Episode 34: Judgment Day

[Markus Hederick]

Markus was eager to put Nero down for good after forcing him out of his hideout. Their only obstacles were the massive Baalenoid, who is constantly spawning new Pack Bakugan, and Dual Hydranoid, the Bakugan that they were responsible for dealing with while Noland and the girls do their best to keep the big boy occupied. Despite the Bakugan at the highest threat level being an incontestable spot by a Bakugan Nero has control over, he was on his last leg. Per his teammates' movements, he took two abilities from his jacket to support them when they needed each other most. "Heh. Now look who's getting cocky," Markus noted in a joking manner as he swiped his cards. "Double ability activate! Cobble Reduction plus Void Ripper!" Gargulion crossed his arms when his claws became amplified in dark power, increasing their level of penetration. "Don't worry. It'll only take a second to send you back to the hell you rose from," Gargulion threatened as he began his attack procedure.

Rather than charging into battle with his amplified power, Gargulion preferred to keep the fight at medium to long range just in case any newly spawned Pack Bakugan wished to pounce on him. He pointed his hands in the direction of his enemies and unleashed a flurry of jagged stones from his palms. The power he gained from Void Ripper extended to the projectiles he launched, making what can be considered tiny pieces of rock to walking terrors like Hydranoid and Baalenoid turn into a storm of death that can cut through their skin within seconds. The army was threatened by this surprising twist on his technique that made Gladion's assault even more worthwhile. Hydranoid would also have his hands full with this attack since numerous stones were aimed towards his heads instead of just targeting his body, which can result in a blinding scenario if any of them were to strike the intended targets: his eyes.

[Nero Bullock]

As angry as Nero was, the brawlers he was facing was just as peeved. Nero had been able to hold them off for a while until the Lasermen and Robotallion forces opened fire on his position. While Baalenoid could easily take whatever attack the United States chose to combat him with, the same could not be said for his Hydranoid. He is a powerful Bakugan, but he isn't that powerful to constantly handle that many Bakugan all at one time. This made Baalenoid's summon fortunate in a way to give him some breathing room to coordinate another attack, but the Resistors chose to get in his way in that plan once again. "One says psychotic, and the other says dumb. Would it be such a shocker to you if all of you fit the criteria for both statuses?" Nero coughed after being bombarded with multiple attacks. "You can send as many missiles, mortar strikes, caustic arrows, and energy pulses towards me all you'd like. None of that will alter the course this world has now taken upon Baalenoid's arrival. You've already lost."

While it might be somewhat difficult to keep track of the Resistors' attacks in addition to the United State's firepower, Nero kept his battle senses in check. Gorem's attack was a heavy hitter that managed to get through Hydranoid's blind spot, which caused him to drop a hit to the Subterra Bakugan. After being stunned, Gladion somehow managed to pierce Hydranoid with poisonous arrows. As if that wasn't nearly enough, Gargulion wanted to literally slice his eyeballs out. Despite being hurt, Hydranoid saw this coming and maneuvered his heads so that the projectiles wouldn't make contact with his eyes, but the penalty for that was having his heads cut off of his body. Fortunately, the two heads regenerated rather quickly in anticipation of Nero's next move. "Is it my turn now?" Hydranoid asked in frustration of constantly being attacked. He revved his saw-blades up as he got ready to get back in the fight; however, he started to become a little pale due to the debilitating effect of the poison.

Nero swiped a card through his BrawlX to give his partner a bit more encouragement in these dark times. "Submit! Ability activate! Maverick Spicer!" Hydranoid's body was engulfed in a blazing dark purple aura that surged throughout his body to expel any foreign substances, especially the poison Gladion injected into him. It also acted as a shield to the incoming volleys of Robotallion and Laserman firepower. The power output cracked the ground as he powered up even more. Eventually, the power surge would allow him to extend the aura that was powering him across the battlefield, destroying everything it came into contact with.

[Tank Stryker]

"Wow," Tank said, sarcastically clapping, "You managed to get rid of the poison. That puts such a dent in my battle plan." Tank drew two more cards from his pocket, "You think so highly of yourself, but you have trouble fighting a bunch of teenagers, to the point where an offensive bakugan like Hydranoid has to go on the defense."

With that, Tank swiped his two ability cards. "Double ability activate! Battle Charge plus Weapons Cache - Gladius!"

Strapping the bow to his back, Gladion outstretched his hand skyward as a Roman Gladius' handle fell into his palm. Gripping it tightly, Gladion released a powerful yell as an aura similar (albeit blue) extended from Gladion at a rapid rate. The aura clashed with Hydranoid's, canceling the two out. Taking his opportunity, Gladion launched himself at Hydranoid, beginning a rapid onslaught on the hydra reminiscent of Heracles' own. Each slash and stab struck true, landing in the various chinks in Hydranoid's natural armor. Deep cuts littered Hydranoid's purple and black skin, and a deep red blood ran from many wounds. Gladion began getting slammed himself by the firepower of the government's bakugan, but managed to keep fighting through the pain.

"Get them to aim better and everyone get in there!" Tank commanded, looking to Allen and Markus.

[Allen Silva]

" Nice light show. Now how about we show you a real attack." Allen took a shot at Hydranoid's last move. It was able to disspell Gladions poison, but bassically nothing else. Allen pulled out two abilities to continue thier strike against Nero's bakugan." Dual ability activate, Goliath Fortress plus Rave Wrecker."

Gorem created the spawn that came with the Goliath Fortress ability. Then they rushed after Dual Hydranoid. After getting close enough, Gorem unleashed a barrage of punches, while the rock creature also pelted the bakugan with his own much slower but much more powerful attacks." Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, right? Well I like to think its float like a butterfly, sting like a rocket!" Gorem commented during his attack.

[Karen Valentine]

Karen was quiet about how uncomfortable she was in brawling alongside Tank and Markus since they were often the more critical personalities of the Resistors, and she knew they weren't too happy about her presence as much as they were probably livid about Noland's alliance with the Terrorists. She knew Allen was mostly similar to Noland in terms of their thought process, but the key difference between them was Allen's gentle approach to his opinions in opposition to the harsh nature of Noland's. With this in mind, Karen was behaving very similarly to the previous battle with Nero. As the "outsider" of the fighting force, she was doing her best with Montai's Horridian to aid her former friends in finishing Nero off regardless of the fractured connection between her and them, which she knows she thinks too much about every time these situations brings them together.

While in the thick of battle, Horridian couldn't simply ignore the cocky tone Tank had in his voice when clashing with Hydranoid since it was very distracting to him. The only reason why he kept his mouth shut about it was because he didn't want any other interruptions in their focus. All he did was give him a cold stare with the amount of hypocrisy in his voice from what he told Markus not to do earlier. "And Montai wonders why I hardly want to fight alongside anyone. The people I team with often piss me off more than the enemy. That is why I prefer to be a lone wolf," Horridian scowled. His primary reason for staying away from the battlefield during Nero's crusade against the Bakugan didn't prevent him from complying with Montai's reasons for entrusting him to Karen for the current fight, so he didn't have an issue with the idea of fighting this way. He guessed it was too much to ask for in telling both Tank and Markus not to open their mouths for the entire battle.

Planning her attack wouldn't appear to be difficult due to Tank suggesting that everyone assault Hydranoid. Since they all seemed to be in favor, why not follow their lead to make herself useful? "I think it's a bit unreasonable to tell them to stop at this point since it's clear what the Lasermen and Robotallion are shooting. Try to be careful in your approaches," Karen suggested as she swiped an ability card."Ability activate! Mangler Claw!" Horridian became empowered with Darkus power as his claws and senses became much sharper. Due to this, he was able to narrowly avoid the incoming mortar fire from the Lasermen while continuously plowing through as many Pack Bakugan as he could on his way to Hydranoid where he rapidly inflicted deep wounds on his skin.

[Nero Bullock]

"I can't even take a comment like that from you seriously, Tank," Nero countered. "I will say that your demeanor in which you referred to my counter should take a complete 180. Your chances of beating me would have been so much better with your poison active." Hydranoid's Maverick Spicer ability was rendered useless from an offensive standpoint due to Gladion's unexpected response, but the defensive capabilities were still intact. The wounds from the beatings he took from his foes were gradually repaired in a matter of seconds as Hydranoid cringed from the inescapable onslaught the United States were sending towards one man and a Bakugan. "Ability activate! Auragano Revenge!" The card's activation tainted the Resistor's Bakugan as well as the government's Bakugan with a purple aura. This ate their power levels while Hydranoid received a valuable increase, leaving all opposing parties in a less powerful position than they were in before.

"As for the actual real attack," Nero interjected at Allen's mockery of Hydranoid's power, "Let's see your power stack up to this one. Ability activate! Grand Down!" This power increase allowed Hydranoid to easily repel his attackers. His entire body lit up as he stomped the ground, sending a powerful wave of energy in a certain radius around him. In an effortless display of power, the object in which Gorem personified his own power was shattered along with their resolve in their onslaught against him. Each opponent close to him was sent flying in a myriad of directions. Gargulion was the only opponent to not suffer such a damaging blow as he was not within the range where the attack was at its most powerful, but it did not stop him from being sent backwards due to the extreme amount of force put into it.

"How's that for defense?" Hydranoid conjectured to the overconfident Aquos opponent. He made a monstrous battle roar after fending his opponents off. He then wanted to address the growing concern for the state of his health by what the United States were throwing at him. Rather than assaulting them directly by himself, he chose to direct some of Baalenoid's forces over there so the fire teams can be dealt with while not forgoing any attention he is giving the Resistors. Without saying a word, Hydranoid activated his Demonic Gravity ability to summon portions of the Pack to his location, and then used Phantom Transmission to send a couple of them behind enemy lines. The ones sent over began tearing through legions of Bakugan with the aid of the element of surprise. The few that stayed remained by his side for additional support in handling his opponents. "Perhaps you should have listened to Noland before you mustered up the courage to fight me. You look like you could use some help," Nero mocked.

[Markus Hederick]

Markus nodded in a very surprising manner of approval of what Karen was saying in response to Tank's commands. "Why was she not always like this?" Markus accidentally said out loud, which caused him to get death stares that he didn't welcome. Gargulion was not fond of messing around in a violent battle like this one, so he quickly got them all back on trap by saying, "You can save your little fascination of the change in personality after the battle. We don't have time for bickering right now!" He was soundly correct since Hydranoid forcefully expelled his teammates in multiple directions from his Grand Down ability, leaving Markus on his own until everyone else re-adjusted. "Oh my goodness. The hypocrisy is just too real in this battle." After finding Nero's response highly hypocritical for calling on an army in the middle of the battle, Markus quickly swiped two abilities on his BrawlX to respond to the grim circumstances before it was too late. "Double ability activate! Nightmare Fleet plus Tumultuous Gargoyle!"

Gargulion did not spend any time fighting by himself against Hydranoid and the Pack. Instead, he used an ability that was normally meant for calling additional Bakugan from Markus's arsenal to recall his allies next to him immediately, forgoing the need for all of them to recover in the most time consuming ways. "Welcome back, gentlemen. I hope you don't make a habit out of doing that," Gargulion hissed. After summoning his teammates, Gargulion proceeded to using the ability that was second in line. His eyes flashed with a dark light as he began powering up. A crimson, purple wall of energy surrounded himself and his allies to ward off any attacks that would get sent towards them whether it was physical or ranged. A storm of dark power erupted in the form of a sporadic aura tornadoes that aimed to cut through the opposition. "You talk a lot of trash for needing to call an army to your position. You aren't as strong as you thought you were, are you?"

[Allen Silva]

Gorem was sent flying by Hydranoid's ability. Normally it would take time for him to get ready to fight again, but Markus had that covered. He used his nightmare fleet, bringing both Gorem and Gladion back by his side." Allen, lets skip the underlings and hit em where it hurts." Gorem advised.

Allen pulled three ability cards, holding each one in front of him. " I got ya right here.Tripple ability activate." Allen responded as the cards glowed in unison. This was another new combo, but if it hit, it promised results." Giga Martyr, Fusion ability Grandios Bunker and Vicious counter." Allen listed off the activated abilities. Of course, for a final blow, it had to include his most powerful ability.

Gorem's armor first turned into the metal that came with the Giga Martyr. Then it transforms again, this time into diamond. Finally he dissapears and reappears next to Hydranoid, launching a haymaker shot. Now normally his ultimate armor is only a reflective shield, but because its so hard, this punch was monumentally stronger than any other punch he has thrown.

[Nero Bullock]

Nero's eyes was dead center on Gargulion's abilities once he brought everyone else back to him in an instant before sending powerful attacks his way. "What? Is there a rule somewhere that says I'm only allowed to fight the entire U.S. army and four children with just Hydranoid? Am I supposed to just allow you to overpower me with insurmountable numbers? Why should I care about your banter over my battle strength when your limitations have already been surpassed?" Nero angrily chided. "I'll do whatever it takes to get you out of my face for good despite already accomplishing a great deal of that. Now, ability activate! Shadow Shroud!" This ability caused a shadowy entity to emerge from Hydranoid's body. It began circling him and his forces to erect a barrier around them to protect them from oblivion at Gargulion's hands. Unfortunately, the shield had noticeable disruptive patterns throughout its appearance due to Markus's ability being so strong when it traveled through them, meaning that Hydranoid was having great difficulty guarding against it.

"It seems someone over there is starting to get serious," Hydranoid bluntly remarked in commendation of Gargulion's power. The momentary lapse in between the times he was being hit would allow him to launch another offensive, but the energy toll Gargulion's attack had against him prevented him from acting immediately. This was the opening that he didn't need to expose when Gorem began stacking techniques. Out of nowhere, he appeared right in front of him and unleashed a punch with power very identical to Drago's, except it was going to be a heavier impact. "Oh...so you can do that now..." Gorem completely shattered his defenses and landed a colossal hit on Hydranoid's body that sent him toppling towards a building in the background, causing the entire structure to collapse straight on top of him. "What!?" Nero looked towards the Pack members who were caught off guard by Gorem's sudden entrance. He pointed towards Gorem and stated, "All your base..." The Pack then moved in to pounce on Gorem with their Fusion Cutter ability.

[Karen Valentine]

Gorem's attack left him open to the Pack members that Hydranoid called to his side prior to being hit. They each drew their powered-up claws and were prepared to cut Gorem down before he could catch on to what was going on. Unfortunately for them, Tank was faster than them and had Allen's follow up attack with Art of Battle - Air Strike. Gladion soared through the air as he swiftly struck them down from behind with his gladius almost instantly. All that was left in his wake was numerous Bakugan turning into bright lights and then vanishing as if they were never there. "That was...surprisingly awesome," Karen admitted with a slight smile on her face. She then swiped an ability on her BrawlX to finish their combo. "Let's finish this, Horridian! Ability activate! Variant Commando!"

Horridian expelled three pulsing orbs from each of his mouths towards the fallen structure where Hydranoid's body resided. Once they reached their destination, they revolved around the location. As they did this, electric pulses were emitted from each of them that gradually became even more powerful as their velocity continued to increase. "Why did you ever think all of this was a good idea?" Horridian questioned as the debris were being annihilated by the power output of his ability, which would definitely cause significant damage to Hydranoid. This was only the beginning of his terror since the orbs eventually came together upon reaching their maximum speed and imploded, causing an explosion to engulf that entire spot for quite some time. "That just made my random appearance even more satisfying: seeing all of your dreams for world domination crumble right before our eyes...half of it at least."

In the midst of all of the destruction, four flashes of light lit in what appeared to be Hydranoid's eyes. The ground shook with each step he was taking towards the Resistors that have undoubtedly pissed him off. When his body was revealed, it was heavily scarred and damaged, but it wasn't enough to put him out of commission since he was absorbing the battle energy from around him and taking it into his mouth via Merge Shield. "Hydranoid...he looks like a hot mess...more than he usually does." Karen's old demeanor resurfaced when she looked at the heavily damaged Dual Hydranoid, but she still kept the same composure that Markus apparently welcomed. She couldn't ignore the power spike in Hydranoid's power as the firepower of the United States became completely ineffective against this souped up hydra.

"I hope those words of yours turns into action very soon, guys," Karen said to address the exchange of words from them earlier and to indirectly suggest preparing for the absolute worse Hydranoid has to offer. Another vibration in the ground was felt in unison with Hydranoid's monstrous steps. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see numerous explosions scattering across the area that actually made their way to their battlefield. It served as a disturbing distraction from the immediate threat in front of them, but Karen was more worried about how Noland and the others were doing in combating Baalenoid. "Noland, I really hope you're having more success than we are right now. We really need you to deliver on this one," Karen stated through her thoughts. "Just don't get shot by that thing...please..."

[Noland Hardy]

The group taking on Hydranoid saw well-deserved success on the battlefield, but Nero did not stay down as his usual stubbornness would show. Their ability to push him that far was definitely a commendable act regardless of what he was doing, but the same could not be said for Noland, Seiki, or Tracy. It's not like they were losing the battle in the manner of getting beat up. In fact, one could argue that they already lost the battle considering the disappointing fact that neither of the Resistors were making substantial progress against the monster yet. The only monumental blow was the chance they took when Drago knocked Baalenoid off of his feat, and even that wasn't enough to say that they were mowing him down. Baalenoid's power level was just too high for them to properly handle.

Adding that onto Baalenoid chasing them around while mindlessly crushing everything that was beneath his feet made the battle even more troubling and scary. It was never a challenge to realize that the gargantuan size made Baalenoid slower than the three Resistors, so while going in for physical attacks was a surefire way to immediately end the fight, he would struggle to do so. Thankfully, none of Baalenoid's attacks managed to hit any of them directly since they were using their brains rather than brawn. This didn't prevent them from suffering severe damage from Baalenoid's rams, breaths, and swipes.

After numerous attempts to attack the Resistors, Baalenoid finally managed to score a very detrimental hit to one of them: Skystar. Although the claw barely touched Skystar, its power was still enough to make her flinch. Baalenoid then used Dispel Closer again to get a one-shot kill on both of them. Tracy activated Roa Glowdown to clash her light with Baalenoid's darkness, but even that technique was seemingly mismatched against the enemy since it was rapidly failing. Knowing that Tracy's death would be guaranteed if and when Skystar gets overpowered, Noland knew he had to do something before it was too late.

He didn't want to say it out loud, but Tracy getting caught by Baalenoid was timed perfectly since it created another opening that they desperately needed to curb his momentum. "This one's a real bruiser, isn't he?" Noland asked Drago who was took the brunt of Baalenoid's breath attacks, courtesy of Abbadon's power. He quickly swiped an ability on his BrawlX to respond to the very first person he met when this all started. "You're definitely not going to hit her with that! Ability activate! Infernal Bind!" The diamonds scattered across Drago's body lit up as electricity started to generate from them. As they did this, Noland patted the dragonoid on the back to direct his shot. "In the eyes, Drago! Hit him in the eyes!" Drago then released numerous lightning bolts that zipped through the air towards Baalenoid's eyes. Once they made contact with his eyeballs, the technique took hold of him. They began pulsing with energy, which was a painful endeavor itself. After putting the lethal burning sensation of being struck by such an attack, Baalenoid's eyes were in no condition to use that ability anymore, sparing Tracy and Skystar from death. "Ahio! Do you have my follow up?" Drago called out.

[Seiki Maki]

"Uh maybe? ... No, not really." Ahio says as she continues to try to figure out what Draco ment. "As much as I want to, I can't read minds!"

Her thoughts were interrupted by Seiki, who seems to have more of an idea than her bird partner, "I'm pretty sure he wants us to do a fairly powerful blow on Baalenoid. So, Ability Activate! Setsuna Drive!"

Ahio raises her head to the air, summoning a large wind orb with some magical crushing attributes mixed in, and shot it towards the enemy to have it embed itself into the ground momentarily. The green light has absorbed some energy from the Baalenoid and distributed itself to those standing and fighting. "Sheesh, it feels like we're fighting a rock still, one that can't be easily crushed and shoots lazers and what-not at us. Boom boom. Zappity zap." Ahio chirps in attempts on imitating the situation/attacks flying around somewhat to maintain some momentum if they needed to move out of harm's way.

[Nero Bullock]

Baalenoid wasn't talking as much as he was at the beginning of the battle since his three opponents were making him angry very quickly. He was primarily focused on where his foes would pop up next after he takes a jab at them. As the obvious winner of the battle so far, he was in prime position for killing Tracy and Skystar until Drago interfered once again. The resulting hit temporarily deprived him of his vision, which had to be very painful by how loud his scream was and the uncontrollable stomping. "You little bitch!!!!" Baalenoid cursed out loud. He sensed Ahio sending an attack towards him, but couldn't dodge it due to Drago blinding him. It didn't receive much recognition from him anyway since it didn't appear that he felt anything from it. "Now I'm all fired up! No pun intended!"

Baalenoid slowly opened his eyes to reveal that Drago's Infernal Bind had done significant damage to his ocular abilities. They were extremely red all over, making them a very disgusting sight to behold. Due to this, it was highly unlikely that he would be able to cast the same technique again for quite a while if ever again in the battle. "Here's when things will start to get dicey! Malignant Razor!" Due to the unfortunate accident, Baalenoid was handicapped in terms of his visual perception of his enemies for a certain period of time. This was a double-edged sword for his opponents since it makes it much easier for him to act in a very destructive way. First, Baalenoid strode all over the city as he swiped anything that he was close to. Anyone hit by it would not only be inflicted with a lethal cut, but would also be under the influence of a very potent poison.

As if he had something to prove, Baalenoid kept going with his assault despite destroying nearly every building in sight already. "Ultimate Devastation!" A large orb enlarged from the center of his body until it became larger than himself. It then separated from his body to fly to a central point in the sky. Once it assumed its formation, it began firing attacks belonging to the Dharaknoid that made up Baalenoid's figure. Black flames and orb-shaped energy blasts were expelled from it across the landscape thanks to Belphenoid's Shadow Burner and Darkness Waver. Flashy lightning bolts and pressure waves were sent in a myriad of directions due to Asmodeus's Berserk Thunder, Thunder Probe, and Soul Render, and Violent Pressure. Red flames that gave birth to even more dangerous wildfires scattered via Abbadon's Dragon Breath and Sol Cannon. "I AM the ULTIMATE POWER. Can you see it now?" Baalenoid happily declared in the basking of his power.

[Tracy White]

Tracy and Skystar were lucky Noland and Drago attacked when they did; otherwise, there would have been no hope for her survival. The timely save actually distracted her from the battle and made her say something she never directly said. "Noland...I love you..." Skystar cleared her throat after she said that as a means of telling her that she shouldn't be talking that way at a time like this despite having their lives flash in front of their eyes. "Your quick thinking has saved me once again, Drago. I'll repay you somehow," Skystar assured as she returned her attention to Baalenoid. Ahio's attack aimed to add onto everyone's energy reserves during the fight, which was a nice gesture. Baalenoid obviously wasn't happy about what Noland and Drago did to his eyes, so he started throwing out attacks recklessly.

The claw attack, which was something Baalenoid tried before, was surprisingly effective on his end. In fact, it was more effective than it was supposed to be. His speed cranked up due to how much distance he covered with each stride, and that made it incredibly difficult to avoid. "W-Where did that speed come from!?" Tracy shrieked. She quickly activated an ability on her gauntlet to respond. "Double ability activate! Illumina plus Energy Dissection Blade!" Skystar's figure shined bright as she received a much needed power increase. The energy powering her discs were shot into overdrive, increasing her speed up to the maximum. With this power, she transformed her staff into an electrified blade. She clashed with Baalenoid's swipes to lessen the blow by literally cutting into his power, hence the technique's name.

This was done to protect herself; anything done by her teammates was by their own prerogative since she couldn't risk another situation like the previous one. Baalenoid then widened the gap in their abilities by using a technique that brought the city to its knees. Numerous attacks were launched in different directions that terrorized anything in its path. "It'd be criminal to leave an attack like that active. Skystar!" Tracy pointed towards the black mass in the sky for Skystar to attack. She quickly flew towards it, flying side to side to avoid being hit by the attacks coming out of it. She pointed her sword outward as she clashed with Baalenoid's attack. "This...is...way...too...much..." The amount of power contained in the energy mass was too powerful for Skystar to handle on her own; thus, she was violently flung backwards and was slammed into the ground, causing Tracy to receive some injury.

[Noland Hardy]

When Tracy blurted out a love confession out of nowhere, Drago turned his head towards her with a very confused look. "What did she just say?" Drago asked even though he heard what she said. Noland decided to ignore the comment since his fear of Baalenoid's power had already got the best of them, which was shown through his unnatural uneasiness throughout the entire fight. "That's just her way of saying thank you I guess..." Baalenoid then drew his claws once more and attempted to run all of them down with them. That's where Noland swiped a card without worrying about anyone else but himself. "Drago, heads up! Ability activate! Rapid Fire Takedown!" Drago spawned a clone of himself in front of him. The clone quickly swatted Drago away from the area using his legs before Baalenoid's claws could sink into his skin. As Noland and Drago repelled themselves away from his rampage, they could see Baalenoid tear through the clone with ease, completely nullifying its explosive properties.

"I know this is pretty obvious, but...we're going to lose if we don't get more opportunities like that," Drago admitted despite not wanting to give the impression that he thought Baalenoid was leagues above him, which was already the case. They then watched Baalenoid cast a technique that was unmatched in power by anyone on the battlefield. Numerous attacks that the Dharaknoid possessed poured out of the orb rapidly without showing any signs of stopping. "Thank you Karen for running your mouth," Noland silently thought to himself in fear of actually taking this Bakugan on by himself. Drago kept his distance from the orb to observe where the attacks would strike so he can move about accordingly. Skystar attempted to nullify the attack with her ability, but it only reinforced how powerful Baalenoid actually was. She was sent towards the ground without any effort on Baalenoid's part. "Tracy!" Noland called out in worry. "...Drago, go down there now! Double time!"

Drago quickly went by Skystar's side on the ground only to find out that she was severely injured from the repulsion. Tracy was also hurt very badly, which made Noland even more afraid of what could come out of Baalenoid later. To make it even worse, the attacks from the orb were now targeting them all. This is where Noland's fear transformed into anger. His facial expression expressed this change in behavior. Without saying a word, Noland swiped a card on his BrawlX and held it close to the frown he had. "Ability activate! Nova Dragon!" In a similar manner to Baalenoid's ability, Drago unleashed a Chinese dragon avatar from his body that stayed in front of him to absorb every blow from Baalenoid. The power from those hits could be felt by everyone in that vicinity, but Noland didn't waver in his body posture.

When it was safe to leave Drago on the defense for the moment, Noland turned his attention to Tracy. He picked her unconscious body up and held her in his arms much like he did the second time he encountered Belphenoid. "Tracy..." Noland didn't want to say anything else other than her name since this is usually the part where his emotions starts to pour out, and from past experiences, that ended poorly for him in combat situations like this. She did eventually wake up though, so that added some quick relief for him before being forced to address Drago being bombarded by attacks. "I'm about to reach my limit of how much power I'm able to absorb from them. This ability isn't going to last much longer," Drago warned before Noland could check on Tracy any further. Noland looked down at Tracy to think about the state of her, himself, and Seiki. This is where he began questioning whether a victory was obtainable. "We're getting wrecked by this thing, Drago... People are getting hurt and he's destroying everything in sight. Does this mean we truly are on our last leg?"

Drago didn't want to believe it, but Noland was right. They were losing, and even he didn't know how to come up with a winning strategy against an opponent this powerful. "We knew what we were getting into before we engaged him. A win was never promised. It never is," Drago vaguely answered. As soon as he said that, he sensed an anomaly in the energy mass Baalenoid called on. When he looked closely, a crack formed at the exact place Skystar struck with her sword. "Hm...that's odd." Noland placed Tracy back on the ground once Skystar was done healing herself and both of them of their injuries using her ability, Divine Protection. "Is there something you'd like to inform us about?" Noland asked out of bewilderment. Drago then recalled the finishing move he used to defeat Gargulion and Kuzuha previously, and realized that the same principles could be applied to Baalenoid's ability since it was still energy.

"Power Bomb at the crack Skystar's attack made in that orb..." Drago said very discretely. "We're going to see what Baalenoid really thinks of his own power through hands-on experience." Noland considered what Drago was saying to remind himself of what that technique has been used for. He didn't think of using it on a technique other than his own, but if Drago thought it was going to be worthwhile, it was a worth a shot. Noland made sure Seiki knew their battle plan now that there was a shot at doing massive damage. He got in contact with her on his BrawlX to give her the news. "Seiki, Tracy and I are grounded at the moment, but Drago knows of a way to counter Baalenoid's attack. We need Ahio to lure Baalenoid closer to this orb. Can you do that for us?"