Episode 31: How Could You?

[Noland Hardy]

There was only one wing left to be covered after the other two groups were occupying the West and North Wings. All that remained to take the East Wing was Noland, Seiki, and Daniel. The three of them raced up the stairs and through the hallways. They arrived at this huge corridor packed with pictures of all of the military leaders that have been in charge of running this building all the way until the facility was no longer in service. The pictures were ignored as they kept running, but were stopped when numerous personnel charged straight for them due to the other two groups setting off the alarm. They wasted their enemies with ease and continued forward based on where they saw the workers come from. Doing this rewarded them with the discovery of the building's main lobby. Seiki saw the map of the entire building on a board close to an elevator, so she was tempted to run to go see it. Unfortunately, that was when all of them started hearing footsteps from a nearby door, and it was too late for evasion as the door was open by the time they realized what was going on. The origin of these footsteps came from Montai, who had just come out of a nearby conference room to go on her break. Although initially startled to see the intruders so early, Montai gave a warm welcome to Noland and Seiki, but not to Daniel. All he got was a cold stare, which Daniel could care less about. Noland was confused by this and questioned whether she considered the three of them hostiles like she was supposed to. Although she did receive orders to attack them on sight, Montai opted not to do so. She openly admitted she had no chance of winning by herself since they came in a group, but more importantly, she thought it was more beneficial to her if the three of them followed her to see someone who requested his presence. Directly after she suggested it, she told them that the place they're trying to reach is currently inaccessible, so they didn't have much of a choice but to accept her hospitality. Daniel warned her that he would have no problem killing her if she leads them into a trap, which Noland did not object to at the time. Seiki tried to hurry up the process since more guards were being dispatched, and she didn't feel like dealing with them. 

Montai led them all into their top secret lab that contained various information about the Pack. She hinted that there were other interesting things to find in there that she thought they would be interested in viewing, so it was like a tour she always wanted to conduct. Unfortunately, as she led them in there, the doors locked behind them, trapping all four of them inside of the lab. Once they realized this, Daniel was menacingly walking towards Montai in an attempt to kill her, but was stopped from doing so by Noland when he grabbed his arm to prevent him from moving. Seiki told her that Montai seemed nice and didn't mean any harm for now, so there was no reason to resort to violence just yet. Despite preventing her from being killed, Noland was suspicious about the ordeal and wondered if she knew that the doors would lock after they entered. Montai claimed that she didn't know anything about the locks and countered Daniel's accusations of her knowing about it by asking them why she would get locked inside with people she knew she couldn't beat if she knew about it. Fortunately for them, Montai knew how to force the doors to open via manipulation of the electrical grid, so she was going to tend to that while giving Noland, Seiki, and Daniel the freedom to look around. Before they had the chance to, Noland received a message from Allen. He briefly stepped to the side to listen to what Akane and Makoto have been doing downstairs, and he was really unhappy with what he heard. Noland confronted Daniel by demanding to know why his teammates are doing what they're doing. Surprised to hear of their actions, Daniel refused to believe that they would act so foolishly. Noland made it clear to him that Allen was not a liar; he believed every word about Akane being armed with a bomb and Makoto unleashing his true being by mercilessly massacring the workers. Daniel took offense to this and believed that Noland was implying that either he had something to do with their actions or that he has a plan of his own. This turned into a major argument that Seiki could not stop. Their arguing did not end until Montai finished tampering with the grid and forced the doors to open just in time to see numerous figures running towards them, yelling and screaming threats of death just as the Terrorists would.

During Noland, Daniel, and Seiki's journey up there, Karen and Nero were walking together in an unknown location in the building. Nero was very proud of the fact that he turned his enemies against each other by placing Akane's bomb and Makoto's articles in the basement levels. Knowing that Noland's group was the only one uncontested, Nero opted to pay them a visit himself while the other two groups fight each other to the death. As she walked with him, Karen began having numerous flashbacks. She remembered each one vividly starting from the time she meant the Terrorists face to face for the first time in this same building, all of her time spent with the Resistors while in a relationship with Noland, how she acted when Kendrick was abducted while a distressed brother was trying to find an answer, and even her many fights with Noland afterwards. She was always suspicious of the certain things he did especially what Montai relayed to her earlier about sending his own workers out to their graves without any remorse whatsoever. Although her belief in taking out the Bakugan, which is a secret she has only told Elico about so far, is still strong, Nero was taking it too far by involving humans in it especially since some of the workers were actually her friends. In her mind, she made it clear that she had nothing against the Pack eliminating the Bakugan, but targeting humans was vile and unnecessary. She had to endure all of this just because her own parents were unfit to watch over her. Regretting certain choices that she made over the last few months, Karen shed a tear because of her real parents not caring and being forced to do certain things she didn't want to do just because she had nowhere else to go without ending up like some of his workers. Nero noticed it and asked her what was wrong. Not wanting to reveal her true intentions yet, Karen brushed it off and said it was nothing.

They took the stairs down to the same arena Nero used for battling the Terrorists when they first met. Belphenoid had sneaked behind Karen, pulled her to the side, and offered to make a truce with her. He knew that Montai would tell her what had happened with the Nero body double incident out on the street. Karen asked him why he was doing this since she was confused about their intent. Asmodeus appeared next to Belphenoid to answer her question. He revealed that they have outgrown their need for their creator and are seeking to include him in their eventual cleansing of the entire human race as well as the Bakugan on the Earth. Karen was scared to her core when she realized that the Pack actually confirmed their desired to kill humans, but before she could speak, Abbadon showed up and promised that they would not include her in their attack if she simply did what they say. They wanted her to trap them in the battle arena with Nero as soon as they give the signal, and they would take care of him from there. Belphenoid mentioned that it shouldn't be a problem for her knowing she didn't like the sound of what they were saying when Nero had already done similar things. Elico wondered what would happen if they refuse, which Asmodeus kindly stated that they would kill her right now. Not wanting to take any chances with those animals, Karen accepted their request and told them to cling to the walls to make sure they don't get detected. She called Montai and asked her to cut the power to the doors in the battle arenas as soon as she gave the signal. Montai notified her of the approaching Resistors and asked what she would like for her to do with them. Karen told her to lure them into the laboratory and lock the doors for approximately five minutes. Montai accepted her request and awaited the command. As soon as Nero walked into the arena, Karen began to walk out. She walked past Nero and told him that he shouldn't tamper with forces that aren't meant to be controlled. Before Nero could get over confusion by this statement, Karen exited the arenas and yelled the word now for Montai to lock the doors. Once it was locked, Nero stood there stunned and demanded to know what was going on before the Pack started creeping down the walls.

(Boss Theme)

[Karen Valentine]

"Her betrayal is really that much of a shocker to you, Nero? You've had that one coming for a very long time. That incident with the Master Blaze might have been the one to blow the fuse." Belphenoid slowly crept down the walls of the arena once the exits were sealed. Salivating at the thought of ending Nero's reign once and for all, Belphenoid detached himself from the wall and landed quite fiercely. He was soon joined by his brothers, Asmodeus and Abbadon. They joined him on the battlefield with the same eagerness as the elder. "Surely, you must have anticipated this much earlier since you were brave enough to insult our intelligence with that app you like to use to disguise other people as yourself, Asmodeus amusingly stated.

They each took steps towards Nero in unison with their claws primed for the attack. "You've seen our willingness to kill humans without your petty orders too many times, so there is no need for an introduction for what we're about to do," Abbadon reminded him. "There is only one thing you need to know at this very moment, Nero. YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. Belphenoid, Asdmoeus, and Abbadon sharpened their claws and made them glow with the color respective to their own attributes. This was the sign of them activating the ability called Fusion Cutter. The ability had the added benefit of enhancing their already impressive speed as well as increasing their cutting power. Using these new attributes to their advantage, the three Pack leaders lunged at Nero with all their might in order to slice through him without any trouble. "Perish, mongrel!"

[Nero Bullock]

"After all I've done for you...after all I've given you...you would betray me, Karen? Really...?" Nero was emotionally hurt by Karen when she chose to do this, but it was not enough to blind him from the harsh reality that he was trapped in a room with three Bakugan that have shown the desire to kill him on numerous occasions when he tested this theory on his own workers. Nero turned his head to look his attackers right in the face. He was not affected in the slightest by Belphenoid's attempt to create a reason for Karen's betrayal nor did he pay any attention to Asmodeus's and Abbadon's remarks. Instead, what he focused on was that he could not allow these series of events to be forgotten. Anger was the only emotion that took over him, and he dedicated himself to have his vengeance one way or another.

Nero immediately reached in his pocket and gripped Hydranoid the moment he saw the Pack activate Fusion Cutter. When their feet left the floor, he pulled the Bakugan out and threw it without saying a word. Hydranoid stood in his evolved form and lashed his tail at all three of the Pack leaders, sending them reeling back towards the wall they came from. "So this is the thanks I get from all three of you and Karen for making this all possible? You all are such ungrateful little pricks, aren't you?" Nero activated his BrawlX for battle the moment he repelled the Pack. All of his attention was now focused on the Pack for having the audacity to attack the one who had brought them here together. "When all of this is finally over, remember that you and her were the ones who spilled first blood. I have done nothing but care for all of you, and you want to kill me over it. The anger you just provoked out of me is something you'll wish you kept hidden."

Nero then pulled out an ability and swiped it across his BrawlX with haste. He didn't desire for his betrayers to ever get an inch of response time for abusing his trust in the way that they did. "Ability activate! Gazer Excedra!" Hydranoid planted his feet onto the floor. He charged two blasts, each one being developed individually in both of his heads. He took aim and shot multiple blasts at his enemies repeatedly as if he were on a rampage, shaking the arena with every shot he took. "You should have known better than to ever pick a fight with me, Belphenoid. You are the dog. Whenever we tell you do something, you do it. When we say roll over, you roll over. You NEVER EVER go against the ones who MADE you," Hydranoid warned.

[Karen Valentine]

After trapping Nero in the arena with his potential killers, Karen was gone. She didn't think about what he would say nor what Elico thought about what happened. All she cared about was getting away from that area as quick as she could before things got really ugly. As she was nearing the elevator, some guards were getting ready to go down to the lower levels to confront the intruders. They were alarmed to see Karen running so quickly towards the elevator that they thought someone from the Resistors or Terrorists somehow found their way up their and was trying to kill her, but a couple of guards behind her did not feel the same way. They had just passed by the arena where they saw their boss being attacked by the Pack. Once they saw this, they yelled at the others to stop Karen, but their awareness ended up being their downfall. Karen summoned Elico to stab all of them to drain their energy. After he incapacitated them, they started to feel the floor rock a little due to the fight. That is when they knew they should get away from them as soon as possible, so she took the elevator down to the main floor.

"I don't know what's going to become of that battle, but whatever it is, both the Pack and Nero are messed up in the head..." Karen stepped out of the elevator running since the guards downstairs started to get word of what she did. She sprinted through the multiple hallways that led to the main lobby, and then made a sharp turn to the right where she ended up in the straightaway to the laboratories. "Damn it, Montai...why isn't that door open!?" Karen was not pleased to see the lab doors closed when she specifically told Montai to make sure the doors were open, yet they were closed with dozens of guards on her tail spewing death threats and whatnot. Before she lost hope, the doors started to open. Without looking back, she used the remaining bit of her energy for the final fifty meters to the labs and slid right in there as the doors closed behind her. "So...what now?" Elico asked when he realized they were trapped. Karen tapped him with enough force to make him wince when she said, "This is the most fortified room we could access other than level zero, which is too close to where the others are at. Do you really want to go outside where the Pack is just waiting to feast on us!?"

[Noland Hardy]

Before the doors to the lab were opened by Montai, Noland was in a heated argument with Daniel over what Akane and Makoto were doing that forced his teammates to fight them. Noland believed Daniel was the most diabolical of them all after all of the years he has spent fighting him, so there was no doubt in his mind that Daniel had to have something locked away if both Akane and Makoto sprung something out of nowhere. This was an argument that neither Drago or Kuzuha wanted to get involved in, so they stayed silent, constantly shaking their heads at their behavior while they should have been worried about being locked into a lab with one of Nero's subordinates that they still didn't trust yet. The raising of the voices stopped when Montai managed to open the door when numerous people were running at track speed towards their location. This almost took Noland's breath away when so many people from Nero's side were rushing to get them.

"...Why did these Terrorists have to be our best source of help? All they've done since we got in here was lead us on a path of death..." Noland's eyes that widened a bit once he saw the real reason why guards were running down there. Karen was the leader of that entire race, and it looks like she was in a panic as if she was running away from them as opposed to running with them to confront him, Daniel, and Seiki. She managed to slip in the lab sector without being touched by the guards and had the door closed behind her to prevent them all from getting in. Noland was furious at her startling appearance and made it known to every person present in the room. "Oh, that's just great! Look who it is! She's exactly what we wanted in here along with the Terrorist whose teammates are trying to kill mine!" Noland shouted in disgust, banging the nearby desk with his fist. "Will someone with common sense in this room please explain why Nero's bitch is running away from their own guards?"

[Karen Valentine]

"I hope you know you're not going to get very far in the world by making that type of language the norm in your vocabulary, Noland," Montai advised to him. "Such a spiteful young man...You're definitely Vince's son." Montai walked over to Karen to help her up to her feet as she was huffing and puffing after her long run there. Karen got up while still breathing a bit heavily, wiping away a little sweat from her forehead. "Quite the predicament we have ourselves in right now, isn't it? The rest of the Resistors are locked in mortal combat with two of the Terrorists, so we're all that's left until a winner emerges. Since we having nothing better to do than to argue with each other, I'll give you something to do." Montai opened a door that led to the deeper parts of the lab where Nero's best kept secrets were stored. "I bet there's some things you've been wanting to know for a while, so now you have access to it. Don't waste this opportunity, Master Blaze. Find out everything you want to know."

Everyone walked into the room to view what was in there despite Montai and Karen already knowing everything that was contained in that room, but it was more for Noland, Daniel, and Seiki's benefit that they see what they don't know. Before Noland could get a chance to look at anything in there, she tapped his arm to get his attention. "...You probably won't believe a word I say now after violating your trust for so long, but the reason why I was running away from the guards is because I did what I should have done when I was with you..." Karen looked him in the eyes to make sure he got everything that she was saying to him without a doubt in his mind. She hadn't been very honest with him in the past, and this was a very sincere attempt to be. "The Pack grew tired of Nero's leadership and wanted to kill him, so I gave them that chance... Montai and I locked Nero in an arena with the Pack. I'd rather not go into the specifics on what led us to do that since they're so painful, but...I hope all of the info you find here can at least lead you on your way to forgiving me...if you ever could. If you're going to strike down your enemy, I figure you should at least know them first."

[Noland Hardy]

Noland rolled his eyes at Montai after she made her comment in reference to her previous boss presumably being his own father, which didn't impress him one bit seeing how she turned out after he was gone. In order to quell the anger that was definitely within the lab, she offered to show them a view things that Nero has kept hidden for a good reason. Noland, Daniel, and Seiki had no choice but to see what she was talking about since they couldn't go through the way they came in. Going deeper into the lab, they found a room that had an ominous feel to it. It was like Nero's deadly secrets had lives of their own and were haunting anyone who was brave enough to know a glimpse of what he knows. Two of Nero's main figures within his leadership showing them a room like this was almost too good to be true. Noland didn't know what to think about it, and he was almost too skeptical to even move.

That was when Karen got the chance to get his attention to tell him a few things. Noland was curious about what she had to say to him now after getting the impression that there was more going on than any of the Resistors and Terrorists could have expected. Judging by the way she was speaking, there was definitely something disturbing that she was hiding, and she confirmed it to be true. After sounding apologetic for how she treated him, which did not get a response from Noland, she officially announced her betrayal to them all. She didn't mention anything regarding what actually led her to do that, but Noland had an idea why. "Any one of us could tell that the Pack wouldn't kill Nero so easily," Noland responded, directly referencing the body they found on the side of the road on their way there. He didn't know how to respond to her any further when she mentioned the thought of him ever forgiving her for what she has been doing.

Drago popped up on his shoulder after listening to the conversation for a little bit and offered his own opinion. "Based on the way you worded that, you are at least already aware that it'll take a while for those wounds to be healed if they're even able to be healed. That's a good thing...except you running in here just gave away our positions. We have nowhere to go now without being shot, so if you want any of that forgiveness to show, either you or Montai better find us an alternate way out of this mess before someone comes in to kill us all." Noland nodded in agreement with his guardian, but not before acknowledging Karen's words. "My only question and concern for you is...how come you didn't do any of that sooner..?" Noland dismissed Karen and walked towards the central computer next to a few tubes that were used recently and began messing with it to see what he could find. "File number one...the Pack's creation..."

[Nero Bullock]

Nero fought the Pack off very bravely. Dual Hydranoid's Gazer Excedra did a good job at causing the Pack some damage and forcing them to scatter to avoid any further colossal hits on them due to his attacks being very heavy. After being hit by the attack, Belphenoid had words of his own to respond to Hydranoid's considering he was feeling a similar way about how he acting. "See...that right there is the problem with both of you. You only think of other Bakugan as clueless animals that have no minds of their own. That is the reason why you created us, isn't it? You thought we were mindless killing machines that have only existed to serve your fueling need for revenge for all that our race has cost you? You're ridiculous! Shadow Twister!" Belphenoid unleashed a spinning wave of darkness at his mouth directly at Hydranoid. The attack got even bigger the longer it traveled through the air, covering a much larger portion of the arena as it went near Hydranoid. The power of its attack was enough to blow Nero backwards a bit, ripping a portion of his jacket in the process.

Hydranoid challenged the attack by using an ability of his own at Nero's command. "Ability activate! Maverick Spicer!" Hydranoid's body became engulfed in a blazing purple flame-like aura that wrapped around his body to be used a form of protection. When Belphenoid's attack made contact with him, Hydranoid placed his right hand outwards to act like he was catching the attack. After briefly clashing with it, Hydranoid closed his fist, which dispersed the attack without any issues. Once he did this, he started using his strong hind legs to stride towards his opponents to deal heavy damage using his enhanced physical strength. After dealing with Belphenoid's attack that damaged his own body a little bit, Nero completely lost control of his emotions when Belphenoid even dared to ask him that question, so much so that he started yelling across the room.  "What kind of question is that to ask me, Belphenoid? What do you think I view you as? You came here TWICE to kill our people, so why wouldn't you be a killing machine? Your first attack actually cost me the love of my life, so yes, I fucking do think you're a mindless killing machine! You all are! Every last one of you!"

[Noland Hardy]

Noland opened the file on the computer related to the Pack's creation and was a bit surprised at what he skimmed over. He began reading the entire lab report word for word, not leaving any word unsaid. "All of the information contained on this device is classified information belonging to the CIA and all of its associates. If you are watching this, you're fired," Noland read as the warning label outlined those statements in red at the top. "On September 12, 2009, one day after the incident dubbed 9/11 '2', or the correct name, 'Judgment Day', the police arrived at the scene of the climactic final battle to assess the situation and search for any other hostile contacts if there were any left. Detective Andrew Bullock appeared at the scene of the crime a few minutes after the department did to begin his own investigation. What he found at the battle site was the remains of the otherworldly man and woman who led the siege onto our country, and the Bakugan that they used. After hours of searching the area, there were no signs of Director Vincent Hardy or Alana Cortese, who have reportedly went missing prior to the battle ending in Noland Hardy's favor. Once it was confirmed that the only pieces of information they had to dive deeper into the situation was found, the remains were packed up to be examined by the forensics and everyone left the area. They closed off the area as a memorial to the fight, not leaving it touched by any man or woman ever again on the grounds of it being a federal crime if anyone should defile these memorial grounds. Already having close ties with the President for his life's work, Andrew was selected by him to replace Vince as the new Director. Once he assumed this role, a very attractive woman named Montai..."

Noland smirked a little while looking at Montai after he read that part. "You both would be perfect for each other." After his short distraction, Noland continued reading the document. "...gave him the instructions that were left by Vince prior to his disappearance. Andrew followed every word she said in order to recover the documents to do exactly what Vince said to do. When he opened it, Andrew discovered a highly detailed plan for the future he had for the world and more importantly, his own son. He desired to create a defense against planetary invasions that would easily drive back their invaders. Andrew was in agreement to complete this plan, so he tackled the objective one task at a time. First, he went back to the site of the battle later becoming known as 'No Man's Land' to establish a separate location there than his main office. He then discovered the location where the corpses were being held, convinced them to relinquish possession of the bodies, and began experimenting on them. He extracted the DNA code off of the man's Bakugan to begin the creation."

"In order to be successful in this experiment, Andrew required the body of an existing Bakugan species to transplant the code into. Rather than forcing Bakugan to become test subjects so early in the process, Andrew waited until Bakugan were murdered out in the street by criminals to test them out on. He tried to implant the Bakugan's DNA into all of the Bakugan he gathered, and nothing resulted from it. It wasn't until a police officer and his Hynoid were killed when Andrew was able to reach a solution. Using the Hynoid's body as a base, Andrew used it as a medium for the DNA code of the Darkus Bakugan that has yet to be identified. Once he did this, the Hynoid's body mutated into a much darker, yet stronger, version of itself that came to be known as Belphenoid. Not knowing what kind of mindset the Bakugan might have because of the transfer, Andrew kept it in stasis here in the laboratory until the hour of its service was requested."

[Nero Bullock]

Hydranoid's rampage made it very difficult for the Pack to evade without receiving significant damage due to Maverick Spicer. Each slam he made caused a violent explosion. Each snap he made with his heads were quicker than the poisonous tentacles of Karen's Elico. Each stride he took provoked concern. To counter this, Asmodeus latched to the wall across from Hydranoid and used an ability. "Blowback Cannon!" He generated a lot of wind power in his fur that caused his hair to spike. He began transferring this energy towards his mouth as he began screeching, sending a violent pressure of wind towards Hydranoid. It slammed into him, knocking him off of his feat a little before he regained his balance. Fortunately for him, Maverick Spicer allowed him to resist the bone-crushing effects of the wind power he was being continuously pushed by, but that wouldn't be the only thing he had to defend against. Abbadon saw this as an opportunity to enhance his own Pyrus attacks, so he declared an attack as soon as he saw Asmodeus keep Hydranoid at bay. "Sol Cannon!" Abbadon held his head up and opened his mouth slightly to accumulate red particles necessary for the formation of a large orb of fire. Once it was developed, he allowed Belphenoid to cast his attack before sending it, noticing that the main lead wanted to use it in some way. "Gehenna Crimson Striker!" Belphenoid enveloped himself in a dark cloak to enhance his attack power. He jumped straight into Abbadon's flame orb and wrapped it around him entirely. Receiving a nice push from Asmodeus's Blowback Cannon as well as the boosted reaction from winds making contact with this fire, Belphenoid charged straight at Hydranoid and delivered a fierce tackle.

The impact blew Hydranoid backwards and completely nullified his Maverick Spicer. As he skid along the ground, Hydranoid used an attack to halt any further advances. "Lucky hit! Dual Gazer!" Hydranoid charged a large, purple blast in both of his heads and simultaneously shot it at both Asmodeus and Abbadon while they were re-adjusting. The resulting impact rocked them hard as they fell back, becoming incapacitated for a brief moment while they recovered. Not feeling comfortable attacking Hydranoid any further with his brothers down, Belphenoid opted to cover them while they got back up. "It sounds like you should have actually kept me dead if you were hurt by it that much. I wonder which attack it was...I've been in so many individual attacks that I kinda lost track of it." Belphenoid's remark must have hit a nerve with Nero as he was really unhappy with his choice of words. "The...fucking...Twin...Towers... Do not act like you don't remember it! You know exactly what you did! You did it right in front of me!" Suddenly, Belphenoid recalled what Nero was referring to, and responded with a non-caring remark. "Oh my. There were people in there? Dang, man. That must really suck for you, huh? I hope the man or woman you fell in love with is okay," Belphenoid heartlessly responded as he activated Power Scale sneakingly, bringing Abbadon and Asmodeus back up to power once again. "It didn't even take one sentence to make all of us realize how much I don't care about your grief. It only brings a smile to my face knowing that we shared our darkness with you."

[Noland Hardy]

"So it was him all this time..." Drago was really disturbed by the fact that the same dragon that has caused him, Noland, and Allen so much torment had been alive all this time. He didn't know what to think after hearing that report read about him. All he could think about was to see what else they didn't know. "File number two...the Pack and their Influence..." Noland pulled up the second lab report that he found and began reading it word for word as he did the last, hoping that none of the information he read from this one would be as shocking. "Belphenoid's birth was the first of many experiments that would continue from materials gathered from "No Man's Land". Still ignorant of what he created, Andrew continued studying the creature. Its power level was noticeably different from the Hynoid it was derived from. It was steadily rising to be on par with how much it had prior to its defeat at the hands of the Dragonoid. Curious about what else was left behind, Andrew returned to the battle site during one of his breaks to search around. During one of his leisurely strolls on a Monday afternoon, he stumbled upon something sinister. He didn't know what it was, so he encased it in a capsule and brought it back to the lab. Its presence had scared many inside the workplace, making them too afraid to approach the Director while he had it in his hands; however, Montai was the only person brave enough to touch it, and her behavior started turning dark in the process. He brought it back to Belphenoid's resting place and sat it down near him. He was returning to his work when the Bakugan awakened from its sleep at the sensing of the object brought to him and began absorbing power from it. Alarmed at what he was seeing, Andrew took it away from him and demanded to know what it was doing."

"Belphenoid jumped out of his containment and continued absorbing power from the object, claiming it to be something that is necessary for his own rising power. He claimed the name of what Nero was holding was a Doom Card that allows the holder to open rifts to a place called the Doom Dimension. He allowed Andrew to keep the card in his possession since he did not have much of a use for it anymore at the moment due to absorbing its power, therefore making it useless. Andrew was stunned by its sudden movement for a while before the sound of something breaking distracted him from the Bakugan and turned his attention to the room next door. All they could see was Montai acting in a fit of rage, manhandling all of the workers in there with ease before turning her attention to Nero. Belphenoid informed him that people who have not embraced who they are become enveloped in chaos when they touch the card, allowing them to realize their full potential. Realizing that he could use the Bakugan's power to do exactly what Vince wanted as well as what he wanted to do, Andrew opted to take control of the former dragon. After subduing Montai with ease, he asked the Bakugan to absorb the energy away from her body, which he did without question. Andrew used the doom card he received as the catalyst for his mind-control chips that he can use to tap into the dark side of the ones he infects, and as its holder, anything he says can be done at will. Deeming it a fatal mistake that Belphenoid relinquished the card to him, Andrew planted one into him while he was asleep, presumably forcing Belphenoid to do his bidding ever since then; however, it would soon become a known fact that Andrew's action was the mistake that was fatal."

"What he soon came to realize was that his mind control worked both ways for Andrew. Belphenoid's absorption of the Doom Card's power granted him immunity from the control he was trying to achieve as well as granting him access to summoning a group of Bakugan known as the 'Doom Beings' on demand using the same type of energy he used to call on the Fifth Paladin. Knowing that his human captor was not aware of this yet, Belphenoid put on a charade that he was in Andrew's full control and did whatever he said. This problem was not looked into until Belphenoid killed a young man at a local high school. Andrew sought to address it and placed a tighter hold on him thinking that it would work. Belphenoid knew that what he was doing was useless, but continued to act like what was happening was working. After observing Belphenoid's behavior, Andrew began to see the error in his ways. He knew he had unleashed a Bakugan that was willing to kill humans despite his wishes that it wouldn't come to that happening based on the Bakugan's attitude, so he continued to search for ways that it could be controlled since he feared the Bakugan would continue to become stronger. Knowing that Belphenoid and his newly spawned partners, Asmodeus and Abbadon, would become too much to deal with if allowed to have their free will, Andrew finally figured out the solution to his dilemma and developed a final series of chips following his dispatch of the three Resisters he captured. These were not designed by the same methods as the originals; however, these were created to make them see the only thing that each of them would ever willingly listen to...the only man that has ever succeeded in doing so..."

[Nero Bullock]

Nero stood there in shock when Belphenoid said that he didn't care about the mass amounts of genocide he was personally responsible for. His shock didn't come from their lack of care towards the matter since he expected such out of a Bakugan like him, but to see anyone say they don't care about killing someone for no reason is on a whole new level of low. "You don't care, eh?" His mind returned to that uneventful day on Septemeber 11, 2001. He remembered himself in his late twenties about to be married to this wonderful woman named Kristen. He was only a couple of days away from getting to marry the woman of his dreams, so he was peacefully patrolling the streets as a police officer along with his partner, Vince Hardy. When the time of the attack was upon them, they were both caught off guard with the planes crashing into the building. Only Nero was the one ready to be a first responder while Vince was hesitant. As Nero was about to run towards the building with Elico in his hands, a dark Bakugan zipped past them all in a flash, locking eyes with the officers as they collapsed from the force. The dragon then rammed the building itself, which made the structure even more likely to collapse. Vince, who was armed with Krakix at the time, threw him out and shot the dragon with a giant stream of energy using Argon Cannon. With the dragon shot down and falling towards the ground, Vince began to fight it and his handler who just arrived on the ground via his telekinetic descent while Nero opted to save his fiancee. He had Elico use his Subterra abilities to maintain the building's base while he went in there to get her out. Before he could, Vince grabbed his arm and pulled him back, telling him that the time for saving her was long gone, warning him that he was not going to make it up there in time and make it out alive himself even if he were to make contact with her.

This made Nero very angry that he would ever tell him to give her up. He shook Vince's grip off and continued running, not wanting to waste precious time being locked into a debate about it. While he was going away, he noted that his woman was too important for him to ever think about her being killed in this incident if his body was able to spring into action to attempt to stop it. Knowing that the situation was too dangerous, Vince ordered Krakix to knock Nero unconscious, which is what he did by jumping in his path to lightly pluck him towards a nearby building. Elico was opposed to this and attacked Krakix, which also gave the dark dragon the opportunity to attack him. Krakix used Elico as a shield against the blast that was coming for him, knocking the Aquos Bakugan out instantly. What happened during that battle and where Drago came from was unknown to him as both him and Elico were incapacitated; however, what he did know when he woke up a few hours later was that Vince had won the fight somehow and acquired the Dragonoid, but his soon-to-be wife was lost forever. All he could think about was what could have happened if Vince hadn't interfered with his mission, so he naturally pinned the blame on him that things were the way they were now. This was what turned best friends into mortal enemies. This also made him begin to realize that his career path was poorly chosen as his current occupation existed to interfere after something had happened as opposed to his new outlook, stopping things before they happen.

Reminding himself of this, Nero found it very disheartening that the Bakugan responsible for starting this chain of events isn't remorseful and even thinks it's a joke that he had lost someone so close to his heart. To see his own adopted daughter, whom he had provided for with the best care in the world, betray him in this manner shows that the pain was not yet over. Belphenoid had said all he needed to say to break his spirits, so he assumed one of his most powerful formations to end the fight that should have never been started. "Behold! The gateway to your demise! Apocalypse Vortex!" The Pack banded together to unleash their energy into the ceiling above to open a portal to the Doom Dimension. What started to pour out was massive waves of Fear Ripper intending to slice Nero and Hydranoid until nothing was left. "There are forces that even the government cannot control, Nero. Free will is one of those things that you should have known better than to tamper with. Had your companion have lived up until now, she would have left your side just as Karen did. The Bakugan on this planet and beyond are not slaves to the humans; we are your superior. You ask, and we THINK about doing it," Asmodeus suggested. Abbadon, who was eager to beat Nero down even more, continued on with what was being said, laughing a bit before he chose to speak. "As smart as you claim to be, it's a wonder how you went this far believing that the energy from a Doom Card was enough to contain us. You were afraid at what you made. The likelihood of us going on a rampage and possibly taking more of you and Noland's family and friends was too much for you to handle, so you hid like a bitch behind your ridiculous chips. You were never worthy to wield our power. If I wasn't so eager to kill all of you back then, and if I actually cared about your feelings, the first and only thing I would have told you to do to make yourself feel better would be to kill yourself."

Nero swiped a card across his BrawlX after getting increasingly frustrated at the Pack mouthing off about the situation. "Ability activate! Guillotine!" Hydranoid positioned himself in the exact spot where the Fear Ripper would attempt to erase him. Once he did this, he leaned back a little to aim his saws directly towards them, and then activated them. The constant cycling of the blades were going fast enough to spark purple electric bolts that scattered across the battlefield, injuring those who were coming down before they met their end by the incontestable saw blades. "It's a shame that you three can't fight as well as you can talk shit about someone else's issues that you don't feel apologetic for causing. I'll finish you with Gravity Chamber!" Hydranoid surrounded himself in a purple orb whose gravitational pull began pulling the Pack towards him while he was still in use of his saw blades, meaning that they would likely face decapitation upon making contact with him. "I know this is a different feeling for you when you attack someone ready for you as opposed to sending a young girl to the Doom Dimension and crashing into towers, taking numerous husbands and wives, who will never make it back to their families, to their graves. It's as I've said to Noland when I faced him for the first time. I'm not doing this just for myself, but for every human being that your race has shown no mercy to since the dawn of time!"

The Pack were struggling to escape the strong force of Hydranoid's ability. Abbadon was prepared to nullify the ability before they were hit, but due to the energy they spent using their last attack, it would be very risky to use any more power to get rid of the ability since they'll be left defenseless against Hydranoid's next attack, which would come very quickly since it wouldn't take him long to move afterwards. Belphenoid opted to protect themselves, so that's what he had them do. "Everyone curl up!" Belphenoid, Asmodeus, and Abbadon joined together to curl into a ball upon the activation of Abbadon's ability. "Flaming Tempest!" Belphenoid and Asmodeus combined their power with Abbadon's to form a dark fiery ball that they used to collide into Hydranoid at maximum velocity. The impact caused an explosion that started damaging the room itself as it caused the electricity in the circuits to malfunction, causing the power on the entire floor to go out. The backup lights all turned on, but started flickering due to the amount of damage. When the smoke was clear, Hydranoid and the Pack were all very dazed from the clash and were equally hurt. Nero's jacket was completely destroyed from the battle, and his shirt was ripped, leaving him with only his black muscle shirt covering his upper body.

Having damaged his opponents enough, Nero opened the program on his BrawlX used to assume control over his chipped targets, but this time, the layout was completely different from how it was before. "You three wanted to share your darkness with me, so now I'm going to do the same with you. Here's a firmware update for your damn chips, and don't be surprised at what you see either. You'll find out that the one who made this particular one possible will look very familiar to you three." Nero forced the chips in the Pack's bodies to update to a newer version, completely overwriting what he had done previously and replaced them with something rather different. When it happened, their pupils briefly became blank before returning to normal, only showing the appearance of the single man that was alongside Belphenoid from the start. "So tell me. Do I look familiar now?" Once they saw this, the Pack started to undergo a transformation as only their true wielder could bring out their full power, which is what Nero had achieved by having them see him as their original wielder. "In the same way you killed her, I will slaughter your entire kind, and you're going to help me do it, so says your leader. But first...there's someone that needs to be taught a lesson..."

[Noland Hardy]

After reading the two reports, Noland was now aware of who his enemy was and what they were equipped with, and he also knows where Alana and Vince were taken; yet, he still doesn't know the names of the aliens in question and their Bakugan or where they come from. His frustration with this inconsistency was evident by the loud sighs he made. There was only one report left to read and thought it would be a good one considering it was about Nero himself. "File Number 3...Nero's Pandemonium..." Unfortunately, he was stopped short right there since the contents of the file were redacted. It turns out that the author of this particular file was Nero himself, and he must not have wanted anyone else to see what was inside as opposed to the information he already saw considering this might have been a very personal topic that was none of anyone else's business. That would bring the creation of the entire file into question if he didn't want anyone else seeing it, but Noland didn't really care about it. It didn't really matter what was wrong with him. All he knew was that Nero needed to be stopped.

"Well, unless you want to tell us anything that's on this file we can't read, we're done here. Like Drago said, I expect for you both to have a way out of here if you're actually in as much trouble with Nero as we are." A few seconds after Noland said that, a strong vibration was felt throughout the building that came from one of the floors above them. This caught Noland off guard. Remembering what Karen said to him earlier, it was likely Nero and the Pack's doing. "That was the power of Bakugan. I don't know what's going on up there, but if any of that comes into this lab, Montai and Karen are first in line. The only way he's going to know we're in here is because of you two, and I'm not going to put myself in harm's way for either of you," Drago declared, slightly opening his ball form to get a clear look at their surroundings to see if there was a way out. Noland was busy thinking about what he read as opposed to getting out of there. The info he read mixed up his priorities as he was now thinking about Alana and Vince again. "So the king sent them to the Doom Dimension...What is that place anyway? It definitely doesn't sound too pleasant especially with what the Pack has been bringing out of there. Speaking of which, if the Pack is able to access the Doom Dimension, I wonder..."

[Seiki Maki]

While everyone else was getting inside information about the operation, Ahio was at the door listening to what was on the other side. Ahio banged on the door back to them just as they were doing, showing that she was just as angry as they were for coming after them like that. "Will all of you shut up over there? Some of us are actually trying to read in here and you're being very rude!" Ahio screeched. She then looked back at Montai and Karen, the ones who got them in their mess in the first place. "We're going to have some serious problems if there isn't another way out of here in the next few minutes. I'm not getting my feathers plucked in here because we were led into a deathtrap. You got us in here, and now you're going to get us out. Kapish?" Seiki was in full agreement with what she was saying, but chose not to add onto it since Drago had already voiced his disgust about it. While they were there, they were productive in their quest to defeat Nero by analyzing what it was they were fighting. The details surrounding the Pack were very astonishing to the say the least. She didn't think the same Bakugan used to cause two national attacks, with one being responsible for Noland's troubles, would be the culprit behind her studio's massacre.

In fact, she was under the impression that the Pack were bloodthirsty animals that were just out to get them all. While that fact could be applicable even after their identities were revealed, it still doesn't make sense how a Bakugan who was supposedly highly intelligent would allow this to go on for so long and not give much of a reason why he was killing everything he saw. Then there is the revelation of a Doom Card. The thought that Nero was ever in possession of a card that can send people to the so-called Doom Dimension was frightening, and it was very shocking that its power was already being carried by the Pack to call on their armies. There's no wonder how they were able to have so many Bakugan on their side as they were coming from another location. "So it's all starting to make sense now... Nero's a lunatic for even creating that thing anyway," Seiki blurted out once Noland was done reading the second report. "Despite that, I'd like to know what that third report has. This is someone who has fought alongside Noland's dad. He couldn't have always been like this. Something must have set him off."

Going off topic for a moment, Seiki did notice a detail that must have been on Noland's mind upon finding out about the Doom Dimension. Alana and Vince were sent there along with Krakix and Siege, so some lines must have started to be connected when figuring out what the Pack is able to utilize the dimensional portals for. This drew some hint at the possibility of either getting them out if they were still alive, or knowing that they were not completely lost forever. For this, she smiled at him as she placed her hand on top of his, saying, "They could still be out there somewhere, Noland-san. As long as Krakix and Siege stayed with them, I'm sure they're just fine while waiting for their hero to come save them." Ahio didn't hear what she said since they were so far away, but she did see the hand touching. "Shipped." As she was standing guard, a heavy vibration was felt outside of the door that she became very concerned about. "Um...Montai...Karen...it's for you..."

[Nero Bullock]

When Nero was finished with the Pack, he was furious at Karen for what she attempted to have them do to him. As he previously stated, the first order of business was dealing with her. He couldn't take the same path she took due to the battle knocking the power out, which meant that the elevators were offline. As he approached the doors, three shadows appeared behind them, presumably the three Pack members he just dealt with; however, their appearance was more frightening than before. "Do some damage," Nero commanded as he summoned Hydranoid for a moment to knock the elevator doors off, allowing the Pack to move freely down the shaft. Nero went for the stairs since Hydranoid was no longer able to participate in that type of activity due to his increased weight from the evolution. The Pack got off of the shaft at each floor to sniff their target's scent, but failed to detect her presence for seven floors. Once they reached the main floor, they were locked onto her scent and rushed towards the lab sector.

Having the scent of Karen was enough to pinpoint her location, but the commotion at the door was more than enough to tell them that they were in the right place. What they didn't expect was the reaction from the guards. They were frightened at their new appearance. All of them moved to the side and trembled in fear as the Pack stepped towards the door. Already aware of what the door was designed to do, they did not bother trying to break it down. Instead, they waited three minutes for Nero to get over there with Hydranoid. As he walked past, he looked at all of his employees with a stern look on his face. He wasn't sure why they were acting so afraid of them as if they were going to eat them at a moment's notice. Looking up, he saw the path to the lab was sealed off by a door designed to hold even against the strongest of a Bakugan's attack. When he realized this, Nero decided to handle this situation by himself while he directed the guards to a more problematic situation. "Every soul in that laboratory belongs to me. I want everyone downstairs immediately to take care of those Resistors and Terrorists. I better see their Bakugan dead by the time I get down there." With that said, everyone rushed out of the sector and began their trek to the lowest level to confront every other intruder besides Noland's group.

"So Montai thinks tampering with the electricity will keep me out, huh? That's a shame. She should have stayed on my side." Nero only allowed one other person to have control over the electrical grid, so there was no secret that there was a high probability that Montai was responsible for the door being up. Knowing that there was no possible way he was getting through that door using manpower, he thought he would just go around it. He rolled Hydranoid near the door to have him stand, prepping an ability in the process. "Hydranoid, lets show them all how foolish they were to oppose us. Activate Phantom Transmission...for all of us. Send us in there, and we'll end them all here and now." Hydranoid's heads acknowledged this command. He surrounded them all in a purple flash of electricity to instantly teleport them on the other side of the door, effectively bypassing the entire wall. As soon as they appeared there, they saw Ahio near the door, so Hydranoid dismissed the bird by slamming his tail into her chest to send her flying across the room into the wall, returning her to ball form. Nero looked straight ahead in the deeper parts of the lab and noticed Karen and Montai hanging out with Noland, Daniel, and Seiki of all people. He slowly approached the party, fully intending to crash it. "Don't be surprised to see me. You knew I was coming down here after you both tried to get me killed. Now what are you going to do that I survived, huh? How about you both try to confront me face to face like the badasses you are instead of prancing away like a little bitch!"