Episode 14: The Greatest There Ever Was

[Alana Cortese]

Alana was visibly disturbed by what she was seeing. She knew the truth about what was going on. Anyone with a lot of experience could see where this was headed.

"...Does he really deserve this?" Hydranoid questioned. If Hydranoid is unsure about how Maurice was about to be treated, you know it's bad.

"...Yes..." Alana reluctantly admitted. "He brought this on himself... I just hope he can lessen the blow somehow..."

"You're worried?"

"He's fragile enough as it is... I get this vibe from Leah that she's going to have fun breaking him... And what better time to do it than the biggest audience he's probably going to ever see?"

[Noland Hardy]

"Ability activate! Pressure Up!" Maurice quickly played. He couldn't use any pressurized abilities because, if it doesn't work, Sprayzer could end up hurting himself. For this reason, he opted to increase the water pressure in Sprayzer instead. Now, he got an Advanced Fusion Ability-esque enhancement. Sprayzer kept beating on the crystal prison as best as he could. Unfortunately, it could only crack it a little, and the Corrupted Crystal ability was making its mark. Crystania made no attempt to stop this. Truthfully, she couldn't care less. She just stood by and watched.

"I'd have went D1 if it wasn't for you," Leah revealed.

"What now?" Maurice scoffed.

"After winning the D3 Championship, I was poised to move up to D1. Had it all planned out too. I'll finish the year paying an exorbitant amount of money to go to Widener, and then catch a break by not having to pay anything where I was going. The top brawler at Georgia was caught cheating with Hurranians back then. Since there weren't any worthy contenders in high school, their money was going to me...until you came along and ruined everything. You just had to go and show everyone how weak you were versus Noland. No sane coach in the country wanted to waste even more money on brawlers who wasted space as much as you did. They didn't even want to have me on their team! So now, you changed the landscape of brawling careers as we know it. This is now the only avenue many of us have to move up a division like I want to, or even make it to the PBL at all! And it's all thanks to you!"

"..." After Leah's monologuing, Sprayzer finally broke out of his containment. He plummeted down towards the ground in an attempt to dive bomb Crystania. She easily dodged it. Sprayzer's power level at this point was enough to break apart that section of the arena. Sprayzer then leaped towards the evading Crystania and bombarded it with a variety of melee attacks. Crystania easily guarded and parried all of them. Frustrated at the lack of progress, Sprayzer continuously increased the water pressure in his body due to Corrupted Crystal making him feral. He did this until he reached his max, which was just enough to finally push Crystania back towards the stadium walls. But by now, Sprayzer's body had enough, and he nearly collapsed on the ground.

"You should've never came here, Maurice. We were a lot better off without you," Leah believed. "Do everyone a favor and make this your last brawl before you cause any more irreparable damage to us."

"So instead of using this platform to get you the offers you want, you prefer to make him miserable. You could've done that anywhere else. This isn't necessary. Just beat him and be done with it," Noland remarked about the battle even though Leah couldn't hear him.

"Ability activate! Hydro Cannon!" Maurice defiantly activated. Somehow, this ability went through. It was possible that this reckless abandon coincided with Sprayzer's nature. In about three seconds, Sprayzer unleashed a giant water jet beam towards Crystania.

"Pearl Shield!" Leah alarmingly activated. She placed a pearl on her BrawlX so that Crystania's composition was that of a pearl. A pearl dome encased her being. It went against this surprising display of strength from Sprayzer. It was strong enough to utterly obliterate the entire arena from its impact. This shocked the entire stadium.

"Woah!" Yuji gasped. "Where in the world did that come from!?" The attack carved a large crater in the ground. Crystania's Pearl Shield remained airborne, but it was heavily cracked.

"Crystania barely survived that attack... Amazing!" Miko reacted to Maurice's power. Unfortunately, that was all Sprayzer could do, because his internal water pressure returned to normal as the price for that awesome power. Crystania finally put Sprayzer down by copying what he did earlier: crashing into him with her own barrier. The barrier shattered on impact, and Sprayzer was knocked out of the battle...

"..." Maurice stomped on his platform in anger when he saw his life gauge go to zero. The crowd erupted into a cheer for Leah once she was ruled the winner. They never heard anything that went on down there, so they didn't care what she said or did. All they knew was that Maurice lost as they expected him to. He didn't bother to shake hands. He walked off.

"Huh...that attack could've put me in a real bind if that hit... Too bad you're my enemy... I'd actually say nice things about you..." Leah shrugged before going about her business.

[Noland Hardy]

Leah was whistling as she was walking down the hallway leading out of the arena. She almost failed to notice that Noland was impeding her progress.

"Yes?" Leah asked.

"What do you know about Maurice's former best friend, as you put it?" Noland questioned.

"What do you mean?"

"I heard what you said to him."

"Prove I said it then."

"No need. If you think you'll come out here without being recorded, then you're not really that smart. Now, answer the question so I can leave."

"No thanks. Now, scoot."

"Answer the question, or you can explain to these recruiters why the FBI is after you. I'm sure they'd enjoy having a controversial figure on their roster."

"Then they come after me. They don't have a case. Besides, you should be the last person to talk about being a controversial figure. I'm shocked that you're even here."

"Last chance. You're about to ruin your whole career." As Noland said that, Clarence walked on over from behind him. He was in plain clothes. He didn't make it apparent that he was a Special Agent until he got within view of Leah. That's when he showed her his badge.

"I prefer not to cause a scene here since you're an aspiring star and all, but national security is national security. If you won't play ball, I'll just ruin the game," Clarence shrugged.

"Why do you even care, Noland? That boy is a cancer! He deserves to be gotten rid of!" Leah insisted.

"Why does he deserve to be killed? Even if he dies, it doesn't change what was done. All it'll do is ruin your dream, because if you do know something, and you evaded us like this, what do you think will happen if he dies? Law enforcement will come looking for you."

"That's a lot better than those hooligans looking for me," Leah rationalized.

"Look at it this way. Even if we figured out who was behind this, Maurice is still alive when they should've killed him a while ago. He knows who they are. They'll see him as the snitch and not you. You go about your daily life without ever worrying about it coming back on you. That is if don't make a big fuss out of this. No one else even knows we're down here."

"I can change that if you want..." Clarence offered.

"..."

"Look, I know Maurice is a character. He doesn't deserve your help, but think about it as you protecting yourself. Why let this asshole ruin YOUR dream again?"

"...You're going to keep my name and any conversation we have secret, right? This doesn't get out to anyone?"

"I can arrange that. Offer's good for ten seconds," Clarence proposed.

"...Deal..." Leah finally accepted. "But, I'm warning you, Noland. If they get me, it's on you."

"...If you say so."

[Alana Cortese]

On the other side, Maurice's stomping tantrum was blocked by Alana. She looked genuinely happy for him. She wasn't aware that there was something deeper about the loss though. Maurice forced himself to calm down before saying anything to her. Just looking at her made him very careful. He didn't want to see her become disappointed or upset.

"I never knew you were hiding that kind of power from us. You did good," Alana gladly commended.

"She dominated me the whole battle...but I did good?" Maurice questioned. "That was the Division 3 champion... Division 3 doesn't get athletic scholarships... How do I expect to get one if I can't even beat her...?"

"Plenty of people who do have scholarships can't beat her. Many of them couldn't even force her to take the fight seriously the way you made her do at the end. If that blast hit, you might've won," Alana figured. "Plus, you're a sophomore, so you have plenty of time to improve."

"..."

"...You know...I wish you could believe in yourself the way we believe in you... There's so many people who wish to be where you are right now..."

"Not likely... I don't have time. This is it for me. I'm dead," Maurice decreed. "This wasn't just for me to see if I have a future in brawling. I have a target on my back. Before this battle, everyone guessed I couldn't fight anyone back. I've been bullied back to back. And now, with Leah 'exposing' me just now, it'll get worse. I need to get stronger..."

"But you will though..."

"I mean, right now. Fuck this process talk. I was content in believing in it before now, but Markus inspired me to think differently. I'm going to do what must be done." Before walking away, Maurice gave a surprise hug to Alana. "You became somewhat of a big sister to me. Thanks...and I'm sorry." He took his leave shortly afterwards, leaving Alana to question what he was planning to do.

[Father Tinsley]

Tinsley was having a nice stroll through the stadium. He was trying to get himself something to eat. He was standing in line for some Jamaican cuisine. His peace was interrupted by a call to his personal cell phone. He wasn't familiar with the caller ID, but he answered anyway.

"Hello?" Tinsley answered.

"I'll do it. Give it to me now," Maurice cryptically accepted.

"Wrong number," Tinsley assured him.

"No it's not..." Maurice denied. Tinsley hung up on him.

"Stupidity at it's finest..." Tinsley sighed. "Oh well...guess it can't be helped... People in desperate situations tend to forget how to be patient...and smart."

[Markus Hederick]

"Welcome back, folks. We just finished watching a rather...'interesting' battle if you could put it that way," Yuji commented "I put myself out there by rooting for Maurice against Leah. While I was wrong - as most of you will say should've been obvious - I was very surprised with how that battle ended. I didn't expect to see that level of power from Maurice at all. You can call me crazy again for thinking this, but Maurice could turn into a monster in the future."

"Include me with the crazies, because I agree," Miko concurred. "Despite a rather dominant performance from Leah, the fact that Maurice could've turned the tables at all is remarkable. No, he's not yet ready for the big leagues, but a lot of people are going to take notice of this performance. He can definitely be someone to watch out for going forward, but he'll have to become more versatile with his moveset to compete. I feel like it's way too straightforward and doesn't have any real surprises to it."

"He can take notes from one of our next two brawlers. Prior to becoming pro, he was heavily criticized for his lackluster and straightforward moveset. Now - and I know there's gonna be a huge debate about this - but I strongly believe that Markus is the most dangerous professional of all time. You can be overly stronger than him, and still be treated as if you were the weakest brawler on the planet. You could make a strong case for him actually being the strongest professional today."

"And that's saying something, because we have Tank who is equally as remarkable, but there's something about Markus' current abilities that puts him in his own tier. We're going to be talking a lot about Tank later on, so don't worry. We're not putting one over the other just yet, but you have to admit. Markus is definitely on everyone's radar this season, and he's about to show you why."

"Now that we're done wasting your time with talk, the arena crew finally finished with the repairs, so let's go. We already spoiled the brawler in the blue corner. One of the most popular contenders for Calvin's crown, a Resistor, and the New York Revolution's trump card, it's Markus Hederick!"

Markus stepped out onto the battle platform to a very loud applause. He kept that edgy stare at what was in front of him. His fanbase seemed to like him that way. Oh well. To him, it was less cool, but if they like it, what can you do?

"Out of the red corner, we have a nice surprise for all of you. We have the NAIA champion here."

"Huh. I remember that name. He's the one saying he's a better 'Allen Silva'?"

"This is him. He at least made sure he had the credentials to back it up. He's the strongest brawler in Canada currently. Now, a wider audience is gonna see if he is who the Canadians believe him to be. Let's welcome the University of British Columbia star, Benjamin Powers!"

The Thunderbird walked into this unfamiliar environment with astounding excitement from the fans. This fair-looking young man smiled at the warm greeting, but Markus wasn't as enthusiastic about his appearance. There's a certain attitude he has with people who think they need to say they're a better whatever to stand out. Just be your own person is what Markus would say. That was on his mind when their respective platforms brought them together in the center.

"A 'better Allen Silva', huh?" Markus wondered.

"Indeed," Ben confirmed. "Just not as popular of a name is all."

"These are some high expectations you're setting for me. You know Allen is mostly equal with Noland, and you're better than that?"

"I think a lot of you Americans are complacent with the fact that all of the trouble heads your way. There are stars in other countries as well. If you broaden your horizons a bit, you'll realize that you're not that impressive compared to the rest of the world."

"And here you are coming to a Showcase for a league based in America. You've got it all figured out."

"This is the first time a pro from the PBL will face someone who resides in another country. Better yet, it's the first time a Resistor will fight someone from another country. Canada will be the first to show why the US is overconfident in all they do. That's why I'm here, after all."

"You don't have to beat me for that to be true. It already is, but, let's get to disappointing your country anyway."

"It's YOU who will be the disappointment."

The ref came over to do the usual bells and whistles. Neither brawler shook each other's hands.

"Seems like things are getting tenser as things go on. They didn't shake hands either..." Yuji noticed.

(NAIA Champion)

[Markus Hederick]

Markus nonchalantly tossed Gargulion to the battlefield. Benjamin mimicked his movement, but threw his Subterra Bakugan instead. In this way, his Bakugan would open on top of Gargulion. This culminated into an open Gargulion getting smushed by a Gorem-looking Bakugan. That's how it appeared anyway...

"That's a Canadian trick right there, copying your opponent's movement and having your Bakugan open on top of theirs. It works really well for large Bakugan like Ben's Vandarus," Yuji revealed. Even though the said Vandarus' trick created a lot of smoke, Gargulion was shown holding it up with one hand...

"Doesn't seem to be effective..." Miko believed. Not wanting to be subject to any grabs or miscellaneous techniques, Gargulion threw Vandarus back to the other side of the field. He saw enough of Gorem to watch out for those techniques. He quickly scanned Vandarus to see what it was. Truly, it was a cousin to the Gorem species. It's visually identical to the Wilda species. The main difference is that Wilda are male and Vandarus are female. Markus didn't care to know that, but it was worth pointing out that this Vandarus was heavily fortified in high-quality minerals. It wasn't going down in one punch. That's for sure.

"Shame. If Allen did that to us, Gargulion would've used two hands," Markus criticized. He was going to do a lot of this in case Benjamin didn't know. "Ability activate! Thousand Flames!"

This was not one of Gargulion's abilities; this was...Ahrangi's...

"Excuse you?" Makoto objected. "Who gave you permission to use my powers?" It was used anyway. A ghostly apparition of Ahrangi appeared on the battlefield to execute the ability. Gargulion didn't have to do that, but it looked more alarming that way. Everyone knows about Ahrangi.

"Umm...is that who I think it is?" Miko wondered. The audience gasped at the appearance of an actual terrorist on the battlefield. They were even more surprised when Ahrangi amassed orbs of fire in his hands. His dexterity nearly matches Ahio's top speed, so when he began throwing thousands of these orbs towards Vandarus, no one could see each individual projectile. All they saw were explosions and giant flames.

To everyone's surprise...Vandarus survived it...and there wasn't a scratch on her. "That's one of my abilities, Iron Clad," Benjamin revealed. By puffing her chest, Vandarus fortified her defenses. A grayish aura washed over her body to protect her. While it does provide a permanent defensive enhancement, its initial use increases her defense gradually by each hit received. She can then convert that defense increase into counterattacking damage. So, with Ahrangi's attack pretty much destroying whatever ground Vandarus had, Benjamin was about to make sure Gargulion didn't have a leg to stand on. "You can have that back!"

A large-gray laser beam shot out towards Gargulion. Just to mess with Benjamin's head, Markus relied on hax to avoid damage. "Ability activate! Otherwordly Wall!" Gargulion waved his hand out in front of him. A boundary was created via Orloth's power. Both sides of the field were separated into two parts, figuratively of course. Vandarus' attack hit an invisible wall. It caused a powerful explosion, but it never came to Gargulion's side. He waved it off afterwards, because so far, he wasn't going to need it.

"Hm...that was a strong defensive ability. Really was," Markus had to commend.

"Now do you get it?" Benjamin demanded to know.

"Not exactly, but I'll be fair and withhold my judgment," Markus responded. "Just try your best not to get full of yourself. I haven't even started to try yet."

[Markus Hederick]

Benjamin thought Markus looking down on him was funny. It was the exact reaction he expected. It was about time to give him a rude awakening. "Ability activate! Land Seeker!" Vandarus had a rippling Subterra energy surge down her legs and into the ground. Now, the earth itself will try to get Gargulion in the form of sand. The ability doesn't stop until Gargulion has been captured.

Gargulion recalled Ahrangi and braced to move. The hands all rushed toward him from a variety of angles. He flipped over the initial wave, but more kept spawning. Some even stretched out to cover the sky. Vandarus was riding within one of them in hopes of catching Gargulion off guard. Gargulion clung to the barrier walls. He ran on them to lure the bulk of them before jumping back down the ground. The spectators got a nice close-up view of the attacks strength. The pounding against the barrier was exhilarating for them.

Gargulion started to notice how the ability's effects were getting more powerful. Right when he decided to respond, Vandarus jumped out of a soil hand and attempted to wrestle him to the ground. Gargulion seeped out of his frame, smacked Vandarus' head down, and carried his body over her. Vandarus tumbled into her own sand and went out of view again. Right when people would think Gargulion got off, a hand rose up and grabbed onto of Gargulion. The amount of soil was enough to provide a very strong grip, but it wasn't enough. Gargulion threw his frame high into the air, and then shot it with a bullet of his energy. In no time at all, Gargulion's spirit transferred out of danger into the frame.

"You can't run forever. It'll keep going until you're finished," Benjamin warned Markus.

"Cool," Markus shrugged. The soil grew elongated arms to chase the airborne Gargulion. Some people thought this meant that he was on the ropes. Many others were wondering when Markus would finally attack. Some thought he was being a little bitch. Only two of those possibilities could be argued for. "Ability activate! Vessel of Aquos!"

A blue orb appeared a few feet above Gargulion. He grabbed it, then pressed it on his chest. Aquos energy flowed through his body now, like he was a vessel for the attribute itself. He ceased flight unexpectedly, looked directly at the arena, and breathed ultra frigid mist. In doing so, he dropped the temperature so low that all of the manipulated soil froze near instantly. This also meant that Vandarus herself was frozen as well, because she was hiding in one of her sand constructs. Gargulion landed gently on the frozen battlefield. All he did was stare straight into Benjamin's eyes with his arms crossed.

"...He's a genius..." Miko commended with a hint of surprise. "With the arena frozen, Vandarus can't use any sand or soil to attack Gargulion with."

"There's something even better than that. Vandarus is frozen solid in one of her own hands..." Yuji noticed. "For those of you who don't know, in cases where someone is unable to move, we allow a thirty second window of escape. If Vandarus can't do that, she'll be ruled out by TKO. That's assuming that they aren't attacked at all while they're encased."

"..." Benjamin was utterly speechless. He didn't anticipate that at all. To make it even worse, Gargulion stood there and looked down on him. Gargulion could end this battle instantly if he wanted; instead, he opted to let this serve as a warning to Benjamin.

"...Too weak..." Markus remarked about Benjamin's performance so far. "I haven't had a serious brawl with Allen, but...it's pretty clear. He's wayyyyy stronger than you. It's not even close. Everyone here knows it. You know deep down that you're inferior. All you are to me...is just a stronger Maurice."

"...Comparing me to that trash... Heh...you should've kept your mouth shut before I was finished... Advanced Fusion Ability, activate..." Benjamin declared.

"...Advanced what?" Markus raised both of his eyebrows.

[Allen Silva]

Allen wasn't sure what was being talked about down there, but he knew that something was going on. He was paying very close attention to Vandarus.

"Iron Firmament!" Benjamin played. A gray aura washed over Vandarus. The ice began to progressively shatter from the overwhelming power pouring out. Gorem had to perch up on Allen's head to get a good look.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing...?" Gorem asked him.

"...Yeah..." Allen dreaded. Vandarus broke free in a new form. She had pulsing cracks around her body. This confirmed that there was another user of the Advanced Fusion Ability. "If Markus ever finds a way to lose this, this guy's gonna be breathing down my neck just as Maurice was doing to Noland."

"If Vandarus wasn't able to phase Gargulion in base form, she's not beating him with an Advanced Fusion Ability. That's just how it is with him," Gorem decreed.

[Markus Hederick]

"I don't think we've ever seen Benjamin use that," Yuji recalled. "That's the second person to use an Advanced Fusion Ability."

"We've seen how drastic of a power increase it is from when Allen used it against Jamal. I'm wondering if we can expect to see that same intensity from Benjamin. Markus may not want to lollygag with this. This whole battle may have shifted to a new gear," Miko noted.

"It probably won't matter in Markus' case. He is breaking Benjamin down through sheer skill alone. Unless Vandarus got so much stronger to negate the necessity of skill, then this won't make a difference in the outcome. Benjamin is gonna have to get on Markus' level skill-wise if this power increase is gonna mean anything." Indeed, Yuji was correct. They'll see soon enough.

"Ability activate! Power Loose!" Vandarus' crossed her arms, flexing her muscles in the process. She then brought her arms outward to stretch. This stretch triggered a unique effect: by attacking, her defensive power increases; and by defending, her attack power increases. Truly, this was an astonishing ability. Being able to attack and defend at the same time was noteworthy. Would it really matter though?

"Should I be ending this now?" Gargulion wondered. He didn't seem worried about the Advanced Fusion Ability being used.

"No...let them do whatever," Markus allowed. "This is a Showcase after all. Besides...I want to make an example out of this guy."

"Ability activate! High Impact!" Rocket-powered energy was generated from Vandarus' shoulders and calves. This gave her an extra push when it comes to generating force on top of what she has already. Her speed was increased significantly too. She rocketed towards Gargulion with murder on her mind. Gargulion responded with the same trick he used in Dr. Kyuki's base. He sunk into the ground like it was a pool of water. So, while the rocket-powered punch Vandarus threw was impressive and uprooted a lot of ground, she looked ridiculous missing Gargulion completely. Even worse, Gargulion decided to spray the back of her head with a water gun-like blast.

"Oh, that's just disrespectful. He didn't have to do that," Yuji remarked about Markus' lack of care towards the whole thing. Some of the audience started laughing at Benjamin. That made him really angry.

"Ability activate! Mist of the Underworld!" Gargulion poked his head up for a brief moment to blow some deadly mist into the arena. As this was the air of the afterlife, there was no way for mortals to breathe it in. Essentially, Vandarus was now being suffocated, and she had no way of damaging Gargulion.

"Oh my goodness... I honestly didn't expect for Benjamin to be made to look like this," Miko expressed.

"If Benjamin doesn't have anything in his arsenal that can get rid of this pestilence AND get Gargulion to resurface, I don't see a way out for him," Yuji kept it straight.

"That'd be very disappointing to everyone if you don't hit us at least once. You should probably find a way to do that," Markus suggested. "I'm sure someone as good as you would have no problem with that. I'm not that impressive compared to the rest of the world." He watched Vandarus collapse on the ground and lose consciousness. Typical, of course. Gargulion ended the technique once he saw this. He stuck his head up just to see what will happen.

"And there she goes," Yuji announced.

"Wow..." Miko said in amazement of Markus' sheer combat ability. The referee consulted with arena staff on the condition of Vandarus. She was unresponsive.

"What a joke. The sad part is, Allen could've negated that and gotten Gargulion out at the same time, with one ability," Markus informed Benjamin. "Now do you understand? You're not Allen, and you never will be."

After he said that, the referee blew the whistle and waved the white flag for Benjamin. It was a TKO.

[Markus Hederick]

"You've got to be fucking kidding me..." Benjamin huffed and puffed.

"And there you have it, folks. That was basically a perfect win since Gargulion was never damaged. I mean, that's gotta hurt mentally, and I feel for him. Benjamin's a very prideful person from what we've seen. This'll hang over his head for a long time," Yuji believed.

Gargulion went to check on Vandarus. He laid hands on her chest and zapped her to revive her. Now, most people would think there'd be no way that someone who got destroyed in battle would try to get a cheap shot in. Most people would be wrong. Within seconds of Vandarus regaining consciousness, guess what Benjamin does.

"Ability activate! Land Detonation!" Vandarus sent a surge of energy into the ground. Whenever there's motion on the ground, that specific spot will be subject to an eruption of raw Subterra power. It spread from a large crack formed underneath her feet. Sounds powerful, right? Ben wasn't done. "Ability activate! Vandarus Crusher!" Now, Vandarus would attempt to grab Gargulion, and then slam his face into the ground repeatedly until he's defeated. She may even drag him to where the formed cracks are and do it there for extra damage. She pushed herself all the way to x100 over her limit too.

"Alright. That's despicable... Do you really want to prolong this after what just happened to you?" Miko commented. People began booing in response to this. Markus shook his head in disgust. He was gonna make this a memorable moment though.

"Ability activate! Manus!" When Vandarus came within arms reach of Gargulion via a rocket-powered grab attempt, she was immediately frozen. This was because Gargulion's body became a medium for pulling things INTO the afterlife. Gargulion then reached into Vandarus' being and started yanking her soul. He only pulled until only a tiny bit of her soul was seen coming out of her body. This cancelled Vandarus' empowered state and her abilities in the process. While this was an extreme warning, it was one nonetheless, and it was one this jackass didn't deserve.

"And he stops her like it was nothing. Oh my goodness," Miko began to laugh.

"Yo! Security! Ya'll just going to sit there and watch? Get down there!" Yuji called out.

"There's no way I'm admitting defeat to the likes of you! I just had a bad a start is all! I know I can beat you!" Benjamin roared.

"Even if you could, what will it do? You just ruined your whole career, and for what? Because you lost a battle? You blew it, man!" Markus tried to rationalize with him. "...I change my mind about what I said earlier. You're not just a stronger Maurice. You're way worse than what he was. Maurice knew when he was beaten. He went back to the drawing board and tried to improve himself. You just think that there can't be any American who's better than you. You're a disgrace."

A bunch of laser sights were pointed on Benjamin and Vandarus. These were from Lasermen who were hovering around the stadium. "You can drop her now, Gargulion. We got her," an officer assured him. Considering that Vandarus wasn't remotely a threat to him even with a x100 boost over her limit, he had no problems letting go. He pushed her soul back into her body so hard that it knocked her unconscious again.

"Just like before. Waste of time, but a good source of income," Gargulion figured. He waved the audience off before returning to his robed form. Him and Markus left the arena while the authorities scooped up the idiot on the other side.

"Is that guy on drugs or something? He was nuts," Markus wondered.

"May have been political and economic motivation behind it. A college kid beats a top pro, then you'll bring people over into your country's league and try to establish that as the standard. And make the case that Canada is stronger than the United States," Gargulion summed up...even though it was a theory. "If anything I said makes sense, that's exactly why they don't allow us to fight with other countries. That idiot probably just convinced the NAIA to drop brawling altogether, or at least kick the Canadian schools out."

"Damn... You think that looked good? Us, I mean."

"There are no words to describe what we just did to them."

[Father Tinsley]

The audience was booing Benjamin without mercy. Officers were on the scene putting him in handcuffs and taking him away. Why they were wasting their time taking him into custody was anyone's guess. Guess they thought his day wasn't bad enough.

"In case you missed it or don't want to believe it, New York Revolution superstar and Resistor Markus Hederick embarrassed the NAIA Champion Benjamin Powers without taking any damage. Ben was taken away by authorities. We don't have any news on what's going to happen to him just yet," Miko recapped.

"We do know that he's not making it to the pros," Yuji laughed off. "I'm laughing, but this really isn't funny. That outburst may have caused more problems than we're worth. I just got word that the NAIA are extremely unhappy with what they just watched. I'll be surprised if we don't see fines or a revocation of membership to schools outside of the United States. I certainly hope to not see the latter option happen, but it could happen. At the very least, Benjamin may catch a long suspension."

"Brawlers, please refrain from unsportsmanlike and dangerous conduct on the battlefield," an announcer in the stadium strongly suggested. "This is your first and only warning. You WILL be arrested if you attack your opponent outside of regulation. Audience members, please keep all food and drink inside of the stands. Do NOT throw any objects to the battlefield. You WILL be removed from the facility if you are caught doing it. That is your first and only warning."

"Unbelievable. We shouldn't have to say that," Miko sighed.

While the commotion outside was settling down, Tinsley was struggling to stay awake after catching the itis. That Jamaican food was out of this world. He randomly got the idea to get up and head to a restroom in the facility. When he got there, he found Maurice at the sink looking in the mirror. No one else was in there aside from them.

"You did rather well out there. Are you sure you want to give yourself up so quickly? This is a dangerous procedure," Tinsley requested to know.

"I need it," Maurice confirmed. "I can't survive without it."

"What will your Resistor pals think of you? Surely, you value that a lot, especially 'big sis' Alana."

"I can't worry about that. You're the only one who can help me get the power I need to fend for myself. I'm too weak, and my progress isn't enough for what's coming."

"I'm questioning you because, there's no turning back from this. As a former gang member, you know the costs of dealing with the devil. It's never free. Your inclusion in the grand scheme of things is unnecessary, so this is a favor more than anything."

"And I'm grateful for that. I really am."

"You will betray the Resistors with this action. From now on, you will belong to us. Are you okay with all of that? Last chance to reconsider."

"I'm okay with that."

"...Very well then..." Tinsley materialized a forbidden ability card in his right hand. He threw it into Maurice's chest. It sunk into his being. A dark aura then flowed over him and Sprayzer who was in his pocket. "Have ibuprofen on standby for the next few days. Your evolution cannot be instant since your bodies aren't strong enough to handle it yet. There will be a lot of pain... Welcome to the Tribunal, Mr. Barker. Be aware that you're under a special curse. If you attempt to tell anyone of your dealings with me, you'll die instantly. Farewell for now."

Maurice watched Tinsley walk out of the bathroom. He looked himself in the mirror and felt disgusted, but it was the only way...

[Alana Cortese]

"Excuse the delay. We're being told that the security team is being briefed on upping their measures after what happened," Yuji reported. "You really don't see TKO's happen nowadays. Almost all of the victories are by knockout. It's probably been a decade since someone lost like that. We're all gonna have to pay closer attention to what's going on. With this field of competition, ANYTHING can happen."

"Speaking of which, why don't we talk about Benjamin's behavior? I mean, no one has seen him act like that before. Now, we usually don't play the audio from the battlefield unless there's a very good reason to, but take a listen." Miko played everything that Markus and Benjamin were saying before the battle began. The bit about the Americans not being as good as they think they are stuck out the most.

"That makes us question what his motivation was to come here. No, saying what he said IS NOT a bad thing, but when someone acts out in the way that he did, and we have this information, what are we to believe? I'm very disappointed in him."

"And it's not like he didn't have a future in the league after the somewhat embarrassing loss. All he had to do was take it on the chin and improve. That's what these organizations want to see. Can you step up after getting knocked down?"

"That's exactly right. It's not like Benjamin was a failure for losing to Markus. He showed very impressive abilities throughout the battle. The way he is able to use his environment to his advantage, his defensive prowess, and the fact that he can use what was previously thought to be exclusive to Allen Silva - these should not be taken away from him. But - as I said before - what you can do doesn't really matter. Markus forces you to change your tactics so you can damage him at all. THAT is one of the reasons why he's so dangerous. Benjamin was being tested here. He can do all of these things, but what can he do in unfamiliar territory? Calvin, DeAngelo, Drake, Markus - these brawlers are examples of those who are difficult to fight within normal constraints. He'd have to face people like this. This was an opportunity for him to grow and learn different things about himself. Instead, he blamed everything else except for himself, and that's why he just tanked his whole career. What a shame."

"You know, the fangirl in me was always in Tank's corner when it comes to those two Resistors, but Markus really left an impression on me with that performance. Even with him being a Resistor who helped save the world, I wasn't a believer that he was the most dangerous pro like you said. I see it clearly now. This just makes it even more exciting to see what the other Resistors are capable of. I definitely want to see how Noland and Allen have grown, because we haven't seen them do much of anything in a long time. Alana as well since I don't think she was close to full power against Jenna."

"Perfect timing. One of those three is up next. And we have a surprising opponent for her too. Stay tuned."

[Alana Cortese]

Alana nervously walked in the hallway leading to the arena. Her nervousness wasn't because of the battle itself. It was something far more important than that. Noland would seem to be involved in it too, because he was standing by on the left side. Alana ran up on him, and then grabbed onto him like a worrywart.

"Please tell me you have information. Please..." Alana begged.

"I tried to get her to calm down, but...you know... Women..." Hydranoid tried to explain.

[Noland Hardy]

"Yeah... I know..." Noland understood. "He's alive if that's what you want to hear. And he's still here. The only thing I have a problem with is that I lost track of him at certain times. There was something interfering with my ability to track him. Kinda like when Gladion lost control of his powers around Tinsley's house. Coincidental - I know - but Tinsley's here also, so I'm not sure what to make of that."

Noland loosened Alana's rather tight grip on his shoulders. He then looked at her in the eyes to make sure she understood a very important thing. "Focus on the battle for now. We got him, okay? Don't get yourself down like this. We all did what we could to help him. Ultimately, he's going to do what he's going to do, but we're not gonna let him drag himself to hell. I promise."