Episode 26: Gaining Control

[Noland Hardy]

Kuzuha's attack cured Drago and his allies of Elico's poison and released them from the stone encasing their lower body parts. When Drago regained control, he looked up at Kuzuha and was very surprised at her appearance. "That was...Sakura?" Drago asked in astonishment. "They've evolved too..." While Drago was slightly intimidated by one of his greatest foe's evolution, Noland was more focused on getting out of there as soon as possible since the poison left their Bakugan too weak to face a healthy Elico backed by the Pack. It was painful to admit due to Nero's comment, but Noland knew that Nero and Karen bullied their entire roster with the overwhelming power of the horde. The best Noland, Tracy, and Seiki could do against Nero and Karen was to stalemate them, and even then, Dual Hydranoid is still active along with several clones of the Pack available to use within a moment's notice if those three were to be defeated. This was the first time in a long time where Noland was on the fence about giving up completely.

His greatest concern was Hydranoid's new power as an evolved Bakugan and how he was able to match Tank, Allen, and Markus at the same time and still pull through, or if what Nero said was accurate, he completely steamrolled them. The Terrorists were loose now in addition to the Pack spreading. "This just might be the defeat that costed us everything..." Noland silently lamented. He then looked at both of the girls and remembered the condition that Seiki was in, which could become worse if left unchecked. He was never the person to jeopardize someone else's safety in the battle if it was unnecessary, and this was already a lose-lose type of deal. "Karen...I have nothing more to say to you. You've just went down a path where there is no return. You had the opportunity to learn from your mistakes, but you've just embraced them. Taking you down along with Nero is now my mission in life," Noland angrily concluded. "As much as you think you have won this war, this isn't over. I'll be back..."

Noland placed an ability on his BrawlX as his final card without bothering to look at his opponents. The amount of evil that they've done was too disgusting to think about when seeing their face. "Ability activate! Rage Fire!" Drago gathered a portion of what he had left as his remaining energy, ignited his fist for the final time, and punched the ground. This created a giant wall of fire in front of them that did not allow them to be seen by their opponents nor could they see what was happening on the other side; nevertheless, Noland knew he was getting out of there with or without their consent. The Resistors mounted their Bakugan and quickly fled from the area in the air. "Allen, Tank, Markus..." Noland silently remembered. "There's nothing more we can do over here. What happens over there is in your control. Until next time..."

[Karen Valentine]

Karen was shocked that Drago's accidental misfire allowed the Terrorists to go free. She knew it was an accident since Trick World should have messed with Drago's mind enough to cause him to not be able to aim properly; however, his attack was aimed surprisingly too well for the ailments he was suffering from. As soon as he was freed, Daniel summoned Kuzuha and cured the Resistor's Bakugan of the poison Elico injected them with, which infuriated Karen to think that even when close to death, Daniel still doesn't have a problem doing anything he can to piss her off. Unfortunately, he was able to escape the area with Makoto and Akane before anything could be done to stop them. "Well...that is bad...that is very bad..." Karen said. "I hope the Pack sniffs them out. I don't like those three sneaking around."

Karen could also tell Noland was considering doing the same thing Daniel did and running away from the battle. She didn't want to let him do that, but Infernal Bind caught the Pack and Elico off guard and left them stunned for a long period of time. There was nothing more she could do to prevent them from leaving, so after listening to Noland tell her about what she's doing wrong for the last time, she simply responded by saying, "If you're going to run, then just do it. I'm done discussing it, Noland. You walk your path and I'll walk mine. It was hopeless starting from when you got out of the hospital. Just leave me alone." Noland used Drago's Rage Fire ability to mask his escape. When Elico regained his composure, he used Hydro Booster in its base form to fire a very powerful jet stream towards the fire that extinguished it in a couple of seconds. When the fire was put out, the Resistors were gone. With the battle over, she looked down at her necklace and gave a long sigh of disappointment that it came to this.

[Nero Bullock]

Nero observed what just happened very quietly and allowed the two teenagers to get their last words in before Noland would plan his eventual escape, which he saw coming after being forced to watch Daniel make his getaway. Noland made an attempt to discredit Nero's apparent victory and dominance over this entire "war", so all he could do was smirk knowing that he actually did win both the battle and the war as there was no where left for the Resistors to run. Once Noland escaped, Nero looked at Karen and noticed that she was still holding on to the heart-shaped necklace she was given around Christmas time. Nero did feel bad about the whole ordeal, but he knew it was going to be a toxic relationship from the start due to what's happening right now, which was why he had originally told her to only gather information so she wouldn't form emotional attachments to people who would most likely oppose them; yet, as a traditional teenager, she thought she knew it all, and it caught up with her.

While he thought about saying something to cheer her up at first, he realized it was his fault that Karen's identity was revealed to the Resistors in the first place, so he already gave the impression that he didn't care in her eyes even though he told her not to do that in the first place. "When you think about him, remind yourself about what you want out of a man," Nero reminded her. "A man capable of inflicting that much damage to you physically is something you should be considering whenever you're feeling down about the situation. If he ever comes to his senses and realizes what we're doing is for his benefit, then you need to ask yourself if it's something you can forgive instead of constantly bringing it up over and over again. It does not make sense for you to feel down about the relationship and you're still bringing up old issues. When you continue to do that, you haven't forgiven him at all, so all of this should not be happening the way it is."

A Belphenoid suddenly arrived in the area and came with great news. "Hydranoid is just about done with those three. We've surrounded the area to block all of their escape routes, he reported. Nero was very pleased that Hydranoid was able to neutralize the threat on his own without any human assistance. This made him very confident in Hydranoid's abilities as the Supreme Leader of the Pack. "Bring me to them. I definitely want to see this. With that said, Nero and Karen were escorted to the area where Hydranoid battled three of the Resistors. Gorem, Gladion, and Gargulion were left heavily damaged. Gorem had taken the most damage out of the three since he was usually the one defending against Hydranoid's attacks. When Nero arrived at the battle area, he was left speechless in the amount of destruction and was shocked to find Hydranoid's new evolution the complete opposite of kid-friendly. "The top two brawlers in the entire nation paired with the Iron Juggernaut...and you still lose? How embarrassing," Nero laughed.

"There is clearly nothing more they could do. They are ready to be destroyed," Abbadon noted. Asmodeus seconded this notion and stated, "Noland and his female companions have already left the area. These three are the next best thing. Destroying them will cripple their entire resolve forever." Nero held up his hand to silence the demons before walking next to Hydranoid to make his final announcement. "Your deaths would be a boon to my success; however, I have something even better in mind than the usual, diabolic schemes of your average villain. I want something a little more...me." Hydranoid charged an energy blast in both of his mouths as Nero made his last declaration. "I want the three of you...to work for me," Nero said as Hydranoid launched the attack.

[Noland Hardy]