Bakugan Battle Brawlers belongs to Spin Masters and Sega Toys.

Zoe didn't know how long was she unconscious, or how did they manage to come back from that battlefield they were on, but nevertheless, she woke up back at the park, greeted by the happy chirping of birds, the rough feeling of the wood that made up one of the benches at the plaza, the sun burning brightly above her and Alex and the duo of bullies having the screaming match of the century near the fountain.

God, her head hurt.

She allowed herself a second to remember how to move, slowly getting up and stumbling to her feet with the exact grace of a newborn fawn, her sibling too caught up in shouting his throat raw to notice the absolute fool his sister was making of herself. Once she was sure she wouldn't fall on her face when walking, she glanced at the argument still ongoing. They were so caught up in making each other deaf that none of the three would notice if the girl just walked away and left them behind.

Just as that thought passed through her head, Zoe noticed that the argument had abruptly stopped. She stood, bewildered, as Shuji did a 180° and stomped off, Akira sending her brother a dirty glare before following his brother. Alex didn't notice his sister walking towards him, too focused on glaring at the bullies to pay attention. And so, when the two retreating figures disappeared from sight and he finally allowed himself to relax, he sighed and turned around, meeting with the sudden sight of his sister, passed out at the nearby bench seconds ago, staring at him with intense, curious eyes. He let out a loud, not at all manly screech:

"Jesus Christ!" He exclaimed "Warn a man, would ya? Do you want to give me a heart attack?"

"What was that about?" She signed, ignoring her brother's panic.

"Oh, well..." He scratched the back of his head "After the whole lightning fiasco, we were thrown out of the battlefield. Don't ask me how."

Zoe quirked up one eyebrow, suspicious of her brother's tone:

"After that, Shuji kept insisting for a rematch." He continued "He kept saying that that match didn't count, and that he 'wanted to wipe the floor with you properly', or some nonsense like that."

Alex took a deep breath:

"Of course, I was already pretty tense since, you know, my sister had just got struck by lightning right in front of me, and they wouldn't go away, and they kept saying that I was making the whole lightning thing up..." He trailed off.

This can't be good. Zoe thought "And what did you do?"

His shoulders tensed. Definitely not good. She concluded:

"At first, I lashed out." her brother admitted "I was just angry. You can't just say that you're making something like your sister getting electrocuted up, you know?"

She nodded, urging him along:

"After some time, I just wanted them to go away." He sighed "I told them that you were not battling again, but then they said that that would label him the winner by default."

"And we couldn't have that. Or at least, you couldn't." She finished, mouth set in a thin line.

He groaned:

"Zoe..." he started "Shuji is like, the worst brawler in town. Trust me, losing to him is a criminal offense."

"So you set me up for another battle." She asked, frowning once her brother winced.

"Yea...about that..." he now refused to look at her in the eye "Shuji was all in for a rematch, but then Akira said that, since their beef is with you, me helping you in the brawl 'just wouldn't be fair'."

Zoe's expression hardened:

"Alex." She signed, putting emphasis on every word. "What did you do?"

Said Alex was now sweating bullets, conveniently finding a lot of interest in the beige stones that made up the plaza. The air was once again dense with anticipation, and the boy was in no rush in telling his sister the truth. After a few seconds, he seemed to have accepted whatever fate he had wrought upon himself, as he shut his eyes tightly and spoke in the quietest voice imaginable:

"I... might've promised that you would fight in the next Bakugan tournament."

The world screeched to a halt.

To say that Leonidas was lost was an understatement.

He wasn't in the pocket dimension, that much he knew. This new place had much less power, there were too many souls, scattered and crowded at the same time, and it was bright, too bright.

Then again, traveling through the complete darkness of the void then landing in a new, void less place probably had to do with something with this last problem.

He allowed a moment to take in his surrounding and his situation. He felt small, smaller than before. Although there was a significantly high number of souls in this new dimension, they were mostly tuned off or unable to access, like far off voices in an infinite wasteland. There was also something warm enveloping him, although he couldn't quite pinpoint from where.

Leonidas breathed in slowly. The first thing I have to do is find out where I am. He thought. Only then I can make a decision on what to do next-

What could only be described as immense anger suddenly coursed through him. It was so intense that he forgot to think for a second, allowing the white-hot fury to pass through his entire being. Just as quickly as it overcame him, it quickly retreated. Not quite disappearing, but staying dormant at the very back of his mind.

Curious, he allowed himself to sink into the new feeling. Analyzing it further, it would've been an insult to pass the emotion as mere anger. It was an intricate mix of fury, confusion, resignation, and frustration. The telltale frustration of being unable to let these ugly sentiments out of you and towards the world, being forced to lock them at the very back of your subconscious. Leonidas took this new emotion as merely one thing.

His little beacon, Zoe, was nearby.

Still unable to fully maneuver in this tiny, rigid body, but determined to do so, Leonidas moved forward, letting his beacon once again work as a compass towards his destination. As he drew closer, he noticed another soul together with his beacon. He couldn't quite pinpoint the other's emotions like he did with his beacon, but he could still sense intense amounts of regret, embarrassment and pity.

Just what were they were doing?

Once again, the voices came first as an off-tuned chatter, but began to develop as Leonidas drew closer to the duo:

"Look, Zoe, how many times do I have to say that I'm sorry?" Other said "It was either this or Bully 1 and Bully 2 annoying us to no end."

Leonidas heard a huff, probably from Zoe, and a sigh from Other. He must have successfully approached the two, as their voices became clearer and clearer:

"Dang it, Zoe. Can you at least do something other than huff and refuse to look me in the eye?!" Other shouted.

Out of nowhere, something grabbed him. He had no time to react as he was thrown at something, feeling his body clash against something soft and then crash against what he assumed to be the floor:

"Ow! What was that for?!" Other cried out "You almost hit my eye- hey, is that a Bakugan?"

To say that Zoe Abner was angry was an understatement.

As much as she liked to brag that she had inherited the brains of the family, she was also quick to admit that her brother had better judgement than anyone else she knew. She knew that, when it came to impulse decisions, Alex always took the ones that resulted in minimum damage received from the consequences.

Knowing this, how could he think that setting up his inexperienced, not at all interested in Bakugan sister into a Bakugan tournament was a good idea?

She didn't even think twice when she threw the Bakugan at him. She just saw something on the ground, thought screw it and nailed her idiot of a brother right in the head.

Now that said Bakugan was now talking, sitting neatly on her brother's cupped palms, she was starting to have second thoughts:

"Where am I?" the toy asked.

"Um...Planet Earth?" Alex said, confusion clear in his voice. "Aren't you from Vestroia?"

"...No." the thing answered.

Zoe looked at her brother with confusion clear in her face. He, in turn, only offered her a shrug in response:

"Then where are you from? How did you come here?"

The Bakugan paused, likely taking in the question:

"I come from...far away." it began "I first had Vestroia as my objective, but then something...someone caught my attention, and then led me here."

The siblings glanced at each other:

"Someone?" Alex asked "Who is this someone?"

The toy turned, now facing Zoe directly:

"You."

Zoe allowed the information to settle. Me, somehow summoning an extraterrestrial monster in disguise as a toy? She thought. Not only is this absurd, but completely impossible.

"You call something absurd, after witnessing a battle of giants?" the toy abruptly said. "You think that something is impossible, even though you've survived a lightning strike that certainly would've left you for dead?"

A tense silence washed over the siblings.

Did that Bakugan just read my mind? Zoe thought.

"I told you, you led me here." it continued "Your beliefs are your own, but do not discard what is in front of you as absurd."

"Hey, um..." Alex trailed off, trying to once again catch the Bakugan's attention. "What's your name, again? You never really told us."

"Leonidas." it answered. "I am Darkus Leonidas."

"So...Leonidas." her brother started "Since, according to what you said, my sister led you here, you wouldn't mind helping her with something."

"And what would that be?"

"You see, she is going to enter a tournament." he explained. "It'll be full of tough competitors. Don't you think that she'd have to have an equally tough partner?"

What is he going on about? She thought.

"Will this 'tournament' have other Bakugan?" Leonidas asked.

"It's a Bakugan tournament." Alex retorted. "It's kinda it's whole shtick."

Leonidas nodded. Or at least, Zoe thought it nodded. It then faced her once again, fluttering towards her, resting hon her now held out palms. Now that it was close to her, she could tell some small differences from previous Bakugan she had seen. When open, he held a shape very resembling of a dragon, and while other Bakugan were of a singular, bright color with small accents of detail, Leonidas was purely black, making the different lightning patterns colored yellow, green and lilac appear more noticeable. Its yellow eyes stared up at her, although she guessed that it couldn't see very well:

"Then I shall be your 'partner' from now on." It said with conviction. "No soul shall stand on our path as long as you have me."

I'm going to regret this, aren't I? Zoe thought.

Although it had no apparent features, Zoe could still feel Leonidas smiling.

"I trust you won't, little beacon." it whispered, almost too quietly to be heard.