Episode 34: Judgment Day

[Nero Bullock]

Drago's counterattack was something to be fearful of, but Horridian's attack made it even more of a troublesome strategy to work around. Their attacks actually caused a violent disruption of Gravity Chamber and severely damaged Hydranoid in the ensuing explosion. "This is starting to become too much," Nero thought to himself as he swiped the smoke away from his face. He then activated an ability to toss aside the waning Horridian so that he can deal with Drago personally. "Ability activate! Dual Stinger!" Hydranoid had two separate targets this time. This functioned in a similar manner to his Dual Gazer ability, but this utilized his tails for better target acquisition and more precise aiming rather than raw power output.

Ironically, he chose not to be precise. Hydranoid found it more appealing to him to move his tails around to cover as much distance as he could rather than focusing on one specific thing, so that's what he did. He swiped it across Horridian, Drago, and the kids themselves. He was hoping to pierce every single one of his targets, and if that wasn't enough to completely kill them off, he knew of one attack that would. "You both can defy me to the end all you'd like. It still doesn't change that this entire operation will succeed regardless of how you choose to talk to me. It's finished." Nero swiped a card on his BrawlX to herald the end of this brawl for the final time. "This is it! Ability activate! Clean Slate!" For the second time, Hydranoid found himself using this powerful move. He activated his saw blades to form an electrical component to the blast he was charging through his mouths and tails. He then unleashed a giant beam to annihilate all of his foes once and for all.

[Karen Valentine]

Horridian wasn't in favor of allowing Hydranoid to hit him again since it would probably result in him being defeated due to what happened earlier, so he activated an ability by himself without delay. "Watch yourselves!" Horridian called out to warn everyone else. "Wolfed Shield!" He erected a barrier around his body to shield him from the laser attack. While he prevented himself from being damaged by it, it didn't stop Hydranoid from destroying his platform. This caused him to drift even further upwards, which, at this point in time, was around twenty seconds away from where the gravitational pull was at its strongest. In other words, it'd simply be curtains for him once twenty seconds passes. "Is it impossible to kill this Bakugan? He shouldn't be able to stand with the amount of damage he has taken. This is just unreal."

While Horridian was in immediate danger in terms of the countdown, it wasn't anything compared to what happened to Noland and Karen. Both of them were able to avoid being hit by the laser, but in a similar manner to Horridian, the platform they were on was split into two parts due to the way Hydranoid's tails were moving. Karen was on the right side of the it while Noland was on the left. For some odd reason, the manner in which it was cut left more structure on Noland's side of the platform than hers. Since both were considerably damaged from the attack, the platforms started to break apart. Hers would obviously crumble faster than Noland's since she had less to work with, so her fate was pretty much sealed from that point in time. "So...this is how it's gonna be, huh?"

She looked over at Noland after confirming the current circumstances as well as trying to figure out what he was going to do once Nero declared the strongest attach she had seen him use. Allen had withstood it, but could Noland do the same? "If what he said about your father was true, take a page out of his book," Karen suggested despite not wanting to tell him something that even she couldn't properly do most of the time. "Don't worry about Horridian and I. Just focus on who's in front of you. We'll be fine." In case the platform gives in before Noland actually does something about Nero and Hydranoid, she did hesitantly get one more comment in just to make sure that there's no question about how she actually felt. "I don't think there's anything I could do or say to express how much regret I have for how things went down between us. Regardless of how you or anyone else feels about me while I was under duress, it won't change how much I care for you, and ultimately...how much I wish I could have spent more time with you after how much we lost..."

[Noland Hardy]

Drago covered himself with his wings via Faultless Guard to easily avoid taking any damage from Hydranoid's attack. He was able to stop himself from getting hurt, but the brawlers were in trouble without any sufficient ways to protect themselves. Their platform had split in half as a result of the laser beam. Noland was really concerned about the state of Karen and Horridian after Hydranoid attacked them that way. He had actually attempted to reach for her hand the moment the platform split that almost made him step off of it. This made him even more angry than he was, and that wasn't even counting the attempted murder on him as well. "Thanks for motivating me to put you out of your misery even more," Noland growled.

He didn't directly face Karen when she was talking since Hydranoid was charging a very powerful attack, so he wanted all of his attention to be placed towards that. Karen telling him not to worry about her was a bit of a surprise to him judging by the shocked look on his face when he heard her. He didn't expect her to ever tell him that, so that was different. The comment that succeeded in interrupting his concentration was the last sentences that pointed towards her feelings for him, which he caught onto since the situation with Daniel. "What's done is done, Karen. There's some things from the past I'd love to amend right now, but even then, that'll just distract me from the important things that need to happen right now," Noland responded. He then looked her directly in the eyes and said with a smile on his face, "If there's something I'd need to do to prove I've put all of that behind me for now, it's this: I love you too."

He then returned his attention to the pressing matter at hand: Hydranoid. It was now or never for all of them once Clean Slate was activated. "If this scheme of yours actually goes uncontested from now on, so be it. There's one thing that's going to take place here though," Noland assured as he swiped a card across his BrawlX while activating his special power at the same time. "You won't be here to see it live or die. Ability activate! Hyper Supremacy!" This turned Drago rainbow-colored once more and allowed him to combine two of his abilities: Sky Supremacy and Dragonic Boost. The fusion ability he was utilizing was already one of his most powerful physical attacks, but now it was brought to supremacy tier, forcing it into a league of its own. His muscles surged with large quantities of energy as he increased his physical strength to its maximum. A rippling orb of energy appeared in the palms of his hands as it increased in size proportionate to his growing power. He clashed it with Hydranoid's laser beam of death and continuously pushed his way past the dark power to give their enemies what they've had coming for a very long time. "Say cheese," Drago jokingly suggested.

[Nero Bullock]

"Your friends have made a similar threat against me when I was on the surface. We'll see how much that works out for you once Baalenoid gets me back here," Nero countered. He knew his attack wasn't going to go unanswered just like he didn't expect Allen to give in so easily. Noland used his highly versatile Hyper Supremacy ability to even the odds. Gorem preferred fortifying himself to allow his natural affinity for defense to take him through, but Drago chose a different approach. He attempted to overpower Hydranoid's attack with his own. For a moment, it could be said that what Drago had done caused a stalemate between the two powers. "What!? It happened again!?" Nero was visibly disgusted that his best attack at medium to long range was countered twice by two legendary brawlers. Unlike when he faced Allen, this was one confrontation that he could not lose. Drago's withstanding of the attack may have just been a step in that direction though.

"I WILL NOT lose to you. Not again. Hydranoid!" Nero signaled for Hydranoid to push past his limits to beat the Dragonoid. He did so, which caused his attack to ripple with an untold amount of power. Even then, it wasn't enough to prevent Drago from persevering through the struggle. He continuously pushed past Hydranoid's attack and eventually got within arms reach of him. In a flash, Drago's attack collided with Hydranoid. "Oh, no, no, no!" The attack completely shattered all of the remaining power he had left over from Merge Shield, leaving him unable to heal himself through Final Fusion's effect, which had kept him in the fight for an extended time. The platform him and Nero were on was completely destroyed as a reuslt of the collision. Hydranoid's body was damaged beyond normal procedures and was slowly drifting upwards while unconscious. On the other hand, Nero was cast away. He was sent to the Doom Dimension without delay as there was nothing there that could alter his course. "You won this battle, Master Blaze, but in the grand scheme of things, it is obvious who will exit this fight the ultimate winner. I have exacted my revenge, and that's all that matters. None of you will ever take that away from me regardless of how much you try to deny the situation the Bakugan must face. I have saved this planet from eternal strife, and not even you could stop it."

[Karen Valentine]

"You really mean that...? Wow..." Karen was truly surprised that the word love came out of Noland's mouth, but she sure wasn't complaining. Hearing something like that was enough to make her happy during grim times like these. It was also reassuring to know that in the end, they were on good terms with each other. She put both of her hands together tightly as she was worrying if Noland's move was strong enough to surpass Hydranoid's attack. Just as Allen had done before him, Noland showed Nero how a legend truly fights. "Hey, Hydranoid! What happened? Did you just lose again?" Horridian excitedly taunted. He made a victory howl before Drago's attack connected since he knew power on that scale was more than enough to put the hydra down even after all of his enhancements. Once it did, it was all over for Nero and Hydranoid. In a surprising twist, what Nero designed to get rid of the Bakugan was the exact means to his own ending as well.

"He's finally gone...I never thought I'd see the day," Karen thought. "But what about Baalenoid? Can something that powerful be destroyed by anyone down there? What if Nero does end up coming back after all of that work just because that monster is still alive? As long as he lives, I'm afraid Nero did actually win." Karen's platform started to crumble as she was nearing the strongest point of the gravitational anomaly, so it would only be a matter of time before she ends up joining Nero. She didn't concern herself about this so since Horridian had already been worn out too much for her to make a difference in this fight any longer. "After all of that action, I have no regrets about this. It was an honor to fight alongside you as an ally, Drago," Horridian acknowledged as he floated around aimlessly.

Karen smiled at Horridian and gave him a thumbs up. "I'm sure Montai would be very proud of you for what you've done." In her mind, she secretly said, "Yeah. You did more than a 'house pet' would have been able to do against them." She looked down towards Noland for the final time and enjoyed taking a good look at him in case the worst thing happened that would make them not able to see each other again. She didn't want it to be that way, but this was the Doom Dimension they were talking about. "What now, handsome? If there's truly no way down, I guess this is the end of the line for us, isn't it?"

[Noland Hardy]

Drago made a triumphant victory roar after defeating Hydranoid and expelling Nero to the Doom Dimension sooner than anticipated. Noland nodded in approval, but he knew that as long as Baalenoid lived, he wasn't finished. None of them were. "It's about time we've got rid of him, but...we've still got work to do, and not enough time to do it. That thing's gotta go." Noland noticed Karen's platform losing some of its pieces in addition to his own, so it became even more of an emotional battle between himself and Drago since they were effectively powerless to continue fighting any more. "It's been one big roller-coaster ride between all of us, but we made it. Even if we failed to destroy Baalenoid, we did show that neither he or Nero were invincible. They can be beaten, and this victory will inspire another one to take place. I wish whoever picks up where we left off the best of luck if this shall come to pass. They'll need it."

Drago was furious at the outcome and had a hard time accepting things for what they were. Due to this, the power he had left over from Hyper Supremacy began intensifying. "This isn't over. Not yet." When Noland picked up on Drago's energy readings, he was a bit shocked. This power surge somehow crafted a new card for Noland to use for Drago, and it was the same color as his supremacy abilities. When he looked at the card to see what technique it was, Noland's eyes were wide as he nodded. "Krakix didn't save me so I would get pulled back into the same mess. He counted on me to do what he could no longer do, and I'm not ready to waver in that duty regardless of how impossible it might seem at the moment."

Noland took the card and was about to swipe it across his BrawlX, but he knew that this wasn't going to change their condition too much for now. "You've been a great mentor to me, Drago. This new ability you unlocked will save you, but it won't do anything for the three of us. It's on you, buddy," Noland informed. Drago painfully looked at Noland as he said those words. He couldn't help but feel sorry that he couldn't save him with his own power. "Noland...I'm sorry I couldn't-" Noland stopped him as he made that comment and said, "There's no need to apologize. I'm not going anywhere, and neither is she. You just give Barodius and Dharak my regards." He then swiped the card on his BrawlX to send Drago on his way. "Good luck, Drago! Ability activate! Novia Driver!"

Upon activation, Drago shifted his body so that he was facing downwards. He straightened his body to appear like he was a jet-plane. The special pattern on his chest that resembled Delta Dragonoid's were lit with rainbow-colored energy. He was soon surrounded in a spear-like aura that placed his power level above any previous limitation he once had. "Here I come, Dharak!" While initially struggling to push past the gravitational force of the portal, he eventually broke free from its grasp and jetted towards his target: Baalenoid.

[Nero Bullock]

Baalenoid's body was partially reconstructed after suffering a tactical blow from Drago earlier. All that was left in terms of damage were a few minor scratches along his torso and chest area. The power that was leaked out of his body started to return to normal, which meant that the figure of Barodius was no longer present. Since he healed himself, there was nothing stopping him from going after the other Resistors. Tracy and Seiki's whereabouts were unknown to him, but he did dispatch Pack members to sniff them out for him while he focuses on the group that managed to take Nero down. "The Emperor was right to be wary of you three, but I would have never expected him to fall to any of you, especially with the Darkus runt involved," Baalenoid mentioned. "Your willpower is admirable, but that doesn't always have a positive result. On your last breaths, all of you will know just how futile your journey really was."

Baalenoid began fighting against the weakened group. Due to his rejuvenation, he was easily able to handle their combined efforts without a single scratch on his body. Things became a bit more difficult once Tracy and Seiki finally chose to reveal themselves after their failed attempt to beat him the previous time. They joined in the fight to pick up where they left off. Skystar healed everyone else from their injuries and got them back into the battle. Knowing that it only helped delay their inevitable tiring out, Tank urged everyone that they had to beat Baalenoid as soon as possible. This is where they formed a strategy to inflict massive damage very quickly. Skystar blinded Baalenoid using her light, which allowed Gladion to use Gargulion's Shared Strength ability to make everyone else power up with him. He then handed Gorem his Warhammer of Ares. With a lot of difficulty, he was lifted into the air by Ahio and then slammed him with a violent wind to propel him to Baalenoid. Using that extra burst of speed, Gorem rammed into Baalenoid's chest with the hammer and sent him toppling over.

This attack procedure inflicted considerable damage to Baalenoid. It was enough to leave a mark on the exact place Gorem hit him at. "Eye for an eye, brawlers," Baalenoid muttered before using his Dispel Closer ability against them all. Allen quickly used Goliath Fortress and Giga Martyr to personally take one for the team. His defense was strong enough to shield everyone from the effects of Dispel Closer, but even someone as powerful as he is would not be able to hold it together for an extended duration. "Noland and Drago have paid the ultimate price for believing they were worthy of standing up to me. You will fail just as he did, Allen. The only difference will be that he lived to see another day unlike you." As he was locked into this attack, he sensed a very disturbing presence high above him that contained a lot of power. This is when the Barodius figure emerged from the top of his skull to confront the threat personally.

"I guess I'll have to take back what I just said about you, Drago. You obviously prefer death over a little darkness. That's a very stupid decision, but I'm not going to complain about it. It's your death wish," the shadowy Barodius stated. "Ability activate! Treble Barrage!" The figure called on the power of all three Pack members to trigger this ability. It gathered countless mini-orbs that surrounded his body. He pushed his arms out to scatter them all over the place to detonate. With each detonation, numerous laser beams scattered in every direction on the ground and in the sky. This made Allen's job even more troublesome, and it was breaking down his defenses even more that made a kill more likely to occur. "Farewell, Resistors."

[Noland Hardy]

"He's still standing," Drago realized as he had a clear view of what was going on. When he started getting closer to his foe, Baalenoid was giving Gorem a very hard time. That only increased the need for Drago to make it down there to help, and he believed this new ability Noland activated was going to do just that. As always, it wasn't just going to be as simple as hitting him. He had to provide a counterattack, and what he used was a very dangerous area of effect attack that brought every ground and aerial forces to their knees. "It is never that easy." Drago grew a horn made out of energy due to his lack of a proper one. This made his ability more streamlined in effect since the horn's tip was now the central point of focus for where the attack would be at its strongest. He dove straight into the catastrophe without caring about the effects of Baalenoid's attack.

"It doesn't matter what you say about me." He recalled the events at the D.C. Jail when Belphenoid theorized that his greatest weakness this entire time was Noland, and that as long as he was there, he would never be able to realize his full potential. He flew straight into the firefight, taking loads of damage as a penalty. "It doesn't matter how powerful you think you are." The battle with Belphenoid after John was murdered came into memory, and he remembers him boasting about how he can only be defeated in one manner while everything else was useless. He was still going through the lasers, incurring even more pain on his body. "It doesn't matter why you're doing all of this." The battle he fought alongside Gorem against the three Pack members came back into memory when everyone was discussing the reasons for why these murderers were in action. "It also doesn't matter if you think you're better than me." The recent battle with the Pack members in the underground facility was especially relevant with how much they compared their abilities to his own after their evolution.

"The only thing that matters when measuring our own power is the route we've taken to grow into who we are." In the midst of the laser beams, Drago was nearing his objective while still empowered by the ability's effects after taking that much damage. "You have no right to kill anyone based off of bad choices Bakugan like you have made. Our paths are our own." He started to get even closer, still going through the laser storm like a champ. "When you decide to trample onto our road to prosperity and either force others to conform to your decision or kill them off because they refused to have power-hungry warlords ruling over them," he finally concluded as he got within reach of the Barodius shadow. "You. Get. Burned." He cut straight down the middle starting from his point of entry: Baalenoid's skull or Barodius's shadow. In a swift motion, he ended up slamming his fist into the ground, shaking everyone else off of their feet in the process. The energy horn that he had for the attack disappeared, but it revealed a new horn in its stead, which was a perfect symbol for his overall development.

[Nero Bullock]

It was like observing a miracle taking place seeing Drago drive his way through Baalenoid's powerful ability in the way that he did. Once Baalenoid was pierced by Drago's Novia Driver, everything went silent. His body froze completely for a moment after Drago touched down on the ground. Before anything else took place, the abilities he was using disappeared completely. That included the Doom Dimension portal that he had left open; there were zero signs of any dimensional tunnels once that was removed. All gravitational anomalies were no longer operational.

The Pack Bakugan that were roaming in other parts of the world froze in their tracks in the same manner as Baalenoid. In a simultaneous phenomenon, their bodies individually broke down into their respective attributed Dharaknoid versions of themselves in the form of a specter. Once this took place, a mild distortion occurred that made them all fade away. This same process applied to all of the Pack Bakugan within Washington D.C. as well. All Pack Bakugan, except for Baalenoid, were now confirmed to be eradicated.

All that was left of the armada was Baalenoid himself. Judging by what happened to all of the Bakugan deployed by him, it was obvious what had happened to him. What Drago did effectively ended his assumed role of being invincible. His hard work and dedication had allowed him to fight through all odds and deliver a blow that was instantly fatal to the large beast. His last words were fitting as it was precisely as it implied; one party would depart from the other, and in this case, it happened to be him. His lifeless body fell backwards onto the rubble. Suddenly, a faint voice could be heard coming from him as his body crumbled. "My campaign doesn't end with this uneventful loss. It is only the beginning of the end I have envisioned for this war...and this world." The body transitioned into a large specter of the same Dharak that was fought years earlier. It then violently disappeared as his minions have already done. "I...shall have...my vengeance..."

[Noland Hardy]

Drago knelt on the ground as he watched his nemesis perish right in front of him. "It's done, Noland...We did it...buddy," Drago said very faintly due to how hurt he was emotionally and physically. Even turning his head slightly to look at the other Resistors caused too much pain. When everyone was questioning him about Noland and Karen's whereabouts, he couldn't bring himself to say anything remotely close to acknowledging that he had been sent to the Doom Dimension. "Noland will be here soon. He didn't go anywhere. Neither did she," Drago responded to stay true to what Noland told him before he used Novia Driver. With his energy depleted, Drago returned to ball form and remained stationary on the crumbled ground with his ball form turning gray, which meant that he had sealed himself in ball form. Allen picked him up off of the ground and feared the worst of their condition despite wanting to think positive that they were still with them.

Truthfully, what Drago said was accurate. Unlike Nero, Noland and Karen did not complete their journey into the dark dimension, so they were spat out when Drago killed Baalenoid. This also meant that Hydranoid managed to cling to his existence on Earth once again, but this time, he had changed. He accelerated his movement through the air to grab both Noland and Karen while they were in free fall. Both of them were surprised by this and asked him why he was saving them. Hydranoid noted that there was nothing binding his control anymore, hinting at what Nero told the Terrorists before about him being chipped. He used Phantom Transmission before he neared the ground to make him and Horridian disappear for a quick second before reappearing in front of the Resistors with Noland and Karen in his hands. That tactic also depleted his reserves, so he returned to ball form and sealed himself.

Karen took Hydranoid and kept him for herself since there was no reason to consider him an enemy anymore. Noland was immediately given a death hug by Tracy, which seemed to be a recurring action whenever she got excited about him. Upon being released, Noland took a moment to catch his breath before asking what happened to Drago. That's when Allen returned the Dragonoid to him. As he placed the Bakugan in his hands, Allen mentioned how awesome it was to see Drago do that since it not only ended the fight, but saved them all as well. Noland then praised his efforts in giving Nero the beat-down he deserved. This transitioned to all of them celebrating what they did before the armed forces confirmed their victory so the community could come out of hiding, especially the President who will have some questions to answer every shortly.

Karen stood back a little to let them celebrate. She noticed the Doom Card left over by Baalenoid's disappearance. Even though she probably shouldn't have, she picked the card up. When she did, her pupils flashed with a bright red color before returning to normal. It didn't take long for Noland to notice how much space she was giving, so he walked over to her to ask her if everything was okay. Karen said she was fine, but with a plain attitude. He let her know how much her contributions helped all of them in their battles, which surprised her a little. What was more surprising was that the rest of the Resistors agreed with him, especially Tank who never really liked her in the first place when they weren't aware of her being evil. Karen had no choice but to accept that they wanted her to join them just this once, so she accepted. All of them were then approached by the army and the law enforcement who figured congratulations was definitely in order.

[Noland Hardy]