Episode 4: Unwanted Visitors

[Tracy White]

"Oh, no." The sight of the multitude of different evil bakugans was so terrifying to the point that Tracy dropped to the ground with her knees. It was as if the world had come to an end. Skystar was down, Drago was down, Tigrerra was no where to be found and Gargonoid was on the ground. Tracy at this point, didn't know what to do. Skystar was amazed and speechless on the sight and appearance of the spawned bakugans. Out of desperation, Skystar stood up and struck a few of the bakugans with her mace but as she was hitting them, more were making their appearance. Tired again, Skystar began moving backwards, as the spawned bakugans were drawing closer. Tracy still astonished, looked at Noland with fear in her eyes. "What do we do now, Noland?" She asked. "This...is...un...be...liev...able." She stammered.

[Noland Hardy]

As Noland observed that many Bakugan emerging from that portal, he was almost tempted to doubt his and Tracy's chances of actually surviving this encounter. "I don't believe it..." Noland said in shock of a massive army being summoned on demand in that manner. Drago was already laid out on the ground after having his power and attribute taken away; it was due to this that his endurance began to drop severely. Noland couldn't ignore what he was feeling anymore; he was truly afraid of what was about to go down even though he didn't want to show it. He didn't allow this feeling to bring him down, but he allowed it to make him stronger.

Noland was well aware of Tracy's feelings towards the intimidating presence of an armada such as this, but he tried to keep her assured that things were going to be okay as long as their determination did not waver. "What we're going to do is fight," Noland responded. To reinforce how serious he was, he activated an ability in order to return their Bakugan up to full power. "Ability Breaker, activate!" Suddenly, a bright light surrounded both of their fallen Bakugan, restoring their powers and attributes in an instant. Drago rose to his feet once more and was prepared to fight one of the toughest battles up to this point. "Let's do this!" Drago roared.

Noland started to think ahead of his opponents and created a plan to effectively deal with all of them as soon as possible. "I'll distract them with this," Noland said to himself as he prepared to activate another ability. "Rapid Fire Takedown!" Drago spread his wings out as he spawned clones equal to the number of Bakugan he was up against, creating an entire army for himself to command; however, Noland was quite aware of the penalty for this mass production of Dragonoids. "Those clones aren't going to be as strong as Drago since he could only give that many clones so much," Noland noted in his head. All of the Dragonoids got into formation and began to declare their attacks. This was war.

[Daniel Andersen]

I didn't take Noland long to respond to incoming hordes of wild Bakugans. He immediately recovered powers of his Bakugans and created an army of Dragonoids.
Clones and wild Bakugans clashed causing a fierce battle and explosion in the air.

Daniel noticed fear in Noland's eyes and was bit scared himself as Belphenoid was a "creature of pandemonium" and was not able to be controlled properly.
Daniel never expected him to use such technique, but damage was already done, so he had to assist Belphenoid regardless of his disobedience towards direct orders.

"Sakura, it's time we use our rank two abilities..." said Daniel and gave Sakura a strict gaze.
Sakura nodded and responded: "Rank two...I've feared of this...Come on!"

Belphenoid hissed: "Gehenna Crimson Striker" and was engulfed with darkness which not just recovered him, but gave him powers above ones he had when he spawned all those wild Bakugans. Noland was impatient as he knew that Belphenoid could use another spawn with that power, but that did not happen. Belphenoid rushed towards Drago's clones crushing them one by one with his powerful claws and dark-fire breath.

"It's our turn, Sakura! Ability activate, rank two! Thunder Kick!" yawled Daniel while swipping a card through his gauntlet. Gauntlet started glowing in golden color while Sakura was empowered with some new kind of power no one had ever seen before. Daniel's left eye turned red from some reason and he started glowing in red.

Sakura rushed at enormous speed, passing by clones and wild Bakugans as they were not there. Then, like a mirage she appeared in front of Drago and yawled: "Incapable of physical struggle you said? Eat this, lizard!"
Sakura swiftly kicked Drago in the face sending him back several meters. Drago attempted to counter attack, but thunder-chains bind him completely and prevent him from movement. Sakura's wand disappeared as she approached and rapidly pummeled Drago with her fists in the belly. After several blows she made a thrust-kick in his face bringing him to his knees.

Sakura jumped back awaiting for Drago to counter attack while wild Bakugans continued with their countless raids at weakened Drago and his clones

[Noland Hardy]

"That was so wonderful, Sakura. You finally proved yourself to be of use to anyone," Noland said sarcastically. He clapped at Sakura's insistence on attempting to prove herself; nevertheless, Noland was already far ahead of his opponents while not worrying about anything Sakura just performed. "There's one of many things you lack, Sakura," Noland stated as the Drago struck by that attack began falling to the ground. "It's intelligence." The Drago fell to the ground and dispersed, revealing the fact that Sakura had simply used all of that power to defeat a false Dragonoid. "So you did underestimate me despite how things went before, eh? Noland questioned in reference to their past encounters."You're well aware that a mistake like that would cost you your life."

Belphenoid was going on a rampage using the ability Gehenna Crimson Striker; clones were being dispersed at a constant rate, which was a growing concern since Noland did not want the clones to disappear at the moment. In order to stop this, he pulled out an ability that Bel was quite familiar with. He gave a slight smirk at this tactic since the Bakugan had just made his own situation worse, and increased the chances of Noland's plan actually working. "Ability activate! Aegis Crusher!" All of the Dragonoids in the area were surrounded in a giant, orb-like barrier that began to absorb the power displayed through Belphenoid's attack, which began to wear down each time he attempted to pass through them without much effort.

"Do you regret suggesting for me not to hold back? It seems to me that you're only lagging behind when I do pick up the pace," Noland taunted as the ability's side effect kicked in; under the utilization of the power absorbed, Drago is capable of causing certain things he used to become even more powerful by infusing both his and his attacker's power. This is exactly what he did. He saved half of it for himself for future use, and the other half was used to essentially spawn nearly as many clones as he did the first time, dwarfing the current reinforcements Belphenoid had. All Dragonoids immediately fired gigantic streams of energy at the army and its two commanders, Sakura and Belphenoid.

[Tracy White]

Variations of bakugans kept coming out in hundreds and possibly thousands. The entire battle front was filled with them, drawing closer to Skystar and Drago. For a moment, it was as if Skystar and Drago were paralysed; they didn't move. Even Noland looked scared. Although, he didn't want to display it, one could tell. Tracy expressed her fear and what overwhelmed by the situation at hand. Noland tried to calm her down and assured her that nothing bad would happen. He motivated her saying, "We're in this to fight," but those didn't seem to enter her ears. If at all they did, they would come out through the other ear. Noland became battle focused as he used an ability to revive both Skystar and Drago's powers and attributes. Skystar got up ready to initiate a move on the command of Tracy who was now a bit encouraged, but before she could, Noland had already commanded Drago. "Hmmph!" Tracy reacted. "Does he think because I'm a girl I can't do anything? Even after he said we were going to fight this battle, he still didn't give me time to do anything," she said in a low tone.
The battle just began when Noland used the same card like hers on Drago; Rapid Fire Takedown. Upon usage, hundreds of clones in form of Drago appeared in the battle front and formed an army of Dragonoids who charged at the incoming hordes of bakugans. "Skystar could have done that you know," Tracy said to Noland.
Out of anger, Belphenoid grew bigger with stronger battle force. After acquiring this power, Belphenoid charged at Drago's clones, slashing and cutting through them in an instant. That wasn't all, Sakura got ready for her own attack and when she was, she sped through the clones and delivered punches to Drago. Happy, Sakura went back, waiting for a counter attack by Drago only to discover that the Drago she hit was a clone. Noland then used this as an opportunity to taunt Sakura.
As the whole move of Sakura took place, Belphenoid too was going about like a rampaging animal, destroying clones. Just then an energy surrounded all the remaining clones, shielding them and as an added bonus, as Belphenoid went on slashing and cutting, the clones absorbed power from the attacks. When a certain power was absorbed, they all charged up an enormous amount of energy and fired it at all the evil bakugans, together with their main leaders. "Don't take all the glory, Noland. Remember that Skystar and I are part of this!" Ready to use an ability, Tracy placed the card on her gauntlet. "Ability Card Activate! Takedown!" Clones of Skystars appeared and took their stances and charged up their own energy balls. "FIRE!" Tracy commanded. Immediately, all Skystars fired them.

[Daniel Andersen]

Clones of Drago were protected while Skystar's clones launched a powerful attack on Sakura, Belphenoid and wild raids. Belphenoid refused to stop attacking despite of that Drago's clones were protected and Sakura was irritated that she missed Drago.
"That is your tactic, Dragonoid?! Hiding behind your clone toys?" said Sakura with an obvious anger that Drago used his clones.
Belphenoid released a powerful roar that worked as a magnet and drawn several wild Bakugans into Skystar's blast to protect himself. He did not care a little bit for dying Bakugans he used to protect himself. Sakura used the situation to her aid and jumped behind Belphenoid to defend.


"Checkmate for your clones...Ability activate! Astral Shower!" said Daniel in cold and dark tone while swiping an ability through his gauntlet. Sakura rose her wand in the air when she started glowing in various colors blinding all opponents. Her magic created a shower of star-like particles which started raining down on Drago's and Skystar's clones. It didn't take long for Sakura to shower down enough particles to break barriers of Drago's clones.
After several waves of these starts most of the clones were destroyed letting Sakura and Belphenoid to attack directly.


"And now, check on you. Ability activate! Heaven's Blessing!" said Daniel in dark tone as he swiped another card. Sakura was charged again with powers of both light and darkness which made her speed, attack and defense grow rapidly. She launched a powerful light blast which erased all remaining clones and blew Drago and Skystar away. Belphenoid rushed wildly and choke-slammed Skystar and then jumped and made a fierce body-slam on Drago.
Upon finishing their move Belphenoid roared and called the horde back to strike Drago and Skystar.

[Noland Hardy]

Drago grunted in pain as he was attacked by Belphenoid, leaving him on the ground with cracks visible at the impact site. "I knew this was going to happen since I couldn't match an actual Bakugan army with an army of clones, but still..." This didn't last long at all; he got up really quickly due to all of the power he absorbed, and he started laughing. "I'm REALLY going to enjoy this," Drago said with confidence. Noland, who shared his Bakugan's opinion on the matter, was more than delighted to know that the situation was set up exactly the way he had intended. "Let's bring an end to this, Daniel," Noland said with a smile on his face. "THIS will be checkmate."

He activated an ability on his gauntlet, and was confident that this would deal the finishing blow. "Ability activate! Phoenix Tornado!" Drago's body became enveloped in a flame-covered phoenix avatar, which began to screech loudly, disrupting the flow of the entire enemy armada. The ground then began to glow with a bright red light due to the ability's effects, which allowed Noland to re-open the gate card he had previously activated. "Gate card, open! Incineration Field!" Noland shouted. A heat wave had entered the area as it did before, engulfing every enemy in a maelstrom of charring heat; Drago also powered himself up as he did last time except he had an interesting twist to it this time around. Due to the massive rise in power, the phoenix avatar grew even larger to tower over every single Bakugan that were present on the field in a similar fashion to a giant dwarfing someone of regular size.

"I bet throughout all of that overconfidence, you forgot what Aegis Crusher did besides taking your power, Belphenoid," Noland scolded. "That energy can be released at any time in case you've forgotten. Just think about where that's going." The energy was intended to be released as soon as the avatar made contact with his opponents. Noland had outsmarted all of his opponents for setting the stage directly in his favor, and now they were about to be obliterated in one massive attack. The phoenix then made its way to the opposition in a tornado-like fashion, blitzing through every enemy without any effort. Once the energy absorbed through Aegis Crusher was released, a massive explosion occurred, inflicting massive damage to anyone who was caught in the blast and even disrupted the giant barrier that was keeping them in there.

[Tracy White]

Skystar got hit each time she got up and this time, she was choke slammed into the ground, creating a deep crater. The one of the spawned bakugans approached the edge of the crater, sizing Skystar up and ready to charge at her. Just as the bakugan jumped into the crater to deliver an ending blow, a loud roar was heard. To Tracy and Skystar's surprise, it was Tigrerra. "Crystal Fangs!" Tigrerra yelled while jumping high to reach the evil bakugan that was in the air, and delivering a fatal strike from her claws, making the evil bakugan vanish. The noise of the slash was heard from the nearby bakugan hordes and they approached the scene. Tracy began weeping and sobbing at the return of Tigrerra. "For a moment I thought I had lost you. Now that you've returned, I'm glad," Tracy said. "It's my duty to assist. I can't leave you."
Now concentrating on the incoming bakugan hordes, Tigrerra darted at them, glowing yellow, and slashing every bakugan she came in contact with. Not realizing it was a distraction, Tigrerra kept destroying the evil bakugans, leaving Skystar on the ground and Tracy, alone. As Tracy went to help Skystar, one of the spawned bakugans interrupted and attempted to strike Tracy. The bakugan then stretched its claws to pierce Tracy, only to receive a blast from behind. It was the once fallen Gargonoid. Gargonoid then charged up a massive fire ball and shot it at the bakugan, destroying it. "Thank you, Gargonoid. You saved me," Tracy appreciated and went further to help Skystar. Successfully, Skystar was able to get up. "My head hurts badly. Time for a united revenge!" Skystar said, ready to make a move. "Ability Card Activate! Maxus Haos!" Gargonoid and Skystar became engulfed in yellow outlines and went to the assist Tigrerra. Skystar's mace immediately morphed into two swords known as Dual Sabers and Gargonoid's wings grew larger.
Meanwhile, Drago summoned a fiery phoenix which went on rampaging, destroying everything in its path.

[Daniel Andersen]

Drago's attack exhausted him, but also delivered an enormous amount of damage that was above any scale or belief. Golden Wall Sakura used earlier to seize everyone was weakened a lot by Drago's attack which could be seen by those cracks all over the barrier.
Belphenoid was cut in half and fried thanks to a powerful blast, but he kept on moving with his front legs despite of the great pain he suffered.

Sakura was hurt badly as well, but managed to survive thanks to a concentrated psychic shield she used. Daniel's two Bakugans were pretty much annihilated, but he didn't seem to care.
He just gazed at remaining of the horde and weakened Sakura.
"Attacking Belphenoid won't be of any use. Ability activate! Demon's Excavator!" yawled Daniel while swiping a dark-colored card with number 7 on it. Belphenoid was engulfed with darkness and fire upon activating this ability and regenerated his body parts from Drago's phoenix attack.
Belphenoid rose and used some sort of dark vacuum that drained power out of Tigrerra, Gargonoid and Skystar along with their attributes. "Have you had it enough yet?" hissed Belphenoid while draining.
Daniel looked at an exhausted Drago and spoke in a cold tone: "Such power can only be possessed by someone who was born in darkness and rage and someone who has a brawler engulfed with rage..."

Then he pulled out another card that started glowing in dark-purple color. Sakura also started glowing and rising back from her weakened state. "So, Noland...you've been powering-up your Dragonoid as an excuse to a loss of your girlfriend and father? Attacking rage with rage; fire with fire. Rage will never bring you anywhere despite how strong you fight."
When Daniel said that Noland had a flashback of that terrible day when his father and Alana were lost.
"Ability activate! Vulpes Wand!" Daniel yawled and swiped that ability.
Sakura rose her wand which started producing blinding light and flashed all over the place. Suddenly, powers of Sakura and Belphenoid rose drastically alongside with remaining wild Bakugans turning them into superweapons. Sakura made another flash which removed all extra power from Noland and Tracy and transferred it to herself.
Belphenoid rushed towards Drago to deliver the final blow with his claws.

[Tank Stryker]

As Belphenoid rushed towards Drago, jaw gaping, poised to kill, a blur flew out of nowhere before embedding itself into Belphenoid's neck. Belphenoid flew in the direction the object was going, sparing Drago. From the direction that the object flew came a gigantic, blue humanoid, running towards Belphenoid with a single handaxe in hand.

"KILL HIM, GLADION!" Tank yelled from behind Gladion, running after, past Noland and Tracy.

Diving over Belphenoid, Gladion pulled his handaxe out of Belphenoid's neck before landing in a roll and facing towards Belphenoid. Tank grabbed a card and swiped it through his BrawlX.

"Ability activate!" Tank yelled, his face twisted in anger; tears streaming down, "Weapons Cache - Longsword!"

A portal opened above Gladion, who threw the two handaxes into Belphenoid's neck with a sickening thud. A Longsword dropped from the portal and into Gladion's hand, who then charged at Belphenoid.

[Daniel Andersen]

Belphenoid rose from the ground despite he was apparently stabbed to a mortal scale.
Daniel gave Tank a strict, cold gaze knowing that Noland will have reinforcements now.
Belphenoid was enraged and then hissed: "I can only be destroyed as a whole, you fool. There is no point in damaging me part by part. Now, feel the pain! Crimson X!"
Belphenoid launched a crimson, energy wave at Gladion paralyzing him and destroying his sword.
It was not going well for Tank and Gladion as Daniel had an upper hand in this.
"Annoying...Can't they just put up a good fight? Special Ability Activate! Soul of Destiny!"
said Daniel with an obvious irritation in his voice. 
Sakura rose her wand and mixed powers of light and darkness together creating a powerful wave of energy. She focused it into Gladion's head and fired.

Gladion was hit, but only a small amount of damage was taken...
However, Sakura's magic made Gladion go berserk; he was acting crazy as he had lost his mind.
Combination of Belphenoid's paralysis and Sakura's mind seal magic really made a powerful influence on Gladion.

Belphenoid ignored Gladion and rushed towards Drago to kill him as he planned in the beginning.
Sakura rose her wand and set her "defense mode" awaiting for possible Tank's counter and Gladion's charge.

[Tank Stryker]

"Oh no you don't!" Tank yelled, the anger strong in his voice. He pulled four ability cards from his back pocket and swiped them through his BrawlX, "Quintuple Ability, activate! Warrior's Pride plus Arena Trap - Bear Trap plus Weapons Cache - Gladius plus Weapons Cache - Aegis plus Special Ability Art of Battle - Air Strike!"

Portals opened above Gladion and below Belphenoid's feet, with a Gladius and the Aegis shield falling into Gladion's hand and bear traps clamping down into Belphenoid's feet. The dark bakugan screeched as the teeth dug into its skin, slicing into the muscle of Belphenoid's legs. Blood dripped onto the ground from the wounds and Belphenoid was immobilized. Gladion let out a roar as he snapped out of the confusion that gripped his mind. He charged Belphenoid, shield up, and smacked him in the head. A loud clank was heard, and Belphenoid fell backwards as much as he could before the teeth of the bear trap caught him and dug deeper. Belphenoid screeched again as Gladion disappeared into thin air. Gladion reappeared above Belphenoid, sword pointed towards one of Belphenoid's vital points, and landed on top of Belphenoid, driving the sword into Belphenoid. Pulling the bloody sword from Belphenoid's body, Gladion jumpers back and took a battle stance again, shield up.

"Stay on your toes, Gladion!" Tank commanded, "This might not be over!"

[Daniel Andersen]

Belphenoid was stabbed and crushed to the oblivion. Still, he was not intending to stop attacking.
He looked at Tank and said with an irritating voice: "You foolish, deaf muscle-head! Haven't I already told you...I can only be destroyed as a WHOLE!!"
He let out a loud roar that made ground shake and created several big cracks.
Crimson light, dust and fire started engulfing Belphenoid as he hissed: "Belphegor Rage."

His wounds disappeared instantly when all that dust, fire and light vanished and he was standing again ready for another attack. 
Daniel looked at that battle for a moment and said quietly to himself: "Is this day ever going to end? Sakura, get ready..."
Sakura nodded and jumped in front of Belphenoid instantly charging at Gladion. It looked foolish to attack a warrior-type Bakugan with a sorceress-type Bakugan, but Daniel still sent her in the first line.
When she came to a distance of several meters Daniel suddenly swiped a card through his gauntlet. Gauntlet started glowing in a mix of dark-purple, crimson and dark-blue light.
He yawled: "Sakura, initiate tactic A5. Ability activate! Sakura Wind!"

Sakura jumped in the air and made a thrust kick into Gladion's head sending him backwards for a couple of meters. Then she landed and hit the ground with the bottom of her wand.
Wand started glowing and created a powerful, magical wind that started blowing everything away.
Suddenly, all Bakugans that were on the field lost their color and became Clear; including Sakura and Belphenoid. Sakura rose her wand causing powerful lightning that hit Gladion, Dragonoid and Skystar decreasing their power in critical rates.

[Noland Hardy]

Noland was struck with grief that Sakura and Belphenoid managed to cling to their lives after his desperate plea for a victory. As a result of his last move, Drago's power was fading as he was approaching the end of his reserves, and his opponents still had enough power to continue fighting despite the level of damage they sustained. An attack was launched toward them in the looks of a finishing blow. "Is this really how it's supposed end...?" Noland asked in disbelief. Suddenly, an Aquos Bakugan intervened and prevented Drago from becoming another one of their victims. "Tank," Noland said as he instantly recognized who the owner of the Bakugan was. Before any words could be said to Tank, he rushed past Noland as if he was eager to do something; as soon as he yelled the words "kill him", he seemed to have been given a reason to go after someone's life. It was too soon to tell what actually happened since Tank's entrance was so quick, but it couldn't have been something to take lightly.

Tank's appearance briefly took Noland's mind off of his defeat; he was unable to avoid the words Daniel expressed to him before he initiated what could have been the final attack. He began to reflect on this as much as he didn't want to. "It doesn't make a difference what I do nor where I go; there is always a person, place, or thing that keeps reminding me of the hell I went through," Noland began saying in his mind as he saw a flashback of Alana and his father being taken away from him in front of his own eyes. "Rage...darkness...why wouldn't I feel those things? The Bakugan and people that we fight for end up turning against us and taking innocent lives...lives like Alana and Dad's..." The brief skirmish was nearing its end as Sakura unleashed a lightning strike that could very well finish them off. "What's the point of even fighting it anymore?"

[Alana Cortese]

The question that Noland had just asked himself angered Drago when he looked back briefly to check if they had any remaining options. "Are you seriously letting that get to you, Noland!?" Drago roared. "No one's cynical remarks about what we do can prevent me from doing what's right. Do you even remember what Alana said to you after you beat Daniel the first time? Have you forgotten everything she valued in you? Do you think she would be happy that you turned to darkness like this?

Drago's words brought Noland back to the time he first started "dating" Alana. On the night Daniel was defeated the first time, they had an interesting discussion relating to each other's motives for doing what they did and making a difference. Noland's response generally meant the usual heroic way: protecting those who couldn't protect themselves and ensuring the safety of everyone else including himself in the proper situations. Alana expected such things to be said, but her own response was something she kept from him, not wanting him to be burdened with the task of pleasing her faith while the war was still going on.

"Well...the reason why I fought may sound a little cheesy, but..." Alana began looking at Noland with a smile on her face. "It's because of you," she said as she blushed slightly. "I was a nervous girl who always watched everyone else thrive while I simply did nothing. I didn't really know how to battle all that well since my parents weren't brawlers themselves, so I had a hard time trying to be someone I thought I couldn't be. I went to tutoring sessions that the other kids had, but I didn't really learn anything, and they kept trying to hit on me instead of helping me. I was lonely and depressed, but when I saw you battle, that completely changed everything; I never met anyone my age that could be such a brawler. When you approached me that very first time, I was really nervous... I didn't know if someone genuinely wanted to help me or if you were just going to blow me off like the others, but that moment meant a lot to me; I didn't know who you were, but that was the nicest thing anyone did for me up to that point."

Alana then laid her head on Noland's shoulder and continued rambling with her story that she seemed really happy to tell. "You made it seem so easy...both you and Allen. You made what I thought was impossible possible...I became so much better within that short amount of time, and I felt like that was the first time I actually connected with a Bakugan. Around the time the Terrorists started showing up, I learned so much about you that probably outweighs what you knew about me. You took the road less traveled by; you stood up to the bad guys even when everyone else cowered in fear. You were such a brave leader to all of us...I envied your talent and courage. You had what I was lacking...what WE were all lacking. You always chose the option that was right instead of what was popular. That's why I look up to you as my source of inspiration to be a better person rather than just focusing on being a better brawler...I look up to you as my leader...our leader..."