Chapter 1: Bakugan Brawl!

(a few years ago)

In a large, dark den room two children sat crossed legged in front of a coffee table. The only light in the room came from a roaring fire in the massive fireplace behind them. "And checkmate!" A young girl with long messy blonde hair and bright pink eyes, wearing a set of pink button up pajamas exclaimed proudly as she moved her black Knight Piece into position. "And that's three games in a row!"

"Crap!" A young boy with short similar colored hair and deep purple eyes weaning a matching blue set of pajamas cried out, slamming his fist down on the large wooden table shaking the chess board. "How come you always win. It's not fair." The boy groaned before crossing his arms in defiance.

"That's because I'm the big sister and you're the little brother. That's just how things are, you're always one step behind me." She smirked before standing up and making her way over to the game cabinet stopping on her way to aggressively rub her little brother's head, getting the boy to shoot her a glare. "Now lets see.. What should we play next." She asked herself as she began to peruse the many stacked shelves.

"Ahem!" An older man dressed in a formal, three piece black suit along with white gloves and a monocle made his presence known to the two children. "Madam Claire, Young Master Cole. I went through the trouble of warming up a batch of hot cocoa on this most chilling of evenings."

"Hot cocoa!" The young girl's eyes lit up as she rushed for the kitchen. "You're the best Pierre!"

"I do my best, madam." The butler answered with a smile before noticing the young boy hadn't budged. "Young Master? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Pierre." The boy answered in a grunt, balancing his head on his chin and not making eye contact with the butler. "Do you know when mom and dad are coming home?"

"Unfortunately the weather has caused your parents landing in paris to be delayed and they decided they'd be better off returning to america to finish working rather than come home this weekend…" The butler delivered the news carefully, not wanting to upset the disgruntled boy. "They truly did want to come home but it wasn't in the cards for this weekend. Maybe we can fly you and your sister out to see them next weekend?"

"Hmmph! Whatever…" The boy didn't acknowledge the question as he marched his way into the kitchen to meet up with his sister.

"Mom and Dad not coming home?" The blonde girl asked but her brother didn't answer, he simply grabbed his mug of cocoa and began to sip. "Well what did you honestly expect? They're super busy, that's how it's always been."

Cole glared at his sister before answering her. "They should still come home every once and awhile. They have kids, they're supposed to be responsible for us right."

"Awe c'mon little bro. We both know that you're responsible enough for both of us." She joked before putting her arm around her brother's shoulder whose mood didn't appear to have improved at all. "Oh c'mon, you can't honestly expect me to believe that you're feeling lonely. If that's the case then I'll just have to bug you even more from now on."

A small smirk finally appeared on the boy's face. "Maybe I'm just so sick of your company that I'm desperate to talk to anyone else." The siblings shared a mutual smile before Cole's eye got caught on something. "What's that?" Cole pushed his sister off him and made his way over to the kitchen window where he found what appeared to be a small trading card stuck on the outside. "Sis, dId you leave some cards outside or something?"

"Huh? No way." She made her way over to her brother's side and took a good look at the trading card. "I've never seen a card like that before." It was indeed a unique looking card, a series of circles and strange markings on the outside ring, inside were six unique different colored symbols (a bakugan card, y'all get it). "I'm gonna check it out." Claire declared before rushing out the kitchen door.

"Hey wait!" Cole called out before following his sister outside. "Buuurrrrr…." The boy shivered as snowflakes began to cover his shoulders.

"And gatcha!" Claire pulled the card off of the window and began to examine it. "Just what kinda playing card is this? There's not any kind of label or anything so… Huh?" The card began to glow bright yellow in her hand before suddenly a white orb with yellow markings popped out from seemingly nowhere. "What the?" The ball popped open to reveal a small plastic toy. "Woah, How'd they do that?"

"Hey! Let me see!" Cole called out and took a step forward before another identical card fluttered down from the air and landed in the boy's palm. "Another one?" This card began to glow purple before a black and purple orb popped out just like before. Suddenly dozens of cards began to fall all around the two children. "What's going on? Some kind of publicity stunt?"

"Must be." Claire agreed before a smile appeared on the girl's face. "If someones handing out free playing cards then don't mind if I do!" The young girl cried out before he began to run around and pluck the strange cards out of the air.

'Something feels… wrong about this.' Cole thought as he cautiously held the small black orb between his fingers.

Just then Pierre busted out through the kitchen door, a look of panic on his face. "Children! I have horrible news…. I'm afraid there's been an accident! Your parents..."

All the concern Cole may have had for the strange cards immediately disappeared and was replaced with a feeling hundreds of times worse as the small plastic ball fell from between his finger tips.

(Present day, London between episodes 9 and 12)

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! A camera shutter rapidly went off as a now older Cole stood in front of a white backdrop dressed in stylized clothes. The boy struck a series of poses as before an unseen voice called out. "Alright! That's a wrap! Good job Cole, great work as usual."

"Thanks." The blonde boy called back as a woman in a pantsuit and glasses with her hair tied up in a bun marched up and handed the boy a water bottle.

"Excuse me sir but your car is here. We have to hurry if we're going to make it to the airport on time." The professionally dressed lady instructed as she impatiently tapped on her wrist watch.

"Oh, okay." Cole nodded as he was practically being dragged towards the exit. "See you guys next summer!"

"See ya cole!" A few of the photographers called back with a smile.

Cole along with the woman practically ran from the studio to catch up with a long white limousine that was parked along busy london streets. SLAM! As soon as the woman shut the door the car took off, almost recklessly entering traffic. Cole watched as the studio got further and further away, letting out a sigh of relief once it disappeared from sight. "Finished at last…" He muttered under his breath.

(Later)

VROOOOOMMM! The massive engines roared as a private jet lifted itself up into the air. Cole looked optimistically as the plane began its climb. 'My name is Cole Delon, I'm fourteen years old and I work as a fashion model.' Cole looked over to see his manager pull out a magazine that read "Back to School" and on the cover was a picture of him modeling a long sleeved shirt and a backpack. "Jeez…" He groaned. 'To be honest I don't love the model work. It can get dull and repetitive not to mention it's kinda embarrassing but my parents used to be big names in the fashion industry so this is my way of honoring them.'

"So now that we're done with the fall season you're scheduled to have some time off." The glass wearing girl said as she pulled out a clipboard and a pen. "I think now would be a good time to look into expanding your image. Have you heard of Bakugan? Apparently it's super hot right now." Cole's eyes went narrow as his manager continued. "It's this game that kids are super into right now. Have you heard of the JJ Dolls. They're a pop duo whose popularity skyrocketed after they came out as bakugan fans so I was thinking we could…"

Cole raised a hand to stop the manager. "Not interested." He declared. "You already know how things work, I agree to work seasonal fashion but down time is DOWN TIME. My folks never made time for family and I'm not gonna make that mistake, I promised I'd take Claire on a trip so I'm taking some time off."

"Huh? But….." The manager tried to argue but Cole shot her a serious look and she knew to back down. "If that's what you want."

(Later, Delon estate, Paris)

"Pierre, I'm home!" The blonde boy called out as he pushed open his massive wooden front door. Carrying as many suitcases as he could in one trip.

"Welcome home." The house butler greeted the boy with a bow. "I hope your travels were fruitful Young Master."

Cole scoured the house expecting more from his welcome home party. "Where's Claire? Did she go into town or something?"

"I'm afraid the young mistress is asleep." Pierre responded in an almost shameful tone.

"Asleep." Cole looked down at his designer wrist watch. "It's not even 5:00 yet."

"I'm afraid I wasn't clear. The mistress is STILL asleep as in she's yet to wake up." Pierre said, sounding even more embarrassed now.

"Of Course…." Cole made his way to the kitchen and retrieved a metal pot and a large wooden spoon. "I'll take care of things." Cole marched up a large, grand staircase and made his way down a long mostly empty hallway until he came to a large bedroom with junk and dirty clothes thrown all across the floor.

"HAAAAAAHHHHH! SSHUUUUUHHHHH!" In the center of the room sat a massive bed with crumpled sheets and blankets and on top was a snoring Claire.

"AHEM!" Cole tried to make his presence known but his sister slept through it, leaving him no choice. He took the metal pot and the wooden spoon in separate hands and began to bang them together. BANG! BANG! BANG! CLANG! "Up and atem!"

"WAAAHHH!" The blonde girl shrieked as she jumped up in her bed before falling onto the floor. "Ugh… What the hell was that for." She groaned.

"Honestly, I don't want to know what your day is like. This is why people say kids shouldn't grow up with money." Cole nagged as his sister rubbed her head before looking up at the familiar face.

"Cole? Oh your back!" Claire realized at last as she climbed back to her feet and greeted her sibling with an aggressive rub to his well kept hair messing up what had taken makeup artists hours that morning to create. "Good to see you little bro."

"Yeah, yeah." Cole brushed his sister's hand off his head and turned to her with a stern look. "Now get yourself dressed. While I'm home things are gonna be 80 percent less slobish around here. That means no sleeping past 10 am and your gonna start having to dress like a real person during the day."

"BOOO!" She cried out as she shot her brother an aggressive thumbs down before leaving for her walk in the closet. "By the way little bro, what's for dinner."

"You're gonna love it." The boy began smiling to himself. "I'm ordering pizza!"

Claire poked her head out from the closet and shot her little brother a less than enthusiastic glare. "Seriously? Kind of a dull choice wouldn't you say, we live in paris."

"Says you." Cole crossed his arms defiantly. "I haven't eaten carbs in months."

(Later the kitchen)

Cole sat alone at the kitchen bar, enjoying a large slice of cheese pizza as he read a local newspaper. Meanwhile his older sister came marching in after taking nearly an hour to dress herself and having put all that time into it she came out wearing a baggy white jacket over a pink shirt and a pair of shorts. Rather than brushing her hair she tied it up into a messy ponytail she also came down sporting a pair of yellow rimmed glasses.

"Oh boy! You got meat lovers! Thanks bro." Rather than grabbing a plate Claire grabs the whole box and takes a seat on the stool next to her brother, quickly downing two slices before Cole could even finish his first. "MMmmmm…. I take it back, pizza was a great idea. Good call bro."

"No kidding…" Cole looked on stunned as he watched his sister start attacking a third slice. 'She may look like a slob but that's only by choice.' Cole thought before returning to his own pizza. 'In reality she's an incredible person who succeeds at almost everything she tries. The reason she has time to sleep in till five in the afternoon is because she's already graduated high school at the age of fifteen. She's a certified genius plus she inherited the same genes I did so she's every bit as good looking and photogenic as me when she applies herself. If she wanted to she'd probably be a better model than I could ever dream of being. That's just how things are. She's better than me at almost everything, I get the edge in cooking but that's about it. It can be super frustrating, especially when she gets competitive. But of all the areas where she surpasses me there's one where it's the most frustrating.'

"Ughhh… I'm stuffed." Claire groaned upon finishing her fifth large slice of pie. "Now it's time to work off a few of these extra calories and I can't think of a better way than with a battle." Clair pulled out a black playing card and a small white and yellow marble before turning to her brother. "Whadda ya say little bro?"

"Ughhh…." Cole groaned before retrieving a small black and purple orb along with a card that matched his sisters. "I knew you'd ask for something like that so I went ahead and prepared myself but let's make it a quick one." The two siblings nodded at each other before each of them took the black cards between there middle and pointer fingers.

"Field OPEN!" The declared in unison as their cards began to glow, Claire's emitting a bright yellow light and Coles glowing purple. Time seemed to slow to a stop as the two children seemed to disappear for only a moment that you'd miss were you to blink before reappearing with Cole lying down flat on his back with a pained expression.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you wanted a quick one. I think more time passed in the real world than in our game." Claire taunted as she stood proudly over her vanquished foe.

"Ugh I hate that stupid game." Cole muttered as he picked himself back up and dusted his expensive clothes off.

"No you don't. You just hate the fact that you can't beat me." Claire said as she walked past her brother, giving him a ruff hair rub, on her way up to her room. "HAAAAHHH! I think I'm going to bed."

'She's right. Monopoly, checkers, tic tac toe even chess there'd be times where I'd get lucky enough to beat her and I'd be able to hold onto that small victory for a time at least until she'd hand me five asswhoopings in a row but with Bakugan I can never seem to pull one over on her. In the dozens of times we've played I've never managed to win a single game and it pisses me off. As a kid there's nowhere you can go without running into something Bakugan related, hell sometimes I'll be challenged by other models while I'm working a shoot and everytime I can't help being reminded just how much better Claire is than me. She currently sits as the 9th ranked player in the whole world and the second best player in europe meanwhile I'm sitting at around 524th which considering the tens of thousands of people playing isn't a terrible ranking but what really bothers me is being last place in my own home but I couldn't care less about Bakugan as long as I'm not reminded of the stupid game I should be fine and this vactation I've been planning for some time is gonna be a welcome distraction from both modeling and that stupid game which reminds me.' "Hey Claire!" Cole called out before his sister could disappear up the staircase. "We leave for Hawaii tomorrow, remember! Make sure you're packed!"

"Hawaii?" She lifted a confused eyebrow before something dawned on her. "Oh the trip! I forgot!... Hey Cole, don't be mad but there's been a little change of plans."

"Change of plans?" Cole asked back at his sister. "What do you mean?"

(Next day, Battle City Japan)

"Are you serious…" Cole groaned as he pulled down a pair of identical suitcases behind him through a bustling airport, following a few steps behind his excited sister. "I get a little over a month of vacation and I'm gonna spend it in japan hanging out with you and all your nerd friends so you can play card games." Cole wore a pair of black sunglasses and a black hoodie to hide his face along with a black designer jacket, white T-shirt and pair of skinny jeans.

"That's why I think you're awesome little bro." Claire who sported a baggy white hoodie and pink skirt with her yellow glasses and her hair tied up in a messy ponytail began to tap away on a small white touch screen watch. "Oh my friends are meeting up at a local restaurant in about an hour, let's hurry and meet them."

"Who are these Friends you keep talking about? The Battle nerds or something like that?" Cole said jokingly as he hailed a cab from outside the airport.

"That would be the bakugan battle brawler's little brother." She answered as the two siblings entered the taxi and began to zip off for their destination. "They're a group of bakugan players who helped to come up with the rules of the game, one of their members Shun Kazami was ranked number one in the world for a long period of time. I don't know where the other ones are ranked but considering how influential they've been to the game there's no doubt these guys are at the top of. If they called me out here not only does that mean they recognized my talents but I'll have the chance to brawl with some of the best, I'm so excited to finally face a real challenge. No offense little brother."

"None taken." Cole said with a smile as he indulged his sister's excitement. "I'm just excited that the hotel has a massage parlor and a heated pool. While you're running around playing card games you can find me enjoying my time off to its fullest." The blonde said confidently as he put his hands behind his head and entered relaxation mode.

"But you're gonna meet the brawlers with me right?" Claire asked expectantly.

"Yeah sure, I'll drop by and say hey but I'm not missing the dinner buffet just so you know." Cole closed his eyes to enjoy the ride before his sister slammed a shiny metal case down on his lap. "Huh? What's this?"

"If you're gonna meet with the brawlers you'll need these." Claire popped open the case and revealed nine different black and purple orbs, a full deck of cards and digital watch identical to his sisters but in this case it was black rather than white. "I grabbed all the old bakugan and cards you keep in your room and added a few… better ones. I kept with your whole darkus thing even though you're not very good with them and I added a brand new bakupod for you."

Cole picked up the strange digital watch and forced a half smile at his sister. "I appreciate that you got it in black but the design doesn't really go with my outfit." He said only half jokingly getting his sister to pout at him before reluctantly slipped the device on. "I'll have you know I plan to play as little bakugan as humanly possible on this trip but thanks sis."

"Your welcome and we'll see if you keep that no fun attitude after you've met the brawlers." Claire said confidently. "Speaking of which, it looks like we're here." Almost on cue the taxi began to slow down in front of a small diner like restaurant. "Here at last!" Claire declared as she popped out of the cab.

"So this is where the top Bakugan Players hang out? Why am I not surprised." Cole groaned as he grabbed his and Claire's luggage out of the cab before going to pay. Cole grabbed a small laminated card with the drivers number from the front seat. "Don't go far, I don't plan to stay long." He said as he pocketed the piece of paper and received a nod from the driver.

DING! A bell rang as Claire and Cole entered through the front door. "How cute!" The blonde girl muttered as she looked around the.. Quaint cafe-like setting.

"Yeah sure, I think you just need to get out more." Cole muttered under his breath as the two siblings were greeted by a young girl with long orange hair and when Cole's eyes fell onto the face of this hostess the cafe's humble appearance seemed to fall away. 'Woah…' He thought to himself before quickly realizing he was staring and regaining his composure.

"Oh wow! Your Alice! Like the real Alice in real life!" Claire began to gush as she tightly grabbed the orange haired girl's hands. "I can't believe I actually get to talk to you in person."

"Oh and you must be Claire. I hardly recognized you with your hair put up." The hostess began to smile as the two virtual friends began to connect in person. "C'mon Dan and the others are over here."

Alice led the two siblings to a table where three other children sat and in Cole's eyes in contrast to the girl who greeted him at the door these three were less impressive. A young man with messy brown hair and dark red dressed in red and yellow and wearing a pair of green goggles on top of his head, A girl roughly the same age with light blue hair wearing pigtails wearing a short white skirt and a yellow midriff shirt and finally a young boy blonde who couldn't have been much older than elementary school age with blue eyes and glasses.

Claire quickly took a seat at the table and excitedly began shaking hands with the three children. "Wow, hi! It's so nice to meet you all!" She exclaimed grasping the brown haired boy by the hands. "Hi Dan!"

"Uhhh, hey…. You must be Claire…" The boy muttered as a faint red blush formed on his face upon receiving attention from the pretty older girl.

"Hey watch the hands grabby!" The blue haired girl tried to swat Claire away but the blonde's attention quickly became fixated on her.

"Oh and you're Runo! In real life! You use Haos Bakugan just like me, isn't that cool?" She clasped the blue haired girl by the hands as well but this wouldn't last long either before she shifted over to Marucho. "And Marucho's here too!"

"Hello C-Claire…" The young boys face turned a deep red as Claires attention seemed to be too much for him. "You're much prettier in real life…"

"Oh wow, that's really sweet of you." She said before turning back to Dan and Runo. "Guys I'm just so glad to be here in person, thanks for inviting me."

"It's nice to meet you too but before we get down to business, just who is Glasses over there?" The brown haired boy pointed an accusing finger towards Cole. "We got some pretty sensitive information to discuss here and we can't just have anyone eavesdropping."

"Yeah I get it, you guys wanna talk nerd. I gotta take this luggage to the hotel anyway." Seeing his out Cole grabbed the suitcases and made a B-line for the door. "Heated pool here I come." DING!

(That evening, In front of Cole's Hotel)

The automatic sliding doors opened and an angry looking Cole marched out onto the street as the evening lights shined down across the city. Cole looked at his digital watch to check the time, 8:00 PM. "Seriously, what's taking her. I bet she got busy nerding out and lost track of time. I'm starving, I've been waiting for that flake cause I know if I eat without her I'd never hear the end of it. Maybe I should give her a call." Cole tapped away at his watch and began to ring his sister. BRING! BRING! BRING! There was no answer. "Ugh… Seriously? If I gotta go all the way down to that rinky dinner to pick her up… I coulda been in Hawaii right now."

"Hey you! Glasses!" A mysterious, antagonistic voice called out to the disgruntled boy. A large, round young man wearing an orange jacket and a white T-shirt that barely covered his large gut. He was accompanied by a shorter, orange haired boy who wore a green shirt and backwards hat. "That's a pretty fancy looking Bakupod you got there, you must think you're pretty good huh? Well around here, I'm considered to be number one!" The large boy announced.

"Really? Good for you..." Cole brushed the other kids' declaration off and pulled out a small flip phone along with the business card he'd received earlier. He typed in the number but his call went straight to voicemail. "Damn, he must be off work already."

"Grrrr…." Sick of being ignored the large boy marched up and got right up in Cole's face. "Didn't you hear me dweeb! I wanna battle, let's go! Right now!"

The boys breath began to fog up the lenses of Coles sunglasses so he removed them letting his purple eyes be seen for the first time since landing in japan. "No thanks." He answered as he hung his designer shades on the rim of his T-Shirt collar.

"Hehehe." The boy chuckled to himself. "What's the matter Fancy Pants? Chicken?"

"Looks like he's shaking in his boots if you ask me Shuji." The short orange haired kid chipped in as well.

"Haaahhhh." Cole sighed as he fished a small black and grey card out from his jacket pocket. "Look, if I battle with you will you leave me alone?"

"Sure, We'll give you time to grieve." The large boy Shuji taunted as he pulled out a card of his own.

"Field OPEN!" They said together as time seemed to slow down once again before everything went white.

(In the battle field)

Cole and Shuji now stood alone on a pure white plain that seemed to stretch on forever the sky around them seemed to be otherworldly as colors and patterns that appeared other worldly floated above them. "GATE CARD SET!" The two boys once again said in unison as the through identical looking black cards at the ground in front of one another, Shuji's expanding out in a flash of red light and Coles doing the same only purple.

"I'm hoping to get this over with as soon as possible so I'll go first. BAKUGAN BRAWL!" Cole declared as he threw out a black and purple sphere that landed on the card Shuji had thrown out. "Falconeer stand!" The ball popped open to reveal a purple red in black bird like creature, soon its true form took shape as a massive black and purple humanoid with a falcon's head and wings appeared floating above Shuji's card.

[Darkus Falconeer, power level 330 Gs] A mechanical voice called out from both players watches.

"HAH! A little short on the throw there huh? Here let me show you how it's done! BAKUGAN BRAWL!" Shuji threw down a red and yellow orb that made it all the way over to the card where Coles monster sat. "Pyrus Juggernoid Stand!" A small reptilian head and feet popped out of the red orb before a massive red and gold turtle like beast appeared on the battlefield.

[Pyrus Juggernoid 310 Gs]

"You wanted the battle to be over soon right, well you won't have to wait very long! Because I'm what you'd call a Pyrus master." Shuji taunted before striking an almost overly aggressive pose. "GATE CARD OPEN! Scorched earth!" On command Shuji's card flipped open and the entire battle field seemed to be engulfed in flames. "Scorched earth is a gate card that not only boosts the power of my Pyrus Bakugan but deals damage to anyone who can't take the heat."

[Juggernoid 360Gs, Falconeer 280 Gs]

"Ability card activate!" Cole declared as he threw a glowing purple card up to his airborne monster. "Black Wing!" The card hit Falconeer in the back and the beast's wings started glowing purple before the monster rocket up far above the battlefield. "Black wing is a darkus ability that cancels any gate cards' damaging effects while also giving falconeer a boost of power for himself."

[Pyrus juggernoid 360Gs, Darkus Falconeer 380Gs]

"Crap, no way! Juggernoid!" Shuji cried out.

"Let's wrap this battle up. Falconeer! Take him down!" Cole called out and his birdlike monster took a swan dive down aimed at the crimson turtle before striking the fire monster with its glowing wings, converting the once massive beast back into a useless plastic ball before the dark color bird returned to its own master's hand.

"My turn again! Bakugan BRAWL!" Cole once again threw down his Falconeer, this time landing it on his own card.

[Darkus Falconeer 330Gs]

"Hmmmmm! No more tricks! Time to power my way through this like a real Pyrus Master! Bakugan BRAWL!" Shuji threw down another red and yellow orb, this one unfolding into a lengthy bug like creature, just then a massive heavily armored red centipede with golden legs and fangs appeared on the battlefield. "Try this one on for size."

[Pyrus Centipoid 360Gs]

"I'm not done yet! Time to turn your own bakugan's element against him! Ability card activate! Darkus Pyrus Correlation!" Shuji threw down a card that caused power to surge through the colossal insect. "Because of your falconeers element and where it lines up on the chart my centipoid gets a major power boost! I'd like to see you try and catch up!"

[Centipoid 460Gs]

"Yeah, that is a pretty high power level but unfortunately for you matching it won't matter. Gate card activate! Black Hole!" The ground the two battling monsters stood on began to surge with purple energy up until KABOOM! A large explosion erupted that converted both bakugan into ball form and sent them back to their respective masters. "Black hole destroys every monster that lands on it making all that power you accumulated useless in the long run but it's a victory at the cost of one of my own Bakugan but I'm still up two to one so I'd call it a calculated risk. Using Black Hole also swaps the turn order so you're up next."

"GATE CARD SET!" With the field now empty the two boys once again through down a new set of field cards.

"Can't afford to play reckless anymore! Gate card set!" Shuji threw down a third card that expanded in a bright red light. "Time to break out the big guns! BAKUGAN BRAWL! Fear Rippper! Stand!" The ball popped open and soon a massive humanoid monster with gigantic razor sharp clouds appeared on the card in front Cole.

[Pyrus Fear Ripper 340Gs]

'So this is his final bakugan? Well I'm ready to end things here so there's no use wasting anymore time. I better go all out.' Cole thought as he fished a black and purple ball from his pocket. "Time to bring out my Ace! BAKUGAN BRAWL!" Cole let the marble fly past Yuuji's Fear Ripper and landing safely on Cole's own gate card. "Siege STAND!" The ball popped open and summoned a massive humanoid creature with purple skin and black knights armor and helmet carrying a long spear with a serrated blade tip.

[Darkus Siege 350Gs]

"NIce try! But I'm sick of your tricks and I'm not falling for them anymore! ABILITY CARD ACTIVATE! Grip and Rip!" Shuji through down a card that caused his Fear Ripper's claws to grow before he slammed them down onto Siege's gate card. Fear ripper began pulling Siege towards him, destroying Cole's gate card in the process. "This ability card will make it so you have to fight Fear ripper on his home turf and destroy your gate card in the process!" Once Siege was forced onto the Fear Ripper's card Shuji put his plan into action. "Gate Card OPEN! Firewall!" A circular wall of flames erupted around Fear Ripper and Siege as Shuji began to explain the cards' effects. "Firewall prevents you from using any ability cards that could affect your bakugan or destroy the gate car while giving pyrus bakugan a power boost."

[Fear Ripper 390Gs, Siege 350Gs]

"Do your thing Fear Ripper! Take him down!" Shuji declared as his crimson beast rushed forward and slashed Siege across the chest, reducing him to a useless beaten piece of plastic and sending Fear Ripper back to Shuji's hand. "So much for that advantage of yours, I hope you're ready to cause Fear Ripper and I are gonna tear you down! BAKUGAN BRAWL!" Shuji threw down his Fear Ripper once again landing it on his remaining empty gate card. "Your move kid, don't take too long!"

'Damnit! I didn't care so much about winning at first but this guy is really getting on my nerves. No way am I gonna let this jerk win.' Cole fanned out a few cards as he planned his next attack. 'But I have no idea what my next move is gonna be…' He began to fiddle with his cards, desperately hoping to find some kind of strategy. 'I don't have a Bakugan with me more powerful than Siege, I was planning to end this thing with him. Crap! It's my own damn fault for trying to rush things earlier but what should I use now? Robotallion? Terrorclaw? I need to throw down a new gate card first. This one!' Cole began to reach out for his chosen card but suddenly the one directly to the left of it began to glow a bright purple. "What the?" Cole muttered as he moved his hand over and grabbed the strange glowing card when there was a sudden flash of blinding light.

"HUUUHHH?!" Cole exclaimed. By the time his vision had returned it was clear he was no longer on the battlefield, he stood alone on a pile of stone rubble in a strange place with a purple sky. He was surrounded by crumbling statues, some of which were had crumbled to the point where they were unrecognizable but those that were still detailed enough to make out looked strikingly like Bakugan. "Where the hell am I?" Cole looked around, too afraid too frightened to move from that spot when suddenly his card began glowing once again, even more intensely than before. "What's going on?!" Cole cried out as another fait glow began emanating from his pocket that he did not see, being too distracted by the card. Before long there was another blinding flash.

"WOAAAHHHHH!" Cole cried out before suddenly he was back on the battlefield standing across from shuji. "Seriously… What!?"

"Hey Blondie! Are you gonna take your turn or what?!" The rotund boy called out impatiently.

Cole took a moment to pat himself down before confirming the fact that he was really where he thought he was. 'Jeez, am I hallucinating or something? I must've been seriously overworked but that kid is right. Time to end things.' "GATE CARD SET!" Cole threw down a purple card next to Shuji's Fear Ripper cole the fished out a small black and purple orb from his pocket this one with strange, more intricate colors and patterns than his previous ones. "BAKUGAN BRAWL! Leonidas! Stand!" Cole cried out but something felt wrong. 'What's a Leonidas, how do I know that name.' Cole didn't have much time to think as his bakugan appeared on the field.

It was a creature neither brawler had ever seen before a beast with a humanoid body but a dragon's head wings and tail, the creatures body was black with his claws and wings sporting purple highlights along with a massive purple horn protruding from its head. "RAAARRRGGGHHHH!" The beast screamed but rather than an animalistic roar it sounded almost like a battle cry.

[Darkus Leonidas 390Gs]

"390 Gs!" Shuji exclaimed. "I've never seen a bakugan with a power level that high, not even Dan's Dragonoid. What the hell is a Leonidas anyway? I've never heard of that bakugan before!" Cole didn't have an answer himself, he was just as surprised as his foe when the strange dragon appeared. "Whatever it doesn't matter, G power doesn't decided the winner on its own and I thought you'd know by now but that hiding out on your gate card isn't gonna work against fear ripper! Ability ACTIVATE! Grip and Rip!" Shuji repeated the move from before pulling Leonidas onto the Fear Rippers gate card. "Gate Card open! Character!" The card opened revealing a picture of a fear ripper underneath and the Pyrus Bakugan's power was doubled.

[Fear Ripper 680Gs, Leonidas 390Gs]

"Now! Finish things Fear Ripper!" Shuji declared as his Bakugan charged forward.

"Not so fast!" Cole declared as he grabbed hold of a card. "ABILITY ACTIVATE! Dark Thunder Bolt!" Coel through the card up into the air summoning a massive amount of clouds overhead, Leonidas raised his hand to the sky and bolts of purple lightning began to collect there forming a spear composed of lightning which Leonidas proceeded to throw down onto the gate card. "This ability completely destroys your gate card along with its effect!" Cole explained as the lightning made contact with the character card, shattering it and weakening Fear Ripper.

[Fear Ripper 340Gs]

"No way…." Shuji Muttered in the face of his inevitable defeat.

"Now finish this thing Leonidas! Ability Activate! ALPHA BLASTER!" Cole threw down another card and purple energy began to build in Leonidas' mouth. "Now blow him away! End it!"

"With pleasure…" The black and purple beast muttered getting Cole's eyes to widen.

'Did it just say something?... No way… Now I'm hearing things…' Cole decided as Leonidas let his attack fly.

"NOOOO!" Shuji cried out as Fear Ripper was overwhelmed by dark energy and another blinding flash of light filled the battlefield.

(Real world)

When the light faded the two boys were returned to the sidewalk in front of Cole's hotel and time resumed as normal. Shuji had collapsed onto his knees with his Fear Ripper lying on the ground next to him in its ball form. Of all the boys gathered there the short red haired boy was the first to speak. "What? You lost?! Again!?"

"Shut it Akira! It's not my fault!" Shuji declared as he scooped up his bakugan and ran away, the orange haired boy following close behind him. "Pyrus is a stupid attribute anyway! I'm never gonna use it again!" Those were his last words before he fled the area leaving Cole alone to stare at the strange ball who had won him the battle.

'I've never seen a Bakugan like this before.' Cole thought as he examined the mysterious orb. 'No way my sister would give me such a powerful Bakugan, she's generous but she wouldn't give me anything that could possibly beat her. Those ability cards were strange too.' Cole lifted the strange ball up to get a better look at it. "Just where did you come from?"

"Does it matter?" A deep growling voice emitted from the ball getting the human's eyes to grow wide before releasing his grip out of fear. Rather than falling to the ground like your traditional plastic toy the ball popped open and levitated. "I like the way you fight, you don't waste time and you don't show mercy." The strange ball continued to talk moving its plastic head and appendages as it spoke. "I've heard that in this world in order for a Bakugan to battle they must partner themselves with a human. So how would you like to form such a partnership?"

Cole didn't say anything, he simply stared at the strange creature floating in front of him until his mouth finally moved to speak. "y-y-YOU CAN TALK!"

(End/ authors notes)

Quarantine has been weird, the other day my roommate and I busted out the old Wii and played the original Bakugan Battle Brawlers video game. I remembered just how big bakugan was when I was a kid and that inspired me to write this. No idea if I'll continue this story or not but if y'all like it and let me know you do in the review section I'll definitely think about it.