The Odd Alliance
Onslaught (MU)
Vulcan (MU)
New Son (MM)
The Ray (DR)
Blink (note: Scroll down for 616) (MR)
VS
Jailbait
Silver Surfer (MU)
Fernus the Burning (DU)
Kang (MM)
Batman 1,000,000 (DR)
Wasp (Hank Pym) (MR)
Pre-Battle
The Odd Alliance
The team comes together, familiar with one another as they had just fought together in the previous battle. The Ray will obviously be furious with Vulcan for having used him but there's really nothing he can do about it, and with Xavier's smoothing things over, things turn out okay. Now, there was some debate last round on whether Onslaught and Vulcan would work well together, but now lets remember that Onslaught (in this phase) was all about mutant supremacy. Having seen the power of Vulcan last round, he would come to respect Vulcan and would now offer to serve under Vulcan as an adviser. In this capacity I feel they would work well together. New Sun and Blink would also be right there with them (them both being mutants also makes it a great fit). Ray is still the outsider, but he's not powerful enough to do anything about it so he's there for the long haul.
Now, Ray would recognize Fernus and Batman (though there's something differant about the man). Having just taken on Martian Manhunter last round, Vulcan will be very knowledgable of most of Fernus's traits, but Ray will know the rest. Knowing Batman through Ray, and seeing this more hightech version, they'll get the idea of the character. Onslaught will be familiar with Hank Pym (having faced him during the Onslaught storyline) though not quite this version of him, but it'll be enough to play with. Kang is also well known so I'd imagine that he'd be no mystery to Onslaught, and possibly to New Sun as well, who is also a world travelor. They dont' know many fine details, but they know the broad strokes enough to be able to plan accordingly. An interesting thing to note, having just planned for Martian Manhunter and seeing how that plan turned out, they now have a basis to plan, and now Onslaught and Vulcan are more willing to work together to see their plan to furition. With Vulcan's leave, Onslaught begins the plan forming.
As for air, I dunno, Ray is fine without it it seems, especially in his energy form, and Vulcan doesn't need it. As for the rest, I wouldn't imagine it too difficult for Xavier or New Sun to find some means to provide air for those needed. It's an iffy thing I suppose, but the point of the DTL is the match and I hope the voters are willing to the fact that I don't have many techological means to provide air. I'm just assuming Xavier's vast resources should provide something for the Odd Alliance.
Jailbait
They will know Onslaught through Pym. Kang would likely know basics about Vulcan due to his knowledge of the Fault in Guardians of the Galaxy, which was created in part by Vulcan, but I dont' imagine he'd have detailed information on what he can do. Enough to plan for though. Now I'm having trouble figuring out Fernus due to crappy bios... if he is Martian Manhunter then he'd know Ray, but I've read also that he was a former being that inhabited Martian Mahunter's body, in which case he'd know nothing about Ray. New Son and Blink are both so unknown that they'd be mysteries to them unless Kang can somehow go through time to figure them out, but I don't think even that would help much. They're far too unknown and secret.
Now here's where Jailbait begins to fail in my opinion... Hank Pym... and Kang. These two are not going to work well together on the same team. Besides the fact that they are enemies, they're also both conceited. Yes, Hank's worked with villians in the past (even offering Loki a spot on the Mighty Avengers) and Kang has worked with heroes (such as the Guardians of the Galaxy), but these two would just bang heads WAY too much. Since realizing that he is the Scientist Supreme (even before), Hank's had a major chip on his shoulder, and being paired with a villain that could potentially be his equal would only lead to a headache. He worked with Amadeus Cho, who banged heads with him, but it was obvious that he was superior to Cho... this is not the case with Kang. Kang also, I see as not being willing to step down for an insignifant... Wasp... when he feels himself the superior thinker and strategist. There would almost certainly be a split among these two unless some form of mind control were to become known... which I doubt.
Now, add this feud to the non-teamworkability of Fernus and we have even more issues. Harlekin glossed over Fernus working with Kang in week 1, but I don't think it'd go that easily, and now you add Pym as a foil to Kang, and Fernus (who has no loyalty to these earth men) wouldn't really jump to help either one. Likely, he'd be on his own to do as he pleases, even against this team itself. He seems like a wild card who would feel all these earthlings useless. I'm not saying he'd go against the team and try to kill them, but he certainly isn't going to be their lacky. He's on his own here, and likely wouldn't even converse with Pym or Kang at this point. Now Batman 1,000,000 and the Silver Surfer would be a little more help in trying to keep the peace, though the Surfer is a bit more on edge of late, but in the end I don't really see any changes between Kang and Pym's issues. I could potentially see Surfer being standoffish to Fernus to try to keep him from killing the others, but still, no loyalties would be bought. It's understandable when a character or two could cause some problems (such as Ray on my team) but when those causing the problems are the two strategic leaders of the team, as well as one of the biggest guns available, that's when the problems cause matches.
So in the end, while Jailbait has the potential of being a fantastic strategic and powerful team, I don't see them working together at all!!!! And thus, all would be hindered due to it. Pym will have his plans and Kang would have his plans and Fernus would have his plans. I see Surfer and Batman working with Pym moreso than Kang, though I also see Kang pursuading Batman to work with him, and thus another split in the team, etc. I'm not going to deal with all of this in my write up to be fair to Harlekin, and I will attempt to use the team in a strong functioning formation to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I'd ask voters to consider what I've said about the team here before reading on, as it is very possible that the team would self-destruct before getting very far into the match anyway.
"A house divided cannot stand"
The Battle Begins
The two teams appear on the Blue area of the Moon and begin their match. Now, having faced Martian Manhunter in the previous round, Vulcan has grown familiar with him, and now this version of the character being quite corrupt and much more powerful, they had to come in with a quick plan. Fernus's telepathy would be rival to that of Onslaught's and so, unlike last time, Vulcan will willingly help try to remove Fernus quickly so that they may then move on to the unknowns and powerful members of Jailbait. Not being able to scan for minds due to Fernus's telepathy protecting his team's minds, and knowing that on the Moon there would be little other movement to be found, New Sun will reach out feeling for the kinetic energy of movement, his mind and sensations amplified by Onslaught himself (he did this with several mutants prior to the actual Onslaught storyline so I'd imagine it'd be easy enough for this feat). The rest of the team is ready for the prepared plan that Onslaught and Vulcan had come up with.
Jailbait stand ready, perhaps a bit hot tempered, as Pym holds a handheld sonar device that traces the landscape for movement, ultraviolet, sweat, pheramones, and several dozen other things to help locate their opponants. Hovering over his is the Silver Surfer, and Batman 1,000,000 stands at his side. Fernus and Kang stand a fair distance apart, allowing the Avenger a moment with his toy.
Both teams have quickly realized that telepathy is blocked on both sides. Batman crosses his arms and the movement is picked up by the New Sun, who tells this to Vulcan. New Sun's voice registers on Pym's gadget, and thus, both teams now know where each other are. Ray transforms into a living bolt of light and shoots toward Jailbait, but was a fraction of a second too late as Jailbate vanishes, teleported by Kang to their opponants. He curses and pushes forward, circling the moon and arriving at his team just as Jailbait appears, all covered in forcefields erected by Kang once more. As per the plan, Ray collides with the Silver Surfer (his light form phasing right through the forcefield, dragging him to the opposite side of the moon. There, Ray remains in his light form to protect his mind and to save his body from physical harm while becoming invisible and amplifying the light of the close proximity of the sun. Ray is no match for the Surfer, but the point of this was to remove him from the playingfield temporarilly so that Onslaught and Vulcan can deal with the Fernus first. Ray is the distraction.
Onslaught & Vulcan vs Fernus the Burning
As the battles begin, Vulcan flies directly at Fernus. He can feel the mental attacks but Onslaught protects him from them and soon Fernus attacks Vulcan full force. It's a deadly blow, but one that Vulcan takes and smiles. He then pulls the fire from Fernus's body and swirls it around above his head. Fernus takes advantage of this moment redirection and takes Vulcan by the throat, prepared to break it, but just as soon as he reaches out he feels a dullness in his brain. Vulcan has been shown in the past to be able to negate mental powers (such as with Rachel Grey, who was still in posession of a Phoenix shard at the time), and so now he will reach in with the mental energies and negate the telepathic powers of Fernus the Burning (or at least limit them enough for what comes next).
Immediately, Onslaught steps in and mentally pulls Fernus into the Astral Plane, a place both Onslaught and Fernus are familiar... but with Fernus's mind limited, Onslaught is all powerful. Mentally he rips Fernus from the mind of the Martian Manhunter, Fernus becoming lost in the Astral Plane, and just as quickly they return to the real world. The Martian Manhunter is dazed as Vulcan instantly pours Fernus's flames down upon the Martian, frying his form as Onslaught plays havoc with the Manhunter's mind with flames of mental torment. Quickly, the Manhunter falls. Vulcan and Onslaught then set out to relieve Ray of his battle with the Silver Surfer.
New Sun & Blink vs Batman 1,000,000, Kang, and Hank Pym
Knowing that Vulcan, Ray, and Onslaught would be busy with Fernus and the Surfer, New Sun and Blink were tasked an upward hill in facing numbers greater than their own. And so New Sun quickly charges the sand all around them to the breaking point, and then Blink and he vanish in a pink flash. Millions of particles of sands explode but it does nothing to Kang's shields. New Sun's plan is foiled, but expecting it, from a distance, he immediately feels the molecules of the nearest shield, that of Kang himself, and the shield begins to glow. Sensing this, Kang attempts to alter the shield but it is too late and the shield explodes, and Kang is blown back, pieces of clothing and equipment breaking and flying in the process. Blink sees this an vanishes. She appears over the startled Kang and touches his forehead. Kang quickly raises a gun and fireds and as yellow and pink mix both are shred to bits, Blink having blinked Kang to fractions of pieces and the gun blowing the upper half of blink accross the surface of the moon in a bloody mess.
New Sun is distracted by this when he feels a sting in his neck and electrical bars of energy suround him, removing any possibility of movement. Fortunately, however, he doesnt need to touch or move to fight. Feeling the kinetic energy of Hank Pym and having faced someone just like this in the previous round (the Atom) he quickly charges that energy surounding the small person and "POP" Hank Pym is evaporated into a red film.
A kick in the head drops New Sun to the ground but he quickly stands and grapples with Batman 1,000,000, who proves quite a match, but then New Sun realizes that something doesn't feel right about the kinetic energy around and through his body. Before he can realize this, however, a sudden mental blow, like a sucker punch (Onslaught obviously distracted by the Surfer as much as Fernus is distracted by the Ray), throws him off balance and a kick to his gut and a chop to his neck fells him. Batman stands before and behind him, a double having been created. Batman then does away with the double that New Sun had been grappling with and after looking over the rest, seeing them all defeated, departs to find others to battle.
Silver Surfer vs Ray
There isn't much to this match, and Onslaught would have known this, but Ray's safety was never his intent. The Ray removed the Silver Surfer from the playing field and their battle begins with Ray turning invisible and, powered by the proximity to the sun, he creates constructs of himself all over to the max of his abilities so that when the Surfer attempts to return to the others, he is assaulted. This does very little against the Surfer, as he attacks them and realizes them to be just energy. He then blows them all out of existance (with his control of energy and matter), and when this is done the Ray is upon him, hoping for a surprise attack, and basically decks the Surfer. The Surfer is hurdled back but again, very little is done. He fires off a small energy blast but the Ray goes light and it phases through him, and he attacks the Surfer, but the Surfer channels Ray's light and alters him back to his physical form, surprising Ray, and another quick blast knocks the hero out. The Surfer lies the man on the ground and then turns to return to the battle. This wasn't
much of a fight for the Surfer, but it delayed him long enough as Onslaught had planned it. And now as he returns, Fernus himself has been defeated, leaving Surfer to face Vulcan and Onslaught alone.
Silver Surfer & Batman 1,000,000 vs Onslaught & Vulcan
The Silver Surfer is quick to redouble upon Ray's defeat when he is assaulted by Vulcan, coming out of nowhere and hitting him like a train of fire and energy. Then, from nearby, Onslaught reaches into his mind. He cannot master the mind of the Surfer, but instead he pulls his consciousness from his body into the Astral Plane. Here they are free to battle, and the Silver Surfer is no slouch in this plain (as per the Silver Surfer mini, "In Thy Name".. which I just read). They battle and find themselves equals, for both are powerful in this place.
With the Surfer's body suddenly limp, Vulcan feels the amazing energy inside of the dormant form... that of the Power Cosmic. Now remember, Vulcan is a top of the line, Omega level mutant, energy manipulator. He was even able to draw out and manipulate magic as powerful as Adam Warlock's without batting an eye. Given the motionless body of the Silver Surfer and with no distraction, Vulcan has no problem finding and pulling as much as the Power Cosmic from the Surfer as he is able. Now, Vulcan has shown with D'Ken of the Shi'ar that he can manipulate the impulses of an alien brain the same as a human's, and so I see no problem in the idea of him finding the energy omited by the impulses in the brain, allowing it to live, think, and so forth. And so without the distraction of others, he should be able to find this and simply force it to cease forcing the Surfer to essentially become braindead and his body comatose. (Note: if switching off the Surfer's brain doesn't do it for you, remember that he's been knocked unconscious by powerful blasts before, and with his body weaker now due to Vulcan's taking much of the Power Cosmic, and Vulcan amped up, he should have enough firepower to take Surfer's body out... so there's an alternative for you).
Unseen by Vulcan, Batman 1,000,000 has rendered himself invisible. He had been teleporting throughout the moon in prearranged destinations attempting to find the others, but upon seeing Vulcan drop the Surfer's body he realizes tha the is the final member of his team. He stealthily makes his way to Vulcan, who is now drunk with the Power Cosmic. Thinking over all those he has seen defeated, he then activates a hologram of Onslaught. Vulcan turns and finds Onslaught approaching. He smiles, assuming the job is finished, but as he focuses on his ally, Batman 1,000,000 approaches from behind and with a few wellplaced blows, renders Vulcan's all too human nerves useless and Vulcan falls unconscious. The illusion of Onslaught vanishes as Batman kneels beside the Surfer.
Onslaught and the Surfer have been battling it out in the Astral Plain in such a battle that telepaths all over the world would be screaming in agony, but with the brain damage of the Surfer's body, he hesitates and receives an amazing mental blast from Onslaught. Realizing that their plan is finished, Onslaught departs the Mental Plain, leaving the Surfer's stranded psych witoutn a functioning body to return too, eliminating him from the battle altogether. He then approaches but quickly sees Vulcan unconscious and Batman kneeling over the Surfer's body. He has some type of wires hooked to the Surfer, attempting to rejuvinate him. Realizing the danger here, Onslaught quickly disassembles the bat's costume using his magnetic and telekinetic abilties, phasing the man right out of the disassembled armor. The man struggles but a mental suggestion renders him unconscious, thus defeating the last of Jailbait... Onslaught the only survivor of the Odd Alliance.
Winner - The Odd Alliance
). And while Batman may be a fighting genius, the scarab is highly adaptable and gives Jamie the ability to counter so many attacks.
