Spike_x1 said:
He had strayed from the group. The Rogues and the ninjas could handle the small timers. The Parasite would handle the big guns.
As their team was storming through the streets of Metropolis and approaching the army led by Bane, the Parasite saw, with the telescopic vision he still retained, the heavy hitters flying and marching behind Bane.
And he took off. At speeds too fast to be caught by the human eye, the Parasite flew over the crowd and began his assault of a series of narrow beams of heat vision on the enemy. Blackrock, Terra-Man, and Neutron were the first the pick up on the attack and respond in kind. Each of them flew into the air and launched a volley of attacks toward Rudy. The Parasite dodged the blasts and grinned as he flew in the direction of Suicide Slums, away from the rest of this war, to get some privacy. His airborne fans followed him as Superman arrived on the scene.
Flying under his own free will had always been a rush for Rudy Jones. From the very first time he had gotten his absorption powers and tapped into the Firestorm Matrix, he had grown to savor any opportunity presented to him that would grant him the power of flight.
And if simple flight was a rush for the Parasite,
aerial combat was a blast!
Buildings were styrofoam as Rudy grabbed onto Neutron's arm and spun him in circles before letting go, watching as the nuclear man was hurled into one of the countless condemned ratholes littering the neighborhood.
"God damn you, Parasite!" Blackrock's suckerpunch sent Jones downward, careening uncontrollably into the lower foundation of a homeless shelter. The cement and bricks exploded from the force of the impact and the Parasite couldn't be seen through the dust.
Breathing heavily, Blackrock gently descended cautiously towards the faltering building.
"Why the hell are you fighting, Jones?! You have no stake in this war. You're immune to disease, and you don't have a bomb strapped to your body. So why the hell are you here? Is it just to screw with Luthor's plans? Is that all it is?! You think that makes you unique? Special? Hell, Rudy, we all got a beef with Lex!" As he was shouting his questions, the media-powered Blackrock let loose a stream of massive energy blasts at the crumbling construct, sending the rest of the homeless shelter toppling down into a pile of dust and rubble.
Suddenly the fallen cement and concrete erupted as a set of gigantic purple shoulders heaved their way upward.
"Why am I here, Silverstone? You really wanna know?" The Parasite flew up to meet Blackrock several dozen feet above the streets. He reached at Blackrock's neck, but Silverstone delivered a sharp punch to Jones' jaw. The blow was shaken off by the Parasite, and replied to with a left hook that could shatter mountains. But Blackrock wasn't about to give up the fight, and his very life, without putting up the best fight he could muster. Blackrock, being the smaller of the two fighters, but equal in strength, easily landed a powerful kick to the Parasite's solar plexus and freed his neck from the monster's grip.
Rudy recoiled for only the slightest of moments before lunging ferociously at Blackrock once again. This time, Silverstone defended himself by creating a force field around him, but to no avail. The Parasite didn't even seem to notice the barrier as it appeared to dissipate the moment the energy-absorbing man touched it. Before Blackrock could renew his defenses, an enormous purple hand was covering his entire head while the other hand grabbed Dr. Silverstone's right wrist. In his
right hand was held the source of Blackrock's power: the dark stone that gathered and amplified telecommunication signals from around the world and turned them into usable forms of energy that coursed through the user's body.
The Parasite leaned in close to Blackrock's head as the man's muffled screams could be heard.
"Luthor's just the sweet, sweet icing on the cake, Silverstone. I'm here because you led the Unity's troops through China last year. You were one of his chief lieutenants in Asia." Rudy could barely make out the excuses coming from Silverstone's covered mouth, but Jones didn't care as he broke Blackrock's wrist and snatched the stone from his limp hand.
"Say hi to the Unity for me," hissed the Parasite as he let the drained bones and ashes of the man who was once Dr. Peter Silverstone crumble between his fingers and drift back to the ground below.
Rudy Jones looked at his palms. In one hand was the actual black rock, and he could feel the immense power coming from the stone into his body. In the other hand were dried up flakes of skin left over from the soldier he had just killed. One of the soldiers of his greatest enemy.
Nothing's changed. Will every one of these-
The Parasite was shocked out of his reverie as Neutron tackled him from behind, screaming in rage. Both of the men fell to the ground from the force of Neutron's impact. As they wrestled, punching and kicking, they could feel the ground begin to shake underneath of them. The Parasite looked up, passed the collapsed buildings around them, and saw Tobias Manning, the Terra-Man, in the distance. Manning was laughing.
"What the hell's so damn funny?!" hollered Rudy, but his question was answered as the earth beneath them began to shoot skyward, in giant towers of mud and dirt.
"Aw crap."
