Episode 37: This is My Sword, This is My Shield

[Noland Hardy]

When Noland became aware of the Bakugan's presence, he was starting to become very concerned for how much of its power was extended to other people and if this was the source of all of the commotion that caused Komba and Team Blaster to act out. It admitted Noland's will was tougher to break than everyone else's, but an extra amount of care would be put into him later. In the meantime, it stated it would focus on those that are more easily persuaded. This statement didn't come true until him and Markus crossed paths with Kendrick and Maya. Maya was a bit disgruntled that she lost a bet to Kendrick since they placed a wager on the brawl, but she didn't tell Markus this. All she said to him was that he did a great job out there. The response Markus gave was rather rude and unsettling for his standards. What he chose to do instead of thanking her for her support was shove her out of his way. As expected, this made her mad enough to yell at him for the unnecessary gesture. Markus turned around and summoned Gargulion to fulfill what should have happened to her during Christmas. Noland pulled both Maya and Kendrick to his side and summoned Drago to counter Gargulion. The security in the area deployed into that area to apprehend Markus, but Gargulion used an unknown ability to spread his energy to the Robotallion used by the security, which also began extending to their handlers. This corrupted them to Markus's side, and they all looked at Noland with the intent to kill. 

When this happened, an announcement over the intercom instructed everyone to remain calm as an altercation was taking place near the stands. Noland pleaded with Markus to stand down, but he wouldn't listen. Left with no other choice, Noland was prepared to act in self defense before all of them were shot in the back by reinforcements. Both Noland and Markus were pinned to the floor by the police officers that were monitoring the activity throughout the coliseum aside from the event's security team. Since they knew who they were, the officers did not immediately place them under arrest, but they were being detained until further notice while they investigate the issue since they've been hearing a lot of complaints of these actions taking place. Noland told Kendrick and Maya to go back to their seats and tell everyone what happened. With the situation rectified, the announcer gave the green light for the event to proceed. Tracy was wondering what happened to cause such a commotion, but they were soon notified by Noland's grandmother of the situation through their BrawlX's. This provoked a negative reaction out of Allen that made him question what was going in vulgar terms. Karen said that it served Noland right, which made everyone turn their heads towards her as if she was crazy.

[Noland Hardy]

Allen questioned why she would ever say something like that when Noland and Markus could be in serious trouble for what they did. Karen reminded him that what Markus did wasn't too far off from what he almost did to Tank when the latter thought his performance in battle was funny. She also added in the fact that the person doing all the interrogating is now involved in such a situation, which she cited as an act of karma for all the trouble he put her through the past couple of days. Tank considered it an insult to their intelligence that she was trying to make them believe Markus attacked Noland on his own whim. He also credited Noland for being the one that gave her more chances than she deserved, so the fact that she was talking that way behind their backs made it perfectly clear that her allegiance was not with him, Markus, or any of the Resistors.

The announcer then called for the next match: Carson Michaels versus Jason Cross. They were both seasoned veterans that have been champions in their respective attribute classes; Carson was still considered to be the best Haos brawler in the country while Jason took a backseat to Billy from last year's gambit. The two brawlers took their places on the battlefield and began brawling. It was Haos Tritonus against Subterra Spikore. As they clashed, the argument with Karen continued. She has shown them many times that she had changed, but the amount of times she was confronted by someone who deemed her worthy of trusting didn't add up. She couldn't understand what they didn't get by her reiterating that she did not do anything wrong. Tracy wished that she would understand how serious this situation has become since these incidents are not happening by normal procedure and that something sinister was at work here.

Noland and Markus were interrogated by the police about the situation. By that time, Markus had regained his senses, so he was not aware of what he did and what he tried to do. Noland did his best to convince the officers that Markus should not be held responsible for his actions since he was not in control of his body. He said he knew who was directly responsible for influencing this behavior. When asked who, Drago encouraged Noland to tell them the absolute truth regardless of what would happen in the end since he expected him to say Karen. Noland surprised him by saying it was a Dharaknoid whose power is manifesting in various bodies throughout the area; however, he couldn't provide a reason why this was happening. He asked them to investigate a certain person that was deemed to be very suspicious: Karen. Markus backed him up on that statement by letting them know what happened with Komba and Team Blaster and gave them names on who witnessed these events happen so both him and Noland could be let off the hook. They decided to listen to this just this once and had the officials call multiple people down there, including Karen. As they tried to gather all of the stories, the battle was concluding.

[Noland Hardy]

Jason put up a great fight against the Haos champion through his Bakugan's ability to morph his own abilities into actual weapons; however, Carson was able to respond to that strategy quickly by using Arsenal Switch to deprive him of such weaponry. Regardless of Carson being able to counter Jason's strategy, the Subterra brawler landed consecutive hits on his Bakugan that placed him at an early disadvantage. In the end, it all came down to which Bakugan had enough power remaining to edge each other out. Thanks to Tritonus's long range ability, Carson proved that the only action that mattered was the finish by using Draining Space to drain the last of Spikore's energy, leaving him open to a powerful Infinity Ray Blaze attack that completely destroyed his opponent's final defense ability, Ground Zero. Carson took the win and moved on to the semi-finals where he'll face Noland provided that he doesn't get disqualified from the altercation he had with Markus earlier.

The third battle was going to be between Tank and Allen. When the announcers called for them, Noland and Markus made a timely return to see them off. They gave Tank and Allen a quick update on what was going on such as Klaus von Hertzen and Drake Kyudai being questioned while Karen was being searched by the officers on duty. Since they didn't find any fault with Noland or Markus based on prior knowledge and awareness of the predicament, they were cleared of any suspicion. Knowing that they were about to battle, Noland and Markus wished them well in their fight as they returned to the audience. Allen told Tank that he heard a lot of great things about his ability in battle from Noland, which made him look forward to facing him as an opponent rather than an ally from before. Tank also knew of Allen's prowess way before he fought Noland and knew what he was up against. He let Allen know that this may be the most challenging year in his entire brawling career, but he'd rather have it this way to know that all of the mountains he climbed was worth it in the end. When they reached the battlefield, they exchanged their respects one final time before appearing on opposite sides of the field.

(Boss Theme)

[Noland Hardy]

When they were told to begin, Allen and Tank threw their Bakugan on the field. Tank did something not normally seen by anyone else. Gorem landed near Allen, but Tank took a different approach to his throw; he threw it in a way that'll make Gladion go for a quick tackle the moment he stood in his monster form. He got away with this, but he didn't cause Gorem to move an inch, which only served to get the golem fired up even more. Gladion landed back on Tank's side and began contemplating how he was going to handle a walking vehicle like Gorem was. Early predictions indicated that neither side had the definitive advantage over the other as was believed in Noland and Markus's case. There were only a handful of people who were aware of Tank being defeated by Noland despite an incredible amount of difficulty on the latter's part, which can only give credit to Tank's prowess being great enough to bring a legendary brawler like the Master Blaze to the edge of his seat; therefore, if he could combat Noland on equal footing, there's nothing saying he can't do the same to Allen since the two legends are considered to be roughly equal in power. It was definitely important for Tank and Gladion to fight Allen as if he was fighting Noland; the definitive difference is that there was more emphasis on making sure every blow counted.

Tank made the first move. He used Weapons Cache - Gladius to equip Gladion with one of his signature swords. He rushed towards Gorem who used Alloy Transmutation to coat his armor into a harder version of its metal. The defensive ability easily bounced the sword off of his body and allowed him to land an early blow to Gladion with a counteractive elbow to the face. The blow knocked the sword out of Gladion's hands and stunned him, allowing Allen to quickly seize the opportunity with Rave Wrecker. He sped towards Gladion with the aid of his boosters to deliver a high-speed tackle, but Tank wouldn't allow that to happen. He cleverly used Arena Trap - Bear Trap to clamp Gorem's feet as he was in the process of charging, leaving him vulnerable to Tank's counter attack. Weapon of the Gods - Warhammer of Ares was activated to give Gladion the heavy hitter he needed to bash into Gorem and send him skidding along the ground with his armor enhancement left in pieces.

Allen fired back with Gravitron Balistae to send an arrow-shaped attack towards Gladion. Battle Charge is what he used to nullify the attack and pump his power up to make another aggressive charge towards Gorem. Allen responded with Powers Polish to give Gorem the physical strength he needed to go blow for blow with Gladion's weapons, and it performed its job well. Gladion's hammer proved to be ineffective in making Gorem waver as he was equaling its raw power with his own. Finally catching Gladion's arm and holding him in place, Gorem attempted to encase him via Rockslide Entombment to inflict a massive amount of damage with an uncontested slam. This prompted an immediate Warrior's Pride activation to bring Gladion back into the fight. He escaped Gorem's grip and sent him back with a backflip kick to his head. He tried hitting Gorem with his hammer one more time while he had the clear shot, but Allen's activation of Vicious Counter allowed Gorem to counter the attack and send Gladion back many feet. The force of his attack succeeded in destroying Gladion's hammer just as he did with Cycloid's, bringing this battle to a current standstill.

[Noland Hardy]

Gladion silently remarked that it was just as diffucult to attack Gorem as it was to defend from Drago, which were both daunting tasks for any brawler out there. Tank was beginning to understand the situation better than he had at the beginning, so he changed his battle plan accordingly. He was going to strike at Gorem's weaknesses one at a time. Just from analyzing how Gladion was currently faring in hand-to-hand combat with Gorem with his Weapons Cache - Handaxes ability, Tank knew Gladion was faster, but weaker than Gorem physically. He started setting Gladion up for success by activating Weapon of the Gods - Hermes' Sandals to enable him to achieve flight as the latter spawned a Goliath Fortress. The last thing Allen wanted was for Gladion to have aerial control, so he used Avalanche Vulcan to have the spawn shoot a flurry of jagged rocks. Gladion defended himself using Weapons Cache - Aegis. This is the spot where the battle started shifting to one's favor.

As the rocks pounded hard against the shield, Tank commanded Gladion to begin assaulting Gorem's familiar. He equipped Weapon of the Gods - Claymore of Zeus in his free hand and began breaking Goliath Fortress down with lightning strikes. Allen then called on Megalith Boxer to increase the reach of his physical attacks. Gladion struggled to cope with this, so he was placed in a rather uncomfortable situation; yet, he still kept his composure. He sheathed his sword, put the shield on his back, and pulled out his newest weapon, the Scythe of Kronos. Before Gorem's barrage neared him, Gladion used the scythe's power to warp on top of the colossus. He wedged it into the structure's head before briefly stopping time. Using his fusion ability, Art of Battle - Sabotage, Gladion gathered a lot of energy into his fists and punched the creature with all of his might, completely shattering it into pieces. He then picked up his scythe again to warp in Gorem's face, allowing him to deliver a punishing swipe across his chest and a swift spinning back kick to his face that cracked his visor, which received a stunning reaction from the audience.

Allen could tell that Tank was a very serious opponent since not too many opponents of his are able to break his fortress nor inflict a staining hit on Gorem in that manner, so he became even more determined to prevent himself from losing; however, Tank was not going to let him set up since he learned his lesson from the beginning of the brawl. Tank used another fusion ability, Divine Favor, to have all of his weapons hover in place around the arena so they can be used at his discretion. He called for the Trident of Poseidon to be infused with Poison of the Hydra. Gladion then proceeded to shove the trident into Gorem's chest after being stunned, which not only pierced his armor, but injected the lethal poison into his system. He then pulled it out and used Earthshaker, so when he stabbed downwards into the soil, the ground Gorem was standing on shattered and became airborne. Using the Claymore of Zeus, Gladion called on a never-ending lightning strike that continuously punished Gorem as the poison began setting in.

[Noland Hardy]

Although this appeared to be a losing situation, Allen made it clear that these circumstances in a battle were his defining moments, citing the previous battles with Noland and Nero as examples. Gorem moved his arms through the pain to use Purging Equilibrium; instead of the usual methods of cleansing any external forces, he chose to fix his internal problems. He slowly moved his left arm to his chest with charged energy in hand to use the ability on himself, curing him of the venomous substance Gladion planted into his body. He then used his signature ability, Giga Martyr, to equip his strongest set of armor that he wanted to stay with him until the end of this fight. With this amount of protection on his body, the lightning strikes did close to nothing to Gorem. He then used his boosters to perform a boost slam right above Gladion's head.

Tank ordered Gladion to evade as soon as possible since the resulting hit would one-shot him. Fortunately, he managed to get out of the way in time and on board Apollo's Chariot. As he rode around the arena with his pegasi bombarding his enemy with fire balls, he equipped the Bow of Artemis in his hands and rapidly shot him. Allen doubled up on his defenses and activated Bound Barrier to shield his most powerful shield. Seeing the projectiles bounce off of Gorem made Tank realize that they were in trouble and feared taking a direct hit from him with the armor activated since he remembers it knocking out Drago at state despite that brawl being a tie. He didn't let his concern of Allen's power scare him out of attacking though. Gladion exchanged his bow for his crossbow and began shooting the stronger bolts out of it.

Allen preferred to not give Tank the benefit of dragging this brawl out, so he aimed to defeat Gladion now. Richter Blockade was the ability he chose to use. Gorem picked up a large portion of the ground to cover himself from the projectiles. He threw the large piece of Earth in the path Gladion's vehicle was moving in. Considering the pegasi was carrying too much weight to dodge the attack, Gladion bailed before Gorem managed to render it useless. Allen kept his offense going with Gaia Nueva, which he now considers to be the weaker, but more range friendly version of his Megalith Boxer. His projected hands were now pummeling Gladion's side of the field nonstop, forcing Gladion to call on his weapons to clash with the attack. With the skies unable to be accessed from all of the fire, Tank could not escape Gorem's final attack: Titanic Gaia. This created a giant form of him that was much bigger than his Goliath Fortress. Left with no other choice but to attack, Tank authorized the return of the Warhammer of Ares since it was his hardest hitting weapon. He transferred all of the energy from his weapons into his hammer once Gorem's ultimate ability overpowered his other weapons, which covered it with radiating energy that had sparks coming out of it. He charged for Gorem one last time as the giant golem unleashed his power in one brave jab.

[Noland Hardy]

The aftermath of that clash left the entirety of the arena in dust and rubble. Gladion's armor was broken, his weapons fell from the sky, and he was breathing heavily from the ordeal. Gorem's visor was completely broken and partially revealed his face. The armor from his Giga Martyr ability was cracked throughout its design. Gladion's Claymore of Zeus was still in working condition despite all of the damage his weapons took overall, but it lost all of its power. Gladion picked this weapon up and began moving towards Gorem to finish him off. Due to the amount of power Gorem used in his assault, he was confined to his general area until he recovered. Tank saw this and believed he had beaten Allen, but Gladion had a noticeable limp as he was moving. Gorem stood there patiently while looking at the spartan threaten him with his blade. Gladion stopped within inches of Gorem, hoisted his sword above his shoulders, and prepared to strike him down. He went through with the motion, but his body gave up on him before he was able to complete the process; thus, the sword bounced off of Gorem's armor as Gladion face-planted on the ground next to him. Tank was speechless as his life gauge plummeted to zero, giving Allen the victory in this close battle.

Noland was very respectful of Tank's strength, so seeing him that close to defeating Allen was a victory in itself. He considered it a reality check for Allen and himself to see someone fight in the manner Tank portrayed at a very high level. That didn't matter when it came to being the person on the losing side though. This loss was devastating to Tank as it meant that he would be dethroned as the national champion of the country, which was a title he held very dear to him as a sign of his accomplishments through his hard work and the friends that took that journey with him. Allen reminded him that everything he did couldn't be taken away from him regardless of whether he won or lost, and acknowledged him as the champion he was and still is at heart. He admitted that he understood how Tank felt and would feel the same way, but stressed the importance of continuing to push through life regardless of defeat just as he and Noland have learned. Tank and Allen bid each other good brawl before exiting the arena.

After the battle, Noland walked with Kendrick to a stand to get some food. After they purchased their items, they were walking back to their seats until Karen got in their way. Karen figured out that Noland sold her out for his own freedom and was very delighted to let him know that the police did not find anything wrong with her after searching her. Noland could tell she was very infuriated with him, so he chose to say nothing. It only made her even angrier since she couldn't understand how he had nothing to say for himself after she told him too many times that she didn't do it. Out of frustration, she asked him what he meant by saying he loved her as a sign of putting their past behind them if he was continuing to treat her like a villain. The announcer then called for her match with Tracy, which prevented her from spending any more time there. Angry and heartbroken, she turned away from Noland and walked towards the arena without looking back.

[Noland Hardy]