DTL Season 4-Week 1 (Set 3)

[wiegeabo]

The rules:
This is one of four threads, each containing two match ups.
The threads will be in use for 6 days.
Days 1-4 (Thursday-Sunday) are strictly setup time for owners to plead their cases, tell us their team’s strategies, breakdown the match ups, and do whatever else they can/want to do to try and convince you that their team would pull out a victory. Please, let the owners do this on their own with no help from you, the fan.

When Day 5 (Monday) rolls around, I’ll post and tell everyone that voting may begin. Only after doing so will voting start. Any votes cast before I open voting will not count.
To vote, look over the matchups and read the owners strategies and take them into consideration. Afterwards, use your best judgment to decide who you think has the best chance to win the match up and post up the teams you think will prevail.
(Note: The length of a writeup is up to the owner. Do not punish owners just for having a shorter writeup.)

To vote, give each writeup a score out of 10, with the team you feel winning the match earning the higher score. No tie votes are allowed, one team must get a higher score, even if only by a single vote.

Remember, to vote for each match up or your vote will not count!

The teams with the highest vote total at the end of the 6th day (Tuesday) will get a W while the other will get an L.

The battleground for this week is: Area-51. The psuedo-nonexistant military base 'not' located in Nevada.


The Underdogs
Superman (Kal-L) (DU)
Hulk (MU)
Captain America (MR)
Blue Beetle (DR)
Booster Gold (DR)

VS.

Simple Kind Of Lovelies
Captain Atom (Wildstorm) (DU)
Warlock (Her) (MU)
Praetor Lemnos (DM)
Deadpool (MR)
Nemesis (DR)
________________________________

The New Defenders
Dr. Doom (Power Cosmic) (MU)
Paragon (DU)
Diablo (MM)
Fascination (MR)
Grimbor (Pre-Zero Hour) (DR)

VS.

The Atomic Punks
Nebulon (MU)
Samaritan (DU)
Nightshade (DM)
The Ghost (MR)
Will O' the Wisp (MR)

 

[LadyVader]

I knew it. Somehow I knew I'd get to fight LibrarianThorne in the first round. Don't ask me how i knew. Female intuition, too many cabbage rolls, I just knew it.

PM me if you want any info on my roster LT, some of them are a little on the obscure side.

 

[LibrarianThorne]

PREP-TIME PART 1

Three Days Later...

His breathing came fast and light, a testament to the shape he was in. He smoothly ducked a massive boulder, leaping and twisting as he did so and bringing his shield up to deflect a beam attack. His shield absorbed the hit on the star in its center. He hit the ground rolling, narrowly avoiding a twin pair of arrows, one with green fletching and the other with purple.

He ended in a crouch, facing the massive green behmoth. The Hulk threw a punch with enough force to knock his head off. He brought his shield up, using a minimal amount of force to knock the blow aside and in one smooth motion grabbed the Hulk's arm.

"You're a scientist, Banner. What's that rule about objects in motion?" he said with a smirk as he flung the Hulk over his shoulder. The green monster flew directly into a flying Booster Gold and they tumbled to the Earth.

"It's over, Captain." He spun around, and found himself faced with Druid whose hands crackled with magic power. Captain America chuckled.
"It's not over until I say it is, Doctor."

He leapt to the side, dodging a bolt of mystical force. He landed in a crouch and flung his shield at Druid. It hit the Doctor in the head, knocking him flat, and the shield flew upwards. Captain America leapt after it, grabbing it when it was ten feet above the ground and affixed it to his forearm as he deftly landed.

"Captain, the Vision that you knew is advising you to surrender," said a voice from behind him. He turned, and saw the Vision 2.0. It still disturbed Cap to think of him as such, and he wondered what the fate of his Vision was.

"I agree with the boy, Cap. You've done well, but this is the end," said a deep voice above him. He looked, and hovering above him was the Superman. "Vision's been following you invisibly the entire time. He could've taken you down at any point during the exercise."

Captain America threw his shield into the ground. "Beetle and Zatarra weren't successful, then?"
"No," said Superman.
"I should've paid more attention to what Hawkeye and Arrow were shooting at," said Captain America as the two archers walked into the group. Doctor Druid groggily stood up, and Hulk and Bbooster appeared carrying Blue Beetle and Zatarra.

"He took us down like second stringers, though," said Hulk. "I've gotta admit, Cap, that joke floored me. I mean, Captain America cracking wise? Hah," said the Hulk with a smile.

"Excellently done, gentlemen!" The group turned at the noise, seeing Mick appear again.
"Simulation off," said Superman, replacing the destroyed city they'd been training in with the massive room they'd seen before. "Why are you here?" said Superman with a commanding voice.

"Oh, just to announce that the first match has been decided. I'm afraid my counterpart has created a rather bad matchup for you. You'll be facing Captain Atom, Jaine Warlock, Praetor Lemnos, Deadpool, and Nemesis. You'll find that dimensional teleporters have appeared in the hangar, and they will take you to your respective universes. You have one hour to prepare. Any questions?"
"You mean I can see Lois again?" said Superman.
"Man oh man, Max is not going to believe this!" said Booster joyously.

"One last bit of information. You will not all be participating, I'm afraid."
"What's our lineup?" said Captain America, his hands folded across his chest.
"You, Captain. Superman. Hulk. Booster Gold. Blue Beetle."

The team remained silent for a moment.
"Sounds like we've got some work to do," said Blue Beetle. "You coming Booster? Thought you were going to brag to Max and Sue and L-Ron about being selected for this gig?"

Superman grinned. This Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, was remarkable. He had a great ability to befriend anyone, and his courage and desire to do right had shocked Superman. Kal hadn't considered that someone from Earth-1 could posess such qualities, but the Blue Beetle did.

"Forty five minutes to return to our respective universes, dig up what we can on the 5 we'll fight, then return here and share what we've discovered before the selected 5 go to the match," said Cap.

The heroes nodded.

"Good, good. Well, now that that's all sorted out, best of luck to you all!" In a flash, Mick was gone. The heroes exited the room and returned to their home dimensions.

 

[Harlekin]

Although it's obviously a little late now, but LT, you've got 24 hours to prepare. Not one.

 

[LadyVader]

Simple Kind of Lovelies

Captain Atom (Wildstorm) DU
Jaine Warlock [MU]
Praetor Lemnos DM
Deadpool MR
Nemesis DR

Prep Time

(Sanctuary Island, Wade Wilson's quarters)

Deadpool POV

Nachos. Check.
Yoo Hoo. Check.
Hand lotion with aloe vera. Check.
My "Bring it!" DVD with crew commentary. Double Check!
Needless to say, this is going to be a great opportunity for some quality time between me and Wade Junior. I stuck the DVD in ever so gently, settle on my vibro chair... push the play button on the remote and...

BOOM.

Half my room blows up.
"Hello Wade" A voice crackles behind me, a voice I rocgnise, I voice I hope I'd never have to hear again.
"Keeper! I say swinging around. The little Edna Mode clone is leaning on a wall, all smirky like. Have you any idea what you have done?"
"Kept you from going blind, and you're going to need those pretty little eyes to function at full capacity."
"Yeah. When I whoop your butt all over this island!"
"The third season is starting little Wadykins. I need you back on the team"
" I suppose I could riff a list of things that I care as little about as your little Interdimensional Reality Show. Let's see... low carb diets, Michael Moore, the Republican National Convention, Kabbalah & all Kabbalah-related products, Hi-Def TV, the Bush daughters, wireless hotspots, the OC, the UN, recycling, getting Punk'd, Danny Gans, the Latin Grammys, the real Grammys, Jeff that Wiggle that sleeps too darn much, the Yankees payroll, all the red states, (Pause to inhale) all the blue states, every hybrid car, every talk show, everything on the planet, everything in the solar system, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everythingj every-everything that exists past present & future, in discovered and undiscovered dimensions!*"
She snapped her fingers and four people appeared in my room.
"Am I talking to myself here!?"
"Not anymore. Wade Wilson. Meet your team-mates. Now I suppose you should get to work. You'll be teleported to an undisclosed location to fight Hulk, Superman, Captain America, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle in about a day or so"
"Oh my God, a little golden boy with red wrapping shrieked. I know those people. I don't think I can..."
"Nathalie baby, we talked about this, the Keeper said pointing a finger at him. You want to go home, you have to finish this tournament."
"So I suppose you have something to black mail all of these people" I ask.
"Most of them, yes".
"Well not me. I'm perfectly content with my life thank you. I'm nobody's ***** anymor... wowowow! Who's that?" The most ravishing creature I have ever seen passed in front of and all of the sudden thoughts of settling down and raising a few brats to send om to college to learn how to make bombs didn't seem so unappealing.
"That's Charis. Or Nemesis if you preffer."
"Charis... Charis... what's rhymes with Charis? Syphilis?"
"Yeah. You'll knock her off her feet with that kind of poetry. So... you're in?"
"Are there anymore babes on this team?"
"There's Wonder Woman... and Gambit"
"Oh.. Gambit! I love Gambit! He's so dreamy..."
"Deadpool, focus!"
"Yeah. What am i saying! I'm a man. 110% man. Feel my manhood exhume through my pores"
"I'd rather not. I have to go. Get them ready for the fight. We have a show to produce."
And just like that, the Keeper was gone.
"HEY! What about my room! Who's going to clean up this mess?"
"Allow me, the blonde creepy girl said"
She raised her hands and I thought she was going to sing Koombaya but instead she just said: "Cleanse" and the room began to shake. The blackened walls clean themselves up and all the shattered pieces on the floor regrouped to form the object they had been before the explosion. When everything was done, Kristin Dunst was back on the screen shaking what her momma gave her.
"Nice job, blonde creepy girl!"
"Call me Janie".
"Alright Janie. Now. Ro call. To whom am I addressing?"
"Captain Nathaniel Adams sir. Code Name, Captain Atom."
“ So what is it you do, besides going around eating other people’s porridge.”
“ What?”
“Other peoples porridge… get it? Cause you’re gold and have gold locks and.. and… nevermind! What powers do you have?”
“Well, that’s sort of an issue, because Ive’ been going through some… changes.”
“Hang in there, buddy. Puberty comes and goes. Let’s see Proctor I know…
“Praetor, you poor 20th century reject”
“As I was saying, Proctor I know. What about you ladies? What does it say on your résumés?”
“I am the supposed savior of this world. Created by the enclave”
“I’m sorry Janie, but I’ve had my share of savior types, and you’re too cute to have a Messiah complex yet. Last but not least, my raven haired beauty… that is not a tube of aloe vera lotion in my pocket. I’m really happy to see you.”
“3000 years old and these pick-up lines get worse and worse.”
“3000 years. Cool. I dig older women. Alright Ms Robinson. Let’s get crackin… crackin skulls preferably. Hulk and Captain America I know, who are these other bozos.”
“Superman is the most powerful superhero from my universe.” Atom quickly offered. “Practically invulnerable, freeze breath, laser vision…”
“So he can kill us all in the blink of an eye. How do we kill him?”
”He’s only weakness is to a substance called kryptonite. Maybe I can rearrange atomic structures to create it and weaken him.”
“Good. What about Booster Gold (that’s a catchy name) and Blue Beetle?”
”Also from my universe. Powerful warriors. Booster has an armor that can do practically anything, and the Beetle is an inventor.”
”And without their machines?” Janie asked.
”They are just normal humans, but still dangerous. What about your Captain America? He sounds like a patriot.”
“Oh, he’s the living embodiment of the American Dream. Red, blue and white and hunky all over”, I explain.
“I have downloaded this island’s database” Atom continued, “From I can ascertain, physically he’s unstoppable and mentally he’s unbreakable.”
“Not to me” Praetor suddenly spoke up.
“Right, but we still have to get you close enough to do whatever it is you do, Atom shot back. He’ll be covered by the Hulk no doubt.”
“The Hulk is a creature of great strength, but it is strength based on emotion. Perhaps I can somehow pacify him” Janie proposed.
Captain Atom sat in silence, brooding and then gave us a quick run down:
“So… we got 24 hours to figure out how we’re gonna make Kryptonite out of nothing, how we’re gonna shut down all the machines without knowing what tools we’re going to have at our disposal, how we’re going to sneak up on the most vigilant person in this galaxy and how we are going to make the Hulk play nice”
“Nachos anyone?” I offer.

Battle

Captain America POV

Once we step through the dimensional portal, I feel relieved that we’re not on some alien planet on the edge of the galaxy. It looks like a military base. It looks familiar, and I realize why. It’s Area 51. I’ve been here many times, a lot more then I’d wish to count.
We’ve took refuge in one of the hangars while Beetle gets his tech ready. He’s brought with him several devices, including brain caps and force field belts.
“Braincap, Cap?” Booster offers me and Grins. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”
“What does it do?” I ask Blue Beetle ignoring his comment.
“Initially it was a way to scramble people's thought patterns. Make them think slower, Booster!"
"Ah, I don't need that."
"No, you don't. Anyway, animal man brought the technology with him from an alternate universe. I redesigned it so that now it simply masks all thought patterns. I figured it would be good against that Praetor Lemnos guy”
“That was some good thinking, Ted.” It doesn’t hurt to compliment the troops.
“Well, golly gee, mistuh soldier man. Thank youse” he mocks and gives me a reverse salute.
“You have to apologize my friend. He didn’t go gently in that good night, if you know what I mean?” Booster says, throwing his arm around his friend’s neck. die
“ What? You… you died?” I ask bewildered.
“Died, passed on, expired, breathed my last breath, went to meet my maker”
“And his maker didn't want him. So he made a deal with these omnipotent types. If he wins this tournament he might get a second chance.”
"Like i wanted to get a second chance... I died a hero for pity's sake!"
"True that." Booster agreed.
"If that's not enough to earn my poor soul an eternity with Charlize Theron and Cristina Ricci I don't know what is."
“And why are you here?” I asked Booster Gold.
“He’s my buddy, my pal, my partner in crime. I couldn’t let him do this alone.”
“You’re such a good friend Booster. And I really don’t mind that you also asked the interdimensional omnipotent beings who hold my fate in their hands for lots and lots of money.”
“A guy can’t be a good friend and an entrepreneur at the same time?”
“Oh. I’m sorry, did passing on from the mortal coil make finicky?”
“Sure it did… if finicky happens to mean a #%^# with #&^& and @$%#$.”
They go on quibbling like an old married couple but I instantly like the two.
“Quiet you two” Superman suddenly announces. “Did you feel that?”
“Feel what?” I quickly inquire.
“Something changed in the air…”
A jolt of electricity makes my skin grow goosebumps and I jolt straight up. Booster yelps in pain as his armor shorticircuits and burns his skin. Blue Beetle’s gadgets flair up and he drops them to the ground. The instruments around us ignite and sparks of electricity shoot out of them.
“What is going on, Kord?” I ask.
“I don’t know… all the electrical equipment is fried!”
“The only thing that could do this” Professor Hulk suddenly speaks up… is a”
“Electro-magnetic pulse.” He and Kord say at the same time.
“Captain Atom must’ve created some sort of nuclear explosion. What we’re experiencing are the effects of a wave of electromagnetic radiation” Kord explained.
“That is insane. Wouldn’t his team mates be obliterated by the force of the blast?”
“They must have some kind of advanced shield… or maybe even a teleporter on their team.”
“Teleporter… Spread out, now!”
It was too late. A crack of thunder erupted in the hangar and in the middle of it a woman appeared, energy crackling around her. Superman lunged at her but he was repelled by a powerful force field. Hulk smashed his fists against it but the same happened. She hovered above the ground with an intrigued expression. She cocked her head and then raised her hands. Booster Gold disappeared from our sights… and then Blue Beetle… and then…
That was the last time I saw my new team mates.

 

[LibrarianThorne]

PREP-TIME Part 2

Forty-five minutes later...

The heroes all arrived in the hangar of the facility where they were staying, the massive Bug of the Blue Beetle still sitting in the center of the huge hangar.

On each wall were five teleportation devices, each one marked with a name of one of the heroes. Booster Gold was the last to arrive, and he was carrying two metal caps. He ran up to join the rest of the group.

"Hah! Got it!" he said as he ran up. Zatarra looked at the metal caps oddly.
"What in the seven heavens are those?"
"Oh, right, you don't know about Hector Hammond. These are telepathic blockers used by guards at the Iron Heights prison. Thanks to my ol' Justice League connections, I was able to get some spare ones from the armory."
Beetle looked at Booster with amazement. "You had forethought? You had forethought? Wow."
"Gentlemen, back on task, we're short on time here," said Captain America. "I found nothing on anyone we're facing. There were records of a Warlock on the New Mutants and an Adam Warlock, but nothing on Jaine Warlock. Deadpool seems the silent assassin type, from what I uncovered in the Avengers files."
"Mostly the same for me," said Hulk.
"Wait a minute, you think Cap's the silent assassin type?" said Hawkeye. "Oh, right. Parallel universes. I was able to find out this Deadpool character has massive regeneration abilities and is an expert up close fighter, with the slight drawback of apparent insanity and ADD of epic proportions."
"What kind of regeneration are we talking about here, Hawkeye?" said Superman.
"Above Wolverine level, at least. He can regenerate from anything we've thrown at him so far, but if he takes enough damage he can go unconscious," said Hawkeye.
"Then he's not that big a threat," said Green Arrow. "I mean, he's taking on the Hulk and Superman, and if all he's got is a... healing factor or some such, he doesn't have a chance."
"I don't think Superman or the Hulk wil be able to fight him immediately," said Blue Beetle. "I know Captain Atom, and he's no pushover. He's essentially living quantum energy with Superman-level physical stats and matter manipulation powers. He can essentially create any type of radiation that exists and use it offensively. His only weakness is his containment suit, the only thing that keeps him where he is in relative space-time."
"Relative space-time?" said Booster. "You wanted to sound impressive there, didn't you Ted?"
"At least I can sound impressive, Booster."

"What about Praetor Lemnos?" said Doctor Druid. "My mystical auguries discovered nothing of him."
"I know of him," said Superman. "Where my family lives, we've been able to see the past, present, and future of our universe. He's some kind of villain to the Legion of Superheroes, apparently uses some form of mental power to make people forget things."
"Haha! Score!" said Booster Gold. He triumphantly held up the blockers. "I knew these would come in handy!"
"One problem there, genius," spoke Hulk. "There are five people heading into this thing, and you've only got two of your tinfoil hats."
"Oooh, burned by the green guy," said Hawkeye. Booster stood dejected, but Captain America walked to him and took one of the blockers. Taking off his mask, he put it on his head then put his mask back on, concealing the blocker's presence.
"It's still a solid idea, Booster. Those with full head coverage should take them, as they'll be concealed and the other team won't be able to see them or plan against them."
"Excellent idea, Cap," said Superman. He took the other blocker, and gave it to the Beetle, who put it on in a similar fashion to Cap.

An electronic voice boomed out inside the hangar. "Launch time in sixty seconds. All non-essential personnel please leave the hangar. All essential personnel prepare for dimensional teleportation."

The group nodded to each other. After a few seconds, only the chosen five remained in the hangar. Blue Beetle and Booster Gold walked into the Bug, followed by the Hulk and then Captain America. Superman took one final look at the hangar, then boarded the Bug.

Thirty seconds later, an eternity to the strapped crew of the Bug, the massive hangar doors opened, revealing a silver-white wormhole expanse.

"Launch in 3... 2... 1..."

The Bug was rocketed out of the hangar into the expanse by unseen forces.

 

[LadyVader]

Praetor Lemnos's powers are physical in nature, not mental... as evidenced by the fact that he can also tamper with electronic devices.

 

[LibrarianThorne]

Praetor Lemnos's powers are physical in nature, not mental... as evidenced by the fact that he can also tamper with electronic devices.

I know that, my team doesn't. We'll see how it factors in rather shortly.

 

[LibrarianThorne]

BATTLE PART 1

The team discussed strategy as they traveled through the slipstream wormhole. Captain America led the discussion.

"From all indications, I think it needs to be you who fights Captain Atom, Superman."
"I was thinking the same thing, Steve. I match up best with him. Warlock is an X factor, the same with this Nemesis person."
Hulk spoke up. "If this Jaine Warlock is anything like Adam Warlock, she'll be immensely strong. I think I can take her."
"Sounds good. That leaves me, Beetle, and Booster to fight the rest of this team," said Cap.
"I just hope the equipment I grabbed from the armory will help," said Beetle. "I managed to get some disorienting grenades and my patented light gun, but little else."
"It'll have to do, Beetle," said Superman.

With a jolting motion, the team entred realspace. The Bug was hovering above a large military institution, and seconds after appearing was lit up by a dozen searchlights.
"Guys, we're recieving signals on the US military band telling us to land!" said Ted Kord.
"Then get us down now!" yelled Captain America.

The Bug touched down, and the assembled heroes exited the craft. They were met by a soldier with colonel's stripes backed up by a squad of heavily armed soldiers. He recognized Captain America.
"Cap! What in the high holy bad place is going on here?!" barked the Colonel.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you sir, but I need you and your men to evacuate the base ASAP," said Cap authoritatively.
"This is Area 51, Captain! We can't abandon this base, too many top secret projects are under way."

A dozen feet away, on the landing pad where the soldiers and the Underdogs were talking, a portal crackled like lightning and opened like a tear in space. From it stepped five champions.

"They're here!" yelled Booster as he began levitating.
"This can't be the site of a superhero rumble, Captain!" yelled the colonel as the unknown group began fanning out. Captain Atom appeared to be stopping some of them from attacking the soldiers that had begun surrounding them with weapons drawn.
"I wish I could say we had a choice in the matter, Colonel, but we don't. Higher beings have crowned this place a battlefield," said Cap somberly.
"Goddamn omnipotents!" said the colonel, his voice full of frustration. He took a walkie talkie out of his front pocket and barked orders into it. "This is Colonel Jack Briggs, CO of base codename Area-51. This is a general order evacuation! All personnel are to leave the base area immediately! This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill!" He put the walkie talkie away as hundreds of soldiers began mobilizing. "You're wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on this scrap, Captain. I hope it's worth it," grumbled the Colonel as he walked away and began orchestrating the evacuation.

Ten minutes later, the base was deserted, and the two teams stood facing each other.
"Time to get this over with," said Superman. He hovered into the air, and then rammed into Captain America at speed, taking Adams by surprise. The signal given, the first match of the Underdogs began...

Note: Part 2, with the actual matchups, will be posted around 12:30PM EST, hopefully.

 

[LibrarianThorne]

BATTLE Part 2

Superman v. Captain Atom

He pushed the golden fighter into the air, away from the rest of his team. Atom looked at him with something like shock.
"You... you're not Superman," said the bewildered Captain.
"You've got it wrong, Captain. Your Superman isn't Superman. I am Superman, and you can't beat me."

Captain America v. Deadpool

"Wahoo! I get Cap!" yelled the man in black and red as he charged forward. He came at Captain America with a sword drawn, and it flashed down with astounding speed. Captain America brought his shield up just in time to block it, sparks flying from the impact. Deadpool tried to sweep up Captain America, but Cap nimbly jumped over it.
"Beetle, Booster, Hulk! Go now!" ordered Captain America. As he landed, he threw a roundhouse kick that Deadpool ducked under.
"This is freakin' awesome! Me! Cap! Duking it out!"

Hulk v. Jaine Warlock

"It seems we are to battle, Hulk," said the mysterious woman. Hulk looked around, sizing up the base. There was a massive hangar to his right, and with this being Area-51 there had to be something he could use. He had no idea if his hastily constructed plan would work, but it was worth a shot.
He eyed Warlock, who had begun floating above him, waiting for him to make a move.
"I couldn't find out anything about you," said Hulk as he balled up his hands into fists and began walking around Warlock, who always kept her eyes on him.
"Ironic then that I know so much about you, Dr. Banner," she said.
"Then you know that, eventually, I will smash. It's what I do best," he said with a grin.
"And who, might I ask, told you that you would have the oppurtunity to, as you put it, 'smash'? I am far above your ability to deal with. Perhaps a demonstration is in order?"
Just then, Booster Gold flew by them, yelling "What'd I say?! What'd I say?!" as Nemesis chased him down with her sword. Warlock and Hulk watched the running fight with mixed expressions of humor and shock.
"Booster does have a way with women," remarked Hulk.
"Indeed," commented the confused Warlock. "However, I will not be distracted, and you must be removed the field," she said turning to Hulk, her eyes glowing.

An instant later, Hulk found himself on the other side of the base. He looked around, and scratched his head. "Well, now I know she can teleport things," he said. He crouched down, and leapt into the sky, leaping back into the battle.

Booster Gold v. Nemesis

"I'm sorry, okay?!" yelled the frantic Booster Gold as Nemesis leapt at him, her sword glinting from the reflected light of a search light. She yelled a fearsome battle howl and swiped at Booster, who dove down to avoid it. Nemesis landed, and continued running after him.
"Insufferable man! I know what you thought when you saw me!" she screamed.
Booster's face became a mask of horror. "Oh no..." he said to himself. He turned to her as he continued to fly out of her reach. "Look, it's not my fault you're hot!"
Nemesis bellowed an incoherent scream of rage.
"Okay, okay, wrong thing to say, I get it! Could you not disembowel me, please? Any guy would think that if he saw you!"
"Even with the costumes?" she said bitterly.
"Okay, the costumes may be a bit much," Booster admitted. "I really apologize for this, by the way," he said as he raised a gauntlet and surrounded Nemesis with a golden force field. He grinned, congratulating himself on his ingenuity. Nemesis glared at him, and with her sword cut open a hole in Booster's force field.
"Such parlor tricks will not work on me, fool," she hissed through gritted teeth. "And stop thinking about me like that!"
"I can't!" yelled Booster as he took off and the chase resumed.

Blue Beetle v. Praetor Lemnos

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." said Beetle as he slowly picked his way through the base.

Suddenly, a man in black stepped out from the shadows, and smiled at the Blue Beetle. Ted raised his gun, but then a look of confusion passed over his face. He put his gun down, and looked around.
"Um, who are you?" he said.
"My name is Praetor Lemnos," said the man in black.
"Oh, cool. That sounds like a fun name to have!" said Beetle enthusiastically. "You wouldn't happen to know who I am, would you? I think I should remember, but I just can't right now."
"Your name is meat," said Praetor. He lashed out with a viscious right hook that caught Ted Kord on the temple, and the Blue Beetle fell face down into the ground.

Praetor Lemnos walked off, humming to himself.

Note: Part 3 will be up later today.

 

[LibrarianThorne]

BATTLE Part 3

"You'd best give up now, Atom. I don't want to hurt you," said Superman. The two were three miles above the Earth, Captain Atom caught in a bearhug from Superman.
"And I don't want to have to hurt you, whoever you may be. But I've got no choice." Captain Atom's hands glowed green, and he grabbed Superman's head.

"That won't work on me, son," said Superman with a grin. Captain Atom looked astonished, but Superman didn't give him time to process his error. Superman drew back his fist and landed a devastating right cross to Captain Atom's face. Atom, rocked by the blow, began plummeting to Earth, Superman hot on his trail. A mile and a half above the Earth, the two met again, Captain Atom recovering from Superman's attack and launching a flurry of punches, catching Kal-L off guard with their ferocity. He blocked five punches, but a sixth caught him in the gut and he bent over. Captain Atom floated above Superman, his hands glowing red with red sun radiation, and in one swift movement he blasted Superman. Kal-L fell earthwards, impacting near the battle between Deadpool and Captain America.

The Captain noticed Superman falling, but didn't have tim to aid him as Deadpool slashed at him again and again with his katana. "You have a healing factor, right Deadpool?" said Cap as he perfectly blocked yet another of the mercenary's attacks.
"Waitaminnit, Captain America doesn't know I have a healing factor?" said Deadpool confusedly.
"Just checking," said Captain America as he knocked aside Deadpool's sword and dashed in, punching the mercenary in the throat. Deadpool grabbed his throat, dropping his sword in the process. "I just caved in your throat, son. You'd be dead without that healing factor. With it, you're out of this fight for as long as I need you to be," said Cap as he kicked Deadpool in the head, sending the mercenary sprawling backwards. He turned to see Superman and Captain Atom engaged in a slugging match. Cap let his shield slide down until the edge of it was in his hand, and then he yelled "Superman, catch!" as he threw his shield.

Note: Part 4 will be up later tonight, hopefully.

 

[wiegeabo]

Edited out

 

[LibrarianThorne]

BATTLE Part 5

His hand was a blur as he reached out and caught the shield, and he had just enough time to bring it in front of him before another red sun blast from Captain Atom. Superman powered through the blast, the red rays bouncing off of Captain America's shield. He leapt directly into Captain Atom, tackling him to the ground. Atom grabbed the shield, but before he could alter it Superman smashed his right hand into Captain Atom's head, knocking the altered soldier senseless.
"You've put up a good fight, Captain. But I told you that there was no way I was losing this fight." Atom glared at Superman, bringing his hands up for another blast.

Superman moved with amazing speed, smashing the edge of Captain America's shield into Captain Atom's chest with such force that the shield pierced the containment suit and became in Captain Atom. Blue light shone out from where Atom was pierced. Atom stood, nodded to Superman, and flew into the sky. Five seconds after Superman had impaled him, Captain Atom exploded ten miles above the Earth, his explosion lighting the night like it was the day.

Superman turned, seeing Captain America and Deadpool continuing their fight. He quickly scanned the area with his super-senses. Booster Gold was still flying away from the Nemesis woman, and Hulk was pounding on Warlock. Using his microscopic vision, Superman saw beads of sweat lining Warlock's face, showing that it was taking a considerable amount of power for her to stop the Hulk's attacks. Blue Beetle was lying on the ground unconscious, and his opponent couldn't be seen.

"Superman! Go help Banner! Warlock needs to be taken down fifteen seconds ago!" yelled Captain America as he ducked a roundhouse kick from Deadpool, replying with an uppercut to the merc's jaw that sent Deadpool into the air.

Superman nodded at Captain America's order, and faster than a speeding bullet flew to help Hulk.

One leap had brought Hulk back into contact with Warlock, who had been using her powers to slow Superman down. She hadn't had time to quickly deal with the Hulk's return, and Banner had spent the last thirty seconds pounding away on her force field.
"Give up, Hulk! Better creatures than you have attempted to break my shield and failed!" she screamed, as another punch from Hulk rebounded away from her.
"That may be true, Warlock, but they didn't have my charms or these big, green muscles o' mine," said Hulk as he wound up and threw another punch.
"What do you hope to accomplish?" Warlock was doing an amazing job of hiding how much strain she was under resisting the awesome force of the Incredible Hulk.
"If nothing else, stall for my backup. He wears his underwear the wrong way, sure, but if you don't think he's a threat then he'll prove you wrong. Oh, and speaking of Mr. S, you should probably turn around," said Hulk with a grin.

Warlock turned, and was shocked at the blue and red blur streaking towards her. While she was distracted, the Hulk grabbed her bodily and flung her at Superman. "She's all yours, Blue!" bellowed Hulk as he threw Warlock.

Such was the speed and power of Hulk's throw that Warlock couldn't even slow herself down before she met a fist of steel. She flew directly into the Man of Steel, who pummeled her with a barrage of blows, ending with a double fisted hammer to the back of Warlock's head that knocked the powerful creation into unconsciousness. She crashed to the ground in a heap. Superman landed next to the Hulk, who was breathing heavily, and said "Good job, Banner."
"Why... why did you go all out on her like that?" said Hulk as he attempted to catch his breath.
"I don't normally hit women, but if she could take punches from you without flinching, I don't have to hold back. Booster is in a lot of trouble, you need to help him out."
"Roger that," said Hulk. "What about you?"
"The fifth member of their team is gone, and he took down Beetle."
"Wait, didn't Beetle have that mental protection cap?" said Hulk.
"I'm afraid so, and that means whatever Lemnos did to him the cap couldn't stop. It looks like a job for me," said Superman as he took off into the sky.

At that moment, Nemesis and Booster Gold ran by the Hulk. Reflexively, Hulk reached out and grabbed Nemesis in one hand, squeezing her arms against her side and pinning her sword against her.
"Let go of me, beast!" she howled as she struggled against his grip, but she hadn't the strength to resist the Hulk. Booster floated over.
"Hey, thanks greenjeans!" he said as he slapped Hulk on the back.
"No problem, Booster," said Hulk. He put the thumb and index finger of his free hand together and then flicked the side of Nemesis' head, knocking her unconscious.

End Part 5

Sorry for the lateness on this one, but I've got class right now and won't be able to finish until later tonight.

 

[LadyVader]

AN: DAMNIT, what's this I see about limits on how many characters a post is supposed to have. This won't do at all.
Anyway. On with the story!

Captain America POV

I reemerged on the other side of the base, in its parking lot. Though I was only surrounded by cars, I could not shake the feeling that I was being watched. It wasn’t even a conscious thought. More like a gut feeling, a deep instinctual response. Something was not right.
And then I remembered… but then I forgot. I forgot something important. Feeling my memories slip away I lashed out and threw my shield to follow a circular trajectory. It hit a soft body before it stops in a windshield. A young man is lying on the ground. I have a feeling I’m supposed to know who he is. For some reason I’m not overcome with regret or remorse.
I retrieve my shield. All I know is that I have team mates, and they may need my help.



Captain Atom POV

I hope this plan works. When we talked about it earlier, it seemed tricky, but creating that nuclear explosion was surprisingly easy. I didn’t even have to risk time jumping because Janie contained the radiaton in her force fields.
Now comes the tricky part… Right on queue, the Hulk materializes before me. We are miles outside of the base, nothing but desert stretching out before us.
“Finally have me where you want me, huh?” The Hulk jokes and I am taken back. He wasn’t supposed to be able to tie more then two words together. I grow tense in anticipation. He may look big, but from what footage I’ve seen, he’s also fast. He takes a step forward and I take a step back.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared of little ol’ me.”
“You’re powerful Banner. You could probably tear me to pieces.”
“Not without buying you dinner first…”
“If I had a dollar for everytime a big green giant made me that offer… well, I’d probably have a dollar.* Anyway… your strength surpasses mine, but I wonder. What is strength without gravity?”
I create an anti-gravity bubble around him and watch him squirm to grab on to the earth. Only the desert sand isn’t the most stable substance and it slips through his fingers. His body floats upwards. I fire atomic blasts at his body, propelling it backwards. He simply shakes it off. Oh, he’s pissed.
This is going to take some time.

Nemesis POV

“No.”
“Come on, please.”
“No.”
“Just for a little while! I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”
“Not as much as I’m going to enjoy disemboweling you if you ask me again.”
“Say that word again.”
“What word?”
“Disemboweled. It sounds so sexy when you say it.”
“You twisted freak.”
“Correction. I’m your twisted freak.”
“They’re here." I can feel their emotions through these walls. Janie delivered them right in our waiting arms.
Deadpool and I crouched down on the floor just as Booster Gold and Blue Beetle walk around in a laboratory next to us. Our little electromagnetic ruse paid off. They were both complaining about their gear not working.
Men and their toys…
Deadpool turned on his image inducer, and then showed me his cheek.
“One for good luck”
I decked him hard, but silently.
He got up and melodramatically jumped through the glass screen, tackling Blue Beetle from the back. They rustled on the ground and then both got up simultaneously. The two Beetles looked at each other with a look of astonishment on their faces. Booster shook his head and rubbed his eyes, not quite believing what he saw.
“I knew I shouldn’t have smoked that joint before I got here. It’s messing with my head.”
“Booster, the Beetle on the left called, get him. It’s Deadpool!”
“What!? The Beetle on the right yelped. I’m not Deadpool! He’s Deadpool!”
“Oh man… Booster swinged his head from side to side”
“This is ridiculous", right Beetle said and took a step in Booster’s direction.
“Hold it right there mister”, the gold warrior said raising his hand… holding a pistol.
“Booster! Where’d you get that gun?” the left Beetle asked surprised.
“bad place-oooh. We’re on a military base. They have more guns here then do toilet paper. I swiped it after the EMP, I thought it might come in handy. Now both of you up against the wall… I got think of a way to differentiate you two. Let’s see, we’re in a lab. We got microscopes and computers and stuff. I’ll take two blood samples, run DNA tests and find out who the real Blue Beetle is.”
Both Beatles slapped their foreheads.
“Oooor, you could just ask us stuff only the real Blue Beetle would know, the Beetle on the left proposed. Namely me!”
“I guess we could do that. Let me think.”
Booster Gold sat and pondered.
“Oh, I know. Something only the reaaaal Blue Beatle would know. Am I a natural blonde?”
“Excuse me?” both Beetles said at the same time.
“Dye-job!” the Beetle on the right quickly added.
“A-ha!” Booster aimed the gun at the Beetle on the left.
“That’s not a question! Of course it’s a dye job. I can smell the oxidant from over here.”
“ And your roots are showing.” Right Beetle added.
“No, they’re not!”
“Dude, I haven’t seen roots that black since before Cher had natural hair.”
“Oh crud, Booster said feeling the top of his head. I gotta go see Flavio about this.”
“Will you forget about that. It was a dumb question anyway!” the Beetle on the left announced.
“It’s not dumb. It’s something you would know…”
“And why is that!?”
“Well… you’ve seen me naked.”
“Booster, trust me, if I have ever seen you naked I have erased that image from my memory.”
“Yeah, cause you’re jealous and you don’t want to deal with your own feelings of inadequacy”
“Cripes, I give up! Shoot me!”
“Why?!”
“Cause I can’t freakin stand you anymore!”
Booster promptly held up his gun and shot the Blue Beetle on the right, squarely in the chest. The image of a Blue Beetle faded away to reveal the red and black costume Deadpool actually wore. He slumped on the wall and slided down staring at the whole in his chest.
“Oh crap. This was my favorite suit.”
“How did you know?” Blue Beetle asked coming next to Booster Gold.
“You’re the only person I can irritate that much” his friend replied grinning.
I cursed in my breath. Seems we have to do this the hard way. I jumped in the room. My force field pushes the opponent away, slamming their bodies in the walls before they can react. I reach Deadpool’s limping form. And look for his teleporter. I drop a genetic concussion grenade on the ground. I hug Deadpool and activate his teleporter getting us both out of there before the grenade goes off.
We port into a nearby storage room. I rip his shirt open to inspect the wound. He’s bleeding profusely, but it’s already starting to heal.
“Knew you couldn’t wait to rip my clothes off me” he said weakly, smirking.
“Is there a time when you don’t make jokes?”
“God, I hope not.”
He drifted out and I let him rest on one of the medical beds. Back in the laboratory, the grenade’s effects are still being felt, as the two bodies are being pulled apart, their genetic structures breaking down. It hurts like bad place and consumes all their energy, but they’ll live.
I leave the compound through the parking lot, looking for Praetor, see if he has finished with Captain America. My Pegasus is there cloaked, but no sign of Praetor. A quiet emotion catches my attention. I turn on my force field just as the good Captain pounces on me, shield held high. The force field stands and I push back.
“You must be Nemesis, He says. The name does not do you justice.”
“What’s in a name” I whisper and then lunge forward, swinging my sword. He blocks it with his shield. I can’t believe this.
“That’s impossible” I whisper in disbelief. “This sword is supposed to cut through anything”
“Sorry to disappoint you mam. They sure don’t make them like they used to.”
He slams the shield in my face and my head swings back from the blow. He tries it again, but I crouch down and run my leg over his, making him fall back. I jump and try to crush his skull with my legs, but he rolls over, and I land on ground.
“Is this how they treat ladies in your universe”
“In my universe, the ladies can give as good as they take. And they don’t complain about it either.”
“Sounds like a swell place. Maybe I’ll visit it someday.”
“I’ll make sure you get a proper welcome.”
We swing barbs and punches for a while longer until I decide to get creative. I do some flashy moves trying to divert his attention from the hand holding the sword, but he spots my movement and somehow positions his shield under my wrist. He then grabs the wrist and wrings it over the shield. The pain tears through my hand and I drop the sword. He quickly picks it up and stabs me in the side. I look down at my own blood. This is how Deadpool must’ve felt.
I slump down and he cradles my body.
“I really am sorry about this. If you don’t struggle you might make it.”
“That’s mighty decent of… ungh… you. Oh, and captain. One more thing.”
“What is it?”
“Fire!”
The Pegasus appears, it's cloak vanishing and fires at Captain America, his back being chewed off by the salvas of energies. He crumbles over me and I push off his body. He was a nice guy and maybe he didn’t deserve to die. But I’ve killed people (granted, bad people) just because I broke a nail beating them. No way am I going to let him get away with stabbing me… with my own sword no less.
So here I am… waiting to bleed to death. I contact Janie telepathically to tell her what happened. She’s busy with Superman. Apparently he’s not such an easy target. She feels my pain and transmits:
“Nemesis. Heal.”
My wound retreats and in mere seconds I can get back up. Maybe we can still win this thing. All of the sudden I hear a crack of thunder. I look up and see the sky is clear.
What the bad place is going on?

What the bad place is going on? I have no time to play weather woman. I revv up my bike and head for the launch pad where Janie is battling the one called Superman.
As I show up, Superman has her backed in a corner, using his laser vision. Until now she used her telepathy to stay one step ahead of him, merely trying to defend herself, but now that I’m here it’s time to play offensively. She uses her telekinesis to smash to jeeps together with Superman in the middle. The explosion goes off with a boom, but the man just bursts out of the cloud of smoke. Once in the air, he looks down and fires his heat vision.
Ok, time to get in there. Rev up the engines. Feel the Pegasus humming, preparing to soar. Here goes nothing…


Captain Atom POV

I can’t let him get too close. In the state he’s in, he’ll more then likely pull me apart. I shoot atomic blasts at him, but he barely seems to have a scratch on him. He’s now holding his hands up and he claps them together.
The sound nearly makes my ear drums give out and I fall to the ground. My head is throbbing and I’m feeling dizzy. This… clap of his made me loose my focus. The anti-gravity bubble gives in and the Hulk falls to the ground, making it tremble. My ears are ringing. I don’t hear him coming, but I feel him coming. Just as he stands over me ready to pound me into non-existence,I blow him away with a killotone of nuclear power. He is thrusted backwards, a good couple of miles.
Back to the drawing board…
Janie contacts me that she and Nemesis have engaged Superman. For all her troubles, Janie’s energy blasts aren’t hurting the kryptonian. Of course not… What are we doing shooting energy at these beings? That’s the source of their powers. We should be thinking of ways to weaken them, not give them MORE energy.
I see the Hulk coming at me only now I see him in a new light. I see his radioactive soul, the ambient aura of gamma rays that give him his strength. When he swings his punch I grab on and began to drain that aura. Radiation flows into me, making him weaker. This is a very dangerous time… If I absorb too much too sun, I might time jump. His body goes limp. His energy flows through me and I feel like my skin will peel off if I don’t release it. So I do…

Nemesis POV

The Pegasus rides on the winds (actually it’s a hovercraft) and I jump of it, with my sowrd held high ready to thrust it downward into Superman’s neck but won’t you know it.. he turns around, probably having felt my heartbeat or some other such uncontrollable detail and he grabs me by the chest, throwing me down. My back slams on the ground but the force field takes most of the impact. Janie prepares to give Atom the signal. Superman flies down with feet on either side of me. He seems amused.
- A sword?
- Yeah, I say and squeeze the handle tightly. A sword. I pick it up and swing it around, slicing his knees open.
For a second I thought his skin might be too hard to break through but it goes all the way through and he screams in pain. I suddenly find myself floating upwards at great speed, and Janie joins. From high up we see a cascade of red light wash over Superman and he falls to his knees. Captain Atom is closing in, letting the red sun radiation flow out of him, invading Superman's cells, replacing the yellow sun energy they usually store. Captain Atom next to him and picks up my sword. He holds it next to his neck. We descend down to the earth and come beside him, but Janie has to maintain the shields otherwise Atom might incinerate us, standing so close to him in this state.
“Surrender. You have no choice.”
“There is always a choice. We must find in ourselves the reason to make the right one”
A gun shot was heard. A bullet struck Superman in the head and his body slumped over. Deadpool was leaning on one of the compound’s walls, a hand on his abdomen and the other holding a smoking gun.
“Bla bla bla bla bla” we heard him say.
Took the words right out of my mouth…

Sfarsit

AN: Whew. Finally done. Now, I think explanations are in order. First of all, Nemesis’s sword can cut through Majestic’s skin so I think it’s safe to say she can also slice open Superman’s skin. Next, the whole thing about Atom absorbing the Hulk’s “ambient aura”. Picked that one up from Incredible Hulk 391 where Havok tries to do the same but a big explosion kinda thwarted his plans. Hulk confessed that after the attempt he was “messed but he healed quickly” so I figured somebody with Atom’s powers and control could at least knock him out real good. So there’s that. Hopefully I gave LT a good run, and I find it ironic that in his write-up Praetor lemons is the last one standing and in my write-up he’s the first one to go. But I figured, if Captain America moves faster, he must also think faster. So that’s why he knew something was wrong, I don’t know. It sounded good in my head.

 

[LibrarianThorne]

BATTLE Part 6

Deadpool stood up groggily, hacking and coughing as he did so.
"That... really hurt, Cap."
"It was supposed to, Deadpool," said Captain America as he walked towards Deadpool. He launched a medium kick into Deadpool's gut, but Deadpool brought up his knee to block it. There was a resounding crack as Captain America's foot made impact, and Deadpool's shin broke as he was launched backwards from the force of the attack. He landed in a sprawl, but flipped up to a standing position quickly. He looked bewildered.
"Hold on a second, Captain America doesn't hit like that..." whispered Deadpool. Cap came charging in again, lashing out with a left hook which Deadpool dodged, replying with a palm thrust to Cap's chest. Cap took the hit, but rolled with the force, flipping backwards away from Deadpool. Captain America took a quick survey of the area, and saw the Hulk pick up an F-22 and begin walking towards them. Deadpool, thankfully, didn't notice.
"You're stronger than the Cap I know, but that doesn't change anything. No matter how hard you hit me, Cap, I'm gonna get back up. Like Rocky, but the Rocky from Rocky II, not the one from Rocky I."
"You're right, Deadpool," said Cap. "But I'm betting if you get hit hard enough, you'll at least be knocked out."
"What, you got a spare UFO to knock me around with, Cap?" joked Deadpool as he charged at Catpain America.
"UFO, no. But I think an F-22 will do nicely, don't you?"

Using it like a baseball bat, Hulk slammed the F-22 into Deadpool with such speed that his arms and the plane were a blur. Deadpool was knocked ten miles down the airstrip, and landed a bloody broken mess. In minutes, he would be healed but still unscious.

"Nice job, Bruce," said Cap as the Hulk put the F-22 down on the landing strip.
"I try, Cap. I tell you, I shoulda been in the Major Leagues. I coulda been a contenda," said Hulk, in his best Marlon Brando impersonation.
"Hulk, I respect you, I think you're a good man and a good friend. But never do that again," said Booster Gold as he flew in. "Anybody seen Superman recently?"

"He said he going to try and find the other member of their team," said Hulk. "At least, that's the last thing he said to me."

"Oh, your precious Superman found me, gentlemen. But he seems to have forgotten some very important things, like who he is and why he was looking for me in the first place." The group saw a man in black calmly walking towards them.

"And now, the end game I think," he said with a vicious smile.

To Be Concluded...

 

[Nightwing]

Im editing although i dont think ill be voting in this weeks battles as i havent a clue how to do the rating system so either UJ can vote or ill just watch to see how it works

 

[JewishHobbit]

edit

 

[LadyVader]

waiting...

 

[Ahura Mazda]

Editing votes

 

[wiegeabo]

Voting may now begin....

_______________________________

 

[JewishHobbit]

Well, since we're doing this ranking thing and I have no one elses votes to get an idea of how we should rank... I'll just give it my shot based on write up (or lack there of), team members, etc.

Simple Kind Of Lovlies 8/10
The Under Dogs 7/10


Atomic Punks 4/10
New Defenders 3/10

 

[Harlekin]

Set 3
The Underdogs: 8
VS.
Simple Kind Of Lovelies: 7

The New Defenders: 0
VS.
The Atomic Punks: 1

- Way to go, rookie.
- I could've gone 9/10 in the Defenders/Punks match but I might as well do 0/1

 

[POWdER-man]

The Underdogs 6/10
VS.
Simple Kind Of Lovelies 7/10

The New Defenders 5/10
VS.
The Atomic Punks 4/10

 

[LibrarianThorne]

Just wanted to apologize for not finishing this up, I just couldn't find the time as school's entering bad place weeks (the last three weeks of Spring Quarter are amazingly painful and busy as heck).

What would've happened is that Praetor Lemnos would have started, one by one, destroying the minds and personalities of my team. He'd walk up to them, and they'd simply forget who they were and why they're there.

Until he got to Captain America. The process would begin, and Cap would begin to lose his memories like the others. Until he got to one memory. The day Bucky died and the day Captain America lost. The most painful memory of Steven Rogers. Cap would latch onto that pain and use it, breaking free of Lemnos' powers and knocking Lemnos unconscious with a single punch.

Like I said, just never found the time to sit down and get it done.

 

[XFanTim]

Great match! LV, your writeup had me laughing out loud. LT, I can see you're going to be a great addition to the League. That ending you just posted, albeit in summary form, makes this choice a lot harder ('cause it's just that cool.) But still . . .

Ultimately the main battle is either Kal-L vs. Jaine and Hulk vs. Capt. Atom, or it's Hulk vs. Jaine and Kal-L vs. Capt. Atom. LV played it one way, LT the other. But I buy Capt. Atom beating Hulk and going to help Jaine with Kal-L more than I buy Hulk holding off Jaine long enough for Kal-L to beat Capt. Atom and come to Hulk's aid. There's just too many ways Jaine can deal with Hulk that are smarter than standing there blocking his punches. Why not teleport him into the upper atmosphere, and then go double-team Supes while Hulk is plummeting back to Earth?

Underdogs: 7
Lovelies: 8

As for the other match, with no writeups to go on I have to look at the lineups. Two strong teams, but I think the fact that so many people on the Atomic Punks have constructs/forcefields puts Paragon at a disadvantage. If he can't get close to them and they manage to separate him from his teammates, he becomes powerless. So that may be enough to give the Punks the edge.

New Defenders: 2
Atomic Punks: 3