Episode 23: The Greatest Rivals

[Allen Silva]

Noland and Drago, as expected, had a counter in the wings for Gorem's upgraded ability. Allen was more fired up than he had ever been in his life. This was a brawl to determine the champions of the brawling circuit. That and his final battle was with the ultimate rival a person could ask for." This has been the best battle ever. But unfortunately all good things must come to a end. That includes this brawl." Allen stated his intentions as he loaded a new ability into the gauntlet. Gorem prepared himself, knowing what comes next is his best ability." Ability activate, Megalith boxer! Now beat him down partner."

" Ding, Ding. That's the bell for the final round. Now put up your dukes." Force Gorem joked, taunting his own abilities name and powers. Even though he belittled it, this was his second strongest ability. Gorem's arms begun to swirl with brown energy. The energy then became so thick that it became nearly black. Gorem begun to punch back the flaming projectiles." Try to turn the earth on me will ya pal, well now I'm going to crash your party." The large golem promised, thrusting jab after jab, deflecting rock after rock, aiming them all at the pyrus dragonoid. After deflecting the rocks, he followed the last one with a jab aimed at Drago, with intent to get a t.k.o.

[Noland Hardy]

As Gorem activated an ability to repel all of the rocks that were fired at him, Drago used his wings as a form of protection. He placed his right wing in front of him to cover himself as he paid attention to what Gorem was going to do next. Suddenly, the golem decided to do use an attack that, in Noland's best interest, was something they didn't want to be hit by at all if he wanted to keep his chances of winning at a manageable number. Allen did fulfill his wish that they would soon charge him, but now that the situation was happening in front of him, how was he going to respond? A physical attack from a Gorem is heavy, so there would need to be a very good reason why Noland would ever think of engaging the golem in close quarters. He figured he would make himself unpredictable to prevent their opponent from anticipating their actions with enough time to defend against them. Once Gorem made the decision to rush, Noland knew that the time was right to take action.

As Gorem neared the Dragonoid to land a critical blow, Noland immediately placed an ability onto his BrawlX to respond to the attack that could potentially spell the end for himself and his teammates in the championship. "That attack wasn't going to be the one that ended this brawl, was it? There must be something better you have locked away," Noland jokingly taunted with a sly smile on his face. "Ability activate! Blaze Torpedo!" Although this method was unforeseeable by anyone else except for himself and Drago, the avatar that Drago used for Nova Dragon changed its location following the bombardment it launched earlier and attached itself onto Drago's body. This was done through a capability of it that allowed it to give its wielder unparalleled power that essentially protects them from certain things as well as eliminating the need for a high power level in the event of a deficit. Drago quickly charged up his power with the avatar right above him.

Once it was complete, the ability began to take it's effect. Drago got into position to charge Gorem with a high-powered blast of energy. In addition to himself using the attack, the avatar got in front of Drago and performed the same action as him. In a similar fashion, it surrounded itself in the same flame that spurred Drago into action, spun rapidly, and combined its power to amplify Drago's own attack. The Dragonoid placed the power of the avatar in his hands, reeled back, and launched it towards Gorem. While in mid-flight, the blast was noticeably still in the form of the dragon avatar. It began to spin rapidly as if it were a tornado, increasing in size as it neared his opponent. Once the avatar came into contact with Gorem, it clashed with him for a brief moment before it eventually detonated.

[Allen Silva]

Gorem's attack was bounced back by the activation of another ability by Noland and Drago. The avatar from his last move then became a sort of torpedo and attacked the subterra bakugan. Before he could make a move, it soared after him at a extreme speed. Allen would have to place a ability not a second late or this would be catastrophic. Allen loaded up and activated a ability just before the projectile exploded. But once the smoke cleared, Gorem was hurt, but not nearly as much as he would have been. He was also decked out in armor much stronger than his original.

" That's our new signature ability, Giga martyr. You still rattled his cage a little bit." Allen noted. He had set it up perfectly to minimize the damage. Now it was time for his counter attack." See, this ability doesn't simply boost Force Gorem's defensive capabilities. It gives a little extra bang to each strike he does. So now Gorem, full power. Lets end this brawl here." Allen was excited on the inside. This brawl pushed his new power to the limit, and he knew the same was happening to Noland. But it also instilled a confidence in Allen about the troubles they have been facing. Not even that Nero guy had the power to stop the combined might of the resistors now. Allen snapped out of his daydreaming, as Gorem looked for a devastating uppercut, with his Giga Martyr armor to finish the brawl.

[Noland Hardy]

Noland and Drago were very content with their countermeasure. Using various resources to fuel their attack options was one of their most unique battle tactics that elevated them beyond other offensively-based brawlers and it even caused a defensive genius like Allen to rethink their battle plan. The damage that has been caused to Gorem by the surprising Blaze Torpedo was very significant, but it was far from over. Their enemy was acquainted with their own battle style as Noland was with his. They revealed one of their other secrets with an ability named Giga Martyr. Noland had already had to do a lot of work to continuously break down Gorem's defenses only for the subterra Bakugan to bring out another, and it seemed like this one was the strongest one that they've been able to form so far. This was the deal breaker for Noland since he realized that Allen had closed the gap and eliminated any potential advantage he could have had. He was being dominated up close and later turned it around by forcing medium to long-range engagements, but none of that mattered now.

"So you're basically going balls to the wall with that ability, huh?" Noland asked with the awareness of Gorem's confidence in his defense holding out while he performed a high-grade offensive attack. There weren't any more viable counters he had left at his disposal to deal with the attack since Gorem just became fortified again. The only hope he had left to escape this brawl with a victory was to do what his opponent was doing and unleash a lethal ability. After taking a deep breath when dreading the possibility of being defeated in this manner, Noland placed an ability on his BrawlX with the intention to end the brawl the same way his rival wanted to. "I'll admit. That ability is something I wish Drago was able to do. That would fit well with my battle style. Despite not having the same defensive capabilities as you do, I have the next best thing," Noland stated as he activated the ability. "Now you'll see the overwhelming power of my new fusion ability. Fusion ability activate! Dragonic Boost!"

Drago's power truly became a disaster in physical form as an outbreak of his energy shook the arena and instilled fear and concern to whoever was not used to Noland expressing any hint of his full power. A large, bright light shot down from the sky like a column and surrounded Drago. While under its influence, Drago's power soared to new heights. He took all of the strength that had gotten him to this point and used it as a means of strengthening himself beyond his limits in a safe manner. His arm and leg muscles bulged a little during the process. This was an ability designed to amplify Drago's power enough to where he can inflict damage to his opponent on an unprecedented scale with added power and mobility for a limited time. "You've held up well, but this is where it ends!" Drago declared. He rushed towards Gorem with a punch to meet with the uppercut. In anticipation on what that could mean for who won and who lost, Noland gently bit the lower left side of his lip while he watched an explosion that took the excitement from battling Allen and transformed it into a fear of whether this would mean defeat.

Following the clash of the two legendary Bakugan, Drago was left laid out on the ground across from Gorem, who was also in the same position. Both Bakugan were visibly battered and exhausted from the clash. They were in the position where returning to their feet was not something they were capable of doing at the moment. Their life gauges seemed to agree with this notion as well since both Noland and Allen's gauges depleted to 0 when the clash reached its conclusion. While he was eager to finally break the longest stalemate ever, Noland had to accept that it would have to be a while longer before it could be done since it wasn't going to happen here. The battle was a tie, which was something that Noland didn't want mostly because of the position his team was in instead of worrying about his personal goals. It might have been a draw, but in terms of the situation, it was a loss in his eyes.

With both Bakugan still in their monster forms, Noland walked towards the center of the arena. He intended on meeting Allen there to acknowledge his foe's power and to formally show that there was no ill will towards each other in this competitive environment as opposed to Tracy and Karen's hostile relationship to Tank and Markus's never-ending and bitter rivalry. "I can't hide my disappointment of not being able to break this stalemate as you might be, but that doesn't change the fact that you are my greatest opponent. There's no other brawler out here that I'd rather be equal to than you," Noland stated as he put his hand out, seemingly wanting to shake his rival's hand. "Nicely fought, Allen. You and Gorem are what inspires me to keep getting stronger. I'll get you one day though." Drago turned his head towards Gorem to pay his respects by saying, "Krakix has been a good friend of mine a couple of years ago, and I've witnessed his power firsthand; only a few Bakugan could match him blow for blow. After fighting you today, I realize that even he could have trouble facing you. Your defensive prowess is unlike anything I've ever seen. You've definitely earned your title of being revered as a juggernaut."

[Allen Silva]

The battle had finally ended. After each bakugan unleashed the full extent of thier new evolved abilities, one final clash occured. The force from the two abilities made Allen forget how fun it was and actually worry about him losing. But in the end it was the same as every other clash the rivals had. Both bakugan were nearly unconscious on each side of the arena, unable to get up after the titanic confrontation that just occured. Noland was the first to move after both life gauges hit zero, signaling that another tie had occured. Allen was a little dissapointed he couldn't win. That makes this last brawl the most important of the tournament. Noland held his hand out, probably to shake, and congratulated Allen and Gorem. Allen was only too happy to walk up and shake his friends hand." You're not the only one who wanted to be the best. I'm also bummed I couldn't win this battle, with the championship at stake every win counts. But at least we excited the crowd up for the final battle. We did what we do best."

Drago also talked about how he was friends with Krackix and how he lived up to the hype. Gorem smiled and propped himself up as much as he could." You're no slouch either. Even with mightier defenses and some new tricks, you gave me a brawl I haven't had since Krackix left. Without a shadow of a doubt Drago, you are worthy of bieng the legend that you are."

[Noland Hardy]