Chapter 1: Meet The Brawlers!

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" Cassie screamed running to the door of the elevator and pressing the down button several times impatiently. "I'm gonna be late!"

When she heard the "ding" of the elevator, Cassie remembered something very important. "Lumino..." Dashing back to her room, she grabbed the Aquos attributed sphere and ran back to the hallway to visual a closing elevator. "Mom is gonna kill me if I get another detention," She sighed. Banging at the closed elevator doors, Cassie tried in a failed attempt to pry open the doors. "I...cannot...be...late...agai-" She screamed as the elevator doors opened, and Cassie fell face first into the elevator. Scrambling to her feet, Cassie returned to her upright position, brushing off her clothes and fixing her now, slightly tangled hair. She hardly noticed a boy, with satiny black hair enter the elevator.

"Late as usual I see, Cass," Said the boy, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his dark purple hoodie.

"Your not doin' so hot today either, eh Ally?" She smirked at him, giving him a sideways glance as she continued to comb her fingers through her thick brown locks.

"I told you, it's Alex," he rolled his eyes, avoiding contact with her deep blue ones.

Cassie huffed, folding her arms. "It's only fair, Al. Besides its not like it does you any harm."

"Whatever, Cass," Alex said, refusing to call her by her birth name.

Cassie glared at him until; "DING!" The elevator signaled the two bickering classmates that their journey was coming to a close. "Stop calling me that!" Cassie ran off before Alex could even set foot off the elevator.

"Saved by the bell," He muttered under his breathe.

Before they were out of hearing distance, Cassie shouted, looking over her shoulder at the boy, who happened to be only a year older than she. "I'll deal with you later," she beamed holding up her beloved Aquos Penguinoid.

Returning the gesture half-heartedly, Alex held up his Darkus Leonidas. As Cassie turned the corner, Alex chuckled to himself and took off after her.

~Later that day, at lunch~

"Ok, Ally," Cassie stood a good ten feet away from Alex, holding a Gate Card between her middle and index fingers. "Let's see if you've done your homework."

"School puns will get you nowhere, kid," He grinned a little to himself, also holding up a Gate Card.

In unison both parties cried out: "Field open!"

Blue and Purple light shone from both battlers, as everything around them, including time itself, seemed to stop, leaving them in a dimension like arena.

Again in unison, the two shouted ; "Gate Card set!" as they both threw their cards onto the playing field, which grew in their elemental colored light, and then disappeared.

"Anytime, Al," Cassie shouted across the battle field.

"Ladies first," Alex gestured, a small smirk tugging at his lips.

"Age before beauty," Cassie copied the gesture.

"Would somebody go already, the suspense is killing me!" A random voice shouted.

Both brawlers looked at each other.

"Who said that?" Cassie asked curiously, looking around.

"Me, of course!" A cheery female voice said.

"And who's 'me'?" Alex asked the voice, his deep purple eyes looking upward.

"Soooo many questions! Let's get to the brawling!" She responded enthusiastically.

"Show us who you are first," Cassie reasoned.

A young girl, with light pink pigtails stepped forward. She sported a red and orange kimono, which meant she was most likely a Pyrus user.

"I don't know, Cass," Alex said glancing to the side. "Can you handle the pressure?"

Cassie chuckled. "I don't know Ally. Can you handle one more person witnessing your loss?"

"Ok, ok," He nodded. "You can talk the talk but can you battle the mast-" Their accompaniment cut him off.

"Just battle already!"

"Alright," Cassie spoke softly to herself. "Lets brawl." She aimed for the card on the opposite side of her. "Bakugan, Brawl!" Cassie pitched her Aquos Penguniod across the field. "Lumino, Stand!" A giant blue, penguin stood at least two stories above the players heads. Cassie looked down at her powder blue BakuPod.

"Lumino, entering battle at three, five, zero G's," a female animated voice informed.

"Yes!" Cassie's fist shot in the air and she did a little jump.

Alex chuckled at her energy, and got ready to throw his bakugan in, when he remembered something about her fighting style. "Cassie never puts Lumino in first," he though to himself. "What's up here?"

"Hey Alex!" Cassie waved her hands to get his attention. "You gonna join me or what?"

"Yeah, Yeah, just a minute," He said aloud. Then in a hushed tone finished, "Keep your pants on, geez!" Alex continued to think of a battle strategy, while Cassie shouted at him. "Ugh! She wants me to throw out Leonidas first...but I'll keep him for a rainy day."

Instead of his most favored bakugan, Darkus Leonidas, Alex chose a different one, and threw it onto the field. "Bakugan, Brawl!" Stinglash landed on the same card Lumino did. "Stinglash, stand!"

The female voice updated the status'. "Stinglash, has entered battle, at three, three, zero G's." Cassie looked down. "He threw out Stinglash? No, he was supposed to throw Leonidas for this battle strategy to work!" Cassie thought, a nervous expression showing slightly on her face, which Alex returned with a smirk.

"Out of ideas, Cassie?" Alex asked tilting his head.

Cassie shook her head and opened her Gate Card. "Gate Card, open! Intercept!"

The battle field began to glow like an aurora borealis, as a wall was created between the two bakugan.

Cassie chuckled. "Intercept is a Gate Card that, when opened, stops the battle that is going on and lets me add another bakugan into the battle. That being said; Bakugan, Brawl!" She tossed another bakugan swiftly onto the Gate Card, next to Lumino. "Juggernoid, stand!"

Alex's black BakuPod beeped in notification. "Juggernoid has entered battle at three, three, zero G's, for a combined total of six, eight, zero G's."

"What?" Alex looked up at his friend. "Cassie what do you think your do-"

He got cut off again, but this time by Cassie. "Making sure I win, Hot shot! Go Juggernoid!"

Juggernoid charged at his opponent. Just like that, Stinglash was defeated, as he returned to spherical form and landed at Alex's feet. Too. Easy.

Since the Gate Card had been used, both Juggernoid, and Lumino returned to Cassie. Catching them as they flew back to her, she squeezed them once. A look of distress and confusion crossed Cassie's face.

Alex looked over at her, and they're eyes met. He could feel her ponderation by just looking at her confused disposition, as if it were actually tangible, and Alex couldn't help but give a small, slightly sinister grin.

"What do I do?" Cassie whispered, squeezing Lumino. She shut her eyes tight and looked away for a moment. "Help me."

Cassie picked up another Gate Card, holding it gingerly. She gave it a quick kiss then threw it out. "Gate Card, set!" She threw out her bakugan. "Bakugan, Brawl!" Standing on the newly set Gate Card, was Cassie's Siege. "Siege, stand!"

Alex shrugged. "Bakugan, brawl! Warrious, stand!"

"Gate card, open! Third Judgement!" Cassie shouted, as she threw her Juggernoid into the battle. "Juggernoid, stand!"

"What's with the two against one, Cass?" Alex asked. "Hardly seems fair."

"Stop calling me that!" Cassie couldn't take it anymore with that name.

"Ok," Alex shouted. "Ability Card, activate! Gravity Chamber!" He laughed.

"Thanks for the help, Cass."

Cassie watched horrified as her Juggernoid and Siege were sent to Alex's Gate Card. "Alex, what are you doing?"

He looked up. "You don't like that now, don't you?" A little gasp escaped Cassie's lips. "Well don't worry, it'll all be over soon," He assured her.

"Gate Card, open," Alex said casually. "Joker's Wild!"

Cassie shook her head. Not staring at her bakugan, but at Alex. "No, no, no, no."

"Oh yes," He explained. "Joker's Wild, is a Gate Card that immediately closes the battle, with the Darkus bakugan as the victor. No questions asked."

"Two bakugan at the same time," Cassie sounded mortified, as her bakugan both dropped like the little lifeless balls they were to her feet.

"That's right," Alex winked at her which made Cassie cringe and blush slightly. "Now you wanna just give up now, or do I have to teach you another lesson?"

"What was that about school puns not helping you out, 'kid'?" Cassie felt a bit more confident about herself.

~a battle later~

An Aquos bakugan dropped to the ground and rolled to Cassie. She looked at it as she bit back tears that stung her eyes.

The battle field closed and everything began to move again.

"Better luck next time, squirt," Alex shrugged outstretching a hand to shake with Cassie. She turned and folded her arms, closing her eyes as well.

"Come on, Cass," Alex tried to look at her, but she kept turning her head.

The pink haired girl walked over to them and tried to talk to Cassie. "It's alright, anyone could have seen that one coming!"

Cassie gave her an, 'I'm not in the mood right now' glare, and walked off.

"What did I say?" The girl asked.

Alex smacked his hand against his forehead. "Never mind, just...help me get her back."

"Ok!" She said. "Oh and by the way, I never introduced myself. I'm Keri, although some people call me cherry Keri because I wear red and-"

"Ok, that's enough," Alex interrupted as he too, walked off to find Cassie.

~after about 10 minutes of looking~

Cassie was talking with three other people, two guys, one who looked much older than she, and the other a lot younger, and a girl that Alex recognized from his Biology class.

"What do you want Alex?" Cassie snapped, then looked at Keri. "And what is she doing here?"

"This is Keri or Cherry or...something like that," he said not really looking to introduce people. "And I came to get you," he took Cassie's hand but she smacked it away.

Rubbing his hand he tried to stay calm.

"You could have just said no," he looked at the people surrounding Cassie. "Who are these guys anyway?"

Everyone looked at each other, but it was finally the short haired brunette that introduced herself first. "I'm Jayne," she said quietly.

"I know you," Alex shooed her away with his hands. "We're in Bio together...I call you Jay?"

"Oh, yes," Jay chuckled softly and stepped back.

The taller guy Stepped in front of the silent Cassie. "I'm Skyler, friends call me Sky. I'm a junior, and a Haos attributed brawler, Nice to make your acquaintance," he put his hand on his hips looking down at Alex, his white hair tousled.

"Yeah, whatever I just want to-"

"And I'm Toryn," said the younger boy. "I'm a Subterra User, and I just entered the high school. I'm only a freshman."

"Well I'm glad everyone feels comfortable, because now I'd like to have a word with my friend!" Alex tried his best not to shout. He grabbed Cassie by the wrist which caught her by surprise and dragged her off. "Come on Cass," He said not even giving a sideways glance at the group of teens that were now staring at them as Alex marched off with a slightly stunned Cassie behind him.