Episode 39: No More Chances

[Noland Hardy]

Noland avoided any confrontation with Allen since he saw the way he was looked at after the battle. He was silent for the entire trip back to the hotel even when the other Resistors attempted to get a word out of him. When they returned, everyone was very concerned about Noland's mental health. No one had an answer for how to stop the Dharaknoid from re-enacting Judgment Day all over again since the Doom Card has been proven to be resilient to their Bakugan's attacks. Seiki even compared this situation to Daniel's since there was someone else manipulating an innocent person into doing terrible things, which meant that all they're really doing without a way to destroy the Doom Card was harming an innocent person. Before they even made it inside, Noland was confronted by Allen who was pushing his way towards him despite Karen attempting to stop him. Allen asked Noland what has always been said to him by Alana or himself whenever he would attempt to handle an issue by himself. Noland sternly answered that they always had each other's backs. Allen agreed, so he wondered why an esteemed leader like himself who strove to always stop the past from repeating itself would allow John, Steve, Maya, Tracy, and Seiki to be terrorized if he supposedly had their backs while they've been defending him the entire time. Karen said Allen's name in a manner that implied she wanted him to stop, but he didn't stop there; he then asked why Noland never had his back since all he really did for him was leave him behind and only talked to him again when he needed his help. Karen ordered him to stop, but she was still ignored. Allen then wondered why Noland always treated Karen like a dog when she needed help compared to treating Alana like a princess when anything was asked of him.

Noland asked him why he cared, which was a remark that caused Tank to tell him not to entertain this. Allen thought this response was funny. He said there was a clear reason why Allen's power was greater than Noland's in terms of defense; he defends rather than condemns. Tracy came to Noland's defense by telling what he did for all of them, but Noland stopped that one cold. He told Allen and Karen to do what they came there to do to him rather than waste his time with talk. The Dharaknoid was disappointed that Noland didn't want to explore all of his roots, but it complied with what he said. Allen proceeded to publicly attack Noland with Gorem. All of the Resistors told Noland to standby while they dealt with Allen. The Dharaknoid chose not to manipulate them at the moment since he preferred watching the fight rather than waste his power. Karen then yelled at all of them for fighting and ended the brawl herself by throwing in Hydranoid and catching them off guard using Gazer Excedra. This conflict brought local security to the scene where they attempted to subdue Karen and Hydranoid. Montai also rushed downstairs when she heard all of the commotion, but she didn't know what to say due to what they knew about Karen's situation. Karen pleaded with Noland and Montai not to let them do this since she didn't want any of this. There was nothing they could do, so they stared at the situation in shock. The Dharaknoid then took control of Karen to force her to severely injure the officers and their Bakugan using Hydranoid. In this scuffle, Hydranoid amassed enough power to evolve into Alpha Hydranoid. Before walking away, Karen conceded that Allen was correct in his criticism of Noland's attributes and that she always took a backseat to everything he considered important to himself. 

The good news from that fight was that the negative energy inside Allen was suppressed. The bad news was that Hydranoid had evolved again, which potentially made him stronger than Drago since Dual Hydranoid was enough to barely beat Gorem. It frightened the parents enough to suggest to Noland that it would not be a good idea to fight Karen in the finals. They were afraid that Alpha Hydranoid was too powerful to handle by himself without knowing a good way to beat the Dharaknoid. While Noland agreed that there was a strong possibility that Karen was stronger than him, he strongly believed that even if he did want to give up, there wouldn't be a point in doing so since the Dharaknoid would just gain power by turning its attention to other targets that are weaker. He informed them all that nothing they could say would dissuade him from what has to be done and that anyone who would show any hints of believing he didn't have a chance never had faith in him in the first place. Noland returned to his room to think about his game plan for the next day. The Dharaknoid told him that he should have taken their advice as it would be easier on him to give up rather than dying to the person he loves. Noland knew there had to be a weakness to the Doom Card since he was able to reject the Dharaknoid's control over him using his link with Drago. He thought about the card and how it was used. He remembered that the first recorded incident of this happening was with Montai. The only mentioning of something going wrong was after she touched it; nothing bad happened when the card was left by itself. He also remembered that Baalenoid had the Doom Card's power pour out of him when his body became damaged. The card was also rendered useless once the card's holder was defeated, but the full extent of how they should be beaten remains unknown since Baalenoid was killed. Noland concluded that there were only two possible ways to beat the Dharaknoid. He could either separate the card from the Dharaknoid's main source of power, which would be Karen, or kill the user, which is also Karen. 

Championship

When the next day rolled around, it was time for the final battle. The Resistors approached Noland to figure out what he was doing. He told them all he was going to fight. Tank wanted to stress to him that he couldn't allow anything to distract him from fighting due to the Bakugan he was up against; he was directly talking about Noland's feelings for her. Allen told him that Hydranoid was not going to be easy to overcome after his evolution, so he hoped that Noland keeps it together in his battle. When they went to the coliseum for the final day, Allen faced Carson to determine who was getting third place. Carson could not adjust to Allen's hard counters to his attacks, so he was defeated in a timely manner. All that was left was for Noland to determine the direction this world was going to take in this final battle. The Dharaknoid admitted that it respected Noland's power enough to consider him a potential threat, so it began taking control of everyone he has corrupted to either prevent him from reaching the battlefield alive or to wear him down enough to where Karen will not have any problems beating him. Noland was massively outgunned by Team Blaster and Klaus's group, so he was forced to do the unthinkable. Since the Resistors didn't have enough negative energy in their bodies that would make their deviation immediate, Noland asked for Markus to have Gargulion activate Soul Eater with Noland as the receiver. When he asked him why, Tank told him to stop asking questions and to just do it. Gargulion appeared in monster form and followed Noland's instructions, which were to transfer power away from all of the Resistors and to give it to Noland. Drago told him that it was a dangerous maneuver to play with fire, but Noland thought that would only apply if they tried that on Karen since she had more negative energy in her body than the six of them combined. Noland absorbed the negative energy from all of their bodies to jack the Dharaknoid's control over them. This caused Noland's left eye to flash in a red color as long as that amount of energy remained his body. When Team Blaster, Klaus and his friends, Gunz Lazar, and everyone else that has been corrupted came to finish Noland off, the Resistors fought them off to protect Noland's advancement to the arena. They came close enough to the entrance where no one could interfere with his ability to move, so they bid him good luck as Noland went to finish the fight for good this time.

(True Final Boss Theme 1)

[Karen Valentine]

Karen took her place on the battlefield long before Noland arrived. Due to the large force the Dharaknoid had sent his way, the referees were about to disqualify Noland for failing to show up to the battle. This led some people to wonder if Noland was a coward, but Karen would have considered it to be smart in her darkened state of mind. Five seconds before time expired, Noland walked into the arena looking as serious as usual. "You sure took your time getting here," Karen jokingly conceded since she assumed the others took care of business just like they always seem to do. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to make it. You do have a tendency to keep me waiting, so I can't say I'm that surprised at you, especially if you wanted to hurt me now more than you have in the past." Karen did not give Noland the courtesy of showing sportsmanlike conduct at the beginning of the match as every other match had before. This was the sign that things were about to get ugly.

When the referee called for the battle to begin, Karen gripped her newly-evolved Hydranoid. "You'd think Elico's death was actually a blessing once you see just how much stronger I am with Hydranoid than that fool Nero was," Karen announced with a wink. She then threw Hydranoid onto the battlefield as she shouted, "This title is mine! Bakugan brawl! Alpha Hydranoid stand!" Hydranoid landed on the field and performed a series of spins and swerves before standing, revealing his new form in its highly glorified stature. He now had three heads to work with instead of two, which heightened his threat level far above his previous levels. His armor became more metallic and streamlined than his previous evolution with durability coming close to that of Gorem's. His blasts are now said to be able to destroy all elements. "Let's bring an end to this, Drago!" Hydranoid suggested with all three of his heads speaking in different voices.

[Noland Hardy]

The arena was actually very happy to see Noland walk into the arena since this final brawl was supposed to be hyped up to the max; although, it probably wasn't for the reasons Noland was thinking of. Some of them were probably ignorant to the unfortunate episodes that occurred due to the Bakugan in control of Karen at the moment. His fans were exploding with excitement that he made it here, but Noland was dreading it. The championship meant nothing to him if he couldn't save Karen and possibly the entire world from the Dharaknoid's clutches. The negative energy he took from the others also gave him the evil mentality he needed to completely forgo his feelings so that it wouldn't distract him from the brawl. Everyone's eyes were on him to deliver, and he would do whatever it took to meet their expectations if it meant saving them. If he had to become the champion to do so, then it shall be done.

"Thought you could keep me away from this one, Dharak? I wouldn't miss crashing your party for the world," Noland asserted. He smirked when Karen made a comment about his timely arrival and what he did to her in the past like she didn't deserve some of those things, but he knew that was just the Dharaknoid talking. He was disgusted with the morbid comment about the late Mystic Elico though. "So you're just throwing my opinion out of the window then? That sucks for you. I wouldn't call that a blessing regardless if you were stronger or weaker than him. As far as I'm concerned, you can be the champion all you'd like, but if that does happen, it'll be a human being sitting at the top, not a Bakugan."

Noland was unfazed by Hydranoid's higher power level now that he evolved. He only paid attention to him to dissect every part of him that makes him stronger. The three heads and improved armor came to mind immediately. Other than the saw blades expanding and becoming more lethal, he noticed wings at his backside, which could hint at a possible capability of flight. "Drago...good luck, man. We might need it," Noland hesitantly wished. He threw Drago onto the field as soon as he prepared himself mentally for his toughest battle yet. "Let's show them how it's done! Bakugan brawl! Bane Dragonoid stand!" Drago stood as soon as he was facing upright in ball form. A large flame wall engulfed him when he took his stance. He dispersed it with his wings to let the opposition know that his eyes were on them. "You were less annoying when you only had one head," Drago mocked to his rival.

[Karen Valentine]

Karen eyed Drago up close for the first time since Judgment Day. From what she could see, the Dragonoid had appeared to be more powerful than the state he was in the past. The price for this battle possibly contributed to his increase in strength, but she didn't think any of that would make a substantial difference compared to how much power Hydranoid gained. Regardless of how anyone would feel about the addition of another head, three heads are better than two in Hydranoid's case, and it only makes it more of a threat when the three of them are not three separate entities that do not work together; in unison, they are a threat that is very difficult to oppose. "Yes, I was, wasn't I?" Hydranoid said in response to Drago's mockery. "Having three heads is a privilege that lowly war veterans like your species do not deserve."

Karen grinned since she was slightly amused by the differing voices each head contained. It was impressive to hear, but she would eventually have to agree with Drago about the annoyance of it all. In terms of Noland's comment towards her, she didn't care for it too much. "I probably would have cared about what you thought about the replacement if I asked for your input. Since you're so willing to speak out of turn," Karen said before revealing an ability card and swiping it across her BrawlX, "tell me your opinion of my Chaos Leap Sting!" A total of six hydra heads extended along a metallic grappling line from each wing. With a earthshaking roar, Hydranoid rapidly bombarded Drago with multiple missile-like projectiles with excellent precision.

[Noland Hardy]

"What huge credibility you have," Drago countered. Noland rolled his eyes when Karen responded to his criticism with a sarcastic remark. "It seems that Dharaknoid isn't doing such a good job at blocking out her personality," he thought to himself. Hydranoid started off with an ability that wasn't too easy to stop and had a solid chance of causing some damage. "En garde, Noland," Drago called out. Noland responded very quickly with an ability to counter. "You want my opinion of that ability of yours? Alright. Here's what I think of it." He then swiped the card on his BrawlX to get it into the battle before there were any chances of Hydranoid's ability causing any trouble. "You'll have to use something better than that to get me to worry. Ability activate! Rage Fire! Hit the ground, Drago!"

Drago engulfed his right hand in a searing flame. He punched the ground to summon a wall of fire around him to protect him from damage. This worked as a nice counter to Hydranoid's precision move since the blasts were disintegrated almost instantaneously upon coming into contact with his flame. Noland knew that he needed to declare another attack to pressure Hydranoid since being placed on the defensive was something he didn't want happening so early in the brawl, so he got another card ready as soon as he recognized that the threat posed by Chaos Leap Sting was null and void. "Ability activate! Infernal Bash!" Drago took the fire wall he created from Rage Fire and covered his entire body with it. He then flew full speed towards Hydranoid to ram him with high-grade firepower.

[Karen Valentine]

When Karen saw Drago counter her ability, she was disgruntled. That soon turned into happiness once Drago became brave enough to bring the action into close quarters. "Oh really? You mean like this?" Karen swiped an ability on her BrawlX the moment she saw Drago charge. "Ability activate! Destroy Vanish!" Hydranoid braced himself for a hard impact when Drago came within his reach. He took the attack head-on to get his opponent in the range he needed him to be in. He received considerable damage from the tackle, but he managed to hold the Dragonoid in place long enough for his hydra heads to emerge from his wings, wrap around the target's body, and restrict his movement. This maneuver erased any traces of hyper-lethal flame that was used in Noland's abilities, which gave Hydranoid a clear shot at what he was trying to accomplish.

"There's a high chance I'll be cutting in all the wrong places with this one," Hydranoid promised as he revved his giant saw blades. He began pulling the Dragonoid closer to him as the saws began reaching their maximum speed. "I'm sorry that you thought your old tricks were going to work against me," Karen told Noland while performing her signature wink. "You'll be lucky if you get a second chance after this one." Hydranoid's saws began grinding against Drago's body unmercifully. The process dropped his opponent's power level severely to the point where he wouldn't have much power left to contest his powerful attacks.

[Noland Hardy]

Hydranoid provided a frightening response to Drago's technique that really showed just how much trouble Noland could be in for this fight. When Drago was restrained, he didn't know what to expect until Hydranoid alluded to what he was planning to do. "With defensive skills like that, Hydranoid just became more of a brutal punisher than Gorem," Noland noticed. Without delay, he activated an ability to escape the deadly trap he somehow fell for. "Ability activate! Hyperstrike!" Drago was fighting through the pain like a true champion. Once this card activated, it gave him the strength to charge an unstable pulse on his horn. It flowed all the way to the tip before it shot into nine different directions with each individual shot aimed at one of Hydranoid's heads. Drago hit them dead-center in their mouths, which loosened the hydra's grip on him enough to make a retreat possible.

"That didn't feel pleasant...at all," Drago complained once he landed back on his side of the field. He was damaged from both the blades and from his own attack since he was within the blast radius of Hyperstrike's aftermath. Drago didn't want to let Hydranoid re-adjust after taking that blow, so he prepared for a quick attack. "We're just getting started, Drago! Get ready!" Noland ordered as he played another card. "Ability activate! Molten Surge!" Drago rebounded into the air, locked onto the stunned Hydranoid, and blasted him with a charged energy beam of fire with the intentions of melting him all the way to his core. "She's really a powerful force to be reckoned with even though I hate to admit this. If I mess up like that again, it might cost me and everyone else everything," Noland acknowledged in his head.

[Karen Valentine]

"You've got to be kidding me..." Karen was not entirely convinced that Noland was able to escape what was intended to be a one-and-done ability where an opponent's defeat was guaranteed. She was more worried about him surviving rather than Hydranoid being dealt a staggering blow that caused him to take a few steps back out of sheer pain. This distraction served as the perfect opportunity for Drago to shoot him, but Karen was determined not to let that happen. "You've gotten better. I'll give you that. Ability activate! Death Trident!" Hydranoid charged dark blasts in each of his mouths that became more formidable with a steady electric current contained in them. Hydranoid then shot them simultaneously towards Drago's attack so that they'll collide with each other, cancelling them apart with a bang.

"Want to know something even scarier than Hydranoid having three heads?" Karen asked in anticipation of her next ability. "He's no longer confined to the ground like his previous forms. Observe!" On her signal, Hydranoid lifted himself off the ground and took flight. He gradually approached the Dragonoid from the air as Karen enacted her game plan. "Ability activate! Auragano Crash!" Hydranoid unveiled his miniature heads once more, but this time, he amplified them with deadly power that increases their physical power by an enormous amount. This enhancement gave Hydranoid the ability to flail his heads everywhere to cause as much trouble as he could from a destructive standpoint. Each impact also causes a violent pressure wave to be emitted that sends opponents a painful reminder of how heavy his attacks truly are.

[Noland Hardy]

Noland was disappointed that Karen was able to respond so quickly after Drago stunned Hydranoid through that maneuver. He thought it would at least leave the hydra open to some form of damage, but it turns out that the Darkus Bakugan may have been underestimated a little. The aftermath of the clash produced a forceful wave that nearly sent Noland off of his feet. He kept his feet flat on the ground as his determination instilled in him the attitude to not move from that spot until this threat was neutralized. Hydranoid revealing that he had the ability to fly now almost caused him to flip out though. "No one said this was going to be easy..." Drago reminded himself. He kept his guard up in anticipation of what Hydranoid was going to do next.

He used an ability that brought out his underlings again, but it was used in a rash manner as opposed to the immobilization method utilized with Destroy Vanish. "That's definitely not the scariest thing I've ever seen," Noland responded with a slight smirk on his face. "Ability activate! Novia Driver!" Drago assumed a jet-like formation upon activation and surrounded his entire body with a rainbow-colored aura just like before. With his horn acting as the focal point of the ability, he raced towards the airborne Hydranoid. All of the tentacles that tried to deter him from reaching his target were repelled instantly as if they never tried to stop him in the first place. "You can talk about your new power all you'd like to, but words never moved battles; actions are the only thing that matters, and the only thing that needs to be said on my behalf are the attacks I use to send you back to where you came." Drago crashed into Hydranoid head-on, causing a rocking explosion in the sky. "Get destroyed."

[Karen Valentine]

When Noland and Drago pierced through her attack and struck Hydranoid with one of their more powerful offensives, the Dharaknoid in control was understandably unhappy with how the battle was going. It didn't want to intervene just yet since it was too early in the battle to do so, but its concerns were justified; yet, there was a slight encouragement of curiosity of how the fight would turn out that made watching more preferable for now. Karen's emotions were starting to heat up as a result of Noland's constant checks, so her voice was turning slightly towards the dark side. In more specific terms, the Dharaknoid's voice was beginning to influence her vocals. "Naive little boy...just like your father," Karen muttered before activating an ability. "Ability activate! Lash and Blast Extreme!"

The result of Drago's Novia Driver attack caused a lot of damage to Hydranoid's body, but pain was hardly enough to stop Hydranoid from ruining someone's momentum. When he plummeted to the ground, he deployed his heads once more to bite into Drago's skin, which pulled Drago down to the ground along with him. After they both crashed, Hydranoid slowly returned to his feet while having Drago bound. Venom was being transferred into Drago's body via the bites he suffered that'll impair his senses. While he was being held down and tortured by the toxin, Hydranoid charged a massive blast with his central head and launched it down range to give his opponent zero chances of dodging the attack.

[Noland Hardy]

"What did you just say to me!?" Noland snapped thanks to his increased aptitude for anger issues due to all of the negative energy in his body. "You have a lot of nerve hiding behind an innocent girl like a bitch after what you've done to him, Alana, Tank, Seiki, and everyone else. Don't think just because you're in someone else's body that you aren't going to get hit!" Drago was then caught off guard by Hydranoid's tentacles. He hit the ground hard just as his rival did, but he bellowed with pain as the poison started getting pumped into his system. "Fuck you," Noland cursed as he activated an ability. "Ability activate! Novia Blade!" Drago was currently prevented from making any voluntary movement of his muscles due to how Hydranoid's venom was affecting him, so he had to settle for the next best thing: an ability that doesn't necessarily require him to move.

The tip of his horn transformed into a shape-shifting energy blade that formed within a second. When Hydranoid launched his projectile, Drago altered the blade's shape into multiple blades that cut straight down Hydranoid's tentacles, slicing them completely off of Hydranoid's body and releasing him from his deadly clutches in time to avoid being defeated by the burst with the attack only coming within a centimeter of his head when he rolled to his side. "Come on, Drago! We've got a job to do! Ability activate! Phoenix Tornado!" Drago's body was covered in a giant phoenix that restored his health and gave him his muscle movement back. He then soared into the air to prepare for his next move. "Keep your head in the game, Noland! Don't let this idiot psyche you out," Drago reminded him.

[Karen Valentine]

"That escalated quickly," Karen noted out loud. Hydranoid screeched when his tentacles were severed from his body. Luckily, it was only a temporary misfortune since they were regenerated in five seconds. "It's to my understanding that if you threaten me with such purpose, then you've found a workaround to this spell I have going on here to where you won't bring harm to your precious girlfriend? You previously told her that you were unable to follow through with what she asked you to do because of my presence. I exist in large quantities in your body only because you acknowledged your inability to fight me using your own cognition. Wouldn't that make you the one that's hiding like a bitch?"

Karen and Hydranoid looked up to see Drago preparing some form of attack with the aid of his phoenix avatar. Based on past struggles, it was never a wise idea to allow them to follow through with their strategy. "We can't have you doing that, now can we?" Karen gestured as she swiped a card on her BrawlX. "Ability activate! Blinding Spice!" This ability card was a much-needed upgrade to Auragano Revenge. This surrounded the opponent in the same purple aura as before, albeit darker this time. In addition to transferring power away from the target, it also dangerously impacted their visual perception of their surroundings.

"Hold still while I cut you down to size!" Hydranoid commanded to the Dragonoid. "Alpha Buster!" Hydranoid's body became engulfed in a blazing, purple aura. This effectively tripled his threat level on the battlefield instantly. His physical power has been beefed up as well as offering improvements to his blasts; however, the alteration of his blasts didn't concern him too much right now since his physical power was the one that he needed the most right now. He used his strong legs to leap high into the air. He prepared to imprint his fist into the Dragonoid's heart as he neared the majestic creature protecting his foe.

[Noland Hardy]

Noland snickered sarcastically at the Dharaknoid's assessment of his motives just because of the measures he took prior to the fight. "You want brownie points for coming up with that?" he asked out of pure disrespect for the creature. "Admitting that I'm an imperfection doesn't constitute to hiding nor does it show what I stand for as a brawler and a sensible human being in times like these. I've already faced challenges like these with her, Allen, and even my younger brother, so don't you dare tell me I can't counter you with my own mindset. If I couldn't fight with my own power as you claim, then there would be zero reasons for absorbing your nasty ass energy if you were already capable of taking it away just like you did to Montai." He then took out an ability to prepare for the incoming onslaught from Hydranoid.

"You did succeed in making me more easily agitated. That's the ONLY thing you will ever accomplish when dealing with me." He swiped the card on his BrawlX with an extreme amount of confidence in his overall mental stability despite not having control of his temper. "Ability activate! Blaze Torpedo!" The phoenix compressed its form into a malleable ball so that it would fit into the palms of Drago's hands. He then added more of his energy into the attack to enhance its attack power, which also increased the size of the sphere and added more explosive power to it.

He pulled his arms back briefly to position himself properly before launch. Before he shot, the blast emitted a wave around him that nullified the blinding effects of Hydranoid's ability, giving him a clear view of the monstrosity that was threatening to knock him down. "Coming at you hot!" Drago warned. He then released the projectile towards Hydranoid. The phoenix avatar transitioned into a spirally tornado mid-flight. The resulting hit on Hydranoid brought a catastrophic explosion that obscured their view of the battlefield, making it difficult to determine whether the blow was substantial or not. Drago landed back on the ground to await his next move.

[Karen Valentine]

Hydranoid was blown back to the surface rather abruptly by Drago's surprising counterattack. This irritated Karen a lot since Noland was putting up more of a fight than he should have been able to due to the gap in power between her Alpha Hydranoid and his Bane Dragonoid. "So your logic is from the standpoint that if you did it once, you can do it again? How are you so sure that your past experiences will be the same for what's in front of you? You are smart enough to know that every battle doesn't quite play out the same way. Do you really think this'll be as easy as one, two, three?" Karen unveiled two cards from her pocket to play once Hydranoid returned to his feet. This time, one of them had a fusion ability in the fray.

"Is it possible that you're depicting a stronger image of your mind than what I already see in you?" Karen wondered. She then swiped the two cards across the BrawlX. "You know just as well as I do that the weight of losing someone as important to you as this girl will ruin you, and that's not even accounting for the fact that if you followed through with what she said, her life would be in your hands. Would someone like you fight for someone they must kill, and trivialize it as just another battle against a loved one? Interesting. Very interesting indeed. Double ability activate! Indigo Nightmare, plus fusion ability, Final Demolition!" Hydranoid charged three individual blasts in his mouths that had a spiral pattern on their exterior. Once Hydranoid developed them in their entirety, he prepared to launch the blasts as giant laser beams that were designed to blow apart anything that it touches.

The fusion ability had a more noticeable impact on the technique's aftermath since it was a step-up from his previous fusion abilities, Destruction Buster and Destruction Impact. The fusion expanded their mass to make the attack even stronger than before with an added electrical function to it. Once everything was ready, Hydranoid unleashed all three of his laser blasts towards Drago to annihilate him in one blast.

[Noland Hardy]

"If what you're yapping about now is anything remotely close to what you think you see in him, you have a long way to go before you'll finally get it right," Drago asserted as Noland pulled two cards to use against Hydranoid's incoming death lasers. "How I feel or will feel about her is irrelevant if she's being used against her will to become a threat to the world. I'm here to stop that threat in its tracks by any means necessary, and at the end of the day, that's all that matters. It's never easy to overcome, and it's never trivial unless it were being used for your point of view considering that you only viewed those you've corrupted as vessels that you've replaced countless times." He then swiped the two cards to get the ball rolling. "Let's do some damage, Drago! Ability activate! Diffuse Buster!"

Drago unleashed a giant fire ball from his mouth that he later split into pieces utilizing the energy emitted from his horn. These were meteor-grade fireballs that were used to obliterate the opposition in a timely manner, but this was only the beginning. Just like old times, Noland fired up his special power and turned Drago into a rainbow-colored beast. In unison, they both said together, "Eternal Gazer!" This brought his Diffuse Buster's power level over his boundaries. This also gave Drago the ability to enlarge each individual meteor and bring them together to cause a super-combine explosion at the center of the arena where his attack met with Hydranoid's. They intensified for a brief moment before an energy surge blew in both directions, knocking both Drago and Hydranoid back into ball form.

Noland and Karen were also struck by this force and were sent backwards along with partners. Their life gauges each took a toll with Noland's life gauge sitting at 30% while Karen had the advantage with 50% left. "How in the world did that just..." Noland muttered to himself while trying to regain his composure after suffering a blast like that; however, when he looked up, there was a noticeable pause in his speech. This was because of what he saw taking place across the field. Karen's entire body had some form of energy dissolving from her that made him quite pissed off at who was left as a result of it.