A/N

For new readers, welcome! You can disregard this note!

For the rest of you, read on!

Yes, I have deleted the intro that was previously here, and I added a quote. I did this because I feel the tone of the intro conflicted with the tone of the story, and it created a jarring transition. So, instead, here is the story!

"I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing,
'Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!'

"One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand"

-Viva la Vida, Coldplay

Dan grimaced, his body stiffening. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the cool, salty sea breeze dancing through his window. It was saturated with humidity, however, carrying a warning for all those who decided to venture outside at this hour. Clouds covered the night sky so that not even a glint of light shone through, and even Dan would be able to tell that it would rain soon.

Dan's fists clenched around the sheets, an involuntary movement that showed his distress. His instinct to run was overpowering all logical thought, but he couldn't move his legs. He couldn't move any part of him voluntarily, thanks to REM sleep.

Eerie, disturbing blackness surrounded him, suffocatingly close to his chest and limbs. He felt like the air was being squeezed from his lungs, and as though something were constricting around his neck. He let out a strangled groan, thrashing against the darkness, but not succeeding in throwing off whatever was restricting his movement. When he opened his eyes, he saw nothing but black, something that made him feel very, very vulnerable. Fearing that he was dead, he waved a hand in front of his face. He felt the breeze it made, a warm, salty and sticky breeze, but still a breeze. Dan sighed in relief that he wasn't dead, but the lack of the sense that he relied on most bothered him. No, it terrified him.

Suddenly, a loud CRASH shook the air, and Dan felt himself falling. He was silent, unable to get his vocal cords to make the terrified sound he wanted. Horror descended upon him, realizing that even though he hadn't been dead before, surely this would be his death now. He desperately tried to flip over and reach the Baku-Meter on his wrist, but the deep red crystal was strangely absent, as was Drago, he now realized. Dan panicked, going completely limp as terror paralyzed him. This was it.

But then, as suddenly as he had begun to fall, he was yanked up. His previous momentum placed an uncomfortable strain on his body, but then it was gone. He had stopped.

Dan opened his eyes, slowly, blinking once he realized that he was safe. He glanced around, bringing his body into a somewhat upright position, except there was no ground underneath his feet. Once again he searched for some pinprick of light, something to show him that he was not alone. He found it a second later, when a familiar face appeared in front of his own.

Recognition was instant and accompanied by a sense of shock. The face was older than he had last seen it, but the blue eyes, pale skin, and blue hair gave all the clues he needed. The face wasn't smirking like it usually had been, instead appeared serious and urgent.

"But... you're..." Dan whispered, his voice coming out cracked and hoarse. The familiar smirk danced across her features as she watched him. "You're... dead!"

"Are you sure?" she asked, and the voice confirmed it. Five more ghostly figures appeared, surrounding Dan. He turned slowly, his wide eyes meeting several grave ones. Each figure, except for the one in red, looked considerably older than the last time he had seen them. Each one watched him with tired eyes, and ones that warned of danger. He knew who all of them were, and the serious look was very odd on almost all of their faces.

"Yeah, are you sure we're dead?" the one with long, silver hair asked, a smirk twisting it's way around his features.

Dan gulped, and then the figures dissolved, replaced by a rainbow light several meters away from him. Dan raised an arm to shield his eyes from the dazzling light, squinting against it. Code Eve.

He was relieved to perceive the reassuring presence, knowing that nothing bad would come to him now somehow. But instead of comfort blanketing him, confusion pierced him with the quote stated by her. "Support the strong, give courage to the timid, remind the indifferent, and warn the opposed."

Dan stared at the light, dumbstruck, and only regained his voice when the light intensified.

"What are you-" he gasped, but then he was falling again; falling, falling, falling in silence.

Dan gasped, jolting awake in his bed. He sat up in fear, panting and finding his whole body completely covered in sweat. His tee shirt that he wore to bed was completely soaked in his sweat and his hair was plastered to his forehead. His eyes darted around the room in fear, but when he realized that he was actually sitting, safe and sedentary, in his room, he relaxed, flopping back against the pillows in relief as he struggled to catch his breath.

His hands shook as he pushed his hair out of his eyes, and he glanced over at the clock. 4:40 AM. Dan groaned quietly and rolled over, finding the sticky tee shirt annoying. Deciding that he needed to change out of it, he sat up, rubbing at his eyes.

The brunette glanced at the red Bakugan ball on the windowsill. It was completely devoid of movement, inertia keeping it in place. Dan sighed, looking at the sleeping dragonoid and feeling his head pulse with a headache. He wished he could sleep like that, especially after the hard work of the past two days.

Dan had just returned from Nethia, after defeating Barrodius and the Gundalians. The decision to intercede in the battle between Nethia and Gundalia had probably been one of the wisest decisions he had made. He could easily say that without the help of the Brawlers, Nethia would have lost the war and their planet. He and the Brawlers had stayed there for a day after the final fight, feasting in celebration, and the next day repairs had begun on the kingdom. Queen Serena and Princess Fabia had given medals of honor to the four humans and Ren, as well as Fabia herself, for helping to settle the conflict between the two planets. They had helped get construction underway in the kingdom for the day, setting the pace for the many days of work ahead. Then he and the others had said their goodbyes, promising to meet again in the near future, and Aranaut had sent them back to Earth.

Dan just didn't understand how he hadn't slept like a rock. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he was not wearing his Castle Knight uniform, as he had grown accustomed to doing. He had been prepared to battle for Nethia at a moments notice, even if it was at 2:00 in the morning(as it had once been). Even though he was used to taking the dawn patrol of the castle and the borders of the Third Shield with Shun, he had never awoken due to a nightmare.

The nightmare. Dan threw back the covers gently and swung his feet over the side of the bed, hobbling over to the chair in front of his desk. Lethargy had taken over his limbs and made it almost impossible to move, forcing Dan to grab onto the chair in order to avoid collapsing. His fingers closed around the durable white material of his Castle Knight uniform and, without thinking, he flung it over his shoulder.

He managed to summon enough strength to make it to the bathroom, where he flung the uniform on the floor and peeled off his sweat-soaked tee. From there he stripped of the rest of his garments and turned on the shower, pausing to take a moment to relieve himself and then proceeding to enjoy a cold shower to shake his incessant, now throbbing, headache.

The cold water had the desired effect, managing to both wake him up and banish the headache. With the sweat washed off his body, he felt rejuvenated, as if it had been siphoning him of his strength. He wiped the steam off the mirror, looking at his reflection as he yanked a comb through his hair. It was then that he realized that he had grabbed his Castle Knight uniform, apparently out of habit.

Dan sighed, looking at the Baku-Meter on his wrist and remembering how he had desperately sought it in his nightmare. At the thought of the dark expanse, stretching before him endlessly as he plunged through it, he shivered. Code Eve's words filtered through his mind, succeeding in chilling him more effectively than the cold shower. "Support the strong, give courage to the timid, remind the indifferent, and warn the opposed," he murmured.

"Are you sure we're dead?"

"Yeah, are you sure?"

Those two voices... Dan bit his lip. Why had they suddenly decided to haunt him, along with the images of his former enemies?

"Mylene... Shadow Prove," Dan mumbled, remembering the first two figures. "Lync... Volt... and Sid." The five had gathered around Dan for no reason that he could easily see, but he knew that there was something important about their appearance. He could feel it, and see it in his own reflected eyes. There was something going on, and his former enemies must play a part in it, Dan reasoned.

Quietly, Dan crept out of the bathroom, deciding to leave his discarded clothes in the hamper in the bathroom. He silently returned to his room, but paused in the doorway. He gently rested his hand on the wooden door frame, looking into the room. The loud patter of raindrops could be heard even from here, and Dan was tempted to close his window. However, he had a feeling that the rain wouldn't have too much of an impact on the Pyrus Bakguan on the sill, so he ducked out of the doorway and proceeded down the hall.

He quietly descended the staircase, thankful for the special shoes of Nethia. Not only were they durable and water-resistant, they were also lightweight and quiet. They didn't make a loud noise on the stairs, and he made it to the bottom without anyone coming down after him to see if there was an intruder.

Dan accessed the refrigerator before he left, making a point of grabbing a water bottle. He knew he would want one after his run, which he hoped would banish all remaining traces of adrenaline from his system. He wanted to sleep more, but even though the run would energize him, it would also tire him out, which he wanted.

The wayward boy didn't think to leave a note, knowing that he'd be back before anyone woke up and noticed he was missing.

Dan took the water bottle and silently walked over to the door, pulling it open and shutting it once he had stepped through. He turned around from facing the door and gasped, taking a startled step back when he saw none other than Emperor Barrodius standing in front of him, smirking. Dan blinked in shock, and then the figure was gone. Dan stared at the spot where the Gundalian had stood, then stepped forward again. His fingers tightened around the water bottle and he felt his heart race.

Dan shook his head, trying to brush off the encounter as a lingering fiber of his dream. He took a step off the porch and into the pouring rain, his hair instantly being pinned to his head. Grimacing at the surprisingly cold touch, Dan sighed, then started to jog. He was thankful once more for Nethia's Castle Knight uniform, as it was mostly water-resistant. If Dan were to be pulled underwater and the water somehow got under his clothes, then he would be wet, but the uniform blocked all raindrops from reaching his skin.

Dan easily loped down the street, the darkness not as intense and concentrated as it had been in his dream. Because of this and the many nightly patrols he had done while helping Nethia, Dan was able to avoid all obstacles in his way except for one black mailbox that he crashed into. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt as much as he expected it to.

Before long, Dan found himself poised on a small arch bridge overlooking the ocean. The river beneath him gurgled, but it was barely heard due to the loud patter of raindrops on the trees and river itself. Dan opened the water bottle and took a long sip. His run had been longer than he was used to running, which had been the circumference of Nethia's castle twice, and he really only took this route when he took his bike anyway. It was a nice change, but it left him feeling even more devoid of energy than when he had woken up.

Dan sighed, watching the waters crawl up the banks and then recede a moment later, the floodwater's force unsuppressed. With a grin, Dan regained his breath, and started to turn to go back to the house and get the sleep he deserved.

But as soon as he had turned, he had found himself engulfed in blackness again. He froze, his eyes shooting around wildly. "No, not this again," Dan groaned, moving a hand to wipe his eyes, but he finding he could not move it. Dan's eyes widened and he felt horror growing in his stomach as he pulled and twisted, realizing that all of his limbs were bound.

A sadistic, evil laugh filled the air, and Dan instantly recognized it. He panicked, as once the chilling laugh faded, it was completely silent. The rain had stopped, no sound came from Dan's desperate struggles, and not even his own voice cut through the silence. Dan could feel adrenaline pierce through him, warning him to run, to struggle, to get free, but no matter how much he conveyed his desire—no, his need—to get free, nothing happened. The binds just grew tighter and tighter until he felt like needles were being driven into his skin.

His struggled were strenuous, and in the end, futile as well. He just couldn't gain the energy he needed. He gasped for air, his body going limp. He panted in that position for a moment, trying to summon more energy.

"Found you, Kuso." A growled, raspy voice cut through the darkness, making Dan stiffen. His dynamic struggling continued, becoming more panicked rather than concentrated, but he couldn't seem to get free from the bonds. His eyes widened as the voice registered in his mind. No, it was impossible! The voice... it was impossible that the owner of that voice could still be alive! But Dan knew it was true.

"Cease your pathetic struggles, boy. Dawdling won't get you anywhere," another voice chimed in, one that equaled the horror Dan felt from the first, and he wished that this was all a dream.

"No!" Dan shouted, understanding now that he was in big trouble if he didn't break free of the vision and get away. He thrashed and kicked, writhed and struggled, but once again, the bonds didn't yield. A laugh echoed through the darkness and Dan flinched, then found himself falling again. He gasped, a rush of brightness stunning him as he yelled in pain.

After a moment, he opened his eyes, shocked to find himself flying through a Dimensional Gate. He closed his eyes, a searing pain ripping through them as his pupils shrank to compensate for the extremely bright Dimensional Gate. As he became aware of his solicitude, he slowly became accustomed to the light, but flashes of his previous vision haunted him from behind his closed eyelids. He grimaced, convulsing so that his knees were against his chest and his hands on his head. He made small, choked whimpers unconsciously, perceiving flashes of purple tendrils, glowing eyes, and smirking, devious faces.

After a few moments, he was able to slowly open his eyes. The light burned, but instead of succumbing completely, he squinted, trying to make out the end of the Gate. He knew it would be pointless to think about his dumb decisions, because he had to be ready for whatever he would have to face. Dan definitely never expected this, especially so soon after he had gotten back from Nethia. He only hoped that friendly forces would be greeting him.

Just as he was beginning to think that the fluorescent tunnel would never end, he felt himself dropping. With a gasp, he accidentally flipped over so that his head was underneath the rest of his body. With a yell of surprise, he plunged head first into a body of freezing cold water. His whole body was instantly submerged and it seemed that the gravity of this place was no different than that of Earth. After a moment, Dans head broke the surface and he gasped for air, feeling a strong current threaten to yank him under once more. He started to tread water desperately, shaking his head forcefully to dislodge his now soaking wet hair from his eyes.

Thanks to the luminescence of the Gate, Dan found it almost impossible to see anything that wasn't a few inches from his face, which was why he almost missed the rock that was sticking up in the middle of the river. He instantly grabbed at it, only relaxing when he hugged the freezing rock to his chest. The movement caused part of his uniform to be dislodged from his chest, and water seized the opportunity to flood his clothes. Within seconds he was soaked from the inside out, shivering, and even more miserable than he had been before.

He clung there for a few moments, trying to blink away the flashbulb affect that impaired his vision. He was aware that sight would be extremely important in this situation, especially since it looked like it was midnight on Gundalia here. Maybe he was on Gundalia, he thought hopefully. Maybe Ren had summoned him for help repairing the ravaged planet.

But things started not to add up. There were no rivers in Gundalia that he knew of, and he could easily say that on Gundalia, you couldn't see the stars. Especially not purple constellations that looked so similar to the ones visible on a certain familiar planet...

Dan strained his eyes for the bank, spotting it a few feet away. Maybe if he could let go of the rock and swim in that direction, he'd be able to grab onto the bank and haul himself out, he thought. He was so exhausted he was willing to try anything at this point, but he figured that if he could just come up with even a hint of a plan, he would be in better shape than if he had none.

Dan narrowed his eyes at the bank, relaxing his grip on the rock. He could feel the current tugging at his uniform, but he ignored it as he focused on his target. There was a root sticking out of the bank about a foot, and looked sturdy enough for him to grab. If he missed it, he would have a tough time finding another way to get out of the water.

He stared at it for a moment, then stiffened as he prepared to push off. He summoned as much excess energy as he could, then shifted his position on the rock so that his back was to the root. He twisted his torso and watched it struggle with the current, then braced his feet against the rock. A second later, he launched himself at the bank, his arm reaching as far out as he could get it to. His fingers closed around the root as his body was slammed into the bank.

Dan gasped as the wind was forced out of him and his fingers slipped, and he felt himself being pulled under water. It took all of his concentration not to suck in water like it was air, and when his head broke the surface he gulped oxygen like a mad man. He coughed and sputtered as he struggled to remain above the surface, finding himself exhausted way too soon.

His limbs ached with lethargy and his uniform was heavy now that it was wet. He could feel his legs and arms burning, but he knew he couldn't stop. If he stopped fighting, he'd be pulled under, and that would be the end. He couldn't let it end like that, even though at this point, it sounded very tempting.

Suddenly, his back slammed against the bank, earning a pained grunt from the teen as his eyes closed in pain. He felt his body going limp again, and this time he decided that he wouldn't fight the current. He was just too exhausted, to effete, to continue in his struggles. The water tore at his legs, sucking him back into the river, but not before a hand could close around the collar of his uniform.

He winced at the resistance, his eyes closed. For a moment, he just lay there, his savior's had clutching his collar, and then he felt himself being pulled toward the bank. Hands worked their way under his arms and hauled him up, and Dan could perceive pointed nails digging into his chilled skin even through the protective uniform. He groaned as his back was pressed against a heavily clothed chest, alerting Dan that his savior was a boy.

He was laid gently on the ground and he moaned, curling onto his side instinctively. His arms and legs were sprawled out limply on the ground, but Dan didn't care. He shook with the chill of the water and coughed, spitting out water as he gasped for breath.

"Why did the Gate open over the river?" a raspy voice asked.

"Well sorry! It's hard to control it when you're exhausted!" an angry, feminine voice snapped.

"I didn't expect it to be so simple to get him here, did you?" a third, cocky voice quipped.

"Well the vision was supposed to weaken him, and it worked." The feminine voice sounded much more self-satisfied now.

"It was definitely easier than fighting him," a deeper yet still raspy voice stated simply. Dan opened his eyes slightly, looking up above him with a half open mouth as he let out a small groan. The figures standing above him were blurred, but after blinking a few times they sharpened into figures he knew. His eyes shot open in horror as he stiffened and started to sit up. His efforts earned him a sharp kick in the side and he let out a "gak!", falling onto his back.

"How nice of you to join us, Kuso," a smirking voice hissed. Dan's lip curled as he propped himself up on his arms. He glared up at the sneering, purple-and-black-clad Gundalian, rubbing water from his chin.

"Barodius," he spat.

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