Episode 11: At Least You Tried

[Noland Hardy]

Noland took Lydia's words to heart ever since she played a huge role in saving everyone's lives from the assimilation effect. From the moment him and Alana were on semi speaking terms since she awoke from the hospital, he tried to look at Alana and Allen in the same light Lydia viewed Alex. This tactic was easier to apply to Allen with all things considered. He knew Allen was only in it to free them both from this chaos and not to conspire against him like Damian seems to be believe. Alana's case was different, VERY different. There was no need to repeat the circumstances behind the difficulty in looking past that fault. Alex didn't take anything away from Lydia that she'll never be able to get back; Alana did, so where was the compromise? Drago warned him not to force it since a relationship built on a lie is nothing. Slowly, but surely, Noland eventually got to the point where Alana's presence was tolerable for him. It was enough to say that their interactions mirrored the way they behaved when they first met - not knowing anything about each other, but making an attempt to know more.

Content with how things were going and relieved that he no longer had to stress himself out over making sure they didn't kill each other, Allen resumed his daily training regiment with Gorem at his side. His motivation to overtake his rival, Noland, grew even stronger after being introduced to what Damian and Jamal had to offer. It was fortunate that Alana went to the same school as he did so he could use her as a training partner. In between rounds, Gorem wondered what happened to Noland and Drago that completely turned them around since Alana and Hydranoid were more powerful than they were before. Not knowing anything about who Noland and Tank contacted due to them being held at arms length about the information they know that they shouldn't, Allen didn't know nor did he think it was necessary that they know. As long as he could have battles like this and be able to talk to one another with smiles on their faces for the first time in months, that's all they needed because life was too short for them to bicker over this for the remainder of their lives.

Kendrick seemed to notice this change in Noland as well along with their grandmother. What they also noticed was his sense of carefulness whenever he moved from place to place. He was also more watchful of what went on around the house. Noland was confronted about this by her. Drago unveiled all of the love letters he had been sent in a nearby trash bag. She asked if it was from Alana figuring that they were getting back to that point. Kendrick butted in by asking if she really thought Alana was that crazy. Embarrassed by their realization that someone was stalking him thanks to Drago exposing it, Noland conceded that one of the Spartans was deeply infatuated with him. Ignorant to how serious it was, Kendrick asked if she was cute, making Grandma hammer his head with her fists in a comedic fashion. She knew Noland was smart enough to tell her no and to get the right people involved to stop her if she continued, so he was instructed to do so immediately.

Even he wasn't sure how he was going to do this. Unfortunately, that uncertainty would cause him to do something stupid when he was training Kendrick at the community center with Allen and Alana tagging along to reminisce on old memories and help when needed. Just when Alana was starting to think she was in the prime position to flirt with him a little, Yita approached him after he discovered her hiding behind a nearby tree to watch him. Before she had the chance to make physical contact with him, Noland stopped her mid-animation to finally give in to her advances and asked her out on a date, greatly shocking Allen and Alana - especially her given what she tried to do. Yita took this moment to greatly tease Alana about ever having the thought Noland was going back to her and accepted his proposal without question. Noland warned her that she'll have to be nicer to Alana and stop stalking him if he goes through with this. Not wanting to screw up her chances with Noland, Yita accepted the terms and walked away from them more giddy than she had ever been. Heartbroken again, Alana rejected all attempts at comforting her from Allen - violently pushing him away in the process - and walked away. Not wanting to believe that Noland just did that, Allen theorized that Noland wasn't taking the date seriously, which was proven correct by the latter announcing his intent to make her quit. 

On the weekend the date was supposed to happen, Noland asked if Allen could somehow coerce Alana into helping him be on standby in case something similar to the Hurranian attack against Markus happened or if he is unable to defeat Yita in battle. Allen agreed. He was able to get Alana to understand that Noland wasn't abandoning her and that he asked for her to see him defend her being. Threatening that she was going to denounce Allen if he was lying, Alana accepted. They tailed Noland to the meetup: a restaurant where the seating was placed up close to a battle arena hosting a tournament. The "couple" sat down while Allen and Alana grabbed seats on the other side and refused to participate in the tournament to prevent them from being detected. Before Noland would have the chance to teach her a lesson legally due to the unlikable police cracking down on them, they talked.

[Yita Aileen Nyx]

Ecstatic, nervous, and slightly giddy.

These had to be the three words that described Yita’s current emotions in a very small nutshell. The haos Spartan had her arms crossed, Neri in her household feline form being hugged like a plush. She could be easily mistaken for one if she didn’t move so much as in the blinking, tail waving, and ear twitching. Oh, now the quiet talking. “Yita… Now would be a good time to properly introduce yourself…” The feline mumbles with a slow blank blink.

“Yeah,” Yita coughs slightly to clear her throat before beginning. “I don’t believe we’ve properly introduced ourselves. I’m Yita Aileen Nyx. 14 years of age, a haos brawler with the position of a Spartan who has the guardian bakugan of Teku Neri.” She says, hugging Neri a little tighter which made the cat huff in annoyance softly.

Neri loves her love-crazed partner dearly in a partnership way, but hugs were just something that she could miss out on. “I’m pretty sure he already knows that…” Neri mumbles once again, partially due to the hugging issue that ruffled her fur the wrong way, earning her a small flick to the ear from her partner. A signal for her to just stay quiet for the time being.

Yita stares at her bakugan for a few seconds before looking at Noland, her expression changing from annoyed to joy as she did so, “You?”

[Noland Hardy]

"I don't believe we've properly introduced ourselves, huh? Don't even get me started..."

From the moment he walked her in, Noland had to constantly tell himself that he was only doing this to give Yita the first warning when it comes to stalking him. He didn't want to ever have the thought of wanting to take this seriously. He had to make the date believable to Yita though since she didn't do anything to him personally that would make him want to be cruel enough to just cause disruption out of something that's supposed to be "romantic." It was hard enough to cope with this fact without one person they passed by clapping for him that he had finally moved on from Alana. The temptation to turn around and maim the individual was too great. He didn't make an attempt to do so based on his movements; in his mind, he did.

They were sat in a booth inches away from the battle arena. They were very close to the action, close enough to feel the force of the blows the Bakugan were dishing out. The surrounding customers became aware that the national champion was in the building and were eagerly awaiting his presence on the battlefield. Luckily for them, the restaurant never charged theme extra for getting a close-up view of who they think is their pride and joy in the brawling scene.

Yita introduced herself shortly after sitting down, and he was called to do the same. "It's nice to meet you, Yita," he lied, then started introducing himself in an identical manner to Yita's, not wanting to sound impolite if he doesn't provide matching information. "I'm Noland Hardy, or the 'Master Blaze' as some keep calling me. I'm a fifteen-year-old national champion and Pyrus Resistor that everyone seems to think is a hero."

Drago jumped out of Noland's pocket to land on the table before Noland introduced him. "This is my partner, Drago. He used to belong to my dad before things got dicey, but now, I look after him. Rather, we look after each other."

Drago turned his head out in the distance as if he were looking at an audience. "Let's get one thing straight here," Drago silently said. "This never happened. You will not talk about this with anyone, not even yourself. You can't have any thoughts about this either. If you ship this, I'm coming for you."

"What's it like being a guardian of your queen at that age anyway?" he curiously asked.

[Yita Aileen Nyx]

Yita sat there, listening to every word- no, every syllable Noland said, soaking it all in like it was the best thing in the world to listen to and blocking out anything else that was happening- unless if ment harm towards Noland. And the only thing that would be some kind of harm at the moment was some bakugan being brutally kicked out of the field and hitting him in his beautiful face or something. “Huehuehue, it’s all true then. The internet didn’t lie.” She mentally says to herself with a smile that would make one stop to think if she were sane or not. Of course, she did this mentally as well.

“Because you introduced Drago, I guess I should introduce Neri then,” Yita hums as she places the said bakugan on the table. Neri happily squirmed out of the girl’s grasp and sits on the table, much like a regular house cat would. “This is Neri. Haos Teku Neri to be precise! She appeared when my little brother died a while back. His death doesn't bug me as much anymore, so don't worry.” She pats her feline friend’s head a few times before withdrawing her hands to her side.

“Now look what you did Drago!” Neri hisses, blue eyes narrowing at the Draginoid, her ears flat against her head with her tail flicking from side to side in an aggravated manner. “You broke the forth wall! Now we’ve got to fix it!” She waves one of her arms in the direction that he looked at, her face looking grumpy, a grumpy cat.

“Let’s see, the queen?” Yita asks out loud as she gazes off into the distance, taking one of her hands and tapping her finger on her lips. “It’s okay… Has its perk, that’s for sure.” She says in reply, the last bit of what she said done in a very subtle sly tone, soft but still there. “And how is it being the Master Blaze, a pyrus hero for many?”

[Noland Hardy]

At first, Noland wasn't sure what to respond with when asked how it felt to be who he was. The negative things came to mind instantly. The circumstances surrounding the deaths of John, Seiki's "family," and Karen pounded in his head like a migraine that medicinal thoughts of their victory in the end couldn't hope to fix. One might surely make the argument that they were all stronger people for it, but if either of them were handed the opportunity to have that happen any other way that didn't involve global genocide, it would be difficult to find a reason to say no.

But what could he say? There was nothing he could do to hide it, and the elevated emotions from Brawlergate couldn't stop him from being negative about his renowned popularity. Maybe he could come up with a reason to be positive about the situation if Yita won't know that he's lying considering why he's here with her in the first place.

"It's more or less along the same lines as your experience with your queen," Noland started off, intending to explain himself a little more. Out of nowhere, a Subterra Hynoid was violently slammed against the arena walls by an Anchorsaur and Hammersaur duo, possibly due to an ability of some sort. One of the intoxicated females that were hanging out at the bar drunkenly announced that she wanted to see Noland and Drago bash someone's head in so they can really get their money's worth. A male chimed in to warn them not to make a woman his opponent since he might use his frustration as a weapon against that person. "Don't let the alcohol fool you. Whether she's intoxicated or not, she means what she says. They all do."

Noland was apparently disgruntled that implications were being made there of all places. At least it served as a perfect segue into what he was about to say. "They were all over me when we ended Barodius's life. It even got to the point where people wanted to be like me, but not anymore. What happened at nationals became society's next target of blame for their own incompetence. The people that protected them - mostly being us, the Resistors - are now being thought of as bad influences that encourage deviant behavior out in the streets as if our activity contributes to the crime rate. That's what Brawlergate is: a miserable excuse to escape their own sad reality that their inability to protect what and who they love is their problem."

"Ahem..." Drago signaled very discreetly.

"Right. I'm rambling. Sorry. It gets frustrating having that stigma everywhere I go. Sometimes you just gotta vent to someone you really care about for comfort huh? ..."

A silhouette of Noland hanging his head down appeared next to him right after he said that. "I need to be killed right now..."

[Yita Aileen Nyx]

A dark glare was shot at the arena by Yita who was muttering things in her head that may have sounded like some kind of dark magic chant to summon a demon. Something within the lines of “if that fool of a bakugan rams itself into my Noland’s beautiful face, all those buffoons there will perish by my hands…” She then shifts her gaze back to the one she admires the most, listening to everything he had to say and nodding every once in a while to indicate that she was listening.

What he last said certainly didn’t go unnoticed by Yita’s acute hearing, and it made her super-duper possessive over him happy to the point where she wanted to hop out of her seat and do a few twirls and attempt at a backflip. “Hey, we’ve all gotta vent at one point or another.” Yita giggles as she lightly swings her legs back and forth but not too much to move anything, covering over her grin with her hand which was covered by her overly-long hoodie sleeves. “I’ll always have your back if you need to vent.” Then for a split second, the place went dark and her seemingly innocent looking grin was warped into a rather wicked one. “Always, Noland dear. All you've gotta do is call.” The scene left as fast as it came and Neri who was staring dumbfoundedly at her brawler moments ago just lets out a sigh, a sweat drop rolling down the back of her head to add onto the comedic effect.

"So... Wana get something to eat from the restaurant? I'll pay." Yita says as she holds up a few slips of paper that was money- From her place, that is.

Neri huffs before hopping onto the lap of her brawler and paws the hand that was holding the money. "Wrong currency." The feline mumbles as she gives Yita some earth money that was local to this area from one of the pockets that Yita didn't use too often, then hops back up onto the table.

[Noland Hardy]

Noland briefly shook his head with a smile at Yita's offering. "You don't have to worry about the bill. I have you covered. That's usually what the men are supposed to do anyway," he responded.

He glanced around him to see if there was a waiter/waitress coming over to service them, but none have shown up for some reason, which was an abnormality for an organized function such as this. The select few who got out-of-hand at the bar may be a contributing factor for the extended time it took for someone to get there, or it could be that the traffic they're getting may be too much for them to handle with who they have on deck right now. Him, Allen, and Alana could have been reasons all by themselves, possibly giving the establishment a hard time to decide on how they should gift them. That was an entitled thought of his, but it wouldn't be the first time it happened if it were true; there was always the chance it could happen again.

"I wonder if it's too soon to address the stalking..." Noland thought. He was unsure of how to proceed with this. The uncertainty didn't come from any hesitation he might have in inevitably talking about it, but Yita caught him by surprise with how she turned out, something that he'd be better off keeping to himself in case anyone else got any ideas, especially Alana who he didn't want to upset anymore past this mark. "No. I have to talk about it regardless of when I crash this date, but I'm not sure what to think about her. She seems so nice right now, but what happened with Alana and Tracy gives me an uncomfortable feeling. What is she up to...?"

What seemed a considerable amount of time for Noland to come up with what he was about to say was really only five seconds. Without even addressing the fact that the service was lagging behind what it usually was, casually noticing Allen and Alana being serviced out of the corner of his eye, he was about to ask the question.

"I'll be honest, Yita. Part of the reason why I asked you out was because I want to know more about you," he conveyed. "You know a lot about me, maybe even more than I'm aware of at the moment. What makes you interested in me?"

"Better yet," Drago added, "when did you first learn about him? You acted as if you were already very close to him back at the complex, and you're from another planet."

[Yita Aileen Nyx]

Yita softly hums in delight as Noland offered to pay the bill for whatever they were getting at this here restaurant alongside a mental thought where she was hugging herself and doing dreamy sigh saying, “Ah, he’s such a gentleman~” Don't forget the sparkles that where floating around the scene. Once again Neri sweatdropped, knowing very well what her partner was daydreaming about.

Her blue gaze watches the pyrus resistor’s every move, even the smallest ones, and everything in between. She places her shoulder on the table and props her head on top of her hand to mainly get a better view of his face. Her gaze remains on him, almost like a predator watching closely on it's prey. “He’s thinking about something.” She mumbles to herself as she blinks a few times. The way that his bright orange eyes went dull for a moment and his eyelids drooping down slightly, how eyebrows were scrunched up just a tiny bit, were just a few notable signs telling the girl that. And five seconds was more than enough for her to observe, absorb, and then make these kind of assumptions- all for her dearest Noland of course.

Using her free hand, her index finger her taps on the pyrus bakugan a few times to do some kind of petting-like motion. "Now now Drago, getting a little pushy there are we?" Yita says with a small hum, underlined with a very subtle dark undertone which Neri was able to pick up with ease, ears perking up when she heard it. "But to make this tie together nicely, I'll knock out your questions first. Buckle up, my response is a bit of a handful." Yita straightens herself back up and clears her throat before beginning her small back story.

"A few years back I went to visit earth, a treat from my dad for being such a good daughter unlike my older sister who lazes around all day, good for nothing dead beat I must say." She starts off, holding back the exact numbers which was the time she first went to earth and caught sight of her beloved, right down to the nano second. "During my rather short stay there, I caught sight of some vivid red colored hair, rather hard to miss if you ask me. You can kinda guess to whom I'm referring to." She does a motions towards Noland, "as cliché as it sounds, it was love at first sight, and you sparked my interest. Not too long ago, you started to appear in the mainstream parts of the internet, and I knew it was you. Also, quite a bit of information about you is floating around there as well. I know through a bit of research, nothing extensive though." Oh geez, how many truths cut short and lies had she said there? The constant warning of her lazy boy-like sister got to her, and she had decided against revealing her undying loyalty to the pyrus resistor called 'stalking'. So all she said was the gist with a few teaks to make herself sound a little less 'creepier' in Niko's terms.

"Now for your question Noland." She says, shifting her electric blue gaze towards the said male. As she began to answer his question, she mentally adds on a few things to boost her confidence without revealing her 'creepy' side.
"I have plenty of reasons why I adore you,"
"62 reasons precisely as of now."
"But the main thing is your outlook on the world"
"which I calculated with all the recent information I gathered within the past few months while prowling the internet."
"How you work so well both with or without assistance, and a few other things which I honestly could go all day about. But..." She props her shin on her hand once again, her hand covering half of her lips, the small smirk. "Enough about me, what about you? What do you think of me?" She looks at Noland with innocent-like eyes that glimmer slightly, but her partner knew better than that like always.

[Noland Hardy]

Noland actually cracked a smile when Yita was explaining herself. It was the first time he smiled in a while, something Drago was quick to notice when looking at him. He seemed calm, absent of tense in his muscles and void of anger. He didn't know whether Noland's response to Yita was genuine or not, but he was assuming it wasn't for the sake of them being there together. He'd like to imagine it as an uncomfortable smile that's only reserved for someone so creepy that an unnatural reaction to a stalker's tale - like a smile - would suddenly become natural.

That was neither here nor there for him. What was bothering him a lot was the petting, a gesture that he doesn't tolerate. He wasn't a pet; he was a Dragonoid that has pushed his body through dozens of battles to be left standing where he is now. He felt insulted, devalued, and, most of all, angry. "Well, what I think," Drago growled out of turn, "is that you're the type of person to sneak up behind him and take his ---"

He was smothered by Noland's right hand before he could finish that statement. He was a bit disappointed that his temper escalated to that point considering that Yita could guess what Drago was about to say given that he only needed one word at minimum to finish the statement.

"Dragons don't really like to be touched," Noland embarrassingly said to cover up for his partner's anger who forced Noland to release him by lighting himself on fire, making Noland withdraw his hold and clench his palm because of the minor burn. "Let's see. What do I think of you?"

"To put it bluntly, you're a stalker that may very well be a danger to little boys everywhere with the way you creep around and kiss people on the lips out of nowhere."

"What I noticed instantly was that you weren't lying about being in love with me. You understand me a lot better than most people who already know me, even Alana and Tracy. That won me over a bit."

"Does Seiki think I'm a delinquent based on what I do?"

"I get the vibe that you and Neri have such a cute personality that honestly makes you kinda silly. I like that about you. It's nice to see such a bright face during the times I'm sure you hated living through, even up until this point with the Hurranian junk your planet has to deal with."

"That was...until you all brought them over here."

"As an added bonus," he started while cutting his eyes, "you're very caring to stick up for me by any means possible even without being asked. It's heartwarming to know you care about me that much."

[Yita Aileen Nyx]

Neri slowly blinks, her blue gaze keeping a close eye on Noland’s expression as her partner was talking on and on about her ‘fated encounter’. Yita was too busy to look through the mask that Noland had on, but if she didn’t catch it then Neri did. After looking through so many pictures of the pyrus resistor while organizing Yita’s files, the feline had a general grasp on how his true smile looked like, this one was far from it.

When it came around to Drago’s term to talk who was cut off by the hand of Hardy, Yita’s eye lit up, what he said perking her interest“…His what?” Yita says, seemingly innocent. Her mind was already running all the possible things that Drago might have finished that sentence off with, majority of the entries more suitable for an older and more mature audience. Placing a sleeved hand over her mouth with a slight giggle slipping out while Noland interacted with his bakugan, a small burst of fire and the hand withdraws.

As Noland went on with his small speech on why he liked Yita so much, the girl clutches her two hands together underneath the table, internally squealing with happiness. And she soaked in every reason, then committed it to memory for who know how many more years to come.

Neri on the other hand- or paw, was a little skeptical. After making small notes on Noland’s facial expression, the haos bakugan had a hunch that Noland was simply putting up with Yita for information… Or something within the lines of that, connections are good to have in a world like this. Maybe she should mention soothing about Noland’s façade. In the end the cat had no intention of telling her partner about her possible findings, Niko did warn his (or was it a her?) sister many times and Yita had to get what she deserved at some point. Perhaps this was step one to that.

“Yaha! I knew I hit the right points!~” Neri was taken from the spot she was sitting and was tossed up into the air by her partner. Ears flat against her fur, Neri wasn’t enjoying this treatment all too much. Yita hugs Neri once again before the feline squirmed out of the girl’s almost heart-stopping arms. Even covered with soft fabric from her hoodie, the hug still hurts. A small mutter of 'don't crush me.' Was said by Neri as she sits herself back on the table, grooming her fur. "I'm so glad you see me that way," Yita hums with a genuine smile.

[Alana Cortese]

"This is very sickening..."

Alana was torturing herself by watching this entire "date" scenario ever since her and Allen got there. She was aware that not paying Allen any attention was rude, but she couldn't divert her attention away from Noland and Yita until everything that Allen told her was confirmed to be true. She wasn't entirely convinced yet, and, judging by how Noland was interacting with her, Allen wasn't doing a very good job at keeping her sane.

"It's amazing how you humans put so much focus into looking at things you obviously don't want to see," Hydranoid blurted out. He was watching too, but certainly wasn't as affected by the proceedings as Alana was. "Why do you like him so much anyway? And what about Allen being put on the bench? You haven't spoken to this man since we got here."

Hydranoid's comments didn't seem to reach Alana. She wasn't shaken by anything he said, not even the obvious disparity in attention Noland and Allen were receiving individually. "That's not very nice...even for my standards." He hopped across the table to get closer to Allen and Gorem who were also in observance. "You're not saying anything either, are you? Have you learned nothing from being the third wheel in all of this? This is your chance."

"Are you done talking yet?"

"You've already seen my lines before we got here. Besides, they don't end for just as much time as you spend being jealous."

That comment basically ended all contact between her and Hydranoid until the night ended or if they were threatened. She didn't expect Hydranoid to understand her emotions at all, so there was no use paying him any mind more than she already did.

She would at least be at ease to hear the announcer call forth Noland and Yita to the arena so they could have their battle. At long last, she would finally figure out whose side Noland was on.

[Noland Hardy]

"It's about time they called for it. I wasn't sure if there was anything else I could come up with to say to her."

A waitress walked up to their table immediately after the announcement was made. Noland wanted to say something along the lines of what he was thinking about the battle declaration, but he chose to keep it formal, especially since he didn't want Yita to think he was disrespectful on the norm, or so he wanted her to believe.

After she handed out the menus, she whispered in Noland's ear to reveal why she was so late coming there. The manager of the restaurant along with the bartenders placed a bet with some of the co-workers that Noland was going to beat Yita in battle. If he succeeded in winning them the bet, their meal was going to be free. If he lost, he'd have to endure the humiliation of losing and have to pay $20 above the asking prices to cover for their losses. If he declined to battle, neither the advantage or disadvantage would be possible. She also told him not to react or tell Yita about what he just heard since they do not want her behavior in the brawl to be influenced by the idea of eating a free meal.

Yita and Neri was very curious about what Noland was told. The waitress went to her side and whispered that Alana was present and that she would be forced to watch her dance with Noland in the center of the battlefield, which would all be recorded and broadcasted all over the internet so people could see them together. She gleefully leaped for joy upon hearing the terms. They ordered their food and was about to prepare for battle. When the waitress took the menus away, she walked away, but revealed her id behind Yita's back to show who she was: Montai disguised as an actual waitress that works there. She mouthed the words, "You better not lose," as she walked away. Unfazed at the pressure placed on him, Noland got in the mindset of playing for keeps.

When Noland and Yita both faced each other from the opposite sides of the arena, the announcer made it possible for either of them to use gate cards casually or make it strictly competitive. "This one's on you, Yita. You can choose if you want to use them or not. I'm okay with either option."

(Battle Theme)

[Yita Aileen Nyx]

"A battle hm?" She hums, tapping her clother index finger over her lips. Hopefully this would take him mind off that human female that was talking to him in secret just now. Such a shame that Neri wasn't able to pick up what they said. "Sounds good to me!" Then she mentally notes to herself to take pictures with the camera she constantly has on hand. The purpose of it for right now, to snap as many pictures as possible of Noland and placing it in her ever growing scrapbook saying that this was her first battle against him.

This truly is a moment to remember, and Yita's going to cherish every bit of it, right down to even the smallest of movements. (Especially those made by her beloved.)

Yita's little haos kitten steps out from behind her partner and looks at her, "We should go with the gatecard option. To test out that new one." Neri whispers before sauntering towards the identified zone for brawling. "Finally. Hopefully you'll be a worthy opponent for me Drago." Neri says as she steps onto the battlefield. Squares similar to pixels cover the feline as she crosses the line and having them disperse a few seconds later, revealing her larger monster form. "Unlike that Haos bakugan and 3 headed nuisance on your side, hopefully you'll put up a decent fight."

The girl did a small twirl with a giggle, "aw, Noland's such a gentleman isn't he?" She says to no one in particular, possibly to her bakugan though. "We'll go with the gatecards." With that said, Yita pulls out a card with an intricate circuit pattern from what looks like her sleeves and throws it out onto the field. "Since I've got a gate card out, I'll thrown on an ability as well. Ability Activate, Digital Daggers!"

Neri does a simple backflip as her tail writes a code quickly in the air. The she had written activated once she had landed back onto her four paws which caused roughly around 13 daggers to digitize into existence. Then with a flick of her tail the dagger were sent towards the dragon. "Don't be so surprised if he find away around it." The cat mutters to herself as her blue eyes watch the blades shoot themselves towards the target. "He is the dragonoid after all..."

[Noland Hardy]

Noland rolled his eyes over the underestimation of Alana and Tracy just because she managed to restore herself a few times. It was a little bit concerning to know that Yita has that capability. If Drago's hits do not matter, then Noland could be in trouble. There had to be a weakness in it though; there always was a weakness with every tactic. They've seen it with Belphenoid, which could mean they can see it with Neri as well.

"Stay sharp, Drago. We can't afford any surprises," Noland warned.

"You too." Drago twisted his neck a bit as Neri was preparing her attack. The result he saw did not really bring the reaction he expected to have. "That's way below Hydranoid's standards so far. Noland?"

"I got you. Ability activate! Rage Flash!" Drago coated his wings in red electricity. The force of a single swipe from that part of his body was enhanced to the point that a destructive wave of force would be produced from a flap from them. He used this capability to send a powerful wave of red energy down range, blowing back the daggers with relative ease and potentially scoring a blow on Neri early in the battle.

[Yita Aileen Nyx]

The impact of the dragon's attack caused big dust clouds to appear, causing Yita to supposedly be surprised and worried. In reality, she was far from that. After studying every battle Noland did, she had a feeling that something like this would happen. Although, she was expecting it to be a tad bit stronger. "Oh Neri!" Yita gasps in a dramatic manner as she places a hand to her forehead to add onto the dramatic effect. "Shot straight through her fragile little form." She says as the dust clouds begin to fade, recalling a beaten up feline with low energy levels. "But no worries," Yita regains her composure, "Ability activate, Power C."

The beaten up Neri glitched slightly as the ability became to take effect. Her tail did a small twirl and that little twirl swapped conditions of the two bakugans on field. The feline's harsh condition was now replaced with a healthy one, now she looked before taking Drago's blow right in the face. "Does it hurt Drago? You are pretty powerful. Seems like the news doesn't lie about you after all," Neri says with the slightest hint of a sneer in her tone of voice.