Episode 31: How Could You?

[Daniel Andersen]

Daniel's ability was nullified by Noland who stood to protect Karen. Even though Daniel's intention was not to attack any of them considering what they could expect later Ahio's action was crossing the line he needed to act aggressive. The whole group was going against him this time and it was obvious for him that there was no chance of continuing in destruction of Nero.
It was already too late to continue further with the plan and Daniel considered Karen highly dangerous considering how many times she changed sides between Nero and Resistors. That was indeed quite suspicious for Daniel and since he was attacked by Seiki it was his suspicion that it was all Nero's plan to have Karen with them. 
"Your feelings...are your enemy...human..." said Daniel to Noland in his sinister tone as more and more crimson energy started to generate around him. His face expression gave clues like he was dead as his face turned pale and completely emotionless. "Hey, come on! Snap out of it! You can't continue like this!" Kuzuha yelled at him angrily and then sighed knowing she couldn't help. Kuzuha turned to Seiki and spoke to her: "You just had to do that...now we are all screwed..." Daniel's energy wrapped up Kuzuha and possessed her as in some kind of sorcery of his own.
Since Daniel's new figure of speech was quite slow and hard to understand Kuzuha was used in order to make a normal conversation.
"Calm down, huh? So you can stab me in the back? You thought I would betray your trust? Well, you just betrayed mine." he said through Kuzuha. "And even after that you protect the enemy and tell me to calm down? You have a lot of nerve. Even after she betrayed you...you have feelings for her?"
Kuzuha was still in psychic possession of Daniel's effect and then he continued talking through her mind again. "You want to know what I am, Drago? You have it all served and you still don't figure? I can give strength to Bakugans, but I can drain it as well. I can fight an enemy Bakugan, you can fight enemy Bakugan. You recognize those texts and symbols just as well as I do. What hint that gives you?" he continued and then looked at Noland with his emotionless expression as he was still using Kuzuha as his channeling. "I don't have intention to harm you, Hardy. I truly don't. Believe it or not. I am about to do something you should have done long time ago and if you don't move away...that 'something' is going to take you down with her." he said again through Kuzuha and then temporarily shut down the channel with her setting her free. She started coughing then and said as she was quite tired: "...Argh...This was...weird..."
Mystical crimson energy started to form around Daniel more and more until a large cloud or red formed around him. It was a shocking sight that he was capable of doing such thing, but that was stealing more and more time knowing how close Nero was.

[Karen Valentine]

Karen was jaw-dropped when Daniel subdued Ahio so easily by himself. No one could have seen that coming from him. It was more shocking to see him do that than it was to discover Belphenoid actually being a Dharak in a Hynoid's body. "That right there is exactly why he deserved to be attacked. Imagine what would have happened if the law enforcement decided to try him. He could have easily killed us all later. You can't trust him," Karen said out loud, making a very valid point in relation to how dangerous Daniel actually was. His attention then turned to her as he surrounded her in crimson energy in an attempt to sap her energy in the same way he stole Ahio's, which would definitely have catastrophic effects on her if the attack were to hit. Fortunately, Noland was able to contend with Daniel's power and completely nullify it using his special power. She didn't say anything at the time, but she was greatly confused as to why he just stepped in to save her.

Noland's words added on to her confusion as he said she was off limits, meaning that no one was going to bring harm to her. She gave a warm smile at him knowing that he still cared about her to some degree; yet, she was thinking it was probably because of who they were rather than just her as evidenced by his later sentence addressing the safety of Seiki, Montai, and every other Resistor. When Daniel began to accuse Noland of doing this because of his feelings for her, she lightly blushed at this while looking at Noland to see if this was true since a little part of her wanted it to be. She then looked back at Daniel when he addressed Drago's question about who he was, and this time, the answers he gave made it more clear about who he was rather than the dodging he did earlier. "So that means you're a Bakugan then?" Montai suggested, trying her best not to say anything that'll get her caught in the crossfire. "Honestly, I find that to be really ridiculous, but that power had to come from somewhere. I guess if you're going to compare yourself to Drago, then it must be true..."

Daniel gave Noland an ultimatum that would determine where he would be going with this. Either way, he was planning on killing her for reasons that were absurd, but understandable. The only difference between the choices were what's going to become of Noland if he either allows him to kill her or chooses to fight for her. She knew what she wanted Noland to do since Daniel was the last person she would ever want fighting alongside them after how Daniel betrayed her the previous time; however, she didn't want Noland to be hurt in this ordeal at all since his presence on the battlefield against Nero is pretty much mandatory at this point. "Noland, I know this isn't what you want to hear, but whatever you choose to do..." Karen said as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "...I want you to keep yourself alive and well. Regardless of what happens...I just want you to know that I..."

[Noland Hardy]

Noland was very disappointed that this was the route Daniel was going to take. It would not be good for his conscious if he allowed someone else to be killed by him when plenty of other good people have been met with grim fates. He was left no choice; if Daniel decided that he was going to do it regardless of what Noland was going to do about it, then there was no other option for him to take. "So it's either move or be killed for me then? Alright, Daniel. You're done. I gave you the opportunity to back down so we can continue with our mission. If you chose not to listen, that's the decision that you're going to have to live and die with." Noland stepped back a few steps until he was even with Seiki and Montai. He was getting ready to place Karen on the floor next to the two ladies so he can have free movement of his hands. That was when Karen made it obvious that she still cared about his safety, but Noland stopped her in the middle of her last statement since he didn't really want to deal with that right now. "Owe me a lot? Yeah, you really do. I'm glad you already know that," Noland interjected.

He placed Karen on the floor next to Seiki and Montai. As he stepped over Karen to take his place on the field across from Daniel, he made one last comment to the three of them before it became chaotic. "If anything you have to say isn't the word 'good' or the word 'luck', or if it isn't anything warning me about what he's doing, then do us all a favor and keep it to yourselves. You three have said all you needed to say to him. There's nothing more that needs to be said; otherwise, you may want to just step out there and let him kill you so I don't have to continue worrying about anyone running their mouths back here to provoke him even more." Noland stepped in the proper spot for a battle after warning the women to keep their mouths shut. He had a very stern look on his face as he looked at his villainous rival. He was feeling a little bit tense knowing that who he was facing was more than likely a Bakugan, which was a scary detail to know considering no one else knows what he is capable of doing other than Kuzuha herself.

This wouldn't deter Noland from doing what he had to do to put this to rest. He took a deep breath and activated his BrawlX in anticipation of the decisive battle that was about to take place. "In a way, Daniel is one the main reasons why the Pack was even created,"Drago whispered. "To think that a Bakugan would kill so many is unfathomable. This is what gives all of the Bakugan a bad label to people like Nero. This has to be done not just for the humans, but for the Bakugan as well. Anyone who behaves in this manner is not worthy of life." Noland gripped the Dragonoid in his right hand, showing that he was ready for the fight that was arguably the most important one so far. "It looks like you're going to have to target me too, Daniel. Regardless of any feelings I may or may not have for someone, I can't let you do this. If I have to fight you to make you stop, then so be it. You could have averted this, but you've escalated it into a far more serious problem as you always seem to do. You were a good ally while it lasted, but this is where your journey ends."

[Noland Hardy]