Before the Collision: Whole Ground Under

[Tank Stryker]

"Too late," Willa knew, as the atmosphere in the battle arena was starting to change. The pink-haired woman that Gargulion saw in his investigation took a seat behind the trio. Neither of them felt nervous, but they were slightly concerned. The last time she was present, someone died. Could that happen again here? Could they watch an innocent person get gutted right in front of them? They were about to see...

"Hm...Maurice..." the woman said with a hint of confusion. "It's weird seeing you here without your crew. Where are they?"

"No idea, Kim," Maurice answered, revealing to both Markus and Willa that he knew who she was. He didn't know she was a killer though... "I guess they rain-checked on me. The last time this happened, they got into it with their parents. You know how it can get with black mothers in D.C with this whole 'single mom' type of thing."

"Ain't that the truth? Well then, who are these two lovely people you have with you today?" Kimberly wondered. "Oh wait, I know who Leon is. Didn't recognize him at first, but...you do have a lovely lady here. Who's this?"

"This is Willa. We're...talking..." Maurice sorta explained.

"Oh, you don't have to be shy about it. I'm happy for you. Well then, Willa, my name is Kimberly. Pleasure to meet you. Please be careful. There are plenty of people around here who seem to think of us ladies as animals without a heart and soul. I would hate to see something happen to you. I trust that you're a capable lady to come here, and you're in capable hands with Maurice, so I wouldn't worry."

"Speaking of which..." Willa started. "How is it that no one seems to be picking on you? You're simply too gorgeous to NOT get some looks, you know? I've been getting hit on since I got here. I could only imagine what happens to a girl who comes here by herself."

"It's simple really. We're vulnerable to them, so...we simply show that we're NOT," Kim said with a hint of an evil-sounding tone. "Now, keep in mind, this IS NOT the safest place out there, so less-than-traditional methods are needed to fully capture everyone's attention in such a way that they instantly know NOT to mess with you. Brawling is ONE way to do it, but there are...other ways... I'll leave it to you to figure out which path you want to take, my dear."

Two people that were virtually nobodies in the brawling scene stepped up in the brawling arena and were ready to battle. Two gate cards were set, one on each side of the field. Both people brawled in their respective Bakugan; however...one person was using...Gladion?

"..." Willa was keeping a poker face throughout this entire thing, but she was NOT happy to see that, AT ALL.

[Tracy White]

Tracy was pacing back and forth in her dorm room in her pajamas, apparently upset over something. Skystar had nothing better to do than watch this happen for a couple of minutes. Once she got bored, she started looking at the Holy Providence again. After a couple of more minutes, Tracy stopped, causing Skystar to finally look up from the fabled tome.

"Why haven't you asked me how I'm feeling yet?" Tracy asked, as if Skystar was expected to.

"I figured it was obvious," Skystar responded. "Plus, unlike Noland and Drago, I like to mind my business when it comes to couple drama, so..."

"Since when?"

"Since...now." Skystar then returned to read over the book, as there was still A LOT of knowledge she wasn't tapping into. "Besides, I'm pretty sure this was one of Gargulion's plans again, so I'd blame him. It's usually all his fault anyway."

"It can't always be Gargulion's fault..." Tracy felt a rumble on her BrawlX. She checked it, only to discover that it was a panic alarm coming from Markus' BrawlX.

"Since when does he use panic alarms...?" Skystar wondered, rising to her feet to prepare for battle.

"..." Tracy didn't bother changing, since Markus doing that means that something very serious was about to go down. "Okay. Let's go."

"You're not going to change?"

"It's a panic! There's no time! Let's go!" The scene transitioned to the open skies where a Haos-influenced comet sped towards Markus' location.

[Markus Hederick]

"..." Before Markus said anything, he had to check to make sure Leon wasn't already aware of Bakugan being done like this before he opened his mouth. When he got his answer, he started giving his input on the situation. That was the plan...until Maurice filled in for him.

"Is this some new project or idea that's coming?" Maurice wondered.

"It's a work in progress," Kim confirmed. "We understand that all visitors are not armed with Bakugan, so we want to include them in the action by giving them Bakugan to use. There's also room for some 'what-ifs' since there are fans here too; that's just an idea of mine. Hopefully, it gets put through."

"I actually like that idea," Markus lied, trying to keep up the lie of him not being pissed about what's going on here. "How exactly is this happening though? I couldn't imagine someone actually getting Gladion to come in here and willingly battle, so that must mean it was created, right?"

"Correct," Kim answered. "The exact methods...I'm not at liberty to say just yet. I wish I could..."

"Well, whatever made it did a pretty good job. Guess I chose to come on the right day."

"You sure did. Say, I need a quick favor. Could you go down there and tell the ref to hurry up? Here we are talking away and I didn't notice them not starting yet."

This was dangerous, as the referee was a woman. Gargulion already knew that this woman could potentially alter what someone sees. If Kim did anything to Leon's body, then Markus shouldn't see anything.

"Markus, Leon's pupils are a whitish color. Tell her you don't see a ref," Gargulion warned him. Markus could still see the woman just fine, probably because he was powerful enough to resist whatever spell was being used here.

"Um..."

"Something wrong?"

"I can't-" Before Markus could finish what he was saying, Gargulion forced him to stop talking.

"She took it off."

"Oh, right! I see her now. Be right back." Leon's body got up from his seat and went downstairs to check on the situation.

[Tank Stryker]

Willa yawned as Leon's body moved, closing her eyes while doing so. She secretly used Prometheus' power to see if Kim's future had anything to do with the Drago and Gladion copies he saw. The resulting vision showed that Kim was using a sorcerer to make these copies, and that the Gladion in the arena was going to make an attempt on Leon's life a couple of seconds after he gets down there.

Having seen enough, Willa opened her eyes with a smile on her face. She clapped twice, and time stopped for everyone else aside from herself, Maurice, and Leon.

"...What...?" Maurice said in absolute shock.

"If you're that surprised by this, then you clearly have no business challenging us," Willa stated. "Anyway, she did it." Willa then transformed back into the only form anyone should be seeing him in: the Tank everyone knew. "Honestly, I feel kinda bad since those were some good ideas, but...she was going to kill your boy. She killed someone ALREADY too. Now, we're not police or anything, but this chick's gotta go."

Gladion obviously couldn't hold time in place for too long, so the trio took Kim outside and had Markus phase her straight into the CIA's hidden base. Maurice was not present where Kim was, since they didn't want him implicated for the time-being. Markus also dropped Leon somewhere random so he didn't know what was going on. Time then resumed as normal, which left a perplexed Kim wondering what the hell was going on.

"Surprise!" Tank celebrated.

"..."

"You're busted! How many of you are left?"

"...So you know that much? You really are amazing..." Kim conceded, shrugging this capture off like it was nothing.

"I was gonna say the same about you until you tried to kill someone," Tank retorted. "Now, I know all about your operation, and I know that all of these copies of yourself are different personalities along with the Drago and Gladion ripoffs you made. Why don't you make this easier on all of us by telling us why."

"Maybe I wasn't heard correctly. You should know I'd never tell you."

"Hey, Nero," Tank called. "She's yours."

[Andrew Bullock]

"W-who!?" Kim said in horror. Indeed, she was horrified when Andrew walked into the room to greet his first torture victim. "...You're supposed to be dead!"

"Nice assumption. Now let's go," Andrew progressed, yanking Kim by her arm and bringing her to a wide board. "You want to be difficult? This is what you're going to get. I don't have time to be playing with you."

"You're going to waterboard me!?"

"No, no, no. Do I really seem that cruel to do something so unethical?"

"Yes!"

"Damn right I do." Andrew strapped Kim to the board and had Markus bring over the water they were going to use. "I really didn't want to have you in here, since I couldn't care less what you do in the Underground. That all changed when a Dragonoid copy showed up in public."

"Wait...what!? When!?"

"You already know. Tell us what we want to know RIGHT NOW. You know what I'm going to do to you if you don't. Make your choice."

Kim decided to spit in Andrew's direction, which was easily avoided thanks to his forbidden power speeding up his reflexes. Andrew covered her face with the cloth and began pouring water over it. "What's your Bakugan's name!?" Seeing as she wasn't answering, Andrew continued pouring water.

"M-Merlix!" Kim shouted out, coughing in extreme intervals afterwards.

"What does it do!?"

"It's a wizard! It practices all kinds of magic!"

"Did Merlix make all of the copies!?"

"I don't know!" Andrew poured even more water to get the answer he wanted out of her. "Yes! Yes! Merlix made all of the copies!"

"Where is it hiding!?"

"It's coming now!"

Andrew released all of the restraints and took the cloth off of Kim. "That underground belongs to ME. You're too weak to have it," Andrew claimed. "Now get out of my sight." Andrew threw the girl across the floor until she ended up back in Tank and Markus' view.

[Markus Hederick]

Maurice stood by, watching the result of the waterboarding Nero just subjected her too. "...Is this what you guys do...?" Maurice wondered.

"No. We were't told she was going to be waterboarded," Markus responded.

"You already have one guy that can see into the fucking future! Were you too blind to see that one!?"

"While we're this powerful, we're not perfect. We can make mistakes too. The simple fact is we didn't know, so if you want to white-knight this extension of a terrorist, go yell at the man who did this to her. Do so at your own risk."

"I couldn't care less about any of that bullshit. As far as I'm concerned, you're scum for being apart of the underground in the first place. You do all of that shady shit down there and you want to bitch to us about unethical practices? Get the fuck out of here," Gargulion said in Maurice's face.

[Tank Stryker]

"...You care that much for a fake body...? Wow..." Gladion said in amazement at this guy's stupidity.

"Eh. Ethics are overrated," Tank suggested, implying that he was all for what happened to Kim just now. "Just be glad you're still alive. My gut's telling me you were going to be next if she got away with what she tried to do today. That's why you don't trust ANYONE that goes there. In fact, I think you can't be trusted after all I saw in there. You better hope whatever Lydia has you doing gives any results, because I'm not buying any of that shit."

"If the wizard is coming this way, then it's probably looking for a fight," Gladion guessed, trying to take Maurice out of the conversation.

"Finally! I was looking for a fight ever since I was forced to use that damn disguise that NO ONE IN HERE IS GOING TO TALK ABOUT TO ANYONE."

"...You...you people are sick..." Kim coughed.

"Sick AND tired of people like you playing terrorist," Tank responded. "Why don't you lay there and shut the fuck up before I come up with something worse to give you?"

[Tracy White]

The wizard in question wouldn't show up for another 5 minutes. A cloud hovered over No Man's Land and had a ray of light beam down through it. Merlix was dropped off from this light. It was a tall wizard that wore a very sturdy cloak and had huge hands.

Merlix started approaching the direction where Kim was taken. Before it could make five steps, a huge surge of light power struck down out in front of it. Within seconds, Merlix was now within the presence of the Haos Legendary Soldier.

"Hm..." Skystar was in her monster form, not knowing what she was going to have to do. She looked Merlix up and down before deciding on her next move.

"Skystar," a rasp, but scary-sounding voice said, emanating from Merlix.

"Who am I speaking to?"

"Merlix, the one your friends are after."

"And why would they be after you?" Tracy wondered.

"People have died and it's using your likeness in illegal battle arenas and in public," Maurice revealed, him, Markus, and Tank having come out to confront Merlix.

"Why, Merlix?"

"..."

"Do you care about the repercussions we have to face because of you doing that? Yes or no?"

"...Yes..." This answer from Merlix surprised both Tank and Markus, because they expected it to be some evil mastermind lurking in the shadows. "Merlix made a mistake with magic... The copy Merlix made named Kimberly became evil..."

"Someone get me Kimberly, please," Tracy requested. This was followed very quickly, as Kimberly was let go, but tumbled due to her earlier treatment. That was of no concern to Tracy though.

"I'm assuming you practice illusion and enchantment?" Skystar noticed.

"Yes..."

"Is this the only human subject you created?"

"Yes..."

"I'd either stop here or practice in a more contained area before letting one loose. Magic is very unpredictable. Without practice, you could end up creating something you never intended to, like this one here. Now, before I go any further, I want you tell me why you've been making copies of yourself."

"Merlix on wrong planet. Merlix from Neathia, not Earth. Merlix have no friends here, so Merlix make his own. Kimberly was supposed to be Merlix's brawler, but she use power for no good."

Skystar called on the Holy Providence, opened it up, and sang a phrase in Vestroian language to correct what Merlix did wrong with Kimberly, turning her into a moral being. "There you go, Merlix. All fixed up."

Merlix picked Kimberly up using magical forces and brought her to him. Tracy, who was very sympathetic with Merlix's situation, tried to reach out to him with words. "If you need help getting back to your home planet, we can help you," she offered. "We can be friends."

"...Merlix accept, but Merlix will go home for now before Merlix cause anymore trouble." A light beamed down to pick him and Kimberly up, and they traveled to who knows where.

[Markus Hederick]

Maurice was very observant of how Tracy handled that situation. She didn't have to fight Merlix at all. Him, Markus, and Tank were all prepared to take this wizard on in battle only to find out that they didn't have to.

"Wow..." Maurice said in amazement of Tracy's calmness throughout that whole exchange. "She's...awesome..."

"Huh...Neathia...that's new," Markus said in response to hearing that planet's name. "Well, looks like that problem's solved."

"Now would be a good time to run, Markus..." Gargulion advised him, knowing that Tracy was going to have his head.

"Oh...um..." Markus was trying to think up an excuse to get him out of trouble here.

"Yeah...nice to meet you, Tracy, and sorry for all of the things I said on Twitter... I'll just let you two do...whatever it is that you do when someone's in trouble...Yeah..." Maurice summoned Sprazyer and used him to get the hell out of there.

"...I should've never come here..." Markus sighed.

[Tracy White]

Skystar started humming to herself as Tracy turned around to face Markus. Tracy had a smile on her face throughout this whole thing, which makes it even more frightening than if she had a straight-up frown.

"This is the 'important thing' you were up to?" Tracy figured out. "You could've told me this was a bro hangout, since Tank was obviously here for the whole thing."

"And you two were apparently fighting evil...without us..." Skystar remarked, sounding jealous she wasn't included in this activity. "If I wasn't here, you'd have hurt the poor thing. And we wonder why Lydia banned Noland from fighting in the first place."

"So...are you going to stay over there or will you come here for a second? I just want to 'talk' to you for a little bit, but you have to be really close. Nothing will happen to you. I promise."

[Tank Stryker]

"...Oh shit..." After hearing that, Tank knew what was happening to Markus. Tank placed a hand on Markus' shoulder and offered his condolences in advance. "You heard the lady. She wants to 'talk' to you. I hope your rest is peaceful."

"So if you'll just...uh...excuse us..." Gladion asked, getting ready to pick Tank up so they can get as far away from there as possible.

"Yeah...I have to go... You got this one, Markus. We believe in you, just...not while we're here," Tank shrugged. "So...uh...goodbye and good luck."

With that said, Gladion went into monster form, placed Tank on his shoulder, and ran from the scene as quickly as possible, wanting nothing to do with what was about to go down.

[Markus Hederick]

"Tank, Tank, please!" Markus called out as he was fleeing. "Come on, dude! You can't just leave me here!"

"Uh..." Gargulion was having second thoughts about being here too. "I think...I should get out of here too."

"No, you're not! It was your fault I'm in this position in the first place!" Markus retorted.

"I would never do that to you, buddy. I care about you."

"Lies!"

"It's just that, you told me you wanted to go to the Underground, because you were bored of me shitting on our competition. I told you about the date you had planned, but you were like, 'She'll be okay. She's very nice, so I'll get away with it.'"

"No! I will not have this!" Markus pointed to Gargulion. "Take him! It was him!" Gargulion phased through the ground to escape the area. "No! Get back here!"

All alone, Markus was now at the mercy of Tracy and Skystar... "Oh, so... Babe...let's uh...let's talk about this..."

[Tracy White]

"Oh, don't worry about Gargulion. He's getting a beating too," Skystar declared, floating in the direction Gargulion was moving towards to not let him escape. Before she left the scene, she used her power to gift Tracy a staff her size that she could wield. She was about to use it against a certain person.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop getting him in trouble!?" Skystar yelled, her voice being heard across a great distance.

"Thank you very much," Tracy greatly appreciated. "Alright, Markus. Let's review one thing we've already talked about plenty of times before. Were you allowed to go into one of these undergrounds even if you were just going to be there for a little bit?"

The answer must have been a clear-cut NO, because Tracy was charging an attack. "It's really my fault. I've been terrible at this whole relationship thing. It really hurts me to do this, but I gotta do it. Maybe after this, you won't go down there again."

Tracy threw a magic bolt at Markus, the impact of which resulted in a man screaming like a girl in sheer agony.