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	Icon knelt near the ruins of the Purifier as he cradled the lifeless body of the love of his life. In that moment he was focused only on her. The scrambling alien invaders, the panicked bystanders who has not taken shelter, nor the numerous lightening strikes from above registered. It was only Alexa. The woman who he was set to wed just moments before the offworld armada arrived, doing incalculable damage to nations around the globe, and eventually, shattering his entire world. 

	Moments went by, and the air took on an electric, ozone like smell. It began to dance and shimmer much like a mirage on a hot summer day. Then a strange, low humming sound fills the air. In a matter of seconds, a large humanoid figure begins to form within the mirage like air before stepping out into the battlefield, which had before today been apartment buildings and neighborhood shops.

	“Guys...that's him. It's The Autocrat.” Flux said, unable to mask the trepidation in her voice.

	The Autocrat was an imposing figure, standing at least seven and a half feet tall and had a commanding presence which would give even the Guardians pause. He looked down at Icon, who had not taken his attention away from his fallen love.

	“Pity.” The Autocrat said with a pause to no one in particular. “Do not mourn her, you will be reunited soon enough.” 

	For the first time since retrieving Radiance's body from the Purifier, Icon looked away from her. He fixed his gaze on the large alien and stood to greet him. The Autocrat looked down on the cobalt and silver clad hero with a mixture of pity and contempt, and began to speak again. However, his words were cut short by a wild right cross, a punch that looked as though it could cave in the side of a mountain, yet merely brought the Autocrat to one knee. 

	Iron Knight activated his weapons systems in preparation to attack the mastermind of the invasion that had killed so many people and stepped forward ready to pour everything he had into the alien leader. 

	[color=c0c0c0]“Alright guys, this is it. Let's bring this bastar...”[/color]He was interrupted by Lyger, who had placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

	“No,” Lyger said, this is his fight.” He finished with a nod of his head to Radiance's body.Iron Knight understood, his suspicions about their relationship confirmed, and he stood down as Icon delivered another punch to the alien despot. 

	The Autocrat remained on one knee after Icon had delivered a second punch, a strike that would likely have killed most beings. However, the Autocrat absorbed the assault and slowly rose from his knees. The Arlaaekan leader stood before Icon and spitefully spit a mouthful of blue-black blood onto the ground in front of the hero's feet.

	“You're going to need more than that to put me down, boy.” The Autocrat snarled. Icon met his gaze, and despite all of his pain, a slight smile crossed his face as he unleashed another flurry of punches which staggered the despot, before catching his with a devastating uppercut which brought him off his feet. While The Autocrat arched upward, Icon caught him with a massive optical blast. The brightness of the blast rivaled that of the sun, and the powerful blast sent the Autocrat skyward. 

	Icon left his feet and rocketed into the air after the Autocrat. He caught up to the alien warlord and hit him with another punch which would send him flying farther into the air, each shot increasing the alien's velocity as he arched over the city. Icon also increased his speed, enabling him to get out in front of the Autocrat, catching the alien with one arm and slinging him hard toward the ground. The Autocrat hit the ground with an earth-shattering impact. The ground shook for several blocks in all directions, and the pavement buckled under the force of the impact. 

	Icon alighted at the edge of the crater that the impact created and moved toward the Autocrat. Icon gasped in surprise as he found the despot was getting to his feet. 

	“You know...We're a lot a like, you and I.” The Autocrat said as he regarded the approaching hero. “We're warriors. We're champions. But above all else, we're leaders.” 

	“I'm no leader.” Icon replied.

	“Hmmph. Then you're a slave.” The Autocrat said as he lunged at Icon, hitting him with a devastating punch of his own. The blow took Icon by surprise, knocking him off balance. 

	The Autocrat moved on Icon with a preternatural speed that kept the hero off balance, hitting him with a flurry of vicious blows to his head and body. The sudden assault staggered Icon, who tried to fight back, throwing a wild roundhouse right that missed its mark as the Autocrat ducked out of the way and grabbed Icon by the back of the neck, flipping him up, and slamming him face first into the pavement. 

	Icon lay stunned from the violent assault from the alien overlord. Before he could gather his wits, The Autocrat grabbed the back of his head, slamming him face first into the ground repeatedly. 

	“I have to give you credit. You and your friends fought well. Just not well enough,” He paused to regard the hero, who despite the beating still struggled to get to his feet. “Thousands of civilizations have fallen in my wake before yours, and there will be thousands more to fall after. There is no shame in succumbing to a superior foe.” Autocrat said as Icon managed to get up on one knee.

	“Fear not. The sun will rise tomorrow. Just not for you...or your people.” The Autocrat taunted as he rushed toward Icon brunging his leg up in an upward motion with a powerful kick. However, to the shock of the alien, Icon caught his leg and held it, tucked under his arm.

	[b] “You talk too much.[/b] Icon said as he forced the Autocrat's leg back to the ground while flying upward, delivering an uppercut to the dictator's chin, the impact unleashing a shock wave that shattered every remaining windows for miles.  	
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	The attack knocked the Autocrat from his feet, and before the alien warlord could get to his feet, Icon pounced on him, battering him with a flurry of punches that nearly beat the teal overlord into submission. However, the Autocrat was a proud warrior who had to this point, never met an equal on the battlefield. He was determined to prove that he still hadn't on this day.

	[b] “It's over.”[/b] Icon said to the Autocrat, who was down on one knee.

	“No. This doesn't end until your corpse is on display as a warming to all who would dare oppose me.” The Autocrat replied as he got to his feet.

	The air crackled as a blue-white energy began to form around Icon's clenched fists, and in an instant he was on the attack, hammering the Autocrat with wild roundhouse punches that seemingly could have caved in mountains. The sounds of each blow echoed as far away as Crown Ridge. Then, just as suddenly as he had attacked, Icon took to the skies and flew west away from the city center. Icon flew up and away, all the way to the city's edge, when he stopped and turned around. He rocketed back towards the center of the city, there was a loud roar as he broke the sound barrier. To anyone tracking his movement, he would have appeared to be little more that an blue and silver streak. He came to a sudden stop with a massive right hook that knocked the Autocrat off his feet, driving the warlord through one of the nearby buildings and out the other side.

	Gliding several feet above the ground, Icon made his way through the wrecked building, only to find the Autocrat laying motionless covered in dirt and debris. As he looked down at the one who had caused so much death and destruction, the one who had taken so much from the people of Earth, the one who had taken Alexa from him, for the first time in his life, Icon had no need, nor inclination to hold anything back. 

	[b] “Enough is enough, this ends now.” [/b] Icon growled at the downed alien warlord. However, as he moved toward the Autocrat, the air around the alien began to dance and swirl around him with a myriad of blues and pinks running through an expanding black void.

“I couldn't agree more.” The Autocrat said as he stepped back into the swirling vortex, which quickly closed behind him, leaving Icon alone hovering above the empty street.

[center]***[/center]

	The hum on the bridge came to sudden halt as the Autocrat stepped on the floor fresh from his battle with Icon. The Autocrat's face was beginning to swell and a trickle of blue -black blood ran down his chin from his broken nose. The sight was enough to send a shockwave through the officers on the bridge, who had never seen their leader in such a state. 

	“Status report.” The Autocrat demanded as he stepped toward an ensign.

	An officer stepped forward nervously and sighed. 

	“Well?” The Autocrat said, almost daring the officer to make him repeat himself.

	“I...I'm afraid it is not good, my lord.” The officer said nervously.

	“Go on.” The Autocrat told him.

	Our Western forced have faced unexpectedly strong resistance. And as you know, the forces in the city of Lost Haven have been at a stalemate since the Purifier was destroyed. And unfortunately, the Doomspear...” the officer stopped short, unsure of how to deliv er the next bit of bad news.

	“What of the Doomspear?” The Autocrat demanded.

	“Unfortunately, the Doomspear was....destroyed sir. I'm afraid it was a...a total loss.”

	“I see.” The Autocrat looked the officer in the eyes, and then his gaze drifted toward the floor for a moment before he raised his gaze to meet the officer's. 

	“Order all remaining forces to the rendezvous point in Sector Three, authorization code zeta-six-two-seven.”

	“Yes sir.”

	“And prepare to fire the Omega Javelin. This has gone on long enough.”