Episode 17: True Colors

[Noland Hardy]

Once Alex left with Noland, Kendrick, and Drago, Alana was fully prepared to follow them. Allen requested a ride, seeing as how Gorem was not capable of getting there nearly as quick as Hydranoid could. Alana told him that he can find his own way there, even theorizing that someone may walk by to offer him one if he stands there and does nothing. Hydranoid scowled at Gorem before taking flight with Alana in tow. 

Yita was very relieved to see that Noland has been defeated before he could kill them all with his forbidden power. Niko blurted out that they were all welcome, seeing as how she basically saved all of their lives. Yita went to thank her for doing so. Niko wasn't overly pleased with it as she believed it took doing that for her to finally become relevant in her eyes. Yita was stunned by this, but Niko quickly retracted the statement, noting that Donovan hadn't quite eaten that particular nightmare yet. 

Allen approached the two and thanked Niko for what she did to end the destruction. He asked for one more favor though. Without much time passing, they went back inside the stadium to check on Noland's grandmother and Markus's family. Allen relayed the news to her about what was happening to her grandsons. She was glad that he was okay, but she was sick to her stomach that Noland will have his life threatened around every corner based on his actions and heritage. Allen wondered if she knew him and Kendrick were Gundalians, but she claimed that she doesn't know; she couldn't tell who could have been a Gundalian in the family tree. 

Allen tried to call Alana multiple times, but she wouldn't answer. Without voicing his displeasure over her behavior just yet, he left a message in her voicemail saying that she needs to tell someone from the Silver Knights to go over to where he is to pick up Noland's grandmother and the Hedericks since the police will kill them when they find them. Not knowing whether Alana was going to hear that, Allen asked Yita to run them down, figuring Neri would be fast enough on foot to catch up to them in a timely manner. That left Allen and Niko standing guard together.

While all of that was happening, the same masked person presiding over the earlier events plans to confront the Resistor and Spartan over the matter while in the stadium walls. 

[Niko Adrian Nyx]

It all had happened so fast, how Niko had stepped in to stop the pyrus brawler and had faced death once more. Though she was unable to see it, she could most definitely hear and sense it. And once again, Donovan saved her from such a fate. But this one was much more terrifying than other occasions, much like the time when her brother died. Maybe, it was because she had something to grasp out to, something of worth that she believes in. Like when she had her vision at stake, but this time it was for what she believed was the hood of some few she knew. Or, maybe it was because this is actual reality and not anything happening in the kingdom's which may be non-existent.

Then another thought crossed her mind, causing a sigh of relief coming from Niko's mouth as Donovan approaches her from the shadows. "I'm so glad she didn't take it the wrong way." She mutters as she reaches her arm out in front of her where she sensed Donovan to be, stroking his thick mane. "If she did... I'd hate to know how that would end up." A yawn escapes her mouth as she keeps her hand on Donovan with him guiding her to the subterra brawler, stopping in his tracks once at the desired location. "You're the one they call Allen, yes?" She continues to 'look' straight forward to whatever was in front of them.

"I'm rather curious. I've heard much about your power. Is it as powerful as Noland's?"

[Allen Silva]

Allen was too busy wondering what just happened to realize Niko had found him. By the time he realized it, Niko had asked him about his strength in comparison to Noland." It really depends on what you look at. As you saw, Drago's offense is almost in a league of its own. If Gorem were to try and play that game, it wouldnt be much of a challenge." Allen begins to tell the strange kid." Yet, defensive power might just go to Gorem here. We havent tested ourselves against Drago in this form."

"Long story short, we dont know for sure." Gorem summed up his brawlers point nicely.

[Niko Adrian Nyx]

Heh, sight. Something that Niko lacked. She was unable to look or see, sense and feel fit more into what Allen had told her. The spartan hums in agreement to what the resistor had pointed out and clicked her tongue at Gorem's comment which wrapped up the explanation. "You two should try brawling on another sometime." Niko says as her speech begins to waver due to fatigue starting to wash over her. "Two major powers clashing against one another, I wonder who shall emerge victorious..." Another yawn halted her words. "I'll go stand guard over there." Niko states as she points in some random direction.

Donovan watched where she was pointing and saw how she was pointing at some wall close by, kinda of an unreasonable place to stand guard. So quickly, the bakugan nudges her finger to point at a more reasonable location with the blunt end of his scorpion tail. When she lowered her arm, Donovan allows her to mount him and walks her over to the general area of where he had made her point.

When Donovan had reached the desired spot, he slowly sits down, allowing Niko to hop off and lie against him. Both knew that they would slack off on the guard job. After all, sleeping at any chance became a habit that came all too naturally. Especially a deep slumber where they couldn't be waken up, even if a bomb was dropped in the area- usually.

"Time for some shut eye." Niko mumbles as she fluffs up Donovan's mane for a pillow while the bakugan begins to drift off to sleep as well.

[Allen Silva]

At first, Niko going to gaurd a second area wasnt a bad idea to Allen. Covering more of the perimeter, all the while staying in the vicinity. It isnt until he looked over and found both Niko and Donavan out like lights that he started to anger. " Hey, what happened to standing guard? Are you even conscious?" He tried shaking her, but to no avail.

Allen stomped away, frustrated with the whole sitiaton." Alright, lets just do a sit rep here." Allen said, trying to run trough the facts to calm himself down. It likely wasnt going to work, but it was a shot." Noland went crazy, and got taken by the Silver knights. God knows when we are going to see him again. And then theres Alana, who doesnt realize the situation. She would certaintly have died. To top it off, we have her and her cat counting sheep while gaurding."

" you make it sound like its all bad."

" it is."

[Vengeance]

"Not really. All of you could be dead right now..."

A masked person strolling down the long hallways appeared before Allen. He/she knew Allen would be here after everyone else had forgotten all about the infected ones; it was in Allen's nature to always remember what or who needs his protection. Whether he/she came to finish them off wasn't quite certain just yet, but the present circumstances were very opportunistic.

"The Hurranians are not attached to those people for killing. They only want knowledge; they're seeking something more important than their lives," he/she clarified on their behalf. A Hurranian unit manifested itself onto his/her hand, and he/she placed it on the floor. It materialized to form a foe that has terrorized the entire world once before: Dharak - in his actual form this time as opposed to the Hynoid crossover experiment (Belphenoid).

"Hm? What's going on? What am I here for this time? To lose again?" Dharak looked himself up and down, and realized that his true form had actually been re-created. "Just when I got used to that mutt's body... Oh well. This'll do."

"NOW you can say it's gotten a whole lot worse."

(Boss Theme)

[Allen Silva]

The entrance of the masked man only brought more problems into Allens already complicated situation. Even worse was what he summoned out. It wasnt anything they had fought before.

" Dharak. Why is that thing here?" Allen questioned, his voice shaking with each word. Sure they have faced bakugan who used dharaks power. But this was a whole different game. Dharak had his own body, that could withstand his full power.

" whats wrong Allen?" Gorem was concerned with his partners current behavior." This isnt like you."

" that thing is Dharak. The monster who caused all of the pack."

" and? We are stronger now too. Theres no point in fearing him. We've only one option." Gorem gave Allen some words of encouragement.

" win. You're right." Allen came back to his old self as he picked Gorems ball out of the air. He tossed the ball and Gorem appeared in his monster form. Allen pulled the first ability out." Ability activate, Megalith boxer."

Gorem charged at Dharak, prepared to smash his fists into him as much as possible.

[Vengeance]

The look of concern covered Allen's face once he saw Dharak as his true self again. That feeling was appropriate given what it means for Allen and Gorem.

"Your concern is warranted, Iron Juggernaut. The beings known as the Pack consist of three Bakugan that all retain a split portion of Dharak's power," he/she explained, believing Allen already knew that since he faced Dharak in this form once before.

"Now I have it all to myself," Dharak gleefully celebrated. "Of course, thanks to the Hurranians for bringing me back, there's more of me to go around than last time. I cannot wait until I gather enough of me to besiege this pathetic planet again. It's going to be great. I'm going to kill you so that I can have five of you by my side just like the good old days with my Fifth Paladin, unless I can have those back too. You just might do a better job than they did, so who knows. The future is dim."

After revealing his sinister intentions for the future, he proceeded to combat Gorem with the masked person's help.

"Ability activate!" he/she announced as the ability showed itself on the BakuMeter. "High Skewed Waver!" Dharak conjured a black, electrified orb in his mouth, and then looked up. He shot multiple orbs above their heads rather than shoot Gorem with it directly. What he was doing was purposely arcing the shots so the homing effect would lead them to fall right on top of Gorem, narrowly trying to avoid putting them in Gorem's immediate field of vision. One by one, they dropped, dispersing in an immediate explosion that repulsed any target caught in its blast.

[Allen Silva]

Gorems momentum was essentially stopped by Dharak' s first ability. Allen knew he couldnt stop the damage from the explosion s, so instead seeked to mitigate damage." Alright, lets do what we do. Ability activate, Panzer sheen."

ability was a upgraded version of alloy transmutation. His armor spread to cover his body, as well as thickened. This armor helped a little bit, but the explosions still rocked him good. He took the damage, but continued the Megalith boxer attack, determined to cause Dharak some hurt of his own." Thats not gonna stop me, you overgrown salamander."

[Vengeance]

"Of course it won't. You're hardheaded," the masked person surprisingly agreed. "So I'll just have to stop you then. Ability activate!"

"Westwall Shield!"

Since there wasn't time to respond to Gorem's rapid advance, a defensive option was necessary to avoid any major blows. A purple vortex formed in front of Dharak that quickly transitioned into a circular shield, wide enough to cover the width of his body. A punch was thrown that clashed with the shield. The delay in the attack gave Dharak the option to do a counterattack.

"My body isn't as frail or unresponsive to my desires as the Hynoid's body is. You're going to have to try a lot harder to get at me, if you even have it in you," Dharak chided. "Evil Blow!"

Dharak conjured a purple orb in his mouth. He launched it straight at Gorem, intending to blow right through his own barrier. The blast he created was a laser in appearance, having medium-sized ripples of electricity flowing through its design.

[Allen Silva]

Dharak was able to easily block Gorems punch. The worst part was that his strile staggered Gorem big time. It was so bad, Dharak had a perfect opportunity to counter attack.

Allen prepared his next ability as fast as he could." Ability activate, unshaken fort." Gorem anchored himself to the ground, but was unable to do much more than that. Dharaks blast easily knocked him at least ten feet back." It wasnt fast enough. Hey big guy, you good?"

" To be absolutely honest... no." Gorem wheezed out, even his defense wasnt fairing very well."

Another ability was already bieng prepared by Allen. This was a ability he didnt have the chance to use in his contest with Vulcan." Now is better than never. Ability activate. Terra quiver." Gorem smashed the ground with both of his hands. This shook the ground, sending debris after Dharak, in a attempt to crush him.

[Vengeance]

This would've been a great time for Dharak to not be on the ground. Since he was, the quake stunned him a little, causing him to nearly topple over. This made him vulnerable to the incoming attack. He knew he couldn't allow that to happen, and the masked person agreed with that notion.

"Ability activate! Thunder Probe!" Dharak was smacked by a couple of rocks before getting this one up, but it was better than not being able to use it. With his original body intact, he can use this ability on a much higher level now. He supercharged his body with lethal electricity, fitting for the Darkus attribute of course. He then scattered it in the form of lightning bolts everywhere, catching the remaining debris in the striking path.

"You had me fooled for a second. It seems your repertoire has expanded a lot to deal with opponents that want to keep you at long-range. I'm impressed," he/she complimented. "No wonder why Dharak wants you on his team. You're tough. You'd be a perfect fit. Now you have me interested as well"

He/she pulled out another ability card. It seems the same ability used to defeat Vince and Alana in the past wasn't enough. "Ability activate! Darkness Glow!" Still charged from Thunder Probe, Dharak lit his horns with the energy to target Gorem with a static lightning-bolt attack. He released that energy, causing multiple large bolts to soar through the air to zap Gorem until he was singed.

[Allen Silva]

Dharak's latest attack was nothing compared to his previous. Gorems range definitely helped, but it was still a easy attack to block. Allen activated his next card a few seconds before the attack was launched." Ability activate, Mineral Barrier."

Gorem errected a barrier, this one with stones lingering inside of it. These stones blocked the incoming lightning attack. This was still putting a serious strain on Gorems body. "You're no doubt stronger than the pack, and those guys were tough. But we are still much better mow then we were." Gorem told the darkus bakugan. He was trying to play the tough guy, but was clearly still feelibg the effect of the last attack.

[Vengeance]

Dharak and Gorem basically allowed each other to continue doing what they were doing; Gorem was shielding while Dharak was attacking. The lightning from Dharak's combination spiraled out of control - intentional on Dharak's side of course - that led to it scattering all around them, slicing clean through walls, ceilings, and even the bleachers outside. It started to get a little windy around them all, the power of Dharak and Gorem's power giving them a steady, uncomfortable breeze.

"The only thing that has ever changed about you when you've evolved is you being able to take more of my hits," Dharak assured.

He took a deep breath before exhaling his next offensive. "Vicious Blast!" Dharak unleashed a ferocious battle roar that tore through everything in the area. Obviously a trait that Asmodeus was carrying on his lonesome, his ability to use his power of sound as a destructive mechanism gave him an advantage across all forms of combat. The sheer strength of it all erased all of the changes Gorem made to his defenses. The rocks just withered away, just like Gorem's chances of phasing him with his tricks anymore.

"I feel sorry for you in a way, Juggernaut," the masked person started up. "Your existence is never truly appreciated. You claim to be the shield, the wall, the guardian of the Resistors, but they don't even know they have one. All they see is a casual rock tripping someone up every now and then just to remind them who's always going to be in the Master Blaze's shadow, maybe even Alana's as well if you allowed it."

"You even lost to him for her affection as well," Dharak added just to stir the pot some more.

The masked person got an ability ready, holding it between his/her middle and index finger on the right hand. "There's good news for you though. With me, you can be as strong as you want and need to be. All you have to do is perish," he/she informed him of. "Now, ability activate! Mortal Coalition!"

This ability took the best characteristic of one of his abilities and attached it to another. In this case, adding the grand power of Westwall Gazer to his unique Exodus Waver made its power triple beyond reason, giving the purple, electrified blob of darkness he launched out of his mouth the appearance of a giant bomb just waiting to disperse so a multitude of destructive lasers can pile up on its target. This is what happened when the action was brought on, and Gorem came face-to-face with what appeared to be a never-ending death beam.

[Allen Silva]

Dharak obviously was going for a more powerful attack than the others. This new one was a glob of darkness. Gorem and Allen both new the ability cant touch Gorem. Otherwise they could be taken out instantly. Allen loaded up two abilities to assure that never happens." Dual ability activate, Kinesis barrier."

Gorem pulled the hammer from the earth beneath him. Once fully emerged, Gorem spun around, creating a dusty twister. He used his creation to safely move forward as its winds should blow the glob away from him. Unfortunately it didnt do that, but it did severly reduce the damage Gorem took.

Once close enough to attack, Gorem revealed his second ability." And now time for Fusion ability, Kinesis Rejector." Allen said, giving name to the technique his bakugan was about to use. Gorem swung his massive hammer down at Dharaks skull, fully intent on crushing the dragon. Any ability that makes contact with the hammers head, save some of the strongest hes seen, will be negated. This was his finishing blow.