Episode 12: King of Brawler

[Noland Hardy]

The darkest corners of George Washington University was where a new crime was born. This wasn't the usual marijuana outings that students across the state became accustomed to. What was going on was much different. The item being sold was way more potent than a whiff of the plant. The popular item on the menu was the Hurranian.

Indeed, the masked individual that was responsible for leaking them on the planet in the first place fell to an all-time low. There were now profits being made off of the poison. The promise of even greater power after assimilation created an all-new black market that distributed these Hurranians so other brawlers can apply them to their own Bakugan as illegal performance enhancers. Subjects showed a substantial increase in their physical parameters and gave them access to a never-ending pool of resources as long as the link with the Hurranian was maintained. It seemed to be a win-win for both sides. The Hurranians can assimilate more DNA into their systems to use for their own diabolical schemes, and the brawlers who sucked could easily cheat their way to the top without having to work for it like the rest of the competition. 

Some could easily argue that it was a stupid venture since it's very simple to distinguish between a healthy Bakugan and a Hurranian-influenced one. This was not very simple. No one would be able to notice any abnormalities in a Bakugan during the early stages of assimilation, so the only way the person would be caught was if the process reached a certain point near the user's demise. Buyers were warned about this penalty; yet, they accepted them, showing how doing things the wrong way seemed more favorable to people regardless of who was hurt on the way up and down.

Tank didn't want it that way. He did extensive research on this subject since he'd likely come face-to-face with one of the cheaters using this method given how popular he was. He watched the film of a disturbing tragedy that involved the death of a veteran pro named Daniel Alves who died on the battlefield along with his Bakugan for expending too much of their energy cheating to prevent the Hurranian from taking over after inflicting substantial injury to his opponent, Shane Gray, and members of the audience. He knew there was no way Daniel could ever run over Shane the way he did. Foul play was expected, and it was definitely found.

One of the sellers on campus mistakenly smashed one of the containers and seeped out a bunch of Hurranian-controlled Bakugan. Because Tank was being very nosy - following numerous individuals who were acting very strange as if they didn't want anyone to see where they were going, he was able to have Gladion attack them from the back and score a quick victory against the mechanical Bakugan. Intimidating everyone he saw there to prevent them from leaving, Tank called the police to get all of them arrested, effectively ending that particular distribution and making the entire country aware of this cheat and accelerated spreading of the Hurranians.

As if he wasn't celebrated as a brawler and a hero enough, he became even more famous for being the first brawler to catch and attack this new practice. Damian ensured Tank that everyone wasn't happy about it when they came into contact at a restaurant close to the campus by letting him know that he had just ruined the only thing that made any of the brawlers in the league worth fighting. Tank disregarded him as having more ego than him, but with a dangerous amount of stupidity added onto it for not seeing what's wrong with it when other people get put in harms way. He then tried to interrogate him on whether he actually cared about the Hurranian outbreak him and his race were responsible for bringing over there. Damian told him not to rush to any conclusions about that since even he doesn't know how the Hurranians are there. He argued that their presence in the league gave each of them the enemy that will push them to higher peaks rather than staying level with who they think is competition. He wondered what Tank was even doing being a pro if all he was going to do was complain that people were getting stronger than him while he gets left at the bottom. Tank called him an idiot for saying that. Damian told him he was personally going to scrimmage the entire New England Sentinels team by himself knowing that their entire roster was on the juice and will show that him being weaker in overall strength doesn't make them special in avoiding being hit by his own power. If he lost, he just might take Tank's insult seriously. If not, then he'll be watching for Tank to prove that he's wrong in his scrimmage against the Baltimore Reavers. 

[Damian Knight]

Damian appeared in New England three days after making that bet with Tank. The stadium was filled with a lot of people. The amount was definitely high for just a simple scrimmage likely because it was him that was fighting. This could have been done for two reasons. One could be that the Sentinels were immensely popular for coming in second place in the previous season to the New York Percivals, the Revolution's neighboring team. The other could be that it was him the other team had to deal with. Maybe they wanted to see him lose after the amount of trash he's been talking across battles and on the internet.

Someone actually asked him a question about whether he was going to regret openly challenging their entire A team all by himself without anyone's help just because he couldn't keep his mouth shut. Like the badass he knew he was, Damian didn't hesitate to tell them no. He then listened to every possible scenario in which he would lose, mainly because he's allegedly arrogant enough to face three professionals all at once. He listened to them all. The key word would be "listened" in this case since that's the only reaction Damian would give them before going onto the field.

There were definitely a few who thought he was merely joking around, but a lot of people knew for a fact that he wasn't. When someone matches Noland, the national champion, in power the way that he did and places numerous champions on their backs without even showing any signs of struggle, they'd better believe everything that he says. The only threat to him would be that his eventual opponents were cheating since their Bakugan were doped on Hurranians, making them able to apparently dwarf his own Helios in power individually. Damian knows this because he followed the black market, already knowing of who had what before Tank even knew it was under his nose. The question any reasonable person would ask him would be why he would have the thought of fighting people like that knowing that he was outclassed. His answer: drugs doesn't create fighters, only frauds who hide in their own fragility.

His three opponents - Ben, Christina, and Soon - were reportedly already lined up in the center of the stadium. Damian had apparently took his time getting ready on purpose just to irritate them a little. He walked onto the field by himself as if no one else was worthy enough to enter at the same time he was.

"You're late," Christina said, visibly irritated at Damian's cocky demeanor.

"So Ms. Ironhead has spoken. I am late because I chose not to enter at the same time as the three of you. Breaking news. Shocking news." Damian smiled at all three of his opponents while casually tossing Helios up and down in his left hand. "I'm not gonna lie. You might just die today."

[Damian Knight]

Damian was warned by the referee for speaking that way to his opponents. Considering that the battle was being aired, they were a lot of people were not going to take too kindly to those type of words. They told them that as if Damian actually cared. In case anyone didn't know who he was and just had to guess, he obviously didn't.

"Excuse you, but you're already the odd one out here. The three of us together would surely be enough to beat you," Soon responded.

"Yep. Totally worked in Vietnam," Damian shamelessly fired back. "That's interesting that you believe that though. I heard some people talking when I got here. They were reminiscing on the good old days of this country basking in their skills in mathematics on the battlefield. They said multiple people said the exact thing you just said to me during 9/11. You any good with subtraction?"

"That's it!" Soon and Christina had to hold Ben back from going over to the opposite side of the field and getting his hands on Damian for what he just said. "Start the match, ref," he said. "You crossed the line, bitch. I'm going to get over there. I promise. Just you wait until I get my hands on you. Then we'll see who's going to die."

The ref called the match and, with an understandably biased mindset, told the three of them to teach Damian a lesson. They each threw in their Bakugan: Pyrus Bolcanon, Haos Krowll, and Darkus Vertexx.

"Helios, clean house," Damian commanded while laughing a bit. "Bakugan brawl! Gamblignant Helios, stand!" He threw the red Bakugan so it could stand on his side. A Dragonoid creature stood ready to battle with his wing set wrapped around him like a jacket. He etched his burn marks into the ground just by standing there. He awaited his opponents' moves.

"The three of you already look tense. Is that because of anger...or is it because of fear?" Helios wondered.

(Battle Theme)

[Damian Knight]

"You're even dumber than you were when you walked in if you would ever think we'd be scared of you," Christina insulted. She swiped a card on her BrawlX to initiate the first attack for her team. "Ability activate! Heat Impulse!" Vertexx opened its mouth wide to shoot a beam full of heat, passion, and hatred for Helios. The intensity of the blast looked to crush and burn Helios with a direct hit.

Ben followed her lead. "Ability activate! Harlow Warrior!" Bolcanon also shot his own beam by concocting an orb full of fire in his mouth before expanding it into a wave of destruction, which was only furthered enhanced by Vertexx's attack.

Damian and Helios took a good look at their combined attack. Even though he knew the kind of power his three opponents were packing, he didn't want it to look like he has to put in too much effort to win just yet, especially when he's truly not concerned about the proceedings at all. "Flashy. That looked way better than your combat records in the regular season," he shot. "Now, ability activate! Burst Mode!" Helios's scales heated up very quickly to hammer his body's temperature to volcanic levels, thereby increasing his power in battle. Just to show that it was more than a spectacle, Helios shot his temperature up even more to where his body's heat could be seen as a barrier around him. When the Sentinels' attacks came within a few feet in front of him, it disappeared, evaporating as if it was nothing.

"Gee. I was almost worried," Helios teased.

Soon tried to trick him by having Krowll go in for an attack without Damian noticing, or so he thought. There was a hole dug in front of them the moment their vision was blinded by the onslaught of her teammates, so in the split-second that it would take for Damian to realize this, Krowll lunged at Helios from underground. "Well, get worried then! Ability activate! Screw Ripper!" Krowll's claws became animated with Haos energy. It's swipe, or attempted stab as Damian would like to look at it, was blocked by the intense energy Helios was excreting. It was briefly able to contest with Helios's barrier, but it was blown back into her teammates, sending them sliding on the ground with noticeable burn marks left on their bodies. "What!?"

"Why are you so surprised that didn't work? Why is anyone surprised at this point? Did you think you were fighting against a Seiki right now? This isn't one of those cartoons that tries to depict surprising moments in the most obvious ways." Damian's look got a little bit more focused by the time he uttered his next lines. "Tell you what. I already talked down on you for a while, so I'll cut you some slack. All it took for Helios to beat most of his opponents since we got here was one ability. I'll give you three before you're finished. I already used one, so there's two to go."

"This guy..." Ben was getting angrier the more he heard Damian talk. This didn't go unnoticed by Damian. In fact, all three of his opponents were fired up more than they should be, and their Bakugan exhibited a certain electric pulse as they were getting up that wouldn't normally be there.

"If you hadn't guessed by now, yes, I do think this is a joke and I'm not taking you seriously at all. Was that what you were thinking?"

[Damian Knight]

"Now I'm mad." Christina's demeanor began to turn more violent, and it showed in the nature of her abilities. "Ability activate! Blazing Magnitude!" Vertexx amassed plentiful amounts of energy in between his hands to form a giant ball of Subterra energy. Its purpose was to continuously release blasts of compressed seismic energy in any direction or fashion. It chose to shoot the orb down range at Helios while the shots were being fired from the orb.

Soon assisted with this maneuver by having Krowll aid in Helios being hit. "Nice, Chris. Ability activate! Ambush Flash!" Krowll leaped into the air to get a good lock on Helios. Once it did, it shot a tether-like light at Helios and pulled tightly, yanking him towards the orb Vertexx shot. "I've seen you use that ability before, Damian! That heat doesn't stay at that level for too long just like Drago's doesn't. The coloration of Helios's scales become dimmer within a short amount of time!"

"You studied me? I'm flattered." Helios converted his remaining heat into his arms to give them a pulse-like shading. He held out his arms to intercept any blasts that would be shot at him, and, when he got close enough to the orb, he ripped it into two, sending them to both sides of the arena where they detonated and shook the arena with a quake. It turns out that Krowll had helped him out by pulling Helios into close quarters. "Didn't expect that either? Good. I'm still at one ability. Your move."

Christina knew that this didn't bode well for her side, so she chose to go in for the kill with their infamous combo attack. "You'll need more than abilities to get you out of this one. This formation places the best teams in the world on edge. One person is definitely going to be swallowed by this! Ability activate! Buzz Sunrock!" Vertexx smashed the ground ferociously like a wild animal, destroying the entirety of the arena ground. What this did was carve out the arena so that only large rocks remained in its stead. Vertexx then placed his hands in front of him and excreted gravitational force - a feat Damian usually sees from Vulcan - to not only repel Helios, but to bombard the area in a rocky storm. Bolcanon and Krowll jumped into the storm to traverse the rocks as they pleased, free to attack at any angle at any time.

"Oh." Damian felt a bit of pressure after that one. Not only was Helios's movement limited because of the plethora of rocks, but Vertexx was also hurtling some at him, dealing somewhat heavy damage out of nowhere.

"That's what you get for talking shit, punk! Ability activate! Pummel Bouler!" Bolcanon's claws lit as he rapidly pelted Helios with his razor-sharp nails that regrew each time he released so that another could be shot. Krowll continuously assaulted Helios with its Screw Ripper ability as it jumped from rock to rock to hit and evade.

"Got to make it believable, right?" Damian activated an ability swiftly to get out of their death trap. "Ability activate! Sol Breaker!" Helios uncovered himself, retracting his wings for flight. He evaded the opposition skilfully until he positioned himself in the center of the battlefield. His scales glowed like the sun as he unleashed laser beams from his body in all directions at once instantly, obliterating everything in sight.

By this point, all of the rocks were destroyed. Both Bolcanon and Krowll were each stuck in a crater clinging onto to dear life. Vertexx remained, but was heavily damaged from Helios's ability. It was only the well-timed intervention by Christina's Port Gardener ability that gave Vertexx the strength it needed to put its hands up and guard the best it could. "That's two abilities," Damian counted, much to the Sentinels' horror. "Hey, for someone that talks a lot of trash, I sure get things done, don't I? Before we wrap this up, you mind looking at the audience and telling them how the PBL has gone to shit because of cheaters like you?"

[Damian Knight]

"Wha-what are you babbling about this time!?" Christina yelled.

"You can't say I was mean to you the whole time by giving you a chance to let everyone know you let them down before I show them." Damian watched the Vertexx huff and puff uncontrollably to the point where it started coughing. This was no ordinary cough though. It was coughing up blood, horrifying everyone observing. "That hasn't happened before, has it? I wonder why it's happening now," he said in a very sarcastic tone. "Pro tip. There are a couple of signs we can use to tell when a Hurranian has any involvement other than knowing the flow of the black market. Your Bakugan's bodies have deteriorated from the inside-out. Your experimentation has permanently deprived them of their ability to fight...at least in their current state."

All three of the Sentinels' were speechless.

"You do know I fight these things for a living, right? What did you think I was? A troll? What's even funnier than you degenerates thinking it turns you into gods is that you're basically committing treason against your own country since you're giving the Hurranians more resources to kill your people with. But, that's just a thought." Damian revealed his third ability to be played. "Now, Helios! Ability activate! Eruption Claw!"

Helios ignited his claws with fire. He dug his nails into the broken ground to release a surge across the horizon. Numerous light pillars shot up from the ground to signal an impending explosion of some kind. Shortly after that, an explosion rose up and expanded to cover the entire arena. Once it was over, lava puddles were left in some of the craters, but none of the Sentinels' Bakugan could be found; they were obliterated. Helios was in the center of the explosion, but he emerged unscathed; his scales were as bright as ever though, reflecting that he held a natural affinity for that type of environment.

"That's three abilities," Helios spat.

"Good brawl, Sentinels. At least for me, it was. It definitely wasn't great for you three. Oh no. You got shit on."

[Noland Hardy]

After a really convincing win against the New England Sentinels and making everyone leave the stadium in fear after watching him destroy the Hurranian-controlled Bakugan, Damian eagerly awaited to see Tank's face again. He waited at the usual restaurant he finds him in: Shorty's Pizza Shack. Tank came there with his pledge brothers. Each of them - especially Tank - were not happy to see Damian there; they saw what he did, and they knew what he was about to say.

Wanting to get Damian out of there as quickly as possible so they can have their meeting without any drama, Tank told him to get on with what he had to say. Damian told him he didn't have much to say since he mostly came there to see his face after watching what he just did. He was quite happy that he was able to make Tank swallow his own words about how wrong Damian must have been to think that having the Hurranians make the pros stronger doesn't cause him to become more powerful. Tank scolded him for continuing to think that it was a game.

Damian chose to warn Tank that the brawler he was about to scrimmage from the Baltimore Reavers effectively mastered the Hurranian's power, meaning that he was miles above Tank's strength and did not suffer the drawbacks that some of the other ones have. He was going to be there himself to watch Tank fight. Damian will ask him the same question again if he comes out of the battle alive and would be very disappointed if he kept his answer. He got out of the restaurant afterward since he didn't have anything else to do there.

He'd eventually return when the meeting day came for Tank to do battle. It took place at the M&T Bank Stadium. Tank's teammates battle against the other members of the Reavers until it came down to Tank versus the best man on the opposing team: a brawler who goes by the name "Blade."

[Tank Stryker]

Tank entered the arena in full Legion gear, his BrawlX going into battle mode the minute he stepped foot inside the arena. Gladion rode on broad shoulder as he entered; it was clear that Tank was there for a serious battle. Tank stopped on the combatant podium as it rose up into the air, placing the two brawlers at the eye level of the first row of the audience. While his poker face was undeniably good, nervousness still rippled through the quiet chasm of Tank's mind, nearly causing an avalanche of anxiety onto his soul. Thoughts of failure and death had plagued Tank since Damian had interrupted his dinner with his pledge brothers, and hadn't left him alone since. Gladion could tell that he was anxious, and piped up.

"We need to be serious about this battle," Gladion whispered. The voice of his guardian quieted Tank's mind from the cacophony of noise.

"You're right," Tank whispered back, "Just remember what dad always said, 'Success does not belong to the wealthy or the wise, but to the persistent.'"

With that, Tank stepped forward and brandished his BrawlX in front of him, the gold and sapphire glimmering under the stadium lights. The Legion crowd let out multiple hoots and hollers in support of their General.

"Blade!" Tank called across the stadium, "No tricks! Just you, me, and our bakugan!"

Hopefully he's not too much of an ass to at least agree to a fair fight, Tank thought.

[Ϟ Blade Ϟ]

Blade grinned at the thought of an equal playing field. He didn't believe in it. The newbie wasn't expected to know about that feeling though. Tank was still young and naive at this level. What he sees and what Blade sees are two different things.

"You'll just have to step it up if I have tricks, like we all must do," Blade smugly replied. "Besides, I'm sure the Aquos member of the Resistors and this so-called 'General' can hold his own enough to level the playing field, unless you're as overrated as the rest of your squad. We'll find all there is about that soon, just to see if you've made the cut or not."

The referee saw that both brawlers were live and ready for battle, so it was called to commence. Blade activated his pristine bronze BrawlX. "Keep this in mind, Axo," Blade whispered to his apparent guardian Bakugan. "If he lives, it doesn't count."

"I understand what needs to be done to ensure we can match the Spartan," he discreetly responded. "His gods will find fault with him. I promise."

Confident in his Bakugan's abilities, Blade sent him into the arena. "Let's see what you're good for, Tank. Bakugan brawl! Stand, Subterra Axostriker!"

Blade threw him onto the battlegrounds to have him stand. He was a humanoid warrior clad in armor. He looked like a generic being in the Siege and Warius family, but there was more to him than meets the eye. He'll just need to show it, if Gladion pulls it out of him.

[Tank Stryker]

Tank frowned at Blade's reply. Doubts began to cloud Tank's conscious, flooding into his every thought. What if he couldn't do this? What if him or Gladion died? What about Katherine and his family? Tank couldn't lose this match. Strangely, a spark of excitement welled in Tank's chest, like he was actually looking forward to this battle. Letting out a sigh, Tank grabbed Gladion, and took a step back.

"Fine then," he muttered, winding up, "Bakugan brawl! Stand, Emperor Gladion!"

Tank then threw Gladion into the battlefield, the flight path curving slightly from the spin put on it. Gladion flew behind Axostriker and stood while tank swiftly swiped two cards through his BrawlX.

"Double ability activate!" Tank yelled, trying to focus his anxiety into energy, "Weapons Cache - Gladius plus Weapons Cache - Aegis!"

Quickly, two purple portals opened under Gladion and shot the equipment into his hands. Then, before Axostriker could turn around, Gladion performed a downward diagonal slash before spinning into a shield attack, slamming Axostriker with enough force to send the warrior flying into the wall of the arena. Gladion then took a defensive stance to await any counter attacks.

"Trust me," Tank said, trying to sound confident, "Gladion and I can handle any challenge, and you don't seem to be one."

[Ϟ Blade Ϟ]

"That sounds really good. I knew you wouldn't let me down," Blade replied, barely showing any emotion towards the obvious insult. "I was worried about you before you threw Gladion in. Now I know you're prepared, just because you said so. Axo!"

"My apologies. That one really hurt," Axostriker joked. He was stuck in the wall for a few seconds before falling to the ground on his back. He took his time getting back on his feet, turning to face Gladion, and then walking towards him to appear within the normal distance of each other when they started. Blade then swiped a card on his lustrous BrawlX.

"Ability activate! Hyper Sonic Devastator!" This was an ability boosted by the presence of Asmodeus. Axostriker's armor was capable of producing sound when struck in a certain manner, allowing for him to produce sound waves capable of causing significant disruptions. This is what he did; he covered his right fist with brown energy and pounded his chest, emitting the said sound wave across the arena. It was greatly irritating, making Gladion more vulnerable with the surprise stun.

"Ability activate! Tremor Blow! Go now!" Blade followed up with this ability. Axo's body began to vibrate continuously. As he did so, numerous energy waves were released in all directions, greatly affecting the ground it traveled over and threatening to eclipse Gladion's strength in one blow.

[Tank Stryker]

The energy waves washed over Gladion, dragging the warrior through the ground as if it were made of butter. Dust kicked up, covering the area of the battle arena where Gladion finally stopped. The dust eventually settled, revealing Gladion laying on his back. The sheer force of the attack horrified Tank; something so unnatural, so evil, had taken over his opponent's bakugan and allowed it to access a level of power that he had not seen since Belphenoid.

"Tank," Gladion said, softly, turning his head towards his horrified brawler, "We can do this, don't psyche yourself out. Remember, there is always a way to win."

"You're right, Gladion," Tank replied, retrieving a card from his back pocket and swiping it through his BrawlX, "There is. Now get up so we can take this fucker down! Ability activate, Weapon of the Gods - Bow of Artemis!"

With the activation of the ability, a fanfare of trumpets sounded from the heavens. Clouds gathered above the arena, eclipsing the sun and allowing a holy moon to appear in front of them. Light shone down from the moon onto Gladion, imbuing him with pure strength; the strength of the hunter. The legendary bow used by the Huntress herself descended upon the battlefield towards Gladion.

Using his newfound strength, Gladion launched himself upward, tossing his shield to the side into a purple portal, taking it away from the battlefield. Before grabbing the bow, Gladion threw his sword, striking Axostriker in the arm before disappearing into a similar purple portal. Gladion then grabbed the bow, and, before Axostriker could react, launched a volley of moonlight arrows into the opposing warrior, striking Axostriker and pegging him with hundreds of arrows.

Gladion then landed, taking off in quickly running around Axostriker, launching arrows faster than the eye could see at the opposing Bakugan.

"You think a little energy waves are gonna take us down?" Tank yelled at his opponent, "You've got another thing coming!"

[Ϟ Blade Ϟ]

Blade smirked at Tank's showing of being a tough guy. As admirable as it was, it only became more foolish as time went on.

"Right back at you, in regards to your archery technique," Blade fired back. The swipe across his BrawlX happened faster than one could blink. "Ability activate! Vision Wind!"

A small tornado formed around Axostriker's being with him in the eye of the storm. Using the speed at which Gladion's arrows struck him, the power grew substantially. Once it became big enough to cover at least most of the arena with its release, he forcefully broke free of his semi-painful shackles by pushing the extreme force outwards, throwing his arms outward as he did so. All of the arrows lodged into his armor were repelled to the arena walls. The projectiles that were progressively being shot at him were also forced back. This was another trait granted to him from Asmodeus, one that he did not take for granted.

"I was thinking one of those arrows may have tempted me to topple over for you. I guess I don't know my own strength," Axostriker winked. He shamelessly alluded to an even bigger threat that increased his durability past normal consistencies. It wasn't like it was his problem though; their opponents would be the ones to have to deal with that factor, not him.

Even with that in play, Gladion was faster than Axo. That was very clear, so Blade had to find some way to knock Gladion off of his feet, or at least give him enough trouble so that he stops. Blade knew how to do that; this wasn't his first rodeo against a faster opponent.

"Here's the other thing I was getting ready to tell you was coming," Blade mocked in relation to Tank's ending remark. "Ability activate! Flame Dragon!" This was undoubtedly the most disgusting ability Blade has ever used on anyone. What this did was convert Axostriker's face to that of a dragon's. This process involved some strenuous shifting on parts of his face so that the entire thing could form. Once it did, it resembled that of a Dharak's. Axo looked up to shoot a brown-colored laser beam up in the air. It stopped when it got a couple of meters above the highest point of the Colosseum; it froze in place for a brief moment - becoming a miniature orb - so it could get its bearings before expanding into a portal of some sorts. What came out was portions of the earth's crust, consequently bathed in a ferocious flame from its descent. Abbadon's power could be thanked for this; when an ability this fiery emerged out of nowhere, it'd be difficult to pin the blame on anyone else.

[Tank Stryker]

Arrows flew off of Axostriker in many directions, a few of them embedding themselves in Gladion's armor. The falling sky sent a pang of worry through Tank; the attack itself was powerful enough to crush Gladion if nothing was done. Small fragments of the landmass fell down onto the battlefield, pinging off of Gladion's armor as the attack grew closer. Gladion stayed calm, but it proved extremely difficult; when a gigantic landmass is hurdling towards you, there's not much else you think about. Gladion turned his head around to look at Tank.

"Uh, Tank," he said, pointing at the attack, more dirt falling onto him, "Can we do something about that?"

Tank reached into his pocket and pulled out a card, swiping it through his BrawlX, almost by instinct.

"Try this, Gladion," he called out, holding up his BrawlX, "Ability activate! Earthshaker!"

Gladion jumped to the side of the attack, digging the arrows lodged in his armor further in, before drawing the bow and shooting an energy-covered arrow into the ground, causing it to explode. Fragments of the arena flew up in the air, breaking up the landmass above. Gladion then took off running, jumping from fragment to fragment around Axostriker, who seemed almost not able to keep up with his movements.

"It looks like Axostriker is struggling to track you!" Tank called out, "Keep trying to move fast and randomly while throwing some more arrows at him!"

"Got it, Tank!" Gladion yelled back, releasing another volley of arrows at Axostriker while deftly dodging falling rocks.

The arrows flew true at Axostriker, hitting more chinks in Axostriker's armor, digging into his body. The falling rocks and debris finally stopped as the fragments of land stabilized, floating in midair.

[Ϟ Blade Ϟ]

The audience was ecstatic to see Tank slither his way out of that one, and rightfully so. He was displaying himself to be the jack of all trades, a feat that he accomplishes masterfully in his battles. It was a shame for all of them that, in Blade's mind, it wasn't going to continue much longer.

"Ability activate! Slash Screen!" The ability bathed Axo in a white-colored veil, completely surrounding his body's shape. The arrows lodged into his body started breaking themselves down, only leaving scarce traces of them inside. They were small enough to be touched by him, and so he did so.

"Pro tip from me to you, Gladion," Axo said while casually removing the bits and pieces left of Gladion's arrows into his being. "When you shoot as many armor-piercing arrows as you have and strike me multiple times, and I haven't shown any signs of toppling over from them yet, you may want to consider doing something else."

Axo stood still while Gladion continued to launch precise arrows at him. Each one of them were picked apart by Axo's ability, making anything that comes within a certain range have hell to pay with a series of slashes that happen instantaneously. This essentially made his body a mobile counter to most abilities that come in contact until he's hit hard enough for it to overload the passive skill.

"I assume you would understand the meaning of putting on a show for the fans better than any newcomer in the league, so allowing you to have your time in the spotlight shouldn't come as a surprise to you. We're pros; that's what we do. Now I'm going to bury you. Ability activate! Combat Axis!"

Axo's armor went through a reconfiguration depending on what he needed in battle as long as it could still support the usage of his abilities. The bulkier parts retracted a bit to make him a bit sleeker, still keeping some of his armor for protection. This allowed him to move around much easier while not having his overall power decreased by that much. Hidden cannons also protruded a bit from the inner workings of the retracted armor, showing that he has some skill in using them for medium to long ranged engagements.

"He's all yours. Don't be too gentle." As soon as Blade gave the signal, Axo sprung into action. He used the cannons to shoot brown-colored laser beams, intended to blow up every single piece of falling rocks and debris that Gladion could have used for an escape. He then focused on Gladion, who had just landed on a piece following his barrage. He destroyed the platform with a swift shot in the center to leave the warrior open. While he was descending, Axo zipped across the battlefield and rammed him with his shoulders.

"Armed Victory Smasher!" He pinned Gladion as he shoved him all the way to the stadium wall, delivering a fierce wound to his chest and leaving him stunned. The recoil of the blow was a bit much for Axo to handle with his current configuration, so he was pushed all the way back to his corner of the battlefield, landing just a couple of feet from where Blade was standing. He prepped himself to fire again at Gladion to finish him off while was down, just to add injury to insult. 

"I think you had me confused for another brawler. Allen perhaps?" Blade inquired. "It doesn't matter where you are or how fast you move. You can't dodge me. No one has, and no one will."