Episode 27: Crossing the Line

[Noland Hardy]

As soon as Avalanche Vulcan was activated, Noland did not waste any time in defending himself from the onslaught of stones. He placed a card on his BrawlX without any signs of giving up from Allen's comment. "I guess Nero wanted these three to talk as much as he does," Noland silently sighed with an annoyed look on his face. "Ability activate! Faultless Guard!" Drago placed his wings in front of him to cover the front portion of his body. He then applied the power he used for Rage Fire onto his wings due to what the ability allows him to do. Because of this, he was able to protect himself against Avalanche Vulcan pretty effectively. While he was doing this, he heard Allen talk about the incident again. This time, it was more brutal than what he said before. Daniel reminded him of how important it was to not allow what Allen was saying to beat him down regardless of what he was talking about. Even though he was being told not to, Noland was disturbed by what was being said to him. It was almost like the feeling one would get if their friend committed suicide and felt like they didn't do what they were supposed to do to stop it from happening. This type of tactic has been used to take him out of the battle mentally, but none of it has ever been on this level. Still, the comments did get a reaction out of Noland, but not what Nero was hoping for.

"I guess even you are underestimating my mental strength, Daniel," Noland realized when even Daniel is telling him not to give in to Allen's words for the second time now. "Things can change over time. Just because it affected me greatly back then doesn't mean it'll do the same now. I've become strong enough to not allow those words to affect me the same way. If I lose, it'll be because they beat me through their actions, not by their words." Drago then turned his head towards Daniel after Noland responded and said, "That can get really annoying to someone who has been through something like that, Daniel. Saying it the first time to make sure your battle partner stays focused is understandable, but anything after that is going overboard. Your concern is appreciated, but you're partially making it worse. That's just my suggestion. Our minds can only juggle so much at one time." Noland then watched as Kuzuha revealed one of her special abilities from her evolution, and was really surprised at what it allowed her to do. Although the strength of her attack was noticeably weaker than that of Gorem's, it was still really effective that she could copy her opponent's power to use against them. "It seems that her attack was fast enough to bypass Goliath Fortress while it was busy pelting Drago with rocks, but Gorem's Bound Barrier hasn't been shattered yet. At least it was a start," Noland thought to himself.

After Kuzuha knocked Gorem off of his feet and momentarily stunned him, Drago uncovered himself and leaped into action. "I'm on it," Drago responded to Kuzuha's signal. He transferred Rage Fire from his wings to his feet. Using the extra power, he stomped on the ground to cause a violent vibration in the ground. This caused Goliath Fortress to begin toppling as it if was prepared to fall at any moment. With the spawn stunned, Drago swiftly flew around it and hovered at its backside. "This next attack will be too much, even for you, Allen," Noland gloated. "Ability activate! Infernal Bash!" Drago covered his entire body in a powerful flame. He charged towards Goliath Fortress in the direction where Gorem was laying and began pushing against it. It weighed a lot compared to both him and Gorem, so it was not easy being in a physical struggle with it especially with his attack not being boosted. After a few grunts, Drago was eventually successful in pushing the fortress over, causing it fall straight on top of the downed Gorem. The impact caused it to break into pieces upon impact and left a dust cloud covering the site. Drago then landed next to Kuzuha, seemingly thinking that they had won the battle and were preparing their capture strategy. "So we do actually make a good team. I never would've guessed..." Noland said to Daniel.

[Akane Huomoto]

Torahu has had better brawls in her life, and this wasn't one of them, far from it actually. She had to work with the ventus bird who could be rather annoying to work with... Another helping hand though. The two-tailed tiger struggles to walk a little, limping slightly as she growls, her double colored eyes narrowed at the opponent, "Grrr, We're not done-"

"Juust yet." Akane hums, finishing Torahu's sentence with ease. It was one way for the pyrus brawler to push the stress out of her mind and to focus on the battle rather than . "Far from it in fact. How about we crank up the heat here higher then we have before, hm?" She raises her hand to active the gate for Torahu to act on which would hopefully help both her and the bird out, "Gate Open, Ignis Grounds."

"Strike a match, watch it burn blue, and set the place up in flames." Torahu states with a feral grin as she flicks her tail on the surface where she stood, a bright blue flame now visible on the tip of it. Her flaming blue and black legs brought her up into the air before she gave out a loud roar, "WILDFIRE!" And went crashing down onto the field, the ground cracking at various points and blue fire coming up from them. Quickly, the whole place being a burning volcano that glowed blue.

[Seiki Maki]

"Kuso..." Seiki murmurs to herself quietly, clutching the strap of her satchel to ease her stress and anger. Things weren't looking too good. Akane and her had started off on what Seiki considered a decent start, it could have been better, but at least it wasn't a failing start. But now they were slowly getting the disadvantage. Fighting was bad enough for her, but getting the lower hand in an important battle like this is really starting to take it's toll.

"I'm a fail of a brawler... Aren't I?" She thinks to herself with a somewhat worried look on her face. Never had she told anyone about this depression of herself before, only to Ahio though. But she didn't even tell half of her concerns to the bird, over all she was still bottling everything up inside, an action many may consider a bad thing to do. Seiki wasn't the type to complain to people about her worries, not at all. She didn't want to be a burden or anything, but with how Markus was putting everything, she really has been a burden all along, not being able to fight without anyone's support. "Why... Do I fight to begin with? All it has ever done is bring me sadness and grief. Plus overall, I'm just a newb compared to everyone else... Why?"

Her amber colored eyes look over to Ahio, who was still standing her ground on the battlefield, despite all the attacks that the darkus bakugan had mercilessly inflicted on her. The bird knew that Seiki was starting to reach her breaking point, it's not like everyone could hold in all their negative emotions forever or anything, even if they seem like the type be to able to. "Seiki-chan! Give me another! As long as I'm still standing- No. As long as I'm still breathing and able to fight-" she crouches down on her three legs, opening her wings up, "Then I shall fight. I'll fight it till the bitter end!" The bird screeches, waiting for her partner to activate another ability for her to do something with other than standing around like a pretty little bird, which Ahio clearly wasn't "Please don't break now! Hold on a bit longer, I'll pummel that gargoyle to a pulp, and do it again and convert him into little bits! ... That sounded a bit dark and violent... Gaah! Not now Ahio! Keep your brain in the game!

Even if the odds were turned against her, Ahio still stands, and she was clearly going through more pain that Seiki was as the moment. "Yup, here we go Ahio! Ability Activate, Cry of the Wind Phoenix!" With that said, the said bakugan takes a deep breath before doing a screech in the position in a lion's roar, hopefully holding off the opponent for the time being and damaging him a bit. "I'll try Ahio... I'll try..."

[Markus Hederick]

Markus was having a wonderful time in his battle with Seiki and Akane. Gargulion was tearing his opponents apart gradually just as he had planned. "You know...toying with you two made me realize something," Markus thought out loud. "I didn't notice this up until now due to all of my opponents being of a seemingly high caliber, but I actually enjoy seeing my opponents struggle. That's nothing compared to the feeling of satisfaction for beating a strong opponent, but you can't deny how good it feels when you're absolutely destroying someone else. It's a shame that you won't be able to experience that feeling anytime soon." Gargulion laughed a little while waiting for his opponents' next move. He didn't expect much since those two were visibly weakened from what he had done to them so far, but due to the egotistical feeling being mutual between him and Markus, he couldn't help but see if they had anything left to offer for him to crush. "If you two are done limping and grunting, I'm waiting for you to entertain me," Gargulion over-confidently gloated. "Gladion needs someone to surpass him other than Gorem and Drago, and I can't do that unless you actually fight me." Gargulion then tapped his chin a little while turning his head to look at Torahu. "It's probably not your fault though. You're only as good as your team in a situation like this. It's never easy to carry a team once they pull you down so much. You look like you'd be much better off without that bird."

Gargulion's suspicion was confirmed to be true once Torahu's brawler unleashed a powerful gate card that showcased a glimpse of just how much power the Pyrus Bakugan has. Markus nodded in approval of this move as it really placed him in trouble, which hasn't been done very often in this battle. "I'm not gonna lie...that kinda reminds me of Drago's fire power in a way," Markus commended. Gargulion's body began to wear down on him as the temperature steadily rose due to the effects of the gate card. "Too bad you waited too long to show your strength to me." Markus prepared two cards on his BrawlX the moment Seiki began declaring her attack, which sent a powerful screech his way. Although it wasn't anything compared to Asmodeus, it was still something to be recognized as a threat. "Double ability activate! Tainted Shadow plus Soul Eater!" Gargulion released a shadowy version of himself out of his body. The technique allows the shadow to influence anything on the field to use to his advantage. It flew directly into the gate card and took control of it. The flames that were threatening to burn him to a crisp were turned purple and were now being used against his opponent in the same harmful way.

"I really liked that attempt, but you should know it'll take more than one good play to prevail over me," Markus stated to Akane. After Tainted Shadow did its job, it was now up to Soul Eater to finish it. The ability covered Gargulion in a gloomy aura that allowed his body to act as a siphon. This gave him the ability to absorb his opponents' power when he gets near them without physically making contact with them, which was perfect in this case since Ahio's screech was doing a good job in making sure Gargulion stayed where he was. He began to rapidly steal Torahu and Ahio's power as he was being affected by Ahio's attack, which gradually became weaker as more power started to be transferred to Gargulion. "I have a question for you two. On a scale of one to ten, how disappointed will your friends be when they see me invade another battle area because you failed to contest me...miserably?" Markus chuckled, already knowing that the battle was too far in his favor for him to lose normally. "Noland and Daniel will be absolutely livid. You two really don't fail to disappoint, especially when it comes to my amusement."

[Tank Stryker]

The battle between Tank and the team of Tracy and Makoto was going strong, Tank equally matching the two brawlers. Gladion's fast movements and swift adaptation in battle proved troublesome for Skystar and Ahrangi. On top of that, it seemed like Tank and Gladion's fighting was fueled by anger. Tank had whipped out the Warhammer of Ares and Aegis abilities for Gladion, who used them for sheer, unadulterated destruction, each missed attack creating craters in the ground.

John's jacket hung off Tank in tatters, only the sleeves and a bit of the back actually still holding up. His eyes were a solid blue color and his trident pendant a deep black. As a hit of the hammer collided with Ahrangi, Tank smirked. The warrior bakugan flew back and into Skystar, pushing them into an adjacent building.

"C'mon, Tracy!" Tank goaded, "Is this seriously all you've got?" Tank began to walk forward menacingly with Gladion rushing ahead. "I guess that's why you'll always be the weakest member of the team." Tank tore off the jacket and threw it to the ground, revealing his trademark General shirt. "Seriously, if it wasn't for Noland and I, you wouldn't be able to call yourself a State Champion at all! You got onto the team by luck, and Noland felt bad enough for you to train you into a less than mediocre brawler! You'll never be on my level!"

Gladion approached Ahrangi and Skystar, swatting Ahrangi away before kicking Skystar back through the rest of the building. Gladion turned towards Ahrangi, a new target locked in his eyes.

"Hell, you can't even stand a chance without someone here to help you!" Tank chuckled, "This guy helped attack your friends, yet you'll partner with him? How stupid are you? You could've at least chosen Daniel, at least he's strong! Instead, you got stuck with the emo with a death wish!"

Tank turned his face towards Makoto, "You know, I would say I feel sorry for her," Tank continued, pointing his thumb at Tracy, "But I really feel bad for you! You have to deal with that holding you down!"

With that, Gladion lunged at Ahrangi, swinging his hammer to meet the bakugan's midsection, sending Ahrangi flying back.

[Tracy White]

Tank's brawling ability was clearly already above Tracy's since she can technically still be called a rookie, but the current situation was way over the top. She was shaking her head in disbelief that an offensive brawler like Makoto with a Bakugan of Ahrangi's skillset was being repelled as often as he was even with his evolved powers. This was likely due to not being acquainted with their enemy's power yet, but even Skystar was having trouble while already having a hint of knowledge of what Gladion is capable of in his current form. Their method of attacking Gladion needed a very quick change since nothing they were doing was effective in cornering Tank in the slightest, and that is a big mistake when dealing with an opponent like him. Knowing this, Tracy was constantly thinking of different ways she could possibly attack while Gladion was having a great time pushing them around on the battlefield. Her eyes were focused on the Aquos Bakugan completely, looking at every muscle used and every limb moved. It didn't look like anything would ever distract her view, not even Skystar being sent backwards into the buildings nor Tank's constant badmouthing of her tenure on the team despite feeling bad about it.

She dusted off the dust that was on her skirt after the multiple clashes as she awaited Skystar's response. Suddenly, during Gladion's assault on Ahrangi, Skystar sent numerous slabs of the building his way using her staff's power to move then via telekinesis, hoping to catch him off guard and deal some significant damage from their weight and impact. "If we allow them to psyche us out, then it was over before the battle even started," Skystar warned, having heard Tank's comments and was rather bothered by them. Tracy gave a slight glare at Tank before responding to her warning; however, despite her implying for Tracy to not let it get to her, she was noticeably very upset with how she was talked to considering how Tank treated her in the past. "It's fine, Sky. It really is," Tracy lied while observing Tank's damaged appearance. "The truth is, he's right. I've had stellar moments, and I've had not so great moments, but that's apart of learning, right? No one is perfect; him and Noland aren't exempt from that. At the same time he said I couldn't become a state champion if it weren't for them, the same can be said for him if Noland and I weren't there to cover for his former teammates; actually, I'd argue that Markus would have come out on top if we weren't there, so there's that. That doesn't mean I'm not proud of myself for what I've become in these last few months. It's been a blast. But there's also something that not having enough experience doesn't mean." Tracy then took a good look at Tank and pointed straight to him just to make sure he heard who she was talking about. "Not having as much experience as you doesn't mean I can't beat you," she asserted as she prepped her gauntlet for another round of cards.

"Hey, Makoto," Tracy called. "Ahrangi needs to simmer down a little. Rushing Gladion is not an effective strategy since I can't continue supporting his chain of attacks without being hit myself. What we need to do is deal with one attribute of his that makes him so good: his adaptability. In other words, I'm going to make him uncomfortable, and then you'll strike. ...I hope I'm not sounding like Karen too much." Tracy then placed an ability card on her gauntlet to immediately show what she meant before Tank could catch on. "Ability activate! Arc Caster!" Skystar's staff received a consistent charge of a high concentration of haos electricity, which was enough to completely cover Skystar in a bubble-like shield completely powered off of her own weapon. "You've had enough fun with what you were doing, so now it's our turn. Freeze," Skystar commanded as she shot a lightning bolt into the air from her staff, which caused the surrounding area to become stormy. In the midst of the thunder that could be heard from the one of the uses of the ability, Skystar sent numerous lightning bolts crashing down on their location. One of them completely zapped Gladion, charring his weapons and leaving him immobilized by the steady jolt the lightning bolts gave him.  

[Makoto Nakashima]

Even though Gladion was not strong as Drago or Gorem he appeared to be a big drag both to Makoto and Tracy. This wasn't bothering Makoto that much since he liked a challenging battle, but it was still a serious situation that needed to be dealt with. Tracy and Skystar already organized a tactic on defeating Gladion and started by immobilizing him and allowing Makoto to make his move. "Man, this guy is gonna be a drag." said Makoto and pulled out one of his abilities.
Then he put the ability into the gauntlet and proceeded with the tactic. "Well, I guess I will play along then." continued Makoto and pointed towards Gladion. "You know what to do! Ability activate! Ventus Art: Twilight Blades!"
Ahrangi used his enormous speed to dash over the battlefield and circle around Gladion so fast that he started to create a large twister trapping Gladion in the process. Then he concentrated his powers into his four swords and his pair of metallic wings while swiftly circling around Gladion.
Ahrangi's large twister lifted Gladion into the air and started spinning him into dizziness while Ahrangi was charging up for his finisher. "Twilight Blades!!" Ahrangi shouted and jumped into the twister without being affected by its power and started slashing Gladion with four large katanas breaking Gladion's weapons, shields and making multiple dents into his armor. He was slashing so fast that not even eye could see the speed and before stopping his attack he flapped his two metallic wings transforming them into two chainsaws. He then slashed those chainsaws onto Gladion shredding his equipment into tiny little pieces that started raining down over the battlefield. Ahrangi jumped out of the twister and landed back on his last position leaving Gladion damaged to continue spinning in the tornado.

[Tank Stryker]

"Oh, Gladion," Tank called, his voice twinging with a sarcastic dainty tone, "Why don't you show them why we're the best in the country?" With that, Tank pulled out two abilities from his back pocket and swiped them through his BrawlX, "Double ability activate! Warrior's Pride plus Weapon of the Gods - Claymore of Zeus!"

Gladion became cased in a brilliant blue light as he broke out of the paralysis. Using his now massively imbued strength, Gladion thrusted himself in the opposite direction, causing the wind storm to dissipate. Gladion landed softly on the ground, before snapping his head to look at the two opposing bakugan.

"That tickled," Gladion said, cracking his neck menacingly, "You know, part of me didn't want to have to use this, but since you generously provided the lightning, I guess I'll take advantage of the situation."

With that statement the lightning seemed to change targets on the two opposing Bakugan almost immediately. Big bolts struck on Ahrangi and Skystar, shattering the Haos Bakugan's shield. A glorious platinum sword descended from opened storm clouds, giving itself to Gladion, who waved it around to warm up his slashing muscles.

"The good thing about a god," Tank said, smirking, "Is that they usually don't miss."

Gladion rushed Ahrangi, backfisting him hard into the side of another building before getting to Skystar. The gladiator bakugan pulled the blade back, and swung down, cutting into Skystar who was immediately seized by electrical currents.

"You REALLY think you can beat me?" Tank goaded as Gladion continued to slash into Skystar, "You teamed up with the most USELESS Terrorist out here! Seriously, this guy can't even figure out how to breathe if it wasn't for his boss!"

Tank flashed a sly smile and spread his arms wide. "Seriously, you both should just quit!"

[Tracy White]

Tracy's strategy was seemingly working from her point of view when Gladion was exposed to Makoto's relentless offensive prowess. Direct hits were what they needed to even the score, but Gladion's stubborn attitude proved to them that it was going to take much more than one opening to get out of this battle safe and sound. Tank was able to release Gladion from his restraints. Although he was noticeably damaged from the assault, Gladion claimed to not have felt any pain from them and proceeded to drop lightning bolts straight on top of Skystar and Ahrangi. This was especially detrimental to Ahrangi since he did not have any protection active prior to the strike, so he was affected more than Skystar was at the time despite the shield dispersing after taking the hit. This gave Gladion plenty of time to separate Ahrangi from her once again before becoming the center of his attention. After listening to another round of Tank's comments, Tracy was determined to rebound right back into the brawl to prove him wrong. "I'm not the same girl you used to stomp around along with everyone else when the school year started, William," Tracy disgustedly responded as she pulled out four cards, pointing them towards her opponent to reinforce her stance on the situation. "By the way, the best in the country doesn't lose and get brainwashed into attacking their allies! And don't think I won't say it when we snap you out of this!"

Tracy swiftly activated each of her abilities one at a time, leaving only a small window of time between each individual activation. "Quadruple ability activate! Roa Glowdown!" With her staff already in hand, Skystar illuminated the orb in the center of it to force sunlight to shine over their location in the midst of the stormy conditions from earlier. Skystar was the main target of the ability as the light began covering her entire body. It briefly caused sparkles to come from her armor to signal her ailments being lifted from her body, allowing her to have free movement without restraint. In addition to nullifying Gladion's paralysis effect, Skystar's staff became charged with solar energy the longer she was exposed to the gleaming light. "Sentinel Automation!" The large discs that enabled Skystar to fly was detached from her body upon activation. As they levitated, they began spinning to get their rotation speed to their absolute best. They immediately targeted Gladion to get him to stop attacking Skystar, which they were successful in doing as they pushed him farther back when they slammed into him. The discs then hovered near Gladion side-by-side, allowing Skystar to fire a concentrated laser beam that was charged through Roa Glowdown at both of them. The discs quickly absorbed the attack, and then shot Gladion with it, effectively catching him in between the individual blasts that inflicted a lot of damage. "At this point, I don't know if either you or Markus has the worst ego," Skystar thought out loud as the impacts on Gladion's body caused a lot of smoke to cover that area for a brief moment.

"Divine Protection!" Skystar's belt shifted to Pyrus upon activation. Using her Pyrus power, she was able to summon a phoenix avatar above her head as well as Ahrangi's head. Doing this placed a shield around both of them as their energy started to replenish at a faster rate due to the mythical beast's presence. The healing upgrade was more than welcome after what they've been through already. "Finally, my fusion ability, Elemental Vanquisher!" All of the attribute symbols were lit on Skystar's belt, signalling the three attributes being used together in this attack. She amassed a large energy ball above her head that surged with power due to the triple node, and launched it directly at Gladion. When the attack hit, it damaged Gladion considerably and launched him into the air, leaving a large crater where Tracy's attack hit its mark. "On your way up, inform your gods that I don't miss either," Skystar mocked. 

[Makoto Nakashima]

"This just went from boring to interesting, Ahrangi" Makoto said to his partner Bakugan while they watched Resistor Tracy and her Bakugan pummel Gladion from all sides with a huge variety of arsenal as hardest as they could. Even though Makoto was impressed by Skystar's performance considering how she and her brawler were weak in the start he didn't want to bother himself with thinking about something irrelevant at that point.
"You think I need Daniel to fight successfully? I own allegiance to no one. Not to Daniel or Akane." Makoto replied to Tank's comment on how useless he was by Tank's opinion.
"You could consider yourself lucky that you are still breathing considering that both Daniel and Hardy want you alive. In other words I can't kill you..." he continued as he put a few cards into his gauntlet making it flash in several colors and then he just made a single comment.
"...but I can make you wish you are not alive...' he just added as his gauntlet continued flashing like crazy making Ahrangi flash as well. Attribute emblems started appearing over Ahrangi allowing it now to use multiple attributes at once. "Let's now slay your damn gods, Stryker!!!" Makoto yelled as loud as he could and then continued. "Triple ability, activate! Cruel Tornado!"
Ahrangi was wrapped in fire and his armor was revealed to have red spikes all over it. Ahrangi's blades were also transformed into part-metal part-ruby weapons filled with immense Pyrus just waiting to be activated.  Ahrangi used his enormous speed to run as crazy around damaged Gladion and produce fire as he does so. Fire soon formed into a tornado as Ahrangi circled at high speed and Gladion was trapped in fire once again and was being heavily damaged by flames. Ahrangi quickly changed his attribute according to the first card played and switched to Aquos. His four swords transformed quickly into four tridents as his armor turned blue. He jumped above the tornado to reach its opening and fire four Aquos-powered blasts through the opening towards trapped Gladion detonating both tornado and area around them that it also pushed Tracy and Skystar back a little. "Yin&Yang Relentless Destroyer" Makoto yelled even louder as he activated Darkus-Haos-based ability on Ahrangi who quickly changed his attribute to Haos. He now had four halberds now instead of swords or tridents. Armor was recolored into white white silver and gold patterns on his chest. He clashed all his four halberds and slashed them all at once on the ground producing an earthquake and blinding light that forced through the ground erupting below Gladion blasting him in the sky. Ahrangi then quickly changed his attribute into Darkus and his halberds took appearance of maces and his wings of steel transformed into crow wings taking a more demonic appearance. Using superior speed he started pummeling Gladion mercilessly destroying his equipment while doing massive collateral damage to the area below him. "Wrath of Terra and Skies" Makoto yelled again making Ahrangi change into Subterra making his armor extra strong and transforming his maces into powerful hammers. As in the last process Gladion was not spared of heavy pummeling from all directions by enraged Ahrangi who went all-out berserk on him. And as that was done Ahrangi switched back to Ventus, but with only one sword which was that massive that it was ridiculous that Ahrangi could even hold it. Then he jumped above Gladion preparing to slash and releasing a powerful screech: "I'll see you in hell!"
He slashed Gladion at full force sending him flying towards one abandoned building making Gladion's equipment from cards break and shatter into pieces as he was blasted through the whole mass of buildings.

[Markus Hederick]

After using Soul Eater to rapidly absorb the remainder of Ahio and Torahu's power, Gargulion was in prime position to win the battle without any more resistance. Markus had used Petrify to scatter multiple beams of light across the area with each hit resulting in the affected area transforming into stone. It made contact with both Ahio and Torahu, which resulted in them being encased in stone. This gave Markus more than enough time to toy with his opponents minds as Gargulion brutally assaulted his opponents and broke them out of their stone prisons forcefully using a new ability called Gargoyle's Grudge, which covered him in a very ominous dark red aura that boosted his power across many milestones. Using this added strength, Gargulion rammed both of his encased opponents directly, leaving them seemingly incapacitated following their loss of power and being hit directly while not having the ability to move a muscle.

Following their assumed victory, Markus was beginning to get bored of the battle and was prepared to go over to another battle to see if he could offer any assistance to whoever needed it. As he turned his body to go towards either Tank or Allen, Markus quickly glanced at Seiki and Akane with the feeling of wanting to make even more damaging comments that could only be added on to their embarrassing defeat. "I almost feel bad that you two were the best Noland and Daniel could get as teammates. I'm actually quite shocked Noland ever made the decision to offer you a place in the Resistors, Seiki," Markus snickered, trying to keep himself from bursting out laughing. "You really should have been a Terrorist. Just like them, you fail whenever an important opportunity presents itself to you. When you had the chance to avenge your fallen family, you were too weak to make a difference. If it wasn't for Allen's interference, you'd likely be dead by now, which could have potentially been a good alternative considering you're already dead based on the way you fight." Markus then began to make a few steps towards another battlefield, laughing at his opponents as he departed along with Gargulion. "Bad teammates will always spoil the fun for everyone else who are good contributors to the cause. Both of you should do me a favor and eliminate yourselves from the war. Only then will any of you actually have a chance."

[Tank Stryker]

The repeating attacks on Gladion began to take their toll. Dents littered Gladion's armor as he slammed into the building, slowly sliding down to the ground. Shakily getting up, Gladion began to growl at the other two bakugan. Tank saw that Markus had finally dealt with the two girls' bakugan, and decided he would do some tactical destruction. This plan put a big grin on his face, and he knew exactly what he could do.

"Wow", Tank retorted, sarcastically, "If that's how you would slay a god, then you would be smote in a second. In fact, I might just do that." Tank swiped a card through his BrawlX. "Fusion ability activate! Divine Favor!"

At the utterance of the word "favor", a bright light shone from Gladion, radiating across the field. A wave of divine energy began to permeate everything in sight, benefiting Gladion. The dents and scratches on Gladion's armor vanished as Gladion healed, and the abilities surrounding Ahrangi and Skystar vanished. Gladion began to walk slowly towards the two bakugan as powerful storms formed above. The Claymore of Zeus and the shield Aegis fixed themselves and flew back into Gladion's hands before countless portals opened up and clouds parted allowing every weapon Gladion has to descend upon the battlefield.

The weapons floated around Gladion in an arc, minus Apollo's Chariot, waiting to be used. Extending his arm, Gladion pointed at Ahrangi, sending half the weapons towards the bakugan before doing the same to Skystar. The weapons began to attack the helpless bakugan as Gladion rushed towards them.

Gladion got a few slashes in on Ahrangi himself as the weapons continued the onslaught before turning his attention to Skystar, to which he beat savagely before jumping into the air towards the Chariot floating above.

"You really think you have a chance against us?" Tank laughed maniacally, "Gladion's BASICALLY a demigod! The gods favor us! We both can feel their favor flowing through us!" Tank grabbed another ability from his pocket and swiped it through, "Consecutive Ability activate! Earthshaker!"

Gladion became coated in a blue light, mostly concentrated on his right arm which held the Claymore of Zeus. Pulling his arm back, Gladion launched the sword towards the ground, shattering the street like cheap glass. Giant pieces of land flew into the air, launching Skystar and Ahrangi back into some still standing buildings, leaving a giant chasm in its wake. The weapons attacking Ahrangi and Skystar returned to float around Gladion.

"If you can't even take Gladion down, you wouldn't do ANYTHING to a god!" Tank laughed caustically, grinning a big grin before turning towards Allen, "Come on, Allen," Tank called out, "You can't even handle Hardy and his girlfriend? They're almost as weak as the pop star over there!" Tank pointed his thumb at Seiki before turning to her, "Seriously, I don't ever agree with Markus about anything, but I can't help myself this time! If you sung as bad as you brawled, you'd be out of a job so fast you would miss the entire reunion tour!" Tank began to laugh evilly, "C'mon, can't you do better than this? It's like your wings were clipped!" Tank feigned concern, "Oh wait, they were when you couldn't save your parents!" Tank began to laugh again, harder, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

[Allen Silva]

Drago and Kuzuha had a answer for everything he did. But then again so did Allen. So once Drago used his abilities to go face to face with the Goliath Fortress spawn, Allen was preparing the finale. Tanks mocking wasnt going to help the scenario. He waited until the Goliath Fortress begun to tumble, he silently activated his signature ability. The armor surrounded Gorem, protecting him from harm. So once the smoke cleared, Gorem was left standing, cackling at the efforts of the duo." Good job losers. All that you did was get me to put up my signature ability. So if the idea was to screw yourselves, then A+. Now how about I take this brawl to its close. You know what to do Allen."

Allen activated two abilities, giving Noland and Daniel very little time to react to the situation at hand." You can't escape your destiny you two. But still you try and fight against what we all know is the result. All of you are going to fall, this time for good. Noland, are you sure you can hold yourself together after this loss? No, nevermind. It doesn't matter. You aren't going to make it out of here anyway. Daniel, you talk so high and mighty, as though you are the king of the world. so how does it feel to know that normal humans have beaten you at every corner? Your superiority shatters like glass before your very eyes. but dont worry. ill put a end to this nightmare right here.Now Dual ability, Megalith Boxer and Rave Wrecker activate. The countdown to the end is over ." The two abilities worked together to turn Gorem into a missile of destruction. The Rave Wrecker increased Gorem's speed considerably utilizing the boosters on his back. The Megalith Boxer created a pair of energy gauntlets from highly compressed energy. Gorem used these to begin his onslaught.

[Seiki Maki]

A clump of black feathers laid on the battle field, three sets of talons sticking out straining to get up, but proving to be futile, the talons merely twitching. The comforting color of blue that her eyes held, always shining with curiosity, closed shut. And a golden colored beak limply lying there partially open, providing the bakugan a way to breathe in her beaten up condition, the feathers slowly rising and sinking at a steady pace. With her best attempts, Ahio had tried to take down Gargulion, but it had ended up in complete and utter failure, the bird just about at the brink of life and death itself. Despite her actions which she has performed with grace, despite the undying spirit she harbored within her, she never made it to the finish, not even with the help of the pyrus feline whose partner was in the “terrorist” organization.

Nothing can last forever.
Not the innocence of a child.
Not the existence of the strongest mountain.
Not even the human race.

Nothing gold can stay.

And definitely not the ventus girl's wall. The one that protected her from the harm of the outside world.

The words of hate that were aimed at her by those she was starting to consider her friends had shot her down, causing barrier that she once had up around her to shatter into a million shards which would pierce her being, her soul, leaving behind ugly and unforgettable scars on her metal self. Seiki had collapsed to the ground on her knees, mirroring the actions of her bird bakugan in some ways. Breathing unstable, hands buried within her hair as she mumbles her thoughts to herself, "Good for nothing... I guess that's one way to describe me. Or the bird who’s wings are clipped… Yeah, that would work as well." A weak laugh came out from her lips as she continued her mumbling. "It's because of me that Markus is going to end us... It's because of me that there were so many deaths that day... It's because of me..." Her amber eyes shut as she clenches her teeth, that familiar feeling of helplessness and despair washing over her again. "That Ahio is dying!"

The hands on her head grip her raven colored hair, a dark aura clearly present around her being, voice rising in volume slowly with every word. "I'm the one who is dragging everyone down. The one who never trained or partook in tournaments. The one who was never supposed to be a brawler to begin with." Her tone of voice then darkened as she went along with her thoughts. "Perhaps I should have killed myself that day and joined my family, wherever they may be. Then I wouldn't have to feel like crap, I wouldn't have to feel all this pain, I wouldn't be such a burden in this world!" She shouts, falling down to the ground completely. "It would have been better if I stopped my existence there that day... It's not like my existence would matter to anyone. No one really cares to begin with. I'm just one out of billions. What difference is there if there was just one less? One less measly human who can't even stand up for herself, not even in brawling. Besides... Wherever I go, I seem to trek bad luck alongside me."

Ahio was going to- no. She needed to respond to Seiki's thoughts. It was clear that she was spiraling down the road they call depression, one that shouldn't be taken by anyone. The bird opens her eyes halfway and attempts to raise her head to look at Seiki and talk to her, giving her those motivation talks that she would give to boost her partner's spirit. She was just half a centimeter off the floor before her head lost its energy to get up from the ground due to the multiple injuries that decorated her form in a twisted way, causing her to fall back down to the way she was before she had even tried to move a muscle. The bird tried to speak, the once childish-like voice now reduced to nothing more than a hoarse croak. "No… Don't talk about yourself about like that... You're so much more... Than what you say… Seiki…" Ahio tries to say with the best of her current abilities, but alas, it was in vain. Nothing more than a few scratchy syllables that couldn't be heard. And with that the bird gave out, breathing slowing down to a deathly state, letting the darkness she once feared, take over her soul.

"In this world, we are all born, slowly dying away bit by bit, rotting away into nothing... For what reason are we here for if we are all destined to die in the very end?" Seiki murmurs softly, but loud enough for those nearby to hear. She moves her hands from her hair to the left side of her chest, clutching the place where her heart is. "Why not end it sooner to speed up the cycle of life and death?" She hadn’t seen Ahio’s attempt to try to speak with her. Heck, she didn’t even look at Ahio since she was shot with unmerciful force from the darkus bakugan. “If only I could fade away from this world…” Only then she looks up to see Ahio, the breathing just stopping at a subtle halt. The girl’s amber eyes widened in shock and fear before it was glassed over by what one could call a crazed confusion haze. “Hey Ahio?” She calls out, voice still soft. “What if we made a place made up of only me and you and if just the world and everyone would all go away?” Then she looks back at the ground with eyes that can be described as lifeless, void of any emotions except for the negative ones.

“Salvation? Is that what this light is?” Ahio asks herself, unsure of where she was or what the light thing there is all about. All she recalled was trying to encourage Seiki to not give into her depression and all, but passed out and possibly died, then had found herself floating in an abyss of darkness until she hear the familiar voice of her partner… But not in her right state of mind, let’s say. Her voice was just… Off. That’s when she saw the light, that glimmer of light in the darkness she was floating around in. It didn’t take long for that small glimmer to brighten up and engulf the bird in it, causing a change… For the better, or the worse, Ahio didn’t know.

The Ahio that laid on the battlefield ground started to glow, and was bathed in a green light, a dark green one. It took Seiki a moment to notice, it wasn’t until she saw the green light in her range of view, where she was looking at in her dazed state. She gets up onto her knees and looks over at the said bakugan, who was now hovering in the air, still engulfed in the green light. “A… hio?”And then a blinding flash of green.

"Sometimes...pain is vital for our own growth. Our journey matters less than what our actions were along the way..." Ahio softly spoke, finally regaining the strength necessary to talk. As each second passed, the feeling of her body rapidly became familiar to her again albeit in a much different state. Her eyes became fixated on the overconfident gargoyle that struck her and Torahu down a moment ago. The thought of revenge could be seen in the fiery stare of her eyes as she was awaiting the opportunity to pay him back once whatever was happening to her body was completed. "It's as you've implied when you asked yourself about the reason for your existence. Nothing lasts forever, not even the pain unless you let it; if you do allow this to beat you down, then what will really be the reason for us being here? You could have quit a long time ago when it happened, but you fought like you always do. Why? Because you didn't want to let them win and consume the world with this nonsense. We came here to stop these whatchamacallits, not to give in to an enemy we promised to do something about." The light bathing her body began to disintegrate into green sparkles starting from her feet and leading all the way up to her head. A look at her feet could already tell that Ahio's body configuration had undergone a change. Once her complete body was made visible, it removed all doubts about what was happening. When all else has failed, an evolution had taken place, and it came at a very important time. Looking directly at one of her cards that had transformed, she concluded that the new name for her Bakugan was Kamikaze Ahio.

Still on her knees, Seiki was looking up at her partner wide-eyed, utterly shocked that Ahio had evolved. The first thing she noticed was the loss of the third leg that always set herself apart from other Ventus birds. While her claws were less fearsome in appearance when compared to her previous form, it allowed her to grip surfaces much easier and offered a sharper scratch than what was once possible. Two sets of wings were located below her neck region and were reasonably spaced from each other, offering her increased mobility while airborne. Her feathers were extremely elegant with purple lying in between the light green feathers that made up her entire body. Also, if one looked closely, Ahio can be seen with new teeth that can easily injure anyone caught in between. "Ahio...you..." Seiki faintly mumbled, not knowing how to respond to her words nor her new form. "Your frustration is understandable, but the words you've used towards yourself is only hurting you, which is what he ultimately wants. Why do that when there's a more suitable target?" Ahio asked while warming up her new wings for flight, blatantly referencing the person responsible for the demons that caused this much trouble. "I'm ready to try out this new evolution, so I need an ability ASAP. And remember, pain is temporary, but if you quit, it'll be permanent, especially in the rather...dark example you used." 

Seeing Ahio have the strength to continue the fight despite how strong their opponent was painted a clear picture in Seiki's head about what she wasn't doing compared to what the bird was doing. What she heard was almost like the story she heard Noland tell when they defeated Nero for the first time. His hatred came from what happened to him, and seeing him continuously fight against Nero like this shows that he must have been able to overcome his own pain; otherwise, he would be doing what Markus, Allen, and Tank plan to do with the only difference being he would be doing it on purpose. "Our journey matters less than what our actions were along the way..." she repeated slowly in an attempt to understand what it means. Suddenly, she rose to her feat with her gauntlet still ready for use with a new card inserted into it immediately. "Okay, Ahio... I'm sorry for not believing in myself, but it's just so hard..." She took a few deep breaths to regain her composure before playing the card, wanting her partner to know that despite what just happened, she believed in her. "This seems like a good one...okay. Lets do this. Ability activate! Wilderness of Sadness!"

As storm clouds loomed over the battlefield upon activation of the card, Ahio released a loud screech as a lightning bolt struck her directly to supercharge her with electricity. As this was done, multiple bolts were randomly discharged across the field, leaving noticeable burn marks across any surface it touched. Infused with the power of lightning, Ahio zipped past Markus to crash into Gargulion's back while his guard was down, stunning him significantly in addition to the crack now left in his design. She then proceeded to cheat by visiting Gladion to strike his hip, which would severely impact his ability to move as well as disrupting the steady usage of weapons his fusion ability granted him. Finally, Gorem was the last to be met with Ahio's new attack. While not as effective on him for very obvious reasons related to his legendary status, it was still enough to disrupt his attack pattern after nailing him in the lower neck region of his body. She flew back to her starting position near Seiki to finish the attack. "How's that for being useless, you pompous jerk?" Ahio scolded while being proud of what she had done to stun those three.

[Daniel Andersen]

Resistor Bakugan Ahio was able to initiate its evolution and use it at its advantage. All three controlled Resistors; Tank, Allen and Markus were in a tight position as their Bakugans were stopped in their tracks by some force Ahio was emitting. That was the right moment for others to strike and end the madness of three Resistors sent by Nero on rampage. 
It was quite of a wonder and a pleasant surprise in the same time both to Daniel and Kuzuha who weren't that much worried about battle as much as they couldn't listen to buzzing of a certain mosquito in front of them.
"I am not quite sure how to respond to this..." Daniel said as he watched Ahio's power manifesting on Gorem stopping him in his tracks of destruction. "I guess oops is a proper reaction" Kuzuha responded and turned to Allen and Gorem smiling.
"Well, that was very unfortunate. Now, there is a certain mosquito I would like to squash." Daniel continued while pulling out three ability cards out of his pocket. One of those three cards was glowing in different attribute color every time someone would set the sight on it. Every time it would glow card was releasing sinister spine-chilling sound making Kuzuha glow as well.
"Too bad your talk didn't pay off, Juggernaut. After all it looks like it was your only weapon." Daniel added and then put the glowing ability into his gauntlet causing electricity to spread over the battlefield and main around himself and Kuzuha. 

"It is time for Violet Infusion! Remember this one and remember it good!" Kuzuha yelled to Gorem and then Daniel's gauntlet emitted violet flames that wrapped up Kuzuha in some sort of violet sphere that electrified itself and made ground below Kuzuha crack under the enormous pressure of her ability. Sphere suddenly started to crack releasing some sort of crimson fire through the cracks as sphere continued cracking more and more. 
All of the sudden sphere cracked completely and exploded releasing powerful glow all around the area and letting Kuzuha out.
Finally, Kuzuha's form was changed just like the last time Daniel used this ability, but this time it was not the Gorem who has been copied.

Kuzuha managed to copy Drago's body by cladding herself into a crimson knight armor with certain parts closely resembling Drago. Her gauntlets looked like Dragonoid heads while her torso wore an armor with even bigger Dragonoid head. Instead of her wand her new weapon was a large fiery scythe called with text 'Angel's Reaper' engraved into it. 
Kuzuha's mask changed as well; she didn't have her fox mask anymore, but it was replaced with a mask of a dragon. "Mind if I steal this for a second?" Kuzuha asked sarcastically and rushed towards Gorem.

She started rapidly punching, kicking and slashing Gorem with all her might releasing crimson flames in the process that started melting area around her into liquid state. It seemed that heat her new form was producing was overwhelming for the area around her and everything was melting down. "Ability activate! Angel's Dragonoid Oblivion!" Daniel said and put another ability into his gauntlet causing Kuzuha's scythe to be infused with some sort of holy power mixed with power of dragon soul. She started slashing Gorem mercilessly and then turned her scythe upside-down slashing Gorem upwards.
This move cracked Gorem's armor and set him flying while being wrapped in furious flames from Kuzuha's scythe. Her slash was so strong that Gorem's mass almost meant nothing by the fact that she was able to set him flying very far in the sky.

"I have experienced rising and falling through my whole life. All the mockery to remind me of my failures is nothing compared to pain I have seen and been exposed to. Do you really think my soul can be shattered like that?" Daniel said and with that he finally put his last ability into the gauntlet making it flash in multiple colors and then Kuzuha flashed as well.
"Fusion Ability activate! Divine Flash Corona!" he yelled and initiated another ability which fused with his previously played one.

"I have had my share. You end this Hardy. He is your friend after all." Daniel said to Noland while Kuzuha got close to Drago. Her energy collected from transforming into this new form was released and then Drago was wrapped into it. Daniel and Kuzuha didn't want to waste all of their strength on finishing off Gorem, so they transferred all extra power to Drago.
Drago flashed and got 'Yin&Yang' emblem on his chest which was symbol of Kuzuha.
"He is weak off the ground. End this, Drago." Kuzuha added as Gorem started to fall from the sky again.