Phoenix League Duels, Round 1, May, 2012

A chronicle of the League War.

The day started off overcast and damp, although the temperature was in the upper 60s and very comfortable.  Although the cloud cover was thick and the smell of precipitation was in the air, rain was not predicted.  Of course, with multiple superheroes in the city having the ability to manipulate the weather, you never really knew what to expect.  This situation would routinely embarrass local weathermen as they tried in vain to give forecasts.  Fortunately, this was a natural weather phenomenon and it was predicted that, without any kind of supernatural intervention, the clouds should clear by mid-morning.

Below the clouds, the city was abuzz with activity.  League Wars of any kind tended to be a big tourist draw for the city and generated billions for the local economy, much to the pleasure of the men and women holding the purse strings.  Thousands of people crowded the streets, stores, eateries and bars waiting for the first matches of the day.  Among those was a match of particular interest to many.

Pheonix Ώ was scheduled to battle DESPICABLE Da Hui RAIDERS.

Although there was a lot of activity around the city, the main event was scheduled to take place in the original Superhero City (SHC) Arena.  Over the last year, four arenas had been built to accommodate the ever growing number of heroes and teams, but none compared to the original.

Inside it, Despicable Raiderman stood along the side of the massive arena and stared up into the air at a glowing man floating in the ether.  He fiddled with his wrist remote which controlled the blaster cannons he wore on his back.  Dressed in only black jeans and a t-shirt, he was about as ready for today as he was likely to get.

Despicable Zepfuman glided silently over to him, "how long has he been there?"  Zepfuman was a completely different animal.  Dressed in a full pyro-suit, he had two massive wings sprouting from his back, genetic aberrations that actually enabled him to fly.  When he was fully engaged in battle, Raiderman had seen him turn on the heat and burn as if he was on fire, shooting balls of flame from his outstretched palms.  Raiderman usually pitied Zepfuman's foes when that happened.

"Not quite sure.  He moves freaking fast."  The two heroes stared up at Captain Atom. As they watched, the superhero shimmied as if he was unable to stay completely still.  Rumor had it that he could move nearly half the speed of light.  It would make today's battle very interesting.

"The team has finished preparations and we're going over the battle plan one last time.  I think this is going to work."  Zepfuman was never able to lie effectively to Raiderman.  He could sense the edge in his friend's voice.  He couldn't blame him much.  This would be one of the toughest battles they'd ever fought together and he was nervous.

Raiderman looked around the arena.  Despite his reservations, he felt at home here.  It gave him a sense of peace and he needed just a little of that right now.

The arena itself had not yet activated for the pending bout.  That usually happened about fifteen minutes before any given bout began.  SHC Arena was a marvel of engineering.  On most days, it resembled a Roman arena of old, surrounded on the outside with large stone pillars and frescos of the heroes who have made SHC what it is.  The best warriors on the planet stood silent watch as stone gargoyles around its perimeter, a reminder of the reverence the structure demanded.  Teams both respected and reviled had a presence here, ranging from Aegis and the Galactic Guardians to the GODS family of teams, independent teams such as Extreme Justice, and even Turbulence and the Horsemen of the Illuminati families.  Regardless of the other difficulties these teams have had in the past with each other, they all respected these hallowed halls.

The interior was very large, some half mile in diameter.  Its walls were smooth and there were no spectator seats anywhere to be found.  Lining the walls were metal protrusions, video cameras, and force field projectors, gifts of the Atlanteans and Shadow Knight years ago.  Although they had not sprung to life just yet, they would soon and literally change the world inside the arena.  Surrounding the central yard were hundreds of smaller rooms built to accommodate single hero battles which boasted the same technological advances.  One could often walk in at any time of the day or night and reserve a room, taking on anybody who happened to be there.

You see, the protrusions weren't just holographic projectors.  Rather, they were reality projectors.  Combined with a special organic compound lining the walls of the arena and the force field projectors, they could create any environment in which to battle.  They had the special property of being able to warp space around itself, effectively creating an arena without walls and allowing battles between heroes on a massive scale that could be completely contained, protecting the buildings surrounding them in SHC proper.  Shadow Knight realized from the start that without an outlet, heroes with superpowers would easily destroy the entire city and spent billions creating this place.  His greatest gift to the city was to give the superheroes, and even the villains, an outlet.  This arena worked perfectly to that end.

Right now they were all powered down.  It would be few minutes still before began warming up for the upcoming bout.  From what Raiderman had seen in the past and in the battle scenario plan for the bout, the scenes would rotate between a cityscape and the Nexus space station today.  He liked the later a great deal.

"Did you hear what they did last round to the Ambassadors. Phoenix Ώ that is?"  Zepfuman's question wasn't as much of a question as a statement laced with tension.  The scene of the Phoenix Ώ team laying waste to the Ambassadors: Blue Apocolypse team last round had been playing non-stop on TV for the last day, one of the highlights of yesterday's bouts.  Few battles in SHC were that one sided.  Although the Ambassadors' leader, Bigfoot, proved to be a masterful tactician and strategist, the entire team only managed to get in a scant few hits on the Phoenix team during the entire short bout.

The opening round of the battle was rather decisive and few teams in SHC could have done what Phoenix Ώ had done in a duels setting.  Three of their number, Komos leading the charge, bolted into the center of Ambassadors' well planned defensive formation and scattered the team around the arena.  Very quickly afterwards, the Phoenix team descended and ripped them apart one-on-one.  Kienzen actually appeared to be in two places at one time during part of the battle.

Towards the end of the brief 20 minute battle, a contest that should have taken most of the morning hours, Bigfoot saw an opening.  Gathering Hellofite, Kueka and Excessive Force, he managed to get a few good blows in on Bollock before the arena officials called the match.

SHC arena battles often carried a spirit of goodwill, as if the heroes understood that it was all fun and games to a great degree.  Some of the talking heads speculated that Kienzen, leader of the Phoenix team, had allowed the attack on Bollock to give the Ambassadors some dignity and prevent a blowout.  Bollock however, in an interview afterwards with SHC News reporter Captain Avenger, fervently stated that the Ambassadors had executed a well timed attack and that he was caught completely off guard.  SHC Times reported that they found Kienzen and Bigfoot having a beer at a local pub last night, reinforcing the good will spirit of the events.  Neither gave an interview.

Regardless, it made the Da Hui Raiders tense none the less.  They had been training hard for this event for some time.  Some of them had invested in special equipment lately that was designed specifically to increase their accuracy and institute dampening fields which could enable them to find and hit foes more readily.  They were hoping it would be enough.

The sound of metal on stone brought both of their heads back around as Despicable Kamae, clad in his signature battle armor, strode up.  "They have no idea what's in store for them and I wouldn't worry about him in particular," he said as he pointed at Captain Atom.  "Leave him to me."  As he buried his left fist into his right palm, the intent of his words was unquestionable.  It filled them with a great deal of resolve.

The three turned back towards Captain Atom, still floating midair.  If the Phoenix scout's job was to intimidate them, he had failed.  This was an experienced team and not easily shaken.  They had a solid battle plan and were ready to implement it.  This battle would be one-sided.  Phoenix Ώ was about to fall.

The hum of electricity filled the arena as the reality projectors began to warm up.  The time was almost upon them.

This would be a battle to remember for generations to come.