: Julie/Marucho-6/6 Jenny/Jewls-6/6 Remaining Ability Cards: Julie/Marucho-6/6 Jenny/Jewls-6/6)

"GATE CARD, SET!" All four battlers said as their chosen Gate Cards hit the field with two flashes of blue and two flashes of brown. Jenny and Jewls then pulled out funny looking cards after that.

"DOOM CARD, SET!" Jenny and Jewls said in unison as they dropped the now-named Doom Cards onto the field where they sank into their Gate Cards. Julie and Marucho exchanged horrified looks at this development.

"Oh no, they activated Doom Cards! Now we have to be careful because if our Bakugan are defeated, they'll be banished to the Doom Dimension!" Marucho said wide-eyed to Julie who was suddenly much more fearful. Jenny and Jewls giggled.

"Since you're suddenly scared, Jewls and I will start this off!" Jenny said as she took out a Bakugan.

"Bakugan, BRAWL!" Jenny said as she tossed her first Bakugan out and landed it on her Gate Card.

"Bakugan, Stand! Aquos Terrorclaw, STAND!" Jenny said as her Terrorclaw stood on Jenny's Gate Card. Jewls grabbed a Bakugan of her own.

"Bakugan, Brawl!" Jewls said as she threw a Bakugan on her Gate Card.

"Bakugan, Stand! Subterra Saurus, STAND!" Jewls said as Saurus stood on Jewls' Gate Card. Julie straightened up a bit.

"HMPH! My turn! Bakugan, Brawl!" Julie said as she tossed out her Bakugan, landing it on her Gate Card.

"Bakugan, Stand! Subterra Tuskor, STAND!" Julie said as Tuskor stood on Julie's Gate Card.

"By my calcluations that makes it my turn! Unreal!" Marucho said as he grabbed his Bakugan.

"Bakugan, Brawl!" Marucho said as he tossed his Bakugan out and landed it on his Gate Card.

"Bakugan, Stand! Aquos Limulus, STAND!" Marucho said as Limulus stood on Marucho's Gate Card.

"Heh, my turn again. Bakugan, Brawl!" Jenny said as she grabbed one of her other two Bakugan and tossed it out, landing it on Limulus' Gate Card.

"Bakugan, Stand! Aquos Gargonoid, STAND!" Jenny said as Gargonoid stood on Marucho's Gate Card.

"Battle 1 commencing. Analyzing scores. Scores stand equalized at 350 Gs for both sides." Marucho's Baku-Pod said as it analyzed the scores. Jenny smirked.

"Ability Card, ACTIVATE! Forcing Waves!" Jenny said as Marucho grabbed his own Ability Card.

"Ability Card, ACTIVATE! Depth Tornado!" Marucho said as he played his own Ability Card.

"G-Power Boost detected! Re-checking scores! Scores still even at 450 Gs!" Marucho's Baku-Pod read out. Marucho smirked.

"Gate Card, OPEN! Aquos Chain!" Marucho called out as Jenny smirked.

"Ah-ah! Not so fast! Ability Card, Activate! Tidal Wave!" Jenny called out as Marucho's Gate Card tried to activate.

"Gate Card nullified! G-Power Boost detected! Re-checking scores! Advantage Gargonoid by 150 Gs!" Marucho's Baku-Pod read out as Jenny smirked.

"Take him out, Gargonoid!" Jenny said as Gargonoid stalked forward, slashing its claws at Limulus, knocking it to the ground as an ominious looking portal opened up over the battlefield and sucked in Limulus, taking it out of the battle! Marucho gasped as his Bakugan was sent to the Doom Dimension while Gargonoid was sent back to Jenny in ball form after the battle.

"OH NO, LIMULUS!" Marucho cried out as his Bakugan was taken from him. Julie patted Marucho's shoulder.

"Come on Marucho, focus! We can pay 'em back later, but for now keep your head in the game!" Julie said to Marucho who nodded.

(Remaining Bakugan: Julie-3/3, Marucho-2/3, Jewls-3/3, Jenny-3/3 Remaining Ability Cards: Julie-3/3, Marucho-2/3, Jewls-3/3, Jenny-1/3 Remaining Gate Cards: Julie-3/3, Marucho-2/3, Jewls-3/3, Jenny-3/3)

"Bakugan, Brawl!" Jewls said as she tossed out her second Bakugan, landing it on Julie's Gate Card easily.

"Bakugan, Stand! Subterra Stinglash, STAND!" Jewls said as Stinglash stood on the same Gate Card as Tuskor.

"Battle 2 commencing! Checking scores! Advantage Tuskor by 50 Gs!" Julie's Baku-Pod read out as the scores were checked.

"Gate Card, OPEN! Silent Land!" Julie said as the Gate Card activated, trapping Stinglash in place and allowing Tuskor to easily smash its big trunk into Stinglash, defeating it and launching it into a portal, sending it to the Doom Dimension, to Jewls' shock as she thought it only affected Julie and Marucho's Bakugan.

"OH! Not fair! I didn't know the Doom Card affected our Bakugan too!" Jewls said in shock. Jenny patted her shoulder.

"At least you didn't lose any Ability Cards in that battle." Jenny said to Jewls who nodded, a frown still across her face.

(Remaining Bakugan: Julie-3/3, Marucho-2/3, Jewls-2/3, Jenny-3/3 Remaining Ability Cards: Julie-3/3, Marucho-2/3, Jewls-3/3, Jenny-1/3 Remaining Gate Cards: Julie-2/3, Marucho-2/3, Jewls-3/3, Jenny-3/3)

"My turn again! Gate Card, SET!" Julie said as she set down her second Gate Card.

"Bakugan, Brawl!" Julie said, tossing out the same Bakugan as before and landing it on her Gate Card.

"Bakugan, Stand! Subterra Tuskor, STAND!" Julie said as Tuskor made its second Stand of the match on Julie's second Gate Card.

"My turn! Gate Card, SET!" Marucho said as he tossed his second Gate Card down.

"Bakugan, Brawl!" Marucho said as he tossed his second Bakugan out landing it on his Gate Card.

"Bakugan, Stand! Aquos Warius, Stand!" Marucho said as Warius stood on Marucho's Gate Card.

"Here goes! Gate Card, SET!" Jenny said as she set her second Gate Card down.

"Bakugan, Brawl!" Jenny said tossing her third Bakugan out and landing it on the Gate Card she'd just put down.

"Bakugan, Stand! Aquos Siege, STAND!" Jenny said as Siege stood on Jenny's second Gate Card.

"My turn! Gate Card, SET!" Jewls said tossing down her second Gate Card as she tossed out her third Bakugan.

"Bakugan, Brawl!" Jewls said, but unlike Jenny, she missed her target, instead landing her Bakugan on Warius' Gate Card.

"Bakugan, Stand! Subterra Centipoid, STAND!" Jewls called out as Centipoid stood on the same Gate Card as Warius.

"Battle 3 commencing! Checking scores! Advantage Centipoid by 50 Gs!" Jewls' Baku-Pod read out as the battle began.

"Gate Card, OPEN! Deep Six!" Marucho called out as his Gate Card opened up and Jewls' eyes went wide as she saw it try to attack Centipoid.

"Ability Card, ACTIVATE! Rock Freeze!" Jewls said as she quickly played one of her Ability Cards to block off the effect of Marucho's second Gate Card.

"Now attack, Centipoid!" Jewls said as Centipoid put the squeeze on Warius, making him grunt in pain as a portal opened at his feet, sucking him into the Doom Dimension while Centipoid escaped by being launched back to Jewls in ball form.

"Unreal...Did that just happen?" Marucho said in wide-eyed shock as he lost his second Bakugan of the match. Julie blinked.

"I think so, Marucho. All you have left now is Preyas so you might want to step back for a second and let me try to even the field a bit more." Julie said to Marucho who nodded.

(Remaining Bakugan: Julie-3/3 Marucho-1/3, Jewls-2/3, Jenny 3/3 Remaining Ability Cards: Julie-3/3, Marucho-2/3, Jewls-2/3, Jenny-1/3 Remaining Gate Cards: Julie-2/3, Marucho-1/3, Jewls-2/3, Jenny-3/3)

"Well, it's all up to you now, buddy!" Marucho said to Preyas who gulped but nodded.

"I get it, Marucho. Put me in partner!" Preyas said as Marucho nodded.

"Bakugan, Brawl!" Marucho said as he tossed his last Bakugan out, landing it on Terrorclaw's Gate Card.

"Bakugan, Stand! Aquos Preyas, Stand!" Marucho said as Preyas stood on the same Gate Card as Terrorclaw.

"Battle 4 commencing! Calculating scores! Both Bakugan stand even at 340 Gs!" Jenny's Baku-Pod read out as the scores were tallied.

"Gate Card, OPEN! Go, Reload!" Jenny said as her used Ability Cards were returned to her. Jenny smirked.

"And with that done, Ability Card, ACTIVATE! Forcing Waves!" Jenny said as Terrorclaw was powered up.

"G-Power Boost detected. Re-checking scores. Advantage Terrorclaw by 100 Gs." Jenny's Baku-Pod read out as the scores were updated.

"Uh, can we talk about this? Marucho, please tell me you have a plan!" Preyas said as he turned to Marucho, his eyes wide with fear as Terrorclaw gave him a menacing glare.

"Ability Card, ACTIVATE! Water Slap!" Marucho said as he played his second Ability Card, making Preyas' fist glow blue as he punched Terrorclaw, sending it skidding back.

"G-power drop detected! Re-checking scores! Advantage Preyas by 100 Gs!" Jenny's Baku-Pod read out as Preyas flew forward and started pummeling Terrorclaw, launching him off his feet and into the portal that opened up above the two, sending Terrorclaw to the Doom Dimension as a wide-eyed Jenny could do little more than watch. Afterwards Preyas went back to Marucho in ball form.

"What?! No, No, No!" Jenny said in horror as she saw her Bakugan banished to the Doom Dimension. Jewls frowned.

"That just happened. Luckily we still have a numbers edge on them." Jewls said confidently.

(Remaining Bakugan: Julie-3/3, Marucho-1/3, Jewls-2/3, Jenny-2/3 Remaining Ability Cards: Julie-3/3, Marucho-1/3, Jewls-2/3, Jenny-2/3 Remaining Gate Cards: Julie-2/3, Marucho-1/3, Jewls-2/3, Jenny-2/3)

"Here goes! Gate Card, SET!" Julie said, setting down her last Gate Card.

"Bakugan, Brawl!" Julie said as she tossed out her second Bakugan. It landed easily on the Gate Card Julie had laid down.

"Bakugan, Stand! Subterra Manion, STAND!" Julie said as Manion stood on Julie's third Gate Card.

"Here we go! Bakugan, Brawl!" Jenny said as she tossed out her only on-hand Bakugan. She easily landed it on the same Gate Card as Tuskor.

"Bakugan, Stand! Aquos Gargonoid, STAND!" Jenny said as Gargonoid made its' second Stand of the match on Tuskor's Gate Card.

"Battle 5 commencing! Checking scores. Advantage Tuskor by 30 Gs." Julie's Baku-Pod read out.

"Gate Card, OPEN! Hyper Merge!" Julie said.

"I don't think so! Ability Card, ACTIVATE! Tidal Wave!" Jenny called out as her Ability Card not only negated Julie's Gate Card, but also jacked Gargonoid's G-Power up pretty far.

"G-Power Boost detected! Re-checking scores! Advantage Gargonoid by 120 Gs!" Julie's Baku-Pod read out.

"Go Gargonoid, take out that Tuskor!" Jenny said as Gargonoid slashed at Tuskor, knocking it backwards into the portal that opened up on the Gate Card and sending Tuskor to the Doom Dimension.

"WHAT?! Oh no, Tuskor!" Julie called out as her Bakugan was taken from her. Marucho frowned.

"Well that's not good. But we're not beaten yet. We have to be more careful." Marucho said and Julie nodded.

(Remaining Bakugan: Julie-2/3, Marucho-1/3, Jewls-2/3, Jenny-2/3 Remaining Ability Cards: Julie-3/3, Marucho-1/3, Jewls-2/3, Jenny-1/3 Remaining Gate Cards: Julie-1/3, Marucho-1/3, Jewls-2/3, Jenny-2/3)

"My turn! Heh! Bakugan, Brawl!" Jewls said as she tossed her only on-hand Bakugan back out, landing it on Manion's Gate Card.

"Bakugan, Stand! Subterra Centipoid, STAND!" Jewls said as Centipoid made its' third stand of the match on Manion's Gate Card.

"Battle 6 commencing! Calculating scores! Advantage Centipoid by 50 Gs!" Marucho's Baku-Pod read out as the scores were calculated.

"Ability Card Activate! Earth Power!" Julie said as she played her first Ability Card of the match. Jewls smirked.

"Nice try! But not good enough! Ability Card, ACTIVATE! Go, Terra Crunch!" Jewls said as Julie's Ability Card was negated while Manion was trapped in place.

"Attack, Centipoid!" Jewls said as Centipoid squeezed Manion and watched after leaping back out of range as Manion was sent to the Doom Dimension while Centipoid was once again sent back to Jewls in ball form.

"NO WAY! MANION!" Julie said as Marucho frowned at her losing two Bakugan in a row.

"Unreal! We're both on our last Bakugan! We have to be careful or we could be done for!" Marucho said as Julie frowned but nodded.

(Remaining Bakugan: Julie-1/3, Marucho-1/3, Jewls-2/3, Jenny-2/3 Remaining Ability Cards: Julie-2/3, Marucho-1/3, Jewls-2/3, Jenny-1/3 Remaining Gate Cards: Julie-0/3, Marucho-1/3, Jewls-2/3, Jenny-2/3)

"Here goes nothing! Gate Card, SET!" Marucho said as he set down his last Gate Card.

"Bakugan, Brawl!" Marucho said as he tossed his last Bakugan back out, landing it right on his Gate Card.

"Bakugan, Stand! Aquos Preyas, STAND!" Marucho said as Preyas made his second Stand of the match, on Marucho's third Gate Card.

"It's all up to you, my friend!" Julie said to Gorem who nodded as he went into ball form while Juile pulled her arm back, leaning back in a catlike throwing pose, winding back much like a pro pitcher.

"Bakugan, Brawl!" Julie said as she threw Gorem out, landing him on Jewls' last open Gate Card.

"Bakugan, Stand! Subterra Gorem, STAND!" Julie said as Gorem stood on Jewls' third Gate Card.

"Let's take one of you out! HA!" Jenny said as she pulled her only on-hand Bakugan out.

"Bakugan, Brawl!" Jenny said as she threw her Bakugan out, landing it on Preyas' Gate Card.

"Bakugan, Stand! Aquos Gargonoid, STAND!" Jenny said as Gargonoid made its third Stand of the match on Preyas' Gate Card.

"Battle 7 commencing! Calculating scores! Advantage Gargonoid by 10 Gs!" Jewls' Baku-Pod read out as Marucho smirked.

"Gotcha! Gate Card, OPEN! Go Character Card!" Marucho said as Preyas flexed while his G-Power shot way up.

"G-Power Boost detected! Re-checking scores. Advantage now Preyas by 290 Gs!" Jewls' Baku-Pod read out as Preyas smirked, doing a flying jump kick into Gargonoid's torso launching him up into the open portal, sending him to the Doom Dimension. Jenny pouted as she lost Gargonoid.

"NO! Gargonoid!" Jenny said as she fell to her knees, in shock that Gargonoid was lost to the Doom Dimension.

(Remaining Bakugan: Julie-1/3, Marucho-1/3, Jewls-2/3, Jenny-1/3 Remaining Ability Cards: Julie-2/3, Marucho-1/3, Jewls-2/3, Jenny-1/3 Remaining Gate Cards: Julie-0/3, Marucho-0/3, Jewls-2/3, Jenny-2/3)

"My turn! Bakugan, Brawl!" Jewls said as she tossed her only on-hand Bakugan out onto the field, landing it on the Gate Card that Gorem was stood on.

"Bakugan, Stand! Subterra Centipoid, Stand!" Jewls said as Centipoid made its fourth stand of the match on the same Gate Card as Gorem.

"Battle 8 commencing! Calculating scores. Advantage Centipoid by 20 Gs." Jenny's Baku-Pod read out as the scores were tallied.

"Gate Card, Open! GO TRIPLE BATTLE!" Jewls said, revealing a Triple Battle card. Unfortunately for her, this would backfire since Jenny had no more Bakugan to throw in so it let Marucho set one instead.

"Bakugan, Brawl!" Marucho said as he tossed down Preyas onto the same Gate Card as Centipoid and Gorem.

"Bakugan, Stand! Aquos Preyas STAND!" Marucho said as Preyas made his third Stand of the Match and the Triple Battle activated.

"Triple Battle detected! Preyas and Gorem now at a combined power level of 720 Gs." Jenny's Baku-Pod read out as the scores were updated.

"Ability Card, ACTIVATE! Sinister Smash!" Jewls called out as she played Sinister Smash.

"Ability Card, ACTIVATE! Desert Thunder!" Julie called out as she played her Desert Thunder ability card.

"G-Power boosts detected! Re-checking scores! Advantage Preyas and Gorem by 20 Gs." Jenny's Baku-Pod read out.

"ATTACK!" Julie and Marucho called out as Gorem and Preyas charged at Centipoid. Right at that moment, Jewls and Jenny exchanged wide-eyed looks and nodded.

"DOOM CARD, RETURN!" Jewls and Jenny called out, surprising Marucho and Julie by removing the Doom Cards from the battlefield right in time for Centipoid to be smashed backward and sent back to Jewls in ball form.

The rest of the battle was far less eventful by comparison, with Gorem absolutely smashing Saurus with his signature Abiility Card (aka Julie's final ability card) and then Preyas using his Blue Stealth Ability Card to narrowly defeat Jenny's Siege, sending it back to her in ball form and ending the battle.

(Remaining Bakugan: Julie-1/3, Marucho-1/3, Jewls-0/3, Jenny-0/3 Remaining Ability Cards: Julie-0/3, Marucho-0/3, Jewls-1/3, Jenny-1/3 Remaining Gate Cards: Julie-0/3, Marucho-0/3, Jewls-0/3, Jenny-1/3)

After the battle, time returned to normal for everyone in suspended animation. After that, Jewls and Jenny fell to their knees, their Bakugan dropping to the ground next to them in ball form.

"Unbelievable!" Jenny said in shock. Jewls sighed.

"No, it's not unbelievable. They beat us fair and square, Jenny. Well played you two." Jewls said to Jenny as Julie and Marucho helped the two to their feet.

"Why are you two helping us up? We cost you guys some Bakugan! AND we tried to send your partners to the Doom Dimension!" Jewls said to Julie and Marucho in shock.

"Because you two weren't entirely at fault." Julie explained shaking her head sadly at the defeated looks on the JJ Dolls' faces.

"By my calculations, the only person I know of who gives out Doom Cards is Masquerade, leading me to speculate he probably tried to manipulate you two into battling us, which you did do, and quite well. You put up quite a fight and almost won had we not managed to get lucky that we were able to use your Triple Battle card against you. So we, or at least I since I can't speak for Julie here, hold no ill will towards either of you. After all, I wouldn't be much of a fan of yours if I hated you for something that wasn't entirely your fault, now would I?" Marucho said to a shocked but gratified Jenny and Jewls, who bowed in respect to Julie and Marucho.

"You're right. We're sorry we tried to send your Bakugan to the Doom Dimension. That wasn't cool of us at all." Jewls said.

"But what IS cool is that we have such sweet fans like you, Marucho." Jenny said, giggling as she leaned in to give Marucho a quick peck on the cheek, to Marucho's shock as his face went red.

"That's for being such a dedicated fan of ours. Of course if you'd prefer an autograph, that could probably be arranged as well." Jenny said, smiling at Marucho who was now pink-faced from embarrassment at what Jenny had done. Jenny of course ignored the giggles coming from both Jewls and Julie at her spur-of-the-moment decision.

"You know, you two ended up being rather cool after all. I apologize for basically accusing you of being out to get into my friends' pants." Julie said sheepishly as she apologized to Jewls and Jenny who giggled at her apology.

"We get it. You're sweet on one of the male Brawlers so of course you'd jump to conclusions in their defense. We have no hard feelings for that." Jewls said dismissively.

"And on that note, if you'll excuse us we have a tour to get back to. After all, our work is never done." Jenny said smiling. Jewls giggled at Jenny's remark.

"JJ DOLLS! AWAY!" Jenny and Jewls said as they gathered up their Bakugan and ran off, leaving a confused Julie and Marucho to blink at each other.

"Well, now what? Do we try to go find the others, do you think?" Julie asked Marucho who nodded.

"I must concur with your suggestion, Julie. By my calculations, that seems to be the best plan of action." Marucho agreed. The two then walked off to find the others.

(Preview of next episode/outro)

"Tigrerra here! And next time on Bakugan: The Pyrex Chronicles, Runo ends up in more trouble than she can handle when Dan ends up getting seperated from her and she ends up finding herself drawn into a 2 on 1 battle against Masquerade and one of his hired goons! But this goon seems different somehow! Oh wait, is that Pyrex? Is Runo about to get to battle with Pyrex himself? And will I get to see Leonidas in person? And can Runo and I get out of this challenge unscathed! Tune in next time to find out! Until then, BAKUGAN BRAWL! See you then!"

end of chapter

A/N: HOLY. CRAP. For a chapter of around 15k words (not counting the length of this end-chapter A/N), this took WAY TOO LONG to finish. Granted part of that delay was me struggling with some of the content for the chapter.

But thanks to my editor/co-writer (whichever he sees himself as) JustAnAverageGuy101, I was able to get this chapter finished thanks to his great input on stuff. So he gets partial credit for making this chapter to be fair. That said, hopefully the next update for this won't take me the best part of a freaking week (not even an exaggeration!). Granted, that's not allowing for edits and stuff. So hopefully people enjoy this chapter. As an aside for those who read my Pokemon: Shuffled Journeys story, I have a poll currently up on my profile that you can vote on to decide where the third region that Ash and friends will go to is.

At this time there's only one vote on it and it's been up for about 4 days (as of the time I type this end-chapter A/N) so you still have around 10 more days to vote on it before I close it. So vote on it if you want a chance to influence Book 3 of the series. (And YES Shuffled Journeys is now a multi-story series) That said, I have zero clue what the next story to be update will be. We'll just have to see what happens.

That being said, per the suggestion of my, eh, we'll call him my 'co-writer' at his request, I'm asking at this time that if you have any constructive criticism/feedback on the story, that it be left ONLY in the reviews (apparently that works better than PM? Personally I'm open to either) so yeah if you wanna do that, feel free to do so since I enjoy hearing from my readers! Anyways, until the next update, sithlorde1988 out!