Phoenix League Duels, Round 2, May, 2012

Phoenix Ω vs. Despicable Da Hui Raiders

 

No longer were the two teams on the dirt floor of the arena.  No longer were they facing each other across a vast expanse of nothingness.  When the reality  and force field projectors fully kicked into gear, the air itself shimmered before the barren arena floor changed into a field of stars and then into a perfect depiction of the Nexus space station.  The normally busy shops were idle at the moment, but the detail in the recreation was second to none. 

 

The formation of the scene was also the official start of the match.  Captain Atom, from his perch, moved towards Raiderman slowly.  Raiderman squinted his eyes, wondering why the lightning fast hero was holding back.  Just then he came to the realization of the purpose of the feint when KOMOS hit him full force in the chest with a burst of gamma radiation.  The concentrated beam of energy shot Raiderman back into his team and KOMOS immediately tore into the throng of Raiders. As the team turned to face him, Captain Atom seized the moment and attacked from above, blasting a Relic Storm into the center of the team’s defensive formation, separating them. 

 

He would have succeeded in dividing them all completely just as they had done with Blue Apocalypse, had it not been for Raiderman.  Thinking quickly, he crossed his arms in front of his face and erected a reflective barrier as the Relic Storm passed over him.  When Captain Atom’s blast hit, the full force was sent straight back at the superhero, blasting him backwards in a ball of fire through a metal wall.

 

With him out of the way, Raiderman met eyes with Zepfuman and flipped a switch on his wrist controller.  A shimmering field of force enveloped him, engaging a dampening field that would enable him to slow down his opponents and increase his own accuracy immensely.  The two mighty heroes met the remainder of the Phoenix team head on and the battle was fully joined.  They worked their way through the Phoenix team as quickly as possible and maneuvered their way towards Despicable Red, who had been pinned by JUGRNAWT.  Exhibiting fantastic teamwork, the three coordinated a series of attacks that sent the mighty warrior to his knees. 

 

That’s when the battle quickly took a turn for the worse for the Raiders team.  Kienzen, leading Omnicron, Final Judgement, and NEO-AVALON, came in from all four sides at once, putting the three Raiders on the defensive.  Red barely had time to erect a shield over the three before Final Judgement’s attack actually tore a hole in the arena floor around them.

 

Raiderman looked back to see the rest of his team out of commission.  Grungor and Alduin, two mighty heroes in their own right, were out cold.  Captain Atom floated over them silently.  Apparently he had recovered from the blow he took very quickly, or maybe it was a ruse. It was now clear to Raiderman what Atom’s role was.  He was the first strike and distraction that paved the way for the rest of the Phoenix team.  He had been a fool to think Phoenix didn’t work closely as a team.  Part of him thought that it was just a collection of powerful prima-donnas, working together only for the purpose of winning tournaments.  He now understood the strategy they employed.  It was brilliant. 

 

The Phoenix heroes, Bollocks and X-Minion-Evolved, were engaged with the remainder of the Raiders, holding even the mighty Kamae at bay, and Raiderman saw the writing on the wall.  He looked towards his good friend, Zepfuman, and smiled.  Zepfuman knew what that meant.  So did Red, who was struggling to keep the barrier active under the onslaught Omnicron and NEO-AVALON were leveling on him.  With a primal scream, Red dropped the shield and the three charged Kienzen as one, intent that they should take out the Phoenix leader before this battle was over!

 

Kienzen only smiled and met them head on.

 

 

SHC Arena had a few executive booths reserved for the most influential and wealthy heroes in the city.  Overlooking the arena through dimensional portals, interested parties could view bouts from close proximity and assess their foes without interfering in matches.  The portals were all but undetectable to the participants.  Given the price tag of the booths, it was routinely used by members of wealthy organizations such as Aegis, Weapons of Mass Destruction and Galactic Guardians.  Today, one such booth was being used by a hero from a similar organization who had a particular interest in the outcome of this battle.

 

As he looked down, he pulled out a small tablet PC and once again took notes.  His next bout wouldn’t take place for another half hour, plenty of time to assess the Phoenix team once again.  He had no doubt the outcome from the start, but was very interested to see what strategy they employed.  After all, his expertise and analytical abilities were the reason he had been employed for this particular League War by Area 51.

 

Stepping up beside the man, who was dressed in earth tone business attire and sporting a brown trench coat, came another equally well dressed man wearing an Armani three piece suit.  For a while, they both watched the match unfold.  When it came to pass that Kienzen stood over Raiderman’s fallen form and the smoke was beginning to clear, the second man said to the first, “they are predictable, aren’t they?”

 

The first looked back at him, and responded in a decidedly British accent, “I believe so.  They follow a pattern so far.  We’ll have to see if they continue to do so.”  He stared down at the formidable team far below and something strange happened.  Captain Atom looked up at him and met his gaze.  They were supposed to be invisible inside the skybox, undetectable.  These would be worthy opponents indeed.

 

“We face them in the final round.  Do you realistically think we can beat them?”

 

Sothios Mori’Taren smiled.  He knew that The Grimm Rider was teasing him in a way.  “Should we ever believe we can’t defeat someone in an honorable battle?”  He left no room for the wrong answer in the way he asked his question.  “I’ve noticed some flaws in their attack pattern that we may be able to use to our benefit. I’ve also identified three heroes that show particular weaknesses to these attacks.”  Showing the tablet PC to The Grimm Rider, Sothios began to point to various figures and mathematical equations, the result of his two days of research. 

 

The leader of The New Revengers slapped Sothios on the back.  Of course they could and this analysis could wait.  “Good work.  You’re worth your weight in Plutonium!  Let’s go.  We have a team to crush.”

 

They left the skybox as, far below, the tournament officials sounded the siren that called an end to the match.  Phoenix was moving to the next round.