Dan Kouzo: A month had passed since the day I met Drago... yea, calling him Dragonoid's just too weird, so I decided to give him a nickname. He didn't like it at first though, demanding to: "be called by my full name, human!" Don't know why, its just a nickname. Anyway, I guess after a while he stopped caring and just accepted it. Howlkor, the Bakugan we helped Drago defeat, joined us... guess we "knocked some sense into him", though he seemed to want to be Lightning's Guardian for some reason. Maybe cause they're both dogs or something? Lia and Wynton are the only ones without a Bakugan of their own, but it turns out me and Lightning weren't the only ones who got one. After we posted the video to YouTube, we got thousands of kids saying they also found Bakugan themselves the very next morning. Another thing was it seemed adults couldn't get them out of the gooey prisons they arrived in... real strange.
And thankfully, our parents thought the entire video was only green-screened by Lia... phew, dodged a bullet there, huh? Not like they would believe us anyway, they just thought the Bakugan were toys. Ya know, the latest fad? It wasn't a total lie, so no harm no foul, right? The word of Bakugan spread like wildfire, they appeared all over the world, so it looks like Drago was right. I wonder if we'll ever find out more about the Bakugan?
(AN: Remember the video I talked about last chapter: Did a favor for you, SpinMaster? Now's your chance to play it once you get down the the title of the current chapter.)
Chapter 1: Trox-ing Around
Sunlight lit up the room of the clubhouse Dan and his friends stayed in late that night, brightening a new day. They ignored it out of tiredness, however...
"Rise and shine, Dan! Another day, another battle!" Drago said, his ball form bouncing on the humans head.
"Ugh... not now, Drago. You and Howlkor battled all night" said Dan, waving Drago off, literally. The Pyrus Bakugan lost his footing and fell off.
"Don't Bakugan sleep, or you don't know what that is either?" Asked Wynton, groaning in his chair.
"We Bakugan have regular sleep schedules, we get up as soon as the sun does" said Howlkor.
"That's great, but we humans need more Z's than that" Lia said, sleeping near Dan's lap.
"You totally DO NOT need anymore Z's!" Assured Drago. "You need battles! LOTS of battles!" The duo Bakugan cheered.
"Mmmmm... later, Drago... I promise" Dan promised... but that wasn't enough for the Dragon and Cerberus.
"BAKUGAN BATTLES! BAKUGAN BATTLES!" They cheered in unison. "BAKUGAN BATTLES! BAKUGA-" They repeated it 2 more times before a random ball-shaped chew toy was thrown their way. It hit Howlkor, and the poor Bakugan was closed in his ball due to the force, also bouncing off the wall along with the chew toy. Howlkor groaned in pain as he bounced around before opening back up.
"HEY!" Howlkor called out to the one who did it. It was shown that Lightning smacked it with his paw before spinning around in his doggie bed to get comfortable again.
-BREAK-
An hour later...
Though Drago and Howlkor still didn't understand how and why earthlings needed so much sleep, they respected their wishes... it was an exhausting, boring hour; but they got excited when Dan and the others finally got up. The friends had their morning naps and were refreshed, so Lia went to post some more AO videos.
"Wait! You promised we'd battle after your naps!" Said Howlkor.
"We will Howlkor, just gonna post last nights AO videos first" she explained, taking a seat at her computer.
"Drago and I still don't understand, what's this video stuff for anyway?" Asked the dog-like Bakugan. Unlike they're first impression of Howlkor, he was actually as kind and gentle as Drago was... he had a tendency to be the first one to strike in practice battles, but still kind and gentle.
"For our fans, of course" Lia said and Howlkor cocked his head(s) in a VERY dog-like fashion, she had to hold in a giggle.
"... ya mean like that thing?" Asked Howlkor, pointing up to the fan on the ceiling.
"No, silly! For our followers on YouTube. Don't you guys have internet on your planet?" Asked Lia, not able to hold a small burst of laughter escaping her lips.
"In-tern-et?... Is that some kind of student-teacher relationship?" Asked Howlkor, pronouncing internet incorrectly. Lia couldn't hold in her laughs anymore, these Bakugan creatures were just adorably clueless! So after recovering, she showed Drago and Howlkor one of her favorite examples of an internet video:
Computer Monitor: WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY?
"GAAAAH!" Yelped the 2 Bakugan, falling off the desk and rolling into balls out of shock.
"What was that hairy, humanoid... thing?" Asked Drago, popping out of his ball.
"Is that what you humans call, BigFoot?" Asked Howlkor, the video kept playing while they asked their questions.
"Nah, that's 'What does the Fox say?' One of the most famous internet legends!" Dan praised. Peaking over the top of the desk, Drago and Howlkor watched about 5 more seconds of the video before speaking.
"Where we come from, that's definitely NOT! A fox" said Howlkor.
"Looks more like some human with a rubber nose and a rare hair disorder" finished Drago. After a half hour had passed, Lia was done and the 2 Bakugan were excited they'd finally get their daily dose of battling! Until they heard growling sounds...
"What'cha growling about?" Asked Drago.
"That wasn't me" said Howlkor. They heard the noise again. Looking in the noises direction, they saw Wynton with a scary look on his face; this fear was also shared with Dan, Lia and Lightning.
"I'm... sooooo... hun-grrrrrrry" he moaned, his glasses giving off a creepy glare.
"W-W-What's wrong with him?" Asked Howlkor.
"Let's just say, you don't wanna be around him when he's hungry" said Dan.
"Alright... good thing Dan's parents left us vegetables..." said Drago, floating up to a counter and pulling out one of them from under a picture of Dan's parents. The veggies in question were odd to say the least; having a human face in the middle, with some numbers on each corner. "... uh... very thin vegetables" he continued, attempting to carry one to Wynton.
Dan took the 'vegetable' before Drago 'fed' Wynton. "That's called money, Drago. We use it to buy food from people" Dan explained. The Dragonoid just cocked his head.
"Buying?" Asked the Dragonoid.
Dan sighed. Right... alien. He began thinking of a better way to explain this. "Like uh... lets say Howlkor had a Pyrus BakuCore, and you had a Darkus one," Dan began. They learned from Drago and Howlkor, their Attributes were Pyrus and Darkus respectively. Hopefully, using something they knew would help them understand better.
"Ok?" Said Drago, willing to listen but still confused.
"You would trade him for his BakuCore since its something you need. That's how money works" said Dan... or at least, that's what he thought. What can he say, he was just a kid. He didn't have a job at the moment but from what he could tell with his parents buying him stuff, that's had it appeared to work.
Drago and Howlkor looked at each other in confusion, then Drago looked back at Dan. He thinks he sort of understood this 'money' thing. "... so... you give a drawing of a human to another human... to get food?" He asked, trying to understand.
"That's right" said Dan.
"And you don't just... go out and get it yourself?" Howlkor asked further.
"No... why?" Asked Dan.
Again, Drago and Howlkor gave each other a glance, then the Dragonoid looked at Dan again. "... your world has really strange customs, Dan" Drago stated.
-BREAK-
Dan and Drago left to get some food from Burger Joint... it used to be called Burger King but the company changed its name for some reason... something about 'gender neutrality'? Dan didn't know, politics were so confusing. (AN: Just a joke people, please don't feel offended. This even happened in the news with KFC, so it's not like I'm making stuff up to attack anyone.) Lia stayed beyond with Howlkor and Lightning to keep an eye on Wynton. Drago wanted to ask why but judging by the kid's earlier reaction to hunger, it wasn't pretty. One thing was bothering the Dragonoid ever since he came to this world, and he couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Dan, we need to battle more! The more we battle, the better we'll be!" Said Drago, floating in front of Dan.
"Your still going on about that?" Asked Dan.
"I feel your holding me back from my full potential! Ever since I've been transported here, I've only fought so much before you get tired" Drago explained, putting the word 'tired' in air-quotes.
"Drago; you fell outta the sky, a MONTH ago! What potential?" Asked Dan, not understanding what his Guardian was trying to tell him.
"Potential through battle. Just look around, possible battles are EVERYWHERE! That really tall, stone human for example" Drago said, pointing to statue of the towns mayor.
"That's a statue. It doesn't move, let alone battle" Dan explained.
"Ok, then how about that even taller, green creature?" This time Drago pointed to a...
"That's a tree, also doesn't move or battle. It also provides us humans air to breathe" Dan said.
"Ok well... *gasp!* THAT LONG, METAL MONSTER IS EATING HUMA-!" Drago saw a yellow beast lure kids onto it. He was about to fly towards it, but Dan stopped him.
"WHOA, WHOA, DRAGO! IT'S OK! That's called a bus, it carries humans around to get to far away places" Dan explained before Drago caused trouble. The kid felt like a parent at this point... was this what his mom and dad dealt with when he was younger?
"... you sure?" Drago blinked, only wanting to protect the people of this planet. If he was gonna be here awhile until he finds his way back to Vestroia, he might as well earn his keep.
"Positive. Listen Drago, we battle Bakugan, and ONLY Bakugan; alright?" Asked Dan, calming Drago down before he went huge and stomped on the bus... it was pretty funny, though. The perfect excuse to miss school.
"Alright... sorry, Dan" Drago apologized.
"It's fine, bud. But why do you want to fight so badly?" Dan asked. Ever since Drago and Howlkor came here, they loved battling each other, but why did Bakugan enjoy it so much is want Dan struggled to comprehend.
"So I can get stronger and... well, I'm honestly not sure myself" Drago revealed, making Dan think. Drago didn't know why he wanted to battle constantly? That didn't make much sense to Dan...
BOOM!
"Huh?" Dan and Drago looked in the direction of a loud bang. What was that?
-BREAK-
"Maybe you didn't hear me the first time, doc... I want a Double Whooper, a Chocolate Shake, and ALL the cash you got in the joint!" Said a human kid, leaning on the drive-thru window of Burger Joint. He wore red khakis with a black shirt that had a yellow line running down the middle, a gauntlet-like device device on his wrist, and a haircut that shouted: wannabe punk. The employee he was talking to wasn't looking at him with fear, but rather the giant green T-Rex behind him!
"W-W-What's going on here? H-H-How is this possible?!" He managed to get out, terrified of the supposedly extinct species mere feet away from his workplace.
"Heheheh; come on, pal. Me and my friend here are hungry here" said the kid, the T-Rex roaring in agreement. The worker was still paralyzed, his muscles refused to move due to seeing the inside of the Rex's mouth and the back of its throat.
"HEY!" Looking in the direction of the new voice, the worker and the wannabe punk noticed Dan. "What do you think your doing?" He asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Me and my big friend here are trying to get some grub, so do me a favor and butt out... unless you wanna be next on the menu" said the wannabe punk, the T-Rex now turning his attention to the new human and roaring at him.
"This is despicable, using your Bakugan like this. Your practically stealing!" Dan said with an angry face.
"And who are you, my mom?" Asked the wannabe punk, then he noticed Drago on Dan's shoulder. "Ah, I see. Your a Bakugan Brawler. Been a while since me and Trox had a good battle; plus, this'll be a nice way to pass the time... is my order ready yet, buddy-boy?" The wannabe continued, looking back at the worker.
"OH! Y-Y-Yes, Mister AYY. C-C-Coming right up!" Said the worker, disappearing into the restaurant.
"Good... and make it to-go, this won't take long" said the punk, his Bakugan returning to ball form as he caught it. "Heheheh... DROME UP!"
Battle Scene
"Whoa! What's happening?" Asked Dan but now that he was seeing it happen, it looked familiar. A bright light flashed, and tiles spawned along the floor, the same tiles when Drago and Howlkor first battled!
"This is the Drome, an energy field that protects outsiders from harm as Bakugan battle" Drago explained. Dan calmed down a bit, at least innocent people wouldn't get caught in the crossfire.
"You ready, kiddie?" Taunted the punk, whose name appeared to be AYY. Dan was a little nervous; aside from practice battles, this was the first time he's been involved in a REAL battle... still, he couldn't let this guy get away with robbing a food store.
"... YOUR ON!" He shouted with as much gusto as he could.
Dan and AYY: BAKUGAN, BRAWL!
AYY: It's chow-time, Trox!
Trox: ROOOOOOAAAAAAAAR!
Dan: Let's do this, Drago!
Dragonoid (Drago): ROAR! ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAR!
Trox = 600 Gs, Dragonoid = 600 Gs
Dan: (picks up a red BakuCore that luckily spawned next to him and tosses it to Drago) Alright, Drago! Twisting Inferno!
Trox = 600 Gs, Dragonoid = 750 Gs
Dragonoid (Drago): (builds up flames in his mouth before launching a fireball) ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAR!
AYY: Heheh... Trox! Rock Riser!
The T-Rex jumped up and did a barrel roll before slamming its foot into the ground, causing rocks to shoot upwards in front and nullify Drago's attack.
Dan: What?!
It didn't stop there, as the rock formation keep going towards Drago, who had to jump into the air to avoid getting stabbed.
AYY: Heheheh, my turn! (picks up a green BakuCore and powers up his Bakugan by 200 Gs) Sonic Uproar!
Trox: ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAR!
Dragonoid (Drago): (is knocked off balance and out of the sky by the blast of sound, and crashes to the ground making a cloud of dust) ARGH!
Trox = 800 Gs, Dragonoid = 500 Gs
Dan: DRAGO!
AYY: AH-HAHAHAHA! Feeding time!
The Trox, which was oddly fast, rushed up to Drago, attempting to take a bite out of him! Fortunately, Drago managed to get up and slap the T-Rex across the face with his tail. This momentarily stopped the Dinosaur, as well as taking 50 Gs away; giving Drago an opening to punch the Dino away, once again taking another 50 Gs.
Dan: You ok, Drago?
Dragonoid (Drago): Ugh; I'm ok, Dan. But you need to be careful around Ventus Bakugan like this Trox.
Dan: (is confused, unfamiliar with the term Drago used) Huh? Ventus?
Dragonoid (Drago): Unlike Pyrus and Darkus, which are more strength oriented, Ventus Bakugan are fast on their feet. You have to... GAAAH!
Dan: DRAGO!
Trox, after shaking its head, ran back towards Drago and headbutted him into the edge of the Drome, removing a large chunk of Drago's power. It began bashing Drago's chest again and again, weakening the poor Dragonoid further with each strike.
Trox = 700 Gs, Dragonoid = 500 Gs... 300 Gs... 275 Gs... 250 Gs... 225 Gs...
AYY: AH-HAHAHAHA! What's the matter, kid? Don't ya know how to control a Bakugan?
Dan: C-Control? What are you talking about?
AYY: You don't get it, do you? These giant aliens are so easy to command! All ya gotta do is free one, and it does whatever you want! Control Bakugan, you control the world!
Control the world? This guy must have had seen one too many Alien movies.
Dan: Your crazy!
AYY: Huh?
Dan: Bakugan... shouldn't be controlled at all! They're not some weapon that you can just pull the trigger on! (He says all this while still looking for a BakuCore, he spots one with another symbol on it, this time with a lightning bolt. Was it a trap or something else? Only one way to find out...) Let's show'em our full potential, Drago! CATCH!
Dragonoid (Drago): (looks in Dan's direction) OK, DAN!
Trox = 700 Gs, Dragonoid = 150 Gs... 450 Gs... 750 Gs
With the new rush of energy, Drago easily pushes off Trox's fat head off of him, so much so that the force caused Trox's feet to make drag-marks.
Dan: Whoa, that was a big boost.
Dragonoid (Drago): Yes. You managed to find a Power Core. There extremely rare, granting us an enormous power boost, so much that they might not even spawn. But I don't think we're done yet.
Looking back a their opponent's, Dan sees Drago was right. Trox is somewhat shaky, the large power boost from Drago caught it off-guard.
AYY: HEY! NO NAPPING ON THE JOB! GET UP, YA LAZY FOSSIL!
Trox: (upon its masters command, it recovers. It still looks a little weary, but still able to fight) Growl...
Dan: Hmm... *Ok. So Ventus Bakugan are fast, so trying to attack directly might not be the best option. But even when I tried long range, it blocked Drago's attack. Think Dan, THINK!...* Drago! Try Twisting Inferno again!
Dragonoid (Drago): But, Dan. What if...?
Dan: I know, Drago. I have an idea, your just gonna have to trust me, ok?
Dragonoid (Drago): ...
Dan: ...
Dragonoid (Drago): ...
Dan: ...
Dragonoid (Drago): ... I trust you. (prepares Twisting Inferno, and fires when its ready) ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAR!
Trox darts to the side, evading the attack. Not wanting to give up or doubt his partner, Drago continues with fireball after fireball, but each attack was swiftly dodged.
AYY: Haha! I think you need a new partner, Dragonoid. He's not the brightest tool in the shed.
Drago just ignored the other humans remarks and kept firing, and the Dino kept dodging. He was about to stop and say something, when one of his fireballs almost hit its mark... was this Dan's plan?
Dan: Alright, now use Big Blast, quick!
Not wanting to disappoint, Drago did just that. Trox looked up in shock, it didn't expect so many fireballs at once! Which one was he gonna avoid? Without Drago's head as a reference, the green Dino had no way of knowing when or where the fireball(s) would strike. All it could do was cover its head...
AYY: (looks away, shielding his eyes from the burst of flames) ... HA! YOU MISSED!
Dan: (smirks) Who said we were aiming for you?
AYY: (cocks an eyebrow) Huh?... (looks at the field, and realizes) WHAAAAAA-?!
Back on the field, Trox was now surrounded by a giant ring of fire, meaning there was nowhere left to run!
Dan: Go, Drago! Flame Wave!
Dragonoid (Drago): On it! RAH! (flies up as high as his wings can carry him. Once he gets enough height, his core in his chest begins to glow, and he unleashes a large beam of Pyrus energy, with Trox on the receiving end!)
Trox could only roar out as the beam of light engulfed him and drained his power rapidly.
Trox = 700 Gs... 400 Gs... 100 Gs... 0 Gs, Dragonoid = 750 Gs
End Battle Scene
The Drome deactivated, and all that was left of Trox was a green ball that rolled to AYY's feet. "... N... No way... I lost?" He asked out loud, still trying to process what just happened. Drago flew down to the ground gently, but got to one knee upon landing.
"Drago! You ok?!" Asked Dan, worried if Drago was hurt.
"I-I'm ok... Flame Wave... is my most powerful attack... just leaves... me a bit drained" the dragon assured him. Dan took his attention off Drago knowing he was ok, and turned it to the other Brawler.
"Listen here! Bakugan are our friends, not slaves! This town is under protection of the Awesome Ones!" Dan said. Unknown to Dan, Drago's eyes widened in disbelief... and WTF.
"Grrrrr... whatever!" Grumbled AYY, looking at the Bakugan in his hands that he picked. "Useless Bakugan" he said, tossing it away. It landed near Dan, who picked it up. He was about to say something when the wannabe punk spoke again. "Listen, kid! I just went easy on ya, that's it! But the next time we meet, you won't be getting any special treatment!" With that, AYY walked away, angry over this turn of events. All he wanted was some free lunch without physically stealing it, was that too much to ask?
-BREAK-
"Here ya go, sport! 3 Burger meals with no mayo, side of fries, AND a cool toy!" Said the Burger Joint employee, happy his workplace was saved. (AN: Had to insert 'a cool toy' line. It was a thing back when I was a kid... ya know, when fast food companies actually tried being genuine.)
"Thank you, sir" said Dan, putting his hand in his pocket to get the cash.
"No, no, no; thank YOU, kid! So this's on the house" said the employee, happily.
"Uh... no, its in the window" observed Drago.
"He means it free, Drago" Dan chuckled. Even if he had much to learn about this Bakugan battling, Drago had ALLOT to learn about human slang.
"But... why?" Asked the dragon.
"As thanks, for saving my Burger Joint. So, your a Bakugan, right?" Said the employee, leaning out of the window to get a better look at Drago.
"Um, yes. My apologizes on the scare" Drago said.
"Eh, don't worry about it. Tell ya what, keep doing what'cha doing, and I'll get your master here a discount on each purchase for now on" the employee offered.
"He's not my master..." said Drago, turnings his ball form head up to look at Dan, and smiled. "... he's my friend."