Episode 5: Pros Before Lows

[Noland Hardy]

After seeing three of the Spartans in action against the Resistors, people became hungry for even more rare sightings such as the two brawls already seen. Like the troll he was, Damian openly asked the public which champions should they trouble next, suggesting that his squad will take care of whoever they put up there. Markus and Tank's names were on display within seconds, making them the next ones to be challenged. Damian and Jamal were originally going to be the ones to do this; however, Xavier told them that they had nothing left to prove after their brawls with Nolan and Allen and recommended two others to show their worth to this planet. For that reason, two women - Roxy Grimm and Niko Adrian Nyx - called both of the pros out. Markus kept silent about the challenge since he didn't feel like wasting his time dealing with overconfident tryhards during pre-season; however, there was a special deal for him according to the higher ups that offered him a substantial increase in his salary if he were to accept the deal regardless if he wins or looses. Tank must have been offered the same deal since he blew up Markus's BrawlX and essentially forced him to accept the challenge to embarrass the Spartans, especially since they would look better to the public if they win, which he knew they would. 

Not wanting to look like a wuss if Tank goes to the battle by himself, Markus sold out along with Tank to get a chance to fire back with an upset of their own. He came all the way back to Maryland to meet up with Tank at Legion's home in Washington D.C. to do a double battle against Roxy and Niko. Before taking their place on the battlefield, Katherine told Tank that he had better not lose. Steve especially told Markus not to hold Tank back in the brawl, which was jokingly repeated by Tank who later corrected that statement by saying that they should put aside their rivalry for the time being to deal with a much bigger problem: Roxy and Niko. Even though he said this, both of them were still aiming to make themselves look better individually rather than a team, secretly concocting a strategy how to knock the opponents out before the other one does.

[Tank Stryker]

The crowd was cheering and shouting as the announcer took the center of the stadium. The Washington Legion's logo, a Roman shield crossed by two swords, was in the center of the field. The stadium was packed, people coming from far and wide to see two of the biggest rivals in the league, Tank and Markus, tagging together against two newcomers in an exhibition match. Fans wearing both Legion and Revolution apparel were scattered in the stadium, the teams flags flying in either side of the stadium. Towards the north of the stadium was a flag with the Greek letters Sigma Lambda Theta flying on a flagpole surrounded by guys in collared shirts and whitewash jeans being served beer by younger looking guys in whitewash jeans and white tee shirts. All were awaiting the arrival of the combatants.

After the announcer finished the pre-brawl formalities and the national anthem was sung, he announced the two teams of brawlers, starting with the Spartans, who received a wall of booing from the crowd, the largest section being the fraternity brothers. The two took the field smiling and waving, taking in the negativity jokingly. Once they took their place on their platforms, the announcer called out the two Resistors, sending the crowd into a cheering frenzy, with, once again, the loudest section being the fraternity brothers. Tank and Markus walked out, Tank getting pumped up with the crowd's energy, having had been practicing his showmanship for the pros knowing that it would sell tickets. Tank was wearing his whitewash jeans and white tee shirt, but wore his Washington Legion jacket over it. Tank took his place at his platform directly in front of his fraternity brothers, with Steve rolling up to the railing directly to offer words of encouragement.

"You've got this, Tank!" Steve called to him, giving him a thumbs up, him in the same outfit minus the jacket.

"YEAH!" one of the other fraternity brothers, Sam, called out. Sam was wearing the letters of the fraternity and aviators. He held up a beer, "Here's to Pledge Stryker! Go get 'em for SigTheta!"

Tank gave them both a thumbs up and turned to his opponents.

"Welcome, you two," Tank said, with a smirk, his voice booming through the colosseum's PA system, "To the Washington Legion's home."

The Legion fans began to cheer and chant Tank's name, making Tank smile more.

"Now, I have a lot of stuff to do, so let's get this done quickly," Tank called out, activating his BrawlX. A hologram popped up in the center of the stadium showing his life gauge and a picture of his face. Grabbing Gladion off of his shoulder, Tank wound up and threw the blue sphere into the field. "Bakugan brawl!" Tank yelled out. Gladion's ball form hit the field and opened up, "Emperor Gladion, stand!"

The crowd gasped at the name Tank yelled out. Just a few days ago, Gladion was still known as Praetor Gladion. Blue and red light shot out of the ground, engulfing the battlefield with light. Rising from the center of this light was Gladion, adorned in shiny blue and gold armor with a crimson cape coming off of his right shoulder. The armor looked a bit sharper, but more regal, more leader-like. Gladion and Tank's eyes glowed blue for a brief moment before fading back to their normal colors.

"Give up now, while you still have a chance," Gladion bellowed, pointing at the two brawlers on the other side of the arena. The crowd cheered and hollered at Gladion, impressed by his new form. Tank then turned to Markus.

"Listen," he said, turning his and Markus' microphones off and staring him down menacingly, "I don't know much about these guys, but they look like they could be tough. If they were anything like Noland's opponents, we need to take it slow and formulate a plan like that. Most importantly, we have to work together, got it?"

[Markus Hederick]

"You know...I kinda get the feeling that the only reason why they're cheering for us is because we're fighting alongside Tank and Gladion. It's like he's the star of the show...I don't like it," Gargulion wondered as Markus walked alongside Tank in what they considered to be feeding the trolls here just for an increase in pay. The result of this battle could go in two directions. One outcome has him and Tank the winners and everyone goes home happy that the Spartans have been silenced for once while the other paints them as losers and the biggest sellouts of the year if word gets out that they accepted this deal, which should be obvious by now anyway. One thing was for certain though: Pros take risks, lots of them in fact.

It was this kind of attitude that became a culture shock for Markus. He was not a master of the spotlight like Tank was, ill-fitted for the camera in just about every aspect except for his apparel. His plain black shirt - truly a Princeton shirt with their mascot on it - was covered by the New York Revolution's jacket which had its logo - a fiery representation of the torch the Statue of Liberty carries - on both of his shoulders. A solid pair of black Levi jeans was all he needed to look presentable. Judging by the constant howling of his name from Princeton's visitors and the Revolution's teammates and fan-base, there was nothing else Markus needed to do than to show his face on that field and win in their honor.

Unfortunately, that entire attitude changed once he stepped out and saw who he was facing. "Wow...not only is she pretty, but I'm getting this jarring feeling in my head that I've seen this person before..." Markus thought as he gazed into Roxy's eyes, a bit infatuated with her looks from what one could tell. This distraction kept him quiet for most of Tank's introductory remarks, and then he snapped out of it when Tank demanded his attention for a quick moment just to recap on what they need to do here. "Affirmative, General. I'd do anything for a win here, even if it means teaming up with you," Markus jokingly responded, "Don't worry though. I didn't let you drag me all the way back here just so I could ruin your parade. It may not appear like it, but I respect you as a teammate more than a rival considering our past ordeal."

Markus activated his BrawlX to get his stats to show up in the center alongside Tank's. He reeled back, and yelled, "Bakugan brawl!" as he threw Gargulion onto the field. "Blacken all hope for our failure, Shade Gargulion!" When he stood, the sky became black for a moment as a purple lightning bolt raced down to the surface to strike the center of his opening. What was seen in this reckless display of power was a purple energy orb assembling his body parts into a humanoid form resembling that of a vampire rather than the bat-like appearance he had grown accustomed to when he was lesser than his current form. He stood at the same height as Gladion, sharing his passion for a quick victory more than anything else. "I'd be happy to see the day I become just as liked as you, Gladion," Gargulion admitted as he prepared for battle.

[Roxy Grimm]

Roxy had walked out with her partner Nio and was ready to get this battle started and fight. She smiled as she would whn ver she bralwed and knew it would be fun. She let her two opponents throw thier bakugan out but was confused by the way the one of the boys looked at her. I wonder what his problem is.... she thought to her self before the shrugged it off and threw a Bakugan in ball form up above her before catching it as it came back down. At that moment she threw her arm back and laughed the Bakugan onto the field while shouting "Bakugan Brawl!" her Bakugan then landed as bagan to transform iinto their Monster form as she shouted something else "Shift thier hopes with your tide Aquarius!" Aquarius's monster form was that of a scorpian that was a dark blue and had black on the tip of thier tail. The bakugan simply nodded thier head looking the the opponent Bakugan waiting for io to send out thier Bakugan. "That just leaves you now Niko..." Roxy said looking towards Niko with a nutral look on her fce before she looked bac at the field again wanting to start this brawl.

[Niko Adrian Nyx]

Niko walked up quietly, black bags visible under his yellow-red eyes, not that he could see them himself. It was quite a nuisance having to do all this stuff, after all the child would much rather be sleeping, escaping her vision-less world. As they walked, her bakugan trotted along beside her, being her eyes and making sure she didn't walk off the edge or something. They stopped in what sounds like the battlegrounds, most likely making the opponents right across from them.

She turned her head to the side slightly, hearing Roxy's signature call, bringing her scorpion onto the field. "I suppose it's my turn..." Niko murmurs softly as she slightly raises her left hand, touching the soft fur of her bakugan. "Donovan... Go on."

The said darkus bakugan nuzzles his partner's hand before leaping onto the field, flinging his chin upward for a howl before focusing his pale pink-purple eyes to the two male opponents, opening up his sight link to allow Niko to see through one of his eyes.

[Tank Stryker]

The crowd began to boo as the Spartan bakugan were released, clearly favoring the Resistors. "Same to you," Tank replied to Markus' compliment with a warm smile before returning to his usual obnoxious demeanor, "But don't forget who beat you at nationals!"

It looks like Markus might have a little crush on one of the opponents. Better watch that. Tank thought to himself, having caught Markus' reaction to the newcomer.

Tank then turned his attention to the battle and smirked at the two opponents, his BrawlX shining from its activation. The arena sound system played an airhorn sound to signal the start of the match. Tank swiftly grabbed two cards out of his back pocket and swiped them through his BrawlX. The screen glowed gold for a second before fading back to the regular screen.

"Double ability activate!" Tank yelled, holding up his wrist, "Weapons Cache - Gladius plus Weapons Cache - Aegis!"

Two purple-colored vortexes appeared over Gladion, dropping a Roman short sword and the legendary goat-skinned shield wielded by the god Zeus himself with the head of Medusa attached firmly to its front. The Legion crowd began to chant Gladion's name as he assumed a battle stance, taking the shield in his left hand and the sword in his right. Gladion then slashed the air with a roar as the purple portals dissipated into thin air. Thrusting the shield at Donovan and Aquarius, stunning them in place from the gorgon's eyes' powerful gaze, Gladion turned his head back to Gargulion.

"It's easy," Gladion answered, breaking his usual quiet battling demeanor, "You just give the people what they want."

With that, Gladion charged at the two stunned Spartans' bakugan, his blood boiling for a fight. Gladion first approached Donovan, slamming his shield into the wolf-like bakugan. Donovan flew into the side of the arena, leaving a sizable crack in the stone wall. Turning his attention towards Aquarius, Gladion ran towards him, his shield up to keep the scorpion bakugan stunned before executing numerous slashes into the underbelly of the beast facing him. The force of the slashes caused major lesions in the belly of Aquarius, dealing serious damage to the Aquos bakugan.

"Gotta be faster than that, you two," Tank taunted, giving his opponents a bring it on hand motion, "Trust me when I say that Gladion and I have faced much more intimidating opponents than you!"

[Markus Hederick]

"You're still mentioning that bout? That's very telling, especially what happened at nationals THIS year, that is if you still remember," Markus cleverly responded, returning the same obnoxious attitude Tank was showing. He then watched Gladion get early hits on the Spartans, something that wasn't very surprising coming from Tank. "Almost as easy as the never-ending change in expectations for these people," Gargulion chimed as he primed his body for an attack. Markus swiped two cards on his BrawlX to continue the pressure that Gladion had already summoned to the field.

"Double ability activate! Photon Spear plus Touch of Stone!" Gargulion's left hand glowed with a bright purple as he slowly lifted it up. A myriad of supernatural constructs appeared above his head in what shaped up to be spears. He pushed his hand outward, and the spears followed suit. They scattered throughout the field as they pleased, threatening to add onto the cutting wounds Gladion had already inflicted on them with an added incentive to fear it. Due to the latter ability, each individual spear was enhanced with a special power that allowed any target pierced to gradually undergo a transformation into a solid, which, if they were to be hit by it, would drastically decrease their already low chances of winning by their standards. "If you're going to distract us from our busy schedule, then you'd better bring it," Markus warned the opposing side.

[Roxy Grimm]

Roxy smiled as her opponets began the attacks. She didn't do anything until Marcus played some cards and began to speal after what he had said. "Now that's what i like to hear......." Roxy said not giving not making it obious that she liked the violent style in battles. In fact by Marcus saying that she could tell that he would be making violent moves which amused her really but she had to hide that. She looked at Aquarius before gatting 2 cards out. "Ok double ability Activate!Water Shine!" Roxy shouted putting one of the cards into the gauntlet. Aquarius smiled then as they began to shine like water would in the sun. they were now able to move and flug thier tail backward to allow them to jump back. They then waited for the next ability. "Plus Water Spear!" Roxy shouted putting the next card into the gauntlet. Aquarius then moved thier tail foward to it was aimed at both Gargulion and Gladion. All of a sudden purple spear end like objects flew at the two bakugan hitting both them and the feild. Roxy then smiled before speaking, "I wouldn't move if I were you......" She said before thinking the rest in her mind, cause you mght get poisoned.

[Niko Adrian Nyx]

Niko looks at the field with her blank eyes, flinching slightly when she felt the vibrations that were made when Donovan was slammed into the wall. “Are you okay?” She murmurs to her partner, not looking in his direction as she closes her right eye.

The wolf-like bakugan huffs as he slowly gets up, shaking the dirt that got into his fur off him. “Yeah. I’m fine.” He says as he takes a few steps away from the crash site and goes closer to the battle scene. “My right eye is battered up though.” Donovan swipes his left paw at the said feature, brushing out any dirt that may be there and then trying to open it back up without pain to no avail.

“Is… That so?” Niko whispers as she reopens both of her eyes and simply looks straight forward, holding her right hand over her right eye. “It’s alright… I was never ment to see to begin with.” She quietly says to herself as she holds up a card in her left hand. “Ability Activate. Dream Sight.”

Donovan walks to the side of the battlefield as his scorpion tail was charged up with a magenta colored energy, most of it being focused into the sharp edges of the tail segments. With a roar, he sends his tail flying towards the aquos and darkus opponents, the sharp edges slicing their eyes, the magenta energy causing sight distortion to see a world where logic no longer works. One of the dream realms for a creature who step into sleep.

He paws at the eye amulet to have it shine the same magenta color his tail was previously charged up with slash his left eye, allowing him too to enter the illusion world he had placed his opponents in, the place that he had become familiar with during his free time. "I suppose I should give you guys a proper greeting." Donovan says as he curls his tail back into it's regular position. "Welcome to one of the many dream realms. Once you've been thrown in, it's rather hard to get out of." He states, right eye still closed shut due to the attack Gladion has unleashed in the beginning of the fight. 

[Tank Stryker]

"Dream realms?" Tank asked himself, his voice trailing off as he entered deep thought. Gladion rubbed his eyes, trying to get the world to make sense again, but to no avail.

"Once I find where you are," Gladion yelled, "I'll rip that damn tail off of you and shove it into your other eye!"

Gladion began to swing randomly in all directions, hitting Gargulion once hard with his sword, who let out an angry grunt, before moving away towards the sound of Donovan's voice.

"Okay, Gladion!" Tank yelled, "Try this! Ability activate! Battle Charge!"

Gladion's weapons began to glow blue as he closed his eyes, roared, and charged into the dream world towards the direction Donovan's voice came from. Getting close to where he last heard the bakugan, he swung with his shield to no avail before swinging his sword, hitting something solid. Throwing down his equipment, Gladion reached for what he hit while it was stunned. Grappling with the opponent, Gladion threw the beast into Aquarius, knocking the two into the arena wall.

"Your illusions won't work on us, loser!" Tank called out, "All of Gladion's senses are finely tuned. He'll track you down and take you out no matter what!" Tank then turned to Markus. "Do something about this hocus pocus, will you?"

[Markus Hederick]

"You want us to bring you two back into reality? Ha!" Markus nearly lost all of his composure in laughter after Tank urged him to do something after Gladion's reckless action.

"Hit me like that again and we'll see who won't be waking up." Gargulion began moving around the arena as if his sight wasn't affected at all. He floated towards the general area Gladion was at last, activating an ability in the process.

"Ability activate! Soul Eater!" Gargulion's body glowed in a dark purple aura. His body became a mobile siphon. The power that was used to create the dream world that was supposedly meant to encase them in a never-ending nightmare began to disappear as everything that the opposing side considered to have power was transferred away from them and into Gargulion's body for his own gain.

"I'm almost sorry I did that. It would have been more of a challenge to leave that ability active than what's currently going on now, especially for a cocky bastard like yourself, Tank," Markus noted with a smirk on his face. He put his arm forward as he swiped a second ability card, hoping to keep up the pressure like they were doing from the beginning. "Blacken them, Gargulion! Ability activate! Tumultuous Gargoyle!" Gargulion's eyes flashed for a moment. A storm of dark power that appeared in the form of sporadic tornadoes and relentless thunderbolts appeared above their heads out of nowhere. They threatened to destroy the opponents in a swift movement unlike their dreams depicting the same outcome for himself and Tank.

[Roxy Grimm]

Roxy closed one eye as Niko's Bakugan went into Aquarius due to an attack by one of the Resistor's Bakugan. "You ok Aquarius?" She said cheaking before continuing. "Yep i'm fine don't worry" Aquarius said in responce before lanching Niki's Bakugan off her using her scorpian tail. "It would be better if this one was more help" She then stated before looking towards her opponents. "Well lets continue..... Ability Activate! Dark Swim!" Roxy said before playing an Ability. This card glowed as it was played and made Aquarius glow the same colour. Aquarius smiled as a dark coloured water like thing started to form at her Tail and after so long Was shot at both of The resistor's Bakugan. However while in motion it split in two and someseemed to stay at Aquarius's tail which soon covered her leaving a dark glow around her. "Come at me!" She said face serious now.

[Niko Adrian Nyx]

Niko winced very slightly at the comment of hate Roxy’s bakugan had thrown at Donovan and her. Even in the group of Spartans that she was surprisingly accepted into somehow, people still hated her to no end. “You should try not to talk so much Donovan…” She mumbles to her wolf-scorpion-like bakugan who barked in response as he gets up from being smacked into the arena wall for yet a second time this battle.

“The darkus one has stopped eye to the realm, and has sent a storm out way.” Donovan states as he begins to avoid the tornados to the best of his abilities, his fur getting ruffled up every now and then when one of the tornados had come too close to him.

Niko takes in a breath of air and closes her eyes for a moment before reopening them. It wasn’t like it would help her vision in any way shape or form, but it did clear her mind. She continues to look straight at… Whatever was straight, most likely the opponents. “Ability Activate.” She mumbles, holding out a card towards Donovan’s voice. “Riket Foro, Knuse.”

The darkus bakugan lets out what could be described as a cross between a growl and a roar before launching out at the resistor bakugans, Gladion being first. With his ability-enhanced claws and fangs, he snaps down on Gladion and rips off a good portion of him before leaping towards Gargulion, slashing him various time with the claw in various places. Weakening them considerably and gaining some of the power he had taken from them.

“Ability Activate, Riket Seks, Teller Vakt.” With that next ability called out, Donovan quickly spins around a few times, the sharp points on the scorpion tail scratching on the ground to form a circle. The circle raised up to protect Donovan in a dome shape before fading away. It was still there alright, and it would prevent any damage done to him and send those attacks flying right back. Provided that the opposing side doesn’t once again negate it in some way.

[Tank Stryker]

Gladion grasped his arm as blood trickled down, droplets splashing on the floor of the arena. The armor ripped off of him laid across the ground, next to Gargulion, who was covered in deep wounds. The crowd was encouraging the Resistors on the field by booing the Spartans as they took their defensive stances. Anger washed itself in waves over Gladion as he ripped part of his red shoulder cape off and tied it around his wound to stop the bleeding. This little freak was getting on his nerves. There was something about Donovan that made Gladion just hate to be around him. Taking an offensive battle stance, Gladion turned his head slightly to yell at Tank.

"Hey, Tank," Gladion yelled, fighting through the pain in his arm, "Let's shatter their plans a bit."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Tank called back as he chose two cards from his arsenal and activated them through his BrawlX, "Double ability, activate! Earthshaker plus Weapon of the Gods - Warhammer of Ares!"

The crowd roared in excitement after Tank announced one of Gladion's signature abilities. The ground rumbled and storm clouds rolled in as the two ability cards' names appeared on the Jumbotron. Gladion stomped on the ground hard, sending cracks every way possible before the ground erupted like Mt. St. Helen's, sending fragments flying high into the air. One of the cracks had managed to make its way through the circle drawn by Donovan, disrupting the shield and causing it to dissipate. A chunk of the ground flew at Aquarius as well, hitting the scorpion bakugan hard enough to shatter the dark energy protecting it like glass. Jumping from each floating slab of land like they were platforms, Gladion went high into the sky to meet his weapon as it descended to Earth. The ornate ebony and steel hammer's handle fit perfectly into Gladion's grip as he charged Aquarius.

Once Gladion had reached the opposing Aquos bakugan, he swung hard, sending the glorified bug into the stadium wall before it slowly slid down onto a small fragment of land still somewhat near the ground. Gladion then took off towards Donovan, his anger boiling in his chest, surging down his arms, and into the hammer itself. Ares, the Greek God of War, seemed to have blessed Gladion himself with anger-enhanced strength. Both Gladion and Tank's eyes glowed a bright blue as Gladion closed in, his arms cocked and ready to fire like the hammer on a pistol. With a powerful, hard swing, Gladion launched the hammer's head into Donovan's skull, sending the Darkus bakugan flying into the opposite side of the arena head first, hitting the wall with a sickening crunch. Blood began to trickle down the cracked stone from behind Donovan's head. The crowd was going crazy as Gladion landed on a stable slab of land and took a defensive battle stance, awaiting any counter attack.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Tank said, arms outstretched and spinning in place to address everyone, showboating to get the crowd excited, "Are you enjoying the show?"

The crowd erupted in applause and cheers for both him and Markus, his fraternity brothers chanting his name loudly as he basked in the limelight.

"Good!" Tank continued, turning to face the Spartans one again, his black hair barely wet with sweat as he pointed his right index finger at his opponents, "Now watch my teammate, Markus, here take down that pathetic excuse for a bakugan!"

The crowd roared in anticipation, chanting Markus' name and giving the same fan love to him as they did to Tank. Tank cocked his head slightly to say something to Markus.

"Do it," Tank commanded, solemnly, "We can win this if you keep your head in the game."

[Markus Hederick]

Gargulion drooped on purpose after he and Gladion experienced the Spartan's attacks. His eyes were closed as if he were in a trance, focusing very hard on what he was about to do next. This was not done because of the pain he could or couldn't be feeling from the opposing side. This was a sign of disrespect. He gave the enemy false hope that they have done anything substantial. Just like the crowd chanted, he was about to do something. He was about to do something huge.

Gargulion picked himself up to the voices scattered around him. He watched Gladion take point as usual, but now, it was his turn to move. Markus was primed to act on everyone's wishes, including Tank's to some degree. He selected two cards from his arsenal to play. One was set on standby since it couldn't be used until the card he placed up front was activated. "Yes, sir," he answered to Tank, smiling a bit to show that he was playing around. "Ability activate! Pyrus Frame!"

Gargulion deconstructed his entire body until all that was seen of him was his orb-like appearance and the remains of his physique surrounding him. The stones then swirled around him in this impressive display of gravitational force. A new body was constructed for Gargulion that was free from any scratches given to him by the opposing team. This time, however, the body that he chose to go with resembled the bat-like body that his previous forms used. Adding onto that was two dragon heads that rested on elongated necks. The two heads breathed a purple and red breath of fire respectively once the transformation ended, which shows that the Pyrus attribute was added onto his Darkus attribute.

The crowd became silent as Markus was setting the stage for a knockout. Oddly enough, Markus became the overconfident type before he played his next ability. "This game's over for you, Spartan," he declared while pointing specifically at Niko to designate his target. "Ability activate! Shade Blaze!" Gargulion had energy flow along his neck to his mouths. Their colors were matching the attribute they were, and they were visible by the glow the river of power created. Power was forged into orbs that grew bigger in their jaws overtime. Once complete, they let them loose. The diagonal relation Markus created started to show. The two blasts combined into a crackling ball of energy only comparable to that of an Amaterasu's flame. The result once it hit the downed Donavan was the sound of absolute devastation and the sight of the brilliant flare darkness and fire together created.

Donavan was unable to experience why this attack was as great as it was other than him feeling the burn after being obliterated by the blast. His ball form was smashed into the ground next to Niko. He was burning as if he had just been hit by a meteor. "Talk trash," Gargulion said as the referee ruled Niko out of the battle once her life gauge plummeted straight to zero and the crowd roaring into a frenzy soon after, "get smashed."