It was a beautiful day and everyone was filled with nothing but joy. Drago, Dan's bakugan, is the first one out of the group to have evolved. He was one step closer to becoming the ultimate bakugan. And that meant one step closer to defeating Masquerade.

Dan was especially thrilled. He woke up feeling refreshed and excited. He got dressed and joined everyone for breakfast. There was Runo with her bakugan Tigrerra, Shun with Skyress, Marucho with Preyas, Julie with Gorem and, of course, Alice.

"Morning, Dan!" greeted Marucho.

"Morning, Drago, old buddy old pal!" greeted Preyas.

"All right, that's enough, Preyas," said Drago, sitting on Dan's shoulder.

"Morning, guys! It's an awesome day today!" exclaimed Dan cheerfully, pointing at the jet's window.

"Whoa, Dan! You're in a good mood!" remarked Runo, pouring herself a glass of orange juice.

Julie got up, ran over to Dan and threw herself onto him, giving him a hug.

"Wow, Dan! That is like so amazing that you're in such a good mood!" flirted Julie.

Dan opened his mouth to tell Julie to get off of him, when the sound of glass breaking reached their ears. At the sight of Dan and Julie, Runo dropped her glass and it shattered on the floor, leaving a puddle of orange juice at her feet.

"Sorry," said Runo, as everyone stared at her.

"It's okay, Runo. We all dropped things once in a while," said Alice, bending down to pick up the broken glass.

"No, Alice. It's my mess. I'll clean it up," said Runo, taking a broom and dustpan from Marucho.

"I'll hold the dustpan, Runo." said Alice, taking it from her.

Runo knew there was no point in arguing. Alice just loved to help out.

"I'd like to focus on something more important here. Like Drago's evolving," said Shun, taking a sip of his tea.

"What about it Shun?" asked Tigrerra, rolling over to Shun.

"I think Shun is wondering whether Drago's evolved form will guarantee victory against Masquerade," replied Skyress wisely.

No one spoke after that, but they were all thinking the same. Maybe it did guarantee victory, maybe it didn't. But it did guarantee that Drago became stronger, as well as Dan.

"Thanks for being a kill joy Shun," said Dan angrily.

He grabbed a muffin and stormed out of the jet.

"Dan!" cried Runo from the floor.

She was wiping the juice off of the floor, but listening to the conversation at the same time.

"I think Dan's upset," said Gorem.

"You think?" snapped Julie.

She turned towards Shun and pointed an accusing finger at him.

"How dare you burst Dan's good mood?! Now he'll be like this for the rest of the day!" she snapped.

"Someone had to show him the reality of things," said Shun calmly.

"That could've waited for tomorrow!" said Julie, getting angrier by the second.

"I think Julie's right Shun. I think you should've let Dan celebrate the fact that Drago's evolved," said Marucho, helping Runo off of the floor.

Alice and Runo nodded. Shun shook his head.

"It's best to let him know now before he gets a shock like usual." he said, sipping his tea again.

Julie snapped. She stormed over to Runo, grabbed the towel soaked with orange juice she was holding, leaving Runo stunned, and hurtled it at Shun. Shun's martial artist instincts took over and he caught the towel with one hand, leaving no damage except being sprayed with orange juice.

Alice and Runo grabbed Julie's arms and Marucho grabbed her waist. Being a kid, that's about as much he can reach.

"Let me go!" cried Julie, as she struggled.

"Please calm down Julie!" begged Alice, struggling to hold on.

"No!" cried Julie.

"I know you're upset at what Shun said Julie, but this isn't the way to act!" exclaimed Marucho, struggling to hold on himself.

"Marucho's right! Just calm down." said Runo, equally struggling to hold on.

Julie stopped moving and they let go of her. She glared at them and stomped away towards her room. Marucho made a move as if to follow her, but Runo placed a hand on his shoulder and said:

"Leave her alone. Give her time to cool off."

On the table, their bakugans were watching the scene.

"Humans are fascinating creatures," said Skyress.

"I'll never understand them," said Tigrerra.

"Me neither," said Preyas and Gorem together.

***

Dan was outside with Drago. He was still fuming at Shun for bursting his bubble. He was sitting on a tree stump not far from the huge jet Marucho's parents own. Dan massaged his stomach. For almost the whole time he'd been sitting there, there was a strange feeling in that area that wasn't pain, he couldn't explain it. At first he thought it was just the muffin that wasn't agreeing with him. Then he realized instead of going away, it was just growing. Dan's wondering whether he should tell Drago or not.

Drago was also wondering whether or not he should tell Dan something. Something Dan and the other brawlers don't know. When a bakugan evolves, the brawler's power also evolves. That power is within them, being able to hear bakugans talk, open battle fields and use ability cards. But there are side effects during a human evolving. It starts out as a strange feeling in the area of the stomach that keeps on growing until it reaches extreme pain. The pain is so extreme that the brawler passes out for a day or two, even for a week! They wake up when they are done evolving, but it takes a few days to recover. But not all brawlers evolve. Only those with really powerful bakugans. Drago wasn't sure if he was powerful enough to cause Dan this, but when he saw Dan massage his stomach for a third time, he knew he had to tell him.

"Dan, I-" started Drago.

But Dan suddenly stood up.

"C'mon Drago, let's get back to the jet," said Dan, starting to make his way back.

"But Daniel—" started Drago again.

"Whatever it is Drago, it can wait until we get back to the jet," said Dan as he climbed up towards the jet.

He entered the jet, only to find it deserted.

"Where is everyone?" asked Dan, looking around.

"They're probably all in their rooms," said Drago.

"And that's where we'll go," said Dan.

He reached his room and saw that Shun, his roommate, wasn't there.

"He's probably in Marucho's room," thought Dan, heading towards his bed.

He was only halfway there, when the strange feeling in his stomach turned into extreme pain! Dan clutched his stomach and collapsed onto the floor.

"No! Dan!" cried Drago, rolling around to face Dan.

"Dra…go. What's happening?" asked Dan weakly.

"Dan! Hold on Dan!" cried Drago again.

At that, Dan passed out. At that moment, Shun and Marucho entered the room.

"This won't take long Marucho," said Shun.

"Okay," replied Marucho.

He looked around, spotted Dan and gasped.

"Dan!" yelled Marucho, rushing towards him.

Shun did the same.

"Dan!" he yelled, shaking him lightly.

Beads of sweat rolled down Dan's face. The girls came in.

"Hey guys, what's with all the yelling?" asked Runo.

"Yeah, we're trying to take a nap here!" exclaimed Julie, stifling a yawn.

"Girls, look!" exclaimed Alice, pointing.

They looked and gasped.

"Dan!" exclaimed all three girls.

They rushed by his side.

"What happened?" asked Runo, her voice shaking.

"We don't know! We just found him like this!" exclaimed Marucho.

"Let's put him in his bed," said Shun as calmly as possible.

Together, they lifted Dan and put him in his bed. Alice pulled the blankets over him.

"What happened to him? Who or what did this to him?" asked Julie, slightly panicking.

"Let's ask Drago. He was with Dan the whole time," said Runo reasonably.

"Say, where is Drago anyway?" asked Alice, looking around.

"Down here!" yelled Drago, rolling towards them.

Marucho bent down and picked him up.

"So, Drago, buddy, what happened?" asked Preyas, bouncing on Marucho's shoulder.

"Let's go in the living room and I'll explain everything," said Drago.