They walked into their backyard. John had been in this backyard numerous times before as a kid, but at 15, every time he came out here with his mom, it spelled trouble for him. "Mom, I don't think we should do this." John appealed. "Oh, I'd have to disagree with you on that, sweetie," his mother said with an unnaturally sweet voice. John sweat dropped at the thought of what fury lurked behind that soft-spoken façade. "Ready?" his mother asked. "Not really," John murmured. An ominous wind blew through the grass. John noted that his mother had gone inside and gotten a black and purple card case for this brawl. He had never seen her use that case before, and wondered if it was special in some way. He also noted a Bakugan clip carrying three Darkus Bakugan inside. He questioned her judgment in choosing a single attribute, when John uses several attributes, including Pyrus, Darkus's polar opposite. He mulled over this for a second and then cast it out of his mind to focus on the battle at hand.
"John! Prepare yourself!" his mother sang out across yard.
"Alright!" John responded.
They both pulled out an identical card from their card cases. It had the six Bakugan attributes arranged on it. Simultaneously, they called out, "Field OPEN!" To the outside world it would seem as though nothing had happened. But to the brawlers, the world would be progressively slowing down and eventually slow to a crawl. That's because the brawlers would be entering a universal-contact time field to battle, where Vestroia and the human universe contacted and where the Bakugan could come to life and battle.
Once again, they pulled cards out of their card cases, although this time, they weren't identical. "Gate card, SET!" They jumped backwards a large distance, while also throwing those 2 cards towards the ground. On contact they grew exponentially, to about the size of tennis courts. They landed, and John's mother called across to him that it was his turn. He focused on this turn, knowing that could be a big strike to his mother if he can get the combo right. He pulled a small paintball-sized ball out of the clip on his hip, called a Bakugan. John took aim and threw the yellow-white ball to the Gate card closest to his mother, which was the one he threw down. "Bakugan BRAWL! Haos Falconeer, STAND!" With the utterance of these words the ball stopped and transformed, revealing a small figurine hidden within the ball. But it didn't stay long, for the figurine glowed and a large birdlike humanoid popped into the battle. It had feathers coming off of its arms, and its hands and feet were talons, and its head resembled that of a falcon. Every Bakugan had a certain power level, denoted by G's. Falconeer had 340 G's of power. Okay, Falconeer has 340 G's. John thought I'll wait for Mom to send out her Bakugan, and formulate a plan when I see what she's packing. John's mother (for the sake of time until I reveal her real name, we'll just call her Mom,) pulled a black and purple Bakugan out of her clip and threw it onto the same Gate card as Falconeer. "Bakugan BRAWL! Fear Ripper, STAND!" A large robotic demon with large hands appeared in the battle. John checked his Baku-pod to see the matchup with his and his mom's Bakugan. The readout showed Fear Ripper had 10 more G's than his Falconeer. Wow, this is bad, John thought nervously. I need to use my gate card to turn the tide. "Gate card, OPEN!" John shouted. "Power merge!" The power merge gate card takes 100 g's of energy from the opponent's Bakugan and transfers it to your own Bakugan. So, that put Falconeer's power at 440G's. John fist pumped into the air, stoked at his nice play. Mom wasn't impressed. She took out a card from her case and used it. "Ability card, activate. Dimension 4!" All of a sudden John's Baku-pod read that the increase his Vulcaneer had obtained was gone. "Whoa! What's going on?!" John shrieked very girly-like. "The Dimension 4 ability card cancels any the Gate card in effect. Sorry, dear, but your Falconeer is history." Fearripper's eyes glinted, and in that same twinkling, Falconeer was returned into his ball form and ejected from the game. "Oh, man," John moaned. "That wasn't right."
"Sorry, honey. That's just how the cookie crumbles." Mom commented. Her Bakugan roared its agreement and returned to its ball form, but was returned to Mom. "Well, John? What's your next move?" John ground his teeth and pulled out a dark and light blue ball. "Bakugan, BRAWL! Aquos Terraclaw, STAND!" A large crustacean appeared on the Gate card closest to John, which belonged to his mother. He worried about the card, but thought that he could use an ability card to help him out. "Hmm, Aquos. A nice choice. Bakugan, BRAWL! Mantris, STAND!" A large creature, similar in many respects to a preying mantis, appeared into the battle. John checked his Baku-pod. Mantris had 360 G's, while Terraclaw was packing a measly 340 G's. Mom looked across the field at her son, calculating his next move, and wondered what he had up his sleeve. "Sorry, John. Time's up. Mantris, Attack!" The giant insect moved to attack his foe, but John was prepared for it. "Ability, ACTIVATE! Dive Mirage!" The zone around Terraclaw started to ripple, and it sank under the Gate card. Mantris shot past Terraclaw, inflicting no damage at all. "Alright! I did it! Ha-ha!" John cheered. "Good job." Mom praised. "I like they way you waited for me to attack before you activated Dive Mirage. Nice work. But…" Mom pulled another card out and said, "Ability card, activate. Dual Dimension." Terraclaw was shot up into the air. His ability has been canceled. John couldn't believe what had happened. "How? How could you cancel the power of ability?" "Well, Dual Dimension is an ability card that nullifies all other ability cards in effect. This means that your Dive Mirage ability is now useless." Mantris took this as a cue to attack, and proceeded to slice and dice Terraclaw. Terraclaw was ejected from the game, and Mantris was returned to Mom. "So, John. You're down to your last Bakugan." "Yeah, I guess I am." As John took out his final Bakugan, a red and orange Bakugan, he was feeling like a full and complete loser. Oh, man. Yet again, I've been whipped by my mom. I thought that being in a lot of battles is supposed to make someone a better battler. All being in battles has done, is make my record worse. John thought. I might as well throw in the towel. "Oh, John!" His mother's call snapped him out of his daze. "I see you standing there, but you're not making a move!" "Oh, sorry!" John apologized. "Oh, and John! If you give up, you're grounded!" Mom added. "Oh my gosh! You're not serious!" John yelped. This was too great a punishment, because being grounded was synonymous to no Battling, and no Bakugan. "Alright, the gloves are off. Gate card, SET!" The gate card John threw down this time had a bright red glow to it. "Bakugan, BRAWL! Pyrus Siege, STAND!" John threw his absolute strongest Bakugan into play. It stood as a majestic warrior, bathed in blood red and fire orange armor, with a blood red cape. He was armed with a long lance that completed his knightly image. "All right! My strongest Bakugan is ready to Brawl!" John hooted. "Ok, let's see how long he will last." Mom reached for her third Bakugan, but thought better of it and threw in her Mantris. John waited until her Bakugan was ready to attack before he activated his 3rd ability card. "Ability, ACTIVATE! Diagonal correlation between Pyrus and Darkus!" Siege was injected with a surge of power, increasing its G-power by 200 G's. "Siege, attack! Squash that bug!" Siege launched forward to attack, and John was almost sure of his victory. That is until Mom revealed her third ability card. "Ability, activate!" Her ability card caused the battle to end, and the Bakugan to be returned to their owners. The gate card, consequently, was rendered used, and was taken out of the battle. John wasn't fazed. Hey, I'm set. Even though that ability card saved her from a loss, I still can play the diagonal correlation card. I can still win this. "Mom, what's up? You don't mind losing a Bakugan match, do you?" John taunted. Mom looked at her son and shook her head. "Gate card, SET!" Mom threw down a Darkus gate card. "Bakugan, BRAWL! Fear Ripper, Stand!" Fear Ripper stood in the battle, and was soon staring down John's Siege. John knew he had to end this battle fast, because his mom's gate card could mean the end for his Siege. "Ability, ACTIVATE! Diagonal correlation between Pyrus and Darkus!" The familiar power surge happened to Siege, and he leaped forward to finish off Fear Ripper. But even with the power advantage, John wasn't ready for his mother's gate card. "Sorry, John. That attack was a little too hasty. Gate card, OPEN! Triple Battle!" John's Siege and Mom's Fear Ripper were frozen in time. "What's going on? All it's done is frozen the battle. When it starts again, Siege is going to impale Fear Ripper." John mused. "Oh, really?" Mom chuckled. "Well, this must have been the first time you have seen the Triple Battle ability before. See, triple battle allows me to throw another of my Bakugan into battle. So (if you actually listen in school,) that means that the battle is now two against one." Mom's Mantris jumped into battle alongside its companion, leaving Siege to fend for itself. John looked at his Baku-pod and was shocked at the monstrous switch of power. His Siege, still at 600 G's, was dwarfed by the combined power of his mom's Bakugan, a whopping 710 G's. "Oh, man. How did this happen?" John moaned. Mom clicked her tongue. "It happened because you were not thinking about what your opponent had up their sleeve. It was a naïve move, and it cost you the battle. Now, let's go get some dinner. Fear Ripper, Mantris." Fear Ripper and Mantris leaped and eliminated Siege, thereby ending the battle. Suddenly, John and his mom were in their backyard again. John felt horrible after this latest defeat by his mother. "Mom, I don't think that I'm very hungry. I'll be in my room." John told his mother. Mom watched him enter the house, and wondered if he actually had the talent of a true Battle Brawler. Her 3rd Bakugan, the one she never played, started wiggling about in her Baku-clip. She took it out and held it in her open hand. It opened, and gave Mom as severe a disappointed look as a Bakugan could. "Alice, why didn't you play me? The battle would have been over a long time ago if you had played me first." The Bakugan questioned. Alice sighed. Her friend just didn't understand. "My sweet Hydranoid. You must understand that people aren't as strong as you and I. John is a beginner, and my job is to guide him and nurture him." She looked to the dark sky. "Just in case…"
