Before the Collision: Maverick Hunter

[General Sargon]

"What in the name of power!?" Sargon was quite shocked when Gorem ran up to Giganox like that. It was smacked by a wrecking ball and nearly got put on its back. The only reason why it didn't happen was due to its massive stature. Its balance was only regained after a couple of stumbles backwards. "Whew. Close on. I almost got in trouble there."

Sargon was lucky Giganox didn't fall into anything important. He was more lucky that the Inhaler didn't fall on someone after it was knocked out of Giganox's hands.

"Two of you are adults - three if you count 18 year-olds - but that's irrelevant for now. All I know is...I don't really like the insinuations you're making over there..." the general seethed. "Back in my day, when I talked like that to an elder, my father made me get the object he was going to beat me with. Now, you kids can get away with ANYTHING. You need to be taught a hard lesson."

Giganox had a hilt materialize in its left hand. Without delay, a strange metal protruded out of it to match the measurements of a sword. There were two small, rectangular holes on it; both of them were about a foot away from the middle of the weapon.

"I call this thingamajig here the 'Justicar'," Sargon introduced. "It's a sword that does...well, 'things.' I don't really understand all the mumbo jumbo behind it. We'll just say it was made to kill people." What the Justicar does is utilize the energy system that currently courses through Giganox. While it was too early for Sargon to reveal what this actually was, the energy system operated off of mechanical energy.

With this in mind, what Allen and Gorem would have to contest with now is a weapon that can help Giganox achieve near-perfect offense and defense. The amount of mechanical energy that the Justicar receives will only serve to power the weapon and Giganox by extension. It is Sargon's most prized melee weapon, at least for right now.

"Giganox, swing that thing around! Get it warmed up and ready to go!" Giganox did just that. As it did, the weapon gained a grayish aura that became more intense as the weapon was in motion. "You might as well turn tail and run on home. Once Giganox here makes contact with your Gorem, you may as well find a new name to call whatever he's gonna be if he survives."

[Allen Silva]

Heres where the whole bieng blind thing becomes a handicap. Every other weapon had a telltale sound where he could tell the timing to activate the ability. But since its a sword, or at least thats the assumption that he could make, that wasnt gonna happen. But weapon for weapon, Allen already knew they had a vast advantage. He finally got the fight into his own range. Sure somethings didnt go according to plan. Even with that it was time to go for the jugular.

" Did you just say your sword did 'things'? Thats the understatement of the century there jarhead. Thats like bieng surprised that a bird is flying, or a fish is swimming." Allen was completely baffled at the lack of understanding that this military general showed at his own weapon. Someone with his rank should know the ins and outs of anything he takes into combat, but he is as oblivious as his cadets." Y'know, with that response, i cant lose this fight. Not just because you aren't going to take another step towards Alana and Noland. Also because that was the most braindead thing i've heard all day. Ability activate. Gigantes purger."

" about damn time you pulled that out. I thought we would never get to do this." Gorem was as hyped as possible for this abilities activation. And once he used its power, it was clear why. He reached back with his right hand, and a piece of his armor actually rose outward, taking the shape of his axe's head. He grabbed it off of its housing, and slammed it into the ground. The very earth it hit took form, becoming the shaft. Taking it in his hand, Gorem was now armed.

Unfortunately for Giganox, thats not all it did. Gorem swung the massive axe, causing a wave of plasma to speed rapidly at the robot. He would do more, but thanks to the blowback from Creed of the battler, he was down his left hand. This was only temporary though, and it shouldn't affect the outcome. Gorem was sure of this, as Giganox was in a class to low to beat him." Yeah, thats a new trick i got thanks to bieng Crater Gorem. Now both me and my trusty armament here can manipulate heat energy. So have fun with a puddle of metal, big bad general."

" if anyone asks, just tell your superiors that you wanted a lesson in getting spanked. Im sure the will understand."

[Noland Hardy]

Noland was frantically sprinting through Anacostia when he felt the powerful shockwave Gorem's attack created.

"It won't be long now... Keep him there, brother..." Noland silently encouraged. He transitioned from his human form into his Gundalian form, which shows that he found out how to change. The reason for doing this appeared to his right and to his left while crossing through one of the most dangerous areas in the country.

"Look! There he is!" a man called out.

"Strap up, gentlemen! He's about to pay for what he did to Micah!" another one ordered.

Noland stopped running for a second to inquire about that. "Who's that?"

"And he doesn't know who she is!"

"You bagged her years ago when you were playing cops!"

"...You guys are really still around?"

"Yes, we are! Eat lead, kid!" One of them pulled out an AK-47 and started hosing Noland down. To the criminals' surprise, Noland caught the whole clip without having to acknowledge the shooter. He tossed the bullets to the sidewalk. "...What...?"

"Surprise?" Noland zapped the shooter into submission. He randomly shot around the entire neighborhood to attract all of the illegal weapon holders in the area. He knew the criminals in this area didn't like him at all, which was why he came. "Hey, guys. Been a long time."

"So the little boy is almost all grown-up eh?"

"Getting there. Say, how does revenge sound to you?"

"Revenge? Are you really asking me to put a bullet in your head?"

"Not me." Noland pointed behind him on cue with a couple of armored Army soldiers entering the vicinity. "Those guys. Some of your pals in prison got experimented on by those gentlemen over there. Now they're supersoldiers in the Army. I remember seeing a Caucasian lady among them. She doesn't look the same anymore... What a shame."

"Micah!" All of the criminals turned their attention towards the soldiers. "The conspiracies were real!"

"Wait... NO. That didn't- We weren't-" one of the soldiers asked. Before anything else could be said, a mass shootout erupted over the matter. Noland was hiding behind a house when the gunfire started pouring out all over the neighborhood.

"Drago, they're packing heat. The Army will be more focused on these guys than Alana for sure," Noland notified. "Make sure you check for snipers. Yes, this includes Victoria."

"Yep," Drago acknowledged. He was standing on top of Ben's Chili Bowl in his robed form. He was meditating to block out everything else except for the presence of any problematic people that are trigger happy at the moment. "Air Force and Navy SEALS..."

"We don't have time for that. How close are they?"

"Funny you should ask. They're already here. Imagine that."

"...That was too fast..."

"Exactly. Also, it seems Hydranoid is getting really souped up right now."

"...I'm actually concerned about our well-being now..."

"Same here...but on the bright side, Hydranoid's not gunning for me. He seems really pissed off that Hades sent him away. They're about to meet each other again, so we gotta go."

Noland "jumped" to Drago's location. When he arrived, he called on a mini-beaker from his BrawlX that had a Haos-colored liquid in it. He broke it over his head. Blue sparkles started emanating from his body to show that he healed himself in some capacity. "Skystar's really amazing for coming up with this stuff... Really helps me out."

Noland had to heal himself from the amount of Hyper Motions he was using. Unlike Drago, Noland cannot do this consecutively without a significant penalty. He gets really sick akin to how he was when he experienced the sensory overload from the Hurranian aftermath. The potion that he just used eliminated those feelings altogether.

"Alright. Race ya," Noland challenged.

"See ya," Drago waved as he started gunning it ahead of Noland. Noland was not too far behind him either. Unfortunately, the direction they ran in made them visible to the patrons inside of the restaurant. There was already breaking news reports of what him and Allen were doing to the Army, so a certain someone in there probably knows what he's thinking of doing...

[Petra Colburn]

Petra had her plans for today suddenly changed. Since Noland decided he would just run away and play the hero again she decided she would just go to the gym again. "Ah well." She muttered and headed off towards the desired location. There was nothing else to do. "Shouldn't we do something about the... uh... crime?" Leon inquired since there was a lot of hell going on and was the reason why Noland left in the first place.

"Crime? Meh, I don't care." Petra scoffed and continued on her walk.

"Ah... okay." Leon replied in confusion. 

And with that absurd, pathetic and unfunny commentary the duo left the scene letting the combat go on and, potentially, lots of people to die. But humanity does not deserve anything else but death so it is all justified. Fingers crossed that somebody will die! 

[Noland Hardy]

"Um...Noland?" Drago nervously called.

"Yeah?" Noland answered.

"You did reschedule with Petra, right?"

"Of course I did!"

"Alright, alright. Just checking. Hey, how did you two meet anyway?"

"You're really going to talk about this now?"

"I'm stressed enough having to fight Hydranoid, so yes, I am."

"Alright...fair enough."

A flashback showed Noland walking near the Washington Monument. He was reminiscing on past battles since he was writing a paper on the topic. There was some entertainment being provided in a form of a Brawl Circle. It starts off with two people. The winner stays on until he/she loses. Whoever wins the most battles by a certain point gets a special prize.

Of course, Petra and Leon were in the circle shitting on everybody. Noland recognized her from when he was evil and joined the circle when people started to chicken out. To everyone's surprise, Noland did not use Drago. He used Krakix instead, and it was for training purposes. Despite knowing full well he was going to lose the brawl, Noland fought brilliantly with Krakix and pressured the Angel many times throughout the battle. As expected, Noland was defeated, but Krakix took enough out of Leon to where he was fully satisfied and willingly withdrew from the competition. By that point, he already racked up enough wins to win Petra her prize: a year of free Chick-Fil-A.

From that point on, Petra kept trying to get Noland to battle her with Drago, because Leon was getting rather curious about Noland's strength and wanted a grand battle. Noland refused every time, because he literally couldn't do it thanks to Lydia's strict enforcement.

Eventually, Noland gave in and only gave Petra and Leon three minutes. Within that time, both Leon and Drago were breathing moderately with only a few bruises.

"And you know what happened after that," Noland finished.

"Right...us tag-teaming against Yita's Yashu 'Infinite' when she found out you were hanging out with this girl..."

"Yita's crazy, man. I was busy trying to stop her from attacking Petra, and then Yashu ends up going for us when they realized Petra and I were bonding a little during the fight."

"To be fair, you didn't call her in about two weeks."

"I said we were taking a break. She did that to Tracy, Chan, and Seiki too. Speaking of which, all I did was walk with Seiki in a park. That's it, and what do I get? Digital claws to the face. That shit was ridiculous. I'm glad it's over."

"Ah, well. Thanks for all that. I'm feeling a lot better now at your expense."

"Gee, thanks. I'm glad you're concerned about my well-being."

[Andrew Bullock]

While Noland and Drago were reminiscing, Andrew was locked in a battle with Alana in No Man's Land. Yes, they were at that place again. The only reason why Andrew lured her there was to get her away from the general population.

Then again...this place should obviously trigger memories within Alana that would power her up even more, so that's a bad thing. It's still better than being within the city though.

"Where is this guy at!?" Andrew frustratingly mused. Hades had to continue avoiding Hydranoid and not allowing the Legendary Soldier to gain any more power from a direct confrontation since Andrew is well aware he's not equipped to defeat Alana in her current state.

"He said he was getting some Army soldiers off of his tail. He should be there soon," Montai notified him through his BrawlX. Just as she said that...

"Ah. There he is." Montai's scanners were picking up on Noland and Drago's arrival.

"It's about time! Get her outta here!"

[Alana Cortese]

Hydranoid stopped trying to fight Hades when he realized that Drago was in the area. "There he is..." Hydranoid announced, as if no one knew that he was there already.

"..." Alana was growling uncontrollably upon seeing Noland's face. Her skin was progressively turning pale and was becoming a dark shade of purple. "Oh...right... Now I'm suddenly reminded of the WORST person in my life... YOU. Yeah...you have to be. This feeling I have right now... I can't describe it, but... I feel so angry when I see you... It's so much worse than the feeling I get when I see Nero..."

"I should've killed your ass when I beat you the first time... Well, I thought I did, but still," Hydranoid started. "How haven't you committed suicide yet? You can't possibly sleep at night knowing what you did."

[Noland Hardy]

"..." Noland knew he was in for it now, the battle of his life.

"Um...Noland...question..." Montai called from his BrawlX. "Can you actually defeat her...?"

"..." Noland ignored the question for now. He sighed and then hung his head down. "...If I couldn't, would I be doing something this stupid?" With that said, him and Drago "jumped" behind Alana and Hydranoid. They laid hands on both of them and brought them over to Seiki and Ahio's position via Hyper Motion.

Noland didn't know that the location Seiki chose was the Kerguelen Islands, one of the most remote places in the world. That should give them the space they need to sort this problem out in a "civilized" manner.

Alana and Hydranoid were violently dropped to the ground when Noland and Drago arrived. Noland then made sure to keep his distance. He knew that what he just did pissed Alana off.

"Thanks, Seiki... Stay out of range, and by that, I mean get the hell out of here," Noland advised. Hydranoid can hit someone from an impressive distance, so he didn't want to risk them getting shot.

"Hey...Maverick..." Noland solely addressed, because he knew who he was dealing with wasn't Alana. "...Great job. You infected the right person based on what you're bringing out of her. Enjoy it while it lasts..."

[Alana Cortese]

"Don't be such a drama queen. I'm not gonna attack her. I have no reason to. Seiki's cool," Alana genuinely assured them all.

"Unlike you two," Hydranoid directed to Noland and Drago.

"I thought you'd at least have enough respect to refer to me by my NAME, not a Maverick. This Maverick here is my buddy, and I'm still the same girl you messed over so many times... You killed me once..."

Remembering that, a sinister energy began taking form around her body. It expanded to cover Hydranoid by extension. This was emotional energy, one of the defining characteristics of the Maverick virus. It powered her and Hydranoid up like no one would believe.

"You brought me all the way out here as if I'm dangerous, but...I'm not. I'm just...really pissed off...and happy at the same time. I HATE you, but...at the same time...I... Hm. Yeah, that makes me hate you even more..."

Alana activated her BrawlX and pointed to Noland and Drago. "Tear them open!"

"You heard her," Hydranoid surrendered. "Whole or diced? What's your pleasure?"

[Noland Hardy]

"..." Noland was speechless. Alana didn't know this, but apart of Noland's therapy involved the fact that he hurt Alana so bad. He COULDN'T sleep well at night knowing that he did what he did, but no one else would know that.

"Drago, get dressed," Noland signaled. On his cue, Drago walked up to what will be there battle area: a wide-open space where the surroundings was nothing but grass. He got out of his robed form and stood valiantly in his monster form.

"Whole sounds like it'll be over sooner, so do that," Drago answered. It wasn't gonna happen, but it's still an answer nonetheless.

Noland got his BrawlX up to speed for what was going to be an epic clash between two Legendary Soldiers. For once, he can cut loose, because he won't survive with anything less.

"I didn't think I'd have to do this again, but it's whatever. You already know me. I didn't do everything I did in the past year just to let things between us go to hell again," Noland stated. "Part of the reason why I'm getting control of my powers is to show everyone that I'm not evil and CAN do better. Meeting you was one of the greatest things ever and I messed that up since I wasn't strong enough. I'm still not, but for what it's worth, I'll try. You tried for me all this time, so I'll try for you. It doesn't matter if your current self will let me do that or not. I'm bringing you back. That's a PROMISE."

(Boss Theme)

[Alana Cortese]

"Awww..." Alana was genuinely thankful for Noland saying that, and there's a very good reason why. "That's so sweet...but you don't have to worry about doing all of that. There's nothing wrong. In fact, everything is RIGHT, because I feel so much more powerful after hearing you say that!"

It would seem like Noland's best bet is to shut the hell up, because the power boost her and Hydranoid were getting from the Maverick was going to reach the levels of where they'd be at if Hydranoid were to temporarily evolve into an Excedra.

"Keep yapping," Hydranoid encouraged, as he was fully aware of what he was gaining. "I've been meaning to pay you back for those two times you beat me, not that I need this virus to do it or anything like that. It's about time people remember who I am around here. The most powerful mortal Bakugan is I, and don't you forget it!"

"Ability activate! Omega Lashing!" Hydranoid's energy started coursing through his body until a buzzing sound could be heard. Then, a saw-like aura outlined his body. This brought the sharpness of his body to a high-tier, which would undoubtedly increase Hydranoid's offensive and defensive potential.

More importantly, it allowed Hydranoid to conduct electricity off of his own aura. He used it to bolster his own neural synapses and boost his reaction time. Simultaneously, he used it to fire harmful bolts of lightning in Drago's direction. Its power scorched the landscape around them.

[Noland Hardy]

Drago moved side-to-side to dodge the lightning bolts that were coming in from all over. Doing so had consequences, as the land formations out in the distance were razed through quite easily. There was nothing he could do about that though. It came with the opponent he was facing.

"Good grief..." Noland knew there was going to a LOT to say about all of the destruction here. "Are you trying to destroy us or the planet?"

"I don't mind some competition, but this is just childish..." Drago sighed.

"Well...Here goes nothing. Ability activate... Novia Weapon..." Drago's scales were buzzing. He intentionally allowed a lightning bolt to strike him, but he put his forearm in the way. The scales on his forearm absorbed the shock of the electricity and eventually assimilated the power.

Drago then exerted some force on the ground using his right foot. Some power left his body and traveled through the ground. A sea of electrified, elongated Novia Blades protruded from underneath and went on a straight path to Hydranoid. All of the blades stayed up when they surfaced, so jumping over it was not a good solution.

"Power is good, but too much of it can be a bad thing," Noland advised. "I speak from experience."

[Alana Cortese]

"Don't you?" Alana agreed. "Ability activate! Omega Shield!" The heads to the far left and right looked down at Hydranoid's feet. They fired a laser and turned their necks so that what they burned into the ground was a giant circle surrounding the body. Looking straight ahead, Hydranoid could see that he was 50 meters away from the circle, which means someone would have to cross 100 meters to reach the end of one side.

More importantly, what resulted from this was a purple barrier that outright devoured the incoming attacks. It started from where Hydranoid was standing and began expanding. Soon, all of the blades that showed up were eaten. Of course, all of this energy was added to Hydranoid's reserves. All in all, it wasn't too bad of a start.

"Ability activate! Excedra: Sealed!" Unique to the mainline Hydranoid who are able to transform into an Exedra by genetics, Hydranoid can receive an increase in all of his stats that is proportionate to how much battle energy he needs to take in to become an Excedra. Since this is still the early phase of the battle with no one putting any nukes on the field yet, Hydranoid was not close to reaching that state, so the buff was tremendous.

There were no noticeable changes to Hydranoid's physique that would let someone know that he was beefed up. The only noteworthy addition was that Hydranoid was more ravenous in this state than before, which could be due to the ability amping his predatory instincts.

"Too much power is never a bad thing. Maybe for you since you're too weak to control it?" Hydranoid questioned before jetting towards Drago to engage him in close quarters. He chose to copy Hydra and uses his internal energy to bolster his speed, which shows through dark smoke coming out of his wings. "Why don't you get a load of this Maverick so you can see for yourself? It might help you finally become strong like me!"

[Noland Hardy]

Not really giving a damn about his attack not working, Noland casually swiped another ability. "Ability activate! Battalix Hammer!"

Drago's internal aura materialized on his body in the form of a flame; however, rather than relying on the flames themselves to bolster his might, Drago used it in a controlled state to keep the flames within his body. This was a dangerous maneuver, since building up that much energy in one's body can prove to be fatal if the user does not know what they're doing. Fortunately, through practice and with the assistance of Drago's Switch Code prowess, this could be done.

This made Drago far more stronger than usual, but it took more out of him to keep this up. The only reason why this was necessary was to combat Hydranoid in the state that he's in. It should be obvious what caused this development.

"For once in a long time, I actually enjoy being the good guy, so maybe next time. Next week? Next month? Year? Never?" Drago replied as he started throwing hands with Hydranoid.

"Weird. You were a lot stronger before you got the said Maverick," Noland noted to Alana and Hydranoid. "Is it about that time in the battle already when I cross my arms and tell you that you aren't shit?"

[Alana Cortese]

Alana shrugged at Noland's question. It didn't bother her. She was already aware of Drago's base form being unbelievable, so him competing with Hydranoid - even with the Maverick boost - wasn't surprising.

Still, even now, Hydranoid is continuously improving. The exchange of melees between Hydranoid and Drago created a bountiful fountain of battle energy that will boost Hydranoid's power up to new heights.

"Ravager!" While trading blows with Drago, Hydranoid consciously ate both of the buffs he had gotten, since he no longer needed them. Now, Hydranoid would receive the same benefits as he would've gotten, but at the fixed amount of where it was at upon activation.

In layman's terms, the original power boost Excedra-Sealed gave at the start would remain a permanent boost regardless of how far along Hydranoid was on his way to his apex evolution. Nasty.

Furthermore, they don't count as buffs in the traditional sense, so they couldn't be nullified through ordinary means.

"This is why Lydia has you on a leash," Alana reminded Noland. "You're still as battle-hungry as ever, and you're still mean to me. If you can't even be nice to me, what chance do you have? Did you really change? Be honest." She pulled out another ability that would be sure to give Hydranoid a leg up. "Ability activate! Calamity Trident!"

Hydranoid didn't bother jumped back. He chose to do this in Drago's face, which shows how confident he is. The heads in the middle opened their mouths to unleash a giant trail of dark smoke that acted as a beam. Exposure to this would surely devour any and all traces of power. To make it worse, the smoke itself was dense enough to pressure heavy objects or sources of power.