"Ma'am," the man said urgently as he returned to the Spirit world.
"Where is the Wise One?" she hissed.
"Forgive me," he said and bowed to her. "He used his powers against me by tapping into the energy of his Neko Jin," he explained.
"He what?" she said, suddenly intrigued.
"His keeper actually allowed him to use his power," the man continued, "and I was no match, please, I beg your forgiveness."
"Do not bed, dear," she said. "You had no hope against a wise one, powered down or not. You said that the Neko child allowed him to use his energy."
The man nodded, "Yes, and he did it after I attacked the kid."
The woman stroked her chin with long scarlet fingernails. "How odd," she frowned. "I wonder why Dragoon would do such a thing. I need to ask him his intentions," she said slowly.
"Ma'am?" he asked.
She sighed, "I didn't want to attempt this but Dragoon and the others really leave me no choice," she looked the man straight in the eye. "Change of plan," she said.
"Yes, ma'am?" he asked.
"I want you to kidnap the keepers of the Wise Ones to lure them in here. Maybe they can't leave their keepers, maybe it's a new kind of technology," she hissed. "Regardless, I muse see Dragoon within the next 24 hours at all costs."
The man bowed, "Yes ma'am."
Takao and Kai both went into the room where Dragoon and Dranzer were conversing in hushed tones. "So, what are you talking about now?" Takao asked.
Dranzer and Dragoon both jumped when they heard his loud voice and stared at the neko child. "What are you doing up?" Dragoon asked.
"Kai is helping me," Takao said with a grin.
Kai blushed slightly and shifted his hold on Takao's waist. "We want to know what's going on," he said quietly.
Dranzer shook her head, "Sorry, what we told you before is all we can say. Most of your people don't even know the conditions that ended the war."
"It's all propaganda, isn't it?" Kai asked.
Dranzer smiled fiendishly, "Sometimes, you're a little too smart for your own good."
Kai helped Takao over to the couch and they both fell into it.
Takao rolled his eyes, "Tell me about it," he muttered.
Dranzer and Dragoon both managed small smiles for the sake of Takao and Kai. "Don't worry about it for now," Dranzer said. "Just get some rest, okay?"
"I agree with that," Kai said.
Takao crossed his arms, "I'm not a little kid you know."
Kai rubbed his ears, "I know, but you have a tendency to act like it."
Takao glowered at Kai but didn't retort because he liked having his ears scratched too much to ruin it with a snappy retort.
Dragoon sighed, "Well, I think we should be getting back to Takao's house."
"But he can't walk," Kai said.
"I can too walk," Takao replied.
"You know what I mean," Kai growled.
Dragoon shook his head, "Staying together might prove to be a bad idea. If anything happens I promise to call, all right?"
Kai and Dranzer nodded while Dragoon helped Kai to his feet. "Is your ankle okay?" he asked.
Takao nodded, "As long as we walk slow I should be fine."
"All right, we'll take our leave then," Dragoon said and they walked out of the house.
The walk home was rather silent until Dragoon decided to break the silence. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Takao nodded, "I'm fine," he smiled. "You're very paranoid, you know that?"
Dragoon coughed, "I have every right to be."
Takao grinned and elbowed his friend, "Aw come on, cheer up. We'll find a way to beat this. But you can't be Mr. Doom and Gloom the whole time, okay?"
Dragoon gave Takao a half smile, "All right," he said.
The two finally made it to Takao's house and they went inside. As soon as they got into the living room Dragoon turned around and said, "You should go to bed now."
"What?" Takao asked, slightly scandalized.
"You're tired and you've been through a lot," Dragoon said.
"It's like… 9:30," Takao hissed.
"For my peace of mind?" Dragoon asked.
Takao shifted, it was rare when Dragoon truly asked him to do anything. But it was still rather early. "How about we watch a movie you like, chances are I'll fall asleep in the middle of that."
Dragoon smiled, "All right, we'll watch Citizen Kane," he said.
Takao nodded, "Sounds good to me," he said with a grin.
The two walked into the living room and Dragoon put the DVD into the player while Takao curled up on the couch.
"How do you lay like that?" Dragoon asked Takao.
"Like what?" Takao asked.
"In a ball like that, on the couch."
Takao shrugged, "It's comfortable," he said and put his head in his arms.
Dragoon shrugged and sat on the end of the couch to watch the movie.
Several hours later there was a loud knock on the door. Takao was fast asleep on the couch and Dragoon was in his jewel in the Beyblade. He got out and walked over to the door to see a Spirit Dweller standing there looking very foreboding. "Hello, Wise One," a feminine voice said silkily.
Dragoon took a step back, "Who are you?" he asked.
"I am merely here to implore you to return to your home and your people. Our leader requests audience with you as well," she added.
"I have no wish to return to our world if it means to be an act of war on our part," he hissed.
A sad looked crossed the woman's eyes. "You've changed, Wise One," she said sadly.
Takao was curled up in a ball on the end of the couch, not quite in the heavy sleep he wanted to be in but pretty close. He heard a floor board squeak in the distance and he figured it was just Dragoon getting ready to lecture him on how he should sleep in a real bed. He groaned and sat up yawning, "All right Dragoon, I know I need to…" his sleepy brown eyes met with a pair of cold green ones. "Who the hell are you?" he yelped.
The person didn't reply but instead they struck out forcing Takao to fall off the couch in a rather awkward position that made him wince. "Hello?" he asked and rolled away. "DRAGOON!" he yelled.
Dragoon heard Takao's yell from inside the house and ran inside to see what was going on and the woman followed him. Takao caught sight of Dragoon as he ran into the living room and ran over to him. "You're the Wise One," Takao gasped as he barely managed to dodge another blow. "Do something."
Both Spirit Dwellers hissed unhappily at his words while Dragoon looked at the two people on either side of him. "Takao, just be quiet for now," he said softly.
Takao opened his mouth, then thought the better of it.
"Please Wise One, do not make us force you back to our world," the one who was just attacking Takao said in a pleading voice.
Dragoon growled, "I refuse."
Takao gulped as the other two obviously became very upset. "Very well then," the one behind Dragoon said, "I'm afraid you leave us no choice."
"Engaging me in combat is a bad idea," Dragoon warned them.
"We know," the one with the green eyes said as he reached into his costume. "We have no intention of fighting you again, Wise One. My inexperience was shown to me last time we met."
"Then what are you planning?" Dragoon hissed.
The man pulled out a metal sphere and let it fall to the ground where it split in two and let a fine gray-green powder rise into the air. Dragoon's first reaction was to cover his mouth in an attempt to not breathe it in but he realized that neither the person behind him, or the person in front of him were making any attempt to block out the powder. Takao however swayed dangerously and fell to his knees. "Takao?" Dragoon asked, once he realized the powder meant no danger to him.
"It's catnip," the woman behind him said. "Your Neko Jin is quite susceptible but we're not."
Dragoon growled and caught Takao as he collapsed.
"Now you have no energy source to use your powers and you can't possibly hope to escape from us, especially if you want to save that," she said while looking at Takao.
Dragoon's eyes flashed a brief silver before he stood up and placed Takao's body on the couch, "Let the child stay here," he said.
The man shook his head, "Sorry Wise One, but those were not our orders."
Dragoon growled again, "Whose orders?"