Episode 37: Our Flame Is Greater Than Yours

[Damian Knight]

There was no disappointment in how this was going for Damian. He knew from every time him and Noland have crossed each other's path that their fights tend to go back and forth. Damian did notice a difference in this brawl though. Previously, Drago had to use his special power to combat Helios' Second Layer. Even with Damian taking this more seriously than he had before, Drago was now fighting against the Second Layer while remaining in his base form.

Seeing things how they were now, Damian could tell that Helios and Drago were evenly matched in power because of the Third Layer being an option. Having to resort to that mode wasn't an issue. He had wanted to do that from the start. He would have to in order to survive against Drago's new dark mode, or anything within that realm of power.

Before that would happen, Damian would have to ensure that enough damage is done to Drago that would give him an unnecessary edge against Drago's forms. The advantage would be unnecessary since the activation of the Third Layer would usually result in the opponent's death.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Noland. I'm a bit excited that you're equal to me now. On the other hand, I'm worried about how long that's going to last for you. Ability activate! Explosion Crash!" An extremely lethal ability in the Second Layer, Helios lunged at Drago mid-fight and landed a punch to his chest. The attack inherently carried heat from the planet's core and marked him with it. In due time, it would detonate to spread the flames and cause even more damage.

[Noland Hardy]

Drago didn't have too much time to spend flinching from the punch while Helios was still trying to knock him out. He had to tough it out and hope that his enhancement would stay with him. Noland knew this too, so he swiped an ability. Before he completed the action, Helios' attack detonated on Drago and covered him a huge pile of smoke. Noland still played the ability, showing his increase in mental discipline in battle.

"Drago! Bounce back! Ability activate!"

"Maximum Rising!" Drago finished. He tapped into the lowest well of energy from the Switch Code and applied it to his body. This energy regenerated the broken aura and forged it into a much stronger one, boosting his abilities even further.

Drago pushed himself out of the smoke and into Helios' face. He drove his horn into Helios' belly to send him rocketing to the other side of the field. Drago's speed had improved enough to where he could stop Helios mid-flight, use the tail to lash his back, and then deliver a double-axe handle to his gut to send him plummeting into the lava. The impact must have put a sizable crater in the ground since the lava started to sink.

"Are you really sure about us being equal now? I could find many reputable sources that would disagree with you on that one."

[Damian Knight]

Damian scoffed at Noland's thought that just because he's fighting against Helios' Second Layer with success in his base form means that Drago is stronger than Helios. "I'll let you and your sources in on a little secret once I swat your Dragonoid out of the air like a bug, okay?"

Damian began the process of doing exactly what he said he was about to do. "Ability activate! Sol Pulse!" This was the Second Layer's iteration of Sol Breaker. The only noticeable difference in appearance was that Sol Pulse looked more like rays than lasers. All anyone could see was numerous light rays popping up from the lava and covering the sky with a surging wave of unbearable fire. From that angle, the attack was unavoidable. Drago was sent into the remnants of the lava with that move, placing him in the same situation Helios was in.

"Good. Now that that's out of the way, we can talk about Helios for a moment. Helios are born from the cores of the dimension in their respective attributes. They are inherently able to manipulate that energy for application in battle, so what you see Helios doing in the Second Layer is natural. The Layers themselves are not. Helios' layers do not fall in line with your average power-ups or whatever you want to call them. They are actually the result of an injury to a vital organ that puts him at risk of being overloaded with the power he has in his body. So what does he do to compensate? The Layers."

As Damian was explaining this, Helios was transitioning to the Third Layer. The bright light that was showing everyone where Helios was made it obvious that he was transforming. Even after the lava subsided and showed his full form, his humanoid form was visible, but it was masked by this blinding light.

"They force Helios to contain his power in respectable amounts to keep him from losing control of it. You tell him to vent some of that stored power, and you get a Layer. So in reality, you fought me the first two times while Helios was less than his base. The first one led to Drago being brought down, even though it was a tie. You did much better on the second one. Bravo. This time, you're actually fighting evenly with his base level without going into your special color. So yeah, I'm pretty sure I was right when I said you're my equal now."

"Don't be disappointed about that though, Drago. You're still strong," Helios said as the light around his body started to fade and reveal his Third Layer transformation. "You just weren't stronger than me. That's all"

Helios' appearance now was undoubtedly more terrifying than the Second Layer. The least important of the new additions was the Pyrus symbol now being etched on his upper body, where the heart would typically be located. This was probably done to show which attribute core Helios came from.

Adding on to the chest armor Helios had already received from the Second Layer, he received additional plating in several areas: his scales now extended across both of his legs, front and back; his shoulders; his arms; and his spine. The most important attribute of these scales were in the cosmetic change to them: there was a steady fire burning on them like an over-the-top camouflage on a Call of Duty gun that totally breaks immersion in the game. Why was that important? Damian would never reveal that part; it was a very important secret.

Once the energy seemed to stabilize, the sky's color became orange. Helios stood tall, seemingly unharmed and ready for a huge fight.

"Your move, champ," Damian suggested, laughing a bit.

[Noland Hardy]

Drago used his hands to hold himself up in a bent-over position when Helios was transforming. He was slowly picking himself up, having received considerable damage from Helios' attack. Once he laid eyes on Helios' Third Layer, he knew what he and Noland had to do to remain relevant.

But would that be enough against a Bakugan who can manipulate power that Drago doesn't have? Noland would then have to ask himself this. Why would it matter if Helios can use that energy and Drago can't? Noland and Drago have a power that's theoretically beyond that type of energy. More importantly, does Noland believe that to be true? Is he too intimidated by Damian's power that it would cause him to lose focus and make forming that energy impossible?

"So that's your Third Layer, huh?" Noland had to be subjected to people in the audience shouting for Helios to decimate Drago in that form. Then there were people who cheered for Noland in hopes that he'd find a way to win the duel. Either way, they were irrelevant to Noland in the long run, but it was worth mentioning which side they were taking when they have no idea what's going on.

"If it makes you feel more secure about yourself, then go ahead and put me down about our previous battles. I wouldn't want that pompous attitude of yours to go away so soon. It wouldn't be the same before your Helios burns out," Noland suggested. "Anyway, your claim about being stronger than me in our previous battles is subjective. Whether or not you were isn't relevant anymore. You could say whatever you want about how strong or weak someone was in the past, but those results are already in, and if it wasn't a win, then you're just guessing by what you said."

"If you're stronger than me, then it'll show here very clearly. That's all that matters to me now. Forget about the AIDS in the audience. I have people who are counting on me to win this battle, so I can't get myself caught up in what could have happened before. This is in my control right now, and I'm going to seize the victory regardless of what happens to you and your planet."

Energy started to rise from Noland and Drago's bodies. They powered themselves up in a short amount of time, which was enough to cause a circular symbol - one where all six attributes outlined the outer rim of the symbol - to appear on both of their hands. The energy then burst forth to change Drago's color scheme from red to rainbow.

"It's not as flashy or time consuming as yours is," Drago admitted to Helios, "but it's enough to beat you."

"Oh, and one more thing, Damian. I'd hate to hold back against you, but surely someone with your power can understand why I won't use the Hex Code. It may or may not involve you being killed on accident," Noland mocked with a cocky smile on his face.

(Boss Theme 2)

[Damian Knight]

"Right back at you, Noland," Helios retorted. "If I had a body to waste to use the Fourth Layer on you, none of you would be here right now."

Damian smiled as he shook his head at Noland's unbelievable conviction to still keep going like this. It was admirable to see someone as strong as he was, but only for the entertainment factor. Noland said it best when he talked about having to beat Damian. Noland had to lose, and it was way more important than just seeing who was stronger.

"So we're both covering something up even though we're this strong," Damian acknowledged. "I rarely ever say this to anyone, but you're deserving of it. You're shaping up to be the strongest brawler I've ever faced. The only difference between the both of us now is that I'm more stubborn than you are. Check it."

The set of abilities for Helios' Third Layer were crimson in color as opposed to their usual plain color. When he set that on his BakuMeter, the ridges of the device appeared to have been set on fire, set ablaze by the sheer ferocity of Helios' power.

"Ability activate! Bursting Aggressor!" This was the same ability that Damian had attempted to use against Alex, except that it was interrupted by Jamal's interference. This time, it was going to be put to work.

The entire point behind this technique was to use the unbearable temperature of Helios' core to boost his physical attack strength to its highest level. This was due to his blows being backed by a steady flow of lava thanks to his entire body being enveloped in it like a coat of armor. Helios rushed at Drago, giving everyone the appearance that he somehow teleported in front of him because he moved so fast. He would deliver a horn smash capable of destroying a target, or, if the attack failed to connect, would easily lacerate the target due to the extreme heat.

[Noland Hardy]

Regardless of the enhanced speed Helios received, Drago could still see where he was going. The only issue was dodging it. He could tell that Helios was packing some serious heat with this approach. He'd get burned either way, even though he'd still survive thanks to the Switch Code coating anyway.

"You just might be right. You really don't know when to keep your mouth shut and just walk away," Noland agreed. Damian was probably the most stubborn person he knows about. That was a fact. "Ability activate! Absolute Defense!"

Drago's wings transitioned back to the giant wingspan that sacrifices some speed for more power. He quickly knelt on the ground and covered himself with his wings. Although the impact was greatly suppressed from Drago's defense, the barriers surrounding the battle arena that were supposed to keep everyone safe from harm were pretty much broken. The only thing they really needed now was for a powerful force to blow the entire grid offline.

"Wait...the barriers!? They're breaking!?" The slight pause in action from Helios struggling to get past Drago's guard gave Noland the split three seconds he needed to notice what was happening around him. A good way to figure out that you're too powerful is to not even realize the damage you're causing until it's too late.

"Try harder next time!" Drago angrily commanded to Helios. He linked his Rage Fire attack to his set of wings - which were given the Dextra treatment and colored rainbow - and unfolded them to violently repel Helios and send an extremely potent force of monstrous pressure across the horizon. The barriers crumbled in the wake of two super-powered Bakugan, and it seemed like there was nothing the audience could do, except for acknowledging that their deaths may come sooner than the Hurranian assault.

[Michael Schulz]

Spartan and his Bakugan are going overboard again.
They might not even be aware of what they're doing.
On the other hand, not like they care about thousands of innocents; they are as heartless as ever. What they fail to notice is that their comrade, Jamal, is not very far from the destruction they're spreading and breaking through the barrier and killing everyone with this means killing Jamal, too.
"Stupid kid!" Someone shouts from the audience.
After that a flash of light occurs on the battlefield and another dragon shows up. This one, however, is not like Drago or Helios. He is entirely made of metal.
Ferrum Dragonoid, Guardian of Michael Schulz, a.k.a. Dynamo of Mighty Five.
This Dragonoid's popular nick name is also Metallius.
Their defensive power is praised among Silver Knights; especially because Dragonoids are usually expected to have very high offensive power instead.

"Aural Barrier!" Michael appears on the edge of the battlefield.
He uses Normal Ability card of Aural-class; Aural Barrier.
This ability can create a barrier in any shape, form and size.
Metallius soars to the air space above the battlefield's center. His body flashes and ability is triggered. Crystal-like barriers instantly appear in shape fitting the space where audience resides. Whoever prepared the Arena certainly did not think Helios would go this far on his extremes to break the old barrier. Thankfully, Aural Barrier is at least 5 times stronger. To make sure it holds out until two brawlers end their fight Michael activates another ability.
"Aural Link." This is a support Normal Ability card of Aural-class.
It can only be used if another Aural-class ability is used.

Metallius wraps himself in a crystal-like barrier.
Colorful wires emerge from his body and extend.
They all attach on the Aural Barrier. Obvious effects of Aural Link: reinforcement of Aural Barrier. Thanks to this Aural Barrier is at least 20 times stronger than the old barrier now.
However, even with this Metallius is still in his base form, which means if Helios decides to be even bigger of an asshole and risk death of not only the audience but also Jamal and Volcan he will definitely break through.

[Damian Knight]

Helios performed several backflips in the air before he was able to regain his composure. It was definitely a way to confirm that Drago's color change wasn't just for looks either and that this was mightily different from how it was done in the past. The main problem for the opponent was that Helios seemed to emerge from that without any damage at all.

"Tsk...you got lucky!" Helios roared. The roar itself was enough to ripple uncomfortable energy waves through the Mighty Five member's barrier.

Contrary to popular belief, Damian wasn't going to confront the person who deployed that Dragonoid as it was never his direct intention to destroy everyone else in the wake of his power. He'd probably attract the rest of the Silver Knights as well if he did, and then the entire brawl would have been ruined.

"That's a grand shame. You're the hosts and you never bothered to provide an adequate barrier. You knew I was coming," Damian said about the barrier breaking. "Try this one out. Ability activate! Dragon Pulse!"

A certain-kill technique in nature, this involves the spikes along Helios' body glowing and discharging from his body like missiles. Rather than cause explosions as a missile would, what these projectiles would do instead is merge with the affected target and melt them from the entry point all the way to the exit point, leaving zero traces of anything they travel across. Pyrus Bakugan usually have better chances to survive this technique than any other Bakugan though.

[Noland Hardy]

Seeing Michael deploy the emergency barrier after Noland and Damian broke the original one was a relief, but would it hold up? That was the question Noland couldn't bother himself to focus on, because he could tell that Helios' power in the Third Layer was more lethal than he could have anticipated.

"You'd be lucky to kill me with that attack," Drago shot back to possibly make Helios even more frustrated. Despite the attack being a certain-kill technique, it was not going to kill Drago while he was in the Switch Code transformation. Would it seriously damage him? Absolutely. Kill him? Never.

"Ability activate! Nova Sentry!" Two Chinese Dragons emerged from Drago's body. Their presence granted Drago a figurative invulnerability as they were now absorbing the power of Helios' ability just by them being present. They both lunged at Helios and clamped onto his torso. This caused the flame animation in Helios' scales to disappear, which intrigued Noland and Drago when they saw this.

The dragons then slammed Helios on the ground and hovered above him in preparation for a finishing attack.

[Damian Knight]

Damian cracked a bit of a smile when he realized that Noland and Drago saw the change in the appearance of Helios' scales. He wasn't going to say anything to them about why that happened, but they'd at least have a hint about what it does by seeing Helios actually get damaged from the slam.

"So you saw that, didn't you? I wonder what that could be," Damian joked. "Ability activate! Focus Fire!"

Helios's power plunged deep into the ground to completely transform the terrain into that of a volcanic mountain. Lava began to surge straight up from where Helios was. It penetrated Metallius' barrier, even though that wasn't Damian's intention. He did it so that Helios could quickly overload Drago's Nova Sentries before they became a huge problem; the barrier was just in the way.

"Oops. My bad," Helios apologized for the collateral damage. It was unknown whether he was really sincere about that apology or not.

Even when he said that, he performed the attack again, but included Drago in the mix this time.

[Noland Hardy]

Noland scowled at the scene of him possibly getting overwhelmed. Drago's Switch Code gave him enough protection to prevent him from getting burned to ashes from all of the lava, but it did a number on him when Drago's fortifications made him travel along with the lava stream, making him break through Metallius' barrier with his own body. Drago fell back to the ground like a meteor.

"Drago, be careful! There's something about those scales that I don't like!" Noland shouted, forgoing the expected questioning of Drago's condition. He knew Drago was okay anyway.

"Of course," Drago answered. He returned to his feet once he made the hard landing. His Switch Code shielding was beginning to reform from the pieces that were burned away by Helios' ability.

"This is bad...I don't want it to seem like I'm against the Silver Knights by breaking down Michael's barrier, but...I'm going to get destroyed if I hold back," Noland realized in his mind.

[Damian Knight]

Helios' scales were shining brightly after he was submerged in his own attack. He was seemingly unaffected by it too. When he was seen again, his scales depicted the same fiery animation that they once held.

"But there's something about those scales that I like, Noland" Damian butted in. "Aside from it looking way better than Drago's, obviously."

"Why would you worry about that though? Your Dragonoid said that form of his was enough to beat me. Are you the one eating your words now about having enough power to match mine? It's funny how the roles seem to shift in the heat of battle. It's like all of you look so pitifully weak when I get serious, especially the Silver Knight who put up that shield earlier."

"That won't be a problem for you though, Noland. You're the only one I'll acknowledge being strong enough to brawl me at this level, but that doesn't mean you'll be able to beat me, not the way this is going."

Damian played a weaker ability to put some pressure on the impacted Drago. "Ability activate! Searing Sky!"

An adaptation of the Savage Air ability from his suppressed First Layer, Searing Sky would get its use from the atmospheric destabilization caused from the Third Layer's transformation, as the orange sky depicted much earlier. The air quality was undoubtedly affected by Helios' presence, so it offered a very versatile range of attacking options.

What Helios opted to do was cause enough of a disturbance in the atmosphere to develop a storm up above. In about three seconds, a fierce lightning bolt struck down to where Drago was standing.

"I told you before, Drago. You are not stronger than me, and that's final!" Helios roared in an anticipated victory.

[Noland Hardy]

"Natural...lightning?" Noland was forced to get low when the lightning bolt struck. The force of it was enough to completely break the barrier...again. This definitely scared enough people in the audience to warrant a complete shutdown, but guess who would never allow that? Kyuki wouldn't. This brawl was going to end in someone going down, not by someone calling it quits.

Drago wasn't going to be the one to quit either. It was revealed that he actually lessened the impact from what it should have been by putting his right hand in the way and dispersing it with his palm. It was the same way he did when Dharak used a similar attack against him, and Noland's biggest fans couldn't help but call that out when Drago did it. All Drago could do was laugh.

"Hey, Noland. You want to do the thing?" Drago peculiarly asked.

"Totally. Let's go." Noland seemed to know the plan. All that was necessary to see was what it actually was. "Ability activate! Paragon Blazer!"

The Switch Code enabled Drago to use way less energy than he usually would to cast this technique, and the results were astounding. A phoenix was not the result of this ability. What actually happened - which definitely shocked every spectator - was that the avatar was smaller than what Drago had usually been able to create, but it was in the appearance of a humanoid Dragonoid. It was the personification of Drago's DNA - the Ultimate Warrior Gene.

It let out a roar to make the sky blue again as well as restoring the barrier around the arena to a much stronger fortification. Then it set it sights on Helios.

"Here it comes, Damian. It looks upset," Noland warned his rival.

[Damian Knight]

Damian grunted when Drago was able to survive that attack. It shouldn't have been that easy to nullify that lightning strike, and now he had boosted the powers of Michael's Metallius to erect a barrier that would likely hold this time.

Even worse, Drago was now wanting to make a mockery of Helios' power. That could not be tolerated.

"Not as upset as I am," Damian warned Noland back. "Helios!"

Helios did not dare to look intimidated by the broad scope of Drago's power. He knew that his was just as resourceful, if not more intimidating. "I'll make it burn!"

"Ability activate! Nova Blazer X!" From the way it sounded, one would guess that Damian just played a forbidden ability in league with the ones Noland activated while Drago was under the influence of the Hex Code. Whoever would guess that would be very close to the correct answer. This ability was THE technique that accurately represents the reason why Damian does not decide to use the Third Layer often. It wasn't forbidden because of what happens to Helios' body; it was forbidden because of what happens to the souls unfortunate enough to come across this ability.

The Third Layer's power increase is substantial enough to allow Helios to one-shot most of the Bakugan he would come across just by tapping them incorrectly. What would make that even more powerful? Erect an orb around Helios that looks like the sun - making him nearly impossible to attack head-on - and have red energy strips constantly exit the sphere to attack the target. Why is that so bad? The properties of the ability would make it so that any victim who has a lesser power level than Helios in his Third Layer would be automatically defeated, regardless of who they are.

[Noland Hardy]

Vince came into Noland's mind when Helios declared that move. He could remember his dad's every move in that final test against Apollonir and saw how calm he was in the face of great power. Vince was a pro brawler for many reasons, but that had to be one of his defining characteristics. The reason why Noland considered that test to be the best brawl he ever fought was because he was powerful enough in the brawling aspect to understand why it was so important to maintain that level of thinking. It allowed the person to easily see things they would miss if their mind was focused on something different.

That's when Noland realized how much he had grown since he brawled for the first time. If Damian had sprung that attack much earlier, Noland knew he would have been thinking of the best ways he could try and overpower the attack since it looked like a dire situation. In reality, it wasn't as bad as it looked, even though Noland and Drago knew the attack was a theoretical one-shot. You didn't even need to be on the same level of power as a Switch Code wielder to see that either.

Vulcan's G-Factor would be able to ward off this attack for a good length of time. Gladion could stop time with his scythe to prevent this type of ability from ever being used or outright live through this attack with the Body of Atlas, and he wouldn't even need to use his DNA Catalyst. Gargulion could phase right through this attack. With his Advanced Fusion Ability, Gorem would have a higher chance of surviving this attack by taking a hit than Drago does right now. That's just to give a few examples.

Noland cycled through all of those things in his head to confirm in his mind that being powerful doesn't necessarily matter; if you have a counter against that kind of power, then it doesn't matter how much lethal force they wield. And then Noland realized...that's why Allen trained in defense in the first place...

"It's dangerous that you have this kind of power, Damian. Even you would have to agree that it has gone to your head," Noland commented. He got two abilities ready on his BrawlX before pointing towards the sun on the field: Helios. "Unfortunately for you, this flagrant display you have going here isn't going to phase me. It wouldn't matter to me if you used the full power of this planet's core; you'll never break me! Ability activate! Infernus Rocket!"

The humanoid Dragonoid was converted into a malleable sphere of pure energy that Drago was able to hold in between the palms of his outstretched hands. Small pillars of light - toothpicks as Noland would call them when he was way younger - were seen covering it around its form. Drago took off towards the incoming flame trails like he was committing suicide. Thanks to the ability Noland was swiping now, it was the exact opposite.

"Here you go. Ability activate! Slip Damage!" The signature space-time technique unique to Drago, the ability warped reality through the eyes of Noland and Drago. All they saw was Helios in his Second Layer, so that was all the ability would require them to face for a limited time. This basically eliminated the entire point behind Helios' ability since Drago's power level is obviously higher than the Second Layer.

Drago waltzed through the sky without ever coming close to being defeated by the forbidden ability. While the scene was in his favor, Drago opted to launch his Infernus Rocket directly at Helios since he couldn't do a thing about it.

"Coming at you hot!" Drago warned as he threw the Dextra-enhanced projectile.