"So let me get this straight, random cards fell from the sky, some kids created a game with it and named it Bakugan, based on what they were capable of deciphering from the card's language, made the rules, and then you started brawling... And then some Bakugan started talking, and it turns out the fate of their world and ours are at stake.", Mary summarized everything Masumi had told her until now.
Masumi had spent the last hour telling her mother everything she knew about Bakugan, from the cards falling down, to the Bakugan talking, the Battle Brawlers and Vanguard Brawlers, and how she met Akemi and Shiho. She was sitting next to her cousins on the couch, their Bakugan partners on their shoulders while Mary stood across them with a stern face expression.
"Don't forget the part about the Battle Brawlers and Battle Vanguard.", Masumi reminded her.
"Right, the part where kids are playing cops in this game, despite how dangerous it is.", Mary replied sternly, making Masumi frown.
"We know what we are dealing with.", She insisted.
"Obviously you don't! This isn't some stupid case or anything like that, we are talking about creatures the size of the buildings that you kids think you had tamed.", Mary replied.
"We are not animals.", Vladitor grumbled angrily and almost said something else until Mary glared towards him, and he shivered.
'That woman is not normal, I swear...', He thought.
"I don't care what you are, you and your fellow friends are putting my family's life in danger!", Mary replied before she looked at Masumi, "And you, will throw that Bakugan away.".
"He's my friend! And if you can't trust him then that's your problem, since you can't trust me unlike you do with my brothers!", Masumi yelled back angrily, surprising Vladitor by how she defended him and described him as her friend.
"This has nothing to do with trusting you!", Mary pointed out angrily.
"If it was Shu-nii or Kichi-nii who had Vladitor, would you have reacted the same way?", Masumi asked with a raised eyebrow. At Mary's silence, Masumi scoffed and looked away sadly.
"Umm yeah well, we didn't pick them on purpose.", Aerogan broke the brief silence pointing out quietly, afraid Mary might lash out at him.
"He's right. Aerogan and I simply landed near one of the Organization buildings and the girls found us.", Zentaur replied calmly, "which is ironic how you want us to leave when we have been the only good thing that happened to the girls while they were living in that hellhole.".
Zentaur's words made Mary's eyes widen for a second at how harsh they were before she glared at him, but Zentaur pretended not to notice.
"What organization?", Masumi asked with furrowed eyebrows, "The one that killed Elena-Obasan and Atsushi-Ojisan?".
"I was only 7 or 8 when that happened and Shiho was one year old... So we were raised by the Organization...", Akemi nodded solemnly.
"Oneechan became their doctor while I became their precious scientist, working on Kaasan's research, and even creating a drug she had not succeeding in doing.", Shiho replied darkly, "She became Port, I became Sherry. She saved the lives of monsters, I had people die during testing my research, becoming a monster.".
Masumi looked at Akemi and Shiho pitifully while Mary frowned, feeling guilty again.
"Zentaur and Aerogan were the only thing keeping us sane through everything we were going through.", Shiho continued.
"Then you should meet my friends!", Masumi said in excitement, "The Vanguard already require one Darkus Brawler, and we have some adults taking care of us and working with us, even without Bakugan. I know you two are worried about walking around with the whole Organization thing, but she'll handle this mess, until then, come with me!".
Mary winced slightly at how Masumi referred at her with she while Zentaur said, "New people, new Bakugan, sounds interesting.".
"I hope they're nice unlike Viking over here.", Aerogan said, glancing at Vladitor.
"One more word, and I'll bury you alive.", Vladitor growled.
"I was already interested in meeting your Vanguard friends when you spoke about them, so I won't miss that chance.", Akemi smiled before she looked at Shiho, "What do you think Shiho?".
Shiho remained silent. It was dangerous for her and Akemi to leave, especially that they have technically escaped the Organization now, and they can't expose their real identities to anyone and-
Shiho's thoughts were interrupted by Masumi placing a cap on top of her head while handing another one to Akemi as she said, "Since you have to lay low for now, you two need to hide your faces and change your names... How about Haibara Masami and Ai? My two distant cousins from America!".
Shiho blinked at how Masumi smiled at them widely and happily, showing her sharp tooth, and Shiho wasn't sure what made her nod in agreement and say, "Yeah, let's go.".
Was it the fact that Masumi accepted her even after knowing she killed or that hopeful happy smile she had given her. Maybe it was both, but something told Shiho in her mind that this was not just the right decision.
This was the best decision she had ever made in her life.
"So, is everyone here?", Shinichi asked as he glanced at the new and old Vanguard members standing around him with their Bakugan on their shoulders. Akemi was supposed to be with them, but Mary asked her to stay for something important, so only Shiho went with Masumi.
"All the members are here.", Kaito confirmed, a wide smile on his face that Aoko was with him, and an Aquos Brawler too.
"Alright, I suppose all of you know about the Vanguard and why it was formed.", Shinichi said.
"Obviously.", Shiho mumbled as she rolled her eyes.
"First, can each one of you introduce themselves with their partner?", Shinichi asked.
One by one, the new and old members introduced themselves and their partner, but some interesting reactions had happened. Eisuke found himself blushing while staring at Haruka, while the latter was oblivious.
Heiji was absolutely oblivious to Momiji staring at him dreamily, with Kazuha glaring angrily at her while Soshi was snickering at the sight.
Akako was glaring at Aoko and Kaito most of the time, until her eyes landed on Saguru, and she found herself staring with a blush. When Saguru felt her staring at him, he looked towards her, and she found the ceiling interesting to look at at that moment.
Makoto found himself staring at Sonoko with his face blushing, but Sonoko did not even notice him as she was busy gossiping with Pegatrix.
"Well, Kuroba and Hattori do look nice, and so does Hakuba, but they ain't my style, and definitely not Hondou.", Sonoko whispered.
"Mhm, what about the athletic one?", Pegatrix whispered back.
"Kyogoku? I doubt he'll look at me! He probably will like a girl like Ran, a fighter like him.", Sonoko scoffed.
"Funny... because ever since he'd arrived, he was staring at you...", Pegatrix lightly motioned to Makoto, and once Sonoko turned to look at him, the latter found his shoes interesting.
Masumi and Shiho observed the scene with the second mumbling, "Apparently the Vanguard is going to turn into a romantic drama.".
"That actually makes things even more interesting, especially with Hattori and the two girls fighting over him.", Masumi chuckled.
The doorbell rang, and the kids shared a look before Ran went to open the door, a few minutes later, unexpected guests entered the room; Runo, Julie, Marucho, Alice,
And Dan.
"Oh, look who's here, the mighty battle brawler.", Sonoko sneered once she saw Dan, making the latter wince.
"Whatever brought you here? I thought you wanted to beat Shun and Masquerade by yourself.", Kaito snorted with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah well... I was wrong.", Dan sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.
"Obviously, how can a brawler ranked 6, beat ones ranked 1 and 2? Especially when he hasn't beaten the ones above him.", Shiho pointed out.
Dan blinked, realizing that Shiho's words were right and that he did not think that way before.
"I never thought of that...", Dan mumbled.
"From what I heard, apparently you never think.", Shiho scoffed.
Sonoko smirked at her, "You know what, I like you without even getting to know you, how about we go shopping some day for some Fusae bags?".
Shiho was surprised by Sonoko's response until the latter mentioned Fusae Campbell's and she shrugged, "Sure, why not.".
Shiho never noticed how Masumi picked up her phone and wrote a note while mumbling, "Likes Fusae Campbell...".
"I think we should let Shinichi and Dan speak in a private room, since the problem is between them.", Ran suggested, trying to break the tension, as she noticed how the Vanguard Brawlers disliked Dan for what they heard about him.
Shinichi looked at Ran after her suggestion before he motioned for Dan to follow him, the latter doing so. Both boys went upstairs, and the other Brawlers remained downstairs.
"Well, this is awkward...", Runo mumbled, not knowing how to break the silence nor start a conversation.
"So! Since we're all Brawlers, how did you all meet your special Bakugan?", Julie asked with excitement. Her attitude was surprising for those who met her for the first time while Ran and Sonoko found it normal.
But her question did break the silence and tension, and everyone took turns retelling the tail of how they met their partners.
"So... how have you been?", Dan asked once Shinichi led him to his room, "Nice headquarters by the way... I can tell Agasa-Hakase helped design it from the looks. And I'm impressed how you managed to gather many members for the Vanguard.".
Shinichi did not respond to anything Dan said until the last sentence, and he responded by saying, "That's what happened when a team works together.".
Dan sighed, knowing the hidden meaning behind Shinichi's words.
"Nillious?", Shinichi started as he looked at his partner.
"Fine...", Nillious grumbled before he floated out of the room as he said, "Dragonoid, I need to talk to you.".
Drago said nothing for a minute before he followed Nillious out of the room.
"You should've told me everything back then.", Drago said sternly. He and Nillious were floating across one of the windows, and Nillious had told him the truth about his rampage, in the same details he had told Shinichi before.
"Obviously, I was not aware of anything, my anger took over me and I lost control.", Nillious snorted, "But you're right, I should've tried to tell you when I regained control, but my ego held me back.".
"We could've searched for that Bakugan then and took him down together, and make him pay for his crimes.", Drago pointed out.
"I doubt it... I've searched all over Vestroia... He was nowhere to be seen, it was if he just disappeared. All I remember is his appearance and him being a Darkus Bakugan, that's all.", Nillious said.
Drago remained silent for a few moments, "What if he was not from Vestroia? From another world?".
Nillious looked at Drago before he growled, making Drago ask, "Nillious?".
"He's from Gundalia... No Neathian Bakugan is that vicious...", Nillious deduced, "He's completely out of our reach.".
"For now. Let us now focus on saving Earth and Vestroia, and I promise you, that Bakugan won't get away.", Drago assured.
"I hope.", Nillious grunted.
"It's good to have you back, old friend.", Drago said genuinely.
"Alright, quit with the sentimentality, you know I suck during these moments.", Nillious grunted in annoyance.
"Glad to see you have never changed.", Drago commented dryly.
"Look buddy, I'm sorry about the things I said. I really was obsessed with winning and becoming the number one brawler. I didn't even listen to Drago when he tried to tell me about Vestroia, and I once threw him away, thinking I could win without him, but I had the floor wiped with me...", Dan apologized, "And I did regret everything I said... but my ego kept me from apologizing, until I found out from Drago and Preyas about Vestroia, and realized how dangerous things are, and that you were right about taking things seriously.".
Shinichi said nothing as Dan apologized before he said, "From a cold arrogant brat, letting your ego control you will make you lonely, since everyone will leave you because of your attitude.".
"Yeah, I apologize about that too...", Dan rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, recalling that he had called Shinichi that too.
Shinichi remained frowning before he sighed as a smile appeared on his face, "I can't really be that mad at you for long, since we're both idiots.".
"So, forgiven?", Dan asked with a smile.
"Yeah, forgiven.", Shinichi nodded before he and Dan fist bumped.
Dan smirked as he exclaimed, "What do you say we all team up to take down Masquerade and whoever is with him?!", he raised his hand upward in a bro handshake style.
Shinichi smirked back as he returned the shake in the same style, "I like the sound of that.".
With the conflict between the Vanguard and Battle Brawlers resolved, it was now time to take action against Masquerade and whoever is with him.