TEAM ALPHA WOLF SQUADRON VS. HEROES OF THE NEW AGE
PREPARATION TIME:
The members of Team Alpha Wolf Squadron materialize into the Panoptichron. They’re all familiar with the team and the purpose of the tournament. They’re also all good guys, so they should have no problem working together, and working together
well. Aquaman and Black Panther will take natural command, Aquaman as field leader, and Black Panther as tactician.
Now, my team is going to be extremely familiar with the opposing team. Replicant, Gorilla Grodd and the Turtle won’t be just known to Dark Flash, but Grodd will also be known to Aquaman and Animal Man. Zauriel and Aquaman were good buddies during their time on the JLA, and Black Panther and Quasar know all about Captain America. Which, of course, is where things get interesting.
Black Panther will know that Captain America will try his darndest to get his team to work together, although it’ll be a little hard. The Turtle’s pretty dim-witted, Replicant might as well be crazy and Gorilla Grodd has a big old ego problem. Only Zauriel would have no problem in following Captain America’s lead. There’s also an even bigger problem: all three bad guys will want to go after the Flash, and that’ll definitely lead to conflict between the members of HOTNA.
Now, Dark Flash wouldn’t be familiar with the Turtle’s new powers, but he’ll still have this info because of the descriptions that come along with the line-ups. ‘A black hole for kinetic energy’ should be enough to discern that Turtle can steal speed. Of course, that makes him extremely dangerous, but the bigger threat is still Replicant. If he can get his hands on Quasar’s quantum bands, then it all hits the fan.
“I’ll take care of Replicant. I still owe him for last time,” Flash notes.
“Then I’ll try and take down this Turtle character,” Quasar replies.
“All you need to do is keep him busy while I take care of Replicant.”
“How are you going to do that? Didn’t he clean your clock last time?” Aquaman asks.
“I’ll find a way.”
The opposing team is further divided between the members of Team Alpha Wolf Squadron. Black Panther will be moving to take on Captain America, assisted by Animal Man, who will seek to engage Zauriel. Aquaman goes for Gorilla Grodd. Naturally, the remaining hours of preparation time are spent training and preparing.
BATTLE TIME:
The fight starts, and both teams immediately jump into action.
Replicant jumps into one of the many reflective surfaces in the Panoptichron. He’s gone. The Turtle slowly moves forward, while Gorilla Grodd bounds away in search of Aquaman. Zauriel and Captain America cautiously make their way through the fortress, sticking together as planned.
At the other side, Flash breaks into a run immediately, racing towards the other team. Aquaman similarly leaves his team, aiming to take care of Grodd alone. Quasar flies after the Flash, heading for the other team as well. Black Panther and Animal Man do as their opponents, and cautiously make their way through the crystal fortress.
Dark Flash vs. Turtle
The Dark Flash arrives at the other team’s location before they’ve even moved. Time is slowed around him, and he can see the team breaking apart. He spots Replicant, who is halfway into one of the crystals. The Dark Flash runs after him, but he can feel himself slowing down and Replicant speeding up. Replicant is able to escape. Ever so slowly, the Flash can hear the Turtle’s taunting voice.
“Hello… Flash…” he manages to say.
Dark Flash turns towards his opponent, a little horrified by the fact he’s lost his speed. It’s a feeling that quickly makes way for anger, as he mentally kicks himself for letting Replicant go and essentially falling into the Turtle’s trap. The Turtle laughs as he seeps away more and more speed, and Dark Flash futilely tries to reach him.
“You’ll never be fast enough,” the Turtle taunts, his speech speeding up as he steals the crimson speedster’s energy.
“Don’t… need… to… be,” the Dark Flash replies, as he pushes forward, focussing.
The Turtle screams.
“What are you… doing?”
“Tapping… into… your… brain’s… chemicals.”
“You… you… can’t.”
“I can.”
Dark Flash smiles as the Turtle keels over, falling on his back.
“SurprisedWallydidn’tthinkofthat,” the Dark Flash says as he speeds up again.
Meanwhile, Replicant has found Quasar, and attacks:
Quasar vs. Replicant
This is a relatively straight-forward battle at first. Of course, it isn’t according to plan, but that’s not something Quasar is unfamiliar with. While Replicant will want to pour it on first, Quasar is going to go on the defensive, trying to contact the Dark Flash to help him out. In the meantime, any attack Replicant throws at him can be redirected or absorbed.
Of course, that’s when the brilliance of Replicant’s powers come in, as he locks on to Quasar’s quantum bands. As the forcefields drop and the power fades away, the bands disappear from Quasar’s arms and reappear on Replicant. They are his now, granting him unspeakable power. Quasar is left Wendell Vaughn, powerless.
From this point, the battle can take two turns:
1. Replicant is deemed tuber and, disqualified from the match, is teleported away
This is a pretty likely theory, as Replicant already possesses an enormous amount of power. Not only has he avoided defeat another uber’s hands, namely the Flash, but he should be able to hold his own against most other ubers as well. His powers are truly vast and versatile. Combined with the Quantum bands, one of the most powerful tools in the Marvel universe? I’d wager that’d put him over the top.
2. Replicant explodes
I’ve formulated it rather crudely, but that is what happens to those who can’t properly control the quantum bands. Naturally, after Quasar is depowered, Replicant will move to kill him, and he’ll want to use his own power source against. Quasar’s rescue comes along in the form of the Dark Flash, fresh off his victory over the Turtle.
“Youokay?” the Flash asks Quasar as he drops him somewhere in the Panoptichron.
“Sure, just take care of him.”
Flash is gone before he’s even heard Quasar’s reply, and returns to Replicant. Replicant will be gloating by now, taunting the Flash. This is what he’s looked forward to for years now. This is why he has his powers. His ultimate life goal: to destroy the Flash. He’s going to want to do it with his enemy’s own teammate’s powers, for extra poetic justice.
Tapping into all of his speed, Flash is able to dodge all blasts.
Replicant keeps pouring it on.
Flash can only remain on the defensive, as the environment around him is destroyed.
“I’ll kill you!” Replicant screams madly as he calls on more and more power.
Which is when things go wrong. Lest we forget, the quantum bands are still significantly different from other cosmic sources, including DC’s Green Lantern rings. While they are powered by the ferocity of the user’s will, the Quantum bands are dependant on the user’s relaxed state of mind. Even more specific, a lack of killer instinct is required to properly control the bands *.
It almost cost Quasar his life when he first donned the bands, and killed all of his predecessors.
It will kill Replicant as well. He loses control over the power input, can’t shut off the energy building inside him.
It releases in a bright explosion that rocks the entirety of the fortress.
When the smoke clears, the quantum bands are on the floor. Replicant has disintegrated, while the Dark Flash leans against a wall, tired.
We move on to the battle of the mediums:
Aquaman vs. Gorilla Grodd
These two know each other well, having faced one another before. They’ll both be on their guard as they first engage in telepathic combat. No clear winner comes from it, and the two decide to fight each other physically. That’s a battle Grodd has little to no chance of winning, however. Not only is Aquaman stronger, he is also faster.
The two battle, as they also blast at each other’s minds. The fight takes quite a bit out of Grodd and he goes for a desperate gambit: one big psionic blast to finish it off. Aquaman struggles, but Grodd really pours it on and he’s able to wrest control of Aquaman’s mind. Mind control, is, ultimately, Grodd’s specialty, and therefore he should have some advantage in this.
Aquaman fights against the mind control, and is narrowly able to separate his water hand from his body. Directing the hand against Gorilla Grodd, the simian is surprised when the hand clasps onto Grodd and starts to dehydrate him. Grodd’s control starts to slip, and Aquaman regains control. With a quick and devastating punch, he lays Grodd out on the floor. The hand returns to him, and Aquaman slowly moves to aid his teammates.
Now we come to what I think is the toughest battle:
Black Panther and Animal Man vs. Captain America and Zauriel
The way I see this going is that these two teams meet each other about halfway in the crystal fortress. Stealth is largely prohibited by the multitude of reflective surfaces, but Panther’s cloaking tech should give him and Animal Man some edge. Zauriel will still be able to see them, being an angel and all, but it does allow them to take Captain America by surprise somewhat.
As Animal Man flies to Zauriel, Black Panther engages Captain America. Zauriel and Animal Man do some aerial combat, Buddy narrowly avoiding Zauriel’s flaming sword, tapping into as much speed as he can. Captain America and Black Panther exchange blows, neither really gaining an edge for a while.
Of course, great minds think alike, and both tacticians instruct a switch of opponents.
Animal Man charges down, calling upon the density of a rhino. He lands squarely on top of Captain America’s shield, forcing the Captain to the ground. Of course, Captain America is not out and forces Animal Man back with his shield. Animal Man unleashes an electric blast, but it is easily blocked by the Captain’s shield. The Captain charges for him, but borrowing the jumping abilities of a flea, Animal Man easily dodges the attack.
Meanwhile, the Panther flings his energy daggers at Zauriel, which the angel easily dodges. He strikes downwards in a similar motion to Animal Man, his flaming sword drawn. Black Panther blocks it with the Ebony blade. Zauriel is shocked that his flaming sword has met an opponent it cannot break. Black Panther gives the angel a kick, pushing him back. In retaliation, Zauriel unleashes a scream, sending the Panther hurtling back.
Animal Man does the same, using the snapping sound of a pistol shrimp to create a sonic blast and attack Zauriel. The angel takes the full brunt of the manoeuvre, but it does little to damage him. Animal Man charges in, using his superior speed, and quickly delivers a blow to Zauriel’s armour. Even against the strength of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, the armour holds.
Captain America is about to aid Zauriel by flinging his shield at Animal Man, when the Black Panther drops on top of him. Both thrown to the floor, the two struggle for dominance. The Panther’s claws make quick work of the Captain’s uniform. The Captain manages to force the Panther off him and throws him back.
He stands up, but is thrown against the floor again when Animal Man is knocked against him by Zauriel’s scream. Animal Man jumps away as quick as he can, heading for Zauriel again. The angel strikes with his flaming sword, causing a deep gash in his opponent’s arm. It heals as Animal Man calls on the regenerative abilities of reptiles and worms.
Zauriel moves again to strike with his sword, but Animal Man now calls upon the power of a sun-eater. Using the space creature’s awesome powers, he snuffs the blade of its fire. This has been done before, and we’re talking about a creature that can snuff out stars and suns here, so the flaming sword should be doable. Too powerful for Animal Man? He’s done it before, and there’s a free uber spot with the depowering of Quasar. **
Zauriel is momentarily caught off-guard, and Animal Man quickly moves to incapacitate him. Even though Zauriel is a top notch regular and an angel, there is still only so much punishment he can withstand. Going all out, Animal Man is able to knock the angel out.
Meanwhile, the Panther and the Captain have been in combat as well. The Panther’s disarmed the Captain, so that he can’t interfere in the Zauriel/Animal Man battle. The Captain’s taken care of the Panther’s claws and thrown away his blade. This is pure mano a mano combat.
This has been a heavily discussed battle before, but it is my personal opinion that the Panther should be able to defeat the Captain. He has the skills, the powers and the intelligence to take him down. It’ll be a long and hard fought battle, but ultimately I think that the Panther should be able to place the Captain in a position advantageous for him, and then take care of him.
WINNER=TEAM ALPHA WOLF SQUADRON
* Truly, this is a vital point, established in the first issue of the
Quasar series and reaffirmed in the years following. Wendell Vaughn is one of the few people in the known universe who can properly wield the bands. Of course, this is not a fair victory by any means, but it is the
most fair to the characters involved.
** If this is deemed improbably or just plain against the rules, it doesn’t really matter. Dark Flash should have found his way to his remaining teammates is quite able to assist them. He could easily save Animal Man and team with him and the Panther to defeat the last two remaining HOTNA’ers.
