Episode 36: The Shadow Games

[Noland Hardy]

That night, Noland was talking with Drago about what they were going to do in their future battles. His grandmother reassured him of his performance by saying how proud she was to see him succeed against so many powerful brawlers. She also noticed Chan taking a liking to him, which Noland didn't seem to care about. Kendrick made him promise that he was going to go all the way to the finals. Noland didn't want to make a promise he wasn't sure if he was going to keep, so he just promised that he would do everything in his power to make it through. Their conversation was interrupted by someone knocking on their door. When Noland saw who was on the other side, he initially stopped himself from opening the door since he didn't know why he would be standing there. He did it anyway, and it turned out to be Drake Kyudai. He asked to talk to Noland briefly about a certain issue, so they both went down to the main lobby. Drake informed Noland that he had also heard about what happened to Komba last night, and, in a surprising twist, a similar thing happened to Jimmy and his friends. When asked for more information, Drake recounted Dimitri's history as a bully and how he managed to overcome that mentality, but what he did to a certain person in a wheelchair was way too low even for his past self. He said everything changed once they were defeated by Karen and feared the worst. Knowing that Noland was close to her, he wondered if there was something he could do to figure out what was going on and possibly prevent the champion from beating them up too considering they were accomplices in the assault.

Noland was a bit conflicted in what he was saying since people were constantly suspecting Karen to be apart of something very eerie, but no one had any proof. Drago asked Drake if he was absolutely sure Karen was responsible for doing this. Drake responded that their behavior hasn't been this dark until their battles with Karen, which meant that he didn't see any major results until their losses. Realizing that he would have to do his best to not make her any angrier with him than she already is, Noland agreed to do something about it, but placed Team Blaster's well-being at the top of his list. That's when they heard a loud explosion a couple of feet away from the hotel's back entrance. Noland and Drake followed the noise to see Jimmy and his friends preparing to terrorize the local populace. Tank joined them out of nowhere after he was chasing all five of them down for what they did to Steve earlier. The three of them teamed up to defeat them before they did any more damage. Drake used his Darkus Drazardon to subdue Sinado and Edin. Tank and Gladion tackled Dimitri and Wendy. Noland was left to deal with Jimmy by himself. Although Jimmy showed incredible skill and agility with his Haos Heronix, Noland and Drago incapacitated the Bakugan with a well-timed Infernal Bind. When they were defeated, they seemed to return back to normal without any recollection of what they did after losing. That's when Noland and Tank looked at each other to acknowledge that this was a serious problem they needed to do something about.

[Noland Hardy]

On the way back inside, Tank was understandably angry at what was going on. Noland asked him what could be done since they still don't have any names to look for unless they went off of an assumption that could be coincidental. Tank didn't care if it was an assumption or not since her name came up in both of the situations that has happened, so something must be wrong with her. Although he didn't want to, Noland accepted that this might be a situation that's in her hands, but he didn't know how to combat it. He didn't feel comfortable taking any action until they were presented with factual evidence that explains the origin of these occurrences. Tank warned him to be careful of what he was dealing with before he went back to his room to calm down. This made Noland decide that he had enough of what was happening, so he marched up to Karen's room and knocked.

When she peaked through the door hole and saw that it was him, Karen opened the door and waited for whatever Noland was going to do. He urgently requested for them to talk, so she invited him in. He apologized a second time for what happened with the Komba incident. She finally accepted his apology, but Noland immediately went into the situation with Team Blaster, which made her consider saying what she really wanted to say to him. Before she got the chance, Noland made it clear that he wasn't saying he was against her, but Karen didn't buy that excuse since she already told him she wasn't doing anything wrong the first time, which should have nullified any further attempts to question her about it. Noland then expressed his concern that there were now two separate situations that had her name involved in it, and the most recent one was too severe to turn a blind eye to compared to the first time.

He considered Team Blaster to be heroes for what they've done, and fighters like them would not suddenly terrorize a handicapped person and threaten to wreak havoc on the city. Drago weighed in on the situation by telling Karen that it is very hard to believe it's a coincidence that these events happened after they came into contact with her. They wanted to be on her side, but if there was something she was not telling them, Noland and Drago needed to know now so they can come to a conclusion; thus, he asked why these occurrences were happening after either encountering or battling these individuals. Hydranoid began to defend Karen from these accusations, but she shut him down before he got started. Karen officially stated that what she told him the first time was the truth, and it didn't matter to her whether he accepted what she told him or not. Recognizing this statement to be very similar in wording to Seiki's response, Noland nodded in realization that there was something going on here. As he left the room, Noland promised her that he will be back if another person becomes corrupted after making contact regardless of what she thought about him.

[Noland Hardy]

When Noland left the room, Karen was very sad that he kept pressuring her to say something she couldn't say. She didn't understand why all of this was happening nor why Noland was confronting her about it. It made the reconciliation they had before seem meaningless. Knowing that she was deeply hurt by this disconnection, Hydranoid hopped onto the table in front of her to let her know that there were justifiable reasons for Noland and Drago's actions and that they needed to make sure everything was clear on their end. He didn't consider it shameful to denounce involvement in an issue she knew she wasn't responsible for causing, and that what they knew was all that mattered. Karen defiantly responded that it might not matter to him, but it meant everything to her, especially with Noland. As her emotions started getting lower, her eyes turned red. Hydranoid recognized this and asked what was going on before the same thing happened to him.

The next morning, Karen greeted Noland with a hug to express how much she wanted things to go back to the way they were before. When she did this, she began transferring energy from her body to his, which caused Noland's eyes to flash briefly. When she walked away, Noland began asking himself why that hug felt as uplifting as it did, which meant that he was at least aware something happened to him. Drago guessed that it was because he wants to reach the same goal Karen wants in their relationship. Noland didn't pay much attention to it and stuck to his usual routine to get ready for the second day of the tournament. When everyone went to the battlefield, they were put under even more stress in their battles, but none of their opponents compared to the brawlers the Resistors knocked out already. In fact, Komba proved to be a weaker opponent than expected by Tank's standards since he dispatched the kid in less than ten seconds. It could be said that they eliminated their only competition early in the tournament, which gave Noland, Markus, Allen, Tank, Tracy, Karen a clear path to the quarterfinals. Two brawlers by the names of Jason Cross and Carson Michaels joined them on their quest.

Quarterfinals

Knowing that they were basically the only ones left in the tournament, everyone got in the mindset to face whoever gets shown in pairs on the brackets the officials displayed on the big screen. When the pairings were created, there were four separate battles that were going to take place. Noland was going to face off against Markus, Tank was going to duel against Allen, Karen would take on Tracy, and Carson would battle Jason. The first match that was to be shown was Noland vs Markus. Before they took their place on the battlefield, Markus and Noland shook hands as they prepared to fight in a rematch Markus had been expecting to have since state. He promised Noland that things were not going to be as simple as they were when they last fought and that he would be showing what he has learned from his struggles. Noland gave him an identical promise since him and Drago have knocked down many barriers to get where they are now, and they wouldn't stop going up from this match.

(Boss Theme)

[Noland Hardy]

Noland and Markus threw out Drago and Gargulion respectively after giving each other their final respects. They then started trading blows fiercely. Surprisingly, the underdog going into this match was Noland despite the opponents he took down already leading up to this moment. They theorized that Markus and Tank were like opposite sides of the same coin where Gargulion specialized in taking the opponent out of the fight completely as opposed to making sure he could match any opponent with his own power like Gladion can. While critics agreed that Tank would have been more suitable of an opponent to take Noland down, Markus has shown that he has the potential to cripple the Master Blaze enough to the point where he can no longer respond. His performance in this brawl confirmed their assumptions since Gargulion was able to control the pace of the battle by limiting Drago's attack options. Markus continuously gave Gargulion's body enhancements through Reflection Gargoyle and Solid Fortification abilities to minimize the amount of trouble Noland's offensive power had and utilized Soul Eater, Void Ripper, and Specter Flight to constantly wear him down without being hit.

Knowing that he needed to land a substantial blow on Gargulion, Noland heated the battlefield using Oppressive Air to get the Darkus Bakugan out of the shadows. Since the heat shattered Gargulion's body enhancements, Markus used Stone Cold to drop Gargulion's body temperature to provide some resistance to the unbearable heat. Noland capitalized on that distraction by activating Novia Shredder to allow Drago's tail to be shot at Gargulion as a deadly projectile. This completely obliterated Gargulion's defense and sent him jetting towards the barriers as the attack continuously grinded into his stone body. After seemingly getting Markus in checkmate, Noland activated Rage Fire for Drago to punch the ground and send a pillar of fire upwards to engulf Gargulion. Fearing he was about to be defeated, Markus used Nightmare Fleet to call on his Darkus Volcanic Bolcanon and Darkus Arocobra. He then used Fusion Gargoyle to dismantle Gargulion's damaged body and BakuMutated both of his added Bakugan, narrowly dodging the Rage Fire ability as a result. Since he wasn't aware of the reinforcements' attack power in combination with Gargulion, Noland was very cautious with how he was going to deal with them. He had an idea on how to win the brawl, so he started to power up using his special power. Strangely, the energy wasn't rainbow-colored, but a tainted purple one. This caused Noland excruciating pain on his arm that made Drago concerned, and his divided attention was not at a good time since Markus began declaring his attacks.

[Noland Hardy]

The referees standing by noticed Noland's condition and was about to disqualify him on the grounds of being incapacitated. Noland's eyes became red again as portions of the skin on his hand started becoming a little blue. He rudely told the referees to only be concerned about Markus as his foes launched two mutation abilities, Volcanic Darkness + Gargoyle's Beam and Venom Shot + Petrify. Using this combination, Mutated Bolcanon shot two high-powered streams of magma from his hands while combining it with a potent laser blast from his mouth. Mutated Aracobra developed a large yellow-green sphere that was high in venom as well as including the effect of turning the enemy into stone on impact; it also carried the benefit of splitting into multiple beams, which increased the likelihood of hitting Drago. It was apparent Markus was going for a knockout with the move he made, but he was made aware of Noland's condition after he had attacked, which worried him a bit since it didn't appear that he was at 100% like he wanted him to be.

What Noland saw in front of him in his mind was the figure of the Bakugan he saw opposing the Dragonoid on the murals in the underground facility. It informed Noland that he was now embedded into his consciousness and had the final say in how he performed in the battle. With the last of his strength, Noland forced himself to play Rapid Fire Takedown to spawn two clones of Drago that were used as death fodder for him. Markus was now on the level of power that allowed him to completely destroy Drago's clones in one shot, so Noland couldn't make use of their explosive power for his abilities. Noland cursed the demon that was causing him this much trouble and demanded to know what it was. The Bakugan dodged the question and was more interested to know who Noland was, but it gave him a hint. It described itself as the one who took very good care of two particular individuals that seems to spark his inner dark power. Noland smirked at the specter and declared that mentioning them no longer gets him fired up nor is it strong enough to break him; thus, he broke its control of him and returned to normal on the battlefield.

Drago noticed the disappearance of the amount of power Noland's body was displaying. He asked if he was green, which received a definite yes as his attention was now focused on defeating Gargulion. Markus kept up his attacks now that he had the advantage by having Aracobra and Voclanic Bolcanon use Tumultuous Gargoyle and Gargoyle's Grudge respectively. In the midst of the storm of aura-like tornadoes zipping back and forth through Drago's quadrant, Bolcanon amplified himself in Gargulion's energy and charged straight for Drago to deliver a knockout tackle to his chest. Since he was being attacked from two different angles, Noland thought it was the perfect time to counter with Faultless Guard, which was further powered up through Eternal Gazer. This gave Drago the power he required to block Bolcanon with his wings and link the Nova Dragon he used early in the fight to absorb the hits taken from the storm. Drago repelled Bolcanon so that he hit his partner. Using the absorbed power, Drago absorbed the Nova Dragon into his body to gain his invincibility cloak that he used in the battle against Kuzuha.

He had nothing to lose after fortifying himself the way he did, so Drago immediately engaged both of Markus's Bakugan in close quarters. Markus tried to get away with the Specter Flight trick he was using earlier, but Drago adapted to it by adopting an omni-directional fighting style with the aid of his tail for back support. Noland was beginning to make a much needed comeback, and Markus was losing ground progressively since Noland had an answer for everything he was doing even with two mutated Bakugan. Not wanting to give him any more ground, Markus activated Gargulion's strongest ability, Death Chaser. This fusion ability required Bolcanon to reactivate Tumultuous Gargoyle to create the storm again. Aracobra would then detach a part of Gargulion's body from his own to form his hands. The hands spun in place to generate a lightning current that allowed him to have an infinite amount of time to have his ability active as well as direct its path at will.

Drago's time under the protection of his Nova Dragon ability was effectively sliced due to Markus's maneuver, so Noland shielded him from damage using Phoenix Tornado. The monstrous avatar assumed its form above his head. It covered Drago's body enough to protect him from their opponents' effects. Noland took this time to let Markus know that he got closer to winning this time than the previous bout, but he strongly asserted that "almost" never mattered in the arena. He activated his new ability, Novia Driver, to have the avatar combine with the Nova Dragon. It rested in Drago's right arm as he viciously swiped it across the field to completely nullify Gargulion's final attacks. He then threw the Nova Dragon that was enhanced by Phoenix Tornado to become a rainbow-colored phoenix that completely tore through both Bolcanon and Aracobra, sending them to ball form immediately after touching its power, which also knocked Gargulion out of the brawl as well. This gave Noland the win and his ticket into the semifinals.

This defeat left a disappointing mark on Markus and a surprised look on the faces of those who predicted he would be able to send the Master Blaze back home. Tank didn't want to admit it, but he thought the way Markus fought in that brawl was his best performance in his entire career. Allen was glad Noland won, but he was more concerned with what happened when he tried to power up and how he responded to the referees that were about to boot him out. Noland let Markus know how much of an honor it was to battle against him as equals and that he shouldn't allow this defeat to distract him from how powerful he was to brawl like that. Markus shook his hand for the final time and admitted that Noland was the strongest opponent he had ever faced; he declared that this was an experience he would keep with him as motivation to become more than he is now. As the crowd cheered for them, they both exited the arena to go into the audience. While doing so, the Bakugan from before contacted Noland again to let him know it was still there, and what he just did made it stronger than before, which was depicted through the change in Markus's eye color.

[Noland Hardy]