Episode 44: This is Sparta

[Tank Stryker]

Gladion was paying close attention to his surroundings even before Lars Lion had to warn him that someone was coming. He could feel that eerie sensation in the air. Two brawlers that had no business being in this fight were about to jump him. Tank wasn't having any of that.

"No problem. Leave it to me," Tank confidently assured, believing solely on the fact that Gladion can respond to them effectively without too much trouble while using the DNA Catalyst. "Wait...those are..."

"Tsk...terrorist scum," Gladion spat. The Lumagrowl flashed a light and tried to pounce on Gladion to initiate an ability it activated - Flashing Peaker - but Gladion turned his body in mid-air to avoid it. Gladion swiftly readied a shot and put an arrow into the invisible foe that was in front of them, the one they call Strikeflier, the one who reportedly had a passive ability that was referred to as "Adaptability." It lets him consciously absorb knowledge of an opponent's power and lets him incorporate it into his battle style.

Strikeflier was somehow able to freeze the momentum on Gladion's arrows and make them fall to the ground instantly, done through a technique called Flash Out. Since Gladion was already stronger than him by a considerable margin, the ability didn't halt his movement. Gladion kept moving. He jumped off of Strikeflier's head and sent it to the ground after using its face as a booster.

Then...out of the corner of his eye, Tank saw a Gundalian diving towards him. Tank gave this one a nice landing pad for his face. The provision for one was provided by a peeved former quarterback "accidentally" swinging his left forearm up so the landing was perfect for the Gundalian. Tank casually tossed him right down to the ground below.

"Oh come on, Hurranians. Is that all you got? I'm not even sweating yet!" Tank intentionally provoked. "You had all that power when you went after an innocent woman and a disabled man! Where's your strength now!?"

[Noland Hardy]

Kazarina - the hypnotist of the Twelve Orders - was the disgusting being in command of this Haos Lumagrowl. It was a pitiful existence. Its form perfectly depicted who Kazarina really was: a stuck-up bitch who rode Barodius' dick to the grave. She was nearly hated more than Barodius himself for the mind games she could play with people. Kyuki had no idea what this woman possessed.

Airzel - the captain of the Gundalian forces that besieged Earth those years ago - was utterly humiliated by Tank without any effort shown from the Aquos Resistor. He hides behind his allies so the leader can stay alive, then he steals their abilities and wrecks them with it. Such a disgusting way of battling. This was his style.

Noland was ignorant to who they were. The only Gundalian he has ever met in battle was Emperor Barodius himself. Whatever became of these Gundalians was a mystery to him. Vince should know about them, since he was the CIA Director and would have had to release information about them to the United States so they could be ready for them. Noland was confident that he did, but that was the past.

All he could think about was that Airzel was at a heavy disadvantage against Tank, and Tank was at a heavy disadvantage against Kazarina.

"Hmph...that's not bad at all," Lars Lion commended on the Twelve Orders' strength. "Drago...look forward and stay calm, no matter what."

"Huh...?" Drago wondered. Why was Lars Lion telling him this? Could she sense something that he can't? "What do you..."

"Do what she says, Drago. It's for your own good," Clayf instructed him.

[Tank Stryker]

These Gundalians never spoke a word. It's like they were mute somehow. The Hurranians could enable speech if they wanted to, but they weren't this time. Somehow, they must have realized something. The time for talk was far from over. This is genocide now.

Strikeflier bounced back at Gladion by elongating his arms, the Sky Hanging technique. He swiped at Gladion continuously, trying to predict where Gladion would land so he could catch him. Gladion mixed up his patterns, in both the jumps and the buildings that he used to navigate through the confusing layout of Washington.

Thick strands of light flowed above their heads and curved downwards in their path. This was Garm Shield. These strands had a quirk to them that let them bond with each other, giving them extra strength and the ability to wall enemies. Clayf continued through without using anything, and he broke right on through. Lars Lion had Drago to fly behind after she placed a seal on him, so they also broke through. As for Gladion...

Can he be so lucky?

He slid right on through the opening Drago made, so yes, he can. Unfortunately...

"Tsk...no way in hell you're hitting me with that," Tank assured his Gundalian pursuers. Gladion had to stop his movement. The strands came up from the ground and were about to impale Gladion had he continued the way he was going. The slow up allowed Gladion to place his feet against the light - going unaffected because of his enhancement - and backflipped off of it to avoid greenish twin lasers that were shot from Strikeflier's horns: Down Clatch, one that instantly accelerates the momentum of the victim downwards so they collide with an object at a high speed.

"What's the plan, Tank?" Gladion wondered. He wished he could break through like Clayf did, but Gladion doesn't have the brute strength that the Legendary Soldier has. That isn't saying that he can't break through the light strands, since the DNA Catalyst form is basically another base form for Gladion. The Twelve Orders weren't exactly fodder, so having your back turned to them wasn't such a good idea, unless you were on the level of the Legendary Soldiers. If you're not, you have to face them head-on. This duo was too dangerous to leave alive. They needed to die now.

"Hey, Hardy. Listen to me, and you better listen good," Tank began saying, following his dialing to Noland's BrawlX. "I know it's hard for you to do this, but be selfish. Don't stop for anyone. You just get to that damn machine and shut it off. As for these Gundalians, they'll die before they ever get past me."

Tank breathed slowly before making his next point, "...Fight until the end, Hardy. I'll always remember that from you. Always."

Tank's eyes lit up with fury at his incoming opponents: Kazarina and Airzel. Their presence made Tank remember everything that these evil people committed during their natural lives. The sickness from that motivated Tank to have them put down AGAIN.

"Gladion, take them out!" Tank ordered as he pointed towards them. "The last one's the best one!"

"Yes, sir," Gladion accepted. He assumed a basic fighting stance with his bow and arrow. He then reeled back as he prepared to fire a volley of arrows at them.

[Noland Hardy]

That's why Lars Lion said what she said. She knew this was coming...

She knew that people will get left behind. She also knew that their fate would be uncertain. She wouldn't say this out loud. It was too hurtful to say in this situation, but at least it would have been honest. Perhaps Lars Lion's legendary wisdom came into play here, because one should always expect the unexpected, even if they don't want to expect anything at all.

That ideology has its consequences as well though...

Dark power started to amass in Noland. He was reaching his limit on how much he could take. He had an emotional scare after nearly losing Maria to the Hurranians, and now he was forced to do nothing as his friends and allies sacrificed themselves to save him the trouble. He had an ability they didn't have, and they understood how important Noland was to this fight.

His seething in rage was characterized by his teeth starting to become sharper. His nails were about to grow to match this intensity as well. The Hex Code doesn't carry the ability to stop the BT System, so if he loses control, they might as well sit down and wait until the countdown finishes.

[Yita Aileen Nyx]

This certainly was a turn of events, but the female wasn't all to phased. Between what happened with her deadbeat of an older sister got her old annoying partner back, this didn't come as all too much as a surprise. Although, it pained Yita so tee Noland like this, it certainly wasn't like him- but this side of him was in his code, and it made him up. Even if it made him into a monster of sorts, seething with anger, she would love every bit of him.

Every bit.

If she died form this, she would die a happy girl, loving that one male she loves (and she's sure he loves her back-). Might as well go confront him, even if it meant certain death. She comes up behind Noland and sets her head on his shoulder. Yashu was watching from the side, groaning at the luck of his getting such a crazy partner who would die for love? Or at least what she thinks is love. "Hey, Noland," she starts, careful with her words to make sure it didn't puncture him in any way, like that tidbit of advice her sister gave her that day. "If you need someone to talk to, or someone to give you support, Yashu and I are here for you." To not relate, but provide support. Relating would most likely be taken the wrong way, most likely with the response of not knowing how they felt, and trying to confront them and give them advice is a similar scenario as well. And Yita had a really big gut feeling that her usually love-talk wouldn't help, which is why she stuck to so little words for a person like her.

[Noland Hardy]

Lars Lion was closely monitoring the situation out of her peripheral vision. She could sense the rise in dark energy from Noland's body, but she chose to do nothing about it. That was because she couldn't. The best she could do was delay the inevitable, as canceling the Switch or the Hex Code is borderline useless since the user can reactivate it at will seconds later. The power can easily be built up due to their divine nature, making them extremely difficult to stop. Apollonir had to cancel Drago's imperfect Switch Code 30+ times, so it was obvious that a lesser result would come from doing it to a Hex Code. Sapping the dark power from Noland would mean she would have to do it for an eternity. She was not about that life. She'd rather wait for him to calm down before she carries out the procedure.

Fortune was smiling upon her today though. She took a deep breath as if danger had been averted. This was because a certain someone was starting to behave himself...

"What...?" Noland's teeth and nails were returning back to their human length when he felt Yita press her chin on his shoulder. Whether it was the shock of her doing that during his rage moment or "affection" for her remains to be seen...but a certain someone might want the latter to be true. Either way...it paused the development of his dark side. That's worthy of a mention.

"You good, champ?" Clayf checked after his episode, noticing that he was feeling a little better.

"No," Noland coldly responded, still maintaining the tone he has when he's evil. Neither Soldier chose to say anything, because they didn't want Noland's anger to rise any farther than it has. Noland then tilted his head to the point where he could see Yita's skin out of the corner of his eye. "Yita...I'm sorry..." he apologized, his voice starting to turn back to normal. "I'm guessing what I did against Maria is coming back to bite me. I'm losing control of my power... I can't lose my friends by letting them down...including you...."

[Yita Aileen Nyx]

Yita remains calm throughout the whole confrontation, keeping her breathing steady. If she kept calm, then the chances of Noland calming down would be higher than if she were in panic. And man she was quite glad that her male had calmed down. Not only did she live to see another day, but it was a sign to her that the red head did have some sort of positive attachment towards her. That was a good sign, at least, Yita would like to believe that, and I'm sure a few other would agree with that.

"It's quite alright," she says softly in response to his apology, glad to see him back to normal- somewhat. She reaches her hand out for his and gives it a gentle squeeze. "We all go through that at some point," her gaze lowers at the thought of her earlier days, the ones that Niko made her recall in their fated battle. Power got to her head and next thing you know, there was one dear life lost, and maybe a half if you consider that partner. But that aside, Yita's gaze keeps on Noland, hoping that she had used the right words to comfort him, and darn she was giddy to hear that he considered her a friend. Now that's progress. "You can be a protector- I believe in you. If not, I'll be there for you."

[Noland Hardy]

Yita's belief was concrete. She believed in Noland's ability to be good, but in Noland's heart, the answer might not be so simple. He knew what the circumstances were. He'd have to go through someone who was way worse than any Admiral of the Silver Knights. The chances of him holding back power to prevent himself from going crazy was extremely slim.

"You...have no idea..." Noland thought in his head. The only other person who could understand the dilemma was Daniel. Yita was trying her best though. What else could she do?

Even Lars Lion was very skeptical of what might happen to Noland in the next couple of minutes.

"Hang on, young savior, even if it is just by a thread," Lars Lion encouraged. "Essence Extraction!"

The counterpart to Incense Extraction, Essence Extraction works in a similar manner against beings with powerful energy. Lars Lion's palm was pointed at Noland, where a suction-like vacuum brought Noland's demonic power towards her. She took that energy and converted into a ball of some sorts. She will keep this around for a bit.

"Light Charge!" Light bursted through the dark clouds from above. It shined brightly, blinding those on the ground before the real attack came. Soon, multiple energy signatures were bombarded with columns of light that appeared there almost instantaneously. It was a graceful cleansing, as Lars Lion did not demolish any structures around her when she did this. The death screams from around them made it seem like she destroyed an entire planet.

The funny thing about this was...this didn't stop. Lars Lion was able to target those who were not around her immediate location, so she could thin out the numbers. It would be on Clayf to help her get through this, provided that someone gives her the slip.

"Be careful with that," Clayf warned Lars Lion. "It has been a while since you used those dark arts."

"Whatever it takes to get the job done..." Lars Lion conceded. If she needed to go there with her abilities, she would do it without hesitation. Like Clayf said, if it doesn't hurt, it doesn't count.

[Tracy White]

Slithering sounds littered the streets full of the deceased - police, Army, Air Force, you name it. Poor children...them too.

It was a group of them. Many of them were talking to each other with monotone, robotic voices. One boy wanted to battle, but a girl told him to wait since it was really dangerous out there. Precious, right? Wrong...

They all groaned that they weren't going to see a battle. The boy pouted, getting on the ground and sitting criss-cross-applesauce. He said that the Master Blaze would've wanted to see it, since he has an offensive-based Bakugan. Then another chimed in saying that Allen's fighting style was better. Finally, the girl said that Alana's style was surely the best, since she has a bit of both of their styles.

It was very clear who these kids were. Remembering Alana's punishment from Kyuki back at the tournament would make an emotional person cry when they realize what the Hurranians have done to these children. Assimilating people was disgusting enough on its own, but these children didn't do anything to hurt anyone. They were so innocent; yet, this was the treatment they got. There was no time to be sad though....

The kids got on their feet when they saw an angel's shadow fly over them. They all looked up to see who it was. They shrieked like monsters. They started running after this being with superhuman speed. Misfortune 13 snake-like forms were slithering right behind them to provide backup.

The identity of this angel had been revealed to the enemy...

"Ewwwww. No, no, no, no, no," Tracy shrieked about the Misfortune 13 forms she saw. She was safe in a shielded capsule Skystar was remotely transporting around her chest. "What is THAT?"

"It appears to be some kind of Excedra," Skystar noticed.

"What? There's more?" Tracy gasped. She didn't know about Maria's infection nor did she now about Misfortune 13. "Why does it have to look so snaky and gross?"

"It's a Hydranoid, dear. What more can we expect?"

[Tracy White]

"Say that again, and I'll destroy both of you right here," a menacing voice chimed in after the women insulted him. It was none other than the destroyer among the Legendary Soldiers, Excedra.

A pillar of smoke appeared near Tracy and Skystar and dropped Excedra off there. He was already aware that there were Misfortune 13 forms being used in this battle. He was very unhappy about that. The form was sickening to him as it was, but now that the Hurranians have it, they might start pumping out Excedra's.

Funny how the Hurranians have already started doing that...

"Oh...uh..." Tracy couldn't really find the words to respond to what they were caught doing. Excedra startled them when he arrived. He does seem to lurk when no one's watching him.

"Don't ever compare that trash to the likes of me," Excedra declared, and for good reason. The Misfortune 13 forms latched onto Excedra in an attempt to devour him; however, when they touched him, they were dissolved as fast as they came.

"Defeated...instantly..." Skystar noticed. She wagered that Excedra really was superior to any of those Hydranoid's, but these were only the heads of that form. Would the same really happen to an actual Misfortune 13 user? Possibly. She didn't know nor did she care.

Excedra did not bother devouring the children. He casually pushed them aside with one of his tails. It was comical seeing them trying to beat him up though. Excedra wasn't fazed in the slightest. "Get over here, slowpokes." Excedra opened his actual mouth. The eye within created a suction that pulled both Tracy and Skystar towards him. He had them both at his mercy in between his jaws.

"Ah. So you've found them," another familiar voice chimed in. A frog hopped over several buildings to land near Excedra.

"W-we're sorry?" Tracy expressed.

"I bet you are," Excedra agreed. "You're lucky. If the BT System wasn't active, I'd eat you right now!"

Tracy and Skystar gulped about this. There was a good chance Excedra wasn't going to seriously eat them. Then again, does he usually joke about this?

"That Traqdrach Bakugan was a real bugger," Frosch informed Tracy. "It would have been easier if it didn't have help and if we had some help. Those black creatures were nasty. It took me suppressing them for Excedra to even have a chance at destroying Traqdrach." Frosch then chuckled a little before saying, "Too bad it ran before Excedra finished it off."

Excedra growled at Frosch for making fun of him. If he was going to do that, he might as well have done the job himself. "Eden's president has some orders for you to go help Noland, but screw that. He has two healers already. You're going to follow MY instructions if you want to be useful. You see that blur up there?" Excedra aimed her directly at the sky to where he could plainly see Oberus soaring up there. "She's going to go kill herself right now, so make sure she doesn't! Now get out of here! I better not see you down here again!"

Excedra shot Tracy and Skystar straight into the sky. Tracy was screaming as the two of them were sent out of there.

"So...you CARE about Oberus' well-being?" Frosch inquired before the two of them were inevitably surrounded by enemies.

"...Shut up," Excedra dismissed.

[Tracy White]

(Countdown: Phase 3)

Skystar adjusted her flight pattern after she was well above Washington. Excedra had shot them ahead of Oberus so that she would see them up there. Luckily for them, Oberus saw them; otherwise, she would have left them behind.

"I didn't expect the two of you to be up here," Oberus admitted, mostly because air battles were not the specialty of this support Bakugan. "Let me guess. Clayf?"

"Excedra," Tracy corrected.

"What!?" Oberus shrieked. "He cares about me!?"

A coursing wave had buffeted the ladies off course for a short moment. Oberus shook it off and kept on flying. Skystar followed suit. Whatever that was, it was signalling that the end was near.

"That was the BT System. It's getting close to being fully charged," Oberus claimed. "Let's make this quick before we're history!"

"What's your plan?" Skystar wondered.

"I can't attack the BT System directly, but we can be annoying and cause a disturbance. Look down there." Oberus looked with Skystar so they could see the plethora of warriors on the surface battling to the death. "We're going past all of that so we can get to the meat of the problem: Dasia herself. We need to make sure she loses to an old enemy of yours. You probably know him as...Nero."

Tracy's eyes were wide when she heard that name. How and why were the only two questions she wanted to know. Why did she have to be the one to help that bastard anyway? If she didn't know any better, she would let him die.

[Damian Knight]

Oberus didn't know this, but she was about to be soaring over a field of charred corpses soon. Near the ground, there was a certain Pyrus Bakugan flying over the Hurranian warriors. It was Helios already in his Second Layer, still going after the arduous battle on Vestal. Fires were starting below him just by flying over the area so fast. It was a nice spectacle for Damian to see. He enjoyed the view from above.

"Ah... So this is the power of the Bakugan Termination System?" Helios wondered for himself. "Who would've guessed that Earth had it the whole time?"

"That's probably why it was here in the first place," Damian guessed. "I guess we should've taken a hint of the Legendary Soldiers showing up on Earth rather than any other world." Did...Damian just use logic?

Helios was getting more tempted to attack the Hurranian forces the longer he kept flying over them. Sure, he was bound to get hit eventually if he kept that up. Perhaps he should beat them to the punch.

"Earth isn't really that important now that this is happening, so...want to blow it up? You can do that easily in your Second Layer," Damian brought up.

[Jamal Armstrong]

"Please don't," Jamal pleaded with Damian. Tec started trucking through the waves of Hurranians in the street. He had nothing better to do at the moment, so why not kill time before they reach Dasia and teach her how battles are really won?

"The Legendary Soldiers will sense your intent. Excedra or Apollonir could stop it, and then we're dead," Tec insisted. He was right too. Out of everyone, Vestal was in the worst situation from a tactical perspective, despite the BT System firing on Earth. The Spartans were literally Vestal's last drop of resources. If they get taken down, then what? "And based on that light show I was almost hit by, I don't want to get in the middle of their firing squad. Save that for later when we all aren't going to die in a couple of minutes."

"Even if it could work...we'd be wiping out most of the ones who could combat the Hurranians. These machines have too much now. We need that weapon reconfigured so we can erase them once and for all," Jamal added in. "There has to be some other way to do this."

[Damian Knight]

Damian thought about what Jamal and Tec were saying and reluctantly nodded. If that's how they were going to play it, then so be it. If a planet ends up getting hosed, then at least Damian thought about an alternative way of dealing with these bastards.

"That 'other way' needs to hurry up and work then. I'm getting impatient," Helios urged.

"So am I," Damian agreed. "Find us something to blow up so I can be useful in this fight. That's the only reason why I'm here, according to King Takeover. If not, I'll be on my way. I can care less about anyone who lives on this damned planet."

[Jamal Armstrong]

Damian's urge to fight was alarming at times. It would probably be best to conserve their stamina for the big boys and girls, but who were they? Did they have time to debate about who does and doesn't deserve to feel the true power of a Spartan?

"You two are impossible to reason with sometimes..." Jamal sighed.

Then he saw someone that might be worth Damian's time. A black dragon flew past Helios and Tec from the opposite direction. For a split second, Jamal caught a glimpse of a Gundalian man standing on the dragon's back. It was clear who this was.

"If that counts as a something, then look no further," Tec suggested, wanting Damian and Helios to destroy Emperor Barodius with haste.

"Hows that?" Jamal asked. "I'll give him one minute, only because I know you're going to toy with him. See you when you get back."