Before the Collision: World's Apart

[Noland Hardy]

"That's fair," Noland agreed. "Drago?"

"So...if we were to do this, I'll have to be Sprayzer's punching bag the whole time?" Drago understood. "This sounds like such a 'great' idea. I bet Gorem would love to do this instead of me."

"He's after me. Everyone already knows Allen can't be swayed. It's about time I taught them that I can't be swayed either. I need your help on this one, Drago. Please."

"...Lydia's going to kill you for this. You know that, right?"

"No...she won't..." Noland's eyes got dark, just like the Hex Code does when he reaches that state. "She has her way of doing this, but we have ours. I've been sheltered for a year now. Enough is enough. It's about time they found out who I REALLY AM."

Some time later, Noland went on Twitter. He was slow to type what he was about to type, since this was such a momentous occasion. "Remember...it's just a teaching moment, not an actual brawl." Noland finally accepted Maurice's challenge, and it was going to be an exhibition-style battle in front of A LOT of people. "Don't do too much..."

[Alana Cortese]

The battle was going to be held at FedEx Field on the weekend. The reason why was unknown. It wasn't like it was Noland vs Damian that one time. This one was going to be quick, not even worth the money.

Alana attended her session with Lydia as she always did, but the latter didn't make a sound about Noland's acceptance of the battle. Lydia had to have known exactly what was going on; yet, she wasn't in the position to do anything about it. Alana wanted to bring it up, but then there was something telling her that she shouldn't.

When it came time for the battle to go down, Alana decided to be in the same place as Noland for now. She was in the stands, blending in with the crowd. Of course, people recognized her, and even the people manning the cameras put her on the big screen so everyone knew she was there. The other Resistors were also present, but scattered within the crowd.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Noland..." Alana kept to herself. "...Good luck..."

[Noland Hardy]

Noland walked onto the field a little after Maurice had entered. The cheering for Maurice rung throughout the area, as if the poor soul had any chance of winning.

(Maurice's Arrival)

"Feels good to finally come out, doesn't it?" Maurice asked Noland. "It'd be a shame if you ran after coming all the way here, but...I'll still give you the opportunity to clear out of town if this is really too much for you to handle."

"You wasted all of that time getting me to come here, and you're still going to give me that choice? It doesn't sound like you're ready if you're willing to wait," Noland countered.

"You kidding? I've been ready ever since I was working my way up to becoming champion."

"You need to keep working then. You're not ready to face me."

"That certainly explains YOU dodging ME all this time. You ready to throw down or what?"

"..." Noland looked straight ahead as Drago appeared beside him in his robed form. Drago walked onto the field himself before the referee called for him to be there. "Call the match, ref. Let's get this over with. Get somewhere safe...or else." It sounded threatening coming from Noland, but it was the undeniable truth. The ref, knowing what was going to happen, did exactly what Noland said. He started the match and got as far away from Noland and Drago as possible.

"I'm almost too excited to put this into words, but...to think that I'd get the opportunity to show the world who the new king is... It's almost too much, just like humiliating you in front of you know who. Let's go! Bakugan brawl! Raze through them, Aquos Sprayzer!"

Maurice threw Sprayzer into the arena to collide with Drago's head. In an unexpected fashion, Sprayzer bounced off of Drago without the Soldier showing any signs of being affected. Sprayzer then stood in a dramatic fashion, pounding his pincers to make geysers erupt from the ground.

As a combatant, Sprayzer was...well-rounded, actually. He had muscular arms and legs, so he is able to leap great distances, cover ground quickly, and exert several tons of force, which is exacerbated by its power to generate water pressure, crushing enemies rather easily. That's probably how Maurice was able to become champion, but will it be a problem for Drago? Many people know that it won't be.

"Is that it...? Seriously...?" Drago said, sounding more disappointed than he was supposed to be. "I expected you to be weak, but...even now I'm disappointed."

"Drago," Noland called out. "Come on. Let's do this."

Drago sighed in disapproval of this, because he knew for a fact that he couldn't hit Sprayzer now. He transformed himself from the robed form into his actual Dragonoid form. He avoided any spectacular entrances, because...well, everyone knew why.

"Alright. Show me what you got," Noland invited.

(Battle Theme)

[Noland Hardy]

"Ability activate! Hydro Force!" Sprazyer pointed his arms towards Drago like they were cannons. A barrage of condensed water pellets were shot down range with piercing power well beyond the most lethal sniper bullet. Undoubtedly lethal, they would cut through Drago easily...except that it didn't.

In fact, Drago impressively swatted all of the bullets away from him using his tail. The water from those attacks flowed down the barrier when they struck it. "Ability activate! Blue Burst!" Energy was released into the ground from Sprayzer's feet. This caused the arena to burst open by the appearance of a violent geyser that was supposed to knock Drago into a state where he'd feel symptoms akin to that of a concussion grenade. The attack had a lot of strength behind it too, considering it had enough power to break bones.

...Except none of that happened to Drago. He stood there, unimpressed and ready to go home. The water on his skin evaporated instantly due to his high body temperature. He was now looking up into the sky, since Sprayzer was up there at the time.

"..." Noland was...conflicted. He wanted to attack so bad to put this kid out of his misery, but...the show must go on.

Sprayzer, who was concerned that Drago didn't seem like he took any damage from the geyser and was prepped to attack him since he couldn't fly, activated an ability without Maurice's intervention. It was called Free Form, an ability he could use to freely manipulate water molecules to create waves of water underneath him to surf. He did this to boost himself towards Drago at a much higher speed to crush him. The resulting hit did well to cause some damage to the arena and gather up some dust to block the spectators' view of the battle, but...when they finally saw...

"Nah..." Drago denied, having caught Sprayzer by his pincers. Although the arena grounds were getting damaged, Drago was not being affected by Sprayzer's attacks AT ALL, which could only mean that Drago's power level outranks Sprayzer's by too large of a margin.

Drago LIGHTLY tossed Sprayzer back to Maurice's side like it was a fresh catch. He then sat down on the ground in criss-cross applesauce. "When you want to be serious, I'm right here," Drago told the overconfident idiot.

"Or...is that all you can do?" Noland added in. "If you think I'm going to act weak for you, you're mistaken. You wanted to talk trash so bad, so give these people a show. They paid money for this..."

[Noland Hardy]

"Hmph...alright... To be honest, I did underestimate you a little bit, so Sprayzer's power level is lower than normal," Maurice explained. "Since you're eager to get beat, I'm all for upping my game. Ability activate! Pressure Up!"

Sprayzer, being an Aquos Bakugan, was able to increase his internal water pressure. This gave him increased offensive and defensive capabilities. His speed went unchanged though; however, if his internal water pressure exceeds a certain psi, his speed will be affected, and his performance will start to dwindle. It's like an Advanced Fusion Ability, except that it doesn't push Sprayzer past his limits nor allows him to ever go further beyond what he's capable of.

Drago sensed the power increase and decided to get back on his feet. Maurice noticed this. "Finally interested?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure, whatever satisfies your ego," Noland yawned. "Don't hurt yourself with that ability." Noland sounded like he knew what Sprayzer did to himself, and he did. He could feel the pressure being increased within Sprayzer's body. Theoretically speaking, if Sprayzer was pushed to the max, he could end up killing himself, as this was a double-edged power if brought up to that point. There goes another thing that's tempting Noland to attack.

Sprayzer lunged at Drago who was gracious enough to be hit by the dangerous horn that was on the former's head. Drago looked down at Sprayzer with some confusion, and then looked himself over to see if there was anything wrong. Sprayzer then launched volleys of different punches, kicks, and a tail smack across Drago's body. To his surprise, Drago DID NOT move or flinch from a single blow.

"Yield," Noland suggested for Maurice to do immediately.

"Tsk...this doesn't make any sense! What are you using!?" Maurice yelled out.

"Drago."

"You're funny!"

"Not as funny as how much of a pussy you're being right now. Your Bakugan hits like one too." The crowd was getting very...concerned about what they were seeing. As strange as it sounds, there were some people who thought that Maurice stood a chance, but comments online were never relevant to someone's success. It was apparent that the gap in power made it so that Drago simply could not be damaged by Sprayzer's attacks.

The pompousness from Noland and Drago pissed Sprayzer off to the point where he started using Pressure Up in ways that Noland instinctively feared. His power was rising at an alarming rate; however, that much pressure inside of its body will inevitably crush it.

"I'm not playing with you. Give up RIGHT NOW. Your Bakugan is impulsive with its abilities since it's not used to being in this position. It WILL die on its own if it continues to increase its water pressure at this rate."

"Oh no, it's perfectly fine! It's just enough to win!"

"No, you idiot. It's enough for Sprayzer to DIE. What part of that don't you understand?"

"Sprayzer, get him! Ability activate! Hydronic Bomb!" Sprayzer used this massive increase in power to generate a massive water orb that was ripe with the pressure to crush Bakugan on impact. He held it up high for everyone to see. Even if Drago manages to dodge it, the impact would surely cause a severe after-effect that will rock Drago externally and internally as well.

[Noland Hardy]

Drago watched as Sprayzer was about to throw this attack at him. He was now convinced to make a move, but...

"Not yet," Noland suggested. "So, if this attack fails to damage or beat me, then what? If your Bakugan isn't accustomed to that ability of yours, then it'll drop soon after he throws it. Judging by your performance at nationals, I'm pretty sure that it doesn't have an above-average level of stamina."

"Ability activate! Compaction!" Sprayzer merged the massive attack with himself to increase his body's ability to withstand the level of pressure it already has, and then had plenty psi added on.

"Hmm...not bad...I'm impressed now," Noland commended. "You'd have given Drago a challenge back then before I learned about the Switch Code...but you'd still lose. Want to know why?"

"Oh sure, what does the great Master Blaze have to say now?"

"You can't use any abilities now."

"Sprayzer's power right now is impressive, but his body just can't handle what his abilities are doing to him."

"When Sprayzer increased his water pressure, he's making his own internal water weigh more on his body at a fixed rate. You only made it worse by prolonging this when I told you give up. Thanks to you stupidly activating that ability, you are now crushing Sprayzer from the inside, because his body cannot compensate for how much pressure is being weighed on his body."

"..."

"So NOW you have nothing to say? What a joke. Watch this." Drago took this as a cue to show Maurice what happens when you mess with the Resistors. He released a little bit of his power. The pressure was so great that the barriers keeping the spectators safe shattered instantly, and a good portion of the FedEx Field was cracked. The only reason why more damage wasn't caused was due to the other Resistors' Bakugan counteracting Drago's power to prevent it from destroying the whole thing.

Sprayzer was shocked to the core. His body started leaking water out to vent the power out of him, since he wasn't going to be needing it anymore. Sprayzer fell to his knees, devoid of the will to fight any longer.

"I'm going to tell you this one last time. Yield," Noland suggested to his opponent.

Maurice looked at Sprayzer who was shaken up in fear. Honestly, so was he. He never felt energy that intense before. Noland was clearly on another level. Maurice was wrong... "...I forfeit..." he whimpered.

"Good. You owe someone an apology now. I think it'd be a good idea to call her by her actual name instead of a word you gave her. Go ahead."

"..."

"SAY IT!" Noland shouted in a Hex Code tone.

"I'm sorry, Alana, for everything that I said about you! I said too many things, and I regret them completely! It won't happen again!"

Drago returned to his robe form and got off of the battlefield. Noland looked at Maurice right in the eyes, and pointed at him for extra effect. "Are you on our level?"

"No, far away from it!"

"That's what I thought." With that done, Noland and Drago "jumped" back home, which, again, looks like they're vanishing in front of everyone.

[Kendrick Hardy]

"Yes...yes...and yes!" Kendrick celebrated when he was looking around the internet back home with Noland kicking back and relaxing. "'Master Blaze defeats national champion without using an ability,' 'National champion CRUSHED,' 'National champion washed up already,' 'Noland terrifies NCAA and pro organizations,' all of this is just perfect! Even the stupid YouTubers are putting up their apology videos for damage control in their comments sections. You did it, Noland!"

"You know, you basically insulted all of the high schools in the nation and probably most of the pro league by shitting on him like that," Krakix chimed in, giving his input. "...You did good."

"And you didn't have to hit him either!" Kendrick noticed. "If Maurice actually backs down after getting embarrassed like that, then our job is done. I say we celebrate with a quick trip down to Texas for some Whataburger."

"In-N-Out's better. I say we go there," Krakix firmly believed.

"How would you know? You don't even eat it!"

"It just is. Trust me."

[Noland Hardy]

"Cookout is better than both of them combined," Noland disagreed with both Kendrick and Krakix. "Where else am I supposed to get a Hi-C flavored milkshake with my $5 tray?"

"Aww man, there's that too," Krakix lamented. "Siege? Opinion?"

"Hm? I can speak now? Good. I think-" Seige was about to explain, before being interrupted by a knock on the front door. "And there goes my lines for this mini episode. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be useful elsewhere, where people actually want me to be heard."

Drago was hesitant to move towards the door, because he knew who it was. "Um...it's for you, Noland," Drago passed on.

"..." Noland knew who it was too. He walked towards the door and peaked through the hole. When he confirmed who it was, he looked back at Drago with a panicked expression, like the "What do I do?" type of look.

"Open the door," Drago whispered in an annoyed tone, like he was sick and tired of this whole cat and mouse thing going on.

"..." Noland unlocked the door and opened up. The person who stood before him was very obvious... It's not like there's anyone else he'd hesitate speaking to, unless it was a high-profile terrorist like Cyber or Crimson. "H-hey..."

[Alana Cortese]

"H-hey..." Alana nervously got out. It was an unexpected encounter for sure, but Alana felt like it was necessary to meet with Noland face-to-face about what just happened.

"Sup guys," Hydranoid greeted in his robed form. "I just wanna say, THANK YOU. I've been wanting to rip that guy to shreds for a while now, but seeing what you did... Oh man. I'm glad I didn't. He ghosted big time. We'll probably never hear from him again."

"About that... Thanks for sticking up for me," Alana gracefully thanked. "He was bugging me ever since he won that stupid national championship. I'll never understand the logic of trying to get with someone and calling them out of their names like that... It's all so weird..."

"...So...I just wanted to thank you in person...since we haven't talked in...a very long time..." Alana was beginning to walk away from the residence, since she said all she needed to say. "I have to get home, so...I'll see you..."

[Kendrick Hardy]

Kendrick nodded to every word he heard from the one-sided conversation between Noland and Alana. He waited until Noland closed the door before making any comments.

"I'm both embarrassed and curious at the same time," Kendrick started, sharing Drago's sentiment of enough is enough. "First of all, I think I speak for all the guys in this room that knows what's going on here. She wants that Master d-"

"What!?" Sandra bellowed through the house, having heard the start of a phrase Kendrick shouldn't be saying.

"Nothing!" Kendrick assured her. "You all know what I'm saying... I mean, you killed her, and she's still coming to our house, man. Second, I don't know what happened, but she's hot as f-"

"Don't make me come in there, Kendrick!"

"I'll just shut up before I say anything else that's going to get me in trouble... You get the idea. Why don't you two just kiss and make up already? It has been a year..."

[Noland Hardy]

"..." Noland couldn't come up with any responses to Kendrick. He was right on all accounts, but...it was never going to be that easy. "I guess Lydia would have to answer that question for you...except that I'm probably dead the next time I see her."

"Oh...yeah...YOU are..." Drago agreed, excluding himself from the situation.

"There's a lot of guilt involved too," Noland explained. "At least...for me. I want to try not to relive that whole exchange, so...let's just move on from that. I'm sorry." Noland excused himself and went elsewhere in the house. He was definitely getting in his feelings again, and for good reason.

"Believe it or not, that's the best conversation they've had since...well, you know," Drago noticed. "Obviously, this is all mental... Alana clearly wants to be in Noland's life in some way, but he will always push her away the longer he keeps carrying that guilt on his shoulders. It might have allowed us to achieve Duality, but...at a very high price. I'd be very impressed if Lydia could work her magic to knock that out of him."

[Lydia Andersen]

Lydia was walking through dark and suspicious alleyways all by herself. She was plunged into deep thoughts and was barely paying attention to her surroundings- at least it seemed like it. She did not require any input from Alana or anyone else to know what Noland and Drago had been doing- she has her own methods of finding things out when she wants to. Her power enhances her physical senses and mental capabilities by a drastic amounts so that takes some credit as well. Though, judging by Noland's tone before she left those guys to their own devices, she did not need to learn Noland was going to confront Maurice- he is that kind of person. Lydia knew he would do it against her will, but she also knew not all of what she said would be ignored- Noland would have probably been a lot harsher in that combat if Lydia did not try to tone it down where it was not even a battle. Noland did not even defeat Maurice- that guy defeated himself. The guy shook in fear by just standing before Noland and it did not take him long to run away from the eyes of the public to try and hide from the shame he got on himself for making illogical assumptions and paying for it.

Lydia was on his case. She believed it was not over. While Maurice might have been shaken by the battle and unexpected difference in power she believed it was all part of a bigger plan to take 'Master Blaze' down- if not in combat then maybe in the eyes of the public and it would not be difficult because blaming Gundalians for this or that is not a difficulty in this world. While she could take the absolutely peaceful route it would extend the time needed for taking care of this and it could get Noland in bigger trouble so directly confronting Maurice was a better option at that moment. He probably ran back to his home to bring a much more hellish plan to the surface and Lydia, in all honesty, has already had it enough with people attacking her client in such ways. Best way to teach them a valuable lesson is to enlighten them that they are not invisible and she was about to do it to them... all of them...

Using her Enhanced Senses Lydia practically sniffed Maurice out. She could pick up any sort of smell and find it among millions of others and, in all honesty, picking up smell of alcohol and various different substances that go with trashy personality is not a difficult feat. Lydia stopped in her tracks- Maurice was in the dark alleyway she was going through- it was quite narrow and damp; he was standing near an iron fence with a few other guys. Some were wearing leather jackets and odd caps, barcode tattoos, lots of piercings and tasteless haircuts. One of the guys was even wearing a lot of 'golden accessories'- according to Lydia's senses those were faker than 21st century's wrestling matches. She took her innocent nature and appearance to approach the bunch with a sincere smile immediately turning attention to Maurice. "Oh my! It's you, the world champion! I never imagined I would find you here! I am a big fan!" Lydia expressed those lies with an oddly soothing and sincere tone.

[Noland Hardy]

Maurice looked at the girl funny, because, if he could recall correctly, they were in a dark alley at night. What girl would approach a group of guys in D.C. by herself at night, especially in an alley? It doesn't happen. This could only mean one thing: Lydia was here to bag them for smoking weed and drinking underaged.

"You think I'm stupid? I know why you're here! Get her, boys!" Maurice yelled, pointing to Lydia in a menacing pose. They all stood there for a good five seconds. By that time, Maurice knew none of them were going to do anything, so he stopped the act and gave himself up.

"Who am I kidding? You'll fuck me up too..." Maurice realized. "You know, from the outside looking in, it never crossed my mind how strong the Resistors were until I had to go in an arena and get myself embarrassed in front of everybody... I wish my impression of them was just off of the tv screen than in real life..."

"So please, let a brother smoke all of this away. I gots no trouble with anybody right now. I'm just doing me. I swear."

[Lydia Andersen]

"Awww... that is such shame." Lydia gave off an innocent smile to the guys. She was referring to this entire thing. She wondered- how did a person like him win the championship? Who in the right mind would allow a person with an alcohol AND drug problem entered a high-standard championship? That was absolutely against the rules. Were those tourneys scripted or something? Perhaps someone was pulling the strings, too. There are billions of people on the planet, so many skillful brawlers that would bury this guy under ground and yet- he became the champion. Lots of important questions, not many viable answers. "No worries- I did not come here for Resistors or your... problem..." Lydia referred to what these guys were doing there. "...but now I do see that things have become... distinctively worrisome and I would love to explore." Lydia said.

"Since you seem like the 'leader' of this group would you do the honors and lead me to where you live, dear gentleman?" Lydia asked of Maurice. She was still intending to look into any possible info that might bring Resistors into trouble and where media is involved there sure are never good news. Seeing how this young man, aside being a very cocky person, definitely has a problem she thinks she should remove it before he or somebody else gets hurt because of it. Her request will probably not be accepted, but she did not entirely mind if it was not- she has other methods. The point is- what kind of parent would allow this to their child? This was another potential candidate for therapy along with Noland and Alana.

[Noland Hardy]

"The fuck do I look like?" Maurice confusingly questioned. "I can't just lead you to where I live, because...you're already here, basically"

Yes, anyone who heard Maurice heard correctly. "This 'group' is family, all of them. I got my brothers and sisters all here kicking back. Mom left us, Dad went to prison, house got foreclosed on, relatives are no help, and we're all here in the streets. We use our Bakugan to do all of the essentials like cooking and cleaning. It's not too bad out here, except for when those tropical storms come rolling in. You know how that goes."

"Some people recognize me from the big screen, so they'll leave us some donations or bring us food. Other than that, we usually have to rely on the bullshit pay from McDonalds or whatever. So, since you're here, why don't you take a look around to see what you could find? We have plenty of rats, dogs, and corners to trap people who don't like to mind their business."