Bakugan: The Darkus Brawler Part Two

Back Again

"Magnolia no!!" Shun smacked the mask out of her hand. He had heard her screaming his name and rushed to find the cursed fox mask was in her hand and only 3 inches from her face. There was no way he was going to allow that horrid thing to plaque her once more.

"Its back?! But I thought we got rid of it!" Dan said in shock.

"Actually Dan, we didn't get rid of it. It was taken off of Mag's face. It would seem like the mask has figured out its master has abandoned it." Marucho fixed his glasses.

"What do we do, call the cops?" Julie panicked.

"Over a mask? No way, they'll never take us seriously ever again! I think we should find out who placed the mask there." Runo suggested.

"Guys, it's scary that it found its way back to Magnolia. Shouldn't we focus on keeping it away from her rather then destroy it?" Alice said softly.

"I don't need anyone to protect me! I may still be recovering from having twins, but that doesn't mean I'm still weak!" Magnolia snapped, standing a few feet away from them.

"Magnolia, you should be resting. Why are you awake?" When Shun tried to get her back to bed, she pulled away from him.

"I am so sick of everyone thinking I won't defend myself! Stop trying to protect me!!" She ran out into the night angry.

"I don't understand why they think I can't protect myself..." She stood in the middle of the street.

"Mag, you know they care about you. Now let's get out inside before it starts raining or some one runs you over." Zintora flew in front of her.

"Magnolia!!!" Shun yelled. A car was speeding towards Magnolia, and she was about to be ran over. Shun quickly grabbed her and carried her to safety. Once they were inside and Alice dressed her in warm dry clothes, Shun went off:

"What were you thinking, running off like that?! You could of gotten hurt, or worse! What's your deal Magnolia?!" He turned his body, back to the others.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were going to be keeping an eye on me. Remind me why you trained me to be a skilled kunoichi?" She talked back.

"You just gave birth! You should be on bed rest and taking it easy. I swore I would always protect you! Yeah, I might have trained you to defend yourself, but at the time, I didn't know you were bearing my kids! You don't need to be fighting right now!" He looked back at her, his face scrunched up.

"Guys, please stop fighting." Jaakor appeared. By now, both Magnolia and Shun were face to face, growling.

"Fine, you wanna know why I'm so protective of you?! It's because I don't want to lose you! I don't want another loved one to leave me behind! You know what, come with me!" He grabbed her hand, and once they were alone, he threw her over his shoulder and held on to her when she fought for him to put her down. He finally put her down after he stopped at a grave with roses around it.

Shiori Kazami
R.i.p

"Shun...... Why have you brought me here? Who is Shiori?" Magnolia scraped the dirt off the grave with her finger.

"This..... This is my mother.... I lost her to an illness when I was young. She had gotten so sick, she sent me to live with my grandfather because she was too ill to care for me. She was hospitalized and she had slipped into a coma. A year later, I had to take her off life support. I couldn't stand to see her like that, so, I told them to pull the plug..... You see, there's a reason I slept with other girls and never kept a relationship with them, and it's because I wanted to escape the memory. I was afraid to fall in love, so when I held you in my arms for the first time, my first instinct was to be a savage jerk. I was mean to you because I didn't want you to fall for me like I did you." He looked down and put an umbrella over her.

"Shun.... I never realized she meant that much to you.... Is that why you were so close to Skyress?" She rubbed her arms. Damn it's cold.

"Wait, how did you know about Skyress?" His eyes widened.

"I've been following you and the brawlers since day one. I didn't have a bakugan to call my own, so I did the next best thing by cheering you on when Naga, the Vestals, and the Neathians tried to take over. I didn't think running away from home to start a new life would get me a boyfriend and amazing friends." She stated blankly at the grave.

"Miss Kazami, you may not know who I am, but I do know that your son is the best gift you could've given to the world. Shun tells me you meant everything to him, and all I can say is- well, I'm sure you were a great woman, and im sorry you died the way you did. One day, we'll all be together." Magnolia smiled.

"I fell for you because you're as kind and bubbly as her. You're just like her. Now do you see why I have to protect you?" Shun put his hand on the grave.

"Yeah..... I'm sorry for running out like that.... I never knew how much you loved me...." Magnolia rubbed her arm.

"Its okay. Listen, before we go home, I want to introduce you to someone." Shun started walking back.

"Hey wait up! What are we going to do about the mask? It's going to come find me again, and if it does, I'm worried about the things it'll make me do.." Magnolia shuttered. She could feel it's power coursing through her veins, and if she saw that mask again, trouble would stir.