Prologue: "Hero" or "Villain"

[Noland Hardy]

I was ecstatic for the 28th of August to pass by in order to celebrate my 10th birthday. This age was significant in our society as it gave us a rite of passage; we could officially be referred to as brawlers from that day forward. This was the day that I had the privilege of experiencing one of the new rising stars in the sports genre: Bakugan brawling. I've always watched battles from the sidelines while daydreaming of what it would be like to be in their shoes, and now was the perfect time to find that answer as my father approached me with a red sphere in his hand. I took it from his hand and embraced the bakugan as if we had been friends for a long time. I had high hopes for my long time dream of becoming what my dad was: a legendary brawler.

There were definitely high expectations of my overall development by my family and friends considering my dad already being regarded as a hero; he was praised for his legendary prowess on a national level after he bravely fought against aliens that were somewhat pale in color. I was expected to be just as strong as my dad was as a child. The proving ground was finally set for me on the day of my first battle. I will never forget that on August 28, 2007, I brawled another boy my age for my very first brawl. My dad allowed me to choose one bakugan from his collection to borrow when I received my first one. I chose the Pyrus bakugan that was samurai-like because I thought he looked the coolest. He didn't let me use his main bakugan, who was a fierce dragon, because he didn't think I was ready to handle a bakugan with that much power at my level of experience. My dad told me secretly that the bakugan I chose was a bakugan he didn't really use much, and admitted that he wasn't able to use it effectively; nonetheless, I used it in battle and shocked everyone as it completely wrecked my opponent. My teachers were shocked at how well I was able to control it at such a young age. Even my dad was shocked at what I was capable of. As an extra birthday present, he allowed me to keep it. Now I had a guardian bakugan to call my own.

[Noland Hardy]

Although my performance was enough for others to consider me a potential prodigy, my father wanted to make something very clear with me before I participated in any more battles. He began telling me that Bakugan were sentient beings who had a voice just like we do, and we should listen to what they have to say. I found it interesting that he decided to say it that way. Society has progressively gotten worse with the treatment of Bakugan. Some treat them as animals, and they forget that they are more than the tools involved in our combat sport. I understood what my dad was trying to communicate to me and knew that if these bakugan were used for evil purposes, the amount of power that they contain could easily scare humanity out of the fake reality they built for themselves. I was allowed to battle, but I had to always remember the purpose.

He decided to direct me on the right path, and I needed practice to do so. The brawling community was booming with community centers across the area that facilitated battle arenas for us to battle in. He saw this as an opportunity for me to practice battling other brawlers, so he recommended that I immerse myself into this community. I agreed to this and visited my local center often to participate in battles. It was there that I met one of my best friends back in elementary school, Allen Silva. He was a Subterra brawler who was powerful enough to be my equal; he was considered a prodigy just like I was. We constantly matched our bakugan against each other for friendly competition; it was a bakugan of the Gorem species vs mine. Surprisingly, every engagement we've had resulted in a draw, which was a nice spectacle for the other kids. As I continued to do this, I noticed one girl watching us who was distant from every one else; she seemed a bit nervous, so I approached her to see what was going on. She revealed her name, Alana Cortese, and playfully said that we were both intimidating with the amount of power we had and wished she was just as strong as we were. Although she made it seem like she was joking, I could tell she meant what she said by her behavior. We offered to spend time with her to see what she was capable of and if her strength can rise. This was the start of the bond we had with each other.

[Noland Hardy]

We each became leaders to our peers through our methods; the way we were battling was bringing everyone together instead of separating them. Everyone was committed to getting stronger and forming lasting bonds through a common interest: Bakugan brawling. Our example of what battling should be could have potentially made the brawling community a better place if everyone had the intention to use Bakugan for only good deeds. Who wouldn't be aware of what we could accomplish with these creatures? A smart individual would not be surprised that criminals would make use of the Bakugan's destructive powers to aid them in their evil endeavors. Bakugan crimes have increased; this caused more laws to be passed to account for them. One such law subjects the offender to the death penalty for intentional infliction of injury or death by the user's Bakugan. As I began to research these situations, I began to look for some interesting facts to see if there was anything done to deter people from doing this. I kept looking, but I did not find satisfactory results. Something was definitely missing in these atrocities.

Suddenly, an unforgivable crime was committed in the streets. According to a witness, a young boy was walking home one day from the community center when an older man approached him. Some words were exchanged between the two briefly, and then disaster struck. The stranger summoned his Bakugan and ordered it to attack the innocent boy. The boy tried to defend himself by throwing in his own Bakugan, but it was quickly defeated. When the attacker realized that it wasn't going to have any more resistance, it brutally battered the young boy into oblivion, left the body on the side of the road, and left with it's user before anyone could have a chance to stop it.

That event had a huge impact on everyone in our center. There were discussions I overheard that started to bother me on the same level as the death of one of our own; they doubted whether it was the smartest choice to have these "weapons" by our side. I somewhat agreed with the fact that everyone does not deserve to weild one, and that those who violate the sanctity of our community should be brought to justice. A thought immediately appeared in my mind as I thought that; that is what was missing in those crimes. The criminal activity kept going up because the law enforcement was not doing what I believe they should have done, which was to make those responsible pay with their lives. Unfortunately, the criminals were too strong for them to be contained, so they could usually do what they chose to do. I had enough of them running the streets. It was time for something to be done about it.

[Noland Hardy]

A meeting was called to order the following day by the manager of the facility to talk about what we should be doing to be safer in the community. I didn't think this was the proper step to make it better. Although I understood why this was being done, I believed that we've all done enough running from the issue and it was time to deal with them instead of avoiding them. I did not pay too much attention to the message. I was more concerned about what I was going to do to end this nightmare. I knew Allen, Alana, and my dad wouldn't be on board with this plan, but someone had to do it. I decided to be a lone wolf and take the fight to the criminals.

One thing I had to understand was that I would have to break the law to ensure the safety of everyone else. Using Bakugan outside of arenas was illegal for civilians; I would be labeled a criminal without criminal intent. It wasn't much of a concern to me though. As far as I was concerned, law enforcement did not have the right to say I can't defend myself or others. I waited until the evening to make my move, and I kept the operation to myself.

I decided to hang out on the same street where the murder took place to start off. I was a rather impatient guy, so I got frustrated after waiting there for thirty minutes. When I was prepared to go home, I suddenly felt a vibration. I was suspecting a Bakugan stood nearby. I rushed to the isolated alleyway where I tracked the activity, and a similar situation to last night was taking place right before my eyes. Someone was about to die.

[Noland Hardy]

The attacker's Bakugan had a brief scuffle against the victim's Bakugan. As I expected, the attacker won the battle and was prepared to deal the finishing blow to the unsuspecting kid. In the blink of an eye, I threw my Bakugan at the attacker to intercept. With a series of quick slashes, my Bakugan defeated the attacker. The criminal was also struck by the attacks, and was left in a bloody pool on the pavement. Before I had a chance to say anything, the victim ran away. Since I knew the battle couldn't have gone unnoticed, I left the scene before the authorities arrived and tucked away in the confines of my home.

Allen and Alana were eager to tell me something the following afternoon. I was a bit scared that they were going to tell me how disappointed they were in me if they found out what I did last night. It turned out to be an interesting turnaround. They actually were involved in an attack just like I was, and we each had similar results that ended with the criminals in critical condition if they weren't already dead. We turned on the news and watched a report on the fiasco. One criminal had multiple cuts and burns, which was most likely my doing. There was another who had nearly all of his bones shattered, which should be Allen's fault. The last one had a severe case of frostbite, which had to be Alana's work.

The reporter had an interesting take on the situation. She put the criminals to shame by accusing them of terrorizing the community. This gave them their common reference: terrorists. There were mixed feelings about what we did to deal with them, but they commended those who were brave enough to resist these cruel acts. They called us resistors. The three of us looked at each other and could tell each other's resolution. If resisting means that we combat these criminals to make this area a better place when everyone else is too scared and weak to do so, we would gladly take that title.

[Noland Hardy]

The fight against the terrorists could have definitely been compared to a war. The three of us may have been the first people to actually do something about them, but we were definitely not alone. Many others supported our cause within the community and provided plentiful backup if we were ever pushed to a corner. The assistance was well-received considering the fact that the criminals liked to perform guerrilla operations since our numbers were obviously higher. I couldn't avoid giving them credit: they were smarter and more tactical than we were. Since Allen, Alana, and myself were the main ringleaders of our group, we were often the targets. They wanted to eliminate us since they knew we were the strongest, and no one else would be left to combat them effectively. This lasted for about a year until we devised a plan to end them, but by that time, the law enforcement caught on to our identities. It was in our best interest that we used the police to our advantage. By that time, the criminals had caused so much trouble that even they had no problem with what we were doing.

We wanted to finish the war in one well-planned attack on their main base of operations, so their leaders were our target. We've noticed that there have been groups dispatched to steal Bakugan from people in the streets to fortify their army. This was our first stop. With the help of the police officers, we placed a GPS tracking device that was specifically built to track the location of the Bakugan it was attached to. We gave the Bakugan to an officer who volunteered as bait. A group soon showed up to make their rounds, so it was the perfect opportunity to battle them. The officer challenged them and threw the match on purpose in order for the Bakugan to be taken. When they left with the Bakugan they were going to take, they decided to take it back to their headquarters; this was a fatal mistake by those goons. We allowed them to return to their base and found the three leaders behind the entire thing. Without delay, Allen, Alana, and I stormed the hideout with our backup and confronted the three leaders. Although they proved themselves to be a challenge, we were able to defeat them and have them arrested. This ended their crime regime and restored the sanctity that we once knew.

Throughout this struggle, Alana and I have become closer than we were since we started hanging out with each other. It was to the point where we were starting to like each other; however, since we were young at the time, it wasn't mistaken for a full-blown boyfriend/girlfriend relationship since we were ignorant to those things. I couldn't recall a time where we weren't interested to see how the other person was doing. It seemed like we matched each other perfectly in the "honeymoon" phase of our friendship.

With the war ending and a new potential girlfriend, I was in a happy place in my life. There was still one issue I wasn't too delighted about. As I've said, the law enforcement helped us beat the criminals, and our efforts were praised on the news with them calling us heroes. I thought about what my dad was going to do to me once I got home. I knew that he wasn't going to approve of risking my life especially at this age. I just knew I was busted big time. Eventually, I gathered the courage to walk in there and was prepared to receive any punishment that was bound to make its way to me, but I received the opposite. My dad was actually excited to see that I was being a hero just as he was when he was younger. I wanted to crack the biggest smile I've ever made. If you haven't experienced the feeling of a legendary hero, who is also your dad, calling you a hero, you may want to do something heroic soon; there was nothing like this feeling of accomplishment. I didn't get off easy since I fought criminals without his consent, and he reminded me that while being a hero isn't wrong, I shouldn't fight battles that are "above" me. I wasn't sure what he could have meant by that statement, but I would soon realize what type of battle he was talking about.

[Noland Hardy]

Following my 11th birthday, conversations started to become a little dark. The teachers were aware of our actions in combating the terrorists and were concerned with how far we were willing to go just like my dad was. This caused them to alter some of their lesson plans to discuss these matters with us to stress how dangerous it was to place ourselves in this position. They referenced a well-known event that occasionally opened the eyes of many across our nation regardless of it taking place seven years ago. They talked about the battle that happened on September 11, 2001, which is commonly referred to as 9/11, one of the most tragic attacks on American soil. I remembered every detail about this battle since it was the reason why my father was a legend. An unknown alien race attacked in unison with al Qaeda, a terrorist organization. Fortunately, the latter did not use Bakugan in their operation since the ones that were present on this planet did not want anything to do with what they were plotting. They made up for it by allying with these aliens, and they decided to target the President of the United States. My dad thwarted their attempt to destroy us by defeating their leader, who was assumed to be an important figure in their society since he had a crown on his head. This drove them away and saved many lives in the process. Was this what my dad was speaking of when he told me not to fight battles that are "above" me? I assumed this was the case and felt a bit remorseful for how much I could have been stressing them. I listened to what they were telling me and avoiding doing any hero work for that time period in order to ease their worries. It has been a while since we battled for recreational purposes anyway; battling in serious situations was a thing of the past as far as we were concerned. 

The anniversary of my father's fight against the unknown was approaching. There were occasionally family gatherings on that day in remembrance of the fallen and to celebrate his heroic actions. It was being held at our house this year, so we were well prepared for it; however, there was definitely something we weren't prepared for as disaster struck. On September 11, 2008, we received a true experience of what 9/11 was. An armada of Bakugan descended onto our land with killer intent. They began to mindlessly demolish everything around them. We were all stunned to see this happen for the second time. I only wished this one was a reenactment of the events that occurred on that day seven years ago; no one wanted for this to be the real deal. 

This attack warranted the attention of our military. They began to fortify our defenses and confronted the threat professionally. My dad made the decision to personally confront the leader of this group, so he hopped onto his dragonoid's back and flew to the battleground. I was not as fortunate as he was to even think about joining him. I was ordered to stay at the house because he did not want me to participate in this battle. He showed how serious he was at preventing my movement by having some of the Bakugan in his collection stand guard around the house. This was a double-edged sword as this also compromised my position. Enemy Bakugan eventually realized they were standing guard at my house, so they began closing in to attack us. Once the guard's realized what was going on, they each told me not to move while they dealt with them. They fought valiantly, but barely won against the Bakugan who were experienced in warfare. Since I believed that my father had the strongest collection of Bakugan, it began to worry me that even they were struggling to match the aggressiveness of the enemy. I had to do something to help my dad as even he could be overwhelmed if he is not given the proper assistance. Since they were weakened, I commanded my Bakugan against them and took all of them out quickly as I made my way to the battlefield on its shoulders.

My movement did not go unnoticed as a swarm of Bakugan were coming towards me to erase me from existence. Before they had the chance to, they were frozen in their tracks by an Aquos Bakugan, and then broken into pieces by a Subterra Bakugan. I was hoping I would not see those two standing behind me when I turn around, but those hopes were crushed. I saw Allen and Alana ready to come along with me after being attacked at their own homes as well. I was not willing to get them involved in this and dismissed them, but they were insisting on coming with me. Allen made a statement relating to how we defeated the criminals as a team and explained that we should be doing this together. Alana agreed with him and said that this enemy was too powerful for someone to battle alone, and if anyone attacked one of us, they attacked all of us. I knew they weren't going to listen to me regardless of how many times I tried to get them to return home, so I did not bother to repeat myself. I continued to advance towards my destination with them behind me.

As we got closer to the heart of the enemy army, we each decided to eliminate as many of them as we could to minimize the casualties that kept increasing due to their presence. I finished dealing with the grunts that were attacking me while Allen and Alana were still occupied, so I left them there with them receiving the army's help. I eventually made my way to Capitol Hill where my dad was and discovered he was currently in a standoff between the man and woman across of him, who had crowns on their heads. Although my dad was not happy to see me there, I began to question if this was the same man that attacked us years ago since I remembered the details of the battle. The "king" answered my question with a sarcastic way of saying yes, and declared that he would not make the same mistake he made last time. He took out a card that had an interesting design to it; it had a skull of some sort on the cover. He threw it to the ground, and it sank. An energy wave was dispersed throughout the area, signalling that something has been changed. Suddenly, we looked around and saw some of the "king's" Bakugan defeating some of our own, and as this happened, a portal was opened that sucked them inside. He laughed maniacally and concluded that he would send every being on this planet into the "land of no return". We did not understand why he wanted to do this, but we didn't have to at the time. The time for talking was over a while ago; it was time to brawl.

My dad and I had a samurai and a dragonoid on our side while our enemy had dark counterparts to the dragonoid. As a less experienced brawler in comparison to my dad, I held my own pretty well against this formidable threat; I was able to fight on par with him as his teammate. We exchanged blows with the enemy countless times before we realized that they were just as powerful as we were. They attempted to break the stalemate by ordering reinforcements to our location. My dad did the same to match them; however, my experience dealing with the criminals has made me realize that our reinforcements were most likely going to be inferior to the combat prowess of our enemy, so I knew we were in trouble with the addition of their help and the effects of whatever was placed into the ground. There was one special unit on the field they called upon that they referred to as the "Fifth Paladin", which was comprised of five shielded Bakugan. They quickly took the advantage in the battle by defending against all of our attacks, enabling the two dark dragons to stage a devastating offensive on us. Although our defeat was imminent if we could not find a way around this dangerous pair of Bakugan, we were being as elusive as we could until Allen and Alana arrived to land a surprise attack on the Fifth, eliminating them all. My dad used this opportunity to eliminate both the lady and her Bakugan in the midst of the distraction. While it was a good thing those five were gone, it was to our own detriment since the king's dragon absorbed the power they left behind after their destruction.

He used this opportunity to strategically eliminate those who could impede his progress the most. Although he considered all of us dangerous, he went after my dad for obvious reasons; he was the bane of his existence, so it was only logical he would deal with him first. He sent a bolt of lightning that struck my dad's dragonoid, which defeated it. Instead of being sent back into ball form as he had not suffered enough damage to be destroyed, a portal was opened that was threatening to suck it inside; my dad was also being sucked into the portal due to him being in close proximity to it. To my dismay, the speed at which he was being sucked in was much faster due to him being much lighter, so he was already gone before the dragonoid could make it in. The king made remarks about how the legendary dragonoid would finally be erased from existence, and that the dragonoid line would have no hope of fulfilling the "prophecy". I had no idea what he was referring to by that statement, but I knew it had to be something as I observed my own Bakugan running towards the dragonoid and pulling him back. It stated that they could not afford to lose him, so it gave him as much of its power as it could, and it went into the portal in his place. The dragon landed back on the ground in ball form after being saved from certain doom. Without delay, the king was ready to strike his next victim. I was expecting Allen or myself since we were next in line for the strongest over there, but the choice was not to my expectations. In fact, his choice was a very strange one and it horrified me that he would even consider doing so. He targeted Alana's Bakugan because he did not want to be immobilized by its expertise with ice-related attacks; he feared that we stood a chance to match him if he were caught in it. The attack struck her Bakugan, and a portal was opened. Just like my dad went through the portal, so did she; the Bakugan followed shortly after.

At this point, I was emotionally devastated. In a short time frame of two minutes, three actions took place that tore me apart; I lost the first Bakugan I ever had, my dad, and Alana. I stood there motionless as tears began to drop, but I quickly realized there was still a threat on the field that was most likely going to target Allen next. Before he got the chance to do so, I rushed over to my dad's Bakugan and prepared to throw him back into the battle. As this happened, I felt like something in me was awakened; a certain power was just bestowed upon me that I could not fathom. I felt the presence of our reinforcements and the multitude of attributes that were near me; all six attributes were close to my position. My right hand began to glow with a mysterious aura as I held the dragon. I was beginning to suspect that this strange phenomenon was the dragon's doing. Just as the lightning bolt was about to strike Allen, I threw the dragon into battle and observed it change its color scheme into a rainbow color, and it intercepted the attack by dispersing it with the palm of his hand. With a serious look on my face, I was prepared to get revenge on this scoundrel.    

The battle commenced once again. I handled the rest of the battle by myself since Allen was now considered a liability with the enemy on this level of power; there was nothing more he could do to help without putting himself at risk. The king and I clashed continuously without any sign of mercy. Although his bakugan was souped up by the immense power it absorbed, it was not enough to contain the power the dragonoid absorbed nor was it capable of holding back our anger. In one final clash between the two involving streams of energy, the dark dragon was defeated in the power struggle and was ultimately destroyed along with the king and queen. The threat had been destroyed unlike the previous battle that took place years ago; the battle was won, but at a great cost.

Allen and I emerged as legends for being able to defeat such a terrifying opponent. I should have been excited that I was being recognized that way as that has always been a goal of mine, but a certain question kept popping up inside my head that made this turnout more depressing regardless of the victory: What are you willing to lose? I'd rather not have been such a brawler if I knew it was going to cost me three things I cared about the most. I considered it a defeat even though I won the battle. Nevertheless, the people praised our efforts. Allen was given the moniker "Iron Juggernaut" for his continuous resistance against a large portion of the army and still standing strong after taking so many hits. I was given the moniker "Master Blaze" in relation to the power that was used to deal with the leader and the way I was able to use my dad's Bakugan despite the fact I was not used to it. Their acts of kindness could never fill the void in my life. Those monikers they gave us were marks of shame in my opinion. I walked away from society and disappeared from the brawling community with my head hung down in despair, never to be the same person again.