DTL Season 5-Week 3 (Set 3)

[DTL Commish]

The rules:
This is one of four threads containing matches.
The threads will be in use for 7 days. Days 1-3 (Friday-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.

Debates will open to everyone on Day 4 (Monday) once I post that they are open. On Day 6 (Wednesday) I will 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.

Look over the matchups and read the owners strategies and take into consideration how in-character each character is. Afterwards, use your best judgment to decide who you think has the best chance to win the match up. (Note: The length of a writeup is up to the owner. Do not punish owners just for having a shorter writeup.)

To vote, post the team names you think will prevail in each match. 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 7th day (Thursday) will get a W while the other will get an L. (Equal votes will result in a tie.)

The battleground for this week is: Atlantis in the DC universe

X
Thanos (Earth Quasar) (MU)
Josef Huber (MU)
The Rival (Max Mercury) (DM)
Coronary (MR)
Imus Champion (MR)

VS.

Chaos & Order
Adam Warlock (MU) -- Super strength, durability, regeneration. Wields cosmic energy. Master tactician. Possess Soul Gem.
Nimrod (MU) -- Mutant killing Sentinel from the future. Super strength, durability, regeneration, adaptation.
Jay Garrick (DM) -- Speedster with decades of experience.
Proctor (MR) -- Super strength, durability, energy blasts, teleportation, unstoppable blade.
Scarlet Spider (MR) -- Super strength, durability, agility. Danger sense. Sticks to surfaces. Webbing.

_______________________________

B'wana Bet?
Baron Helmut Zemo (with Moonstones)(MU) -- The Moonstones grant Zemo his own version of Cosmic Awareness and powers, including the ability to teleport through time and space, in addition to his own natural skills and prodigious leadership ability.
Ares (DU) (Bio link seems fairly suspect) -- The Olympian god of battle, conflict, and death, Ares grows in stature by the presence of all three. A top schemer, he possess superhuman stats, and is capable of producing various mystical and divine effects, including interdimensional teleportation, and naturally afflicting god-wounds, which prove difficult to heal. He now holds the Staff of Hades. A common piece of lore states no mortal weapon may harm him.
Lightray (DM) -- Powers: Faster than light, superhuman strength and durability, energy conversion, and light manipulation. Lightray is highly-intelligent and possesses a Mother Box.
Vixen (DR) -- Taps the Earth's Morphogenetic field to assume animal (and somethimes human) traits.
Freedom Beast (DR) -- Telepathy, mild super-strength, and the ability to fuse any two organisms together into a chimera.

VS.

In Jesus' Name
Thanos (MU)
Captain Marvel (Genis-Vel x2) (MU)
Mount Joy (MM)
MultipleMan (multiple man's dupes all have jaimes persona) (MR)
Northstar (Agent of Hydra) (MR)

 

[wiegeabo]

Prep-Time

Adam Warlock looks out over the water above and around him from a the window of a room in one of the cities numerous buildings. Despite all he's seen, it was still a marvelous site. He wondered at the civilization that normally lived here.

Nimrod: "Detected: Alien Adam Warlock. Threat Assessment: High."

Adam: "I'm flattered. I wondered who would find me first. But must we go through all this 'threat assessment' again?"

Nimrod: "Analyzing situation. Assuming group battle parameters remain in effect. Reassessing Warlock threat as low at this time."

A red blur passes by the room, then double backs. Jay Garrick stands there, looking at two beings he's never seen before. "Uh, hi?"

Adam: "Don't worry. You must be our new team mate."

Jay: "Team mate?"

Nimrod: "Detected: Unknown non-mutant superhuman. Scanning: Super-human levels of speed found. Threat assessment: Moderate. Assuming group battle parameters in effect. Ressessing threat as low at this time."

Jay: "Threat assessment? Does he always talk like that."

"Not all the time." Jay looks up at the ceiling where the new voice comes from. There he sees a man...sticking to it. "Hi, I'm the Scarlet Spider."

Jay: "I'm sure you are. Flash."

Ben: "Flash, huh? You're not wearing an overcoat, so I'm guessing you're a speedster rather than a perverted old man."

Jay: "And I'm guessing you use humor to cover up your insecurities and nervousness?"

Ben: "......ouch."

Proctor teleports into the room. "Finally found you. I suppose we must still fight together as a team."

Adam: "You don't sound too thrilled at the prospect."

Proctor: "I've got other things I could be doing, yes."

Ben: "Oh, yeah? Like what?"

Proctor: "Killing all of the alternate reality versions of my former wife throughout the multi-verse."

Ben: "......ouch."

Jay: "I don't know who you are, but there's not going to be any killing on a team I'm fighting with."

Ben: "Yeah!" Proctor glares at Ben. "*gulp*" He then glares at Jay, who just glares right back.

Nimrod interrupts. "Data feed in progress." From his eyes come projections of their opponents. The team looks over who they will be facing.

Adam/Jay: "HIM!" They look at each other.

Adam: "Thanos."

Jay: "Rival."

Ben: "Oh good, you've got a history with them. So you know how to beat them already."

Adam/Jay: "It won't be that easy." They look at each other again.

Ben: "The whole stereo thing is cool, but I don't suppose you know anything about the other guys?" They don't. But the descriptions are very telling.

Adam: "I think it's quite clear how this battle should be handled."

Ben: "Sure is....How?"

Jay: "I have to take on Max. I'm the only one who can keep up with him."

Adam: "And I am the only one who can possibly keep up with Thanos. Which leaves this Huber for Nimrod. Which makes sense since he seems to be able to call upon any mutant power."

Nimrod: "Adaptation protocols will likely be forced to maximum limits." It considers the situation for a few moments, considering the various possibilities. "Assistance may be required."

Ben: "Is he asking for help?"

Proctor: "I will handle Coronary."

Ben: "Whoa. Wait right there. That leaves me with the nine foot tall behemoth. How's that fair?"

Proctor: "Trust me, it is the lesser of two evils."

Ben: "Dude, you've got a seriously warped sense of what evil is." Proctor glares at him. "Which I guess we already new. Can't we even team up?"

Proctor: "Not advisable. But I will help you once I have finished my opponent off."

Ben: "A little full of yourself?"

Proctor: "No."

Ben: "...riiiight."

 

[wiegeabo]

Battle-Time

Using Nimrod's sensor data, the team determines where their opponents are located. Of course, this is unnecessary for Jay since he's already running around the city, looking for his Rival.

***

Proctor teleports himself and Ben to Imus' location as he awaits his opponent. When Proctor teleports away, Imus is rather upset. "I was hoping to fight Proctor. He seemed like a....worthy opponent." Ben just looks up and up and up at his very tall opponent. Imus sighs. "Very well, let me have your best."

"Oh, you'll get it." The next few minutes are a flurry of activity as Ben throws punches and kicks, leaping around like crazy. But Imus barely moves, almost bored as he blocks every attack. Eventually Imus does get bored and starts attacking, pushing Ben back against the wall of a building. Imus thows a punch, but Ben backflips up the wall as the fist embeds itself into it. "Ha!" Imus pulls his hand free. "Crap!" Ben hits Imus with compression webbing. It explodes over his face. Ben then frontflips over Imus and, while upside down, weblines both of Imus' wrists. As Ben lands, he pulls on the webbing, yanking Imus' arms up and back. Ben pulls with everything he has, causing Imus' arms to act as levers, flipping him over his head. But Imus just lands gracefully, pulls the webbing from his face, and yanks Ben towards him with his own weblines. Ben takes the opportunity to put everything he has into a kick and plants it on Imus' chest...Imus and Ben both look at his foot as Ben 'stands' there, his foot stuck to the chest. "What will it take for you to forget this whole situation?" Ben asks. "Money? Women?...Men?"

"Pathetic." Ben flips away just before Imus can grab him.

"Hey! I only steal A-class meterial." Ben hits Imus with a dozen stingers. Imus' eyes and head roll back. Then he shakes his head and cracks his neck, shrugging off the effects. "Oh come on!"

***

At the highest point in the city stands Thanos of Titan. Hands behind his back, he waits. "I knew you would eventually find me." Behind his back floats Adam Warlock.

"You wouldn't be anywhere else. At the top of the kingdom, looking out over those doing our bidding."

"Even if they do not know they are doing so. I can only assume you have mapped out the various strategies of your team."

Adam stands next Thanos and looks out over the city. "I assume the same about you." The stand there for a few more seconds. "Shall we?"

"I am not the Titan you know."

"You never are."


More to come...

 

[wiegeabo]

Twin trails of water spray into the air as Jay Garrick and Max Mercury take the fight everywhere, literally. At one point they even phase through the walls and fight in the ocean, only to return for a breath of air. For now, this match is stalemated.

***

Josef Huber is putting the hurt on Nimrod. At first the sentinel was winning their fight, adapting and countering many of Huber's attacks once it recognized the mutant power being used. But now Huber has taken to mixing up his powers randomly and quickly, making it difficult for Nimrod to keep up with the wild changes. But, even though it's taking the worst of the fight, Huber is having a tough time keeping Nimrod down as it constantly keeps repairing itself. While this fight is currently stalemated, the longer the fight goes on, the better Nimrod can adapt and the fight turns to his favor.

***

"How's it going?" Coronary asks as Ben crashes into a wall.

"Utterly pathetic," Imus says. "I am finished toying with this fool. Please do me the favor of finishing him off so I no longer have to dirty my hands."

"Pleasure is mine." It just looks like Coronary is standing there, but Ben can feel his insides twisting. He falls to the ground.

"Finally found you," Proctor says from behind Coronary. But even he falls to the ground as Coronary turns his attention to him.

"No!" Ben shouts, still weak. But Imus grabs him and holds him at bay. Coronary keeps up the pressure. Proctor's heart pounds harder and harder, and then finally stops.

Coronary turns back around. "That was fun." Coronary extends his arm, grabbing Ben, and pinning him to the wall. "And now for-" Coronary looks down at the black blade sticking through his chest.

"Next time you kill someone," Proctor whispers in his ear, "make sure they're not immortal." Proctor takes a step back and swings his blade. Coronary tries phasing, but the Ebony Blade cuts through anything. Even something almost not there. Coronary's head falls to the ground. And Proctor blows the body away with blasts from his eyes.

"NOOO!!!" Ben shouts at the senseless murder. Imus rushes Proctor, firing weapons from his armor, but Proctor just teleports behind him. The fight between Proctor and Imus continues for a while as Ben tries to get back. But a blur hits Imus a few dozen times.

"He's almost-!" Mercury catches up with Jay and the two become a blur in front of Ben and Proctor. And that's when Proctor understands. He bathes the entire area with energy from his eyes. Jay and Max fall to the ground. Proctor telekinetically pins Mercury to the wall. Ben fills him with stinger darts.

"That won't keep him down for lo-" Ben lands an uppercut on Proctor's chin, sending him flying. "Hey, what was that?!"

"He murdered him!" Ben says pointing at the body.

"And I'd do it again." Proctor hefts his blade. Ben's spidey-sense goes wild and he shoves Jay aside, as Proctor throws the blade at them. It spins through the air and embeds itself in Imus chest before he can attack. Proctor calmly retrieves the blade as the other two look on in fury, and teleports away.

***

The fight between Warlock and Thanos is almost beyond words. The city shakes with each blow and attacks. And if the Atlanteans were there, even they would be worried the mighty dome might crumble under the shocks. Above the water, below the water, the fight remains the same. But Thanos is faring better than expected, pushing Adam to his limits.

***

Nimrod and Huber have both taken a drastic beating. And there's no clear victor. Until Proctor arrives. He scrambles the chemical structure of Huber's brain, not only inflicting pain, but disrupting his ability to fight. Nimrod and Proctor together are able to finally put Huber down.

***

The fight between Warlock and Thanos will undoubtedly take the longest. But, against the combined force of Chaos & Order (especially Nimrod and Proctor), Thanos will eventually fall. The only question is how much of the city will still be standing once the fight is over.


Chaos & Order win.

 

[X]

X
Thanos (Earth Quasar) (MU)
Josef Huber (MU)
The Rival (Max Mercury) (DM)
Coronary (MR)
Imus Champion (MR)

VS.

Chaos & Order
Adam Warlock (MU) -- Super strength, durability, regeneration. Wields cosmic energy. Master tactician. Possess Soul Gem.
Nimrod (MU) -- Mutant killing Sentinel from the future. Super strength, durability, regeneration, adaptation.
Jay Garrick (DM) -- Speedster with decades of experience.
Proctor (MR) -- Super strength, durability, energy blasts, teleportation, unstoppable blade.
Scarlet Spider (MR) -- Super strength, durability, agility. Danger sense. Sticks to surfaces. Webbing.

The Imus Champion vs. The Scarlet Spider

"Your banter begins to irriate me, Spider-Thing!"

Ben Reilly leaps, from sheer building side, to the protective dome of Atlantis, to jutting flagpoles. Imus Champion pursues his far more mobile foe.

Imus pushes his attack, attacking with a massive variety of stolen heroe & villain technology steadfastly collected over the span of more than a decade. From mystical blasts of energy that lance out from the Wand of Watoomb, narrowly missing the Scarlet Spider to far less elaborate yet equally effective methods such as a variety of trick arrows patented after Hawkeye's.

Ben Reilly's banter begins to fade as his every attack is nullfied by the null-force field which surrounds the aggressive Imus Champion. Impact webbing bullets fall to the ground harmlessy, attempts at webbing him into helplessness fail as the webbing fails to even touch him. And so the Scarlet Spider is forced to fight a purely defensive fight.

Hoping a far more larger object will negate his null-force field, the Scarlet Spider tears a chunk of masonary from the foundation of a building. It never hits it's intended target as a combination of the Wizard's anti-gravity technology affixed to an arrow cause it to fly back at the Scarlet Spider twice as fast as it was thrown.

The Scarlet Spider barely dodges the massive chunk of stone. The split second momentary distraction is all Imus Champion needs to lash out, affixing two small discs to both shoulders of the Scarlet Spider.

Ben Reilly screams from the depth of his soul as twin anti-gravity discs tug in opposite directions, breaking both his arms as they're violently torn from their sockets. Imus Champion hesitates not for a moment, sleekly pulling back the string of his composite bow once more and letting arrows fly.

Ben Reilly fights off unconscious, fights off the throbbing pain in his limbs to attempt to escape, but his superhuman agility is hampered drastically. Over half a dozen arrows fill the air around him, each exploding violently as the Scarlet Spider takes to the air attempting yet another acrobatic dodge that has saved his life countless times before.

Shrapnel tears into him from all angles, and he hits the ground with a lack of grace unbecoming his superhuman agility, bleeding out on the pavement as Imus Champion scoffs.

"I'm sure you finally fail to see the humor of the situation, Man-Spider."

Coronary vs. Jay Garrick

Coronary walks through the streets, an invisible, intangible, opaque wraith as a red blur surrounds him. It streaks in and out of existance far quicker than Coronary could ever hope to match or react to, attempting over half a dozen attacks in the span of so many seconds. A barrage of punches using super dense fists. Super speed karate chops. Phasing against a being who is already intangible. All fail.

But he does not need to match him. Reaching out with his mind psionically he begins to exercise his power, his ability to manipulate a beings metabolic processes. Using his vast knowledge as a former medical student to inflict the most pain and suffering possible to his oppoent, a man he cannot hope to touch otherwise.

"Do you feel that, old man? The lactic acid filling the muscles of your legs, your every muscle? I bet you haven't felt that in decades, old man. I'm sure you haven't felt that since you were human."

Jay Garrick accelerates, pushing himself past the limits his body now attempts to enforce. He runs down a long, miles long stretch of street with his waning speed, attempting one final gambit against the man who is slowing one of the fastest men alive to a crawl.

He runs right past the ghostly still Coronary as the muscle fibers in his legs are manipulated like a marionettes strings by Cororanry.

Jay Garrick continues, accelerating at faster and faster speeds towards the domed wall of Atlantis.

He impacts at over mach 20, smashing into his body into an almost gelentous state as he collides with the dome. He will continue to run for over 150 miles beneath the sea until his body realizes it has died.

The Rival (Max Mercury) vs. Proctor

"I-hear-you-collect-trophies-of-the-ones-you've-killed-knight-I-have-a-teammate-
who-does-too-maybe-I'll-give-him-your-blade-after-I've-killed-you-ahahahhahaa"

The Rival's mocking laughter comes in disjointed burts, surrounding Proctor. He reaches for his blade, fully intending to disembowel this idiot with it, but his sheath his empty. Proctor steels himself.

And the Rival continues to laugh.

Proctor reaches out with his mind, attempting to hold or at least slow down this man who is no more than blur of colors with his telekinesis. The backlash almost knocks him unconscious.

"Not-a-smart-move-against-someone-who-controls-kinetic-energy-knight.

"You-think-you-are-cold-and-callous-knight-I-serve-a-being-who's-very-appearance-causes-madness-
I-was-a-prisoner-a-dimension-you-will-never-so-as-much-fathom-for-half-a-century
-You-are-no-more-callous-and-cruel-than-I-am-pure-and-good-Let-me-show-you!"

The liquid in the stomach of Proctor begins to bubble and heave as The Rival adds kinetic energy to it, bringing it to a boil. Proctor falls to his knees, vomit dripping from his mouth. He begins to reach out with his mind, but before his synapses can even begin to fire he's grabbed by the Rival. And they dissapear.

The Rival circles the city time and time again, holding Proctor in his grip. Mach 5. Mach 15. Mach 30. Mach 50.

And for the briefest of moments, the Rival slows and stares Proctor dead in the eyes.

"Say-hello-to-the-King-of-Tears-for-me"

Proctor explodes into a mist of gore as The Rival releases him from his protective aura, inflicting the stresses of superspeed travel on him.

Josef Huber vs. Nimrod

"Oh, now this... This is rich! This is grandoise! Epic! A futuristic Sentinel designed soley to hunt and kill mutants against a man who plans mass genocide against the entire mutant race simply to end the crippling pain that their mere existance causes him!

In another time and place, Nimrod, we'd of worked together, towards those, our lofty goals. But not today."

Nimrod fails to see the irnoy of the situation, nor it's humor, beginning to scan and anaylze the conflicting and contradictory readings of a man who himself is not a mutant, but scans as mutltitudes of them.

Knowing fully what Nimrod is capable of from the hivemind he has shared with the collective mutant population for years, Josef Huber stands some 25 feet from Nimrod, calling his bluff, waiting for his oppoenent to strike.

And strike it does. Taking mere seconds to scan, anaylze, deduct, and calculate hundreds of possible scenarios, Nimrod attacks, pure kinetic force gathered and directed through his outstretched arms in a violent burst of energy.

Using the kinetic energy absorbing abilities of Agent Zero Huber harmlessy absorbs every last erg of the attack and redirects it. Already bolts and safeguards explode from the proective dome of Atlantis sending water spraying in. The buildings and streets of Atlantis begin to give way, crumbling as a mere side effect of two all too alike beings waging war in it's streets.

Nimrod stands, smoke rising from his unharmed body. But as the mutant killing machine is about to learn, the attack was never more than a diversion. And if Nimrod had more than a fraction of a second to deduce, to analyze, it would know that the sudden sandstorm that blows about it is indeed the disperesed form of one Josef Huber.

At nearly light speed, a 550 ton human rocket rams into Nimrod from above, driving both untold miles even further beneath sea level, into the very the sub-strata of the planet itself.

Nimrod... did not calculate this.

Nimrod struggles to it's feet in the massive, newly formed crater that very well may become it's grave. It has suffered the catosophic loss of a limb, and half of it's face is gone. It feels no pain, it shows no weakness. It does not concern itself with such base human emotions. It has one singular goal... the annihlation of this composite mutant, Josef Huber. Self repairs begin even before Nimrod rises. But that is not soon enough.

Josef Huber rises from the dust and the soot, and as he does Nimrod begins to note that a scientifically impossible drop in tempature has began around it's remaining arm. Cold so intense that the very rotation of atoms has slowed, kinetic energy has crawled to a halt. All queries as to the imposibility of such an event cease as an organic steel fist crashes down on the frozen limb, smashing it into frozen shards.

Nimrod rises, refusing to fail in it's complete and total single minded pursuit of the death of this Huber being. It broadcasts tight frequency sonics, causing the synpases of the Colossus mimicking Huber to flare with white hot pain. Josef Huber falls to the ground, nearly dead.

Another organic steel fist crashes into Nimrod from behind. And another. And another. Hundreds of blows rain down on Nimrod as a small army of Huber's duplicates time and time again, each dupe using the superhuman abilitiees of the one called Colossus. And beneath a dozen steel hard fists, the emotionless being called Nimrod begins to scream.

"I hope you did not forget how similar our goals were, Nimrod. But I think you'll agree that I'm far more suited to the job... You see, you aimed for the destruction of the mutant race simply because you never knew otherwise. It is in your very programming, your sole reason for existing. I... pursue it to save myself. But you are far too valuable a commodity to completely destroy. And so I release you from your chains, your bondage, your programmming... To serve... me.

"Come, Nimrod. We have work to do."

And Nimrod's eyes flare red to life.

Thanos and The Rival vs. Adam Warlock

"Adam Warlock."

"Thanos of Titan."

"You do know, Warlock, that this will not be a contest of power, nor one of a clenched fist."

"I know this, Thanos of Titan. We both know that the mind is a far deadlier tool and asset than any power one can wield."

"Yes."

"Yes..."

They both steel themselves, staring unblinking into one anothers eyes, one anothers souls.

And then they makes their moves.

"Now!" screams Thanos of Titan.

The world goes ebony black for Adam Warlock as as he is struck blind. And in that insant, a pain explodes in his mind like he has never felt before. Adam Warlock falls to his knees. Thanos of Titan has made his move... And in his hands rests the soul gem. And the universe shudders.

"Adam Warlock. Enlightened Adam Warlock struck blind. Such cosmic irony, is it not?

Only if. What has happened, Adam, is rather simple. Photons have simply ceased entering your eyes. Such a simple thing to harness and absorb solar energy. I hear even the primitives of Earth are capable of such a thing."

Thanos brings the soul gem to his eye, examing it.

"The loss of your soul gem you can attribute to a being so fast even ones such as us can barely perceive him. I find the energy he taps into intriuging, as I do his ability to phase his hand into your forehead, wrenching your soul gem, the very instrument you intended to slay me with, painfully from it's resting place upon your forehead.

And now... Adam Warlock... Your life or your soul?"

 

[X]

Points

Josef Huber - Dispersing himself into sand is an power of a mutant called Dust.

His final attack on Nimrod was a combination of the powers of Multiple Man and Colossus, resulting in several Huber's using the powers of Colossus. Colossus has shown the ability to badly damage Nimrod by himself in the past, hence the usage of that power.

When Huber smashed into Nimrod from above, he was tapping into the speed of Northstar and the gravity maniulation of Harry Leland, a mutant from the Hellfire Club.

Leland was actually the mutant responsible for destroying Nimrod the first time. He increased the weight of a falling Sebastian Shaw and this destroyed Nimrod.

Intelligence - My team has a substantial advantage over yours here.

Adam Warlock is one of the most profecient leaders in comics, but so is Thanos. And Adam Warlock lacks inventive genius, among other kinds, which Thanos possesses.

On top of Thanos, my team has Imus Champion, a man intelligent enough to single handedly beat the combined Avenger's and Squadron Supreme. He's a genius of the highest order.

And Josef Huber is equally intelligent, possessing the inventive genius of Forge which he's used multiple times before.

Ruthlessness - As usual, my team has no qualms over killing and it shows. Where Thanos and Adam Warlock are comparable in regards to making plans and preparing, Thanos is willing to do things Warlock would never consider. The same applies to my entire team.

Mutiny! - Wieg has two villains among his team and no way to control either in Proctor and Nimrod. Nimrod hunts and kills mutants and Proctor is one of the most evil villains the AVenger's have ever encountered. I have a unified, villanious team while Wieg's is a combination of characters that simply isn't going to work.

Tried and True - Half of my methods have already been used in comic before to beat members of Wieg's team.

Most of the powers Huber used (At higher levels that original used, even) were already instrumental in Nimrod being beaten.

Misc - At the end of the Huber/Nimrod fight, Huber used Madison Jeffires machine control to take over what was left of Nimrod to assist him in his plans of mutant genocide. Cool, right?

Thanos gave Adam Warlock a choice to leave with his life or to resist and have his own soul stolen by his gem. I'll let you decide what happened.

 

[X]

Coronary turns back around. "That was fun." Coronary extends his arm, grabbing Ben, and pinning him to the wall. "And now for-" Coronary looks down at the black blade sticking through his chest.

Since when has the Ebony Blade shown the ability to cut phased beings?

"He's almost-!" Mercury catches up with Jay and the two become a blur in front of Ben and Proctor. And that's when Proctor understands. He bathes the entire area with energy from his eyes. Jay and Max fall to the ground. Proctor telekinetically pins Mercury to the wall. Ben fills him with stinger darts.

I don't understand why you had an extended fight between the Rival possessing Max Mercury and Garrick. Max Mercury is the very most knowledgeable Flash, and he's even older than Jay is. Equal speed plus far greater knowledge is going to gain The Rival the win.

"And I'd do it again." Proctor hefts his blade. Ben's spidey-sense goes wild and he shoves Jay aside, as Proctor throws the blade at them. It spins through the air and embeds itself in Imus chest before he can attack. Proctor calmly retrieves the blade as the other two look on in fury, and teleports away.

Imus Champion has a force field capable of turning even Mjolnir around. Another, less powerful magical weapon isn't going to get through it.

Nimrod and Huber have both taken a drastic beating. And there's no clear victor. Until Proctor arrives. He scrambles the chemical structure of Huber's brain, not only inflicting pain, but disrupting his ability to fight. Nimrod and Proctor together are able to finally put Huber down.

Josef Huber is capable of becoming any number of mutants that don't have literal brains. Disembodied energy beings, for instance.

 

[DTL Commish]

Writeups are closed.

 

[Dark Gog]

Let's keep things simple and condensed this time about, both due to the constraints of time, and particularly because I haven't seen AS post in days.

If Ares were capable of striking a balance with his team the last round, as I firmly believe he should be, than the inroduction of Zemo into the equation as someone who may authoritavely state he can be trusted should serve to further cement good will on my team, although members may begin to wonder how much Helmut's own goals are in synch with theirs. This status-quo is not altogether unlike the one Ares usually finds himself in dealing with Athena, who if not actually prescient (and signs would indicate she is), is intelligent very nearly to that point.

It is difficult to imagine what shape a fight between two entities that can see the future would take, and even harder to fortell their use of prep. It's worth recalling Genis' own words on this matter though, that each moment brings with it new horizons, and new possibilities too. Having stood there and listened whle he said that, I expect Zemo to try and further complicate things for an already confused Genis by using prep to open rifts to the future and the past as much for the hell of it as for any useful purpose. It is worth noting too that my Zemo is taken from a point past beating Genis once, whereas Captain Marvell can at-best see that future confrontation, and speculate as to its outcome, given that Helmut still exists.

The surviving telepathic members of my team can fill Zemo in more readily about the nature the fight took through his warps.

Beyond the machinations of our ubers, my team enjoys closer coordination, tactics, and sense of purpose. Unstable as he may be, even Genis is unlikely to find the presence of individuals as far gone as Mountjoy and Thanos soothing or appealing, And Jamie Madrox all the more so. AS may expect Genis to share his visions with Thanos telepathically, but Genis himself may consider such action to be putting the universe at even greater risk.

Lightray has been described (by Kirby?) as the strategist of the New Gods, whereas Orion is the tactician.

My team spends much of its time reinforcing the dome of Atlantis, and cautioning citizens to stay indoors, even going as far as readying gateways into safe-haven, to be used at the bell, if not before.

A moment before (or after, pending on the above) the match starts, Zemo nullifies gravity under the dome. This should have the effect of preventing water from crushing the area below it, should it still be compromised.

For better mobility in that environment, Lightray equips his team with Aero-Discs in advance.


Match-ups coming in a bit.

 

[Dark Gog]

One final comment I forgot to make above, is that while team Jesus is composed entirely of Marvel characters, Zemo is intimately and unilaterally familiar with Genis, and both Lightray and Ares had spent a portion of their time over the last round studying the Internet, Reed Richard's records, or otherwise acquainting themselves with the MU.

 

[Dark Gog]

Vixen, Freedom Beast, and Lightray vs. Multiple Man, Mountjoy, and Northstar


Let's start with the obvious, shall we? It seems clear AS is intent on affecting a merger between Madrox and Mountjoy. Perhaps he even plans to have the latter absorb the first, and strike-up with Northstar. That seems dubious in application though; an army of speeding possessive duplicates should probably be raised one level in rating at least. In any eventuality, Madrox had already come-up against Animal Man a few rounds ago, and so AS should begin to realise Vixen can employ a similar strategy. As it happens, so can Freedom Beast, by combining with single-cell organisms.

What I have been able to come-up with about Mountjoy suggests he can indeed be driven-out by psis, and if the combination of Dominic Mndawe and Mari MacCabe (and possibly nearly an army of them) copying his powers isn't enough to force this eventuality, then a series of blinding flashes (my team has flare-guards to begin with, and linked telepathically and so know when to look away) should prove distracting enough to expel him.

Northstar should be easy pickings for the quicker Lightray.

There's much more that can be said about these matches, but I'll wait and see if its required.



Ares vs. Thanos


Thanos moves to strike at Zemo, but Ares intercedes.

"You fight me, Titan.", he proclaims, "Or you can go home. I challange you to single combat."

"A fool's gambit, it would seem, or are you not this small world's god of war? Why should Thanos of Titan meet your challenge?"

"Your hubris underwhelms me, Once-God, now I witness it in person. Could it be the legends were exaggerated?"

"Have a care, godling, I have little patience for the politicking of middle management. You try me at your peril."

"Her ladyship Teleute can indeed be most disarming in her person. Very well then, if it's her you wish to speak with, I shall send you to her post haste."
-----

..And so on and so forth. Put a few stylish explosions that don't do nearly as much collateral damage as you'd think they should, insert the word "epic" and some more pointless posturing into the writing, and you're home.

This is actually an intersting match-up in many ways. Both can teleport, so we'll put that aside for now. Thanos is very possibly more demonstratably powerful, and his other powers, such as telepathy and matter manipulation, may prove more useful in general terms, but Ares is phenomenally geared towards combat, and unlikely to be overcome through those, especially as he seems to have looked Medusa in the eye. His skill, growing strength, and magic, in conjunction with his Staff and the element of the God-Wounds, suggest to me that he would win a protracted battle.

Of-course, Thanos would never let it come to that. It is not my place to strategize for AS, but let us assume he goes all-out here, and uses a contained singularity as a weapon against Ares. He will find that, in addition to his own powers, Lightray had relented to lend him use of Mother-Box, faced with the certainty of Zemo's knowledge.


Why should Thanos accept this challenge in the first place? Hopefully, it is because I've made my previous arguments well, and he sees the way the stars are drifting, and realizes that while the likes of Lightray are inconsequential against him by themselves, searing lights in his eyes would still mean another set of enchanted arms through his chest in this scenario. It is for similar reasons that he would not risk attacking Zemo.

Should he agree, then Ares consecrates the ground, and none may come or go from it until one of them lies dead. Otherwise, he can wreak all sorts of havoc in the city, but the wider the conflict, the more Ares is served, and my team, while heroic, will know for a fact their best way to minimize civilian casualties should the misnamed Team Jesus go that route is to bring them down as quickly as is possible. (And of-course they could be everywhere at-once themselves.)



Baron Zemo vs. Captain Marvel


A sonic device made by Thanos aims at the Moonstones, but they're defended by an atomic armor of Lightray's devise. After that, Ares occupies the Titan's time.

We've seen how a fight between Zemo and a more powerful Genis would go down. A random weapon from Ares' armory brings Helmut's swordsmanship back into play, and allows him to eventually hack him to pieces simiarly to the last time, and send those into one of Ares' realms or the Source, should that be necessary.

Other tactics, such as using a psychic conduit led by Ares to expand on his madness, seem exploitable. Ares is used to having enhanced awareness, and can show him further aspect of godhood, being aware of the thoughts and actions of men and woman everywhere.

Perhaps Mother Box could help bring him to his senses, or Lightray (possibly merged with Zemo) can use his light-manipulation powers to further fight him at his own field.

 

[Harlekin]

There are no civilians in Poseidonis. Unless otherwise specified, a battleground is always empty.

 

[AnnoyingSilence]

since when is lightray a med?

i mean, that makes flash a med as well

 

[AnnoyingSilence]

One final comment I forgot to make above, is that while team Jesus is composed entirely of Marvel characters, Zemo is intimately and unilaterally familiar with Genis, and both Lightray and Ares had spent a portion of their time over the last round studying the Internet, Reed Richard's records, or otherwise acquainting themselves with the MU.

coming into this season i thought it was understood that the only prep time allowed was a prep time on the battle field itself.

theres no equipment of any kind to pass around unless it can be made with by powers they already have.

 

[X]

since when is lightray a med?

i mean, that makes flash a med as well

No. No it doesn't.

 

[wiegeabo]

coming into this season i thought it was understood that the only prep time allowed was a prep time on the battle field itself.

theres no equipment of any kind to pass around unless it can be made with by powers they already have.

That's true. You can only use what's available on the battleground, or what the characters can bring with them. If the technology/resources are on the battlefield that can be used to make something, and your team has the ability to do so, that's ok. But resources outside the battlefield are off limits.

 

[X]

We never debated, Wieg.

 

[wiegeabo]

Points about X's writeup:


First, I agree with three of the matchups. Warlock/Thanos, Nimrod/Huber, Scarlet/Imus.

I also agree that, left to their own opponents, Imus would most likely beat Ben, Nimrod/Huber would last a long time with Huber having the edge if he can switch powers fast enough. Warlock/Thanos can last a long time.


But I don't see the reasoning behind Proctor fighting Max, and Jay fighting Coronary. Obviously Thanos would want to mix it up this way. But it's almost certain that Jay and Max will be fighting each other because Proctor and Coronary won't be able to keep up with them by teleporting. And Proctor and Coronary can keep teleporting away from Max and Jay. Besides, is Max really going to listen to Thanos and stay away from Jay?

So my idea (which either Adam, Proctor, or Jay can come up with) is for Proctor to keep teleporting around the Spidey/Imus fight, waiting for Coronary to show up (he'd be the only opponent without someone to fight). So Ben is bait. (Ben wouldn't like that, but he's done similar things before, and there's really nothing else he can do.) And even if Proctor didn't do this, he could just teleport in the middle of the Huber/Nimrod fight and screw with Huber's brain, giving him and Nimrod plenty of opportunity to put Huber down.


My next post will rebuttle some of X's rebuttles.

 

[wiegeabo]

Josef Huber - Dispersing himself into sand is an power of a mutant called Dust.

His final attack on Nimrod was a combination of the powers of Multiple Man and Colossus, resulting in several Huber's using the powers of Colossus. Colossus has shown the ability to badly damage Nimrod by himself in the past, hence the usage of that power.

When Huber smashed into Nimrod from above, he was tapping into the speed of Northstar and the gravity maniulation of Harry Leland, a mutant from the Hellfire Club.

Leland was actually the mutant responsible for destroying Nimrod the first time. He increased the weight of a falling Sebastian Shaw and this destroyed Nimrod.

My question is: Would Huber know any of this? Does anyone on your team know enough about Nimrod to come up with a strategy like that or exploit any weaknesses Nimrod may have?

And, unless Huber utterly obliterates Nimrod, there's a good change it would be able to repair itself and rejoin the fight.

Intelligence - My team has a substantial advantage over yours here.

Adam Warlock is one of the most profecient leaders in comics, but so is Thanos. And Adam Warlock lacks inventive genius, among other kinds, which Thanos possesses.

On top of Thanos, my team has Imus Champion, a man intelligent enough to single handedly beat the combined Avenger's and Squadron Supreme. He's a genius of the highest order.

And Josef Huber is equally intelligent, possessing the inventive genius of Forge which he's used multiple times before.

I'm not going to doubt your team's experience. But don't discount mine. Like you said, Adam is a master tactician and strategist.

But Nimrod could literally do millions of combinations of tactics and strategies, analyzing the situation and any suggestions.

Jay has decades of experience fighting any number of enemies with any number of varieties of powers.

Proctor is also battle-hardened and experienced. And his goal in life is to hunt and destroy the alternate realty versions of one of the more powerful and experienced Eternals.

That's not a list of slouches.

Ruthlessness - As usual, my team has no qualms over killing and it shows. Where Thanos and Adam Warlock are comparable in regards to making plans and preparing, Thanos is willing to do things Warlock would never consider. The same applies to my entire team.

Nimrod and Proctor obviously have no problem killing either. And, as much as the other three may not like it, they don't really have a way of stopping those two from killing their enemies in the heat of battle. Especially if the fight breaks up into one-on-ones or, like I had Proctor do, the killings are a surprise.

Mutiny! - Wieg has two villains among his team and no way to control either in Proctor and Nimrod. Nimrod hunts and kills mutants and Proctor is one of the most evil villains the AVenger's have ever encountered. I have a unified, villanious team while Wieg's is a combination of characters that simply isn't going to work.

Nimrod doesn't attack because it sees the logic of the situation. Either fight it's team mates and then the other team. Or, work with it's team mates in the fight, then finish them off afterwards when they're tired (or dead) and are easy pickings.

Similarly, Proctor is no fool. He's smart enough not to fight his 'allies'. Rather, he'd just bide his time and put up with them until he could, or needed to, let loose.


I would think a team of villains would be far more likely to splinter apart. Especially when one (Rival) has a personal grudge against one opponent (Jay), Imus is probably smug enough to think he knows best and fight in his own way, and Coronary...well, even the way you wrote him, makes him seem just as smug.

Tried and True - Half of my methods have already been used in comic before to beat members of Wieg's team.

Most of the powers Huber used (At higher levels that original used, even) were already instrumental in Nimrod being beaten.

Misc - At the end of the Huber/Nimrod fight, Huber used Madison Jeffires machine control to take over what was left of Nimrod to assist him in his plans of mutant genocide. Cool, right?

I can't really argue against methods actually used by your characters against mine, except that, since my characters have already seen them, they can be ready for them. And even come up with counters against them.

As for Huber using those specific powers that happened to destroy Nimrod, unless he actually knew these specific powers worked in those ways, how likely is it that he'd actually use them. (Jeffries power may work, depending on how Nimrod would react to it since he's not just a piece of technology, but has advanced artificial intelligence.)

 

[wiegeabo]

Since when has the Ebony Blade shown the ability to cut phased beings?

About the only thing the Blade can't cut through are enchanted objects and things like Adamantium. It can even cut through magical barriers. And since it can absorb all forms of energy, that would explain how it could get through Imus' forcefield (assuming it couldn't just cut through it anyway).

Also, cutting intangible characters with the Ebony Blade (and similar weapons) was used frequently in previous seasons. I remember it being used against Vision more than once.

I don't understand why you had an extended fight between the Rival possessing Max Mercury and Garrick. Max Mercury is the very most knowledgeable Flash, and he's even older than Jay is. Equal speed plus far greater knowledge is going to gain The Rival the win.

Who else would they fight. Jay's not going to let Max fight one of his team mates by themselves, and no one else on your team who might be able to stop Jay will be free to do so.

And, if Max has that much power and knowledge, he should really be an uber. Jay and Max might not be as fast as Wally, but their speed isn't anything to sneeze at (they could still give Wally a run for his money, pun intended). Combine that with knowing far more uses of the Speed Force than anyone else, and how could anyone but and uber stop him? If he really is a Jay's middleweight level, then Jay can make a good fight of it and keep him busy for a while, even if he were to eventually lose.

Imus Champion has a force field capable of turning even Mjolnir around. Another, less powerful magical weapon isn't going to get through it.

But Mjolnir isn't designed to 'cut' through things. It's more of a smash/blast weapon. The Ebony Blade, though, is designed to cut through anything.

Josef Huber is capable of becoming any number of mutants that don't have literal brains. Disembodied energy beings, for instance.

That's not bad. But I would think Nimrod would have encountered mutants like that already and have counter-measures. Or at least be able to develop counter-measures.

As for Proctor not being able to scramble his brains in that form, Huber would still be facing an adapting Nimrod as well as Proctor. And, the Ebony Blade could either still cut through Huber or, more likely if you don't believe energy can be cut, just absorb him while he's energy.

 

[wiegeabo]

We never debated, Wieg.

Just got the time.

 

[Dark Gog]

There are no civilians in Poseidonis. Unless otherwise specified, a battleground is always empty.

Really? All the better then.

since when is lightray a med?

i mean, that makes flash a med as well

Funnily enough, you ask this in a thread that already lists two Flashes as meds in the other fight. Wally's speed is multiples that of Lightray, and he has a wide array of speed tricks to supplement it.

That's true. You can only use what's available on the battleground, or what the characters can bring with them. If the technology/resources are on the battlefield that can be used to make something, and your team has the ability to do so, that's ok. But resources outside the battlefield are off limits.

My team has the resources of Zemo's Folding Castle and Ares' armory all literally a single step away, and Lightray's Mother Box (and his own limited matter manipulation skills), to go along with whatever is available in the city, which should not be so readily dismissed. Aero Discs are very basic NG tech, and flare protection should be downright trivial in the DCU.

 

[DTL Commish]

Voting may now begin

 

[Ahura Mazda]

My votes go to:

X - I think he had the stronger team but it was a difficult decision

Gog - because there was a write up eventhough I felt on paper the other team was stronger

 

[Nightwing]

X
In Jesus' Name - Purely because after the deadline write ups aren't pt be taken into account and I personally think AS' team is the stronger in this one.