Realistic or Modern The New Guardians

[DapperCharmer2.0]

Last month the planet was invaded by a threat, the likes of with, it had never seen before. A powerful warlord, hailing from a void between time and space, wished to conquer Earth for herself. She might have succeeded too, had it not been for the gruelling effort of the Guardians of Justice. Through the use of all their might, they fought off the invasion. But it didn't not come without a price; they all gave their life's to defeat The Void Queen. And now Richard stood in front of hundreds of heroes, each looking to become the new Guardians of Justice.

"All right everyone," Richard commanded, wearing his full Night-watch outfit. "You are all here because you wish to serve this planet in the same way the original Guardians, my fellow Guardians, did for so many years. Of course we will only excepting some of you, the best of you. To find that best, you will all be split up into pairs. Each pair will fight and I will monitor the results. Theses results will be based off skill. That means that the winner of the fight may not be guaranteed a spot. It also means the loser isn't necessarily eliminated from the running. You are expected to give this your all."

"Now, your pairs are as follows;
ThePrime and Lady Rose
PatriasLover and H2Overdrive
yutohase and Viper
Scatterbrain and Concrete
Nico and Raptor
Simon Strut and Stratosphere

Richard then called everyone elses pairs and sent them to their fight rooms, before moving to the observation room.

 

[Simon Strut]

Vestige [Maz Ashraf]
Tags: n/a
​

Why am I here? Maz thought. He wasn't a hero. Sure, he was powerful, he could probably take on anyone in this room if he really wanted to, but there wasn't anything heroic about that. He supposed that with that power, came a sense of responsibility. It's like... if you're rich: you're only a asshole if you don't donate to the poor. Ergo, Maz would be the asshole if he didn't help people who couldn't defend themselves.

Yeah. That made sense. That made total sense.

Except that it didn't. Maz wasn't like anyone else here. His powers came at a price. Which meant he had to win the fight against Stratosphere in three moves or less. If he didn't, he'd have to forfeit—there was no way he was going to waste more than three memories on some stupid competition just to amuse Night-Watch.

Maz rolled his neck and studied Stratosphere's movements. There was a barrier separating them, some sort of force-field that gave off a slight orange hue; and a digital clock suspended from the ceiling, counting down from thirty seconds. He assumed once it hit zero, the force field would disappear, and that would be their cue to start sparring. The winner, of course, would become one of the next guardians.

Right? Probably. Or maybe Night-Watch wanted another competition after this. What did he think this was, Naruto?.

Twenty seconds left. Stratosphere's blue and white striped outfit was quite the fashion statement. That is, if the statement was: 'Finland's favourite superhero.' God, how garish. Oh, wait, what if he actually is Finnish? Or Scottish? Then the colours would make sense.

Ten seconds. What was this guy's powers again? Oh, fuck knows. With a name like 'Stratosphere', it was probably flight. Or... Clouds. That might explain the blue and white. Oh, perhaps the colour scheme was to blend in with the sky as he flew! Yep, definitely flight.

Zero. The barrier dropped.

Stratosphere charged. Or, well, flew. Knew it.

Time seemed to slow as Stratosphere got closer. Maz watched as he drew back his fist, mid-air. Oh, the bastard was aiming for Maz's face... his face! The utter disrespect. The audacity! Quickly, Maz thought, what did he have for breakfast again? Oh right, a full-English. Tomasz had gotten up early to make it, for Maz's 'big day'. Right, now let's forget that.

A pillar of flame snaked up Maz's arm and exploded before Stratosphere made contact. The flames weren't hot—or, well, they weren't too hot at least—and were more intended to shock Stratosphere off course. Stratosphere stumbled (can you stumble in the air? It certainly looked like that's exactly what he did) and spun wildly off to the left. Maz reared back his hand, then thrust it forward, erupting a shockwave from his palm. As the force slammed into Stratosphere, the memory of Maz's morning run, and the stray cat he petted during it, slipped away.

Stratosphere pancaked against the wall. But he wasn't done yet; with a grunt, he lifted himself to his feet and wiped away a bloody nose.

"Not bad, kid."

"Kid? I could be sixty-years old, for all you know," Maz scoffed, "I'm wearing a mask!"

Stratosphere straightened up and raised his fists again. "It's the way you carry yourself, kid. Like you've already won."

And with that, he disappeared. What?! Flight and... Invisibility? What a stupid—

The punch came faster than expected, knocking the wind out of him. Then another struck him in the face, then behind the neck, straight into his side, a kick to the back of his knee. Super-strength too then! Maz grunted as more blows landed. Damnit, he needed to forfeit! If he didn't, he'd panic and lose control.

No! Just stop and think. Maz exhaled. If he just thought for a moment, he could pick the right memory. He just had to ignore the pain, not think about the bruises and sprains. He had to let them hit, but pretend they were meaningless. You've got this. He needed something significant, something he remembered clearly, but nothing too important. Come on, think! He raked his brain... Come on!

A blow landed square in the middle of his face. Maz felt it through his mask. His head snapped back and he saw stars for a second. Then he remembered a glass of wine... A Polish restaurant on the night of Christmas eve, a waitress with the prettiest smile, barszcz wigilijny and pierogi: beetroot soup and dumplings. Tomasz sat across him. It was their first date, and Maz asked how he got that massive scar on his forehead.

"Nothing interesting. I hit my head as a kid. I wasn't looking where I was running in the woods." He paused to smile, "Although, I tell most people I was mauled by a bear. That's much cooler."

It was quite the magical night. They laughed, drank, ate, and watched the rare smattering of snow out the window. Tomasz spoke to the waitress in Polish, and Maz thought there was something so incredibly and inexplicably attractive about that.

"We'll have to go to an Indian restaurant next," Maz said, "so I can be a useful translator too."

The night ended with a kiss, and a promise to text each other on Christmas day.

And, suddenly, that memory disappeared. Maz gasped. No! Not that one, damnit! He balled his rage up into one fist and slammed it into the ground, sending out shockwaves of fire and kinetic energy. With a tendril of telekinesis, he felt Stratosphere behind him, and focused more of his explosive power in that direction. When he was finished, the ground at his feet was smouldering, and Stratosphere was very much unconscious. And hopefully not too hurt.

As Maz looked up at Night-watch and shrugged, as if to say 'That was easy', he couldn't help but think... he must have forgotten something important. Obviously, he couldn't remember what it was, but he could only hope it was something he could live without.

 

[PatriasLover]

Marianne sighed, as they stepped into the arena. why on earth had they signed up for this..,.. in the home of some bourguse man who fancied himself a hero.... they could hardly even fight, only if the person they faced was an enemy.... but what Patria said, they had to do.... for the sake of the revolution. their hands slipped into the pockets of their leather jacket, as they peered through the barrier.

On the other side, a woman, who looked to be in her mid-thirties, with deep blue- (shit, don't think about her!) hair, in a sea-colored bodysuit waited, a confident smirk on the other's face. as the timer dropped down from the ceiling, Marianne gave a long sigh, before calling over to the woman, a blank, rather tired look on their face "why don't you just forfeit now...." they drawled, only for H2Overdrive to scoff "not a chance, little girl!"

Marianne's frown deepened, the rebel gesturing to the pin on their jacket that read "They-Them". the clock ticked down to fifteen seconds as the other super apologised, seeming genuine. marianne's shoulders slumped slightly,not in disappointment but in releife "guess you wont be getting hurt." the revolutionary muttered, just as the clock hit five... four.... three.... two..... one.


The barrier disappeared, as H2Overdrive charged forward, sending a torrent of water at Marianne, the rest of the air suddenly getting far dryer. Marianne darted to the side, mind whirring. H2O took the water out of the atmosphere around her... surly, that must be more draining than using water that was already in a liquid state...

Marianne flinched, winding up hit by another blast, stumbling back slightly.... but now they knew what to do. "Are you quite sure we cant just talk this OUT!" with a grunt, Mari sent a pulse of energy, purposely pulling away the gold light from H2O, its should be target, rather having it hit the puddles. it wasn't red light, but it did still have some infared rays, the photons burning gold, turning water to steam. this was just going to be a waiting game over who ran out of stamina first.

After several rounds of back-and fourth (it was one of the longest matches, both parts rather winded, H2O more than the other "just.... give it up.... now..." she coughed out, sending a weak splash after Mari, who simply sidestepped "capitulate. you put up a good fight." the revolutionary stated, steping a little closer. dropping her head, H2O slowly nodded "fine... i surrender."


Marianne gave a nod, offering a hand to shake, the other taking it. as H2Overdrive shook, however, all her fautige drifted away, Marianne looking paler, their hand glowing gold "good fight... comrade." the revolutionary stammered out, before colapsing.

 

[Scatterbrain]

The Owl​

As they stood on opposing sides of the barrier, waiting for it to drop so the fight could get underway, Harvey used the opportunity to size up his opponent. Concrete was a young black man, standing in at 5'10", maybe 5'11" and looked around the same age as himself, if he had to guess. He had short dark hair, was clean shaven and his eyes were hidden behind an expensive pair of dark sunglasses.

"Dude, I gotta say, mad props on the costume." Harvey was caught off guard by his opponent's sudden statement. He certainly wasn't expecting to be thrown a compliment, considering that in just... Harvey turned his gaze upwards towards the digital clock that dangled in the centre of the room... 25 seconds, the two of them would be trading blows.

"Thank you." Harvey wanted to be polite and return the favour so he hastily looked over the other hero for something complimentary to say about his outfit. "Ummm..." Concrete's costume, if you could really call it that, consisted of a black puffer jacket with the zip undone, revealing what looked like a metallic string vest over his otherwise bare muscular chest, dark shorts and a pair of white sneakers. "Bold choice..." Harvey regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth but he really didn't know what else to say. An uncomfortable silence briefly fell over the pair before it was broken by a snort of laughter from Concrete.

"Thanks." he replied, with a wide smile. "You do you, am I right? 'Sides I find most of the girls... even some of the guys..." There was a sudden, sharp movement behind Concrete's sunglasses. "...seem to dig it." Harvey was left completely bemused. Did Concrete just wink at him? It was difficult to tell with the shades on but Harvey certainly thought he might have. At that moment, the silver eyed superhero was so grateful that his costume included a mask as he started to go bright red at the thought. He quickly shook his head. Got to focus! He had far more important things to worry about right now.

Looking back up at the clock, 15 seconds now. He could see Concrete across the room removing his jacket before throwing it to one side. He then did the same with his sunglasses "Yo, Owl! Win or lose, no hard feelins'?" Concrete asked. Harvey simply nodded his head in agreement. "Aight!"

10 seconds...

Suddenly, a grey goo like substance, reminiscent of cement, gradually appeared all over Concrete's body until he was completely submerged by it.

5 seconds...

The viscous liquid than began to harden and solidify into a crude humanoid shape.

0...

The barrier dropped and the concrete colossus immediately charged straights towards Harvey. The bird themed brawler swiftly rolled out of the way and Concrete crashed into to the wall behind him with a loud crash. It was a good thing the arena walls were reinforced otherwise Harvey suspected his opponent would have gone straight through it. Harvey knew he was completely outclassed here physically, it would do him no good just punching away at Concrete, unless he wanted to walk away with nothing to show for it but two broken hands, so he would have to play this smart.

Using his Owl Vision, he scanned Concrete's outer shell on a microscopic level for any flaws or weak points he could exploit. The joints were a logical place to start. If those were as solid as the rest of the outer shell was then, technically, Concrete shouldn't be able to move at all but from his bull rush earlier and now the punch he just threw that was most certainly not the case. Sidestepping the blow, Harvey used the opportunity to inspect Concrete's arm in greater detail, and, just as he assumed, the area around the elbow appeared significantly less dense. Concrete threw another punch with his other hand but Harvey dodged this one too, this time by rolling underneath it. Directing his gaze towards his opponent's left leg, Harvey could see that, like Concrete's elbows, his knees were also not as solid as the rest of his shell. With a strategy now in mind, Harvey pulled his right arm back and punched his opponent in the knee. He grimaced in pain from the blow, despite his gloves being reinforced, hitting Concrete still hurt. Looking over the site, there was no outwardly visible signs that his attack had actually done anything but, with his Owl Vision, Harvey could see various micro-fractures in the shell around the knee so he knew it hadn't been for naught. If he could just damage it enough, the outer shell around it would crumble away and Concrete, being as heavy as he surely was now, there was no way he would be able to support himself on just one leg so he would just tumble to the floor. From there, Harvey would mount a full on assault on the concrete encasing his opponent's head, he still had to breath so logically they had to be some air holes around the area for him to exploit, hopefully break through and then knock Concrete out.

And so their dance began, with Harvey using his superior agility to evade Concrete's powerful punches, all the while, whenever the opportunity presented itself, hammering away at his opponent's knee in order to force him to the ground. However, Harvey did not escape entirely unscathed, aside from his own increasingly bruised knuckles and feet from his assault, more than one of Concrete's blow came perilously close to causing him significant injury but Harvey managed to roll with the attacks and avoid the worst of it. Several blows later, the knee finally crumbled away and Concrete promptly lost his balance, falling backwards before crashing to the floor. Harvey pressed his advantage and directed his attack towards his opponent's head. He could see the concrete casing chip and splinter as he stomped away at it until his balance faltered momentarily. Looking down at his supporting leg, he could see it was encased in grey goo. It appeared in his haste, he had brought his leg to close to Concrete's own now exposed one, and his opponent had used his superpowers to reform the shell that once surrounded it while at the same time trapping Harvey. Unable to move, the stuck strix abruptly found himself dragged to the floor as Concrete pulled himself to his feet. The last thing Harvey saw was the large grey slab that was his fellow hero's foot hurtling down towards his head and then he blacked out...