Episode 17: True Colors

[Noland Hardy]

Grim Reapers, he said? Daniel mentioned it like Noland already knew what it was, which he didn't. He could guess that it mustn't have been too pleasant for whoever is an enemy to a squad carrying that name. If Daniel's previous history was taken into account here, he might very well be a killer of some sort, an assassin perhaps. That made sense.

It was nice to hear that the other two were out of the picture as well as Daniel doing well from the previous outbreak that left him bound for a while.

"I wish what I did was a permanent solution to your problem," Noland admitted, not wanting to take credit for its defeat just yet. Alex has said that he fought the virus on numerous occasions, but it only results in a temporary cooldown. Noland wouldn't forget a detail that important so easily when it could spell bad news for all of them without much effort put into it.

"I think the best thing that could be done for me right now is for someone to change me back to a human. I'm not really liking what I have going here." He was specifically talking about his claws and horns. The hair didn't bother him as much as those two, but that was also something he wish could be dealt with.

[Daniel Andersen]

DARKNESS IS LURKING IN EVERY CORNER. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN.

"Don't overthink it. One step at a time. I'm grateful for the help."  Daniel admits. It is truth that Noland could not directly break Virus's chip, but he broke a chain of events that led to a temporary solution. It was something. At least he is not trapped and forced to watch that monster brutally murder everyone he has in sight.

Kuzuha suddenly takes a jump from Daniel's shoulder and continues levitating and observing Noland. Her orb form glows as he tries to look into what Noland desires. "Hmm...I can't remove your body parts. This is not a plain transformation. It is actual Gundalian form, so reverting to human form is out of my area. I could...camouflage it...if you want that. But it would take some time for me to learn how." Kuzuha explains to him.

"I'm sorry... It seems that is all we can do..." Daniel says quietly. Noland helped him much more than he was returning right now. Just providing him a camouflage would not really do much.

WORDS: ### || TAGGED: username

"Being a monster does not seem so bad anymore."

template by Margie @ Adoxography v2

[Noland Hardy]

It was weird that Daniel was now feeling completely obligated to helping him this much. He was progressively getting used to this new Daniel, and this wasn't easing his transition that much. There wasn't anything bad coming from it, but it was happening faster than he had anticipated. It was like they had been friends forever.

"If you're unable to change me back, that's fine. Like you said, it'll be one step at a time."

Noland could easily guess that the transformation wasn't just for show and that it was the real package. While not being able to shift back to a human was a bummer, masking it was the next best thing. He could treat it like the same technology Nero and Montai had on their BrawlX's. It'd be great.

"Now I'm thinking I'm asking for too many favors now," he realized, trying to joke that part of it away even though it was slightly true. There was too many acts of kindness that was sent his way recently in the midst of all this hate. Getting caught off guard over it wasn't that much of a shocker.

[Lydia Andersen]

I am a devil wearing angel's wings

@

Lydia usually ends listening to conversations rather than participating in them and then she rolls with something like trolling, but she feels like Daniel will kill her if she does it once again after what happened last time when she did it. So for the time being she grabs a Snickers and keeps on munching on it while Noland and Daniel talk about their own things.

"You shouldn't feel that way." Lydia says as she finishes the Snickers and is still talking with mouth full. "If it makes you feel better consider it returning the favor. You can't deny how much you helped." She adds calmly opening her laptop again.

"If you feel too obliged you can always buy a box of Snickers." She sarcastically adds trying to go with the game of lightening the serious mood. All that serious talk makes her feel sleepy and Angelight behind her facepalms at what her brawler just said afraid that someone might take that seriously.

"I sleep in darkness. I feast on light."

♡

[Maria Zenovia]

To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure

@

In that conversation between two siblings and leader of Resistors no one notices a superior walking down the stairs and then listening to them talk. Superior's name is Maria Zenovia, White Inferno Brawler. Admirals, one rank below Marshal, are monsters of the battlefield; their enormous power and the way they show it drives chills into bones of those who see them. Maria gained her nickname from a terrifying ability she tends to use in the battlefield and it usually ends in enemies being devoured by white flames before they can return hits.

She stands there for a minute listening to three young people planning on how to help each other and it brings a mild smile to her face at their positive attitude at times like those. Still, she knows there is a long road they have to go through before all this is finally over. She does not like thinking that way because it makes her feel older than she is, so she tends to be relaxed much to surprise of her inferiors.

"Oh, I did not expect you to come out so early." She says as she walks towards three of them. She referred to Noland. Just as any normal person no one would expect a young boy to rise and shine in just a few hours after going through all that.
Lydia's reaction to Maria's presence was just a slight gulp. Perhaps she is afraid of her. Meanwhile Daniel just makes one step back, so she could get a close spot to them. Or maybe he is kinda afraid of her as well. Who knows.

"Pleased to meet you, Master Blaze...If I may call you that." She mildly says with a slight smile on her face offering Noland a handshake as salutation.

"I answer terror with terror."

♡

[Noland Hardy]

"Hm?" People were just coming into the picture out of nowhere it seems. Now there was a woman including herself into the conversation. She must have been really important if everyone in the immediate vicinity ceased conversation immediately.

Noland turned his body in her direction and was ready to return the greeting. He didn't know whether to be flattered that she was calling him by his moniker or to be concerned for how long he must have been watched under that alias. Regardless, it was another person that didn't treat him like garbage because of the Gundalian skin. That was always a plus. In an environment like this, it was always good to see that from someone else.

...She was kinda cute too.

"You may," Noland authorized, not that he needed to. He extended his hand to shake hers. He was careful not to apply too strong of a grip. He didn't know his own strength in this form, so it'd be helpful if he didn't do anything to piss her off.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Ms...?"

[Maria Zenovia]

To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure

@

Meeting and talking to people like Noland is something Maria goes through almost every day. After all, Silver Knights are consisted of many people with interesting backgrounds and those people are usually different than the rest. Same thing goes for Noland. Difference between Noland and many others is that Maria does not have time to meet and greet everyone who comes into their HQ, but paying a visit to a young man who fights like hell for sake of others' lives is something she would not miss.

"Maria... Maria Zenovia." She replies to him with a smile. Bakugan orb colored in dark-blue color with a few white decorations appears on her shoulder out of nowhere observing all those relaxed faces in the room...and Daniel's face.
That is her guardian, Zero Hydranoid. It is a Legendary Bakugan who is rumored to be strong enough to defeat all 5 members of Mighty 5 division at once with their transformations turned on. However, no one ever tested that.

"I'm sorry for being late. I was supposed to visit you in your hospital room, but you have already left. I didn't expect you to recover so fast to be able to walk. That's impressive." She says astonished by how fast Noland recovered. Healing Bakugans and medicine did their work, but it was probably in his Gundalian blood to be able to recover so fast. As an Admiral she did not want to leave a bad impression in front of someone like him despite the fact that she is not too much into formalities. Of course, Noland is a hero after all.

"Did I interrupt you? You should be visiting your grandmother now, shouldn't you? Why don't we go to her?" She feels like he already got enough interruptions on his way to visiting his grandmother. He got caught in talk with Daniel, Lydia, her. The sooner they visit her the better.

"I answer terror with terror."

♡

[Alex Andersen]

Listen to howl of our souls

tag

words

After Noland left with Lydia to bring him to his grandmother Alex remained in Noland's room to have a talk with those officers who observed Noland. He told them a few things they absolutely had to take care of. One thing was to double security since information he got on their 'alien friends' were that one of them was especially crazy that she could run after Noland right into their HQ and start attacking everybody.

After taking care of that he headed downstairs to catch up with the rest and check on the condition of infected people. He goes downstairs and after a few steps he notices something he did not know how to react to.
Maria Zenovia is having a conversation with Noland. "...Sweet Jesus..." He whispers and hesitates to go forwards.
"Problem...?" Dante asks as he rolls around Alex's left shoulder.
"Noland is what...14-15 and he acts more mature than her." Alex replies slowly.
"Umm...I don't see the issue in her being childish. There were no problems before..." Dante says, but wonders why would Alex point that out.

Alex starts walking forward very slowly.  "I bet he thinks she is some newbie walking around saying 'hello' to everyone else.....Why can't she act like she's supposed to...?" Alex whispers. It is not that big of a problem, but he feels uneasy around her because she is quite unpredictable and likes to troll. She called one of Alex's colleagues to the job earlier that day, so he could buy her a candy from the vending machine. Vending machine that was 100 meters away from her desk. Brilliant.
Alex did not want an Admiral to leave a bad impression on someone who puts belief into Knights to protect him and his friends, so he just interrupts the conversation trying to get Noland away from her ASAP.

"Alright, all done upstairs." Alex cuts in the conversation. "Admiral, what are you doing down here? Weren't you supposed to be training the newbies in the Arena?" Alex finds that little clue that helps him in his plan. It is almost time for her to go and train newcomers to Grim Reapers division and she is a role-model for them. Except for Daniel who finds her creepy and stays away from her. Daniel finds someone creepy....That person must be creepy then. "I see you've met our Admiral, Noland. I hope she is not problematic." Alex tries to joke about it. Well, Maria is one person that does not mind a joke. How could she? When it came to jokes she was much worse.

"Tremble in fear. That is all you can do, humans."

♡

[Noland Hardy]

Noland guessed that Maria must have been their boss. That cleared up why she would even bother checking in on him. That also explained why everyone was silent. Hearing that bit of it made her appearance seem less random.

"You have a really nice leader then," he responded to Alex's concern.

Looking back to Maria, he started to respond back to her as well. "I should be getting over there. I was shocked to see Daniel in here. That was all." He didn't want her to feel like she was intruding on anything, so he wanted to erase her concerns that she was holding them up.

"I'm actually glad you're here. I wanted to say something to you and ask you a question. First, I'm sure you weren't too happy that one of the Knights was endangered because of my activity. I'm sorry for putting all of you through that much trouble. I also want to thank you and the Knights for not putting me down like the rest would like to see."

As for the question, "I was told that becoming a Knight was on the table if the worst of the worst happened. What does a Knight even do on the regular basis?"

[Maria Zenovia]

To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure

@

Maria doesn't respond to Noland's compliment, but just smiles. If he only knew how not-nice she becomes when she is angry. Most members of the organization adore her for her behavior, but have never seen her actually fight outside the Arena. Rumors say that she is the one who ended 'Z', the legendary leader of Infernal Order, but most choose not to believe it. That is why people inside the organization like her and those outside are afraid of her.

"Please, don't apologize for it. It is our job and duty. Your skin means nothing to us. You are who you are. And plus, if I judged you because you are a 'different' it would be like judging myself...After all...not all of us here are humans either." She ends that little speech with a mild hum.  Perhaps a little too much said on her background.
"And Alex was the first one to run on the mission when he heard what was going on. So, that danger is on him." She jokingly explains. Perhaps Alex could not stand seeing Noland getting killed; after all Noland's situation did remind him of Daniel's.

"Umm...same what you do every day..." She thinks before answering that question to Noland. "...except we get money aaaaand there is more of us... and BIG plus, people are too afraid to attack us..." She explains. Well, Resistors are an amazing team, but the fact that there is not even a dozen of them makes it impossible for them to reach out to everyone when in need. This way many can get harmed while Resistors are helping somewhere else. Knights can cover a lot more area and there are many of them who are as strong as Resistors themselves. And truthfully, people did dare to attack Silver Knights. Infernal Order was pretty confident, but they all ended up dying and their leader was crazy, so it kinda doesn't count.

"I answer terror with terror."

♡

[Noland Hardy]

Noland grinned when she revealed Alex's attitude towards the battle. It sounded like he did everything in his power just to rush over there.

"Heh, diversity. Good to hear," Noland laughed, knowing she wasn't supposed to tell him that.

The confirmation of not having to change what he was doing that much was a huge plus. That's massive weight off of his shoulders. If he becomes a Knight and anyone close to him is attacked, he can have numerous brawlers flood all over the ground very easily. They'd never need the police's incompetence again; they may as well be out of business. If he was ever attacked, the attackers would already know they're gone. This setup seemed too perfect to be real. This should have happened in the beginning.

"And someone implied that this was a terrorist group. Please..." He said that with a low tone. Even then, he just had to let that out.

"It's very nice to meet you, Ms. Zenovia. If there's anything you need from me, let me know. I'm in your debt." With that said, they all started making the walk down to the quarantine wing.

[Alana Cortese]

Alana was quiet the entire time during the encounter with Danial and Maria. This was mostly Hydranoid's doing since he didn't want her to get put out into the street if she says one more thing to upset everyone. This group wasn't the one to make enemies with, so he didn't want to get on their bad side again. He had faint flashbacks of encountering some of their forces while under the effects of the Doom Card. It's safe to say that he probably doesn't want to do that anymore since he may not have the same luck today with people like Alex and Maria around.

...He was a bit surprised that there was a fellow Hydranoid in their ranks though.

What didn't come as a surprise was Noland's indirect mentioning of what Alana said earlier. This definitely didn't bode well for their relationship at all.

"Here we go again..." Hydranoid realized that they were at square on again. That remark would probably be the first step. War was going to break out soon.

Realizing that one single word messed everything up regardless of how she meant it, Alana took a hint and said nothing for as long as she could. She just followed along, almost like she wasn't there.

[Noland Hardy]

The group made their way to the quarantine wing. Along the way, many Knights stared in amazement that Noland was on his feet. The other reason could've been that Maria was walking with him. They must have considered it a feat on its own that he got her attention so easily. Hopefully, that didn't turn out to be a bad thing.

It didn't take them long to reach Grandma and the Hederick's. They looked so isolated in the glass dome-like area they were in, the only company being the other infected ones the Knights deemed healthy enough to be saved. Drago was in front of it, having been inspected by some fanboys and fangirls within the organization.

"You sleep well, Drago?" Noland asked.

"You're not supposed to be awake to ask me that," he responded, also shocked that he was moving. "It may take a while if you start talking to her. I think there's someone you need to talk to first. Someone's apparently not too happy..."

Noland looked to the far right to see Allen sitting on a comfortable couch in the waiting area. He looked like he was trying to clear his head, the look Noland recognized when he was really going through something. He walked over there to see how his friend was holding up.

"I was wondering where you were. You good?"

[Allen Silva]

Noland didnt look good at all. Granted he just went through a rampage, ending in being put here." I gotta be doing better than you man. You look like you got hit by a car."

" we were also probably up to more than you as well." Gorem gave his own two cents into the conversation. " go on, tell him what we did."

Allen glared at Gorem for a moment, then soghed and shrugged." Guess theres no point in holding back. First off, a strange masked guy showed up. He started spouting stuff about the Hurranians. Then.we got into a brawl. All the while, the peron who was guarding the infected with me was passed out. Ooh, and guess what mystery mans bakugan was..." He began. This statement though was rhetorical, so he didnt give him time to respond." Dharak. Thats right. He summoned out Dharak. I won though, which was kind of awesome. Afterwards i passed out. By the time i was awake enough to realize what was happening, my backup left."

[Noland Hardy]

"Thanks. I've been getting that a lot..." That was the first thing anyone would see if they knew what happened, so it wasn't too surprising that Allen said that. It was the truth anyway.

Out of everything that Allen said, the detail that drew immediate attention from him was the mentioning of a masked person using Hurranian power to wield Dharak. Allen didn't say Belphenoid, which was the more recent take on Dharak himself. He directly said Dharak. That sounded very bad.

"Kind of awesome? You just beat a way stronger version of the one I beat to become the Master Blaze. You're a legend," Noland asserted, extremely proud of Allen for his ability to overcome that monster.

"I don't mean to rain on your parade, but Dharak being there like that is not good. Not good at all. I was concerned that the Hurranians had access to the Pack's DNA. Now they're using an actual Dharaknoid form. That's one of the very few Bakugan that they should never have, and now they do."

Noland turned back to Alex and/or Maria, wondering if they had an answer for this.

"You haven't seen a masked person around, have you?"