Episode 10: The Season Begins

[Noland Hardy]

As the more experienced competitive brawler out of the three, Tank had suggested that they practice in a mainstream location as the Subterra Bakugan finish the reconstruction of their battle arenas since there would be plenty of opportunities to scout the strength of other teams. When asked on what it was, Tank said that the best place to practice would be the Sports and Learning Complex that is located near FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, which is the stadium for the Washington Redskins. Noland willingly complied with this notion and traveled there with his teammates. He was surprised to find an expansive space for everything ranging from track and field, swimming, gymnastics, and more. The brawling areas surprised him the most; they were the best arenas that he had ever seen and believed they easily destroyed the quality of the ones they had at school. 

Coincidentally, they arrived at the same time Markus did, and he brought his teammates along with him to support him. Noland was shocked to find out that Allen was one of them, which unexpectedly renewed their rivalry with each other. Their third member was a female with the Aquos attribute named Karen. While Allen revealed that while she was nothing compared to Alana, she was still capable of holding her own against opponents like himself. Noland countered this by praising Tracy's prowess, believing that she could one day surpass the bar they've already set; he wanted to place the Colts, if Tank desired for that name to continue to have relevance, on a higher pedestal than what Markus and Allen were doing. The two rival teams ended their confrontation on the simple fact that everything will be decided once they cross paths in the competition, and parted ways with the knowledge that they would meet again soon.

They didn't see the end of each other until they entered the field house set aside for Bakugan brawling. Despite the area being packed with a lot of teams, Noland was able to find a suitable area for them to do what they needed to do. They took their space and began to warm up for the workout they were going to do that day. Markus took his teammates near Noland's in order to pay them close attention. Karen had a different approach and disregarded Markus's plan completely; she summoned her guardian Bakugan, Aquos Mystic Elico, that contained the power of an attribute change. The Bakugan changed its attribute to Pyrus, shot multiple blasts at other teams, and quickly returned to ball form before anyone saw him. Assuming that Noland was responsible for this since they thought he would get a big head over beating a champion, they moved in to attack him. Tank, who saw this happen, cursed Markus for placing them in their situation and promised him he was going to make him pay once they dealt with this multitude. Markus did not agree with what Karen did and pulled her to the side to question her motives, and she simply responded that this was the best way to figure out their strength since she figured they would win the battle anyway if they are as strong as they claim to be. Allen was tempted to help Noland out of this situation, but figured that he wouldn't need any help since he already had a clear understanding of how much power Noland had, and didn't think this many brawlers would make a difference in the result.

Noland, Tank, and Tracy threw Cinder Dragonoid, Gladion, and Skystar into battle to face what appeared to be more than thirty Bakugan. Noland was the coordinator of their entire battle strategy. Since their opponents understood Drago to be a prominent threat, they targeted him first, which was good for Noland since he wanted to spread them out. With their sights set on Drago, they unknowingly disregarded how threatening Gladion was as he began to eliminate their ranks progressively by attacking them from behind while Drago kept luring them towards him. While Drago and Gladion were busy tackling the majority of the enemies, Skystar was left with the fewest number of brawlers who greatly underestimated her. The leader of that group appeared to be Rejii Amerson who believed that this was going to be an easy fight and insisted that he deals with her by himself. Tracy and Skystar were more then prepared to prove how much of a mistake that was by proclaiming that he would have needed the help of his friends.

[Tank Stryker]

"Keep them on you, Hardy!" Tank commanded, mostly out of habit, as he swiped a card through his BrawlX, "This is like hitting the broad side of a barn! Ability Activate! Weapons Cache - Crossbow!"

A portal opened above Gladion as he backpedaled away from the multitude of enemies. Dropping his Gladius into a portal below him, Gladion grabbed the crossbow and took aim at a few enemies. As if it were a machine gun, Gladion began firing bolts at the enemies approaching Drago, defeating them in quick succession as the bolts hit their targets.

"Double consecutive Ability, activate!" Tank yelled, swiping another card, "Weapons Cache - Handaxes plus Special Ability, Art of Battle - Air Strike!"

Putting the crossbow on his back, two portals opened above Gladion as he jumped into the air. Grabbing the two handaxes, Gladion threw them into the backs of two bakugan, defeating them soundly as Gladion grabbed his crossbow once again, releasing a volley of bolts before landing on the ground next to his twin axes. Gladion repositioned the crossbow on his back and grabbed the two handaxes once again, twirling them in his hands as he scanned the area around him for his next targets.

"Alright, Hardy!" Tank called to Noland, "You want to show these guys what you're made of?"

[Reiji Amerson]

"Ah well, looks like Tracy has her hands free. Lets keep'em company, Awkwanoid!" Awkwanoid Replies "Lets hit'em hard Rejii! Awkwanoid charges at Skystar full speed ready to strike. Rejii Shouts, "Special Ability Activate! Atlantic Tide!" Two large beams of blue shoot out of the ground, launching Awjornoid and Awtomnoid, they both say. "Whoohoo! Let's knock em out!" Awkwanoid Replies, "Yeah."

The three bakugan knock all opposing bakugan out of the way, they are rushing for Skystar. Rejii says "Alright now, Skystar is right ahead, get em!" Rejii looks at Tracy, "Oh, I'm going be taking down that weak bakugan of yours, and show you true power. You and your Skystar have nothing on me." Rejii glares at Tracy waiting for her to prepare for a counter attack against the three Bakugan Rejii has in control.

[Tracy White]

Just a little prank made by a girl on Noland made a huge army of opposing brawlers. Tank and Noland were kept company by majority of the opposing brawlers while Tracy, thought to be weak, was kept company by a guy she had seen before, named Rejii. Without hesitation, Rejii summoned forces to combine with his bakugan, Awkwanoid. They all sped, knocking out the few bakugans that tried to defend Skystar and Tracy, proceeding to knock out Skystar. "You think you can just take Sky out with just one move? Think again." Tracy stepped forward, taking her battle stance. She drew a card from her pocket and placed it on her gauntlet yelling, "Ability card activate! Takedown!" Skystar crossed her arms, her body glowing yellow, and within seconds, clones of Skystar were formed. "Looks like your little jovial puppets are in for some battle confrontation!" Tracy then pointed her finger towards the incoming opposing force and commanded, "Charge!!!" Immediately, all Skystars charged up powerful energy beams and unleashed them at the incoming horde of bakugans. "Taste that!"

[Reiji Amerson]

Rejji smirks and he begins to reach down for his pocket. "Nice play, nice play; but don't think I'm gonna be letting you have your way around here, Imma give ya something to look forward to! Ability Activate!" Rejii hand flashes wish blue and he raises his hand. "Mirage Puddle! I just gave Awkwanoid a big boost, I doubled his power so your Skystar is lacking in strength to my Awkwanoid!" Awkanoid begins to shout. "That felt good! Let's see what Skystar has to think about it." Awkwanoid dashes out at the speed of sound plunging himself toward Skystar. Rejii shouts "Alright now Awkwanoid! Hit with all ya got! Awkwanoid's gonna hit Skystar so hard you're gonna feel it Tracy!" Rejii sits there laughing at Tracy, waiting for Awkwanoid to hit. Awkwanoid is in range with Skystart he has both of his feet facing Skystar ready to hit. Awkwanoid Shouts.
"Take this!"

[Tracy White]

With some of the opposing bakugans out of the way, Tracy could now focus on Awkwanoid. Rejii wasn't ready to give up just yet. Instead, he decided to charge at Skystar again. Not knowing what would happen, Rejii relaxed and waited for Awkwanoid to deliver the punch. Tracy didn't even care a bit about what Awkwanoid was about to do. She just chuckled. As Awkwanoid made the hit, Rejii was shocked to see that the bakugan Awkwanoid hit just turned into pixie dust.
"Shocked, eh? You should be. Thanks to Takedown, the bakugan you just hit wasn't the real Skystar. It was a clone!" Tracy then stepped back to think of the next move. "Give up now, Rejii. You've lost this battle."
Pulling out a card and placing it on her gauntlet, Tracy yelled, "Ability card activate! Indigo Slash!" As this card came into action, more clones of Skystar appeared. This time, bigger and more powerful. "Let's see if you can stand this," Tracy said.

The battle continued as all Skystars entered in stances that meant war. And at the command of Tracy, they all dispersed to various directions, equipped with an unphatomable energy, and using their maces to take out the remaining hordes of bakugans. With all the Skystars fighting, the real Skystar was left to face Rejii's Awkwanoid. "Hope you have enough strength to accept your fatal defeat, Rejii, 'cos your little puppet is going down." Tracy then looked at Skystar and asked, "Sky, are you ready to finish this?" In reply, Skystar said, "I always will." "Alright, Skystar. Attack!!" With a loud roar, Skystar sped towards Awkwanoid and jumped up, a few metres away from her target. Skystar held up her mace while in the air, with an agressive strength, coming down on Awkwanoid. "You should be ashamed that a girl is outpowering you, Rejii. Give up, or taste what lies ahead of you," Tracy pulled out another card and held it up, ready for a chain attack. "Your pick."

[Reiji Amerson]

Standing is amazement Rejii says, "Ha! now don't think it'll be that easy! Ready Awkwanoid? Let's see how they like this! Now take this combo! Ability Activate! Attribute Merge! I just changed Skystar into Aquos! Now let's give Awkwanoid a boost now! Ability Activate! Aquos Chain! Awkwanoid just gained power from Skystar and Himself being Aquos!"

Skystar finally comes down on Awkwanoid with her mace, but it useless. Rejii says with sarcasm "Shocked eh? your Skystar just gave Awkwanoid strength for being Aquos, so in short. AWKWANOID IS BACK ON TOP! hit hard Awkwanoid!" Awkwanoid replies, "With pleasure!" Awkwanoid grabs Skystar by the arms and throws her across the arena into the air. "Now that, that's a Skystar!" Rejii said. 

"Come now Tracy, I know I should place my manners for a lady, but you asked for it! Wanna play with the boys, Ya gonna get dirty. Now let's see what you can do now Tracy."

[Tracy White]

With a loud thud, Skystar hit the ground, forming a shallow crater with smoke rising. "Pathetic! You actually believe I'm a lady? Oh yeah, I'm a lady, but when it comes to a fight, I'm ruthless." The smoke began to clear, Skystar becoming visible. "Looks like you went for the second option. Tsk Tsk Tsk. Get ready for what I promised." Tracy then placed the card she pulled out on her gauntlet and yelled, "Ability card activate!" throwing the card at Skystar who is becoming more visible, "Sparkling Field!" A yellow aura formed around Skystar, an aura that is coupled with flames, never seen before. This aura began to form gently, coily whips, which coiled round her. Skystar then thomped a feet on the ground. The thomp triggered a force field that was created and accompanied by forceful gust of winds that blew Awkwanoid back. "You should be shocked again by the amount of power Sky possesses. Just watch, this is my favorite part," Tracy said. With her mace transformed into a wand, Skystar was able to create a magical rainbow-like enery pathway that linked Sky and Awkwanoid together. Slowly, energy from Awkwanoid was transferred through that energy pathway. "This is what you get for making fun of Sky!" Tracy yelled. To speed up the energy transfer, Tracy threw an unrevealed card at Skystar. The card wrapped Skystar in flames, boosting her power and potential in battle. Due to the constant power loss, Awkwanoid got weaker and weaker by the second, increasing Sky and Tracy's chance of quick victory.

[Reiji Amerson]

As Awkwanoid is almost tapped out all of his energy, he says. "Now Rejii I know you aren't gonna let us be defeated so easily, GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME!" Rejii replies, "Right, let's see if Skystar can take power with this card!" Rejii grabs a card and reaches his hand up. "Ability Activate! Solid Bubble!" Awkwanoid reaches his hands out and says, "Now that's what I like" "I knew ya would, see Tracy with Solid bubble Awkwanoid power can't be drained oh and of course, it makes a dandy shield too! haha!" Rejji said. "But, Rejii. That fire about Skystar-"Rejii jumps in "I feared that too, I hope your sheild can stop whatever attack that fire can do. Watch yourself out there Awkwanoid." Awkwanoid replies, "Right". Rejii looks to Tracy, "Now let's see what Skystar is really made of, you're either gonna win and be a Star! or lose and make this Awkward, your choice." Rejii points off to Tracy waiting for her next move. "Now once more show me what you got!" Rejii shouted.

[Tracy White]

"I can smell victory here. It's so... refreshing." Tracy was already so confident that she was going to win. "You see, the card I threw on Sky was actually a kinda forbidden ability; it has a very powerful effect. I knew from the start that you were not as tough as you looked. I think it's time to end this." The looks on Awkwanoid, Sky, Rejii and Tracy became tense. It was as if the battle came to a halt. Just then, Tracy pulled out what seemed to be her signature move and placed it on her gauntlet. "The finishing touch," Tracy yelled, "Special ability activate! Streaming Steel!" Still engulfed in flames, Skystar's body became as solid as a rock and her mace transformed in two shining swords. With one single super-speed dash, Skystar penetrated into the shield Awkwanoid formed and BAM! Awkwanoid was sliced with the swords and returned to ball form, landing on Rejii's feet. Skystar also returned to her ball form and landed on Tracy's feet, with everything dying down. Both of them picked up their bakugans; Rejii was sad and Tracy, smiling. "I told ya, lazy boy! I'm ruthless. Now, scram!" Tracy yelled, starring at Rejii.

[Reiji Amerson]

Responding in sadness, Rejii "Huh, better luck next time huh. You've got lucky this time Tracy, so LUCKY! Awkwanoid goes to Rejii's shoulder "Eh, at least you gave a good fight. And when you said that's a Skystar? That was hilarious! Don't beat yourself up over this Rejii. Some as cocky as you do have their bad days every now and then. I don't know to call you Conceded or Prideful, let's just say prideful for now." Rejii replies "Yeah, thanks man. We did do okay and maybe I was just off Yaknow? but defeat is defeat, High five?" Rejii raises his hand and Awkwanoid flies to Rejii hand. "High five" Awkwanoid said. Rejii smacked Awkwanoid to hard and Awkwanoid hit the ground. "Sorry Bro!" Rejii said. "Ughh, Shut up! Get back!"Awkwanoid Shouted. "Come on man it was an accident!" Rejii said. "Sure every time huh?"Awkwanoid said, Rejii smirked and Awkwanoid returned to his shoulder.

[Noland Hardy]

Drago was continuously flying around, being as elusive as possible while Gladion defeated those who were on his tail. As he observed Gladion thinning their numbers using his handaxes, Noland realized that it was no longer necessary to battle cautiously since there were only around 15 Bakugan left in the group. "Great job, Gladion," Noland commended. "We'll deal with the rest. Don't be in range of this attack though." He pulled out a card and swiped it on his gauntlet. "Ability activate! Blaze Tornado!" Noland shouted as he pulled out another card secretly. Drago immediately did a 360 degree turn and flew directly at his attackers in a fiery tornado. As he began to hit a few of the Bakugan, Drago revealed his cocky personality and stated, "I guess there was a reason why you all attacked in a group."

The Dragonoid defeated 5 Bakugan with that attack while the stragglers in the back were able to avoid it by jumping to the side. The brawlers began to mock Noland with remarks slandering his aim. Noland blocked it out and knew that he wasn't intending on getting all of them with that ability. "You failed to land a single hit on Drago, and now you want to insult my aim? Don't flatter yourselves. You won't survive long enough to attempt to aim another attack," Noland responded since this next attack was going to seal the deal as he revealed the card he pulled out earlier. "Ability activate! Meteor Strata!" While still surrounded in the tornado, Drago flew upwards to get a good view over the area. As soon as he reached where he wanted to go, he dispersed the ability and looked downwards as he charged an attack in his mouth. "I never thought it would be this easy," Noland said as Drago launched a volley of superheated fireballs in the size of meteors. The attack caused massive explosions across the entire area and sent all of his opponent's Bakugan back into ball form, which returned to their owners smoking.

"Was this supposed to be a training ground or is our competition really this weak?" Noland asked Tank.

[Tank Stryker]

Tank grabbed Noland's shoulder and forcibly turned him to face Tank.

"Don't get cocky, kid," Tank said, his voice dead serious, "It's one thing for me to, since I've actually BEEN in the circuit for more than five minutes, but you've gotta look good. That means no trash talking after you've defeated your opponents. This isn't one of your vigilante brawls. People actually get to see these."

Gladion returned to ball form and returned to Tank's hand. He put Gladion on his shoulder and gestured to Tracy and Rejii's battle.

"Don't interfere, Hardy," Tank said calmly, "Let her show her merit. She's gotta prove she belongs here."

[Noland Hardy]

Noland was surprised to hear Tank scold him for being overconfident, but he realized that what he was saying was the truth. Competitive brawling was an entirely different playing field as opposed to fighting various villains in the nation. Noland didn't seem to come to terms with that fact yet since he believed his experience in life or death situations would already place himself higher than his competition, but Tank assured him that it won't make a difference if he is not in the correct mindset. "..." Noland wanted to say something in response to that, but there was nothing to say; he was in the wrong, and there was nothing he could say to change that. "You're right," Noland said in acceptance of his wrongdoing. "It's a bad habit of mine. I'll work on it."

Tank must have read Noland's mind as he instructed him to leave Tracy on her own. Noland intended on helping Tracy deal with the remaining battlers, but Tank insisted that she remains alone in order for her to prove herself. Having already been beaten on one issue, Noland was not going to press his luck on this one, and decided to leave her be as Tank requested. "If that's what you want, I'll..." Noland paused as Drago kept tapping him with his tail to get his attention. He turned his head and looked at Drago who was staring toward the entrance. "You say people actually get to see these," Drago said to Tank. The Bakugan observed multiple figures in uniform walk toward the fieldhouse as if they were summoned there. "Were they supposed to see this?" Drago asked.

[Tank Stryker]

Tank squinted his eyes as he looked into the direction Drago pointed.

"We should go investigate," Gladion suggested.

"I was thinking the same thing," Tank agreed, his voice soft. Tank turned to face Tracy, "White!" Tank called, "Finish this guy off. Noland and I will be right back."

Tank swiveled around on his heels to face the other direction. He pointed with two fingers towards the hooded people. "Let's go," he commanded, "and get that Dragonoid back into ball form! Do you want to be spotted?"

Tank began to walk in the direction of the people, his guard up. Tank didnt want to fight, mainly to keep Gladion in top fighting condition, but knew he might have to. He turned his head back towards Noland. "Remember to keep low," Tank said, "Stay quiet, and make no attacks without being attacked first." Tank turned his head back to its original position.