"Shit." Ajit cursed under his breath as he ran to the school.

This was terrible.

Dan Kouzo, his boyfriend, was planning to murder people. No, murder even more people. He'd already killed three.

It had made no sense until half an hour ago, up until that point he'd had been wondering why Dan had done it, that had been when Dan arrived asking to talk to Ajit.

He'd been scared, a kill count of three and then asking to talk shortly after an argument? But there'd been no way out, so he'd done something else. He'd faked his own suicide in the hopes that Dan would go away.

It worked, better than expected because alongside Dan leaving, he also got an explanation as to why he'd done what he did.

"We've all saved the world so many times, we've saved all of their lives. Yet the slightest thing is enough to make them hate us all and treat us like shit and now you're gone... Well, don't worry, they'll meet a worse fate than you did, tonight, I'll make sure of it."

That was what Dan had said whilst crying beside Ajit's "dead" body.

Ajit knew what his plan was. Tonight a bunch of people who liked the Awesome Brawlers would be showing up at the Bakugan Academy to meet them. Everyone was going to be there and Dan had a motive to want to hurt them all, the people who had turned on the AB due to lack of trust despite them literally saving the world, the people who disliked the AB and wanted to oppose them, those who relied too much on the AB and never on their own strength and as for those in the AB and those friends with them... Well, it was clear Dan was beyond the point of caring if he ended up hurting or even killing his friends.

So he was running as fast as he could to the Academy to try and stop this before it even began.

He had an advantage, in that Dan didn't know he was even alive. But he also was at a disadvantage - Dan had definitely arrived at the building already; while Ajit had only just crossed onto Academy grounds.

No one was around, of course they weren't. He was late, faking your own suicide does that. Everyone else would already be inside the Academy's gym as it was the biggest hall they had and the only place suitable to fit so many people.

He had a feeling that Dan wouldn't be in that room though, he'd be in one of the surrounding rooms, above, below or to the side. He'd be in one of those rooms.

Ajit was smart enough to figure it out on his way there, Dan had a bomb. Of course he did, his dad worked for a demolition company. How else could he kill everyone who'd come to the academy tonight, there was going to be at least three hundred people.

Finally, he reached the open doors and slowed down as he entered. Panting for breath as his exhaustion from running the whole way to the academy kicked in.

"Ajit?" A calm voice spoke, "Dan was telling everyone you'd just committed suicide."

The golden brawler looked up, holding his side where he'd gotten a stitch, he was honestly unsurprised to see Magnus. As a new member of the AB, he had to be there, but Magnus and socialising don't mix, so it made sense he wouldn't be in the gym with everyone else either.

Either way, it couldn't have worked out more perfectly, Magnus was exactly who he needed to help him out right now.

"Yeah, well... Let's just say he was wrong." He replied.

Magnus snorted out a laugh, "Well, Lia put together a nice last minute tribute for you." Causing Ajit to wince, right, his other friends still thought he was dead.

No time to resolve that yet though. "Magnus, you've snooped around this place a lot in the past, what's under the gym?"

"The room Jenny Hackett used to use for her experiments, why?"

Oh great. Of course it's a room probably still filled with dangerous equipment! Thanks a lot Bakugan Academy for not just having a regular room underneath the gym.

"I have to go there. Now." Ajit answered, "And I need you to come with me, I'll explain on the way." He didn't give Magnus a chance to respond, simply grabbing the taller's hand and beginning to drag him towards the stairs leading down to the basement laboratory.

He did explain on the way, giving a quick version of the story, telling Magnus how Dan had killed three people and was about to attempt to kill three hundred more.

By the time they'd approached the laboratory doorway, they had a plan that should work.

The pair peeked around the open door frame to see Dan hunched over a box-shaped item. The bomb.

Magnus entered first, so silently that Ajit questioned if the other boy even breathes.

Then Ajit entered, deliberately a lot louder.

"Step away from the bomb, Dan." He attempted to command the other.

The boy looked up, shocked and so clearly relieved to see Ajit alive. It almost broke Ajit's heart but Dan wasn't the same anymore. Dan was a murderer and the guy Ajit had fallen in love with wasn't.

As if reading Ajit's thoughts and deciding to prove them, Dan gave his response "I don't think I will." He said, completely casually, "They all deserve it. In the end it's always down to us, when the world is almost destroyed, we have to be the ones to save it. Well this time? I'm going to be the one to destroy it, then they'll see just how much they messed up by relying on a group of teenagers to save the world five times when there were adults who could've done something but didn't."

Ajit hated that, he hated how Dan was right. He hated how a part of him agreed with what Dan was saying. He understood the anger.

But he didn't agree with what he was channelling that anger into.

"I get it," He admitted, "Those people treating you like that, treating us all like that, it's terrible. I wish they'd realise that but they won't. This isn't the solution Dan. I wish you could see that, I wish you could see that things are changing, I wish you'd stop this, there's no point. Killing people won't solve anything!" Ajit yelled.

"So, what do you say Dan? Put the bomb away, figure out how to live life normally again..."

There was silence

"I say... I wish the bomb would just go off now and kill everyone already!"

Ajit sighed. He didn't want to do this.. He'd hoped he'd be able to convince Dan not to do this... But it couldn't be helped.

He caught the other's eye. "Do it."

Dan looked surprised for a moment, then a look of victory fell onto his face, "I knew you'd come around."

Then his expression twisted as a sharp pain stabbed through his chest.

Dan blinked as he collapsed to the floor.

Ajit could only stare, a storm of conflicting emotions inside his head and heart.

Magnus pulled out the knife. "Are you going to want this back?" He quipped, almost too casually for what he'd just done.

Then again, Dan had killed three people and in Magnus's eyes stopping a criminal by any means necessary is the most important thing. No matter what morals or laws you may have to break to do so, as long as the criminal is caught and faces justice, it's all good in the end.

Ajit shook his head. He couldn't even bear to look at the knife, covered in Dan's blood.

Which was ridiculous as this was his plan in the first place.

"I'm going to try to convince him to stop, I want to give him one last chance to change."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"Then... You sneak up behind him and stab him."

"Right but I don't just carry knives around with me..."

"Take this then, I brought it with me."

Magnus shoved the knife into his pocket. "Mind if I leave now?" He asked.

Ajit only shook his head, unable to even speak.

The older boy left. Giving one last glance at the boy lying on the floor covered in blood.

For a couple of minutes Ajit remained there, gathering his thoughts and giving one last look at Dan.

Then he picked up the bomb and began the walk outside. He got as far away as he could from the main grounds of the academy and then he began to wait. The bomb should go off soon and he wasn't going to let anyone else get hurt.

He hadn't told Magnus about this part of his plan.

At least his friends already knew he was dead.