Disclaimer: I do not own Bakugan: New Vestroia, nor anything in the Bakugan franchise.

Pairings: Hydron/Lync, Lync/Alice, Shadow/Mylene

This is rated T, and it is because there are mentions of violence, blood, and other like things throughout the story. Unless there is something absolutely terrible, headings will be omitted from this point on.

My heart stops.

The air was stiff, thick and heavy with brisk and static energy. Passing guards and underlings shivered with a growing sense of dread, and the silence that passed between them all only made it worse.

Luckily, the airship often reverberates with mechanical hums, so as the metal clinks and the air pressure adjusts, the Vestals can sigh in relief, and use the loud noise to unfurl, rolling the awkwardness off their shoulders.

All of them, with the exception of Lync Volan.

After all, Lync was probably the youngest person on that airship, and consequently the most impatient. His heart was wild, throbbing with anxiety and the horrible, lurching feeling that he is going to be caught.

But, it would be silly of him not to. After all, not only did he steal vital information on the alternative data, but he also swore to himself that he would leave the Vexos entirely. Of course, both of those things were done in secret, and no one could have possibly saw him, but if a few guards came running at him with orders to catch a traitor, Lync would not be surprised.

"Relax," he told himself under his breath. "You'll be fine."

If he succeeded today, then he would be more than fine.

Because he would be with Alice.

...

The prospect of seeing Alice again was just as scary as trying to sneak off the airship. The last time he saw her, he manipulated her, turning her goodwill and trust against her. He still remembers the scowl on her face, the expression of betrayal and indignation etched into her pale, pale skin.

It was beautiful, and it was terrifying. It was insignificant to him in the past, but now that he was planning on facing her again, Lync would have to steel himself.

There is no wrath like a woman scorned, so Lync did not even want to think about how wrathful a woman betrayed would be.

But more likely than not, he would deserve every bit of Alice's soon-to-be anger. Because he was a little brat, yes, but he knew what it was like to have to deal with someone hateful. Being with the Vexos on a daily basis built his tolerance against such dislikable people, like Shadow or Mylene. Spectra and Gus were equally terrible, but in different ways. Volt, however, was a pretty decent guy. Lync would admit that, but surely the Haos brawler would understand Lync's intentions, once he found out.

Because how could he stay here, of all places? This cold hunk of space metal was not his home by any stretch of the imagination, although the Vestal colonies were not his home, either. No, he had no attachment to this place where everything was silent, swift, like everyone was afraid to do anything out of place.

Where everyone was too afraid to do anything against their oh-so-lovely prince Hydron, and his just as bad (if not worse) father, King Zenoheld. No one spoke out against them and got away with it. Even Spectra had to be on his best behavior, and that was abysmal at best.

Thus, Lync did not want to imagine what it would be like if any of the royal family discovered his little uprising. Especially not the prince, who as of late spoke to Lync in private, made talk of being allies, and other similarly poisonous things. That prince was spoiled rotten, but the rot reached more than just his heart. It seeped into his bones, into his fibers, and decayed him from the inside out. If his outside ever looked the same as his inside, Lync was sure that Hydron's perfectly princely face would morph into a deformity, and he would become a beast with no blood or skin.

Thoughts like that were part of the reason why Lync wanted to leave in the first place. Because nothing was worse than a pretty face with ugly intentions.

Somehow, the boy managed to navigate the halls without incident, and silently cheered to himself as he reached the Dimensional Transporter Machine. Similar devices like these allowed Vestals to teleport instantaneously between worlds, and seeing a member of the Vexos nearby one was not such a strange thing.

But Lync knew that he could be tracked by the others if he used this machine, because it was designed to keep a history of who used it, and what for. He knew there was a way to make sure that he was untraceable, to make sure the machine didn't leave record of his usage; but he didn't know how to do such a thing.

Professor Clay once gave a tutorial on how to fully use the machine, but at the time Lync was not paying attention, and whatever was more interesting than how to use a teleportation machine correctly, he did not know.

He wished he paid more attention. He wished he made notes and mastered the thing inside out, so he wouldn't be so anxious now. But he didn't, and it showed when his eyes, sea-foam green and downcast, flitted about nervously. All Lync knew how to do was use the machine at its bare basics, but doing that would be like leaving a big note behind, saying "I betrayed you! You guys suck!"

Still, maybe it was better this way. Nothing was more bold than leaving without bothering to hide the evidence. It would be a big, arrogant smear on the Vexos' seemingly perfect image. They were seen as Prince Hydron's loyal servants by everyone, although the word 'loyal' was a loose term when it came to Lync.

"Me, myself, and I." He recited the words like a mantra, remembering what he said to Volt a few months back. He said that he was essentially disloyal, and that the only person in the world that Lync cared about was himself.

Fingers swam across the access panel effortlessly, and the machine glowed with a myriad of colors as it started up. He clenched the data disk in his glove, and swallowed the thickness that stuck in his throat.

"Me, myself, and I." Lync repeated as he took a step towards the machine. He breathed out, eyes closed as he ran towards the mouth of the portal.

"...And Alice."

Within seconds, the Ventus user was gone, and the machine powered down as its purpose was fulfilled. Until someone looked in the data log, they would have no idea that it was used at all, or that Lync was no longer in the airship.

That is, unless that someone was Mylene. For the blue-haired girl was watching everything that was transpiring before her eyes, as she followed the nervous Lync for at least ten minutes now, and kept quiet in the shadows the entire time.

Now that Lync was gone, Mylene stepped out of her hiding place, wearing a large grin on her countenance. She tapped a poised, manicured finger against her cheek, nearly giggling to herself with the newly found secrets she had.

"...Alice, hmm? I think it's time to have a little fun, for once."

Mylene turned around, cape flying like outstretched feathers behind her. She knew that she was going to talk with Prince Hydron soon, although this would be the first time that she was happy to do so.

I already know.