Chay smiled as she rode her bright green bicycle down the side of the road in her housing development. Today would be an interesting day for her- her friend Bow had asked her to come over. Despite not knowing what would happen, Chay's face always brightened at the thought of hanging out with Bow. The two of them had known eachother since they were only in kindergarten.

Chay turned a corner and moved her bike to the sidewalk, as the road became busier ahead. Turn right at the first stop sign, then turn left after you see the big purple house, she recited in her head. Looking upwards, she took note of the violet house. The summer sun was shining bright in the corner of her eye making her squint. Realizing she was going rather fast, Chay began to slow down. She didn't slow down quickly enough.

Scraping off her yellow sleeveless shirt, Chay stood on the pavement, looking at the wreckage. Looking around, she picked up her bike. Immediately when she did, though, she heard a gasp. There where her bike was lay a boy who looked a year older than her. He groaned, holding one hand to his stomach and trying to get up with the other. "Sorry," the girl said absentmindedly, and began to ride away.

"Hey!" Yelled the boy, getting up. "You think that's funny?" He was wearing a red beanie, even though it was summer. Chay tried to ignore him, but the boy chased after her, shouting. She pedalled faster and faster. Hopefully he would give up.

Chay had begun to think more of the chase than getting to her friends house, trying desperately to lose the boy. Around another corner she turned into an alley, knocking over a trash can on the way. Hopefully the boy (who she had decided to call 'Beanie Boy' if the opportunity presented itself) would be shaken off.

"Hello?" Oh, shoot, Chay thought. Slowly, she turned around. In the doorway of what looked like a store stood a boy who was slightly taller than her. He had dark blue eyes and jet black hair. Noting this, Chay glanced at her own black hair, which seemed much lighter in comparison. Then, recognition hit her like a brick to the face. It was Garrith, a boy from her school. He was wearing what looked like a shopkeeper's apron.

"Oh, hi Garrith," she blurted. "What are you doing here?" Garrith asked.

"Just riding my bike, when I crashed into this alleyway."

"Chay, people don't crash into alleyways unless they turn into them."

Chay blushed. She always felt awkward speaking to Garrith because he always pointed out the flaws in other people's logic. That was one of the reasons he was so unpopular at school. He wasn't strange- he was quite plain in fact. No, he was just too efficient, too skilled. It tended to annoy people, though poor Garrith never seemed to notice.

"Well, I, um…"

Suddenly Beanie Boy burst in on their conversation. Running up angrily, he began to shout. "Hey you! Think you can get away with that? I ought to sue you-"

"I said sorry!" Chay yelled at him.

"What's going on here?" Garrith questioned Chay.

"Dipwad over here wasn't watching where he was going and knocked over my bike!"

"And numbskull over there was going too fast and almost ran me over!"

Garrith paused for a moment to think. A smile came to his face. "I know how you two can solve this!" he said calmly. "Come with me."

The three children walked inside of the shop, which was ablaze with neon signs and scattered with racks of what seemed to be hunting supplies. A rather large man stood behind a counter in the back, counting money in a cash register.

"Excuse me, Uncle," Garrith stated, introducing his uncle. "You said that I could take a break for about half an hour. Would you mind if I took that break now?"

Garrith's uncle beamed. "Why sure," he confirmed in a deep, almost jolly voice. The money sitting in front of him was still distracting him, but Garrith didn't question it- he led the others outside of the store, the same grin on his face.

Bow sat on the front steps of her family's home, patiently waiting for her friend to arrive. "Is your friend here yet?" her mother asked from the living room, her voice carrying through an open window. "No, not yet," Bow responded. Her voice was soft and caring. "Maybe you should go in the direction of her house- you could meet her on the way here. We'll call you if she shows up." That sounds fun, Bow thought. "O.K., I will. This is going to be so much fun!" she giggled as she rolled her bike out of their garage. The bright blue bike matched her hair.

Garrith's hand tapped on the wooden door. Somewhere, a dog was heard barking. The door swung open, showing a greasy inside quarters. A woman stood in the doorway, holding a pasta pot and wearing a towel around her head. She wore a green robe. "Oh, Garrith! Are you here to see Harris?"

"Yes ma'am. See, my friends and I wanted to play a game with him."

At this remark Beanie Boy and Chay looked at each other, confused. Beanie Boy shrugged.

"Ok, hang on one second," said the woman in a quiet, polite voice. Garrith pulled out earplugs and put them in. Chay looked at him questioningly.

What happened next shook the neighborhood. The woman turned and raised her free hand to her mouth. Garrith covered his ears for good measure.

"HARRIS! YOUR FRIENDS ARE HERE TO SEE YOU! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

The following few seconds were filled with dog barks, a door slamming, and a young boy appearing. The boy, presumably Harris, Chay thought, was carrying a large box that was at least twice the size of his head. "Come for a rematch?" Harris asked excitedly, his bushy brown hair jumping up and down as he spoke. "Nah," Garrith mused. "Why would I take the chance of losing?"

"Hey, our last match was a tie, fair and square."

Chay sighed. "Not to interrupt your repartee, but we have something to settle here."

Garrith raised his hand to his eyes to shield himself from the sun. "Oh yes, that's right. Harris, I came because these two had something to settle." He nodded at the two behind him. Harris's face lit up in the same way Garrith's had. "A battle?" he asked. Garrith nodded. Chay wondered what she was getting into.

The group of four sat in a circle at the community park. Harris gestured grandly to the box he had been carrying, setting it down in between the two rivals. "Each player picks a bakugan each turn."

"Who goes first?" Chay asked Harris. She could now see that he was around a year younger than she.

"Ladies first I suppose."

"Alright… let me see…." Chay reached in anxiously, foolishly not looking as she chose her bakugan. "Ahh, I remember playing this in third grade. It's a shame that it was just a fad. The game really was fun."

Bow was still in her regular optimistic mood, but she had to admit that she was struggling to retain it. Her bike rode by the community park, as she listened to the pouring of the water fountain that resided at the park's core. What's this? She thought. An interruption in the sound of the water- somebody almost shouting. Carefully, Bow stopped her bicycle and stood, listening to the voice.

"And now, the great- I'm sorry, what's your name? The great Randy v.s. The amazing- and your name? The amazing Chay! Battle begin!"

The blue-haired girl smiled, leaving her bike leaning against a tree and walking into the park.

"Bakugan Brawl!" Chay yelled, throwing a small green sphere into the 'arena'. "Taylean, stand!" The sphere landed on a red and black card, popping open to reveal a sort of character inside. Randy, whose beanie was resting upon his head, rolled a red ball onto the same card. "Griffin, stand!" he shouted.

"Chay! Hey Chay!" Bow interrupted, almost knocking over the bakugan. "Bow?" Chay reacted, surprised. "What are you doing here?" Suddenly Chay remembered why she had crashed into Randy in the first place. "I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting, but do you mind if I finish this game with Beanie Boy over there?"

"No, feel free to. What are you playing?"

"Bakugan, a really old game from a franchise that has been dead for years."

"Oh, that's cool. Can I watch?"

"Sure."

Chay grinned, stretching her hand out and reaching for the gate card that their bakugan had landed on. "Gate Card open!" she said as she flipped the card.

"My gate card, Taylean's Gaze, gives my Ventus Taylean 100 G Power."

Randy snickerd. "Ah yes, but it also gives my Pyrus Grififin 100 G Power, proving that I am still the winner of this battle. Your measly 620 G Power Taylean can't possibly hope to beat my 650 G Power Griffin!"

Dang it, he's right. "OK," Chay admitted sorrowfully. She looked at her bakugans printed G Power, which was at about 520, and shook her head. This was bad luck. This couldn't happen. She had to be the strongest. She had to be the best. Only the strong survive, she thought. Therefore I must be strong. I must have more power. I must be the most impressive.

Reflected in Chay's eyes was a bright green light, glowing with power. Reflected in her eyes there rose a great robot, it's green armor reflected by the sun. The sun, however, was slowly fading, replaced by a glowing emptiness that looked like space. Reflected in Randy's eyes was fear, as his Griffin turned into a giant, red winged lion.

"What th-" Chay began, but she was cut off by Harris's excited jabbering. "Ohmygoshguyswe'reinabakuganarenaarealonenotafakeoneandohmygoshthisissoexcitingdoesthismeanwegettalkingbakugan?" Harris went on to squeal like a little girl. Garrith faceplamed.

"What my overexcited friend is trying to say," Garrith said as he took in the surroundings, "Is that we are in a real bakugan arena, like the ones in the T.V. show. But that could only be possible if… If the bakugan were really from Vestroia like in the show!"

"So… I finish this game?" Chay clarified. "Because I already lost this gatecard."

Bow's face lit up. "But Chay, your bakugan's G Power is much higher than Randy's! Look!"

Chay looked, and stepped back in surprise. The printed G Power was now at 700, which was much more than Randy's Griffin. "Now hang on, I call cheat-" Randy argued, but he was much too late. Chay's Talean had already picked up the Griffin and launched it out of the arena. The Griffin warped into a tiny ball again and rolled to Randy's feet. Randy groaned as Chay claimed the card and called back Taylean.

"Yes!" Chay shouted, pumping her fist into the air. The Taylean in her fist rustled, and suddenly popped out. It opened so that the character was shown. "Hello Chay," it said in a low voice. Chay instantly jumped back, landing on the odd substitute for ground in this dimension. Taylean flew above her. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I startle you?"

"Get away from me!"

"But I am your partner."

"But you're a talking plastic toy!"

"If I may," Harris intervened, "In the show, children had partners, who they became friends with. These bakugan could talk. It was pretty cool." "Well it still freaks me out," Chay countered. "Could we at least be friends?" Taylean questioned. "OK, friends," Chay responded cautiously.

"By the way, you may want to send out that Saurus next on your own gate card so you get the bonus from it, considering it's your weakest bakugan. Just saying."

"I'll do my strategy, you do yours."

"It's just that they happen to be the same thing?"

"Yep."

"Heh, looks like Taylean and I won," Chay snickered as Randy hung his head. "Beaten by a girl," he sighed. "What's bad about that?" Garrith asked. Randy paused for a moment to think about it. "Good point," he commented.

"Things will be much different for us from now on," Harris squealed, his eyes wide. "I hope I get a talking bakugan next!"

"Take it easy, Harris," Garrith said in a calm, relaxed voice. "How about we all meet again here tomorrow? Then you two can have a rematch, Harris and I will get a chance to play each other. What do you say?"

Bows face twisted into one of confusion. "But what about me?"

"You can come too, Bow, and play the winner."

"Yay!"

Randy smirked. "So, same time, same place?" he questioned. "See ya."

At this remark the small group disbanded, knowing that the next day there would be more fun to be held. "They are good friends," Taylean offered to Chay. "Yes, yes they are," Chay sighed.