Bakugan: Precious Memories

Chapter 36 - The Issue

"Nngh...what the shit?" Sally groaned as she awoke. Looking around, she noticed that she was in an unfamiliar environment. "Where...am I?" Sally asked herself. "Good to see you're awake." Abyssion spoke. "Abyssion? You got any idea where we might be?" Sally asked. "Nope" Abyssion replied. Sally grabbed Abyssion and stood up off the bed she was lying on. She looked around the room she was in. It looked old and worn. Like she was in a place that was vacant for years. "Weird." She mumbled. Sally walked over toward the door, preparing to leave before stopping. She heard something from beyond the door. Voices. Sally forcibly opened the door. "WHO'S THER-" Sally shouted before she saw the people the voices belonged to screaming. Runo and Marucho. "Oh. It's just you guys." Sally said. "ARE YOU CRAZY!? YOU NEARLY GAVE US A HEART ATTACK!" Runo screeched. "Aight aight jeez. Chill." Sally sighed. "Anyway, do you know where we are?" Runo asked. Sally shook her head in response. "Nope. Was about to ask you guys the same thing." Sally said. She looked behind Runo and saw Marucho. He was quiet with his head hung low. Suddenly, the memories and realization of what had just happened had set in. A somber look spread on Sally's face. She approached Marucho and knelt down to his level. "Hey buddy. You uh...ok?" Sally asked, trying to keep a calm and gentle tone. Marucho only shook his head in silence. "Yeah...stupid question I know." Sally sighed. She looked at Marucho again before rubbing his head. "It's gonna be ok, Marucho." Runo said quietly. "I understand grieving is an important thing and I don't mean to be that kind of guy, but we need to find a way out and back to our team." Abyssion spoke up. "Yeah. C'mon." Sally said.

Meanwhile...

"I've tracked their Bakupods. They actually aren't too far from here. If we hurry, we can get them back by night." Jamie explained. "Alright! Let's go find em!" Dan said running off. "You guys go on ahead. Me and the other guys with me need to talk about something." Wokko said. "We do?" Aubrey asked. "Well, I'd like to at least. There's been something on my mind if it's ok with you guys."

"Yeah, sure man." Aya nodded. "Got it. But don't take too long." Shun instructed. "We won't." Tasha replied. With that, the brawlers set out while the Kara sat around the main room. "So, what's this about, Wokko?" Aya asked. "Well, it's about Sally. She's kind of...not great. Not horrible, but not great." Wokko scratched the back of his head. "Could you elaborate on that?" Jamie asked. "Well, first off she's kind of a spaz. Really unpredictable and honestly kinda mean sometimes. Second, she's...well uh, really crude. I don't want to be the guy who's no fun, but she makes a lot of sexual jokes. And that in itself isn't a super bad thing, heck they're actually pretty funny a fair amount of times. But she makes too many and at the wrong times. I thought she'd make them less when we were around the brawlers because they're kids but no. And finally, she's way too violent. I'm also mad about what Klaus did to Preyas and Marucho, don't get that mixed up. But she took it WAY too far! She almost killed him! And if it's anything like Billy, then he's not even in control of his actions! He's mind controlled by Naga! But she didn't even stop to think about it. She just started to wail on him! She would've murdered an innocent victim if that portal hadn't opened! I don't hate Sally, far from it and I still want to be her friend and I don't think we should boot her off the team. But we can't just ignore this!" Wokko ranted on. The Kara fell silent. "I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" Wokko started. "No. You're right. Sally is unhinged and while I take blame for her personality being what it is, she also is not innocent. She needs to take accountability for her actions and try to do better for the future." Tasha declared. "Tasha's right. When we find her, we're going to make sure she knows that this needs to stop." Aya agreed. Aubrey also nodded her head in agreement. "It's settled then. But first, there's the matter of actually retrieving them. Let's go." Jamie motioned.

Back at the unknown location...

Sally, Runo, and Marucho made their way down a long staircase. The only sound was their footsteps echoing around the cylindrical room. That was, until the silence was broken by the loud ringing of Runo's Bakupod. "It's Dan!" Runo exclaimed. "How the hell are you getting signal down here? Ah whatever, guess I can't complain." Sally mumbled. Runo selected answer. "Runo? Come in, Runo!" Dan exclaimed. "Dan! I'm here with Marucho and Sally!" Runo explained. "Good to know you're in one spot!" Dan smiled with relief. As they made their way down the stairs, Runo explained what the situation was until they finally reached the bottom of the staircase. In front of them was a door. Opening it, they entered a large room with a big monitor in the center of the room. "Woah...what's this for?" Runo asked. "I dunno, movies?" Sally wondered. "Doubt it," Marucho spoke up. He walked up to a small desk with a keyboard that was hooked up to the large monitor. Powering it on, it showed a map of the entire world with bullet points on certain parts of the areas. "It seems the points correspond to powerful Bakugan across the world..." Marucho noticed. "Lemme see!" Dan requested. Runo held up her Bakupod and turned it to face the screen. "I wonder what's the strongest Bakugan on that map?" Dan asked. "Let's see." Marucho clicked a few things to narrow the options down to the strongest Bakugan on the map. It was narrowed down to two. "It's a tie between 2." Marucho noted. "What are they?" Sally asked. Marucho clicked on one tab. What was revealed was a dark purple dragon with a pink horn, pink spikes, and piercing red eyes. Its tail was coated in spikes and had rows of teeth. "Hydranoid!" Dan exclaimed. Suddenly a different voice spoke from the Bakupod. "Hydranoid?" Aya asked. "Oh, hey guys! Didn't see you there! Hydranoid is Masquerade's partner Bakugan." Dan explained. "Hold on I thought his partner was a Darkus Reaper?" Aya asked, clearly remembering him having one. "It was. But then he obtained Hydranoid. Reaper must have outlived his usefulness because Masquerade sent him to the Doom Dimension." Shun added. "You gotta be kidding!" Aya exclaimed. "Nope." Dan shook his head. "Damn." Aubrey growled. "Either way, what's the second one?" Julie asked. Marucho proceeded to click the second point. "It's probably me and Drago! We ARE the best!" Dan boasted. "Well, Dan, you were on the right track. It IS a Dragonoid, but it isn't yours." Marucho said. On the screen was indeed a Dragonoid, but unlike Dan's Pyrus Dragonoid, this one was Darkus. "Is that...My Dragonoid?" Aya asked. "Can't think of anyone else who has a Darkus Dragonoid." Runo replied. "Hold on, this one isn't evolved. It's just a regular Dragonoid." Aya noted. "Oh that's right! I totally forgot that yours evolved!" Wokko exclaimed. "So either there's another really powerful Darkus Dragonoid out there, or..." Aya started. "There just isn't data on the evolved one." Shun suggested. "Hm...I wonder..." Marucho mumbled. "Well well well. Look who fell into our trap." A familiar gruff voice called out. Sally and Runo turned to face it. On top of a loft was Julio, along with a girl with navy blue hair and a red Chinese dress. "Well I know Baldie but who's the chick?" Sally asked. The girl stepped forward. "My name is Chan-Lee. I'm the number 3 brawler in the world. My partner is Pyrus Fourtress." Chan-Lee introduced. "Ah. Great." Sally rolled her eyes. "You! Crazy girl with the wacky hair! You messed up our buddy Klaus pretty bad! I don't exactly like that! So why don't me and Chan over here have a little battle with you?" Julio said, equipping his shooter. "Ok then...I'LL FUCK YOU BOTH UP!" Sally screeched, pulling out her field card. Meanwhile on the other side, Dan motioned to Aya. "Hey, Aya. When they open the field, I'm gonna open the field on my end as well so the two fields collide. I want you to come with so we can grab our guys and get out of there." Dan whispered. "Got it." Aya nodded. "Hey! You can't just gang up like that!" Runo yelled at Julio and pulling out her field card. "Fine by me! I'll crush you along with her." Chan-Lee smirked. "FIELD-" The four started. "AYA! NOW!" Dan shouted. "ON IT!" Aya pulled out his field card. "-OPEN!" all six shouted. When Dan and Aya opened their field cards, it transported them to the other field where the others were. "Dan? Aya?" Runo questioned. "Sorry, but no battle's gonna happen today, we're outta here." Aya said. "Runo! Marucho! Hang on to me!" Dan instructed. "Ok!" Runo nodded. "Aya what the hell man!? I had them!" Sally groaned. "Shut it. We're going to have a VERY serious talk when we get back." Aya snapped. Sally stepped back, startled by Aya's aggressive tone. "Well come on!" Aya motioned. Once the 5 were together. Aya and Dan were ready to close the field. "Tch! Cowards!" Julio growled. "Nah. It's just you're not worth the time." Aya smirked. "FIELD CLOSE!" Aya and Dan commanded. In the flash of a light, the group was back together. "Marucho! Runo! You're ok!" Alice cheered. The brawlers celebrated the return of their comrades. However, the Kara didn't have such cheery expressions. They all glared at Sally with disgust and anger. Even Wokko, who's expression was normally one of joy and light, wore a scowl on his face. "I uh...take it you guys are mad at me." Sally tried to chuckle but couldn't hide her fear. "Outside. Now." Aya said in a stern voice. "Ugh. Can't this wait till morning?" Sally groaned, turning to go to her room. "No." Aubrey spoke, grabbing Sally by the hood. "HEY WHAT THE HELL!? LET GO OF ME!" Sally yelled. Aubrey proceeded to drag Sally out of the jet with the rest of the Kara following behind. Once outside, Aubrey tossed Sally onto the ground. "Ack!" Sally yelped. She looked up at her friends, their faces more intense than before. "Sally, you're our friend and that's why we're saying this, why we're going to be so brutally honest. You're a damn problem." Aya started. "W-wha...?" Sally asked with wide eyes. "Let's start with what's been bothering us the most. What you did with Klaus." Jamie said. "Oh come on guys! He sent Preyas to the Doom Dimension! That wasn't right!" Sally retorted. "AND WHAT YOU DID WAS!? SALLY, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE REALIZED, BUT YOU ALMOST KILLED SOMEONE! THAT ISN'T SOMETHING YOU CAN JUST SHRUG OFF AND CALL IT A DAY! AND THAT'S NOT TO MENTION THAT KLAUS WAS BEING CONTROLLED!" Aubrey screamed with fury burning in her voice. "B-but didn't J-Jamie-" Sally started to say. "Yes, I punched Billy in the face. ONCE. And that was before we knew about Naga's control over them. You, not only did much more than a single punch, but also did it with the knowledge that Klaus was not in control of his actions." Jamie countered. "And even without all that, you STILL got issues!" Wokko added. "Mainly your lack of a damn filter! See, the sex jokes and shit like that are fine when it's just us, even if they get a little stale. But around the brawlers!? Sally, the oldest of them is 14! They don't need to be hearing about that stuff at that age! Around us, whatever. But around them? Cut. It. Out." Aya said angrily. Sally didn't say anything. She couldn't. "Anything else guys?" Aubrey asked. "No, I think that's it. Let's go, it's late." Aya replied. The Kara began heading back to the jet, except for 2. Sally and Tasha. Sally looked at the ground with wide eyes, struggling to process all of it. Despite her efforts to hold them back, tears fell from her eyes, yet no noise escaped her mouth. She knew she didn't deserve to cry as they were right, but she couldn't hold it. "What I did to you and Father is inexcusable." Tasha spoke. She knelt down to Sally, moving her head up to look at her and wiping some of the tears away with her thumb. "I never should have abandoned you and left you to suffer on your own. For that, I am sorry. However, they are right. You are very flawed. You have a lot of problems, but so do I. We must both be better and change our ways, Sally. Alright?" Tasha spoke gently. Sally only nodded. "Good. I'll be waiting in our room. I've left your pajamas on the nightstand." Tasha said before heading back. Sally laid on her back, looking up at the starry night sky. She heard the sound of something rolling next to her. "Abyss...ion?" Sally whimpered. Her voice was cracked and hoarse. "Yeah." Abyssion affirmed. "They're right aren't they?" Sally croaked. "I didn't want to say anything as my knowledge on human standards is limited, but yes." Abyssion replied. Sally didn't respond, just stared up at the sky. "Well, come on. Let's get back inside. They may be mad at you, but I doubt they'd want you to sleep on hard rocks and dirt." Abyssion said. Sally sighed, stood up, and made her way back inside.