Chapter Text
"Mom! I’m home!"
"Daniel, your lunch is in the fridge. And don’t forget to wash your hands!"
"Not now, Mom."
"What do you mean, not now?"
Dan barely heard his mother’s question. Hurriedly opening the door to his room, the teenager set his guitar against the wall. He hoped the instrument would slide down gently rather than crash to the floor and break. Only once the door was closed did he rush toward the staircase.
"I’m going to the movies with the guys!" he called out to his mother.
Daniel had already reached the first floor when he spotted her. She was sitting on a yoga mat in front of the television in the living room, copying some awkward pose. It seemed to him that she was struggling to keep up with the TV instructor.
He smiled. Everything was just as it had always been. Nothing had changed.
"Daniel, what about your lunch?" Mioki asked anxiously, and she would have turned her head toward her son, but the woman on the screen had just switched to a new exercise.
"Later, Mom!" the boy called out cheerfully, then dashed outside, slamming the door louder than usual. He didn’t hear his mother’s reply, but he could imagine her sighing, calling him a child, and going back to her yoga.
Nothing had changed.
Dan wheeled out his bicycle, which had been standing unnoticed in his father’s garage. After checking the brakes and the chain, the former Pyros battler jumped onto the seat and pedaled out onto the road. He glanced at the watch now strapped to his left wrist and began to pedal hard.
He was late again. Everyone else had been waiting for him at the park for ages, with only the main straggler still missing. Runo had been saying something about Shun, sounding worried — claiming he was ignoring everyone again. But Kuso had waved off the usual questions. Knowing his childhood friend like the back of his hand, he was sure they’d just gotten on his nerves, and the Ventus battler had deliberately turned off his phone. Same as always.
As if Bakugan had never existed on their planet. As if no curious teenager had ever been an accidental witness to green lights falling from the sky, landing softly at their feet in the form of Gate Cards.
Dan smiled sadly. Three years had passed since the Bakugan left their world. Three years since Daniel had last seen his closest friend. Five years since the cards first rained down from the sky, and he and Shun invented the game of Bakugan. Four years since the formation of the team with the fitting name — the Battle Brawlers.
The teenager stopped his bike just before reaching the group. Hopping off, he walked his steel steed toward his friends.
The first person he noticed was Marucho. The Aquos battler was sitting on a bench with Runo, Alice, and Julie. Dan must have been so late that the team had actually had time to get tired and sit down. But the little flock of teenagers was chatting happily among themselves anyway. Daniel frowned when he didn’t see Shun among them. That was new.
Alice was the first to spot him. The red-haired girl smiled widely and waved, getting up from the bench.
"Dan!"
"Hey, guys! How are you doing?" Kuso replied in kind, walking over to them. He carefully set his bike against the bench so it wouldn’t fall.
"We’ve been waiting forever for you!"Runo cried out louder than everyone else, rising from her seat. "The movie starts in half an hour, and we still have to get there!"
"Uh… where’s Shun?" Dan asked, as if not noticing her outburst, searching for his friend nearby. At that question, his friends exchanged glances. Even Runo, who had just been so indignant, fell silent.
"He didn’t come," Alice said, not exactly sadly, but certainly with less enthusiasm. "He hasn’t been answering for a couple of days now."
Kuso looked at her in disbelief. If anyone had grown close over the past two years, it was Alice and Shun, bonded over their shared passion for Russian literature. The former Ventus battler always answered her calls, no matter how annoying his friends were being or how much he craved peace.
"I say we go to his place after the movie," Marucho suggested. "He’s our friend."
The others nodded in agreement and voiced their support. Daniel smiled, imagining the look of surprise on the ninja’s face when he found the whole crew on his doorstep, with his grandfather setting up traps around the house. Maybe Shun really was tired of them—he was never the type to be in such constant contact with anyone.
That thought cheered the battler up. He smiled at Julie, who had started chattering about a new JJ Dolls song dedicated to Marucho. Their friend’s face flushed bright red with embarrassment, making everyone laugh.
Subtly, but abruptly, something in the atmosphere changed. Dan didn’t even realize at first what had made him stop. The feeling was as if someone had sprayed a faint perfume into the air—so delicate that you couldn’t quite catch it at first. But if you stayed where it had been sprayed, the scent grew clearer and clearer. And now he could feel it distinctly: something was about to happen. He couldn’t even tell if the feeling was pleasant or not.
"Hey, Dan, what’s wrong with you?" Runo noticed his strange behavior and stopped. The others followed suit.
A thunderclap sounded behind the group, making everyone shiver slightly. Kuso got the worst of it. Closest to the blast, he was thrown to the pavement and covered his head with his arms. The sounds merged into an unpleasant roar. His friends cried out his name in fear, but he couldn’t hear them.
Once the ringing in his ears subsided, Daniel got back to his feet with the others’ help. He turned around, wanting to see what had startled everyone so much—and froze. It was a portal. A portal that should never have appeared so suddenly, right here and now, for no reason. He had seen something like this only once before, when Drago opened the way for all the Bakugan to return—to Vestroia.
Could it be…?
"This can’t be happening," the teenager managed to choke out.
A red metal sphere with golden patterns shot out of the portal. The others behind him gasped in astonishment and moved closer to the leader of the Battle Brawlers to get a better look at the sphere. No one could speak. Dan crouched down beside it, unable to look away. He didn’t dare touch it.
"Oh, it can happen, Dan," the Bakugan burst out laughing.
It was definitely him! It was Drago. His best friend and partner. The sphere opened, and a new wave of astonished yet joyful gasps swept through the group. Dan caught his breath, silently praying that this wasn't a dream. It was Drago! His Dragonoid.
"Greetings, Daniel," Dragonoid said warmly.
"Drago's back!" Julie cried out brightly, and the next moment the others burst into happy chatter.
With trembling hands, the former Pyros battler picked up his Bakugan and stood. Stretching out his arms, he showed it to the team. But Dan still couldn't believe this was real—that his Bakugan was with him again. The others formed a semicircle to get a better look at their old friend. Drago was still chuckling at how they'd reacted to his arrival.
Then came a hailstorm of questions:
"Are you back for good?"
"How did you disconnect from the Perfect Core?"
"Drago, is Hydranoid going to visit us too?"
"What about Preyas? And Angelo and Diablo?"
"And Tigrerra?"
Seeing his Bakugan spin around uncertainly among his friends and then turn to him, Kuso decided it was time to take the initiative.
"Guys, wait up! Let him at least get a word in!"
"Thanks, Dan!" Drago said sincerely, and then continued, sounding tired and slightly resigned. "I'm sorry to say I haven't come just to visit. I have bad news, and I'm here to ask for your help."
Silence fell among them as the others processed what the Pyros Bakugan had said. Then, in a quiet and worried voice, Marucho asked:
"Drago, what happened?"
The answer came without delay. Knowing full well that the others needed the whole truth, Dragonoid began to speak openly:
"We've been attacked. Our planet has been taken over by creatures who call themselves the Vests. They've turned us into spheres and torture Bakugan on the battlefield and in their labs. The Vests have captured everyone! First Hydranoid, then Preyas… Tigrerra was the last," at these words, the others stared at him in horror. "Dan, I need your help. I can't fight alone. Will you help me?"
Dan frowned, feeling anger toward the Vests rising at the mere mention of them.
"Of course I'll help you, Drago!" the brunet exclaimed. "We'll all help you. Right, guys?"
"Yes!" the battlers answered in unison.
"They'll regret daring to attack you, Drago!" Marucho declared. "They'll have to face the best battlers."
A pleasant warmth filled Dan's soul as Drago looked over the Battle Brawlers. He hadn't been wrong to come to them, even though he fully understood that Dan would be in danger on Vestroia. But his battler wouldn't be alone. He would be right by his side — and besides, the portal's exit had been arranged so they would arrive directly with the other Vests—the ones from the resistance.
"Thank you, brawlers, but I can't take you all with me. Only Dan should come along."
If Drago had decided to tell the whole truth to their faces, he needed to see it through. It was better this way than to beat around the bush.
But at first, when the Great Warriors of Vestroia had helped him regain his body, and when it was decided that he needed to return to Earth for his battler, he hadn't wanted to do it. Dan had been only twelve when he chose to throw himself into the Doom Dimension after him, and later into battle against Naga. Drago could only imagine what he might do now. The last thing he wanted was to drag the boy into a risky venture.
Yet Drago had no choice. After all, he didn't trust even those Vests who called themselves the Bakugan Resistance Front. He couldn't tell the Front about his connection to the Equilibrium Core, nor could he allow himself to be lost in battle the way Skyress and Tigrerra once had been.
Perhaps Drago's plan was naive, but he believed that despite all the risks, together with Dan, they would manage somehow.
"Oh no, you don't!" Runo cried out.
"We're a team, Drago," Marucho said. "We should always be together. Together, we're stronger!"
"But it's dangerous out there!" the Bakugan protested, hoping the others would grasp the seriousness of the situation.
"It'll be dangerous if you go alone," Runo frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Yeah! But if we all go together, the only ones in danger will be those Vests!" Julie added confidently.
No, Drago's plans would have been better kept secret, with him and Dan finally jumping into the portal. Now, trying to talk the others out of it was going to cost him a mountain of trouble.
"Alice," Runo said, placing a hand on the redhead's shoulder. The former Darkus battler looked at her uncertainly. Alice had never been a brawler. Of the two of them, Masquerade had always been the lead brawler. But he was gone now, and she wasn't sure she could fight without her alter ego's support.
When the Bakugan left Earth, she had felt so many things. She was sad because Hydranoid—part of her heart—had left her. She was glad because nothing would ever remind her again of how the cold-blooded part of her soul had sent innocent Bakugan to the Doom Dimension. Of how she had reveled in their suffering, even as she feared her own death.
But Hydranoid… Their shared partner, hers and Masquerade's, was a prisoner. And from what Drago had said, it wasn't hard to imagine he might be in terrible danger. How could she allow that? How could she be afraid to join the fight again?
But she had to face the truth. She couldn't fight. At least, not at first.
"I don't think I'll be able to brawl," Gehabich admitted. Runo's hand tensed on her shoulder. The others would accept whatever decision she made, but her refusal might still hurt them. "But I can still help with strategy," she added finally.
She wouldn't hand Hydranoid over to the Vests. No matter what it cost her. Even if it meant playing exactly like Masquerade.
And Drago realized that if Alice herself was willing to go to New Vestroia, he could no longer convince the others to stay on Earth.
"Partner," Dan said quietly, and the Bakugan turned to him. In his battler's eyes, he saw everything that spoke of resolve. "We're a team."
"Very well," Drago said, knowing full well that they had already made up their minds. "You outnumber me."
Drago had no idea what to do.
Of course, the idea of warning their parents about the impending extraterrestrial adventure sounded perfectly logical. By Earthling standards, they weren't yet independent enough and were supposed to obey their elders. And since the Battle Brawlers had done exactly that before, Drago saw nothing strange about it. Deep within the Pyros Bakugan's buried desire not to take the other children along, a flicker of hope ignited. It was entirely possible that their parents simply wouldn't let them go on this venture.
But then, what would he do if they wouldn't let Dan go?
Look for another partner among Earth's other top brawlers? Or just show himself to the Front on his own initiative? He still remembered how they had once lost Skyress because they didn't know how to handle a Ventus Bakugan — there had been no brawler specializing in that attribute at the time. After that, they never again risked taking an unfamiliar attribute with them.
At this rate, he might as well surrender to the invaders immediately!
The Bakugan himself no longer had any idea where the Front was located, and he was incapable of activating a portal. According to Alice, she still had the cards Masquerade had left behind, and the team could use them to find the Resistance Front that Dragonoid had mentioned. But… would Drago truly be himself if he didn't worry?
He wondered — would Apollonir hear him from here? Could he reopen the portal?
"Mom," his battler spoke up, sounding utterly pleading, and the Bakugan finally turned his attention to what was happening. "Drago has never let us down."
His mother, Mioki, had no idea what to do. She still hadn't recovered from the shock of the sphere that had once been missing now appearing on her son's shoulder. Well, yes — who could have known that the Pyros Bakugan would return to Earth seeking help?
The woman looked at the crimson sphere. Dragonoid truly had never failed them. He had protected her son as best he could. Even in that final battle, when the white dragon and the green goblin had tried to attack her boy, they hadn't succeeded — because Drago had defended Dan.
But how could she send her son off to who knows where? How could she allow him to be in danger?
She closed her eyes and sighed heavily. A mother's heart begged her not to let him go, because it was dangerous out there. But he had been in trouble before, even when she hadn't known about it. Still, she couldn't just let him go so easily.
But she had to.
She knew he would go anyway. She knew, because her son had already done something like this once before. Dan had jumped into that strange Doom Dimension after Drago! He hadn't cared that he might never come back. And fate had simply smiled on the brunet so that he could walk his home planet again.
"Very well," she finally said, and Mioki relaxed at her own words.
"Thank you, Mom," Daniel said sincerely. And the woman felt she had done the right thing.
"Drago, please take care of him," Mioki asked the Bakugan, for there was nothing else she could ask for.
"I will do everything in my power, Mioki. I promise."
Dan ran into his room with his Bakugan to pack the necessary things. And Mrs. Kuso could only hope that somehow, she would be able to send him letters.