Before the Collision: Whole Ground Under

[Tank Stryker]

(Streets)

The streets of Washington D.C. was bustling with cars as normal, but there was a different tone to it for some odd reason. People weren't getting beeped at on occasion like in New York City where it happens all the time, and there were less people on the sidewalks with their pants hanging down.

There were a lot of people stopping what they were doing to look at a certain man and a robed blue Bakugan jogging along the sidewalks, as if they never saw anyone exercising before. Of course, no one needs to explain the reason why they started staring. It was Tank. Why wouldn't they look at him?

"I told you being in that form was going to draw people's attention," Tank told Gladion who was not entertained by this being his fault.

"So 'the Entertainer' doesn't like attention anymore? Shocking news," Gladion responded. "Why don't you pay attention to see who's looking at you? Who knows? Maybe a lucky girl?"

"Or a lucky gold-digger?" Tank sighed. "I struck out already within a month. How is it possible that I get three of them in a row?"

"You really don't know?" Gladion's statement caused a flashback where Tank, for whatever reason, decided to play the lottery. He walked into a convenience store, and then used his powers via the Eyes of Prometheus to see what the winning numbers were. By doing that, he won the lottery, and bagged so much money that he is now the wealthiest man alive for the time-being, considering he also has millions from being a pro brawler.

"Okay. Yes, I cheated,"  Tank admitted. "That was just a safety net though. Imagine this. We don't have to do ANYTHING now to make it. If I decide to retire, I can, and I'll be set for life."

"Easy come, easy go, remember?" Gladion retorted. 

"Alright, alright. I probably shouldn't have done it. BUT...I wasn't selfish with the money. That counts for something...right?"

"Oh, so now you want my advice?"

"I can't catch a break with you, can I?"

"Nope!" Suddenly, Gladion stopped Tank in his tracks, as he had sensed a familiar presence in the area. "What are they up to this time...?" 

[Markus Hederick]

In his robed form, Gargulion was swimming from shadow to shadow while Markus was in tow. He was doing this, because he was trying to go somewhere in secret. He whistled every time he jumped from each shadow, doing what he could to make this tedious and old task somewhat entertaining.

"Do we really have to go here?" Markus complained while they were jumping. "If Tracy finds out I canceled for this, I'm dead."

"Relax. They're not gonna find out," Gargulion assured him, not like he'd get punished even if they did. "Besides, if her and Skystar knew that someone died in a very peculiar place without ANYONE else knowing about it, then they'd support...if you didn't have a date."

One of the shadows put up a middle finger for Gargulion thinking this was funny. "I don't know these people," Markus stated. "What do I care if something happened down there? I couldn't care less."

"Not cool, man," Gargulion replied in disapproval. "Just trust me on this one, okay? Something's not right. You'll thank me later."

[Tank Stryker]

"Why do they look like they're in a hurry?" Tank wondered, scratching his head at the thought of Markus rushing somewhere.

"Tracy?" Gladion guessed, knowing what would happen to him if he made her mad.

"No, no, no. He's not THAT stupid...I hope?" Tank claimed. "I think something must have happened, and what I think is usually right. USUALLY."

"...You want to follow him, don't you?"

"He follows everyone else," Tank shrugged.

Gladion transformed into his monster form to gear up for tailing. As expected, seeing Gladion run through the streets was celebratory to people. Tank himself was paying little mind to this, having went through this routine a million times. There was one thing he saw that got his attention though, and that was a little boy pointing upwards with a look on his face that suggested he was about to cry.

Gladion didn't see this with his own eyes, but he was quick to turn his whole body to his left and come to a complete stop. He laid eyes on what appeared to be...Drago?

"..." Gladion stared at him in confusion. Noland and Drago have the ability to travel anywhere they can sense in an instant. Why would Drago be in his monster form out in the open? It didn't make any sense, so Gladion knew something was up. Drago was getting ready to unleash his power, which, if anyone paid attention, is already potent enough to demolish his surroundings. Even with this threat, Gladion stood there without a care in the world, like he was waiting for Drago to do it.

As Gladion expected, Drago did not follow through with what he was about do. Instead, he looked Gladion in his face, winked at him, and disappeared just like Noland and Drago do.

"Huh...well, if that's not a dead giveaway that they're fakes, then Gunz and Reptak are actually strong brawlers. Hardy and Drago aren't pussies. If they're going to do it, then they'll do it," Tank knew, blowing away any assumptions that it was actually the real ones. "We'll come back to that later, and that's already if someone doesn't kick his ass before we do."

"Roger that..." Gladion complied, confused as ever.

[Markus Hederick]

"It's always this place..." Marks heavily sighed. He arrived at the place Gargulion was leading him to: No Man's Land, the same familiar territory where the Pack got their start at. "So...you're saying that someone died in this area?"

"Yes," Gargulion answered. "I'm not sure what or how, but this IS the place."

"It's usually dust and echoes here."

"Which makes it a good area for foul play."

"Like an undergound?"

"Like an underground." An underground was the term given to any secretive brawling environments where the traditional competitive rules are thrown out. It's anything goes for the most part. Black market deals are popular in these environments, which also indicates criminals occasionally flocking to one of these undergrounds.

"It's strange for an undergound to be here though. The CIA's not too far from where we're standing."

"It's probably because I can't detect anything. The soul left from here, so I KNOW it's here, but where...?"

Markus dialed a number on his BrawlX to find someone who could easily pinpoint the location of this underground. "Hey. Can you come over here real quick? It's important."

[Noland Hardy]

Noland appeared in the area within seconds of Markus requesting his presence. Drago also came along too, since he was thinking there was something dangerous around here. When they started looking around, it turns out that...he was right.

"..." Without delay, Noland and Drago assumed the Switch Code form. They did this to make sure they weren't crazy with what they were picking up. They nodded, being very impressed with whatever was going on here. "So that's what's going on..." Noland realized. "Someone is really trying to make sure we don't find out where they are and what they're doing. There's a whole gathering here."

"And a whole lot of shaking from brawls that's being nullified... Looks like we found an underground," Drago stated in disapproval, as he didn't think any of this was too impressive. "I'm guessing we're here since you couldn't find it?"

"Right this way," Noland signaled. He led Markus to a downed building where there was a hidden walkway through some broken glass. "Kendrick told me about these places...I don't like it one bit," Noland expressed to Markus. "...You'd be fired if your team ever finds out you were here, and I wouldn't put it past any of these guys to snitch. Whatever you do, please know what you're doing. There's only a select few power levels I'd be concerned about that are here now, so watch out."

Noland gave Markus the peace sign before him and Drago got out of there. They wanted nothing to do with whatever Markus was going to do there, but...it was a given. Noland and Drago were going to come back there eventually. It was only a matter of time.

[Markus Hederick]

Markus looked down this walkway. It was dark, so no surprises there. The only issue was the broken glass at the entrance, as if they want people to get hurt trying to get in.

"I need a disguise," Markus realized, Noland being spot on with the consequences of entering an underground while under contract.

"I'd have to kill someone temporarily to give you another body to walk around in," Gargulion informed him.

Markus shook his head, as he really didn't want to go through something that complicated. He didn't have a choice though. He hid himself while he waited for an unsuspecting visitor to come walking up to the supposed entrance. Markus noticed that it was a male, which was perfect, since he didn't want to do a drastic role change. He jumped out of the shadows and knocked the individual unconscious by striking a certain point on the victim's neck.

Markus pulled him off to the side and realized that it was...Maurice Barker. Sprayzer popped up into monster form immediately to attack Markus, which was only natural considering what happened to Maurice. He saw Gargulion in his robed form, so he automatically knew that, based on the experience with Drago, it was not going to go well for him if he attacks.

"Wise choice," Gargulion commented on Sprayzer standing down. He then forced Maurice into a conscious state so they could explain what's about to happen.

"Wait! Let's work together on this one!" Maurice hurriedly suggested.

"Hm?" Markus wondered.

"Lydia sent me here! I swear! You know her, right?"

"Of course she did." Markus knew that since he heard the conversation. He didn't expect someone like him would be in a place like this right off the bat. "Why here?"

"I'm supposed to mark all of these places for her. That's why."

"Alright. If that's the case, tell me. There's an underground here, right?"

"Yes."

"Were you ever here?"

"Yes."

"What happens in there? Do people die?"

"It's possible that people could die, but it doesn't happen. But I can do you one even better. How about we just go in there?"

"You have a way to get me in?"

"I have a Dark Brawler tattoo on my forearm. It's not visible through our eyes, but it's there. You need that to get in."

"I can merge your souls together to create a new being with his appearance. That'll be the safest way to get in there without anyone recognizing us."

Markus turned to Maurice and looked him straight in the eye. "We have two people who can mess with time. This stays between us, or you're gone. Understand?"

"Completely understand. You won't have a problem out of me."

Markus nodded to Gargulion for him to commence the soul fusion. Markus' body essentially merged with Maurice. With that done, Gargulion faded into the combined soul so no one knew he was there. Sprayzer returned to ball form to go with Maurice into the dark below.

When he got in there, Maurice was greeted by the presence of Ratteloid in the room whose rattles can manipulate brain waves. Obviously, this was a security measure. A red ray of light scanned Maurice for the tattoo, which solidly showed up on his forearm, just like he said. A light-covered door opened up and allowed Maurice to walk straight in.

(Underground Theme)

The layout of the underground was very...strange. Despite the fact that they just walked into a downed building, the underground had a night sky in the background, an actual sky. The lobby was very intricate in its design, looking on par with actual top-tier brawling facilities.

Rather than focus on that for now, Maurice walked into the food court where dozens of criminals were kicking back and relaxing. For some odd reason, the restaurants here completely ripped off the recipes from popular places like Chick-Fil-A, Popeyes, Firehouse Subs, etc.

"Oh fuck no..." Markus' voice rang inside of Maurice's head.

"What?" Maurice wondered.

"Look to your right." Maurice looked to see a woman sitting at a booth. While he was looking, the woman wrote Maurice's name on the napkin and told him to come here. Maurice did exactly what she asked and sat down across from her. Out of Maurice's mouth, Markus' voice came out. "...You didn't tell on me...did you...?"

[Tank Stryker]

"Oh, come on, man. I'm not a snitch, but damn was it tempting," the woman said. "You know...you should probably disable the tracker on your phone the next time you try to ditch."

"Wait...who is this...?" Maurice asked, not knowing what was going on.

"Willa," she answered. A flashback occurred to show that Tank had Gladion use Artemis' powers to figure out where the underground actually was. Gladion then used the god's power to switch Tank's gender, so he was now a female. He - well, she - then time-skipped someone at the entrance so she could get in without needing a tattoo.

"...What am I witnessing here?"

"The person whose going to kill you if you keep asking questions," Willa answered. "So...do you mind telling me what the fuck you're doing here?" To make sure no one knew that anything was up, Willa added another sentence into it for safe measure, totally not gay or anything. "We had PLANS tonight, but you decided to ditch me and come here? The things I do to you..."

[Markus Hederick]

"What. The. Fuck," Markus writhed in agony hearing those words come out of HIS mouth.

"I mean...if it's alright with you, I'd be down to go back home, and-"

"Shut the hell up!" Markus ordered Maurice, now noticing that the latter has no idea what's going on here. "That's a guy!"

"Wa?"

"It's Tank..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Still smash."

"I just...no, I'm not doing this today," Markus refused. "I didn't ask you to come down here to track me down. Just go back to where you came. I'm fine on my own." As soon as Markus said that, Maurice touched Willa's hand to transfer Markus' soul into hers so they could communicate the actual plan.

"It was all Gargulion's fault. He made me cancel with Tracy to come down here and investigate someone dying," Markus admitted. "I don't know why that concerns me, but it really bothered him. Anything else you want to ask that doesn't involve you being gay?"

[Tank Stryker]

"Yes, I have another question. Why the fuck are you here?" Willa asked again, still unsatisfied with Markus' answer. "Gargulion's cool people and all, but we're NOT supposed to be down here. And no, I'm not saying that because I'm afraid I'll lose my job or anything. There's some really dangerous people in here. If it wasn't for Gladion, there were guys that were trying to put one in me."

"Alright...since we're all 'friends' here, why don't we take a look around, show a new face what's good down here?" Maurice suggested, since he didn't want to continue the current conversation.

"Good idea," Willa accepted. She got up and locked arms with Maurice. "What? It's not gay, okay? If I wanted some dick, I'd let you know."

"Yeah, okay, sure. Maurice hesitantly said. "...I don't want to do this anymore."

"Too bad. You're in here, so we're doing it," Willa said. "I mean, not 'doing it' in terms of-"

[Markus Hederick]

"No more, please," Markus begged. "Let's just get this over with so we can get out of here and never remember what just transpired..."

"Agreed..." Gargulion concurred. "Gladion...I can understand Tank, but you...I expected better, so much better..."

Maurice started walking Willa around, touring the various venues of black market shops and various brawling arenas. As he was doing so, he got flashbacks of what Lydia told him to do after he marked all of the illegal spots on the map she provided. Maurice told her that a few of the spots he marked were undergrounds. To make sure Maurice wasn't lying, he was told to visit what he thinks is the most prominent underground in the area and provide proof that it's here.

Luckily...since there are two Resistors here, he doesn't have to do much of anything now...

"You know what...I'm actually scared now," Markus remarked about all that he saw. "Those apps they were selling over there are downright illegal. I've never even heard of some of them either. How is it possible for a BrawlX to project actual guns? If word gets out about this, then the police are going to be trigger happy to anyone who has a BrawlX."

"Well, that's the least impressive thing we got down here," Maurice claimed. "There's a shop in here that can let you turn your BrawlX into a zapper that fries the victim like an electric chair. I doubt Atlas even knows his creation can do such things. Better yet, while we're on the topic, there's even cloaking devices here, which is only supposed to be used by the military and such. I doubt it'll slip by you guys, but...now you know."

[Tank Stryker]

"...I should probably get me one of those for...um...my research project," Willa thought.

"No," Gladion rejected.

"Please?" Willa pushed.

"You've gotten quite enough out of our powers for a while."

"...Fair enough, but that electric chair thing sounds cool though..." Willa then turned to Maurice who seems like the type of guy to own at least one of these gadgets. "You have any of these?"

"Nah. They shake us down before every major competition now since people started cheating with those Hurranians, remember?"

"Oh yeah... Forgot about that. Guess I gotta get me another BrawlX then."

"Not gonna lie. I expected you guys to be condemning the shit out of me and this place right about now, after all you've heard and seen."

"You already got your ass handed to you in the most humiliating display I've seen since Markus lost to some nobody named Lico Dettachi. That was HILARIOUS. Most people are laughing at you. No reason to get my hands dirty when you brought entertainment like that."

"Oh...right..." Maurice sadly remarked.

[Markus Hederick]

"You were asking for it," Markus chimed in. "BUT...you can get stronger now since you don't live in your own little bubble anymore. Ms. Willa here was the same way until Noland came in and shut her up. Now look at her. I'd say she's on another level...maybe."

"Really...?" Maurice asked, unsure of whether or not Markus was being serious or trying to get his hopes up for nothing.

"You thought you were the shit. That's a major reason why we all knew you were going to lose. You can't do that," Markus told him. "I remember asking Noland and Allen why they keep wanting to get stronger than they already are right now, and their answer went something like this. 'If you think you're the strongest of them all, then you're not.' Seems to me like the grind keeps them sharp and on their toes, and if they feel like they are the strongest, then the motivation goes down. You see what I'm saying?"

"That makes sense," Maurice understood.

"You're a great fighter, but...your power level is not going to cut it against people like us," Markus asserted. "And that's fine. You should be working your way up to us. You just have to accept that there are beings out there that are above you. That's how we triumph, after all."

[Tank Stryker]

"How about we triumph by getting out of here?" Willa interrupted, pointing towards a certain altercation that was about to start in front of the entrance to the battle arenas.

"Hey, look! It's Maurice!" a wannabee thug exclaimed with a hint of joy. "Come here, bruh. I wanna talk to you."

(Underground Encounter)

Maurice sighed, envisioning that something was about to go down, because Willa was here. Maurice approached the dude to see what he wanted. "What's good, Leon?"

"Can't complain," Leon replied. "In fact, yeah, I can. I lost money. You know why?"

"Because...you left it out on the table in a place full of people who lived in the hood?"

"No, stupid. I bet on you when you fought the Master Blaze!"

"Why the fuck would you do that? You actually thought I was gonna win?"

"Obviously; otherwise, I wouldn't have lost any money."

"That's on you, my guy. Now that I see things clearly, that was easy money you lost. You gotta hold that L now."

"Nah, bruh. YOU are going to hold this L. I gotta get my money back somehow, so I'm taking yo girl for a little ride on the town, see who wanna spread them legs."

"Okay. Go ahead."

"No, I - what?"

"Go right ahead. You want her? You got her."

"Uh...so...I can really just have her? No fight or nothin?"

"Yes!"

"You sure? I mean, I was ready for a confrontation and everythin."

Maurice went over to Willa and brought her over to Leon so he can stop bitching and go do what he wants to do, not like it's a trap or anything... A trap... heh.... "Here!"

"Um...thanks...I guess?" Leon then took Willa back to the entrance so he can get on with his plan.

[Markus Hederick]

"Nothing personal, ma'am. Just business down here," Leon stated to Willa. She happily strolled along, feigning interest in whatever was going to happen to her. Markus' soul left Willa's body and went to subject Leon to an out-of-body experience...

"Business as usual. Same here, buddy," Markus told Leon.

"...Oh no..." Leon shivered.

"Oh yes," Markus corrected. "You should've been more careful, but I don't expect scum like you to do that, preying on women like they're animals."

"W-what do you want?"

"Oh, it's simple really. I'm going to ask you some questions. If you don't know the answers to them, that'd be really bad."

"H-how bad?"

"I dunno how to describe it really. Souls can be moved on accident. I'm not sure of what's going to happen if yours was to magically appear outside of your body."

Leon gulped when he heard Markus threaten him, as he was well aware of what the Darkus Legendary Soldier can do to people.

"Alright, first question," Markus started. "Did someone die here recently?"

"Yes..."

"Who was it?"

"I dunno...but I do recall two things. One, the person was transgender. Two, he or she died from a Bakugan's attack. You know, standing too close to the action. Our barriers are only used to keep people from acting like bitches."

"Like you are now?"

"...Yes, like I am now."

"Was this a discriminatory type of thing?"

"We made fun of it, yes."

"It?"

"Well, I don't know what gender, so I'm just saying it how it is."

"So you're saying that there's a possibility that this person's death wasn't accidental?"

"I dunno. I was just an observer. I had nothing to do with it. All I can say is that there was a certain person with a strange presence was there that night. It was a woman. I wish I knew more."

"I do too." Markus took control of Leon's body and walked him and Willa right back to the brawling arenas. They were about to do some soul searching. "Thank you, sir," Markus thanked. "You can go home now if you'd like. I have everything I need."

"I...kinda want to see what's going on here," Maurice wished.

[Markus Hederick]

"Alright. Let's go," Markus allowed, as if this was some kind of field trip. The trio walked into the battle arenas, attempting to find out which one was the one they needed to be at. "Maurice, I need you to be very honest with me. What's going on down here?"

"I'm just as stumped as you," Maurice answered, providing nothing Markus wanted to know. "I didn't know anyone died here until I heard something said about it earlier. They act like the person's life was meaningless, as if no one gave a single damn about it happening right in front of them. It disgusts me."

"G, you brought me here. What's important about this person?" Markus questioned.

"...The soul was important to me..." Gargulion revealed. "...I don't know why...but it is."

"...Alright...let's just see what's going on here so I can go home." The crew kept going through battle arenas until they seemingly found the perfect one. They walked into the arena stands to take a seat and watch an upcoming brawl. Obviously, that wasn't the center of focus, but it was worth mentioning that there were other people here to watch as well.

"It was here," Gargulion confirmed. "Give me a minute..." Gargulion started looking around to see spirit tracks, those of which are left by traveling spirits. Gargulion temporarily allowed himself to drift into the spirit world to follow this spirit exactly where it went. It didn't take him too long to find the victim.

"Hello?" Gargulion greeted. The person looked at Gargulion with curiosity.

"The famous Gargulion has come to see me all the way out here? I don't believe it..." the person asked. "How's it going? The name's Raphael."

"..." Gargulion was shocked to hear that name, because...it resonated with him somehow, like he remembered something... "Nice to meet you, Raphael. Now, do you mind telling me how you ended up here?"

"Not at all. So, I transitioned, as you can probably tell. The folks around here didn't like that, so they set me up. It was my first time down here, thought I could make some new friends since my old ones left me when I became male. Little did I know, these bastards called someone down here to deal with me. I go watch a brawl, and a couple of seconds later, the Bakugan's attacks get rebounded to my direction, and I got pushed by something so I couldn't dodge it. Next thing I know, kablooey!"

"Did you feel uneasy before it happened?"

"You know what? Yes, I did. I knew something didn't feel right when I first got in there. It was as if it was radiating off of someone. Can't quite figure out why though. I can say there was this hot girl there, and you know how these folk treat ladies. She was walking through them just fine."

"May I read your soul, so that I may see this for myself?"

"Read away, my good friend." Gargulion laid hands on Raphael to see what might have gone unseen. He saw the scene of the crime. Gargulion looked around until he saw the only woman in the room at the time. She was very cutesy, with her hair dyed pink and with a pair of pigtails. Gargulion decided to view the situation from someone else's perspective, just to see if they knew something different. To his surprise, women starting popping up at the scene, different women.

"You only saw one woman?" Gargulion asked for clarification.

"Yep. Only one."

"You weren't supposed to," Gargulion mentioned. "Your eyes were a different color than what they are now. Your vision was affected. There was more than one woman present."

"...Well I'll be damned."

"It seems there's a dangerous assassin on the loose in the undergrounds. It won't be long before someone else is next."

"You're going to stop her, right? Please? I feel like I got fished out of water and left out to dry."

"We're going to get you some justice. Don't worry."

"Thank heavens."

"By the way...before I go...are you still friends with Serenity?"

"Serenity? Haven't heard that name in a while. She disappeared ever since that Bakugan of hers got killed by the Gundalians in that invasion. You know her?"

"Yeah...I think I do...more than I can believe..." Gargulion exited the spirit world before Raphael could question him on why he said what he said. The trio were still sitting there like nothing happened yet.

"So...um...we need to get out of here."