"Drago!"
He could hear the voice calling him through the fog, but he couldn't quite locate the source.
"Drago!", the voice called out again. This time, Drago could identify the source of the voice, turning to the east to behold it. The figure in front of him resembled a Pyrus Ziperator, but the markings were different, but familiar.
"I know you.", Drago stated out loud. "You're Neo, the Bakugan that gave me the Element that powered the Neathian shield system."
"Indeed I am.", Neo replied. "My physical form perished long ago, but my being survives within you, for the time being."
"I don't understand.", was a confused Drago's response to this last statement.
"It does not matter.", Neo assured him. "You need only concern yourself with the fact I have summoned you here."
"But why me?"
"Because you currently possess the power of the Perfect Core Of New Vestroia, the Attribute Energies of the 6 Legendary Soldiers and the powers of Code Eve.", was Neo's reply. "However, evolution has taken away the powers that could help you to defeat this threat to our worlds and the galaxy. I have called you here to restore those powers to you before the coming conflict."
With that, there was a flash, and Drago was back on Earth, in ball form, in a strange, unfamiliar house.
Marinette was exhausted. First, the hospital couldn't take the boy that she'd found on the beach, until they'd performed a full check to verify his identity. Meaning that until then, she had to keep him in her house. Granted, her parents were willing to go along with it for the time being, but that didn't stop her from being uneasy about it. She had decided to try and do her own search for who he could be. But before she had time to find a decent facial recognition software, she heard something fall to the floor.
Marinette turned around to try and see what had made the noise. It was a small marble-like red ball, which burst out into a dragon. Then the boy burst awake, crying out.
"(Marucho, Shun.)", he cried out in English. Marinette didn't understand him very well, but she could tell he was either American or Canadian, based on his accent. Then he composed himself, asking her. "(Where am I? Who are you.)"
"Don't worry," Marinette tried to reassure him "you're in my bedroom in Paris. I helped you when you washed up.", but he clearly didn't understand her. Before this could get any more awkward, a woman burst through the wall with a crash. Her yellow skin and outfit resembling a cross between a radiation suit and a guerrilla suit marked her as an Akumatised victim.
"There you are, Miss Dupain-Cheng.", the Akuma declared. "I've been looking for you." While Marinette and her predator were facing off, neither noticed a girl in a black dress appearing from nowhere, grabbing the boy and then vanishing.
Meanwhile, his temporary hideout in Hawk Moth's lair, the Professor was preparing a selection of dolls based on previous Akuma victims. These would be necessary for his next target for his modified Akuma. This one would assure he had faster access to a large army. Sure, Princess Fragrance had her uses (so much so that even Hawk Moth seemed to be keeping an eye on the lovely Miss Lavillant), but he needed a certain set of skills that ordinary people turned into Revolutionary era-style harlots just couldn't provide. In addition, this victim had another one living in the same house, one who could easily be used as a spy to help locate Kuso and his Dragonoid before they could pose a problem. And as for the other Battle Brawlers, he had sent Hawk Moth and Predatrix (the name he had for the fused form of Fangoid, Longfly and Splight) to deal with them.
Meanwhile on the planet Gundalia, the first interplanetary negotiations (outside of ones with Neathia after the war) was about to take place. In response to the threats of Mag Mel and Coredegon that nearly saw the destruction of all their worlds, Earth, Vestal, Neathia and Gundalia had all decided that an alliance would be mutually beneficial. To that end, the 4 planets had each sent a delegate to discuss this possibility. The chosen delegates were Khomba O'Charlie and Ventus Harpus for Earth, Baron Leltoy and Haos Saint Nemus representing Vestal, Prime Minister Nurzak and Sub Terra Sabator as the Gundalian emissary and former Queen-turned-ambassador Serena Sheen as the representative for Neathia.
In charge of security for the Conference was Ren Krawler former member of the Battle Brawlers. Also on the security team was another former Battle Brawler, the Neathian Castle Knight known as Rafe (no-one had ever asked what his surname was), who was now asking questions about the safety. "Ren, can we be sure that the delegates are secure from any threats?"
"Of course we can.", was Ren's response. "I triple-checked the security myself. You'd need an intricate knowledge of the security arrangements to get in here."
"If that's the case," Rafe said, pointing to a shadowy figure running away, "then how'd he get in?"
Ren turned around to see the figure moving out of sight. "That's a good question.", he replied.
Rafe's partner Haos Wolfurio popped out. "Regardless of how he got in, I think we need to cut him off before he gets away."
"You're right.", Rafe nodded, taking Wolfurio in his hand, as Ren did the same thing with his partner Linehalt. Then they threw their partners, calling out "Bakugan Brawl! Bakugan, stand!"
"Fly, Darkus Linehalt!"
"Go, Haos Wolfurio!"
After a short chase, the two Bakugan cornered the gatecrasher in the wasteland (or what qualified for a wasteland on a planet where the inhabitants had to live underground). The two Brawlers jumped down off their partners and were shocked to see who it was. A teenage human girl, dressed in a full body jumpsuit with a green-visored helmet. Ren tried to remove her helmet, only to find that it was somehow fused to her flesh.
Seeing this, Rafe decided to try another approach. He grabbed her by the suit and yelled "Why did you sneak into the peace conference?" The girl merely nodded towards the citadel, which was partially consumed by an explosion. The section of the spire where the Conference was taking place was totally destroyed, with no chance for any of the delegates' survival. As Ren and Rafe looked on shocked, a pink gas filled the area, knocking them out.
Elsewhere, back on Earth, Dan had been taken to a fast food restaurant by his friends. He ordered the medium meal with the cola, while everyone else just stuck to water. He needed the food, after starving for days.
Joe was the first to ask what was on everyone else's minds. "So what happened to you? Why did you run off?"
At this, Dan bowed his head, as if on shame. "If you really wanna know, I've just grown tired of being relied on to save the universe. It's not that I don't want to help save people, I really do. It's just that being called upon constantly has really gotten to me. Plus, with Drago's power level being as high as it is, this doesn't seem like it's going to get easier for me to get away from it all."
Dan was expecting Alice to at least be understanding. And she was. "I understand what you're going through, Dan. It's why I quit brawling all those years ago. I felt that if something happened to you, then I, being the world's 2nd strongest Brawler, would have to step up. I just couldn't take that pressure." Then her face was completely serious, like a mother about to scold her child. "But you really should have told Runo and the others you were leaving. Did you even consider how they'd react?"
This threw Dan for a loop. "Well to be honest, I just didn't want to make a big deal out of it, in case something came up immediately after I'd left. But I just felt that Drago and I could-." And then he stopped, realising something. "Aw man, Drago fell out of my pocket when I was in that girl's house."
"We can deal with that later.", Chan said to him. "For now, I think you should tell Marucho where you are."
Dan sighed. "Okay then, I'll call them." But as he reached to dial, several figures burst through the windows, all armed with different weapons. They all appeared female, with white skin, pink hair and a revolutionary style dress code. Leading them was an armoured woman, dressed in white, with a sword where her right hand should be.
"Our master only wants the boy in the red jacket.", the woman in white yelled. "The rest can be killed."
