Episode 42: Scorched Earth Policy

[Prof.Dr.Kyuki]

Meanwhile...
Once Maria set the Doom Card and created a barrier that trapped everyone, but Alana and Hydranoid in there it got even more complicated for Allen and Gorem. Not only that they were locked in with 2 Admirals, but could not escape out of those barriers if things get too rough.
Admiral Amagi and his dark dragon, Clade, have been fighting Allen and his Gorem for some time now. The fact that infected Maria was in the play, too, it was very unlikely for Allen and Gorem to survive this encounter.
They have been doing it well so far; Gorem received dozens of hits from Clade's abilities, but was still standing and keeping his guard up.
However, Clade was barely warming up from this fight with Gorem- his style was simply toying with Gorem by unleashing corroding flames and seeing Gorem guard against it.
Sooner or later, Gorem would have to switch to offense which was, again, going in Clade's favor since he is an attack-based and ailment-based Bakugan that can easily take down defensive Bakugans who play offense.
Even if Gorem decided for full defense it would eventually rot away due to Clade's corroding flames.


However... with Noland in the picture and the fact that he has abilities that can break Zero Hydranoid's forms to the base there might be a thin ray of hope for this battle as well.
Unfortunately, Asuka probably did not know that Amagi and Clade were revived; otherwise she would have given Noland abilities to deal with them as well.
Time-space abilities are of very little effect against Clade.


"Ability activate!" Amagi declares. "Black Night Blizzard!"


Clade spews dark-purple 'snow' of some sort that surrounds Gorem. It begins to corrode Gorem's defensive stance and slowly break it to Gorem's body.
It will only take a few seconds before it reaches Gorem, so he and Allen will have to use another ability.


"Good job at prolonging the inevitable, Iron Juggernaut. But how long can those shields of yours last, hm?" Amagi coldly comments seeing that he has upper hand against Allen regardless if Gorem goes for defense or offense at this point.

[Allen Silva]

Allen was in a bad spot. He was brawling a admiral in the Silver Knights, and was not on the winning side so far. Any attempt at a stall was crushed by Amagi' s powerful abilities. Case in point, his last barrier getting destroyed by whatever this acidic substance was. Either way, things were not going according to plan for Allen.

" what can I do? He's outclassed every move that I've made, and he doesn't appear to be breaking a sweat." Allen questioned his options, looking for a way out. All he could come up with was survive. " I can't use Dominator yet. That would just shove my foot where I don't want it."

Gore was getting more and more uncomfortable as his barrier was breaking down. " yeah. Existential crises asidr, I need a ability like now."

" Here goes something. Dual ability activate, Equilibrium purge plus Sentry Golem." Allen placed the two abilities he thought would deal the most damage up to activate. The first made Gorem use his stores energy as a sort of cleansing blast. This eliminated Clade' s "snow" from the field, giving Gorem some breathing room.

Next up came the actual punch of the combo, Sentry Golem. Gorem first rooted himself into the ground, allowing him to survive any negative side effects. Then he blasted a force wave at Clade, intending to push him back and cause as much damage as possible to the bakugan. How much that was, he didn't know. But Allen couldn't let himself be stuck in a eternal loop of getting crushed by Clade's wicked power.

[Prof.Dr.Kyuki]

Amagi draws three cards from his pocket.
One is black and has golden 'X' on its back.
Second is red and has black 'Y' on its back.
And third is blue with purple 'Z' on its back.
These three cards are Devil's Smile, Undead Flame and Break of Destiny. When used one after another without being negated that combo is known as 'Blight' and has side-effects such as infecting enemies with 'Zombie' status effect that makes them attack even they own allies and will ignore what their brawler really wants; they become mindless and do not follow any tactic.
If used together then combo is called 'XYZ: Holy Destruction' and is an ability that used to rival Zero Hydranoid's ability, Abyssal Blitzkrieg.
However, Amagi has no intention of using the latter; doing so would destroy the HQ and all valuable data and knowledge that was supposed to be obtained.
First one should be enough to force Allen to become more 'active' in the fight.

"A+ for the effort, kid." Amagi comments on Allen's move. However, he does look upset about what just happened. A little scratch like that will not even slow Clade down.
Bakugans that are identified as 'dragon' usually pack terrifying powers. Mix that with the fact that Clade is identified as 'undead' Bakugan as well and you have one hell of a Friday night; immunity to venom, does not feel pain, fear and almost all attacks can turn enemies into undead if enemies are not strong enough to endure. "Ability activate! Devil' Smile!"

After naming that ability reaction happens. Clade lets out a demonic roar and slams his fists against the ground.
All colors go negative in the area where they fight. That kind of visual distortion can heavily impact one's precision and make Gorem lose some important shots. Also, it could cause epilepsy because soon colors begin to 'dance'.
Clade does not seem to be bothered by it- his sense of smell guides him better than his own eyes. However, all this was just a first effect.
Clade then roars again and triggers hundreds of, so called, devils' arms to emerge from the ground and wrap around Gorem immobilizing him completely and infusing him with, so called, mental venom which does not harm the body but eventually produces hallucinations and decreases mobility of a Bakugan.

"Hmm... Why don't you do yourself a favor and leave while you still can? I have no intentions of chasing you around... my goal does not have to do anything with you." Amagi questions, but it is more-or-less a rhetorical question. He is pretty sure Allen will not leave no matter what is said to him. Not that he really can leave anyway with that barrier Maria set up. Amagi could effortlessly break through it and let Allen go tho.

[Allen Silva]

Allen wasn't caught of guard by Amagi ignoring his attack. That level of power was not going to do more than anger Class a little bit. And even that was a best case scenario. Amagi utilized a ability that didn't sound or look good for Gorem. Allen couldn't tell what was going on, but Gorem Gore was completely immobilized by these strange arms that wrapped around him.

" sorry compadre, no can do." Allen gave his answer to the obviously rhetorical question. Allen was 99% sure that the doom barrier kept him stuck where he was. But some bravado never really hurt him... too much. This bravado was a farce though, as Allen was running through options of how to beat this freak and his pet Dragon. He knew the Advanced Fusion had too many drawbacks to try so early in the battle, and his barriers were like paper. That left one option. Get in his face." Noland's already booked at the moment. If you want him, You're going to have to get through me. Gorem, you ready for something stupid."

Gorem, partially delirious from Devils smile, barely heard a word of what Allen said, but assumed he had a plan. Either that or he was loosing his mind too." Anything is better than this. So yeah, sign me up for whatever is gonna happen. "

Allen smirked a little. Gorem was maintaining his humor, so why shouldn't he." Sweet. Time for some boxing practice. Ability activate, Vicious counter."

Gorem found out what was happening a moment later than he should have. Next thing he knew, he broke through the arms, and had appeared behind Clade, ready to blast him with a hard right hook. He didn't know how this was better than maybe Gravitron Balistae, but at least the hands were off of him.

[Prof.Dr.Kyuki]

Clade did not move to avoid that attack nor was Amagi using an ability to stop it. Clade took a direct hit from that and leaned forward under the pressure.  

That attack did damage, but the fact that Clade only leaned over says a lot about effectivity of that attack. Right after getting hut he moves back up as he used to, but does not face Gorem. Amagi activates the Undead Flame card he was holding. Gorem already negated Devil’s Smile so extra combo effects will not be triggered, but Amagi will use this anyway. 

Even without the combo it should be very effective.  

“If you will not move you leave me no other choice. You will be torn apart.” Amagi replies to Allen. 

“Ability activate! Undead Flame!” Amagi says. 

Clade flaps his wings and roars. Wings produce dark-purple flames with white color on the edges. Flames spread in all directions and wrap Clade and Gorem who was too close for his own good. This attack can be used by any type of dragon, but its drawback is that it also hurts the user. However, it cannot affect undead types- and Clade is undead. Perfect. 

Flames still have not hit Gorem giving him a brief opportunity to counter. 

[Allen Silva]

Gore was in, somehow, a worse spot than before. Now, he was trapped with Clade inside a flame wall. Even worse, those flames were going to stop any offense Gorem should have been able to stop. Although it was obvious he avoided the worst case, this wasn't much better.

Allen set up a ability in the brief window he had available. He wasn't sure if this flame had side effects, but risking it against a powerful foe like Amagi was tantamount to suicide." Ability activate, Mineral Barrier." This was his best option. With mineral barrier, the rocks would slow down the flames, and weaken them a bit. That way, hopefully, it won t burn right through the actual shield part of the ability.

And it appeared to do just that. Gorem was now sitting in a isolated bubble, protected from Clade's newest offering." Sorry, tearing me apart isn't as easy as it sounds. A lot of people have tried, but none succeed. Although, don't let that discourage you from trying."

[Prof.Dr.Kyuki]

Amagi makes a thin smirk seeing how Allen plays his defense.
As if defensive moves were ever effective against Clade.
For years while Amagi was in his position there was no defense-oriented Admiral and defense-oriented Generals were scarce; barely anyone would pass his tests and examinations if they were defense-oriented.
Maria had to go with full offensive to pass the tests; it was a tough job for her because that was when she used Misfortune 13 for the first time.
Asuka passed it easily; she effortlessly pulverized Clade, but it is mostly because Ares was superior to Clade from the very beginning.
Allen actually played exactly what Amagi expected him to. After 2 abilities he previously played he expected Allen to go to defense and leap into jaws of the third ability.


"The harder the challenge, the more satisfying the victory." Amagi replies to what Allen said. "Ability activate! Break of Destiny!"

Clade's eyes flash in dark-purple as he roars.
His roar creates pulsating waves of some twisted energy that resembles a cloud of Darkus dust, but much darker and chaotic.
Cloud expands and catches the whole battefield; excluding the part where Zero Hydranoid and Dragonoid were fighting.
Suddenly, Gorem finds himself unprotected in the same spot he used to be when the battle started.

Break of Destiny is an ability that infuses an opponent with 'undead energy' and slowly turns them into a zombie, BUT if enemy uses some kind of defensive ability Break of Destiny will reset opponent's status and abilities to the base leaving them wide open for Clade to attack. And that is what happened with Gorem; he used a defensive ability and Clade used BoD to reset it.
Now Gorem is wide open for an attack. Clade opens his mouth and exhales a powerful dark-purple flame directly at Gorem expecting him to use another defensive ability again.

[Allen Silva]

Clade activated a extremely powerful ability in response to Gorem's defense. In a matter of moments, Gorem lost his barrier, and was face to face with a blazing attack from the undead Dragon.

No time to send out a witty quip, Allen prepared to see Clade head on. If he couldn't use his defense, then offense was all he had. " ability activate, Magnitude Crash." He engaged a very simple yet effective attack. This risked Gorem being consumed by whatever attack was going to come, but that was the risk he had to take to win." Sorry bud, but this is all I got."

Gorem got as low to the ground as possible, avoiding a lot of the flames. And while the rest kicked at his back, he launched forward, prepared to ram his shoulder through Amagi' s plan. He didn't know what came next, but for now, it didn't matter.

[Prof.Dr.Kyuki]

Amagi reaches his pocket for another card.
This time it is a reflect-type ability to defend Clade and give Gorem some extra punishment. This ability is called 'Plague Shield'.
It is a very dangerous defensive ability because it causes 'plague' on attacker; it infects the attacker with a virus that turns attacker into a zombie and period before one becomes zombie depends on their parameters- especially resistance against ailments. Also, size of the body benefits the resistance. Both those definitely go into Gorem's favor since he is a 'rock-solid' opponent and can resist it for longer than any other Resistor would.
However, that does not last forever.


"Ability activate! Plague Shield!" Amagi raises the card triggering its activation.


Dark-green shield-like object appears in front of Clade as Gorem advances.
Gorem hits it and instantly cracks the shield. Gorem is pushed back and shield breaks. However, now Gorem's chest bears the mark of 'Plague'; a green skull that looks like it's screaming in agony. Gorem's body starts getting swarmed with billions of viruses that tend to turn him into a zombie, but it will take some time until it is complete; after all, it is a Gorem.


"Still willing to put up a fight, Resistor?" Amagi inquires seeing that Allen is not giving up after getting one disadvantage after another one.

[Allen Silva]

Gorem was obviously in some trouble. He now had a green mark on him, symbolizing some status effect that most likely would finish him over time. So all Allen had to do was win before that time passes. Easier said than done, but it was his only option now.

" looks like you still have some tricks up your sleeve. Guess I gotta finish this quickly then." Allen gave as his answer to Amagi. Quitting was never a option. Noland had to deal with another admiral. And two of them was too much for anyone to deal with. Even if that someone had the switch codes power. Allen set up two abilities to get his offense rolling. " Dual ability activate. Goliath Fortress plus pander sheen."

Gorem knew what was coming next. And he couldn't wait. First things first, Gorem utilized some of his energy to form the massive familiar from his previous evolutions signature attack. Of course it took on Titan Gorem's shape but that was more a aesthetic thing. Next up, Gorem s armour grew to cover the exposed bits before gardening into a almost unbreakable alloy. The stone monster did the same, with obvious differences. As he wasn't already made of metal, his body was only transformed into a iron like substance and didn't grow. Even so, now it was much stronger than before, and could take some punishment.

Gorem waves at Class to bring it on, which was mimicked by the Goliath Fortress." Don't get scared Now. I ain't done with you."

[Prof.Dr.Kyuki]

Amagi draws three cards once again.
They bear same symbols as three previous cards; X, Y and Z.
Unlike with the last ones Amagi plans to use three of these simultaneously, even though that could potentially annihilate the entire HQ and a good portion of Washington DC.
Despite Hurranians' plans for Knights' knowledge, this man does not seem to follow those plans- he wants to crush everything and everyone with these abilities.
Exactly Asuka would want, well... with one exception.
If he gets to go through with this he will kill everyone inside HQ, including himself, Maria and Resistors. It is very surprising at why he is disobeying what his plans were.
Maybe something is going on with him...


"Triple ability activate! Blight Breath plus Blight Burst plus Wicked Incursion!" He calls out as he simultaneously plays these three abilities.


Blight Breath is a breath-attack that does devastating damage and wherever it passes it creates 'Fungus Field'. That field creates spores wherever it takes over and whoever breathes in those spores will fall unconscious and turns into a zombie.
Blight Burst creates wide portals on enemy's sides, behind and above them and then releases energy bursts that melt down every inch of enemy's body until it turns into liquid. And Wicked Incursion is supposed to trigger once either one of the first hits; it will make countless evil spikes emerge from the ground in a radius of 4 kilometers and kill anything and anyone standing on the ground.


Clade begins with first and second ability. He takes a deep breath and launches a snow-white blast of Blight Breath at Gorem. At the same time, portals of Blight Burst open and release explosions at Gorem.
At the same time ground begins to shake violently announcing Wicked Incursion very soon.


This leaves Gorem only a few seconds. If he is hit by either of the 2 first he will not be able to avoid the other one and stop this.
Only a few seconds.
The last opportunity.

"..."

[Allen Silva]

Amagi set up a dangerous combination of abilities. Three abilities that were probably game enders if Gorem are it head on. Too bad he had already planned for something like this. All he had to do now, was land that game changing blow. That shot with the power to swing the momentum his way.

Allen had the double abilities set up to do just that." Dual ability activate. Here's where we start winning." Allen engaged the moves to counter even this devastating force. It didn't matter what he did now, Allen had him cornered.

The first ability that activated was a fusion ability called Grandious Bunker. This transformed both Gorem and the stone spawns metallic bodies into diamond. This armor would allow them to even take the combo head on. But just in case, the Rave wrecker ability activated. Using this, the pair ran straight through, Gorem using his creation as a sort of shield to block the damage. The two of them then threw a barrage of punches at Clade.

The undead bakugan had no counter to this move. Instead, it sailed through the air, landing on the doom barrier separating them from Noland and Maria. Clade continued to push through the barrier, until it actually broke, and he landed a few feet from where it once stood.

" Hey Noland, brought you a little present." Allen quipped, noticing they now had the upper hand. Or at least, that appeared to be the case.

[Noland Hardy]

Clade flew into Noland's battle right before Drago was about to one-shot Zero Hydranoid. He smashed right into her left side. The speed at which Clade made the dynamic entry was more than capable of producing a knockout force, especially when she didn't expect it to happen. The undead Dragonoid was laid out on top of Zero Hydranoid who was just knocked unconscious.

Noland was more than pleased with Allen teaching that Admiral a lesson on what it means to keep on pushing until the end. This meant that they get to live. Any feeling less than Noland's glee was simply inappropriate.

"What an interesting surprise, Maria. It looks as if your colleague didn't quite win over there. So much for being the weakest pieces on the board," Noland taunted. "I wouldn't be ashamed about that though. That's what happens when you step into the ring with my buddy over there. Now, I'm going to show you what happens when you deal with me."

Noland swiped an ability on his BrawlX that was from Drago's original form, Cinder Dragonoid. It was all that was necessary to take both Admirals out of the battle permanently. In their states, they couldn't take much. "Ability activate! Inferno Buster!"

Drago compressed Pyrus and solar energy into a ball of fire that, when unleashed and makes contact with the opposition, swirls them in a hellish explosion that should be enough to send them into the Doom Dimension where they belong.

[Maria Zenovia]

And so, that is finished.
Maria was defeated thanks to Asuka's trickery.
Amagi got his foolishness get in the way again; it got him killed in his previous life and it seems it will be no different here.
As if that was not enough, Clade hitting Freeze Hydranoid squeezed out that last drop of strength she had to fight or defend herself.
Dragonoid's attack is plenty to finish her off and, thanks to the Doom Card, send her to the Doom Dimension along with Clade, Amagi and Maria.

"Erase..." Maria dropped a card since she did not have strength to raise it. Card merges with the ground and affects the Doom Card completely erasing it and ensuring that no one gets the ticket to the Doom Dimension.

Hydra has no strength to defend herself so neither Maria or her bother to use a defensive ability. She gets hit by the blast that devours that last bit of strength Free of Regression left her with and finally turns back to the orb form.
Clade, on the other hand, gets hit and damaged but does not go back to the orb form; he just remains lying there without any attempt to get back up.
Maria leans against unconscious Clade with her head while the rest of her body remains motionless in the exhaustion. She breathes deeply and slowly not making any responses to what happened or showing any attempts of fighting any further.
Hydra peacefully jumps and lands on Maria's head.

"Man, I need a vacation..." She silently mumbles to herself after reviewing everything in her head on what has been happening for the past several months. "If I... survive this... I'm so moving away..." She continues to mumble to herself in hatred of this whole drama with Hurranians, Resistors, Legendary Soldiers and the rest of these things she did not want to get involved in the first place. At least Asuka promised her a good position on original Ragnarok airship where she can chill and get away from the whole drama and launch nukes at will.

[Dasia Turano]

"A strong IF...Miss Zenovia," a voice responded to Maria's tiredness. It was Dasia's voice, but it was spoken through Clade. A sizable portion of the Hurranians attached to him jumped off of it. They scurried to an open spot behind them so they could download Dasia into the area. A blue hologram was seen covering this entire process until a physical body was seen. It was definitely Dasia.

"So this is the base of operations for the Silver Knights? I've always wanted to pay a visit. I was hoping to introduce some new measures to the Royal Guard in inspiration of your little group here," she casually expressed, not that anyone in the immediate vicinity cared about what she was going to do to her Royal Guard.

She looked around to see that Noland, Allen, and Alana - the Resistor trio - were well within the area. She smiled at that observation. She then walked behind Maria and looked down at her. "Aren't you an Admiral? That Andersen fellow I met in Echo City is currently out of control, and your colleague is outside fighting against a very powerful enemy. What are you doing in here, wasting your energy fighting against the Resistors?"